#the whole point is that the strangers aren't so strange and where the differences are real they're meaningless

[honestlyvan]

(Crossposted from DW)

I know this, also, is not really what they’re thematically about, but along with Ouroboros^2, I would have liked it a lot if there had been some kind of... developing dynamic between the two Ouroboros forms. As it is, the Interlink forms are still very strongly divided based on dominance, each form having the Glowing Eye Of Hemisphere Priority, and being colour-coded to match their kingdom. The rigid division is maintained throughout the plot even though we see mutual influence between the pairs in the character development side.

I also really felt like the gameplay mechanics weren’t explored to their full potential, with Interlinks being unable to participate in Chain Attacks and not having fusion arts of their own.

It would have been nice to see some exploration of what that sort of intimacy would actually do to a relationship. It would have been cool seeing them take over each other’s Ouroboros forms, have stronger mechanical rewards for chaining arts between the two forms, maybe even have the differences start blurring until the Interlink is more of a mixture of the two features, with the voiceblending matching the ambiguity of who’s in the driver’s seat.

Basically, I wish the game had made good on the idea that they’re not Kevesi Ouroboroses, nor Agnian Ouroboroses, but rather a secret third thing.

[songsofadelaide]

In 2006, you entered Tokyo Jujutsu High with nothing but the clothes on your back. A cursed spirit wreaked havoc in your home and awakened your spirit sight and cursed technique— and mopping up the scene were two high schoolers from an unknown school who became your classmates soon enough.

Your situation was confusing enough as it is, but long story short, your newly awakened "powers" meant you had to leave your life behind and begin a new one as a jujutsu sorcerer. Seeing as you had nowhere else to go anyway, you relented and allowed yourself to be led away, like a girl from nowhere headed nowhere.

Except it wasn't nowhere, and you found yourself a home— with people just like you. Satoru, Suguru, Shoko— and also Kento and Yu. They were once strangers who soon became your only family.

Yet it still gave you chills when you think about what it was exactly you were fighting. Sometimes, you could hear what they were saying, with voices that sounded so human yet also unearthly.

You started taking things more seriously when you realised there was no more turning back for you. You undertook missions with only one goal in mind: to continue staying alive. When you were partnered with Suguru one time, you didn't hesitate to leave him behind when things got nasty. Surprisingly, he didn't fault you for that and even understood just how terrified you truly were by the whole ordeal.

In one instance, you fell unconscious, only for you to realise in that mid-death sequence that it was Suguru who fished you out of the rubble of your home and breathed life back into your lungs. He was a tender youth, and you could even call him old-fashioned, but he took his assignments just as seriously as you did and even made sure you were always all right with things.

"Do the cursed spirits still scare you?" "No... Not as much. I think it's because you're always around..."

Suguru likened you to a feral cat that got lost in the woods, only to return to a different kind of civilisation where everything wanted to hurt it all over again. Out of all your classmates and schoolmates, he was most understanding with you, to the point where Satoru was incredibly jealous, for the lack of a better word.

"Just how long are you planning on keeping up that helpless girl act of yours?" "Don't speak to her that way, Satoru. You've seen what she's been through."

When you called him by his first name by accident— because Satoru called him by his first name all the time— he told you it was fine, and that you could keep calling him by whatever name you were comfortable with.

"If it's fine with you, I'll call you by your name, too."

You were more than fine with that. In fact, Suguru made you feel all warm and stupid and fuzzy that it almost felt moronic of you to be around him. It was your mistake asking Shoko for a check-up because she did nothing more but aggravate the strangeness you felt whenever Suguru was around.

"You aren't sick. You feel that way because you like him, you idiot."

He didn't blame you either when you kissed him that one night, overcome with so much affection he had a hard time pondering from where it came. He joked about having successfully tamed a wild cat, but you reminded him once more how human you were when you pressed your chest against his and stole the rest of his quip from his lips once more.

The first time you went out with Suguru after that hazy kiss, you could hardly hear his voice because of how loud your heart pounded in your chest. He was the perfect gentleman— or so he attempted to be— and was incredibly attentive to you and your needs. Why he gladly played house with you was beyond your comprehension, but you didn't mind staying so blissfully ignorant in this bubble that caged you both.

Suguru was kind. Nothing but kind. And he was exceptionally kind to you, even though he thought you were nothing more than a feral cat he managed to domesticate.

Your kiss reminded him of the sweetness of a colourful hard candy when he was little— fragrant and cloying— perhaps a bit too sickeningly saccharine for his tastes, but it was far better than the flavour of the curses he had to ingest. He'd kiss you again to remember better days— again and again and again until both of your lips were sore, until he's had his fill, until he's had enough— enough of your sweetness and enough of you. Then he'd tell you to drink a glass of water like nothing happened.

When the disillusionment occurred— the Star Plasma Vessel was killed and Yu died in a miscalculation— the light in his kind eyes had died out, and no amount of knocking on his door will arouse him, let alone let you in.

Suguru left for a mission one day and never returned. He visited his friends one by one until it was only you left that he had yet to meet. You said that you'd follow him to the ends of the earth, fuck the system and fuck society.

He felt like he was leaving his pet cat to fend for itself.

"If you leave, there's no going back for you."

Where you went didn't matter that much anymore as long as he was there. It never mattered to you at all. It only started to matter when Suguru said he would love to have you with him.

"I can live with that. I only need you."

Satoru did not take your escape kindly. He said that you were just as poisoned as Suguru. Your only mistake was trying to fight back— against the young god that Satoru was. You supposed it was your feral cat instincts that told you to engage.

He did not finish you off but instead turned you over to his teacher, who would find something to do with you one of these days.

Suguru waited for you until nightfall, and he concluded that you bailed and probably had cold feet. Like always, he never blamed you. You would be a fugitive like him, after all, after working so hard for the roof over your head. It only hurt him a little, especially when you told him that you only needed him and nothing else.

What could have possibly changed your mind?

He didn't mull over it any longer. Wild cats like you will always find ways to survive, after all.

"I guess I'll have to leave that kitty behind."

In 2018, "Suguru" finds you among the school's collection of oddities. Only it wasn't him, but a stranger with his face. He coos over you, holding you close to his person— as though it was truly him— and he remarks how this body remembers "this vengeful spirit".

He remembers— in fragments— breathing life back into you long ago, and how you orbited him as though he was a celestial body. Your face occupied much of his thoughts— back when those thoughts were still truly his.

He consumes you, and his body is overcome by the memory of a fragrant, cloying flavour that runs his mouth dry.

"Ah," the impostor remarks. "So that's what it was."

"Suguru" summons you in the thick of battle, and his opponents are fraught with terror at the sight of his most favoured curse— a menacing feral cat that lives only by his commands, that lives only for him.

"You never changed your mind after all."

[justghostly-things]

Why Mike Wheeler should get Vecna'd

I might need to rant about Mike Wheeler (to like the surprise of no one.) because if it's gonna be anyone its gotta be him, right? I don't think he is gonna die, or it's gonna be the exact same as it was for Max. (Simply because we have seen it before.) but I don't think it would be beneficial to Vecna any of the other characters.

and assuming that the Duffer brothers aren't just bad writers we know Mike has been acting weird for two whole seasons now. (I personally think it was worse in season 3 but it was still strange in season 4.) The show established him a certain way in season 1 then nailed it into the coffin that this is who he is in season 2 but then season 3 rolls around and he is just... Different. (An ass) Of course, we have our theories and analysis (thank you, to anyone who have compiled all the hints into one place what would we do without you 😭This or This or This)

but still.

Since we are talking about Stranger Things S4 and S5 there are a lot of uncomfortable topics that are going to be mentioned, I do not go into details. I barely mention it. I do not describe anything, but I do talk about the themes. Please stay safe while reading

We should look at this in three ways.

What it brings to the story

What advantage would it give Vecna (aka why would he want to Vecna them)

And how does it help the character

Let's talk about Max first. Because we can work out the logic with her and then try and translate it to other characters.

I think its import for this section to know that what Max has delt with is a very scary real thing. Many children have a very similar life as Max, and all I am going to do is talk about them from within the show. I will say is you are not a bad person because you wish death on someone who is hurting you. But from here on I am talking about Max from both her Pov and Vecna's. None of these things are my thought or feeling on the greater topic of abuse and dysfunctional families.

From a story perspective why was Max the one who got Vecna'd and not like, Dustin or Lucas? If you answered because she watched Billy die. Yes. Anyone who understands a progression of a story can figure out why it makes sense for Max to be Vecna'd. We create this guy who shows you your trauma reflected back at you and then kills you as seen in both Fred (Nancy's friend) and Chrissy.

Which of the main cast of characters just went through a trauma event just the season before? Max.

I think if this is all you take from season 4 you have fundamentally forgotten one important thing about Max getting Vecna'd. It isn't just about the trauma of her watching her brother die. No, Vecna specifically targets the fact that Max deep-down wished-for Billy to die, she used to fantasize about it. It isn't just survival guilt. And we are shown this visually through Fred who also has survival guilt. Their trauma is different because Max's guilt isn't just about surviving. That is why it had to be Max. Because all of the characters could feel some sort of Survival guilt. They have watched so many people die and get hurt. it reveals two things. One is how Max truly feels about Billy's death, and two it tells us more about what Vacna is actually doing in the vision. Because he isn't just trying to torture a traumatized Max to the point that she willing to just give up. it is showing Max some "ugly truth" about her to herself. Because that is what Vecna is. Or thinks he is. He sees the world as horrible and should be corrected and the only way to do that is by "starting over". This is him showing max what is "wrong" with her and killing her (so he can start her over/create a new her)

I feel like I need to rewatch season 3 again because I can't remember exactly but I think Max most likely played a big part in season 3 where she kept meddling with Possessed Billy. (Mike did too but we will get to that(this thing is gonna be long btw)) She showed that she is willing and able to mess up Vecna's plans.

(It is kinda a debated if it was just the Mind Flayer or if it was Vecna himself that possessed Billy (and Will in season 2) but for the purpose of this we will say that he at least knows the role that Max (and Mike) played in the mall fight.)

All of this to say from Vecna's Perspective, he sees a group of kids who keep getting in the way, And they are all close to El? And one of these kids has extreme guilt about Billy? Yeah of course he targets her. It is so useful. It'll get to El and the rest of the party. Making them weaker and affect them emotionally so they are more likely to react irrationally. It's so perfect for him. Literally Max says so in the show.

and Max, (I can tell some people aren't gonna be happy with me for this so just know I love max so much please, but) she up until season 4 was a bit of a weird character. She is a confusing character. Especially in season 2, she has a lot of character inconsistencies. This video explains all of what I am talking about in this section this really well. but she isn't really a main character until season 4. She plays more of a supporting role. Especially in season 3 where she is helping El find part of independence. And yes, we know Max has a hard home life and how Billy is an ass to her. We know this but we don't really understand it until season 4. She just feels like an inconsistent character up until this point. (you know who else is an inconsistent character-) Her getting Vecna'd shows us a direct shot into her head and we can start to piece together the truth of her character. We really get to understand why she is inconsistent. And how it isn't a flaw of the writing, it's Max being 13 and dealing with a terrible home life.

the best part about it is that there are clues all over that are screaming at us and I can tell you right now that there were probably so many children who saw themself in Max. And people who were screaming about how this is why! It's because of her home life! while the rest of us were just calling it inconsistent writing. And yes, I am gonna bring it up because this is exactly what we see with Mike Wheelers character. Because the truth is that we haven't seen the whole story, we have barely seen anything of Mike for the last two seasons. (mentally i know he is on screen I mean mentally) we just have a theory on what is going on in his head. and I think it would be a waste not to use Vecna to do the same thing they did for Max for Mike and this is ignoring all of the parallels the two characters have. this is just from a story point of view and omg can you tell how passionate I am about this??

Now do i think it is impossible for any of the other character to get Vecna'd? No? it would probably be more similar to how Nancy got Vecna'd. Mostly because if my other theory is correct (is this shameless self-promotion?) I don't think there is time for like all the character to get Vecna'd.

But yeah, lets talk about a few of the character and why I do or don't think they could get Vecna'd. I will try to make this quick.

Steve: Steve is very interesting and I kind of wanna make like a character analysis about him at some point (probably after I rewatch the show) but I think it could go either way. Steves whole arc for the whole show is to show us how someone can change. Steve started as an ass and has slowly been evolving to become a better person. And I think there is a place for Vecna to come into that but idk if he needs it. I think Steve's can jump over the last hoop by himself (unlike some people who haven't even started jumping... (Mike)) Overall I don't think it will tell us anything we don't already know about Steve, but I can see Vecna wanting to incapacity Steve because of his physical strength. Dustin: Again, I am not sure what more Dustin getting Vecna'd will tell us about Dustin. If anyone has any thoughts, please don't be scared to let me know. I can see Vecna also wanting to take out Dustin because of his smarts. So strategically I can see this being something Vecna would want to "Take out" (but i am not sure how strategic Vecna is? I certainly don't think it would be the main reason that he targets someone.) Lucas: Idk, I think it would be great to have Lucus be more import to the plot but if he is gonna get Vecna'd it's gonna be about Max and him "teaming" up with the Basketball? guys. (I say hesitantly because I don't remember what sport it was...) Which we don't need to be told he feels bad about because he told us. So, idk. I guess we can talk about Will as well: but it's really all the same thing, I don't know what new information we can learn if we see him getting Vecna'd. Sure, its angsty and that might be reason enough for some people, but I know if I was writing Season 5, I wouldn't even consider it. We know almost everything that is plaguing Will. We see almost everything first hand. And sure, we knew about Billy for Max but like I said it was more than just "she watched Billy die" and sure maybe there is something I just don't see or don't know. I just don't see reason for this poor boy to go through more. The other thing is I don't see why Vecna would want to not just kill but make Will suffer. Make him have a pain full death? If Vecna wanted Will dead, Will would be dead. its plain and simple. the amount of times Vecna had Will in his grasps? I don't believe it was just luck. I would actually love to see if there aren't times where Will could be in danger, or it would make more sense for the danger to target will but for some reason it didn't, and he came out unscathed? (if I notice anything in my rewatch I will add it here) but yeah. also, there is all the parallels between Will and Vecna, so I think Vecna sees himself in will, maybe like how he saw himself in El and maybe will try and recite him. Idk but it seems (to me at least) that Vecna has more planed than, make him suffer and then die, in store for will. This is a really good analysis and this I agreed with on why Will was probably not gonna get Vecna'd. But it is a really good (and funny) video so go check it out if you haven't.

all of this is making me want to do an analysis on Vecna/henry. I don't think he is a partially new kind of villain, but I think it would be fun to try and dive into his head.

Hopeful this is my last point where I finally get to talk about my boy Mike wheeler. This is a Mike wheeler safe place. (I say as I am about to make my point on why he should go through pain and torture next season.)

I kind of have talked about some of this but let's dive into more detail (like we did with Max) and talk about my three main points

What it brings to the story

What advantage would it give Vecna (aka why would he want to Vecna them)

And how does it help the character

I feel like the story has been building up to this for a long time actually. Not only with the stalker shots that Mike is shot in but everything we see about his character. From how much we have seen his character change between season 2 and 3, to how little we actually know about Mikes inner workings. Mike is a puzzle right now. He is surrounded by character who are at least decently written and at most complex and compelling. And he is a main character? Like if Mike was a Minor or supporting character (like Erica and arguably robin) it would be weird sure but at least expectable. But Mike was THE main character in the opening season. We learn the most about him. And we see a lot of the story threw his eyes. And what? Were just going to throw all of that away? Like it was nothing?

