#anyways i need to hatch the rest of the eggs and decide what to name her

[adhdvane]

i hit ‘a’ when the “oh?” came up and then picked my phone up to respond to a text and when I turned back asdlkfjsdgs, Shiny and a Girl?! (and in the foreign dad’s moon ball instead of mom’s healball, was excited to see which ball the shiny i’d get end up in.) she was egg 203 so i still have 37 in the boxes i need to hatch...

[jeeaark]

in a timeline where the illithid invasion never happen, a world where the absolute never existed, what would greygold's life be like? or maybe even lae'zel's? a world where they stumble upon each other without all the destruction around them.

The funny thing is.

Without squids trying to ruin their life, Greygold would have never discovered the power of friendship

Worse even, they'd still be a dispassionate lone ranger with questionable bird ethics surviving the wilderness and living off raw eggs like a weirdo.

Meanwhile, Lae'zel is still a Vlaakith devotee and if they stumble upon each other without a plot to drive them to work together and get to know each other... Bad things would happen! Someone would probably die. Most likely Greygold. But! Lets say. A plot did happen.

Buckle up buckaroos. This train thought went off the rails enough that I had to draw pics. Faster than writing out a 13k+ fic (for me anyway).

Let's say Greygold got the 'steal the githyanki egg ' job from Esther. Let's say they succeeded in sneaking in and out without too much of a fuss (mostly involving cat familiar distractions). And something Unfortunate happens before Greygold could complete the quest, leaving Greygold with an egg that eventually hatches:

And the githyanki child is not your average run-of-the-mill space lad either (Who loves eating raw eggs now too. It's fine. Builds character. Probably) But uh yeah, that whoosh accidentally cosmos-signaled all the githyankis and Vlaakith to which she reacts with a 'Wtf? Did anybody just get Prince of the Comet vibes from that? With a "I love egg" aftertaste? No? Just me? Hrm.... I do currently have a lot of free time on my hands....Fetch me that child. I want to study him like a bug. I'm suddenly feeling... Creatively ambitious with a side case of nefarious today. Might bury an old big secret if that kid is replacement-viable.' Thus search patrols investigate-

And never return.

After the first surprise patrol disaster, Greygold has been putting their danger ranger skills to good use via setting up counter-ambushes for all the constant surprise attacks. Classic "who is hunting who?" ordeal.

Nonetheless, there is more of them than there is of Greygold, so they resort to hiding in the Underdark after realizing the githyankis don't have dark vision and it's more environmentally dangerous than the surface. It is also a fun learning experience for the kid. Search patrols continue to never return. Until-

Lae'zel can't help but notice her mission orders do not add up and her rationality has a mighty need to make sense of it before solving problems with immediate hostility. Meanwhile this has been Greygold's first super tiny dose of kindness involving people interactions in years. Instant crush. Chase Shenanigans Ensue. Until child makes their first hunting trap. Instead of catching food, Lae'zel is captured. It also turns out the over-the-top trap involves sinking sand and a nest of Ankhegs (giant burrowing man-eating bugs). Greygold tries to help Lae'zel. For Reasons.

Something akin to mutual respect is formed. Stuck working together. Get to know each other. Discuss contradictions with mission. Verdigris worms his way into Lae'zel's heart (as much as she loathes his name). Escape the Ankheg nest which had terribly escalated because a giant fire ant invasion decided to overrun the ankheg nest at the same time.

Everyone is covered in bug guts after this.

Something something bond over experience enough to trust and listen to each other's opinions. Short Rest. Negotiate. Discuss plans to investigate Da Truth together. Shenanigans Ensue. Then Bad Shenanigans Ensue. Argument Ensues, resulting in Lae'zel Splitting Off. Verdigris disagrees with this approach and chases Lae'zel in order to bring back. Unanticipated Ambush happens at most inopportune moment. Greygold is Captured.

But they escape. Not before confronting Vlaakith's projection and discovering her plans and secrets thanks to one extremely curious Verdigrisgold (Verdi for short omg so long) with ridiculous super psionic powers.

And then they coincidentally interwovenly meet/save/recruit their bg3 companions anyway because there are no mindflayer abduction to stall certain ill-fated situations from happening to certain Companions-to-be and I need for them to be OKAY. So. Greygold discovers the power of friendship again. But is also now co-parenting a fate-of-the-githyanki-freedom child with Ex-Vlaakith-devotee Lae'zel. How's that for an AU timeline?

[thedovesaredying]

I just wanna say hi and also ask if you have pictures of your chickens bc I love chickens

I'm glad to see more chicken lovers out here! I'll have to put the pics under the cut because my current count is 31 chickens and I have waaay too many pictures of them, so I've tried to be somewhat selective.

I actually breed Gold/Blue Partridge Brahmas on the side because where I live the nearest breeder of brahmas in general is about a 2 hour drive inland and there's a fair demand for them since they're much less likely to get taken by hawks due to how MASSIVE they are.

Anyway, floofy babies below!!

This is my sweet girl, Buttercup, a Speckled Sussex. I have near enough every different Sussex colour under the sun lmao. Pale, Silver, Buff, Coronation, and Platinum. They're named Crystal, Salt, Pepper, Ivory, and Gracie respectively.

This is Gracie, the Platinum Sussex I mentioned. She is the LOUDEST girl known to man. She has many opinions and need to make sure they're known!!! Will come and stand outside the back door and shout into the house for attention.

This is Cricket, my Plymouth Rock hen. I named her Cricket because when she was a little newly hatched baby, she would cuddle up in my hand to fall asleep and start trilling/purring. The sound was exactly like the sound of a cricket chirping.

Maisie, my fluffy little Easter Egger girl. She lays bright blue eggs, and her sibling Bean, lays bright green ones.

My head rooster and main breeding male, Sergeant Major. This image doesn't really do him any justice, but he's absolutely massive, both height wise and because of how broad he is. He has balls of steel and fears nothing. Magpies try to swoop him? They're the ones that have to swerve to avoid colliding with him, because he doesn't move for nobody. He's a big baby for his mamma tho, he lets me pick him up and carry him around like a toddler lmao.

A terrible picture, but it gives you a good idea of how large he is, even though he's smaller than Sarge. This is my second in command, Stevie McQueen (named after the actor in The Great Escape, since as a chick he could and would find a way to escape his enclosure). He might be large, but he's smart enough not to mess with Sarge, so he gets along well with the rest of the flock.

Bluey!! The roundest of girls!! She's a little anxious around humans she doesn't know, but she's so, so very gorgeous. Went through a major molt recently, and is looking a bit scrungly, but here she's looking lovely uwu.

Blondie, one of the roosters from my hatch last November, I decided to keep because he's such a sweet, gentle boy. He's a mix of Brahma (from Sarge) and Pale Sussex (Crystal), but because his mum had some sort of gigantism mutation, he has also outgrown both of his parents and is only 7 months old!! Afraid of his own shadow.

This is Smokey, another of the babies from November. Stevie is her dad and Bluey is her mum, so she has fluffy, round genes from them both lmao.

Froggy!!!! My darling baby girllll!!!!! Another of the November babies, one of the purebred brahma hens. She would've been an excellent show bird, but sadly was born with two of her toes on both feet fused together, forcing her to hop around, hence the name Frog. We corrected the issue so she can now walk correctly now, but her feet aren't good enough to be used for showing or breeding, so we're just keeping her as a pet. She thinks she's a human too, and demands entrance into the house for kisses and hugs ever night. She won't go to bed at night without behind held for a good while and told what a good girl she is.

Bonus pic of Froggy as a tiny baby being snuggled by my mum. Just look at that sweet baby girl and tell me you could say no to her.

[that1nkyone]

Mamook Pear

(So, I have a lot of little backstories for my Warrior of Light. Ash'li Jinjahl had humble beginnings - and his Mum, Ashul Jinjahl, is a big part of it. She's a rowdy lady with seven children, whom she's affectionately named her Seven Hells.

Ashul's also full of stories about her children. And this is one such story I heard her yammering about in my head all day yesterday - and it turned into a little exercise in dialogue. I picture an Irish accent of sorts as she speaks. Imagine she's telling this one to the Scions while Ash'li's burying his head in his hands.

Anyway, enjoy this silliness)

--

"Did I tell you the time when Ashi here was adopted by a chocobo?"

"Ashi's already told you some of it? No, I'm going to tell it. I tell it the best way - we're doing this. We're starting from the beginning. Sit back down, Ashi.

"Alright, so, this was when Ash'li was about five summers old. He wasn't quite talkin' yet. Now, this might surprise some of you, but Ash'li likes chocobos. Shocker, I know. Well, he's liked chocobos since he was old enough to walk around and wander up to the stables. You know the one in Bentbranch, in the Shroud? Everyone knows that one.

"It was actually handy! You know how sometimes you bribe kids to do what they don't wanna do? Even Koh - that's one of my girls, Koh - would prompt Ash'li down a tree if it meant he got to go and see the chocobos. Worked most of the time, unless he was really grouchy. An' even then, he'd just slide slowly down the tree, scowling.

"Anyroad, one day, I was off helpin' repair one of the fences. Ashi was with me, even though I told him that I was here for work. Didn't care, he just wanted to see the birds.

"Of course, one of the porters decides to bring up the fact that there are some chocobo chicks on the way. And I think, 'oh, that's lovely, we'll have to come back after they've hatched and have a look, Ashi would love that.'

"Now like I said earlier, Ashi wasn't a talker, then. And the older he got, the more he tended to wander where he pleased. So he had a habit of disappearin' on me.

"Which, you know - is the worst when you live in the Shroud. I was too busy appreciatin' how quiet Ashi was compared to the rest of my kids that I didn't stop to consider how bloody stressful it is to have a quiet child wander off and vanish on you. That's how you know he was one of my Hells.

"Anyroad - Ashi heard the words 'chocobo chick,' and decided he needed to try an' see one. And he was already mad about chocobos, so imagine the way he was about chocobo chicks. We're all mad about chocobo chicks, though, don't lie to me.

"So while I'm lining up another board to hammer in, he's ducked through the fence and wanderin' around the inside of the stables. And because he's so bloody small, nobody notices. He's just this little kit wanderin' around with nobody noticin' 'cept maybe a bird or two, and they're probably mindin' their own business.

"And he reaches the brooding yard - nice little place in a stable for a mother chocobo to set up a nest on her own. Because here's some interesting trivia for you - some chocobos are extra protective of their eggs when they're brooding, and they need some space. You get too close, and they'll give you a solid peck or a kick for good measure.

"Now, Ashi doesn't know this. Nobody's told him. But he sees the mama bird and wants to get closer, so he just does. And this story could've ended with him gettin' a solid peck to the head, I know, but this is what happens instead;

"The mama chocobo sees this little Miqo approchin. He's larger than a chocobo chick, but still bloody tiny. And this is a big, broody mama who's seein' a little creature nearby all alone. And I want to know what was goin' on inside that bird's head, because she clearly didn't think Ashi was a threat. More like 'What's this little chick doing on its own? Is it mine? What's it doing out here?'

"And that's when she just reaches on over with her head and just scoots him under her wing, shoving him there for good measure and settles down in her nest.

"Now, I bet you're wonderin' - why didn't Ash'li at least scream for help? Well, Ashi here remembers being startled at first - but you know, under a chocobo wing, it's kinda muffled and quiet, and it's also nice and warm - and those feathers can be pretty soft. Ashi, I remember you sayin' all that - and I also remember you and Jakkra - that's another one of my girls, Jakkra - piecin' together that you just nodded off in there. For an entire bell.

"Oh, you're laughin' now, and I'm laughin', but gods, at the time I was panickin'. There was no sign of you for an entire bell, and I had no clue where you were. The porters were running around, the stablehands were looking - even some of the older chocobos were peckin' about the stables, lookin' for ya.

"And I think you must've heard my yellin' at some point because one of the stablehands sees you poke your head out from under the mama bird's wing. And they start panickin' because this mama bird's been extra nasty to anyone who's tried to check in on her eggs. So they call for everyone, and me, who's been close to hysterics.

