#carrie cotten

[heatherwoodauthor]

New book tree - see any favorite authors?

[alacetor-the-duckies-deer]

I have a headcanon that Alastor stays in the 1920s and 30s for EVERYTHING accept music.

He's was a radio host, it was his job to stay up to date on those things on earth, and I can't see him not having an appreciation for all kinds of music due to that, especially when he carried it over to his afterlife.

And frankly. I think it would be funny if Charlie and they other's, only knowing about Alasotr's broadcasts of torturing people, never ACTUALLY listen to his radio station, even though judging by him spilling the tea in Stayed Gone, he's at LEAST got a Gissip/news section. I could see him having a variety of entertainment sections, and playing different kinds of music on a Monday morning or after noon (like every few hours of rver day are dedicated to a difrenr genera, like if it's divided by decade or language. Or something else)

But really I'm just picturing the Hazbins NOT KNOWING THIS ans they walk in on this man, cooking them all dinner one night, and his just singing to himself, but he's singing like

It has to be kesha. It has to be Bee's Cotten Candy.

They'd be flabbergasted.

[lizzy-luvbot]

when i saw on your blog that you write for emh i GASPED

n e ways can i request any HABIT x reader content ? idc what it is want HABIT

LMAO I LOVE HABIT SM IM ACTUALLY SO EXCITED TO WRITE THIS

I’m gonna do relationship headcanons 😼 hope you like it😼

I feel like he’d definitely chase you around with a knife but like lovingly🥰 it’s just a fun little game… though it is sometimes hard to remember that it’s a game…

He’s also gives off the vibes of “wear what you want I can fight” yk?

He’s sassy to the point he’s almost just being mean?? But it’s ok yk he loves you and doesn’t mean it… most of the time…

I feel like he’s the type to run full speed at you and then when he’s like 2 feet away from you just abruptly stop.

Or like stomp his feet behind you likes he’s running after you but he’s really just running aggressively in place to scare the shit out of you

Holding your hand in public?? No he’s behind you holding the back of your neck pushing you in the direction he want to go in.

Carries like 5 pocket knives. I feel like he names the too but idk…

Does NOT feel embarrassment.

Has an attitude with EVERYONE AND ANYONE.

Has on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS picked you up by the knees(like bending down and wrapping his arms around them) and thrown you into the stacks of toilet paper at Walmart.

Banned from Walmart.

Y’all for sure make up VERY VERY wild pet names for each other, example: you call him: your little cotten candy critter muffin and he calls you: his big assed cuddle cake.

He’s not allowed to meet your parents.

When your sad he will definitely let you sit in his lap while he plays with your hair to make you feel better.

He can’t just hug you, he has to either squeeze the life out of your or squeeze the life out of you AND pick you up and twirl you around.

Y’all hold hands all the time(except when he’s behind you grabbing the back of your fucking neck.)

I feel like he would be a tip of the nose kisser, like imagine him just putting both of his hands on the side of your face and kissing your nose that’s so cute.

CUTE FANART IF HIM FOR READING THIS LMAO ITS NOT MINE ITS FROM antlergrave ON TWITTER😄 NOT EDITED I’m so lazy😀

[xcherrypie]

Lazy days

Summary: Sundays are for relaxing, and Sam wants to make sure that relax is exactly what you do.

Words: 1k

You smile to yourself at the feeling of Sams warm breath tickling the hairs on the back of your neck, his fingers laying gently over your stomach. As you try wriggle out of his grasp it’s evident that despite his deep sleep he doesn’t want his girl going anywhere. “Sam” you groan, “I want a brew” in saying so you move his arm off from around you and make your way downstairs to the kitchen, fully aware your boyfriend would be down to follow you any second, like a little lost puppy.

You were right, not even seconds into the kettle boiling you screech as Sam snakes his bare arms around you, lifting you into the air, spinning you around. “Put me down Samuel” you laugh, attempting to sound stern but failing miserably. “Alright” he smirks, placing you on the kitchen counter, instantly positioning himself between your legs. Before you could even look up at Sam, his lips gently crashed Into yours, he tasted so sweet and as you melted into the kiss your fingers found his hair. He smirked as he placed loose kisses on your lips, that left you wanting more. His right hand cupped your face as his left hand gripped your waist, pulling you in closer to him resulting in there being no space left between you.

The kettle boiled and Sam pulled away from you, resting his hand on your sides. “I’ll have two sugars in mine love” he winks, turning to walk away into the living room. “Your a dickhead” you pout, jumping from the counter, watching Sam walk off. He absolutely loved teasing you, he’d always cave in eventually of course, he couldn’t resist you himself. But there was just something he loved so much about you being so desperate for him that he can’t help himself.

After a shared breakfast on the sofa and three episodes of reality TV you’d come to the collective decision to carry on the day as you’d started; doing absolutely nothing. Sam was obviously delighted with this decision as it meant he could spend all day on his little wind up mission that he’d started back in the kitchen that morning. However little did he know it wouldn’t last as long as he’d hoped, especially after you’d arrived back downstairs from a quick shower in nothing but one of his shirts.

“What?” You question in response to Sam raising both eyebrows at you. “You know what” he sighs back. He was right, you knew exactly why he was looking at you with such lust and would be lying if you said you hadn’t chose such an outfit on purpose. Sam found you attractive in whatever you wore but due to your significant height difference whenever you wore anything of his he’d just melt.

As you selected a new episode of your show Sam placed his head in your lap, a move so subtle even you was unsure if he was doing it on purpose. All morning your need for Sam had been growing and growing and was starting to get too much, especially as he moved his head over your crotch, you felt the need for him to be even closer.

“Sam” you murmur. “Hmm” he responds whilst his fingers trace along your bare thighs. “I need you” you practically whisper, as if your not the only two people in the house. Sam didn’t say anything, just continued drawing circles over your now achy legs, each time getting closer to your core. As your breath hitched and you open your mouth to ask for him a second time, his gentle touches turned into gentle kisses. Kisses that alone were creating a wet mess under the cotten shirt you wore. He positioned himself so he could kiss further up your body, making sure he didn’t leave an inch of your skin, his hand cupped your breasts and his nibbled and sucked at your neck, causing whines to escape your lips. He stopped suddenly, looking straight into your eyes, almost inviting you to beg for him again. “ Please Sam” you whine causing a mischievous smirk to spread across his lip. “Seeing as you asked so nicely” he hums back, already spreading kisses back down your body.

Your body relaxed as you threw your head back, each kiss against your skin creating more heat between your legs. Sam eventually made his way back down to your thighs, repositioning himself on his knees, between your legs. You anticipated yourself for more teasing, something Sam usually takes great joy in doing, however clearly the tension got too much for him at this point as in one motion he pushed the hem of the shirt over your hips and licks up your folds.

The room fills with croaky moans as your breath gets faster, you can’t take your eyes of Sam while his pink lips suck on your clit, even his breath against you causing the most pleasurable sensation, he doesn’t take his lips off you as his hands wander up to your breasts. The combination of Sam eating you out and his fingers lighting playing with and pinching your nipples creates that familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach, you were close, and Sam knew it.

“Please don’t stop” you whined your hands forming a firm grip in Sam’s hair. “Hm but you look so pretty like this y/n” he responded, looking up at you, replacing his tongue with his fingers. His fingers started pumping gently yet quickly inside of you as your legs started to shake. Using his other hand he held your shaking leg down as he hovered his lips over yours, “Let go for me baby” he mumbled into a passionate kiss, causing you to come undone simply by his words.

Your left beneath him panting while he takes his fingers from inside you, bringing them to your mouth, smiling up at him you suck on his fingers, cleaning up the mess you’d made. “Good girl” he responds placing a soft kiss on your forehead.

Notes: Hey guys! Hope everyone has had a lovely Easter 🐣 feel free to send over any requests x

[moneymoneygreengreen]

Satosugu fanfiction #6 (I think)

heavy smut, this is an au/headcannon, so don’t take it seriously.

The white spiked haired, pale skinned young man, Satoru Gojo shoves his friend, Suguru up against a closed door in the classroom after their sensei, Yaga and had left the two alone to clean the classroom as punishment because of a certain mistake that happened during a mission. They let a curse escape.

The two started arguing on whose fault it was as soon as Yaga left and the room started to grow intense. Soon after they started shoving each other and hitting eachother. This what lead Suguru to be pinned up against the brown wooden door with his collar in Satoru’s hands. Satoru stared up at Suguru’s purplish-brown eyes with his cold, icy blue ones.

they glare at each other for a very long time before Satoru instantly leaned in and smashed lips with Suguru. His tongue making it through Suguru’s lips as he made out with him abruptly and rapidly, not caring if their kiss was sloppy or not. Suguru kissed him back without much thought as soon as Satoru’s tongue touched his own.

Satoru lifted Suguru off of the floor and let Suguru’s legs wrap around his waist as Satoru himself pinned the raven haired boy’s hands over his head with one hand while he used the other hand to unbutton Suguru’s uniform and discard it to the floor. Suguru broke the kiss by pulling his head away to look down at Satoru’s now love-lust filled blue irises. They were both panting heavily for a very long time before geto asked, “what if we get caught…?”

Satoru responds with a devious smirk and darkened eyes. “It makes this little “game” more exciting…” Gojo let out a deep voiced chuckle before letting Geto’s hands down and latched his lips onto Suguru’s neck. Sucking and nipping at the sensitive skin. Leaving red and pink trails on his skin. This, of course makes Geto shiver down his spine and make quiet, soft grunting sounds. Satoru then rises his hands underneath Suguru’s white long sleeved shirt and tosses it to the floor along with the black uniform. Now Suguru was completely bare on the top. His physique was well shaped, abs were chiseled into his torso, and his beautiful pecs were medium sized yet very fluffy, to Satoru’s eyes. He really wanted to take a bite out of those really squishy breasts, but he decided to contain his desires until Suguru was completely naked.

Satoru carried Suguru to one of the desks and layed him on top of the table, his back making soft thud sound on the smooth wood of it. Satoru continued to make out with Suguru, but instead, he was being much more gentle with it this time, as if to sooth Suguru while taking his clothes off. Suguru lied there, completely on board of what his beloved Satoru would do next. Satoru sat up, breaking the kiss to pull his own shirt over his head and throwing it onto the floor. Showing off his slim, yet muscular build. He dosent waist anytime and starts to pull down his own pants while Suguru pulled his own thick pants off of himself.

They were both now only in their underwear and Satoru thought he should maybe tease Suguru a bit before going on with full intercourse.

Satoru crouches down in between Suguru’s already spread legs and gazes down at the medium sized tent in Suguru’s grey boxers. His smirking lips parted and his teeth started to show. He was now grinning. That sadistic bastered…

Satoru leans over and licked Suguru’s still clothed bulge, making Suguru whine softly. This was like music to satoru’s ears. He does it again, but this time, he ran his long, thick tongue on the bulge more slowly and provocatively. After, he gave the Cotten made boxers an open kiss and tugged at the fabric with his teeth before pulling the boxers off with his teeth on the middle part and his hands on the strap of the underwear.

that is when Suguru’s slightly curved, pale, thick meat pole sprang up. Satoru gave a quick snicker before giving his friend full on top. Bobbing his head slowly, up and down over the thick, average sized shaft of his raven haired best friend. Groans and grunts started to come from Suguru’s throat as Satoru continued to take him in his mouth. Suguru was a complete mess, his face was completely red from cheek to ear tip, his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were closed. He didn’t think he’d have Satoru give him a blow job. His fingers roam through Satoru’s pure white, messy hair as he continued his groan, grunt melody.

Soon enough, after Satoru bobbed his head one more time one Suguru’s dick, Suguru finally makes a loud gasping sound along with a slightly high pitched groan as he shoots his seed down Satoru’s throat. Suguru’s legs were shaking heavily from the impact of his orgasm. His breaths were coming in heavy as he continued to whisper the name, “Satoru” over and over again.

Satoru sat up and wiped his mouth with his arm. “Hey, don’t start whimpering my name out like that yet,” he stood up to his feet and pulled down his own boxers, his erect, long, thick rod begging for attention. “I’m not finished with you…” Geto gulped and sat up on his elbows. He looked down at Satoru’s penis and gulped nervously but whispered, with his voice ragged and horse, “make sure you prepare me first…”

“of course, Suguru.”

___________________

After gapping Suguru out with his fingers, making Suguru orgasm for a second time, Satoru stands back up again and aligned himself with Geto’s anus. He gripped Suguru’s hips for leverage as he entered his friend’s forbidden hole. Making Suguru gasp deeply at the way it stretched him out. Satoru continues to travel inside of Suguru until he stopped at a certain point. He waits for Suguru to adjust before moving out of Suguru slightly and pounding back inside of him, hard. that was when he began to move his hips, back and forth. In and out of Suguru’s trembling body. The tip of his long, pale pretty dick finds its way into Suguru’s G-spot and starts rubbing, hard against it. Making Suguru’s soft, low groans turn into full voiced moans and whimpers. His legs were wrapped around Satoru’s waist again as Satoru continued to pound hard into Suguru’s abused ass. It seemed as if he wasn’t stopping until he himself made it to orgasm.

