#this was also very fun: The Electric and the Weird Red Thing

[op3ra]

v-day gift exchange piece for @tabooi pt 2 ⚡

(pt 1 here)

[alastor-simp]

Alastor X Reader - Dressing Up As Him

"Hum hum hum~♫" Alastor was walking around the hotel lobby, humming a tune to himself as his eyes scanned all of the inhabitants at the hotel. Charlie and Vaggie were putting up more banners and decor in the lobby, Nifty was sweeping, and Husk and Angel Dust were at the bar. Alastor kept looking around to spot you, but he had no luck. Heading over to the bar, he leaned over the counter, smiling his signature grin. "Ah, Husker my good friend! Having a good day?" Alastor said, as he gazed at the grumpy cat, wiping a glass with a towel. "F*** off." said Husk, as he glared at Alastor, not wanting to deal with him. "Hey smiles~ Looking sexy as always." said Angel Dust, as he leaned back slightly on the bar stool, winking at Alastor. "Please refrain from flirting with me Angel.” Alastor said, extending his mic towards Angel, trying to move him away. "Ah your no fun." said Angel as he pushed Alastor's mic away from, and crossed his arms, placing them on the bar stand. "Anywho! Have any of you seen y/n? I didn't happen to see them in the lobby." Husk just shrugged his shoulders, as he didn't really know where you were, but he also answered quickly as he just wanted Alastor to leave. Angel dust was nice enough to answer as he told Alastor that he had heard you, rummaging around your room along with music playing in the background. He was gonna bother you, wondering what was happening, but he decided not to, and left you alone. "Thank you Angel! I will go find them now!” said Alastor as he walked away from the bar, missing the wave from Angel and the middle-finger from Husk.

Heading towards your room, Alastor was hoping that you were alright. Before, Alastor didn't really care much about you when he first met you as he though of you as another simpleton staying at the hotel, but after talking and hanging out with you a few times, he slowly started to care about you as he found you to be a rather sweet soul that wasn't common to see in Hell, with the exception of Charlie. Of course, he would hide that from the others as he had a reputation to uphold as being "the radio demon", so the less the people knew he had a kind heart, the better. Arriving at your door, Alastor knocked a significant beat, calling out your name, hoping for an answer. He could hear what sounded like electric swing playing in your room, but no response from you. He wanted to barge in, but he thought that would be rude so he continued to knock until you answered.

Standing in front of the mirror, you were eyeing yourself to make sure everything was set in place, and your outfit was fitted perfectly to yourself. You were wearing a striped red coat on top of a red dress shirt with a black bow tie that matched with the dress pants and black shoes, along with the outfit, you had on a red wig with a deer ear headband on top of it. Yes, you were wearing Alastors exact outfit. You really loved Alastors look, and you actually wanted to cosplay as him, but you would never tell Alastor that, as you didn't want to weird him out if he had caught you wearing his outfit, thinking you were some type of creep. You did remember that Alastor was very close to the overlord, Rosie, who owned the big emporium, so you had confided with her if she could help with your cosplay idea. Rosie was very surprised, but found your efforts cute and she actually was able to connect you with the tailor that designed a lot of Alastors clothing. It took a while, but you were able to get the whole outfit from the tailor, and you couldn't be more excited and happy to try it out. You had everything fitted to a T, but the only thing missing was the microphone, but you could think of an idea for that later. Staring at your reflection, you stretched your mouth into a wide smile, trying to match Alastor. The smile looked great, but holding that smile all day was going to be very difficult as your cheeks started to ache. Sighing, you turned away from the mirror and headed towards the radio to turn the music down. As the music died down, the thumping beat from the door, alerted your prescence: "Yes, who is it?", you called out. "Hello, Its me, darling. Are you well? I noticed you were not with the others in the lobby, so I decided to pay you a visit!” Oh No! Alastor was here, in front of your room. You couldn't bear for him to see you, wearing his outfit. "Um, I'm okay. Just tiding a bit, don't worry." You lied, as you were hoping Al would head back to the lobby. "Ah, I see! Well you wouldn't mind if I come inside, do you? I would very much like to have a nice chat.", Alastor said, as he continued to stand at the door on the other side. Oh Satan, he was not planning on leaving. Panicking, you run towards the door, unlocking it, to signify to Al it was open, before running towards your bathroom, closing the door.

Entering inside Y/N room, Al looked around your room, but didn't spot you anywhere. "Darling? Where are you?," Alastor called out, as he made his way further into your room, standing with his hands behind his back. "I'm in the bathroom, Al. Just washing up a bit. You can sit on the bed and we can chat from here." He had heard you call out. Arching his eyebrow, Alastor found it a bit strange, but he didn't question anything further, and made his way over to the bed, and sat down. As he gazed around the room, Alastor happened to spot something on the floor. As he gazed closer, he recognized it was a bow tie that was similar to his. Reaching out and picking it up, he eyed it and questioned to himself why this was in your room. "Darling?" "Yes, Al?," you said behind the door. "I found a bow tie that is similar to mine in your room. Do you know why this is here?"

Panicking, you looked down and saw that the bow tie was no longer on your shirt. "Sh**!", you whispered to yourself, as you tried to come up with another lie to tell Alastor. "M-maybe you left it here by accident." you said, mad at yourself that you stuttered. "I would happen to remember losing something like this the last time I visited you." Alastor said, as he kept eyeing the bow tie, turning it around to eye it. You stood on the other side of the door, realizing that he didn't buy it. "T-hen umm-", you froze, stuck on what to say next. Alastor noticed your change in tone, getting up from the couch and making his way towards the bathroom door. "Darling~, is there something you are not telling me perhaps?", Alastor said, smirking to himself, as he stood in front of the bathroom door. "N-no.", you said, as you heard voice more clearly now. "Then why do I sense such nervousness in your voice?", he said, as he continued to stand in front of the door, inching closer to hear you. "I-I." Stuttering, you couldn't think of another thing to say as Alastor figured out you were acting odd. "Darling~, What are you hiding? Come on out.," Al sang behind the door, as his smile got wider, enjoying the situation you were in. "OKAY! ok. I'll come out, but could you back away from the door a bit and also close your eyes please?", you said, letting Al know you were ready to come out. Al raised an eyebrow that you wanted him to close his eyes, but he said nothing, as he walk backwards, and shut his eyes.

Opening the door, you saw Alastor standing in the middle of your room, hands folded behind his back, eyes shut, and his signature grin on his face. Standing a few feet from him, you told him to open his eyes, while you cast your eyes down to the ground. Alastor opened his eyes, and he was put back for a second as he saw you dressed to the nines in what look to be his clothes. Everything you were wearing was matching him, and the only thing that was missing was his mic staff and the bow tie, that he was holding in his hand. Looking up, you noticed Al's face was stunned, but he was still smiling. "Before you say anything, just know that I'm wearing this for cosplay reasons. I'm not a freak and these were custom-made for me, they are not from your room, I swear." you blabbed all of this out, twiddling with your fingers, and looking back down towards the floor. Silence filled the room, after you were done talking. You were afraid to look back at Al, as you were expecting to see radio dials in his eyes.

"HAHAHAHAHA! My my, how dapper you look, darling!” Alastor laughed out, along with his mic that started playing a laugh track. Looking back at him, you weren't expecting a reaction like this from him. "Y-your not upset?" you questioned Al, as you continued to twiddle your fingers. "Upset? Why no, darling! Is that why you were hiding from me? Cause you figured I would be upset?" said Alastor, as he tilted his head at you. "Well, I didn't want to disturb you if you saw me wearing your outfit." "Well, I must admit I was surprised, but I am not upset. But I do have to ask, why are you dressed up like me?", he said, as he approached you, red glowing eyes staring at you, and his award winning smile on his face. Sighing, you explained to Alastor that you really enjoyed his look and outfit, so you wanted to cosplay as him. Alastor smiled softly at you, and hooked his finger under your chin, raising your head to look at him. "You are quite adorable aren't you, my dear." he said, as he then let your chin go, and began tying the bow tie back onto you, finishing it quickly and taking a step back. "There we go, dear! All set! Now we just need a smile! Come on dear, smile!" Alastor said, as he leaned closer towards your face, smiling wide. Blushing, you looked away for a second before giving Al a smile as big as his. "Perfect! I must say you make a good me!” Alastor said, as he placed his hand on your head, giving it a rub. "Thanks Al." you said, as you blushed and looked down again. "Now, since you want to be like me, we could engage in some carnage in the city! Imagine, the radio demon and his doppelgänger causing mayhem to the denizens of the Pride ring! Quite a premise!" said Alastor, extending his hand out like he was giving a performance in a play. "Um, sorry, but no thanks. I know we are in hell and all, but I'm still not use to all the violence and carnage yet." You said, as you looked at Alastor shyly. "Aw, don't be such a wet blanket , my dear." Alastor said, as he looked at you again, still smiling, but his ears were dropped down, signifying that he was a little sad. "Sorry , Alastor. Maybe we could do something else instead, like head to a cafe or go to one of Mimzy's shows?", you said. "Hmmm. Fair enough." Alastor said, as his ears perked up after he heard you say that. Hooking your arm in his, he pulled you next to him, as he raised his fingers up, ready to use his powers to teleport: "Lets go, my dear! I feel like this is going to be very entertaining!”

[noneorother]

All the music you didn’t hear: The Good Omens soundtrack is lying to you. *Part 1*

The Bonkers Meta Series part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

I so rarely get a chance to misuse my experience in classical music, but here we are. When I realized on my most recent watch-through of the series that the David Arnold score was brilliant, but also really wonky in some parts and I couldn’t put my finger on why, @embracing-the-ineffable suggested I listen to the album soundtrack to compare.

And when I tell you what I found hidden in there, you’re going to need Eccles cakes...

1) The Song is the Clue

So right up top we have this banger. The 12th track on the album is the orchestral backdrop to the scene in the Job minisode where Aziraphale reveals Crowley’s crow/goats. The duration is 2:22 (the only track with multiples on the album), and if you look at the track by itself it doesn’t mean much. But the song just before it is actually from this fucking scene:

You know, the one where there’s a song that’s a clue to a mystery. Except Clue is capitalised, and Aziraphale pronounces it. I’ve seen guesses that this is a reference to the movie Clue, but I would put a lot of money on the fact that we are supposed to read the title of the song currently playing at that moment in the show *as a Clue*, which is super convenient, because the word Clue is capitalized in the track listing. 

Seems like the overlords of Good Omens have a message for us : The song is the Clue. It’s what God wants. Cool cool cool. WHAT SONG?

2) Symmetry in all things 

Before I straight up tell you, we have to go back and look at season 1.

Now I’m far from the first to notice tons of parallels between the story, details and even lines in both seasons. It got me thinking that maybe there are some fun synch-up parallels between the two season’s soundtracks, seeing as they are both 6 episodes long. Here’s the end of S1 and then S2

Oh that’s a bummer, I thought to myself. 

They don’t even add up to the same number, or playtime, and neither of them is exactly 60 tracks. But do you want to hear a secret? S2 is actually missing 3 tracks on the album. And because there are 2 discs in S2 (cute), the numbers of the tracks start over again from 1. Remember how much God likes sevens? Check out where all the weirdness is happening in disc 2 (I’ve added the missing track listings in red to add context):

After checking each track with the show and listening side by side (for reasons that will become clear in another post) I can definitively say that there is something *very weird* going on at the end of episode 4. 

