#the island of sunset creatures

[saleszulu76]

Alexandre Boccara & Erwan Jeammot in "The Island of Sunset Creatures" by Nabil Hëy, Aug. 2024

[littlerequiem]

we mourned the sea ˚⁎⁺ chapter 1

> Crossposted on AO3

Levi hasn't seen you in a year, and he wonders how you will find him. Changed, perhaps. Lost, definitely. Or: After the war, you and Levi learn to live in this new world.

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 - Levi Ackerman / Female Reader (Attack on Titan)

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 - Rated Explicit (18+). Post-Canon, Post-War, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic, Fluff, Angst, Slow Burn, Explicit Content, Mutual Pining, Grumpy/Sunshine, Friends to Lovers, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, Chronic Pain, Panic Attack, Depression, Ambulatory Wheelchair Use, Switch Levi (WC: 6.7k)

( Next chapter / WMTS' Masterlist )

-

The first time you see Levi, whispered-about-thug and recently-enlisted Scout, you think he doesn’t seem as scary as everyone paints him to be. Sure, he has a hell of a glare, but that’s not the thing that sticks out.

No, what is most striking is the loneliness.

How alone he looks, shadows like bruises under his eyes.

.

.

.

Levi is lost.

He’s not lost in the physical sense, of course.

Levi very well knows where he is. He has repeated these words to doctors so many times he’s starting to sound like a broken record: My name is Levi Ackerman. I come from Paradis Island. I live in Marley.

No, Levi isn't lost physically.

Rather, Levi is lost in the ways often described in novels. Those cheap-thrill books Erwin liked to read so much, the kind that ensured suspense and chest-clutching moments. Usually, it involved a character going on a journey and finding the thing they lost.

“It’s all a metaphor, you see?” Erwin once pointed out.

But Levi did not see the point of metaphors back then, and he certainly doesn’t get it now.

Levi was a soldier for most of his life: so that he could aid the fight against titans, so that Erwin’s vision to help humanity could come true, so that Hange would not be alone in shouldering the weight of it all, so that the world would not crumble under Eren’s actions.

Now, three years after the Battle of Heaven and Earth, his body is changed, and his mind… well, that's the thing that’s lost, isn’t it? He’s still sane, he knows that, but… there's ways he feels himself slipping.

The first two years after the Rumbling were by far the hardest. There was so much to rebuild, so much to do. Levi spent most of his time in makeshift hospitals and infirmary tents. Refugees all around. People who had lost everything, who were in search of a new home, but who lacked the means to do so (Levi never thought he’d have to witness the sight of starving children all over again).

And then, one day, a new start.

Onyankopon was the one who discovered Mare a year ago. He told Levi that it would be the perfect place to retire from his soldiering days. "Mare," Onyankopon said, "is the town where sky meets the sea."

Levi isn’t sure what to make of that idiom; there’s no such thing as a place where sky and sea connect. Another metaphor, perhaps—another thing that flies right above his head.

But he decided to take Onyankopon's proposal there and then. Levi had been idle for far too long, and there was still fire in him, a will to push on.

To keep going, just as he had in the past.

A month later, Levi moved into his new home.

His one-story cottage is located by the edge of town, overlooking a cliff that descends into sandy shores. It is far enough from the crowds, just the way Levi likes it, while still remaining close to all necessities—just ten minutes away from Onyankopon's home.

Aside from that, everything else is just… strangely ordinary.

Because Levi now has a roof over his head. He has a garden, where he grows herbs. A patio, where he watches sunsets. He gets money from Marley for his so-called war accomplishments (accomplishments is a strange word for murder, he thinks). He sees doctors, all kinds of doctors—specialists that didn't exist back on Paradis.

What keeps him going through it all are his routines. Levi has always been a creature of habit, and that much hasn't changed in his new life.

There’s tea, for one. Despite all the special blends available here in Marley, Levi still prefers the tea he drank back in the Underground, made from cheap black tea leaves—over-extracted, with no added sugar. Piss water, Kenny used to call it, and maybe the old geezer had a point. The tea is bitter to its core, much too strong for anyone to stomach (“I’m going to be on the shitter for days after this,” Hange once declared after trying it.). And yet, Levi likes it this way. 

There’s his knife, the one Kenny gave him decades ago. Levi still keeps it in his boot or tucked under his pillow. He doesn’t hold it out of sentimentality per say; Levi just doesn’t see the point of throwing it away.

As for other patterns in his life, Levi likes to keep busy. Levi sees his doctor on a weekly basis. He works part-time at the local carpentry shop. He tries to improve his body on a daily basis, even when his mind fights him against it. His leg hurts some days; it’s at its worst when it rains. Over the last year, Levi's regained some of his mobility, enough that he can sometimes walk using a cane when his legs aren't too stiff, though most days, he uses a wheelchair. It frustrates him, sometimes, his reduced range of mobility—he misses pushing his body to the limit—but the physiotherapist ensures him that he is just where he needs to be. He feels coddled, and that annoys him.

Then, there are the people in his life. Scarce as they are, they are all that is left of his past and Levi clings onto scraps of conversation where he can find them.

Most of the brats of the 104th are living their own lives. Levi is relieved to see that. When the war ended, he worried that they would linger too much, but they never did. They moved on.

Falco and Gabi, rowdy kids they are, travel from Liberio to see him. They tell him how Falco is taking flying lessons, how Gabi is part of a youth association that’s going to make Marley a better place.

Onyankopon is another familiar face—a talkative one at that. Every time the man stops by Levi's house, he brings something new to show Levi. Sometimes, it feels like Onyankopon is on a personal mission to get Levi up to speed with the new world. Coffee, typewriters, vinyl players… there doesn’t seem to be a thing Onyankopon doesn’t want to show him.

All these machines are met with a somewhat lukewarm reception on Levi’s part.

All except one.

Because if there's one invention Levi is inclined to think is useful, even if a part of him equally loathes it, it's the telephone. Onyankopon was ecstatic about it, and his enthusiasm eventually rubbed off on him too. It's not that Levi likes to use it—the sound waves, the grated voices… they remind him of the sound of planes and machines, of war and guns, and that gets his heart palpating to the point where he sweats (because Levi’s learned that with his growing age, his body sweats faster than ever before, so much so that Levi sometimes has to wash twice a day).

But the first time Levi hears a familiar sound—your voice—on the receiving end of the telephone, his breath stops. His clammy fingers tighten around the phone, and he glances at Onyankopon, who only gives him a thumbs up in response, two dimples appearing on his lifted cheeks.

Levi decides then that the telephone might not be so bad after all.

“Levi,” your distorted voice sounds from the other side. “Can you hear me?”

At first, Levi doesn’t know what to say. He’s seen phones, of course; he remembers Hange using them to communicate with Zeke and the Azumito clan. But he never thought he’d use them personally, and that makes his brain go blank.

“Shit, I think I lost you,” you say, the sound of crumbled papers resonating across the line, “Jean, I think the tele-thing you gave me isn’t working properly. Can you—”

“Hey.” Levi’s voice bleeds into the machine, rough like sandpaper. “I can hear you.”

“Oh, good, I thought I wasn’t using this correctly. Gee, isn’t this just unbelievable? Onyankopon promised me he’d work to set up a phone line in your house, I’m so glad it worked! I know these things are costly but, you know, at least we get to talk, even if it’s brief. Of course, I’ll still write you letters on top of that! And hey—Levi, are you still with me?”

“Yeah, dumbass. You’re the one going on a monologue.”

“I’m just excited! Can you blame me? I haven’t heard your voice in… a long time.”

Levi’s heart jolts in his chest, clinging to the fact that you’re excited to hear him, but mourning the time passed since he last heard your voice. He’s all aware of how long it’s been (347 days, by his account).

“I can’t wait to see you next month,” you add in a lower voice, as if you were trying to whisper into the phone, words only meant for him to hear. “I’ve… missed you, 'Vi.”

Levi’s throat feels thick when he hears your familiar nickname for him. His mind buzzes with words, words he has long thought about, words he wishes he could tell you.

I’ve missed you too. I want to see you again. Please come back to me.

All things he thinks to himself, but doesn’t say out loud.

Instead, he manages a breathy, “Mhm,” because more feels impossible right now, especially with Onkyankopon so close by.

“How are the brats doing?” Levi asks instead.

“Oh, they’re good! Armin cut his hair recently. He looks like a blonde mini-you or err… I suppose he’s taller than you now.” If you were standing by his side, Levi would definitely have glared at you. But you chuckle, oblivious to his souring mood. “Guess he always did admire you a lot; I think he’s learned a thing or two from your leadership style.”

“That so?”

“Yeah, he’s cool. Doesn’t glare at everything that moves like you, though.”

Levi clicks his tongue. “Still haven’t lost your shitty sense of humor, I see.”

“Hey, you always found me funny.”

“I never laughed.”

“But you always found me funny—I could always tell.”

“Delusional thinking can get you a long way.”

“Anyway.” You huff with an indignant tone. “Aside from that, Reiner and Connie have changed a lot too! Reiner is still pining over Historia…”

“Disgusting. She’s a married woman.”

“Yeah… weird, right? I keep telling him to move on, he’s got so much going for him now. But he’s hopeless like that, they all are. Besides that… well, Jean grew his hair! Think he’s secretly trying to impress someone. He’s applying pomade and everything.”

He hears the sound of muffled protest, “I am not, Doc,” blending with your sentence. It is followed by your hearty laugh as you seemingly tell Jean to scram.

“That aside, they’re all good. Growing into real adults, you know? It feels like yesterday I was doing their first medical checks... just stupid teenagers. Your old Levi squad, huh?”

The second Levi squad, he wants to correct.

“Yeah, sounds like they’re still a real handful,” Levi mutters.

You chuckle. A comfortable silence follows, one that reminds of old times—you and him sitting in front of the fireplace; him reading his reports, you drawing. The cracking of the phone lines almost sounds like splitting logs now, and Levi feels warmth spread from his lower belly to his torso.

He hears your breath through the phone, like you were leaning closer. “Hey, so… less than a month, yeah? You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“I told you already, didn’t I?”

“Because if it’s too much, you can still say no.”

“Adler, I promised I’d take care of you all, and that’s gonna be the case until I’m buried below ground.”

“Don’t speak like that, Levi! It’s morbid.” Levi hears the sound of your laughter again. He wonders if your eyelids are crinkling, the way they always do when you laugh too loudly. “But, hey, thanks. I really appreciate your help, you know.”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder what it is like, your new life.”

“S’nothing special.”

“Sounds to me like you’re still selling yourself short.”

“And sounds like you’re still talking nonsense.”

After a year of not seeing each other, you are finally coming back to Marley.

You are finally coming back to him.

Levi wonders what you will think of all the ways he’s lost.

.

.

.

Section Commander Erwin Smith seeks you out in the infirmary one day. He tells you that there’s a wound he wants you to check, one he supposedly got during the last expedition.

“I have the new recruit’s file with me. You might have seen him around,” Erwin says as you inspect the wound. "His name is Levi."

In lieu of a response, you give him a nod, not thinking much of this observation. This is probably just trivial small talk. 

You should have known better. Erwin Smith isn't known for triviality.  

“I’d like for you to keep an eye on him.”  

You pause at Erwin's words, eyes shifting away from the stitches. “What do you mean by that, sir?” 

Erwin leans back in his chair. His gaze is clear. “Presently, Levi is flighty and hot-headed. He’s just lost his friends. He refuses to get a medical check. As it stands, this won’t work—I need to know that his condition is stable to place him on my squad. I need him operational.”

“With all due respect, most of these duties you’ve listed fall outside my medical jurisdiction.”

“I know.”

You raise a brow. Erwin shoots you an eyeless smile. You finish the stitch. Erwin pulls his hand back, admiring your work, and shifts his focus back on you.

Waiting on your answer.

“I’ll... I'll see what I can do, sir,” you finally say. 

Erwin stands, interlinking his arms to the back. “I should tell you he’s from the Underground. Will that be a problem?”

“No, sir…" You rise to your feet as well. "Though, knowing this, permission to speak my mind?”

“Please.”

“May I ask what’s so… special about him? If rumors are to be believed, you went through quite the trouble to get him.”

“I didn’t think you listened to gossip, Dr Adler.”

“I don’t. But if that wound on your hand speaks for the labors of your efforts… well, I think I have cause to worry.”

A low hum vibrates out of him. “What’s so special about Levi, you ask?” Something lights up across Erwin’s face. The intensity of the pendulum swinging his way. “Why, I believe Levi can alter the fate of humanity.”

.

.

.

Today is the day.

The morning shines brightly over the little town of Mare, an endless cerulean that speaks of summer and new beginnings. The sun peaks over the horizon, lingering where the sky meets the sea, a ripple of lavender and peach glimmering over the reflection of the water.

At this time of the day, the wind is at its strongest, a breeze that blows the long strands of grass to one side. Beyond the valleys, there's footsteps dotted across white beaches, only to be ushered out of existence as the waves roll in.

Mare. This little town was nothing but fire and dust three years ago. Today, everything has changed. Houses have been rebuilt, trees replanted, and life has begun sprouting again.

Levi wonders what you will make of it.

He spent the first hours of the day cleaning his house from floor to ceiling—a painful undertaking. The cleaning material stings his bad eye; the positions he has to adopt to clean makes his leg hurt. But cleaning has always helped to ground him, and that much hasn’t changed here.

Luckily, he wasn't alone in his task.

“Yo, Levi! You ready?” Onyankopon calls out. The man came early to help Levi get the house ready, and he's now driving Levi to the train station.

“Yeah.”

Levi grabs his favorite cane, an elegant stick made of thick wood from up north. For the occasion, he’s wearing his nicest navy suit, silver cuff-links, and a matching hat—a gift from you, something you bought him the day the Survey Corps first set foot in Marley. You thought it suited him and Levi’s inclined to agree: he doesn’t look half-bad.

The drive to the train station is uneventful and quiet. Onyankopon asks him if he is nervous, which Levi denies. He's not nervous, not really. He just needs silence to gather his thoughts.

After a year of not seeing each other, he wonders how you will find him. Changed, perhaps. Lost, definitely.

Will you be happy to see him?

It’s ridiculous, really, all this uncertainty. In all his years as a captain, Levi never stopped to linger on hesitations, on regrets. No matter what it was—grief, rough expeditions, political coups—he trusted his comrades, he trusted Erwin. Levi trusted himself.

That it would be you, now of all times, who makes him this agitated, seems a strange twist of fate. Perhaps it is his growing age that has turned him into a sentimental fool, perhaps it is the knowledge that it is you, perhaps it’s because Levi doesn’t quite know what to make of the uncertainty... but Levi feels restless.

It took Levi by surprise, your letter. Three months ago to the day. Can I stay with you, Levi? you'd written. Just for a little while, until I figure out what it is I want to do next.

You were gone for a year, helping the Alliance become delegates of peace. Now, Armin and the rest are ambassadors, and Levi no longer needs you letters—he gets to read all about their exploits in the newspaper.

And yet, you never stopped writing to him. Levi's glad of that.  

Following all of this, it was decided: of course you could stay with him. Yes, he would help you. When it came to you, there was little Levi wasn’t prepared to do.

And so, with Falco’s and Gabi’s help, he made sure everything was well-suited for your arrival. He purchased a bed, a night table, and a wardrobe. He built you a desk, with the help of his boss at work. All of it was arranged into the spare room in his house.

Levi remembers Gabi teasing him. “Is she your sweetheart, Mr Levi?”

Levi had just finished hanging a mirror on the wall when she said this; he scowled at the teenager. “No.”

“S’just, it’s an awful lot for an old comrade.”

“Shut up, nosy kid.”

But Gabi raised a point. What were you to him, exactly?

Levi doesn’t know the answer to that question, not exactly. He considers all the people he’s cared about in his life, and he still falls short in finding the right word to describe what you are. He cares for you, that much he knows—he’s cared for you for a long time. It isn’t the same care that he feels when he thinks of his mother, of Isabel, of Furlan, but it’s just as deep. Love, some might call it, but Levi has seldom witnessed it, so he doesn’t know what to make of his feelings.

He supposes if he had to label what the two of you are, it’s connected. Remnants of an old system, a memory of a past when all that mattered was reclaiming the Walls. Two survivors who carry the legacy of those who sacrificed themselves for the cause.

Not that defining it truly matters. Levi’s long accepted his role as the one to carry the torch. He has found stability and peace this way.

Only, Levi wants more for you, even if it means being far away from him.

Yes, it will have to mean being far from him, won’t it? He’s too lost for it to be any other way. He knows that. And yet, it doesn’t stop that tiny wisp of something he sometimes feels in his heart at the thought of you—like air, it fills his lungs, begging to be ignited (if you would choose him, he thinks it might).

But Levi’s life was always that of water, and he knows he will drown you if you come too close, like everyone else he has cared about.

.

.

.

You glance at the injury on his forearm, gushing red. Those damn cadets, ganging up on the new recruit. Erwin’s gamble won’t pay off if everyone else is hostile to his new prodigy.

“Hey. It’s Levi, right?”

Levi’s gaze flickers to yours and you realize it's the first time you're up close to him. His eyes are striking. Freezing gray, like pale moonlight.

“Who the hell are you?” he mutters with a deep baritone.

You give him your full name. “But I actually prefer to be called by my last name, Adler, if you don't mind.” His face stays blank. You sigh. “Listen, Levi, I don’t want to butt into your private affairs... But I just came to tell you this: any injuries you sustain from now on, come to me directly, alright?”

"Please. Those cowards were outclassed. They only landed a hit 'cause they played dirty."

