#a thing i was surprised they did more than once minus when they showed his and pecco's fight then he was full of enthusiasm yapping to Pecc

[screwdriver-and-souffle]

Bezz said that Turn 8 was still wet and he learned which line to do in order to not slip and fall looking and following Marc during the race in the cool-down room... that's where the urge to suck Marc off comes from

Also when Pecco passed Bezz at the start he said he didn't see because he was watching Marc and then immediately he corrected himself by saying he was watching Marc and Martin

[simbiotictears]

LnDs Boys if they were an Idol!boy group:

I won’t hear anyone out. I need this group to become a reality. Infold make a card of them as idols and I am yours!!

Pt2

Leader + Main Rapper: Zayne

Appears to be the most mature but isn’t. He was voted the pettiest by the members followed by Sylus and Rafayel. He was given the role of leader due to his ability to keep the fans and his members under control (minus Sylus).

Designated translator: he can speak the most languages in the group. As a result, he leads the international interviews and fan interactions.

His fans know he likes sweet things, so they often gift him sweet treats in fan meets. The staff end up confiscating most of it to stop him from eating them all and getting cavities.

His stage persona is the cold nerdy type, this is because he refuses to wear contacts, so this allows him to wear his glasses when he's not performing on stage.

He gets injured the most. Don't even try to tell me he doesn't.

In terms of his voice, he has a mellow voice. He doesn't really sing but he raps well.

When it comes to dancing, he can’t really dance, but he works hard. After the main and lead dancers, he trains the third hardest. If dance was a science, he'd have top marks. It's the moving the body part he struggles with.

He did aegyo once and it got clipped and shipped and he hasn't been able to live it down since.

He doesn’t post on social media often, but when he does, he posts book reviews (mostly nonfiction and medical books) on Substack.

His day in the life YouTube video for the group channel was him visiting Cafes and testing their sweet treats. All of those Cafes have been packed ever since he went.

He is the third most popular in the group, and his fans are the most mature and peaceful. However, they do go feral when he gets freaky for the concepts.

Main Dancer + Lead Vocalist/Rapper: Caleb

He is a jack of all trades. If he was the youngest, he’d be golden. But he’s not, so he’s just the most versatile.

He sings, he dances, he raps, he’s pretty—what can’t he do?

His rapping is far better than his singing, but his singing is nowhere near terrible. He had to work very hard on his vocals before debut, but only his bandmates know that.

He is a hit or miss with the fans, still extremely popular, but those who love him are very devout.

He’s had the second most scandals in the group, after Sylus, for fake rumours and clips taken out of context.

He’s a big nerd and is very chaotic despite his cool more chill front he shows sometimes (when he’s not in the mood). His stage persona is the popular boy next door/big brother type, and he fits the role perfectly.

He is the one to say the most random facts in the middle of a video. Definitely watches 'Cunk on Earth.' He is chronically online.

He has 'Train with me' videos which sound a little questionable due to his loud breathing.

He surprised his fans with the news of his piloting license by randomly uploading a video of him piloting a fighter jet.

He pranks Zayne often and likes to dance late at night in the studio with Xavier.

Him and Sylus have beef that no one else understands— but they do and that’s all that matters.

He has a girlfriend who he unapologetically talks about, whilst not mentioning anything at all. This has got him into a lot of trouble, but he doesn’t care. He doesn't want his fans to try and hit on him. He is a committed man. Other than that, he is very private.

Designated cook: he used to cook for the members when they all lived in the dorms together.

Visual + Sub Rapper: Sylus

Actually, the most mature. He is the oldest and hottest. People ignore the fact that he can’t sing (though he is getting better) because of how hot he is.

He usually leads when the concepts are suaver and sultrier.

I can't emphasise this enough, but he got in because he’s hot— can’t lie, that’s most of the reason he got in.

His stage persona, much like his real life personality, is the bad boy/daddy type. (I am not sorry, you know he's going to be in a suit giving it an ateez level performance)

He speaks the second most languages in the group, so he usually sits behind or at the end of the line in interviews and takes some of the stress off of Zayne. Once the interviewers know he speaks their language they do try to get him to answer a lot of questions just to hear him speak... and you know what? same.

The camera loves him.

People beg him to do aegyo and he only does it very rarely. Not even losing a bet could force him to do aegyo. It has to be if one of the boys has got his (secret) girl on the line.

Has the rich man laugh. Hear me out, he once accidentally laughed at the end of a recording session when the mic was still on, and they kept it in the track… let’s just say that track and that specific part of the track won them their first seven awards.

He has the most ravenous, horny fans. Even straight men go feral for Sylus.

He is the most likely to be put on stage shirtless or told to rip his shirt mid performance; he’s not opposed, he works hard for his abs.

His 'Day in the life' YouTube video on their group channel where he drank wine, played the organ, made steak, boxed, and watched a movie over the span of ten hours has over 109 million views.

Still, he goes live the least. Mostly because he doesn’t know how to use the live feature properly.

Naturally, he has had the most scandals in the group, not by his own fault mind you. And there have been public issues with their company's unfair distribution of his lines in most songs. (Sometimes they’re lucky if he gets four lines.)

He calls his fans “kittens” which makes all the other members hurl.

Face of The Group + Centre + Main Vocalist: Rafayel

The pretty boy of the group.

Designated Brat: he will argue with everyone about everything. He is the sassiest of the group and also the whiniest. He acts like the youngest but isn’t??

Has the voice of a literal angel and the face to match.

He spends the most time with Xavier because Xavier doesn’t argue with his insane logic (the boy is exhausted, save my boy Xavier).

He pretends to hate acting cute, but he secretly loves it.

People ship him with literally everyone in the group, but mostly Xavier and Zayne. It’s the icy x sunshine dynamic.

Designated model: He has the best fashion and always dresses like he’s about to hit the runway. His airport photos are basically photo cards in and off themselves. And a few times they've ended up on the cover of high fashion magazines. He would never be caught dead in anything less than the best.

He is the laziest in terms of training, but who needs to train when they’re that beautiful? (His words, not mine.)

Zayne has to threaten him to get him to go to dance practice.

He goes live with Xavier most often.

He is the one who controls the social media pages. He loves posting the most random stuff.

His ending fairies always go viral.

One time a fan asked him to marry them when he was live and he asked how big their paycheck was.

Should have more scandals than he does, most of his drama is people arguing about his sexuality— to which he tells everyone to mind their own business.

He’s terrified of cats. The group went on a YouTube Channel where they got to play with cats as they answered questions. Rafayel hissed at any cat that came near him and hid behind Sylus.

He once did a paint with me stream and everyone was shocked at his skills and art knowledge to which he said he went to art school.

Maknae + Lead Dancer + Sub Vocalist: Xavier

The youngest of the group.

His stage persona is the shy boy/prince type. Because of this, everyone thinks that this sweet man is innocent, but he’s a freak.

Can pull off literally any concept.

Has insane dance skills. (I don't want to hear it. In a world where they are idols that man can dance.)

Him and Caleb are the most likely to be in the dance studio late at night practicing.

Because he works so hard at night and off camera, the fans think he is lazy or “always tired.” He is anemic, but his sleepiness mostly comes from his excessive training.

He has a secret dance TikTok called Lumiere; where he dances with a hood on, a face mask, and in baggy clothes. Some fans have hypothesised that him and Lumiere are the same person, but he never confirms it.

He nearly got caught once when Rafayel was live, and he walked back into their hotel room with the same hoodie on as his latest TikTok video.

He mostly enjoys releasing dance videos on their group TikTok and YouTube channel with Caleb because their styles blend well together.

When they do more lifestyle like content, he is either with Rafayel or Caleb.

He has a very soft and pretty voice, which makes most people swoon though he actually prefers rapping, but the group would have too many rappers, so he sticks to singing.

He once sat in on Caleb’s live with Sylus and Zayne and rapped a whole cypher, which shocked all the fans because he sounded so good! He’s got insane flow.

It started the #letXavierRap trend.

Has a secret partner, and his biggest scandal was a hickey that wasn’t covered up properly.

People love the princely concept on him. He lowkey hates it. He only wears it on the stage.

He grew out his hair once and everyone begged him not to cut it again (he did, it got in the way of his face when he was dancing.)

They once had a concept where they all had to act. Much to everyone’s surprise, Xavier did so well that he started to get offered acting gigs. He mostly turns them down, but once in a while his fans might spot him as the lead in a C drama or two.

He can’t cook to save his life.

He relies on Caleb and Sylus to make everything; however, he does eat pot noodles when they refuse.

He once tried to cook for the members, and they had to move dorms because the place caught fire. Of course, that was before they all moved to their own places.

[cookiescribble]

Flufftober Day 20: Paw

A/N: i was half tempted to write this one about Gambit with his cats because we met A.J. LoCascio but i love Dick and Haley entirely too much i’m so sorry - mod ghost

Ship: Dick Grayson x GN!Reader

Summary: Waking up in the middle of the night to a fluffy surprise

You were mostly still asleep when you felt how cold the bed had gotten. Dick must’ve still been out doing his thing as Nightwing then. You shifted and started to get up, rubbing your eyes as you heard the familiar sounds of him getting home.

But then you heard a bark.

That wasn’t usually a sound you heard in your apartment, considering there were no dogs in it, so you were about to investigate when light from outside the room started to shine in. The room was pitch black other than some street lights, since it was the middle of the night, so all you saw was Dick’s silhouette as he opened the bedroom door.

“Hey, sorry…did I wake you up?” Dick, still fully dressed as Nightwing minus the mask, greeted you as he stepped in the door and closed it behind him. He had both of his hands behind his back, clearly holding something that he was hiding from you.

“It’s okay, you didn’t. But what do you have behind your back?” You asked as he stepped closer, clearly watching him struggle with whatever it was. You could’ve sworn you even heard a soft but distinctly dog-like whimper from behind him.

“…Nothing.” Dick grinned, trying to seem innocent.

Another bark, though much louder now, proved that that was a lie.

“Do you have a dog?” You raised an eyebrow and crossed your arms, chuckling at your silly boyfriend.

“…Possibly.” Dick’s grin was more sheepish than before, which made it obvious that he was definitely hiding a dog behind his back.

“Dick, show me the dog! I wanna see the dog, gimme.” You shuffled toward him as he stood at the end of the bed, holding your arms out once you were sitting on your knees in front of him.

“Okay, fine, but be warned; she’s very cute.” He pulled the puppy from behind his back, revealing a three-legged gray and white pitbull who immediately pushed herself from Dick’s hand into your arms.

You caught her immediately, petting her as she licked at your face which made you laugh. “Oh my god, she’s adorable! Where did you get her??”

“She was getting attacked by some bullies on the street because she’s only got three of her legs,” he scratched the top of her head as he spoke, “so I did as any vigilante worth his salt would do, I saved her.”

“Can we keep her??” You asked excitedly, your eyes briefly leaving the dog to look at him.

“I don’t see why not?? She doesn’t have a collar or anything. I kinda may have already picked out a name for her, too.” He laughed, watching how you interact with the puppy with the look of an idiot in love.

“Really?? What is it?” You weren’t at all surprised that he’d already become that attached to her, Dick had the biggest heart of anyone you’d known.

“Haley, I think it really suits her.” Dick spoke fondly, petting her back as she settled in your lap.

“Aww, I really like that. Welcome to the apartment, Haley Grayson.”

[theweebnextdoor]

Operation: S.E.C.R.E.T.S

Sunnie☀️: Started this story sometime last year but decided to start posting the chapters on here as well. Hope you enjoy the chaotic adventures my ocs go through and be able to get to know them a little more.

Operation: S.E.C.R.E.T.S

Sector

Enlisting

Child

Recruit

Ensures

Trouble

Surfaces

A new girl claiming to be family shows up on the Uno's doorstep but not everything is as it seems as she trains to be an operative. Meanwhile, an adult with a connection to this child becomes involved in the DCFDTL's lives as trouble ensues.

Chapter 1: Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Uno's Door

The evening had been quiet minus a few lousy villains trying to sneak into the treehouse. Thankfully their defense system made sure to alert that someone was on the property and was immediately dealt with. It wasn't too much for one kid to handle himself seeing how all his teammates were in their own respective homes on a school night but he could do without the minor annoyances. Things would quiet down soon but he wanted to be able to update the computer system of some of the newer villains they had fought recently. Even if they had defeated those adults and they weren't a threat at the time there was a good chance they would strike again soon enough so they had to collect as much information on their enemies to ensure another victory by the Kids Next Door. From now on there will be no more distractions.

DISTRACTION DETECTED!!

Dropping his clipboard in surprise, the boy groaned that it was the phone of all things interrupting him. Not wanting to hear it keep ringing he rolled his chair to the other side of the computer and picked up his phone, telling himself that it had better be important. "Hello?"

"Oh, good! So glad you picked up Nigel, honey!"

"Mom? I told you not to call me unless it was an emergency and besides I'm very busy trying to-"

"You'll consider it an emergency if you don't hurry down here and eat your dinner before it gets cold, young man! We're going to spend some family time together."

The boy knew he wouldn't be able to get out of it. Sure he could refuse and just find something to eat in the treehouse once he was finished with his work but he would be in trouble for not listening when he did finally go downstairs. Hearing that there was a dessert after was enough to convince him to stop his work for now but he would be sure to return once he had been full and satisfied.

"Okay, okay I'll be down in five minutes." He sighed as he began saving the information he had already typed up as he held his handmade phone between his ear and shoulder so he could hear his mother speak.

"Wonderful! We'll wait for you until you come down. Love you, honey!"

"Love you too, Mom," Nigel muttered before hanging up. He sighed as he made sure the defense system would stay on while he left the base of his treehouse. It was highly unlikely that there would be any more unwanted visitors for tonight but he couldn't be too careful. Once everything seemed to be in order, he made his way to the elevator and hit the button for house level.

"Ugh, the things I'll do for cherry pie." He put his head in his hand in slight disbelief at himself as the doors closed.

Like his mother had said his parents had waited for him, welcoming him as he sat down. Nigel said hello to his parents before beginning to tune them halfway out as he focused on his food instead. He picked up a spoonful of mashed potatoes with gravy, making sure to push his asparagus away. No way he was going to let those vile things contaminate the rest of his dinner more than it already had.

His father talked about another fishing trip they could take next weekend and he only got a few bites in before the doorbell rang, setting off an alarm system he had his teammate install. Jumping from his seat, Nigel made his way to the door before one of his parents could get there first. In case it was another adult villain he would be sure to deal with them with one of the weapons he kept hidden in the house. When he did open the door the alarm shut off and he was ready to question what the person wanted but grew confused when a woman he never saw before with long black hair stood at their doorstep.

"Oh! Um, hello young man but are either of your parents home?" She seemed like she didn't expect a kid to answer the door so he could guess that she didn't come here on Kids Next Door business but still raised a brow at her as he answered that they were.

"Nigel ol' boy, don't just stand there. See what the nice lady wants." His dad had left the table to see what was happening, only to find his son glaring at some woman in a pantsuit. He didn't know what he was going to do with that boy.

"Hello sir, are you by any chance a man named Monty Uno?"

"Why, yes I am." He answered and Nigel stepped to the side to observe. "Is there a problem of any kind I can help you with?"

"My name is Patricia Foster. I work for social services and it has come to our attention that you have a long-lost relative in the system that has been orphaned recently and it states that we track down any potential family members to see if they would be willing to take the child in even if temporary or else they will remain in foster care until further notice. No decisions have to be made right away but I have brought the child here with me so you could meet her in person."

Stepping to the side, Patricia showed that there was indeed a child standing behind her who looked up at the man with a sheepish smile as she took one of the hands resting behind her back and gave a little wave.

Both Nigel and his father stood there not saying anything for a moment. Neither one was sure how to properly take the information in. Finally, Monty called for his wife over his shoulder, hoping that she could help address the situation.

"Jen dear, could you please come in here for a moment?"

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

They were all seated in the living room with Nigel sitting on the couch next to his parents while they looked through some of the paperwork that this Patricia woman was showing them. He tried to sneak glances but his main attention kept going back to the girl sitting on the ottoman on the other side of their coffee table. They were supposed to be related in some way? She had been observing what the adults were doing as well and when she went to move a strand of brown hair behind her ear her eyes suddenly locked with his. Giving a little wave, she mouthed, "Hi" to him, and smiled when he awkwardly waved back.

"As you can see here it says that her dad's second cousin twice removed matched your info." Patricia passed the letter to Monty along with a document of a family tree showing that Nigel's father and this girl did share the same bloodline.

"I guess this is what we get for skipping out on your last few family reunions otherwise we might have already met-." Nigel's mom paused for a moment realizing she didn't catch the child's name and looked to her for an answer.

"My name is Robin. Robin Hughes." The girl answered, biting the inside of her cheek for a moment before speaking again. "So what happens now? Is this where I'll be living or will I have to keep staying in foster care?"

Monty and Jennifer could both hear the nervousness in Robin's voice and looked at each other wondering what on earth they should do. Everything checked out and this girl needed a proper living situation but could they take on another kid out of the blue like this?

"I think if Robin will be more comfortable knowing she's around family then she can have a place here with us. We'll do what we can to make the proper arrangements for this young lass."

"What? Dad don't you think this is all just a little too-" Nigel didn't get a chance to voice his opinion that he felt something was fishy about this whole thing as Robin suddenly jumped up.

"Really? Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to me! I know this is a lot and I'm sorry to spring all of this on you.." Robin looked to her feet and shifted.

"I can drop Robin here off tomorrow along with the paperwork I will need you to sign claiming to be her new legal guardians." Patricia stood up from the chair and began organizing her copy of the files into her briefcase while Jen took Robin to the kitchen for a moment to get her a slice of pie to take with her.

"Dad, I'm not so sure about this. I'm all for helping out another kid. It's what I do but they don't just show up at your doorstep and suddenly start living with you this fast. At least I don't think they do.." He didn't know how all this was supposed to work but sharing his home with a girl they just met seemed a little weird.

"Nonsense, Nigel ol' bean." His father waved him off. "I know this will take some time to get used to but I'm sure you'll learn to love having a new playmate. You and she appear to be the same age so she'll even be in the same class as you."

"We'll need to make arrangements to have her enrolled in a new school but we'll worry about all of that once Robin has settled in here." Patricia closed her case, having gathered everything, and smoothed out her pants. "It was a pleasure to meet you, folks."

Patricia shook Monty's hand before saying that she was going to warm up the car and just have them send Robin out once she was finished.

Shutting the car door after slipping into the driver's seat, Patricia threw the briefcase in the back before reaching up towards the top of her head. Pulling on her hair it completely slipped off to show that it had been a wig this whole time and her natural red hair was pinned up underneath. Grabbing her phone she quickly began typing a number and spoke once she heard someone answer on the other end.

"Step one has been completed. She's in.."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"So a total stranger is going to be staying in your house?" One of Nigel's best friends, Wally, questioned trying to understand the situation his leader was in even though it had been explained twice already.

"Maybe she will be our friend and I can invite her to my Happy Tea Time Rainbow Monkey Party!" The raven girl, Kuki, giggled to herself not paying attention to the eye roll Wally gave her.

"What did you say her name was again? Raven or something?" Hoagie questioned his friend as they neared the street the treehouse was on. It was after school now and they were walking home while Nigel told them to watch out for this girl when she arrived.

"Her name is Robin. At least that's what she claims to be called." Nigel responded, lifting his sunglasses as they began to slip further down the bridge of his nose. "I just don't get it. Yesterday I was an only child living with my parents and now today I have to share the space with my so-called long-lost- I want to say, Cousin?"

"Maybe you're thinking about this too much Numbuh 1. I mean you have a long-lost cousin on your mom's side and she's a member of the Kids Next Door." The dark-skinned girl of the group, Abigail, reminded him as she twirled a red lollipop between her fingers before putting it back in her mouth.

"Numbuh 10 didn't come to live with me in less than twenty-four hours of meeting her." Numbuh 1 pointed out to his second in command. "Don't you agree it's a little bizarre?"

"Maybe it is but Numbuh 5 thinks you're too tense even more. Ever since that last attack with the Delightful Children you've been a little on edge. I know you went through a lot and it took over a month for us to rebuild the tree house but you need to chill man. If this girl is your cousin and needs a place to crash then as members of the Kids Next Door, Numbuh 5 says we give her a chance and welcome her. She still is just a kid after all."

Numbuh 1 had to admit that Numbuh 5 was right. Maybe he was overthinking this too much. He had been even more suspicious of adults ever since transforming into one himself and having to face their greatest enemy so far. Father. There was no reason to take it out on a fellow kid.

"I suppose you make a good point Numbuh- Hey!"

The four members looked to their leader wondering what caught his attention all of a sudden. They followed his gaze ahead of them to see a car parked in front of his house. She was here already? Numbuh 1 motions for his teammates to follow him as he crept closer and stood on his tiptoes to peer through the side window. The others crowded around him trying to take a look as well. Nigel didn't see any signs of Robin. Only Patricia was sitting with his mom at the kitchen table; talking and laughing with a cup of coffee in each of their hands.