But! I bring up the point I made about Max again. About what she was like in season two, what our impression of Max as a character and how that changed in season 4. The reason her character acted like that was because of things we didn't have connections for until season 4. All the parts were laid out in front of us they just needed to be connected. Mike getting Vecna'd will literally connect the dots for us. it'll show us an obvious and clear answer for what is wrong with Mike. Because how, honestly, are they going to show us all of these complex things that has been haunting Mike without a Vecna vision? It's the last season. We do not have endless time to unpack everything that is happening inside his head. Especially if the season is going to be as busy as I expect. We have like 20 other character who needs screen time, and we are getting introduced to more characters? And we have to fight the big bad? and there is gonna be a time skip (I swear to whatever higher being there is if they try to pull a "all Mikes' problems got fixed over the time skip" bs I am gonna be on the news for homicide. no-one will ever hear the end of it, omg. i don't even care if Byler becomes cannon, there will be war.) point is this matter is delicate and Mike lips on the matter are sealed so tight. If he hasn't said a word about this in 3 years he isn't gonna talk about it now. He needs a push, and Vecna is going to push him down a flight of stairs.

I do feel like I am repeating myself but it's crazy how similar Mike and Max character are. Almost like they are shining bright neon lights saying like look at this! notice this! and I know I am not the only one to point this out. But like what was stated in this video, Mike is almost the perfect person to Vecna'd , he not only has a connection with both El and Will. He, as Will would put it, is "the heart" of the party. He is connected to all the other character in some way. And if taking Max out would of killed motivation/ made the party unstable imagine what killing Mike would do to them? Which is why I do believe in the Mike was the original four victim theory (I think I saw someone go into more detail, but I can't find it. If I do, I will update with both links)

Also, remember when I mentioned that both Mike and Max have meddled with Vecna's plot in season 3, I just think I should point out how in the gym scene where they trap Billy in the sauna it is Mike taunting Him. And in season 2 he was the one who figured out that Will was possessed. All I can think of for season 1 is that he took El in and formed a kindling with her, which isn't strong evidence but idk maybe Vecna gets jealous easily idk.

And I think to understand this last point I would recommend watching or reading threw the links I linked all the way at the top of this discussion. but I would urge you to watch this at the very least: This video

if you haven't caught on yet, I do believe the Vecna visions are going to reveal to the audience that Mike is gay and has been the whole time. aemiron-main has a very good theory on how I think this is gonna go, because that falls into the same thought bubble as Max's. Where I think the theme isn't just that he is dealing with internalised Homophobia but his guilt surrounding his queerness. which we can easily explore through a vision. and it explains why he has been acting this way, especially in season 3. Like, can you even think about what this poor kid is going though mentally because, your best friend, literally your person got possessed, you watched as they lead to your friends new dad's death? like you can do nothing? and you blame yourself because if you had stop being gay for two seconds just to notice that there is something off about him you could have saved everyone? YEah I would be an asshole as well. Honestly, I think all the clues are there we just Vecna to piece them together.

And even in the very unlikely situation where I and like every other Byler are wrong about Mike being gay. Mike getting Vecna'd can only mean positive things for his character.

I feel like I had another point to make but I genuinely can't remember what it was T_T so, if I remember I will update this. But that is my point. Mike wheeler is gay and will be tormented by demonic infused visions of him being gay in the next season. so, you know. like an average Tuesday for any queer.

[bestofmultiverse]

Mastermind ; Milly Alcock x fem!Reader.

A/N: admittedly i didn't reread it in any point so it probably contains many mistakes- also english is not my native language so beware. Ps i gave R a piercing but its honestly not a big deal. Ps2: Idk if I'm gonna give it a part 2 or not so just go with it and let me know if u do want.

Warning: this shitty thirst trap contains (probably bad) smut, so please if you're a minor or generally if its not your gem, take a step back

________________________

"Did someone ordered this?" Milly asked the group as the waitress presented her the drink.

"Did someone ordered this?" Milly asked the group as the waitress presented her the drink.

"I didn't order this" she said kindly to the woman before looking back at her friends, who seemed as clueless as she.

Well, Emily's friends to be exact.

They were celebrating the younger girl birthday and Milly was just one out of a whole lot of people who (rightfully) cherished the girl's presence in their lives.

"It was sent to you specifically by another table" the waitress clarified and milly raised an eyebrow.

(These things happen only in movies, are they not?)

The waitress pointed to a table not too far from theirs, at a pretty looking girl.

Effortless Charming, she seemed.

The girl was engaged in a conversation with her drinking buddies, the two guys seemed to be arguing about something Milly couldn't make, as the pretty girl rolled her eyes fondly at them and took a sip out of her drink.

Painted lips curving an entertained smile as one of the boys put his hand around her shoulder.

"Are you sure its her?" Milly asked the waitress and the woman nodded before turning away.

Milly glanced back at the girl, just so she could catch her gaze.

Y/e/c spark in excitement.

The girl sent her a small smile and raised her drink, holding it as a 'cheers' kind of gesture.

Milly smiled back before doing the same.

____

After half an hour or so, Milly noticed the two guys who shared the table with the beautiful stranger getting up to dance floor, seemed to taking their chances with various different women.

The woman stayed at the table, her eyes glued to her phone, and Milly decided to adress her- and giving Emily and her friends a break.

Emily gave her a an encouraging hand squeeze as she got up before turning back to one of her friends, a girl Milly couldn't name for her life.

"Interesting choice of a drink, you had"

The actress said as she took the unoccupied sit next to the stranger.

The same sit the guy who put his hand on her sat in earlier- which was closer then she probably should've.

But it was a crowded place, full with drunk people and the girl was hot, and milly was a bit tipsy , and maybe a bit horny as well (cant blame a woman for her needs)

"Is that so? I honestly gambled on it. Good to know it worked"

"Didn't say it did" Milly taunted.

The girl's smiled at her knowingly,

"Yet, you're here, aren't you?"

(Yes, i am- milly thought)

"You seem confident enough so imagine my surprise that you only a drink and nothing else. You could've approached me. I do not bite"

"Unfortunately" the strange smirked and milly smirked back.

"I see no reason to bother a person without knowing where I'm standing in the situation."

She admitted "not a coward, but a calculated woman"

"Always the mastermind, I presume?"

"Barely" she chuckled before signaling the waitress.

"So, now that you have my attention. What's next?"

Milly hold up the stranger drink and took a small sip, containing eye contact.

The stranger smirk grew.

"Another drink, if you'd like"

The waitress approached.

"Naturally" milly smirked back before turning to the waitress who had a knowing glint in her eyes.

(Milly wondered if the waitress could see how close milly was to pull the overly confident and attractive woman to the restroom)

The night continues on,

The two flirted a lot and touched each other in ways that could pass as innocent, yet both knew were not,

In one moment milly's hand brushed the girl's hand,

In another the stranger's hand found a home on the actress thigh.

Milly bit her lip, and the girl's gaze linger on it a bit to long to consider innocent.

Milly brushed a piece of hair behind the girl's ear and made her blush slightly.

(It wasn't the alcohol, she knew)

"We should dance" the girl said at some point and and pulled milly to the dance floor.

Milly's eyes catch Emily's from across the room and winked at her. Her friend's laughed at her antics.

Saying milly was stunned will be an understatement,

The girl knew how to move, and made her whole body tinge in anticipation. Her lips linger not far from milly's own as she swayed close to her. Their bodies inches apart.

It was the last straw for the actress, and after a few minutes of this, she decided she might burst at any second.

Especially when she felt the girl's back on her front.

She put her hands on the stranger's waist and titled her face slightly to meet her hungry gaze.

"We're leaving now" she stated and the girl sent her a knowing smile

"Is that a commend, your grace?"

(A mastermind you are)

Milly smirked and pulled her further into herself. Her lips close to the stranger ear. "It is, a commend"

{this is a bit smutty so idk how well thats gonna go}

30 minutes later milly found herself in the girl's flat. Their lips connected and clothed half undone.

Milly's lips on the stranger's collarbone, taking in the flavor of her as the girl shuddered breath quickened.

"The bed-" the girl started to say and milly pulled her further into the room, the girl's legs hitting the bed and she fell on the mattress.

The blonde took no time before pulling her own top off.

Her smirk growing as the girl on the bed pulled her own dress off and showed a perfect skin and no bra.

A few tattoos scattered across the girl's body and a small silver piercing attached to her eight nipple. Her hardened nipple

It was delightful sight and the blonde had to stop herself from attacking the girl's nipple piercing with her tongue, instead she captured the painted lips in her own before pulling herself over the girl- who was now lying on the mattress, panting and turned on.

"Take it off" the girl said and went to pull over milly's Calvin klein's bra.

"Ask nicely" she said and attacked the girl's pulse spot.

The stranger whimpered so delightfully and milly felt her body reacts to it.

"So confident from the outside, but aren't you a good little brat"

The girl whimpered again.

"Please Milly"

Milly's lips trailed down the girl's chest, before stoping on her perky, pierced tits, her hot mouth finding the cold metal piercing, and her tongue delightfully playing with it.

Her left hand finding the girl's other nipple, giving her it well deserved attention and devotion.

She felt the girl's shuddering under her and decided it was time to move further down. But nit before taking her bra off. Exposing her own tits.

The girl's eyes scanned them so fiercely, one might think it was a form of art.

(It kinda was)

Milly's lips trailed to the girl's stomach, kissing every inch of it before pulling herself further down to the girl's thighs.

Milly learned with time how Soft butterfly kisses in the right spots can get a woman into a frantic state, and ph how diving sight it was.

"Please milly" the stranger begged as milly's teeth grazed her soaked panties.

"Please what" the blonde said and pulled herself up, to look at the woman beneath her.

Her blue eyes demanding.

"You know what" the girl said irritated before pulling the blonde into a bruising kiss.

"Don't be a brat" milly said as she pushed the girl's back to the mattress and dominantly cupped her face in her right hand.

"Fuck, please fuck me milly"

No further admission was necessary and milly found herself pulling herself back down, so her teeth could grazed the ruined fabric again.

Moment later with swift motion of her hand it was gone and the girl was bare in front of her, her pussy wet and the numb of nerves pulsing with anticipation.

One look at it and the girl's frantic gaze was enough for milly to know that she cant make anymore teasing, not for now, so she did what the girl was begging her to do from the moment she pulled her into her apartment- or even earlier when she sent her the drink- she attached her lips to the pulse point and flickered her experienced tongue,

The girl was a mess, no more cleaver remarks or confident words, just mumbling and whimpering of milly's name - that sounded oddly like a prayer.

It was so hot milly had to stop herself from pushing her own hand into her own pants, instead she pushed a finger into the girl's wet core, that seemed to take it as it was nothing, stretching and accepting it as if Milly's finger was a part of it anatomy.

a few seconds later another finger was in and the girl's breath became frantic.

"Milly, faster, please"

And she did went faster, her tongue turning and swirling the bud as if it was a candy in her mouth, her taste buds enjoying the taste as well, and her fingers working so fast - as if they were in a race- and winning.

"Cum for me baby"

And that was it, the walls were tightened and her body rose up a few inches in the air as milly's other hand kept her grounded, momentarily later circling her stomach.

Milly's lips found themselves in the delightful task of cleaning up some of the mess she caused before she pulled herself back over the panting, sweaty girl, and gave a kiss.

Her finger's who were still coated with the girl's juices went straight into her mouth as she kept an eye connection.

The girl smirked up at her, turned on by the sight.

"You're so fucking hot" she said and milly stroke her cheek fondly.

"You're the one to be talking"

Milly kissed her nose and she giggled momentarily before pulling milly into another kiss.

"Take your pants off" the stranger commended

Milly raised an eyebrow

"Please"

[dreamtydraw]

Hi ! Can you tell us more about what kind of dynamic Corvus has with the other LIs if you played their route ?

okay so i took to play everyone's route ( except Cirrus chapter 2 ) so I can finally answer ! I'll start from the worst relationship to the best relationship Corvus has with the Lis ( fun fact you can notice how comfortable they are with them based on how much Corvus is willing to show their appearance )

For starter Corvus fear Cirrus like a wild rabbit would fear any predator. They are NOT comfortable around him because of the fact he's showing up as a sort of superior authority that makes them feel extremely vulnerable and because they constantly fear that someone could use them, the gut instinct of fear push them to AVOID Cirrus. If I want to explore Cirrus route I would make up another character because this two are not compatible.

Now Oleander and Corvus is a particular relationship- There isn't more honest than someone who dislike you and Corvus dislike him, more precisely they dislike how amused he seems to be from their torment. This weird relationship of hate is mixed with a sour strange need of validation, Corvus despite their inner monologue of discomfort do enjoy Oleander's company and is willing to offer more loyalty than they claim they would. I don't really know how Oleander view this relationship as for now I kinda have a hard time understanding his personality, so maybe i'll develop it once I have a better grasp of who he is as a character.

Francesco is a breath of fresh air for Corvius. They abandoned their whole guard because their heart wants to believe on a stranger kindness and they genuinely enjoy spending time with him, it helps forgets about death. Even if their motive aren't all pure hearted, Corvus do see in Francesco a friend. They like the way he approach the world and his strange mannerisms. The relationship is ambiguous as they both share mixed signals of interest but as for now ( so beginning of the story ) it's casual on Corvus side ( but I do hc the theorie that Francesco might know mc from outside the mountain and already likes or have stronger feeling toward them than we know. So he surely like them way more than platonicaly and is overjoyed to spend time with them. )

Now let's dive straight for them, hey should make out- that the understanding everyone around them have of what Corvus and Keir relationship might be. The worst situationship to witness, they both fumble at each other attempt to take that step in the relationship and the slow burn is a bit too burning for how slow it is.

Now outside of the romantic aspect, I do like their relationship in the fact they don't really share the same morals but respect the one the other share and are open to understand it. It's rare to find someone who you feel at ease despite your difference and it offer instant where you can see things from another point of view. Corvus is literally an enjoyer of material collections who do not want to be seen as kind for the fear of being used by others while Keir does not find interest in owning more than necessary + actively do goods to help others. They complete each other in a way that don't stop them from being who they are individualy and I swear to god i am a big sucker for Moon and Sun themed pairing okay-

Also on a more developed part but Keir's route is the most fitting route for Corvus because it force them to go against one of their insecurity which is the idea of being used + not having any worth. In this branch of the story Corvus find a purpose and something that makes living worth it when they enjoy the fruit of helping a community.

Thank you for reading this far ! It's not super detailed but that really because I wait for more materials / understanding of what I could use from the game to build Corvus relationship with the lis !

[synnthamonsugar]

1.

On that point on drifter being a reckless flirt and how it's lost in fanon that you added to the ask.

It disappoints me how much that happens, because I think it could be an amazing part of his character to explore when writing fics or making fanart or even just in discussions like these. I don't have the time or the skill to write like that myself, but having a character unable to read his affection in some boy-who-cried-wolf type way would be the type of conflict a good fic could use, even if it's only a short one. People seem to think that by acknowledging that he's willing to be that brash with everyone, especially in acknowledging that he's canonically pansexual, they're going to lose part of the story, as if it's no longer real romance. There are so many interesting interactions that you can get just from that trait, yet it seems to be the most frequently overlooked one.

2.

The other thing that stood out to me in your response was the mention of him being reduced to a derogatory Asian stereotype. I'm surprised that I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm not Asian, so it's sadly easier for me to overlook it. I'm glad you made that point, it definitely puts something to words that had been bothering me so much about the way some people portray him. I definitely see it now thinking about some of the more problematic depictions I've seen of him. I think it's also why characters in other media with similar complexity & personality traits aren't watered down to negatives the way that he seems to be so often.

3.

