#learn how to fly kite

[glitchlight]

Oh No! I got mad about something someone I dont know posted on the internet and I am brooding and angry about it! Instead of posting I will relax and reflect and do something more productive like:

Scuba diving

Yoga

National Park Travelers Club

Becoming A Nudist

Jigsaw puzzles

Wikipedia editing

Inventing A Time Machine

Woodworking

Masturbating

Succumbing To The Amulet

Genealogy

Masturbating

Dark Alchemy

Robot combat

Bungee jumping

Electronics repair

Beekeeping

Lego sets

Shuffleboard

Slacklining

Eating Lugnuts Off The Cars In the Walmart Parking Lot

Photography

Metalworking

Hacking

Golfing

Paintball

Transcending the Limitations of Flesh

Welding

Thrifting

Sleeping

Abolishing The Division of Night and Day

Pet fostering

Meteorology

Getting Gone

Bowling

Dumpster Diving

Book collecting

Amateur radio

Meditating On My Uncountable Failures

Weaving

Ice skating

Graphic design

Brewing

Masturbating

Car racing

Stealing

Camping

Teaching Crows How To Commit Tax Fraud

Getting Really Good At Beatboxing

Cooking

Getting My Stink Salted

Bird watching

Crocheting

Gymnastics

Screaming Into the Night Sky At God

Metal detecting

Masturbating

Driving Off A Bridge

Sleeping

Thinking about Masturbating

Revisiting Classics To See If They Hold Up

Origami

Drinking

Masturbating

Billiards

Chess

Sleeping

Geocaching

Bread making

Launching rockets

Calligraphy

Archery

Jewelry making

Smoking

Video games

Needlepoint

Water skiing

Animal breeding

Stealing

Podcasting

Fantasy sports

Learning Spanish

Wine tasting

Backpacking

Getting Way Too Into Sports

Alchemy

Karaoke

Stealing

Traveling

Turning Straight Women Gay

Taxidermy

Masturbating

Horseback riding

Fishing

Being a DJ

Quilting

Juggling

Record collecting

Baking

Glassblowing

Drones

Stealing Infant Teeth

Crossfit

Improvisation

Attuning Myself To Crystals For the Purposes of Psychic Attacks

Drinking

Playing a musical instrument

Stand-up comedy

Throwing Myself Into A Volcano

Skiing

Remote cars

Bonsai

Furniture restoration

Quitting While I'm Ahead

Drinking

Writing

Smoking

Meterology

Local historical society

Disappearing In A Mysterious Accident

Assassination

Painting

Handball

Masturbating

Cheese-making

Martial arts

Astronomy

App making

Table tennis

Web design

Letting All The Demons Out of Hell

Farming

Hiking

Home improvement projects

Swimming

Skydiving

Volunteering

Animal grooming

Forbidden Alchemy

Remote airplanes

Gardening

Burying A Bunch Of Eggs

Becoming The Worlds Preeminent White Maoist

Digging A Hole To The Center of the Earth

Trivia

Journaling

Video production

Masturbating

Drinking

Crossword puzzles

Vehicle restoration

Candle-making

Drinking

Reading

Art collecting

Drawing

Makeup

Smoking

Running

Dancing On the Graves of My Enemies

Sleeping

Kayaking

Poetry

Knitting

Sleeping

Designing clothing

Sailing

Acting

Rock climbing

Disc golfing

Scrapbooking

Winemaking

Wood burning

Running Away

Museum visiting

Pottery

Escape rooms

Soap making

LARPing

Freestyling

Flying

Smoking

Snowboarding

Board games

Just Eating A Bunch of Candy

Surfing

Masturbating

Mixology

Smoking

Card games

Kite surfing

Masturbating

Composting

Dancing

Creating The Perfect French Fry

Powerlifting

Model trains

The Rites And Rituals Forbidden To Me

Movie reviews

Frisbee Wizardry

[revolutionsingingintherainnn]

Makar Sankranti ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Summary: Y/N never learned how to fly a kite. Lando changes that.

-‘๑’- ln x desi!reader ✧.*

-‘๑’- fluff ✧.*

you were staring at your phone with a frown, and lando felt the urge to smooth that little crease between your eyebrows and kiss the little pout. so he did.

“what’s on your mind?” he asked, as he settled beside you on the couch, peeking into your phone.

you were looking at pictures of kites and people flying them. people, lando recognised, were your cousins and your mom.

“it’s makar sankranti in a week,” you mumbled.

“what’s that?”

“it’s a kite flying festival. we get a bunch of kites, and we fly them, and we have competition with other people on who can cut who’s kite’s thread,” you explained.

“do you wanna celebrate it here with me? i can get your kites. you need those paper kinds, right?” his arm tightened around you, pulling you into his chest.

“that’s not the problem. the problem is that i never learned to fly a kite properly,”

lando made a confused noise, waiting for you to continue.

“when i was young, my cousin brother was always excited to fly kites, and my mom was one of the youngest in her generation, so she enjoyed it too. they teamed up and they did all the kite flying, and all i did was launch the kite in the air and then stand aside,”

“wait, so, you never learned how to fly a kite?”

“i’ve always wanted to, but y’know, by the time i was at the age where i could do it myself or it was finally my turn, everyone just expected me to know,”

“but no one ever taught you,”

“exactly,” you leaned your head against his chest, cuddling him.

lando’s arms tightened around you, and a plan formed in his head.

the next day, he gathered all his friends on this important mission. ria, aarav, steve, ethan, niran, and max. good thing lando and you were spending a part of the break in england, huh?

lando explained the situation to them, and quickly distributed tasks based on his research. he’d hoped that aarav would have some knowledge about the festival and the kite flying techniques, but the britishers had completely wiped away his indian cultures. how disappointing.

ria and niran were in charge of finding and understanding the different threads that were available, and which would be the strongest. it was surprising just how many different types were in the market.

ethan and steve had the responsibility to find the different types of kites that were sold. just like the threads, it was surprising that there wasn’t just the paper kind. plastics, and different thickness of papers, and different thickness of wood used on hold them, everything.

the last three, aarav, lando, and max, used the week to learn different techniques. they asked aarav’s parents to help who jumped at the opportunity. lando had even called your mum, but the conversation hadn’t been the most pleasant.

“i need you to teach me basics of kite flying and stuff,” he had requested.

“oh, now she has an interest in kite flying?” your mom had scoffed.

“she just didn’t have the opportunity to learn before, so i thought i’d surprise her,” his hand was fisted and away from the camera’s view because he really did not like the tone your mom was speaking in.

“she had plenty of opportunities, she just never had any interest,” but your mum then explained the basics to him, using all the hindi words that he practiced saying to get the pronunciations right.

the group spent hours and hours over at aarav’s terrace, where his parents taught them all they needed to know. everything from chadhana to lapet to cut gayi.

lando hadn’t realised just how fun kite flying was. and he didn’t realise how much he would have to invest in bandaids. thankfully, he got the skin colour kinds, and managed to avoid you playing with his hands.

it also made his heart hurt a little. that you hadn’t had the opportunity to properly learn. that the age you could learn was taken away by your cousin, and while you loved your cousin, lando knew you did, you deserved to have someone teach you too.

on the day off, lando had woken up early, quietly slipping out of bed. he texted in his group to make sure their plan was set. quickly making some breakfast for you, he set it all on a tray and took it to your room. entering, he saw that you were already out of bed, and in the washroom.

making the bed, and setting the tray of food on it, he waited for you. once you came out of the washroom, with your hair tied and your face moisturised, a smile lit up your face at the scene in front of you.

“what’s this?” you asked.

“happy makar sankranti, baby,” lando wished with a smile.

“you remembered?”

“of course i did,” you were standing in his between his legs now, his arms around the back of your thighs, your around his neck.

"well, we've got plans today, so eat your breakfast, get ready, and then we'll get going!"

"what plans?"

he leaned up and pressed a kiss against your lips, "it's a surprise,"

you pleaded with him to tell you, but every time you opened your mouth, lando either fed you a bite of the waffles with nutella or pressing kisses.

later, the two of you got ready for the day. and just before the two of you left, lando pulled out a tie from behind his back.

"what do you plan to do with that?" you asked, sceptical.

"well, it's a surprise," lando said, as if it explained everything.

you rolled your eyes, but turned around, and lando jumped slightly before he put the tie across your eyes, and tied it.

taking your hand, he led you slowly to the car, only because you had screamed at him when he tried, and got you settled in the passenger, putting your seatbelt as well, before he jogged over to the other side and got in.

"y'know, we could be doing something else with the blindfold. or even with the tie, actually," you commented innocently, knowing exactly how lando would react to it.

"babe," lando whined, "you can't stay stuff like that while i'm driving!"

"all i'm saying is that i'm blindfolded and you could literally do whatever you want. well, you could whatever you wanted even if you'd used it to tie my ha-"

"okay, okay, shut up! we're going home!"

you laughed, "no! you said you have a surprise for me! i wanna see that!"

"you can't do that to me!"

you laughed.

the rest of the way, the two of you joked and laughed and talked about everything and anything. for instance, "where are we going?" you asked.

"aarav, niran, and ria's place,"

"if we take their initials, it makes ran. like, ria, aarav, niran. r - a - n. ran. so we're going to ran's place," you joked.

lando didn't laugh.

"you're supposed to laugh!" you smacked his arm.

"it was a terrible joke!" lando exclaimed.

"i laugh at your jokes! do the same for me!"

"i don't have bad jokes!"

"you have so many bad jokes, lan! now, laugh at mine!" you insisted.

"oh, i'm sorry, let me just-" lando started before he let out a loud, obnoxious, very fake laugh, which only made you laugh harder.

eventually, when lando parked in the garage, you asked, "can i remove this yet?"

"nope! we're not there yet,"

lando stepped out of the car, and then helped you out. he insisted on picking you up again because there were going to be stairs. you refused, and he laughed at you. in turn, you yelled (laughed) at him for laughing at you struggling.

once the two of you were at the terrace, lando made sure everyone and everything was set, before he removed the tie from over your eyes.

adjusting to the light, you saw niran, aarav, ria, ethan, and steve standing with kites and firkis in their hands. realisation dawned on you.

"oh my god," you whispered. "what's happening?"

lando's hands held your waist, as he bit his lips and watched your reaction.

"do you like it? are you excited?"

"are we going to fly kites?" you asked.

lando nodded, "yeah!"

you frowned then, turning to him, "but i don't know how to fly a kite,"

"that's why, all of us learned to do it, and now we're going to teach you,"

your eyes filled with tears, before you turned around and hugged your boyfriend. "thank you," you whispered.

lando pressed a kiss on your cheek, before you turned around and jumped towards the group, where ria jumped with you as well.

the next four hours were spent with the group teaching you how to fly a kite. lando, max and aarav taught you how to properly fly the kites, and the rest of them taught you how to tie the string and wrap the strings on the spin wheel, and when to hold it lose and everything that you had seen your family had done when you were younger but never had the opportunity to do so yourself.

you laughed and screamed and jumped, and so did they. everyone took pictures, and there was music playing in the background, and you and ria danced with beer bottles in your hands.

and when you cut your fingers from the string, you excitedly showed them to lando, who tried to match your energy, really he did, but your fingers were bleeding a little. he did wrap your fingers in bandaids and pressed kisses.

later, when the group had torn some and flew most, all of you sat on the terrace together, showing pictures, and recalling stories from the day and the week that they had spent learning how to do it properly.

you leaned against lando while the others laughed. "thank you for doing this,"

"did you have fun?"

you nodded.

"i'm glad. now you know how to fly kites! you can go back home and show off to your family just how talented your kite flying skills are,"

you laughed, but you kissed him, thanking him again.

"i love you, lando norris," you whispered against his lips.

"hmm, i love you too," he kissed you one last time, before the two of you joined the group's discussion again.

✩♬₊˚.🎧⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

happy makar sankranti! fun fact: i learned how to fly a kite today! i hope you like it! this is my prompt list, so y'all can select a number, give me a driver and i will write it as soon as possible! i also have a google form for a taglist if anyone's interested! you can sent in your requests here :)

taglist: @imlonelydontsendhelp ; @greantii ; @anamiad00msday ; @maketheshadowsfearyou ; @nocturnalherb16 ; @justaf1girl ; @peterholland04 ; @phobiccneel ; @winkev1 ; @alexxavicry

i'd love your support! https://ko-fi.com/kavi2305

[lovelylemoncake]

.☆《 POV: You're on a picnic date when...? 》☆.

[ Xavier x MC Reader ]

Warnings: Some Harassment

*°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆

The blanket splayed out on the plush grass was probably going to be a tight fit with the amount of food you both brought. Orginally, you had planned for only a handful of dishes, but your picnic plans got put off ("Emergency mission again?!") every single week until bordering the end of spring. Eventually, you and Xavier both ended up adding new snacks to the picnic list until you had a full-on feast to eat at the park.

"This is probably enough to feed our whole department," you say after stepping back to take in the whole lunch spread before you.

"Don't underestimate our stomachs," Xavier says with determination, though you can tell he's also got a hint of a laugh in him.

