#tree plant elevation blocks

[littleseasiren]

Save me, save the spider

Summary: Bucky saves you from a spider in the bathroom. He helps you see how cute the spider really is while messing with Steve.

Pairing: Bucky x Avenger!Reader

Warnings: A cute spider, mentions of Exposure Therapy

Words: Just over 1000 words

A/N: I know some people might not like this fic due to the spider being saved. I'm not saying it's wrong to kill a spider, just that sometimes it can be avoided if you have someone that can help you 🥰

Masterlist

Steve was the first person to hear you screaming. Running into your bathroom, his eyebrows shoot up, eyes widening at the sight of you dripping wet, hiding behind the shower door. Your eyes were locked on the bathroom floor, not blinking as you stared at the huge spider blocking your path.

"Steve! Thank goodness you're here! Friday called Bucky but he's still on his way up from the ground floor! Please, you need to take care of it!" Your voice seemed to increase incrementally with every word you said.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, I'll grab a shoe quickly."

"What, are you crazy?"

He watched the spider for a second. "Yeah, you're right. I probably need a boot or something for that huge spider."

"Steve, no! You idiot! What did this innocent spider do to you?" You glared at him. "Just, um, just toss Bucky's shirt to me and then go find him!" Steve watched you for a second before he grabbed the shirt on the counter and tossed it to you. Catching the shirt with one hand, you hid behind the shower door to avoid flashing him. "I'll watch the spider. Just go!" Steve hesitated before seeing the look in your eyes. You stubbornly watched the spider, not moving a muscle. He quickly departed in search of his best friend. 

He found Bucky at the stairs door, barely out of breath as he ran the last few steps to your floor. "Bucky, I don't know what's wrong with her. She told me to take care of the spider but then got all crazy, and I don't know why."

Bucky was smiling softly as he ran to your suite. "Let me guess, you wanted to kill it? That's when the crazy started?"

"Well, yeah. She's obviously terrified of the spider but the moment I wanted to kill it, she sent me to find you. I seriously don't understand your woman."

Bucky couldn't stop from chuckling. "Watch and learn, Steve. She's scared of spiders, and as an Avenger, she decided she wanted to get over her fear. She's doing some Exposure Therapy to help her overcome it."

Bucky entered the bathroom first, Steve hot on his trail. 

"Bucky! Thank goodness you're here!" He could hear the relief in your voice. "There, in the corner, do you see it?" You pointed to the dark spot, eyes wide open in alertness. 

"I got it," Bucky said as he crouched down and looked at the spider. Moving carefully, he slowly scooped it up in his vibranium hand, taking care to avoid hurting its thin legs. He quickly covered the spider with his right hand, keeping it from escaping.

"It's not poisonous or venomous?" You asked as you finally slipped on Bucky's shirt and slowly exited the shower before putting on your robe for added protection.

"No, baby. It's just a big Wolf Spider. It's probably a female judging by her size. You coming with me to take her out?" 

Your gaze met his as he waited for your answer. You slowly nodded, eyes dropping to his hands. Thank goodness he had big hands, otherwise, there was no chance the spider would have fit. "It's ok, baby. I got it. I won't let it hurt you."

You trusted Bucky with your life. His reflexes were so fast, there was no way the spider could get to you. 

Steve watched from the corner of the room, his eyebrows raised as he watched the scene in front of him. Bucky slowly exited the bathroom with you following his lead. Steve couldn't help but follow too, needing to know how all this would end.

You pushed the button for the elevator, happy when it opened within seconds. The three of you went down to the back garden, the trees and plants looking beautiful in the early morning light.

Bucky walked to one of the big trees surrounded by small flowering plants and crouched down. After a second, you join him. "I think this is a good place. You want to see her?" When you hesitated, Bucky started to withdraw his clasped hands but you stopped him. Taking a deep breath, you steeled your nerves. 

"Ok. You'll stop her if she comes for me right?" You knew the answer but you needed reassurance.

"Of course, baby. Do you remember what we spoke about? The spider is just looking for some bugs to eat. She just wants food. She doesn't want to hurt you, right?"

"Right. I trust you, Bucky." You loved how gentle he was with you, how much he cared.

Bucky slowly lifted his right arm, the spider lying still enough for you to get a quick look. The first thing you saw was all the long legs, seeming quite delicate up close. The spider had two big eyes, with small eyes above and beneath them with fangs underneath. Up close, she almost seemed... adorable.

"See, it's actually cute, right? As long as she stays still like this," Bucky whispered, making you smile in agreement. "Let me put this big girl down while she's still peaceful."

You and Steve watched as Bucky moved his hand to the tree and set it down for the spider to climb off. The spider hesitated before stretching its long legs and then scurrying to the tree, away from the three of you.

"My hero!" You giggled as you rose on your toes and kissed Bucky. "You're so sweet, Bucky. You should educate your best friend over there," you said, pointing to Steve. "Remind him we don't always have to kill what is misunderstood." 

"Misunderstood? That spider's so big I'm surprised Tony hasn't asked it to start paying rent!" Steve exclaimed. "It's not my fault that you're a freak, Y/N. Any normal woman would have wanted me to kill it!"

"Good thing I love my freaky woman," Bucky smirked, happy to have found you after a lifetime of war. 

"So much for having a heart of gold, huh, Steve?" You couldn't help but tease him. "My Sergeant would never hurt an innocent spider like that!" Bucky beamed at your adoration, pulling you into his side and nuzzling your neck.

"You're right, baby. Steve's the bad boy today," Bucky smirked at Steve. "I'll have to teach the idiot some manners. Can't have Captain America running around killing things. Imagine what the public would say." Bucky escorted you back inside the building, Steve reluctantly following.

"Yeah, well, imagine what the public would say if they could see you now, Buck. The terrifying Winter Soldier saving a spider instead of killing it," Steve replied.

"Anything for my best girl."

Tag List:

@crazyunsexycool

@fluffysucker

@morganmofresh

@dottirose

@cjand10

@buggy14

@tripleoyaa

@mandijo17

@moviegurl2002

[jasongotdrip]

Okay this is going to make me sound super sad but you said you were in New Orleans and right now that’s my current research rabbit hole obsession so if you find anything interesting particular history wise PLEASE LET ME KNOW (I’m such a neek I’m so sorry)

YEAH! Most of my family is from there so I know some stuff off the top of my head- all of this is either memorized from school or family, so correct me if im wrong😭

oh god I ACTUALLY YAPPED IM SO SORRY😭😭

cw: yapping, pretty pictures i took😍

New orleans was founded in (i think) 1718. France owned it first, then in 1803, Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase for approx 5 million dollars. It was actually very cheap for the amount of land it was, because it stretched across the entire middle of the (present day) U.S. It doubled the size of the land they owned, because the only settlements were east of the App mountain range. (I’m so sorry- im a history nerd😭)

it’s the most haunted city in the U.S. - i think San Antonio (TX) is also one of the top haunted cities but I can’t remember

the oldest part of the city is called the French Quarter!

the St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in the country that’s still used to this day.

in 2005, (I wasn’t alive but my family told me about this) when Hurricane Katrina hit, a lot of people took shelter in the Superdome, which is a big stadium. The hurricane was horrible to the entire state really, but New Orleans is right on the coast so it was especially bad there. My family moved to a nearby state before it was too late. That’s actually how my parents met! But anyway, the city is actually below sea level (by like 2 meters) which is why it was so easy to flood. It’s surrounded by levees that help keep the water out. Still, many houses and buildings are elevated, or on stilts because of this. Cemeteries are the same- every tomb is above the ground, in cement blocks. When we go to my grandmother’s grave, we always cover it in purple flowers.💜

if you EVER go to new orleans, the food is amazing. Like seriously. Creole/cajun food has always been the best. No matter what place you go, it will be great. Most of it is seafood based, like shrimp, crab, crawfish, etc.

i’m gonna put some photos i took in case you want to see some! Though I really only took pictures of Canal St, a large street with palm trees and trolleys/trams galore. On a lot of the buildings, there balconies full of plants and flags (yes, there was the rainbow flag as well😝)

[pink-tk-a-latte]

Day in the Life of the Nakajima Household

Aka Atsushi’s tiny dorm at the ADA that he is forced to share with 3 murderous individuals.

Tickle fic!! Lee!Atsushi, Lers!Lucy, Kyouka, and Akutagawa + a little Ler!Atsushi, Lee!Lucy (romantic Akuatsulucy and platonic Kyouka addition)

It’s the orphan poly + fellow orphan Kyouka!!!! ❤️🤍🖤💙 I wrote this a while ago so it’s all in present tense LOL. When I first had the idea, I was hesitant, but then I started actually watching the BSD anime and got to know all their characters better so here it is!! They make me SO EMOTIONAL

Also bonus mini HCs at the end!!!!!!!!!

(Ignore the cringey ahh emoticons LMAO it’s just that all of them are so creature-coded)

ᓚᘏᗢ ♡ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ♡ ૮(˶• ༝ •˶)ა ♡ /ᐠ •̀ ˕ •́ マ ♡ ՞ↀ - ↀ՞

Atsushi’s dorm at the Agency is certainly not made to house four people. It’s hardly big enough for two. Kunikida looks one noise complaint away from bursting a vein in his forehead, but, well, nothing has ever gone to plan as long as Atsushi’s involved.

Despite their statuses as Port Mafia operative and former Guild disciple, Lucy and Akutagawa come over so often that Atsushi’s colleagues hardly bat an eye. The two have even taken to calling it “their place,” which Atsushi thinks is kinda unfair — both for his living situation and his heart.

It’s a peaceful kind of day today. Kyouka’s inside journaling, Aku’s at the store — because he has the most stable paycheck — getting groceries, and Atsushi and Lucy are outside, watering the plants around the building.

“Someday you should get us a garden,” Lucy says while she sprinkles water over the tiny blossoming daisies. “So we can take care of our own plants instead of these ugly trees.”

Atsushi sends her a playful glare from where he’s watering said trees with a hose, smiling. “Do I have to do everything in this relationship? My pockets are crying thanks to you guys.”

Lucy scoffs. “Shut up, you! I give you discounts at the cafe all the time. I put my life on the line for you.” She tosses her hair and places a hand on her chest, and Atsushi holds back a laugh.

Maybe it’s his apprenticeship under Dazai, but Atsushi feels a bit mischievous today. In a move that he’ll probably regret later, he lifts the hose and rains fire over his life partner.

Gasping and spluttering, Lucy throws up her hands to block the spray. Her sundress soaks through and her braids quickly start to droop. She turns a murderous gaze on Atsushi through dark, sticky bangs, and he feels sweat run down his back.

“Atsushi Nakajima, you’re dead!” He spots a certain intensity in Lucy’s turquoise eyes.

Uh oh. He knows what that means.

Atsushi yelps and drops the hose, not even bothering to switch it off before he sprints. He employs his tiger strength, probably cheating, but Lucy could easily drag him away from reality and into Anne’s Room if she wants. Noticeably, she doesn’t, probably to drag out the anticipation. But she will have him. Atsushi is sure.

He races into the building and up the stairs. He doesn’t trust the elevator, but he has hope of escape if he continues on foot. In a blur, he spots his apartment number and pushes through the door, thankfully unlocked. Atsushi lunges for the closet, throws open the door and slams it shut behind him. He’s been on so many stealth missions; Atsushi knows how to be quiet. But he’s giddy from the chase and can barely restrain the frantic giggling he breathes out.

“Where are you, my cute little kitty? Come out, let’s play~!” He hears with his heightened senses. A shiver runs up his spine even while his face feels like an oven. He needs to remember that Lucy worked for the Guild, and their first meeting was a gamble for his and his coworkers’ lives. “Isn’t this a fun game! But you can’t hide forever.”

He really can’t, because there’s only so many places he can hide in his tiny apartment. He wonders what his chances are of getting out the closet and jumping through the window without Lucy noticing.

Just as he thinks this, though, the door flies open.

“Found you!” A grin full of metal shines through the darkness, and Atsushi screams. He tries to leap past her, but the wind is knocked out of his lungs as she tackles him onto his futon. Where did she get this strength from? Yet he doesn’t match her force with his own, mostly because, now that he’s caught, he’s found he doesn’t want to be free.

“Such a bad kitty,” she pulls him onto her lap with her elbows under his arms, and Atsushi feels her wet clothes press against his back. His ears are already pounding, hot. “I’ll show you what happens when you go up against Lucy Maud Montgomery!”

Suddenly there are fingers pressing into his sides. Atsushi yells out a panicked laugh. “A- Ahahaha! Luhuhucyhehehe I’m sorryhehehe!”

She huffs. “Well, you should’ve thought about that before you drenched me!”

This is just the consequences of his actions, isn’t it? Her nails tease under his shirt and he throws his head back. “Stahahahap! Stop Ihi yeheheheild! Lucyehehehe!”

She toes the line between unbearable and gentle. The feeling runs through Atsushi’s every nerve, frying his brain until he can’t do anything but kick and flail around on his sheets. Lucy holds him firmly, a satisfied smile on her face that he can’t see.

She is doing this for revenge, but gosh is Atsushi cute. His cheeks are full and red, his fangs peeking out from under his lip. His giggles are nervous and flighty but ingenuous, the purest kind of happiness. Warmth runs through her face without permission; she really wishes she didn’t have such an embarrassing ailment.

When Lucy digs her fingers into his ribs and Atsushi squeals loud enough to echo off the walls, Kyouka pokes her head in from the other room.

“Oh, are we getting Atsushi?” she asks with a small blink. Lucy grins and Atsushi pleads.

“Ky- Kyouka plehehease! Hehehelp! I’m gonnahahaha dahahahie!”

“We are indeed, Kyouka! And he deserves it. I’m sure he would love if you assisted me.”

Kyouka’s expression doesn’t change, but her eyes twinkle. She strides over and seats herself on top of Atsushi’s legs. He cracks open his eyes to give his little sister a look of betrayal.

“Kyouka! Youhaha’re supposed to help mehehehe!”

“No thanks,” she says blankly, before drilling into his hips with an assassin’s precision.

“KYOUHOHOKAHAHAHA!” Even Lucy is a little terrified by the focus in Kyouka’s eyes, as if she were performing a surgery. But mostly she’s just pleased. She takes her hands off Atsushi’s ribs to clap, then repositions them in his underarms.

“YOUHOUHAHA GUHUhuys are soho MEHEHEHEAN!”

“This is discipline,” Kyouka states very seriously, and Lucy too laughs at that. Kyouka reaches forward and pokes Atsushi’s cheek. “You’re so squishy. Like a bunny. Squish.”

Atsushi turns pink; Lucy really wishes that didn’t make her flustered. “He is, isn’t he?” She pokes his other cheek. “Just as a tabby cat should be.”

Then Lucy worms her fingers into his neck and he scrunches up. “EHEHEHEE nohohoHO!”

While Lucy’s methods are soft in an evil way, Kyouka attacks with honed, concentrated energy, deadly in her efficiency. And with both of them on opposite ends of his body, Atsushi has no room left for thought.

And then the front door shuts with a bang.

Perhaps Akutagawa is too aggressive with his actions, and he squints apologetically at the door he slammed. Setting down the grocery bags on the counter, he winces at the ruckus in the apartment. Is that the Jinko’s screaming?

He walks into the main room to find what he’d expected to see: Atsushi pinned to the floor with Kyouka and Lucy dissecting him.

“This is just like you, Jinko,” he scoffs with a note of fondness, squatting beside the squirming, laughing Atsushi. “You’re not even fighting back.”

“RYUHUHAHA dohohon’t!” Atsushi shakes his head, his face a deep pink and his eyes crinkled shut. His smile is just as blinding as the light of the sun. Gross, Akutagawa thinks with a mini smile.

“Akutagawa.” Kyouka turns to him with that river-like gaze, clear but acute. “Join us.” Lucy cackles.

He smirks. “If that is what I must do.”

Though she calls out to Ryuunosuke now, Kyouka hasn’t forgotten how his words kept dragging her down as she swam desperately toward the light. But then he said he was proud of her. Plus, well, he’s involved with Atsushi. Kyouka’s grown to trust him, at least as long as Atsushi’s around. The same goes for Lucy, who Kyouka resented at first for endangering Atsushi, and for her harsh personality that pushes everyone away. That was before though, before she learned that Lucy is genuinely kind, only a girl at heart, and she’s really fun to talk to, and hug, and go shopping for plushies and clothes and crêpes with.

