#but there are so many things that they adapted strangely and...hm

[moomin-happiness]

Seeing the 90s anime version of moominpappa's adventures suddenly makes so many fanfiction details make sense.

[emo-subvision-boy]

Stockholm Syndrome

Summary: You discover your surroundings and things start to get heated pretty fast.

Rating: Explicit, 18+

Pairing(s): Tobias Forge/you, Tobias Forge/female reader, Tobias Forge/reader

Word Count: 1,539

Warnings: Kidnapping, bondage, oral sex, dark Tobias, dom/sub, and half consensual

Part Two: The Seduction

His voice! It sounded…familiar? You blinked rapidly, eyes trying to adapt to the low light in the room as you squeezed them together in an attempt to confirm your suspicion. You saw someone, nothing more than a silhouette of a man, sitting not too far from you on what appeared to be a couch.

“You can try all you want, my little kitten. You won‘t get away. You‘re mine now!“ He stood up and took a few deliberate steps towards you. The way he slowly put one foot in front of the other made you feel like a prey and he was the predator. You knew whatever this man was going to do you had no way of escaping.

All your attention was on him as you followed his slender body, closing the distance between you two. Your heartbeat increased with every step and he came to a halt right in front of you. Timidly, you looked up at him, his eyes already fixated on you as he gazed down. His right hand reached out, index finger holding your chin. In the darkness, you could still not make out his facial features. You pulled away from his touch.

“Tsk, tsk.“ He tutted, reaching for your face again to study it more closely while tilting his head. “What pretty eyes you have.“ His fingers gently grazed your skin, from your chin to your cheek, and finally, coming to rest on your bottom lip. “And those lips. I bet they can bring me great pleasure.“

You stared at him with bewildered eyes. “P-please, don‘t…” you whisper. He chuckled again.

“Oh no, you will, kitten! You‘ll make me really happy, and if you do a good job, I might give you a reward, yes?“ The strange, yet familiar man leaned in and the light reflected on his face, making you realize who it was. It made sense. His voice and overall posture was all too familiar. You swallowed and bit your lip. This man, your kidnapper, was Tobias Forge.

“Mhm, what is that?“ He questioned. “What is that glint in your eyes, hm? Did you like that? Did that just send a spark to your core?“ A beat passed. “Does it excite you, kitten? Do you want to please me? Or do you want me to please you?“

When you didn‘t answer, he sighed, and let go of your face. “If you want me to give you that then you gotta earn it.“ He stood rigid, opening up his pants. Your eyes widened in shock.

“Oh, don’t look at me like you never sucked a dick before! Come on,” he beckoned. “Open up. Let me feel those pretty lips around me.“ With his jeans open, he pulled out his already hard cock, giving it a few lazy strokes.

Your eyes fell to his abdomen, gazing at his thick cock, standing up proudly, as he took one more step forward - his hard member now right in front of your face.

“Say ‘ah.’” He demanded softly. You refused with a scowl on your face.

“Oh, kitten, don‘t be like that. I‘d hate to ruin your pretty face and shove my dick down your throat.” His finger lifted your chin up again as he smirked at you. “But don‘t think I wouldn‘t do it. I always get what I want and right now I want you to suck my cock…as if your life depended on it!“

You knew it was wrong on so many levels, but something deep down inside of you was enjoying this, and you felt your pussy clench on nothing. You pressed your legs together in a pathetic attempt to gain some sort of friction. Tobias' eyes never left your face, but he noticed your squirming body under him. “Apparently I’m not the only impatient one.“ He grinned, lazily rubbing his rock hard cock. “Enough of this.“ He gripped your hair tightly, holding your head in place. You gasped and he took the moment your lips parted to swiftly push his cock between your mouth with a loud groan. His head fell back and he bit his lip as your lips closed around him. “Fuck, yes! I knew you would feel good, but this good?” His eyes scanned yours and there was a dangerous glint behind his orbs. “Suck,” He ordered, “or do I have to make you?“ He asked with a forceful thrust into your throat, almost making you gag.

Your eyes widened with a mixture of fear and arousal clouding your senses, and you started to bob your head back and forth on him. Tobias rewarded you with soft gasps and groans as you gave your best attempts to keep your lips connected around his pulsing dick. You paid special attention to the underside of him with your tongue pressed up and the little moans escaping his lips sent shivers down your spine. A wave of pleasure coursed through your own hot, aching core.

“Sathanas, yes, you take me so well, this is even better than I imagined!” Tobias breathed out heavily as he took a fistful of your hair into his hands. You dared to take him deeper, and even though he was not the biggest you had ever seen, he was decently big. It took you a moment to prepare yourself and relax your jaw.

“Nuh, uh, uh, keep going, kitten. Please your new Master, will you?“ He chimed in. With that, you took all of him, shoving his cock down your throat with a loud moan. Tears formed in your eyes and you began choking on him but the heavy breathing and loud growl of the man in front of you was enough to keep you going. Your head bobbed back and forth on him and you felt him getting closer to the edge. “Sluta inte!!“ Judging by his panting, moaning, and the way his fingers dug into your scalp, you knew he was close to spilling his seed down your throat. A cheeky grin overtook your face and you abruptly pulled back, waiting for his reaction as you stared at him through your teary eyes.

When your lips released him, his head immediately snapped down at you. “What do you think-“ Before he could finish his sentence, you pressed a soft kiss to the head of his throbbing cock. You stared up at him, eyes holding intense contact as you slowly and eagerly licked his slit. You pressed soft kisses along his shaft, and licked him up and down teasingly, shutting him up successfully. You felt him get irritated after a while. “For fuck sake, woman! Stop teasing and wrap your pretty, soft lips back around me.”

You looked at him and decided to finally give him what he wanted. You opened your mouth, taking him back in, and working up and down on him relentlessly. It didn‘t take long for Tobias to start panting again, his groans and growls getting noisier, and the closer he got to his release, the louder his moans became.

“Fan i helvete jävla…“ He growled between gritted teeth. You felt his cock on your tongue twitch and his hips started to thrust forward into your mouth. Your still tied hands tried to grip something to hold yourself in place as he started to fuck your face in near orgasmic bliss.

His hands gripped your hair as he thrusted into you, hissing and groaning, pace quickening, and all you could do was slack your jaw as much as possible and just take him. “Ahh! And now…“ He breathed heavily between the words. “Swallow. Swallow all of me.” With a few more thrusts he spilled his cum down your throat. His hips stilled and he watched you as he pulled his softening cock out of your mouth. You looked up at him, swallowing everything he had given you.

His deep eye contact almost made you whimper as he brushed a bit of overflown cum from the corner of your mouth. “All of me.“ He challenged, holding out his finger for you. You took his finger into your mouth, sucking on it, slowly and seductively, until you released it with a pop, all while staring at him through your lashes with your tear-stained eyes.

His expression shifted to one of genuine affection and you swore you could feel another clench, but this time, it was not from your cunt, but from your heart.

“You did very well, kitten. Not many have managed to surpass my expectations, but you and your devilishly sweet, little mouth…” Tobias shook his head, smiling, “I have never felt such sweet and tempting lips.“ He sighed. “Just think about everything I will do to you and with you.” He chuckled lowly, stroking his long, slender fingers through your hair. “Makes me go hard again. But do not worry, I will grant you a break since you‘ve been so obedient.“

To be continued…

Written by: Eva

[freisende]

Memories Selection: Checkmate Episode 4 - 錆びゆく心 (Rusting Heart) English Translation - Ensemble Stars

Ensemble Stars Memories Selection: Checkmate 『チェックメイト』

Provided by Happy Elements, あんスタチャンネル on Youtube

Adapted from Ensemble Stars! Story: Checkmate - Written by: 日日日 (Akira)

English Translation: Freiya *All copyrights of the stories, scene pictures and writings, all belong to Happy Elements. I only translated the scenes into English to help overseas fans understand the dialogues. I do not own any copyrights other than the English Translation*

——————————————

Izumi: Do it right! We need to accumulate new songs even if it’s only one more! The student council has moved and taken action on a new system- and that’s why we need to win this so-called Drefes!

———————————

Leo: Drefes, huh? …Hmm, I like doing lives; but, well…*Leo holds up Little John* The ones we had recently were different from what I thought, you know…?

Izumi: …Haa?

Leo: Those live fights, win or lose to decide their grades.. Why do we need to fight with our fellow members of Chess?

Izumi: It can’t be helped, can it? Following the Drefes' system, the student council has announced and made rules to limit the number of members of each unit.

Leo: Hmm…*Leo tilts his head*

Izumi: With chess’ current state, there are too many members and not all can participate in Drefes… And that’s why everyone begins to divide into three members here, four members there, according to the rule number of members for each unit… It’s the flow change of an era.

Leo: Yes, it’s just as you said, Sena. I can comprehend your logic. But you know, are idol activities like such? It is supposed to be more like… “Ahaha!”, laughing with everyone! *Leo plays with Little John* Can we make 100 friends~? Haha, wooh~! *Little John keeps meowing*

Izumi: Hey! Don’t play at your own pace and blurt things out at the same time! Poor her [1], if you hugged her with such force! (Izumi gets up from his seat, stretches out his arm to Leo to hold Little John) Here. 

Leo: Oh? Does Sena want to carry Little John too? *Little John tries to push Leo away*

Izumi: Not really. You treated her roughly, and that’s why I want to evacuate her here. *Leo gives Little John to Izumi* She’s a stray cat right? She’s dirty, too. And it looks like dirt will stick on you, soo~ annoying!

Leo: *Leo laughs* Ahaha, surprisingly you like animals, don’t you, Sena?

Izumi: Hmph. *Izumi smiles faintly*

Leo: Waahh! *Leo smiles cheerfully* It’s here, it’s flowing here, Inspiration! *Leo takes up his notebook and pen, thus begins writing* It’s been a while, this feeling! Recently, my head feels heavy, you see, I’ve been in a slump, and that’s why I’m happy!!

Izumi: Haa? Slump? Give me a break! At our side at these times, we can’t stop working, you know? As a result of Chess’ divided accumulating mountain of members, we are back to only our duo member unit. 

Even with you and me only, we can take care of those small fries without any difficulties normally, but for them, their amounts are too many!

If it’s not for those songs called weapons of yours, we don’t even stand a chance to counter them.

Leo: Weapons?

Izumi: What? You have a problem with my wording?

Leo: No! *Leo shakes his head* More like, it’s strange! *Leo smiles* As always, Sena’s word way of describing is amazing! I understand. If that’s the case, then I can’t complain in the near future, can I? *Leo closes his music notebook* Sena is smarter than me. So I’m counting on you!

Izumi: Hm. *Izumi smiles, then nods his head lightly. Little John runs away from their seat*

Now thinking about it, by the way, following Drefes’ rule, to participate in Drefes lives, we need to come up with a unit name.

Leo: Eh? If it’s a unit name, then it’s Chess, isn’t it?

Izumi: No, that can’t be used. It’s already been taken by those divided members. So that’s why we need to think of a different name.

Leo: EEHH!? I don’t want that!

Izumi: It’s too late, geez. Don’t be selfish.

Leo: Hmmmph. *Leo sulks, then propped his hand on his cheek*

Izumi: By the way, *Izumi takes out his phone* It looks like it’s becoming a trend for the divided members of Chess to use the name of the chess’ pieces for their unit, and they have been using those recently. 

Leo: …Chess’ pieces? Like, King, or Queen?

Izumi: Yup. But those two have been used already too. The rest are… pawn, or bishop, or rook, or knight… Uh, sorry, those have been registered already too. Looks like not using the chess’ pieces name directly, if we modify the name a bit, it can be used with no problem, though.

Leo: Hmm…*Leo gives time to think* Then, let’s make it plural, and come up with Knights?

Izumi: Knights… *Izumi checks with his handphone* Oh, looks like we can register with this name. Then let’s just go with this name, is that alright?

Leo: *Leo nods cheerfully* Yup. Okay!

Izumi: Starting from today, we are “Knights”. Let’s fight through it… Through this changing era!

***

Izumi: (We, Knights, start getting through the wave of Drefes battles.)

Announcer: Then, let’s announce the final winners of the live. The winners are…

Knights!!

*The audience cheers loudly*

*Leo and Izumi smiles at each other*

Leo: Yosh!

*They wave at the audience*

Leo: Ahaha! Thank you!

*The other party looks dejected*

Leo: Um…*Leo halts them* Let’s not worry about wins or loses, we are friends after all-

Divided chess members: Let’s go already. We lost, huh. Now we can’t increase our grades.

Izumi: (Chess. The fight we’ve been through with our former members. But, I had fun!

It’s different from the times with Chess and Backgammon, these times are full of passion and freshness! Fighting, going wild, crushing directly those people I don’t like. Exciting, isn’t it!

