#and gets along well with Faba

[spittyfishy]

After the Darkest Day incident with Macro Cosmo Oleana needed to find a new job, and had all the qualifications for a management position in a different kinda shady highly influential conservation organization. Lucky for her after Faba’s demotion the Aether foundation had an opening!

I think Oleana’s awesome lol, definitely one of the stand out characters from Swsh, but the rest of Macro Cosmo was kinda underwhelming so I wanted to try putting her in a cooler evil team! I think she’d get along with Lusamine quite well, I’d love to see them girl bossing their way across the regions!

[majesticfaba]

tell me about faba's lore. all of it. every single bit.

// OHHHHH let’s goooo my time has come!! My headcanons for him have changed a bit since I first started this blog, but these are my most up to date ones.

Long post incoming!

Faba is a single child and was born in Kalos to very successful parents, both who had careers in business. Needless to say, a super rich and successful household.

Growing up, Faba had the best of everything. Food… education, butlers and maids, Pokemon…. He was given a Drowzee when he was 5 as his first Pokémon, the “best” offspring of his mother’s Hypno.

Yet for all their gifts, his parents were never present. They were either working, or travelling together. The only time Faba could get their attention was if he achieved something they deemed notable. While he was born reasonably intelligent, he isn’t as naturally skilled as his high achieving parents, which always caused tension between them and left him feeling painfully lonely. Despite his parents noting his lack of natural ability, they still expected the very best from their son, even going as far to insist he is far superior to his peers and should be performing as such. (See where this is gooooing?~)

To make matters worse, they moved to Alola when he was 10, so the few friends he had managed to make before then were taken away from him, and he started highschool without knowing anyone.

After failing to make new friends due to his unique interests and shy personality, Faba instead focused on gaining the approval of his parents. He dedicated himself entirely to his studies and in doing so alienated himself even further from his peers. His sole existence was to achieve more and more, to be the very best, in order to win his parents’ affections. By his mid teens he had become a very distrustful, anxious person, and was well on the way to developing a narcissistic personality disorder as a means to cope with the pressures he felt from his parents, effectively becoming the person he had to be to win their love.

However, this mindset of his was now so warped that even when he was top of his class in everything and his parents were finally proud of him, he still felt deeply insecure and this restless urge to somehow do even better. His parents’ praise was therefore dismissed and— ironically after all his efforts to get their attention— when he finally gained it, Faba began to distance himself from them in whatever way he could.

When he got to university, he met Lusamine… the daughter of the founder of the Aether Foundation, Wicke, her childhood best friend, and Colress, Lusamine’s cousin. Faba immediately latched onto the group because of their potential to give him a successful career. Lusamine was impressed with Faba’s work, but didn’t/doesn’t particularly care for him as a friend. There’s a familiarity between them in the present, but nothing that could really be considered ‘warm’.

Wicke made/makes genuine efforts to befriend Faba, but after being used to being ignored his whole life, Faba found/finds her suffocating. Nonetheless, he… kind of appreciates her presence? In his own way. Not that he isn’t still an asshole to her (she deserves better)!!

Colress on the other hand found him very amusing and enjoyed the witty exchanges they’d occasionally have, but Faba took an instant dislike to him because he’s got the sort of natural ability that Faba always had to work his ass off to be on par with. So Faba just had this aggressive one-sided rivalry with him, lol. They eventually graduated. Colress went his separate way, whereas Lusamine, Wicke and Faba became the new generation of Aether admins. Lusamine took over the role of foundation president, and Wicke and Faba were appointed high ranking admins immediately.

One day a local school visited Aether Paradise, and the younger Faba and one of the school teachers really got along. A year later, they married. However, she couldn’t cope with Faba’s obsession with his job and they eventually divorced. After that, Faba became a full on workaholic, was quickly promoted to the branch chief of the Alolan branch of Aether Foundation, and his NPD skyrocketed.

Divorced, single, more or less friendless and not really in contact with his parents anymore, he became the narcissistically disordered, self centred, anxious and isolated, bitter asshole that we all know and love today 💛

…

(I love to explore how trauma can turn characters into awful people~

I also have ideas for that bitter rivalry to lovers arc for Colress and Faba, because if you somehow didn’t know… OTP OTP OTP they can and will make each other so much worse and I find that dynamic so fun— but I won’t put that here because this post is long af as it is).

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3198: Pidgeotto (Team Up)

Every once in a while, the people making cards decide that an evolving Stage 1 deserves some time in the spotlight. In Team Up, this Pokemon was Pidgeotto, something with terrible stats but an Ability that let it draw through a deck while putting an unwanted card away to not be drawn again quickly without just discarding it. This was a card game, and card drawing has always been good in these. Still, it was just 1 card for each Pidgeotto... Which not only added up, but could let you draw into Supporters that did other things. There were lots of disruptive Supporters out there as well as Pokemon to recycle resources. You can probably figure out what kind of deck wanted to use Pidgeotto.

The stats here were not going to impress anyone. 60 HP was atrocious on a Stage 1. Remember, the first set back in 1999 had the focus go to Basic Pokemon with 70 HP. Pidgeotto came out 20 years later and was lower than that. So low that the Lightning Weakness and Fighting Resistance both meant basically nothing. The Retreat Cost here was just 1, at least, in case you needed to move Pidgeotto to the Bench.

Air Mail was one of the better Abilities in the game. Once during your turn, you could look at the top 2 cards of your deck. 1 of them was put into your hand, and the other was put on the bottom of your deck. If you got multiple Pidgeotto in play, you could pretty efficiently cycle through your deck to find what you might need for a turn. Now imagine using this with a combination of disruptive or recovery Supporters like Mars, Faba, Brock's Grit, Misty & Lorelei, and Lt. Surge's Strategy. The game also had an Oranguru to get cards back from the discard pile, letting you use them again, as well as Items like Chip-Chip Ice Axe and Crushing Hammer. You even had Girafarig to mess with the Lost Zone and Articuno-GX to get one shot at deleting a bunch of Energy from the board. Pidgeotto let you shuffle through a small deck later in a game and just lock things down with Oranguru help on top of the other disruptive options, and this enabled a rather tough deck to break through.

Gust, meanwhile, could be ignored. 30 damage for 2 Colorless Energy wasn't going to do anything.

Pidgeotto didn't look that impressive at first, but the deck cycling along with the recovery options and disruptive cards around it all combined to make for a rather impressive stall deck. It managed to even make top cut at Worlds, which is a very high bar for anything let alone a 60 HP Stage 1. There were obvious weaknesses here, especially that it was extremely frail and therefore the disruption alone usually had to do the job of stalling. There was also some competition for the role of a deck that didn't aim to take Prizes to win, both from extremely bulky Pokemon like Regigigas (along with Hoopa to block certain Pokemon altogether) and from mill decks running Magcargo. Pidgeotto managed to do pretty well through this, and the moment you saw a Pidgey hit the board in this era you knew there was a pretty good chance to be in for a long game.