Kyouka would defend Atsushi’s happiness with the blade of a katana and the might of a demon. Because he’s the one who saved her, because he’s her older brother. He has a way of bringing out the light in those with the blackest of blood. Though he’s made many enemies, he has twice as many friends, Lucy and Aku included. She’s never been more sure that they care for Atsushi than now, engaging in something so purely affectionate. That’s why Kyouka pitches in, because her heart is full to the limit.

Speaking of which, Atsushi seems to be reaching his limit.

“RYUHAHAHAHA! LUHUCYEHEAHAHAE! KYOUHAHAKAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAP!”

Akutagawa is rough and awkward as he claws at the center of Atsushi’s abdomen. Even Rashoumon is crawling up and down his sides. Still sitting on his legs, Kyouka is moments away from flying off, and it’s only through sheer determination that she remains in place. Lucy has slowed her assault out of pity (because she is soft for this man and terrible at hiding it), slowly dragging her fingers across Atsushi’s jaw. Kyouka copies her: Akutagawa really is ruthless. Atsushi’s floundering and screaming is amusing though, and she can’t hold back the soft giggles escaping from her own chest. Though his laughter is desperate and embarrassed, it’s also bright and overwhelmed with love.

“You should learn to take this, weretiger. If you wish to help people, endurance and inspiration of the soul are necessary skills to have.”

Which is basically fancy talk for: Your joy could cure the world’s suffering and you should show it more often.

“LIHIHIHIKE you wouhAHALD KNOHOHOW! AHAHAHA wahahaHAIT!”

“How foolish of you to sass me in your position.”

Atsushi’s chest barely gets the chance to rise and fall before another laugh is forced out. He probably needs a breather. Lucy, despite being the one to start this, is also the first to end it.

“Now now, Aku. Give him a break. We were at this for a while before you came.”

Akutagawa hums, but he retracts his hand and his ability. Lucy and Kyouka let up, and Kyouka removes herself from Atsushi’s legs. Finally free, Atsushi collapses into Lucy’s lap with an inhale that could rival a tornado. He tries to regulate his breathing with giggles interrupting, and he buries his face against Lucy’s thigh, turning to his original assailant for comfort. Lucy blushes even redder than Atsushi himself had because his tiny exhausted closed-eye smile is the cutest thing she’s ever seen, but settles her hand on his back for a massage.

“You hahall… ahawful,” he titters. “Lucy, I’m sohorry for hosing you.”

Kyouka appears beside Lucy and pats Atsushi’s head. Lucy sighs as if she’d just been hit with the force of all the love in the world. “I suppose I can forgive you. I’m a little less soaked now, thanks for asking.”

“Sorry, sorry.” His chuckles turn to sleepy mumbles. “That’s good, though. I’m glad.”

“Quit apologizing.” Lucy covers her face with her equally red hair and turns away. “You’re such a sap.”

“Far too soft,” Akutagawa adds, leaning down to press a kiss to Atsushi’s upright cheek. Kyouka moves her hand so Lucy can kiss the cat’s head too, instead throwing her legs over him and leaning on Lucy’s shoulder. Akutagawa is a clumsy distance from the cuddle pile, hunched over Atsushi, so the tiger throws an arm around his other life partner’s shoulders and drags him down to rest on his back, maneuvering himself so he’s on his stomach, chin on Lucy’s lap. She runs her fingers through choppy white hair and shifts one leg to lay on Akutagawa’s arm and establish a point of contact with everyone. She laughs quietly as she looks over their entangled position, like some kind of Tetris puzzle.

And then she starts laughing for a very different reason.

“ATSUSHIHIHEHEHEE!”

Kyouka flinches as Lucy’s shoulder jolts her off and blinks rapidly. Then she catches sight of Lucy’s hysterical expression and wide open mouth, someone’s fingers scribbling up her sides, and understands. Screeching, Lucy kicks and shoves at the boy in her lap, the culprit, and realizes that with all the bodies piled on top of her, there is no escape.

Atsushi, the ever perseverant hero he is, grins up at her with teeth white as an angel but pointy as a beast. “Revenge.”

And this is what happens when you go up against Nakajima Atsushi.

ᓚᘏᗢ ♡ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ♡ ૮(˶• ༝ •˶)ა ♡ /ᐠ •̀ ˕ •́ マ ♡ ՞ↀ - ↀ՞

Ryu may have the most money but he has near-zero social capabilities. They all lack people skills actually, but Aku lost the last video game tournament. So he’s doing the grocery shopping.

Also they love each other <3

I don’t know why I got so emotional with Kyouka’s POV but it’s probably because I adore her to the ends of the earth. Two paragraphs of just Kyouka reflection bc I think she’s the type to start daydreaming in the middle of an attack.

Relationship HCs:

Atsushi and Lucy — like lonely little children in love, so desperately it hurts

Atsushi and Akutagawa — It’s Complicated™️ (it isn’t)

Akutagawa and Kyouka — it is actually complicated, but they’re getting there

Kyouka and Atsushi — the purest form of connection, siblings <3

Kyouka and Lucy — sisters who give each other the freedom to just be girls

Lucy and Akutagawa — from strangers to not so much so, united by their love for one special tiger (they’re still getting used to each other)

This is a long-ahh footnote I’m sorry

[grumpy-zane]

(( Watched all of Ice chapter for the world building. got a little derailed, but kept to it for the most part. Here are my observations below:

Episode 1

Heavily mountainous, and snowy. High elevation, yet no icebergs.

layer of clouds, presumably blocking out the sun?

HEXAGONAL FORMATIONS, meaning Basaltic. AKA: highly volcanic.

Trees have a root structure akin to mangrove trees. Perhaps it was marshland beneath the freeze?

Wolves are dark. The marshland must also be pretty dark, they have not adapted their coat to match the camo of the snow

The inhabitants have blue garb with Red highlights. Foliage or perhaps shell-based dyes? Trade?

Live in a place surrounded by mountains, with a large pond inside. Caldera?? very large caldera?

Dark ice is sort of like mirrors.

Episode 2

Pass from the lake village to the castle, called 'mala-wojira', or Wojira's Wrath. Culturally believed that she is the one that causes avalanches. The place is highly reactive to noise/motion.

The sun is not fully blocked, at least when it is setting. Therefore, the clouds are only overhead but not too far wide.

Clouds not present at night.

people made of ice fully, some just mind controlled. ice controlled. very funny.

Episode 3

'There can be no ice without water' WRONG, Solid Nitrogen GO

I love Nya's temper. hwaaaa. She and Kai both hate being dead weight

Not all inhabitants of the realm are formlings, in fact there's some worry that they are cursed, or at least the formling village vex came from. -The magic ice can spread from those who are under its spell to non-cursed

Episode 4

UV being a fan of Lou is very funny, yet I am sure she is not the only one.

Fugi-dove's first appearance.

Kais eyes are more yellow than Nyas. Coles eyes are grey or black? hard to tell. Jays are blue ofc.

Pixal is OP.

Episode 5

Giant bird is part of the normal fauna of the realm.

Zane making note that he feels as though he has been there for quite some time, though this may allude that he was not the emperor for very long. However, this contradicts the idea that the village lady planted, in that its been cold for a stupid long time. (Decades)

Episode 6

Cole your anxiety dreams… This seems to be something he has normally. :(

THATS A LARGE TOOTHBRUSH. Jay by far must have the best dental hygiene.

Nyas struggle answers an interesting question, in that understanding similar elements is a thing that's inherently hard.

It is known in the village that travelers occasional 'stop by' and get leaves from the travelers tree to leave. This may be why they aren't so inquisitive of their sudden appearance.

It takes the wind out of Cole to do some terraforming.

Episode 7

CRAIG. ohh my god the flowers on the burial mounds probably are where the blue dye comes from.

There's small little crab apple looking things in the realm. They smell bad.

The Ice samurai have hunted the Craig species for sport. The Craig Species is an herbivorous fauna.

Travelers Tree. it creates its own heat, as well as being in a place far above the cloud line. needs Regular sunlight. Flowers are buttercup shaped, and the apple-like fruits come from it. Presumably, the tree also smells bad. I don't know why the tea is made of flower pedals, you tell me. Floral Tea I suppose.

Episode 8

'Legion of Grimfax', named after the captain. the legions are divided by generals. Assumedly, there's only one?

There are still no glaciers. There's a lot of frozen bodies of water. I have to assume that it rains a lot, or did rain a lot at some point, which also explains the marshland further down.

The shape of the rock construct is very similar to the shape of the Guardian in the Birchwood forest. Also made of Basalt.

Episode 9

Apples are native to the realm.

Chickens, bears, falcons, wolves, elk, Rabbits. (Formling types)

Vex' failure to find his animal form was 'a long time ago'. Perhaps Zane really wasn't the ice emperor for too long, due to Vex just being kind of the only icified guy. If the natural state of winter in the never realm allows for greenery, then it must not be a super cold winter.

Formling ritual includes a travel in silence, as well as a chase to ones own animal. It's granted to the formling once said formling catches their animal. Perhaps Vex did not catch his, it probably didnt show up for he is 'not worthy'. The Ritual also seems to only occur in the winter(?)

There is a type of purple berry as flora as well, in the form of a bush.

Boreas is the one who doomed the formlings. It is good to note that the ice does not kill, but freezes.

Zane and Vex did not have an army until recently it seems. He and Vex brough boreas, but no others.

Episode 10

There are a lot of large ribcages. What large fauna have been killed? large quadropeds of some sort?

The castle probably existed long before Zane inhabited it. I wonder who made it in the past?

Episode 11

The Realm tea opening to Chima Beavers. Mystake made the travelers tea recipe.

Very interesting that tea leaves open to any realm. First Realm, Chima, Underworld, Cloud Kingdom, Departed Realm.

THE DEPARTED REALM!!! Its Green and dark, perhaps the preeminent's existence there has warped parts of it.

Speaking of the Preeminent, she appears to have the whole realm inside of her. When she died, she appeared in the departed realm, though is still the embodiment of the cursed realm. Is she smaller than she was before?

Episode 12

The castle is the king of the realm(?) the samurai are clad in Red.

Zane seems surprisingly level headed when using the scroll. However, he seemed to struggle slightly to put it down.

Zanes 'I feel like I have been here a long time' does not make sense given how quickly he just spawned in the realm, but perhaps he is temporally displaced and is feeling the effects of said displacement.

Episode 13

Zane seems rather adamant on not killing. Its strange that his ice isn't killing.

Corrupted Ice behaves like Vengestone. Perhaps Vengestone is Corrupted Earth.

The Ice samurai are not fully 'evil', or rather fully mind controlled. At least, not the general.

Episode 14

'Lava Zombies' the name of an old arcade game made my Milton Dyer

Craig is 8 ft tall.

Zane spends a lot of time sleeping. perhaps constantly using his element is doing a number on him.

Episode 15

the berries are more potent than the tea leaves.

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

The Sunglow Jungle

Dancing and swaying in the gentle early morning breeze, the Sunglow Jungle hosts rich, dense flora in its sweeping branches and soaring treetops. The Jungle lays nestled between and connecting the Amaranth Swamps and the Rusted Hills, both of which meet its forest floor far beneath the sunny canopy.

Light Starfolk reside in the treetops, basking in the warmth of the sun - just barely visible in this part of the world (at least, assuming it's a sun...). With their ability to cover vertical distances easily and dash from branch to branch in seconds, the Light folk are well suited to the Jungle's elevated environment and life off the ground. Most of the residence have wings of some variety, but some don't. They live on the wilder side, it seems. As for Dark Starfolk, they can manage the terrain well enough most of the time, especially the wind users. However, they also find themselves a bit overwhelmed by how bright the Jungle is, and prefer to stick to the lower, dimmer layers when they visit. Because of the rigorous requirements for travel, the Sunglow Jungle has more decidedly urban communities, with towns and small cities nestled in the larger branches. Several larger settlements have made efforts to make themselves more accessible to travelers by using lifts and installing bridges between segments. This is relatively standard practice for most settlements by now, in varying degrees. Most settlements at least have removable bridges and makeshift lifts for when they're needed, even if the locals don't much use them.

The Sunglow Jungle sports three subzones - the Glade, the Canopy, and the Understory. The Glade is a strange little alcove of the Jungle, nestled out of the way and providing a clearing that extends all the way to the floor and the clear, glassy lake settled there. This lake appears to fill from the Silver Peaks via underground rivers, and drains into the Amaranth Swamps. The Canopy hosts most of the Jungle's residence, perpetually exposed to the sun and glimmering in its golden warmth. Meanwhile, the Understory sports cooler locales, with the catch of harder traversal.

Traversal in particular is a little unconventional here - the locals use the natural layout of vines as bridges between areas, and where needed, they use the sturdier ones to swing from place to place. These vines usually have a small amber bud on the end. The rest of the flora consists of fluffy, diaphanous foliage clinging to the trees and draping downwards. As such, most of the cuisine here is herbal, with a dash of meat here and there. There's also a small niche for seafood, given that the lake in the Glade provides both a few different fish and some water plants.

As idyllic as Sunglow used to be, the Conflict turned it hostile, though not completely unlivable. The Glade's lake dried up significantly, and the foliage became too dense to navigate. The Canopy became scorching and withered as well. It appears as though the lake only drained because someone blocked off the tributaries from the Peaks, possibly in an attempt to prevent passage, though only a Dark Starfolk would have been able to do so in the first place. Either way, the Jungle remains quarantined along with the Swamps and the Hills, given the closure of the Amber Desert's passage.

- Entry 42, Specter

[bumblebeeappletree]

Josh visits a steep riverside block in Perth where the owners have had to work around some interesting natural features.

Owner Andrew Boyne is an architect who enjoyed the challenge of creating a low-impact home on the battle-axe block, and he devoted 80% of the land to garden. He says the presence of fresh water in such a summer-dry climate as a blessing; “We can irrigate the whole garden all year.”

To level out the site, three terraces were created. This allows different planting conditions, with the edges of the terraces were raised to allow more arid species to grow there, by bringing them out of the water table.

Drainage is an issue because the water level is so high; soak wells were dug around the property to help dry it out, and elevating certain areas helped, too.

Any rain is collected through soak wells and then pushed through the main creek system that runs through the property.

The soak wells also direct the spring water to a number of water features, and from here they go via a waterfalls to the creek to a wetland.

More than 200 Western Australian plants have been used in the garden, with three areas representing three different WA regions.

Verticordia grandis has pride of place in a vertical concrete pipe that is visible from the main living space. Bull banksias and a Karri tree are other favourites.

Having huge picture windows helps connect them to the trees and plants when then connect them to place.

[voraciousvore]

Big Corp Inc. (2/43)

Chapter 2: The Interview

Candy walked through the designated pathway, trying not to panic as huge feet stepped over her. She was so tiny by comparison, that the Giants didn’t seem to even notice her. Humans rarely ventured out this far or used the infrastructure built for them, so it was no surprise that the Giants wouldn’t be used to looking out for a human while walking. She felt like an insignificant insect on the sidewalk. Every time a Giant strolled by, he blocked out the sun with his ridiculous stature, shrouding Candy far below in shadow. She was grateful, at least, that the fence kept her from getting squashed. 

Eventually, Candy made it to the building. The massive automatic doors opened, blasting her with a wave of chilly air conditioning. She shivered and went inside. She felt like she was walking into a cathedral, since the building was so capacious. The ceiling vaulted hundreds of feet above her head, making her gape in amazement. The tiles beneath her feet had as much square footage as her cramped apartment. She didn’t get much of a chance to admire the slick, modern interior, because she was afraid she’d get stomped on if she stayed where she was. She hurried over to the wall and sidled up against it, hiding behind a potted plant in the corner which she realized was another tree. 

She spied an elevator on one side of the lobby, and trekked along the wall towards it, since she knew she needed to travel to the third floor. She wasn’t going to be able to take the stairs made for Giants, certainly. When she made it to the elevator doors, she wasn’t sure what to do next. The buttons were miles above her head. She would ask for help, but she was too intimidated. She stood awkwardly in front of the massive doors, staring up dumbly at the grand expanse of shiny metal that blocked the way forward. 

By a stroke of luck, a Giantess happened to stop by to use the elevator. She didn’t notice the tiny human on the ground far below and nearly crushed her under her stiletto heels. Candy jumped out of the way, observing that the heel on her shoe was as tall as she was. Candy took advantage of the opportunity and darted inside when the doors dinged open, jumping over the gap on the floor so she wouldn’t get caught in it. She was too scared to make conversation, so she huddled in a corner as the doors closed and hoped the Giantess wouldn’t notice her. Her discomfort was magnified further when she glanced up and realized she had a view up the Giantess’s skirt. In fact, the huge lady was wearing very revealing clothing, with a short skirt that showed off her supple thighs and barely covered her buttcheeks and lacy pink panties. Candy stared down at the ground, her face burning with humiliation. 

