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cherry-pop-elf · 8 months ago

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Weasley Siblings Reacting To You Coming Out 🏳️‍⚧️ ((Trans Edition))

Some wholesome/projection because wah-! Also reader is under the impression of muggleborn, so muggle ideals would be different from wizards of course

Can he read as Platonic or Romantic! Clause Platonic love is valid af! I see you Ace/Just wanting stuff to not always be sex, folks!

Warnings: Transphobia,bullying ((not from the Weasleys obviously)) anxiety, depression, don’t worry it’s fluff just ya know. It’s scary coming out!

Writing Coms Open

((BTW this was in my drafts, and since Trans Visibility Day was today, it gave me motivation to finish it so let’s go-!))

William ‘Bill’

“Like Tonks-!” You did feel pretty silly, once he said that. Made you wonder why you waited so long. Literally you were friends with a Shapeshifter, so why would you coming out be so different? Oh right, what muggles would do if they knew. “Kinda, minus the whole ya know….Changing on the whim. Wish I could do that-“ You muttered, as Bill would pat your back. The pair of you, ever cozy in the library. Special permission to access the resurrected section, since he was being interned at Gringotts for curse breaking. Meant you had some privacy for such a sensitive topic. “Hey, we can find a way to. Right? It’s magic. I bet you my lucky dagger that the twins probably have something in the works.“ He comforted, and it made you smile. That Bill. Always finding a way to brag about his younger siblings somehow. That was just the cutest thing to you. Just a big brother, finding a way to show off his family. Helped a lot. “Whatever you need, I’ve got you. I know muggles do stuff differently, and a lot isn’t really to positive-“ Bill was the eldest, so it made sense he would be more informed with muggle culture. If his band shirts were to say anything. “Like name changes and stuff. Got a new name you like?” There was something so weird about how casual he was. Just, casual. It was a field, but also felt off. Like something bad should have happened. Maybe it will. Until then, though, you were happy to tell him your new name. “Suits you-!” He smiled that awkward half smile, given the other half didn’t exist anymore. “I like it.” And he was soon ruffling your hair. Older brother habits. They don’t die easy, and you were greatful for it.

Charlie

“Like Tonks-!” Why did you get Déjà vu? You shook it off, before nodding. “Yes, minus the actually changing my gender and stuff.” You clarified, as he multi tasked with the latest baby dragon Hagrid had gotten. Charlie just couldn’t resist, and now you two were stuck in his hut. Hagrid off to find someone to take said dragon, while Charlie treated it like a puppy. Kissing its snout, and making it squeal in utter delight. Despite the slobber, and despite the heat. One of the reason you trusted him with such a secret. His heart was so big, and he held such passion. Not to mention, you hoped he could help you get out of your shell a bit. Such a loud, and proud, man. Also, well, imagine trying to bully someone who’s buddies with the dragon tamer. “Neat-! So do I flip flip between pronouns, like Tonky, or you got new ones-?” You swore he was paying more attention to the dragon, than you. Weirdly, you liked it. He didn’t treat it as life or death, which healed something in you. He didn’t care, but in that good way. That it didn’t change how he saw you. Or, maybe you just asked at the right time. You had to shake his shoulder, to remind him you were still there. You two shared a laugh, as he went on rambling about how beautiful the dragon was, as you were able to relax a little easier.

Percy

“Trans-? Like as in Transfiguration? Finally, actually focusing on your studies.” You were already regretting this. You figured Percy would be someone to confide in, since he was a prefect. You were being bullied by the muggleborns, but the thing is….Hes a pure blood. He didn’t really understand what being trans was. So, you tried to explain. “Percy, they were making fun of me because I was born different.” You tried to explain, as he was starting to pay a bit more attention now. “They saw me going to the bathroom, and immediately threw books at me. It’s not like I don’t mind Moaning Myrtle, but it’s hard to pee with company.” You sniffled, as it was settling in now. “I’m so sorry, I’ll handle this immediately. I….Let’s go take you to the medical wing, to make sure you are patched….Could you explain more to me about this trans thing? Why it makes you different?” It’s a start. He’s willing to learn, and that’s more than so many. That gave you comfort. He’s confused, but willing. With his arm around you, you did your best to wizard it to his language. To get it out of your system, and for once? Percy stayed quiet, and listened. It’s a start, and you couldn’t be happier.

Fred

“Swear you are like the fifth person to tell me that this month-!” He laughed, as you blinked. Despite the prancing dynamic of the twins, they had grown a bit over the years. Suppose the older brother energy they held just drew in comfort. It’s easy to confide in them. They may not act like it, but they can keep a secret. Guess the courtyard was just a hot spot for such. “Wait, why are you telling me this anyway? I knew the moment I met you-!” He snorted, with an elbow nudge to you. Honestly? You were certain he was joking, but you wondered if he did. “About bloody time you figured it out yerself! Not sure how that whole thing works, but I’m sure George and I can brew something up for ya. Need a beard? Or bigger hips? I’m sure we got something-“ That had you roll your eyes. “Sounds like an excuse to turn me into your personal lab rat-“ That had him blink. “The hell is a lab rat?” Right. Pure blood. “I’ll explain it to you later. Just, promise not to tell anyone? I’m….not ready yet.” Fred seemed like he was ready to argue, about needing to just be passionate about who and what you are, but he was hushed. As if he could already hear Molly yelling at him. That was trauma for another occasion. Instead, he made a zipping motion to his lips, and threw away the key. “Thanks.” You smiled, as he gave a thumbs up. Pretending he couldn’t speak at all, and it got you to giggle. Calmed your nerves down just fine.

George

“That’s uh….That thing-! Yeah-!” He bullshitted, but you understood why. He’s the more emotional side of the dynamic duo. So many kids come to them for advice, but more come to George. You would pay a guess that many who went to Fred were actually looking for George, but didn’t realize it was Fred at all. You only managed, because he was wearing his Quidditch Jersey. Least, you think it was his. Shit, was this Fred? Nope, Fred walked by. With Angelina. Phew. “George, do you need me to explain?” You asked, as he rubbed his neck nervously. Embarrassed he wasn’t instantly able to comfort, like it was his only job. “It’s a muggle thing, breathe.” And breathe he did, as he laid back down on the common room couch. With a quick run down, it clicked. He’s an inventor, they are good at thinking outside norms. “Oh! Oh man, that sounds stressful as hell. Hey, anyone starts shit-“ He gave a sharp click with his tongue, and made a shooting motion with his finger. “Consider them chucked into a vanishing closet.” And given he’s a Weasley, you didn’t underestimate him. So, instead, you hugged him. A big, warm, squeeze. Of course, it was returned. Oh those Weasleys.

Ron

“Would you be offended if I go ask Hermione what that means-?” Least he’s honest, and knew better to ask her than anyone else. Hard to ever get alone time with him, as he was glued to her and Harry. Surprised to catch him alone, for once, and took the chance while you could. Now to just look at your breakfast plate, nervous. “I’ll just explain it, the best I can.” You sighed, as you saw Ron wince a little. Feeling he did something wrong. “It’s a muggle thing-“ You quickly said, as he breathed a little easier. A few nervous gulps of juice, and many confused brows, it clicked. "Woah, that sounds terrible. I rememberer when Harry and i had to drink a polyjuice potion. we were still the same gender, and all, but my skin just felt so wrong. Everything was wrong. was just a suit, and i wanted to peel it off. Even if it hurt." You had to stare. That was just so accurate to how you felt. Your eyes watered. “Did I say something wrong, again-? I’m sorry about-“ But you hugged him, with your eyes in his shoulder. Don’t get Ron started on how many times he’s had to be the shoulder for Harry. So, like a time turners clockwork, he held you back. Comforting you. Someone got it.

Ginny

“Think I’m that to-“ Ginny said, as you two just laid in the grass. Just trying to relax, from a long school day. “Like, maybe it’s just because I was raised by a bunch of brothers. Just, being JUST a girl feels weird. Like I’m more than that, I’m not JUST that. Maybe I’m feeling something else entirely. Never been the same, after that book.” She admits, ready to stress her out all over again. Voldemort did a number on her. What a way to start Hogwarts. Damn. “Well, maybe don’t think about it too hard. It’s both super complicated, but not at the same time. It’s more a feeling than anything else. You can be born it, or maybe over time it changes. Maybe by tomorrow you feel something else. Then, the next day it changes.” You tried to explain, as you watched the clouds. “Yeah, like magic.” She agreed, as she looked to her broomstick next to her. Thinking back to her childhood. “Maybe I am a guy, but Mum being so excited to have a girl just….Made me feel like I HAD to be….” God was that relatable. “Trans buddies?” You asked, and offered a hand. In a playful solidarity. You figured that would comfort her, or maybe now he. “Yeah, Trans buddies.” Ginny smiled, as you shared hands. “Jean sounds nice.” Ginny said. “Jean does sound nice.” You agreed.

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lefarte · 1 month ago

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Can i ask how funger 2 or 1 characters which you can choose react to an enigmatic reader who is a yellow mage who makes very smooth moves like pure silk while also holding a very calm and nonchalant expression?

Yeas :3 I’m catching up with some of the older requests in my inbox

Abella

She’s enthralled by your mystery… it makes her think of a romance story.

She doesn’t know much of anything about yellow mages so she’d be making up fantasies in her head. And her crush on you makes her think of you as way stronger than you actually are. “Do you live in a castle?… have you ever flown through the sky?… Can you shapeshift?” “😐?”

Abella wants to try dancing with you. She’s actually pretty good, and can hold a rhythm well. Though she’s not perfect, she’s moreso happy to blow off steam. It’s been years since she last danced, and she’s never danced with anyone but her little siblings.

As the war picked up, things were so dour that she forgot what it was like to have a crush. She gets giddy easily. Like sometimes she’ll be outside pacing or lying on the bed kicking her feet because she feels like a girl again.

She likes that you’re kind of stoic. It makes her feel extra special if she can get you to talk, or especially to smile.

Abella would take some interest in learning magic, but ultimately have little talent for it, which frustrates her. But, she is okay with her fighting in the front and you staying behind doing magic. She’s a little insecure about way of fighting being less… elegant. But if it works, it works. She’d rather not fight unless she has to, anyway.

I can see her picking you up and throwing you so you can do a cool little landing and impress people. She’ll also carry you on her shoulders like a parrot. Basically I can see her just manhandling you in general, picking you up and giving you surprise hugs and kisses.

Pav

Pav doesn’t like people who don’t react to him.

He also doesn’t like magic or magic wielders in general. He used to be firmly against the idea of magic existing, though things have changed, of course. I still imagine him being cautious. You have a weapon that he doesn’t understand, and he doesn’t like that.

After a while he understands that you won’t attack unless provoked. He still can’t help but test that line though. Would you kill him if he threatened you? Mocked you? Threatened someone else? …Poked you?

After a few minutes of conversation he would get annoyed that his normal Bremen-soldier shtick isn’t working, and wander away with his tail between his legs.

Every encounter after that he tries to prod at you to get a reaction. After some point it stops being about asserting dominance over you and more out of curiosity. Trying to study you.

I think Pav has a very rigid sense of hierarchy, so he could very quickly acknowledge your skills, and if you were working together he would take orders from you. Quietly. He wouldn’t act deferentially towards you, he’s still going to try to pick at you. But he acknowledges that you are helpful. Helpful. That’s all.

Also I think that Pav is frightened of ghosts. The orphanage is his worst nightmare. He’s standing unusually close to you, who just so happens to be the only one able to kill the ghost girl. For no particular reason.

If he thinks that you’ll have a reaction he’ll do anything, so you can push him into the direction of embarassing himself if you want to be mean….

For example, if you fake going to grab a hat, like “oh that’s a cute hat” he’ll snatch it up out of your hands and put it on immediately. And then he’s stuck wearing an ugly hat. And your party will laugh at him.

Samarie

Samarie knows about yellow mages due to her studies. Though she has interest in the teachings, the philosophy isn’t for her. She quite likes the few mortal possessions she has, the small tethers to the real world rather than the magic she was born into.

Two similarly quiet people but both on the opposite ends of the spectrum. One nervous wreck Samarie who freaks out over everything and one completely chill you. She needs to hold you like a teddy bear while hyperventilating after every monster encounter.

Samarie could never do the danse macabre - or any dance for that matter. She’s too weak and gangly from malnutrition, all her movements are a little clumsy. She’s more of a Sylvian girl than a Grogoroth girl… if you want to dance with her you’ll have to put her on your back, or hold her bridal carry. (She’s tall but light, it won’t be a problem.)

Sometimes you will have entire conversations just by staring at each other like this 😐 and the other contestants will find it SO weird. Well, Samarie can read minds but that doesn’t count. She’s staring at your eyes the whole time and spacing out.

Sharing your magic studies! Trading skin bibles! She shows you little tricks she picked up from the Ninth Circle, and you show her things you learned from your travels!

Since Samarie was raised in captivity underground, she wants to hear everything about life outside. She gets such a calm and peaceful look when she sees the visions of your travels in your head. She will plead with you to hear all of your stories and see all of the memories from your eyes. Her heart starts beating so fast with excitement, feeling like she’s there with you.

Samarie will never be able to see the world outside, she is already reaching the end of her lifespan. She loves small things, like trinkets and souvenirs. She doesn’t smile a whole lot, but she gives you a nervous little grin.

#fear and hunger x reader #fear and hunger termina x reader #I hope this was good I tried my best #but I struggled with it a bit

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ofstarsandflames · 5 months ago

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Hello all! Thank you for joining me for my first ever RobStar week! And thank you even more so for giving my fic a chance!!!