Leo-kun, begins to be called “Ou-sama” by the fans at sometime. And that, also motivates me to do more and more. We, Knights, will get the top throne of the emperor[2]. This is that sole big chance. We will fight to the highest of heights to our best extent!) 

***

Eichi: Today’s Drefes’ checkmate, has been brought by Knights, the unit Tsukinaga-kun participated in, which has directly and respectively made the Chess’ divided units to be more and more shambled inside. 

Tsumugi: It’s becoming just as you thought, Eichi-kun. The announcement of the rule limiting the number of unit members, is made purposely to separate and divide the numerous members of Chess, right?

Eichi: Yes. To continue making actions more clearly in this academy, they are practically becoming hinders. They are like unknown accumulating members becoming a giant guild. Even though I can’t make a move on them. Idiots, aren’t they? They just make it more to be easily eaten by gathering together.

*Eichi and Tsumugi comes out from Eichi’s car*

Eichi: Then, I arranged for the divided members of Chess to fight with Tsukinaga-kun’s Knights. I thought that if he fought then lost in the middle of it, then that would be all, but as expected, Tsukinaga-kun is very much a genius. Up to now, he has never lost a fight, he even kept a perfect striking respective win. But… as expected, even for him, today’s checkmate is like hard mud for him. Tsukinaga-kun even told me and you to help his activities by acting as extra helping members.

Tsumugi: It surprised me, as it’s a sudden announcement. As for now, I will try my best to practise and absorb Knight’s choreography moves to my body.

Eichi: Yes. If there’s a problem, we can talk to Tsukinaga-kun about it in the rehearsal. *A notification comes up from Eichi’s phone, and he looks through it*

…Hm. It seems like Sena-kun has also registered some extra members in his own way. *Eichi sees the Knights’ members name, including Ritsu’s name* Oh? This name…

***

-Meanwhile, Madara is taking a walk, then sees Little John on the bench- 

Madara: Hmm? You… Well, it’s a rare encounter to see you here, isn’t it? *Madara picks up Little John, then hears Leo’s voice echoes from a distance away* 

Leo: I understand how you think of me. It’s not a bad deal, isn’t it? 

Madara: …Hm? Leo-san?

***

-Knights’ members are practising the choreography in auditorium-

*After dancing for a while*

Izumi: Ergh. Stop the song! *Izumi walks, takes a towel and wipes away his sweat*

Sighs. Will it be alright with these members? Soo~ worrisome.

Arashi: Hey, what’s with that attitude? You don’t need to worry, as we, the helping members, are practising our best to the song. Right, Ritsu-chan?

Ritsu: Don’t call my name casually. I just came here to make up for the care the other day or something… Just because of returning the favour, alright? *Ritsu yawns*

***

*Eichi and Tsumugi enters the auditorium*

Eichi: Hmm. As expected of brothers, your faces are similar. You… perhaps are you Sakuma-senpai’s little brother?

I’m surprised when I saw your name on the list.

Ritsu: …Who are you? …Anyway, we don’t look alike, me and that being. 

….We don’t have any connections, he’s just an outsider.

Arashi: *Arashi is surprised* Wait… Sakuma-senpai, is it that Sakuma-senpai? Ritsu-chan, are you siblings with him?

Izumi: …. *Izumi just looks quietly at him*

Eichi: *Eichi chuckles* Sakuma Ritsu-kun, is it? *Eichi and Tsumugi walks closer to them* It looks like you don’t like talking about your brother… but if it’s not talking about Sakuma Rei, what else is left in you?

*Ritsu seems a bit surprised*

Tsumugi: Sena-kun, where is Tsukinaga-kun?

Izumi: Aah~, well, about him… he still lost his phone, and I can’t get through to him. I wonder where and what he's doing right now?

*Leo barges in through the door with Madara*

Leo: Ahahaha~! Sorry to keep you waiting! *Leo waves his hand at everyone*

*Everyone in the auditorium looks surprised*

Izumi: Huh…? …Mikejima? Why’s he here together with Leo-kun…?

——————————————

Translator’s notes:

[1] Little John is a female, check the Ensemble Stars! Story: “Robin Hood”.

[2] Izumi literally says “We will take the top seat!” but I think it will make sense to use the throne of the emperor as it seems more relevant to the story.

Note: There might be slightly different translations for some parts, hence I’m also open to suggestions/corrections.

——————————————

!Warning! Please refrain from reposting the translation to other platforms; abide to link back to this post for reference. Thank you.

Memories Selection: Checkmate Directory chapters Episode 5 - The Lonely Throne Episode 6 - The Shine of the Crown

Translation Masterlist

[rubinaitoart]

So…

Hypothetically speaking when it comes to fics (because there’s around 180+ Palia fics already on AO3) you could isekai literally any human protagonist into it right?

So here’s what I think the M6 would be like in Palia, just a quick list since my general creative juices are low today. This all assumes that A) They all don’t have any memories like the player and B) They all get isekai’d in separately.

Asra: Somehow this doesn’t feel too abnormal to him. The most strange part to them is the automaton and technology that’s scattered about the place. He warms up quickly to Jina, and there’s something about Hodari and Hassain that feels comforting and familiar. Their best skills are in bug catching and foraging. Adapts fairly well.

Nadia: The most irritating thing to her is her lack of memories. She might accidentally snap at Jina, but quickly corrects herself and apologizes profusely. Jel and Caleri are lovely people and it doesn’t take her long to get on Eshe’s good side. Her best skills are in hunting and furniture making. Manages to adapt.

Julian: This really throws him off. Perhaps he suffered a concussion? Absolutely floored by what Jina tells him and is insanely intrigued by Hekla. Doesn’t take long for him to befriend Tau and he’s frequently at the inn chatting with Reth , Ashura, Zeki, and Sifuu. Avoids Eshe for some reason, he feels like he should be keeping his head low… his best skills are in fishing and bug catching. Struggles a little to adapt.

Muriel: Sure. Why not. Inwardly freaked out by a lot of things—why is he so tall? Are the people just short? Where did he come from? Why is he covered in scars? Outwardly he manages to show some semblance of calm. He speaks very little, and Jina can’t get much out of him. Auni’s personality reminds him of someone, and he finds a kindred spirit in Hassain. Doesn’t take him long to befriend Tau either. His best skills are in foraging and furniture building. He struggles to adapt to everything.

Portia: Oh wow. This is fascinating! She has so many questions but not enough time to get any answers. Jina is ecstatic to meet someone with the same curiosity she does. Very quickly gets acquainted with everyone in town, and befriends Reth, Tish, and well everybody. Absolutely adores Zeki, and is very fond of the palcats and chappas. Her best skills are in cooking and gardening. She adapts pretty well.

Lucio: Where the hell is he?! … who the hell is he? Hm. Questions Jina on everything he can, and tries to wrap his head around everything. He does know he was somebody very important! So that should count for something. Probably pisses off Kenyatta but manages to charm his way onto Eshe and Kenli’s good side. His best skills are in hunting and foraging. Adapts well.

[mistkisbiggestfan]

Could you do Anna with a survivalist reader

Anne x Survivalist! Reader

A/N: Finally got to work on my inbox!! Requests are open, kinda wasn't sure what to do at first so I hope this is okay! <33

Y/N is gn here btw, love you guys!! Word count: 1.6 k

As a survivalist you were prepared for every case, you knew how to start a fire, how to hunt, forage. Anything there was to learn about surviving you knew. So when that one day while walking through a park, you suddenly landed in a place hostile at every step, you were more than prepared. You learned how to survive on your own many years ago, sometimes sneaking out just to spend your night outdoors with nothing.

By the mark of two months you were already stacked, you found out about civilizations living around this place called Amphibia. Frogs, Toads and Newts you supposed. But it didn’t matter, you were by yourself, put through dangerous situations out there in the wilderness, by choice. And all this—the harsh weather, hostile brutes lurking at every other living creature and the strangeness of it all—had no effect on you. That was not for the fact that you were long familiar with it, you were a newcomer in the land. But it was for that you were well prepared for anything coming your way. 

Dressed in chitin cuirass, made of Barbari–Ant’s hide that you polished and remade, it consisted of a hard chestplate and backplate fastened together, leaving the limbs free and light. You killed off two of them after they lost their horde, although they’re fast, aggressive and vicious, they were no match for you. Their pincers served as tools for your use.

Walking through the local market all the eyes were directed at you, knowing you weren’t in this town yet you realized it wasn’t the best idea. “Oi look! There is another one!” – You heard one of the Frogs say, you sent him a cold glare and saw his soul almost leave his body. 

The locals stared in awe at your cuirass and knives made of stings of many unfortunate insects that crossed your road. You sighed as you heard another whisper – “This one is surely less, hm, lanky than our Anne.”. 

Remembering the town’s motto, you couldn’t really be mad. — Slow to accept, and even slower to respect. — You muttered to yourself.

Sighing, you walked into one of the shops. “Leopold Loggle’s”: The sign read, door creaked loudly as you walked in, your armor scraping against the wooden frame. Everything inside was wooden, the shopkeeper nowhere in sight. Looking around you finally spotted a light blue axolotl with dark blue gills, his mouth was almost covered with his large ashy mustache. You could tell by the looks of it that he was a rather passionate wood carver.

You walked over to him, the axolotl was rather surprised at the sight of you, gasping slightly he looked at you cautiously. 

— Can I find a weapon here? — You said, waiting for his response. 

— Of course you can… not. — He said with a pause, giving you hope for a moment.

— Do you know a good place for that then? 

— Absolutely, I do…n’t. I don’t. — He said weirdly again.

— Why do you keep doing that? — You finally asked, confused by his pattern of speech. By now he moved, standing behind his counter.

— Old smithing accident, I tripped on an anvil. Landed neck–first on a metal pipe. Pierced my voice box clean through! That’s why there is no blacksmith in Wartwood anymore. — He said, you nodded, not really disgusted by his story. Bad things happen, as a survivalist you learned how to accept them and adapt to them. — Switched to wood after that. Anyhow, I’m afraid I can’t do much for you. 

Nodding again you turned around, ready to head out. — Wait, tell me, few have made it out alive after meeting a Barbari–Ant, fewer yet collected a trophy. You seem different from the other one of ya monster ‘round here, and I haven’t seen ya here yet, you from somewhere else? 

— I’m currently resigning in the wilds near this town. — Before leaving, a sudden realization hit you. 

— What do you mean, “different from the other one”?

— I am fairly sure I’ve seen another one of ya creatures here, in Wartwood. — He said, you acknowledged the fact and nodded to him as a sign of saying goodbye. You noted his words and carried on with what you were doing.

Once outside, you left Wartwood rather quickly, skipping its main road and just heading off back to the wild woods you had your camp in.

As you came back to your resting area, you set up some traps along the way, hoping for a game to fall into them. During this time, a foreign to you girl ran through the town’s square with her best friend, Sprig, by her side. 

She couldn’t shake off a feeling that she missed something prior to now. Both of them ran into the Leopold Loggle’s. At the sight of Anne Lepold murmured to himself. — Yes, yes I knew that there were other kinds of ya ‘round here somewhere.

— Did you say something? — Sprig asked him, as for they were close enough to hear.

— Oh yeah, yeah. — He turned to Anne herself and spoke up. — Ya didn’t tell anyone there were more of you around. It stirred up the whole Wartwood just a second ago. 

Anne and Sprig looked at eachother confused, the girl quickly jumped into action asking questions, hoping it was either Marcy or Sasha, her other best friends also stuck in Amphibia. 

— What did they look like? That was probably Marcy! My friend from back home.

— Well, they had H/L that was H/C colored, they also wore Barbari–Ant armor. They were slightly taller/shorter than ya. Kinda different, really different. They were definitely stronger and more harsh looking than ya, kid. — That confused Anne, her friends were very different from the description that Loggle gave her. 

— Are you sure dude? — She said, confused.

— Of course… — They expected him to say something that fit his style but he continued. — I’m sure. They said they live in those wilds next to Wartwood, pretty dangerous if you ask me.

Both best friends looked at each other and ran out of the woodsmith’s shop. — Thanks Loggle! — They yelled behind them.

— Do you think what I am thinking? — Anne asked Sprig he nodded.

— Yeah! We gotta find that person. — He said as Anne agreed. 

Soon they came up with a plan, it only took a few minutes, they decided that Sprig will stay and deceive Hop Pop as Anne will go out and find the mysterious person. Meanwhile you were chilling by a fire you set up, laying on the soft moss, a calm moment among the dangerous wilderness. 

As Anne entered the woods after asking for directions, she was met with nothing other than light footsteps left in the mud. She stepped forward and regretted not having both shoes on. Walking cautiously she looked around, only wind accompanied her. 

Shuffling through the woods she realized she's not even sure about the person you are. Lost in thought, Anne didn’t even realize when she stepped into a trap, a handmade rope tied around her foot and pulled her up, she shrieked, now dangling in the air she realized the bad situation she landed in. 

