#trust me when I say that I am not even halfway finished playing through the first story of my game

[arabellaseraphim]

You guys have no idea how just some bits of info and looking at people’s fanarts/fics with a dash of self spoiling in terms of the latest story in Scarlet and Violet (even though I might not be able to buy the DLC but Imma just watch the full gameplay/read through what happens there instead) is all it takes for me to be able to go back into my "Pokemon days" once again and have the urge complete my game as soon as I can while I got myself a bit obsessed with a new ship because for some reason it reminds me of my OC ship and their dynamics that I pictured in my brain...

[compo67]

"Sam. I keep getting ads for heartburn on this thing."

"Tablet, Dean. You're using a tablet."

"Whatever the fuck it's called, the ads are pissing me off."

"Just keep playing solitaire."

"You gave me this thing to keep me distracted while you read your tomes, huh? Well, I tell you it's not going to work! A man has a right to... oh, fuck. I missed an ace."

"Yes, dear."

"Don't 'dear' me. I invented that. What are you reading now?"

"Mm okay, dear."

"Sam. I'm bored. I can't play this shit anymore."

"You missed an ace, you said."

"Yeah, well, it was a crooked hand."

"There's no such thing as a crooked hand in solitaire."

"Tell that to this goddamn app."

"Play another game."

"I'd rather watch porn."

"Do not watch porn on my tablet. Dean? Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

"Yeah, yeah. I asked you what you're reading."

"It's a graphic novel."

"Oh?"

"It has nothing to do with Batman."

"Hmph. What's even the point."

"You don't mean that."

"Sammy."

"Don't play cute. Get your hand off my thigh, it's not happening."

"Oh, Sammy."

"Dean. Don't make me crush your hand."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Sammy."

"How is that--sigh. I'm reading about the oil sands in Canada."

"Gee, Sam. That sounds swell. And depressing as fuck."

"It is a little depressing. But it has a lot of good messages."

"Hey, that has pictures. You're reading something with pictures!"

"Excellent observation, Dean."

"Go on, talk to me like a five year old. See what happens."

"You make it so easy. And yes, for your information, I am reading a graphic novel."

"It has nothing to do with Batman?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm only halfway through. If I see Batman, you'll be the first to know. Now, leave me."

"Don't whack my head! Whack something else!"

"I'll whack what I want to whack and when I want to whack it."

"Sheesh, say that ten times fast. But can said whacking extend to my--"

"Dean."

"Ow! Right in the balls! Sam!"

"It was a little squeeze, you're fine."

"Hnnngggghhhhh."

"Don't. Get off me."

"Gravity... increasing..."

"I'm going to my office!"

"Good, then I get the couch."

"You're on your way from a squeeze to an elbow, Dean."

"...I'll behave."

"Ugh. Come here."

"No. You might hurt me."

"I said--come here."

"For wh--"

"A kiss, you ass. There. Now, let me finish my book."

"Does it have to be just one?"

"All right, two. But no more."

"Mm. But why stop at two?"

"...okay. But no more than ten."

"I can handle that, Sammy. Trust me."

[milky-fixx]

“what, are you scared?”

you startle at the hand on your back, the warmth of his breath on the nape of your neck—much closer than he was mere seconds ago. you whirl around, glowering at your ginger-haired companion.

“not funny, childe!”

the light flickers above you, quick enough to make out the grin on his face, teeth nearly too white against the darkness of the room.

“come now, comrade, you don’t mean to tell me you’re frightened—”

“nope,” you say firmly.

he raises a brow, not for a minute believing in your front. “scared?”

“am not.”

“terrified?”

“no—” you start, but are cut off as something large and hairy drops onto your shoulder. you screech, trying to shake the fake spider off, but stilling once your fingers brush against something thin and stringy.

“please get it off,” you beg childe. he laughs, his fingers deftly undoing the strings of web wrapped around your arm.

“well, since you asked so kindly.”

“is it almost over?” you moan, burying your face into his chest when he’s done. you are fully intent on using him as a shield; it was his idea, after all, to venture into this haunted house. his idea, after all, to see just how brave you were by letting you go first.

“hmm…” he ponders, twining strands of your hair in his hand. he leans in to inhale deeply, before sighing. (childe told you he likes the way you smell, as weird as that sounds. he said it calms him, helps him focus—of course you thought it was strange at first, even joked about him having a scent kink, but he shrugged it off.)

“after we round the corner, i’d say…” you perk up at the thought of nearly being finished with the maze.

“we’re not even close to halfway through,” he finishes.

you deflate. “i hate you for this.”

“you always say that, but who’s still in this relationship?” he says jovially, squeezing your arm.

“maybe this’ll break us up,” you say sourly, glaring up at him. childe turns a curious gaze to you. “giving me a heart attack with all these jumpscares. offering me up as worm food for the zombies. as fine wine for the vampires.”

you sigh, attempting to untangle yourself around him, but his grip, surprisingly strong, holds you in place. with his free hand, he tilts your chin up. he’s frowning, his gaze unusually serious. “do you really think i would let anything bad happen to you? my mate? that’s an insult,” he says, expression somber.

but then he shifts. he smiles, his hand caressing your cheek. “i’m strong, you know that? stronger than you can imagine. it’s my job to protect you.”

in the few months you’ve been dating, you’ve gotten well-acquainted with childe’s capricious nature. he has a knack for being serious in the most unexpected moments, carefree in the next.

but one of the words he says catches your attention.

“wait—mate? what are we, animals?” childe cocks his head in confusion, about to argue with you, but then pauses. you persist. “and protect? protect me from what? the spiders?”

his smile this time seems stiff. childe lets out a bark of a laugh, and for a second, you think you see a flash of teeth too sharp to be human. but you blink and it’s gone. it’s just childe staring at you with a strange expression on his face, as if you’ve seen him—really seen him—for the first time.

“i was just playing monster there. to get in the mood. don’t think too hard about it! it was just a joke.”

“but you know… you really should be careful about what kind of monsters you trust.”

childe clasps his hand over yours, and you jolt. for a moment, it seemed as if his nails were sharper, like claws digging into you. but when you look down, his hands look normal, as they always do.

“you never know what kind of creatures lurk in the night. you just might find yourself in one of their traps.”

[multifandom-aroace]

I watched umbrella academy recently mostly because I saw that there was a new season coming out and I actually ended up liking it.

But would someone please kindly explain what the fuck is going on in season 4?

(I haven't finished it yet I'm about halfway through episode 5)

the writing is very rushed and they dropped loads of storylines for no reason - they said Ray walked out but they didn't elaborate at all, it was six years later but they kept saying tings about five years I am just very confused about that,sometimes it feels like they completely forgot that viktor played violin even though it was his main thing in season 1, literally none of them helped klaus stay sober Allison mentioned it when he was about to drink the sake but they all jsut brushed it off and he didn't actually end up drinking it but none of them tried to stop him (although they already showed us in season 1 how little they cared about him when he got kidnapped and they all forgot about him), then there was the van scene which... Just why? I did not need a whole five minutes of listening to baby shark and watching people throwing up I literally had to skip through the whole scene it was too disgusting, and lila and diegos relationship like they barely showed us anything with them and their kids even though the whole first episode was about their child's birthday party?? then they started having conversations that they definitely should have talked about earlier in their marriage. The fact that Diego assumed that she was having an affair showed that there had either been trust problems in the past or Diego was just really good at foreshadowing because this leads me onto whatever the fuck happened with lila and five????? The age gap, the fact that they are in laws, the complete lack of chemistry they had until then because he was a fucking child but also a 60 year old man at the same time. Like, Five if five was about 60 when he first went back to 2019, it means that he was around 72 in his mind but about 25 physically and I just don't understand how the fuck that would sit right with anyone to make him and a married woman in her early forties (I assume based on the 6 year time skip and extra 6 years). I saw in the montage and I was jsut praying I was looking too deeply into it but no it was real and I was uncomfortable especially because of the fact that there is a 15 year age difference between the actors like he's technically it is legal yes but morally I don't like it.

honestly I could go on so much more

I really hate everything they have done to this season I should have stopped watching after season 2, but even season 3 was better than whatever the hell this was

[oh-my-may]

HELLOOOOOOO

Very quickly I wanted to share some thoughts on Wuthering Waves so far.

I have completed the main quest up to act IV and I think it goes up to 6 in total? So I am more than halfway done with what the main story has to offer so far. I must say, although it does follow the typical anime rpg plot of recent games, I have been enjoying it!

It took me the first two chapters of the story to get behind all the game specific terms like Resonator, Tacet Fields and Discords etc. but I think as of right now I'm pretty secure in my knowledge of it.

I don't wanna get too much into the lore yet but there's so many things about the world (Solaris 3, right?) that I do not understand (yet) but given how I still have main story to play through I reckon some of my questions will be answered later. But the first thing is HOW BIG THE MAP IS? I think it might be like that for me bc I'm not used to playing open world games on mobile and maybe if I played it on PC I'd have a different impression but like... on mobile it seems huge. The Resonance Beacons are kinda oddly placed I think... like there should be a few more but maybe I'm spoiled from hyv games. From what I can tell on mobile it looks good, too. Can't wait for WuWa to come out for PS5 so I can fully enjoy how beautiful it looks. (no, I don't have a PC to play it on atm)

Scar is really cool, overall I really like the "villain" organisation so far (I know their name but wouldn't trust myself to properly spell it on here lol). Maybe bc they're some lf the only characters in this game that know what colour is lol. Scar's eng VA is *chefs kiss* and I think so far he's the most interesting character overall. Chamellya (? Is that how you spell her name) also seems really cool. Haven't met her yet in the story but I've seen several posts and I really look forward to getting to know more about the Fractuids (????or whatever their name is). Call them the Overseers, that's easier to remember and spell HAHA. Wonder what their motive is for abducting Jue and reviving the other big thing (it starts with Th I know, but can't remember it rn... Threnoid or something? Guys I told you I'm still learning)

When directly asked, Scar said that it brings the Lament and all that but like... why would they want that to happen??? Are humans bad? Is something bad gonna happen to them and they know? And what about putting TD parts into human bodies?? Why?? AND WHERE DO TDS COME FROM ANYWAY?

Okay so far for that. Also I quite like Jihnsi, which is suprising to me... I do find it weird that most characters in this game share almost the same color palette, I think it's cool that she's devoid of any color and she's just... pale. Everything about her is so pale and I think that's really cool, somehow. Just like the Overseers it makes her stand out to me.

I haven't met Jiyan yet :( Apparently I will in the next chapter but I have to level up quite a bunch until then... so lemme give you some other thoughts.

First of all I like the open world! I wanted to save exploration for until I have finished the main quests completely but since you have to level up in between the game leaves you no other choice. I haven't even unlocked the entire map yet (as I said I think it's HUGE on mobile lol) but so far it's been very cool! I like the twist they put in the puzzles, somehow they came up with new mechanisms that aren't just repetition of other games open world puzzles. I like that most challanges aren't time gated (like the sniper ones, I'd be dead if they were on mobile HAHA). Besides the challenges where you fly around as that bird and have to fly through rhose rings.. it goes so fast I can NOT control that at all on mobile. Will save those for a later opportunity ig.

The battles have been fun so far. Again I have to say how dynamic the system feels it's really fun with Intro Attacks and all that, the dodge attacks are really cool and yeah... on mobile I just press buttons and can't be as smart with my moves because I barely know wtf is going on and I can't control my fingers as diligently on the tiny buttons lol. Does the mobile version have controller support yet? I think I read somewhere that it doesn't, but I'll probably be the first to jump to it lol.

(Rn I wanna mention that I saved this post until this point and finished writing it afterwards until suddenly the wifi at work disconnected and then I lost hald the post :((( so I have to kinda rewrite half of it, yaay...)

SO. AGAIN.

The echo system is really cool and innovative. Its pretty new to me personally as a system to exchange for the artifact/relic stuff. Its cool you can use the echos ability. I just figure its gonna be a pain to farm later, given how you're not always guaranteed to get an Echo from every enemy snd the stats are random too... I haven't gotten too much into the system yet and what set or whatever is best for each character... but I'm glad that auto euqip is a thing already haha. I'll probably have plenty of time to figure this all out later.

I have arrived at a point in the game where the game wants me to level characters... the game recommended team level 40 for the Scar fight when I had my team at 25... Currently I use Rover, Verina and Chixia and habe been quote enjoying them. I'll try and use Rover as long as possible, so far I really like her playstyle! I also like that the game basically adds two new elements to the roster: light and darkness, basically. Seems pretty cool. Do the elements interact? Haven't gotten too much into the meta yet, so are there like reactions like on genshin or just status effects? To conclude my thoughts I'd like to add that I'm not sure yet how worth it is leveling up my characters rn? I know that Verina is very good and as I said I'll try and level Rover for now, but as for the third slot... although I like Chixia I ultimately wanna get Jiyan or some other 5star lile Calcharo? I also have no idea (yet) how to effectively farm level up material. There must be something like a ley line or calyx surely, I just haven't found it yet. Overall I'd like to spend the 240 energy the game gives me but besides bosses I haven't really found something on the map... oh yeah there was spme forgery challenge ig that's like for weapon stuff? We'll see...

Since I have lots of leveling to do (6 levels to continue the main quest...) I figured doing normal quests is the most effective way to do that, although I have noticed that not all quests give Union Exp? I find that a bit odd. Also are there any of these smaller quests worth paying proper attention to? Like that tell important lore? So far I've only done a few and they didn't really seem significant ... some photo taking and infiltrating an enemy camp, which was pretty cool because Rover dressed up as one of them snd snuck arpund the camp, but it didn't seem that important in the grand scheme of things? Do let me know if there are certain quests that are really cool.

I have done Lingyangs character quest and it was pretty sweet. I liked the camera switch in the cavern a lot. He's also just generally a very cite character, he falls out of the character colour scheme and he's just adorable :( I did get him as my first 5star on the 50 pull banner... sadly I don't like his playstyle :( I think I dislike the way gauntlet characters feel on mobile? Idk. I also dislike that lightning 4star gauntlet man (forgot his name. He was one of my first 4stars and his trial felt weird playing him idk...) in terms of gameplay. I do think this is just a mobile thing for me, at least with the controls. As I said, when the game gets controller support this might change.

I'd like to mention a few things that bother me, too. No game is perfect and I do think that kuro games is definitely able to fix these things. First of all I've noticed that in the open world when expllring it's often very silent? As in... there's no background music? Idk if it's just programmed to set in very late? I know that there is music, since it does play when I log in... but when I walk through the world and change areas it's so oddly silent for so long... it's kinda scary sometimes haha. Also I often hsve the problem that spoken dialogue randomly cuts off mid sentence without any trigger? Like it just doesn't play the entirety of the sentence? And this happens quite frequently, especially in the first few chapters of the story. Also when the text appears on screen... it seems that sometimes it is so long that it doesn't fully appear on screen? It doesn't scroll down or anything the longer texts are just not displayed? Idk.