I plan to participate every day this week, but if I am unable to for some reason I'll be sure to let you know!

Sorry for the rambling! I'll let you go ahead and jump right in!

[Heads up! A little of the dialogue in this story is courtesy of a prompt by @welcometothewoes!]

RobStar Week 2024, Day 1

Friends to Lovers

“Well, what do you guys think?”

The others looked ahead to the sign where Robin was pointing, displaying a variety of mixed reactions.

Cyborg and Beast Boy had lit up at the reveal, no doubt eager to partake in a series of competitions that would supposedly prove who was superior between the two. Raven rolled her eyes, no doubt dreading the thought of being dragged into Cyborg and Beast Boy’s antics

Starfire’s reaction, strangely enough, was the most passive of the group. She looked up, reading the words displayed on the giant glowing sign.

“Jump City Beach Boardwalk?” Star tilted her head, confused more than anything else. “Please, what is the purpose of these “walking boards”? I was under the impression wood was not sentient.”

“Boardwalk, Star.” Robin gently corrected. “It’s an amusement park near a beach where people can go to have fun.”

“A park for amusement, you say.” Starfire noted. “Fascinating. Please, what is it you do in these kinds of parks?”

“Lots of things Star!” Beast Boy chimed in. “There’s a bunch of themed junk food you can eat, games you can win cool prizes in, and a bunch of rides you can go on ‘til you get sick!”

“How ‘bout a little game of friendly competition, Grass Stain?” Cyborg chimed in, a mischievous glint in his human eye. “Whoever wins the most prizes gets to plan next week’s dinner menu?”

“You're on, Gears for Brains!” Beast Boy exclaimed.

Cyborg ran through the gates first, eager for his 7-day barbecue dream to come true. Beast Boy followed suit, but not before grabbing Raven’s hand.

“C’mon, Rae! You can keep score!”

“Joy.”

Raven’s sarcasm, whether unnoticed or ignored, did little to deter the green teen. Together, they passed through the boardwalk’s gates.

And with that, only two remained.

Robin gestured to the boardwalk’s entrance.

“Shall we?”

Though Starfire was still unsure of the appeal of such a place, she decided to trust Robin’s judgment.

Standing side by side, the duo made their way through the gates.

~~~

“Remember guys, only 5 prizes per person. We don’t want a repeat of last year…”

Though Robin phrased it as a general statement, they all knew who it was meant for. Cyborg and Beast Boy laughed nervously, no doubt trying to hide their guilty expressions. Raven rolled her eyes and Starfire let out a small giggle.

“Only 5, got it!” Cyborg reaffirmed.

Now that he no longer felt guilty about last year’s prize incident, the cybernetic teen led his shapeshifting and dark-clad friends away. He shot a teasing look at their leader.

“Let’s go leave Robby for his date~” He said this in a sing-songy tone.

Robin glared, but he knew there was no ill intent. Cyborg laughed, all while Beast Boy grabbed Raven’s hand to excitedly show her how his favorite games and rides changed from last year.

Soon, all three were out of sight.

Robin let out a sigh of relief, happy to finally have some much needed alone time with his brand new girlfriend.

Turning to check on her, Robin could tell by Starfire’s beaming grin that she was in good spirits. In fact, she’d been wearing this expression since they first left the tower.

“Someone’s happy.” He playfully teased.

"Oh! Sorry, it's just..." Starfire perked up, the shining, uncontrollable smile still not leaving her features. "It's been awhile since I've been this... giddy."

Robin returned the smile twice fold, though his eyebrows shot up in the air.

"Really? We come to the boardwalk every year."

"Yes, but..." Star shyly held Robin's hand, intertwining their fingers. "Never like this."

Ah, so that’s what it was.

Robin could feel his cheeks warming up. Hoping it wasn’t too noticeable, he gave their intertwined hands a gentle squeeze for reassurance.

In a more than chivalrous mood, Robin gestured to the entrance with a little extra flair.

“After you, m’lady.”

Starfire giggled, returning the chivalry in kind.

“Thank you, kind sir.”

Together, one’s hand fitting so naturally with the other’s, the couple made their way through the amusement park’s entrance.

~~~

“Ready, you two?” Richard asked, a dramatic flair to his voice.

“Yeah!” A little boy exclaimed loudly, hands thrown into the air with glee.

“You sure?” Kori questioned, savoring the moment.

“Super duper sure!” A little girl replied, unable to contain her excitement.

Richard and Kori gave each other a knowing glance. At the same time, they removed the hands covering the eyes of the children they held.

“Surprise!” They both yelled out. “Happy Birthday!”

Jake and Mari, now an entire 7 years old, watched with wide eyes and slacked jaws at the birthday gift their parents presented them with.

“Wow / Awesome!” Jake and Mari remarked at the same time.

Squirming out of their parent’s hold, the twins ran up to the gates of the place their parents had brought them to. Right there, in giant, bold letters, displayed the words:

JUMP CITY BEACH BOARDWALK

Eager to begin exploring the beach and amusement park, the children ran back to their parents. Jake took hold of their father’s hand whilst Mari took hold of their mother’s. Together, all four walked hand-in-hand inside through the boardwalk’s gates.

#RobStar Week 2024 #RobStar #canon rewrite #my universe #my fic #teen titans 2003 #robin #starfire #raven #beast boy #cyborg #mari grayson #jake grayson #RobStar Week

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crisiscutie · 3 months ago

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Have you ever written about Seph w/ a succubus Darling?

If not I would love to hear your take on it :)

In my head succubus Darling would be able to take whatever physical form their partner desired (sort of like a horny shapeshifter i guess? lol) and I imagine with someone like Seph that could be … intriguing 👀

So JENOVA if it was horny lol i kid

No, I hadn't, but it's an interesting idea for sure, as Sephiroth is a man not so easily impressed.

Since Succubus Darling will need to take on a physical form, then there are going to be some set features.

Perhaps they take on a form of a woman with long, brown hair? And with mako-colored eyes like his? And they wear the typical SOLDIER uniform, but fight with their fists? A personality that is chirpy but also introspective. Free cookies if you guess which characters traits these were lifted from.

I can see this idea working in a prompt where Sephiroth is on a mission during the spooky season and he notices a second class SOLDIER performing really well, killing all the monsters faster than he could. He'd certainly never heard of this person before, but then again, there's already so many people in SOLDIER. He is invigorated by their appearance and fighting skills. So many things about them that are unusual and familiar to him, he can't put his finger on it.

Succubus Darling would be trying so HARD to hide that cute tail of theirs. It tends to get erect whenever Sephiroth is falling closer and closer into their honey trap but they silently curse whenever they mess up and he retreats to his reserved facade xD. They won't be able to reveal it and their normal skimpy, curvy form until the time is right to have the War Hero for once and for all.

I can see this being a fluffy and maybe frisky 👀 prompt to work on!

#sephiroth #ff7 sephiroth #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #sephiroth x reader #final fantasy x reader

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tiredlilguy · 1 year ago

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Uhhhh mayhaps for your requests can I request the flags (either separately or altogether) x reader with an ability like Natsume? Like they can shapeshifter into a cat (or other animals even, dog, bird etc) Just fluffy hcs! 💕💕

a/n: hello!!! this is honestly such an interesting request, i decided to brew on it for a little bit. i wanted to give each of the Flags a separate animal >:D so enjoy! [i imagined that the abilites worked similar to atsushi's where sometimes you can have some physical parts of the animal still on you by will]

pairing(s): The Flags (separately) X GN!Reader cw: lots of talk about murder, but besides that not proofread desc: just some fluffy/general hc's with you are their animal shape-shifting partner!

Pianoman:

you are a goose! (A white feathered goose to be specific)

Why? Because apparently gooses are a symbol of perfection (the internet’s take, not mine-)

I was actually going to change this until I realized that 1. Geese can be violent and 2. This is actually highkey a perfect animal for disguise… sort of

You are the Mafia’s spy/assassin goose

Let’s be real here, I can see that actually kind of being badass, ok? Imagine you’re just chilling at the park, and you don’t even know that you’re being spied on by A GOOSE!!!

You got wings if your ability is a little stubborn to deactivate. They’re very pretty :) Pianoman admires them; will ask to get your clothes tailored so they can sprout out when you’re relaxed

Enjoys the warmth when you wrap your wings around him; he’ll let out a soft hum too

Pianoman will sometimes place a pretty red ribbon with a bell on it around your neck in your full goose form so that he doesn’t lose track of you, your small in your goose form! He wants to make sure he can hear your waddling and the bell too (*a;ldkfj;alskdjf fluffy pianoman thoughts*)

I can see him helping you prune your wings as well; having the goose as an ability is nice until you get sudden back pain :(

He’ll take a seat behind you while you are sitting at the end of the bed shirtless and help you pluck old feathers (and whatever else he can do without hurting you too much)

You always apologize for making him do all of this for you as his hands are already calloused from counting money, but he doesn’t mind as long as it’s you

Pianoman would reassure you by placing a kiss on the side of your head while continuing to help you

Yeah, your full goose form is really cute, but also… he’s very aware of how deadly you can be

Sharp teeth and big wings… you could potentially lure someone to death if you wanted

He enjoys hearing how you kill people, finds it impressive too!

I feel like he’d enjoy giving you a lot of cute chokers in your human/goose form :D he sometimes gets creative and changes up the colors/ruffles/shape of the bell

A;sldkfj;asldkf I feel like he likes to play piano/sing to you if you’re around in your goose form; he’ll smile as he watches you waddle around a bit before turning back into your human form

Hyonk (im sorry I was being a silly goose with this one) [that was solandiss’s joke]

Lippmann:

you are a fox!

I can see you making the little cute noises that fox’s make when they’re trying to talk

He understands what you’re trying to say, and only him; it’s like both of your own secret language :3 (he just responds back to you in a human language though-)

Likes to pet you in your full-fox form, he enjoys how soft you are and you enjoy laying in his lap because he’s warm

Would tease you if you think you’re in you have your tail/ears out while you’re in somewhat of a human form

He’d probably pull on them at first, not believe that they’re real, you’d probably yelp and slap his hand away

He still does that, but pulls more gently :) he likes hearing the little noises you make

You’re probably a lot faster than him sometimes if you’re both on a mission together

Imagining him trying to be stealthy, but he’s kind of slow in your eyes, so you quickly turn into a fox and run off

He’s happy to see you bringing back a freshly bloody hand from your mouth and placing it at his feet

Idk why, but I can see him making you little boots for your paws when you’re in your fox form… you don’t wear them at first, but one day it gets cold so you put them on (you tried to make it so he couldn’t see you, but he saw… he has a photo of it

Likes to caress your cheek and look at your eyes; they may still look a little bit animalistic after using your fox form, but he loves you all the same (probably thinks it’s hot…)

Will groom you in your fox form because it not only soothes you, but enjoys watching you fully relax in his lap

Iceman:

you are a wolf! (Specifically a grey wolf)

He doesn’t say much, and neither do you when you’re in your wolf form, but he enjoys having you around when you’re in your wolf form

You’re both literally perfect for each other

Iceman’s a pretty stealthy person, and while a wolf is kind of obvious in public, you both probably look badass as hell next to each other

He’ll like… point at the person you both have to kill and you’ll instantly lunge at them and like… violently rip their head off

You’re probably like… really warm to him; even if you’re in your full human form, you’re just an absolute heater

He’ll enjoy the warmth from you, wrapping his strong arms around you and nuzzling his nose into your shoulder

Iceman likes to pet you a lot, but he’s the only person that you let do that to you

Is impressed by your vision at night, mainly because he can’t see out of one of his eyes; so in that way, you’re both work quite well together

I can see a lot of soft eskimo kisses :))

You both don’t talk much, but you both also seem to know exactly what’s on each other’s mind; sort of similar to Lippmann’s, but you both don’t need to say a single word, just giving each other a single glance

A;lsdkfjas;ldkfj imagining you missing him if he’s away abroad, and him coming back and you tackling him in your wolf form =w= so cute

You got that dawg in u

Albatross:

YOU’RE A CROW! A BIG ASS CROW (I love crows so much guys)

You make the cool clicking noises in your crow form when he pats your stomach

Has a bird handling glove whenever you’re working together so that you can rest on his forearm; or sometimes he’ll just rawdog it and leave his arm out for you to land on (you gotta be gentle though, cause you could accidentally hurt him with your talons; he also just doesn’t mind though)

Tries to feed you birdseed/nuts as a joke when your on his arm; you usually spit them back at his face because bruh, but sometimes you’ll eat them

Thinks you’re human-sized wings in your half-human form is COOL ASF

He’ll be mouth-wide open, shiny eyed at your human-sized black wings (that’s how he fell in love)

Will sometimes purposely put himself into dangerously high spots so you can fly him away; it scares the shit out of you, but he just wants to see your ability in action

Your wings are probably fucking… STRONG ASF; he’s impressed by how fast you can get around sometimes

Alb is an expert pruner; why? Because I said so

Will know when your wings are pruning before you can even feel it, and he knows how to take care of you so well that you barely even remember having back pain

Will always massage your back after long missions though, he does worry about you despite his silly attitude

Likes to fly a plane and see you fly with him; he knows it’s you in a heartbeat because you’re crow form is just very familiar to him

Likes to pet you in your crow form a lot, enjoys the satisfied noises that you make when he’s petting you

Has one of your feather’s on a necklace ;-; or sometimes he’ll pluck one to put in his braid (a;sldkfa;jsdf I love him)

CACAW!!

