#fairy robot critters

[lolotheparagon]

These are old Predacon OCs Ive made 2 years ago for a TFP AU where Shockwave being a mom to predacon babus. But instead, Ive redesigned them to be side characters in Star Cross Warriors!

Meet Bow and Echo, two Prettiopian/Ironite hybrids who are also part butterfly and have the powers of both shock and sound waves respectively. They're twins who like to swap each other’s colours because it confuses people. They were originally spies sent from Ironos to infiltrate and take over Prettiopia but find the place so relaxed and fun, they decided to live there permanently and get adopted by Myrrcuri, a rogue Ironite alchemist

[libraford]

As a child I took comfort in thinking that I was an alien or a changling cause I was so ostracized and different from my family and peers (now I realize I was just obviously neurospicy and they didn't know how to deal with it) but now as an adult? When my friends who I've known for a long time make a joke that I'm an alien it honestly hurts cause it feels like they are invalidating me and my mental health issues.

I think it's common when you're a young person navigating mental illness to see yourself as a Different kind of Other. I had a friend who was a robot because she didnt feel emotions the same way other people did. I had another who was a fairy because she daydreamed often.

And I think it's fine even as an adult, to think of yourself that way if it helps you cope with feeling somewhat on the outside because I mean... I think there are times when I dont feel quite human, either. Like fuck it. Today I'm a ghost the way people walk right through me and act like I ain't there.

But it's one thing to decide these things for yourself, either as an adult or as a child, and a completely different thing for someone to decide that for you.

Like a lot of the 'indigo children' stuff is extra dimensional beings, or aliens, possibly angels? And theoretically it assumes children that are more emotional and empathetic, arts-leaning, and kinda weird are actually aliens (this is a broad explanation, I know) here to teach us a lesson about humanity or... something.

But if I was gonna pick a supernatural critter for me to be, I wouldnt pick an alien. I've never FELT 'not of this world.' I have always felt VERY of this world. All those traits describe me, but I'm not a damn alien.

Best guess is a gnome of some kind. Like a nisse. But taller.

Also, I cant teach shit. Figure you're own damn humanity out. Imma go live in a hollowed out log and smoke a pipe or something.

[topaz-mutiny]

Critters laud the Mighty Nein as unhinged chaos baboons, but have they:

Won a heist contest (and repeatedly set the other team on fire (non-lethally))

Won a Mad Max death race

Faked filming a porno in a stranger's basement

Hid multiple dead (and soon-to-be-dead) bodies in a loony tunes hole

Trojan horsed a nonfunctioning robot to infiltrate the enemy base

Dropped an entire airship onto a doomsday device

Danced Flirted with the devil('s champion) in the pale moonlight

Convinced 300 pyromanic lizard fairies to poop on them (which is bioluminescent and smells like lavender) to mask their scent from a giant lethal komodo dragon star-nosed mole

[thealmightyemprex]

Miscellanious Shrek 1 and 2 thoughts

So I just finished watching Shrek 1 and 2 back to back ,will not review them but will give general thoughts /just random things that popped into my head

General thoughts

Shrek :Its a good movie,though it does look its age and not everything works .I actually am surprised it is considered a kids movie and wow so much of it went over my head as a kiddo

Shrek 2 is ...Great,its a genuinely solid film. I think its better then the first and a genuinely funny comedy .No longer my favorite of the franchise . Puss In Boots Last Wish has taken that title ,its a pretty good second place

Random thoughts

1.Shrek 1 has one of the best pop music soundtracks I have ever heard.