Another thing I noticed is that the Rover's voice over often seems very monotonous and almost... empty? Like there's no emotion or anything... at least for female Rover. I do like that she gets quite a bunch of spoken lines, but sometimes they seem oddly off against the other characters... one example that really botheres me wss in act 4, when Scar gets arrested (and Scars voice over is phenomenal btw!). There's this moment where he wants to flee and in the lsst second Rover jumps in and says something like "not so fast" or something like that and its just... the character is in action and there's high tension and the line just falls so incredibly flat? I think it may be a directing problem, maybe they just didn't tell her what the context was but like... it really bothered me. I generally like the Eng voice over, although I do find some of Yangyangs pronounciations weird? It irritates me how she says Huanglong a lot of times? Like I get it that its closer to the Chinese pronounciation but other characters say it with an english accent too? Or her breathy "Rover" all the time? I think this is just me but it was quite annoying.

Other than that (and I already mentioned it) it will tske me some time to get used to the colour palette of the characters... i do like the character design, but almost every character has the same colours to them? It's all mainly black with white/grey details and occasinally some shade of blue/red or green in between. Very few characters fall out of that scheme, like Encore, Verina or LingYang. Or the Overseers, but they're not playable (yet?)

Other than thode pretty minor problems I'm excited to explore the world a bunch now. Very excited to see how the story ends as of rn. The devs are very attentive to player feedback so I'm vurious to see where the game is headed. I do think it has lots of potential. As I said, I can't wait for playable Scar and just generally to explore more of the world. Are there gonna be more countries added to the world? I'd say yes as of right now but are there mentions of it in the story? Very excited for it!

Also I'm looking forward to meeting Geshulin in the story. Ive seen short clips of him and to say I'm obsessed would be an understatement. This game nails it's morally grey male characters.

I'm not used to taking screenshots during mobile games, so I have only this one of Scar for now, maybe I'll mamage to make it a habit. Bye for now! (Wish me luck on Jiyans banner)

[inkandpaperqwerty]

List: The Sequel

So, I mentioned this in my weekly post, and I actually managed to get it done this week! Below is a list of stories I haven’t posted yet but am currently working on, which is something I've done before and really enjoyed handing out to people. 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Criminal Minds – Through the Gate – Edward has no idea what world he just woke up in, but there was a murderer, and there was blood everywhere, and he got the distinct feeling he wasn’t in Amestris anymore. Meanwhile, the BAU team is trying to figure out who this blonde boy is and how he got such advanced prosthetics. And what is this alchemy he keeps talking about? It’s like nothing they’ve ever heard before. ((This one is at 12,299 words, so it’s not that long, and I’m not entirely sure where I want to take it. Definitely going to try and get some work done on it in the coming weeks, as this is the only story from my previous list that has not been posted yet.))

Supernatural – Untitled – Xal has no idea how long he’s been enduring Heaven’s Persuasion, but it’s been a long time. He has no idea why Heaven is telling him to do what they’re telling him to do, but he knows he doesn’t trust it. He has no idea where the Winchesters are, but he knows he has to get to them. There’s a lot he doesn’t know, but at the same time, there’s a lot he does know, and maybe… if he plays his cards right… he can do a little persuading of his own. ((Part 3 of the Building Bridges series. I’ve started this one, but I haven’t gotten very far.))

Avengers – A Song by Any Other Name – Just a little oneshot set in the Restitution universe wherein Tony gives Steve, Loki, and Thor a list of songs that have some pretty nonsensical lyrics. They listen to them, and immense confusion ensues. (This one I would say is about halfway done, and it will be posted as Chapter 8 of Restitution Bonus Features.))

Supernatural & Criminal Minds – Friendship is Magic – “Now that you’re all awake, it’s time to get down to business.” The BAU team and both Winchester brothers wake up in captivity, but they don’t stay there long. Their captor releases them, gives them some resources, and reveals that the cases they’ve been working are perpetrated by both a normal human and a witch. They’ll have to work together to catch their targets, but… that’s much easier said than done. ((I don’t like this summary, but it gets the point across. I think it might be a while until you see this one because it’s turning into a very complicated, in-depth case.)) 

Supernatural – Untitled – Dean knows that hunter’s markets put monsters down. It happens all the time. He knows this. But when it’s about to happen right in front of him, it doesn’t seem to matter how unruly and violent this angel is. He has to do something to stop it. So he offers half a grand, and suddenly, he owns an angel. Only the angel isn’t grateful. Instead, it wants to kill both him and Sam—desperately—and they have to find some way to change its mind. ((I know I’ve done a lot of Slavery!Supernatural stories, but it’s a favorite of mine, and I can’t help myself. I don’t intend to make this one very long, but honestly, I have no idea where it’s going to go. We’ll have to wait and see!))

So, this is what you can expect to see in the coming days! I would love some feedback letting me know what you’re looking forward to or something you would like to see depicted in these stories I’m working on. Let me know what you think!

Also, please keep in mind that, even though I am working diligently on these stories, I am also working on getting my first book published! Cataclysm is finished and fully edited, and now we've moved on to the formatting phase. There's a lot going on, and it's bound to take away from my fanfiction exploits. Thank you so much for your patience, and thanks for reading this!

[e17omm]

My thoughts on Penacony act 1 (spoilers):

Just finished with the first Penacony quest, and I think it was a mess of good quests.

What I mean is that, I dont think I should be thinking "this is a really good event quest" and "this is a really good character quest" in the main story.

And Firefly's death? The fact they tried to hammer in the emotional damage with the picture after her 1 minute death scene - that part made me laugh. They are trying so hard.

Well, sorry Hoyo, but you're not getting a free Himeko that easily. I've know this girl for half a day and basically her entire character is screaming "death flags!" in my face.

You cant make me feel sad about the death of a character that is created to be killed off. The sad part about deaths in stories is that it robs the character of everything they could have been. When you have a character that could have continued their arc, but its cut off before that can happen - thats emotional. When deaths have deep impacts on the other characters - thats emotional. But I doubt Firefly's death is going to impact the Trailblazer after a few main story quests. They're going to be sad about her death now, but we did not know her long enough for it to have any long-term impact on our character arc.

Killing off a character that is screaming "I AM GOING TO DIE OR SOMETHING HORRIBLE IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME!!" in basically every scene isnt emotional. They're just fulfilling their purpose to die. (Not to mention we meet her halfway through the quest and she is killed off in that very same quest. Imagine if HI3 Himeko was introduced in chapter 9 and Final Lesson was a minute long.)

I also dont really like how blindly and quickly trusting the Trailblazer has become. And just, the ignoring of any possible threats to us. We hear that something is up with Penacony from Welt and Himeko, so what do we do when we get into the dreamscape? Fuck around. Play fair games. Hang out with this girl we just met who wants to take us to her secret spot outside of the safe area of the dreamscape. Not-Sampo comes up and straight up tells us that something is wrong with the dreamscape and we do absolutely nothing with that information.

I know how negative all that sounds, but I actually really liked the individual parts of the quest.

Just not, together. The tour thing with Firefly feels like an event quest with all the damn gimmicks and minigames we're getting tutorials about. And when we go to her secret spot it feels like a character quest. And had those parts been that - an event quest and a character quest - that would have been fine.

But its in the main story? It feels so out of place.

Back to the thing about trust - I feel like the presentation has really fallen in quality. From the stiffness of animations outside of cutscenes, but now the voicelessness of the Trailblazer is really harming the scenes.

Because it barely feels like they can think for themselves. We never have a moment to ourselves to think through that, holy shit Stelle, EVERYONE AROUND YOU MIGHT BE LYING. The only person we should trust the most is ourselves - not even the other members of the Astral Express can be fully 100% blindly trusted because we got a red illusionist on the ship!

But we dont get any inner monologues about that - we just go along with what everyone else says. Or; whoever we decide to trust the most in that moment.

TL;DR I liked most of everything in isolation. I liked all the pieces, but I didnt like it when they all got put together. And the presentation is starting to suffer. Mainly the stiff animations and the lack of inner monologues for the Trailblazer in MANY situations where we shouldnt be blindly trusting everyone around us.

[a-land-lacking-sleep]

Electric Trains are the Future Chapter 14: Hello God, it's Me

Previous Chapter (13) - Current Chapter - Next Chapter (Expect 6/7)

Here it is, the "Coming to God" moment that every RPG party culminates into. Atop Mt. Coronet, music is meant to be played, and by god, do these two know some jams.

As stated in the Chapter notes on AO3, I'll be taking a month break from this fic to focus on writing past Chapter 16, as well as get some work done on the other WIPs floating in my docs. Expected a finished Dragged from the Whorl within this time, and at least a chapter of A New Home, the Kamado fic that was voted for, in that time as well.

When I return to this fic, I will be posting a new chapter every Wednesday instead of Tuesday, due to a change in my work schedule. Depending on what I have finished, I may stagger these out by two weeks from here on out, but I will make that call when I return.

Chapter Summary: What is God to a believer? Is He Hope? Is He Despair? To Akari, He is an insurmountable wall. To Emmet, a challenge to be wrestled into the dirt if He defies him. Chapter Word Count: 6040

As always, read below or over on AO3 with additional notes! Reblogs and comments are appreciated!

Hikari looks up at the evening sky from the Moonview Arena. She had made good time, but even making good time takes most of the day when you’re going halfway across the region. Once she had gotten to the Highlands, Sneasler had sought her out and accompanied her. Not once did she offer to take Hikari up the cliffs, which the teen was silently very glad for. Even if she trusted Sneasler to climb safely, she didn’t want to be on the cliffs. She didn’t want her luck to get her killed before she could get Ingo and Elesa home.

But now that Hikari had gotten here, she was beginning to drag. Next to no sleep, that conversation with Kamado, and then a mad dash up the mountain. Knowing what was coming just made her want to take a quick trip down the cemetery and never deal with this mountain again. Fuck Arceus and His rules. This was too much. Could she persuade Him? Would He want her to ferry Him around to prove her worth? Fight Him to fulfill a final test? Would she even get to go home, or would she have to give up everything and just live here forever?

As her breathing begins to pick up, she feels Sneasler drape her arms over her shoulders and begin lightly grooming her hair, contorting herself so that she can lick her bangs back. While it didn’t lighten the mood like it normally did, it did help ground Hikari, and bring her back to this world. To Mt. Coronet. To Hisui.

Hikari breathes in deep. Akari lets out the breath. She needs to be ready for this.

“Well well, if it isn’t Everyone’s Favorite Little GruntTM,” Akari hears a condescending voice call from the Arena, signaling that Melli had caught sight of her as she lingered at the crossroad. She turns her head as much as she can with Sneasler still grooming her, and catches sight of him walking quickly towards her location. “Out without a chaperone? No one is at the Camp near my Lord’s Arena tonight, so why are you here?”

Akari pauses for a second, just staring at Melli blankly without saying anything for a few moments. “Oh, don’t give me that look,” Melli sneers, tossing his head to the side and causing his hair to flip beautifully. “You’re beginning to remind me of the old man before you showed up. Spacing out and never acknowledging anything I ask him.” He huffs in an exaggerated manner, cutting off whatever Akari was about to say. “And never even playing along that it was because of my greatness or beauty.”

The last little bit of Akari’s brain that was able to conjure humor found herself imagining a Herdier looking at a camera judgmentally, and had to hold back the snicker in his throat. But apparently a smile peeked through, because Melli’s own smile came across his face. “Though I am glad you can smile easier than he can. I heard he got himself hurt.” While Melli kept the smile, his eyes began showing worry as he said that. “How is the Warden doing? I know I harp about his age, but he’s hardier than that.”

“He is,” Akari finds herself saying softly. “He’s alive, thankfully. He was asleep when I left.” She was trying to sound normally, but even she could hear the flat tone in her voice that was as unnatural to her as the quiet volume was.

Melli’s smile faded to a worried look, and he stepped closer, then, most shockingly of all, knelt down to look at Akari straight on. “Akari, are you ok?” 

Akari winced strongly at that, causing Sneasler to grumble above her and double her effort on parting her hair. “Yes,” she quietly says, nodding slightly only to get Sneasler to move her chin back in place immediately and hold it there. When Melli squints at her in disbelief, Akari does her best to pout. “Really, I am.”

“You don’t look like it, Akari.” Melli reaches out and gently grabs Akari’s arm by the bicep, giving it a light squeeze as he tries to smile reassuringly for her. “He’ll be ok. There isn’t any reason to worry about it so heavily. Ingo is tough, and so are you. He’ll pull through.” He then pauses and gives one of his usual smug grins. “Because otherwise he won’t get to see this pretty face again, and we know that’s why he hangs around the Highlands so much.”

That comment finally gets Sneasler to stop grooming Akari’s hair for a moment and gets a low growl out of her. “Quiet, furball. You know he likes being around me,” Melli says as he straightens back up, dusting off the front of his pants. “Whatever you’re here to do, Akari, be safe. Ingo wouldn’t want to wake up and find you gone.” 

As he turns to walk away, Akari just nods quietly before coming to the decision that she probably should verbally respond. “I’ll do my best.” It was the honest answer, but it made Melli pause, and look back at her, worry creeping back into his eyes above his impassive expression.

After another brief moment, he shakes his head in mocked disbelief. “Alright then. Well, I want you to know that I was making enough stew for me and the old man.” He turns back towards his yurt by the Arena and begins walking. “You better come by before you leave to try some and tell him what he missed before you go back to the Village!”

Akari smiles briefly at Melli letting his mask fall, before sighing and physically drooping as the weight of what was coming sunk in. Melli was expecting her to be safe and alive when she returns. But she may not. She didn’t say good-bye to anyone in Jubilife, and she may not return.

Shaking, she turns to Sneasler and hugs her tight, doing her best to stay collected. Sneasler wraps her arms around Akari, being sure not to get her claws near the girl, just calmly holding her as Akari silently sobs. Finally, after a few moments, Akari backs away from Sneasler, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Ok. I’m good now.” Sneasler makes a noise that sound like disagreement, and Akari gives her a sharp look. “Really. I’m good to go.”

Shrugging to herself and shaking her head, Sneasler turns and begins walking up the path to the Temple, with Akari in tow. The both of them were trying to act calm as they walk the path to the cave entrance, but as they do so, the Pokemon that normally live in the way all give them wide berths. Normally, even with Lady Sneasler, some of the more aggressive species like Electabuzz would throw a warning attack at Akari. But, either due to the vibe the pair gave off, or some other energy that surrounded the pair, each Pokemon gave them space. Even the Alpha Electivire keeps a distance from them, only idly eyeing them as they pass.

Finally, the pair enter the cavern, and Akari has to suppress a shiver. In this cave, where it opens up, Beni had tried to kill her. At least, it felt like he was trying to kill her. He went away after a Pokemon battle, but the way he was talking at the time felt dangerous. And after that, Volo had stopped her here on the way to confront the frenzied Dialga and gush about the symbols on the wall. And then later to give one final hint about his plans before attempting to kill her.

This mountain top and Temple were a very bad place for her. A lot of attempted murder happened here.

Despite that, though, stepping out onto the open peak of Mt. Coronet left Akari filled with an odd peace. Sneasler still stands a few steps behind her, both backing her up and ensuring that she has an escape route. Akari nods gently to Sneasler, then begins to go up the stairs leading to the ruined Temple, not even pausing as she sees the pillars once more as she crests the top. The words Volo said flashes through her mind, “Pillars now turned to spears, stabbing into the heavens”. 

Akari pauses, and brings her hand down to wrap it around the Ultra Ball that contains Giratina. “Oh.” She had left her team behind, and only brought the Creation Trio with her, assuming that if she were to speak with Arceus, having His children as back up would be helpful. But she had been here before, and never made the connection that this isn’t just the Temple of Sinnoh.