Doc:

you are a snakey (a python to be specific)

He loves you sm, like genuinely, he thinks you’re so fucking cool

Will wear you as a necklace in your snake form, it gives Lippmann the chills, but Doc knows you won’t hurt him

You are a little heavy though… but he doesn’t mind ofc because you’re also very warm (he is cold, plz warm him up)

Likes seeing you around the Mafia in your snake form and scaring the newbies; he thinks it’s hilarious asf

Your venom interests him in his collections of poisons, will ask if he can milk your venom for research (I know this sounds weird, but it’s actually the correct term)

Likes watching you sink your teeth into your enemies, finds it satisfying as they shiver and eventually die

Thinks your little tongue peeking out is cute in a way, will comment on how cute you are while the flags kinda look at him sideways (more so Chuuya)

Idk where I got this idea, but he’d crochet you little hats; sometimes seasonal sometimes not

If you’re in your human form, you probably have rly sharp fangs, they kind of peak out a little bit out of your mouth (he also thinks that’s cute)

Finds you fascinating, but he loves you very much :DDD

Chuuya:

you are a dog (specifically a doberman)

A;lkdfj;alksdjf Y E S

You’re both very protective of each other, but you have the better hearing (which he’s a little bit grumpy for not having)

Likes to pet you, a lot :D especially if you did well on a job

Custom collars and chokers; you’ll have a matching one like his :DDD

You both look badass asf together, and so you obviously gotta be matching

However, a lot of dog jokes from Dazai… unfortunately, but it’s ok, you can just beat him up I guess

I can see him enjoying petting you when he gets stressed out, you calm him down in a way

I would have more ideas, but my brain is fried, so have this

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frozenjokes · 6 months ago

Text

Two Touchy Mermaids Fail To Communicate With The Most Obnoxious People You’ve Ever Met In Your Life

pronouns get a little weird. clarification in ao3 notes

Something was different today. Something was going to happen.

Grian and Scar were restless, but Mumbo was pretty sure it was an excited sort of restlessness, the type where you couldn’t sit still, where you couldn’t stop smiling.

They were trying to explain something to him as well; a thing called Etho, which seemed important, but neither of them were doing a very good job of actually telling him what an Etho was besides the fact that it was good, indicated by constant thumbs up motions. But beyond Mumbo’s own frustration, that was exciting too! They were preparing for something, someone even, maybe another human? In truth, the idea of a new human made Mumbo quite nervous, but if Grian and Scar trusted them, surely Mumbo could too. He didn’t think they’d do anything to jeopardize the safety of his cove, but humans weren’t the most intelligent of creatures.

There was something about mermaids as well. Scar kept trying to tell him something about mermaids. Yes, Scar, I am a mermaid. That is what you call me. Yes I know mermaids are good. Yes I know an Etho is good, what are you trying to say here.

Scar had also brought an extra bag that Mumbo hadn’t seen before, though unfortunately he was very protective over it, not leaving its side and making some sort of hissing sound when Mumbo got too close. Given how Grian laughed at the noise, Mumbo got the impression that it was not a normal human vocalization, just an attempt at mimicry. Scar looked happy with himself though, and that was cute. After being given a new human device (Fidget Cube, it was called), Mumbo left him alone. This tool was fascinating; it seemed to serve no purpose at all! Was it a puzzle? Oh, he adored these! It looked a little like some mermaid puzzles, but so much smaller. Mumbo would figure it out.

This preoccupied him for quite a while (making no progress- how difficult did human puzzle cubes get? Was there a human secret he was missing? At least it felt good to play with), but he jolted up when Scar yelled, waving at the water. Mumbo’s fins flicked, confused, but raised when he saw a massive ripple over the top of the water, then a dark shadow just beneath the surface. Far too big to be a fish.

“Etho! I- Mumbo-“ Scar didn’t have to say any more before Mumbo dove forward to investigate, fins raised and teeth gently bared, wariness which only heightened when he saw exactly who was on the other side of the lake.

‘I’m friendly. I’m friendly.’ Ghost whistled, fins tight against their body and head low in a submissive posture, as if Mumbo didn’t already know better. ‘I’m-‘

Mumbo launched after the other mermaid, Ghost frozen in a moment of terror before turning tail in a flurry of bubbles. But Mumbo was bigger, faster, and Ghost had to maneuver downward in a sharp turn to escape Mumbo’s teeth in their tail. Not here. Not now. No one would be permitted to enter his cove, not when his humans were present. Especially shapeshifting not-mermaids. Unfortunately, Ghost had pivoted down and away from the outlet back to the river, so Mumbo would need to corral them more effectively on the second try.

But Ghost wasn’t trying to escape to the deeper part of the lake like Mumbo had anticipated; the area with more cover, more room to swim. They were going to the shore.

The course correction was awkward, but once Mumbo straightened himself out he was flying after Ghost. The mer was sprinting like their life depended on it, but Mumbo was quicker, catching up from below just as the sand started to brush his stomach and rearing upward in a flash of teeth, tearing at Ghost's tail. Mumbo wanted to flip them around, drag them by the tail back where they came from, but unsurprisingly, Ghost did not make this easy, thrashing and snapping and being extraordinarily difficult.

Muffled yelling from the surface turned sharper every time Mumbo was spun above the water, Ghost writhing in desperate circles to force Mumbo to let go, but Mumbo didn’t process the movement in the water before something attached itself to his back, making him rear back above the surface in startled surprise.

“SCAR!” was the first thing Mumbo heard, the shrillest shriek he’d ever heard out of Grian’s mouth, but he didn’t have time to think when Ghost was shooting away toward the beach and something was crushing the fins on his back and wrapping around his neck-

Mumbo slammed himself into the sand, rolling through as he fought a sharp panic, but Ghost was escaping, they were going to-

All rational thought went out the window when The Something found the lip of his gills, pulling with uncoordinated movement and sending fiery shots of pain down his neck and chest. Mumbo slammed himself against the sand twice more, but the thing just wouldn’t untangle. The delayed realization that he could use his arms hit fiercely, but before he could rip off whatever it was that had latched itself onto his back, splashing outside of his own caught his periferie, the clumsiness of a human racing through the water unmistakable.

“Mumbo! Stop- stop! Fucking fuck FUCKING Scar FUCK. Mumbo!” Before Mumbo could even recognize Grian in front of him, something blunt slammed against the side of his head, then his shoulder- ow- Mumbo hissed, confusion rattling his brain more than hostility, then something else yelled, really loud directly into his ear, but the thing did drop off his back- had Grian done that?

Oh. The thing was Scar. AAA! That was Scar!

Mumbo jumped away with a start, fins tense and quivering. Scar was sitting dazed in the water, shirt torn and tattered from being crushed against Mumbo’s sharp fins- skin- most of him was sharp, actually. He was bleeding everywhere, but closer inspection revealed the injuries were mostly scrapes, the worst of it on his arms from pushing against Mumbo’s rough skin as well as Scar’s neck and upper chest area which had probably been poked and punctured by Mumbo’s hair. Goodness gracious. What was he thinking!?

‘Scars! Never in my many years have I ever met anyone as eager to die as you! What is wrong with your head? I could have killed you!’

“What is your fucking problem!?” Grian started speaking to Scar at nearly the same time, who at this point was not looking very amused, ignoring the both of them in their continued tirades as he stood up, brushing sand off his torn shirt and limping to the shore.

“That was stupid, Scar,” Mumbo whipped up when he heard Ghost’s voice, their human voice, but Scar didn’t look concerned at all, meandering right up to the bush where the other mermaid was cowering in the shade. Ghost’s tail was tucked away where Mumbo couldn’t see, but the small trail of blood across the beach indicated he’d still done some damage. “I told you. Territorial. Not sure how I’m going to get out of here now, so.”

“I’m sorry then.” Scar huffed, hunching his shoulders as he plopped into the sand. Mumbo hissed, somewhat uncertain now, but stopped with a few startled clicks when Grian grabbed at his hand to get his attention, letting go as quickly as contact was made.

“No. That’s Etho. Good.” Grian gave him a firm thumbs up, to which Mumbo returned with a thumbs down, to which Grian returned to a thumbs up, to which-

‘I’m sorry for our first meeting. I did not realize we shared idiot friends. I did not think we would meet again. Which, for the record, was not my idea. I was stuck somewhere poor. Needed a secluded place with access to land. If it’s any consolation, I thought this was a terrible idea. Humans don’t think. They only want.’ Ghost made a motion with their hand that Mumbo didn’t understand, but Scar seemed to take offense, slapping at the gesture. Ghost didn’t mind, fins unchanging.

Mumbo’s fins flicked, unsure, but above all, deeply confused. How could Grian and Scar know another mermaid- neither of them had brought it up before. Well. In fairness, Ghost wasn’t really.. ‘You are not a mermaid.’

Ghost shrugged, a human gesture, ‘Part time.’

‘This makes no sense.’

‘It’s best if you just accept that you won’t understand. I also do not understand. The bad human you met before has the power to do as he wishes with me. Usually I am human, but I have been stuck as a mer in recent days, unable to contact the bad human. Though I did grow up in this form before being trapped on the surface. I know the language, obviously. Unfortunately, I happen to be good friends with-“ Ghost stopped for a moment, ‘What do you call them?’ Ghost flicked their fins in Scar’s direction.

‘Scars.’

Ghost made an odd sound, that weird wheezing noise, mimicking a human laugh, ‘I forgot. It means the same thing in the human language, isn’t that funny?’

Mumbo blinked, fins flaring for a short moment of surprise, ‘What? That’s a cruel name for a child, you must be mistaken.’

‘He named himself.’

‘Why?’

‘Genuinely, I do not know.’ Ghost narrowed their eyes, and Mumbo saw a teasing flick of his tail even obscured by the brush, ‘If it’s so cruel, why did you choose it?’

Mumbo puffed up, embarrassed, ‘They put me on the spot. Wanted mermaid names. Just went with the first short word I saw.’ Mumbo gestured with a soft motion to Scar, ‘They still can’t say it, but I think it would be more confusing to change. Now though, I don’t think Scars minds.’

“You two friends yet?” Scar cut in, grabbing Ghost’s attention away, but they only made that shrugging motion again.

“I don’t think he wants to kill me anymore.”

“That’s great news!”

‘Okay, wait a minute-‘ Mumbo struggled to cut in, unused to having so much competition while speaking, ‘I don’t understand any of this-‘

‘You won’t.’ Ghost cut him off, curt.

‘How do you change?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘How do you not know? Will the bad human come back?’

‘Forces beyond my control. They might, but if I’m given advance warning I will leave and you won’t have to worry about them. Assuming I will stay, which I won’t.’

“What are you saying?” Grian finally spoke up, blatant in his interruption as all humans seemed to be, but Ghost waved him off.

“I’m telling him I’m going to leave as soon as I’m healed. Shouldn’t be long now, Joel will take care of it.”

“What? Why! You’re already here!” Grian jumped up, and Mumbo sidled away from the high energy.

“Etho! Solitaire, Etho! Etho. Remember solitaire?” Scar joined in, taking Ghost’s hand in a way that made Mumbo cringe.

Etho flicked their fins. “He doesn’t want me here.”

“Mumbo totally wants you here! It was just a misunderstanding- isn’t it?” Grian turned to Mumbo, and it took a couple moments before Mumbo even realized he was being addressed. “Right?”

Mumbo flicked his fins with a short huff, and Ghost made a similar motion, whistling, ‘Do you want me here?’

‘No.’

“He said no.”

“To what? What did you ask him?” Grian waded back to the shore, his interest acutely on Ghost now.

“You two are insufferable and this was a horrible idea. My regrets are many.”

“No! Nononono!” Scar seemed quite distressed, touching and tapping Etho’s shoulders and face and arms and how did they stand that? “Mumbo! Etho.” Scar proceeded to point at Ghost with great urgency, giving Mumbo many thumbs up so it was clear exactly what he was trying to convey. Once Grian made it to the sand he made similar motions, equally enthusiastic in his strained excitement. Scar continued, “Etho! This is Etho! Etho is good. Good! Good guy, very good. Etho! Good!”

‘Etho’s’ fins were pinned all the way back, eyes closed in irritation. Mumbo huffed, keeping his own thumb firmly down and struggling not to be charmed by both humans’ great reaction of slapstick distress.

‘Pests.’ Ghost said.

‘Pests.’ Mumbo had to agree. Couldn’t the two of them see how much they were bugging Ghost? Or- Etho as they were called, weren’t they. That was their human name. Human. A part human with human friends. How did that work?

Scar continued babbling to Etho while Grian seemed to be trying to communicate with Mumbo, but honestly, Mumbo didn’t care that much, his wariness of Etho turning over to curiosity. Not curious enough to feel bad about biting them, but curious regardless. Anyone would be.

‘You speak human?’

Etho stared at Mumbo for a long time, entirely ignoring both Grian and Scar making fools of themselves between them. After a very long pause, Etho finally answered, ‘Yes.’

‘You can translate?’

Mumbo didn’t think Etho could look any more irritated, but he was proven incredibly wrong when Etho’s pressed-flat fins began to quiver. ‘Technically.’

“What is he saying?” Grian.

‘What are they saying?’

“You’re both asking for translations, all three of you are pests, and you have about three games of solitaire to convince me to stay.” Etho started to translate what they’d said for Mumbo, but the clearing exploded into noise before they could finish. Scar and Grian were tripping over themselves to convince Etho of- something, and one moment of shared eye contact was all it took for Mumbo to understand this was going too far. Well. Mumbo knew a place where Etho could get some space.

With a flick of his tail, Mumbo gestured to the water. Both humans missed it, but Etho got the message, bracing themself before pushing forward, pointedly slapping both Grian and Scar with their tail and shooting into the water.

