#rather ex warden

[massgrav]

Somehow we made it to relative safety, where no one cares enough to question or report us.

-

am I writing about Them again? it's likely and unfortunate for everyone else

[bumblingbabooshka]

Sek’s Wards: Sveyko and S’veyk

Their biological mother fell in love with a Klingon and ran off to be with him when they were both in their teens and they were very happy. Unfortunately, her family was not as happy and basically disowned her. When her bondmate hit his pon farr she was compelled to go back home, both because of the bond but also because she and her Klingon partner wanted their bond to be recognized by her family. It was incredibly important for some reason. Unfortunately again, the man she loved was killed during the kal-if-fee and she married her bondmate instead, unable to fight for some reason. A few months later the reason for both of these things was revealed to be the twins, belonging to her Klingon lover. The twins’ mother died when they were quite young and their father + the rest of their biological family were very cruel to them. Their father had long since lost his logic and blamed them for the way his life turned out, meanwhile the rest of the family was negligent and refused to speak of or interact meaningfully with the children. Sek came across them while visiting the house to speak to their father about something work related, as they were both teachers. Sek was immediately disturbed by their appearance (their living conditions were obviously poor but the house and its other occupants were fine. They also appeared to be very afraid/aggressive.)  Sek reported his suspicions to the proper authorities and their legal father was tried and placed in a rehabilitation center but it quickly became an anti-custody battle because neither the girls’ Vulcan nor Klingon relatives wanted to house them. Sek stayed with them throughout this process and enlisted the help of his siblings Asil (private eye) and Elieth (politician) to help him understand the legalese and government systems more.  Eventually, Sek took them in as wards so they would have a stable place to recover until they were put in a better home. However, after a few years he petitioned to house them permanently and all parties agreed that that ‘would be best.’

[shrimp1y]

"wrio isn't a cop hes a king"

Can someone with brains please please PLEASE talk about the disgusting portrayal of cops, crime, court proceedings, justice system and prison incarceration in genshin impact's fontaine update because I cannot SIT HERE and see people completely destroy their brain cells just so they could play a mediocre game and make some fictional men fuck in their mind

I'm deadass surprised there isn't more people talking about it??? I'm honestly so ??? It's literally presenting prison labour as a good thing. Wriothesley, the prison administrator, got rich off of making his inmates build police robots for the state AND HE'S PRAISED FOR IT. AND THEY'RE PAID IN COUPONS THAT CAN ONLY BE USED IN JAIL. HE WAS REWARDED FOR IT WITH HIS DUKE STATUS.

The fact that the fucking MC's mascot was like "oh the prisoners get one free meal a day? you're making life too good down here what if no one wants to leave :(" what in the bullshit. What in the. There's also a fighting ring in the prison, by the way, and you can bet on it with your coupons you just can't bet on both fighters.

The. This is a scene people think is hot. "But that's a bad guy!" THAT'S HOW THE NARRATIVE IS WRITTEN. THEY ARE ALWAYS THE BAD GUY IN FICTION. THAT'S HOW COPAGANDA WORKS, they make you think people in power can just beat the shit outta anyone and of course the person deserves it because they are clearly always the bad guys! And the people in power are always right! This is sarcasm btw.

Neuvillette and the magic judgement machine are literally seen as undeniable justice ordained by magic and NO ONE KNOWS HOW IT WORKS. NEUVILLETTE HIMSELF HAS NO CLUE WHAT HE'S DOING HE'S ACTIVELY FIGURING SHIT OUT AS WE SPEAK. And yet it's what sends people to The Worst Most Dangerous Super Scary Prison Ever Where There's No Laws [but 1 meal a day's great /s].

"But he feels bad!" Genshin has repeatedly chosen to highlight the pains and troubles of the oppressors [Eula] [Ei/Shogun] and there's literally never any repercussions for them aside from when they portray The Haterz clearly as villains or they turn it around and say "Well it was a misunderstanding all along! No one's to blame here!"

I'm not smart enough to go into details I'm just saying. This. needs to be talked about. I'm not telling you to stop the game bc Hyperfixations not really smth that can be controlled or whatever I get It I Got Back into the game when the first trailer dropped I drew neuvillette fanart and then everything just went downhill since then and I'm like why the fuck did I expect anything better than racist, pro cop dogshit from Mihoyo It needs to be talked about ESPECIALLY by people who still cares about it to critically. assess what the fuck you are absorbing because this shit isn't okay. This is literally paw patrol for weebs they just didn't call anyone a "cop"

PLEASE. TALK ABOUT IT.

[reshinless]

hello reshi good weather today innit

first of all iwant to say that i LOVE YOUR WORKS i gobbled them all up its not funny 😂😂😂😂😂hheneelelpp…… the brainrot is real and its eating AWAY!!!!!!!!!

seconf of all i keep going back to your kinich breeding kink fic. which made me wonder liek what do u think about dad kinich ,??:?\ mmmaybbeee…. mayhaps…

FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS no pressure ^_^

also can i be 🦢 anon i think ill probably return

hallo 🦢 nonnie!!!1!1!1 and ty, I'm happy lots of ppl read n enjoy my stuff, feel free to send more ideas >_0

he'd honestly frfr be a super good dad. like as someone who's learned that life is precious, and he's happy to have made some with you.

but if you take it in the single parent kinich aspect instead—he's just such a good dad, and often leaves hi child with mualani IF he still decides on doing saurian hunter stuff. but for sure I feel he'd leave the night warden war stuff behind

he honestly felt...somewhat scared. he fact he might have been about to lose his chance to hold his little girl again :(

oh but real talk he'd let his kid get their own saurian. I feel like he'd get them a saurian that is anything but whatever ajaw is.

he loves to throw them up in the air like genuinely he loves it so much.

same with swinging them, probably makes a playground set for them from scratch because his kid asked

he watches cartoons w your guys' children and acts like it doesn't really hurt him when something crazy happens to the mc

like ex. trolls when poppy lost her color. he was just as heartbroken as your daughter.

lowkey gains a dad bod if you think about it >_0

he always does the "ask your mom/other das" when it comes to serious stuff or things he doesn't wanna answer

example: kid asks about where babies come from..? go ask your mother sweetheart.

he brings the kid on his adventures sometimes—sometimes—only because it's his gift to them. but he knows if it were any other occasion then the kid's birthday you would kill him 💞

whenever you both do corny couple stuff the kid is always gonna go "ewwww!!" and run away while laughing.

"well would you rather me and your daddy fight all the time?" you joke as you finish braiding the little splitting image of you both's hair. "nooo! never! but you guys are cheesy!"

ajaw will be teaching the kid swear words and then blame it on kinich

like randomly while you and kinich are discussing things about I don't know getting a yumkasaurus for your little girl—you hear the same little one shout the word 'fuck.'

"where on earth did you hear that word from young lady!" "from daddy." "KINIIIICH!!"

and ajaw giggles behind the curtain watching everything unfold and he's rubbing his hands together like "muehehhehe... ur done kinich!!!..." even when u meant ur scolding light hearted after finding out about uncle ajaw. and will scold ajaw later.

thanks for coming to my ted talk

[lesbiandelgal]

Translated information regarding Flamela's squad, Part one

Decided to go through the pages on Flamela's squad from the complete adventurer's bible and translate them myself, since the ones I've seen floating around looked dubious at best. I've included transcriptions of (most of) the original text for anyone who would like to analyze it themselves. It's incredibly long, so I'm putting it under the cut.

Part two here.

Flamela

Name: Flamela of the house of Sorn Birthday/Age: September 23, 170 years old. Race/Gender: Elf, Female Family: Father, Mother, Younger brother Physique: Height approximately 140cm, BMI 22 Favorite food: Dumplings Dislikes: Roe Cause of first death: Poisoned by a basilisk

”真の王族の証”とされている、黒曜石の肌と銀髪をもつカナリアの副部長。女王の遠い血縁関係にあたるが、女王の養子となった双子の姉を亡くしていることもあり女王を一方的に嫌っている。引退したミルシルの後任としてカナリア隊の副長となるも、女王と血縁関係にある危険な現場からはそれとなく遠ざけられている。何かと沸点が低めで、とくに自分の身の回りの世話すらままならないミスルンが、カナリアの隊長に据えられていることには憤りを隠さない。

The vice-captain of the Canaries with obsidian skin and silver hair that is considered to be "proof of true royalty". While she is a distant blood relative to the queen, she has a one-sided hatred for the queen, as she lost (through death) her older twin sister, who was adopted by the queen*. She succeeded the retired Milsiril as vice-captain, but is obliquely kept away from dangerous sites due to her relation to the queen. She has a short temper**, and especially doesn't hide her resentment for the fact that Mithrun, who is unable to even take care of his daily needs, was assigned the position of Captain.

*this part was somewhat difficult to translate, just due to sentence structure being awkward for english. not entirely confident that i got the exact nuance down. feel free to send any corrections in my ask box if i got anything wrong! **this is just my best guess. let me know if it's inaccurate!

Erique and Misyl

フラメラの部隊に所属する隊員。エリケはフラメラの相棒を務める、刑期を終えた元囚人。カナリア隊が看守不足のため、スカウトされて看守になった。ミーシルはエリケが担当する囚人。たいした悪さはしていないが、隊員不足で採用される。自身も罪の意識は薄い。

Members of Flamela's squad. Erique, an ex-convict who finished* her prison term, serves as Flamela's partner. Because the canaries were short on wardens, she was scouted and made a warden. Misyl is the prisoner Erique is responsible for. She hasn't done anything particularly bad, but she was enlisted because the canaries were understaffed. Even she herself doesn't have much awareness of what she did wrong.

TL I've seen floating around says "she has no sense of guilt" in the last sentence, but there's a も in that sentence that wouldn't make much sense with a statement like that, as well as 罪 referring to "crime", rather than guilt. *The term translated as "finished" can also mean "to graduate" (in the non-academic sense), and considering Erique was pardoned, I think the intended meaning may be closer to the latter, but you also wouldn't say someone "graduated" a prison term, so I worded accordingly.

Organization structure

EDITOR'S NOTE 島の冒険者が畏怖を抱く存在、カナリア隊。その一端が垣間見える資料を公開。

EDITOR'S NOTE Feared* by the adventurers of the Island, the Canaries. This document that reveals a glimpse into its inner-workings is now revealed to the public.**

*could also be interpreted as "awe inspiring", but just based on context i'm guessing it's fear. **really an approximation of the general idea of this sentence, it doesn't translate very well.

*this originally was 草, and the only logical translation i came across was that it's an archaic term for "ninja", but In this case i feel like "spy" was a more apt translation. I could be totally off the mark though.

[bunieluv]

ᰔ minecraft story mode deaf jesse au ᰔ

pairing || male jesse x lukas (jesskas)

content warnings || inspiration somewhat taken from a silent voice, this au has themes of bullying, child abuse, self worth issues, and the general undertones of the ‘perfect child’ syndrome.

summary || a love story about independence vs interdependence, and battling self-worth issues as the top student is framed for bullying his deaf classmate, and must find a way to overcome his flaws in order to prove that he is not a bad person. based off of the hc that jesse lost some of his hearing after the formidi-bombs explosion.

information under the cut!

World

Beacon High School is a school filled with students of all different ability and culture. The students of Beacon High School are full of life and believe that everyone should be given equal opportunity, regardless of their backstory.

In this AU, characters from Minecraft: Story Mode take the roles of teachers and students attending this school. Romeo is the headmaster, Xara is the deputy head, Gordon/The Warden is the school secretary, and the Old Order of the Stone are teachers of the different subjects. The new Order of the Stone, the Blaze Rods, the Beacontown townsfolk will be taking the role of the students. The main cast are in Year 12/11th grade, making them 16-17 years old.

In this AU, female Jesse and male Jesse are twin siblings rather than gendered counterparts. Female Jesse is referred to as ‘Jessica’ while male Jesse keeps his name. Ivor and Harper serve as the twins’ father and step mother respectively. Additionally, Jack and Nurm serve as Petra’s adoptive fathers and Soren is a father figure to the Jesse twins, as the ex-husband of their father and one of their primary carers during their childhood.

The plot of this AU focusses on the undertones of the perfect child, Lukas, and how the maltreatment of a child detriments them in their later lives. In the beginning of their academic year these unlikely group of students are sardined together into Mr. Soren’s form group, and then Jesse becomes the target of the Ocelot’s bullying. Lukas’ reputation, despite being the only one who spited the idea of bullying Jesse and abstained, takes the hit for it, and Lukas resolves to regain the trust of Jesse, who had captured his attention. However, now people are standing in his way, and he must face all the worst things about himself for Jesse’s sake.

Jesse’s information

Aged 16. When Jesse was a child, he was involved in a freak accident which damaged his ears and is now medically recognised as deaf, meaning that he has little hearing ability. Jesse was left with some residual hearing after his accident, however this is not a lot and is severely muffled by white noise and tinnitus. It has to be a pretty loud sound in order for Jesse to interpret it, which is why Jesse uses hearing aids to amplify these sound waves to interpret them easier. As a statement yes these hearing aids are worn on his own volition, and in no way a refusal of his right to exist as a deaf person.

Jesse has the ability to speak, as he had learnt how to speak fluently prior to the accident. However, he often prefers non-verbal communication in sign language (most likely to be ASL considering MC:SM would probably be produced somewhere near the USA) as reading lips is only about 30% successful and with the amount of straining he has to do to hear often leaves him feeling fatigued. He feels he is only able to hold conversations with two people max, ergo he tends to hang out in small groups. When Jesse does speak, it is comprehensible and near perfect, though very soft and uncertain.