Allow me to get somewhat off track and into just Drifter and the community for a moment here, because this strings together some thoughts that I already have. And, thank you for your patience in reading all this, I'm glad to have somewhere to put my thoughts. Again, I'm not Asian, so I probably can't articulate this as well as someone who is might, but I'll try.

The critical comments that I have seen about his appearance, though not directly stating race, have sometimes seemed to be coming from racial biases. He's a normal guy. Handsome, even. When people talk about how they don't understand why anyone is attracted to him it comes off strange to me. Sure, he may not be your type, and that's completely normal lol, but to rip on him as if he's particularly ugly is odd.

That, and the naming. When I've read fics related to him people very often switch his name back to Eli. I could be wrong, but I thought the name he had used the longest was Wu Ming? A few fics choosing Eli wouldn't seem weird to me, but the fact that I have never seen one use Wu makes it stand out differently. I may just be overthinking at that point, I don't entirely know, but the more I see it the stranger it seems. I don't think it's wrong to use/continue using Eli, after all it is canonically one of his names, it's just that it's so heavily preferred, other that drifteris shippers liking Germaine because she calls him that.

Again, I think it would be more of an opportunity for character depth, given that he had a lot of foundational (both negative and positive) experiences under that name. Is there lore where he's discussed not using it? Because that may make some more sense.

That may say more about that parts of the community that I've interacted with and the authors that I've read from more than it speaks on issues within the community as a whole. If that is the case, it's on me to find the better parts of it, and I will.

Again, thanks for the space to think aloud. I appreciate you & the others that've read through the other post taking the time for it. I'm glad to be able to have a meaningful discussion about it.

Thanks again for another excellent message. Hope you don’t mind me sharing my thoughts on what you have to say.

People seem to think that by acknowledging that he’s willing to be that brash with everyone, especially in acknowledging that he’s canonically pansexual, they’re going to lose part of the story, as if it’s no longer real romance. There are so many interesting interactions that you can get just from that trait, yet it seems to be the most frequently overlooked one.

Amatonormativity in action! A lot of people conflate flirting, promiscuity, and infidelity — never mind those are three separate things and that the first two DON’T imply unfaithfulness (flirting doesn’t have an inherent sexual or romantic component, someone can have many partners and not be a cheater). So people avoid writing Drifter as flirty or experienced in love because they incorrectly believe that will de-value their OTP.

OTOH I wonder if there’s an element of wanting to avoid pan/biphobic stereotypes of pan/bi people being flirts. Which I consider well-meaning but misguided because “flirtatious” is pretty harmless by the standards of pan/bi stereotypes, because (see above comment about flirting not being inherently romantic/sexual) and also because one example of someone fitting a stereotype isn’t as harmful as a pattern where ALL the characters belonging to a demographic act a certain way, or have certain experiences. Mara is word-of-god bi, has only had one canonical relationship, and isn’t flirty at all (sorry to the Mara/Petra and Mara/Eris truthers, I see the vision but I don’t think there’s even subtext for it, at least not as a reciprocal thing in Petra’s case), and Shaxx who is implicitly bi/pan but whose attraction isn’t a defining feature of his character ... or even really a thing at all excluding a few lore tabs.

(As an aside, I’m going to use this moment to shill for @/phthalology, whose Drifter characterization is some of my favorite of all time and hearkens back to the Forsaken era of Drifter as a frontiersman-meets-showman, someone who is funny without being jokey, someone who wears a mask with little intent to take it off, but is overall deeply human and sympathetic without feeling cloying. I can’t recommend her shippy or gen Drifter fic enough.)

The other thing that stood out to me in your response was the mention of him being reduced to a derogatory Asian stereotype.

When people talk about how they don’t understand why anyone is attracted to him it comes off strange to me. Sure, he may not be your type, and that’s completely normal lol, but to rip on him as if he’s particularly ugly is odd.

I can’t speak authoritatively on this because I am not East Asian nor a person of color but the insults to Drifter’s appearance (when he is – by any measure – a conventionally attractive man) leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well. Especially when paired with the ubiquitous “rat” insult which is racist & xenophobic (used against PoC, immigrants and other minority populations in dehumanization campaigns generally, and against Japanese people in WWII-era propaganda specifically).

And yes, I suspect most don’t use it with racist intent, but people forget that one can be accidentally racist and that accidental racism is still racism – it’s not a world-ending thing, it doesn’t mean a person is irredeemable, make right, stop saying it, and move on. But it doesn’t even make sense as a “neutral” insult. In its common usage, “rat” means “snitch” or “turn-coat”, and Drifter has never told on the Guardian or Eris or Orin or anyone else that I know of so … why “rat”? Who’s he “ratted out”? I wish it and its relative phrases (e.g. “moonrat”) would be retired from in-game/fandom use, but after four years of call-outs I have little hope for change.

As for Drifter’s pseudonyms, I can’t say I’ve seen that much “Eli” in fic (though I also haven’t been keeping up). “Germaine” seems to be the most popular one, though your original point of “why not call him Wu Ming” still stands.

Germaine was the name he went by in his earliest years (first part of the Man With No Name lorebook, when Drifter guarded the settlement of Eaton), so there’s perhaps a good-faith reason that people call him that - it was his “first”, and the name associated with one of the best pieces of writing in the game.

Wu Ming shows up later in A Man With No Name, when Drifter is running a bar at the foot of Felwinter Peak and negotiating with the Iron Lords. Of note, Wu Ming literally means “no name” - I do not speak Mandarin so I can’t speak for the precise connotations of it, but I can see why people who are aware might avoid what essentially means “anonymous”. But I don't know that most people are aware of it, so it's odd that it sees little use compared to the others.

Eli is one of his more recent pseudonyms and the name that Orin knew him by. I suspect this name goes overlooked by the fandom because the content it was in was cut from the game; you’d only know of it if you read some of the old Gambit Prime lore tabs on Ishtar Collective.

All that being said, I think there’s a lot of interesting, overlooked story potential exploring his different names. Or just like, encountering people from different eras of his life and being called different things. (IIRC, Saladin called him Wu Ming when they met which was a cool throw-back and a good example of this idea.) If I had to hazard a guess, a lot of recent writing leans into Drifter "settling down" so I suppose the people writing those kinds of stories don't want to lean into his past as an itinerant wanderer of many names.

[matenrou-fan]

Yandere! Doppo with fem! s/o

yippee my favorite thing to write!!

yandere themes, stalking, mention of being locked, lying, delusional Doppo;; 1703 words

It's actually much more easy to imagine than you probably think. This man have low self-esteem, he get used to being treated like he's nothing, to the point where he think about himself like about garbage, and he's depressed af

And then.. you appeared. He may be not that religious but he definitely see you as angel, without any jokes. Angel, who came down from heaven and bright his days, his whole life..!

It's doesn't matter if you're actually the ray of sunshine who have many friends or also awkward shy introvert, he will see you as the kindest in the whole world, even if you just smile to him sometimes during lunch break and asking if he's alright when he feel sick after sleepless night of paperwork.

Yes, he have Hifumi who always treat him good and even cook for him, but it's different! Hifumi is his closest friends who know him from childhood, and you're.. you're just a stranger, just co-worker, yet you always so calm, so kind to him, you never scream at him. He get used that everyone in office try to slack off from their work, making him doing theirs reports too..! And you was different, you're the only one who was so gentle with him, making his soul tremble and his heart skip a beat when he notice as you walk in office early in the morning.

He start to peeking at you more during work house. Just by looking at your focused face he can start feeling himself much better, and when he accidentally meet your gaze? Oh, he's so embarrassed, trembling and looking away, as he afraid that he will scare you off with his strange behavior. But in the same time, his heart beat faster and faster, as he can't stop smiling. Such new, sweet feeling.. so addicting..

But soon it will be not enough. He's still too shy to talk with you more than for five minutes when you two bump into each other in corridor accidentally, so he decided to start stalking you outside of work too. Why not? After looking at you for so long in office it's doesn't sound that bad, he's just a little bit nervous and want to know about your life, what's wrong?

So he will walk you home, slowly passing through dark streets behind you. Aren't he actually doing a good thing? If someone will try to hurt you, he will be right here, immediately protecting you! So it's mean he's not that creepy, he just making sure you are safe!

Slowly he will get more info about you through stalking, your address, closest friends, family members, favorite places to hang out and more, more.. He still reassure yourself that he just trying to know you better so it would be more easy to talk with you, and that he's not doing something illegal.

Then he finally will be enough confident to talk with you. Now, when he know your preferences and favorite things it's easy to choose right topic to make you interested in him, to make you think that you two are understand each other so good and have so much same interests! Shouldn't you just befriend him already?

"Oh, you also like this show..?! Yeah, me too, I think I can tell the whole plot from memory, hehe.." - should I say that he spend whole night before this little talk watching it and scrolling through wiki so he would look like a big fan?

He can't control your free time outside office but during work hours he will try to cut off your little chit chats with other co-workers, talking with you himself or make them actually do their work. Yes, he finally start to say "no", so he would be able to stalk you right after work, and not sit in office till midnight..!

Also.. Aren't this mean you have a positive influence on him? Ah, just how much he's appreciate you in his life, how much you change him! And he's really sure that it's good, cause now he feel himself so happy when he admire your sleeping figure through your bedroom's window, or when he write new interesting fact about your life in notes in his phone..! He never feel himself more happier, and he can't even imagine how much happier he will be when he finally will be able to touch you, to visit your house or to invite you to his house.

Oh, his house.. It's actually a problem. You're a girl, and he have Hifumi in their house that would fall unconscious just by looking at you. Also, he's almost 30, and he still live with his friend. Aren't it will make him look.. unsuccessful? Doppo really try hard to be much cool and prosperous than he actually is with you around, as he wants to look like a solid man to win you over.

Maybe he should rent a room for himself? Just a calm lonely salaryman who's hard worker, not too rich but not too poor, aren't he would look like an ideal type? He also can lie that it's his own flat, not a rented one, yes..! it's also would be much easier to lock you inside if something will go wrong

So he would start to talk with you more, acting more and more soft and gentle around you. Just how precious you are, always smiling at him, listening to his still a little bit trembling voice.. Even when he's not able to play cool, even when he snapped and started rumbling about how creepy and ugly he is, and how much his boss annoy him, and how bad his work, you still wasn't disgusted, asking if he alright or he wants to vent a little bit.. Truly, an angel, an angel that fate give him so he can change!

And he change, he really change.. but did he? Even now, when Doppo's much more confident, when he almost find a new apartments for himself (and for you, of course), he still so.. insecure.. Everytime he see you with others co-workers, its break his heart, and when he see you hanging out with your friends while he stalk you, it's make his soul trembling with anger and jealous... Why are you with them, when he's standing here, hiding in shades?! So unfair, so humiliating...

Yes, he try to be as good as he can, but do he actually deserves you? Everyone here much better than he, and they don't even need to fake something to make you talk with them, to make you interested...! He bite his lip, as he can't stop looking at you laughing face, as one of other male co-workers makes you laugh.

He can't take it anymore. Even with all this lie he still feel that he's not enough, otherwise you wouldn't talk with other people! You would forget about everyone around you as he forgot! But you didn't, and it makes him so hurt and insecure.

But this doesn't matter. You already captured his heart, he's addicted to you and he can't let you go. Even if he actually much worse and creepy than you think, even if he actually don't deserve you in his life, he doesn't care. He will make you his at any cost. He just need you

So Doppo would finally rent this stupid apartments and get up his courage to invite you here, as he already prepare everything that he need. He said he just wants to drink tea together and talk a little, what's can go wrong...?

....

But as soon as you enter his house after long day at work, he would giggle, locking the door behind you. Well, many people lock their door even when they inside their house, it's more safe like that, but.. You feel like something was off.

"S/o.. S/o.." - Doppo mumbles, so weak and shy yet so creepy and obsessive. He slowly get closer, suddenly hugging you tightly as he sniff your hair, your perfume, whining - "Your scent is so good.. A-and you're so soft.... Even softer and warmer than I thought..."

You try to push him away carefully, saying with confused face that that's not really what you expected to get today.

"Oh.. Even when I act like that you keep being such an angel..." - he chuckle. He looks so creepy and yet you still talk with him so softly, apologizing.. How can he let you go, even if you asking about this?!

So, no. His grip so firm, as he just continue to sit with you, his heart beating so fast as he just can't get enough of your warmness, softness, cuteness.. You can hear his trembling breathe as he whisper to you just how much he loves you, how much he ready to do to make you smile, and just how much better his days now, with you around.

Would also apologize so much, as he still think that he's not worthy, but, despite he feel guilty, he will not even think about free you. He can't let other people see you, what if you will throw him away?

Lock all doors, all windows, he's even fork out to buy a sound insulation and smart curtain that always closes when he's on work (oh, they also have remote access within app, so Doppo always can check if you try to open them and ask for help by knocking on windows). Don't worry, as he already know what's your favourite things, he fill your new bedroom with books of your favorite authors, and here's tv so you can watch your favorite shows and films, and here's table with stuff for your hobbies, everything...!

"I'm going to work, darling.." - Doppo smiles softly as he kisses you forehead, ignoring your weak struggles. He know that soonly you will give up - "O-oh, and I will get my salary soon, if you want something new for your hobby just ask me, okay?"

"So.. Have fun, okay? And try not to miss me to much, I promise that I'll rush home after my stupid work as fast as possible... Just to be with you all alone again.. ♡"

[char-lie-spirals]

So, since @gristlebloom-orchid asked, I DO have a Flesh!Graham AU and I finally sat down to put my thoughts about it into something comprehensive, and then into words! So, I figured I might as well make a post about it! Actually this is my 2nd attempt at making it because apparently version 1 was like 2 times too long for a Tumblr post or something?? Messed up :/

Warning for Flesh-typical content, mostly of the dysmorphic kind, along with some Drastic measures to "fix" that

So, the entire AU starts with one simple change - the NotThem doesn't manage to kill Graham when it attacks him. He survives by pure chance, and doesn't come out of the encounter unscathed, but no matter how much blood it spilled, at least he made it out alive!

Except, the whole thing really messes with the way he sees himself. He can barely recognize his own reflection, so many little things about it seem wrong, things he doesn't even know words/names for, but they're all just wrong wrong wrong that's not him!!

The NotThem gets a good meal out of him just... feeling like a Stranger in his own skin, so instead of finishing the job, it hangs around, sometimes pretend-attacks him just so that he locks himself in the bathroom and has nothing to do but stare in the mirror, and it's enjoying this "arrangement" very much!

It doesn't take Graham too long to pick up on the pattern. A few weeks in, he locks himself in the bathroom with nothing but a notebook on him, and ends up trying to write down what exactly bothers him in the reflection.

No matter how hard he tries, the descriptions aren't detailed enough. His face isn't "wrong", it's his eyes and nose and mouth and skin and- no, no, that's still too broad. His eye color seems too dark, and his eyelids are folded differently, and they seem too far apart, and-

The NotThem leaves him alone, satisfied enough, much faster than usual. This is the point where a realization strikes him, and all of his previous thought process gets off-track for a Stranger victim. Because you see, from his perspective, all what he knows is:

There is something herding him around, and he keeps falling for it's tricks. It torments him, and then leaves, seemingly content enough with his fear. Seemingly... fed by it. On top of that, he's barely himself through his own eyes, so to anyone else he's surely unrecognizable, just one slip up away from losing his self entirely, and is he still a person at that point? Is he a person at this point??

He doesn't feel that far off from an animal serving its purpose up until it will get slaughtered. With this one simple trick (overthinking), he has managed to change his fear of the Stranger into a fear of the Flesh! The NotThem hates him!

