#but strangely he's the second (after basil

[shalotttower]

Will-o'-the-wisp

Title: Will-o'-the-wisp

Fandom: Hunter x Hunter

Characters: Chrollo Lucilfer x Reader (female)

Summary: Reader encouters fae!Chrollo and breaks some rules along the way.

Word count: 1700+

Notes: yandere!Chrollo, fae!Chrollo, abduction, manipulation, AU, modern setting with fae, Chrollo is charming af and a bit creepy as usual, Reader is doomed long before they know it and slightly depressed

You walk home the same way every day, like many people do. There's comfort in routines. Comfort and security which you crave. The familiar routes, the repetitive programs on TV and the books you've read a million times. You like to know what happens next and hate surprises.

The fourteen-year-old you wouldn't approve.

Maybe even express a little pity, because she always thought you two were destined for an adventure, like in fantasy books you used to devour one after another. Every free second was spent reading or dreaming, but life went on and adventures didn't happen. The girl grew older, a lot more careful and a lot less hopeful.

When you finish work, it's usually around six. Your adult self is practical and prefers to save money on the bus, besides, every other time you take it, you end up having to stand, squeezed between people. It's not worth the frustration; a fifteen minute walk isn't that long and the crime rate in the area is low.

There's a small grove nearby that nobody has bothered to turn into a park. The residents made their own paths in time, put a few signs so the joggers wouldn't get lost, but that's it. Once or twice a month you stroll through there, picking up trash left on the side. People make you want to move to the woods altogether sometimes.

That's how the day starts or ends — with crossing a bridge which connects the grove to your neighbourhood.

And this is where you see him for the first time.

The man looks so out of place among the rustic wooden railings and rushing water below. Nobody wears this kind of clothes here. Expensive and elegant, something that blends well in a big city. They don't stare at passersby like he does either. You hate when people do that ─ block already narrow spaces by just stopping midway. Or groups who spread across the entire sidewalk.

"Excuse me," you say politely. Polite is good. Polite can be used as a shield and always makes you look better than you are. "I need to pass."

He smiles, then moves aside. "Of course."

His face is exactly what you imagine when thinking of pleasant: beautiful grey eyes with long lashes, pointed chin and a strange mix of delicate and sharp edges.

"Thank you."

The smile widens. "You're welcome."

---

It's time to accept that you've grown into an average person with a simple desire to live in comfort. Dreaming isn't your strength anymore, the last book you picked up was several years ago. Movies bore you fifteen minutes in, even if everybody else praises them; the idea of a relationship seems exhausting.

You do enjoy gardening.

Growing tomatoes is a far cry from distant fictional lands, but they taste nice with a pinch of salt.

The condo you live in doesn't have enough space and light, so you chose a small patch of ground in the grove to start a garden. A few tomato plants and some herbs like chives and basil. It might be illegal, yet nobody has come to yell at you. Most people don't pay attention to what's happening here, as long as you don't damage the trees or leave trash.

You water and prune, weed, add fertilizer if needed. There're some flowers too; mother told you that marigolds scare pests away from veggies and keep the soil healthy. They're pretty, little orange spots.

---

You find a crystal at you patch. Azure would be too bland to describe its color ─ maybe more like a mix of cerulean and moon stone. It's round in shape, polished so nicely that the outlines of your face are reflected in the surface. Did a magpie bring it? Or a kid? The thought of someone poking around your garden makes you frown. You hope they didn't step on your basil.

The stone is heavy and cool. You turn it around, entranced, before stuffing it into the pocket of your jeans. Maybe you can ask the neighbours' kids about it later.

"Would you look at that," you mutter and bend to inspect a tomato plant. Two green fruit, each no bigger than your knuckle, hang there, sprouted over the weekend. "Hello, my pretties."

---

You lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. It's past 1 AM, you should sleep; instead, you keep twisting the stone in the moonlight.

You asked kids from around here, but nobody claimed it.

Maybe it's a lucky charm, you've had a wonderful day. Got a call from your cousin in the morning, she has't contacted you in a long while and it was nice to catch up. After lunch, the resource manager praised your work, then an elderly lady from the store complimented your cardigan.

At a certain angle, the stone seems almost glowing. A summer night sky condensed into a tiny orb. Your fingers trace its smooth surface without much thought until eventually it drops onto the pillow by your side.

You don't notice when exactly you fall asleep.

It's the strangest dream you've ever seen.

Gone is the condo building with its stuffy kitchenette and old pipes that constantly rumble. Instead, you feel damp grass underneath your feet. Wind brushes through the hem of your nightdress, carrying the scents of rain and moss. So many shades of black and raven blue swirl together that you barely recognize a signpost nearby. It's the grove, but you've never seen it like this, as dark as it can be only at night.

It's uncomfortable to stand barefoot, with a chill creeping up your legs.

After a while your fingers touch the rough bark of a nearby tree to get a sense of direction, and you start walking, because there isn't anything else to do.

There's the bridge, you think. If you just get to the bridge, the rest will be simple.

You're walking there, or that's what you think when a small ball of light appears right before your nose.

Fireflies don't glow blue. It doesn't falter, doesn't flicker, coming up closer then farther like a pendulum. There's something uncanny and fragile about it. For a second you forget everything and stand mesmerized, until it starts moving.

Through the trees, past the branches, onwards.

It's more instinctual than anything ─ you don't want to be left here alone again, so you follow. Light is good, darkness isn't. The ground becomes more uneven as you go, the grass changes to moss, but you can barely register anything at this point apart from that lonely glow. It halts at times as if making sure you're keeping up.

Is that a clearing ahead? Your eyes hurt from trying to focus.

The blue dot continues to float, never speeding up, never falling behind.

Then it disappears.

No. Not disappears ─ settles on the tip of a pale finger.

There's your tomato patch, your plants, the empty box that you forgot to take back to the condo.

But it's impossible.

Your garden should be not very far from the border, yet it feels like you've walked through half of the grove by now.

Why is he here?

"It took you a while," he says, the stranger from the bridge whose eyes made you pause before you caught yourself. "I was waiting, my dear."

Maybe you shouldn't ask. Maybe the wisest thing would be to turn around and run. You step back and trip on a root which somehow snuck between the moss. He catches your hand before you fall and doesn't let go. Instead his thumb caresses your skin in leisurely strokes.

There's a faint scent of lilies coming from him, and something else. Something heavy, equally sweet that lingers on the edge of cloying and enticing.

Smells aren't supposed to be so strong in dreams.

"I need to go."

"Where?"

This simple question asked in an equally plain tone makes you falter. What does he mean 'where'?

"Home," you say softly and try to free your hand again without success. The man leans in close enough that you can see his face, illuminated by that blue light.

"And where is home?"

"I-" you swallow. "I have to go."

He releases you with surprising ease; you don't waste any time rushing towards the path. The long walk has exhausted you, and the lack of light makes it difficult to tell which turns to take. You stumble multiple times. The hem of your nightdress catches a few twigs. You sprint past the trees, past the low bushes along the familiar trail, and it's there, suddenly in front of you: the wooden bridge.

Out of breath, you grab the railing. And then open your eyes on the same side where you started.

How?

Again and again, you dash across it, yet every time there's a single step left to cross over the stream, the view shifts. Your feet land at the beginning of the bridge. On the ninth time when it's impossible to run any longer, you press your forehead to the railing. Every breath feels short and raspy.

"That's enough, dear."

"What is this?" You grip the planks with trembling hands. "I don't understand. Why can't I-"

A coat falls over your shoulders; you clutch at it mindlessly, because it's warm and you're shaking all over.

"You thanked me. Claimed my land, charmingly audacious of you. Such care and love, right under my nose."

There's no malice in his voice. Gently, finger by finger, he uncurls the tight grip of your hand. The stone is there, cerulean blue like summer sky condensed into a tiny orb.

"Took my gift and kept it close to your heart."

It takes some effort but eventually you manage to speak. "I didn't," you whisper urgently, despite the shiny proof in your palm. "I didn't know! Take it back."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that."

"I didn't know!"

He lifts you in his arms when your knees give out and you sink to the ground, still gripping that damned stone. His coat carries the same distinct scent of lilies and heavy sweetness. The sceneries you dreamed of when younger pop in your head, like old postcards covered with dust, of mystical beings hidden from human eye, fantastical places no one has seen, grand adventures where heroes defy impossible odds and come out victorious.

Those were tales for the brave and imaginative. You're neither.

"It doesn't matter. The land claims you," he says. "And so do I."

[foxyfexyll]

Dear foxyfexyll,

Your tslb au is amazing, if it was a food I'd maw it down, and if it was a pillow I'd shake it violently then hug the stuffing out of it!

It's scratching the Omori itch in the back of my mind, in a way no other Au has (successfully) done.

Hell, this feels like a proper sequel!

Please remember to take your time and move at your own pace, and although I crave more, I shall try my hardest to remain patient.

I wish you the best of fortune in making it.

Sincerely, Anonymous.

thank you very much it really means a lot that people actually care about this thing i made! this au came to my head when i was reading a bunch a fics in which the real world friend group could interact with headspace, because there’s so much that they don’t even know and i found it satisfying how they would react to what sunny was going through. personally, that was the itch that works like "It Really Works!", "Friends by Your Side, Within and Without" , and that one fic where kel gets a hard drive and plays the game as we do (IF SOMEONE FINDS IT PLEASE GIMME) were scatching, so check those out if you will, and share with me anything similar you enjoy! i prolly won't read it but add it to my endless pile of ao3 tabs :9

the thing is, i had that omori obsession a while ago (though i want to get back into it now thanks to this) so anything i didnt have written down from this au has kinda been purged from my memory, so it might take a bit to come up with stuff, let alone share it

enough of those excuses-- here's kel definitely absolutely NOT contemplating to eat... a slice of burnt toast? they found on the ground???

(dw he ended up keeping it instead)

[wosoimagines]

Second Chance

part 2 of rivals

Jo's second camp with the team is nearly over and she gets news of her future.

2,367 words

previous part| |next part

“Hi, kid.”

I grinned at the familiar voice as I closed the door behind me.

“Hey, Becky.”

The woman smiled at me as I threw my bag onto the open bed. I hadn’t exactly expected Jill to room me with Becky again, but it was nice. Becky had helped to make sure that I actually got to bed at a responsible time and that I wasn’t late to any meetings or practices. After all, it had been quite easy for me to get distracted by everything else.

“Did you get to go to the lake?”

“Yeah, we went for a couple of days,” I admitted.

Becky nodded at that before she turned back to the book that she was reading. I tilted my head as I read the title.

“ The Portrait of Dorian Gray ,” I read off the spin. Becky looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve never read it.”

“I could read it out loud, if you’d like.”

I smiled at Becky as I nodded. Becky looked back down at the book as I kicked my shoes off. 

“‘I have always been my own master; had at least always been so, till I met Dorian Gray. Then--but I don't know how to explain it to you. Something seemed to tell me that I was on the verge of a terrible crisis in my life. I had a strange feeling that Fate had in store for me exquisite joys and exquisite sorrows. I grew afraid, and turned to quit the room. It was not conscience that made me do so: it was a sort of cowardice. I take no credit to myself for trying to escape.’”

I grinned as Becky read the words on the pages. I knew that we had at least an hour, if not two, until our meeting started since they were still waiting on quite a few players to get into the hotel. I didn’t give Becky time to start the next paragraph as I crawled into her bed before ducking my head under her left arm so I could look at the pages. Becky stayed silent for a moment as I got comfortable.

It wasn’t until I had settled down and stopped moving that Becky continued.

“‘Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil. Conscience is the trade name of the firm. That is all.’

‘I don't believe that, Harry, and I don't believe you do either. However, whatever was my motive--and it may have been pride, for I used to be very proud--I certainly struggled to the door. There, of course, I stumbled against Lady Brandon. 'You are not going to run away so soon, Mr. Hallward?' she screamed out. You know her curiously shrill voice?’”