While this caused quite a bit of commotion on the shore, he and Etho didn’t hear very much of it, swimming deeper where the sound of unhappy humans would not reach. Mumbo slowed his pace once they were far enough away though, partially due to Etho’s injury (which didn’t look nearly as bad as Mumbo had thought; holding on with his teeth for so long would have caused a lot more damage wouldn’t it? Now it only looked like a scratch; Etho must have really tough scales!), but also quite aware of Etho’s intent as they swam in the direction of the outlet to the river. He still had questions. Time he intended to buy.

‘You weren’t born human? You come from the ocean?’

Etho’s fins jerked in acknowledgment of the words or maybe surprise, but either way they still took their time answering. Not unusual for mermaids, but a little stressful when time was so limited.

‘I come from the ocean. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the deep, but I do not miss it.’

‘You don’t?’

‘I’ve found my place.’

‘Do you have friends? Family? Do they know where you’ve gone? I could take a message if you’re trapped.’

‘Not necessary. I left the deep of my own will long before this happened to me.’

Mumbo paused in his swimming, concern disrupting his pace, ‘And you don’t miss it? At all?’

Etho swam a little faster, irritation rippling through their fins. ‘It doesn’t matter how I feel. Nothing will change.’

Well that seemed like answer enough, didn’t it. Even setting out to leave the deep of your own will, there was still the option of returning. Of visiting, even if you don’t intend on staying. Plenty of mers venture to different seas; open skies, warmer waters; there’s plenty of reason to travel, and beyond that, plenty of reason to leave. The deep was not a perfect place. It was dark and cold and often unexciting. Not counting the time his tail was sprained, Mumbo had never eaten better than when he was near the surface- had never felt better; it was like this is where he was meant to be. Where mermaids were meant to be.

But the deep had heart. It had love and song and strangers who would fight for you tooth and nail without even knowing your name. Mumbo didn’t know many mers’ names actually, but he still knew dozens by shape, song, and skill. He was known similarly; the eccentric mer who liked to visit the surface, greeted upon his return with amused and/or exasperated chirps and clicks. And that was lovely. To have mers know you, recognize you, and swim beside you in a silently nosey gesture, wondering what you brought home this time.

‘I would miss it.’

Etho bared their teeth and Mumbo slowed his pace, letting Etho widen the gap between them. ‘Congratulations.’

‘I only say it because I have things from home. I brought them for the humans to show. You’re welcome to them. To look or to keep.’

Etho stopped short.

Their tail waved idly, keeping control over their place in space, but other than that they were still, thought rippling ever so slowly through their fins. Mumbo wondered what they were thinking. What they might be hoping to see. Etho was silent for a long while and Mumbo maintained the respectful distance between them while they processed.

‘What do you have?’

Mumbo left them without another word, motioning for Etho to stay. As much as Mumbo sympathized with the.. whatever was going on with them.. he still didn’t want Etho anywhere near his hideaway.

But Mumbo did get homesick. He couldn’t imagine not being able to go home at all.

As quickly as he could Mumbo returned with his bag, the bulky thing strapped a tad awkwardly over his shoulder. It had been a pain in the ass to lug up to the surface, but Mumbo had imagined how excited his humans would be when he showed them his trinkets, and that had made the weight feel a little lighter. This was even better.

Settling on an outcrop close to the surface but far from the shore, Mumbo undid the straps. Neither of them needed to speak. Away from humans, it was easier to remember the twitches and flicks that meant ‘it’s okay,’ ‘go ahead,’ ‘yes,’ ‘no.’ There was nothing to distract them, nothing loud and hyperactive to take the attention away from each other, disrupting an integral part of their language. A brush of fins asking ‘Can I?’ just as if they were in the dark. Of course Etho could, and Mumbo let himself drift back, still holding the bag down but giving Etho a little space.

Etho did not want Mumbo to know how they felt. They kept their fins stick stiff, not relaxed, never relaxed, but Mumbo could still see it in the quiver of Etho’s fingers, the suppressed twitching of their pale fins. Mumbo saw it in the care Etho lent to the mer tools for building and for tinkering, the children’s toys, the notoriously uncomfortable clay paint Mumbo was pretty sure all mers hated but still wore to nice events regardless. Etho stopped short at the puzzle box Mumbo produced specifically for them to see, delighted to see a wave of emotion break through Etho’s stubborn facade as they took the toy in their hands, immediately beginning to fidget with it.

‘I used to love these,’ they said, the first words between the two of them in ages. Mumbo didn’t need to speak to communicate his agreement, basking in the relief of this, of silence, of not having to speak like humans do. Briefly, Mumbo mourned the loss of his own puzzle cube, the human puzzle, but excitement overtook him once more when he realized how entertained he’d be trying to find it again. For now though, he was content to watch Etho fiddle with the mer puzzle, the child-esc joy delightfully palpable. Etho solved it quickly, separating the two pieces to reveal the caged pearl inside, the indicator you had won. They clicked the toy back together, placing it back in Mumbo’s bag before continuing to explore it with great enthusiasm, fins twitching and waving and flicking in the wake of their broken facade.

All movement stopped the moment Etho’s hand found something Mumbo couldn’t yet see, fins flattening as they pulled the small music box from the bag. The instrument was delicate of course, not just thrown haphazardly inside but stored in an intricate box, the engravings of which any mermaid would recognize. They were items of great importance; spiritual, educational tools, or otherwise, and mermaids often kept copies of their favorite songs for when they were alone, when they needed a song that no one was around to sing for them.

Mumbo had brought two, intending on giving them as gifts. For Scar he chose Healing, which he figured was appropriate. For Grian; the box Etho held now, Mumbo brought Love.

With utmost care, Etho gingerly removed the instrument from the box, winding it back with uncertain fingers. The focus they paid to the music box was intense, like they and the instrument were the only things on the planet, like Mumbo wasn’t even there. Finally, Etho let the music play, closing their eyes as they listened. It lasted a while; Etho had winded it quite far, maybe to make sure it looped in its entirety.

But the waters were quiet and calm, and Mumbo didn’t mind at all. He waited until the notes tapered off to speak, gently disturbing the trance laid out over the water as Etho moved to wind the box again.

‘Do you want to sing?’

Etho, whose fins had relaxed at this point, lowered them once more, tail swishing in an uncertain ‘No’ gesture. ‘It’s been too long. I’m no good.’

‘Neither am I. Nearly failed all my classes.’

Etho looked skeptical, an expression that said ‘Really.’ without words.

‘No, not exactly. But my memory is abysmal and I can never bring myself to practice. Really bites me in the tail when I have to do.. anything at all. I keep accidentally putting those humans to sleep!’

Etho found that amusing, but their fins soon fell, discomfort twitching across their back. They glanced at the music box in their hands, fingers dancing around the crank. Mumbo cocked his chin, ‘Go on,’ and Etho dipped their head, doing just that.

This time when the music played, Mumbo sang along.

After five more rounds of winding, Etho finally joined him, timid at first, but by the sixth go, they too were singing in earnest. Mumbo felt their stress flaking away like leaves on the wind, and he too felt a little bit lighter.

#hermitcraft #hermitcraft fic #hermitfic #gtws #grian #goodtimeswithscar #mumbo jumbo #etho #ethoslab #mumbomaid au

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holymaccaronii · 5 months ago

Note

im sorry i absolutly love BE

I see AM as a father figure for some struggles I got and BE is sooo well writed for me I couldnt help but slowly see her as a mother figure as well,,,,UGH i love her you writed her so well pls ramble more about her(BE and AM are even divorced just like my irl parents/j)

Ou anon you don't know how happy you make me when knowing you see AM and BE that way + asking me for rambles. Of course I'll ramble comforting facts abt BE and her behavior towards AM. I might've mentioned a few things before but i dont rlly mind. Have some rambles below the cut and a doodle :P

So first an introduction shall we? We might explain some background as well despite being repeated a lot. As her lore dictates, BE was born from the materials of a much bigger ai implanted on the moon after HEL-102 (former human that was part of the mission turned into a dictator) tore it apart and built his society + kingdom. She spent a good while in there being used as a role model (with other units like her too) for lower-class units to believe that, if they worked hard enough, they could achieve to be upgraded into her type of model. This being all a big lie. She lived a life seemingly flawless and perfect... but at last, it was her own curiosity, determination and hope that got her out of that hell she realized she was in. She eventually meets AM after a series of events on earth and she gifts him the ability to be anything and do anything he wanted, their relationship eventually grows and grows...

Facts about BE herself:

-Up in the moon, she used to accompany HEL-102 to his personal theater a lot. She gained an interest for dancing in there + learned her classic "to be or not to be" phrase during a play.

-Her exposed cables showcase their current temperature thru colors. Her core/closed body is the warmest area, thus why you can see red/orange colors in there. Her hair and arms are the most stable areas, but if touched/affected they can vary on color patterns. This also means that she can give you a warm or cool hug whenever you need it c:

-BE is able to configure your body to dream about something specific, and she uses this feature to avoid any nightmares on her survivors. As long as there is not another evil ai trying to access your dreams, you'll get a guaranteed good rest.

-BE can grant you about any wish as long as it doesn't pose a threat to you, her, or anybody. Want to have a profession or be someone? Sure! Want to go somewhere and experience the place of your dreams? Of course! Want to have a cat? Have 15! Her power is limitless as long as she uses it above the surface.

-I headcanon her voice to be similar to the one of Rose Quartz (SU).

Facts about BEAM (yep that's their ship name):

-I have mentioned it many times alr but BE literally provided him anything he wished for and even things he didn't know he wanted... mainly to receive different forms of affection and the ability to shapeshift. Their relationship relies heavily on comfort from BE's part, since she believed he was abandoned and thus deserved all the affection she gave him.

-BE wasn't really allowed to be too affectionate or expressive up in the moon, but with AM, she could show as much love as she wanted.

-She was all in for physical and verbal demonstrations of affection. She LOVED to do stuff like face smooches, teeth smooches (since well yk about my AM), rubbing, scratching and cuddling.

-At some point she also started to call AM names such as dear, sweetheart or honey, and he initially had to eat these up to not give her his real-self impression, but as time passed by he got used to them.

-To comfort him she also used her abilities to create and transform matter with her code as well, allowing him to shapeshift and enjoy life not necessarily in a human body.

-Annnd you guessed it right anon, they do behave as motherly and fatherly figures towards the survivors, BE forming a bond with them ever since they proved their worth and values to her as humans, and AM forming a bond when they accepted to help him get back together with BE. The ending of that route gets even better but I won't spoil that :p

I hope these were good rambles and sorry for the wait tehee

#yapping. let me tell you how much I've come to love to yap ever since I created this au #ihnmaims #i have no mouth and i must scream #ihneaimc #be ihneaimc #i have no eyes and i must cry

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keldae · 10 months ago

Note

8. “If you give me a minute….I think I can make this worse.”

This was officially worse than the djinni incident, in Gale’s humble opinion.

First, he had been left in the camp that morning, when he’d woken up with a headache that wouldn’t abate, even with Shadowheart’s healing touch. He’d been forced to sit by while Devi had ventured out with Wyll, Astarion, and Jaheira – and the fretting about his beloved half-Elf did not ease his headache at all, even with Jaheira’s assurances that she wouldn’t let her “cub” get into too much trouble, despite Bhaalists and a psychotic shapeshifter in the form of Orin running around Baldur’s Gate.

An hour after the four had left, there had been what had to be the far-away, but still distinct sounds of a riot happening – yells, and explosions, and the too-familiar noises of a Steel Watcher mechanically issuing orders. Gale’s gut instincts told him that Devi was somehow involved.

The riot noises eventually subsided, and for a good portion of the day, it had been suspiciously peaceful around the camp. Gale’s headache still wasn’t going away, but after drinking an herbal tea that he’d sent Karlach to go barter for (thank Mystra that the tiefling had gotten the right one), it was almost bearable. He suspected he would be fine to accompany his beloved little thief in the morning on her next venture out into the city.

The Fist patrol stopping by the ramshackle camp was a surprise. The two guards had looked around the site for a minute, tilting their heads at Lae’zel and her impressive weapons collection, and blinking at the large owlbear cub (who Halsin, before his abduction, had named Garmus), and politely nodding at Dame Aylin and Isobel, before taking their leave. Apparently the nautiloid survivors weren’t the only adventurers to make their temporary residence in the run-down alleys of the Lower City – the Fist soldiers didn’t seem perturbed by their presence.

The two Guild members who had popped in about an hour later were another surprise. Gale felt his headache resurge when the dragonborn had asked about “a pretty half-Elf with her hands in everyone’s pockets, and a devil with a sword who looked a lot like a younger Duke Ravengard, and another particularly pale Elf with red eyes, and the older woman who was trying to corral the lot of them”. Eventually accepting that nobody left in the camp knew what the hells their friends had gotten into, the Guild members finally shrugged and walked off.

Then one of Jaheira’s adopted children had meandered in, took one look around for the High Harper, swore under her breath, and left the same way she’d come.

“Something’s gone wrong,” Gale said, fidgeting with his staff and ignoring Shadowheart trying to push him back to his tent. “Gods be damned, I should have gone with them!”

“You weren’t able to so much as sit up without your head trying to kill you until after noon!” Shadowheart retorted. “Sit down, or I’ll stuff a sleeping potion down your throat, Gale.”

Gale gifted the cleric with a scowl, then set to pacing through the camp, disregarding Shadowheart’s threat. “We need to find them. We should have set out when we first heard the pandemonium this morning. If we–”

“Baldur’s Gate’s a big city,” Karlach dubiously pointed out. “You really wanna go meandering down every street and back alley to find them? Jaheira and Devi can both blend into a crowd.”

