#against zir will.

[boypussydilf]

im fine im totally fine and also normal (i am going to spend the next week comparing the details of the original hound of the baskervilles to what we know about the professor case in dgs to try and build up some specifics in my head about what happened during that time in dgs. WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT)

[amelikos]

I wonder if they will explore Liko and Onyx's rivalry a bit more after this episode. It feels very intentional that we got Amethio acknowledging Liko by name and as a person with her own goal in HZ065, and Onyx also acknowledging Liko by name and as a worthy opponent in HZ066, even willing to reveal his own name as a sign of respect and telling her not to forget it (and Liko acknowledged him in turn and said his name as he was leaving). Adding to that, all the similarities between Onyx and Amethio (and even Liko), as they are honorable opponents..

This episode concluded the battles between Liko and Onyx, and Roy and Sango that were built up ever since the end of chapter 1. Liko and Roy went from not being able to face them in HZ025, to holding on their own with difficulty against them in HZ043, to finally winning against them in HZ066. So I wonder if there will be more opportunities for interactions between them all in the future (Onyx telling Liko to remember his name possibly hints at more developments later down the road), or if Liko and Roy will now be put up against other Explorers opponents such as Spinel and Agate. So far, Friede is the only who stands a chance against Spinel's Blacky.

Either way, it was fun seeing the contrasts between Liko and Onyx's battle and Roy and Sango's battle. Liko and Onyx's last interaction felt very formal, and Onyx thought of his mission and tried to take Terapagos when he had the opportunity to do so. Sango didn't care about any of that and said so herself, she just wanted to have fun. And Roy actually went along with her fun, and kept battling her until their battle reached a conclusion. Sango genuinely seemed to have fun going all out during their battle and wanted to keep on going too.

[pinnithin]

Kezuron-9, android operative and former military logistician. Ze does corporate espionage for a living and barely tolerates most other people.

[rapha-reads]

I hate debating, I hate debating, I HATE DEBATING.

Unfortunately, my family loves arguing (my brother is loud and self-confident, my sister studies law and philosophy, my mother is a punk communist anarchist teacher, they talk TOO MUCH) about the stupidest things, and they get very aggressive about it. The problem is, in the case of my mother mostly, they argue opinion versus opinion and don't bother about the facts. Which leads to debates going in circles where they go like:

My mother: "abortion is a last recourse in extreme cases, but it should be a right."

My brother: "abortion is a recourse, and anybody can choose so, point. The end."

My mother: "abortion shouldn't be allowed for people who only want it for comfort, but it should be allowed for necessity by choice."

My brother, me: "abortion is a right for everyone no matter what the situation is, no question asked and no restrictions (only the time)."

Anyway. You see where that is going. And that's just tonight's debate. In the past week we had asexuality (no surprise here, my mom still don't understand how that could be real because it is unconceivable for her, therefore it's unconceivable for everyone else), the use and democracy of social media (that one was between my mother, brother and sister and was particularly stupid), whether modeling is a dumb job (glad I wasn't around for that one)...

Have a full family holiday, they said. We haven't been together all 6 of us in a long time, it'll be fun, they said. *deep fucking exhausted resigned sigh*

Edit: finally managed to expose my point to my mother and she let me articulate my argument, and basically hers boils down to "it's not a contraceptive and it's a hard decision to take, or at least it should require hard thinking, but I agree that it should be a right", while mine is "there are as many realities as there are people and not a single one should be judged, criticized or reduced". (for clarification, my mother is pro-choice, just a product of her education who has a hard time applying what she preaches)

I'm exhausted.

[magidoggie]

A LOOK INTO SHI/HIR PRONOUNS AND THEIR ORIGINS

So I’ve seen people claim that shi/hir pronouns are intersex exclusive (mostly intersex people), and others say they aren’t (mostly non-intersex people)

As an intersex person, I've been confused about this for a while, so I decided to look into it

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN NSFW TOPICS, FURRIES, TALKS OF FETISHIZATION OF INTERSEX BODIES, AND INTERSEX SLURS!

Most of the users of these pronouns seem to be non-intersex people, but there are also intersex people who use them.

I've seen a decent amount of intersex people say that shi/hir pronouns are only ours to use, as they were used against us (like a shortened version of he-she). This would make them basically slurs that only we can reclaim.

I've even seen some claims that Geoffrey Chaucer himself coined these words?? (The chaucer thing, I haven't been able to find a source for. Even so, it is most likely just an old spelling of "she/her")

I’ve seen people say it originated on 4chan. It'd be hard to verify, as 4chan is known for not keeping threads up for long. There are 4chan archives, but I've tried my hardest to look for any combinations of things like "shi" and different terms that could work with it like "intersex" "freak" or "hermaphrodite" . I don't doubt it's been used on 4chan, but I can't find much, and archival sites don't go back far enough.

Regardless, the pronouns seem quite old. One thing I did find under the search of ""4chan" shi hir" on Google, was a.. descriptive post on a furry porn website called e621.net

Okay, 13 years ago, that's a start. It certainly contains the word "herm" (short for hermaphrodite), and the word intersex used with this pronoun.

Godspeed TheShadowfox42 I hope you found the image.

Using Google's "Before:(date)" feature, I searched "shi herm before:2010", and unsurprisingly, I found a lot of furry porn.

Stories on sofurry.com, a furry website that looks to be from at least 2007, if not older. I'll spare you the details, but indeed, there, they use shi/hir pronouns for their "herm" characters. Did these pronouns originate from.. furries?? I put that though aside for now, to look further into other uses.

As it turns out, the journey does not end at 2007. Urban dictionary has an entry from 2003

No slurs here, it looks like a neutral usage. Again, going back to Google. Now, search terms "hir "gender neutral" before:2004"

Many results show up now, now articles rather than furries. American.edu (seems to be a university), Swarthmore.edu (this is a college), both from 2001. jstor.org with a journal article from 1999. Unfortunately I can't read that one, as I have to pay a whole $63 to purchase it. I even found a PDF file from 1994 by core.ac.uk

But, what I've realized now is this is not usage of shi/hir pronouns. All of these use Ze/hir pronouns. I don't know if there is any link, but the last pronoun looking the same must've obscured the results.

From the american.edu article on these pronouns. You can see the usage of "hir" alongside "ze", and below it, the usage of ze/zir pronouns, which seem to be used more today.

Shit.. Doing the search all over again with the pronoun "shi" yields.. very few results apart from people talking about Chinese words.

Wait what about those furries from earlier? The tvtropes.org article does include this:

Chakona space? Chakats? Pronouns he came up with? Admittedly I kept seeing these centaur feline hybrid characters come up quite consistently during this dive, but I had to look into it further.

Oh buddy what did I get myself into. This is from 2001 best I can tell, so we're getting quite old here. I scroll down on the page.

And lower down.

Now this is all very interesting speculative biology, but what I'm focusing on is again, the usage of "hermaphrodite" together with the pronouns "shi/hir". Did a furry artist named Bernard Doove come up with these pronouns.

It gets yet older.. New search, "chakats "shi" before:2001"

Again, Bernard Doove's art from 2000, 1999, 1998,

I find a website called yerf.metafur.org It has furry art, dating all the way back to the mid 1990's, but here, on December 23 1998, is the first appearance of these pronouns on that site.

This Bernard Doove person has been at this project, with these pronouns for a while.

From what I can tell, many of his art pieces, they seem to be quite sexual beings. Quite fetishistic of hermaphroditism at times. (or intersexuality, take your pick)

The other thing I found with my search was a website, furry.org.au/bosshoss/

My search says it's from September 14 1998.

That's certainly some information, but it might come in handy. So Chakat Goldfur provided this website? Who is that? Looking into it, that seems to be a character created by Bernard Doove, that acts as an alter ego. Further down, the person running this website lists some other websites they enjoy. One being "Proxima Centauri", which seems to be another furry artist.

"I met this one at ConFURence 8. Very interesting. (Did I mention shi is a hermaphrodite uni-centaur?)"

(For context, ConFURence is a furry convention held in 1997)

Again, the usage of hermaphrodite, and the pronoun shi. At this point, the website being linked to is long gone, but the wayback machine provides help. The website, http://www.spots.ab.ca/~unicorn/main.htm has been captured all the way back to October 8th 1997.

At this time, the website was under construction. No images are willing to load and haven't been archived, but the description is intact.