Growing nervous she heard something inching closer. A figure soon emerged from the thick bushes, walking over to the place where rope was tied, she saw them taking out a makeshift knife. She heard a snap as she came tumbling to the ground, scrambling to get up she saw the person coming closer and taking out a hand towards her. — Uh, are you okay?

Anne froze in her place, she looked you up and down, shocked to see other human in Amphibia after all this time spent with Frogs and others. — Hello..?

— Oh my god, am I dreaming? — She said, more to herself.

— ..Sorry..? — You asked confused, blushing from the weird reaction of Anne’s, she quickly picked herself up and blushed slightly, she could swear she had seen you before, somewhere in her school and then it clicked. She knew you, Marcy and Sasha always teased her about looking at you during lunch or always stumbling on her words when she talked with you. 

— You’re Y/N, right? I’m Anne Boonchuy, we used to go to the same school before… — She mentioned everything around her. — all this happened. You don’t even know how happy I am to see another human after all this time dude! 

You observed her closely before she tackled you into a bear hug, she was right, you remembered her, vaguely, but still. You remembered how she always talked with her friends and got into trouble. After breaking apart you saw her grin at you. Then you noticed a slight gash on her forehead. — Come on. — You gestured for her to follow you, while you walked she asked you questions to which you replied quickly. 

Finally you walked back to your camp, the fire was shining and burning brightly. She gasped and started to look around, slightly flustering you. — This is where you’ve been living all this time? — She asked as you nodded, taking out a bangade and purified water you previously boiled. 

Anne sat down on the hammock you set up for you to sleep during the night. You washed off the wound and bandaged it while talking with her about everything that happened in Amphibia, comparing your experiences so far, you talked for a long time, to your surprise, you missed talking with anyone. It reminded you of the fun but short times you shared with Anne.

Maybe you can finally get closer to each other? 

You smiled at the thought and went back to talking with Anne, this encounter marking a new chapter for both of you.

[scrumptiouslytooarcade-blog]

{Don't Leave, Not Again}

Synopsis: Gaito has been hiding this for a long time since Gao came back to Japan, he's made sure that no one finds out about those moments of weakness he had...The moments when he just couldn't deal with the feeling of loneliness he felt when Gao wasn't there...And now that he's back...HE DOESN'T WANT HIM TO LEAVE AGAIN...

After so many years that honestly felt like an eternity, Gao was finally back, he really couldn't help but feel a surge of nostalgia as he saw every place that seemed familiar to him, remembering all those great adventures and good times he had with all his friends...

And speaking of them, everyone was also happy to know that Gao had returned, it was as if an important spark had shone again in the group, although everyone had begun to take separate paths, that didn't mean they weren't still in contact, especially with Gao's return, and one in particular... It was Kurouzu Gaito.

No one knew exactly what Gaito had been through all these years when Gao hadn't been around, not even Kanata or his own buddy Abygale, that young man with violet vortex-shaped hair always seemed to maintain the same attitude as always... But at the same time... Something in him seemed to be wrong...

— So... It's been going well, right? — Gao was certainly nervous, he found it strange not being able to start a normal conversation with one of his best friends, even though he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

— Yes... You could say yes... Was your stay in America good...? — Gaito on the other hand, hid the jumble of emotions he was feeling as best he could, he could barely even make eye contact, it was costing him a lot...

— Oh! It was great! Well, more or less... It was actually a bit difficult for me to adapt at first, but over time I got used to it, I made more friends and participated in Buddyfight tournaments, I kept improving day after day — And there it was again, that attitude as bright as the sun itself... So radiant and cheerful...

— Hm... I'm happy for you... At least you had a good time... — Gao simply gave Gaito a smile, sometimes there were things that never changed.

— And I'm happy for you too Gaito, Tasuku told me that you're now working for the Buddy Police as an undercover buddy police. That's really cool! — Gaito felt his cheeks turn a light pink, he really missed those kinds of comments... They made him feel alive again, it was exaggerated yes... But that was the reality...

— T-... Thank you...— Was the only thing Gaito said as he lightly covered his face, so that Gao wouldn't see his blush.

— Mmmm... Now that I think about it... Batzz and the others took a while, don't you think? I don't think an ice cream stand is that far away — He was right, those 3 monsters were supposedly going to get ice cream, they would be coming in a while, Batzz wasn't a fan of sweet things, but Chibi Panda insisted that he at least give it a try and Abygale went with them to make sure they didn't get into trouble.

— Do you think Batzz had a rampage? — Gao simply sighed with some weariness, if that was the case, he would have to quickly go calm his buddy down.

— Wait for me here, I'll go find them to see why they're taking so long, I promise it will be fast — Gao got up from the bench where they were both sitting and ran off in the direction those monsters supposedly took.

— W-Wait! Gao! — Gaito stood up and tried to reach him, but after a few steps he stopped dead, due to a horribly familiar feeling...

He was alone again... There was no one around him, not even Abygale was there with him... Well, it shouldn't be that bad... It will be fast, when he least expects it everything will be fine and it will be as if nothing had weighed on him, as if he had never been left alone in the first place...

So... If everything was going to be fine...

Why were his hands shaking...?

Why was he starting to feel suffocated...?

He recognized that feeling perfectly... And he didn't like it... He felt exactly the same when he started to assimilate the fact that Gao was gone and that he wouldn't see him face to face again for a long time... That they wouldn't have any more battles together... That they wouldn't be able to see how the other grew stronger with the passage of time... That neither of them was going to be there for the other...

That feeling that he had been hiding all this time... He didn't want to assume that he had separation anxiety or something like that... It was ridiculous... Gao and him didn't even have a special bond for Gaito to depend on his presence like that... They were just friends... It didn't make sense...

So... Why was he afraid that Gao would leave again? Why was he afraid that he would leave without saying anything to him or to the others...? Fear of having to wait another long period of time to even see him for one more day...Maybe it was his destiny to feel this way...but...it was just so horrible...he was feeling weak...and he hated that...

HE WANTED THAT FEAR TO GO AWAY...IT WAS CAUSING HIM A LOT OF DISCOMFORT...

But...IT WASN'T GOING AWAY...IT JUST WASN'T GOING AWAY...

"Gaito..."

.

.

.

"Hey Gaito..."

.

.

.

"GAITO!"

— ! — Gaito came out of his thoughts when I hear Gao's voice call him, I looked forward and could see how he had a look of concern on his face.

— What happen to You Gaito? We arrived and found you trembling... — Abygale said as he approached his Buddy, who simply sighed being a little calmer... thought that something like this would not happen again...

— You look very pale... as if you had seen a ghost... — Chibi Panda commented, causing Gaito to simply showed his gaze, Gao noticed that, he knew that something was wrong.

— Mmmh...guys...Could you leave us alone? There is something that I want to talk about with Gaito... It's just that... it's personal... — Those monsters looked at them confused for a few seconds, but Abygale captured the message and took Batzz and Chibi Panda away, giving him space to their respective Buddys.

— I-I don't think that there is anything we should talk about Gao...J-Just...Forget that this happened and-... — Gaito was interrupted by Gao, who took it from the hands, causing Gaito to It will paralyze for a few moments, due to sudden contact.

— Don't say that, you're worrying me ... I know something is not right ... you can tell me ... you can trust me... — Gaito wasn't sure, he wanted to do it, but he didn't want Gao to think bad about him , he didn't want to ruin the friendship they had for a strange dependence that Gaito didn't know how or when it started...

— I-I... I-I don't...I don't think it's in my destiny to tell you... — Gao held Gaito's hands more firmly, he was determined to help his friend, he wanted to know what was bothering him...

— Listen...I think I have an idea of what's happening and that's why I wanted to tell you this...There's something that...I haven't told you...or the others since I arrived...I didn't want to worry them in the same way that you want me not to worry... — Gaito looked at Gao confused, his tone of voice reflected a certain sadness, a certain weakness... Something not very common in him...

— You see...When I was in America, there was a time when I felt a similar way, it was difficult for me to adapt to not seeing you guys there all the time, leaving my house and knowing that I wouldn't be able to join you to play. together, tune our decks and meet at my house...It was difficult for me to make new friends since I was afraid of forgetting about you or having to leave you in the same way that I left you when I had to move... And...What scared me the most...Was...Ugh...I was afraid that... You guys will forget about me...For some reason...In my mind There were always scenarios of you forgetting about me, even worse than that was that because I left you would stop hanging out and stop being friends just because of my absence... I know it sounds... Bad and even a little crazy... But... It really was hard for me... — Gaito was stunned as he listened to that confession, he didn't think that Gao really felt that way, but it was certainly possible, he had shown that he didn't want to move at first... But his fate was already sealed..

— It's just that... Yours is different... Gao... I don't want-... I don't want you to think that I-... I don't want you to think that I'm starting to depend too much on your presence... Since you left... It's been very difficult for me to deal with those feelings... Even though sometimes we got together... It just wasn't the same for me... I'm sure it wasn't the same for others either... But still... For some reason I couldn't help but feel bad for not... having you around... I know that we're just friends but... It's just that-... I don't want you to go! — Finally he let go, Gao stepped back a little in surprise, he really expected something like this, but he still wasn't prepared.

— G-Gaito... — Gao saw how Gaito began to tremble again, his voice seemed to break... The weight of his emotions was apparently too much...

— I-I... I really don't want you to go... N-Not again... I know it may sound selfish... I don't know... I know that if you want something very much sometimes it's better to let it go if that's how it should be but... It's hard for me to accept it when it comes to you... I always think that it was my destiny to meet you from the beginning and that's why sometimes it's hard for me... It's ridiculous so please... Let's just forget this conversation-... — Gaito was interrupted again, this time by a hug, Gao couldn't stay still when he saw Gaito fall apart like that, it was painful... He wanted to show him that he wasn't alone anymore...That he shouldn't feel that way anymore...

— It's okay... It's okay Gaito... I'm here again... I'm not going to leave again... — Gao simply held the hug firmly, he knew that Gaito needed him...

Gaito couldn't help it, he clung to Gao with some force, letting out all his anxieties and worries, it felt good, it felt liberating, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders... He finally felt relieved... He wouldn't have to fear anymore...

— Thank you... Thank you for that... Gao... — Gao simply nodded with a smile, he would be there when Gaito or any of his friends needed him...

— Hey, are you guys going to kiss or not? — They both quickly separated from the fright, only to realize that Noboru was there, with the rest of his friends, and his buddy monsters.

— Noboru, you ruined the nice moment they had — Kuguru said with some annoyance, although he really wanted to know if Gao and Gaito would get to that point...

— W-When did you get here!? A-And what are you talking about!? — Gaito was facing away very nervously, hiding how blushed he was, Gao on the other hand was in complete shock, although equally blushed.

— Well, we were passing by when we saw Batzz, Chibi Panda and Abygale, they told us that they were waiting for you to finish having a conversation alone but since they didn't know if you had finished talking, we decided to come to see — Kanata said with a typical smile of his, while Noboru was dying of laughter...

— And regarding the other thing... Well... Let's say that you two weren't good at hiding the chemistry you had when you were here Gao, yo... It was noticeable from afar that you had a crush on each other, yo — Gao and Gaito couldn't believe they were listening to him, well, maybe it was true, but neither of them wanted to take the first step back then... They were barely 12 years old at that time.

— But do you feel something for each other? — Kanata asked innocently, which made both of the young men blush even more.

— SHUT UP!! — They both said at the same time, causing their friends to laugh...

What a way to end this day, don't you think?

[fluentisonus]

9 ringwraiths people you would like to get to know better:

tagged by the wonderful @carlandrea!! ty :) <3

three ships: hms surprise uss constitution hms victory (<- sorry couldn't resist)

legolas and gimli. what even to say here. guys of all time. you guys Know you've read my posts

jack aubrey & stephen maturin But like. It's Complicated. I'm kind of into this one as like. an eternally understood but unspoken & unacted upon thing if that makes sense?? idk my thoughts are many & complex but ultimately they're a matched set so it qualifies

idk if this is like a top ships of all time thing BUT since you reminded me. thinking All the time about arabella strange/lady pole. what if we were devoted to each other and got trapped in faerie together attending the same endless eerie balls every night and called each other my love and kissed each other for comfort and one of us shot a guy for the other and we were both girls. ough

first ever ship: this one's hard.... i'm genuinely not sure it'll probably come to me as soon as I post this askdjhfklsaj

last song: sunrise by norah jones i think :)

last movie: the draughtsman's contract immediately followed by the favourite as god intended

currently reading: nothing currently but i just a couple of days ago finished rereading the invention of love & then immediately reading ae housman's poems so you can imagine the state i was in ksjhdkjfskj. also i am a little bit in the middle of a broadside ballad rabbit hole though

currently watching: ABOUT to start watching the jonathan strange and mr norrell tv adaption :^)

currently consuming: recently had apple crumble for desert!

currently craving: dark chocolate with mint or some sort i think

tagging: sorry i can't think of anyone rn bc I'm too sleeby but if you want to do it consider yourself tagged!!