Satoru tossed his head back as he started to make short, shallow breaths while running through the tight walls of Suguru’s void. He knew he was close. Extremely close, and he knows he wouldn’t have enough time to pull out, considering he didn’t have any condoms with him at the moment because he didn’t really think he’d end up fucking his best friend.

then, after one big push inside of Suguru, he ejaculates. Painting Suguru’s insides with his white. Sticky warm liquids.

the two students breathed in and out, heavily. There breaths were quick, shallow and rugged as they slowly came down from the high of both of their orgasms. They were both so high from their heavy orgasms that they didn’t even hear the door of the classroom open. Stupid Satoru and Suguru. They didn’t lock the door.

The two froze immediately at their teacher, yaga’s voice. “What are you two doing, having sex on the desks!? Your both suppose to be cleaning up in here!”

-shit- they both thought in sync -we’re screwed-

[pillowspace]

Woke up from a nap, had an idea. Puppet would be rather light, mostly cloth and Cotten, not a lot of mechanical bits. What if she walked outside and immediately got carried off by a flock of birds to the bird palace and crowned queen of birds. And she’s just there. Doesn’t really know what’s going on. She’s got a weird nest throne being built around her. And woah boy that’s a WHOLE lotta birds.

Me when I gain bird powers and Get Her

[jxpit3rr]

prologue

Jar of stars masterlist found here

Enjoy :)

She breathed in deep, the smell of popcorn and Cotten candy filling her nostrils. The sounds of children yelling and carnival music filled her ears no matter how much she tried to push it out.

She thought maybe she could get used to it, the constant sounds of her home and workplace. But she was wrong. She could never quite wrap her head around the hustle and bustle of circus life.

“Gwen?” She jumped, sharply releasing the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “You’re on in five.” The woman said softly, disappearing back into the tent.

Guinevere crinkled her nose, kicking a rock as she stood. She adjusted her itchy costume, and popped her sparkly tights back into place. Whoever made such horrible things for performers to wear deserved a special place in hell.

As she scampered back into the tent she could hear the loud, booming voice of the Ringmaster. His words carried far, telling jokes, giving praise to the previous performers and announcing the next one to come.

Guinevere side stepped her fellow performers, mumbling apologies. Not that anyone cared really, they understood the chaos of backstage.

She nervously adjusted her leotard once more. Squishing her hair up and poofing it out. She’d done this so many times, yet her stomach still twisted with anxiety when she stood in front of the slit on the tent, leading to the center, where everyone and their mother sat waiting for her.

“And now, the star of the show…” Gwen swallowed thickly, taking quick short breaths to steady her pounding heart. “Please welcome..” she put on her best smile, closing out any sort of fear from her mind. She could do this, just as she had time and time again. “The one, the only.. Nebula!”

On cue of her stage name, Guinevere threw back the tent flaps. She concentrated on herself and her body, guiding the heat through her veins until it reached her finger tips. Knowing the audience liked dramatics, she tossed her hands in the air one at a time, sending sparks of multicolored fireworks.

Or, at the very least, she made them believe there were fireworks. In reality there weren’t, not real ones anyways. Gwen had been born, or maybe obtained at some point, a gift that made the circus she rode with thrive.

She somehow had the ability to make those around her see things, anything she wanted. From small rainbow butterflies for the children to fireworks shooting from her fingertips. The butterflies were her favorite though, they didn’t require much energy.

The issue with this grand power, was that she didn’t know where it came from, or how long she’d had it. She wasn’t born in the circus, she knew that much. The other performers had said she’d wandered up, lost and confused. The ringmaster took her in, though he was only going to keep her for a day or so before he could put up missing posters.

That was, until he discovered her power.

Gwen performed, counting her steps to the loud scratchy speakers and making the crowd hoot and holler at the things she made appear. She glanced over at the ringmaster, who smiled proudly and clapped. She was a favorite, which was to be expected. She was the only one with this ability, and had saved the ‘Twilight Troupe’ from decline. her group was one of the only circuses not suffering from a decrease in popularity. it wasn't exactly a shock that circuses were becoming a thing of the past, considering the various new forms of entertainment like the television coming out. not to mention the animal rights activists.

when the music finally came to a halt, so did Gwen. despite her panting and exhaustion, she managed a few more sparks from her fingers. the crowd's cheering was loud, nearly overwhelming. it seemed that the people increased at each show. Gwen took her final bow, and quickly exited behind the tent flaps.

she felt tired and drained, the performance had gone on longer than usual. Something that had been happening more lately. whatever the reason, she was done now. she lazily stumbled to her own, much smaller, tent, nodding appreciatively at her fellow performers’ praises. although some still eyed her suspiciously.

when Gwen made it to her temporary sleeping space, she quickly stripped herself of her leotard and tights, once again cursing their creator. with a hard flop she landed on her sleeping bag, the hay underneath not doing much to shield it from the hard, cold ground. even though fatigue made her eyelids and limbs heavy, she couldn't fall asleep. the constant thoughts of her old life, or lack there of, nagged at her.

she couldn't remember anything but the circus. no one had come looking for her, so she assumed she was an orphan, and she was the only one who could perform real magic. She wasn't like Paul and his cheap tricks of pulling rabbits out of his hat or 'sawing' Lisa in half. hers was real.. somehow.

she dramatically flipped on her back with a sigh. she couldn't tell if her head ached from using her gifts, or from thinking too much about her own life. she glanced back at the chest of her costumes, and the calendar that was sat atop of it. February 11th, 1961. a whole year since she's been here.

Guinevere gnawed at her lip. she hoped that maybe one day, someone will come for her. or at the very least, she'll get an explanation on what and how the hell she's the way she is.

[ratsoh-writes]

Masterlist 33

suggestive: (***)

Introducing

Baubletale

Hadaltale

Flavortale

General

flustering them (uw bt)

playing among us (uw bt)

travel (uw bt hdt)

self care (uw bt hdt)

dom/sub (hdt uw bt flt)******

if they werent skeletons (uw bt flt hdt)

SO boops them (uw bt flt hdt)

if they disappeared (uw bt flt hdt)

lingerie (uw bt flt hdt)****

pajamas (uw bt flt hdt)

can they poly (uw bt flt hdt)

pet names (uw bt flt hdt)

how would they propose (hdt uw bt flt)

switching curse (hdt flt)

the magic conch (bt uw)

big or little spoon (uw bt flt hdt)

seducing them (uw bt flt hdt)**

when they're drunk (uw bt flt hdt)

Worldbuilding

Baubletale mages

marionette info and why the bauble monsters are the weakest

ebott ID, drivers license and kid IDs

who can shortcut/glitch (hdt uw bt)

SO takes off her bra as soon as she comes home(uw hdt bt)***

Interactions

titanic olympia and the other royals

who the flavor girls dont like

Baubletale

what were they like as kids?

pet peeves

when they have a crush

what they want in a partner

butts or boobs***

purr/hiss

where one can find them

love languages

heat***

bribes

how to kill them

when they're sick

what they dont like about the surface

deal breakers

favorite genres

junk food

board games

do they like ropes***

Hadaltale

pet peeves

love languages

favorite clothing

hiss/purr

pacific the rescuer

what they want in a SO

deal breakers

dumbest way they've been hurt

heat***

when they're sick

religious?

gaster blasters

butts or boobs**

hadal siblings besties

do they like ropes***

siblings pet peeves

what the siblings want in a partner

siblings favorite features

siblings heat***

bermudas cotten candy prank

ideal date

familys thoughts on the little mermaid

LV

familys thoughts on soup

random

annoying their siblings

Underwest

bad habits

superstitions

getting turned into an animal

Flavortale

foods they dont like

best places to find them

pocky game

how long taffy has been running the shop

pet peeves

love languages

hiss/purr

what they want in a SO

deal breakers

heat**

when they're sick

gaster blasters

thoughts on horrors

insecurities

bad habits

annoying each other

favorite treats to make

have they had a crush

thoughts on mafias

did you know you're bald

when they have a crush

favorite possession

tag you're it

what they carry

no nos

[moonlitmmarie]

Hey, I want Truten to be happy too! :) They're on such similar wavelengths that I see them as being almost completely drama-free.

I also see them as bi; in fact, they overall prefer women, but their feelings for each other are so strong they sort of "override" that. They enjoy checking out girls together, even on their honeymoon, lol.

In my universe, they go to Bulma, who mixes their genetic material and "grows" them a baby scientifically, named Son Cotten Briefs.

As for poly-ships, I ship their big brothers in one, actually: Gohan/Videl/Mirai Trunks. I see Mirai hitting the same spot for Videl that Gohan does, that of a kind, caring, heroic man who's been through way too damn much trauma in his life.

THIS ☝️✨️🔥 They like girls, but they love each other. I think being bi is pretty on point for Goten, but I personally like to think of Trunks as being more gay (just to exclude a particularly problematic character out of his radar).

The idea of a genetically modified child is actually interesting, and it's not even out of the scope of Bulma's abilities considering she invented a machine to traverse universes. If the dominant and recessive genes of the kid are all within the span of Bulma's control, I know for sure Vegeta would badger her to make sure there's as much Saiyan genes as possible. The 25% chance that the child is a full Saiyan will definitely be pushed like an agenda lmao, although the ethicality is to be questioned.

(I actually sucked at Biology in school so apologies if this is wrong)

And good on you with HanVi and Mirai Trunks. I actually kinda liked Mirai Gohan and Mirai Trunks at first too, just because of how tragic they are. I could totally see how Mirai Trunks let the sentiment carry through to present Gohan, and since Gohan's already taken, he just has to join the relationship. But this would be an interesting polycule to explore.

[dweemeister]

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

In the late 1950s and 1960s, American International Pictures (AIP) was a minor Hollywood studio with an outsized reputation. AIP, which made nothing but low-budget pictures and B-movies during its existence, focused on cornering the market for teenagers and young adults. Rather than making an endless string of superhero movies, AIP instead relied on its Beach Party series and related films (1963-1967) and inexpensive horror movies (usually involving producer/director Roger Corman). One of AIP’s mainstays for its coterie of horror films was none other than Vincent Price. A longtime character actor for 20th Century Fox, Price had only begun to regularly feature in horror films beginning with House of Wax (1953). From there, he became a regular on AIP’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (very loose adaptations, mind you) under Corman’s direction. No matter how dastardly Price’s characters schemes were in his numerous horror films, Price’s almost effortless charm always pored through, to the point that one cannot help but root for his schemes to succeed.

Though Roger Corman was not involved in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Phibes rhymes with “bribes”), a portion of Price’s fans point to his performance here in the title role as the Vincent Price-iest of all. In this darkly comedic horror film directed by former production designer Robert Fuest (the 1961-1969 TV series The Avengers, director on 1970’s Wuthering Heights), the film’s deliberate campiness demands more absurd motivations, plot developments, and aesthetic choices than some viewers might be comfortable with. In short, this is not the ideal introduction to Vincent Price or AIP’s horror movies. To enjoy the first Phibes film is to be in on the joke, to accept the film’s inherent silliness.

The opening credits help set that mood. As they roll, Dr. Phibes (Price) ascends from beneath a flight of stairs, playing on organ Felix Mendelssohn’s “War March of the Priests” from Athalie. His only company in this fiendish lair are his tall, silent assistant Vulnavia (Virginia North) and his animatronic band, the Dr. Phibes Clockwork Wizards. Reported killed in a Switzerland car accident in 1921 alongside his wife Victoria, Phibes (who carries heavy facial scars and lost his speaking voice in the crash) is hellbent on seeking revenge against the British doctors who presided over Victoria’s failed surgery. Instead of going to therapy, Phibes murders the doctors instead. One after another, the doctors die in increasingly elaborate ways – each homicide inspired by one of the ten Plagues of Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus. After the third doctor dies, Scotland Yard finally begins connecting the dots under Inspector Harry Trout (Peter Jeffrey). Trout soon realizes that the deceased were all directed by Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten). This revelation only begins to unearth Phibes’ wicked plot.

Elsewhere, Hugh Griffith plays a helpful Rabbi and Terry-Thomas plays one of the doctors. Derek Godfrey and John Cater play Inspector Trout’s superiors, Crow and Weaverly, respectively. Aubrey Woods, whom most know as Bill the Candy Man from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), plays an eyewitness named Goldsmith.

