#mwah mwah i love you good night

[microwave-core]

Lifeline

Cynthia x Fem! Reader

You’ve had a crush on your dear childhood friend Cynthia for as long as you can remember. Facing against each other as champions reminds you of that fact.

SO, I know the Masters 8 thing from the anime was a part of gen 8, but I’ve decided to make reader a champion in Paldea, kind of representing the region on Geeta’s behalf, in place of Alain. Lumiose Conference or whatever my ass. 

Looking back, you were always meek as a child. A little shy, a little nervous when talking or the center of attention, a little shaky when issuing your pokemon commands. Not that it mattered, not when you always had your dear Cynthia to rely on. The young girl you had met in your mutual, sleepy home of Celestic Town. 

Maybe she wasn’t as good as you remember her being at the time, not with her current level of strength, but as kids she always seemed so, so… confident. Unstoppable. And maybe that really is just your nostalgic, crush-induced rose-tinted glasses talking, but that’s how you saw her.

You always believed she could be champion. More than that. Perhaps even the best in the world. Something other’s didn’t believe at the time. Who would have thought that some spunky ten year old from a backwater town and nothing but a bumbling Gible at her side would become such an unbelievable powerhouse?

But you knew, even way back when. Even before either of you had your first pokemon, you knew she was destined for something great. Not just because of some implicit skill or natural born talent, but because of her unrelenting determination and resolve. A feeling that only solidified in the depths of your heart the day she ran up to you, announcing the hatching of the egg she was entrusted with. 

You had begun your journeys side by side, vowing to journey across the region, collecting gym badges, and becoming champions together. And yeah, maybe there can only be one champion of the region, but neither of you cared about that. You were young, full of joy and excitement and energy. Gible by her side, Swablu by your own.

It was apparent to everyone that she was stronger than you. Her team and battle prowess were higher, her confidence soaring high above your own. Not that you cared. Well, okay, that’s a lie. It did bother you a little, admittedly, but in the way that spurred you on to be stronger. Be better. The kind that made you work towards her in the race to the finish line. You weren’t a sore loser, she wasn’t a sore winner, you both worked to make the other stronger.

But by the time you both managed to collect each and every one of Sinnoh’s gym badges, your interest in becoming the region’s champion waned. Not that you didn’t want to try, but because you knew that, even if you did try you would surely lose to Cynthia. Her radiant confidence, her cool and collected nature, her dazzling smile… 

Yes, you had feelings for her. Major ones at that. Ones that obviously stemmed all the way back to your childhood. It was apparent to everyone in your old hometown. The way you followed behind her like a lost Shinx, the way that you were hooked on her every word, the way heat crawled up your face and traveled through every inch of your body whenever she smiled or laughed or did… much of anything, honestly. 

As kids, though, neither of you cared all that much. Romance and kissing were icky to you both, things that adults did that you would stick your tongues out at. That didn’t stop your parents from teasing you about getting married to her one day, or her grandmother from jokingly calling you her granddaughter-in-law.

When you went on a journey together, those feelings only grew stronger. You wanted so desperately to hold her hand, to huddle together for warmth when camping out under the stars, to kiss her softly and all of that other mushy stuff you once found gross. If kissing her would give you cooties, you would embrace them with open arms.

You knew it was obvious, or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it felt like it was due to everyone at home knowing. Regardless, you felt hopeless. Did Cynthia feel the same? Did she catch on to the feelings you’ve harbored since you were kids and was just too nice to say anything about it? Was she too dense to notice? Did she even care about romance? You didn’t know. You didn’t want to find out. You’d rather keep her as a friend than ruin things when confessing.

Pinning for her was enough for you. 

Unfortunately, some time after your journey for badges concluded, you had to deliver to her awful news. Your family was moving to another region, to Paldea, to a place where she wouldn’t be with you. You stewed on telling her for a few days. Even if she didn’t share your feelings, you were still her friend, her best friend. Losing you was going to hurt. Your Altaria, who had long since evolved from the small, clumsy Swablu you once knew, was there for comfort, at least. 

Cynthia quickly noticed something was up, you told each other everything (most things, anyways), and she could tell something was weighing on your mind. And, as expected, she was devastated upon learning the news.

The last day in Sinnoh, the two of you spent together. Going on a trip down memory lane, visiting your favorite spots, returning the places you caught each of your pokemon… She hugged you tightly at the end of the day, whispering softly into your hair about how much she would miss you. You wanted desperately for her to confess some feelings, to reveal that she too was so desperately in love, but it never came. You left early the next morning, sharing one last hug, her vowing to get even stronger and become champion, just for you.

