#otter speaks into the void
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otterouteast · 5 days ago
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@ericka--kinney’s post pointing out that Nichols was watching Wolf and not the starry ceiling in 1x7 got me over my hesitation to post this.
1x7/1x8 Brilliant Minds coda, Nichols character study, wolf/nichols mentioned. (I named Nichols’ unnamed boyfriend from his time in the military Adam).
He knows it’s not the same, but hearing Roman’s story and then hearing it again from Alex, makes Josh think about Adam.
He knows their stories aren’t the same because if they had been found out, it would have been the end of their careers, the loss of their benefits, black marks that would have followed them into civilian life-probably the loss of his medical school dreams.
He knows it’s not the same, but he also knows violence could have been one of the outcomes if they got caught-not state sanctioned like Roman and Alex, but a violent end was still possible.
He wasn’t lying when he told Wolf they made it work. Because they did. But saying it wasn’t ideal was definitely an understatement.
Later-after Wolf kisses him on the street corner. Later-after Wolf tells him about Roman’s fantasy of finding Alex and kissing him in public. Later, he thinks about Adam and his inability to adjust to civilian life-to being out.
He thinks about how Adam could never really stop looking over his shoulder, was afraid to have people over because they lived in a one bedroom apartment.
They were out but Adam never really allowed himself to be out-to be seen.
He knows it’s not the same, but hearing their story, he also knows that feeling. Carving out that space to be and dreaming about that space being anywhere-everywhere.
And when he kisses back on that street corner-when he kisses Wolf at work-it’s because he wants to and because he can. And it’s for Roman and for Alex. And for Adam and for his younger self.
He does it because in the here and now he can. And because he knows it’s not the same, but he also understands.
He understands the joy of getting to publicly spend time with a man he likes. Understands the thrill of kissing at work-where they really shouldn’t. Understands the joy of getting caught and if there are consequences, it’s not because they’re both men.
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swappermanent · 14 days ago
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e-Swap (Part 2)
Read Part 1 by @swapery here.
Liam's POV:
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It’s wild to look back on it now. Four years ago, I was just a cocky kid scrolling through Tumblr, indulging in bodyswap roleplays. I mean, it’s hot, right? The idea of becoming someone else, walking in their skin, living their life—it’s escapism at its best.
To be honest, though? What really turned me on the most was the idea of someone else wanting to take over my life. And this guy—Kristoph—he wanted to step into my shoes, take over everything about me, and, I don’t know… maybe live my life better than I could. That hit me somewhere deep.
Sure, I found Kristoph hot. Objectively speaking, he was attractive. He had this kind of rugged, manly charm—average height, short curly brown hair, a beard that was thick but didn’t quite fill in everywhere. In gay terms, he’d be an “otter,” though not the polished, Instagram-perfect kind. Still, there was something about him, something raw and real.
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But what I found so hot wasn’t necessarily his looks. It was the roleplay itself. The back-and-forth, the fantasy of letting someone else become me—it was intoxicating. So I flirted with him, told him how hot he was and how much I wanted to be him too. It egged him on, made him want me even more. And that was harmless, right? That’s what roleplaying is for. It’s not real life. Nobody actually thinks they’re going to wake up in someone else’s body.
And who knows? If it hadn’t been for what happened next, I probably would’ve gotten bored after a few days and moved on. I’ve done it before. I’m a bit… boy-obsessive. A bit of a heartbreaker, if I’m being honest. Cute guys came and went. I was always onto the next. And, let’s be real, it usually worked for me because, well, I was even cuter.
But that’s not what happened.
---
I was completely thrown when I woke up one morning in Kristoph’s body. Like, how the fuck was that even possible? I stared at myself—well, at him—in the mirror, touching the unfamiliar beard, the broader shoulders, the chest that didn’t feel like mine. It didn’t make any sense.
The first thing I did was try to contact myself. I called my phone—my phone, which was now across the world in Australia, in Kristoph’s hands. No answer. I sent messages on Tumblr, over and over, desperate to get a reply, but it was like shouting into the void.
Confusion quickly turned to anger. As the hours dragged on, I couldn’t shake the growing suspicion that he must’ve done this to us somehow. He must’ve found a way. What other explanation could there be?
How could he do this to me? To us? Without even asking? Without telling me it was real?
Well… okay. He had asked, technically. And I had consented, in a joking way. But I thought it was all pretend. A game. Roleplay. Something to get off on—not… this.
Now I was out of moves. Totally stuck. Kristoph lived in England—or I guess I did now—and I lived in Australia. Or, well, he did. Either way, it wasn’t like I could just hop on a plane and go confront him. What was I even supposed to say? “Hey, give me my body back”? Impossible.
---
As I began to accept the fact that I was stuck in Kristoph’s body, resentment crept in. I hated how I looked. I mean, I know I’d flirted with him online—played it up, told him how hot I thought he was—but I didn’t actually want to be him. Not for real.
Honestly, I couldn’t stand his beard. It was scruffy, patchy, and felt like a chore to maintain. And in person? He was so much shorter than I’d imagined. That one photo he’d sent me had totally oversold him. His muscles were fine, I guess, but not as impressive as I’d hoped. Definitely felt like I’d been catfished.
And the worst part? He had no hot romantic prospects at all. No dates, no flirty DMs, no wild social life. The guy was a total dud. Meanwhile, I was stuck in his body while he got the better end of the deal.
It didn’t take long for me to start seeing his posts online. There he was, shirtless and flaunting my old twinky body for the world to see. He was out everywhere—hanging with my friends, partying, meeting people I didn’t even recognize. Hot, sexy guys who I could only assume were his latest hookups or maybe even a boyfriend.
At first, it made me furious. How could he be so bold, living my life like that? But slowly—bit by bit—I found myself getting turned on by those posts. Watching him, in my body, owning the life I’d built, looking amazing in photos, thriving without me… it did something to me.
He still wouldn’t reply to my texts, but it’s not like he’d blocked me on social media either. If anything, it felt like he wanted me to see it all. To flaunt it. After all, he’d been into bodyswap fantasies too—he probably loved the idea of me watching him live my life better than I ever could.
And damn, was he doing a good job. I started thinking about how well he was pulling it off. He didn’t need my help or guidance; he didn’t need anything from me at all. He’d just stepped into my shoes and thrived.
I couldn’t help it after a while—it turned me on. Seeing him so confident, so free, so successful in my life was like watching my biggest fantasy unfold before my eyes. It was frustrating. It was infuriating.
And it was so fucking sexy.
---
Eventually, I turned my focus to fixing up my new body, accepting that this situation was probably permanent. There wasn’t much else I could do.
At first, I tried to go back to my old look—the twinky vibe I’d always rocked. It felt safe, familiar. I shaved the beard and acted a bit more submissive, like I used to. But the more I leaned into it, the more wrong it felt.
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It was almost like this body was resisting me, like it was pushing me to be something else. Something… jockier. Stronger. It was weird, but I couldn’t ignore it.
So I regrew the beard, but this time I made it work—neat, full, and intentional. Then I started trying out sports, just to see what stuck. Tennis, running, biking… I gave them all a go.
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But the one that really clicked for me was rugby. Something about it felt right, like this body was made for it.
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I threw myself into it. It was a lot of hard work—hours in the gym, changing how I ate, how I moved, how I carried myself. But over time, I started to see real results. The body I was living in became exactly what Kristoph had pretended to be all those years ago: a true muscle hunk.
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It wasn’t just the body, though. Something about the discipline, the structure, the focus it took to transform myself—it all changed me, too. I started posting on social media, sharing my progress. And damn, the attention rolled in. Now I’ve got more hot guys sliding into my DMs than I can keep track of.
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But here’s the thing—I’ve learned a lot about how to treat people, about how to navigate relationships. I’m not the boy-obsessive heartbreaker I used to be. That’s made the best ones—the guys who actually matter—want me even more.
Honestly? I’ve never felt more in control, more confident, or more like me.
---
That brings me to today. I just got an email telling me to check the messages on this old Tumblr account, one I’d almost forgotten I even had. It was from Liam.
I was surprised to see his name pop up after all these years. Part of me wondered what he wanted, but honestly? I didn’t even read it. And I’m definitely not going to respond. Why would I?
So consider this post my way of signing off for good. I’ve learned my lesson—I know better than to mess around on those forums ever again.
Besides, look at me now. I’m hot as fuck. Why would I ever want to be anyone but me?
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end-otw-racism · 2 years ago
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End OTW Racism Link Round-Up: Week 1!
We are now in week two of our action demanding that OTW live up to its commitments to address racist harassment & abuse, which ends May 31st! There was a lot of great discussion during the first week, so we wanted to post a round-up of some of the longer-form discussion/analysis that people have been sharing (we're going with posts on Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and other sites, as well as Twitter threads that are longer than three tweets). These are posts that we think would be helpful to consider as fandom engages in the necessary conversations about these issues.
If we've missed something you've written, we'll be doing another round-up of week two, so it's not too late! You can either submit it on tumblr, tweet at us, or email us at endotwracism [at] gmail [dot] com. We do reserve the right to only share posts that are in line with the intent of the campaign and that we believe are adding to the conversation.
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beatrice-otter: Why AO3 needs to be accountable for reducing fandom racism in its internal culture and the archive [link]
pretty-weird-ideas: End OTW Racism and the “Fed” Accusations [link]
aretethegreattelleroftales: You don’t understand what EndOTWRacism is asking for here, and because you clearly do not understand it, you should have known better than to speak on it. [link]
vex-verlain: In response to the reactions I’ve seen to #EndOTWRacism [link]
unrealromance: I don’t really understand how people don’t know the difference between ‘whoops I’ve fallen into a racist trope’ and 'I am literally writing hate speech that is unveiled, mask off’. [link]
pretty-weird-ideas: Codification of a Living Document as a solution to Harassment on OTW [link]
indifferentvincent: RE: End OTW Racism Derailment [link]
elumish: In light of some of the backlash to the End OTW Racism protest, and particularly the concern that an anti-harassment policy would lead to abuse of reporting mechanisms or censorship of unpopular authors/ships… [link]
seepunkrun: How to Find and Attend OTW Board Meetings [link]
indifferentvincent: The people who use the excuse of saying ao3 is an ‘archive’ and so 'must preserve’ the most vile, intentionally racist fics just sound like the most privileged motherfuckers on the planet to me. [link]
spacebeyonce & pretty-weird-ideas: wow this is such a normal and rational thing to say about having a diversity consultant to help ao3 fix their bullshit. [link]
indifferentvincent: I have to assume this is in regards to my promotion of the end-otw-racism call to action, because I don’t know what else it could be referencing. [link]
princeescaluswords: Writing Doesn’t Happen in a Void [link]
mousieta: There is a place, a magic place, a giant, ever growing park filled with sandboxes of every color and shape imaginable. [link]
Twitter
spacebeyonceart: alright so I want to talk about this post I made two years ago now that the #EndOTWRacism ball is finally rolling. [link]
generalfrings: This shit makes me so goddamn angry, yall. [link]
eruthosish: One of the calls of #EndOTWRacism is to improve the AO3's Terms of Service and how the AO3 deals with fanworks that are part of an offsite harassment campaign, so I wanted to share a story about the only time I have ever reported offsite harassment and had Abuse agree with me. [link]
buttonthemdown: They've proven they can move quickly *when they want to*, but the fact the OTW hasn't made an official statement acknowledging their lack of action and pledging to do better sends a signal they don't care about their POC fans. [link] 
Clonehub7567 Seeing the reactionary dismissals of #EndOTWRacism from white fans who pretend to care about racism is reminding me of the backlash i/we got for #UnwhitewashTBB. [link]
hydrochaeris3: ppl who are worried that not participating in the call to action will get them labeled racist..... first of all once again yall are showing that you care more about what others might label you than putting forth tangible effort into caring for a community [link]
m_sketchyart: If you think that #EndOTWRacism is censoring your escapism, here’s a thought to chew on: why is being anti-racist a threat to your escapism? Is true escapism not also leaving racism, antiBlackness, fatphobia, abeism, misogyny, etc out of your escapism? /rh  [link]
lunedraws: Have you wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, re: racism, in one or more of your fandom spaces? This is a concise and timely line of actions we can take. [link]
aliasmarionette: One thing I see a lot in #EndOTWRacism comments which are in favour of the status quo is assumptions about who we mean by fandom, and about the user base of the Archive. [link]
SapphicScholar: New profile photo while participating in the important fan-led campaign to demand that OTW make good on the promises it has already made to address issues it has already acknowledged as problems in the archive—that is, instances of extreme racist harassment and abuse [link]
Fansplaining: Since the endotwracism campaign has begun, we wanted to highlight the timeline they've put together about the OTW's communications re: hiring a diversity consultant since their initial statement of commitment in the summer of 2020. [link]
gwenpendrcgon: ive seen so much backlash over #EndOTWRacism which shouldnt surprise me (also majority of this comes from tumblr is also to be expected) but most if not all backlash received by this event is done is such bad faith and complete wilful ignorance [link]
fiercynonym: so op of the #EndOTWRacism post on reddit dm-ed me and the situation is even more fucked up than i originally knew???  [link]
kitschlet: seeing a lot of people confused about what the OTW can do to address racism [link]
generalfrings: poor AO3 maintaining a 'absurdly heavy site'. all that text! [link]
RukminiPande: Fan scholars should be paying attn to #EndOTWracism. [link]
Saathi1013: The thing to notice about all the assertions that people know who's behind EOTWR is like... Okay, there are a few things, actually [link]
buttonthemdown: If you think that victims of racism need to "develop a thicker skin" you're a fucking racist [link]
mousieta: if i could have people understand one thing abt #endotwracism right now is that This issue matters not because racism makes you feel bad, or uncomfy, or squicky but because racism is actively harming Real Living Breathing Fans right now. [link]
fiercynonym: okay so…you know how OTW has been saying, when asked at meetings, that they have a budget surplus of about USD $1 million? well…manogirl & i did some digging, and it might actually be more than TWO AND A HALF MILLION USD. [link]
runpunkrun: Speaking of OTW Board meetings, if you're interested in attending, here's what you need to know [link] 
Dreamwidth
satsuma: A Chronic Habit of Avoiding Responsibility? #EndOTWRacism [link]
bcgphoenix: I have a lot of feelings about OTW and End OTW Racism as a book conservator/general preservation person, most of which verge into tl;dr territory. [link]
killabeez: Looking at past archive policies [link]
nyctanthes: End OTW Racism (Fannish Fifty #47) [link]
chestnut_pod: Be more democratic, be more autocratic, OTW [link]
Other sites
Lady’s Weblog: End Racism in the OTW [link]
The Rec Center: #384 Final Thoughts [link]
Stitch’s Media Mix: I’m Supporting #EndOTWRacism [link]
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cassketti · 1 year ago
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Tbh… you should totally drop your adrian shephard headcanons pls……..