Fortunately, the Giantess was also going to the third story so Candy was able to get off on the correct floor. She rushed out just in time for the titanic elevator doors to slam behind her. She gazed around with undisguised wonder. The third floor was a typical office environment with cubicles, but the incredible scope of everything still amazed her. As she looked around, she noticed the walls were lined with doors to meeting rooms and private offices. On the far end of the room was a door with a glass window, with the name “Richard Hardon” inscribed on its surface. Mr. Hardon, the Giant she was here to meet—that was his office. She began the long journey across the room, sneaking peeks at the Giant office workers around who might become her future coworkers. 

After several minutes, panting for breath, Candy was finally at her destination. She checked her watch. She was a few minutes early. She pounded her fist on the door, hard enough to bruise her knuckles, hoping her tiny knocks would be loud enough for Mr. Hardon to hear. There was no response. She noticed the light was off in the office. She double checked the time. Where was he? 

Her question was answered when she heard thundering footsteps come up behind her, nearly knocking her to the ground. She turned around to see two Giant black shoes on either side of her. Before she could react, a pair of massive fingers plucked her off the ground and raised her up a terrifying distance off the floor. She squealed in fright as she watched the floor drop precipitously below her. 

“Oh, you must be Ms. Caramello!” a deafening voice boomed all around her. Candy found herself dangling in front of the enormous face of a Giant, and she just about peed her pants with terror. She couldn’t bring herself to speak, just stared into the huge face in front of her. The Giant didn’t seem to care, indeed almost seemed to expect this reaction as he roguishly smirked at her. He was an older man, with silvery hair, pale blue eyes, and weathered skin. Even so, he was devilishly handsome—the type of man whom Candy’s gold-digger mom would refer to as a “silver fox.” 

The Giant examined Candy closely as he went inside his office, shutting the door behind him, and sat down at his desk. He didn’t set her down but instead continued to hold her in front of his face, uncomfortably close. His eyes narrowed, and Candy let out a soft whine. 

“You know, I can’t really tell what you look like under all those clothes,” Mr. Hardon remarked. “If I’m going to hire you, I need to see what you look like in a work uniform.” He finally plopped Candy down on his gigantic desk and she let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding in. The Giant opened his desk drawer and pulled out a handful of human-sized clothes. He opened his hand and placed it down next to Candy. The whole outfit easily fit in the palm of his hand. Candy observed with disquietude that a single finger on his hand was larger than her entire body. She felt even smaller than she already did. She stood next to his hand, afraid to move. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Take them,” Mr. Hardon said, a rumble of impatience in his thunderous voice. Candy, pressured into action, leaned over the side of his hand and stretched her arm as far as she could reach to collect the clothing in the center of his palm. He had given her a miniskirt, an excessively low-cut blouse, high-heeled shoes, skimpy pink panties, and a push-up bra. Candy recognized the clothes as the exact same outfit that the Giantess in the elevator wore, just shrunken down to a human size. She stared up at the Giant with her arms full of clothes. 

“Are you going to put them on?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. Candy froze up, unsure what to do. The Giant tilted his head, and his face softened a bit. “Ah, a bit shy are we? Let’s see here...” He looked over his desk before grabbing a metal mesh cup full of writing utensils. He flipped the cup over and dumped the pens, pencils, sharpies, and highlighters out on his desk. He placed the cup on the desk over Candy so she could have some privacy. The mesh protected her from his eyes but was still enough to let in the light. 

Candy didn’t want to put on the clothes, but she had come so far already. She didn’t want to give up now, after traveling all the way through the Giant city. She hastily stripped and slapped on the clothes. She could tell Mr. Hardon was getting impatient with her. She had barely managed to button the blouse before he tapped on the top of the cup with his finger. 

“You done in there?” the Giant rumbled. 

Candy bobbed her head, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Y-yeah…” she choked out. He lifted the cup and brought his head down to scrutinize her. She self-consciously pulled her skirt down and tried to hike up her shirt over her bulging breasts. “Um… I think the clothes are a bit tight…” 

“Nonsense! They’re perfect!” Mr. Hardon declared. He poked her with his finger and she backed up with fear. Ignoring her obvious reluctance, he played with her skirt a bit with the tip of his huge finger. “And I think you’re a great fit for our company! You want the job?” 

“R-really?” Candy responded. She wasn’t sure if she could handle working here. Just having one Giant looming over her was scaring her to the point where she could barely utter more than a single word at a time. However, she had no choice. “O-okay…” 

“Great! You’re hired! Welcome to Big Corporation Incorporated!” the Giant proclaimed. “Report to my office first thing tomorrow morning 8 am for onboarding and training!” He winked mischievously. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” 

Candy could only nod. She turned to leave, then realized she was stuck on the Giant’s desk, since it was too high for her to get down. She gulped. “Um…” 

“Need a hand?” the Giant asked her with a smile that could only be described as scandalous. He stood up and leaned over her with a lascivious leer. “I’ll take you all the way to the railway station, if you’d like. On one condition…” His leer grew wider across his face. “I’ll have my hands full of important papers, so you’ll have to ride in my pants!” 

Candy blanched. Since he was standing up, she happened to be level with his groin and could see the big, excited lump in his pants. “Erm… I’ll pass.” 

The Giant guffawed and scooped her up in his hand without asking permission first. Candy yelped and clung to his finger, scared of falling off. “Ah, you tempting little vixen you! I was just kidding!” He placed her on the floor. “Since you’re such an independent woman, I’ll let you walk home yourself.” He opened the door of his office for her and held it while she scurried out. 

“Oh, one more thing,” Mr. Hardon thundered in his sonorous voice. Candy stopped in her tracks and turned around to look up at the colossus standing over her. He kneeled down, making her weak in the knees at the sight of a Giant collapsing over her. He dropped her original clothes in front of her. “These clothes you brought in aren’t appropriate for the office at all, so I don’t want to see you wearing them here under any circumstances. Otherwise, I’ll have to punish you, you naughty little lady!” He grinned. Candy gathered up her clothes in her arms, staring pointedly at the floor. The Giant gave her a small nudge from behind with his prodigious hand. “Now, be on your way, little one.” 

She scampered off towards the elevator as fast as she could without breaking into a run. The Giant watched her for a moment before standing up and returning to his office. Candy’s thoughts were in a whirl as she tried to calm down after the whole alarming incident. She was so preoccupied that she forgot she still wasn’t able to use the elevator on her own. She stopped in front of the imposing metal doors and despaired. She still felt ruffled and didn’t want to ask any scary Giants for help. In fact, she was starting to feel very frustrated at how small and helpless she was. 

“Do you need help?” a feminine, but still full-bodied voice called out to her. Candy looked back at one of the gigantic cubicles to see a Giantess looking down at her, with a mixture of curiosity and pity on her face. She had long black hair, stylish glasses over intelligent hazel eyes, and voluptuous curves. Candy wasn’t sure if she was the same Giantess she rode the elevator with earlier, or if she was just wearing the same outfit. Candy nodded. The Giantess stood up, towering over the small human, and pressed the button to summon the elevator. Candy averted her eyes so she wouldn’t be looking up the lady’s short skirt again. 

“Would you like me to escort you out? I can carry you where you need to go,” the Giantess asked sweetly. Candy paused, weighing her options. She was scared to be picked up, but the risk of being stepped on was undeniably worse. Plus, even though she was only going down to the first floor and outside the building, it was a very long way for a human like her in a Giant world. 

“Alright,” she agreed softly. She cringed as the Giantess squatted down and clasped her body with huge fingers. However, the woman was gentle with her and didn’t squeeze her too tightly. Her hands, despite their enormous size, were soft and delicate. Candy settled into her palm nervously. 

“I think there’s a human-sized elevator around here somewhere, but I don’t know where they decided to build it. Obviously, I would never have to use it,” the Giantess informed her with a soft laugh. She entered the elevator and waited as it dropped down to the first floor. “My name’s Bianca, by the way. What’s yours?” 

“Candy,” the small woman replied, shaking slightly. 

“Why are you here, Candy? You’re a long ways away from the small part of the city.” 

Candy could have regurgitated her whole story, but she was too nervous to speak more than small phrases. “A job interview, to work here.” 

Bianca had just exited the elevator, but stopped in her tracks. “Oh no! You don’t want to work here.”  

Candy spun around and looked up at the Giantess with fearful eyes. “W-why not?” 

“You met Mr. Hardon, didn’t you? That lecherous old creep?” Candy nodded. “Well, he’s real chummy with the CEO. They smoke cigars and drink brandy together all the time. Basically, the CEO lets him do whatever he wants, so he runs his fiefdom on the third floor as he pleases. He sexually harasses all the women, makes us wear these stupid uniforms, and treats us like his own private harem. Lately, with all this affirmative action business about finding humans to hire, he’s been talking about finding a cute little human woman that he can play with and stick in his pants. The filthy pervert.” 

Candy shuddered. “I-I don’t really have a choice…” 

“Just… be careful, okay? He’s usually less handsy with the newer girls, since he doesn’t want to scare them off, but if you can I’d try to avoid being alone in a room with him,” Bianca advised. “I wish I didn’t have to work here, but I don’t have much of a choice either. I was mostly hired for my good looks, to be honest.” She sighed. By now, they were outside the building, next to the human railway station. Candy marveled at how puny it looked from so high up. 

“Thank you,” Candy mumbled as Bianca set her down securely underneath the awning. 

“No problem,” Bianca replied. “And don’t be afraid to ask if you need assistance, alright?” She gave a friendly wave and ambled off. Candy sat on a bench and waited for the next railcar to arrive. She hugged her arms around her body and took deep breaths. She was terrified, and felt very small compared to the large world around her. She wasn’t sure if she’d make it, but she had to try. Candy, bless her heart, had no idea what horrors were in store for her. 

Chapter 3 | First chapter

[silverhallow]

Rooftop Rendezvous

pairing: Eloise Bridgerton x Phillip Crane

summary: Eloise and Phillip have a little date night and sneak up to the roof for a little bit of fun

warnings: pure smut, public sex, anal play, oral sex (both M to F and F to M)

word count: 2774 words

author's note: previously on AO3, for @sirphillipcranestanaccount

Eloise absently swirled the ice cube along the bottom of her scotch glass. It glided smoothly along the surface, a mesmerising, repetitive dance.

"Are you game?" Phillip's voice broke through her trance.

her wrist stops, but the ice keeps moving. she stared at the table, attempting to jumpstart her brain into remembering what was just said to her. she glanced up and smiled sheepishly at Phillip. "Ummm, I might've zoned out."

He just looked at her, eyes sparkling with amusement. "I noticed. You wanna get out of here?"

She straightened up and glanced around. "Where'd our waiter go?"

"Why?"

She looked at him, confused. "So we can pay?"

He stands. "You were more out of it than I thought. Jesus, Eloise."

She followed suit and grabbed her purse. "Shit. Are you serious? I swear I didn't even notice him come by."

He shook his head and took her hand. "Come on, idiot. Time for some spontaneity."

We walked out of the hotel's 4-star restaurant and down a hallway. They eventually found an elevator tucked away in the corner of the building. When they get in, Phillip swipes a card and presses the button labelled "RG."

her eyes light up. "I thought the roof was limited access." Phillip waves the keycard in her face. She snatched it from him and read the name. "You stole a janitor's keycard?"

Phillip's jaw drops in feigned indignation. "Wow, first of all, he's a utility worker, and second," Phillip reaches out for the key card, his body pressing against hers as he does so. "I didn't steal it. Some people just find me highly persuasive."

her hands have instinctively wrapped around his waist, and Phillip leans down to kiss the top of her forehead. "Oh yeah?" her voice has dropped to almost a whisper. The elevator doors open with a ding.

"Yeah," he says, pulling away from her and drawing her out of the elevator. We're in a small maintenance shed. Potted plants and white bags of soil line the wall. A bucket in the corner holds various trowels, shovels, and hoes.

"Damn, some view. Worth it."

Phillip rolled his eyes at her and continued through the small room. There was a door on the opposing side, which he opened without unlocking. He placed a small block against the frame to catch the door and gestured for her to take the lead.

She stepped out of the dimly lit shed into a rooftop garden. In the moonlight, she made out small trees dotting the landscape around her, and there was a little wooden bench less than ten feet from where she was standing. She took a few steps down the stone walkway, trying to get a better look at the handiwork, when thousands of fairy lights turned on.

she gasped. "Oh my god!" Eloise's hands covered her mouth as she took in the view. The tiniest lights rest in the branches of the small trees, causing the green leaves to glow gold and casting a maze of shadows on the ground beneath them. Swatches of lush grass were framed by winding garden pathways, and dozens of flowering bushes, seemingly all in full bloom, cover the roof.

she heard Phillip come up behind her, and she felt his hands wrap around her waist. He kisses the top of her head. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"I thought you'd like it." He kissed her neck, and she leaned into him.

"You're sure we won't get caught?"

"Shhh." His breath was hot on her neck, and she felt her body heat up in response. she turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. her lips found his, and she kissed him slowly and deeply. His hands slid down her waist, wrapping around to grip her ass as his tongue gently traced her lower lip.

She pulled her body flush against his, standing on her tip-toes, dying to be as close to him as physically possible. He responded in turn by tightening his grip on her ass, fingers kneading into the firm flesh. she bit his lip and let out a long exhale. His mouth moved down to her neck, and she felt his hands wander up to the zipper of her dress.

The fog cleared from her brain as she pulled away from him. "We're on a roof."

He took a step toward her. "Mhmm."

"This is a public space."

"There's no one else up here." His hand was back on her waist.

"But if we get caught..."

"We're adults. We'll handle it. And besides," his right hand gently cupped the back of her neck. The gentle touch sent a shiver running down her spine. His breath felt hot against her lips. she smelt the scotch from dinner on his breath. He was so close. So gentle. It was driving her crazy. "Besides," he repeats. "I want you right now."

she released a groan of resignation as Phillip pulled her in for another deep kiss. His mouth was more earnest this time, his lips prying hers apart as he pressed his body against hers. she felt his erection pushing against her through layers of clothing.

His hands deftly unzipped her dress, and it fell unceremoniously to the ground. She stood in the open air, wearing nothing but a thong. A breeze brushed across her skin, and her nipples hardened, despite the summer weather. Phillip pulled away slightly to take in the view. His eyes were hazy with desire, and she felt blood rush to her cunt as she watched him look at her. "Goddamn," he breathed.

She closed the space between them, pushing him back toward the wooden bench. When he sat down, she climbed on top of him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him fiercely. She bit his lip and ground against his cock, making him even harder. His breathing grew shallow as she undid the buttons on his shirt and massaged the skin of his neck with her mouth. As her fingers grazed his waistband, she nipped at his earlobe. "I want you inside me," she whispered. "I want to ride you in the middle of this garden. I want to make you moan my name."

Phillip leaned forward, wriggling his arms out of the shirt, then grabbing her waist assertively. He placed his mouth on her right breast and began sucking the nipple. She tilted her head back and sighed. His teeth gently grazed the tender flesh, and then his tongue traced over the bite. her pussy was dripping. Phillip shifted so that she was directly on top of his cock. she felt him pressing up against her, his erection still inhibited by the dress pants he was wearing. "Shit," she breathed. The anticipation was torture. "Take off your pants."

She climbed off of Phillip, and he deftly slipped out of his shoes and his pants. He took a step toward her, wearing nothing but his boxers, but she placed a firm hand on his chest and pushed him back down onto the bench.

Maintaining eye contact with him, she reached for his boxers. she slid them off and got on her knees in front of him. Phillip watched as she took his firm cock in her hand and guided it toward her mouth. Holding his gaze, she slowly kissed the tip before running her tongue along his shaft. Phillip breathing grew ragged.

She stayed there for several long moments, gliding her tongue up and down his shaft, then swirling it around the tip. she continued to tease him, taking his balls one at a time in her mouth, sucking on them gently. When she brought her mouth back up to the head of his engorged member, she felt Phillip's fingers knot in her hair. He pushes her down onto his shaft, commanding her to blow him. her pussy throbs in arousal.

She pulled her head back, resisting him. He looked down at her, and she grinned mischievously up at him.

"What?" he asks.

"I told you. I want to ride you." she stood and took his hand in hers. "In the middle of the garden."