Letters were sent back and forth, turning into texts and calls as you got older. Even if it wasn’t in person, you still talked and chatted and told each other as much as you could. It wasn’t the same, but it was something, enough to keep her in your life. Enough to keep the flame in your heart alive. 

That’s why you went out on another journey, determined to collect another set of badges, to become the champion, and to stand on even footing with her. Your resolve was only bolded when you watched her become the new champion of Sinnoh. From behind the TV screen, of course. Her and that Garchomp, the sweet yet mighty dragon you watched grow stronger and stronger each day alongside her beautiful and capable trainer…

Unlike other regions, there was no tournament for the top spot, instead having a title, a class, just for people capable of defeating Paldea’s strongest. La Primera gave you lots of trouble, but your team was strong, much stronger than when you first arrived in the region, and you couldn’t back down from the challenge. If you lost to her, how could you ever beat your Cynthia?

The phone call you had after the fight with her was one of the most exciting calls you’ve ever had, loudly and happily proclaiming your victory, and she couldn’t be more happy for you. Even if you weren’t on her level at the time, Cynthia knew you were strong as well, and she believed in you just as much as you did in her. If being champion didn’t keep her so busy, she would have been here with you, to celebrate your accomplishment in person..

So when she heard you would be in the Masters 8 tournament to represent your new home, she knew she had to be there. To see you in person for the first time in years. To see just how strong you had become. And, right now, staring at you from across the field, tension high and adrenaline higher, the wait to see you was worth it.

“You’ve changed so much since we’ve last seen each other… but I have no intention of losing here.”

God, even her voice alone was enough to make your heart want to explode.

For you, the current moment was exciting and also terrifying. You had longed for this kind of moment for years, For over a decade at this point, and it was finally happening. A chance to show the woman you’ve pinned for for years just how strong you could be. Your fights with Steven and Iris before were incredible challenges of strength and skill, but neither had such intense feelings on the line.

“I, uh. I don’t intend on losing either!”

Not your finest moment. Not very cool sounding. You couldn’t care less about the hundreds of thousands of people watching, the idea of looking uncool in front of Cynthia made your nerves spike, but the angelic, albeit small laugh that fell from her lips as a result of your words might have made it worth it-

No. no time to think like that. You couldn’t be distracted by her marvelous presence when so much was on the line.

And so, you both exchanged words as your pokemon began exchanging blows, praising each other’s strategies and throwing in bits and pieces of trash talk to please the crowd every now and then. Not that pleasing the crowd was even on your mind, not much was, honestly. You were so focused on the battle and Cynthia that your mind circled around to being filled with white noise.

In the end, it was mutual destruction. You were both left with your last pokemon, both left with your starters, with no gimmicks at your disposal. Her Garchomp and your Altaria clashed against one another, each move kicking up dust and debris from the battlefield, until the two rammed into each other with the remainder of their energy.

Both of them were done for, but Altaria fell before Garchomp, who followed almost immediately after. A photo finish, a battle that came right down to the wire. A battle that proved you were evenly matched. Coming this far only to lose hurt, sure, but knowing that you were as strong as Cynthia filled that wound and more.

The blaring noise of the commentators and crowd were a blur for you, and likely Cynthia, too. You had knelt down next to your fallen companion, thanking her for all of her work, praising her for pushing it to the limit, and returning her to her ball for a well deserved rest. Cynthia was right in front of you when you looked up, smiling and extending a hand.

Your breath hitches as she pulls you back up on your feet, the feeling of her lovely soft hand making your tired mind nearly short circuit. Unfortunately, she retracts her hand, only to place it on the back of your shoulder, leading you both off of the battlefield into the privacy of the hall between the public eye and back rooms.

“You were incredible out there.”

Her tone is gentle, and probably would have been quieter if it weren’t for the echoes of the roaring crowd from outside.

“Me? Oh, you were the real star! You… you won, after all!”

“You’ve always been too modest. You drove me against the wall back there, not to mention the other trainers you championed over before me.”

You scratch the back of your neck, stumbling through your words, mumbling out a quick thanks. Embarrassed, but oh so warm on the inside. A silence came over you both, not an uncomfortable one, per say, but one underlined with tension, as if neither of you knew what to say. Unsure of where to start.

