#and in my defense i'm doing a proper comic this time around

[tizeline]

Man, going from rough sketch directly to lineart and just skipping the clean-sketch step is Not A Good Idea and now I'm struggling

Unfortunately I am both too lazy and stubborn to do a proper sketch and as such I will continue to suffer. Alas.

[bryhaven]

Can we start a Game? I will give u a few words or a Situation and u Write a Little Story, fanfic , conversation about it or give me your thoughts How the Situation will goes in?

Levi as a dad : How would he react if his son would bring a girl home and How would it be if his daughter would bring a boy? Give us also mikasas POV..

Sorry for the late reply, anon, and thanks for the tag, @levi4mikasa!

I also received the same ask in my inbox, so I'll be answering it from here 😌

I may have some other things that are slightly different from @chaosisbeauty23's and @nuri148's headcanons. But it still revolves around the fact that Levi and Mikasa are protective and watchful parents to their kids regarding partners.

Levi and Mikasa when their son brings home a girl

●Levi isn't particularly a friendly sight to behold. But since it's a girl they're meeting, he won't be acting like an ass because he is respectful of women. And a young woman around that age will likely trigger his protective side.

●Levi will be quiet and let Mikasa do most of the talking and interrogation. But he will still keep an observant eye and will only talk when necessary.

●Levi will indeed make sure that his son is treating the girl right, that his son keeps to curfews and protects the girl, and such. In fact, during the meet up, he will more often glance to his son to make sure he wouldn't misbehave or so.

●Mikasa is the one who will be very welcoming, given her motherly instincts and she will make sure the girl feels comfortable, during meet ups and things like that.

●Mikasa will remind the girl that that's just how Levi looks and that she shouldn't feel too intimidated.

●Mikasa indeed will find Levi's ways amusing since he struggles with manners and such himself and she will tease him about it, but find it endearing.

●Both parents will remind their son about consent, protection, responsibility, and things like that. But it is Levi who will often reiterate it. Because of his clean freak side, and yes, because he'll want his son to be better than he ever will be (because of his self-deprecating behaviors) and he wouldn't want any other woman to suffer fates similar to his own mom's (because again of his respect towards women).

Levi and Mikasa when their daughter brings home a boy

●When it comes to this, I can see Levi being overprotective. Yes, very overprotective.

●Levi will have his favorite knife or dagger sharpened beforehand, ready to attack. I mean this mostly in a comical way but I can see Levi being protective of his daughter to this level. He won't hesitate taking it out if the situation calls for it is what I'm implying.

●Mikasa and their daughter will warn Levi beforehand to not be an ass in front of the boy during the meetup. But he will still glare daggers (with matching crossed arms) at the boy the entire time and their daughter will just sigh in defeat about it.

●This time Levi is the one who is interrogating because only a proper and perfect boy deserves his little girl.

●Mikasa has to calm Levi down a number of times because of this. And she will always try to make the boy comfortable as well, and remind him that Levi is just that protective.

●Levi will set down rules for the boy to follow, for example, curfew. If they're even a minute late, they can expect to see Levi with a long wooden stick in hand, glaring while waiting at the front door.

●Levi will make sure indeed that he has taught his daughter all the attack and defense tactics in the world, but that doesn't diminish his overprotectiveness.

●Levi will indeed let Mikasa handle the talk to the girl this time, given that Mikasa knows about all the girl stuff involved. But he will remind his daughter that she can punch the boy whenever.

●Mikasa will remind Levi that he helped raise and taught their daughter a great deal and that he should trust her enough in this matter.

●But when the boy finally earns Levi's trust, it will be definitely worth it.

I've said before in my Ackerbaby headcanons that I can see Mikasa being the more lenient one, especially when the kids are younger but a bit more strict when they're older. But she wants their kids to experience living their own choices, and they will always be her kids whatever happens.

Levi is the more strict and protective, especially when the kids are younger but a bit more lenient when they're older. And even though he wants them to be responsible for their own choices, they will always be his kids and ultimately, he'd rather have them hate him for not letting them have their choice, if only to ensure their safety.