"Hey move it, would ya?!" Wally yelled, jumping to try and gain some height over his taller friends. He tried to elbow Hoagie to the side only for his friend to tell him to watch it and shove him back.

"Would you two knock it off?" Numbuh 1 warned moving the sleeves of Kuki's green sweater from his face while her chin rested atop his bald head, having hopped up on his back so she could get a good view too.

Numbuh 5 stood back with her arms crossed while the other four tried to squeeze around the window. If they kept at it the two women would hear them and see that they were trying to spy on them. Having finished her lollipop, Numbuh 5 pocketed the stick to throw away later when she saw a figure moving toward her friends. "Uh, guys?"

"Can someone just-!" To try and share the space Wally jumped on top of Hoagie but in doing so he made the other boy lose his balance and crash right into the other two, sending them all into a heap on the ground.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"What was that?" Patricia questioned from inside, having heard a noise. Jen only shrugged with a smile before continuing her story.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"Get off me!" Nigel lay face down beneath the weight of his friends trying to lift himself. He was able to prop his elbows when a pair of black shoes came into his field of vision and he looked up to see Robin standing over them with a box in her arms.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Oh! Um-." He began as he felt his teammates move their weights off him. "Nothing?"

Robin raised a brow at him then chuckled before shifting the box to one arm and offering her free hand to help him up. "Good to see you again Nigel." She smiled.

"It's good to see you too Robin." He responded before clearing his throat. "These are my friends." Nigel pointed his arm to the other four behind him. He introduced them each by name along with their respective Numbuhs 2 through 5 as they waved and gave hellos of their own. "And this is Robin. The girl I was telling you guys about."

"Spreading rumors about me already, eh Numbuh 1?" Robin joked using his codename that she learned.

"Ooh! Robin, your hair clips are so pretty! Can I try them on? Please! Please! Please!"

Robin turned to see the bubbly Japanese girl bouncing on her feet. She was the cutest thing but she didn't give in to her request.

"Sorry, Numbuh 3 no can do but thanks. They are pretty, aren't they?" She smiled, hovering her free hand over the clip that was pinned to the left side of her hair. It was merely a gold-colored barrette that mirrored the one on the right. They held importance and no one could wear them but her.

"What's that?" Nigel questioned, nodding towards the box that had 'Robin's Stuff' written on the side.

"Oh! Just the last of my belongings. Your dad is upstairs trying to make sure that the sofa bed still works." They didn't have another actual bed for her to use on such short notice but this would do for now.

"Hey, maybe once you're finished we can all hang out and get ice cream or something?" Numbuh 2 suggested, thinking that they were lucky to have such a cute girl staying here.

"I'm lactose intolerant but I'll take on your offer to hang out." Robin smiled, saying that she would be right back before turning and making her way back into the house.

"What does lacruz indolent mean?" Wally questioned out loud, completely mispronouncing the words.

With a sigh, Numbuh 5 corrected that it was lactose intolerant and it meant that she couldn't digest dairy products well which included ice cream. It would make her sick.

"That's a bummer." The blonde mumbled.

"Well, it looks like it's official." Numbuh 1 said as he watched Patricia walk out with Robin, hugging the child before stepping into her car and driving off. Before they had fallen from the window he was able to see some papers with his parents' signatures on them. "Robin is a part of the family now."

-End Transmission-

Sunnie☀️: I don't think we ever learn Mrs. Uno's real name. If it was brought up and I don't remember, feel free to correct me, but I chose Jennifer cause that's the name of her voice actor. Let me know what you think of the first chapter and I will have the next one posted soon.

[bound-to-the-sea-are-we]

Will you Join Us?

(Got7 backstory)

It’s been years since Jaebeom sailed the seas, and his oath to never do so again stands.

That is, until the son of the Pirate King shows up, trying to convince him to sail once again.

(1473 words)

Jaebeom could only stare as his life went up in flames.

The ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️was burning, setting even the ocean alight with debris. The screams of his men, painful and horror filled, had stopped long ago.

“Captain! Oh my– Captain!” A voice yelled, and Jaebeom looked up in shock.

It was one of his newer crew members, he hadn’t known him all too well before this. But as Jaebeom collapsed into Jinyoung’s arms, he swore that he would never let him out of his sight again.

“How did you–” He choked out.

“I hadn’t gotten back with my supplies yet, and so many things held me up, and then they wouldn’t let me into the shipyard because they said a ship was burning… That’s… everyone else…? Jinyoung asked hopefully. His eyes went wide as Jaebeom shook his head, and he whimpered softly. Jaebeom was reminded, once again, that Jinyoung was about his age… and he was quite young himself.

Jaebeom gently dragged them both away from the wreckage, feeling numb. But as he looked back at the embers of his last life, he spoke a promise into the night.

“I will never sail again.”

Several Years Later…

Mark cursed as he weaved through Park Port, dodging pirates left and right.

“I wanna sail, I said! Not find my own crew. Stupid Pirate King.” He grumbled, avoiding stepping on one of the large banner’s with the mayor’s face on it. He yelped as he was pushed anyways, falling into an alley.

Mark took a deep breath, then stepped back out.

“Stupid… Park… Port… Stupid rumors of Captain Bones and legends and ships–”

He grunted as he finally made his way into the tavern he’d been looking for, The Green Bird’s sign bright with fresh paint.

Mark stepped inside with a sigh, heading straight to the counter. Another man was there, ordering something.

When asked, later, Mark would never be able to point out why he knew the man was significant. He just did as he slid up next to him.

“Just an ale, please.” He told the barkeep, and turned to the man.

His hair was long, brushing his shoulders, handsome if a bit unkempt. His face was clear of scars, minus a single one spanning the bridge of his nose and underneath his eyes.

His eyes were different – one ice blue, one soft green. He was roughly the same height as Mark, wearing an unassuming white shirt, brown pants and boots…

And a brown coat blackened by scorch marks, with a hat that had half a red feather missing, the tips clearly scorched.

Mark gaped.

“You’re Captain Bones.” He breathed softly.

The man gave him an odd look and turned, taking both of the drinks he’d ordered.

“You’re mistaken, lad. The name’s Jaebeom. I’m certainly not a sailor, much less a pirate captain.”

Mark shook his head, beginning to speak, but Jaebeom cut him off.

“Besides, even if I was, I’ve sworn never to sail again. Those days are long behind me.”

Mark could only watch as he stalked away.

~~

“What story am I telling you, little rooster?”

Mark hummed, settling into his hammock as he thought. He looked up at his papa.

“What about your friend, papa? The one that made you sad?”

The Pirate King grinned softly.

“Aye, they called him the Captain of Bones, with how many bodies he left behind. More ruthless than any pirate I’ve ever seen, but he had his soft spots, if ye knew where to look.”

Mark’s brow furrowed, serious in the way only a child could be.

“What happened to him, Papa?”

“What happens to all good pirates, little one?” The Pirate King said ruefully, “The navy. Ambushed him in a safe port, set fire to his ship. Tales go, only he and one other made it out alive. Some say he settled in Park Point, a ghost of a man, swearing to never sail again.”

“Is it true?”

“I suppose you’ll just have to find out some day, little rooster. Go to bed now.”

~~

“You’re back.”

Jaebeom’s friend said, surprised. Mark shrugged.

“I want to sail with him. Course I’m back.”

The other man chuckled.

“Park Jinyoung. No relation to the mayor.”

“Mark Tuan.”

Mark grinned, shaking his hand.

“Any recommendations on drinks?”

“No. Go away.” Jaebeom said as he came back to the table, handing Jinyoung a tankard.

~~

“Morning boys!”

“How are you this annoying this early? Go away!”

“Nah, thought I’d stay and shoot the breeze a bit.”

~~

“Pretty sure I’ve told you to go away quite a few times.”

Jaebeom said, exasperated as Mark sat at their table once again. Jinyoung was nowhere to be seen.

“Told ya.” Mark hiccuped, voice slurred slightly. “Wanna sail. Can’t with dad.”

Jaebeom’s head tilted.

“…why not?”

Mark pulled the medallion out of his pocket, and Jaebeom was shoving it back there a second later.

“You can’t go flashing that around, what were you thinking?”

Mark shrugged.

“That’sss why.”

Jaebeom blinked at him for a moment, then pinched his nose.

“Idiot.”

~~

Before Mark had quite realized it, it had been two months, trying to get Jaebeom to sail again.

He was starting to get a bit discouraged. Giving up wasn’t in his vocabulary, but Jaebeom was just as stubborn.

Mark rolled over with a groan, wincing at the ringing in his ears.

…that… that wasn’t his ears, a bell was ringing, something was going on—

~~

By the time Jaebeom and Jinyoung made it to the docks, the fire had been put out. People were muttering quietly, talking amongst themselves.

“What happened?” Jinyoung asked one of the dockyard workers, and he grimaced.

“If ya knew anyone over in the West Quarter, say goodbye. Slavers attacked early this morning, weren’t found out until they set the fire to get away.”

Jinyoung’s face went white as he turned to Jaebeom.

“Mark was staying in the West Quarter.”

Jinyoung wasn’t shocked that Jaebeom’s first instinct was to get drunk, but he was angry about it. He wasn’t expecting the older man to come back much sooner than he expected with a silver compass in hand, swaying, but standing, speech unusually unslurred.

“The guy at the magic shop said it can track desires.”

Jaebeom said, gripping it hard.

“Let’s go get our crewmate back.”

~~

Mark’s head hurt.

He was tired.

He wanted to go home.

He shifted again, wincing as the rope bit into his wrists. They’d found his father’s medallion in his pocket and had tied him to the mast, saying if he was a pirate than surely he could take it.

That had been three days ago, and he’d only had a cup of water since. His lips were cracked and chapped, and his legs had long since gone numb.

“Captain!” One of the slavers called, “Ship, three points off the port quarter!”

“Finally, our contact.” The Captain muttered. He stalked up to Mark, turning his jaw.

“They’ll take to you just fine.”

The other ship came alongside them quickly. But Mark’s eyes widened as Jaebeom was the one who stepped onboard, and not some sort of slaver.

“Ah, governor—“ the Captain started, and Jaebeom held up a hand, grinning sharply.

“Actually, you can call me Jay B. Or, perhaps you know me better as Captain Bones. Not my place to dictate how people know me.”

His grin turned deadly.

“You have something of mine. I don’t take kindly to that.”

The Captain opened his mouth to speak. He was falling with the force of a gunshot a moment later.

“Let’s not. Saves time.” Jaebeom growled, and the battle began as pirates rushed him left and right.

Mark saw firsthand why they called him the Captain of Bones. He was a terror, men falling left and right.

A stray bullet severed the rope holding Mark, and he fell, numb legs unable to hold him any longer. Jinyoung appeared by his side, grinning fiercely.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Jay B—“ Mark protested, but Jinyoung hauled him over his shoulder.

“Cap’s doing just fine. Haven’t seen him this much in his element since before our last home sank.”

Sure enough, Jaebeom swung back over after the slavers had been taken care of, a single scratch on his leg.

“Those kids down below have a sharp aim.” He laughed, seeing Mark’s face.

“Didn’t realize I wasn’t one of them.”

“You… came for me.” Mark said, the act truly sinking in now that everything was over.

“You… I didn’t think—“

“Well of course we came.” Jaebeom said, snorting as he tilted his head, grinning widely. “Can’t get far with a crew of two. Crew of three though… that doesn’t sound half bad. Besides. I think the world could use a little less scum, and I’ve got a magic compass now.”

Mark grinned back at him.

“Aye aye, Captain.”

[echantedtoon]

Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch18 Battle Gym Leader Melony

It wasn't too surprising all of you fell asleep on the train again that night, seeing how late it was getting when you all hurried onto it like an army of onix was chasing after you all. Thank goodness you managed to catch it and settled down into a couple empty seats to sleep for the night. Come morning the lot of you were already digging into your rations for breakfast to comfort your hungry stomachs that growled for food. And made small talk as the world went flying by outside the windows.

"So how long until we reach Circhester?," you asked biting into come kind of breakfast bar that tasted like bacon bits and oatmeal.

"It's the farthest town from all the others in Galar except for the town in the Crown Tundra Valley but that's farther in the mountains than we need to go," Victor explained after he had pulled out his own phone and pulled up his regional maps to look through them, "It's also deep within the Galarian Mountain Reign so it'll take us about three weeks to get there by train."

"Oh really?"

He nodded again. "The stop we want is Steamdrift Station. From there it's about an hour walk down Steamdrift Way until we get to Circhester and it's gyms."

You paused before blinking and looking at him. Drizzilie taking this chance to pull the rest of your food away from you to eat itself. "Gyms? As in plural?...Like more than one gym?"

"Oh yeah! Guess we haven't told ye!," Gloria cut in leaning into her hand. "The Ice and Rock Type Gyms are located up there and are handled by the gym leader Melony n' 'er son Gordie!"

You paused...eyes blinking wide at them for a moment before pointing. "Hey! Wait a minute! I remember those guys!" YEAH! You did remember them! Ironic since you couldn't remember much of anything else in game. Melony according to in game info was supposed to have a harsh battle style and supposedly be an incredible coach. She ran the Ice type Gym while her son Gordie was in charge of the nieghboring Rock Type Gym also in Circhester. He's supposed to be really popular in a similar way to Raihan and have his own fan base as well that he treats respectfully. ..But the mother and son had a fight over Gordie not wanting to take over his mother's gym and instead but somehow she still became the very first member of his fan club. ...Also he was supposed to have younger siblings as well but you didn't think they were ever shown in the game. You remembered!! That's great! Maybe now you'd start remembering things much more now!! ....You blinked upon noticing the three staring at you. "Uh!...I m-mean I remembering some people talking about them before. Apparently Gordie's pretty popular in Galar."

Hop nodded. "Yeah he is! Last year he was voted Galar's third most eligable bachelor behind Raihan and Lee himself. But unlike Raihan he actually throws a lot of his own events and showings. Lee mentioned once he trained under the old Rock Type Gym Leader before he retired and took over the gym after."

You sighed. Bullet dodged! "Oh. Sounds like he's really nice then." And hopefully won't flirt with you like Raihan did. 

Thus began your group's long, LONG trip to the Galarian Mountain Range. Just like your trip back to Motostoke, you all slept on the emptied seats at night but being more prepared Victor had set up his Rotom phone's gps to set off an alarm once the lot of you reached the likes of the station you wanted so you all wouldn't have to take turns staying up all night again to keep an eye out for the right station you wanted. Which was a great idea! Over the next few days you all fell into that repeated pattern minus taking turns staying up at night and during the day just talking about random things while eating food from your rations or looking at whatever the teens pulled up from the internet to show you. Gloria at one point even pulled out her dex books again to finish putting the rest of her pictures into them and showed you the new addtions courtesy of her twin before passing the books over towards the two boys for them to flip through themselves and admire Gloria's handy work. A few more days went by this way until one day Victor all of a sudden said you all should stop at the next town to restock up on food again since it wasn't as much as he thought it was. To which everyone agreed too and at the next town, got off the train and went into one of the random stops which turned out to be a small town like Postwick. From there the four of you gathered supplies and did everything else to prepare to travel again by the time the next train came around before getting back on it and back on your way to Circhester. Day in and night out you four traveled and traveled and traveled. You were starting to get train sick with how much this was going on and found yourself walking up and down the walkways in turns with the others to keep up the exercise and not let yourselves turn your legs to jelly. Until one particular night when you woke up with a shiver. There was a chilly atmosphere inside the metal train from when you were last awake and it was enough for you to make yourself get up groggily. Only to find your drizzilie was lightly shivering as well curled up against your warmer body and stayed clung to you as it groaned in protest at the cold. 

"What the-"

"Hey you." You rubbed your eyes turning tiredly to Hop who had his own coat thrown over his shoulders and smiled. "So you're finally awake huh?"

You yawned. "What time is it?"

"About ten in the morning. We're getting closer to the mountains," Victor said and you turned to him next as he rechecked the map on his phone, "We'll be at Steamdrift Station within 'bout three days but you might want to throw on a coat. It's gonna get a wee bit more colder from 'ere on out."

That wasn't a too bad idea actually. You were quick to pull on the coat you had bought and with a bit of a tussle you somehow with Gloria's help managed to pry Drizzilie off of you and put him inside your bag's main opening with Gloria holding it open before you pulled both him and the bag into your lap to make room. And to help keep the lil guy warm. Your pokemon gave a bored expression as he settled down into using the bag as his personal sleeping bag. 

"Hey. Don't get too comfy," you reminded him, "Cuz when we leave Circhester you're going back to walking with us again Mr. I-Refuse-To-Get-In-My-Pokeball." Other than rolling his eyes with a sigh, Drizzilie didn't say anything against what you said. "You heard me. This is just to make sure you don't go from a water type to a frozen-water type."

The rest of the three days there was pretty much the same, only now it was hard for any of you all to get to sleep now curled up in the seats because of the cold. Why you even dug out a scarf and wrapped it around your neck and half your face. Didn't these trains have darn heating!? The landscape outside the windows changed too. Going from looking like fall-ish time of the year to mid way between fall and winter, until the last day when you all woke up to have found yourselves so, so...SO!! Cold, and you shivered yanking the hood over your f/c hair more as you looked around and noticed white snow was being blown against the windows like some snow storm. And for all you knew there could actually be one out there.

"ZZZTT. Attention Passengers!," the conductor announced over the speakers to anyone left on bourd. "We'll be arriving at SteamDrift Station within ten minutes. That is all."

"That's our stop!," Victor confirmed, "Make sure you all grab everythin' before we get off."

You all made sure to gather your things, you especially making sure to pull the small hoodie over your Drizzilie's head before pushing him into your bag and telling him to stay in there until you said it was safe for him to come out before zipping your bag up but leaving enough of an opening to allow fresh air to him. Slowly after a few minutes the train finally came to a stop and you all followed Victor out towards the door, you grunting as you stuggled to sling the bag over your shoulders. You had forgotten how heavy this lil guy actually was when carried. You were extremely thankful for the guys getting you the thick coat and scarf too because the familiar full force of Winter hit you as soon as the you all stepped out the door and you shivered from the frosty cold greeting you all. The entire sky was painted in grey snow clouds that made the day look a little dull while snow gently fell from them and down towards the earth below. Around you was a plain looking station that looked more deserted since no one not even a station master was there, and surrounding you all was cliffsides and hills like in Stow-on-Side except unlike Stow-on-Side these were absolutely COVERED in snow and ice as far as the eyes could see as the four of you stood there taking in the sights. The only living things besides you all being pine trees scattered across the snowy land with a cobblestone road leading away from the station that Victor after a moment pointed at. 

"That's Steamdrift Way," He explained holding up his phone with a gloved hand to the lot of you showing a map with a red blinking dot that signalled where you all were. "It's connected to Route E-E-Eight. If we go this way we should be at Circhester w-within an hour after crossing Circhester Bridge."

"T-T-Then w-what are we waiting f-f-for?!," Hop stuttered in the cold before pointing a hand forward. "L-Let's get there before we become on thin ice!"

There wasn't any arguments with him as you all headed off. Snow and ice crunched under your all's feet making your group sound like a couple of wooly mammoths trudging through the snow. You all (even you through your scarf covered mouth) could see your breath as snowflakes stuck to your bodies like someone glued white confetti to your clothes as you all followed Victor and his map through the snow. Thank goodness it didn't cover the road up, or else you all might've gotten lost. As you all trudged alone keeping your hands in your pockets after pulling the ends of the sleeves over them to help keep them warm, you all FINALLY came to the stone bridge Victor mentioned before. A cold river running with cold water ran under it as you all crossed and as you walked over it you prayed your drizzilie didn't decided to pop out wanting to swim or see what was going on. 

"W-W-We should be there in t-t-ten m-m-more minutes!," Victor shouted back pulling his beanie further over his head. 

"B-B-Bloody heck, V-Vick! 'M freezin' my t-tail off 'ere n' I-I ain't even got one!," Gloria yelled back complaining.

"The sooner we git there the sooner ya can rest! So take the energy from ya yappin' mouth and put it to your feet!," He yelled back and Gloria mumbled under her breath.

So you all continued to walk and walk, until you finally reached the end of the road that lead into a metal fenced entrance to Circhester. And you all had a collected sigh of relief once you all got there. It was decently big with it's many story stone buildings you could make out in the snow with cobblestone roads leading everywhere and the figures of two large stadiums on either side of the town as you all got to walking into it. You all passed the pink pokemon center near the entrance of the town and turned right heading towards what you guessed was the town square. A hot spring like fountain was dead set in the middle and there was people walking all around in winter wear with some ice type pokemon or pokemon who could stand this cold weather. Two men had stands selling food in the square as you walked past, one selling some kind of hot wraps and the other......ice..cream?? 

"D-Dang nabit, V-Vick! W-W-Where's the b-b-bloody hotel a-around here?," Gloria asked rubbing her arms in a failed attempt to warm herself. 

"I-I'm with G-Glory on this," Hop added looking around, "I d-don't feel like camping out here at all." 

"I'm WORKIN' on it!," Victor spat scowling at his phone hand lightly shaking.....before he pointed ahead of him at a BIG building in front of you all. "H-Hotel is there! L-Let's go!"