"Well carrying these from the car did make me work up an apettite," you shrug. "Oh gosh, wait a minute--Xavier, where's the cooler..?"

You stare at each other, blinking in silence.

....Oops.

"It's back in the parking lot isn't it? I have to go up that hill again?" You sit on the grass in a bit of defeat while staring at the long way down.

Just last night you had run several kilometers to eliminate a Wanderer that had escaped from a different team's mission. Who knew that it would render you so sore despite your hunter training? Maybe the muddy terrain got to you more than usual. Your thighs are burning.

"I can go get it," Xavier reassures you. "You don't have to worry about it."

Those words light you up. In the moment, Xavier looks more valiant than usual. He's always shining but today he's extra radiant, huh? You'd have never guessed that he was dead asleep the entire car ride over here with the world's most legendary bedhead. Dependable indeed!

"Really?" You rest your back into the grass, spreading out like a starfish. "I can go too."

Xavier softly laughs, seeing you so unashamedly comfortable. "You rest here. I'll be right back."

You can see him heading back down from your spot. Before he disappears into the lush trail back to the parking lot, you sit up and wave at him.

"You're the best, Mr. Number-One-Hunter!!" You shout with a big, goofy grin.

He turns back to look at you, shakes his head with a smile, and disappears into the trees.

There was a lot of food to guard by yoirself. Luckily there was a bit of a breeze today to keep the bugs at bay. With the clouds providing occasional shade, it would be the perfect day to enjoy the weather. You look at all of the tasty dishes and reminisce about what lead to them all.

For example, the original plan was for sandwiches and juice. Then the mini charcuterie boad got added due to leftover sandwich materials. Later you realized that the leftover cold noodles needed to be eaten eventually, and then after that there was the mochi in your stash on the verge of expiring too... Oh yes, and Xavier wanted to try the stew he learned from a new cook book!

"Okay, we probably should have thought about this a little bit," you say to yourself. You probably should have gone without breakfast to leave some space for this impromptu banquet. All you can do is sigh and laugh a little about how how eager you and Xavier were to accomplish these plans despite a lot of scheduling issues.

Some birds fly by. The trees rustle with the wind. A few colorful kites from some other park-goers are soaring high into the air with pretty tails. The air here tastes so much better than the muddy terrain from your mission last night. You look at the grassy space beside you and wish Xavier would come back sooner so you can enjoy this together.

You're so absorbed in your thoughts, you almost don't notice a few guys approaching you. They look dressed up for some sort of sport. Are they on some sort of team?

"Hey, do you mind if we do some drills nearby?" One of them asks. He seems very nice. "We're sort of loud when we're practicing."

"Dang, that's a lot of food for a shortie like you," the other says, looking at your picnic spread. "Trying to grow more?"

"Dude, Nate," the nice guy says. "Don't be rude." He smiles at you apologetically. "Sorry about that."

You raise a brow at Nate, but it's honestly not that big of a deal.

"Yeah that's totally okay," you tell them.

"You know, you can come watch us practice if you want, shortie." Nate suggests.

"No, I'm good," you shake your head.

"Then why don't we join you after practice? Help you put all this food away--" Nate walks right up to you with some high and mighty expression on his face.

He towers over you as you're sitting down at the moment. A tiny bit annoyed, you stand up and step back.

"Dude, I'm serious Nate. Cut it out," the other guy tugs Nate backwards from the back of his shirt.

"I'm just trying to make friends, Kellen!" Nate scoffs.

"Gosh, just shut-- look I'm so sorry for taking up your time," Kellen interrupts himself to apologuze to you again.

You pity Kellen a bit. He's genuinely suffering from second hand embarrassment at the moment. You decide that this conversation needs to be over soon.

"You're okay. You can practice wherever you want. I'm just waiting for someone so we can eat," you explain. "Have a good time."

"Yes we will," Kellen nods, trying to pull Nate to come along with him.

Nate doesn't budge however. "Then you both should come watch our practice after you eat. I'd like to show you what these legs can do."

He starts flexing, and as irritating as he his, you also have to suppress the urge to laugh because you're pretty sure you've seen six year olds strike better poses than him. Compared to Xavier's usual grace, he looks like he's trying to do an interpretive dance. Kellen looks like he would like to crawl into a hole at the moment.

You shake your head. "No--"

"No thanks," a warm hand snakes around your waist. This voice is quite calm yet firm. It also sounds like he's ran up a hill.

You look up with a big smile.

"You made it back. That was fast."

"I didn't want the ice to melt," Xavier says, looking away slightly. He plops the cooler down quickly.

You squint a little and take his word for it. In your head, you know he probably started running the minute he saw you and the other guys from a good distance away. He looks composed right now, but you can hear his heart hammering away just a bit as he's flush against your back. It's pretty endearing.

"You're the friend?" Nate furrows his brows at Xavier like his nemesis had just appeared.

You move to correct the guy. "Oh, he's actually--"

"Partners. This is my partner," Xavier's hand sinks a little into your skin, squishing you against him like you'll be taken away.

His blue eyes are burning bright, and though his smile is as gentle as ever, you can sense that the emotion behind it is a little sharp. Amused and maybe just a little touched, you put your hand on top of his hand around your waist. Are your cheeks a little warm and toasty? Yes. Will you ever admit that? Probably no.

"Nate, please," Kellen sighs like a tired babysitter at their wit's end. "Let's go."

Nate finally relents, but he turns around to look at you before he leaves.

"Hey shortie, you should still come see our practice when you're free. I'll make it worth your time."

"We are very busy," Xavier instantly fires back. "We have more important things to do with our time."

Hard emphasis on "we," huh?

You can see Nate open his mouth to reply, but Kellen basically hauls him away with a very angry expression before he has the chance. You watch them disappear, but just a bit later you can hear a fuming Kellen nearby.

("You can do burpees until we leave, Nate!")

Oof.

Xavier just hugs your back for a very long time. You both stare at the clouds passing by in the sky. The kites are still dancing around in the wind. He grips you like you might fly away. Like you're a flower petal about to be swept off of a tree.

"You said we had important things to do," you say after a little while. Its always so comfortable in his arms. It's like time slows down. "Can I ask what that would be, Mr. Xavier?"

He looks at you with those deep blue eyes. Before you realize it, his lips are pressed desperately into yours like every inch of you can't be missed. Taken aback, you grip his shirt and melt into his hold. It continues for some time. Finally, when he steps back, you're a bit of a mess. A bit embarassed, you quickly dig in the cooler for some water or juice instead.

"Be with you," he suddenly says, turning around with a bit of a flush evident in his neck.

"What?" You say, brain processing a bit jumbled after, um, face squishing with each other.

"The important thing." He turns back around. "I would say the most important thing to do... is to be with you."

Every single word is a shot of sugar to your cheeks breaking into a smile and the rush in your heart.

You leap to tackle him with a hug.

Consequently, you're both sent tumbling together down the hillside.

Rolling in each other's arms, you both laugh as the dandelions you pass by have their seeds sent into the air. At the bottom, when you finally stop, Xavier plants a kiss to your cheek. Still full of giggles, you pull some grass out of his hair.

Maybe another trek up the hill for lunch isn't so bad after all.

*°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆ *°•●☆

A/N: Could you tell i was hungry when I wrote this, lol? I orginally wanted to make this a small fic about eating together, but then I realized I've never written about a jealous Xavier before. I had to make it happen. ^-^

[tennessoui]

Kit, I found out that "flying a kite" means "to masturbate" in Thai. Now I imagine Anakin who learns all the dirty words and phrases in other languages to flirt and then you have Obi-wan who is a linguistic master and can't believe that this guy thinks his bad flirting would work. Thankfully he is super hot and Obi-wan will show him how to flirt. 😏

lmao i love this so im taking this dynamic and applying it to recent experiences and medias i have consumed via reading and watching tv

so fantasy au where obi-wan is an innkeeper at a busy traveling junction and anakin is a young explorer/hero who stops in incredibly frequently given how much of his time he spends off in foreign lands, battling dragons and finding treasure or whatever it is young heroes get up to these days

anakin's been visiting obi-wan's inn since before he could drink there and definitely since before he had enough gold to pay for a bed (it all started actually when obi-wan found a very pathetic baby!anakin out in the rain and let him stay in his room for free for a few nights until a traveling band of knights came through and obi-wan foisted the baby off onto them)

but it's only been recently that anakin's been...well. flirting with obi-wan. like. all the time. every time he stops in, he's picked up a new phrase or line to try on the bartender. obi-wan suffers through it genially, as it's perfectly natural for anakin to want to test out these ridiculous pick-up lines on someone he isn't really interested in before trying them out on a fair maiden or something. obi-wan even helpfully corrects anakin's pronunciation a few times, as before he was an innkeeper, he was a bit of a traveler himself. and to do this job, it's helpful to know a lot of languages. especially the dirty words as that's a bit of currency around this part of town in itself.

meanwhile anakin is going insane trying to get obi-wan, the distant but oh so dear and beautiful and kind innkeeper who rescued him from poverty and showed him compassion when he was just a child, to sleep with him lol he will keep finding new words and ways to flirt with the man until he gets it right and obi-wan falls in love with him back, etc etc

[krispycreamcake]

Laito Sakamaki bf headcanons♤♤

🃏- Ok so uhhhhh let's all just be honest with ourselves

🃏- I really really do enjoy his character and its development, but this man would not exactly be the best boyfriend

🃏- Obviously all diaboys have their extremely toxic flaws, so I'm gonna be as unbiased as I can and give him a worthy depiction

🃏- Depending on your personality and how you've acted towards him, I see him as someone who usually seeks out your comfort in trying times

🃏- It's moments like these where he's so unaccustomed to being vulnerable that he'll have a slight panic attack that you'll betray him

🃏- Luckily however, the more your relationship grows, the less that feeling will be there, but it will definitely take time

🃏- He's definitely asked you to shower with him multiple times, but for different reasons

🃏- Like sometimes he's genuinely so at peace to finally be naked and not hate himself after, or to share something so intimate with you that isn't sex

🃏- Let's be real, sex isn't something special for him, it's just a regular Saturday night

🃏- But knowing that he gets to share it for the first time in his life with someone who he feels safe around, is something he can get behind

🃏- Has you sit on his lap while you both do crossword puzzles together

🃏- Doesn't seem like the type who enjoys making big meals, so he prefers to take you out to eat if it's a special occasion

🃏- Honestly loves talking to you late at night(?) Or morning or whatever it is

🃏- He enjoys the honesty of the conversations and the fact that he doesn't need to see through you, you're just reading to him the pages of your mind

🃏- Watches shows like NCIS, Law and Order, Dexter, etc. He begssss you to watch it with him and catches you up to speed with the episodes

🃏- Realistically, he doesn't always want to cuddle and be in your space. Some nights he just needs time alone for whatever reason and teases you when you get lonely

🃏- Extremely clingy when he's having a hard time keeping his mask on so he tries to play it off as just his normal behaviour (if you know him well enough, you'd immediately catch on)

🃏- Give him well thought out gifts and he'll start planning your future together

🃏- Talks about growing old together and having kids

🃏- Speaking of, you're not dying to old human age on his watch. Whether you want to become a vampire or not, he will turn you into one, you are not leaving his side

🃏- Dry ass texts when he's fully awake and long ass convos when he's about to pass out

🃏- Helps you learn how to play sudoku but will purposely give you wrong tips the first time around so he can flaunt how good he is

🃏- Doesn't understand why you like it when he wears his glasses and insists he looks like an otaku

🃏- Late night walks away from the manor so you both can moon gaze and enjoy the serenity of nature

🃏- One time when Ayato bit you, you insisted that instead of causing drama, he try something more civil (He put laxatives in his Gatorade before a basketball match against another school)

🃏- Also on a related note, really enjoys pranking you and encourages you to prank him back

🃏- For some reason I can imagine him getting really into butterflies and their anatomy. I personally think he has his own sketchbook where he draws them and makes notes on the different species

🃏- Loves to fly kites, he does not care whether you're with him or not, will fly a kite because why not

🃏- Watches mukbangs with you and even chooses the next couple videos

🃏- Jokes about you starting an OF, but had a nightmare that your dream partner found you and whisked you away from him like a prince in shinning armour

🃏- He enjoys playing hand games with you. Yeah idk why I thought about this but it seems to fit

🃏- Enjoys seeing you wear modest clothes. Not because he's picturing the underneath, but he knows you're gorgeous because you can pull being modest AND being naked off

🃏- Wants a Shiba Inu as a pet someday

🃏- He really tries to love you even if he does hurt you from time to time

[chimera-dreams]

Tether Me - Prologue

Pairing(s): Geto/Gojo/Reader Summary: You ran.

It's what you did in life. It's all you knew how to do. You ran, ran, and kept running and never stopped, because if you stopped, it meant you were trapped, chained, a bird with shredded wings in a gilded cage.

So, how did you end up here, tucked away into a little village in rural Japan, falling into the depths of two black holes with no way to escape?

How could you run from this? From them?