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OWCH OW OW OFYCK FUCK FUCK CRAMPS OCUH OC WO OWWWW
- filipino. hehehHAHAHAHAHA 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
- He doesn’t know how to speak tagalog. Just picked up some words and phrases that his parents said.
- Agender. Lmfao. Aro bisexual
- I’ve been kinda thinking abt what his typology would be. Whats there to even type LMFAOO. But ermm. I’ve been thinking sp7, sx6, 8fix, 3fix. He’d def be like a 3V tbh.
- His spore launcher grew up. YAYY!!! Spore launcher, erm, shock trooper, acts like an angsty teen now.
- Adrian: ya man so like. I would be carrying this baby alien around with me and he SPITS OUT FUCKING uh FRUIT GRENADES AND SHIT like thats fucking sick man wish I can spit out fruit grenades Shock trooper: ddaaaaaad, ur embarassing me.. 😡😡😡
- But they’re both happy they were able to reunite <:3 HEHEHEHEHE
- Adrian was in stasis all like “that mf BETTER NOT BE DEAD.. THAT WAS MY SSON…..”
FUCK OW OW OWWW
- i hate his cannon (ish?) personality. Tf u mean “adventure”?? Acting like ur going to a field trip and shit. Omfg.
- That being said. He does try to look for opportunities of “adventure”. Type of guy to purposely get himself lost. Like he’d be walking home and go “damn bruh what if I just went a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT route than I usually do”. Chris McCandless ass 😭😭
- I feel like he’s the younger sibling 💀💀LIKE THE TYPE WHO ACTS MORE CHILLER AND I GUESS MORE MATURERER THAN THE OLDER ONE. Mitchell tries so hard to be like a role model for him but adrians jus chilling
OW
- (This is after like stasis. So like, hl2) hates being in the dark (literally). Hates being alone too. He’s not like super duper social or anything but he tries to surround himself with people or at least someone to keep him company.
- Touch starved, lmfao.
- Foams at the mouth at the sight of grass and light /j
- He gets overwhelmed (physically) easily. Light gives him a headache. He notices sounds more.
- Adrian’s upset that his home is kinda, gone. And he feels rlly homesick and there’s nothing he could do 😭😭😭 bro came back from 20 years of the void and he finds out that everything has completely changed.
- Cuz like. In his years of stasis he was fantasizing about being back at Earth and what he would do again, then he comes back and ITS TERRIBLEEE 😭😭😭
- Hungry. Appreciates his meals alot more than he did before. I mean who wouldn’t, look at WHAT EARTH IS IN HL 2. THE COMBINE FOOD IS NASSSSTTYY AND SOME PEOPLE BE JOINING CIVIL PROTECTION FOR IT.
- this isnt an adrian shephard hc. But like i like to think rebel bases has like those filipino tricycles, the ones with a motercycle attached to like a cab. Yk? Alyx rides on them a few times. Hc she’s also (partially) filipino 🇵🇭🇵🇭
- he used to be kind of a germaphobe. Bro washed his hands two-three times for more than 20 seconds each. Like he’d wash his hands and go “damn wait a minute what if I didn’t wash it enough. One more time just in case.” He carried hand sanitizer with him everywhere. Washed his face and doused himself in lysol disinfectant spray whenever he came into contact with something that “just felt dirty”. Wiped down his belongings after someone borrowed it. Tried not to open doorknobs directly with his hands as much as possible. Used to be hesitant on petting stray animals. He grew out of it, eventually. Lol. Such a 1F (ME TOO ME TOO ME TOO)
- I mean he’s an animal person tho. That’s just a collective agreement at this point. That mf liked animals. He likes otters. The spore launcher reminded him of an otter.
- Hated being seen as weak or pathetic. Tries to make himself important. Hates people seeing him emotional. Tries to act calm and collected and shit. He doesn’t know what he’s doing most of the time.
- Likes journaling. I do too. He glues scraps and other stuff on a page when he didn’t feel like writing.
- Feels like he failed something. Like he could’ve reached his fullest potential but didn’t. Erm. Wasn’t able to at least.
- gman bullies him cuz he thinks it’s fucking funny as hell. Like, just do things that would inconvenience Adrian slightly (not rlly slightly). Like gman moves furniture precisely where Adrian would hit his elbow really hard, flinch and turn around really fast, then hits his head on another piece of furniture, then he falls over and hit his back on the edge of a chair.
- Gman would abruptly teleport next to adrian, trip him over, then immediately disappear right before Adrian could get up.
- Yk. Stuff like that.
- Adrian’s lowkey scared of gman. I mean shit I would be too if I was him. He’s scared that gmans gonna come in and ruin everything for him. Gordon is too, I could go into detail and my gordon hcs I literally have notes for it. anyways.
- He dyed his hair blonde
Theres more buuut WHATEVER. Some of these dont even rlly have an apparent reason I jus be like “ya this got to be adrain shephard” and believe its true
Part 2 if someone asks this question again FILIPINO EDITION🇵🇭🇵🇭😇😇/j
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swamplatibule · 1 year ago
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sooo… why’s Sylvie called The Sidewinder (And like if you want to explain anyone else’s nicknames 👀)
p.s. I like your taste in music!! (and I got increasingly more excited every time I recognized a song)
OH HELLS YEAH I LOVE THIS QUESTION i will absolutely explain that
and also jack and cecelia’s nicknames because those two especially have been rotating in my brain like rotisserie chickens. butch lesbian death goddess (?) and unkillable otter with a gun collection my beloveds
if these are cringe then so be it i will not be apologizing for shit
Sylvie is called The Sidewinder after the snake species!! They’re one of the fastest snakes in the world (their top speed is 18 mph iirc) and the way that they move is really cool
(tw for animal death in the video)
youtube
BUT the reason that Sylvie is nicknamed that is mostly because both the way he moves around and the way he fights mimics how the sidewinder does! he does a lot of side-to-side movement, plus he has a knack for hiding and striking from the shadows, even in the middle of combat. he has been known to fully disappear in the middle of a fight only to come flying out like a 56 year old deus ex machina just a few second later!!
fun fact: he is also among the few working at Moonstone who don’t have some freaky magic shit going on. he is fully human and un-powered and he still beats everyone’s ass. like if batman was someone’s cool gay anarchist uncle
Cecelia is called the Reaper because she is straight up the actual Grim Reaper slash personification of death. she also unraveled (aka destroyed) her own universe by killing the original Death and got stuck in an endless void for a really long while 👍 god forbid women do anything you know what I mean. she is my poor little misunderstood meow meow and she has done NOTHING wrong ever in her life (she is actively committing a murder as we speak)
Jack is the Wraith because. well. he cant die. i mean he CAN die, but only temporarily and he wakes up fine about five to ten minutes later! in his early days at Moonstone most people were unconvinced that he wasn’t just a ghost in denial and so he was dubbed the Wraith!! it has since been proven that he is very much not a ghost but the nickname has stuck for years and he’s made no effort to change it (though people do also just call him by his full name as one word because “jackfinch” is fun to say)
another fun fact: cecelia and jack are platonic life partners. they are weird and codependent about it and they are going to make it everyone’s problem and i can go into So Much Detail
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thecutestmonkeygirl · 1 year ago
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She nodded. “I know you do. I won’t..I won’t deny you that with him. “ she sighed. “I just have one favor to ask. Well Maybe a couple. “ she offered with a smile that held plenty of mixed feelings but before she could ask the otter reappeared and Coyote started to speak.
She pulled a little face as Coyote openly spoke of them being married as well as mates and she knew instantly what Frick was thinking. “I didn’t tell you because I figured you’d be mad at Calico or me or both and I wasn’t about to put my mate in danger. “ she said evenly before she looked to Coyote with some hesitation and even fear in her eyes. “I threatened him earlier. “ she said quietly. “I want you to hear it from me, not him. He had me by the throat when I was demanding to make sure you got proper care. He didn’t hurt me but I felt I needed to warn him that if he killed me it wouldn’t go over well for him or his crew. Even if you didn’t or couldn’t …avenge me.. you know my uncles would and somebody else would as well. “ she sighed and then turned back to the otter.
“That still stands. I don’t wanna die anytime soon so ya had best make sure I survive this little boat ride. But other than that, I won’t be in your way. I know my mate still cares for you and wants to stay with you so I’ll stick ta my …room. “ she shrugged, resigning herself to this. “You can even keep locking me in there if it makes ya feel better.” She offered him in a calm tone void of any emotion about this one way or the other.
What a Pirate Desires
It was early in the morning when she jerked awake, throwing the covers off and pulling away from the bed completely. She stumbled on her feet for a moment, eyes wide and shivering from head to toe despite the fact that Coyote had dressed her in her nice warm flannels. Big blues darted around the room as Coyote sat up and assessed the situation. She took a shaky breath, tears burning the corners of her eyes. "I hate it..." she breathed and even looked to see if she could see her breath which she couldn't of course. She started to waver and in an instant strong arms were holding her up and she let them. "I'm so cold, Coyote... Can you make more tea? Can we sit by the fire downstairs? Can I wear your robe for a while?" making several requests which she knew he would allow and would help her feel better.
@banditcoyote
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matt0044 · 2 years ago
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Pokemon Heroes: The Black & White Chapter One by matt0044
Warning: This chapter may contain implications of mental illnesses and self-anxieties in the beginning. Proceed with caution.
Chapter 4: All In The Family
Oshawott hit the mud face-first after a nasty Tail Slap across the cheek. He barely got up to spit out the dirty water and looked up at Hilda pleadingly.
[I... can still... fight,] Oshawott swore up and down desperately only to be met with a rather blank look from his Trainer. [I-I-I can win this.] Hilda's eyes were shrouded by her cap's brim but her mouth was a slight frown that made him scared all the more. [Please...]
"I need to think..." his Trainer replied in a fairly bummed out tone of voice while holding up his Poke Ball.
Oshawott shut his eyes when the red beam hit and opened his eyes to... nothing. An empty void of blackness wherever he turned.
[Hilda?] Oshawott anxiously cried out. [Anyone?]
"Looks like you lost pretty badly," he heard Professor Juniper's voice speak somberly. "Barely even touched Minnie."
[Wait, no!] Oshawott pleaded in but didn't know where towards. [I got a few hits in.] The voice seemed to be... everywhere yet nowhere. [Didn't I?]
"The little guy's cute and all but... he's not cutting it," Hilda's voice sighed wearily. "Figuratively and literally." Oshawott's blood ran cold at her words. "I'm sorry, Auntie."
[No,] Oshawott whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. [Y-y-you don't mean that...] His breathing shortened considerably as if the blackness was smothering him.
"I suppose he always was a bit hopeless," Professor Juniper conceded reluctantly. "He's nice but that won't win any battles."
[I can do better!] Oshawott shouted frantically with a strain in his voice. [I will do better.] He stumbled about in an attempt to find somebody. Anybody who could help him.