So this person uses shi/hir pronouns for their hermaphroditic character all the way back in 1997. There are links to other places where this person used to host their works, but they are all down and haven't been archived. The thread is running thin..

Back to Bernard Doove, the Chakat creator. There must be something more to this. Turns out, there was. On the "yerf" website, I actually found several art pieces that were not picked up by Google.

Febuary 22 1997. Getting yet older. In some art pieces, Bernard references "Forest Tale" and "forest tales", so I went looking for whatever that was.

1995?? you've got to be kidding. It's an adult story involving these "chakat" beings, and sure enough, down the page

Shi/hir pronouns used over and over again.

With the use of hermaphrodite.

But.. This is kind of where it ends. I couldn't seem to find anything older, and I'm not going to contact Bernard Doove over this. Even something as old as 29 years is impressive to me. Bernard Doove states his characters were inspired by other furry artists' creatures of the time, but since it's 1995, there isn't much left for me to find here. Anything before that time is probably lost.

With all the information I have been able to gather, it looks to shi/hir pronouns were created by Bernard Doove who is a furry author and artist. Shi/hir were made to be a midway between "she" and "him" in some way, to be a gender neutral word for hermaphroditic genetically modified beings called "chakats" in his stories. As an intersex person myself, I don't enjoy the use of "hermaphrodite" in such a way, as it's a slur for us. But these types of characters also seem to be very old, and we, and our struggles, were completely unknown to the vast majority of people, even moreso than nowadays.

If you use those pronouns for an intersex person who doesn't use them, it is indeed intersexist, as you are implying we are hermaphrodites.

But as for whether only intersex people can use them? I'm not sure. The original intent doesn't seem be directly linked to intersex people. You could argue that these hermaphroditic characters are fetishized versions of how many people see us, and have seen us for a long time. Afterall, hermaphrodite was, and still is, a common slur for us.

I don't doubt some people have used these pronouns as slurs against us as well, but I also haven't found anything specifically that supports that. It always seemed to be for specific fictional characters that COULD be based off specific intersex attributes

I'm not going to argue one way or the other. This was just me trying to find what I could about these pronouns and their history. Just be mindful of how you use these pronouns, and the connections they have to fetishes revolving around the common misinterpretation of intersex bodies (as in, "having both parts")

Thank you for reading.

I hope you learned something. I know I did, and I now have a headache.

[d3adbr3inc3lls]

Amethio x RVT!Reader

He didn’t know you were part of the RVT at first, mostly because you were making sure the pokemon were okay whilst he, Zir and Conia were attacking the ship, or doing other things that didn’t include battling

The two of you met when you were buying groceries and he was trying to get more clues about the black Rayquaza.

You’ve heard Friede and Roy talking about the Explorers, but you never thought much of it, just another criminal organisation that would probably be caught soon like the other regional teams.

You told Amethio what little you knew about the black Rayquaza, it couldn’t hurt telling a stranger who was also interested in the unnatural coloured Rayquaza the information.

The first time he saw you with the RVT he was shocked. He’d never expect you to work with them, and vice versa, you were shocked that he was part of a criminal organisation. Amethio seemed like such a nice person.

It’d be a lie to say that he still thought highly of you after finding out that you were part of the RVT. He felt so many things. He felt betrayed, mostly as a result of his rivalry with the RVT.

If you and Amethio exchanged numbers, he’d grow more distant and take hours, sometimes even days to reply, despite him replying relatively quickly before finding out you were part of the RVT.

If the two teams battle, he’d target you because he feels so hurt. He knows it isn’t a good thing to take out his emotions on you, the one who unintentionally hurt him, but he can’t help it. He wants you to know what he feels.

If the two of you ever get on speaking terms again, he’ll attack you in battle less, often telling Zir or Conia to go for you whilst he deals with someone else. More specifically Friede. Amethio has a one sided rivalry with the man.

The two of you would later get closer, but Amethio will keep the relationship hidden as he doesn’t know what Hamber or Gibeon would say if he were to date a member of the team he was actively fighting against.

If Sango finds out, Amethio knows he’s as good as dead. She’d tell the other Explorers about it and who knows what they’ll do. Spinel especially who seems to hate him, so he’d strongly advise you to not go anywhere near a pink haired girl that talks in 3rd person.

—

One shot with no real end as I didn’t know how to end it, but decided to keep it incase anyone wanted to read it, but be warned, it’s unfinished and is somewhat angsty,

—

“So you’re really with them?” His voice made you feel cold. As if you were a kid and he was a parent who was disappointed.

The tension only grew as you tried to think of a response.

“I didn’t know-“ Your mouth felt dry as you responded, attempting to think of anything to lighten the situation but ultimately failing.

“Don’t lie to me.” Amethio hissed. You could almost hear the hostility and anger shine through his voice. Almost.

Sighing, you lean back onto your bed. Your partner pokemon glanced at you with concern, wondering what was happening as they’ve never seen you this defeated. Giving them a comforting nod you reach a hand out to pet the ‘mon in an attempt to calm down, wondering how you’d get out of this situation and keep what the two of you have.

On the other hand, Amethio is pacing around the room he sleeps in whilst Conia anxiously looks at him, she has never seen her boss acting like this before as he waited for your response. Even Ceruledge knew that something was up by the way Amethio’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he paced the room.

He had never let anyone get close to him, so it was a first, but also a first for someone to be in the team he constantly fought against. Everything was so new to him. It was unnatural.

“Well?” He asked, waiting for your response. He hasn’t known you for long, so he doesn’t know what to expect from you, unlike the other admins whose responses he can easily predict.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy birthday Shana!!! When I finally caught up with SIAT, my big thought was more Quinn and Severus please 🥺 Orrrr dealers choice! (That new star Trek series is Very Fun) Hope you have a fun birthday! 🥳

“This is fucking stupid.”

Severus looks over at zir, three drinks in and by all appearances stone cold sober. “What’s with the attitude? This is what you wanted.”

Quinn hadn’t wanted it like this. Ze hadn’t known that Severus was going to do something this moronic. “Why – you can do something else. You could use the year to research, or develop more potions, or help me go through all your damn books. You don’t have to take up the defense position.”

“It’s fine,” he says, taking another sip. “Most of them don’t die.”

“Just quit,” ze snaps. “Can’t you be normal about literally anything? So what if Dumbledore throws a fit about it, he didn’t want you take the defense position either and you went around him by using the board-“

Ze cuts zirself off, staring.

Severus had gone around Dumbledore. Dumbledore had been pissed that he’d been overruled at Severus being appointed the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Quinn had assumed that Dumbledore had been pissed for the same reason that ze was, that it ended terribly for every single person who took up that cursed position, but maybe that’s not the case. Maybe instead the reason that Severus had gone around him and the reason he’s pissed off about it are same.

Dumbledore and Severus have never gotten along. Quinn has never thought anything about it, because Severus doesn’t get along with most people. But maybe the reason is something deeper.

“You can’t just quit, can you,” ze says uncertainly.

Severus’s lips flatten out for a moment before he forces his whole body to relax and manages something that’s close to a smile. “Are you really just going stand there and watch me drink alone? Some friend you are.”

Quinn sighs but drops down in the seat next to Severus, pouring zirself a glass of the strange, dark liquor. “Are we celebrating or mourning?”

“Not sure yet,” he says, then raises his glass in a toast. “To endings.”

One way or another, apparently.

[quartergremlin]

The Legacy of Genius Built Industries: Exclusive Interview with Othello Von Ryan

transcript and process under the cut

Year after year, Genius Built Industries captures the world's attention as they roll out neigh-fantastical devices and systems dedicated to making all our lives a little bit better.

This time, instead of an industry-shaking tech development, the thing that has eyes turning towards GBI is a personal change: the first public appearance of real-life giant and part-time superhero Othello Von Ryan's children.

I've been invited back into Von Ryan's lab for and exclusive interview with their small family.

Von Ryan's personal lab is just as i remember it - perfectly organized and violently purple - but now it's a little more crowded.

For now, Von Ryan has put away the projects to give their attention to their equally purple children.

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. - just as tall as Von Ryan themself - leans away from his insistent parent, armed with a spray bottle and a cloth and attempting to wipe down the screen that makes up the bottom half of his face. On Von Ryan's other side, P.S.D.D. kicks zir legs and laughs at zir brother.