First is track 7, Zombie dressing room, which seems to actually reach over two distinct scenes of the photo evidence in the dressing room and then Shax in hell even though it only has one title.

But *between* these two scenes we get an eerily silent wine date with Aziraphale & Crowley.

There’s really no music or even sound here besides the dialogue and room tone (until after the cheers), and it seems like a very intentionally silent version of a ritz date from season 1.

My best guess is that we are supposed to divide that track into two tracks of 7, before and after the date to get a second track 7. Or maybe the silent one is missing music? The third track number 7 is the weirdest one. It’s this scene here, when Nina parks her bike, and Aziraphale parks the car at the end of S2E4.

If you take a close listen to the music, it’s a jaunty little piece, with an oom-pah base in 3 ⁄ 4 time. The thing is, this music does not exist in any Good Omens album. Please feel free to correct me, but I’ve tried to find any part of any song that this could even be a reprise of, and I Shazammed it to be sure it wasn’t anything else. This song does not exist anywhere except in this scene. (It quickly morphs into a reprise of the original theme once Nina leaves Aziraphale). It’s an invisible song.

So we have 3 tracks at the end of S2E4: a long one, a silent one and an invisible one. Only one of which is numbered 7, but that all fit into that place in the track listing.

Which, when we add the two extras to the original total of fifty-nine we get... sixty-one! Hey wait a minute.

How are we going to get to 62?

3) The real missing track. 

So the real reason we had to go back to the S1 album was because it contains the missing track that God is talking about. Let’s compare the last tracks on each album.

I’ve highlighted the mismatch between the in-show music and the album in S2, which means I had to add A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square back into the S2 album because guess what, it’s not in the S2 album. Even though it plays in the show. 

You want to know how not in the album it is? Amazon had to track it in the show as a season 1 song. They had to give Tori Amos credit for her song on Good Omens in the X-ray bonus features because that’s how not in the album this song is.

So my fellow beings, if the song is the Clue, then It’s what God Wants.

And if God wants a happily ever after with Aziraphale and Crowley on their own side, then by Job, I think Neil is going to give it to her.

-----------

And there's more where that came from! Part 2 coming shortly.

[faeriekit]

hi! hope you're having an okay day. I was wondering if you had any fic recs, specifically with Matches Malone and/or identity shenanigans? I also really enjoy those fics :D hope you have a good day!

Identity shenanigans or Matches Malone?? Uhhhhhhhhhhh (*immediate panic*).

So the thing is, it really really really depends on what you, stranger, are comfortable with, and what you enjoy?? There are a lot of fics I like, or at least have tried out myself, but there are also a half-dozen that are super content sensitive, especially when it comes to, like, gang stuff and Gotham's underbelly...? I'm going to put a couple things here, but. Uh. I will also recommend just opening the Matches Malone tag on ao3 and applying your own filters, since I don't know any of your hard lines! There's only like 173 fics in total. Sorting through them is super easy. Have fun and be yourself.

On the other hand, I've got some stuff here:

Matches Malone identity nonsense:

⭐Good girls don't, but I do: Superbat, several undercover identities, gender fuckery (of what nature is up to reader interpretation), Journalist Clark Kent, and first time meetings! Unfinished so far, but super fun with a lot of potential! I am very excited about this one!!

⭐Have I told you about Minnie? Steph and Bruce bonding! Turns out, if you're pretending to be someone else, it's super easy to say nice things about your kids when they're not listening, lol...or are they? 👀

Matches Malone Has Too Many Kids: Man, weird how Matches Malone has as many kids as Brucie Wayne, huh....and boy will he tell you all about what his crime family has been up to! Features Bruce & Family bonding via undercover identities; what could go wrong?

⭐homewrecker: Omegaverse; Red Hood accidentally tells Two Face that Matches Malone (Bruce, undercover,) is his mom. ...Whoops. Now all of Gotham has an opinion on Matches' (Bruce) and Batman's (also Bruce) custody battle over their crime lord son, and new step-mom Bruce Wayne (also also Bruce) is asked to weigh in lmao. Top tier comedy. So dumb. Cannot recommend enough. Every single Bat kid takes the piss. Gotham's undergound is in a tizzy. Bruce is so, so tired.

⭐Under(under)cover: DC x White Collar. Tim, undercover as an ex-con in the government's favorite form of law enforcement, suddenly has to get the detectives around him off his back before his identity is exposed...so obviously pulling out a few Malone family members is a good enough distraction, right? 💀 Pretending you've recently escaped a crime family is totally not an extra burden to your already half-busted cover identity, Tim! There are no possible consequences for this!

Don't Mess with Ma's Boy: Ma's Boy, Metropolis's enforcer for Mafia head Ma Kent, catches a Bat in his back yard. Obviously, the solution is to show him around town and share street food, of course. (SuperBat, with Super Shenanigans lmao)

Other Malone nonsense (Batfam Identities Two, Electric Boogaloo):

Playing with Matches: Batfam-centric secondary identities schtick. You're a Malone! You're a Malone! Red Hood's a Malone?? Everyone's a Malone!! Outside POV from Red Hood's gang and more!

⭐Robbie Malone saves the day & spills secrets: a DC x White Collar undercover op extravaganza, featuring Jason and Dick as our MCs. (TW: does feature fears of sexual assault, nothing onscreen.)

The one who got away: another DC x White Collar fic. Turns out, uh, if you don't tell your new kid that you're the famous Gotham Bats or why one of Gotham's most famous untouchable mob families is coming around to visit all the time, they're going to come to their own conclusions! Those conclusions may not be flattering! They might be scared enough to cut and run, actually! You may have to apologize for making this extremely stressful on them!! ...If they let you back in at all!

Features smut (mostly SuperBat)(There are other ships in the tag they're just not my thing; go explore the tag yourself for other options):

⭐I want to sell what you're buying: Clark Kent, journalist, meets Matches Malone, informant, for a...wilder time than he was expecting to agree to on his trip into Gotham. (TW Fic eventually makes it more obvious that Clark knows who/what he's agreeing to, but it does read on the edge of identity dubcon for a hot minute if you're sensitive to that)

Matches and the Doll: I do love the dynamic of a ne'er do well and his extremely obedient Super as choice of undercover roles, but this is, at the end of the day, all leading up to wild exhibitionist smut FYI

Pretty Reporters Are Always In Need of Saving (title is largely self explanatory) is followed up with by a SuperBat week 2024 fill Good Boys Play with Matches. It's uh. You know. Alley sex and roleplay. Read the warnings.

Recs from the discord (Home of the Apiary Genders!)

(Un)Conventional Date Night: Dp x DC. Matches Malone and two out-of-town scientists tear up the town on their night off!

Your Boy That Was, the Son That Is... More Matches Malone & Red Hood identity angst. What happens when the son recognizes his father, but the man himself cannot?

Art:

Bruce as Matches Malone and Clark Illustration, as presented on ao3!

I think that's all I have time for today...? There are other identity shenanigan fics I love that aren't on here, but this list took me like an hour and a half and there is other writing I'm supposed to get done today...lol. I'm only 181 pages into this unreleased fic! I better get moving! 😜

Thanks for asking!🧡

[thechaoticplayer]

Eating His Prey

author's note: I really wanted to write a fic about Ike, more specifically sadistic and yandere Ike because holy shit it was kinda hot what he was doing sheeeeeesh Summary: Being such a sly (apparently my keyboard wanted to make you slay so you're also very slay) and mischievous little fox you are, you decide to mess around in a wolf's territory. However, you're in for a wild reality check... Contains: degrading oh wow, dom Ike, hes literally using you, and all that spicy stuff mmm

Hunting in the wolf's territory was an adventure within itself, the new terrain and yummy prey was something that you desired very much. Besides, wouldn't be fun to mess around a bit? You are a great predator yourself, enjoying making your prey squeak and cry underneath your arms. You'd drag out their suffering for a good while. It was all fun and games for you.

You are currently traipsing through the forest full of crowded trees, scattered patches of sunlight kissing the grass floor. You finished having a good meal of a rabbit, a cute little thing you almost felt bad for devouring. Your nose quivered, sniffing the air and catching a scent.

Wolf scent. But your senses told you he was away at the moment. You grin, lips pulled back to reveal canine teeth. His little home! Maybe you could get some sort of rabbit shit and litter it all across his home. Maybe you could build a little fort out of sticks for him.

You dart in and out bushes with ease, your feet silently tapping the ground. Your prey hardly ever heard you coming, which was fortunate and unfortunate at once. Unaware little things. Thank god you were an excellent predator and not some weak ass prey!

You find yourself at the mouth of a cave, looking awfully gloomy inside. You sniff once more. Yup, his scent is much stronger here. Without a care in the world, you skip on inside.

It was very dark for a good few feet, your night vision clicking in after a few seconds. Bones lay scattered across the cave floor: skulls, ribs, femurs, arms. Some even arranged in twisted ways, like horrific art. Wolf must be some sort of sick freak. Not like you were anyone to judge. But still. Freak.

But it gradually began to get brighter, and you walk faster, you didn't want to dilly dally after all. You emerge within a bigger room, with a hole on the ceiling like a window. You notice there was no patch of leaves or soft grass for rest (what the fuck does he actually sleep on this hard ass rock? The wolf is literally a psycho) and surprisingly, no weird bone art. Just tallies on the wall, made with his claw you presumed, lining the walls. Several rows after row. What is this? his body count?

Eh. you don't care. You just wanna create a mess out of his home.

You drag some of the bones from the corridor and toss them around. Snapping some in half and creating your own work of art. You giggle as you line up some bones, a picture of a cock on his floor now. Your tail swishes back and forth with excitement. Perhaps you should go back to the riverbed, gather some mud and plaster it all over the wolf's walls. A nice touch to such a bland room.

You turn your head and freeze. Your heart rate increases.

The wolf himself is here, staring you down with golden eyes. Glowing from the darkness, expression blank as he watched you. Caught-red handed. How long was here there anyway? How did you not hear his entrance? as for the smell, his scent was all over the place, and it is very strong. Luck was simply not on your side.

"Well well well," the grey wolf chuckles darkly, sending electricity down your spine. Instinct told you to run your ass out of there, but you froze, out of fear. "What's a little fox doing here in my domain? Wrecking my home, hm?"

You say nothing, eyes glancing behind him. The only exit. A laugh, as he approaches still.

"Since we are going to get very acquainted, my name is Ike Eveland," the wolf says cheerfully and you furrow your brows because what the hell? "And now, answer me this: what gave you the idea to come here? Death wish?"

"...b-because i wanna," your shaky voice replies and you clear your throat. You straighten your body and stare back at him, never backing down. Not too some puny wolf. "I go wherever I want."

Ike tsks at you, stalking closer. "Now now, I like the confidence yes, but do you realise your situation, dear?" He smiles, sharp teeth bared. "I'm going to eat you alive."

Finally, he launches himself at you, claws glinting in the sunlight. Immediately your legs tense and push you, sprinting below him out of the room and into the corridor. Your heart roars in your ears as you run as far as you possibly can out of the cave, breathing heavily.