"An' at first I think my poor boy's in a dangerous situation - but then I see him all cozy under a chocobo wing, blinkin' at all the drama like it's some shenanigans his siblings are up to, and he's in no way distressed. He's just starin'. And even while the mama bird's pecking and kweh-ing at the stablehand trying to get close, Ashi just occasionally looks at me like nothing's out of the ordinary.

"And at this point I've gone from hysterical panicking to hysterical laughing, because for one, I'm relieved my boy is safe - and two, he seems like he's enjoying himself. I asked you that too, Ash'li - "Are you havin' fun, there?" and he just nods and goes back under the wing after the stablehand starts cursin' with a nasty peck on his hand.

"And I start tellin' off the mama, "That's my baby! What d'you think you're doing?! You've already got one on the way, don't add more to yer plate there!" I'm still laughin', mind you.

"Anyroad, dangerous or not, it was a strange little hostage situation - and it was agreed that we needed to bribe the mama bird into givin' up Ashi. Now, usually chocobos like their greens - good old Gysahl greens and the like - but mama bird wasn't going to give up her chick for any old chow. No, it needed to be the good stuff.

"I remember her givin' some leafy greens a glance. And to her defense, she shrugged off a lot of offers. She even turned away from a Thavnairian Onion. In the end, she finally gets off the nest for two Mamook pears.

"And I was relieved - but I'm scoopin' Ash'li up from the nest, and I'm thinkin' to myself, 'Oh, I was almost rootin' for her - she was willin' to overlook mountains of greens for my boy, but she caves to two pears?'

"And I tell her that - I tell her "Ashi's worth more than two godsdamned pears! Shame on you!"

"But here's the kicker. My nerves are shot at this point, because the next thing that leaves my mouth is "How many pears are ya worth, Ashi?"

"And Ash'li - look, the poor dear's a little disoriented - thinks real hard about this, and then holds up five fingers. And I'm on the verge of tears at this point, going "Oh, five pears! Five pears at least! Ya hear that, Mama Bird!? You shoulda waited for five!"

"Yes, Ashi, I know you thought I asked how old you were. But once his siblings caught wind of this incident, they ran the 'five pears' joke into the ground with him. He was tired of it by the time he was ten, poor dear.

"Anyroad, that's how Ash'li was adopted by a chocobo. And that's also why he makes a face if Jakkra hands him a pear of any kind. You're in on the joke, now.

"If you ask me, though, Ash'li's worth five hundred pears, by now. I see you laughin' there, dear, don't try to hide it!

"Alright, love, I'll stop. Who wants more tea?"

[tavshortfortavern]

So I just finished my first run of the game and got the epilogue scene...

Epilogue Spoilers Below

First of all i would like to say I. fucked. up.

Gale wanted the crown and became a god.

I thought he would stop if I talked him out of it at the end like I did Shadowheart and Laezel. But even voicing my worries didn't deter him. So I went back and did the persuasion check which needed a 30 so only a nat 20 could hit. I just wanted to see professor Gale man. But nope, after spending minutes save scumming didnt change the outcome so it has to be something i could have done earlier.

When he starts getting power hungry is where I realized I messed up. In shadowheart's quest i didnt need to roll persuasion, she came to that conclusion on her own. Laezel might have needed persuasion to get out of that death machine in the creche but not for Voss, you just tell her you've got her back regardless and she accepts the truth. Wyll didn't need persuasion nor Karlach i think. Only Astarion but that's explained by getting lost in the moment and its been revealed that without you there he never bothers to ascend, showing he only wanted that power to protect you and be equals.

This is sad since Gale is the only story i kinda got a bad ending to. Everyone else is happy and got exactly what they needed instead of what they want. They became the best versions of themselves, their true selves. Gale is lost. What we knew of the old gale at least is gone. Its what godhood does in dnd. Ive seen it before. Loosing your humanity or a large part of it is inevitable. Elminsters letter was accurate. Where did that Gale go? I felt like I failed and he was like my bestie too. I didn't need a romance when he was so happy to be around my tav. He was just a lonely guy and we gave him friendship. Now god gale barely shows up, talks down to you and doesn't visit his mother at all. Wizards man. The hubris. The hunger for power. They always break my heart in games man.

He got me bc of his suicidal tendencies. It got emotional for me. Now my Tav distances themselves away from him with polite words, though god gale does that well enough

I wished I could have gone to the hells with Karlach and Wyll. My adveturer Tav hungers for facing new worlds and fights, they would definition not rest until Karlach got her heart fixed. But they romanced Astarion and they prioritised curing his vampirism first. At least they went off to become adventurers. Still in line with my Tav's desires. At least we have hope Karlach can fix her engine when she says they found Zariels forge. Did not expect Ranger Wyll that was my next pick for a rerun! Maybe paladin instead...

Shadowheart was so sweet. She wants to keep in touch with everyone. Though its sad that i heard she would visit gale if he was a professor but now probably doesn't.

ALSO the egg! I was disappointed to hear we wouldn't have any resolution on that. I didn't want to hand it over or even take it but we were gonna murder everyone in the creche since they were hostile and no one would look after it. I was gonna leave it in Laezels inventory so she flies of with it in hopes of a better life. Now she mentions it! She even has a name! Xan. Thank god, cuz the alternative was handing it to the Society and they get murdered after it hatches. (its not gonna happen but I had an owlbear egg that never hatched, game suggest to sell it and has the option to eat it but my druid tav would never. Wish we had mention of hatching it and being looked after by its brother)

Halsin gifted me a duck. Its never leaving my inventory. I headcanon my Tav and Astarion staying in his tree house whenever they need a pause from traveling. Eventually its the place they always return to.

Anyways, next run: be firmer to Gale.

Elminster did say we should be his shepherd. Unfortunately i believed i would have taken on a more supportive role like the other companions in their quest. I don't speak out for them and just encourage them to decide for themselves and not what others want. Its usually how i got the best outcome but not this time. Even Tara is upset we couldn't sway him but admits he didn't want to learn but I know I can do something.

And thats something is spraying him like a misbehaving cat in the face whenever he shows an inkling of craving godhood.

HERES A BOOK OF KARSUS' FOLLY AND SHIT. I WANT A 10 PAGE ESSAY GALE. READ AND DIGEST. EXAMINE. ANALYSE. DRAW PARALLELS. NO MORE NICE TAV. IM CALLING UR MOM *chucks the book at him*

[alicelufenia]

My favorite thing so far about playing a fallen paladin in BG3, at least as far as the start of act 2, is that, Alice obviously knows she's done unconscionable things in pursuit of destroying the Absolute. Much of it on the word of an entity she has little knowledge of. She seriously doubts any further good she does could make up for it. None of her current companions think so, or care one way or the other.

So it feels even more poignant when she continues to try anyway.

She's appalled at the Society of Brilliance's aim to basically kidnap a Githyanki child, thinking to swindle the adventurer. But upon entering the Crèche, and seeing the conditions the children are raised in and Lae'zel confirming this is normal, she decides to at least hear out the caretaker. Only to find the last egg that failed to hatch, and is due for extermination. She even manages to get the blessing of Lae'zel and the Caretaker to give it a better home. It's still trafficking, but she has to feel like she's done something good in all of this.

This extends to when they escape from Crèche Y'llek after meeting the Dream Visitor face to face. She goes out of their way to avoid killing the rest of the Crèche, just the guards outside the inquisitor's chamber, and at the front entrance, because she had to tend to Ellyka's corpse, the last Tiefling she's seen on the road since... yeah.

As for Gale. It would be the easiest thing in the world for her to insist he not go through with his plan to blow himself up. She says so, and sees the doubt in him, sees him wanting to find another way before it comes to that, but already resigning himself to his fate, all for the sake of some god who, as Lae'zel so eloquently points it, "demands Gale's faith, but holds no faith in him."

Except that, if it destroys the Absolute, isn't that what she's been fighting for? Isn't that what she ruined herself to accomplish? To sacrifice whole families for the cause but not one wizard who, by all accounts so far, brought this on himself, would be the peak of hypocrisy, yes? Or is it a hypocrisy she's willing to take on, in the name of not digging herself deeper?

And then there's Minthara, the True Soul she allied with on the hope that the Astral Prism could do something for even someone so far gone as her. When she told her the voice of the Absolute fell silent when she was with her, Alice has kept that hope close to her heart this whole way. It's why she did not betray the Dream Visitor, even when facing a god bent on their destruction. It's how she was able to convince Lae'zel to see past Vlaakith's deceptions, and question her leader for the first time in her life.

And still all of this could be for naught. Already she's made an enemy of the Harpers and possibly Jatheira too, for continuing her cover as a True Soul. The darkness has so thoroughly seeped into her she can command it at will, snuffing out all light around her, channeling sorceries her divine conviction never permitted, even letting the darkness take over to save her from death if need be (Shadow Sorcerer makes a great combination with Paladin, and yes I basically made her a Dark Knight like my ff14 version of her). And for it all she's no closer to destroying the Absolute, only managing to GET close.

All of this is going through her mind even before meeting Z'rell, Ketheric, and Minthara at Moonrise Towers. However this goes, it could still shape what the future holds for her, and what she intends to do.

[rapifessor]

Pokéchronology, Volume II

-~+*◇ Crystal◇*+~-

Day 4

Been looking forward to having the time to play Pokémon Crystal again. Even got my Classic Controller to GameCube adapter, so now I can play it on my Game Boy Player with an SNES Classic controller. Feels way nicer than playing with the stock GameCube controller. Alright, let's do this thing.

Here be Generation II Pokémon spoilers.

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

Route 37

I'm ready to pack up and leave Goldenrod City. But first, I remember the flower shop girl saying something about a Squirtbottle. Sounds like I'll need it if I want to get past that tree thing blocking my way forward. I beat Whitney, which apparently makes me worthy of using said Squirtbottle. It's a little ridiculous if you ask me, I don't see what's so special about it.

I use the Squirtbottle on the tree and all of the sudden it gets up and attacks me! The tree was actually the Pokémon Sudowoodo, which is Rock-type, contrary to its appearance. I make an effort to catch him, but man was he a huge jerk! He's actually pretty strong and he kept knocking out my Pokémon. I had to throw a ton of balls to finally catch him. I REALLY wanted to name him something like "Jerkface," but that would be mean, so I went with a name that sounds posh and jerkish instead: Sigfried.

With him out of the way, I can proceed through Route 37 and make my way to Ecruteak City. Also, the egg I had with me hatched! It was an Elekid, which is really nice actually because I could use an Electric-type. I named her Millie.

I learned pretty quickly that both Millie and Sigfried are... really strong. It wasn't long before Millie learned a powerful Electric move: Thunder Punch.

And Sigfried just has really great stats in general. High HP, Attack, and Defense. He has really good moves that are effective against a lot of different Pokémon. Normal-type Pokémon can't do a thing to him, and he just demolishes them with Low Kick. Rock Throw is great for dealing a bunch of damage and it wrecks Fire and Flying-type Pokémon.

Ecruteak City

This is a pretty interesting place. Ecruteak seems to have a lot of historical significance. The two towers here were once home to two legendary Pokémon, but they left when one of the towers burned down.

There's also a dance theater here, where I challenged the five Kimono Girls to a Pokémon battle. They seem to have some kind of gimmick going on where they all use evolutions of the Pokémon Eevee. Anyway, I beat them all, and was rewarded for my "performance" with the HM for Surf! I can go to a lot of new places with this, I bet.

Next, I check out the Burned Tower. The Tin Tower isn't open to me since I haven't beaten the gym here, but I don't mind having a look around first so I'll worry about that later.

Some guy named Eusine is looking for the legendary Pokémon Suicune in there. I thought the legendaries already left? He seems pretty convinced there's one here though. I decide to have a look myself. Caught a Koffing while I was there, named her Meteora because she looks like a meteorite. Then I run into King Douchebag again.

He doesn't give me too much trouble. Even though his Croconaw is pretty strong, he was easy enough to deal with once Billiam II put him to sleep. I don't even remember much about the rest of the battle; that's how easy it was to win.