In a distance, Oshawott could make out Minnie from behind and felt a twinge of relief. [Please help me,] he begged, rushing forward blindly. [You can't let Hilda throw me awa-]
[Must I though?] Minnie replied with a tone of voice that was soaked in disdain. Oshawott stopped dead and felt his body go cold from an all too familiar fear. She wasn't speaking in the usual squeaks of a Minccino... but in hissing.
[By the sound of things,] Minnie hissed while turning around slowly, [it would be in everyone's best interest if you simply ceased to be.] Her beady eyes held the slitted pupils of a Snivy. The Snivy Oshawott hoped he had left behind.
The Sea Otter Pokemon couldn't speak in his unmitigated fear, let alone breath, when Minnie began to marched towards him. She came closer while also growing bigger and bigger.
[Would that not be for the better?] Minnie postured. [Would everybody be more at ease without you to complicate matters?] By the time she was a foot away from Oshawott, she was bigger than a Krokorok and morphing slowly into the Snivy he grew to fear. [Aren't you tired of being a burden?]
Oshawott wanted to run and scream but felt... glued to the spot, looking up at the enormous Grass Snake Pokemon. As if a part of him... agreed with her?
No.
No. No. No.
It wasn't true. Oshawott shook his head violently to dash the idea from his head. He wasn't considering...
Was it?
[Too weak to do it ourselves, are we?] Snivy boomed despite her cold tone of voice. [Very well.] She slowly raised her right foot above Oshawott. [What are friends for?]
The Sea Otter Pokemon had second to run out of the way but found that... he couldn't. Snivy's right foot slowly stepped on him and slowly began to press down. Oshawott felt himself smother and unable to breath with such a heavy weight pressing down on him. The Sea Otter Pokemon found his cries for help muffled when he woke back up and found something heavy really was weighing down on him.
Oshawott recognized Hilda's pink pajama top while feeling her chest heaving up and down into him. Her snoring was loud enough to fully wake him up to boot. The pressure wasn't anything the Sea Otter Pokemon couldn't take but he still found it more than a little hard to breath. Especially under a rather soft yet firm area much to his curiosity.
[Hilda!] Oshawott managed to call out however muffled. [You're crushing me.] He pushed up against his Trainer's body if only to shove her awake but found her to be virtually dead to the world. Minnie's warning about Hilda's tossing and turning suddenly didn't seem so trivial at the moment.
"...mmmm... s'not your puddin'... Purrloin..." Hilda slurred in her slumber, laying front down. "...get 'er... Pidove..." Her body rocked about from Oshawott's vain attempts at either tossing her off or waking her up. Not without a few... drastic measures.
[Forgive me, Hilda,] Oshawott prayed before channeling Normal-type energy throughout his body. He tried to be as gentle as he could in pushing his Trainer off of him with greater ease with his boosted strength. The Sea Otter Pokemon gasped in fresh air and stood up hastily but put a touch more elbow grease despite his best efforts.
Hilda rolled onto her right side in the process... and processed to fall off the edge of the bed. Oshawott winced when he heard the thump and the inevitable cry of pain that followed suit.
[Oops...] he could only gulp nervously, still fresh from his nightmare. [Anything broken, Hilda?] Oshawott could hear her silently curse under her breath and feared the worst.
"I've had worse from Minnie," Hilda quipped while lifting herself up from the carpeted floor, kneeling down. "Who needs alarm clocks when you got Pokemon, right?" She laughed in an effort to downplay her initial morning irritation for Oshawott's sake. However, it couldn't keep her from wincing over the sore bruise on her cheek.
Oshawott felt his nerves settle after seeing Hilda put on a happy face and decided to fess up. [I'm sorry for the rude wake-up call,] he apologized with a humble bow. [It was hard to hold back let alone breath.]
"Oh no no no no," Hilda insisted apologetically, grabbing Oshawott with both hands. "I'm the one who forgot I had a sleepover last night." She put a surprised look in Oshawott's eye with a peck on the forehead. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" Her eyes were taking a cue from her Starter with how big and worrisome they looked.
[Nothing I couldn't handle,] Oshawott quickly touted with a more confident front. [I've had worse from Minnie.] His little call-back got a a smile back on Hilda's face thankfully. He was mainly relieved to see that she wasn't upset anymore.
Not now.
"I just might put it on our training regimen then," Hilda joked while placing Oshawott down onto the carpet. "Until then, a girl's gotta get ready for the day ahead if you'll bear with me." She stood back up to make a beeline right for her desk where her Personal Computer and X-Transceiver were charging on their respective ports.
"Looks like Auntie Aurea got a head start to the lab," Hilda went on, reading the texts on her device before strapping it to her wrist. "She even took Minnie so you just know she's desperate to pass sanitation." One tap of her P.C. removed her pajamas in an instant and left a can of body spray.
"We're expected around One so it won't so much 'seize the day' as much as 'seize the morning and a touch of the afternoon," Hilda continued while grabbing the can. "Not that I haven't made do with less." She began to spritz herself if only to save time on a morning shower. "And believe me, we're gonna make the most of it." Minnie would balk at it but that was the fun of it.
While Hilda rambled on, Oshawott couldn't help but let his thoughts drift to his dream and his smile melt into an anxious frown. He couldn't remember most of his nightmare but could certainly feel the fear of it lingering in his heart. It only got worse when he could remember that the inspection was already upon them.
[It won't happen...] Oshawott quietly lied to himself, closing his eyes. [It won't happen...] The thought of Snivy snuffing him out under her foot came back to mind. [It. Won't. Happen...]
"Think fast, Oshawott!"
The Sea Otter Pokemon snapped out his thoughts to look back up and see a small bottle being tossed his way. Oshawott was quick to catch while just barely fumbling it in his paws. He looked up to find Hilda putting her hair up in a ponytail with her clothes from yesterday back on.
"What is this?" Oshawott asked, almost forgetting his previous anxieties. The cap had a plastic lid that easily popped open for him.
"Protein shake," Hilda answered while picking up a mini-carton of her own. "Just a little thing to tie you over until breakfast." She started for her bedroom door while checking her inventory for the essentials. "Bought them in bulk as part of a Starter Pokemon discount."
"We're not eating here?" Oshawott questioned in confusion, following his Trainer while keeping hold of his carton.
"On a day like today?" Hilda replied with a touch of sass, taking a chug of her shake. "Where's the pizzazz?" She was still sifting through her P.C. before coming across what she was looking for. "I've had this little shindig planned before we blaze a trail through Unova." One tap on the screen materialized the baseball cap onto her head. "And you're our guest of honor."
[A party for me?!] Oshawott exclaimed, his spirits truly rising with his smile. [I certainly am honored] He started to bow but remembered his Protein Shake in time to not spill.
"Consider me your chauffeur this fine morning," Hilda chortled while curtsying, putting on the worst Galarian accent ever. "The bike awaits, Young Master Oshawott." She opened the door and heading into the hallway while working down more of her Protein Shake.
[Right behind you!] Oshawott called while following with more pep in his step. Maybe this would be a good day. [By the way, what is a bike?]
Oshawott soon found his answer in the form of holding onto Hilda's bicycle basket and crying out for dear life. The house of suburban Nuvema flashed by with the speed his Trainer was pedaling and through an impressive streak of green lights no less. The Sea Otter Pokemon had to really batten down when they served around their fair share of sharp curves. A series of small potholes and uneven sidewalk tiles really gave their trip a little bounce than expected.
"Sorry for the rough ride, Oshawott," Hilda swore through all her panting. "Seize the morning and all." She turned on a local street just before the shopping district. "I've only ever crashed once... a week." Her face went lightish-red over the silent admission.
[W-who's complaining?] Oshawott replied in an attempt to hide his anxiousness, putting on another confident look. [The rougher, the better!] He went so far as to stop holding onto the basket's edges and put his paws to his hips boldly. [Full speed ahead, helmsman!]
A pothole Hilda missed too Oshawott up on that challenge when she bumped and barely had time to recover from such a dip. The Sea Otter Pokemon wailed when he bounced out of the basket and ended up just barely grabbing the edge before he could fall out. His Trainer kept bicycling despite feeling shaken herself.
[Or half speed!] Oshawott hastily course corrected, flailling his flippers in fear of falling. [Half is good!] He quickly managed to lift up with his paws and dump himself back in. [Maybe a quarter if you prefer?] The Starter Pokemon managed a very shaky smile and chuckle while panting heavily.
"Very good, sir," Hilda chortled back, reveling in her cringey accent once more. "You'll be pleased to know that we're halfway there."
Oshawott looked back ahead and was surprised to see how the road they were on about to end in a cul-de-sac before leading into a dirt trail amongst tree. They were the most trees that the Sea Otter Pokemon had ever seen even back outside of the laboratory for outdoor battle tests. His mouth hung open in awe when Hilda's bike hit the dirt and surrounded them with so much natural beauty to look at.
Hilda smiled warmly the more they went down the trail and felt all her worries wash away. It was like she had come home after a long day. The feeling wasn't too far off as Pokemon along the trail would stop to at least glance their way whenever they rode past.
[Nice Starter, Hilda!] a Patrat called, spilling berries from his stuffed cheeks. [Looks like a real winner!]
[Hilda, darling!] an Unfezant chirped from her nest above while feeding her babies. [My kids will miss you!]
[Try not to forget about us little folks,] an elderly Stoutland chortled before sniffing the ground for his buried berries.
Hilda waved to each Pokemon who gave their regards to her happily while Oshawott found himself growing curious by all the attention they were getting. A small clearing with a tree stump in the middle came into Hilda's view soon enough, her cue to put on the brakes.
"Last stop!" she called out like a Subway conductor while sliding her ride to a stop. "Please watch your step as you exit the basket."
Oshawott does just that when he lifted himself out of the basket and dropped down to the ground below. All the while, Hilda dismounted while taking out her Personal Computer to quickly digitize her ride and return it to her Inventory.
[Wow!] was all Oshawott could say.
Now that he could stay in place and look around, the trees now towered above him yet didn't intimidate him. Rather, they felt peaceful with the sunlight shining through their branches and leaves. He closed his eyes with a soft smile just beneath. The sounds of distance Pokemon calls across the breezes only cultivated this growing sense of serenity in his heart.
Hilda gave Oshawott a moment to really take it all in and was more than happy to see him share her affection for this slice of heaven. "First time in the great outdoors?" she finally asked, giving him space to really let it all sink in.
[I've only ever been in the backyard of the lab and never seen anything like... this...] Oshawott claimed, his mouth still hanging open in his smile. [Have you ever been here before?]
"Been here?!" Hilda repeated with a hint of excitement. "This is practically a second home for me." She swung around to really take in all the natural beauty like she had so many time before. "Like a Pokemon born human."
Oshawott snapped out of his awe at Hilda's claim and remembered something that he'd been too distracted to ask about. [By they way, I had been meaning ask about-]
"HEEEEEEEY! YOOOOOOU! GUUUUUUYS!"
Oshawott jumped in alarm when Hilda screamed the words from the top of her lungs, drawing them out in a single breath. The Pidove in the tree flew off from the branches in their own fright while various Patrat and Lillipup dashed off. Not merely because of the loud cry but what was likely to come.
[Um... okay?] was all Oshawott could say in his state of confusion, looking at Hilda like she really did become a Pokemon. [What was that about?]
"I said this was like a second home, right?" Hilda repeated with a eager smile and a wink. "You're about to meet the family."
Oshawott still cocked his head in his lingering state of confusion and began to wonder if a lack of breakfast was getting to his Trainer. However, he was soon distracted by rustling leaves from a tree to his right before the same happened with a tree to his left. The Sea Otter Pokemon darted his head between both sides and gulped in anticipation of a potential wild encounter.
However, Oshawott found himself concerned with Hilda once more when he turned and found a weird smirk she now wore on her face. "Hit me with your best shot, girls," she whispered eagerly.
As if to answer her challenge, a silky strings shoot from one tree to the other and another from the other to the one. Oshawott only just looked up when two bugs clad in leaves, one from each tree, swing in on their respective String Shots from their mouths.
Each Sewaddle thrust out one of their feet with Hilda being right where they'll meet, clearly going for a good kick in the head. Their target was just standing around seeming so nonchalant aside from a rather slight smirk on her face. Oshawott attempted to be more proactive in grabbing his Scalchop however hastily.
"Whoops, shoes untied," Hilda pretended to claim excitedly while bending down. The two Sewaddles crash into each other just behind her and fall to the ground like twin sacks of potatoes that went "Ow!"
Hilda pretended to be surprised when she looked behind her and turned around with a slight smug grin. "Sue, Addle," she gleefully greeted the Bug-Type twin sisters when they were still picking themselves back up. "When did you decide to drop on by?" The twins either groaned out of pain or from her very bad one-liner.
[Yuck it up, Hilda,] Sue vowed vigoriously once she'd sprung to her feet.