As she searched for the right spot, she imagined what they look like, walking through the rooftop garden of a luxury hotel, hand in hand, wearing nothing but their underwear. she couldn’t decide if it's an image of confidence or a total shredding of dignity. Maybe both.

she felt Phillip tug her hand, and she followed his lead to an impossibly soft patch of grass. "Here?" he asked.

she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Up to you," she said. "You're the one who'll be on their back."

He kissed her, and she pulled him down toward the ground. The grass brushed against her skin, cooler than the air. Phillip leaned her back and kissed her neck.

"I said-" he cut her off with a kiss.

"Shhh," he whispered against her lips. He bit her earlobe. "I have to make sure you're warmed up."

she snorted in amusement. she felt the dampness between her legs, her body longing to be ravished. He raised his eyebrows. "Go ahead," she laughed.

Phillip hooked his fingers in the thong and slid it down her legs. He left a warm trail of kisses along her thigh, and her legs butterfly open. Grass brushed against her ass, and she briefly wondered how sanitary fucking on the ground was. Then she felt Phillip's hand on her breast and his mouth on her clit, and the thought rushed out of her mind.

Phillip's tongue flicked back and forth, sending more blood coursing to the already aroused area. His left hand massaged her breast and his right gripped her ass. She closed her eyes and focused on the sensation of his tongue as it alternated between a circling and a flicking motion. He then ran his tongue along the lips of her pussy, applying more pressure and licking up some of the juice flowing from her body.

His hand left her breast, and his grip on her hips strengthened. she felt his fingers digging into her skin as he licked her soaked pussy with new fervour.

"Oh god," she moaned. she felt her back arch as Phillip's tongue slipped inside her. His tongue flicked in and out of her entrance, and her fingers pulled up tufts of grass as her body reacted to his touch. her eyes flew open, and she gasped with pleasure when Phillip slowly slipped two fingers inside her. He worked them back and forth slowly, his mouth still tending to her clit.

She was suddenly aware of the skyscrapers. All around them, tall buildings were dotted with lights from people working late nights. She wondered if any of them would see them

"Faster," she whispered.

Phillip maintained the same steady speed. She continued to look at the windows, trying to catch the silhouette of a voyeur. "Faster!" she insisted.

Phillip removed his fingers from inside her and pulled himself on top of her. She realised her breathing was ragged. "You wanted to be on top?" he asked, looking amused.

Eloise shoved him off of her and onto his back. she swiftly pulled his boxers off, tossing them aside, fully freeing his erection. Phillip's hands found her waist as she straddled him. Slowly, she slid herself onto his thick cock. She was so wet that he easily slipped inside her, despite her tightness. She heard him sigh as she began to slowly ride him, lifting her body up and down his shaft.

"Do you think they're watching?" she said.

"Who?"

She tilted her head at the skyscrapers.

"The executive fucking his secretary?" he responded cynically.

she bit her lip and nodded, slowly increasing her speed.

"Do you want them to be?"

she nodded again, and she rode his dick even faster. They had reached a steady pace with Phillip's hips thrusting up to meet her riding motion. His hands were firm on her waist, and he held her gaze. She focused on the feeling of his cock inside her, and she tightened her cunt around him in an outward motion. Phillip's head fell back into the grass, and his eyes fell shut.

"Then they're watching us," he breathed. "They're watching you ride me..." his voice trails off. He looked back up at her, his thrusts growing deeper. His breathing was shallow, and she could see he was getting close. "Shit..."

she smiled. "Can you hold off?"

He groaned, and his head fell back onto the soft earth. she pulled herself off of him. "What?" he exclaimed. "I was going to wait."

She leaned down and kissed him. "I wanted to finish first." Phillip's hands were still firmly on her waist as she moved her body up along his torso. As soon as her pussy was within reach, his tongue flicked up to her clit. she sighed as she braced her thighs, holding herself over his mouth.

"So wet," he murmured between licks. Phillip's hand reached around her ass, and she felt him toying with her rear entrance. His index finger applied gentle pressure, and she released a long groan.

He applies a bit more pressure, and his tongue moves inside her cunt. she felt her body rocking back and forth, imitating a fucking motion. "Don't stop," she gasped.

she tilted her head back, opening her eyes to gaze at the night sky. The stars were masked by city light, but the moon shines white and brilliant. Phillip pushed the tip of his finger into her asshole, and an involuntary whine of pleasure fell from her lips.

And suddenly, she was on her back. Phillip shoves her down, putting his weight on top of her. "I'm not waiting any longer," he growled.

He thrusted his cock into her, and her back arched violently. her hands clawed at his back as he pushed himself deep inside her. "Oh god, yes," she moaned.

In and out, each thrust felt harder than the last. her eyes drifted over to the skyscrapers again. She imagined a powerful executive watching them, her eyes on her face as she climaxed, her hair framing her features. She fingered herself as she watched them, manicured hands toying with a dripping pussy.

And in another window, she imagined someone screwing his secretary. How he had her bent over, facing the city. They both had their eyes on them as he fucked her from behind. His balls slapped against her as he drove his cock inside her, aggressive and fast. Pent up frustration released on her delicate frame.

A cry of ecstasy fell from her lips as she felt a warmth growing in her stomach. "Phillip!" Eloise screamed. "I'm- Oh god." She briefly met Phillip's gaze as she began to climax. His eyes were glossed over with lust. He continued to pound into her as her body contracts. her toes curled and her thighs tightened, gripping his body between her legs. She heard Phillip groan as her pussy contracted around his cock. Over and over again.

Another grunt, and she felt Phillip filling her with his cum. His thrusts slowed as ropes of his warm semen shoot inside her. The feeling sent another ripple of pleasure through her body, and she heard herself saying his name over and over again. her heart was pounding violently, and her fingers clawed down his back. She couldn’t remember the last time she came this hard.

"Uhhh," she groaned, wanting it to stop, while simultaneously hoping it would never end. Phillip stopped thrusting, and he kissed her breasts as her orgasm subsided.

When she finished, her legs collapsed into the soft earth. "Well fuck," I mutter.

Phillip kissed her cheek. "I'm so good at that."

"What? Sex?"

He nodded. "Apparently."

she rolled her eyes. "Glad you're pleased with yourself."

He buried his face in her hair. "Mhmm."

"Should we put our clothes on?" she asked, staring up at the sky.

His voice is still muffled against her hair and her neck when he responds. "Probably." Still, they don't get up right away. They lay there curled against each other, basking in their post-orgasm euphoria.

[final-girl96]

Firefly Chapter Thirty-Six

YN

Ellie looked between Joel and I. She watched as Joel said nothing and walked away. She turned to me with concern in her eyes. "He's not really going to let us just go off on our own is he? Are we going to go off on our own?" She asked. "Let's go." I said and walked off the way Joel had gone and Ellie threw her hands in the air. "Great talk!" She followed after me and up the stairs to the third floor.

The stairs to the fourth were blocked as were the doors to the hall. "Look, the elevator is open," she said. Joel walked over and set his bag down then fit his hands into the small gap between the doors. He grunted as he struggled to get it open, pushing the doors with all this strength until they finally gave way and opened enough for us to slip through.

Joel held the door while Ellie and I slipped through. There was a ladder inside that we climbed to get up to the elevator beside us. "Exactly how are we going to get up there?" Ellie asked, looking at the open door of the elevator. It was open to the fourth floor. "We are going to climb the wall," I said. She looked at me like I was fucking crazy and maybe I am. "Just follow exactly what I do."

I climb up onto the small metal bar on the wall and start to climb up and across. I go slowly and carefully, making sure to watch where I put my feet and hands. When I'm high enough and close enough to the door I reach a hand out and grab the side, making sure I have a good grip before stretching my leg out, planting my foot on the edge, and healing myself through the door. Once I'm through I take my pack off before standing to watch Ellie.

"Okay, Ellie, do what I did. Take it nice and slow and watch where you're putting your feet." Joel helped her up and she followed the path I took with Joel close behind her. I reached out and helped her over and we moved out of the way for Joel to come through. Just as he came through, a loud snap vibrated and echoed from inside the elevator shaft. We looked down and watched as the elevator crashed to the bottom. "Jesus Christ!" Ellie yelled.

"Holy hell, I'm glad we scaled the wall inside of jumping down onto that thing," I said, picking my pack up, and swinging it onto my back. We made our way through the halls and down a few flights of stairs until we came out where the other entrance was. The doors were of course blocked off my furniture so we walked down the hall where the banquet hall was. We walked through the double wooden doors, tables were set up, a backdrop stood tattered in the back of the room.

"Looks like there might have been a wedding reception either going on or was being set up for when shit went down." On the small stage at the front was a grand piano. The other doors were blocked, no surprise there. "Come on, help me push this against that wall. We can climb up there and get put that way," Joel said. Ellie looked at me and I sighed. I walked over and possibly myself on the other side of the piano. It took a lot of muscle and strength to get it against the wall but we did it. "Fuck, that's heavier than I thought it would be."

We all climbed up onto the piano and then up onto the balcony above the dining room. "Let's get the hell outta here," Joel grumbled. There was a broken window that led out onto scaffolding against the hotel. When we climbed out we quickly ducked down and looked over the side. There was a group of men standing around looking up at a corpse in the tree outside the bank. From the looks of it the body has been there for a few days. "Are we ever going to catch a break?" I whispered.

"They're dead! They're all dead!" Well, this is going to be fun. Joel and I looked at each other. We would need to take these assholes out before we could even think about continuing. "You know if you would give me a gun I could help. Have your back while you two are down there," Ellie whispered. I looked over to the right of us where a skeleton of a person sat in a chair. There was a lever action hunting rifle leaning against the chair beside it.

Staying crouched I went over and grabbed it. I pulled the lever down and an empty round popped out. When I pulled it back up a new round was pushed into the chamber. "Okay, listen to me very fucking closely. You stay up here and only shoot when you see one of us getting into a bind. You pulled down to release the empty round and back up to put a new round in. You need to be quick with it if you miss. Other than that you stay out of sight."

Ellie nodded and I handed her the gun. "I've shot something like that before," she said. I raised my eyebrow at her. "A BB gun," she said. "Pretty much the same concept." I took my pistol out and checked the magazine. "Okay, remember out of sight." I looked at Joel who shook his head. "Jesus, what?" I asked. "You're just going to hand a kid a gun and trust she doesn't shoot you instead?"

I rolled my eyes, "Ellie what have you practiced on?" I asked. She looked at me confused for a second until she understood what I meant. "Oh! Rats," she said. Joel and I looked at her and she shrugged. "Did you hit them?" I asked and she nodded. "If she can hit a rat, which is a lot fucking smaller than a human, I think I'll be fine. So either you can stay here or you can shut the fuck up and help me."

I walked to the edge of the scaffolding and climbed down as quietly as I could. There were concrete road blocks in front of it so I ducked behind one. I flicked the safety off on my gun just as Joel was coming up beside me. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible." He looked like he wanted to argue, but I stood up and started shooting, hitting three of the five that stood under the hanging corpse.

I ducked back down one another shot at me and Joel popped up taking the other two out. Yelling from more of the group came over by the other stores to the right of us. I ran across the bank, jumping through the broken out windows. I heard Joel hiss my name when I ran over here then I heard his gun going off. Just as I was turning around I had to throw myself to the ground and crawl behind the front desk.

I could hear Ellie taking a couple shots while Joel ran to the coffee shop across from the bank. I looked around the corner and took a shot, hitting the guy that was behind me in the leg. I shot him again, killing him before making a run for the other side of the room. I saw another hiding behind a wall that was made of plywood. I snuck around, putting my gun in its holster and pulling my knife out. I silently got up behind him, putting my hand over his mouth with one hand, and slitting his throat with the other.

There was one last gunshot and then Joel was calling Ellie down. "Alright, come on down!" Ellie's head popped up and looked down at us before making her way down to us. Joel took the rifle from her and checked to make sure there was no more ammo in it. Then he surprised me by taking a pistol he took off one of the men. "Here, this is more your size. Always keep the safety in and keep it in your backpack. You only use it when it's absolutely necessary. Do you understand me?"

She looked over at me and I nodded. She smiled and took the gun from Joel, swinging her backpack off. "I understand," she said, putting it away in her bag. "Alright, let's go. We're not too far from the bridge yet." We walked over to what looked like their camp and went to a loading dock door. Just like last time I helped Joel lift it up and Ellie crawled under it. "Shit. Hold on, let me find something to put under it. The chain is jammed!"

"You ain't going off on your own." I looked over at Joel, raising an eyebrow. "Ellie, hurry up!" I yelled. "Okay! I'm coming!" I looked back at Joel, "Excuse me?" I asked. "I ain't letting you go off on your own. It's too dangerous out there. And besides, Tommy would know exactly where they are." Ellie came back, and we pushed the door up higher so she could push a cart under it. Joel and I climbed underneath and he held the door up so the cart could be pulled back inside.

"I know exactly where they are going to be," I told him. "And how do you know that?" He asked. He pushed something in front of the broken out window that led into the next building so we could climb up. "Because I listen, and I'm observant, Joel. You think I don't pay attention, but I do."

[paldean-ranger-brandy]

I am asking about your trees

[ @lifeinareazero ]

I am kissing you passionately (in spirit. Not for real I don't have time for that shit)

Its genuinely such an interesting forest, since it's right between Glaseado mountain, the crater, and the rocky field of area three. All these different environmental pushes, plus the changes in elevation, makes the forest this really cool gradient of different trees.

Up in the higher elevations, closer to Glaseado mountain, it's mostly a mix of a fir and beech forest, which prefer the cool temperature, higher elevations, and more acidic forest floor. This part has very little undergrowth, as these trees tend to block almost all sunlight from reaching the ground. As the elevation decreases you get more silver fir (as opposed to the black pine up higher), and then it fades into more of an oak forest. Much more undergrowth here, and then as you approach the far southeast-eastern end and the lowest elevations (past the river) the oaks give way to ash and hazel groves.

Right now there is a pretty big wound right where the ash/hazel groves meet the oaks - that was caused by an escaped scream tail that went on a bit of a rampage (for fun? For profit? Who knows). The area will heal ofc, but it's gonna be a meadow of thorns and heather plants for a while before that. Incidentally, that scream tail is what started me on this path to figuring out why these pokemon are escaping the crater in the first place.

...thanks for the ask. Its a good reminder for why I'm putting myself through this shithole of a mission. Gotta protect the trees 🖤🌳🌲

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 9- Part 15

You’ve left her hanging for, like, hours now! Thirty people are dead! What could you have been investigating that kept you away for so long?

Still- does this confirm that the names for certain Team Meteor agents are, in fact, code names? Meaning “Aster” and “Eclipse” are not those two’s real, legal names? Maybe “Ace” isn’t that other commander’s actual name either- though, in their case, it could also be some stage name, assuming I’m correct about them being part of that Agate Ace Circus thing.

It’s…interesting that they’re giving us the name of the agent Amaria was tracking, here and now- Law of Conservation of Detail and all that. It can’t be that Borealis is Commander Redeye, he seemed too important of a member of Team Meteor to spend time wandering around the Slums for some reason. But still, there’s gotta be some relevance to Borealis being brought up so specifically now- did we find any hints to where Borealis could have gone? 

Would it have even been in the Slums, is that another reason why the player had to go through there (other than the short route to Coral Ward being blocked by trees, I suppose)? But we didn’t see much in the ways of clues, I don’t think- just a lot of generic NPCs, that Scrafty and her Scraggy gang, that one Mankey in the elevator, and the Corey encounter (which might have been optional given that wasn’t the way to the roof).

…We…ran into Corey. The…only other non-generic NPC, besides Victoria, we ran into while in the Slums…that entire time…

…No. No, no, I might just be overthinking stuff again- like I said, it was probably an optional event anyways, there’s…really nothing to go on about Borealis for me to say for sure that it’s Corey anyways. The Corey thing could have just been a red herring, his explanation for being there doesn’t seem that out-of-character or unreasonable- he looks like a villain, but that doesn’t mean he’s actually a villain.

YEAH!! Finally, we can engage in REAL warfare against the trees! No Fire-types required!

Alright- it took many trials and tribulations, but now it seems like we can finally go back to Obsidia Ward, back to Florinia and Victoria, and deal with the rampaging plants in the park once and for all!

But…that’ll have to be an adventure for next time. Thank you all so much for reading, next time will surely bring even more chaos and I am as excited as I am terrified! So look forward to that and my continued attempts to be a competent battler in spite of the enemy health bars, and I’ll see you all next time!

CURRENT TEAM: 

Riptide

Species: Croconaw

Gender: Male

Level: 21

Ability: Sheer Force*

Item: Quick Claw

Brave nature; Alert to sounds.