Jesse’s deafness is not exclusively limited to his hearing loss. There are other side effect that come with his deafness due to the injury in his middle and inner ear. Jesse is constantly seen tripping over, and this is for two reasons; the first reason being that the inner ear damage has caused problems with his balance, and the second is that having to focus so intently on the sounds around him interfered with his ability to walk around carefully. He is also more prone to headaches as a result of his chronic tinnitus, which makes getting rest significantly harder for him than for others.

Jesse reacts more violently to his other senses as a result of losing his sense of hearing. This is why Jesse is often more uncomfortable to scents, and responds to touch more than the average person might.

Jesse’s auditorial challenge posed him some troubles in his life, as it interfered with his way to communicate with a hearing world. Because of this, Jesse was frequently misinterpreted by his classmates and became a victim of ostracism and bullying. Despite this, Jesse has always kept a positive outlook on life, happy to be alive and accepting that his deafness is a part of who he is, and it’s other people that are the problem. Even if his immediate family does not agree with this way of thinking, and are very protective of him and how others treat him.

Jesse is a sweet and compassionate person with an easy going attitude. He is shown to be very forgiving even if it other people would have refused their apology, if they are expressing sincere regret towards their actions. He doesn’t feel that it is necessary for people to treat him differently to others because of his auditorial challenge since he is just as well off as everyone else- his grades are decent and he is able to fluently understand 3 languages (English, Spanish and ASL), so he is quick to dismiss any feelings of pity or concern towards him by projecting the more positive parts of his personality. 

Lukas’ information

Aged 16.

Lukas is the concept of a perfect child. He is polite, respectful and selfless, and is often relied on by students and teachers with his willing he is to help them in his own free time. Additionally, he is academically smart and athletic (notably strong considering he practices archery) which emphasises the positive traits about himself. He is very diplomatic and does not hold people to their old selves, believing that everyone deserves a chance to be happy.

Because of these high expectations placed upon him by other people, Lukas often does not think he is good enough. In his eyes, he is inadequate, and thus he often does not do good things for himself and busies himself with the wellbeing of others, making him very generous. Much unlike Jesse, he internalises and blames himself for the things that happen to himself, rationalising it saying ‘if I had done…instead’. Lukas does not hold grudges towards people, most notably his mother, who he loves quite dearly despite Petra’s family thinking she is cruel. His perfect façade seems to hide his deep insecurities, and it means he treats people politely even if they don’t deserve it.

Lukas was born into a wealthy family, and he really didn’t enjoy it. His father was frequently working and so his mother was the primary carer of him, and she had her twisted beliefs on life. Despite being supportive and nurturing his academic life, Lukas’ mother is manipulative and controlling, and Lukas often feels guilted into abiding by what she wants for him, micromanaging his life and being told that some harmless things he wants to do are way worse comparatively given who he is. This conditioning meant that Lukas had felt powerless and without a sense of self, following what his family wanted for him.

Throughout his life, Lukas has always been academically gifted. He had been moulded into a perfectionistic child, which is why his feelings of inadequacy hit so much harder. Lukas had began to push himself beyond his limits just because his mother was compelling him to, even if she had a pretence of worry towards his health. For a while he had been feeling completely isolated, even if he was the boy that everyone wished they could be.

Lukas didn’t want any of that. He didn’t care about being popular or desirable, he wanted to be a writer. But other plans had been put in place for his future.

Lukas had befriended the Ocelots after saving them from their bullies. He had been surprised when they had looked up to him like a leader— in the most sense, he wanted to be their equal and he wanted to be their friend. Although he did take on a lot of leader like qualities, teaching them alternatives to coping with their stress which are not harmful to themselves. Despite Lukas convincing his mother that the Ocelots were good people, she was still hesitant and suspicious of them, wanting rid of them but having no reason to remove them from Lukas’ life at that moment.

[crowtaclysm]

I also got into pressure and made a Pressure self insert sort of!

Meet Rivet Stitch!

He got yoinked by UrbanShade because he along with a coulple of friends were tryin to gather intel on the company to expose all the horrible things they had done, plan didn't go as accordin though when the hacker of the group accidentally triggered security, Rivet and his friends had to make a run for it but in their desperation to escape they threw him under the bus, leavin him to get caught. As punishment he was used for experimentation and kept in the site, forced to comply and work as "The Warden" via various control devices they had on him.

He seemed to get along with Sebastian and tolerated anyone he considered innocent working at the site(like janitorial staff and such), when the lockdown happened the control devices he had on went off, leavin him paralyzed and in pain, with no hope to escape, it was Sebastian who found him first and removed them for him.

Nowadays he stays in the site as he knows he has no chance at returnin to society while lookin like this. He resents his ex-friends, not only for usin him to save their asses but because he knows(and it's true) that they never again tried to get in, hack or even contact him to see if he was still alive.

After years of knowin Sebastian as well as spendin time with him after the lockdown, they grew close together, started datin and are currently "married". Rivet is not a big fan of marriage and would rather avoid it, but he went along with Sebastian because he seemed happy with the idea, he likes matching marriage rings with him and loves bein called husband/hubby by Sebastian.

Rivet has the DNAs of a Leopard Seal, a Lion Fish, a Lancetfish, a Shortfin Mako Shark, an Inland Taipan, a Flashlight Fish and [REDACTED]

Size wise he's not as long as Sebastian but he's larger than him, Seb reaches at about Rivet's shoulders. The redacted creature in his DNA is what gives him his size. Rivet is also both venomous due to the Inland Taipan as well as poisonous due to the Lion Fish. His bite as well as anything green and sharp are to be avoided if you want to survive.

His game mechanic has him stalkin the player most of the times, he always spawns in thouse rooms with windows that have Naval Mines outside, he'll be hidin behind thouse, makin constant eye contact. He only becomes a threat whenever the player is underwater, be it crossin a big openin on the site followin the beacons or in flooded rooms. His tell will be the loud scratchin of his claws against the floor and walls as well as his hissin and growlin as he rushes towards the player. If he doesn't see you he very much acts like an Angler(will rush in and out at least twice and at most five times), minus takin the lights out. If he does see you however you'll have to hide in a locker and will get a minigame similar to Pandemonium's or you can avoid him by hidin somewhere out of reach like a vent or a small crevice, he'll claw at it for a bit before givin up and leavin.

Lastly he also has a mechanic in which he will use his natural glow to make the player think it's a beacon and lure them into a hole in the wall that leads to water before swipin at them and draggin them in, if you have another player close by you'll be able to be rescued by them at the cost of 50 points of damage that continuously drain overtime due to his poison unless you use a medkit or pay Sebastian to remove the poison out of you(if you pay him you'll get an easter egg of Rivet laughin and lookin at you from the hole on the ceilin of Seb's shop, Sebastian will also let out a small amused chuckle at Rivet's mockery), if you're solo or your friends are too far it's an instant kill, the tell is easy however as real beacons also have smoke comin out of them while Rivet's fakeout only has the green glow.

And now, a WIP of the gays under the cut:

Lord this sketch is so messy, I'll try to finish it tomorrow.

[choochooboss]

Introducing your station master & Magma event host!

Since there's already a lot of passengers visiting this station and I haven't spared much time to get to know my fellow submas fans over Tumbrl yet, an introduction would be in place!

I'm Jun, nice to meet you! *offers a hand for for a shake* I am a devoted submas artist & a monthly Magma event host! I go by ChooChooBoss everywhere (Twitter/Bsky/Twitch/Ko-Fi)!

This will be a long post! I will write a short intro as well which you can just skim through but here is a more in depth view how I got into submas, my other interests and life in general, in case you'd wish to know more about your conductor on this silly train!

How did I get into submas in the first place?

PLA. I met this certain mysterious & cool fellow time traveler and got curious! After the cave scene I went to read his Wiki, found out about Emmet, and... yeah. The emotional impact blasted me right out of a miserable cycle I was going through back then and set my soul on fire!! A month later I set up my first art account on Twitter, and the rest is history. They've become my greatest source of strength and inspiration and I enjoy drawing them every single day!

I love both twins very much! I tend to vibe with Ingo a little more than Emmet, but I draw Emmet more. People say I remind of butler Ingo the most, hehe. I certainly don't mind because I'm a big fan of butlermas!! In fact I got into submas & started playing Pokémon Masters EX in April 2022, a week before butler Ingo banner rolled in, so they truly got a special place in my heart ahah! (pssst draw more butlermas for me pls pls pls-)

However I don't draw warden Ingo as much as I would like to. I still get pretty emotional over his fate ahah, I can't draw him without a single tear! This sweet & kind man leading a good life and being an inspiration to others has been torn from literally everything he had for seemingly no reason apart from his name, clothes and the muscle memory and even those are barely intact. It seems like a miracle he's still standing and breathing after put through everything judging by the wear and tear on his uniform and body. Despite all that he carries a positive attitude, assists everyone in need, and does his best to help people and pokémon understand each other, unconditionally... Oh, my face is wet again...

My other interests besides submas?

Monster Hunter! Zelda! Genshin Impact! Super Mario! Trine! Crash Team Racing! And many many more! My favourite genres are platformers, kart racers, and action games, with a side of rhythm games. I'm a big fan of co-op games! I also watch my sis play JRPGs!

Monster Hunter is the dearest to me out of all. I've been hunting for well over a decade starting from MHFU. The games have charmed me with their incredibly satisfying combat system, world building, creature design, great attention to detail, character customisation and the games being nearly fully co-op!!

Other things I do:

Pokémon is practically the only turn-based game I enjoy, mainly because of the characters and collection aspect. However!! I adore Pokémon Colosseum (the first pkmn game I ever played!) and it's double battle focus, so The Indigo Disc has been a delight after the long starvation for double battles, coming up with different combinations makes the battles much more fun to me!!... I sound like Emmet here do I ahahah! We also share the fact we are both left-handed!

Shuffle dancing, daily pull-ups, and expanding my ever growing VGM collection! I also enjoy traveling and taking photos to keep as a diary! I've played piano in a music school for 9 years, and I can also play kalimba. I've done casual boxing, gymnastics, horse riding and medieval swordfighting. I used to read comics/manga and watch movies and anime but nowadays I barely do that, I just rather use that time for drawing instead of just sitting and watching, unless I have company!

I share the apartment with my anxious brother and our two sweet female cats, Laku (11, stubborn and cuddly) and Kalevi (21, demanding and full of love) in a city center. My parents are both entrepreneurs and run a farm in the countryside & I have 4 siblings with me as the middle kid!

Where can you meet me?

I am a game artist by profession, with 4 yrs of studies and roughly 7 years of EXP in the field doing game art, UI design, character/prop design, in mobile games as well as PC titles, 2D and 3D. At the moment I am looking for work; I keep up the motivation and learn new skills by running my art accounts while looking for new opportunities.

I hail from the land of darkness, snow, salmiakki, metalheads and renownly reserved people, Finland! (UTC+2)

Despite having my roots here I am pretty much the opposite of a typical Finn in almost every sense ahah! I'm a small guy who's not afraid talking to strangers and laughs a lot. And I dislike coffee for the contrary, it's very popular amongst finns.

With the inspiration from submas I've finally stepped into the world of cosplay so you can usually meet this small and excitable Ingo in the biggest local conventions, Desucon and Tracon! Come say hi!

About my social battery:

I'm both social and socially anxious ahah! I love making new friends and talking to all sorts of people and writing comments, and gathering together with my mutuals to do cool stuff together! However my social battery is very small... I often struggle with my AD(H)D and anxiety issues, so my replies can be extremely slow. I'm easily overwhelmed when life gets busy and I deal with it by withdrawing to minimise the the stimuli and then sorting my stuff out one by one. This is a frustrating shortcoming, but I'm working hard to find a balance I can maintain without getting exhausted. Please be patient with me! If you don't hear from me in a while, please don't take it personally! In fact, it makes me really happy if you contact me, for any purpose!

Which pronouns do I go with?

I go by they/them! I am also aroace, so if I appear to show any sort of romantic interest, it's definitely not that. I love meeting new people and am quite interested in people in general so I'm excited to get to know you better, but the thing is... I have been confusing people on several occassions for saying things that could be taken as flirting. I am terribly sorry for that, that's just the way I show how I care!

I don't really identify myself by any specific gender either, but rather by my roles or interests (Magma host, submas fan, game artist etc.). Submas encouraged me to enjoy dressing formally even if I'm just sitting at home, because I love formal clothing in general and wearing them makes me feel confident and stand taller! I usually wear collar shirts and black or white slacks.

More about my AD(H)D:

I don't have an official diagnosis but deal with the same problems as AD(H)D people do; poor work memory, dissociation, hyperfocus (drawing and people), sleep deprivation, impulsiveness (juggling too many things and going with the wind), getting sensory/information overloads, and feeling like I don't fit in. I figured it out after I finished school & lost my job for that I am unable to handle big tasks without anyone giving me directions. It has taken a while but I've figured out things that help me manage my daily life as well as have a medication that mainly boosts my capability to get things started which is another great struggle ahah.

How do I manage to keep myself on track?

I use a Pomodoro timer to keep up a good flow and remember to take breaks! This is what I use the most:

I should set it up on my tablet as well. I think it's really cool to see how many hours I have actually put into drawing! Last year I clocked in well over 3k hours, ahaha!

How to catch me?