Does he react impulsively to this realization? Yeah, probably, since his response is to up and leave his flat instantly, only grabbing a few necessities along the way and with not intentions of coming back

He wanders for a while, feeling horrible and shuddering at each reflective surface he passes by because there is something wrong with his body, and it makes his skin crawl. Before he knows it, he's already desperate enough that he'd do just about anything to fix it

He feels he can't really trust anyone to try and fix all those little things without messing them up further, so that's off the table. He'll have to fix them on his own, with his bare hands if he has to. Then again, there's no telling if he won't mess himself up more by trying to fix things!

He decides he needs to get some practice. And some tools. And sure, he's been walking around for a while now, but it doesn't take him all that long to come across the nearest butcher store, and it's open! Just... strangely quiet. Up until,,, oh oops! uh oh!

Yeah, he kind of. Happened to walk into Jared Hopworth's Butcher Store? While the man is in the middle of disposing of a guy for the mafia? And those people were quite clear, no witnesses are allowed to leave, so... he's just stuck here now.

He's scared at first, as one would be upon walking in on a Huge guy torturing some other guy, but then... then he sees the way Jared pulls bones from the man, how he re-shapes them...

If he's going to die here, he might as well ask for help with a few of his own issues. For a start, he's pretty sure his right forearm doesn't look quite right because the bone should be a bit more squashed, and at a different angle, but that's apparently fixable???

Jared's not used to people wanting to be reshaped (this is like early-mid 2006, 6 years before the gym statement takes place, give him time), but he complies and is even more surprised by the honest positive reaction.

He asks if Graham needs help with anything else in his body, and Graham just pulls out his notebook. He knows that much fixing won't be free, but now at least one of his limbs looks his own again, he can't possibly stop now?? Not to mention, some of the bits are easier to replace or add to rather than re-shape, so... if he ends up having to lead a few people to their doom... well. So be it.

With every little change, he becomes more himself, but at the same time, strays further and further from who he used to be. And when he's finally satisfied with his results? He might just keep trying to bring more people to the butcher shop out of habit. :]

That's about it for the story I have properly planned. I do, however, have the idea that once Jared moves on to owning that gym of his, Graham will be Very helpful in finding future customers! All he has to do is approach people and kindly point out the few things he can just see are wrong about them, and then tell them he knows a place where they can fix those!

I'm not sure how/if he'll get involved with the main archives crew - maybe when Jane Prentiss traps Martin in his own home, he reaches a few similar conclusions that Graham did and that draws him in? Maybe he's been looking for the NotThem in case it slips up and can't finish the job properly again, which leads him to the institute? Maybe he happens to be one of the people Jon contacts all the way in season 3, since he managed to escape the Stranger's grasp and that might be useful? Who knows! I certainly don't, not yet!

Also I'm open to feedback on this AU since I don't cover Flesh much in my AUs and writing, so I feel a bit out of my depth? But I figured the body dysmorphia aspect of it could fit the mess I like to make of -selfs and identities when the NotThem is involved and I'm feeling a bit silly :] but I tried not to abandon the more animistic aspects of it? But again if that just Doesn't Work as well as I was hoping it would, like I said I am open to feedback!

[greetingfromthedead]

C62: Day and Night

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Series Rating: 18+ / Explicit

Chapter: 62/84

Words: 1.8k

No particular warnings for this chapter.

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The two day track to Juukei turns into three. Vash kept his promise of doing you all day, and by the end of it, even you were exhausted and out of breath, barely taking any breaks to recover or to take care of your toma. As soon as you were back from tending to the birds, he pulled you back into his embrace to continue where you had left off.

Vash had fallen asleep between your legs, his head resting on your stomach. His coat engulfs your naked body while you sit halfway up and stroke his hair, gently holding him and caressing his skin as you keep watch over the night. You are so full of love—in love with the man in your arms, in love with your current outlook on life. You aren't afraid anymore of slipping away, of losing your mind, of losing the life you have.

Another day is lost in the little villages; the people seem happy, the children play in the streets, and you are filled with a different kind of peace. You remember enough of your past to understand people better, and Vash's presence fills you with comfort. He seems to be brimming with joy as the kids accidentally kick their ball towards him, and he gets to return it to them. He gives a friendly smile and waves as he guides his tomas by the headgear.

You spend the whole day mingling with the people; you get some food from the locals; and Vash buys the children ice cream. He looks so joyful as he gets to be with the people; it's easy to forget just how much he loves mankind and spending time with them. It's not just his guilt or duty pushing him to protect humans; it's genuine love and adoration. He helps everyone who needs it; he tries his best to make people happy and smile; he is so gentle with the villagers; it makes your heart burst.

As none of the villages had an inn, you move on to the town of Juukei, and suddenly the atmosphere changes completely. It's not quite dark yet, but the streets are mostly empty; women and children are nowhere to be seen; just some rougher looking men are moving around, giving the pair of you very mistrustful glances. This makes your skin tingle. How could there be such a vast difference between the settlements and what is going on here?

"We should get settled in," you say quietly to Vash from the top of your tomas.

"Yes." From his tone, you can tell he has picked up on the strange vibes too. "Excuse me, we heard there's an inn in this town, but we have circled around twice with no luck. Could you point us in the right direction?"

Vash's voice is kind and joyful, a masterful mask on his face as he addresses a man holding a shotgun over his shoulder. The man is skinny, with excess skin drooping on his face, the sun spots are dark on his cheeks and forehead. The balding head leans further back to get a clearer look, no longer just glaring through his gray eyebrows. He seems mistrustful of Vash's soft smile; your expression is more neutral in the back.

"And who might you be?" His tone is frank, "We don't like strangers coming to mess with us."

"We are just passing through. We mean no trouble." Vash stays calm and kind.

"And how would I know that?" His eyebrows rise higher. "We get a lot of weird strangers just passing through, except they leave with our money, our women, and our children! Get lost!"

"What is going on here?" Vash's tone becomes more concerned, "Is there trouble with bandits?"

"Bandits, thieves, lowlifes—you name it, they pour through our area!"

"We are only looking for a place to stay; we mean no trouble. You have our word."

"Ya may look harmless, but I don't trust you. But the inn is next to the pawnshop. There are no names on the building; don't need to invite trouble. You may go there, but know that there are always seven barrels pointed at you if you start any trouble at all."

"Thank you for your kindness!" Vash answers the old man with a smile, completely ignoring the threat he made. "Have a safe night!"

Vash pushes his tomas to move forward, and you follow him, giving the local a wave as you pass him. Your eyes go over the houses and streets again, and you notice all the residents having their eyes on you, some even more than that.

You manage to find the inn, but things don't get easier from there. There are a few men smoking and drinking in the corner; their gazes immediately start to follow the two of you. You can't make out what the hushed voices speak about, but from the general atmosphere, you assume it's about the two of you.

Vash manages to get a room from the innkeeper. The man was reluctant at first, not trusting either of you, but seemingly relaxed a bit thanks to your presence. Apparently there are a lot of disappearances in the area, not only the regular bandit problems with robberies and burglaries, but people have gone missing, mostly women and children, a few elderly, and on rare occasions, some men too. The locals suspect that they are being taken to December. Vash masterfully navigates through the conversation, getting details out of the man to piece together what is going on in the area.

You drop your bag onto the floor as Vash turns on the light in the room. Pushing off your boots, you let out a sigh. Your mind is distracted; the light mood of the day is replaced with something more sinister.

"Do you think the people were really moved to December?" you quietly ask.

"It could be, somewhere they are taken to, these people are scared," Vash says, taking off his red coat and hanging it over the back of a chair. He sits on the bed and looks at your approach. "Their loved ones are being kidnapped."

"You want to investigate, don't you?" You stand in front of him, your hand gently stroking his face.

"Yes." His hands rest on your hips. "I can't stand seeing people suffer."

"Then we'll investigate," you said, your thumb gently touching his birthmark. "Rest tonight; I'll stay up in case there is trouble."

"Are you sure?" His forehead leans against the upper part of your stomach, and his hands move around your body.

"Yes. You get some sleep; don't worry about a thing. If there is something, I'll wake you." Your hands cradle his head.

"You're the best." His muffled response vibrates against your skin. "I love you."

"I love you too. Don't worry your head about the rest right now." You try releasing his head to pull away, but instead his arms squeeze you tighter, and he leans backwards without letting go, pulling you closer. Your legs meet the frame of the bed. When you have nowhere else to go, he leans so far back that you end up falling onto the bed on top of him. He still won't let go as he turns to the side and his legs lock around you. It makes you laugh, and you play with his hair again as he settles in better, his limbs still tied around your body.

The night is quiet. Vash uses your lap as a pillow. His little snores echo in the room, but they don't drown out the voices coming from outside. The men patrol the streets, comparing notes and chatting as they meet. Apparently, it is calm; there are no new strangers in town, just two travelers, a man and a woman, who were looking for the inn.

Vash wakes with the early light, your fingers still stroking his soft hair. He takes your hand from his head, moves it to his lips, kisses the back of it, and then nuzzles his face into your palm. He mumbles something you can't make out.

"Good morning, Red!" You chuckle lightly. "I hope you slept well, but if you want to tell me something, then you need to speak up."

His eyes are still closed as his face moves up from your lap.

"I said I love you! And good morning!" He looks goofy, and his hair is an absolute mess. "I still feel bad for you staying up all night by yourself. You must be so bored."

"Don't worry, I counted the hairs on your head."

"Really?"

"No," you chuckle, "I was listening to the townsfolk. Three people have gone missing this week. One from Juukei, two from the village nearby. A little boy and his mother. I don't know about the third. First, the mother was taken in the evening, and the boy went to look for her by himself; he didn't come back. The third was taken during the night from their bed. The trouble comes with dusk; there are no problems during the day. It has been going on for a month."

"Should we stay another night?" his eyes open to look at you.

"They might not come or hit a different village. Maybe we should go check the surroundings again. Perhaps we can gather some more information during the day when they are less suspicious."

"You're right." His head settles back into your lap, but he turns onto his back to look at you better. "Are you sure you want to get tied up in this?"

"Of course." you smile and take his hand. "Even if I didn't think that it was important, I would still stick by you. I'll fight your fights alongside you."

You get ready, packing up your things again before going downstairs. The inn offers simple pre-fabricated porridge for breakfast, and the two of you eat in silence in a far corner, trying to pick up more information people might be talking about outside, but you gather no new intel, besides that, the men who stayed up all night to keep their families safe are tired, and with daylight they head home again.

The streets go quiet for a bit before more lively voices appear. Women and children go about their days as you finish your meal. You hear people cheerfully talking by the pawnshop, and the stark difference between now and last night strikes you as baffling. You finish up and throw your cloak over again to hide the knives you carry. You pick up your bag from the ground when you hear gunshots outside, and your eyes shoot to Vash, who has already reacted. His bag is under the table as he dashes to the door. You leave your stuff next to his as you follow.

Outside, there is an armored car, obviously stolen from a military police division. A few ruffians hang off from the sides of the vehicle, machine guns pointed into the air as they laugh maniacally, their course taken onto the pawnshop next to the inn.

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[tmnt-obsessed-ace]

Sunshine of The Woods: Chapter 4, Getting To Know Each Other

Mikey's life was weird.

That's practically a given at this point. He and his brothers were mutant turtles that live in the sewers.

They were created to be weapons for a war against humankind by a warrior alchemist using the DNA of famed action star Lou Jitsu.

They were…sorta mostly trained in the art of ninjutsu and all four of them sans Donnie use mystic weapons. They fight mutants, yokai, an evil cult hellbent on world domination, hell they even fought an entire suit of evil armor and sent it back to its prison dimension!

Their lives were like a story ripped straight from a comic book!

And somehow, lost in a completely different universe…dimension? Standing in front of a possible different version of his family, in front of a different version of himself!

Mikey's life just got a whole lot weirder.

"Dude…what?" The human boy asked, mouth agape. The duo of turtles plus the ginger girl looked equally as stunned.

The only one who didn't look like their brain was currently exploding was the orange clad turtle, Mikey's apparent counterpart.

Said turtle slung a warm arm over Mikey's shoulders, yanking the box turtle close to his side.

"This is the coolest thing to ever happen in a million years! I always wanted an awesome twin brother! What's your favorite pizza? It's jelly bean, jalapeno and anchovy right? Do you like to skateboard? Are you friends with Leatherhead? What about Ice Cream Kitty? What's your favorite comic book?" All the rapid fire questions started blurring together in a jumbled mess. And with the sudden ringing in Mikey's ears it was near impossible to understand.

His vision began to swim, blurring in and out of focus as more muffled voices joined in. The box turtle's legs were trembling, suddenly struggling to support his weight. His lungs began to ache, a harsh cough tearing through his throat.

And so the turtle coughed and coughed, flem in his throat refusing to come out while his lungs kept begging for some precious air. After what felt like hours, though was not even two minutes, the coughing eased up. That left Mikey a wheezing, shaking mess.

Brown eyes rapidly blinked away the last of his blurred vision as he slowly made up for the air he lost. When Mikey came to he realized that he was sitting on a swivel chair, the five strangers around him.

"Give him some space." The purple clad turtle said, gesturing for everyone else to back up a bit. "Are you alright?" Calloused hands covered in scars were examining Mikey. First one was laid across his forehead, then both cupped his cheeks before trailing down to feel his chin and neck.

"I'm good!" Leo often went through the same motions when one of them got sick and needed an exam.

Leo…Donnie…Raph…

Thinking about his older brothers made Mikey's chest hurt. Were they here in this strange world with him? Did they get seperated?

Loud, furious, clucking from outside the barn broke Mikey's train of thought. All eyes turned towards the barn doors where a brown and white hen was throwing an absolute tantrum.

"Aw a little chicken!" Mikey cooed, smiling at the hen. Everyone else in the room tensed up as the hen charged into the barn. Mikey carefully climbed off the swivel chair and sat on the barn floor. The hen came over, making the box turtle smile. "Aren't you just the cutest!"

The hen stared at him for a moment before she strutted over to Mikey's outstretched hand. He just wanted to pet her!

Unfortunately the hen pecked at his hand, hard enough to make Mikey yelp in pain. The hen began to cluck, pecking at his legs like there was no tomorrow! Each peck hurt more than the last.

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow! Stop it! Go away! Go away!" The hen turned her attention to the human boy, charging toward him like a mad bull. The boy screamed and sprinted out of the barn, the hen in pursuit.

"Why does Brenda always go after me!" The boy shouted as he ran in the yard. The purple clad turtle was clutching his sides in laughter at the comical sight.

"Bye Casey!" The orange clad turtle shouted as the boy, Casey, ran behind the farmhouse. His screams echoed around the property, causing the box turtle to gulp.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Mikey dared to ask, his legs aching from the hen's ruthless assault. Christ that hen was vicious!

"Against Brenda? Eh fifty fifty." The red clad turtle said, making a so-so gesture with his hand as the four of them walked to the farmhouse.

"Why is something so cute looking so mean!" Mikey couldn't help but whine as another coughing fit took hold.

"There is a very high chance that Brenda is actually a demon in the body of a chicken." The girl said nonchalantly, as if that statement wasn't as baffling as it was terrifying.

"Or the soul of an entitled, middle aged white woman." The purple clad turtle added in a deadpan voice. That at least got a good laugh out of Mikey.

"Like she said, Don, a demon." The red clad turtle added, giving the taller turtle a small shove.

Mikey snickered at the pure shudder that shook the girl's body. He definitely heard a few horror stories from April's retail jobs. The only reason she never ended up on an episode of criminal minds was because she had "extremely good self control." From being full on screamed at because she was even a little bit slow on the register to having to remake a drink five times because it simply wasn't good enough.