…Would you? CW: No y/n | polyamory | slow burn | slice of life | alt au - no curses | fluff | light angst | eventual smut | forgive me, there's internal monologues | I like using big words... | Gojo & Geto are whipped for you | emotionally constipated reader | (most of the tags have been condensed, you can find the full list on my ao3 here) AN: this is just the prologue chapter, sort of exposition. No bois in this one (technically), but I'm posting chapter 1 at the same time as the prologue. As a heads up, my most comfortable place for posting my longer fics like this is ao3. You can find more of my blurb thoughts on there. I'm not the best at tumblr posting, so forgive me pls ;-;

Ch: Prologue | Ch: 1 | Ch: 2 | Ch: 3 | Ch: 4 | Ch: 5 - 1 | Ch: 5 - 2

WC: 9.4k

You’ve always likened yourself to a kite, but less pretty and enjoyable.

Every time you glanced at a kite in the children’s toy section, or watched as thousands flew in the sky during festivals, your eyes stung and something bitter and uncomfortable twisted in your gut. In a way, you saw yourself in them; fragile little creatures tethered to the earth by no fault of their own. So easy to snap – to break.

They were always trapped, chained down, forever bound to either get reined back in after one had their fill of fun, or to fall like tragic angels to the ground when the winds died, and they would once again be unable to travel free amongst the stars where they belonged. All thanks to the threads wrapped around their very bones, far too strong for something that looked so thin and prone to fraying.

Yet nobody ever did release the chains. Who would willingly free their prized, imprisoned bird?

Of those pretty, unfortunate kites, you lamented with them. 

You, too, were pinioned to solid ground. Your wings were clipped, feathers torn from flesh one by one until you were born in a body that could no longer fly. Responsibilities, duties, relationships – they all kept you drowning in a suffocating pile of down-stuffed pillows, filled with plumes that were once yours. They progressively got heavier and heavier, locking your limbs between illusions of comfort and safety, sitting on your chest and flooding your mouth until you choked and gagged and couldn’t breathe.

You were different from kites, sure, beyond the very obvious things. You weren’t a pitifully flimsy, inanimate toy, left forgotten in some closet, awaiting the one day you’d be remembered, taken out, and allowed to taste the breath of deities themselves again. But if you could glide in the wind like they could, oh, nothing would bring you more joy, more solace, even if you were still tied down. All for just a kiss of freedom.

You ached to be detached from everything and everyone. An untethered kite, a fledgling bird learning to fly, a paper lantern that glowed its very joy from within for all to see.

Paper lanterns.

You couldn’t stand paper lanterns, because you yearned so deeply to be one. How wonderful it would be to have a warmth alight inside you as you rose to the heavens, lighter than air. 

You envied them. 

They made you nauseous with longing.

They made you want to stretch your fingers high and try to catch one within your palm like a cascading star.

They made you want to reach your fist past your throat and rip out your heart barehanded, just to make the accursed thing stop pounding so goddamned hard in your stomach as it sank lower and lower with each additional candle that got to join their family of stars beyond celestia. 

Because, for fuck’s sake, you belonged up there, too. Free, flaring, blazing and flickering so spectacularly that philosophers would wax poetic about you for ages to come.

It wasn’t fucking fair for you to be stuck on Mother Nature’s spine like this, burdened by the neutron star in your body that just grew more and more dense, urging you to dive into the ocean and let it snare you into its depths. You didn’t choose to spawn with a spirit disconnected from the flesh that acted as its prison, you didn’t choose to be jailed like this.

So, why?

Maybe that’s one of the reasons you were drawn to kites. You pitied them. You pitied yourself.

You weren’t a kite. You didn’t want to be one, to have your boundless form fettered down. But when you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, that’s all you could ever see staring back at you. A kite with faded, worn out paints that barely clung to the tattered paper, feebly held together by thin strips of bamboo that had been aged and mottled from the inside out by time.

You hated paper lanterns. You hated kites. You hated yourself.

As the years dragged on, from the moment your brain snapped into your body with the sudden realization that you were a conscious, living, breathing person, those ugly feelings festered and spread like a fungus that refused to abate even a trace, just a second so you could catch a breath of fresh air that didn’t reek of mildew.

The seconds spanned on for eons without prejudice, destroying your cells at the molecular level with each passing birthday that trudged reluctantly along.

In the back of your mind, the sensation of being asphyxiated by your own feathers that had been shorn away from you etched itself deeper and deeper into your psyche. You became restless, antsy, the variegated world around you fading rapidly. Colors you once saw as a child, before you could latch the inherent sense of wrongness in your chest to a concept, gradually dulled until all you were left with was a world tinged heavily in gray.

The streets you were raised on grew denser, despite the amount of people living on them never actually changing noticeably. The verdant grass of your backyard turned into a dominating presence everytime you laid your eyes on it, unruly and all-consuming, demanding an undivided attention you did not want to give. The orange beams that hung over black asphalt instilled a sense of panic in you that wasn’t there before. 

You used to be fond of walking around your neighborhood in the middle of the night, when you rightfully should have been sleeping. An inverted circadian rhythm suited you well when you were young, unaware that the crushing sensation under your sternum would only get worse. 

Now, though, the thought of straying out where there wasn’t enough light to see straight ahead made sweat form on your chest and palms while your teeth clattered from a nonexistent chill.

Everything caved in on you. Not in a rush, not in a cataclysmic flood. No, you didn’t discern you were fighting for air until you were already gasping fruitlessly. Lost, terrified, unsure, you could only bear witness to the collapse of your own mind.

Then, one day, a soft voice whispered in your ear.

Run.

It wasn’t a threat, not some ominous warning of death looming over your shoulder. It was a suggestion, an offering, an olive branch towards that freedom you coveted. It was salvation. 

Who were you to ignore the hand of deliverance?

The first time you changed your scenery, moved elsewhere, even if it was only a few streets away from your childhood home, felt incredibly liberating. After so long that you had forgotten how it felt, you got the chance to gulp down air as if you had surfaced from beneath the perdition sea after spending your whole existence beneath it. 

Color returned to your world, excitement formed anew, everything felt right. Achromatic wastelands turned into kaleidoscopic meadows, fulgent and lucid. You savored it, reveled in it, frolicked and danced and lived.

…It didn’t last. 

Not long. You exhaled, and it all vanished, sand swept away by an uncaring and spiteful hand.

Once you had become used to the environment, when you no longer had to actively remember where your flat was, or how long it took to get to the store, everything was washed out; water dumped on a painting that had yet to form defined shapes.

That crushing sensation had returned, and with it the reminder that, as much as you wished you weren’t, you were a kite. Tethered, perpetually confined, worn bamboo strips and thin paper threatening to rend under the drag.

Thus, you ran again. A new town, a new city, a new skyline. Euphoria nestled cozily under your breast like a second heart, purring contentedly as it curled up on the nest of blankets it created for itself.

New places, new faces, new people. All of it was fascinating to you beyond measure. It interested you to no end to learn about other human beings; their thoughts, their perspectives, their preferences. What they despised with grit teeth and barely restrained anger clenched in trembling fists; what they loved so dearly that they could never drown beneath the same waves that followed your heels, tide rising progressively. 

They glowed from within, bright and budding and vibrant. Their eyes flickered with life, glazed so clearly that stars sparkled in the depths of their hues. You were drawn to them, a moth to mesmerizing fire.

You felt free. You rode that high as much as you could, for as long as it would allow.

Until a realization struck you with the force of a bullet train one night. A man hung onto your arm, easy laughter shared between the two of you as you let him take you home. Alcohol tinged his breath, but not enough to give him anything more than a slight buzz. He was a total gentleman through and through, and you listened with eagerness as he spoke about his upcoming work project, his excitement palpable with every word. 

His hand linked with yours, fingers intertwined, his warm palm engulfing yours. There was a comfort in that transient window of time, one you held to your heart. It was so unfamiliar, so addictive. And as you stopped before your door, having completely forgotten of your lack of wings, you waited with bated breath for him to slant into you.

A pair of infirm lips, minutely chapped and tasting of wine, pressed against yours, and dread exploded in your gut.

He pulled away from you, lovestruck in the way his eyes shone as he looked into your own, and reality crashed down on you with horrors in three measures, shattering like broken glass in the vortex of your conscious thought.

When you stared at him, watched the way he opened his mouth to speak, you made the connection.

“I really like you,” he had murmured to you that night, nearly shy. Yearning. Hoping.

Paper lantern.

“I want to ask you out properly.”

Tether. 

His words sank into your skin like ice, digging deep, burrowing into your marrow.

Kite.

The illusion of pellucid skies of the richest shades cracked, the lush plains you fantasized of often turned to barren heaths, and all those tormenting feelings came back to choke your breath with a vengeance. Sickly fingers wrapped around your throat, sunk into your mouth, dug past your gag reflex, wrapped around your ankles and wrists until you could barely lift your feet just to move forward. 

You remembered with great disdain what you were. You had managed to sever your thread by running off from the pod you were born in, but it wasn’t a clean cut. The string hung off your fragile wooden bones loosely, just waiting for somebody to grab and yank, to shred your freedom away from you once again, to leave you knotted around a pole to sit like decoration and stay.

You were not free.

You were not a paper lantern. You did not gleam from your soul like he did. You did not pour light from your heart and words and touch.

You’d do anything to forget that, to prove that sentiment wrong, to show the world that you weren’t a rock thrown into a pond. You’d do anything to change the narrative, to force a rewrite. So, you did what you always did.

You ran.

You found somewhere else to live, blipping off the radar unannounced. One moment you were there, the next you had cut your lingering thread an inch shorter, following the wind blindly like a duckling to your next destination.

Each time you settled down somewhere, you had this silent hope: maybe this is where I’ll be happy.

You clung to that hope, fervently ignoring the screeching whisper in your ear that said otherwise. The next place was never the final one. It never would be, no matter how hard you tried to delude yourself into believing you weren’t a lost soul, unable to move on. Some pathetic ghost you’d make, if you weren’t one already.

Whenever you let yourself rest for a heartbeat too long, the rope you had trimmed ever shorter was skimmed too close by too-warm fingertips, and you fled again, and again, and again.

That’s all you seemed to know nowadays.

Perhaps proven now, as you sat on a train in a foreign country, absentmindedly watching rural landscapes race past the window. Your knuckles pressed indents into your cheek, the sensation unpleasant and nearing on painful, though you had stopped paying any mind to it a while ago. Your thoughts laid scattered at your feet, and you couldn’t be bothered to pick them up.

Rather, the white matter of your brain was being filled with the empty, buzzing tune of songs you’d heard a hundred times over playing through your earbuds at the loudest volume possible. It made things easier to manage during this grand, several-thousand-mile-long trip. The less thinking you had to do, the better. It was the absolute last thing on your bucket list, loitering just under the cutoff line, hoping to sneak in a few words you refused to listen to.

You couldn’t let yourself regret this. You wouldn’t.

Not now, not after you’d already dropped everything and dissipated beyond the welkin’s gaze. You had only one place you could go to at all now, and you were already on your way there.

So if you had to blast your eardrums out to bridle the whisper-shouting voices spurned by overthinking, so be it.

Rice paddies blurred by, blending in from one farm to the next. The sun reflected off the waters the stalks soaked in, absorbing the warmth the light provided and feeding the plants with the fruit of life. Somewhere along the way, you had begun counting each field you passed for no particular reason.

You thought it’d lull you to sleep like counting sheep, subconsciously desiring to sink into a dreamless abyss and catch up on the hours that had been eluding you every night for months up to this point, given how far away you still were from your destination. But your cerebrum was not kind to you, and your body refused to succumb to the tempting allure of nothingness.

Thus, you remained as you were, counting paddies as the day never quite moved forward. The sun dwelled high, trying to glare down on you, but it couldn’t get the angle right to invade the shade of your tiny cabin room on the train.

It stayed stuck to the center of the sky, mighty and proud. But then, after what seemed like only a few seconds, you blinked, and suddenly it was hanging off the horizon’s ledge.

With a slight jolt, you realized the train had decreased in speed, and was continuing to lose momentum as it approached an isolated station, all alone in the countryside. You checked the time on your phone, your eyes feeling unusually heavy and sticky. It was only early night, but you were worn down to your sinew.

Right. Jet lag. You had hopped on a plane and traveled to the other side of the planet on a whim, another desperate attempt to grab onto the concept of freedom you craved. It didn’t take you longer than a week to find a small house deep in the pastoral lands of Japan, where mountains wrapped around the valley like a scarf. You chose Japan, if only because you learned the language when you were studying abroad some years ago.

It resided in a town of such a low population, blissfully around 600, it was a wonder you could even find a train that took you this far to begin with. Of course, that meant the house was decently rundown, with a community small enough to consider it unnecessary to repair. You couldn’t care less. All that meant to you was that it was cheaper to buy it outright than rent a more maintained structure. Buying it was a risky move, given your track record of up and ditching the last bed you slept on without any hindrance, but, at this point, you were tired.

You just wanted to be somewhere for longer than a month or two. Maybe owning a house was contrary to your desires to be unbound, with no board to pin your tattered and thin wings to, sure, the pros far outweighed the cons.

Cheap shelter, little to no people, far, far away from anywhere you’d been before. Three for three.

