#I left this intentionally vague

[dandelark]

OPEN.

“you should eat something.” he’s stern, but his voice is still gentle. they may be sitting down, (because he had gotten them a chair and asked), but he isn’t. he’s moving around cabinets, trying to decide on what to offer them. he defaults on a new loaf of bread. so he cuts a piece off, offering it out to them. when they take it, he can then finally sit. “are you alright?”

[rattanwhip]

🌺

[yansurnummu]

TESfest day 5: crown

Heavy is the head...

Last year I actually finally wrote an entire outline for Celeste and Mirvyn's story, and then got distracted (blame Necrom) and forgot about it. It became a story about messy people becoming imperfect heroes, and the frustration of living in the shadow of a legend. Maybe one day I'll write it for realsies.

[weallpartyatybcpatricksfuneral]

Listen I know logically we are never getting a follow up video to the youngblood chronicles but if we were it would ABSOLUTELY be a video to The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years).

Like quite literally it's been ten years both in real life and inside the YBC universe. Ten years since the bands return from hiatus and the album that brought them back. Ten years since the events of the youngblood chronicles. They spent ten years in a chemical haze. Don't you get it they spent ten years in a chemical haze and they miss the way they felt nothing. The four of them died in YBC. Four of the Ramones are dead. Patrick's organs and hand were removed. But on the bright side he's got the wrong insides. He is literally saying to stop him if they've heard this all before. They were all torn apart both physically and mentally but now ten years later they've filled the cracks with gold and have healed.

A follow up video ten years down the line from the youngblood chronicles while impossible in practice is beautiful in theory.

[thevalleyoftriumph]

hi!! saw your post of DID Chosen (am I allowed to call it that??) and I have been curious ever since, apologies if any of these has been asked before https://www.tumblr.com/thevalleyoftriumph/757624875107090432/so-um-for-those-who-arent-in-the-ava-community?source=share ^ Post I'm referring to just in case What are your characterisations of Chosen, Beast and Killer like? Going off of Killer not recognising Dark in the post, it was Chosen fronting in AVA3 yes? Who was fronting during showdown? Going once again off the post Beast is non-verbal/ mute/ straight up doesn't know how to talk, is that why he resorted immediately to violence upon returning from Alans PC? Assuming that was Beast Was Chosen co-conscious during showdown? Simply watching as someone else used his hands to tear his best friend apart? Or did he come back to find his life destroyed, and best friend killed, with no idea how any of it happened Also, what are Chosen, Killer's and Beasts pronouns? I assume they differ from eachother. And are your Chosen and Dark siblings? Sorry I'm aware this is an insane amount of questions, apologies if it is overwhelming Final thing, all I know about DID is from DissociaDID (may be spelled wrong) on YouTube, and I have no idea how trustworthy of a source they are, nor have I watched them in years, so apologies if any of the terms/ information I have here is out of date or proven false Anyway, that's all, hope you have a good day :]

hi oh my god anon i love you. sorry i just really adore getting asked about stuff i love yapping and youve offered me a LOT to talk about, please expect a MASSIVE wall of text. like i mean it the wall is huge and took me like, an hour or two to type up. you opened the floodgates anon.

FIRST THINGS FIRST ☝ never apologize for being curious it is the most wonderous trait a person could have. i have spoken about some of these before but mostly in the replies or dms of people and thus it is perfectly okay by me to ask for me to repeat them here. secondly your questions are not at all overwhelming in fact i got very excited to answer once i realized how much youve asked. thirdly your phrasing is pretty accurate yes! ones you used are def pretty common, and i appreciate the willingness to be corrected - lots of phrases [though not specifically the ones you used, i mean more generally] are picked up and dropped by people for a whole variety of reasons ranging from comfort to accuracy to current knowledge, so being open to being corrected is a wonderful mindset to have when going into something youre unfamiliar with ! <3

anyhow, answers to the questions, numbered to each, under the cut ^_^ and just for ease im also going to actually type like a normal human being just this once lol. last warning here if you click "keep reading" youre in for a MASSIVE wall of rambling!