You all didn't hesitate to RUN your way to the building he pointed out jack frost biting at your ankles as you did. You all didn't even care if the door was flung open with a loud noise. The rush of warm air greeting your skins was enough to make up for it in your minds as you sighed. Turning your head up to the ceiling in the bliss of getting out of the cold. After a moment or two you finally opened your eyes and blinked them wide open at what you were all looking at. If you thought the Budew Drop Inn in Motostoke was Fancy this place was absolutely F A N C Y with a capitol F!!! It was like one of those luxery hotels in Paris you'd sometimes see in movies or on tv. Complete with marble floors and chandeliers lighting the place up. It was also HUGE!! And this was just the lobby as you gawked around. The other three were busy shaking snow off themselves as Victor walked up to the man at the lobby counter most likely to book your rooms. You hope they weren't too expensive by the looks around here. A moment later he returned with two keys handing one to Gloria before he gestured to the elevator.

"Let's go get settled in and rest for a bit. I'm too cold to think straight. You guys got room fifthteen on the first floor." Whelp! You couldn't argue with that as you all headed towards the elevator and got inside. The trip to the first floor wasn't a very long one as you all piled out and Victor motioned for Hop to follow him to one of the very first rooms closest to the elevator. "I say we all get warmed up and meet up in the lobby to talk 'bout what's the game plan for us 'ere."

"Alright," you agreed with a nod before following Gloria, "We'll see you two in a bit."

Both boys nodded as well before they turned back, Victor unlocking the door with his key before opening it and they disappeared inside. You sped walked to catch up to Gloria who was already standing in front of a door and turning the knob and throwing it open-

"So that means the culprit must be among us!" Gloria paused in the doorway. Eyes wide and hand still out from throwing the door open. "....Wait....Who are you!?" ..You wanted to facepalm. Oh NO!! Don't tell me Gloria opened the wrong door and walked in on someone. You sped up your walking pace as she blinked again. "After all the trouble of deducing things don't go messing it up now!"

By the time you got to Gloria she was already scowling before pointing her frozen hand at him. "N' who might the likes o' you be!?"

You blinked when you looked inside the room....There was a man there along with an older man, a 'hipster' looking girl, a young boy, and some kind of squirrel looking pokemon chewing something as you all stared at one another...Until the middle aged looking man coughed.

"*cough* I suppose I should introduce myself," he proudly put a hand to his chest, "The name's Howses. Yes. THAT Howses. The great detective. I've been hired by the hotel. At present I have corner the culprit of a most heinous crime!" 

"What happened?," you asked. Did someone get robbed? Did something go missing? Something worse?!

"I'm glad you asked," Mr. Howses stated, " And that crime is!..The strange case of who ate the large quantity of berries in the lobby!" He shouted pointing to a random basket of apple cores....You and Gloria both gave each other a look. "I've gathered the three people who were present in the lobby at the time of the crime but because of the noise my marvelous deductive reasoning seems somewhat muddled at present."...The hotel...Hired a private detective ..to investigate missing fruit.....What a waste of time! He suddenly pointed at Gloria. "That's it! You interfering child! You will be my assistant!"

Gloria gave him a blank look. "...What?"

"Listen to the stories of each suspect and find the culprit," he said as if what he had just said wasn't crazy or unprofessional at all.

"....Yeah. I ain't doin' that." Gloria dead panned before pointing at the obvious pokemon in the room. "'Sides. I already know who it was-"

Instead of listening the man waved her off and laughed in her face. "Heh heh heh. After listening to everyone's accounts deduced the culprit!"....NO ONE SPOKE!! He pointed at the young hipster looking gal who looked just as deadpanned and done with this as Gloria. "Dancer! You are the culprit!"

"WHAT!?," she demanded angrily, "Why me?!"

"Because you're a dancer! You move and shake your body so much that you needed all that food for extra energy! That's evidence as clear and sharp as the leek of a farfetch'd!"

"WHAT!? What does that even mean!? You're no detective! You're a fraud!" Your thoughts exactly!

The man gave a nervous look all of a sudden. "W-Who are you calling a fraud!? You can't be referring to me! The great detective!"

"I can't deal with this disrespect! I leave it to you! You find the real culprit-"

"*AHEM!!*" Everyone looked back to Gloria who scowled and pointed to the small pokemon chittering at everyone around them. "IT. WAS. THAT!! They ate the darned fruit ya ninnies can't seem ta take a hint of."

The 'detective' blinked before turning to the pokemon. "What? That skwovet is the one responsible?" He looked closer at the small pokemon who looked at him curiously covered in food. "A-.....As expected of my assistant!" He loudly proclaimed all of a sudden proudly and crossing his arms looking pleased with himself. "Splendid! Just splendid! I'm overjoyed!"....He peeked an eye out at all of you annoyed and angry at him before coughing. "Well now that's taken care of...I must be off now." He suddenly sped walked towards you and Gloria and you both scrambled to move aside as he took off down the hall. "Take care, Everyone!"

"Hey you! Just wait a minute!," the girl yelled before running right after the 'detective'.

"Hahaha! I guess I'm supposed to chase after him too," the old man said before also jogging after the two as you and Gloria squished against the sides of the doorway to give them room...before looking after them....and blinking to one another.

"What the world was THAT about?," she asked.

"Honestly I have no idea and I'm too tired to really care," you mumbled gesturing her towards your actual room. "Let's go set up our room and take a break before we have to meet back up with the others."

Fast forward about an hour after finding the right room and getting yourself settled, you all made it down to the lobby to meet up with Victor and Hop. After you had let your Drizzilie out, thankful that he didn't seem to be hurt or even bothered as she walked out and stretched out like a cat before you all left. Promising you'd bring him back some food. Finding the boys already waiting for the both of you with their winter wear and waved the two of you over.

"There you guys are," Victor greeted seeing the two of you walk over, "We've been waiting for ten minutes and I wanted to try and get things as done here as soon as possible."

"We've only just got here this morning," you calmly reasoned raising a questioning brow at him. Yeah you wanted to leave as soon as you all could too since it was freezing and obviously the weather probably wasn't good for your pokemon, but you didn't think you've ever seen Victor this insistant on leaving somewhere so quickly. "What's gotten you into wanting to leave so soon?"

"Vick here hates the cold," Hop explained before humming, "Scratch that. He absolutely despises it."

"Well it's not MY fault that ice is so dangerous and you have a great chance of freezin' ta death," Victor snapped back pouting.

"Nevermind that! Did you guys figure out what you wanted to do yet?," you asked changing the subject to avoid more fighting.

Surprisingly both boys nodded and Hop spoke again. "I wanted to try my hand at beating the Rock Type Gym since I think I've come up with a strategy to beat him."

"I was actually thinking about taking on the other Gym 'n town, "Gloria pondered thoughtfully, "I got a good idea 'bout how to defeat Melony after watchin' a lot of her battles on the train ride 'ere. But first I need ta stop by the center and switch out some of me pokemon in order to make it work." 

"Well I wanted to stop by around town and get some pictures of the famous Circhester hot springs," Victor explained holding up his camera, "The legends say that the great Hero of Galar rested in the springs and it healed all his wounds. ..Plus I wanted to try the famous Bob's Your Uncle cafe here too. They're supposed to have THE best curry in all of Galar, and who knows when I'll come back here again." He then looked at you. "What about you Y/n?"

You looked at him interested. "Well if I'm being completely honest I think I'll come with you. It's been a while since I've been able to walk around and go sight seeing."

"Then it's settled! Let's meet back 'ere in the lobby when we're all finished."

You all agreed and after tightening your coats around you more, all made off your own ways. Gloria heading in the direction of the pokemon center on the other side of town before going off to battle with you and the boys heading in the opposite direction towards the rock gym since the famous Hero Springs Victor wanted to look at. Eventually parting with him too as soon as the both of you got there. Wishing him luck against Gordie before he left and you followed Victor to what you could only describe as a bath house modeled closely to the buildings of the ancient roman times back on your world. You followed Victor around marveling the sights and old looking structure as he smiled despite his hate for the cold and snapped plenty of pictures of everything as he did back at the Hammerlocke Castle Ruins. You walked up to the steaming water that almost looked boiling hot that was roped off from the public just touching it and watched the warm steam rise from it. Sighing as the warm steam was welcomed against the biting cold you couldn't get away from right now. Victor having getting his share of the old historical sight mentioned there was a few other places that the spring water came through, like the fountain in the town square and mentioned wanting to check out the extended parts of the underground spring as well and offered for you to come if you were interested in coming with him. Of course you agreed since you really had nothing else to do at that moment while waiting for the other two to complete their Gym battles, which by now you were sure they were doing or at least finishing up any gym challenge they were doing at the moment, before going back to the meet up spot anyways. So together you two traveled from the front of the rock type gym to the center of town so he could document more of the springs, before following him again as he moved somewhere else and you followed him down a small flight of stairs to another but much more smaller part of the springs that wasn't so visible or visited by the public. And then another small spot just like a little farther aways on the other side of town. It was...Pretty peaceful despite the chilling cold and snow lightly still falling around you, Victor, and everyone else walking around. It was quiet except for your footsteps crunching through the snow and anyone else walking around or talking. Walking around the decently big town with Victor you noticed there was also a few businesses besides the pokemon center. Your resident barber shoppe, an antique store, a few small little thift shops that sold merchandise of what looked like the two gyms and their gym leaders at the brief glances through the windows you gave, a grocery store, a clothes store, of course the hotel, and a strange looking cafe with the Logo of a man out in front. A sign above the door told you the name of said establishment. Bob's Your Uncle. Hey. Wasn't that the cafe Victor mentioned back at the hotel he mentioned wanting to see? You pointed it out to him and he seemed to light up! Mentioning how you two should drop by and seeing it even if you didn't eat anything. You agreed since by all the walking around and sight seeing you did, you two must've been out here for nearly two hours by this point. So it'd be nice to warm up for a bit. So you two happily walked up to said store and pushed the door open before walking right in. The warm air of the cafe combined with the mouth watering smells of the food made you sigh in relief. Another bigger picture of the logo man was inside on one of the walls, with the place being a color scheme of yellow and red, and a few people sitting around eating already. Including one particular boy who looked up from his seat in the back when Victor pointed him out. 

"Hey Hop!," Victor called over to him and Hop looked up from where he was sat phone in one hand and hot coco in the other but  smiled when he saw you two approuching. "What are you doing here? I thought we were gonna meet back at the hotel."

Hop shrugged. "Yeah, but I thought it'd be fine to stop by for some hot chocolate. Who doesn't like hot coco?"

"I know I do!," You agreed with a smile, "How did your battle go?"

"Arghhh." He slumped back turning his head up to the ceiling with a groan. ""I lost. It all went to pot. There must've been something wrong with my strategy but I just did what I've seen Lee do in battles!" 

"Huh..Well maybe that's the problem."

He paused before blinking back to you as you looked at him. "....Huh? Whaddya mean?''

"Well, everyone has different fighting styles. Including you and Gloria, and if these guys are a part of the league and you're trying to fight like Leon, they'll probably be able to beat you because they've seen how Leon fights and knows how best to counteract his style."

"But he's the unbeatable champion! If I use his method I should be able to be unbeatable too! I've studied his style for years!"

"It may seem like that," You explained, "But it IS Leon's style and he's perfected it. If someone tries to copy him they won't be as perfect as it compared to someone who's mastered his own style to a degree that makes him such a powerful trainer. And everyone's style is constantly changing. Think about it. If Lee kept his style the EXACT same then eventually someone would've found a flaw in it by now and taken the title from him. Leon doesn't have 'just one style' either. Like everyone else they train and adapt to better themselves that's how he's unbeatable. It's ok to use things you learnt other people do, but you said yourself you were thinking of new strategies. Instead of trying to apply what you think Leon would do, ask yourself what would YOU do."

Hop paused seeming to stare at you for a while before humming and looking back to his phone. "...You actually might have a point. I'll have to rethink a few things then."

You smiled. "Glad I could help. Speaking of which Where's Gloria? If you're finished with your battle then that must mean Gloria is too right?" 

"Maybe she's waiting for us back at the hotel."

"Oh hey!" You yelped and jumped around at the lady's voice that suddenly came up behind you, and found yourself face to face with none other than said brunette Girl and Sonia who chuckled at your reaction. "There you are."

....You sighed before giving her a frown. "First Leon and now you too Sonia?" You crossed your arms. "Seriously. Give a girl a warning you're gonna do that first...Wait. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Got that Gym badge, Glory?," Hop asked politely.

Gloria nodded with a proud hum. "I jus' had ta switch out for some fire n' steel types I caught. Wasn't easy tho."

"Nice one!," Hop complimented before holding something out to her, "That reminds me. Here. Take this. It's the rock leader's league card. You should check out the gym leader you'll have to face too. And me. I've gotta figure out what to put on my team once and for all and no more of this doubting! Especially when I have to defeat at least one of the gyms here for their badge."

"Gee thanks!" She eagerly took the card from him.

"I've been trying to found out more about the Darkest Day and the sword and shield pokemon, but still no luck." She sighed before shaking her head. "I was hoping to investigate the Heroes Bath after studying the tapestries and castle ruins in Hammerlocke." Oh. So she had been there before. "And I haven't been able to get more intel on the strange discovery in Stow-on-Side since the Chairman's team is still researching and the area's become off limits to anyone who isn't the League or authorized. But I just ran into Gloria here and figured the rest of you couldn't be far behind her."

You chuckled. "Well you aren't wrong. I'm really sorry about all the dead ends stopping your work Sonia. I'm sure you'll get a break through somewhere." And you DID know since according to the game she does.

She smiled. "Well thank you, Y/n. It's much appreciated." Her blue eyes glanced behind you. "It's really nice ...." She paused staring right over your shoulder. "...to..see you...Wait." 

You rose a brow. "What?" Your f/c eyes blinked in confusion when Sonia all of a sudden grabbed you and pushed you aside a bit as she moved behind you. Unintentionally making you bump into the table Hop was sitting at making him scramble to hold his hot coco out of harm's way as you gave her a look. "Sonia!?"

"Hold on!" She exclaimed back looking at a wall. But more importantly what was ON the wall. Which looked like half a tapestry. And in the very SAME art style and people on them from the Hammerlocke Vault!! "No way! What's this!?"

"Uh...A fifth tapestry??"

"The heroes!" She exclaimed pointing to both of the same men from the first tapestries. "Look..sad. And where are the sword and shield?" She hummed before scanning it more. "What was the meaning of this picture?" Ever the fast thinker wasn't she?

You pushed yourself from the table dusting your still slightly snow covered self off before shrugging. "Well those behind them look kinda like grave stones or some kind of sealed tomb." You pointed out pointing at the tapestry and Sonia squinted harder at where you were pointing. "This probably just means the end of the legend. Y'know. Where the hero finally gets to have peace after his long battle? It happens all the time in fairytales."

"You think so?," she asked giving you a glance. As you shrugged she looked back to the tapesry, or what seemed to remain of it, with her hand to her chin blankly staring at it. "....Didn't think I'd see something like this in Bob's Your Uncle. I guess it could be they passed on or that they were sealed away. Or maybe they've gone into some kind of sleep?"

"Well...I mean they call it 'rest in peace' for a reason."

"Well.." You flinched when Hop spoke, not expecting the boy to be studying the tapestry too. "Based on those statues we saw at Stow-on-Side, the sword and shield were actually two pokemon right?"

You rose a brow. "Since when did you see those statues back in Stow-on-Side?? You and Victor left before Bede's stunt."

"Gloria showed me pictures she took of it before you left. But it kinda dawned of me seeing those sword and shield symbols on them. Couldn't they have been pokemon?"

"That's right! That's my take on it at least."

"......Hey." She suddenly turned to Hopand blinked as he pointed to Gloria. "You remember the pokemon we met that day?" ...Gloria rose a confused brow as he spoke. "You remember. That weird giant blurry pokemon we met in the Slumbering Weald."

"Oh yeah! I've completely forgottin' 'bout that by now." She shivered. "Still gives me the heeby jeebies."

Hop chuckled a bit. "Do you think...it could've been one of them?" he gestured the hand holding his phone to her. "Either the sword or shield pokemon? The blurry fog monster we saw kinda looked like those pokemon statues in Stow-on-Side you showed us."

"You..." Sonia was slow to blink and look at Both the kids wide eyed as she talked. The only one who looked super confused was Victor who you guessed hadn't heard of the 'mysterious fog pokemon' bit. "Met them?! Like...Really REALLY met them!?"

"Come on. You know what I'm talking about right, Glory?"

She nodded, "Yep. Right before Lee bailed us out o' the Slumberin' Weald."

"Exactly! We told you too Sonia remember. The mad pokemon we ran into in the fog! Although..I can't remember seeing it too well. Don't you think that could've been it?", Hop pondered.

"Oh right! You lot have been in the Slumbering Weald!"

"Duh."

You gave Gloria a small tap to her shoulder as if to say 'Don't be rude.' "As much as I agree this is all strange, don't you all think you're jumping the gun here a bit? That could've been any big pokemon in the fog, and you said it yourself. You don't remember much of what it looked like. We shouldn't just make assumptions without proof."

Hop hummed. "I guess you're right. It'd be too much of a coincidence anyhow. But it's not an assumption, just a guess. Doesn't hurt to theorize ideas."

Sonia on the other hand smiled happily and held up her hands excitedly. "I only started on this journey because my gran told me to, but this is turning out to be so much fun! You've got to tell me more! How about we discuss this over a meal? Go on. What do you want to eat? Let's get our orders in!"

"Whoa! Hey there buckaroo!" She blinked when you grabbed her shoulder and she blinked. "As much as I love the food as much as the next person, maybe you should slow down there a bit. Didn't you just get here or something?"

...She gave a bashful face. "Oh yeah. R-Right. Sorry I must've gotten caught up in the moment. But hey! How about I treat you all to a nice curry and hot chocolate anyways? It'd be the least I could do for all the kindness you've shown me."

"I dunno. I don't wanna leave my Drizzilie in the hotel room for too long. I'm afraid he's gonna come looking for us if we're gone for too long and I don't want him outside in this weather."

"How about the sweet instant noodle curry they serve here?," Victor suggested as a compromise pointing to the counter the two men were currently cleaning, and the stack of supplies, food, and other things lining the wall behind them. "All they would have to do is poor hot water in it and it's the cheapest curry on the menu. Plus I don't like the spicy ones too much. I may hate the cold but I'm not up for burning my tongue."

Sonia nodded. "Quick and simple. Sounds like a good match to me!" She turned towards the two men and waved a hand gaining one's attention. "Yoo hoo. Sir! Five instant noodle curries and hot cocos please! Uh. Sweet wise." The man nodded before putting down the cloth he was wiping the counter with and turning to grab a few things from the shelf as Sonia gestured for the five of you to sit with Hop at the big table he was currently at. "While we wait, I'd love to hear about your experiences in the Slumbering Weald again. Maybe it'll help me piece together something."

"Sure!"

So the five of you at around the table as you all patiently heard Hop recount the entire events of the Slumbering Weald incident starting from the wooloo banging against the gate to the Slumbering Weald to when you all left it. In the middle of him retelling his your food was delivered by one of the men behind the bar and you gladly took it wanting something warm in your stomach before having to go back out in the cold, Gloria taking a quick picture of it before you all began eating it. It looked and smelt a lot like those instant ramen cups you'd sometimes had to resort to have for lunch back at home since money was tight with your mother working hard as a single mother now and you having to work summer, weekend, and afterschool jobs in your spare time to help with bills. If you didn't then she'd say you were being lazy with your music and games again...Anyways. It looked like instant ramen and was sprinkled with curry sauce. You were a bit doubtful of how it'd taste but when you ate it it wasn't that bad. It had a bittersweet kinda taste that wasn't too sweet or sour thanks to the sauce covering the noodles when you ate it, and it was a bit more like pasta than a curry. But you weren't going to complain about free curry and hot coco in this cold weather and neither was anyone else as they ate and listened to Hop, and then Gloria as she recounted her own point of view on the events which was pretty much Hop's as well but you all let her speak her mind. By the time she finished everyone had already finished eating and drinking their food even Hop who had gotten a second hot coco thanks to Sonia's generiousity.

"-and then Lee found us and marched us both back home where we met up with Y/n," Gloria finished pointing at you. "Mum was...not very happy about it all."

"Fascinating," Sonia commented thinking again, "All right." She suddenly stood up making all of you blink. "The next thing to do now that we're done eating is to have a look around Circhestester! Let's inspect the Hero's Bath." 

"Huh? But we were just there. Wasn't anything that could be tied to your research," Victor said.

You shrugged as you stood up. "Well we were going to leave to go back to the hotel soon anyways. Let's go have a look since we'll have to go that way anyways."

Victor looked like he wanted to protest but sighed as his Best friend and twin also stood up to follow Sonia out the door. The cold outside nipped back at all of you as you tightened your scarf around your nose and mouth. Following Sonia back to the steaming waters of the spring under the town as you all entered back under the historical sight. Hop and Gloria looking out in awe at the place. 

