#Her blue eyes are so cute! Also in the old style her eye shadow was much more visible! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

savebatswingaus · 10 months ago

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Feelingshipping but they have wings. - Pokespe Wing AU (Oneshot)

Fic in the link above or under the cut. This is the last old fic I have to post here (I think) but it's my favorite, enjoy!

Blue Oak and Yellow are cute, oh and what's that?? Wings? Or, My sister's favorite (?) Pokespe ship ft. Wing au that comes out of nowhere.

Notes:

For StarthornFromScratch.

I was making this for my sister because she got sick but then *I* got sick as well, so I couldn't finish it before she got better. :,) Also I don't care Blue gets his old outfit because I like it better. Oh and I forgot what gender half the Pokemon here are, so I just called them "they" and "it" interchangeably. TWs: Descriptions of pain and all that. Maybe slight body horror? I don't really know how that works. (Also mild swearing but it's just a few words.)

Yellow slid down the side of the Charizard, his orange scales smooth enough for her to slip right off. Her feet hit the ground with a soft thump, the dirt muffling her landing to a comfortable pat. She turned back to the Pokemon and the boy on top of it, her hair swishing around her and narrowly missing hitting her in the face.

She grinned up at the boy, his green eyes hidden slightly in the shadow of his hair. It was a rather ridiculous style to tell the truth, but she didn’t really have room to talk there and it’s not that she minded it.

“Thanks for the ride!” She told the two of them. Both Pokemon and trainer nodded in response, but after a moment of awkwardly standing around, Blue opened his mouth.

“I, uh, wanted to tell you something,” he said, his voice both more unsure and quieter than usual. Yellow frowned, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was unlike him.

“What is it?” Yellow asked, studying Blue’s face in a way she hoped looked friendly from his perspective.

He blushed and her eyes widened, now that was really unlike him! Sure, Blue wasn’t some emotionless robot, but he didn’t show his emotions as often as most of the other people Yellow knew. There were exceptions of course but Blue wasn’t one to share such things as feelings.

Her thoughts were cut short as Blue spoke, “I was wondering if you could, well,” he scratched the back of his head, “I was thinking that maybe we could practice some training you know? Just like old times?” The last few words cracked slightly. His eyes darted about, and the blush on his face only darkened as Yellow nodded.

“Yeah that sounds fun,” she grinned, pausing for a bit too long before reaching for a Pokeball. Once she got her hands on it, she pulled out the one for Chu-Chu. Even though the electric type could be seen lying quite comfortably on the floor, Yellow felt a pang of guilt. She normally wouldn’t put the Pokemon in a Pokeball, as she wasn’t the most fond of the small spaces, but she hadn’t wanted Chu-Chu to fall when she and Blue were flying. She knew by the calmness in the Pokemon that she really hadn’t minded, but Yellow couldn’t help feeling a little bad.

A soft thump sounded behind her, and she looked up from the Pokeball to see Blue standing next to Charizard, he was holding his Pokedex in one hand and a Pokeball in the other. Yellow studied his stance, he looked confident again, and she briefly wondered why he had acted so strange just a second earlier.

Blue looked up, probably having felt her gaze on him, and for a moment they locked eyes. His eyes were a rather pretty shade of green, but they did make Yellow wonder why his name was Blue and not Green. Ah well, probably better to have only one pretty person in the friend group named Green.

Yellow tore her eyes away from Blue, her face heating up as she looked down at the Pokeball in her hand. The Pikachu inside was now staring up at her with a sleepy expression on her face, Yellow just hoped she hadn’t noticed too much. The Pokemon was very keen on anything between people and Yellow knew that she wouldn’t hear the end of it if Chu-chu assumed she liked someone. Chu-Chu was her Pokemon, but sometimes she felt like a mother.

“Are you ready to go?” Blue asked, his voice brought Yellow out of her thoughts, it sounded kind of blank, but she knew that was just how he was.

She turned to Blue, awkwardly smiling, she shook her head, “No, I’m not, I was gonna use Chu-Chu, but I think she’s sleepy,” She looked down at the Pokeball, gesturing at the sleepy Pikachu inside.

Blue stepped closer, his cloak wavering in the slight breeze. He looked down at the Pokeball and cocked his head to the side. Yellow glanced back at Chu-Chu, the pokemon could not be seen stretching and yawning, certainly sleepy.

“I suppose,” Blue said, he shook his head, “Did you bring any other Pokemon with you?”

“Yeah, of course I did,” Yellow laughed and dug into her bag, her hand emerged holding two Pokeballs. Kitty and Ommy, maybe not the smartest choices for a battle with Blue, but not the worst. (Ommy would have a type advantage over Charizard, but Kitty- Kitty is a bug type.)

“Great,” Blue responded, puting Charizard back into a Pokeball and tossing the one he had been holding before. It was his Scizor, great, bug was weak to steel. Kitty was already at a disadvantage level wise, and now… “Ready now?” She nodded. They turned and took a few steps away from each other, once they stopped, Yellow briefly closed her eyes and inhaled, she could do this.

“Ready-?” Blue asked, his voice cutting into itself slightly.

“Yes,” she responded.

“Alright, go!”

The two turned around. Blue tossed his pokeball, and, in a split second decision, Yellow released Ommy.

Blue looked slightly confused at her move (Ommy was fairly low level in comparison), but didn’t ask about it, instead choosing to yell a command. Scizor instantly responded to him, lunging forwards instantly, it grabbed Ommy in it’s claws. Luckily, Ommy’s shell took most of the crunch, but Yellow could tell she didn’t have time to think about the next move.

“Ommy! Water gun!” she shouted, jumping from one foot to the other in anticipation of the battle. (Yes the one that she was in the middle of.) The pokemon turned slightly, the move hitting Scizor right in the face, but unfortunately, Blue had trained it well. It didn’t budge.

“Alright! Scizor use X-Scissor!” Blue yelled, throwing his hand to the side, as if trying to appear more threatening. But even with the silly movement, the Pokemon responded, momentarily letting go of Ommy, but Yellow didn’t even try to tell the Pokemon to move. It would just stress them out, they just were not fast enough to dodge. But even so, Yellow cringed as the move hit her pokemon, it’s body shaking slightly in the strength of the hit.

“Don’t give up!” Yellow yelled, hoping that she would be able to encourage the Pokemon that way, “You got this! Use Hydro Pump!” Ommy complied, lifting it’s body slightly and aiming at Scizor before firing.

“Scizor move!” Blue shouted,

“Ommy try again!”

The move hit.

“Good one Ommy!” She shouted, jumping up and down once or twice.

But Blue didn’t seem to celebrate her success. “Scizor use X-Scissor again,” he said, his voice much quieter than it had been last time he had spoken, Yellow was pretty sure he was asking his Pokemon if it was okay.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t dwell on how sweet that was, mostly because both her and Ommy were getting their asses kicked in battle.

Her Pokemon fell over, “Ommy!” she shouted, making to move to run forwards before something… something happened.

Pain burst out over her back, and the girl fell to her knees. She gasped in pain, eyes wide open and facing the ground. “Yellow-?!” Blue started, but his own sound of surprise cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

Yellow grunted as the pain intensified, squeezing her eyes shut and collapsing further into the floor. Distantly, she heard a sound of concern from Scizor, the Pokemon obviously very worried for her and it’s owner. She wanted to go and comfort it, and also give Ommy a full heal, but honestly, there was never a time she wished she could magically heal herself more.

Blue shouted in pain, and Yellow forced herself to look up, her face dragging painfully over the ground as she struggled. She placed one hand on the ground in a movement that could have been saving the whole world (Meaning, it was difficult and possibly not worth it.) and forced herself above the stones.

Blue was crumpled on the ground, his face hidden behind layers of hair and half of his arm (The rest of which was hidden under his cloak.). As she watched, her own pain faded slightly, but the ache and tightness in her chest grew more and more concerning as she stumbled over to Blue. He was twitching slightly all over, But the part of a person you would expect to stay vaguely still, his back, was moving more than the rest of him. Sure his clothing covered it, but it almost looked like some sort of pokemon was trying to get free.

Suddenly Yellow had a… a thought, and her heart seemed to drop right out of her body as she realised it. She ran forwards, landing roughly on her knees as she put her hand on Blue’s back. Sure enough, it felt like there was something there that hadn’t been there before.

Thinking harder about the situation, she reached behind to her own back, and she froze, if her heart hadn’t fallen before, it certainly had now. She felt something there.

She moved her hand back to Blue’s back, debating for just a moment before she went through with it. She gently lifted Blue’s cloak, the poor guy had stopped twitching by now, but he was still lying there, shaky breaths moving through him. (Yellow guessed that his magic amulet thing hadn’t extended to this pain.)

But as she moved the fabric, what had happened became clear. She dropped the fabric and gasped, Scizor also making a sound of surprise as it noticed what was going on. Yellow clapped her hand to her mouth, the other still firmly placed on the ground next to her. She turned to Scizor, the Pokemon’s eyes were as wide as hers felt, but thankfully the shock hadn’t been enough for it to drop what it had been holding. Ommy probably wouldn’t have appreciated that.

Yellow sat there for a moment, hand over her mouth and eyes trained firmly on nothing in particular, but a groan of pain to her side reminded her of what was going on. She looked back to Blue, but she was too slow to advise him not to move. Unfortunately, he picked the worst way to move, rolling over onto his back before instantly yelping in pain, the new skin obviously still sore.

Blue shot up, head just missing Yellow and instead hitting Scizor in the knee. The Pokemon jumped back, Ommy teetering dangerously in it’s claws, before landing on the ground just a few steps away.

Blue however stayed half sat up, obviously very done with the situation reading by the expression on his face. His eyes were staring at a mountain in the distance, looking right over the trees and up into the sky.

They stayed that way for a moment, Scizor trying not to drop a pokemon, Ommy in need of a full heal, and Yellow and Blue staring at something beautiful. (Yellow’s looking at Blue so of course the comparison counts.) But sooner rather than later, the moment left them.

“What the hell happened,” Blue said, the sentence wasn’t a question, it was more like a statement trying not to ask anything. But Yellow felt the need to answer it anyway.

Yellow paused before speaking, her eyes flicking down towards the ground between them, a trail of ants decorated the grass nearby. And, with her eyes still burrowing into the ground, she spoke, “Check under your cloak,”

Blue looked at her, obviously confused by the vagueness of her answer, but after a moment of staring into her soul, he obliged. Lifting the dark gray fabric, he gazed at his back, or rather, wings . A moment passed, a confused darkness forming in his eyes before it was up. He jumped up and shrieked, two large wings protruded from his back. (The feathers on the inside are a rather pleasant cream color, besides the blue accents along the edges. Yellow couldn’t quite identify the animal they came from, but it was definitely a Pokemon.) They had pushed their way through the fabric of his sweatshirt, the purple fabric’s torn edges messing with the feathers at their border.

Blue looked from her, to his wings, to back to her, and then back to his wings, before spinning in a circle. His wings were outstretched, as if Blue was trying to push them off himself, and it was this movement that reminded Yellow that she had the same problem to deal with.

Her heart (which had traveled back to her chest by now) dropped again, and she reached back to feel her back, her clothing either stronger than that of Blue’s sweatshirt, or her wings slightly smaller than his. Both were fine, she guessed.

Yellow swallowed and turned to Scizor, “Could you hide me for a moment?” the Pokemon nodded, standing in between her and Blue and buzzing it’s own wings, the movement not quite fast enough to make them disappear, but enough to cover her some. “Thank you,” she said gratefully before slipping out of her yellow clothing. (The belt was still firmly placed on her hips after she had removed the yellow fabric.) She moved to take off her shirt before thinking better of the action. She looked back towards Blue, the boy now looking the other direction, wings shaking slightly. Yellow blushed violently as she realised that he must have seen what she was doing.

It was good that he looked away though, she thought, pulling her shirt over her head and checking the wings, she identified them immediately as a Pidgy. The fluffy brown feathers appeared almost torn over the yellow ones. They were pretty, but Yellow was still worried about why the heck they had appeared.

She turned to her clothing on the ground, and, taking her survival knife out of her belt, cut holes in the back of the black shirt, measuring the bases of her wings crudely with her hands before of course. As she brought the blade across the fabrics, she was shaking, she might appear calm on the outside, but internally, she was freaking out. It wasn’t that she didn’t want wings, no, that wasn’t it at all, she was just terrified about what this would mean for her future. Was she a person still? Or was she some sort of Pokemon? What had even HAPPENED to cause this?

She slipped the garment back over her head, before pulling her wings through the slits. She moved one through itself but used her hand for the other, she wasn’t used to moving the limbs yet. After that awkwardness she leaned over to pick up her yellow garb, but a cough from behind interrupted her.

“Are you done yet?” Blue asked, his voice was muffled, as if he had his head in his hands. She looked over, the blush on his face causing hers to flare to life as well.

“I- I think so,” she said. Her eyes darted back to the ground as soon as Blue looked towards her.

A brief but awkward pause passed.

“What should we do now?” It was her who spoke, and she jumped at her own voice. The sentence had been meant to be for herself.

Blue sighed before speaking. “Well, you could fix up Omastar,”

“Ommy,” she corrected him, blushing again and turning back to Scizor. The Pokemon held out Ommy, their blue tentacles moving to hold onto Yellow’s hands as she grabbed them.

She looked back at Scizor, “Thank you for holding Ommy,” she said smiling, before turning her focus back to the aforementioned water type. Their spikey shell shaking as Yellow held them.

“Sorry for making you wait so long Ommy,” she whispered, closing her eyes as she let her magic surge through her. She relaxed, vaguely noting a pull on her shirt as her wings flopped to the ground, and then she exhaled. She could feel the glow of magic passing over her, and she could hear Blue turning to watch. Ommy twitched in her hands, the injured Pokemon healing as the waves of high washed over it.

Ommy tapped her arm, it’s blue tentacle making squishy contact with her sleeve in exactly the way that they had conspired. Yellow stopped the magic and looked down at the water type. It shuddered and thanked her, and she nodded. “You’re welcome,” she grinned down at the Pokemon before looking back at Blue. (Scizor having moved to his side and now checking out the feathers on his wings. They seemed to have an idea what species they were.)

“So,” she said. Her voice cracked at the end as she (once again) thought about what had just happened.

Blue nodded, “So,” he said, imitating her voice crack in the monotone way only he could.

“Wow thanks,” she responded, laughter shaking her whole body and reminding her to move her wings back up to a folded position, she couldn’t have those wonderful yellow feathers dragging on the ground now could she. (Even if she wasn’t entirely convinced they were hers.)

Blue nodded, and, either not noticing the playfulness in her tone or purposely choosing to ignore it, he brought them back to the obvious problem. “Really what do we do now,” he asked, flexing a wing out to the side, the cloak falling away from the feathered wing in a kind sort of way.

Yellow shuddered, “I don’t know Blue,” and for once, her tone was completely serious.

--- - - - - -

They made their way to Viridian city, it wasn’t that far from Yellow’s house (near where they had been fighting), and they had both guessed that the pokemon center there could help them. They had opted not to fly, either with a Pokemon or on their own, this way they had more time to think. Soft thumping sounded along the path as they walked along it.

Scizor and Ommy were back in their Pokeballs and Chu-Chu was out of hers. The Pikachu had been rather terrified when Yellow had fallen to the ground, and her worry was not exactly cut down when there were screams of pain. (But the Pokemon had been smart enough not to emerge from the safe spot, she had had enough experience with what could come from that.) But unfortunately, all of that meant that now she was scolding Yellow. Squeaking that obviously made no sense to Blue was like a concerned mother’s voice to her. Kind but worried beyond belief and just slightly angry because of it.

Yellow put her hands to her ears, jokingly begging Chu-Chu to stop her “tirade” and calm down, but the Pokemon was having none of it. Squeaks and chirps told her off as the group walked. She turned to Blue and mouthed a quick “Help me,” He held back a laugh, but of course Chu-Chu noticed. Puffing her fur up indignantly before starting up again, the Pikachu explained (with language that Yellow would not normally have expected from her.) how rude she was being right now. But there was a playfulness to it that Yellow was able to catch, the Pokemon wasn’t really mad at her.

She leaned down to pick up Chu-Chu, the pokemon purred as soon as her feet were off the ground before shutting up. (Pro tip apparently, if you are ever getting scolded by an adult, just pick them up around the middle.) She looked over to Blue, who, she realised, seemed to be holding back laughter, she pouted at him, the joking expression causing just a smidge of his laughter to be released. She laughed then, both sets of wings shaking violently as the two shared the moment. Their feet stumbling only slightly on the uneven ground as they forgot to look which way they were going.

Chu-Chu made her own snickering noises as she hopped onto Yellow’s shoulder, her soft paw pads pattering against the fabric. Yellow reached up to pat the Pokemon on the head, the electric type making happy noises the same way a dog or cat would react to that sort of thing.

A soft moment passed. But, Blue was still trying to clear up his laughter by the end of it, and, body shaking, he dropped Yellow’s extra clothing. (The one she hadn’t cut holes in the back of.) She sighed in a dramatised way, sure to let the sarcasm in the sound be as obvious as possible to further elevate the hilarity in it.

“Blue how dare you,” she said, voice flat despite the obvious joke behind the statement.