1: What are your characterisations of Chosen, Beast and Killer like?

I'd say my characterizations aren't anything too far from common interps, mostly regarding Chosen.

Chosen is a relatively soft spoken and monotone individual. He's prone to getting lost in thought a lot, especially when in conversation - he likes to think things through very much before speaking. A stick of few words, he likes being simple and blunt. He has a very hard time trusting people, but when he does, he trusts fully and deeply -- he is a very, very loyal person once that trust is earned. Even if someone he trusts does something to cause him to become upset with them, such as with Dark, he is willing to hear them out. Despite this, he's also very rash - much as he loathe to admit it. He may not speak without thinking, but he very much acts without thinking, sometimes even doing something without realizing it at first. This leads to a lot of things bad - such as him shoving Dark from the console in the flashback. He acts in ways he thinks he should, consciously or not. He's also got a bit of Dark's stubborness - once he sets his mind to something, it's a very difficult task to get him to back down.

Killer is, despite their name, very different from what you'd assume. They're a relatively happy person, all things considered, and despite having trust issues of their own, often tries to see the best in people. They're also a more ""casual"" fronter, bordering on co-host, as they usually end up in front for more minor things, or even just incidentally after they wake up. They're quick to adapt, usually masking as Chosen in these cases, but are equally quick to relax in safe environments and be more themselves. They're very talkative, and love learning about any and all topics that interest them. They also fidget a bunch - often with the ends of the body's scarf, or with their bracelet, gloves, belts, whatever is closest. Despite all this, they're also quite jumpy - they are primarily responsible for internal things, especially regarding their memories, and thus holds quite a few negative feelings and memories that they'd all rather not have. And yet, somehow despite all of that, they have a hard time with people. Like shown in the comic, Killer isn't always in front, and doesn't have access to nearly as many memories as you'd think for someone with their "role." In fact, they had no idea Dark existed until the very moment in that comic, which in my mind takes place years after Dark and Chosen ended up living together. How on earth they managed to go that long without meeting him, well your guess is as good as mine. I'd say it's a mix of good timing [or bad, depending on how you look at it] and generally "better" circumstances not requiring them to switch in as much as they previously had to.

Beast... Beast is a whole other can of worms, honestly. It's a general wildcard. The result of being treated inhumanely and without compassion, Beast is someone who is stuck in fight or flight mode for it's whole life -- and it's response is anything BUT flight. It is aggressive to anyone outside of the system, and anything it could see as a threat to their safety. Like I mentioned, it doesn't really speak - internally, it can't, and externally, it just forgets that the body isn't limited like it is, so it ends up silent. This leads to a lot of body language - it is incredibly expressive, and has a bit of a staring problem when it's not actively trying to maul something. Honestly if I drew sticks with eyes it'd totally do that thing that cat eyes do in the dark where it just looks at you super ominously from the shadows lol. Anyways, despite this, as I will always reiterate when talking about Beast's personality, it is not malicious. It is not evil, and it is not trying to hurt people on purpose. It is, first and foremost, protective and scared. It does not know HOW to calm down, or how to feel safe, because every time it's ever fronted, it has been faced with progressively worse and worse circumstances. It is determined and protective, and willing to go to great lengths to protect the system -- and perhaps, one day, if it can heal enough to trust others, it would do the same for them. If you thought Chosen was loyal, then you haven't seen Beast at its absolute best.

2: Going off of Killer not recognising Dark in the post, it was Chosen fronting in AVA3 yes? Who was fronting during showdown?