"Even so. Don't let that deter you from seeking help; it's important to take care of injuries before they worsen." A pause, one where you weigh each thought carefully. "That said, you also have my word. Those cadets will be punished for what they did to you."

“Yeah, whatever.” Levi glances at your hands for some reason— transfixed by the way you press on his wound with a clean cloth. “So, what are you, some kind of doctor? You heal people?”

Your lips tug into a half-smile. “I certainly try.”

.

.

.

The train groans as it comes to a stop. Levi knows you dislike trains; even on Paradis, when Hizuru helped to install train tracks across the island, you  blanched at the idea of riding in one.

So Levi isn’t too surprised to see you step out of the train carriage on wobbly feet, your face a little grayer than he remembers it to be. He takes a step forward, walking into the smoke hissing from the train, avoiding the throngs of travelers passing by. He removes his hat, just to make it easier for you to recognize him.

As soon as you do, your expression lifts.

That smile.

Levi could see your smile for the rest of his life and never tire of it. He hasn’t seen it in a long time, and it tugs at his heart, like a bird flapping its wings.

That you choose to run towards him—your travel bag swinging against your hip, arms dangling by your sides—is no great surprise. If there is something he knows about you, it is your never ending supply of excitement. It makes him want to smile back, but his mouth slightly parts instead.

“Levi,” is the first word that greets him, that swirls through the air and fills his lungs. You seem to catch yourself just a breath away from him, rooted to the spot in front of him. You dip your head down, coy amusement on your features. “It’s really you.”

Levi swallows loudly. He can hear his heartbeat climbing to his head, and he wonders if you somehow can hear it too.

“Your hair has grown,” you say. In the last month, Levi's only kept up his undercut; the top is getting longer now. He knows he should get a haircut, but he's experimenting letting it grow. “It looks good… it suits you.”

The coil in Levi’s stomach tightens. He shields his expression by tilting his head and placing his hat back on his head. 

“Hey, um…” 

“Just spit it out, Adler.”

His peripheral catches a crooked smile. “Would it be alright if…if I hugged you?”

Oh.

That certainly isn’t what Levi expected you to ask. No, he expected many things just not... that.

In his stupor, Levi can't think of the right words to say to you, so he manages a nod instead.

(He’s grateful you ask before you touch him—you always ask.)

And unlike your earlier display of excitement, full of frenetic energy, your hands treat him with more care. They interlace gently around his back. Levi feels his chest lock as your fragrance sweeps across his brain. The scent can only be described as one thing... Home. Levi grows stiff, not knowing what to do with his hands, so he just lets them dangle along his body. You stay put just for a few seconds longer, and when you break apart, there’s something akin to relief on your face.

(Relief for what, he doesn't know.)

Your hands briefly linger on his forearms. “Just needed to do that. My brain can’t make sense of the fact that you’re really standing in front of me. Like you’re not a figment of my imagination, you know?”

Levi’s gut reaction is to glance down. He doesn’t want to see all the ways you inspect him, all the ways he falls short of the portrait you have of him.

His face hardens and he takes a step back, sheltering himself. “C’mon, we’ve been standing here long enough.”

“Alright,” you answer in a tone that’s no less bubbly than before. “Show me home.”

As you walk in tandem, away from the train tracks, Onyankopon comes to greet you. He envelops you into a hug where he lifts you off your feet. You chuckle, patting his shoulders, and when Onyankopon’s eyes find Levi’s, there’s a glint in them that Levi swears is speaking volumes of Onyankopon’s thoughts.

A look that seems to indicate: Should’ve kissed her, you damn fool.

Levi promptly ignores that look. Instead, he sets his glare in an altogether different direction.

The walk back towards the car is painful and slow. Levi tries not to let it show, but coming with his cane instead of his wheelchair really was not his brightest idea. He grits his teeth, trying to ignore the throbbing sensation shooting up in his leg; his knuckles turn white the more he leans on his cane.

You take notice.

“Is your leg hurting?” he hears you ask.

Levi dismisses your concern with a one shoulder shrug. “S’fine.”

It’s not fine. Levi overexerted himself with cleaning today. The sun is too strong. His leg is throbbing.

Despite that, Levi has no intentions of telling you all about that, because you have a tendency to care, to shower him with attention he doesn’t want, and right now, he just can’t deal with it.

You stop right in front of him. “Hey, are you sure? I can—”

“I said it's fine, didn't I?”

Levi's ears are ringing as he steps past you.

Shit, shit, shit. He didn’t mean to snap at you just now. He’s just no good at this, don’t you see? Already five minutes in, and he feels like he fucked up.

(It's like there's poison on his skin; Levi wants to peel it off.)

But you don’t even seem to pay his temper any mind; you hum and turn to look at the train station’s newsstand instead. From the corner of his eyes, he watches you purchase three lemonade bottles, a hand-out for this summer day. 

The drive back is filled with more words than the journey here. Onyankopon and you engage in easy conversation, talking about all manners of things—how the 104th brats are doing, how the world is looking three years after everything that transpired, how Onyankopon’s husband and family are faring.

Levi sits in the passenger seat next to Onyankopon while you sit in the rear. That doesn’t stop you from leaning forward, your hands resting on the head of the seats as you talk (“Put your seat belt on, Adler.” “It’s on!”). Occasionally, your fingers even tap his left shoulder, a heads up for you to point to interesting things you notice outside. Levi tries to ignore the sparking sensation that’s engraved in his skin.

(Sometimes, Levi wonders if your touch is actually electric.)

“What about you, Levi?” Levi feels your attention settle on the back of his head, drilling heat into his nape. “What do you make of your new home? Mare, the town where the sky meets the sea.”

“It’s fine,” he replies. And he means it—the town is just that. Fine. “The townsfolk are nosy, you’ll fit right in.”

“Consider my interest piqued. I can’t wait to see your new life.” You hum. “I’ve never started over. Not like this. I mean, I suppose I did, once. The last time was when I first enlisted for the Survey Corps a decade ago… phew, that brings back memories. I remember the looks I got from everyone then—they all thought me very strange to enroll.”

“That’s because you were a suicidal maniac, enrolling to save the lives of soldiers who’d soon be titan fodder. Normal civilians usually have safer aspirations, Adler.”

“I’m not sure if you’re one to talk, Ackerman.”

Levi huffs at that. The portrait that flashes through his mind is vivid, as were the words that went alongside them: Him, an ex-thug from the Underground and you, the crazy doctor. A pair of strange misfits, the Survey Corps' gamble in every sense of the word.

“Oh, Walls!” You’re gasping at something behind him, and Levi glances up to see what you’ve seen. It’s the sea—all shades of blue and as mesmerizing as ever. “This is where you’ve been living? Your descriptions in your letters do not do this place justice.”

“What? You expected me to turn into a poet?” Levi grumbles.

“No, but look at this—ugh! It’s everything. The valleys! The beaches! The bay! This feels just like…” you let your voice trail off, not finishing off your words, but Levi knows what you meant to say.

This feels just like the way it was when we first saw the sea.

And yeah, Levi sees your point. The sea here truly does glimmer like jewels, the way Armin always described it, and the breeze does carry that scent of salt that feels like it’s cleaning the air out of his lungs.

Just like it felt to witness it the first time.

“This must be what paradise looks like,” you say.

And just as they pass a curve of the road, something new comes into view: between the soft clouds, a flying boat appears—not one carrying weapons, but instead, carrying with it the tale of a youth whose only sin was a passion for flying.

.

.

.

The medical check is done in silence.

Levi is underweight. His lack of sun exposure has left his skin and eyesight sensitive. You prescribe things to help, though you think some ailments might be a lifelong battle.

When it comes to checking his heart rate, however, that’s when you realize the full extent of Levi’s upbringing. Levi undoes his shirt and your eyes take in the cost of his survival—Levi’s torso, marred with scars. Some of them seem recent, while others are old, stretched-out skin that tells you enough.

These come straight from his childhood.

Just how much violence has Levi witnessed in a single lifetime?

.

.

.

“So?” Levi asks, looking directly at you. He leans his weight against the door’s frame leading to your bedroom, crossing his arms over his chest. “You can redecorate if you like.”

“Why would I do that? This is perfect.”

Levi thinks you might be touched, but he isn’t sure—he was never good at reading your more subdued emotions. Anger, sadness, happiness: those, he can read. Everything in between becomes more complicated.

You continue to step around the furniture of your bedroom, inspecting it like you are discovering details of a new kingdom. Your fingers fumble over the bed frame. “These bed sheets are my favorite color.”

Levi knows. He picked them for a reason.

(He’ll never tell you as much.)

“There’s drawing supplies in the desk drawers,” he says.

He hears it then, the way you suck-in your breath, catching it in the back of your throat. He swerves his attention onto you, only to find you fixing the desk with a stupefied expression.

“You remembered?”

There’s bewilderment in your tone.

Why do you seem surprised? Isn’t this the least you deserve? Levi almost says that there is even more—that he has all your sketchbooks from Paradis, that they were recently delivered by his request. But he abstains from it. He thinks it might be too much right now, though whether it’s too much for him or for you, he’s not sure.

Instead, he just replies gruffly, “It was hard to forget.”

You take a step towards him, eyes softening. “Levi, thank you so much.” You gesture at the room. “For all of it.”

Somehow, those words make Levi want to look away. It isn’t that he doesn’t appreciate you expressing your gratitude, but he’s never known what to do with it served on a silver platter. He prefers to ignore it when he can.

“S’not a big deal.” He shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans, glancing towards the carpet on the floor. “Couldn’t let you starve on the streets, now, could I?”

“Hah, I don’t know,” you say softly. You've moved to the windows, your fingers feeling the beige curtains. “You might be underestimating me. I can be very persuasive; I’m sure I’d manage to survive out there.”

“Please. You wouldn’t last a day out there.”

You scoff at him, feigning offense. “And why not?”

“You’d want to help some poor fucker giving you puppy eyes, and they’d just end up mugging you.” Or worse.

“Well, alright. You got me there.” You glance away, raising your fingers to run along the scar on your cheek.

Levi follows your movements, studying the way your hands conceal your old injury. He wonders if it still hurts, if you forget it is there only to be reminded of its existence when you catch your reflection in the mirror.

It happens to him, sometimes.

“Seriously, thank you.”

The gentleness in your tone cradles his ears. Levi takes a step back.

“No need to get emotional on me.” he mumbles.

You chuckle. “Still. Sometimes, it’s good to say things out loud.”

“If you say so.”

Levi turns around, fumbling with the handle of the door. 

But just as he’s about to head out, to leave you to unpack, there's a distinct sound that comes from the other side. Levi hears that familiar "Meow," before he sees the tabby cat sliding in between the cracks of the door.

“Oh..." you say, "what's this?” 

Right. Levi probably should have mentioned this minor detail in his letters.

“Scout,” he supplies, eying the kitten currently rubbing her head against his right leg, a loud prrr vibrating against his calve.

“You… you got a cat?”

"Yeah."

"Like a pet?"

Levi crosses his arms over his chest, tapping a rhythmic beat of five counts against his forearm. “Do you need to get your eyes checked or what?”

You ignore his surly attitude, the same bafflement still present in your tone. “And you named him Scout?”

“Her. She's a female cat.”

You look down at the cat for a moment, your eyes wide like saucers. Then, with a low, hushed tone, you let out a strangled, “Walls, you're a cat dad,” before pinching your lips tightly, like you were trying very hard not to burst out in fits of giggles.

Levi’s jaw instantly clenches. “Stop laughing.”

“I wasn’t laughing!”

“You were about to.”

“Yeah, alright, I was about to.” And then, as if saying those words out loud gave you the right to do as you please, you stifle out a snort, shooting up a hand to cover your half-contained laughter.

This time, Levi doesn’t bother hiding his glare.

Paying this interaction no mind, Scout looks at you with a quizzical stare, her big, green eyes taking you in. Just like you, the feline creature is now discovering the new room and the furniture that goes with it, and she now seems to want to understand what to make of the new occupant that is to share this space.

And so, with a last parting mrrp, the cat skitters towards you, her fast steps tiptoeing against the oaken floor. In response, you crouch down, outstretching a delicate hand in Scout's direction.

With a combination of grace and suspicion that only cats are really able to muster, Scout sniffs your fingers, her slit pupils observing your every movement. Whatever she was looking for must have pleased her, because not a moment later, she lets out a high-pitched mewling sound and rubs her cheeks against your digit.

A smile forms on your lips.

And when you look back up, there’s a sparkle in your eyes that makes Levi’s heart skip a beat. "Oh, she's cute," you coo, scratching Scout's chin. "How old is she?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't ask?"

"I don't speak cat, Adler."

"She didn't have an owner?"

"No, she was alone when I found her."

"Oh."

Levi had found the kitten half-dead under some debris less than three months ago; no one in town knew where she had come from, or how old she was. Most likely, her mother had abandoned her, but it was hard to know for sure.

All he knew is that the kitten had been alone, and that was enough for him to want to help the frail thing. Taking her in was only meant to be a temporary thing and yet, here she still was. 

"Well," you interrupt his thoughts, head tilting as you inspect Scout, "I reckon she can't be more than four months old."

Levi lets out a grunting sound, not really knowing enough about cats to refute or agree with your observations. Instead, he half-turns away, grumbling parting words, “I’m gonna make us some tea while you unpack.”

“Your bitter old tea, huh?”

He means to ask if you’d prefer something else, but it comes out all wrong, again. “Got a problem with that?”

Shit.

Your eyes lock with his.

And your smile widens. “Not at all. This feels like being home.”

Levi clears his throat, turning away. Home. Is it really like that?

No, of course, it’s not.

Home doesn’t exist anymore.

And he’s not the same man you once knew.

-

A/N: This story has been in the works for the last year, and it's been a very precious project for me. This fic seeks to shed some light on Levi's life after the war, with its ups and down - but ultimately, it's a story of love and healing <3 Furthermore, English isn't my mother tongue, so you know the spiel - don't hesitate to let me know if you spot mistakes, but pls be patient!

( Next chapter / Join my taglist )

[sytoran]

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟎𝟎𝟓 — 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀

kinktober day 005 | mermaid!wanda x pirate!reader

as captain of a notorious gang of pirates, you've got a reputation of steel, but when there's a pretty little mermaid presenting herself for you, there's no chance in hell you're not saying yes.

cont. sweet talk, begging, humiliation, overstimulation word count. 2178

kinktober masterlist || main masterlist

“Righto, fellas, so we got sixty ducats – twenty doubloons, is it?” Bucky asks lackadaisically, tossing gold coins up and down with his good hand. 

A loud guffaw surrounds the group of you huddled around the campfire. You shake your head with a toothy grin at your right-hand man’s idiocy. Even the least educated pirates in your gang knew what sixty divided by two was.

You reach over and knock the side of Bucky’s head with your bloodied knuckles. “That brain cavity wouldn’t make a drinkin’ cup for a canary, buddy.” 

“Aw, kiss my boot, ya fuckin’ cunt-licker,” the dark-haired man grumbles in response, still playing with his shiny gold coins. He playfully punches your arm his prosthetic one.

In record timing, you whip out your dagger from your cow-skin belt and pierce the hole in Bucky’s coin midair, pinning the coin to the nearest tree with a deadly aim.

“Cunt-licker is right,” you say smugly, going to ruffle Bucky’s already shaggy hair. The impressed hoots and jeering taunts at your dagger-throwing skills are all good-hearted, as is the general atmosphere within your gang.

The lot of you were specialists in your craft, the most formidable and deadly in the piracy industry. Five years ago, you had claimed the largest plot of land that was the very island you lived on with your mates. Tu’Au was surrounded by the freshest of ocean water and the most gorgeous of views.

There was also a legend of the mystical mermaids that lived beneath Tu’Au, but you didn’t believe any of that bosh and bullshit about supernatural creatures. You’d believe it when you saw one with your very own eyes.

“Yall’ finish up counting our loot for the day, I’m gonna take a walk by the shore,” you say, adjusting the piece of tobacco between your lips and then dusting off your pants. “Don’t let Buck do the counting.”

“Got it, boss,” Steve answers promptly, ever the loyal one. Bucky rolls his eyes.

Loveable idiots, you think, tossing your hat to the side. Strolling away from the main camp, you finally take a deep inhale of that tobacco, smoke trailing off into the orange sunset.

As you walk along the shore, bare feet on the wet sand, you look up and close your eyes. It was times like these that were simple, times like these that you never wanted to end—

“I said, get away from me! Please, just leave me alone!”

A feminine, desperate cry from the distant ocean has you blinking open your eyes in sudden alertness, darting to the source of the sound.

From a short distance to shore, there is chaos occurring within the waters. What seems to be a muscular, bare-chested man is swimming inhumanly fast towards a significantly smaller-sized woman with long, cascading hair. 

Though both of them certainly spoke like regular humans, there was a certain way about their moving in the waters and tremendous presence that had you second-guessing yourself.

“Get back here, you good for nothin’! You’ll make up your mind when I fuckin’ want you to!”

He’s yelling foul words at her, catching up to her already, clearly incredibly unpleased. Suddenly, the man dives down, and you catch sight of a shimmering blue tail above the waters before it disappears.

Hang on a damn moment. Merfolk are real?

But before your brain can process what you truly just saw, the merman reemerges much closer to the mermaid, massive gold spear in a vice grip.

As if a gear was kicked into motion, you sprint towards the water. Kicking up water as you run through the shallow part of the ocean, you stumble but never slow down, eyes set on the target. It’s prey-or-predator right now, either conquer the enemy or die trying.