[We'll knock your block off yet!] Addle chimed in with gutso to back up her sis.
The persistent pair rushed forth to blindly tackle Hilda only for their friend to easily grab them by the leaves on their backs. Even when their human friend held them up, they wriggled about in attempt to give their "rival" a real licking but could only flail their stubby limbs. Hilda giggled over how they were still adorable even after all this time.
Oshawott, all the while, still held his Scalchop in hand but didn't attack over how... bizarre this sequence of events. [Um... okay?] he repeated, figuring that this was happening now with or without proper context.
"A solid 'A+' for effort, girls," Hilda cockily commended, hoping to at least soothe Sue and Addle's rowdiness a smidge. "You actually got up pretty early in the morning this time around." The twins each blew a raspberry at her but she knew they were still a tad salty. "Now if only we could get your Speed up to snuff."
Irony struck in every sense of the word when something sprinted pasted the alienated Oshawott and made him spin on his flipper. He forgot to be dizzy in his horror upon seeing a small light-brown puppy-like Pokemon struck Hilda in the back and made her fall to the ground. Sue and Addle were flung from her hands but landed on their feet while their friend landed face first in the dirt.
[Hilda's here! Hilda's Here! Hilda's here!] the Lillipup yipped with boundless excitement all over her bushy face. [Yay! Yay! Yay!] She even bounced upon her friend's back with her tail wagging nearly at Mach 20.
"Thanks for setting an example, Lilly," Hilda greeted with her smile maintained, trying to save her grimed up face. "It's just the sort of attack Sue and Addle could learn from." She lifted up her head and spitting out dirt. "Yuck."
Sue and Addle burst out laughing over how obvious Hilda was trying to play it cool. Oshawott once again felt like he was given a joke's punchline without any set-up.
[I think she's had enough, Lilly!] a bigger dog Pokemon called out in concern while rushing on past the Sea Otter Pokemon. [What did we talk about pouncing into humans?] The Herdier picked up his little sister by the nape of her neck off of Hilda, holding her beneath what looked like his mustache.
[Aw, Harry!] Lilly whined to her older brother, dropping to the ground with a pout. [I held back!]
[Your holding back doesn't amount to much,] Harry scolded, speaking from personal experience.
Hilda got back up to kneel and break up the canine siblings with an affectionate pet to their heads. "It's very nice to see you two still getting on swimmingly," she joked, trying to ignore her back pain. "Bring it in, doggos." Thankfully, her furry friends smiled back and jumped up to give the better kind of licking.
Oshawott felt relieved when it seemed like the Lillipup and Herdier meant no harm but still felt weird about it all. Hilda letting Pokemon attack her was bizarre enough but that they were her friends and almost enough here to fill up her team. The Sea Otter Pokemon could only hope that this was the last shock his tiny heart would have to take.
A very audible snap of a tree branch sadly proved him wrong as it put him and everyone else on alert. It was so audible that they could tell that somebody wanted them to hear.
"Somebody's saving the best for last, aren't they?" Hilda quipped with a smirk while standing up, eying the trees around her intently. "I thought this soup was lacking a certain spice."
[We swore not the spoil it but...] Sue began, speaking as eager as ever.
[...you're in for a real spanking, Hilda!] Addle finished, sniggering sinisterly with her sister.
A brown rodent of an unusual size with yellow stripes rushed out of the bushes from right behind Hilda and pounced in an attempt to tackle her to the ground. However, the Trainer turns around and managed to grab the Watchog by his fore-arms. Her shoes dig into the dirt while standing her ground against her opponent's raw strength.
[Hilda!] Oshawott cried out. This time, the Sea Otter Pokemon couldn't standby and rushed in while drawing his Scalchop. However, the Sewaddle twins quickly popped up in his way and made him pump the brakes.
[I have to help her!] Oshawott insisted. He tried to go past them but they moved right in front of him every single time.
[You'd need help if you just dove in, new guy,] Sue told Oshawott staunchly. [Believe us, we tried.]
[This ain't Hilda's first rodeo either,] Addle added, pushing the Sea Otter Pokemon back a few feet. [She knows how to wrangle Watcher.]
Oshawott looked up ahead with lingering concerns but soon became inclined to believe the twins. Watcher's hind paws were digging into the dirt considerably with Hilda actually taking a step forth in their Push-Pull stand-off. The Starter started to wonder if Hilda really was a Pokemon herself.
[Guard's sharp as ever,] Watcher assessed, gritting his buck-teeth to not give Hilda any ground. [Seems Trainer life ain't makin' a slacker out of ya.]
"Oh, ye of little faith," Hilda retorted sassily before giving a strong surge forward. "Allow me to reassure you." She reached down to grab Watcher by the torso and haul him up with a great groan within just a second.
Oshawott nearly forgot to breath even with his mouth agape over the sight of Hilda heaving a Watchog over her head and throwing him at a tree. Sue and Addle roar over the so-called carnage on display. Lilly yipped about hyper-actively while Harry held her in his mouth, knowing full well that she'd try to get in on the action.
Watcher managed to land on all fours after taking the hit and got up on his hind legs. "Footing's dull as ever," the Lookout Pokemon heard Hilda retort and looked up to see the triumphant look on her face. "Never account for the soil, do you?" She stuck out her butt to smack it tauntingly and looked back to blow a raspberry like she was still ten all over again.
[That's it...] Watcher sneered back, looking almost too calm about his trouncing. [Keep tootin' yer horn, big shot...] His super sharp eyes spotted something bouncing along the branches light enough for Hilda to overlook.
[Get 'er, Pat!] the Lookout Pokemon cried when he saw the pieces fall into place.
Hilda stopped her teasing just when a smaller, light-brown rodent made a free fall dive from directly above her. He grabbed onto the back of her short with his fore-paws and buck-teeth in order to drag them down in one fell swoop.
Hilda gasped a most mortified cry over the surprise attack while trying not to trip over her pants around her knees. Patrick hanging from her pair didn't help her as she stumbled about.
None of the Pokemon present understood why a lack of clothes could ever concern a human so much. They did, however, have a good laugh over how silly Hilda looked trying to shake Patrick off and losing any composure she'd tried to maintain. Sue, Addle, Harry, Lilly and even Oshawott were giggling if not guffawing over the slapstick on display.
"Patrick!" Hilda barked back with a furious flush of red painted all over her face. "What did we discuss about artificial furs?" She tried desperately to sound in control despite trying not to trip over her shorts or fall from the Patrat hanging onto her. "Just get off before you tear it."
[Much obliged, Ma'am,] Patrick quipped cheekily before dropping off of Hilda's shorts. He landed and dart off to the side just as Watcher pounced upon his opponent.
Hilda found her embarrassment becoming full-blown humiliation when the Watchog tackled her from behind and pinned her to the ground. The soft dirt didn't hurting as much but the force knocked her for a loop or two. Enough for Watcher to exert all his strength upon her and keep her from pushing up against him.
[C'mon, Watcher!] Patrick cheered on, shadow-boxing in his excitement. [Let 'er have it.]
[You got this, Hilda!] Oshawott shouted in support, finding himself caught up in the spirit of battle.
Try as she might, Hilda could only grit her teeth and groan in trying to lift her best friend off of her. [Never counted onna double team, did ya?] she heard him gloated triumphantly into her ear. After four strenuous attempts, Hilda was left catching her breath and eating the biggest slice of humble pie.
"Okay, Watcher," she admitted with her deepest sigh, "you've finally won."
[Hot diggity daffodil!] Watcher whooped while springing up to his feet and punching the air. He could hear Sue, Addle, Harry, Lilly and Patrick joining in on his cheers to his further delight.
Hilda managed to roll onto her back while pulling up her shorts hastily to sit up. "What way to go out," she muttered in both parts embarrassment and bemusement.
[I keep telling ya,] she heard Watcher, getting her to look up. [Y'all humans get real uptight 'bout what you slap on.] There he was holding out his right fore-paw generously despite his pretty patronizing tone of voice.
"I guess next time, I should come at you stark naked," Hilda sassed back with a chortle over how ridiculous it all was at the end of the day. "Nice work making me look stupid at least." She took Watcher's paw and let him help pull her up.
[Can't take too much credit,] the Lookout Pokemon claimed humbly. [Patrick was practicin' his free-falls all night.]
The Patrat scurried up to his big brother's side. [Got ya real good, didn' I?] Patrick giggled at Hilda before he saw the stern look she cast at him. [No hard feelin's?] He twiddled his paws innocently like whenever their Ma caught their in big trouble.
Thankfully, Hilda dropped her sour act and grinned while she knelt down to ruffled Patrick's head. "After you literally caught me with my pants down?" she praised, earning a smile from the little guy. "I'd say that you're overdue to evolve with those slick moves."
[Think you could give us some pointers?] Sue eagerly pipped up, scrambling over with her twin.
[That jump was sick!] Addle praised, making Patrick blushed bashfully.
Hilda happily let the Patrat address his "fan club" when she felt Lilly's paws on her legs. [Don't worry, Hilda,] she heard Lilly sweetly speak. [I think you did great out there.] Hilda was all the more warmed to see the Lillipup wagging her tail while having jumped onto her leg.
"Well, winning isn't everything," she imparted onto Lilly, doing right by her little sister figure. "I'll just have to do better next time." She gave a good stroking to the canine cutie-pie.
[Still wish you had,] Harry chimed in, sounding rather dreadful. [Watcher is gonna be insufferable for days because of this.]
[Y'all got a problem?] Watcher retorted indignantly to his best frenemy, sticking his head down to give the evil eye. [M' bro and I'll take you to task any time, any day.]
Harry spread out his legs with a mean look cast back towards the Watchog and a growl thrown in. The circle of friends began to get pumped for another round of roughhousing, chattering amongst themselves over their favorite to win.
[Um... begging your pardon...] Oshawott spoke up for the first time in what felt like ages. [I don't mean to intrude but… um…]
The Sea Otter Pokemon felt all the more put on the spot when they all turned their eyes upon him at the same time. [Who... even are any of you?] he ventured forth regardless despite his gulp.
[Been thinkin' that m'self,] Watcher replied with an eyebrow raised. [Who's th' squirt, Hilda?]
"Oh man, I really am stupid!" Hilda berated herself with a slap to her forehead before rushing towards Oshawott. "I'm so sorry I complete forgot to introduce you to everybody." She scooped up her Starter Pokemon from the ground and hoped that her hold would comfort him. "The world really slips away when you got friends like mine."
[These really are your friends?] Oshawott exclaimed in bewilderment before looking back at the Pokemon in question. Most of them put on their best smile while Watcher had a more perturbed expression on his face.
"My very best I could ask for," Hilda happily answered. "I do have a few human friends but only a few who I hang out with regularly." She remembered how jealous Georgia would get about her being homeschooled. "Luckily, a trip to the woods cures even the worst boredom can dish out."
Oshawott was amazed by the idea that a human had a place amongst wild Pokemon but began to connect the dots. He hadn't been sure about it at first but now it seemed all too apparent. However, the Sea Otter Pokemon forgot to voice his question when he found himself lowered back to the ground.
"Everybody, meet my Starter Pokemon," Hilda asked while putting Oshawott back on the floor. "Come and introduce yourselves but try not to overwhelm him, okay?" She squat just behind him like a mother seeing off her son on the first day of school.
[P-pleasure to meet you all,] Oshawott spoke with a humble bow, trying to put on a smile.
[Pleasure's all our's, new guy!] Sue greeted back happily, scuttling towards Oshawott. [I'm Sue, the smart twin.]
[And I'm Addle,] Addle greeted, coming up on her sister's left, [the smarter twin.]
[How do I tell you two apart?] Oshawott asked in his confusion, unable to see the difference between the two.
"You don't," Hilda answered rather knowingly. "And that's just how they like it." A snigger between the Sewaddles spoke volumes for her.
[Hi, I'm Lilly,] the Lillipup yipped, trotting up to Oshawott gleefully. [You smell really nice.] The Sea Otter Pokemon jumped back a bit in caution while she rattled on excitedly. [Did you have cookies for breakfast or dinner?]
[You're... not going to tackle me, are you?] Oshawott warily asked.
[Nah, silly,] Lilly laughed. [We're not besties yet.]
"Trust me," Hilda reassured Oshawott rather cheekily, "your time will come."
[Oh... good...] the Starter Pokemon gulped anxiously.
[She doesn't mean any harm... intentionally,] Harry promised, coming up behind his little sister. [I'm Harry and the one who keeps this little gremlin in check.]
"Tries his best anyways," Hilda sassed smarmily.
Oshawott felt more at ease with his Trainer's color commentary until he turned right to find Patrick staring at him with his red-ringed eyes. [Um... Patrick, is it?] he broke the ice awkwardly. [Is there something in my teeth?]
