#but we don’t actually knows what (if anything) hatches from those?

[sparky-is-spiders]

Hey the TMA Somewhere Else is Dredge au still lives in my brain actually. I think Jon spends a lot of time trying to study how the eldritch stuff interacts with the environment. Minorish spoilers for Dredge below. If you haven’t played it yet, please do. Pretty sure it’s still on sale on Steam right now. It’s such a good, lonely, somber little horror fishing game.

Okay I’ll try to avoid too many spoilers because I think this game is best experienced blind and I’m pretty sure I only have a couple followers who’ve played it. But anyway, some Jon nature studies (btw this is an au with any/all Jon):

- Jon actually stays in Stellar Basin w/ the researcher for a while. Helps her take samples and stuff. His interest was perked when he heard that the mutations supposedly came from the creature, so he starts looking for evidence and taking water and soil samples (how did the eldritch influence spread? Through creatures? Through water? Or was the whole area influenced when whatever lived in the basin came through?)

- She starts testing out a theory that the monsters in the area might actually be aberrations who’ve reached some evolutionary peak. This means trying to get samples from the monsters. Which means Jon getting very, VERY close to them. Only complicated by the fact that they make scientific equipment go absolutely haywire (not to mention she’s going off knowledge from the Eye and a crash course from the researcher), so the results prove… inconclusive.

- Once the photographer gives them a camera, they take lots of pictures. Mostly abberations and monsters, but occasionally the local wildlife too. Their favorites are the pictures they snapped of a sperm whale dragging a giant tentacle down to the depths.

- They save up until they can purchase a small apartment out in Greater Marrow. Much like their old flat, it’s barely used and barely organized, and it doesn’t feel even a little bit like home. Their notes are spread all over the place, pinned to walls and filling up shelves and piled all over their rickety desk. The photo of the sprem whale attacking the giant tentacle is pinned in the center of the corkboard (it was a very good, VERY lucky shot, and they think they were honestly more surprised than whatever the hell the tentacle was part of).

- He tried capturing one of the piranhas out in Devil’s Spine, but even dead, they call to their mother, and he has to toss them overboard or have his boat crushed between massive jaws.

- She consulted the researcher (and the Eye) about ways to keep a fish farm, but for the aberrations instead. It took a lot of trial and error, but she managed to keep one of what she classed as “incubator” aberrations (perhaps a cyclopean flounder?) until the “eye” hatched (for non-Dredge players: cyclopean flounders appear to have one giant eye, but it’s actually an egg (the pupil is a yolk)). Unfortunately, what exactly emerged from the egg is unknown. They Eye alerted Jon that it had hatched, but when she checked the area it was being kept in, she only found gorey remains, a hole in the mesh keeping the fish contained, and slime clinging nearby. It was a shame, she had gotten somewhat attached to the unfortunate flounder.

- He’d spend days, sometimes even weeks at a time using his spyglass to watch schools of fish with abberations, observing their behavior and how they interact with the regular fish. He tried going on a dive to observe them once, and I can’t decide if I want that to end with him getting attacked instantly, or with him awakening hours later on the deck, drenched in water, covered in seaweed, with no memory of what he saw and a notebook full of scribbles and gibberish. Either way, he 100% tries again multiple times later.

- Attempts to Know about the ocean or See below the surface of the water are met with… resistance. Part of it is the Eye’s limited presence, it’s only just gotten here and it’s still slowly gathering strength and they can’t draw much power from it (Useful in that it means they don’t need to take as many statements anymore, need to sustain themselves with human food too, but it also makes them weaker). Part of it is the sea itself. It doesn’t want to be seen or known or understood, and attempts to do so have been met with failure and sometimes attacks. (Jon still remembers their first attempt, where they tried to know if all that unnatural fog was somehow connected to the Lonely, reaching out with all their strength, only for a shark with shining white eye to rise to the surface of the water and tear a massive chunk out of the hull).

Ok that’s all I have for now. Go play Dredge. Goodbye.

[cottonlemonade]

Plan B [part 2]

word count: 1490 || avg. reading time: 6 mins.

pairing: post-time skip Kuroo x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

part 1 for context

Of course your staff had immediately informed you about the display from the day before when you came in the following morning. The barista even showed you a few snapshots he had taken with his phone and as much as you hated to admit it, you would have loved to have been there to see it in person. Pictures didn’t really do him justice, you thought. “Should I send those to you, manager?”, the barista asked with a knowing smirk. When you didn’t say anything but just stoically walked past him into the kitchen, you were glad when your phone buzzed a few seconds later and a small flood of pictures appeared in your chat. You cleared your throat and got to work.

Despite his regular appearances the last couple of weeks, the guy didn’t show up again the next day. Or even the day after that.

“Maybe he actually finally gave up?”, the waitress suggested with a shrug. She was counting the receipts while the barista helped you clean the espresso maker.

“I hope not. What else are we gonna do for entertainment around here?”

“How about your job.”, you suggested.

The barista let out a theatrical groan, which earned him a dish towel to the face.

At this point, a week had passed since the last time you saw the guy and although you found your thoughts wandering to his handsome smile every so often, you decided it was most likely for the better.

It was late in the evening and the café was closed for the day. The sky was gray and obviously brewing up something unpleasant so you wanted to make sure to send your team home as quickly as possible.

Soon enough, after hugs and waves goodbye, you locked the glass door from the inside and went to the kitchen to prep food for the next day.

You had just started to mash up a bowl of overripe bananas when a soft knocking made you look up and glance through the serving hatch.

The wind outside brushed past the shops with a low whistle and you could make out a very familiar shape in the dim light of the streetlamps.

More excited than you’d like to admit you made your way to the door.

“Sorry, I’m late.”, the guy’s voice was muffled through the glass.

You pointed to the Closed sign with a raised eyebrow. He put his hands together in a silent plea.

With a very big eye roll you grabbed the keys from your apron pocket and opened the door a handwidth.

“Hi.”

“Hey there.”

“I need a cake.”

“Goodbye.”, you closed the door again.

“Please!”, he called.

You shook your head and gestured to your ear to signal you couldn’t hear him.

He thought for a moment, then took out his phone and began to type something. A few seconds later he held the screen up against the glass.

Forgot to get cake for friend’s birthday.

You pulled a notepad from your belt and wrote “unfortunate” in response.

Low rumbling of thunder made you both look to the horizon. A few moments passed in which he threw you puppy dog eyes. You sighed loudly and unlocked the door again.

Not a minute too soon. With the click of the lock the first heavy raindrop hit the windowfront.

“Thank you.”, he said with a grateful smile.

“Don’t mention it. But you will have to live with what’s left of the day. The ones for tomorrow still need to be decorated.”

He followed you to the counter, having the decency to look apologetic as you waved him to come along further to check out the cakes in the fridge.

He chose a white chocolate cake with strawberries and you carried it back to the front to pack it up.

“How has your last week been?”, he asked as you worked.

“Uhm, I made my best cinnamon rolls yet and finally found my TV remote. So pretty good, I’d say. How about you?”

“Not as good as yours apparently. Pretty busy. I had to do some traveling and give a bunch of presentations. Sorry I couldn’t come by to bring up that counter you keep on the blackboard.”

You closed your eyes and made an indefinable noise. You'd have to talk to your staff about the concept of discretion.

“Technically, that means I owe you at least one.”

“Oh, please don’t.”

He swaggered closer and, leaning on the counter, considered you for a moment.

You held his gaze, expecting the worst.

“Wait, I… actually forgot what I wanted to say."

You tried not to smile but were betrayed by your pursed lips.

"Gotta be honest, of all your flirting so far that has been the best one."

He gave you a half smile.

"How about you don't see it as flirting. See it as me just being extra friendly to someone extra beautiful."

You scoffed but couldn’t stop a short sort of giggle escaping your lips.

After a moment’s pause he added, now with genuine sweetness, "Go out with me. Just once. I promise it'll be fun. And really, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Where do I even start?"

"Okay. But besides that, the worst that can happen is that we realize we don't have anything in common."

You looked at him, your head slightly tilted in thought.

"Like, what are you doing tonight after work?", he suggested.

"Well, I’m meeting some friends."

"What will you be doing?”

“A museum has a science night we wanna check out.”

“Oh! Really?”, he asked excitedly, dropping his flirtatious manner completely. And sure enough this little piece of information carried you through the subject of scientific fun facts to books to hobbies and so on. The rain had lessened significantly but an hour later he was still there, sitting on a chair at the kitchen island, talking while you worked, peppering in little compliments here and there but keeping it mostly pleasantly fluffy.

When you eventually parted in front of the café, Kuroo hesitated, obviously thinking about how to say Goodbye. In the end you both settled for slightly awkward smiles and went your separate ways.

He had an extra spring in his step as he arrived at the restaurant, incredibly late but incredibly happy. His friend accepted the cake with a tipsy, somewhat off-key belt of “Happy birthday to me!” and pointed to a free seat next to Kenma.

"Someone's looking chipper.", his former setter commented and accepted a slice of birthday cake, “Why did you leave me here alone?”

“You’re hardly alone, Kenma-kun.”, the older one said vaguely, "I had to pick up the cake first. I only remembered when I was already at work."

"So… is it from that little café?"

Kuroo shrugged, but was unable to hide a grin.

His friend lifted a brow. Originally, Kuroo hadn’t meant to talk about it. About how he didn't expect you two to actually have so much in common, about how funny you were, how smart and how gorgeous you looked even after a long day at work. How you practically made him beg to get into the café at all and how easy it was to talk to you once the ice was broken. It took him a few minutes to finally stop gushing.

"Sounds like a very promising night.", Kenma said approvingly, hoping he’d finally be free of his friend’s whining about why you wouldn’t go out with him, "So you got her number, then."

Kuroo's dreamy expression fell at once. "Oh.”

The sun glistened on the streets still soaked from last night’s rain but the air smelled fresh and you hummed to yourself when you thought about the previous evening. As you unlocked the cafe’s front door you heard someone calling your name and turned around.

Your stomach dropped when you spotted Kuroo on the other side of the road, waiting to cross safely.

“Good morning.”, he said, a little out of breath but with a winning smile.

“Good morning. What brings you by so early?”

“I have a full day today so I wouldn’t be able to come by otherwise.”

You tried hard not to look too pleased.

“I was wondering, if - I mean, I forgot to - Could I have your number?”

Pretending to think about it, you opened the door.

“Do you want that on a to-go cup?”

“That would be easier to brag with.”, he said, nodding thoughtfully and stepping in behind you.

While you prepared his usual, Kuroo watched you closely and you weren’t sure if the pink in his cheeks was from his jog here or something else.

When you handed him his tea a few minutes later he stood there, looking you up and down with his cheeky grin.

You squinted in suspicion.

“You look even cuter than usual today.”

“Get out before I charge you double.”

He lifted the cup and winked. “Talk to you later.”

[weirdmarioenemies]

Is Birdo the only member of her species?

"Yes!” you confidently proclaim. “You included an image of multiple Birdos right there in the post, silly!”

I know I did! I did it on purpose, because it is relevant to the subject matter! But it does not mean all that much, ultimately. Look. Here are five Luigis.

Luigi is not a species. So allow me to explain why I am reasonably confident in believing that the existence of multiple distinct Birdos has been retconned!

It all started with Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. When Birdo was finally added to the game, her alts were named strangely! With Yoshi and Shy Guy, we had, for example, Light-blue Yoshi, and Light-blue Shy Guy. Birdo, however, gets Birdo (Light Blue)!

This is how basically all the alts in Tour are named, just like our dear brother Luigi (Lederhosen). So did they lazily just port these alts over from Tour, without bothering to make the formatting consistent with what was already in 8 Deluxe? But wait! Yoshi and Shy Guy are named with their colors first in Tour, just like in 8 Deluxe! Were THOSE ones hastily ported into TOUR? What’s going on here!!!

Well, let’s look at the trends that already exist in these naming conventions!

-A character simply wearing a different outfit than usual has the name format of “Character (Descriptor)”. Example: Luigi (Lederhosen)

-A character who is in a different FORM than usual has the name format of “Form Character”. Example: Penguin Luigi

-A character who is a member of a species that has been seen in multiple colors has the name format of “Color Character”, not counting the default colors. Example: Light-blue Yoshi, Light-blue Shy Guy

One other thing of note is characters like the Koopa Freerunners and the Pit Crew Toads. These fit into both the first and third categories! For example, we have Blue Koopa (Freerunning), who is a Blue Koopa wearing a Freerunning hat, and Light-blue Toad (Pit Crew), who is a Light-blue Toad wearing a pit crew uniform.

With all this established, Birdo’s conventions fit into the first category! I am inclined to believe that, if these were meant to be distinct individuals, they would be named like the Yoshis and Shy Guys, yet they are named as the same individual in different outfits. Maybe she can change her color like a chameleon, and uses it to complement whatever bow she wants to wear at the time!

The real question is why in the world they would retcon Birdo as her own species... but it is not actually that weird, to me. As awesome as it is to have an entire species of glamorous transfem dinosaurs who all share the exact same fashion sense, maybe Nintendo decided that was where they draw the Weirdness Line in Mario’s world. Birdo’s current design is very much a design for a distinct character! It’s like how Donkey Kong Junior was used in contexts where many of him appeared for a while, until he himself was removed from memory. And don’t get me started on Toadsworth! They can and will alter anything from character intricacies to the existences of entire characters, is what I am saying here.

Also, as a little Grammar Tidbit, it is entirely intentional that “Birdo (Light Blue)” and “Light-blue Yoshi” coexist, and it is not inconsistent! “Light-blue” is a compound adjective, and as a result is hyphenated if it is written before the article it describes. I have learned this purely thanks to the funny dinosaur, and now so have you!