The screenplay by William Goldstein (who returned for the sequel), James Whiton (his only major writing credit), and Fuest, is no one’s idea of sensible, intelligently structured writing. The transitions between the scenes involving Phibes, his assistant, and the victims to Scotland Yard and Dr. Vesalius are untidy. Goldstein, Whiton, and Fuest attempt to make more of a mystery out of this film than they should, but it only serves to make the investigatory half of the film as a dumping ground of expository dialogue. The scenes with Phibes are the zanier, far more interesting parts of the screenplay – even though the character can no longer speaker (the writers engineer an inexplicable workaround, but this unlikely development can have a pass in the context of this bizarre work). For the scriptural scholars among us, some of the stylish killings of the unsuspecting doctors take liberties with the stated Ten Plagues of Egypt. Though perhaps unacceptable to those demanding strict adherence to the holy texts, the thematic divergences of those murders are still so cockamamie that most viewers probably do not mind.

Dr. Phibes’ murders would make Jigsaw from the Saw series (2004-present) proud. To be clear, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is not a slasher film (a subgenre that was beginning to find its foundations by the early 1970s), but it contains elements that would become slasher hallmarks – an individual committing several revenge killings due to a past event, a sort of catharsis (in later slasher movies, sexual gratification) in the act of killing, and unusual manners of murder. Instead of horrifying the viewer with the wanton death, it is Vincent Price’s performance that keeps The Abominable Dr. Phibes within the confines of comedic horror. Due to reasons that I do not wish to spoil, Price’s Phibes scarcely makes a facial expression aside from his default, neutral gaze. His gait is deliberate and steady. Without the possibility of any facial muscular contortions or Price’s trademark smirk, so much of Price’s performance is through his eyes. From his thousand-yard stares, contemptuous gazes, world weary looks, and bemused glances, Price provides an enormous amount of the film’s soul and tenor with so little of his body. This sounds like a silent film director’s dream, but Price’s performance is a commanding one, in any era. His Dr. Phibes may not be in full control of his movements (thanks to Trevor Crole-Rees’ excellent makeup design), but Price is always fully in control of his acting. No surprise to anyone who knows Price’s work – always dependable to provide his utmost effort, no matter how dire the material.

The screenplay, nevertheless, keeps some emotional distance between the audiences and the title character. Though the film’s absurdity allows the viewer to scrap their sense of morality while watching Phibes slaughter each of the doctors, Phibes’ psychology is inaccessible until the film’s second half. The filmmakers, by not prioritizing Phibes’ mindset as much as they could, continually frame him as the villain amid bumbling detectives, the privileged victims (ensuring that the viewer cares not too much about their deaths), and the prideful Dr. Vesalius (whose hubris erodes as the film progresses, revealing his desperate humanity).

If anybody could be considered a co-lead here, that would be Joseph Cotten as Dr. Vesalius. The underrated and undermentioned Cotten, not at all known for his horror work and more for his collaborations with Orson Welles (namely 1941’s Citizen Kane and 1942’s The Magnificent Ambersons), performs ably here. Cotten replaced Price’s friend, Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin in 1977’s Star Wars, a regular as Baron Frankenstein and Van Helsing in Hammer horror movies), after Cushing fell ill. Cushing would have been ideal in the role, but never does Cotten act as if the unconvincing dialogue is beneath him, even if he doesn’t attempt to hide his American accent. As Dr. Vesalius, Cotten wonderfully inhabits his character’s desperation as his colleagues meet their ends, as if prophesied.

Set designer Brian Eatwell (1973’s The Three Musketeers, 1976’s The Man Who Fell to Earth) runs rampant with his design to Phibes’ lair. A curious combination of art deco and the garishness of 1970s colors serves the film’s ludicrousness. I am not sure how livable Phibes’ abode is – there are nary any bedrooms or any other amenities depicted – but the central chamber could be an ideal place for a raucous, demented soiree. Vulnavia’s ever-changing wardrobe in each of her scenes is also a delight, thanks to costume designer Elsa Fennell (1964’s Goldfinger, 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever). Perhaps there isn’t too much of association between campy costumes and sets with heartrending motives for murder, but that is exactly what transpires in The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

In addition, a laughably anachronistic soundtrack of swing jazz and Great American Songbook standards dot the film. I was not prepared for the appearance of either Mendelssohn’s “War March of the Priests” nor the legendary song that rounds out the closing credits. Phibes’ introduction while playing the former on organ readies the viewer not to take everything that is about to unfold seriously. For the latter song (again, I dare not spoil this), a brilliant solo trumpet takes the easily recognizable melody and swings it. Lyrically, this song’s placement in the end credits is fitting for what happens to Phibes. But I could not help but laugh the moment I heard the opening notes – a fitting send-off to a gleefully daft movie.

When The Abominable Dr. Phibes arrived in theaters, its poster showed the mutilated Dr. Phibes appearing as if he is about to kiss a woman. Above them read the tagline: “Love means never having to say you’re ugly.” This was a reference to Love Story (1970), with its (in)famous tagline and in-movie quote: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” The marketing for The Abominable Dr. Phibes confused audiences – was it a romance? horror? parody? – and the film struggled initially before AIP retooled its advertising to market the film as a horror film. On its low budget, the film was successful enough to warrant AIP to greenlight a sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). That sequel marked the beginning of the end of Price’s association with AIP, due to conflicts over his pay (while AIP’s box office fortunes were dwindling), his lack of satisfaction with the scripts coming his way (not even Price wanted to star in two Dr. Goldfoot movies in two years), and AIP’s plans to replace him with Robert Quarry as their primary horror star.

In the years since the film’s debut in cinemas, The Abominable Dr. Phibes has garnered a deserved cult status. There was no stopping Vincent Price from leaving AIP, but AIP – with their Robert Quarry plans not even a secret – somehow undervalued the actor who was their principal attraction through the 1960s. An essential in Price’s filmography, The Abominable Dr. Phibes defies genre conventions, genre categorization, and any semblance of rationality. For those looking for some bloody horror as the mercury drops, look no further than here. The first Dr. Phibes films guarantees murders with a wink and, though not a smile, an animatronic band playing hits that have yet to be composed.

My rating: 7/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog. Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[oldshowbiz]

Richard Cotten, a far-right anti-Semite, was frequently getting the stations that carried his “Conservative Viewpoint” radio program in trouble with the FCC.

[mnh-ocs]

About time I went ahead and rambled on about another OC, so, here comes Cottentail.

^ First design, any other pictures of this design I had are basically lost to time now.

^ Current design, difference is night and day.

If I remember correctly, she was the second character I made and kept after Laker, though I could be wrong. After I decided to start making my own original stuff, I just had the simple idea of a random little kid following Laker around, forcing him to take more responsibility since nobody else is really keeping their eyes on her.

Another of Cotten's old lore tidbits is basically similar to Laker's, no parents, stays in a group home, etc, though once Laker realizes she's in the same boat he was in when he was younger, he takes it upon himself to guide Cotten and look after her, in hopes she doesn't fall down the same path he did. Though Laker may not be the best role model, Cotten looks up to him regardless, she very much sees him as an older brother/father figure.

Fun facts:

She originally had light lilac colored fur, before I switched to a lighter cream color.

The cat plush she carries around is just called "Kitty," which was inspired by a childhood rabbit toy of mine, also simply named "Bunny."

Her birthday is January 3rd, she's currently 6.

Unlike Laker, she was never given a last name.

She's afraid of heights.

Her voice claim is Daveigh Chase.

And to end things off, more old/new Cotten art.

[evaniswriting]

trust (tw- dark undertones)

Faelen. You poor naive boy. 

His skin of which a porcelain pale, sun reflecting tone used to run so smooth, so clean along his fragile, innocent body. his hair of which had once been so shiny and fuzzy, his eyes that used to sparkle with such childlike joy… what a sweet little child he had the pleasure of getting to be, that was until he turned 7 years old. Because now sweet, innocent little faelen’s skin is grey and tainted never to shine or shimmer again, his hair, once so full of happiness and love hangs thick and limp as though matted and lifeless, his eyes harboring such a dull, dead grey as if they went on endlessly to an abyss of broken dreams and unfinished tales lost to the tracks of time brought by the train of evil intent. The sparkle is no longer remotely visible.

Faelen, a naive, sweet child, trusted a monster. 

a monster with only its wants and needs at heart, faelen trusted this monster because he was related to them. The monster was tall, it was made of a dirty thick slime, the slime smelled awful, vile, dirty. It smelled like musty old carpet that hadn't been cleaned for years, it held the stench of moths and crumbs, or spit and old cotten. The monster was much bigger than faelen, much heavier too. When it sat on him he felt his stomach and hips dig into the floor beneath him.

The monster had a hunger

Faelen was its perfect meal. 

The monster left its slime on the boy way after their encounter, way after faelen had trusted him, the little boy didn't even notice he was still dirty, not for a long time. Not till other monsters did the same thing

Faelen noticed the slime when he got a little older, when he was old enough to know what the monster had made him do. Faelen felt pain, a weight like a sad, soggy, wet bag of the creatures slime it had forced him to carry for so long. Faelen felt disgusted. Not with the creature

No faelen felt disgust with the child who had been taken. Because the child hadn't stopped the monster from eating that part of him.

Faelen tries to get rid of the dirty feeling, he tries to carve off the slippery, slimy, heaving slime but all he does is hurt himself in the process.

He scratches and carves and cries but it's never gone. The monsters momentary satisfaction and relief from hunger had left faelen with the dirt on his once clean body for the rest of his life

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Isle Connections Ch8 The Galarian Star Tournament

(Just for the sake of keeping track, Avery is wearing a similar outfit to the one in the link and reader is wearing the dress above. Neither images mine,etc. I also don't know Peony's wife's name and just giving her one for the story, Petunia.

Avery's s outfit

Your Outfit

www.deviantart.com/scarlett-knight/art/Outfit-Adoptable-49-CLOSED-544835395)

Getting to know Oleana was cuffed and taken away finally by Officer Jenny filled you with joy no pun intended. And Avery had to struggle to get your form away from the scene..before just giving up, picking you up bridal style, and walking away with Cotten candy right behind him. That finally made you freeze up and stop from you being carried away like a princess. Which made Avery chuckle at your expression and his heart skip a beat holding you so close to him at last. When you were finally put down he convinced you to just let Kabu and Officer Jenny handle things and have lunch with then before the day was out. His treat. Oh. ..Well since he was offering- You accepted and then there after went back to the hotel and your room. You had something important to do. Once in your room you finally let lose Silver from his pokeball. A smile gracing your face as the shiny inteleon made his way out...before you had to look up at Silver. The inteleon shook his head before blinking and looking down at you and for a moment both of you were silent. ...before Silver brought his hand up to his head's height and going straight across until he stopped above your head and stared between his white hand and your head to compare his now obviously taller height. He certainly was taller. He looked even taller than Leon and Raihan did. ...And then he chuckled at how small YOU were now compared to him.

"HEY!" You frowned when he patted your head and you pushed his hand away. "Don't try that with me! Just because you're tall now that doesn't mean I'm not boss anymore." In a very human fashion Silver held up his hands still chuckling and you crossed your arms. "Well...I guess you are taller. That part's true enough."

"Inta?" He cocked his head at you.

"What? Are you waiting me to praise you?" He nodded and you sighed before chuckling yourself. "Alright." Your hand reached over to pat his shoulder. "You did do good out there. Really good. Wasn't expecting -" Your other hand gestured to him. "-this but I'll take it. But at least I won't have to carry your butt through crowds anymore. My poor arms couldn't take it any longer." Silver have an undignified grunt and you chuckled at his response. Yep. Still the same Silver. "Just kidding."

To say it was an interesting rest of the week was an understatement. Day by day went by and you did a few things. Mostly hanging out with Avery when he offered when he wasn't hanging out with Felix or anyone else. Of course he was stopped by people. Like..A LOT of people who asked for pictures, autographs, questions, to talk- And it just reminded you just how popular Avery still was, which was why it was no surprise he ended up wearing a coat to disguise himself just so you two wouldn't be bothered.

"Aren't you hot in that thing? It's the middle of May in the summer heat and that's a winter coat."

He ended up shrugging and not acting like it was a big deal, when really he was happy just to be able to spend some time with you without being interrupted by fans...Even though he still wore the giant hat and madd his pokeballs float about his head which was an obvious give away. Don't get him wrong. He loved his fans and appreciated they liked his work so much but he wanted to spend some time with you to (hopefully-) help calm his nerves before your big date the day after the tournament. He still stuttered, went pink in the cheeks, and was still nervous. ..Scratch that. HE WAS A LOT NERVOUS!! In his mind over and over he replayed the same things.

"Why would he agree to go out with me? Does she think it's just platonic? OMG SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE SMILES!!"