[askachroma]

OOC// Random Colress headcanon dump that nobody asked for:

- Has God awful handwriting. ‘Doctor handwriting’. Looks almost pretty, but when you try to read it you realise you can’t.

- Ironically then, one of his hobbies is calligraphy. When he’s really trying, it seems like he can make his writing legible.

- Occasionally smokes, when he’s stressed or after a night terror. He usually steals the cigarettes from Knox.

- Speaking of, he gets semi-regular night terrors because of the very bloody accident he had with his first friend. Sometimes they’re so bad that he’s physically sick. Still, he refuses to admit that it traumatised him.

- He has a younger brother whom he has a lot of resentment for, since their parents were very open about their favouritism for him. Despite all the crimes Colress has committed, his brother is the one family member who still makes an effort to stay in touch with him, sending him yearly photos and letters. Colress reads them all, because he’s just too curious not to. He never replies, though.

- His given name is Nikolas (I feel like so many people hc something along those lines lol but it just fits). He keeps his birth name very private though, and would go straight from 0 to 1000 in anger if anyone found out, and/or called him that. As far as he’s concerned his name is Colress, and that’s what he’s been going by for well over a decade now.

- He was diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar as a young teenager, which his parents forced him to attend several therapy sessions for. He hated it.

- His PhD is actually forged. He was chucked off his course just before he could earn his actual doctorate, for bad ethical practice with his experiments. No one, not even his few close friends know this. He’s almost forgotten about it himself.

- Hates having his picture taken. Like, despises it. He’s fine with how he looks, but it just makes him feel so awkward.

- Wears a corset daily. He finds it helps with his posture, and the pressure feels comforting. It also makes him feel pretty

- Incredibly messy, in part because of his ADHD. He likes to spread his work out, and will also eat and drink at his desk so he can keep working as he does, but doesn’t clear up after himself until things literally start to go mouldy or it starts to impede his work. Knox couldn’t care less about the mess. Faba- neat freak- hate hate hates it and will tidy Colress’ desk for him, inevitably moving something that Colress didn’t want moving. It’s one of the few things that they sometimes argue over.

Then a few NSFW ones under the cut 🔞🔞🔞:

- Has a truly ridiculous amount of kinks and likes to take them to extremes. Knife play, medical role-play, use of aphrodisiacs and choking are just a few.

- His dirty talk game is on point 👌

- The biggest tease to his partner. Just downright cruel.

- Likes a show and especially enjoys if his partner strips for him.

- Is a switch; enjoys being submissive or dominant. Some of his kinks lend themselves better to being one or the other though.

- Despite being a certified freak in the sheets™ his libido is quite low, actually. Doesn’t often initiate things, but if his partner does he’ll usually accept.

[themattress]

Pokeani Villainy Ranking

1. Gen I (The Beginning)

The Kanto series featured Team Rocket at their freshest, which included the Boss himself, Giovanni, as the Big Bad who took an active villainous role in the Mewtwo arc. While it took until Gen II and Johto for the arc to properly conclude, the OVA special itself is a sequel to the Kanto-based movie and is predominantly filled with Kanto Pokemon so I am including it here. We also had a number of memorable human side villains such as Damian, Nastina, Dario, Jessebelle, Keith, and of course Sabrina. Even some Pokemon aside from Meowth and Mewtwo got in on the villainy like the bizarre talking Gastly of Maiden’s Peak and the ancient demonic Gengar. And even the Orange Islands gave us some highlights beyond the TRio’s continuing antics, namely Butch and Cassidy with an even nastier scheme than before, the despicable Mayor of Trovitopolis, and the amoral yet charismatic collector Lawrence III.

2. Gen V (Black and White)

Giovanni gets to be the Big Bad and take direct action yet again, and even when he isn’t present Dr. Zager and a uniquely serious and competent incarnation of the TRio are pursuing his agenda to conquer Unova. Team Plasma, especially Dr. Colress, is a formidable threat when they show up as well. There’s also Dirk from the OVA, the Genesect Army from the third movie, and side antagonists such as Leon the Dream Thief, Dr. Ferrara / Cryoganl Man and Team Vanilite, Seamus the sociopathic trainer, and the evil Chandelure and Litwick.

3. Gen VI (XY)

This series gets as high as it is primarily due to Team Flare. Lysandre, Alain, Xerosic, Aliana, Bryony, Celosia and Mable, along with all the Team Flare grunts and Lysandre Lab scientists are such wonderful villains in the anime. The TRio are pretty hit-or-miss, sometimes credible and other times not, but this is alleviated due to the presence of other enjoyable evildoers across the series such as the evil Malamar, Dolan the smuggler, the haughy Princess Allie of Parfum Palace, Ninja Riot and Merilyn Flame, father/daughter crime duo Argus and Millis Steel, and the young Prince Raleigh of Azoth Kingdom who is manipulated by the cruel Prime Minister Alva. Gens V and VI, back to back, was really a good time for villains in the anime.

4. Gen VIII (Journeys)

The TRio may have had the least screentime in this series and ran out of fresh material by the end, but for the most part they were solid as efficient but comical criminals. We also got Matori Matrix, as well as an alternate reality version of the TRio who were still under their serious Gen V characterizations. Team Galactic was far more efficient and interesting under Saturn than it was under Cyrus, the Macro Cosmos corporation headed by Chairman Rose made a solid arc villain, Ash’s Gengar had a delightfully villainous start, and Dr. Zed from the movie released in this series’ timeframe is one of the most horrifying and loathsome villains in any Pokemon media. Points off for that weaksauce, no-name Pokemon Hunter guy, though.

5. Gen VII (Sun and Moon)

While the TRio ended up being far more like good guys than bad guys by the final year of this series, they had a great villainous run beforehand, with the creepy and hate-filled Mimikyu being a standout Pokemon for them. And Matori Matrix, under direct orders from Giovanni, were great human antagonists to close out the Poipole arc. The rest or more hit-and-miss, with Team Skull being great but not appearing nearly as often as they should have, Viren appearing too much and not really amounting to anything beyond broad comedy, Faba becoming more well known as a mainstay hero than as the arc villain he started out as, and Nihilego, Guzzlord and Necrozma being frightening, monstrous adversaries but not truly evil.

6. Gen II (Gold and Silver)

The longer this series went on, the goofier and more harmless the TRio became, which was the start of their already dubious villain cred becoming a long-running joke. The worst part about this is that we get a lot of cool new Team Rocket members, plus Butch and Cassidy again, but seldom anything impactful is done with them, and they feel severely undercooked as a result. This is especially true in the case of Professor Sebastian and the silver-uniformed Team Rocket agents under his command. It feels like a story arc was begging to be told with these guys, yet it never is. Honestly, discounting the aforementioned Mewtwo arc sequel OVA that got packaged as three episodes of this series, the villainy in Johto peaked early with the triad of Molly Hale, Entei, and the Unown, none of whom are strictly even “villains” at all!