The said target has got the mermaid in his massive arms, wrapping around her torso and forcefully dragging her back into the deep waters. Her strangled cries get muffled by the water, cries and pleas ringing in your ears.

Just before you dive into the water, your hand flies to that trusty weapon holster, and a sharp dagger flies at the merman with an air-cutting, brutal force. “Y/N bullseye L/N,” you remember Bucky saying with a stupid grin on his face. “Never misses a shot.”

A millisecond before your plunge into the ocean, the stunning blue eyes of the mermaid meet yours, and you lose all the air in your lungs.

You’ve never seen anything like it, never laid your eyes upon such a breathtaking beauty before. Blue eyes deeper than the depths of the ocean, sparkling more than the brightest of glimmering stars, 

An agonized cry from the merman hauls you out of your trance. The dagger struck him directly in the right eye, just as expected, just as you had calculated. Opaque red blood comes out in spurts, and his hands release the mermaid and go to clutch at his eye.

Your arms glide in the water, smooth and cutting, bringing you closer to the struggling pair. 

Seizing the moment of the merman’s distractedness, you wrap your arms around the mermaid. You immediately notice the way she sinks into your embrace, head drooping to lean against your chest as you struggle to move through the water.

You really try to not think too hard about the lithe body in your arms. It was proving to be an incredibly difficult task.

After your hell of an escapade, you have the mermaid girl propped up against the wet rocks. It takes a while for you to notice that you’re on all fours above her, panting heavily with wide eyes and a drenched white shirt.

When you do realise it, though, you get off her immediately, clearing your throat awkwardly. So much for being a scary pirate.

“You alright?” you ask instead, fiddling with the collar of your white shirt. It had gotten drenched while you were in the water, along with all your clothes and your hair.

You were having a hard time trying to avoid looking at her chest since it was literally in front of you.

“You saved me,” the mermaid finally speaks, eyelashes wet with drops of water, her voice softer and sweeter than you could ever have imagined. You get a bit lost in the delicacy of her red lips as she stares back at you.

“Right,” you answer, your throat suddenly dry. 

“What is your name, human?” the mermaid asks, hand going to stroke at the curvature of your jawline that was dotted with droplets of water. The touch was honey-like.

“Y/N. How ‘bout you?”

“Wanda.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Prettier than me?”

“No,” you answer a little too quickly, voice a little hoarser than before. Your eyes dart around to focus on anything but the ethereal mermaid before you, but soon they land on a wound at her tail.

“Oh, shucks, you’re bleeding. I’ll go get bandages an’ stuff from base,” you say, looking at the nasty wound on the tip of Wanda’s tail, incarnadine blood leaking out of it.

“Don’t go,” the mermaid suddenly says, and there’s this little begging lilt to her voice that messes up your brain chemistry. “I mean, mermaids have healing properties, so you don’t have to go,” she mumbles, looking away with her cheeks flushed. Cute.

“That’s cool,” you answer, leaning back to let your hands run over the tip of her tail. Just like she said, the wound heals itself, slowly stitching back that scaly-smooth skin with a magical touch.

You give her tail a long stroke, running your fingers through the little scales that decorate this new thing you’d like to explore.

“Hng,” a little whimper suddenly escapes from the mermaid, and the both of you freeze. It’s a fine line between comedy and erotica.

You rub at her tail again, harder this time, and Wanda lets out a louder moan. 

You start massaging her tail, hands spreading out over the sensitive area, kneading gently. Wanda’s face is absolutely flushed, eyes screwed shut in pleasure, the prettiest thing you’d ever seen.

“Kiss me?” she asks, breathlessly, and you don’t have to be told twice.

Warm mouths meet in an inferno of lust, Wanda’s head tilting up to meet yours, your head tilting down to chase hers. The moment you taste the sweetness of her lips, a trigger is flicked inside of your brain, and your body kicks it into overdrive.

Your hands tug off the seashell bra with unbridled haste, flinging it behind you without a care in the world. Wanda squeaks against your lips at your sudden boldness, hands going to encircle the back of your neck.

But that’s before you’re grabbing both her wrists with one hand and pinning it above her head against the wet rock. She moans as your lips make their way down the column of her porcelain, leaving red hickeys into the pale canvas like it was a work of art.

It was true, to a certain extent, because this mermaid before you was a work of art: brown hair splayed onto the wet rock like something out of a Renaissance painting, water droplets across her eyelids, breathing and panting your name, hips moving helplessly under your stronger body, trying to chase a fraction of the pleasure that you’re dangling out of reach.

Your mouth latches on to her supple breasts with eagerness, lips wrapping around her hardened bud. Wanda lets out a shriek when you suck on it, hard. As a mermaid, the sensations and emotions that they felt were many times that of a human, and you were making it no easier for her.

“N-Need you,” Wanda pleads, when you flick at her other pretty pink nipple, admiring how her body arches along with the sensation. 

“Need me where?” you ask, a lust-coated rasp in your voice, edged with a tone of teasing that has Wanda’s head spinning. 

You finally release her hands, and Wanda grabs your right hand with certainty, sliding it down her shuddering body and scaled tail to where a pussy would be.

Instead, your fingertips find a hot, wet, slit.

“Fuck,” you growl into Wanda’s skin, lost in the sheer thoughts of how much you could ruin her.

“Please?” Wanda begs again, giving you the biggest doe eyes she could. You didn’t need any convincing, anyway.

“All this for me?” You ask, ruthlessly plunging two fingers into her dripping slit. It’s warm and wet, and so tight. Your fingers explore, straightening out then curling in, going in big circles then in smaller ones.

All through your unabashed exploration of Wanda’s cunt, the pretty little mermaid is left completely at your mercy. She’s writhing, never been touched like this before.

“S’ too, too much,” she babbles incoherently when you slide a third finger in, thrusting in and out of her gorgeous little cunt like it’d be the last time you’d get to do this. Because in all honesty, it might be.

That thought alone spurs you on to go even faster, playing with Wanda’s body like a fiddle, making all the right noises with the right fingerings.

“Y/N,” she cries, long fingernails ripping the back of your vest to shreds. You don’t give a damn about it.

Turns out, mermaids have several sweet spots, because you’re finding all of them and breaking her with it.

“Gonna cum already?” you ask, “Needy little thing, hm? Couldn’t even wait five minutes?” Wanda tries to shake her head, but your other hand is stroking the length of her tail.

“Come f’me, sweet thing.”

Those words send her over the edge, snapping the knot that had been building in her belly.

“Y/N!” Wanda screams, a melodious tune, hands clawing at the edges of the rocks, then the back of your neck, all while her head is thrown back. Her tail is flapping in a state of no control, lost in the pleasure you’re feeding her.

Acknowledging the delicious tightening of Wanda’s mermaid slit around your three fingers, you opt to instead go at an even faster pace, fingers thrusting deeper into her body, because you wanted every inch of it.

“Y/N,” Wanda sobs, because she sees stars. Those brilliant blue eyes getting teary with your relentless pace. The tears escape the corners of her eyes and cascade down her cheeks like a waterfall.

It’s a sight you’d imprint into your memory forever, when Wanda’s ocean blue eyes roll into the back of her head and her little mermaid body goes limp in your arms.

You admire her for many moments, at how she had made you fuck her silly, at how she was yours now.

—

“Why’re you smilin’ like a baked possum?” Bucky asks you once you head back to camp. It’s early the next day, still dark out in the wide seas. He’s sprawled out on a wide hammock, sharpening a knife. Steve is cuddled into his chest.

Your lips curve into a stupidly smug smirk. “Not that you would know a dime about pussy, but remember what you said about cunt-lickers?”

kinktober masterlist || main masterlist

[copepods]

so, there's no official place im aware of that's compiled the names of every music track in rain world which includes DLC, unused tracks, alpha tracks, and includes every location those tracks can be found, so! i made one :) mostly just for my own fun bc i love cataloguing things.

sadly i cant include links bc there's a limit on tumblr, but these should all be pretty easy to find with a quick google search. to find the rooms listed here, since room names aren't necessarily very descriptive, you can use the interactive map!

black text = track plays in vanilla game (these songs may appear additional times with blue text in other sections)

purple text = track is unique to the downpour ost

orange text= unused vanilla track, from the files or james' soundtrack albums, which was added in-game in downpour

blue text= track used for a new location in downpour, but also appears somewhere in vanilla (these songs also appear with black text in their original vanilla locations)

all in-game tracks are sorted by the regions they appear in. some tracks play in multiple regions- these will appear on the list multiple times, sorted into each region they play in.

Trailer and promotional music (Can all be found on Youtube)

RW dayns: promotional material (Remix of Sundown)

Threat - Superstructure (Trailer Remix): Switch trailer

What Fate A Slugcat: Release trailer (Alt version of Urban Jungle)

Together: Co-op trailer

Overskog: Downpour launch trailer, creatures teaser

Downpour: Downpour teaser trailer

Triptrap: Downpour regions teaser

Landmarks: Downpour lizards teaser

Task: Challenge mode teaser

Unused threat layers (can be found on Music page of RW Wiki)

Threat - Outskirts: with unused layer SU_4

Threat - Farm Arrays: with unused layer TH_LF - CHORDS

(note: listed on the wiki are two additional unused layers for Threat - Garbage Wastes and Threat - Heavy Industrial, but listening to them I can find literally zero difference from the original release. maybe it's just my ears idk)

Alpha tracks (from the original Alpha release of the game, called Alpha_8, later added to Alphas, Gems and Junk)

RW_2: Alpha_8

RW_3: Alpha_8

RW_4: Alpha_8, Alpha Trailer Music

RW_5: Alpha_8

RW_6: Alpha_8 (titled Deathpit in James Primate's Soundcloud)

RW_11: Alpha_8

Album Exclusives

RW_12: Alphas, Gems and Junk (titled 3 Moon Sunset on James' Soundcloud)

Illegible Neon Signs (RW_17): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_21): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_22): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_23): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Sky Islands (RW_24): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Night City (RW_25): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Free Mind Loop (RW_30): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Sub Sub Sub (RW_31): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Frost Reaper (RW_98): Downpour OST album

Threat - Rubicon (TH_HR): Downpour OST album

Arena music

Noisy (RW_10): Arena

Action Scene (RW_13): Arena (titled Breakbeat Bonebreak on James' Soundcloud)

Weyuon (RW_33): Arena

Slaughter (RW_34): Arena

Wired (RW_68): Arena

GREY CLOUD (RW_32): Arena

Rooftops (RW_7): Arena (titled Skyline in James' Soundcloud)

Menu and cutscene

Sundown (Theme I) (RW_8): Main menu and credits (Technically combination of Sundown (no rain) and TitleRollRain) [titled Adagio for Rain World on James' Soundcloud]

Pictures of the past (RW_Intro_Theme): Survivor and Monk intro cutscene

Passages: passage screen

Reclaiming Entropy (RW_92): Saint end cutscene and credits (Was formerly named Theme V - Credits pre-Downpour)

Outro Theme (RW_Outro_Theme_B): Survivor, Monk, and Gourmand end cutscenes

Satellite (RW_72): SI_A07 (Spearmaster end cutscene)

BM_SS_DOOR: Saint intro cutscene

Train Tunnels (RW_27): Expedition menu

Garden (RW_65): Expedition loss screen

Halcyon Memories (NA_19): CL_AI, RM_AI (Music pearl), Rivulet end cutscene and credits (Spelled Halcon Memories in OST album)

BM_CC_CANOPY: Artificer end cutscene

Deep Light (Theme IV): Ascension end cutscenes (Technically combination of Deep Ghosts/VS_E_DEEP_GHOSTS, The Core/VS_F_THE_CORE and Outro Theme/RW_Outro_Theme)

Game Music

Outskirts (SU)

Threat - Outskirts (TH_SU)

Unseen Lands (NA_40): SU_A53

Urban Jungle (RW_1): SU_B04

Proxima (NA_01): SU_A07

Frosted Festival (RW_80): SU_A53 (Saint only)

Distance (NA_30): SU_PUMP03

Drainage System (DS)

Mud Pits (RW_09): DS_B02

The Wet Moist (RW_38): DS_B04

Old Growth (RW_15): DS_B01

Swaying Fronds (RW_51): DS_A26

Breathing Hyometer (RW_81): DS_GUTTER01

Industrial Complex (HI)

Threat - Heavy Industrial (TH_HI)

BM_HI_GATE: HI_B04

Bio-Engineering (RW_43): HI_B04, HI_A07

Mist Engine (RW_50): HI_A18

Sheer Ice Torrent (RW_91): HI_A07 (Saint only), HI_B04 (Saint only)

Garbage Wastes (GW)

Threat - Garbage Wastes (TH_GW)

Garbage Worms (RW_52): GW_B01, GW_TOWER02, GW_TOWER03

Lack of Comfort (RW_39): GW_D02, GW_B09_PAST

Garbage City Shuffle (RW_37): GW_C02, GW_C04, GW_TOWER15

Albino (RW_43): GW_E01

Stone Heads (RW_19): GW_C03

Overcast (RW_79): GW_A25

Accidented Condition (RW_83): GW_E01 (Saint only)

Eyes of Iron (RW_90): GW_C03 (Saint only)

Shoreline (SL)

Threat - Shoreline (TH_SL)

BM_SL_SHORE: SL_B02, SL_D05, SL_F01

Lonesound (RW_46): SL_D06

New Terra (NA_21): SL_A06

The Captain (RW_18): SL_A05

Moondown (Theme II) (NA_11): SL_AI, SL_WALL06 (also called Digital Sundown)

Vast Unlife (RW_89): SL_D05 (Saint only), SL_F01 (Saint only), SL_TUNNELA (Saint only)

New Else VIII (NA_42): SL_WALL06 (ECHO) (Saint only)

Veiled Northstar (RW_93): SL_TUNNELA

Shaded Citadel (SH)

Black Moonlight (RW_26): SH_D01

Demonic Riser (NA_25): SH_B17

Dripping Time (NA_17): SH_A05

Lantern Mice (RW_58): SH_C10, SH_A21

Floes (RW_40): SH_E05

ELSE III (NA_34): SH_A08 (ECHO)

Dark Sus (NA_08): SH_B05, SH_A24

BM_SH_CRYPTS: SH_B12 (Vanilla, patched out)

The Exterior (UW)

White Lizard (RW_55): UW_D02

Underhang (BM_UW_UNDERHANG): UW_C03

BM_UW_WALL: UW_D07

ELSE IV (NA_35): UW_A14 (ECHO)

Stargazer (NA_28): UW_H01

Pictures of the Past (RW_Intro_Theme): UW_J01 (Inv only)

Passages: UW_A14 (Inv only)

Five Pebbles (SS)

Threat - Superstructure (TH_SS)

BM_DS_GATE: SS_B01

Interest Pad (NA_09): SS_A09

Drastic FM (NA_16): SS_F03

Energy Circuit (NA_26): SS_D03

Random Gods (Theme III) (NA_41): SS_E07, SS_L01, SS_E06

Chimney Canopy (CC)

Threat - Chimney Canopy (TH_CC)

Threat - Chimney Canopy (The Gutter variant)

BM_CC_CANOPY: CC_A02, CC_H01 (Saint only)

Wind Chimes (RW_48): CC_B06

Sky Sprite (RW_55): CC_C11

ELSE I (NA_32): CC_C12 (ECHO), SB_A14

Cracked Earth (NA_39): CC_OUTPUT

Sky Islands (SI)

Threat - Sky Islands (TH_SI)

Lovely Arps (RW_29): SI_D03

Kayava (RW_42): SI_D01

Speaking Systems (NA_23): SI_C06

Crystalline (NA_20): SI_B11, SI_D05

ELSE VII (NA_38): SI_B11 (ECHO)

Silicon (NA_04): SI_B12

BM_SI_STRUT: SI_B13, SI_F01

Chillblain Grace (RW_84): SI_C02 (Saint only)

Farm Arrays (LF)

Threat - Farm Arrays (TH_LF)

All Thats Left (RW_14): LF_A14

ELSE V (NA_36): LF_B01 (ECHO)

Distance (NA_30): LF_D01

Nest in Metal (RW_49): LF_A01

Maze of Soil (RW_47): LF_D08

Raindeer Ride (RW_54): LF_H01

Emotion Thread (NA_24): LF_J01

Subterranean (SB)

Ferrous Forest (RW_28): SB_G02, SB_G03

Leviathan Cave (RW_53): SB_J02

Grumblebum (RW_41): SB_A03, SB_H02

Deep Energy (RW_45): SB_F03

ELSE II (NA_33): SB_A10 (ECHO)

Silent Construct (NA_27): SB_D04, SB_F02, SB_I01, SB_B04, SB_E07

Gold Swim (VS_A_GOLD_SWIM): Upper void sea

Big Open (VS_B_BIG_OPEN): Central void sea

Worm Inferno (VS_C_WORM_INFERNO): Central void sea

The Ride (VS_D_THE_RIDE): Void sea

Deep Light (Theme IV): Bottom void sea (Technically combination of Deep Ghosts/VS_E_DEEP_GHOSTS, The Core/VS_F_THE_CORE and Outro Theme/RW_Outro_Theme)

BM_SB_FILTER: SB_J03

BM_SB_SUBWAY: SB_C10, SB_F01, SB_H03

Orange Lizard (RW_62): SB_TESTB, SB_TESTC

BM_SH_CRYPTS: SB_D04

Else I (NA_32): SB_A14, SB_D03

ELSE VII (NA_38): SB_D01

Pipeyard (VS)

Rooftops (RW_7): VS_A01

Rain (RW_61): VS_B02, VS_B10, VS_C13

Veiled Northstar (RW_93): VS_A09

Fragments (RW_96): VS_F01

Threat - Pipe Yard (TH_VS)