Cyrus had very nearly succeeded where Volo failed, right on that same dias. Both had pulled Dialga and Palkia into a frenzy, with Hi- with Akari being the only trainer able to stand up and put a stop to it. The only difference was the Pokemon in her hand - Giratina. With Volo, Giratina had been a part of the problem, trying to tear everything apart to bring down their Father. But when Cyrus had put forth the same plan, they were the one who put a stop to it by destroying the Red Chain and pulling Cyrus into the Distortion World.

Akari brings the Pokeball in her hand to her forehead and closes her eyes. “Will you back me up on this, Gira?” She can’t hear their voice, but she can feel their presence through the ball; Smoke swirls around her head, and a sense of consolation fills her. With a small smile, she puts the ball back onto her belt, and instead pulls out the Azure Flute as Sneasler follows her to the dias.

Akari knew the tune that she needed to play. It came naturally to her when she held the Azure Flute to her lips. Take the initial arpeggio from the traditional mount summons, and expand upon it in a way reserved only for something higher than them. But even with this knowledge implanted into her mind, she finds herself stumbling over the notes, before she finally just gives up. Akari shakingly lets out her breath.

Then Hikari breathes back in, and puts the flute back to her mouth. Hikari thinks back to her home in Twinleaf, growing up with Barry among the forest. She thinks back to her mother cooking her dinner for her birthday the year she started her Pokemon journey. The sound of the Lake Verity’s waves gently lapping against the grass as she and Barry and their mothers would have their picnics during the summer. And finally, the lullaby that her mother would hum and sing for her whenever she had nightmares during childhood.

What was this but an ongoing nightmare? And so, with tears falling down her face, Hikari began to play the only song that she could think of. A song from her home.

The only way Hikari can describe it is that the notes float through the air, filling the space that used to be contained by the roof of the Temple. She could hear Sneasler, very softly, near her still. Finally, she reaches the end of her memories of the lullaby, and lowers the Flute from her lips. Opening her eyes, she watches the sun fully disappear under the water in the far distance, the glow of the sunset still painting the lower portions of the sky.

All at once, the glow is snuffed out, and the entire world outside of the Spear Pillar goes black. Sneasler jumps forward at this, putting herself in front of Hikari, her lips pulled back in a snarl. In front of the pair, the ground glows a soft blue, and steps begin to rise up into the air.

Ye hast sought out all Pokemon. Rise to meet thy final challenge, and catch thy final quarry.

Hikari drops the Flute from her hands, the ceramic instrument bouncing to the side as she struggles to stay standing. “W-Wait…” She finally takes a breath, and a step back, looking up the staircase. “Final… You have more?”

Before she can even do anything, Sneasler lets out a nasty yowl, the sound coming from her carrying throughout the Temple grounds, and surely up the stairs to… Arceus? ‘She has done what you’ve asked for!’ a voice calls from around Hikari as she falls to her knees, tears coming down her face anew.. ‘Seeking out all the Pokemon in this land! And you ask her for more?!’

Ah, young Lady Sneasler. I understand thine ire. I have but one last te-

‘No more tests, Sinnoh!’ Sneasler shouts up to the uncaring sky above, cutting off Arceus. The Noble steps forward, putting her foot onto the first step and throwing her arms out to the sides. ‘Look at her! You claim her as your Champion, and treat her like a toy!’ When no response comes but the quiet sobbing of Hikari behind her, Sneasler takes a few more steps up the staircase, her arms dropping and her claws tapping each step as she climbs. ‘You gave my ancestors an edict to work with and take care of humanity as long as it existed in Hisui! I cannot allow you to treat a young girl like this!’

Silence. Tink-tink. Silence. Tink-tink. Silence. Tink-Ti-

Ye need not move any further.

In a blinding flash of light, the stairs disappear from underneath Sneasler, causing her to fall 15 feet onto the Temple floor. It is quickly followed by another flash, one much larger and more centralized in front of the duo. In front of the two now, looking over the seething Noble Sneasler and the sobbing Champion Hikari, is the Alpha. 

Arceus.

I see my Champion was not prepared.

The tone is was will be impossible to read. The words make Hikari think He is uncaring, but she can parse no emotion from the voice that fills all of existence. The only other sound she can hear at this point is the rattling of the three balls on his waist, before they finally all burst open. Standing across from Arceus is His three Children - Dialga, the Eldest Son and Lord of Time; Palkia, the Middle Child and Lord of Space; and Giratina, the Banished Child and Lord of Distortion.

The Trio look at their Father silently, each of them attempting to burn holes into His body through sheer willpower as He looks at them each in turn. Finally, after a few moments, a few eternal neverending moments, He looks down at Hikari’s crying form.

Take thy time. Collect thyself and tell me what has brought you here.

Hikari continues to lay on the stone floor, Sneasler standing guard in front of her to keep Arceus away from her, while Giratina shrinks down and coils around the girl to be an additional layer of physical protection. It’s not for several long minutes before she stops sobbing and tries to push herself up, quickly getting assistance from Giratina and Palkia to sit, and then stand up. “Did… Did you even bother looking when I called you?”

Arceus lowers His head.

I was working on another moment. I had not seen thine own situation.

‘You claim omniscience, and then use that excuse?’ Giratina snaps, slithering away from Akari and growing in size to face their Father. ‘You claim omnipotence and rely on a child to stop me.’

‘Now isn’t the time for that, Giratina,’ Dialga says, stepping forward to stand on their left, still facing Arceus.

‘I have to agree,’ Palkia adds, stepping opposite of its counterpart to Giratina’s right. ‘Our Hero and Father’s Champion has a request. One that I believe you told her needed to be done by him.’

Giratina churns for several seconds, smoke billowing from their mouth, before they turn around and rapidly shrink to shoot under Hikari’s hood. With Giratina no longer making a show of defiance, the other two step back, and Arceus leans His neck down to look at Hikari over Sneasler’s head.

Hikari Mifune. Akari of the Galaxy Team. My Champion. What is thy desire? Why hast ye called out to me?

Hikari looks Arceus in the eye, then slowly watches His form become blurrier as tears began to spill over again. “My Uncle, Ingo. He… He’s hurt, and it’s my fault!” She hadn’t meant to shout, but she did, and quickly Sneasler was there to wrap her arms around Hikari. “He fell off of the cliff because I tried rushing, and he wasn’t paying attention!” She swallows the sob that nearly broke through her voice, and shakes her head, then buries her face into Sneasler’s fur.

After a few moments of silence, she speaks back up. “And I stole Elesa from Ingo’s brother…” She sniffs and pulls away from Sneasler, looking back at Arceus. “I used Dialga and Palkia to open up a distortion to try and get Uncle Ingo’s brother, and I grabbed Elesa instead… And now she’s stuck here. Because I’m a failure and I can’t even do your requests.”

“I just want them to be safe, and home, with their families,” Hikari finally says, tears running down her face without hesitancy. “I want them…” She pauses for a moment, before shouting. “I want to go home!” 

She turns away from both Sneasler and Arceus, kicking the Azure Flute across the Temple floor into a pillar. “I miss my mom! I miss Aunt Cynthia! I miss Barry, and Lucas, and Professor Rowan! I miss my biggest responsibility being public appearances, and my biggest worry being whether or not I could pass tests while on a Trainer’s License!” She squats down, and looks down at the floor. “I hate being stuck here. I love it in Hisui, but… I miss home. So much…”

Arceus silently watches Hikari, then straightens up and looks to His left, where a crack in the air was forming, white light pouring out.

Thine answer is soon on its way, young Hikari.

—

X       X |    O    | X       X

—

Emmet and Ingo used to curse how hot the coats could get down in the Subways. They had chosen the design to be the logical conclusion of a Depot Agent’s uniform, with a hint of their own personal fascination with the trains that led them there. The coats were meant to have them stand out in a crowd for ease of sight, to differentiate from other workers, and to help buff up their admittedly scrawny physique to make the pair into more intimidating figures during battle. All of that led to large coats, which were heavy enough to withstand a stray Pokemon move, but not light enough for use in a desert city like Nimbasa.

But up in the mountain paths of Mt. Coronet, Emmet found himself the best equipped for the snow and the wind. He stays only a few steps behind Cynthia and Volo, the pair of blonds leading himself and Elio through the caverns and barely used mountain trails of the Highlands. He had walked this area once before, the week he had come to visit his brother’s grave, but they had already passed the area he’d made sure to stop at. From here, it was a test of his own stamina.

In his bag, Emmet could feel the odd weight of an object that should not be out of its museum exhibit - The Azure Flute. It really wasn’t like a flute, Emmet had thought, but even in Kantonian it’s called the Heaven’s Flute, so whatever works for Arceus. Initially, he had tried to hand it off to Cynthia, but she rejected it on the basis that Arceus hadn’t answered her the first time she tried. Volo outright refused to touch it, saying he was unworthy of “Sinnoh’s Blessing”. And Elio had backed out of using it on account of mostly being here for the ride, and having worries that having Solgaleo would taint the results.

So it all fell to Emmet. He supposes that it makes sense thematically, since other than Cynthia, he’s the only one hoping for actual answers from the Alpha Pokemon Himself. They did have back up plans, because if they didn’t, then they were already admitting defeat. Cynthia has Dialga and Palkia with her, either to sway Arceus or to force their way to the past for their three targets. And even then, they had originally planned on using Solgaleo, so that option is always there. After all, Emmet loves winning more than anything else, and planning around contingencies where Gods are involved can’t be much more difficult than working doubles or multis day in and out, no?

“You doing alright, Uncle?” Elio says, hopping over to Emmet from where they had been chatting with Cynthia. “You’ve been quiet ever since we stopped by that cave back there.”

Emmet smiles, a customer service type rather than the resting smile he had been wearing for the better part of the day. “I am Emmet. Just a little winded, yup.” He makes a show of taking a deep breath before exhaling, steam blowing out of his nose in the cold air. “That cave back there was a Sneasler den according to old journals. I think it was Ingo’s Sneasler. I’m not sure.”

“Really?” Elio spins on their heel and looks back into the distance, trying to catch sight of the cave that the group had paused at momentarily to catch their breaths and make sure they were hydrated. “How do you know? Sneaslers have been gone for like, 90 years, right?”

Emmet nods curtly before looking down at the kid. “Roughly. Wild Sneasler died out around 1900. Captive ones died out around 1940.” Elio continues to walk backwards until Emmet reaches over and turns them around by the shoulder. “Safety check, Elio. Watch where you’re walking. We’re on a mountain.”

“Oh, sorry, Uncle!” Elio says, standing up straight and marching forward with their arms bent and fists balled.

“You two having fun back there?” Volo calls out from several yards ahead, where he and Cynthia had stopped by another cave entrance. “Cause we’re approaching the old Temple grounds. It’s through here.”

Emmet’s smile immediately strains, his eyes crinkling slightly as he picks up the pace, his arms swinging at his side. “Full steam ahead, then. We must arrive on schedule to our destination.” He does not pause as he passes by Cynthia and Volo, the two blonds simply following after him as he walks through the cavern. “No delays or disruptions can cross our paths at a time like this. Cynthia, do Pokemon usually live near here? Will we be disturbing nests?”

Cynthia shakes her head as the group approaches the waterfall in the cavern. “Most likely not,” she says, eyeing the Bronzong that were sitting silently along the walls of the cavern. “It seems the Pokemon here can sense the Lords of Time and Space in my possession. I doubt they will get involved.”

Volo laughs joylessly as he releases a Bibarel into the pool of water and climbs onto it. “One thing I’m constantly glad for is that Pokemon have become noticeably less dangerous as time goes on. In Hisui, we’d have to be fighting Pokemon off, even with a child of Sinnoh at our shoulders.” He wraps his arms around the Bibarel’s neck, as Cynthia climbs onto her Milotic and Elio puts out their Araquanid for themself and Emmet to climb onto. “When we get there, be careful around wild Pokemon. The only ones that will attack groups like this would be Alphas.”

When. When we get there.

The group didn’t say much else as they climbed the waterfall, and then the last few rooms of the cavern’s steady incline. Finally, they find themselves outside once more, the wind having died down but the snow still falling around them. Cynthia and Elio found themselves shivering while Emmet and Volo simply pulled their coats tighter around their bodies, pushing forward.

As the group walks through the snow, the shattered stone of Spear Pillar is already well within sight. Emmet at this point can’t even feel the cold. He is verrrry excited to see his brother again. He is verrrry excited to hold his wife in his arms. He is verrrry excited to travel back in time and do the impossible. Nothing was going to stop him at this point.

As the group moves among the ruins, Volo slows down and begins to inspect some of the pillars, briefly running his hands over the cold stone. At the 5th pillar, he slows, then stops at a jutted piece of marble. He bends down and wipes some of the snow away from the side.

Emmet huffs and stomps over to look over Volo’s shoulder at the stonework. “What is the cause of this delay? If we are to continue along these tracks toward our destination, then we must have no delays. Hesitation can cost us our course to victory.”

“This was a monument to Sneasler, one of the Nobles,” Volo says softly, trying to read the etchings on the marble. “They had written the name of Wardens for a time. I was looking for Ingo.”

Emmet nods softly before turning. “I am Emmet. I can see this with Ingo at another time. For now, we should focus.” He keeps walking towards the snow covered altar at the back of the ruin, Volo standing and following him with the others. Once at the altar, Emmet stops, and reaches into his bag to grab the Azure Flute, though he hesitates to pull it out. “Cynthia. Is there a song that we need to play? Is Arceus picky? I feel like a God would want a specific song.”

Cynthia thinks for a moment before nodding. “Yes, there is a song, but… I’m not sure what it is.” She looks over at Volo with a slightly concerned look. “There were records that the old Nobles would respond to Celestica Flutes, but no one has records of what they were specifically.”

Volo sighs and shakes his head. “They were taught to Wardens and those the Warden trusted with the knowledge, so they probably were lost when the Nobles began to pass away.” He closes his eyes and crosses his arms, thinking for a moment, before whistling a tune out over the wind. A tumbling arpeggio, repeated and then followed by three long, droning notes. 

“I am Emmet. If you expect me to mimic that, you have confused me for a Mr. Mime.” Emmet pauses for a moment, then looks down. “Very easy mistake, we both have funny shoes.”

Elio snickers loudly as Volo sighs and shrugs. “Whatever. If you have a chance to connect with Arceus yourself, then I’m sure any song could work.”

Emmet turns from the group, pulling out the Azure Flute and looking down at it. It really wasn’t a flute in Emmet’s mind, shaped like a Corsola or Pinchurin, and the holes all looked non-functional. But he had tried giving it a few experimental blows the night before they left, so he knows that it all works. In theory.

But any song? Emmet finds himself looking out, off of the mountain to the sea on the distant horizon. He can watch planes landing and leaving various cities in the distance, little more than blinking lights moving across the darkening evening sky. Here on this mountain, Ingo had lived. Lived a new life, one away from his family, one where he had no memories of anything before Hisui, but a desire to know what he had before.