Becky’s voice was definitely one of the most soothing voices I had ever heard. Maybe she could become a professional audiobook reader or something like that once she retired from playing. Or even just take it up during the off-season. I wouldn’t mind listening to Becky read me more books if her voice was always this soothing.

“‘Yes; she is a peacock in everything but beauty,’ said Lord Henry, pulling the daisy to bits with his long, nervous fingers.

‘I could not get rid of her. She brought me up to Royalties, and people with Stars and Garters, and elderly ladies with gigantic tiaras and parrot noses. She spoke of me as her dearest friend. I had only met her once before, but she took it into her head to lionize me. I believe some picture of mine had made a great success at the time, at least had been chattered about in the penny newspapers, which is the nineteenth-century standard of immortality. Suddenly I found myself face to face with the young man whose personality had so strangely stirred me. We were quite close, almost touching. Our eyes met again. It was reckless of me, but I asked Lady Brandon to introduce me to him. Perhaps it was not so reckless, after all. It was simply inevitable. We would have spoken to each other without any introduction. I am sure of that. Dorian told me so afterwards. He, too, felt that we were destined to know each other.’”

I couldn’t find it in myself to fight off the sleep as Becky’s voice lulled me into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, pipsqueak.”

I looked at Hope who had sat down across from me. I titled my head at her sudden presence. I knew that she often sat at the table with Carli and Christie during our meals. But they were both seated at a table that was behind Hope.

“Hi, Hope.”

I looked over my shoulder where most of the team was still getting their food. Being small did come with advantages, such as being small enough to get around everyone so I could be one of the first to get my food. I spotted Becky and Alyssa who were just now grabbing their own plates to fill them up. I turned back to look at Hope.

“Look, I just came to say that maybe you aren’t that bad.”

I raised my eyebrows at that. Hope complimenting me had been the last thing I was expecting. After all, we still weren’t getting along that well. It seemed like we both tolerated each other just enough for a fight not to break out during practice, but that didn’t stop the two of us from exchanging words during practice.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Hope said as she kept her eyes trained on her plate as she stabbed some of the food with her fork. “You still aren’t better than I am. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t helping us out.”

I stayed silent, causing Hope to look up at me. She just stared back at me. I was trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke or something.

“Who are you and what have you done with Hope Solo?”

Hope chuckled at that as she nodded.

“That’s cute, pipsqueak.”

“No seriously. Hope Solo would never compliment me. We go at each other’s throats,” I said as I shook my head. I turned my attention back to my plate. Hope had to be seriously sick if she was being nice to me all of a sudden. “Mine and Hope’s relationship does not consist of us being nice to each other. We’re like sweet potatoes and mustard. They don’t go together. I don’t give a shit what Mick says either. He’s a weirdo for eating sweet potatoes and mustard.”

“No, I’m serious, Jo,” Hope said. I paused at that before I looked up at Hope. “Can you just take the compliment?”

I shook my head. I really couldn’t.

At least not from Hope.

This was too weird. Hope wasn’t supposed to be nice to me. She wasn’t supposed to compliment me.

“Is everything okay over here?”

Hope and I both looked at Becky who took a seat next to me. I sent Becky a small smile before I turned back to Hope. I slowly nodded my head as I realized just what this was about.

“You’re being nice 'cause I saved your ass in the goal.”

“Jo! Language!”

I rolled my eyes at that. I already had a mom at home, I didn’t need Becky deciding to mother me while I was at camp too.

“No.”

“You said that way too fast for it to be true! This is about me saving you in the goal.” I grinned as I glanced at Alyssa who sat next to Becky. So it wasn’t because Hope actually wanted to get to know me. “You just feel bad that you tried acting all tough and like you could stop me and then you couldn’t back it up and I had to save the game against France so we didn’t draw again.”

“I don’t need help in the goal, pipsqueak .”

“Sure you don’t.”

It felt good knowing that Hope had felt bad after I saved her skin.

“You could have just said thank you.”

“Jo,” Becky said. I looked over at her as I raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t too sure why she really cared what happened between Hope and me. “Just take the compliment.”

“But she’s only saying it because I made the stop on the goal line.”

“Jo. Take the compliment.”

My jaw slacked a bit at that. I couldn’t believe that Becky was actually taking Hope’s side.

“Thank you for the compliment,” I said once I eventually turned back to Hope. The goalie smirked at me as she stood up. I rolled my eyes as I lowered my voice. “Good thing you’re good at soccer. Cause the porch light’s on, but there ain’t no one home.”

It wasn’t until Hope was well out of earshot that I felt the hand connect with the back of my head.

“Ow!”

“You’re lucky she didn’t hear that comment,” Becky hissed quietly. I slumped back against my chair at that. I really wasn’t in the mood for another lecture. “I get it. You don’t get along with Hope and you might never get along with Hope, but she’s our goalie. You are going to have to stop trying to provoke her.”

“She doesn’t treat me fairly. Why should I be the one to have to extend the olive branch?” I asked as I leaned forward to get closer to Becky. “She’s the adult. I’m only fifteen.”

“Jo-”

“No, it’s bullshit.”

“Langauge.”

“And I don’t need another mom. I already have one.”

Becky sighed as she leaned back in her own chair. I looked away from her. 

“What if I talk to Hope?”

Becky and I both looked over at Alyssa. I had honestly forgotten that she was sitting at the table with us because of how quiet she had been. It was something that Becky told me I would have to get used to though. 

“As if that would make it any better.”

“That would be great. Thank you, Alyssa.”

I huffed as I pushed myself away from the table. I had already finished my plate and if it gave me an excuse to be away from Alyssa and Becky right now, I would take it. I didn’t need everyone else fighting my battles for me. It was part of the problem. If everyone else fought my battles for me then no one would ever take me seriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, I heard that you and Hope got into it,” Jill said as I was wrapping my hand. I sighed as I looked up at her. “Is there a problem that I, as the coach, need to address between you two?”

“No.”

Jill nodded her head slowly as she still looked down at me as I finished wrapping my hand. I rubbed the bridge of my nose before looking back up at her.

“Is there anything else?”

“I really hoped that you and Hope would have gotten over this by now,” Jill said. I softly groaned as my shoulders slumped forward. “I’ll be honest with you, kid. I want to call you up for the August game and September-”

“I get it,” I assured her. I glanced at where the rest of the team was getting ready. Even though I had been friendly enough with Alyssa and Becky, the rest still seemed hesitant to get close to me. “Who wants a kid on their team when they’re the best in the world?”

“Jolene, that isn’t it.”

“Isn’t it?”

I looked away from Jill and down at my shoes. I knew that it was. It wasn’t the first time I had been left behind because I was the youngest one, and I doubted that it would be the last.

“Jo, you’re gonna be called to the U-20 team in just days,” Jill said as she bent down so that we were equal in height. “I encouraged them to do so. I think it would be a great opportunity.”

I looked back over to the rest of the team. But my eyes zeroed in on Hope. I knew what she would say when she found out that I wouldn’t be called to the team in August or September.

“The U-20 World Cup will be over before August. So what’s the point in keeping me out of the September camp?”

Hope would only boost and brag if I was gone longer than I needed to be. Plus, I didn’t want to lose the pace of play that came with the national team if I was gone for too long.

“Because you’re only fifteen, Jo. You will have to go to school and finish your education,” Jill said. I looked back at her. I didn’t care about that, I just cared about my future in soccer. “If your grades suffer too much, then I can’t call you up. You will be gone until late August if you guys make it to the finals.”

“So why have me go to the U-20 team instead of getting more practice with the senior team?”

“Because the U-20 team is going to a World Cup. It might not be the World Cup you were hoping for, but it will give you a taste of what it will be like next year,” Jill said as she sighed. I wondered if she would ever get tired of me and all my questions. “You’ll be expected to be a leader on the U-20 team as you’ve already been called up to the senior team. That will also be a good experience for you. I don’t expect that you’ll be seen as a leader on this team for years, maybe not until I’m gone even, but it will happen eventually, and leading a team at a World Cup, even a youth one, will be good for you.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jill sighed as she patted my leg before standing up. If I had to prove myself to Jill at the youth level again, I was going to do it. Nothing would stop me from winning gold in August. Maybe then, the rest of the team would also start to see me as more than just some kid.

[astraveritas]

★ my scorpio sun/venus and 8h mars best friend has kevin mcallister like plan for revenge if her fiance ever cheats on her. when she told me this I was not surprised at all. I love my scorpio women but yall insane.

★ fire moons are loud as hell when it comes to showing emotions. when they find something funny best believe the whole neighborhood will know. their laugh can wake up the dead.

— two fire moons having a quiet chat

★ cancer sun people are extremely business savvy, very much like their opposite sign capricorn. they constantly show up on the top of the lists of the wealthiest people. after all cancer is exalted in jupiter, the planet of luck, abundance and risk-taking. basically that gif of woody harrelson drying his tears with money is peak cancer sun energy.

★ famous people from the sagittarius-gemini axis are messy as hell. no one brings more chaos, drama, confusion and madness into the entertainment industry that this pair. they said “let me entertain you” and took it to 11

★ visual representation of scorpio men with libra placements using their libra placements charm to be the perfect nice gentleman to lure you in just to switch up and unleash their scorpio craziness on you unprompted 10 seconds later

★ saggitarius rising people cannot sit still, they always end up in the weirdest places and have the craziest stories to tell, like how the hell did you even get in there? and they're always like “I have a friend, who have a friend, who have a uncle who knows this dude and that’s how I ended up in underground bunker sex rave” and by the time you finish comprehending that information they’re already gone.

★  virgo placements and their scary attention to details. nothing will slip past them, they will notice and they will point it out, no they won’t care if they hurt your feelings, do better.

— virgo placement staring at someone 20ft away and noticing a stain on their shoes.

★ “look what the cat dragged in” but the cat is pisces sun/mars woman who just introduced you to her boyfriend and he is the weirdest creature of a man you ever laid your eyes upon. people who talk about aquarius women and their strange taste in men, never met a pisces woman in their life. aquarius women will be into counterculture type of men whatever the counterculture may mean to her personally. but pisces women? they’re dating mad libs in form of men.

★ have yall noticed taurus placements and their sense of smell? their noses are so sensitive they could probably work as police dogs in airports. very similar to virgos in that area. no one sniffs their food more before they eat it than a taurus placement. you ask out loud “what’s that smell?” and a taurus placement be like “i’m sensing basil with a pinch of black mustard seed” and they end up being right every time. they also love for their home to smell nice, always opening the windows to let the fresh air in and lighting scented candles. 

— taurus placement after buying every scented candle, perfume, aromatic bath salt, lotion and air freshener they found on sale.

★ people with mars-mercury conjunction/trine in fire sign are blunt. they will say what everyone is thinking out loud and drag everything unsaid into the surface and force people to confront it. 

★ watching people with libra sun/mars in a discussion with someone they don’t agree with is hilarious. you can see in their eyes that they do not fuck with this person and their opinions and yet there’s still this polite smile on their face, but something behind their eyes says “murder”.

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

Lightning Makes The Roots Grow Deep

Basil Stilt x afab!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? | request info • Kinktober 2024 Masterlist • Kinktober 2023 Masterlist • Day 19: Voyeurism

Summary: There's something watching in the woods.

A/N: This was meant to be for kinktober 2023 (I'm so sorry). I don't know how this became what it is.

Warnings: sort of magical realism, Basil becoming a sort of Green Man, plants growing out of people, cut to black sexy times, please let me know if I have missed a warning!

Word Count: 1101

It had started when leaves began to grow from the scar tissue along Basil’s face. It wasn’t painful, just odd. But then again most things had been strange in the last few days… months? How long had it actually been? 

He often woke with berries on his eyelashes, the small red fruits falling when he first opened his eyes to the new day. 