Metropolis (LC)

GREY CLOUD (RW_32): LC_GIRDERWALK

ELSE VI (NA_37): LC_highestpoint (ECHO)

Dustcloud (NA_02): LC_TEMPLEENTRANCE

Phasing (NA_06): LC_C08

Lost City (RW_59): LC_ENTRANCEZONE

Threat - Metropolis (Day) (TH_LC)

Threat - Metropolis (Night)

Train Tunnels (RW_27): Can play when cycle ends

Outer Expanse (OE)

Sparkles (NA_05): OE_RAIL01, OE_TOWER09

Reminiscence (NA_11): OE_TREETOP

Bloom (RW_60): OE_JUNGLE05

Wandering Cut (RW_63): OE_RAIL02

Daze (RW_64): OE_RUIN14

Ancient (RW_69): OE_RUIN02

Open Skies (RW_97): OE_RUINBACKHALL

Threat - Outer Expanse (TH_OE)

Threat - Outer Expanse (Night)

Pictures of the Past (RW_Intro_Theme): OE_CAVE02

Waterfront Facility (LF)

The Coast (RW_16): LM_D06 (also called Shoreline)

BM_UW_UPPERWALL: LM_WALL01, LM_WALL02

Metal Canopy (RW_66): LM_TOWER09

Trusted Component (RW_82): LM_BRIDGE02, LM_BRIDGE03

Threat - Waterfront Facility (TH_LM)

BM_SL_SHORE: LM_D05, LM_F01

New Terra (NA_21): LM_A06

Veiled Northstar (RW_93): LM_TUNNELA

The Rot (RM)

Wormpad (NA_03): RM_GSB1

Qanda (NA_07): RM_D02

Sparkling Pendulum (RW_71): RM_B04

Flicker (RW_73): RM_I03

Not Your Rain (RW_76): RM_ROT01

Threat - Superstructure (TH_SS)

BM_DS_GATE: RM_B01

Interest Pad (NA_09): RM_A09

Energy Circuit (NA_26): RM_D03

Looks to the Moon (DM)

Glass Arcs (NA_18): DM_I02, DM_I05

Flutter (NA_29): DM_WALL06

Scapeless Doubt (RW_70): DM_LEG01

Obverse of the Old Wind (RW_78): DM_ROOF01

Reflection of the Moon (RW_95): DM_ROOF04, DM_MOONCHAMBER

Threat - Looks to the Moon (TH_DM)

Underhang (BM_UW_Underhang): DM_LEG07, DM_U09

Silicon (NA_04): DM_VISTA

Silent Construct (NA_27): DM_CROSSOVER02

Random Fate (RW_67) DM_I11

Undergrowth (UG)

Past Echoes (NA_06): UG_C02 (ECHO)

They Say (NA_22): UG_B02, UG_B10

Breathing Hyometer (RW_81): UG_GUTTER01

Weathered Steps (RW_94): UG_A05

Swaying Fronds (RW_51): UG_A26

Submerged Superstructure (MS)

Garden (RW_65): MS_BITTERENTRANCE, MS_SPLITSEWERS

Random Fate (RW_67): MS_LAB14

Aquaphobia (RW_74): MS_I06

Onto A New Dawn (RW_75): MS_FARSIDE

Fragile (RW_77): MS_BITTERAERIE2

Ascent (RW_85): MS_ENTRANCE

Flux (RW_88): MS_I02, MS_I03

ELSE IV (NA_35): MS_COMMS (ECHO, Saint only)

Silent Construct (CL)

Fading Light (RW_87): CL_D01

Demonic Riser (NA_25): CL_B17

Dark Sus (NA_08): CL_A24

ELSE IV (NA_35): CL_D05

Rubicon (HR)

Pulse (NA_31): Saint ending

The Cycle (RW_86): HR_M01, HR_M02, HR_M03, HR_M04, HR_FINAL

ELSE II (NA_33): HR_C01

[therantingsage]

Drew the daughter too. Aside from the inside of her mouth, which resembles a geode, the rest of the crystals her mom has haven't grown in yet. I like to think they outgrow their need for sight as they age too, with the crystals giving them advanced perception of their surroundings.

Dream creature again! From two nights ago so this recreation is fuzzier than most. All I remember of the dream was her supervising her daughter's birthday party. And also that through-the-chest crystal being a weak spot. Like you could shatter than thing and kill her pretty easily probably (otherwise though it doesn't even hurt her)

Since the other context of the dream was pretty fuzzy, the only other thing I remember about her was that she lived in the ritziest house imaginable. So she's either an aristocrat or royalty. In light of that, I've been calling her the Sunset Quartz Queen.

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

If He Never Says It

MDNI

Shanks x f!reader

Warnings: heavy spice, hurt no comfort, angst, graphic description of dead bodies, character death

A/N: Please do feel free to scream with me in the comments.

If he never says it, it isn’t true.

His stirs from his dreams clinging to the taste of foreign words that have no business in the waking world. Half-conscious, he reaches over the warm patch beside him, grasping after a companion who isn’t where she ought to be.

As he blinks awake, taking in the daylight and the empty space under his arm, he resigns himself to weeks of old habits. He’s done it before. When he leaves, he’ll start each day this way, reaching for someone he expects but will never find in his quarters aboard the Red Force.

But he isn’t aboard yet, and he expects a cuddle. Maybe one last game beneath the sheets before he departs, too.

Grumbling, he listens to the little morning sounds of a bubbling kettle and warm liquid rushing into cups. So, that’s where his companion has gone. He knew she wouldn’t be far. Her home is only one great room. But she’s still too far away, and he whines.

“Don’t be like that.” She’s onto his games before he’s properly begun. “I’m just making some coffee.”

Lessons learned over long nights and aching mornings have given her foresight. Perfect creature.

“Damn, woman. Marry me.”

His hair’s in his eyes, and the sun glints on the window, blinding him to anything but her silhouette. But even still, he sees the pause. It rolls through her like the space between waves, a chance to glimpse the shiny things beneath frothing surf. And just like that, it tumbles away, dragged under the tide of their usual song and dance, and she’s scoffing, a little laugh that tilts her head back and bares her throat for the kill.

“As if you’d ever settle.” She returns to bed, sitting beside him and combing back his tousled hair. Her touch knows him, follows comforting trails away from his face, over his scalp. “You’re very pretty, Red-Haired Shanks, but the sunsets here are prettier.”

He nuzzles into her hand, giving her a lopsided smirk to hold in her palm. There’s nothing else he can let her keep.

Seas, he’s cruel.

It’s a kindness.

For every dismissive laugh and taunting remark, he’s adding years to her life’s count. The leagues he puts between them are measures of peace he could never gift her. He’s not a man for real romance, anyway. He’s never lied about what he can and cannot offer a woman, and he’s never broken his word – in either regard.

This is the same as every other lover he’s charmed to sharing more than drink.

It is.

Even if he’s found so many reasons to stop at the little island in his territory – for more booze, or fresh rations, or simply because the men need time ashore in a secure port. And every time, he finds himself in her bed.

People have started to notice. He comes ashore and the locals giggle behind their hands about how “the Emperor’s girl” will be scarce the next few days. Beck has started giving him looks, waiting for the other shoe to drop, or maybe just waiting for his captain to realize it already has. There’s a principle that guides his trysts. Better a broken heart than a still one.

He turns his smirk into a kiss, smelling coffee and sugar on her skin.

It’s past time to make this the last time.

He gives her hand a cheeky lick, and she jerks away, sputtering through a laugh, and lets the moment pass in a breeze of levity. She accepts his cruelty so kindly.

What a woman to love. What a woman to keep. If only the seas were kind and men were honest, what wouldn’t he give to have her in his own bed, in his heart and soul?

Sliding back under the covers, she gets her revenge, pinching his side, and he throws himself into teasing kisses. He’ll drown her in them, fill her with enough passion to bury promises never made but ever desired.

He growls, sucking bruises across her chest, groaning with every tug of his hair. She meets him measure for measure, giving and singing and making his name beautiful. She’s his sunny day, a comfort after storms, and despite everything, he feels that debt.

If this is to be the last time, he will make it the best.

Who needs dreams when he’s between her thighs, licking her silly? Who needs forever when he’s living eternity in her eyes, buried to the hilt in her heat. Only when she’s boneless, sated beyond her limits, does he stop. Only when he’s pleasured her every way he knows and enjoyed her every way he can stand.

He cleans her, thanking the swells and dips of her flesh for safe harbor as she drifts towards sleep. He rests with her. Holds her. Sends her back to sleep.

When she’s lost to the world, he rises.

The coffee, waiting patiently on the stove, tastes like home. He sips, watching her breathe, studying the sunlight and shadow tangling in her hair.

When he’s finished, he washes his cup and puts it back on the shelf.

He has no appetite when he returns to the ship. They set sail, and he watches the island shrink. It’s a small place in a big world, after all.

He avoids lunch, refuses dinner. When the booze comes out, he laughs, and talks, but he doesn’t accept a drop.

He goes to bed treasuring the lingering ghost of her coffee on his tongue.

------------------------------------------------------------

If he never says it, it isn’t true.

They’d sailed far away, and by the time he learned, the fires had burned out and the culprits had sailed away. Beckman stepped up to his captain when word first reached the crew, presenting the report. The first mate hadn’t even been smoking. Mourning his captain’s loss, perhaps. Acknowledging what couldn’t be said with all the gravity he could manage.

Now Shanks stands on ruined dock, cold ashes in his mouth carried by the wind – the last living thing in town.

If he doesn’t say it, it isn’t true, but he sees and hears and smells too much.

The townsfolk who didn’t burn in their homes had fled to the water. Crabs pick over families, the tavern keeper who most often hosted his crew, the gaggle of children who’d courted Monster’s affection with fruit and sweets. The monkey sits by them, petting their heads, groaning as the hair slides off their rotting scalps.

The pillagers left their Jolly Roger.

It’s tied like a cape around her neck, over the rope that suspends her from the cargo crane to welcome the island’s protector to its ruins.

He doesn’t say it, simply asks Beckman to cut the ropes as he gathers her in his arms. He sits on the dock so she can rest across his lap, against his chest, the way she did the first night he won her favor.

Matted blood has turned all her hair to shadow. Even the midday sun can’t bring it to life the way he remembers.

He reads her body. This is how he’s always found her pleasure, brought her to bliss. It takes understanding to share that kind of joy.

There’s no joy here.

Torture, pain, humiliation. A slow death, looking out to sea. Looking for –

“Captain.”

His crew has gathered the bodies they could find. Men carry shovels from the ship, digging new homes for old friends in the sand.

His commanders gather around him, grave as stone.

Beckman’s hand rests on his gun and he asks, “Orders?”

A wind blows in from the sea, and the ashes stir and rise. He sees lost souls in the haze. Imagines the other world where she’s gone is not so far at all.

He draws her in, cuddling her like the morning he left. Her skin isn’t right under his hands. Too dry. Too sticky. Too cold.

Her shirt is torn so all can read her crime, carved over her heart with knives.

Yonko’s whore.

It’s ugly. It’s wrong. It isn’t true, and he says it.

“She wasn’t.”

His commanders listen, taking his pain as theirs, letting the agony and guilt stew into something darker. Something useful.

“She wasn’t, you know.”

Lucky Roux answers for them all. “We know, Captain.”

He holds her close, chest ablaze, the world smearing with tears.

Beckman asks again, throwing his captain a lifeline, “Orders?”

The flag her killers left behind is all he needs to pursue justice. He hands the fabric to his first mate. It’s good enough.

His men give him space, but keep an eye. They’ll sharpen the blades and review their charts so the hunt is ready whenever he can bear to put her down. Set her in the earth.

He didn’t say goodbye.

He’d thought it would be kinder.

He still doesn’t want to say it.

But – well, what could it hurt now?

He stayed too long and loved too well.

He never said it, and it was true.

[lolitastories]

Ours

Rafe Cameron

Description: This will be a short story on how two people who love each other find their way back to one another. They have a child together and have to focus on giving her the best version of themselves.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

No matter the reason why Rafe and I weren’t officially together could ever make me deny him seeing his daughter. Rafe and I were two young to know what life would bring us after we met 4 years ago. At 19 I needed a change after graduating high school, so I moved to the outer banks. My friends came over to visit and when our pre campfire on the beach was rudely interrupted by a drunk girl, Rafe was there to watch as his friend Topper stopped the girl from starting a fight with one of my friends. My friend was more confident than me and invited them to stay and enjoy the sunset, since then Rafe and I spent most of our free days together. 3 years later I found out we were pregnant. Now I won’t admit I was scared because I wasn’t. Yet per my mother, my actions would tell you otherwise. When I found out I couldn’t block Rafe out of my life for even a day before he started sending constant messages and calling. I definitely couldn't ignore when he would personally go out of his way to come and find me. I was running out of places to hide so I had decided to move back home for a bit. I couldn’t stay too long because it would make my family suspicious, so thankfully being in my first trimester gave me the advantage to knock that reason out of the way. But soon I had to go back and face the decision I had made. The time back home had given me 3 weeks to think how and when I was going to tell Rafe about our future child. Since I was young, I knew I always wanted to be a mother, not this young but truthfully, I was jumping on clouds. The one thing I wanted to make sure before getting pregnant was choosing the right father for my children. He needed to be kind, loving, protective, but most of all understanding. Rafe was all of that and more. Not only did he have all those traits he also made me feel comfortable around him. He was the first man in my life that took care of the little girl who was scared to show herself. He brought out the pain and made it disappear. So, as I walked over to his property in Tanny hill I was determined to settle with whatever he chose to do with the information, that was until I saw him and another girl in his kitchen sharing a drink. I shouldn’t have gone into conclusion, but I was pregnant, and all my emotions were everywhere. I trusted him and when he found out I was back on the island he came to find me. He told me who she was and how he loved me. If it was me alone, I would jump on his arms and take him back, but it wasn’t. I needed to think of the little creature growing inside of me now, so after telling him I was pregnant I also told him I needed time to think about us. I wasn’t testing him, but this little person has become my world, and I needed to prepare to give them my all before welcoming it to the real world.

“We don’t like it here.” I hear the low and grumpy tone coming from behind me. As I turn, I let out a chuckle seeing Rafe and our daughter sharing the same expression. He had her hooked up to his chest as we were making our way to yet another antique store.

“I can understand it from her, but you need to stop acting like a baby.” I shut the tailgate of his trunk and started walking. I heard another groan but soon enough his heavy footsteps were getting closer and closer until he was walking alongside me.

“Promise me you won’t be like your mommy?” I roll my eyes and shake my head. I knew where this sentence was going. “Well,” I could feel his eyes on me, but I continued to walk towards the entrance of the store. “Maybe the good parts but when it comes to shopping, I hope you will drain my bank account at decent stores.” I grab the door hand and pull it open. Rafe walks in giving me a teasing look. I don’t respond knowing it would only lead to a longer conversation down a hole I don’t like. I walk over to grab a cart and walk over to where Rafe is waiting for me. “Every time you come into an antique store you buy nothing. Why do you always bring a cart?”

“Habit.” I shrug as I begin to look around. My mother, siblings and I would enjoy a Saturday in thrift stores and antique shops. We would later get food and rush home with a smile on our faces, it didn’t matter if we were carrying 12 bags or nothing, we were happy.

“Habits do die hard.” He says in a lower tone. I straightened up looking over to him as he played with our daughter's hands. I walk closer, placing my hands over his.

“And I am very proud of you Rafe,” As I looked into his eyes, I felt words choking to get out, but I held them down.

“What a beautiful baby.” Our heads turn looking over to a mid-thirties lady? as she smiled towards us. “Oh, look at her tiny shoes!” She squealed coming over to touch her small shoes. “I remembered my kid's feet being this small, almost making me want another little one.” We laugh alongside her. “Are you two planning to have more?” That question made my smile fade really quick. I looked over to Rafe who had a similar expression. “Either way you two are still young. Enjoy her this little and as much as possible because time goes by fast. You spend your time on things other than family and when you decide to give it priority it's too late.” Her words were like a knife stabbing me right in the heart.

“How many kids do you have?” I could hear their conversation faintly. My fingers began to tighten along the cart's handle. My body began to heat up while my head was spinning.

“Well, it was nice to talk to you two, but I have to find my two devils running around here somewhere.” I was functioning enough to give her a smile before she walked away.

“You, okay?” Rafe moves closer looking over my face. I nod slowly before shaking the uneasiness away and smiling up at him again.

“Yeah. We need to hurry if we want to catch the other stores before they close.” Rafe groans, throwing his head back.

“Oh, we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” I raised my hand to playfully shove him but then I remembered he was holding our daughter. “Did you see that?” he exaggerated as he turned to look down. “Mommy was trying to hurt daddy.” I roll my eyes and turn around to continue walking. My heart was melting when I heard our baby giggling at his fake studded words. “See, she agrees with me.”

“She does because she is such a daddy’s girl.” I turn my head to see Rafe smiling proudly as our baby looks up to him in admiration. “Just wait until she starts dating,” I bite my lips holding back a laugh to how fast his smile fell. “She will put you second,” I teasingly whispers.

“No, she would not! I will make sure of it because she won’t date until I am dead” I come to a halt and turn around to face him.

“I am %110 percent sure she would choose him and fight against you to keep the boy around.”

“Nothing backs up your statement.” He keeps his head high.

“She is a girl.” I simply state. “She will be smart but at the end of the day she is a girl. And as a girl myself I know it will happen because I happened to me,” He looks down with confusion on his face.

“What?” He questioned.