What a fucking insane little shit! He was definitely a bit smaller than other wolves you met, but something about the way his sinister gaze sent shivers down your spine. You hated to admit it, but the wolf was actually pretty intimidating. His eyes were such a lovely shade of gold though...

You shake your head and keep running, hopping through a small river to make him lose your scent. You turn towards another direction, toward the familiar big tree you liked to lean against when you wanted to think. It was a good distance from the wolf's territory, so you should be fine. Besides, why would Ike come all the way over here for one silly fox? Heh.

You arrive at the foot of the tree and plop down, regaining your oxygen. Damn, you've never ran so much in your life. You curl your fluffy tail around you, plucking out leaves. Your beating heart slowed a bit as relief flooded your veins. That was simply a vibe check from the gods above. You have learned to stay away from there in the near by future, because if you went there again, you wouldn't have a future.

You lean down with the balls of your hand on the grass, stretching with your ass in the air and felt every bone crack in your back. You sigh contently. It has always felt good to do that after a run.

Your ear twitched and a sound of rustling bushes interrupts your stretch. You sit back, suddenly alert. You sniff the air, but only smell your wet fur. You survey your surroundings, and seeing nothing. A squirrel? However, you stayed cautious and kept your ears open.

While you were cleaning your teeth, another sound, the noise of a twig snapping under a huge weight. It is closer to you than before.

With no warning, you high-tail it out of there, not even turning to see who it is because you could already tell by that menacing aura alone. The grey wolf is hunting you.

"Go away!" you shout, shooting through bushes and swerving around thick trees. "Go find some dumb rabbit to devour!"

"You're much more intriguing!" Ike calls, and you're startled by how you can't hear his footsteps and yours is loud as shit. "Let's play a game, huh?"

"I don't play no games!" You snap, diving into a fox hole made from another fox and scurrying through the small tunnel. He couldn't get through because he's too large! ha!

"It'll be fun!" He calls from outside the tunnel. "Let's play hide and seek, little one!" Ike sings, and you find it oddly pretty.

Dude, really?

You shoot out the other end and continue sprinting. Fuck out of here with that hide and seek nonsense!

"I'll be the seeker," Ike says from behind, startling so much you almost stumble. "I'll give you some time to hide!"

His voice fades and you glance over your shoulder. Gone. Kapoof. Finally, holy shit, his presence was getting annoying as shit. Wait. Is he actually going to play hide and seek?

You curse in your mind, running as far as your legs could carry. You pause, chest heaving as you breath rapidly through your mouth. You turn in a circle, attempting to find a good hiding spot. You spy a big tree with a hollow center, obscured by a flower bush. It is right by a river too!

You dive into the hole without delay and try to rein in your breathing. You quickly adjust the bush so it didn't look like it was rammed through. It was not long before you felt that ominous presence again, your tail poofing up instantly.

"Little fox, where are you?" Ike coos from a good distance away. You cover your mouth with both hands. "You're a sly thing, huh? Walking around my own territory like it was your place. Now, it's time to make sure you learn your place."

You press yourself against the wall so hard, the grooves start to imprint on your skin. You're starting to regret your decisions. It seems like the wolf will never let you go until he captures you. You silently pray to whatever gods were listening.

Turns out they were not. They said screw you kiddo you're on your own.

"I will find you," Ike promises, his voice a tad closer. "I can feel your heart. So fast. Am I making you nervous?"

You grind your teeth, stopping yourself from growling. This cocky bastard.

"I tend to get that reaction a lot. I didn't think I was that horrifying, being on the smaller scale," Ike says and you roll your eyes because who the fuck asked? "I give off threatening vibes, supposedly. that's what the last one said anyway."

Huh?

"The last prey I had," the wolf continues, almost as if he just read your mind. "You must've seen the lines on the walls. All animals I've killed and perhaps devour. Sometimes, I kill for the fun of it and leave the carcass for other animals. Oh, how thrilling it is, watching the blood seep onto the floor and the life draining out of their eyes!" Ike sighs and your blood goes cold because it's outside your hiding place. A big hand reaches out to touch the flower in front of you. "Their blood, such a pretty shade of red just like this poppy."

The hand snakes out like a viper and snatches your ankle and you yell, kicking at him but he drags you out of the tree. Still kicking and screaming bloody murder, you kick his face in sheer desperation. His head turned toward another direction but his hand still latched onto your ankle.

"That wasn't very polite," Ike says, his gaze on you and you still. "What's wrong? Sad because you lost?"

"No way!" You claw at his hand but he doesn't budge. Just watches your pathetic attempts. "Let go!"

He leans in close to your face and you halt your actions. His breaths on your face as the wolf holds eye contact with you. The flecked color of brown in his eyes are mesmerizing to look at, entrancing. You swallow hard. Ike's hand slides from your ankle to your knee, to your thigh, sending goosebumps across your skin. He squeezes, his nails digging in slightly and you wince.

"No. You're mine to play with now, cute little fox."

Something about the way his voice went lower, or was it the hand movement? made your heart beat faster, and not in a frightened way. The wolf's hand travels to your hip and your breath hitches, still staring into the eyes of your enemy. The hand goes all the up from your arm, feather light, skins your collarbone and finds itself a new home on your neck. Wrapping his fingers around your delicate neck, Ike begins to squeeze lightly. Still looking down at you with those pretty eyes, hovering over you with such a smirk on his lips.

Ike stops squeezing, evidently surprised. He sniffs the air, but still a hand around your throat, his nose dipping lower. His nose bumps against your thigh and he growls low in his throat, yanking your legs apart. You squeak.

Arousal. Pure arousal, glittering in the light. Ike stares for a moment, still sniffing. His gaze slides back up to you and you stop breathing.

"Little fox..." he says quietly, and excitement jolts up. "Are you... aroused, right now?"

You don't respond, a bit ashamed. Why the hell were you getting horny for the man about to kill you? Who in their right mind-?

You gasp as you feel a hot mouth against your pussy, lapping up the juices with a shocking pace. You whine, struggling to get away but both his hands are on your thighs now, keeping you spread open and down on the grass as he ravaged your pretty little hole.

You tasted so fucking good, more than he could ever imagine! His nose bumps your clit as his tongue glides in and out of your wet hole, making squelching noises. You moan loudly, digging your nails into his scalp as you push him into you. Ike growls, sending more electricity up your spine. His teeth grazes your clit as he suckles the bundle of nerves and you gasp.

"Oh fuck fuck fuck- mph!" You cover your mouth, attempting to muffle your embarrassing sounds.

The wolf stops, narrowing his eyes at you. "Who said for you to hide those pretty noises?"

You bite your lip, legs squirming as the breeze hits your pussy. "I-I, well..."

"Keep our hands. Off. If you do so again, I'll make sure you never do it again, do you understand?"

You nod quickly, getting even more aroused by his threat and you subconsciously think, 'what the FUCK' and he smirks.

Ike eats you out like a wolf starved, fucking and teasing your hole with such accuracy you start to see stars, and watching him eat you like you were the best meal he ever had turned you on even more and you felt your walls clamp around his tongue.

"Good slut," Ike whispers against your clit, sucking on it for a brief moment before sinking his teeth into your thigh, making you yelp. "Horny little thing, for a predator who was going to devour you whole..." the wolf chuckles.

Your slick slathered across his face, buried in you, legs over his shoulders was a sight to see. You moan, "a-ah! Mmm, right there, t-there!" Your toes curl, eyes rolled back as the orgasm comes over in waves, making your body shake from pleasure as you release soft whines. But Ike isn't done, he's just getting started.

A finger pushes itself into you and you gasp yet again. It explores your walls, tickling that one spot. Then another is added, and Ike slowly pumps his fingers into you, watching with fascination as your pussy eagerly swallows his digits. Pulling him in.

"What a fucking whore," he notes, flicking his eyes up at your flushed cheeks and the drool leaking down your chin. "I haven't even put my cock in you yet."

Your walls squeeze around his fingers at the sentence and he laughs darkly. He bites your other thigh, drawing blood as you wince in pain. The wolf quickly laps up your blood with a groan. His fingers pump faster, curling at the right time and you moan in a mix of pain and pleasure.

"Greedy bitch. Do you want me to let you cum?" He asks, gold glowing between your legs. New hickeys flourish all over your inner thighs along with obvious bite marks.

"Yes please," you moan, angling your hips up and he repeatedly hits that delicious spot. "Hah- f-fuck! N-ngh! Pleasepleasepleaseplease... "

Ike pulls his fingers out and you immediately protest but he shushes you. The loss of his fingers inside you was making you insane, until you get filled up by something entirely different.

"O-oh... " you moan quietly, his cock hard inside of you.

"Dumb fox." Ike takes your wrists and pins them above your head as he looks down at you. Your breath hitches. "Dumb, horny fox."

He snaps his hips and you make a guttural sound. Ike's pupils are big, drinking in every single detail from your sweat collecting on your skin, your body squirming underneath him, to your mouth popped open slightly. Oh, and those luscious lips of yours, appearing soft and unkissed...

Might as well make you his new toy now, eh?

Ike smashes his lips into yours as he fucks you fast and hard, shoving his tongue inside your mouth as you open to moan. Tongues dancing together and his muscle exploring every single space within your mouth. You tasted so delicious and felt so delicious, there was no way in hell he was letting you go now.

Satisfied with your bruised lips, the wolf goes to mark your neck. Biting, kissing, sucking. Your legs wrapped around his waist as he digs his nails into you. Tears running down your face as you hiccup, crying and saying "it's too much, it's too much'.

Ike could not give a damn. You brought this upon yourself, and now he's going to have fun with his new fucktoy.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Dubior

Debut: Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Kirby's Return to Dream Land is very realistic, because it accurately depicts the phenomenon that, when you go to space, you will encounter funny robots flying about! What is their purpose? We don't know! There is, however, a sort of controversy or misunderstanding revolving Dubior.

You see, Dubior grants the Spark ability. Because it is a robot that runs on electricity, and uses all sorts of electric attacks! However, many people do not like this, and think it should instead give the UFO ability.

Perhaps I am in the minority here, but I disagree! Dubior may be a flying machine in space, but at least to me, it does not seem all that much like a UFO! It is just a funny robot. The UFOs in this series have all had a very distinct design trend, which Dubior does not follow. Besides...

What is a UFO? An Unidentified Flying Object. Dubior is not unidentified. It's Dubior! It says it right there on its health bar! Objectively, Dubior is not a UFO. It is just a FO. And nobody says FO.

What Dubior HAS always reminded me of is those little handheld vibrating massagers! You know, the ones with a central round part and three or four orbs that vibrate and you rub it on your back? It is a fun thing to be reminded of!

Anyway, Dubior is a mid-boss, and a very special one! As Kirby and friends journey across Popstar, they will encounter various mid-bosses as usual, culminating in a classic Mid-Boss Tower Level in which they are fought one after another, each fight taking place higher in the tower.

This tower is so high that it pierces the atmosphere, and Dubior is fought last, on nearly the top floor! It is no coincidence that the most alien of foes is only on the closest point of this planet to outer space. This foreshadows that it will reappear, and more often, on the distant planet Halcandra! This seems to be where it was created, but for what reason? We don't know!