Right now I have great difficulty managing replies, but usually you can reach me by DMs! I check Discord and Twitter the most often! However I must ask you to respect my current DNI status. It means I am really overwhelmed so I wish nobody comes asking for my attention until it has been lifted, unless it's really necessary. I really love talking to you all but I also have to accept and deal with my own limits strictly like this or it won't work out.

What am I working on at the moment?

Besides the holiday set I have several short comics under works as well as one big comic (100+ pages!). That one is my personal greatest goal! I started working on it in June 2022 and I have currently 40+ pages sketched and 60+ thumbnailed.

I was afraid of starting any comic projects before submas, but the sheer excitement over them carried me over that personal wall ahah!

The story's beginning and end are looking good and somewhat functional but there's still a lot to work to do and holes to fill in the middle before I dare to start fleshing out the pages. I have little experience in writing or comic making so I hope you forgive if some things don't make sense or the dialogue is a little on the nose so to say ahah!

The story will be packed with action with the overall tone being on the darker side, but it sure won't be lacking in humor! The project's main goal is to make it a celebration of all things submas & to prove to myself I can handle a big scale project despite my shortcomings!

This train has reached the terminal!

Thank you for riding my silly submas train!! I adore reading all your tags and comments! They brighten up my day & fuel my passion even more!! I hope to bring many more fun things for you to look forward to!! See you again soon!

ALL ABOARD!!

[sepublic]

From Pilot to Canon, Luz and Eda

With my belief that No Tree Left Behind was boarded as part of the pilot continuity (hence Lilith's depiction), I want to bring up that I think there's kind of a subtle difference between Luz in that episode, or 'Pilot Luz', and Canon Luz as we got in the actual animated show.

With Canon Luz, she's a more brash, confident individual, who can get in over her head; King mentions that she smells of overconfidence, plus there's Luz recklessly getting into stuff like in Covention or Enchanting Grom Fright in the heat of the moment. She has this overwhelming energy and enthusiasm that's unstoppable, but as a result she can sometimes forget about the people around her, hence Wing it like Witches.

And a lot of that has to do with Luz's relationship with The Good Witch Azura in canon, because it means that the Boiling Isles is her fantasy!!! It's her chance, it's her adventure, it's what Manny would push her to go for! So she gives it her all. And in the latter half of the show, Luz's willingness to go at any cost, even to her own detriment, borders on self-sacrifice. In a way she's secretly atoning for her own existence, it's like... 'Socially acceptable' self-harm by risking herself.

So there's a difference in Pilot Luz during NTLB, who is much more averse to the martyr idea; She's a lot more scared and reluctant to fight for Arborgeist, and in a moment of crisis admits she doesn't quite get what Eda is so worked up about. And this makes me think of how the in the pilot continuity, there isn't that same relationship with Azura; The pitch bible reveals we would've had an episode where it's revealed to be written by an ex of Eda's about her, so you can guess that Luz drops it afterwards.

And as the pilot even shows us, Luz didn't choose to be in the Boiling Isles! And in lieu of my latest reblog, that feels relevant because Dana mentioned how in the final show, Luz choosing that was so incredibly important; It was a foundational change to the character's storyline. Luz wants to be here, she wants to risk it, this is the adventure and if she gets bruised up, it's okay. Us weirdoes have to stick together, she declares passionately as she rallies a bunch of strangers against Warden Wrath in the first episode. She becomes in canon the kind of passionate, righteous person who will talk your ear off about a thing and she's right about it.

So looking at the difference between first episodes, it tracks that Pilot Luz is much more reluctant and just trying to survive, hence her not 'getting' Arborgeist, in the sense that she doesn't see what's worth potentially dying over. Whereas with Canon Luz, I think she'd be more than willing to deep dive into this culture and play the hero, she's a social activist.

This isn't to trash on Pilot Luz btw, nor canon Luz; I just find it fascinating to consider how her character has changed and developed, how the story has, and how the difference in first episodes alludes to this. First episodes are very important, they can establish a lot of the core themes and ideas and Dana herself confirmed the significance of certain differences from the initial pilot. So it's fascinating seeing that difference in action, shown to us, rather than having to be told, since normally we couldn't watch the pilot storyboards to see for ourselves. Pilot Luz and Canon Luz are different characters with different flaws and circumstances, and they're both beautiful in their own ways for it.

I'd even argue that in a canon episode like WilW, Luz ends up playing the role Eda has in NTLB! And her stepping down after realizing she (might) hurt a loved one who was dragged into this, only for them to understand how much they care and come back to help for that reason... The story beats live on. Canon Luz would probably be thrilled to see Pilot Eda show so much care about something when she normally doesn't; Whereas Canon Eda becomes more of a practical guardian who's reining her kid in out of experience, because she's been hurt herself and is worried, and a tad pessimistic.

It's like the dynamics between Luz and Eda reversed from pilot to canon, with a scared and reluctant kid and her mentor who can push her too much sometimes; And now it's this overconfident, excited kid who wants to try everything and thinks she's invincible, with her jaded mentor who's a realist but also she cares more than you realize and wants to provide a safety net, being surprisingly thoughtful at times.

It makes sense, because again going back to my last reblog, Luz being more enthusiastic about the isles was to also help her foil other characters better, including Eda, and vice-versa. So it's possible Eda was changed to lean more into her pragmatic mentor role -Not that she doesn't still have her irresponsible, reckless moments- while bouncing off of Luz's new enthusiasm, which can lead to conflict like Luz wanting to try the newest magic and Eda not being in the mood, which leads to Luz being a bit reckless (take for example The Intruder).

Eda being more tired and jaded could also tie to the development of her curse as a disability that exhausts her, since in the pilot continuity the curse only made her age more; In canon, it does that AND messes with her magic stores, which leads to more exhaustion! In addition to becoming a beast. And with Eda becoming disillusioned with the isles due to her traumatic experiences, Luz acts as the light in her life to reignite her passion, which leads to Eda taking a more proactive role against Belos in S2!

She believes in her efficacy more because of how Luz changes the isles because of Eda, which makes Eda become more of an agent for social change as she starts to believe she can make a difference again, just as she did as a teen in IFWOT. Maybe Eda's curse isn't something to feel shame over anymore, maybe she shouldn't let it stop her from rallying everyone...!

Thus, there's not just a difference between Pilot and Canon Luz, but also Pilot and Canon Eda in NWLB. Though I imagine Canon Eda would still help to defend the Arborgeist tree, I'm not as sure about her confidence in attempting to rally others to do the same; She's got that loner vibe who assumes she has to do everything on her own because her own family and lover wouldn't support Eda in her defiance to the coven... But now she does have support in Luz. And King. And some of those loved ones are turning around too, no thanks to Luz's arrival inspiring some!

All this helps culminate in the S1 finale with Eda being used as a rallying cry against Belos, signaling the beginning of the end for his regime as she inspires not just a kid like Luz but other youths like Gus and Willow, and even helps chaperone Grom after avoiding Hexside for years; Eda’s really starting to believe again and she admits that Luz has gotten into her head as the cause.

[somerandomcryptid]

These sketches are an absolute mess but I want to talk about AiE!Sam so I'm afraid you aren't getting anything better right now :)

Now if you remember anything about the previous sketches I've done for a much more snakey Sam then you might be slightly confused but don't worry. That Sam is still intact. In fact much more intact then this one!

This is just the Sam that the character of Sam, warden of Pandora's vault was based on. But for the purposes of least confusion we will refer to the real Sam as Sam and the character as Awesam from now on.

Warning for mentions of murder and very vague descriptions of the state Sam's body was in when it was found.

Sam Isenberg was one of the early developers on Adventures in Esempi before his mysterious murder in early 2011 The killer is completely unknown as of now. But Sam's body was found in his apartment. Rather disfigured as well. But despite the torn up state of the apartment and victim, no traces of evidence for police to follow were left. Sam's life before his tragic end was quite full though. And he was a well accomplished person. Beloved by many despite how XD, his ex-wife and fellow developer on Adventures in Esempi describes him as quote "One of the biggest snakes I've ever met. He was the kind of guy who works with you for years and then turns without any notice or reason." This may have been referring to the fact that shortly before Sam's death he was filing for divorce and attempting to get full custody of his and XD's two children, a case left unresolved after the fact.-A telling of his life was supposed to be written out and published by Sam's son Dream. But Dream also went missing only 2 months after the announcement and the book never came out. XD still seeming to hold animosity for his ex-husband and never picking up the project despite being asked to by the public and allegedly his teenage daughter. But we do have some things about Sam's early life and feel it's important to share what we know. Sam was born in 1972 to two loving parents and lived most of his early childhood in Texas before moving to Florida when he was 14. This is where he would meet XD and live the rest of his life.-From our information he was a kid that got sick pretty often -a trait that passed onto his son-resulting in him tending to wear a face mask for much of his childhood and through his teenage years, though his immune system would improve in his 20s The first murder/missing case that would happen around Sam would happen in 1988 when he was 16, being a very close friend who formed a friendship trio with him and XD. The next missing cases that would pop up around him would be in his college years, a classmate and professor respectively His life would not all be dreary though! In 1994 Sam would announce his engagement with XD and they would get married the following year. And the following year after that, 1996 their first child would be born, Dream. From what we know the time of Dream's childhood and early teen years seems to have been a happy time for the family. Untill their second child, Drista was born in 2010 and well we've mostly covered Sam's short life after that.

And there's my man! He's actually so chill compared to Awesam. Too bad he's dead.

I do love how I am creating ships that absolutely no one will understand. Because I mean really.. Sam/XD is not something even I predicted.

I do love them though, just a guy/an extremely unhinged guy is a very fun dynamic

Plus I just love how much of an unreliable narrator XD is about the situation

Also I like their kids a lot.

I should really talk properly about ai!AiE!Sam/awesam though at some point. Because he's an absolute mess! There's just a plot point he features heavily in that idk if I want to spoil.

But I guess I've already spoiled a lot of stuff by even just talking about real!AiE!Sam soooooo oops

Anyway thas about it :)

@calamari-minecraft-corner

[probably-iron-deficiency]

TWST x Kingdom Keepers #1

Idia Shroud

Welcome to my first official twst x kingdom keepers AU post!! I have,,, m a n y,,, thoughts for this AU, but my storyline for Idia is the most fleshed out right now. This is my VERY (very) rough sketch for him!!

AU/Character Notes below!!

Firstly…

What IS kingdom keepers?

It’s a book series from the early 2000s set in Disney World, but eventually expands to other disney locations as well. Following a group of middle schoolers, Disney has kids auditon to be part of their new “DHI” program (Disney Host Interactive), in which the kids will be motion captured and projected into the parks as holograms to act as virtual tour guides. However, the kids who become DHIs wake up in the parks in their hologram form after they sleep, and realize that all the rides/characters/animatronics/etc are REAL and come to life. Oh yeah also the disney villains have formed a coalition group called the Overtakers and they want to take over the world.

Obviously this series has some connections to TWST, so I think it’d be fun to explore the characters there! (Plus I make a TWST au for everything so-)

general au notes:

Scroll to next section if you just want AU Idia Lore!

these will be compiled in a master post later, but for some context here:

All characters are aged down in this AU!! First years are ages 11-12, second years are 13-14, and third years are around 15-16 (Leona being the oldest). There are some exceptions to this, though!

➡️➡️Ortho is 9 (truly a little baby😭😭). Lilia is 17, making him the oldest (ancient) member of the DHI kids.

Rather than just one area, the DHI gang were scouted/auditioned from all over the world. By chance, some of the characters already know eachother or are aware of eachother (similar to canon). When they all showed up for audiovisual recording to be done, it was a little chaotic.

In order to theme their hosts in accordance with the parks, these DHIs were assigned to different units that correspond to different disney properties.

Each unit acts as the hosts for different areas of the magic kingdom, corresponding to their theming. (Ex. Ignihyde/Tomorrowland) however, in later updates to these DHIs, and due to their popularity, guests can choose which DHI to interact with in ANY area of the park through their smartphones.

Unlike the original book, some DHIs were given altered appearances in order to better suit the theming (I.E, Heartslabyul members having card suit face paint, Ignihyde members having blue flame hair).

Each unit also has a unit leader, who serves as the default host selection in their respective regions. These are the house wardens in canon.

notes about Idia:

He is 15 in this AU! Still a gamer though.

His parents are pretty high and mighty in the tech industry, leading him and Ortho to be interested in pursuing it as well.

He’s always wearing the same exact pajamas, barring his constantly rotating armada of cringe 2010s hot topic anime tshirts. (Vil has tried to convince him to get some other clothes. This does not go well).

Him and Ortho made matching friendship bracelets for eachother when they were young, and haven’t taken them off since!

The yellow around his (and ortho’s) iris’ are almost neon, and will shine in the dark like an animals. This gives them a vaguely cat like appearance.

Him and Ortho were homeschooled through very expensive tutors, for better or worse (definitely worse)

Once they begin meeting the other DHI units, Idia begins sleeping with his noise cancelling headphones so they spawn in with him. These people are just too loud.

some Idia origin story notes (not everything!! I wanna write some fics detailing the events more):

The Shroud bros decided to audition to be DHIs out of their mutual want to “become heroes” like in their favorite games and Disney movies (and because they were interested in the new tech)

They both passed the audition, and recorded their lines and mocap stuff smoothly! Unfortunately, soon after the brothers were in an accident that left Ortho near death.

