#eek wait one thing. if i do. i either gotta change my name here or make a new discord acc

[pigeonsage]

Btw does anyone know if theres an active vrains community on somewhere like discord? or anywhere other than here really🤔

[m-aster-of-spinjitzu]

orange and gold

...I just need more Cole and Vania content, they seem like they'd be great friends.

Basically it's just 'Cole goes to visit her there, they almost burn down the kitchen, and make way too many puns', lol.

Set a few months after Master of the Mountain, but before Seabound or The Island.

Also yeah, I couldn't think of a better title, sue me- I just know that they wear one of the colours at some point, so... 🤦‍♀️😂

Trigger warnings: none I think? Huh-

Also, bingo!! I really need to learn better time management, dear freaking gosh- I hope I'm not too late though? I know it's like half a day late, eek- and I was supposed to post this earlier, but I ended up literally falling asleep while writing it😂

Thank you so much Fabro, for hosting such a cool event!:D Your comments on my fics literally never fail to make my day<3. And I'm so glad that I met so many awesome, really skilled people through this event too - it's been a lot of fun working alongside y'all:D, I wish I'd had more time to interact instead of posting stuff and vanishing lol, but exams be like:////

Prompt: cooking (does baking count as cooking? I realized too late lol-) from @ninjago-bingo 's warm board.

Word Count: 2497

---

Trying to escape from killer dire-bats hadn't been on Cole's to do list today - although the mountains were kind of beautiful.

It was a bit difficult to see them while he was being dragged to his death, but hey, didn't Jay always tell them to be more positive?

That was, until he made the mistake of looking down.

Miles of snowcapped mountains touched the pastel blue sky, but he was more focused on exactly how high he was from the ground.

Great.

Trying to swing back onto the Bounty, he didn't notice a golden-winged blur shoot past the bat, almost dropping their spear in haste.

"Let my friend go, or I'll-"

"Vania?"

She throws the spear at the bird, successfully knocking one of its wings.

Huh. She must've been practicing - throwing with accuracy while flying seemed kinda difficult.

"I'm so sorry!" she replies, grabbing his arm before he fell down too. She winces at the strain on her wings, almost dropping him onto the deck. "I was supposed to come earlier, but there was an issue with one of the mines, and it took forever to-"

"There ain't anything in this world that's managed to kill me yet," he replies jokingly, checking that the autopilot hadn't been damaged. "I doubt an angry bird is going to be the first."

"Didn't you mention that you became a ghost once? Pretty sure that means you were dead-"

"Shh, that's not an important detail," he jokes.

"If you say so," she replies with a grin. "Did I mention that Chompy's been tearing down the palace flower arrangements again?"

"Send my regards to the gardener-"

"Did you just make a pun?"

"Remind me why I decided to visit you again?"

"Because you love me?" she asks stepping onto the ground as the Bounty landed gently.

"I hereby crown you as my platonic soulmate," Cole deadpans, taking her hand. "Vania and Cole-"

"Destined to annoy each other for eternity," she giggles, swinging their hands up and down. "But seriously - thanks. I don't think I realized how much work being a queen was."

"What's it like?"

"I mean - I'm glad that people trust me, and they come to me if they have a problem, but the paperwork is a nightmare. I never get to go outside anymore, I swear."

"Paperwork? Also, you just invited me here for a week. I don't wanna disturb you?"

"Nah, I cleared my schedule, don't worry. And trust me, you don't want to know. Everything requires some sort of official written thing, and it's so boring-"

"Official? But you're the queen?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't really want to change something unless it benefits the people. Not after..."

Her smile dims, eyes straying to the palace walls.

Oh- oh.

"You're nothing like him," Cole says firmly, squeezing her hand. "I mean, if you need to take a break, or you can make your job a bit easier by cutting out something unnecessary, that's just gonna help you become a better queen. You've definitely got the interests of your people at heart, and that's the most important thing, you know? And well, uh, everything seems to be going great so far - you don't have to beat yourself up over someone else's mistakes."

"Thanks," she replies softly, her smile slowly returning. "Speaking of breaks, what do you think we should do this time?"

"You could show me around the city again?"

"You've already seen everything cool," Vania giggles, skipping ahead of him. "We don't renovate much - unlike you guys-"

"Hey, it's not our fault that our city gets destroyed every few months-"

"More like every few days," she teases, tying back her golden hair. "How about we find some dragons to adopt?"

"Tempting, but where would you keep them?"

"They could sleep in my room-"

She breaks off when she notices him laughing. "What?"

"N- nothing," Cole replies, in between laughs. "Jay and I just made a bet."

"On what?"

"How many dragons you've adopted. I bet at least six, he bet fifteen."

"Well, jokes on both of you - I'm pretty sure my advisor's going to throw a fit if I show up with another one," she starts, giggling. "We've got twenty living in the palace right now."

"Twenty dragons?"

"They're so cute! You just look into their adorable little eyes," Vania pauses for breath, continuing her animated gesturing, "and you can't help but wanna hug them!"

"Oh, Jay's going to be so mad."

"Aww, I'm sorry guys. They're just too adorable!"

"...Wanna hear a funny story?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"I actually used to be terrified of dragons-"

"No way!" Vania exclaims. "Y'all have been on a lot of adventures though, so-"

"Nah, we used to have our own dragons at first. They were pretty cool! I just- I'm a simple guy! Huge animals with wings are scary up close when you're barely a teenager."

"Or when you're really short-"

"We're the same height!" Cole exclaims, facepalming in a bit of a fondly exasperated way.

"I'm two years younger than you-"

---

"Ugh, whose idea was this?"

"Yours," Vania grins, sitting down on the kitchen counter.

"You were supposed to help me, not leave me high and dry!" Cole accuses jokingly, staring at all the appliances they'd found in the cupboards.

"'One must always be prepared for new adventures,'" she quotes seamlessly, waving one of- what was his name again? Mulch something? Oh! Clutch! Some explorer he was, leaving them to die in the pyramid - Clutch Powers' books in the air.

"Fine," he sighs, staring at the old recipe book she'd found in one of their back cupboards. "But you've gotta help me? I almost burned down-" "Woah, what? If you finish that sentence with 'kitchen'-" "In my defense, Kai was playing a prank on me-" "In my defense, I wouldn't like to explain how the queen of Shintaro burnt down the palace by teaching one of her friends to cook," she grins, flipping through the pages. "What do you wanna start with?" "Something simple?" "Have you ever tried baking bread before? It's a lot of fun!" "I haven't really had the time, but that sounds kinda interesting."

He skims the recipe, raising his eyebrows. "Wait, why does this take hours? I thought you said it was simple?"

"Trust me, it is," she laughs, adding, "besides, I still wanna hear about all your adventures!" "Uh... okay," Cole replies hesitantly, "but if this fails, I'm so sorry." "Give yourself some credit, you guys literally saved the world! Multiple times!" "Bold of y'all to assume we know how we did it," he laughs, only half-kidding. "Besides. I botched soup once."

"I've botched toast," she mock-sighs, smiling. "Pretty sure that makes us even."

"Lemme get this straight. You've messed up toasting bread, but you can bake it from scratch?"

"Trust me, I don't know either," she giggles, trying to open a brightly coloured packet of... something? Did flour come in packets that small?

"Uh, why are you opening something called 'feast'?" he asks, eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Feast," she echoes, trying to stifle her laughter. "Off to a... rocky start, aren't we?"

It took him a second.

"I already regret this," he jokes, facepalming. "But I'd say that your puns are, uh, gold."

"I've un- unleashed-" breaking off, she half-falls off the counter, laughing so hard her face starts to go red, "a monster."

---

"Uh, is it supposed to look like that?" Cole asks, frowning.

The mixture looked less like the dough he'd been expecting - more like one of Jay's inventions gone wrong.

Badly wrong, he thought, eyes widening at the goopy mess of foam that threatened to spill over the jug.

"The yeast?" Vania echoes, poking her head out of one of the cupboards. "Yeah, all good! It always looks a little gross, and you're gonna doubt ever eating bread again, but at least it doesn't taste like it's fermented-"

"It's what?"

"Yeah," she grimaces, exaggerating her disgust a bit. "If aliens ever fell from the sky, they'd think we were crazy for eating bread-"

"Aliens? I think we're a bit crazy!" Cole exclaims, trying not to laugh.

Vania smiles, then sighs, lugging a huge bag of flour onto the counter. "I can never open these bags properly," she starts, eyeing the the bag a bit warily, "and it always makes such a huge mess all over the kitchen. You'd think they'd make it easier for people to use, right? I swear-"

He jokingly puts his hands over his ears. "I can't hear you!" "But you know that I've sworn off swearing-" she replies, breaking off with a laugh. "Pun not intended - that actually made sense in my head. I swear!"

"No," Cole interjects with a grin, shaking his head. "You don't, remember?"

"See, this is why we're friends-"

"Friends? Is that all I am to you?"

"Oh, be quiet," she shoots back, exaggeratedly dragging a hand down her face. "I mean, sure, just because everyone thinks that we're dating doesn't mean that we-"

Wait. What?

"People think that we're dating?" he asks, clamping a hand over his mouth in a poor attempt to muffle his laughter. "I- I- really?"

"I know, right?"