This doesn't last long, as zir eye is next. When they're done, both teens are shiny and irritated.

And yes, Othello Von Ryan's children do - to the best of my knowledge - seem to be hyper-intelligent robots.

Johnson:

I know you hate beating around the bush, so I'm just going to say it: your kids are androids.

Othello Von Ryan:

Friendly laugh. It would seem so.

J:

You must admit, it's a little surprising, especially considering your previous comments on artificial intelligence. That, and your history of forging your own path against the usual hype-based trends of the tech industry.

(S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and P.S.D.D. both seem to cringe at the comparison. Von Ryan quite literally turns their nose up.)

OVR:

Scoff! My children are nothing like what my competitors would call "artificial intelligence"! Their version is nothing more than an overhyped word scrambler with illusions of grandeur! A parrot residing within a thin-walled apartment complex could do a better job.

Additionally, I created Shelly and D.D. when I was in my teens. The "tech industry" is stuck chasing my tail, as always.

J:

Really? That long ago? A.I. as we know it today was only just gaining popularity! Why not re-create a version for the consumer market?

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.:

We were accidents.

OVR:

(Very clearly embarrassed)

No, that doesn't sound like me.

S:

I was a glorified roomba, Pops.

OVR:

You could do much more than a mere roomba!

P.S.D.D:

I was a bed!

[shovelbug]

I see your requests are open !!

Could you do an Amethio x Admin! Reader ,?

Like the reader is also part of the Explorers and is another admin, (I'm sure yk what I ment, but just wanted to clarify that,)

a/n: here you go! gonna combine these two reqs.

-

You've been an admin under Gibeon alongside Amethio for a while now.

While you know the morality of your job is… questionable, at best, you really felt that you had no other choice.

Your family had a habit of not being communicative. They weren't bad people, but they had a very hands-off approach.

Realizing this at a young age, you kinda… vanished without a trace.

Which you know is also bad and hypocritical! But, knowing how your family operates, it was the only way you could think to protect your little sister.

You still kept an eye on her from a distance where you could, wanting her to find her own independence while staying safe.

You knew that the pendant your grandmother had entrusted her with held some greater secret, and secrets like that tended to attract the wrong type of attention.

You hoped that in joining the Explorers, you could take over the pendant mission yourself, to preserve your baby sister's safety.

At least she had that Nyahoja of hers. It was a fickle little thing, but it cared about her, which eased your mind a little.

And for a while, it did seem like you were going to get the mission. You worked hard and were a strong trainer, and you being the one to approach her would make her much more likely to trust her and give it to you.

That's how you presented it to Gibeon, anyways.

It hurt your heart to do this to your sibling who you adored, especially after up and leaving seemingly out of nowhere. But it was better than the alternative.

And then Amethio got the mission.

Internally, you were freaking out. You had half the mind to bust into wherever in the world Gibeon was and give him a piece of your mind.

That would undo all your hard work up to this point, though, so you refrain.

Luckily enough for you though, your relationship with Amethio is much more amicable than that of the other Admins.

You were similar in age, and you never took unnecessary shots at him when the other Explorers were dog piling on him, even defending him at some points.

You were no saint, but you weren't a monster.

You had trained with him too, and that time together translated into you being a strong and efficient team, so you got assigned on missions together often. That strengthened your bond further.

Eventually, you pretty bluntly asked him out once you realized your feelings, never one to beat around the bush.

He accepted, which surprised both of you a little.

Your relationship is very much so on the down-low, though. You have no doubt that if word got out in the explorers it would be used against you.

Except for Zir and Conia. They both know, but only because you trust them to keep a secret.

It's an unconventional relationship, and you two take it slow and steady. You both are happy, though, so that's what matters.

You're more level-headed and tend to get straight to the point, so when Amethio tries to bottle things up or gets caught up in his mistakes you shut that down fast.

In turn, he'll often lend a listening ear to your troubles and go out of his way to do things for you (missions you don't like, grabbing some snack you mentioned craving, etc.)

Sometimes he's not the best with words or being affectionate, so he shows his care through actions most of all.

Back to the point, you're understandably distraught when Amethio gets the pendant mission instead of you. You're pacing around your quarters after the meeting when Amethio stops by.

He holds you close as you cling onto him, unsure what to say. He wishes he could fix this for you.

You can't be upset at him, not really. He's just as stuck in this position as you are.

Eventually, you pull away from him, rubbing at your face.

“Don't hurt her. Please.“

“I will make sure she is unharmed, I promise. You have my word.”

You nod, satisfied. You trust Amethio. He and his grunts seem to be the only other half decent people here.

Neither of you can begin to expect how things will unfold, but Liko does put up more of a fight than either of you expect, and Amethio returns to HQ empty-handed.

A part of you can't help feel a little (a lot) proud of how much your little sister has grown.

You review the footage of Liko's Nyahoja and her (frankly scarily) powerful Leafage.

Turning to your partner Pokemon, you hum, amused.

“This will be interesting, don't you think, Meowscarada?”

Your Magician Pokemon purrs in agreement.

[goldenboybridgers]

•¨•.¸¸☆*･ﾟstarter for @gollldrush 8 years after the break-up ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨*•

Aurelius Bridgers. A name that hadn't been in the media for years now--almost all but forgotten by anyone who hadn't cared enough to follow his paper trail. His music still went down with some major hits, but as for him? He was left as a rumour blown away with the wind. Some said he got clean after the drug scandal, others said he was abusing his string of girlfriends that followed his big breakup 8 years ago, and even still others started to wonder if he was ever going to come back to the music industry. Oh how people begged him to come back, how his manager begged him to come back...A legend suddenly just gone.

Ze's sat at the corner of the coffee shop, a pair of shades and a baseball cap shadowing zir features--not that anyone would recognize zem. Ze lived in an entirely different town now, far away from the bustle of the city. Even this café was over an hour away from zir little farm out in the middle of nowhere. The perfect place to hide. To heal.

Fingertips tap idly against the cup of coffee in front of zem, staring down at the latte art, untouched. Ze swallowed hard, starting to get anxious for Leo's arrival. Ze had contacted her out of the blue, convinced her to grab a coffee--somewhere close enough that she wouldn't have to go too out of her way. He didn't mind going out of his own way. Hell, everything was out of the way for him these days. He barely ever left home.

Golden eyes flickered up to look out the window, to check the clock on the wall, zir leg bouncing under the table. Zir coffee was starting to go cold. Where was she? Maybe he was being stood up... He really wouldn't blame her, if so. He'd been shocked she had agreed to come see him again at all. He's jumping at every sound of the door opening until, finally...

He pushes back his chair, standing to his feet when he sees her at the door. A warm smile, giving a wave so she can see where he's sat.

[emeritus-fuckers]

Could I maybe request some head cannons for the ghouls interacting with a small child that they have been asked to babysit? Maybe even Papa Copia’s? I’m in need for some fluff right now lol :)

Copia's ghouls babysitting his baby

Swiss

Swiss isn’t exactly the ghoul you choose to watch a baby.

Swiss is best with young children that need tiring out. You come back to sleepy ghoul and sleeping child.

Copia hands him the baby? Well…

Eventually, he comes back to the staring contest of the century.

Baby vs Swiss. No sign of who’s going to win.

Surprisingly though, all the care is actually done pretty well. It’s just…staring at Copia’s baby now.

Sodo

It's absolutely hilarious to witness because both Mister Sodomizer and the baby will be confused the moment the child is handed to him.

They both just stare at each other in complete shock.

Eventually, thee baby melts against him because he's warm.

And once he's done with the initial paralysis, he slowly starts to hold the baby closer.

They become cuddle buddies.

The baby is sorta treated like a cat, in the way that Sodo will not get up if the baby is on him.

And once he's carrying the baby, he's cradling them like the most precious thing.

Rain

Rain is great with kids, very motherly and gentle.

Will make sure that baby is safe, well taken care of and as happy as she can get them

Ve will absolutely have the room set up to meet any and all needs as quickly as possible.

Might accidentally bore the baby, would benefit from help from Swiss or sunshine.

However the baby will be sleeping peacefully on his chest, enjoying the comfy spot to nap.

Second best choice for looking after the baby.

Aether

That kid is thrown around so much it's a miracle all the food stayed inside the baby.

He's definitely fun for the baby. Just like Swiss, good for wearing the kid out.

He comes up with the most fun and creative things to do with the child.