He survived, but has since been comatose, with the doctors projecting an extremely low chance of survival. Although Idia’s parents aren’t hopeful about the circumstances, they agree to keep him on life support because of Idia’s mental state.

(despite the tragic event, the Shroud bros DHIs roll out anyways, and Idia uses the money to pay off the hospital bills. His parents could afford it, but Idia feels responsible)

Since then, Idia has been staying with Ortho in the hospital, never once leaving his side. With his parent’s weight in medical tech, it was pretty easy to allow him to stay there.

When Idia wakes up in the park, the first thing he notices is that his DHI’s flaming blue hair seems to have carried to him. Naturally, he assumes he’s dreaming.

Not long after waking in the park, he felt a familiar tug on the back of his hoodie. Turning, he was face to face with Ortho. Notably, Ortho was completely inhabiting his holographic form, not wearing pajamas but dressed in the style of his DHI.

OK THATS ALL FOR NOW BYE FEEL FREE TO SHARE ANY THOUGHTS OR WHATEVER (scuttles away)

[dr-malice]

I honestly believe that superjail is purgatory

Warden has several different routes on what he could be, and I still need to do more research when it comes to that, but the best thing I've found so far is Abaddon the angel of the abyss, though as said I need to do more research

Here is a tiny tid bit of research, which would fit well for jailbot and the description of superjail

So while the evidence is loose, I could definitely see the creators loosely inspiring superjail off of purgatory

Another character role, that I'm still unsure of who it fits with but I'm more leaning towards the doctor with this role Primarily due to his ties to being an ex nazi scientist, since a lot unalived themselves during this time period, though, wouldn't work due to the lives lost during his work, but same could apply to the fact Cato was a military general, so either way lives were lost Though, this wouldn't work if the doctor was inspired off of Joseph Mengele, since he faked his death Which would make sense to a degree to the both of them looking (somewhat) similar, although Mengele was also called the angel of death, so who knows it could go both ways and I may just be looking too deep into it

But, there still leaves alice, and Jared, and then the flip side so ultraprison, but that's the same just for afabs just depends on who represents what. Though, they would more than likely represent a demon rather than a middle man

The doctor I think would be Cato due to being a middle man, and not really a prominent character, besides the couple of episodes, such as when he has certain words of advice which is a lot more than the rest of the characters are able to give (even if morally skewed at times, such as mayhem doner)

So imma update this thread when I have more evidence I just wanted to share this publically and get peoples ideas (also, I'm thinking that the twins may be fallen angels of some sort)

long story short, its not THE purgatory, but definitely a varient

[queenofzan]

Playersexuality

It is super annoying when people use the excuse of "playersexual" video game characters to claim characters in video games aren't actually bi/pan, because there is a difference, and it's honestly not that hard to distinguish them!

For an example of a game that is doing playersexual characters who are not textually bisexual, look at Stardew Valley. I love Stardew Valley, but the way it handles sexuality bugs the shit out of me, and always has. If you romance Abigail with a female farmer, she actually mentions having never felt this way about another girl before, so clearly she is not intended to be bisexual. One of the first male romances I did (Sebastian or Elliot?) had a similar line. If you romance Leah, the gender of her ex will always match the farmer's gender, implying that Leah is into that specific gender. (I actually don't mind the Leah implementation of a playersexual character nearly as much as I do the "no homo" in the Abigail romance.)

To contrast that, I think of Dragon Age 2, where all characters are romanceable by any gender Hawke, and they express attraction to a variety of other characters. Anders hits on Hawke the same way regardless of Hawke's gender, and his ex Karl is always a man, while he references having sexual experiences alongside Isabela. Isabela expresses attraction to women (and was willing to have sex with female Wardens in Dragon Age: Origins) as well as men, and will end up in a physical relationship with Fenris if neither character is romanced by Hawke. These feel less like playersexual characters and more like a group of bisexuals hanging out, whether or not that's improbable.

There is a clear difference between a history and textual attraction to multiple genders and the Schroedinger's Ex Leah has. Schroedinger's Ex is less jarring to a player than a line from a character who otherwise reads as queer to a player suddenly saying "I've never had a gay feeling before", but it almost can't be bisexual representation, whereas a character who "no homo"s the player character could reflect or change their mind, representing a more complicated sexuality journey that, while not a particularly common one outside of romance-focused games, is not inherently homo- or bi-phobic.

So seeing people (presumably monosexuals, although it is possible these are bisexuals with internalized shit to work through) look at textually bisexual characters and deride them as playersexual pandering is both confusing and upsetting. There is nothing in the text of, for instance, Baldur's Gate 3, that implies Astarion has any particular surprise or confusion about being attracted to a woman, but some fans will argue that he's too effete to be anything but gay. That's not a gay character turned playersexual for mechanical or marketing convenience, that's fans being homophobic, biphobic, and arguably misogynist and claiming it's the fault of the game developers.

As a gamer who tries to be thoughtfully critical of games, I do think playersexual romances make sense from a marketing and gameplay perspective. I think locking content behind genders or species is a silly thing to do, particularly in a large game that takes a long time to play and is not specifically designed to be played through multiple times like many visual novels and dating sims. I would not count those characters as meaningfully bi or pansexual, even if (as a greedy bisexual) I want to count them as such in my heart. If there's nothing in the text to contradict it, they would really be bi or pan only in headcanon. The playersexual approach of "they're straight except for the very special PC" is problematic, if understandable. It would be less obnoxious in a setting that isn't mired in heteronormativity, because then at least I could believe this is an individual having revelations and new experiences rather than a game dev assuming all people are heterosexual until proven otherwise.

As a bisexual who is very tired of being marginalized by monosexuals, especially queer monosexuals who should know better, I wish people would stop trying to sound progressive and supportive of bisexuals when they are actively erasing and denying the existence of textual bisexuality that they don't understand or which makes them confused or uncomfortable. Even when playersexuality is transparently the reason everyone in the game is bi or pan, singling out the most effeminate men or masculine women and claiming they're "really" monosexuals reveals that the problem is not, in fact, playersexuality, but bisexuality, because it's apparently fine for the straighter-seeming romance options to be bi, but somehow problematic for the obviously queer ones to be.

It's possible some people doing this legitimately think they're helping bisexuals. But critiquing playersexuality should not mean policing the way queer characters act. If the problem is really playersexuality, or the specific implementation of it, then say that, instead of making arguments that are indistinguishable from those a Fox News anchor would make.

[iambutmortal]

Chapter 4 for @elucienweekofficial Day 5: Sunshine

Summary: When Elain signs the divorce papers she’s sure she’s done with Lucien Vanserra. Until they’re offered the chance to recreate their honeymoon as a part of her job. For free. But reliving all those memories with Lucien proves leaving may be more difficult than she thought.

Word Count: 2.8k

Authors Note: I had a bit of a brain crash yesterday, so this was supposed to be for day four. I'm either going to post three chapters in the next two days, or two longer chapters to make up for it, sorry.

Read on Ao3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

True to Lucien’s word, Elain was confined to the bed for overnight, while he ran around actin as a dutiful nursemaid and she grumbled and complained.

“I don’t think laying under an umbrella outside is going to change anything,” Elain moaned, for what felt like the thousandth time. “And I’m sick of this room.”

“Too bad,” Lucien said, handing her a mug of tea. “Interview is in three hours and you’re not stepping foot outside until then.”

“But—”

“Nope,” Lucien said. “And both Nesta and Cassian agreed before you start complaining about how mean I am. You need rest.”

Elain pouted, but took a sip of her tea. She felt the warmth work its way down her throat, and was relieved to find the sip didn’t leave her running to the bathroom. After a night of sleep her stomach had settled considerably, but she would much rather play it safe than sorry.

“Can I at least start to get ready?”

Lucien huffed and glanced down at his phone. “Give it another twenty minutes. I’ll get you a piece of toast to gnaw on.”

Elain muttered something rude at him, but grabbed the kindle from where she’d discarded it across the bed. She was still only halfway through the book she’d started on the plane, and the heroine had ended up in a small town. With her ex. Really it was getting far too realistic for her tastes.

Lucien, cruel warden, did relent when he came back and saw Elain was managed to keep the bread down.

“Go take a shower.”

Elain practically bounded out of bed, slamming the door on him.

“But sit down when you blow dry your hair,” he shouted at the wood.

Elain opened the door a crack, just enough to show him her middle finger.

Lucien’s laughter followed her, something warm burning in her chest. She did concede to sit on the bed to do her hair, definitely for Lucien and not because she felt a little light headed after standing on her feet for too long.

“Ready,” Lucien asked, when the clock hit four. He’d thrown on a pale yellow polo shirt and stiff tan pants, to match the white and yellow flowered sundress Elain had pulled out to wear. His hair was back in a neat ponytail, a few strands escaping to frame his face.

“Do we look home and garden approved?” Elain asked, sticking the last bobby pin in her hair. She’d done her best appropriation of beach waves, pinning the front sections gracefully behind her ears.

Cassian wasn’t officially on the job as photographer, but image had more power than anything in an interview.

“We’d fit right in Cassian’s magazine,” Lucien said, offering her a hand.

Elain took it, letting him pull her to her feet. And then held it as they walked through the resorts, savoring the feeling of calluses earned from the gym against her fingertips. Outside the air was so humid she could feel her hair curling in rebellion, frizzing around her temples. She cursed herself for not bringing anything to tame it with.

She reached up a hand to try and smooth it down.

“Your hair looks fine,” Lucien whispered, before throwing open the door to the conference room they’d be using.

Elain was almost instantly wrapped in a hug. “Oh my gosh it’s been so long,” gushed Mor, giving Elain a squeeze before pulling back to embrace Lucien.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Elain said. She had met Rhys’ cousin a handful of times, at the wedding and a few dinners around the holidays, whenever she could come from New York and had always liked the blonde woman. They’d had several long conversations over coffee on the latest fashion trends, or whatever celebrity was currently acting like a fool.

“I wasn’t,” Mor said. “But when I heard Viviane had you as an assignment I made her switch. She’s currently in Brazil covering fashion week.”

“That’s a hell of a trade on her part,” Lucien said, lacing his fingers with Elain’s and leading them over to the makeshift interview space set up. Three chairs, for Elain, Lucien, and Cassian, who was joining them later, stood across from the one Mor had already draped her red purse across.

“But I get to see you guys,” Mor replied, sweeping elegantly into her seat. “So I think I got the better deal.” She reached into her purse to pull out a small notebook and pen, both matching red, and flipped to an open page. “So,” she said, clicking the pen. “How are things going?”

“Good,” Elain squeaked.

Mor’s eyebrows arched dangerously close to her hairline. “Just good? A sharp decline from Christmas then.”

Elain could feel her face burning under the scrutiny.

Lucien tightened his grip on her hand, placing it on top of his thigh. “We’re in paradise, all expenses paid, with each other. What could be wrong?” His voice was innocently neutral, a perfect deflection of the question. God he would make such a good politician.

Mor tilted her head, golden blonde hair sliding over her shoulder in a silky sheet. “Alright, so what makes here paradise?”

“It was the first place we went while being married,” Elain said, meeting Mor’s brown eyes. “So it’s always going to have good memories associated with it.”

Mor tapped her pen against the notepad. “Bad answer. You could have stayed anywhere after your wedding. Why here?”

“Because I’ve always loved the beach,” Elain admitted. “We only got to go twice growing up because of money and both times it was magical seeing that much open water. Lucien took me to Santa Monica for our second date, so it only made sense to come to a beach for our honeymoon.”

Mor was nodding along to her story, scribbling furiously with her pen. “And Lucien? Why this resort?”

He cleared his throat. “I like to see Elain happy. And she never stopped smiling on our honeymoon.”

Mor gave a disapproving hum and Elain was reminded of why Mor was the top of the top in the industry. Every other interviewer would have gushed over that answer, and how romantic it was.

“And I didn’t get the chance to make a lot of good memories as a child,” Lucien continued after a moment. Because he’d grown up with his step father, Beron, who was by all accounts horrible. “So anytime I get to see someone I love happy I get a strong attachment to the place.”

“And how do you feel being back now?”

“It’s…different,” Elain said. Mor gestured for her to go on. “After three years we’re in a new place in our relationship retreading someplace old.”

“New good or new bad?” Mor asked.

“Just new,” Lucien answered quickly.

“So bad.” Mor underlined something on her notepad. “Elaborate.”

“It’s called a honeymoon period for, I don’t think people can be expected to stay in it forever,” Elain said defensively. “Not three years after the actual honeymoon.”

“Feyre and Rhys are still in theirs.”

“They’re the exception,” Elain said. “The rest of us don’t live in a fairytale.”

“Hard truth for a story about a fairytale honeymoon,” Mor said softly.

Elain was saved from responding by a knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” Mor called.

Cassian walked in anyway. “You’d leave me in the hall like a dog? I’m wounded.”

Mor rolled her eyes, but stood to press a kiss to his cheeks. “I missed you, you big oaf,” she said.

“Move back to LA then,” Cassian begged, taking the third seat. “Then I’ll never leave you alone.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Mor flipped to a fresh page. “We’ll come back to that conversation later.” She gave Elain a pointed look. “For now, Cassian, what’s the best part of working here?”

Cassian launched into a spirited discussion about the lighting and angles the resort offered, how he framed his shots, and what he was planning tomorrow when they went into the jungle.

“A lot of houses today are sharp angles,” he finished, “which is interesting, how do you make set shapes look dynamic, but this is just so different and it’s really pushing me to the limits.”