So do you agree with my findings? How does the concept of Birdo being the only one of her kind make you feel? And how did it get this way? Maybe she just invited herself out of the dream world and established herself! Maybe she is a mutant Yoshi, not in the realistic genetics way, but the cartoon toxic waste way. Maybe she just hatched from an egg that was there one day. Whatever the case! I think she is really great.

[hervey-gervey-chip]

DIY AGE-OF-SAIL INSPIRED FOULIES

part IV: the test

y’all i fucking did it!i’m making an update! first off, let’s go through the weather of the day. it was cloudy with a light but consistent drizzle, slightly chilly, and it had rained enough by the time i was climbing around that the rig was thoroughly wet. (said rig is pictured below with the day’s conditions)

initial reaction when putting them on:

relatively stiff! very similar level of stiffness to my other pair of bibs that I have from 2020; they are just the most basic west marine ones you can buy.

it was sprinkling a bit outside already, and water was beading nicely on the cloth

the ass reinforcement i did began slightly lower than i would have liked, but i guess that’s what you get when you don’t measure anything on your actual physical form before you start sewing lol

i wore them over top of my denim work pants and i didn’t feel congested in there at all

sail prep:

the harness cinched over them just fine and they were super easy to climb in!

we reefed tops’ls and i went out to the yardarm to do the earring lashing, and therefore had full body contact with a wet yard and sail for the duration of the lashing (diagram below), and then stood on the footropes regular-style for a bit to finish up reef nettles. i got back to deck and was not a bit damper than i was before i went aloft. *though everything i was wearing was just ~ambiently damp~ just because that’s how humidity works. if you’ve ever put on an item of clothing that’s been living in under-bunk storage for a month, that’s what the vibe was.

water was no longer beading, but rather a thin film of wet on the top layer of fibers.

sail time!

plenty of time on a knee or sitting on wet hatches i think is what did it. i was still fairly dry; however, by the end of the day i felt a little wetness seeping through at the knees, and more on the butt. that said, the reinforcement was /just/ high enough to cover the part that made contact when sitting.

overall, they fared about as well as those westmarine bibs do currently: definitely works, but not the ideal for a downpour or long watches in the rain.

what i learned:

i’m definitely doing this again and maybe my shipmates and i will have a oilskin-making party, though next time i will be changing the recipe

when i got back to the shop that monday, i found my sample piece of fabric that i put raw tung oil on to see how it cured by itself. it was surprisingly malleable and didn’t crack when i bent it around a bit. i had been pondering using just a quarter of the wax in the next mix just to keep it a bit more flexible so the paint and oil won’t crack as the bibs are exposed to the elements. now that i know what i do, i may even reduce the wax to a few heaping tablespoons just so that whatever wax i use to maintain them will stick better to the cloth. i think the issue here that caused the present pair to wet out was penetration (i’m so sorry i couldn’t think of a better word).

i also waxed the reinforcements after they were attached, and next time i’ll definitely oil the fabric separate from the bibs themselves for an extra layer of protection.

conclusion:

i’m honestly not disappointed and am, in fact, slightly impressed that my amateur soup-soaked overalls are comparable to the state of a (used) pair of mass-manufactured foul weather bibs.

[princesssszzzz]

Brace yourselves, a long rant

Rhaena’s S2 characterization

Baela’s S2 character moment changes

I’m gonna be sooo disappointed if Rhaena’s set up with Daemon not being a good father to her is not expanded in S2 and then her moving to hatch Morning. I already said in multiple post she did have dialogue and it was just ignored by fans. Her claiming vermithor to me is not good writing but luckily that’s not gonna happen. If they want her interacting with Vermithor an attempted claim would be interesting, but that is not her dragon and totally ruins Morning and her connection with Daenerys. One of the theories I had was her having a fear of dragons because of Vhagar burning Laena and while she’s in the Vale she becomes more confident in herself and overcomes her fear, but Daemon is dead before he gets a chance to see that evolution in her. They seem to be dismissing Rhaena’s lack of dragon and just letting fans go without an answer why she still doesn’t have a dragon. Which is gonna be annoying with people making up their own theories or just calling her weak and stupid like they already were. 🙄

And the issue is that goes against the set up they already built for her with the young Aemond parallels, her wanting to claim Vhagar which is not in the book, and her talking to Laena about feeling less than Baela being favored by Daemon. The camera cutting to her in ep.10 and the script saying that scene she feels bad about because she’s supposed to be the “rider” for “riderless” dragons Daemon is referring to. A lot of people want the entire storyline for their favs switched up to give them more screentime and say they’re more important during the dance, but I don’t want that for Rhaena because she’s interesting already and an underrated book character even with the little she gets. That’s why I purposely have post separating her character from Baela and letting them be individuals and not just “those sisters” or “Daemon and Laena’s daughters.”

The characters don’t need to be changed, they need to be expanded on and allowed to be human. She already has a decent foundation accidentally or on purpose 😂 I love the idea of them incorporating Rhaena politically. This actually makes sense and doesn’t change anything from the book, because if Rhaena is devoted to team Black or believes helping makes her safer from the greens then of course she would try to be helpful to the cause even from the Vale and dragonless. Book canon she thinks Aemond is a psycho running around mass murdering and has no problem kinslaying and taking out eyes. I hope they go the Rhaenys route with Rhaena and make it a self preservation thing or attempting to create peace. We already have characters like Jace that are just understandably there to support the team no matter what so it would be nice to have a variety of reasons why other people are doing what they’re doing. Rhaena thinks the greens want her and her sister harmed and dead so she’s compelled to actively advocate for team black is better than her just cheerleading for team black while having almost no interactions with them and they’ve done nothing for her. The set up for Game of Thrones universe to be political and almost everyone does what’s in their best interest vs House of the Dragon every decision is emotional because family and no one is playing the game is not something I like. Such a downgrade in writing and character motivations. Sorry I know Daemon is her dad but they have a strained relationship 😂 I can only honestly see her making emotional decisions for Baela, Rhaenys, younger baby characters since she’s nurturing to them. But she’s not their mother and I don’t want them making her a nanny. Another reason I’m glad she isn’t a dreamer like some people wanted her to be. I want Rhaena to be present with what’s going on for deeper interactions with other characters. If they choose to go the route of engaging with fan theories like Margaery being her descendent they can incorporate some show!Margaery parallels or call backs as long as it makes sense. Because Rhaena has so many parallels and connections to other characters like Daenerys and Sansa there’s so much they can do with her that makes sense, isn’t forced, and without changing anything from how she’s written about in the book. Rhaena can be such a diplomatic character if they take time and energy to put into her arc. She is the most reasonable character, she’s down to marry a Hightower after everything that happens. I love that in the kid fight scene she’s the one who yells at Jace after he pulled the knife out and then shakes her head at Aemond to not hit Jace with the rock. They can really use that and her difference in personality from Daemon at the Vale when/if she interacts with Gerold Royce whom Daemon threatened and totally pissed off and they just moved on like that didn’t happen.

Now this guy probably hates Targaryens 😭

Baela

I do have a concern about Mary Sue characterization of Baela because I already know someone will try to make this into an issue to hate on her. I have a problem with “fans” of Baela cheering that characterization on. Idk seems like some people are totally lacking awareness or intentionally trying to set Bethany and her character up for backlash and to be disliked. An extra fight scene with her would be amazing and I would like to see that but they shouldn’t just throw her character in a fight or a controversial scene like they did making one up Rhaenys just for shock value.

If they’re gonna make Baela a killer early on and shooting people with arrows and training with Dark Sister, they probably shouldn’t have had her acting shocked/scared at Daemon cutting off Vaemond’s head and she should’ve had less of a reaction like Aegon. Idk if they go the fighting route I think Baela should atleast have something similar to Aemond where’s there’s a shock from him killing for the first time and it sets in that this is the first time they’ve been to war and in a super violent situation like this. They aren’t the same as Daemon & Criston that’s already been around violence. Having her go to war killing just totally emotionless to seem badass in S2 is not going to be perceived well. I’ve said this a million times, Baela is a good person, Daemon is not a good person. So Baela being “cool” like Daemon a little is fine because they do have some similarities in personality, but she can’t literally start acting like Daemon like fans claim because then she would be a piece of shit which causes an issue with how other good characters interact with her. Also no one is going to convince me that Laena created a piece of shit daughter 😂 Like sorry Baela and Rhaena cannot blindly co-sign and cheer on everything Daemon or anyone else does because then that’s a bad reflection on their own morals which is more Laena and Rhaenys, less Daemon. Unless the show wants to make it clear they aren’t in a position to question anything like Viserys threatening to cut tongues off for questioning Jace’s parentage right in front of them. For Rhaena especially growing up right by Harwin’s sons probably hearing all the threats for that “treason” I mean there’s a reason she would just be quiet she’s been 10 years really not able to say anything.

But anywho back to Baela I think I actually made a post about this last year and modern producers always do this with young female characters and it’s so bizarre. Trying to create the “perfect” character that has no issues, and is automatically loved by any and everyone, and the contrarian fans start hating on them and writing thinkpieces about how boring they are and the writing makes no sense. And tbh it’s very young fans that tend to cheer on bad or wattpad-esque writing like we’ve seen already from forced character relationships in S1 and relationships people want to happen in S2. It tends to be older fans that critic the show heavily. I’m gonna be very annoyed if Baela gets any hate. Bethany is a great actress and Baela is not a hatable character whatsoever so it’ll be irritating if the showrunners even give those people a reason to complain and nitpick. I don’t mean Baela needs constant drama in her life to be interesting. Baela has wayyy less going on than Arya and I find her more interesting than Arya but the writing has to make sense and not creating questions and plot holes. I hope there’s no sabotage and limiting the actresses opportunities. People have to understand the characters they’re supporting are fictional but the actresses are real, it’s their real career. I used to act and I’m sure especially for a big project like this, more (acting) emotional diversity and range of scenes >> more opportunity to show off acting chops >> more fans >> more opportunities for their upcoming projects

It’s seems like she’s been set up with intentional lackluster writing in S1 but hopefully that’s not the case and S2 the writers will redeem themselves. Having Rhaena and Baela there just smiling, nodding, and saying they support team black is just soooo…..disrespectful to Phoebe and Bethany. Especially when they’ve already added so much to other characters so they are capable of doing it but choosing not to for them. Bethany and Phoebe are young up and coming actresses happy for the opportunity so they can’t and won’t say anything other than they’re happy to be there. Also I’m pretty sure it’s against their contract to publicly disagree with the writers so people who take the actresses nodding their heads or repeating interview lines they were told to say as genuine approval should possibly rethink that. Most of the characters have horrible show writing tbh, and we’ve already seen backlash for this. Most of the characters they changed from the book created plot holes or people just questioning how things don’t make sense. A show with this level of budget and fans should not be having these issues. S1 really made it seem like they just don’t GAF 😂😂 I find it so hard to believe GRRM was apart of that. S2 better not let me down and don’t even get me started on Nettles erasure.

[landofzero-archive]

Ibara Saegusa - 1st Idol Story

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring

Ibara: Oya? Oyaoyaoya~?

Good evening, Producer-dono! How unexpected it is to see you at a place like this! Salute~☆

..... Ooh? Why are you laughing? Have I said something amusing?

It’s delightful, because I always want to put a smile on the faces of people around me! aHaHaHa☆

I see I see? You say that  lately the twins— those two from 2wink— have been mimicking me and saluting?

That’s why when you saw me, you thought ‘The actual person appeared!’ and it felt like it tickled your funny bone(1)?

Indeed! I understand! So it was just a strange callback joke.

It wouldn’t do for me to not extend my thanks to the two from 2wink by saying ‘Thank you for the introduction to the joke’!

Fufu. Those two are very convenient, they’re able to do anything to an astonishing degree, considering their past reputation.

Ah, it was a good decision to poach them, I had made a good purchase〜♪ (2)

I don’t mean to say this as a criticism. But something like the DreamFes system might have a harmful effect.

Because the Yumenosaki Academy judges idols based on a biased evaluation system——

There are a lot of sleeping bargains, like those two from 2wink.

Are there any more idols full of promise that seem to be slow in growing in Yumenosaki Academy?

If you happen to know of any, feel free to drop me a line any time!

Us at Cosmic Productions will show you that we will be hatching those slow-in-growing idol eggs magnificently! Salute~☆

If I were to get the provisions of information(3), I would thank you! Naturally! Because this world works through give-and-take〜♪ (4)

Yes! Dear me, there are also unsociable and difficult to interfere with idols in Cospro’s conglomerate(5)

Would it be convenient to arrange for you to produce for them?

(Well if that was possible, I’d be able to take control of CosPro and move it around as much as I want……

This is the result of me doing things by myself here and there.

A special producer, who goes between all the agencies…….

I'm not so foolish as to let a person from such a privileged class with strong influences run loose.

I will be chaining myself to you until you’re unable to think of me as nothing other than an eyesore.

I do work that is quite close to producing too, you see—— it can even be said that we’re business rivals.

Fufu. That’s why, inversely, I intend to be on friendly terms with you. Letting my poison deeply entangle, flow though, and dominate you……

I’ve always done it in this way, to bring down my prey and use them as my own provisions.

I will do the same to you. I will enjoy you deliciously……. Producer-dono♪)

Ibara: ....... Oops, how rude of me! I shouldn’t be staring at a woman so intently. Ahh, as usual, you’re so beautiful that my eyes were transfixed!

That is the lamentable habit(6) of men!

As I am also a humble idol, I would like to know the secret to that beauty!

As I thought, do you pay attention to your usual diet and such, and undergo beautification treatments?

I see, I see, it has nothing to do with beautification, but you take care to exercise like this every day? Being a producer needs stamina after all?

Wonderful! As expected, people who are highly praised do have a different way of thinking! How splendid!

Ju~st kidding, I’m doing the same thing and letting sweat flow a little after work!

Fufuu, while acting like I was praising you, I ended up singing my own praises! How embarrassing!