You'd be correct, for the most part! During the beginning of AVA3, when Chosen was still imprisoned as the ad-block, it was primarily Beast - thus, the chains on it's design, and its seeming unawareness of them. Then, once freed, Chosen had essentially force-fronted into co-front with Beast to fight his way out, eventually allowing Beast to sorta "pull back" out of front over the course of the episode - probably when Chosen and Dark team up. [And for clarification - when I mean "pull back," I mean sorta slowly being pulled from front in a switch. I'm not ever really sure how to describe what it feels like to slowly not front instead of being forcefully switched out, but this is how it makes the most sense to me. I'm sorry if it makes absolutely zero sense to anyone else lol]

As for who was fronting during Showdown, I'll admit that I haven't entirely decided. Initially for sure, during the flashback, it is 100% Chosen. Even during the early fight scenes it's primarily him - he's not being completely overpowered or even threatened with complete death [as, at the very least in my interp, Dark never intended to kill Chosen, just incapacitate so that he could go through with his plan. He only started striking to kill with the CG, but not Chosen - never Chosen.]

However, I'd say Chosen and his systemmates were, after a point, REALLY fucking blurry for a lot of that episode. Rapid switches that left them disoriented and dizzy and much slower to react than they'd usually be. When Chosen goes back to Alan's PC, that is when it's not necessarily unclear anymore. I'd say at that point particularly, Chosen has pulled away enough for the sorta blurry mess in front to be exclusively Beast and Killer, with Killer being busy masking as Chosen to get rid of the Virabot, but Beast being sorta hovering ominously over their shoulder internally thanks to the SEVERELY negative associations with the desktop. Killer's masking would probably have slipped a bit at seeing the CG, mostly out of personal shock at learning about them, but they would've left back to the Outernet before they could really think too hard about it.

The rest of the episode, especially when Chosen is seen overpowered by Virabots, is totally 100% Beast IMO. The situation of being contained, restricted, overpowered and in danger - life threatening to them, even if Dark never intended for it to be that way - it was much too similar to their early days on the desktop. Thus, Beast VERY solidly force-fronted and in doing so with taking complete ""control"" made it so neither Killer NOR Chosen were there for the ending of Showdown. A lot of the actions done once TSC came back were just done out of shock, and a very rare show of trust - TSC had shown Beast that they were willing to fight to protect them, collectively, even if it was really in response to their friends being harmed - protect one, protect them all, if that makes sense. TSC had removed the threat, and thus, Beast had sorta filed them away as one of the very few ""trustworthy"" sticks - even if it's not necessarily trust, it's the closest thing to it.

3: Going once again off the post Beast is non-verbal/ mute/ straight up doesn't know how to talk, is that why he resorted immediately to violence upon returning from Alans PC? Assuming that was Beast

Beast totally had a hand in it, yeah. Despite it and Killer being relatively equally "there" so to speak during the return to the PC in Showdown, Beast did have a MASSIVE influence on their collective actions. Killer fought because it knew it had to prevent bad things from happening, while Beast fought because it was the ONLY thing it knew to do to prevent bad things from getting WORSE. That is to say you're pretty spot on there lol

4: Was Chosen co-conscious during showdown? Simply watching as someone else used his hands to tear his best friend apart? Or did he come back to find his life destroyed, and best friend killed, with no idea how any of it happened

As briefly explained previously, Chosen wasn't the only fronter for a lot of it, and got completely booted out of co-consciousness after a point. Thus, while he knows logically that he fought with Dark, and when he DID front again, he could connect two-and-two together and realize that Dark got fucking murked, you're right to assume has remembers VERY little of the in-between and the specifics.

In fact, quite a few memories from even the co-conning were instead "given" to Beast and Killer. That's not exactly how it works but it's the best way I can describe it, based off my own experiences with co-conning with others -- sometimes you just don't end up getting the memories if there's multiple people in front, for one reason or another.

Anyhow, yeah, most memories of that day are kinda stuffed in the metaphorical closet. Chosen knows something happened between him confronting Dark and him ending up at home on the couch with a hole in the 2nd floor walls, but he just.. doesn't remember any of it. He can make the connections - he can look out the window and see the result of TSC's final blow to Dark from their house, after all. He can tell Dark isn't just hiding out somewhere. He's forgetful, not a fool. But he doesn't know what happened in the fight, or necessarily who killed Dark, and honestly Chosen's internal communication with his systemmates is absolute shit and there's no way in hell Killer OR Beast are leaving notes about a Really Traumatic Event in a journal for him, so his ass is NEVER finding out unless someone tells him.