7. Gen IV (Diamond and Pearl)

Team Rocket sucks in this series, and what’s worse is most of the other villains suck as well, including Team Galactic whose membership and motivations are so flat and uninteresting compared to their game counterpart and whose arc ends on a huge anti-climax. The best villains here are the loathsome Pokemon Hunter J and Grings Kodai (although some ironic enjoyment can be had with Zero and the evil Togepi), but Hunter J gets wasted by only appearing five times in a four-year series and dying in a situation unrelated to the main heroes, and Kodai ends up taking his monstrosity way too far to the point of discomfort.

8. Gen III (Ruby and Sapphire)

Similar to Gen IV, Team Rocket sucks and so does everyone else. Teams Aqua and Magma are the most boring villainous team the anime has ever had; with the series’ movies being book-ended by associates of theirs who are honestly slightly better than them. And then who else, um....Rico the poacher? Colonel Hansen? That “Crimson Lightning” brat? Ugh, I guess that the Mirage Master or Mr. Mirage or whatever is the best villain we had this whole series.

[victorluvsalice]

-->And then – success! L. Faba bought the first item of the day by getting a strawberry fizz cupcake! :D And with her leading the way, the sales started pouring in – Victor, done cloudgazing and actually feeling a tiny bit social, came over to chat with customers Dominic and Clara as they bought an everything bagel (Dominic) and some pumpkin spice waffles (Clara), then Alice showed up (having finally finished her painting – also a masterpiece – and unsuccessfully scavenged in the park) just in time to see a few more plates of pumpkin spice waffles and banana split waffles, along with another cupcake and a bagel (L. Faba, returning for another go) get sold. I decided it would be nice to have her commemorate the occasion and had her take a couple of pictures from a couple of different angles of Smiler and the crowd. :) And then, right afterward, I had her grab some leftover pumpkin spice waffles someone had dropped and gobble them down so they wouldn’t go to waste. XD She started cloudgazing behind the crowd while I sent Victor (who wanted to level up his Handiness anyway) to upgrade the weather machine with a “moisture vaporator” so it would be even better at producing clear skies in the future –

And then I got an MCCC Error as Clara came back and got a slice of blueberry pie. *sigh* Oh, Sims 4, why you gotta be this way... I looked at the error log after the fact, and I think Alice was trying to say goodbye to her, but the interaction didn’t go off the way it was supposed to. *shakehead* Hard to tell if these errors are from mods or the damn game itself sometimes...

-->I soldiered on though (not the first time I’ve gotten an error) and had Alice hang out with Victor as he finished up his upgrades, having them talk about her lycanthropy and Victor’s magical status and getting in a little kissing and flower-exchanging while Smiler finished up their food sale. <3 The whole kit-and-kaboodle finally ended at around 6:30 PM in-game, with Smiler making an even $400 in profit (from two cupcakes, three pumpkin spice waffles, five bagels, four banana split waffles, and three slices of blueberry pie), getting level three of the Enterpeneur skill (meaning they can now research business plans if they want) –

And causing their number of thrown “social events” in their Party Animal aspiration to tick up a notch! Apparently food sales count! O.O Well, that’s good to know... Anyway, I had them clean up the food and pack away the stall, then sent them over to go get their flirt on with Victor –

Only for the skies to darken, and the rain to start falling again. Oops – thunderstorms are back! Time to get home before the lighting starts flying!

[mahvaladara]

Bold The Facts

The rules are simple! Tag people and name a character you want to know more about! If you want to let the person you tagged decide who to showcase, then don’t name a character and they can pick somebody. Easy! The person who is tagged will then bold the remarks below which apply to their character &, if they want to, include a picture with their reply!

Thank you for the tag! @lunelfy

Time for a character I have only shown twice now. Myra Lorenn (Sullyvan)

[ PERSONAL]

$ Financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty (his mom and grandfather are pretty wealthy so he has never struggled for money one day of his life) ✚ Medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable (he is very active and is a professional athlete, so). ✪ Class or Caste: upper / middle / working / unsure / other (Grandpa is the Sage of Pratical and the Director of the Von Haunt Academy and his mother is the Sage of Mischief and the leader of the Faba Society).

✔ Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other (still studying. Due to being a professional athlete he's a little behind his sister, but he works very hard to keep up)

✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

[ FAMILY]

◒ Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children

◑ Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) (he loves his twin sister, the two of them get along very well)/ not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased / it's complicated

◔ Affiliation: orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent / not applicable / runaway (He was raised by his mom and grandpa. Knows his dad was a criminal who died from his own action)

[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES]

♦ extroverted / introverted / in between / intro-extovert?

♦ disorganized / organized / in between

♦ close minded / open-minded / in between

♦ calm / anxious / in between

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between

♦ cautious / reckless / in between

♦ patient / impatient / in between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in between

♦ leader / follower / in between

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

♦ traditional / modern / in between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in between

♦ cultured /uncultured / in between / unknown

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown

[ BELIEFS]

★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic

☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / non religious

❀ Philosophical: yes / no / sometimes

[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]

❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

❥ Sex: sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favourable

♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favourable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious

❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none yet / all

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all / varies

[ ABILITIES ]

☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate (he can play the harmonica. Why? he just does) / poor / none

✂ Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

[ HABITS ]

☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / Alcoholic

☁ Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker

✿ Recreational Drugs: never / special occasions (has smoked weed with some of the other guys) / sometimes / frequently / addict

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess

☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater / um, blood a/o arcane magic

$ Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

♣ Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler

[enkisstories]

The knights assemble around what looks like an ordinary sleeping pod. The devices arranged along the wall suggest that their leader has practised robotics as well as biochemistry here.

The pod lowers and then the lid opens with a puff of smoke. When it settles, a humanoid looking figure starts stirring inside. It reaches for the edges and latches on to pull itself into sitting position.

Kylo: "RISE, Connor Sonderan! Or should I say... Darth Cole?"

La Faba: "You built your battle droid in the image of late Connor, Kylo? With Daniel around, that's kinda bad taste, haha!"

Kylo: "I figured it would be best if the droid body matched the living brain inside it. I'm aware that this makes the result a cyborg, but let's not argue technicalities. "Battle droid" has such a nice ring."

Daniel: "Did I get that right? You resurrected Connor?"

[skullkxd]

Flashback + aether

you are eleven when Guzma takes you to Aether, because you’ve only been in skull for a week and you cry any time you’re left alone. The other skulls are out causing mayhem and destruction, and he can’t very well leave you alone in that big dark house, so he’s ushered you with him to a large, bright place even more in the middle of the ocean than ula’ula

He acts a lot different with the lady there, tall and blond with pretty green eyes.

She’d almost remind you of your mother if you still remembered what she looked like.