“You know, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. There’s a cafe around here that we could go to-”

“I’m in love with you.”

The words barrel out of your mouth before you could stop them. The pounding in your chest was too intense to ignore. Years of built up feelings finally boiling up to the surface.

“I’m… come again?”

Her cheeks were painted an adorable baby pink, for once in her life unsure of what to say. 

“I… I love you. I think I always have, and I just… I don’t think I can stand it anymore. Knowing that I’ve finally caught up to you, that I could almost beat you back there, it… I just can’t hold back anymore”

You shut your eyes tightly. Even if her expression was so lovely and perfect and one you wanted to burn into your eyes to cherish for forever and ever, you couldn’t bear to see it potentially distort into rejection. The constant thump thump thump of your heart was deafening, filling your ears, overtaking the sounds of the cheering crowd, of the outside world. Her hand on your shoulder tightens slightly as she utters out your name, the syllables falling off her slips sounding like the sweetest song in your mind.

“I’m… I’m flattered.”

“You don’t have to soften the b-blow. Just say you don’t feel the same if you have toI… we can still be friends.”

Your shoulders slump ever so slightly, trying your absolute hardest to keep yourself together.

“That’s not it.”

“It… it’s not?”

Opening your eyes, you see the sickeningly sweet smile on her face, eyes pooling with warmth and crinkling. So sweet and genuine.

“You’ve worked so hard to get here today, I don’t need you to tell me to know. I’ve always known you were strong, seeing you so full of confidence was so wonderful, so…”

“So..?”

“Attractive.”

“Oh! Um, haha… That means a lot. From you.”

Your string of babbling is cute off by her laugh, soft hand leaving your shoulder and instead landing on your cheek, caressing it softly.

“How about we just take things slow for now, alright? Go out once all of the celebration ends and see how things go?”

“That… I’d love that. A lot.”

“Perfect. Oh, I just know you’ll love the place I have in mind. It has some of the best ice cream I’ve had in my whole life. You can get as much as you want, my treat.”

“It’s a date then! A.. a date.”

You can’t help the giddy smile on your face, or the fit of giggles bubbling in your chest, or the way your mind runs in circles because you’re getting the chance to be with the woman who’s been on your mind since you were a child. Her own smile brightens even further, patting your cheek before once again taking your hand in hers, walking through the rest of the hall.

“My heart has been desperate to claw its way out of my chest to engrave itself next to your own for years.”

“Hmm? I didn’t quite catch that.” “Oh, it’s, uh… nothing. Nothing at all.”

You can take it slow for now. Keep all of the feelings and thoughts in your heart contained for just  a little bit longer, knowing that you could bare your soul for her to see in full one day. For now, a simple date was all you could ever ask for.

[aeb-art]

i thought it'd be cute 🥺💕

[ahollowgrave]

-- all saints' wake.

[moth-tv420]

idk if anyone even wanted to know but this is my clip studio setup :) my best friend bildad watches over me painting for luck <3

[banfiyunna]

Ik your awake, it's bedtime love. Sleepy time.

Fine

[a-mongooose]

Something something favorite character something something scrimblo<3 Idk i wanted to draw lard nar holding a comically large gun. i think he likes comically large guns. was just supposed to be a sketch but it did not stay that way . :]

[hailsatanacab]

oof owie hello it’s chapter 17!

[hopeinthebox]

tagged by the lovely natalia <33 @jiminsproof a bit ago to reveal some "lasts" so, without further ado:

last song: american teenager, ethel cain - song of the year for the second year running, i fear. preacher's daughter you will always be famous

last movie: freaky friday - jamie lee curtis AND lindsay lohan milf performances???? five stars. put pink slip's take me away on spotify immediately

currently watching: house m.d. - binged my way through six seasons already and i'm showing no signs of slowing down. at this point i'm one more character playlist curation away from being institutionalised

currently reading: coded messages that kim taehyung leaves for me in his promotions and mvs. oh and high fidelity

current obsession: jungle's music videos. back on 74 was obviously the catalyst here but they're all phenomenal. additionally i have a pretty serious below deck problem

and there you have it. tagging a handful of favs if you feel so inclined: @cordiallyfuturedwight @aprylynn @pauls-mccharmly @somebodydoeslove @banghwa @monismochi @eoieopda @btscontentenjoyer @letmelovekoo @spicyclematis

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 12, day 2 Changing up the format a little for reasons you'll see in a second

I have two images for y'all tonight! And a challenge! It's a spot the difference challenge and no, believe it or not they are not actually the same picture lol

So I'm back on CG Fast Track because I spent a lot of good money on that website for full, unfettered, forever access to their courses and by golly I'm gonna use it! We're still learning how to optimize Cycles for rendering, but I did some ~*experimenting*~ because I'm me like that. Anyway, onto the pictures!