He ate less. Began to just sit for hours by the window to soak up the sunshine. On rainy days he opened them, hung out bowls and cups on string to catch the rainwater and drink it down. There was nothing else like it. No other food or liquid, even tap water sustained him in the same way, nothing else quenched the deep ache in his chest. 

After a long time, when the vines from his skin had begun to twist and creep down along his arms and across his chest he had left. Finally. 

He wasn’t sure where the energy had come from, the drive. He just simply walked out of his flat in the dead of night. 

His car, the poor thing had sat dormant for years, started the second he got in and put his hands on the wheel even though his keys were still somewhere upstairs in the reminiscence of his old home. 

He drove for a long time. Out of the city and further still. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but something pulled at his nerves, an urge he could not deny. 

Basil didn’t know the name of the place when he arrived, surely a national forest of some sort. But it was the right place. 

As he walked further into the trees his muscles relaxed, the cobwebs in his lungs cleared. He was home. 

. 

“Are you sure there’s no bears?” Elizabeth asked sincerely, and Barry laughed. 

“No fucking bears, I promise.” He grinned. 

Elizabeth didn’t look so reassured. “Are you 100% on that?” 

Jamie, her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her. “No bears.” 

“Hmm.” She didn’t look so impressed. 

“I wouldn’t be here if there were.” You say, trying to comfort her. 

She gave you a brilliant smile. “Okay, you I trust.” 

You laugh, all four of you saying goodnight as you went to your respective tents. Elizabeth and Jamie shared, Barry to another, and the last was yours. 

Part of you was sure that this whole trip was secretly Jamie’s and Elizabeth’s attempt to set you up with Barry. He was nice but there was something you couldn’t put your finger on. Something just didn’t seem right. 

It’s difficult to sleep. You’d expected the cold and had packed well for it. It was the noise that was getting to you. This forest seemed louder than any you’d ever been to before. Busy. As if it was teaming with life ten times the usual amount. 

Somehow you manage to get to sleep for a while. A little after 2am you wake, needing to pee. 

You sigh and pull yourself out of your sleeping bag and grab your torch. Even though you were just going to duck behind a tree didn’t mean you weren’t going to get lost. People who got lost were people who thought they couldn’t get lost. 

You stepped as quietly as you could, not wanting to wake the others and walked around the back of a large tree and peed quickly. 

You’d just finished disinfecting your hands when there was a snap from the distance. You jolted, looking up in the direction quickly and shining your light. There was something there. Between the nearest outcrop. Like�� light? Soft glowing orbs of dark pink and red. They floated like bubbles, a seemingly high pitched soft sound emanating from them. 

You don’t remember following them, one moment you were there by the campsite and the next you were deep in the undergrowth, mud high up on your jogging bottoms from your journey. 

“What?” You frown, blinking hard and trying to shift the wave of dizziness that floats next to your eyes. 

Panic doesn’t grip you, doesn’t sink in despite you not knowing where the hell you are. Instead, you feel sort of… warm. 

There’s a faint light blue glow up ahead filtering through the trees. A ranger’s station or something. You walk further in, closer to the light and…

You stop in your tracks. 

The forest is glowing. All manner of plants, flora you have never even seen in a textbook cover the clearing. Soft moss lines the floor. You lightly touch the bark of the closest tree, it’s warm. Not uncomfortably, not in a way that would make your skin crawl. It’s nice, soothing. 

It’s only then that you notice the figure in the middle of the clearing. You pause, swallowing as he looks at you. 

He says your name softly.

“How… how do you know…?”

“I’ve been watching,” he pauses, turning his head so you can see the leaves growing from his face. He moves closer, seeming to float across the moss. “You… and the others.” Lightly he touches your cheek, you can feel the vines that run along his fingertips. 

“What… are you?” You breathe, unable to take your eyes away from his skin, how the ivy twists in his hair and the moon seems to glow in one eye, his other dark like the night itself. 

He leans forward, pressing his lips to yours and opening your mouth with his own. You moan, shiver as his hand trails down your neck, his hand resting just above your heart. 

You pull him closer when he licks into your mouth. He tastes like fruit, sweet and heady and when you pull back small flowers have budded and bloom along the side of his face. 

He places his hand on your hip and minuscule vines grow and slip under your clothes, pushing them from your body and tearing them away with small thorns that do not touch your skin.

You gasp, heat rising to your skin. 

“It’s alright,” he whispers, kissing your cheek and jaw. “You’re safe. I promise.” 

“I…” You swallow, words escaping you as he sucks a love bite into your skin, pulling you flush against him while he traces his hand down and lightly teases your nipple. 

When your mouth opens in a soft moan he groans, letting his fingers sink further down your body and stroke along your centre. You can feel the vines from his hand run along your skin, start to twist and stroke along your thighs. 

He licks into your mouth the same moment he sinks his fingers inside of you.

Thank you for reading!

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[h0tb0x1nnac0ff1n]

Very excited to see your page grow ! 🤍 sorry for the long request 😣😣❕

Can i request a Daryl x fem!reader where the reader’s whole love language was cooking for people before everything went to shit? But because to the outbreak and where they ran from place to place.. she just could never make anything and because lack of ingredients which sort of kills her morale.

However, when they’re staying at Alexandria.. One day she gets one look at their pantry and is strangely super excited and very much productive for the whole afternoon. Which causes confusion among the group because “woah reader is rlly happy, wonder what’s up.” And it’s because she can finally cook the food she loved to make and it’s now time for Daryl to test-taste each and every single dish made all with her love 🤍 .

Just some wholesome fluffiness bc i personally imagine Daryl had like food made by someone for him. He deserves the best as he just eats everything up bc its made with all of our love 🤍🤍🤍

Hello!!! I think this is an amazing idea! Can I just say that I’ve found my people 🤧

Here’s to my first X Reader on here 🥂

Warning: Talks about food/ fluff/ killing walkers (normal TWD stuff)

HOPE YALL ENJOY❤️

You a chef or something’?

For as long as you could remember, you always loved to cook for the people closest to you.

You would make them their favorite foods and the look on their faces when they would take that first bite was enough to make your entire day.

But when everything happened, cooking food that actually tasted good was the least of your concern, breaking your little chef heart. But when you walked into Alexandria for the first time and saw the plethora of food they had, your heart practically sung.

“What type of herbs do you have?”

“Just about everything, basil, thyme, rosemary, paprika. You name it we probably have it.”

“Where did you get all of them?” You said with a little giggle in your throat.

“Out scavenging, this area used to be a huge neighborhood so there was lots of herbs and seasonings that were left behind”

You were so excited for all of the possibilities! You could make so many different foods and you can now FINALLY show off to everyone how much you loved to cook. But there was one person who you especially wanted to impress.

He sat outside of the house cleaning his bow you and Rick’s group had decided to stay in until you could trust these new people.

You walked up to the house with a huge basket of cans, herbs, seasonings, and just whatever you could put into a meal.

“What gotcha all skipping down the street like a child?” the bowman said with his southern twang, an accent you been hearing since you joined the group back at the quarry.

“Just some herbs and seasonings”

“Whatcha gonna use tha for?”

“Uh, cooking?” You said in a questionable tone.

“Do you want me to cook you something?”

“Nah, you don’ gotta do tha. Whatcha gonna make with all of those anyway?”

“I have lots of ideas on what to make, you know it’s been a while since I cooked, maybe you could come inside and taste everything?”

Daryl gave it a second of thought, but in his normal gruff voice “Fine, but you gotta cook what I ask for”

“Okay!”

Ever since you first met Daryl and the quarry you always thought he was a hard working man. Always went out and got food. He was a survivor, a man the world couldn’t take down no matter what it threw to him.

When he saved you after the walkers invaded the camp, you began to not just think he was a cool guy but also to have a sense of respect for him.

“What do you want me to cook you?”

“Well, I got this squirrel that I plan of skinning, be nice to do somethin with it.”

And that got you thinking. “Maybe we could do a stew, or a baked squirrel, or maybe-“ “Woah, calm down ther’ just make a stew that’ll be simple enough all righ’?”

“Okay, a stew. Hmm.” You go inside the house and walk to the kitchen placing down the basket, and you start looking at the seasonings, and vegetables in your basket. You pick out the cucumber, carrots, squash, flour, and eggs “How many squirrels do you have?”

“I got five”

“Okay, I can make a broth from the squirrels and make a minestrone soup”

“The hell is a minestrone soup?” “It’s a soup from Italy, filled with vegetables.”

“Well okay, tell me when it done”

You gave him a big smile and turned around to get started on this soup, you had Daryl skin the squirrels for you, you baked the squirrel and toon of the meat, then placed the meat in a bag and put it in the fridge for the stew. You then got the bones and some meat from the squirrel, put it in a pot filled with garlic, carrots, onions, and you put it to the top of the got with water. Then you let it cook on the stove top for HOURS.

The next day you strained the broth and started on the soup. You chopped up the vegetables and you made the pasta. Using the flour and eggs you used 3 parts flour, and 2 parts egg. You than mixed with your hands and used a rolling pin to flatten it out. Daryl than came up to you to check what you were doing “Why ya just now startin tha?” “I had to make the broth, that took all night.”

“Ya didn’t have to do tha it justa soup I woulda had you make me somethin else if I knew it would take that long.”

“Don’t be an ass Daryl I’m doing this because I care.”

“But why do you care, why do ya care about the way food tastes n all tha, it jus ment for ya to survive.”

“I know, but mankind invented art, and I believe cooking is an art. You deserve some good food after everything you do, just let me show that I care.”

“Fine, just stop being philosophical.”

“That a big word even for you Mr. Dixon.” You joked.

He just scoffed and walked away. ‘Finally some peace to myself’ you thought. You loved that man you do but sometimes he can just get in your nerves. But you know he’s an ass out of love.

One hour later, the soup is finally now just simmering in the pot. You decided it would be a good idea to make a cake because you think Daryl might appreciate it for taking so long to cook the soup.

You ran down to the little ‘Grocery store’ they had down the street and picked up some sugar, butter, and vanilla flavoring.

You devoted to them start on the cake, also making your own butter crème frosting. After two hours, everything was perfect.

You decided to set up the table and piped open a glass of red wine.

“Daryl ! Dinners ready!”

Daryl walked slowly into the house to see you dressed in a beautiful floral summer dress and some fake pearl earrings from the mall back when you were in the quarry.

“Wha’ with all this?” He asked not knowing how to react. All he knew was this beautiful woman whom he adored had made him a meal that smelled sweeter than anything else.

“I thought you would enjoy it, so I decided to get some wine, and the nicest bowl I could find”

“Well, tha’ sweet of ya, wish I dressed up a bit more now.”

Daryl was wearing what he usually does, his t-shirt with his beautiful arms showing, with his angel wing vest and his cargo pants with boots.

“You look just fine Daryl, not like we have many clothes anyway.”

Daryl silently agreed and sat down

You served him the soup with a slice of buttered Italian bread and a glass of wine.

You sat yourself across from him and Daryl instantly started to eat.

“Oh wow-“ Daryl’s face looked as if he had never eaten before.

“This the best soup I ever had”

“Are you messing with me?” Daryl had never really given many compliments to anybody, so him saying so ment a lot.

“I’m serious, the carrots are nice, ion think I ever had squash before so that new.”

“Aw well thank you Daryl”

“Nah thank you, so tell me sunshine” and nickname he had given to you that just made your heart flutter.

“Why is cooking so important to ya?”

“I think it just the feeling that, I can make people happy, that I could make them something and they would enjoy it.”

“Mm” he replied nodding.

After dinner you and Daryl had a slice of the cake you had decided to bake last minute, he also said that the cake was and I quote “Fucking amazing”.

You two decided to hang out and talk while you both cleaned up the kitchen.

“Hey Daryl.”

“Ya what’s up sunshine?”

“Do you think I could cook for you more often? I mean I hope you liked it”

“Woman, I loved your cooking, imma be coming over every nigh’ now.”