[Which, to explain why he knows of TSC's powers in Wanted in that case, on some occasions memories do get ""passed"" from alter to alter. This is usually done in the case of "filling in" for the host, for example, where the alter requires information that another alter had taken in. This is commonly seen in situations where, for instance, a system is out at the store, but whoever entered had switched out for one reason or another, and the new fronter needs to mask as the other one to finish their task without "giving away" that something happened. This isn't the most common thing for Everyone I'd say, but it happens with my system sometimes, and also happens with some of my system buddies too. Thus, in my mind, it happens to Chosen too sometimes. It doesn't ALWAYS happen! Ie, that time Killer had no idea who Dark was. But it Can and so I'm portraying it here lol.]

5: Also, what are Chosen, Killer's and Beasts pronouns? I assume they differ from eachother. And are your Chosen and Dark siblings?

They do, yeah! While I've seen some systems sorta default to one or two sets of pronouns collectively, a lot of alters DO have preferences for pronouns pretty commonly. I mean, I myself vary wildly from some of my systemmates, a lot of whom, for example, use she/her, but I myself don't at all! It's honestly pretty interesting to see the differences, from a curiosity standpoint.

Anyways, back to Chosen. I would once again like to state that these are my personal headcanons and also I don't own Killer OR Beast, I'm just giving them character, and thus not everyone may agree necessarily.

Chosen: He/him primarily, but doesn't mind they/them too. He's kinda like that one tweet that's like "I think I'm nonbinary but I have a job so idc about that right now" in a way lol

Killer: They/them. Has a very wavery sense of identity though, so it's not like they'll get mad or anything at other pronoun usage. They honestly encourage people to get a little fun with it.

Beast: It/it's. Not in a dehumanizing way, but in a reclaiming sort of way.

Lastly, in my interp of Chosen and Dark, they are indeed siblings, yeah! I really adore the headcanon of all 4 hollowheads being siblings, it makes me incredibly happy, so it's like that in pretty much all of my interps/AUs. If it's work done by me, you can probably assue Chosen and Dark are related lol.

anyway yeah that's about it i'd say :] once again i love you so very much for asking questions, and i hope these answered them and didn't just run you in circles for twenty minutes ! i do have a bit of a habit of just yapping on and on and not being very clear, so if anything doesn't make sense or if you want me to expand on any points, or even if i've just repeated or even contradicted myself, then feel free to point it out or ask anything else! ^_^

[real-reulbbr-band]

isn’t it so weird that cats- the show where you have to interpret certain aspects to create your understanding of the world, its characters, and relationships

has a fandom subgenre that just loves shitting on “wrong” interpretations because they don’t agree with it or like it.

[discjude]

whatever afterlife exists in SGE must be the funniest shit ever imagine being some Jaunt Jolie peasant who gets a little too in the way of the Snake and dying only to see The Literal School Master cheering the Snake on. Imagine dying of like cholera or something and taking a little Ghost Vacation to Camelot and seeing the King of Camelot - who's dead, apparently - beating the shit out of some random other boy with weird eyes. imagine how flesh and blood went down. Do you think they all had popcorn for that

[theygender]

This is your sign to get back into playing that video game that you love but put down a long time ago and never picked back up again for no discernable reason

[violinist-rachel]

Story Beats

[Past] Rachel and the Violin Makers: We meet the people who gave Rachel her violin.

Rachel and Karl: We see the state of the park, how these two met, their friendship, and the relationship that formed between them.

The Incident: We see what happened on the night Rachel and Karl had a falling out.

Aftermath: We see the immediate effects the incident had on both Karl and Rachel's lives.