One of the good parts of being a mutant turtle, Mikey didn't have to get a retail job.

"So just to clarify, your name's Mikey. Correct?" Asked the girl.

"Yup! But who are you…" Mikey trailed off, looking at the girl supporting his weight. He never met anyone who looks like this girl.

"April! Do you not know me where you're from?" The box turtle's eyes went wide as dinner plates. A dumb smile spread across his face before he burst out into a fit of giggles.

At the confused looks on their faces, he forced himself to stop and smiled.

"Sorry it's just…you are so much different from my April!"

"Different how?" One of the four asked, it was most likely other Mikey.

"Well first of all my April is black. She's also shorter than you and wears red glasses." The group of four looked stunned for a second as the new information set in.

Then other April laughs a bit, brushing her bangs out of her face with her free hand.

"Didn't expect that but she sounds really cool."

"The coolest!" A few playful mumbles of disagreement came from the trio of turtles before Mikey looked at them. Time to put names to semi familiar but not really faces.

"You're Raph, the freckled one is also Mikey and the lanky one is Donnie?"

"I am not lanky." Said turtle mumbled with a huff.

"You got it little dude!" Other Mikey practically bounced as he walked.

"And the one you threw over the couch like a damn football is Leo, speaking of which." Other Raph roughly flicked Mikey in the forehead, earning a small yelp.

"Ow! Rude!"

"Like flinging our brother, who was the one that took care of you the most over the past week, over the couch, further aggravating his barely healed injuries wasn't rude?" The box turtle wilted a bit under Other Donnie's sarcasm.

"I'm sorry. I panicked and kinda sorta acted on instinct." Mikey hung his head, guilt filling his mind. It was an honest mistake! He didn't know where he was and freaked out!

"Your first instinct when panicking is to throw someone?" Other Raph said in disbelief.

Ok when you put it like that it does sound pretty absurd. Hell under normal circumstances he would've probably thrown something at the stranger. Whether that be one of his brothers, April, a dumpster, a school bus or even one time an entire cargo ship.

Throwing things with his Kusari-Fundo is just so much fun. He can pick up things that not even Raph cna lift and throw them like tennis balls.

"Throwing things is fun!" Other Mikey smirks like a Cheshire cat, it honestly makes a chill run down Mikey's spine. His counterpart suddenly grabs other Raph by the waist and throws the short turtle into a nearby bush.

"You're right, that is fun!"

"Mikey!" Other Raph practically screams, lunging from the bush at the freckled turtle. Other Mikey bolts off into the woods, laughing up a storm as other Raph gives chase.

Other Donnie and other April snicker, while Mikey just watches in mild confusion. As his counterpart's howls of laughter grow fainter the now trio approach the farmhouse.

The very same farmhouse Mikey ran out of, what maybe close to fifteen minutes ago. After he threw another version of Leo over the couch and bolted. Like a coward. And apparently other Leo might've actually gotten hurt when Mikey oh so rudely chucked him over the couch full force.

Shame bubbled up in Mikey's gut, you don't do something like that to your siblings. Alternate versions or not they were still family.

And he hurt Leo… a tiny whine escaped from Mikey's mouth.

"Is something wrong?" Other April asked. She stopped dead in her tracks, both hands now holding Mikey with the box turtle facing her. Mikey started coughing again, thankful for the convenient timing. He could feel both other April and other Donnie rubbing his shell in an attempt to soothe him. Truth be told it was helping some.

"Is he alright?" A familiar harsh voice asked right when the coughing fit was nearing its end. Mikey kept his eyes to the ground, after all the grass was suddenly incredibly interesting to look at.

There was a dull tap tapping sound and before the box turtle had a chance to question what it was he felt a warm hand cup his cheek, gently lifting his head up.

For the second time today, brown eyes locked with dark blue ones. The blue clad turtle smiled softly at him, only further cementing his guilt.

"Let's get him inside." Other Leo said, walking back inside the farmhouse. There it was again, the tap tapping sound. Other Donnie and other April didn't seem to react to the sound. It only took a few seconds for Mikey to realize what it was, and then immediately want to both punch himself in the head and sink into the ground.

It was a wooden crutch tapping against the floor with each step other Leo took. A crutch to support his right knee, which from what Mikey could gather, was wrapped in thick layers of fabric and gauze.

That must've been one of the injuries that he had aggravated when he chucked other Leo over the couch. It had to be an older injury! Because there was no way in hell that he hurt the blue clad turtle enough to warrant a makeshift crutch and cast.

Right?

The trio went inside, with other Donnie coaxing other Leo to sit down on the couch, right leg out straight and propped up under a pillow. Mikey was sat down next to the blue clad turtle, causing his already queasy stomach to clench and tighten with even more guilt.

It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault…

"I'm gonna hit up some leftovers for lunch, you guys want some?" Other April asked, when both of the bigger turtles nodded, Mikey felt a bit awkward. He was technically intruding on them, not to mention his little stunt earlier was not at all how introductions were supposed to go.

Luckily his stomach answered for him, a particularly loud grumble made him blush while his stomach continued to whine for food. He was so hungry…

"I'll take that as a yes, we got some leftover Japanese food if that's alright?" Mikey could only nod, perhaps to spare himself the embarrassment. With that other April disappeared into the kitchen, ginger ponytail swishing with each step.

Then there were three.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Just got a little freaked out is all." Mikey finished with an awkward laugh, utterly nervous on how exactly this alternate version of his stubborn dramatic brother would react.

Oh for crying out loud Leo is still going on about how Draxum threw him off a building, even though it's old news and Draxum is at least trying to be nicer. Well…nicer isn't exactly an accurate term. He hasn't tried to kill them and he might be coming around to humans! Baby steps!

"It's alright," Other Leo said, pulling Mikey closer. "You woke up in a place you've never been before with no clue how you got here. That's pretty nerve wracking at first. I know the feeling…" The box turtle relaxed a bit, some of the tension finally leaving his body.

"We didn't get a formal introduction! Hi I'm Mikey!" Other Donnie fondly rolled his eyes, while other Leo chuckled.

"I'm Leo, though I think it was obvious from this." Other Leo held a dark blue mask tail between his fingers.

"Yeah that's about the only reason, you're so different from my Leo!" Mikey boasted as the door was pushed open. Other Mikey and Other Raph came back in, covered in small scrapes and bruises from their apparent scuffle.

Other Mikey trudged over to the couch, flopping down into Other Leo's lap.

"Moooom!" The orange clad turtle droned in obviously dramatic fashion. Going hard on the puppy eyes too. "Raph bit me!" He held up his wrist, revealing a large bite mark. It didn't look hard enough to leave a permanent mark, or even bruise really badly. Other Raph scoffed, showing off two bite marks of his own.

"Don't act all innocent when you bit me twice! What's wrong can't take what you dish out!"

The oh so elegant and well thought out response to such an accusation? A raspberry of course!

Other Leo sighed, pushing other Mikey onto the floor, where he landed with a soft "oof"

"It is too early for you two."

"Yeah it's only noon you two boneheads are not allowed to kill each other till after lunch!" Other Donnie added, claiming one of the recliners.

"Remember when we used to stay up past midnight?"

"Remember when you dressed up as a fairy princess for halloween?" Was other Mikey's reply, causing the red clad turtle to snap his head towards his brother.

"That was one time!" With a shout other Raph tried to once again lunge at other Mikey, who climbed back onto other Leo's lap, hugging the blue clad turtle tightly. Ah yes, use a brother as a shield. Classic.

Mikey laughed at their antics, watching sith glee as other Raph tried yanking other Mikey off of other Leo, while the orange clad turtle screamed and hollered like he was being murdered. It was all an act, he was smiling the entire time.

"Yeah get him shorty! Make him scream!" Mikey taunted, it was like watching a classic moment between the disaster twins that usually ended with chaos.

Suddenly everyone turned to stare at Mikey, which made him slink into his shell. What had he said?

"Shorty?" Other Raph echoed, a confused look on his face. "I'm taller than you!"

"Well you're shorter than my Raph!" Now that statement right there caught the red clad turtle's attention. He sat on the arm rest of the recliner other Donnie claimed, waiting for an elaboration.

"How tall is your Raph?" Other Donnie asked curiously. Other April was peeking out from the kitchen, not wanting to be left out of drama.

"Six feet tall, though I think he might be taller than that now, it's been awhile since we checked." Everyone's mouths fell open.

After a few tense seconds, other Raph buried his head into his hands, groaning the entire time.

"That is so not fucking fair! Fuck! Come on!"

The other three turtles and other April started laughing, further aggravating the short red clad turtle.

"Wow shorty, jealous much?

"Shut the fuck up Dee! No one asked you for an opinion."

Other Donnie simply shrugged as the door of the farmhouse opened once again.

Casey stumbled in, his face covered in small scratches from the evil hen. He claimed the other recliner, groaning dramatically.

"How do I keep losing to a fucking chicken! That's messed up!" Mikey snickered, it seems the feud between chicken and boy was a long standing one.

"Hey armpit, where little Mikey is from Raph is six feet tall!" Casey sputtered like an old car engine before bursting out laughing, wildly kicking his legs about.

"I wonder what else is different." Mikey perked up, sitting cross legged next to other Leo.

"First of all we're all different turtle species!" At the baffled looks he received, Mikey continued. "Alligator snapping turtle, spiny softshell, red eared slider, ornate box turtle." He pointed at other Raph, other Donnie and other Leo respectively before pointing to himself when he finished.

"That's so cool!" Other Mikey gasped, rocking excitedly. Suddenly he bounded towards the kitchen, leaving Mikey a bit stunned. Okay then…

Other Donnie was staring at his short red clad brother, eyes wide and hell.

"Alligator snapping turtle…how are you alive?" He mumbled, earning a shove from other Raph.

"Don't those turtles get really big?"

"Yup, big and spiky."

"This is so not fair!"

"Raph you can sulk about being the second shortest later, right now we have more pressing issues." Other Leo said calmly, causing Mikey to get whiplash.

It wasn't the words themselves, but the way they were said. There was a calm but inherent sense of authority behind those words, because almost instantly the room quieted down, not a single groan or protest. The only sounds were other April and other Mikey in the kitchen.

Mikey felt a bit stunned, not even Raph could quiet a room down that fast. He didn't even have to raise his voice to do it! It was clear that other Leo was in charge. Which is really weird, shouldn't other Raph be in charge? He's the oldest sibling after all!

"How did you end up here in the first place?" Mikey frowned, trying to rack his brain for answers.

"Well it started when Leo lost his odāchi in a game of paintball tag, then the Footclan stole it so we went after them." The box turtle was so wrapped up in his story that he didn't notice how everyone's expressions changed from interested to horrified at the mention of the words Footclan. Nevertheless Mikey continued.

"We chased them to an abandoned warehouse and fought against those foot-faced creeps but the odāchi was plugged into some weird empty door looking thing and it started glowing! It was sucking everything! I tried to hold on but I got sucked in! Then whoosh! I ended up here…how long was I out?"

"About a week." Mikey whined, he was here a week! His family was probably so worried! Other Leo pulled him close, hand rubbing circles into the back of Mikey' shell.

"We'll get you back home little dude." Other Mikey said as he came back into the living room, a plastic red bowl of something in his hands.

"Yeah Mikey's right we'll get you back to your own world no matter what it takes." Other April chimed in as she was finishing up the food.

"So how exactly are we gonna do that?" Casey asked, slumping over the armrest of the recliner.

"The Kraang portal? That could work." Other Raph chimed in.

"Yeah but when are we going back to New York City? It could be months before we go back! It's not fair to make him wait that long!" Other Leo protested, meanwhile Mikey was getting a tad bit confused.

Go back? Why did they leave the city? And what's a Kraang?

Other Donnie stood up and began pacing, muttering something under his breath. "Well perhaps I could look through the Kraang ship in the basement, maybe there's a teleporter or something?"

"That's a start. But until we get you back home you are more than welcome to stay here with us." Mikey beamed, wrapping his arms around other Leo in a bone crushing hug.

"Hey little dude there's someone you should meet!" The bowl was put into Mikey's lap. It looked like it was filled with melted neapolitan ice cream.

"Uh…what am I looking at?"

"Aw she's sleeping!" Other Mikey cooed before reaching a hand into the bowl and…petting the ice cream.

"Have you lost your-" Mikey was cut off when the ice cream made a little 'mrrmph' noise before it began to take shape, much to the box turtle's shock. In a matter of seconds the melted looking ice cream formed a cat's body, with floppy little ice cream paws and the absolute cutest little face. The strange creature looked up at Mikey, a questioning mew being its response.

Mikey gasped, eyes shining as he stared at the most adorable little creature on the planet.

"Meet the best kitty a turtle could ask for, Ice Cream Kitty! Isn't she great?" The cat meowed at Mikey and he was sold.

"Ohmigosh you are so stinkin cute!" He hugged the incredibly cold cat to his plastron, nuzzling her and kissing her adorable little head all over. She purred and mewed in delight, only furthering Mikey's love for her.

Everyone else smiled at the adorable sight as the smell of japanese take out filled the air. Lunchtime!

Other Donnie went into the kitchen to help other April bring out the food, thank god Mikey was getting so hungry and the food smelt amazing!

As the food was being brought out, Mikey momentarily stopped showering Ice Cream Kitty with affection, causing her to bump and nuzzle her head against his chin in protest.

"You mind if I ask a few questions?" No one had any objections so Mikey continued. "What are you guys doing here in a farmhouse? Why can't you go back to the city? And what are the Kraang?" The room went deathly silent, no one dared to move.

All of a sudden the turtles and their human friends looked so exhausted, nervous dread painted their now pale faces. Even Ice Cream Kitty looked upset, her ears pressed to the back of her head while she slunk back into her bowl.

Everyone looked so much…older. Like they aged ten years in a matter of seconds. Other Mikey scooter next to other Raph, who slung an arm protectively around the youngest's shoulders. Casey went rigid, hands clenched into tight fists. Other April and other Donnie just stood there, frozen.

The weird part is, that all four of them were looking at other Leo. Some with more subtlety than others. The blue clad turtle however wasn't looking at anyone. Instead he was not so subtly glaring at his right knee, the one bandaged and propped up. Mikey could feel him shaking a little bit.

Oh what did he do?

"I…uh…sorry was that a bit of a touchy subject? I didn't mean to pry!" He tried to backtrack, he hadn't meant to cause this! He was just curious!

"We know, it's fine." Other Raph said in a surprisingly gentle tone. The exact same tone Raph would use to reassure a hurt sibling that everything would be ok. "It's a long story and I'll tell you later, ok?" Mikey nodded as the stifling silence vanished as quickly as it came.

"Let's eat! I'm starving bro!" Other Mikey yelled, practically bouncing for food. The food was all set in the large coffee table. Mikey's stomach growled like a furious animal, earning laughter from everyone in the room.

Even while most of the tension had disappeared, there was still a sense of unease amongst everyone, unresolved anxiety that was hanging around like a mist. Clearly something happened, something bad enough to drive the group from their home to the farmhouse and render other Leo unable to walk!

Judging by the group's reactions, calling it bad was an understatement. Horrific might be the better word.

Either way once the box turtle finds out what that bad thing was, Dr. Feelings will have so much work to do.