Honestly, Aether might just be the favorite uncle with all the running and jumping around as he holds the baby securely in his arms.

They eat banana-flavored baby food squeeze pouches together. (i have no idea what these are called, this is the best i found.)

All kids love him.

Phantom

Is the baby. This is the child they’re babysitting.

Mountain

He worries the most.

He would rather be sent back to the pits then not take the absolute best care of this child. He makes sure that they're happy and very comfortable.

Makes sure that the child is nothing but happy giggles and peaceful naps.

He is very good at keeping the kid calm, its just his energy, honestly.

Keeps the kid close, and will mostly just make his nest and flop down (softly) with the baby and take a nice long nap.

All the hugs and naps.

Cirrus

She's incredibly good at making the baby laugh.

Bounces the baby around and makes silly faces at them.

Her and Aether are the absolute best combo for a fun day with the baby.

And if you combine zir with Cumulus? You could leave the baby with them for days and come back to the happiest child alive.

Honestly, she could absolutely be a kindergarten teacher or a nursery caretker. Kids love zir.

Cumulus

Naturally very motherly and nurturing.

Probably the most responsible choice.

Also, she can let the baby nurse on her if needed.

(I want to nurse on her so fucking bad.)

Sings the best lullabies, the baby falls asleep so easy it seems unreal.

The baby just feels very safe and happy with her.

Sunshine

Much like Swiss, is not the first choice to leave with a baby.

She is full of energy and much better at just a temporary playmate.

She will play peekaboo, patty cake and rocket ship for hours to entertain the child.

Dancing fruit baby sensory videos? She will stare at them too for hours and hours.

Is just the chaotic playmate summoned to entertain the baby.

That may also teach them to bite as a form of love.

Aurora

Gushes. Fawns. Loses it.

Keep in mind, she hasn't been around for long.

Which means fae didn't get to see too many babies.

But once fae sees them, she absolutely loves them.

They think babies are absolutely adorable, but she spends most of faer time with the baby on just watching, waiting for the small human to do something cute.

Gushes about the baby to everyone who will listen.

~

Swiss, Rain, Phantom and Sunshine written by Death.

Sodo, Aether, Cirrus, Cumulus and Aurora written by Nosferatu.

Mountain written by Zenith/Jasper.

Taglist: @charlie-is-a-menace @copias-fluffy-asscheeks @randodummy @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @calliedion-dungeon @randominstake @callmeicaro @thecuriouss @nuntia @dio-niisio @ethereal-maniac @mamacarlyle @mybotanicaldemise @igodownjustlikeholymary @natoncesaid @bloodmoon-bites @plaquerat

[artzychic27]

Maybe the Akuma, Science, Recess, and Theater class/kids should have a “We Gotta Get Rid of Marinette or Send Her To Therapy” meeting

Mason: I would like to call this “Ranting about Marinette/Ladybug” meeting to order. Now, let us read the minutes. Dot?

Dot: ‘October 15th, 4:12pm, Brecken aired his grievances, stating, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a no-good-”

Kim: Can we just loudly complain?

Mason: Hmm… I don’t see why not. Proceed.

Rose: MARINETTE TOOK MY HAMSTER PLUSHIE!

Eri: She ruined my gown!

Genevieve: My singing voice is atrocious because of her!

Denise: I’m just supposed to let some creep pummel me into the dirt and wait for that bug to show up five minutes later?! Hell no!

Nino: I can’t believe I ever had a crush on that girl!

Nathaniel: I know! What were we thinking?!

Spinelli: That little fox ruined some of my best work! I spent hours on that mural! Do you know how hard working with chalk is?!

Reshma: I couldn’t make any new friends because of her!

Marc: If she ever gives you guys dating advice, just walk away!

Austin T: I NEVER hit Jean! What the hell is Ladybug’s problem?!

Soo-Yeon: Candace and I were in surgery because of that chick!

Kim: Ladybug?

Candace: No, Marinette.

Alya: That girl is getting to be way too much! Being her friend is like a full-time job without the pay! I could be rolling in cash!

DJ: Then, it’s decided. We take Marinette down, then Ladybug.

Cosette: How?

DJ: I have no clue.

Lotta: Well, it’s gotta be done now! We’ve all seen just how far Marinette will go to get rid of anyone Adrien so much as smiles at!

Rochelle: … Well…

Austin B: Oh, I know that look. Spill.

Rochelle: I mean, we could all put our skills to use. It’s one against… What, like thirty? Thirty-five? You get the idea. What do we have to be afraid of? Several of us come from influential families, and I’m looking at a few people who could easily hack into the government. Do you all see where I’m headed?

Austin Q: Oh, my God, we’re dumb!

Gia: We could have stood together as a united front this entire time!

Victoria: Rochelle, honey, you sit next to me, and I mean forever. Where do we start?

Rochelle: Alya, you’re still close to Marinette, right?

Alya: It’s a one-sided closeness.

Rochelle: Good enough. Gather any evidence of her misdeeds. “Accidentally” record her talking about her plans to sabotage some poor girl who shows an interest in Adrien. Mason, I know very well that your personal files on the students are more secure than the NSA’s.

Mason: *Blushes* Well, I guess.

Rochelle: Anything we pick up goes to you until it’s time for the grand reveal.

Ivan: That takes care of Marinette, but what about Ladybug?

Rochelle: If I’m correct, I’m sure we won’t have to worry about her.

Alix: Cryptic much?

Rochelle: Very much, yes. But, trust me. All our problems will soon be resolved.

Austin A: *To Austin B* I can see why you like hanging out with zir.

@msweebyness @imsparky2002

[amelikos]

Something about the way Spinel, Friede and Liko's first Pokemon all share (or will share) the Dark type under certain circumstances (Spinel's Blacky being Dark type, Friede's Lizardon becoming Dark type upon Terastalization, and Liko's Nyarote will eventually gain the Dark type if it evolves into Masquernya). And how all three of them craft strategies around diversions, creating distractions, observations and running away.

Also thinking about how Spinel's Orbem is a Psychic type, similarly to Liko's Tebrim. Psychic moves being used to restrain or limit movements, or stop opponent's moves and use them against them. (Liko's Tebrim using her Mind Power during the battle against Grusha to stop her opponent's Icicle Spears and send them right back at it really reminded me of Spinel using his Orbem's Psychic moves to restrain Friede's Lizardon's movements back in HZ014.)

[varteeny1234]

I LOVE THE CHERRY KINGDOM VERY MUCH! HERE IS A FAN FICTION :DDDD

Summary:

The more time passed, the more things Vintage noticed about Ruby that were different. It was beginning to freak her out, to be honest- and more than that, it was incredibly frustrating, not knowing what to do to help their wife and feeling thus helpless because of it! She- she loved Ruby. She loved xem so much, but felt utterly lost. Or Ruby isn't Ruby. Vintage wants to know why.

Warnings: There is one tiny non-graphic injury but I don't think there's anything else

Words: 4954

Ship: Sakura Spouses :3 (Rubyco/VintageApplesauce)

(full fic under cut)

The more time passed, the more things Vintage noticed about Ruby that were different. For one thing, they were much more stoic. They used to laugh at everything- now they only let out a quiet chuckle and even then that was rare! She showed less outward, physical affection than she used to. More notably, ze was obsessed with safety and OSSHA compliance, all the time. Vintage didn't remember the last time ze'd gone a day out of uniform. 

It was beginning to freak her out, to be honest. 

Ruby was also forgetting things that he shouldn't have been forgetting. Important conversations, plans for the Cherry kingdom, happy moments they'd shared together. Vintage would always remind fae about anything fae forgot, no problem... but faer memory was spotless when it came to business. It was like she was blocking out everything except OSSHA!

But Vintage still had no idea how to help hir. She could ask if anything was wrong, of course, but she had a sinking feeling that Ruby would either not answer or not even know itself. So, they were stuck. 

It was incredibly frustrating, not knowing what to do to help their wife and feeling thus helpless because of it! She- she loved Ruby. She loved xem so much, but felt utterly lost. 

They turned over in their side of the bed. Ruby was asleep next to them, like ze always was, softly snoring. Vintage's heart ached; when Ruby was asleep, it was as if everything was the same as it had been before. 