"Even my friends thought so at first," he confesses, dragging a hand down his face. "I mean, as much as I love you-"

"I love you too," Vania replies, completely seriously. "Even if you'll always be more like an annoying-"

"Hey-"

"Sibling to me than anything else," she finishes, grabbing a pair of scissors. Cole watches, a little alarmed, as she stabs them into the flour bag over and over.

"Is it... supposed to be this difficult to just open the bag? Seems kinda stupid-"

"Well, er, they have this piece of paper with glue that you're supposed to pull away from the rest of the bag, but it never works properly and I-"

"Well, we could always make our own flour," Cole interjects, laughing. "I mean, I've got a scythe? Let's go!"

"Uh, but we don't have wheat growing here. I don't think it'd suit the climate very well?"

"Wheat a shame," Cole sighs jokingly, measuring out the flour (which had, finally, escaped the bag).

"Oh my gosh," Vania deadpans, "you did not just-"

"Yep, I did."

"You're horrible," she giggles, "then again, I was the one who started this whole debacle, so I think we'll share the blame."

"Debacle? Where'd you pick that one up from? Sounds kinda cool-"

"Oh, it's from a book someone wrote about you guys," Vania says casually, pouring a cup of water into the bowl.

"Hey, uh-" Cole starts hesitantly, twisting his fingers back and forth, then breaks off. "Why'd you read all that stuff about us, anyways? Adventure books don't really seem like something you read a lot, since we have similar favorite books. I mean..."

"Well, um..." Vania trails off, clearly uncomfortable. "Uh- I guess, well, it sounds kinda stupid, but I'd never really met anyone my age who wasn't a royal or something. I... er, I didn't want to be left out, you know?"

Cole thinks back to a scroll; a quest, a sacrifice. One that his friends never seemed to really notice, unless it was with horror or flinches. Not that he blamed them, but - joking about how he was much more useful to the team when he was freaking dead than he was before he'd stumbled and fell in the temple?

That had been a bit far, even for his best friend. Locks could always be picked or something, he didn't need to be a ghost to provide some sort of value-

Well, that's not completely true, is it? a small voice questions, and he can't keep his hands from shaking a little.

"Jay here thinks you're the least valuable ninja."

Not enough to be a performer. Now, not good enough to even be a ninja, apparently.

Well, he reminds himself firmly, you don't have to be the best - just stand up to those who are cruel and unjust.

Nothing but a scar that glowed warm orange occasionally left of the whole Cursed Realm ordeal, sometimes it was all too easy to forget - or pretend - that it had never even happened in the first place.

Other times, like when he'd dropped a glass of water on the floor and his hands hadn't stopped shaking for hours, or when he woke up screaming, expecting to fall through his bed again, it still felt like he was trapped as a ghost. Literally - and maybe a little figuratively as well.

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

"Thanks for trusting me with that," he replies softly. "And I'm sorry. That sounds... horrible, but, honestly, you're a pretty cool person, and I ain't just saying that because we're friends. People can be awful, and they can- they can leave, but you don't need to pretend to be someone you're not for people to accept you. I kinda know what it's like, and it's... just, uh, not great."

"No, thank you," Vania says, rubbing her eyes. "You're pretty cool, too. And I'm glad that we become friends, even if wasn't in the- the, er, greatest circumstances."

"Right back at ya. The fall was pretty terrifying, though," Cole says casually, as if memories of that nightmarish plunge into the depths of earth don't still send shivers down his spine.

"No, definitely! I was so sure we were gonna splat onto the ground or something, thank gosh we didn't."

"Yeah..." Cole trails off, reading the recipe they'd been following. "Oh- do we just leave the bowl somewhere for a few hours now?"

"Oh, yeah," Vania answers. "Other than clean up the kitchen, what else do you wanna do?"

"That's kind of you, but, ah, I don't mind. You can choose something."

"I don't mind either," she replies, covering the bowl with a dishcloth. "Seriously, I don't."

"Same here though."

"Really, I don't mind-" Vania breaks off with a laugh, adding, "Well, actually, there is something."

She doesn't elaborate, thoughtfully gazing out the window.

"Well, what is it? Don't keep me in the dark."

"Ugh, it's kinda stupid-"

"I'm sure that it's not- well, unless you want to try to jump off a flying ship with a homemade parachute to prove a bet to someone-"

"Do I even wanna know?"

"...uh, probably not. We're way too crazy sometimes, our Master has a hard time keeping us in check. Your thing, though?"

"Can I give you a hug?"

Cole blinks for a second, expecting some sort of punchline.

"That's your thing?"

"Well, yeah- I mean, I said it was kinda stupid-"

"No no, that's not what I meant. You're so sweet - that's all."

"Well, not more than you-"

"Nah, you're sweeter-"

"Let's just call it a tie," Vania says with a smile, reaching over to give her friend a hug. "Thank you so much, I swear- well, no, I don't, but you know, anyways-"

"Yeah," Cole replies, laughing softly. "I know."

[azurevi]

on land where we can touch the moon (1/?)

Ok, so this is a really random idea, but it’s basically The Little Mermaid with Azul. And I wish I could excuse myself by saying that I was drunk writing this, but really I was just rushing it because I’ve been sitting on it for far too long. Anyways, enjoy!

Pairing : Azul / genderneutral reader

Characters : Grim, Ace and Deuce

Warnings/Triggers : none

Word count : 3,371

PART2 PART 3

“Isn’t this great,” you made a show of strolling along the railing, the beer in your hand threatening to spill. “The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face. Perfect day to be at sea!”

“Yes, well-” Jack paused mid-sentence to lean over the side. He sounded as though he was retching. “It is indeed a favourable weather, your royal highness- urk!”

“Now, what did I say about formalities, Jack?”

“You said, and I quote, ‘Call me by my first name, if only for today. It’s a direct order.’”

You went up to soothe his back. When he pulled his head up, his eyes were glossy and cheeks purple. “It’s inappropriate for you to see me in this state, your majesty,”

“So you’re defying my orders now? And on my birthday, no less?”

“That man is all work and no fun,” Ace commented bitterly. He and Deuce were on the opposite side of the ship, holding their respective mugs of beer.

“That’s what makes him the knight commander,” Deuce said.

“A knight commander who’s seasick, huh?”

“Shut up, both of you!“ 

You chortled blatantly, chest light and hair spraying in the wind. 

"Fireball Attack!”

There was a sharp yell, and Grim’s fur was all up in your face before you knew it.

“Hey, hey! Someone’s in a good mood!” You cradled him in your arms. His fur was fluffy and sticking up in the air in all directions.

While you were entertaining your attention-starved familiar, your personal knights had managed to get into yet another fistfight. Jack, the poor commander, was cornered on the edge of the ship, his golden, distinguished pin somehow threatening to slip off in his fingers.

“If I drop my badge, I swear on my wage you’re getting extra morning training and night patrols for the next whole year-!”

He gagged slightly before turning sharply, elbowing Ace in the process. His arm jolted, and the badge escaped his firm pinch, glistening in the air. Time seemed to slow as it made its way downwards, all the while the knights’ mouths grew rounder and rounder.

It plummeted right into the sea, made an insignificant plop and continued sinking quietly, slowly, until the sea muted the screams on deck and the light dwindled.

“We should really stay away, Rory,”

“Quit being a chicken,”

Lovett was falling behind. Rory had insisted that they visit this deeper and lesser known part of the ocean due to a half-hearted dare. And Rory, headstrong that she was, would never back down from a challenge.

“Haven’t you heard? Deep where the light doesn’t reach lives the evil Sea Merchant! A force to be reckoned with! It’s-”

Lovett swivelled swiftly. He was pretty sure something had just swam past from behind.

“Oh, for the love of Poseidon, please don’t eat me for I’m just a standard merman!”

“Will you zip?” Rory was already a few feets ahead. Lovett continued to mumble prayers as he flapped his tail harder.

There was almost no light now, but they could still make out the outlines of rocks and corals. It was uncanny how there was nary a sign of life, not even a lanternfish.

“What’s- what’s the dare anyways?”

“To steal something from the evil Sea Merchant’s collection,”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Lovett gasped. He had yet to notice how they’d swam into a forest of seaweeds. Some clung to their tails as they swam by and tickled their sides.

Something strong and somewhat slimy wrapped around Lovett’s arm. Presuming that it was just another irritating weed, he swung his arm back and forth. It only seemed to grow tighter.

“Great seas, what-” he turned to inspect. “Oh- oh- ten-TENTACLE!”

Rory sprinted around at the scream. “Holy-” she murmured, speechless and shocked to the core. 

Wrapped around Lovett’s elbow was no doubt a tentacle lined with suckers. For a while, it didn’t seem to be moving, but then Lovett was yanked away like lightning.

“Lovett!”

The first thought that came to his mind was that he was going to be eaten. That was until he was met with a frowning face. One under silver messy hair. Then his eyes traveled down the seemingly countless slithering tentacles that stretched out from the man, and he was trembling in fear again.

“Please-! Don’t eat me! I have the least nutritional diet!”

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he squinted at Lovett for an agonizingly long time before finally letting him loose. Lovett squirmed and backed away. The area where he had been held had become swollen red.

“Lovett?” Rory had just gotten into the scene. Lovett didn’t wait a second to break into a run, but Rory caught him by his elbow where it was still hurting.

“We gotta run, Rory-”

‘Huh. What, it’s just Ashengrotto? Have you forgotten about him already?“

Lovett whimpered when Rory advanced on the man. He narrowed his gaze behind a neat pair of glasses. Lovett half expected Rory to be squeezed to death on the spot.