Lusamine smiles at you even as Guzma grumbles an apology for bringing you along. You don’t know why it makes you anxious, but it does, even if you don’t tell Guzma that. You cling to his hand as the two of them talk for a few moments, before Guzma encourages you to run off and find something (or someone) to play with while the grownups talk about grownup things. You listen, because it’s Guzma, and because you’d do just about anything to get away from the woman whose eyes don’t quite smile with the rest of her face.

Guzma finds you two hours later sitting on the desk of a certain man named Faba, clinging to a slowpoke with no tail as he scolds you for being careless, his hands busying themself with wrapping your ankle in bandages.

You don’t go back to that place with Guzma again. And truthfully, you’re grateful for that.

[aetherceuse]

okay time to ask about her relationship with her co workers. faba, wicke, maybe burnet? anyone that comes to mind working at or with aether

Ask Questions About My Muse | ACCEPTING @infernalpursuit

If you managed to get an internship, paid position, or higher ranked role in the Aether Foundation, it is because you met Lusamine’s ridiculously high standards. She continues to hold each and every employee to those standards, every day of the week, and raises them with every passing year.

That being said, her relationship with her employees and co-workers is far from personable. She does not attempt to catch the “enthusiasm” of her subordinates, nor does she have any interest in fanatical behavior. People are placed where they belong, and they stay there until she decides that they need to be placed elsewhere. People work with her when it is necessary, and they are removed once the work is finished. There really is no— “right hand” dynamic with Lusamine and her co-workers. There is an extremely wide divide between her position as CEO, and Faba’s position as Branch Manager, for example, and while she is friendly with Wicke and Burnet on the outside, it is because it makes for a more pleasant work environment.

Depending on what verse interactions are in, Lusamine is well-aware of Faba’s tendency to shift blame, attempt to play sides, and control more than what he is actually authorized to control, and because of that, he is on an EXTREMELY tight leash. He is a useful asset at the moment, however, and sees no need in terminating him. As insufferable as he can be at times, Lusamine is not going to undermine his vital role in Aether’s experiments, especially the Type: Null project.

As for Wicke, she is a much softer face, and great for public relations. Lusamine knows this. If there is a social event that requires Aether’s presence, Wicke is often the one who is sent, along with a few other employees and researchers. Her naïveté, however, it something that Lusamine finds frustrating at times, but it works to her advantage as well; it’s an endearing personality that people seem to like, and makes for a wonderful way to make Aether look approachable and warm.

Burnet is interesting, because I think Lusamine definitely extends invitations to work with the Aether Foundation, either as an employee, or an associate. She is drawn to the professor’s research on other dimensions, and finds it to be extremely valuable. She’s quite kind to Burnet, and values her brain over a lot of the other scientists in the foundation.

[katriinamary]

El Camino de Santiago - SJPDP > Santiago de Compostela

Day 25 - 9th September - Trabadelo > O Cebriero

Day 26 - 10th September - O Cebriero > A Balsa

Day 27 - 11th September - A Balsa > Ferreiros

Despite the good food, I didn't sleep well at Trabadelo. Slow start, good shower before we left. It was misty and cold as we left, and lots of walking along the highway. Stopped in at a nice bakery for coffee, tortilla patate and treats, much better value than albergue breakfast. Slow walking - started to get hilly around 12km, just before La Faba. Nice trails through the trees, and then very steep, long uphill sections, with lots of loose large gravel.

Stopped at La Faba for a toilet break, shandy and ice cream, with great views back over the valley. Continued up to La Laguna. The last section was so hot hot and steep, and super sweaty. We had a beer, and some terrible food, and then just a few kms to O Cebriero.

Arriving in O Cebriero, there was another fiesta on. Lots of markets with mostly clothes, nothing really exciting. Dinner at pub, checked out the concert for around 5 minutes. Pretty funny, but so cold!! Nice sunset.

Late start out of O Cebriero, such an amazing view over the valley as we leave the albergue. Start off the walk with loads of uphill, with some really steep sections. Went through small towns, stopped at Triacastela for a couple of big beers on the edge of town, then in the middle of town for lunch. Had steak, eggs, chips, and some fish bites. Lots of cats around!

Short walk into A Balsa, to the albergue El Beso. It was a highly recommended albergue, but we ended up being the only guests. Spent some time relaxing, reading in hammocks - next to a 900 year old chestnut tree. The bunk room was really cool, rustic wooden bunks, and the bathrooms were nice, stone bathrooms. Dinner was great, pumpkin soup with toasted seeds, rice, veges and hummus. All homemade, and so delicious.

Late start out of A Balsa, as we both didn't sleep well. Uphill to start, quite steep. Stopped in for coffee and croissant at Pintin. Arriving in Sarria for lunch. Found a nice Italian place, had Tinto de Verano, pizza (chorizo and blue cheese) and lasagne. Super filling and yum.

Off on our way, no accommodation booked. Tried Morgade, no luck. The walk was nice, lots of stone walls, and greenery. The private albergue at Ferreiros was closed for staff, but luckily there was space at the municipal. Basic, but fine. Luckily we found a pub 400m down the road for some dinner, as we had no food. Big portions, and good dessert.

[beautiful-lusamine-blog]

Lusayours and Faba

{For the Valentine’s Day Ship Fics Event!

Sorry, Anon, but I decided to make it not-at-all-happy and NSFW. I was tired of writing sappy love shit haha :D It may be the beginning of a larger AU!!!}

Asset Out Of Containment

The door on Faba’s office was there one second, and then it suddenly wasn’t.

It came down with a loud crashing sound, and the fact that someone had actually been able to push it down was astonishing.

Faba jolted, shaking his head to force the droopiness out of his eyes, and spun swiftly in his chair to face the intruder. She stood at the door’s frame, her eyes wild and vicious. Her hair was purple, with streaks of pink through it, her eyes a jealous green, her dress a pale blue, and her pants blue and white.

It was Lusamine, but… Not… Why did he feel like he knew who she was?

And then it hit him like a freight train, making him double over in his chair in horror, because this was LSA-B.

LSA-B.

He had only seen the creature - Creature, because this thing surely wasn’t human - A few times, quick glances into her stasis tank to check on her, or seeing her walk past his office, but that was different. Then, she was always escorted by Lusamine. Always. Either that, or she was in the tank. Now, she wasn’t, and the Branch Chief’s mind was racing. His heart felt like it would burst. No one had been allowed to help Lusamine with this project, no one. They could rarely even go near the room where the beast was stored - Lusamine claimed Faba was lucky. Lusamine refused to explain what the creature was, some said it was a version of her from another reality, but Faba…. Faba knew better.

It was a clone.

A failed clone, an experiment gone horrifyingly wrong, and it had Lusamine wrapped around her… Its, Faba corrected himself, little finger.