Away from this mountain, lifetimes after Ingo had lived, he had instead lived with Emmet and their parents in Anville, in the quaint little Village by the train tracks. The life with their mother walking with them to the schoolhouse where she taught the older kids, on subjects much more complicated than the simple Unovan and math that the twins were on. The life with the two of them walking along the train tracks to reach the trainyard instead of walking through town, Ingo loudly discussing the various Pokemon that would come into sight and be scared away by their mother’s Granbull, Skrunchie, while Emmet quietly listened and began planning his Pokemon team at a younger age than most gym challengers even thought to start. The life where the twins would run errands for their father in Anville Town, and always stop to listen to the old woman on the bridge by the station play the lullaby for the trains.

With tears running down his cheeks, his smile falling into a frown for the first time since visiting his brother’s grave, Emmet brings the Azure Flute to his lips, and plays the lullaby once more, not just for Arceus, but for his brother across time. His fingers dance across the holes by instinct, his mind not even registering the movement as he listens to the song upon the wind. Emmet continues the song for several minutes, hoping to keep this connection with his past alive for a few more moments. 

Eventually, though, he lowers the Flute from his mouth, sobbing as the tears freeze upon his cheeks. There had been no answer. That was expected, Emmet wasn’t a Chosen One, nor was he a believer of Arceus. He was simply a Unovan tourist, playing with a sacred relic that wasn’t his to use. And despite having contingencies, despite planning for victory, Emmet felt like he had lost. That it was all for nothing.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments.

Thou art a welcome interruption.

With a burst of white light, a shape coalesced into the air in behind the altar, halting the falling snow around the group. As the form of a white Pokemon finished forming, with the body of a horse and a golden halo around its body, Volo and Cynthia both fell to their knees in reverence.

“アルセウス様、私の人生を祝福してください。(1),” Cynthia says quietly, lowering her head to continue her prayer silently.

“Nipsa-Kamuy Sinnoh, kamuy-nomi,” Volo mutters, his eyes wide open as he stares at the snow beneath him. “A-ram kamuy-nomi, kunne tursak mem kar. Nipsa-Kamuy Sinnoh, kamuy-nomi. A-ram kamuy-nomi, kunne tursak mem kar.(2)” Unlike Cynthia’s quiet prayer, Volo continues to mutter out loud, repeating the same words over and over.

Elio, however, slowly walks up to Emmet, and nudges him with their elbow. “Hey, Uncle? Is that Arceus?”

“I am Emmet,” Emmet starts, though he is interrupted.

Indeed, I am that which ye in this era call Arceus. Cynthia Kurosawa, Volo of the Celestica. Ye may rise.

Cynthia breaks herself from her prayers, and rises to her feet, though she keeps her head bowed in reverence. Volo does not move, though he pauses in his prayer before picking back up a moment later.

Elio Nozawa, such a young Champion. In other worlds, thou hast never crossed mine path. I have had many Champions across the worlds. Ash Ketchum, in his various quests. Dawn and Lucas, in their struggles to save this world. Hikari Mifune, the one who saved mine three children twice across time. However, even I can see Solgaleo chose a strong Champion with thou.

Elio puffs their chest out with a smile, then slaps their chest brazenly. “Sol and I chose each other! He’s the rising sun, and I’m his partner to ensure his light reaches those who need it!” Even without Solgaleo out of his Pokeball, Elio’s smile alone nearly lit up the area. Arceus gently nods its head, then looks straight at Emmet.

And thou. Ak-Emmet Grayn. A man of such great import that his brother clung to the memories of him through greatest loss. Of such great import that with only a name and a vague idea of thou, he prayed to me for thy safety. The one moment of faith in his life, and twas full of love and grief.

An echo of a voice sounds through the snow. To Cynthia and Elio, the voice means little to nothing. To Volo, the words are clear and the voice familiar to cause his own prayer to stop, finally looking up. To Emmet, it was everything he had hoped for for months after his disappearance. “Nispa-Kamuy Sinnoh, akor ak-Emmet kamuy-nomi, ak-Emmet wano arka atusare, wa uni kunne hom horari,(3)” said Ingo’s voice across the empty air.

Emmet’s face couldn’t help but raise itself into a smile, hearing that voice say something new for the first time in three long years. “I am Emmet. I need to know, Arceus.” He takes a deep breath, holding it for five seconds before letting it out slowly. “I need to know. Are my brother and my wife… Are Ingo and Elesa safe?”

The entire group feels the warmth of the sun upon them, as though they were out on a warm spring afternoon in Sunyshore instead of the cold peak of Mount Coronet.

Thy family art safe, ak-Emmet. Thy brother’s fall was out of mine control, but his safety was not. With his prayer, I was able to connect his life in Hisui to thy life there in Unova. And thus, thine attempts to find him would better bear fruit.

Emmet pales slightly. “So, without you stitching things together, I wouldn’t have information on my brother. I would be lost to grief. Possibly consumed by it.” Arceus remains silent as Emmet clenches his fists, then looks up at the deific Pokemon. “Will you take me to him, and Cynthia to Hikari? And our friends as well.”

You lot have a gallant guide amongst you.

With a burst of sunlight, Solgaleo springs from his Pokeball, shaking his mane playfully before roaring out in delight at Arceus’ recognition. With him now standing in the snowy ruins, the encroaching night was blasted back by sunlight, casting shadows behind each shattered pillar.

Greetings, young Solgaleo. I shall impart to thee thy imminent destination. Mine Champion, Hikari, awaits you all on this very peak. Be forewarned - Thine brother is injured. Keep courage in thy heart, however.

Emmet smiles and nods, patting Elio on the back as he joins them by Solgaleo. Volo, meanwhile, finally stands and approaches Arceus. “My Lord Arceus, I stand before you with regret deep in my heart for my past actions to reach your side.” He bows deeply at the waist, his bangs brushing the snow. “So I must know. Was I the cause of Ingo and Elesa’s disappearances? Did they fall into the distortions? I couldn’t find any other humans that had fallen, so were they the only two casualties to my arrogance?”

The air was filled with silence once more before Arceus answers.

Thou holds blame for much, Volo of the Celestica. But for Ingo, his fate was not of thine machinations. He had but fallen through a Ultra Wormhole, one which had split both the attention of myself and of the Forces of Nature in Unova. As for Elesa, she too was out of thine control. Mine own Champion pulled her in the hope of aiding Ingo’s locked memories. For these lives, thou art free of blame.

Volo’s breathing stops for a moment before he doubles over, his eyes screwed shut as he tries to hold in the tears. “Thank you, my Lord, for lifting that weight off of my shoulders.” As Volo turns around, Elio reaches up and pats his arm. While everyone’s attention is turned, Arceus disappears, and night returns to the mountain top.

“So, is everyone ready?” Elio asks, looking first at Volo, then Cynthia, then finally Emmet. With each of them nodding, Elio claps and ruffles Solgaleo’s fur. “Come on then, Sol! Let’s hit these Ultra Waves and head back to Hisui!” They scramble up onto the Legendary lion, and he roars out loud, crouching down and wiggling his butt in preparation.

As the roar reverberates through the air, a crack is heard, then seen as white light begins glowing from a thin line several feet in front of Solgaleo. With a pop, followed by another loud crack, the line expands into a white vortex, wide enough for Solgaleo to leap through and then some.

Emmet smiles, and points forward. “Everybody ready? Follow safety, and everybody smile!”

“ALL ABOARD!”

[widoglock]

Fic preview for WIP Wednesday! I’ve been slowly chipping away at a Groundhog Day scenario, where Caleb relives the two days on the road where Molly dies/the team raids the Sour Nest over and over.

“Is this all still based on a dream, though? Is this like...a thing with you guys?”

Beau reaches for her boots. “Did we already drink all the booze from the cart?”

Caleb says, “We need quiet. My trap rang and—”

That turns everyone’s heads. Beau, one boot caught halfway up her foot, shouts, “Your trap went off?”

“...And they have an elf. If she—”

“When the fuck did your trap go off?”

“About a minute ago.”

“Caleb, you can’t—”

“We only have a few moments—”

“You can’t just keep that shit to yourself, man!”

“If the elf hears us over the hill, there could be trouble,” Caleb rushes to finish.

“And oh, what, they’ll leave their cart to come check us out? Cool! More room for Nott to pick the locks.”

“I’m off the table, remember?” Nott snips. Molly flops onto his back, hands over his eyes. Keg is fumbling with a cigarette. “I don’t understand why you won’t drop this.”

Beau makes a clawed gesture, like she can fleece some patience out of the air. She rounds on Caleb: “Okay—yeah, how would you feel if Nott were in there? Would you still—”

“Yes.”

Beau reels. “Really? If one of us woke up and went, ‘Hey guys, hang on a sec, I’ve had this random prophetic vision—nope, never had one before, but trust me, this one feels—’”

“Beauregard—”

“—‘Feels good I guess. So now I’m gonna decide for—on behalf of the whole party to let Nott get tortured for another couple days, sorry.’ You really wanna tell me you wouldn’t shit a brick?”

“We do not have time for this conversation.”

“So you admit you’d shit a brick.”

“I would shit a brick quietly,” Caleb stresses.

“Like hell you would.” Beau kicks the back of Molly’s leg. “Back me up here.”

“Sorry, but you lost this argument a long time ago.” Molly’s tone has resumed its casual monotone, though his twitching tail betrays a nurtured animosity. He trades the hands over his face for a pillow. “We can’t afford to play chicken with these two. Not with our friends’ lives on the line.”

“I never said this was fair,” Caleb tries. “I will certainly not pretend it is kind. But if it is what I have to do to save you...then I will do it.”

Molly flips him off.

“I trust Caleb,” Nott informs the tent. “He knows magic.”

Keg settles on, “Did uh...did you just notice, or—?”

“No, I—oh for shit’s sake, I mean he knows magic. If this were a spell, he would know.”

“I am not so sure that I would.”

“Caleb!”

Caleb holds up a hand: “But I can tell you that if this is a spell, it is unlike any I have ever seen—ever heard of. Magic can alter memories. Spin a few...moments, from adjacent sinew. It should not be able to conjure whole days from nothing.”

“Yeah, and who would’ve cast a spell like that anyways?” Nott rallies. “With what power? From where? The last time we saw anyone was on the road yesterday afternoon. Do spells even last that long?”

“A few can last for—”

Nott perseveres: “And, and what, did someone really sneak up to our tent last night, and cast—they didn’t even take any of our fancy stuff—and cast the most convoluted, most top secret spell ever on one person—”

“Hello?”

Five heads turn to track the shadow outside their tent.

“Is everything all right in there?” Dwelma asks.

Caleb clears his throat, but no words come out. The only sound is the timid fizzle of Keg’s cigarette.

There’s an almost audible click as Molly’s mask slides into place. He pokes his head out through the tent flaps:

“Why, hello there!”

[verystressedcollegestudent]

sitting here in various stages of rage after reading my peer review from ied lol

so we had a report due the wednesday after spring break and NONE of these fuckers did anything until the monday we got back and i asked for help twice, once someone was willing to help but i had to give them a goddamn PLAY-BY-FUCKIN-PLAY on what was needed in the section (they didn't even think they needed sources for fucks sake) and the other time i asked someone to add sources for the section THEY WROTE as we're finishing the report an HOUR BEFORE THE FUCKIN THING IS DUE and they were too busy studying for another exam to do anything

like do...do they expect me to hold their hand through following a damn rubric? the project is explicitly divided into sections so we had decided everyone would take two sections and some people just didn't like what the fuck do you mean i need to "ask for help" this is a group fuckin project and the only reason i did more (other than picking bigger sections) was because you fuckers couldn't hold up your end of the bargain

like i had to bullshit entire paragraphs 30 GODDAMN MINUTES BEFORE THE FUCKIN THING WAS DUE because for one section, i kid you not, the idiot put in two tables with a single sentence before them saying "x is a table with y" how the fuck am i supposed to trust you idiots to do ANYTHING when the things you do contribute are half-assed, short and leave out half the damn rubric

and ofc we didn't even have a finished report by 8pm the night it was due which would have been not ideal but okay if everyone in the group was working on it but NO. fuckin no. it was just me and one person (the two who already wrote over half the damn thing) desperately trying to finish it and make their portions halfway presentable all while getting "i can't do this because i have an exam to study for can someone else do it" texts as well as reminders from them to "submit it because we have x minute left." and then i ask how their exam went and they say that it was HORRIBLE because they were up till 1 AM studying like bitch? i pulled a fuckin all nighter trying to flesh out your mediocre tiny paragraphs and here you are complaining to me that you had to stay up a little late to study while blowing alex and i off completely? EXCUSE ME?

so it just genuinely boggles me that they pull all this shit, contribute half assed mini paragraphs and then have the gall to ask why i don't trust them to help more or why i don't ask them to help more like why should i trust you to help when i have to explain that you need to CITE where you got your price range???? like either i do it myself or i have to sit there for twenty minutes talking you through what's on the rubric and what needs to be cited like you're a fucking middle schooler

[fueledbyapplepi]

I love your writing it's so good!!! Could I have reader having a crush on the boys and giving them a kiss while they think the boys are asleep and confessing their love to them with mikey, chifuyu and the haitani brothers? Im just so soft for those boys!!!

Sleep Tight | Mikey, Chifuyu, Ran, and Rindou

- Confessing to the boys while they're (not really) asleep

genre: 🌸 fluff 🌸

warnings: minor cussing

A/N: Thank you, anon! I really got into writing this one ( ◜‿◝ )♡ Also, I honestly think I need to come up with better titles because it sounds like a word vomit to me LMAO Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

Mikey (Sano Manjiro)

Life would be nice if you had someone by your side who felt the same way about you.

You already have Mikey by your side, making every day much easier to get by. But does he feel the same way with you?

You practically grew up together with Mikey. Being neighbors with the man, you often come by to play with them as kids- leading to a blooming friendship. Although more often, it was you watching Mikey train in his grandfather’s dojo, where he never fails to amaze you with his tricks. Sometimes, you’ll have sleepovers together with Emma and Mikey where you’ll watch movies with them. Only for Mikey to be sound asleep halfway through the movie.

Growing up, nothing has changed that much with that routine. The only thing that has changed is your growing feelings for Mikey.

You saw the ups and downs in his life. From the time he established Toman to losing Shinichiro, you were there to witness how he would build a castle from the rocks of his downfalls.

So it was no surprise that you find your heart beating much faster when he’s around.

Childish as he is, you can’t deny the fact that Mikey is charismatic, beautiful, and kind. But, you never had the chance to tell him what you feel. Because what if he never saw you the same way?

You looked at Mikey, who’s currently sitting by your side almost half asleep. His head swings from side to side as he struggles on whether he should watch the movie or not.

“Mikey, you always never get to finish our movie nights. You’re no fun.” Emma pouted at his brother as she turned off the television.

“Mhmm, not sleepy.” Mikey turned to look at you then at Emma before leaning on your shoulder. “Just a little.”

Your heart flutters from close contact. “Maybe he’s tired from one of Toman’s meetings.” You turned to look at Emma with a sorry face

Sighing, Emma stepped out of the room as she looked at you, “I’ll get us a blanket, wait here Y/N.”

Your face felt hot as you realized that you were left alone in the room with Mikey. Well, this isn’t unusual for you two but with the strong feelings you have for him, you just can’t help but blush.

You looked at Mikey, his eyelashes seemed a bit longer, making his eyes more beautiful. His lips, although chapped, pouted with the way he’s comfy with you.

“Mikey, can you stop being so pretty? It makes me want to kiss you,” you whispered, thinking that Mikey’s probably dozing off to dreamland.