"The Hero's Bath, "Sonia commented looking around the place, "They say this is where the two heroes came to soothe their wounds after the battle to bring down that evil presence long ago. Nowadays only pokemon really use the Hero's bath though. Hmm. Who exactly were the heroes that bathed here? I think I'll have to look into that...Gloria! Hop!" She turned her head to shout at the two and both looked up from one of the carvings in the stone at her. "You two met a mysterious pokemon back in the Slumbering Weald. Perhaps...you two can become new heroes."

You blinked at her. Where did that come from?

Even Hop looked at her confused and skeptical. "What? Like some hero waving around a sword and shield? Psh. Pull the other one."....But he hummed. "Though...I guess I'd fancy a shield if I had to take my pick."

"Hm. What kind of battle do you think the heroes had back then?"

You shrugged and went to say something- "Why don't we show her, Glory?" Hop asked giving his friend a playful shove, "Think we can pull off a real heroic battle?" 

Gloria giggled back before giving him her signiture determined look. "Oh I think that'd be just the thing ta warm up me bones!"

"Sonia treated us to a great meal. After all that curry I feel like I've got the energy to wrestle a bewear!"

Sonia returned her hands to her hips amused. " A battle now? I don't entirely understand your reasoning but I might as well see what you can do."

"FORG-G-GET IT!!", Victor yelled as you all looked at his shivering form turn on his heel and stomp off towards the hotel, "Y-Ya'll can battle if ye want! 'M headed inside the warm hotel!"

"..Hm. I'd hate to say this, but I think I getting get back too." You gave Sonia a look. "Thanks for the food. It was really good seeing you again, but I REALLY wanna go back and check on my drizzilie."

She nodded understanding. "Of course. I'd feel the same thing about Yamper if I was in your position."

You nodded before turning to the other two. "And you guys don't stay out here for too long. Come back when you're all done battling."

"We will!," Hop quickly agreed before pointing away from the Springs, "Time for a little exhibition match starring the future champion!"

With a wave to them all you all turned and jogged to catch up to Victor who was rubbing his arms and muttering to himself as he stomped his way back towards the hotel. And you didn't blame him, you wanted to get out of the cold too and see how your Drizzilie was doing. You two made your way across the town and into the familiar fancy hotel, through the elevator and immediately headed onto your own seperate rooms. You were kinda worried your pokemon might've wodnered out of the room but when you entered you found him in the same spot you left him in. Curled up on one of the beds and barely even opened an eye at you as you came back in gave giving a small thrum before curling back onto it's side away from you and going back to napping. Hmm...Maybe Hop was right about your drizzilie developing a new lazy habit. Or maybe it was because he was cold blooded or something like a snake and had a hibernation thing?? You shrugged it off and instead sighed as you finally had a moment to shed your winter coat and relax for a little bit, flopping onto the bed next to the napping pokemon who again barely moved as you did so. And you remained there eve when Gloria returned and you gave a small wave as a greeting.

"Hey. How was the battle?"

"Fine! Although I won Hop seems to finally have gotten out of the lil funk he was in thanks ta Bede!," she answered happily, " 'E's with Victor right now."

"Hey that's great to hear! It's good he's getting back into a healthier mindset."

"Yeah! I still can't wait ta see him compete in the champion finals this year! It's gonna be so much fun! I-....." She stopped talking for a second and then you heard frantic shuffling about and footsteps. With a sigh you turned your head up from the spot you were laying down at and was met with the sight of her shaking her coat upside down frantically over he bed as she looked worried. When nothing dropped from the coat she unceremoniously dropped it and whipped her head around back to you. "Y/N! My camera's gone!"

"..What?," you asked pushing yourself up as she patted herself down searching her pockets.

"Victor's camera he's lettin' me borrow!," she yelled sounding more concerned,"I was supposed ta give it back ta him once I finished fillin' me dex books!! He's gonna kill me!"

"Whoa! Hey!"  You were quick to push yourself up into a sitting pose as you watched her start to likely panic. "Gloria!" She paused blinked wide eyed worried at you as you groaned standing off the bed and stretching out your back. "First you need to calm down." You held up a hand rubbing your back. "You probably just accidentally dropped it somewhere."

"WHERE!?"

"I have no idea." She looked worried again. That was probably the wrong thing to say apparently. "Whoa. Don't freak out on me here. Look. There's still plenty of daylight left. I'm sure if we just retrace your steps then we'll find it for sure. When's the last time you remembered having it?"

.....She blinked. "Uh! A-At the cafe! Then we went to the hero's bath."

You nodded. "Ok. Then let's go look over there and see if we can't find it ok?"

Gloria nodded and you sighed again. Looks like you all were going out yet again. You both quickly put your winter wear back on and out you went again. The winter weather nipping at you even colder now that it must've been about near sun down by how limited light there was too. There was still enough to clearly see the snow and all the surroundings but it was noticably colder as night drew nearer as you both stopped in front of the warm springs in the town square.

"A-Alright! 'Eere's the plan!," Gloria said pointing at you, "I'll go check the cafe you go check the bath. We'll cover more ground like that!"

You nodded wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. "Alright. But hurry, and keep an eye out in case you dropped it on the ground somewhere. Meet me back here as soon as you can."

She nodded and before you could get another word in she turned and scurried off towards the cafe area. After a moment to relax you sighed shaking your head and started walking off towards the Hero's Bath, making sure to scan the road and ground around you for any signs of a camera dropped in the snow. But you saw nothing as you looked around. Your footsteps crunched in the snow once again and you shivered rubbing your arms as you made your way towards the hero's bath still looking for it. Just when you thought you'd be able to rest for the rest of the day. You just wanted to find the darn thing and return back to the warm hotel. As you circled the large building needed to get to the Hero's Bath you paused blinking at the sight in front of you. Oh great what was it now? In front of the Hero's Bath was a small crowd of anywhere from fifthteen to about twenty people mostly women huddled around...something? Sure the Hero's Bath must've been a really cool historical sight to see but you didn't think such a crowd would gather here all of a sudden especially when it wasn't like this the other times you passed by it. Oh well. Right now you could care less and just wanted to find that darn camera and return to the hotel as soon as possible. Besides you could easily just walk around the happily chattering crowd without having to bother anyone. Get in, look around for a camera, get out, and then meet up back with Gloria. Easy enough. Or so you thought. With a sigh behind your scarf, you braced yourself and began walking your way over towards the crowd, and like you had suspected there was plenty of room to walk passed them, or so you thought again when a woman dressed in all while and with white hair suddenly appeared and you both ran right into each other. With the speed walk you were going it was impossible to stop on time before you collided with the white blur with a yelp. Stumbling back your foot slipped on some snow and down you went arms flailing landing on your bottom on the hard stone ground. Luckily you weren't hurt but you hissed and mumbled something under your breath at the feeling of the cold seeping into the back of your pants now.

"Oh my goodness gracious!," an older woman's voice exclaimed above you and when you looked up you were met with a woman who looked about the same age as your mom as she held her face in an 'Oh no' kinda pose as she looked at you. All decked out in white winter wear. "I'm so sorry, Young Lady. I didn't see you there."

You waved her off as more people turned their heads at the commotion. "Nah. It's ok. It's my fault I wasn't looking where I was going-," you had begun to say before another's voice much more louder and angrier sounding made you both look over. 

"MOM!! What are you doin'!?," A man's voice shouted out as people parted and a guy who looked vaugely familiar marched his way forward. The man wore...Shades of all things in this not so sunny weather with a tan-ish coat thrown over himself and blonde-white hair that draped to just above his shoulders as he pushed his way through the small crowd of people until he stopped right in front of you and the woman. He looked right at your confused self still sitting on the ground for a moment before looking over at the woman with a deep frown. "Seriously!? Ya knocked one of my fans over?"

"I'm so sorry, Honey. Really I am," she said calmly as if she had all the patience of an ancient monk. "But it was an accident." Oh. So this must've been his mom. But what does he mean by fan?? You didn't even know this guy.

"Tch!," he scoffed before crossing his arms, "Yeah right. You crash all my events especially after I win against a gym challenger." Your eyes widened. ....Gym chall-..OH!! Now you remember! You looked between the two who had a resemblance now that you looked at them. Gym Leaders Melony and Gordie! So that's why he looked semi familiar to you. These were some of the few characters you actually remembered from your time playing the game! ..Oh. And they were known for fighting of course. "You're lucky you didn't cause her to hit her head during the fall!" You looked back up blinking wide eyed at him as he scowled at his mother. "Did you even apologise to her or were you just gonna forget that too?"

You stared wide eyed at him. Who says that to their own mother!? Through all this Melony just calmly and sadly watched him as he angrily spewed out. You WISH your mom was like Melony- "HEY!!" You were quick to try and rise to your feet stumbling a bit on the snow as you did. Rising up with your own frown behind the scarf covering your face and quickly dusting yourself off.

"Ah man. Are you alright there?," he asked holding his hand out. "Sorry about my mom-"

"Oh be quiet!" You bluntly said as you snapped your face to him, which combined with your sharp tone seemed to make him pause in the moment. "I know exactly who you are!! What is WRONG with you man!?" You couldn't help but shout at him. Well considering Gordie's only a side character who you wouldn't probably see again after Gloria defeated him, it would be ok to shout at him. Especially since you weren't in the game's storyline at the moment. So you jabbed him in the chest which made him blinked and take a couple steps back. "Of course your mother apologized to me but that's NOT the point! It was an accident and I happened to run into HER! Not the other way around!! Are you kidding me with your behavior right now, Gordie!? Don't you see what you're doing!?" You gestured towards Melony who looked shocked herself seeing you jab at her son. "You're yelling at your own mother who didn't do anything wrong in front of a bunch of your fans in public!? Are you trying to embarrass her or something!? Your mom's so much nicer than you!! Geez! What were those guys thinking!?"

"I-...W-Wha-" He sputtered but you shut him down real quick.

"NO! You're not allowed to talk to me! You know why? Because your mom's one of the nicest people in all of Galar!! DUDE GET OVER YOUR STUPID EGO!! You both had a fight like..years ago!? So WHAT?! You're running your own stadium you wanted and you have like loads of fans! Don't you think that bashing her in front of your fans would make her look bad!?....No. Scratch that." He blinked as you took a step forward and he stepped back. "It makes YOU look bad! SO I am NOT a fan of yours! I'm just here looking for a missing camera but even if I didn't I'd still feel bad for your mother! Don't you think the reason Melony makes an effort to be in your fan club and trying so hard to support you is her way of showing she cares about you and is actually sorry about the fight you two had!?" You shook your head. "Gosh. Your head must be thicker than a onix if you missed that!!"

There was silence all around as the once crowd of chattering people were all shocked and staring at you, Gordie, or Melony or looking between the three of you as Gordie just stared jaw dropped and making noises like a fish out of water as you scoffed and turned around. Melony watching with equal reaction to her son and even passing people who weren't a part of the crowd was staring right at you as you turned your back to him. 

"So don't apologize to me. Because the only one you should be apologizing to is your poor mother." You gave him one last very SERIOUS look over your shoulder. "As someone who wished for a parent like her, you need to get a reality check man." You turned back to his shocked mother before sighing. "I'm really sorry about all this, Ma'am. But I gotta go. I have to meet up back with my friends." 

With a new sour feeling that combined with your annoyance with the cold and falling down, without looking behind you, you turned on your heels and stomped off back towards where Gloria was headed when you both split up. You didn't feel like staying at the Hero's Bath any longer now with the eerie silent you left behind. Everyone watched after you as you disappeared....until a single THUNK sound broke the silence as Gordie's shades fell off his shocked face to the cold ground below.

[electricprincess96]

Ep 2 of Season 2 of HOTD was.... disjointed. It felt like just as I was getting into a scene it changed.

Once again we are robbed of girl dad Daemon Targaryen because the show seems to believe he is not allowed to have even one redeeming quality. Baela Targaryen of all people having daddy issues is just wild to me I'm sorry but who are these characters cause they aren't the Daemon and Baela I know. And yes I know Fire and Blood is not a reliable narrator but when all the sources in that book seem to agree that Daemon for all his many faults was at least a decent father to Baela (if not both his daughters) then I don't see why that can't be adapted in the show. Daemon can be all the other horrible things that he is but removing this one trait from him making him so much less interesting.

I don't like how.... weak Rhaenyra seems to be. Also she can't seem to decide if she's sad, vengeful, level headed. Like I do not have a grasp of who this Rhaenyra is the way I did in Season 1.

I see everyone in Team Black minus Jace have already forgotten Luke. 10/11 days of mourning is all you get my sweet boy.

Otto Hightower was the star of this episode (and honestly i liked him in the last one too). Like yes is this whole entire situation almost entirely his fault? Yes. But it was fun watching him realise his family are all idiots and he's unable to control their stupidity. Like Otto was one second away from sailing to Dragonstone and begging Rhaenyra to be Queen that's how much Aegon and Alicent annoyed the crap out of him in this episode. Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised of we don't see much or any of him for the rest of the season and dare I say that's kinds sad. The collective IQ in the Red Keep has plummeted.

Aegon's pain and mourning was believable and very well portrayed. The issue is they really want me to feel bad for Aegon but these are the same writers that made him a rapist, child molester and fan of watching children fighting in pits (some of them his own bastard children) so like..... I would feel sympathy for him except you've made him a colossal piece of shit and no I won't forget.

Helaena has been able to portray a lot of emotions despite the script giving her very little to do. I thought the funeral scene would be more than it was honestly. Aegon not even speaking to her on the staircase was cold but I think fit the characters well.

Crispy Cole.... if hypocrisy had a face. Him gaslighting Sir Arryk into going to try and kill Rhaenyra to cover up COLE'S mistake of not doing his job cause he was too busy doing Alicent was oh so scummy. Also do we really need to keep ending episodes on Cole and Alicent fucking?

.... I won't talk too much about the Daemon and Rhaenyra scene cause I just don't think it was very good. Like these two can absolutely fight after what Daemon did with Blood and Cheese but it felt like the writer of this episode wanted to retcon their entire relationship into being "oh she never really believed in him or trusted him" which makes the whole scheme last season to get Laenor out the way and allow her to marry Daemon seem really fucking stupid right now and makes Rhaenyra seem incapable of making good decisions regarding her allies if she claims she never even trusted her own King Consort. Like Rhaenyra KNEW who Daemon was before all this, her acting like she didn't somewhat sign up for this when she chose to marry him is dumb. I don't want perfect angel Rhaenyra who does no wrong, Rhaenyra is a Targaryen but she's lacking the fire recently. Like yeah she shouldn't be happy about this but to act like she doesn't hold some responsibility is nonsense. Making both Lucerys' death and now Jaehaeyr's deaths down to "accidents" or miscommunications is merely robbing so many characters of agency in a desire to make them sympathetic and marketable.

But yeah I didn't really like this episode, maybe upon rewatches I'll appreciate it more but overall it wasn't great. Neither ep1 or ep2 have really reached the heights of Season 1 for me so far.

[jimin-bangtan]

After Jimin's Promotions - My Thoughts

(Note: My thoughts were written down April 9, 2023.)

Post promotional thoughts

So once Jimin's FACE album was released on March 24, 2023, a surprising chain of events occurred in regard to who supported Jimin and who did not.  Based on past events, the company not fully supporting JM was not surprising. They always, in my opinion, seem to treat him with less action and assistance than they do some of the others. The surprise was how poorly they supported (and possibly sabotaged) his efforts. More surprises came from within the BTS group itself.

The company

JM only had 4 unique songs on the whole album (minus the hidden song). He did 2 videos & later told us that he had wanted to make it a visual album with videos for all songs. The company told him that was "unreasonable & impossible" yet after his album became a huge success - mostly because of the fans' organization and hard work, the company’s stock went up 15 points & other KPop companies also profited. Imagine if they had helped him more.  He broke records all over the world and is the first Korean soloist to hit and debut #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Both songs with videos were #1 in over 100 countries and in all major music markets.  They both also debuted on the Hot 100 chart. He was #2 on both of Billboard’s Global charts (w/ & w/o U.S.).  He won awards at all the major music shows so far, & has the highest number of albums sold in 24 hours for an Asian artist, etc. etc. etc.

The company didn’t even seem to put out celebratory posts or do the articles they seem to do for others when they’ve achieved less.  Their support for him is extremely underwhelming in spite of his huge efforts, popularity, & success.  His newness for doing an entire album project, his lack of direction & training (again), & his perfectionism may have delayed JMs album as well, which may have caused his promotional period to be extremely short compared to others (only about 2 weeks) & it may have caused some of the overlap I am bothered by. I am at least willing to consider this based on timeframes Jimin has mentioned.  In any case, the lack of support, as I've said, was not surprising but even more sad was the apparent sabotage the company appears to have intentionally inflicted on JM as well. More and more is coming to light and maybe in another post I will speak on that. If it is a business plan, it appears to be at JMs expense, and it is disappointing to discover and witness.

BTS

Another surprising lack of support came from his “soulmate” V.  V has not said a public word to Jimin about his album or achievements, which is not usual for him in my view. Even if he did it privately, I think it is bad optics for a public-facing career.  Others have noticed and are commenting on it too.  JM has set a high bar for those who follow, and since V lagged and did not put out his album, which is said to have been done a long while ago (Festa 2022), he now has the high bar to reach. His fault, not Jimin’s.  Lately, Vs actions have been giving me pause in regard to other things as well. Whatever the reason, Vs apparent neglect of manners and support do not look good on him. To be fair, I don’t know the actual circumstances and there is a possibility that V could have justification for his actions.  

JHope has come through with good support in spite of him continually stepping on JMs promotion and album period with the continual release of social media and collaboration projects.  Jin, who is in the military, even showed up.  Jin also commented online about Jimin’s BB#1 achievement in his own playful way, asking JM, "the chart topper", where his copy of the album was. JM told us that RM, who also stepped on JMs promotional time with a release, congratulated him privately by phone and publicly on social media, telling Jimin he was proud of him.  Suga hosted JM on Suchwita to help with promotions and referred to Jimin’s achievements in different conversations.

The one who surprised me the most in a positive way has been JK.  I have previously been underwhelmed with his public support & this time he went beyond my expectations of him. JK did very helpful & specific gestures during his Lives to support JM.* He also congratulated JM on social media for his 1st award & he popped in on several of JMs quick Lives during the promotional period. JK showed up at JMs practice to watch and encourage him.  He dedicated an entire Live to watch JMs SMF, Pt2 video and dance practice, LC dance practice, JMs Suchwita interview with Suga,  as well as a BTS compilation video focused on JM. JK said nice & supportive things about JM, his work, and his voice. JK also attended the dinner that they all supposedly showed up for after JMs music show performance.  I mean wow. (Suga mentioned that V had been at the dinner but wasn’t in the posted picture because he & JM had left already.  Something makes me wonder about Vs attendance with my comments in the above paragraph.)

Anyway, JKs support really helped soothe some of my resentment about how poorly the company promoted JM. I am not sure if he was inspired to do it because he realized the lack of effort the company was giving or because he was excited for JMs new venture and the desire for JMs hard work to be received well or whether he was excited that he would be able to spend more time soon with a less busy JM now that the project was being released or all three reasons combined. Either way, with JMs album release came an awakened and excited JK too.

It makes me smile that JM, as the hyung, went down this unfamiliar and difficult road first. And JK, now witnessing the extraordinary outcome of JMs hard work and the success he was achieving, likely felt encouraged and more informed about his own project that needed to get up and running. He likely learned a lot while watching or at least hearing JM tell him about the challenges, events, and achievements while going through the process.

Conclusion

Overall, in spite of the minimal promotional time and contributions, Jimin's album has been extremely successful - and continues to be. Jimin again shows that his hard work and determination can overcome the many challenges and disappointments he FACES. Although I hope his future efforts will come with fewer obstacles and greater support, Jimin has shown that, in spite of it all, he can still succeed, make an impact, and make his fans proud.

*My thoughts about Letter (hidden song) and more JK contributions to come

[bleedingoptimism]

part four: Jeff

It’s been two weeks since their gig, two weeks since they last saw Steve.

Frank had been right in assuming Steve wouldn’t show up to hang out with them at rehearsals but Steve hadn't shown up at all, not at rehearsals, not at get-togethers or Hellfire meetings, they hadn’t even seen him at his work, although Jeff suspects that was because Robin was hiding him from them in the back.

He’s frankly a little offended Robin is being mean to them when they didn’t do anything wrong but he knows he would’ve probably reacted the same if someone had broken the heart of one of his friends.

And speaking of his friends, Eddie is been insufferable the last two weeks, he goes from quiet and twitchy to whining loudly about being stupid and blind and a mess. Gareth just agrees with him which isn’t helpful at all, Frank keeps telling him that it’s fine, he made a mistake, and he can still fix it, and Jeff keeps telling Eddie to shut up, man up, and go talk to him already.

But Eddie freaks out every time, says Steve is avoiding him, and that he wouldn't even know what to say if he saw him. 

Safe to say, it’s been a rough couple of weeks, and the worst part for them to admit is that they kind of, sort of, maybe? Miss Steve. This is why Jeff can’t help but get excited when they see him again.