Blue laughed awkwardly, he attempted to lean down to pick up the outfit, but the weight of his wings caused him to fall over. Now it was Yellow’s turn to try and fail to hold back a laugh. She knew this had happened because of their centers of gravity being thrown off, but it was still sort of amusing to see such a normally balanced person stumble. But she quickly swallowed her snickering in favor of asking if Blue was alright. The other dex holder stood back up, his face was red, but he also seemed to be holding in a chuckle or two. (Which Yellow was glad for, she hadn’t wanted to come off as rude.)

“‘m fine,” he responded gruffly, green eyes alight with embarrassment and humor, a combination Yellow would have expected on herself, but not on Blue.

“You sure?” She asked again, and when he nodded, holding her… garment, out to her, she had to struggle to hold in another laugh. Apparently things were just funnier when you had recently grown more limbs.

Yellow reached out and took it, slinging it over her shoulder (The one Chu-Chu was not on) for safekeeping. Blue smiled slightly, turning his head down to the earth until his hair covered part of his face. The shadows sent by the brown strands just enough to hide his eyes, but leaving his mouth and nose out in the light. And, theory proven, she struggled not to laugh at that as well. . . . This was vaguely pathetic wasn’t it.

Yellow sighed, hoping that the sound wasn’t too sad, she just had no idea what they were going to do. They had wings for heaven's sake! Those weren’t something she would necessarily consider a bad thing, but they were not a human characteristic! They were something that animals had! Animals and Pokemon, and not all of them at that.

She looked to the ground and studied the rocks strewn across the path. They were small enough to kick, but she didn’t know if she was going to or not. Such a movement might throw her off balance, and that was something she would rather avoid.

A comforting sound made its way to her ear, and Yellow was instantly thankful that Chu-Chu was so kind. She reached up to the Pokemon’s head, petting the soft fur and making her own little cooing sounds. Chu-Chu responded by rubbing her forehead against Yellow’s cheek, obviously trying to make as sure as possible that she didn’t accidentally shock the girl. That wouldn’t be a very friendly thing to do. Yellow reciprocated the movement and thanked Chu-Chu in her mind, the Pikachu was such a good “mother figure.”

“So,” Blue started, but before he could get anywhere in his sentence he hesitated.

Yellow looked back at him. Chu-Chu spun around on her shoulder, but the Pokemon’s lightning bolt tail wacked Yellow right across the face. The pokemon trainer glanced at Chu-Chu to see her holding her paws in front of her mouth, she looked to be right on the verge of apologizing violently. And, in only a moment, she did begin to. Yellow quietly told her it was okay, and, after waiting for the Pikachu to stop, she turned back to Blue. He was looking at her with an unreadable expression, but even with that, Yellow could guess he was worried.

There was a moment before he spoke. “Do you-,” he paused again, now actually looking worried, “Do you think it’s a good idea to go into town looking like this?”

Yellow cocked her head to the side and turned to face him entirely. “What do you mean?” she asked, now walking backwards on the trail.

Blue scratched his head, “Well, I mean, it might be a better idea to just go to your house right? And call our friends from there, I just- I just think that some people might be scared,” He looked down at the ground again and his wings shifted uncomfortably beneath his cloak.

Yellow felt her face shift into that of concern before she spoke. “I mean, they might be, but aren’t we going there to get the Pokemon center to help us?,” Chu-Chu made a sound of agreement.

“I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, that’s all,” Blue responded. The statement sounded just as confused and concerned as Yellow felt, but that made it all the more believable.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get the words out, a shriek of fear came from behind her. Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth. Blue locked his eyes to hers, actual fear showing through them. Chu-Chu spun around once again and her short claws dug into Yellow’s shoulders as her fur poofed up.

Yellow slowly turned, causing Chu-Chu to jump onto her head so as not to be rotated back to facing Blue. She smiled weakly at the person she saw there. Their hands hid the majority of their face as they stared at her. She was also quick to notice their body shaking as they looked her up and down.

Yellow was the first to speak, “I don’t know what happened either,” she said, voice kept as level as she could force it to be. With that statement she saw the other person both visibly relax and get much more worried. Yellow glanced back to Blue. He didn’t show any signs of noticing the look, opting to instead look terrified. Which, Yellow supposed, probably wasn’t any sort of acting considering she also felt scared.

The other person dropped one arm to fidget with the edge of their shirt, the fabric moving kindly with the movements. They looked down at their feet. “Are you guys okay?” Their voice was weak and slightly more high pitched than what she guessed was normal for them, “You didn’t get experimented on or anything- right?” They looked up to shift their gaze between the two of them, eyes wide with concern and fear.

Yellow gasped, realising now what Blue had been worried about. “No no no, we’re fine!” She waved her hands in front of her face and unconsciously spread her wings out to the sides, the frantic movements a hopeless attempt to appear less threatening. But instead, the person in front of her cringed back as the feathery appendages made themselves known once more.

They didn’t necessarily look scared, but that was definitely a part of it. Yellow quickly folded her wings back up, profusely apologizing to the poor person she had just frightened. But they just shook their head. Hair flopping down in front of their face as they shifted their gaze to the ground.

“Yellow-” Blue started, taking a step forward and just barely stopping himself from setting a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him, a calm and comforting smile shaking on his face. She grimaced back before turning back to the person.

“Just forget, um, about this, we are gonna go home now,” She said quietly, the person’s expression changing from afraid to confused in a split second.

Yellow tapped Chu-Chu on the shoulder, telling the Pokemon that they might have to run soon. The Pickachu made a soft trilling noise in response. “I think this is probably just a dream,” Yellow said, slightly louder now, and then she turned around. Blue was now walking ahead of her, very strongly leading the two of them into a forest. Blue lined feathers poked out just below the hem of his cloak. They were pretty. Yellow thought, and again she wondered what species they came from.

Blue stepped through the ferns on the edge of the woods, and Yellow followed. Just a moment later, sounds of disbelief and concern finally made themselves known. Yellow truly hoped that they hadn't given the poor dude a heart attack.

She watched Blue’s hand as he carefully reached for his Pokegear, most likely going to message Red or Green about the situation they had gotten themselves into. Thinking about it, Yellow’s face burned and she picked up her pace. This was a disaster, and she felt horrible about it. (Despite none of it really being her fault.)

Yellow glanced behind herself, seeing the person left in the middle of the route, probably lacking the Pokemon to follow them honestly. No hate to anyone without Pokemon, it was a respectable life, but it did give the dexholders an advantage here.

He turned back to Blue, and, seeing as he was now ahead by quite a bit, ran to catch up with him. Sticks cracked under her boots and limbs she wasn’t used to having caught on branches. All of this was rather painful of course, but she knew she had to get out of here. (It was possible that the person behind them would call someone on them. Yellow knew they didn’t look normal whatsoever. What with the wings and all that.)

Chu-Chu let out a yelp of pain as a stick smacked her right across the face, Yellow cringed at this, but knew she mustn't slow down, not yet. They needed to move.

She looked back up at Blue, he was running rather skillfully, she noted. Yellow was good at running through forests because she lived in one, but she didn’t have a clue why Blue was. (Besides the running around and saving the world part of course.)

She watched his cloak ripple in the wind. And then her eyes move to his wings. They fluffed out to the sides just a bit every time he landed a step. (But not before going back into their tightly folded pose.) This was very well done too, neither of them knew how to keep them in one place, but Blue seemed to be at least aware that they were there. Hers however were making contact with all sorts of trees and sleepy wild pokemon.

She felt her face flush. Oh man this was going to be such a long day.

--- - - - - -

Yellow stood in one place, chest heaving as she savored the sweet air of safety, or rather, her own front yard. She looked up at Blue, who was in a rather similar half bent over position. His hands were on his knees and his wings were pointed straight up at the sky. They shook with every breath, as if holding them there was painful. Yellow looked back at her own wings, the feathery appendages still not something she really recognized as her own. She sighed. What a mess they were in. First, they grow wings, and then second, they get seen. This was awful. And with their status, it wasn’t long before people would come knocking on her door.

“We should have been more careful,” She looked back at Blue with the sound of his voice. He was still breathing heavily, but to be fair, so was she. She stood up straight, the movement causing tangled hair to fall between her wings.

“Yeah, well, at least we got away?” It was more of a question than anything, but Blue nodded.

“You’re right,” he said softly. Quickly pushing himself back up to a regular standing position after the sentence was uttered. He shook his head from side to side, seemingly trying to get a leaf to leave his hair. . . . It didn’t work.

“You got Chu-Chu?” He asked, eyes scanning the area in sudden worry.

Yellow nodded and lifted a Pokeball, “Yeah, I put her in here just in case. I know she normally doesn’t like them but I didn’t want her to keep getting hit with branches,”

Blue nodded as well, “That was smart,” he turned his head towards her home, “Do you think we should go inside?” The question was soft, as if it meant more than just hiding from some cops. But not in a weird way, more like drinking warm milk and playing board games. Her face heated up again, maybe she was overthinking it.

Yellow shook her head, but then realised she had been asked a question and began nodding. An awkward silence fell over them before it was broken by Blue. “I’m sorry Yellow but which is it?” His tone was playful. Yellow laughed softly.

“Let’s go inside,” she smiled before turning to walk into her house. She made her way across the yard (more like a wooded clearing really) and then ascended the three steps to the entrance. She shifted her wings slightly as she got the key from under the mat. Blue scoffed at this.

“Really? Under the mat?” He scolded. Yellow laughed. There it was, that joking tone again.

“Well, if anyone trying to rob me has Pokemon, there are better ways into a building,”

Blue chuckled at this. The sound made Yellow joyful as she fumbled with the lock. It was kind of encouraging really, having such a cool person laugh at your jokes. She felt the same whenever Green responded to her that way. . . But she tried not to dwell on that, the thought only brought more confusing feelings to her heart.

The door creaked open and Yellow stepped inside, having to remember to fold her wings again. They had been left to drag on the ground as she had focused on the lock. She shook her head. If she was gonna be stuck with these things for the rest of her life, she should probably learn how to properly control them.

That she was looking forward to.

She marched down the hall, Blue following behind her like a baby Farfetched behind it’s mother. The comparison made her feel kind of strange, but it sort of fit in the situation to be frank.

She abruptly turned, flicking the lights on as she entered the next room. It was the dining room, a small stove setup blended in next to the mini fridge and cupboards. A table sat in the middle of the room, exactly four chairs were around it. (One for her, one for her uncle (if he visited), one for Chu-Chu or whatever Pokemon wanted to eat with them, and one extra.) There was a chair at both the head and foot of the table, and two on one of the other sides. She glanced up at Blue, he looked slightly confused about the setup but didn’t seem to mind it.

“Um, I was thinking we might want to eat,” she said awkwardly, gesturing vaguely around the room as she spoke.

Blue nodded, “That’s a good idea,”

They paused for a moment longer as Yellow contemplated what to do next, but she was quickly done thinking. The girl turned and walked towards the cupboards, hoping to get some sort of dried fruit or something. She couldn’t remember if she had any, but they sounded great right now. “Sesame seeds would also be good,” she thought, but unfortunately, she knew she didn’t have any of those.

Once she had reached her destination, she laid her yellow garment across the counter and turned to look at Blue. The other dexholder was pulling a chair back at the table, it made some seriously awful sounds on the floor, but he didn’t flinch. Yellow sighed (It wasn’t a disappointed sigh but it wasn’t a romantic sigh either.) and turned back to what she was doing.

She opened the cupboards and searched for food. There was a bag of banana chips and a can of nuts. (There was also a rather dry looking can of pokemon food along with a box full of granola bars. And when she got a closer look, she could see it had passed the expiration date by a week or so.) She sighed and closed the cabinet, she had been on a training mission for a few weeks, of course her food was messed up. Then turned around to face Blue.

“Hm?” he asked, not looking up. He seemed to have been examining the feathers of his wings, looking over the off-white and red brown, but mostly focusing on the blue.

Yellow pointed tiredly to the cupboard before dropping her arm to her side, “My food’s either rotted or gross,” she closed her eyes and brought her hands up to massage her face, doing that for a moment before dropping her hands and sighing again. “What are you doing?” she asked, looking up at Blue.

He looked at her distractedly, “I think I know what kind of Pokemon these are,” he said, turning back to the feathers almost immediately.

Yellow was surprised at that, she had guessed they were a Pokemon, but she didn’t really know what kind they were. It certainly was not something she had seen before. “Oh really?”

“Yeah,”

She paused before speaking. “Would you mind telling me what you think they are?”

He glanced back up again, but quickly turned his gaze back down. “No,” Yellow raised an eyebrow, “I’m not completely sold on it yet,”

She closed her eyes and leaned back, sighing for what felt like the millionth time in the last ten minutes. “It’s not always bad to be wrong Blue,”

When he finally spoke his voice was soft. “I know,”

Yellow opened one golden eye. She studied Blue, he was hunkered over the table, eyes trained on the wing, but not really focused. The trainer cocked her head to the side, watching as Blue moved his hand over the feathers. He seemed so entranced on them, but at the same time so distant from thinking. In short, he looked like he was off in another world.

They stayed like that for a while, feathers occasionally shifting when they remembered they had wings, and eyes looking lazily about the room. It felt strangely domestic, despite the only food in the house being either bad or just generally bad. (Yellow knew there was no food in any other cabinets or the fridge, she had emptied all but this one for her trip. Unfortunately this plan had backfired slightly, now she had to choose between banana chips, nuts, or nothing. She didn’t want any of those options.) She supposed she could technically eat the granola bars or the pokemon food, she was fairly sure she had read something saying that not all food gets rotten on the best-by date, but she wasn’t willing to risk it. Dry pokemon food and granola bars were not exactly the best meal.

Blue sighed and sat up straight, wings flopping down to the floor on either side of him as she refocused on him. “What is it?” She asked

He looked at her with an expression that told her that the answer should be obvious. “We randomly grow wings and now we are hiding in your house,” His face stayed blank for half a second, before a rather red blush passed over it, “Not that I necessarily mind any of that-” he quickly corrected himself, voice a little more high pitched than Yellow would generally expect.

But not that odd behavior mattered, especially when she herself related to it. Yellow laughed at the thought, waving her hand in a way she hoped conveyed that she wasn’t laughing at him. He seemed to be trying to smile along with her, but it came off as more of a grimace.

Yellow continued laughing, it was kind of hysterical, but she couldn’t tell if it was in a good or bad way. This day had just been the definition of crazy. (Not in any rude way though.) She didn’t really- well, she had no idea what was going on. It was just… wild honestly.

She took a minute or so more of continuous wing shaking for her to calm down. And once she did she felt the need to speak, “Have you told Red or Green yet?” she asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, “No I haven’t,”

This worried her slightly. The entire plan had been to get help from people, and if they couldn’t trust the pokemon center, their friends were the next best bet. “Why not?”

“I-” he cut himself off before continuing, “I just don’t know how they would react you know? Maybe wait a week and see what to do then?”

She grimaced, it wasn’t a bad idea, but it wasn’t exactly a plan. “Are you hoping they just go away?” she asked, “The wings I mean, not Red and Green,”

Blue forced a smile at that, “Maybe? They are nice and all, but I kind of want to walk around in public without people staring at me,”

“We are both famous Pokemon trainers and literally have fanclubs,” Yellow helpfully pointed out.

That Blue did smile at, though it quickly faded into worry.

Yellow cocked her head to the side and knit her eyebrows together. The worry was understandable of course, but she preferred to stay upbeat. It’s not like the world was ending or anything, they just had wings now. That wasn’t the end of everything, and she knew that for a fact considering how much she had almost seen that happen.

Blue had seen that too. She glanced back to his face, it was still covered partially by his hair and hidden in shadow. It would be a good look on him if he didn’t also seem so genuinely scared. The thought made her wonder if he thought this was a sign of times ending. She guessed it could be considered to be like that, but they were just wings, how bad could it be?

She was shook from her thoughts by Blue standing up. The movement was rather fast and unexpected, and with the wings there, more of her vision changed then she was expecting. Blue took a few steps towards the door out of the kitchen, reaching for his Pokegear (which had apparently been set on the counter.) on the way out.

“Wait where are you going?” Yellow called, jumping off the counter and lightly landing on the floor to follow him.

“To get some fresh air!” He called back, voice slightly echo-y from the hallway he was now in.

Yellow rolled her eyes, “I’m going with you!” She yelled after him before. turning back to the cabinet and quickly picking up the banana chips. Even if they were gross, she was still hungry. And also, she wanted to at least get rid of them before they went bad as well, there had been too much of that lately.

Following Blue, she made her way out of the house and into the clearing around it. She heard a Pidgey and instinctively looked for it. Unfortunately, the Pokemon was nowhere to be seen. She sighed, sadly turning to look at her own wings. She extended one and the yellow and brown feathers spread out. It was something she was used to seeing on birds, but it was weird to feel the movement as it happened. . . . But it wasn’t a bad kind of weird.

Sunlight streamed through leaves and shone into the clearing. Technically there were no trees near her, but many branches still stretched above and blocked the sky. It was nice to be in the shade though, especially nice when your electricity died every other day. (Even in summer! How inconsiderate.)

She looked to Blue, the other dexholder stated longingly up at the sky above. (Or rather, the leaves above.) Yellow followed his gaze, and even though she had just looked up, she caught wind of what he was feeling. He wanted to fly and so did she.

But would that even be possible? I mean, the wings were definitely big enough, but wasn’t there something about weight that had to do with this? She and Blue were not heavy, but they were human (or, she hoped so) and therefore lacked hollow bones. But as she thought about it, (Unconsciously stretching her wings as she did so.) she remembered the pain that she had felt. That combined with the weird weakness she had been trying not to think about…

It was possible.