[Just curious, s'all,] the Patrat pondered while leaning in closer. [Ain't seen no Pokem'n like you 'round these here parts or any other parts.] Oshawott leaned back in discomfort due to his shrinking personal space. [Where'd Hilda snag you from?] The Sea Otter Pokemon yelped when he fell down after leaning back too far.
"What did I say about 'overwhelming,' Patrick?" Hilda firmly reminded her furry friend before picking Oshawott back up. "Sorry about his inquiring mind, Oshawott."
[Ya won't find that critter in our wood or water, Pat,] Watcher chimed in while strolling over, sounding a touch cocksure. [Lab rats like 'im one prob' never seen the wild before.]
Oshawott couldn't help but feel like the Watchog was judging him rather harshly even if his tone was more lighthearted. He looked up to find him looming right over him and giving off a slight Snivy vibe. The kind of vibe that unsettled his stomach badly.
"What my oldest friend, Watcher, means to say," Hilda began with a fairly force friendliness in her voice, "is that Starter Pokemon are a rare thing in the wild." She cast a very firm glare with her eyes alone at the Lookout Pokemon over Oshawott. "He's concerned if you'll be able to adjust as all." Watcher's gulp wasn't nearly subtle as he'd hoped. "Right, old buddy, old pal?"
[Yeah, just lookin' out for the new guy,] the Watchog hastily claimed with an uneasy smile, bending down to Oshawott's level. [Stick with me and I'll show ya the ropes, squirt.] He could hear his friends snickering over how Hilda had him by the ear without touching.
[O...okay,] Oshawott replied with a more comforted look on his face.
The Sea Otter Pokemon could tell that Hilda had a hand in his course correction but knew that they all meant well. In fact... Hilda had seemed to know exactly what her friends were saying and how to response now that he thought about it. It was one thing when it was mainly him and her but now...
[Hilda... can you talk to Pokemon?] Oshawott ventured forth, hoping that he didn't sound dumb just then.
His Trainer and her friends collectively cast their eyes towards him with a rather blank if concerned stare. The Sea Otter Pokemon gulped in fear that he might've tripped on a landmine or however the humans tended to phrase it. Either way, it felt awkward for about four seconds thankfully.
[Seriously, Hilda?] Sue began incredulously.
[You didn't tell him?] Addle backed her sister up.
"I thought he'd caught on," Hilda said defensively. "I mean... you never brought it up, Oshawott."
[I thought you just pretending or going off by my mood,] her Starter claimed in his own defense. [I don't know if you noticed but most humans can't understand us.]
[Well, Hilda ain't whatcha call "most humans," squirt,] Watcher chimed in, folding his arms to look like the big guy on campus. [Any cry or yelp we make comes out as human speak in that sharp noodle of her's.]
[That's amazing,] Oshawott exclaimed with growing excitement, looking back at his Trainer. [Did Professor Juniper teach you this?] He would've wagged his tail if he were Lilly right now.
"Auntie Aurea wishes she was that good of a Professor," Hilda laughed with a snort. "This is a secret gift that's been in my family for generations." Her expression softened up subtly. "My mother shared it with me and made it clear that neither people nor Pokemon shouldn't know about it so easily."
[Your mother?] Oshawott mentioned curiously, remembering something else he meant to ask. [Come to think of it, I've never seen her back at the house.] He did remember a picture in Hilda's room of an older woman with brown hair. [Will I meet her soon?]
Oshawott looked up at his Trainer with eagerness in her eyes before finding her smile falling slowly. In its place was an reserved expression of what seemed like sorrow. He looked around and found that her friend had similar somber expression on their faces. Even Lilly and Patrick appeared more subdued than they ought to have been.
Oshawott gulped hard. This time he knew that he brought up something that he really shouldn't had. That is until he saw Hilda putting on a smile, one that still seemed melancholy to say the least.
"How about right now?" she suggested warmly.
Without a clear path, Hilda chose to have Oshawott hold onto the back of her ponytail and run deeper into the woods. The Sea Otter Pokemon didn't know how but he found it somehow far more frightful than the bicycle could ever hope to be. She was hopping over those bushes and sliding down that embankment, following signs that she seemed to know by heart.
Her friends were easily keeping pace as Oshawott could see around them. To their right, both Watcher and Patrick leaned down to still run fast on his hind legs but only to stay close to Hilda. To the left, Harry was scurrying along with a tail-wagging Lilly on his black coated back due to her tendency to dash off recklessly.
Up above, Oshawott could see Sew and Addle shooting String Shot after String Shot to swing above them on the trees. He could hear them cheering and jeering like they were some kind of superhero duo. The way that they stuck to the trees with their feet alone still fascinated him.
After what seemed like a while, Oshawott could see the trees becoming less dense up ahead and even make out a road up in the distance. However, his attention was more drawn to a rather wide tree just ahead of them.
Hilda began to slow to a walk just in front of the tree in question before finally stopping within ten feet of it. She caught her her breath as quick as she could while leaning on her knees and let her friend gather all around her.
Oshawott was about to ask where they were before Hilda reached up and lifted him off of her ponytail silently. Once he was placed on the ground, he looked up to find that the frown on his Trainer's face had only become more melancholy. The Sea Otter Pokemon didn't understand why but was wise enough to maybe wait and see.
[Need a few one-on-one?] Watcher asked Hilda, sounding a lot more reserved.
Oshawott looked around to see that none of their previous energy was on display. Lilly surprisingly was looking rather depressed as well.
"Thank you," Hilda replied in a near whisper before walking up towards the tree.
Now that Oshawott had time to focus, he could see that on the tree's shadowed side was a picture in a frame hung on the bark. Around it were a variety of flowers and in it was the photograph of a familiar woman. The same brown-haired woman who almost resembled Hilda down to their eyes and was in a similar photo hung on her bedroom wall. The same woman that he had seen no sign of.
Oshawott's face fell further once said picture became clearer and clearer much to his dismay.
Hilda wiped her wet eyes and steadied her breathing once she can within three feet of the tree. Despite her raw state, she still managed to take in a deep breath slowly and exhale just as long. Her warm smile returned to her face as she looked at the picture of the woman properly.
"Hi, Mom."
To Be Continued...
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Thank you for reading my fanfiction.
Write up a comment or a full blown review about what you liked or loathed about my work. I can roll with the punches so let me have it.
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nuclearnik · 4 years ago
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Lonely Together
Written for @zkdrabbledecember Day 6: Are you lonely?
Read on AO3
"Daddy?" The word started as a whisper, but grew in volume because his toddler hadn't quite gotten the hang of being quiet.
Tiny hands patted Zuko's shoulder, rousing him from sleep and accidentally smacking him in the chin as his child pawed around in the dark.
"Right here, petal." Shifting, he propped himself up on one elbow, lighting a soft flame in his palm.
The dim light danced over the small, round face of his daughter, her big eyes peering up at him. She clutched her stuffed otter penguin to her chest as a single tear dripped off her dark lashes, so like her mother's, and Zuko's heart clenched.
"What's wrong?"
"No sleep, Daddy."
Snuffing out the flame in his hand, he leaned over the side of the bed and scooped Tapeesa up with one arm, depositing her next to him and tucking her beneath the covers. "Ah. You're missing Mama, aren't you?"
She snuggled close and nodded, her soft, downy hair brushing his shoulder.
"Mama."
"I miss her too, baby. Mama will be back soon. Just a few more sleeps."
Katara had been away for a few days, speaking at a conference in Ba Sing Se.
The uninterrupted time he'd had with his daughter had been wonderful, but he often found himself reaching for Katara in the early mornings, still half asleep, only to find the bed beside him entirely void of her.
The palace felt too large, too empty without her, even with the numerous people inhabiting it.
"Just a few more sleeps," he said again, settling back down on the pillows.
The little body next to his wiggled like mad until she'd popped out from beneath the blanket, and she turned on her knees to face him, laying a pudgy hand on either side of his face.
She leaned in until their noses were touching, her eyes nearly crossing as she tried to focus on his face in the near darkness.
"Promise?"
Nodding solemnly, he said, "I promise. Let's try to sleep now, okay?" Wrangling her back under the blankets, he pressed her beloved plushie into her arms and kissed her head.
"Night night, Daddy."
"Goodnight, baby."
He lay there for a while, letting the steady rhythm of her breathing beside him soothe the ache in his chest that had grown when he saw her tear stained face.
He really wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve this perfect little being, wasn't sure how the spirits had found him worthy, but he would never, ever take it for granted.
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surveyhoursss · 3 years ago
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145.
This is a very long list of phobias - from very common to very rare. Bold everything you have.
(I know phobias are very intense, but for the sake of the survey, I will be bolding fears rather than full blown phobias <3)
Ablutophobia - Fear of washing, bathing or cleaning.
Acarophobia - Fear of itching.
Achluophobia - Fear of darkness.
Acousticophobia - Fear of sound.
Acrophobia - Fear of heights.
Aerophobia - Fear of air.
Agliophobia - Fear of pain.
Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or crowds.
Aichmophobia - Fear of needles or pointed objects.
Alektorophobia - Fear of chickens.
Alliumphobia - Fear of garlic.
Allodoxaphobia - Fear of opinions.
Amathophobia - Fear of dust.
Amaxophobia - Fear of riding in a car.
Americophobia - Fear of American people and things.
Anatidaephobia - Fear of ducks (fear that the duck is watching you).
Androphobia - Fear of men.
Anemophobia - Fear of wind.
Anginophobia - Fear of angina or choking.
Anglophobia - Fear of English people and things.
Anthophobia - Fear of flowers.
Anthropophobia - Fear of people or society.
Antlophobia - Fear of floods.
Aphenphosmphobia - Fear of being touched.
Apiphobia - Fear of bees.
Aquaphobia - Fear of water.
Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders.
Arithmophobia - Fear of math.
Astraphobia - Fear of thunder and lightning.
Ataxophobia - Fear of disorder or untidiness.
Atelophobia - Fear of imperfection.
Athazagoraphobia - Fear of forgetting or being forgotten.
Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
Aulophobia - Fear of flutes.
Autophobia - Fear of being alone.
Bacteriophobia - Fear of bacteria.
Ballistophobia - Fear of bullets.
Barophobia - Fear of gravity.
Bathophobia - Fear of stairs or steep.
Batrachophobia - Fear of amphibians.
Belonephobia - Fear of needles.
Bibliophobia - Fear of books.
Bogyphobia - Fear of the Bogeyman.
Botanophobia - Fear of plants.
Bromidrosiphobia - Fear of body odour.
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Catoptrophobia - Fear of mirrors.
Cibophobia - Fear of food.
Chaetophobia - Fear of hair.
Chionophobia - Fear of snow.
Chirophobia - Fear of hands.
Chloephobia - Fear of newspapers.
Chorophobia - Fear of dancing.
Chromophobia - Fear of colors.
Chronomentrophobia - Fear of clocks.
Chronophobia - Fear of time.
Chrysophobia - Fear of gold.
Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces.
Clinophobia - Fear of bed.
Coitophobia - Fear of sex.
(ooh yuh can I get a hell yeah for being molested as a child/s)
Coprophobia - Fear of poop.
Coprostasophobia - Fear of constipation.
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns.
Cryophobia - Fear of ice or cold.
Cyberphobia - Fear of computers.
Cynophobia - Fear of dogs.
Decidophobia - Fear of making decisions.
Deipnophobia - Fear of dining.
Dendrophobia - Fear of trees.
Dentophobia - Fear of dentists.
Dextrophobia - Fear of having objects to your right.
Didaskaleinophobia - Fear of school.
Dikephobia - Fear of justice.
Domatophobia - Fear of houses.
Doraphobia - Fear of fur.
Dystychiphobia - Fear of accidents.
Ecclesiophobia - Fear of church.
Ecophobia - Fear of the home.
Electrophobia - Fear of electricity.
Elurophobia - Fear of cats.
Emetophobia - Fear of vomit.
Eosophobia - Fear of dawn.
Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers.
Ergophobia - Fear of work.
Erythrophobia - Fear of blushing.
Equinophobia - Fear of horses.
Eleutherophobia - Fear of freedom.
Febriphobia - Fear of fever.
Francophobia - Fear of French people and things.
Frigophobia - Fear of being cold.
Geliophobia - Fear of laughter.
Geniophobia - Fear of chins.
Genuphobia - Fear of knees.
Gephyrophobia - Fear of bridges.
Gerascophobia – Fear of getting old.
Germanophobia - Fear of German people and things.
Globophobia - Fear of balloons.
Glossophobia - Fear of speaking in public.
Gophobia - Fear of marriage.
Graphophobia - Fear of writing.
Gymnophobia - Fear of nudity.
Gynophobia - Fear of women.
Hedonophobia - Fear of pleasure.
Heliophobia - Fear of the sun.
Hemophobia - Fear of blood.
Herpetophobia - Fear of reptiles.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - Fear of number 666.
Hierophobia - Fear of priests.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of long words.