What we do know is that in Planet Robobot, the Haltmann Works Company uses Dubiors as part of their invasion! I assume they reprogrammed or recreated ones they found on Halcandra, since we know they have been there. It is the only of their returning mid-boss arsenal to not be mechanized, which is amusing. How are you going to mechanize a robot? You're not!

Geez. I can't believe I've said so much about Dubior and I have not even gotten to its wonderful antenna thing! It's clear by now I find Dubior delightful, but to me, the antenna is its best feature. When it first appears and sees Kirby, the three weird floating rectangles seem to freak out, growing and flashing red and white, as if it would be saying INTRUDER ALERT INTRUDER ALERT.

Dubior is also a parent! Happy birthday to Dubior Jr.! I love love looove when things are named like that. This is a machine! You would think it would be named something like Dubior Lite or Dubior Micro, but no! This was Born, and Named, after its proud robot parent. As were its many siblings, because many Dubior Jr.s can be spawned! Mollusc Fans may notice that Dubior Jr. looks quite like a nautilus, with a body like a curved shell, and a brim above its eyes like the leathery "hood" of a nautilus! It is a strange decision, since Dubior's design does not appear to draw from any real creature, but of course I am very happy about it. I'm Mollusc Fans!

Finally, we have Dubior EX, who I do not have much to say about, but am including because it would be wrong not to. This one is pink, and with only one eye, positioned to appear slightly menacing as opposed to regular Dubior's wide-eyed innocence! I prefer regular Dubior, but EX is very cool on its own merits, too.

If after all this you still consider Dubior to be UFO-like, I'm not upset with you.

[b1asho]

Muttreazik fullbody! Last but certainly not least!!

The universe's most complex genetic manipulation, done by a little parasitic worm things!! Debatable on if they look like worms but I think it’s funny to call them that.

Pretty much all new info about them I put into the image or am not sharing on purpose (but fun fact, they have pretty strong evidence that within their own species an afterlife/higher dimension, god, and reincarnation are real) they're by far my least sci aliens, but I put whatever I want into my wretched project and I want some more fi in there.

So heres the abominable text clump:

Muttreazik are an endo-parasitic, possibly artificial species that specializes in completely replacing the brain and subsequently altering the body of their host.

They are also commonly known as chimera, since the name they call themselves is actually painful to hear to other sapients ( "muttreazik" is just an anglicized version of it, referring to the short burst of intense hums buzzes and clicks that make up the word.) Their natural way of communication is actually beaming information to eachother via these waves right into the brain eyeball, since that crystal thing they have is unbothered by that.

By most standards, their ‘true’ bodies are not technically considered alive, and are made up of a crystalline chamber that houses their consciousness and multiple tendril-like limbs used for interfacing with the meaty nerves of the body they built to pilot (using electricity generated in the crystalline matrix)

They also have some other structures to give and receive other resources, as well as more specialized structures for vision and vocalization (though their body also tends to retain the vocal cords in whatever state they’d be in considering the hosts biology and some meaty bits of their eyes for lubrication and structural support. For the most part though, you’re looking at a part of the little crystal slug thing when you’re looking at their eyes, and you can often tell if there’s anything extra weird going on with them by how brightly colored their eyes are, since this translates to stuff going on in their brain case.

This " weird" scale follows the idea of the visible color spectrum, with increasing frequency going from red to orange to yellow, with green, blue, and purple being Extremely weird. Even species that aren’t able to see colors on this spectrum can perceive this 'color', which is very disorienting and unnerving).

The process of taking and building a body is a part of their life cycle, beginning when their spores attach to a developing fetus.

The two merge, and the muttreazik part begins growing the body around it using its own manufactured hormones and codes.

This can happen with sentient species or with animals, since their spores will attach to anything living, and muttreazik born from animals will typically share that level of intelligence alongside their body shape. There are exceptions, though, with animal-born Muttreazik having similar consciousness scale to a sentient species from the planet whose biology they’re borrowing.

The reverse is not true, however, with every muttreazik born from a sentient species having the same spectrum of intelligence as that species (though they might look a bit more animal like by coincidence ).

When in this stage within the host, anything the host sees, eats, or otherwise interacts with is fair game for the developing muttreazik to use in building the body (though they aren’t really conscious at this age, these things just imprint on them as raw information. Depending on the individual, they can process and utilize this information to have more complex features than the base host blueprint they’re already working with. Some can even use past information they already know...? More on that later in their life cycle ).

Most of their life is spent out of the host in their new body. Since they don’t reproduce sexually, their bodies reflect that, and any primary or secondary sexual characteristics they have are by coincidence (basicslly from just "copy pasting" the the host's genetic blueprint)

When they die, they will seek out populated areas to die in. Within a day after death, they will release more spores to attach to natural organisms and begin the process again.

While not scientifically proven (by an outside source)+, muttreazik culture holds that they also release their consciousness at death, which returns to a higher plane where they ‘truly come from’.

Those with this belief also see their body as an attempt to attain the form they hold in this plane. It is debated whether this is true, though it would explain why some muttreazik have vastly more complicated alterations than others, supposedly from this better "grasp" on biology (being their mind’s third or fourth go around with a host species despite how their spores start over) and also why some have otherwise inexplicable characteristics, knowledge, and fears (possibly from when they lived and died last) and why some have abilities that don’t follow the rules of conventional reality (such as complex manipulation of biology and in some cases external matter, which many have theorized comes from their brains connection to their home plane).

As a newly discovered species that until contact had not nearly progressed as far technologically (who's to tell, though, the Imperial colony operation blasted a lot of stuff off the face of the planet when hitting it with meteors to seed water), they are in a complicated and unbalanced relationship with the species that crashed on the same planet and "uplifted" them and who they depend/prey on for existence.

Neither party agreed to the muttreazik's existence; the spore is not sentient and the host didnt agree to carrying something that wont be like them.

It puts them in a precarious situation, though, because they depend a LOT more on the others for both existence and permission to exist.

Without the body, they would be unable to move around or really exist as the active, aware, and conscious beings that they could be.

This has lead to major controversy due to their parasitic nature, since the sentient beings that become their hosts don’t usually take kindly to "their kid being replaced by a freaky critter", and they also make the laws around here.

Currently, each of the world’s major nations have slightly different approaches to dealing with them. Generally, in the Democratic Republic of the Solar System (DRSS) and the Geak Federation, it is illegal to allow a muttreazik to develop naturally.

Modernly, once they’re detected the muttreazik clump is removed and transferred to a tank/other facility where it is artificially grown, leading to typically safer outcomes for both the muttreazik and the host. Natural births obviously have risks associated with the altered anatomy, though the muttreazik will stay within the size limits of the host (example, a centaur lookin Muttreazik born naturally from a human would have been born with an extremely delicate tiny horse half, and instead experienced growth into a normal size afterwards as coded by the muttreazik, though this still comes with its own list of health issues for them) the tank environment controls the amount and what kind of stimuli they’re exposed to, and has more space and less risk factor (for the host) leading to fewer and less extreme alterations.

the categorization chart pictured is used to rate and monitor their development, anything under a c is very undesirable but unless the fetus thing is rapidly approaching an F then they can’t really do much physical intervention, so to speak, (mostly for legal reasons, because the government (and more frequently private lab operations) have pretty much put themselves in charge of another species’ existence and its a bad look if they try and control their reproductive rights, no matter how weird and gross that reproduction is).

Still, the muttreazik is born the way it is into a world that has already put them into a category that will decide their rights and the trajectory if their life in general. Strays are any muttreazik born outside a tank, and thus can exhibit c or lower congruency traits (either at birth or as they grow.)

If you’re a host, you have to have the muttreazik clump removed to continue the rest of its development in a special growth tank/other facility.

This is basically free thanks to government funding, and comes with some economic incentive for the parents to encourage it.

Theres also several available programs to help support them raising a Muttreazik child (since it is more common and encouraged for them to just keep them,)

This helps reduce the risk of birth complications (due to their often weird biology) and also for “quality of life assurance” for the muttreazik since within the tank environment their growth is more controlled and monitored (specifically by controlling their diet/what biological matter and other stimuli theyre exposed to)

. This usually prevents them from being born with traits that make it much harder for them to function in human society, such as a major size difference or lack of proper limbs as the host.

These “congruency” laws are very aribitrary and difficult to navigate, but no matter whay there are pretty weighty consequences to an illegal natural birth. The categorization (specifically the congruency scale) is kind of intended to be a sort of annoying, arbitrary thing (where you kind of “eyeball it”. For example, facial resemblance to the host can get you a higher score than your body would suggest, or a very close resemblance to the hosts body despite your head, etc. or vice versa)

Higher scores mean less restrictions, since you’re basically just like everyone else. But, say, if you were an Alius D because of your large, animal-like body structure and facial appearance, you’d be obligated to tell, say, the job or college you’re applying to that to let them make an ‘informed decision’ on whether you’d be a good fit, and you may even be barred from some areas not built to deal with you. Even worse, let’s say you’ve got a mermaid type build (no legs, automatic E or even F) good luck doing anything on land, loser.

A low congruency score coupled with being a mancer means almost guaranteed fear and suspicion responses from most people, who think you’re dangerous and not one of the “thinking ones” (ie a muttreazik born from an animal who thus usually has that same level of intelligence to match their appearance, even though their brain size loophole often means they’re way more intelligent than their animal parent). You get the picture.

They also have organizations associated with animal shelters and those that free roam to identify and collect muttreazik in animals to prevent them from dying somewhere and spreading more spores.

strays tend to have more noticeably irregular or unique traits, and also trend to look less like their host in the ways that the Rep focuses on (specifically the face).

There are programs to house/educate strays that were given up for these differences and for tank borns whose families didn’t want them (“kept or cast” is a term for the relationship status between a muttreazik and their host parent. )

The more implicit purpose behind this law is to also keep tabs on the muttreazik within their borders (as I briefly mentioned before, some them are just uh telekinetic and that ranges from being able to move a coin or a candle flame to throwing a truck or causing explosions.)

As you could imagine, the government doesn’t really want too many of those around).

In general, the view on them trends very negative, and it is seen as a major misfortune to become a host. However, they are tolerated for their uses in the workforce/contributors to society and for aforementioned telekinesis(and ability to shelter those heading into the wreck, since whatever they do counters RUU).

Things are a bit different in the Seru Empire, though the tank thing is the same.

Information is limited but they likely practice a lot more experimentation and culling due to Cerest cultural standards. Muttreazik are also all mandated to their own living spaces away from the host parents and often sent to the military. They are almost always along the lower castes, with their version of a caste tattoo being a collar.

Muttreazik come in many shapes and sizes, with every individual being more or less unique.

The only thing they all have in common is the previously mentioned secondary vocalization method (via a part of their brain body that extends to the throat and can be vibrated separately or alongside the normal vocal cords) and an extra “eye” feature they use to see other Muttreazik's signals and pretty much ever wave out there, no one really knows. It’s really sensitive though.