She looked back to Blue, he had one wing folded, and the other out to the side. The blue tips of the feathers looked very pretty with the greenery around them. She smirked slightly, Blue’s name compared to his eye color was a vaguely similar situation. The thought caused her to need to stifle her laughter, but thankfully, Blue didn’t look back. (If he had, he might have spotted her blushing, and who could blame her, the wings suited him.)

. . . She hoped her own did too.

“So,” Blue awkwardly started, “Do you want to see if we can use these?” He shifted his wings and turned to face her, his face was slightly red, but Yellow guessed he was just worried.

“I mean, I would love to try, but how would it be possible?” She asked carefully, “I mean, besides actually being light enough, how would we get into the air?”

Blue pointed over her shoulder and she turned to look. Instantly, her face paled. “The roof?” She asked, “Would that even be high enough to catch ourselves?”

She whipped back around to Blue just in time to see him shrug. “I mean, it would be better than jumping off the top of a tree and not being able to catch ourselves at all,”

Yellow cringed at that, she could heal Pokemon, but people were a different story. If they fell off a tree they would probably have to go to a doctor, and that wasn’t really an option right now. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed, her own wings flopping defeatedly towards the ground, the ends of them laying decently far across the mossy forest floor.

Blue smiled and nodded, closing his eyes and turning his face to the sky as he did. Wind swept into the clearing, the leaves above shuffling violently as the air moved through them. Yellow felt her feathers shift as the wind hit them, it wasn’t uncomfortable though, a nice sort of scratching feeling. She sighed and closed her eyes too, letting the wind calm her down. She hoped it would bring her the confidence to fly.

The wind slowly ended, leaves stopping their rustling just a few moments after the air finished brushing through Yellow’s hair. Blue and Yellow stood in comfortable silence for a moment longer, Blue letting out a loud sigh at the end of it.

“Should we…” Yellow paused, her stomach suddenly full of butterflies again (but not for Blue, no, not right now.) “Should I show you how to climb to the roof?”

“No I’m good,” Blue said, starting towards the correct way up.

“Do I need to ask you how you know this?” Yellow called after him. (In truth she didn’t care that much, she knew all the secret ways into many of her friends' houses. It was just a thing you needed to know when you had to save the world every four days.)

Blue’s laugh rang back to her. “Green showed me, she seemed very proud of herself for figuring it out,”

This caused the butterflies in Yellow’s stomach to fire up again. Two pretty people knew how to get on her roof? After a moment of mildly stuned stillness, she raced after Blue, “How does she know the way onto my roof??!” she shouted, hoping her voice sounded more freaked out than embarrassed, because that’s certainly what she was catching from it.

Blue laughed again, “She didn’t disclose that to me,” he hopped to reach a low branch of a maple tree before pulling himself onto it. Wings flailed about, the right one narrowly missing the very tree he was climbing into. Yellow noticed that his arms were shaking more than they normally would, the wings were definitely throwing off his balance. She didn’t really want to know what hers would prove to mess her up with.

She was dragged out of her thoughts by Blue standing up on the branch. His wings were unevenly spread to the sides, they looked like they were trying to get his balance back. Yellow kept that in mind for her turn.

He made eye contact with her and awkwardly nodded. “I’ll just… uh, jump to the roof now,” he said, turning back to the roof in question.

She nodded, despite knowing he wasn’t looking at her anymore. “That sound good, go on,”

He did exactly that, wings folding back slightly as he moved through the air but flaring out again when he landed. She cringed at the hard landing, normally you had to roll to minimise the impact, but she guessed the wings were getinging in the way of that. Shockingly, his feet didn’t go straight through the shingles, good.

Yellow watched as he walked gingerly away from the spot, he looked slightly embarrassed about the landing.

“You coming?” He asked.

She blushed, “Yeah, just give me a moment,”

--- - - - - -

They stood vaguely next to each other on the roof, careful to stay away from the very edge, the shingles were thin there. “ The ground sure does look further away from here,” Yellow’s face paled as the thought passed across her mind. Normally the girl wasn’t afraid of heights, but this time she was planning to jump off without a Pokemon to catch her. The idea was slightly sickening.

She looked up at Blue and studied his face. He looked mostly emotionless, but there was a small bit of fear behind it. She smiled slightly, it was good to know they were in the same boat.

“No going back now,” Blue hissed, kindly taking a few more steps away before making a few practice flaps of his wings. The movements caused huge blocks of air to smack into Yellow, her hair going wild when it made contact. Blue didn’t seem to notice though.

Yellow made a few experimental beats of her own wings. The movements felt oddly natural, she realised. Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite tell if it was a “I was made to do this” natural or a “wow I didn’t throw myself off the roof' natural. She supposed both were fairly good options considering her situation.

When Blue spoke, his voice was shaky, “Do you want to go first or do I?” she looked at him again, his eyes were trained directly on the ground below. He looked worried.

Yellow inhaled sharply, this wasn’t a decision that she really wanted to make, but she wasn’t some sort of pansy flower that couldn’t make it. For just a moment, silence settled over them, but sooner rather than later she broke it, “I’ll go first,” she said quietly, turning her gaze down to her feet, the view bringing a dizzying feeling to her.

She felt Blue’s piercing gaze on her, “Are you sure?” He somehow sounded more worried than before. Her heart warmed, realising he was worried about her she looked back to him.

“Yes I’m sure,”

Yellow took a step back, tensing her legs the same way she did when jumping for Kitty to catch her. It was a practiced movement, and one she was suddenly very glad to have learned. After a second of bracing herself, she raced forwards, her feet taking three or four quick steps before the ground disappeared from beneath her. Thankfully, Yellow remembered to catch herself, wings spreading out to the sides before beating downwards with everything she had. Thankfully it worked, and she felt herself head up into the air.

Blue whooped as Yellow flapped her wings again, the movement wasn’t quite as strong as the last, but it was still enough to keep her up. She looked around the clearing area and glided around a bit, air rushing through her hair and feathers. Now this was something she felt she was meant to do.

As she flew, she tried to copy the motions of birds she had seen, flapping her wings several times before gliding for a bit. It was very tiring, but even with that, she felt she could go on forever. It was simply amazing! She swooped and dived, yelling words of joy every time she felt especially happy. Feathertips brushing the leafy cover above, an especially daring dive, an even more daring save. It was all so much fun!

But all too soon, Yellow realised she was going to have to land soon. Her entire body was starting to shake from tiredness. Worry instantly filled her as she suddenly realised she did not know how to land. She scanned the clearing, wings beating the air into a slushy as she looked for a soft spot to crash. Er, land, she was going to land with no difficulty at all.

Once she had spotted one, she aimed herself at it and attempted to fall slowly. She tried to beat her wings to keep herself afloat, but she was suddenly very aware that flapping your wings didn’t make you go down. The ground was rising up to her and she needed to do everything in her power not to break her legs.

She flailed in a way that was just slightly uncontrolled before she landed rather hard on the ground, a yelp accompanying the stabbing pain in her ankles. She stumbled and fell to her knees. She hissed at the pain, the green world spinning around her as she held her ankles. The landing process was much harder than she had given Kitty credit for, she was going to have to give the Pokemon some extra treats when she got inside.

It took a moment of ringing in her ears before she heard Blue’s voice, he was shouting to her. He sounded worried. Yellow looked up in a slow achy way, the pain in her ankles was fading slightly, but as it did the exhilaration of the moment did too and a tired ache began.

“Are you okay?!” Blue shouted, his voice was somewhere between panicked and amused. It was a normal reaction Yellow supposed, she could imagine that her crash landing would have looked funny from his perspective.

She nodded slightly before shouting back to him that she was really actually fine, but when he landed he might want to do literally anything other than what she had done. This caused Blue to actually laugh, though the sound was slightly broken, he must have been really shaken up by her little stunt.

Yellow struggled to her feet and yelled up to Blue again, “You gonna try it or should I go inside?!”

--- - - - - -

The two glided through the air, wings beating the clear substance and sending them both twirling into the sky. The dance was elaborate, wingtips just barely brushing as they dove and spun through the clouds. It was amazing what a few weeks of practice could do.

Yellow’s hair whipped around her face and she made a particularly fast spin, only briefly checking if she was high enough before folding her wings into her body and diving. The air wooshed past her at an unbelievable speed as she aimed towards the ground. “On your left!” she heard Blue shout, the words seemed to be ripped away from her ears almost immediately, but she had been expecting them.

She veered to the right and caught herself, wings spreading out and cutting though the clouds like butter. A loud woosh of air passed her as Blue dove. She circled around, watching as the man’s wings spread out, the blue feather tips standing out against even the sky. (They were Mega Pidgeot wings, both Blue and Scizor had agreed on that.)

She laughed as Blue started to circle below her, his cloak was nestled awkwardly between his wings, she hadn’t noticed it until now.

“What?” He shouted up to her, green eyes making contact with her own yellow ones.

“I didn’t realize you were still wearing that cloak!” She yelled down, laughing. It shook her stance slightly and she beat her wings once to recover.

Blue flapped his wings to get up to her, settling in on the outside of her circle. “What else was I meant to do with it?” He laughed, the sound purly full of playful joy, “I didn’t want anyone to take it,”

Yellow shook her head teasingly, “Charizard and Kitty are right down there to guard it,”

Blue pointed below them, “No they aren’t,” he stated, wings beating gently enough to hold him kind of sort of next to her. She flapped her own and looked down to see Charizard and Kitty flying towards them. She could also see Chu-Chu sitting on Charizard’s back, the little pokemon holding Yellow’s hat tightly in her paws.

She sighed and brought one hand to her head, pinching the skin she found there in a mock attempt to look annoyed. “Now who is guarding my cloak?” She laughed

Charizard’s roaring answer told her that Scizor was down there stil, perfectly happy to keep his feet right on the ground. Yellow nodded, thanking the dragon for his attention to detail. “That’s smart,” she whispered, Blue’s laughing drowning out the sentence from reaching the pokemon it had been meant to. Didn’t matter though.

“Kitty!” Yellow shouted, beating her wings and cupping her hands to her mouth, “Do you want to join us?” The little bug Pokemon was lagging slightly behind Charizard now, and a violent shaking of their head told Yellow that it didn’t want to get hit by any wings.

“That’s fine! She yelled, smiling encouragingly, “Just have fun and don’t get lost okay?”

As soon as she spotted the Pokemon nodding, the dance began again. It was crazy how much could change so fast, she thought as she twirled towards the sun. Wings, the ability to fly, the ability to be good at it, and… she looked at Blue. Love.

The two dove and spun in unison. (Charizard following close behind them and snickering slightly, Yellow ignored him.) In their weeks of practicing, Blue and Yellow had shared lots of time together, and as many non-aromatic people did, gradually fell in love. It was rather fast in the terms of just their learning to fly, but throughout their whole lives, they both had to admit it had been coming.

Yellow fell through the air, throwing her head back before flipping onto her back and catching herself. She watched as Blue did something similar, but he somehow ended up making a full flip in the air. Yellow laughed at this before turning back onto her stomach and chasing after him. This could go on forever.

--- - - - - -

They landed gracefully, the loud thump on Charizard hitting the ground shaking the area reaching their ears a second later. (It wasn't in a “crash” sort of way, more like a large animal jumping off a log into a mushy pond sort of way. But either way, Chu-Chu didn’t really seem to appreciate it that much, loud high pitched squeaking filling the air.) Yellow looked up to see Kitty fluttering down to her, the bug Pokemon looking very happy with themselves, Yellow agreed with that sentiment, flying sure was fun.

She turned to Blue and saw him talking happily to Charizard, the orange fire type responding with grunts and roars that Blue could understand with context clues. Yellow however could actually understand the dragon. It was cool that Blue could guess what he was saying though.

A small patterning of feet headed towards Yellow and she turned to it, not at all surprised to see Chu-Chu happily running up to her. Her fur was very puffy, likely trying to warm up slightly, Yellow could feel her own feathers doing the same, it was a bit of a mood actually.

“Hi Chu-Chu!” Did you have fun?” Yellow asked, kneeling on the rocky ground and scooping up the Pikachu. The yellow Pokemon instantly responded, her chirps and squeaks telling Yellow exactly what had happened, complaining about how cold the sky was but praising it all the same.

Yellow laughed and patted Chu-Chu on the head, a happy purring sound rewarding her.

Chu-Chu held out Yellow’s hat, the new feathers in it brushing gently against Yellow’s face before she grabbed it. One a soft yellow and the other blue tipped. It was great what you could do with your own fallen out feathers.

“Thank’s Chu-Chu,” she smiled, reaching up to put the hat on her head. It fit over her messed up hair perfectly, hiding the absolute rats rest she was going to have to deal with later. She tried not to worry about it, but it turned out she didn’t need to try not to.

Two beeps rang through the clearing and the two Dexholders looked down at their communicators. Yellow took a step tward’s Blue before checking hers, she wanted to see if Blue had gotten the same one.

It was from Red, and, after a moment of checking, she realised it was in the Kanto dexholder group chat. Maybe she hadn’t needed to stand next to Blue for this. However, before she could get to actually reading the message, she heard Blue’s barking laughter right in her ear.

She turned to look at him, and was met instead by his communicator shoved in her face. She took a moment to read the message and then another to process it. Her eyes widened and she put her head in her hands, “Oh no…” she groaned.

Blue just continued laughing, “Oh no is right!” He read the message allowed and again the panicked words of the red eyed dexholder reached her, how had this happened? How had all three of them grown wings? She thought to herself.

A second ding caused her to look down again, it was Green this time, agreeing with Red. Scratch Yellow’s original thought, how had all four of them grown wings?!

“Well,” Blue said, wiping a joyful tear from his eye and putting his communicator down, “This is going to be fun!”

Yellow shook her head, laughing as she turned to him. “Come on you stupid fire type,” she teased him.

He grinned, “How about you, you silly electric trainer?”

She faked a frown and stood taller. Blue leaned towards her slightly and- it happened. Yellow grabbed Blue’s hand and stayed that way for a moment, Chu-Chu’s squeaky laughter interrupting them rudely as they kissed. She pulled away and glared playfully at the Pokemon before turning to smile at the taller trainer, “I love you,” she whispered.

He simply smiled in response.

Notes:

If the romance felt forced, that's because it was, I ship these two, but I don't know how romantic attraction works at all. It's just not something I'm good at. Sorry I don't know how to write Pokémon battles, and I also don't know the Pokémon's move sets lol. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. :D

#feelingshipping #trainer blue #trainer yellow #wing au #pokespe #pokespe wing au #pokemon adventures #pokemon special #focused #flying #fanfic #pokespe chuchu

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pangolinheart · 2 years ago

Note

Tell me all the things that are cool about Rhiki.

Okay, so I've been sitting on this for a while because I couldn't immediately think of anything that made Rhiki cool. So I gave it a little bit of time, but in the end... I still wasn't able to think of anything. ^^; I guess I just don't see her as a very cool character, so it's also hard to imagine what other people would find cool about her. But! Since I can't really answer your original ask I will give you a few random facts, some behind-the scenes stuff, and a few fic ideas i'll almost certainly never write.

Some random facts - Rhiki likes climbing and being in high places. She just likes the view. She likes looking out over the world and seeing how big it is. - She's a terrible teacher. She does have a few skills, but it's difficult to impart them to others. She's surprisingly good at cooking, though she has very little in the way of formal training, and seems to just have an instinct for what flavors pair well, or what spices could enhance a dish, or what cooking method would result in the right taste and consistency. But if she's asked to explain how she knows these things, she really can't. (She hasn't really done much cooking since she became the WoL for a variety of reasons.) Dragooning is the same. She doesn't know how she does it, she just does it. Being asked to tutor Heustienne was a disaster. ("Uhhhhmmm what if you started the jump with your legs... like this? ... No that was worse actually. Don't do that again. Uhhhhh give me a second I'm sure I can-") - Rhiki likes teasing people, though she's careful not to be mean about it. Way back in ARR (before I knew anything about SHB lol) she would occasionally "slip up" and call Thancred "Dad." This was 100% intentional because she liked watching his facial expressions as he contemplated the fact she thought he was old enough to be her father. Any time he did something that annoyed her she would make a mental note to do it again at some random interval in the future. - She likes things that are cute, but her definition of cute is extremely broad. She thinks tonberries are cute. She thinks goobues are cute, she thinks demon bricks are cute (rhiki it's just a cube...)

Some behind-the-scenes facts - Earlier in the game, with her first haircut, her hair was actually purple and orange. But with the different highlight style of the pvp cut the contrast was way too stark. So I changed it to purple and light pink to try and keep with the general theme. I like to think it still has some orange pieces. I never thought of an in-universe explanation for why it changed. - I thought about changing part of Rhiki's appearance to commemorate merging with Ardbert, but I couldn't think of anything other than changing one of her eyes to be blue, which would kind of mess with the aesthetic. - (!drk questline spoilers!) I've discovered that when most people think of/write about/draw Esteem, they give them Fray's body. I understand why they continue to take this form after the level 50 quest in-game (because having one consistent character model is way easier for future cutscenes and the Living Shadow ability than trying to rig up a mirror version of the player character for those things) but when I picture Esteem, or Esteem interacting with Rhiki, I picture them as just another version of Rhiki, maybe wearing different armor (the Virtu Chaos set maybe?) - Related to the above, there are a few dream commissions that I'll probably never get because they would be expensive. One of them would be some sort of cathartic scene with Rhiki and Esteem. Another one I would love to get if money were no option is a character design commission for a Sin Eater/ Lightwarden version of Rhiki. (I just think a lot of the sin eater concepts are really cool and while I don't want any other major characters to turn into sin eaters... i kinda want to see what it would look like if they did!)