"You’re lurking down here now? How lame. And I see that you still got those hideous fingers of yours,” Rory gestured at his tentacles. “You seriously don’t remember him, Lovett? You have shit memories. Does Azul Ashengrotto from college ring a bell?”

It took Lovett a long, long time to get it. “That’s right, you’re Azul! Man, how you’ve changed- wait, are you the Sea Merchant?”

There was nothing that could rival the bitterness in Azul’s voice. “Pleased to see you again, Lovett,”

“Is it easier to prey on fishes down here? Or are you just that insecure about yourself?” Rory paid no mind to their conversation.

“… It’s none of your business,”

“It actually is. You see, knowing that an ink-blasting octopus lives in the same water as I do is really unnerving-”

“Then make your leave.”

Rory’s smug look faltered. 

“Why should I? You don’t even own this part of the ocean-”

“Oh? Who are these friends of yours, Azul?”

A singsong voice once again interrupted Rory. She turned on her spot, only to find herself face to face with a grinning face.

“Eek-!”

“Oh! If this isn’t Rory~ how kind of you to visit us!”

Lovett backed away quietly. He wasn’t going to stay for anymore of this horror. When two hands slammed onto his shoulders, he shrieked a key higher than any other that’s been sung by opera singers. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” a far more stern and solid voice asked. It was one of those voices you hear in persuading commercials.

It was the Leech brothers, in their long, slender eel forms.

Lovett thought that was it. This was his doom. He was either going to get eaten alive or squeezed to his demise. He should never have agreed to come here. And now he was going to die. He didn’t even get to experience life-

“It’s fine, Jade, Floyd,” Azul said calmly. The hands on Lovett’s shoulders retreated, and Rory rushed towards him hastily and pulled him up and up until they were out of the seaweeds.

“I can’t believe you let them off that easily!” Floyd complained, pouting hard. “We could’ve had some fun with them first, and yet you decided to play good guy?”

Azul didn’t reply. The three of them travelled between rocks and reefs, and while Azul seemed to be in search of something, the twins were merely accompanying.

“I believe he has his reasons,” Jade said, pausing in anticipation. When Azul didn’t soothe his curiosity, he sighed and decided to drop the topic.

Azul rummaged through the swaying weeds and peeked into the slits of the rocks. Nothing seemed to have piqued his interest. Then they swam even further away from where they’d started and reached a sunken ship.

While almost the entirety of the hull had rotten away the structure of the ship still remained intact. Anemones and sponges had claimed the pieces of wood. Tiny shrimps traveled freely between poles and debrises.

Jade and Floyd followed tightly like bodyguards. They were at least mildly worried after the encounter with Rory and Lovett. They could still recall vividly how notorious Rory was and what a relief that they never had to meet again.

If anything, Azul seemed frustrated. His tentacles worked individually, shoving aside inconvenience hastily just like his hands. It was as though he’d lost something priced and valued.

“Let’s split up, alright? Treasure hunt’s no fun if we’re just following one another,” Floyd said as he rounded a corner and out of sight. Jade hesitantly stayed behind as well, leaving Azul to his own.

He’d been here so many times that he’d lost count. There was always something new and from the land somewhere between the ruins. But this time, it seemed to have become just another bland, boring place without any aesthetic value.

That was until something flickered in the corner of his eyes. It was so weak that it would’ve gone unnoticed by, say, Jade and Floyd, but Azul had always been delicate in treasure hunting. Nothing ever slipped his sight.

It looked like a badge. A golden brimmed badge with two crossed swords in the middle, and at the bottom carved two grand words - 'Knight Commander’.

“Oh, what’s that you’ve got there?”

“Ahh!" 

Azul spoke up finally in a long time. The brothers had at some point started following him again.

"Looks like a badge,”

“Bet it sank just a few hours ago. It looks very intact,”

“Yeah,” Azul flipped it between his fingers, eyes tracing in fascination. “It’s not everyday you see something like this,”

His mood seemed to have lightened after this discovery. He was gratified. It’d been a while since he last found anything worthy enough to add to his collection of trinkets from ashore. It put a smile to his face just remembering his towering shelves of tiny valuables. 

Azul owned a secret grotto that even the Leech brothers knew nothing of. He’d made sure that it was known only to him.

It was where he stored all the human objects he’d found undersea. Things like a trident but with four tips or a shallow, handled bowl. There were items as big as a golden pot and others as small as a hairclip. Everywhere he turned they were shimmering and singing about the unknown world outside the water, where mermaids had legs and walked instead of swimming, where they could dance instead of just swaying and flapping tails. Where they could go so many different places - forests and deserts, mountains and caves - many more than what the ocean held.

And they could reach the moon. The ageless, pensive moon that Azul could only wish to caress. But no matter how hard he stretched, it was only in his dreams where the moon would come down in all its glory, close enough to blind his eyes.

He needed to reach it. There was no other way. It was the single entity in the world that knew all the truths and lies, all the corruptions and praises. He had to see it, then he would get the answers - the truth he’d always hungered for. 

Muffled rumbles snapped him out of his intensity. When he looked up from under the grotto, he’d thought he was hallucinating.

The usually azure (and rather bland, may he add) current was now painted with red- no, yellow- purple- it was changing with every muted clap. It might have as well been the end of the world with its bizarreness. However, there was something else stirring in Azul’s heart aside from confusion.

Curiosity. A haste force that was tingling in all his eight tentacles, as if there was no way to rid of the sensation except to swim towards the source.

It was wrong on so many levels. He’d been taught by teachers, friends and his parents that to go beyond the water was basically pleading to be killed. Humans are nothing but greedy, spineless, nasty fish-eaters who are incapable of emotions, that’s what everyone said.

Was that really the case, though? As Azul surveyed his collections, he found it harder by second to believe in the lore. How would they explain all these sparkling and antique cosmetics? How could a world that made so many wonderful things be bad?

And so he pushed aside all doubts that were chaining his limbs and flew towards the surface.

The moment he broke the fabric of water and chill air entered his ears, he was taken back by the sight before him.

A colossal wooden ship was sailing right above. Behind it, lights and fire burnt themselves in the sky then fell into the water dimly. There were singing and whooping aboard where he couldn’t see. The grandness of it all was so deafening that Azul failed to hear the voice of reason in his head as he neared the boat.

There was an opening at the side of the ship. Azul carefully stuck his head up so he wouldn’t be seen. At least not without squinting.

There were about five people dancing and hollering, some holding drinks in their hands while the others blowing into their snarfblats with reddened cheeks. 

“Encore! Encore!” a red-haired guy yelled. Then there was an airy laugh in response. Azul turned sharply towards where it came from.

Azul was… awestruck, to say the least. You were grinning from eye to eye, which were diminished into slits. As you laughed on, Azul felt his chest lighten little by little. It was one of those laughs that pulled you closer and assured you that the world around was but a facade. He could listen to your laugh for the rest of his life and he’d never be distressed again.

“Alright, but can we first reveal the massive unknown that’s been standing here for the past hours? You know I can see it right?” you asked with confidence, and this confidence was just humble enough not to be arrogant.

“As you wish, mademoiselle,” another man with dark blue hair bowed with a flourish, then approached the object in question which was covered with a drape. He was at least tipsy with his wavering and unsteady steps.

“Presenting-!” he hollered before yanking the drape off. Surprisingly it was a golden statue made to resemble you.

You recoiled in mild distaste, but your smile remained. Azul pondered about how you still managed to radiate a cheerfulness despite your negative reaction.

It also occurred to him that it was made in gold. Out of all his collectibles there was rarely even a gold necklace. You must have a reputation for someone to make you such a big deal.

“Well, here’s your birthday present, milady,” the tipsy man was throwing names spontaneously now. The red-haired had to drag him away from the railing several times. You had all resumed singing and dancing. Azul was so captivated by your figure that he didn’t even notice the fireworks dying down.

You and a dark-skinned man were leaning right next him now. What looked like a cat but with flame shaped ears and a devil’s tail started sniffing in the vicinity. Azul was having a hard time staying out of its way and eavesdropping on your conversation.

“You sure you don’t want some?” you raised your mug to his face, which he declined respectfully.

“I’d prefer to stay sober,” he said. “You know, I don’t wish to spoil your birthday, but the king’s being more pressing than ever,”

“Yeah? About what?”

He stared at you for a moment before answering, as if he was trying to look pass your display. 

“About marriage, of course,”

You didn’t answer. Though the corners of your lips were still raised in the aftermath of all the previous hypes, you were obviously unhappy to be there. Azul wished the man would shut up and bring your smile back instead.

“It’s not just the King, your highness. The whole kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right person,”

“Jack-” you took a deep, deep breath. “It’s not something that can come quicker just because you’re anxious. I have to find the right person-”

“I understand…” Jack mumbled under his breath. He didn’t look like he understood at all.

“- and they’re out there somewhere. I’m sure. I just haven’t found them yet,” you turned and dangled your arms over the railing. Azul quietly swam under your hands. He could probably touch your fingertips if he stretched hard enough.

“When I see them, it’s gonna hit me. Like bam! Like lightning-”

As if hearing your prayer the sky cracked open with a loud cry and grew darker still. The other men scattered out hurriedly, looking as though they’d never drunk anything.

“Hurricane coming in! Stand fast, secure the rigging!”