[itchyeye]

aaaaaa yes all good thoughts! see a lot of my thoughts re: the stranger had more to do with how it seemed too material and reliant on physical stuff. the spiral had a literal endless maze, but also had people's lives falling to delusion. the web had literal spiders, but also had the concept of control and all that. so even if you aren't scared of the more obvious manifestations, you still have the chance to be disturbed by the more abstract ideas.

but the stranger (as delightful as its monsters are, i love nikola and breekon and hope etc etc, they just don't feel as clever) relies so heavily on the idea that the listener MUST be scared of dolls or taxidermy or automatons, meanwhile i love all those things! and ive had plenty of nightmares involving the uncanny valley or identity, and concepts like the mandela catalogue scare the shit out of me. but tma never seemed to get to the core of why that stuff is freaky, just "hey wouldn't be fucked up if this happened?"

and like you said, they didn't seem to put much care into why a person would worship the stranger, which is strange (ha) to me because the options feel so obvious? i've met plenty of people who are so concerned with maintaining appearances (not in the Flesh way, in the social way) that they construct false identities and roles to play for themselves, and that seems fitting. idk! something !!

and they could've played with what identity Means more - in a story where so many characters are struggling with the line between humans and monsters, it would've been interesting to have manifestations of the stranger where you're left wondering if the spooky entity is actually a person or not (whether that be through not trusting the statement giver to be a reliable narrator, or through the question of What Is A Person? itself)

idk im sort of rambling jfc i didnt mean for this ask to be so long sorry but yes woo there r my thoughts i do not have many tma friends so i am deprived of enrichment

but tma never seemed to get to the core of why that stuff is freaky, just "hey wouldn't be fucked up if this happened?"

YES!! i think a great example of how this falls flat is the desolation, actually! because all of the follower's of the people's church of the divine host are made of wax

they are no longer human, their physical being is made of boiling, moldable wax

that seems like it should be a stranger thing, right? they're literally wax works, the unknowing took place in a waxwork museum and the dancers were all waxworks

but the difference is exactly what you've just said. the desolation's followers actually aren't scary because they're made of wax. them being made of wax is so far down the list of why they're scary i literally forget that it's true most of the time. whereas:

the waxworks at the museum are just scary... because they're waxworks. weird ones tho.

(as delightful as its monsters are, i love nikola and breekon and hope etc etc, they just don't feel as clever)

this is really really it!! the stranger's monsters just don't feel as clever

i really like your idea about someone worshiping the stranger because they're so image obsessed!! i would love to hear more about that. i think that would make a very interesting acolyte.

also i was thinking about this last night and i think part of what makes the stranger feel so vast (ha) and disorganized is that fear of the unknown is a fundamental building block of every single one of the fears

the whole point of all the entities is that they take things that are pretty innocuous (wasp nests, ant infestations, garden spiders, tall buildings, stairwells, hallways, security cameras) and turn them into something vile

the characteristic of "the unkown" or "the unfamiliar" is impossible to localize under one entity

also, understandably it took a while to establish all the mechanics of like what a ritual is, how it can be stopped, why people would want it to happen, etc

but it took the gang two full seasons and several major character deaths to stop the unknowing, while the black sun was solved off screen between episodes

and like yes of course like gertrude would be better at finding and stopping rituals because she has 50 years of experience! and yes it gets easier to find and stop rituals as you keep going. but the balance of the story pacing just feels weird, y'know?

this isn't the only time that i feel like tma does a massive amount of build up for a whole lot of nothing but it's up there

[opossumonashelf]

Here it is! Piñata Gardener Au Fic!

This is Chapter One and also I should have mentioned this isn't a fic of its own bit at the same time it is.

You can learn more if you check the tag for the au.

Basically it is in a book on wattpad as a chapter but knowing not many people may use wattpad. I use it because it's not as active.

This is also my first kinda fic so it may be a little off since I stopped working on it for a while and only just now started again on it.

Alright here we go!

Chapter One - Somewhere New

Crashes of waves and calls of wildlife, seemed out of place.

The last and only thing Ingo could remember was being on the subway with his brother.

Sand was in his mouth, nose, and eyes, why was he on a beach? Could he have fallen asleep? Was it a dream? It felt way too real to be a dream.

The sand looked to have patterns in it, but it only got weirder when he was able to take in his surroundings.

Everything was so colorful and full of life, it was odd. But it soon hit him, where was Emmet?

"Emmet? Em? Bro? He's not here... did he, no he couldn't have. Knowing Emmet he must have gone up ahead"

It was warm, climate seemed to be tropical based on the vegetation.

Who knew if it was an island or a larger land mass, he needed to find out.

"I mustn't derail, I need to get to the bottom to this"

It didn't seem to difficult to make his way through it seemed there was already a path, that seemed to be used. So that could mean that there might be inhabitants, but the question is are they friend or foe.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw what could be a sawsbuck but it looked different, was it some regional variant.

It seemed to be more plump but also a hot pink, purplish blue with a yellow underbelly. It ran off before he could even get a good look.

"I am definitely not in unova anymore... and I highly doubt this is alola either"

He encountered a path that seemed to be man-made with could mean there was people here. In-between the two paths was a sign post.

One sign pointed right, no words but a picture. An apple tree with a odd looking pokemon that looked like a colorful mudstale but was it?

The other sign pointing left was hard to figure out what it was. It looked like a strange pokemon with a green patterned skin, like some kind of politoad.

Looking down both paths he didn't know which to chose for who knew what could be waiting.

"An apple might be a sign of an orchard, meaning there might be people, but if they are friendly to foreigners..."

Ingo started on his path, he set his destination and started forward.

But where was Emmet in this time, well on the other side of the island. Passed out in a tree.

"...I- I am Emmet and everything hurts, arc it hurts..."

It seems that he made a rough landing hitting a tree possibly falling.

"Oh I think I may have broke a rib... ow-"

Finally coming to he started to realize that he wasn't in a subway car anymore.

"Sqwak?"

"Hmm, what is that?"

Over on what looked like a banana tree sat a black and white papery parrot, it tilted it's head curious of this random person.

(Okay cutting in, thing about viva pinata,  piñatas look different in several ways, before they are tame they are black and white, they get color after being tamed)

"Is that some kind of chatot?"

A second one flew in as well as a third. Next thing Emmet knew there was a whole tree of these strange looking pokemon.

(Adding as pokemon since they (the brothers) do not know that these aren't pokemon yet)

He felt almost intimidated by the flock staring him down.

"Hey, how about we be nice and maybe have a small chat, I will walk this way and you stay there?" He said pointing behind him and slowly walking backwards.

Snap!

The flock started to swarm the conductor, holding his hat to his head.

"Ahh! I said peacefully, peacefully!"

Sprinting through the grass, the parrots grabbed and pecked at him. Guess they didn't like strangers.

He couldn't see where he was going there were too many, suddenly the ground collapsed below him.

"Whoa!"

Expecting a hard, painful landing, Emmet was met with a safety net of a web.

He could see a bit from the light the hole above him gave, looked like a mineshaft, overflowing with webs.

Scuttling sounds could be heard from the darkness, coupled by a squeak.

It seemed the scuttling was getting closer to him, he could move, whatever the web was made of it was sticky like glue.

"Oh no, no no no no, oh this isn't good"

It grew closer.

"Please, I'm verrry sorry for intruding into your home-"

He could finally see it, what had approached him. It was small, with patterns all over its body, which it's body looked like a squash. It didn't seem hostile.

"Eee?"

"You're actually kinda cute, you think you can help me out of your web?"

The papery creature scuttled up onto the web and positioned itself between the web and the young conductor. Another one of them came to help as well and then another.

The strange little creatures managed to get Emmet unstuck from their webs. Which was quite nice of them.

"Thank you, I'm verrry pleased that you where able to help me"

"Meep! Mee!" One of them chirped.

"Such strange pokemon..."

One the other side of the island, Ingo had made it to the orchard. The trees and apples were patterned just like everything else.

He decided to pick an apple, despite the fact he knew someone might and would get upset if someone messed with there crop.

The walk was quite long, and he needed energy, so it wouldn't hurt if he just took one.

As soon as the apple came off the branch, what sounded like a herdier came barking. But instead of a herdier was this light blue dog like creature and following being was a kid.

"Bark Bark! Wait up!"

"Bark Bark? That's a strange name?" He thought.

The light blue creature slide to a stop in front of him and barked which wasn't all that intimidating.

"Bark Bark what is up with- " the kid slide to a stop and gasped before lunging for the blue paper creature.

" You're not here to steal our apples are you!" The kid shouted.

" No, not in any way on that same track have you seen a man who looks like me but wears white"

The kid didn't reply, the Bark Bark squirmed in the arms of the child, as they stared at the conductor.

"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers, besides you're trespassing, do you work for professor pester?"

"What? No, I am simply asking for direction so I can locate my brother, also who is this professor pester?"

"Fine, follow me I'll lead you out of the orchard. We'll walk and talk"

"Well then all aboard"

"You are a strange person..."

It seemed that there where locals but if they where all like this kid, finding out more about this strange place will be difficult.

"Professor Pester is this islands biggest villain, he and his gang of ruffians have  been terrorizing and destroying gardens for almost twenty years or so. Piñata Island is a place where the piñatas on the main land come from, or at least the creature piñatas do..."

"So they are not pokemon..."

"Pokémon? I think you've been playing way to many video games... or maybe you don't go out much"

"Pokemon... video games?"

"There are these kids in my class that talk about it non-stop, they say alot of stuff I don't understand. Island has access to internet, and TV broadcasts from the mainland. And over sometime we had more and more trade come in, we have more stores and services"

"I'm definitely not in my own world anymore..."

"I've seen some clips and stuff while walking by and seen some of the characters... also nice train guy cosplay..."

"I regret to inform you this isn't a cosplay, this is my uniform"

The kid didn't respond but gave the conductor a side eye and confused look.

"What do you mean? It's clearly a cosplay" the kid said reaching for the conductor's sideburn and pulling on it.

"Ow! What was that for" ingo exclaimed.

"It... it didn't come off..." The kid looked shocked, " you're... you're real..."

"Of course I'm a real person young man, but I don't see why you had to do that"

"This is just like that show my sister use to watch... videogames coming into real life..." the kid muttered.

Finally at the orchard front, the kid cleared their throat to speak.

"Well, here we are just down that road you will find the village, talk to Arthur maybe he can help you, just look for Arthur's inn you can't miss it"

"I greatly appreciate you help young man, thank you"

"Yeah, sure thing"

Kid seemed a bit rude but who could blame him, he just trying to protect the orchard.

"Right back on track, I shall be at a new terminal right on schedule!"

(Saw a tumblr post on how to write the brothers dialog and I find it quite helpful)

One the other hand Emmet had made some new friends.

"I am Emmet, and I'm am verrry thankful for your assistance helping me, you think you can guide me out and put me back on track?"

The small arachnid tilted it's head, it didn't seem to understand. But the attention was pulled away from something approaching.

"Oh that's not a good thing"

"A person?" A voice called out.

"Hello?" He responded back.

What he saw made him think he was looking into a mirror, the person looked like his brother but also not.

"Uhhhh"

"Huh?"

"Welp, this is the weirdest thing that had ever happened to me" replied the look alike.

The man he saw look just like him but with a much smaller smile and light blond hair instead of platinum. He also looked younger.

"I'm Emmet and you look verrry strangely similar to me and even my brother... you're not some evil other worldly version, are you?"

"Dude, did you get stung in the head by a buzzlegum?"

"What is a buzzlegum?"

"Oh boy... uh let's see here... name's Oswald, or Ossie for short"

"Ah, as said before I am Emmet, I am a subway boss"

"You know weird thing is, I know it just a cosplay and your just playing part but it seemed quite real"

"Sorry to intervene but this is my uniform, it's not a cosplay. Also what do you mean by cosplay?"

"You dress like the character from the game, bud"

"What do you mean by game?"

Emmet seemed to be confused, where those creatures that helped him not pokemon?

"Okay, odd question but how did you get here?"

"Reallly not sure how. I was on the subway with my brother then the next thing I knew I was here. I also don't know what here is?"

Ossie turned away, and muttered to himself," that must have been the power spikes... ahem".

"From all I can tell you, you're not in your world anymore"

"What may you mean by that?"

"Well, to some here you appear like you're from the mainland, but have very odd clothes as well. Sorry I tend to ramble..."

"No need to apologize. It's verrry much similar to how me and my brother inform passengers about our station!"

"Thank you so kindly for assuring me, as it may seem there must have been an interdimentional vortex, or wormhole, for short. And it must have pierced you're dimension and sucked you in to ours"

"Quite interesting! Does stuff like this happen often?"

"No actually, there's only so much that we know about quantum physics, let alone our very solar system!"

So interdimentional travel, guess he wasn't in some strange new region.

It was still verrry confusing for Emmet but what about his brother?

Music and chatter slowly faded in, as a small town came into view.

"Finally I had reached the terminal, hopefully I can gather some information to help me on my way"

It was almost like as soon as he entered eyes where right on him. Many it felt like judging eyes.

A few people could be seen shopping or talking in front or inside shops. Some kids where outside playing on a familiar gaming system. One of them had looked up and made eye contact with the conductor who had no idea where to go next.

With shock the kid tapped their friend on the shoulder. The friend looked to his friend who pointed to the conductor and the kid's jaw dropped open in surprise.

Signs didn't seem to have words but images, it seemed like it was gonna be difficult finding Arthur's Inn. He could ask around but it seemed everyone seemed quite new to his presence.

He heard some steps approaching from behind. He turned to see a older lady with objects strung into her dreadlocks, with an orange mask, blue apron and quite a few accessories.

"Aw a new cus- I mean visitor from the main land, you are from the main land right" she said, sounded quite enthusiastic. She seemed to be a merchant.

"Uh I'm not really sure, something tells me that this mainland isn't the land where I departed from"

"Well you do look a bit different from foreigners we usually see"

"I was wonder where I could find Arthur's Inn?"

"You can find Arthur just down the way"

"Thank you, may I now continue on my track-"

"Hey not so fast buddy" she said grabbing the back of his coat collar.

"Miss I mustn't derail or a may not be able to reach a terminal"

"Well here at costalotts information doesn't exactly come cheap, if you have any chocolate coins you can deposit them and be on your way!"

"Pay for information!" Ingo exclaimed.

"Sorry pal, but those are the rules of the shop"

"I don't have chocolate coins, I only have Pokéyen... about maybe 1500?"

"Pokéyen, sounds quite foreign-"

The shop woman was stopped mid-sentance, but a brunette in leaf themed clothing.

"Okay, Lottie that's quite enough. This man is really needing to be on his way" she said pushing Ingo along to get away from the shop woman.

The shop woman groaned and went back inside her shop. Ingo saw this as an opportunity to thank the young woman.

"Thank you for helping me, miss..."

"I'm Leafos, I help the gardeners of the island and potential visitors"

He stood aside and held out his hand.

"Why thank you miss Leafos, sorry for the unscheduled meeting, I am Ingo, a subway boss..."

Leafos shook his hand, "well it's nice to meet you Ingo, you know we have someone named Patchingo who is a Piñata doctor here on this island!"

This Leafos gal seems to be quite more welcoming then the other islanders he has met so far.

"Oh, I think I may have derailed once again. If you could, where may I find Arthur's Inn?"

"Just down the street right there"

"Thank you"

"No problem, do stay safe and have a good rest of your day!"

It was nice for there to be someone who didn't just judge him.

Finally at the entrance of the inn, a bell chimed when he opened the door. A figure who he think must be Arthur stood a receptionist desk going though a guest list.

"Welcome to Arthur's inn! A place where you can get a great night's sleep as well as the best milk and cookies!" Arthur exclaimed before look up to see his new customer.

"You sir, you do seem a bit lost is there anything I can help you with?"

The subway boss didn't reply immediately, but was confused. Arthur, appeared to have a keg for a head that also moved as he talked. 

"Pardon me if I come off as rude but is the keg your..."