It was nice to be able to just do domestic small things together. Including a cute little shoppe that sold pokemon themed items and in the end you walked out clutching a cute sobble plushie to your chest with a small bag of trinkets. Avery did find it a bit strange Silver went with you everywhere but he didn't complain. Silver didn't cause trouble and he supposed it was just because he wasn't used to having his pokemon constantly out and about following him. Especially a pokemon who was taller than himself but A dubwool was taller and more scary looking than an inteleon and he was cool with him so Silver wasn't really a problem. Soon the days lead up to the weekend and you were woken up by the same thing. Lots of commotion early in the morning and you raced to take a shower and look presentable. Today's the day. The day of the Galarian Star Tournament. The same thing happened when you were all heading towards Rose Tower. A massive crowd in the front of hotel when you (followed by Silver) followed everyone out to the front of the hotel and plenty of taxies to take you all to the Wyndon Stadium. This time you managed to catch a ride with Gordie, Piers, and Marnie. Marnie sitting beside you and Silver and the boys sitting across from you. Gordie certainly seemed surprised to see a giant Inteleon sitting casually in the seat in front of him, but didn't say anything when you all took off. You excitedly looking at Piers with a smile.

"So you're going to be battling today huh?"

Piers nodded. "Yep. Dunno who with though." At this you gave a confused look at him. "Oh. Right. Ya aren't battlin' so the official blokes didn't tell ya. We're gonna be paired up with a partner for the battles n' double battle against two other people."

"Really?" Well that was news to you. "I'm assuming you're going to fight with Marnie then?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. The match ups were all picked at random by the Chairwoman herself so I could be paired up with anyone from Marn-Marn ta Leo. The match ups are all already picked, so we should know by the time we get there."

It felt like an eternity when in reality it might've only been twenty to thirty minutes for you all to arrive at the stadium. And the first thing that hit you other than the sounds of the corviknight's wings and the whooshing air was the fact that there seemed to be the faint sound of something you've grown familiar too now. The sound of a GIANT crowd. Ah. You knew that all too well. One look out the window confirmed the same looking scenario that greeted you at the Champion Cup with the cheering crowds and there was Wyndon Stadium in all it's giant Pink glory. Ah. Such fond memories along with one involving the Chairman you had hoped to forget. Landing in front of the building you all got out and along with everyone filed on towards the entrance and into the stadium and into the same room you recognized from the last time you were here with a league staff behind the desk in the middle of the room and guess who was right there waiting for you all? LEON! Well him and a few others you had never seen before. But the most thing that caught your attention was the fourth person who was chatting with Leon with a big smile.

.....

IT WAS CHAIRMAN ROSE!!

Or at least..it seemed so at first. He certainly looked similar to Mr. Rose but upon further staring there was complete differences. This man was a bit thinner around the stomach than Mr. Rose, his mustache and beard was a different style, and he had a complete buzzcut. But the biggest difference was his voice. His voice sounded completely different compared to Mr. Rose. Which is why this couldn't be Mr. Rose. You ended up sighing in relief before Leon turned his head and noticed you before smiling and waving.

"Hey, Y/n! I was expecting to see you here soon!"

You gave him a small polite smile. "Uh..Yeah."..before silently pointing at the man next to him. "Who's your friend?"

His face lit up. "That's right. You never met before." He also gestured to the smiling older man. "Y/n, this is Mr. Peony. He was the Steel Type Gym Leader before he retired and it was changed to the new Poison Type Gym." His smile grew wider. "He was also Champion once."

Your eyes widened before looking back at the smile man who chuckled at your reaction and smiled at you. "Yep! 'Steel Peony' is what they called me! Nice to meet 'cha!"

His smile and body language was very positive and honestly helped to relax you more. You didn't get the strange feeling from him whenever you spoke to Mr. Rose. "Really?!"

The man, Peony, nodded. "Yep! ...Well that was before I retired from that position too. Because of that the old Champion before me had to come back out of retirement as well to take over the position before Leon defeated him."

"And that would be Mustard." Leon again pointed over and you turned to see where he pointed at. It was the other, much older man who Gloria was excitedly talking too and seemed to be introducing Kabu to Mustard. The one Leon said was the former Champion and who helped to train Gloria. "He owns the training dojo over on the Isle of Armor. It's been a big help to train the new gym leaders and help Glory grow out of her shell!"

..You silently pointed towards them before looking back at Leon surprised. "So wait. You somehow got two ex-champions one of which is also an ex-gym leader, and two other new gym leaders here as the guest fighters??"

Leon nodded. "Yep! And Hop too!"..He then paused and hummed looking down a bit. "And well there's...two other uh...'surprise' guests too but they haven't shown up yet." He then coughed and went back to smiling as if he didn't look nervous beforehand. "But yes! The Battle Tower was to show Prince Lear how strong the future leaders of Galar can be, now he gets to see the power of the past and present all together!"

You smiled. "Hey! I think that's a great idea! I can't wait to see you guys out there!" You guessed Avery and Klara who you saw earlier must've been the new gym leaders Leon mentioned before since he said two guests were late which couldn't be the others you saw since they were already here when you showed up. "But who's the other guys?"

Leon grimaced instantly and he didn't anwer you at first...but you would soon very, very, VERY much regret even asking that question. Because the question answered itself with a voice.

"Well, well, well,~" A voice behind you made you completely freeze up upon instantly recognizing it. And in front of you Leon gave you the most guilty, apologetic look he could ever give to you.

No.

NO!!

ABSOLUTELY NOT!! IT COULDN'T BE!! IT JUST COULD NOT!!..Wincing with a grimace you slowly looked over your shoulder and instantly wished you had just excused yourself, pretended you didn't hear them, and went off to hide behind Piers. Because standing there were two brothers. In red and blue suits. With weird hair shaped like a sword and shield.

OH NO!!

"If it isn't Ms. Y/n. It seems your talents have only grown greater since we last met. I would expect no less from one whom we ourselves call a celebrity," the man in the blue suit spoke with a large smile before dramatically placing a hand to his chest. "It is I, Sordward!"

"And I, Shielbert," his brother added.

...You shot a glare at Leon who guiltily looked away. What were THEY doing here!? Well they answered your thoughts when they both bowed.

"A dandy duo of celebrities, former royalty, and as so it happens the sponsors of the Galarian Star Tournament! Just so it's clear, being a sponsor means paying a jaw dropping sum of money. The truth is we have both been assisting in getting this tournament off the ground for quite some time now."

"This is how we seek to atone for the terrible troubles we've caused for the people of Galar. And naturally we'll be participating in the tournament too of course. Though it's hardly surprising you did not notice us, Ms. Y/n. We always lose in a first match for whatever reason."

And they both laughed standing back up, and you again shot a glare at Leon who smiled nervously at you. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING LETTING THESE TWO COMPETE!?

"However it's getting to the point where I would like to at least have some victories to speak of!"

"If all we do is lose what was the point of using our considerable clout as sponsors to join in?"

You gave them the most deadpanned look you could muster. Screw your life. First Olena then a Mr. Rose scare and now these guys. This couldn't possibly get any worse.

"So seeing as that is the situation-" You nearly shouted as Sordward had the audacity to grab your hand and hold it with a smile. "You and I together are sure to be able to reach new heights of glory, Ms. Y/n."

TAKE THAT BACK!! NOW IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!! You flinched as Shielbert grabbed your other hand sending a strained annoyed smile at his brother.

"Forgive me but I must disagree, Brother. It is I who shall share the victor's stand with Ms. Y/n."

"Hmm. I see, Dear Brother."

"Hmm. Indeed, Dear Brother."

SCRATCH THAT TOO!! SCRATCH!! THAT!! T O O!!! THIS WAS WAY WORSE THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT IT WAS!! In your panicked mind you shouted one thing that you hoped would save your sorry butt.

"I-I'M NOT COMPETING!!" The loud tone of your voice clearly caught the two off guard as they blinked at you as did a couple others....And all of sudden you felt a waft of angry daggers shooting into your side as green eyes widened. And then narrowed at you from somewhere. "I-I'm just here to watch everyone else b-battle!" You took their stunned silence to firmly pull your hands away back to your side. "S-So no match up pairs with either of you two!"

"That's right," Leon added with a small frown. "And you're forgetting you two are already paired up with someone else by the Chairwoman."

After a silent moment the two of them looked at one another silently.

"Oh. Well I guess that does change things a bit, but it certainly doesn't lessen our joy at seeing you again. Doesn't it, Brother?"

"Indeed, Younger Brother! We're very glad to be in your prescence yet again.~"

You scrunched up your face and thought you'd die from cringe at this point. Arceus! If you were real too just like Silver now, PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THIS!!

"There you are, Dear," you jumped as someone else grabbed your hand and all of you turned to stare up at Avery who strained a smile at them. "I've been looking for you everywhere." He then lifted your hand to place a kiss to making you blush, Leon blink, and the two brothers look insulted. "You must be lost. Good thing I found you."

"Oh hey! There's Hoppy!" Leon quickly interrupted before using his arms to shoo you two away before there could be a fight."I don't think you two have talked today. Why don't you go over and say hi while I escort these two gentlemen to join the others?"

Thank you, Leon! Taking the chance to leave while Leon distracted the troublesome two, you took the chance to leap away and scramble through people towards your way towards Hop. Thankful to be away from THAT mess! You went right up to Hop and who was happy to start a conversation with you and you definitely didn't want them to have an excuse to talk to you again. You were just talking to him when someone else walked up you two from behind and you stiffened at first dreading it was one of the troublemakers.

"Nice save back there," you whispered to Avery who looked proud. "I thought I'd never escape those two weirdos."

Avery patted your arm on his. "Never fear. I am here to elegantly save the day."

You two spent the rest of the short time speaking to Hop and listening to him go on about his and Sonia's research before Leon shouted again gaining everyone's attention.

"All right, Everyone! Sorry to keep you all waiting!" Leon's voice shouted over everyone and you all looked over towards the Champion who smiled hands on his hips. "Now that everyone's acquainted I believe it's time we get to the important announcements out of the way. First thing's first. I want to say a quick thank you to all of you for coming running when I called. I really wanted to explain this in person because I wanted to be sure I could get across to you all how great this idea is. We hope to represent Galar to it's fullest potential! Not just to Pasio but for everyone around the world!" His smile widened more as he cleared his throat. "That being said the Chairwoman is entertaining his majesty now with everyone's families in the V.I.P. balconies." his hand pointed upwards. "Therefore I'll be the one to read off the listed pairs she decided to write up herself." In a moment the staff member next to him held up a piece of paper to him which Leon took. "Thank you!" His golden eyes happily glanced over the paper. "Now as for everyone's paired partners. ...Milo! You'll be battling out there with Nessa! Kabu will be with Peony. Bea and Gordie. Melony with Allister. Piers! You'll be with Marnie! Raihan's with me. Mustard will battle with Opal. Avery with Klara! Gloria shall be with Bede-" Leon looked up briefly hearing Hop yell another what from somewhere to the left of him. "*ahem* Hop. You'll be with Victor. And finally Sordward and Shielbert shall be with one another. Any questions?" He was met with silence so he nodded and handed the list back to the staff member. "Now then. We have ten minutes before we put on the show. I suggest everyone head to the locker rooms and prepare before we meet back with our partners. The announcer's going to be telling who battles who as the rounds go on. Good luck and let's all give the audience a Champion Time!"

With that everyone split to head towards the locker rooms except for you obviously since you weren't battling and instead decided to walk back up to Silver and pry him away from the poor staff member trying to shoo the inteleon off of his remanding breakfast. And someone approached you again. You felt him before you saw him. Whipping your head around and sighing in relief when none other than Avery tood there looking at you. And you smiled. Phew. It was just him. Unfortunately..those weren't the only eyes you felt on yourself because when you looked past Avery your stomach dropped. Great. The weirdo duo were staring at you again. Looking like they wanted to talk. There was also someone else but you didn't see or notice them at all.Great. These guys would just NOT give up! Arceus what would make them go-..You paused..before looking at Avery who seemed confused at your reaction. You looked between the three men for a moment before an idea dawned on you..that made your face flush a deep pink. Ooohh no. No. No! You couldn't do that- But it was either that or deal with whatever 'courting' they tried to spring on you. Seeing your expression he turned his head to look behind himself only to snap back around when you grabbed his arm. His eyebrows rocketing up as you stared at him.

"Avery." Soft hands grabbed his cheeks and he froze as you stared directly into his eyes. "Win for me."

And then you leaned up standing on your tiptoes, and Avery felt his eyes bulge out of his head when your lips met his in a kiss. A very quick kiss that only lasted a second before you stepped back and released his face. Red flooding your cheeks as silence set in and the two of you stood there until a cough made both of you jump and turn to Leon who looked between the two of you.