Silver goes on his usual post-spanking rant and says I'm a waste of time anyway because I'm not that strong. Bro, you're just mad you haven't even beat me once, pretending you're bigger and badder than me isn't going to make you not suck.

Right as he's about to scurry off though, the floor below me collapses. Oh no, not this again. I'm getting Ruins of Alph flashbacks.

Thankfully it wasn't that scary though... still feels like it almost gave me a heart attack, but there were like three statues of Pokémon down there and they all came alive and just like... ran away. I was more like "uhhhhh, what?" than "nope nope NOPE I'M LEAVING."

Eusine found his way down there too and thanks me because he saw Suicune. I guess he was right, and there were legendary Pokémon down here. It's strange though, I think they were waiting or something. Like those Unown in the Ruins of Alph.

Mahogany Town

I could go challenge Ecruteak Gym, but I think I want to keep looking around and see what else is around. Mahogany Town is to the east, and it looks like I have to head through Mt. Mortar to get there.

Doesn't seem like there's much I can do here, though apparently some karate guy is exploring deeper in the cave. I'd go looking for him if I could.

Instead I just have to exit to Mahogany Town. There's another gym here, looks like the leader is an Ice-type specialist. I bet I could walk right in and clean house, but some doofus is standing in front of the door and insisting that I go sightseeing instead. Seems a little sus... but sure, I'll play along since I want to go see the Lake of Rage anyway.

I'm being blocked off to the east of the town as well, by yet another weird guy who's selling Ragecandybars. They're only 300 Pokédollars, so I bought one, but what the hell is up with all these restrictions? Here I was finally hoping to have a little more freedom in where I choose to go, only to be funneled in a specific direction by a bunch of randos.

Well, I guess the only other place I can go here is the Lake of Rage now. There's a red Gyarados wreaking havoc in there, it sounds like. Though along the way it seems my curiosity got the better of me, because I stumbled into a ROBBERY.

A couple of Team Rocket ass-clowns just extorted me for a thousand Pokédollars because I happened to walk into the wrong building. In what kind of world can't a girl just wander wherever she pleases and not be hassled by losers? I'm gonna beat the crap out of these pricks someday.

After all that nonsense, I only got a peek at the Lake of Rage. I taught Surf to Sally but for some reason she can't use it to take me out onto the lake. I did catch a Farfetch'd along the way, though, who I named Leeko. I think they're pretty rare. But I've reached a dead end again.

Olivine City

So instead I backtrack through Ecruteak and try going west instead to reach Olivine City. I get there after a short trek through Routes 38 and 39.

Silver is there AGAIN, and spooks me because my Pokémon haven't had a chance to heal up since I entered the city. He's not interested in battling me though, spouting the usual garbage about how I'm not worth his time, blah blah blah... Whew, dodged that one. Uh... not that I'm worried I would have lost to him. Shut up.

He mentioned that the gym leader was away though. So there's yet another gym here, led by Jasmine, a Steel-type specialist. Man, these next few gyms oughta be easy! Really glad I've got Pepper by my side.

But I need Jasmine back at work first. She's at the top of the Olivine lighthouse, caring for the Pokémon that used to light it. Things are actually kind of a mess down here because of that. Jasmine needs some special medicine from Cianwood City, but because the lighthouse is out of commission, no ships can sail there.

It seems the only way to get to Cianwood is to Surf there... because of course. Ugh. The only way forward now is to challenge the Ecruteak City Gym, and of all the gyms I know of right now, that's the one I'm most worried about. It sounds like there are a lot of Psychic-types there, and I don't have anything good against Psychic-type Pokémon.

There is one more thing I can check out before I go back, which is the Battle Tower. It sounds like some serious fun and a good challenge. I have no idea if I'm ready for it, but it couldn't hurt to check out.

Well, the Battle Tower is actually divided into several different rooms, each with a level limit. And you can't bring in Pokémon that are above the level of the room. Damn it! All my Pokémon are above level 20, but they're not strong enough that they're necessarily prepared to take on the level 30 room... I was going to do the rooms in order, but I guess I need to go catch some low-level Pokémon to do that. So the Battle Tower is a bust, too. Why am I not surprised?

Ecruteak City Gym

Though my spirits have been dampened over and over again, there's nothing I can do but try the next gym. I tried to fit as many Pokémon with high Special Defense into my team as I could.

Entering the gym, I'm greeted by a trainer with... a team full of Gastly. Oh. So, it's a Ghost-type gym. This will be a lot easier than I thought, then.

Something I noticed as I battled my way through the gym trainers is that their Pokémon would often knock themselves out by using Curse. These total idiots! It was so funny, I couldn't help but burst out laughing every time it happened.

I almost feel bad for all these trainers, they must feel really embarrassed. Then again, looking at them, they don't seem to necessarily have their heads screwed on straight. I can't tell if they're fainting their Pokémon consciously or not.

Oh yeah, there's also this invisible floor thing going on in this gym. I figured out how it worked once I got a hint from the second trainer, but falling into the darkness only to then be falling from the ceiling is really jarring. Adds to the spooky theme, I suppose.

Well, I've made it to the gym leader, Morty. Ah, I just got that. Mort-y. Funny. He has pretty much the same team as all the other trainers, just stronger. And he actually has four Pokémon, that's pretty nice to see. Pepper gets me through the Gastly no problem, but I should have paid more attention because I accidentally let him faint against Haunter. Sorry about that, buddy...

Pepper had left Haunter at pretty low health though, so Sara easily finished him off. At that point she had run out of PP for Mud-Slap though, so I decided it was time for Sigfried to shine. He's got a lot of HP and Attack, and he made short work of the next Haunter with Rock Throw.

Gengar is a bit of a different story. He's much stronger, and he uses Hypnosis to try and put your Pokémon to sleep. His success rate isn't very high though, and all I have to do is use an Awakening so that when Gengar tries to use Dream Eater, it has no effect. Even though Sigfried missed a lot of Rock Throws, we got through the fight pretty easily.

I've earned the Fogbadge and also the right to use Surf, apparently. What's with this system where I my Pokémon can't do certain things without me having the right badges? How is it even possible that a silly badge can give a Pokémon the ability to do things it couldn't before? Oh, there's no use trying to make sense of it anyway.

It's nice to finally meet a gym leader who at least seems competent, even though he also fainted his Pokémon with Curse... and proved to be just as little of a challenge as all the others, with the exception of Whitney, before I figured out her game. Sadly, I doubt that will change soon, since I have two very easy gyms ahead of me.

But, I'm thinking I might try the Battle Tower after all. Maybe I'll be able to get through the level 30 room. If not, well, at least I'll know what I'm up against.

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

I had a lot of fun running around and seeing what different places I could go to in Pokémon Crystal today. I like how this game seems to feel alive because of the time-based events, different things happening on different days and such.

It's so much more immersive than Pokémon Yellow was. Maybe that's why I really want to be able to sit down and be able to play for hours instead of trying to get in some play time when I'm bored at work or school.

Gotta say though, the Battle Tower? Kinda shit, first impressions-wise. The fact that you literally can't use Pokémon that have surpassed the room level is just stupid, why couldn't it have just capped your Pokémon's level? I guess it's to avoid things like fully-evolved Pokémon being too strong, but come on.

It's really frustrating that I have to go out and catch Pokémon with the specific purpose of using them in the Battle Tower, especially when it has floors that are designed to be taken on early in the game. It feels like bad game design. I know it doesn't properly represent the Battle Tower as a mechanic though, as this is the first, unrefined rendition of it.

I do intend to complete the Battle Tower, of course. I'm just thinking it's not worth going to the trouble of getting a team ready to handle the lower leveled rooms right this moment. Like Reuka said, I'll give the level 30 room a go before my Pokémon get too strong.

I'm going to make a beeline for Cianwood next day, definitely. I want that Fly HM, I'm tired of not having fast travel.

[livingdeadmlm]

plsssss any Shane (SDV) content idc if it's spicey, wholesome, edgy, all of the above I need content for himmm. <3 -🫐

Shane x M!Reader

TUMBLR ALMOST DIDN'T LET ME POST THIS BC IT WAS TOO LONG ACK BUT I LOVE SHANE SO MUCH HIS CHARACTER IS AMAZING anyway this is suggestive I got carried away

This morning he woke up before you and made himself some coffee to enjoy some time on the porch

After he finishes his cup of coffee he decides to do some chores

Watering some crops and feeding the many chickens you have running around, as well as the cows, he’ll even pick some fruit or vegetables to bring back to the house for dinner/lunch that day

Sporting a shirt he stole from you at the start of the relationship, his blue zip-up sweater, a pair of sweat shorts, and slippers.

He picked up a basket you found in the many old boxes left by your grandfather

As he grabbed a few oranges from the many trees you had he saw you step out onto the porch

You held a confused look on your face as you scanned the area

Finally, your eyes caught sight of your husband nearby the apple trees now

You ran over calling his name

“Shane! Good morning honey, I was worried when I woke up and you weren’t there.” You laughed as you caught your breath

He adjusted the basket adding a bright green apple to the bunch

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize how long I was out here for.”

You stepped forward the dirt crunching under your shoes your sun hat-tipping to the side

“Aw, it’s fine darling I left you some pancakes and eggs on the table if you want some.”

You admired his face which was decorated by specks of the gentle early morning sun that poked through the tree leaves

“Oh thank you! I’ll eat it when I’m done out here, what do you have planned for the day?”

You switched weight to your opposite foot

“Well, I’m going to head to the mines and get some stone”

Shane hummed, “okay well please be safe okay? I don’t want Harvey calling me that you’re in his office again at 2 AM.”

You laughed “I’ll try.” Your hands rested against his hips

“And what do you have planned for the day?”

He squirmed slightly under your touch attempting to remember just what he has planned

“Oh well, um I wanted to pick a few more oranges so we can have fresh juice tomorrow and then I, heh I wanted to start on lunch for myself I’ll probably just make something small..”

the only thing he felt was your cold calloused hands slipping under his shirt softly caressing his plush hips

“Then I uhh wanted to get sEe robin about expanding the chicken coops! Cause a few babies are ready to hatch soon.”

His voice shook as your hands continued to rub against the soft skin on his sides going slightly higher and higher over time

The calm smile you had on your face made him feel more flushed

You leaned down and peppered kisses trailing down from his jaw to his neck

“And I wanted to have dinner at about, oh god!”

He gasped as the previously soft kisses turned into bites and you sucking at the skin

“Hmm sorry… I was thinking we could hAve stew? I know the potatoes are ready I wanna, god, use those soon!”

Your hat was completely off your head hanging from the string around your neck. his hands reached up to your hair, fingers getting tangled between your locks pulling you closer

His legs felt like they were going to give out on him. The grabbing and the hickies you were leaving on his neck made his vision blur

In a haze, he continued where he left off

“I was thinking mmm starting dinner at 7 or 8?” Your head pulled away from his neck, which caused him to let out a small whine at the loss of contact

Your hands found their place back onto his hips, “I’ll be home by 6 then okay?”

“Do you have to go? I mean the mines aren’t going anywhere! We could go back inside and um continue?”

You chuckled and briefly pressed your forehead to his, “while that sounds amazing and it’s very tempting, to stay and eat you up. Unfortunately, Clint needs about 100 stones for some project and I can’t go back on my commitments.” Your voice slightly dropped, Clint was far from your favorite person in the village but you made a promise

Shane groaned at the mention of Clint.

“Ugh, why can’t he get them himself? Doesn’t he sell stones anyway?” 

“I know you don’t like him but I told him I would by Thursday I promise it’ll be quick and I’ll be right home!”

You finally placed a kiss on his lips that he wish lasted longer

“Alrighty, I’ll hold you to that okay? Be safe in the mines!” While his voice was firm he still had a smile on his face

Your hands let go of his waist as you promised to be safe.

He waved you bye and now he was left to calm down and go about his day normally

What a start to the day huh?

[nightowlfandom]

Noctis Lucis Caelum- Anything For You

CHECK OUT MY MASTERLIST HERE!

More Final Fantasy content....YYYYYYAAAAYY

Leggo

...