It’d still be a 45 minute drive or so before you actually got to your new residence, but you weren’t in any particular rush. You chose the most isolated place on purpose. Less people, less deafening sounds, less claustrophobic, brutalist structures that loomed higher and higher.

Less chance of being tied down.

With a hiss and a loggy wheeze, the train settled into place, jostling you as you got to your feet and stretched your arms above your head. The muscles in your back and shoulders twinged from sitting in the same position all day, and your legs stung like sparklers, but it was nice to work your joints properly again. After tucking away your phone and earbuds, you tugged your luggage down from the overhead rack with a grunt.

You were hopeful that there’d be taxis outside the station, and that you wouldn’t have to walk to the village. Who knows how long that would take. You’d probably keel over after the first mile. The thought made you snort while you squeezed down the aisle, suitcase with your bag stacked on it rolling behind you, purse strapped across your torso. The conductor – a sweet, older man – nodded silently to you as you disembarked, waving a farewell to you, which you returned. He was nice, you remembered him greeting you when you first boarded. 

He didn’t talk much, just a polite, “welcome aboard,” while the ticket collector pointed you in the direction of your cabin, which you greatly appreciated after hopping off a plane and hurrying your ass over to your required station. You were too spent for conversation.

Leaving the station was much easier than you expected. Unlike your home country, where you could get lost just by turning 45° to the left, Japan seemed to prefer neater environments that were easy to navigate. And, upon stepping out of the building, you rejoiced at spotting a few variously colored cabs waiting along the curb. Outside of one stood a man, roughly in his 50s or so, who waved you over.

“Need help getting somewhere, miss?” He questioned, and you nodded as you pulled out your phone, scrolling through your emails to find the one confirming your purchase of the listing. 

“Yeah, could you take me here?”

He glanced down at your screen when you showed him the address and chuckled quietly. “Well, that’s a surprise. Last time I visited that house was some twenty years ago to take the owner to the station, rather than from.”

You blanched nominally. Twenty years? Had your house really been abandoned for twenty years? The listing claimed it was only ten max, that estate bastard. A sigh left through your nose. Too late to deal with that now, you figured. “I just purchased it.”

The man nodded as he popped open the trunk and assisted you in slotting your luggage inside. “You look like you’ve come from far away. It’s rare for foreigners to choose to live in such a distant location. Not a fan of the city?”

I fucking hate cities.

“Something like that, yeah,” you assented, thanking him as he opened the back door for you. 

You appreciated his efficiency as he wasted no time dilly-dallying around. As soon as he was buckled up in the car, he was on the road, taking you down the last leg of your trip. The world outside the window streaked by in shades of violet and blood orange as the sun hovered on the edge of the skyline, reluctant to rest for the night.

“Ah, apologies. I’m Hayato Kazuhiko, you may call me Kazu, if you prefer,” he quickly introduced himself, and you followed suit. “Why’d you choose this little village of all places? It’s very small.”

You hummed. “That’s exactly why I chose it. I’m not a big…people-person, if you know what I mean.”

The older gentleman chuckled lightly. “My wife is the same,” he nodded as he peeked at you via the rearview mirror. “She had to visit the small town I used to live in one day, and it was love at first sight for us. She was immediately drawn to country life, and we’ve lived out in the neighboring town here ever since.”

“How long have you been married?”

“Twenty-five years,” he nodded, and you could see the pure love and devotion in his eyes as he spoke about his spouse. It was wholesome, and softened your heart a sliver. 

He was surprisingly relaxing to listen to. Pleasant voice that didn’t grate on your ears, a few stories shared about his wife, the occasional tale about some significant structure or location. It was calming, in an odd way. He’d point out a shrine or hiking trail you’d pass by, and offer to take you to them one day to teach you its history and meaning, and you actually considered it.

It could’ve been the harmless nature about him. Even as night descended and you could only really see his silhouette, inspecting him reminded you of your father, but…better, for lack of an accurate word. You weren’t afraid that he’d suddenly raise his voice, or take you down a suspicious road – or, hell, back to the train station to send your sorry ass right back to where you came from.

“Mr.–” you cut yourself off and cleared your throat, mildly embarrassed about slipping back into your mother tongue. Japanese honorifics were something you continued to struggle with. “Hayato-san, do you have children?”

He gave a mellow laugh and shook his head slightly. “Please, just Kazu is fine. And I do, three of them, in fact. A younger son, and twin girls about your age,” he estimated roughly.

So the fatherly air to him you picked up on wasn’t imagined. That brought you a form of reassurance you couldn’t distinctly name.

“My twin girls are all the way up in Tokyo,” he continued, chest puffed with pride, “and my son is still in highschool, causing chaos.”

“Chaos?” You raised a brow.

“Yes, but not the type you’d think,” he hummed. “He’s a gentle child, but his kind nature means he’s unfortunately quite gullible and gets himself into trouble.”

A voice, the faint echo of a memory long lost, intoned in the far reaches of your lucidity; someone shaming you for getting caught up in an issue that wasn’t even your fault. Your stomach twisted with dread, and your head snapped to peer at Hayato, expecting to find disappointment shining in his eyes when you studied them through the rear-view mirror.

Except, there wasn’t any.

Concern at most, a crease in his brow as he warred within himself between protecting and helping his kin, or letting the kid learn on his own. There wasn’t any disappointment, or anger, or exasperation. You could see him reminiscing as he stopped talking, focusing more on the twists that followed the mountain’s curve, and all you saw was just…love, and happiness.

The churning in your gut settled, instead replaced with a sense of hollowness. Not the kind that made you sick; rather, it was like you had a gap in your chest where a puzzle piece was missing, while his was filled with a perfectly fitted heart.

Bittersweet, possibly, but only distantly so. You felt happy for someone who was borderline a complete stranger to you, someone you shouldn’t even care about beyond tipping him well for driving you to the middle of nowhere in the dead of night, but you did anyway. 

Maybe I could have had that too, your thoughts mutedly supplied, if I was normal.

Then again, you didn’t want that, not really. Though you couldn’t tell if that was just who you were as a person, or a result of the coals perpetually under your feet, it didn’t change your mind.

Nothing could.

You were sure of it.

Smooth concrete eventually became a densely packed dirt road when Kazu turned off the main path, the car vibrating as the wheels rolled over loose stones and gravel. It didn’t last long, thankfully, as the shabby looking pile of wood came into view, albeit dark since the stars overhead were too dim to illuminate anything much.

“Where we are, miss,” he spoke as you both climbed out of the vehicle and met at the trunk. He opened it to retrieve your luggage, and you pulled your wallet out of your purse and counted off a few bills, wondering what the right amount to give to him would be.

It was hard to translate currency worth when things were valued differently in this country. Your trip abroad was a long time ago.

“Is this enough?” You peered up at him and held out the bills.

He took one glance at them and chuckled deeply. “That’s far too much, really,” he replied as he pulled only two of the strips out of the small stack you were holding. “Be careful with your money while you adjust to the currency of this country. Do you need assistance with your luggage?”

“Oh,” you analyzed the remaining money in your hands before tucking it back into your wallet. You really hoped he took the right amount needed and didn’t undersell himself. “No, I’ll be okay. You got me here in one piece, that’s all I could ask for.”

“Are you sure?”

Your head bobbed as you inspected your suitcase and bag, popping out the handle. “Yes, I am. Drive safe, Kazu-san. Thank you for taking me here.”

His chest rumbled with a laugh. “Please, it’s my job. You are pleasant company.”

“Likewise,” your lips rounded into a smile as you bowed politely. It was small, and you were tired, but it was genuine, the first one you’ve had for a long while. “Goodnight.”

Kazuhiko waved his hand in farewell, bidding you good dreams as he climbed back into the taxi and drove off, leaving you alone.

Your lungs deflated.

The air here was crisper, stinging your throat in a pleasant way as you inhaled slowly. Faint hints of pine and sap drifted across your senses. Nothing indicated any heavy stenches of smog or gasoline or gods know what litters the streets of every downtown city you’d been to before.

It would probably take you a while to get used to, and you oddly didn’t want to, if only so you could admire the fresh fragrance every time you stepped outside. Your muscles relaxed, surprising you as you hadn’t noticed just how tense you were until you were perched outside the front gate of your brand new (old) lodging.

Turning to face it, you groaned upon the realization that it was on a hill. Said hill was tiny, mind you, but a hill nonetheless. You found you couldn’t give much of a shit right now, just yearning to lay down and pass the fuck out for a while. Maybe the rest of tomorrow, too. A few weeks, actually, if you were allowed to choose. A coma sounded wonderful.

“Home sweet home,” you mumbled to nobody in particular as you pushed open the gate and virtually jumped out of your skin at the near shriek it gave. Okay, it had to have been longer than 20 years, that was loud. 

With your heart fluttering rapidly, you made a note to deal with it (and everything else) later and trudged up the incline, almost eating shit and dying when the toe of your boot caught on the edge of a stepping stone. Another thing to add to the “deal with later” list. You had a feeling it would just keep growing exponentially.

Finding the key was easy, for better and worse. It simply sat in the door knob’s lock, very safe and secure and definitely not putting your house at risk of…what?

There was nothing in there, evident when you pushed open the front door, which wailed just as loudly as the fence gate. You felt the blood drain from your face. Sure, the interior was empty, but the house was a wreck. Peeling walls, strange, crusty scent, and a sticky floor at the entrance that made you grimace when your sole pulled off it like velcro. You knew that it was custom in Japan to take off your shoes at the door, but fuck that. Absolutely not. You were not walking in any part of this house either in socks or barefoot.

Everything was virtually pitch black as you delved further in, so you depended on your other senses, and the ability to smell was one you wished you didn’t have. Your nose wrinkled as various rotting odors welcomed you, making you immediately regret going through all this.

Morning. You’d deal with it all in the morning.

Practically sneaking on your tip-toes, you explored the open space, trying to find the room that smelled the least and was passable to sleep in. Granted, there were really only two actual rooms down a hall going opposite of the kitchen besides the restroom and washroom, but the bigger one seemed decent.

At least you had a sleeping bag and wouldn’t be conking out on the bare floor. You went through the motions of prepping for bed mostly by habit, doing the bare minimum seeing as you didn’t have much of a choice. You brushed your teeth with the water from your tumbler, located and unrolled your sleeping bag, and climbed under the rustling top after yanking your shoes off, zipping it up as far as it went. 

Admittedly, the setup was kinda janky, but it got the job done. 

You couldn’t be bothered to change into pajamas.

With your head plopped on probably the least comfortable pillow you had found to bring with you (also the only one that would fit in with the rest of your shit, it was practically a pillowcase filled loosely with sporadically placed lumps of stuffing), you closed your eyes, and your body finally let sleep take over.

─────•(-•ʚɞ•-)•─────

Morning was not pleasant. Surrounded by the musty scent of gods-know-what, back aching from the restless sleep you got from your pitiful sleeping bag and the hard floor, you were groggy beyond belief and desperate for fresh air. And a massage. And a cigarette.

You didn’t smoke, finding the heavy and pungent funk nauseating, but the temptation was there. You felt you gained a little more understanding of smokers.

Brushing the thought aside, you pushed yourself up into a sitting position and rubbed the heel of your palm against the sore spot on the side of your skull. You would have believed someone replaced your pillow with a rock if you hadn’t intimately known that lump of fluff. Or, rather, lack thereof.

Red lines, tender to the touch and tingling a little, were pressed onto the arm you laid on for most of the time you slept, causing you to hiss when you traced your fingers against them. It seemed to be barely past dawn when you reviewed what was out your window, leaving you questioning just how long you slept, if at all.

Figuring you wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep anyway, you shoved yourself out of ‘bed’ and groaned when every joint in your body popped and every bone creaked. Hell, you weren’t sure you’d be able to sleep tonight again. Not here, anyway. More problems for future you.

She’d certainly be happy about that. She already had so much shit to handle.

The growl of your stomach reminded you that food was something you needed to consume to continue living. 

Reluctant as you were to do anything, you figured going out by starvation was 1) probably not the best idea, and 2) you wanted to be out of this dingy torture shed.

What was unfortunate was that you, like a smart person, didn’t bring anything more than snack bars and those weird trail mixes with the fruit cubes that you just threw into your bag without much care. It was really the only motivation you needed to walk your sorry self out the door. 

After you brushed your teeth and changed your clothes, of course, being very careful to not let anything touch the floor.

Stepping out of your home through the shabby and creaky door with your purse slung across your chest, you were met with the grandiose sight of mountains surrounding you on every side. They rose high, aching to brush the sky and touch a star, just one, just once, just for a second. Covered in thick greenery, you figured the faint yet present scents of cedar, pine, and other woodsy tones were carried down into the valley from the steep inclines.

You couldn’t see any of these details nearly as well when you were dragging your tired ass to this place with ink covering the sky in a thick veil, but it truly was breathtaking.

Had nature always been this green before?

Having only done some cursory research on the village – namely, population – you didn’t bother giving yourself time to actually inspect photos of the tiny rural town. From what you’d seen anyway, pictures could never do it justice. A velvety breeze brushed against your cheek, prompting you to tuck your hair behind your ear and pivot towards the direction the gale came from.