It all happened so fast. The wind was so strong that Azul could almost feel himself being blown away. The sky rumbled again and lightning started a rapid fire where it’d striked. He noticed a rock looming just ahead, but no one on board seemed to have noticed it.

He should probably go. It’s the safest under the sea. The sky couldn’t hurt a hair of his. But then he heard your screams of commands, and suddenly he was a brave knight willing to give up his life for the princette.

You weren’t on the ship when he neared. Instead, you were already secured on a piece of log, as well as the other men. He exhaled a relieved sigh, but it didn’t last as he heard cries from the ship.

“Ah! Get away you nasty fire- help!” cried a high-pitched voice.

“Oh no, Grim!” you gasped. Without a second thought, you let loose of the log and rushed towards the burning ship. The broken ship gave you better access as you hopped on, but the moment you’d secured your familiar, the ship roared and you tripped and fell.

“Look out!” Azul yelled out futilely. The ship ran straight into the rock and BOOM, everything was set ablaze. Azul dodged between dropping debrises mindlessly as he roamed around in search of you.

When nothing was found above, he dived back into the water and there you were - sinking into the water, growing darker and darker by second. He was next to you in a blink - thanks to his fast-moving tentacles. 

Your group had already gone out of sight when he emerged again, but to his best luck there was a piece of land just near, and he raced there like he was going to lose his own life if he was too late. It was only when you were pulled up on the dryland that he could soothe his pounding heartbeat.

He was bewildered at the fact that he could breathe on land just as well as he did under water. Aside from the sand that had started sticking to his tentacles the moment they touched, nothing seemed to be out of place.

“Hey,” he’d never rescued a drowning human before. He didn’t even know what drowning was. 

“Are you dead?” he slapped your cheek lightly. Your chest didn’t seem to be heaving, and your lips were as pale as snow.

“Hey-”

“Blergh!” Your head jerked up and suddenly you were coughing up water. Azul squeaked before scurrying over to hide behind a rock.

Your head was drooping back and forth as you held yourself up with wobbly arms. Then you started turning around and locked eyes with Azul’s as he peeked out tentatively.

Oh, it’s bad. This is very bad.

“Who-” you started to stand, and at the same time Azul began to reach for the water stealthily so you wouldn’t notice. He knew he’d be screwed if he was spotted.

“Y/N!” someone cried from far away, and you turned to look. The split second was just enough for him to crawl back into the water and out of sight.

The water washed the sand off him quickly, erasing all the evidence that he’d been out there violating one of the strictest rules under the sea, but despite all, he found himself already missing the crisp air above.

If any, he’d grown more fond of the unknown world that you lived in.

[fandom-sheep]

Fundy Dream SMP Chaos 01 APR 21

Delayed Liveblogging Part 1/1

I’m late cause I was on Wills stream.

He was laughing and complaining about not being able to burn things.

He’s happy he made a thing.

Oh no. Why is he tnting the castle and arsoning?

Why is Fundy causing problems on purpose?

Fundy honey please don’t break the holy land.

Oh it’s supposedly a fake server.

I need to read chat more to learn what is happening.

I guess I trust chat with fake smp?

OH WAIT! It’s April first!

I expected Fundy to prank us but I’m honestly too stupid for my own good sometimes.

Alright install hacks. Let’s go.

Chat has been burned before today.

Just casually looking at the reach mods.

The reason I don’t trust this is be a fake server is because he was on the real server earlier.

Fundy honestly might just be trying problems on purpose and it wouldn’t surprise me.

Sneaking under the half door! Oh wait never mind.

Oh no. Not memory dream stuff. Please your chat will cry.

Arson the Tommy house.

Arson the trees.

Oh an awesome old house.

Ah yes more tnt.

Fox boy has had quite the explosion obsession lately.

Upwards MLG. So talented.

I still don’t trust this not to be real. Because Fundy very well might explode things.

My dog is laying on my foot.

Lots of explosions.

Making more tnt nice.

Fundy gets banned arc! Let’s goooo.

Ok I want to see Fundy make this shot.

Explosion hour!

You can do it!

Chat is so divided between encouraging chaos and desperately hoping this is an April fools prank.

It’s still April first over there isn’t it?

1000% cannon

I love how Fundy understands that people do what they are told not to. So he tells them not to prime.

So close.

Come on! Explosion!

FOR THE PRIMES!

Yesssss!!!

MLG Fire. All the talent of this man.

I was so excited for Pokémon cards. But no face cam.

Wait don’t do Pokémon cards. We can’t see. 😢

Ah yes, Pokémon card asmr...

I wish I could see the cards. I love Pokémon cards.

I don’t know what some of these Pokémon he is vaguely describing are.

Oh wait! What was the last one???

Oooo what is it? What is it?

Rainbow glitter doesn’t limit it.

I could not understand that name. I can’t tell if it’s good.

Also Fundy. Time to look at this card.

Quit retaking the picture and just post it.

I swear he is enjoying toying with us.

We’re being shot while he’s trying to take a picture.

Ok time to check the bird site.

I have replied to the tweet with the requested phrase.

I don’t believe it’s worth a lot but it’s pretty.

Finally we’re done being stabbed by the skeleton.

Skeleton coming into close shot range.

Please don’t drown sir.

He’s comin’

Anyway back to causing problems.

Or you know back on memory lane...

Oh wait nevermind. Problems on purpose.

Really cool idea?

Another lovely ranged shot.

Aww. Didn’t quite make it.

Again didn’t quite make it.

Lazy way now.

“Eek” -Fundy

That’s one way to get revenge.

Chat keeping on calling for the death of Michael.

Casually sneaking into creative cause he’s out of tnt.

Tnt balloon launcher!

Oh Fundy planning on causing trouble at the other prison.

Tnt launcher let’s go.

Oh a being donated 100 lovely.

They deserve to have a tnt launcher named after them.

The chests being full has me suspicious but I still doubt the boy is truly causing problems on purpose.

Tnt launcher did not work.

L the streamer.

Oh Niki is going live on the smp. I suppose that’s one way we can find out if it’s the true smp.

Off they went. But it’s not accurate.

We’re just working with Fundy to cause trouble.

Nope. He just can’t do it.

Wow he’s flying like magic! (And covering that with tnt)

Making homemaker a bigger target isn’t going to work.

He’s gathering so many arrows.

Not a single one hit. Awesome looking but a lovely failure.

I tried to check on Nikis stream but the only thing that happened is I had to watch an ad to get back to Fundy.

Also Niki was hosting Minx. I missed her.

Awesome explosion Fundy.

Ah. Auto build.

Oh we auto built a bunch of signs. And none of them have the message.

Fungi grave. With diamonds. Lovely.

I am enjoying this even if I know better.

Ah. A lovely pile of tnt.

Poof!

Someone should have let Fundy have tnt sooner.

Casual flight.

I always love the music on Fundy’s streams. Just That lovely nostalgia.

Just piles of tnt by the hotel.

Chat is so panicked.

I don’t think most of them know it’s April first.

Oooo are we gambling?

Nope not gambling. But it did work gorgeously.

I’m not a griefing kind of person, but this does my heart good.

Enjoying problems.

“Oh what’s this place” adds tnt “gone” -Fundy

Come on chat people. Just encourage him. Quit saying check the date and that it’s a fake server. Just role with it.

Oh that was a very pretty explosion.

Exploded early but it worked (stupid egg bits)

A gorgeous sideways explosion.

We still aren’t destroying... oh wait. We are exploding. No sign.

No escape. But he survived. And the prime bell is still safe.

Castle explosion time.

I’m kinda sad about the castle I’ll admit. But I’ll still up for a good explosion.

Made the lil house and now he explodes things.

Chat blowing up the rainbow castle isn’t homophobic. Hush.

Oooo shaders. That’ll look pretty.

Cant wait to see the pretty screenshots the artists use.

Probably a back up. We’ll see.

Oh I’m also a bit sad about the museum. But you know. If we gotta explode things we gotta explode things.

I can’t wait to see the shaders with this.

Struggling to explosions.

Oh pretty. And the hotdog survives!!!

Cinematic. Beautiful.

Donos playing along saying he’ll be banned. Or donos just confused.

This boy truly pretending he hacked his way into creative on the smp.

Ok that was a pretty cinematic shot.

Holo mellons

Sniff raid! Lovely!

Also the person telling them to check out foolish’s stream. Hush. Let us worry people.

Oh did Fundy build the funky cube thing? I doubt but still.

Prison time.

Oh got to get the skeppy and bad house

And whatever that pit building is.

Everyone still talking about how it ain’t real. Quit it y’all. Come on. Join the joke.

Our dearest mods trying to keep everyone from spoiling it.

The prison is a really pretty build. And it does look explodable.

Explode the prison. Yes and 5up is hot is what are winning.

The no’s can’t catch up. It’s fire time.

You can tell the prank has failed, but it’s still good for the heart to see it explode. It is still a game after all as emotionally attached as we have gotten to it.

A small thing. A small explosive thing.

Everyone changing lag already.

Everyone already ready to fight Fundy if he were to blow up Michael.

Button time.

Oh we even have the cool undertake music.

And the cannon didn’t reach.

Auto build plus lots of tnt.

This is the grand finale of the prank I believe.

I might to go foolish after this. Get some chaotic building man.

Prime bell!!!

Poof and pop.

Oh that was pretty.

Wait... inner wall...

Well. Lore people take your notes on prison construction.

This knowledge will help you on your quest later.