Hodophobia - Fear of travelling.
Homichlophobia - Fear of fog.
Hydrophobia - Fear of water.
Iatrophobia - Fear of doctors.
Insectophobia - Fear of insects.
Ichthyophobia - Fear of fish.
Iridophobia - Fear of rainbows.
Italophobia - Fear of Italian people and things.
Kathisophobia - Fear of sitting down.
Kenophobia - Fear of void.
Kinetophobia - Fear of motion.
Koinoniphobia - Fear of rooms.
Koumpounophobia - Fear of buttons.
Lachanophobia - Fear of vegetables.
Laliophobia - Fear of stuttering.
Leukophobia - Fear of the color white.
Ligyrophobia – Fear of loud noises.
Lilapsophobia - Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes.
Linonophobia - Fear of string.
Lockiophobia - Fear of childbirth.
Logophobia - Fear of reading.
Lutraphobia - Fear of otters.
Lyssophobia - Fear of insanity.
Mageirocophobia - Fear of cooking.
Mastigophobia - Fear of beating.
Melanophobia - Fear of the color black.
Metathesiophobia – Fear of change.
Microphobia - Fear of small things.
Musicophobia - Fear of music.
Musophobia - Fear of mice.
Myrmecophobia - Fear of ants.
Mysophobia - Fear of dirt and germs.
Necrophobia - Fear of death or dead things.
Neophobia - Fear of new things.
Nelophobia - Fear of glass.
Nephophobia - Fear of clouds.
Noctiphobia - Fear of the night.
Nomophobia - Fear of being without a phone.
Nosocomephobia - Fear of hospitals.
Nostophobia - Fear of returning home.
Numerophobia - Fear of numbers, math or calculating.
Obesophobia - Fear of gaining weight.
Octophobia - Fear of the figure 8.
Odontophobia - Fear of teeth.
Olfactophobia - Fear of smell.
Ombrophobia - Fear of rain.
Omphalophobia - Fear of belly buttons.
Oneirophobia - Fear of dreams.
Onomatophobia - Fear of names.
Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes.
Optophobia - Fear of opening one’s eyes.
Ornithophobia - Fear of birds.
Ostraconophobia - Fear of shellfish.
Panophobia - Fear of everything.
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia – Fear of Friday the 13th.
Pathophobia - Fear of disease.
Pedophobia - Fear of children.
Pediophobia - Fear of dolls.
Peniaphobia - Fear of poverty.
Pentheraphobia - Fear of mothers-in-law.
Pharmacophobia - Fear of drugs.
Phasmophobia - Fear of ghosts.
Philematophobia - Fear of kissing.
Philophobia - Fear of love.
Phobophobia - Fear of being afraid.
Phonophobia - Fear of sound.
Plutophobia - Fear of money.
Podophobia - Fear of feet.
Pogonophobia - Fear of beards.
Porphyrophobia - Fear of the color purple.
Potophobia - Fear of drink.
Pteronophobia - Fear of feathers.
Pteridophobia - Fear of ferns.
Pteromerhanophobia - Fear of flying.
Pupaphobia - Fear of puppets.
Pyrophobia - Fear of fire.
Ranidaphobia - Fear of frogs.
Rhabdophobia - Fear of magic.
Russophobia - Fear of Russian people and things.
Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween.
Scolionophobia - Fear of school.
Scoptophobia - Fear of being stared at.
Selenophobia - Fear of the moon.
Siderophobia - Fear of stars.
Sinophobia - Fear of Chinese people and things.
Sociophobia - Fear of social evaluation.
Somniphobia - Fear of sleep.
Symmetrophobia - Fear of symmetry.
Syngenesophobia - Fear of relatives.
Tachophobia - Fear of speed.
Taphophobia - Fear of being buried alive.
Technophobia - Fear of technology.
Thalassophobia - Fear of ocean or other deep open waters.
Theophobia - Fear of God.
Thermophobia - Fear of heat.
Tonitrophobia - Fear of thunder.
Toxiphobia - Fear of poisons.
Triskaidekaphobia - Fear of the number 13.
Trypanophobia - Fear of injections.
Trypophobia - Fear of small compact holes.
Turophobia - Fear of cheese.
Urophobia - Fear of urinating.
Venustraphobia - Fear of beautiful women.
Verminophobia - Fear of germs.
Vestiphobia - Fear of clothes.
Wiccaphobia - Fear of witches and witchcraft.
Xanthophobia - Fear of the color yellow.
Xenophobia - Fear of strangers or foreigners.
Zelotypophobia - Fear of jealousy.
Zoophobia - Fear of animals.
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otter-pop-supreme · 10 months ago
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IM GLAD YOU ASKED(dis gonna get long and unorganized)
Warning this is, indeed. long. This is the SSO chapter of "Otter's looney and loopish hcs"! Its... a lot. But it feels good to compile it all together (= Take a seat, get a treat, and read if you really wanna. I wont be offended it you dont-
TW A bit of abuse is mentioned here and there, but nothing crazy detailed
Starting off following the actual plot, Rainbow Steve has an ABSURD amount of technical relatives from all the elders he was created from. I've only fleshed out the blue steve side cause it DESPERATELY wanted him to be Hypno's cool gay uncle.
I dont remember just how canon this it(I watched SSO sooo fucking long ago, like before I watched the steve saga) But Dark Steve used to be the Evil Elder Blue. His uncle is the Elder Blue Steve from rainbow(Let's call him Elder BR). therefore Rainbow is Hypno's great Uncle. His friend/father Blue Steve is actually Elder BRs baby uncle. Very confusing, ik, I'm confused too, but I plan to make a proper family tree and expand upon this.
Now Rainbow Steve was created 17-years-old. But his soul was sold separately. He was raised out of the timeline between Space Steve(will get back to him) and Origin. He was created by "The Stars", basically the callers of prophecy. He was "trained" but more overly just abused by Origin to breathe underwater and other natural instincts he was supposed to have along with his powers. Space Steve raised a bit more properly, but still not well. He got all the traumas of this but none of the memory or power train which left him feeling extremely confused, unstable, and incomplete throughout SSO.
Blue, Prof. Red, and the Greens Steve from the beginning of SSO are a lot like parents to him, even if they're not the best at it. They often butted heads as such and there was a lot of "off-scene" parenting, teaching, etc. I've kinda shipped the three of them together to form the ultimate parent couple. But yee.
When he absorbed Blue he looked a lot like him, which gave him curly hair and balanced his powers. They ended up tipping toward the cooler side cause of this.
Kinda of and off-hand AU Idea more than a hc BUT-
Context around my Hypno hcs is kinda needed so ima drop it all here
Hypno was created against the will of the stars. Meaning Dark didn't have the powers to bring him into the world nor permission from the stars. But he did it anyway with very gross and disturbing tactics.
Hypno Steve was the FIRST Illusion Steve. When he was first created he looked much different and could really speak. He COULD but his voice was ear-bleeding horrible and it actively hurt him. Dark encouraged him not to speak.
Dark was rather abusive to him growing up.
Firstly Hypno is non-binary, but Drak(A transman in my hc) didn't follow that mentality and believed in binaries. So Hypno didn't really understand it, he just knew he wasn't a girl. So he assumed he was a boy.
Dark was very obsessive with looks and such being so low on the villain hierarchy. So Hypno was forced into horribly uncomfortable dresses like a dog being forced into a cheap dog costume.
When Hypno conveyed he didn't feel like a girl, Dark switched him to suits. Supportive in a way but he felt even more constricted. It felt like another punishment to him.
Dark was also one for dressing formally. Nightmare Steve, who was something of a Grandfather to Hypno, didn't really like the way Hypno was treated but knew he couldn't change his ways.
At some point, Dark Steve ends up talking to Void Steve personally. Doesn't matter why, but it was a big deal to Dark. Hypno had to come because that's how those kinds of meetings worked, to properly introduce Hypno into the Villian family. Hypno was around 14 at the time and very much had manipulation/abuse victim mentality.
He ended up meeting Galaxy Steve, who was a prophet of the stars. Galaxy gave him a prophecy, which was later branded into his fucking arm like Rainbow's. But it was shorter than Rianbow's, so only his left. It was a hero's prophecy in a way, speaking of how he'd be the downfall of the good AND the bad essentially (The good was supposed to be Origin, and the Bad was helping Rainbow Steve gain his powers)
Dark, obviously, didn't like this. But Void didn't either, a lot more so than Dark. They left and Void regected Hypno as a member of the Villian family. Dark, feeling shameful of his own creating tuning from an abomination of the stars to a prophecy child, tried to kill him. He locked him up in the vile(the one Rain find him in in SSO) and tries to kill him. It is unsuccessful but it does turn Hypno into this kinda undead thing. He is forever changed and especially traumatized by his own father that he idolized trying to destroy him.
He was treated even worse by Dark after this. I won't get into details, but an important part is he cannot properly heal and can't actually break/build blocks. He can only make it seem like he is. He is covered in sables/stitches and parts of him are different skin tones
(ref the fan art I made of him)
A particular thing is that he had very gruesome, cruel, and very extreme punishments. He had his hand chopped off often cause it was different from if he was a normal steve. He could sow it back on, think Frankenstein or more accurately Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. But it hurt him still as if he weren't. Another was being locked up in the vile.
So yeah. Very loving household.
At some point, Dark just forgets to unlock him from the vile. Cue Rainbow breaking him out. Hypno wasn't quite aware that he was being abused yet, still in that headspace. He ran away from Rainbow cause of that. When he returns to SSO, he's realized he was abused but is not in any way recovered from it or fully free from that headspace.
Hypno being the original Illusion Steve previously makes a lot more sense with his powers and such, as they aren't very hypnosis-focused. But I thought I outa lay out the whole story. Galaxy Steve pulls the idea of Illusion Steve from the time he met the OG Illusion
*back to the end of SSO*
When Hypno first put Rainbow Steve to sleep, it wasn't quite... successful.
(dis is ispired by RRFF, id like to mention)At some point, Hypno goes into Rainbow's mind. He kinda hides all the memories Rainbow has so he can properly do his thing when he wakes up and not go looking for his past, including Hypnno himself.
At some point, Hypno Steve is killed and goes to limbo, which is where steves go when their fate is not decided fast enough. Most color steve simply go straight to the spirit world considered too insignificant to matter in the long run. Steves who have done too much evil go to the spiritless world and vice versa. Hypno got limbo. Limbo is also the Menu. Hypno, being a glitch in the Minecraft World can see that. He tries to leave but gets stuck. Rainbow, somehow, is able to feel this in his slumber and comes to help him.
This help is bringing them into the real world.
They live there for a long while. I like to think each Generation is a ear in human time. So they were there from 2010(a year after MC was released) to 2018(Ik that doesnt realy follow the ss years but whatever). Hypno is able to basically hypnotis there way into society and fake there identities. They live in a lil studio apartment togehter, working and such. Things are ice, not perfect but nice. But Rainbow grows tired of the human world, knowing there's people that need there help. Hypno agrees to go back with him, not wanting to be alone in the human world. They go back but Rainbow breaks into Green, Blue, and Red Steve, none of his memories retained.
And goes on the steve saga.
there is so much more in the ss but holy shrimp this is getting long.
Ill explain Space Steve as promised. Space Steve is who Void and Galay originally was He was created by Origin to create the rest of the world. He was very close to Alex. He ended up having to separate cause his power was too much and overwhelming him. Similar thing happened to Void and Gal and so the space family was created. More on that at 3.
I will prob make a part 2 to this, but holy shrimp is this a lot already hehehe. Told you, we'll be here all day.
Ask me about my ss hcs (well be here all day)
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otterouteast · 2 months ago
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Watching Bobby and Athena problem solve and Bobby know that the plane is headed to the freeway…all I can think about was Bobby Begins Again and the fact that he didn’t know LA traffic patterns yet.
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Discord pt 92
[Date: 17/03, 07:42 PM GMT - 17/03, 09:29 PM GMT]
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jayyyyyyyy: “fetch, come on, cant you see this isnt doing anything to help?
just take the damn ointment”
Little-K1ng: “he... what?”
Marcus: “I back read a little bit”
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Marcus: “Just not here”
fetch: “fine. you want me to be honest huh. go on look at the fucking doc. just another place where my problems turned into everyone else's.”
Little-K1ng: fetch.... you really, really need to stop lying to me. im doing my best here, im trying so hard to let things slide in the name of giving you what you need. but you are far from making it easy on me”
fetch: “we're gonna forget all this happened in 3 days time anyway. it doesn't fucking matter what i tell you or what i dont.”
Little-K1ng: “you get angry when you're stressed, you stop responding, you stop listening to reason
but-.. wait, whats going to happen in 3 days?”
Maxwell: “....prince told us that faer family is coming back in 3 days”
fetch: “the beginning of spring.”