You were so happy to hear that, Daryl actually loved your cooking. You felt so happy you couldn’t hold back your smile, making your face a bit red.

Daryl smiled and continued wiping down the table.

After that you decided to go to bed, Daryl had decided to as well, but he slept downstairs still.

You kissed him a goodnight kiss on his cheek and walked up stairs. Thinking about the day, Daryl fell asleep with a smile on his face excited for what tomorrow will bring.

.

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.

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THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!!!!! So sorry if it shitty but thank you all for reading my first x reader on this app 🤧 ❤️

[tinyundercover]

pepper & felix

part eleven

the aftermath of last night

MASTERPOST word count: 2.5k

Felix stared at the ceiling, vaguely aware of the alarm beeping on his nightstand.

It was grating to his ears. Internally, he knew that he needed to get ready for class, but the events of last night simply refused to leave his mind. Stressful memories weighed down on him like a rock, leaving him motionless in his bed.

Pepper is my soulmate.

The voice in his mind and the borrower in his walls were the same person. It was comforting to finally have an explanation for his strange feelings towards Pepper, and why he always felt so drawn to him… but at the same time, it was hard not to feel absolutely terrified.

A month ago, he didn’t even know that borrowers existed. Worry fluttered around Felix’s chest as he wondered how they would possibly further their relationship, considering their vast size difference and the uncomfortable power imbalance between them. He had only held Pepper a few times, and he had been wracked with anxiety every single time. Now, he wasn’t just putting the life of a borrower in his hands, but his soulmate’s. 

…And what was he supposed to tell his friends and family?

Felix sighed heavily, drawing his blanket further to him. Part of him wished he had stayed at Alice’s place yesterday to explain everything to her, but he hadn’t wanted to keep the borrowers there any longer. Today, he would have to talk to Alice alone and explain the situation without putting Pepper and his sister in more danger.

A sleepy, familiar voice suddenly floated into his mind, disrupting his thoughts. “Your alarm is going off.”

Felix sat up abruptly, finally registering the consistent beeping that filled the room. With a flush he leaned over, shutting off his alarm, then brought his hands to his chest. “Sorry. I was thinking.”

“About me, I hope,” Pepper said sleepily. A second later he added, “Basil says hi.”

It took a moment for Felix to register who “Basil” was. He drummed his fingers over his chest, curious, wondering if Pepper had meant to share his sister’s name or if it had slipped out by accident.

His lips twitched into a smile. “Tell her I said hi.”

“Mhmmm.”

Pepper’s voice had already drifted off into exhaustion. A warm feeling swirled around Felix’s chest, and as he got out of he bed, he tried to remain quiet for his small, sleeping guests.

—— 

Sunlight filtered through the window, dappling the floor of the hallway in yellow. Felix waited against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, checking his phone every few minutes.

Alice had agreed to meet him here, but as time stretched on, Felix was beginning to doubt her. His stomach twisted in a mixture of fear and guilt, and he prayed that Alice would at least be willing to listen. They had been friends for almost three years. He wanted more than anything to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Hey.”

Felix glanced up, heart skipping a beat when he caught sight of Alice approaching. Her expression was empty, but Felix couldn’t help but notice the tightness of her hand around the strap of her bookbag.

“Alice,” Felix said in relief, straightening up. “Hi.”

She stopped a few feet away and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Her blue eyes danced over his form before meeting his gaze again. She said nothing, clearly expecting him to talk first.

“Did you tell anyone about them?” Felix asked before he could stop himself.

Dark lashes blinked. “...Why would I do that?” Alice responded after a moment, tilting her head. Felix still couldn’t read her emotions. “No one would believe me.”

Relief rushed into Felix’s chest, and he exhaled, nodding. “Good. Thank you. They’re not supposed to—”

“What the hell happened last night?” Alice cut him off, exasperation seeping into her tone. “Seriously, what the fuck?”

Felix immediately faltered. He supposed that was a fair reaction, but he still wasn’t prepared for her sudden frustration. “It’s— it’s a lot to explain.”

Alice raised her eyebrows.

“They’re just people,” Felix clarified, fiddling his thumbs and frowning. “But… a lot smaller. They’re not, like, dangerous or anything. Just people.”

“Well, obviously,” Alice pointed out. “I just want to know what they were doing in your apartment.”

Felix found himself at a loss for words. How much was he allowed to share with Alice without putting the existence of borrowers in any more danger? 

“They’re my friends,” he said slowly.

Alice stared for a moment, eyebrows lifting. “You’re… actually friends with them?”

Felix frowned and nodded, and Alice crossed her arms, brow furrowing again. “Oh. When they said they were your friends, I… I thought they were lying. It’s not like you’ve ever told anyone about them.” She peered closer at Felix, eyes icy. “Why didn’t you tell me? Or Breanna? Owen?”

Warmth spread through Felix’s chest, a bit flustered to hear that the borrowers had referred to themselves as his friends. He then hardened his expression as he processed Alice’s other words, the warmth fading. “They’re a secret,” he pointed out. “Humans aren’t supposed to know about them because when they do they put them in jars.”

The anger entered his voice without meaning to. Alice stepped back, hurt etched in her expression. “What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know– talk to them?”

“I tried to!” Alice exclaimed. “They just freaked out!”

“Alice,” Felix exhaled, momentarily pressing his fingertips to his temples, “they’re three inches tall. Just think about what we look like to them. Of course they would freak out– they were probably scared of you.”

“I barely touched them.”

Felix blinked, processing her words. Heat filled his chest, hot and angry. “Are you serious?”

“I mean– I put them in my pocket for a second, and then I put them in that jar, but that’s–”

“You hurt them!” Felix retorted before he could stop himself. Alice jumped. “Didn’t you see the bruise on Ba– on that girl’s face?”

Silence stretched between them for several seconds. Alice’s face fell, blinking rapidly. “That was an accident. She fell when she was in the jar.”

“That you put them in,” Felix objected, features sharp.

Alice stared at him, lips slightly parted, brow furrowed. Felix could sense the frustration floating off of her, and guilt instinctively crept its way into his chest past his own anger. He hadn’t meant for this to turn into an accusation. 

It was hard for him to truly believe that Alice would intentionally harm either borrower beyond repair. As difficult as Alice was being, Felix understood that she was just confused about last night’s events. He couldn’t exactly blame her for acting irrationally towards the borrowers when she didn’t even know that they existed until twelve hours ago. (It’s not like his first interaction with Pepper had gone smoothly, either.)

Alice tended to maintain a tough, closed-off persona, which Felix usually found admirable. Unfortunately, Alice’s attitude meant that strangers tended to think she was cold-hearted– so Felix couldn’t even imagine how a borrower might perceive her, with every one of her actions amplified tenfold. Honestly, if Felix was three inches tall, he would be positively terrified of her. 

Felix took a deep breath, focusing on Alice again. “Just… just please don’t tell anyone about them,” he said finally. “That’s all. I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.”

Alice said nothing.

—

“But did she say sorry?” Pepper demanded.

The borrower had his palms pressed to the back of his neck, pacing back and forth across the counter, mindful of the large knife being wielded only a foot away. Felix was chopping tomatoes on a cutting board, and although his eyes were focused on the knife, he was paying attention to what Pepper was saying.

“I think she feels bad,” Felix responded after a moment, brow furrowing. 

“She should feel bad,” Pepper grumbled. “She could have killed us.” The memories of being shaken around a jar flashed through his mind, and he instinctively dropped his hands to hug himself, shuddering at the distant feeling of his joints slamming into solid glass.

Felix spared him a glance, eyes searching his small form, before turning back to the cutting board. “Ah… is your sister doing okay?” His voice was light.

Pepper stopped pacing and peered up at Felix. “She’s okay. She’s been sleeping all day, actually, but she’s overdue for some rest.” A miserable thought entered his mind, and he frowned, registering for the first time this evening that he was holding a conversation with a giant. “You know, yesterday was the first time she’s ever been seen by a human.”

Worry crossed Felix’s face. “Oh. That… that must have been awful.”

“It was.” Pepper nodded dejectedly, unable to sugarcoat it if he tried. “I mean, I was terrified, and I actually have experience with humans.” He gestured vaguely to Felix, who had abandoned the cutting board and was now giving Pepper his full attention. “But it was all new for her. It had to be so… overwhelming.”

The borrower sighed, gaze wandering to Felix’s hand, which was resting on the handle of the massive knife. “Being grabbed is not fun.” He shuddered at the memories of being trapped in an unrelenting grip, arms painfully pressed into his ribs. “You’re— you’re completely helpless, and when you’re against someone so much bigger than you it’s terrifying. It’s— it’s just…”

He trailed off at Felix’s wide-eyed expression. A twinge of guilt entered Pepper’s chest at the memory of their first meeting, and he shifted on his feet. “I’m really lucky that you’re nice,” Pepper added as an afterthought. Felix said nothing.

Felix remained quiet for the remainder of the cooking process, occasionally nodding or humming in response to Pepper’s rambling. Part of Pepper felt guilty for insulting Felix’s friend over and over again, but in his defense, she had literally kidnapped him.

In all honesty, it was just nice to spend some time with Felix alone. 

“What are you making?” Pepper asked finally. Felix had moved further down the corner to where the stove was, turning the heat on. The occasional click or clang of Felix’s cooking equipment made Pepper a little dizzy, but he ignored it.

“Pasta,” Felix replied, holding up an uncooked piece of rigatoni before dropping it into a large pot. A flush crossed Felix’s face suddenly. “I, um, I thought these pieces might be easier for you to take home with you.”

Something fluttered in Pepper’s chest, warm and surprised. A small part of him— his defensive, primal instinct— hissed at him for taking handouts from a human. 

But at the same time, it was a nice feeling to be considered in something as insignificant as dinner.

“Thank you,” Pepper said breathlessly. 

As Felix stirred a wooden spoon into the pot, Pepper began his trek along the counter. Felix had moved the cutting board away after he had scraped the diced tomatoes into a pan, opening up Pepper’s path towards the stovetop.

As he approached, the heat from the humming stove was startling. Pepper had watched Felix cook for a year, but he had always been hidden away in the walls. This was the closest he had ever been to the stove while it was on.

A small gap, about half an inch long, was nestled between the edge of the gray countertop and the smooth white surface of the stove. On the burner closest to Pepper was a wide black pan, and although Pepper couldn’t see the pasta sauce within it, he could certainly smell it. Past the pan was a tall pot, bubbling with water.

The cooking process had become surprisingly loud in the last few minutes. Unable to quell his curiosity, Pepper stood up on his toes at the edge of the gap, trying to peer into the pan which contained the pasta sauce.

Felix caught his eye, and although Pepper trusted his own instincts, Felix certainly didn’t.

“Wh— hey,” Pepper objected, suppressing a flinch as Felix’s large hand suddenly approached. Alarm bells rang in his mind, and on instinct he dropped back into his heels. 

Felix hadn’t touched him all day, hadn’t even tried. The last thing Pepper had expected at this moment was for Felix to grab him, especially after what happened last night.

But Felix didn’t grab him. The human barely even looked at him, blue gaze distractedly shifting from the small borrower back to the stovetop. Pepper blinked in surprise as the back of Felix’s knuckles bumped into his chest, slightly curled inward, gently nudging the borrower away from the stove. Pepper’s small hands landed on Felix’s forefinger for stability.

“Careful,” Felix murmured, withdrawing his hand and turning his attention fully back to the boiling pot of water.

Pepper blinked. His own hands floated in the air, empty and useless. He hadn’t expected the gentle touch from Felix, nor had he expected it to vanish seconds later, feeling strangely empty.

So much power resided within Felix’s hand. Pepper had felt the sheer force radiating from those fingers, each one surpassing him in height, and inwardly he knew that Felix could have done anything he wanted. Felix could have snatched Pepper up or swatted him away without even batting an eye, but the knuckles against Pepper’s chest had been soft, careful, gentle.