Some said he was foolish to believe that - But he knew better than to think it came from an alternate reality. It had science-fair-failure written all over it, and whatever it had given Lusamine to make her allow it to roam around the VLFS scared Faba… No human had ever manipulated Lusamine before, and that, right there, was his evidence that it was not human.

If there were any, would he consider successful clones human? Of course. But this was no successful clone… This was a failure, a horror grown in a petri dish, a sin that would end humanity.

As if to prove his point, LSA-B’s eyes seemed to change color to a vibrant yellow as they identified Faba, cowering weakly in his chair. Word had it that employees had cried all day, locked in their offices, in the aftermath of encountering LSA-B when she wasn’t on Lusamine’s leash. It’s just the lighting, Faba told himself. Its eyes aren’t changing. It’s all myth. It’s all myth…

“Hello,” Came its voice, and there was something distinctly other about it. It vibrated, as if uncomfortable with existing, and the noise seemed to carry an air of death. It smiled, wickedly, and for one of the few times in his life Faba was actually scared of another living thing.

She - It walked towards him, its movements mechanical and slow, as if it had come from a world where gravity was different. It’s smile deepened as it got closer, and soon Faba could feel its breath on his body. Faba was curled up into a ball, shaking at an alarming rate and sweating profusely. He was biting his lip so hard it bled to keep from crying out in fright.

It reached out slowly, its hand getting so close to Faba’s head, and Faba felt he would die of fright. His entire body shook with absolute terror, his heart was so loud he could hear it.

When it touched him, he screamed like he was being murdered.

“Calm down now, child. I just came to ask a few questions.”

His heart was racing, and his body was on fire. He tried to clear his throat and sound tough, but his voice cracked and he winced in hurt pride.

“Y-Yes? What are your questions f-for me?”

LSA-B laughed, and it was broken, shrill, cold, and hollow. It was chaotic. It was awful. It made Faba feel a small warmth in his pants, and liquid shame trickled down his leg. It wasn’t enough that LSA-B would notice, but it made Faba close his eyes and whimper in self-loathing and embarrassment.

“Are you the Foundation’s Branch Chief I keep hearing about?”

“Er…�� His voice quivered. He stood up slowly, and tried to put a smile on his face, but all he could manage was a grimace. “Y-Yes! I am Faba, the wonderful, irreplaceable Branch Chief of the Aether Foundation! Perhaps you’d like to have a tour?”

It laughed again, and Faba shut his eyes and shook like he was being electrocuted.

“No,” It said with a manic smile. “I just want to know the master password, love.”

Faba squeaked in response. He blushed deeply, but no… LSA-B wasn’t his type. Monsters weren’t his type.

“I’m t-terribly sorry, LSA-B, but you can’t h-”

Suddenly, Faba’s world became the most terrifying thing he could think of.

Two powerful, forceful hands clamped on his shoulders, fingernails digging into him like daggers, hands which pushed on him so hard his shoulders shook. It leaned forward into his face, spitting at him as she shrieked, her smile suddenly turning to an expression of contempt and disgust. Its eyes turned fire-engine red, glowing as if they were so hot they’d steam.

Faba screamed, and it began to shake his entire body. He felt like he would be sick.

“Don’t call me that! Don’t act like I’m just an experiment! Humanize me! Humanize me! Call me by my fucking name!” It said, eyes wild. Faba was white as a sheet, but he managed to get out the name:

“L-LSA-B…”

The punch to his gut was unbelievable. His head snapped back and he shrieked, stumbling backwards, crouching down to cradle his stomach.

“My name is Lusayours, bitch.”

Faba wheezed on the floor for a moment, the very act of breathing hurting more than anything else in his life had before.

“Huh-huh…. Lusayours…”

It smiled gleefully, suddenly giddy and full of laughter. It picked him up and held him again. “Now then… What’s the master password, dearest?” Its voice dripped with fake sugar, but under it was a poison deadlier than any toxin known to man.

“They’ll… The others… They’ll come find what you did here…” Sputtered Faba, gasping for air between words.

Its grin widened, although Faba had previously thought that physically impossible. “Nope! Because I know that you are the only one at the office, and you stay late because you get your best work done when no one else is around, because you were bullied in high school and still feel like your carefully-crafted facade of confidence and self-acceptance might come crashing down at any moment and your coworkers will tear you to fucking shreds.” Its grin was hellish in some ways, and filled with childlike glee in others.

“Ahaha… You must have been watching me for a while…” Faba said, uncomfortable as all hell.

“Oh, yes. I’m extremely intelligent and observant. Persistent, too. I just found it all in your diary.”

“Oh… Ahaha…. Yes… The one with the key lock and the combination lock…. Ahahah….”

“Yep! That’s the one, darling.”

“Well, you certainly have been watching me rather closely! I’m… I’m certainly flattered, ahaha,” He said, looking to the side in terror.

It smiled more than it ever had, and then leaned in, and kissed Faba’s neck. It wasted no time in biting him. Faba shrieked, unable to help from bucking his hips upwards, his hands coming up to grasp forcefully at her hair, fisting desperately for something, anything to hold onto. He writhed in pleasure, her teeth pressing into him like nails, and then giving way to a cold, soft, slick, and slimy tongue that swiped over the wound, saturating it with saliva. Faba moaned quietly. He had never… Not… Not ever with a woman, but he… Couldn’t help but enjoy this.

She - It, it was hard to think of her as an it when she was doing… That to him - It stepped back, smiling at him. “Now, love. How’s about that password? You can be sure it’ll be worth your while to give it to me.”

Faba blushed deeply. “Ahaha, yes, I am sure it will be… Ehem, yes, the password is… Ehem, try Regret. If more is required, which some things are higher security and require a second password, try Shame. Got that?”

LSA-B smiled again. “Yes, of course, thank you, dearest.”

There was a moment of pause, of absolute silence, and then LSA-B rushed forward and kissed Faba. It was awful, it was torture, he was gasping for air, his body aching. He was - He was incredibly exhilarated, but this wasn’t… This wasn’t him, he wasn’t… He’d never had any interest in women… Warmth spread through him, slime seeping into his soul through his esophagus, binding him up, sticking him to the spot. He was unable to move, but he hated this, hated how powerless he felt in the face of this… Thing, and how much he enjoyed it, and… It pulled away and looked at him, it’s eyes suddenly shifting between multiple colors at an alarming rate. Faba found himself swaying looking at the beautiful colors. Like an addictive game of pinball and some drugs, the flashing multicolor lights made him woozy and weak, pleasure surging through him.

It kissed him again, and he just couldn’t breathe. The way it - The way she smelled, the way Lusayours grabbed at him so roughly, it was all too much, and it was awful, he hated it, wanted it to stop right that second, needed it to - But it didn’t. It went on for so long, and those eyes flashed in his memory, and they made him enjoy the kiss, made him slide his hands up her side, and he was sure he had been fucked with, was sure the thing had done something unholy to him, had made him enjoy it, but he couldn’t do anything about it. When the kiss ended, he was panting and joyful, but also relieved it was over. He felt free, but also felt a prisoner to a force science couldn’t explain.