“Good girl.” you smiled as the yellow feathered Chocobo ate from your hand. “Eat up, you need your energy.” you scratched the top of her head as she squawked gratefully.

“Y/N are you still here?” the farmhand, Faye emerged from the stables to find you. “Do you not have any other plans?”

“Trust me.” you began to laugh. “I’d much rather scoop up giant bird poops than deal with my personal life right now...or lack thereof.”

“Well isn’t that somethin- Is that the crown prince I see?” she looked past you which made you follow her eyes. “It is?! Prince Noctis on my Chocobo farm. Quick! How do I look?” 

“Like a farmer.” you laughed in reply. “Perhaps get the shit off your boots.”

“Damnit! I should have worn my new ones.” She began wiping the bottoms of her shoes against the grass. 

“Faye, he’s just a prince. I don’t know what’s so great about him anyways.” you rolled your eyes. “He seems like an asshole from what I’ve seen of him.”

“You’ve never even met him.” she put her hands on her hips. “Maybe you’ll like him!”

“Sure, whatever you say, Faye.”  you laughed. “That’ll happen.”

...

“Ugh why are we here anyways?” Noctis rolled his eyes as Ignis pulled up to the famous Chocobo farm.

“Because!” Prompto snapped in reply. The blond male didn’t even wait for the car to fully stop before he jumped out. “The eggs are supposed to be hatching today and I want to be the first to capture a picture of those featherless faces!”

“Of course.” he scoffed. Noctis liked Chocobos, sure. He just didn’t think an idea of a good Saturday morning was to spend the day at a bunch of dirty, smelly, stables, for a bunch of unhatched eggs no less. “Great.”

“I suggest you fix your face, the farmhand is here.” Gladio grunted, hopping out of the car. “Wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Whateve-” Noctis turned his head towards the loud squawking when his eyes landed on you. You were feeding a random Chocobo while talking to that farmgirl who ran the stables. “Woah.” he felt his heart flutter. Who were you?! He heard you laugh from where he was and felt his heart stop. Your laugh, it was beautiful.

“Yo? Who is that girl?” Noctis scrambled out of the car, nearly falling on his face. He tried desperately to fix himself up. “Specs?”

“I believe she frequents the shops not too far from here.” Ignis replied in his usually cool manner. “I believe she is also a friend of that Dino character we run into from time to time.”

“No way. Her?! Friends with that-” Noctis shook his head in disbelief. He found it impossible to walk forward. Gravity was stopping him. He didn’t even notice everyone else walking ahead of him. He had never seen you around before but he wished he had. “Woah....”

...

You were still chatting with Faye when a group of guys ran up. One of them held a camera and looked as if he were about to explode. You had no time to register the camera flash. Good think he captured your good side.

“I AM HERE FOR THE EGGS!” he declared. His abrasiveness surprised you. Was he talking about the new hatchlings? 

“Ummm-” Faye looked scared. “You here to volunteer?”

“Heck yeah I am!” he explosive blonde looked as if he was about to piss himself from excitement. “I WANT TO HOLD YOUR CHOCOBOS!”

“Alright! Keep your pants on. Follow me. Y/N, you’ll be good here right?” Faye asked, seemingly frightened by the giddy young man. 

“Yeah.” you stifled a laugh. “I’ll be just fine here.” you shook your head as the man ran full force for the stables. You were about to go about your business when a black haired boy stumbled up to you. “For a royal, you’re pretty clumsy.” you stifled laughter.

“Huh?!” he looked taken aback. “You know who I am?”

“...I mean aren’t I supposed to?” you turned back towards the Chocobo. “Prince Noctis?” you tried to hold in your distaste, but he caught up on it instantly.

“Is there an issue with me-”

“As a matter of fact there is. Don’t think I didn’t notice that face you were making when you pulled up with your friends.” you cut him off. “Big and bad prince man can’t be seen around a few Chocobos?”

“Oh, no that’s not it at all.” Noctis tried to explain himself in the best way he could. 

“Then what exactly is it?” you turned towards him again. “I mean really?”

“Okay so I admit my attitude isn’t the best-”:

“So you admit it?” you held back harsh laugh. “Hm, It’s a start.” you shrugged.

“I mean, you aren’t really giving me a fair chance. You only know me from the papers.” he explained. “You don’t really know me as a person. For all I know you could be a stalker.”

“I am no a stalker!” you looked him up and down. 

“I wouldn’t know that.” he winked. “So maybe we both have it all wrong.”

“And what do you wanna do to fix that, go on a date or something?” you scoffed.

“Yes!” he replied honestly. “Let me prove I’m not some asshole!”

“Is it that imperative that you go out of your way to prove to me that you aren’t an asshole?” you raised a brow.

“Yes!” he nodded quickly.

...

You boredly sat at the restaurant table. He was late. 15 minutes to be exact. 

“I knew this was a load of-” you prepared yourself to stand up when a man frantically rushed in.

“I’M HERE!” Noctis yelled, grabbing the attention of the other patrons. He practically fell into the chair right across from you. 

“Nice of you to show.” you sat back down. You decided to humor this guy. “Care to explain?”

“Sorry! Stupid Prompto gave me the wrong address and...woah...” he nearly drooled all over the place seeing you in your tight black dress. “You look...amazing.”

“Sure I do.” you scoffed. “I’m sure I still have dried up chocobo shit in my hair,” you turned away from him, feeling your insecurity creep up on you, tons more than usual. “But thank you.” you relaxed in your chair.

“No I mean it! Even when I saw you...I thought you were beautiful.” he expressed.

“Really?” you paused to look him in the eye. 

“Really.” he smiled. “You’re the best looking girl here.” 

“I definitely don’t believe that...but thank you.” you said shyly. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. 

....

“What about that one?” you pointed to a random star.

“That one, there’s a legend that it’s a parallel version of this world.” 

You both sat at the edge of the lake, staring into the moonlit sky. After dinner, Noctis had taken you to the docks on Galdin Quay. 

“No way. “You stared at the star in wonder. “How many worlds do you think there are?”

“Infinite, my dad says so.” Noctis replied. “All different versions of us doing different things.” he smiled to himself. “Maybe there’s a version of me that...is actually proud to be a prince.” he glowered. 

“Maybe there’s a version of me whose the royal instead.” you nudged him. That made him chuckle a bit. 

“If that’s the case...I’d be happy to bow down to you.” he flirted. He looked back at the sky. “Try that one.” he pointed.

“I know that one.” you beamed a little. “There’s a legend called the Lover’s Star, if a couple sees it on their first date...they’ll be together forever.” you mused romantically. It was only then you had realized your fingers had laced into Noctis’s. 

“Maybe today was our lucky day.” he winked. After a second of silence, you decided to confess.

“I was wrong about you.” you said honestly a while. “I think you’re pretty amazing, Noct.” you chuckled. 

“So...” he smiled deviously. “Are ya gonna say I’m sorry?” he mocked.

“You wish. You’re still a stuck up prince to me...you’re just not an asshole prince.” you stuck your tongue out at him. “You’re not like most guys around here.” you shyly looked away from him you dug your toes into the sand. 

“Well I’m not from around here.” he replied. “You’re different from everyone around here. You’re not all into me because I’m The Prince Noctis- that’s all I want. I want someone to see me for who I am...not what I am.”

You shyly kicked your legs in the water, looking at the ripples in the water.. “I’m glad I could be that person for you Noctis.” you smiled.

“Guess this means you’re gonna be part of my team now?” he bit his lip. “You’ll be my...ummm...I’ll think of something.”

“I look forward to it.” you giggled. 

“Hm for now...come here.” he winked, gently holding the side of your face. Noctis kissed you. You felt your senses go off. You instantly grabbed his face, kissing him back.

...

You fell back on the hotel bed, refusing to disconnect from a feverish prince throwing himself at you. He kissed you with urgency, as if you would disappear before his eyes. He tore a rip up your dress hastily. 

Your tongues clashed together as you kissed, the air was getting heavy. You helped Noctis out of his jacket. Your dress had turned to ribbons and your panties weren’t too far behind. 

“N-noctis..” you hissed, feeling his hands explore every inch of your body.

“You feel even better than I imagined you would.” he kissed your bare stomach. “You’re so beautiful.” he moaned. It was like you were the goddess, the royal, and he was the peasant.

You felt shy under his gaze. He stared up at you, biting his lip. “I don’t think I can wait...” he groaned. “A-are you okay with this?”

“God, yes.” you mewled as he kissed your thighs. 

“I wanna worship you.” he moaned, ghosting his lips over your center. You shyly stared down at Noctis who looked up at you with a shit eating grin. 

He sunk his tongue into you, lashing against your pussy. You instantly grabbed a fist full of his hair. You and him both were a mess. Hisses and prolonged moans escaped your lungs along with his name. You were sure the people in the next room could hear you. 

Noctis crawled over you again, a predatory glare in his eyes. He bit his lip, staring down at you. “You’re so fucking cute...”

...

“I’d do anything for you.” he moaned against your lips. “I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life.” he whimpered, his thrusts growing sloppily. He bucked his hips rhythmically, your bodies moving and grinding in sweet friction. His cock twitched inside of you as he grew near his release, but he wanted to wait. He wanted to cum to the sounds of your cries and screams. ”Gonna make you my queen and w-we’ll rule together until our hearts give out baby. F-FUUUCCKK.”

“Noctis.” you croaked. Hearing his words in your ear made you hiss in delight. This alone caused him to dig his nails into your sides and thrust even deeper into your heat. You didn’t know what else do you but let a stream of cries escape your lungs. 

“I love it when you say my name.” he grunted. “Say it again.”

“N-noctis.” your insides lurched as you tightened around his length. “I wanna- I’m gonna-”

“Again.” he barked. “Never stop saying my name. Never say another man’s name!” he sank his teeth into the crook of your neck. “You’re mine, baby. You’re all mine.” he growled.

“Noctisss.” you arched your back. “F-fu-” you whimpered, at the impact. “S-shit!”

Noctis yanked himself from you, spraying his cum all over your stomach. Shortly before, you came too, feeling your water run down your leg. He fell forward, burying his head into your neck. “Baby, I’d fucking do everything for you.”

You shook under his body, whimpering at his gentle touches. You felt him kiss your need lovingly as you both drifted off to sleep.

...

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 136: Long Drive

Sorry friends. The second half of my week last week was really difficult and I went away for the weekend to recharge. Without further ado, here's the next ficlet. Thanks for your patience <3

---------

Harry loved the States for a lot of reasons; it was way easier to disappear here than in England; even if people knew his name, they were way less likely to recognize his face; you could basically pick any climate that you wanted and find a place that suited you; and lots of other weird things.

But mostly he loved road trips.

He loved the entire concept behind getting in a car and just driving. The road unfurling endlessly in front of him, windows down, radio turned up and blaring whatever struck his fancy. With Max in the car beside him, wagging his tail and sticking his head out of the window, Harry felt practically weightless.

"Alright, buddy," he told the pittie when he pulled over to grab some breakfast at a little diner, "You hang out in the back, yeah?" he asked, scratching behind his ears and pressing a kiss to the broad bridge of his nose. "Go on," he said, nudging him toward the back that Harry had magically enlarged and turned into a comfortable living space.

Muggles had campers and rvs but with a little bit of magic, the beaten up Subaru served him just fine.

He got out and hit the lock button, listening to the satisfying little beep as he headed toward the diner, catching up his curls and tying them into a loose messy bun on top of his head.

The diner was cute, all red and white checkered decorations and a counter with spinny stools. Harry sat down at one and grabbed a menu, perusing and trying to decide what to order when he heard the crash of something being dropped to the ground and breaking.

His head snapped up and he blinked, wondering if it had been too long since he'd gone to sleep because he had to be hallucinating. "Malfoy?" he spluttered.

(Read more below the cut)

But before the other man could respond there was a shout from the kitchen in the back, "Damn it! You clumsy, stupid ass!" the man shouted and Harry felt himself recoiling from the anger in his voice. "You'll be paying for that!"

"Yes, sir!" Malfoy shouted back, bending over and hastily sweeping up the pieces.