The band is hanging out at Gareth's place, minus Eddie, who is studying at Nancy’s house just like every Wednesday since he came back to school. Something Steve knows, which is probably why he chose that moment to show up.

They are sitting in the living room chatting about their latest campaign, DMed by no other than their newest addition to the club, Will Byers, when there’s a knock on the door.

Gareth opens the door and Jeff and Frank lean over the couch to see who it is, surprised to see Steve there.

He’s holding the shirt Gareth lend him, washed and folded neatly, and on top of it is a box, a rich smell coming from it.

“Hey!” Steve says, “Sorry it took me so long to return this Gar. I brought you cookies! As a thank you”

And then Gareth does something that surprises all of them, probably himself too, he takes the offered items and puts them on the table beside the door and then hugs Steve.

Steve looks at them shocked over Gareth's shoulders and barely has time to return the hug before Gareth lets him go and pulls him inside by the wrists. 

“Dude! We missed you! Why did you have to disappear like that?”

“You know why” Steve smiles sadly at him.

“Are you mad at Eddie?” Jeff asks him as they make room for him on the couch, immediately digging into the box of cookies when Gareth brings it to the coffee table. But Steve just stands in the middle of the living room, probably not planning on staying long.

“No! Of course not!” he assures and runs a hand through his hair, “He didn't do anything wrong. I’m the one who fucked up. I should’ve never assumed tha-” he interrupts himself and shakes his head, grins at them “I shouldn’t have disappeared like that on you guys, I’m so sorry. After you practiced so much. Wished I stayed long enough to congratulate you as least. You were amazing!”

They smile at him, murmur some thanks, and then Steve claps loudly once, “Well! I should get going,”

“See you,” Frank says but it sounds more like a question and Steve picks up on that,

“I- look: the thing is, I really like you guys and I want us to be friends but I- I got everything mixed up in my head and I need some space to… deal with it. I need time,” Steve tells them and turns towards the door, 

“What if you didn't get it wrong?” Jeff blurts suddenly.

“Jeff!” Gareth exclaims shaking his head.

But Jeff is determined, “Steve, what if you were right, what if Eddie likes you back?” he says, ignoring Gareth.

“Well that kind of makes it worse doesn't it?” he chuckles, pinching the bridge of his nose,

 “No, but! See… Eddie didn’t know you like him too, and if you would just let him talk to you…”

And Steve laughs again but cruelly this time and he looks sad when he says, “Jeff that’s the thing, I haven’t been avoiding him. Yes, I didn’t show up when you hung out but It’s not like I’ve refused to talk to him. I’ve actually been waiting for him to talk to me. Does he even wonder what’s wrong? Because even if he didn’t like me back… I was hoping he would care enough about our friendship but it seems I was wrong about that too. I was wrong about… everything”

“Jesus Christ this guy is undefendable!” Jeff groans and Steve laughs again but this time is more sincere.

“You don’t need to defend him, I told you, I'm not mad” 

“It’s worse that you are sad, you know that right? I kinda wished you were mad at him” Frank says and Steve snorts, his eyes getting some of their usual shine back. 

“I’m gonna go but, I’ll be fine guys. We’ll be fine, I promise” He smiles genuinely and turns to leave again and Jeff stands up and walks him to the door,

“Steve wait, I know it's not fair for me to ask you this but, you know Eddie makes assumptions about people and it’s really hard to get him to change his mind about them, and he’s always thought of you as unobtainable” 

Steve's eyes go wide and his eyebrows raise before they drop in a frown, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that”

“Nothing! Just I know Eddie will get his head out of his ass eventually, you just have to… just don't give up on him yet, please?”

Steve huffs and shakes his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, okay”

part one

part two

part three

part four (you are here!)

part five

☕🥐💕 cafecito?

[writingforatwistedworld]

REQUEST GALLORE I AM SORRY FJDKDJ--

Okay but what if, reader/mc in the self aware au already in their universe (no I don't see a patter what are you talking about-) who was usually pretty physically Affectionate to those they concidered close, friends or others. This affection Carrier also over to the twst characters they meet with hello/goodbye hugs, holding hand when walking together, headpats or patter on the back for encouragment and even mayhaps a forehead kiss or too (if the caharcters allowed it of course)

This bur liek with Leona, Azul and Malleus (ik u see a pattern Veil just don't comment on it i don't have faves i SWEAR--)

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, murder, violence, blood, death, obsession, possessiveness, kidnapping, manipulation

Leona Kingscholar/Azul Ashengrotto/Malleus Draconia-Player who is physically very affectionate

Little comparison

That scratch on that student's face that is getting stitches at the doctors? That is a random someone who tried to get just lightly pat him on the back

That person hugging Leona whilst he has to hold back from straight up holding on to them? That is the Overseer with our local not so tame house cat

Ruggie thought he was dreaming the first time he saw that happening (although he is still doing a double take after that every time)

However, at the same time it is you so is this a surprise

But let us make sense of this and not let it stand as some lonely points that crave physical affection themselves

Leona is not used to any kind of touch that is meant to show some sort of affection (minus his brothers family and he is still acting as if he got thrown into cold water)

I mean, come on. What did you expect? The servants smiling and hugging him after saying all of that?

So when you finally started to go all in (in other words wrestle jump onto him in hug version) he was this, and I really mean this close to throwing you off and making sure that you and he adore the same scar

And then, oh Overseer, it is you

The one person he imagined himself to be with since he was a child, seeing you as the only one who would accept him no matter what

This also tells us another thing: he would shred the individuals whom you also show affection towards like that

And also, once or twice, he might have returned the hug with his grip getting tighter, and tighter, and tighter, and...you ended up having a few deep scratches on your shoulder blades

Ruggie was also tempted more than just once to put up a sign saying “DO NOT ENTER!!! DON’T! DON’T ASK WHY!!! JUST DON'T!!!!!” whenever you two are in a room together. (There were a few incidents...)

That special paint the Queen of hearts loved so much is hard to get off of clothing you know?

But it is not Leona's fault for his shirt to get dirty! They just didn't know their place and who is he to deny them lessons which will teach them a lot. Perhaps he should teach them some courtesy...

YESYESYESYESYOUDOINGGREATYESYESYES

*ahem* Interruption aside, you are really doing great work

I mean, my poor man over here is just craving some affection from others than his parents

Now, of course, he isn't just some oversized pillow and will whack anyone who tries something like that with that came of his

But this is you

You and not like some noisy first year why can't keep their hands to themselves and get the note that no, he doesn't like hugs from strangers

But mhm imagine this, the guy is just working there, writing stuff and so on

And then suddenly you throw the door open, looking like you are ready to tear down this place and that special thingy when a person looks way more frightening because the lightning is falling just right

And then you attack... hug him! Attack! No that looks like a hug... And then you attack-hug him!

Ah... his soul just left his body... floating in the air as he watches what happens to his body from the ceiling...

And then he gets sucked right back into it from shock as you tell him how great he is doing and yada yada all of that

Look at how nice you are to others as well... hadn't he told that freshman to stay away from you just two days ago?

Whoops! Looks like Jade and Floyd are allowed to play with their new friend... if he hadn't runied them with a deal before that

How dare that imbicle try to get close to you!

That spot is reserved for him only!

But don't you worry dead! He is very forgiving so why won't you just promise to stay with him for the rest of his life and to please tell him what made you cry like this? Oh? His fingernails are digging a bit too much into your side? Pardon him!

*sigh* I swear to the Overseer people are requesting Lilia and/or Malleus with these kinds of scenarios because they know that it ends with the world burning

But hey aren't you a kind one?

I mean, Malleus is, and this is no big secret, starved for any kind of attention so once you show your affection for him like this?

All I'm telling you is to pack your bags and just say “yes” when he forces asks you to follow him to the Valley of Thorns, so that fire insurance or maybe even the end-of-the-world insurance doesn't have to be used by the Headmage

But ok, sweet great can you do a favour for me?

When you are already sealing your fate so that it's doomed could you please pet that tail and those horns for me? I was always interested in the texture...

Malleus pupils are slits? Nah, he so tame they became big big circles

But imagine, you have been feared all your life and then suddenly your God themselves is like “you are awesome and this is why I'm hugging you”

So, one sunny day a Malleus, a most rare kind of student, was walking down the path... and was ready to make someone's height a head shorter

Why? Well someone just hugged him from behind and thank goodness am I glad that his reflexes are also better like his overall strength because otherwise that would have been the new reality

But I think you might have to teach him how to hug someone properly before proceeding because...

No? Just the nerves? Ok, he just nervous

What Lilia is doing over there with a bag dripping some weird liquid? Nah, that is just your imagination!

Nope! That isn't the hand of that one person you had patted encouragingly on the back sticking out of it!

Just... just pack those bags and show him a big smile!

His home is already eagerly awaiting you so don't fall behind. You usually like to sick close, no?

[anxietysslave]

Dangerous Fellows X Klee like reader

(PLATONIC VERSION)

You are a child instead of an adult in this one. If you want the one where you aren't a kid, then here's that part: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/anxietysslave/691337857953136640?source=share

This was requested by @lilqi :)

Ethan:

-Honestly was so surprised- How could a kid make it through this nightmare with no one??

-Truth be told, the second he found you he was so protective- You're a little ball of sunshine that must be protected at all costs-

-Probably was so surprised when he watched you explode a zombie- Asked you where the bomb came from, and became even more confused when he heard you mention a vision and showed him the vision-

-Honestly, he just stopped asking after that-

-He'd be the type of guardian who's so protective of you, except he's a very quiet man. Except lots of head pats from him

Harry:

-A child?? In an apocalypse? Alone?

-Yeah, he was shocked- But at the same time; he was so concerned- Like what had you been through??

-Mans would instantly see you as his new child-

-Congratulations! You have been adopted by him now! Even if he finds your parents, mans is keeping you. He raised you, after all.

-He'd be the best guardian father you could ask for. He'd make the most of the zombie apocalypse and would try hard to take care of you.

-So when one day you just threw a bomb at him... Yeah, you've broken him-

-He asked so many questions. And asked even more when you explained it to him.

-God? Pyro Vision? What?

-Harry.exe.has stopped working-

-But in all seriousness, he'd try his best to find out more about these so-called visions. And you may be able to protect yourself, but that doesn't make him any less worried.

Lawrence:

-Oh boy... Yeah, this man is already crazy enough. :/

-When he saw you, it kinda reminded him of how he was when he was a kid and how his parents treated him. So he'll try his best to not like to act like them.

-Minus the overprotective-

-It's like everywhere you went, you can bet he's a few feet behind. If someone tries to hurt you, then they're gone- and if he finds your parents.... Well... Yeah, you're his kid now. No buts.

-At first he was so surprised that you had been alive for so long. But it shocked him even more when he saw how kind and clueless you were. How did you survive by yourself??

-So you can imagine how surprised he was when he watched you chuck a bomb- But at the same time, he's also thrilled. I mean... That can be used for a lot of things.

-Would demand you tell him how you did that. And if you tell him, yeah... He's going to give you so many rules to it. Like you can't use it more than a few times a day, blah blah blah- Definitely went on for over an hour about it

-He doesn't trust the others around you one bit. So if anyone gets too close... He's going to glare at them. Maybe take their life if it's not too suspicious.

-Just like the first part, he'd be so annoyed that he had to bomb-proof the basement. But would do anything for his new child.

-Seriously, someone smack some sense into him-

Eugene:

-A kid? Really? What was Lawrence thinking?

-Eugene was so annoyed about it- I feel like he dislikes kids with a passion. So now ones living with him... Yeah, not too impressed.

-He'd try to avoid you at any cost. But once he sees you become sad about it, he's quick to rethink that.

-He'd ask you how you survived so long, and once you tell him how, he'd be even more shocked- Like you can make bombs?? How???

-Would pretend to listen to the whole god and vision thing, but really didn't hear a word about it- He just didn't want to hurt your feelings-

-If he gets close to you and grows to love you, then you can expect him to take you into his care. But he still won't admit it

-He'd want you to call him a brother rather than a guardian or a parent. He feels old if you do that-

-If he meets your parents, he's going to demand why they left you alone. If they say they lost you, they're going to get smacked. If they say they didn't expect a zombie apocalypse, still gonna get smacked.

-Whenever no one's looking, he'd totally sneak you a snack and give you head rubs. Like you're too cute not tooo

-Remember when he asked you in the game if you wanted to run away with him? Yeah, this time he's not going to ask-

-Just one night, he has enough of Lawrence being so possessive, and all the drama. So he just walks over to you, picks you up, and carries you away. If you ask questions, he'll explain that he wants the best life for you. Not one that's so full of fear

-Boi needs a hug

Zion:

-A kid!? What the actual fuck!? How are we supposed to raise a kid when we barely have enough food for ourselves!?

-Yeah, not impressed at all. Would argue with Lawrence or whoever brought you in because not only are they low on rations, but raising a kid is already hard enough. Now there are zombies and famion involved?

-But would calm down once it's pointed out that you had no one before. Only a little-

-Would at first glare at you and be furious at you. But once he sees how adorable and kind you are, he eases up.

-He finally gets to know you more. And once he hears you can make bombs? Yeah, chaos-

-He'd ask you to blow up zombies, buildings, and prank the other people there. He'd have so much fun doing it too. Even during the lectures, he'd take full responsibility.

-You grew to be his favorite person in a short amount of time. Expect a lot, and I mean a lot of head pats. This man just finds your confused face so adorable-

-If he meets your parents, he'll full-on say that he's stealing you and you are now his child. No one can stop him. If they try, they'll get bapped

-Would ask how you do it, but it would go in one ear and out the other- So he gave up on asking questions after that

-Would definetly talk about legally making you his child. You're like the only ray of hope in his life-

-And since you're so young, he feels like you aren't like all those people who wanted him for his money. In fact, you never want to buy stuff anyways-

Judy:

-Has no problems with you being there once she sees you. She instantly goes into like protective parent mode. In fact, Lawrence's biggest threat is her-

-She'd have you stay in her room and would call them sleepovers. Would definitely stay up late with you and tell you stories of her life, or just some stories she's heard.

-Whenever she goes out on expeditions, she'd bring you back stuff she found. Whether it be some cool toy or some board game. She loves to see your face lit up with excitement.

-If she met your parents, she'd curse them out and then just pick you up and forge some adoption papers- Yeah, you're hers now

-She'd be the perfect mom for you. Do you need a shoulder to cry on? She's already leaning out. Need some food? She's already stolen like 10 snacks. Are you feeling tired? She's already set up the bed. Feel like a story? She's started it.

-Would love to give you hugs throughout the day. You're just too adorable, not too!

-If someone's yelling or if something's happening, she'd cover your ears and yell or attack whatever is causing it. You must be protected at all costs.

-And that's when you chucked a bomb-

-She was low key kinda sad that you didn't tell her any sooner. It could've come in handy for so many things.

-She wouldn't understand much about what you said, and may even think it's just something you were told and isn't true.

-But she wouldn't tell you that. :)

Scarlet:

-Got so mad when she first heard the news. But the second she saw you... Yeah, it changed real quick.

-Instantly became so protective of you. She also developed a sweet side just for you.

-If anyone dares to object to you staying there... You got a very, furious Scarlet.

-Everyone was so surprised by how fast she changed. She went from absolutely not to. This is my child. You better stay away-

-Would read you bedtime stories and make sure you're as comfortable as possible. Like you need extra pillows? She's sacrificing hers.

-She won't let you go on expeditions. Not with how young you are, and because they're dangerous no matter what. She may let you go on patrol as long as you're by her. Or Zion-

-She may not seem like she'd be a wonderful mother, but I believe she would be. 10/10 would recommend her.

-And the one day you pulled out a bomb and blew up a zombie... Yeah, you got the longest lecture ever. Why didn't you tell her??? >:(

-She'd ignore you for a couple of days- or brush you off. But if you become sad, she'll regret it and instantly try to make it up to you.

-She wouldn't ask about why you can make bombs. You're her new child and are important. That's all that matters to her.

Hailey:

-A child? Okay.

-She's a kind girl, so she'd instantly embrace the idea. And once she meets you... Yeah, you're her younger sister now.

-Also feels too old if you call her mother-

-But she'd be a wonderful mother. She's quiet around everyone else, but around you, she can talk for hours.

-She'd read books to you, would teach you everything she knew about the world, and would have long discussions

-You don't even need to respond. She just loves your presence-

-Would also give your head pats and rubs. But not in front of the others. She'd feel so embarrassed if they saw that-

-If she met your parents, she'd kindly ask them if she can be your older sister. They don't even need to claim her as their kid- If they say yes, she'll be so happy. If they say no, she'd point out how she was technically the one who raised you.

-Wouldn't be protective of you. She can't really fight, so she doesn't want to put the both of you in danger. But will not let you go on any sort of patrol or expedition.

-Was quite shocked when she saw you chuck a bomb out the window- But I feel like she'd know what the vision was and would be so proud that her younger sister was gifted. She'd compliment you so much.

-Still no patrols or expeditions tho-

Jay:

-Was so disturbed by the idea of a child. Like ew, don't you know they carry disease?

-Even when he saw you, he just ignored you. You could try to talk to him, and he'd pretend he couldn't hear you. If you tried to give him something, he'd turn away from you so you couldn't.

-But over time, he loosens up. Not enough to adopt you though- He's more the type who'll watch over you from the sidelines.

-He'd try to convince Lawrence to never let you go on expeditions. If Lawrence listens, then he'd be happy. If Lawrence didn't, then either he'd tag along all the time or he'd keep bugging Lawrence until he changed his mind.

-The first time he actually talked to you was when you used a bomb- He freaked out at first, thinking Zion gave you one, or you just found one lying around-

-Would instantly go into panic mode and would freak out at anyone who walked by- And once you explain you made it and that it comes from your vision, he'd just stand there and stare at you.

-He didn't understand a word you just said- All he knows is you're an arsonist

-Would talk to you more, but still not much

Sue:

-Would be so concerned about a child being out there by herself-

-Would also keep pestering you until you tell her how you survived like that. And once she finds out, she understands. She knows the smallest bit about visions, and then she knows you could be of use to her.

-At first, she may just think of you as extra protection. But over time, you become like her family. You are just so pure and full of life- She can't help but love you.

-She would read you anything and everything she can find. She'd actually be the one to teach you how to read and write.

-Would also not allow you to go on any sort of patrol or expedition. She knows you're capable, but that doesn't mean accidents can't happen. And she's not losing you.

-Since she's suspicious of Lawrence, she won't even allow you to be in a room next to that man- In fact, you're never allowed to even look at him.

-If Lawrence gets mad about that, then she doesn't care. You keep her safe, and she'll keep you safe. So Lawrence can kiss her ass. :)

-Would tell you that once they get out of this nightmare that she'll take care of you if she can't find your parents. And even if she finds them, then she'll still be family to you. If they don't like it, they can suck it. :)

-Got a question or need advice? Best women to go to. She'll answer anything and everything. And is so kind about it.

-She's not one for affection but will do her best to show you it. So please forgive her if she's a bit awkward.

Sorry, that's its short- This is my first ever platonic writing- But hopefully it's good and thank you for requesting it! :)

[echantedtoon]

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch18 Battle Gym Leader Melony

It wasn't too surprising all of you fell asleep on the train again that night, seeing how late it was getting when you all hurried onto it like an army of onix was chasing after you all. Thank goodness you managed to catch it and settled down into a couple empty seats to sleep for the night. Come morning the lot of you were already digging into your rations for breakfast to comfort your hungry stomachs that growled for food. And made small talk as the world went flying by outside the windows.

"So how long until we reach Circhester?," you asked biting into come kind of breakfast bar that tasted like bacon bits and oatmeal.

"It's the farthest town from all the others in Galar except for the town in the Crown Tundra Valley but that's farther in the mountains than we need to go," Victor explained after he had pulled out his own phone and pulled up his regional maps to look through them, "It's also deep within the Galarian Mountain Reign so it'll take us about three weeks to get there by train."

"Oh really?"

He nodded again. "The stop we want is Steamdrift Station. From there it's about an hour walk down Steamdrift Way until we get to Circhester and it's gyms."

You paused before blinking and looking at him. Drizzilie taking this chance to pull the rest of your food away from you to eat itself. "Gyms? As in plural?...Like more than one gym?"

"Oh yeah! Guess we haven't told ye!," Gloria cut in leaning into her hand. "The Ice and Rock Type Gyms are located up there and are handled by the gym leader Melony n' 'er son Gordie!"

You paused...eyes blinking wide at them for a moment before pointing. "Hey! Wait a minute! I remember those guys!" YEAH! You did remember them! Ironic since you couldn't remember much of anything else in game. Melony according to in game info was supposed to have a harsh battle style and supposedly be an incredible coach. She ran the Ice type Gym while her son Gordie was in charge of the nieghboring Rock Type Gym also in Circhester. He's supposed to be really popular in a similar way to Raihan and have his own fan base as well that he treats respectfully. ..But the mother and son had a fight over Gordie not wanting to take over his mother's gym and instead but somehow she still became the very first member of his fan club. ...Also he was supposed to have younger siblings as well but you didn't think they were ever shown in the game. You remembered!! That's great! Maybe now you'd start remembering things much more now!! ....You blinked upon noticing the three staring at you. "Uh!...I m-mean I remember some people talking about them before. Apparently Gordie's pretty popular in Galar."