[noblechaton]

so. the ml movie huh. hm (big ol post with spoilers under this cut btw)

so after almost 10 years of being on this bug and cat train they finally get a big ol expensive movie and I think it was. fine? maybe? there's a lot going on here and while I don't think I can call it good and mean it I don't think it was the worst thing ever. a 6? out of 10 feels kinda right for me. got a lot to say here fwiw so buckle in if ya wanna read it all lol

main issue I feel is obviously them trying to adapt 5 seasons, each of which was dozens of hours at least, and a near decade of storytelling into a movie that doesn't even hit two hours. no idea why - I imagine the money ran out tbh - but running through the entire thrust of the series in ~1h40m movie just. was never gonna work man. feel like there had to be better options out there, like just adapting Origins with some episodes from S1 thrown in between them getting their miraculous and Hawkmoth revealing himself or something. idk. I ain't a writer

but then also I felt despite the short runtime that it sorta dragged on at times? like it got stuck spinning wheels here and there. Marinette constantly needing her confidence boosted even after being Ladybug for so long was weird. it's so strange bc they flashed through a dozen akuma - some of which looked kinda cool btw, be neat if they made the jump to the show - and yet it felt like there'd been no progress made? like the flow of time in the movie just. didn't work. a lot of stuff just sort of happens at you and you gotta hang onto whatever ya like and hope it doesn't just vanish in the river of events

voice acting in English was like. pretty solid honestly. maybe the best performances I'd heard from that side of the dub tho I have no idea what they were thinking with the singing voice for Marinette at least. couldn't really tell if Adrien's was still Bryce (I don't think it was but it wasn't as jarring) and I know Keith sang for Gabe's songs but whoever they got for Marinette just. wasn't even close to Marinette's normal speaking voice and it's super distracting. really weird choice. no shade on the singer tho she was solid imo just like. no connection to Marinette's normal voice really took me out of it

also the songs were kind of nonsensical most of the time and there's way too many of them. some are kinda good - Gabe's, Chat's and tbh I kinda liked the one over the credits to name a few - but like. they were not good enough for there to be what felt like 6-7 different songs in a movie that doesn't even crack 2 hours lmao

they made a ton of changes in terms of the story and general world and I actually kind of liked some of them - Ladybug learning to swing through the yoyo (which had a neat redesign) and doing so using that Ladybug vision was cool, I appreciate that we get a reveal and how it's done even if the end card was brutal, the miraculous seeking them out felt more like nice compared to just having the weight of the world dropped on them by some ancient man lol - but then there's others I didn't. Ladybug just never uses the cure until the end? I guess? she also doesn't purify the first akuma I don't think and like. nothing happens? Adrien's just sorta out and about? going to the school already? he gets a really understated intro imo. Gabriel sort of doesn't get an ending. I'd assume he's in jail? we get almost none of Adrien's perspective on getting the ring which is really weird

and that sorta extends into my feeling that somehow we did not get enough Gabriel in this. really weird saying that after having enough of that bum for the last 4 years of my life but his motives are carried hard by my knowledge of the show, and even then they're not really shown enough - he's not shown enough, and I don't feel Adrien is either. neither is the school setting or side characters, heck I'd say Adrinette gets kinda shafted overall since most of the development they get is in a montage sequence. there's a lot chopped out of this for the sake of a brevity that doesn't feel all that brief?

there's some good stuff in here for sure. the animation is undeniably pretty and slick even if some models are kinda wack. most of the action was fun and cool, the final sequence with Chat running up the tower and such was neat. I loved the Ladynoir something fierce honestly, the bantering and the sparring and the getting closer and closer. missed them being like that a lot tbh, someone on staff clearly did too. couple of jokes got me too like the opener with Chloe getting a single drop of coffee on her shirt lmao

but then there's a lot of stuff that really didn't work for me. Plagg being reduced to a fucking fart joke kind of made me mad lmao. them being super inconsistent with their powers was so weird. no lucky charm?? WHAT?? did I miss something?? no side character getting any focus beyond Alya was disappointing too and even Alya just dips out of the story after a while. breaking out into song once every like 15 minutes got old kinda quick too regardless of song quality (tho it was funny that Marinette seemed aware of the fact that she'd just participated in a musical number at one point lol)

Fu opens the movie with some really weird monologue and basically dips after the first akuma and they just. never find him again? he plays zero role beyond that point? Adrinette's first meeting is kinda cute in an understated sort of way but it's also sort of nothing and doesn't feel like a lingering thing for long afterwards - it ain't no umbrella scene dude. also Chat Noir seemingly drops the "my mom died btw" thing on Ladybug like she'd know that and she just sort of goes "Ah. Sorry, Chat." and that was. super fucking weird lmao

like I said. there's a lot going on - tho I gotta say for sure the writing was not consistently good. there were moments, flashes, Ladynoir is the strongest thing in the movie imo but there's so many fucking craters in terms of quality that it makes me so happy we get what we do in the show

on the whole I felt the movie was somehow way too condensed and yet too long at the same time. it felt like it was made by someone who really likes the surface details of the series but not the whole thing and like that's fine but I wouldn't say it was a good representation of the show. like the things I like about the movie are kind of all things I've liked about the show, and I like them more so because of that but also like I can't say the movie was good just bc I like the show lol

shallow is a good word for it I think. a flashy, expensive hour or so with little more beneath the surface which I feel sorta betrays the show it's based on where it's cutesy on the surface but has more going on under it. which like this feels very much made for the younger demographic and those that aren't into the show, like sort of an ad for someone's ideal version series even if it sorta strays really far from the show itself. as if someone perhaps in charge of this movie was clinging to what elements of their flagship series that they thought were keeping their company afloat and foolishly believed they could do it better than the creator or any other actual writer. wonder who that could be. anyway

as an adaptation of the show I don't think it was good overall and as a movie on its own it was like. fine. imo. wouldn't sway people into picking the series up but definitely not the worst movie ever made. super safe and super shallow, really messy with a few bright spots thrown in. a cluttered Ladynoir reveal fic where the Ladynoir bits are good and the rest is not. etc.

I like it but mostly bc I love the show - I would not introduce someone to the series with this and might not even urge casual fans to watch it either tbh. real mixed bag imo

also what happened to the "Awakening" subtitle? I kinda liked it and it's just gone. weird

[agallimaufryofoddments]

For those of you who are also slow on the uptake, Chapter(?) 3 of the Baccano! ~from the 1700s~ manga released on January 25. The best time for us to buy it was release day, but buying it is better late than never. As always, (the prospect of) new Baccano! media depends on consumer support.

Buy it despite DMM's "DMN" DRM, for we have no choice.

On the one hand, I hate DRM. On the other, if selling this manga via a DRM-strict retailer/platform succeeds in making people purchase it when they would have otherwise tried reading it for free, then. Fine. FiNe.

Remember to rate each installment. I think it's possible to do it without leaving a review: read the chapter in your browser, click the star on the end page, then click five stars on the review input form that pops up. It seems to save my five star rating even when I navigate away from the form. Leaving reviews themselves wouldn't hurt, unless...they're in English...probably. Do you think we could get away with leaving machine-translated ones? How many strangely-written reviews would it take to sound the 'overseas purchaser' alarm?

Edit: Or maybe not. The ratings I ‘gave’ aren’t reflecting on the listings for 2 and 3. Maybe a review is necessary after all.

Chapter 3 reactions under the cut.

Looks like this depicts parts of LN11 Interlude II and Chapter 4. I did have to manually transcribe some of the dialogue. This took way more time than I can afford.

The opening scene depicts the killing of the 28th victim/witness, an aristocrat named Lord/Sir Alonso. This must be the murder that Larolf reports to Esperanza in the latter half of LN11 Interlude III? Larolf describes the victim as a "boy" who witnessed the Mask Maker right before Niki did in the novel, but this Sir / Lord Alonso is certainly not a child. Hm...

I believe the bit of Niki we see in this chapter is her telling Esperanza the food is delicious from the beginning of Interlude III. However, the manga seems to be omitting the part where Larolf reports [Alonso's] murder? It shows Niki walking away with a maid, whereas Niki runs away when Larolf makes his report...and there's no moment where Esperanza is angered by the bruise on Niki's face per the LN.

Moreover, am I right that the manga also omits Monica and Elmer's encounter with the bald man and Maiza in Chapter 4? There's no marketplace with children singing the MM song, no bald man, no Maiza...

...but the previous chapters also omitted Elmer's first encounter with Maiza, didn't they? So the mangaka's been deliberately holding off on Maiza's introduction from the start. I guess the manga's going to move the bruise reaction, Larolf's report and the bald man/Maiza-Elmer-Monica encounter to another day? How will that account for Elmer's wound, though, since Elmer doesn't show up to class after being stabbed?

I probably need to reread manga chs. 1–2 and actually take note of what was and wasn't adapted. I should do that anyway, since that would be useful for the wiki.

Okay, some positives...

Larolf depicted! (I only know because he was depicted in Chapters 1–2, so this is a belated celebration of a Larolf Hancletia design. Ch.2 gave us Huey's mother, too.)

Warehouse depicted!

Patisserie lady depicted!

Hey, it's Elmer's room at Esperanza's place!

Elmer wounded! Bandages on Mask Maker's arm are neat.

Monica has a lot of fun expressions. Manga is leaning hard into the classic twitterpated teen girl archetype and her 'tells' (big eyes, blushing), and these do serve the purpose.

Denkurou and Zank (albeit seen, not heard)!

Elmer's back scars...

Some mild complaints:

Zank's body should be as dark-skinned as Zank's head. Did the mangaka forget to color the torso? If this is a lighting thing where Zank's head isn't in range of a light source, then Denkurou's body should reflect that too. It's such a weirdly stark difference in hue that it really looks like a coloring error.

Am I allowed to feel lukewarm about Elmer's design? Maybe the fact that I've never seen Elmer with flat (slicked?) hair is throwing me off (aka it's throwing me off a lot), but there's something about his head's shape as well. The big forehead?　The eyebrows floating halfway up the forehead? The flat hair is contibuting to the forehead's largeness.

To be totally fair, this is gawky teen!Elmer, not adult!Elmer, and Elmer on the LN11 cover does have a rounder face (than adult!Elmer) that I guess the manga is honoring.

And...

Elmer's back scars.

I am whelmed. I guess I've built up my mental image of the scars for so long that probably any illustration is doomed not to meet expectations. It might be unfair of me, but I can't help think that a mangaka could go all out on the scars, since they only have to be drawn for 1—3 panels—honestly, why not just devote a full page illustration to it or one panel that fills most of the page?

Ex: Contain Monica's horrified expression + Huey going ??? to one panel. Overlay that (opt. and the next panel) with a small panel of Huey's face to emphasize Huey actively following Monica's gaze. Thus, rather than showing a Huey!POV of Monica looking at Elmer, you could dedicate one big panel exclusively to Elmer's full back and arms. Go all out.

There, one and done.

Here's the LN description of Elmer's scars for comparison.

Elmer was stripped to the waist, squeezing his clothes out, and his back…

…was covered in scars.

And it wasn’t only his back; uncountable scars covered the parts of his arms that had been hidden by his sleeves.

Currently, not a single wound was bleeding, but if all those scars became wounds again, he couldn’t even imagine how much they would have bled—

That was how mutilated Elmer was.

He might have had even more scars than Huey’s mother had in his memories of her.

They weren’t just cuts. There were marks as if something had been used to gouge out divots of flesh, and an enormous burn that covered the top half of his back. Not only that, but the burns appeared to be covering countless more scars.

Where's the enormous burn? Those scars are pretty countable. I see plenty of unmamrred skin. Yep, I'm nitpicking now. Please give my apologies to the mangaka; my expectations were simply too high. Ultimately, I am grateful that Elmer's scars have finally been depicted in an official publication.

(Quick! Enami! Draw Elmer shirtless as a 20th anniversary treat!)

Defying Description

Esperanza

[theonemarvelousness]

Commentary on Riddle in Fanfic Series

>>Very specific scene here, needed to write.

Riddle’s eyes can’t help watching No as she enters the cafeteria. She looks safe, and healthy. It’s a relief. He doesn’t—like that he couldn’t help last time. Her hair is different, too. He should’ve pointed it out, right? Ugh… but. She’s… Safe and sound. Instead of getting food and being efficient, he had saved the table. Cater and Trey have just returned. He stands up. “I will be joining No and returning.” “A’ight.” Cater grins. “Careful, it’s a madhouse.” Trey worries a little. “It will be fine.” Grim’s rushed ahead of No, going after a tray and digging in. No’s clearly looking for him, and when their eyes meet?

She smiles.

How happy she is to see him.

It’s a releif. No’s normal.

Her hand takes his so quickly. “C’mon, before Grim takes it all, right?”