And here are a few fic ideas that I had but will probably never write for one reason or another - An shb AU where Rhiki does become a Lightwarden after absorbing Innocence, but because of (reasons) Esteem and Myste are kind of jettisoned out of Rhiki's soul before the full transformation takes place. They don't have much power on their own, but stick around to assist whoever comes to slay (save?) Rhiki. (I was thinking Sid and Rielle but I couldn't think of any way that didn't sound super hand-wavey to get them to the first.) Or, in Esteem's case, maybe watch one of the Scions get eaten as a consolation prize. I ended up giving up on this idea because there were so many things I didn't have an answer for (what characters would I use if I can't think of a way for characters from the Source to come from the first? Wouldn't anyone else who slew a lightwarden just become one, defeating the purpose? How would anyone without the blessing of light go about slaying a lightwarden? etc.) I also couldn't think of a satisfying ending to it. - A modern AU told through messages left on an answering machine. I never went anywhere with this one because I kind of knew how it was going to end, but I had no idea what to put between the beginning and the end lol. - Another AU based loosely on the concept of The Dragon Song Reprise (which I haven't actually played...) where Rhiki goes back in time to save Haurchefant and succeeds. But if Haurchefant never dies, Rhiki never becomes a Dark Knight, which she realizes a little too late. Which means Sid is on his own in protecting Rielle, which it's implied that he might not be able to do. So that sends Rhiki on a mad dash to save Sid and Rielle while also trying to avoid other unintended consequences of changing the past. Once again I had a handful of scenes for this one but no real substance and I had no idea what direction to take it in.

#ffxiv #asks and answers #rambling #rhiki tag #i was going to post this last night but my queue for paradigm's breach popped #it's for the best though #since today is maint day and i'm bored

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nei-ning · 2 years ago

Text

I had 2 dreams last night.

In first I was visiting some old family mansion (finnish styled, made of wood). It had been in this family for hundreds of years. I had brown haired woman with me who introduced me the place. We never went in since we walked outside on this family graveyard. She told me it’s been there since 1700 century and it looked like that too! Ground and most tombstones were worn out, covered in moss more or less. There were few people, dressed in old style, who were cleaning the graveyard and tombstones. There also was a bigger pond and there was this one fish, Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens), deep blue in colors. Plus it was BIG. At the edge of the pond stood small Japanese kid who grabbed the fish, going to eat it. I rushed to him, slapping him on the hands with firm “No.”. He did grab the fish again, trying to eat it a second time and again I slapped him and told no, saving the fish. Dark skinned man with long hair (dreadlocks) slid there while sitting on the ground, looking shocked. He started to lecture the child. Apparently the pond and the fish were sacred. That’s why the pond itself was heck dirty, not being cleaned ever - probably. None didn’t dare to go touch it.

Second dream was longer but I try to keep it short. In this dream I was in my grandmother’s home (mom’s mom) but she didn’t live there anymore. Instead her son did. I went out, ending up in this small room with chairs being lined against the walls. The room was triangle shaped with little old light. At one corner of the chairs sat some of my old friends who asked me to sit down with them since there was a free chair. I was going to but then I realized (or heard) Billy Idol speaking there. Naturally he had the chair under the ceiling light so that people could see him. I wentured in another corner, finding a chair right opposite to him - and I sat down. He instantly noticed me, making eye contact.

He stood up, walking to me with a smile. He didn’t even greet me, but he bend down towards me, giving me lottory ticket (where you mark 7 numbers etc.). With soft and kind voice he told me to write down my name. He wanted to see if it matched with my signatured / email address what he already had (don’t know where he had got it!). I wrote my name and email address on the paper while he, paper being upside down towards him, wrote his own signature so easily! And on a right way too! :D

He was most happy to notice my signature / email matches with the one he had so he took me with him. We came down the stairs to front door and there was a pile of wooden boxes, open metal cage box on top of it. In the “box” were some of his mercs like wallets, magnets etc. I instantly spotted yellow wallet with hilarious Gudetama pics on it with Idol’s face pics. I laughed at it so hard, saying to him I will take it, no matter what it costs. I opened the wallet to check it better - because to me there HAS TO be this one spot where you can put picture inside it (I have Gan Ning’s pic in my wallet, ahah!). There was at least 3 of those spots and the wallet overall was very cute and handy. Inside the wallet was few little figures. I think there was 3 or 4 of them. But the one which I was worried about was a dog. I asked Idol if it truly comes with the wallet like other magnets or has someone put it in there and I need to pay about it too. He took the dog and took me to a machine were you could check the price. He tried it few times, finally stating it has a price of it’s own (6€). However he wasn’t pleased when an error like this had happened. The dog should had been either free since it was inside the wallet OR it shouldn’t had been placed in the wallet to begin with.

He then took me back to my grandmother’s house. I instantly and eagerly went in the living room, starting to carve something. I noticed him watching me with a smile and I heard his thoughts: “Works so hard.” and then he faded into the shadows of the hallway.

Now my uncle came to me to make sure I was really me. I had some messy purple paint on my face and hands so he checked them, then sighing in relief that it was real me. He could figure it out by the paint. Without it, probably not. At some point I noticed melted chocolate piece of the floor, stating I will clean it away but I think my uncle didn’t let me. Either it was a memory of grandma or he had tried to clean it away already, but it didn’t. At one point I went in to the kitchen, noticing grandmom’s bedroom door was closed (it was right next to kitchen). A woman sat on the couch in the kitchen and stated firmly I was not allowed to go in there. I then realized grandmom’s dead body was there. I started to do the dishes or something else and then I started to hear sounds from real world, waking up.

#text #dream #neis dream #Billy Idol

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henchladyart · 2 years ago

Text

Rating The New MH Designs Out of Ten

(Because I’m bored)

1. Clawdeen (3/10)

The design isn’t necessarily bad but it just doesn’t scream ‘werewolf’

Missing bold furs and animal print and overall .‘fierceness’

Clairescore

Like I know that this is a reboot and that I shouldn’t expect the characters the stay or look the same but this is just so bland and underwhelming. The reason Shadow High is so popular (and why MH was so beloved) was because of the high fashion. This isn’t giving any of that

Also those glasses are fking ugly

I like the fur detail I guess

2. Draculaura (7/10)

Definitely one of the better designs (though it’s kinda hard to mess up Draculaura).

I love the sun hat with the spider web details and the split dyed hair. Super cute and modern take on her OG style

Outfit is cute but again, just kinda underwhelming. Missing that high fashion element that fashion dolls are known for.

Wish they leaned in more into the Victorian aesthetic

Not mad overall.

3. Frankie (5/10)

I don’t mind the minty skin tone, I think it looks nice

The outfit is just kinda missing that preppy smart vibe. Again, just kinda boring

They’re missing their neck bolts which is like????? It’s a hallmark Frankenstein trait in Western media. Why wouldn’t they include that?

Some of those colours are kind of an eye sore

I like the buzz cut and the eyebrow piercing though

Also the detail of their bone showing

4. Deuce (8/10)

Loving the green skin

Also I love how they kept that douchey bro vibe

He just looks really cool

Also loving the black nail polish

T-shirt kinda ugly

5. Cleo (8/10)

I love the blue on her

Also the gold streaks and bandages are just fab

And her makeup is gorgeous

Also that golden undertone to her skin? *chef’s kiss*

She looks too much like a 13 year old girl when she should be in her mid teens. This is kind of an issue with all the ghouls but it feels more blatant here.

6. Lagoona (7/10)

Love the sporty attire

The ponytail and the Pearl hair clips are adorable

I know that everyone is all up and in arms about Lagoona’s design but I think it fits her personality really well and she’s genuinely one of the prettier designs, IMO

Why isn’t she blue?

7. Heath (2/10)

They really just gave up here

No comment

8. Torelai (9/10)

She dresses like a cool mom

Love the 2yk look

Like Draculaura, it’s kinda hard to mess up Torelei. Cat characters tend to look good bu default.

I wish the other characters were more like this

9. Headmistress Bloodgood (8/10)

Definitely the truest to the original design

She just looks really cool and I love the pink and purple hair

Wish she was a little more spooky looking

#monster high #mh #draculaura #clawdeen wolf #frankie stein #deuce gorgon #lagoona blue #torelai stripe #heath burns #cleo de nile

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anyoneseenadam · 4 years ago

Note

Hey! I love your writing so much! Would you be open to write something about Azriel with a fae in Velaris who his shadows actively seek out and he has no idea why. I imagine that she works at a large library and that's where they meet because Azriel would go to figure out what was so special about her. Thanks!

pairing: azriel x reader (acotar)

warnings: implied smut, drinking, men being gross at bars (doesn’t go into detail), mainly just fluff and awkwardness though :)))

a/n: I rlly like this one so I hope you do to!! comments are always appreciated, hope you enjoy <3

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

Azriel was standing with Cassian in a small street in Velaris. The ground beneath him was cobbled and all the houses in this area were brightly coloured, the sun seeming to shine brighter over them. They were waiting for Mor as she demanded they help her buy Rhysand a birthday present, desperate to get someone, anyone a good present. She was in a small local shop after Cassian suggested that he would love something from any small business and Cassian let out a groan as he realised she had wandered deeper into the shop. They had already been waiting twenty minutes for her.

“I’m going to drag her out,” Cassian said pushing off the wall and Azriel huffed a breath through his nose.

“Please be quick, don’t let her scare you into staying.” Cassian threw a rude symbol over his shoulder and Azriel grinned reservedly.

He let his gaze travel over more of the houses, his gaze catching on a white house with blue accents, and a blue balcony where a girl sat sipping an orange drink from a large glass and reading a book. He observed her for a while, she was sat curled in a straw chair with a colourful cushion and there was soft music coming from her house, her hair was down and natural and her face was clear of makeup as she soaked in the sun, wearing a males oversized shirt and some knee high socks.

Feeling his stare on her she looked up, grinning cheekily at him when he flushed red and lifting her glass to him in greeting. He was saved from further embarrassment though when Cassian came out, dragging a triumphant Mor who was holding up a purple, silk shirt and bottle of wine. Cassian made a gagging face behind her back as she linked arms with both of them, dragging them down the road and chatting their ears off about the kind old lady from the shop.

As they left Azriel dared a final glance over his shoulder to the girl from the balcony who was still watching him, cocking her head, and waving as he left. As they walked home, choosing to enjoy the sun, he heard nothing of what Mor said, completely focused on the girl from the balcony.

When they got home Mor winnowed away to hide her present and Cassian made a comment about Mor’s unique ability to always get horrendous presents. They walked through the door and Feyre instantly looked up from her spot of the sofa, gaze narrowing at Azriel.

“You look different.” She said and Rhys looked up too, frowning when he saw Feyre was right.

“What did you change?” he asked as Amren walked into the room, her head tilting.

“Nothing.” He said defensively as everyone stared at him, not enjoying the way everyone was looking at him now and wishing he could be alone to daydream about the pretty girl he had seen.

“Haircut?” suggested Nesta but he shook his head.

“I haven’t changed anything!” Mor was back now too and had joined in staring, gasping when she realised.

“Where are your shadows?!”

“Ohhhhhhh, that’s it,” Cassian said, sitting down next to his mate as Azriel felt for the shadows that followed him, feeling a rush of white-hot panic shoot through him when he couldn’t feel them.

“Wait what? Where are they then?” Rhys asked and he shook his head, searching for them and frowning when he felt them far away.

“They’re still in Velaris, they must have just stayed somewhere,” he tried to explain.

“Is there another shadow singer in Velaris?” Amren asked and Rhys shook his head.

“Not that we know of,” Azriel felt a flood of relief as his shadows flew back in, almost sheepishly and settled around him, whispering complaints and apologies, as he wondered what had kept them.

You had frowned when the handsome, winged male had left, rather enjoying the eye candy. Your friend walked back outside and took her seat opposite you, as you placed down your book and picked up your Apperol Spritz.

“You just missed the hottest male I’ve ever seen.” You said, laughing at her as her face fell completely.

“Why didn’t you shout for me!” she screeched, and you flung an olive pit at her head,

“He would have heard me idiot!”

“Well did you at least get a name?”

“No but I made prolonged eye contact and I think he got the message.”

“The message being?”

“That I would like to marry him and have his babies.”

“Ah makes sense,” you were laughing together as she carried on with the story she had been telling you about the cute Faerie at her work when you felt a cold feeling settle around you, strange given you were still sat in the sun. She stopped talking, giving you a weird look.

“How are you doing that?” she asked as you shrugged.

“I’m not,” the feeling moved, and you realised you were surrounded by shadows, alike the handsome man you had just seen. Your initial anxiety slipped away as they started playing with your hair and caressing your skin alike a lover would. “Hot boy had shadows like this,” you commented, and your friend gasped, eyes wide and a hand over her heart as she sighed.

“Maybe you’re mates!” you rolled your eyes, relaxing into the shadows touch.

“I don’t think my commitment issues can take that,” you joked, and it was her turn to roll her eyes.

“That cynicism is going to be the death of you,” she said in a singsong voice before downing her gin, “Now onto important matters, Rita’s or The Marine?”

Two hours later you were completely dolled up, lips red and eyeliner smudged, heeled boots elongating your legs and your all-black outfit making you look intimidating enough that you wouldn’t be bothered by gross men.

“We’re fae, why do you dress like a vampire,” your friend asked, the two of you already slightly buzzed from pre’s.

“Cause vampires are hot and I’m hot so it’s a match made in heaven.”

“Also she has a blood kink!” your roommate shouted from the bathroom and you threw a shoe at her.

“Bitch.” You said, laughing as she came out and the three of you stood to leave.

“Am I wrong?” she asked, and you shoved her, muttering a small no under your breath.

The three of you made your way to Rita’s and got in the queue. You leaned against the cold, brick wall when you saw him again, similarly dressed in all black and somehow looking even better under the light of the moon, his tanned skin glowing in the pale light. He caught your eyes, his face barely changing as he lifted his hand in a half wave, you nodded your head up with a smirk. Your friends followed your gaze, both gasping slightly as they caught sight of him at the end of the queue with his friends.

“Is that hot boy?!”

“Uh huh,” you smiled cheekily at her, “And I call dibs.”

“I get why you want to have his babies,”

“Wait you know him?” your roommate asked, and you shrugged with a smile. “How the fuck do you know the high lords shadow singer?”

“I get around,”

“He was outside earlier today,” your friend translated as the three of you moved into the club, instantly heading to the bar for more drinks.

“That too I guess, shots?” the three of you ordered six vodka shots and you laughed at your friends’ reactions to them.

“How do you enjoy this,” your roommate squealed as you tipped your head back, smiling at the familiar burn.

“Feels good,” you said, taking your second.

“Sadist.”

Azriel couldn’t believe his eyes. There you were again, your bare face swapped for dark makeup, and loose clothes swapped for a dress he desperately wanted to see on his floor. At first he wasn’t even sure it was the same girl, your style so different, but it was. And he had waved. No cool head tilt like the one you gave him, no sultry eyes, and pouting lips, just a stupid wave. And then you had laughed with your friends and he decided he needed the sound bottled, something to keep with him at all times.

You had walked inside without so much as a second glance and Azriel had to refrain himself from slamming his head against the wall.

“Who were you waving at?” Amren asked, the small women appearing next to him.

“Just someone I met earlier.” He didn’t want to get into the details, especially not around Cassian who would tease him relentlessly if he heard. Amren, thankfully, dropped it as they moved into Rita’s, his eyes instantly finding you at the bar, two empty shot glasses next to you as you laughed with your friends.

He moved with his family to a table that pretty remained reserved for them as Rita came to get them some drinks and see if they wanted food. He only half listened, ordering a Scotch as he watched you as you and your friends moved to dance together, completely enamoured by you despite not having said anything to you.

Eventually he pulled his eyes away and focused on his friends and his drink as they laughed into the small hours of the night. He kept stealing glances at you, his grip on his glass tightening when he saw you leaning against the bar waiting for drinks as a male leaned too close to you. He almost stood to intervene when saw you lean in close to the man, meeting Azriel’s eyes over his shoulder and whispering in his ear. Azriel wished he could hear what you said but you were too far away, and the music was too loud, but whatever it was, the male turned white and scampered away, almost tripping over his feet as you giggled.

When it happened this time he noticed, feeling the coolness of his shadows leave and he watched as they travelled over to you, wrapping around you, and making you look like an angel of death. You turned and caught his eyes, winking at him before grabbing the tray of drinks the bartender had laid out for you and sauntering over to your friends.

“Is she a shadow singer?” Feyre asked, following his gaze and he shook his head, feeling a smile come over his face as he watched you interact with your drunk friends.

“No I think they just like her,” his high lady smiled at him,

“You mean you like her,”

“I haven’t even spoken to her.” He said drily and Nesta leaned over,

“Love at first sight,” she said in a singsong voice making him roll his eyes.

“This isn’t a romance book,” he said, huffing as a crowd moved in front of you and he couldn’t see you anymore.

“You tell yourself that,” Feyre said, patting his knee.

An hour later, when most the club was empty, you were standing, swaying slightly with your friend leaning on you.