“Wyll and Astarion both stand out though,” Lae’zel commented. “Unless there are other devils walking around the city with swords on their backs, or Elvish vampires. Surely we can find them.”

“Unless they’ve taken to the sewers again, or the rooftops,” Shadowheart said. She ignored Gale’s groan at the distinct possibility. “And gods help whoever tries to find someone in the sewers. If it were me, and I was being hunted by apparently everyone in the city, that’s where I would go.” She watched Gale pacing back and forth, and sighed. “Scratch, get Gale to sit down, will you?”

Scratch just barked inquisitively at Shadowheart, then trotted over to Isobel for pets.

“That wasn’t helpful,” Shadowheart muttered.

Dame Aylin chuckled, leaning against the wall. “I’m sure they’ll turn up soon – Deviali’s quite the resourceful one. She–” She yelped in surprise as the stones by her feet suddenly started to wriggle. “What the hells!”

A manhole was opened, disguised (for some reason that Gale would never be able to wrap his head around) by the cobblestones. Wyll’s horned head popped out of the opening; the warlock looked around, then grinned and looked back down. “Right one this time!” he called, before scrambling out of the hole. “So… we’ve had a day,” he started to say, brushing off his clothes from gods-only-knew-what. “Do you really want the details?”

“Oh, hell yes!” Karlach crowed, eyes alight with excitement.

Wyll made a face. “All right. So it started with Devi trying – and failing – to pick a Fist’s pocket… again. She got caught, and it was either ‘pick a fight and earn the ire of the entire Fist, plus a Steel Watcher’, or ‘run’, so we decided to run – or rather, she decided to run, and the three of us got roped in with her since the Fist’s companions had seen us together earlier.”

“Was that the riot noises we heard?” Isobel asked, tilting her head.

“I’m getting there.” Wyll sighed. “So, Devi decided to pick an escape route that took us through a crowd of people in a bazaar, and naturally the Fist gave chase. Here’s where it gets bad – my horns may have caught a low-hanging sign on a building as I was running and knocked it down, but it was attached with a clothesline to another building’s facade and brought it down in the middle of the crowd.”

That got winces from everyone listening. “Anyone hurt?” Shadowheart asked.

“Probably, but we didn’t have time to stop and check,” Wyll answered. “We somehow escaped some of the notice, but some of the civilians noticed the Fist and the Steel Watcher, and blamed them. Half of them started shouting at the soldiers, and the other half was trying to catch us. It was chaos.”

“So that was the sound of the riot…” Lae’zel murmured. “We wondered what that was.”

“If you give me a minute, I think I can make this story worse,” Wyll dryly said.

Gale stared at the warlock, his brain pounding in his skull. “It gets worse? Worse than the four of you being chased by the Fist and half of the Lower City?”

Wyll just winced and nodded. “Devi’s fine,” he quickly assured the wizard. “... Relatively speaking.”

Gale felt his eye twitch. “What do you mean, ‘relatively speaking’?”

“I’m getting there, Gale, keep your robes on. Where was I?” Wyll thought for a moment. “Ah, yes. So, we were running, and Devi ducked down an alley to throw off pursuit. There was an open manhole in the alley, so naturally the four of us dived down it.”

“Even Astarion?” Karlach asked with a laugh.

“Even Astarion,” Wyll confirmed. “We got down the ladder and started down the corridor we were in, until we came around a corner and found a group of Bhaalist cultists having some sort of a meeting. I’m not sure which of our groups was more startled – them, or us. But, you know Bhaalists – the weapons were coming out, no matter how Devi tried to talk us out of it.”

Gale sat down on a bench and started rubbing his temples. “How bad was it?”

“Surprisingly not that bad, all things considered. But, I do think I have to kill Mizora for fucking with my magic,” Wyll muttered. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she had done that, just to mess with me.”

“That’s a demon for you,” Dame Aylin said with a sage nod. “... What did you do?”

Wyll sighed, then took a subtle step away from Gale. “So, I was casting a spell, and was aiming at one of the cultists, but my spell went completely sideways… literally.” He gave Gale a sidelong look. “Devi… may or may not have gotten hit by it.”

Gale was back on his feet in a heartbeat, staff in his hands. “What?”

“It was an accident!” Wyll cried out. “And in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that bad a spell–”

Before he quite realised he was moving, Gale was in Wyll’s face and staring the other man down, his headache increased by his freshly-renewed bad mood. “What. Spell?”

“... Polymorph,” Wyll sheepishly said. “At least it wasn’t the eldritch blast?”

“Just what the hells did you polymorph her into?” Gale demanded.

Wyll just looked down at the manhole as another pair of gloved hands suddenly emerged. Jaheira clambered out of the manhole, grumbling under her breath and with a fiercely-wriggling satchel on her hip. Devi and Astarion, Gale noted with no small amount of dread, were nowhere to be seen. The High Harper looked at Wyll and smirked. “Ah, so you survived telling our resident wizard what you did to his beloved?”

“It was an accident, I swear!” Wyll said, quickly looking back at Gale. “If it’s any consolation, apparently it was a two-for-one cast – Astarion got hit with the polymorph as well.”

“And turned into what?” Shadowheart asked, coming up behind Gale with a curious look in her eyes.

In answer, Jaheira reached into her satchel and started fishing around. “Ow!” she exclaimed, glaring at the satchel and its contents before extracting both hands from the bag. In each hand, she held a writhing, angry kitten by the scruff of its neck – one coppery-red with green eyes, and one with bright white fur.

“... You polymorphed them into cats?” Gale demanded as Karlach collapsed with a howl of laughter.

“If it’s any consolation, I intended on polymorphing the cultist I was targeting into a sheep–” Wyll started to say.

“That is not consolation!” Gale reached out for the coppery kitten; Jaheira was only too willing to hand the cat over. The kitten, who had to be Devi to go by the fur and eye colour, stared at Gale as he held her at arm’s length and meowed plaintively at him. “Oh, my love,” Gale sighed, “what the hells happened to you?”

“Don’t listen to her complaining about the satchel,” Jaheira growled. “She and Astarion both got distracted with trying to chase a rat down there, and it fell to me to wrangle them into the bag!”

“There was also the Guild member we came across, who Astarion bit on the ankle before Jaheira could catch him, and I fell through a weak wall while chasing Devi and wound up in someone’s basement, so we had to run again while the homeowner was chasing us, and then there were the very angry githyanki loyalists who were coming after us for a spell, not to mention a couple more Fist soldiers when we accidentally came up through the wrong manholes…” Wyll trailed off as Gale glared at him. “... But, we made it back to camp safe and sound! And now if you’ll excuse me, I have a demon to summon so I can tell her off.”

Gale watched the younger man step away (probably making good his escape from the wizard’s wrath), then looked at the kitten in his hands and sighed. “What am I going to do with you, Devi?” he asked. “I suppose I should be grateful Wyll didn’t turn you into a mouse or a pigeon.”

The kitten meowed at him again; Gale shook his head, then drew the small animal up to his chest. Devi promptly used the opportunity to scale his robes with sharp little claws, earning winces from the wizard until she had reached his shoulder. She gave the wizard a headbutt, then meowed in his ear before curling up in a ball, precariously balanced on him. Gale sighed again, then watched as Jaheira handed a loudly-complaining Astarion-as-a-cat off to Shadowheart. “How long ago was that fight with the cultists, and the spell?” he asked.

Jaheira eyed the sun’s position in the sky contemplatively. “I would think about three hours ago?”

Gale froze. “... Polymorph spells don’t usually last longer than one hour!”

“I’m aware, Gale. I’m going with Wyll’s theory that his broken contract with Mizora is having an effect on his spells. We can be worried if they haven’t transformed back by the morning.” Jaheira shook her head and went back to examining the scratches in the leather of her gloves, left by tiny feline claws. “I should have something in my house about reversing a long-term-effect polymorph, but it will be a little difficult for me to get there with the Fist actively looking for us. I can try tomorrow, when the chase grows cold.”

Gale pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his headache merrily pounding through his brain, then glanced over as he heard a noisy purr from his shoulder. “Oh, I’m glad you’re comfortable,” he dryly said to the kitten that had been his lover only that morning.

Devi mewed at him, then got back on her paws, carefully balancing on Gale’s shoulder as she started grooming his beard with a rough little tongue. Gale sighed, looking skyward. “Just how much of this are you going to remember when you eventually transform back?” he asked. “You did remember being a cheese. Then again, shapeshifters tend to adopt the instincts of whatever they have shifted into, and a cheese doesn’t really have any sort of an instinct…”

“Polymorphing is just strange,” Karlach said as she came up to Gale, eyeing Devi-the-cat, then looking over as Shadowheart tried to hand Astarion off to Lae’zel, who wanted nothing to do with the vampire cat. The tiefling was still grinning from ear to ear as she addressed Devi. “How about it? Are you gonna remember grooming your other half when we eventually get you back into a half-Elf?”

Devi meowed and went back to her task of grooming Gale’s beard.

Karlach laughed as Gale softly groaned. “It is kind of hilarious, Gale – and Devi makes a very cute kitten.” She glanced over at Lae’zel and Shadowheart. “Astarion would make a cute cat, if he wasn’t trying to scratch everyone’s eyes out,” she added, her voice raised enough to make herself pointedly clear.

Astarion just growled, loudly enough for Gale and Karlach to hear him ten paces away, even over the sounds of Wyll having a loud argument with Mizora by his tent. The white cat’s ire just got a snicker from Karlach before she reached to pet Devi’s back. “Y’know, from how you climb roofs so easily and how quiet you move, I always wondered if you were part cat, somewhere in your heritage.”

Gale blinked at the tiefling. “You think she has tabaxi heritage, besides the human and Elven blood?”

Karlach shrugged. “Maybe that, or one of her ancestors was a druid whose preferred wild form was a cat of some sort?”

“... It’s not the most unlikely idea I’ve ever heard,” Gale finally admitted. His eyes flicked down to the kitten on his shoulder. “Unfortunately, we’ll never know the truth of the matter–” He yelped as Devi batted at his earring, earning a snort from Karlach, then reached up for the cat. “All right, I have my boundaries, darling. The earring is off-limits, even for you.”

Devi meowed in protest as Gale brought her back down to his arms.

“No, I don’t care if you don’t like it,” Gale informed the kitten. “You are not allowed to play with my earring – it’s bad enough that I was tolerating you grooming me!” He sighed and gave Devi a rub behind her pointed ears, earning a purr. “All I need is for Tara to appear now and accuse me of replacing her with a younger, cuter feline companion.”

“She a jealous type of tressym?” Karlach asked with a laugh.

“Is there any other type?” Gale dryly asked, and got another snort from the tiefling. The wizard sighed and shook his head. “And I thought my headache this morning was terrible enough. I think it’s on its way to becoming a migraine.”

“Go rest in your tent – Devi might behave for you, since you’re her favourite person.” Karlach set her hands on Gale’s shoulders and gave him a gentle push to the tents. “I’ll help the others try to corral Astarion. Maybe if we put him on a leash…”

Gale paused, pursing his lips. “... My headache isn’t so bad that I can’t conjure up a leash for him,” he finally said. He pointedly ignored the feeling of Astarion’s feline glare on him as he waved his hand, and a leash appeared out of thin air. “Behold, my contribution to keeping Astarion from running off. And now, I’m going to go and take a nap.”

“Sweet dreams!” Karlach laughed as she collected the leash and made her way up to Shadowheart and Lae’zel, and the cat they were struggling to restrain. “You know, if you were less of an escape artist, we wouldn’t have to resort to these drastic measures, Astarion…”

Ruefully chuckling, Gale shook his head, then made his way back to his tent, depositing Devi on his bedroll before magically securing the tent flap, and any other avenue of escape the cat could make use of. “The longer you behave, the better your odds of not getting your own leash,” he informed the cat.

Devi meowed, then as Gale laid down, started grooming his hair.

Gale sighed. “I give up. You’re just going to groom me, no matter what I say, hmm?” He rested his head on the pillow, feeling as Devi licked his hair a few more times, then curled up beside his head and started purring. He reached up to give her pets, and felt the purring grow louder. “Thank you for choosing me as your favourite person, my love,” he chuckled, closing his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep with his lover-as-a-cat beside him.

—

The evening mealtime did not see the two rogues returned to their biped forms. Gale poked at the fish on his plate, watching Devi, who was alternating her time between sitting at his side, waiting for another bite of his meal, and scampering around the campsite, never out of Gale’s field of vision. The wizard suspected she was intentionally flaunting her freedoms in front of Astarion, who was on the end of the leash secured under Lae’zel’s foot and making sure everyone knew he was not happy about it.

“It’s your own fault you’re on the leash, you know,” Wyll informed Astarion, munching on a roll. “If you hadn’t tried to climb up a building to escape…”

“I think putting all the fault on Astarion may not be warranted,” Gale muttered. “Contrary though he may be on the best of days.”

Wyll sighed. “It was an accident! And I said I was sorry for accidentally polymorphing both of them into cats!”

“And Gale will continue to be grouchy until the spell wears off and he has his woman back,” Karlach pointed out with a snicker. “Where is Devi, anyway?”

Gale looked around, then nodded with his head as Garmus the owlbear cub came lumbering up to the fire, Devi perched on his head like a proud knight. Scratch trotted beside the pair, tongue lolling out happily. “She probably won’t go far,” he said. “I’m here, and I have food – and I threatened her with her own leash if she didn’t behave.”

“Smart,” Jaheira said. “And coming from you, the cub – er, kitten – probably won’t push that argument too much.” She smirked. “Partially because she loves you, and partially because she knows you’ll follow through with it.”