Pretty much as a rule, they have features that are a little unnatural to the host. This ranges from just having some distorted biology or strange coloring (hard to distinguish from the norm, the only way to know for sure would be to open that eye thing) to the extremely unnatural and titular “chimera” features that they’re more known for (like extra limbs, strange skin/hair/scale coloration, animal-like traits, and body plans that step into the incorrect and impractical).

The body is nothing without the worm brain, and the worm brain is nothing without the body.

the distinction between the worm and the body even though that’s technically their brain is because it doesn’t act as their whole nervous system (only the central, and then attaches partway through to the meat nerves in order to not have to grow a million tiny filaments they’d have to also grow supports around to keep from disintegrating in the body)

Theres also distinction because part of them thinks about the worm part as their whole body with the brain case being the brain, while also having part of *that* body be the brain for the bigger meat body. Stay with me here.

So they actually tend to see themselves as a pilot rather than an integrated part of the body, though this varies by individual.

Some identify more with their worm body, seeing themselves as a pilot separate from the body, others as being one entity, and some don’t like the idea that ‘they’ are something lurking within the outer body they can see and rather identify with the meat vessel, ignoring the worm part they can still feel in there.

Mancers are one of the biggest mysteries in this universe, since no one knows how or why they can pick up stuff with their mind and even change its structure. The most agreed upon running theory is they’re using “control waves”, which is explained as something something ultrasound something something magnets? but there’s literally no way to get readings on whatever the hell they’re doing so you have to just deal with it ok we’re more worried about them growing inside us.

Solids are the most common matter focus, being the easiest, second is liquids and third is gas (there’s also plasma, exceedingly rare, and a secret 5th and 6th one)

Everyone is born null but as time goes on some can pick up the ability quickly and with greater skill than others. Better understanding of how the world works around them seems to help with this.

But yeah, they're my excuse to draw weird lookin things and I wanted to have at least one other kind of weird unexplainable thing in my setting. Yknow, besides the evil space radiation don't worry I haven't forgotten about that you better belive I'm making a ref for those too.

[thefanciestborrower]

okay... i've got a thought... what if connections to elements influences the appearance of your stomach? i mean we've already established that zane has a weird stomach bc he's a robot, but. But! why not everyone else gets a fun tummy???

starting off strong with jay: a lightning master should, obviously, have a glowing lichtenberg figure across their stomach. i feel like the stomach itself is a deep blue while the glowing bits are an electric cyan. probably also that the glowing bits are a tad warmer to the touch

cole: his stomach is probably firmer bc. rock. its a bit like laying on a really firm mattress; not uncomfortable enough that you cant sleep on it, but probably nothing like what you're used to. as for colors i think its a light brown at the top and grey at the bottom, with a squareish zig zaggy line where the colors meet

kai: similar color separation to cole, but in bright red and yellow. a bit of an ambient glow, but probably not as much as zane's. it's distinctly warmer than the other's and probably favored more during the winter

lloyd?: base color of an olive sort of green, covered in sprawling circular patterns in basically every shade of green and yellow. they glow. Brightly. it's not great for sleeping in because of that, but it has (slow) healing properties . hes the element of Green after all

garmadon: black with bright purple swirls. its goopy as hell in there sorry. you are not coming back out without a thick coating of The Sludge. everyone has yet to figure out what The Sludge actually is (other than gross)

wu?: white with golden swirls. not "goopy" as much as generally Wet but thats probably to do with all the tea he drinks

Okay but I love that though??? I don’t usually think too much about strange insides because my brain likes to zero in on realism, despite nothing in vore being all that realistic lmao, but oh those are all such neat ideas.

Like, Jay getting blue insides with pretty light blue glowy patches??? Incredible! 

Cole’s stomach sounds so cool and I never really think of using brown for internal colors, but you know what I love the way you’ve described it! Plus the firmer texture sounds really comfy

Kai ABSOLUTELY deserves to have a nice warm ambient glow to his insides, and I like to think the glow is really soft. Like having the lights dimmed and then laying under a blanket sort of thing. Very warm and cozy; sitting by the fire vibes

Wait wait Lloyd having a bit of a healing stomach sounds so cool what?? How did I never think of something like that I love healing stomachs! Plus the swirly greens and golds sound so beautiful, even if they’re hard to sleep with 

KLDSFH wheezing G.armadon would have goopy insides wouldn’t he. I feel like Lloyd is the only one who never really minded the goop. It’s familiar and he’s rather used to it, but the others are absolutely disgusted. I love goopy stomachs though and the purple and black swirls sound stunning

Wu having pretty gold and white swirls is ALSO so lovely sounding and mm I think hanging out in there and soaking in some jasmine tea would be wonderful 

[haunted-plush]

Cars Music Headcanons Because why the Fuck not

Lightning

Got a red electric guitar because he thought it was cool

Tried to learn to play but stopped after a week because he wasn't immediately good at it [adhd curse...]

After he crashed into Radiator Springs and finished his big race he got lessons

Average singer, passable enough to sing while he plays

His favorite band is System of a Down

Mater

Doesn't own a banjo but knows how to play

*Does* own a fiddle but rarely takes it out because it's actually one of the more expensive things he owns, the only object he took with him when he left home actually, and he keeps it in the case most of the time

REALLY good at playing it, he could play just about anything and can improv at any moment

Yes he actually knows how to do proper scream vocals

His normal singing voice is very deep and rich

Great whistler

Sally

Good singer, she's shy about singing in front of people but when she's by herself she has a really pretty voice

Knows enough about piano to claim that she can play it

Not shy about dancing, if a song comes up she likes she will get up and dance without getting embarrassed

Favorite song is I Wanna Dance with Somebody, close second is Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

She said she wished she could get better at piano, which she can't do because she doesn't have one, so Lightning got her one for the lobby of the Cozy Cone as a gift

After a few months of practice she invited everyone to come down one evening for a little concert, and she played a few really beautiful songs for them, everyone thought it was lovely

Doc

Likes to have the radio on while he works in his garage

Sometimes he has it on when he sits outside with a cigar by the little firepit, but just as often he'll just listen to the fire cracking and enjoy the quiet

One time Lightning asked him why he doesn't like to have it on all the time when he sits out there and he said "the best music is the sounds of mother nature" which Lightning thought was the cheesiest thing he'd ever heard

He likes the sounds of the crickets and the coyotes at night

He secretly used to be in a band when he was young, Lightning found photos of him playing drums one time [he never told anyone about it though]

Generally likes dad rock with no specific bands or musicians

Flo and Ramone

Flo picks the music at her cafe and Ramone picks the music at his tattoo shop

Flo's favorite is Dolly Parton, she got into her music through her more pop focused songs, but she learned to branch out to her country also

Ramone's taste overlap with Lightning, and when he knows Lightning will visit his shop he'll put on some metal for the background

Sarge and Fillmore

Obviously they have very different opinions on basically everything, but surprisingly there are a few songs out there they both like

Sarge isn't big on music in general, he would listen to tornado sirens if he had the choice

Fillmore can play basically any stringed or woodwind instrument

Over time Sarge learns to live with Fillmore's Beatles vinyls he's always playing

Luigi and Guido

They both listen to music basically exclusively in Italian

They love singing the songs they play in the shop while they clean as loudly as possible

Sometimes they get weird looks from the customers when they do that but they ignore them

One time Luigi tried to take Guido to the opera but Guido kept falling asleep so they just left early and Luigi took him to get something to eat

If this gets notes I'll make a part 2 ig

[pkmn-elavir]

Star Seekers: Characters

Star Seekers:

Raiko:

He/Him - 20 - Jolteon/Dusk Lycanroc Mix - Electric/Rock - Bold - Quick Feet - 0.8 m/2’7”

Moveset:

Thunder Shock

Bite

Thunder Fang

Rock Tomb

Raiko is very rambunctious and energetic, rarely sitting still. He likes adventure and battles, but of course only if his opponents are up for it, as it's all just for fun.

Fun Fact(s): Only one I don't even remember where I got the idea for. He has existed since 2019 and I have barely anything left of whatever the original idea was.

Roku:

He/Him - 22 - Archen/Zorua Mix - Flying/Dark - Careful - Defeatist - 0.6 m/2’0”

Moveset:

Fake Tears

Pluck 

Feint Attack

Ancient Power

Roku lives in a hidden underground base. He rarely leaves the base, fearing running into any other Pokémon.

Fun Fact(s): Started as an idea for an ask blog about a weird Archen who lives in an abandoned underground base. Originally was set in the regular Pokémon world with humans, he was just a weirdo who walked on his wings. He then got redesigned into Archen/Zorua mix.

Joki:

They/Them - 25 - Vaporeon Variant - Water/Grass - Relaxed - Water Absorb - 1 m/3’3”

Moveset:

Giga Drain

Water Pulse

Aurora Beam

Aqua Ring

Joki is quiet and calm most of the time, preferring solitude but not minding the company of their friends. They're very laid-back and always there for their friends.

Fun Fact(s): Created alongside Raiko but actually had something written down about them: The idea was a kelpie, or similar water creature inspired Vaporeon. The name is Finnish for river, but apparently also how you'd spell the word for vapor in Japanese with the Latin script. Very fitting for a Vaporeon. Later decided for them to be a Vaporeon variant with Water/Grass typing.

Toren:

He/Him - 26 - Umbreon/Houndoom Mix - Dark/Fire - Naughty - Unnerve - 1.1 m/3'7”

Moveset:

Bite

Fire Fang

Taunt

Scary Face

Likes to tease others, though he can come across as a little scary. Usually has Fern pull him back in line.

Fun Fact(s): First of the characters made specifically for this story. Decided to make him a mix of some of my favourite dark types. Decided to make the Umbreon markings red instead of yellow since I felt they looked better and then just went wild on the design from there.

Fern:

He/They - 28 - Leafeon/Ninetales Mix - Grass/Fire - Sassy - Chlorophyll - 1 m/3’3”

Moveset:

Magical Leaf

Flamethrower

Sunny Day

Synthesis

Seems nice and friendly but is even meaner than Toren, though can hold himself back better. Tends to behave as an older brother to the younger members.

Fun Fact(s): The one whose colours I struggled the most with. I could have gone for autumnal yellow orange brown, but I simply don't like those colours much so I went with shiny version so it would work with the greens better. The turquoise came from not wanting to use the brown of Leafeon and the purple of shiny Ninetales didn't work well so I went with something entirely different instead.

Vari:

He/They - 50s - Absol - Dark - Serious - Justified - 1.2 m/3’11”

Moveset:

Detect

Slash

Night Slash

Zen Headbutt

Very serious protector. Rarely interacts with others, so he’s a bit awkward around other Pokémon. Very kind and only wants to help others to the best of their abilities.

Fun Fact(s): The design idea was an immediate idea, but then I struggled with the name. I went with varis (Finnish for crow) but without the s.

Legendaries:

Zero:

They/Them - Centuries - Reshiram/Zygarde Mix - Dragon/Fire - Quiet - Turboblaze - 4 m/13’1”

Moveset:

Outrage

Blue Flare

Earthquake

Glare

Loner who rarely shows themself around others. Though they prefer solitude, they cannot abandon someone in need.

Fun Fact(s): Started from an idea to fuse my two favourite legendaries together. I made a custom preset in Feral Heart to make the idea true many years ago. Though I have no idea what the character's name was, as all of that is gone, I had some images saved. The name is just first thing I thought of when mixing some of the letters from the legendaries together. For this story though I decided to use Zygarde's 10% instead of the 50% I used originally, so it's a new design.