"Well don't mess around with that now!" he shouted. "You've got a customer, you worthless piece of-" his voice trailed off as he slammed a door in the back but Harry could fill in the rest.

"Malfoy?" he repeated as the man in question stepped over to him. "How on earth did you find me?" he asked.

"You found me, Potter," he snapped. "Not the other way around. Now what can I get you?"

"You actually work here?" Harry asked in befuddlement.

Malfoy gritted his teeth, "Obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be wearing this stupid apron and I wouldn't be getting screamed at by the arsehole that owns this place. What can I get you?" he repeated.

"Umm," he said, glancing down at the menu, "I will definitely have a cup of coffee. And then maybe the first special on your board with scrambled eggs, bacon, and rye toast," he said. "And also grape jelly, if you have it."

"Got it," Malfoy replied, scribbling on the ticket. "Coming right up."

He spun on his heel and strutted off before Harry could say anything more and Harry just stared after him, wondering if he was dreaming.

Malfoy was back a few minutes later with a mug and a coffee pot, filling Harry's cup and sliding it over to him.

"Thanks," Harry said, reaching for the sugar. "What are you-"

"Look," Malfoy hissed, leaning over and keeping his voice low, "Please do not blow this for me. I know that you have no reason to help me but I really need this job, Potter."

Harry blinked and by the time he'd unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth, Malfoy was gone again.

It wasn't long before the other man emerged once more, carrying Harry's plate of breakfast. "Here you go," he said as he set it down and slid a couple of grape jelly packets toward him. "Enjoy. Do you need a warm up on your coffee?"

"Uhh," Harry replied, glancing at his half full cup, "Sure."

Malfoy nodded and grabbed the pot to refill his cup.

"When do you get off work?" Harry found himself asking.

The other man's brow furrowed, "Why?"

He shrugged as he slathered jelly onto his toast, "Thought it might be nice to catch up."

"To catch up?" Malfoy repeated. "Is that code for-"

"Hear about your life," Harry supplied.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed, "Fine. I get off at 10:00. If you pretend that you are just a customer passing through I'll give you fifteen minutes."

"Done," Harry replied easily. "So what touristy shite is there to do in this town until 10:00 am?"

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

After he finished breakfast, Harry ended up just taking Max for a walk and then to the dog park to chase a ball around him. He'd worked hard to train him the first few months after he'd found him abandoned, tied up to a dumpster and all but starving. And Max had learned quickly, mastering basic commands in no time which was for the best, since people took one look at him and decided he was scary.

He wasn't, he was a sweet boy who loved people and who loved to play but it didn't seem to make any difference. Still, once he was trained, Harry had started taking him to the park and he wouldn't let other people bully them out.

Around 9:30, they headed back to the diner and Harry settled Max into the back, making sure his water bowl was full before he climbed back out of the car and leaned against the hood, waiting.

Malfoy emerged a few minuted after 10:00, looking a bit disheveled in his black t-shirt and skinny jeans, and immediately lit up a cigarette before looking around and spotting Harry. His eyebrows rose like he was surprised to see him before he squared his shoulders and made his way toward him.

"Hey," Harry said, straightening up as Malfoy approached him.

Malfoy blew a stream of smoke out of his mouth, "Hey?" he asked. "Is that really what you have to say to me?" He shook his head, "Just get it over with Potter," he said. "If you want to gloat just fucking gloat so I can move on and go get my groceries."

"I don't want to gloat," Harry protested.

"What do you want, then?" he asked scathingly.

And that was the question, wasn't it? What did Harry want? "Why are you working here?" he asked.

Malfoy rolled his eyes as he exhaled another puff of smoke, "It's amazing where you end up when you're a convicted death eater whose wand is monitored," he replied. "Then add to that the fact that it didn't seem to matter where I got myself set up in muggle London, someone found me and within hours I'd lose whatever job I'd been working. So here I am, just trying to get by and who should appear but the savior himself," he said with a little mock bow. "I should just put my two weeks in here now, at least-"

"I'm not going to tell anyone you're here," Harry said quickly.

"Right," he huffed sarcastically.

"I'm not," he argued, "Because if I told them where you are, they'd know where I've been."

"You're running away too?" Malfoy asked, cigarette dangling loosely from his fingers as he stared at Harry in surprise.

"Obviously," Harry replied. "Come on," he said after a moment. "Your feet must be killing you. I'm sure that arsehole doesn't give you breaks," he added as he opened the hatch.

"You want me to climb into the trunk of your car?"

He rolled his eyes, "I know you think I'm an idiot," he said, "But I'm less of one than you think. Just," he crawled in and stood up, "come on."

After a moment Malofy followed him through but before anything else could happen Max bounded over and all but climbed onto Malfoy's lap.

"Max-" he started to scold before Malfoy started talking over him.

"Oh, hello you sweet baby," he said, pulling Max further onto his lap so he could pet him better and scratch his neck. They looked ridiculous, Max was almost as big as Malfoy, but there he sat anyway, "hello. Aren't you a lovie?" he asked. "Yes you are. You're a giant lovie," he said.

And in that moment, Harry's mind was made up. "Have you ever gone on a road trip?" he asked.

Malfoy looked up at him and Max licked a stripe up his cheek. He laughed and stroked his side, "What?" he asked.

"Have you ever gone on a road trip?" Harry repeated.

"What is that?"

"Like a really long drive," he said. "Where you just get in your car and drive and stop for food when you want to and sleep when you want to." He scratched the back of his neck, "Max and I are headed to California to see the giant redwoods."

"That sounds nice for the two of you," Malfoy replied, steadily patting Max.

"Come with us," Harry said.

The other man blinked. "Sorry?"

"Just," he shrugged, "What else do you have here?"

"A job-"

"That you hate."

"A flat-"

"That is probably smaller than this," he said gesturing to the space they were sitting in.

"What happens when you get sick of me?"

He shook his head, "Come on. Just come with us. If I kick you out I'll give you $5000. That should be enough to help you settle wherever you want, right?"

"Why?"

He stared at him for a moment. There were a thousand reasons that flitted through Harry's mind, a thousand things that he could say, but none of them made any sense. Not yet at least. "Why not?" he settled on.

Malfoy took a slow inhale and then nodded once. "Fine, but you're going to need to make a second bed and we have to stop for my stuff."

"Done," Harry replied, grinning and feeling the familiar feeling of freedom that he felt when he was gliding down the open road unfurling in his chest.

Finally, he was going on an adventure worth having.

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

Day 135: Off-Guard | Day 137: Symmetry

[smaidjor]

On Butterflies and Spring (Emptober Day 2)

Summary:

After the success of their first....alliance meeting (date?), Scott decides to set up another one. This time it involves butterflies, the coming of spring, and a little bit of hope amidst all the death and corruption of empires.

With, of course, a healthy dose of yearning.

(Prompt fill for Emptober Day 2: Bug)

Wordcount: 1493

Warnings: none

After yesterday's angst, I felt the need to spoil you guys with a little fluff. So have a cute flower husbands date :).

Fic below the cut:

Rivendell is pretty in the spring, Jimmy thinks as he crosses the bridge. It’s cold, still, far colder than the swamp, but the sun shining above makes the chill a bit more bearable. A few flowers have started to poke out of the ground, little patches of green grass scattered amongst the last of the winter snow. The breeze makes Jimmy shiver, though it smells fresh, like new life.

Scott meets him at the path, dressed far more casually than usual (though he’s still stunning- is he ever not?). His usual white and gold have mostly been exchanged for a blue-green shade, pants that don’t quite reach the top of his boots, though Jimmy has no idea how his legs aren’t freezing.

“Hello, Codfather.”

"Elvenking,” Jimmy returns, grinning a little.

“Please, we’re allies. Call me Scott.”

“Then you should call me Jimmy.”

Scott laughs. “Alright, Jimmy. So, welcome back to Rivendell- I don’t have something fancy set up today, but I thought I’d show you the greenhouse. There’s something special going on,” he adds, winking at Jimmy.

“Something special? Do I get to know what it is?”

“I won’t tell you just yet,” Scott says. He’s fiddling with the hem of his tunic, uncharacteristically anxious. “I hope it’ll be worth it, though, once you see the greenhouse.”

“Is the greenhouse warmer than here?” Jimmy can’t help asking. He’s shivering already, having most definitely forgotten just how cold Rivendell was. This cloak was fine for spring in the Codlands!

“Aww, poor swamp boy is cold,” Scott teases. “Here, have a warmer cloak.” He unbuckles his cloak swiftly, his movements elegant and efficient, and tosses the cloak around Jimmy’s shoulders.

Jimmy struggles for a moment to clasp it, fingers stiff from the cold, until finally Scott sighs and takes pity on him. Jimmy hardly dares breathe as Scott’s fingers brush up against the skin of his neck; Scott’s hands are somehow warm despite the chill of the day and his lack of gloves, though his touch still makes Jimmy shiver, breath caught in his throat.

He’s almost disappointed when the clasp clicks into place and Scott pulls away. “There you go. The greenhouse is warmer, but I know you’re never prepared for the cold- I hope you’ll put up with it for our little alliance date today.”

Jimmy nods, pulling Scott’s cloak tighter around himself. “I can put up with it.” He’d put up with just about anything if Scott was involved, he doesn’t say.

“Good, you’ll have to if you plan on maintaining this… alliance.” Scott gestures to follow him, and Jimmy does, trotting down the neatly made stone path. The elves are so very elegant in their building style, even when it comes to the paths. Jimmy can see traces of Scott everywhere in the architecture- even the buildings he just helped with are gracefully, beautifully made.

They reach what seems like a glass dome, built high on one of the hills. The inside of it looks lush and green, a stark contrast to the bits of snow still littering the ground outside.

Scott pushes open the door, creating a rush of warm air. “Come on in.”

Jimmy’s happy to, breathing a slight sigh of relief at the warmth within. “This is pretty, dude!”

“Thanks, I built it myself.”

“Did you really?”

“Not all of it,” Scott laughs. “But this is one of the newer buildings in Rivendell- I did the design and a fair bit of construction on it.”

“Whoa,” Jimmy breathes. He’ll never fail to be impressed by Scott, over and over no matter how many times the elf does something incredible.

Scott’s expression is as unreadable as ever, but Jimmy thinks he can see a bit of pride hidden in his small smile. “Glad you like it.”

“Like it? This is incredible!”

“You haven’t even seen what I was planning to show you yet.”

Jimmy’s not sure what could make the greenhouse any more wonderful, but he nods anyways. “Lead the way!”

Scott does, showing him over to a part of the greenhouse where a particular plant takes up much of the space. It’s not all that remarkable- the plant itself is merely a common weed. Jimmy casts a confused glance at Scott, who gestures at the varying cocoons hanging from the plants.

“The butterflies,” Jimmy’s ally- allies, and only that, Jimmy tells himself- explains. “It’s getting close to the time where they’ll be emerging from the cocoons. In fact, we should see at least one or two today, if we’re lucky.”

“Oh!”

“Mhm.” Scott sits right down on the grass, patting a spot next to him. “We might be here a while, so I’d sit.”

Jimmy flops next to him, not taking his eyes off the cocoons. “Do you have a lot of butterflies in Rivendell?”

“Only these few. Not many butterflies can live at such high altitudes, but generations of monarchs have been born in Rivendell. They start out so small, you know?”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. Just tiny clusters of eggs on the milkweed. And then they hatch into little green caterpillars. They’re so fragile at the beginning,” Scott tells him. “You could crush one so easily if you weren’t careful.”

“Like cod eggs,” Jimmy says.

“Like cod eggs. And they grow, and then they weave cocoons around themselves. It takes a long time, especially compared to the lifespan of a butterfly. You have to be patient.”

Jimmy glances down at where Scott’s hand is resting next to his on the grass, close enough to reach out and take if he was just bold enough. “Yeah. Patient.”

“It takes them a while to emerge,” Scott continues. “They take a long time to come out- like me-”

Jimmy snorts, and Scott cuts himself off with a giggle.

“Anyways. But if you wait long enough, if you’re patient, and gentle, what emerges is something beautiful.” Scott’s tone is almost wistful, and somehow, Jimmy has a feeling he’s not talking about the butterflies anymore.