Prison couldn’t even be broken by a fox with a tnt canon.

Phil Raid! Hooray!

Please be a real raid. I want the extra half hour of chaos.

Even though the fox should be yelled at to go to sleep.

Oh. Was it a real Phil raid? I half expected it not to be.

The chat is both confused and chilling.

You get that hype train rich people.

Walking around trying to pretend we haven’t been blowing everything up.

Casually walking around showing off his destruction.

It’s not even April first over theee anymore is it?

Ah. Yeah it is April fools joke.

Ah. Is Fundy actually coming clean about his stuff.

Ah no. He’s continuing to pretend nothing is happening.

Lots of tnt.

Gorgeous. Magnificent. Fantastic.

I love tnt particles for whatever reason. They always look so good.

That actually did a lot.

Yes join the fox discord! Yes follow the fox Twitter! I’ve already done both. I don’t really check either but still.

Showing off his explosions.

Oh we’re doing a reenactment.

Let’s gooo.

L’manhole v. 3 (4?)

Lots of tnt. Always good.

Oh. Oh no. It’s lagging bad.

The tnt. Isn’t going.

Ah now the true lag.

“Cool guys don’t have the frames to look at explosions” -Fundy

That was a good explosion. How deep did it go? No very probably.

TNT parkour! We love it!

That didn’t work but that was a nice explosion. Plenty of bedrock.

Good job with the hype train rich people.

We enjoy our streamer causing problems.

And the sign has changed again. You know the one. “You heart...”

Trying to fill the orb thing with tnt.

That was a very contained explosion.

Good explosion time.

Ok. We’re talking concrete replacement.

Blood vines exploding this early again.

Casually exploding the tiny Eret.

Everyone convincing him not to blow up the tiny Eret.

I love how those who watch one watch the other.

L’manburg yeah explode it. Eret? No.

Oh wait don’t look at the spoilers.

Secret Base Here.

Ahh. Blowing up his tower as well.

Nevermind. We like the tower.

Reasons. Mhm. Didn’t plan on that when he set this up. (In relation to snowchester)

Boy’s tnt penmanship is like that of a toddler.

Great explosions.

Oh we’re poofing the Targay next.

I love the two types of people. People like me, playing along, and the people who are panicking and praying it’s a copy.

Love the mods telling everyone it’s real.

Aww he died.

It’s ok. We respawned.

Defiantly cannon.

We don’t want it to be? That’s worrying for future lore.

But we’re not talking future lore. We’re doing therapy explosions.

Oh an ad. I didn’t get it. I won’t complain.

All the levels gone so sad. Not like they can spontaneously appear.

No. We aren’t going to snowchester. Too far away.

Where is the next level?

Random fire arrows???

Yes we are question marking.

Coder boy? Minecraft commands?

Run command?

Execute command?

He’s typing. I understand none of it.

Oh it’s peaceful.

There it goes.

Withers our favorite thing

Withers and chickens.

Oh. We stuck. We lagging bad.

Let me join the L group really fast.

The game crashed and now he’s trying again.

Wait all the damage reset?

Oh wait no we’re on the real smp now aren’t we!

Maybe not... we’ll see.

It never saved?

And here is the April Fools reveal.

Oh hooray sub goal and piano tunes!

Oh American roadtrip by Fundy!

That’ll be fun! It’ll be fun to see the vlogs and the like!

Raise that sub goal! Get that fun adventure!

It’ll be a month but it’ll be fun!

Ah he is telling them it was a real April fools steam.

But this is a cool idea! I hope the boy gets to come here on an adventure.

Why do many New York and New Jersey people? Also hooray 5up!

I hit the text block limit. Good song time! Banger tune time! Oh that’s neat! FundyJam! Another? I could make a part 2 to this instead of cramming, but that’s too much work. GOOD SONG GOOD STREAM! I love Fundy streams so much. Very therapeutic explosions. And the raid went through. 15TH FOR MAIN CHANNEL VIDEO!!!!

[texanredrose]

Hell Hath No Mercy

Reading @faunusrights update got me thinking, so here... Frapp gamers, y’all. Although this is directly inspired by and references the Frapp Logs, this is def just me being a huge nerd and not missing an opportunity to involve video games in my writing, lmao. This might be total shit but you might get a chuckle out of it.

Velvet sighed, getting settled onto her bean bag and leaning back until her back rested against that of her datemate’s, instantly filling her with considerable ease. Although it had taken a bit of cajoling to get Blake to play, the two had quickly become a very destructive powerhouse couple when they decided to play Overwatch, and the activity had risen to one of their favorites when it came to spending some quality couple time together.

However, a little bit of anxiety toyed with her nerves as they both booted up their respective system and screens, grabbing the specially designed headsets to work with their Faunus ears. She tried brushing it off, though; what was the worst that could happen? Their tentative new girlfriend ended up hating the game and decided that things wouldn’t work out, that perhaps they should stop seeing each other-

Way not to go on a downward spiral there, champ. Top notch.

Groaning, Velvet leaned back a little, mollified when her datemate began purring lowly. “This... whole thing is going to go okay, right? We’ll play a few matches, have some fun?”

“Of course,” Blake replied, reaching back to pat her hip. “Everything will be fine.” They chuckled twisting around to put a kiss just beneath her lower ear. “If worst comes to worst, we’ll talk Weiss into playing a different game.”

“But she already went and got all the stuff!” Her long rabbit ear drooped forward. “What if-”

“Hey.” Their amber eyes softened, twisting around a bit more to wrap her up in an embrace. “It’ll be okay. You know Weiss doesn’t care about money; she got top-of-the-line equipment on her own.” They paused, sighing. “I’m nervous too, ya know. But we’ll do some games against the bots, and then see where she’s at. We just need to, ya know, not play like us for a while.”

“What- oh, you mean no team kills.” Velvet groaned, though she nodded, wrapping her own arms around her datemate. “Right. Gotta let her really get the hang of it.”

“Exactly. We’ll sit back, try to keep her from getting killed, and let her do the rest.” They chuckled. “She’s really competitive, remember? This sort of thing is right up her alley.”

“You’re right.” She sighed, smiling and leaning back to look into her datemate’s eyes. “I know that, I do, but I’m just... nervous.” Velvet laughed, shaking her head. “This technically counts as a date, you know. Even though she’s not here here, with us.”

“My internet can only take so much, babe.” Blake lightly squeezed her hand before turning back around and slipping their headset on and getting their voice chat party set up. “Come on; we’ve got a girlfriend to woo. Let’s try not to be late.”

“Knowing Weiss, she’s already, like, level ten or something.” Chuckling, she turned back to her screen and slipped on her own headset, adjusting the mic piece so it set a bit further away from her mouth, on the off chance she began to get frustrated. Blake might be accustomed to her... colorful commentary when she wasn’t doing well, but she’d like to keep that part a secret from Weiss just a little longer. “Bet you a kiss she already queued for a game.”

“No matter who loses, we both win, but done,” her datemate replied as she joined the voice chat, waiting for a moment before the brief static appeared in her ears.

“Your mic’s too close again.”

“Oh, right.” Blake made a small adjustment. “There?”

“Better. Now we-” a small notification appeared at the bottom of her screen “-wait for, nevermind, she’s already here. Weiss? Can you hear us?”

“Hello? Yes, I can hear you.” Her voice sounded a bit soft coming through the chat. “What about me?”

“You’re coming in a little low,” Blake replied. “Try adjusting your settings.”

“Is that better?” Weiss’ voice now came across much clearer, bringing a smile to Velvet’s lips.

“Perfect. You already have the game started up?”

“Yes, and I started poking around the menu, to pass the time. Some of these character designs are... interesting.”

Velvet narrowed her eyes but Blake beat her to it. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if we’re going strictly by aesthetic, it makes me think Blake prefers either the ninja or the... deathmetal front man wanna be.”

She quickly clasped a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles while her datemate groaned.

“I play both of them, yes, but it’s just because of their mechanics! They’re good offense heroes.”

“So the fact one has the same name as the protagonist of Ninjas of Love and the other is deep in his emo phase have nothing to do with it?” She paused. “And I’m guessing both have dark, tragic pasts with-”

“Thank you for the character tarot card lesson, Weiss.” Blake laughed, and she could hear them rolling their eyes. “As always, a pleasure.”

“You love me for it,” she replied, and the words managed to surprise all three of them, Velvet’s smile pulling even wider as her datemate practically vibrated where they sat, trying to keep a content little purr from eeking out. “Was... was that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Definitely,” she said, reaching back to pat Blake’s hip. “You’re good, Weiss. You’re very good, actually.”

“Okay, that’s the sort of thing I’d expect from Yang, not you.”

“Oh, Velvet can flirt tease. That’s, like, her strongest form of flirting. Aside from being uselessly gay and flailing, anyway, which is what I got initially.”

“Hush, you.” Velvet ensured they were all slotted into a party together before navigating to the correct section of the menu and queueing them for a game. “Okay, so we’re going to start off with some matches against AI opponents. Just so you can get some of the mechanics down.”

“That sounds fine but... who should I pick?” There’s, like... twenty-five people to choose from-”

“Okay, well, like, it ultimately comes down to which mechanics you like best?” Velvet offered, shrugging despite only one other person being aware of it. 

“Or your opponent, kinda, but not everyone can flex play, so it’s good to start off with one dedicated hero and branch out from there.” Blake made a thoughtful noise. “There’s four basic categories- attack, defense, tank, and support. Depending on what you want to do within a team, you can start from there.”