He finds himself tugged by that warm hand. It’s not the first time she’s tugged someone off—and honestly he wonders if she notices at this point. Grasping wrists, hands, sleeves—tugging people around her. Somehow the one without magic is leading around so many with it by the nose. Even Leona Kingscholar’s found himself victim to following her whims and path. It’s strange, because he knows she doesn’t notice it at all.

>> So this section is clearly where Riddle's already fallen for her. Just so everyone is clear. He hasn't realized it yet.

Those strange blue eyes he catches again as she looks back at him. “Not a bad line, right?” “Yeah. We’re lucky.” “Well, we are behind Grim—so we’re going to have to be vigilant.” A chuckle, she seems good. “Are you—I mean.” It’s rude to ask in line. “--What do you want to eat?” “Mmm… peaches?” Tapping her chin as she considers, too.

His stomach drops. She can’t be—his temper flares--! >>But at the same time he's still hair-triggered. I mean, she did just threaten to poison herself lol. Bad peach allergy. RIP.

Now, she’s laughing. “I’m kidding Riddle, I promise! I promise. Alright? Don’t worry, No peaches for me. I’m good.” There’s some amusement still in her expression as she finally snags a tray. “I’m thinking a salad with some non-peach fruit and… maybe the pasta?” A decently balanced meal. And, she’s definitely eating more. Good.

“Those are sensible choices.” Of course he approves, she’s not concentrating on junk or too many things that aren’t entirely good for her. It’s all a good mix—thankfully. The dark-eyed picks up a balanced few items. Trying to count some calories in his head, just—he should—stick to it… he is eating so many sweets. It’s not like it’s affecting his waistline but he should be cautious.

“Riddle.” No gently nudges his shoulder.

“Hm?”

“It’s food, take what looks tasty. C’mon!” Oh! A flush comes to his cheeks. Ah, he didn’t need her call out.

>>Sorry Riddle, you just found her super cute here it's not you taking too long. :)

Well, he—picks a few things. Salad, fruit, and a stew bowl of some meat and vegetables floating in a nice broth. Alright.

It’s good. Yeah, food. Maybe—he snags a fruit juice and a water. No’s got water, sensible, of course.

They check out, and he leads. “Come, I’ve made sure we had seats.”

“Good! We’re about in chair brawl territory.” No says some strange things and phrases he has to take time to put together. This is actually understandable. Yet, they take their respective seats. He’s sitting on No’s side, while Cater and Trey are across from them, already dining. It is the cafeteria, so their food choices don’t matter and it is difficult to let that go—really difficult.

>>Riddle is also still struggling with himself though, which means he's not going to really be able to confront himself and his feelings until he's better mentally.

They’re seated, and eating begins. No’s the one to break the topic. “So you’re curious about the third Overblot?” It’s very casual how she refers to it—like she didn’t just face a life-threatening situation for the third or so time since the school year began. There’s becoming used to something—adapting, and the strange way she handles it. Yet, in his knowledge, she has lost most of her kin. Perhaps there’s a casual note due to familiarity and a way to… comfort herself?

>>His observation here isn't entirely on the mark. She has 0 kin. And this is her 5th Phantom and 3rd actual Overblot. The therapist called it a defense mechanism, if he recalls.

>>Stop playing side chair psychologist Riddle.

It would make sense, to need something to fortify herself against the horrors she’s seen. It’s clear that she isn’t from Twisted Wonderland. She has so little understanding of the basics of this world that it’s mind-boggling! Yet, she also introduces so many things that baffle him from her own world.

>>He has to rationalize things doesn't he?

“Y-E-S.” Cater spells out. “Of course we do! We weren’t allowed to do anything, No!” “I’d—also like to hear. You’ve clearly had a difficult time.” He’s eyeing the new haircut. Everyone on Campus has heard the story, especially about No Wei socking Azul Ashengrotto in the face a day or two after beating three Savanaclaw students with a book bag.

>>She's from Texas.

Who KNEW someone like No had such a violent streak? It’s a little frightening, except at the same time she’s… so nice and gentle. Kind. Kinder than anyone expects. There’s a rarity to that—to being so unconditionally nice to people. It’s really not normal, and it’s part of what gets No into these situations—or probably their irresponsible Headmaster. What a strange… person she is.

>>Texas.

No clears her throat, taking a sip of water. “After the anemones appeared, Jack and I ended up following them to the Monstro Lounge, where we saw Azul’s opening drama for his Fish Mafia life. So—basically, we let them suffer a bit until… well. I was cornered, really. Grim and my friends were drug off to an exhausting degree, more than anyone else. It was definitely on purpose and it was… Pretty shitty.” A shrug.

>>It's a TRAP.

But, she continues. “Then Crowley assigned me to solving the problem, threatening the expense of our cafeteria budget.” No frowns a little. “It’s… well, it is what it is—so I made a contract with Azul. I stipulated it myself, which I think made it a wee bit more tolerable. Not great, but more tolerable. I get a photo from this underwater museum, and he releases the anemones and gives me a cut of the lounge’s profits. If I fail, he gets the dorm and my work for the Lounge until I graduate. Steep, but… I assumed I’d be able to figure it out, no matter what he threw at me.” No pauses to take a bite. The juniors give one-another a look. Riddle can’t help how his grip tightens on the fork he holds.

>>No's confidence in herself is astounding to everyone around. But she's now at 3/3 and was at 2/2 and 2/2 (Overblots and Phantoms). It's starting to be her old hat at this point.

“So, it sucks, but what I do is I—of course—well. I get kicked out of the dorm by the Leech duo—since it’s collateral. And first Ace and Deuce offer Heartslabyul and I—refuse, when the more open space of Savanaclaw was offered. We go with Jack, and that’s the fun part, I guess?” There’s another shrug. “We get a mattress in Leona’s room, which was great because I liked having a less-used bathroom than the communal setting.” Oh, uh—Riddle nods to that. Yeah.

>>Private bathrooms FTW.

“—anway, the Leech duo interfere, and I eventually convince Leona to help on a two-pronged attack once we figure out the contracts can be destroyed thanks to Hornton talking a little sense into me. I guess the whole thing fried my brain—it should’ve been way more obvious! Anyway, Leona goes and destroys most of the contracts while I get the photo under the sea. The eels tried to stop us, but it definitely failed. We all meet back up to see Azul freaking out and stealing everyone’s magic with his unrestrained ability. Crazy, right? And—well. He grabs me, tears out my hair, and Overblots. So—we save the day, he cried a l-o-t… and I won. So, really, it works out for me. Pomefiore was even kind enough to give me a free hair cut. It looks nice, right?”

“Y-e-s O-M-G that was INSANE No! Wait—smile!” And No indulges the picture—because she has her camera out and snaps them in a few photos with a grin.

“Are you alright?” Trey asks, of course he’s concerned too!

“Well, now I am. Things are starting to get a little less dramatic and hopefully I’m not drug into another pile of bullshit over Crowley for awhile. This isn’t a Scooby Doo episode where there’s a mystery to solve every week.”

No one at the table understands No’s reference.

She lets out a big sigh. “Nevermind—forget that one. Anyway—it all worked out, right?”

>>The difficulties of a foreign culture. There's really no other way to react than to blink and move on.

While he feels assuaged she’s alright, maybe he should give—well.

“Oh! Right. I also punched Azul in the face.” Confirming the rumors are true.

Riddle winces.

She’ll be fine, but he hopes if there is a next time she comes to him first.

>>THIS is the cutest part. <3 He wants to help. <3

[rifleseye]

4, 5, 10, 18, 24, 28, 38, 39

Do you have any habits or quirks that others find unique or strange?

"Ah... Yes... Not everyone is thrilled by the fact I tend to analyze their frames. I can't really help myself — my specialty for a very long time was Adaptational Cyberbiology. Additionally it seems not everyone is um... as enthused about my interests as I am. Though I wish they were a bit more subtle with their displeasure..."

Have you ever been in love? If so, what was it like?

"Oh... I'm not sure. There is this one particularly handsome seeker I'm a bit in love with. It feels how I imagine gravity does."

Are there any skills or talents you have that not many people know about?

"I am actually a... decent singer. Though I'm far too shy to sing in front of anyone. It is a very... special skill to me. It carries much weight in my home polity."

What’s your guilty pleasure, the thing you indulge in secretly?

"Astrology... I do not believe any of it is true, of course: But I do enjoy looking for patterns. I picked it up from my Mentor... I don't do any readings or anything as it's a bit embarrassing being a mech of science."

Would you sacrifice one innocent person to save a thousand others?

Answered.

Describe your most awkward kiss.

"Must I?" he sighs, an embarrassed flush to his face, "It was with Dynamo. I initiated it. It was... I "jumped the gun" so to say, and subsequently surprised him. We had a long conversation after that..."

Describe your first time in three words.

"Fumbling tenderness." He needs only the two.

Describe a non-sexual activity that turns you on unexpectedly.

"I am not entirely sure there is anything of that sort for me. My sexual drive is fairly low as it is... Hm..." he thinks for a long moment, "I don't know. Tactile touch can be? There are many sensitive sensors riddled through my body that contributes to that."

[newdestination]

☕ + food in hisui vs food in sinnoh!

"Ah, the food..?" Ingo taps a finger against his chin.

"Well, to be quite honest, I haven't had much of a chance to really experiment with the more modern Sinnohan delicacies. Much of it has left me feeling quite ill— It's been something of an adjustment period, something about the change in production processes I've been told… I avoid eating out in Unova for many of the same reasons. I've been giving my brother something of a headache with the shopping, I'm sure." He himself makes most of their food these days, breakfast lunch and dinner alike. His digestive system has been slowly adapting back to a more modern palate, at least.

Definitely not enough for those strange street vendor hotdogs, though. Ingo had tried them once, when he'd only just returned and Emmet seemed so… excited about it. He really, really should have known better.

"Either way though, I'd say I do still quite like it when available! It retains some measure of familiarity, though I can't say much the same for any resemblance to actual Hisuian food."

"It's… just different, I suppose? If anything, modern cuisine in Sinnoh is just the sort of fare Jubilife brought over when they'd first established themselves. They were quite obstinate about how 'food should really be made.'" Or maybe that was just Beni. It's not as though he'd been invited in for meals beyond the occasional proposition from Zisu or a scant few Corps members.

"Oh, they don't really seem to do ruibe anymore, at least where I had been— ah, it's a little like sashami but frozen and… less… pomp? Preparation? It's just frozen koikingu— hm— magikarp we'd left buried in the snow to preserve it. You aren't really supposed to let it completely thaw out. Sashami is fine, I just find I prefer the texture when it's half-thawed. That, and they never have any fira-pi sauce. I suppose you'd call it figy-pep? Cheri is fine, but it doesn't really have the same profile."

"…Emmet told me we shouldn't be eating fish raw here in Unova, else i'd probably still indulge. He mentioned looser regulations and diseases in mass-fishing operations."

"And parasites."

"..."

"On that particular note, I've had to change how I prepare citatep as well— you really ought to leave the head and any cartilage in if you make it, by the by. The point of it is to use the whole organism, not to just cut out half your meal. It doesn't make it any worse."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I've derailed from the original point, haven't I?"

"Ultimately, it's a world of small differences that make quite a large disparity in the end result. There are plenty of foods that look familiar in Sinnoh, but are made of completely different things… I'm never putting their dumplings anywhere near my engine ever again. I suppose I just ought to be glad that they no longer prepare ringuma in anything. It was important for quite a few reasons nobody seems to recall anymore."

[dzthenerd490]

Dark Blood Chapter 30: The Second Half of Greed

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Trigger Warning! This Chapter contains depictions of Gore, Cannibalism, Death, Destruction, Blood, Violence, Fighting, grotesque horror, body horror, and Character Death.

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Kyle then slit his throat and his blood poured out adding another layer to his armor only this coat wasn't black but blue instead. Isabell shivered at the sight of this but then she realized how great this would be and started to smile knowing Kyle could easily win this no matter what.

"Oh? The black and blue really complement each other but fashion aside I wonder what that blood does? You truly have sparked my curiosity!" Insaro's smile grew wider while Kyle just glared at Insaro with disappointment and anger.

"Aw! Why such a long face brother! This battle will be legendary!"

"Don't call me that, I am not your brother!"

"Hm? Oh, that's right, why did I call you that? Seems strange... eh, no matter, I want to see if what the legends say is true. Are you a true slave of Eden that burns all Sinners and Darkness in your path or are you just a child with powers you can't even use to your full extent."

"Don't get cocky, Insaro! I defeated Virdis and I can kill you too!"

"Ugh, don't say that name, Virdis was an absolute failure. though I he did managed to serve one good use at his death." Insaro then looked back to Kira who smiled brightly back at him, Kyle still couldn't believe that a girl so young was with Insaro, just the thought of it made him sick. Insaro must have brainwashed her or something, which was all the more reason to take him down. Kira then looked at Kyle with a surprised expression, which confused Kyle.