“Now then,” It said. You aren’t going to tell anyone about our little meeting, right?”

“N-no… Of course not… N-never..” Faba squeaked.

LSA-B smiled again, and Faba’s heart sank with realization at what he had just done. His breathing stopped. It was just too much to look at her face.

“Great!” It said, its eyes lighting up and going green again. “That’s the end of our business, then. You can be sure you’ll hear from me again. Fortunately for you, you’re still useful to me. You’re very lucky. Zenith will be my lucky one tomorrow!” It said, giggling madly, like a giddy child possessed by the darkest demon of Hell. “I’ll see you later, love!”

And, with that, LSA-B walked to the door, moving like a robot, kicked the horizontally-lying door out into the hallway so it didn’t obstruct the entryway, and then walked out.

“Zenith…” Faba whispered, running a finger across his lips, which still buzzed and were still covered in cold slime. Perhaps from the stasis tank, he thought. He was sure now, this wasn’t an alternate version of Lusamine. It may not have been a clone, but it certainly wasn’t a simple alternate dimension equivalent.

His mind began firing off at rapid speed. How would he warn Zenith? He had to warn him, but… Wouldn’t that engineer his own demise? And perhaps Zenith’s, too! And… Lusamine was totally blind to all of this. What could he do…?

Faba suddenly felt very alone and very frightened. There was no one he could turn to without incriminating himself or others. He was trapped. And the worst part was that LSA-B was bound to come back. And, eventually, it would come back and instead of asking for information decide Faba had none left to give. He would surely turn up dead after that. Perhaps there wouldn’t even be a body left, just mutilated parts of a once complete man.

He sighed to himself.

“Fuck,” he said, because he really didn’t know what else to say.

He set about cleaning up the ruin of his door, because he was sure Lusamine would pitch a fit if it was like that come morning. It would take forever, but… That was okay.He’d been at work all night before, and this wasn’t any different. Just another day.

[bluemoondust]

Maxie headcannons would be amazing! <3

I actually had a small debate with myself if I should include the version of Maxie who accomplished his goals in Ultra Sun/Moon, however, I've decided I will do those hcs (along with the other leaders in those separate timelines) in it's own post. So, expect those at some point, but Ghetsis won't be there since someone already requested a scenario where he became the king of Unova.

Also, in terms of if this is RSE Maxie or ORAS Maxie: these hcs can apply to either since I don't see much of a difference between them in personality besides just different choice and events. But I mostly thought of ORAS Maxie for this.

✧General Yandere Headcanons✧—Team Magma Leader Maxie

Warning(s): Controlling Behavior, Manipulation, Belittlement, Mentions of Delusional Behavior, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Kidnapping

Controlling and Manipulative. Maxie... Has this mindset that if you do not agree with his ideals or seem to not know any better (according to him), it gives him the right to 'assist' you in life. Oh don't fret so much. It's the least he can do for you, who he has taken consideration of. It begins with the simple things that you wouldn't notice right away. Small decisions that you make due to his influence, though you still believe it was your choice in the end. Still, I would not say that the leash he has you on is a harsh one. Only if you force him to shorten it. Even so, he isn't as bad as other controlling yanderes like Faba.

At his worst, Maxie gets a little condescending. He gets in the mood where he will explain to you in a way where it's seen as belittlement. This would be taken down a notch if he noticed that you truly were affected by his words. It startles him and you could use that against him. However, be warned, he will catch on soon and when he does... You best believe a punishment is in order.

Maxie is a semi lucid yandere. It is apparent that what he is feeling and doing is wrong but on the other hand, he thinks it would be best to stick around. There are worse things in the world to concern yourself over and he can assure you, he isn't one of them. The delusional part of him really shines through when it comes to your wellbeing. He's only looking out for what's best for you, so you can't really argue against him. It would just give the impression that you're ungrateful for all he's done; which is so much. You... Do know he has enough to provide for you, yes? He hopes that you are aware.

This man will deny any assumptions of jealousy. It's uncouth of him to feel such a way. Even so, despite his denial, Maxie is prone to small bouts of jealousy but always manages to catch himself before it goes too far. He's a refined man as he deems himself, so he is aware such behavior would only drive you away. Of course, that is something he does not want. Oh, but some people... He'd just love to crush them under the dirt. They'd serve more purpose by becoming the fertilizer that supports the Earth. Even then, Maxie just deems people like that lower than dirt, but he's only keeping himself in check just for you. Though there are exceptions...

Maxie poses more of a danger towards others more than you or himself. However, he is less dangerous than certain team leaders like Ghetsis, Lusamine, Giovanni, or Cyrus. If I were to rate him on a danger level, he'd at least be a 4.5/10. He has the capabilities of endangering others if he wanted but this man uses more manipulation tactics than brute force to get rid of people. Besides, he does have the aid of Tabitha, Courtney, and the grunts to assist him should he require such so it's better to use what you have already to get what you want is what he believes. Maxie also thinks that trying to court you normally would work before trying anything drastic. He is confident in himself to think so. He can give you whatever you desire, he's a capable suitor, and oh, obviously he knows so much about you. What could be better?

Unfortunately, if you do reject him... He doesn't take it well. Maxie just can't believe you would pass this sort of chance up. Maybe... You don't know any better. Yeah, that's what it must be. He'd sigh to himself. Of course! Why did he leave that possibility out? You truly don't understand given that everyone else in this world do not fully comprehend his goals and why true evolution is being halted. These people surround you, which is why you can't see things from his perspective. It seems that he must educate you. He will fully oblige.

It's 50/50 in terms of if Maxie is more selfish or selfless, but I'd say he is only slightly a bit more selfish. Like yes, he does think of your well-being time and time again and knows how to restrain himself from acting out since you could poorly react. However, give it time and his patience will thin out sooner or later. I believe it's the bits of delusion that make it seem to him that he's only guiding you towards a better path despite in reality, Maxie is manipulating you. He does not see him kidnapping you nor dealing with your friends/family as selfish acts in order to get you to be his. No. Maxie deems it his way of making sure nothing could act as a bad influence on you. He does this because he loves you.

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Morally grey characters aren't very uncommon--although they certainly are in the Pokemon anime! I can basically think of the Team Rocket trio (many examples, but their loyalty to their own Pokemon, while stealing Pokemon from their loving trainers, and how they stood up against Faba when he wanted to erase Lillie's memories), Colress (Colress is the only real example I can think of one completely following his own moral code, except he doesn't appear to have any morals at all! He just does whatever serves his curiosity and love of scientific discovery, whether others see it as good or bad, and he doesn't mind manipulating others), and maybe Alain (although Alain was definitely unwitting and manipulated for most of it, so more of an antihero trying to protect his loved ones and unknowingly getting tangled up in something much darker than he imagined--in terms of his intentions and knowledge, he wasn't one starting out, he just thought he'd shield Professor Sycamore from being tainted with any unsavoury associations with Mega Evolution...)