“Yeah, that’s a good starting point.” She nodded to herself. “I kinda prefer to tank- I soak up damage and destroy whoever gets close to me. Blake is usually attack- they pour on the damage and out flank the enemy.”

“So neither of you play defense or support normally?”

Velvet cringed while her datemate chuckled and she quickly jabbed her elbow back into their side. “I don’t play support any more. I ‘get too fighty’ apparently.”

“Which means she completely stops healing and just focuses on killing enemies, which is much harder to do as a support character.”

“It was one time.”

“You chased the Genji the whole match. That’s literally all you did. The whole match.”

“He teabagged me!” Through her headset, she could hear Weiss’ giggling. “Look, the point is: most of the time, the support characters aren’t supposed to be chasing down enemies. If you want to try and hang back a little from the action, defense is a good start. Most are long range- snipers, artillery, or lots of bullets.” The screen changed as a little green checkmark appeared in the top center. “Oh! We’ve found a game!”

“Good. It might be easier for you to pick a character by scrolling through the portraits. Just find one that looks interesting-”

“Oh.” Blake and Velvet exchanged a look over their shoulders. “Oh, she’s pretty.”

Her datemate smirked, mouthing a name to her and tapping their lips twice.

She smirked, taking the double or nothing bet and mouthing a name back before speaking. “Who’s pretty?”

“The one the game put me on- Mercy? I think that’s her name.”

Velvet smiled, rather pleased that she was now the ‘winner’ of their little wager. “Yeah, that’s her name. She’s a healer- she has a powerful pistol, too, but she’s mainly for healing and boosting damage.”

“You know,” Blake said, a bit of mischief in their voice. “There’s a theory floating around that she’s a translady.”

“That’s it, this is my character, I love her already, I’m picking her.”

“And the fact that she looks a bit like a blonde version of you has nothing to do with it, right?” Velvet did her level best not to chuckle at the affronted scoff she heard.

“I’m not quite that vain.” A pause. “And she doesn’t have a scar.”

Wincing, she did her best to recover while her datemate tensed. “So she’s a less badass version of you. Still totally worthy of love.”

“Absolutely,” Blake said, not missing their opportunity to chime in. “Here, I’ll go Pharah; they’re a good combo and it’ll give you a chance to work out the flight controls.”

“She can fly?”

“Did you think the wings were for aesthetic?” 

They both waited for a moment, hardly catching the curse Weiss muttered under her breath. “Yes.”

“I would be surprised by that if you weren’t the one to show up to a Halloween party in one hundred percent authentic knight armor.” She laughed, relieved when she heard a few begrudging chuckles through her headset as well as snickering behind her. “Okay, select her and review her skills. You see the prompt on the screen?”

“Yes, I do- oh, shit, the match is about to start.”

“Don’t worry about that; even after the timer runs out, there’s a bit of a delay before the game actually starts. We’re attacking, so you’ll spawn into a little room where you can still look at the controls,” Blake said, doing just that and nudging Velvet to hurry up and pick someone.

She went with Roadhog; at least then she could heal herself if Weiss started getting overwhelmed.

Velvet and Blake screwed around in the spawn point for a minute, setting a spray or two down while allowing Weiss to study the controls, watching the timer tick down. At about ten seconds, they both heard something akin to a hum before Weiss’ character began moving around.

“Okay, I think I have the basics down. This button heals-” a stream of gold light appeared from the tip of Mercy’s staff “-and this one boosts damage.” At that, a blue stream replaced it. “And then I can... revive someone, I think?”

“Yeah, if someone dies, you can fly up to them and revive them; there’ll be a little glowing gold orb where they died.” Blake chuckled. “They changed the mechanics recently, so you have to hold it down for a few seconds before it actually works, and then you get a cooldown timer until you can use it again.”

“Alright. I think I understand.”

“We’ll find out!” The drop door on their spawn point dropped down and Velvet maneuvered her character towards it. “The match started!”

“Okay, this first point is pretty close, and there’s usually some sort of sniper waiting.” Blake moved their character forward, then took off into the air. “Let me go clear it out first. Stay with Velvet and keep her healed; I’ll come back to you if I need it.”

“Yeah, just follow me, Weiss.” Velvet set her character lumbering forward, turning around to ensure her directions were followed, and then started up the stairs towards the chokepoint. She could hear the booms of Blake lighting up the bots, popping a few at range shots to discourage the Soldier 76. “When we make this next turn, switch to the damage boost, okay?”

“Got it.”

Even though Blake and Velvet were doing their best to hold back a little, they managed to clear the first point rather easily, and Weiss quickly got the hang of switching between their teammates to ensure everyone was healed before pushing towards the second point.

And that’s when things got interesting.

“Aw, shit.” Blake growled. “I’m down.”

“Oh no, my revive is recharging; I just brought the ninja back.”

“It’s fine, I-” Velvet’s view suddenly whirled around, the enemy Roadhog hooking her character and doing a significant amount of damage right along side the enemy Soldier 76. “I... am dead. Are you fuckin- shit.”

“We just got murdered by bots, babe.”

“It doesn’t help that half our team is off doing who knows what!” Her eyes flicked up to the top right of her screen, widening as a few more names in blue were eliminated. “Oh no; Weiss, is anyone on the point with you?”

“Yes, I have the ninja.” Another name in blue. “Well, nevermind that. Now I’m alone.”

“I’m almost respawned.” Blake’s shoulders hunched. “Just- just run back and I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

“I- oh, no no no, go away, no!”

“Weiss, hold on, Blake’s almost... gonna...” All reassurances died in her throat as name after name appeared in red, with the Roadhog being the last to fall.

“That was almost a team kill,” Blake said, just as stunned even as they spawned, watching the meter in the top middle of the screen begin to fill.

And then, a sound came through both of their headsets, a sound that resonated deep within both of them and sent twin shivers down their spines. A low chuckle dripping with well earned satisfaction and a smile at the edges, and in her mind’s eye, Velvet could clearly imagine exactly the sort of face Weiss had to be making when she made that sound, and she did her level best to ignore the sudden erratic rhythm in her chest.

“Oh,” Weiss said, voice absolutely drenched in perverse delight. “I’m going to like this game.”

Blinking, Velvet hit the mute button for her mic and turned her head. “I love that woman.”

“Big. Fucking. Mood.” Her datemate shuddered, rolling their neck a little. “From now on, we’re calling whatever that was ‘the mating cry of the Schnee’.”

“Fucking appropriate.” She shook herself. “Wow.”

“I know.” They chuckled. “And I thought you were a fighty healer.”

“I am a fighty healer; I’m just not a very lethal one, which Weiss apparently is, at least against bots.” As she respawned, Velvet moved past Blake’s stock still character to go join Weiss on the point and unmuted her mic. “That was badass, Weiss.”

“Absolutely amazing.”

“While I thank you for the praise, I may actually be in need of some assistance, oh no.”

Blake snorted. “Did you just quote your character?”

“I’m asking for help; what are you talking about?”

“That’s literally one of her voice lines, babe,” Velvet said, hooking the enemy Roadhog and repaying the blasted bot in kind while Blake cleared the rest away, giving Weiss a perfect window to escape and heal up both them and herself. “You really are Mercy.”

“Battle Mercy.” They corrected from behind her and she nodded. “A beautiful Battle Mercy with the vengeance of the Gods.”

“Why did you bring up the Mistrali Goddess skin, Blake, why, we’re both too gay for that.” With an easy team wipe, they sat on the point, Blake and Velvet’s characters using the emotes they’d received from playing a bit too much during events.

“Mistrali Goddess skin?”

“Yeah, Blake, take us out of queue for a sec.” Velvet waited until they were all returned to the title screen. “Go down to the heroes gallery, then pick Mercy’s portrait. Go to ‘skins’, and go down. You’ll know which one we’re talking about.”

As Weiss investigated, Blake muted their mic and turned. “You’re giving her ideas, you know.”

She muted her mic. “Ideas?”

“Oh, I do like this... skin, you called it? How do I get it?”

“You’ll have to wait until the event comes up, and then get lootboxes for the event by either leveling up, winning games, or buying them,” they explained, chuckling. “But don’t go overboard with the spending. It’s a bit like gambling, honestly; you don’t know what you’ll get.”

“Ah, I see.” A thoughtful noise. “I wonder how difficult it would be to make those wings.”

“Why?” Velvet tilted her head to the side before it dawned on her. “Weiss, you can’t go to next year’s Halloween party dressed as Mistrali Goddess Mercy.”

“And why not?”

“Because you could go as Witch Mercy.”

“Witch Merc- oh.” A pause. “Oh.” A little giggle. “I do admire her sense of style.”

“Is this gonna be it for you, Weiss?” Blake chuckled. “Are you gonna be a Mercy main?”

“I think so. For now, anyway.” She made a small noise. “Oh, she laughs! And it’s cute!”

“Hey, Weiss, go down to Zarya.” Velvet clapped, excited. “Look at my beefy wife.”

“Rude.”

“You’re my beefy datemate; totally different.”

“Better.”

“Oh, those muscles.”

“Okay, okay, let’s stop drooling over the pretty ladies. I’m going to bump us up a difficulty level,” Blake said with a chuckle. “But be careful about switching between shooting and healing, Weiss. It’s going to get harder the higher we go.”