A little smirk on his lips, Gale broke off a piece of hard cheese, then lowered his hand. “Psspsspssp,” he said, then sighed as Scratch scampered over first. “No, not you, Scratch.”

Scratch whined at Gale and set a heavy chin on his knee, looking up at him with big, soulful brown eyes.

Gale sighed again, then fed Scratch the cheese before breaking off another piece. “Devi!” he called. “Come here, before Scratch eats everything for you off of my plate.”

Devi meowed, then jumped off Garmus’ head and raced over to Gale, her tail standing straight up behind her. She leaped up onto the bench beside the wizard, then took the cheese from his fingers, happily eating it.

“That’s my girl,” Gale murmured approvingly, petting Devi’s back and hearing her purr. He handed her a piece of fish next, which she devoured. “Karlach was right, you know. You do make a cute kitten.”

With a mew, Devi finished her piece of fish, then climbed onto Gale’s lap.

“Although I’ll still be much happier when you’re a person again.” Gale ruefully chuckled, rubbing behind Devi’s ears as he lifted his plate safely out of range of both the cat and Scratch. “Veni et iuva me,” he muttered, and a Mage Hand appeared to rescue the plate, freeing both his hands to pet Devi. “Honestly, how do you and Astarion have such poor luck with being polymorphed? First the cheese, now the cats… in less than a tenday!”

“At least this time, neither of them is at risk of being eaten?” Shadowheart asked. She looked down at Astarion as he headbutted her leg. “You had your chance to get pets, and you tried to bite my hand. No pets for you.”

Astarion loudly meowed his protest.

Shadowheart sighed, then broke off another piece of her fish and fed it to the vampire cat. “I will say, we didn’t need to feed either of them when they were cheese.”

“Yes, but it's generally frowned upon to pet a wheel of cheese,” Wyll commented. “And they're cuter as cats than as food.”

“Technically,” Lae’zel pointed out, “they could be food if one was desperate enough…”

Gale frowned and tugged Devi a little closer to his chest. “Don't worry, my love,” he said to the cat. “I won't let anyone try to eat you.”

Devi purred, pushing her head into Gale's hands for more pets; the wizard obliged her willingly. “We appear to have gotten both extremes of cats; the snuggly cat who adores pets, and the standoffish cat who is a little too free with the claws,” he mused.

Astarion meowed at Gale, sounding more than a little put-out.

“Am I wrong?” Gale retorted. “Your own bad behaviour is why you're leashed now!”

Devi meowed, then jumped off Gale's lap and pounced on Astarion. The vampire cat irritably yowled and retaliated against Devi's attack, quickly getting tangled up in his leash.

Gale sighed, watching the two cats tussle. “... I really shouldn't just sit here and watch,” he said. “If I were a responsible sort of wizard, I would separate them.”

“But it would be hilarious if they transformed back right now,” Karlach pointed out with a grin. “Awww, Astarion is still bitey even as a cat!”

“Hopefully not for the same reason as his biting as a person,” Shadowheart said. She set down her plate, then took a deep breath and dove her hands into the fray, emerging with Devi held by the scruff of her neck. “Was picking a fight with Astarion really necessary?” she scolded.

Devi meowed, a definite note of annoyance in her tone, and waved her paws at Shadowheart's face.

“You can go attack Wyll's feet if you want to fight something,” Shadowheart said, standing up long enough to plop the cat back on Gale's lap. “Astarion, don't provoke Devi – she's almost as bitey as you.”

“Please don't attack my feet,” Wyll muttered. “For the hundredth time, I didn't mean to turn either of you into cats! I wasn't even aiming at you!”

“What did Mizora have to say?” Isobel curiously asked.

Wyll scowled. “She just laughed and said that she lives for the entertainment value I provide her. We can't count on her for assistance.”

Gale sighed, then tightened his hold on Devi when she tried to jump back at Astarion. “No, leave him alone!” he said, feeling his nagging headache pound at his skull again. “Deviali…”

Devi hissed at the mention of her despised full name.

“Oh, I'm so glad you understood that,” Gale said, lifting the cat to his eye level and sternly looking at her. “The leash is still a valid threat if you don't behave.”

The cat in his hands meowed, then started to purr.

“It's a very good thing you're cute,” Gale murmured, drawing the cat back to his chest. He winced as he felt Devi start climbing up his robes again; a second later, he felt a little paw batting at his earring. “Hey!” he scolded, pulling Devi away from his piercing again. “What did I say about the earring?”

Devi just stared at him and meowed.

“Touch the earring again, and I swear, I'll conjure up a second leash for you,” Gale threatened. He set Devi back on his lap, distracting her with another piece of fish while he kept a firm hand on her back, lest she try to climb up his body again. “What am I going to do with you if you don't transform back, love?”

“Present her to your tressym as tribute?” Lae’zel asked with a smirk.

“Very funny. Tara will not be amused.” Gale sighed, then frowned as he sensed the Weave crackling around him. “What–”

There were two flashes of light and a chorus of surprised exclamations. Gale jumped as he found himself rather abruptly with a lap full of Devi, laying on her stomach over his legs, his hand still on her ass. Astarion rematerialised by Lae’zel's feet, and promptly started clawing at the leash. “Get this thing off me!” he demanded. “Leashing is not my kink!”

“No? A pity.” Lae’zel smirked as she undid the leash, ignoring Karlach's laugh. “But I'm sure you do have other carnal enjoyments, yes?”

“Not after being leashed like an animal, I don't!” Astarion retorted, rubbing his neck and glaring at Gale.

“I hate to break it to you, but you were an animal a minute ago,” Gale pointed out. He looked down as Devi scrambled back up to a sitting position beside him. “Welcome back, darling. Are you all right?”

“I… think so?” Devi shook her head and wrinkled her nose. “My memory is… fuzzy.”

“As fuzzy as you were just now?” Wyll cheerfully asked.

Devi frowned at the warlock. “Excuse me, but I am not ‘fuzzy’!” She tilted her head as his grin got wider. “I feel like I should be mad at you for something. I remember being very small, and being picked up and handed around…”

“So you don't remember being a cat?” Jaheira asked. “Complete with scratching my hands up, and trying to make Wyll lose his other eye?”

“That was Astarion that had a go at my eye,” Wyll interjected, with a scowl at the vampire.

“A cat?” Devi blinked. “How the hells did I get turned into a cat?”

“Wyll happened. We're partially blaming Mizora.” Gale shook his head and wrapped an arm around Devi's shoulders. “You do make an adorable cat though… even if a bratty one.”

“... Thank you, I think?” Devi looked up at Gale, then leaned into his side, her eyes leaving his. Gale watched her for a moment, then saw her hand start to slowly rise to his ear, her eyes never leaving what they had focused on.

Instinct had him swat her hand back down just as her fingertips reached his earring. “Stop trying to play with my earring!” he scolded.

“I'm sorry! I just… feel compelled! It's so shiny!”

Gale sighed heavily as laughter echoed around them. “Your body might be a person again, but your mind is still that of a cat. Please don't pounce on Astarion again.”

“No promises,” Devi said. She looked around at everyone snickering (except Astarion, who had moved up from the ground to the bench and was trying to straighten his clothes, all while looking thoroughly miffed), then back at Gale, a moment before she put her legs across his lap and snuggled against him. “Don't mind me. I'm very cuddly tonight.”

Shaking his head, Gale slipped his arm down her back to hold her closer. “As long as you leave my earring alone and don't try to groom me again–”

“Wait. What do you mean, ‘groom’ you?” Devi demanded. “As in, with my tongue, and…” She saw Gale's smirk and slow nod, at the same time that Karlach fell off her bench laughing, and squeaked, burying her face in the wizard's shoulder to blush. “Oh, hells.”

“Didn't know you were into that!” Karlach laughed. “Or that Gale’s apparently into leashes–!”

“I am not into leashes!” Gale retorted. “It was strictly a means to keep our cats corralled!”

“Well, if we hear noises from Gale's tent tonight, we know what methods of carnal pleasure he and Devi are playing with,” Lae’zel said with a grin. “Is ‘kitten’ not a pet name used by some human lovers anyway?”

Gale groaned as laughter resurged around camp. He shot Wyll a glare. “This is entirely your fault.”

“I thought we agreed Mizora was to blame!” Wyll protested.

“It was still your spell!” Gale sighed and gave Devi a squeeze. “Love, as a personal kindness to me, please don't get polymorphed into anything else. The cheese and the cat have been quite enough.”

“Again – no promises. Technically this wasn't my fault… I don't think.” Devi winked, then leaned against his shoulder and made a little noise of frustration. When Gale looked closely, she was peering at his earring again, seemingly fighting the urge to play with the jewellery.

“Don't even think about it,” the wizard warned. “Or I swear, I will tie you up–” He glared at Lae’zel and Karlach as they burst into laughter. “Not that way, either!”

“... Promises, promises,” Devi said with a grin that promised misbehaviour later.

Gale sighed again, looking skyward. How was this his life now?

#bg3 #bg3 fic #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav #deviali #act 3 spoilers #polymorphing gone wrong #humour #friendship #cats #in which Gale is proven to be a Cat Guy #kink jokes are made

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ntls-24722 · 10 months ago

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Most of what I made today was stuff for Drohnen so I'm putting Skinny DJMM first

This won't be canon, but I gave him eyelids to see how he'd look with them. Skinny DJMM doesn't have eyelids and is constantly as wide-eyed as actual DJMM, but he is far more chill than what his permanent expression would have you believe.

Comids across multiple environments! They don't exactly have set subspecies like immobiles and they're extremely diverse on account of the shapeshifting but it'd be dumb not to try to catalogue them.

Comids nor Immobiles can naturally grow hair, but nothing about comids are natural - so, the polar ones have an impressive shaggy coat, and also tend to sport hunting implements, as polar comids and immobiles are obligate carnivores, and feast mainly on their "whales."

I already retconned something about the babies 😭 They do have fewer teeth as infants but they're also stubby and less straight.

@croissantlune201 #those bebes are prob smarter than me but it ok

They are not! They're dumb little infants.

Though, those tags made me think of how it would be if someone DID try to adopt and raise a Drohnen resident from birth.

They'd be SUPER stunted in growth not just because of Earth's gravity but also because of, essentially, Drohnen Scurvy. They're already hard to feed with how much they eat and the amount of hard metals they need, but there's also the problems of which hard metals, one of the most vital being iridium.

Drohnen had a mass extinction event where almost a third of their planet literally got obliterated right off, and the entire planet was showered with the iridium debris much like how there was an iridium layer over the Earth after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. Their ancestors made life that soaked that right up, to the flora and the fauna.

However, iridium isn't as present in Earth plant life as it is on Drohnen (the only thing i found that had it was ginger? with 0.00006 mg per 100 g??? tf is going on with ginger) (also some pet food apparently) and with it being a part of their bone and outer shells, it's... bad to be without it.

Bonus Fae!

#with the immobile and adoptive mom their relationship is a little tense #bc the immobile is kind of suspecting that their mom adopted them just to be the first #ntls-24722 #djmm #dj music man #Skinny DJMM #drohnen #speculative biology

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kimbap-r0ll · 2 years ago

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Finally !! Every time I come late but now I have the chance !! So my request is dorm leader with a Hua cheng s\o (Tgcf) !! Good Luck and thank you !!

Hi, thank you for the ask! So, I don't know this character (heard of the show, that's it) so I probably didn't get the character too correct. Hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Dorm leaders with an s/o like Hua Cheng

Riddle

So he doesn't mind your tendency to look down on others (Riddle does the same ngl) but he might not like your aloofness at first. Be sure to be gentle with him!

He's amazed at how strong you are, especially in your unique magic which has to do with shapeshifting. He might ask where the inspiration came from

If you have someone that you really care about, you tend to be super protective. You two are probably super protective of each other as a result haha

Overall he likes how intelligent you are and the two of you do a lot of study sessions together

Leona

He might've thought you were super annoying at first because of your high and mighty attitude. However, he does respect your abilities

He does find it a bit funny that you like collecting antiques or rare artifacts, he might just give you a necklace he has because why not

The two of you are fiercely protective of each other too. It's really cute in a way but at the same time it's super hard to approach the two of you because of your menacing aura

Similar to Riddle, he needs some comforting, so be sure to show him this side of you as well!

Azul

He fell for your cool, calm, intelligent persona. He really likes people that are really cool but he also likes people that are protective (likes to be protected ngl)

He tried to impress you with his own intelligence at first but that failed haha. He ended up just being truthful about his feelings and that probably worked

Please keep him close, he might not say anything about pda out loud but if you walk around with an arm around him omg he will melt

You two are a menace on campus. Not only are you extremely talented in magic but you are also extremely charismatic. You two should start a business together

Kalim

He tried to get you to laugh but you didn't budge. At first he thought you might be hating him, but that changed when you told him you liked the jokes you just don't laugh as often :/

Asks what you can shapeshift into, might seem obnoxious but he really is just a curious person. If you do even an easy shapeshift technique he'll go full on "OMG UR SO COOL 😭😭"

He doesn't mind your protectiveness but he does want you to relax a bit. He might want to dance with you to loosen you up a bit but how well that goes depends on the situation

Really likes spending time with you because you're just full of so many cool stories and things to teach him about. Jamil might like your presence too

Vil

The two of you might've seem like the worst people to pair up together because omg you two are literally unstoppable

Beautiful, handsome, intelligent, charismatic, powerful, the list goes on and on! Vil didn't think you two would get along at first but you two started to like each others' more quiet presence

Vil is quite protective, similar to you! The two of you probably hang around each other all the time but because of paparazzi it might be hard to do pda

Vil really thinks your amazing in so many ways. You two definitely like antiques together too

Idia

Was afraid to meet you at first because you were literally the strongest person he knew (other than Malleus). You however liked Idia and approached him first

Idia's too afraid to be protective (thinks he's not worth it ;-;) but will always get surprised when he feels your arm wrap around his shoulders when you two walk to class. His hair might turn red haha

He will introduce you to video games he likes, especially the retro ones since you like antiques and other rare trinkets. You should try some with him!