[volfoss]

how serviceable is the machine translation for volfoss? it seems like you’re able to understand the plot fairly well using it if i’m right. and what is the gameplay like? i’m more interested in playing it from your posts, i’ve always wanted to but never got around to it

FUCK YESSS ok so. A few things. I am pretty used to working with machine translation and kind of working with how stilted it can be. I've translated comics this way and it can be a massive pain at times. From the last time I tried to do this with a game -> now (maybe 8 months or so?) Google translate has really upped their game with getting more accurate/good translations. I use a mix of Google translate and Yandex, and then match it with checking a Japanese to English dictionary when I need to (sometimes Google and Yandex completely disagree on something, so using a dictionary helps a lot in those cases). Volfoss itself is kind of a peculiar beast with translation solely because of names. The machine translation does not play nice with names because they are spelled odd. For example, an enemy called Iron Meiden will NEVER get translated with the proper spelling. The protagonist, Shalvas, gets translated as MANY different names, so it's kind of a pain to work with that. Places have the same issue. Where a machine translation might put Korel as Kolel or anything in that range, it rarely gets it right. One of the major locations, Caldealand, gets spelled 5 different ways and there is never any reason for it. Thankfully, the in game gallery has the English names for creatures and characters, and the map I just got has the proper English for the places. This is probably not like. A big issue for most people but it's something that I'm pretty anal about because I don't want the translations to be super bad and inaccurate. In the guide I'm working on, I have a massive glossary for the names and places due to how finicky this is.

All of that to be said, I definitely do understand the plot with this, but there are a LOT of frustrating things when you're first getting used to it. I can send you the guide as it is right now if that would help, as I think the long list of characters and the summary of the first route I've nearly completed could be helpful :) I'm also here to help anytime.

As for gameplay, it's a trpg, so you move your characters from tile to tile and choose attacks. It's kind of hard to explain but from what I understand it's similar to fire emblem (haven't ever played it but my friend who has says it's similar). It's honestly not too bad after you get used to the combat, there's just a LOT of story crammed in there if you're bothering to translate all of it. There's a lot of specific systems that from what I can tell are pretty unique to volfoss (you get gems and can make combos with them, and that's how you can make your attacks/defense have certain attributes. Not explaining that well at all but. There's a lot of weird stuff to it I think. There's also a system for getting enemies to join your team both temporarily and permanently and just a lot of other stuff that can make it complex to give a short summary of gameplay).

Tldr: machine translation is definitely viable, however, when it comes to proper nouns it is a VERY scary experience. This was my first trpg and I got used to it pretty easily so I wouldn't say it's too bad?

[ichigosatsuki]

This was based off a really fun ErrorBerry RP I'm doing! Was going to make a comic about one of my favorite 'scenes' from it

But midway during the sketch I was getting frustrated with making decent perspectives and figuring out how to do proper panels soo.. yeah adhd is a bish against creativity sometimes

So here are the comic sketches:

Panel 1: Swap is scooting away, background is the golden judgment room. "No please... get away!"

Panel 2: Swap is backed up into a pillar with the genocidal human towering above them. In the foreground is the remains of Swap brother's hoodie.

Panel 3: Swap launching bone attacks in self defense while shouting "back away! I don't want to hurt you!"

Panel 4: The genocidal human easily dodges and even slices through the bone attacks.

Panel 5: In the foreground, there is a mystery person watching this go down.

Panel 6: Turns out the mystery person is Error! Who is watching in silence.

Panel 7: Human tries to stab Swap but he grabs their wrist to stop the knife from striking.

Panel 8/8.5: Swap gets desperate and starts to cry out "Core! Dream! Ink!" for help.

Error simply rolls his eyes in an annoyed fashion while muttering "of course he'll call out to them"

Panel 9: Swap cries out for help one more time, screaming "E-error! Anyone! HELP!!" to Error's very much surprise.

Panel 10/10.5: The knife is managing to cut through Swap's shirt, who manages a meek "human please..."

Panel 11: Strings suddenly wrap around the now shocked human.

Panel 12: Error has intervened and is now holding the human hostage above him with his strings.

Panel 13: Swap is in somewhat surprise, muttering a soft "he...he came" at the fact Error actually came to his rescue.

Panel 14: Error is obviously pissed off, demanding a "don't mess with my shit!"

Panel 15 (last panel): Shows zoomed out silhouettes of the three. The human's silhouette is crushed and blood can be seen splurting out of the body. Along with a red soul coming out and shattering.

[crimsonxe]

-cracks neck- Here we go again.

Funny Michel Koch from DontNod says otherwise as well as basic writing where characters that go through what PF went through either get forever bonded or utterly shattered apart with little to no repair possible. They fall into the prior camp based just on what's shown across LiS1, LiS2-Bae, and TC. But that is then reinforced by the aforementioned statement from Michel where he directly states that while there might be bumps in the road for them, they'd ALWAYS come back together. Even pointing to aforementioned ordeal as why they would. Also how you can say that ANY of that was "natural" is beyond me. Chloe would NOT leave Max; Chloe would NOT talk about threesomes with a guy; Chloe would NOT be chatting up Victoria; Max would NOT even in her own head pull the trauma card on Chloe; Max would NOT give up on her relationship with Chloe; Max would NOT be nonstop horny on main. There is nothing natural to it, which is exactly why there's backlash against it by the majority of players in particular long-time LGBT+ fans.