Felix was humming to himself, clearly not aware of how significant his action had appeared to Pepper. The borrower stared up at him, heart fluttering, suddenly in awe of the calculated way Felix was moving his hands around as he cooked.

It’s not like Pepper had actually been in danger. As a borrower, he knew better than to stand at the edge of the counter without paying close attention to where he placed his feet.

Still, as he stared up at his soulmate, he felt incredibly touched.

——

The empty jar was still sitting on Alice’s counter, sticking out like a sore thumb. She hadn’t touched it since last night.

It was hard not to stare at it. She leaned against the wall opposite to the counter, a glass of water in hand, the room silent aside from the faint hum of the kitchen light. 

She couldn’t sleep. 

She hadn’t been able to sleep last night, either, not since Felix had left her apartment with two tiny people in hand.

The jar seemed to taunt Alice. It was on its side, left there after Felix had tipped it to free the tiny people inside. If Alice looked closely, she could see the smattering of tiny handprints on the glass, each one smaller than her fingernail, and she could only wonder what the tiny people were doing now. 

Her phone was in her hand before she could think about it, her thumb hovering over Felix’s contact, and she briefly thought back to how it had felt to hold two entire people in a fist. Her nose scrunched, and she stared down at her phone’s glowing screen, unable to move a muscle.

With a heavy breath she finally turned her phone off and slipped it into her pocket.

She’ll see Felix tomorrow at their first rehearsal, anyway.

------

tysm for reading!! <3

@smallsday @compact-katrina @satethesatelite @taters169 @entomolog-t @gtzel @gt-newbie @da3dm

[joshuamj]

Thoughts on the Omori Manga

I was kind of generous with it, but overall? Mixed feelings, leaning toward negative. This is just the first chapter tho so who knows?

The Art: eh?

The scary parts are drawn well and there are some panels I quite like (the 2 below for example), but otherwise it often looks a little awkward/uncanny??

A big thing is, I think Sunny shouldve been drawn less expressive. He often looks a bit too... happy? Like its fine to draw him horrified and such when he's Going Through It, but he's drawn with those little white pupils a lot at the beginning, which make him look a lot like his younger, more carefree self

I think for the most part, he should've just been drawn like this:

It captures his vibe of Tired/Out of it/Depressed, much better

The Manga's Approach to the Story: not good for people new to Omori (imo), but has potential for an interesting retelling for previous fans

It was quite strange to start with the Real World rather than Headspace, but it could turn out interesting. It will definitely miss the impact of the game's storytelling, but they may still be able to make an enjoyable enough story out of it, yknow?

Doing it this way allows them to emphasize different things than the game. Like the battle with Aubrey, for example. It was so good in game since the player was so used to casually slicing away enemies with the knife, and the Aubrey battle served as a shocking wake up call. You can't knife people in real life like that! But I think no matter what. this couldn't have hit as hard in the manga regardless of if they did headspace first.

But what they did do in the manga was better emphasize Sunny's actual action of slicing Aubrey! Like Basil and Kel are appropriately alarmed and horrified that Sunny has just pulled a knife from nowhere and (quite badly) sliced their old friend with it.

I do, however, think they made it look way too deliberate on Sunny's part.

Like in game, it was more a mistake, while in the manga they seem to be going for Sunny being Extremely Traumatized and just lashing out, but then they portray it like this??

Like, maybe if they had Aubrey actually go after him with her nail bat while she was saying those cruel things, him drawing the knife would have looked more instinctual and a mistake. Here it just looks like he's ready to stab her in cold blood :/

The ending is sort of interesting tho. It does a fine job of showing how headspace is a sort of coping mechanism before we even see it, by having Sunny retreat there after slicing Aubrey.

Overall, I think there is potential in doing Realworld first, Headspace second, but I think it does miss out on a ton of the game's original impact and storytelling

Finally, Aubrey (tm): hot take maybe, but I lowkey like how she was portrayed?

Like, dont get me wrong, she was quite violent and it hurt seeing her legit hit basil with a nail bat, but it sort of works? in my opinion at least.

Shes been hurting for so long and she directs that hurt towards her old friends, and combined with her more aggressive personality, it doesn't seem too wildly out of character i think.

Plus, itll add some good Angst when she gets her moment with the gang and realizes how she's been acting. Like, girl, you are gonna feel sooooo bad for how you treated Basil and what u said to Sunny (character development!)

And it really helps that when she falls to the ground after getting sliced, pictures of Mari fall out of her pocket. It helps signal to the reader that Aubrey isn't just some horrible cruel person, but that there's something more at play

And the way she's collapsed almost looks like she could've collapsed out of grief, or is bowing deeply, and implies she's really hurting. Somehow they did Sunny so dirty with him standing over her with the knife, yet did so well with this Aubrey panel.

I think I just like the portrayal of someone who is very flawed in their grief without being some Big Evil Bad Guy, yknow. Like no, this is a hurting teenager lashing out and making mistakes.

End:

So yeah i managed to find a fair amount of things that have potential in the manga, but who knows if itll be followed thru on..

[kate505sworld]

And a little more plot about the hospital (khedkanonov).

Basil. In this AU, he is as alive as Charlie (and will not die), although he is not healthy. Just like in his basic version, he is mute and also has heart problems (but here, since he is mostly in the hospital, it is easier for him).

He works with Charlie, helps her. known each other since childhood, Basil was in the hospital, and Charlie entertained him and played with him. The only one who understands (she knows sign language).

Since his parents constantly surrounded Basil with hyper care, it was difficult for him to be in the hospital at first, but after that he got used to it. A very smart and cheerful boy. Together with Charlie, they find out what is wrong with "Uncle William". The second (after Charlie's parents) noticed strange actions on his part that were inconsistent with his professional activities. He found out that Will has 2 identities (there are fake documents), but He couldn't tell anyone about it because he just wasn't understood, and Charlie wasn't around. Then forgot about it.

Also, it was he who found out that in addition to the therapist and pediatrician, William also works as a surgeon in another hospital (hence the presence of different limbs).

He has a pet hamster. Although from childhood Basil wanted a dog like at his cousin (Susie), it turned out that he was allergic to dogs.

He's afraid of the X-ray room, he doesn't know why.

(Somehow clumsy and not informative. Well, okay, I have paws)

Я надеюсь переводчик не послал меня нафиг и там все читаемо.

[ysabelmystic]

Top 10 things you got away with as a kid?

Thank you anon for giving me the opportunity to soapbox about the stupid and borderline psychopathic shit I did as a child. I don't know that this'll be a "Top" ten, but it will be the first ten things that come to mind.

Number 1: Attempted Murder (in self defense)

Some of y'all already know this story because it is in fact one of the most surreal things that's ever happened to me and it lives rent free in my head.

I spent my sophomore year of high school in Florida. My neighborhood didn't have blocks. We had ponds, and the houses were built around these ponds. The ponds were also full of alligators. This is important.

Every day after school, my friend and I would stand and talk at the bus stop before walking home to one of our houses. Because we both had overprotective parents, this and going to the park was about the only real freedom we had. So when a black car with a random guy sitting in it started parking across from the bus stop followed us if we started walking, we didn't tell anyone. Instead, we would just wait and talk until the guy got bored and bailed. This continued for about a month until one day, I had to make a to-scale model of St Basil's Cathedral for a school project. That thing was fuckin' heavy, so we were so focused on getting to my friend's place that we forgot that we were being stalked.

About ten minutes after we got to my friend's place, we were getting settled in, eating snacks and setting up the xbox, when his dogs went fucking ballistic. We looked out the window to see a strange man at the door and the black car parked in the driveway. He saw us and then walked around to the garage where we'd let ourselves in but hadn't locked it. So we ran to the garage and locked the side door just in time before they guy grabbed the knob and started trying to get in. When he couldn't, he went to the car entry and started beating at the metal door.

This would be the point when most people would call the police. But again, we had very overprotective parents. If we called the cops and they caught the guy, we'd never be let out of their sight again. If we called the cops and the guy got away, we'd get told off for being overdramatic and wasting the cops' time, and we'd still lose roaming privileges. Instead, over the course of about thirty seconds, we hatched a plan.

My friend’s dad kept his hunting gear in the garage. I knew how to use a bow and arrow at the time, and my friend knew how to swing a hatchet. We decided against using guns since neither of us felt like we could safely use them. Most people were at work, so it was unlikely that anyone would hear any screaming that was to ensue. The plan was to go outside and confront the man. If worst came to worst, we would simply yeet his body into the lake and let the gators take care of him.

We went back out the front door with our weapons and began loudly threatening the man. Not in a normal, “get off my property or I’ll shoot” way. We went into Joker Mode. We were 15, full of rage, severely sleep deprived, high on adrenaline, and in need of therapy. Plus, we thought that this would be the most effective way to scare him off. Luckily, it worked. We saw him rounding the corner of the house and chased him to his car. He sped off, and we never saw him again.

Number 2: Public Nuisance #1

Same year, same state, same friend. It was summer and we were bored as all get-out- bored enough to let my brother and his friend hang out with us. There was a Walgreens across the street from the neighborhood but it was kinda off on some side street so we were technically allowed to ride our bikes there. For whatever reason, on that day’s trip, we decided that this would be the day that we finally drank a Monster. And what the heck, what if we drank two Monsters. And when we got to the park with our bounty of caffeinated beverages, we thought, yknow, wouldn’t it be funny to see who could drink them the fastest. What could go wrong?

What went wrong was that you now had a small pack of children endowed with the energy of The Gods. And what else do you do with this energy but use the woods to play the most chaotic game of tag while playing LMFAO songs and occasionally scaring the shit out of unsuspecting trail walkers. Like yeah this was obnoxious and cringe, but none of us had ever had caffeine before and we now had consumed upwards of 400mg of the stuff. There were no brain cells. Only tachycardia and 2015 YouTube culture. We had become menaces.

This inevitably ended with all of us throwing up, and as the caffeine wore off, we decided to bike home. We started down the main path out of the woods, but at the clearing was a pair of cop cars and two officers walking into the woods. So we had to quickly hide in the bushes and sneak off-trail to the other side of the park. Why do I think they were for us? They were talking about a group of teenagers causing a “disturbance”. But we made it home without getting caught and played Minecraft for the rest of the day. We never did anything like that again, and every day I thank God that TikTok wasn’t a Thing yet.

Number 3: Public Nuisance #2

There were two things my middle school me despised about the girls’ locker room. 1) Everyone was constantly showing off their expensive bras and comparing cup sizes, and it rubbed me the wrong way (the “why” would be discovered later). 2) The perfume. Everyone makes fun of middle school boys and their Axe Body Spray, but the girls at this rich kid school had everything from Bath & Bodyworks to beauty boutique shit. It was beyond overwhelming. I was also deep in my “not like other girls” era and was full of unspecified rage. So, to cope, I started catching grasshoppers during PE. I wouldn’t just release them in the locker rooms. I would look for unlocked lockers or clothes that people had left out in the open, and hide the grasshoppers in their belongings. Just to inflict maximum chaos.

The PE teachers made a big show of looking for the prankster, but I was never caught.

Number 4: Destruction of Property #1

My fifth grade teacher, on God, is one of the shittiest people on this planet. He radiated Ted Bundy vibes. He was a total cunt. We all hated this bitch, and I was pretty much at war with him (he stole my books and destroyed one of my notebooks). This is the most monetary destruction that I caused in one go.

He had a water fountain on his desk, right behind his computer. For whatever reason, he had his computer cord wrapped around the fountain, so it wasn’t laying on the floor. It was basically a tripwire. Feeling silly, I tripped the wire. Fountain hit the floor and shattered. Papers went everywhere. The computer fell. My teacher had to dive into the puddle of water to save his laptop, but it must’ve still been damaged since he had to replace it a week later. And of course, he couldn’t do anything. I was very apologetic about it. It was an accident. I’d tripped. Everyone had seen me trip. It wasn’t the first time I’d tripped on something before. And it was only a matter of time before someone tripped on that cord anyways.