Unease at Castle of Nations: A year's time skip - We see where Karl's at and how the incident affected him and the rest of the park.

An Intervention: Following the time skip, we see how Rachel's doing through a friend (the same one Rachel played at a wedding for).

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

[Present] The Gunman: We see what happened to the man that was present in the incident.

Looming Crisis at the Park: Flashback - We see Castle acting strangely and witness how Treacy got her head broken.

Rachel and Clarice: Rachel and Clarice meet; we see how they become friends.

Castle of Nations: Flashback - We see the park turning into its present state. The air is hostile and the residents are on-edge.

Rachel and the Violin Maker: Rachel visits them to reconcile and try to make peace with her past.

The Bucket List: Clarice and Rachel have a talk about their goals in life.

Rachel and Karl: Rachel and Clarice resolve to go to Castle of Nations together. Rachel and Karl have one final encounter.

The Final Concert: Rachel plays the song she was meant to perform on the night of the incident as her final performance.

[kalgalen]

some ppl arent aware that theres more to queer identities than the bear/twink and femme/butch "splits" smh

[thespectral-wolf]

An Idle Conversation

My (only) submission to this year's Shadamy Week. I actually started writing this back in 2021, but I wasn't satisfied with it. But since I saw that it thematically fit both of the prompts of the first day (Immortality/Late Night-Early Morning), I went ahead and reworked it.

---

Amy lay in her bed, eyes closed. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes before glancing at her clock. 5:49 am. She has been hoping for the sweet embrace of sleep to take her back again for almost an hour now.

This has been a recurring problem lately and more and more had she been wishing back to her young days when she could sleep like a stone after an adventure. Maybe she missed the thrill more than the ability to sleep longer. With Eggman gone, there wasn’t anyone bold and ambitious enough to kickstart world threatening events anymore. Not that she would give up the peace that she and her friends now have. All she has to worry about is keeping her little business going and making sure to stay in touch with the others. Still, some days, she still longed for adventure…

She let out a silent sigh and sat up. Might as well start the day early instead of making futile efforts to fall back asleep. She yawned as she stepped out of her bedroom and went to the kitchen. She has been staying in her weekend house for a few weeks. She planned for a little alone time, however an unexpected visitor similarly looking for some peace changed her plans a bit. The door of the guest room was closed, but Amy knew he was up from the freshly brewed coffee in the pot. She took out a mug and poured herself some, grabbing a few sugarcubes from the counter and a spoon from the drawer before going outside.

She stepped out to the porch, and took a deep breath of the chilly morning air.

“You’re up early.” Shadow was sitting at the coffee table solving some sort of newspaper puzzle.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Amy said as she took a seat across from him. She started stirring her coffee before she continued “Why’d you make coffee this early though? You don’t even like it.”

“As a drink,” Shadow rebutted without looking up, “and I thought you’d appreciate it.”

“It would’ve gone cold by the time I normally get up, don’t you think?” she picked at him playfully.

“That’s what the microwave is for,” he said with a slight edge in his voice, although his faint smile showed he wasn’t actually annoyed.

“True,” she took a sip while resting her eyes on her garden, which was basked in the golden light of the rising Sun.

“What’cha solving?” she asked after a brief pause.

“Crosswords,” Shadow answered without as much as glancing at her.

Somehow the whole idea of Shadow occupying himself with ‘old people entertainment’ amused her.

“And how’s it going?” she asked, barely containing her smile.

“Too easy,” he folded the newspaper and reached down beside him. He showed a dozen of other newspaper pages with the crosswords already filled out. “They hardly give me a challenge. At least if the punchlines were better…” He promptly threw the papers down and returned to solving the one in his hand.

“If you dislike them so much, why do you bother then?” Amy inquired.

“It keeps me busy, I guess,” Shadow shrugged.

Amy mused on that a little.

“You know, this isn’t such a bad idea actually,” she pointed at the paper. “Doing mental work, I mean. Maybe I should start doing something like that. Old people have to keep their brains oiled, right?” She joked.