“No baby, no more you’ll throw up again,” he heard you coo as she reached for a drink that was left on someone table. She huffed but you passed her into the arms of your other friend, and he sat up straight when he realised you were coming over to him.

You bowed your head slightly at Rhys and Feyre as all his friends turned to stare at you, your gaze unfaltering and your back straight as you looked at him.

“I think these belong to you,” you said, gesturing to the shadows swirling around your arms.

He tried to fight his blush, pulling them back in, “Yeah, thanks..?” he trailed off and you finished for him.

“(y/n).”

“Azriel.”

“Well Azriel,” his name sounded divine on your tongue, and you shot him another half-smile, “see you around.”

The next day, he was up only three hours after he fell asleep, desperate to find you. He wandered into town, usual leathers swapped for a white shirt collar peeking out of a dark sweater, his hands tucked into his pockets as he found himself wandering down your cobblestoned street. He looked up to your balcony and considered throwing rocks at the glass doors like in one of Nesta’s romance novels but paused when he saw all the lights were turned off.

Instead he chose to wander into the shop Mor had been in the previous day. The room smelt old, and he could see the dust moving in the morning light as he walked in. An old lady was behind the counter and she smiled as she recognised him.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked as he came to stand in front of her.

“I actually had a question,” she motioned for him to continue, “Do you know where I could find (y/n)?” he asked, and she smiled a knowing smile.

“Interested in my granddaughter are you?” she asked, eyes sparkling and Azriel rubbed the back of his neck, smiling nervously, “She works at the library in the square, I’m sure you’ll find her there.”

He thanked her and she waved him away, knowing she would get to hear all the details next Wednesday when the two of you met for tea. But until then she was happy to watch the handsome man leave to find you.

He flew to the library that your grandmother had mentioned and walked in. This was always one of his favourite places to come in the city. The bookshelves were tall and overflowing, candles covered the room, and there were huge glass windows on the far wall that cast the room in planes of light. He walked around for a while, letting his shadows lead him until he found you with a pile of books in your arms that you were going to return.

You smiled when you saw him, dressed in a black dress with lots of daisies on it that went halfway down your calf, a black cardigan, and black boots. Your hair was held back in a low bun, but you had strands falling out making you look impossibly cute, and he almost said as much as he moved to take some books from your arms.

“So are you stalking me now?” you had asked cheekily, and he stammered when he realised just how weird he looked.

“No, no I…”

“Relax I’m teasing, I’m glad you’re here actually.”

“You are?” he asked, relaxing slightly as you stood on your tiptoes to put a book on a shelf.

“Yes, you’re very pretty,” he laughed, and you smiled at him, your eyes creasing.

“Well so are you,” he replied as you turned to face him, “But you do keep stealing my shadows and I’m wondering why that is?”

“I’m stealing them am I? I just presumed that you were very mean to them and they wanted someone else,”

“They’re spoiled,” he joked, watching as they trailed up your arms and you giggled,

“You speak about them like they’re pets.”

“You’d be surprised how accurate that actually is,” he muttered as you moved to the next aisle and your laughter bounced of the walls, wincing slightly due to your drinking induced headache.

He went to help you with more books when his fingers touched your hand and the word hit him, mate. You looked up at him shocked before giggling.

“I guess that’s what the shadows meant,” you let out an ‘oomph’ as suddenly the shadows shot forward, pushing you into his chest and Azriel looked at you.

“I have a mate.” He repeated to himself.

“And I have commitment issues so this might be rough,”

“It’s fine I have attachment issues,” he replied, unable to stop the smile forming on his face, “Match made in heaven.”

“More like hell,” you joked as he leaned down to you.

“Can I kiss you?” he practically whispered, lips almost touching yours as his wings circled the two of you. You nodded slightly and the two of you stumbled back from the force of the kiss, his hands gripping your waist tightly as yours wove into his hair, grinning against his mouth.

“Azriel,” you muttered between kisses, pulling back slightly only to just be pulled right back in. You repeated his name again, successfully pulling away this time as his lips attached to your neck.

“Az, we’re in a public library.”

“So?”

“So we can continue this when I’m off work,” you shoved him off with a laugh as he grumbled, before pulling you in for a final kiss.

“What time?” he asked.

“My shift ends at three,” you smiled as he looked at the clock.

“It’s only eight,”

“Maybe wait at your house,” you laughed at his expression, pressing a chaste kiss to his mouth before walking off, shooting him a smirk over you shoulder.

Only six hours, fifty-nine minutes left.

#acofas #acomaf #acotar #azriel #azriel x reader #acowar #acofs #acosf #rhysand

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rodeoxqueen · 4 years ago

Note

Can you do more head cannons of The DMC boys taking care of their baby girl???

Howdy,

I do not think I’ve written headcanons of Dante, Vergil, Nero, and V with a baby daughter? Well, no time like the present.

Enjoy,

Rodeo

Dante

“Baby. Baby girl. Baaaaaby!” Dante calls as his daughter, white-haired and arms covered in baby fat, gurgles with joy.

Literally the love of his life. The babe looks just like him, with white hair and blue eyes.

Lady and Trish adore the baby girl and do not trust him to dress their niece cutely. So they spend all his money buying the cutest little shoes and dresses. The baby fever is so bad for them.

Dante is so protective of his little demon child. He duct tapes all the sharp corners in his shop. It’s Hello-Kitty and red duct tape. It’s such an eye-sore but he’s so proud of himself.

He doesn’t use her crib. Every night, his daughter cries when he puts her in the crib. He ends up taking her to his bed, her little body resting on his chest, moving to the rising and falling of his form.

They eat meals together, both covered in bits of food. Messy eaters, the two of them. Dante always seems to eat incredibly leaned back and his daughter copies him, leaning to the back of the baby seat with her little feet crossed.

She loves sundaes and slaps the table when she can’t get any. Dante can’t resist giving her the strawberries to gnaw on.

“Shithead! You’re going to give her cavities!”

“Nero, she doesn’t even have teeth yet.”

Sometimes they just nod at each other.

“Hey, boss lady.”

“Dah.”

“Very nice.”

He gets a tactical baby carrier, much to everyone’s disgust.

His little baby girl is often found latched onto his leg, cooing and refusing to leave from her father’s proximity.

Vergil tries to hold her and she cries immediately. It’s because Vergil looks like a very serious Dante and that doesn’t sit right with her.

The twins tried dressing the same and brushing their hair the same style to see what she would do. She keeps pointing to the other and saying “da-da” and grabbing at the other twin. Eventually, she starts fussing.

Well actually, demon children can detect parental pheromones. She likely figures out who is who very soon and will not unlatch from her demon daddy.

“She’s got quite a grip,” Vergil comments as blood soaks into Dante’s shirt where her hands clung to him.

“Her claws came in early.” His brother grunts. His hands aren’t even on her, she is completely supporting herself with her little devil hands.

Dante will walk out of the house with his hair done like his child’s. The last thing a demon sees is the merciless face of Hello Kitty on a barrette on Dante’s head. It’s quite frankly scarier than anything else.

See Exhibit C-(credited to @aztarion)

Vergil

“This is my daughter. If anything happens to her, I will kill Dante and everyone else in this room and then I will kill Dante again.”

“Vergil what.”

This man does not use babytalk. He talks to her in complete sentences with words Dante doesn’t even know, his child babbling in return.

“Child, I grow quite jaded by this tirade. Either participate in nap time or stay put, I shall not heed your intentions to stay up.”

“Abababa!”

“I will not tolerate your churlishness.”

He does his best to dress her in blue. They match all the time.

He isn’t great with doing hair that isn’t his. His daughter has all her hair swept back like her old man. She copies him, slapping her forehead and swiping her stray strands of hair back. He smirks at her likeness.

Vergil had to be taught how to change a diaper by Nero.

No baby carrier, he will hold her to his waist at all times and she chews on the handle of the Yamato. He just lets her.

He doesn’t buy her toys, everyone else does.

“Child, you must stop collecting tributary from your relatives.”

“Bababababa.”

Vergil does not trust those two women with his child. However, he finds his daughter points to Trish and makes grabbing motions. Trish coos at her in her slender arms and laughs when she chews her hair, his daughter gripping Lady’s finger in her other hand. Vergil stops, and realizes-

This is the closest he will ever see his mother hold his child. He finds he does not mind it.

Vergil’s daughter is protected by his doppelganger, who moves stuff out of her crawling path and ensures she doesn’t bump her little head.

He also does not use the crib. But he tried. His baby daughter cried and reached for him, her little face scrunched up with sadness.

“It is for your own good. You must be independent. The world is a hard place, sleeping alone is the least you can do.”

The baby continues to cry and Vergil relents, eyes soft as he takes her back. He holds her the entire night.

“Perhaps just this once, my little lamb.”

All grown up, his daughter will find her baby photos in a neat scrapbook, all images were taken by Dante of Vergil holding her every night.

Nero

Youngest dad here, quite frankly the most competent.

He grew up taking care of other kids, no matter how punk rock he is, his instincts to take care of kids shine through.

She has a black pacifier that’s shaped like a skull.

He is so clingy to this little girl, knowing how he grew up with no parents.

His little girl is always with him. If not, she’s with Kyrie. She has to be convinced to go play with other children.

“Hey, can an uncle hold his niece-”

“Frick off, I’m her dad.”

“Censoring yourself, are we?”

He gives up swearing near her. That swear jar paid for a new school building next to the orphanage.

Nero melts when his little girl scratches her nose the way he always does. Some things are just genetic.

His little girl has his temper. She kicks and screams and slaps him when he doesn’t give her what she wants, although she is an angel in general.

His kid is the first one to fully trigger, a very angry and blue one-year-old with horns and astral wings, literally bursting with demonic energy and snarling. Nero sheds a tear in pride after she slashes the side of his face. A bag of frozen peas in hand, he looks at her with joy.

“She’s going to be so kick-butt. Just like me, huh?”

His daughter is tolerant of her grandfather. In the arms of Vergil, she glares back at him.

“She will be a very strong Sparda,” Vergil comments as she rips a button off his jacket.

Nero is so soft with this baby girl. He’ll scream at Dante and his father seven ways till Sunday but coo in baby talk with her.

He sings her to bed the classics.

“But I’m a creep, I am a weirdo. I don’t belong here…..” Nero rocks his daughter side to side as she softly breathes.

“N-Nero?” Kyrie asks from the doorway. He casts her a glance.

“It’s Radiohead.” He says before returning to his loving mumbles. Kyrie sighs.

“Oh my darling. Look at you, little star.” He beams as he taps her little nose. Her hair is white just like his when Nightmare is unbound.

He adores her, this little crawling bundle of joy.

Cane in one hand, he holds his child in the other.

“Wow V, human babies sure are squishy looking gremlins.”

“Griffon-”

“In a good way!”

The two other familiars are also dedicated to his daughter. Shadow likes to clean her with her tongue, causing her hair to stick up in all directions.

Griffon collects things that are shiny and gifts them to her little fat baby hands.

Unfortunately, babies are very grabby little people. Griffon caused a power outage one time because the little starling pulled his tail feathers out in curiosity.

Of course, V reads to his child his poetry. It’s the only way she can be put to sleep.

She fusses and V simply holds her up and asks her what the matter is. She babbles and squirms and V does his best to understand baby talk.

He lets people hold her, although he is nearly inches away to retrieve her in case she is displeased.

Dante is the favorite uncle and she loves to play peek-a-boo with him.

V nearly keels over one day when she managed to absorb Shadow, soft baby skin decorated by black spider lilies. She returns Shadow in the form of a kitten although the big cat quickly turns back into a grown panther.

She tried it with Griffon. Yes, of course he pops out again a swearing baby chicken.

“My dear, what on earth?”

“Da-da!”

She pulls on V’s hair, threading her fingers through the midnight strands. She also puts her hand on his gently-sloping nose. He doesn’t mind it, although her fingers can be sticky.

He keeps a little bell on his cane to waggle over her head when she is bored. She loves it and reaches her little hands to the sound. She likes to take his rings and clink them together.

Sometimes, he gives up and just eats the same baby food she does.

He’s a very patient father, although she can easily exhaust him with all the demands.

“The queen reigns over all.” V muses as she throws a tantrum.

He has a day-to-day journal of her development, full of pressed flowers and inked poetry of his Little Wanderer.

#devil may cry #vergil sparda #dante sparda #devil may cry imagines #dante headcanons #dmc imagines #dmc v headcanons #dmc5 v headcanons #vergil headcanons #daddy Dante #dadgil #dad Nero #daddy V #parenting headcanons #request #daughter headcanons

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fancyschmancyopinions · 2 years ago

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NICOLA COUGHLAN at Elle’s Hollywood Rising party on May 19th 2022 in Los Angeles wearing GUCCI

I’m usually a huge Nicola fan. I think she has such a fun and bright sense of style, but this outfit just isn’t hitting for me. I think the pale pink and the blue eye shadow just don’t look great. I’ve seen Nicola in some much better looks in the past, so this was disappointing.

I just don’t know if there’s ever an occasion to wear blue eyeshadow. The powder blue color just gives old 80’s vibes and I just don’t like it. I don’t think the color looks great on Nicola and it feels just very old. I’m not a fan whatsoever.

I’m also not super impressed by the dress. It feels very messy. There’s ruffles but they just don’t feel super crisp. There’s too many and add in the long black bow and it all just clashes. It feels matronly and just isn’t a great look for Nicola.

I will give her props for the shoes and hang bag. Again, she chose green and pink as two colors that we don’t see together a lot, but really end up complimenting each other. I didn’t love the shoes, but I liked the color. I thought the bag was adorable. I loved the structure and color. It was just super cute and really the only great thing about this outfit in my opinion. I’m sure this disappointing look will quickly be forgotten when Nicola shows up in some other stunning look.

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light-miracles · 3 years ago

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Would you be interested in writing this Jaytemis idea? One where they come back from a mission, tired and dirty and just want to sleep for a week and are surprised by Damian who just found out they are dating and is suddenly overprotective over his older brother. And he just marches up to Artemis and warns her that if she doesn't treat Jason right he will execute her assassin style. Jay and Artemis find it cute and in the end all three end up sleeping together. 👉👈

You'd think the number of drug dealers would decrease if you filled entire prisons with them, Jason thought as he and Artemis got off his bike, tired, covered in dust and with a burning desire to take a shower. Artemis put Mistress on her back and yawned as they entered the safehouse.

"I need a shower," said Jason tiredly. "Before you run away because my stink is frying your nose."

"It would be improper from me. Besides, the love of an Amazons is much stronger than your stink."

"It was just a joke, Ar," Jason smirked.

"I know." Artemis winked at him. "But you have a point. I'm not going to kiss you until you shower."

"Are you coming with me?"

She accepted with a playful smile. Then, when they were clean and happier, they both put on their pajamas, determined that not even an invasion from Apokolips could deprive them of the six hours of rest they needed. Artemis's pajamas included an old t-shirt that read 'I survived Parker Lyle's show'. Jason really wanted to ask her about it one day.

Neither of them expected to find a small version of Bruce standing in front of them in his bedroom when Jason opened the door, glaring at them with angry green eyes. Jason let out a 'fuck'. "Again? Seriously, Damian, just stop messing around and ask me for a key. And call before you show up out of nowhere or you'll end up seeing something you don't want to see."

"I know you deal with scum sometimes and circumstances force you to lower yourself to their level to stay undercover, Todd," said Damian, trying to be serious, even though Jason thought frowning only made him look adorable. Like a homicidal bunny.

"I'm sure your brother was referring to sex," said Artemis, the shadow of a smile at the corner of her lips. "What are you doing here, little one? Is there any emergency?"

"If there were, I'd be wearing my uniform instead of what I'm forced to wear so fools my age won't suspect my secret identity," said Damian, grumpily ignoring the comment about his size and pointing to his sneakers, blue jeans, and He-Man t-shirt. Jason wondered if he really considered dressing like a normal boy to be 'undercover' or was it just an excuse to dress up the way he wanted and still feel badass. "The news of your new... relationship with this woman have reached my ears. Is it true that you're courting Todd, Amazon?"

Jason could barely contain his laughter. What did the demon brat think he was doing? Threatening an Amazon?

"There are courtship intentions on my part, yes," replied Artemis as if she were taking it seriously.

"Well, they better be serious courtship intentions. I'm here as the rightful heir of the Wayne and al Ghul families, and since my father took Todd in, that makes him part of the family and therefore under my protection, as annoying as he is. So if you play with his heart and don't treat him with the distinction he deserves, you would be tarnishing my family's good name, forcing me to consider you my enemy."

Holy shit the demon brat was threatening an Amazon.

"Damian, you shouldn't- it's none of your business-"

"Easy Jason, I would do the same, with fewer words, if I had a sibling. Message received, Damian Wayne." Artemis leaned forward. "But you better not threaten me twice."

Before Damian could declare war on Bana-Mighdall on behalf of the League of Assassins, Jason interrupted him. "Did you really come here just to give Artemis the shovel talk? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"As I told your lover, it's my duty as the rightful future head of the family."

"Aww, you care about me."

"Also for the ants in the garden and the bats in the cave. Don't consider yourself special. Hey!" Damian complained when Jason lifted him into his arms as if he weighed no more than a purse. "How dare you?!" Damian exclaimed but without doing anything (like stabbing him) to free himself.

"I'm too tired to deal with you now," said Jason, getting into the bed, still wrapping the boy like a human blanket. "Tomorrow we can threaten Superboy or whoever, but now I'm going to sleep."