Your breath left you in a silent ‘oh’, mesmerized by the incredible view of the rising sun you had. It shone valiantly and radiantly through the gaps it had carved out between the towering peaks itself, illuminating the land in shades of brilliant gold with its splendor.

For perhaps the first time in your life, you felt…nothing.

Not a sense of hollowness, nor a void in your chest, no.  A peaceful kind of nothing, as if not a thing in the world could take your mind away from this newfound elysium you found in sharing the morning’s shine with its source.

Invisible fingers caressed your jaw, threading through your hair with the gentle touch of adoration, as if you were delicate.

You hated to be treated like you were easily breakable, as fragile as glass, but this sensation was consoling, rather than degrading. The wind cherished you, not akin to a brittle figurine, rather as someone who was beautiful and worthy of gentleness unsullied by pity or licentious intentions. As if you were someone to be worshipped and revered.

A mother combing her fingers through her daughter’s hair, humming a lullaby only she knew the tune of.

Perhaps it wasn’t impossible to find what you were searching for. You didn’t know what it was exactly, a question without an answer, but it gave you a place to start.

With a deep breath swelling behind your ribcage, filling your soul with air untouched by sickly city pollution you were so accustomed to, you turned and began heading down the beaten dirt path that led into the heart of the village. The early summer warmth was pleasant on your skin, not too hot given the time. It seeped into your cold fingers and made them ache a little less with each minute going by.

While the town you had chosen was visually quite a bit older in style, with smaller structures dotted about reflecting traditional Japanese designs, there were some modernities. Electricity was, fortunately, one of them. 

Based on the fact that you found and bought the listing online, you figured there was likely a way for you to get your hands on some Wi-Fi here, too. You’d probably die without it.

The nearer you drew to the center of the population, the denser the structures became. Not to say they were rubbing walls, but neighbors were only a short few steps away, compared to the distance between your own house and the one closest to it.

Minka houses in significantly better condition than yours spanned either side of the road as the terrain shifted from soil to asphalt. They were beautiful, and you bet that living in that kind of house in this kind of place was either absurdly expensive, or dirt cheap, with no real in-between. You were personally on the latter end of this, which probably wasn’t a good thing. 

Doomed by the narrative once again.

Off in the distance on an elevated surface, you could see what you thought was a Wayo Kenchiku temple, if you had to guess. Its overlapping roofs were a deep green in shade, nearly black. They protected the desaturated brown walls of the building, and you were taken aback by how easy the temple was to see from where you were.

It sat across a wide river, one surprisingly calm as you approached it. It rushed along, springing with glimmering waves that shimmered under the light and frothed white around raised boulders. Despite it coming across as fairly deep, you could see clear through to the bottom, with the water itself being a refreshing shade of clear blue. A bridge spanned the rift, made of sturdy wood that had dark railings protecting either side of you, matching the aesthetic of your surroundings.

The bridge whined under your weight, but didn’t shift, giving you some reassurance that you wouldn’t go crashing through the planks. It led into the most packed section of the whole area, with structures built closer together, bearing a more modernized likeness, while retaining its unique characteristics.

In truth, though you remained apprehensive, the voice that scratched at the back of your skull everywhere you went and pestered you to run, run, run, had quieted. You hadn’t registered it, the silence, too focused on taking in your new surroundings as a serene blanket covered the thoughts that usually pranced wild and free in your cranium, putting them to rest with a whispered mercy:

This feels right.

It didn’t take you long to spot what you figured was the local grocery store. The bell above the door chimed as you stepped inside, peering at what products you could see on the shelves and aisles from where you stood. Being an anxious little creature, you double-checked to make sure you had your wallet, as well as the translated bills within. Last thing you wanted was to embarrass yourself in a place where everybody knew everybody.

Reassured, you chose a random aisle and headed down it, skimming the products to see if any of them appeared even vaguely familiar to you. Besides cans of soup and tubes of Pringles, there wasn’t much for you to grab onto. Sure, there was ramen, but you didn’t have a way to boil water. Cereal and milk, maybe?

Shit, no, you didn’t have any cutlery or dinnerware. Unless you wanted to be a sad raccoon and eat raw cereal straight from the box, but you weren’t that desperate.

Yet.

Mentally crossing out your options as you went through them, you nearly knocked over an entire row of items when you almost ran into an older lady who stood in the middle of the strip, watching you.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” You hopped back a foot, raising your hands in front of you placatingly. “I-I didn’t see you there, am I in your way?”

The woman laughed and shook her head, her smile reminding you of a grandmother that’d sneakily give her grandkids candies while their parents weren’t watching. “You’re quite alright, I was actually wondering if you need help?”

“Oh, uh…” Bashfully scratching the back of your head, you glanced at the various bags of foodstuffs beside you and debated your choices. Say no, when it was painfully obvious how green behind the ears you were, or set down your pride and ask for assistance.

Your stomach chose for you, warning you to suck it up and get food before it began eating itself.

The woman’s chuckle was heartier the second time around, her eyes glimmering with mirth as she motioned for you to follow her. Feeling a bit like a scolded child, you trailed after her while she wove her way around her store towards the produce section at the back. She pulled a random fruit from the thunder-rain-shelf-thing (you honestly had no idea what it was called) and rubbed it against her apron before handing it to you.

“Eat,” she insisted.

You blinked rapidly, peeping the fruit, the sign for it, then her. “How much…?”

The lady waved her free hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Eat, I insist.”

You were going to argue further, but a deep cramp in your gut had you sinking your teeth into the sweet and wonderfully-textured treat. As embarrassing as it was, you borderline moaned as you chewed, quickly taking another bite. Whatever it was, it tasted divine.

This time, when she directed you to move with her, you followed without hesitation. “Thank you so much,” you mumbled as she pulled out a chair from behind the counter and urged for you to sit on it.

“It’s nothing, I can’t let you go hungry, now,” she swept away your worries. “You’re new here,” she stated, rather than asked.

You nodded through another bite, waiting until you swallowed before continuing the conversation. “Yes, I got here last night.”

“Oh? Are you visiting someone?”

“No, I moved here.”

Her brows raised. “Really, now? Who are you staying with?”

Mid-bite, you stopped to address the matter. “Oh, no, I’m not living with anyone. I purchased the house just outside the village.”

The way her eyes widened was nearly comical. “That place? Now, that’s a surprise.”

If you had a nickel.

“That’s the second time I’ve heard that now,” your lips tugged into a frown and you stifled it with another chomp into the sweet object in your hand.

At that, she simpered mutedly. “I apologize. I’m merely awed that it was still standing, let alone that someone had bought it. Last I heard, there hasn’t been anyone living there for, oh, maybe 20 years or so.”

The realtor, that dog. He did lie to you after all.

You scornfully hoped he was enjoying spending your money.

Picking at your cheek with your free hand, you looked away with a nervous giggle. “Yeah, it’s…not in great shape. I have a lot of work cut out for me.”

“You’re going to try to repair it?”

“Yeah. Keyword being try.”

“I’m not sure that’s a wise choice.”

You sighed. “Me neither, but I don’t have much of a choice now.”

The woman shook her head, smiling regardless. “You let me know what kind of help you need. There are plenty of handymen in this village of ours, I’m sure they’d be happy to help.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you, but…I’m sorry, I didn’t ask for your name,” you pouted, hurriedly introducing yourself.

“Just call me Granny. And I won’t take no for an answer, missy,” okay, now you really felt scolded. “I won’t stand for you trying to fix up that cluster of wood by yourself, it’s far too dangerous. And you shouldn’t be staying there while it’s in that condition, either. Give me a moment, let me find someone you can stay with.”

Panic rose up in you and you waved your hands frantically in front of you. “N-No! It’s fine, I’ll– I’ll figure something out, really, don’t worry. Please.”

Granny eyed you suspiciously, her hand hovering over the landline on the wall. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! It’s fine, I’m fine, I promise.”

Her eyes remained squinted, even as she lowered her arm. “Alright, if you say so. But if you need any kind of help, big or small, come to me right away, okay?”

Relieved you wouldn’t have to interact with more strangers, you nodded and deflated. “I will.”

“Promise me, young lady.”

“I promise.”

She grinned brightly and ruffled your hair. “That’s a good girl. Let me pack you a few things to take with you so you have something to eat.”

“Ah– wait, I…I’m not very good with currency yet,” you halted her sheepishly. The prices were still confusing as fuck to you. Man, how the fuck were you going to manage this when you get a job? If?

“Nonsense, it’s on me. I won’t charge you.”

Sorry, what? Did she do that for every person she met five minutes prior?

“But– but that’s not–”

“Finish up your peach,” she asserted as she was already walking away with a bag in her hands that wasn’t there a second ago. What was it with grannies and having some weird, innate magic?

Your eyes darted down at your half-eaten peach, surprised to learn that it wasn’t some foreign fruit you’d never even heard of before, let alone tried. It was an exceptional blend between succulent and rich; easy to bite into and chew without pouring juice all over yourself.

The fuck kind of peaches have you been eating before?

Sensing you might be buying these often if they were this good, you had well-nigh inhaled the rest of it by the time Granny came back with a stuffed bag.

“Here you go, dear,” she held out the shopping bag to you, which you took graciously after tossing out the peach pit into the small trash can by the counter.

Glancing into the bag, your lips shifted downwards. It was filled with a few different fruits and veggies, a couple bags of snacks, but mostly packaged food that looked like it could be eaten as is without needing to worry about cooking it. Your guilt skyrocketed. “Granny, this is too–”

“Don’t worry about paying. Save your money for the repairs of that home of yours.”

Your head shot up, eyes widening. “I can’t–”

“You can because I say so, young lady,” Granny puffed out her chest proudly, using a motherly tone that easily put you in your place, much to your bafflement. You didn’t even listen to your own mother like this. “Come back in the evening, I’ll have something cooked up for you.”

“You really don’t–”

She made brushing motions with her fingers, shooing you off the chair. “Off you go. There’s a lovely little pergola in the park, go have breakfast there. Just turn right when you leave and keep walking straight.”

Flustered, you let her push you along out the door, your confused brain trying to catch up. “Granny–”

“I’ll have a list of handymen for you when you return,” she informed you right as she managed to get you out the door. “Explore the town while there’s still daylight!”

And just like that, she was back in her store, sweeping with a broom that you swear materialized out of nowhere. You stared at the shop for a good minute, blinking dumbly until you processed whatever just happened.

You still weren’t wholly sure. You went in, expecting to grab a bag of something random to ‘feed’ yourself with, and left with a bag full of free food from a woman who spontaneously decided to give it to you. 

The fuck. She’d go bankrupt if she just kept giving strangers sustenance off her own back.

Your own feet seemed to carry you along as you exhaled through your nose and took her instructions to heart. Too late now, you’d feel bad if you went in and returned everything. It’d be insulting at this point, and you were hungry, anyway

A cooked meal did sound lovely as well, discomfited as you were. You had never met your own grandmothers – not in person at least, so you had no idea if grandmothers were simply like that or not. Regardless, you had a feeling she was going to fill that role in whether you liked it or not. 

Luckily, you were drifting towards like. She did give you free food, after all, and was going to find help for you. That part you were more apprehensive about, however, stubbornness and introversion making you want to be stupid and attempt to pick up carpentry out of nowhere.

All you could do was try to accept it and sigh, taking in the sights, stores, and dwellings as you walked past them and towards the park. A couple shops caught your eye, particularly a clothing boutique, and what could possibly be a hardware store. You weren’t certain, and didn’t want to find out yet. The prospect of entering one and facing the big ass sign that said ‘you don’t know what the hell you're doing!’ was too daunting to approach for now.

It didn’t take you long to get to the park. In fact, it was such a short walk that it bemused you. A population of 600 people seemed larger on paper than it was in reality. Most of the town was behind you, granted, but the uncanniness was uplifting, in a way.

It didn’t feel claustrophobic. The trees in the park were closer together than some of the buildings outside it, and they smelled so good that it knocked you back a step. The entire wild garden carried the fresh perfume of sweet and fresh vegetation, from blooming flowers scattered about and the grass underfoot, to the rustling leaves above. You couldn’t recall the last time you were in a park, let alone one that was as vibrant and alive as this one.

The pergola was easy to find. It resided in the center, right beside a large pond that you saw was filled with koi fish when you got close. 

They swam to-and-fro, carefree, intermingling, playing, and searching for food. 

Your stomach twisted when you made an unintentional connection in your mind. They reminded you of kites. Pretty, ultimately trapped.

The koi fish, however, didn’t seem to mind one bit. Not that you could understand fish language. They just went about their business calmly. It perplexed you, didn’t spending their lives in a single body of water bother them? Didn’t it make them depressed?

Could fish feel depression?

Shaking your head to rid it of the peculiar journey your mind had gone off on, you set the bag down on the table under the pergola and settled into one of the chairs, reaching to dig through your options. Of the items present, you opted to munch on a sandwich Granny had tossed in with everything else, bundled in saran wrap and clearly made by her.