“You’re only 56, Amy. You’re not old.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You’re one to talk, Mr. Forever-Young,” Amy teased. She was just taking in the scenery when she noticed that Shadow went quiet. She looked over to him. He put the paper down and stared with an unreadable look on his face. Amy cocked her head:

“What’s wrong?”

Shadow seemed to shake out of his trance, his eyes dashed to her for a moment before he shook his head and averted his gaze.

“Nothing,” he hesitated. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“C’mon,” Amy pressed. “I can see that something’s bothering you.”

“It’s just,” Shadow sighed. “I don’t like it when you call me that. It reminds me that I’m…”

Oh… that.

“I’m sorry,” she said, almost instinctively.

“It’s okay,” he reassured her.

"No, I’m really sorry, I know you hate when we bring that up.”

“It’s fine, really!” Shadow said with a bit too much force on his voice. He blew out some air. “Let’s just… talk about something else.”

But no other topic seemed to come to either of them. They sat there in silence for several minutes, staring off to the treeline surrounding the yard. There was a low mist still hanging to the ground in the distance, making it all seem ethereal.

“I like these moments,” Shadow spoke up eventually. “When everything’s slow and you can just exist in it. I just wonder… if I’ll remember them a hundred years down the line.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Amy blinked at him.

Shadow shrugged.

“I have forgotten so much already. If it weren’t for the logs, I would not remember much of my time on the ARK. And if a single trauma was enough to wipe my memories,” he tapped his head for emphasis, “how can I be sure that it won’t happen again?”

Amy could practically feel the sadness in his voice. She knew all too well about Shadow’s fear. Even now, there were moments when he wasn’t quite there with them. Moments when he woke up and seemed to be completely lost for several seconds, as if he did not recognize his surroundings. Moments when he was quiet even by his own standards, looking at nothing, breaths deep and heavy. It took so many years for him to open up and tell those who were the closest to him that the damage Professor Gerald and his fall through the atmosphere did still left his mind vulnerable. 

“But you’ll have pictures and videos to keep by your side. And your family will be there to remember us,” she made a weak attempt at comforting him. “And I’m pretty sure Omega will be around.”

“Pictures will fade, data can corrupt. And they weren’t there with us on our old adventures. They don’t have our shared memories,” Shadow’s response sounded like as if he practiced it. “And in a generation or two, there will be no one left to remember. Also, “he gave her a pointed look,” what do you think Omega will do once he has hunted down and eliminated the last of Eggman’s legacy?”

“Well, I’m stumped,” Amy threw her hands up. It was far too early to deal with all of this. She didn’t even finish her coffee yet! She rested her head in her hand. She wasn’t frustrated with Shadow’s rebuttals, but she hated that even after all these years he could still get so caught up in his own thoughts. And in some sense, he was right. They didn’t know just how long will Shadow live, but it was obvious that for someone in his fifties — or nineties if they counted his time in stasis — he looked like someone fresh out of college. Only his soul aged.

“It’s just…” Shadow continued. He fiddled with his hands as he went on, staring in front of him. “I have sworn to keep the world safe. And I am keeping to that oath. And it means that I’ll have to go on, no matter the circumstances, but,” he breathed out slowly “So much has changed since then. I tried keeping everyone at distance thinking it would make it easier, but I was just lying to myself. And now… I don't want to lose this. Just thinking about the fact that there will be a time when I’ll have nothing left of you outside of fickle memories, it…”

“It terrifies you,” Amy finished for him. Shadow nodded, eyes looking away.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

“Listen, I’d be lying if I said that I would know how to handle outliving my loved ones. And it pains me to think about how you’ll have to watch us go, but… look, I know you’re strong. And I know you’re able to let new people in your life, even if it takes time. And you will be making new memories,” just then, a thought came to her. “There is a saying, you know… ‘nobody is really gone as long as we keep talking about them’,” she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Do you get what I’m saying?”