“Amazing,” Mor muttered. She looked up. “Anything to add, Nesta?”

Elain turned around to see her sister standing in the doorway. She’d been so engrossed in Cassian’s explanation about his work she hadn’t noticed her arrival.

Nesta cleared her throat. “I hadn’t quite realized how much work Cassian put into this, it’s nice to know I can trust my sister to him. I always thought this was just some blow off beach job for him.”

Cassian shook his head. “It was never a blow off job, Nes. None of them were.”

Nesta looked the most regretful Elain had ever seen her.

“So,” Mor said, “then what is it like to work with Cassian?”

Lucien was nice enough to take that question, gushing about how good of a director Cassian was while Cassian looked sheepishly pleased with himself.

Elain watched over his shoulder as Nesta slipped out of the doorway and back into the hall, with one final look towards Cassian, and made a mental note to talk to her about it later.

Mor worked her way through several more questions, teasing answers out of Elain, Lucien, and Cassian, until Cassian’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out with a frown, scanning the message before quickly typing out a response.

“Is there a problem?” Mor asked.

“Sorry,” Cassian said apologetically, setting the phone down face first on the chair arm. Only to pick it right back up when it buzzed again. “I sent some concept photos in and they’re just now getting back to me.”

Mor nodded, waving for him to carry on, and turned back to Lucien to discuss what his possible political career held. Cassian was still typing, his frown deepening.

Elain leaned towards him. “What’s wrong,” she hissed.

Cassian startled. “It’s nothing.”

“Is it about what happened yesterday?” Elain asked, feeling guilty all over again.

Cassian shook his head emphatically. “Absolutely not. It’s something I’ll handle.”

His phone rang and he sighed deeply. “I have to take this,” he whispered, sliding out of the room.

Mor and Lucien were still deep in conversation, and Elain made the split second decision to follow Cassian out. She had no doubt it was about yesterday, and had every intention of begging for forgiveness to the producers.

She made sure to shut the door behind her, lest Lucien find out and chastise her for making it her responsibility.

Cassian was pacing the hall, agitated. “I’m not doing it,” Cassian snarled at whoever was on the other end of the line. “So tell them to shove it.” A long pause. “What do you want me to say? Sorry your face looks like that, I'm only photographing the other side from now on?”

White hot anger shot through Elain at the words. She’d never quite understood the concept of seeing red before now, but her body felt like it was on fire. She cleared her throat, catching Cassian’s attention, and motioned for him to mute the phone.

“Tell them I’ll walk,” Elain said. “I’ll walk and they’ll have none of their photos then if they want to say a single thing about Lucien.”

“Elain—”

“And tell them that I’ll also make sure everyone knows what ablest assholes they are.”

“I can’t—”

“Tell them,” Elain ground out.

 Cassian unmuted the phone and put it on speaker. “It’s going to be a no from Ms. Vanserra on retaking from a different angle.”

“Tell Ms. Vanserra she’s not the one in charge of this shoot.”

Elain cleared her throat. “Well Ms. Vanserra would like to remind everyone that her brother in law is Rhysand Night, and I’m sure he has a magazine that would love to cover what Cosmopolitan had to say about people with facial scarring.”

Elain could almost hear silent panic on the other end of the line. Because Rhys’ dad had given him full control over their media empire, and he was currently trying to expand into the fashion space. Something Elain was sure had the executives on the line very, very worried.

“I think there’s been a miscommunication,” said a voice through the speakers after a pregnant pause. “We just wanted to make sure Cassian was capturing a full range photos from all perspectives. To make sure he wasn’t missing something special”

“I think Cassian’s photos are very special,” Elain countered. “Especially with the framing he chose to use.”

Another long pause. “Looking at them again, I think you might be right, Ms. Vanserra.”

“I know,” Elain said, her tone far too prissy for any model. There went her reputation for being easy to work with. “I’m glad we could come to an understanding.”

Cassian took the phone off speaker to say a few farewell remarks and then hung up.

“This is a new side of you, El,” he said. 

Elain flushed. “Sorry.”

“No, no, I like it.” Cassian swung open the door. “Besides, knowing your sisters I shouldn’t be shocked.”

They both took their seats. Mor didn’t miss a beat, shifting her attention back onto Cassian to ask about the logistics of planning a shoot like this.

“All good?” Lucien whispered as soon as Elain sat down.

Elain smiled weakly. “Peachy.”

“Okay,” Mor said, slamming her notebook shut. “That’s all I need for now.”

“Really?” Elain asked.

“No, but I have a dinner reservation with Cassian in twenty minutes,” she said with a wink. “And I have both your emails if you need anything else.”

“Plus you two also have a dinner to get to,” Cassian added.

“Do we?” Lucien asked slyly.

“A little treat from us,” Mor said. “For putting up with my questions. And yes, what you have on is fine.”

“Now go,” Cassian said, shooing them off. “Do something fun that’s not photographed.”

“Roger,” Lucien said, taking Elain’s hand and pulling her out of the room. Elain had a sneaking suspicion Lucien was in on it as he led her straight to the beachside restaurant in the resort and to a table overlooking the sea, candles already lit. The same one they’d sat at on the second night of their honeymoon.

“You know,” he said after they sat, “you’re sexy when you’re angry.”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Elain said, mortified.

Lucien shrugged. “You don’t need to spare me. I already knew they were thinking it.”

“They shouldn’t have been,” Elain muttered. “Assholes.”

“See,” Lucien leaned back in his chair. “Sexy.”

“And it’s not sparing you it’s—” Elain searched for the word.

“Sparing.”

Elain sighed. “Okay maybe a little.”

“You can tell me things,” Lucien said, eyes imploring.

Elain smiled at him weakly. “It’s just hard for me sometimes,” she admitted. “I don’t want to rock the boat.”

“Calm waters are boring. Speaking of which,” Lucien’s eyes gleamed, “how long after dinner will it take for Nesta to find Cassian alone somewhere.”

Elain choked. “Oh god, you don’t think—” Lucien raised an eyebrow. “An hour, max.”

He snorted. “Ten dollars says he leaves halfway through dinner.”

“Twenty says he tries and Mor makes him wait.”

Lucien held out his hand. “Deal.” They shook on it. Their hands hung suspended, neither willing to let go. Lucien’s thumb ran down Elain’s skin, causing her to shiver slightly. It felt like middle school all over again, with how agitated she was getting by mere contact with Lucien. My romantic life has reverted to hand holding. Perfect.

“Dinner menu?” asked the waiter, appearing with copies in arm.

Elain went to drop Lucien’s hand but he tightened his grip, resting their hands atop the table. Another stroke of his thumb.

“We’ll take whatever you recommend,” he said, not looking at the waiter. His gaze was focused entirely on Elain, with an intensity that made her feel like she was burning.

“Of course sir,” said the waiter before disappearing.

“Your stomach feel okay?” Lucien asked.

Elain nodded. “I’m starving honestly. I think I could eat anything you put in front of me.”

“Good,” Lucien admitted. “Because I have no clue what I just asked for.”

Elain feigned shock. “And I thought you were so smooth too.”

“I aim to impress.”

Thankfully, the waiter had an excellent pallet, and the evening passed quickly, the two of them talking so easily Elain could almost convince herself the last couple months weren’t real. That this was their relationship.

And on the way out of the restaurant Lucien slid an arm around Elain’s shoulders. She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest. “You don’t have to set the pillow wall up tonight if you don’t want to.”

“Trust us to behave ourselves then?”

Elain hummed. “We’re both adults aren’t we.”

“I do want to do very adult things to you, yes,” Lucien said.

“That’s not what I meant,” Elain protested, smacking his chest.

Lucien pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know. But let me have my fun.”

Elain rolled her eyes, but didn’t pull away.

[misskikuwrites]

The Next Step Ch 2

Bede/Gloria (Dressedinpinkshipping)

Tags: references to previous assault, fluff (there will be fluff I promise), angst, its a plot fic, minor hurt/comfort, flashbacks

Words: 8,447

-

Gloria had never planned to come here, to step foot in the prison housing Rose. She breezed through security with a million thoughts jumbling together in her mind. It had been two years. Two whole years and yet the past kept finding her. Her battle with Leon, the Darkest Day, Rose’s plan, everything was being dredged up again against her will. She didn’t want to come face to face with the man responsible for what had become her worst nightmare. A nightmare in a Pokeball, forever housed in the Pokemon Centre. 

Gloria shoved those thoughts away and approached the reception counter. The receptionist’s eyes widened a fraction in recognition. 

“Champion Gloria,” she said, not bothering to hide her surprise. “I don’t believe you’re scheduled for a visit.” 

“I’m not,” Gloria said. “I wanted to ask some questions about one of your prisoners, actually.” 

The receptionist worried her brow. “I’m not sure we can-” 

“I’ll take it from here,” a commanding voice boomed from the hall to Gloria’s right. An imposingly tall woman stood by an open door, the plaque on the front reading “Prison Warden.” 

“Yes, Ma’am,” the receptionist replied quickly.

Gloria hoped the dreadful pounding of her heart wasn’t showing on her face, in her body language, as she headed down the hall and, following the gesture of the Prison Warden, into the office. 

“It’s not often we get such high profile visitors,” the Prison Warden said. “You’re lucky it's a slow day. On any other, news of your visit would be out in the media in a second.” The door clicked shut behind the Warden, who nodded to the chair positioned in front of a fancy wooden desk. “Take a seat. I may be a Prison Warden, but even I can appreciate comfort where I can get it.” She rounded her desk and sat in the leather chair behind it. 

“Thank you,” Gloria managed to say through the lump twisting itself into her throat, and took a seat. 

“You, obviously, need no introductions,” the Prison Warden said. “Outside these walls, you can call me whatever or however you like.” She leant forward. “But while you have a single foot in my prison, you’ll address me with respect.” 

“O-Of course!” Gloria squeaked. “Ma’am,” she added quickly. 

The Prison Warden held her gaze for a long, silent moment, before she laughed. “You’re just as precious as the last one!” 

Gloria gaped. 

“Don’t give me that look,” the Warden said in between beats of laughter, “both you and Leon come in here like a Growlithe with its tail between its legs, I just can’t help myself!” 

“Wait, Leon’s come here too?”

The Warden composed herself and nodded. “Oh, yes, he tried to visit ex-chairman Rose,” she said. “But he has severe restrictions on visitations, so we had to turn Leon away.”

“What sort of restrictions?” Gloria asked. 

The Warden held Gloria’s gaze. “I think you need to tell me the exact reason for your visit. You may be the Champion, but I don’t answer to you. Not in here, at least.” 

“Right.” Gloria shifted uneasily in her chair. “I… need to make sure that Rose isn’t communicating with anyone outside,” she began. “There are… certain things happening that point in his direction.” 

“‘Certain things?’” 

Gloria felt small under the Prison Warden’s gaze. She didn’t know how to explain why she was here without explaining everything, and she wasn’t yet ready to condemn Samuel as part of a bigger, deeper plot. If she did, then his endorsement would be…

The Warden sighed. “I’m not going to force you to say anything you’d rather not,” she said. “So ask your questions. I’ll answer them if I can, so long as I’m not breaching confidentiality.” 

“Thank you!” Gloria perked up slightly as a fraction of the tension constricting her body eased. “I wanted to ask about Rose. Has he had any visitors?” 

The Warden shook her head. “Given the nature of his offending, he’s only allowed one visitor - his brother - and as far as I’m aware, the man hasn’t set foot within the prison since Rose was first incarcerated.”

“What about letters? Has he sent any? Received any?”

“No. The same restriction applies - and if he had tried to send a letter, or received one, it would be thoroughly checked.” 

Gloria thought to the letter she’d stuffed hastily into her pocket with the crimson ‘R’ on the front. If it wasn’t from Rose, then who…? 

“What about other prisoners?” she asked. “Could they have sent a letter for him?” 

The Prison Warden gave a single bark of laughter. “Ha! They’d have to speak with him first.” 

“He doesn’t talk to anyone?” 

“Look, we’re getting dangerously close to breaching privacy rights here - the prisoners still have those - so let me just say this: when you’re a prisoner as high profile as the ex-chairman, your every movement is watched. For your own good.” 

Gloria swallowed. “Do you mean… he’s at risk?” 

The Prison Warden folded her arms. “It’s hard to threaten the lives of every single person in Galar and not become a target. That’s all I’ll say.” 

Gloria nodded. “Right. Thank you.” 

“Whatever it is you think Rose is involved with, it’s not him,” the Warden said, an air of finality in her tone. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t push the issue. I may not run this place with an iron fist, but I sure as hell keep an eye on my prisoners. Especially prisoners like Rose.”

Gloria had no choice but to believe it. She left the prison dejectedly on her Corviknight, her investigation having run into a brick wall. For a start, she didn’t even know if the two letters - one from Samuel, the other from ‘R’ - were related. They’d arrived together, but so had a mound of flowers and presents. If she couldn’t force herself through the brick wall of the ‘R’ letter, all she had left was Samuel. 

Him, at least, she could keep an eye on. 

-

Bede downed his second coffee for the morning, wishing away the headache he could feel brewing on his forehead. He wasn’t a stranger to working on little sleep. That had been a part of his life from a young age - studying endless hours into the night in order to prove he deserved a position at the trainer’s school, to prove his worth for Rose, and later Miss Opal. What he wasn’t used to was an unintentional sleepless night. Bede wasn’t one for mulling over his mistakes into the early hours of the morning. If he’d made a mistake, he would fix it with hard work, with dedication, with study and training. 