Maxwell: “spring officially begins then”
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jayyyyyyyy: “we'll get you guys back, if you somehow go back in the first place”
Little-K1ng: “so.... so i get warning, this time,
thats.... almost too cruel”
fetch: “whatever. i honestly can't be asked to care at this point.”
Marcus: “You’d really say that to Mona of all people?”
Little-K1ng: “i..... i wouldnt ask that of you”
Marcus: “...three days huh”
Little-K1ng: “i would simply fucking EXPECT IT FROM YOU. HOW THE FUCK. AM I MEANT TO FEEL. WHEN I CANT STOP GRIEVING SOMEONE. WHOS RIGHT IN FUCKING FRONT OF ME, FETCH?”
donti (e): “... mona u alright...?”
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Marcus: “Is that really a question you’re asking right now?”
donti (e): “ah.. sorry.”
jayyyyyyyy: “honestly at this point im willing to chuck a bucket of weedkiller at fetch's head”
Marcus: “Jeight.”
donti (e): “hey hey lets not get hastyy”
Little-K1ng: “i... [huff] i .... [sniff] i just.. i shouldnt have yelled i....”
Marcus: “This isn’t helping”
fetch: “i... you're expecting too much from me. i mean. you expect me to care at this point? when death is coming to our door and all we can do is throw on a little sprinkler? when all we can do is sit in a huddle and wait until these vines in our skulls fully bloom?”
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donti (e): “... we discussed possible solutions to the buds if you.. want to change subject.. or not”
jayyyyyyyy: “fetch, the thing about this is that we have a fighting chance
we lose that chance if you stop fighting”
Little-K1ng: “im expecting you to fucking try, fetch. im expecting you to understand that we're all going through this, and every time you lie to me, to us, you cost us more time we could have spent trying to fix it”
fetch: “how would it help, by piling on more and more to the shitheap we have already? you're not supposed to worry about me. ive always been able to handle myself.”
Maxwell: “please ⌇⏁⍜⌿arguing....why are we arguing.....”
Marcus: “..”
Void: “...”
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Little-K1ng: “wh... what did you just...?”
Maxwell: “....what....”
fetch: “...”
Maxwell: “why are...”
Marcus: “Max..”
Maxwell: “why are you staring at me what”
Marcus: “Can you say what you just said again”
Little-K1ng: “that sounded like...”
donti (e): “max...”
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Little-K1ng: “say that again, max”
Marcus: “Please”
jayyyyyyyy: “actually maybe dont”
Marcus: “Max say it again”
jayyyyyyyy: “that. i think fighting is causing the process to speed up”
Maxwell: “please stop arguing....why are we arguing.....?”
Little-K1ng: “i... thats not what i heard”
donti (e): “... lets stop arguing”
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Marcus: “That’s..that’s what I thought you said
You just
Didn’t say it like that”
Maxwell: “but i did”
fetch: “...yall still think I need to be priority right now?”
Maxwell: “thats what i said”
jayyyyyyyy: “you, uh, said "stop" in enderspeak”
Maxwell: “what no i didnt”
Marcus: “Fetch. This is going to be you so kindly shut the fuck up about not being a priority”
Little-K1ng: “fetch, you fail to recognize that you're always my priority, even if you're kind of an ass”
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Marcus: “Max it’s okay
I told you it would be okay”
Little-K1ng: “max, hug?”
Maxwell: “why....why are you all acting so weird?”
Little-K1ng: “its alright, max”
jayyyyyyyy: “we're all just stressed mate”
Maxwell: “are yall okay?”
donti (e): “weere fine its fine..”
Maxwell: “its?
look im not a child you can tell me whats going on”
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Marcus: “We told you”
fetch: “you spoke in ender.”
Marcus: “You denied it”
donti (e): “you spoke ender.”
Maxwell: “you....youre kidding right?”
jayyyyyyyy: “nope”
Maxwell: “ha funny joke”
jayyyyyyyy: “we're not joking”
fetch: “for once im not lying.”
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Marcus: “You told us to tell you.
We told you.”
Little-K1ng: “here, come in for a hug, wont you?”
Maxwell: “no no no no no”
Little-K1ng: “ive got you, max”
Maxwell: “i couldnt have no”
jayyyyyyyy: “hold on, hes panicking”
Little-K1ng: “its the stress, max
its alright, im here”
jayyyyyyyy: “mona, give him a little space”
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Maxwell: “no no no stay please”
jayyyyyyyy: “i never said for anyone to leave
are you okay with being given hugs, or would you rather not?”
Maxwell: “im okay with it”
LLyr: “they’ve kind of established max likes the contact at this point i think”
jayyyyyyyy: “yeah, but you can never be too careful”
LLyr: “fair enough”
Little-K1ng: “i appreciate the concern for max, jayx8″
fetch: “I. i would offer a hug but I'm not feeling up to it. i think I'm just gonna go for a walk.”
jayyyyyyyy: “its
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Little-K1ng: “fetch...”
jayyyyyyyy: “​hm”
Maxwell: “i dont wanna go back no no please no”
Little-K1ng: “i would rather you not go out where the court roams
you got in one good bite, let it be enough”
fetch: “i'll stick nearby.
i just need to get out of the house.”
Little-K1ng: “stay where you can see the road, alright? text me if you need a pickup”
jayyyyyyyy: “stay near the neighborhood. go to the mineshaft if you need to”
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fetch: “yeah. got it. later.”
Maxwell: “I'm scared”
donti (e): “...”
Little-K1ng: “oh, max...”
Maxwell: “oh no oh god oh merde”
donti (e): “sh shsshshh max its fine.
calm down its alright.”
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Little-K1ng: “tell you what, we can destress with some hot cocoa? with the tiny colorful marshmallows you like?”
Marcus: “I can go make it
I don’t think max wants to be alone right now”
jayyyyyyyy: “maybe watch some movies? ones that uh, dont have kidnapping in them, too. moana would be good?”
Little-K1ng: “i dont actually.. own any movies
i dont watch them”
donti (e): “youtube videos ?”
Little-K1ng: “that works”
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[They watch a video of an otter for a while, and discuss the events from earlier this day. Max thinks that the wreathe mayn’t be as bad as everyone thinks it’ll be, as it will have calendula marigolds which are good for helping to heal.]
Little-K1ng: “....ah.. they are, but maybe..... nah, nevermind.... ill let you enjoy the thought”
Maxwell: “they may be fully metal but still...maybe then can help the family....”
Marcus: “...”
Little-K1ng: “.........”
Maxwell: “what?”
Marcus: “..yeah max, that’s a nice thought”
Maxwell: “i thought so too!”
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Little-K1ng: “i cant believe.... im staring down the barrel of either losing all 3 of you... or going with you and not remembering any of this... that hurts, and it hasnt even happened yet”
Marcus: “Well
I don’t know if this will comfort you or not
But you might not entirely forget this”
Little-K1ng: “true! this is honestly the happiest thing to happen to me in an incredibly long time, there is a chance itll stick”
Marcus: “Baron and Prince remember their childhoods a little bit”
Maxwell: “stick...sticky...ha honey is sticky but not good
tastes yucky”
Marcus: “...I remembered Elizabeth and I learning codes
....max?”
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Maxwell: “hm?
something wrong?”
Marcus: “What was that about honey just now?”
Maxwell: “oh!
well mona said stick
and stick is one letter off from sticky!
and hony is really sticky
but i dont like honey”
Marcus: “...got it
Maxwell: “bleh”
Marcus: “Okay yeah that
That makes sense”
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Maxwell: “yeah!”
Little-K1ng: “i wish i hadnt snapped at fetch like that... maybe when he comes back i can give him a proper apology”
Maxwell: “hm perhaps that would be good
family should get along”
[this message was deleted shortly afterwards]
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Marcus: “....”
Little-K1ng: “i...?”
Maxwell: “what?”
Marcus: “M..ax?”
Little-K1ng: “max?”
Maxwell: “god damn it did i speak fucking ender again or some shit???”
Marcus: “N..no”
Little-K1ng: “n..no.....”
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Maxwell: “the fuck happened then? yall look freaked out”
Marcus: “Um”
Little-K1ng: “nevermind! :)!!”
Maxwell: “hm.....if youre sure...”
Marcus: “I must be tired, it’s fine Max! :)”
Maxwell: “youve been sleeping a lot man you sure?”
Marcus: “Yeah, gotta be tired to sleep a lot right”
Maxwell: “I guess”
Little-K1ng: “are you guys...... hungry?”
[The conversation switches to the topic of making brownies and other baked goods. There was also small talk about methods of removing the growing wreathe buds that had been suggested earlier in the day. Mona suggests cutting one of the buds off, if Max could handle it. Jack and Marcus argue over their priorities: their concern for Max and their family respectively. After snipping off a small part of the buds, the following conversation ensures:]
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Marcus: “...he’s not bleeding”
donti (e): “can you guys take a look at what mona cut off?”
emuhlee: “well, that part is good?”
Maxwell: “theres some time of fucking liquid ow”
Marcus: “It looks like that...cellulose that comes out of dandelions”
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Little-K1ng: “Hhhhhhhhh”
Marcus: “Mona?
donti (e): “is max alright??”
Marcus: “Uh..in pain?”
dreaming: “uh get a towel?”
Marcus: “It’s not a lot”
Maxwell: “that really hurt jesus fucking christ”
Marcus: “Have you never picked a dandelion?
It’s like that”
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Little-K1ng: “That's kinda. Gross”
Jack the Observer: “it's not blood though, right?”
Maxwell: “my headache is much worse....”
Little-K1ng: “No not blood”
Marcus: “It’s..
Huh”
donti (e): “blood substitute?”
Marcus: “It stopped”
Jack the Observer: “huh.”
Marcus: “......”
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donti (e): “hey what happened to the bud”
Marcus: “Mona
Mona look”
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Marcus: “Mona there’s two more”
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Maxwell: “God damn it is this fucking Hercules or some shit”
Jack the Observer: “pft”
donti (e): “well.
we can at least look at the bud that was cut off.”
Marcus: “It’s just sitting there”
[The conclusion from this experiment was that the buds have nerve endings, which is why it hurt Maxwell and worsened his headache when it was cut, even after being numbed with ice prior to cutting. People ask about Fetch’s whereabouts. This was his last known update to the document:]
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[With this information, people begin to speculate that Fetch might not be back for a while…]
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neeksknocks · 5 years ago
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All of the songs
stephanie......stephanie that’s so many.....but challenge accepted (thank u queen)
1. A song that reminds you of your childhood
crawling by linkin park No I Don’t Wanna Talk About It i was edgy at 8 years old
2. A song to sleep to
where do i go from here by a year on earth ... so calming
3. A song that your best friend loves
.........my axe by insane clown posse. yes reagan is a juggalo no i don’t wanna talk about it
4. A song that hypes you the fuck up
tantrum by ashnikko ... very big “aren’t you tired of being nice? don’t you just want to go apeshit?” vibes
5. A song you like to daydream to
maker (acoustic) by anjimile it literally takes me to another planet
6. A song that’s on at least 3 of your playlists
cop car by mitski ..... what can i say ... i get mean when i’m nervous (like a bad dog)
7. A song that you love from a genre you don’t usually like
this is super tough because i pretty much like every genre to some degree, but i’m usually not crazy about funk so i had to listen to a couple of ones to get this but it’s your thing by the isley brothers actually slaps a little ngl
8. A song that you liked when you where 10 that still slaps
literally fucking anything from three days grace’s first three albums but ESPECIALLY time of dying 
9. A song that makes you want to go on an adventure
strange town by ok otter like yes i want to discover the unknown and disappear mysteriously 
10. A song you’d want to dance with your partner to ( or future partner )
honeybee by steam powered giraffe (rose if ur reading this im coming for u post quarantine)
11. A song to stomp around and pout to
anything like me by poppy ... the vibes are immaculate 
12. A song to listen to whilst you lie in a meadow
still feel it all by maro it gives me. every emotions
13. A song that reflects your views on love
i wouldn’t ask you by clairo ..... yes im quirky yes i’m damaged yes i associate this song with naruto and sasuke what about it 
14. A song to sing to the sun
photos from when we were young by nana grizol ... not for any particular reason it just fits in my brain
15. A song you like that sounds like its on the soundtrack to an indie coming of age film
i literally have a whole PLAYLIST of these songs but joyride by adam melchor
16. A song that you like that romanticises being a teenager
high dive by andrew mcmahon in the wilderness!