"You mean later today," said Artemis, crawling into bed with him. "It's five in the morning."

"You heard her, it's five o'clock. Time to sleep."

"Let me go!"

"So you can go through my things while I'm asleep? Don't even think about it, brat. Besides, you can't make me."

"Of course I can!"

"If you both shut up so I can sleep..." said Artemis, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I'll tell you where to get your own magic ax as my Mistress."

"... I guess your offer isn't discouraging," said Damian, before Jason pulled him closer to him and rested his chin on his head, quickly falling asleep.

#Jason todd #Red hood #Jaytemis #Artemis of Bana-Mighdall #Artemis grace #Rhato #Red hood and the outlaws #Batfam #Batfamily #Damian wayne #Robin

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years ago

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Stalker X Stalker, Part 8

First

Perma tag: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Stalker x Stalker taglist: @aespades @jayjayspixiepop @blueslushgueen @fan-written @seraphichana @nerd-nowandforever @toodaloo-kangaroo

Tim woke up the next morning, because that’s how things work.

He fought back a groan as he slowly flexed each muscle individually, making sure that everything was still working. To his surprise, it actually was. His brain stuttered to a stop. Why had he been asleep, then? He was pretty sure it wasn’t his usual sleep day…

Then, he finally processed the fact that his face was pressed to something that definitely wasn’t his pillow.

He cracked an eye open. He was laying on top of Marinette, head resting on her stomach. She was still asleep, he noted, one of her hands was thrown over her eyes and the other tangled in his hair.

He vaguely considered just staying there. He could stay in that position forever…

Except he couldn’t. He had responsibilities. He was pretty sure that if he skipped both patrols and work his family would assume he’d been brainwashed in some way.

So, reluctantly, he pushed himself up and reached a hand out to poke Marinette awake.

She grumbled a little and caught his hand, blinking her eyes open. She looked up at him for a moment, uncomprehending in her sleepy state, and he couldn’t help but smile. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before clambering away from their tangle of limbs so he could take a quick shower and get ready.

First, though, he started up the coffee machine. He’d known that she’d had coffee, he’d been there when she bought it... but, really, if she was worried enough to lie about it he’d at least try and alleviate those fears a little.

That done, he took a quick shower. He already had a towel and toothbrush at the house -- wow, Marinette really wasn’t joking, he had basically moved in already, oops -- so he used those.

Then he pulled on the outfit she’d made him. By the time he needed help lacing up the corset, Marinette had stumbled into the room in a daze.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hello?”

She held out one of two mugs for him and he was forced to hide his smile behind his cup.

“Could you help me with this,” he asked.

She nodded and downed her entire mug before walking behind him. He felt her forehead tip forward to rest against the back of his shoulder as she worked and he was very glad she couldn’t see his face because he was sure that he was beginning to get redder than their costumes.

She pulled the lace tight and tied it off and he had no clue if the tightness in his chest was because she had laced him too tightly or because of nerves but either way he didn’t really mind. He turned back around, pressing another kiss to her forehead.

“I’ll see you later?”

She smiled at him. “I’ll make some bacon for you to eat on the go. Don’t want you to be hungry.”

He considered saying no but, really, he didn’t see her all that often in the morning and he had to admit that it was pretty cute. “If you remember to make some for yourself then sure.”

She hummed a little and turned around to go make food. He’d check on her in a few minutes to make sure she hadn’t fallen back asleep while cooking.

For now, he absently checked his clothes over for bugs. It was an old habit from years of living with the bats and, had he been even slightly more awake, he wouldn’t have done it.

Except he did. And there, hidden in the cuff of his shirt, was a bug.

… he hadn’t even been this happy when Damian had bugged him for the first time. She cared about him and his well-being! He was accepted!

When he made his way back into the kitchen he made sure to give her a long hug.

Marinette was so tired. She had been working on attaching the diamonds to Cassandra Wayne’s dress and there were so fucking many.

So, when Robin climbed through her window, all she did was give a vague wave of acknowledgement.

“You need better window locks,” he informed her.

“Most people don’t know how to pick every lock in existence, kid.”

“But some do.”

She thought about whether or not she really wanted this to be the argument that took up valuable work time. The answer was no, definitely not.

She finally turned to face him, resting her cheek against the couch. She didn’t know Damian personally outside of messing with Tim when they were in their superhero identities, she wasn’t even completely sure that this was Damian (though he did match up with the measurements she had for his outfits), so there was no good reason for him to be there.

She squinted suspiciously at him. Now that she was paying attention, she could see that he had his hands behind his back.

“What do you want?”

“I saw on your lease that you are allowed to have pets in your apartment.”

Oh no.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” she whispered, her voice close to begging.

He slowly brought his hands out from behind his back to reveal a black cat with almost luminous green eyes. She rested her head in her hands, taking deep breaths to remain calm.

“I wish to coparent with you.”

“... your dad didn’t let you get another pet?”

(Yes, she knew about the pet problem. She had seen Batcow. She had seen the Batbats all over the cave that he had apparently taken in.)

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Possibly.”

She slowly lifted her head from her hands to glare at him. Unfortunately for her, he puffed out his little baby cheeks in a pout and, even if most of what she did was played up to mess with Tim, she was weak for little kids that look sad.

“Fine. But you’re paying for everything and you better actually help me take care of it.”

“She! And her name is Vanelope!”

“Van --?” She decided she didn’t care. She glanced at Damian’s still disapproving expression and rolled her eyes before leaning down to be at the cat’s eye level: “I’m sorry for calling you an ‘it’, Vanelope.”

He nodded, apparently satisfied by her begrudging apology.

“C’mon, put Vanelope down, we’re going to the pet store.”

Damian beamed. She pulled the front of his hood down over his eyes in retaliation for the dumb situation he’d put her in. Revenge achieved, she transformed and ducked out her window before she could get stabbed.

Scarecrow’s parties were always the best.

For one thing, there was the haunted house. Scarecrow took the whole ‘scaring people’ thing very seriously, it was his whole shtick, so you could always count on him to dream up the best haunted houses. Even better, he’d give out brownies laced with minute traces of fear toxin to make the whole thing just a little bit scarier.

Speaking of brownies: the food. Tim was pretty sure that some of the stuff served at the parties could rival the things Marinette and Alfred made.

Then there were the venues he picked. They had to get bigger every year, what with Bruce’s adoption problem and the Rogue’s ever-expanding roster. This year the man had rented out an entire park and the building nearby. The building had a dance floor and a kind of second floor that overlooked everyone. The park held all the people that the building could not.

Add in the fact that every single person was probably clinically insane in some way or another and you’d have the reason for why he was always excited to go.

Tim attended the party as a Red Robin employee. He had to, it was on brand.

Marinette raised her eyebrows when she saw him. She’d gotten there before him, which had been a little bit of a surprise. He’d thought she’d at least wait for a few vigilantes to come to make sure it was safe --.

Oh. Nevermind. He stifled a grin when his eyes landed on a blonde in an outfit he recognized as Cassie’s. He was pretty sure dressing up as Wonder Girl was betraying the bats but he wasn’t going to be the one to call Steph out on it. Cassie was pretty cool...

Cassie -- no, Steph -- was suddenly grabbed by the arm by an excited Marinette and pulled her over to him. Marinette was wearing a pirate costume and he suspected that the bottle of wine in her free hand was more than an accessory.

“Red Robin, yum~,” both women chorused.

He rolled his eyes. “They’ve infected you already. Soon you’ll be disappearing into the shadows without ending conversations.”

Marinette grinned, the corner of her mask (now tinted black in some places to mimic a pirate’s beard) twitching. “It’s about time you assholes got a taste of your own medicine.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Y’know, for someone who didn’t like the idea of the party before, you sure did get into your outfit.’

“Please, I put effort into all my outfits.”

“Except for the Ladybug one,” teased Steph.

She huffed. “I was on a time crunch --.”

Tim grinned. “That’s no excuse.”

“... you had thought about it for who knows how long and not only did you come up with the name Drake, but you also came up with an ugly brown outfit. You don’t get a say in this.”

Steph grinned. “And me?”

“Your outfits are okay,” said Marinette after a few second’s thought.

Tim gasped in mock offense. “And I thought we were friends.”

“Friends call each other out for their stupid fashion choices.”

Steph smirked and slung her arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “And, really, you need an intervention.”

When did they start ganging up on Tim?

“Whatever. This outfit is nice, so that makes up for all past mistakes.”

“It’d be nicer if you didn’t make the same joke every year,” Steph teased.

He huffed and pouted, but then something caught his eyes. Dick had arrived, Tim could see him perched on a second floor railing in his work clothes… of course, the name tag marking him as Nurse Grayson was gone, but it was still the same light blue scrubs.

He paled a little under his domino for two reasons. The first was the instantaneous worry about their identities; sure, Gotham had many medical workers, but who knows, Gotham and Bludhaven twitter both insisted that Dick had a very distinct body. The second was Marinette was going to end up liking Dick quite a lot -- she already looked up to him for his fighting style, there was no way she was going to be able to resist the signature Grayson charm that had won over every superhero, vigilante, and villain on Earth (and a few other planets as well).

He knew that, inevitably, Dick would win her over… but he was definitely going to stall it as much as he possibly could.

So, he pulled a grin to his face. “Oh, Ladybug, you haven’t gone in the haunted house yet, have you?”

She gave him a slightly wary look. “I don’t do good with scary things.”

He grinned. “I’ll protect you.”

She raised her eyebrows slightly before sighing. “Fine.”

So, they made their way across the park to the haunted house. Scarecrow had, somehow, built an entire house in the one month since he had broken out of Arkham. It looked like it had been torn right out of a video game, with the blackened, decaying, and peeling wood and rickety steps.

Jonathan Crane smiled when he saw the two of them approaching. He was dressed as a scarecrow, but the one from the Wizard of Oz instead of the creepy one he was usually dressed as.

“Crane!” Tim greeted.

Crane held out the plate of fear toxin brownies for them. “Nice to see you, Red Robin. And nice to meet you, Ladybug.”

Marinette blushed a little, her head tipping to the side. “I’d shake your hand but you haven’t set down that tray the entire time I’ve been here. Starting to think you can’t.”

He laughed a little. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

Tim smiled a little and popped a brownie in his mouth. Fear toxin tasted a lot like chili powder and, he had to admit, it was pretty good.

Marinette took a brownie with a lot more hesitance.

“Oh! Have you been exposed to fear toxin yet?” Asked Crane before she could take a bite.

Marinette looked a little worried about the use of the word ‘yet’.

Marinette shook her head, though. “No.”

“Then your immunity isn’t built up. I’d suggest just eating half of that.”

She nodded thoughtfully and broke the brownie in half. She held the halves in her hand awkwardly, unsure what to do now.

“I’ll take the half you haven’t eaten,” suggested Crane.

He set down the tray -- Tim swore he could hear a cartoon sound effect as the man struggled to unstick his hand to the metal -- and took her other half.

“Since it’s a lower dose it’ll probably take longer to take effect,” said Tim. “We’ll have to wait a bit so you can have the full experience.”

Marinette took a tentative bite and her eyes lit up. “This is really good. What’s your recipe?”

Apparently, Crane had once tried to replicate the taste with normal chili powder and had fallen short. Tim watched the two of them theorize what it could be that his attempts had been missing. It was clear that Marinette had missed living in a bakery more than she was willing to admit and, unfortunately, none of the bats were particularly good at even cooking basic meals, let alone the kinds of things she was able to do. Alfred was the only exception and, even then, Bruce wouldn’t let him near her most of the time because of Identity Reasons. Tim was glad that she had someone to talk to about it, he just kinda wished that that person wasn’t a Rogue.

Tim jolted out of watching them when Marinette started rubbing up and down her arms absently. Ah, the toxin must be setting in for her now.

“Ladybug, ready to head inside?”

She blinked and looked up from the conversation. “Oh. Sure. I’ll talk to you later!”

“I’ll try not to get thrown into Arkham by anyone else while you’re gone,” joked Crane.

Tim grinned and took Marinette’s hand, pulling her inside.

It turns out she actually wasn’t all that good with scary things. Or, at least, jumpscares. She clung to his arm, dull nails doing their best to dig into his skin.

On one hand, he kind of felt bad for telling her to come along. On the other hand he thought it was kind of cute, maybe the next movie they watched together could be a horror.

He would probably be able to enjoy it a little more if he wasn’t tripping out on fear toxin himself. There was a creepy little girl following them around and he wasn’t going to acknowledge her and her creepy little white clothes because talking to hallucinations is always bad.

But then, towards the end, she disappeared.

He didn’t like that either. It set him on edge. It shouldn’t, the fear toxin was just wearing off… but he didn’t feel like it was wearing off. He was still a little shaky and the buzzing under his skin was still present, so maybe she’d been real and something was up.

He got his answer when he heard the sound of little feet dashing overhead.

Marinette squeaked and her grip on his arm tightened, somehow.

When the end was in sight and Tim was waiting anxiously for the final scare, he heard someone running towards them. High pitched laughter echoed around them.

“Oh fuck no,” he yelped when he saw the little girl running towards them, arms outstretched, pretty white dress splattered with red.

Marinette seemed to agree with the sentiment. She nearly pulled his arm out of its socket as she pushed herself into a sprint. He stumbled awkwardly a few steps before catching his footing and returning the tight grip.

And then, like the vigilantes with nerves of steel they were, they ran from the child.

She tried to look calm when the door swung shut behind them. She was pretty good at managing her emotions, she thought (or, at least, good at pushing them down).

But it wasn’t necessary because, when they reached the safety of the outside, they were handed a framed picture of them sprinting away from the creepy little girl, horror written plainly on their faces.

She blushed, more than a little embarrassed.

Thankfully, she was quickly distracted from her embarrassment. Her eyes landed on Bruce, who was dressed as a vampire. She waved for his attention, intending to point out the similarities in their outfits to mess with him, only for his eyes to zero in on the wine bottle in her hand.

Marinette mumbled a curse.

She turned and pressed a ‘kiss’ to Tim’s cheek through her mask. “Gotta go,” she chirped, before promptly disappearing into the crowd.

Alright, time to avoid Bruce. Where is the last place she’d be? Actually, no, he’d probably check the last place...

Her eyes landed on where Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were hanging out by the drinks.

Hm... a negative (people she was wary about) and a positive (drinks!) to balance each other out. A good middle ground.

She walked over and picked up a weird drink with a lot of different candies sticking out of it. She did not know why Scarecrow felt the need to sully the good name of alcohol with American candies but, since it was apparently the only option, she slipped a straw under her mouth to drink.

The drink was taken from her fingers.

She looked at her now-empty hand, brain struggling to catch up, straw hanging limply from her mouth. Then she spat out the straw and cursed.

She slowly turned to look at the person who had stolen it from her, expecting to see a disappointed Bruce, only to meet eyes with Poison Ivy.

(Ivy had dressed up as a stereotypical martian. Marinette wondered, vaguely, if actual aliens were ever offended when people dressed up like the movie versions of them.)

“I’d like that back, thanks,” she said, reaching for the drink.

She held it out of reach -- holy shit she was tall -- and raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her. “You’re a child.”

“I’m nineteen.”

“Exactly: a child,” she said.

Marinette rolled her eyes. Was this how Damian felt? Damn, no wonder he was always so angry about it… but, to be fair, Damian actually was a child. She was nineteen. She had a job and an apartment. Completely different.

But, since convincing Ivy she wasn’t a child wasn’t working, she had to come up with a new approach: “I’ve been drinking since I was six.”

For some reason, this didn’t seem to soothe the woman in front of her.

Thankfully, Harley Quinn -- who was wearing a knockoff Riddler costume -- decided to take pity on her: “Let her drink, Ives, Europeans drink differently than we do.”

Marinette and Poison Ivy exchanged confused looks. Marinette hadn’t gone out drinking with anyone properly in America outside of occasionally dropping into bars to trick old men into giving her drinks and then disappearing. Poison Ivy just, apparently, wasn’t aware of the difference.

“For them it’s a social thing, they don’t really get drunk like we do.”

Ivy hesitated. “You don’t get drunk?”

“I mean… we can get drunk,” she said slowly. She cringed visibly. “I did, once. The day I turned eighteen my mom told me ‘Just this once, to see what it’s like’... the pictures… they deleted them, but I will never live it down...”

She reached for the drink again and, this time, Ivy gave it to her. She was lucky she had her mask to hide the smirk on her face.

When Poison Ivy didn’t leave after that, Marinette knit her eyebrows together. The woman blushed (she blushed green?) and Harley pushed her towards Marinette a step.

“I would like to apologize for how we met…” Ivy said slowly. “Joker was an asshole in Arkham and I’d had a fight with Harley and I guess I just…” She snapped her fingers.

Marinette raised her eyebrows. “It’s fine. It’s not the first world-ending event I’ve had to stop because someone had had a bad day.”

Harley hesitated. “That’s… different.”

She shrugged. “New city, same shit… just sometimes easier, I guess. People are actually scared of Joker?”

“Now, that isn’t very nice!” Said a painfully cheery voice behind her.

She’d summoned him.

Marinette took a long, deep breath, before turning around to greet Joker and Punchline. They were dressed as circus clowns, because of course they would. “Hey! Still alive, I see.”

Joker smiled, like he always did. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Pretty sure you’ve died more than B-man over there,” said Harley.

“No clue why they keep bringing you back.”