Hop nodded. "Yeah he is! Last year he was voted Galar's third most eligible bachelor behind Raihan and Lee himself. But unlike Raihan he actually throws a lot of his own events and showings. Lee mentioned once he trained under the old Rock Type Gym Leader before he retired and took over the gym after."

You sighed. Bullet dodged! "Oh. Sounds like he's really nice then." And hopefully won't flirt with you like Raihan did.

Thus began your group's long, LONG trip to the Galarian Mountain Range. Just like your trip back to Motostoke, you all slept on the emptied seats at night but being more prepared Victor had set up his Rotom phone's gps to set off an alarm once the lot of you reached the likes of the station you wanted so you all wouldn't have to take turns staying up all night again to keep an eye out for the right station you wanted. Which was a great idea! Over the next few days you all fell into that repeated pattern minus taking turns staying up at night and during the day just talking about random things while eating food from your rations or looking at whatever the teens pulled up from the internet to show you. Gloria at one point even pulled out her dex books again to finish putting the rest of her pictures into them and showed you the new addtions courtesy of her twin before passing the books over towards the two boys for them to flip through themselves and admire Gloria's handy work. A few more days went by this way until one day Victor all of a sudden said you all should stop at the next town to restock up on food again since it wasn't as much as he thought it was. To which everyone agreed too and at the next town, got off the train and went into one of the random stops which turned out to be a small town like Postwick. From there the four of you gathered supplies and did everything else to prepare to travel again by the time the next train came around before getting back on it and back on your way to Circhester. Day in and night out you four traveled and traveled and traveled. You were starting to get train sick with how much this was going on and found yourself walking up and down the walkways in turns with the others to keep up the exercise and not let yourselves turn your legs to jelly. Until one particular night when you woke up with a shiver. There was a chilly atmosphere inside the metal train from when you were last awake and it was enough for you to make yourself get up groggily. Only to find your drizzilie was lightly shivering as well curled up against your warmer body and stayed clung to you as it groaned in protest at the cold.

"What the-"

"Hey you." You rubbed your eyes turning tiredly to Hop who had his own coat thrown over his shoulders and smiled. "So you're finally awake huh?"

You yawned. "What time is it?"

"About ten in the morning. We're getting closer to the mountains," Victor said and you turned to him next as he rechecked the map on his phone, "We'll be at Steamdrift Station within 'bout three days but you might want to throw on a coat. It's gonna get a wee bit more colder from 'ere on out."

That wasn't a too bad idea actually. You were quick to pull on the coat you had bought and with a bit of a tussle you somehow with Gloria's help managed to pry Drizzilie off of you and put him inside your bag's main opening with Gloria holding it open before you pulled both him and the bag into your lap to make room. And to help keep the lil guy warm. Your pokemon gave a bored expression as he settled down into using the bag as his personal sleeping bag.

"Hey. Don't get too comfy," you reminded him, "Cuz when we leave Circhester you're going back to walking with us again Mr. I-Refuse-To-Get-In-My-Pokeball." Other than rolling his eyes with a sigh, Drizzilie didn't say anything against what you said. "You heard me. This is just to make sure you don't go from a water type to a frozen-water type."

The rest of the three days there was pretty much the same, only now it was hard for any of you all to get to sleep now curled up in the seats because of the cold. Why you even dug out a scarf and wrapped it around your neck and half your face. Didn't these trains have darn heating!? The landscape outside the windows changed too. Going from looking like fall-ish time of the year to mid way between fall and winter, until the last day when you all woke up to have found yourselves so, so...SO!! Cold, and you shivered yanking the hood over your f/c hair more as you looked around and noticed white snow was being blown against the windows like some snow storm. And for all you knew there could actually be one out there.

"ZZZTT. Attention Passengers!," the conductor announced over the speakers to anyone left on bourd. "We'll be arriving at SteamDrift Station within ten minutes. That is all."

"That's our stop!," Victor confirmed, "Make sure you all grab everythin' before we get off."

You all made sure to gather your things, you especially making sure to pull the small hoodie over your Drizzilie's head before pushing him into your bag and telling him to stay in there until you said it was safe for him to come out before zipping your bag up but leaving enough of an opening to allow fresh air to him. Slowly after a few minutes the train finally came to a stop and you all followed Victor out towards the door, you grunting as you struggled to sling the bag over your shoulders. You had forgotten how heavy this lil guy actually was when carried. You were extremely thankful for the guys getting you the thick coat and scarf too because the familiar full force of Winter hit you as soon as the you all stepped out the door and you shivered from the frosty cold greeting you all. The entire sky was painted in grey snow clouds that made the day look a little dull while snow gently fell from them and down towards the earth below. Around you was a plain looking station that looked more deserted since no one not even a station master was there, and surrounding you all was cliffsides and hills like in Stow-on-Side except unlike Stow-on-Side these were absolutely COVERED in snow and ice as far as the eyes could see as the four of you stood there taking in the sights. The only living things besides you all being pine trees scattered across the snowy land with a cobblestone road leading away from the station that Victor after a moment pointed at.

"That's Steamdrift Way," He explained holding up his phone with a gloved hand to the lot of you showing a map with a red blinking dot that signaled where you all were. "It's connected to Route E-E-Eight. If we go this way we should be at Circhester w-within an hour after crossing Circhester Bridge."

"T-T-Then w-what are we waiting f-f-for?!," Hop stuttered in the cold before pointing a hand forward. "L-Let's get there before we become on thin ice!"

There wasn't any arguments with him as you all headed off. Snow and ice crunched under your all's feet making your group sound like a couple of wooly mammoths trudging through the snow. You all (even you through your scarf covered mouth) could see your breath as snowflakes stuck to your bodies like someone glued white confetti to your clothes as you all followed Victor and his map through the snow. Thank goodness it didn't cover the road up, or else you all might've gotten lost. As you all trudged alone keeping your hands in your pockets after pulling the ends of the sleeves over them to help keep them warm, you all FINALLY came to the stone bridge Victor mentioned before. A cold river running with cold water ran under it as you all crossed and as you walked over it you prayed your drizzilie didn't decided to pop out wanting to swim or see what was going on.

"W-W-We should be there in t-t-ten m-m-more minutes!," Victor shouted back pulling his beanie further over his head.

"B-B-Bloody heck, V-Vick! 'M freezin' my t-tail off 'ere n' I-I ain't even got one!," Gloria yelled back complaining.

"The sooner we git there the sooner ya can rest! So take the energy from ya yappin' mouth and put it to your feet!," He yelled back and Gloria mumbled under her breath.

So you all continued to walk and walk, until you finally reached the end of the road that lead into a metal fenced entrance to Circhester. And you all had a collected sigh of relief once you all got there. It was decently big with it's many story stone buildings you could make out in the snow with cobblestone roads leading everywhere and the figures of two large stadiums on either side of the town as you all got to walking into it. You all passed the pink pokemon center near the entrance of the town and turned right heading towards what you guessed was the town square. A hot spring like fountain was dead set in the middle and there was people walking all around in winter wear with some ice type pokemon or pokemon who could stand this cold weather. Two men had stands selling food in the square as you walked past, one selling some kind of hot wraps and the other......ice..cream??

"D-Dang nabit, V-Vick! W-W-Where's the b-b-bloody hotel a-around here?," Gloria asked rubbing her arms in a failed attempt to warm herself.

"I-I'm with G-Glory on this," Hop added looking around, "I d-don't feel like camping out here at all."

"I'm WORKIN' on it!," Victor spat scowling at his phone hand lightly shaking.....before he pointed ahead of him at a BIG building in front of you all. "H-Hotel is there! L-Let's go!"

You all didn't hesitate to RUN your way to the building he pointed out jack frost biting at your ankles as you did. You all didn't even care if the door was flung open with a loud noise. The rush of warm air greeting your skins was enough to make up for it in your minds as you sighed. Turning your head up to the ceiling in the bliss of getting out of the cold. After a moment or two you finally opened your eyes and blinked them wide open at what you were all looking at. If you thought the Budew Drop Inn in Motostoke was Fancy this place was absolutely F A N C Y with a capitol F!!! It was like one of those luxury hotels in Paris you'd sometimes see in movies or on tv. Complete with marble floors and chandeliers lighting the place up. It was also HUGE!! And this was just the lobby as you gawked around. The other three were busy shaking snow off themselves as Victor walked up to the man at the lobby counter most likely to book your rooms. You hope they weren't too expensive by the looks around here. A moment later he returned with two keys handing one to Gloria before he gestured to the elevator.

"Let's go get settled in and rest for a bit. I'm too cold to think straight. You guys got room fifthteen on the first floor." Whelp! You couldn't argue with that as you all headed towards the elevator and got inside. The trip to the first floor wasn't a very long one as you all piled out and Victor motioned for Hop to follow him to one of the very first rooms closest to the elevator. "I say we all get warmed up and meet up in the lobby to talk 'bout what's the game plan for us 'ere."

"Alright," you agreed with a nod before following Gloria, "We'll see you two in a bit."

Both boys nodded as well before they turned back, Victor unlocking the door with his key before opening it and they disappeared inside. You sped walked to catch up to Gloria who was already standing in front of a door and turning the knob and throwing it open-

"So that means the culprit must be among us!" Gloria paused in the doorway. Eyes wide and hand still out from throwing the door open. "....Wait....Who are you!?" ..You wanted to facepalm. Oh NO!! Don't tell me Gloria opened the wrong door and walked in on someone. You sped up your walking pace as she blinked again. "After all the trouble of deducing things don't go messing it up now!"

By the time you got to Gloria she was already scowling before pointing her frozen hand at him. "N' who might the likes o' you be!?"

You blinked when you looked inside the room....There was a man there along with an older man, a 'hipster' looking girl, a young boy, and some kind of squirrel looking pokemon chewing something as you all stared at one another...Until the middle aged looking man coughed.

"*cough* I suppose I should introduce myself," he proudly put a hand to his chest, "The name's Howses. Yes. THAT Howses. The great detective. I've been hired by the hotel. At present I have corner the culprit of a most heinous crime!"

"What happened?," you asked. Did someone get robbed? Did something go missing? Something worse?!

"I'm glad you asked," Mr. Howses stated, " And that crime is!..The strange case of who ate the large quantity of berries in the lobby!" He shouted pointing to a random basket of apple cores....You and Gloria both gave each other a look. "I've gathered the three people who were present in the lobby at the time of the crime but because of the noise my marvelous deductive reasoning seems somewhat muddled at present."...The hotel...Hired a private detective ..to investigate missing fruit.....What a waste of time! He suddenly pointed at Gloria. "That's it! You interfering child! You will be my assistant!"

Gloria gave him a blank look. "...What?"

"Listen to the stories of each suspect and find the culprit," he said as if what he had just said wasn't crazy or unprofessional at all.

"....Yeah. I ain't doin' that." Gloria dead panned before pointing at the obvious pokemon in the room. "'Sides. I already know who it was-"

Instead of listening the man waved her off and laughed in her face. "Heh heh heh. After listening to everyone's accounts deduced the culprit!"....NO ONE SPOKE!! He pointed at the young hipster looking gal who looked just as deadpanned and done with this as Gloria. "Dancer! You are the culprit!"

"WHAT!?," she demanded angrily, "Why me?!"

"Because you're a dancer! You move and shake your body so much that you needed all that food for extra energy! That's evidence as clear and sharp as the leek of a farfetch'd!"

"WHAT!? What does that even mean!? You're no detective! You're a fraud!" Your thoughts exactly!

The man gave a nervous look all of a sudden. "W-Who are you calling a fraud!? You can't be referring to me! The great detective!"

"I can't deal with this disrespect! I leave it to you! You find the real culprit-"

"*AHEM!!*" Everyone looked back to Gloria who scowled and pointed to the small pokemon chittering at everyone around them. "IT. WAS. THAT!! They ate the darned fruit ya ninnies can't seem ta take a hint of."

The 'detective' blinked before turning to the pokemon. "What? That skwovet is the one responsible?" He looked closer at the small pokemon who looked at him curiously covered in food. "A-.....As expected of my assistant!" He loudly proclaimed all of a sudden proudly and crossing his arms looking pleased with himself. "Splendid! Just splendid! I'm overjoyed!"....He peeked an eye out at all of you annoyed and angry at him before coughing. "Well now that's taken care of...I must be off now." He suddenly sped walked towards you and Gloria and you both scrambled to move aside as he took off down the hall. "Take care, Everyone!"

"Hey you! Just wait a minute!," the girl yelled before running right after the 'detective'.

"Hahaha! I guess I'm supposed to chase after him too," the old man said before also jogging after the two as you and Gloria squished against the sides of the doorway to give them room...before looking after them....and blinking to one another.

"What the world was THAT about?," she asked.

"Honestly I have no idea and I'm too tired to really care," you mumbled gesturing her towards your actual room. "Let's go set up our room and take a break before we have to meet back up with the others."

Fast forward about an hour after finding the right room and getting yourself settled, you all made it down to the lobby to meet up with Victor and Hop. After you had let your Drizzilie out, thankful that he didn't seem to be hurt or even bothered as she walked out and stretched out like a cat before you all left. Promising you'd bring him back some food. Finding the boys already waiting for the both of you with their winter wear and waved the two of you over.

"There you guys are," Victor greeted seeing the two of you walk over, "We've been waiting for ten minutes and I wanted to try and get things as done here as soon as possible."

"We've only just got here this morning," you calmly reasoned raising a questioning brow at him. Yeah you wanted to leave as soon as you all could too since it was freezing and obviously the weather probably wasn't good for your pokemon, but you didn't think you've ever seen Victor this insistent on leaving somewhere so quickly. "What's gotten you into wanting to leave so soon?"

"Vick here hates the cold," Hop explained before humming, "Scratch that. He absolutely despises it."

"Well it's not MY fault that ice is so dangerous and you have a great chance of freezin' ta death," Victor snapped back pouting.

"Nevermind that! Did you guys figure out what you wanted to do yet?," you asked changing the subject to avoid more fighting.

Surprisingly both boys nodded and Hop spoke again. "I wanted to try my hand at beating the Rock Type Gym since I think I've come up with a strategy to beat him. Victor does too since it's a lot warmer than the ice type gym."

"I was actually thinking about taking on the other Gym 'n town, "Gloria pondered thoughtfully, "I got a good idea 'bout how to defeat Melony after watchin' a lot of her battles on the train ride 'ere. But first I need ta stop by the center and switch out some of me pokemon in order to make it work."

"Well I wanted to stop by around town and get some pictures of the famous Circhester hot springs 'fore I do any battlin'," Victor explained holding up his camera, "The legends say that the great Hero of Galar rested in the springs and it healed all his wounds. ..Plus I wanted to try the famous Bob's Your Uncle cafe here too. They're supposed to have THE best curry in all of Galar, and who knows when I'll come back here again." He then looked at you. "What about you Y/n?"

You looked at him interested. "Well if I'm being completely honest I think I'll come with you. It's been a while since I've been able to walk around and go sight seeing."

"Then it's settled! Let's meet back 'ere in the lobby when we're all finished."

You all agreed and after tightening your coats around you more, all made off your own ways. Gloria heading in the direction of the pokemon center on the other side of town before going off to battle with you and the boys heading in the opposite direction towards the rock gym since the famous Hero Springs Victor wanted to look at. Eventually parting with him too as soon as the both of you got there. Wishing him luck against Gordie before he left and you followed Victor to what you could only describe as a bath house modeled closely to the buildings of the ancient roman times back on your world. You followed Victor around marveling the sights and old looking structure as he smiled despite his hate for the cold and snapped plenty of pictures of everything as he did back at the Hammerlocke Castle Ruins. You walked up to the steaming water that almost looked boiling hot that was roped off from the public just touching it and watched the warm steam rise from it. Sighing as the warm steam was welcomed against the biting cold you couldn't get away from right now. Victor having getting his share of the old historical sight mentioned there was a few other places that the spring water came through, like the fountain in the town square and mentioned wanting to check out the extended parts of the underground spring as well and offered for you to come if you were interested in coming with him. Of course you agreed since you really had nothing else to do at that moment while waiting for the other two to complete their Gym battles, which by now you were sure they were doing or at least finishing up any gym challenge they were doing at the moment, before going back to the meet up spot anyways. So together you two traveled from the front of the rock type gym to the center of town so he could document more of the springs, before following him again as he moved somewhere else and you followed him down a small flight of stairs to another but much more smaller part of the springs that wasn't so visible or visited by the public. And then another small spot just like a little farther aways on the other side of town. It was...Pretty peaceful despite the chilling cold and snow lightly still falling around you, Victor, and everyone else walking around. It was quiet except for your footsteps crunching through the snow and anyone else walking around or talking. Walking around the decently big town with Victor you noticed there was also a few businesses besides the pokemon center. Your resident barber shoppe, an antique store, a few small little thrift shops that sold merchandise of what looked like the two gyms and their gym leaders at the brief glances through the windows you gave, a grocery store, a clothes store, of course the hotel, and a strange looking cafe with the Logo of a man out in front. A sign above the door told you the name of said establishment. Bob's Your Uncle. Hey. Wasn't that the cafe Victor mentioned back at the hotel he mentioned wanting to see? You pointed it out to him and he seemed to light up! Mentioning how you two should drop by and seeing it even if you didn't eat anything. You agreed since by all the walking around and sight seeing you did, you two must've been out here for nearly two hours by this point. So it'd be nice to warm up for a bit. So you two happily walked up to said store and pushed the door open before walking right in. The warm air of the cafe combined with the mouth watering smells of the food made you sigh in relief. Another bigger picture of the logo man was inside on one of the walls, with the place being a color scheme of yellow and red, and a few people sitting around eating already. Including one particular boy who looked up from his seat in the back when Victor pointed him out.

"Hey Hop!," Victor called over to him and Hop looked up from where he was sat phone in one hand and hot coco in the other but smiled when he saw you two approaching. "What are you doing here? I thought we were gonna meet back at the hotel."

Hop shrugged. "Yeah, but I thought it'd be fine to stop by for some hot chocolate. Who doesn't like hot coco?"

"I know I do!," You agreed with a smile, "How did your battle go?"

"Arghhh." He slumped back turning his head up to the ceiling with a groan. "I lost. It all went to pot. There must've been something wrong with my strategy but I just did what I've seen Lee do in battles!"

"Huh..Well maybe that's the problem."

He paused before blinking back to you as you looked at him. "....Huh? Whaddya mean?''

"Well, everyone has different fighting styles. Including you and Gloria, and if these guys are a part of the league and you're trying to fight like Leon, they'll probably be able to beat you because they've seen how Leon fights and knows how best to counteract his style."

"But he's the unbeatable champion! If I use his method I should be able to be unbeatable too! I've studied his style for years!"

"It may seem like that," You explained, "But it IS Leon's style and he's perfected it. If someone tries to copy him they won't be as perfect as it compared to someone who's mastered his own style to a degree that makes him such a powerful trainer. And everyone's style is constantly changing. Think about it. If Lee kept his style the EXACT same then eventually someone would've found a flaw in it by now and taken the title from him. Leon doesn't have 'just one style' either. Like everyone else they train and adapt to better themselves that's how he's unbeatable. It's ok to use things you learnt other people do, but you said yourself you were thinking of new strategies. Instead of trying to apply what you think Leon would do, ask yourself what would YOU do."

Hop paused seeming to stare at you for a while before humming and looking back to his phone. "...You actually might have a point. I'll have to rethink a few things then."

You smiled. "Glad I could help. Speaking of which Where's Gloria? If you're finished with your battle then that must mean Gloria is too right?"

"Maybe she's waiting for us back at the hotel."

"Oh hey!" You yelped and jumped around at the lady's voice that suddenly came up behind you, and found yourself face to face with none other than said brunette Girl and Sonia who chuckled at your reaction. "There you are."

....You sighed before giving her a frown. "First Leon and now you too Sonia?" You crossed your arms. "Seriously. Give a girl a warning you're gonna do that first...Wait. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Got that Gym badge, Glory?," Hop asked politely.

Gloria nodded with a proud hum. "I jus' had ta switch out for some fire n' steel types I caught. Wasn't easy tho."

"Nice one!," Hop complimented before holding something out to her, "That reminds me. Here. Take this. It's the rock leader's league card. You guys should check out the gym leader you'll have to face too. And me. I've gotta figure out what to put on my team once and for all and no more of this doubting! Especially when I have to defeat at least one of the gyms here for their badge."

"Gee thanks!" She eagerly took the card from him.

"I've been trying to found out more about the Darkest Day and the sword and shield pokemon, but still no luck." She sighed before shaking her head. "I was hoping to investigate the Heroes Bath after studying the tapestries and castle ruins in Hammerlocke." Oh. So she had been there before. "And I haven't been able to get more intel on the strange discovery in Stow-on-Side since the Chairman's team is still researching and the area's become off limits to anyone who isn't the League or authorized. But I just ran into Gloria here and figured the rest of you couldn't be far behind her."