She could let herself pretend it was... just a little longer....

~~~~

Vintage had a plan now. 

A week had passed, and only yesterday, Vintage had had the final straw. Ruby was not Ruby. 

She'd seen them working on the handrails for the side of the island, and had decided to pop over and bother them a bit. Maybe somehow rope zir into cuddling- she was feeling a little clingy at the time. 

But when they had wrapped their arms around Ruby and happily murmured 'I love you' in eir ears, instead of returning it, Ruby had hummed and smiled before going right back to building. Vintage had been shell-shocked. As much as Ruby liked to build, it'd never been the type to turn down spending time with Vintage because of it! 

Her shock had been quickly replaced by some combination of emotions that felt bad. Really bad. They were mad, at first, but then had become immediately suspicious. Ruby had been acting so out-of-character compared to how xe normally was, for a while. Vintage had thought it was strange but had never considered that Ruby could have been changed against her will, or worse, replaced with a fake Ruby. That felt like something so outlandish that they'd never even considered it, but they'd had had enough of pretending like nothing was wrong with their partner!

She was going to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to them. 

But first, she needed to trap Ruby somewhere that ae couldn't run away and hide. 

If Vintage found a way to get aer somewhere they could question aer quickly, then it would go smoother than if they just randomly cornered aer. There were outlines of future buildings scattered around the top of the Cherry kingdom- but even if she broke the jump boost beacon, Ruby could cut through the woolen walls. The storage rooms were too open. 

The sewer systems were the chosen location. 

She'd put obsidian blocking off some of the exit paths, and flooded the tunnel even more than before. The vines and leaves on the walls and ceiling for at least two tunnels over (spanning all directions- Vintage was thorough) had been lowered just enough to make it almost impossible for anyone who was flying to get through, in case Ruby tried that. 

"Ruby!" Vintage's call echoed through the tunnels. They knew that Ruby had been hanging around nearby, so it would definitely have heard. Her heart was jittery in her chest, the anxiety threatening to take over, but Vintage kept her voice steady.  "Can you come down to the sewer system? I want to show you some new stuff I added!" 

Tucking a sword underneath her coat, just in case, she stood so that she was just visible behind the corner. All the water around had completely drenched her clothing and her wings. At least she hadn't been planning on flying anywhere.

As expected, Ruby responded soon after. "Vintage? Hello, which way did you go? It's harder to see with all the plants, is that what you added?" Splashing sounds in the distance gave away faer location. Come on, just a little closer! 

"Um- some of it! I want to get your opinion on the tunnel over here, though!" 

More splashing. Ruby was almost there, only one more corner left to turn... Vintage held their breath.

"Vintage? Oh, there you are! So, what was it you wanted to show me-" 

He was cut off as Vintage grabbed them by the wrists and threw him into the tunnel behind her. She drew her sword, and held it to Ruby's chest as she glared at xem. But unlike what they'd been expecting, Ruby's expression only showed confusion and panic- nothing to show that ze'd been hiding anything or that hir act was up. Vintage narrowed her eyes... Ruby had either managed to become exceptionally good at putting on an act, or there were more memory intricacies at play.

"Vintage, what are you doing? Did you want to show me something? Why do you have a sword?" Exclaimed Ruby. Ze put zir hands up in alarm. "Did I do something?"

Vintage took another step closer. "Yes, you did. You're not Ruby at all- at least, you're not the Ruby that I know. You're not my wife," she spat. "What happened to aer? Were you once my Ruby, and aren't anymore? Or were you never her at all?!" They stopped. They gasped; they'd forgotten to breathe. Hot, wet tears ran down her cheeks. 

"What do you know? Who are you?" The tip of the sword cut through Ruby's crisp blue shirt, and blood began to show through it. The same shirt that Vintage had lovingly sewn for them, back when she still knew who they were. Ruby wasn't even wearing zir clock anymore, keeping it hidden away somewhere Vintage didn't know rather than hanging around zir neck like she had thought ze preferred. 

He was crying, too. Ruby hadn't moved- except for eyes wider than Vintage had ever seen and shaky shoulders. Its hands were still raised, and she could hear its panicky breathing. 

"I- I..." She stuttered. Vintage moved forwards. 

"Tell me."

A guilty glance to the ground. "I don't know!" Ey cried. "I'm Ruby!"

Vintage frowned. "But you're not, though. I know Ruby, and you're not the same person- right now, anyway."

"I'm Ruby, and you're Vintage! That's what I remember. That is all that I know. Am I someone else? Am I not Ruby?" Their voice broke. "I don't want to not be Ruby!" 

"Then why have you taken faer place? Were your memories altered, or something? All this OSSHA business has changed you, and I don't like it! I need to know where my Ruby went!" Vintage stomped her foot, the sound of both the splash of the water and the yell she let out echoing faintly through the tunnel. 

Ruby fell to xyr knees. 

"We need to stay compliant. It's important!"

"Not so important that you completely change everything about yourself! I work there too, and even I am completely in the dark! Something happened to you, something that I don't know! Please, I just want Ruby back!" 

"But I am Ruby! I- I have to be! There's no one else I could be! Why don't you believe me?" 

"Because you act like a totally different person!" 

 "I am only doing what I have to do, to keep everyone safe. Why is that so bad?" She sniffed. 

Vintage thought her heart had already been broken, but it felt like it was shattering into even smaller pieces. "All of the little things that make Ruby Ruby are disappearing before my eyes. You've been ignoring me in favor of making your bridges safer, or whatever. It's like OSSHA is the only thing that matters to you anymore." 

"But... it does matter! We have to keep everyone out of the void, it's too dangerous!" 

Whatever Vintage was about to say next died on their tongue. 

Keep people out of the void? That wasn't the mission when they signed up. Had something changed when she wasn't looking?

More, that is, than Ruby hirself? 

Last she'd heard, they were just trying to keep people from dying because dying was inconvenient. Although, others had been saying that the void needed to be fed. Even then, there was still nothing actually dangerous about falling into the void! What was Ruby on about?

She let her sword fall to her side. She held out a hand to Ruby, who looked up through teary eyes like Vintage had gone mad. 

"We're going to OSSHA. If it's that organization that did this, then I'll find some answers there. You clearly know about as much as I do, but I still don't fully trust you, so you're coming along with me," they explained. Secretly, they were wishing that they'd gone a little bit easier on the leaves.

~~~~

Ruby, surprisingly, didn't argue or complain. Xe was willing to just fly along with Vintage the short distance to the OSSHA building. Of course, Vintage was watching xem closely to make sure that xe didn't try and escape, but they both made it to their destination without any trouble at all. The small injury on xyr chest had taken only a moment to patch up.

"Alright, Ruby." Vintage landed near the building entrance. "I'm going to go and look around for anything weird, you stay by me but I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you poke around too. Just... don't leave. Alright?" 

Ruby nodded. 

"Okay."

Vintage led Ruby through the queue and up to the second level, and then began to rifle through drawers and chests. She found a lot of random loose papers, fines, and the OSSHA violation severity manual, but nothing at all related to the void other than falling there kills you. Digging up some of the floorboards only revealed a lot of dust and even more blank papers. 

She tried looking closer at things. Context clues, reading between the lines. But still, they weren't able to see anything suspicious. 

Eventually, there came a soft sound from behind her, the creak of the wooden floor underneath someone's footsteps. 

Turning around, they were met with a still teary-eyed Ruby, but now with a more haunted look. 

"Ruby? Did you find something?" 

Ae shook aer head. Vintage huffed in frustration. There wasn't anything here of use. She'd come so close to discovering something big, she knew it, but it was hidden too well. 

"I didn't either. I don't think it's inside this building. Let's try and look somewhere else... maybe it's in the space station?" When Ruby didn't answer, she gently grabbed their hand to lead them back out of the building. If there wasn't anything in here, then there wasn't much point in staying longer than necessary. There was a timer ticking somewhere, and when it ran out, Vintage might lose Ruby forever. 

Once the two of them went outside, Vintage was only a little startled by how much time had passed. While they'd been searching the building, the sun had nearly set, and the sky was dark. 

A faint glimmer of light from the pool of water next to the OSSHA building caught their eye, just before they flew away.

Without any hesitation, Vintage ran over. There was definitely something in the water- it looked like a tunnel that led down to a place inside the body of the island. More than that, it looked red. 

This... this was definitely what she was looking for. 

Stepping to the edge of the pool, they looked at Ruby. Fae appeared much more uncomfortable than before. 

"Ruby? What's wrong? You're coming down here with me," said Vintage. 