Yes! I’m the Vice President of Cospro, therefore during the day, I’m exceedingly busy with various things with managing the company!

Naturally, I have to give my all for idol activities as well!

And thus, for health, as well as for stamina like what you’ve just said…….

That’s why, I decided to exercsie in this training room after the sun has gone down.

Oh myy, so we’re the same! I’ve always thought that we were of the same mind!

I would be delighted if we could forevermore be intimately acquainted, salute~☆

Yes. Fufuu, since we’re working in the same workplace……. Let us get along well♪

Of course, if you’re not opposed to it!

Yes! Of course I will respect you as a producer while I’m working as an idol.

It’d be a blessing to be able to spend time together as friends during off hours like this!

You don’t mind? Ooh I’m so happy, perhaps it’s due to my weirdly overly friendly personality, but I’m not able to make close friends!

It’s so lonely〜 I want to meet up and have a friendly chat like this once in a while!

Also, I know quite a bit about delicious restaurants in this neighbourhood, so we should go on a food tour as a group one of these days!

..... Eh? If an idol and a producer were too close, won’t that cause a scandal?

Who told you something like that?

If it’s just having a meal with a producer, I think every idol does that……

Yes, CosPro has always at least set aside funds for things like entertainment expenses.

However! Please do not be hesitant to call me if you’re in trouble concerning food costs!

..... Oops. Even though the training room can be used till late at night, if we keep chatting too much, it’ll be time for it to close soon.

Let’s exercise like we originally planned to♪

If we don’t, it’ll be a waste of the usage fees! Eh, I’m surprisingly miserly, you say?

That’s a harsh criticism, but to not have any money is the same as not having a neck〜♪

Naturally, I’ll buy plots of land, or gems or anything else if it’s to please you♪ Ju~st kidding♪

(...... Fufun. Well, shall we leave it at that for today?

She almost refused to have a meal together… Somehow it seems like she’s a very guarded person.

She’ll be even more on guard with me if I were to push too strongly…….

From the beginning, Yumenosaki Academy is the opposition, and she would not have a good impression of me as I am someone with influence in CosPro.

Slowly and carefully, without hurrying or panicking, I will conquer you, Producer-dono♪)

TL NOTES

1.変なツボ : lit. a weird (acupunture) point. The original is ‘it entered your weird point’, which is basically just the same as ‘it tickled your funny bone’. It’s said that there is an acupuncture point that makes people laugh…

2. 良い買い物をしましたね ; exactly as it says. Ibara referred to them as a good shopping purchase.

3. 情報提供 (Jouhouteikyou): provision of information in terms of economics.

4. Give-and-take written in katakana like this;  ギブ・アンド・テイク

5. コズプロ系列 CosPro Keiretsu: A keiretsu is an interdependent group of companies, each with its own banking partner, manufacturers, distributors, and supply chain partners. In English, this is usually translated as a conglomerate.

6. The kanji given is 性 which has quite a few readings. The given reading is ‘saga’ which means tradition, habit or nature.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

give me dragon rider stories written by horse girls

Give me dragons with differences like horses / mules / donkeys have

don’t care if one spits more fire than the other, tell me there’s dragons who’ve been working with humans for THOUSANDS of years and we’ve specifically been choosing the ones who’ll go along with social pressure even or especially when they’re scared- so when the rider’s their biggest social pressure in their life, they’ll fly into a thunderstorm if their rider tells them to- plenty of fear but no questions- they’ll be scared shitless and have no idea what’s going on or why but if their flock leader said this is where we gotta go then into the storm they go, relying on the rider for every change in pitch and yaw and heading but they’ll DO IT even if it KILLS THEM

(and it’s so easy to kill them in so many small ways, the wrong diet, too much exercise at the wrong time, not kept warm enough- a dragon bred for fire breathing and they have a huge fire bladder that can get twisted inside them if they do too many arial acrobatics on an empty stomach and if the twisting ruptures the bladder then it’s a slow and painful death)  

then there’s the dragons hatched from wild eggs or caught and trained while young, and they almost never have actual riders because of the danger those riders would be in but they can be flown anyway by people on other dragons or even from the ground, they know how to take care of themselves and their flock- they don’t care or understand if the flock is other tamed dragons, or ridden ones, or even humans and animals like horses and dogs- they’ll protect and play with them either way, they’ll actively face danger and die fighting for their flock with a ferocity that’s terrifying- a wild dragon tries picking up one of THEIR horses as a snack and gets one of it’s horns ripped off in the following fight while the horse runs safely away

(but they’ll hunt anything that isn’t their flock which means OTHER horses and other PEOPLE aren’t safe around them- unless they’re kept very well fed and no urge to go hunting their own food ever comes up)

and the dragons in between, the ones hatched from eggs that had one wild parent, the ones who are healthier and stronger than either parent, more hardy than refined but more refined than wild, and they respect a social bond but the self preservations instinct is stronger and riding them isn’t about telling them what do to it’s about ASKING and then WAITING while they consider the situation- if a thunderstorm scares them they won’t fly it, if you try to force them then they’ll chew off their harness and drop you from five hundred feet- better YOU than THEM- but…… if they think it’s doable… if you started them with strong winds and worked up to wind storms, to small squalls, worked with them to learn HOW to ride in increasingly bad weather, made them feel safe and confident around thunder and lighting with you on their back as extra ballast and counterweight, if they can look at the storm and go ah yes we’ve done stuff like this before- THEN they won’t just go into the storm for you they will FLY it themselves they will KNOW how to handle the winds and the updrafts and downdrafts and the poor visibility and even if you have no idea what’s happening or can’t focus on it for some reason they will get you BOTH through it safely, because they wouldn’t have gone into it in the first place otherwise

(hunting isn’t something they jump at but they’ll do it in a pinch and while they won’t win any races or fire breathing contests they also won’t keel over and die from getting the wrong amount of food and rest- they’ll rest when they’re tired and eat until they’re satisfied and you’ll never get 110% or even a 100% of effort out of them since they are always saving some of their reserves for themselves- but they also will probably be with you the longest, staying spry and healthy through generations of human riders, and not burning themselves out until LONG into old age)

give me dragons like horses and mules and donkeys and riders who don't have a get out of free card when climbing on top a creature that could kill them just by rolling over for a back scratch

give me dragon riders with no telepathic bond, no way to communicate directly with their dragon through any shared language

and who love their dragons so much they find a way anyway

give me riders who look after dragons even when the dragons don't beam emotions direct into their heads or talk and act like a large scaly person who for some reason is fine being a permanent taxi service

give me dragons and riders WORKING TOGETHER through so many mundane barriers! that thrill when a giant flying lizard creature comes over when you call them and nuzzles you just because you are theirs-

or the dragon who plays keep away when you're trying to put the flying tack on them, gleefully enjoying a game of chase while you swear internally but also smile- the dragon who stands steady and calm as you show another new rider where all the straps should go so your saddle doesn't catch in the dragon's joints wrong, a dragon who is fine with you moving limbs and wings around as you explain how to secure things so they catch under the dragon's belly just right....

the trust of a dragon who could and would kill you with one snap of it's jaws the moment it didn't trust you anymore

that magic of two creatures who maybe shouldn't ever have ended up partnered like this, but are both happy that they did anyway

GIVE ME HORSE GIRL DRAGON RIDERS

[revserrayyu]

2.5 Xianzhou continuance thoughts [part 1]

**SPOILER warning** for everything covering the very beginning of the mission, the conversation down in the Shackling Prison & Jiaoqiu’s hostage situation. Keep in mind that I’ve already finished the entire story at the time of writing this and did slightly mention certain events that happen later on, so if you haven’t reached the end of the 2.5 story yet, I’m gonna suggest to come back later since I wouldn’t want to ruin your own experience by spoiling anything.

So right off the bat, I’m already unfocused as to what these npcs are talking about as I spy a certain General just chilling out in the background.

Sharing a meal? With Feixiao? Oh my~ Is this a date ma’am? If so then I accept!

I love it when characters have this unspoken trust in each other, like Huaiyan tells Yukong not to worry about Feixiao leading the wolf hunt and madam already knows quite well that her friend is going to be perfectly fine. Also, yay! More Yukong!

Jing Yuan recounts a short tale about a campaign he followed Jingliu on centuries ago and bruh.. what a slap in the face this is now. After all the times the previous patch mentioned her name and even teased us by showing “her” in the 2.5 story trailer.. and ice queen really never actually shows up! I’ve been played for a fool.

I’m pleased they at least made some more sense of Hoolay being trapped on the Luofu rather than the Yaoqing. I can imagine Jiaoqiu studying this beast endlessly trying to find a cure if he was made more accessible for the Foxians to visit. You should never devote all your efforts to one single thing, no matter how admirable and if Jing Yuan also meant poison in the literal sense then being around Hoolay so often would no doubt be dangerous.

I love how this “mistake” is perfectly placed in the foreground of this frame. And between the Trailblazer and Dan Heng, why did it have to be the latter who stayed behind for all this questioning? The boy has terrible memories of this place already, I’m sure he doesn’t wish to stay here a moment longer! Although with how sweet he was being to us last patch, I’m sure he offered to accompany Jing Yuan and Lingsha here just to spare us of any lingering danger.

A bit amusing and surprising that Dan Heng himself didn’t even know his memories were restored, but I guess it does shed some light on a problem I never really thought of until now? The Astral Express trio all have hidden backgrounds that we really weren’t aware of at the start. March and the Trailblazer simply don’t remember anything about their respective pasts and by all means, Dan Heng shouldn’t have know anything either since his hatching rebirth, but thanks to Lingsha’s mentor, he did learn about everything anyway. We were just kept in the dark until all the drama happened during our first Xianzhou adventure.

We skip on over to our precious hostage and thank heavens he’s still alive.. and giving advice on how to handle children who are picky eaters. I know he’s just stalling for time but surely there must be another way aside from joking around! He’s clever though, as this advice does come back into play later on with the poison.

Bro I thought leaving Penacony behind would save us from seeing the frightening red text again. Acheron really gave us ptsd with this.

So um.. I spoke to all the people the map told me too and picked the red text options out of habit and.. well, let’s just say those three people aren’t exactly doing too great right now. Yeah yeah Hoolay told us not to do anything sneaky and it was heavily implied that he had spies keeping an eye on us, but I didn’t actually think something terrible would happen!

After that display of cruelty, I decided to play it safe so that our dear healer wouldn’t end up as a pile of bones next.. but it’s not like that choice mattered I guess since Hoolay decides to harm him anyway! A true monster indeed. How dare he. Kudos to Jiaoqiu for not screaming out in pain though because I most definitely would’ve.

Right away I figured it was gonna be this moon heart that ends up being the cause of the final Feixiao boss fight and while that ended up being half true, it instilled immense panic in me without fail. Also, a brief side note.. how many of y’all are now fans of Hoolay after seeing this foxian form of his? It ain’t my cup of tea but I understand why some might fancy it enough to say "smash"."

Oh Moze.. good, sneaky and reliable shadow man. Thank you for watching eyes.

Damn, if she gave me this kind of smile before she ended my life I’d probably say thank you.

More lore, huzzah! Her voice was especially nice here. Oh, and I might as well mention it now, but THANK GOD Feixiao was voiced for this patch! I know her trailers were dubbed in JP and there was some pointless drama revolving around Anairis recently (none of those baseless assumptions I believed either, by the way), so I was very pleased to hear our General once again. At first I feared they could’ve made her silent like they did to Argenti in previous patches, to which I would’ve been so upset considering how much this patch revolved around Feixiao compared to Argenti who was just.. sorta there in Penacony, but thinking about it now, they most likely had everything for this patch recorded ages ago. So whatever the real reason for the JP dubs was, I don’t really care as all of Feixiao’s voice actors do a lovely job anyways. Anairis seems to have returned to twitter/x as well, so I’m glad she’s doing okay now.

Aww she cares! I mean, I knew she did of course, since we’ve seen how close of a bond the Yaoqing has, but to see more of it had me kicking my feet all giddy. So yes, if anyone’s wondering, the ending scene with the three of them together after the chaotic wolf hunt ended had me in shambles. But that’s for another post.

Okay so I’m like.. 99% sure this random npc line was voiced by Camden (Aventurine’s va). It’s not even because he just so happened to say “doctor” and how it instantly reminded me of the “doctor.. you’re huge” scene but I will admit it’s a funny, little coincidence.

I’ll be honest by saying that it took me a few seconds into this flashback to even realize that the person Jiaoqiu is saving right now is indeed Feixiao herself. I know the red accessory on her ear is in plain sight but the handsome foxian healer caught my eye first, okay? Poor guy though, learning from someone else that saving this girl is basically General Yueyu’s last wish. He’s supposed to be the General’s healer but not being able to save her life when she’s so determined to stay on the battlefield to protect the Cloudpeer Telescope (whatever the heck that is) must’ve hit him hard.

Being a healer is far from easy, especially when you devote your whole life to save people only to watch them charge back into battle and see them get injured again or worse, to not see them return at all. I know it was once mentioned in his drip marketing (or somewhere else, I can’t remember right now) that Jiaoqiu once had a broken heart, but instead of that being caused by one specific person in a relationship kind of sense, I feel like it’s a result of all the deaths he’s had to witness and endure as he tried to save several others over the years. All the effort and concern he had for all his patients effectively gone in an instant time and time again without fail.