While you were skeptical of pre-made food bought in a grocery store like this, one sniff had you biting into it ravenously. You were way hungrier than you thought as you devoured it, trying to will yourself to slow down enough to at least savor the taste of it. Your earlier guilt and trepidation disappeared three bites in, and you were now very much anticipating Granny’s handmade cooking if this was the kind of sandwich she was capable of creating.

You questioned again if all grannies were like this, or if you lucked out. Either way, if it meant you didn’t have to struggle with food for the time being (or ever, if Granny let you mooch off her forever), you didn’t mind getting spontaneously adopted by her at all.

About halfway through your meal, the koi fish in the pond caught your attention again. They were gorgeous animals, graceful and sleek with scales that twinkled iridescently when the sun flickered over them from between the gaps in the canopy above. They had you mesmerized, sights focused solely on them as they showed off.

Maybe they had managed to hypnotize you, because you decided to tear off a piece of the ham, rip it into tiny pieces, then throw it towards the pond. There was a large splash as all the fish rushed towards the food, making you snicker.

A sort of childish glee bloomed within you, persuading you to indulge them a smidgen longer before you finished off your food. The park seemed like a sacred place where nothing could touch you, where the lands would remain lavish and healthy, and where you could let all your worries fade away.

Arcadian – that was the best way you could describe it. Placid, halcyon, grounding, mellow. You could go on and on, really, but you–

The hairs on the back of your neck prickled when you sensed that someone, or something, was watching you. Heat grazed against your nape, slow, measured breaths right behind your ear. A kiss from a pair of soft lips that never reached your skin. A demanding presence wrapped around your figure, a prey caught in the trap laid out precisely by a steadfast and salivating predator.

Ghostly fingers slid down your shoulders, crept over your forearms, and encircled your wrists, holding them in place with a deceptively lax hold. Something firm and wide pressed against your shoulder blades, keeping you between it and the table.

Your heart kicked in your throat, preventing you from swallowing anything more than a tiny gasp.

And, like the cornered quarry you were, you shifted slowly to peek from the corner of your eye, avoiding any sudden or abrupt movements. You expected to find a beast hovering over your shoulder, eagerly anticipating your reaction. 

There was nothing. 

Only foliage greeted your wide-eyed inspection, expansive and untouched since you came here. The feeling of being hunted on had evaporated as soon as you checked, and though uncertain of this verdict, you chalked it up to being in totally unfamiliar territory. A result of a soundless, featherlight brush of wind, a critter in the foliage envying the fish you fed, lasting no more than a sigh.

Your brow furrowed as you searched through the plant life, seeing not even a hair out of the ordinary. That dovish sensation the park carried returned like it had never left to begin with, coaxing you to let it go and relax.

Maybe that was your cue to leave.

You shook off the lingering sensation with a shiver. Everything was okay in the wooded pasture, and as tranquil as your surroundings were, you knew you’d have to face the elephant in the room eventually.

You dusted yourself off as you got up to dislodge any lingering crumbs, carefully packed everything back into the bag, and took one final look around. This place would become your safe haven, you determined. Already, you were thinking of coming back, the memory of your adrenaline spiking fading rapidly. Imagining returning here gave you that minor push you need to fill your lungs with courage and turn to head back out the way you came.

You could explore the town later. Right now, you needed to address the state of your new stead and gauge what laid ahead of you first. Maybe it’d give you at least an idea of what you required to get started on all of this, though you doubted you’d come out of witnessing it in the full glory of the sun knowing more than you did now.

Absentmindedly, the milieu filtered into your subconscious, automatically noting small landmarks here and there to assist you in finding your way around the streets while they still confused you, until you had learned to traverse them and knew every path and alley like the back of your hand.

(Just in case, you assessed the back of your right hand. You know, to reacquaint yourself with it.)

Glumness overtook. You knew you probably wouldn’t stay here for too long, no matter how much you liked it. You could fix up the house, flip it, and head off someplace else again in pursuit of something that probably didn’t exist.

It’s always been this way for you. The same old pattern, the same old story, the neverending book that looped in on itself over and over, caught in a wormhole where the exit was the entrance.

So it was easy to convince yourself to not get attached to the valley, nor the people, nor that damn sticks-on-bricks abode. Not even the grass filled with flowers and protected by tall trees you had already found yourself longing for.

It was easier this way. This was all you knew, after all.

You had it all figured out.

Didn't you?

banner by cafekitsune ♥

[adventuresofalgy]

When Storm Éowyn started to batter the area around Algy's home, Algy retreated deep into the pitch dark depths of his ad hoc ivy refuge, and stayed there, tucked in tightly on a cosy bed of dry leaves, while the wind whooshed and whirled overhead, whooping and hollering as it swept over the ridges around his home and through the tall trees. The weather birds were calling it a "once in a generation" event, which Algy considered rather rash, but the storm was evidently rejoicing in the opportunity to celebrate its fame as boisterously as it could.

However, Algy was used to such tumult, for gales were common on the wild west coast of the Scottish Highlands, so before long he simply fell fast asleep, as only a fluffy bird can, and slept more or less without interruption until Saturday morning.

And when Algy finally woke up, the wind had died down, and the roaring had stopped, although it felt considerably colder than it had been the day before. Emerging cautiously from his hiding place, Algy looked around, and was astonished to see that there was apparently no evidence whatever of a great storm having passed through, despite the noise it had made.

One of the local weather birds happened to pass overhead as Algy peeped out from among the ivy, so he called out to it to ask for news, and learned that the area around his home had been exceedingly lucky on this occasion, for it was only a few miles away from the edge of a very large area of chaos and damage which the main body of the storm (if storm's can be said to have bodies) had caused further south.

Rejoicing in such good fortune, Algy hurried over to inspect his precious snowdrops, for he had been concerned that the "weather bomb" would obliterate them, but he was delighted to see that quite the opposite was true, for they were not only unscathed but positively flourishing, although they were surrounded by a scattering of melting hailstones.

Resting happily among his treasured flowers, Algy told them how happy he was that the wind had not damaged them, and then started to sing to them softly:

No one can tell me, Nobody knows, Where the wind comes from, Where the wind goes. It's flying from somewhere As fast as it can, I couldn't keep up with it, Not if I ran. But if I stopped holding The string of my kite, It would blow with the wind For a day and a night. And then when I found it, Wherever it blew, I should know that the wind Had been going there too. So then I could tell them Where the wind goes… But where the wind comes from Nobody knows.

[Algy is singing, to a special tune of his own, the poem Wind on the Hill from the volume of verses for children Now We Are Six by the famous early 20th century English writer who created Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne.]

[thecglcatalog]

Sidebar: Hobbies for Littles

How can little one fill their day now that they’re regressed and owned?  Some adult babies really belong in the playpen with a few teether toys, but others are adorably independent and like to cultivate some hobby or skill under your care.

Of course, you’ll have final say over how they spend their time.  Here are some appropriate hobbies for an adult baby.

Making beaded jewelry.

Nail art.

Making and flying kites.

Posting erotic photos to a (supervised) blog or website.

Flower pressing.

Researching and collecting vintage dolls.

Embroidery or cross-stitch.

Candy making.

Learning to play an instrument.

Bird-watching (a feeder outside the nursery window is a good start!).

Card tricks.

Burlesque dance and striptease.

Tea brewing.

Anal gaping.

Solitaire.

[khaire-traveler]

Are there any ways to worship Aeolus? I've been a follower of him for a while now and im wanting to find a way to show him.

Khaire, Nonny!

I sat on this question for awhile and tried my hand at reaching out to Aeolus to ask for guidance on what to say. Here's what I've come up with:

Living freely; living your life as YOU intend, not as others see fit (this would include embracing sexuality and gender, for example)

Playing with the wind; can be done through dancing on a windy day (safely, please), sticking your hand out a car window and following the flow of wind (also safely, please), flying a hand-made kite, etc.

Taking time to pause and listen to the wind throughout your day - the rustling of the trees, the whipping past your ears, etc.

Blowing dandelions in the wind (or blowing any wind-driven plant seeds in the wind; many plants use this strategy for seed spreading)

Supporting organizations that aid those caught in wind-based natural disasters (or natural disasters in general, if you can't find anything that specific)

Lighting incense (dedicated to Aeolus) and learning how to use smoke divination with it

Learning augury (divination through birds)

Learning aeromancy (divination through clouds)

Blowing divination tools in strong winds, and allowing whatever lands in a particular spot to be your message (just thought this would be cool lol)

Running/walking in the direction the wind is blowing; running alongside the wind

Supporting organizations that aid horses in any way; volunteering at local stables and similar

Getting a horse stuffed animal or having four horse chariot imagery on his altar (if using an altar)

Whispering your prayers into the wind to be carried off (not something you HAVE to do; it just sounds really cool)

Feeling the wind against your skin, and taking time to pause and appreciate it

Opening your window on windy days to allow the air in; opening your window in general to air out your space, especially for cleansing it

Practicing wind instruments; learning how to play one (also would just be cool, not required)

Writing messages to Aeolus on bay leaves or similar and releasing them into the wind

Drawing horses, keeping art of horses around, etc.

Writing poetry about Aeolus, his horses, or similar

Offering Aeolus food and drinks, especially those that can have honey and olive oil added to them (without tasting awful 💀); pastries, fruits, teas, coffees, candies, breads, etc. all work perfectly

Wearing devotional jewelry that reminds you of Aeolus

Collecting bird feathers (SAFELY; bird feathers can carry diseases, so please look up safe ways to collect them) or ethically sourced bird bones, especially parts of the wings

Hanging up wind chimes in or outside of your home - somewhere the wind will catch them

Creating a wind-mill (as an art/craft project) and placing it somewhere the wind will catch it or simply on Aeolus' altar

Supporting organizations that are working towards using wind as a clean energy source; volunteering for such organizations if possible as well

Cleaning up trash that is often blown around by wind - paper, bags, wrappers, water bottles, etc. (do so with gloves, if possible)

If I continued, I might as well create a dedicated subtle worship post for Aeolus lol. This is what I came up with, and I hope you find these suggestions helpful! Remember that you don't HAVE to do any of these things; they're solely suggestions to help get you started. Best of luck to you, Nonny, and may the winds blow in your favor! 🧡

[damseljamsel]

Non Sims Interests!!

Thank you to @eljeebee for the tag, as usual I am a little late to the party but here nonetheless!! Sooo...here I go although I am not NEARLY as exciting as my sims!!

Nature

I love nature dearly. Walking my pups, camping, hiking, flying kites, playing frisbee, whatever. Altho I must admit my activities are not those of an extremely athletic person loI! But for some reason, I feel at peace when I am outside and there's no one else in sight.

Music

Music has been a huge part of my life. I started playing piano when I was 8, and when I got a little older, I learned a bunch of different instruments in school. But more than that I have always known that I NEED music. Mad? I have a playlist for that. Sad? Yup, that too. Anxious? Nostalgic? Just chill? You get the idea lol.

Books and Baths

I can't remember a time when I didn't absolutely love reading and bubble baths. So one of my great loves? Combining them! I am a sucker for a grand adventure with a little love, a little humor....add that to a bubble bath? Perfection.

Video Games (Not Sims)

One day a girl met and fell in love with a boy. This boy LOVED World of Warcraft. This girl was annoyed but HOW MUCH he loved it. So she decided to see what the fuss was about and....instant love. For YEARS. I now love SO MANY video games! Hearthstone, Diablo, Wow, cozy games, rpg games...I love them all!!

Did I mention that boy's sister introduced me to the Sims 3??

Whew! That's enough of that! I'll tag a few people, but no pressure! I'll tag @leplumbobvert, @sansabirdanne, @igglemouse, @hellgirl-ix, @trofysisters, and @bakedsimmer!

-Jam

[thedarkestgreys]

for the hundred assorted prompts:

59

59. A fresh manicure and bruised knuckles

💅🏻🥊💋💅🏻🥊💋💅🏻🥊💋💅🏻🥊💋 💅🏻🥊💋

Fezco’s pretty sure the last time he found a rager actually enjoyable - with the exception of the night he beat Nate Jacobs ugly ass mug in - was back when he was sixteen, nearly seventeen. He’d only been selling at parties for maybe three months, and not hittin’ ‘em up every weekend at that point ‘cause he didn’t have the supply to meet the demand an’ hated leavin’ Ash home alone for more than a few hours at a time.

It was the first time he met Rue - a scrawny fourteen year old with tight braids who snuck into a high school party a few weeks before freshman year started. She was looking for weed, and someone sent her his way. He took pity on the kid, instantly knowing she’d never smoked before, and offered to teach her how. He’d ended up flying in the process, more cross faded than he’d ever been in his life, laughing his ass off with this weirdly manic teenage girl he barely knew in the back room of some rich asshole's house.

But nah, getting high as a motherfuckin’ kite wasn’t the stand out moment for him. That shit belongs solely to none other than Lexi Howard herself, Rue’s faithful best friend who followed her to that party like a puppy and got ditched in the crowd in favor of Rue chasing her high. It mighta been the first time that shit happened, but it sure as fuck wasn’t the last.