"Well...Now that I have your attention." the champion cleared his throat before gesturing towards the staff member next to him. "Y/n this man will escort you up to the v.i.p balconies. Avery if you're not uh...'busy', we should g-get going before we're late for the battles."

Avery opened his mouth, looked at you, closed it, went red faced, nodded, turned around and slowly began to follow Leon. A hand came up to softly touch his lips where yours met his in a soft embrace..only to turn a deeper red. You however refused to look back at anyone. Only grabbing Silver by the arm and pulling him along after the staff member who showed you into the elevator and up you all went. You were expecting to see that room with the windows you were in when the Gym Challenge was present but you were surprised when he didn't. Instead leading you a level higher than that and rose a brow before he lead you through a door finally to the outside..and your brows rose in awe. This wasn't just a balcony. THIS WAS AN ENTIRE FLOOR!! Empty except for a few seats/tables and a long table with more fancy looking food along with so many people. On second glance you noticed that they all must've been the gym leader's families because Mrs. G and Mrs. L was there along with Hop's grandparents. All of Gordie's younger siblings. All three of Raihan's triplets. Felix..and four other people you've never seen before. Two women with what must've been their children. One with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes wearing emerald earring, green shirt, and white pants. Next to her was a small boy with the same hair and eyes no older than nine or ten years old on a phone. The other mother and child pair were right across from then with the mothers talking. The other lady had sandy-blonde hair with a red shirt and jeans and green eyes. Next to her was a girl Hop's age who looked bored. Same green eyes as her mother and sandy-blonde hair that faded to a bright pink hear the end. They must've been some of the guest star's family. You busied yourself by following Silver and grabbing yourself some food from the table before Mrs. L ended up noticing you and inviting you to sit down at the table with them which you happily accepted. It was nice to be able to sit down and talk to familiar people and try to take your mind off the kiss earlier. Oh boy. You'd have to apologize to Piers later for that one later and explain your actions. From where you and Silver were sitting you finally saw the Prince. He was sitting with the Chairwoman at a table closest to the barred off edge and his chair was pointed to where he had a perfect view of the field and giant stadium TV below without standing or straining his neck to look down. Food in front of him, a fancy glass in his hand, his body guards standing on either side of him, his own..Waiter!? A man in a waiter uniform was right there already hurrying to replace anything the prince finished as the Chairwoman calmly sat in front of him. Guess she really did go all out to please the prince. You did pause when Prince Lear looked up from his drink over to your table and it took you staring at him for just a little bit to realize he was staring directly at YOU. Which made you pink in embarrassment. Prince Lear giving an amused smile before holding up his glass to you and taking a drink. You used the excuse of eating and Mrs. L talking to you to look away from him. Maybe Piers would get another kiss sooner than you thought. Five more minutes passed and you were about to get up to get another drink when a high pitch speaker noise sounded out amongst the crowd noises below you and the announcer's voice piped up.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND PEOPLE OF ALL AGES! WELCOME TO THE OPENING OF THE FIRST EVER GALARIAN STAR TOURNAMENT!!" The crowd cheered. Faces turned towards the field. And attention was FINALLY away from you. It was enough to make you cry in relief. "THE DAY HAS ARRIVED AND THE EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR!! PAIRS OF TWO SHALL BATTLE AGAINST EACH OTHER BUT ONLY ONE CAN COME OUT ON TOP!! WHO WILL IT BE!? LET'S FIND OUT BY GETTING THE FIRST ROUND MATCH STARTED!!" Oh? The first match already? Guess they didn't want to keep Prince Lear waiting too long because he was fully focused on the field now. "THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND ONE WILL BE OUR OWN TOP GYM LEADER AND CHAMPION AGAINST SPECIAL GUEST STARS SORDWARD AND SHIELBERT!!" It was then a smile crept up onto your lips. Oh you were FULLY going to enjoy this. The crowd cheered and Leon and Raihan walked right on out to challenge the weird hair duo who also showed up.

"Let's put up a fight worthy of showing to Ms. Y/n."

"It goes without staying, Older Brother! Such is our noble duty."

"PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY!! SET! GO!!"

It wasn't surprising that the weirdos lost to them which made you as pleased as punch as the rest of Round One flew by. Avery and Klara vs Melony and Allister. Avery and Klara won. Bea and Gordie vs Gloria and Bede. Gloria and Bede won. Milo and Nessa vs Piers and Marnie. You perked up..and were nearly jaw dropped at the ferocity Piers shown against the others. Piers and Marnie won. Poor Milo. You'd see him after the tournament. Mustard and Opal vs Kabu and Peony. Mustard and Opal won. Hop and Victor got an automatic win since they didn't have anyone else to battle against. With a small break between each battle to repair the fields.

"THERE WILL BE A TWENTY MINUTE BREAK FOR FIELD REPAIRS AND TO ROSTER THE NEXT FIGHTING PAIRS!! FOR THE MOMENT PLEASE STAND BY!" Twenty minutes passed by fast before the fields were repaired and the second round started. "THE SECOND ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL BE BETWEEN PIERS AND MARNIE AGAINST AVERY AND KLARA!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE FIELD!!"

Both fighting pairs met each other on the field. Both looked at one another. Avery before Marnie and Piers before Klara. "POKEMON READY!! LET'S GO!!" And thus the second round went underway. Avery and Klara vs Piers and Marnie... Piers/Marnie won. Raihan and Leon vs Mustard and Opal. Raihan and Leon won. Gloria and Bede vs Victor and Hop. Victor and Hop won. "THAT'S IT FOR ROUND TWO!! THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BREAK BEFORE WE START UP ROUND THREE!!" Well another twenty minutes went by fast as you got yourself some more food and chatted more with the ladies at the table. "ALRIGHT FOLKS!! ROUND THREE SHALL NOW BEGIN!! BATTLERS TO YOUR STATIONS!! GET SET!! GO!!" Piers and Marnie vs Raihan and Leon. Raihanand Leon won. You did feel bad for Piers and Marnie, but they had made it all the way to the second to last round which was great compared to everyone else. Victor and Hop had another Automatic win considering there was no one else for them to battle against either, which means Hop would finally be able to have a chance to battle against his brother just like he wanted. So that was good. "THAT'S IT FOR ROUND THREE!! THE FINAL ROUND SHALL BEGIN AFTER THE BREAK!! WILL THE CHAMPION AND TOP GYM LEADER BE DETHRONED FROM THEIR PLACES OR WILL THEY SUCCEED IN KEEPING THEIR TITLES!! WE'LL BE BACK AFTER THE BREAK!!" Amazing how fast another twenty minutes could fly by. By now it was nearly dark as the sun pushed through the skies. "THE FINAL ROUND WILL NOW TAKE PLACE!! PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR CONTESTANTS!!" An uproar of cheers sounded out as the last four battlers walked out onto the field. "READY YOUR POKEMON! BATTLE SET!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Victor and Hop vs Raihan and leon.... Leon and Raihan won. Not that you were surprised but you did feel a little bad for the boys. "MATCH OVER!! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! THE WINNERS OF THE GALARIAN STAR TOURNAMENT ARE THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION AND THE STRONGEST LEADER IN THE STADIUM CIRCUIT!!"

THE. CROWD. ROARED!! Cheering and clapping for the two strongest trainers in all of Galar as the two men waved to the crowds in their victory. Even Prince Lear was slowly clapping his hands to their success but something was on your mind. You stood up and Silver followed you as you slowly stood up, excused yourself, and left the balcony. You wanted to see Avery. And you found him waiting for you in the lobby. As soon as he saw you he lit up and literally picked you up in a hug.

"I apologize I couldn't beat them for you," he apologized before putting you down and facing you.

"Hey. It's perfectly fine. You and Klara did an amazing job anyways. Besides it was fun watching Leon and Raihan beat them."

He nodded. "I'll be picking you up at seven tonight."

"..Picking me up?"

"Y-Yes. Our ..." he gulped. "D-Date?"

...Your face lit up pink. "OH! T-That! R-Right!" You cleared your throat before looking away again. A date. YOUR date! How could you have forgotten about that!? "I-I'll be waiting! D-Don't worry!"

Your flight back to your hotel room from the stadium felt like a blur and before you knew it you were already ordering room service, having dinner, showering, then falling down on your bed and letting the Sandman take you to dream land. It was late-ish into next morning when you woke up groggily and began the morning routine of getting up and making yourself look presentable and throwing on some comfy clothes before relaxing and kicking back on the bed and switching on the tv mounted on the wall. You had hours to wait until Avery picked you up so you could relax or try to relax your nerves until then and just watch TV. You had settled on some action movie Silver excitedly pointed at and the both of you just sat on the bed having ordered breakfast watching the movie. It couldn't have been more than an hour when a knock came at your door. It was in the middle of a big chase scene between the protagonist and police when you heard the bangs and had turned to the door confused. ..Who could that be? A glance to the clock showed you it was five thirty seven, not even time yet. Too early for it to have been Avery. Maybe he wanted to talk to you before the party? ..Oh Arceus you hoped it wasn't those weird hair duo. Oh! It was probably room service here to collect your breakfast dishes. If that was the case you had better let the maid come in and collect the dishes. Getting up from your spot on the bed, you walked over to the door and opened it expecting one of the staff members but instead met with two familiar faces instead. There was two women before you. One with orange hair and the other with dark hair with blue highlights...It was Sonia and Nessa. Sonia had paused with her hand up clearly being the one who knocked on the door the three of you stood there in silence for a moment before you spoke.

"Sonia?"

"Uh..Y/n." She lowered her hand blinking. "Hi. Um..You're not Raihan."

"Last time I checked I wasn't." You rose a brow. "Why?"

"O-Oh.." She awkwardly reached a hand up to her neck in a Leon like fashion. "I uh was hoping he'd lend me some of his Goodra's goo to take back home and study before everyone left but I guess I must've gotten the wrong room. S-Sorry about that. My bad totally."

"It's alright." You then turned to Nessa. "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm helping Sonia actually. She's great with science but not so much with make up," Nessa said rather bluntly which earnt her a glare from Sonia.

"Hey! I made my smokey eye look like a fire's ashes one time!"

Nessa chose to ignore her friend's comment and instead spoke to you. "I also never got to thank you for the save earlier this week. Victor would've been defeated on the second round if you hadn't lent us a hand."

"It's no problem," you confirmed as Nessa rose a brow and looked you up and down, "Silver's really strong now so it's no big deal-"

"What are you wearing?" You blinked at Nessa as she gestured towards your clothing. "Those look like something you'd wear to a picnic with your grandma."

"Oh." You looked down at your comfy pants and the shirt with a pikachu print on the front. You didn't think you looked that bad. "My...clothes?" Both looked at you. "What?'

"Aren't you supposed to be going with Avery tonight to the Prince's farewell banquet?"

"Um. Yeah actually but that's not for a couple hours still. Why?"

"Are you serious? This is as important as a Gala or a wedding," Nessa insisted frowning, "You're telling me you're planning on wearing lazy day clothes to that? With Avery?"

You opened your mouth before looking down to yourself again before back up at them. "Well it's not like I have much choice. I don't have any fancy clothes."

Both stared at you for a long moment before looking at one another silently as if talking to each other telepathically, before Sonia nodded and both looked back to you. You didn't like those looks.

"You have the nemuk?"

"You know a model never goes anywhere without it."

"...Nemuk?"

"Nessa's Emergency Make Up Kit. She never leaves home without it. Luckily for you we're here to help you."

"....What- GAH!?"

In an instant two sets of arms pulled you from your doorway and you were pushed back inside. It was all a blur as you were sat down in a chair and they pounced at you like a cat to a mouse. You managed to shout a hey before Sonia pulled your hair from the lazy bun it was set in before Nessa placed down what must've been a massive pink suitcase on your bed next to you before opening it up revealing a make up crew's DREAM of make up, brushes, nail polish, and products that'd put a salon to shame. As Sonia wrestled to pull a brush through your locks Nessa quickly left before soon returning from her room down the hall, returning with a few outfits in her arms. By then Sonia had already prepped your head for any styling they might do to it before you were pushed back up onto your feet and turned to face the two. You only got a 'What the' out before a sparkling green dress was held up in front of your body to which they both scrunched up their faces at before shaking their heads no. Repeated two other times before a flash of purple was held up and smiles were beamed at your worried looking form. Fast forward fifthteen minutes later and there you were. Squeezed into a purple sparkling ballgown with white heels with a purple gem necklace slapped over your neck to complete the look. Your hair slightly curled and framing your face in a way it wouldn't without a proper stylists' touch. And you were staring at nothing as Sonia attached some kind of fancy purple bedazzled hair clip to your hair and Nessa with the precision of Leonardo Da Vinci started putting on make up on your face. Which you struggled to hold still for.

"Ah!" Nessa sternly held up a mascara brush to you. "Hold still. I need your lashes not your eyeball."