Mikey opened out one of his eyes to take a peek at you. All the sleepiness vanishing from his body. Did he just hear you right? “Then kiss me, Y/N.”

“Heh? Mikey, you’re awake?” you felt embarrassment creeping into you. “Mikey...I...look, sorry. I-”

Your blabbering mouth was silenced with a peck on the lips. Mikey kissing all your worries away.

“I like you too, Y/N.” He smiled as he leaned closer to you. Your foreheads touching and nose brush against each other.

You felt like you’re on cloud nine. Is this real? Mikey likes you too?

Before you could say anything, the door opened with Emma looking at the two of you weirdly. “Hehhh, am I interrupting something?”

You and Mikey looked at Emma. An embarrassed look on both of your faces as if you were caught red-handed.

Now, there’s a lot of explaining to do.

Chifuyu Matsuno

No matter how many times you try, you always seem to lose.

But who won’t?

With Chifuyu’s angelic smile and kind eyes, your determination to admit your feelings for him always seems to waver. It’s just that your thoughts always fly out the window and anxiousness gets the best of you.

You’ve known Chifuyu for quite some time now. Baji, who’s your cousin, introduced him to you as Toman’s 1st Division Vice-Captain and most trusted partner. Of course, it was only natural for you to be wary of him. Baji might trust him, but he could be some sort of drug dealer or serial killer. Who knows?

You’re wrong though. The more time you spend with Chifuyu, the more you appreciate his presence. How can you not? He always lends you a helping hand whenever you need it. As cliche as it sounds, Chifuyu is like the knight and shining armor in your life.

And now here he is. Once again saving you from another horrible situation.

Chifuyu offered you a ride when he found you drenched from the rain in Shinagawa. Apparently, the weather wouldn’t be pleasant today but you forgot to read the weather forecast. Currently, he brought you to his home for the meantime as the rain wouldn’t be stopping until tomorrow.

“I’ll just text and let Baji-san know that you’ll be staying here.” Chifuyu handed you a blanket as he laid on his futon.

“Thank you, Chifuyu. But I swear it’s okay for me to sleep there. This is your bed anyway.” You said embarrassed.

Chifuyu yawned. Tiredness dropping from his eyes. “It’s alright, Y/N. I can’t let Baji-san’s pretty cousin sleep on the floor.” He smiled at you with a faint blush on his cheeks.

You laid on the bed silently. Blushing from his compliment. Did he just call you beautiful?

You looked at the ceiling for about a good minute before turning to Chifuyu. “Chifuyu-san, I-”

A soft sleeping figure cut you off. The light from the lamp outside reflected on his beautiful features.

You padded off your feet on the floor and sat right next to Chifuyu. Observing him, you notice that he looks prettier when he’s peaceful like this.

You hesitatingly brushed your fingers on his hair. While massaging it, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by your emotions. “I like you, Chifuyu-san.” You smiled proudly at yourself as you finally got to admit your feelings even though he’s asleep.

However, you noticed that the sleeping figure in front of you stiffened and reddened from your statement. Eyes wide, you held a hand in your mouth.

“Chifuyu-san, are you awake?” You hoped that he wasn’t.

But apparently, he is. “I guess you caught me.” Chifuyu sat up and scratched his head as he smiled at you sheepishly. “That felt nice though.”

“I’m sorry!” You bowed your head, hair hiding your flustered state.

“I like it!” Chifuyu panicked. “I mean, no. I like it. But, I like you too, Y/N-san.”

You laughed. At the same time, feeling extremely happy from what you just had heard.

“I guess we have some explaining to do with Baji-san.” you teased him

“Mhmm. But,” he held your hand and put it into his hair. “Would you continue that?” Chifuyu smiled.

“Of course.” You smiled at him, continuing your hair massages.

Looks like you won this time.

Ran Haitani

You’re no medical expert. The only knowledge you got was based on textbooks and first aid knowledge.

Yet somehow, Ran would always come knocking on your door whenever he has cuts or injuries. Sometimes, even without one, he would come by at your place and complain that his body is painful.

And it’s one of those nights again as you hear a soft knock on the door.

Moving to Roppongi, you were warned about the Haitani brothers. How you must stay away from them because they’re just no good. However, you somehow managed to come across the elder Haitani while you were shopping at a local store when he asked you what hair dye he should use.

This little interaction moved from one way to the other and now, ever since Ran found out where you live, he always comes by to let you heal his “injuries”.

You’re not complaining though. Despite the rumors and warnings, Ran was much more different from what other people say. He may be cocky and teasing, but the beautiful man sure is nice when it comes to you.

Causing you to develop a little crush on him.

You opened the door as you welcomed Ran. “Now, what do we have for tonight?”

Ran stepped in as he walked towards the couch. Laying as if he lives around here. “I got a bump on my forehead.” He pointed out as he pouted at you.

“You have Rindou! And you call yourself notorious but you come here whining like a baby.” you rolled your eyes as you got in the kitchen getting an ice pack for the man.

“Here.” You handed out the ice pack as you stood up in front of him.

“No.” Ran rolled his eyes. “Kiss it, Y/N.” he pouted once again.

“You’re not a baby, Ran. Tch.” you sighed as you sat across him. “Take a nap here and I’ll cook for you when you wake up.”

“Now, wifey material aren’t we.” Ran teased as he closed his eyes. Holding the ice packet against his forehead.

About a good 10 minutes have passed and you never heard another bicker from Ran. As you look at him, the man seems to be sleeping like a log.

You crouched down near him. Observing his features. You must say, he’s quite beautiful and more attractive when less chaotic.

“You’re such a big baby.” Thinking that he’s asleep, you kissed the small bump on his forehead.

As you got up to prepare his late dinner, a hand clutched yours.

You felt your body freeze for a moment as you turned around and saw a bastard smiling cockily.

“Do it again, Y/N.” Ran grinned at you as he held on tighter on your hand. “I’m a big baby but your baby.”

“Let me go!.” your face was beat red as you tried to yank off your hands. Only failing as Ran grabbed your arms causing you to fall on top of him.

“I like you, Y/N” Ran hugged you tightly while you were a blushing mess on top of him. “So let's just stay like this for a while.”

And you did.

Being with Ran isn’t so bad after all.

Rindou Haitani

If there’s one thing you’re proud of, it’s the skill you have for coloring people’s hair.

You like dyeing your hair, your friend’s hair, your cousins, and to just anyone who asks for your help. So it was no surprise when Rindou asked you to help him in doing his highlights.

Of course you can’t say no. Not because he is a Haitani but because you actually like his presence. When you’re around him, everything seems more calm and peaceful.

Despite being a menace around Roppongi, you and Rindou are actually good friends. You’ve known each other when he saved your ass around a group of guys who tried to harass you. And although he was stoic to you at first, he was able to ease up to you because of your caring nature.

After all, you recognized him as Rindou Haitani and not “Ran’s younger brother”. And he appreciated you for it.

So now here you are in their living room. Currently finished in dyeing Rindou’s hair.

“And there you have it. We just have to wait for an hour or so before washing it.” You tidied all the mess up as Ran sat and observed you. “By the way, why won’t you let me dye Ran’s hair?”

He raised an eyebrow upon your question. “Because he can’t have you.” Your eyes widened from his statement. Rindou, realizing what he just said, covered it up with an excuse. “I mean, I want him to dye his own hair and let it look shit. If he wants someone to dye his hair properly, he can go to the salon.”

You laughed at his statement. Well, he can actually crack up jokes once in a while if he loosens up his strict facade. “Oh Rindou, we also need to buy an extra conditioner.”

You looked up and saw the man with closed eyes. Deciding that you don’t want to disturb his sleep, you sat quietly beside him and observed him.

Rindou is already handsome with his glasses. But you realized that he looks much cuter without one.

He just looks good in anything.

You traced the bridge of his nose as you admired his features. “You know what? I actually might have feelings for you.” you muttered softly as you smiled.

“Let’s go out on a date then.” Rindou opened his eyes as he looked at you. Your lips a few inches away from his.

“Rindou!!!” You sat up straight. “I thought you were-”

“Asleep? Well I’m not.” he smiled at you as reached out for your hand. “But I meant it Y/N. I like you, and I want us to go on a date.” Rindou looked at you, hoping for an immediate response.

He does like you. After all, you were the only person who he was able to open up to other than Ran.

“Okay.” You smiled as you brushed your thumb at the top of his hand.

Rindou caressed your cheeks. Leaning in and going for a kiss.

“Ohh. Can I join?” a teasing voice butted in. Causing you two to look at the tall man who’s leaning in the doorframe. “I mean can I join Y/N’s dye party? Just continue that later.”

“Ran, get out!” Rindou shouted as he pointed at the door to his brother.

Well, things quickly escalated with the brothers.

As well as your relationship with Rindou.

[the-swedes-knees]

Time in A Bottle (Agent Mobius x Reader)

Summary: Everyone has a guilty pleasure. For Mobius, it's a slice of pie in a very specific slice of time.

Word Count: 1.8k

Located in the middle of Downtown, bordering on the corner of old-time druggies and newly gentrified condos was a moderate sized building with an exorbitant monthly rent. 

It was a theme restaurant, if the theme was 'we opened in 1953 and we'll be damned if we change the decor'- done up in chrome and frosted glass windows that clashed against the surrounding brick and mortar. The neon sign bearing the establishment's name had burnt out years ago, but it wasn't the type of place one would seek out.

Unless you were Mobius, that is.

[09:45:00]

Technically, he shouldn't be here.

His unit was nearly a mile out, or, more accurately, they would be within the hour. Dates like this, where a simple flap of a fat pigeon's wing could ripple into Nexus event after Nexus event had a name. A proper designation in their severity and frequency of necessary resets.

But he just always referred to them as 'a real pickle'.

You glance up at the front door as the brass bell affixed to the frame jingles loudly. The man that enters looks around the place before making eye contact with you and smiles. He points to the empty bar and you nod your head.

Once you finish refilling the other customer's drink, you see that he's made himself comfortable in the middle stool.

"Hey there." You greet from the opposite side of the counter. He offers a sheepish greeting in response as you set a water down in front of him, balancing a plastic straw on the rim of the glass. "Can I start you off with some coffee? Just made a fresh pot."

"That'd be great, thanks."

You place the mug and matching saucer in front of him and pour. For a moment you look up at him, and he's smiling a very genuine smile- something very rare these days.

As soon as it's full to the brim you're reaching under the counter and grabbing a clean glass sugar pourer, placing it right next to his cup.

"How'd you know?"

"Customer service intuition, I guess." He thanks you before unfurling the napkin containing his flatware. Like someone with real proper manners, he drapes the napkin over one of his legs before stirring an ample amount of sugar into his drink.

You can't help but notice just how much he fits in to the whole aesthetic with his well fitted brown suit and slim tie. New York offered a multiplicity of personalities, and you'd become quite numb to anything and everything that would walk through that door.

Yet, someone about this man was intriguing, familiar in a way. Like in the past life he was a PI that you hired to confirm your husband's affair.

Both a confidant, and a stranger.

"Feel free to take your time, but, do you know what you'd like?" You note his closed menu pushed to the side. He raises his eyebrows and nods while mid-sip, and you pull out a notepad and pen from your apron.

"Sure do, could I get two slices?" He points the vintage rotating pie cooler to your left and specifies his selection.

Easy enough. You put two generous slices onto separate plates, and he declines your offer of whipped cream or ice cream on top.

"Good choice, this one's my favorite."

"You don't say." The knowing twinkle in his eye wasn't noticed as you busied yourself with refilling his coffee. He holds his hands up in mock defeat and sighs. "Well, I guess you'll have to join me." The ceramic scraped against the quartz tabletop as he pushed one of the plates across the bar, directly opposite himself.

"I'm on the clock-"

"Don't worry, another customer doesn't come in for-" He pauses to flex his arm, riding his jacket sleeve up just enough to check his wristwatch. "12 minutes and 43 seconds."

[09:52:16]

"Am I supposed to trust you on that?" You raise an eyebrow, and his only response is a slight head tilt and pushing the second slice a nudge closer to you.

It wasn't every day courteous men offered you a break in the form of your favorite desert. Your face screwed up in contemplation as you looked at the only other two patrons in the diner before giving in and grabbing a second set of flatware. "Well, it is slow-"

"For a Friday?" He has another bite before setting down his fork and dabbing at his face with his napkin.

"Is it Friday already?" You sigh, bent over the counter to take a bite of the pie. Delicious as ever. "Hardly feels like it, all the days are melding together."

"I think this one will stand out."

"What is the date, anyway?"

"May 4th." You make a hum of acknowledgement and he gives you a lopsided grin. "2012, incase you forgot the year too."

"I'll mark it in my calendar," You laugh, using your hand to cover your mouth as you continue to chew. "'The Day I Met-'"

"Mobius." He introduces himself, extending his hand over the counter and you shake it. His grip is firm, authoritative. Before you can reply with your own name, he refers to you by it while maintaining perfect eye contact.

You can't explain why, but it feels so right when he says it. Like it was perfectly made to be pronounced in his charming Texan drawl with just the faintest hint of gravel.

While you're fixed in a stunned silence his eyes deliberately dart to the lapel of your uniform. You follow his gaze and laugh at yourself for neglecting that you were indeed wearing a nametag.

"So Mobius... like, from maths?"

"Yeah, like math." He eyes his untouched water and picks up the plastic straw. His fingers move carefully, removing the straw from the perorated paper. You watch with curiosity as the man twists the paper once and pinches the two ends together with his thumb and index finger.

Mobius holds his opposite hand out to you, confident, waiting. With a bemused smile you allow him to guide your hand. His skin is warm, presumably from the way he had cradled his coffee mug, but it's comforting in a way. His rough hand guides you, your finger tracing the geometry of the paper-straw shape.

"A path that twists and turns... but always ends back at the same spot."

"I wasn't very good at math." You admit, and gesture around as if working in a place like this was a testament to that fact. "Why does it matter that it always ends where it began?"

"Well, that all depends on perspective. Maybe it doesn't matter. But to the one who observes it, it makes all the difference." You quirk an eyebrow, silently pressing him to elaborate. "Maybe that point's... where you got your first kiss, the feeling when your favorite football team scores a winning touchdown, a perfect sunset-"

Mobius catches himself trailing off, and looks down at his plate. He puts another bite onto his fork and cheers it to you.

"Or having pie in good company."

You look around the mostly empty diner before bracing your arms against the counter, leaning in as if you were to whisper some great secret.

"Has anyone ever told you you're a bit odd?"

[09:59:06]

"No-" His eyes crinkle as he laughs. "No, that's a new one. But you find it charming." He winked, actually winked, and leaned back in his stool, smirking into his coffee.

Your fork was halfway to your mouth as your just stared at him, frozen. You feel your mouth open and close a few times as you try to think of a somewhat dignified response.

"How would you know that?"

"I just know things." He shrugged.

"Like what?" You challenged.

"How about, Paul- over there." You crane your head to follow his line of eye, your coworker currently bussing a table that had just left. "Worked in this place five years, loves Coke- from the glass bottle, nothing else. Has a girl on the Upper East Side and runs a decent sized internet radio station out of his apartment."

"You're one of his listeners." You narrowed your eyes at him, a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"Oh, no. Hyperpop... not my style."