Shadow gave her a defeated look.

“I guess,” he swallowed. “When the time comes, I can… tell our stories. As long as I am able.”

Amy squeezed his shoulder.

“I trust that you will tell them truthfully… But that being said,” she nudged him lightly, “it’s not like these are urgent matters,” light playfulness returned to her voice. “You said it yourself, I’m only 56. And I’m not planning to go till I’m at least a hundred!”

A faint smile appeared on Shadow’s lips.

“You better keep yourself to your word then.”

“Oh, you bet! You’ll have me at 99, still kicking, and ready to talk your ear off whenever you try to question yourself.”

That got a small chuckle out of Shadow. He shook his head, amused look on his face, as he picked up the newspaper and his pen again. “I have no doubt about it.”

Amy smiled, and discreetly watched him work through the crosswords while she finished her coffee. The melancholy feeling still lingered; she knew there will be a time when Shadow will have to face all of this, and neither she or the others will be there to walk him through it. But maybe, moments like this will be enough to help him. What she knew for certain was that however long he can, he will cherish them.

[snekdood]

me and my gma were talking about how we both feel like we have the opposite of SAD bc for me personally i get more energy and get happier and want to be outside more in cold, cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc. weather and feel drained and tired in the hot ass summer. she thinks its her inner irish longing for cloudy days lol

[valkguard]

@bloodypuzzle said : "you look like you just saw a ghost."

——————

angela can appreciate the irony.

for all intents and purposes, lawrence gordon is exactly that to her : a ghost. a figure from her past, lingering inside her old memories like cobwebs in abandoned rooms. a familiar presence, one that she had thought she known well ; a haunting presence, a cruel reminder that one cannot truly know everything there is to know about someone's true nature.

still, by now, she is familiar with what he does these days.

the whispers about him do not fall upon deaf ears — angela keeps tabs on all of her former colleagues, regardless of their affiliation. perhaps it's a small victory, no matter how morbid it may seem, that lawrence had not abandoned his former team for talon, but rather for his own purposes.

she has lost too many people at this point — no matter how much she disapproves, there is the pull of familiarity tugging at her. a string connecting her to him, whether she likes it or not.

“ isn't that what you are though, doctor gordon? ” angela inquires, a brow raising. “ after all, from what i've heard, you're a very hard man to find nowadays — or am i mistaken? ”

[desertsportshipping]

"So, what do you want?" Leon asked, still holding his hand. "I can't just not get you something."

They were on the edge of the piers in Hulbury, watching the sun set over the waves. Leon had insisted on dragging them out to the port for a festival, but after a while, the crowds had gotten overwhelming for Espeon (and Wes, although he wouldn't admit it), so Leon brought them to the pier.

He didn't remember how the conversation wandered to holidays and traditions, but Leon was insisting that he was gonna get Wes a Christmas gift. Christmas was foreign to Wes: the only 'celebration' he had was a larger haul for Team Snagem from tourists on vacation.

Wes wasn't one for gifts. Usually if he got something, it was payment for a job, attempted bribery, or attempted assassination (sometimes multiple at once). He'd been slowly acclimated to Leon sharing food with him, but actual gifts was still weird to him.

"You don't have to get me anything," Wes grumbled, gently tugging on Leon's hand so they were pressed closer together. The breeze from the sea was cold and his boyfriend(?) was warm, sue him. "If you really want to get something, get something for the bastards. Spoiled brats."

At hearing their names, Espeon and Umbreon both hissed at him.

"But I want to get something for you too!" Dear Arceus, Leon had already planned gifts for his Pokemon.

"You really don't-"

"Wes." Leon cut him off, squeezing their hands from where they were twined together still. "I know there's something you want. Let me get it for you."

He looked away, out towards the open sea. It was frustrating how Leon could read him like an open book.