You groaned. "How much longer until you're done?" You mumbled through the lip stick.

"Just one lash away if you'll hold still for one moment. AAAAnnnnddd THERE!!" She pulled away from your eye as you blinked lowering the mascara and smiling. "I'm all finished." She beamed and they both stepped back looking at you as you looked at them from the bed. Even Silver was blinking at how different you looked now.

"You look so pretty, Y/n!," Sonia gushed, "You're gonna knock Avery dead!"

"I doubt that," you mumbled. !?

Nessa had grabbed your arm again pulling you up and already pushing you towards a mirror on the wall. Stumbling to follow her in your heels. "Well look for yourself!" She said before pushing you in front of said mirror and you froze as soon as your f/c eyes hit the reflection.

Staring back at you wasn't you..At least not the you you were used to seeing. Soft hair framed your beautiful face as the bedazzled hair clip sparkled from the light. The purple dress you were wearing sparkled and looked beautiful with the little lace and design on the side of the waist. If it wasn't for the fact you knew this was a mirror, you would've thought someone else was staring back at you. You still stared at the reflection before looking around to the two women behind you and a pattern ensued. Of you opening and closing your mouth like a fish and looking between the mirror and them as if any second the Cinderella in the mirror would disappear. You repeated this process so many times you feeling dizzy. Until there was another loud knock at the door. Making you yelp and jump and stagger, almost falling over on the heels Nessa insisted on you wearing before you stared back at the door along with everyone else. You stood there for a moment before the knocking picked up again but louder. Your eyes snapped over to the clock on the wall and your eyes widened. It was seven o' eight in the afternoon. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!! And you felt your stomach drop. There could only be one person who that could be.

"Crap!," you hissed to yourself. Tap, tap, tap. "Crap. Crap. Crap, crap, crap!" You staggered towards the door still trying not to fall over in heels with your arms out for balance. Again the door knocked a little bit louder than the first two times. "COMING!! Coming!" You shouted finally getting to the door, reaching out, taking a breath, grabbing the doorknob...and then slowly opening it.

The door opened with a loud CCCCRRREEEEAAAAKKK noise from how slowly you opened it and once you peeked out you were hit with the over powering smell of...Roses?? Yep! As soon as you opened the door you face was attacked by a giant bouquet of white roses and yellow buttercups. Wait. That was the usual color scheme of- You looked up and you froze. Because staring back wide eyed and slack jawed at you, and dressed up was Avery. He wore a white dress shirt, fancy black shoes and dress pants with a black necktie. He wasn't wearing his hat or making his pokeballs fly around too but he was levitating the bouquet of roses and buttercups. And instead of wearing it down, he wore most of his hair up in a ponytail. He looked-

ABSOLUTELY HANDSOME.

You both continued to stare at one another before Sonia coughed behind you making the two of you flinch and Avery finally react. "Beautiful- AH! I M-MEAN-" Your face flushed and he cleared his throat seeming nervous all of a sudden before attempting (and failing-) to compose his own red face as he stammered. "I-I mean you l-l-look beautiful. Um I-..." The roses and buttercups were floated up to you with a gulp. "T-There are for you!!"

You blinked...before slowly taking the roses and buttercups from him. "Oh..I-.." You stared at them before shaking your head and giving a friendly smile. "T-Thank you! They're beautiful! I-I didn't know they came in bouquets this big."

He nodded while stammering and gesturing at nothing with his other hand. "Y-Yes.. T-T-There's this florist ar-r-round the corner. There!" he pointed behind his shoulder red faced. "T-T-That does-s c-c-c-c-customs j-jobs. And' I just t-t-t-thought-t y-you'd-...." He swallowed thickly and nervously face as red as a tomatoe. "Youlookreallybeautiful!!"

You coughed and turned your eyes down red faced as well. "T-Thanks. You look...beautiful too- AH!! HANDSOME!! H-HANDSOME!! Y-You look really handsome!!"

"T-Thank you."

''Y-yeah."

You both continued to stand there awkwardly for a long time without eye contact. Before Avery eventually coughed and pointed his badly shaking hand behind him. "S-So d-do ya w-w-w-want to h-head out?"

"Uh..Sure. L-Let's go."

You turned really quick and threw the flowers towards Sonia who caught it for you. Silver and Cotten candy perked up before standing up and followed after you as you half walked half staggered your way out the door with Avery who walked off in your direction. As soon as the loy of you disappeared Sonia turned back to Nessa.

"Well i don't know about you but I think that went well."

"Oh good." Nessa turned back to Sonia. "Then it's my turn to make you look beautiful for Leon."

"Sure-...Wait. What?"

[echantedtoon]

Isle Connections Ch8 The Galarian Star Tournament

(Just for the sake of keeping track, Avery is wearing a similar outfit to the one in the link and reader is wearing the dress above. Neither images mine,etc. I also don't know Peony's wife's name and just giving her one for the story, Petunia.

Avery's s outfit

Your Outfit

www.deviantart.com/scarlett-knight/art/Outfit-Adoptable-49-CLOSED-544835395)

Getting to know Oleana was cuffed and taken away finally by Officer Jenny filled you with joy no pun intended. And Avery had to struggle to get your form away from the scene..before just giving up, picking you up bridal style, and walking away with Cotten candy right behind him. That finally made you freeze up and stop from you being carried away like a princess. Which made Avery chuckle at your expression and his heart skip a beat holding you so close to him at last. When you were finally put down he convinced you to just let Kabu and Officer Jenny handle things and have lunch with then before the day was out. His treat. Oh. ..Well since he was offering- You accepted and then there after went back to the hotel and your room. You had something important to do. Once in your room you finally let lose Silver from his pokeball. A smile gracing your face as the shiny inteleon made his way out...before you had to look up at Silver. The inteleon shook his head before blinking and looking down at you and for a moment both of you were silent. ...before Silver brought his hand up to his head's height and going straight across until he stopped above your head and stared between his white hand and your head to compare his now obviously taller height. He certainly was taller. He looked even taller than Leon and Raihan did. ...And then he chuckled at how small YOU were now compared to him.

"HEY!" You frowned when he patted your head and you pushed his hand away. "Don't try that with me! Just because you're tall now that doesn't mean I'm not boss anymore." In a very human fashion Silver held up his hands still chuckling and you crossed your arms. "Well...I guess you are taller. That part's true enough."

"Inta?" He cocked his head at you.

"What? Are you waiting me to praise you?" He nodded and you sighed before chuckling yourself. "Alright." Your hand reached over to pat his shoulder. "You did do good out there. Really good. Wasn't expecting -" Your other hand gestured to him. "-this but I'll take it. But at least I won't have to carry your butt through crowds anymore. My poor arms couldn't take it any longer." Silver have an undignified grunt and you chuckled at his response. Yep. Still the same Silver. "Just kidding."

To say it was an interesting rest of the week was an understatement. Day by day went by and you did a few things. Mostly hanging out with Avery when he offered when he wasn't hanging out with Felix or anyone else. Of course he was stopped by people. Like..A LOT of people who asked for pictures, autographs, questions, to talk- And it just reminded you just how popular Avery still was, which was why it was no surprise he ended up wearing a coat to disguise himself just so you two wouldn't be bothered.

"Aren't you hot in that thing? It's the middle of May in the summer heat and that's a winter coat."

He ended up shrugging and not acting like it was a big deal, when really he was happy just to be able to spend some time with you without being interrupted by fans...Even though he still wore the giant hat and madd his pokeballs float about his head which was an obvious give away. Don't get him wrong. He loved his fans and appreciated they liked his work so much but he wanted to spend some time with you to (hopefully-) help calm his nerves before your big date the day after the tournament. He still stuttered, went pink in the cheeks, and was still nervous. ..Scratch that. HE WAS A LOT NERVOUS!! In his mind over and over he replayed the same things.

"Why would he agree to go out with me? Does she think it's just platonic? OMG SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE SMILES!!"

It was nice to be able to just do domestic small things together. Including a cute little shoppe that sold pokemon themed items and in the end you walked out clutching a cute sobble plushie to your chest with a small bag of trinkets. Avery did find it a bit strange Silver went with you everywhere but he didn't complain. Silver didn't cause trouble and he supposed it was just because he wasn't used to having his pokemon constantly out and about following him. Especially a pokemon who was taller than himself but A dubwool was taller and more scary looking than an inteleon and he was cool with him so Silver wasn't really a problem. Soon the days lead up to the weekend and you were woken up by the same thing. Lots of commotion early in the morning and you raced to take a shower and look presentable. Today's the day. The day of the Galarian Star Tournament. The same thing happened when you were all heading towards Rose Tower. A massive crowd in the front of hotel when you (followed by Silver) followed everyone out to the front of the hotel and plenty of taxies to take you all to the Wyndon Stadium. This time you managed to catch a ride with Gordie, Piers, and Marnie. Marnie sitting beside you and Silver and the boys sitting across from you. Gordie certainly seemed surprised to see a giant Inteleon sitting casually in the seat in front of him, but didn't say anything when you all took off. You excitedly looking at Piers with a smile.

"So you're going to be battling today huh?"

Piers nodded. "Yep. Dunno who with though." At this you gave a confused look at him. "Oh. Right. Ya aren't battlin' so the official blokes didn't tell ya. We're gonna be paired up with a partner for the battles n' double battle against two other people."

"Really?" Well that was news to you. "I'm assuming you're going to fight with Marnie then?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. The match ups were all picked at random by the Chairwoman herself so I could be paired up with anyone from Marn-Marn ta Leo. The match ups are all already picked, so we should know by the time we get there."

It felt like an eternity when in reality it might've only been twenty to thirty minutes for you all to arrive at the stadium. And the first thing that hit you other than the sounds of the corviknight's wings and the whooshing air was the fact that there seemed to be the faint sound of something you've grown familiar too now. The sound of a GIANT crowd. Ah. You knew that all too well. One look out the window confirmed the same looking scenario that greeted you at the Champion Cup with the cheering crowds and there was Wyndon Stadium in all it's giant Pink glory. Ah. Such fond memories along with one involving the Chairman you had hoped to forget. Landing in front of the building you all got out and along with everyone filed on towards the entrance and into the stadium and into the same room you recognized from the last time you were here with a league staff behind the desk in the middle of the room and guess who was right there waiting for you all? LEON! Well him and a few others you had never seen before. But the most thing that caught your attention was the fourth person who was chatting with Leon with a big smile.

.....

IT WAS CHAIRMAN ROSE!!

Or at least..it seemed so at first. He certainly looked similar to Mr. Rose but upon further staring there was complete differences. This man was a bit thinner around the stomach than Mr. Rose, his mustache and beard was a different style, and he had a complete buzzcut. But the biggest difference was his voice. His voice sounded completely different compared to Mr. Rose. Which is why this couldn't be Mr. Rose. You ended up sighing in relief before Leon turned his head and noticed you before smiling and waving.

"Hey, Y/n! I was expecting to see you here soon!"

You gave him a small polite smile. "Uh..Yeah."..before silently pointing at the man next to him. "Who's your friend?"

His face lit up. "That's right. You never met before." He also gestured to the smiling older man. "Y/n, this is Mr. Peony. He was the Steel Type Gym Leader before he retired and it was changed to the new Poison Type Gym." His smile grew wider. "He was also Champion once."

Your eyes widened before looking back at the smile man who chuckled at your reaction and smiled at you. "Yep! 'Steel Peony' is what they called me! Nice to meet 'cha!"

His smile and body language was very positive and honestly helped to relax you more. You didn't get the strange feeling from him whenever you spoke to Mr. Rose. "Really?!"

The man, Peony, nodded. "Yep! ...Well that was before I retired from that position too. Because of that the old Champion before me had to come back out of retirement as well to take over the position before Leon defeated him."

"And that would be Mustard." Leon again pointed over and you turned to see where he pointed at. It was the other, much older man who Gloria was excitedly talking too and seemed to be introducing Kabu to Mustard. The one Leon said was the former Champion and who helped to train Gloria. "He owns the training dojo over on the Isle of Armor. It's been a big help to train the new gym leaders and help Glory grow out of her shell!"

..You silently pointed towards them before looking back at Leon surprised. "So wait. You somehow got two ex-champions one of which is also an ex-gym leader, and two other new gym leaders here as the guest fighters??"

Leon nodded. "Yep! And Hop too!"..He then paused and hummed looking down a bit. "And well there's...two other uh...'surprise' guests too but they haven't shown up yet." He then coughed and went back to smiling as if he didn't look nervous beforehand. "But yes! The Battle Tower was to show Prince Lear how strong the future leaders of Galar can be, now he gets to see the power of the past and present all together!"

You smiled. "Hey! I think that's a great idea! I can't wait to see you guys out there!" You guessed Avery and Klara who you saw earlier must've been the new gym leaders Leon mentioned before since he said two guests were late which couldn't be the others you saw since they were already here when you showed up. "But who's the other guys?"