"Alright, BBC Sherlock-" You countered. You give a subtle head tilt to a woman sitting in a far off booth, papers spread out on the table around her pancake combo. Whoever she was, she definitely wasn't a regular. "How about her?"

"Mrs. Braverman. Youngest of eight siblings, English teacher at the charter school up the avenue. Actually prefers imitation maple syrup to the real thing."

You know very well Mobius could be talking out of his ass. But he's confident, nonchalantly so- like this was a game to him and he was obviously winning.

"What about me?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Your anticipation is palpable as he swallows his final bite, taking the time to wipe his face of crumbs before smiling softly at you.

"You are... a poem of a person. Charming, capable, when you walk into a room people notice- even if you convince yourself that they don't." His gaze is steady, patient, and he's looking at you as if you're the only person in the universe. "You have big dreams, far beyond all... this... and you're gonna make it."

[10:04:59]

The sound of the door chime breaks you out of whatever hypnotic state you had found yourself in. Sucking in a breath and blinking away the very beginnings of tears in your eyes you tell the new customer to sit wherever they like.

Mobius took this chance to check his handheld, sighing at the time and the ever-growing slope of the branch variation.

The reset charge would be set soon, with or without him there.

"Look at that. Duty calls." He stands up and pulls a billfold from his jacket pocket, not even counting as he puts the cash down on the counter.

Mobius turns to leave, but hesitates. He turns back around to face you and places his hands on his hips. Allowing himself to play into the fleeting illusion just a tad longer.

"One more thing I know about you-" Mobius rubbed his chin in careful consideration. "You have a date tonight."

"Ah-" You wag your finger at him and shake your head side to side, "got one wrong."

"Did I? Ah- well... How about we change that?"

You pause. The plates you had been holding found their way back to the counter as you set them down slowly. Once again in a very short time span, he had left you speechless.

"That... was possibly the lamest pickup line I've ever heard." Though you mean it to be snarky, it sounds more like praise coming from your smiling lips. "I get off at 6:30."

"Alright." He looks perfectly pleased with himself as he lightly knocks on the counter with his fist. "It's a date."

Walking out the door, Mobius gave one last look at the diner before reporting to the event site.

He knew would see you again, always at 9:45.

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tommy jack tubbo and george

requested yes/no

part 5 of the great adventures series

summary: training for the military

warning: cursing

AN: really sorry about this tumblr won’t let me change/add paragraphs so could look very weird

the journey there was quick for you, you spent the trip asleep in the back of the car whilst the others were discussing what you were all about to do “How difficult do you think it’s going to be” “dude it’s a military assault course” you woke up halfway there to the noise of the radio playing “afternoon y/n”“afternoon sorry I fell asleep I’m not used to being woken up early in the morning, I blame you guys and ranboo”“y/n have you ever wanted to join the military” “I can't say I have no” “well you’re going to love what we’re doing” “what are we doing” “you’ll see!”

you stood picking up more rocks and handing them to tubbo whilst Tommy and George began to film the introduction to the vlog “were in the jungle” confused you turned to tubbo “psst tubbo what the fuck are we doing, why are we in a woods” before tubbo had time to answer Tommy already began to answer your question telling you that you’re all training for the military, not taking him seriously you started laughing as you all were walking it was only when you were handed a jumpsuit to cover your clothes you realised it wasn’t a joke, you would be lying if you said you were ready for this, after all, you spent your free time playing Minecraft you wasn’t exactly great at sports

you managed to put the jumpsuit on pretty quickly unlike Tommy who was quite clearly struggling to get it on over his trainers “come on sergeant simons were doing a military assault course and you’re struggling to put on the clothes”after struggling to put clothes on the five of you stood together getting photos whilst you all looked decent “me and my boys in the jungle” “This isn’t going to go well” “we’re going to destroy it” “NO”

you hadn’t even reached the course yet and you were already tripping up over rocks and sticks that were on the muddy trail “we’re walking to our deaths..y/n is already falling over” “Hey I didn’t sign up to do exercise” once you finally reached the start of the course you were met with a canon, a dog and a man in a yellow jumper you stood as a team listening to what you were about to do and how you were actually a team of six, you hoped he meant the dog was a team member but no turns out the canon was the sixth member

“We have to take the canon with us” “...and take it apart into six pieces at each obstacle and rebuild it ” you handed your phone to the Russ, not trusting yourself to keep it on you especially since you were already tripping up before reaching the assault course “thank you” “good luck” “huh” you didn’t have time to process what was said as Mr military began counting down from three, the five of you ran to the first obstacle tubbo dragging the canon Tommy climbed over the net first with tubbo following after “What happens if I fall” it was as though you and tubbo had read each other’s mind as you both responded with “you’ll die” “death” you climbed over next with a wheel “reckon I can slide down the net” “that will hurt y/n don’t do- and you’re already doing it” you slid down the net despite George telling you not to do so, it didn’t take too long for the others to get over, you all began reassembling the canon “can we talk about our feelings” “I feel like shit I jumped out of a plane not long ago now I feel like I’m doing PE all over again” “Y/N JUST HELP BUILD THE CANON” “I'M TRYING ODDLY ENOUGH I'M NOT BUILT FOR THE MILITARY”once the canon was built Tommy and tubbo ran off with it “who’s going to tell them we need to test it” once Mr military shouted they ran back “why do we have to do this” “it’s the fucking rules Tommy and life is full of them” “like taxes” “tax fraud” a few seconds later the five of you yelled “bang” neither of you saying it at the same time “it didn’t work” “yes it did now come on”

you all ran towards the next obstacle, a giant wall. you all quickly dismantled the canon, Tommy went over first and began bickering with Mr military about him not being his dad whilst you tubbo and jack struggled to pass over the heaviest part of the canon “lift and lift” “really George? I thought we could just throw it over and hope he catches it” “Please don’t do that” “I am very sorry George but I'm struggling here” you continued your struggling tubbo tried to help Tommy through his words “you’re strong bossman I believe in you” “by the way, you really picked the shortest people to do this” part of the canon landed with a thud “welp hope he’s not dead” you climbed over next again carrying the wheel “he’s not dead guys don’t worry” you laughed as George took his time getting over the wall “I'm poving” “GET OVER THE WALL” you all stood questioning what time you were on completely forgetting that you were supposed to reassemble the canon “This is going to be embarrassing” “you guys could be rebuilding the canon” you could have built and tested the canon quickly however Tommy George and tubbo began telling people to subscribe whilst you built the canon with jack “we’re so good at this” “heh maybe not” you all test-fired the canon and made your way to the next obstacle

you were sent to go over the rope first, this was extremely difficult for you, the rope kept swaying as you walked causing you to lose your balance on multiple occasions “step on the V” “I’m going to fall” you made it over after a couple of minutes, like tubbo you also felt a bit ill, you assumed it was because it was quite hot and a lot was going on “how you feeling y/n” “Honestly, I’m jealous of ranboo, he’s at home living his best life and I’m in the middle of the woods overheating and climbing but no it’s pretty funny watching the others” you laughed as you overheard tubbo talking about how they’re only three obstacles in and how he’s going to die “YOU GOT THIS TUBBO!” Tommy crossed next, like you, he took his time he was then followed by tubbo who was trying to speed run walking over the rope you waited for jack and George cheering them on whilst Tommy was asking around for water and complaining about wearing a gamer hoodie. at this point, everyone seemed unmotivated “3 2 1.. bang”

“oh lovely..tires” tubbo went through first with the heaviest part of the canon “ill help you tubbo” you following behind helping him carry it due to it being stupidly heavily “so how are you tubbo” “AAAAAAAAAAA” “aye me too bud” you and tubbo decided that from now you two were going to work as a pair so it would be easier for you both, over the past few weeks tubbo became one of your closest friends the pair of you even started trending on Twitter as you did an irl stream where you both went on a walk at the beach and met several fans. whilst you and tubbo were making your way through Tommy jack and George we’re trying to figure out who should take what. “there’s piss in this one” “what the fuck?!” the pair of you finally got out from the tires “good job you two” “thank you” you rested your head on tubbos shoulder trying to get your breath back “I don’t think I’m made for the military” a few moments later Tommy made it to the tire full of water and put his finger in it “PEE” “Tommy why-” you stood looking around at the scenery, the sound of Tommy yelling about crawling away from George and that he’s ‘touched the piss’ was enough the drag you away from your own thoughts, you watched the others struggling to get through the tires and was amazed at the fact tubbo went back in to help them. you tried to ignore Tommy and George being dramatic as you tried to figure out how many more obstacles you had to go but you got distracted by George “ill just eat you if you die” “Mr military I’d like some help right about now” you walked over to Tommy and helped him get out of the tires “thanks y/n” “welcome” “how you doing bossman you know I pulled through your part...what are you doing that’s George's water” Tommy decided to throw the bottle to you so you could have a drink as he remembered you’d not had a drink since you landed from jumping out of the plane “Thanks, Tommy” “YOU BOTH DRANK GEORGES WATER” “he can drink the piss” “what Tommy said” you laughed as you walked over to where jack was in the tires “ HI JACK” “Jesus christ you scared me, hi y/n” you stood waiting for everyone to finish “I know exactly what the slowest time was” “we’re going for a new record it’s fine” “of being the slowest?” “yeah” “you know what Mr military ill clart you” “you’ll what me” “I’m gonna just go over here” you walked over to where parts of the canon were and got ready to assemble it again whilst George began throwing water over jack and tubbo to bless them then did the same to Tommy, you hid behind a tree thinking he wouldn’t notice you, however, he did and within a minute you too had water poured on you “Thanks, I was thirsty” “oh we know” “The fuck is that supposed to mean” “HELP BUILD THE CANON PLEASE” like last time you all built the canon tested it and ran to the next obstacle

“can we just you know drag the already built canon under there with us” “absolutely not” “I tried” you all disassembled it again and like last time you and tubbo went first crawling under “I don’t want to alarm you all but it is soaking wet in here” “delightful” a few moments later you were both working well “tubbo I’m scared of the dark and it’s pitch black” “you’ve got this bossman we’re almost done” you calmed down quickly until Tommy decided to jump above the pair of you

“SORRY” “TOMMY I SWEAR TO GOD” “YOU DICK” you laughed slightly and tubbo checked up on you “you okay?” “I'm fine if you’re fine” “come on let’s finish this thing” the pair of you continued and finished relatively quickly tubbo got out first “NEVER AGAIN” “Sorry about that buddy” “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU” you helped push part of the canon out so tubbo could easily drag it out he then reached out so you could hold his hand and help pull you out “I've never been so happy to see the light” the pair of you sat on the floor waiting for the others to finish, you both made a bet on who was going to laugh first somehow you won as tubbo laughed at George and jack struggling to crawl through “YOU LAUGHED” “OH SHITTT” Russ came over to you both whilst recording so he could ask about how everything’s going “I’m covered in mud and the jumpsuit is wet, it isn’t a good day for the y/n community it was dark as hell in there “Tommy is a dick and tried to kill me and y/n” “I DIDN'T TRY TO KILL YOU BOTH” “I think he heard us” “WE ALL DID WERE NOT DEAF” “NO, BUT ACCORDING TO INSTAGRAM YOU'RE DEAD” you stared directly into the camera “sometimes it’s like I still hear jack talking to me” George and jack started complaining about how much further the is to go and how it was dirty and Tommy's response about being sorry it doesn’t fit their tory lifestyle made you burst out laughing “YOU LAUGHED” “tubbo my beloved you laughed ages ago you’ve already lost” “But we’re equal now” “no” the pair of you stood bickering to the point you didn’t realise the others had finished the obstacle and were shouting for you to test the canon “Y/N TUBBO WE NEED TO TEST THE CANON” the pair of you ran over “3 2 1 BANG”

“just going to warn you all you see that black cloud over there” “oh yay a storm is coming” you grabbed a wheel and followed behind jack across the wooden bridge “y/n he’s been splintered” “oh no poor George” “these are my gaming fingers” “no gaming for you I guess” “Stop talking about gaming dickheads” you spent a lot of time talking to George and jack whilst crossing over trying not to fall over you all even made a few plans to stream a laugh and the stream ends on jacks channel soon

you were all building the canon again whilst being informed you weren’t even halfway through and already 40 minutes in “high score” “well it’s definitely high” “Y/N??” “coming tubbo hang on my shoelace came undone” after tying your shoelace you grabbed a wheel and caught up to tubbo “if you go over tubbo ill pass it over to you and we can keep doing that” this method worked well for you both tubbo would climb over you would pass the wheel and middle part of the canon then climb over and repeat the process you heard Tommy in the background complaining about the fact he’s wearing jeans and jacks response “Yeah but I’m wearing jeans” “tubbo and y/n are almost done and you’re complaining about jeans” “jean boy pops off” “I'M WEARING JEANS AS WELL QUIT COMPLAINING” “Can we just go home and play smash bros” “Tommy this was your idea I didn’t even get on an option” “Sorry about that y/n but you get to spend time with me and gogy” “lucky me” you weren’t going to lie this was hard work and you were exhausted you felt like you could just fall asleep right where you were stood however tubbo wasn’t going to let that happen “I’m never going on an adventure with Tommy again” “me either” this of course was bullshit and you were both going on another adventure soon you stood watching your friends struggle to get over the obstacles you decided to offer your support and went to help jack and George using a similar method to that you used with tubbo “thanks y/n” “anytime” “y/n you could have helped me, tubbo pulled me over I could have been injured” “very sorry to hear that sergeant simons sucks to suck I guess” you all reassembled the canon tested it and ran to the next obstacle “I hate it here” “there’s a storm on the way” “Thanks, y/n for the input” “welcome George” you all noticed the net luckily you didn’t have to disassemble the canon this very well could be because you were running far behind and a storm was on its way. you watched as the others went through and joked about tubbo losing his shoe and Tommy getting stuck, this obstacle wasn’t made for you either as you kept getting caught on the net “I'VE BEEN CAUGHT AGAIN” jack lifted the net for you again so you could easily crawl through “thank you jack” you all then made it to the next obstacle Tommy crawled on the metal bars with you following after him whilst George used the monkey bars once you all made it across you had to walk across many metal planks used to form a bridge Tommy walked close behind you knowing you were extremely clumsy and didn't want you to fall “irl nettles” “The fuck are you on about Tommy I don’t think you’re following my advice about going outside” you all dissembled the canon as you got to the tires the only difference this time was you needed to climb over them “it’s rather windy” “there’s dirt in my eye” like before you and tubbo used the same method “look at them go” “I LIKE A DA BEE” “I'M SCARED OF BEES” “oh okay” “Why do they keep taking the plank” “I don’t know tubbo just takes it and y/n follows” you both finished rather quickly and neither of you got injured or fell “really good job you two” “thank you Mr military” you stood leaning on tubbo watching George pick up random rocks and put them into his pocket similar to what you had been doing the entire way around the course “I don’t think George or y/n have been outside before they keep picking things up like souvenirs” “Y/N GEORGE HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN THE RAIN BEFORE” both of you just stared at Tommy making him laugh you helped the others get across the tires and even helped prevent Tommy from falling a couple of times. unfortunately, you ended up twisting your ankle but tried to ignore it not wanting to ruin the vlog for anyone, not that you would have, however it was clear you were in pain as you had started limping. one at a time you all crossed the rope “This is me climbing I am climbing” you cheered everybody on and then it was your turn

unlike the others the rope kept shaking as you walked across mainly because you were scared of falling and in pain all whilst trying to rush, this was clearly your least favourite obstacle of the day “take your time y/n don’t fall” “thank you jack I'm trying my best I promise” once at the end of the rope, Tommy took the wheel off you and helped you get down and pulled you into a quick side hug “you’re doing great let’s go we’re almost done” you knew your friends wouldn’t make you continue if you really didn’t want to however you were nearly finished and was determined to finish. you all reassembled the canon and made your way to the next obstacle

“there’s no way we’re getting through that without twanging a rope” “good luck” you and tubbo made your way through the ropes trying not to hit them, this proved to be a pretty impossible task and you ended up twanging the ropes several times, this mixed with everyone else’s failure to cross without hitting the rope meant you all had to do 20 push-ups, after reassembling the canon twice as you all didn’t do it correctly the first time and testing it you all had to do the push-ups “I’m sure y/n and George only did 3” “sorry bossman”

you all were finally making your way to the last obstacle determined to finish “Big Russ can we go to McDonald's after this” “sure” the five of you cheered and ran the last obstacle quickly disassembling the canon, you led the way over the obstacle tubbo Tommy jack and George following behind you, despite tubbo losing his shoe and George going backwards the five of you quickly completed the obstacle and reassembled and tested the canon running over to the finishing line

you all finally completed it and waited for your result “45 minutes easily” “1 hour 11 minutes and 46 seconds” “no way that’s a world record” “well we tried” the five of you stood telling people to subscribe before ending the recording and making your way back to the car

the car ride back felt a lot longer than the way there. you were all exhausted

“how’s your ankle” “it’s not too bad it’ll probably hurt more tomorrow morning”

“I'm still not over Tommy trying to kill me and tubbo” “I didn’t try to kill you” “sure” the rest of the journey was chaos you all screamed along to the songs on the radio eventually you all got to McDonald's and spent the rest of the night enjoying each other’s company.

taglist

@l0ver0fj0y @c1loudee

[nightlight-firelight]

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait! Art block (Or writing block?) is the worst and I’ve been busy. I’m also trying to make this a gender neutral story and I’m not too experienced on this so hopefully I’m doing ok so far! Now with that out of the way, on to chapter 2!