“I argued with my father because of a boy, till this day he still doesn’t like him. but I would do it again.” I don’t regret getting into an argument because of him. I choose the right choice to protect the boy's name, because he keeps on defying everything my father said he was going to do and be. “But don’t worry too much, you two will be okay.”

“Are you and your dad, okay?” I shake my head. I haven’t even told them I had a child. I know my father loved me but until I had Rafe, and I figured out, he would never accept it. I also am not in a hurry because it's my life and I am very happy.

“We will be.” I let out a sigh seeing how even our daughter was keeping quiet. “Let go because I am already hungry.” I smile, turning around to focus back on the shelves. I picked up a small book that read Collection Shakespeare: Hamlet. Before I opened it the book was taken from my hand. Rafe’s face comes to sit right beside my ear. His hot breath fanned down my neck and I could feel his smile radiate against my skin.

“Well until that happens, I can be your daddy,” He slowly whispers. His warm breath moves closer, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes when he places a kiss on the crook of my neck. It had been so long since I felt his lips on such a little intimate spot. When I regained my conscious back, he had already parted. I turned around to him, opening the small yellow book. “I will start by reading my two girls a book” I opened my mouth to speak but he held up his fingers to shush me. I watch our daughter enticed by his voice as he reads Hamlet. His eyes following along the words and looking over to me, when he sees a smile placed on my lips he continues his interpretation of the book. I lean against the cart and watch as he continues to be and grow into the father I prayed for my children.

[donelywell]

This is just a summary of how the story goes, kinda like bullet points I guess. If the time ever comes that this eventually gets written as an actual story, It would be a lot more detailed than this. Also, I don't own Sonic Unleashed or think the story is bad (I actually really like it), this is just how a strange person (me) would handle the story in their own fan universe thing.

DEATH EGG October 1

Tails helps Sonic get up to the Death Egg.

Sonic storms the Death Egg, going Super.

Super Sonic follows Eggman, he begs for mercy, but it’s a trick.

Super Sonic gets the Chaos Emeralds ripped right out of him,

Eggman fires a beam filled with the Chaos Energy to the planet, cracking it into 7 pieces, releasing a Giant Monster, but it fades away.

Sonic turns into the Werehog, only barely hearing Eggman yell something about the Gaia Manuscripts through all of the intense pain that he’s going through, and is shot out of the Death Egg with the now drained Chaos Emeralds. Tails, on the Tornado-1, sees this happen, and chases after him.

APOTOS October 1

Sonic crashes into Apotos. He notices that there is a small being passed out near him, so he tries waking him up to see if he’s okay, this ends up scaring the kid for some reason. 

Sonic realizes he can’t talk for some reason, his throat feels off and his teeth feel weird, so he uses sign language to try asking if the kid is okay. The kid doesn’t understand, but assumes (probably not the smartest move) that he means no harm because his eyes seem genuinely worried, plus he’s slowly moving as though afraid to scare off the kid again.

The kid calls him ‘Mr. Monster Guy’, which makes Sonic realize he’s not his usual self. This mildly freaks him out, but he tries to act calm to not freak the small creature out. Using his claws, he writes in the dirt, which luckily the kid can read, and realizes the creature has amnesia. Sonic worries that he might have caused it, and vows to help him get his memories back. (Little Fella joined the party!)

Sonic looks at the rising sun, looking at it as something to lean on to stay optimistic, and turns back into his regular self. He finds his shoes and now drained Chaos Emeralds lying on the ground, and with a lot more pep in his step, holds onto the kid and races off to the closest city to hopefully get someone who recognizes the little creature (and see if Tails landed there after he launched Sonic into space).

>Windmill Isle Day Act 1 (plays as it normally would)

Sonic questions everything that just happened, the Chaos Emeralds being drained, the strange new form he took not even 15 minutes prior, what this ‘Gaia Manuscript’ is that Eggman was talking about; but he’s interrupted by the kid getting sidetracked from the memory treasure hunt with an ice cream stand that holds the famous Chocolate Chipped Cream Sundae Supreme! After a little begging, Sonic ends up paying for 2 cones. Sonic ends up calling the creature ‘Chip’ as a temporary nickname until they get his memories back, Chip absolutely loves it.

While they go around enjoying their ice cream and asking questions about Chip's past, Sonic ends up being given someone's pair of gloves.

Meanwhile, Tails is searching for Sonic, he’s surprised that his communicator is broken, or at least not responding, because it should have been able to survive a fall that high. He manages to get a rough estimate as to where he might be judging by where he fell, but Sonic could really be anywhere on this section of the planet with his speed.

Tails is highly concerned for Sonic’s health and safety since the last reading from the communicator reported that his heart rate has spiked dramatically right before he saw him fall from the sky.

>Windmill Isle Day Act 2 (You play as Tails as he flies around town, looking for Sonic)

As he still searches for Sonic as it’s heading into sunset, Tails gets a call from Knuckles telling him that something happened to the Master Emerald and that Angel Island has landed.

Tails tells him that he’s looking for Sonic at the moment, but promises to come over as soon as he can.

After the call is over, Tails realizes how long it’s been since he last ate and spots a local Gyro Food Truck. He ordered a bunch for Sonic to eat later if he spots him.

As the sun is setting, Sonic and Chip still haven’t found anyone who recognizes Chip. Sonic gives Chip a pep talk when he sees that the kid’s down in the dumps, suggesting that there are lots of areas around the world, maybe he’s just not from here. Right when Chip feels reassured, Sonic transforms back into the Werehog. Both are stunned and Sonic realizes that he changes into the form every night (Chip needs a moment to come to the same conclusion).

Chip immediately notices that the Sundae Stand Owner is acting strange, and asks him what’s wrong, even suggesting he eats some ice cream. Sonic shoves his now too-big-shoes into his quills until daytime. Chip accidentally drops the ice cream, but Sonic manages to catch it by stretching his arm out. Both are extremely surprised by this, kinda freaking Sonic out with how strange it feels but he thinks it’s kinda cool. Chip really likes the stripes.

Meanwhile, Tails finds himself in between a rock and a hard place. He’s surrounded by these strange enemies and forgot his weapon at the Tornado-1. He would normally spin dash into them, but judging by the sharp claws and spikes on them, his fur would not be enough defense from that hurting him more than it hurting them. 

He could have also flown away from danger, but he’s currently trying to protect a lost little girl he found surrounded by said enemies. He knows he doesn’t have enough time to drop his defenses and fly away while carrying her before they attack, so he just has to try keeping the already miniscule amount of ground they have.

While not looking, an enemy gets a lucky hit on him, causing him to yell out in pain. Despite the pain, he refuses to stand down and keeps defending the little girl.

With his new sensitive hearing, Sonic hears Tails’ yell. Instincts kick in, realizing his little brother is hurt, and runs after the sound. Chip, with his not as sensitive hearing, flies after Sonic in confusion.

>Windmill Isle Night Act 1 (plays as it normally would)

Once he makes it to Tails’ location, all of the enemies focus on the actual threat, Sonic. The little girl uses this to run back home, and Tails hides behind a wall holding his wound from bleeding too much.

The enemies are piling onto Sonic, so he unleashes all of the energy he’s built up (and some instincts he didn’t know he had), somehow becoming more powerful for a period of time, yet feeling a little high off the energy practically pouring out of each hit he makes in this unleashed state. 

Sonic Emotions Handling Scale: 

Normal form- Can hide it frustratingly well and has normal emotions, 

Werehog form- His face and new Wolf-like instincts make it hard for him to hide it but he still tends to try to push it off if he can + negative emotions are a lot more powerful + he’s a little clingy, 

Unleashed Boost- Can’t hide his emotions to save him and they are extremely powerful + easily goes into a downward spiral in emotions + somehow even more clingy + he still is super emotional when getting out of his Unleashed state and will do things without thinking.

After the fight is over, Tails calls out to Sonic, he knew from the moment Sonic stepped into the battle that it was him, Sonic practically raised him for almost half of his life, how could he not tell? Sonic however, getting out of his Unleashed Boost daze, realizes just how dangerous and brutal he could be in this form. So once he hears Tails’ call, he books it in fear of possibly being able to harm Tails unintentionally.

Chip finally makes it over to the aftermath, he and Tails do a quick introduction (like saying, you know Sonic? You're the brother he was talking about? yep, let's go!), and book it towards Sonic. Tails is surprised that he’s actually able to catch up to Sonic, even on all fours, Tails’ namesakes spinning can beat him in a race now.

Sonic manages to hide in a barrel, in abject terror of what he is. Tails and Chip quickly catch up and sit near the barrel, trying to calm Sonic down. Letting him know that no matter what he looks like, he’ll always be by his side and his little brother. He proceeds to go on about how looking different doesn’t make you a monster or evil, having his tails sway as he talks, as a subtle reminder to Sonic that he went through that fear of being different too.

Sonic slowly uncovers his muzzle to use his hands to sign that he’s a monster who could hurt Tails. Tails is surprised by how open Sonic is being so open about his fears, he normally tries hiding it as best he can so others don’t worry for him (a bad trait that Tails is extremely relieved didn’t seem to carry over when he’s in this form). Tails gives a sad look and recounts all of the times that Tails has accidentally hurt Sonic due to not being used to touch (and the several months it took him to learn how to retract his claws), but Sonic stuck around every time and didn’t blame Tails for it at all.

Tails suggests that he runs a vitals check on Sonic back at the Tornado-1, to see if he can find out what’s causing this form. (Tails joined the party!)

That, and the smell of several Gyros in Tails’ bag, seem to be enough to make Sonic slowly walk out of the barrel on all fours. Tails notices that Sonic’s stomach is rumbling and uses this to walk him over to the Tornado-1 without having his mind drift into negativity (wow, that’s odd, Sonic’s almost never openly negative). Chip finds out Gyros are really good, almost eating 3 before they make it back to the biplane.

After eating, Sonic stands up (and is actively trying to ignore the stomach churning feeling of being so incredibly huge compared to his little brother), to sign that he can’t retract his claws or speak properly. Tails tries to make the best of it and says that Sonic doesn’t need to touch anything for the check up.

As Tails is cleaning up and patching his wound with the first aid kit he has stored in the Tornado-1 (he wanted to immediately do the check up on Sonic, but the werehog refused to even start that until Tails took care of his cut first), Chip is in awe that Tails can understand what Sonic means just by looking at his hands. He really wants to learn how to do that, so he can talk to Sonic at any time of the day. Tails tries to recall that he might still have some flashcards he’d give to any new friends Sonic made when he couldn’t speak.

Now tired and worn out from a long day of running around town, eating tasty food, fighting enemies, and making discoveries, Tails and Sonic sit on a brick fence next to the Tornado-1 to run a Vitals Check.

It’s a symphony of yawns as Chips quickly falls asleep on Sonic’s leg. Tails, being exhausted, unconsciously rests his tails on Sonic's lap (a deep sign of trust) and leans on him as a pillow (he realizes the sheer amount of muscle behind the fur, theorizing that the expanse of his arms might have stretched the communicator too far, thus breaking it), like how he sometimes would do that when the brothers ride a train late at night after a long adventure. 

Sonic was in a half asleep state himself, but once he felt Tails’ tails rest on his lap, he perked right up. He’s surprised Tails can trust him so much even in this form, he thought this whole time that Tails was just bluffing it so Sonic would feel better. He might still be bluffing… using that 300 IQ brain to use this token trust sign to make Sonic relax. But Sonic quickly has exhaustion fog his brain again, letting this track of negative thoughts fizzle out at the moment.

With a yawn, Tails murmured that Sonic’s Vitals all seem normal, if not for a slightly higher than average Chaos Energy reading, but it’s not enough for it to change his form.

Tails is officially out, Sonic’s delicately soft fur and heart beat lulling him to sleep. Sonic, still not wanting to possibly harm anyone by accident, gently slips Chip off his leg, landing on his enormous paw (that’s another thing he feels off about, why are his hands so big?), and rests him on his head as he curls up as best he can without jostling Tails much. He tries his best to both find a comfortable position and keep his dangerous hands away from anyone. It’s a rough night, but they all got through it.

In the morning, Sonic transforms back to normal, with Tails handing him some spare gloves and a back-up communicator from the Tornado-1. After enjoying some Tarts for breakfast, they head out to Angel Island. Sonic accidentally falls asleep on the wing while Chip studies his flashcards in the back seat.

Angel Island

[yanderecrazysie]

Galeophobia (Kirishima)

Please don’t request any phobias. I just felt like making this for fun.

Be kind to me, I'm still not good at writing NSFW

Title: Galeophobia

Pairings: Kirishima Eijirou x Reader

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, mershark Kirishima, pirate reader, marking, NSFW, NON-CON, belly bulge, excessive cum

Phobia: The fear of sharks

Normally, the setting sun is something that makes you smile, its beautiful pink-and-orange hues are a feast for the eyes. Here and now? It feels as though it is taunting you as your water sloshes over the deck of your sinking ship.

How can nature be so beautiful, yet so cruel?

The storm is completely gone- there’s no sign that it ever happened. No sign, save for one wooden ship taking on water. The jolly rogers above you wave feebly in the light wind before crumbling in on themselves as even the air falls silent. You sigh wearily.

After all the danger you’d put yourself in to get rich, sinking serenely in the middle of calm waters, all of your comrades having fled on lifeboats. Leaving the captain to go down with the ship.

It’s a dumb tradition that the pirates of your country take part in, you thought dully, so why did I bother following it? You wished you weren’t quite so honorable. 

The water ripples below your lazy perch on the ship’s front railings, now reaching past the deck and slowly inching towards you. Somewhere off in the distance, you see something shimmer in the sunset’s pink-tinged water.

You squint, confused, as something bright red begins rising in the clear water right below you, on the end of your ship and the open ocean. Water breaks at the surface as the crimson object reveals itself to be spiky hair on the head of a handsome tan-skinned man with equally-red, intense eyes.

At first, you think he must be dead. After all, how else could there be someone out here in the middle of the ocean, unless they were from a ship already sunken below? But no, the man gazes at you with a lively expression, smiling brightly at you as though he’s never been so happy to see someone else. 

The next conclusion fills you with hope: there must be land nearby! Surely he had swum from an island to your ship. But how far away was it? You look in every direction and see nothing but water.

“Where do you come from?” You ask urgently, “It’s not too far is it? I’m not a strong swimmer.”

The man laughs loudly, “Don’t worry, I got you, babe.”

You wrinkle your nose at the pet name but hold your tongue. After all, this redhead was the only thing between you and the bottom of the ocean.

He holds out his arms as though he’s ready to catch you, “Come on down, babe. I don’t bite. Much.”

He flashes you a smile and you gasp. His teeth are unnaturally sharp and triangular, nothing like a human’s. For the first time, you feel a sense of foreboding and your heart pounds in your chest. 

Your gaze falls below his bare abs under the water and you’re shocked to see that instead of bare legs, there’s gray and white smooth skin that ends in a sharp fish tail. From the shape and the earlier glance at his teeth, you surmise he’s some sort of shark merman. Not human, in any case.

“What are you?” You shriek, wrapping your arms around your legs protectively, all too aware of how close the water was to you now.

The shark-man grins, flashing those sharp teeth at you once more, “My name’s Kirishima. What’s yours, babe?”

“Stay away from me, you fish freak!” You seethe, pulling your compass from your pocket and heaving it at him as hard as you can. It bounces off his chest with a thunk but he doesn’t so much as flinch. “Wait until after I’ve drowned to eat me!”

Kirishima sighs, a soft pout to his features as he tells you, “List babe: you’re either coming down on your own or you’re going to sink.”

The reality of the situation dawns on you just as you feel water licking at your toes. You were going to be eaten by this half-shark, half-man creature. All that would be left of you would be your bones on the bottom of the ocean, alongside your trusty ship. 

Hot tears prick your eyes as you let yourself slide off the railing into the water. If my death is coming, then let it be quick, you thought sadly.

Kirishima blinks in surprise before a smile spreads across his face. This time, his lips are pulled over those vicious teeth, and you can’t help but think it’s a little cute. He reaches his hand out to brush away a few stray tears, but that just causes more to spill.

Strong arms wrap around you and you close your eyes, ready for death. It doesn’t come. Instead, Kirishima nuzzles into your neck, cooing softly into your ear as he holds you close.

He pulls you away from the sinking ship, most of which is already underwater. Your first and only ship- you feel more tears slip down your cheeks. It’s gone now, there’s no getting it back.

“Shh, it’s alright, babe.” Kirishima shushes you softly as he swims farther away, tugging you along through the water. You shiver in his grasp and he takes notice, stopping immediately to run his hands over your body, “Oh man, you’re cold all over.”

The grin that cracks across his face is mischievous and predatory at the same time, “I know how to fix that.”

Something cold and hard brushes against your butt and your heart stops all together before it starts up tenfold again. Don’t tell me he means…

Incredibly sharp teeth pierce through the skin on your neck and you let out a scream. Warm blood pools on the surface as he sucks gently before releasing with a pop. He takes a look at his handiwork- at the wound swelling on your neck- and has the audacity to look proud. 

Kirishima presses against you as he begins peeling your clothes from your skin. Something very large and very hard pokes against your thighs and, although you cannot see it, you already have an idea of what it is. Curiosity has you briefly wondering if it looks like a human’s or not.

You don’t have a chance to look down at it from the angle he’s holding you but, once he tears your pants from your body in a violent, eager motion, you quickly get to know what it feels like. It seems to be shaped the same as any human male’s dick, but it’s much larger than what you thought was possible. 

The bulbous head pushes against your unguarded pussy, pressing and pressing until pop- it forces its way inside. You expected unimaginable pain, but you’re instead overrun with pleasure.