"Ah this, its a mask as well as part of my work uniform! Here I'll take off the mask to make it easier"

(In the games we never really see the town people without the masks so these might also count as headcanon)

Arthur, without the mask appeared to be freckled man with a small beard. This put a thought into the conductor's head, does everyone here wear a mask and how do the mask move with the persons face.

"So what can I do for you?" Arthur asked.

"Well, my brother and I run a subway in Nimbasa City in Unova and some how we ended up here on this island, I mean I think he's here. I just have a feeling he could be, but I think were not in our own world anymore..."

 "Sorry, not sure what I can do to help you there... what does he look like?"

"Exactly like me, we're twin brothers, we'll he looks almost exactly like me. My brother tends to smile more then I do and instead of a black uniform, he wears white" Ingo Explained.

"Alright, we'll have one of the night watchlings look out for him"

"Might I ask what is a Watchling?"

"Watchlings are helpers. They help gardeners deal with wild and sour piñatas as well as ruffians. Kalum will keep an eye out for tonight!"

Out of a room shifting about was this young man with short buzz cut hair and glasses. He seemed to be wearing a long sweater with overalls.

He only took a small glance at Ingo before shuffling over to Arthur to be given instruction. After Arthur gave who Ingo could only presume is Kalum, the boy looked to the conductor and then stepped outside.

"Don't worry, Kalum's a good kid he'll keep an eye out for your brother" Arthur explained as he put his mask back on,"also you can stay here for tonight"

"Thank you sir for the offer but, I don't think I have the currency that is used on this island, I can't possibly pay for a room"

"No need to worry, I'll put it on a tab for you so you can pay it at another time for when you do have the currency"

"Oh, thank you"

"No problem also your room will be the second door on the left"

"Thank you"

"Also when you mentioned subways it made be remember when I visited some family in Manhattan, place has a huge subway system"

"That is quite interesting..."

"Alright, I'll let you go and get some rest, maybe someone else found your brother and is also helping him out"

Ingo thought to himself, that could happen but it is likely.

Entering his room it seemed quite homely. The walls were a smoothed apple wood with a colorful tile floor. The bed had a quilt on it, covered in patterns and patches. A TV sat in a dresser next to a vase of bright colored flowers.

Ingo could help but flop down in the bed a sigh, when until he felt something fall from his coat. He sat up to see what it was, it was a pokeball. Pressing the button on the device it popped open.

"Chandalure!" The pokemon exclaimed.

It looked around at the new surroundings, before looking at its trainer.

"Lure?"

"I don't know either were we are, I think we need to investigate this place more, and find Emmet where ever he may be. But I don't think we are in our own world anymore"

"Chanda..."

"All we can hope is that he is somewhere safe... or somewhere close we need to find how we got here"

He was tried, verrry tired. But it seemed Oswald knew what he was doing. Finally out of the tree line they came to a small town, there were a few houses and shops.

This meant that if this island is big enough there might be more towns.

"That there is the flower shop and there is my grandpa's marketplace, not many people come here but it is for delivery"

"Quite a small place you have here, yep quite small, not to be rude if I came off as so" Emmet replied.

"Well it had been hard since my grandmother- moved on from this life. It's just me, my parents, grandpa, and the Westles"

"Westles? Who are they?"

"They sell garden supplies for the gardeners in the area"

"Gardeners, why would there be gardeners on an island"

"The gardeners help provide piñatas for piñata central, you see that mountain over there. You see that building that is piñata central. When a piñata is need for a party or event, gardeners will send there piñata to piñata central were they are sent out to the main lands, and after that party or event, they are sent back and fixed up and ready to go"

"Wait so, those spiders were piñatas, I thought you were joking at first but wow I have soooo many questions now!"

"I think we might need to hold off on questions until tomorrow, besides it will be your first day as a gardener!" Oswald said.

"I am Emmet and I am not a gardener, I am a subway boss, besides I don't even know where my brother is" The young conductor added.

"Well, you won't be able to manage with trains here, gardening is kinda the way to go since you don't exactly have an certification here on the island" Oswald explained.

"You mean I need to create a garden?"

"Yeah... kinda... almost it use to be my best friends garden but-"

"Bestfriend? Why did they abandon it? Did something bad happen?"

Oswald didn't answer but changed the subject before anything else could happen.

"I'm sure gramps will be fine with you staying for a bit..."

The outside looked like a trailer park house, but it looked a little nicer than one. The inside was neat, it looked almost like those houses from the 70's. Photo portraits and other miscellaneous objects hung on the walls.

"Gramps, I'm back also I have someone staying over!" The researcher called out.

"Os my boy, it better not be another sales person trying to take the store now-" a voice replied followed by the thumping of a cane from the kitchen.

The man wore a mask that looked a bit like a owl mask, had a plaid shirt with suspenders holding up a pair of dress pants.

"Heh you kinda look a bit like Oswald here with those side burns, what's your name son?" The old man asked.

"I am Emmet, Emmet Trayen!" Emmet Replied

"Well, Emmet you can sleep out here in the living room. Sorry it ain't much but we hope you're doing okay if not we'll help you in any way we can. Ya from the mainland?" Oswald's grandfather asked.

"Well I- yes and I think I may have gotten separated from my twin brother in the process"

"If he somehow ended up on the island he'll show up, probably in one of the towns" the old man reassured.

"There should be a quilt in the cupboard under the TV, all I can say is don't mind Hootyfruity"

"H-Hootyfruity? What's that?"

*Hoo!*

On top of a bookshelf sat a colorful owl like piñata. It look like a Noctowl but much more rectangular.

"Is that?"

"That's Clara, don't worry she won't pay you any mind" Oswald's grandpa explained.

In a new place, living in a small little- well it's not really a town more like a settlement. Being in a completely different world then his own, and he knew he wasn't alone. Something came to mind, falling and two identical rifts. He had this feeling like a gut feeling that tomorrow something would happen, something he wouldn't expect.

The house grew quite all but for the creaks of the old building, the ticking of the grandfather clock and the crickets chirping outside.

Couch was comfortable, thankfully and it seemed that the piñata was asleep, despite being an owl.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I will go to that town and see if anyone had seen Ingo, someone had got to have seen him... I hope"

End of chapter one.

Sorry if it had too much dialog and that it was pretty long. You can ask me questions about the au, ask box is always open!

[sonicasura]

Barbara's Unique Family

I figured why not expand on this? There will be five little scenarios where our favorite badass doctor gets herself a kid. Three has Jim being neither species shown in Tales of Arcadia while the other two is a sibling under the same circumstances.

Let's get started?

Thingamajig and the Doctor

Yup! I'm starting with a Rayman flavored Jim as I honestly think it would be more hilarious when he kicks his rogue gallery's ass. A lot of them already underestimated him as a human so why not make the guy even more 'looks harmless but can kill you'?

This Jim will have other traits than the standard Limbless since I tend to make subspecies for a lot of stuff. Pointed ears, horns, thick werewolf style fur, claws, tusk like fangs, the ability to harden his skin alongside hair into thick blue bedrock similar to troll hidden, blue stripes that expand into said bedrock coat when activated, and a spiky crystal ball that follows him around as if attached to an invisible tail.

Now Thingamajigs are a pure magic species related to dreams. So Jim has dream/wish magic to put properly. It's only as strong as his belief, imagination and magic reserves. He can turn himself human but not poof Bular out of existence type range. There's also the normal Thingamajig abilities such as the Haircopter, running on walls, shrinking and not needing air.

Barbara finds Jim when he's two years old. He got himself stuck in the trashcan looking for food and she heard him crying. James is already out of the picture but I will say if he was there then the man will be gone. Either because he left on his own volition or she kicked him out for being heartless to a lost baby.

Jim becomes friends with Toby when they're four as kids tend to wander off and he's no exception. Barbara has him take online classes albeit any video call lessons have the monitor off or other excuses about his inhuman appearance on screen. Jim is around 11 years old when he finally able to hold onto a human disguise for more than twelve hours a day.

He attends public school afterwards which definitely earned him some attention for awhile. Like no one has seen Jim's human face before and assumed his 'big nose' persona is just a computer filter. Also for any Jlaire fans, they kiss with his human disguise or rub noses(kunik or 'Eskimo Kiss') in his true form.

Jim still freaks out a bit when Blinky and AAARRRGGHH break into his house. Although that's because there are two strangers in his home than them being trolls. Jim might use his Limbless nature to be a weird little shit. Back when he was little, Barbara had to check her bags before leaving for work as he tended to slip in there. Whether she got just Jim's head or his whole body is a coin flip at best. He was a clingy baby and later been teased for that with baby pictures.

Barbara's Tiger Son

For this one, Jim is getting a brother in the form of my OC Léi Yún. (Old doodle that I plan to redraw soon. He's based on a species called Azafuse/ Bakaneko(version based name) from a different series called Ushio and Tora.)

Léi Yún is a wanderer who has a habit of stealing an unsuspecting person's food. Albeit he made a bad mistake when he decides Barbara's attempt at egg salad would be a good target. Imagine her reaction when she caught a five year old Jim patting the back of an ill tiger yaoguai hung over the kitchen sink.

Barbara's food made him so sick that he can't exactly fly away or even use magic without feeling queasy for a few days. Enough time to find out Léi Yún is essentially a child and adopt him in seconds. The Azafuse follows Jim to school by turning invisible to those who aren't spiritually attuned. Basically the school doesn't know they have an extra student, at least until the last two episodes. He met Toby by stealing Nana's cookies and Tobes caught him.

Now yaoguai tend to age quite strangely between each individual. Most mature normally like humans, take centuries like trolls but some have certain requirements that need to be done first. Léi Yún is one such yaoguai as he's actually 600 years old despite his child appearance. He needs to haunt someone or a place to properly reach maturity. What better people than the Lakes?

Léi Yún's species can get quite big so in his 10 year stay, he matured into an near adult around AAARRRGGHH's size. Of course he can make himself feel weightless like most spiritual based entities. Thus Léi Yún could do this despite the size difference between him, Jim and Barbara.

Also Barbara is sooo finding out about Jim's Trollhunter role as a certain older brother will tell her. Léi Yún ain't dumb. He knows Jim's new double life gonna drag everyone in the crossfire whether he wants it to or not. Plus its better to have a medic for any lethal injuries. Just because Barbara taught Léi Yún first aid doesn't mean he can handle broken ribs. Also that binding spell is the only thing keeping the Azafuse from zapping Strickler like he did to Bular and Draal(for being a dick to Jim earlier).

Even a Beast Deserves Love

For this one, Jim is gonna be a Lamortmon mainly to fit the Beast motif. (Lamort means death in French. Fitting when this Digimon is known for extreme berserker tendencies with the smallest slight unless calmed down. Jim was taught anger management at an early age.) I'm going for the Digimon Fusion rules so he hatched from an egg and grew up in this form.

Barbara found Jim's egg hidden by a dumpster when out shopping. He hatched at home and she raised him as her own. In a sense, Barbara is his Tamer but a Digivice has yet to form...for now. Her relationship with James doesn't last long when he discovers a one year old Jim and practically runs. House is later renovated to make him more comfortable such as having enough room to move around alongside cooking without issue.

The young Lamortmon does befriend Toby by sneaking into his yard. Unlike the others, Arcadia ends up finding out about Jim when a nasty fire broke out in a store. He was hiding inside Toby's phone while his best friend was looking for snacks. The 10 year old rescues everyone who been trapped inside and became a precious secret hidden from outsiders by the townsfolk.

Barbara had him doing online classes so Jim integrating to public school wasn't difficult. He's usually in a small handheld carried around by Toby except for classes outside or inside the gymnasium. Strickler definitely spat out his coffee and had a WTF moment seeing Jim at school.

Why is this strange creature out in the open??? Is he trying to get everyone's attention? Nevermind the fact a 15 year old Jim is just a mere two feet shorter than Gunmar. He might've gotten a glamour mask by an anonymous source *cough* Strickler *cough* mainly to lower the risk of Bular and the Lamortmon meeting.

Now as for Jim's missing weapons and armor for his species, the Amulet will be providing his twin blades alongside the metal gauntlets than just the Trollhunter armor. He does tell Barbara about the trollhunting business since he rather not have her oblivious to the dangerous responsibility now shoved onto him. Man needs some more hugs.

Loving Shadows

Another OC this time with my undead magical experiment Ling Shēng. (Another doodle I plan to revamp.) He's a runaway failed clone of the Six Eared Macaque, a Celestial Primate whose six ears can hear the past/present/future, made via stolen magic alongside corpse magic. Personality wise, Ling Shēng is a lonely 7 year old who rather play leap frog with an actual frog and be helpful but is scared to interact in fear of being hurt.

Barbara discovers him one day when she notices a 5 year old Jim's shadow is acting strange every night before bed. Almost if someone is standing behind. Quick google search leads to the conclusion of a Diao Xue Gui or "hanging on boots ghost", a mischievous but mostly harmless spirit. Barbara manages to gently coax Ling Shēng out of hiding.

She didn't expect the ghost to actually be a small monkey child and is quick to adopt him. Ling Shēng is the only one who can actually use healing magic but also purification magic. A nice boon when it comes to dealing with a certain evil sorceress and troll warlord with a mind control fetish alongside stone poison issues.

Ling Shēng is introduced to be Toby through Jim as he figures his new brother needs more friends. The undead yaoguai takes online classes but does follow his human family and friend through the shadows. Since he's a clone, it doesn't take long for him to mature into a young adult in those 10 years.

Ling Shēng is still a shy stuttering mess who loves family hugs and sweets despite being a 7'11 tall undead monkey yaoguai built like Bruce Lee with a Día De Los Muertos skull bearing piercing violet eyes for a head. He does tell Barbara during the Win, Lose or Draal incident. Ling Shēng doesn't want these secrets to hurt his family further.

Mother's Wolf

We're going for a werewolf Jim or to put aptly, a Wolfssegner. A type of Wolfskin from Fire Emblem who can switch between a human and beast form. Although Jim will have to cover ears, tail, alongside have an excuse for his more hairy body. Now Wolfskin require a gem called a Beaststone to manage their transformations better. Jim doesn't have one so he has to learn the ropes while he grows up.

Barbara finds him in the woods when he was just a baby. James already dipped as she caught him being unfaithful once coming back home. Jim doesn't shift until he's five. A playdate with Toby goes awry when a mountain lion house breaks into his the Domzalski's backyard.

Jim transforms to protect his best friend, the animal runs off clearly intimidated by grizzly bear sized werewolf. This leads to a lot of camping trips so Barbara can help her son become accustom to his other form. It might've started an urban legend known as the 'Giant Horned Wolf of Arcadia Forest'. (A 15 year old Jim's beast form is nearly the size of a small bus.)

He attends public school but wears a hair brand to make the illusion that his ears and tail are fake. As for his fur patches, Jim has the Werewolf Disease excuse. Basically the only thing that'll blow his mom's thought out cover plan is him transforming. If he needs to use his other form, Barbara gave Jim the idea to shift one or two of his limbs than a full transformation.

He does tell his mother after the Win, Lose or Draal episode. Mainly cause she would easily find their new troll protector in seconds. Jim's puppy brain got him into some nutty shenanigans when he was younger so Barbara will definitely find out if he's hiding something in the house.

And that's it! I probably do one with Strickler later. Draal too as we know Barbara would've adopted him if she could. Until next time folks, I'll see you back in Arcadia.