Ruby shook faer head. "I don't think I should. H-" Ze cut hirself off. "I shouldn't, I'm not supposed to go down there."

"You should, though. I still need to keep you within my sights, and even if you're scared, this is important. You don't know why you're here? Well, we're about to find out. Come on, let's go." Vintage splashed into the water- she really couldn't avoid getting in water today! Luckily, Ruby followed, albeit with some hesitance in their actions. 

Vintage swam through the gap. 

She turned around, and what she saw sent a wave of nausea directly through her gut. 

There, just in the corner, were three stasis chambers, glass containers filled with liquid. And inside one of them was Ruby. The real Ruby, the one that Vintage loved. The Ruby that they missed so much... 

The tears came back as she stumbled over to her. As Ruby was floating there, she looked almost peaceful, even with that awful-looking mask over her face. But he'd been trapped there against his will, most definitely. Vintage steeled herself, grabbing her sword again. She pushed the thoughts of she guessed right Ruby was a fake ae's not her wife KILL AE as far into the back of her mind as she could. They could deal with that later, the real Ruby needed their help now.

She swung her sword against the glass, making a horrible clanging noise that echoed throughout the tiny room. The glass didn't crack, but it looked like it scratched, even if it was just a little bit. 

If it could scratch, it could shatter. 

Vintage swung again. 

And again.

And again, and again, and again, until a spiderweb broke across the smooth transparent barrier and the liquid began to leak out. It sprayed everywhere, making a puddle on the floor. 

One more hit with the sword, and the glass broke away completely in a shower of tiny shards. Without the liquid there to keep vem suspended, ve fell forwards, limp, right into Vintage. 

By reflex, they dropped their sword to catch aer. Ruby was unconscious, of course. Vintage slowly set it down, and all but tore the mask off its face, letting it breathe properly for the first time in who knew how long. 

Ruby looked exactly the same as how xe'd been when they'd first started the Cherry kingdom together. Xe was wearing xyr colorful jacket, and xyr clock was around xyr neck- it was still ticking away. Vintage cried as they stroked Ruby's hair, moving the wet strands out of her face. Her head rested on their lap.

With the steady rise and fall of zir chest, she could almost pretend ze was just asleep.

"Ruby... Ruby, please, wake up! I need you, please wake up! I- I found you! You're safe now! Please!" She begged. 

Ze didn't respond. Ze didn't even move. 

Vintage held Ruby's unconscious body to her chest, sobbing. Whoever did this to him took his glasses, too, she thought absentmindedly. 

She didn't know how long she'd sat there crying, but eventually Ruby- Fake-Ruby? Clone-Ruby? Whoever fae were, came over and kneeled down next to them both. Vintage sniffed, wiping her face, still cradling Ruby's head. 

"I'm not the real Ruby, after all... am I?" Fake-Ruby whispered. "You were right- you were right all along, I'm just something someone made to keep you distracted, so you didn't notice the real one was missing. But I failed at that- I wasn't good enough to stop you!" 

"What? No, you-" Vintage stopped. Fake-Ruby was, technically, correct- she had only been made, originally, to take the place of Ruby. They couldn't say that that wasn't true, even if it was an awful reality. Just that simple fact alone made the angry side of Vintage want to kill vem, even though based on all current evidence, ve'd never known the truth either. She was not going to kill Fake-Ruby! She tried again, taking a deep breath. "Even if you didn't fulfill your original job, that doesn't mean you're automatically a failure." 

"But I was never supposed to be anything other than a replacement. Look at me!" Ae gestured to aerself. "I'm- I look exactly like Ruby. The real Ruby. Hell, I have most of hir recent memories, too. All I knew was that I was Ruby! But if I'm not Ruby after all, then who am I? There's nobody else for me to be!" 

Since Vintage didn't know how she could possibly respond to that, they both fell into a tense silence. Fake-Ruby was sniffling, and xyr shoulders were shaking. Vintage herself was crying again. In their arms, Ruby still hadn't woken up yet, but was, at least, steadily breathing. It was just the three of them, sitting in a red room beneath a pool together. 

"You said I was like a different person than Ruby. But now, I don't feel like a different person or Ruby..." Fake-Ruby's talking to themself faded into the background.

What would they even do, once Ruby woke up and they were able to get out of here? The Cherry Kingdom wasn't far away, but adjusting to a new permanent inhabitant (and a clone of Ruby, at that) would be difficult- not impossible, but difficult. Not to mention that Fake-Ruby would have to re-introduce themself to everyone else...

A quiet noise interrupted Vintage's train of thought. They gasped, their gaze instantly snapping over to Ruby, whose eyelids were now fluttering open and shut. 

"Ruby!" They exclaimed. When Ruby flinched, they lowered their voice. "Oh, Ruby... you're awake! It's all going to be okay, I've got you now. You're going to be okay. It'll all be okay." They whispered. She didn't know if she said the last line more for Ruby or for herself. 

"...Vintage?" Ruby croaked. It was obvious ve hadn't used ver voice in a long time, the sound was raspy and hollow. But it was still Ruby's voice. "What happened to me?" 

"You were trapped in a secret room inside OSSHA. I don't know how long it's been, but if I had to guess I'd say weeks. Whoever did this to you made a clone of you, to take your place. I'm so, so sorry I didn't find you sooner..." She helped her to sit up.

"A... a clone? Like, a copy?" He asked. He blinked, looking around. "I don't have my glasses, everything's all blurry... but is that them?" Ruby gestured towards Fake-Ruby, who flinched but nodded. 

"Yeah. That's me... I'm Ruby. Well, I was supposed to be, anyways." Ze hung zir head. "I'm sorry."

Ruby looked confused. "What? Why are you apologizing?"

Both Rubies looked confused. Fake-Ruby sounded like she'd accepted some sort of dreadful fate. "I'm a clone of you! I was living in your place for weeks! I'm the only reason no one noticed that you had disappeared!"

"Huh? But none of that was your fault! You still don't have to apologize for anything- well, did you know I was missing? Or that you were a clone?" Vintage's heart suddenly filled with love. She knew where Ruby was going with this.

"Um, no. Why?" 

"So to your knowledge, during all that time, you thought you were just me. You didn't do anything to hurt anyone- including me, might I add- on purpose, so you're fine!" Fae coughed; Vintage rubbed faer back, fae giving her another grateful smile and leaning into her chest.

Unfortunately, Fake-Ruby still looked sad. "But aren't you, like, upset that someone who's you but also not you took over your life? You should be furious at me!"

"I'm not."

"I'm- I don't understand... and what about the fact that there's now two of you? Two Rubies? We look so similar, even if you aren't mad at me, I'm bound to cause more chaos! We look like the exact same person- we practically are the exact same person!"

"I have no idea how similar you actually look to me, but if Vintage could figure it out, we're definitely not the same person. Even a slight difference is still a difference."

Fake-Ruby (they really should think of something else to call him) sobbed into his hands. Vintage couldn't help but start crying again, too. Ruby pulled both of them into a hug. "It's been a hell of a night for me, I can't imagine what you both have been through. I mean, there's still more stuff we need to do, like talk to- wait a second, did you guys forget about that other tube? There's someone in there, but I can't see who."

Vintage's head snapped up from where it had been tucked into their shoulder. "Oh no, we forgot about Trog!" She gasped.

Yeah. As soon as she saw Ruby suspended in that damn tube, she'd forgotten that there was somebody else also trapped. The third tube was broken already, at least?

"I'll get them." Fake-Ruby stood up, taking Vintage's sword that she'd left lying on the ground, and after a few seconds was able to break the glass keeping Trog in place. Ze dragged them over to the group, after cutting off the cables to their mask. Ze sat down again, next to Ruby this time.

"Thanks." Vintage smiled. Xe gave a slightly awkward smile back- it was still a smile! Yay, progress!

Ruby started coughing again, but fae recovered quicker this time. "So... do we just wait here for Trog to wake up, and then all four of us go back to Cherry to figure stuff out? Vintage, I'm assuming you had at least some sort of plan?"

She blushed. "Well... technically, the plan was 'find out what happened to Ruby and then fix it,' even if I didn't expect Trog to be here... yeah, that should work still- are you good with that?" She asked Fake-Ruby. 

Ae nodded. "I don't mind. If I'm honest, I'm glad you're bringing me back to Cherry at all."