You chuckled. "Well you aren't wrong. I'm really sorry about all the dead ends stopping your work Sonia. I'm sure you'll get a break through somewhere." And you DID know since according to the game she does.

She smiled. "Well thank you, Y/n. It's much appreciated." Her blue eyes glanced behind you. "It's really nice ...." She paused staring right over your shoulder. "...to..see you...Wait."

You rose a brow. "What?" Your f/c eyes blinked in confusion when Sonia all of a sudden grabbed you and pushed you aside a bit as she moved behind you. Unintentionally making you bump into the table Hop was sitting at making him scramble to hold his hot coco out of harm's way as you gave her a look. "Sonia!?"

"Hold on!" She exclaimed back looking at a wall. But more importantly what was ON the wall. Which looked like half a tapestry. And in the very SAME art style and people on them from the Hammerlocke Vault!! "No way! What's this!?"

"Uh...A fifth tapestry??"

"The heroes!" She exclaimed pointing to both of the same men from the first tapestries. "Look..sad. And where are the sword and shield?" She hummed before scanning it more. "What was the meaning of this picture?" Ever the fast thinker wasn't she?

You pushed yourself from the table dusting your still slightly snow covered self off before shrugging. "Well those behind them look kinda like grave stones or some kind of sealed tomb." You pointed out pointing at the tapestry and Sonia squinted harder at where you were pointing. "This probably just means the end of the legend. Y'know. Where the hero finally gets to have peace after his long battle? It happens all the time in fairytales."

"You think so?," she asked giving you a glance. As you shrugged she looked back to the tapestry, or what seemed to remain of it, with her hand to her chin blankly staring at it. "....Didn't think I'd see something like this in Bob's Your Uncle. I guess it could be they passed on or that they were sealed away. Or maybe they've gone into some kind of sleep?"

"Well...I mean they call it 'rest in peace' for a reason."

"Well.." You flinched when Hop spoke, not expecting the boy to be studying the tapestry too. "Based on those statues we saw at Stow-on-Side, the sword and shield were actually two pokemon right?"

You rose a brow. "Since when did you see those statues back in Stow-on-Side?? You and Victor left before Bede's stunt."

"Gloria showed me pictures she took of it before you left. But it kinda dawned of me seeing those sword and shield symbols on them. Couldn't they have been pokemon?"

"That's right! That's my take on it at least."

"......Hey." She suddenly turned to Hop and blinked as he pointed to Gloria. "You remember the pokemon we met that day?" ...Gloria rose a confused brow as he spoke. "You remember. That weird giant blurry pokemon we met in the Slumbering Weald."

"Oh yeah! I've completely forgottin' 'bout that by now." She shivered. "Still gives me the heeby jeebies."

Hop chuckled a bit. "Do you think...it could've been one of them?" he gestured the hand holding his phone to her. "Either the sword or shield pokemon? The blurry fog monster we saw kinda looked like those pokemon statues in Stow-on-Side you showed us."

"You..." Sonia was slow to blink and look at Both the kids wide eyed as she talked. The only one who looked super confused was Victor who you guessed hadn't heard of the 'mysterious fog pokemon' bit. "Met them?! Like...Really REALLY met them!?"

"Come on. You know what I'm talking about right, Glory?"

She nodded, "Yep. Right before Lee bailed us out o' the Slumberin' Weald."

"Exactly! We told you too Sonia remember. The mad pokemon we ran into in the fog! Although..I can't remember seeing it too well. Don't you think that could've been it?", Hop pondered.

"Oh right! You lot have been in the Slumbering Weald!"

"Duh."

You gave Gloria a small tap to her shoulder as if to say 'Don't be rude.' "As much as I agree this is all strange, don't you all think you're jumping the gun here a bit? That could've been any big pokemon in the fog, and you said it yourself. You don't remember much of what it looked like. We shouldn't just make assumptions without proof."

Hop hummed. "I guess you're right. It'd be too much of a coincidence anyhow. But it's not an assumption, just a guess. Doesn't hurt to theorize ideas."

Sonia on the other hand smiled happily and held up her hands excitedly. "I only started on this journey because my gran told me to, but this is turning out to be so much fun! You've got to tell me more! How about we discuss this over a meal? Go on. What do you want to eat? Let's get our orders in!"

"Whoa! Hey there buckaroo!" She blinked when you grabbed her shoulder and she blinked. "As much as I love the food as much as the next person, maybe you should slow down there a bit. Didn't you just get here or something?"

...She gave a bashful face. "Oh yeah. R-Right. Sorry I must've gotten caught up in the moment. But hey! How about I treat you all to a nice curry and hot chocolate anyways? It'd be the least I could do for all the kindness you've shown me."

"I dunno. I don't wanna leave my Drizzilie in the hotel room for too long. I'm afraid he's gonna come looking for us if we're gone for too long and I don't want him outside in this weather."

"How about the sweet instant noodle curry they serve here?," Victor suggested as a compromise pointing to the counter the two men were currently cleaning, and the stack of supplies, food, and other things lining the wall behind them. "All they would have to do is poor hot water in it and it's the cheapest curry on the menu. Plus I don't like the spicy ones too much. I may hate the cold but I'm not up for burning my tongue."

Sonia nodded. "Quick and simple. Sounds like a good match to me!" She turned towards the two men and waved a hand gaining one's attention. "Yoo hoo. Sir! Five instant noodle curries and hot cocos please! Uh. Sweet wise." The man nodded before putting down the cloth he was wiping the counter with and turning to grab a few things from the shelf as Sonia gestured for the five of you to sit with Hop at the big table he was currently at. "While we wait, I'd love to hear about your experiences in the Slumbering Weald again. Maybe it'll help me piece together something."

"Sure!"

So the five of you at around the table as you all patiently heard Hop recount the entire events of the Slumbering Weald incident starting from the wooloo banging against the gate to the Slumbering Weald to when you all left it. In the middle of him retelling his your food was delivered by one of the men behind the bar and you gladly took it wanting something warm in your stomach before having to go back out in the cold, Gloria taking a quick picture of it before you all began eating it. It looked and smelt a lot like those instant ramen cups you'd sometimes had to resort to have for lunch back at home since money was tight with your mother working hard as a single mother now and you having to work summer, weekend, and afterschool jobs in your spare time to help with bills. If you didn't then she'd say you were being lazy with your music and games again...Anyways. It looked like instant ramen and was sprinkled with curry sauce. You were a bit doubtful of how it'd taste but when you ate it it wasn't that bad. It had a bittersweet kinda taste that wasn't too sweet or sour thanks to the sauce covering the noodles when you ate it, and it was a bit more like pasta than a curry. But you weren't going to complain about free curry and hot coco in this cold weather and neither was anyone else as they ate and listened to Hop, and then Gloria as she recounted her own point of view on the events which was pretty much Hop's as well but you all let her speak her mind. By the time she finished everyone had already finished eating and drinking their food even Hop who had gotten a second hot coco thanks to Sonia's generosity.

"-and then Lee found us and marched us both back home where we met up with Y/n," Gloria finished pointing at you. "Mum was...not very happy about it all."

"Fascinating," Sonia commented thinking again, "All right." She suddenly stood up making all of you blink. "The next thing to do now that we're done eating is to have a look around Circhestester! Let's inspect the Hero's Bath."

"Huh? But we were just there. Wasn't anything that could be tied to your research," Victor said.

You shrugged as you stood up. "Well we were going to leave to go back to the hotel soon anyways. Let's go have a look since we'll have to go that way anyways."

Victor looked like he wanted to protest but sighed as his Best friend and twin also stood up to follow Sonia out the door. The cold outside nipped back at all of you as you tightened your scarf around your nose and mouth. Following Sonia back to the steaming waters of the spring under the town as you all entered back under the historical sight. Hop and Gloria looking out in awe at the place.

"The Hero's Bath, "Sonia commented looking around the place, "They say this is where the two heroes came to soothe their wounds after the battle to bring down that evil presence long ago. Nowadays only pokemon really use the Hero's bath though. Hmm. Who exactly were the heroes that bathed here? I think I'll have to look into that...Gloria! Hop!" She turned her head to shout at the two and both looked up from one of the carvings in the stone at her. "You two met a mysterious pokemon back in the Slumbering Weald. Perhaps...you two can become new heroes."

You blinked at her. Where did that come from?

Even Hop looked at her confused and skeptical. "What? Like some hero waving around a sword and shield? Psh. Pull the other one."....But he hummed. "Though...I guess I'd fancy a shield if I had to take my pick."

"Hm. What kind of battle do you think the heroes had back then?"

You shrugged and went to say something- "Why don't we show her, Glory?" Hop asked giving his friend a playful shove, "Think we can pull off a real heroic battle?"

Gloria giggled back before giving him her signiture determined look. "Oh I think that'd be just the thing ta warm up me bones!"

"Sonia treated us to a great meal. After all that curry I feel like I've got the energy to wrestle a bewear!"

Sonia returned her hands to her hips amused. " A battle now? I don't entirely understand your reasoning but I might as well see what you can do."

"FORG-G-GET IT!!", Victor yelled as you all looked at his shivering form turn on his heel and stomp off towards the direction of the gym, "Y-Ya'll can battle if ye want! 'M headed ta b-b-battle that bloke and return to the h-h-hotel! I w-wanna leave this place as soon as possible!"

"..Hm. I'd hate to say this, but I think I getting get back too." You gave Sonia a look. "Thanks for the food. It was really good seeing you again, but I REALLY wanna go back and check on my drizzilie."

She nodded understanding. "Of course. I'd feel the same thing about Yamper if I was in your position."

You nodded before turning to the other two. "And you guys don't stay out here for too long. Come back when you're all done battling."

"We will!," Hop quickly agreed before pointing away from the Springs, "Time for a little exhibition match starring the future champion!"

With a wave to them all you all turned and jogged to catch up to Victor who was rubbing his arms and muttering to himself as he stomped his way back towards the gym. And you didn't blame him, you wanted to get out of the cold too and see how your Drizzilie was doing. You two made your way across the town and into the familiar fancy hotel, through the elevator and immediately headed onto your own separate rooms. You were kinda worried your pokemon might've wondered out of the room but when you entered you found him in the same spot you left him in. Curled up on one of the beds and barely even opened an eye at you as you came back in gave giving a small thrum before curling back onto it's side away from you and going back to napping. Hmm...Maybe Hop was right about your drizzilie developing a new lazy habit. Or maybe it was because he was cold blooded or something like a snake and had a hibernation thing?? You shrugged it off and instead sighed as you finally had a moment to shed your winter coat and relax for a little bit, flopping onto the bed next to the napping pokemon who again barely moved as you did so. And you remained there even when Gloria returned and you gave a small wave as a greeting.

"Hey. How was the battle?"

"Fine! Although I won Hop seems to finally have gotten out of the lil funk he was in thanks ta Bede!," she answered happily, " 'E's with Victor right now."

"Hey that's great to hear! It's good he's getting back into a healthier mindset."

"Yeah! I still can't wait ta see him compete in the champion finals this year! It's gonna be so much fun! I-....." She stopped talking for a second and then you heard frantic shuffling about and footsteps. With a sigh you turned your head up from the spot you were laying down at and was met with the sight of her shaking her coat upside down frantically over he bed as she looked worried. When nothing dropped from the coat she unceremoniously dropped it and whipped her head around back to you. "Y/N! My camera's gone!"

"..What?," you asked pushing yourself up as she patted herself down searching her pockets.

"Victor's camera he's lettin' me borrow!," she yelled sounding more concerned, "I was supposed ta give it back ta him once I finished fillin' me dex books!! He's gonna kill me!"

"Whoa! Hey!" You were quick to push yourself up into a sitting pose as you watched her start to likely panic. "Gloria!" She paused blinked wide eyed worried at you as you groaned standing off the bed and stretching out your back. "First you need to calm down." You held up a hand rubbing your back. "You probably just accidentally dropped it somewhere."

"WHERE!?"

"I have no idea." She looked worried again. That was probably the wrong thing to say apparently. "Whoa. Don't freak out on me here. Look. There's still plenty of daylight left. I'm sure if we just retrace your steps then we'll find it for sure. When's the last time you remembered having it?"

.....She blinked. "Uh! A-At the cafe! Then we went to the hero's bath."

You nodded. "Ok. Then let's go look over there and see if we can't find it ok?"

Gloria nodded and you sighed again. Looks like you all were going out yet again. You both quickly put your winter wear back on and out you went again. The winter weather nipping at you even colder now that it must've been about near sun down by how limited light there was too. There was still enough to clearly see the snow and all the surroundings but it was noticeably colder as night drew nearer as you both stopped in front of the warm springs in the town square.

"A-Alright! 'Eere's the plan!," Gloria said pointing at you, "I'll go check the cafe you go check the bath. We'll cover more ground like that!"

You nodded wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. "Alright. But hurry, and keep an eye out in case you dropped it on the ground somewhere. Meet me back here as soon as you can."

She nodded and before you could get another word in she turned and scurried off towards the cafe area. After a moment to relax you sighed shaking your head and started walking off towards the Hero's Bath, making sure to scan the road and ground around you for any signs of a camera dropped in the snow. But you saw nothing as you looked around. Your footsteps crunched in the snow once again and you shivered rubbing your arms as you made your way towards the hero's bath still looking for it. Just when you thought you'd be able to rest for the rest of the day. You just wanted to find the darn thing and return back to the warm hotel. As you circled the large building needed to get to the Hero's Bath you paused blinking at the sight in front of you. Oh great what was it now? In front of the Hero's Bath was a small crowd of anywhere from fifthteen to about twenty people mostly women huddled around...something? Sure the Hero's Bath must've been a really cool historical sight to see but you didn't think such a crowd would gather here all of a sudden especially when it wasn't like this the other times you passed by it. Oh well. Right now you could care less and just wanted to find that darn camera and return to the hotel as soon as possible. Besides you could easily just walk around the happily chattering crowd without having to bother anyone. Get in, look around for a camera, get out, and then meet up back with Gloria. Easy enough. Or so you thought. With a sigh behind your scarf, you braced yourself and began walking your way over towards the crowd, and like you had suspected there was plenty of room to walk passed them, or so you thought again when a woman dressed in all while and with white hair suddenly appeared and you both ran right into each other. With the speed walk you were going it was impossible to stop on time before you collided with the white blur with a yelp. Stumbling back your foot slipped on some snow and down you went arms flailing landing on your bottom on the hard stone ground. Luckily you weren't hurt but you hissed and mumbled something under your breath at the feeling of the cold seeping into the back of your pants now.

"Oh my goodness gracious!," an older woman's voice exclaimed above you and when you looked up you were met with a woman who looked about the same age as your mom as she held her face in an 'Oh no' kinda pose as she looked at you. All decked out in white winter wear. "I'm so sorry, Young Lady. I didn't see you there."

You waved her off as more people turned their heads at the commotion. "Nah. It's ok. It's my fault I wasn't looking where I was going-," you had begun to say before another's voice much more louder and angrier sounding made you both look over.

"MOM!! What are you doin'!?," A man's voice shouted out as people parted and a guy who looked vaugely familiar marched his way forward. The man wore...Shades of all things in this not so sunny weather with a tan-ish coat thrown over himself and blonde-white hair that draped to just above his shoulders as he pushed his way through the small crowd of people until he stopped right in front of you and the woman. He looked right at your confused self still sitting on the ground for a moment before looking over at the woman with a deep frown. "Seriously!? Ya knocked one of my fans over?"

"I'm so sorry, Honey. Really I am," she said calmly as if she had all the patience of an ancient monk. "But it was an accident." Oh. So this must've been his mom. But what does he mean by fan?? You didn't even know this guy.

"Tch!," he scoffed before crossing his arms, "Yeah right. You crash all my events especially after I win against a gym challenger." Your eyes widened. ....Gym chall-..OH!! Now you remember! You looked between the two who had a resemblance now that you looked at them. Gym Leaders Melony and Gordie! So that's why he looked semi familiar to you. These were some of the few characters you actually remembered from your time playing the game! ..Oh. And they were known for fighting of course. "You're lucky you didn't cause her to hit her head during the fall!" You looked back up blinking wide eyed at him as he scowled at his mother. "Did you even apologise to her or were you just gonna forget that too?"

You stared wide eyed at him. Who says that to their own mother!? Through all this Melony just calmly and sadly watched him as he angrily spewed out. You WISH your mom was like Melony- "HEY!!" You were quick to try and rise to your feet stumbling a bit on the snow as you did. Rising up with your own frown behind the scarf covering your face and quickly dusting yourself off.

"Ah man. Are you alright there?," he asked holding his hand out. "Sorry about my mom-"

"Oh be quiet!" You bluntly said as you snapped your face to him, which combined with your sharp tone seemed to make him pause in the moment. "I know exactly who you are!! What is WRONG with you man!?" You couldn't help but shout at him. Well considering Gordie's only a side character who you wouldn't probably see again after Gloria defeated him, it would be ok to shout at him. Especially since you weren't in the game's storyline at the moment. So you jabbed him in the chest which made him blinked and take a couple steps back. "Of course your mother apologized to me but that's NOT the point! It was an accident and I happened to run into HER! Not the other way around!! Are you kidding me with your behavior right now, Gordie!? Don't you see what you're doing!?" You gestured towards Melony who looked shocked herself seeing you jab at her son. "You're yelling at your own mother who didn't do anything wrong in front of a bunch of your fans in public!? Are you trying to embarrass her or something!? Your mom's so much nicer than you!! Geez! What were those guys thinking!?"

"I-...W-Wha-" He sputtered but you shut him down real quick.

"NO! You're not allowed to talk to me! You know why? Because your mom's one of the nicest people in all of Galar!! DUDE GET OVER YOUR STUPID EGO!! You both had a fight like..years ago!? So WHAT?! You're running your own stadium you wanted and you have like loads of fans! Don't you think that bashing her in front of your fans would make her look bad!?....No. Scratch that." He blinked as you took a step forward and he stepped back. "It makes YOU look bad! SO I am NOT a fan of yours! I'm just here looking for a missing camera but even if I didn't I'd still feel bad for your mother! Don't you think the reason Melony makes an effort to be in your fan club and trying so hard to support you is her way of showing she cares about you and is actually sorry about the fight you two had!?" You shook your head. "Gosh. Your head must be thicker than a onix if you missed that!!"

There was silence all around as the once crowd of chattering people were all shocked and staring at you, Gordie, or Melony or looking between the three of you as Gordie just stared jaw dropped and making noises like a fish out of water as you scoffed and turned around. Melony watching with equal reaction to her son and even passing people who weren't a part of the crowd was staring right at you as you turned your back to him. 

"So don't apologize to me. Because the only one you should be apologizing to is your poor mother." You gave him one last very SERIOUS look over your shoulder. "As someone who wished for a parent like her, you need to get a reality check man." You turned back to his shocked mother before sighing. "I'm really sorry about all this, Ma'am. But I gotta go. I have to meet up back with my friends."

With a new sour feeling that combined with your annoyance with the cold and falling down, without looking behind you, you turned on your heels and stomped off back towards where Gloria was headed when you both split up. You didn't feel like staying at the Hero's Bath any longer now with the eerie silent you left behind. Everyone watched after you as you disappeared....until a single THUNK sound broke the silence as Gordie's shades fell off his shocked face to the cold ground below.

[absolutebl]

ohhh the ask game is so fun, i couldn't pick just one question 👀 here are my favs qs i would love to hear your answer to

4 9 20 21 24

thanks for the game, meta, analyses, reactions, screenshots and so on, i have a lot of fun reading you. have a nuce and calm weekend.

4. most ridiculous plot

I picked twice before but since I got this again I’m picking a third one! This is where being a BL completest helps. 

TharnType 2. Like WHAT was going on? Here is the trash watch with me slowing going mad trying to follow the plot. 

9. name a BL and I’ll pick my fav character

You didn't name one *pouts* 

20. drama I thought I’d never watch but did (and liked it?)

I already picked for this, Great Men Academy. But that was kinda a cheat because I didn’t think I had to watch it because maybe not really BL. I try to watch ALL BL so I guess this is more, BL I thought I’d DNF but didn’t.

My Esports Genius Brother - China (2021) Gaga  

A strangely cute somewhat incomprehensible censored magical realism BL micro series about fated mates who balance each other out and must find the courage to stay together. Way more gay than I thought they could get these days. 

21. if I could pick one thing to fix about BL dramas, what and which country

HOW SHORT KOREAN BLS ARE.

I was hoping to get this question! 

I was okay with their shorter runs to start, but I also love regular Kdramas, and I'd really like to start seeing some proper 16 ep KBL! 

24. I’ll tell you some dumb fact or stat I know about BL that surprises me when people don’t know it

As much as I slag off H3:MODC it’s an open secret that Wayne Song (at least) also hated the ending. Or maybe he hated how many fans whined at him about it (and he’s apparently dragged Huang Chun Chih into his madness). He, or both of them, have to date cameo appeared (as their characters or an alt reality version) in 

Be Loved in House I Do 

Life Love On The Line (form Japan - ironic) 

Plus & Minus (Taiwan) 

There’s an informal pool going amongst BL super fans as to which BL he (or they) will show up in next. 