The cock fills you out with each inch shoved deeper. It stretched your insides out and, when you look down, you see a visible bulge in your stomach. He’s crammed into you so much your little human body can barely take it.

Kirishima holds you still while he forces his shark cock deeper and deeper. The bulge in your belly is bigger than ever when he comes to a stop. Unconsciously, your hand moves and puts a hand over the bump in your stomach and you hear the man behind you moan with pleasure as you accidentally massage his cockhead.

The thrusts begin, more brutal than you could ever anticipate. Kirishima uses his arms to keep you in place while he fucks into you, tearing apart your vagina and womb easily with his monster cock. 

You writhe with pleasure, barely able to move from your positioning but trying all the same. It’s all too much- his dick is pressed up against every nerve and pleasure spot you have, each thrust hits all the right places.

Kirishima grabs your hips and bend your body a little, moving you into a position where he can fuck you even deeper and harder. It isn’t long before you come undone on his cock, twitching and spasming from the intense pleasure he’s giving you.

Your pulsating walls prove to be too much for the redhead, and he follows you shortly after. His cum floods your insides, inflating your belly a little around the bulge and filling you so completely that some escapes around his cock and into the water around you, making the water turn more milky than clear.

Your eyes roll back in your head as he rolls his hips, getting out those last few drops of cum. His giant cock finally softens and slips out, dirtying the water even more with the cum that escapes your stuffed-full womb.

“Yeah, I’m keeping you.��� Kirishima says, grinning widely as he pulls you close. You don’t bother fighting it as he gives a kick of his tail and takes off swimming with you snug in his arms. 

You can feel cum still rushing out of you as he whisks you away to wherever it is he plans to keep you.

[anonymous-dentist]

A Little (bit of) Love

My piece for @tryzine !!

-

It starts deceptively simple: Cellbit and Roier are taking a walk together through the Favela at sunset, fresh coffees in their hands from Starbobby. Cellbit can’t stop staring at Roier. Roier can’t stop staring at Cellbit. Bobby is watching from above, probably rolling his eyes at how goofy Roier looks when he’s in love. 

There are two creatures walking a step behind Cellbit and Roier that Cellbit is purposefully ignoring. 

Roier’s shoe comes untied next to a recently-added flowerbed. Cellbit offers to tie it, Roier laughs and teases Cellbit, Cellbit hands Roier his coffee to hold as he crouches and takes Roier’s shoelaces in his hands. 

Just barely visible through the gap between Roier’s legs, Pulgoier looks blankly up at the flowers. They’re taller than it is, but just barely. 

?, the disgusting little thing, follows Pulgoier’s gaze. And then, horrifyingly, and entirely of its own accord, it reaches up and snaps a flower off at the base of its stem. It holds the flower out to Pulgoier, head ducked just slightly, almost bashfully; Pulgoier doesn’t smile, because it can’t, because it isn’t real, but it does take the flower. 

Frozen in abject horror, Cellbit doesn’t react as Roier annoyedly taps at his head and asks what’s taking so long. Why is he just sitting there, what’s wrong? 

And then Roier turns around and sees his Mini-Me holding the flower close to its chest and pressing a plastic kiss to ?’s cheek, and Roier gasps. 

“Aww, look!” he coos, fingers tangling in Cellbit’s hair excitedly. “They’re in love!”

And Cellbit feels nothing. 

-

Cellbit’s son is gone. So is a significant part of Cellbit’s heart, and yet he knows that he is still capable of feeling love. He’s alive, after all: he isn’t a religious man, but he likes to think that everything with a heart can feel love. Dogs love their owners. Lions love their mates. Crocodiles love the hunt. Parrots love to show off. 

The Mini-Mes? Notably not alive. They aren’t real. They’re plastic and felt and yarn and whatever-the-fuck electronics the Federation shoved into their fake little bodies. Their nerves are made out of copper. Their veins are filled with self-recycling machine oil. Their hearts are combustion engines that run off of the items that their islander counterparts provide them daily. 

Cellbit knows this. He’s cut his Mini-Me apart so many times that ? knows not to squirm on the dissection table. Every time he’s sewn ? back together, he’s made ? hold the roll of string so it doesn't roll away. He’s made ? bleed oil to the point that he once caught ? drinking gasoline when Cellbit’s back was turned. 

The Mini-Mes don’t feel emotions. They can’t. They aren’t real. They’re creatures, if one could call an inhuman amalgamation of wires and eco-friendly microplastics a creature. It’s more apt to call them robots. 

Monsters. 

Cellbit knows that the MIni-Mes were created for war. He watched the video at that conference, he knows exactly what the little assholes were made for. Now that they’re stolen, their purpose has probably been shifted by the Federation from fighting to spying. 

They can’t feel love. This much, Cellbit knows. They were created for battle, and now they’re just biding their time. Waiting. 

The fact that ? seems to be in love with Pulgoier is an outlier that should not be considered. They’re both just mimicking their owners, that’s all. Which begs the question of exactly how adaptive the Mini-Mes are; they can change appearance at the drop of a hat, but behavior? They’ve been robotic up to this point, what changed? 

Cellbit asks this to ? as ? sits in its cage staring at the oil-stained wall. 

?, of course, doesn’t respond. That’s good, Cellbit doesn’t know what he’d do if the little bastard learned how to talk. 

But, at the lack of a response, Cellbit inexplicably feels a sense of… God, is this bravery he’s feeling coming off of ?? Is that it? An attitude? 

Cellbit’s eyes narrow, and he leans in closer to the cage with a sneer. 

“Whatever you’re doing, I’m onto it,” he growls. 

? just adjusts its goggles in response. Its hand briefly dips into the Fear Room’s light, exposing a thin black line drawn around ?’s left hand ring finger. A ring. 

Cellbit is so surprised that he doesn’t even feel angry for a good moment. 

But then ? looks up at him as if asking, “And what about it?”, and Cellbit finds himself standing and kicking the cage so hard that it falls over, sending ? toppling. 

A ring. A goddamn ring. 

A goddamn mockery, more like. It’s mocking him. The Federation is mocking him, he knows it. He fucking knows it. 

(But… why?)

-

Pulgoier starts holding ?’s hand. ? keeps picking things off of the side of the road to give to Pulgoier, and Cellbit hates it. 

Roier makes a little shoebox bed for them that he puts under his and Cellbit’s own bed. Instead of powering off for the day in a corner of the room, ? and Pulgoier go there at night, and Cellbit hates it. 

? and Pulgoier sit across from each other on the floor when their owners have their meals. Sometimes they pretend to eat, usually pretending to feed each other, and Cellbit hates it. 

Richarlyson would have killed them by now. Cellbit wishes he was here to do so, but. 

But. 

-

But it’s well past midnight, and Cellbit can’t sleep. This isn’t anything too unusual; he learned how to live off minimal sleep back during the War, for better or for worse. 

But Roier can’t sleep, which means that he’s somewhere in the castle, which means that Cellbit is somewhere in the castle because there’s no way in Hell he’s letting his depressed and sleep-deprived husband wander around mourning. 

Tonight’s ‘somewhere’ is the garden, and Cellbit has Roier in his arms as they sway back and forth to the music playing softly on Roier’s communicator. (The Federation is shitty for so many reasons, but at least it’s providing the island with Spotify Premium free-of-charge.)

The song is unimportant. So are the two little freaks of nature watching from beneath a rosebush. So are the Federation’s hidden cameras, and Bad somewhere downstairs trying to carry Cellbit’s dining table out the door, and the itching bloodlust in the back of Cellbit’s brain. 

What is important is Roier, and so Cellbit focuses all his attention on him. 

He’s tired, clearly so: his hair is more of a mess than usual, his clothes are rumpled and wrinkled, his shoes are untied, his bandana is lost somewhere in the bedroom, his lips are chapped, and the circles under his eyes are dark enough to rival Cellbit’s. 

Cellbit doesn’t think he’s ever seen a more beautiful man in his life. 

He says as much, words ghosting across Roier’s pale lips. 

Roier smiles weakly, and he murmurs a quiet, “No, you.”

The song changes to something a bit quicker. They both ignore the change in tempo and decide to follow each other’s, instead. 

Cellbit’s arms tighten around Roier. He pulls him closer, nose burying itself in the side of Roier’s neck and breathing in his scent and internalizing it, filing it away in the little cabinet in his brain labeled ‘Roier’.

“You stink,” he grumbles. 

“Yeah, because you’re all over me,” Roier responds. He lightly pinches Cellbit’s side. “I know what we’re doing when we get back inside.”

Cellbit whines, sagging in Roier’s arms. He loves his husband, but he does not love showering with him; Roier takes so long under the water that it’s running cold by the time it’s Cellbit’s turn, and his shampoo smells so strongly that it makes Cellbit have an asthma attack. 

Cellbit doesn’t even have asthma!

What Cellbit does have is an unfortunately-acute sense of hearing. It’s a blessing at times, and it’s a curse. 

His eyebrow twitches in annoyance as he hears the absolute faintest of sounds: the crunching of grass beneath clumsy feet, and the overworking of machinery as it tries to figure out how to laugh.

At the same time, Roier gasps, “Mira, mira!”

But Cellbit doesn’t look. Why should he? He’s having a good time. He doesn’t need some… some… some things ruining it. 

“Ay,” Roier insists, poking Cellbit between his ribs once. “Gatinho, mira.” 

Another poke. “Mira.” 

Another poke. “Cellbit.” 

(Poke.) “Cellbo.”

Cellbit’s eyes squeeze shut. He presses a kiss to the crook of Roier’s neck to try and appease him, but Roier just pokes him again. With determination. 

“Stop ignoring me!” he huffs. “Unless… you hate me? You want a divorce?”

At that, Cellbit’s head snaps up in a panic. 

“Não!” he shouts. Why would Roier ever…

Lips twitching into a semblance of a smile, Roier grabs Cellbit’s face with one hand- squeezing his cheeks together and making him feel a bit like a fish- and turns it to the side. 

…right. If there’s one thing Roier is, it’s a fucking asshole. (And a handsome one at that.)

Cellbit’s shoulders sag in relief, but said relief quickly melts back into annoyance as he’s forced to look at the Mini-Mes and their… well. It isn’t dancing, that’s for certain. 

Pulgoier has taken the lead, just like Roier has. It’s holding ?’s little hands and rocking from side-to-side: left, right. Left, right. Left, right. It doesn’t move from its spot other than a small amount of shuffling as it tries pulling at ?’s hands in an attempt to get it to actually move. 

? is still. It’s staring directly into Pulgoier’s beady little eyes, absolutely frozen. If it could blush, Cellbit is sure that it would be doing so. 

Cellbit inadvertently copies it, stiffening against Roier’s body and stopping any and all movements. He doesn’t mean to- he wants to keep dancing, to keep ignoring the Mini-Mes and their bastardized attempt at “romance”, but… 

“Look,” Roier quietly says, sounding almost awed. 

He lets go of Cellbit’s face so he can press his cheek against Cellbit’s. 

Cellbit feels Roier’s jaw work against his as he concludes, “It’s us.”

Because… it is. It is, somehow, in such a fundamental way that Cellbit can’t really identify it as anything but Cellbit-And-Roier. 

“Oh,” says Cellbit, voice hardly above a whisper. 

He watches as Pulgoier tugs on ?’s arms, and as ?’s legs start to shake under it. 

Cellbit doesn’t actually remember a lot of his wedding reception; between the explosions and the alcohol, it’s all just a lot of blurry faces and the feeling of Roier-Roier-Roier-Roier-Roier. 

What he does remember is being ushered into the center of the dance floor along with Roier and freezing. The world faded from around him, and all he could think about was Roier’s smile as he took Cellbit into his arms; Roier’s warm hands on his body; Roier’s alcohol-laced breath across his face. His body was a stranger. 

He remembers thinking, ‘Shit. I don’t know how to dance.’  Because he didn’t, and he still doesn’t, because he never had a chance to learn how. It just never came up in his life, and then, suddenly, he was supposed to dance. At his wedding. In front of the entire island. And everyone he knew.

And he remembers the way Roier’s face softened as he picked up on Cellbit’s anxiety. His hands slid from Cellbit’s back, up to his shoulders, down the lengths of his arms, and to his hands. He tangled their fingers together, took a step back, and winked. 

Pulgoier physically can’t wink, but it otherwise does exactly what Roier did all those months ago: it takes a step back, and it just starts spinning. 

? can’t shout like Cellbit did back then, but it otherwise does what he did all those months ago: it gets pulled along, forced to spin along with its partner, stumbling over its own feet and flailing about like a doll caught in the wind. 

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Cellbit mutters. 

“I can,” Roier replies. “He’s your Mini-Me, of course he can’t dance for shit.”

He yelps out a laugh as Cellbit indignantly steps on his foot. 

Roier’s right, though; Cellbit can’t dance for shit. And neither can ?, being Cellbit’s shitty little clone. 

The night of the wedding, it took Cellbit a good solid minute to get his feet back under him. He felt himself smiling, and, maybe it was the wine in his system, but he found himself tugging Roier in a spin in the opposite direction. He was dizzy as Hell, but it made Roier laugh when he did it, so he just… kept doing it. Eventually, the spin led into a proper attempt at a slow dance that failed so miserably that the two of them gave up and jumped onto the stage for another round of karaoke.

Tonight, ? picks up on things a bit quicker than Cellbit had. It stabilizes, nods to itself, and starts pulling Pulgoier into its own spin. Almost immediately, they’re attempting a proper waltz, and Cellbit… 

Cellbit doesn’t get it. 

At first, Cellbit wasn’t sure what the end goal of the Mini-Mes was. Then, he realized that they’re little soldiers. Robotic supersoldiers capable of self-multiplication and growth, literal war machines. 

But then… why do they look like the islanders? Why does Pulgoier have the same dark circles as Roier? Why does ? have the same scar across its chest that Cellbit does? What’s the point? The Federation doesn’t do anything without a purpose, so why do the Mini-Mes have to look like their owners if they’re meant to grow up and kill them? 

Why can they dance? 

“What’s the point?” he murmurs. Roier hums in acknowledgement, and Cellbit takes that as a sign to continue: “Of copying us?”

“Because we’re sexy,” Roier responds. 

Cellbit rolls his eyes. “True. But, think about it, what purpose does any of…” (He waves his hand in the MIni-Mes’ general direction.) “...this serve?”

“I don’t know, but… look at them.”

Cellbit looks. He doesn’t understand. Something uncomfortable rises in his throat. 

? twirls Pulgoier, leading it into a dip. Pulgoier raises its head and presses its painted mouth against ?’s. 

Chest clenching, Cellbit tries to tear his eyes away, but he just… can’t. He can’t. Not when they’re right there, not when they’re-

“You think they’re learning from us, right?” Roier asks. “So… maybe they aren’t learning how to kill us. Maybe they’re learning to be us.”

Cellbit gives him a flat look. “Isn’t that just as bad?”

Roier shrugs, still watching the little monsters. 

“Maybe,” he replies. “I’m not a scientist. But… isn’t it kinda crazy that we taught robots how to love?”

But robots can’t love. They can’t. But. 

Roier’s arms tighten around Cellbit’s body. His smile is just as forced as it has been since the eggs all vanished, but his eyes are surprisingly soft as he watches the Mini-Mes tumble into the grass from the force of their silent, impossible laughter. 

“They’re just copying us,” Cellbit weakly says. “It isn’t actually real.”

“Maybe,” Roier hums. One hand travels up to cup the back of Cellbit’s head, gently pulling it against his chest. Cellbit listens to Roier’s heartbeat and wills his own heart to match its pace. 

“Or,” he continues, “maybe it is. We found our reasons. Maybe they found theirs.”

They watch the Mini-Mes, and the Mini-Mes don’t notice. 

The song changes, and Roier starts leading Cellbit into another dance. 

Cellbit’s eyes slip shut, and he lets himself get swept away by Roier’s movements. 

(Bagi would call Cellbit a monster, but Cellbit found love in the end. So maybe, just maybe, ? could have done the same.)

[saleszulu76]

Alexandre Boccara & Erwan Jeammot in "The Island of Sunset Creatures" by Nabil Hëy, Aug. 2024

[twoidiotwriters1]

Mermaid's Call (Roronoa Zoro x fem!Reader)

A/N: Working on your requests, but meanwhile... (send more)- Val

Words: 4,257

You’re sitting on the handrail of the ship’s deck, looking to the horizon and the ocean in front of you, waiting for the sunset. You like how the breeze gives you goosebumps, while your lungs refresh themselves with every breath.  

For a few weeks now, this has been part of your routine, and the crew on board understand that they must give you alone time. It’s a moment of peace in the face of the chaos, a time to not think about problems, the danger of the grand line, conflicts with other pirates or enormous creatures... or Zoro and the fact that you have been avoiding and running away from him every time you spot his green hair. 

Although he didn’t dare to interrupt your private moments, you could feel his gaze on you for the rest of the day, and he’s even tried to talk to you, but you always manage to escape. 

“Just five minutes, I promise it’ll be quick!” Says Luffy behind you.  

You turn over your shoulder to see him walk beside an irritated Nami. You giggle at the sight and move to watch it better. 

“For the millionth time; NO!” She stops walking. “Sanji will be back in any minute now, you can’t leave!” 

“But,” Luffy pouts. “It’s a new island, we must explore—” 

“An island surrounded by marines ready to kill us, Luffy!” 

“I can be cautious and quiet,” he says, almost offended. “Just a quick run and—” 

“I said, no. It’s too dangerous,” Nami says, to keeps walking to her trees. 