“Falling (in love) So Fast That I Can’t Even Think!”

Chapter 2

You take a second to realize that he was holding you a bit tight around the waist, and the silence of the tension began to build every second that neither of you moved.

“Hi?” You ask him. You mentally smacked yourself in the head for that comment. At this point of view, you can see that the, now real and very handsome doctor, eyes were a shade of blue that could take your breath away and-

“Oh, um,” Eggman studdered out a bit softer and less confident the what you have seen him in the show. “Hi.” He finally decided to look around at his predicament and examined your room.

“Where am I?” Eggman finally pulled you back onto the bed, creaking slightly from the unexpected new weight. Your mind finally snaps back into reality as the warmth from his hands fades from your hips, already missing the connection he had. You need to relax, and not freak out the poor man sitting on your bed.

“You’re in my room.” You finally managed to push the words out of your lips. His face turns to confusion and worries at all of the merchandise of not just his universe, but the main Sonic series as well. His mind mostly likely wandered into a ‘crazy fan’ mode and tried to back up. You perk up and lean back slightly, making sure to not fall off the bed this time, but also give him some space to relax. Ivo’s movements began to quicken as he still backs up, almost falling off the other side of the bed. He catches himself and looks at you with a face of slight panic and worry.

“What’s all this? Who are you and what-” You cut him off with a hand slightly raised, signaling to calm down and to relax. “Breath, please. I won’t hurt you.” You promised him as you instruct him through a breathing exercise. After a small bit of confusion between the two of you, you lead the poor man into your living room, hesitantly on his part, and led him down on your couch. Just walking into your kitchen to grab two white ceramic mugs, you hear him clear his throat.

“So, what’s going on?” You can feel his gaze on you as the first mug is filled with hot liquid, the steam coming from the filling mug as your brain thinks of what you should do. You switch mugs, taking out his mug for yours. You take a breath.

You’re in my house, and not in your multiverse.” Finally giving him some type of answer as his, at this point, huge bear paw-like hands, envelope the mug and took a small sip. You went to grab your mug as he commented on the choice of beverage you had given him.

“Hot Cocoa?” The question you as you at on the opposite side of the couch, holding what you liked to think, that at this moment was your liquid courage. You take a small sip and taste the liquid pooling into your body. You almost blush as you remembered the ‘CowBot’ episode where Eggman offered Sonic and Tails hot coco and messed with them, waiting for his machine to arrive.

“I thought you might like it.” You confess as he stairs back into his cup, pondering on his whole situation. He takes a breath and looks at you.

“Can you explain to me how I may have gotten here?” All you could do is nod as you start the long trek into the explanation of who is and on all of your knowledge on how he may have gotten here.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The next few hours were, as you expected, emotional. You had to start with who you were, where he was, and leading him into the conversation that may or may not have caused way too much emotion for the both of you.

“So the main series follows Sonic and his friends, but mostly Sonic, throughout his adventures fighting his version of the doctor. There in the form of games.” He takes a sec and has a look that tells you to keep going. You explain all the story of how the franchise came to be from the nineties till the game you were kinda worried about. Sonic Adventure 2. You tell him the basic plot points and slowly explain how the Main Univers Doc’s Grandfather died along with his grandchild, Maira. He winces when you explain this and see that he’s shaking whenever the two popped up. When you explained that Shadow was made by his Grandfather, his mood perked up and he getting giddy and you have to admit, his cute squeal of figuring out that somewhere he could be related to one of the most powerful people on his island. You smile and after his cute reaction, keeps the conversation going with more information about the franchise. By the time you had reached the current point of the history of the franchise, the man had a lot of questions.

“So let me get this straight,” Eggman’s posture was lax as he was leaned back into the couch, making himself more at home for the time being. “You’re telling me that the main version of me has released a water monster god, a prototype of Shadow, that is a giant lizard, a god within the earth that’s made of darkness, and tried to play with time and space like it was a toy?” He questioned as he took another sip of his now lukewarm cup of cocoa, stroking his mustache pensively, looking at you for a reasonable answer on why he would do so. “Well the BioLizard thing wasn’t truly his fault, but the rest were planed. And I’m saying ‘planned’ with quotes because I don’t think for a second that he thought a few of those through.” You chuckle at the main Doc’s decisions. While you did think his plans were really good, sometimes you think he may have never really thought things through before going to start his plans. Doc downs the rest of his drink as you realized that your cup is still half full. He sets it on the counter in front of the two of you and leans back into your couch. You smile at the thought that he’s finally warming up to you. In all reality, he could take you down with a swing of his fist and run anytime, but having him trust you this much to serve him a drink and have a nice conversation did bring up some fuzzy feelings you have been trying to push down withing the last few hours.

“So I’m still confused, how did I get here?” Doc asks as he cracks his spin a bit to relax better. You take another sip of your dink and set your cup down. You look him in the eye with a bit of confusion. “I’m not sure. I just watch the DVD and you were the one to start seeing me, after the ending of your battle with Sonic and Tails, that white light appeared and you grabbed me before I fell off my bed.” You look towards him and blush a bit, your face now warm from the memory of the save. “Thank you for catching me, I don’t think a concussion would have helped the situation now, would it?” You try and make the small joke appealing to make it less awkward. He blushes and nods, a small ‘no problem’ slips from his lips as you can see he’s trying to not make eye contact and his cheeks, just slightly visible under his mustache, a small bit of warmth wraps around his cheeks. Your brain gets hit with a moment of clarity and you jump up from the couch and take a second to grab your DVD player from your room, bringing it back to him to study. “I’m not sure if this would help you get back home,” You start, “ But it’s a start.” You also hand him the note that came with the box along with the Sonic figure. He takes the figure first and rolls it over a bit, looking at the detail.

“So this figure and the note came along in the box with the DVDs?” He asked as he set the figure down as he grabbed the note. You blush and remember that wasn’t the only thing in the box. You almost had forgotten the figure of the living breathing man in front of you. You ask him to give you a second and hurry back to your room. Searching the room, you almost give up on finding the figure, until you spot it halfway under the bed. You bend over and grab the figure and examine it. It’s still the same figure, but less detailed now. It actually looks like how one of the box set figures is. Cheaply made and having a missing paint splotch here and there. It still was a good-looking figure though, just not as best made. You start your very slow pace back to the living room, taking a small bit of time to think about something. The Sonic figure was still the same as it was before the doctor arrived, why did the doctor change-. You stop mid-way in your hallway to finally piece a big puzzle together. The figure of the doctor was some type of catalyst for his arrival. Like a gateway to get here. ‘And now that the figure is back to normal, does that mean that the Sonic one-’ You didn’t finish that thought as you hurry back to the living room, the doctor just putting the not back onto the counter. He looks up as grabs the DVD player and sets it onto his lap. He smiles as you enter the room.

“ Hey, you ok?” He asks you as you sit back down next to him, gently grab the Sonic figure, cradling it with some care.

“I’m ok,” You answer with some melancholy in your voice. “It’s just that I’ve been thinking of something that just came to me.” You look over to him, Doc staring back, patiently waiting for you to continue. You take a breath and look him in the eyes. “The box set also came with a figure of you as well.” You explain as you gave him the small toy, his face going into a slight pout over the quality as he looks it over.

“I’m much more handsome than this.” He sulks over the craftsmanship of his figure compared to the one in your hand. You pat him on the back with your free hand, feeling him tense for a sec and then relax. You giggle at the line, remembering it from the 30th-anniversary comic. Your mood lightening up a bit at his reaction. “It was actually just as well made before you appeared in my room.” You explained as you rub your thumber gingerly over Sonic’s quills. Your mood dampens a bit. “I’m really thinking that the figure was the way-”

And a giant flash of white engulfed both of your eyesight. You scream as you feel a sense of weightlessness as you clutch the figure closer to you. Opening your eyes after that flashbang of light, as see that you’re in. You blink and take a look around. You try and gain a scene of where you were as you feel like you were falling down. You see Eggman trying his best not to scream as he is also in the same predicament as you. You look at this ‘tube’ as you decided to call it and take a look a the warping walls. They move with colors that remind you of the goop In Super Mario Sunshine. The colors of yellow, magenta, and white mixing together and making the whole experience feel like a trippy dip around a pipe. The tube had some slight aura to it as it was some type of fuzzy feeling in the back of your spine, not good but not unpleasant either. You look down past your now slightly screaming partner in crime to see a large warp ring that looked something right of the Sonic movie, looking to land right over some type of woods. You realized from the rate your accelerating from and the height from the ring to the ground would lead to more than a few broken bones.

Holding your breath and snaping your eyes closed as you wait for the pain to hit, the now cool air of the new land you arrived on pools into your skin as you want to feel at least a bit of joy knowing that right at the end, you feel cool. You never did feel the ground but instead a pair of arms holding you and the sensation of rocketing back up. Opening your eyes, you see Doc holding you again, having been lifted from the ground by two sleek black jetpack type of wings protruding from the back of his jacket. He looks down at you with a smirk and chuckles a bit.

“We have got to stop doing this.” He’s sarcastic, and the potential way of flirting, way of teasing sends you a bit more than tomato red in the face as you wonder if it’s the altitude of the comment that making it hard to think right at the moment. You almost didn’t hear him as he starts to talk.

“It looks like we’re flying over Seaside Island Jungle.” He starts to explain. “I’m going to fly us back to my lair and we can figure out from there what’s going on.” You look over his shoulder for a brief second to see the portal closing and finally dusting away with a puff of gold sparks. Looking back and see a breathtaking view, seeing the full grand scale of the island from up in the clouds. You can even start making out at sever locations from both seasons. You only think of what’s going to happen next when you see golden sparks emulate from your closed hands and feel a heavyweight in your arms and Doc quickly getting down to the ground, getting to be just at the end of ‘Nameless village’ as your reflexes grab on tightly to what you were holding onto. You both look down and see a very unconscious Sonic the Hedgehog in our arms. You look him over and inspect the teenager and see that he’s breathing, and in an ok shape. You look back at Doc and even he’s surprised by this addition to the group.

“Is he ok?”You question him as he gives Sonic a once over. You getting used to finally landing on the ground, stretching your legs after that small adventure.

‘He’ll be fine after some rest, but he looks exhausted.” Eggman questions as you scoop Sonic back up into your arms, being careful of his quills, making sure you don’t end up looking like a human banana peel. You look over at Doc and he looks like he’s, and you have to look a bit more closely at his expression because he looks, jealous? You ponder on that thought that the man might be jealous of the unconscious blue blur as the both of you set off into town, wondering where to go from here.

“Hey!” You hear a cry from in front of the, three? of you. You look up and see four multi-colored anthropomorphic animals. “What did the two of you do to Sonic?” Cried the two-tailed Kitsune. You see all three, with the exception of Amy, who at this point is trying to stop the trio, of Sonic’s friends close in around you. You give a panicked look to Doc as it dawned on you that Doc and yourself were about to be attacked by Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks.

Shit.

[storiesforallfandoms]

caught feelings ~ corpse husband

part one

word count: 1776

request?: sort of?

description: after talking for some, the two of them decide to meet in person

pairing: corpse x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist

You and Corpse regularly talked and Skyped after that night. He would regularly invite you to play Among Us with the gang, and you’d end up talking for hours on end before and after. You became someone that Corpse confided in when he was having bad mental health days or insomnia at night, and he became someone you talked to when you felt alone.

One day you were in the middle of making something to eat when your phone rang. It was the familiar ringtone for Corpse. You silently cursed to yourself as you quickly washed your hands and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“What took you so long to answer?”

You couldn’t help but smile at hearing his familiar voice. “Hey, have some patience. I was doing something.”

“Something more important than talking to me?”

“There’s a lot of things more important than talking to you.”

“Ouch.”

You giggled at his response. Before you could say anything else, Corpse asked you, “Where do you live currently, by the way?”

“I live in Los Angeles,” you responded. “I moved out here some time ago. Sean had convinced me to start my own YouTube channel, and I did for a while, but realized it wasn’t my passion. Why do you ask?”

“I live in San Diego. I was thinking...that’s only two hours from Los Angeles...maybe we could meet up sometime. Actually meet one another.”

You were shocked by the request. He really wanted to meet you? Not just video call, but actually meeting face to face? You weren’t sure why, but that really surprised you.

“I-I’d love to meet in person,” you finally responded, realizing you had been silent for way too long. “Do you want to drive here, or me to you, or...?”

“Well...not to be too presumptive or anything, but I was going to ask if you’d like to come here and stay for a while...maybe like a week or two.”

Your heart was fluttering with excitement. You wanted nothing more than to scream and jump for joy like a child, but you knew you couldn’t be that forward with Corpse so soon. Instead, you took a deep, calming breath and responded, “Yeah, I’d love that.”

“Okay. Okay, cool.” You could hear the smile in his voice. “We can work out all the details later.”