Marinette’s eyebrows scrunched together. The man had died? And they had brought him back? Willingly? Weird.

“It’s ‘cause I’m Batsy’s favorite,” cooed Joker.

“Favorite punching bag, maybe,” said Ivy.

Marinette, wisely, decided to back up a step so she wasn’t between the two fighting groups.

“At least people pick him as their first choice,” said Punchline.

“You’d be the expert on what it’s like to be the second choice, I guess, since you’re just me but purple,” said Harley.

“I’m you but self-aware,” Punchline corrected her.

Ivy raised her eyebrows. “Some would say that’s worse.”

Punchline almost punched her.

She didn’t stop because of some amazing show of self-restraint, of course. Nightwing had just chosen that moment to drop down between the two groups. And then Nightwing, with his all-amazing powers of getting pretty much everyone on his side, got them to declare a truce and go to opposite sides of the room.

Marinette was a little disappointed as she took a sip of her drink. It had just started getting good.

But also: Nightwing!

“Is it true that you can do a quadruple somersault?”

Nightwing smiled widely.

Tim was beginning to think that maybe Marinette was so interested in Dick because she was secretly his long lost sister or something. They had the same ability to make even some of the worst people like them.

But, no. Dick having a secret half sister or something? How stupid would that be?

Still, Tim had seen her making friends with: all of his siblings that lived in Gotham, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Dick (damn it, he’d hoped he could keep them apart just a little longer)... the only people she hadn’t gotten to like her were Punchline and Joker, and even then she was choosing to annoy them, who knows what would happen if she actually tried to befriend them… and now she was hanging out with Riddler...

He sat next to them on their bench. “I’m beginning to think you can’t make friends with anyone normal.”

She grinned. “It’s a blessing and a curse.”

Riddler (dressed as the gameshow host he would probably be if he hadn’t gone off the deep end) looked over at Tim with barely hidden disdain. “Red Robin,” he greeted coolly.

Marinette frowned. “Why don’t you like him?”

“Him and all the bats… they always answer my riddles before I finish telling them.”

“Well, that’s an easy fix: Red, wait until he finishes telling the riddles before answering.”

He scoffed. “Why would I?”

“For the drama!” Riddler said in a tone that made it obvious he thought it was obvious.

“Half the time you have people’s lives on the line. Lower the stakes and maybe we’ll be more attuned to the dramatic tension.”

Riddler scowled. “You bats just don’t appreciate my art.”

“You’d think that they’d be all for drama.”

“Right? They have a whole brooding cave! But I want high stakes and suddenly I’m too concerned with the vibes of things.”

Marinette grinned and leaned towards Riddler conspiratorially. “They have more than a brooding cave. They have brooding gargoyles, brooding rooftops, brooding cars… I once caught Red over there brooding on his motorbike. Who can brood on a motorcycle? It’s a motorcycle!”

Tim huffed. “I thought we agreed to keep that a secret.”

“Sorry, darling, it’s just too easy to mess with you.”

Tim started to respond, but then he realized something.

‘Darling’?

That could mean one of three things. He needed to excuse himself from the conversation to figure out which was the truth.

He sent the two of them a halfhearted glare. “I will not put up with this bullying any longer.”

“Fine, fine. If you’re going to come back, bring me a cookie.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “If I must.”

With that, he turned on his heel and strode off, a man on a mission.

After questioning all of the family she had talked to (she had yet to meet Jason, apparently), he determined that she didn’t use nicknames all that often. When she did it was usually just to make things quicker for herself. The only people outside of him that she ever used nicknames for were Bruce (‘B’) and maybe Damian (‘kid’).

And he had a nickname like that, too, of course. She called him ‘Red’ from time to time, probably just because she was too lazy to go through the hassle of saying his entire codename.

… but ‘darling’ was different. He had a pet name. In both identities, apparently.

Which meant one of two things:

a) he was special to her in both identities

or b) she knew he was Red Robin.

He was kinda hoping for the first one, but he wasn’t about to let emotions cloud his judgement. He sought out the world’s only accurate lie detector.

He found her surveying the crowd with Jason. They looked like they’d been transported directly from the renaissance, with her plague doctor outfit and his Shakespeare costume.

Tim grinned at them despite his slight anxiety. “Nice of you to bring a Green Arrow costume back from Star City, Flamebird.”

Jason touched the ugly goatee and mustache that both of them shared before sending him a glare. “And you all wonder why I don’t come home more often.”

“Really? I thought it was because you and Roy were --.”

Jason’s face reddened with either anger or embarrassment, Tim didn’t know and didn’t particularly care as his brother left them in a huff.

He couldn’t see Cass’s face but he could feel the disapproval.

“I just… I wanted to ask you something in private…”

Cass didn’t leave, so he assumed it was okay.

“Does Ladybug know our identities?”

Cass was motionless for a moment and he wished she didn’t have such a bulky outfit because it was hard to get a read on her…

And then she nodded, tapping the side of her forehead (the sign for ‘know’) to further emphasize the point.

He looked down at where Marinette was excitedly describing something to an enthused Riddler.

He’d been anxious about her finding out but, now that she had, he found that it was a huge weight off his shoulders. She knew who he was and she accepted it.

He leaned against the railing, a smile threatening to make its way across his face.

She accepted him.

#stalker x stalker #maribat #timari #timmari #shutterbug #timinette #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #tim drake #red robin #it isn't important but #duke went as miles morales's spiderman #damian went as batman #also pediatric nurse!dick grayson lives in my head rent free

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agent-cupcake · 4 years ago

Note

just curious, what’s your favorite and least favorite character design? my least fav for sure has got to be female byleth for reasons i don’t want to get in to yep ok have a good day 😁

IOops this accidentally became a rant, sorry

Okay so, to preface this all, I’m not a character designer and I’m actually pretty bad at it, but my rule of thumb with really unappealing or fan-service outfits is whether or not it makes sense character-wise and how much it tells the player about the character. For example, I think we can all agree that there’s quite a bit of fan-service elements in Hilda’s design. Boob window. However, it’s not unrealistic to imagine Hilda picking out those clothes for herself. Her costume tells you almost everything you need to know about her character on a visual level. She’s confident, pretty, attention-grabbing, and high maintenance while the gloves and laced girdle give a nod to her Viking-maiden roots.

Taking it to female Byleth, I don’t think that her outfit works on either front. Her design is definitely my least favorite and it’s not helped by the fact that you have to look at her at all times. Whatever. The huge, solid mass of boobs, the buttoned bib, the big eyes, the feather hair, the bellybutton, the ripped tights, the booty shorts. She’s a merc out in life and death situations with an accessible, pale, tacky 2000′s “stab me” stomach cut out and a wedgie. Which could be excusable if, like Hilda, there was reason to believe that that her costume was character choice. But she doesn’t really have much character, and what there is gives the impression of a very stoic, dry, blunt person. I have no idea why they’d have gone that route when the sexual appeal of more “utilitarian” costuming (aka, form fitting armor that at least pretends to be functional) for characters like her is scientifically proven AND would say more about the singular personality trait she possesses. Okay, well, I know why they didn’t do that and I think it’s lame. This dysfunction of “character designer wanted a sexy girl but it’s kinda random and just shoved in the game without any thought” actually reminds me a lot of Xenoblade 2′s leading ladies, Hikari and Pyra. Although considering that their bad designs led to a lot of people hating the game for superficial reasons while accepting female Byleth’s design, I guess I’m just bitter. Jumping to a different comparison, then, look at 2B from Nier Automata. Her design is fine as hell which is kinda hypocritical of me considering that it's explicitly fan-service, but I think it also shows the most damning thing for female Byleth. Her whole look, despite having a dozen different element thrown in, is boring. Maybe it’s the colors (dressing her in all black and white would have been really interesting considering the colors of the three lords are so heavily emphasized as a part of their characters) or maybe it’s just the way the desperate elements come together. But, like I said, I'm not even slightly knowledgeable about character design and I know that despite Three Houses being mostly separate, they had to appeal to a larger aesthetic brand to which I have little experience with. And, ultimately, a lot of people find her cute or sexy which...To each their own, I suppose. I don’t pretend that fan-service doesn’t work on me (2B... Cloud’s arms in the remake... Seph's shirtless Smash skin...) but when it’s this obviously inserted in by the character designers rather than feeling organic in any way AND looks bad I'm just not super interested.

The other worst designs for me would be all four of the Ashen Wolves post timeskip. I don't think it's controversial to say that they didn't try with the clothes, even if I love their designs from the neck up (Yes, even Balthus. He looks like the type of guy that would let you sit on his shoulders at a rock concert so you could see the stage). While there are other designs I think are unappealing, those are for purely aesthetic reasons and so I can't maintain the opinion that they're actively bad or that I even truly dislike them.

As for favorite looks... I actually have a few so sorry you're getting all of them because despite the shit I'm talking, I actually really really love the character designs in Three Houses.

Ferdinand's post timeskip is one of my favorite designs, if not my favorite. The hair, the coat, the armor, the spurs, the colors. You know exactly who Ferdinand von Aegir is just by looking at him. He’s wealthy, handsome, confident in his appearance, a hero, a princely type character, his battle form is mounted combat which is traditionally aesthetically reserved for nobility and leaders... I love it. The only reason I cannot say he IS my favorite is because of the three Lords. But before them, my honorable mentions include post timeskip Hilda, Dorothea, Lorenz, Felix, and Hubert. Granted, I could make a case for why I like almost all of the student’s post timeskip looks.

For the Lords, I obviously have to start with colors because, weirdly enough, Persona didn’t invent primary colors but are actually used as shorthand. Blue is the color of honor, loyalty, sincerity, sadness, and depression. Something I’ve always found very interesting is that blue is very rarely found in nature. To me, that’s always made it seem more lonely which, at least in this case, is thematically relevant. People call Dimitri boring pre timeskip and while I won’t defend his hairstyle (okay, actually, I probably would because he tucks it behind his ears and idk why but that’s one of the cutest things ever) I really like how unassuming he is. Bland. He’s supposed to be the plain shortbread cookie to caramel deLite Claude and strawberry meringue Edelgard. It is not in his character to draw attention to himself or stand out. To me, he kinda looks like an old Barbie prince, like he should have been named Dominic. Also I love the blue eyes/blonde hair thing and his more angular features. It really helps to sell him as the fakeout chivalrous prince type. Post timeskip, Dimitri's black armor is amazing. I love the fact that it’s a lot more intricate up-close with the different little shell-like pieces and the fact that his boots are furry. I love the big cape and the black and white fur around his shoulders. It’s really cool how they used his costume to change the shape of his in-game model to match the bodily proportions of the character art. It’s easier to see when you change his costume into the DLC ones, but the fur and cape build up his shoulders and chest look more broad while keeping that tiny little waist. The choice to give Dimitri an eyepatch is probably my favorite thing about this design. It’s genuinely inspired. Such a simple detail yet it tells the player everything they need to know about adult Dimitri when they see him post timeskip, in one frame the player can begin to understand the extent of his loss over the past five years. The subtle shadow under his eye in the first few Azure Moon chapters and the messy long-ish hair really help to sell the feral prince aesthetic as well, as it’s from those small cues the player gets that he’s exhausted (in more ways than one) and doesn’t maintain himself. None of these things are intentional choices by Dimtiri, they’re the result of what his character has been through.

Yellow is an intense, energetic color. Mostly, people think of it as being warm and inviting, the color of the sun and positivity. That intensity can be overwhelming, though, too visually demanding when compared to its primary counterparts. Don’t stare at the sun too long. Buuuut, it’s okay to stare at Claude. Claude not wanting to wear tight pants in either of his costumes is not only a mood, it is iconic. Pre timeskip, the softer lines of his silhouette makes him look kinda slouchy, kinda lazy. Like he’s not too concerned with appearances. But those adorably messy curls, the little braid, the clearly tended eyebrows, and earring make it clear that he DOES care about appearances and is very aware of his allure. And that’s before he even starts winking. It is honestly so in character that as many people picked him first on the basis of being thirsty, that feels like an intentionally Claude thing even if it was inserted by the designers. The contrast of his complexion with his seagreen eyes is gorgeous and instantly adds a kind of mystery and intrigue to him considering the setting... but it’s sf funny that nobody looked at bronze god Claude among a sea of white faces and thought something was up. Post timeskip, they used the same trick like they did with Dimitri to change Claude’s in-game model to match his canon appearance. The way they designed his uniform makes him not look as twink-ish, like he’s actually muscular and imposing and has the strength he’d need to shoot a war bow with a 120lbs draw weight. Also like Dimitri, you can instantly tell what Claude’s been up to. Like, he was very pretty pre timeskip but when he shows up in the Goddess Tower after those five years in all that gold, he demands your attention. Like a gentleman general with the excessive aesthetic ideals of the Alliance and details to imply his heritage. The quilted pants are amazing from both an aesthetic and practical standpoint. He’s a mounted unit riding a creature with scales, of course he’d want something on his legs for protection. And the chinstrap. I love that so much, it definitely makes him look more adult. He’s got such a cute soft baby face, it’s fun imagining him experimenting with different styles during the five years to get the most desired physical reaction to him as a leader.

Frenchfries, meet forehead. No, actually, Edelgard’s design is really fantastic. Claude and Dimitri both have realistically colored eyes and hair and then there’s Edelgard. Dimitri shrugs off attention physically and Claude shirks it with a wink but Edelgard commands the players attention from the very start. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of things to associate with white hair and purple eyes, my first thought was Daenerys from Game of Thrones. Otherworldly beautiful by with an edge. Red, of course, is The power color. Strong emotions, love and hate. Red is also associated strongly with blood, which is very important to Edelgard’s plot. Granted, I think the red and black association is even more powerful than JUST red and red is the cheapest play to make in regards to displaying villainy (I mean, there are some pretty universally recognized associations with red and black and it led to people making some unfair comparisons between Edelgard and a famous dictator) but I think it was effective and well used and I genuinely enjoy its use in her case. Anyway, if I had a major complaint about her design it would be the weird ashy color of her hair whereas Lysithea’s hair is pure white. Which doesn’t even matter with the AMAZING hair horns. Ram horns can actually symbolize quite a few things, but their association with power and strength is pretty universal I think. They’re also used in demonic imagery. I love that THIS was her alternative to a crown. Edelgard views herself as a force of war and power before she thinks of herself as royalty. She also mentions that she isn’t super vain, but she loves to do her hair, so the hair being the most elaborate part of her look is entirely in-character. Edelgard’s ensemble is, like Claude, very militaristic. I love that they kept her in a dress that embraces femininity without showing skin as that wouldn’t really suit her Also, again, Edelgard demands your attention. She’s dressed all in bright bright red waving around a giant axe. She is a symbol as much as she is a combatant, someone to follow. I didn’t really mention their secondary lord costumes, but a girl in sexy armor is literally everything and I love that they had the balls to put their main sexy waifu girl in full body armor.

Okay I’m sorry I realize this was excessive and probably didn’t need explaining and I’m not sure I even articulated my thoughts properly but anyway I love their designs so here is the positivity I’ll put into the world.

#fe3h #ferdinand von aegir #claude von riegan #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #haha i htae byleths design this was all just to justify my abject disgust for the way she looks #nobody sent me anything about dimitri's dick so this is what i've been reduced to

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ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime · 3 years ago

Text

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 3

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 3: Memory

"Mother."

"What is it, Suzu?"

When I called, my mother turned around and replied.

Eleven years ago. The house was still new. There was no garage yet, and potted flowers were lined up all over the garden. "Do not cut my hair."

I told her that and ran down the slope in front of my house. Mom walked down the stairs opposite her, resting her hand on her waist and waiting. I ran away in the opposite direction, bouncing, saying that I would never let my hair be cut. But I was taken back without a hitch. She was seated on a bench in the garden and dressed in a haircut cape. “I’m going to make you look cute, Suzu.” After cutting my hair, I don't like the tingling of my hair. She shook her legs and sharpened her lips. But when she held the scissors without hesitation, she cut my hair all at once. "Because you’re going to be an elementary school student," I hope the hair on both sides doesn't stick to my shoulders. The bangs were far above the eyebrows. Even when I went to school, my neck was tingling for a while.

I played a lot with my mother. I took a sumo wrestling on the lawn of the riverbed in the evening. I pushed her by force and my mother rolled on the grass. I won, I laughed happily. Mother also laughed. I asked why? Won’t she cry if she loses? Mom shook her head. “I'm glad that the weak Suzu has become stronger.” Dad was laughing while lying on the grass. My mother often made salted seared meat. She lightly sprinkles salt and roasts the bonito stabbed on a gold skewer from her lenticel over an open flame on the stove. I was staring from the top of the chair. Since the fat drips, the microwave oven will not get dirty if you bake it while sucking it with cooking paper. When it gets burnt, dip it in ice water to cool it, and then drain it. It was a style. So as a kid, I had a hard time holding a thick piece of salted meat with chopsticks, and I had a hard time putting it in my mouth. Mom was waiting for dad's return, holding a mug and watching my struggle.

My dad was a salaryman at that time, and he wore a tie and went out to the city every day. Perhaps because of that, we had some money in our house in the old days. Mother bought a state-of-the-art smartphone at the time. I decided to try out the performance of the on-board camera, and on dad's lap, I pointed my smartphone at my mom. I asked dad to help put mom in the frame and pressed the shutter. She is dressed in white.