That worked for almost everything. Everything except love. 

And Bede felt he’d made the biggest mistake of them all. He sighed into his coffee - first making sure no one was around to witness it - and cringed. Alone in the stadium, for no Gym Challenger had made it this far in the few days since the Challenge had started, Bede cursed himself for letting his feelings get the better of him. His Togetic fluttered up to his eye level, chirping sadly. 

“I’m fine,” he said, gently patting his Pokemon on top of its head. 

Yet Bede felt far from fine. He’d replayed his confession to Gloria in his mind over and over again throughout the night. It kept him awake, kept him paralysed. 

What a fool he was, confessing to her? To the Champion, of all people?

He’d seen it on her face, the moment the words had left his mouth. She’d frozen. Blood had drained from her face, leaving her pale. 

How could he have thought that she would share his feelings? She was the Champion. Leagues above him in every way. He’d prepared himself for her rejection the moment he’d read that in her expression, but of course the kindness in her heart spared him that - she’d asked for time. Time to prepare his heart for the inevitable shattering, was all he could think of now.

His confession had made her cry, for Arceus’ sake. 

It was in his nature to break things. He’d failed his mother, left at an orphanage despite her assuring him she’d be back. He’d failed Oleana, never meeting up to her expectations, never doing enough, never being enough. And, of course, he’d failed Rose - in the Chairman’s words, failed Galar in the same stroke, having destroyed a historical monument. 

It didn’t matter that failing Oleana and Rose gave him the opportunities he had now, not if he was going to destroy them as well. 

He wished he could take it back. He wished to go back to that moment and swallow those fateful words before they formed on his tongue. He wished he could have realised that being in her presence, being Gloria’s friend, was enough. That someone like him, with a past as dirty and unforgiving as his, didn’t stand a chance with someone like her. 

Bede had had his head in the clouds. He’d been caught up in the moment. In the desperation of the past few days. And when it was all said and done, his confession hanging in the air between them, everything had come crashing down. 

The only saving grace was the fact that he now had time to figure out what to do next. How could he salvage this situation, this mess, if that was even possible? With the Gym Challenge underway, he didn’t expect to see Gloria anytime soon. He could prepare himself, and his heart, for what was to come.  

-

Gloria landed out the front of Turffield’s Gym, recalling her Corviknight as she strode into the building. Muffled cheers filled the lobby, a Gym Battle underway in the stadium behind. Rather than watch the match from the VIP seating and risk her presence being announced, Gloria spoke with a Gym Trainer and got permission to wait for Milo in the locker room. She took a seat on a bench, waiting for the match to finish, and tried to remind herself that she wasn’t imposing herself on him. Milo had said she could rely on him, said she could ask for help at any time. She had his rare League Card, his number, to prove it. 

But getting him, getting the other Gym Leaders involved with this mess… it sat uneasily in her stomach.

It wasn’t long before Milo returned to the locker room from the stadium, giving Gloria a bright smile as he pulled off his hat and mussed his curly hair. 

“Hoo, that last Max Flare really brought the temperature up!” Milo said, dabbing his cheeks and forehead with a towel. 

“That’s something I’ll never get used to,” Gloria said. She stood, anxiously fiddling with her Rotom Phone. “One second you can be squinting through a sandstorm, the next you’re sweating under a glaring sun!” 

Milo nodded. “That’s the beauty of Dynamax Battles.” 

Their conversation fell into silence, Gloria’s heart wedging in her throat. “So, um…” 

“You all right?” Milo asked. His expression softened. “Is it something I can help with?” 

It was now or never. Gloria quickly pulled up Samuel’s profile on her phone and held it out to Milo. 

“Has this Challenger come through?” she asked. 

Milo looked at the photo before shaking his head. “Not yet. I’ve only had a handful of Challengers so far.” 

Gloria didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. “If he does come by, could you let me know?” 

Milo handed back her phone and met her eyes. “Do you think there’s something up with this Challenger?” He was more perceptive than Gloria gave him credit for. “I could change up my team, make sure he doesn’t-”

“No, no, you don’t have to do that!” Gloria said quickly. “It’s just a… a suspicion, that’s all. I don’t know if he’s involved with-” she struggled to say his name “-Elliot.” 

Milo nodded slowly. “Alright. If that’s what you want.” 

“Yes, thank you.” The thought of sabotaging a Challenger based on a hunch made her feel ill. 

With Milo on board, Gloria headed to Motostoke’s Gym and spoke with Kabu. Like Milo, he agreed in an instant, so she soon made for Hulbury to speak with Nessa. It felt a bit like overkill, getting the first three Gym Leaders involved, but there were so many questions left unanswered about Samuel. At least now she’d be able to learn what he was like from people she trusted - and could even study how he battles in the recordings from his matches too. If she’d learnt anything from her time as Champion, it was that you can tell a lot about someone from how they battle. Not the Pokemon they use and the moves they choose, but how they express themselves. Are they taking risks, or playing it safe? Are they sacrificing one Pokemon to get that last bit of damage in? And when their Pokemon faint, how do they react? When they win or lose, what expression do they have? 

Of course, that wouldn’t help in the slightest when it came to figuring out whether Samuel had anything to do with Elliot, but any information right now was better than none.

As the Sky Taxi descended towards Hulbury’s Gym, Gloria spied Nessa by the lighthouse, staring out across the water. It reminded Gloria so much of her own Gym Challenge, the memory striking her hard in the chest, nostalgia and a longing to change what had happened churning together in her gut. She swept that away as she left the Sky Taxi and approached Nessa. 

The Gym Leader turned at the sound of Gloria’s footsteps, her eyes widening a fraction before her expression settled. “Oh, it’s you! That’s funny, I was just thinking about you.” 

“You were?” 

“Yeah.” Nessa looked out across the water. “I’d just finished talking with a friend of mine, someone I hadn’t spoken to for years.” 

Gloria waited. There was something in Nessa’s tone, the depth in her eyes, that kept Gloria silent. 

“See, I hadn’t known-” Nessa’s lips twisted. She sighed. “Ugh, how do I even begin?!” She ruffled her hair, exasperated, before leaning forward and gripping the railing. “I feel so, so stupid. For all these years, I thought nothing of it, when it was-” she hissed under her breath “-that bastard.” 

Gloria’s heart stopped. “You mean…?” 

Nessa lifted her head slightly, turned enough to meet Gloria’s eyes for a moment. “Yeah, that bastard.” She took a breath and composed herself. “My friend, she was a model like me. We met early on in our careers, basically started out together. And then we had the opportunity to be a part of this exhibition, it was the boost we needed to get our names, our faces, out there. 

“But then… when it was my friend’s turn, she could barely walk straight. She made it to the end of the catwalk and vomited.” 

Gloria sucked in a breath. 

Nessa pulled a rueful smile. “Exactly. We’d had drinks- one drink I should say, before the show- to ‘calm our nerves,’ as they’d said, and my friend said she’d only had the one… but there were rumours, and I didn’t piece it together until my friend called.” She paused. “She’d seen the livestream. And she told me, she said ‘there’s finally evidence that he’s a scumbag,’ and I remembered who’d given us the drinks that day. ‘For our nerves.’” 

Gloria felt dizzy. Like the floor beneath her feet had collapsed and plunged her into the waves.

“No one wanted to employ her after that,” Nessa said, “and we lost touch. I never… it didn’t even cross my mind that someone might’ve done that to her.”

“He did the same thing to me,” Gloria said quietly. “He said that he got bored at those kinds of events so… it was for his own entertainment.”

Nessa turned to Gloria and took her hand. “I’m so, so sorry. It shouldn’t have happened.” 

Gloria’s lip trembled as a flood of tears built behind her eyes. Her heart clenched tight. “I know. But it’s- it’s over now.” 

A tear slipped down Nessa’s cheek. “All because of you.” She stepped forward and pulled Gloria into a hug. “My friend said that you saved her,” she said softly, her voice cracking. 

Gloria squeezed her eyes shut, feeling each tear as it escaped. 

“You did what no one else could,” Nessa said, “you got him to talk, you got it on tape, and I know, I know my friend wasn’t the first of his victims. Not when he was so damn good at it.” She gave a shaky sigh, a frustrated huff of air. “Arceus, who knows how many people he’s done that to?” 

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Gloria said. “Your and Raihan’s instagram accounts were the stars, really.” 

Nessa pulled out of their hug, her hands on Gloria’s shoulders. “Nonsense!” She quickly wiped at a tear in the corner of her eye. “You're the one that confronted him. My friend, she tried to do the same, but couldn’t even get close. He hid behind his wealth, behind an army of lawyers… he was untouchable. Even the police told her there wasn’t any evidence. The glass she’d drunk from had been taken and washed up long before she stepped foot on stage.”

Nessa’s pained expression turned into a grin. “But now, we’ve got him!” She smiled through her tears. “So, thank you, Gloria. On behalf of my friend, and me.” 

Gloria didn’t know what to say. She nodded, trying not to sniffle, and dried her tears with the back of her hands. 

“My friend would love to meet you,” Nessa said. “One day, when things aren’t so hectic.” 

Gloria managed a smile. “I’d love that, actually.”

“Great. I wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject, but then you just appeared out of nowhere…” 

“About that…” 

“Is something up?” Nessa asked. “It’s not to do with that bastard, is it?” 

“Well…” Gloria pressed her lips together. “It is and it kinda isn’t.” 

Nessa frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.” 

Gloria brought up the picture of Samuel on her phone and showed Nessa. “Apparently he’s been endorsed by Richard Murdoch,” she said. “Elliot’s father. Who, apparently, has never endorsed a Challenger before.” 

Nessa’s expression sharpened. “You think he got his endorsement from Elliot?” 

“I don’t know. At the moment, nothing Samuel’s done has been related to him.” 

“What do you mean? What has he done?” 

Gloria shrank a little under the intensity in Nessa’s eyes. She explained quickly about the letters and how Samuel had accused Gloria after the Star Tournament. Nessa folded her arms in thought. 

“That’s the day he was lying in wait for you, wasn’t it?” Nessa asked, though she already knew the answer as she huffed, “that’s one hell of a coincidence if it wasn’t planned.” 

“I’m not sure that it was,” Gloria said. “Because… what he did, what he was going to do…” Automatically, her hands touched the scarf around her neck. “Why set up a plan when he was going to end things?” Gloria shivered. “I mean, I don’t know whether he was going to-” it was hard to say it. Harder to stomach it “-to kill me, or not. In the moment, I thought he was-” She choked on her words. “I thought I was going to die.” 

She saw his face, felt his hands around her throat, felt the burning in her lungs. It was gone in an instant, but her body reacted as if the threat was ongoing. Her heart raced. Throat constricted. Blood pounded in her ears. 

Nessa took her hand again, gave it a squeeze. “Anyone would’ve felt the same.” 

“Arceus, I didn’t mean to bring it up,” Gloria said, shaking her head, trying to rid herself of those memories. “I meant to talk about Samuel, not- not that.” 

“Okay, so, this Samuel kid. How can I help?” 

Gloria took a breath. “I’ve spoken to Milo and Kabu about him, asked them to let me know when he comes to their Gyms. If you could keep an eye out for him, I’d appreciate it.” 

“That’s easy enough,” Nessa agreed. “But why take the chance? If he’s in cahoots with Elliot, wouldn’t it be better to out his endorsement as a forgery and get him kicked out of the Challenge?” 

“Because I don’t know for sure,” Gloria said. “Even if his endorsement was forged, we don’t know what he’s up to, whether there’s some deeper plot going on. At the moment, Samuel doesn’t know that we’re aware of his connection to Elliot. If we give that away, it might be harder for us to figure out what they’re planning.” 

Nessa sighed. “Alright. I’ll do as you’ve asked.”

“Thank you.”

“But,” Nessa began pointedly, “the second I get even a hint of suspicion that he’s going to harm someone, whether it’s you or anyone else, I’m putting an end to it.” 

Gloria had no choice but to agree to those terms. It was what she had planned to do herself, if things went sour. 

After Nessa returned to her Gym, Gloria remained by the lighthouse, toying over what to do next. In regards to Samuel, it was a waiting game. As much as she hated having to wait, there wasn’t anything else she could do. She still had the letter from Samuel, along with the photo, in her pocket, as well as the ‘R’ letter. She still had more questions than answers about both of them. 

Again, she thought of Miss Opal. The ex-Fairy Gym Leader was friends with Richard Murdoch, and wise in ways that at times made Gloria wonder if she was actually psychic. It made sense to get Miss Opal involved, and yet… 

The chances of running into Bede at Ballonlea’s Gym were extremely high. So early into the Gym Challenge, no trainers would’ve made it to Ballonlea yet. Gloria would have to wait weeks, if not months, if she was planning on waiting until Bede was battling a Challenger to speak with Miss Opal. With the two letters burning in her pocket, she knew she couldn’t wait that long. She’d have to take a chance. 

-

The flight to Ballonlea had Gloria’s blood buzzing with nerves. She tried not to think of Bede, of what she might say if she came across him, but her mind spun out of control with various scenarios that made her want to turn the Sky Taxi around. 

Somehow, she managed to gather up the courage to enter the Gym, shooting a quick glance around to make sure Bede wasn’t in sight. She hurried over to the Gym Trainer in the lobby. 

“Good afternoon, Champion Gloria!” the Gym Trainer beamed. “Are you here to see Gym Leader Bede?” 

“No!” Gloria blurted out a little too quickly. “I-I’m here to see Miss Opal.” 