“But… I’m the captain,” Luffy whispers. He stomps his foot one time and crosses his arms. His childish behavior makes you laugh, and he turns to you. 

“It’s not funny.” 

“Sorry, Captain. But it is,” you answer.  

In that moment, Zoro walks pass you and your smile fades. He yawns stretching his strong body. He looks at Luffy. 

“I’m headed out to buy some booze,” he says. 

As soon as you see him turn towards the exit, your body reacts immediately, and you grab him by the bicep. “Wait!” He looks at your hand and then at you with a frown. “We can’t leave. The island’s surrounded by marines. It’s dangerous,” you repeat Nami’s words.  

He raises a brow and looks again at your hand. You follow his gaze and quit grabbing him.  

“Sorry,” you whisper. You can’t deny the sting in your chest when he shakes his arm, like he’s shaking off your touch. 

“Why are we here then?” He says coldly. 

You look down at your hands playing with your fingers. “Sanji went to town to buy emergency supplies,” you explain. 

“Oh, so the waiter can leave, but not me. Ridiculous,” he scoffs rolling his eyes and walking back to the exit. 

“Zoro!” 

“You don't rule here, alright princess?” He hiss looking over his shoulder. “He does.” He points at Luffy, who’s leaning on the railing still with a pout. 

“If you leave, you’ll owe me 10000 berries,” says Nami walking to us, crossing her arms. 

Zoro raises his brows looking at her. “What? Why?” 

Nami shrugs, “It’s up to you, Zoro. That’s the rule.” 

They start arguing while you sigh, grateful for Nami’s interruption. You know her real intentions to distract Zoro. You walk away towards the railing where you were before, now next to a disappointed Luffy.  

Suddenly, the slow beginning of dusk abruptly changes to the darkest night you have ever seen. 

“Hey! Who turned off the sun!?” says Luffy. 

“That was weird,” you add. 

You all wait for something to happen, but the only noise that is heard is a sharp thump, Usopp's screeches, followed by Luffy's laughter. 

“Y/N?” asks Nami. 

“Got it,” You say as your body lights up and small electric rays burst around you.  

The main deck is bright enough for Nami and Zoro to look for flashlights and put them all over the boat.  

“What now?” Usopp asks, rubbing his head from the fall earlier.  

“We should be alert, it might be a trap,” says Nami. 

Everyone gathers in a circle, ready to attack. However, minutes pass and nothing happens. 

“Just when I thought something interesting would happen,” Luffy scoffs taking his place again. 

“I'll take a nap,” Zoro says walking towards a corner.  

Usopp shrugs and sits on the ground while Nami glares at them. 

“Woohoo! Look at that!” Luffy yells pointing at the sea. 

You turn and stand next to him, trying to focus your eyes on what he’s seeing. “I don't see anything, Captain,” you frown.  

“No, I swear. I saw a tail, like, a big one! Like a big fish!” With those words his stomach growls. “We should cook it.” 

In that moment, something else catches your attention, a sound. While Luffy tries to convince Nami and Usopp, your ears catch a melody that they don't hear. The sound increases as if it were approaching from the sea.  

You lean on the railing and look down, where the water moves as a shape emerges from it. You gasp when you recognize, among the poor lighting, a woman, or so it appears. 

She connects her gaze with you, opens her mouth, and moves it to the sound of a beautiful song. “Wow...” you whisper. The woman frowns as she continues singing and seems to raise her voice. 

“Hey! Guys, look what—uh...” you turn to the others but there’s something odd with them. “G-guys?” 

Usopp and Nami are standing in front of you, but their bodies are stiff, and their gazes are lost. You approach slowly and notice that even the color of their eyes changes to a grayish one as if they were cloudy.  

“N-Nami?” You move her shoulder, but she still doesn't react. You turn to your right, where Luffy is now standing in the same state as the others. “Shit.”  

You hear a splash followed by a crash behind you, you turn to find the same woman sitting on the railing, only, instead of being curious about her, now it is pure terror as you see her skin covered in pointy scales, snake eyes, and a fishtail. 

 “Uh, hi?” You try to speak, but his reaction is the opposite of what you expected; She frowns again, tilts her head, and tries to sing again, she looks at you as if she is expecting something, she opens her mouth showing her sharp teeth and pointed tongue.  

The creature moves its body in such a way that it lets its scales launch towards you with great speed. You flinch back, dodging her attack and falling to the ground. 

“Holy shit!” You yell and look towards the others. “What the hell's going on!?”  

The creature hides its teeth and sings again, this time looking directly at Usopp.  

He blinks several times and looks at the mermaid, “Kaya?” He gasps. “What are you doing here? Oh, Kaya, I've missed you so much!” He walks to her and hugs her tight. The creature smiks. “I love you, Kaya,” and with a jump, the siren pulls Usopp so that they both fall into the sea.  

"No!" Thanks to your powers, you manage to grab Usopp's ankles to pull him hard and return him to the ship. You and Usopp fall back to the wooden floor. “Fuck,” you moan in pain. 

To your right, Usopp lies on the floor, unconscious, but still breathing. 

"Sorry, buddy," you whisper. 

Again the chant is heard and it's Luffy's turn to react. 

"Meat?" You roll your eyes. "Meat..." He purrs, drool running down his chin. 

"Uh-uh, not you," you say hugging him around the waist. 

"Hey, no—let me go," he says trying to pull away. "It's mine! My meat!" He wriggles like a worm. 

Luffy is stronger than you and you can't use lightning against his rubber body. "Luffy!" You yell at him. "It's not real! Please stop! C'mon, Captain," you try your best but it's useless. 

You feel more distress with Luffy because of his strength and the fact that he'll die if he gets to the water. But then, an idea pops into your head when you see the ship's mast not so far from you.  

"Bingo!" You release Luffy's body but catch his right arm. You run towards the mast making his arm stretch out and do a few spins around it and then bind his hand so he can't undo the spins. 

By this time, Luffy is already very close to the mermaid's claws, but his outstretched arm prevents him from following. The mermaid hisses in frustration as her second prey is yanked away (literally). Luffy's body slams into the mast, but he doesn't seem to care much. 

"What?" He asks looking at his arm, he tries to free himself but it's complicated. "I want my meat!" He whines and cries as you sigh. 

You take a look at your two troubled friends "Hum... maybe just works with men?" You say out loud when tie Usopp together with Luffy. 

"That's a whole treasure!" Nami squeals. 

"Fuck!" 

---- 

"Alright you three!" You shout to the three people trying to get out of the rubber ropes. "There's no meat! You can't go to the ocean, you'll die!" You point at Luffy. "The treasure's not real!" Now to Nami. "And Kaya's not here!" Usopp cries.  

You sigh putting your hands on your hips.  

"Besides, you two can't go to the ocean either 'cause I can't save you if you do! And—wait," You stop the scolding and frown. 

Nami, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji's in town. There's one missing. 

Someone tackles you and drags you awkwardly until your body collides with the wall. Your breath escapes from your lungs at the shock and when you open your eyes, you meet Zoro's directly. His body's against yours, leaving very little space between you.  

You frown at him. "What?" You notice that his eyes have changed too. "Z-Zoro?" You stutter under his clouded gaze. 

Zoro presses his forehead to yours in a deep sigh. "I've missed you so much," he groans. 

Your heartbeat increases so much that you can hear it in your ears, and your body tenses in an attempt to pull back . "What?" You whisper with a frown. 

He pulls back a little to look at you, his hard features softening as his eyes move swiftly across your face. You've never seen him like this before. The great pirate hunter Rorona Zoro is renowned for his seriousness and poker face.  

"I'm so sorry," he almost whispers. 

“You’re sorry? For what?” 

“I don’t know what I did to you, but I wish you could forgive me, princess,” his hand cups your cheek so delicately. “You’ve been ignoring me and running away from me and I don’t know why,” he says like he’s suffering. 

A huge lump forms in your throat at his words. Your mind clouds over and the real siren problem takes a back seat, shielded by the beautiful man begging for your forgiveness. "I-I... Zoro." 

"I'm sorry," he repeats like a prayer. 

You shake your head. "No, Zoro, it's not... you don't have to," You try to form a coherent sentence, but he's so... vulnerable and so... close. "You didn't do anything wrong." 

He then does something you rarely see. He smiles sweetly, so soft. “You’re so pretty,” he says leaning further. You can feel his breath mixing with yours. “Pretty Princess,” he lets out a soft chuckle to then kiss you finally. 

You sigh into the kiss as you feel your body melt against his. Your hands travel from his broad and strong chest to hold onto his shoulders, and his hands go to your hips to bring you even closer. 

Princess, that stupid nickname he gave you the first time you met him, he always uses it as a mockery, but in this situation, it sounds so… good. 

“Let me take care of you,” he says as he trails a path of kisses from your jawline to your sensitive neck. You couldn’t help but moan when he starts to kiss, lick, and bite there, leaving marks. “Let me protect you.” 

“Z-Zoro,” You can feel his stupid and sexy grin against your skin.  

“You have… no idea… how much… I’ve been waiting for this,” he returns to your lips. “For you”. 

“Me too,” You breathe and take his face gently between your hands. 

He sighs in relief, and he raises a hand to hold one of yours, but you push it away, groaning in pain. You frown and look at your hand, which has a deep cut on the back that you hadn't noticed before. Nor the blood that covers it almost completely. "What?" 

"What happened?" asks Zoro with a concerned look. 

And then you remember the mermaid's sharp scales. The pain brings you back to reality. You gasp as you see over Zoro's shoulder: 

There are now three other mermaids on board, but they have legs! And they are dangerously close to Nami, Usopp, and Luffy. One of them tries to free them, while the others keep singing for them. 

"Shit!" You move to the side and run while you send a bolt of lightning to the mermaid that's touching Luffy's arm. 

She falls knocked out to the floor while the others jump startled. They look at their friend and then look at you with more anger than ever, making you stop. They hiss at you and take out their claws and scales.  

Before the fight begins, you hear something behind you; it's Zoro taking out two of his katanas, ready to keep his promise to protect you, but that doesn’t last long, because the mermaids sing at the same time and louder to him. Zoro’s katanas fell and then his body. 

"Alright, I'm alone," you return to the creatures, who now have what appears to be foam coming out of their mouths. "What the hell are you!?" 

The three mermaids rush towards you in a leap as they hurl their scales. You dodge their attacks and hurl lightning bolts at them, but they too know your trick and dodge them. 

"Shit, this is useless," you say out loud while you hide behind the ship's mast. 

"Meat! My love, forgive me for this!" Luffy whines next to you. You groan not knowing what to do. 

But then, you hear Zoro's voice again. "I'm sorry, Y/N," he says as he walks to a mermaid, dragging his feet and stretching his arms towards her. 

"Fuck no," the first mermaid is guiding him towards the railing. "I should have tied you up too!" 

One last time, you use your powers to run at lightning speed, grab Zoro by his arm, and pull him back to the boat. He falls to the ground, unconscious, leaving you alone with the siren.  

The creature attacks you at the same time as you launch a powerful bolt of lightning. The impact causes her to be pushed away from the ship, along with her two other friends. 

Your chest rises and falls with your heavy breathing, the use of your power always takes a lot of energy, but you stay on alert for another attack. However, something happens that you don't expect.  

The sun returns in a slow, normal dawn. You frown at it, relaxing your body. 

"What the hell? Luffy!" Nami yells. 

"Why are we tied up in Luffy's arms? It's disgusting," says Usopp. 

Luffy wriggles around trying to get free. "I can't—" 

You turn to them, and you smile hearing their normal voices. 

"Fuck, my head hurts," Zoro groans sitting on the floor. 

"Let me help you," you say. 

Nami raises her gaze to you, but her expression falls when she looks at your abdomen. 

"Y/N! You're hurt!"  

Those are enough words for Zoro to jump to his feet, ignoring your confusion and pain. You frown and look down, your blouse is covered in a large bloodstain. You try to grab the cloth, but your hands feel clumsy, slow, and weak. Your vision blurs. 

"Uh, okay," you say before passing out. 

------- 

"I can't believe all of you," says Sanji as he puts a new plate of food on the table. "I leave you alone for a few hours and you almost let the only worthwhile person on this ship die, besides Nami of course." 

You laugh at his words as you eat. 

"Hey, it wasn't our fault!" says Usopp, sitting down next to you. He pouts and slowly moves part of the bandage around his head. 

"Yes! The fish-witch did it!" adds Luffy, sitting down on the other side of you and taking a bite of your food. 

“Speaking of witchcraft,” says Nami arriving at the kitchen “The lady’s here.” 

“Fantastic,” Sanji applauds. 

“What lady?” you ask. 

“I met her in the town, she makes an excellent casserole, but she’s a healer too, very famous. I asked her if she could check on you and the others.” 

You scoff. “Sanji, I’m fine, it’s just a scratch.” 

Sanji leans back and rests his hands on the table with a sympathetic smile. "Sweets, you've been gone for three days, and besides, the moss-head has been acting weird ever since. Maybe there's something else about the mermaids we should know.” 

“You’re right, Blondie,” says an old lady entering the kitchen. The rest of the crew also reunite and sit by the table, looking expectantly. “Well, I’m always busy and you kids have to run before the Marines find your new spot,” she points at them. Then she looks at you. “You’re very lucky, girl. But you’ll be alright. Here,” She puts a bottle on the table. “Put this ointment on and continue taking care of your wound.”  

“Thanks,” you say taking the bottle. 

She nods and continues. “Alright, those creatures are very dangerous and very different from the real mermaids. The fish people and these creatures are forever enemies. The main difference is that the tailed women are more violent, and they can’t see the good or bad things. They just want to attract humans and eat them alive.”  

Usopp shrieks and trembles in his place. “We could’ve died!” He yells. 

“Yeah, well,” the lady shrugs. “Thanks to your friend you didn’t,” she points at you. 

“But,” says Nami. “I don’t even remember what happened, at first, I thought it was a dream. How does it work?” 

“Their power involves a specific kind of music and their voices at a certain frequency that makes an illusion in someone’s head. The few survivors say that they see something or someone they want at that moment. On many occasions, they are banal objects, but it is something that causes pure desire, and they need it. In others, they are people who love, miss, or have not been able to confess their true feelings, even their deepest secrets are revealed under that effect. Now you know why the Marines want to be on this island so much. They use them as a form of manipulation.” 

The entire crew thinks in silence for a few seconds, only for Luffy's thunderous laughter breaks the moment. 

“So it wasn’t a dream!” He exclaims. “The fish-witch made me see meat!” He laughs and bangs the table many times. “It makes sense, ‘cause I love meat!” 

Even Nami giggles a little. “I saw a big ass treasure,” she crosses her arms and grins proudly. 

On the contrary, Usopp's face turns completely red, and he seems to hold his breath. 

“What’s wrong, Usopp? What did you see?” Luffy asks him and you giggle. The others look at you with a frown, while Usopp looks at you with terrified eyes. 

“I know who he saw,” You raise your brows, and you leave your empty plate. 

“You saw a person?” Nami asks. 

“No! I saw nobody—I mean…” Usopp tries to relax his body. “I saw a beautiful princess that I knew but couldn’t marry because of my pirate nature.” 

“Oh, really?” You smirk. “And her name’s like your friend from your island? ‘Cause it was the only name you repeated last night. Kaya! I’ve missed you so much!” you say trying to imitate his voice. 

Everybody bursts into laughter, and he blushes harder. They make fun of him for a while, and maybe they’ll never gonna let this go.  

At some point, Nami turns to Zoro, who’s quieter than usual. 

“Zoro, what did you see?” she asks him. Of course, Zoro’s cheeks and ears turn into a pinky shade. “Oh, my god! Who was it?” She squeals. 

He tenses his body, making the muscles of his arms pop and he clenches his jaw looking away. “None of your business,” he groans. 

“So, you did see someone!” Usopp points at him. “C’mon, man. Tell us!”  

From the other end of the table, you watch Zoro's reaction, and you can't help but blush and smile as you remember his words, the heat of his body, and the softness of his lips. Now that you have the new information about the fish witches, your heart jumps as you connect the dots between yours and Zoro’s feelings. 

“Not gonna happen,” he shakes his head looking at Usopp who insists with Nami, Luffy, and even Sanji. But then, just a second, he looks at you and makes you shiver. You need to talk to him. 

“But I don’t understand,” The crew shut up and paid attention to you. “Why didn't the voices affect me like the others?” 

The lady sighs. “It’s very rare to be immune to their power, but I don’t have the real answer, girl. The people in town say that those people’s hearts already know what they want for their lives, but it’s still uncertain,” she shrugs. 

You just nod making a face.  

“Anyway,” the lady stands up. “That’s all the information I got!” She looks at Sanji “Pay me, Blondie.”  

Sanji grunts but he still gives the lady a piece of paper. She smiles victoriously. She doesn’t even say goodbye when she leaves the ship, but Nami, Luffy, and Usopp leave the kitchen to prepare everything and set sail as soon as possible. 

The kitchen remains silent, and you feel the rush of fatigue run through your body and, above all, your wound, so you try to get up carefully. Sanji notices this and immediately comes over to help you. 

“Wait right there, Darling. Let me help you,” but before he can touch you, Zoro walks over to you. 

“I’ll help her,” he says. Sanji wants to complain, but Zoro interrupts him again. “You cook the dinner before Luffy gets cranky.”  

Sanji scoffs but he nods and walks away. You raise your head as he shyly approaches.  

“Uh- Can I… lift you?”  

you nod. He carries you in bridal style so carefully, like you were about to break in any second.  Zoro walks with you without rush and you can’t take your eyes off him. “You’re staring,” he says. 