When you both hung up, you excitedly jumped around your kitchen.

~~~~~~

Nearly a week later, you were nearing the end of your two hour drive to Corpse’s place. You kept anxiously checking the GPS every few minutes, hoping to be there soon. The entire ride felt so long, you just wanted to get to his place.

When you finally pulled up to his apartment you were shacking with nervousness and excitement. You got out of the car and approached the apartment door. You hesitated a moment before knocking on the door. Near seconds later, Corpse greeted you.

You couldn’t help the smile that formed on your face the minute you saw him. His face mirrored yours and you felt your stomach fill with butterflies being able to see his smile in person.

Without hesitation, Corpse took you in his arms and hugged you tightly. You melted into his embrace, feeling as though you really belonged there, and as though you never wanted to let go.

“It’s nice to finally meet you like in person,” he said once he pulled away. “You’re definitely as small as I pictured you being.”

“Hey!” you playfully scolded. “You’re only a foot taller than me, that’s not a major difference!”

“It’s major enough,” he teased. “Let me help you bring your things in.”

You only had packed two bags as you were only planning on staying for about a week and a half. You figured it was only a two hour drive back to your place if you needed to restock on clothes, and you and Corpse had already agreed that you wouldn’t be leaving the apartment enough to have to change outfits too much from day to day.

He led you into his apartment and showed you to the guest bedroom. It was a small room with only a bed, a closet and a bedside table.

“I don’t get a lot of guests that use this bedroom,” he admitted. “Never found much use of buying furniture for this room.”

“I have a feeling I won’t be spending too much time in this room anyways, so it’s fine.”

Upon realizing what you said, you felt your face flush with embarrassment. You tried to correct yourself, but it just came out as a string of stutters. Corpse smirked at you before turning to leave the room. You sighed heavily and followed him.

“I don’t know what kind of food you like but we can go to the grocery store later if you want,” he said as you followed him into his kitchen. “I have mainly frozen stuff because I just do quick meals or I order delivery.”

“I order so much delivery, we can just go halfs on food.”

“I knew I was going to like having you here.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Corpse’s words.

You were both silent after that. Neither of you really knew what else to say. It seemed like, when you weren’t face to face, it was easy to say just about anything. But now...now you couldn’t think of a single topic to bring up.

It wasn’t really an awkward silence, though. It almost felt comforting to just be stood there with him, to be in the same room instead of looking at each other through a computer screen.

“I have an idea,” he finally said. “Why don’t we order some take out and watch a movie tonight. Whatever you want to watch, even a cheesy rom-com.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like cheesy rom-coms,” you teased. “But okay, I’d like that a lot.”

~~~~~~

After you fully unpacked your bags, and after Corpse had recorded a video to upload the next day, the two of you sat on his couch to watch the movie you had picked. You both decided to order some pizza, so when it arrived you set it out on Corpse’s coffee table and hit play on the movie.

Halfway through eating the pizza, you began to feel full. You finished your last piece and leaned back, instinctually cuddling into Corpse’s side. Realizing what you had done, you immediately moved away from him.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” you said.

He gave you a confused look. “Why? I didn’t mind.”

Before you could respond, Corpse wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you close to him. You settled into his side, taking in his scent and his warmth. Being in his arms felt natural, like you belonged there. And you definitely had no intentions of leaving that spot any time soon.

You were halfway through the movie when you blurted out, “Do I meet the expectations you had?”

Corpse looked down at you. “What do you mean?”

You pulled away from his embrace to properly look at him. “Like...did you have any expectations about me when we were just talking virtually? And if you did, does the real life version of me meet them?”

He seemed shocked by your question. “No, I didn’t have any expectations. I just...I hoped you’d be the same sweet, dorky girl I had been talking to for weeks, and you are. I didn’t think there was much else that would be different about you.” He paused a moment before asking, “Did you have any expectations for me?”

You shook your head. “No, you’re exactly as I thought you’d be.”

“Okay, good. So, we’ve got that out of the way.”

You nodded and settled back into Corpse’s arms again. You had your head over his heart and you could feel its steady beating. It was almost enough to lull you to sleep, until Corpse spoke again.

“Why did you ask if I had any expectations of you?”

You sighed and pulled away from him again. “I...always have this fear in making new friends online. I’m afraid that I’m setting myself up to let the person I’m being friendly with down because I’m not going to meet any expectations they have of me. Sean is really the only online friend I’ve made and kept being friends with because he refused to let me rescind into myself when he started asking to meet in person. It’s also why I never really kept up with my YouTube channel, because I was afraid of projecting this false persona and then when people meet me in real life I’m not what they expected.”

Corpse put a hand on your arm gently, almost as if testing the boundaries, before moving closer. You expected him to pull you into a hug and tell you that your worries were silly (Sean had done the same when you had met him in person first). You were taken by surprise when he cupped your face instead and kissed you.

You weren’t sure how to react at first. No guy had ever been so forward in making a move on you. Every first kiss you had had with an ex had been you making the first move, or you asking if they’d want to kiss you before they did. It took a while for your brain to process what was happening before yelling at you, Just kiss him back you idiot!

You ran your hands through Corpse’s curly black hair, pulling him closer to kiss him more deeply. His hands were gently cupping your face, his thumbs running over your cheeks before he pulled your head away.

“You’re everything I expected, and more,” he admitted. “You don’t know how happy I am to have you here. It’s been so long since I’ve felt comfortable having someone in my apartment, especially someone I’ve only known a short while. But I feel so comfortable with you, like I can trust you. Maybe...maybe too comfortable, though. I should’ve asked before I kissed you, I just got lost in the moment.”

You giggled. “If you had asked I would’ve said yes.”

The smile on Corpse’s face warmed your heart and made you feel tingly inside. “Well then...can I do it again?”

You laughed before pulling him to you, kissing him again. You could feel him smile against your lips as he pushed you back onto the couch, causing you to exclaim in surprise as he jumped on top of you and began to kiss you again.

It’s safe to say you both forgot the movie and the pizza after that.

[hopeless-ro-simptic]

Sweet Poison - Yandere Alpha! Tamaki Amajiki x Omega! Reader

Shout out to  @homework-is-the-real-killer for the inspiration. I don’t know if you wanted something spicey... but that’s what your getting. I have a part 2 planned out for this guy to kinda explain a little more from Tamaki’s side of things of what is actually going on. Also I have no clue if y’all will like my take on him, but I see him as being someone who yea he’s a little shy but once he gets used to you he’s at least not a complete stuttering mess. 

Part 2

Warnings: NSFW, quirk play, definitely tentacle porn, unknowing drug use, dub-con if you squint?, Honestly I don’t know how to tag so If you think I need to add something please tell me. 

Word Count: Just over 2k

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“What’s wrong Y/n? You are so fidgety today.”

“Oh, haha am I? Sorry I just really want class to be over so I can go see Tamaki.”

Your friends shared looks before turning back to you questions in the eyes.

“I know you guys are courting, but don’t you think you spend a lot of time with him? You don’t even sit with us at lunch anymore.”

“Oh come on guys, I literally went to the movies with you guys last night.”

“Yea but…”

They didn’t get a chance to finish their sentence, the bell chiming to let everyone know that the school day was officially over. You were flying out of your seat and down the hall before they could even call out your name. You were absolutely giddy, ready to be enveloped in the scent you had grown to love. You turned the corner, pausing for a brief second as your breath caught, watching as Tamaki and his two friends stood chatting. You couldn’t help but think about how much he looked like an angel. He was so perfect, and he was all yours.

Without a regard for the rest of the students you took off down the hall practically jumping on the alpha wrapping your arms around his neck as his instinctively wrapped around your waist pulling you against him and burying his blushing face into your neck.

“B-Bunny. You got here fast.”

“I missed you.” You took a deep inhale of his scent and could feel him doing the same. Nothing made you feel as good as being near the alpha.

You didn’t see the looks that his friends shared, Mirio clearing his throat one, twice, three times before Tamaki finally pulled away from you enough to look at the taller blonde. Shoving his hands into his pockets but still leaning on you, his face beet red once he realized the attention the two of you had garnered from the rest of the hallway.  

“Ah, I’m sorry Tamaki, I didn’t mean to make a scene…”

“Trust me, it’s fine. He won’t say it but he loves it. He hasn’t stopped talking about you all day.” Nejire jumped in making both of you blush even harder, Takami burying his face in your shoulder mumbling softy to you.

“Can we go now?”

You couldn’t help but smile, reaching up and patting his hair gently, agreeing quietly with the timid alpha before the two of you said your goodbyes to his friends.

The two of you slowly made your way over to the third years dorms, fingers intertwined, completely skipping over your own room and opting to go into his instead. Shortly after the two of you had started courting, he had been so nervous to ask you to move your nest into his room, saying he just wanted to you close to him, and how could you say no to such a sweet request? Now, just two months into courting, you practically lived together, only leaving when the teacher would come by to do their final check that everyone was in their correct rooms, just to sneak back in only an hour later.

The only reason the two of you weren’t bonded yet was because UA had a strict policy against it, insisting their students wait until they were graduated so as to keep them focused on their studies. Still… everyone knew you belonged to Tamaki.

Once the two of you were finally alone in his room, you couldn’t help yourself, immediately latching onto him, nuzzling against his cheek softly and cooing into his ear. He wasn’t any better, arms wrapping around your waist and pulling the two of you into your nest that was on his bed, pressing his lips against your scent gland kissing softly as he started to thoroughly scent you, taking his time and making sure to cover everything.

“I missed you so much. I hate that you have to be around other alpha’s all day, muddles your scent.” The stutter in his voice was gone, and even though he was speaking softly, murmuring really, he was doing it right in your ear making you wiggle against him. He had grown to be so comfortable with you that once the two of you were alone, it was clear as day he was an alpha. One that your omega was dying to submit to his every, albeit quiet, whim.

You hummed in agreement, shifting so that you were comfortably laying halfway on top of him, a soft purr leaving your lips as he rubbed his cheek against you, before he started to pepper soft kisses along your jaw moving towards your lips.

The entire room was filled to the brim with his mouth-watering scent, the scent of sea salt mixed and lavender with just the slightest hint of something warmer, darker, that you couldn’t place. Whatever it was, was absolutely heaven to you, and the timid dark haired alpha was pumping it out like he wanted to coat the entire building in it.

“Tama-“ You started to whine, your omega needing more, only for his gentle and oh so soft lips to be pressed against yours, swallowing your needy sound, his inner alpha making him a little bolder after being separated from you all day. You kissed him back, feeling yourself getting worked up just by being near him, touching him, smelling him, let alone kissing him. He slid his tongue against your lips hesitantly and you immediately parted your lips allowing him entrance which he greedily took. You practically melted against him, a soft purr leaving your chest as one of his hands slipped up into your hair lightly holding your head in place. It was at that point you noticed his tongue was getting bigger, longer, slimier, and the texture changing. You knew that if you pulled away now you would see that it had changed into a tentacle and you couldn’t help but clench your thighs slightly at that thought, a groan leaving his lips at you squeezing him between your thighs.

And then all at once he tasted so mouth wateringly sweet, so delicious, so… addicting. You could feel your mind filling up with the dizzying fog that always came with kissing your alpha, a high that you could never get enough of. It was this feeling, this feeling of flying, that made you so sure that he was the alpha for you. That made you know without a doubt that you would never want another. That you would never leave him.

You felt like your body was going numb, no longer having control of it and enjoying the high that he was giving you as he regarded you carefully through silted eyes before he slowed the kiss and pulled away, your eyes latching onto the string of saliva that connected the two of you, a soft whimper leaving your lips as you shuffled closer. You wanted more, needed more. More, more, more, more, more of him. You couldn’t control the whine that left your lips, your eyes transfixed on his own, leaning down to press soft kitten licks that he blushed at, tasting the lingering sweet spit that was left behind.

“D-do you love me bunny?”

You didn’t hesitate, pressing your lips against his own in short quick pecks, desperately trying to get him to open back up, to let you have more of that high that you so badly wanted. That only he could give to you.

“Yes. More than anything.”

His hands came up shakily to your hips, digging his fingers into the plush flesh there, just the touch making you gasp softly, his eyes transfixed onto your face with awe, soaking in every reaction, even blush, every flutter of your eyes as he kneaded your skin.

“Do you promise?” You could feel his grip guiding you, nudging you to move up and up and up until you had your knees on either side of his blushing face, his fingers cupping your ass from underneath your school skirt, shaking as they brushed at your panties which were already soaked tugging them down slowly, oh so slowly. His eyes flicking from your face to what lied before him, begging for attention, slick dripping down your thighs. He could practically taste you from here.

You nodded, not even realizing the amount of whimpers that were leaving your lungs, your fingers gripping into his hair as you looked down at him, your brain filled to the brim with every thing him. His smell, his taste, his touch. Him. Him. Him. Him. Him.

“You won’t leave me?”

You shook your head, your body trembling at this point from pure excitement. Did everyone feel this way with their alpha? Would it always be this intense? How did anyone get anything done?

“I…I n-need to hear you bunny.” You could feel it as his tongue, no, his tentacle, slid up your thigh, licking up the running slick, suctioning to the highest part, just below your sopping cunt before releasing making blood rush to the spot and forcing a high pitched mewl out of your mouth. His eyes never leaving your face, seeming more and more confident with each gasp and whine leaving your lips.

“I promise. I love you Tamaki. Please.. god.. I need you. I won’t ever leave you. No matter what. I love you. Please, please, please, please. Alpha.” Your fingers gripped his hair, you could feel tears stinging into your eyes, you felt like you would actually combust into flames if you didn’t get more of him right this second. Your skin was starting to itch, feeling like something was crawling all over you and you could feel your body breaking out into a sweat.

Somewhere in the very back of your mind, something told you this wasn’t normal. Being completely and utterly addicted, to the point of almost pain-… you weren’t due to start your heat any time soon, knowing full well that most omega’s didn’t go into heat until they were at least 20. No… this was different… this was-

Your whole body shuddered, brain turning off completely when he all at once yanked on your hips, forcing you down onto his face, his tongue sliding against your core and deep into your cunt, much farther than it was supposed to be able to, to the point that you could feel it in your stomach, suction cups sliding against your sensitive swollen clit as he pumped his tongue in and out of you, making you choke on your own screams, tears spilling over onto your cheeks at the intensity of it all.

You should have been embarrassed when he inhaled deeply, a low primal growl that you never imagined him making leaving his lips as he breathed in your scent, but you couldn’t do anything, couldn’t think of anything, other than the glorious feeling of euphoria that was filling your mind, as the high that you had been chasing finally returned to you again. The world was filled with bright colors, your mind filling with a fog that just felt so good that you never wanted it to leave. Everything was perfect. He was perfect. Your alpha. Nothing could ever change that fact. Nothing could ever make you want to leave.

When you finally came back down from your high, you had realized you must have passed out from the bliss. Tamaki had you laying on your back, a warm washcloth pressed to your forehead, his arms wrapped around you tightly as he layed against your side, his face pressed against your neck, nuzzling you softly and cooing into your ear of how much he loved you, asking if you were okay, how he would take care of you, how you never needed to worry about anything, how he loved his omega.

You couldn’t help but smile trusting all of his words and snuggled further into his grasp, a soft contented sound leaving your lips, enjoying the sounds of his pretty words being murmured to you. The soft, gentle, loving kisses that were carefully placed along your neck and face. The feeling of his arms turned tentacles tightened their grasp around your form, holding you in place against him leaving no wiggle room.

You felt completely and utterly safe in his grasp, knowing he would never let you go.

You were his sun, his moon, his everything. You were his.

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