Breeze

Species: Pidgeotto

Gender: Female

Level: 21

Ability: Keen Eye

Item: None

Lax nature; Mischievous.

Glare

Species: Ekans

Gender: Female

Level: 20

Ability: Intimidate

Item: None

Naughty nature; Highly curious.

Whiskers

Species: Skitty

Gender: Female

Level: 21

Ability: Wonder Skin*

Item: None

Lax nature; Capable of taking hits.

Bloom

Species: Roselia

Gender: Male

Level: 21

Ability: Leaf Guard*

Item: Rose Incense

Docile nature; Alert to sounds.

Prong

Species: Charjabug

Gender: Female

Level: 21

Ability: Battery

Item: None

Rash nature; Loves to eat.

CURRENT BOXES:

NUMBER OF RELOADS: 5

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[fistfullofmilkcaps]

CHAPTER 01: ENTER THE DRAGON

“Tears are blue, but so is a clear sky…” 

It’s stupid and doesn’t make all that much sense, but it’s something I like to think about when I get sad… That’s the best part of being sad, I think. Whatever cheers you up doesn’t have to make sense.

And it can be stupid, too. 

      A beat-up van sits parked out in a clearing of trees. A sign denotes that this is a “park”, but it’s not even a full block. It’s more of greenery to break up the buildings in the tightly packed artificial island. This is technically illegal, but the local authorities make an exception for this one vehicle.

      Inside the van, light squabble can be heard before the noise is quelled by a voice that should belong to a surfer-type. “So my little brodinos, what heaping pile of informatzione have we gathered up today?” asks a man who couldn’t be older than 18. 

      He’s laid across a long seat on his side like a Roman eating grapes at a fancy dinner. His swept hair is obviously dyed. Magenta and purple aren’t natural colors, after all.

      Sitting opposite to him are two girls, probably in middle school. The one that looks more than just a bit like him, dyed hair and all, grumbles, “What does that even mean?” under her breath. The question sounds frustrated, but it is asked out of genuine confusion.

      The other girl, the smaller of the two, pipes up. “Well, um...” she gathers herself, “I’ve done some information brokering!”

      The man cracks his ever-present smile bigger. “Very impressive, dudette!” He finally props himself to sit up straight. “What does that mean?”

      “She talked around the school,” says the girl who shared his colorful hair, “Strategic gossiping, basically.”

      “You could call it that, yes! I heard some particularly interesting rumors.” The smaller girl seems flustered saying this, but in a whiplash narrows her eyes in a dead serious demeanor. They seem giant in the thick, round lenses of her glasses, like a wisened owl. “Pog related.”

      In a similar change in tone, the man leans in closer. “Pog related? Go on.”

      “Yes. Let’s see…” the small owl girl coughs an ahem into her hand and begins to spin a yarn.

      “There’s news of a student from our school who can pick up any skill and master it by the end of the week. His current fixation ends only once he dethrones the best in the area. He’s mastered baseball, cricket, basketball, yo-yo, kendama, hacky sack, and juggling, among other things.

      “They call him the Ultimate Godhand Middle-Schooler. Now, he’s pogging for keepsies, trying to collect 1000 unique pogs—”

      “THAT BUTTMUNCH!!!” erupts the other girl. Blind to the world around her, she plants one foot into the nearest elevated surface she could find. She needs a pedestal. She needs to feel as big as the rage inside her.

      “Hey, I was listening to that…!” squeaks the man, now finding himself as a pedestal. He sounds like a pitchy, old dog toy. His words don’t break through the girl’s veneer of fire and anger.

      She huffs and bellows, “CHANCEEEEEE!!!”

      “I assume you know him?” the pedestal whimpers as he gently removes the fuzzy boot shoved in his face.

      For the first time since her tantrum began, the girl acknowledges the world around her and growls, “YOU KNOW HIM TOO, LEO! IT’S CHANCE!” Her smaller friend’s grapple is somehow the only dam holding her back from tearing out of the van and onto the streets.

      The man, Leo, pauses. “You mean Cha—”

      “CHANCE OTSUKA, LOCAL DUMB IDIOT BOY,” she snarls, “GENIUS AT EVERYTHING THAT’S NOT ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS.”

      “Rei! Please calm down!” pleads the subduing her. One finger slips at a time while she tries to maintain balance on the foam clogs with a custom 1-foot heel.

      “Not now, Shout!” snaps Rei, simmering down by a single degree, “THAT LITTLE FREAK THAT PUNK THAT...”

      As Rei tries to hold back and keep her rant as a murmur to herself, her eyes ignite again. She lit her own fuse. Rei explodes out of Shout’s waning grasp and kicks open the doors through the back of the van. Soon after, she’s just a speck on the horizon.

      “Huh. Should we stop her?” Leo asks.

      “No, we should trail her,” Shout responds after a pause for calculation, “It seems like she knows where this ‘Otsuka’ is.”

      “Should we stop her when she tries to kill him?”

      “Likely, yes.”

***

        Not long after, a boy picks up some cardboard disks in one of the parks of Odaiba. The disks are plastered with colorful depictions of monsters, cartoon characters, video game promo art, and other pop-culture that the youth dig in the year 2041. A patch of blonde hair above the boy’s forehead bounces as he does. It has been very meticulously styled into the shape of a star. The rest of the hair is a blinding tangerine. None of his hair seems dyed, though.

       “CHANCE!!!”

      The boy hears his name coming closer. He knows this voice well and the tone perhaps far-too-well.

      “YOU PUNK!!!”

      It’s best to play it safe when she’s like this. Chance drops a cube of sugar in his voice. “Of course! It’s my old friend Rei! How the heck have you been keeping then—”

      A hand claws his varsity hoodie, dragging him into the maw of the beast. He shrinks back, but it’s too late. 

      “I HEAR YOU’VE BEEN HUSTLING POGS!” Rei breathes the words as fire. “YOU KNOW BETTER! NOW I’M GOING TO HUSTLE THE ORGANS OUT OF YOUR BODY!!!”

        Chance can only muster a peep. SHPLOINKY! It sounds like a cartoon mouse being crushed by a falling anvil.

      Leo and Shout rush onto the scene as fast as they can. Shout hops and waves her hand, careful not to enter the engagement.

      “Rei! Stop! Murder is wrong!” she hoots.

      “Yeah, we need that!” Leo adds on.

      Rei drops Chance to the ground like a stuffed animal. “You’ve just bought yourself parole, Chance.”

      Poor Chance Otsuka quietly praddles to himself, piled up like a puddle of slime. “All of my bones are in pain and my muscles are crying.” He manages to push himself up on his hands and knees.

      Well, Rei’s work here is done. For now. She claps off the dust from her hands as Shout rushes in, checking the victim for vital signs. Leo pokes Chance as one does a sleeping kitten, full of milk, to check for life.

      “You okay, little dude?”

      Chance groans. “I feel like mochi. Like in the bad way.”

      “What is that on a scale of 1-10?” Leo prods.

      “It feels like my entire body has been kneaded by a wooden mallet for multiple hours.”

      Leo cocks his head. “So like a 6?”

      Rei sprays venom with her eyes, shooting a glance behind her. Her back is turned to the medical party. “Serves him right for hustling pogs.”

      “To be fair, it’s not hustling if I tell them they’re going to lose upfront,” moans Chance. Not before even the end of the sentence, he coughs in a fit. “I think I swallowed a tooth. A lung maybe.”

      Leo lifts up Chance under his shoulder, standing him upright. The man wears baggy clothes, maybe two-sizes-too-big, and is decked out in little trinkets and jewelry. Yeah, he knows this guy.

      “I hear you’re collecting pogs?” Leo asks like Chance is his newly adopted child he’s trying to make small talk with.

      “Ah yes, I play for keepsies, nothing else,” Chance says, trying to stand up taller. His voice lowers just a hair of a register deeper. “I have many rare pogs to spare, so you have a lot to gain if you beat me. Which of course you won’t.”

      Leo chuckles at the little tough guy. “Is that so?”

      Chance doubles down, puffing out his chest and spreading his shoulders. “Yes!” Then he closes up just by a smidge. “Please put me down, sir.”

      “Oh yeah, sure little man.”

      Leo plops him down.

      “I think you’ll find me an exceptionally medium-sized man,” asserts the little man.

      “Yeah, sure little medium man.” Leo holds his hand out horizontally in front of the base of Chance’s sternum. “You’re a lot taller since I last saw you!”

      Chance squints back. “I was eight.”

      “You know him also, Mr. Leo?” inquires one Miss Shout.

      “Totally! Rei and Chance have been palling around since they were in diapers.”

      As almost to defend herself, Rei spits back, “Someone had to keep him alive, and it sure wasn’t gonna be him.”

      “You just tried to kill me!” Chance protests.

      “For your own good!” refutes Rei.

      “What are you guys all here anyway?” asks, turning back to the entourage that’s formed around him. “ I’ve discerned it’s not a reunion.”

      Shout beams back, “To scout you!”

      “Pardon?”

      “Let me handle the negotiation, Shoutstack,” Leo says, patting Shout on the head. “So is it 1000 unique pogs you’re looking for? How many left do ya need?”

      After crunching the numbers, Chance gives out his quote, “Ehh… about seven? If you want to face me, you’ll have to ante up some superbly special specimens. Pretty precious pogs...”

      “We get it!” Rei hisses under her breath as Chance lists off.

      “You mean like...” Leo smugly grins as he produces a small, velvet-lined box of seven pristine, glimmering circles of cardboard! “These poggeronis?!”

      “EXACTLY THOSE POGGERONIS!” The way Chance’s eyes shoot out of his head is as if he consumed raw chili oil and actual lightning. “HOW DID YOU GET THE KATANA GETTERS SHINOBERS ‘SUPER NININROBO CHANGEUP’ SET?”

      Leo snickered in the way he thought adults did when they were above the situation. “A man never reveals his secrets.” If this were a cartoon, an arrow with flashing lights would point at Leo, marked “235000円 in debt.”

      “If that’s your offer, you’re on!” Chance whips out an open hand for a deal.

      “Cool your jets, speedy! I have some conditions.”

      “...Let’s hear them.”

      “Okay!” Leo claps his hands out in front of his chest to say class is in session.

      “One! Bet the seven Shinobers team member pogs. I saw some of them fall out of your pockets while you were under attack. I want an equivalent exchange, y’see? 

      “Two! The first player to collect eight pogs wins all of the pogs bet by both players.

      “Three! You must join my team of little dudes and pog competitively if you lose.”

      Taken aback a little bit at Leo’s change in tone, Chance tries to match it, “You drive a hard bargain. One I’m willing to take!”

***

        A small, pop-up, standing pogs table has been set up in the past 15 minutes. On it are 14 shuffled pogs stacked in a neat tower face-down. Chance and Leo stand on opposite sides of it, staring bolts of electricity between each other.

      Chance is the first to break the silence. “I have to warn you… the Ultimate Godhand Middleschooler never loses!”

      Leo and Rei share a look, communicating a sibling code. “Oh, does he now?” the pair ask, creeping their gaze back to Chance in sly, ominous unison.

      Chance shakes it off and argues back, “Well yeah! I’m good! That’s how I got the name”

      “Just so it’s not a hustle I’ll tell you now...” Leo’s eyes burn with a grim sincerity. “You won’t flip a single pog.”

      The two combatants nearly butt heads. “You’re on, big man!” yelps Chance.

      “Bro, you’re really going to pog?” Rei asks one more time, “Now? After over a year! With… Chance?!”

      “Yeah sis!” Leo returns one last time. “ And Shout’s the ref!”

      “I am?!” Shout hops into position, frazzled.

      “I can’t believe you...” Rei crossed her arms, digging her fingers into her sleeves.

      Shout flips a pog like a coin after Leo calls out a side. “Uh… heads! Leo decides who’s first!”

      “Your move, little medium man.”

      Chance tightens his grip on his slammer.

      “3!” counts Shout!

       “Yeah?” Chance rolls his shoulders.

       “2!”

     He inhales a long breath.

     “1!”

     “You know, Leo, it’s dangerous...” 

      “Come on and slam!!!”

      “...to leave it all to CHANCE!!!”

      Chance springs to life like a horse, catapulting his slamming arm in the air! It burns in an arc, approaching the stack. Finally, he begins his release before the slammer makes impact, but somehow a chill sneaks into the fire in his belly. The chill crawls up into his arm and bites. At the last second, his arm twitches, sending the slammer off path and bouncing off the table.

      Leo chides, “Oh man, what happened? Your angling was so good! Especially at the power you were throwing it at. I guess a newbie is prone to wipeouts like that.”

      What happened? Chance is sure that opening was perfect, but something is now off. He traces the chill in his arm through his nerves, out through his stomach. He feels the chill lingering in the air, outside of him, like a tendril of mist coming from Leo. That kind of mist swirls around Leo as if he’s its master. It doesn’t make sense. One sentence echoes in Chance’s mind. His presence is beyond human.

      The chill flows into the rest of the crevices in Chance’s body, like he’s being soaked by a bitter rain. He begins to shiver. And his aura is… 

      Chance inspects Leo closer. His face implies a roaring energy, almost like there are waves crashing in the stormy color of his eyes.

      Abyssal.

      “Listen up, Chance!” Leo snaps him out of his trance.

      Rei shrugs at the command. “Looks like it’s over for the kid.”

      “Such a young age to die like this...” Shout laments.

       “What?!” Chance asks the women making insane declarations.

      Leo continues, “Here’s my next move: I’ll knock five off the stack, but only flip three. Can you dig it?”

      “No way…!” 

       The attack starts from Leo’s foot. It twists forward, sending the rest of his body into motion like a Rube Goldberg machine. It is a chain — a kinetic chain. He cries out “AIIIIEEEYAAATTA!” as if his body is evicting it out of his lungs.

      The attack pours down like a monsoon. The slammer bounds off of the stack, releasing a handful of pogs from their seal. The shower of disks pitter, patter, and calm to a halt on the dirt at Chance’s feet. Five pogs, three flipped. Chance betrays his facade and lets a tiny “yip!” slip free.

      Shout’s eyes nearly pop out of her spectacles. She vibrates in place as she restrains herself. “I’ve never seen Leo perform in person like this! Such control…!”

      “Yup! My bro’s just that skilled!” Rei gloats.

      “Yeah, that!” Leo agrees, one hand in pocket and one hand scratching the back of his head. Another cartoon arrow would point to him and say “spat out numbers to seem cool, made a complete estimate, but is good at gambling.”

      Shout collects the pogs, giving the flipped ones to Leo, and locking the unflipped ones back into the stack.

      “How…?” Chance comes to. “H-how?!”

      “Oh yeah! Chance, I have to warn you.” Leo strikes the pose Chance did when he declared his Godhand status. “The Pog world champion never loses!”

      “The what?!”

      “Why do you think I haven’t been around that much for five years?”

        “I don’t know! Cram school? Club activities? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Other? All of the above?” Chance drops his head into his hands and massages his cheeks and temples. “Sorry, but mastering milk caps on the global stage wasn’t my natural first guess!” He quickly pans his head, “Rei, how did this never come up?!”

      She snorts. “Never asked.”

      He wants to say much worse words, but Chance censors his response to only, “You coy shrew!”

      “Chance!” Leo calls, “Hate to interrupt, but it’s your go, moderately lil’ bro.”

      The world blurs around Chance as he takes slamming position. He let his thoughts all run at once, hoping one of them bumps into an answer. There’s something about the way he moves. Like a river calmly flowing. He quickly flicks his slammer into the stack for a less powerful shot, trying to beat the chill. And then crashing through its rapids. Two pogs release from the stack. I feel like I’m drowning in it. They land unflipped. The angling must have been off. Shout locks them back into place. Couldn’t beat that chill. There’s something about his whole vibe right now that… Ugh! I know it!

      Without warning, Leo sends out another attack, nearly identical to the first but with far more power. Chance gasps. His eyes are flickering, beginning to understand and see something that isn’t truly there, but looms like a specter in front of him.

      That’s what’s familiar! The whole stack is knocked down in Leo’s strike. All pogs were released, but only two flipped over near his feet. His feet aren’t the only one standing by them. Some ghostly shape becomes more solid in Chance’s eyes. His body language, his eyes, his aura! They all resemble one thing!

      A phantom of a muscular man poses in tandem with Leo. It’s a martial arts pose, clearly. It’s… It’s… It’s like Bruce Lee is standing right next to him! Chance double takes.