Um "weakest pairs", no its not even close as they are the best of the entire series; where the only ones that come close to matching them is Chenrich and AmberPrice. But those two still don't hit the same level. Funny my mind isn't at all clouded by nostalgia as I've both played and watched others play OG and when I look at their story both when at the center of the story and in the background its STILL the best of the bunch.

Chloe is an asshole and she's fucking VALID for it, hell if anything it sets her apart as a femme character in being that way vs. some version of a "nice girl".

Here's a bit of a heads up, before I go off about the use of "trauma bond" cause I don't think people have a damn clue on the definition of that phrase.

[A trauma bond is an unhealthy emotional attachment that develops between someone who is abused and their abuser]

This does NOT fit PF at fucking all and is an utterly disgusting ass take. They're SOUL-BONDED not trauma bonded.

Clearly your ass didn't bother to actually pay attention, cause there's numerous damn scenes in LiS1 that show Chloe's care towards Max. No, she's not drooling over her or gawking at her cause that shit isn't Chloe. For her its all about the who gets within her walls, which is limited to exactly 2 people: Max and Rachel. What Chloe does for the first half of LiS1 is keeping up her walls, because she knows how bad it hurts when someone hits the soft inner core of her type; even more so given Max having done exactly that in ghosting her. It isn't a lack of interest its a self-defense mechanism to keep distance, while also being focused on the other girl she has a thing for. On top of that there's an entire story for the two that is all around that time period, both before LiS1 proper and even after via the cameos in LiS2, TC, and the entirety of the comics.

No, Chloe having resentment towards Max actually doesn't make a damn bit of sense to anyone that knows her damn character. Not only is she very clearly shown as having absolute loyalty to those that get inside her walls, but she handed that choice/decision to Max after presenting her case for the others. Thank fucking god she did too, because Chloe does the thing most good humans would do in devaluing herself while raising up others. Max is an outside party that holds Chloe as her most important person, thus knowing her value to the world. What actually makes sense is what the comics did, Chloe having survivor's guilt and being filled with a recurring imposter syndrome. Also get your shit straight, Chloe is at peace with either choice that Max makes; she isn't seeking death. She's a girl that has self-value issues and is a good person. Regardless once again the comics covered this topic in a manner ten fold more accurate and in-character than DE's OOC trashfire AU.

I'm actually in the camp of liking BtS, mostly in how it handles Rachel. And this last bit says everything one needs to know. a) you're clearly AmberPrice so wouldn't give a shit about PF's handling and b) wouldn't mind having basically Chloe and Max made into Rachel's that have name-tags for those characters slapped on. Rachel would leave Max; Rachel would pull a trauma card; Rachel would talk about threesomes with guy; Rachel would be horny on main; Rachel would chat up Victoria; etc. Meanwhile I'm someone that likes both pairs in their own ways and I respect all the characters as their own people, not wanting two overwritten by the third cause she's more to Decknine's preference (a femme lipstick bi that is very much traditionally attractive).

Once again Michel Koch one of the fathers of LiS as a franchise and specifically LiS1, says you're dead ass wrong.

Oh yes, one line about wanting to move forward that's surrounded by uttery shit writing totally makes it great. Like no, it COULD have been good; but it was done in an absolute dog shit manner. MAX should've been the one leaving w/ it being ONSCREEN and in a player choice that either does a separation or a full-break; the entire threesome bullshit can be tossed out; Max pulling the trauma card can hit the trashcan; the shitty ass new romances can hit the curb; the focus can be put on Max dealing with her trauma over the course of Caledon events; that then leads into a reconciliation in the "separation" chosen path.

The comics had Chloe supporting Max going out to find her proper place in the multiverse with the hope that it'd bring her back to her in the LiS1-Bae branch; which it did. Chloe has survivor's guilt not resentment. The comics do everything that DE attempts to do but actually good and accurate to the characters that DE fails at. Also Emma the writer for the comics has gone on the record to state that the comics are a canon within the multiverse of canons, so they're as canon as anything else. On top of that DE can definitely fuck the absolute hell off of any kind of main canon ground, instead its an AU Decknine branch rotting away due to the inept writers. They basically even gave the basis for people to do exactly that by their changing the LiS2-Bae picture from green-hair Chloe aka actual true main canon LiS1-Bae one to a blue-hair abomination written by someone without a clue about the character. Now setting that aside, yes AmberPrice-Chloe does go into that territory because once again Emma actually is a fan of LiS1 and its characters; unlike the DE narrative team. Its funny how your ass ignores that the comics navigates things to having Max dealing with her trauma and insecurity with where she belongs in the multiverse to come back to Chloe ready to move forward together. There is no new love interest that is clearly a femmed up Chloe knockoff; there is no tone of "we're doing this better than DontNod" that DE is sopping with; there is no character assassination of the two main & iconic characters of the franchise.