Number 5: Destruction of Property #2

The second worst teacher I’ve ever had was my 8th grade science teacher. He was also a total cunt, not for stealing my shit and destroying my work, but for making jokes about me cutting myself and encouraging the class to bully me. Yay! Just like my fifth grade teacher, he was a cunt with poor organization skills. He had a habit of not grading anyone’s papers until the end of the quarter. He would put each assignment in a stack and set the stack in an empty place on his desk. If he ran out of room, that stack would go on another stack, and so on and so forth. Basically, he had lots and lots of loose stacks of paper on his desk. I don’t remember why he was holding me after class, but I do remember that I was very displeased to be there. Instead of staying in my seat, I decided to take his chair. Y’know. To assert dominance. I fell back into the office chair and started spinning in it. I guess I must’ve hit it at just the right angle because something in the inner stand broke, and it sank to the lowest level. My arm hit a paper stack, which hit another paper stack, which hit another paper stack, and soon, there were papers all over the floor.

Dude didn’t even say anything. He turned red. Not wanting to stick around for the impending explosion, I just left lmao.

Number 6: Trespassing and Evasion

This is probably the most dramatic, disproportionate thing on this list. My first high school and middle school were connected, so overall, the campus was the size of a small college. It would take you at least 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

I was about to transfer schools, and to do this, I needed to deliver a folder of paperwork to the front office. Of course, my ADHD ass waited until the last possible day to deliver it. And I thought, “yeah I’ll just deliver this to the office during lunch”. The easiest way to do that was to go through the center doors of the main building and walk to the opposite side of the hall. 5 minute trip. Easy peasy.

Unfortunately, for some reason, someone decided to turn the student teachers into a security team. I got to the doors and was greeted with a very angry woman who was very much against the idea of me walking ten feet across the indoor hallway to the opposite side. I tried to explain my issue, but she wasn’t having it.

I didn’t want to deliver it after school since it meant I probably wouldn’t get a seat on the bus (seriously, it was packed enough that some people would have to sit on the floor, and to exit on the first couple stops, you had to climb out the window). I couldn’t very well walk around the outside of the building for two reasons. 1) This school ran like Mean Girls. The end of the building was popular kids territory, and God help you if you weren’t a popular kid in that area. I wasn’t just unpopular. I was poor. I was a wanted man. I had literal death threats over my head. And even if I made it past them, there was still a 50/50 chance of being caught by a rent-a-cop for being in the parking lot.

Luckily for me (and my friend who was with me for moral support), one of the upstairs side doors had a broken lock or something. It had caution tape all around it to deter people, but caution tape is easily surpassed and removable. Once inside, we just had to make it down the stairs and out to the office courtyard. Someone must’ve heard us though, because one of the student teachers started calling out, asking who’s there and all that jazz. He ran toward the main staircase. Other teachers showed up. We literally had to hide behind the decorative pillars while this became a fucking manhunt. It was like a scene out of a Nickelodeon program. When their backs were turned, we were able to sneak down another staircase and directly into the office. I delivered my papers, and all was well except we now had to make it back in while about 15 paranoid adults on a power trip were walking up and down the halls. Thankfully, my geography teacher’s room was nearby and he was chill so he let us stay in his classroom until lunch was over.

Number 7: Slander

In 4th grade, I framed a classmate as a “nose-picker” by saving water bottle label glue in my desk for 6 months and putting all the dirty goo-balls in his desk on desk cleanout day. All it took was one, “Ew! Look at Roger’s boogers!” and the rest is history.

He bullied my friend though, so he deserved it.

Number 8: Assault and Battery

In 9th grade, one of my classmates was excessively handsy and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Teachers wouldn’t do anything about him, so I took matters into my own hands, or rather, his hands. When he wasn’t paying attention, I slammed a pencil into his hand. It didn’t go all the way through, but it was standing on its own after I let go.

The crazy thing is that my teacher literally saw it and told the kid that he, “had it coming”, which is just another reason that that school was absolutely insane.

Number 9: Illegal Distillation

I once made wine in my backpack on accident. Old grapes met old crackers, and I ignored this until the bag they were in burst. I have no idea how no one stopped me.

Number 10: Theft and Framing (my mom’s contribution)

This is pretty benign, but my mom still brings it up.

My grandparents had a timeshare in Hawaii, and every now and then, they would allow us to go in their stead. One of 8-year-old me’s favorite things about this hotel was the birds, especially the geese. Because of the time difference between Hawaii and California, my brother and I also consistently woke up at 4 in the morning, so we had about 2 to 3 hours of “feed the birds” time before my parents woke up. Usually, we would use the rice Krispies, but we ran out. And the geese were still hungry. The wouldn’t eat the lucky charms, so that left my mom’s Very Expensive You-Can-Only-Buy-This-In-Hawaii-7-Dollars-in-2007-Money hemp and seed cereal. And birds like seeds, and in all fairness, I had no idea it was expensive, so logically we would give the birds this cereal. A whole box of this cereal.

So my mom wakes up to see her cereal lining the balcony and an empty box in the recycling bin. She went into Murder Mother Rage Mode, and like any self-preserving older sibling, I blamed my brother. I guess I was “old enough to know better”, so it worked. She brought it up every year or so as something terrible my brother did until a few years ago when I confessed to my crimes.

[sirenspells]

"if you're curious about more parts of the AU do let me know"

You have invoked my curiosity, please reveal thine secrets onto me.

This ask is very open so I'll just list out miscellaneous plot stuff for this AU!

Some time after Sunny runs away, people that wander far enough into the woods end up encountering strange shadow creatures, which cause them to pass out from the sheer terror, after which they wake up back in Faraway like it had all been a bad dream. It happens to enough people that it spreads and becomes a sort of urban legend in Faraway Town

As it turns out, this is Sunny's doing. The shadow creatures are illusions that he's creating, and he does it in order to keep people from finding him out in the woods, hoping that it causes them to stay away

This urban legend ends up getting tied into the mystery of Sunny's disappearance and it leads to some people believing that Sunny was eaten or killed by the monsters or something. And Sunny's friends really hate that urban legend cause of course they would, it's at the expense of their missing friend

Stranger hides the fact that he's a witch from Kel, Aubrey, and Basil at first, but he reveals it when the group get surrounded by a pack of wolves while returning to Faraway from his house and he saves them, fighting off the wolves with magic. Just when he thinks he's scared them all off and lets his guard down, though, one of the wolves takes one last shot at him and lunges at his arm. Aubrey fights it off with her bat, but Stranger is left with a huge wound on his arm that is bleeding out by the second

Stranger insists on Omori taking the group back to Faraway Town and for him to make his way back to his house, but the group is like "no holy shit we're taking you to the hospital." And Stranger does not take kindly to that suggestion, briefly shouting "NO" at them, before calming down and explaining that he has a way of healing himself at his house, and he starts walking off towards his house...before he passes out from blood loss. lmao

^ importantly during that scene, after Stranger protests to being taken to the hospital, he says something like "I'm not going back there..." hmm suspicious...

The group take Stranger back to his house where they heal him through use of a healing potion that Omori gives them, and soon after Stranger wakes up and he thanks the group for helping, and he explains that he's a witch and that Omori is his familiar

Soon after this, Basil throws out this theory on who Stranger is, which he had been pondering on for a long time: that he's Sunny. Kel and Aubrey almost instinctively wanna say it's bullshit, until they think about it some more and realize that it actually holds some weight...

[cloud0818]

About honorific titles and the suffixes add to name in Japanese. With KHR!

In Japan, honorific titles or suffixes add to names when conversing with a person whom you have just met. It isn't used depending on the person's age or personality, but it may give the impression of rudeness or aggression. It's rarely lack, between adults and never lack in a business situation.

I must speak stereotypically because the era in which KHR was serialized is different from today, but the actual trend today are not much different either.

さん(San)

This is a very useful and most common honorific title. It can be used for all genders and ages, or for formal situation and everyday life without any problems. Basically, it's an expression of distance including positive means. This can be used any person like juniors, classmates, or business partners.

For example, Tsuna feels Dino is friendly, but calls him as "Dino-san". This is use of "San" to older people than him. Adding "San" to older people than me is a common practice that has almost become a formality.

Or when he met Chrome a second time, he confused "Chrome-san? Dokuro-San...? What should I call you?". This is "San" for someone you have never met before or for someone has distance. In most cases, "San" is add to last name, but "Chrome Dokuro" is not a Japanese name, it made Tsuna more confused.

様/さま(Sama)

This is a more polite honorific title than "San". It is used for formal business partners and customers, not for friends nor for bosses or people you have never met before. The original word has the meaning of respect and is sometimes used for call their name people who are refer to "master" or "lord" in English. It's rarely used in a personal relationship in reality.

Chikusa and Chrome calls "Mukuro-sama", Levi had called "Xanxus-sama" , and Kikyo calls "Byakuran-sama". These are typical uses of "Sama", They really respect their boss.

The following two have no meaning of respect. It is a suffix added after the name. They may be used formality nuances or as nicknames. Both are used for children mostly, but sometimes to adults up to about age 30. Children calls a each other uses these suffx they have just met as it also formally. It is possible that it will become a nickname and continue to call with these. Or it may also be used by parents against their children.

くん(Kun)

Traditionally, it uses for boy mostly. It's used more often from women to men than from men to men. And this has also a little quiet nuances, so it is not often used for KHR characters, most of whom never quiet. It may also be used by a superior to call a subordinate.

However as you know, Tsuna calls Gokudera "Gokudera-kun" as a friend, not as a subordinate. In his case, he uses it as a friend, like when Tsuna calls CEDEF member Basil "Basil-kun".

ちゃん(Chan)

Traditionally, it uses for girl mostly. This use a common expression between women. It is rarely used formally with men, but is sometimes used as a nickname all gender.

So, it's not strange for Byakuran calls to his adult best friend as "Syo-chan". This is a common way to call a man add "Chan" as a nickname.

Or Kyoko and Haru call each other "Kyoko-chan" "Haru-chan". They are very close, but have been calling each other this ever since they met. This is another good example of "chan" being established as a nickname. The suffix may be lost by getting to close, but it depends on their personalities.

KHR Japanese characters often uses honorific titles or suffix, but Italian characters doesn't use it. It's not surprising considering the culture, but interesting. Yes, Dino called Iemitsu "Iemistu-san" once. Why does he still have no plans to build a house in Japan?

[salted-twee]

Iko AU!

^ Real World Height-Check!!!! ^ It's them it's them it's them it-- AUGH!!! I LOVE THEM!!!

I (Twee) made the bases-- Salted did the clothes over them! We also split up the colouring; I (Twee) did Kel & Aubrey, and Salted did Mari, Sunny & Basil!

Some design choices; Kel is a bit less tan than he would be if he went out more. He also tends to wear some of Hero's old clothes, since his don't fit anymore and he doesn't go shopping. Aubrey has more scrapes, but is generally a lot more healthy! She's the exact same height as Sunny, but she's leaning on Basil to make fun of how short he is. Mari is also the second tallest-- after Kel's ridiculous growth.

Some extra notes~! Sunny is less Dead Inside due to Mari's help. He and Aubrey are friends, and he has a strange relationship with Basil; Mari is a bit dim due to Hero's loss, and is generally tired because of college; Aubrey is more sporty-- Her baseball bat doesn't have nails, and she actually does baseball as a sport! She and Basil are friends; Basil is the most different! Because of Kel and Sunny changing drastically after Hero's death, he took to blaming Kel on Sunny becoming antisocial. He's a lot more... angry! Still anxious and a crybaby, but we've totally taken to calling him Emosil-- I'll save the infodumping for a different post yikes!

^ Concepts ^ The birth of Emosil, Experimenting with Kel's colours and giving him longer/shaggier hair, and an unfinished Mari doodle! Salted did Basil and Kel, I (Twee) did Mari!