The five foot sumn brunette had hunted them down in the back room, all self righteous indignation as she stood with her fists on her hips and berated Rue for running off without her and smoking weed with, direct quote here, “some druggie.” Deep in his high Fezco mighta been, but part of him kinda wanted the pretty girl to turn her anger on him. Despite the braces adorning her teeth and the impeccably white Keds on her feet, he could tell Lexi Howard (whose name he’d learn months later) was a force to be reckoned with and the dumb, horny teenage boy part of his brain really wanted to see if she was all bark and no bite.

Several long years and incredibly stupid choices later, he’s kinda regretting that. ‘Cause at least when Lexi was givin’ Rue the third degree, she was too afraid to use cuss words out loud. Seventeen year old Lexi has a much more colorful vocabulary.

“Goddamnit Fezco,” Lexi half shouts, eyes blazing as her hair swings around her shoulders. “Who the fuck do you think you are? I know you have a temper but Jesus Christ, you cannot just start swinging on every fucking guy who shows the tiniest bit of interest in me because you’re such a fucking masochist that you won’t date me yourself!”

“Ain’t like that Lex.”

They’re stuffed into a too small bathroom in some fuckin’ pool house, Lexi having half dragged him in here to clean him up (and yell at him apparently) after the dude he traded blows with was pulled into the main house by his friends.

Lexi scoffs, looking through cabinets for a first aid kit. “Oh okay. Then tell me what it is like Fezco. Because you cannot keep doing this fucking shit to me. This is the second time you’ve gotten into it at a party with the guy I’m attending it with, and for the life of me I cannot figure any other common denominator beside myself.”

He huffs roughly through his nose, disgruntled at the whole thing. It ain’t his fault Lexi has shit taste in dudes an’ someone’s gotta teach ‘em how to be respectful. Finally Lexi locates the first aid kit, pulling the white box out from a cabinet before placing it on the ledge of the sink. The thing is a little dusty but thankfully pretty well stocked, which is good considering Fez has split no less than three knuckles on his left hand and all four on his right.

Quietly Lexi gets to work, opening up antiseptic wipes and arranging her supplies of bandages and tape. In all the months that their friendship had teetered on the line of sumn more, he can’t recall her ever cleaning him up after a fight or when a deal went south and he needed to use his fists to fight his way out. Maybe she had watched him? But nah, that ain’t right either - he was careful ‘but when he let her come around back then and fresh outta collecting wasn’t one of ‘em times.

Distantly he remembers her tellin’ him about her pops being scrappy. But shit, she woulda just been a kid when Gus was around.

A soft hand sporting a fresh manicure (he can tell by the longer than normal length - it had Maddy Perez’s handiwork written all over it) tugs at his own bruised and beaten fingers. Reluctantly (only sorta) Fezco lets Lexi get to work, cleaning off the drying blood as she throws used wipes in the bin.

“I don’t understand,” she finally says. He can hear the frustration in her voice. “After you guys got raided and you missed the play, you told me I had you all wrong. That you just wanted to be my friend and you were sorry if I misunderstood your intentions.”

In his line of work, Fezco’s had to lie. A lot. And he’s fucking good at it too. But that lie? By far the biggest one he’s ever told.

“I did,” he gruffs, wincing as one of the knuckles begins to weep more blood as Lexi cleans it.

“Then why the fuck do you keep punching my dates?” Lexi asks, getting straight to the point. “Because when you said we could only be friends I was fine with that. I didn’t like it, but I did it anyway because I’d rather be your friend than your nothing.”

It was the selfless thing to do. Let the girl go so she didn’t get caught up in his shit. ‘Cept Lexi is still caught in his whirlwind ‘cause he ain’t that selfless, ya know? Selfishly asking to be her friend while harboring the secret that he’s definitely, most certainly in love with her.

“C’mon now Lex,” Fez murmurs, stepping just a touch closer, invading her space ‘cause he’s an asshole and maybe a lil bit a masochist like she said. “I ain’t ‘bout to let some guy talk all disrespectful ‘bout you within hearin’ distance of me. Not what friends do.”

Lexi levels him with a look. “You didn’t even tell me what Clinton said. Just called him a punk ass bitch and started swinging on him.”

“Jesus Lexi,” Fezco groans, tipping his head back to look at the ceiling. He’d wipe a hand down his face if he could bend his fingers right now. “Overheard this dude talkin’ ‘bout how he was gonna fuck the virgin outta you tonight. You happy?”

“Maybe I wanted him to do that,” Lexi snaps bitterly, causing him to drop his head back to look at her instantly. “Maybe I picked this guy to come here with tonight with the sole intention of letting him fuck the virgin out of me in the backseat of his car. And you ruined it by punching him in the fucking face!”

Shocked, Fezco pulls his tender hand away from the girl. “You kiddin’ me right now baby? Cause this shit ain’t funny, forreal.”

They both flinch at the pet name - he’s never used it before and right now seems like bad timing.

“No, what isn’t funny is you thinking you have some say over who I do or do not fuck when the only person I’ve ever really wanted to fuck is you, you big fucking dummy!” Lexi cries, throwing her hands into the air in frustration.

Honestly, she prolly has more to say, but Fezco doesn’t give her a chance to articulate none of it because the moment the words leave her mouth he’s on her like a dog in heat. His hands fuckin’ ache but it all melts away the moment he threads his fingers through Lexi’s hair, tugging her forward at the base of her skull as he crashes his mouth down on hers. It takes Lexi a second to catch up, but when she does she’s clutching his shoulders, dragging him closer as he wraps his hands around her thighs and lifting her up so her ass can perch on the too small bathroom sink.

Fezco touches Lexi everywhere. Clutching her thighs and skimming under her blouse, finding the hot skin of her midriff as Lexi’s own fingers explore his scalp and beard, pulling a long moan from the back of his throat. They’re breathing hard yet they can’t seem to stop kissing, tongues sweeping into each other's mouths, teeth nipping at lips and necks.

It’s so fuckin’ good that Fezco could kick himself for denying them both this for so long.

“Come home with me,” he half pants, half begs when they finally break apart. “I’ll give you a bed. Don’t needa fuck some dude in his car, I’ll make that shit so good it’ll ruin you for anyone else, swear to God. I’ll give you whatever the fuck you want baby, s’long as you come home with me.”

Breathing hard, Lexi rests her forehead against his, grinning wildly. “I’ll settle for having you.”

[meowssmer]

Not to sound insane but, Caleb's myth has my head reeling. Obviously, we have to start with gravity because Infold is using the Law of Gravity as a metaphor for eternal love. It's so poetic and beautiful truly, I especially really love the discussion on black holes. They are a form of energy that are so wholly unique that they exist in a different plane. It is an eternal humming energy in space that is a miracle. And I think it's even more special that black holes are usually meant to describe something that is "hollow" or "empty".

Often times, we interpret matter entering black holes as a form of destruction. Matter becomes nothingness as it moves towards the unstoppable gravity of a black hole, yet in the video with Professor Yuan Feng he describes matter existing in an infinite energy once it enters a black hole. To follow this idea: black holes are a paradise. It is on a different plane, one that perhaps only exists for the matter it consumes and another black hole. It grants matter "eternity", as he describes it.

This is Caleb's eternal love. One that extends from beyond the cosmos. We continue to the Roche Limit. As matter shatters into dust and clings onto the gravity of a body, this too is infinite. A love that lives despite its death. This is just so beautiful, really. Rings, symbols of an eternal commitment to one another. A promise to each other to remain by each other's side through sickness and health.

But remember this love is eternal. "May death do us apart" doesn't apply here! Caleb is willing to follow you after death. Even when you are each other's destruction, even when you both are responsible of each other's death, he promises you eternity. A black hole of cosmic, fathomless energy dedicated to you. Tethered kite clinging to your gravity. It is his choice in every life to fall through the cosmos to you, with you.

A pilot who wishes more than anything to fly, but only in your orbit. I'm going to get a little weird here but follow me: it's also biblical! Not only is the apple a symbol of the first sin (which he takes a bite of in his first trailer), but it is the catalyst for the discovery of gravity. I believe these two metaphors tie into each other. Caleb is a "fallen angel", in his Fallen Cosmos trailer there is a line that greatly interests me, "Self awareness activated."

Run with me! I really love interpreting AI as a "fallen angel". Caleb says in this trailer, "I've always wanted to live in the same world as you." AI seems to function in this limbo too. It is machine learning; understanding how to be human. The discovery of gravity was one of the main pillars of The Enlightenment. Caleb, who eats this apple and gains "self-awareness", or "sentience" in this sense, is committing his first sin: thinking for himself, or perhaps in this case, loving.

For when Adam and Eve partake in the forbidden fruit, suddenly they are ashamed of their naked bodies and succumb to sin. They become "human", no longer heavenly bodies untainted shining under God's light. Paradise Lost, if you would humor me! I know I'm probably wrong about Caleb being an AI that gains sentience, but I just find his myth so compelling.

This isn't just romantic, this is really falling into the Romantic Era (following after the Enlightenment, or the Renaissance). It's so stunning: these two movements, the Romantic Era existing as a reaction to the Enlightenment, intertwined in a beautiful romance. Two black holes collapsing in on each other. The law of nature compelling bodies to love. We are unable to pull away from each other: it was written in the stars. God, all powerful being which created Adam and Eve and perhaps created Lucifer to fall and become Satan, and gravity, an invisible hand that weaves giant fiery bodies together in empty space.

These are the powers that compel us. Love, that is undeniable and eternal like light, like energy. Matter gifted eternity.

[love-takes-work]

Streamily Signing with Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli and Malachite

Jennifer Paz did a signing through Streamily for fans who bought a signed print. Here are just a few highlights of the stream.

She remembers dressing up as "Bob" for a charity purpose.

She does some line reads that Lapis had in the show.

Lapis was not Jen's first voice over work. She did The Angry Beavers back in the 90s. She's done a lot of ADR work for films. However, Lapis was her first recurring character.

Regarding a fusion between Peridot and Lapis, she didn't think much about that, but she thinks they could work together at a nursery in the barn and being a therapist.

She points out that she can't draw "worth shite" when a fan wanted her to draw on the print, so she just wrote her favorite quote ("I just wanna go home").

Responding to "can you do impressions of other Steven Universe character," she did some callbacks from "The New Crystal Gems," doing "the Garnet" and an Amethyst impression.

In response to someone asking if she auditioned for the role of Amethyst, yes she did audition for Amethyst and recorded the pilot episode for it. They just decided she wasn't the right voice for it. She loves Michaela's take on the character.

She loved the Mary Poppins rendition by Lin Manuel Miranda.

She comments that Steven Universe helped her with her mental health.

She thinks Lapis and Peridot were great as an Odd Couple type.

Her plans for the holidays include in-laws coming in next week and her kid gets to hang out with his grandparents. She loves her in-laws who are coming in from Philly. They love to drink and she's not a drinker.

Can Lapis waterbend people's tears? Yes, Jen thinks she can. Ask Rebecca, though. She could've done something to Blue Diamond with that. Jen loves that Lapis said "I've felt worse."

Jen quotes when Lapis said "No" to "Lapis, fly us in!" She loves that Lapis is a "waterbender" but her humor was so dry. She's getting over being traumatized and just wants others to do their stuff.

She gives some advice for handling adulthood: the only way out of difficult things is through it. If you avoid difficulties they will come back somehow.

She thinks Lapis would enjoy flying a kite.

Wouldn't it be funny if Lapis became Bob the Coach and started a Little League? Maybe she'd say "There's no crying in baseball."

Her favorite character from Steven Universe was Greg.

Lapis did a lot of sleeping and reading to recover from her trauma.

Jen's favorite colors are blue and magenta.

Jen used to not know what "ship" meant in a relationship context and had to find out on Urban Dictionary. She has a Gen Alpha kid now and there are phrases she is forbidden from saying them.

One of her favorite lines from "Hit the Diamond" was "This plan sucks."

Her favorite ship was probably Stevonnie.

She thinks if Steven and Lapis fused it'd be because they were playing catch or hanging out--it would be accidental while playing a sports game.

Someone started a goth band called Cult of Lazuli because of Steven Universe and Lapis. Jen loves this!

She can't commit to saying a favorite song. She agrees that Lapis would secretly listen to Taylor Swift.

She would love Steven Universe to come back but she doesn't know if it will. She'll just say yes, in her opinion it will come back.

Her opinion is that Lapis's water powers are somehow related to Blue Diamond's.

She made a joke about how Cult of Lazuli rocks "because we're rocks."

While signing a Malachite print, she said some stuff toxic relationships and how incredible it was that Lapis dragged Jasper into the sea--but for what? She hopes those who have been in toxic relationships are okay now.

She could not sing in Brazilian Portuguese in response to a request, but she took out a shaker and sang some of "That Distant Shore" in English. She thinks it might be fun to learn it in Brazilian Portuguese and loves the singer who did the voice for the Brazilian dub.

She would love if someone could do fanart of Lapis singing "Home" from The Wiz, or "Home" from Beauty and the Beast--all the music about home should be a Lapis playlist.