Astrolupe:

They/It - Eons - Astrolupe - Psychic - Gentle - Starblind (Prevents the opponents from targeting any other Pokémon) - 3 m/9’10”

Endlessly kind and caring, always working hard to make sure everyone is happy, even to the point of neglecting their own well-being.

Fun Fact(s): Idea that started as me realizing I wanted a legendary but none of the existing matching with the theme and design I like together. Eventually worked out as a way of explaining the eggs. The name is just space related word + canine related word that felt like they worked well enough together.

Cygnova:

He/They/It - Eons - Cygnova - Dark - Lonely - Slow Pull (Lowers opponents’ speed over time) - 4.2 m/13’9”

Used to enjoy his job and working together with Astrolupe, but grew bitter as Pokémon began seeing death as a terrible thing. It withdrew from Astrolupe, though they were the only one who truly loved it. Struggling with the various negative emotions led to him striking at Astrolupe.

Fun Fact(s): Counterpart to Astrolupe that didn't exist at first but realized I might as well make and went from there. The name is Cyg from the first known black hole Cygnus X-1 (abbreviated Cyg X-1) + nova from supernova. I somehow accidentally gave both of them exactly 4 tails without meaning to. I just drew tails till I felt it was a good number. Apparently that number was exactly 4.

Side Characters:

Zar:

He/Him - 18 - Flygon - Ground/Dragon - Jolly - Levitate - 2 m/6’7”

Moveset:

Earthquake

Dragon Claw

Fly

Helping Hand

Enthusiastic and optimistic. Travels around to help other Pokémon with their troubles.

Fun Fact(s): A character I made a custom preset on Feral Heart. Simply called Flygonaut because the idea was Flygon + Raz Psychonauts. I guess I just felt the names and aesthetics (goggles) worked well I suppose? Anyway I do love Flygon so I decided to add him to this story as a side character.

Pokidoki:

He/They - 24 - Mightyena - Dark - Quirky - Quick Feet - 1 m/3’3”

Moveset:

Thief

Yawn

Sucker Punch

Play Rough

Very strange Mightyena who seems to not have grown up at all. They just want to play around all the time.

Fun Fact(s): Another character originating from Feral Heart. Pokidoki was one of my several FH accounts and I decided to make a character representing each account and this was Pokidoki, a red and white Mightyena with a big red collar. I kept the name even if it's a bit strange as an actual name. Decided to add them as another side character to show up in the story.

Character Height Comparison:

[promptcorner]

Hey, question: would you be willing to give us more about the dp x tfrb prompt? the one about danny/cody? Any hc or anything like that?

Sure! I’m currently working on a fic for it now, but I’m willing to share some head-cannons that won’t spoil anything.

I’ll do Cody first:

Since Cody was a Lad Pioneer (basically a Boy Scout) he would, like, be able to recognize a bird’s call and replicate it. I hc he would also have Brennan Lee Mulligan levels on bird facts, not just North American birds, but birds across the world.

Give him an audio recording of a bird call and he would tell you what bird it is, where it’s located, and all that jazz in seconds.

He’s a nature nut too, that’s cannon. But I imagine he has all the little guid books you can get in 4Winds (a fun thing my school did to get people into nature. They handed out these little book on pond life, birds, and bugs. There were a lot of them). He has Eagle Scout levels of this and beyond.

He would also know CPR, and other medical stuff, he has the training. We don’t see it in the show, but I believe he has the skill. It would be weird if he didn’t.

I also hc Cody knows how to cook. He’s not a chef by any stretch, but his home cooking is pretty good. His dad taught him how to use the grill. I like to imagine he cooks for the family sometimes.

I hc that when Codys’ super duper stressed he starts quoting rescue codes if the situation calls for it. Chase uses these codes more often, but Cody specifically uses them when under extreme stress.

Cody tends to notice the little things along with Frankie. It’s to the point he can spot a speck of dirt in a bucket of glitter. He would totally be the first to notice something is going on with Danny. He wouldn’t know it’s ghostly stuff, but he would hypothesize Danny is an alien.

And fun fact that I’m totally going to abuse in my fic, Danny and Cody both wear red and white sneakers in their respective shows. Like, their different, but the colors are still there. I noticed this one day while doing research. It’s almost like their inverted!

I find it funny that they have similar fashion senses.

Now for Danny:

Danny would find it funny that they have similar sneakers and go all middle schooler on the fact.

Danny would have heard of Griffin Rock from Tucker and his parents, but mostly from Tucker. Sam would appreciate the environmental side of the island. Danny would love the bots, but he wouldn’t know their aliens before coming to Griffin Rock.

Danny can’t cook to save his half-life but knows the Fenton Fudge Recipe. Heck, like his parents inventions, he makes it even better then them. He even knows how to make it vegan for Sam.

He is a tech genius and doesn’t even recognize it. He has great battle prowess too. That’s, like, cannon— but I like to think he would thrive in Griffin Rock with Frankie and Cody giving him words of encouragement and whatnot. The Docs would love to work with Danny and discuss tech; and later Tucker, Sam, and Jazz. Maybe other characters too. I also hc that he’s dyslexic, not dysgraphic. He can write very well, but his spelling and reading sucks. He may also have some undiagnosed ADHD.

He knows how to play the guitar and sing. He’s picked up a few things from Ember.

I hc he has freckles, their faint, but present. They glow in his ghost form when he’s filling an obsession, happy, or blushing. His Lichtenberg scars are faded, but darken when he’s struck with electricity in both forms. No new Lichtenberg scars will appear though, it’s like the already existing ones absorbed them.

I also hc he has weird heart stuff that only shows when connected to a heart monitor in human form. He can turn his heart on and off and be fine due to the ghostly stuff. He’s cold like Winter itself, the cold never bothered him anyway type deal.

He won’t be killed when drowned and stuff in human form, but that doesn’t mean he won’t choke and lose consciousness. He feels the pain, though, and hates it with a passion.

I hc that he has two obsessions, but he doesn’t know. No one knows. It’s just that rare.

I also hc that the Infinite Realms is a sentient being that has been watching over Danny since day one. He’s like their child.

Fun fact for the fic: The Realms are not the only ones watching Danny. :)

Danny and Cody have a lot of similarities that I would like touch on, but I’m going to save them for the fic.

Thanks for the ask!

Update! There is now a fic!

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

hi it's mermay and i'm thinking about sirens. i'm gunna do some looking of my own (at seadragons, probably) but can you think of any fish that look like their tails/features would make a cool mermaid?

Hello! I've actually answered a similar question before, here is my answer to that one:

But since your question is a little different, I'll feature some unique fish species you could find inspiration from!

The rockmover wrasse! Here is an adult, the juvenile is a little wilder:

Crazy patterns! Should go to good use :)

Eels! Just any type of eel, really. They come in such varied shapes and sizes, and have various abilities too! If you're the type of person who likes to give merpeople the features of the fish they're based on, just imagine a moray eel merperson with two jaws! Or a ribbon eel merson whose tail sways like a ribbon while swimming. I'd suggest looking into eels!

Electric eels too! Despite the name, they aren't actually eels at all, so I'm mentioning their genus separately here. Long fish that sense things with electricity and can generate it, even being able to cause prey animals to stop or start swimming with careful shocks... need I say more?

Here's one that could have many ways to be interpreted as a merson. Stargazers! They're ambush predators that hide in the sand, only having their eyes and mouth showing. I'd like to see how those would be interpreted as merpeople.

Mudskippers! The semiaquatic fish that live most of their lives on land.

Another one that walks, frogfish! Many species not only have a lure, but also walk along the bottom of the seafloor. How's that for an interesting merson challenge?

I don't think I've ever seen a merson who looks like a billfish, as in like a swordfish, sailfish or a marlin. The particular fish here is a sailfish!

I don't see some reef fish often, either. How about a moorish idol?

Perhaps the similarly-shaped butterflyfish?

Oh hey, maybe mandarinfish! That's one colourful guy :)

Deep sea fish are always a treat, too. They look very otherworldly compared to the fish we see often in everyday life! My personal favourite is the barreleye, but any friend from the deep is a friend indeed. The stoplight loosejaw who has a private red flashlight, the cookiecutter shark who sneakily bites chunks off bigger animals, bristlemouths with their large jaws and tiny teeth... I recommend looking into fish that have photophores, aka light-producing organs! They're fish that glow in the dark!!! Extremely cool and mysterious...

Lanternfish are a good example of this, I think. They're thought to be the most abundant group of vertebrates, they're deep sea-living, they have photophores, they migrate vertically in humongous schools that literally look like false bottoms to sonar.

Deep sea anglerfish are a classic, old but gold. Seldom used in merfolk! I've tried tackling anglerfish merfolk myself before, I'll feature my concept sketches below for possible inspiration... though they contain artistic nudity, so I'll only feature them under the cut. Nothing major. Cartoon tits.

And there you have it! I got kinda carried away, I'm sure no one minds. Have a fun Mermay! I'm gonna draw some art for it myself, but in the meantime, have this fish ramble :)

Her first initial concept on the left and some additional ones on the right. Anglerfish of all kinds use lures to trick prey, so I wanted to mix the lure aspect with mermaids to create a siren that lures in sailors with her human half and eats them with her fish half. The human half has working eyes, vocal chords and lungs to first spot sailors, then call and sing to them, but besides that all the other organs are in the fish half. No doubt similar merple exist, but this was my take on it! It's a lot of fun to be creative, I recommend just going with the flow and doing what feels the most natural or coolest. You've got this!

[parushontas]

I have a headcanon that Ulrich has a real motorcycle as soon as he is old enough to have licence, because it's very practical thing if you live in a big city and its vibe is really matching with him.

So he is used to pick up Yumi or Odd from school, gym or other places. With Yumi, they look like the members of local bike club, a badass powercouple with pitch black helmets, big boots and leather jackets (safety first!); so serious so stunning, you don't wanna mess with them. Pink Sakura flowers on Yumi's helmet and dark brown or green pieces that Ulrich wears are the only colouring that they have. Sometimes they carry Épée or Sabre with, fencing is a fun and different training way for them.

With Odd, it looks like he has the Rainbow as a passenger. Odd has a couple of neon coloured jackets; mostly purple, pink and yellow. His helmet has the drawing of Kiwi that he painted by himself, occasionally carries weird art class materials with him and dances when they stop for red lights to entertain people in traffic jam.

The gang also have a secondhand Vespa that used to belong one of Odd's sisters; Aelita, Yumi and Odd ride it, because sometimes Ulrich's bike is too much for them. Jeremy still prefers electrically powered scooter.

Ulrich also has extra jackets, in case Yumi forgets to bring hers. The one from Kadic football team has 'Stern' written on its back but on the other one's back, it says 'Ishiyama', because he isn't the fan of his own surname and when he joined the uni's team, he simply lied to them and had Yumi's surname written.

[mandyyvibes]

and maybe 20! for SamRiley if you feel up to it <3

20- a kiss on a scar; samriley

(this was genuinely some of the most fun i’ve ever had writing anything ever. also heavily inspired by that one line of noah kahan’s “everywhere, everything.” you’ll know the one.)