^ Bullying Emosil ^ He is. So fun to bully I swear. Who gave us the power to do this to him, we are so mean pjdsfgpd--

Unhelpful context: Because Sunny and Basil had a falling out, Sunny blocked him on Tumblr. Basil proceeds to literally break down crying and begs him to unblock him every other month when they run into eachother. This is dubiously canon.

Slightly more helpful context: When Kel comes out of his isolation- (which is different from Sunny's; we'll get to that masterpost eventually)- He runs into Sunny and Basil at the park. He see's that theres a commotion, and he moves to step in. Instead of a knife, Kel has a fucking rock-- and somehow, some way, he proceeds to literally throw the rock at Basil's head-- Me and Salted keep joking about Basil and Sunny fighting because of the Tumblr block, and Kel assuming that Basil is bullying Sunny. Everything we say is extremely dubiously canon, and I find that hysterical.

^ Disaster. ^ Wholesome bonding, before Hero died. Hero begged Mari to burn it, but it was added to the album. After he passed, Mari took the photo, and keeps it in her wallet for when shes sad. In the background, Sunny got brained by a ball Aubrey and Kel were playing with, and gets a mild concussion-- Thus:

This. Everything we make is Serious, clearly. ... Pehehe x3

^ Full Images! ^ We had to use TWO canvases this time!!! Sopping Wet Iko emotions are on the height check canvas, but we had to turn off the layer to fit the copy-pasted DW height check! Special appearance of Power. We love Power, we worship Power. Editing these all into seperate images took forever.

Regardless; that's all! Thanks for tuning into our near-daily infodump session! <3<3<3<3 Again; please please pleaaaase tag us pretty please if you draw something, or have anything to say ;)

Post made by Twee!

[koffing-time]

I will gladly interact with you! Send an ask! @ me! I would love to RP with you. I will do an (IC) promo if you ask (assuming i'm popular enough for that lmao)!

Hello Hello ~

My name is Tix (they/them, occasionally it/its), and welcome to my rotomblr blog! I'm 23, I'm from Unova and i have a small café on Route 3 right outside Striaton City. If you don't find it, just look for the Daycare on the hill, walk up that hill and look for the building at the foot of the hill! And now come in and get a cupcake, you earned it!

Don't be alarmed by the poison types around here! Most of them are registered to me and are completely harmless unless you touch them. They are also friendly, so if you wanna pet them, ask me! I'll gladly provide handling advice.

I also have an employee, Olivia. I might occasionally mention him. Maybe she'll also make a few post here and there.

There is also Brandy, my Rotom. Let's hope they can behave!

As for my Pokémon, there are a few! [Complete list of Pokémon including retcons at the end in the ooc section]

My Koffing, Coffee! The shop's named after him! Look at his FABULOUS moustache!

Bienenstich the Scolipede, she's very good with kids. If you need someone to look after your toddler, she's the gal! (i am so not kidding)

Cream the Haunter. No, your drink isn't haunted, she just helps me out a bit.

Muffin the Roselia, he's the primary gardener. I would do more around there but he doesn't let me.

Poppy the Toxicroak, he's a cool guy. He also makes music with me.

Basil the Toxtricity. Best bassist i've ever met (sorry Roxie).

Carrot Cake the Clodsire. He doesn't do much, but that's okay.

Rhubarb the Ekans. Little rascal. Don't trip over him.

Eggplant the Skorupi. He's new, still getting to know him myself!

Soup the Grimer is also quite new. I hatched him from a strange egg.

Also here's three pics of me. (//i forgor what the picrew were. if anyone knows, let me know)

//Pelipper Mail is on

//I will draw your OCs badly

OOC below the cut:

// Hi, hello. I run this blog as a side blog, so I'll like and follow from my main @fire-water-grass-core. If you need to address me (the player/mun), I'm okay with any pronouns, and if you need a name you can call me Kama, Nox or Cheese. I also run:

@zekrom-sword where i explore some darker themes (ig?) regarding pokémon hunting. This blog is less focused on blogging though and goes more into headcanon/fanfic territory. I'm happy to RP with Felix (muse over there) though!

@fire-water-grass-core is the main, as mentioned. Originally it was planned for that one to be a personal blog for Olivia, Tix' employee, but i didn't really get into it. I mostly use it for OOC stuff regarding rotomblr ig?

@kamataros is my general, non-pkmn-irl blog. idk what you would want there? but feel free to check it out. I post a lot of shit and a lot of it is untagged.

NOW for the rules ig?

ZERO: don't be a dick. easy, right? right. This is the important part :)

First: blanket #unreality warning. I will tag posts usually as pokemon irl, #pkmn irl or #pokeblogging. The actual unreality tag is reserved that genuinely blends reality and fiction (such as talking about animals in the context of the pokemon world.)

Second: i went on a BIG hiatus for like 6 months. I've retconned a few things, but i didn't want to actually go through the blog and delete stuff. Instead, i tagged all old posts as #Koffing-Time-1.0. Everything with this tag is not neccesarily canon anymore. case-to-case basis i guess.

Third: If anything comes up, I'll try to put a warning tag. I'll keep it to one format: #cw [trigger]. I will probably still use them sparingly, since i'm personally okay with most things. Please tell me if i should tag something.

Fourth: I won't participate in high stakes a lot and probably never in ultra stakes. Everything will be appropriately tagged #high stakes pokereality on the off chance that i do join. I don't think i will be getting into details like "low stakes" and "medium stakes" for tagging.

Fifth: Regarding sentient/sapient pokémon: they are allowed. I might ignore them if i ever do any story-arcs or so, but go ahead! (this was different for 1.0)

Sixth: Ask games will be tagged with #ask game. Once i reblog them, they are open indefinitely, including old ones from #Koffing-Time-1.0. The tag will be for the initial meme only, not the answers to make it possible to find them. Generally, please put the question for the meme into your ask, especially if it's an older ask game. (Feel free to ask Brandy or Olivia as well, but if not specified it will be Tix answering)

Seventh: DMs are an OOC zone :)

OTHER TAGS:

I'm trying to use a funny tagging system for blogs i "frequently" interact with (as in.. i am not chronically on tumblr so "frequently" is a bit much to say)

Out of Character posts will be tagged with #ooc . This goes only for posts where a significant portion is ooc.

Out of Character answers to asks will be tagged #cheesy answers

Out of Character notes will be marked as // or //ooc (including tags)

I might reblog art or even posts that tix isn't involved in. these will be tagged #//reblog

Posts involving details about certain headcanons will be tagged #headcanon

Image descriptions or Video description will be in [brackets] .

Also here is a (not complete) list of a few headcanons that i use.

I'll update and edit this post as well as reblog it if something changes.

Lastly

I, Cheese, Mun will use pink coloured text in addition to the //

Tix will be writing/talking in colourless text

Olivia will be writing/talking in blue text

Brandy will be writing/talking in red text

otherwise, i won't use much colours in posts. this intro blog stuff will be the exception to make it easier to read (i hope)

That being said: feel free to interact, feel free to send a DM, feel free to send asks, I'm happy to do offscreen posts and RP and whatnot, I won't bite and i won't poison you. Probably.

PS: little thing about reblog chains (i guess?)

Now, that was a long one. If you read it all, congratulations, have a cookie. Or a coffee. And most importantly: have fun!

PPS: Here's a list of Tix'Pokémon:

Coffee the Koffing

Muffin the Roselia

Bienenstich the Scolipede

Cream the Haunter

Poppy the Toxicroak

Basil the Toxtricity

Cracker the Murkrow (retconned) [it hurt me to do this but there are so many already] (never fucking mind i love them too much i can't delete them)

Cheese the (shiny) Crobat (retconned) [it hurt me to do this but there are so many already] (never fucking mind i love them too much i can't delete them)

Rhubarb the Ekans

Chocco the Salandit (retconned)

Carrot Cake the Clodsire

Pumpkin the Bellsprout (retconned)

Loaf the Trubbish (retconned)

Yoghurt the Yveltal (retconned)

Bun the (ultra domesticated) Trubbish (retconned)

Roll the (ultra domesticated) Tubbish (retconned)

Appleslice the (ultra domesticated) Mareanie (reconned)

Bacon the (ultra domesticated) Mareanie (retconned)

Lettuce the (ultra domesticated) Mareanie (retconned)

Tomato the (ultra domesticated) Mareanie (retconned)

Caramel the Beedrill (retconned)

Tofu the Sliggoo (retconned)

Annie Stonefruit the (albino) Cranidos (retconned)

Jack the Pumpkaboo (retconned)

Brandy the Rotom

Eggplant the Skorupi

Leonard the bed-sized Clodsire Plush

Soup the Baby-Grimer

If all of Tix team appear in a post (i doubt) it'll be tagged with #tix band

Also a list of Olivias Pokémon

Hans the Lotad

Grill the Darmanitan

Marbles the Alolan Exeggutor (tagged with just #marbles the exeggutor )

The Kalosian the Escavalier (tagged with just #kalosian the escavalier)

Beach Ball the Gible

Gregor the Gimmighoul

If all of Olivias Team appear in a post, it'll be tagged #olivias gang

[endangered-liaison]

The Knight Before Starlight

The kiseru twists this way and that between Max’s fingers. She’d seen it in the markets, and Starlight was coming up, so…she’d bought it. It was only once she made back to the apartment she and Gloria were sharing that she realised the person she’d bought it for was near-impossible to contact.

How do you find a wandering cowgirl? Especially one who left to find herself in the first place? That’s too much finding for her tastes, and she sucks at it. Give her prey to track and she’ll follow them across half the world. Give her a friend to follow and…well. There’s a reason she came to Othard. Sometimes you need to go somewhere where you won’t be followed. Sometimes people follow anyroad. Sometimes you need help.

But Laelia doesn’t need help. She needs space. Room to think. Max, of all people, can understand that. She never expected to understand it, but she does.

“That’s quite a fine pipe!” a voice pipes (hah) up from right in front of her, and Max jumps like a startled opossum. She’s either getting too rusty or too relaxed because somehow Ser Basile Bellerose, The Least Sneaky Man In Any Given Room, has managed to surprise her. He stands before her in the theatre, hands on his spandex-clad hips and cowboy hat perched daintily on a head slightly too large to it. “But I was under the impression you couldn’t smoke?”

Max opens her mouth to respond, but evidently the man’s thought processes are still going strong as his mouth falls open in some realisation and he continues.

“Have you found some sort of tobacco or moko which doesn’t harm your lungs?” he asks. Then: “Magic and botany are both equally impressive in my books, and either one could offer you the experience of finally being able to smoke as your image suggests you should!!”

He’s right about her image. Every ilm of her screams that she’s some sort of troublemaking layabout smoking cigarettes and threatening to put them out on the nearest intimidatable person. But that’s never been her fate. She speaks up before he has a chance to take his enthusiastic thought processes even further in something that feels vaguely like trying to derail the phantom train. “Nah. I saw it in the markets - got it for Lee.”

That causes the light behind his eyes to do a strange series of things. It dims, brightens, dims again, then brightens once more to an almost zealous enthusiasm. “Laelia! Of course, I’m sure she’d love to receive such a thoughtful gift, and to know she’s in your thoughts! I’m sure she’d also like that smokeless tobacco as well!” Evidently, after being derailed, the train somehow managed to find a second set of tracks, mount on to them, then perform some complicated technique of multi-track drifting. 

Max feels out of her depth, and she was a semi-professional sapper. The man’s enthusiasm is truly dizzying, in that after speaking to him Max isn’t sure what way is up and kind of feels like hurling. In the nicest possible way. “Yeah. Figured she’d like it, but…you have any idea how to get somethin’ to her? Girl makes off-grid look like a tourist trap.” If anyone knows, it’s going to be the man wearing her hat.