They haven't really talked about whatever their relationship was becoming. It had taken Wes a while to accept that Leon was a friend, and now they were doing a bunch of stuff that resembled a couple. Despite him pushing the man away, Leon insisted on sticking around him, and Wes had to realize that not only is Leon honest when he says that he cares about Wes, but that Wes feels the same way.

In the past, it's been the people who said they'd cared about Wes that had hurt him the worst. But maybe Leon's proven that he wouldn't hurt him. Maybe Wes can take a leap of faith for once.

One of the first real arguments he and Rui had was during their stay at Phenac City. Wes had failed in his attempt to break into the Phenac Museum, but Rui was still pissed. She insisted that he wasn't a criminal anymore, and if this book was so important to him, he should've gone through legal channels instead of breaking and entering. Wes tried to tell her that the only legal channel was buying it from the museum for an arm and a leg, and he can't do that because she dragged him to the Phenac Hospital and probably signed his soul over. It ended with Wes sleeping on his bike, and in the morning they never spoke of it again.

As much as Wes can say that his and Rui's relationship recovered after the incident at Realgam Tower, he was lying. It's why they never brought it up again, even after Cipher was mostly dealt with, and why it took so long for Wes to try and trust Leon.

"If you really want to try, there is something," Wes finally said, leaning closer to Leon as it got colder. "But there's some shit you've gotta know first."

Leon used his free hand to wrap part of his cape around Wes, arm resting over his shoulders. "Tell me."

Wes sighed. "Fine. Remember what I told you about the mine collapses?"

"Yeah." Leon furrowed his brow, tongue sticking out a little as he tried to recall. "A bunch of the underground mines collapsed, killing most people and the wild Pokemon, and it caved in a bunch of the Under Network."

Wes nodded, giving Leon's hand a reassuring squeeze. "There's a museum in Phenac City-" He wrinkled his nose at the mere mention of it, "And they've been working on excavating the collapsed towns. Displaying things they find for the rich assholes, like the stuff of dead poor people are some sort of exhibit for them."

Leon cut off the rant that Wes was beginning. "You want something from there?"

"Yeah. A scrapbook. It should be labeled something like 'Smithson Family Memories.'"

He could see Leon trying to figure out why. But instead of asking, he gently unclasped their hands, and Wes could see that he'd been unconsciously digging his nails into Leon's hand.

"I won't ask why, you can tell me when you're ready. Maybe when I get that book to you."

Not if, when.

Wes let a little bit of the warmth he was feeling out, giving Leon a small but genuine smile. He was rewarded with a beaming grin, brighter than the sun that had just finished setting behind them.

He let Leon pull them back to town, now that the sun was down and the night was cold. Despite the chill settling on his skin, he was still warm from the genuine promise that Leon had made him.

If this is what love really felt like, he could get used to it.

[feilien]

@draconisa  said: “" i didn't know where else to go... "” {♚ x Meme I am too lazy to find right now || Accepting x}

 It was somewhat late, and Matt had only just taken a break from studying to cook himself something to eat, lest he waste away after not eating for a few hours. He’d hardly gotten any of his prep done, when there’d been a knock on his door. Not necessarily an alarming thing in and of itself, but despite a couple of years having passed, he still remained paranoid for fear of being found. And he simply wasn’t expecting anyone, let alone at this time.

 For a moment, he considered ignoring it. Perhaps someone had put in the wrong apartment number for a delivery? But what if that wasn’t the case, and any second someone was about to kick in the door with him woefully underprepared. So he tightened his grip around the knife still in his hand, and slowly, warily, made his way over to the door.

 A quick look through the peephole, however, had his whole body relax and him sigh in relief. No delivery person, and no thugs out to get him. But then alarm bells went off yet again, and he quickly opened the door. “Daenerys? What— Is everything alright?”

 " i didn't know where else to go... "

 There was no hesitation as he stepped aside, both confused and worried. “Come in. What’s wrong?”

[arysthaeniru]

Sometimes, a reading will take me 3 hours when it's only about 15 pages, and it's never really because it's hard, but because I take psychic damage with every other line.