The smiling mother, she was beautiful. The photo of her was printed on paper and is still at the house. I was a cheerful child running around, unlike now. I definitely liked playing outside rather than inside the house. If there were trees, I climbed, if there were leaves, I tore them, and if there were insects, I chased them. But it didn't burn in the sun. I must have been such a constitution. Instead, my face is freckled.

I was often injured. My knee was also full of scratches. In the woods, on the riverbed, on the slope in front of my house, I often stumbled and fell. My mother ran up in a hurry and she hugged me tightly, crying in pain. Mysteriously, it hurts somewhere. That's when I was happy. I don't know how many times I fell because I ran around vigorously and wanted mother to hug me. Every time mother rushed in as if it was a big deal for her daughter and worried. Every day was like summer vacation. I clung to mother doing the laundry and cleaning and played. After lunch, she opened the tatami mat, laid a summer futon on the tatami mats, and we took a nap together. The smoke of the mosquito coil was rising slowly. When I woke up, most of the time, I couldn't see my mother sleeping next to me, and she was busy doing housework. In retrospect, she never been told me that she is busy. She was always with me when I asked for it. Since my house was in the mountains, I rarely went out to eat somewhere, and instead my mother cooked any kind of food. One day she saw it in a picture book, and she said she wanted to eat yakitori. She had never eaten it before. My mother made yakitori by sticking chicken on skewers one by one. For the first time in my life, I saw yakitori with the naked eye. I didn't know how to eat it, so I couldn't do well by chewing the meat and removing it from the skewers. Dad and mom were staring at me. Never missing what her daughter experiences for the first time in her life. The place where we, who live in the mountains, go out to play is not an amusement park or a shopping mall, but a campsite further in the mountains from our house.

On a sunny summer day, my mom and I wore a wide-brimmed hat and crossed the subsidence bridge. Dad was carrying a lot of camping equipment. The water crystal pool in the depths of the Yasui Valley was a breathtaking blue color even for us living in the area. The water is so transparent that you can clearly see your shadow on the bottom of the river. I feel a little scared as if I were floating in the air. My mother was an advanced swimmer. She boasted that her mother, who was once a local kid, swam like a kappa every day in the summer. She knew all about the fun of the river. At the same time, she never let her swim in dangerous places on dangerous days. Mom wraps around me, floating. She dived into the water to show her off her skills. Still picked up by her, I became anxious and called out. “Mom, don't go.” But mom, she swam in the blue water, as if she couldn't hear me.

One evening, I was playing with my mother's smartphone and saw a strange app. I put it on. When you launch the app, you'll see white and black horizontal stripes lined up. I pointed to what this was and asked my dad who was next to me. Dad looked it and twisted his neck, calling mother, who was preparing dinner. After dinner, mother's hand fixed the smartphone I was holding vertically. I laid it down and found it to be a piano keyboard. As prompted, I pressed one of the keys. There was a "do" sound. I looked at my mother's face. My mother also saw my face, saying that she had come out. It's mom’s music production app. Only then did I look around my mother's room and notice. Old records, cassette tapes, and CDs are lined up on the shelves to the end. And if you set them on a record player or cassette deck and pass them through an amplifier, music will be played from the left and right speakers. The collection was a brilliant one that accurately captured the main points of the history of classical, jazz and rock. I didn’t know at the time, the value and meaning of such a lineup being packed in a room at the end of the world.

In that room, I pressed the keys of the app one after another and recorded. When played, each sound sounds in the order in which they are arranged. Even if you enter an insane scale, it will play back in a lawful manner. I was so happy that I bounced on my chair. My mother was laughing too. Warm incandescent light was illuminating us. After that, I was crazy about this app. I had my mother lend me a smartphone and I was playing around with it day, night and morning. The operation was intuitive and easy to use. There were words that I couldn’t read because it wasn’t a children's app. And there were many functions I didn't understand. But I was absorbed in that kind of thing. I was completely absorbed in the exciting new experience of writing songs. I composed a number of songs and previewed them in front of my mother. The mother who finished listening gave me advice in short words each time. If you do xxx, it will be better, or the trick is to do xxx. She sometimes took out some of the records in the collection and listened to them for reference. My mother is neither a musician nor a composer.

I think each piece of advice is accurate even if I look back on it now. Over and over again, she listened to my melody, and she said she noticed something, and she sang herself to make sure it was. When I asked, she said it wasn't bad. She said she was smirking at me as she said. I put the sound in a place that I wouldn't normally put it. I'm sure this song was a failure, and all the work I've done so far will be ruined. But as it gradually takes shape, it seems strangely cohesive, she said. I felt as happy as I wanted to. I'm sure it's my parents' favor, but even if my mother added, I was happy. For me, I'm not making it with the intention of letting someone else listen to it. It would have been nice if only my mother could listen to it. My mother sings along with the song I typed in. Take the tempo with her right hand and sing gently. The voice of mother, who was also a member of the chorus made by her friends, echoed and was transparent.

She listened to my weird songs many times. I was happy and sang along with it. Anyway, it’s a song that is as nice as my mother.

I couldn't. Happy memories of me and mother suddenly end here. And that August has come. After this, all I have is a painful, painful memory. The voice of a little girl crying and crying echoed in the riverbank. A girl was left alone on a sandbar. Is she 4 or 5 years old? She looked smaller than I was. It was so sunny just a while ago, but I noticed it wasn't a blue sky, and it was covered with overcast clouds. The beautiful and calm river was cloudy, flooded, driftwood-filled, and surprisingly fast. I can imagine that it is raining heavily upstream. Before this happened, there were people happily making noise on the opposite bank when the flow was still transparent. They are now staring at the girl on this shore. She wore colorful outdoor clothing that made it easy to see that she probably came from the city, not a local. The girls' clothes were also bright colors that I had never seen. Why did people from the city overlook the girls' flashy colored clothes? Why did she forget her existence and she came back to this shore? What to do with friends, their families, and those who enjoyed fishing and canoeing on the riverbanks.

It seemed that she couldn't do anything, and she had no choice but to stand and look like a stick. It's no wonder you're standing. The violent flow of the river separated the girl from the people. Everyone realized that it couldn't be helped. One of the adults was talking to someone on his cell phone. However, everyone can see that where the girl is, is gradually narrowing. Everyone is aware that it is very unlikely that the rescue team will arrive in time. Therefore, I have no choice but to stand up without being able to do anything. Is it just listening to the girl's crying as it is? At that time, someone picked up the red life jacket beside the canoe.

I went forward while staring at the girl. She was a mother. Mommy, and I hurriedly clung to the hem of her mother's clothes. She realized that what her mother was trying to do was too dangerous. She wouldn't have been anxious. She screamed and pulled hard, trying not to let her go. Mom crouched down and squeezed my hand, and she told me something. At that time I can't remember what mother said. Maybe I was screaming and not ready to hear the words. Mom stood up to shake off my chasing and ran, locking the buckle on her life jacket. I fell down on a stone in the riverbank trying to chase her. Still, I got up and shouted at mother's back. Don't go. I think mom didn��t hear my words. While checking the girl's whereabouts, I went around the river, went into the water, and got in the stream to help. It started to rain.

How long has it passed since then? Suddenly the surroundings became noisy. The girl was rescued from the river. Adults are pulling the soaked and tired girl out of the river. I was staring at while getting wet in the rain. People running up. A mixture of joyful voices and crying voices. Are you okay? Open your eyes. I'm glad I was saved ... The girl was wearing the same red life jacket that her mother wore. At that moment, I understood at once what was happening. Mom isn’t here.

"Mother ..... Mother .....!"

I looked left and right, searching for her.

Not anywhere.

"Mother ...!"

In the distance, I heard an ambulance siren. The girl was wrapped in a blanket.

Carried by many adults, she leaves the riverbank. Everyone is crazy about it and realizes that my mom isn't there.

She isn't.

"Mom!" Only I raised my voice and kept calling. Many times. Many times. Many times. I don't remember much after that. When I heard that my mother was found all the way down the river, it seemed like a lie. It wasn't long before I realized that the mug that mother was using was missing. Dad put a picture of mother, which he took someday, in a picture frame and put it in a corner of the kitchen. He had to add flowers every day next to it. Neighbors bothered to talk to me every time I met them on the road, listened to me in a friendly way, and encouraged me with tears. Meanwhile, the Internet was flooded with anonymous posts about the accident.

"It's a suicide act to jump into a river flooded by rain"

"It seems that she was confident in swimming, but it's different from the pool."

《It is irresponsible for my child to help someone else's child and die》

《If there is an accident, playing in the river will be a nuisance and annoying》

《Because helping people is a good person, this is what happens》

The person who wrote it probably didn't know anything about the actual situation, and the day after he wrote it, he probably forgot what he wrote. However, the person who wrote it keeps sticking in my chest forever. Immediately after the accident, an acquaintance told me with resentment that it was terrible when I saw this. In front of these words, I was too young to understand all the meanings. However, as I grew up and became able to understand the meaning of the words accurately, I continued to suffer from the unconscious malice contained in them. Losing mother.

How should I pass on these writings as a bereaved family, even though I still can't accept them, as if the mother who helped me was all bad?

Aside from me, my mother just smiled in the picture frame in the kitchen. From that accident, I think something has changed decisively from what I used to be. One evening, in mother's room, where dust began to build up, I stood on her chair, hoping to return to her happy memories. And I sang the song I sang with mother. But when I started singing, I realized I couldn't sing at all. My voice became stuck in the back of my throat and couldn't get out of my mouth. I was confused. Something in my heart was suppressing me from singing. Why can't I sing? Tears came out.

Hey mom. Why can't I sing?

It was clear that the reason why singing was so fun and necessary was because my mother listened to it.

However, just because you can't sing... You don't have to worry about anything. Even if you can't sing, no one will blame you. Life just goes on. I went to a local junior high school. The jumper skirt uniform was stuffy. Many of the elementary school classmates went to the town as they went on to school, and there were not half of the students remaining in the local area, so even in junior high school, it became a compound class. Therefore, the chorus practice was accompanied by the vice-principal teacher, and it was decided to sing in all grades. There were three people in all grades. Because there were only three people, I quickly realized that I was just lip-synching without singing. I was asked why I didn't sing, but I didn't say anything. I thought they would get angry, but they didn't get angry. It means that only I can visit from the next practice.

I sat alone in a corner of the music class and watched everyone practice. I may have looked like a lethargic girl who was just silent. But inside that, there are things that can't be translated into words.

I think it was swirling. When I left school and returned home, I irresistibly entered mother's room in the twilight. The twilight light was shining through the window. Cardboard boxes containing tableware and seasonal home appliances that are no longer in use are piled up on the table. It was completely turned into a storeroom. It's been many years since then. It has passed. I listened to the large number of records there, one by one from the edge of the shelf. Days, days, days. By listening earnestly, I managed to calm my rough feelings. But one day, there was a moment when I thought I couldn't bear it anymore. Upon returning, I entered my mother's room, sat down in front of the keyboard, quickly opened the report sheet, and began to write fiercely with a pen to spit out the incomprehensible feelings in my chest. I was almost suffocating if I didn't spit it out. I turned over the paper and continued to write forever. -Why did mother leave me in the river? Why did she choose to help the child who she didn't even know her name rather than live with me? Why am I alone? Why, why, why – I added paper, supplemented with post-it notes, and wrote long, long lyrics. The scale that springs up is notated long and long. Those that were neither were spit out as pictures. It was a swirl of many kinds. It was like a whirlpool floating on the surface, like a black hole that swallowed everything, and like a hole in the top of my head. The floor of the room was filled with pieces of paper with a mixture of lyrics, pictures and sheet music. But suddenly..... I returned to myself and stopped writing. Right now, I've noticed the worthlessness, meaninglessness, ugliness, and helplessness of the words, pictures, and scales I wrote.

What are you doing? I broke the paper. Everything I've written so far.

I threw it in the trash can without hesitation. The bundle of paper looked like a vomit that I had just spit out. Then I became a high school student.

I finally found myself worthless. The uniform tie was stuffy. I crossed the subsidence bridge while looking down and went to school. I took an exam and passed the exam at a junior and senior high school in the center of the city, and transferred from high school. There, I met my childhood friend Shinobu-kun again.

"Shizu.."

"Shinobu-kun ..."

Now that I was in high school, Shinobu-kun looked tall and shining, all different. On the other hand, I didn't seem to have grown at all since then, and I was irresistibly embarrassed and couldn't even talk. What have I been doing so far? I started a new life going to the city from the mountains, but I couldn't get into studying. Even though I had a hard time taking the exam, I just looked out the window during class. Knowing that this shouldn't be the case. Club activities didn't go anywhere. There were very few such students. On the way home, you can see the students devoting themselves to club activities. The track and field club is jumping the training hurdle in a line in the courtyard. The volleyball club is running on the ground. A percussionist in the brass band with a metronome in his ear is striking a stick in the hallway. The Naginata club sits upright in the martial arts hall with a good posture, and thank you for your cooperation, saying before the practice. The first-year students of the baseball club, who have not yet been numbered, stand side by side and watch as if they are digging into the practice of their seniors. I didn't belong anywhere, so I left school quickly. It was already winter. There is a river called Kagami River that flows from east to west in the center of the city. Since the flow is often gentle, the TV tower and buildings on the opposite bank are reflected like a mirror. When I returned to the station through the road beside it, the girls of the light music club carrying the "Chahahaha" musical instrument case overtook me with a light step while laughing. A cute cat-shaped stuffed animal attached to the school bag is shaking. Attached to my school bag was a cheesy plastic plate of "Gutto Koremaru". "Gutto Koremaru" is an egg-shaped character who can poke his hand against the wall and endure the pain. I have a crack in my head, probably because I endured it too much. Of course, it's not cute.

In a dark and narrow corridor.

I resisted, "I can't do it! Hey!", But I was pulled into the room, saying "OK." The soundproof door slammed behind me. Shinboku "Ah!" There was a flashy room in a karaoke box, and the pink and purple lights were spinning mysteriously. It smells of incense. Only for girls in the class.

I heard that it was a social gathering, but when I saw the frenzy of the girls standing on the sofa and shaking their heads, I thought that I could not get into this tension very much.

"Peggie Sue is cute"

"This is the one that is popular in" U ", isn't it?" On the monitor screen on the wall, the popular Az of "U", Peggy Sue, was seen singing in a black rubber dress. Purple lipstick that shakes silver hair. An eccentric beauty with red eyes. Peggy Sue? "U"? Az? Is it popular? I don't know anything. It's like an event in a different world from me. Then, Hitomi suddenly offered a microphone, "Yes." Sing, and so on. "Huh?" Puzzled. Neither the coat nor the muffler is taken off. But "yes" the microphone was pointed again. Why for a child like me who is at the end of a class?

"Sing together?"

"Hey, sing."

The shadows of the girls press the microphones. What do you mean?

"Are you not going to sing alone?"

"Isn't it a lie that you can't sing?"

I see, so it’s this situation.

Dozens of microphones are forced against my face one after another. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"Sing"

"Hey, sing?"

"Sing"

Those voices sound like a threat.

"You're telling me to sing."

"Sing!"

Ahh!

Immediately, the microphone popped off and fell to the floor.

The girls dancing on the sofa suddenly saw me. It's calming down as if I was taken aback.

"What happened? Suzu-chan"

The mic and the shadows of the girls disappeared like a phantom.

"No, nothing. I'm sorry. Hey ..."

Without saying anything, I pushed the door of the karaoke box open by force and went out like crawling. Someone might have heard and told everyone that I couldn't sing.

When I got off the bus, powder snow was flying. I almost slipped down the slope from the bus stop. Even in Kochi, it usually snows in the mountains, aside from the city. When I crossed the subsidence bridge, I heard a crackling sound of thin ice. The surface of the concrete bridge is frozen.

Cold. It's not dexterous enough to get used to everyone, and it's not divisible. On the other hand, I’m not strong enough to be alone, not prepared, and have no idea.

I don't do anything selfish. Rumors that you can't sing, that's a lie. I'm just not confident in myself for a while. I want to get along with everyone. Really. I know. Of course I know. So "Ah ... Ah ..."

In the middle of the bridge, I impulsively exhaled my voice.

"Ah ... ah ... ah ah"

As I breathed in, cold air sank into my throat. Still, I sang towards the river. "Ah..”

Did I sing? It didn't match a song. It's just a growl. The bag slipped off my shoulder. Will you forgive me if I sing? Can I get along with everyone if I sing? It doesn't help to sing alone in such a place. It's like a scream of a dead end before being crushed. Still, I sang that song with my mother with a squeezed voice. I was happy back then. It's different now. Powder snow was swirling in the flow of the river. Suddenly, in front of me it became pitch black. Nausea swelled from the back of my stomach, and I held my mouth with both hands.

"Uuuuu!"

I crouched on my knees. However, I couldn't stand the momentum of the backflowing gastric juice. I pushed my body forward and vomited towards the clear stream under the bridge. The vomit that was about to kneel and vomit fell to the surface of the water, creating a number of ripples. I spit out everything in my stomach and fell on the bridge. My hair is messed up and my mouth is smeared with gastric juice and smells. It's already spicy. I want to get rid of everything. Shivering and crying as if groaning. Drops of tears ooze on my cold cheeks and tingle. I wish I were gone.

I could hear the slight sound of powder snow folding and piled up right next to me. A notification came to the smartphone that slipped off my bag. It was a message from Hiro-chan.

<< Look at this, Suzu. It’s so amazing that I’m seriously laughing. >>

There is a link to somewhere.

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

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

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