As for Max keeping things that remind her of, keeping pictures of, and journaling to Chloe, you mean like someone that's in love with another person; cause that's exactly what that translates as.

You clearly don't have a damn clue about the characters, no investment in them, and are wanting to run defense for this trashfire of a game. The fact that your ass bends over backwards to keep saying "they could still be friends", like absolutely fuck off with that shit. If Decknine wants to salvage this trashfire of bullshit that's disrespectful to DontNod and LiS1, they'll actually bring in a writer like Emma to fix the shit that they screwed up; take back the character assassination done to Max and Chloe; and give players the damn option to reconnect PF even in this rotting AU branch. Thankfully it is just that, an AU branch while DontNod's main timeline still has green-hair Chloe and Max touring galleries and living their best damn life together. DE's bullshit can continue to be dunked on and trashed as the bullshit it is; no matter how much ones like you want to try to defend it.

the pricefield breakup was good

just finished double exposure and while the game had many flaws i entirely disagree with one of the biggest complaints i’ve seen both before and after the games release: the pricefield breakup. in fact, the pricefield breakup is my favorite part of the game and one of the most fascinating character writing decisions that defined a lot max’s character for me…so here’s my essay on why max & chloe could never work long term, the breakup was incredibly natural, and how its the only way for both of them to move on. don’t bother reading of course if you don’t want to hear any of these opinions <3 

to start off the bat (and this will be the paragraph people hate the most): max & chloe are one of the weakest lis pairings (and again this is obviously all my opinion). they honestly never even had that much chemistry to me and i probably never would have shipped them had the game come out later but since the game came out when it did and it was the first gay game i’d ever played and they were like the only gay rep i knew it was brilliant & i think nostalgia for this clouds a lot of what people see when they think of pricefield but objectively they never make sense as a pairing to me and i find their scenes together quite awkward or boring. chloe is an asshole to max throughout the whole game (and i am a huge chloe supporter, i understand absolutely where all of her anger and issues were stemming from and it made sense!) and max is either a pushover who just lets her do it or like entirely indifferent to it/ignores it i guess depending on how you play; and max is shitty too i mean we know she ghosted chloe for years and then went back to blackwell for like a month or whatever without ever looking up chloe and who knows if she ever actually would have. which like max doesn’t have an obligation to do that but she clearly wanted to after she meets chloe again and then she spends so much of the game thinking about how chloe replaced her with rachel when max left first and trying to just slot herself back into the exact spot she left (also chloe did not replace her anyway they were entirely different relationships). (unrelated but this is why i hate when people have max add her name to the wall in the junkyard hide out lol) max spends the entire game watching chloe die in several different ways and trying desperately to keep her alive which has got to make a crazy trauma bond/attachment and honestly aside from one or two very obviously written “gay” scenes chloe barely registers as romantically interested in max to me (which…yeah chloe is spending the whole game going through a lot of stuff!) right up until the end where chloe realizes how hard max has been trying to keep her alive/max has been helping her with all the struggles she’s having this week/backing her up with her family drama etc during a time where chloe doesn’t really think anyone cares about her…which i don’t know again seems like a trauma bond to me! and then max sacrifices an entire town for her? of course they get together. you also have to remember that this game takes place during like the WORST week of these two young girls lives it’s just crazy to me how people define their entire relationship/personalities by this time period 

also like i know a lot of LIS fans don’t love BTS because its a different studio and the original LIS writers never wanted a prequel & that for some reason a lot of LIS fans think rachel is the devils fucking spawn BUT thats a different argument (bts being my second favorite game & rachel my third favorite character) but after watching chloe in bts (still with Issues and trauma but less heavy and more shared) and seeing her fall in love with rachel there i could never see her with max the same way

also to be clear i’m not saying at all that i think max & chloe don’t care for each other deeply; i do believe they love each other my argument is just that this relationship could never really last long term and mostly stemmed from the trauma they were going through which brings me to the main part:

max & chloe breaking up makes perfect sense for their characters, especially the reason given as well. chloe telling max that she wants to move forward and live in the future but max is always looking to the past- this single line sold me on the break up immediately i found it fascinating! max does live in the past! its her entire power! her entire game is about rewinding over and over to make the perfect moment etc. max’s character is constantly being brought into question when it comes to how she uses her powers even when she only ever tries to use them for good reason (in particularly i really like the subtle way the comics handled this too, BY CHLOE, but i know not everyone likes the comics either and they’re obviously not canon to the games since they contradict double exposure lore as well. but in the comics an alternate timeline chloe criticizes max on how reflexively she uses her powers to save/help people without considering how rewinding a moment affects everyone around them as well- and how sometimes things go wrong but can work out anyway. this is proven by us also following a second timeline without max there to rewind and we see how those characters navigate the issues max erased and in some instances they turn out even better and i like a happier healthier chloe having this perspective).  i feel like the chloe we meet in life is strange is so specific to that one game (she is going through so much active trauma and it is literally like the worst week of her life) but the pieces of her i’ve seen outside of that game show me how much her character can change when given space to breathe so i don’t think its fair to hold her to just that week. i can very easily see how chloe would want to put everything behind her and try to fully move on/away from everything that has happened and this being the only way she feels she can move forward- similarly how max could spend everyday stuck living with the choices she made and the effects its had on her, how much harder it is for her to separate and move on. 

i also think it makes perfect sense that chloe could grow some resentment towards max for her mothers death- i’m sure chloe wouldn’t act on this but i can see them both knowing it’s there and chloe not really being able to help feeling it. i mean chloe really is fully accepting of her death in life is strange and its max who makes the choice to keep her alive (and yes it’s shitty of chloe to make it seem like a choice at all but that’s also just like…the game having to give the player a choice too). chloe has to live with knowing her mother and everyone she knew died so she could live and max has to live with knowing she directly made that choice and both of them have to just…know and live and think about this everyday they’re with each other how can they move on? is that not suffocating? with some space they can at least maybe start to really separate from it 

i also think chloe’s implied insecurities around max rewinding parts of their relationship also make sense to be honest…max spends the entire game trying to fix every interaction to be the right one like i KNOW she would rewind mistakes because i DID that as her; and maybe you can say max would never use her powers again after the storm but to be honest i don’t think thats true…i think she would never redo grand scale things again (except i guess she does in double exposure) but i just don’t know if i believe she could resist the temptation to keep her and chloe’s interactions perfect- at least in the beginning. i’m not saying she DOES but i GET it- i understand chloe’s paranoia (if it is just paranoia and not fact) because i don’t think i could trust either because i also understand MAX. max who killed an entire town for chloe & their relationship- wouldn’t you feel like you had to keep doing everything in your power to make sure it works? to keep it good, to keep chloe happy?  it’s a really complicated feeling for both of them i’m sure

and i think chloe is right when she says max is always living in the past because we literally see her doing it during the game. she’s still journaling to chloe, she keeps chloe in her wallet & on her wall, we keep having flashbacks to arcadia, max keeps a box of arcadia with her (even though we know she’s also been traveling/on the road most of her adult life), she’s never discussed any part of her past with her friends, her photography focus is about the lonely and abandoned. the entirely of double exposure is about max learning how to really stop living in the past and the harm it could do (through what happened to maya and safi and how its still happening four years later because no one ever really dealt with it etc) and that’s why this undercurrent and the pricefield breakup is my absolute favorite part of this game and the best part of it

i also think it’s really worth pointing out what a lot of people seem to have missed (in the complaints i did see); max & chloe didn’t have some horrible explosive ending and they hate each other forever now and the two are forever ruined or whatever…chloe simply saw she could never truly move forward with max and maybe more importantly she saw max could never move forward with her (how could max move forward from the worst choice she’s ever had to make in her life when she’s also sharing a bed with it?) chloe still loves and cares for her, max still loves her, they could be on friendly terms very easily- in fact i think the only reason they don’t talk right now is because of max (which is for the best during this time i think anyway) and chloe would be absolutely open to their friendship whenever max is ready. chloe wants the best for both of them & chloe’s text at the end of the game proves she’s still thinking of max & open to talking again whenever max is. max also has feeling by the end of the game that’s ready to really start moving forward from arcadia now and one day she will be ready to confront chloe again and i think whenever that happens the two will be really good friends again- like they always were.