Trip's very unique to me because you don't often see a morally grey child character and he isn't even framed as an antagonist, exactly, but a rival. He and Ash have moral clashes over how to handle the Venipede, but both have the inherently noble/good goal of saving Castelia city. Trip has no other reason to linger there, he hates delaying and is usually constantly travelling to the next objective, he didn't even usually watch tournaments to their completion...

Idealistic Ash believes they can reason with the Venipede or at least safely corral them into the park and then figure out why they rampaged, but Trip calls Ash naive and assumes it's due to his rural background and things just don't work out that way in Unova. ^^;;; He's much more cynical... and he listens in on their plan, follows Ash and company, only to rather treacherously interrupt what they were doing by attacking the Pokemon, to deal with them by force (which is the only way he believed things could be accomplished at that point), but ALSO for the challenge.

A little selfishness seeping in there, too, because he wanted to attack the leader of the Venipede for the challenge, because it must be strong. ^^;;;; Well, he is very ambitious...

But when he sees Ash's gentler means can accomplish things, he assists him, saves his Pokemon from an attack, and gently guides the Venipede along with Ash.

It's likely this incident that makes him question what his memory of meeting Alder led him to believe makes someone strong.

He asks Adler the questions he doesn't receive a real answer to until the Junior Cup (namely because these are questions Trip and his Pokemon will have to find the answers to themselves...), and unfortunately, we saw how his disappointment in the gentler/more laidback Alder of the present made him double back on his old ways, but the important thing was that he began to question if brute force and winning battles was all that made someone strong.

I think he's especially fascinating because he is young and a rookie trainer and still trying to figure things out, he could easily go either way, depending on the influences, into a more heroic or more villainous character. I just find that infinitely more fun to write.

Also, how often do you have a child character with an ends justifies the means approach to things, who doesn't flinch or even protest being called unjust, or even when told the violent path they're going down will lead to great losses on both sides?

... also, his still being a child character also makes for more interesting relationship dynamics you wouldn't easily get with older characters, since folks will tend to be a bit more patient (or at least have take pity on him), I actually really love writing with characters that effectively adopt him in games. ;3; The fact that he's still learning and trying to figure out what it truly means to be strong and has to challenge his own (very cynical but alas, unexplained...) notions about the world...

Also the fact that he is so uncertain about his path--the arrogance is a cover, he's actually a very insecure character underneath and that's why he needs answers from Alder so badly, even while he was mad at him for falling short of his idealized memory of him. ^^;;; He immediately blames his loss on him doing something "wrong" or his lacking something rather than simply a difference in experience. Alder could tell Trip loved him, that's why he wanted answers from him specifically, even if he was mad at him, because even during their battle, when he asked him about his motivations, why he battled, he said it was to prove his strength to Alder... that's all this was about. Trip just wants to prove himself to his idol, his hero.

That's the sweetest, saddest motivations I can think of for a character like that.

[bedeion-legion]

gay people?? in MY pokemon?? its more likely than you think

This post is about nightmare headcanons I have for Gladion and Bede, as well as how they help each other with their nightmares (Note, I ship Bede and Gladion together, hence the theming of my blog). I'll first talk about Gladion, then Bede, then the two of them together. The rest is under the cut!

Gladion has nightmares pretty much every night. I feel like that's a pretty believable assumption.

Going off of my own version of him, the guy was forced to run away from home with no money, no home, and half a team of Pokemon, one of which is sylvally in its type: null variant.

He had to grow up under the "care" of Faba because his mother was so busy with work, causing Faba to abuse both him and Lillie (paralleling Lusamine in the games, basically).

And then he found out that Faba, his abuser, hypnotized Lillie and Lusamine into forgetting anything bad happened. And right after this horrifying revelation, he sees his mother taken away by an Ultra Beast at the fault of Faba opening an Ultra Wormhole.

because of this, he has a ton of nightmares ranging from memories of Faba being way to harsh when training Gladion's eevee/umbreon, sylvally getting hurt/dying/taken away, his mother getting possessed by the Ultra Beast and screaming "I hate you!" at the top of her lungs, Lillie getting hurt and feeling betrayed that Gladion left, and every terrible thing he must've witnessed in his (at least) year-long stay out on the streets of an unfamiliar region... Gladion clearly has WAY too much trauma and guilt for a teenager to handle at once.

Every night, without fail, he wakes up in a cold sweat. He's had so many nightmares that he doesn't usually jump up anymore. He just opens his eyes, realizes that it was just a dream, and tries his best to go to sleep despite his fear of another nightmare. It takes a long time for him to finally fall asleep because of that fear, causing him to develop insomnia

Occasionally, however, the nightmare is so terrifying that Gladion shoots up and goes into a panic attack. He doesn't do this as much anymore, but it still absolutely happens. He usually switches to being nonverbal during panic attacks, so others must remember to be calm and patient with him.

Bede's nightmares aren't too different. He also has frequent nightmares, though he has gotten less of them lately due to Opal actually caring for him like a parental figure should (unlike SOME rich flowers i know COUGH COUGH rose COUGH COUGH). He still gets them more frequently than any person should, let alone a teenager, but he's slowly healing.

Bede usually gets nightmares about abandonment or losing the people he loves. Rose usually has some role in these nightmares, whether he's the person abandoning him or some other force.

He'll also often get nightmares that Opal will abandon him and leave him to die in the Glimwood Tangle, along with his friends and other loved ones. Despite Rose being out of his life, Rose's damage to Bede's psyche is still very apparent, and it's something he has to consciously fight against every day.

He at least has Opal, as occasionally she'll sense him having a nightmare and go to comfort him. At first he finds it extremely embarrassing and is all pissy about her helping him, but she tut tut's and makes sure he's ok anyways. He slowly shifts from resenting it to actively being very thankful for it, as deep down, he's glad that she can be there.

Bede and Gladion both understand what its like to have nightmares a lot, so they make sure to comfort each other the best they can. All the walls that they've built up towards people fall down in order to make sure they're ok, as they know how terrifying and lonely it feels to not have someone there for you.

Once they grow a lot closer, they'll offer to hug the other if they need it. This is especially good for Gladion since he still gets extremely bad nightmares at times and needs someone to hold him for a bit in order to calm down.

They don't only start doing this once they fall for each other, they do this as friends without any romantic reasoning because they know how crucial support is when waking up from a nightmare. Of course, once they do fall for each other, they'll make sure to occasionally kiss the other on the cheek if they're ok with it and give plenty of snuggles. The important take-away is that they know how to help each other when the nightmares get bad.