“What happened here?”

“Oh my god, when I was in the fifth grade, our next door neighbor had this horrible chihuahua. It was a real monster. I wandered into their yard one day to get my baseball-“

“Oh, this was during your baseball phase?”

“Yes, this was during my baseball phase,” Riley gave Sam a withering look. “Anyway. I wandered into the yard to get my baseball, and the thing came at me like a fuckin- like the fuckin SWAT team that one time in Iceland.”

Sam let out a loud bark of laughter, one that made his chest shake where Riley was lying on it. “Did you get a rabies shot or anything?”

“I think so. I don’t really remember. It was a weird time in my life.”

“Yeah, your baseball phase was a weird time in your life.”

“Man, shut up.”

Riley’s freckled face turned a bit pink as he tried to hide in the crook of Sam’s neck, warm breath sending ripples of electricity down his spine.

Sam sighed contentedly, resting his hand on the back of Riley’s head, fingers slipping effortlessly through the short auburn curls. He let his attention rest on the large drive-in movie screen in front of them, which had fallen out of focus at least an hour ago when Riley had decided to make himself comfortable acting as Sam’s own personal blanket, the two intertwining so completely that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

The movie seemed to be wrapping up, much to Sam’s dismay. He didn’t want this moment to end- he would put it in a polaroid picture if he could. Then he would live inside of it, make himself cozy in his beat-up old SUV where he could lay with Riley forever. They had put the back seats down- “So we can look at the stars. And catch fireflies-“ and snuggled up together with the trunk open, their feet dangling off the edge of the bumper.

Sam would agree to anything if it made Riley happy.

“What about this one?”

Riley broke Sam out of his thoughts by picking up his head and running his thumb carefully across a thick scar that spanned the length of Sam’s right collarbone, peeking out from under the neckline of his shirt. It wasn’t very visible, but the scar tissue could be felt beneath long-healed skin.

“Fell headfirst out of a tree. I was twelve. I think I thought I could fly.” He smiled softly down at Riley, who was studying every inch of his face like it was his first time seeing it. “Fractured my collarbone, I’m lucky I wasn’t paralyzed.”

Riley hummed, brushing his fingers across the exposed skin once more. His touch was addictive, nearly making Sam shiver despite the sticky summer night air.

“I have one from falling out of a tree too! I was in kindergarten though,” Riley sat up and pushed up his sleeve, showing Sam the pale pink scar that stretched across his elbow. “Twinsies.”

“Twinsies,” Sam agreed solemnly, despite giggling internally at the entire idea of using that word. He pushed up on his elbows, admiring Riley’s profile, the soft rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed, the way that the soft golden bulb lights lighting up the area made his hair shine red and orange and golden, like the most brilliant sunset Sam had ever seen.

In a rare moment of confidence, Sam took Riley’s bicep in his hand, closing his fingers around the warm skin just above his elbow.

Riley looked back at him, eyes wide, a small smile playing across his lips, and the whole world stopped spinning for several seconds.

Sam leaned forward to press his lips to the scar on Riley’s elbow, and then the aforementioned chihuahua attack scar on his forearm, lips barely ghosting across silky skin. They were barely kisses, more like questions, “do you like this?” and “is this okay?”

Riley exhaled slowly, eyes trained on Sam the entire time, looking at him with so much tenderness that his gaze felt like warm water pouring across goosebump-riddled flesh.

Something inside Sam’s chest came undone when Riley twisted around to kiss his forehead, a surge of emotions that he didn’t know he was capable of feeling nearly overwhelming him.

There was no scar on his forehead. Riley had kissed him for the sake of kissing him, had pressed his lips to Sam’s skin with a gentleness Sam hadn’t known him to be capable of.

Sam opened his eyes that he hadn’t even realized had fallen shut to Riley’s, big and tearful and just inches away from him, filling his field of vision and his heart with something indescribably beautiful.

“Hey. I- I love you,” Riley whispered, as if the words might shatter everything rare and priceless that had been building between them.

“I love you too.”

[fuszulykaleves]

Ok here we go! 2013 version of "István a király". Its the 30 year jubilee so its definitely special! (last year was also a jubilee, and boy, was it special) ((this is all in good fun, don't take it to heart))

Opening sequence. A cool visual. Approved! I am mostly skipping the overture, cuz nothing ever happens during the overture, other than the actors walking around.

7 minutes in and I'm proven wrong. They are already dancing. To the overture. Its good to, I just don't like the 'Hey!Hey!Hey!' shouts.

Ok, dance number done, now we can get into the meat of things! Let's hear the bard!

....

There is long ass silence here...I think the head priest is walking up the stage, very loudly also, for some reason.

Very awkward. I think the dude on the left is István. The priest gave the signal and the music began., weird, but ok....I'm crying laughing, Oh, my god! The priest is singing the bard song! And so very badly too! He sounds like a robot. No feelings in there.

Calm your tits, Terminator.

Ok, now everyone is singing. Even lord Géza! I haven't seen that before! He is usually silent and I don't really see the point of including him as a character, because the most significant thing he does is that he dies in the first act. There is just no time for you to become attached to him emotionally.

He also moves like a muppet here.

So dude left of the priest is not István. That's Koppány. I think he is shorter than István. Comical.

Veni Lumen cordium. One of my favourite songs. I mostly like these, i don't know what to call them, priest songs? Only with electric guitars and synthesizers. Very cool, much vibe.

I'm only now realizing, they are going very heavy with the electric guitar, and the synth is lacking.

Red crosses? I'm guessing for better visibility...

The people are afraid of the red crosses. I don't blame them.

A bunch of guys in black, with sunglasses just ran in nodded to the priest ran out, then a car pulled up, and now there are policemen suddenly on the stage????? The absurdity is hilarious.

Gizella climbs out of the car, and is escorted to meet with István, who looks... not thrilled, to be getting married. This looks like two mafia families are witnessing the union between their families....

No thoughts, head empty.

For a moment he wants to leave his bride , what the hell man. He is stopped by his mother. Gizella and István share an awkward handshake. Did I mention there is no music during all this? Yeeah. Extra awkward. (you can hear their breaths, eugh)

She actually has a good singing voice, small mercies.

I hate this. István is fucking afraid of his soon to be wife.

Koppány comes in, looks confused by the wedding, looks offended by the crosses, and leaves.

Romeo what the hell are you doing here? You took a wrong turn get out before its too late!

So, now would come the nobles yeah? They are playing "Gratitude to you Lord", which is at the very end? Weird.

Somehow, a bit choppily, they transitioned to the nobles song. Ehhh. Its drawn out. Honestly, EVERYTHING is needlessly drawn out in this version. For dramatic effect maybe? Back to nobles, they have a pause in the middle of their song, i thought it was over for a minute, but they started again. I don't know what was the point of the pause.

One more song and I'm leaving the rest for later cuz, I'm more tired than I thought I was, and it seems, I have more to say than I thought I would want to say.

Koppány comes in with a whip scares away everyone.

This is Réka. With a garbage bag. Koppány is so disappointed with his daughter, he doesn't even look at her. Réka starts picking up some thrash strewn about. What the hell is going on.

Oh, she has a nice voice too.

So this is the scene where Réka is praying and Laborc calls her out for this. Here, Romeo-lookalike-Laborc is like "Pst! Hey, what the hell are you doing???". He is whisper singing, its so weird, isn't Laborc supposed to be like "Shame on you for betraying your Father!". He is weirdly considerate for Réka here.

Ok, shaming is on full force. Damn. He held a note for 10 whole seconds, while running up the stairs. Impressive? Yes. Unnecessary? Also yes. He also sings pretty well. Honestly, the only bad voice until now was the priest. Everyone else is fine.

Look, guys! Its Hide the Pain Harold!

He comes in with this look of "I'm not mad, just disappointed". Everyone looks away in shame. (there is no music here again! very awkward. again)

Hide the Pain Harold Lord Géza walks back out and yells "Yes! It is needed!" (replying to the song before, where everyone chants 'Not needed!' referencing the Christian fate), takes two steps, collapses and dies. RIP Hide the Pain Harold Lord Géza.

[litgwritersroom]

Could you write something for Rocco, please? Poor boy needs some love - and a redemption arc. In villa, post villa, AU...

I will also accept food truck smut 🤣

THE COLOUR THAT YOU ARE

Rocco / MC - 3000+ - @mrsbsmooth

A mess of auburn curls, tanned skin, eyes that looked like nature.  And around him, an explosion of colour.

For as long as she could remember, Freya had been able to see things that no one else could see. Her Yaya called it the gift. She was proud that her granddaughter had it too.

Freya’s siblings rolled their eyes whenever she said anything, and the kids at school made fun of her. So she stopped telling people.

It was hard, sometimes, to see past the colours, but she mostly learned to ignore them. Most people were brown, which Yaya said meant they were just normal, everyday people. Materialistic people who hadn’t opened their minds; who trudged through their everyday routine, focused on nothing more than their own problems. 

Yaya was blue. She’d always been blue, but the colour seemed to change with the day. Some days, it was warm and sapphired as the ocean, and others, light and airy as the sky. She could always tell Yaya’s mood based on the colour; swirling and dancing through the air around her body. Lighter meant she was feeling good. Darker meant she was tired. And towards the end of her days, Yaya’s aura was navy; such a deep, shimmering blue it was almost black. 

It was Freya who held her hand as she passed.

She didn’t care much for people’s colours after that.

Occasionally, she’d see someone in the street that caught her eye. Like the broad, business-type man, screaming about stocks into his mobile phone, whose magenta-pink aura betrayed his inner kindness. The small girl in the tutu, whose cloud of tomato-red made Freya giggle. Impulsive, impatient, and probably a little fiery. Her poor parents. 

But every now and again, someone would see hers, too. 

They were always older - and often unassuming. A man at the park. An elderly lady on the bus, furrowing their brow as they looked at her before their eyes widened, and they smiled at her. Freya didn’t know what colour she was. She’d never tried to check. She knew what the colours meant, and she didn’t want to know. 

In fact, she hated that she could see them at all. 

It felt intrusive, in a way, to know so much about a person without even knowing their name - without them knowing that she could see their very soul; the very essence of their being. She hadn’t asked permission to see them so clearly, and it felt so wrong that she could do it without asking. She certainly didn’t like the idea that strangers could know so much about her. 

So she kept her eyes to herself.

Until him.

She hadn’t planned to go to the park that day, but warm days were rare in a Belfast autumn. She’d overheard some high school students on the bus talking about a food truck that was stationed out there. They’d laughed and made fun of it, giggling about the loser who owned it, an older guy who flirted with everyone, and smoked too much weed to care that he was selling alcohol to minors. 

So she’d slowly walked, soft music in her ears until she’d seen the truck. There was a line of people, most of them young, and as she drew closer, she saw the sign.

Cocktails & Cronuts.

She couldn’t help but be confused by the weird mix of breakfast and late-evening treats, but something drew her closer. She joined the back of the line, the girl working the counter smiling broadly as each customer stepped up, quickly pulling pastries from a cabinet behind her, and talking animatedly to someone in the back. But as Freya drew closer, she started to feel… weird.