First, we have an image rendered at 2048 samples, as recommended by the course, which took approximately 22 minutes to render. It's very pretty but we can do way, way better than almost half an hour for a still image.

Next, we have the same thing, rendered at 256 samples, as recommended by me doing trial and error and being so freaking bored all night while the tests rendered. This one took 3.39 minutes to cook.

Spot the difference! I can, largely because I've been staring at these things all night lol ...although depending on how Tumblr compresses the images when they upload they might not have any noticeable difference even to my eye. Hmm, didn't consider that. Oh well, too late now! And anyway it's a super ridiculously negligible difference in image quality for such a drastic reduction in render times, but I genuinely learned a whole bunch so yay! Art! :D

[archivedolon]

the ult combo of my dreams.....

[aeb-art]

note: the following is three (almost four) years post-game

okay fine i'll just draw comics for my au since writing is so dang hard smh

anyways welcome to two coins! where loop shows up again but siffrin only got the one hat ending

edit: part two

[flowercrowngods]

good night ao3 good night tumblr good night funky lil people in my phone who let me scream into the void 🫶

[akaakeis]

OKAY GOODNIGHT EVERYONE!!

[moth-tv420]

ok i finally got off minecraft and made some progress today! not to spoil my own art but this is going to be a falling crowley thing if it wasn’t already very obvious

shout out and many thanks to the amazing @fellshish for helping me find some reference material :D ur my fav gomens blog <3

[causenessus]

hi loveliness ! (get it, lovely-ness and you’re loveliness) (oh my god i’m so smart) i hope you’ve eaten today !! how’s your day been? MAKE SURE U EAT i’m so so so sorry for sending this so late in the day i had SUCH a day today and also i realize my asks are getting longer and longer each time like im yapping way too much so ill try to keep this short !

TODAY i hate breakfast then i went to an aquarium with my friend! it was so nice we saw sea lions and SEA OTTERS (otters are my favourite animal) AND IT WAS SO FUN! we saw the sea lions do tricks and the otters were so cute holding the rocks and it was so so so cute overload omg then i went to go have hotpot with my family and my uncle! it was nice to catch up and the food was so yummy we had flan after

ALSO I WAS GIGGLING SO MUCH AT YOUR WORK STORY LIKE i wasn’t laughing that you got yelled at bcuz that was uncool and uncalled for but the way it was formatted with the dialogue was so funny i was like giggling in bed reading it LOL but i will literally hunt down that family because you’re just a girl doing your job like !! lay off !! but i hope you’re okay love you didn’t deserve that and like genuinely some people need to learn how to be decent human beings sometimes because that’s actually CRAZY

BUT I LOVE UR STORY TIMES !!! SO YAP ALL U WANT I WILL READ IT ALL THOROUGHLY !! and once i get back home and back to work i will 100% yap because retail makes my head THROB genuinely throb

also tell me more about your knee omg?? what happened I HOPE YOURE OKAY AND make sure you don’t overwork yourself on your new smaus!! take breaks and always prioritize yourself over anything, i hope work was better than yesterday !! if not i will PERSONALLY fly over to your state and be like your guard dog at work (LOL THATS CRAZY SORRY) but i genuinely hope today went better! i hope you ate too and took care of yourself, always always take care of yourself i will say it infinity times to make sure it’s engraved into your head xoxoxo

LOVELINESS :( i will literally cry THAT IS SO CUTE AND YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!! HELLO MY LOVE <3

PLEASE NEVER WORRY ABOUT YOUR ASKS BEING LONG!!! DO NOT SHORTEN YOURSELF PLEASE YAP AS MUCH AS YOU WANT <3 (i'm going to start putting my answers under cuts so people don't have to fight trying to scroll past my yapping 😭 BUT DW!! TALK AS MUCH AS YOU WANT <3 AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR OTHER ASK TOO!!)