[magicofsimplestories]

Supernatural 2.0: #29 Clues

[Back to Foreword and #1 Meet Kira or #28 Bunker Life]

Elle appeared on the doorstep of the Bunker the very next morning. A pile of big old books in red leather coats was floating behind her. She gave a big hug to Kira and looked around excitedly. 

“I almost forgot how this Bunker looks like,” she said with a wide smile. Turning to the Winchesters she held out her hand to Sam.

“Elle Faba, the Sage of Mischief.”

Sam took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips in a gentleman gesture, making the witch smile flirtily.

“My pleasure, Elle. Sam Winchester,” he introduced himself. “And this is my brother Dean.”

Dean was about to step forward and greet Elle, but she spoke first.

“Pleasure is mine. I’ve heard a lot about you two, especially you, Dean,” she said with a meaningful expression. 

Dean froze and frowned.

“Have you?”

The witch preferred to ignore his dry comment and waived at the books. They flew directly to the big entry room table and landed next to Sam’s laptop. 

“As promised,” commented Elle, “I brought you a couple of manuscripts on Hell and Heaven spells that might be useful in hunting Eve down. I managed to sneak them from the Academy library right under Morgyn’s nose,” she added proudly with a bright mischievous smile. 

Dean strained and frowned deeper hearing Morgyn’s name.

“You said you’ve been here before,” said Sam in the meantime, helping Elle at the table. 

“Of course I have, sweetheart,” responded the witch. “In the old days the Sages and the Men of Letters worked together quite often. I’m happy to see that the Bunker got another chance to serve the world with you moving into it.”

They divided the Academy manuscripts among the four of them and a couple of hours later they found what they’ve been looking so desperately for. 

Putting Eve back to Hell wasn’t easy. Firstly, one had to brew a potion in a special cup - the Cup of the Dead, then somehow make Eve drink this potion, and after that cast three high-level spells (a Mischief, an Untamed and a Practical) upon the Mother of Supernatural. 

“Well, the ingredients of the potion are not too rare,” concluded Kira looking through the recipe. “I have Mandrake and Angelfish in my potion set. A Hematite can be found in the woods of Glimmerbrook. The most troublesome is the Moonpetal Flower - for this one we will need to travel to Moonwood Mill at full moon.”

“The most troublesome, huh?” commented Dean. “So finding the Cup of the Dead (lost centuries ago, according to this book), making Eve drink the potion and casting three difficult spell is not so troublesome in your mind?”

“Well, I prefer to deal with one problem at a time,” responded Kira pointedly. 

“And it’s a good strategy,” inserted Elle reducing the degree of tension in between the two. “I will bring a Hematite from Glimmerbrook. You focus on the Cup. I need to leave you now, as I’m about to have a class with my first years. Don’t wanna explain to Morgyn why I am late.”

The Winchesters and Kira spent the rest of the afternoon digging through the Men of Letters archives hoping to find any reference to the Cup. Their research was successful again, so through a tiny 1700s report on hunting hybrids and a thorough Internet surf they managed to track the Cup to a private artefacts collection in Willow Creek. 

“Oh my God, it’s Penny Pizzazz,” breathed out Kira looking at the picture of the collection owner at Dean’s screen. 

“Do you know her?!” asked the brothers simultaneously. 

“She’s like ten thousand stars celebrity,” added Dean glaring at Kira in shock. 

“Of course, I know her,” smirked Kira. “She was the one to invest into the recording of our album. We met at a party in San Myshuno, she was covering a music festival that we took part in. We get along nicely. I even received an invitation to her private Birthday party… Wait a second,” Kira took out her phone and scrolled a couple of emails. “Her party is actually tomorrow. And I have a plus one invitation. We could…”

“No, Kira, it’s out of discussion,” interrupted her Dean dryly. “You are not attending this party. It’s too dangerous. The party might be private, but it’s not a guarantee that no demon attends it.”

With every next word of Dean Kira’s expression was becoming angrier and angrier. Sam, so unfortunate to witness yet another dramatic argument of these two, pretended to be deeply focused on the content of his screen. 

“Dean, you’re being ridiculous,” said Kira in a low angry voice. “This party is the best shot we have. I will not go there alone. I have a plus one invitation. And moreover, Dean, I can cast a demon tracking spell before we join the party. If it shows demon presence, we turn around and go away.”

“No,” shook his head Dean stubbornly. “It’s too dangerous. Where is the guarantee that a demon doesn’t join later? Or will you keep casting spells the whole evening? Come on, it’s not funny.”

“Then what’s your plan, Dean?” spitted Kira in annoyance. “Break into Penny’s house at night and be arrested after the alarm goes off?”

“Sam and I can manage an alarm system,” retorted Dean. 

“I know, that you can, Dean! I just fail to understand, why you need to break into someone’s house, if you can actually visit it legally.”

“And I fail to understand, why you’re so eager to die on a hunt!” screamed Dean back, stood up loudly from his chair and rushed out of the library. 

“That went well,” grumbled Kira, opened the book in front of her loudly and pretended to focus on the content of it.

***

Dean pushed the door of his bedroom angrily and stopped in the middle of the room, trying to manage the anger burning inside his chest. 

Damn it, Kira, how come you don’t get it?! All the demons of the world are looking for us out there. I can’t put you at risk. Not again. You are already in so much trouble because of me.

He sighed tiredly and looked around. His eye caught a framed picture on his desk. 

The picture. 

That he kept. 

Just like she did. 

Strangerville. It seemed now, that it had happened in another life. A happier, brighter life. 

But was it actually less dangerous there, Dean?  The Mother Plant? The infections? Was it really? Just to remind you, Dean, she was planning to investigate the Lab mystery on her own. You just happened to arrive on time.

He sighed again looking away. 

She’s a grown up woman. A psychic. A daughter of a Sage. A descendant of an angel. She’s stronger than you think. And her plan is actually the best shot that we have in getting the Cup. 

He closed his eyes letting the rest of his anger out.

Fine. 

*** Two hours later 

Kira was purposefully staring at the pages of the book in her hands, even though with her side vision she noticed Dean enter the library hall. By the rustle of paper she realised that he had put something on a table in front of her. He was glaring at her for a couple of following seconds then spoke. 

“I believe, you had no time to pack any of your fancy outfit, when we were fleeing your San Myshuno apartment,” he said. “So I dared to choose you one.”

Kira stayed motionless, staring bluntly at the pages. Dean shifted on his feet, feeling the awkwardness of the moment. 

“It’s a four-hour drive from here to Willow Creek,” he spoke again. “Tell me, when the party of your Penny starts after you try this on.”

He left the library quickly, without turning around, as if scared of Kira to respond him. As soon as his figure disappeared behind the corner Kira jumped up from the armchair and approached the table. On it two bright shopping bags were waiting for her shyly. She looked inside the bigger one and smiled. 

You do still know me perfectly, Winchester. 

[Read next: #30 Surrender]