The Gym Trainer blinked for a moment. “I believe she’s in the theatre. You can head on through, we’re not expecting any Challengers for a while.” 

Gloria muttered a thank you, ducking past the Gym Trainer in her embarrassment. It didn’t take her long to find Miss Opal, as she was the only one in the theatre. 

“Now, this is a surprise,” Miss Opal said, her expression warming as she saw Gloria. “I wasn’t expecting you to come by, as busy as you get with your Champion duties.” Her smile carried a hint of amusement. “Are you here to see Bede, by any chance?” 

Gloria’s heart thumped, missing a beat and almost tripping her up. “No, actually, I came to see you,” she said. She thankfully managed to keep herself composed despite the torrent of emotions jostling for centre stage inside her.

“You came all this way to see little ol’ me?” Miss Opal looked at her with interest. 

“Yes, since you know Richard Murdoch, I thought you might be able to answer some questions I have.” 

The amusement vanished from Miss Opal’s face. “I see. Am I right that these questions have something to do with Richard’s son?” 

“Sort of,” Gloria conceded. “They’re more to do with this guy.” She pulled out her phone, showing Miss Opal the photo she’d taken of Samuel’s Challenger profile, along with the identity of the person who’d endorsed him. 

“Now, that is interesting,” Miss Opal said after studying the information for a moment. 

Gloria nodded. “From what I’ve heard, Richard Murdoch hasn’t endorsed anyone before.” 

“That’s right. While he’s happy to sponsor talented kids to go through Trainers School, as far as I’m aware, he’s been against personally endorsing any such kids for the Challenge,” Miss Opal said. 

“That’s… what I thought,” Gloria said, sighing. “Which means the endorsement is probably from-” 

“Gloria?” 

Her heart stopped. Bede stood in the door to the theatre, staring at her. He glanced at Miss Opal for a split second before walking up to them. 

“H-Hi, Bede,” Gloria squeaked. Her tongue tied itself into knots. Her lungs filled with air, fluttering as if she’d swallowed a hoard of Butterfree. 

“You’re not bothering Miss Opal, I do hope,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her. He was acting the same as usual, nonplussed by her sudden appearance in his Gym, as if he hadn’t professed his feelings for her the day before. 

“Of course not,” Miss Opal answered before Gloria could untie the knots from her tongue. “She was merely asking me about this Gym Challenger.” 

Before Gloria could stop Miss Opal, or even stammer out a protest, the ex-Gym Leader handed Gloria’s phone to Bede. 

“Who is this?” Bede asked, and Gloria saw the moment he read the endorsement note. His expression darkened, his eyes snapping to Gloria. “You’re kidding me. This can’t be real.” 

A sharp chill ran down Gloria’s spine. She nodded stiffly under his gaze. “It is. He’s the one who… made those accusations the other day,” she said. “He’s also the one who wrote the letter you got.” She dug out the letter she’d found amongst her gifts and held it out to Bede. “He also sent me this.” 

Bede all but snatched the letter from her, cold fury in his eyes. He scanned it quickly, huffed at the photo. “We need to call the League,” he said. “And get his endorsement revoked.”

“No!” Gloria protested. “We can’t just do that.”

“Except we can.” Bede folded his arms. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t reveal this kid as a fraud, when he’s clearly motivated enough to do the same to you.”

“Now, now,” Miss Opal said, “why don’t you let her explain her reasons first?” She gave Gloria a warm smile, but it did nothing to break the ice forming around her heart. 

“He hasn’t done anything yet,” Gloria said, before seeing the expression of incredulity on Bede’s face. “I mean he hasn’t violated any rules.” 

“Forging an endorsement is against the rules,” Bede said. 

“You know that’s not what I mean!”

“Who knows what this kid is capable of, or what Elliot has put him up to?”

Gloria clenched her jaw. “We don’t know that he’s been put up to anything yet!” 

“You can’t seriously be this naive,” Bede huffed. “The fact that he’s clearly endorsed by someone who wished you harm is enough evidence as it is! We should have him kicked out, whether the damn endorsement is forged or not.” 

“That’s unfair!” Gloria huffed. “Why should he have to pay just because he’s endorsed by Elliot?”

“He should pay for exactly that reason.” 

“But that’s-” Heat surged up Gloria’s throat. “That’s like saying you should pay because Rose is a criminal.” 

She knew the moment she’d said it that it was a mistake. 

“Don’t bring Rose into this,” Bede said, his voice cold. “What he did to me has nothing to do with this.”

“I-I didn’t mean…” She couldn’t figure out what to say. 

Bede sighed sharply. He thrust the letter, and Gloria’s phone, into her hands and turned away. “It doesn’t matter. You obviously didn’t want my input on the situation in the first place,” he said. “I can see when I’m not needed.” 

Bede stormed off, the door to the theatre slamming behind him, making Gloria wince. She bit back the tears stinging in her eyes, wishing she could take it all back. 

“I’m sure he’ll come ‘round,” Miss Opal said, gently touching Gloria’s back. “I’ll have a word with him about taking that sort of tone with young ladies-”

“No, it’s alright,” Gloria said. She shoved the letter and her phone into her pockets. “I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have mentioned Rose. I just- he wouldn’t listen, so I thought maybe if I used Rose as an example he might understand, but…”

Arceus, why had she done that? What a way to hit Bede where it hurts. 

Despite Miss Opal’s attempts to reassure and comfort Gloria, she left Ballonlea’s Gym with her heart in more turmoil than before. Tears burned behind her eyes. She found a quiet spot by the entrance to Glimwood Tangle and plopped down out of sight on a mossy rock in case she couldn’t hold back her tears. A mixture of regret and indignation swirled inside her. Yes, it had been a mistake to mention Rose, but Bede hadn’t listened, hadn’t understood, a single thing she’d said. For someone who was supposedly in love with her, she couldn’t understand why he’d immediately jumped to argue with her. And the way he’d stormed out, the look on his face… The Bede who’d confessed the day before and the Bede who’d argued with her were hard to reconcile in her mind.

She couldn’t make sense of it.

-

It wasn’t long until frustration won over Gloria’s regret, and she worked her way through Glimwood Tangle to Stow-on-Side. Each step fueled by the thoughts blazing in her mind. Why wouldn’t he listen? He acted as if she hadn’t thought it through, as if she didn’t know what she was doing, what risks she was taking. He didn’t even know she’d already spoken to Milo, Kabu and Nessa about keeping an eye on Samuel.

Her jaw clenched. How can he say that he has feelings for me when he won’t even listen to me?

Those thoughts, looping around and around in her mind, accompanied Gloria as she trained in Bea’s personal workout room in Stow-on-Side’s Gym. On Bea’s suggestion, she’d begun supplementing her self defence training with boxing. It was another tool that Gloria hoped she’d never have to use. Another tool that Gloria feared she’d forget when it came to it. 

Just like she’d forgotten everything beneath the weight of her fear when she’d seen Elliot that night.

Was that why Bede didn’t trust her? She tried to shove away that thought while practising with Bea, ducking beneath the Gym Leader’s swipe as instructed. The training was repetitive, and left Gloria sweating and her lungs burning, but it was better than mulling over her feelings, better than crying over things she couldn’t change. 

At least throwing a punch at the lightning fast Bea didn’t leave her feeling helpless. 

But Arceus, the hurt in Bede’s eyes when he’d said he knew when he wasn’t needed- Gloria ducked again, Bea’s punch coming close enough to feel in her hair. She punched out, using her frustration, and Bea deflected it cleanly. 

The way Bede’s expression had fractured when she’d mentioned Rose flashed in her mind, and Gloria’s cheek exploded with pain beneath Bea’s gloved fist. She hit the mat on her side, vision blurring. Vaguely aware of Bea kneeling in front of her, calling frantically to someone, saying something to her. It sounded like an apology. Like many apologies. 

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Gloria managed to say through the pain in her jaw. “I got distracted.” 

A simple exercise, punch and duck, a way for Gloria to train her body to keep moving instead of freezing in danger, and she’d failed even that. 

She gave in to Bea’s urging and let the onsite nurse examine her, and was thankful at least that she’d gotten away without a break or concussion. She didn’t doubt that if Bea had been seriously sparring with her, that either would’ve been a possibility. 

Bea remained at her side as Gloria soothed the ache with an ice pack, sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall. 

“I’m so sorry,” Bea apologised for the umpteenth time. “As your trainer, I should have noticed that you were distracted. It’s my duty to tell whether or not you’re capable of training.”

“It’s okay. Your punch managed to break me out of my thoughts, so that’s a positive at least,” Gloria said. 

“What had you so distracted?” Bea asked. “You’re usually very grounded when we train.” 

Gloria sighed. “I had an argument with Bede.” 

“Do you need me to have a word with him?” Bea asked, cracking her knuckles. 

“I don’t think that’d work on him,” Gloria said with a dry laugh. She didn’t know if Bea was aware that Bede could hold his own in a fight, but against someone with formal training and a black belt, Bede wouldn’t stand a chance. “He just… wouldn’t listen to me, and then I said something that I regretted instantly, but…” 

Bea nodded in understanding. “Just like in a fight, if you strike out in anger, you’re going to regret it.” 

“It wasn’t so much anger, but frustration.” 

“I find that they are more closely related than you’d think.” 

“You’re probably right,” Gloria said. 

-

She chatted with Bea for a while longer, even as the ice pack began to melt and was exchanged for another, before Gloria decided to head home. In the Sky Taxi to Postwick, she pressed her cheek against the cool glass of the window. Exhaustion finally began setting in. Down the street from her house, two teenage girls remained. A strange feeling formed in her stomach when she saw Nicole and Megan. Her two former-bullies-turned-fans were still on self-inflicted paparazzi removal duty. The sight of them distracted her enough that it was only after she’d left the Taxi that she turned towards her house and saw Bede standing outside.

For a split second, Gloria’s feet were rooted to the ground. A flash of frustration, regret, defiance, and then resignation was all it took to get her moving again. She walked up to Bede where he waited at the end of the stepping stones leading up to her front door. His eyes cased her face, landing on the red welt forming on her cheek.

“What happened?” he asked. His voice was surprisingly soft. Full of concern. There wasn’t a trace of the anger that had snapped at her hours before. “Are you okay?” 

Bede stepped forward, his hand lifting from his side as if he were reaching for her cheek, before he quickly folded his arms. 

“You’re hurt,” he said. 

“That obvious, huh?” Gloria said dryly. Something cold clamped around her heart. The double meaning of her words registered like a slap across Bede’s face, his eyes widening. 

“Gloria, look, I wanted to-”

“Stop.” Gloria cut him off. “If we’re going to talk, then let's not do it here.” She glanced down the street, then towards her house. She lowered her voice and said, “I haven’t told mum about Samuel. She doesn’t know the one behind the letters is taking part in the Gym Challenge. She’s already worrying about enough as it is.” 

Gloria walked towards the Slumbering Weald, passing through the gate without checking to see if Bede was following. Soon enough she heard his footsteps on the ground behind her as the fog of the Weald enveloped them. She held back a shiver as the temperature dropped. Gloria kept her head held high as she powered past Pokemon that dashed for safety between the trees. She had a thought to keep going to the depths of the Slumbering Weald, if only for the possibility of losing Bede along the way so she didn’t have to deal with confrontation, but something in her decided against it, and she stopped in a clearing not far from the entrance instead. 

Gloria folded her arms, partly to ward off the chill and partly to steady herself for what was to come, and turned to face Bede. 

“I feel like we’ve done this before,” Gloria said. “You, coming all this way, and me, deciding to hear you out because of it.” 

She was being callous. She knew that. But being around Bede, seeing the vulnerability on his face, the fear that lay deep in her heart slithered forth. This longing, these feelings that took hold, she was terrified they were going to break free. That her heart was going to reveal itself. 

Bede sighed heavily. “It’s not the first time I’ve snapped at you, you’re right. I shouldn’t have done it.” His gaze dropped from her face. “I’m sorry, Gloria.”

Something in Gloria’s heart squeezed. “I thought… I thought that you would’ve listened to me. You didn’t even let me explain properly.” 

“I was… worried,” Bede admitted. “I thought that this business with Elliot was behind us. And when you mentioned Rose, compared what he did to me with Elliot and this kid, I…” He shifted on his feet, keeping his gaze from her. “It still wasn’t right for me to lash out.” 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Gloria said. “It came out wrong. I wasn’t trying to compare you two, I just… when you had your endorsement taken away and were kicked out of the Challenge, I saw how much it hurt you.”

Bede met her eyes. 

“I don’t want to be the one to do that to someone else,” Gloria said quietly. “That’s… what I was trying to say.”

Her explanation hung in the cool air between them. The silence was filled with the chirps and cries of nearby Pokemon, faint Wooloo and Dubwool calling from distant farms. Gloria took a breath, Bede’s gaze pinning her to the spot. 

“A-Anyway,” she continued, “I’ve asked Milo, Kabu and Nessa to keep an eye on him, and to let me know when he challenges their Gyms. If anything does happen, I’ll take the information we have to the League,” she said. “I promise.” 

Bede’s expression softened. “And I’d called you naive, when you’d already done all of this behind my back. You’ve thought this through.” The slightest smile came across his face, one that sent Gloria’s heart skittering. He almost looked… impressed. 

“Well, I-I didn’t want to be a bother, y’know?” she said. 

“That’s never stopped you before.” 