Oohh noooo.. looking back at this line now and knowing fully well that he won’t be seeing anything anytime soon hurts so bad! I’m not really certain if his lost sight is a result from the poison he took or from Hoolay’s attack, but if it was caused by the latter because he didn’t want Jiaoqiu to see his defeat, the peaceful Wardance or a cured Feixiao, then that’s so cruel.. but a clever move on Hoolay’s part if anything. Still hate it though. (90% sure it was because of the posion after looking into things more)

Moze.. why didn’t you just stay on the roof?? Or at least hide inside a shadow somewhere if you really needed to get closer to hear the conversation? Seeing him stand out in the open like that is so silly. Oh, I also forget exactly when Hoolay bit the random civilian and turned him into a Borisin amidst the many flashbacks, but I’m not at all surprised the warhead is capable of doing such a thing. Definitely introduces another level of fear into this whole wolf hunt knowing that anyone could be changed into an enemy now.

Damn.. I can’t imagine how bad must Moze feel after being forced to abandon Jiaoqiu for a second time. The regret at the end of all this must be unbearable.

Alright, I’m gonna stop here for now. With the amount of screenshots I got left, I need.. three more posts to chat about everything else.

[that-strange-vault-lady]

Entry: 001

Date: Fri, 08.16.2277

Hello? *coughing noises* hello? Testing testing one two, three.. oh hey, look it’s working, it’s actually typing what I say. *clears throat* Hello my name is Bella Miller and I am vault 101’s councillor, no, too formal. I am currently using a urm, a program that turns anything I say into text so that I can keep a journal. Honestly I know the weirdest time possible to start making a journal, but, I, I just needed to get what was in my head out, does that make sense? God I can council others, I can walk other people through there problem's and how to resolve them, but here I am floundering like a fish to express the most basic things.

Well, urm, dad, he left. I don’t know how, nobody does, we all thought the main vault door was locked shut, but somehow he got out and well, left, me and Amanda behind. Fuck, I mean what was he thinking, did he really think that the Overseer wouldn’t loose his shit the moment he escaped the vault. Was he that naive to think somehow everything would be ok? That me and Amanda would just go on living our lives without him like he never even existed?

They… they beat poor Jonas to death, Amata was there to witness it. When she realised that her father had gone crazy she came straight here and honestly if she didn’t I would still be locked in my apartment and probably next on his hit list. Honestly I can only hope that Amanda is ok, she is smart though, really smart, she was always more tech savvy than me, I’m sure she must have gotten to the maintenance tunnels by now, that’s where I am now, but I’m all the way down on the apartment level. If Amanda is ok, no doubt she must be heading toward the labs on the control level, I have to meet her there.

Luckily I grabbed my baseball bat, and Mr Patches of course, I couldn’t leave him behind. But my bat should come in handy if I run into more cockroaches, all those years playing baseball finally coming in handy I guess. The Overseer turned the entire vault onto emergency mode, so the lights are out and most of the doors are locked. But the noise and the darkness has attracted all the bugs from the cistern level and now there all over the place, making there way through the vents.

I actually ran into Buch of all people on the way here, he had gotten out of his apartment too, he was asking for help as some roaches had gotten into his and his mothers place. I honestly didn’t know he could be that vulnerable, what with his gang the tunnel snakes and all, I guess I can see why Amata and him hooked up, maybe behind closed doors he isn’t as bad as he makes out he is. Ether way he was absolutely terrified, so I gave him a pep talk and helped him into helping me kill off the roaches, it was, weird to see him in a different light, he never has come to me for counselling afterall.

Honestly I’m glad I helped him out though despite how shitty he has been to me growing up, as he’s the one who showed me how to get into these maintenance tunnels. If he didn’t well, let’s just say this, I saw a few members of vault security walking by the maintenance hatch with guns, and I am sure everyone has heard the shots. My bat might help with bugs, but no matter how fast I can swing, it won’t beat a gun. Now only if I actually knew my way through these tunnels, they snake around like a maze *sighs* at this rate Amanda will have made it all the way there before I even get off of this level.

I just can’t believe any of this is happening, it’s, it’s hard to wrap my head around, I guess that’s why I wanted to make this journal, to talk my thoughts through to myself in a way. Anyway stop it Bella, get your head in the game, focus and get moving, ok, I guess I will end this entry here. Hell you know what, I was never the religious type like others down here in the vault, but if there is a god, please wish me luck, or whatever you would call it, I could really use it right about now.

[allmyhomieshatelawns]

Alright. ALRIGHT FINE. I’m caving okay. I’m caving to the Trolls brainrot. It’s too good okay. It’s been lifting my depression. Sue me. Please don’t, I don’t own anything and have very little money. So I’ve been devouring all I can on here about the various AU ideas, headcanons, etc. now I’m gonna actually contribute some and break my lurking status in fandoms lol. So here are some scattered thoughts, things I’d change for my AU, working stuff out. Etc. yes, it’s a Feral!Branch AU.

Wanna do me a Feral!Branch AU bc I like feral bitches So Much.

Also like… why did they leave right before the ceremony for Trollstice…? Why didn't they leave the night before, under the cover of darkness? So I'm fixing that. No more Putt-Putt trolls unfortunately, but hey, Viva doesn't get torn from her sister!

Most of the village thinks Poppy has been eaten at the beginning because Chef had wanted to snatch her early to make sure everything was perfect. However, Branch had attacked Chef, sending both he and Poppy to the ground. That's how he has her at the beginning, that's why he's the one keeping her safe as they escape.

Disco merged w Pop trolls decades ago, their ancestors being the glitter trolls.

• Trolls are magical creatures, the guardians of their style of music.

○ Most of the time they use this music to keep the Spirit of Hope flowing throughout the world.

• They have tails and claws and fangs, which varies with what type of troll they are.

• They can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Eggs are sung into existence either way though

○ Asexual reproduction happens on purpose only, there's a magical rite they go through to help themselves conceive with the Spirit of Music (Yep. You heard me. They're fucking a Spirit.)

§ This process is much easier than sexual reproduction, but still takes a lot from the laying parent

○ Sexual reproduction also only happens on purpose. The couple, or thruple in some cases, will combine their hair, locking it together, and consuming each other's DNA, then singing the egg into existence.

§ This process can take a few hours, and takes a Lot out of the parents.

• Eggs can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks to hatch, depending on the strength of the parents, however a long hatch doesn't necessarily mean the trolling within will be weaker, especially if they're able to have that time to develop.

• Trollstice has been going on for 100 years.

○ It started as just the bergens going ham and slaughtering everyone, before both the king of the bergens, and the king of the pop trolls, came together.

○ The king of pop was given two choices:

§ We [the bergens] will eat all of your entire people, wiping every last one out.

§ Don't leave while we build a cage around your tree to keep other bergens out, and you'll only be eaten once a year. Every year. Forever.

○ Immediate annihilation, or generational trauma? Yeah the king chose trauma. He was eaten for his efforts, once the cage was completed. He was the first troll eaten for Trollstice.

• King Peppy is that king's grandson,

○ he watched his father come into power and how horrible it all was, the terror of knowing there was a death day coming around the corner

○ Not to mention the bergens that would try to skirt the cage and reach in for any stragglers.

○ So King Peppy decided that he wouldn't do this, he would save his people.

• The plans for the escape from the Troll Tree started before Peppy was even crowned, the hollowing out of the tree and mourning as it slowly died, despite their magic hiding the worst of the effects.

○ The tunnelling takes more than a decade, but finally they make it out.

○ King Peppy pushes away memories of his first daughter, knowing that she would have to have been captured and likely eaten already.

○ It was too painful to think about those they lost that night.

How being feral works here:

• More in touch with wilder aspects, sharper senses for one, all heightened to be vigilant of danger.

○ This can easily lead to overstimulation, since sharper senses mean more sensitive. A loud bang hurts like being slapped, sudden light is like being stabbed, etc.

• Denser coat of fur

• Longer, sharper claws and fangs no matter what type of troll, this shit will get larger and more dangerous

• These trolls tend to end up on the shorter side, either from malnutrition, the walking on all fours that is common as a feral, or something else like having to hide to start with.

• Become feral by isolation, got nothing to do with colors

• More skittish for sure, more willing to go for violence

○ Will roughhouse for fun

○ Will also take long naps in the sunshine, just like a cat, ears fully alert, but able to relax in the soft warmth.

• Difficult to speak, more accustomed to growling, hissing, purring, silence, etc.

• Ferals can sing however, not with words since they can't really speak

○ It's a haunting sound, usually double-toned with a Deep Bass Rumble

• The magic ferals can do is also more 'primitive' but only in the sense that it's pretty strictly some form of deep nature magic, or some kind of knack that they have.

○ For instance, Branch is stupid good at digging homes and making them safe, why? He's got a sense of it. He's got an extra sense that tells him where to put dirt, how to mix in the water, where to support what, where not to dig, where there would be water underneath, etc. He's just good w the ground in general.

• Nesting is more important to ferals than other trolls. A feral's nest is their sacred Safe Space, if you are in their Sacred Safe Space, then you had better've been fucking invited there because you won't make it out of the nest intact.

• Grooming is more intensive of course, they're out in the wild, and the wrong scent could lead a predator to you.

○ To be groomed by a feral means they care deeply for you, and they're trying to keep you safe and clean

• Once you go feral, like, you can kinda get reintroduced to society and all that, but the physical changes won't ever go away

• Ferals hibernate in the winter, growing an extra dense coat of fur and blubber to last them the long three months of snowfall.

• Usually takes a couple of months of being completely alone to go Full Feral, if with like, one other person, it takes about a year to go Full Feral with them.

○ A community can go feral, depending on circumstances and numbers.

§ More likely that a community goes partially feral, not as wild as fully feral, but much more wild than a non-feral troll community would be, less focused on the party vibes

But yeah that’s what I’ve kinda got knocking around in my noggin, if anyone wants to gush w me, please feel free. I will gush about these stupid fucking trolls for hours without taking a breath. They’ve hooked their damn claws into me.

[thexsanctuaryx]

ʚ♡ɞ I'll Follow You Into the Dark ʚ♡ɞ

{ CHAPTER SIX }

➳ PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

Summary: Emma and Steven talk and the boys find out more about her. A plan is hatched...hopefully... Pairing: { eventual } Original Character { Emma Harper } x Steven Grant, Emma Harper x Jake Lockley, && Emma Harper x Marc Spector Contents: mental hospitals, psychiatric hold, angst { I guess? I don’t know what else to call it. }, hurt/comfort-esque vibes Warnings: severe mental illness { psychosis, hallucinations, depression }, main character is actively in psychosis, I’ve done my best to write it in the least triggering way but there are a lot of heavy themes that will take place in this series, so forewarning. mental hospitals. typical misunderstanding and misinterpretation that comes with psychosis. due to the nature of Emma’s psychosis, things are very unhealthily skewed in a religious context. triggering themes related to the aforementioned, vague mentions of abuse Author’s Note: I recently finished reading Tear Down My Reason by @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction and it inspired me to work on an idea I’ve been playing with about Emma and the Boys meeting while both in a mental hospital at the same time. I wanted to write a series that would help other people with severe mental illness feel seen and heard as there really AREN’T works out there like this, especially not actually written by people with firsthand experience of things like psychosis. This series is being written with a lot of love and care so I truly hope that it can be cathartic for those who read who might also live with mental illness because you DO matter and your stories DO deserve to be told. Word Count: 924 Taglist: @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @sub-aro

Emma plays with her fingers lightly some more, chewing on her lower lip as she looks at Steven.

Steven who – despite himself – can’t seem to stop himself from looking back at her with a soft, almost lovesick expression over his features. Almost – he lies to himself.

“You’re not American—like the others…” Emma observes.

It snaps Steven out of his thoughts.

“Oh—no, no—not really, I suppose…”

Emma nods, “I didn’t know angels could be British…”

“Oh I’m not—I mean—we—we’re not angels, love…”

Emma shakes her head, “I think you are…”

Steven has to once again try to stop himself from melting. He doesn’t intentionally want to confuse her but the words slip out before he can do anything about it.

“The only angel here is you.”

Emma frowns slightly, trying to piece it together in her struggling mind.

There’s a soft chuckle in his head from Jake, as Marc calls to him. ‘Steven, she’s gonna take you literally, buddy…’

“Right—sorry—I didn’t mean literally, love—I was just—well I s’pose I was just trying to—give you a compliment.” He corrects himself.

This only causes her to flush, looking away as she openly tries not to smile. A soft, “oh” escaping her lips.

Her mind seems to shift quickly, her expression saddening, a pout at her lips.

“What happens when we leave this place?”

Steven is somewhat caught off guard when she seems to take a dip emotionally. His chest tightening.

“Well—they release us and we get to go home…”

Emma only looks more troubled.

“What if I don’t want to go home?”

“Sorry?”

‘Keep her talking, Steven…’ Jake speaks up, just having a feeling something isn’t right by her response. ‘I wanna know what we’re up against.’

“Why don’t you want to go home, angel?”

She swallows roughly, her arms slipping around herself to hug her middle as if trying to hold herself together at the question. She shakes her head quickly, avoiding eye contact.

There’s a round of Spanish cursing in his head.

‘She’s completely shutting down—find out what you can, Steven.’ Marc’s voice tightens.

“D’you live alone?” He asks softly.

Emma shakes her head again, releasing a strained exhale.

“Is there someone at home that makes you feel—unsafe?”

Emma is quick to nod, hugging herself tighter.

“But you’re safe here—well maybe not here exactly—but right now, with, with us—you know that?”

She nods again.

“Good girl,” he says softly, searching out her eyes.

“D’you have a partner—that makes you feel unsafe?”

Jake is already cursing again, ‘I’ll fucking kill him…’

Emma shakes her head again, attempting to speak, “my—my m-mom…”

A shock goes through their system, a quiet, ‘oh baby…’ escaping from Marc.

“Your mum, makes you feel unsafe?” Steven seeks confirmation.

Emma nods quickly again, sniffling and squeezing her eyes shut as tears burn at them.

She tries to find the words, “if I have to go back home—does that mean—does that mean I’m going to hell?”

‘She did not just compare her home to hell…’ Marc seethes.