“I am,” you won’t deny anymore. “We need to talk.” 

His cheeks blush again, and he nods. “Do you mind if we go to the crow’s nest?” 

“Not at all,” you smile thinking that he wants to be in his safe and private place. 

When you arrive, he puts you carefully on the floor and sits next to you. 

“So…” he begins without looking at you. “It wasn’t a dream.”  

You keep looking at him. “Noup.” He nods. You bite your lower lip and sigh. “That’s the reason why I’ve avoided you,” you say and he turns his head to you. “I’m sorry” you blush. “I know it’s dumb, but, I was really scared of things changing between us and I didn’t want to lose you and, the only solution I could think was… if I avoided you, I wouldn't feel anything and…forget everything and get back to normal.” 

He stares at you. “Yeah, it was a dumb idea.” He said trying to hide a smirk. 

“Hey!” You punch his strong arm and you both laugh. 

Zoro licks his lips as he turns to you. “I wish it had been different. I mean, not me drunk ‘cause of a fish’s song telling you what I feel,” he scoffs. 

“And… what do you feel right now, Zoro?” 

He smirks. His eyes travel from your eyes to your lips. “I meant what I said in the dream, but...” he moves his body to face you and raises one hand to cup your cheek. “I…love you,” he whispers before kissing you. 

This time, the kiss is more gentle, soft, and slow. Both of you enjoy the feeling of each other. You grab a fist of his shirt to pull him closer and you move slightly without thinking, but that mistake makes you gasp in pain. 

He moves away suddenly. “Are you okay? Did the wound open? Let me look for Nami—” he says quickly making you giggle.  

“I’m fine,” you assure him. “Just forgot about it for a second. And you look hot worrying about me,” You kiss him again. 

“You scared the shit out of me for three days, you know?” He says breaking the kiss. “Promise me you won’t do that again.”  

“Why? ‘Cause you’ll protect me like the princess that I am?” You tease him and he laughs. 

“You won’t let that go, uh?” 

You look at his beautiful eyes and you can’t believe that this man’s finally yours. “God, I love you,” you caress his cheek. “And that’s a no.” You chuckle.  

He rolls his eyes and grabs your face to kiss until the end of your lives. 

[project-changeling-zero]

Explain your sonadow headcanons pls further 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

*vibrates violently*

i feel like shadow had formed an attraction to sonic around the time of them turning super to defeat the biolizard, even though he didn't know it at the time. how sonic carried himself, his silent confidence and strength, and just the raw energy he had captivated shadow in ways he didn't understand.

but in terms of actually falling in love, i've always considered it to be in much less dangerous moments, more of the mundane, slow kind, like going for a walk together or sitting under a tree. i think shadow would realize, in those times, how much sonic actually means to him.

( personally, i think '06 would have one of those times where they just sit down and take everything in )

for sonic, it's a gradual thing. at first, he's simply interested in getting to know shadow and understanding him more, but respects that shadow might not want that ( he does ), so keeps his distance.

i get why people have it so sonic initiates their friendship, but i feel like shadow would, too. because he wants to know and understand sonic as well.

overtime, sonic learns about shadow's past, what he likes, what he doesn't like, and shadow gets to learn the same ( though, strangely, it's a little harder to get out of the blue hedgehog than he expected ), and they form a connection that maybe no one else but them can fully understand.

and it's only when that connection is formed that sonic develops feelings for shadow and falls in love, too.

i personally don't have the idea they're rivals post-SA2, since i think it defeats the whole point of shadow realizing what being the ultimate lifeform actually is and how he sees sonic, and the point of them setting aside their egos to protect the things that matter.

( that and, honestly, the fandom has kinda made them being rivals a sour note for me. for a lot of reasons. )

so, all and all, my personal hc of sonadow ( in most of the games // media ) is that they're enemies to allies to friends to best friends to lovers, includes shadow simping. slow burn, baby.

↓↓ if you want to see even more hcs of mine, read below! ↓↓

.

yapper bf ( shadow ) x listener bf ( sonic )

they brush each other's quills in the morning

overstimulated sonic uses his partner as a weighted blanket

doesn't need to sleep ( shadow ) x can't sleep ( sonic )

they like resting on each other // being rested on

sonic teaches shadow how to play guitar

shadow teaches sonic how to dance

they play animal crossing and minecraft together a lot ( shadow's island // biome is cabincore, sonic's is sunset beachcore )

they also play roblox, mario, and lethal company together ( sonic has rage-quit exactly once and it scared the shit out of shadow )

shadow learns how to sign for when sonic goes nonverbal

they mimic each other ( neurodivergent gang )

shadow likes to carry sonic around ( smth smth weight smth smth makes sonic smile smth smth shadow likes making him happy smth smth- )

they listen to epic the musical cuz i do ( they act out their favorite moments cuz i do )

"i love you. i always will. don't forget that."

sonic is like a little bird and gives shadow trinkets he finds, shadow reciprocates and they ended up making it a game

whenever they go on dates, they're usually almost late, since shadow finds sonic beautiful and they end up kissing

"if stars blow up, does that mean they passed gas?" "shadow. it's 4 am. please shut up."

coffee drinker x tea drinker

piggybacks

sonic will do handstands and whatnot if he wants silence, but still wants to move, and he accidentally scared the hell out of shadow in the middle of the night cuz he looked like the omori creature

in a classic AU, they'd have sleepovers

not all of the hcs, not even close, but we'd be here all day otherwise!

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Riddle Rosehearts - Beach Wear Voice Lines

Due to event restrictions, Groovy related lines are locked until the event has been cleared. I will update once these are unlocked. Login line has been captured.

Summon Line: What is this place...? No, but before that, it is a grave matter to leave campus without prior approval! We must leave as soon as possible!

Groooovy!!: I cannot deny that spending time on the beach would be a valuable experience. I suppose I can join you all for a little bit.

Home: I feel ill at ease...

Home Idle 1: If I'm not mistaken, these are coconuts, yes? Then there should be some juice inside... I'll have to craft a tool to carve a hole into it.

Home Idle 2: That creature called Stitch... I saw it eating some metal earlier. Can it even digest that properly...?

Home Idle 3: Jack said that Stitch is definitely not a dog. I do agree with him, but I wouldn't know what to say if you were to ask me what he actually is...

Home Idle - Login: It's rather hot on this island... Even while I am idly standing by, I can still feel sweat start to drip. I shall go rest in the tree shade.

Home Idle - Groovy: Having dinner with everyone while gazing at a sunset on the beach like this… This must be what it means to go on vacation. This is the first time I've experienced anything like this.

Home Tap 1: I never expected to ever wear something this casual... This is an outrageous outfit, even my belly button is showing!

Home Tap 2: I don't mind if it's thyme, or mint, or something else, but I need you to go and search for some herbs. I must drink some herbal tea before the daybreak!

Home Tap 3: It seems as though the banana blossoms that Azul picked for us are edible... And yet the color gives me doubt.

Home Tap 4: Lilia-senpai is rather skilled at crafting makeshift cots as well as using stones to make cooktops. I wonder where he could have learned such things.

Home Tap 5: I cannot get on well together with Stitch. He's much too freewheeling... If he were a Heartslabyul student, it would have already been off with his head.

Home Tap - Groovy: Wah!? Why did you just splash me!? …This is the proper way to play in the ocean? I… I didn't realize that was the proper etiquette.

Requested by @thelonelypearl.

[wenella]

Zhu Yilong: 36 Years Old, An Actor's Prime

EN translation of Zhu Yilong's Elle China October 2024 Cover Issue Feature Interview by wenella

The art museum is located at the northeastern part of the island. The huge floor-to-ceiling window and the corridor create a natural picture frame. The clear sea is in full view; small islands afar float beneath the white clouds and sea gulls occasionally sweep across the sky. Zhu Yilong steps into the frame and completes this lively picture. The tires, ropes, fishing nets, and buoys that are lying silently by the pier, come alive because of his presence. His complexion is much darker than before. During this period away from the public eye, Zhu Yilong has spent time in the scorching sun and sea breeze experiencing his new role.

The sunshine, ocean, and sea breeze have shaped the Zhu Yilong we see standing before us. He has constantly given his all for every performance and role; he does it not only by changing his appearance but also seeking breakthroughs inside out by experimenting with different acting methods.

Zhu Yilong loves acting. Immersing himself in acting allows him to dispel noise and eliminate worries. Each time his acting transforms, refines, and sublimates quotidian realities of life into artistic realities, the creative process invigorates his heart. An outstanding actor can derive energy from his acting continuously and accumulate courage and perseverance from this constant cycle.

01. Away From City Life For his new film project, Zhu Yilong has been living on a small island, which is part of the Zhoushan archipelago, for the past two months. The vast sea surrounds this small island. One must temporarily abandon the convenience of city life to fathom what living is like in this oceanic wilderness. For example, food deliveries, mobile signal, and measurements of urban time such as calendars and clocks. These items are meaningless to fishermen and sea creatures. Fishermen pay attention to sunrises, sunsets, and tidal changes, as these factors impact their lifestyles. This is the rhythm of nature.

Zhu Yilong has gotten used to life without mobile signal. This has enabled him to focus on the present. “It’s good to be isolated from the world. Everyone is talking about the film and their roles. No one checks their phones. Everyone is immersed in this creative atmosphere.” Their accommodation has an open, communal space. After work, he would sit in this space and watch the sun set; the surrounding buildings would dim gradually and his heart would calm down as he listens to the rhythmic waves – feeling just like the sea beneath the moonlight, vast and quiet. Zhu Yilong may not be an extrovert, but this does not prevent him from interacting with others. Even if he only shares a few words occasionally, he enjoys the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, just like a fish going with the flow of waves.

The life of an actor on the film set is like that of a fisherman. They work in the day and rest at night; life is orderly and follows a routine. Zhu Yilong feels that he is leading his ideal life now. If he had the luxury of taking a day off without the need to adhere to any restrictions, he would like to sleep, wake up naturally, and place a “crazy” order of food – preferably hotpot. The diet on this island has been relatively simple and monotonous. Besides, Zhu Yilong has been controlling his diet for his role for an extended period. His body fat has reached an ideal state due to his self-discipline, but this has also intensified his craving for delicious and spicy hotpot.

02. Enjoying the Moment of Epiphany Over the past two years, Zhu Yilong has received more scripts than ever. “My selection criteria differ yearly as my mood changes. It really depends on fate and the environment. If my mood resonates with a script at that moment, that’s it.”

To prepare for his new role, Zhu Yilong gradually tanned his skin and grew his hair and mustache. He also learnt free diving systematically on the set. He obtained his AOW (Advanced Open Water) diving license in Saipan as early as 2016, and showcased his diving skills when he filmed Reunion: The Sound of the Providence and Lost in the Stars. But free diving is different for him this time in Dongji Island as he needs to dive into deep waters without an oxygen tank. The main challenge of free diving is training the lungs. Beginners must learn to empty their lungs and stay underwater for a minute. Since breathing is basic human instinct, only those who have experienced this would understand how long and terrifying this minute could be. Being underwater without oxygen creates pressure on one’s body and mind. Imagine a fish that is taken out of water; it goes the same for humans. When one’s lungs are emptied for a few seconds, the diaphragm starts to spasm and the feeling of panic and near death would propel one out of the water.

“How to overcome this fear? By training, testing my limits, and telling myself to relax when my diaphragm starts to spasm,” Zhu Yilong said. When one is underwater, they are isolated from the outside world, and they can hear themselves very clearly. “The training process is like meditation. You need to use your will to force yourself to empty your brain. Once you are focused, time will pass very quickly. Now, I can complete two minutes of actions in a 9-meter-deep pool.”

To a certain extent, getting into character is like diving; both processes involve progressing from tension to relaxation. Zhu Yilong gets nervous easily whenever he prepares for a film. The more he prepares for the character, the more uneasy he becomes. “All prior work is done based on your imagination, your discussions with the crew, and your ideas of enriching the character. Before the character appears before the camera, there is absolutely no way to find out how he will turn out. You need to be in a specific setting, before a rolling camera, and suddenly one day, the moment of epiphany will strike and you get into character.” For Zhu Yilong, this process can last for several days – three to five days at the shortest, and nine to ten days at the longest. But when the moment occurs, he would feel immensely inspired and relaxed, as though embraced by warm ocean currents. There would be no need to think about other things. He just had to go with the flow and enjoy the simple pleasure of becoming his character.  

03. With Age comes Tolerance Zhu Yilong turned 36 this year, just like ELLE. Three decades. In his opinion, 36 is the prime time of an actor’s career. He is mature and energetic enough to play any character or try any genre. “The first decade in this industry involves training and learning. We had to act and accumulate experiences before we are noticed by directors. Over the past five years, I was able to leverage my experiences that I have accumulated and tried my best to create my characters. I had more opportunities to create different roles and I did not want to waste any of these opportunities that were given to me.”

Zhu Yilong is very expressive whenever he talks about acting. He said he wanted to make movies and try different genres and characters. He would love to take on more roles, but his schedule only permits him to take on two to three projects annually. Since college, Zhu Yilong has always admired Actor of a Thousand Faces - Daniel Day-Lewis. Till now, he still remembers the film My Left Foot (1989) recommended by his teacher and the moment when he saw the actor use his left foot to handle a roll of film skillfully. Subsequently, Zhu Yilong studied Daniel Day-Lewis’ films carefully, such as Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Lincoln (2012). He hopes that one day, his acting career would be like that of Daniel Day-Lewis’; every role that he creates would allow the audience to immerse themselves in the film and forget what he originally looked like.

For Zhu Yilong, seeking personal breakthroughs isn’t exactly daunting. This is something that can be accomplished any time. He hopes to receive roles that require a wider range of acting as that will excite him. “The greatest advantage that has come with age is my tolerance for mistakes.” Zhu Yilong said that during his first few years of filming, he was particularly afraid of making mistakes and hearing the director shout NG. He hoped that every scene could be done in one take and that he could meet the director's best imagination of the character accurately. However, he gained a better understanding of the art of acting over the past decade and gradually realized that making mistakes was perfectly normal. Most of the time, an actor's imagination of a scene does not necessarily translate into his performance. That is why actors should practise trial and error on the set and adjust their acting step by step to achieve an accurate performance. “Now, I’m no longer afraid of making mistakes. I won’t obsess over what the correct answer might be. I just think about the different possibilities and offer the director more choices.”

In a way, overcoming the fear of making mistakes demonstrates his psychological growth as an actor over an extended, arduous period. So, “does the desire to win become greater or lesser as you age?” In response, Zhu Yilong admits that his desire to win has never diminished. When he was young, his desire to win manifested on the basketball court. He wanted to score goals and points; he wanted to be better than his opponents. When he graduated and started his acting career, he wanted to do everything to the best of his ability and win the director’s approval. However, his concept of winning changed gradually after he turned 30. Winning the approval of others was no longer his priority. He sought personal breakthroughs, explored different options, and tried interesting projects. Cloudy Mountain, Lighting up the Stars, Lost in the Stars, The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death, Only the River Flows, Land of Broken Hearts, Dongji Island… “I choose a different genre each time I make a film as I want to test my limits.” Each time a film wraps, Zhu Yilong moves on and departs for a further destination, just like the ripples of waves that hit the shore, edging one another ahead.

**THE END** Post-translation note: Love how he is challenging himself and the boundaries of his acting. His interviews always serve as timely reminders for myself too. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Do not make winning the approval of others your priority. Be comfortable in your own skin. Happy Monday reading. If you'd like to re-translate this, please DM me for permission + credit. Please do not repost this article. Thanks and good night.

[mathmodder]

Ocean Life Mod by MathModder (In Progress)

What you need to know:

This mod seamlessly integrates oceanic creatures into your game map, spawning naturally in the vast expanse of the ocean. Featuring Whales, Dolphins, Sharks, Seals, and various accompanying effects, the experience is enhanced as some animals gracefully breach the water's surface while others elegantly swim near the shore.

How do I make them appear in the ocean?

If your world already has the sailing boat effect like in Sunset Valley, they will appear naturally, spawning little by little without crowding your ocean.

For worlds that don't have this effect, you may be adding the "sailboats" effect to the CAW to make them appear.

There is another way you can do it without needing to go to CAW, which I will explain in a soon-to-be-released video, so in your save you can manually place it without having to edit the world.

How many files will there be?

Will be a maximum of 2 to 3 files.

It is worth mentioning that some files maybe will need to be placed in the Overrides folder and others in the Packages folder, they will all be specified at launch.

Is this mod compatible with other effect mods?

Yes, it will be compatible.

Bugs:

Animals always spawn at sea level. In case your city is very flat in relation to sea level, some whales might occasionally leap high and appear on land, but this seldom happens as land surfaces in worlds are usually a few meters above sea level.

Release date:

Early January 2024 Early Access for Patreons December 2023

Here is the list of animals and other effects that will be included in the mod:

Kraken (From Island Paradise Expansion Pack)

Sharks (From Island Paradise Expansion Pack)

Great White Shark

Tiger Shark

Lemon Shark

Whale Shark

Hammerhead Shark

School of fish

Humpback Whale

Dolphin

Beluga

Manta Ray

Seal

Sea lion

Sea Turtle

Sperm Whale

Salt Water Alligator

Pilot Whale

Sting Ray

Reef Shark

Narwhal

Killer Whale "Orca"

Sail boats

Water buoy

All the submerged fish from diving spots from the Island Paradise Expansion Pack will appear in the shallow waters near the shore

Want to support? Be a Patreon and get Early Access! Math Modder | The Sims 3 Mods and MO-MO-MORE! | Patreon

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will add them to this post!