"He thinks I'm brainwashed papa!"

"Oh? Does he now? Hmph, giving yourself more reasons to justify this pointless fight?" Insaro looked back at Kira and chuckled at the idea, Kyle however had chills up his spine. That little girl just called Insaro papa, as in father figure, how could anyone want a literal demon to be their father figure.

"hahaha, curious? Well maybe a demon is just better than rodents at raising children. You know, the same rodents that hate Zerku parasites at that, I mean, obviously I do too, but at least my hatred makes sense. rodents, on the other hand, have no right to hate the Zerku that were specifically made by the false god Eden to protect them. What a waste of power."

"Tch, you sure like running your mouth!"

"... that's your best retort? you're not going to say something cheesy like 'your wrong! humanity is capable of so many amazing things!' or 'you have no right to be the judge of humanity, only god can do that' or some other stupid nonsense like that." Kira started giggling at Insaro's sarcasm and Insaro looked back to her and chuckled a little as well while giving her a thumbs up.

"hahaha... oh, but your right let's not keep the readers waiting let's get to the action!"

"Readers? What are you-" Insaro then charged forward at Kyle, luckily Kyle blocked him but the power from the impact was massive, which pushed Kyle back a little. Insaro giggled deviously while Kyle glared in annoyance but then he smiled mockingly at Insaro which actually made the Arkum switch to its shocked expression. Just then some of the blue blood quickly latched itself onto Insaro's hands.

"Explode." Then in an instant the blood exploded and destroyed Insaro's arms all the way to his elbows. Insaro backed off and started screeching in pain with his face then changed to an angry frown. He was screeching for a while but then started crying, finally like a madman he started laughing and glared at Kyle as his frown shifted into a large smile.

"HAHAHA! This is going to be more fun than I thought! I guess with this new blood of your going to rip me apart until I can't fight back then get the core. That's wise but be warned Lord Grim was always so merciful and loving to his children blessed with his dark blood. He knew our adaptation to damage could only get us so far, so he gave us even more gifts to keep up against fearsome creatures of light, like you!" thousands of black blood tentacles then sprouted from both his arms then then warped around one another until they formed what resembled large fists.

"KILL ME IF YOU CAN ZERKU PARASITE!" Insaro quickly raised his fists to crush Kyle, just from raising them up Kyle could see Insaro was so much faster now.

"Make me faster!" Kyle just panicked so this was more of a useless prayer than an actual command and Kyle wasn't even sure it would work. However, like a prayer answered the world suddenly went slower in Kyle's perspective, Kyle used this opportunity to get out of Insaro's attack. Once Kyle was at a safe distance, time resumed normally and Insaro smashed the ground in a millisecond confirming that Kyle would not have been able to have survived dodge the attack otherwise. The following shockwave and depth of the crater Insaro made confirmed that Kyle might not have survived it either.

After the smoke cleared Insaro raised his fists and saw that Kyle wasn't there but right next to him instead. Insaro's smile only widened but Kyle didn't care instead he just raised his fists as the black blood covering his knuckles turned red.

"Burn!" The red parts of Kyle's armor ignited in flames as he started punching Insaro at such high speeds. Insaro's skin was getting punched and burnt but with only minimal damage to Kyle's annoyance. Insaro was taken by surprise at first but then he started laughing and opened his arms wide to take even more punches.

"Yes! Use the blood! The darkness of Lord Grim is stronger than the light! Never underestimate its power!" Kyle then gritted his teeth in anger and unleashed his wings.

"I was given this power by the great Eden to save my friends! I would never forsake it for some cheat dark powers!" Kyle backed off from Insaro only to do a front flip and slash off both of Insaro's arms off. However, to Kyle's confusion Insaro wasn't scared instead he's face just shifted to its bored/ disappointed expression.

"... seriously? ugh, spoken like a fucking hero. I HATE HEROES!" Insaro's body then started melting and underneath his genocide body was formed but two of his four arms were still gone. Kyle knew this wasn't going to be easy but so long as Insaro wasn't done regenerating he still had a chance. Kyle then made the blue blood of his armor flow to his feet for his quick, powerful, and possibly stupid idea.

"Explode!" Then the blood on his feet exploded propelling him forward toward and he then rammed into Insaro's chest. Once on him he made his blood form two giant indestructible swords, the last time Kyle used his blood on Insaro just setting it on fire was enough to do damage but now that Insaro was stronger he couldn't rely on just fire anymore. Kyle instantly started slashing and cutting, he was hoping he could cut through Insaro like ribbons but in genocide form, though not indestructible, Insaro's body was tough. The best Kyle ended up doing was just cutting off bits and pieces of Insaro. Though the damage was minimal Kyle made sure to not stop as that would give Insaro an advantage to fight back. However, it proved to not be enough when black blood started flowing out from the wounds and latching onto Kyle. Insaro then started laughing as he got up and used the black blood tentacles to raise Kyle high in the air.

"Hahahahaha! That tickles! Now you give it a try!" Insaro then started ramming Kyle both into the ground and into several trees repeatedly. Cane got mad when he saw this, but as he tried to run forward Kira raised her hand to stop him. Since he was sired by her, she expected him to obey her but instead he slapped her hand away and tried to go regenerate the trees and possibly go berserk on Insaro and Kyle. Kira was angered by this and used her powers to push him back, she then ordered the Fallen and Arkums to keep him back and they obeyed by surrounding him and growling at him.

Kyle tried getting rid of the tentacles by lighting his armor on fire and using his fire powers to further increase the heat and power. However, upon igniting Kyle realized he was right about Insaro growing strong enough to be immune to the fire. Kyle was now being thrashed around so much that he was losing focus, it came to the point that he only had one terrible idea left.

"Li- Lightning!" All of his black blood armor then turned red and started releasing electricity all around Kyle and Insaro as well. Though it was slowly burning Insaro's body, it was also hurting Kyle as well, unfortunately Insaro let Kyle go and it continued hurting him. Though it didn't take long for the lightning to stop, they were both left as lifeless bodies covered in smoldering ashes. However, Insaro managed to practically float back up and his body reverted back to its normal form while making ashes fly everywhere. Despite being in a different body and having his arms back Insaro was still covered in his own charred skin. Insaro then started laughing as he quickly started biting on his own flesh and eating the charred skin. The sight was disgusting but what made it worse was how every time he swallowed the charred skin new fresh skin was made right where he bit.

"Shit! Kyle get up!" Insaro then continued eating the damaged parts of his body in order to make the regeneration go faster.

"Ugh, Papa that's gross!"

"Kira, one should never choose the clean and disciplined way of life in order to achieve victory. That's for the honorable and foolish." Kira then nodded obediently which shocked all the other kids of the crowd.

"How can you listen to him like that? He's a monster!"

"Actually, he's a demon but he's also my papa!" Now Jackson and the others were horrified.

"Grrr! Screw this I'm helping Kyle!" Jackson tried to zoom in and attack Insaro but Kira used her power to push him back like she did with Cane.

"This fight is between papa and your child of Eden no one is interfering."

"What?! Stop saying that he's not even your real dad!"

"I know that dumb-dumb! I'm adopted!"

"That's not the issue! Ugh! Kyle god damn it, get up! Don't let this bastard win!"

"Please Kyle, we need you!"

"Come on Kyle, you can do it!"

"Hahaha! Yeah Zerku, get up with the power of friendship! That aways works in movies!" Insaro was so close to being done eating the charred skin on his genocide form body and his arms were almost finished growing back. With all the damage he had taken it would only make sense that he could become invincible once he's done regenerating. All of the kids kept yelling to get Kyle to get up while Insaro continued to mock him. Then by a pure miracle Kyle's started moving again, his body started glowing as he was slowly levitating up in the air.

"Wh- what?! Damn it! I was fucking kidding!" The Charcoal on Kyle's skin then started falling off and his wings extended allowing him to levitate in the air and shake off all the coal leaving him completely healed and back in his blood armor. Insaro growled he still wasn't done regenerating but his arms were back so he could at least fight. Insaro then rushed forward but then Kyle slashed one of his wings toward Insaro. Insaro was just standing there confused as everyone else but then the top of his head slowly slid off. It was a completely clean cut, only this time no black smoke or blood tentacles came out of his neck, meaning he couldn't regenerate.

Insaro then backed off while turning genocide mode, all four of his arms were there and his body was mostly healed but his head was still gone. Insaro and Kyle started slashing at each other with Insaro using all four of his class while Kyle used his wings. After a few seconds of slashing at each other in high speed, they stopped, and Kyle stood there unphased while Insaro hissed at him in annoyance. However, to Insaro's horror, his own hands and arms fell into pieces. Insaro was actually terrified but he did not give up instead he quickly bit into his own chest and started ripping himself apart. This eventually left him as pile of black ooze, Kyle was confused but figured that Insaro just gave up his own life out of desperation and pride but then the black slime stabbed into Kyles's armor.

"Hahaha! Stupid parasite! I may not be as strong but I'm definitely smarter than you!" Kyle then tried slashing at the black ooze, but it slithered away faster than Kyle could keep up. Now it was Kyle who was fighting a losing battle as he slashed at the black ooze and missed every time and got more and more hurt as Insaro stabbed into his armor. Then suddenly Insaro slashed off his arm and a small part of his face. Kyle couldn't help but yell in pain, all while Insaro gained some distance.

Kyle was in a lot of pain and couldn't focus on anything else while his arm was regenerating. However, he knew that Insaro was going to eventually come back stronger, so he did his best to fight through the pain and get back up. He could hear Insaro laughing while making a gurgling noise, most likely due to his regeneration almost being complete. Kyle's right arm was slowly growing back but this didn't do much to reduce the pain still it was just enough to help Kyle get his edge back. Kyle then focused more of his blood into his left arm and created a floating black blood spear.

"Fire and lighting!" Now the black blood spear turned red and was instantly covered in fire and lightning. Like an arrow Kyle launched the spear at Insaro to destroy him once and for all. However, a hand reached out and grabbed the spear and Insaro showed himself from under the black ooze to be fully healed.

"Hehehe... HAHAHAHAHA! Too late child!" Kyle's heart almost skipped a beat and out of instincts alone he slashed his wing at Insaro. But to everyone's horror Insaro caught the wing and stopped it, though it was still burning through Insaro's flesh but did so extremely slowly.

"Hahaha! Still burns but doesn't hurt!" Insaro then kicked Kyle in the stomach while continuing to hold onto his wing which ended up ripping it off. Insaro smile widened but then the wing fell to the ground, Insaro looked at his hand which hand completely melted. Insaro then bit off the melted flesh and just as fast a new hand grew in its place. Insaro then walked toward Kyle, got on top of him, and started punching repeatedly at high speed.

"Hahahahaha! I really shouldn't be laughing given how pissed I am!" Insaro then punched Kyle's right arm, Kyle couldn't help but yelp in pain but was silenced by more of Insaro's punches.

"You're so strong Kyle!" Insaro now targeted Kyle's remaining wings and practically broke every bone in the wing with how many times he punched it in a second.

"Your fast! Unstoppable, Inspiring, and charismatic! Your the ideal hero and main character!" Insaro then pushed Kyle's wing aside and stabbed into his chest. Kyle couldn't breathe as he coughed blood, then Insaro lifted him in the air.

"So why the hell are you losing?! Haven't you ever read a book or watched a fucking movie! The hero is supposed to win! So why are you losing! Huh?!"

"That's enough!" Then Isabell shot both Kira and Insaro with a small beam of light, the beam only grazed Kira's cheek while slicing Insaro's hands off. Kyle then used his blood to quickly heal himself then he spun and used his wings to get Insaro off of him. Kyle quickly landed on the ground but was helped by Isabell, who now stood beside him. Kira's eyes turned to her cheek, not feeling pain, but quickly getting angry because of the damage. As such, after she quickly regenerated, she started growling in anger and was about to stomp forward but Insaro stopped her.

"I'm nothing like your father Kira. in my presence no one will harm you and live to tell the tale." Kira was surprised by this but then quickly smiled in joy.

"Haha! Ok, Papa! I'll leave it to you then, I love you!" Insaro's smile widened at Kira as he seemingly gave her a kiss on the forehead, thought it seemed more like he pressed a part of his face on her forehead instead since he didn't actually have a mouth. Malum then picked her up and to pull her back as she waved goodbye at Insaro. Jackson thought Kira was distracted so he rushed forward to stand beside Isabell and Kyle, but Kira pushed him back again this time with a bright smile to mock him. Insaro then faced Kyle and Isabell but with a frown, as he growled in unyielding rage.

"How dare you hurt my little rose. Also, you're not allowed to join in, I challenged Kyle and him alone!"

"I lost my parents to you Arkums... If you honestly think I would abide by any rules you monsters made, then you're sorely mistaken" Insaro's expression then turned to shock but then back into a smile as he started clapping.