He swallows his nerves and puts his hand over Scott’s. “I bet they’re gorgeous when they’re all grown up.”

Scott turns to look at him, surprise flitting across his face before it’s replaced with something softer, fonder, that Jimmy doesn’t dare put a name to. “You’ll get to see them soon, hopefully.”

“Either way, I’m glad I came to visit.”

“I’m glad you came too,” Scott says softly. It sounds like he means it.

True to Scott’s word, they don’t have to wait much longer before one of the cocoons starts to shake.

Jimmy’s the one who points it out, nudging Scott’s shoulder and pointing to the cocoon. “Scott, look!”

“Here we go,” Scott agrees.

Butterflies aren’t quick to break free of their chrysalises, but Jimmy can’t say he minds that, not when it gives him a convenient excuse to spend more time with Scott. Scott hasn’t let go of his hand; he doesn’t, even when Jimmy squeezes it excitedly as the butterfly starts to emerge.

The monarch sits on the outside of its cocoon for a while, letting its crumpled wings dry off. Finally, it flaps them out fully and takes the leap of faith off its cocoon.

Jimmy’s holding his breath, but the newly reborn butterfly takes to the air as naturally as if it’s been flying all its life. It flits around him and Scott, circling a few times before it lands on Scott’s outstretched hand.

Scott smiles, wider and more purely joyful than Jimmy’s ever seen him. “Look, Jimmy.”

“Oh! You’re like a butterfly whisperer, dude,” Jimmy tells him. He finds himself smiling too; Scott’s joy at the butterfly is so contagious that he just can’t help it. Scott is even more gorgeous when he smiles, too, which definitely doesn’t hurt.

The butterfly flits away, and Scott brings his hand down to clasp Jimmy’s hand between both of his. “Thank you so much for the date, Codfather.”

Back to formal names. Jimmy’s head spins at the contrast between how Scott’s still holding his hand, gentle, intimate, and the formality of the title. “Well, you were the one who invited me! I should be thanking you, really.”

“It’s not like there was a lot of set-up involved,” Scott teases.

“Still. I had a wonderful time.” Hardly believing his own boldness, Jimmy brings one of Scott’s hands up and kisses the back of it like a knight kissing the hand of their noble. “Let’s meet again?”

Scott flushes, and his voice comes out high and a bit strangled. “I’d love to.”

“Send me an owl,” Jimmy says. “Whenever you want, I can make time.”

“Expect a message soon,” Scott replies. It’s not a promise, but it sounds a bit like one and that’s enough for Jimmy.

He leaves in a flurry of goodbyes and blushing, and it’s only once he’s sweating in the warmth of the Cod Empire does he realize that not once, even walking through the snow, did Scott ask for his cloak back.

[madammobius]

Chao Update: #3!

Heyo! Madam Mobius here again, and welcome back to the Mobius Garden! I’ve been really busy, and tonight I’ve got some special stuff for you, but first I just wanted to have a bit of transparency and go over a few things.

Since last time, I’ve started using Chao World Extended, a mod meant to enhance and improve the overall Chao World experience! However I’ve always been a *bit* of a purist when it comes to modding games, so I went through the customization options and only checked things that met one or more of these requirements

1: Aesthetic only: Things that only effect looks like the day/night cycle option

2: Was in the Dreamcast/GC port, but was somehow made unobtainable on PC. A good example of this is the jewel chao. The dreamcast had a little gadget called the VMU packaged in, and if you had enough of the in-game emblems you could unlock jewel chao, a special chao variant, with it. However, since the gamecube and PC have no VMU they have become completely unobtainable. Chao World Extended adds a different way to earn them through the Jewel Races! I thought this was fair because it’s still a challenge, and there would be no other way to do it anyway.

Here are some screenshots of the only options I have checked for the mod (as well as my SA2 application as a whole): 

I’ve talked to some of the chao island admins and one has confirmed that beyond one thing (which we’ll get to when the time comes) there are no other vanilla changes, just additions

Okay cool, that’s probably the most infodumpy I’m ever gonna get here lol, like I said just trying to be transparent

Now who’s ready to see some cute chao? 

They’re conversing :00 

Full video with sound here! (You can hear them talk !!)

He loves when I shake him hehe :)) 

Onto some of the more substantial changes though! I’m still trying to decide what type to evolve these little babies into, so throughout this post you may notice that I change course a little bit in the types of animals I give and which stats are highest. Rest assured though! By the end of this post I will definitively have the answer for my evolution plans!

Took a look at UwU’s stats, and it looks like her personality has cycled from the last time I checked! It was cry-baby before but now it’s energetic

Veeeeerrryyy interesting combination !

You absolute troll  ( ⚆ ◡ ⚆ )

Work hard

...nap harder

Time to learn some wonderful singing! I wanted to focus on UwU for a bit so I left OwO in class

I’ve decided that UwU is going to be a power-type! Her highest stat grade is an A in Power so I decided I want to raise it to an S when she evolves

Soon she will be strong enough to demolish the competition in karate (｀\/´)

More stat grinding...

OwO has returned! He is now a wonderful singer :)) 

Accidentally gave UwU a vulture but the new wings and hair kinda look cool with the arms lol

Laaaaaaaaa!!!

I threw a bear at him lol (￣\/￣ )

Checked the black market and they had a very interesting item for sale! It seems my emblem collecting has paid off and there is a shiny blue egg for sale

( I actually saw a rarer orange one much earlier but didn’t get it so  (ゝз･) )

I mean I really SHOULDN’T buy this one... I have enough emblems for much rarer eggs to appear... plus I’m already swamped raising the other two chao and... hmmm

I bought it.

They have all gathered around for the hatching!

Well..... at least she was there at first...

Guess she was curious and decided she doesn’t care  ¯\_༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽_/¯

She’s aliiiiiiiive!!!! 

Welcome to the world, small child

DRAMATIC POSE

𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙏𝙀

...this is literally the most adorable creature on the planet I would die for you （；へ：）

Stat check!

Not terrible! I don’t think I’ll evolve her based on stats though, she’s way too adorable NOT to be evolved for looks

Checks out

Taking her to the fortune teller to get her named next... 

hmmm... blue... shiny..... water name? uhhhh hydro? no no.... ocean? nah nah...

wait.

Heheheheheh....

Heheheheheheh...

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH...!

Everyone say hi to Soleanna! (Second N was removed in-game because of character limit, but her name is Soleanna)

For those unaware, Soleanna was the name of the City of Water in Sonic 06! I thought it was fitting because it’s water themed but also silly and a sonic reference lol

You know truth be told... UwU and OwO’s names were just kinda pulled out of a jokey joke hat because I needed to call them SOMETHING. I was gonna wait a little longer, but now that we have a naming theme...

Elise and Mephiles it is!  (again, Mephiles had to be cut short because of character limit but...)

I thought it made sense because they’re both hero and dark chao, plus it fits with the Sonic 06 reference theme

Mephiles would be proud to have an evil chao named after him :)) 

I guess Elise has taken a liking to Soleanna’s eggshell.... I can’t tell if that’s endearing or SUPER weird...

bird :)) 

looks like Mephiles is going to the races!

LITERALLY ANNIHILATED THOSE OTHER CHAO

ONCE AGAIN

He won a shovel!

Elise is gonna do some Karate! Use the strength of all those bears I gave you!

OHHHHHH!!

TWO HIT K-O!! 

She preceded to absolutely annihilate the entire tournament!

Owned

whatcha got there, Soleanna?

SHE’S RIDIN’ THE DUCK!! (ⅈ▱ⅈ)

Awwww, Elise and Mephiles are singing and playing music for her while she rides!! They’re all so cute !! 

So uh.... I kinda did some stat grinding with a dark character on Elise and well...

...she looks a bit like moldy cheese now

I’ll get her fixed up with Tails, don’t worry  ε-(´ D｀) ﾌ

no thoughts, head empty

wait a minute... i hadnt even noticed! Elise’s evolution stat traits are starting to come in! that means she’s getting closer to evolving into a power chao! (power chao have these sort of stripey patterns on them)

We did some more karate to celebrate

It went about how you would expect after her last performance  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In other news though, I’ve decided Mephiles’ final type! I’m gonna go with run! Mephiles’ namesake is a Shadow impersonator, and since a Dark-Run chao looks like Shadow I thought it would be funny :)) 

So I went to City Escape to collect some rabbits! And uh...

They are looking....

...and I do not know if it is respectfully ●﹏●

Mephiles understands that even dark lords of evil can have cute pink bunny rabbit ears

I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Mephiles’ evolution stat traits are coming in too! He’s growing spines and getting a little bluer!

You’re so adorable I’m gonna lose it...

Alrighty! Before we go, here’s a final stat-check for the road!

----------

That’s all for now folks! Thank you for reading it all if you made it here :))

Remember to check out https://chao-island.com/ if you want to learn more about chao and the raising experience! It’s a great resource

My chao posts will always be tagged with #MobiusGarden in case you wish to block them

Love u!

[godsofhumanity]

Do you have any headcanons/opinions on the Titans’ other siblings (elder cyclops, hecatoncheires, giants, etc.)

hellllllll yeahhhhhh ❤

THE CYCLOPES (Brontes, Steropes, Arges)

ok so in terms of the age order of Gaia's first few groups of children, i think that the Titans came first, then the Cyclopes, and then the Hecatoncheires.

i've already said this before, but i like the idea the Ouranos was the first being ever created by any primordial ever, and i think that Gaia also didn't know exactly how she did it (after all, there was no one to teach the primordials, right?)

and so, Ouranos comes out and he's completely super-powered and he's effectively on par with the other primordials.

but then Gaia and Ouranos create the Titans, and i think that when that happened, Gaia was creating them with the intention of creating helpers for herself- beings to take care of the Earth.. and this meant that the Titans didn't really need to be super-charged the way Ouranos was.

and we know that Ouranos named the Titans "titans" because they were "puny"- they were always trying to "over-reach" to Ouranos' level.

BUT! i think when Gaia creates the Cyclopes, she was doing it with the intention of creating bigger, stronger children. i mean, i think she definitely loved her Titan kids, but she wanted to create something even bigger than before.

i think Gaia was very proud of Ouranos as a creation, and she wanted to see if she could do it again- so i like the imagery of her moulding the Earth into these little clay figures, and then she breathes life into them and they grow rapidly in size.

and i think that when they were "born", the clouds gathered and rumbled, and there was lightning everywhere... and that's how the Cyclopes were named- Brontes ("thunder"), Steropes ("lightning") and Arges ("bright").

Hesiod describes the Cyclopes as having "violent hearts" and i like to interpret this as meaning that the Cyclopes have a lot of emotion. they feel a lot- just like their mother.

i think that when Ouranos became aware of the Cyclopes' presence, and he chucked them into Tartarus, that scarred them deeply. and when Cronus freed them, only to imprison them a short while later again, they were filled with an immense distrust of the gods (understandably!).

still, the fact that the Cyclopes were willing to forge the lightning bolt for Zeus during the Titanomachy indicates to me that they weren't cold-hearted, and that they could be reasoned with.

i also think that the Cyclopes are highly intelligent beings. they're very skilled with metal-work obviously,, and i like the idea that after all the shit they've been through, Zeus really does honour them and treat them well.

in the Asclepius myth, the Cyclopes are killed by Apollo in a rage, but i like the version where Zeus brings them back :D

also, i like the idea that the Cyclopes taught Hephaestus how to forge stuff and how to be a blacksmith. i think that they are really supportive of Hephaestus and the four of them have a really close relationship.

i think that Hephaestus addresses them sometimes as "Lord Brontes" etc. etc. just as a sign of respect. the Cyclopes are a proud race, and i think that they appreciate being addressed like that- after all, they are older, and wiser and just as worthy of such a title as any of the other gods are.

in terms of individual personalities, i think Brontes is the self-designated leader. he's the oldest, and he's the most sensible. i think he likes to sing/hum while he works :)))

Steropes is more serious than his brothers. he's the middle child and i think sometimes he can be really scary,, but he appreciates those with confidence (not to be confused with: arrogance), and i think he tells awesome jokes.