      “WAIT HE IS!? EEEeeeeeeeEEEeeEEEE!?”

      The peanut gallery chime in, shocked, “He can see it?!”

      “Wuh wuh… wuh wuh...” mutters Chance. Words can’t come to tongue. This is it. He finally lost it.

      “There, there...” Shout coos, coming to gently pat Chance’s shoulders.

      Leo laughs a drumline of a laugh! “SHEHEHEHEHE! You’re doing better than I thought! To see my IMAGE’s Avatar...”

      T-the what? The… Chance is… Chance is… “...w-weh?”

      Rei snaps her fingers at the boy to break his catatonic state. “Okay boy wonder! Want to know what’s going on?”

      He wakes from his stupor. “Yespleasefriendsaveme.”

      She gestures toward the apparition of Bruce Lee. “When a Pogger has a winning image strong enough, it’ll show throughout their body, their eyes, and overall presence. Since you understand so much about pogs after one week, you can understand the IMAGE’s form and see it.

      “Seeing it allows you to blow off some of the pressure created by an IMAGE, but without your own, you’ll be pushed under the current.”

      Huh? Chance cocks his head. “My own what? An image?”

      Rei palms the top of Chance’s skull and pushes down. “An IMAGE, bonehead! Say it like me!”

      “An Image!”

      Rei squeezes.

      “Ow! An IMAGE! Like that?”

      She releases her talons.

      “So how do I get one of those?”

      From her reffing spot, Shout pounces at a teaching moment. “Picture your perfect victory and give it form!”

      Rei offers her own version of the lesson. “Get better, idiot.” 

      Chance stares blankly at Rei. Rei returns the same look. Annoyance slithers onto his brow. Rei relents and sighs.

     “Fine! Take whatever thing that gives you strength and put all your faith in it.”

      He raises an eyebrow. “Okay, Rei.” Asking any more questions won’t help him. He’ll have to be satisfied with that. Chance turns back to the fight.

      “Hey there!” Leo welcomes Chance back to the world of the living, “Done with the T.O.? That’s ‘Time Out’, by the way.”

      “My turn, yeah?” The chill is gone.

      “Yessirino, little pogdino.”

      It’s time to make a stand! Chance’s hands reach into the sky interlocked. “Good, because it’ll be my last! Hope you’re ready for a real show-stopper!”

      One step back. The dust kicked from Chance’s sneakers fades dark. Two steps back. More dark clouds start to seep out of Chance. Three Step back. The black smoke billows. Shadows dance in it, forming a cascade of swords. One last step.

      “Oh my…!” chirps Shout!

      “No way…” whispers Rei.

      “That punk...!” YELLS REI.

      The smoke and swords twist into the figure of a man with a black hood. White steel pokes out of its face like a mustache. Two slits tear open revealing the burning eyes underneath, highlighted with red splotches like make-up.

      In a different way than before, Rei loses her composure. “That caveman! That absolute idiot boy! He’s...” Her eyebrows twitch, unable to decide if they should be impressed or enraged.

      With a running start, Chance takes to the air. “With the ogre strength of wandering warrior Benkei!” Benkei produces a blade and flies with the arc of Chance’s jumpshot. “We’ll leave it to CHANCE!” Chance expertly maneuvers his body to take advantage of his momentum and the force of gravity. Every skill he has mastered up to this point is being blended into this new technique. He sees it! He sees it so clearly! Like the warrior Benkei collecting the blades of those he defeated, Chance has collected skills for just this moment. Perfect power. Perfect control. He could easily take out the rest of the stack, maybe even collect all of them!

      All of these wonderful pipedreams bleed out of Chance when a typhoon stabs through his chest. He whiffs the stack and the slammer hits the table, leaving a large crack in both. Managing to tuck in his legs, he mitigates some of the force of his fall. Once again, Chance pushes himself up on his hands and knees. The ground is cold and stony. It isn’t dirt anymore. I’m losing it. No. I’ve lost it. I’m not at the park anymore. He flips his head around in every direction to find out where he is. A Mountain? How? The air’s too thin to breathe… this can’t be real… it isn’t real…

      The boy struggles to swallow down any air. It slips away like water through fingers. He shouldn’t shout. He needs the air. But. But!

      “hELP! I ca—” is all that he can choke out.

      And then air floods his lungs. “I can breathe!” The ground is dirt again. There is grass nearby. There are no mountain peaks in the distance, only the distant shape of the Sphere of the Fuji Television building.

      “I’m back! I think?” He jolts to his feet and interrogates no one in particular. “Was I ever gone? Did I hallucinate? A panic attack?”

      Leo waves his hand in front Chance’s eyes “Earth to bro! Anyone home up there? I think I went a bit too hard on you.”

      “Is it your turn now?”

      “Well it was.” The rest of the stack sits scattered across the table and ground. Five were flipped face up. “You were right about it being your last turn.”

      The pogs taunt Chance, just sitting there, still. He plasters up a smile. “Huh. Guess I lost then. Well, a deal’s a deal.” He looks down transfixed at the pogs. He lost. He lost. He lost. The boy falls to the ground, in a deep, shameful bow and pleads, “Until I can clean your clocks Leo, I’ll do anything you say! You’re my master until I can surpass you! I’m after your spot as the top pogger in our area!”

      “He’s the top pogger in the world, too!” Rei says as she nudges him with his foot.

      “Your friend is very intense, Rei.” Shout notes. She’s captivated by the display.

      Leo isn’t, or at least not much. “Sounds like a plan, Dan! Alright, let’s load ‘em up!” He walks towards the bride leading to the park to find his parking spot.

      “We’re leaving right now?” Shout asks without taking her focus at Chance, still in kowtow. She doesn’t move out of her spot. “How did you muster an IMAGE after a week?” 

      Rei bursts, as if she is realizing this for the first time again. “YEAH, HOW’D YA MANAGE THAT?”

      “It took us months to manifest an Aura, much less an Avatar!”

      “YEAH, YOU MUST HAVE CHEATED SOMEHOW! YOU’RE GOOD. BUT NOT THAT GOOD! NOBODY’S THAT GOOD.”

      The pair continue to babble on, one almost on the brink of whisper and the other on the brink of rupturing a lung. The girls melt away into the background for Chance, just like the birds in the morning and the rain in the night. He takes inventory.

      I’ve never failed to become the best at whatever I’ve set my mind to! I won’t let this be the exception. But he’s the top pogger in the world! So to surpass him — to take his title, I don’t just have to be better than him…

      Silently, he gets up and mindlessly trudges away from the girls to follow Leo.

      …I have to be better than everyone else on this Earth!

NEXT CHAPTER

[lunarsands]

ALSMP Fanfic: Wherever These Flowers May Grow Ch 3

Characters: goddess!PearlescentMoon, actual!angel!Sausage, starborne!Scott; reintroducing: floran!Scott and introducing: floran!Sausage, with special guest Empires SMP S2 Joel and a cameo by Origins SMP CaptainSparklez

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor

Tags: Canon Divergent, scosage, fluff

Warnings: Character Death (temporary as usual with this series), a tiny bit of angst

(Sequel to Echoing Through To You, When The Skies Cry, Until The Blood Moon Descends, and Then We’ll Rewrite the Stars)

(Also available on Ao3!)

Summary: Pearl sends Sausage and Scott on a mission to help out on another mortal world different from their old one. Scott finds himself returned to an old set of powers; Sausage gets new ones which, as it turns out, he has some trouble controlling. It’s not exactly a honeymoon trip, but they do meet a nice new godling while there.

[ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

Chapter Three

 As with his effect on everything else, Sausage could get six trees to grow at once. In no time at all they had a small forest on the rise, filling the one valley and taking purchase in available soil along the higher elevations before spilling over into the next valley. It was there that they found a cave that had partially collapsed. Old runes were carved into the walls but since they were unable to read any of it, they left everything alone. Scott decided that sleeping up in one of the new trees would be better than using the cave – lest they wake up with the entrance blocked off by the taiga ferns that had sprung up with the trees. They went with a nest of branches since there weren’t any vines available for a hammock this time.

They were a little slow to wake up the next morning due to the cold but got to work after a bit of lounging in the sun. Sausage converted more of the corrupted soil then moved on to increasing the grass on the basalt patches while Scott went around calling up flowers and some sweet berry bushes to coax animals back to the area. He also grew some trees close to the central corruption area in preparation for that night.

When it came around to sunset, they stood outside the temporary tent formed out of roots and surveyed their work. Sausage was pleased. “It looks like a completely different place already! I think we can get this last part taken care of tomorrow and then find someplace new. Um, someplace warmer would be great, too. I’m not getting Heaven’s Reach vibes here, anyway.”

Scott chuckled. “Yeah, I have to agree with that. At least Joel hasn’t been by to dump snow on us.”

“Oh, don’t let him hear you say that! He might think it would be helpful, or something.”

They soon cozied up under a moss blanket after sealing the fourth side of the ad hoc tent to keep out a little more of the cold, snuggled close for extra warmth. Yet, partway through the night, Scott was jarred awake by a shriek from the land. He threw off the blanket and looked around in alarm. Sausage was still fast asleep. Was he unable to hear the plants screaming?

Either way, Scott felt driven to find out. He lowered one side of the tent to crawl out. He gasped loudly and scrambled to his feet for a better look. Pillars of the corrupted soil encircled the tent, curving inward almost like claws. The cold was gone, replaced by the heat of fresh lava flows. He stared around, horrified to see all of their work undone.

Everything around him was screaming in the way of nature being destroyed by an unnatural source. This wasn’t a normal eruption. Someone had done this. But he… didn’t see or hear anyone else. There was the sense of a presence, but… no one was there.

Then a pulse of pale blue energy rippled out from the center, exactly where the tent was. It passed through Scott and he could tell it wasn’t Sausage’s energy. It was cold, though. As it continued outward, the earth became quiet.

This was the magic that had temporarily paused time.

Scott realized he was having some kind of vision. He plucked at one of the flowers in his hair to check; it hurt, so he was awake right now. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to gain from this knowledge, but felt like he should resign himself to accepting they would have to fix the whole place again.

However, as the magic’s shockwave got further away, it faded out, and then the pillars and lava faded away, too, leaving him with the healed land – and the sight of the corrupted soil previously left from the night before now changing as the blue-green replacement made its way toward the tent.

Scott felt relieved that the plan for Sausage’s power was working as intended. He pushed the vision out of his mind for the moment and returned to sleep.

.

When he next awoke, he felt like he was being jostled around. Struggling to find full awareness after his disrupted sleep, he at least figured out that he was being carried in Sausage’s arms. The other floran looked slightly distressed. “Saus-? What-?”

“Sorry, things got weird back there.”

“Did you… have the vision, too?”

“What vision? No, um, there’s just…” Sausage stopped and put him down onto his feet, holding onto him to help him remain upright while Scott shook off the vestiges of sleep. “Well, look.” He pointed back toward the tent.

From between the new stand of trees Sausage had retreated to, Scott could see several deer, including a stag with a rather intimidating set of antlers. Most of them were nibbling at the ground. The stag was staring directly at the two florans.

Sausage ducked his head and hissed, “I thought they might try to eat us! That stag was sniffing at you but I got us past him. Why was the tent open? You were out cold even though the sun was up!”

“I think I… had a dream. I must have been sleepwalking, and subconsciously lowered it.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve never sleepwalked before. I watched over you for an entire winter and you never once woke up during the night. Honestly that was kind of worrying!”

Scott patted his arm. “Well, something weird happened to me last night. But, um, I don’t think we need to worry about them eating us.”

“But we’re part plant! We probably smell tasty!”

“Sausage.”

“What? Wouldn’t they be scared of us, then? Because we’re people, and deer are skittish.”

“Or, they understand we’re a mix of both.” Scott stepped forward, keeping eye contact with the stag. It watched him as he slowly approached until he was close enough to hold a hand up toward it. It lowered its head and sniffed his fingers, then briefly nuzzled his hand. When it raised its head again, turning away, the sunlight glinted off its antlers as if they were gilded with gold.

The illusion faded as it walked away. The two florans watched the herd forage around until they moved away into the next valley.

“Huh,” Sausage marveled quietly. Scott meandered off, collecting pinecones. “So, more trees on the agenda this morning?”

“Might as well extend the forest to give them a bigger territory,” Scott replied with a soft smile.

~*~

“Oh, so now they’re befriending the wildlife?” Adelfa rolled their eyes. Their expression seemed to become even more disgruntled as a series of trees began to pop up far below the clouds.

“Why not?” Joel asked. “It goes hand in hand with plants, right?”

“They shouldn’t get too familiar with anything. It’s not like they’ll be sticking around.”

“I don’t see how that hurts anything. They seem to be doing a pretty good job so far.”

“Well, then take some notes. Go dump a blizzard on them.”

“Why? I don’t think they’re built for the cold, and they can’t exactly set up a fire to keep warm or they’ll turn themselves into kindling.”

“Because I said to.”

Joel squatted and poked a hand through the cloud. He pretended to be feeling around for something. “Hmm, nope, sorry. Wrong atmospheric conditions.”

Adelfa’s face reddened. “How dare you—”

“Hey, you’re the one who decided we wouldn’t bother with the weather anymore. So now I call the shots.” He grinned, proud of himself for standing up to them.

Adelfa then gave him an unamused look. They separated off their portion of the cloud; Joel didn’t bother to watch them leave. He set off a light snow flurry, perhaps in the hopes it would signal the floran pair to move along before Adelfa chose a different way to antagonize them.

~*~

Sausage shivered as something icy landed in the fronds at the top of his vest. He turned, then looked up. “Snow? Oh, no. That’s not good.” He jogged over to where Scott was putting the finishing touches on a patch of light blue flowers. “Hey, umm… Can snow trigger winter mode for florans? I don’t know if this is Joel or is just happening. We probably can’t do anything about it either way, so… What should we do? Hole up somewhere in case we fall asleep, or go somewhere warmer?”

“I’m not feeling a seasonal change, so it’s probably normal mountain weather. I’d say we’re done here, anyway. Let’s head down. I’m sure it will turn into rain on the way.” Scott looked out over the area. Even the blue-green sections were nearly covered up by regular grass now, and the snow accumulation would help, too. He smiled and nodded.

.

They had to do some climbing here and there on the way down, but with Sausage purposely leaving a trail of greenery it was possible future travelers would find an easier path. Once they were on flatter ground, they found more remnants of the colorful road going the opposite direction away from the mountains. They checked on areas to either side of it, and camped out in a tree along the way, but as the clearly marked part of the road gave way to mere stepping stones in the brush, they began to see evidence of flower fields.

The further they walked, the greater a wistful feeling settled over both of them. There were traces of another volcanic eruption, but here nature had done the work by itself to regrow over it. Even more flowers sprang up with each step Sausage took. He glanced back at one point, then grinned at Scott and took off running. Blossoms of all types popped up as he went. Scott gave a grin of his own and ran after him, consciously asking flowers to grow.

The flowers answered in plenty.

They were laughing by the time they crested a hill, although both stopped when they saw what stood in the middle of the fields: a gigantic, single-stem white lily. Scott’s smile softened. “Well, what does that remind you of? Bit of a sight for sore eyes.”

“See, that’s what I miss about our old home, too! I hope the lilium praegandis is doing all right without us.”

“I’m sure it’s doing fine. …Hopefully it isn’t too lonely, though.”

They made their way over to the lily, noticing how there were fewer regular-sized flowers around it. Actually, they now saw small barren spots, too. Sausage walked over to one of them in case it was another corrupted soil situation. He halted as he started to lower his foot, then raised it, then placed it down completely. “Huh. Something feels… weird.”

“Bad weird or strange weird?”

“Umm… You tell me. What does it feel like to you?”

Scott went over to a different barren spot. He knelt to put his palm down on it, bracing himself for the weirdness Sausage might be talking about. His face brightened. “Sausage, that’s not weird – that’s something trying to talk to us.” He kept his hand pressed to the ground while turning to look around. “I think it’s coming from…” His gaze landed on the giant lily. “…I guess that should have been obvious.”

He walked up to the lily and gently placed both hands against the stem. He drew a sharp breath as his sight blurred. The landscape changed as it came back into focus, revealing that the barren spots were where other, colorful giant flowers used to be. There had been thick clusters of regular flowers on the ground surrounding them all.

His view blurred again, then resolved into the same flowers but now all of them were in shades of gray, including the stalks of the giant ones. Fire crisscrossed the land, burning everything except the giant lily. He saw the flames die down, then could feel the energy flowing out of the lily into the land where it repopulated the regular flowers, but it couldn’t fix where the other giant ones had been.