There was something in the air; something wiry; as if walking through a cloud of static electricity. She tried to keep her eyes focussed in front of her, but the girl working the counter seemed to furrow her brow as she approached. The girl kept glancing sideways, growing seemingly concerned, talking hurriedly to the person that Freya couldn’t see. But with every step, the feeling only grew stronger, and she fell within earshot of the girl at the counter. 

“Rocco - are you sure? Do you need to sit down? You’re looking–”

And then Freya saw him. A mess of auburn curls, tanned skin, eyes that looked like nature. 

And around him, an explosion of colour.

There were so many she could barely take him in, a mess of hue and pigment, like an artist’s palette discarded at the end of the day. Orange, green, white, red, yellow, blue, indigo; he was every colour at once, dancing around him with not swirl, but floodwater. There was something so unsettling about it, like she could feel the restlessness within him.

She’d never seen anyone like him.

Orange people were creative, and had to learn lessons from experience. Indigo people were empaths, who absorbed the trauma and emotions of others. Green people couldn’t be tied down, but red people were stubborn. Blue said ‘ungrounded’, but white meant ‘perfectionist’. 

How could he be all of them at once?

He must’ve felt her gaze, because he turned toward her, his brow furrowing as his eyes met her own. He looked at her; really looked at her; that stare so focussed and intense, as if pleading, begging her to see him. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his, something about him drawing her in. There was something about him, something about the tumult of his soul that had her aching to know him. 

To know how someone could be so many colours at once.

But before she could even say anything, he looked away. Almost in an instant, she saw his colours darken, as if by seeing him so clearly, she’d somehow bruised him. It hurt her to watch, a pang of pain through her stomach as he turned his entire body away from her. 

“I’m gonna take a quick break,” he muttered to the girl behind the counter, before hurriedly moving through a curtained-off area.

The girl frowned, but turned back to face Freya with a smile. “Sorry about my brother, he’s a bit of a weirdo.”

Freya smiled politely back at her, and ordered her food, deciding at the last minute to skip the cocktail. She took her cronut to the far side of the park, spreading her jacket out to sit against a tree, and tore piece after piece from the flaky pasty. 

Who was this guy? His sister had called him Rocco. How could he be so many colours at once? And why was he so… so…

Scared?

She couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She’d never seen anything like it, and she was almost certain she’d never see someone like him again. She wished for her Yaya, for the guidance she could give, wishing she was more religious so that she could ask for a sign to point her in the right direction. 

Google was no help, neither were any books she found in Yaya’s things. Freya paced around her apartment, trying to figure it out, on the verge of calling one of those psychic hotlines and asking someone who actually knew what they were doing. 

She knew she should just forget it. She knew it was weird that she was thinking about him this much. For all he knew, she was just some girl; staring at him way too hard, and coming back to stare at him again.

But she just needed answers.

It was almost a week later when she finally went back, and when she did, Rocco wasn’t there. His sister was running the truck by herself, laughing and kidding around with the few customers she had. But as Freya got to the front of the line, she seemed to brighten. 

“It’s you!” she gasped. “You’re back!”

Freya looked up at her questioningly, and the girl beamed at her. 

“Rocco’s been rambling about you all week. Freaking out, and going on like ‘she saw me. She could see me’. None of us have any idea what he’s on about.”

Freya took a deep breath, almost closing her eyes, as she let a small smile pull at her cheek. 

“I know what he means.”

The girl shook her head, laughing to herself. “Well, that makes one of us. He’s just gone off to clear his head. He should be b— oh!”

Freya felt him before she saw him, his presence warming her back, even though she could feel that he was still quite a distance away. She turned, and was almost blinded once more, his disarray of colours even more muddled than before. 

It was like staring too hard at a Monet, watching the watercolours bleed together in a swirl of uncertainty. It was beautiful, in its way, but so… so…

He paused as he saw her, before taking a deep breath of his own. He reached her side, meeting her gaze once more, and exhaled, a single word parting his lips.

“Hey.”

They walked for what seemed like hours, sometimes in silence, sometimes making small talk, but not yet acknowledging what they both already knew. They came to a stop at a small clearing, and he sat, leaning against a large oak tree, his arms resting on his bended knees.

“I don’t know why.”

Freya sat on the ground beside him, watching intently as he stared off into the distance.

“I don’t know why I look like this,” he frowned.

“Can you see it?” she asked, but he just shook his head. 

Freya furrowed her brow, silently asking him the question, and he spoke softly.

“I had someone tell me, once. An old lady in Greece. She pulled me aside and told me my aura was… different. I didn’t really understand what she was saying. I thought she was just a bit, you know, off. But she–” He turned his body toward Freya’s, meeting her eye once more, sending shiver down her spine. “She looked at me the same way you did. Like she could see something really bad. And I just… I don’t know why.”

Freya nodded, holding his gaze, almost distracted as his aura began to grey.

“I’ve never seen one like yours.”

He waited patiently for her to continue, the breeze blowing softly through the curls that made him look like some kind of fallen angel. 

She smiled softly at him. “It’s not bad, at least I don’t think so. It’s just so… different. Most people have one colour, maybe two if they’re in a transition period. But yours is everything; every colour; every emotion all at once. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He furrowed his brow, pursing his lips together. “What does it mean?”

Freya shook her head. “I don’t know. My Yaya was the one who knew what it all meant, and she died a long time ago. I can see the colours, and I know what they mean individually, but I don’t know what it means to have so many at once.”

Rocco paused, looking over at her once more, and she held his gaze. 

“What do you think it means?”

“I told you, I don’t know. I just–”

“Please.”

There was something so honest in his eyes, and she was suddenly overcome with the realisation. 

He believed her. 

No one since her Yaya had believed her when she’d told them about her gift. And here he was, this guy she’d barely met, and he did. She could see it in his eyes, in the honesty of his colours, the purple seeming to pulsate as he trusted his intuition. 

She could feel him, every swirling cloud of his presence, almost like he was drawing her in. There was something there, just under the surface, something she could almost see. She closed her eyes, letting the colours engulf her, feeling them instead of seeing them.

So looked up at him once more. 

“I think it means you’re trapped. It’s like your soul is being pulled in sixteen different directions, and none of them are what you want. It’s torture, and it’s breaking you apart from inside, like you have no idea who or what you’re supposed to be. When I look at it, there’s no sense to it, there’s no consistency. The colours around you are like an oil slick on top of water. It’s beautiful, so very beautiful; but there’s something about it that’s just… so–.”

“Suffocating."

She watched as he whispered it. He swallowed deeply, as if trying to suppress the emotion that had just risen in his throat. There was such pain in his eyes, as if she’d brushed by a part of him that he never realised was hurting. She couldn’t help but wonder what had brought him there. Was it a girl? Or just the weight of his own expectations; choking him with each day that he woke up to walk a path that seemed to trip him at every turn?

She wondered what it would be like to see him without his aura, to see him as others did; and she furrowed her brow. 

A little dishevelled. Tiredness under his eyes. A frayed bracelet that had meant something once, but now, he wore just to look like he had a story. The impractical sandals for the brisk autumn day, the loose shirt and the earthy smell of weed in his hair. He looked broken, like he'd had his face shoved into the dirt one too many times. Like his carefree facade was a single judgemental glance away from falling apart forever.

How could they know - how could any of them know? They couldn’t see him the way that she could. They could see the outward appearance. They could see the truck, and the weed, and the rampant flirting. 

But they couldn’t see him. 

They didn’t see the creativity in his orange. The compassion in his green. The kindness in his pink, or the empathy in his indigo. They couldn’t feel the warmth of his blue, or the energy of his red. There was a universe inside him that only she could see. That even he couldn’t see. 

And it was beautiful.

As the sunlight softened his features, she looked harder, her eyes searching for a pattern in the mayhem of hues. It was there, she knew it was there, she just needed him to breathe. 

Freya took his hand, and he almost recoiled, but with a slight reluctance, he laced his fingers with hers. She said nothing, just held his hand, as the two of them stared at the distant horizon, lingering in the comfortable silence.

There was something so wonderful about his presence; in the warmth of his hand, and the way that setting sun illuminated the gold in his skin. The steady rumble of his breath, and the sound of his voice as he finally spoke.

“Do you believe in fate?” he asked, still not looking at her.

She smiled. “I suppose?”

“Do you think that we were maybe… supposed to meet?”

She didn’t react, just looked over at him, smiling encouragingly as he mulled over the thoughts in his head. 

“Because when you first came last week… I felt… something. Like I knew you were there before I saw you.”

Freya nodded. “I felt it too.”

“So what does that mean?”

She smiled, shrugging her shoulders gently. “Who knows? Maybe we were meant to meet. There’s no way of knowing, really.”

They fell into silence once more, and she brushed her thumb over his hand. He responded in kind, relaxing with each trace of her thumb over his skin. 

He was so out of place in this cold, dreary autumn, like he’d been born in the wrong place. Perhaps it was her own fascination with him, but the few rays of sunlight that still shone seemed to focus on him. They caught the green in his eyes, the pink of his lips, the dark auburn of his hair; the masterpiece of beauty and colour that she couldn’t understand why people couldn’t see. 

“Have you ever travelled?” she asked. 

He shook his head. “One trip to visit my Grandmother in Greece. Other than that… never.”

And suddenly, she knew the answer. 

She turned her body to his, squeezing his hand tighter as her heart began to race.

“Let’s go together.”

Rocco turned to look at her, his brow furrowed, and his colours began to swirl with excitement. His eyes were focussed. Serious. Present.

“Go where?”

Freya couldn’t help it, that same electricity burrowing deep under her skin, as that energy between them seemed to charge.

“Wherever you want to go.”

As they made their way back to the food truck, there was something different about him. The colours were still there, of course they were. But now, they seemed to… shimmer, like they, too, had felt the electricity. Rocco and Freya arrived back at the food truck, and he stumbled over his words a little as he excitedly told his sister he was going away for a while. She raised an eyebrow, but ultimately, smiled and shook her head; as if she’d known that one day, she’d watch him do something exactly like this. 

Freya stopped by her apartment, letting her landlord know she’d be gone for a while, threw some clothes and shoes in a backpack, and grabbed her passport on the way out the door. She hopped on the train to the airport, and walked into the international terminal, the electricity growing with every step.

And there he was. 

He looked up at her, and smiled, looking as nervous as a kid on his first day of school, his rucksack thrown over his shoulder. As soon as she reached him, he slipped his hand into hers, and she could feel he was shaking. 

“What do you think?” she asked, turning his attention toward the board of departing flights. “Peru? Kenya? Indonesia?”

He looked over the board, his brow furrowed, but paused. He closed his eyes, taking a breath, and opened them again, smiling softly to himself. He stepped closer, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into his side.

“Thailand.”

She nodded, before standing on her tippy-toes, and kissed his cheek. Rocco smiled shyly, that same beautiful energy radiating from his skin, his eyes full with gratitude as she saw him in his entirety.

He was beautiful. He was so beautiful, in his mess of colours and tones, in his opposites and his hypocrisy. He was real, so unbelievably real.

And he was here.

She ran her fingers through those auburn curls, holding his gaze, and smiled softly back at him.

“Let’s go and find out who you are.”