AND ALSO DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR SENDING THIS LATE IN THE DAY!! and i was so unmotivated when i got home from work today to make something for dinner 😭 bc i needed to shower AND i had school earlier in the day and it was 9:30 so i'd be eating a meal at like 10 pm BUT I DID JUST FOR U <33 (and i MEAN THAT!! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR ALL YOUR REMINDERS TO EAT :( YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT REALLY MEANS TO ME <3 AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR OTHER ASK AND FOR SENDING ONE IN DESPITE YOUR BUSY DAY WITH THE REMINDER TO EAT <3 I LITERALLY LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH) last night my dinner was literally a bagel with almond butter 💀 which I FEEL LIKE wasn't the worst "meal" but definitely not the best <3

AAAAAAAAAA THE AQUARIUM!!!!!!!!!! THAT SOUNDS SO CUTE AND FUN OMG I LOVE SEA LIONS TOO AND THEM BEING YOUR FAV ANIMAL LITERALLY MAKES THEM 10000X CUTER :(((( I HOPE YOU HAD TONS OF FUN!! AND OMG HOTPOT please i want hotpot so bad hold on thank you for reminding me that hot pot exists the MOMENT WE HAVE WEATHER IN THE 60S I'M GETTING HOT POT and i'm glad you could catch up with your family!! that's always fun <3 and FLAN!!!! YOU'RE LIVING THE DREAM AS ALWAYS AND I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!

and i'm glad you enjoyed my story time LMAOOO I READ IT BACK JUST NOW AND THERE WERE SO MANY GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES MB IT'S ALMOST MIDNIGHT RN SO I'M SURE MY ENGLISH IS NOT SUPER HOT RN EITHER 😭 today i worked again and i literally only got ONE thing done 😭 but it's bc it was a really big order and i lowkey drilled into my finger but it's okay!!!!! 🤠 KNOWING YOU WORK IN RETAIL AGAIN AND WORK THOSE GRUELING OPENING SHIFTS AND DOUBLES ALWAYS GIVES ME THE STRENGTH TO KEEP GOING (but i was soo sleepy today too i was genuinely going to walk up to my coworker and be like "bro. can i please just nap on the floor." BUT WE POWERED THROUGH!!) AND I LOVE YOUR STORY TIMES TOO!! PLEASE SHARE ALL YOU WANT I WILL ALWAYS READ THROUGH IT TOO <3

IF YOU WERE MY GUARD DOG AT WORK I'D CRY /POS <3 I'D FEEL SO SAFE AND HAPPY!! (maybe u should fly here anyway!!! xxx) but DW MY KNEES ARE OKAY LMAO basically i got sent to clean a loft with some people today and because i'm literally a monkey from my tech days i climbed like an entire shelf??? 😭 because we were like reorganizing EVERYTHING (that entire group is so neurodivergent including me like we were told to clean the front but none of us have the power to JUST do the front so this will now be like a month long project pls pray for us it is so hot and dusty in there) and so after we ran out of time i had to jump down from the shelf but like my two guys were BOTH waiting for me (v. weird. one of them makes me slightly uncomfortable BC HE'S VERY NICE BUT TOO NICE AND I'M JUST SCARED OF MEN LIKE HE'S GENUINELY NICE BUT I HAVE ATTACHMENT ISSUES AND I DON'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE LIKING ME IF THAT MAKES SENSE) so like i was literally rushing it and was like "yeah i can probably just drop down" but the fall was a lot farther than i initially thought 😭 so i dropped to the ground and my knees gave out because of the impact so i fell backwards into a table BUT IT'S OKAY besides the fact i made a giant fool of myself i don't want to talk about it </3 (b/c the OTHER guy i was with OMNFHEJRFKWLNDJJERHOUHJVFEKW i used to like him. ik. very small world i am still around people ik. BUT ANYWAY used to like him -> got the ick bc attachment issues -> hated him but he's still a good friend -> our mutual OLDER friend tried to get us to go to prom together one year -> SO MUCH MORE WE HAVE SUCH A WEIRD DYNAMIC IDEK WHAT HE THINKS OF ME) BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS STORY TIME AS WELL!! LOTS OF NESS LORE DROPS HERE <3 I LOVE SHARING ALL MY DRAMA LMAOAOAO

BUT PLEASE MAKE SURE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TOO!!! KEEP EATING THE COOLEST THINGS EVER AND LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE <3 (NO PRESSURE) AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!!

[forza55]

🚂💖💛❤️💖💛❤️choo choo! It's a love train! Send this to all the blogs you love! Don't forget to spread the love🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 (optional/ no pressure😊)

love ya mae!! 🩷

stop it rn ivy i love ya more! 🤧