Steven moves closer, slowly so as not to scare her, showing her his hands before he brings them to cradle her face. He waits for her eyes to meet his, brushing away the tears the fall. “You’re not going to go to hell, love…”

‘We can’t let her go back there.’ Marc cuts in darkly.

‘I’m working on it, hermano…’ Jake agrees.

Emma falls into almost silent breathless sobs, her body trembling.

“Fuck the rules…” Steven mutters before protectively pulling her into his arms.

Emma immediately clings to him, because she does feel safer when they’re around. Safer than she’s maybe ever felt with anyone else.

She holds onto him as long as she can, everything seeming to slow down even for the moment.

‘We need to find out where she lives—’ Marc cuts through the silence.

‘We don’t even know her last name, Marc—and we can’t just ask her for her address…’

‘I don’t trust her mother—especially not in her current state. Hell, she could be the reason Emma went into psychosis in the first place.’

‘Steven.’ Jake interjects.

Steven smoothes over Emma’s hair, holding her against himself. When he pulls back, he cradles her face with one hand.

“What if—when we get out of this place—we came to see you?” He pauses, looking her over softly and speaking quietly. “Would that be alright, love?”

Emma nods quickly, screwing her fist in her eye as she pouts.

“We’ll give you our number, yeah? And you can just call us when you want to see us…” He brushes his thumb over her cheek.

Again, she nods vigorously, holding up a finger but not speaking as she disappears into her room for a moment.

He gives her a puzzled look, waiting for her to come back.

When she returns, she hands him a piece of paper that she’s scribbled her name and phone number on.

Steven only brightens, speaking softly so as not to overwhelm her.

“Emma Harper—that’s you?” He says fondly.

She gives a soft sob of a laugh, nodding again.

Taking the paper back, pen still in hand, she flips it over against a wall and scrawls her address on the back. She then hands it back.

“Thank you…” He says, giving her a gentle smile as he finds her eyes again.

‘Very good, Steven.’ Jake voices proudly in their headspace as Marc breathes a sigh of relief.

[mothguillotine]

Chapter 4:  Never Trust Elevators, Ever.

Main Masterlist

cw: swearing and violence

word count: 4.8k

Summary: After you gain a fear of elevators, you explore a basement from Hell.

You weren’t entirely sure when the elevator stopped. It felt like it went forever and with everyone screaming it was hard to ask anyone else so you screamed along with them. Not really out of terror, well actually yes, you are terrified, but you are also frustrated with yourself. You knew that something didn’t feel right and what did you do? Go inside the dangerous Russian elevator that is most likely only supposed to be used for transporting whatever the hell is in that container. 

“Shit!” Dustin yells and tries smashing the buttons once again, “Shit!” 

“We’re going down!” Steve yells hysterically and in any other situation you would have laughed but you get it.

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington!” Robin yells at him.

All of you are bracing onto the shelving or anything else to hold yourselves upright, “Fuck!” you yell as you slip off the shelf you were holding only to be caught by Robin who helps you stand back up.

“Why won’t these buttons work?!” Dustin screeches.

Erica runs over to him, “Press the button!”

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Dustin asks.

“Come on, press something!” Steve yells at him, “Just press the button!”

“Push it!” Erica yells at him but before he has the chance the elevator stops making you all slam into whatever you were holding onto. And in your case that happens to be Robin, who also falls, which makes you both land on the ground. The boxes that were sitting on the table fall off in the lurch and onto Steve. 

You hear him groan, “My groin. It fell on my groin.”

Robin moans in pain behind you so you stand up and help her stand as well.

“Stop talking about your di- groin.” you correct yourself remembering that Erica and Dustin are present.

“Dustin!” Steve yells, “Get this off of me!”

Dustin lifts the box off of Steve and places it back on the table, “I can’t move,” Steve says.

“Is everyone okay?” Robin asks.

“Yeah,” Steve says sarcastically, “I’m great, now that I know that Russians can’t design elevators!”

He then pushes Dustin out of the way of the button panel and proceeds to press them all over and over.

“I think we’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work,” Robin tells him.

“They’re buttons,” Steve retorts, “They have to do something.”

“Yeah,” Robin says and gestures to the panel, “If we had a keycard.”

“A what?” he asks.

“You don’t know what a keycard is?” you ask him, furrowing your eyebrows.

Steve stays silent so Robin explains, “It’s an electronic lock. Same as the loading dock door. If we don’t have a keycard, it won’t operate meaning-,”

“We’re stuck in here,” Dustin finishes.

“Yeah,” Robin agrees.

“Just so nerds are aware,” Erica tells you all, “I’m supposed to be spending the night at Tina’s, and Tina always covers for me. But if I’m not home for Uncle Jack’s party tomorrow, and my mom finds out you four are responsible, she’s gonna hunt you down, one by one, and slit your throat. Probably starting with you since she knows where you live.”

“I didn’t even wanna get you involved in the first place!” you tell her.

Steve is fed up and slams his hands down on the box in front of him, “I don’t care about Tina! Or Uncle Jack’s party!” he yells at her, “Your mom’s not gonna be able to find us if we’re dead in a Russian elevator!

“Hey,” Dustin says pointing up, “What if we climbed out?”

All of you look up at the ceiling and see the hatch he is pointing at. Steve pushes over the table and Dustin jumps on top. He pushes open the hatch and climbs up with Steve close behind him. You, Robin, and Erica all stay inside the elevator instead of going up.

“Are you okay?” Robin asks you.

“I mean, not really,” you tell her, “What are we going to do? There is a literal child with us.”

“Honestly?” she asks and you nod, “I have no idea.”

You put your hands over your eyes, “This was such a fucking bad idea.”

“I know,” she says, “I- I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” you ask looking back at her, “Sorry for what?”

“For making you take this job and shit,” she says and sighs, “If you wouldn’t have ever come into Scoops that day we would have never met and you wouldn’t be in this situation, I just-”

“Let me stop you right there,” you tell her, grabbing her hand, “First of all you didn’t make me take the job, I wanted to work with you. And second of all, I would never wish I didn’t meet you. I l- I am lucky that I met you.”

You wish that you were alone right now, instead of Erica being in the same room. Maybe then you would have the balls to kiss her because as of this moment, it has moved up substantially on your list of things to do, all the way up to number one. Robin’s face is unreadable though, so you probably wouldn’t and won’t. Robin smiles in a way that doesn't quite reach her eyes and looks away.

Steve comes back down through the ceiling, “Yeah, there is no way to get out up there.”

“Damn it,” you say and lean back ready for a long night.

“What are we gonna do?” Erica asks.

“Nothing,” Steve says, jumping down from the ceiling.

“Nothing?” Erica asks.

“Nothing,” Steve reiterates.

“Why?” she asks.

“We have to wait until morning,” he tells her, “Then people will be awake.”

Dustin hops down after him and walks over to the button panel. Erica is sitting on the ground trying to rest the best she can.

“My mom is going to kill me,” you say out loud.

“Maybe she thinks you are at my house,” Robin offers.

“She wanted us all home tonight for a family dinner,” you tell her, “Tee has been gone the past few days and she wanted us all together.”

This catches Dustin's attention and he turns around, “Wait, your Tee’s sister?”

“Uh, yeah,” you tell him.

“I had no idea,” he says to you.

“Well, I mean I don’t just go around talking about my sister,” you tell him.

“Oh, she talks about you all the time,” he tells you, which you find hard to believe is true, “I only hung out with her for one day and she brought you up like ten times.”

“No, she did not,” you refute.

“Yes, she did,” he says, still focused on the panel, “Also why wouldn’t she? You are like super cool.”

“What?” you ask confused, “What exactly did she say?”

“I don’t know specifically,” Dustin tells you, “But the gist of it was that she thinks you are cool and after hanging out with you for a few days I agree.”

“Well, thanks,” you tell him.

“No problem,’ Dustin says.

“God that makes me feel like a bitch,” you say.

“What do you mean?” Robin asks you.

“It just puts mine and Tee’s argument in perspective,” you tell her, trying to hold back tears, “Like, if I die, then one of the last times I saw her was an argument.”

You look at the ceiling, willing the tears not to come out, and take a deep breath that sounds shaky. Everything feels like entirely too much all at once and you feel like curling up into a ball and crying your eyes out. Just when you are going to break down you feel Robin’s hand rest gently on your back. 

You let her pull you into a side hug, “I don’t wanna promise that everything is okay,” she tells you, “But at least you will go out of this world with Tee thinking you are a cool older sister, even though she never told you.”

You take a deep breath in, “Does anyone have a watch?” you ask.

“Yeah,” Dustin says.

“How much longer until the mall opens?” you ask him.

“Ah,” he says and looks down at his wrist, “About 12 hours.”

“Well, I’m going to sleep,” you tell them and walk to the side of the room. When you lay down and close your eyes you can only hope you sleep through the night.

Robin doesn’t know if she will survive this anymore. Sure she originally thought ‘What is the harm in trying to take down a bunch of Russian spies?’ but as she stepped onto the elevator, she knew she was in much deeper shit than that. Although at that point she didn’t know it was an elevator, just a room that was heavily guarded with guns.

As soon as she felt the ‘room’ move her only thought was making sure that you were okay and as much as she wanted to pretend that she was okay, she wasn’t. She was beyond terrified and looking between you and Erica it was a wonder that either of you were asleep. Robin has been surprised with how well Erica in particular has handled the situation, never crying even though she should have never been put in this situation.

All she kept trying to do before she went to sleep was try to provide solutions. Robin wanted to be like that, she is normally, but right now her mind is elsewhere. She couldn’t stop thinking about you, that was not uncommon, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't stop thinking about what you told her earlier. Repeating every word in her mind. You didn’t know how much she wanted you to say exactly that, but what Robin kept going back to was what you almost said, or what she thought you almost said. You love her? Robin just couldn’t believe it.

And you couldn’t believe that you almost said that to her, with Erica in the room, overhearing everything you say, that is a slippery slope. You tell her that you love her and then the next day half of Indiana would know. Although, in this case, it would be Russia eventually.

The floor is horribly uncomfortable to sleep on so you only get a few hours after that you just lay there hoping the hours will pass by quickly. At some point, Erica wakes up and starts talking to Robin, both of them talking about random shit. With them talking you decide to get up as well.

“Finally,” Robin says, “I thought you died or something.”

“Ha, ha,” you say sarcastically and then feel your stomach rumble, “God, I am so hungry.”

“I know right,” Robin says.

She is sitting at the edge of a table so you walk over and sit with her.

“I am gonna get like 55 burgers and 55 fries from the burger place,” you say dreamily, “With a whole bunch of mayo and ketchup.”

“Mm,” Robin says, “Stop, you are making me hungry.”

“I hope the slop is good in the gulag we are imprisoned in,” you say and Robin laughs.

“Oh god,” she says, “I hope they kill me on sight.”

“Well if you are going out,” you tell her, “Then I am going with you.”

Robin doesn’t know what to say, well actually she usually doesn't know what to say, especially to you. A million things she can think of to say right now but instead she elects to stay silent. Ever since the other night, you have been acting… different. Not in a bad way, actually the opposite which leaves Robin confused. 

Robin doesn’t know why exactly you are acting like this, she wonders if you do.

You hear a thumping noise behind you and when you turn around you see Dustin climbing on top of the table to get to the hatch again. Steve is quick to take notice and follow him.

“I’m just tired of waiting,” you tell her and then groan, “I wanna go home.”

You can both hear Dustin yelling into his radio, trying to get someone's attention.

“I can’t wait to get away from dingus one and two up there,” Robin tells you and you laugh.

“You’re not getting sick of me yet?” you ask her.

“I don’t think I could,” she tells you and puts her hand over yours on the table.

You can feel your cheeks start to warm up at the action and look away. Specifically at the wall and notice a patch of wall that is progressively getting wetter. Your face changes into disgust when you realize what it is.

Robin notices the change on your face, looks at the wall, and comes to the same realization that you have, “Can you redirect your stream, please?” she asks loudly and you both watch as the wall gets wet zig-zags across it.

“Ugh,” you and Robin both say at the same time.

Then you hear sharp banging coming from behind you, “Erica what are you doing?” you ask.

When you both turn you see her taking the tube of neon green substance and hitting it repeatedly on a metal barrel behind you.

“Hey, hey! Be careful,” Robin shouts, “We don't even know what that is.”

“Exactly,” Erica says to the both of you, “It could be useful.”

You and Robin both look at each other in bewilderment, “Useful how?” Robin asks her.

“We can survive a long time down here without food,” she explains, “But if the human body doesn’t get enough water, it will die.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Robin tells her, “But this is not water.”

“No,” Erica says, “But it’s a liquid, and if it comes down to drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink.”

Erica takes the container out of Robin’s hand and you watch as Robin goes over to the door, but your attention is still on Erica. 

“Erica, this literally looks like it will kill you,” you tell her and take it back from her.

“And?” she asks sarcastically, “So does Mountain Dew.”

“This isn’t Mountain Dew!” you tell her.

“Shh,” Robin tells you both and whispers, “They’re here.”

“Shit,” you say under your breath, “Let’s go up top.”

All three of you climb on top of the elevator and Robin carefully shuts the hatch behind her. You all gather around the ceiling grating and watch as two men open the door. They take some of the boxes and then hear them drive away in a vehicle.

Steve quickly hops down and props up the door with the container leaving only a foot of room to escape out of. Erica throws him her backpack and at the same time he is helping her under the door you go under the other side. Dustin crawls out right after you do then Robin rolls herself under closely followed by Steve. 

Right as he is passing under the door the canister starts to break and not a moment after he is through the door closes shattering it. You all watch as the liquid bubbles and then melts a hole through the floor.

“Jesus Christ,” Steve exclaims.

“Ooh!” Erica shouts.

You quickly turn to her and raise your finger to your lips, “Shh, we don’t know if anyone is around.”