[mokutone]

page 1 (you are here) | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | page 5 | page 6 | page 7 | page 8 | page 9 | page 10 | page 11 | page 12 This is one of the earliest multi-page comic ideas I had, I drew out the sketches for this comic over a year and a half ago. It took a while to actually get around to making this, but at the same time in some ways, it's been very easy to make this comic, even if my understanding of these characters has changed and grown with time. I was considering posting this comic all at once, but tumblr woudln't let me put all pages on one post, and I fear that the authorial image descriptions would become hard or cumbersome to read all in one post. Maybe one day I'll compile it into a proper little pdf.

image desc below readmore

ID: A traditionally inked, digitally colored comic. Panel one is solid darkness which extends across the top of the comic from end to end. "Please don't react badly," says a crumbling, square speech balloon from Tenzō. Immediately overlapping it is a wavering speech balloon from Kakashi, which leads into the second panel. The second panel is also darkness, but it is smaller, contained, does not spread the width of the page. "—Tenzō!? What are you doing in my apartment? Weren't you on a mission with another cell?" In the third panel, colored in dark reds, oranges, and yellows, we see Tenzō curled defensively around himself, wearing his Anbu gear, clutching a bandaged arm. His speech balloons follow the general curve of his body, as though he's trying to make a second defense of his words. Tenzō says: "This is bad. I know. I'm asking something terrible. But I don't...I can't..." In the fourth panel, we have a low view, looking up at a backlit Kakashi, warm yellow light pouring in around him, his body in shadow. He's standing stiffly. "Can't what? Tenzō, what's wrong?" He asks. The fifth panel is silent. Close on Tenzō's blank Anbu mask where he sits huddled. The sixth panel, Tenzō turns, mask and all, away, hunching even further in on himself, raising his shoulders around his mask. "I'm sorry," he says. /end ID

[athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit]

Of Ice and Blood

Part 2

Hello there! I present to you, part 2 of my orc x fem!human series!

I still don't know what to name this fic of mine

I should've thought about the title in the first place lmao

Anyways! I'll try updating constantly if I can. Enjoy reading!

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Cursing, lots of cursing. Mild violence and mentions of injury.

UD 01/10/21 : CLEANED AND PROOFREAD PROPERLY (hey I did my best)

(reference to the mask she's currently wearing //her hair is still braided// )

*

Even with the tedious introduction the professor was on about, I couldn’t help but pick up the whispers of my human classmates, and the unmistakable nasty odor they were giving off.

“Hey. Look at that orc over there.”

“Tsk. Beast. Why is it even here—”

“I bet it’s gonna get suspended from breaking someone’s arm.”

“It looks like he’s gonna kill somebody soon.”

Snickers and clicks of disgust went around the group.

The professor shushed them, not quite knowing what they were talking about before he moved on.

I cursed, feeling my blood boil from their words. The orc wasn’t even doing anything! And they slander him like that? I would love to break their fucking ne—

No, damn it! No violence! Mama will go crazy if she finds out I broke someone’s spine. Behave and endure. Remember your training.

...but seriously though, I'm going to fucking snap their legs. Nah, perhaps use pepper spray on their eyes until they go blind, even though the mixture inside my spray bottle wasn’t made to have permanent effects on someone, but it would still cause great discomfort.

I hugged my backpack, the thought of my dusters inside somehow comforting.

I didn’t notice Tai'chi was taking glances at me out of concern while I was imagining how I’d smash those jerks’ faces.

************************************

My mind wandered around the interaction by the gates earlier, and how... contradicting... it was when I entered the building.

Everything passed like a blur as I continued daydreaming about other things, hardly paying attention to what everyone else was saying. Plus it takes a lot of concentration to survive their pungent scents.

A bell rang, bringing me back down to Earth. It was lunchtime already.

Everyone seemed relieved as they started filing out of the area and headed towards the cafeteria. [a/n: Ooh that rhymed] I failed to see the lingering glances of barely masked distaste in our direction.

I glanced at the or— Tai'chi, whom I found out was looking at me already, stunning me at how he stared for a moment before I broke eye contact and stood up, which he also did. I almost fell back down my chair when I scented him.

Wha—

How the fuck did I not smell him before?!

I must’ve focused too much on the awful odor surrounding me that it didn’t register this—

This, oh my God.

To describe it, it was simply so— manly (or is it Orcish?). Like the scent of fresh earth and the warmth of a fireplace in the midst of a cold night. Embers crackling and sending sparks up into the sky.

He doesn’t smell one trace of a beast at all! In fact, I’ve never smelled someone so clean, so pleasant, all the while exuding masculinity, and was that a tad hint of vanilla?

For the first time in a while, I couldn’t place what the feeling was exactly. He simply smells so— good. Which is a positive sign?

I looked up to his eyes once more before I blurted out, probably a little too high-pitched;

“Lunch?”

Seriously? That’s what comes out of your damn mouth?

“I mean, do you want to go grab some lunch? At the cafeteria?” I clarified to sound normal and unaffected, (even when I clearly am).