[mooifyourecows]

Started the 4th season of Stranger Things, gonna post my thoughts as I finish episodes so like, potential spoiler alert

okay so episode one

The entire Jonathan/Nancy scene made me so angry lmao STOP WASTING MY TIME WITH THIS GARBAGE

The whole tone is different?? Like the previous seasons had that kinda tropey jokey feeling from time to time but it took itself a little more seriously, especially season 1. But this one is like... wacky silly camera angles and sweeping swinging shots between scenes and goofy wacky prop comedy hehe finishing each other's sentences even though they're not together or talking about the same thing uhhhhhh it's just very silly

Not that that is BAD... just different

I like Eddie so far though. I thought he was gonna be a little Too Much™️ but by the end of the episode I decided that yes I like him. I can already see there being a point later on when his whole "theres no shame in running away" line is gonna either come in clutch or come back to bite him or someone else in the ass. Im gonna make a prediction that there's gonna be a scene where there's an option to run or fight and he's gonna stay and fight and then either save the day or die valiantly. Bonus points if throughout the show he constantly says to run away or chooses to run away until finally he's like "no, not this time" and then bam dead

I'm not mad at the whole "Lucas wants to be popular while the rest are content with being freaks" drama. Like I know it's kinda overdone but this show has always played into the popular tropes to create some tension between the characters so I don't think it's too weird

Eleven's drama is fine too. Being the new kid and getting bullied and also grappling with grief of losing her parent, I get it. She's acting kinda pitiful though? Like, she's always been really straightforward and strong and unyielding and now she's kinda just... rolling over? I understand she's in an entirely new environment and dealing with grief and loss of her abilities but still....

Pretty sure the skull monster thing is Papa. Maybe. Idk like it's weird that they're showing it so immediately in the first episode and it's just... preying on people's trauma, I'm guessing? Strange. But not Stranger Things Strange.

Idk so far I'm wondering how it's going to connect to the past seasons. Right now it feels like I'm watching a whole different show.

God I just hope there's less Nancy and Jonathan. Or their entire fucking plot lines aren't completely about their stupid fucking terrible romance. They have no chemistry and I despise their whole shtick. They'd be so much better characters if their stories were based more around being a big brother/sister to Will and Mike

Honestly idc about any of the romances other than Joyce and Hopper. Unless Steve and Eddie fuck because I'd be amenable to that. I might care about Robyn and Vickie but haven't seen enough of Vickie yet so who knows, they might wind up as boring as Jonathan and Nancy (or any of the kids' romances which I also don't care about even though they're not really terrible or whatever)

Erica is perfect as always though. I reeeeeeally liked the scene where that chick is singing the national anthem and Erica and the boys are slow motion walking to their dnd game. With the American flag cape? You can't spell America without Erica!

No further comments. Will watch another episode tomorrow

[seyaryminamoto]

Happy Birthday ! :) Go Capricorns <3 Hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for giving us this beautiful story. If I may ask, as a writer, how do you keep yourself going? How do you stay motivated and inspired for so long? It’s amazing! And the story you deliver is absolutely breathtaking. I admire you so much <3 P.S Thoughts on the new comics/ movies that avatar studios is coming up with ??

Sorry for taking so long to answer! Happy birthday to you too, Anon! I'm assuming it already passed, with Capricorn season wrapping up and all x'D

So, how do I stay motivated...? To be honest, it's a bit tricky to answer that X'D

I've told this story a few times in the past, I think, but the truth is, I actually wound up writing ATLA fics because I was stuck, absolutely stuck, with an original story over some worldbuilding elements I couldn't figure out. I was infuriated and frustrated by it, so I decided to clear my head and go watch this TV show people kept telling me was soooo good, so I settled on doing that and no longer stressing out about my story...!

... Poor story's been fridged for ten years :') so very cruel of me to do that, I know. And I think that, on top of the fridging, I'm actually bound to have to rewrite the whole thing from scratch one day, so... yeah :'D

The point of sharing this is explaining that, as much as I write up a storm sometimes, I don't ALWAYS do it, it doesn't work with everything, writer's block is no stranger for me, if anything I got waaaay too acquainted with it as a teenage writer who was writing whatever came to mind with zero pressure because it was for her eyes only.

My time writing original fiction as a teenager taught me many lessons, though, and among them, the discipline to write on a regular, constant basis. This isn't something EVERYONE can do, every writer works differently, and I can't pretend I'm permanently, constantly ready to write. But just waiting for inspiration to strike is a dangerous game to play, because... often inspiration arrives for the wrong things, or at the wrong time. I don't write anything out of order if I can help it (though my god, Part 3 is sooo trying to mess with that, organizing this chaotic chunk of the story has NOT been easy x'D), precisely because if I don't push myself through the transition scenes, through the lead-up, and I just jump right into the big moments I REALLY want to write? I'll never write the build-up to it because I'll never feel like it :'D

So, for starters, discipline. The discipline I developed is mostly about being ready to power through when things aren't super engaging. And then, if things didn't feel right because you forced them, you scrap and redo it, specifically by pinpointing the problems that caused things to feel forced. I've had to scrap soooo many ideas that just weren't flowing correctly, and I've had to go around that and figure out other ways to write something, both to make it more engaging and to make it actually work better than whatever I had in mind at first...

... Therefore, secondly, gotta learn to adapt! Once you identify something's not right, or a GREAT idea comes to mind but it potentially derails your previous plans, you slow down to figure out how to adapt, if adapting is possible at all. I actually had some very strange ideas for the arc I'm currently posting in Gladiator, and upon reaching the point where I finally had to write them... I realized that concept didn't work. It might work better on a TV show, maybe, in something audiovisual, because it would have required a lot of switching, back and forth, between two situations that looked the same, at the same time? Kinda? And it just didn't feel right when I finally was supposed to write it, it was too confusing. So... I adapted to what felt right, and I think the result is infinitely better for it :D

Thirdly... which probably should be the first thing, honestly: building scenes.

It sounds weird to say it this way, but this is a key element of how I write stories. It's become such an important part of it that nowadays I've become disgustingly critical of how scenes are built in any content I consume -- I'll have to try and figure out if someone's put my feelings about this into words, maybe in academic essays or books or so, because I admit I really don't know how to explain something that feels so instinctive to me...

But anyway: scene building is the core of how I write. If I were planning on writing a car race, I'd have to think about how that race will end, probably even before I think about how it begins. If it ends with a triumph for the hero, or a defeat, or a brutal accident that causes the race to be cancelled? I have to think about how that would happen, depending on the story I'm telling. Once I settle on the outcome, that retroactively informs then, of what I need to do in order to build this conclusion: how do I develop the characters in order to take them in that direction? And once the conclusion arrives... it has to be the biggest moment of the story. It has to carry narrative weight. A lot of that can be built by setting the stage, something I've found a lot of people don't really seem to think about... but even a small room in a house can be a grand stage for a big story's conclusion if the scene is set properly to pay off there.

So... I build up scenes. When I start thinking about telling stories, the first thing my brain is wired towards is envisioning scenes. Once I come up with a scene that I REALLY want to write, or in some cases, multiple scenes, I start to thread things together. Let's take for example... my "Azula and Sokka as spies" AU from Sokkla Saturdays 2020.

First thing I came up with was the idea, of course, of Sokka and Azula having to work together to save Kuei somehow. The exact threat they were saving him from only came to mind later, what mattered was that they would be in Ba Sing Se, cooperating to put a stop to something dangerous.

Then, I thought of the idea of the two of them being stuck together in a closet or a very tight space, unable to move or do anything because the enemy was right there and would catch them snooping about in the wrong place at the wrong time :'D This specific scene, then, became the core of how I built up that story.

From that core, I started to come up with the conclusion (do they win or lose), as well as how they landed in that situation, what's the threat, why they're working together but as separate agents, what their dynamics would be like in this setting, how their mutual attraction reaches a boiling point in that very specific scene...

And at that point, I just focused on preparing everything and setting the stage in order to tell the story of... how Sokka and Azula wound up locked inside a tight space together in Ba Sing Se's Palace X'D

For me, generating those core scenes is crucial for building a story that I can flow through with the right amount of motivation. I don't really know how other people do it, some people love writing stories without planning anything beforehand, and all the power to them if they can do that. I really prefer building things up towards the outcome I'm aiming for, though. At times, new elements come up in the middle of writing anyway, and you can be surprised by unexpected twists that actually bring new life to your story. You just have to let yourself ride the waves and figure out whether you'd rather choose your destination or let your story choose it for you, in a sense. But for me, setting at least some of the course is what seriously pushes me towards creating the story I want to write.

Gladiator-wise, the key has been this same principle, but in higher frequency. Basically, pretty much every arc I've written has one or multiple core scenes that I built up at the center of it all. Sometimes those core scenes could be very small and contained things... sometimes they could be something massive and chaotic. But I basically have pushed through Gladiator without breaking (even when things did get me down at times) because I had those highlights, important moments to look forward to that motivated me (and still motivate me, we're not done yet!) to keep going and push past the build-up that's necessary for everything that comes next.

... Alright, I hope that made sense X'D

As for Avatar Studios and its upcoming projects, as well as Hicks's next comic... I don't really have a lot to say on that front. I'm on a strict "live-and-let-die" policy with canon since North and South Part 1, pretty much, the last comic I ever read in full... because unless canon actually catches my attention and does things in a way I can respect/enjoy, I'm better off not engaging with it. As I mentioned in another ask not long ago, what really bothers me about the latest direction of this franchise is the lack of purpose in the stories they've been telling. Aang's story doesn't feel that way... but pretty much everything else does. Until I get the sense that they do have a direction and a purpose, I don't think I'm going to be overly concerned with whatever canon does. If I'm told Azula's comic is great, I'll definitely give it a read, but I don't hold out a ton of hope for my peace of mind, too. Better not to get excited only to be disappointed later on, as The Search taught me :'D I'd love it if Hicks can do a good job with the comic, of course, but I'm not passing judgment for or against it until it's out... and after it's out, I'll only pass judgment if I actually decide it sounds like something I want to read. Canon is free to do what it wishes to... I live very happily in my AUs and I have no need for canon validation to do what I do. So... that's my stance on that :'D

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

Daisy only does her job because it gives her an excuse to be violent to people. ACAB.

Can't quite put my finger on why, but these tone descriptors for the static seem different to the ones for the sound effects surrounding the Distortion or Jane Prentiss. My interpretation of these is that they indicate moments where Daisy attempted to lie or resist Jon's compulsion, but was unable to stop herself from giving the whole and accurate statement.

Hey, it's Not!Sasha's boyfriend! I didn't think he was like... an actual guy. I thought she just grabbed a random Stranger for photos and gave it a name that would eventually emotionally devastate Tim. But apparently Strange Tom was rolling around with everyone's favourite Packidge Husbands years back when the NotThem was still in table purgatory.

Please picture three Strangers, one Hunter and a cop all standing on the side of the road in the pouring rain listening to a horrible moaning noise for a full minute, exchanging blank stares the entire time. A minute is such an excruciatingly long period of time.

Buried coffin my beloved... sing to me the song of your people... ⚰🎶🎵⚰🎼🎶⚰🎵🎼⚰

Daisy is just itching for an excuse to attack these people. And this is the level of restraint she had 14 years ago! It's surprising she hasn't already vaulted the table to go after Jon. And tonight she's going to start dreaming of him...

If my theory is true and the static denotes places where Daisy was trying to lie (or just not reveal the truth), then I wonder what she was trying to say here. Raising her baton seems innocuous compared to how she's already admitted that she wanted to attack the Strangers, so maybe something about how her partner opened the coffin of his own free will? Maybe she wanted to say that they made him do it (to justify her wanting to hurt them by claiming it's for revenge) or maybe she was going to say that she tried to save her partner by stopping him from opening the coffin (but Jon forced her to admit that she just stood there and did nothing). In all the years that have passed since this occured, Daisy must has retold herself this story many times. She's probably altered the details in her head to a more comfortable and dogma-affirming version without even realising that she was doing it, and now she is being forced to confront the reality of what happened. I'm sure this won't have terrible consequences in the future.

I still remember how I felt the first time I heard this epsiode. The reveal of what was inside the coffin was so far from what I was expecting, and the creepiness of its interior just disappearing into some impossible space deep within the earth sent a shiver of genuine horror through me. There's a lot of things in TMA that are genuinely horrific and terrifying, but the coffin will always be a stand out to me.

I feel like a broken record over here, but more evidence of Daisy being a bad cop and a bad person: attacking someone who has done nothing to her because she's scared and confused.

Are all Strangers made of plastic or wood? I thought Breekon and Hope were meat boys (just particularly anonymous ones), but maybe they got rubbered at some point and I never realised.

Also, it really seems like everyone at the scene except for Daisy was caught in the Coffin's influence. It makes sense that the Stranger's aren't immune to it. That 'John' guy from Mag 2 (who is canonically a Stranger despite the fact that I think he's of the Buried) certainly got taken by it, but I guess I figured Breekon and Hope's 'diplomatic immunity' amongst the Entities would protect them from it. The way they all just stand there, motionless and seemingly entranced, makes me think that if they'd been closer (or the ones who opened it in the first place) then the coffin would absolutely have taken them.

Nice of them to grab Daisy and make sure she didn't run inside, I guess? But the way that Daisy isn't drawn in reminds me of Trevor shrugging off the Web's compulsion because he had experience fighting vampires. Maybe the Hunt really does offer protection against certain Entities? Maybe if Daisy had enough time to practice she could eventually work up an immunity to the Eye? Or at least, enough of one to make dealing with Jon and Elias a much more achievable goal.

You could say the coffin was... slient as the grave. 😎

Mag 61

Daisy time! She's fully threatening to outright murder him immediately, on tape. She must feel untouchable.

And now she's thinking about whether or not he's worth murdering.

Oh Jon, you're so naive. Oh course the cop wasn't smuggling evidence to you out of the goodness of her heart. Of course she was lying! Of course you are the most obvious suspect in this active murder investigation!! How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine?

This is also evidence that Jon's Archivist powers have developed to the point that he's accidentally compelling information out of people. Daisy wouldn't have any reason to talk to a suspect (or former suspect) about an investigation, and she especially wouldn't snitch on Basira like this.

I originally read this as 'I didn't benefit from Gertrude's death' rather than 'I didn't murder Gertrude'. I think that's a funnier read of the line because it implies that Daisy took one look at Jon and was like 'Oh yeah, this pathetic little loser has gained nothing from his predecessor's death but misery and suffering.'

This shows a key difference between how Basira and Daisy operate. Basira is clever enough to work out a way to bait a suspect into doing what she wants while she investigates; Daisy doesn't care about investigating and wants her suspects to run so she has an excuse to chase them down.

More evidence that Daisy is happy to do things that arent 'by the book'. Also notable that she prefers that even people she actively dislikes call her by her nickname.

I wonder how Basira explains giving Jon tapes to herself now that he is no longer a suspect in her investigation. Maybe she actually does think the answer to what happened to Gertrude is on the tapes somewhere, and he might help her figure it out? I can understand not having the time/resources to go through them all herself, and the fact that they are artefacts of Beholding probably means they have terrible vibes that make it easy for her to justify handing that job off to someone else.

More examples of Jon accidentally pulling answers that Daisy doesn't want to give. It's so blatantly against her established personality that even Jon (who has never met Daisy before now) can tell it's weird for her to choose to give him a statement. Unfortunately for him, I think that 'sullen' tag is an indication that Daisy has noticed what he's doing to her and she's unhappy about it.

How dare Jon think there's anything in the world worse than Daisy and her flagrantly illegal threats of physical violence? But that's a fucking hilarious joke from the Archivist, and bigtime creepy foreshadowing of the fact that Jon will eventually get his bones turned to save Daisy.

More differences between Basira and Daisy: Basira needed to be reassured about the Institute's non-disclosure policy, Daisy is ready and willing to take matters into her own hands.