"hahaha, HAHAHAHAHA! A rebel! I like it! I like it! your absolutely right! if you hate the rules then don't fucking follow them! order is meant to benefit and organize not control and oppress! hahaha fine, fine! let us fight and end this once and for all!" Isabell nodded in agreeance but still glared at Insaro with silent Hatred. Isabell's focus was then to

"Kyle are you ok?"

"Ugh, not even a little bit... ready to take down an indestructible demon?"

"Nope... Let's do this."

"Hm, stay apart so he can't get us both and hit him with everything you got."

"Hey Kyle, before we do this, can I ask you something?"

"Kind of a bad time but go ahead."

"Why were you looking at my dress the other day? it seemed like you wanted to wear it."

"hm... because ever since I was little, I didn't have a lot of freedom, my parents always beat me for the littlest of things, so I didn't get to experience a lot of things that made me happy. I just... want to experience more of life, whether it be something exciting like fighting a demon or something as simple as wearing a dress."

"Hm, that's a little strange but I've seen stranger. Well, what do you say that after we win this you can have that dress, as well as any other clothes you might want? that way even if you find out you don't like wearing dresses you still have options."

"I think I'd like that, thank you Isabell." Kyle and Isabell smiled at one another warmly, they then faced Insaro with still smiling with determination. Insaro himself had his arms crossed and was smiling as well. Then for a moment everything was quiet, no Arkums were roaring, no Fallen screeching, and none of the other kids were cheering or yelling, it was quiet. so quiet, because everyone was waiting to see the outcome, this was to be the final battle, to decide if this world belonged to the angels of light or the demons of darkness.

Then it finally started, in an instant, Kyle and Isabell charged toward Insaro and were ready to hit him with everything they got. However, neither of them reached him, instead Insaro appeared instantly where they originally as if he ran past them so fast, it couldn't be seen. Kyle and Isabell looked back at Insaro in confusion while he looked back to smile at them. Kyle was confused at first, but then he started feeling dizzy as he was losing focus fast. He looked at Isabell and saw that she was blinking rapidly and having trouble standing straight. He then noticed the back of her head was bleeding Kyle then felt the back of his head. He felt a large hole and reached into his head and couldn't feel his brain anywhere, his head was hollow.

"Looking for these?" Kyle then used all his remaining focus on Insaro and saw that he was holding both their brains. The brains were glowing blue and had blood dripping from them though Isabell's brain was shaped normally but Kyle's brain was more rounded.

"Such a fascinating core the Zerku have. The brain as the rodents call it... you know I always wondered what it tastes like if you eat it plain. No body. No head. Nothing but the core. Does it taste juicier? Or does it taste downright disgusting? hm... oh well, only one way to find out!" Insaro's face then split open like a monstrous flower, then black blood tentacles busted out of his throat, latched onto both the brains, and they were eaten instantly.

Everything Kyle and Isabell was and could have been had vanished instantly. Both their bodies had turned into crystals, however the blue blood on Kyle's body reacted badly to the crystals and exploded. Everyone saw the whole thing, the Arkums and Fallen were shocked but relieved that the two had died quickly while the kids were speechless and completely frozen in fear. Then Isabell's and Kyle's blood and crystals from the explosion started to rain from the sky landing everywhere on everyone. The Arkums started to laugh with their monstrous voices while the Fallen were dancing around and trying to drink and eat as much of the blood and crystals as possible. Insaro's face returned back to normal with his smile face as he started laughing proudly. Insaro then saw that the kids Kyle was protecting were all frozen in horror.

"hm, oh don't worry this isn't the first times he's died I'm sure something cheesy or over dramatic will happen to bring him back to life... always works in books am I right?" some of the kids started to cry, others started to scream, one or two started laughing due to overwhelming fear, and some had just fallen to the floor and had given up on trying to survive.

"Hu, guess it's not one of those books." Insaro then clapped his hands and on command all the Arkums slowly advanced toward the kids. Kira smiled and she pointed at the kids and her Fallen advanced along with the Arkums.

"You know I think this would be a good time for an unexpected hero to show up. To make a dramatic entrance and show the heroes that the reader has grown to care about, to show that there's still hope... no? Hu, I guess it really isn't one of those books... wow, that is so depressing... I love it! Hahahahaha! Nothing could ruin this for me now!" Then one of the mansion's windows broke and a golden beam of light blasted Insaro in the face. The right half of Insaro's face was vaporized while the other half frowned. All the Arkums stopped and so did the Fallen on Kira's command, they all looked at Insaro in shock hoping he wouldn't lose it.

"Well... now I'm upset... *inhales* WHO HAS THE MOTHER FUCKING COURAGE!" Then Mike jumped out of the window and landed safely on the ground looking angry with tears in his eyes but ready to fight.

"Mike? Mike what the fuck are you doing?!"

"Mike! Get the other kids in the mansion out of here! Now!"

"Mike? your name is Mike, yes?" Insaro then used his hands to crush his head and afterwards black smoke came out of his neck that slowly built a new head. Once Insaro's head was complete It was already smiling.

Tell me, are there other Zerku in that human nest you call a building? because I would love to make an offer of a life time to them all!"

"The answer is no you, jerk!" Mike then shot another beam at Insaro aiming this time at his core, but Insaro used his arms to shield his chest in time. Insaro's core was saved but his arms were now badly damaged and soon after melted off. Insaro looked at his now stub arms and his smile widened, his head then split open, and his monstrous mouth ate the burnt off flesh. His arms were still gone but now replaced with several black blood tentacles. Insaro smiled at Mike as he started laughing sinisterly.

"Now we're having fun!"

"Mike! You need to go!"

"but I can beat him!"

"No, you can't! He gets stronger as he takes damage! Your light attacks don't do anything to him anymore!"

"Actually, that's not true." The kids and even the Fallen looked at Insaro in confusion.

"Insaro! Don't!" Dolo and the other Arkums however looked at him in fear.

"Don't worry Dolos, I know what I'm doing. You see everyone, Mike here has the power of light, which is not only the one of the strongest Zerku powers but just like all forms of lights on Arkum cannot grow immune to its damage. sure, if were strong or fast enough they can doge or even deflect its power but never grow fully immune to its sting. Even as we grow stronger, we'll only just lessen its damage but never be resistant to it. But Mike here seems to have a light so strong that even I cannot dull its attacks, if anything, I will always feel its full sting even if I was twice as strong as I am now. So, Mike why don't you and I have a little rumble while my army battles yours!"

"No! don't you dare lay a hand on M-"

"Would you rather I just ignore him and kill all the other kids in the mansion." Sam quickly closed her mouth out of fear.

No? well then, it finally begins! forces of light and darkness! Let there be war!"

.

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[ohcheckmate]

a confident model: izumi special story scout chapter 1

Location: Studio

Izumi: Oi, I’m over here.

You’re way too slow. You even made me wait for you to arrive.

You got held up on the way here because you met someone you knew? Hm~ You don’t seem like you’re spouting nonsense…

Nonetheless, you still made me wait, right? I’m your senior, you know? Se-ni-or. You get that?

It means that in all aspects, a senior is of a higher standing than a junior.

Whether it's reasonable or not is a separate issue; Japan is a country that takes seniority very seriously.

If you’re not going to adapt to your environment, you’ll get marginalised easily, and might even be targeted by others with an ulterior motive.

However, the guys in this academy are, shall I say, way too eccentric or way too soft-hearted to do anything like that…

All in all, when it comes to seniority, the outrageously casual attitude of many students here could have given you the wrong impression.

It would be of use to you in the future, so I’ll take the opportunity to break the grim truth to you: With your current attitude, you’ll make a fool out of yourself sooner or later, you know?

…Forget it, there’s no point in complaining to your sleep-deprived face so early in the morning.

Did you bring the items? Let me see.

Hm, not bad. Since it’s just an audition, I didn’t expect you to prepare something so grandiose.

You managed to land quite a prestigious commission. Looks like I really did underestimate you a bit♪

“Because the Tenshouin family is involved”?

Hmph, no wonder I thought this commission sounded weird.

Auditions are commonly held in offices or a location that’s arranged by the client, but the jewelry theme doesn’t fit in with the school setting at all.

The client is obviously a big company, but the audition venue is sooo informal. Until just now, I’d already had doubts about the client’s professionalism.

Like, "he's probably someone who doesn't know anything except being filthy rich"?

It’s so troublesome having to work with people who are inexperienced.

They don’t know anything, but they have money, so they can boss us around however they want, making all sorts of weird suggestions and demands, and we still have to make them satisfied.

Haaah? Why didn't I reject this job despite finding it unreasonable?

…Did I just waste my breath saying all that?

We’re still considered juniors in the entertainment industry—I don’t even know if we can be counted as juniors; more like rookies that have barely stepped a foot into the industry.

We don't have the right to be picky about our work, do we?

Besides, we can’t use ‘the client is unprofessional’ as a reason for rejecting a job. We can only beat around the bush and say something like ‘I don’t think I’m suitable for the job’.

And if we always use shoddy and vague reasons to reject a job, who’d even want to collaborate with us in the future?

Others will just think that you’re strange and unenthusiastic about working, and they won’t be willing to entrust commissions to you anymore.

You’ll gradually receive less work over time and enter this vicious cycle until your life in this career comes to an end.

The reality is that no one will try to understand a rookie’s mindset.

You don’t have anything to lose anyway. This is the reality of the industry you want to establish a foothold in, right?

It’s also not that our hands are tied. We have to think of ways to make those ámateurs happy, while producing results that we won’t be ashamed of…

It’s not enough to work hard towards this goal. In the end, it isn’t that hard; you just have to be a bit flexible.

Hey, take it easy. At least we don’t have to worry much about it this time. Since Tenshouin was the one who pulled the strings, the client probably won’t be an idiot, and the job itself isn’t too hard.

Tenshouin… That guy can’t be plotting something again, right…? Anyway, I’m already busy enough as is, I don’t really have time to care about whatever he’s up to.

Having an easier job isn’t a bad thing either. Be a good girl and pass me the props for the shoot♪

I need to prepare myself and think about how I’m going to pose later…

Ah, wait! Where are you going with that jewel!

Yes, the green one in your hand, give it to me!

Ahh, what a gorgeous colour...♪

It’s perfectly identical! Look at the crystal-clear lustre of this jewel, look at how dazzling the light looks when it reflects off its surface—And look at how the size of the jewel is just right…!

Identical to what? Huh, you don’t know?

Seriously, what a disappointment!

I’ve placed Yuu~kun in the hands of you and Trickstar, but you still can’t grasp one of his most splendid features!

Do you get it now? This jewel is the exact shade of green as Yuu~kun’s eyes?!

I thought that only Yuu~kun’s eyes would have a colour this beautiful, but I would have never expected this…

I’ve decided. I’m using this piece as a prop for the audition.

And then I’ll move this way, and that way, in order to make the most intimate poses♪

Hehehe, then I’ll feel like I’m having a shoot with Yuu~kun… Even with Yuu~kun’s current hatred for taking pictures, I still have a chance like this!

Do the heavens also think that I’m deserving of a little reward?

Hm? You think the jewel is also of a similar colour to my eyes?

… Are you still sleeping or what? This colour only belongs to Yuu~kun, I can’t have the same colour as this jewel.

However… If it’s coming from someone as close to Yuu~kun as you…

Does this mean that me and Yuu~kun are still a bit similar?

Fufufu, this is also not surprising. Even if that kid is still unwilling to admit it—In the end, I still am Yuu~kun’s Onii-chan♪

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cn proofing: eme eng proofing: junsweats

[0nlinejournal]

11:15pm

i opened my laptop to write and was hit with a wave of tired. i'll keep it short i guess. i long to be more poetic with my entries but i don't think i have the mental capacity to do that most days.

today was a good day. spent the day with my boyfriend. we lounged and then ran into some friends at a coffee shop in the evening. i cleaned the tattoo shop a little later than usual, but i wasn't too bothered by the lateness. i am a bit bothered with how the artists have been leaving their stations recently. i feel as though they've been extra messy for some reason. there is ink smeared all over the floors, not just the little droplets i was used to. and the chairs they use for clients are shoved into the middle of all their station instead of being put away. i don't know why all of a sudden they've become more unruly.

hm. i can feel myself monitoring my thoughts. i don't know why i am hesitant to write whatever is racing through my mind. my intention is to use this blog as documentation, but i sometimes stop myself while writing, thinking that whatever it is i was about to type isn't interesting enough to be read. i don't want to do that.

i just had an image from my childhood flash into my mind. it was of my elementary school hallway, covered in black tapestries with a strobe light at the end. it was a halloween event that the school did for all the students. i remember having to walk down that hall to get to the cafeteria, where everyone was congregated. i was such a scared child. i was so scared of everything. i thought someone would pop out from behind a tapestry to scare me. i don't think that happened. what a weird image to come to mind right now. i haven't thought of that in so long. i remember there was a station to bob for apples, the teachers were handing out candy, and there was a raffle on the stage behind where kids were playing musical chairs. being a kid was so strange. i wish i could remember more sometimes.

i feel like i only remember a handful of things, and i've told the stories of those memories so many times that i'm not even sure if the way i relay them is true anymore. like a game of telephone i play with myself where the memories have become distorted by time.

time time time time time time time. time went by so slow as a kid. i know it's because you have lived less life, you've been around for so little time at a young age, but it's still amazes me how the mind adapts. now months fly by. i'll be 26 in less than two months. i won't have health insurance anymore. i need to make a handful of appointments before then. i'll sleep now. i don't feel like ending this thinking too heavily about not having financial access to a doctor.

goodnight everyone, i hope you all had pleasant days

11:37pm

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 136

This chapter was a chance to explore some more science-based tropes that I absolutely love in stories.  The truth is, when I’m working at my day job, I love listening to documentaries on Curiosity and YouTube channels like Answers with Joe or Kurzgesagt. My love of science fiction actually comes from my love of space and astronomy, not the other way around.