“Look at it,” she tells you and walks closer.

You follow her to where the rest of them are investigating the hole in the floor, “Imagine if you drank that.”

“Yeah,” Robin adds, “You still wanna drink it?” 

Erica rolls her eyes at you both and leans in closer to look at the hole. You can’t help but join her out of curiosity leaning against Robin to peer into it.

“Holy mother of God,” you hear Dustin say from behind you.

When you turn around you see what looks like a never-ending hallway, “Oh, god.”

“Well,” Steve starts, “Hope you guys are in good shape.”

Then he walks past all of you into the hall. As he passes by Dustin he pats his chest, “Looking at you, roast beef.”

You all watch as Steve walks away, “Come on, let’s go,” Robin tells the three of you.

“Woah,” Dustin says, “Look at the supports, this place is awesome!”

You, Robin, and Erica watch as he runs to catch up with Steve who is further down the hall.

“Tell me why I think he is going to be annoying the entire time?” you ask them.

“When is he not?” Erica asks you.

“Probably,” Robin agrees with you, “But all I know is that me and him have very different definitions of awesome.”

“Well, he did just spend a whole month at a camp for science, so…” you say.

Robin yawns, “I should have slept last night instead like you guys,” she mumbles.

“Why didn’t you?” you ask her.

“She was up all night talking to Steve,” Erica teases her. 

Robin looks visibly uncomfortable, “Yeah, we were talking about how to open the door.”

“Uh huh,” Erica rolls her eyes and speeds up walking.

“We should have left the children up there,” Robin tells you.

“I know,” you say, “I grew up with my sister. I should have known not to get trapped with them.”

Both of you walk in silence for a minute until Robin breaks the silence.

“How long do you think this hallway is?” she asks you.

“I don’t know,” you tell her, “Forever?”

You were proven correct though, Dustin would not stop talking about the Russian basement that you all were currently trapped in.

“Look at all of the supports!” Dustin says enthusiastically.

“Yes, Dustin,” you tell him, “We’ve all seen the supports.”

“It’s just so cool,” he says to you.

“Ah, yes,” you say sarcastically, “So cool that we are trapped in a Russian secret base and no one knows where we are. And we don’t know how to get out.”

“I mean, you have to admit,” Dustin says, “That as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive.”

“What are you talking about anyway?” Steve asks, “It’s a total fire hazard. There’s no stairs, there’s no exit, there’s just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell.”

“Their commies,” Erica says, “They don’t pay people, they cut corners.”

“To be fair to our Russian comrades,” Robin says, “I don’t think that this tunnel was designed for walking. Think about it, they designed the perfect system for transporting that cargo.”

“It all comes into the mall like any old delivery,” Dustin says.

“And then they load it up onto the trucks and nobody’s the wiser,” Robin says.

“Do you think that they built this whole mall so they could transport that green poison?” Steve asks.

“I mean it’s definitely possible,” you tell him, “But it’s just so weird to make it here, like, shouldn’t they be near the capital or something important.”

“I very seriously doubt that it’s something as boring as poison,” Dustin says, “It’s gotta be much more valuable, like promethium or something.”

“What the hell is promethium?” Steve asks.

“It’s what Victor Stone’s dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components,” Robin explains.

“You all are so nerdy,” Erica says and grabs her stomach, “It makes me physically ill.”

“No, no, no.” Steve denies, “Don’t lump me in with them. I’m not a nerd, all right?”

“Why so sensitive, Harrington?” Robin asks him, “Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?”

“No, I’m just saying I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus,” he says.

“So what is it Steve?” you ask him, “Do her mean comments hurt your feelings that bad?”

“No,” Steve denies.

“Yeah, okay,” you tell him, rolling your eyes.

“All I’m saying is,” Dustin says, “It’s probably being used to make something.”

“Or power something,” Robin says.

“Like a nuclear weapon?” Dustin asks.

“Totally,” Robin says.

“Walking towards a nuclear weapon,” Steves says, “That’s great.”

“Do you wish you thought it was poison?” you ask him.

“If they are building something, why here?” Robin asks, “I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places.”

“That’s what I’m wondering,” you say, “Before I moved here I was not excited to be here.”

“Honestly, at the very best, we’re a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland,” Robin tells you, “Maybe that's it, we have the very best toilets.”

“What?” you ask her, “Robin, that makes zero goddamn sense.”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Robin says.

“Robin, be for real right now,” you say laughing and shaking your head, “No the fuck it's not.”

“You never know, they could-,” Robin stops talking and turns around, “I’m sorry, is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

When you turn you see Steve and Dustin both stop talking and then look at each other, obviously sharing a secret between the two of them. Unfortunately, before you can question them more you hear the radio pick up a signal, “Walkie,” they say in unison.

Erica kneels and puts her bag on the ground reaching in to grab the walkie. She hands it to Robin who pulls out the antenna all the way to better pick up the signal. The man speaks the same code you have listened to for the past few days.

“It’s the code,” Robin confirms with a smile.

“Wherever that broadcast is coming from-,” Dustin starts.

“It’s close,” Robin finishes, “And if there’s one thing we know about that signal…”

“It can reach the surface,” Dustin says.

“Let’s go,” Robin says and stands up to continue walking down the hall.

All of you stand up to follow after her down the hall, hopefully finding the long-awaited end. Unfortunately, as you draw closer you start to hear noise and at a certain point, you realize that the noises that you are hearing are the vehicles you saw earlier. As you turn a corner you see a few people in uniforms. Dustin and Erica run and hide behind a large metal crate, Robin pulls you into the small area followed closely by Steve.

All of you wait for a minute, listening for anyone who could have seen you. Steve peaks out and looks around making sure the coast is clear.

“Okay, clear,” Steve says and all of you follow him out, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Okay, that was close,” Robin says.

“Too close,” Dustin says.

“Relax,” Steve says, “All right? Relax, nobody saw…”

Steve stops in his tracks as he rounds a corner and when you see what he is looking at, you can’t help but have the same reaction. You see a whole bunch of people either in military uniforms or lab coats, and you even see radiation-proof gear. Which makes Robin’s idea of a nuclear bomb seem all that more real. More importantly, though, you see a mass amount of guns. All of you come to your senses and duck behind a wheeled cart. 

“Jesus!” Erica exclaims.

“Red Dawn,” Dustin says.

“I saw it,” Erica says, “First floor, northwest.”

“Saw what?” Steve asks.

“The comms room,” Erica tells him.

“You saw the comms room?” He asks.

“Correct,” Erica confirms.

“Are you sure?” Dustin asks.

“Positive,” Erica tells him, “The door was open for a second and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there.”

“That could be a hundred different things,” Steve tells her.

Robin looks back at you for a split second and then turns back to Steve, “I’ll take those odds.”

Steve sighs and shakes his head then looks in your direction, “And what about you?”

“I’m with her,” you tell him.

Steve shakes his head again and peers around the cart observing the Russians again which causes you all to look around the cart. The room, that Erica claims she knows is the comms room, is on the left of the hub probably 50 feet away. All of you move back behind the cart after a few moments.

“All right,” Steve says, “We’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna stay low. Okay?”

“Okay,” Robin says.

Steve crouches down and walks quickly to the crates a bit further down the hall, Robin follows closely after him with the children right behind her and you in the back. As soon as it’s clear Steve moves a bit further urging all of you to hurry. You all watch as one of the scientists opens the door and the five of you run into the room without alerting any of the Russians.

That is until you turn around and see a guard sitting in front of the comms table, who of course, notices you as soon as you all enter the room. He stands up and his face matches all of yours in the amount of surprise. 

Robin, in a moment of genius, or stupidity, starts speaking Russian to him and of course, you recognize the code right away. He reaches down slowly for his gun anyway and Robin steps forward with her hand out, trying presumably to calm him down. 

The man responds in Russian, which none of you are actually fluent in no matter how long of a week you had studying it. 

Robin, who must understand at least the basic idea of what he was trying to say, tells him in Russian, “Silver cat, silver cat.”

The man who still doesn’t look too convinced says something else which you don’t understand, Robin one last phrase which must make the guard realize that you guys really aren’t supposed to be there. But before he can aim his gun Steve lets out a bloodcurdling scream, rushes over, and tackles the man onto the panels. The Russian pushes Steve off of him onto another table and then swings at him, which Steve narrowly dodges. He then grabs Steve by his sailor's uniform and slams him onto a desk, Steve is able to get his bearings quickly, elbows him in the stomach, and then kicks him back. 

Steve moves over to the comms panel, picks up the receiver, then smashes the guard in the head which causes him to fall over and smash his forehead on the edge of the comms table, knocking him out. All of you are staring in shock at the events over the last 30 seconds all while Steve is still standing there as if he would wake back up at any second.

“Dude!” Dustin shouts, “You did it! You won a fight!”

Steve looks at him, then back down at the unconscious man, then back at Dustin and smiles. Dustin runs over to the guard and begins looting him. 

“What are you doing?” Erica asks him.

“Getting us our ticket out of here,” Dustin tells her.

“You want to walk all the way back?” Erica asks him.

“Well, Erica,” you say to her, “It’s either that or we wait here until the government comes and gets us. I’m gonna say it’s probably gonna be faster just to walk.”

“It took us hours to get down that hall,” she tells you.

“Yeah,” you say, “And the government isn’t exactly known for their response time,”

“While we are waiting why don’t we have a picnic, we can relax, and make nice with the Russians,” He tells her, “I’m sure they won’t just shoot us or torture us.”

“Have a picnic?” Erica says, ignoring the more concerning aspect of the conversation, “We came here for the radio.”

Behind the children bickering you see Robin climbing up a staircase, “Robin?” you call after her, “Where are you going?”

Instead of verbally answering you she reaches out her hand. You move to the stairs and take her hand in yours then make your way up the stairs. At the top, a faint blue light is emitted from beyond a glass door, as the two of you reach the top and look inside the room, you realize this is a lot more fucked than you could have possibly imagined. 

“Robin, what the fuck is that?” you ask her.

“I have no fucking clue,” she responds to you, gripping your hand a bit harder.

As the two of you descend the stairs you can hear Dustin and Erica arguing still, “Guys,” Robin says loud enough to get their attention and moves away from you, dropping your hand, “There’s something up there.”

“It’s, like, really freaky,” you tell them.

The three of them follow you up the stairs and go through the door into a room with glass windows. All of you look through the glass, astonished. Past the glass is a command room filled with scientists all working at a desk pressing various buttons or standing taking notes. Just past the last desk is a wall with floor-to-ceiling windows which reveal a large machine sitting in a cavern. 

The machine shoots out something that looks like lightning which is pointed at the cavern wall which is glowing orange with patterns that look almost like veins. But in the very center, a large crack is slowly growing. The likes of which you just don’t know how to describe. If you didn’t know any better you would almost say that the wall is coming to life.

Next Chapter

[auckie]

Just curious what you typically feed your dubia? Or other roaches you may or may not use/keep?

We have red runners as our bread and butter, but also keep and sell dubia, lobsters, hissers, orange heads, and two small colonies of peppered and dead head roaches. We used to have lil black Kenyans and some sort of discoid too but they’re gone now.

All of them p much eat the same diet of organic chick starter feed mixed with dry cat or dog food, and occasionally a mix of things like bee pollen, fish flakes, dried mealworms, freeze dried peas, calcium powder, cornmeal, oats, repashy bug burger or similar, and even gecko powder. I only do that as a treat, or if we’re low on sometning else tho. In a bind I’ve even fed them yeast and spring tail powder.

They get water beads, very similar to non toxic orbeez, as their water source, as well as cut fruits and veggies. Ideally organic but that’s not always possible. I wash them in vingar, warm water, kosher salt, and baking soda mixed together, then they get brushed and rinsed. We used to peel them too but it takes too long.

The main veggies are carrot, sweet potato, zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, beets, and a chopped leafy green like collards or kale or beet greens. The fruits are apples and oranges, but pears also work well. I try to avoid wetter vegetables like. Well I guess it’s a fruit, like tomatoes, or squishy things like grapes and banana, but they do love them. Any squash, tuber, whatever will do. I mean. Honestly I don’t know of a grown food that’s not recommended save for the fly or mold issue. I would avoid anything too acidic obviously like lemon or even grapefruit but other than that, go crazy. They just tend to mold or garner flies. But if they’re on heat (90F is ideal for breeding for red runners) then the wet foods will dry and desiccate quickly.

In addition to all of this I add pellets of dried, rehydrated alfalfa to the wet food. The roaches go nuts for it and try to lay their ooths in it, which is great bc when it dries I can collect them and sift it all out easier, and then throw remaining chick feed and dried alfalfa get put into the bin that they’ll eventually hatch out into, so that they can eat it.

Some species are kept in closed but ventilated bins, like the hissers and lobsters. You have to line the tops of the bins with food grade lubricant otherwise they’ll climb on the lid or try to get out out. Lobsters mostly get dry food and water beads bc of this, otherwise it molds quickly and attracts fruit flies. The hissers love fruit and dry food but don’t get water beads. Usually I just mist their enclosure. Other species we keep in open bins, and they get the whole shebang. If they’re on substrate it helps to keep springtails and dwarf white isopods in there so they can clean up excess. I’d recommend keeping almost every species on substrate save maybe red runners, and depending on how you have your dubia set up, possibly them. But they do seem to benefit from it more than not. We have a ton of dermestid beetles that do this in the other bins, such as the red runners, but they’re annoying as fuck and can and will wipe out a colony bc they tend to feast on the hatchlings and teneral roaches, esp if the lid is kept on.

Orange heads are incredibly carnivorous and protein motivated to the point that they regularly eat their own newly molted roaches, or at least chew the wings off of each other. They’re a bitch to keep bc of how hardy and prolific they are so it’s difficult to avoid at a certain colony size. Culls aren’t even necessary bc they basically do it for you.