“Scott? Um… Hello??”

Scott blinked. The vision faded out – and Sausage’s concerned face faded in. “Sorry. Apparently, this world has really zeroed in on the fact I’ve been a floran before and is sharing the land’s memory of the past with me. That’s what happened up in the mountains.” He pointed to the nearest bare patch. “There used to be more giant flowers here, but something drained the spirit out of them, and there was also a fire. This lily is extremely magical, and fixed up what we see now. But…” He put his hand back on the stem. “It needs help to fix the rest.”

“Regrowing giant flowers sounds like something right up my alley.” Sausage turned to begin addressing the problem, but Scott grabbed him by the wrist and held his hand while keeping his other palm against the lily’s stalk.

“Floran field lesson. Can you hear that? Or… feel it, through me?”

“Uh, not really? What am I listening for?”

Scott now pressed Sausage’s hand against the stalk. “Try listening with your other senses. Try to feel the energy without physically acting on it. Or maybe not that last part. I forgot for a second who I was talking to.” Scott made an amused face.

Sausage looked puzzled for a moment – attempting the listening part and not acknowledging the extra comment. Then he held out his other hand and made a grab and pulling motion away from the lily.  He uncurled his fingers afterward and stared down at his palm. “Is it… something about tapping into its magic, not ours?”

“Good, you’ve got the gist of it. It wants us to redistribute the magic that grew it.”

“But doing that… it doesn’t feel like there’s enough magic in there to grow other giant flowers!”

“We’re probably only supposed to use it so regular ones grow in these spots. I think the time of giant flowers might be over.”

Sausage gently petted the lily’s stem. “I was hoping we could name you in honor of our lilium, but I guess not…”

Scott patted Sausage’s arm, then the two got to work, drawing out power from the lily and directing it to the barren spots. As clusters of small flowers began to grow, the color slowly drained out of the lily.

~*~

Joel could sense Adelfa’s rage and zipped around the sky if only to find them and tell them to stop ruining his day by projecting emotion in such amounts that he felt it, too – which might have contributed to his anger about it, come to think of it. He didn’t want to feel what they felt. He shouldn’t be feeling what they felt.

He found them stomping back and forth on a cloud over a flower field. Below were two figures – oh. He should have guessed. “What is it now?” he demanded before merging his cloud with theirs.

“They’ve gone too far! They’re supposed to be repairing things, not destroying things!” Adelfa pointed sharply.

Joel opened a hole in the clouds to have a peek. “I only see flowers,” he said flatly.

“That one, you buffoon! That was a primal nature power source! How dare they!”

Now he noticed the single giant flower, and memory stirred. “Oh, that thing. I don’t see why you’re mad about it? We couldn’t get it to heal that land, but maybe it decided to cooperate with them. Maybe they were less pushy than we were.”

“No. Nothing in nature defies me! It was meant to remain as it was!” Adelfa swiped a hand through the air, closing the hole. “Thunderstorm, now! I want some precision lightning strikes to remind them that they don’t ultimately have power here!”

“Hmm, I don’t know. All those nice, new flowers need sunlight to grow stronger. It defeats the purpose if I block off the plants from feeding so soon after they came back.”

“Joel!”

He gave an innocent smile. “Oops, wait, I just remembered I need to go check on that rainstorm over the archipelago! You still want a couple of islands left there, right? Bye!” He quickly split off his own cloud again and hurried away.

It had been so tempting to pull almost the entire cloud out from under Adelfa. All the gods traveled by cloud as a convenience, but that was all they could do with them. He now controlled the skies, and it was time for Adelfa to acquiesce to that.

~*~

Scott and Sausage decided against mourning the giant lily as the last of its color disappeared. It had sacrificed itself to finish healing its lands, which was a dedication they were very familiar with. Once again, they slept the night through up in a tree, and the next morning was spent running around the fields sprouting more flowers. It was a pleasant respite after the extent of work needed in the previous places. For Sausage, it wasn’t the same freedom as flying, but it was exhilarating in its own way. This was fun, where the other stuff had been work. He didn’t mind that of course, but it was nice having something to truly share with Scott again, which they hadn’t quite had since the time when he had figured out a way to fly as a thunderborn and Scott had been an angel.

Flowers – gardens – that was something they had always had together. These fields were a wonderful reminder of that.

Grinning mischievously, Sausage ran toward where Scott was arranging tall peonies and tackled him with a hug, lifting him up to spin him around. He lost his balance, and they both fell over into some tall grass, but they laughed. A quick kiss and a playful tussle later ended up sending them rolling down a hill, but they laughed again as they tumbled out into another patch of tall grass.

Scott was first to his feet and helped Sausage up, then they took stock of this new area. It was more fields, less hilly than the previous area, but lacked all trace of flowers. It had the appearance of purposely flattened ground, albeit completely overgrown.

As they took a better look around, Sausage’s expression went from lingering amusement to vaguely troubled. There were no structures that were immediately visible, but something felt disquiet to him. He pushed through the waist-high grass and sought a source for the feeling.

Scott noticed his sudden distress. “Are you okay? Did you get a vision this time?”

“No, something just feels… off about this place.” Sausage continued to look around. Nothing was standing out to him, but the unease wouldn’t go away. He retreated back toward the hill. “Maybe – uh – maybe you can check this one out, and I’ll, um, go around it to find the next place that needs us to work on it.”

“Okay,” Scott agreed, a little confused. He didn’t feel anything odd at the moment, but didn’t press Sausage for more. He waded into the overgrown grass to hunt around for any damage. He didn’t see any traces of volcanic activity this time, so he waited for a vision to give him clues.

When it did kick in, the scene took his breath away. A giant beanstalk was winding its way into the sky, with small man-made structures perched along it. Nearby was a modest farmhouse and a few outbuildings; it instantly reminded him of Pearl’s realm. His sight blurred, then refocused… and everything was on fire. He then noticed two figures flying around the beanstalk. They seemed to enter one of the structures. A minute later only one of them flew away.

Scott tried to make out some details about the person. However, he didn’t really get a chance before an ominous creak drew his attention back to the beanstalk. It swayed and began to topple toward the farmhouse. He instinctively dived out of the way, but the vision faded before the beanstalk landed. He came up coughing out dirt from his slide across the dry ground. He wondered if the intensity of the land’s memory was what had made Sausage nervous.

“Are you okay?” he heard Sausage call.

“Yeah! Just another vision!” Scott dusted himself off. He assumed they weren’t meant to grow a new beanstalk, but this place might need something to chase away that shadow of the past.

Meanwhile, Sausage walked a very deliberate route around what might as well have been an invisible bubble until he was nearly opposite the hill he and Scott had rolled down. He located the remains of a stone wall and sat upon it, drawing up his legs to prevent too much power from leaking into the ground, although the area was already grown over enough that he doubted he could add more to it. He hugged his knees and vacantly watched as Scott wandered around several meters away.

“Oi,” came Joel’s voice from somewhere above to his left. “Getting lazy, now? Why are you letting him do all the work?”

Sausage glanced over as the godling drifted down on a cloud; it dissipated and his feet touched the earth for once. The former seraph still had to look up at him. “Nah – I decided to have a rest! I can’t take all the glory!”

“Aren’t angels supposed to be all about glory?” Joel asked with a slightly sarcastic tone. He sat down and folded his legs, resting his wrists over his knees. He was at about eye level now with the other up on the wall.

“Well, there’s more to me than just being an angel! I have hobbies and other things I do! Or well, I had more when we were in our previous mortal world. I’m my god’s official architect and one of her seraphs. Actually, I think I’m the only one…” Sausage mulled that over for half a second. “I don’t think I’ve even seen any others before! Maybe on missions out of her realm, but this is the first time I’ve been out in a while, so maybe I might be forgetting. This is more like a vacation, really, even if it is technically work. Between you and me, I’d still kind of prefer being able to fly.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s the best part of being a powerful godly figure, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I’m not godly, myself.”

“But aren’t seraphs like an extension of their god? You have some authority, right? An architect is pretty important, too, as I understand it. I don’t have one of my own yet, we only made me about two weeks ago, so I… well, don’t even have many followers yet. Mortals are still worshipping us in general.”

Sausage cast a questioning look at him, one eyebrow quirked. “Seriously, why do you keep saying ‘we’ sometimes? Is it a royal ‘we’ thing that gods do in this world? I’m not judging if it is, I’ve just never heard a god talk like that before.”

Joel lowered his gaze, eyes sliding to the side. He absently rubbed his knees. “Up until two weeks ago I was part of the nature deity. They separated the part of their essence that controls the weather to make me. Couldn’t be bothered with keeping track of the weather, they said. I’m still… adjusting to having my own identity.” He then muttered, “Not sure why I’m telling you this. You’re one step up from a mortal, how could you relate?”

“I can, though,” Sausage said, having heard him perfectly fine. “I’m pretty much bound to duty. Comes with being a seraph. If PearlescentMoon calls, I have to answer. When I first revived as a seraph, she sent signs for me to come back to the celestial realm but I had no clue what was going on because I forgot who I used to be, so she literally dragged me back there through a portal! And then I had to fly back and forth all over the place doing tasks, and I didn’t really have a choice! But I was preoccupied with what I left behind, so I resented it for a while, but after things worked themselves out, I accepted that it’s what I was meant to be doing.”

“What you left behind, where? What do you mean, revived as? Don’t angels, like… ascend the ranks, or something?”

“The last world we were in had this crazy system of changing people into something different any time they died! I arrived there as a guardian angel, and became a whole bunch of different things, but then I reached the point of fulfilling my duty there, so then I was promoted to seraph rank, and then I was meant to go home.” Without looking, Sausage nodded meaningfully to indicate the field where Scott was. He smiled softly.

“Oh, so you had to leave him behind, I take it. If you were there because you were an angel, what does that make him?”

Sausage scratched his beard in thought, then shrugged. “Y’know, I never thought to ask. I didn’t even find out I was probably called there in the first place to be his guardian angel until after I was back in the celestial realm, looking in on him when I could get a chance. For all the power I had, I couldn’t go back. I had to follow my new duties.”

“Hm.” Joel abruptly stood. “Well, that’s enough chitchat, I think. Speaking of jobs to do, I should go sprinkle some more rain around for you fellas. Don’t you go sitting around here for too long – there’s much more of the world for you to see before you go home again.”

“Ahm—” The question Sausage was about to ask went unspoken as a cloud formed under Joel’s feet, lifting him up into the sky. Sausage tilted his head back to watch him leave. “Aw, come on now! He is rubbing it in, I just know it!” He uttered an exasperated sigh, then lowered his gaze to the field – then he gave a start when he saw what Scott had been up to while he had been obliviously talking to Joel.

The whole place was covered in sunflowers now.

Scott was on his way over. Sausage hopped off the wall, but still couldn’t bring himself to cross the invisible border. “S-Sunflowers?” he questioned. He was still unsure why everything here was making him queasy.

“Yeah… it’s the only flower that will grow here.” Scott shrugged. “I tried for more variety to brighten up the area, but if this is what the land wants, then so be it. Looks a little prettier, at least.”

“Um. Yeah. Yeah, it does look better.”

“What were you and Joel talking about?”

“Oh, you noticed that? I think we were commiserating, actually. Seraph stuff, newborn god stuff—”

“Newborn god?”

“Yeah – apparently, he was part of the main nature god up until… what did he say… two weeks ago? So, like, right before we got here! Something about wanting to put someone else in charge of the weather. I guess gods can just do that! Separate out parts of themselves into someone new!”

“So, like… splitting off a part of their soul?” Scott leaned into Sausage with a slight nudge of his shoulder, eyes turned upward as he tried to drop a poignant hint.

“Hmm, nah, I think it’s just a bit of their power, and then a new soul gets created by default. It would have to be a very powerful and very specific type of god who could make like a copy of their soul into another person!”

Scott chuckled, not bothering to clarify what he meant to the former wither.

 [  Chapter Four ]

[whiskeyswifty]

can u explain the trash thing to people not from nyc? like she’s just littering outside her own house or she’s putting trash out for collection? lol im so confused

sure! it's not anything she did per se as far as littering, it's got to do with her being a building owner and city rules. i'll break down the pieces for you as basically as I can because NYC functions in a very unique and specific way due to it's density, so i'm not sure how much you're familiar with.

She owns multiple properties on the same street in the city. She owns the penthouse and several other units in an apartment building, but does not own the building itself. She did, however, in 2017 purchase a small once-stable-turned-townhouse adjacent to the building her condos are in, which is a freestanding, street level building. She has since remodeled it into a garage. That is the one she's being fined for. (cornelia street was a RENTAL for the last time in case anyone wants to bring that up).

NYC sidewalks are public spaces, which means you cannot forbid anyone from walking on them or fence off areas of it for private use. In fact, all areas designated for pure public use (meaning areas a business doesn't have a permit for to put sidewalk tables or other business setups), must be kept clear and accessible to people of all stripes; be it on foot, strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, delivery folks with carts, etc.

The trick to this is the city does not maintain all of its sidewalks. Sidewalks are the responsibility of property owners and business owners who buildings are in front of those sidewalks. if you're unfamiliar with how nyc is laid out, or american cities perhaps, here's a very basic diagram:

most buildings' property lines in manhattan, where she lives, come right up to the sidewalk, and then the sidewalk (the red area) from the front of their building to the curb are THEIR responsibility to maintain, repair (yes even repair!!), and keep clear and walkable and free of obstruction. This includes snow, trash, dirt, and anything else. EVEN residential properties. Regardless of where the obstructions or dirt come from, be it weather or people, it's your property that you wanted to own, so it comes with this responsibility to maintain. everyone must quite literally sweep in front of their doors to keep the city a cleaner place. (Furnishing zones are generally city jurisdiction, or shared, as they contain mailboxes or trees planted and maintained by the city, as you see in the diagram.)

4. people may ask why she doesn't have to do this in the apartment building right next door to the townhouse, in which she's been living and occupying 3 units. Thats because again, sidewalk maintenance is again, the responsibility of the PROPERTY owner. Whoever owns building itself, not the residents, must maintain the sidewalks. All apartment buildings are typically, and unfortunately, owned and operated by non-residents EXCEPT co-ops, which her building is not so no need to get into that. That means that people pay to purchase the units and pay what's called monthly HOA fees, which are fees to the building owner/management who then pays people to maintain it. Because the owners (who are usually real estate corporations) don't live in the buildings most of the time, every apartment building in the city has what's called a superintendent, who's main job is to run the building 24/7. For small buildings like hers, their jobs usually include keeping public hallways and elevators clean by mopping and such, repairing public areas like changing lightbulbs, and of course, sidewalk maintenance. Sometimes if an owner owns multiple small apartment buildings on a block or in an area, they just employ one super to run them all, or outsource it to a management company who employs and deploys people to maintain all of the assigned buildings. Usually supers live on the premises. On any given day, in mornings and evenings, you can find the supers (or doormen sometimes in fancier buildings) sweeping, hosing down, or shoveling snow on the sidewalks in front of their buildings, and even organizing the trash during trash collection days. so that's taken care of FOR her in that building.

5. one argument is that oh, that law doesn't apply to single family dwellings. you'd be right! Single family residential properties used exclusively for residential dwelling, to be specific. however, the townhouse is a garage, so it's not a residential property and instead it's classified as an exclusively B-2 Storage property. especially because the building itself is detached from any residential property she owns in the city, which is none. again, she owns units in a building but not the building itself. so the maintenance law does apply to that garage, unless she can make the case she's living out of her garage lol.

6. another argument is well, it's not HER trash. paparazzi or fans waiting, or a rowdy passerby are leaving their trash!! Yeah..... so?? That's EVERY SINGLE STREET in the city, as don't forget, sidewalks are public. in the ENTIRE city. It's not about who put the trash there, it's about who's responsibility it is to clean it up if the litterer isn't caught, which is never. every day, property and business owners are cleaning the sidewalks in front of their buildings of the debris and trash left behind by nyc residents and tourists. some areas have WAYY more than the trash fans leave outside of taylor swifts house. The property owner must clean it, no matter who does it! Taylor Swift in this case! Regardless of the circumstances, this is the stipulation you agree to when you buy a building in nyc. no matter where it is, nobody is exempt from this burden.

7. another extremely stupid one i've seen is also, well other people aren't getting fined as badly so why is she being ~targeted~. lol she still violated the rules. what kind of loony tunes logic is that? whether or not other people get punished for the same violations, that doesn't make what she did NOT a violation. it just shows a bias in the system maybe or laziness, who knows, but it doesn't show that she's innocent lol. Bottom line is she still violated the rules so.... sorry she got caught i guess?? just idk try simply not violating sanitation guidelines and see if that gets you where you want to be.