Idia definitely likes how you're chill but protective. I feel like it's a vibe being in this relationship, also Ortho thinks you're super cool

Malleus

The two of you probably were the top students in your classes and that's where you two got introduced to each other. He liked how you were very calm when talking to him, and that's probably where he got interested in you too

I feel like you two would practice magic skills and study together. It's a very calm vibe. You two definitely check out antiques together too since he's used to items like the ones you like

Malleus is extremely protective, he just doesn't show it as often. You however have no issue keeping an arm around him or holding his hand while walking to class. Sebek might question this at first but soon finds out you two are together and is like a fan supporting their ship haha

You two are like the intelligent-mysterious couple. But in reality, you two might enjoy a cup of warm tea together and just being wholesome

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tobiasdrake · 6 months ago

Text

Digimon Adventure 01x14 - Set Sail! To a New Continent! / Departure for a New Continent

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Takeru's Partner Digimon finally evolved! And then he exploded, giving Takeru a story that he'll be telling his therapist well into his forties. Fortunately for him, when your Tamagotchi shits itself to death, you can always start over from scratch. But it's just not the same.

Now, with Devimon defeated and File Island restored, a strange hologram of a man has revealed himself to the seven children.

At long last, someone who understands what's going on is here to explain the plot to the gathered children.

Old Man: So you are the Chosen Children. Very impressive, given that you've defeated Devimon. Taichi: Who are you!? Yamato: An ally of Devimon!? Old Man: Don't worry; I'm on your side. Sora: It's amazing to finally see another human besides us in this world. Old Man: Well, although I am human, at the same time, I am not. Mimi: Are you obake? Old Man: --hrmph!?

As previously discussed in episode 12, bakemono is an umbrella term for a variety of shapeshifting yokai who take on other forms, often to deceive humans. Obake is another word for bakemono; Mimi's accusing the old man of being the same sort of creature as those "worshippers" that Jou and Sora encountered.

Mimi's question takes Gennai completely offguard, causing him to verbally flinch and turn to look at her. He picks back up like that didn't happen a moment later, but it seems she rattled him.

Over in the dub:

Old Man: So, you children are the DigiDestined. You must be strong to have defeated Devimon. Tai: Who are you? Matt: Are you a friend of Devimon's? Old Man: Fear not, for I am a friend to all! And yet, I am a friend to none. Sora: I can't believe it! There are actually other humans besides us in this world. Old Man: I am human! And yet, I am not human. Mimi: This is confusing. Old Man: HRM!!!

"Okay, am I the only one who finds these sayings just a little bit formulaic? 'If you want to push something down, you have to pull it up. If you want to go left, you have to go right.'" ~Mystery Men

This bit might have been screwed out of the gate. We don't have a similar concept to obake in American reference pools common enough for children to pick up on. Even the subtitlers had to go with "ghost", which doesn't quite convey the right idea.

Unfortunately, that leaves him grunting aggressively at Mimi for what seems like no reason. Since the obake line is untranslatable, this may have been a good spot to insert a Valley Girl Mimi quip instead. Give him something to react negatively to.

Old Man: ...My name is Gennai. Because of Devimon's interference, I couldn't contact you sooner. I'm glad to finally meet all of you. Koushiro: Contacting us from where, exactly? Gennai: I'm on Server Continent, which is pretty far away from File Island. Sora: How long have you been there, Gennai-san? Gennai: I've always been in this world. Mimi: Were you the one who brought us here? Gennai: ...no, I'm not. Mimi: Then who did? Gennai: Well... (long pause) ...I don't know. Takeru: Do you at least know what we have to do to return to our world? Gennai: I don't know that either. Takeru: What the hell, Grandpa!? We can't depend on you at all!

Mimi is acing this interrogation. She has destroyed Gennai's mystique. Poking all sorts of buttons he doesn't want poked. He's trying so hard to present himself as the kindly old mentor figure and she's just like "Ohhh you're an Imposter who did this to us, gotcha."

Old Man: Now, my name is Gennai. I couldn't send you this transmission during your battle with Devimon but now the lines are clearer and only ten cents a minute! Izzy: Well, who are you? And just where are you? Gennai: I am speaking to you far away from File Island, across the ocean on the continent of Server. Sora: Talk about a long-distance call! How long have you been here? Gennai: Since before the beginning, until after the end. Mimi: Are you the one who got us stuck here in the Digital World? Gennai: ...it was not I. Mimi: Then who was it? Gennai: It was... (long pause) I dunno. T.K.: But Mr. Gennai, sir, do you know what we need to do so that we can all get back home again? Gennai: No, I don't. Tai: Boy, you're a regular fountain of information, aren't you!?

With the exception of the phone service jokes inserted to break up the conversation, this dialogue is almost completely identical.

Though it's worth noting that Gennai's name is said differently. In Japanese, it's pronounced "Gen-nye" with a hard 'g'. In English, it's "Jen-nye" with a soft 'g'.

Gennai: But I'm depending on you. You must come to Server Continent and defeat the enemy here. As the Chosen Children, you should be able to do this. Koushiro: But we don't know how to get there. Gennai: You're right. I'll send you a map through your laptop. Jou: But there's no way we can defeat an enemy that's more powerful than Devimon! Gennai: Not so. You can, if your Digimon evolve to an even higher stage. Agumon: We can evolve further!? Gennai: You will need these in order to do so. By inserting a Crest into this Tag, you Digimon can achieve higher evolution. Gabumon: Where can we find these Tags and Crests? Gennai: Well... The Crests are scattered across Server Continent. As for the Tags, Devimon gathered them up and hid them somewhe-- (Suddenly, Gennai's hologram fritzes out) Gennai: Oh no... ...Devi--... ...interference....

The device shuts down from there, leaving the kids to make do with the information they got. The dub covers this part practically verbatim.

Koushiro checks his laptop and, sure enough, Gennai sent the map. File Island is a pinprick compared to Server Continent.

(Japan's actually pretty huge but in terms of relative position to the continent, it makes me think of Japan's position in the sea relative to Asia. I wonder if that's deliberate?)

Meanwhile, the kids break for dinner.

Koushiro: It looks like he was at least able to send the map. Sora: What should we do now? Taichi: Let's get off this mountain first. We can decide on something after we eat!

I love how the dub presents this exchange.

Tentomon: Gennai's transmission ended rather abruptly. Izzy: Well, at least he was able to send the map through before he got cut off. Sora: I hope he's alright. What's our next move going to be? Tai: Huh. I've got a foolproof plan: First we'll eat something, and after that I'm open to suggestions!

XD Foolproof indeed. Never change, Tai.

Given that they've had a long day, the kids decide to break here. They head back down the mountain and forage up dinner so they can decide what to do on full stomachs.

During this time, Yamato finds Takeru sitting by the water with his Digitama.

Yamato: Takeru? Takeru: It's nothing. I was just hoping my Digitama would hatch soon and grow. Yamato: Your Digimon will join everyone here soon enough. Takeru: Yeah! You're right!

It's a small moment, but a sweet opportunity for Yamato to be Takeru's big brother.

Over in the dub, Matt may be confused about how this works.

Matt: T.K.? T.K.: Ohh, I was just wishing my Digi-Egg would hurry up and hatch already so it can grow up! Matt: Don't sweat it, lil' bro! When your Digimon hatches, it'll be the coolest one yet! T.K.: Egg-xactly!

They just wanted to make that pun. But also, uh, no, Matt. It'll be the same one he had before.

Once dinner's out of the way, it's time for the kids to decide on next steps. We all heard what Gennai said. But. What do we do with his request?

Taichi: Now that we're all nice and fed, let's figure out what we should do next. Sora: Gennai-san told us to go to Server Continent, but.... Koushiro: If this map is right, then it's a far distance from here. Mimi: I can't swim more than 25 meters. It's impossible for me. Jou: Do we have to go? Devimon is gone from this island. The Black Gears are gone too. This last week we've been here has made us more or less familiar with the landmarks. There's plenty of water and food, too. Sora: What are you trying to say? Jou: Can we even trust what this Gennai said? Is there really even a Server Continent? Taichi: Hey, what's all this about!? We can't get back to our own world if we just sit here! Sora: It took everything we had to defeat Devimon. But there's going to be even stronger enemies waiting for us. Koushiro: Besides, how would we even cross the ocean to reach the continent? Mimi: There might be weird Digimon over there too! Jou: Uh-huh. Yamato: Maybe we should look around here a little longer. Taichi: What the hell, guys!? Takeru: Let's go! Yamato: Takeru? Takeru: I don't know what enemies are waiting for us, but let's try! I'm sure that's what Angemon would have said. That's why I.... Agumon: We'll come too! We can evolve further if you have the Tags and Crests, right?

I'm glad this comes up because it's worth debating. These kids, now aware of what they've been drafted into, are being asked to risk drowning in the ocean for the sake of going to a foreign land and fighting a war. And without even the barest smidge of hope that this will actually connect to sending them home, which is still only Koushiro's speculation.

And if there is no reason to believe we'll ever return home, then "What if we just stay here and build our lives on this tropical island?" is a question worth discussing. If they're lost forever, there are worse places to be lost than File Island.

But once the Digimon begin to cast their votes, the tide of the conversation changes completely. One by one, each of the Digimon implores their kid, and each of the kids relents and agrees to go to Server. Even Jou puts up little fuss.

Once again, the dialogue here is near completely identical in the dub. With two notable differences, both of which center on Mimi. Her first line about only swimming 25 meters is changed out to:

Mimi: I can't even swim across the bathtub! It's impossible for me.

While her second line about weird Digimon is replaced with:

Mimi: We don't even know what the fashions are like on Server!

To be fair, worrying about weird Digimon is a redundant complaint to raise when we've already been told there's going to be far more powerful enemies over there waiting for us. Though, given that Mimi's been harassed twice in the last week, it's possible she means "weird" in more of a gross way.

But if that's the case, I wouldn't expect the 90's localization team to actually translate this as, "We might run into more Digi-Perverts!"

So begins the greatest logistical undertaking the kids have had to do since arriving on this island. They're going to need to build a raft capable of taking all thirteen-plus-egg across the ocean.

Koushiro: It looks like it'll take a long time just to cut down the trees. Sora: There's no point in rushing. Let's not be hasty.

It's at that moment that Sora notices the sound of heavy footfalls coming their way. Turning around, she spots Leomon on approach. Given their history with Mr. Kill the Children, it's natural that she has a kneejerk panic response.

Sora: WAUGH!!! Koushiro: Leomon!? Leomon: I've heard you're leaving for Server Continent. Sora: How did you know that? Leomon: Some of us monsters love to gossip. I was wondering if you needed any help with anything. Sora: (excited) You'll really help us? Leomon: There's more than enough helping hands.

As he says, more Digimon begin to arrive. Kentarumon, Mojamon, and Elecmon are next to show up, followed by Monzaemon and Yukidarumon. Then Meramon and countless villager Pyocomon.

Before long, the residents of File Island have assembled an impressive raft to send the children off.

Before long, they have a seaworthy vessel for crossing the ocean.

Taichi: It's done! Koushiro: Looks like it has good balance, too! Jou: Can we really cross the ocean with this? Taichi: We've already decided to go! We'll have to use this. Leomon: With your abilities, I'm sure you can cross the ocean safely. Taichi: Thank you, Leomon! We couldn't have done this without you!

Meanwhile, in the dub, Joe has a different concern.

Tai: Alright! Izzy: It's hydrodynamically designed! Joe: I think I'm getting seasick already.... Tai: Get a grip, Joe; It'll have to do! Leomon: Believe me, that raft is strong enough to get you across the ocean. Tai: Thanks, Leomon! We never could have done it without your help!

Notably, Leomon's line is different between versions. In the original, he puts faith in the children to be able to make this journey, while Dub Leomon puts his faith in the raft he just made. Rude.

As soon as the raft is finished, there's even more good news!

Poyomon hatches from his Digitama to greet the world! This little newborn goop ball can't even speak words beyond reciting his name like a Pokemon. "Poyo! Poyomon!" Surprisingly, the narrator chimes in to give us a rundown. Poyomon is a Baby-stage Digimon with no type.

(To my understanding, Baby I-stage Digimon never have a type. They have to get to Baby II before they develop one.)

Narrator: Poyomon! A slimy Digimon shaped like a jellyfish. It is said to be the most primitive of lifeforms. Its vitality and adaptability are greater than you might expect from its unassuming appearance.

Tentomon takes care of this in the dub.

Tentomon: Poyomon is a jellyfish-type Digimon of few words. But, if his friends are in trouble, he's ready for action!

Trying really hard to sell Baby Jelly as a badass there, Tentomon. Gritty 90's Americana at work?

At last, the kids shout their farewells to the denizens of File Islands and set sail for Server.

Narrator: The seven children learned how to survive using their own strength, by fighting Digimon, and by forming friendships with Digimon. And so the children left File Island behind.

Tai takes care of this bit of narration over in the dub.

Tai: So we sailed away from File Island where we had some really cool adventures! When we had to survive on our own, we grew up very fast. Except Joe; He just threw up very fast, ha! But he came around too! We don't know what's waiting for us on the other side of the ocean but we'll face it as a team!

XD Poor Joe. Rude to call him out like that, Tai.