But, if you feed them enough they’ll continue to breed to the point of absurdity. They love wet cat food and literally anything I drop in there. They could clean a thawed frozen feeder rat in minutes, and never have dermestids or any hitchhiking red runners (who are great at sneaking into the other bins. Actually any climbing or flighted roach is, even those that flutter, because they’ll jump the gap. Red runner males instinctually want to wander, up to 20 ft from their colony to search for food and water. They bring it back to the females and young, but even when foods available they prefer to try and come and go for breeding purposes. Dubia are somewhat similar, bc the males are mildly territorial and the females bully the fuck out of them. Actually all females we keep bully the males. I think that’s sortve a standard in arthropods tbh but I could be wrong) .) bc they just fucking eat them. They’re insane and smell bad and I’m coming to hate them bc it’s a regular site to see a teneral, newly matured roach being fucked and eaten at the same time. I hate it. They also cannot be sated. Their thirst is literally unquenchable. They’re the TRUE cockroach of cockroaches in terms of being voracious, prolific, and difficult to kill via pesticides, disease, starvation, dehydration, etc etc. they love to bite and have barbed legs which will scare you, and secrete a gross smelling fluid when scared. They burrow too, and are hard, so idk why anyone keeps them as feeders, or pets. Mostly likely roach to fight back and hurt/kill whatever you’re feeding if it happens to be a wimp or molting. They also give ‘live births’ (read: the ootheca hatches inside them and the baby’s emerge internally) so if you drop a pregnant one into a spiders enclosure you might have a bunch of shithead baby orange heads appear, even if the spider manages to bite and hold onto the roach. At least with dubia they’re sad little baby cows and can’t really do much to harm your spider.

Red runners aren’t as bad but will also occasionally resort to eating their own if they’re really hungry, and have been known to eat spiders if they’re larger than them, or if the spider is premolt/molting.

Lobsters will eat carboard given the chance. Dubia as well, but they love the veggies and dry food. They all love oranges but esp orange heads, dubia, and hissers. Dubia actually become more prolific on oranges and afaik we don’t know why. I’d hazard other species do as well honestly.

Sorry that was a long answer but I’m always delighted to talk about my roach husbandry, or just how I care for insects in general!

[hummus-birb]

Animal Well Lore Theorizing - What is the player character?

I know everyone refers to them as a blob (and I will too for simplicities sake), but what are they?

(Note: All of these are just random guesses, I’m not a lore professional or anything like that. I’ve completed the secret ending, but I’m still missing a couple of the rabbits, and I’m not one of the people hunting down all the gameplay mysteries of the game. I just like cool world building stuff!!)

Hints we have so far:

- They come out of a flower, whether they’re newly born or were just kinda sitting in there or something

- They’re reasonably small (assuming the telephones are normal size, they’re about as wide and a bit taller than those, but if it’s a toy phone this could be a less accurate guess)

- They have boots(?) (the little pink things, though those could just be a stylistic choice)

- They can ride things and use items (the frisbees, any items, chinchillas, and even the manticore. We can assume the ability to use items without hands is just a gameplay stylistic choice, but the manticore is an interesting topic I’ll get to later)

- They don’t get hurt by fireworks (could be a gameplay choice, but probably rules out them being a ghost)

- Yellowish-orangish-beigeish color (depends on the lighting)

- They eat fruit to regain health

- (Big spoilers for after you get all the rabbits!) After being eaten by the big bunny, you get the ability to turn into some sort of winged glowing moth thingy!

Okay, actual theory time now!!

My first thought was that it was some sort of slime guy or generic blob, but statements from the creator say that it is something specific. So here’s some ideas!!

- Eggs are prevalent in the game as both our collectible and for the origin of the manticore, so what if the player was also an egg?? Or rather, an egg yolk? I mostly thought of this one since the blob is yellow

- They could be a seed or some other part of a plant, since they come out of a flower. It has been confirmed that they are definitely not a fruit, after people were joking about fruit cannibalism in the discord, but it could still be something else from a plant

- They might be a sort of moth grub thing, or even a moth egg? With the whole flying ability late-game, it would make sense to assume that the player is related to a moth (or maybe another flying bug) in some way.

- My personal favorite theory, whether or not it ends up being real, is that the blob is some sort of parasitic creature. When the manticore eats it, it’s able to control the manticores movements, and it gets the wings from going through the big rabbit’s intestinal system. While I don’t know a lot about parasites, I did a quick google search and found out that rabbits suffer from a thing called flystrike (maggots hatch in their body system from flies laying eggs in wounds or feces (don’t look it up unless your fine with some pretty gross images)), and maggots also obviously eat and sometimes hatch in plants, though I’m not sure if they’re the same type. There’s obviously some amount of fantasy elements, so it could possibly be a culmination of a few specific irl parasites as well as our general perception of parasites in media. Either way I think it could be a really cool theory!!!

While we don’t have a strict answer to what the player character is as of yet, I mostly just wanted to share some ideas of mine for what they could be!!!

[dm-clockwork-dragon]

Another Unpopular Opinion

I was asked to delete my earlier reblog by the OP, so they didn’t get sucked into discourse, so I’m reposing this as it’s own thing Well, here I go publicly stating another opinion that will probably get me cancelled. To be entirely fair, I’m sort of beyond caring at this point?

I think people need to calm their fucking tits - homegrown, surgical, or happily removed - over not just this game, but about HP stuff in general.

I’m a recently hatched egg, but I’ve considered myself non-binary for almost 15 years, and been an ally for as long as I knew what an ally was. I also have no particular love for the franchise, despite enjoying it a lot when I was a kid. That’s not virtue signally, or an attempt to defend my position - just letting you all know a little context, and that I do actually have a horse in this race.

I get it, I really do. JK is a fucking terrible person, and should burn in a thousand multicolored hells for the bullshit she spews and the hate she engenders in others. On top of that, she’s a shitty writer, to the point where she accidentally created an entire wizarding world where the difference between the good guys and the bad guys is just what flavor of Nazi you want to choose. But there’s a couple reasons I think that people really need to try and separate her from the franchise that she started.

1. Death of the Author.

This is the one that everyone else gives. It’s possible to enjoy, appreciate, or interpret a creative work in absence of it’s author or their intent. We do it with music, we do it with painting. and Like OP here points out: if we were to burn every book written by a problematic author, we would leave glaring wholes not just in our understanding of our own history and society, but in our understanding of how to avoid the same injustices and suffering caused by those authors. Dead or alive, the author’s right and control over who others interpret their work the moment they share it with the outside world.

2. You guys don’t know how JK makes money, do you?

I see all kinds of arguments out there about how engaging with, or - dare I even mention - paying for HP content is somehow a crime against transfolk because it directly supports a raging TERF and her platform. It doesn’t. Aside from the argument that JK makes all her money through investments and stock market trades - just like any rich person - She also DOESN’T OWN THE FRANCHISE. She retains intellectual property rights: AKA, she can write new books or shit if she likes (we have seen how that goes for her), and she is still treated as the primary source, but the IP and all production rights are owned by Warner Bros. JK doesn’t make a dime off of game, movies, or anything else that WB license or produce based on THEIR franchise. She already made her money by selling the franchise to them years ago. Honestly, she probably got the raw end of the deal at this point. At most, she might get some meager royalties that are eaten up entirely by the cost of paying someone to process them. That’s how publishing contracts and movie deals work - they are a fucking racket.  3. HP isn’t just something some people can throw away.

Like I said above, I sorta grew out of my HP phase, long before any of the issue of JK being a TERF ever came up. And I know that a lot of people who considered themselves fans have also willingly distanced themselves from the franchise in light of her shitty views and actions. But not everyone has that ability. To give you a different example: I grew up reading the Dune books. I finished the core series for the first time when I was 8, and have re-read the entire extended series more than a dozen times since then. It’s more than just my favorite book series, it’s a formative part of who I am as a person. So much of my beliefs and identity as a person have been informed or inspired by those books that I would argue it is impossible to truly understand myself without them. Hell - I’d argue the entire reason I started explore my gender and sexuality in the first place is because of the emphasis those books placed on the “Quisach Haderach” as the perfect fusion of male and female. Even if I were to verbally disavow the series for some reason, those books still define who I am today, and It would be physically impossible for me to separate myself from them Harry Potter is the same way for a lot of people. I think some of us loose sight of just how meaningful those books are to a generation. Not all of us - even within that generation - had the same connection, but for a lot of people who grew up reading them from the time they could turn a page, those books are just as formative and intrinsic to who they are as Dune is to me. they couldn’t separate themselves, even if they wanted to. And pissing all over someone for something they can’t change about themselves is exactly the sort of thing we are supposed to be fighting against! Same can be said of the bible, the Torah, the Quran or any other work that was meaningful and formative to a persons cultural upbringing. Even within the trans community, there are countless Christians, Jews, and Islamic followers. They make the faith their own, because it is an intrinsic and immutable part of who they are. If you are going to condemn Trans or Allies who can’t separate themselves form HP, then you are also condemning any Ally or Transperson who still practices or believes in some form of the religion the grew up with.  4. If we can reclaim slurs, we can reclaim this! I see so many of the same people who rail against HP, also writing or relogging posts about how important it is to reclaim slurs and other labels that have been historically used against us, and I agree. But that shit goes a lot further than just the names we have been called. Reclaiming something from those who would hurt you with it is like picking up the rock that was thrown at you, and saying “neat, this is mine now, you cant have it back”, as opposed to just kicking it back to the abuser so they can hurl it at you again. JK is a terrible person. which is all the more reason that we have a responsibility to take this beloved franchise away from her. She doesn’t deserve it, and as long as it remains in her power, she can continue to use it as a platform to hurt people. And this isn’t without precedent: Look at Butch Hartman, or Joss Wheaton, or Notch, or Gary Gygax. We have a history and a present filled with examples of taking beloved content away from shitty people a deciding “this is ours now, you can’t have it back.” We take those things that were or are important to us, and reframe them, re-write them, or reimagine them into something positive and supportive.  As an author myself, I know quite well how painful it can be to see your work taken away from you, and transformed by people who don’t share your vision. So lets hurt JK where it counts! Not in the wallet, not by railing against her on social media, but by taking away the one meaningful thing she has ever created in her miserable life. Because she doesn’t fucking deserve it.

[lieblingspulli]

Bread Baby: SKZ

W.C: 3.5k

Leeknow x Reader

Summary: Based on some prompts ‘This was a stupid plan,’ ‘this is stupid. And kind of fun.’ 

A.N: Bro, I’ve had this Wip on my laptop since I wrote Up All Night. She’s FINISHED lollll. I hope y’all like soft lino. Enjoy!

Masterlist!

SKZ Masterlist

This whole idea sounded like a mess to Leeknow. Baking bread? At home? No, not on his watch. You guys lived across the street from the bakery for god's sake! Your idea was a disaster waiting to happen. Leeknow carefully held your hand and didn’t want to say no to your pleading eyes. 

-

You had come up with the idea a couple hours ago and merely suggested it when Leeknow got home from work. You knew he couldn’t say no. 

“I’m back Honey!” Leeknow shouted. You got excited and nearly dropped your tea in anticipation while getting up and running to him. “Babyyyyy!” Leeknow suspiciously looked up from hooking his bag up in the corridor. You wanted something. He wanted to say no already. 

“Hi honey.” He kissed your head gently and wrapped his arms around you. You happily obliged and whispered, “I missed you today.” 

“Babe, I saw you this morning. We had breakfast together.” He laughed and let go of you to take off his jacket. You pouted. He was always so smug about things. Always sarcastic about things, but you loved it. 

“Do you want some lunch? I was just having a sandwich with the new bread we got.” You sweetly said and watched him take off his watch. Leeknow didn’t seem phased by it and just nodded, “Sure. Thanks babe,” before walking to the room to change. Alright, step one in motion. You hurriedly ran to make your boyfriend a sandwich before he came out of the bedroom. The anticipation of asking made you rush even more. 

Just as Leeknow sat to sit down, he noticed you were already sitting and just staring at him. He eyed you suspiciously before taking a bite. What were you up to? The sandwich was delicious, though, and it distracted him too much. 

You blurted out, “How’s the bread?” 

Leeknow stopped mid bite and stared at you. 

“Good?” 

“Anything special about it?” 

“Um.” Leeknow hesitated, was this a trick question? A trap? He nodded. “It tastes good?” Leeknow said with his mouth full. You smiled. 

“I helped make it! Do you like it?” You smiled even wider and waited for a response. Oh great, Leeknow thought. This was leading somewhere wasn’t it? 

“Of course babe. It’s delicious.” Another bite down the hatch. 

You continued watching him and it just made him uncomfortable. 

“Did you already eat something before I got here?” Leeknow asked a bit uneasily. He didn’t enjoy you watching him but he also didn’t enjoy hurting your feelings to make you stop. You nodded back and continued. Okay, this was definitely the point at which he had to say something. 

“Do you.. Want something?” He carefully asked and studied you suspiciously. You didn’t stop smiling. 

“Actually-” 

Oh great, here we go. 

“I wanted to suggest a date idea.” You leaned forward on your hands. Leeknow nodded, encouraging you to continue. 

“Okay, what did you want to do?” He asked and took his last bite. 

“So, you know how my friend works at the bakery across the street?” 

“Yea, the one you went to college with right?” 

“Yep! So, yesterday, while you were at work, she invited me to learn how to make bread. And that’s how this beautiful loaf was born! She helped me.” 

“Oh really?” Leeknow raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to pay attention. 

“Yep.” You popped your p. 

“Okay, so the date?” 

“Oh yea, so, as I was saying. After doing that, I thought we could try making bread together! At home!” You said like a little kid. Leeknow slowly nodded with wide eyes. 

“Oh.” 

“What? You don’t like it?” You deflated. Oh no. Leeknow had to think of something quick. 