He crosses his arms over his barrel chest, pacing this way and that while looking deep in thought. Ten seconds pass. Fifteen. Twenty five.

“Not a clue! Shall we go?”

What. “Huh?”

Basile beams, sparkling teeth and wit. “We know she’s in Ilsabard. We know she has a large dog with her, and we know exactly the sort of heroics that she would get up to! If you have a starlight gift for her then by Halone, I think we should deliver it!”

Max blinks. 

This man truly is insane.

“...Alright.”

-

Two weeks later, the two find themselves once more wearing their winter clothes and once more in the cold of Ilsabard. Max’s teeth chatter. She’d forgotten how much the cold sucked.

Basile has not so much ‘swapped out’ his cowboy hat as he has ‘perched a starlight hat on top of it’. It seems to be holding on through the Garlean winter winds by force-of-will, force-of-personality, or him tugging it over the hat like pulling on a tight pair of socks. It’s genuinely impressive watching the little white bobble blow in the wind from his position on the sidecar of Max’s motorbike.

They’ve been searching for a week. Three towns and a survivor settlement down and all they have to go on is a vague rumour about an oversized dog (which turned out to be a bear), talk of someone riding a horse through the wastes and helping everyone she came across (which turned out to be a strange miqo’te with what looked like an even stranger unicorn), and some rabble-rousing nonsense about the XXVIIth Legion returning to bring them to a new glorious age and to crush the Eorzeans once more. Garlemald doesn’t even have a twenty-seventh legion.

“This was dumb,” Max says, and gets a mouth full of snow to thank for it. 

They’ve just stopped for the evening in some old, abandoned town, and she doesn’t know how much longer they can keep this search going. There’s a whole continent Laelia could be in, and that’s assuming she’s even still in Ilsabard.

No. She’d have sent a message if she’d left. She would’ve.

“Perhaps so! But in my experience, the difference between dumb things and brilliant things is simply a matter of perseverance!” Somehow, Basile’s spirit remains utterly undaunted as he dismounts from the sidecar, unfolding his limbs from it and beginning his routine of stretching that he’s done every day since they started riding together. “We shall find her, whether by force of will or Starlight Miracle.”

Max lifts their camping equipment from the back of the motorbike, giving Basile a Look. She’s been giving him more and more Looks recently, but somehow he never seems to notice them.

One more week. One more week, then they’ll turn back.

-

They don’t have a week.

Max awakes the next morning to the sound of gunfire in the warehouse they’d camped out in. By the time she rolls out of her tent, pistol in one hand and knife in the other, it’s risen to a cacophony of clashing blades and cannonfire.

She’s greeted by the sight of Basile fighting a half-dozen Warmachina. Quite where they’d come from, Max has no idea. Did they pass by an obscura last night? Are they here to give her a speeding ticket? She doesn’t know, and she isn’t much in the mood for asking as she raises her pistol and blasts one of the bladed, skittering ones apart.

Basile throws her a thumbs up and a cheerful “My thanks!” before swinging his gunblade once more, carving a wheeled nightmare like a starlight turkey.

Debris litters the warehouse, and it’s clear he’s already dealt with the worst of them. But it’s equally clear that he’s getting tired, and Max fires off four rounds at the biggest baddest of them all - a Colossus - before joining the fray with her blade.

The Colossus barely seems to care about such petty gunfire, and Max finds herself wishing she’d taken the time to grab her grenades from the tent. But life isn’t for regrets and she’ll have plenty of time to wish she’d made better choices if it cuts her in half. Basile blasts apart the last of the chaff, then turns to face the metal beast. His gunblade roars as it cleaves into the thing’s leg, and Max uses the opportunity to clamber aboard it, ramming her knife into the space between two armour plates and twisting until she hears servos whine. She pulls the knife free, climbing further up its frame before she’s grabbed by the Colossus’s free hand. It squeezes tight enough for her ribs to creak then tosses her halfway across the room. She lands with a dull thud but the ringing in her ears drowns it out.

She watches in dull horror as the Colossus raises its enormous sword, aiming directly at her. It’s ignoring Basile completely, focused on eliminating one target at a time. Starting with the weakest link.

It swings.

Max closes her eyes.

There’s an almighty clash of metal.

When she opens her eyes, Basile is in front of her, his own sword blocking the Colossus’s. It’s heroic. It’s magnificent. It feels like some sort of badass music should be playing in the background.

But he’s struggling. Max doesn’t need to be a mage to see his strength fluctuate. His posture shifts, and his leg bends. He falls to one knee, gritting his teeth. “Max! Run!”

She climbs to her feet, unsteady. She has to do something to help. There has to be something she can do to help.

But before she even has a chance to move, the warehouse echoes once more with the sound of a gunshot. The Colossus’s head snaps back, a bullet piercing clean through its armoured chassis. It slumps, falling to one side. Defeated.

Basile rests his weight on his sword, gasping for breath and clutching his chest. Max stumbles over towards him, dizzy and barely standing.

They both look towards the source of the gunshot.

Laelia Belisar lowers the rifle in her hands, barrel smoking and faintly glowing from whatever round she used. Beside her, Brutus chews on the leg of a piece of magitek like an oversized bone. “Um.” She smiles, and offers an awkward wave. “Hey guys.”

-

Basile is the first to recover. He rushes over to Laelia, regaling her with tales of Starlight Miracles, starlight hat bobbling away and the brightness of his eyes even brighter than normal. He practically seems to be glowing and, after a few moments of shock, Laelia relaxes into it like a familiar campfire. She smiles, and laughs, and offers him a hug.

“It’s good to see you both,” she says, genuinely, and it’s like fresh kindling on the flames of Basile’s enthusiasm.

He insists on hearing everything about Laelia’s time since they last spoke, nodding rapidly to everything she says while he plays with Brutus. He hears of frontiers and homesteads, of talk about expeditions to the New World. Of people lost. Of people found.

“So, there was this one town where some chick calling herself The Razor had set up shop. She said she’d broken out of prison in Thanalan or something, and she was trying to start up some new Garlean movement. With a name like that, I dunno what she was aiming for.” She’s got a starlight hat on by now, cheeks red from the alcohol Max had been carrying in their supplies and the campfire they’d made to fight off the cold.

Even Max has put a hat on, a grin on her face as they sit close to one another.

“So…time for the million gil question.” Laelia interrupts her own storytime to ask it. “Much as I’m happy to see you both, what’s brought you out here? We just finished with one apocalypse, and if you’ve shown up to tell me about another one I swear I’m going to kick you out into the cold and steal the rest of this booze–”

That has Max’s smile fading a little, and she runs her fingers through her hair self-consciously. It’s been getting long, recently. She doesn’t mind it. It used to bother her, but those times are long since passed. “Nah,” she says. “The World’s goin’ fine. I just…missed you.”

There’s a few seconds of silence as Laelia seems to be trying to work out how to reply to that. Max and Basile came out here, a week into the colds of Ilsabard, because Max missed her? “Bull! Shit!” Lee shoves Max’s shoulder, laughing. “Come on. Seriously now, Sawyer. I know you too well, and I know you came out here for a reason. Apocalypse and family are the only things that could drag you this far north without handcuffs.”

The fire crackles. 

The camp is quiet, save for the sound of Brutus attempting to eat Basile’s entire arm.

“Well, you ain’t wrong about that,” Max finally concedes. She reaches into her pack and withdraws a parcel. It’s wrapped in brown paper, with a rough bow tied on it with twine. She hands it over to Laelia. “Family’s the only thing that could drag me this far, kickin’ and screamin’. Happy Starlight, Lee.”

Laelia stares at Max for a long time. She looks at Basile, and Brutus. She looks at the package in her hands.

She leans forwards, and wraps Max in a hug. “Thank you. I…thank you.”

Max buries her face against Lee’s shoulder, gripping the leather of the woman’s jacket as she returns the hug fiercely. “You ain’t even opened it yet.”

“Shut up, Sawyer.”

Across the fire, Basile watches the two with a smile, and wraps his own mighty arm around Brutus to give him a fine hug. “A Starlight Miracle, my friend. Or sheer, stubborn force of will!” 

Brutus boofs approvingly, and the knight rubs his ear.

“But I prefer to trust in a little magic.”

((Featuring @snowbird-down 's Laelia, and @autochthonousone 's Basile!))

[starcitrine]

I wonder if Rhinedottir was involved in the institute in Fontaine, The institute has 2 doors that can be opened and they have some sort of weird out of place thing in them.

First room I found was some sort of secret study room with 2 rifthounds and a readable log (I can’t remember if the door needs a key)

The second room is weirder it has a pile of purple-black sludge in the middle surrounded by a circle of some sorts the sludge looks quite similar to the ooze in the chasm, thats not the only out of place object in this room, one side of the room has scarlet quartz near the wall which is strange considering the sludge and quartz are both from subareas where a celestial nail(?) is present.

While im not 100% sure where the Chasm ooze come from (I think Nahida’s story quest said forbidden knowledge?) but since Scarlet quartz is only found in Dragonspine and its pretty similar appearance to Crimson agate which is (imo) very important in Dragonspine and seems to have some source from Durin himself.

I know it could just be the researchers gathering data from other nations like with the Sumeru Tech but I think it would be kinds cool (and im starving for content) if Rhinedottir was involved somehow, even if it was just researchers finding her notes or her anonymously supporting.

I have not finished Fontaine so if I missed some added context or explanation I apologize

edit 1. circle found around the sludge is also found in Elynas (familiar names from the institute aswell)

edit 2. enigmatic page says that jakob confirmed that the Scarlet quartz and sludge were like like Elynas’ flesh and blood

Pictures and readable log from the room below

1. Rifthounds in study

2. Study with no Rifthounds ( they do not respawn )

3. Sludge in weird circle with Csralet Quartz the the right (Quartz and Sludge cannot be destroyed or removed)

4. Oozing concretion in Chasm

Ancient Note:

...Though it's a shame, we'll have to miss it. I was looking forward to Coppelius's new work. Ever since he was a child, he's always been incredibly talented...

...

...Out of consideration for everyone's safety, it has been decided that the Institute shall close. Driven by the energy and vigor of youth, the young ones are clamoring to go out and do battle. I hope someday they will understand the importance of prioritizing post-disaster reconstruction over marching off to die...

...

...I fear that it shan't be long before we must depart. We've chosen a good piece of land near the Fountain of Lucine as the post-relocation site... They even say they want to use the land to build an opera house — they'd sooner set faces aflame with shame and laughter! To think that anyone could be so comical...

...

...We're going to pay our respects at Basil's grave...

...I hope it all turns out like Emanuel said. However, it's the Institute's responsibility to support gifted and talented youths...

...

...Met with the newly-appointed Iudex. He has a peculiar temperament. Seems much more reliable than Leon and those other clowns...

...

...If all goes well, it has the potential to completely revolutionize our understanding of clockwork meka. The proposed methodology and plan are reliable. Worth paying more attention...

...

...The results of early phases have been satisfactory, we will increase our investment... Carter's leave requests have been increasing in frequency. Better have someone keep an eye on him. He may be having financial difficulties (not like it's possible for it to be a family matter)...

...

After some consideration, I've decided to enroll them and temporarily assign them to the same lab. However, I'm concerned about the impact of their joining after Alain on the mental state of others... must keep careful watch...

...

...Still unconscious during the visit, so couldn't speak...decided to take a blood sample and see if there's a cure, or a way to mitigate it...

...

Although the proposed research plan is expected to face challenges in obtaining recognition, I believe it holds significant practical value, so it justifies approval. Toxins remain in the soil and water and have not yet been fully neutralized... The water is producing deformed Oceanids... In a way, this could be a reflection of previous events. I only just learned that these are Karl's adopted children. It's a shame the Narzissenkreuz Institute no longer exists...

...

...This could be the biggest breakthrough in a century, it will change all of society...

...

...The report mentioned abnormal movements... I'll have to find a chance to talk to Emanuel about it...