"We told you, we hold nothing against you. You might have to have one or two more uncomfortable conversations about... well, your existence, but we're not kicking you out!" Ruby declared. Vintage nodded enthusiastically.

"You can stay as long as you want to! As far as we're concerned, we just have a third island partner now!"

"You mean it?" Fake-Ruby murmured. 

"Of course! Although..." Ruby frowned.

Fake-Ruby looked scared. "What? Is something wrong?" 

Quickly, Ruby backtracked, shaking hir head. "No, no, I was just thinking- you should have a name!" Ze exclaimed. At Fake-Ruby's blank look, ze elaborated. "I mean, up until, like, very recently, you thought you were me, so everyone just called you Ruby. But I'm Ruby, and you're someone else, so you should have your own name!"

Realization dawned on xyr face. "My... my own name?"

"Yeah! Well, I suppose that if it was important to you, you could still be called Ruby too, but I thought it might be nice for you to pick something different. Choose your own identity... I don't know. Would you like that?"

Fake-Ruby (they REALLY, REALLY needed to find something else to call her, as evidenced by this conversation) was silent. 

Vintage decided to chime in. "You don't have to pick anything right away- and if you change your mind later, that's always fine too! But I agree, you deserve to choose the name that you want to have." She grinned. 

"...I think I will. Eventually. I want to think about it," they finally replied. "After we go back, and-"

"Mmmmh? Wha's going on?" 

"TROG! You're awake!" All three of them spun around to see Trog, who had rolled over onto their side and was covering their ears. Their eyes were open just a peek, but their triangle-shaped pupils were clearly visible. 

"Oh, sorry!" Vintage held out her hand. "Do you know what happened to you?" 

They blinked. "Um. No. Sorry."

Ruby opened ver mouth to explain, but Vintage spoke first. "You got stuck in a weird glass tube underneath OSSHA, and I think there's a clone of you running loose around the server- I only just realized, there's a Trog clone too- we're going to go back to Cherry kingdom, and sort out what exactly happened to you guys, and I don't think you have a choice in coming along with us, actually."

Trog stared at her for a few seconds. "I think that's fine. I- why not, I'll come along. Are we going now?"

"Do you think you can walk? We're definitely not flying back, Ruby doesn't have her glasses right now. Original Ruby, that is." 

"I might need help, but if you give me a minute, I'll be fine," they waved a hand. They squeezed some of the tube-water out of their sleeve. "Do you have an extra pair of glasses back in your house?"

"There should be some somewhere."

"That's good. We like it when Ruby can see stuff." They laughed. 

Ruby laughed too. "Hey, I saw you before either of these two-" he gestured to Fake-Ruby and Vintage "-remembered that you were here too. Even if I couldn't actually tell it was you, but we don't talk about that part." 

Trog snorted. "Right," they said. They sneezed, cutting off whatever they were going to say next. After a second, they continued. "I can probably walk now, if we go slowly. Let's get the hell out of here. Other-Ruby, could you give me a hand?" 

It nodded, moving to help Trog to their feet. They slung an arm around its shoulders, and coughed twice once they were fully upright, but they didn't say anything. Vintage did the same for Ruby, and they took it in turns to climb out of the room, through the pool of water, and eventually they were all standing on the bridge. 

They started the walk back to Cherry. It was the middle of the night, but no phantoms had appeared yet, thankfully. The long path looked almost daunting, but it was one of the safest that existed so far- Vintage had already decided in her head that even if Trog wanted to go back to Acacia, they weren't allowed to yet, since their bridges were too dangerous for someone with poor coordination and especially during the night.

Soon, they were almost at their destination. Trog then stumbled, almost falling over and breaking into a coughing fit. Fake-Ruby caught them, helping them to sit down on the ground. "You should rest for a moment. You seemed much too eager to leave, even though you're still recovering." Vintage and Ruby sat down across from them; Vintage agreed with Fake-Ruby that stopping for a little bit could only help them.

 "Ugh," they groaned. "Fine, I'll take a breather. Thanks, Other-Ruby."

"Spinel," xe whispered- xyr voice was much quieter than it had been only a moment ago.

"Huh?" Vintage asked. "What's that?" She leaned forwards.

Fae clarified. "Spinel- that's what I want my name to be." 

"Oh! Sorry, thanks, Spinel," said Trog. 

Vintage raised her eyebrows in curiosity. She could feel Ruby tense up, a small amount. "Oh, that's great!" She exclaimed. "I'm happy for you! I'm glad you picked a name. Um... what exactly is it, though? What does it mean?" 

"It's a gemstone," responded Ruby. In the dim lighting of the bridge, she could see aer grinning softly.

Spinel (not Fake-Ruby anymore!) nodded. "It is. You now how I have some of Ruby's memories. One time, he did a lot of reading on different minerals and crystals and similar stuff... red spinel gemstones, specifically, look super similar to rubies, but they're actually really different!" They shrugged. "I, um... I thought that since I look a lot like Ruby, but aren't actually vem, I was like ver spinel gem. It felt right. Since I'm still connected to Ruby, and I still liked having a name that was also a type of gem." She bit her lip, shyly glancing away. 

Vintage smiled. "That's a good name. I like it! I think it suits you, Spinel," she said. 

"Thanks," he said. He visibly relaxed. 

A sniffling sound from Ruby had Vintage moving to worry over them, but the goofy happy-sad look on their face made her chuckle instead. "Aw, Ruby, are you crying?" She teased. 

"No," they said, covering their face. "I'm not crying. Of course not. Why would I be crying?"

Out of the corner of their eye, Vintage saw Trog facepalm, and Spinel trying to muffle zir laughter. "Because Spinel chose a name that means a lot to zem, that has a metaphor for your relationship to each other, showing that ze might look like you but ze's still zir own person, and you're proud and can't keep the emotions in?"

"I'm so-" sob "-happy for Spinel!" Ruby cried. "It chose a gemstone name and everything! This is a very emotional time."

Vintage hugged aer. "You're very sweet, Ruby," she murmured softly. "I'm so happy I have you back."

"I'm happy to be back! Being stuck in some sort of glass tube wasn't fun, even if I don't actually remember much of it."

Giggling, Vintage kissed xyr forehead. "Whoever did it won't ever do it again, if I have anything to say about it!" 

"Of course, of course," Ruby closed xyr eyes. "All shall fear the wrath of Vintage."

"Mhm." Vintage cupped xyr cheek, and xe nuzzled into their hand. 

"I love you," said Ruby. She whispered it in Vintage's ear, for only them to hear. 

"I love you too."

[ehlnofay]

Summerfest Day 2 - GOLDEN

“You’re not supposed to ask that,” says the Nerevarine, somewhere deep in the hollow heart of Red Mountain.

It feels, ze thinks vaguely, like one of the dreams. The dusty cavern, almost blurred at the edges, the hot, heady press of stagnant air, sweatingly warm and scented sweet with rot. Braziers burn with something that is not fire. The meandering, shockingly empty path ze took to get this far, through all the proper corridors, with their rusted corners and scraps of rugs – no furniture, not even stacked up in the inexplicable way ze’s come to expect; almost nothing at all, like a house unfinished, like all its denizens have only just arrived. Like they’ve spent all their centuries prone on the floor. Ze kicked up so much dust as ze walked, like no-one had ever trod there before. There’s so much dust in here now. It’s all so very barren-bare, like the dreams; so lonely. Just zem, in all this great sprawling subterranean building, and the figure – statue-still in front of zem, a safe distance away, watching from behind the lucent gold of its mask. The bejewelled hollows of its eyes glimmer, unblinking, three points of an untraced triangle; the face is sculpted with fretted care.

It all feels, ze thinks, like a dream; like the months on months on months leading up to this moment have been compressed, pushed down and packed tight, until it seems like Caelestis Vitellius stepped off that horribly rocking boat directly into this chamber, clad in warped bonemold, jewels pressed down the line of zir sternum and against the joints of zir elbows, conjured blade in ungloved hand. Ze has held the knife for hours, but ze does not hold it ready; the dead skin of zir thumb presses against the guard as ze shifts it loosely in zir grip, arms down, weight placed squarely on zir back foot. The devil is standing in the flesh in front of them, sharper-edged and more tangible than in the dream-messages but otherwise so eerily much the same, and ze thinks ze should feel afraid but ze can’t seem to dredge it up. Maybe it’s the sickly air, setting zir head spinning; maybe it’s the stop-starting rhythm of the conversation they’ve been attempting instead of the fighting ze expected. It’s something of a relief for there to be honesty at the end of it all; not even the opportunity for more deceit or espionage or complicated chess-board moving. Just questions, and promises of answers. Caelestis feels very small, in the dust-coated hollow of the cavern, and as new as ze was the day ze stepped onto Seyda Neen soil, but not afraid. There’s no room for it. It’s all so close to the end, one way or another; everything so very nearly makes sense.