Leon grimaced instantly and he didn't anwer you at first...but you would soon very, very, VERY much regret even asking that question. Because the question answered itself with a voice.

"Well, well, well,~" A voice behind you made you completely freeze up upon instantly recognizing it. And in front of you Leon gave you the most guilty, apologetic look he could ever give to you.

No.

NO!!

ABSOLUTELY NOT!! IT COULDN'T BE!! IT JUST COULD NOT!!..Wincing with a grimace you slowly looked over your shoulder and instantly wished you had just excused yourself, pretended you didn't hear them, and went off to hide behind Piers. Because standing there were two brothers. In red and blue suits. With weird hair shaped like a sword and shield.

OH NO!!

"If it isn't Ms. Y/n. It seems your talents have only grown greater since we last met. I would expect no less from one whom we ourselves call a celebrity," the man in the blue suit spoke with a large smile before dramatically placing a hand to his chest. "It is I, Sordward!"

"And I, Shielbert," his brother added.

...You shot a glare at Leon who guiltily looked away. What were THEY doing here!? Well they answered your thoughts when they both bowed.

"A dandy duo of celebrities, former royalty, and as so it happens the sponsors of the Galarian Star Tournament! Just so it's clear, being a sponsor means paying a jaw dropping sum of money. The truth is we have both been assisting in getting this tournament off the ground for quite some time now."

"This is how we seek to atone for the terrible troubles we've caused for the people of Galar. And naturally we'll be participating in the tournament too of course. Though it's hardly surprising you did not notice us, Ms. Y/n. We always lose in a first match for whatever reason."

And they both laughed standing back up, and you again shot a glare at Leon who smiled nervously at you. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING LETTING THESE TWO COMPETE!?

"However it's getting to the point where I would like to at least have some victories to speak of!"

"If all we do is lose what was the point of using our considerable clout as sponsors to join in?"

You gave them the most deadpanned look you could muster. Screw your life. First Olena then a Mr. Rose scare and now these guys. This couldn't possibly get any worse.

"So seeing as that is the situation-" You nearly shouted as Sordward had the audacity to grab your hand and hold it with a smile. "You and I together are sure to be able to reach new heights of glory, Ms. Y/n."

TAKE THAT BACK!! NOW IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!! You flinched as Shielbert grabbed your other hand sending a strained annoyed smile at his brother.

"Forgive me but I must disagree, Brother. It is I who shall share the victor's stand with Ms. Y/n."

"Hmm. I see, Dear Brother."

"Hmm. Indeed, Dear Brother."

SCRATCH THAT TOO!! SCRATCH!! THAT!! T O O!!! THIS WAS WAY WORSE THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT IT WAS!! In your panicked mind you shouted one thing that you hoped would save your sorry butt.

"I-I'M NOT COMPETING!!" The loud tone of your voice clearly caught the two off guard as they blinked at you as did a couple others....And all of sudden you felt a waft of angry daggers shooting into your side as green eyes widened. And then narrowed at you from somewhere. "I-I'm just here to watch everyone else b-battle!" You took their stunned silence to firmly pull your hands away back to your side. "S-So no match up pairs with either of you two!"

"That's right," Leon added with a small frown. "And you're forgetting you two are already paired up with someone else by the Chairwoman."

After a silent moment the two of them looked at one another silently.

"Oh. Well I guess that does change things a bit, but it certainly doesn't lessen our joy at seeing you again. Doesn't it, Brother?"

"Indeed, Younger Brother! We're very glad to be in your prescence yet again.~"

You scrunched up your face and thought you'd die from cringe at this point. Arceus! If you were real too just like Silver now, PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THIS!!

"There you are, Dear," you jumped as someone else grabbed your hand and all of you turned to stare up at Avery who strained a smile at them. "I've been looking for you everywhere." He then lifted your hand to place a kiss to making you blush, Leon blink, and the two brothers look insulted. "You must be lost. Good thing I found you."

"Oh hey! There's Hoppy!" Leon quickly interrupted before using his arms to shoo you two away before there could be a fight."I don't think you two have talked today. Why don't you go over and say hi while I escort these two gentlemen to join the others?"

Thank you, Leon! Taking the chance to leave while Leon distracted the troublesome two, you took the chance to leap away and scramble through people towards your way towards Hop. Thankful to be away from THAT mess! You went right up to Hop and who was happy to start a conversation with you and you definitely didn't want them to have an excuse to talk to you again. You were just talking to him when someone else walked up you two from behind and you stiffened at first dreading it was one of the troublemakers.

"Nice save back there," you whispered to Avery who looked proud. "I thought I'd never escape those two weirdos."

Avery patted your arm on his. "Never fear. I am here to elegantly save the day."

You two spent the rest of the short time speaking to Hop and listening to him go on about his and Sonia's research before Leon shouted again gaining everyone's attention.

"All right, Everyone! Sorry to keep you all waiting!" Leon's voice shouted over everyone and you all looked over towards the Champion who smiled hands on his hips. "Now that everyone's acquainted I believe it's time we get to the important announcements out of the way. First thing's first. I want to say a quick thank you to all of you for coming running when I called. I really wanted to explain this in person because I wanted to be sure I could get across to you all how great this idea is. We hope to represent Galar to it's fullest potential! Not just to Pasio but for everyone around the world!" His smile widened more as he cleared his throat. "That being said the Chairwoman is entertaining his majesty now with everyone's families in the V.I.P. balconies." his hand pointed upwards. "Therefore I'll be the one to read off the listed pairs she decided to write up herself." In a moment the staff member next to him held up a piece of paper to him which Leon took. "Thank you!" His golden eyes happily glanced over the paper. "Now as for everyone's paired partners. ...Milo! You'll be battling out there with Nessa! Kabu will be with Peony. Bea and Gordie. Melony with Allister. Piers! You'll be with Marnie! Raihan's with me. Mustard will battle with Opal. Avery with Klara! Gloria shall be with Bede-" Leon looked up briefly hearing Hop yell another what from somewhere to the left of him. "*ahem* Hop. You'll be with Victor. And finally Sordward and Shielbert shall be with one another. Any questions?" He was met with silence so he nodded and handed the list back to the staff member. "Now then. We have ten minutes before we put on the show. I suggest everyone head to the locker rooms and prepare before we meet back with our partners. The announcer's going to be telling who battles who as the rounds go on. Good luck and let's all give the audience a Champion Time!"

With that everyone split to head towards the locker rooms except for you obviously since you weren't battling and instead decided to walk back up to Silver and pry him away from the poor staff member trying to shoo the inteleon off of his remanding breakfast. And someone approached you again. You felt him before you saw him. Whipping your head around and sighing in relief when none other than Avery tood there looking at you. And you smiled. Phew. It was just him. Unfortunately..those weren't the only eyes you felt on yourself because when you looked past Avery your stomach dropped. Great. The weirdo duo were staring at you again. Looking like they wanted to talk. There was also someone else but you didn't see or notice them at all.Great. These guys would just NOT give up! Arceus what would make them go-..You paused..before looking at Avery who seemed confused at your reaction. You looked between the three men for a moment before an idea dawned on you..that made your face flush a deep pink. Ooohh no. No. No! You couldn't do that- But it was either that or deal with whatever 'courting' they tried to spring on you. Seeing your expression he turned his head to look behind himself only to snap back around when you grabbed his arm. His eyebrows rocketing up as you stared at him.

"Avery." Soft hands grabbed his cheeks and he froze as you stared directly into his eyes. "Win for me."

And then you leaned up standing on your tiptoes, and Avery felt his eyes bulge out of his head when your lips met his in a kiss. A very quick kiss that only lasted a second before you stepped back and released his face. Red flooding your cheeks as silence set in and the two of you stood there until a cough made both of you jump and turn to Leon who looked between the two of you.

"Well...Now that I have your attention." the champion cleared his throat before gesturing towards the staff member next to him. "Y/n this man will escort you up to the v.i.p balconies. Avery if you're not uh...'busy', we should g-get going before we're late for the battles."

Avery opened his mouth, looked at you, closed it, went red faced, nodded, turned around and slowly began to follow Leon. A hand came up to softly touch his lips where yours met his in a soft embrace..only to turn a deeper red. You however refused to look back at anyone. Only grabbing Silver by the arm and pulling him along after the staff member who showed you into the elevator and up you all went. You were expecting to see that room with the windows you were in when the Gym Challenge was present but you were surprised when he didn't. Instead leading you a level higher than that and rose a brow before he lead you through a door finally to the outside..and your brows rose in awe. This wasn't just a balcony. THIS WAS AN ENTIRE FLOOR!! Empty except for a few seats/tables and a long table with more fancy looking food along with so many people. On second glance you noticed that they all must've been the gym leader's families because Mrs. G and Mrs. L was there along with Hop's grandparents. All of Gordie's younger siblings. All three of Raihan's triplets. Felix..and four other people you've never seen before. Two women with what must've been their children. One with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes wearing emerald earring, green shirt, and white pants. Next to her was a small boy with the same hair and eyes no older than nine or ten years old on a phone. The other mother and child pair were right across from then with the mothers talking. The other lady had sandy-blonde hair with a red shirt and jeans and green eyes. Next to her was a girl Hop's age who looked bored. Same green eyes as her mother and sandy-blonde hair that faded to a bright pink hear the end. They must've been some of the guest star's family. You busied yourself by following Silver and grabbing yourself some food from the table before Mrs. L ended up noticing you and inviting you to sit down at the table with them which you happily accepted. It was nice to be able to sit down and talk to familiar people and try to take your mind off the kiss earlier. Oh boy. You'd have to apologize to Piers later for that one later and explain your actions. From where you and Silver were sitting you finally saw the Prince. He was sitting with the Chairwoman at a table closest to the barred off edge and his chair was pointed to where he had a perfect view of the field and giant stadium TV below without standing or straining his neck to look down. Food in front of him, a fancy glass in his hand, his body guards standing on either side of him, his own..Waiter!? A man in a waiter uniform was right there already hurrying to replace anything the prince finished as the Chairwoman calmly sat in front of him. Guess she really did go all out to please the prince. You did pause when Prince Lear looked up from his drink over to your table and it took you staring at him for just a little bit to realize he was staring directly at YOU. Which made you pink in embarrassment. Prince Lear giving an amused smile before holding up his glass to you and taking a drink. You used the excuse of eating and Mrs. L talking to you to look away from him. Maybe Piers would get another kiss sooner than you thought. Five more minutes passed and you were about to get up to get another drink when a high pitch speaker noise sounded out amongst the crowd noises below you and the announcer's voice piped up.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND PEOPLE OF ALL AGES! WELCOME TO THE OPENING OF THE FIRST EVER GALARIAN STAR TOURNAMENT!!" The crowd cheered. Faces turned towards the field. And attention was FINALLY away from you. It was enough to make you cry in relief. "THE DAY HAS ARRIVED AND THE EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR!! PAIRS OF TWO SHALL BATTLE AGAINST EACH OTHER BUT ONLY ONE CAN COME OUT ON TOP!! WHO WILL IT BE!? LET'S FIND OUT BY GETTING THE FIRST ROUND MATCH STARTED!!" Oh? The first match already? Guess they didn't want to keep Prince Lear waiting too long because he was fully focused on the field now. "THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND ONE WILL BE OUR OWN TOP GYM LEADER AND CHAMPION AGAINST SPECIAL GUEST STARS SORDWARD AND SHIELBERT!!" It was then a smile crept up onto your lips. Oh you were FULLY going to enjoy this. The crowd cheered and Leon and Raihan walked right on out to challenge the weird hair duo who also showed up.

"Let's put up a fight worthy of showing to Ms. Y/n."

"It goes without staying, Older Brother! Such is our noble duty."

"PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES!! POKEMON READY!! SET! GO!!"

It wasn't surprising that the weirdos lost to them which made you as pleased as punch as the rest of Round One flew by. Avery and Klara vs Melony and Allister. Avery and Klara won. Bea and Gordie vs Gloria and Bede. Gloria and Bede won. Milo and Nessa vs Piers and Marnie. You perked up..and were nearly jaw dropped at the ferocity Piers shown against the others. Piers and Marnie won. Poor Milo. You'd see him after the tournament. Mustard and Opal vs Kabu and Peony. Mustard and Opal won. Hop and Victor got an automatic win since they didn't have anyone else to battle against. With a small break between each battle to repair the fields.

"THERE WILL BE A TWENTY MINUTE BREAK FOR FIELD REPAIRS AND TO ROSTER THE NEXT FIGHTING PAIRS!! FOR THE MOMENT PLEASE STAND BY!" Twenty minutes passed by fast before the fields were repaired and the second round started. "THE SECOND ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!! THE FIRST MATCH OF ROUND TWO WILL BE BETWEEN PIERS AND MARNIE AGAINST AVERY AND KLARA!! PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON THE FIELD!!"