Was the last part necessary? You’ve broken noses, dealt painful blows like a skilled warrior, but you’re embarrassing yourself.

I was busy reprimanding myself that I nearly missed what he said.

"Sure.”

He straightened up, and I was then faced with the reality of how damn tall he is. Or is it because I’m short? I barely reached over 5 feet, and he is standing there, almost three heads taller than me. Was he hunching for my sake earlier?

Wowie…

I scented a hint of pride, and was that a small quirk of his lips for a second there?

Huh. My mask is a lifesaver, or else he would've seen my jaw dropping.

I followed him out and headed straight for the campus’ cafeteria, all the while trying to converse here and there.

****************************

'Trying’ was not the right word.

Definitely not.

It was surprising, how easy and nice it was to talk to him. I could scent his apprehensiveness when I talked to him at first, but he relaxed not long after I introduced myself properly.

It felt... natural.

I learned that he came from the Northside of the country and moved to the city last year to pursue his dreams and to find a better future for his clan. I also told him about my family and home, along with my reasons for being here, leaving out the… violent part.

“My family and my entire clan wanted the best for me and my brothers. Up in the North, education is… very limited. Although ever since we were young, we were taught everything from our clan’s history, how to hunt for food, what herbs and plants were poisonous, what were medicinal and edible, how to stay alive, survive and so on.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“But we were cut off from the modern world. Times are changing, fast. Global warming being a major problem, leaving a huge impact on our living. So, when my clan heard about a school in the city, open to all races, they turned to us, the youth, and we took this chance.”

I looked down and thought about how disconnected the others were, only given the freedom to modern society eight years ago. Eight years is a long time, but I guess it’ll take more than that for everyone to get used to the change. That doesn’t mean they should treat them poorly!

As I realized I’ve been quiet for a while, I shot up and apologized for not replying.

“No, it’s okay. You looked like you were in deep thought. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Y-yeah… I was—”

“Thinking about how the majority of the human race still see us as beasts?”

There was a bit of spite in his voice, although barely noticeable. Or was it because I caught a whiff of it? No one was paying much attention to us while we were walking. But I noticed many of them hastily stepping aside and felt their glares at my back.

“How did you know?” I asked, curious.

“I could tell from your- I could tell, from the way you frowned earlier when one of those humans said something.”

Oh. He was looking at me that time?

“Frowned? But my mask—”

“It’s easy to tell if you are frowning when your eyebrows scrunch up like that. Believe me, my father does that a lot.”

“Ah. Well. It was just very rude of them. To talk shit about you and your kind like that, as if they were any better. You weren’t even doing anything, and they judge you based on your race. Orcs are civilized and intelligent just like any other, and I don’t understand why there’s still so much prejudice after eight damn years—”

I stopped and restrained the urge to go wild and curse every single human who smelled so foul every time we pass by.

“Sorry. I was...rambling.”

Was I this talkative? Maybe it's because I never had anyone to talk to.

He didn’t reply, which I found strange, so I glanced over at him and saw his eyes wide open and brows shooting up in surprise. It was almost comical.

“Uh, Tai'chi?”

Before he could even utter a word, we arrived at a huge hall where students were chatting and enjoying their lunch. Still, I noticed some humans were giving unkind looks to a gathering of goblins eating at the far left side corner of the cafeteria.

And of course, I didn’t fail to smell that wretched odor coming from a group of girls on my right when we walked in. I also recognized the one who pushed me, (No doubt it was intentional). I had to pinch my nose over my mask just but I could only block out half of it.

Ah shit, this mask doesn’t have proper air filtration.

I groaned as I tried to cut off the noise and thickened scents. For real, I wasn’t expecting it to be this harsh! I could literally smell discrimination and hate in the air!

Fuck. I should’ve worn my other mask. I swear I’m gonna burst if I stay and inhale more of that any longer—

“Pearl, are you okay?”

I groaned again and didn’t reply, busy controlling my sense of smell to even open my mouth. We were standing there like a pair of street posts, blocking a small part of the main entrance. That is if there was a 5ft- tall post. I’m more like that foldable caution sign.

“Pearl—”

“Hey, you there! Freaks! Move out of the way.”

Great. Another awful fucking odor. And what a coincidence! It was the one I smelled this morning!

“Are you deaf? I said—”

He shouldn’t have grabbed my shoulder, shouldn’t have tried to shove me aside, for the second I felt his hand reaching for me, and before Tai'chi could pull me away, my reflexes kicked in.

What did I do exactly? Oh, I simply grabbed that damned arm of his, threw him over my shoulder, and slammed him down on the tiled floor in front of me, finishing a one-arm shoulder throw.