8. a final thing i'll say is you may say oh this is an insane law! what about middle class families who buy houses in manhattan and don't have time to keep up with constant maintenance? LMAOOO buddy, pal, buying property of any kind in manhattan is EXTREMELY expensive, in the multiples of millions no matter what it is, at the lowest. so this is exclusively a rich persons problem, a verrrrry rich person's problem. So rich, that you could say they could.... oh idk.... afford to PAY SOMEONE to maintain the sidewalk for them! or pay the fines! of which over the course of 6 years, she's been charged a grand total of..... ~$3,000 dollars. for someone who dropped multiples of millions of dollars on the townhouse itself, safe to say she can afford to pay what would be pennies by comparison for some mild negligence.

tldr: the c in nyc stands for CITY, which means if you buy into living here, you have to do your part to contribute to the upkeep of public spaces. everyone has to do their part!! she's not a bad person, and it's in no way comparable to the jet situation. she's just a very silly person for this one lolololol!

[brianbrianbrain]

Images have black backgrounds and white text unless otherwise noted.

ID. Big bold font: Free trees and flowers

Smaller, non-bolded font: It is a common belief that native plant gardening is hard and expensive

but

Larger font: plants are free

To the right of this text are stacked screenshots of various plants and their prices:

American Sycamore Tree Shade

Live Established Rooted 1 Plants ..

$81.69 Used

Showy Goldenrod - Native - 5.5" Container

$14.99

Joe Pye Weed

4.2 stars out of five, 36 (Reviews)

$24.95

Virginia Pine Tree

$27.99

Smaller font: they're everywhere

begin bold italics they just do their thing end bold italics

To the left of this text are loosely grouped together images of an aerial view of a conifer forest, a closer to ground view of herbaceous ground cover, and a closer to ground view of a bunch of grass on the side of a road. End ID.

ID. It is common for seedlings to grow in places they cannot survive long term.

the side of the road

pavement crack

gravel driveway

Each example is accompanied by an illustrating image.

how did they get there?

Plants spread their seeds in a variety of ways

Some of the main ones are

Larger text on the right half of the page: wind

Picture of two dandelion seed heads in the rightmost area of the frame. The seeds on the leftmost seedhead are being blown to the right.

Smaller text: lots of seeds have fluffy parachutes or helicopter wings so they can be blown far away to find a place to grow

Larger text on the left half of the page: birds

Picture of the ground splattered with bird droppings.

Smaller text: When birds eat berries and fruits, the seeds are not digested, and sprout in the ground where the bird poops. End ID.

ID. Larger text on left half of the page: water

Image of water running down a small rock step.

Smaller text: rain and streams can wash seeds away and leave them in a muddy area to sprout

Larger text on right half of the page: mammals

Image of a squirrel crouching on a concrete block with their tail up.

Smaller text: acorns and nuts from trees are food for animals, who bury them for later. sometimes they sprout into trees instead

Large text: A seed will do its best to sprout wherever it lands...whether it's a good place for a fully grown plant or not.

To the right of this text is an image of a small seedling growing out of a seam in the pavement. Bottom caption: doomed.

Dull pink bold large italics text: Plants that sprout in harsh places are sometimes beautiful and valuable species, and they are easy to transplant. End ID.

ID. Large center aligned text: Here's how:

Smaller text: You'll need

Left half of page: Picture of a red solo cup. Right caption, larger text: a pot.

Smaller text: A red solo cup is the right size for most transplantable seedlings–don't use anything too much smaller. You can also use an orange juice carton or even a cardboard box. Make sure you cut holes or slits in the bottom so it won't be soggy forever when you water it.

Right half of page: Picture of a bag of MiracleGro Potting Mix. Bottom caption, larger text: potting mix.

Smaller text: It's not the same as dirt–it's lighter and fluffier, and drains easily. You want the plant's potting mix to feel damp, but not so wet that water wells up when you press on it.

Left half of page: Picture of a ground level view of a house's concrete doorsteps. Bottom caption, larger text: a place to put it.

Smaller text: put them outside where they get some sun, but not where they get direct sun all day long. If they're on a surface that gets hot, elevate them by putting them on a cardboard box or something.

Right half of page: Image of a decomposable pot with a red X drawn over it. Bottom caption, smaller text: these dry out too easy and don't decompose fast enough for the roots to grow through them when you plant. End ID.

ID. The idea is to transplant seedlings that wouldn't survive where they are.

Large text: don't just uproot plants that aren't in any danger

Top right corner image: small seedling growing out of a seam in the pavement. Bottom caption, smaller text: doomed.

Dark red, bold, italics large text: Obviously, don't do anything dangerous or illegal. begin all caps avoid end all caps roads with frequent traffic or main highways. Do begin all caps not end all caps put yourself at risk of being hit by a car!

Dark purple, smaller text: I collect from roadsides because I live in a neighborhood with no outlet, if you do this next to a busy highway you will get killed

White, slightly larger text: Worry about identification later. If you grab an invasive species, it's in a pot where it can't hurt anything, and you can just kill it

Dark red, slightly larger text: begin all caps never end all caps plant anything in the ground without knowing what it is, though. End ID.

ID. Stock photo of a small seedling with only a few leaves. Text to the right of this image: A seedling this size or a little smaller is most likely to survive.

Dark blue, bold, italics text: The 2 most important things are: to keep as much of the roots intact as you can and to make sure the roots stay damp. You can wrap the roots up in a wet paper towel.

Larger white text: How to transplant:

Smaller text: From gravel: Seedlings growing in gravel or pebbles are easiest to transplant. Remove bits of gravel one by one and carefully pry up pieces that are stuck, until the roots are exposed. Mulch can be removed the same way.

From a crack in pavement: Very carefully pinch the stem as low to the ground as you can and shift and tug until you pull it free. Be Patient! Breaking small roots is fine but if you hear the main root "snap," RIP to the plant

From dirt: Digging around the whole plant is hard to do quickly and harmlessly. Soaking the ground in water or searching after a rain can let you gently pull small plants up. End iD.

ID. Large text: How to put them in a pot:

Smaller text: Carefully add potting mix around the roots, just don't crush them.

Don't touch any part of the plant above the lower stem with dirty hands...especially not new leaves. A speck of dirt on a delicate new leaf can make it start rotting, which will spread to the whole plant

Water immediately, get only the potting mix wet, begin bold not end bold the leaves (that can also make them vulnerable to rotting)

Seedlings with broad, big leaves can dry out easily from direct sun exposure, but many aren't happy in shade. So you can cut one of these in half

Image to the right of text: A bunch of cardboard rolls, like the ones in toilet paper.

Bottom caption: and put the half around the seedling like a "collar". End ID.

ID. Large text: How to take care of them:

Smaller text: After transplanting, plants are very weak. It's like recovering from an injury or illness.

Check on the plants at least a couple times a day and water a little if the potting mix is dry. I like to adjust their location at different times of day–newer seedlings might need to be moved to a shadier spot when it's sunniest, but later in the evening plants in shade benefit from being put in the sun

Larger text: Don't get discouraged if they die, they had a very harsh early life and some of them just won't make it.

Dull magenta text: As they get bigger, you can identify the species you have and decide if you want to plant them

Dull green bold italics text: My policy is to plant only species that are native to my area. you begin all caps will end all caps find invasive species and you want to get rid of those, trust me

Light brown, slightly larger text: Uprooting them and leaving on a concrete surface kills just about anything. Don't throw an invasive plant in the grass and begin all caps do not end all caps try to compost them! End ID.

ID. All the text on this page is dull light pink. The photos are of small seedlings in solo cups.

Large bold text: that's all.

Right side of page: A seedling with branching veins, jagged edges, and leaves growing in an x pattern around the stem.

Bottom caption, slightly smaller bold text: Embark on life armed with this knowledge.

Left side of page: A seedling with branching veins, smooth edges, and leaves growing on either side of the stem.

A conifer seedling.

Bottom caption, smaller bold italics text: look at my plant babies. End ID.

as promised, the transplanting tutorial

most sources make transplanting sound incredibly difficult, but transplanting young seedlings from areas with sparse dirt, like a driveway or roadside, is actually incredibly easy and can get you some great stuff. Once I worked out the method, i've had a very high survival rate

it took me like a month of trial and error to figure this out so you don't have to.

Feel free to repost, no need for credit

[chattermuse]

Discover the Elegance of Ajrakh Modal Silk Suit Pieces: A Cultural Legacy in Fashion

Overview of Ajrakh Modal Silk Suit Piece

Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces represent a perfect blend of tradition and elegance. The fabric features intricate block printing techniques that date back centuries, often originating from regions known for their artistic heritage. I appreciate how the artisans pour life into each piece, ensuring that every silk suit tells a unique story through its patterns and colors.

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The vibrant hues and elaborate motifs found in Ajrakh prints draw me in with their cultural significance. Each design often reflects specific elements of nature or traditional narratives, reminding us of the rich tapestry of stories woven into the fabric. The striking colors can complement multiple skin tones, making it versatile for diverse wardrobes.

In my experience, wearing an Ajrakh modal silk suit piece evokes a sense of pride in cultural artistry. The drape of the fabric adds an element of sophistication, while the intricate designs serve as conversation starters. This combination of aesthetic appeal and cultural depth makes Ajrakh modal silk a cherished choice for many, including myself. Embracing this textile not only enhances one’s wardrobe but also pays homage to the artisans’ craftsmanship and cultural legacy.

History and Origin of Ajrakh Printing

Ajrakh printing boasts a rich history characterized by meticulous craftsmanship and artistic expression. This traditional art form has roots tracing back over 5,000 years, with origins in the Sindh region of Pakistan and parts of Gujarat, India. The intricate designs and patterns reflect the knowledge passed down through generations of artisans who dedicated their lives to preserving this unique textile heritage.

Traditional Techniques

Ajrakh printing involves a labor-intensive process that employs distinct traditional techniques. Initially, artisans prepare the fabric using natural dyes derived from plants and minerals, ensuring ecological sustainability. The process includes several steps: soaking, dyeing, sun drying, and printing, often taking weeks to complete a single piece. Block printing, a crucial element of Ajrakh, utilizes hand-carved wooden blocks for stamping designs, requiring precision and skill.

Artisans utilize both resist and printing techniques, with patterns featuring intricate geometric designs and natural motifs. Each color in the design tells a story of the artisan's creativity and cultural heritage. Engaging in this traditional craft provides artisans with a direct connection to their ancestors’ practices, allowing me to appreciate the depth of their expertise whenever I see these fabrics.

Cultural Significance

The cultural significance of Ajrakh extends beyond mere aesthetics, reflecting the values and beliefs of the communities that produce it. The vibrant colors and patterns in Ajrakh textiles often represent elements of nature, folklore, and spirituality. For instance, certain motifs symbolize fertility, prosperity, and the cyclical nature of life, connecting the fabric to cultural narratives.

Wearing Ajrakh modal silk allows me to participate in this cultural dialogue, enriching my identity with stories woven into each piece. The vibrant hues evoke a sense of pride in the craftsmanship behind the fabric, while also showcasing communal ties that unite artisans and consumers alike. Each time I adorn myself in Ajrakh, I not only celebrate its beauty but acknowledge the artisans' dedication to preserving a key aspect of their heritage.

Features of Ajrakh Modal Silk Suit Piece

Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces showcase distinct qualities that set them apart in the realm of textiles. The blend of traditional craftsmanship with modern fabric technology makes them a striking addition to any wardrobe.

Fabric Quality

Ajrakh modal silk boasts exceptional fabric quality, characterized by its luxurious softness and breathability. Modal, derived from beech tree fibers, enhances the silk’s natural sheen while providing excellent drape. The resulting textile feels gentle against the skin, offering comfort throughout the day. I often wear this fabric during warm weather, appreciating its ability to keep me cool while exuding elegance. The durability of modal silk also ensures that the suit pieces retain their beauty through multiple wears and washes, making them a wise choice for fashion-conscious individuals.

Design Patterns and Colors

Design patterns and colors in Ajrakh modal silk reflect a rich cultural heritage and storytelling tradition. Artisans skillfully employ intricate block printing methods to create motifs reminiscent of nature, folklore, and historical narratives. The vibrant color palette varies from deep indigos and rich reds to earthy tans, each hue carrying significance that connects wearers to ancient traditions. I've noticed that the unique patterns often spark conversation at gatherings, allowing me to share the stories behind the designs. The versatility of these patterns means that they can be styled for both casual and formal events, making them an essential element in my wardrobe.

Styling Tips for Ajrakh Modal Silk Suit Piece

Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces offer versatility and elegance suitable for various events. Understanding how to style these exquisite garments enhances their beauty and showcases their cultural significance.

Occasions to Wear

Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces shine in both formal and casual settings.

Festivals: Wearing these suits during cultural festivals allows me to celebrate heritage while enjoying vibrant colors. The intricate designs often resonate with the festive spirit, making them a perfect choice.

Weddings: Attending weddings in an Ajrakh modal silk suit adds an air of sophistication. The luxurious fabric drapes elegantly, standing out amid traditional attire and sparking conversations about its unique patterns.

Work Events: Opting for a more subtle color palette can make these suits appropriate for professional gatherings. Pairing with minimal accessories creates a polished look, blending cultural beauty with professionalism.

Casual Outings: For casual brunches or family get-togethers, an Ajrakh modal silk suit paired with minimalistic jewelry creates a relaxed yet elegant ensemble. The comfort of the fabric makes it easy to wear throughout the day.

Accessorizing the Look

Accessorizing Ajrakh modal silk suits can elevate the overall appearance, striking the right balance between tradition and modernity.

Jewelry: Choosing statement pieces, like bold earrings or layered necklaces, enhances the suit's intricate patterns without overwhelming the look. I often opt for gold or silver tones, as they complement the vibrant colors of the fabric beautifully.

Footwear: Wearing traditional juttis or stylish block heels adds to the ensemble's elegance. The choice of footwear can either embrace the cultural roots or provide a contemporary twist, depending on the occasion.

Dupattas: Adding an Ajrakh printed dupatta can create a cohesive look. Draping it elegantly over one shoulder not only emphasizes the suit's vibrancy but also offers an option for layering in cooler weather.

Handbags: Selecting a handmade clutch or a simple tote keeps the focus on the suit while adding a touch of personal style. I prefer bags that match the suit's colors, creating a harmonious look.

By thoughtfully selecting occasions and accessories, Ajrakh modal silk suits transform any outfit into a statement of cultural pride and elegance.

Care Instructions for Ajrakh Modal Silk Suit Piece

Caring for Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces ensures their longevity and vibrancy. I follow specific guidelines to maintain their luxurious feel and intricate designs.

Washing: Wash in cold water, ideally by hand. If machine washing, select the delicate cycle to minimize stress on the fabric. Use a mild detergent without harsh chemicals to prevent damage to the silk fibers.

Drying: Air dry in a shaded area to preserve color and prevent fading. Avoid direct sunlight, as it can alter the vibrant hues characteristic of Ajrakh modal silk.

Ironing: Iron on a low heat setting. Placing a thin cloth over the fabric minimizes the risk of burns or shine marks. This step restores the fabric's smooth texture while maintaining its delicate patterns.

Storing: Store in a cool, dry place, preferably in a breathable garment bag. Avoid plastic, as it can trap moisture and lead to mildew. Folding neatly helps prevent creases, enhancing the suit's appearance when worn.

Handling: Be gentle when wearing or adjusting the suit. Its delicate nature means it can snag easily, so taking care while donning it helps maintain its integrity.

By adhering to these care instructions, I've noticed a marked difference in the durability and aesthetic of my Ajrakh modal silk pieces. Maintaining their beauty reflects my respect for the artisans' craftsmanship and the cultural heritage embedded in each design.

Conclusion

Embracing Ajrakh modal silk suit pieces allows me to celebrate a beautiful fusion of tradition and modernity. Each piece tells a story crafted by skilled artisans who pour their heart and soul into their work. The vibrant colors and intricate patterns not only enhance my wardrobe but also connect me to a rich cultural legacy.

I appreciate the versatility of these suits for various occasions. Whether I'm dressing up for a wedding or keeping it casual for a day out, Ajrakh modal silk never fails to make a statement. By caring for these exquisite fabrics, I ensure that their beauty and significance endure for years to come. Wearing Ajrakh modal silk isn't just about fashion; it's about honoring a timeless artistry that deserves recognition.