“Oh please; I can take care of myself.”

Twenty minutes and four games later, the three were laughing hard- or, rather, two were laughing while Weiss sputtered indignantly about dying three times in a row.

“I AM AN ANGEL OF HEALING AND DEATH, YOU CAN’T KILL ME!”

“Healers- hehe- heal- you are a priority target!” Velvet somehow managed, sucking down a few breaths. “That’s why you hide behind the tanks!”

“I AM NOT A POCKET MERCY! I AM A BATTLE MERCY!” Weiss made a sound that sounded half growl, half whine. “Put us into another game! I’m ready to wreck some goddamn lives!”

“Weiss, you- you need to calm down.” Blake- somehow- couldn’t keep a straight face, amusement at the edges of their voice while their entire torso shook with silent laughter. “It’s going to happen a lot. Especially if we ever play against real people.”

“Are you meaning to imply that I can’t play against real people?”

“That’s not what we’re saying, babe.”

“Not at all.”

“Blake, queue us for a game against people.” Weiss huffed. “I’m going to yank their souls out through their fucking teeth after I put a bullet between their eyes.”

“Okay, one, you’re really hot when you’re threatening bodily harm via video game,” they said with a snicker. “And two, that’s Moira.”

“Excuse you?”

“Moira- the character to the right of Mercy. Like, that’s what she does.” Velvet reached over, grabbing a soda she’d nearly forgotten about and taking a quick swig. “She sucks the health out of her enemies to replenish her own.”

“Oh, she does? That sounds- oh, hmmm, hmmm.” Both of them waited. “Okay, I have mixed feelings about this one.”

“Do tell.” Blake purred, opting for Reaper this round.

“On the one hand, lesbian.”

Almost immediately, they clued in to the woman’s train of thought. “The other’s the nails, isn’t it?”

“It’s the fucking nails, god.”

“Her nails too big for her got damn hand,” they said, laughing at the groan that answered.

Velvet opted to be a little lenient. “But seriously, she’s way fighty; they’re eventually going to nerf her damage output because it’s a bit too high.”

“I have a new fave.”

“Aw, so no Witch Mercy?” Blake pouted.

“I can have more than one fave,” she said, playfully defensive but quickly switching to a more serious tone once they’d spawned. “Okay, this is one with a payload, right?”

“Exactly. You can- oh, you stuck with Mercy.”

“I’ll suck souls later-” Velvet managed to inhale before she was cut off “- stop, stop right now, or I log off.”

“Aw.”

“You both spend far too much time with Yang and Ruby.”

“They’re your friends, too!”

“I am resistant to their bullshit.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that bullshit about bullshit,” Velvet said, clicking over the Zarya and glancing at their team composition again, a frown coming to her lips. “Also, heads up; we’re going against a six person group.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means either they’re really good and play together often or they’re drunk friends having fun. Or they’re just randos who didn’t want to keep waiting in queue.” Blake sighed. “Weiss, stick with Velvet. I might have to switch to Genji or Tracer to outflank them, depending.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll keep you bubbled up as best I can.”

“Very well, then, let’s make this game interesting, if we end up getting our asses handed to us.” Weiss paused. “Person with the fewest medals owes the other two kisses?”

“Deal.”

“Done.”

Velvet smiled, pushing back against Blake and feeling them purr softly in return before muting their mic. “I’m calling the internet company tomorrow. See how much it’ll cost to increase the speed.”

“You know Weiss will offer to pay-”

“We’re not telling her that part.”

“Fine.” She laughed a little as the game began, unmuting her mic. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

“I’m right behind you,” Weiss said, and she truly didn’t doubt it.

Velvet got the feeling that they’d be able to talk Weiss into joining their ‘couple’s time’ rather easily, especially about five minutes later when they were escorting the payload into the end stage while Weiss chased down a McCree, Blake tore up a Reinhardt, and Velvet provided clean up on the shattered remnants of the other team’s defenses.

“You know, the three of us are pretty good together,” she said, voting on Weiss’ card for assists.

“I don’t think a truer statement has ever been uttered,” the woman replied, though she could just pick up the tentativeness hiding beneath her voice. “I think we’re rather good together, too.”

“Yeah.” Blake chimed in, perking up slightly. “Oh, four medals, by the way.”

“Oh, darn, I almost forgot about our little wager.” Weiss laughed. “I didn’t seem to get any. Shame.”

“It’s okay; everyone has an off game.”

“Yeah, I mean, I only got three, and I- wait a minute.” Velvet narrowed her eyes. “Weiss, you were the only healer on our team; how did you not medal in healing?”

“... magic?”

Blake gave a full bellied laugh, leaning back against her. “Babe, if you wanted kisses, you could’ve just asked.”

“... I can?”

“Yeah,” they said, voice soft. “I mean, you’ll still have to pay up, because someone has to keep you honest, but in the future? Just ask.”

“Very well then. I look forward to paying off this particular debt. Perhaps over dinner?”

They both glanced over their shoulders, nodding before Velvet spoke. “Sounds good. When and where?”

“That nice Vacuon place down by the docks?”

“Sold,” Blake replied, preparing to get up. “We could be there in half an hour.”

“Well... could we play a few more games first?” A pause. “It’s just- I’ll admit to having limited experience playing multiplayer games, especially with company so lovely, and I’m a bit loathe to end it quite yet.”

“How about three more games?” Velvet offered with a smile. “Then, we all get ready for dinner?”

“Deal.”

“Absolutely.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She watched as the three of them were pulled into the next game. “Now, let’s- what did you say earlier, babe? Wreck some goddamn lives?”

“The inflection is very important.” Blake commented, shoulders jumping again with quiet laughter.

“Quite right.” Weiss chuckled.

Focusing on the game, Velvet let go of her last bits of nerves about including Weiss in her relationship with Blake. The three of them seemed to be on the same page and enjoying the pace they’d set, so even if it felt a little slow at times, it was probably for the best. And they could make up for lost time later.

[survivoremathia]

Ep. 10 - "Heck Everyone on This Tribe!" - Logan

LOGAN

tea time with ryan. when is it my turn

-

So last round was wild. If it weren't for duncan, i would have voted david and that would have been even messier. Also sorry Ali I definitely did go in room 9 but it doesn't matter! Because my extra vote was snatcht by Isaac.

RYAN PALMER

LMFAO LAST NIGHT WAS A MESS. it was still totally fun though. i havent had that much fun in a game for a long time. too bad everyone else is being boring af. i dont have anything personal against trevor but i think this series and season is too good to have someone breeze their way to the end because everyone just wants to follow him and hand him the win. i dont get it. oh well. like i said im always just here to have fun and cause a little chaos. it seemed like sam and ali had the most negative reactions to what i said in the tribe chat last night. i literally made it all up...minus the duncan part cause lydia told me about it....anything i can do to spice things up and get ppl paranoid is good. im not gonna survive this round so i gotta make it last. but when i wrote and said that i was a free agent and that if you want my vote you better message me or else someone else will...i got messages from jd logan sam which is interesting. i think sam knows that hes the person i talk to the least so he wants some communication in before im juror...eh...and logan and jd seemed to really want me to know they werent against me...i do actually believe them but that doesnt mean they are gonna go trying to save my ass. honestly just give me that spot in emathia hvv. if i can somehow win this immunity by a stroke of genius itll be my mission to make sure someone good leaves and we dont waste a round by getting david/logan/jd out. oh also i love lydia. and cami.

LOGAN

Also! Heck everyone on this tribe! Literally everyone lied to me last night except for Duncan, Matt and Ryan, and ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IS NOW GONE BY MY HAND. I didn't want to vote for Matt! If I could have gotten rid of Trevor YER DARN TOOTIN I WOULD HAVE! I just didn't read the rules bc I'm a #idiot. If it weren't for Duncan actually trusting me, I would have voted for David or Trevor and looked stupid as heck. I also told Trevor that the "other side" trusts me which is... well, true, because I am the other side. I'm literally about to play his own game and fucking leak false information to him. Maybe flush an idol, maybe flip someone. I will never trust anyone in this game again. Within the next four rounds I'm going unless I can win challenges. It was a good run.

http://survivoremathia.tumblr.com/post/158609746461/immunity-10

DAVID

Me on the bottom? just where i like it! anyway Ali was like "It was rough yesterday ryan was yelling at me ):" and im like bitch I literally didnt vote in the majority and you did can you actually shut your mouth because you have nothing to worry about

ALI

Welp, I have lots to talk about, so I am gonna break it up into sections:

Firstly, I am super happy to have made final 10. Like already outlasting 12 people in a season is a huge achievement! Yesterday's vote got a bit crazy, but I think its opened my eyes as to the next steps I need to take to advance my game. Firstly, in memoriam of Matt. I wouldn't have expected to vote him out so soon, but he'd begun trying to turn the tides against a member of my alliance, and he didn't have a majority, so I almost had to go on the 'Trevor' side. Furthermore, when he was talking about the potential 'majority' that'd take out Trevor, he didn't include Sam or JD, who I'd expected him too, as we'd been working together up to that point. His willingness to just leave out allies, meant that he just had to go :( Next Sam. I feel super bad for Sam. I was encouraging him to use the idol, when it was unnecessary. Our conversation leading up to him playing it though super brought us together, so I'm hoping I have his vote going forwards. Next, I got to play Touchy Subjects! I was so excited for that, and even though it was super hard to make some tough decisions, I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see the results! :) Now, onto 'Tea Time with Ryan'. In my opinion, Ryan screwed up. Like, people get that Trevor is a threat, but all that his temper tantrum did, is make sure people don't want to work with him (at least in my opinion). Like I definitely intend on making a move against the Trevor/Owen power duo, in the next coming votes, however I don't think I'll necessarily want to include David or Ryan (unless one of them happens to still be in the game). I'd potentially want to make that move, with a group of 'Duncan,Me,Sam,JD and Lydia'- I'd super want to bring in Logan as a 5th, but JD is weirdly stubborn about not wanting to work with them. I'm not sure why. Looking super long term, there are a number of threats, that I need to remove before F3. Those people include but aren't limited to: Owen, Trevor, Lydia and Ryan Like I don't want to go to F3 with any of them. My dream F3 would be with David and JD, as I feel like those two are the two I have the greatest chance of beating. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem sitting there with Logan or Duncan either. Even Sam is kinda too big of a threat. As promised to Jay, here is a quick breakdown of my thoughts on each tribemate: Ryan: I may be the lap dog, but you’ll be the one heading to the pound JD: My F2, think I may potentially be able to beat them. Really get on with them. I think them being stubborn about not working with Logan may cost us a bit. I don’t get why they so passionately want them out eek Logan: Super sweet person, sucks that we haven’t up to this point been able to work together game-wise Trevor: Really like him, but he is just too big of a threat Owen: Same as Trevor, would almost want to keep him longer though. We’ll see Duncan: I don’t know what to think of him? Like I feel like we’re close, but at the same time, maybe we aren’t David: We barely talk. Like almost never. Lydia: Kinda scary strategy wise, but a great mentor Sam: Love him too, but he is kinda a threat Who is the tenth person? I can’t remember for the life of me. In conclusion, everyone is a threat and they all need to go.

DUNCAN

On 3/20/17, at 2:25 PM, Unkie Dunkie wrote:

> Me: He poisoned our water supply! Burned our crops! And delivered a plague onto our houses! > Sam: He did!? > Me: Nooo! But are we just gonna wait around until he does!? On 3/20/17, at 2:26 PM, Unkie Dunkie wrote: > Me about matt summers to Sam

-

WHEW! THAT WAS FOR YOU EDDIE!!! <3 A few things. Ali leaked that matt summers had a 6 of me him Ali rtp Logan and

DAVID ROBB

https://m.popkey.co/97b4c1/Dj0DV_s-200x150.gif

I've not talked to any of y'all! You formed a majority without me on our original tribe! And when matt came to me I wasn't having it tbh.On 3/19/17, at 7:28 PM, Matthew Summers wrote: > So like idk if you have any sort of vendetta against me but that was what the last message he sent me started with. Like, I DO have a vendetta against you, you said "its hard for you to trust me", verbatim, and YOU VOTED OUT MY SHOWMANCE BINCH! KARMA IS A BITCH NAMED HARMONIA!! Please also know, I was at work when shit was hitting the fan.  I'm so glad that everything went according to plan despite the plan being leaked. It made sense for Samuel to idol trevor, it built their trust, and it prevented any scare of a tie. Now I just need to find out who has the idol now. The more the idol transfers hands, the messier allegiances are going to be. RTP did call out owen and Trevor on having multiple final threes with people and it did make me think about my long term game. Its going to be really hard for me to take on owen or Trevor in the end. My best bets hones lee? My best bets would have to be with either Logan or one of the newbies or samuel. Like Samuel would get the newbies vote but I might be able to pull off the rest? idk. I know for short term, as long as I'm good with Samuel, I'm good with the newbies, bc he knows everything about them. So I know If I want to go deep I need to *shudders* continue to stick with sam. I know that its dangerous to go deep with sam because he is always a contender for the W, but I need to make sure I get to the end before I start thinking about votes or anything like that. So if that means taking another inch of sam down my throat than so be it. 

http://survivoremathia.tumblr.com/post/158645180036/immunity-results

OWEN

IM FUCKING SNATCHED BALD I CANT VELIEVE I WON HOLY FUCKING HSJSJSJSJDJDJDJDJDJJDJDJDJDJDJDJDJNDJDJDJDJD ME WHEN I WOULDNT HAVE WON IF I DIDNT CHANGE MY LAST ANSERR LAST MINUTE????? I don't think?? FUCK

TREBOR GONMA BEAT MY GAY ASS WHEN HE FINDS OUT I BEAT HIM AFTER HIS ADVANTAGES YIKES!!!! YIKES!!!

-

"she [Jay]  doesn't believe anything not in a confessional" sandra, aubry, cirie and michaela are co-winning survivor game changers and neda, ika, and cass are co-winning bbcan5 it's just the facts, folks

TREVOR AND OWEN

https://youtu.be/r-NzfAsCXh0

SAM

Hey why is nobody talking?????? this is supposed to be a chaotic vote???? is it me???? i guess these lame-os don't know that i have another idol????

DAVID

Ryan: Sam just thinks youre a vote with me Me: I mean is he wrong. IS HE WRONG!!!!!!

TREVOR

https://youtu.be/B7Ad9-RNKzg

DUNCAN

Okay a few things. Owen told me about Trevor giving sam his idol and obvi We can tell sam gave Trevor the idol bc of trev's disad in the challenge. Ummm I told Ali about the cursed idol and hopefully that gives me some foundation with him for the future moving forward. The vote apparently is for David. That's what I've been told. I'm hoping that if things go off the rails I'm not the one getting hit by the train. I don't think I'm the biggest threat? But you can never know what's going through a persons head. I'm planting seeds for samuel's blindside rn. I'm sharpening my sword. Hopefully I'm still here to slay the beast

LOGAN

im bein played

OWEN

whew!!! what a time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Matt Summers ultimately left and I think, in doing so, the game was mostly put in perspective: Ryan/David voted with him, Logan/Duncan are now officially together, the Sam/Ali/JD thing still exists as does Trevor/myself/Lydia. However, I...need Sam out of this game. And Ali, for that matter. So I went to Duncan and we talked without Trevor this time about potentially making a move soon. It's probably not a good idea this round, but potentially next round Duncan/Logan/me/Trevor/Lydia could make something happen? So I was SHOOK when JD started gunning for Logan this round??? Like...way to make it obvious you're trying to keep Ryan in the game, who is literally playing you just like Sam and Trevor and all of the returnees are. Whew! So I didn't want Logan gone at all cause that fucks everything up for future plans, so I tried to push it back on Ryan. Sam, Ali, JD, and Lydia continued to be completely like....unresponsive about the vote until finally Lydia spoke up about doing David and I'm like...as long as it isn't Logan, that's fine by me! :) God JD was like telling Trevor how he was the leader and how nobody would listen to her if she tried to get Logan out and I'm like....girl lol Survivor 101 - Don't TELL someone they're the leader. They don't want the target on their back!!!!!!!!!! Huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So :) We'll see! Maybe it'll be David going, maybe someone else will get fucked up and I'll have nothing to do with it, but honestly at this point there are a lot of people who, if they leave, it benefits me in some way. Ryan and David can go, Sam Ali and JD can go, and Trevor, though I don't want him gone right now, would ultimately take a target off of my back if he left. As long as it isn't Duncan or Logan then I'm good. AND IT CAN'T BE ME :) Whew! Just a day in the life!

ALI

Provided David goes home tonight (which it seems he will pretty unanimously), I think my game is super on the up. Its been clarified that Trevor is a huge threat, and watching conversations develop, its clear he has Sam with him, and Owen is of course linked to him, who is tied to Duncan. Those 4 are dangerous, as they seem inflexible and will likely stick together. It'll really blow to betray Sam, but it's seemingly necessary :( Lydia is a godsend. She is down to make a move on that four, alongside Ryan, JD, Logan and myself. I've finally rebuilt a relationship with Logan, which is great, (I think they're iconic and would love to bring them in as apart of a majority). I also think someone is lying about room 9 and Logan genuinely didn't go. I can hopefully now work with that 4 to do some major to the 'other side'. Woomph, I'm super excited! :) I am slightly scared of the damage being voted 'hero' and someone 'people would like to see win' will cause, but hopefully, also being voted a goat will nullify that! I MAY'VE MADE FINAL 9 AND I'M VERY EXCITED! :) (famous last words). I could've just been a prophet or I just flopped it. That kinda rhymed, but not really. I  guess we'll never know if I make it or not (or at least until the vote reveal in like 15mins). -Ali Out! (but hopefully not of the game)

OWEN

in other news this round has been fishy and I feel like something fishy is about to happen

JD

So Isaac leaving, that was very sad actually. I don't think that there was many people up at the time but we talked and I can feel for him. Not to the extent, but its sad. 

-

Scott getting striked out was not a surprise. He has not been very active from the beginning anyway 

-

Matt's vote, that was crazy. That was, tight. The night before tribal Matt went to Ali and told him that he was thinking about voting out Trevor. Being that me, Ail, Trevor and Lydia were in a final four, me and Ali agreed that this wasn't going to happen so we agreed that we would keep an eye on Matt and try to calm him down so that he would stop targeting Trevor. The only way we were going to tell Trevor was if Matt was really going to push it and as it turns out he really wanted to push it. So it was time to do what we did with Sam, save that ass.

http://survivoremathia.tumblr.com/post/158684167421/tribal-council-9