She pressed her lips together. “Things are… different now.” Unbidden heat pooled across her cheeks the instant she said that, and the air shifted between them. Bede’s eyes flicked quickly away from her.

Bede cleared his throat. “I didn’t want things to be like this.” His voice was quiet. Heavy. “To make you… wary of being around me.” 

Gloria’s heart stopped. Her stomach plummeted. 

“I know how you feel about love,” he said. “It was selfish of me to push my feelings onto you, knowing that. You don’t need to come up with a way to spare my feelings.” 

The floor pitched away beneath Gloria’s feet. 

“If you’d rather forget that I said anything, then I understand,” Bede said. “Since I know you don’t share my feelings-”

“Don’t- Don’t put words in my mouth!” Gloria huffed. She blinked through the burning heat on her cheeks, the way her heart thundered in her throat. “I never said that I don’t-” her voice cracked “-that I don’t share your feelings.” 

Bede froze. “You-” 

Arceus, Gloria could hardly breathe. “I asked you to give me time not because I was trying to find a way to reject you, but so I could… figure out how to do this. How to stop myself from being so afraid…” She couldn’t bear to look at Bede, instead she took to staring out into the trees. Even feeling his gaze on her was almost too much. “I can’t return your feelings right now, but- but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same.”

Movement from Bede in Gloria’s peripheral vision made her jolt, and she snapped her attention towards him with a start. He’d dropped into a crouch. With his elbows resting on his knees, Bede pressed his forehead into his arms and exhaled heavily. 

“I thought… I thought you were going to reject me,” came from Bede, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“What- why?” Gloria asked. 

He peered up at her, bashful heat ablaze beneath his eyes. “You’re the Champion,” he said, “and I’m… me. Everyone knows what I’ve done.”

“You wanted me to see all of you,” she said, using his words from the day before. “And I do. The good and the bad. They’re all a part of you.” 

“Of course you’d use my own words against me,” Bede grumbled.

“Wh-What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” he said, getting to his feet and tugging the collar of his magenta coat higher. It did nothing to hide the blush on his cheeks. “Although I suppose if I’d had said ‘I love you,’ yesterday, you wouldn’t have said it just now.” He saw the look on her face and frowned. “What?” 

“You- You just said-” She couldn’t breathe again. She hid her face in her hands, unable to face Bede. 

Bede coughed. “So what? You already know how I feel! Why are you getting all embarrassed now?!” 

“It’s different!” she lowered her fingers enough to glare at him. “I’ve never… heard you say that before.” 

“Yes, you have.” 

Gloria dropped her hands from her face. “What? When?”

“When you helped me practise Kalosian,” Bede pointed out. “One of the translations was ‘I love you,’ remember?” 

Gloria scoffed. “That’s completely different!” 

“They’re the same words.” Bede folded his arms. “And besides, I-” He stopped. 

“What?” 

He quickly looked away. “Nothing.” 

Gloria twisted her lips into a pout. “It’s definitely not nothing.”

He met her eyes for a moment, weighing his defiance against her stubborn nature, before sighing. “Fine,” he huffed. The swirl of heat across his cheeks burned brighter. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but… when I said that back then, it… carried the same meaning as it does now.”

Gloria’s mouth dropped open. “You mean… back then, you were…?” 

Bede didn’t reply, but the look on his face said enough. 

“Does that mean you’ve said that to me twice now…?” Gloria said, mostly to herself, mostly to try and come to grips with what was happening. It made her dizzy. 

“There… was a third, actually,” Bede said, snapping Gloria out of her thoughts. 

She blinked at him. 

“But that, I think I’ll keep to myself,” he said. “After all, we’re not actually dating, are we?” 

Gloria pouted. She couldn’t refute that. “Now you’re just being cruel. What do you mean there was a third?” 

“I’m the one being cruel?” he asked, taking a slow step towards her, “when you’re the one keeping me at arms length?” There was a teasing lilt to his tone, but the heat in his gaze made Gloria shiver.

“I-I still can’t…”

Bede stopped. “I know. I won’t push it.” He unzipped his coat, Gloria blinking at him in stunned silence, before he closed the distance between them to wrap it around her shoulders. “Right now, hearing you say you feel the same is enough for me,” he whispered by her ear.

Gloria scrambled a few steps away from him with a squawk. “I-I didn’t say that!”

“Not those exact words,” Bede conceded, “but the meaning remains the same. Or are you going to deny it now?”

She pouted, feeding her arms through the sleeves of Bede’s coat. “Well, no, but…” She had no rebuttal.

“Feeling warmer yet?” Bede teased. 

Gloria grumbled, but nodded to him. “I didn’t exactly dress for the temperature in the Slumbering Weald when I left this morning.” 

“You’ve been busy, then?” 

Gloria gave a brief explanation of her investigation so far, digging out the letter with the crimson ‘R’ on the front when it came up. She held it out to him, and Bede’s expression darkened. 

“See why I thought it was from Rose?” she said. “I couldn’t think of anyone else who wants revenge against me that has a name starting with with ‘R.’” 

“This isn’t the initial from someone’s name,” Bede said. “It’s Team Rocket’s logo.” 

The answer snapped into place. “Team Rocket?!” Gloria gaped. “You mean- like those people from the Wild Area? But I thought they were ex-Team Rocket members.”

Bede held up the letter. “Well, it looks like someone is trying to get Team Rocket up and running again. Here in Galar, too.”

Gloria wrapped her arms around herself. “Arceus, this is bad. The traps they’d set for Pokemon were bad enough…” She thought back to the Vulpix she’d rescued, the teeth of the steel trap crushing the poor Pokemon’s tail. “This… is so much worse than if it’d been from Rose.”

“Based on the behaviour of the ones we came across in the Wild Area, I doubt they’re as organised as they were in Kanto,” Bede said. 

Gloria nodded slowly. “I’ll have to get the League involved, see if we can station more staff across the Wild Area to keep a look out for any signs of Team Rocket.”

“Good idea.” 

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognise the logo,” Gloria sighed. “A big red ‘R,’ how did I miss it?” 

“It’s been a while since we encountered the ex-Team Rocket members in the Wild Area,” Bede said, “so I doubt they would’ve been at the forefront of your mind today.” 

“That’s true. But ugh, seriously, Team Rocket on top of everything else? That’s the last thing we need right now.” She shook her head. “Come on, let's head back. It’s not getting any warmer out here.” 

Gloria led the way out of the Slumbering Weald, grateful for Bede’s jacket to ward off the chill. 

“You never did tell me how you got hurt,” Bede said, gesturing to her cheek. 

“Oh, that.” She touched her sore cheek gingerly. “Bea punched me.” 

“And how on earth did you even end up in a situation where that could happen?” 

“Bea’s training me,” Gloria explained. “We’ve been doing self defence training for a while, and she thought maybe supplementing it with boxing would help, and well, today she was training me and I got distracted.” 

“It looks sore.” Bede’s fingers graced her cheek, making Gloria suck in a sharp breath. The touch was there and gone in an instant, but left sparks on her skin and a smouldering heat in her belly. 

“I-It’s not too bad right now, actually,” Gloria said quickly, trying to focus on anything else but the way his fingers had felt across her cheek. “I put ice on it for a while, which helped.” 

They made it through the gate at the entrance to the Weald, and Gloria dragged it closed behind them. She looked to where Megan and Nicole were in the distance. 

“They’re still there,” she noted. 

“Your mum said they’d stopped two sets of paparazzi from setting up today,” Bede said. 

Gloria sighed. “I know they’re being helpful, but…” She turned from them and headed up the path to her house.

“Welcome home,” Gloria’s mother said, giving her daughter a smile that was a little too knowing, and Gloria immediately shucked off Bede’s jacket, thrusting it towards him. 

“I-I’m going to have a shower,” Gloria stammered. She made for her room, before looking over her shoulder and saying, “I-I’ll see you later!” 

She had too much to think about, too much to process, to be around him any longer. 

-      

That night, Gloria woke up to hands around her throat. She screamed. Thrashed. Fought for her life until her bedroom door was flung open, the light clicked on, and her mother rushed to her side. There were no hands around her throat. No Elliot. Only her mother’s comfort as she cried and wailed beneath the onslaught of memories that felt all too real. 

“I thought- I thought he was here,” Gloria choked out. She kept touching her throat, fingers trembling at the feeling of hands biting into her skin. As if she could somehow brush the physical memory away. 

“I know,” her mother said. “It felt real, didn’t it?” 

Gloria buried her head into her mother’s shoulder. “It felt so real.” She took a few shuddering breaths. “I don’t want to go back to sleep.” 

“Why don’t you come and sleep in my bed?” her mother asked. “You used to do that whenever you had nightmares, remember? You’d squeeze in between me and Dad.” 

“And then I’d roll so much in my sleep that I’d keep you awake,” Gloria said with a faint laugh. “You always ended up going to sleep in my room.”

“You don’t have to sleep, but I thought maybe having someone with you would help,” her mother said. “If you’d like.” 

Gloria nodded, and the two headed to her mother’s room. She paused in the doorway, looking to the side of the bed that had remained empty for years. 

“Are you alright?” her mother asked. 

Gloria forced herself to move and got into the bed next to her mother, before whispering, “I miss him.” 

“I miss him too,” came her mother’s reply. 

Gloria squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that these weren’t the same sheets her father had slept on, the pillow wouldn’t carry his scent, but it was still the bed he’d slept in for years, and a part of her wished she could feel his presence. Any part of him. 

She curled up on her side, longing for a time where she had to squeeze between her parents in this bed. Where the deep breathing of her father would lull her to sleep. Gentle fingers ran through Gloria’s hair, bringing tears to her eyes. 

“You used to fall asleep in an instant when I played with your hair when you were little,” Gloria’s mother said. “It was the cutest thing.” 

“Hey, mum…?” Gloria began. 

“Yes?” 

“Do you think… Dad would be upset if I moved out?” 

It was a nonsensical question. Her father was dead, and the dead hold no opinions. But still, a piece of her wanted to know. 

“I think,” her mother said after a moment, “that he’d want what’s best for you. And if you wanted to move out, then he’d support you.” 

“You think so?” 

“I know so,” her mother said. 

And with that, Gloria let the gentle touch of her mother’s fingers through her hair pull her into a deep sleep.   

[invinciblerodent]

if bioware doesn't release the veilgaurd cc for me to play around with (and I don't really have the hard drive space to whack on another game with a better cc), I just have to make do!!!!! :c

rambling about each of them under the cut, going clockwise from top left

Verbena (or Ver), my "main" Rook and a Shadow Dragon from Minrathous, I picture with a wavy shag of messy chestnut hair, warm autumn skin, and striking grey eyes that look almost colorless, as long as there's nothing for them to reflect. (I wanna call them her dagger-greys mostly, but there's so much room to play with reflections and metaphors and stuff with a color like that!!! and, with that darker border, it calls back to Ray's blues a bit, since they are sort of distantly related.) She'll have a longer nose (slightly hooked if I can get it in a way I like), a scattering of freckles, and a rounded cupid's bow but a somewhat more squared jaw- this face looks way more sculpted than what I'd like for her to have, but none of the others worked even this well. :/ I'd like her to look younger than she is- like she's supposed to be roughly 32, but looking at her, I kind of want people to not think her much older than 25. She's somewhat short, but wiry-strong, with toned limbs and a very straight spine. She'll be a sword and board warrior, as I usually go lol.

Tristan, my Fereldan Grey Warden, will, on the other hand, look older than he is: at ~40, he'll easily seem middle-aged (undeath and general warden-hood will do that for you). His eyes are somewhat vacant, smeared in tired purple, and a vaguely unsettling sort of brown that seems almost red if the light hits it just right. He's overall tall and broad (if carrying himself somewhat crooked), and I kind of want him to have some sort of body modification, maybe body tattoos (for battles he's been in, general reminders) or a number of discreet piercings, kind of to make his body feel more his. Might give him a facial tattoo too, just for fun. Probably a great weapon warrior, something long and heavy like a greatsword.

Coris, my Antivan Crow dwarfette, will get sort of unremarkable, but somewhat feline, playful-looking features, with upturned eyes, and lips that seem to be always smiling. I want her eyes to be so dark that they seem to be lacking a pupil, and I couldn't quite get the skintone right, but I want her to be sort of olive-skinned, with thick, dark hair she'll keep just long enough to pull back and out of her eyes. No visible tattoos or notable piercings (an assassin can't afford to stand out), but I really like that mole right under her right eye, I want to keep that if I can. She'll be agile, and pleasantly plump, with quite generous curves- probably an archer rogue.

and "Tanner", my Lord of Fortune dwarfette, will be an ex-Inquisition agent (probably from Orlais) who adopted back her old name assigned by Sister Nightingale for this (and will only reveal her actual first name to Harding once they're together ❤️❤️❤️ thinking something very Orlesian, like an Elise or a Jeanette or something) - I want her to have sort of the sunkissed, if slightly ruddy appearance of someone who spends a lot of time outside (or at sea), a fuller, friendly face, kind hazel eyes, and a mass of slightly coarse, dirty blonde hair. Her time adventuring (as well as spying) has likely left her with a few notable scars, but I'll want to figure those out once I'm there in the cc. (I may want her to have a pirate/sailor/adventurer type of stick and poke tattoo or two, something that looks wonky but has a lot of emotional significance to her.) She'll be kind of robust, and rather tall for a dwarf. I'm very undecided on the class yet, I kinda don't want to romance both rogues with other rogues, but the concepts just lend themselves well to being rogues.