In no way, shape, or form, does this chapter cover any of the concepts in question in full. It’s just a quick convo between Sophia and a good friend ;)

My thanks, as always, go to @baelpenrose, @the-raven-fae, @charlylimph-blog, and @anotherusrname. Plus all of YOU!

Even as my mind wandered, I couldn’t help but grin a bit as I took my weekly stroll through the corridors of the Ark with Miys in tow.  For several years now, we had a standing appointment on my calendar that both Alistair and Tyche treated as sacrosanct - just some time for me to spend with our host, my friend, and learn more about each other.  When I had originally arrived on the Ark, any time I was seen walking with them, other humans would give me odd looks, but never approach.  Now, people would recognize me, smile, and wave, but still never interrupted the strolls.

It was nice. Like my weekly family dinners, it was a routine, pleasant part of my life. Especially days like today, when we were entering the dawn-cycle and each day became a little brighter. It made me wonder about other civilizations, ones that would have evolved in conditions like the ones we were adapting ourselves for. How did it affect them? How would it affect us as generations passed? Future generations were certainly going to be shorter, due to the high gravity. Would it change our technological advances as well - 

“Wisdom, why are you thinking so hard about Gestrcht Clusters?” Miys interrupted my thoughts.

“Hm?” I asked absently. “What’s a Jestrick Cluster?”

“Gestrcht,” they corrected mildly. “Gestrcht clusters are a type of civilization that has adapted to live in artificial platforms surrounding their sun, in order to better harness the solar energy, radiation, or heat needed.”

“You mean a Dyson swarm?” I tried to clarify, confused.

“All of the galaxy calls them Gestrcht clusters, therefore I think that is what you mean.”

“Alright, alright,” I laughed, holding my hands up in defeat. “The reason I was thinking about Gestruck clusters - “

“Gestrcht”

“I will work on it. The reason I was thinking about those is… I was wondering how living on Von will change our priorities. In our history, those constructions were something that fascinated both imagination and science - something several people thought was our launching pad to a Kardashev Type II civilization, or the singularity point. Maybe both.”

“Kardashev…” they hummed for a moment, thinking. “Only humanity would create goals of technological advancement that required destruction on a multi-planetary scale.”

I desperately wanted to object, but strongly suspected they were right. “So we were wrong, again? There are no civilizations out there that would fit what we imagined for a Kardashev I or II race?”

“I will concede to the existence of species that you would consider both. However, it is not how you believe it to be - humanity would never have been able to accomplish it without greater sacrifice than they have ever known.”

Oh boy. “Tell me? I want to understand why other species could do it, but we could not.” My curiosity needed to know.

They held up one of their liw, rocking it back and forth in imitation of a human head tilt. “Species that have managed to harness all of the energy produced by their planet, and not destroy their environments, have historically been those who had very little power to harness to begin with. These civilizations come from either very harsh, or very gentle worlds - never anything in between. Abundant wind energy scouring a planetary desert can greatly benefit a species who can harness that wind to temper it and create a paradise. A planet with no atmosphere, but incredible amounts of geothermal energy runs little risk in being able to direct all of that volcanic activity to its benefit. But Earth?”

“Is a deathworld,” I pointed out. “You said so yourself.”

“This is true, but it is not a deathworld in the way So’Kn is, for example. Preeyar and So’kn are planets that are lethal for very singular reasons: So’Kn is a frozen waste of permanent night and eternal wind. It is so harsh that only So’Knor can truly survive there with without significant technological assistance. Preeyar only has atmosphere in its valleys, and that is thinner than most species can survive, much less the fact that there are no liquids on Preeyar. None. The air pressure is too low to allow it for any chemicals that are naturally occurring, and the atmosphere violently reacts with any elements that could exist in liquid form. It is, in fact, believed that the rift valleys were caused by simply an icy meteor impacting the planet.”

“Ho-lee shit,” I whispered.

“I doubt many cultures would find it holy at all,” they joked drily. “Whereas Earth… There is no one singular quality about Earth that classifies it as a deathworld. Instead, there are several, each stemming from the abundant forms of energy offered by your home world.”

“Seriously!?”

“Indeed. And the combinations thereof. The length of natural disasters that are possible, alone, is unique to Earth. Tornadoes and earthquakes. Flooding and wildfires. Volcanoes and hurricanes. Methane just rising from your lakes to kill large swathes of people. Lakes below your oceans, Wisdom! Volcanoes below your oceans! It is insanity to the entirety of the Galaxy, and yet humans consider that just a normal aspect of existence.”

“And… what exactly does that have to do with being able to harness all the energy of our planet, exactly?” To say I was confused was an understatement.

To their credit, Miys only reached with one vomu to make a ‘nose pinching’ gesture against its head. “Earth, somehow, is only habitable and so abundant in life because everything exists in a precarious balance. Surely, the last two centuries of your own history demonstrated that. Attempting to harness all of the admittedly prodigious energy of your planet would have ended up destroying that balance beyond compare.”

I tried to comprehend it. I really did. Focusing on what little I knew, I thought about dams. Those were familiar to me - I had grown up in an area that dammed every river and creek possible for everything from grain mills and fruit presses, to artificial fish ponds, to electricity. “Starting there…” it was faster not to explain out loud when I knew Miys was following along with the home game, “Damming a river creates a lake. That floods an area that already has a habitat, and dries out another area that already has an aquatic habitat.”

“And prevents floods that fertilize fields and redistribute minerals from erosion, yes.”

“Right. Times every river, creek, and faint trickle on Earth…” I stopped myself. Every river. The Amazon. The Nile. “And we just washed out what’s left of the largest rainforest on Earth.”

“Leaving more carbon in the air…” they encouraged.

“And increasing the greenhouse effect, increasing heat on the surface, melting more ice, which - hey, more wind, amirite? - but changing planetary albedo, more water, wetter Sahara, no dust to fertilize… South America? Dammit, are we back to killing the Amazon again?”

“That is just one form of energy, Wisdom. But I feel you are understanding the issue.”

“Yeahhhh…” I trailed off. “Okay, so. Kardashev I is no bueno tacos for Earth. What if we skipped straight to Kardashev II slash singularity?” I made a point to focus on the concept of technological singularity very hard, so there would be less need for research on their part. You know, spare myself half a minute or so. “The Gestrkt clusters.”

“Closer,” they admitted, although I was suspicious they meant my pronunciation and not the idea that humanity would ever get there. “Humanity is not… suited, for Gestrcht clusters.”

“Wait, what?”

“Humanity is too curious, too social, and too exploratory. Your fiction abounds with every variation of different worlds and strange universes you could possibly conceive of. And it constantly expanded - your oldest texts involve travelling to your moon, and when you actually reached it, you looked further out - other systems, other galaxies, other dimensions. Gestrcht clusters require such substantial resources and maintenance, there is little left over for exploration.”

“There are humans who would be perfectly content living in such a structure,” I argued, although my heart wasn’t in it. I wouldn’t have been, knowing that other worlds were out there.

“Not enough to sustain it, unfortunately. Not even in what you call the Before.” Lightly resting one vomu on my shoulder, they squeezed gently. “Wisdom, humanity has always wanted to see other worlds. Gestrcht clusters are all or nothing.”

“And singularity?” I asked, barely managing a hoarse whisper.

“It is true that there have been some singleton species that have achieved what you term singularity with technology. Fewer have been successful.” When I glanced at them, all six upper appendages were held up in defense. “Hive minds are uniquely suited to it, and even some of us,” they waved those same six appendages at their torso, “would never accept it. I could never imagine not having the chance to travel the galaxy, to be with other races as they experience it. Add to that, humanity is somehow both individual and social. Removing that line, that choice? I doubt your kind would thrive. Postulate this: Derek, in a hive mind.”

“Absolutely not,” came my unhesitating response, disgust and violence trembling in every limb before I calmed myself. “And I see your point. Integrating technology in our lives, into how we function…” I tapped my head for emphasis, “that’s one thing. It makes our lives better, by making sure that Derek, and others, can have their personal space protected.” The more I thought about it… I never considered the idea in reference to ‘now’, only ‘eventually’. What if we did it now, and I was one of the people - suddenly never alone, always connected to every thought of strangers via technology. What if Tyche was? Or Maverick? Hell, Charly? “I think I need a shower, now,” I admitted, skin crawling.

“Humanity could achieve both,” Miys confirmed, although it didn’t feel as reassuring as I had hoped it would at the beginning of our conversation. “But I don’t think humanity would truly want to live in Gestrcht clusters or singularity, given any other choice but extinction.”

Laughing, I wiped a tear from one eye.  It was a bitter truth, but still true. “I think you’re right.”

“I may be wrong,” they countered. “As I said, there are singleton species who have made those transitions and the entire galaxy is better for it.”

“Some hope that we weren’t entirely wrong would be nice right about now,” I mumbled as I scuffed my shoe at the floor. There wasn’t anything to kick except Else-puffs, and that was just mean as fuck.

“Most species that made a transition to Gestrcht clusters early in their development are belligerent, insular species. The fact that they must focus all their efforts and resources on maintaining their platforms prevents them from becoming actively warlike. As far as ‘singularity’... singleton species who thrive in that transition are often species who cannot thrive on a galactic scale otherwise.”

Huh? I craned my neck to try to look up at them in the perpetual-dawn light. “What do you mean?”

Miys flicked a datapad open - one I know they only wore for our sakes, seeing as they could not actually see anything on the purely-optical screen, I had learned. They could only navigate it if interacting with a human, so they could ‘see’ what they needed to tap out.

Needless to say, Charly and Grey had been working for years on one that responded to sonic commands.

Eventually, a seven-fingered flick caused my own databand to chirp. I flicked it open to see the file. “They… Noah, this looks like sentient pollen… or feathers…” Realistically, any description I tried to create fell devastatingly short. The being on my datapad moved as though it was floating on wind, with tens of thousands of filament-fine tendrils swaying and navigating. The sound it created reminded me of the sound of snowfall, if snowflakes could sing opera. “They’re beautiful,” I sniffed, driving back tears at knowing something so breathtaking existed.

“They also cannot survive off their planet, unfortunately. Even the transition out of their atmosphere is lethal to them.”

My heart shattered into a million pieces. “What is their name?”

“No one knows for certain. But they have achieved a sort of singularity - once they have matured and reproduced, they upload themselves at the end of their very brief lifecycles. In the Galactic Community, they are known as Odvub.”

“Odvub…” I whispered, holding out my fingers like I could actually touch the screen.

“Outside of a Hujylsogox rescue ship, it is nearly impossible to avoid encountering Odvub. Most believe they are some sort of galactic artificial intelligence, and they prefer to allow that belief.”

“Why are you telling me this, then?”

“They have permitted it, when these sort of questions are asked. To show what desperation is required for a singleton species to thrive in singularity.”

I sniffed, desperately trying not to cry at their situation. “Do they know about humans?”

“They may be the only species who could not avoid knowing about it. But Odvub believes your people are hearty, and adaptable, and should never suffer their fate. They advised, in the event that your people ever ask about singularity, to do this…” Miys gently cupped my cheek in one liw and patted it, “and tell you that you will never need to resort to what they had to do, and that they look forward to meeting your people one day.”

“Obviously not face to face,” I admitted quietly. “I have allergens that are more substantial than they are.”

“It is considered a great honor in the Galactic Community for this icon to display when  you interact with Odvub.” Miys gestured at the vicinity of the image on my datapad. “Only those who know why, know why it is an honor.”

“We’ll take it,” I laughed, tears streaming down my cheeks. “All of humanity may never know why, but we’ll take it. If I may tell Arthur, we probably will know why.” He would see to it. Loudly, angrily, derisive of anyone who mocked it. “Regardless, we’ll take it, all the same.”

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