Meanwhile, my ass is over here like,

Drake: And so the kids... completed the tutorial level. Now that they're in the open world sandbox, the real game can begin. Holy crap.

Once the kids are out on open ocean, it doesn't take long to start talking about the survival logistics of their journey.

Taichi: (looking through telescope) I can't see anything. Jou: I wonder how long it will take? Taichi: We just set sail! Jou: But even if we ration our food and water supplies to bare minimum, they'll only last us half a month. Taichi: Then we can fish or something! Sora: All we need to hope for right now is good weather.

Jou's right to be concerned here. Catching fish won't solve their problems if they run out of water.

(While we're all traveling by raft, this would probably be a great time to bring back the compass from Mimi's dad's survival kit. But I think the show's forgotten she had that.)

The dub tweaks Joe's line to add onto his concerns.

Joe: The salt air is killing my sinuses and we've only got enough food for two weeks.

They also remove his mention of water supplies. Without that concern, Tai's plan to supplement their supplies with freshly-caught fish seems more effective.

Despite the dub giving Joe so much shit for seasickness, it's actually the young'uns Koushiro and Mimi getting queasy at the back of the raft. Though Takeru seems to be handling himself okay.

Apart from nearly losing Poyomon to the waves, that is.

Suddenly, a colossal wave nearly capsizes their raft. They make it through, but struggle for a moment to discern where it could have come from.

Yamato: Where did that come from!? Koushiro: There's no wind here that could be causing these waves! Jou: Maybe a ship is passing nearby? Taichi: There's no ship here!

I want to say that was a silly guess by Jou, but given how many random human things are scattered about File Island, human ships freely wandering the ocean is entirely plausible. There are no rules here.

The cause of the wave, however, is something much more frightening.

Their raft is caught in the wake of a colossal Whamon. A frankly confusing Digimon, Whamon is a Vaccine-type Aquatic Digimon whose stage is... complicated. Due to what I can only assume are creative inconsistencies, Whamon are either Adult-stage or Perfect-stage depending on the media.

Adventure's rundown pegs them as Adult-stage in its data boxes.

Narrator: Whamon. An enormous Digimon who lives in the Digital World's deep seas. The giant tidal waves he causes and his Jet Arrow blasting through his blowhole are fiercer than you might expect.

Notably, I believe this is the very first mention of the world they're in as Digital Sekai or "The Digital World" rather than Digimon Kai or "Digimon World".

Fortunately for the dub, Tentomon quickly asserts in the original that we're still close enough to File Island for him to recognize this Digimon.

Gabumon: W-Why is he doing this!? Tentomon: Whamon is a powerful monster, but he always keeps to the bottom of the ocean!

The Partner Digimon knowing nothing beyond the borders of File Island is a factor that has not kicked in yet.

Tentomon: Whamon is a giant Digimon who lives in the deep oceans of the Digital World. Its Jet Arrows are unbelievable! Gabumon: It was massive! Tentomon: A Whamon can sometimes be fierce but I've never seen one act this aggressive!

Whew! The diegetic rundowns are still in the clear! No time to worry about that now, though! We're under attack!

In case there was any doubt over whether Whamon is purposely harassing us or not, he quickly clarifies his intentions by devouring the raft whole.

Koushiro: This must be Whamon's shokudou (either 'esophagus' or 'restaurant' depending on the kanji)! And by that, I don't mean the 'restaurant' version of shokudou! Jou: We're aware! Mimi: He ate us after all! Sora: How far until the exit!? Koushiro: The exit is his butt! Mimi: I don't want to leave that way! Palmon: Like poop. Mimi: Don't say that!

So here we have more fun with Japanese linguistics and also talking about poop. Obviously some changes were going to happen here, but not as many as you might expect.

Sora: I hope we don't give him a sore throat! Izzy: Technically, it's not the throat! It's the esophagus that leads to the stomach! Joe: He thinks we're fast food! Mimi: So he really did eat us! Sora: Sooner or later, this has to lead to an exit! Izzy: It does, but you don't wanna go there! Mimi: This is damaging my hair all the way to the roots! Palmon: Use my roots. Mimi: You're a plant!

They still tie in the esophagus, even if they have to recontextualize it to get away from Koushiro frantically babbling about linguistics. They also keep the butt joke by implying it instead of outright stating it.

Also, the roots/"You're a plant!" bit got a big laugh out of me. I don't say this a lot but this is one time I think the dub greatly improved this scene.

The kids quickly find themselves under attack by the least effective antibodies in history, which throw themselves haplessly into the water and miss the raft by a wide margin despite the kids doing nothing but screaming and cowering.

Then, at the end of their journey, they spill out into Whamon's stomach. Fitting his strange cyborg whale design, his stomach is a machine. Red lights around the edge suddenly light up with a loud activation tone, releasing gastric juice into the stomach for digestion.

After Koushiro briefly explains gastric acid for the kids at home, we get this exchange.

Taichi: Don't fall in! Jou: We've got to get out of here quickly before things get worse!

Which the dub edits to:

Tai: Don't let it get on you! Joe: We'd better get out of here before we give him a major ulcer!

Similar to Sora's line about the sore throat, the dub kids seem more worried that being in here might hurt Whamon than for their own safety.

Speaking of ulcers, it's at that moment that Sora notices something directly above them.

Whoops! Looks like Devimon missed one when he was recalling all the Black Gears to Infinity Mountain.

Taichi: A Black Gear! Agumon: So that's why Whamon was running wild! Gomamon: Let's help him! Jou: How? Palmon: Climb up there using my vines!

Over in the dub, poor Joe gets called out again.

Tai: It's a Black Gear! Agumon: That's why Whamon was acting so aggressive! Gomamon: Joe, do something to help! Joe: Why me? Palmon: Someone can climb on these!

Man, it really is Pick On Joe Day over at American Digimon.

Dangerous as this is, Palmon ensnares the Black Gear with her Poison Ivy. Then Taichi makes the ascent, climbing hand-over-hand to reach it. Once he's close enough, the light from his Digivice shines and harmlessly disintegrates the Gear. Palmon pulls Taichi back towards the raft before he can land somewhere else.

As soon as the Gear's destroyed, Whamon's stomach glows with a strange light. The raft ascends and, before long, the kids are all ejected from Whamon's blowhole.

The good news is, they emerged from his stomach unscathed. The bad news....

So much for that raft. The kids are unharmed, but their means of transportation is totaled and their supplies are now floating in the sea.

However, Whamon isn't done with them yet.

Mimi: DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!! Whamon: I'm sorry for my outrageous behavior. Piyomon: It's not your fault, Whamon! Sora: It was because of the Black Gear! Taichi: That must have been the last one! Jou: Are you sure about that? Whamon: My head is clear now, thanks to you. Taichi: Whamon, do you know how far Server Continent is from here? Whamon: Yes. It would take me about five days to get there. Yamato: That means it's pretty far. Takeru: This is bad. Our raft is broken. Whamon: Are you trying to reach Server Continent? Agumon: That's right. Whamon: Allow me to take you as thanks for disposing of the Black Gear. Sora: Really? Mimi: LUCKY!!!

Mimi throws up her arms in celebration. In the process letting go of the log she's floating on and nearly drowning herself. Palmon has to pull her out of the water and reattach her to the log.

XD She got excited.

The dub dialogue is the same, save for some gags added to Whamon's dialogue.

Tai: By the way, do you know how far it is to Server? Whamon: Yes. It would take me five days. Uh, make that three and a half without traffic. T.K.: Great, our raft's broken! Whamon: Are you going to Server? Agumon: Yeah, we were trying to! Whamon: I'll take you there myself. It's not every day your lunch saves your life!

The promise of Whamon-sized traffic sure makes me glad we're not on a raft anymore!

Swimming and bouncing from the water, Whamon makes his way to Server with the kids safely nestled on his back.

Sora: Feels great! Koushiro: This is a much more pleasant experience than the raft. Mimi: I won't get seasick from this! Taichi: Now all that's left is to find the Crests and Tags that Devimon sealed away! Whamon: Did you say Devimon? Taichi: Do you know something? Whamon: I'm not quite sure what you mean by Tags and Crests but I do remember Devimon hiding something under the waves. Taichi: Where!? Whamon: It's on the way to Server Continent. Please take shelter inside my body while I go there.

Dub Whamon adds a particular stipulation.

Whamon: It's on the way to Server. You can all ride inside me and I'll take you there. But no tickling!

That's fair. The last thing we need him to do is sneeze or cough us out at the bottom of the ocean.

Whamon takes the kids down to a secret cave at the bottom of the ocean, where an air pocket exists. He lets them out there and they enter the cave to explore.

Whamon: Since I can't go any farther, I will wait for you here.

Seems fair, being a whale and all. The dub has other ideas for why he can't come with.

Whamon: I'm so out-of-shape, I have to rest here for a while. I gotta drop a couple of thousand pounds!

He can't come into the cave because he's too fat, I guess. Also. Y'know. Marine life.

Before long, they find their destination.

Deji Mart, your one-stop shop for all consumer goods! The "Deji" is how Japan romanizes the word "Digi".

Unfortunately, DigiMart was not left unguarded.

Drimogemon, an Adult-stage Data-type Beast Digimon. His name is a conjunction of "drill" and "mogera", meaning "mole". Drillmolemon.

Narrator: Drimogemon. Living deep underground, he uses his drill to move at high speed. His sharp Drill Spin and Crusher Bone attacks devastate his enemies.

Over in the dub:

Tentomon: Drimogemon lives deep inside the earth drilling tunnels. He uses his iron Drill Spin and Crusher Bone to wipe out his enemies!

Practically verbatim.

He's not just any passing drill mole, either.

Sora: He has a Black Gear! Jou: I knew there were still more of them! Drimogemon: No one may enter here, by order of Devimon-sama! Leave at once!

See, Taichi? Assuming makes an ass out of u and ming.

Gomamon evolves to Ikkakumon so he can hold off Drimgemon. Everyone else makes their way into DigiMart to find those Tags. While Almost immediately after the kids are inside, Ikkakumon hurls Drimogemon through the storefront. The impact shakes the store.

Jou: Ikkakumon, go easy on the attacks!

At this point, Ikkakumon is as much a threat to us as Drimogemon is.

Dub Joe, on the other hand, has a thirst for blood.

Joe: Ikkakumon! You've got him down! Get him!

Joe's going to see Drimogemon go down if it's the last thing he does. Which it may be.

Apparently not listening to Jou, Ikkakumon fires off a Harpoon Vulcan instead of listening. The missile slams into Drimogemon and explodes, rattling the store inside.

It's at this point that Tentomon evolves to join the fight.

(They don't say Ikkakumon is fired from engaging Drimogemon for being too reckless, but there's an implication there.)

Drimogemon tries throwing his signature Crusher Bone at Kabuterimon, but you know how those flying Digimon are with projectile attacks.

With three dimensions of evasion, Kabuterimon maneuvers around Drimogemon and takes out his Black Gear with a precisely-aimed Mega Blaster.

(Was that so hard, Ikkakumon?)

Amid all the friendly fire-inflicted carnage at the DigiMart, Takeru loses track of Poyomon. When he finds him again, Poyomon's found the loot!

Mission complete! Drimogemon apologizes for the fight and disappears underground.

Drimogemon: I-I'm very sorry! Gabumon: Wait! Where are the Tags? Drimogemon: Th-They should be in the store. Good luck finding them!

Dub Drimogemon offers more specific directions.

Drimogemon: The Tags should be in the convenience store next to the jerky.

Oh, sweet. We have five days of whale-riding to do so we should stock up on jerky while we have the chance.

Inside the store, the kids open the box to find the Tags they'll need. Setting sail for Server, we close on a reminder of the next stage of this journey.

Yamato: He mentioned the Crests are spread throughout Server Continent, right? Gabumon: Right. If we combine the Tag and Crest.... Agumon: We can evolve further! Taichi: Yeah! We'll definitely find those Crests!

A new adventure begins here.

Assessment: What stands out to me about the Tags and Crests is how Toyetic they are. Digimon as a franchise started its life as an offshoot of Tamagotchi. That's what the Digivices are; They're a way to incorporate the little handheld Tamagotchi device into the anime.

This is a toy-driven series, like Transformers or My Little Pony. It's just a different kind of toy.

Considering that, I am curious if the whole "Use this merchandise sold separately NEW MACGUFFIN to reach Perfect-stage!" thing, like... Is this a thing? A real-world thing being incorporated into the anime, like the Digivice? I dunno. It's certainly peculiar.

In any case, this episode goes strong at the start with the farewell from File Island, but slows down once they're on the ocean.

I'm not a big fan of the DigiMart mission. Having to go on a fetch quest to unlock the ability to go on the next set of fetch quests feels like it's just killing time. Also, it's bloody convenient that the very next person we happened to meet after learning about Devimon's secret stash happens to know where Devimon's secret stash is!

Can you imagine if the stash was somewhere on File Island and we left without even checking? Boy would our faces be red!

This is a bridging episode between the Devimon and Etemon arcs, and the main interesting thing that happens concerns how the cast moves across the ocean. So, for me, it feels like the Tags were just thrown in so we have an excuse to wander off-course and beat up a Bad Guy for the third act climax.

For the dub, it's weird that they put so much emphasis on Joe getting seasick when it's Mimi and Koushiro who spend the episode wrestling with that. It's probably meant as a callback to the Bakemon episode, when he was throwing up over the side of his bed. But he never gets seasick once in this one.

Still, while their characterization choices stumble in a few places, they're able to lay down most of the important plot points with few deviations. We've seen better dubs than this episode, but we've seen worse too.

#digimon #digimon adventure #revisiting digimon #revisiting digimon adventure

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