“What? No, I just think..” He carefully contemplated his words. He hesitated when you gave him those doe eyes. Damn.  “Well, I’ve never done it before and you’re hardly an expert. I mean you did it once, and it came out wonderful but,” he stumbled a bit with his words before continuing, “I just think it’s a bad idea. We live across the street from a bakery! I’ll let you pick something from there instead of doing all that work!” Leeknow smiled at the end. Your smile fell. He assumed you didn’t like that. 

“But I think it’ll be fun! And I get to spend quality time with you,” You pouted. “I really wanted to try it with you.” You frowned deeper. He reached out to hold your hand and you obliged, although a bit upset. Leeknow’s heart melted and he felt bad for even suggesting to say no. 

“Ughhhhh, okay. When you put it like that. Let’s bake some bread.” Leeknow sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. You squealed in excitement and got up to kiss his face. Leeknow squirmed in your hands and you laughed. 

“Yay! Thanks baby, you won’t regret it. We’ll be parents to the best and softest loaf of bread ever!” You jumped and ran to the kitchen list to start writing down ingredients that you needed to get. 

“Ughhh, but there’s a bakery right there!” Leeknow pointed out the window. He thought it was a pretty stupid idea, but he didn’t need to tell you that.

“This is a stupid idea,” he muttered to himself. 

“What’s that?” You shouted from the kitchen. 

“Nothing honey!” 

 He let you do whatever at this point, he just couldn’t hold his ground anymore. He sighed. So much for the macho image he had built. The grip you had on his heart was strong as hell. You squealed again from the kitchen and he just pictured the mess that would ensue in that same room you were in. He didn’t like messes. He didn’t like inconveniences. Hell, no one should like inconveniences. But again, he didn’t have to admit that to you. 

-

A day later, Leeknow was being dragged through the grocery store by you. He still held his ground that it was a bad idea but he let you do whatever you want anyway. With a pen in his hand a some regret in the other, he pushed the cart and followed you through the aisles. You held the list firmly and studied the descriptions of each ingredient, determined to get only the best. 

“Babe, isn’t that excessive? You’ve been looking at flour for ten minutes.” Leeknow grumbled and leaned against the cart a bit more. Your head whipped up and you looked at him like he was dumb. Maybe he was, he didn’t know at this point. What was the difference between bread flour and the other brand of bread flour? He didn’t need to know. 

“Babeeee, I have to get the better one. It's like, the most important part!” You lectured him. He just grumbled something about this taking too long. He should have brought Changbin along or something, he was the last one to walk out of the recording studio with Leeknow afterall. He should have asked. He should have just said no to this whole thing. Damn. 

You finished inspecting and plopped the flour into the basket. Leeknow looked lost in thought with a frown on his face. You giggled and rubbed his arm, surprising him out of his thoughts. 

“You done?” He said. You rolled your eyes. What a baby.

“Oh come on. This’ll be fun, I promise.” You said and sweetly looped your arm through his. He gave you a frown and just kissed your head before continuing in the direction you pointed in. He’d just have to bear it. You leaned your head on his shoulder and he sighed. This can’t be so bad right? At least he was spending time with you, watching you be happy. That’s all that matters, Leeknow thought. Just my baby. 

-

You knew he secretly loved doing things with you. That piece of knowledge almost went in the trash as you stood next to him, staring at all the ingredients laid before you. You could just feel the unease radiating off your boyfriend as you set the last stick of butter in front of you. 

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Leeknow said and stared at the bowl of flour. You clapped your hands and jumped. 

“Oh, I almost forgot!” You hurried to the bedroom where you had left the aprons you bought for this special occasion. You held them up as you entered the kitchen. Leeknow groaned. 

“Are those-” 

“They’re matching! Look!” You smiled widely and he blushed before grabbing one and putting it on. His ears were red in embarrassment. You reached out to tie it for him. 

“It looks so good on you honey.” You whispered in his ear and he blushed even more. You loved to tease him. 

“Yea? Well- it looks good on you too.” He said with a shy smile. You kissed his lips and he melted into your kiss. What a big sap. You knew he loved it. 

“Thanks baby.” You whispered. You left a hand lingering on his chest for a few seconds before turning to bring the recipe out. Leeknow was left thoroughly flustered and not knowing what to do with the empty space you left in front of him. He huffed in annoyance that you had such a grip on him. 

Leeknow studied your movements as you set up the first step of the recipe. He wasn’t inclined to help you out with simple tasks but he did hold when he was told to hold and he did mix when he was told to mix. Yea, there were a few slip ups and spills here and there, but it was step one. There were a lot of steps. Leeknow kept his eyes on you and watched your focused face. He sighed for the millionth time today. He couldn’t believe he canceled dinner with his friends to bake bread. 

It only took about ten minutes to come to the outcome he had most expected. There was flour everywhere (including his hair but he didn’t know that), your apron was covered in stuff and you had egg smear on your cheek. Leeknow giggled and pointed at your hair. 

“What?” 

“Babe you got something on your hair.” He laughed and pointed. 

“Don’t laugh!” You cried in frustration. This recipe was a little harder without your professional baker friend. At least you had Leeknow to egg you on. 

“What? You look like a cloud with all that dust making your hair white. It’s funny.” He laughed and kissed your cheek. You huffed and tried to wipe it from your hair, but only made it worse. He laughed harder. 

“I told you, it’s one big mess!” Leeknow cackled and tried to calm down. 

“Yah! I’m trying my best!” You pouted and tried to mix the rock hard lump of dough in front of you. “This is hard.” You were on the verge of tears. Leeknow noticed right away. 

“Hey, hey. It’s okay! Look. Your bread just needs a little more milk and it’ll get soft again. You’re doing great.” He comforted you and hugged you from behind. You wiped your tear with your forearm, careful not to smudge flour on your face too. He put his chin on your shoulder. 

“See? It’s fine. It’s just bread.” He smiled and tried to comfort you with words. You felt better with him being cooperative. You knew he would always be with you but sometimes when things got hard, you needed comforting Minho, not ridiculing Minho. “Thanks Minho.” You choked out a laugh. 

“Yooo, let’s not use the government name shall we?” He moved to be at your side and face you. You smiled at him. “I prefer honey if anything else fails, okay? Minho is reserved for my angry Y/n.” He smiled and held your doughy hands. You sniffled and nodded. “Okay honey.” 

“There we go. That’s my girl.” He grinned. You pushed his shoulder. “You’re so stupid.” He feigned offense. 

“Aw come on, I’m making bread with you aren’t I?” He kissed your hand, making you giggle. 

“You got something on your lips there Min.” He jokingly looked startled and his mouth made an O. “Well, I guess my Y/n is gonna have to help me with that!” He leaned closer to you and stared at your lips. You smirked and leaned in before wiping his mouth with your thumb. He pouted. 

“Yah, I meant with a kiss you dummy.” He frowned and you laughed. “I know, you big baby! Come here.” 

“No, my baby doesn’t wanna kiss me. I’m gonna have to get revenge.” He crossed his arms and scooted towards the flour bowl. 

“Oh yea? What are you gonna do?” You placed your hands on your hips and waited. He slowly walked backwards and grabbed a handful of flour, as if you weren’t watching his every move. 

“Lee Minho- if you even think about-” 

Leeknow paused with a fist full of flour in the air. He stared at you and you stared back. A couple seconds of silence went by. As soon as you opened your mouth to speak, chaos ensued. 

Flour went everywhere. It was in crevices you didn’t even think of reaching. Of course, you would deal with these consequences later, but for now, you were too busy defending yourself to stop it. Leeknow launched the first fistful at your hair. You felt the powdery stuff go everywhere. 

“Oh my god- Lee Minho.” You stood in shock for a minute before leeknow emptied his hands of flour on top of you. You lunged for the bowl behind him. Unfortunately, Leeknow grabbed you by the waist as you lunged and you only succeeded in tipping the bowl. Half the flour went flying. 

“Leeknow!” 

“Y/n!” Leeknow mocked you. You smacked his back, startling him enough to let you go. 

“Hey! That’s cheating-” You grabbed two handfuls and dumped powder on his head. He froze and slowly spinned around. 

You cheekily stared, wide eyed, and laughed. Your laughing became maniac like as he chased you around, but he slightly slipped on floor flour and hit the floor. You hid behind the other side of the island. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed another fistful of flour, intending to launch it, but was met with one of your own catapults. 

“What! I fell!” He pouted and grabbed some more. You ran behind him and threw some flour down his shirt. 

“You started it- HEY” You giggled and Leeknow caught you behind him. With you in one arm, he stuffed flour down your own shirt and let you wriggle around in it. How cruel. You laughed as he tickled you, but then you tickled his soft spot and he immediately dropped you. You ran to grab a spoon. He grabbed one back and raised it to defend himself. 

“Okay, you got me. Truce?” He slowly eyed you and couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of you, flour in your hair, ears, eyelashes. It was everywhere. 

You giggled at how white your boyfriend’s hair was. “White hair suits you, you know.” You laughed, dropped the spoon on the counter and held your stomach, unable to keep in the laughter. He laughed with you and dropped his spoon too. The kitchen had flour everywhere, but you didn’t care. It was fun. 

Leeknow hugged you, full of flour and all. “You’re so stupid, but at least you are my stupid.” 

“Gee, thanks Minho.” 

“My pleasure.” 

You smacked him lightly and looked up to cup his flour covered cheeks. 

“Shall we put our bread baby in to bake?” 

“Hold on, you still care about that?” 

“Lee Minho, I did not just get covered in flour to not bake one loaf of bread.” You looked at him with challenging eyes. 

He nodded in defeat and mumbled, “Fair enough.” 

You let go and carefully grabbed the bread pan to inspect it. Thankfully, the flour fight didn’t reach the pan. You opened the oven and threw her in with a prayer. Leeknow watched you, leaning against the counter looking all smug. Leeknow was thinking of how hot you looked in a matching apron and flour all over you. He didn’t think you could get any cuter, but you did. He smiled. God, since when was making bread so fun? 

You leaned back, admired your hardwork and turned to face your helper. 

“Now, we wait.” You said definitively. He nodded and reached for you. “Shall we take a shower together?” Leeknow wriggled his eyebrows. This guy. You rolled your eyes and kissed his flour covered lips. “Yea, help me clean up first though?” He groaned. “If I must.” He made it sound like a punishment, but really, he loved to help you. 

Within the next hour, you both managed to at least throw everything in the sink and wipe down the counters. The dishes would be for later. Shower time was much less eventful as the flour fight, but still included some teasing and mock fighting. Leeknow thoroughly enjoyed just being with you. 

After you settled, changed into a fresh pair of clothes and pulled the bread out of the oven, Leeknow helped you set the reveal by bringing out a bread knife and a cutting board. You carefully took the bread from it’s cooling corner and tested the warmth of the pan. 

“Don’t burn yourself,” Leeknow said on instinct. You smiled and nodded. You flipped it and the loaf popped right out. Leeknow stopped it from rolling off the counter. 

“Phew, that was close. Good thing my baby was fast enough to catch it.” You giggled and his ears got red. “Yea, well, I don’t wanna waste all that work.” He mumbled and placed it upright. You felt him wrap his arms around you from the side as you got to work, slicing it into perfectly spaced bread slices. 

“Wow, look babe.” You whispered in wonder. You and Leeknow had made this bread yourself. You were so proud of it. Leeknow watched you and was enamored by your passion for this tiny loaf of bread. 

“Mmhm.” He could barely answer, too distracted by your red cheeks and sparkling eyes. 

“Baby, look, we can try it.” You said. You grabbed a piece and ripped it in half, one for you and the other for him. He took it and waited for you to count down. 

“One, two, three.” You plopped a piece in your mouth and chewed. Leeknow took a bite and chewed exactly like you. For a few moments, you both chewed. And chewed some more. And a little more. He stared at you and you turned to him, making eye contact. 

“Well, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” You whispered. He nodded, trying to be supportive. 

“It’s good.” Leeknow firmly said. 

“Leeknow, I said it wasn’t as bad, not that it’s good.” You huffed and finished your piece. Leeknow nodded solemnly and continued chewing to show his solidarity. You leaned on him and sighed. All that for a below average loaf of bread. You had to admit, you were kind of disappointed. A little more than kind of. You were really disappointed. You stood in silence until Leeknow squeezed you in his arms. 

“Jagi, it was good! It was a dumb idea, but we still had fun, right?” He kissed your head and you nodded, not wanting to speak. 

“Oh come on, we both had fun and now we are proud parents to a bread baby. Aren’t you proud we put hard labor into this baby?” He held you firmly and shook you a bit, trying to cheer you up. 

“Min, you make it sound like we had a baby.” You choked out a laugh and faced him. He could only just stare at your glassy eyes hopelessly. 

“I mean it. You worked so hard to make it. I know you were so happy to do it. I’m proud of you Jagi.” He smiled and kissed your forehead. “It’s a beautiful bread baby. Kinda looks like you too.” You snorted and shook your head, leaning back into his chest. 

“It’s the color of your hair.” 

“Yah, I beg to differ. Just cuz I’m the dad doesn’t mean he took after me.” He laughed and rubbed your back. You sniffed and held him tight. 

“He sorta did though.” You said, your voice muffled by Leeknow’s shirt. He continued to rub your back. 

“He came out great and I love him. I love you.” Leeknow whispered in your hair. You nodded and leaned up to kiss him, feeling thoroughly comforted by his words. “I love you too. Now I can say you’re my baby daddy.” You laughed. 

“Woahhh, let’s wait for that title, yeah?” He snickered and kissed you again, and firmer this time. “I would love to be your baby daddy to a loaf of bread only, please.” He said between kisses. You hummed into his kiss and scratched his back. 

“Okayyy, baby daddy.” You snickered and he scoffed. 

“Hey! I’m not ready for that yet!”