17. A song that makes you want to grab your friends jump up and down dancing and screaming the lyrics
dear future self (hands up) by fall out boy YES I KNOW but when i first hear this song i went into a fugue state and listened on loop for 6 hours and i have not listened to it since
18. A song that you like that the lyrics are just so beautiful they’re practically poetry
the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us! by sufjan stevens LISTEN i am GAY and i READ THE GOLDFINCH i don’t choose to bear cross it chose me
19. A song that you can imagine listening to in an abandoned church ( if it isn’t hozier im judging you, but whatever )
in the woods somewhere by hozier when i commit crimes i think about this song 
20. A song from the soundtrack of a film that you like so much after the film finished you immediately looked for it
literally any song from the turning (because the soundtrack was the only good part of the movie askfjklgjs) but especially feed by soccer mommy
22. A song for when the sun has gone down and you are feeling absolutely buck-wild with exhilaration!
cat’s eyes and rosebuds by so much light .... bro just the vibes its a lil freaky ya feel
22. A song that makes you feel like you’re strolling through Ancient Greece living your best life
brutus by the buttress (somewhat in name only but also because that song makes me as well want to stab caesar) 
23. A song that when you listen to it you’re transported to a liminal space, time is pointless and you must sit and wallow in the void that remains
over and over by chris garneau . i am guaranteed to start crying if i think about this song too much after it comes on shuffle
24. A song to listen to on a long drive when you have the really strong urge to keep driving until you find somewhere to start a new life (preferably a europian city whose language you don’t speak)
the bug collector by haley heynderickx 
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wanderingnork · 5 years ago
Text
The eyes of the ocean.
Seal eyes, otter eyes, shark eyes.
The eyes of a whale.
“And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
Cold as the sea, as a sky without stars.
Dark as an eclipsed moon.
Dead as the eyes of a corpse.
“The hope only of empty men.”
In them each sees only their own reflection, windows into the heart’s desire and reflections of the horrid truth. Temptation. Cruel kindness. Gentle savagery.
“No matter where; of comfort no man speak: let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; make dust our paper and with rainy eyes write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.”
Eyes to be met only in the confines of dreams.
For the lucky—unlucky?—few, in the Panthalassan depths of the Void.
The eyes of the Outsider.
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zcldrizes-a · 5 years ago
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❤︎ 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚 ! I know you didn’t think you were escaping a post about this, or me throwing it out there to the void that it IS in fact your birthday, because honestly everyone should know to give you all of the birthday love – but I will try to keep this post from being a little shorter than last year, because otherwise it’s going to turn into an enormous essay titled ‘how much I adore my husband’ and honestly the length of that would blow any thesis of yours out of the water. And honestly, I’m still squinting at our parents for choosing to have us a year apart and a world apart, because I would genuinely love to give you the biggest hug and remind you that no, you are not that old, but you have accomplished more in your non-old years than most people ever do in their lifetimes, and you’re only just getting started. Icb I’m already starting the sap, and I promise literally none of this is going to be coherent. 
But in tradition of our long posts and our lack of ability to adhere to a word limit – let me put this under a read more before anyone yells at me for breaking the dash, because it’s likely it’s a possibility ( and you know when I start, I don’t stop. ) // @killthebxy
Most of what I want to and could say, I’ve already said before. You’ve been here since the very, very, very beginning of my blog – and almost two years later, you are still here. And that I was so intimidated to talk to you at first because your writing, and your blog was stunning and I was still trying to figure out what a tag was, and how to code a theme, and I think it took me about five minutes of talking to you before that changed. I keep saying it to people, and I’ve said this to you so, so many times by now, but knowing you genuinely changed my life for the better. You know how I was, and what I was like when we met – and there are always going to be bad days and good ones, but what I will say is this: since we met, there have been a hell of a lot less bad days. I have quite literally told you things that I have never told anyone before, and it’s always been met without judgment, but with the most pure of understanding and patience, and a heart bigger than anyone I’ve ever met.
There is a reason people gravitate to you so much, husband, and it’s entirely due to how magnetic you are. How welcoming you are, the fact you’re always happy to offer a level headed opinion without taking sides, the fact whenever someone is having a bad day you’ll literally drop everything to hear it. How many times have you stayed up when I’m sad, and literally asked “will you be okay if I sleep?” Or that one day where you were on a break at work, and you were like “I’m going to talk you through this, because I can see you’re not doing so well right now” and literally ( well, almost literally ) just held my hand through every part of it? How many people have you done that for in your time here? There is a reason tumblr broke over #FILGATE, and there is a reason people got so excited upon your return back to tumblr. And speaking of, we don’t talk about that four month period of time, because your wife was a puddle on the floor ( I was literally you in summer ) because on the one hand, I was so, so, so proud of you for doing so well and for everything you were accomplishing, and on the other hand, my .exe failed because I was like “what to do without the other half here” and I hate to think how many messages you returned to.
Maybe that is part of it, though. You throw yourself so deeply into everything you do with such genuine love and interest. The day, for example, you had tweaks made to your research project – and came home and were radio silent for the rest of the day, because you were so consumed with everything they’d said to you. Or the fact whenever you cave and make a new blog, you don’t just make a blog and start threads and call it a day – you have to go around and fix every part of that canon, and craft it to make your own, and write a thesis worth of metas. You genuinely care, about whatever it is that you’ve decided to commit to, and you just commit to whatever it is. Honestly, I admire that so, so much.
I honestly just cannot believe how much happiness I have gained from knowing you. Whether that’s just tossing around headcanons, or memes, or crying over my cats, or the many times that you’ve talked to me while drunk ( and reassured me that I am in fact prettier than the drag queens I danced with ) – or my personal favourites, our movie nights and the time we supported each other through 8x02, and the time I convinced you to watch Narnia with me, or even when I stayed up til 3am on a day I had work in the morning because I was determined to not watch Spartacus alone ( “nothing can hurt me anymore” – and “WAIT I TAKE IT BACK” ) – some of these memories are my favourite ever, out of the entire time I’ve been roleplaying. And the thing that makes me smile is for years to come even when I finally step away from this site, I’ll still have those, and I’ll always think back of how happy these things made me, and you’re always going to be a part of that.
And let’s not even get me started on the almost dozen verses we have, or the fact we seem to have a new one every few days / weeks, and how much I love each of them, and how inspired I am for them. They make me happy. And on a bad day, each of those things I have screenshotted for the sad days makes me smile, and you’re a large reason for that.
Husband, I love you. With my entire heart, I love the person you are and how happy you make me. Forever the Jon to my Daenerys, the wolf to my dragon, the Winter to my Spider, the Gannicus to my Saxa, the Crixus to my Naevia, the Sheldon to my Amy, the law to my science, the brain to my heart, the constant voice in my head that tells me I’m going to be okay,  the father to my children ( which makes me the mother to Neo and listen, I will never give that title up, that photo of him is still on my phone ), the writing soulmate I never knew I needed and my reason to smile on a bad day and my pocket Fil who roars at mean people for me and my best friend and otter half and my husband, from this day til my last day.
𝒊 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚. ❤︎
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sweetlangdon · 6 years ago
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Marshmallows and Hot Chocolate (Michael Langdon x Reader)
AU from “Sojourn.” Part of the LIGHTS roommate ‘verse. You and Michael enjoy hot chocolate on a lazy Christmas morning. Pure fluff.
I keep writing about Michael’s sweet tooth, for some reason. Also, please forgive the shitty title, I really couldn’t come up with anything poetic.
Word Count: 1.2k
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“I don’t think you have enough marshmallows in your mug.”
You pause with your own mug hovering in front of your lips—some souvenir from your trip to the East Coast several years ago; your cupboard is full of mismatched, coffee-stained, and chipped mugs—and watch Michael from where you’re perched on the counter in your pajamas. He’s staring hard at the mug on the counter in front of him where the hot chocolate you’d made from scratch (an old family recipe, memorized from previous Christmases) had disappeared beneath a dense layer of whipped cream and marshmallows.
“Holy shit, Michael.” You laugh, blowing at the steam curling up from the rich, creamy hot chocolate. You’re trying not to burn your tongue in your eagerness to drink it, but you kind of want to risk scalding your taste buds. “I just opened that bag and now half of it is gone.”
Michael just shrugs. He’d opened the bag while you were mixing ingredients into a saucepan on the stove top, and because apparently the plate of Christmas cookies your neighbor so generously delivered yesterday weren’t enough, Michael kept eating them on the sly. You’d caught him. You’re sure that he knew you saw him doing it. You’re used to his eerily keen powers of observation by now. And, you’ve also learned that Michael Langdon has a colossal sweet tooth.
The Antichrist has a weakness for chocolate. Who would’ve guessed?
You sip at the hot chocolate in your mug, recoiling when the piping hot liquid hits the end of your tongue. Goddamn it.
“I am so going to enjoy watching you try to drink that.”
Michael frowns—there’s the tiniest shift in his expression, a slight crease between his eyebrows, the corners of his lips curving downward. He’s slouched against the counter next to your hip in a rumpled black T-shirt and dark red pajama pants, hair still mussed from sleep. You’re both still tired; like a child, the cat woke you up early in his attempt to wreak havoc on the small assortment of presents under the tree. Michael spent half the morning trying to keep him away from it (he’d brought down from the ceiling of the living room for Christmas; you’re still trying to grasp that you had a levitating tree this year) and thankfully, by the time you were done opening presents, the cat had become distracted by wrapping paper and ribbons and bows.
He’s now a black void curled up in a pile of shiny silver wrapping paper, sleeping in the mess neither of you had mustered the energy to clean up yet. You wonder if Michael has any sort of power that will take care of that.
Michael’s still contemplating the overflowing mug. There’s a few marshmallows teetering precariously along the rim, and the whipped cream is beginning to lose its shape. He wraps both hands around the mug, long, slender fingers cradling the thing with all the same caution he’d show the cat on their best days together. You rest your own mug on top of your thigh, watching him with an eyebrow raised as he lifts it gingerly. A few marshmallows shake loose from the mountain he’s created and tumble onto the countertop.
“Knew that was gonna happen.”
He makes a sound between a hum and a groan that you can’t quite figure out and glances a bit dejectedly at the fallen marshmallows before taking a sip. It’s more than a sip, really, and you wonder if he has some power to resist having his tongue obliterated by scalding hot drinks. (You’re still trying to get a handle on Michael’s powers and pretending they don’t freak you out anymore.) If he does, you’re kind of jealous.
When Michael resurfaces, you start giggling so hard your stomach muscles hurt. 
“You’re a mess, Langdon,” you tell him once you can breathe again.
There’s whipped cream all over his nose and upper lip, and while you find it totally endearing, Michael isn’t the least bit impressed. In his rush to try and lick it off, unsuccessfully, there’s more marshmallow casualties dropped onto the counter.
“It’s not funny.”
He speaks for the first time since you’ve set the mug in front of him—Michael is rather quiet to begin with, but in the mornings you can’t get anything out of him except dramatic groaning and some halfhearted shrugs, if you’re lucky enough; he’s a fucking pain in the ass to deal with in the morning, you’ve learned. Michael tries to commit to his whole crabby, childish indignant act, but it loses its bite because you know he’s too tired to summon the energy for it.
“Oh, it’s very funny.” You take a sip from your mug now that the temperature is more manageable and smirk. “You’re mess-prone. I don’t need powers to predict that.”
It’s not long before his frown melts away and even though he tries, he can’t keep the grin from his lips. You like that you have the power to make him smile; it’s so rare, so new, but you’re glad to realize you have a power all your own.
Before you can dramatically toss a handful of napkins at his chest—Michael has somehow brought out the flair for theatrics in you, and it’s no wonder the two of you get along so well—he’s wiping at the remnants of whipped cream on the end of his nose with the back of his wrist.
You roll your eyes at him and set your mug aside.
“What?”
“Nothing.” It’s not worth it to complain about his bad habits; it’s Christmas, after all. Instead, you seize the half-eaten bag of marshmallows and dump the rest on top of Michael’s mug, sending more than a few skittering onto the counter. Some of them drop onto the floor, and at this point, you’ve lost the will to care. “Here, have some more marshmallows.”
“I’m the mess?” he counters, and you absolutely do want to hate the smugness that overtakes his expression, the haughty way he juts out his chin and narrows his icy blue gaze. But, you can’t.
You shake your head and pluck some marshmallows from the countertop to drop into your mug.
“We’re both a mess, that’s why we coexist so well together.” The mug now cradled between your palms again, you offer him a slightly cynical grin. “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.”
Michael’s what the fuck face always makes you laugh. Always.
“Well, since that reference was lost on you,” you hop down from the counter, careful not to spill your hot chocolate, “bring that into the living room—you need to be educated about the classics.”
After Michael has eaten most of the marshmallows overflowing from his mug, the two of you settle onto opposite ends of the couch, a huge fleece blanket shared between you. The cat takes that as his cue to wander on over from his trash pile to sprawl across Michael’s lap. His fingers drag lazily through the cat’s fur as he sips hot chocolate, and you’re surprised that he doesn’t object to the idea of a Christmas movie marathon. Once the hot chocolate has been finished, empty mugs left on the table in front of the couch, you burrow a little further under the blanket; you notice how Michael’s arm rests on top of your legs, your feet barely touching him. It’s comfortable and warm, and you’re at least happy that he’s content.
You both fall asleep halfway through the movie.
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