Arges is the youngest. i think he can be a little quiet, but he's very light-hearted and friendly ^-^

about Polyphemus- i think he and the other Cyclopes are kinda disregarded by Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. they are not brothers and don't really have any obligations to each other as far as they are concerned.

THE HECATONCHEIRES (Cottus, Briareus, Gyges)

after Gaia made the Cyclopes, she created the Hecatoncheires, also called the "Hundred-Handers".

when she made the Cyclopes, i think she made them just to have a little fun. but when Gaia made the Hecatoncheires, i think she made them with the intention of creating beings powerful enough to destroy Ouranos.

Ouranos pretty much got rid of the Cyclopes as soon as they were born- and i think this was a real wake-up call for Gaia concerning the true nature of her husband.

and Gaia is a super maternal being- there could be no greater pain for her than having her children separated from her like that. so she was super pissed at Ouranos when she created the Hecatoncheires.

and i think she channelled all that anger into them. where she had earlier taken time to create clay forms for the Cyclopes, i think Gaia just straight up placed her hands on the Earth and summoned all the rage within her- and that manifested into three great, strong, hulking creatures- the Hecatoncheires.

because Gaia made them with the intention of deposing Ouranos, i think that the Hecatoncheires are more violent and angry than their Cyclopean or Titan siblings.

i don't think that they're particularly intelligent- they're not dumb, but they're not geniuses- but they ARE extremely skilled fighters.

as with the Cyclopes, i think the Hecatoncheires matured to adulthood as soon as they were born. and like 5 minutes later, Ouranos came and they battled.

during his fight against the Cyclopes, i don't think Ouranos broke a sweat- but during the fight against the Hecatoncheires, i think they were the first creatures to ever make Ouranos bleed.

and that was pretty frightening for Ouranos. i think that the Hecatoncheires probably could have won, but since they were technically still just children, and lacked proper fighting experience, they were eventually defeated like the Cyclopes and sent to Tartarus, much to Gaia's despair.

also, i like the idea that the Titans witnessed the defeat of the Hecatoncheires- i think it helps us understand why the Titans were so reluctant to fight Ouranos.. i mean, if the Hecatoncheires barely scratched him, what hope did they have? at the same time though, i like the idea that Cronus saw Ouranos bleed- he knew that his father wasn't invincible and that's where he got the courage to fight him from.

compared to the other "giants", mythographers often say that the Titans were "large", but that idea just doesn't gel with me. i think that they were a normal size for regular gods, but significantly smaller than the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires.

anyways, similar to the way the Cyclopes had a lot of trust issues, i think the Hecatoncheires definitely were a little doubtful about Zeus.

there's later versions of the Titanomachy that suggest that the Hecatoncheires fought on the Titans' side, but i reject this version. if Cronus locked up the Cyclopes, then i definitely think he'd have locked up the Hecatoncheires also. it doesn't make sense why he'd imprison one and not the other.

there's another version as well that suggests that the Hecatoncheires were not monstrous at all- they appeared as regular men but were called "hundred-handers" because they lived in a city called Hecatoncheiria ("hundred-arm"), and they rescued the citizens of a city called Olympia. again, i reject this because what's not awesome about having 100 hands?????????

we don't really hear too much about them in later myths, but i think that they went into retirement and are living their best life :)

Briareus, in particular, is mentioned as being given a wife by Poseidon- Cymopolea (who was Poseidon's daughter). and i think that they are very happy together and are in love <3

i'm not sure about the rest of the Hecatoncheires. maybe they had wives as well ^-^

TYPHON

Typhon is best known for his rule as the final challenger for authority over the cosmos, and as such, i think he was born much much much after the rest of Gaia's children- during Zeus' rule in fact.

however, i think he was "created" by Gaia during the Castration of Ouranos.

what i mean by this is that Typhon was born from two eggs, and i think these eggs were created around the time that the Titans first began to fight against Ouranos. but he only hatched during Zeus' rule.

regarding his parentage- some say that he's Gaia's child, some say that he's Cronus', and some say that he was Hera's child alone. well,,, i like the idea that all three of them had some role in the birth of Typhon.

in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, it's suggested that Hera was furious with Zeus for giving birth to Athena by herself, and so she prayed for a son stronger than Zeus and thus became pregnant with Typhon. in the Iliad, Gaia gets pissed at Zeus for destroying her Giant children, and decides to slander Zeus to Hera, who, in her anger, goes to Cronus for advice on destroying Zeus. in this myth, Cronus gives Hera two """""""""special"""""""" eggs and tells her to bury them so that Typhon can be born.

now,, i really like both of these versions so my hc is that Gaia is the primary progenitor- she created Typhon- but Cronus and Hera both gave Typhon part of their power in order to strengthen him and make him pretty undefeatable.

so what i'm saying is that all three of them had a role in Typhon's birth. i think Hera was angry at Zeus about Athena, so she goes to Cronus and he tells her about Typhon.

this version of events makes sense to me because i think it really emphasises just how angry and hurt Hera was by Zeus- i mean,, you know things are bad when you're resorting to conspiring with your estranged father who tried to murder you as a child.

also, this isn't "canon" i don't think, but my hc is that Typhon was created by Gaia as a back-up in case the Titans were really unable to defeat Ouranos. this would explain how Cronus knew about Typhon, and also why Typhon never ended up fighting Ouranos.

Typhon usually ends up being thrown into Tartarus or gets Mt Etna thrown on top of him by Zeus. tbh, i like the Mt Etna version.

in Greek mythology, gods never die. so i imagine that after a few hundred years of being crushed by Mt Etna, Typhon regathers his strength and that's when he meets Echidna,, and they fall in love, and i think Typhon still likes to make trouble for Zeus through his monster children, but i don't think that Typhon attempts to usurp Zeus again- he's lost interest.

in terms of personality, i think Typhon is pretty violent, but he also has a super short attention span. he has pride, but i don't think it's his weakness.

also, i like Apollodorus' description of Typhon as appearing humanoid from the waist-up, but like a serpent from the waist-down.

THE GIANTS

okay tbh i don't have really have any hc's for the giants. their myth is so vague and sparse and there really isn't anything solid about them T-T sorryyyyyy

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers." 

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to. 

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?  

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?) 

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed? 

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg. 

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together! 

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours. 

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate. 

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through. 

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol. 

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene. 

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret. 

Rejection complete? The guy screams. 

I mean he screams. 

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE. 

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face: 

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing. 

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy." 

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong. 

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling." 

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too! 

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement. 

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task. 

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it. 

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time. 

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone. 

It's a little weird lol. 

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both. 

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave. 

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low. 

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning. 

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend. 

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today. 

"This is eerie.” 

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man! 

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist. 

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run. 

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right? 

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity. 

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner. 

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch. 

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one. 

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans? 

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast. 

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences. 

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol. 

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?" 

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka! 

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand. 

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...) 

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks. 

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it. 

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality. 

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him. 

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is. 

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned. 

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group! 

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls. 

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them. 

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that? 

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up. 

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest. 

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too. 

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have. 

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot. 

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway. 

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2? 

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man. 

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own." 

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway. 

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable. 

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance. 

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

[hchollym]

Aerion x Viserys - We Finally Got Our Dragons

I couldn’t help myself. I will go down with this crack ship  🤣

Warnings: Afterlife, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Age Difference

Read it on AO3. 

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Most people think that a person finds peace after they die. Aerion would tell you differently.

The Targaryens have their own “exclusive” afterlife, stuck for eternity with only one another for company. While he's glad that they all appear as they were right before they died and not as they died (for then he would have a hole in his throat and be unable to talk), it still does not change the fact that he’s stuck with these shits forever. Most of his relatives find enjoyment (or at least contentment) here (seeing as half of them are married to each other), but for others – like Aerion – this place is a special kind of hell.

He died drinking wildfire. It certainly wasn’t his finest moment, nor was it something that he wants to remember, given the resulting pain. And yet, his family will never let him forget it. They torment him about it daily, as if he hadn’t already suffered enough.

“Oh look, it’s the Prince Who Thought He Was A Dragon,” they sneer at him whenever he walks by. It’s not as if he’s the first Targaryen to think of himself as a dragon and die because of it. What about all the other fools who got themselves killed trying to hatch a dragon egg? Why aren’t they mocked as he is?

Even his own father sighs disapprovingly when he sees him, as if Aerion brought him embarrassment. It makes Aerion scoff. His older brother was literally known as “Daeron the Drunken” and yet Aerion is somehow the stain on their family name? It’s absolutely ridiculous. His brothers ignore him (he hears their comments about Aerion the Monstrous, and really, when are they going to get over it?).

His own son, Maegor – who joined them when he got into a fight with the wrong person at a tavern – won’t talk to Aerion, because he blames Aerion’s “madness” as the reason he never got the throne. How ungrateful can you be? Maegor wouldn’t even be alive without Aerion.

His bitch of a wife isn’t much better. She refuses to allow him into her bed, and her brother and father are more than happy to guard her chamber door. To be honest, it’s not a huge loss though; she was annoying anyway, always crying and whimpering and screaming while he was trying to enjoy himself. Still, it’s the audacity that angers him.

You would think that the ancestors would grow tired of insulting him after so many years, but it appears that there is not nearly enough exciting news to go around here, so the taunts and insults go on year after year. Even the “Mad King” doesn’t get scorned as much, because people seem to either fear him or feel pity for his insanity.

Aerion tries to ignore most of the ridicule by keeping to himself, which is thankfully easy to do in this endless hallway with infinite corridors and chambers, but that doesn’t completely stop the talk from reaching his ears. He’d been humiliated, angry, and defensive for the first decade or so of these disrespectful comments, but after more than 60 years, he’s just sick and tired of it.

So when the others stop talking about him and begin insulting another, one they mockingly call "the last dragon" and "the beggar king,” Aerion is initially relieved, and then intrigued. He questions his father, who will at least answer him (albeit grudgingly). When he hears the tale of this Viserys, he feels an instant kinship that takes him by surprise.

He’s never felt like he could relate to someone else before, but the fact is, Viserys thought himself a dragon and he too died for it in an excruciating way. The other man was treated like shit in life and now again in death by his own family (Aerion knows the feeling), and his own sister had him killed in a cruel twist of irony.

Aerion’s glad that the attention on him has finally stopped, but he finds himself unexpectedly feeling sympathy for Viserys – an emotion so foreign to him that it took him a while to identify what it was. Perhaps it's because they share similar deaths (though by vastly different means), or that Aerion knows what it's like to be humiliated by the hypocritical ancestors, or because he knows what it’s like for your own family to turn on you.

He hears that Viserys' mother won't even give him sympathy because of how he treated his sister, but so what? The bitch killed him. Why are mothers always so quick to defend the weak? Aerion’s own mother is still angry at him for his treatment of Aegon, but he doesn’t think he has anything to apologize for. Why should he be “nice” to pathetic people? Daenerys should have been grateful that Viserys raised her after they fled King's Landing. Aerion would have sold her immediately to the highest buyer and bought himself a nice house until he raised his army to take back the throne.

He hears through the gossip that Viserys locks himself inside his chambers to avoid the others, which Aerion also understands. He's not entirely sure why he decides to go see him, but perhaps it's because he’s sick of being judged and looked down on, and Viserys seems like the one person who won’t do that.

He makes his way to Viserys’ chambers, holding his head high and ignoring the looks he gets along the way, only to find that the others have painted slurs on the door, and Aerion feels disgust at their tackiness. How old are they? Five? He opens the doors without knocking and sees a man sitting on the bed, his elbows rested on his knees and his head in his hands. When the figure looks up, his expression one of annoyance, anger, and pure exhaustion (a combination which Aerion knows well), and Aerion is struck by just how young he is.

For some reason, he pictured Viserys as close to his age, but he couldn't have been more than 25, though Aerion guesses it’s actually closer to 20. He's practically still a boy, and Aerion feels a hot wave of rage rush through him. This is who they are tormenting for making mistakes when he was exiled in Essos (by no fault of his own), trying to care for an ungrateful sister who eventually murdered him? Honestly, and they thought he was monstrous!