So very, very nearly.

But then the Sharmat asked that question and broke the languid pause before it all begins-to-end to bits.

“You’re not supposed to ask that,” says Caelestis, again, not-fire lambent in the braziers, light liquid against the sculpted gold of Dagoth Ur’s face. Ze tastes the air thick on zir half-a-tongue, cloying, unwell. “What do you mean, am I truly – you called me –” ze realises that ze is gesturing at him with zir knife, shining crystalline in the not-firelight, and ze drops zir arm. (Ze has held the blade all this time, though it hasn’t been needed, not yet; the most use it has been of is scraping Red Mountain’s bitter, caking ash from the soles of zir shoes. Earlier, in one of the quiet stretches of their surreal half-conversation, ze held the humming hilt between zir teeth so ze could fix zir hair.)

It's so silent, in the belly of the mountain; not even an echo. The Sharmat, in front of zem, does not move even to breathe. Ze feels very small. Ze feels very new. Ze feels like ze’s breathing Vvardenfell air for the first time and trying to figure out how to account for it all.

Ze says, “I thought you knew,” and there is more in zir voice than there has been before. Ze doesn’t know what there is more of, just that there is more.

Dagoth Ur tips his head, considering, to one side. He moves in fits and starts, like smoke, deliberate as a rockslide despite it all. “Oh,” he says in his too-ordinary voice, and then, “A pity.”

And it’s all so horribly like one of the dreams; breathing the rancid air of a strange, empty place, conjured blade useless in zir hand, earth drifting out from under zem. The devil stands before zem, impossibly close, impossibly far, and Caelestis is confused, and alone; so very dreadfully alone, maybe forever. And ze doesn’t know what to do.

(In the dream, he called zem Nerevar.)

(Ze wonders, vaguely, how many people got that dream.)

“I don’t want your pity,” Caelestis says, pressing zir thumb against the guard of zir blade until ze can feel its quiet murmur through the long-dead flesh of zir hand. What ze does want – ze doesn’t know. Ze didn’t think about it. Ze should have, clearly, but again, to zir detriment, ze’s assumed that other people will act with honesty, that they won’t bluff and lie where ze wouldn’t think to; he talked as if he knew, so ze believed he did. Ze thought he knew. He was supposed to know.

(The ring shining quiet on its chain is some kind of confirmation. The fact that ze’s here, burrowed like a tick into the belly of the mountain despite its attempts to rebuff zem, is some kind of confirmation. But that’s not the same thing as an answer. A yes isn’t worth much when ze doesn’t have the how or why or even, quite, the what.)

(Ze thought ze’d get that here.)

Caelestis arrived in Morrowind sometime between a century ago and today – it is hard, in the flicker-red-gold of the braziers, to pin down anything more specific – and ze’s spent the entire time grasping for anything that might make it make sense, that might illuminate some kind of reasoning behind it all. Planted because ze might be a myth, or close enough that no-one could tell the difference; put here to do something impossible, and to be unmissed if ze died trying. And the whole time – the whole bloody time – ze’s been looking, and watching everyone else looking, too, from Caius at the very beginning to Nibani to Vivec – looking and looking and looking with varying degrees of hope, and never finding. Ze’s been looking for answers since ze first stepped onto Vvardenfell soil, trying to solve a mystery that wouldn’t be given shape for months, dogging zir steps through city streets and wilderness pathways and on boats and through caves and up mountains and into rivers, lurking indistinct as the cavern shadows in bone-patterned shrines and the burnished-brassy masks of the Ordinators, until ze arrived here, half-dead at the end of the world, staring the devil in its golden face and waiting for it to find what no-one else, agent or priest or god, has been able to.

And he doesn’t see anything, either.

Caelestis takes a deep breath, sour air moving barely noticed through zir misshapen lungs, and lets it sit there.

(There are no answers here. There is only zem.)

(Perhaps there never will be. Perhaps that will have to be enough.)

The Sharmat shifts again, lurchingly fluid. “Then I do not pity you,” he says – his voice still so eerily close to ordinary – “but yet I have compassion, and I will weep for your death. If you have questions, ask them.”

Caelestis exhales.

Ze shifts zir grip on the hilt of zir summoned knife – lifeless skin pressing smoothly against its shape – and ze says, “There was nothing else I wanted from you.”

“Then to you goes the courtesy of the first blow,” says Dagoth Ur; his mask, liquid as it looks in the light, cannot move, but Caelestis gets the strong impression of a smile somewhere in the dark, all the same. The Sharmat inclines his head, gracious as a bow. “I’m waiting, Nerevar.”

[trelinha9]

Every time I see a Friede x Amethio post, ten of my neurons die. I know these posts come from new fans who only watched the episodes released on Netflix (which goes up to 13 if I'm not mistaken), and he's only appeared in 6 episodes at this point (which is a crime against my mental health. What the hell is he doing in that time offscream? I WANT ANSWERS!!!) I remember in the first episodes of Horizontes, that Tumblr and AO3 were full of posts and fics about Friede x Amethio, and they disappeared over time as the episodes went on.

It's funny, because nowadays, almost a year after Horizons officially started, fans who watch the subtitled episodes are all worried about the mental health of this teenager and wondering why the heck they are in Exploradores, while the new fans are in the same boat as most of the old ones were and abandoned, shipping the poor guy with Friede.

I personally never shipped them because:

1: Amethio is, canonically, and confirmed by his original voice actor, a teenager (on bulbapedia it said he was between 13 and 19, but now they removed that part and only added the fact that he is a teenager, without mentioning a possible age) I headcanon him as 16, because, for me, it's the age that makes the most sense for his behavior and mannerisms, but that's just me. You can imagine him as 18 or 19 if that makes you feel more comfortable shipping him with Friede, but it doesn't change the fact that he's still a young and emotionally immature person, with no apparent emotional support base other than his Pokémon and his subordinates (Zir and Conia will get there someday, I know they will), while Friede is a fully grown adult, and clearly more mature than Amethio (there's even a line about it in episode 25). Friede had already been a Pokémon teacher for probably a reasonable amount of time when Liko was around 5 to 7 years old (we find out about this in episode 18), and honestly, Amethio doesn't look that much older than Liko. The clear age difference between them makes me uncomfortable. There are a lot of adults in the Horizons cast to be shipped with Friede, leave the traumatized teenager alone.

2: The way Friede, especially in the first arc, keeps teasing Amethio, even though he's clearly irritated and on edge, makes me want to punch him. I love Friede. But the way he interacts with Amethio, one minute he's having a good time taking care of Liko and Roy, and the next he's ready to annoy the shit out of a teenager make me so angry. I love this idea that Friede is a complete social disaster who doesn't really know how to pick up cues (scareing a deaf girl, for example, is definitely something he would do by accident 👀), but there's no way he can't see how negatively his actions and words affect Amethio. Amethio wants to prove himself. He wants to fulfill the mission ordered to him, and this idiot adult, in addition to getting in the way, bothers him every chance he gets (ep 5, ep 22 and ep 25 are the best examples). I'm amazed at how Friede either doesn't really realize the harm his actions cause to Amethio, or he does and simply decides to keep doing it.

This post may make it seem like I don't like Friede, which isn't true. I love Friede. I think he's a very funny character, but he also has a lot of flaws, and bullying a teenager is one of them.

I don't want to start fights about ships, because I'm not in Horizontes for the ships, but for the story and the characters. The only ship I really like is Friede with a certain Explorer who erased a child's memory (because for the love of god, they couldn't have made their battle in the last episode any less gay, could they) I don't want to offend anyone who ships Friede and Amethio, I just wanted to give my opinion on the matter and why I, with my interpretation of the story and characters, hate this ship. (Hate is a strong word, but I feel uncomfortable whenever I see this ship somewhere)

I'm really sorry if I offended anyone at any point in this post, I just don't like seeing a teenager and an adult being shiped.