She answered what kind of car would Lapis have? She would have an electric car, because as a reformed terraformer, she cares about the Earth now. The car would be a VinFast, "because uh, just because." ;)

She was at one time bald due to alopecia during one of the cons that she had met one of the fans at. She remembers L.A. Comic Con. She was wearing a wig that she referred to "a bob wig." (A "Bob" wig? Heehee!) She found it itchy. She asked Kimberly Brooks and Michaela Dietz if they could tell she was wearing a wig. She was stressed out and ended up recovering through the use of addressing vitamin deficiency. She sends a message of support to anyone struggling with alopecia.

She signs some prints with "I'd love to see your color shining through," "Maybe I'm not alone," and "I just wanna go home."

She shared that her mom's name is Aurora (which was somewhat similar to one of the fans getting a print).

She shares that she loves the Muppets and her favorite characters are "the two curmudgeons in the box seats."

She said "Bob" is a favorite for her and she has a few new items in the shop. Some orders were not made in time to get into this signing, so she wants to schedule another one.

[rambleonwaywardson]

Word WIP Game

Rules: You will be given a word. Share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word.

Thanks @stars-remain2 for the tag. It's been a little while but I'm pulling it out to get back into things 😊.

My word is MAIL

M - From Soon You'll Get Better

Marge has come to think of it all as “before” and “after.” There’s before Artemis III, and there’s after. There’s before John got crushed by a rover tumbling down Shackleton crater, and there’s after.

There’s before he almost died, and there’s after.

Everything is different now, there’s no avoiding it. That just kind of... happens, Marge supposes, when something in the space program goes so catastrophically wrong. There is a history of it, after all, but Marge never thought she'd be caught in the middle, living it for herself. It wasn't supposed to be like this. But then again, neither was Challenger. Or Columbia. Or Apollo 1. Or any of the other near misses or almosts or what-ifs in the program's lifetime. But they ended up here anyway, and it's her job to make things better, somehow.

The Center is different. Her job, now, is different. The media is different. The people, most importantly, are different. Bucky, of course. Gale. But also Curt, Rosie, Alex, Benny. The other astronauts at the Center. The flight controllers. Chick. 

Maybe Marge is different, too.

A - From Soon You'll Get Better

And what if Bucky hadn’t come home? Would he still want it? Would he still wish Chick would put him on that rocket? Would it be because he had a death wish, or because something is wrong with his head and he’d still be searching for whatever he hopes to find out there?

“Nothin’s wrong with you, Buck,” Bucky says, cutting through the chaos. There’s a lightness to his voice, a plain, unbothered certainty, like they’re talking about pineapple on pizza or something just as mundane. 

Gale scoffs.

“I mean, no more th-than any of the rest of us,” Bucky corrects.

“It’s all so…” Gale shakes his head, takes his hands out of his pockets, runs his fingers through his hair. Fucked. It’s all fucked. “Messed up,” he says instead. 

He feels Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 pressing in on him from opposite sides, and sometimes he’s worried that past and future will simply crush him right in the middle with the weight of all the could have’s and maybes.

I - From the unnamed astronaut AU sequel

“I have the aircraft,” she confirms. “You know, I could’ve flown us the whole way.”

Gale chuckles. “Oh I know.” He’s never once underestimated Helen. She’s one of the most badass people he knows. She’d never flown in her life before she came to NASA, and she picked it up as an ASCAN like she was learning how to fly a kite. She might not be on nearly the same level as the military pilots, but Gale knows that, after her years at JSC, she is plenty competent enough to fly them into Houston. 

“You just like to hog the controls,” she accuses.

“You don’t?”

“I’d hate to see what you and Bucky flying together is like.”

Gale could laugh out loud at that, because she’s gone and called them out. He and John tend to bicker like the married couple they are half the time they fly together, even if the other half is everything Gale’s ever dreamed of. But all he does is hum in response, making Helen chuckle in an annoying, knowing way.

“Take her a little wide turning toward the strip,” he directs. “I don’t want you comin’ in too sharp.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Helen mutters, but she follows his command and eases the Talon out so she can line up their descent.

L - From The Olympics AU epilogue

But then his eyes fall on Gale, and he feels all of that emotion bubble up even more into something he can only describe with one word. One scary word that four years ago he didn’t think he’d ever be able to say.

Love. It’s love. He knows that now. He learned what it felt like in Gale’s arms, even though it scared him. Even though he nearly lost it before he dared to claim it. And looking at these photos – looking at their beginning – he knows without a doubt that that’s exactly what he’s feeling right now, strong as ever.

---

In case it jogs anyone's creativity or gives an excuse to share like it does for me, np tagging @onyxsboxes @swifty-fox @amiserableseriesofevents @joeyalohadream and literally anyone who feels like putting something out there :)

Your word is RISE

[camarilla-arts]

….. Pokémon au…..

Detailed teams and thoughts below the read more.

These teams would be around the start of the black whale arc, i lightly mapped out which arcs they’d catch and evolve in! No deaths in this au, lesser stakes, this is pokemon. This is only the main 4 for now.

Gon’s team: lots of heavy hitting at the sake of taking damage, lots of environmentally useful moves.

Kon- Ursaluna: Main Partner. met as teddiursa with Kite as a child. With him for all of series.

Bon- wailord: caught in whale island, evolves into wailord during hunter exam. I love the concept of a small child with only massive Pokémon tbh.

Mon- Togekiss: Mito(Poke-breeder) gave him this egg to hatch and everyone finds it funny his hair matches. Probably trains and evolves with Bisky(Former Champ/Gymleader) in GI training times. Once she evolved to Togekiss they LOVE flying together.

Ja-Jan- Scizor: he caught scyther traveling with Kite and evolves it training with Knuckle, it’s cause of Knuckle that his naming pattern is different. Ja Ja Ken themed pokemon! Bisky teaches them how Mega-evolution works!

Don- Kommo-o: Instead of a video game, Ging left Gon two dragon eggs, one he kept and hatched into the battle loving Don and the other he gifted to Killua. Also evolves during GI training. They have immensely similar personalities.

Solgaleo doesnt belong to him, they're friends. Killua and Gon both help a Cosmoem/Cosmog and when fighting along side Gon it takes on this form! only see this during the parallel to the Chimera Ant arc.

I also consdered: Koraidon, Hitmonchan, Heracross, Kanto-Nintales, Pidgeotto, Eevee, dondozo, Wishiwashi, Annihilape, Dragonite, etc.

Killua's team: the Zoldyck family is notorious for their Dark and poison type trainers and protecting Kukuru Mt. a similar vibe to Aether research group.

Cocoa-Weaville: Main partner. perfect IVs, Good EVs, a classic Zoldyck match. they get better together. Her nickname is a secret between the both of them till after Gon and friends rescue him from his house.

Mallow-Crobat: Also already on his team for the Hunter Exam as a Golbat. also Family Approved. He's frustrated by its inability to evolve until he does while visiting Whale Island with Gon.

Pop Rocks- Luxray: Caught during Heavens Arena timeline and evolved fully with Bisky training. his first time choosing a pokemon for himself and having fun.

Taffy- Silvally: Given to him by his Dad as a Type:Null, but rarely used because Killua knows it hates battling and doesnt want it to hate him. the Mask removal likes up nicely with the Needle removal moment. they learn to Battle for themselves and enjoy it over time.

Bonbon- Salamence: Killua's first time hatching a pokemon egg gifted to him by Gon. shes a little defiant and stubborn, Killua blames Gon's influence. Also evolved under Bisky training. If asked why her nickname matches Gons pokemon he will tell you to stop imagining things.

Lunala is also not technically his, he also helps out the same Cosmog/Cosmoem and is blown away when it takes on this form for him while he's rescuing Alluka/Nanika and their Jirachi.

Also considered: Miraidon, Killowatrel, Hitmontop, Floragato, Morpeko, Jolteon, toxtricity, snealser, Alolan-Ninetails, etc.

Leorio's team: this man is deceptivly good at battling but no one would guess it looking at his team. He has the slowest progress in training compared to his friends but tbf he's also attending medical school. lowest effort nicknames.

Gimmi-Gimmighoul: Main Partner. here from the start but stays as a Roving form until we see Leorio again at the election arc and its in its treasure chest form! they are besties.

Pooch- Mightyena: has as a Poochyena for the Hunter exam and his main battler. Cheedle first notices Leorio because she pays extra attention to Dog pokemon and approves of how they battle together. both of these guys give bad first impressions.

Audi- Audino: also a pokemon he starts the hunter exam with but he's a little self conscious of her. Not that either of them ever hesitate to go doctor mode even if they don't match each others vibes. She knows Leorio deep down has a good heart and she refuses to tolerate his nonsense so she can be dis-agreeable until he says what he really means. Learns Mega-evolution off camera just like his nen.

Boar- Tepig: gift egg from Ging as a congrats for getting the Zodiac position after him. Leorio is trying extremely hard to live up to expectations and Boar is probably the most spoiled Pokemon by all of Leorio's team.

Lunch- Applin: in a reference to the Gon giving Leorio and apple scene in 99 anime i really wanted to put an applin on his team. probably given to him by Gon, maybe from whale island. Leorio has no idea how to train this guy, hes working on it. I'm not 100% on this one.

Xerneas- its not unusual for hunters to form bonds with legendaries if they impress them. and i think Xerneas would like Leorio's gumption and kindness. :) plus parallel for Kurapika. probably starts bonding with him around the end of the Election arc.

Kurapika's team: I wish we knew more about the Kurta language cause i think he'd name them after that. It was less a massacre and more a mass destructive event as the PT looted their remote village looking for rare and valuable pokeon, probably following the rumors of a psudo-legendary doomsaying pokemon.

Nemesis-Absol: Main Partner. They both feel responsibly for the attack and seek both vengeance and the return of any pokemon taken. She is just as driven and determined as he is. they learn to mega-evolve while training with Mizuken pre York New.

Prometheus-Blaziken: caught as a torchick post PT attack. insp by the ride-able birds in the Memory comics! the second most dedicated and determined on the team along side Nemesis. loves training. pressent for Hunters exam.

Aion-Metagross: caught and trained with a matching beldum alongside Pairo. Sheila helped them catch them! too bad Pairo's beldum went missing in the PT attack. present for Hunters exam.

Odysea-Palafin: a pokemon Kurapika always adored and was super excited to catch. Dolphin fan boy. Heroic type the vibes are perfect.

Achlys- Rattata: F.E.A.R. tactics. A gift from Pariston after inheriting his Zodiac position. neither of them are above using this tactic if need be lol. His feelings about her are cautious suspicion but they are growing closer over time.

Yveltal is the Legendary that Kurapika willingly made a deal with to give himself the certainty of defeating the PT. they are what they are and its not the healthiest bond but Kurapika would never blame it for its nature and his own choices.

Also Considered: Dodrio, Gyarados(Shiny), Hydredgeon, Talonflame, Giratina, Corviknight, Armorouge, Husian-Zorark, Klefki, All of the Ruinous legendaries, ect.

[inkwingart]

[image ID] Iris, a brown-skinned young man, perches on a windowsill, flying a kite with a long green tail with stylized pennants resembling the Palestinian olive-leaf motif. A black and white kufiya is wrapped loosely around his shoulders, and his black tunic is adorned with tatreez. Crow, a darker-skinned brown man in a dark teal sleeveless shirt, stands behind Iris with his hand resting gently on Iris’s arm. [end ID]

Ceasefire now. End the occupation. Free Palestine.

Context under the cut:

These are my characters Iris (with the kite) and Crow (behind him). I started writing about them a few years ago, and their story takes place in the same world as Fox and Hemlock’s. Stars in the Dark is about being diaspora in a multicultural society, how a gilded cage is still a cage and slavery remains slavery even if it is not named such, and about the weight of a ruler’s legacy.

Iris and Crow’s story takes place a few decades prior, while Mahjuren is not a kingdom but an empire.

This time, the focus is on Iris, one of the last surviving members of an indigenous nomadic minority within Mahjuren. His clan was massacred when he was a child, and his identity as a member of that clan was erased by assigning him a new surname that roughly translates to “of nothing and nowhere.” Other clans are under constant threat from imperial raids that gleefully commit similar massacres with total impunity.

As Iris grows up, every aspect of his life is rigidly dictated by his “savior” who took him in after the massacre. Who he meets, what he learns, where he goes, his meals, his hobbies, and even his relationships are subjected to scrutiny and control.

One of the major events in the story is when Iris is assigned to travel to a certain city for the first time, a trip that is typically given as a reward to novices for becoming journeymen and one that Iris was originally denied. The day he and Crow arrive happens to be the Festival of Kites, and the scene in which Iris plays with a stolen kite is the first moment when Iris is permitted unfettered, childlike joy.

~~

If you read all that, you’ll notice some striking similarities to Palestinian history. None of this was intentional—my original inspiration was North Asian and North American indigenous peoples. Before the genocide in Gaza, I thought maybe my writing of Iris’s childhood was a bit unbelievable, acceptable for a fantasy protagonist but not entirely realistic. I don’t think that anymore. In the past hundred days, we’ve witnessed families wiped out, children kidnapped by colonizers, zionist soldiers laughing as they attempt to destroy an entire society.