"I'm Aerion Brightflame," he starts before Viserys can get upset at his intrusion. He refuses to give up using that name; the ancestors can go fuck themselves. Viserys' expression clears, and he blinks in confusion before frowning warily.

"What do you want?" He asks suspiciously, and Aerion shrugs nonchalantly.

"I know how these shits can be when they decide to harass someone. Fuck them. You don’t need any of these bumbling fools. You and I, we're still dragons," he assures Viserys, not entirely understanding why he feels compelled to do so, but Aerion knows that he still is a dragon, regardless of how everything ended, and he’s willing to say that Viserys is as well out of solidarity for the mutual enemies/family. Viserys looks shocked before scowling.

"Clearly not, seeing as melted gold killed me, and fire cannot kill a dragon," he points out bitterly, not even mentioning Aerion's own failures, for which Aerion feels unexpectedly grateful for. He sits down next to Viserys, and he finds it hilarious how the other man looks alarmed and ready to flee.

"And how many others have been killed by fire when trying and failing to hatch dragon eggs? We're still Targaryens. We’re still dragons, no matter what those stupid sea cows have to say.” Viserys' expression changes from one of shock to hesitant gratitude. It's a look that Aerion is not used to having directed at him; fear, anger, and even lust are common emotions he’s used to seeing when people look at him, but never gratitude. It makes his stomach churn oddly.

After that, they form a strange bond of companionship. They spend most of their time in one of their chambers (it’s easier to avoid the others that way), but occasionally they venture out to the other rooms with alcohol or food. They don't need either, but it provides them with a distraction to the never-ending boredom. They even throw knives sometimes, though Aerion had to teach Viserys because he never learned.

Their conversations start by talking about all the people they hate and are angry at (of which there are many). Then it changes to their time in Essos (the good, the bad, and the ugly). And finally, they talk of their own failures; the feel of the gold burning through Viserys' skin and hair; the way the wildfire scorched Aerion’s throat and blinded him in pain. They talk of how humiliating it was (and still is), and of their disappointment in the way their lives turned out.

It's odd, because Aerion has never felt the urge to share his thoughts with anyone - no one was ever good enough or would truly understand (until now) - but he finds that it's actually rather nice. He quickly decides that he hates Viserys’ brother Rhaegar – he started this whole mess and yet he still looks at Viserys with disappointment, and it makes Aerion want to burn him. And Viserys quickly decides that Maegor is being selfish by hating his own father. Aerion’s found an unexpected ally in Viserys, and it’s the first time he’s felt anything other than miserable since his death.

...

Maybe it happens because of their surprisingly easy companionship, or maybe it’s because they are so isolated from everyone else (no one else seems capable of getting along with them), or maybe it's even simply because it's been years since Aerion slept with someone. Regardless of the reasons, they somehow end up in bed together. Aerion doesn’t know exactly how it happened, but he’s not complaining.

Viserys accepted being the bottom quickly enough, and Aerion found out later that it's because it wasn’t his first time; he’d been forced to sell his body in order to survive at his lowest points in exile, and Aerion’s never felt protective of anyone before, but he feels it now for Viserys. He also feels irrationally jealous that someone else dared to touch what is his, and yes, he has come to think of Viserys as his.

Viserys is wonderfully responsive, biting his shoulder, scratching his back until he bleeds, moaning and cursing loudly, urging him to go faster and harder. It makes Aerion’s blood sing, his thoughts fuzzy, and the heat envelop him all over until he’s nearly drowning in it.

But it's Viserys’ eyes that really send Aerion over the edge. The pale, lilac orbs dilate in lust, but there's also anger, determination, and hurt in them. Viserys has a vulnerability in his eyes that Aerion would have thought had been destroyed years ago, but somehow it remains, and it's both intoxicating and addicting to see.

When Aerion finally decides to try bottoming (because why the hell not? they're dead, and he’s bored and ready to do something new), he finishes embarrassingly quick. It's better than he ever imagined; fire seems to completely consume him, so hot and bright that Aerion feels like he might pass out. Viserys' cock rubs against a place inside of him that causes sparks to shoot throughout his entire body, and all he can do is pant and gasp as he clings to Viserys for dear life, thinking that if he weren't already dead, then this would definitely kill him because it's too much, but he wants it more than anything.

Viserys never mentions his premature response, and they don’t talk about the fact that Aerion starts to roll them over more and more so he can wrap his legs around Viserys' waist, urging the other man to fuck him. He's relieved by Viserys' lack of acknowledgement, because even in death, he still has his pride, and it's embarrassing how much he loves to fall apart underneath the younger man.

And when Viserys guides Aerion to ride him like a stallion for the first time, Aerion screams himself hoarse, and it suddenly reminds him too much of the wildfire burning his throat, and he starts to panic, so Viserys holds him until he calms, but they don't talk about that either.

...

When Daenerys does finally show up, Aerion becomes insanely angry. She's cold and distant, though she does try to talk to Viserys, and Aerion wants to kill her. How dare she?! He refuses to let her see Viserys until the younger man finally tells him to leave them so they can speak.

Aerion feels something hot and ugly churn in his stomach at that, and he waits by the door until Daenerys leaves, looking only barely fazed. He instantly goes inside to see Viserys' eyes shining with angry tears. He still hasn't gotten good at hiding his emotions yet, and truthfully, Aerion kind of hopes that he never does.

"She hatched the dragons. The fire didn't kill her," Viserys says angrily, but there's also jealously and pure despair there, and Aerion doesn't like it. He pulls Viserys into his arms and kisses him soundly until Viserys pulls back and leans his head on Aerion's chest, sighing heavily.

"Why her?" He asks, though the unspoken why not me? is obvious.

"Because the gods are cruel," he answers honestly, because she didn’t deserve it more than either of them.

"But it doesn't change things. She's here now, just like us, with no dragons. Fuck her, and fuck all of them. We are still dragons," Aerion continues vehemently. He feels Viserys swallow and nod, as if trying to convince himself.

"We are dragons," Viserys says shakily before gaining confidence.

"We are dragons. And while she's here alone, I have you now; my own dragon," he finishes stubbornly, and Aerion feels a rush of something that he chooses not to examine further at those words. He tightens his grip on Viserys and kisses the top of his head.

"And I have you. Looks like we both finally got our dragons."

[taksony-fr]

Wellp, the new boi is starting to get spoiled already. He’s already got his primary gene, still can’t decide on the secondary (spinner? trail? literally anything??), and i need to save for glimmer.

He’s now got a same and some lore. His name is Howlite, based on the light gemstones he found in the remains of his stone statue. He’s this brash, playful and laidback lil shit who quickly gets on Ivix’s bad side, due to Ivix’s own assumption that he’s just some vain tundra who curls his mane and keeps the rest of his fur shortly shaved, and maybe because Howlite calls him Furball.

Anyways, lore clip is under the cut if you’d want to read his initial hatching and sunbasking that was rudely interrupted by Ivix standing right in the sunlight and the greeting from my current scouting team.

Stones clattered down around the young dragon. The world was bright, warm, and shockingly green. He stretched his claws for the first time, reaching them into the soft grass and dirt. So this is what it feels like to be alive, huh? He calmly picks up a stone from what remained of his shell, egg maybe? He pryed it open using a small crack around the edges, finding shards of lovely white banding and shining gems. He was just like a geode. His own geode. Information he just knew goes flashing through his mind. Howlite. This is Howlite. He was Howlite. Howlite was aware that he was far from the Earthshaker. The stone statue had been placed in Nature Flight territory long ago. His deity knew that this would be the best place for him to see first. It has to be the reason he was placed here. He trusted the idea and wandered euphorically through the trees. Everything was so alive here, a stark difference from the images of stones, caves, and rocks that were projected into his mind for the past... year? Howlite paused in his trek to wonder about how long it has been. How long has he been alive? How long was he stone? Was he ever really alive before? He had a hard time remembering anything but the scent of wet rocks and the sound of clattering stones and loud explosions. And the Earthshaker. The earth sure did shake. He chuckled lightly at the thought, shaking the remains of the stone shell from his fur. As he continued through the lush plants, he felt drawn to a large patch of soft undergrowth bathing in sunlight. Howlite flopped down onto the ground, laying belly up to the sun. He stayed like that for a long time. He felt as if he could stay there forever. After a while, he felt the warmth fade slightly from his scales. He opened one eye to see a large fluffy dragon staring down at him. "Hey, you're blocking the light," he huffed at it. His voice was a lot deeper and gruffer than he had expected it to be. He finds it hard to believe that those were his first words. The dragon huffed back, almost sounding annoyed, and took a step to the side. "I was just checking if you were breathing. You can't just lay out here in the middle of nowhere like this. You should know that it's dangerous out here in the Shrieking Wilds." He opened both eyes and sighed before finally rolling back over. He looked up to face the dragon. It wasn't much bigger than he was, but it sure was fluffier. He noticed how similar their manes were, yet his own was curled gracefully while this dragon's was flat and boring. Probably can't do much with that mane while wearing all that armor. "Dangerous, huh?" Howlite asked. "I haven't seen another soul out here, you sure?" The dragon pressed his talon towards him, "Why else would I be dressed this way?" he asked. "These claws aren't just for show." Howlite reached forward, running his finger along the sharp metal of these fake claws. "What're they for then?" he asked with a gentle laugh. The dragon pulled his talons back. He seemed to debate just leaving him behind, which Howlite wouldn't have minded. "Scaring foolish dragons like you," he snarled. Howlite laughed again, playfully swatting at the dragon's talons. "Yeah, good luck with that, furball." Suddenly, the ground shook. The teasing smile faded from Howlite's face as he looked up to see a massive blue dragon towering over the furball. "Take it easy on him, Ivix," her voice shook his core. "Holy Earth, you're huge," Howlite said, scrambling up to his feet to look up at this new dragon. "Thank you," she smiled at him, lowering her massive head to look at him face-to-face. Ivix rolled his eyes and stepped away, leaving him to deal with this large new face. "The name's Lucky," she said, extending one claw to him politely. "You seem like you're up for a new place to bask. Maybe one that's safer than out here." "I haven't been given any trouble yet, I'm not sure what you guys are talking about here," he admitted, slowly taking her claw to shake it. "I guess you're new here." "I'll admit that," he nodded. "I've called myself Howlite, after the gemstones I found near my old statue." Lucky's excitedly widened. She lifted her head to look at the other dragons with her and said, "I think we've found one of those Obelisks everybody has been talking about!" He could barely hear Ivix's response, "I thought that was just a shaved Tundra who's been curling his mane," he then added under his breath. "Pointless and vain young man...." Another dragon could easily be heard. Howlite hadn't seen him until just then. His green and white scales blended in perfectly with his surroundings and the sky above. "Look at his face, that's no tundra!" his voice was just as large and loud as Lucky's, but he sounded much younger, almost like Howlite himself. A tundra must be whatever Ivix is, Howlite assumed. The large green dragon sat on his haunches and pulled a book from a satchel on his side, skimming through it. "That's definitely one of the Earthshaker's creations. Nether will be happy to get a look at him for sure." Howlite looked between the three dragons, confused as to what they were talking about. Lucky leaned over to glance at the book the dragon of her same breed was looking at. "Yep, that matches the description she gave us. Nice spotting, Alsike," she said. She then leans back down to Howlite. "How would you like to come back with us? We can offer you a safe place to stay as long as you play your part in our clan. Ya know, just bring back food sometimes, defend our home, that sort of stuff. Or just visit if you're feeling like a freeloader," she finished with a soft laugh. She then added more seriously, "Nobody just gets free food and protection." Howlite was put on the spot. He had to choose. "...I'll follow you. Maybe check the place out. It's in this pretty area, right? With all the trees and flowers?" "Yeah, it's in Nature territory," she nodded. "I take it you like your surroundings?" He nodded quickly, "Very much so. The grass is so soft, the sun is so warm... I could bask forever." "You'll like it there, I promise."