The BL Drama Ask game is here, but I'm shut to to anonymous asks once more, until I feel brave again. 

[caitimetravels]

she's insignificant

chapter 5: he should have stayed on that moon

the umbrella academy x (fem) reader

disclaimer: i do not own the plot/storyline of the netflix tv series and i do not own the umbrella academy characters.

warnings: mentions of blood

masterlist

"there you are!" allison ran up behind luther in the hallway. "i've been looking everywhere for you" 

"what are you still doing here? i thought you were gone" he turned to look at her in surprise.

"no, i was gonna go and then pogo showed me this-" she tried to explain what she had found but luther cut her off with a shake of his head.

"well, listen.. i was wrong about dad's death"

"what?"

"yeah, i was wrong about y/n, you know, to accuse my own sister of that- it's just-"

"no, no, i get it-"

"seeing all of you and being back here. i-i should be the one who's trying to bring us all back together not tear us apart-"

"would you shut up?"

"what?"

"you were right. about dad. come on, i gotta show you something"

————————————————–

"i can't" eight didn't like crying, especially not in front of her father. he was always cruel, no matter how much the children pleaded and sobbed. she crumpled to the floor, exhausted. she hated training alone, she wanted to train with her siblings outside in the snow, it looked like more fun than this was.

"you are weak, number eight! we will continue until you can get it right" reginald glared down at her. "again!" 

she pushed herself up, wobbling. she weakly pushed herself again, trying to make something, anything happen. she squeezed her eyes shut, hands forming fists as she thought hard about what her father wanted. she didn't even know what she was expected to do. to no surprise, nothing happened. reginald sighed heavily, disappointed. he pulled a watch from his pocket before staring down at her as she fell to her knees again.

"you are dismissed, dinner will be in 20 minutes" and she was left alone. reginald disappeared into his office once again. she lay on the floor for a moment, heaving for breath. they had been training for hours, pushing her past her limits. grace and pogo lead her siblings, minus vanya, in through the doors. not wanting them to see her like that she gripped the table behind her, pulling herself up and leaning against it. 

"y/n?" ben frowned, stepping over. the others look at her in shock. she shook him off, grumbling about how she was 'fine'. he watched her stumble up the stairs, cringing in pain. her siblings all shared a saddened look. 

when they did rush down for dinner, y/n slumped into her chair, dark bags under her eyes. she barely touched her food, pushing it around her plate.

"number eight!" the next thing she knew five was holding her head up and her father was yelling at her. he degraded her, insulted her but she didn't hear a thing. five slowly let go of her, watching her carefully before turning away, back to his meal.

she sat up straighter and actually started to eat the food on her plate, after all, she must train on a full stomach.

————————————————–

y/n and five walked up the stairs of the mansion, feet dragging heavily. as they stepped up they were met with luther and allison.

"five? y/n? what the hell happened to you?" both stayed silent. y/n stared at her feet in a sort of daze. everything was still kind of confusing. 

"are you okay?" luther reached out to five, "can we help?" the said boy took him by surprise, hand snapping up and grabbing his fist.

"there's nothing you can do" he spat before his expression saddened, "there's nothing any of you can do.."

y/n looked up, watching as he went. she frowned.

"you alright?" she stared at luther for a moment, grimacing as she remembered what they had last talked about. she kept her mouth shut, brushing past him to her room. 

"y/n, wait-"

"just fuck off, luther" she snapped before he could say anything. he should have stayed on that moon.

————————————————–

"number eight" the remaining five siblings with powers stood in a line. it had been a couple weeks since ben's death now. reginald stood in front of them. they had all been told today's training would be different. "step forwards" she did as she was told, standing in front of the others. "you will be using your powers on your siblings today" 

her head snapped up at that as did the others. she had never used her powers on them before and they knew what she could do to others. he sent the others all around the house. she was told to find them, sensing where they were with a blindfold on, almost like hide and seek without any of the fun. it was when she had found them all for the seventh time that she sensed something else. 

"there are five people in line" she stated, "vanya?" 

"wrong" she heard her father scold. "there are only four"

"there's a fifth, i can sense it" she frowned, pulling her blindfold off to see only her four siblings. they all looked confused. "klaus.. is there a ghost? it.. it feels like ben"

"no" he answered far too quickly. ben turned on him from beside him,

"what? klaus! i am here! tell her i'm here!" 

"no, he's not" 

"klaus! what the hell?! you're so selfish! i am here!" but of course, she never knew that..

————————————————–

"come on, luther, i have to show you" allison tried to pull him away but he continued to stare at where y/n had told him to 'fuck off'. he felt.. guilty.

"but.. what about y/n?" he looked at her. he hated that he upset her, he hated that he had accused her without any actual evidence. she was only a child, just like diego said. 

"she's angry, let her cool off. you should apologise but not right now, give her some time" allison offered a soft smile, "that's all she needs, some time. now, come on, this is important" 

"i just.. i feel guilty" luther frowned as they walked towards their father's room filled with cameras. "i shouldn't have assumed-"

"she'll understand" allison reassured with a smile. 

————————————————–

y/n sat in her corner of the library, reading alone. she was calm, it was her safe place, nobody could bother her here. no training, no arguments, just peace.

"eight.." she looked up from her book at her brother's voice. five.

"what's wrong?" she shuffled over, eyebrows furrowing at the look on his face. he was worried, something five wasn't usually.. or at least he never showed it.

"i.. i want to time travel" he begun softly, taking a seat beside her. she frowned, why was he telling her? "i want to try but dad refused to teach me"

she froze, "you're going to try anyway" she realised. he nodded, now looking up at her.

"i know you think i hate you but i don't" he slowly begun, thinking of the words he was trying to say. "i'm telling you because i think you're the most trustworthy.. and i.." he paused, unsure of how to say what he wanted to. "i think you're the strongest, eight, no matter what our siblings may say"

"five.." she grimaced, "i know we don't talk much but i'll support you if anything happens"

"i do want to talk to you more" he sighed, ashamed for having obeyed his father's stupid rules. "but-"

"no, no. it's not your fault" y/n shook her head. "it's hard to go against him, i understand"

"you're too kind.. you shouldn't forgive people so easily, they'll take advantage of you" five frowned and she laughed. 

"i thought i was the strongest, huh?" she nudged his shoulder with her own, finally getting a small smile.

————————————————–

"let me do that" y/n pulled a chair beside five, gently pulling the needle and thread out of his hand. he frowned but let her anyways. "you're antsy" she pointed out, eyeing his bouncing knee. "going somewhere in a rush?" 

"i need to go back" he stared out the door, ready to rush out. "i need to find whoever this eye belongs to so that i can stop the apocalypse" 

"i know" y/n nodded, eyebrows furrowing in concentration as she finished stitching him up. she gently used a cloth to wipe the blood off his arm before placing a bandaid over it. five stood, pulling his shirt on and buttoning it up.

"can i come?" she watched him stuff dolores into the duffle bag and swing it onto his back. 

"no" he barely spared her a glance as he moved towards the window. he climbed out.

"what? why not? come on, five" she leaned out the window, watching him begin to climb down the fire escape. 

"i need to do this, y/n, it's important" he looked up at her now. "just wait for me here, i'll come back, okay?"

albeit hurt she nodded, she needed to be understanding. she frowned, moving away from the window, hoping to find something else to do. instead as she walked out of the room she noticed luther.

she quickly moved towards her room, hoping he wouldn't see her. she couldn't deal with anymore fighting right now. to her misfortune he did notice her, following her to her room. she swiftly locked the door as she ducked inside.

"hey.. y/n?" luther stood outside her locked door, hand giving a single knock.

"what do you want?" she hissed back, refusing to open it for him. she didn't need anymore of his accusations.

"i'm.. i'm sorry for accusing you" luther sighed. he had to get this over with, she deserved an apology. "it was wrong and i shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that"

he heard her cautious footsteps as she made her way to the door. there was pause before she slowly peeked out. 

"you mean it..?" she frowned, eyeing his carefully. he nodded.

"i'm sorry. i know you've probably been lonely here, i know what it's like-"

"just shut up" she breathed out a laugh, pulling the door open fully, looking relieved. "no more fighting, please? i just want my family back.." the last part was quiet, vulnerable. luther nodded, smiling back. 

"no more fighting" there was a comfortable silence that fell over the two of them before luther spoke again.

"by the way, do you know where five is?"

"yeah, why?" she tilted her head at him, confused.

"we're having a family meeting.. it's about mom. i'm going to get him"

"okay, but i can't guarantee he'll find this as important as you do"

tag list: @rxses-and-reverie @lostgreekgod @on-yourmark-99 @bicyhot1 @navs-bhat @midnightmystic

[todosteakettle]

Peripheral Vision

Katsuki Bakugou x Y/N

Summary: New Years with Katsuki

Warnings: None, just fluff and maybe mildly suggestive.

A/N: Not proof read at all. Poorly written with unrelated title. IDK I couldn’t put my idea onto paper correctly. Also it wouldn’t let me do yellow so Kaminari is pink lmao. ana ways enjoy

“C’mon Bakugou-San, just watch them for a little bit? Please!” You said as you dragged your friend to the nearest balcony in the building, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fireworks with the rest of your friends.

“Tsk, this is stupid. Dumbass I already said no, it’s cold, just fuck off.” He replied in classic Bakugou fashion

You loved Bakugou, you were one of his best friends, and you knew him well enough to not take his harsh words to heart. Still, you didn’t particularly like hearing them.

“Ok, The show starts in a few minutes, if you change your mind I’ll be over there with Mina-Chan and Kirishima-Kun”

You said not wanting to push him to hard. It already took a lot to get him to come to the new years party so you didn’t want to push to much.

He watched you walk away as he huffed, sitting on the couch alone. He heard footsteps coming from the bathroom behind him.

“Kacchan, don’t you wanna watch the fireworks with your girlfriendddd?” Kaminari teased

“OH FUCK OFF DUNCE FACE-“ He replied in a harsh tone

“Geez chill out. I’m surprised you don’t like fireworks though, with your quirk and all” Kaminari said after dodging Bakugou’s arm

“Yeah exactly? I can make fireworks anytime I want; so what’s the point of going out in the cold in a crowd and watching them?”

“You can make fireworks I guess, but you have never watched them with her. She watches you train all the time dude, she likes looking at your little explosions. You do like her don’t you? Don’t you want to see her all excited about the fireworks.”

“That’s the stupidest thing you have ever said, and that’s saying something.”

“Whatever dude! T-Minus 3 minutes.”

Bakugou sat on the couch in thought about what his friend said. You did watch him train a lot? And you did call his quirk “pretty” once? I guess you do like explosions.

He was a little more alarmed with the fact Kaminari had caught on to his crush on you. He really thought he was being subtle. He really hoped you didn’t know.

Fuck it, it’s a two minute experience, plus if it sucked he could make bigger, better, explosions and show everyone a REAL show.

He walked out 30 seconds before the show started and stood, elbows perched on the balcony right next to you. You had saved him a spot.

“Bakugou! You came! Yay I knew I was convincing.” You said with a big grin

“Whatever. I just wanna prove how stupid this is.” he replied

Your eyes were fixated at the sky, waiting in anticipation for the fireworks.

Bakugou’s gaze lingered on you; the way you were snuggled up in your scarf. The childlike wonder your eyes held. Maybe this was worth it.

“FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO… ONE…” said everyone in unison. All the couples around you kissed, making Bakugou wonder if maybe that’s why you wanted him out here? 


Your gaze never faltered from the sky, and you were mesmerized. The way your face lit up brighter than any of the explosions almost maybe Bakugou laugh. He wasn’t even looking at the fireworks, until you told him to of course.

“KATSUKI LOOK! LOOK AT THAT ONE! WOW THAT ONE IS HUGE” You said, grabbing onto his sweater and pointing to the sky.

He was really happy everyone was distracted with their makeout sessions, because he couldn’t help but smile at you. Not to mention the blush forming on his face with the use of his given name. He had never seen anybody look more pretty than you did right now. The reflection of the fireworks in your big e/c eyes. He wanted you to look at him that way. The way you looked at the sky with pure wonder, HE wanted that. Then he remembered what his friend said.

“She likes your little explosions”

Is this how… you look at him? Is this what you look like when he’s distracted and not looking.

The show stopped and his smile faded. You still had a smile on your face, but the wonder in your eyes had faltered.

“Was it worth it?” You asked him

“Maybe” he replied with a grin, putting his arm around you

“It’s still fucking freezing though, let’s get inside” he said

“I like the cold, it makes you cuddly” you teased, gesturing to his arm

“Shut up” he said, turning more red by the minute

“Thanks for doing that for me, it was almost as cool as watching your explosions” you said once you got inside

His heart was surely about to make his heart explode with that sentence, he needed to tell you, he needed to kiss you and he needed to see you look at him like that.

“Y/N” he scoffed

“Hmm?” you said, hanging up your jacket

“I… I umm” he stuttered for maybe the first time in his life, putting his hands on your shoulders to face him.

“I wasn’t watching the fireworks” he said, with a very serious tone in his voice

“I know.” you replied, matching his tone

“What do you mean you know?!” He said, pushing his hands off of you

“Ever heard of such a thing called peripheral vision Katsuki?” you smirked, this time guiding his hands to your waist

But you were so enthralled with the fireworks? How could you have possibly noticed his gaze?

“I like you too, if that is what you were going to tell me.” you said with confidence

“Who said I liked you?” He replied, trying to gain the upper hand. He hated being flustered

“Oh you don’t like me! I guess that means no new years kiss for you!” you said, dramatically picking up your coat and trying to walk away

He grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him “I’m getting more than a ‘new years kiss’ he said with a smirk”

And then he kissed you. He smashed his lips against yours, so forcefully you dropped your jacket. It was aggressive but it was intentional. Every move he made had a ocean of feeling behind it.

He pulled away and looked down at you, and there were those pretty eyes. Those deer-in-headlights, awe filled eyes. That same look you had when you saw the fireworks were now directed at him.

The year had just started and already he felt like the world could end right then and there and he would be happy.

[husky-twst-and-obeyme]

Anon Asked : "You know how some twst fan artists like to draw Yuu with their face blocked out, usually by Grim? I have this headcanon that in the Twisted Wonderland universe, it’s impossible to get a picture of Yuu, there’s always someone standing in front of them, a piece of paper floating by, or they’re just out of frame, but no one noticed until after the picture was taken. No one knows why, Rook even tried to draw them once but a Pomefiore first year spilled nail polish on the picture when he finished. " I do like that idea! I did see one artist who just had a mickey shaped head with blank eyes and it really looked cool! Now as for the scenario or story i will only do Dorm leaders for this situation, if anyone wishes for more i will provide ! BUT i have a small twist :) Warnings: Cursing Riddle

Riddle wasn't sure why but he it really irritated him how whenever they did civil group pictures, you always end up blocked or something happens to you in your part of the picture

It's not your fault really but it bugs him

he made it a goal to get a perfect picture , such as asking for a selfie

He actually wasn't a fan of it but he wanted at least ONE good picture of you because he cherishes his friends

but EVERY. SINGLE . TIME . IT'S THE SAME-

He's frustrated to no end

He eventually gave up and just accepted fate

he even tried to draw you and it somehow got ruined which made his mood worst

At one point , you came to him with a strawberry tart to cheer him up but he was really pouty

You asked if he wanted to try the selfie again but you hold the phone , which he reluctantly agreed to

afterwards when you left , he went to see the picture and he couldn't believe his damn eyes

a perfect picture of you and him

" i don't know if i want to cry of joy or behead them . "

He stilled loved the photo and refused to show anyone else in case it somehow got ruined or deleted

Leona

He wasn't too interested in photos but in your case it caught his interest slightly

he noticed from school activity photos that your face was always somehow ruined.

he thought it was funny but rare

so he tasked ruggie to take a picture for a small amount , mainly because he thought it would be easy

plus it's not like he wants a photo of you for anything psssshh

but when ruggie returned , he was frustrated and tired

confused leona questioned him

"Leona san. i loved getting money from you but i might just not even try anymore ..."

he got baffled that Ruggie had given up money for any easy task. or so he thought was easy

So thinking ruggie was being lazy , he went to do it himself

as a predator, he knows how to be sneaky and hide well , so once he locked you in , he took a snap

he looks ats the photo completely ruined

he took another , ruined. once again , it was ruined

he repeats many tries after and it all ends the same

" ahh fuck it ... " and went for a nap

later on you wanted a selfie with leona

being smug he said " would you even get the picture right ?~"

with a pout " of course i can!" you posed for the picture and snapped

he took a glance and he'll be damned ,, it was perfect

" don't talk to me for the next few day, herbivore."

"huh-"

Azul

azul didn't like photos , much at least because of certain ones of his past

though he took note of a particular incident

(Event after chapter 3) when you all took a picture at the museum , he noticed that your part of the picture , floyd's arm covered your face

He thought nothing of it until he noticed it often

Ace took a photo of you and deuce and somehow grim flew in front of your face

Cater took a selfie but it ended up blurred

it was pointless but hard to ignore so he assigned Jade and floyd into getting the perfect picture of you

after a couple hours, jade and floyd came back frustrated

even jade looked visibly irritated which was VERY rare to the point it scared Azul

they showed him nothing but blurry pics, he knew something was up because even jade wouldn't fail this bad

He knew he couldn't stand the chance if the tweels failed

but later on , you wanted to take a selfie with him

he refused immediately but you promised to keep the photo private , then he did agree , reculantantly

His immediate thought was that the picture would of been ruined anyways but was shocked to see a cute selfie of him and you

"....send me that picture . " you turned to him "what???" "SEN ME THAT PICTURE"

Kalim

We all know this absolute dork would love to take pictures , possibly from Cater's influence , because he sees it as a fun thing to do

So you , being one of his favorite people, he obviously wants a good photo of you

but to his disappointment, when he wanted to take a pic of you while you were at the gardens, it turned out super blurry

he thought nothing of it , just might of moved a bit , until the next one came blurry

he was getting semi frustrated and you had already left , so for once, he was actually grumpy to the point where he just asked Jamil to take a good picture for him

he felt lowkey bad of course but he was a tiny bit frustrated

Jamil didn't care until he had the same issue

Jamil tried a it but gave up when he kept getting the same result

then kalim was just sad , he just wanted a cute picture of you

you visited one day and he was his usual self but you here reminded him of the picture incident

you offered to try again , he was hard for him to say no to you

but after looking..you took a perfect photo

he wanted to cry and you were just so confused

hug him he needs it

Vil

Vil is a perfectionist of course, which includes photos too

you , him and a few others went on a small trip , you wanting to take a photo to remember the trip

you're one of the only people he's allowed for a picture minus fans because he's aware you just want a genuine picture and knows you won't share/ brag about it

Rook offered to take the photo

you two posed and rook took the shot but Vil automatically saw Rook's confused face

"Rook?.. is there a problem?" "non non roi du poison! I must of moved a little fast, part of it came blurry

he didn't think on it , just a small mistake no biggy

that was until the problem kept repeating itself

Irrigated , he took the camera and looked at the photos , each and every one of them was blurred of were you were at while vil looked completely fine

he slowly looked at you while you just stood there worried that we weren't going to get a picture

"Vil senpai? maybe i can just take a selfie? Rook's camera's probably broken"

sighing in defeat , he agreed ,after getting in a cute pose , you snapped a photo

he took a look and he was legit about to burst

It was an absolute beautiful picture

He was stunned that you did an even better job then rook

might make you his photographer

Idia

we all know for a fact, he hates pictures , at least mainly of himself

though he doesn't mind pictures of you

of course , he doesn't take pics of you willy nilly , he asks you first because he'd be hypocrite to take a picture of someone who didn't want a photo

You often cosplayed as some of his favorite characters and of course he'd want a picture of it but he was in for a surprise

The first time you cosplayed in front of him , he asked and you agreed

he snapped the photo , it blurred

he got irritated but thought nothing of it and tried again

still failed

he has plenty of cameras ( I dunno it's for the story make up your own reason XD ) and used a different one to get a photo

it failed and he tried many times , it was too a point he built up the courage *cough*two hours*cough to ask rook to help

he was dumbfounded when rook couldn't do well

you later went home , while idia was sad , he really wnated to take a good pic

soon after, you sent him a text

"I'm sorry you couldn't get a cute picture earlier, so i took a shot at it with a selfie!"

and there he saw the perfect picture

"...what the f**k is this voodoo magic- "

he of course loved it but he was so confused

Malleus

oh boy here we go-

he was still confused on the idea of photos

but he thought it was similar to a painting but it's instant

so of course he wants one with you

he attempts to use an old style camera (hey be lucky he made it this far)

he sets it up to where it takes a picture with a timer and you both pose

After it was done, he looked at the photo and somehow it blurred

he just thought it was a small mistake and tried again

second time, same result

this is where his temper slowly rises and it's shown every time it fails

and after about the 20th time , he smashes the camera

you attempt to calm him down and offered to use your phone

he agrees because he trusts you more than a dumb camera

after you took the photo, he was very happy , it looked wonderful

he didn't care about the camera anymore, he just cared that he got a good photo

I hope you enjoyed!