Both fighting pairs met each other on the field. Both looked at one another. Avery before Marnie and Piers before Klara. "POKEMON READY!! LET'S GO!!" And thus the second round went underway. Avery and Klara vs Piers and Marnie... Piers/Marnie won. Raihan and Leon vs Mustard and Opal. Raihan and Leon won. Gloria and Bede vs Victor and Hop. Victor and Hop won. "THAT'S IT FOR ROUND TWO!! THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BREAK BEFORE WE START UP ROUND THREE!!" Well another twenty minutes went by fast as you got yourself some more food and chatted more with the ladies at the table. "ALRIGHT FOLKS!! ROUND THREE SHALL NOW BEGIN!! BATTLERS TO YOUR STATIONS!! GET SET!! GO!!" Piers and Marnie vs Raihan and Leon. Raihanand Leon won. You did feel bad for Piers and Marnie, but they had made it all the way to the second to last round which was great compared to everyone else. Victor and Hop had another Automatic win considering there was no one else for them to battle against either, which means Hop would finally be able to have a chance to battle against his brother just like he wanted. So that was good. "THAT'S IT FOR ROUND THREE!! THE FINAL ROUND SHALL BEGIN AFTER THE BREAK!! WILL THE CHAMPION AND TOP GYM LEADER BE DETHRONED FROM THEIR PLACES OR WILL THEY SUCCEED IN KEEPING THEIR TITLES!! WE'LL BE BACK AFTER THE BREAK!!" Amazing how fast another twenty minutes could fly by. By now it was nearly dark as the sun pushed through the skies. "THE FINAL ROUND WILL NOW TAKE PLACE!! PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR CONTESTANTS!!" An uproar of cheers sounded out as the last four battlers walked out onto the field. "READY YOUR POKEMON! BATTLE SET!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" Victor and Hop vs Raihan and leon.... Leon and Raihan won. Not that you were surprised but you did feel a little bad for the boys. "MATCH OVER!! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! THE WINNERS OF THE GALARIAN STAR TOURNAMENT ARE THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION AND THE STRONGEST LEADER IN THE STADIUM CIRCUIT!!"

THE. CROWD. ROARED!! Cheering and clapping for the two strongest trainers in all of Galar as the two men waved to the crowds in their victory. Even Prince Lear was slowly clapping his hands to their success but something was on your mind. You stood up and Silver followed you as you slowly stood up, excused yourself, and left the balcony. You wanted to see Avery. And you found him waiting for you in the lobby. As soon as he saw you he lit up and literally picked you up in a hug.

"I apologize I couldn't beat them for you," he apologized before putting you down and facing you.

"Hey. It's perfectly fine. You and Klara did an amazing job anyways. Besides it was fun watching Leon and Raihan beat them."

He nodded. "I'll be picking you up at seven tonight."

"..Picking me up?"

"Y-Yes. Our ..." he gulped. "D-Date?"

...Your face lit up pink. "OH! T-That! R-Right!" You cleared your throat before looking away again. A date. YOUR date! How could you have forgotten about that!? "I-I'll be waiting! D-Don't worry!"

Your flight back to your hotel room from the stadium felt like a blur and before you knew it you were already ordering room service, having dinner, showering, then falling down on your bed and letting the Sandman take you to dream land. It was late-ish into next morning when you woke up groggily and began the morning routine of getting up and making yourself look presentable and throwing on some comfy clothes before relaxing and kicking back on the bed and switching on the tv mounted on the wall. You had hours to wait until Avery picked you up so you could relax or try to relax your nerves until then and just watch TV. You had settled on some action movie Silver excitedly pointed at and the both of you just sat on the bed having ordered breakfast watching the movie. It couldn't have been more than an hour when a knock came at your door. It was in the middle of a big chase scene between the protagonist and police when you heard the bangs and had turned to the door confused. ..Who could that be? A glance to the clock showed you it was five thirty seven, not even time yet. Too early for it to have been Avery. Maybe he wanted to talk to you before the party? ..Oh Arceus you hoped it wasn't those weird hair duo. Oh! It was probably room service here to collect your breakfast dishes. If that was the case you had better let the maid come in and collect the dishes. Getting up from your spot on the bed, you walked over to the door and opened it expecting one of the staff members but instead met with two familiar faces instead. There was two women before you. One with orange hair and the other with dark hair with blue highlights...It was Sonia and Nessa. Sonia had paused with her hand up clearly being the one who knocked on the door the three of you stood there in silence for a moment before you spoke.

"Sonia?"

"Uh..Y/n." She lowered her hand blinking. "Hi. Um..You're not Raihan."

"Last time I checked I wasn't." You rose a brow. "Why?"

"O-Oh.." She awkwardly reached a hand up to her neck in a Leon like fashion. "I uh was hoping he'd lend me some of his Goodra's goo to take back home and study before everyone left but I guess I must've gotten the wrong room. S-Sorry about that. My bad totally."

"It's alright." You then turned to Nessa. "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm helping Sonia actually. She's great with science but not so much with make up," Nessa said rather bluntly which earnt her a glare from Sonia.

"Hey! I made my smokey eye look like a fire's ashes one time!"

Nessa chose to ignore her friend's comment and instead spoke to you. "I also never got to thank you for the save earlier this week. Victor would've been defeated on the second round if you hadn't lent us a hand."

"It's no problem," you confirmed as Nessa rose a brow and looked you up and down, "Silver's really strong now so it's no big deal-"

"What are you wearing?" You blinked at Nessa as she gestured towards your clothing. "Those look like something you'd wear to a picnic with your grandma."

"Oh." You looked down at your comfy pants and the shirt with a pikachu print on the front. You didn't think you looked that bad. "My...clothes?" Both looked at you. "What?'

"Aren't you supposed to be going with Avery tonight to the Prince's farewell banquet?"

"Um. Yeah actually but that's not for a couple hours still. Why?"

"Are you serious? This is as important as a Gala or a wedding," Nessa insisted frowning, "You're telling me you're planning on wearing lazy day clothes to that? With Avery?"

You opened your mouth before looking down to yourself again before back up at them. "Well it's not like I have much choice. I don't have any fancy clothes."

Both stared at you for a long moment before looking at one another silently as if talking to each other telepathically, before Sonia nodded and both looked back to you. You didn't like those looks.

"You have the nemuk?"

"You know a model never goes anywhere without it."

"...Nemuk?"

"Nessa's Emergency Make Up Kit. She never leaves home without it. Luckily for you we're here to help you."

"....What- GAH!?"

In an instant two sets of arms pulled you from your doorway and you were pushed back inside. It was all a blur as you were sat down in a chair and they pounced at you like a cat to a mouse. You managed to shout a hey before Sonia pulled your hair from the lazy bun it was set in before Nessa placed down what must've been a massive pink suitcase on your bed next to you before opening it up revealing a make up crew's DREAM of make up, brushes, nail polish, and products that'd put a salon to shame. As Sonia wrestled to pull a brush through your locks Nessa quickly left before soon returning from her room down the hall, returning with a few outfits in her arms. By then Sonia had already prepped your head for any styling they might do to it before you were pushed back up onto your feet and turned to face the two. You only got a 'What the' out before a sparkling green dress was held up in front of your body to which they both scrunched up their faces at before shaking their heads no. Repeated two other times before a flash of purple was held up and smiles were beamed at your worried looking form. Fast forward fifthteen minutes later and there you were. Squeezed into a purple sparkling ballgown with white heels with a purple gem necklace slapped over your neck to complete the look. Your hair slightly curled and framing your face in a way it wouldn't without a proper stylists' touch. And you were staring at nothing as Sonia attached some kind of fancy purple bedazzled hair clip to your hair and Nessa with the precision of Leonardo Da Vinci started putting on make up on your face. Which you struggled to hold still for.

"Ah!" Nessa sternly held up a mascara brush to you. "Hold still. I need your lashes not your eyeball."

You groaned. "How much longer until you're done?" You mumbled through the lip stick.

"Just one lash away if you'll hold still for one moment. AAAAnnnnddd THERE!!" She pulled away from your eye as you blinked lowering the mascara and smiling. "I'm all finished." She beamed and they both stepped back looking at you as you looked at them from the bed. Even Silver was blinking at how different you looked now.

"You look so pretty, Y/n!," Sonia gushed, "You're gonna knock Avery dead!"

"I doubt that," you mumbled. !?

Nessa had grabbed your arm again pulling you up and already pushing you towards a mirror on the wall. Stumbling to follow her in your heels. "Well look for yourself!" She said before pushing you in front of said mirror and you froze as soon as your f/c eyes hit the reflection.

Staring back at you wasn't you..At least not the you you were used to seeing. Soft hair framed your beautiful face as the bedazzled hair clip sparkled from the light. The purple dress you were wearing sparkled and looked beautiful with the little lace and design on the side of the waist. If it wasn't for the fact you knew this was a mirror, you would've thought someone else was staring back at you. You still stared at the reflection before looking around to the two women behind you and a pattern ensued. Of you opening and closing your mouth like a fish and looking between the mirror and them as if any second the Cinderella in the mirror would disappear. You repeated this process so many times you feeling dizzy. Until there was another loud knock at the door. Making you yelp and jump and stagger, almost falling over on the heels Nessa insisted on you wearing before you stared back at the door along with everyone else. You stood there for a moment before the knocking picked up again but louder. Your eyes snapped over to the clock on the wall and your eyes widened. It was seven o' eight in the afternoon. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!! And you felt your stomach drop. There could only be one person who that could be.

"Crap!," you hissed to yourself. Tap, tap, tap. "Crap. Crap. Crap, crap, crap!" You staggered towards the door still trying not to fall over in heels with your arms out for balance. Again the door knocked a little bit louder than the first two times. "COMING!! Coming!" You shouted finally getting to the door, reaching out, taking a breath, grabbing the doorknob...and then slowly opening it.

The door opened with a loud CCCCRRREEEEAAAAKKK noise from how slowly you opened it and once you peeked out you were hit with the over powering smell of...Roses?? Yep! As soon as you opened the door you face was attacked by a giant bouquet of white roses and yellow buttercups. Wait. That was the usual color scheme of- You looked up and you froze. Because staring back wide eyed and slack jawed at you, and dressed up was Avery. He wore a white dress shirt, fancy black shoes and dress pants with a black necktie. He wasn't wearing his hat or making his pokeballs fly around too but he was levitating the bouquet of roses and buttercups. And instead of wearing it down, he wore most of his hair up in a ponytail. He looked-

ABSOLUTELY HANDSOME.

You both continued to stare at one another before Sonia coughed behind you making the two of you flinch and Avery finally react. "Beautiful- AH! I M-MEAN-" Your face flushed and he cleared his throat seeming nervous all of a sudden before attempting (and failing-) to compose his own red face as he stammered. "I-I mean you l-l-look beautiful. Um I-..." The roses and buttercups were floated up to you with a gulp. "T-There are for you!!"

You blinked...before slowly taking the roses and buttercups from him. "Oh..I-.." You stared at them before shaking your head and giving a friendly smile. "T-Thank you! They're beautiful! I-I didn't know they came in bouquets this big."

He nodded while stammering and gesturing at nothing with his other hand. "Y-Yes.. T-T-There's this florist ar-r-round the corner. There!" he pointed behind his shoulder red faced. "T-T-That does-s c-c-c-c-customs j-jobs. And' I just t-t-t-thought-t y-you'd-...." He swallowed thickly and nervously face as red as a tomatoe. "Youlookreallybeautiful!!"

You coughed and turned your eyes down red faced as well. "T-Thanks. You look...beautiful too- AH!! HANDSOME!! H-HANDSOME!! Y-You look really handsome!!"

"T-Thank you."

''Y-yeah."

You both continued to stand there awkwardly for a long time without eye contact. Before Avery eventually coughed and pointed his badly shaking hand behind him. "S-So d-do ya w-w-w-want to h-head out?"

"Uh..Sure. L-Let's go."

You turned really quick and threw the flowers towards Sonia who caught it for you. Silver and Cotten candy perked up before standing up and followed after you as you half walked half staggered your way out the door with Avery who walked off in your direction. As soon as the loy of you disappeared Sonia turned back to Nessa.

"Well i don't know about you but I think that went well."

"Oh good." Nessa turned back to Sonia. "Then it's my turn to make you look beautiful for Leon."

"Sure-...Wait. What?"

[justinator91]

Plants of the tundra PT4

Cotten grass-the cotten grass is another small plant that grows many places but is also prominet in the tundra. The plant uses the wind to carry its seeds far. The plant is once agian small so the cold arctic wind does not dry it out