The people in the area halted what they were doing and a short-lived silence came over, broken by whispers.

So much for keeping a low profile.

The guy I just performed basic self-defense on was spitting curse words at me. He was still on the floor, trying not to voice the pain in his back.

“Freak! You’re a monster, aren’t you?! How dare you do this to me. Don't you know who I am?!" he yelled.

Did he mean me or? Either way, what he said was not true.

I tried to calm my anger down and gave him a forced smile, under my mask, and mustered up the voice and tone I always used when I’m annoyed.

But right now, I am pissed.

“Now, dear, fellow, human, what you said was clearly untrue. I am entirely human and this person beside me is an orc. Or were you blinded by your overgrown ego and disgusting attitude to see the obvious in front of you? Surely that must be it. The entrance to the cafeteria is wide enough for two people to not serve as a hindrance to the ones coming in, but still, you chose to try and shove me aside yourself. Well, I won’t apologize but I’ve had enough pushing for one day. And lastly, no, I do not know you and I don’t care.”

I gritted my teeth, my face hurting from smiling forcefully. The cafeteria was quite silent enough all the while and no doubt they heard every word I said.

Fuck.

I twisted around and bolted out of the building.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! I blew it! Fucking blew my chance to have a normal college life! Now everyone will think I’m some crazy person and would, without a doubt, avoid me forever.

I was too busy cursing and walking away, planning to hide in a hole for all eternity that I didn’t feel the presence of someone following me.

Without thinking much of where I was heading, my feet led me to a secluded part of the uni. Tall trees lining up before and around me looking like an entrance to a forest, and so I tried hiding behind one. Hoping that the guards wouldn’t notice and detain me or something.

I sat down between the great roots of an oak tree and rested my head on top of my knees as I took deep breaths and listened.

Nature always had a place in my heart. How could it not? When you can hear the chirps of little birds, the soothing sound of leaves rustled by the wind. And the peace that comes with it all.

Not to mention it smells so relaxing.

“Hello there.”

************************************

Haha! What will Pearl do next I wonder, and who is this person who followed her??

Had to cut it off at that part because my dearest self just loves cliff hangers—

And because I wanted to post something as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed! I will be working on the third part asap.

Tags: @kokokatsworld @crackinanutshell

[peanut-ridley]

Audrey, 14, she/her, I love my small group of friends, my pet cat, and I love to draw. My favorite color is yellow, and I like creating characters and worlds, and hope to make a webcomic someday. I also play dungeons and dragons every week. I'm pan, so any genders. ❤️

Hey Audrey, here you are!

Hogwarts House: The hat had a difficult time with you. Your creativity and sharp mind made Ravenclaw an option, but your soft heart and warm spirit said Hufflepuff. Your adventurous nature said Gryffindor, but your ambitions and drive beckoned towards Slytherin. In the end, the Hat picked Slytherin. You were originally dismayed at this, but upon meeting your housemates and truly getting to know them, you grew to be proud.

Wand: Acacia, 13 ¾ inches, Unicorn tail feather. A most unusual combination. Acacia wood is notoriously temperamental and bends to the will of a fair few. They are rarely in stock because they rarely leave the shop. Unicorn tail hair is known to be a consistent and reliable core. When the wand chose you, Mr. Olivander was mightily impressed. The wand bonded very strongly very quickly.


Pet: A beautiful black and white cat with long fur.


 Hogwarts Era: Next Generation

Friends: One day when you were drawing in the library, Molly Weasley (II) cleared her throat and explained that with the proper charm, you could bewitch the drawings to move about the page. From then on, you grew to be inseparable. Scorpius Malfoy didn’t do much speaking your first year. Second year, he was a little less quiet. Finally, third year, you became pretty close. And quite a trio you made.


Relationship: With the confidence that came with being sorted into a house known for cunning and ambition, you were very suave when you asked out Lily Luna Potter. To your delight, the feisty girl agreed to a date. Molly and Scorpius probably high fived that their master plan had worked.


Quidditch Position Keeper


Occupation:

After Hogwarts, you write a wildly popular graphic novel. It ends up being popular in muggle circles, too. Though the muggle copies lack the ability to move around the panels.


Best Class: Flying


Worst Class: Defense against the Dark Arts.


Specialty Spell: Along with your loyal and inquisitive wand, you master the charms required in bewitching comic strips, and bring your captivating stories to life.

Voila! Thanks for playing :)

Want your own Harry Potter story? Come send me an ask with your Name, Age, Pronouns, tell me a little about you, and which gender(s) you date!