2.The "Holding Onto A Hero " scene from Shrek 2 ,is one of my favorite scenes possibly in any movie

3.Wolfie is living her best life and she might be one of my favorite characters

4.So Jim Cummings is in the first Shrek ,and since I mostly associate him with Disney it blew my mind

5.I forgot how good of a villain the Fairy Godmother was ,cause she is great

6.The drive thru scene and Shrek pretending to be a union representative in 2 cracks me up

7.I like that in 2 the fairy tale critters play a part in the climax

8.I am so shocked Tom Waits has songs in both Shrek 2 and Robots

9.So Puss In Boots is entirely comedic character in 2.....Cut to 18 years later and he has a plot about learning to value his life and coming to terms with mortality

10.God the humans look hideous in the first movie,though 2 has actually aged pretty well in this regard

If you wanna hear more thoughts just ask me

@ariel-seagull-wings @angelixgutz @themousefromfantasyland @the-blue-fairie @princesssarisa @goodanswerfoxmonster@amalthea9 @filmcityworld1

[still-single]

DISCOS HEATHEN: NEW SHOWS

Been a minute since I dropped in here, Tumbles. Please check out these new sets, made by me, at home. No more community radio station getting in the way of my ambitions. Enjoy these.

Ep. 360 (it killed Kissinger) 29 November 2023

Kleeer - Tonight

Seekersinternational - 2 Gold Chain (Drive U Crazy)

Cherrystones - Robot’s Kin

Komare - untitled

Identified Patient - Nog Steeds High Van De Lak

Kirlian - Pulsingers Dream

Run DMC - Rock the House

NYCC - I’ll Keep a Light In My Window

ALXAMBRA — arabic

Dow Jones and the Industrials - Never Too Stoned to Disco

Gerycz Powers Rolin - Activator

Venus Club - 14

Bar Italia - Hi Fiver

Violent Change - McCartney the Fox

Mike Donovan - Sadfinger Meets the Mighty Flash

Papa Yankson - Dodo Bi Afre

The Embrooks - I’m Coming Home

Eastlink - Blood Money

Tara Clerkin Trio — Brigstow

Andre Ethier — On Lies

Chi to Shizuku — Yoru no Kono Sora Toi

Empire — All These Things

Embrace — Money

England’s Glory — City of Fun

The Sundae Painters — Sweet Dreams

Bear Bones, Lay Low — Historia Microscopica

Bobby Jimmy and the Critters — Roaches (instr.)

Central Line — Walking into Sunshine

Ep. 359 (broke my shit) 19 November 2023

Third World War — Preaching Violence

Circus Lupus — I Always Thought You Were An Asshole

Shabba Ranks — Dem Bow

Gang of Four — Ether (Peel Session)

Collate — Disassociative Ritual

Erotic Drum Band — Plug Me to Death

Thorne — Face 2 Face

Flex TMG — Come On Over (Bebe)

Country Teasers — Please Stop Fucking Each Other

Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band — Junk Drawer Heart

Section 25 — Sutra

Finnoguns Wake — Blue Skies

The Native Cats — Small Town Cop Override

My Heart, An Inverted Flame — Pollen Blacked Out the Sky

Mutant Strain — Knuckle Dragger

Circle Jerks — Red Tape

Excelsior — Hot Shit Sandwich

Ooga Boogas — The Octopus Is Back

Cherubs — Carjack Fairy

Steel Pole Bath Tub — The Scarlet

Protomartyr — Want Remover

Hans-Joachim Roedelius — Durch Die Wüste

Huerco S. — Plonk VI

Nine Dog Dick — I Bought a Suicide for the Holidays

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Naru Kotoishi

Age: 6

Home: Fukue Island (Barakamon)

Likes: Bugs, bugging people

Dislikes: Personal space, critters getting hurt

Most of the kids in this bracket are exceptional in some way. They’re dragons, or magical girls, or robots, or they were ordinary kids until they ran into a magical fairy or an apocalypse or a middle-aged con artist or something. Most truly ordinary children here are children in extraordinary circumstances. Naru is six, and she likes collecting bugs.

Naru is an energetic little girl from…um…so, Wikipedia says Goto is a city, but also lists a rural or maybe suburban population density, and all the images I can find from either the Barakamon anime/manga or real-world photos make it look pretty rural, but it apparently includes a lot of uninhabited islands which would skew all that data, and I’ve spent too much time trying to figure out what to call this real-world place for one throwaway line and I’m cutting my losses. Let’s call the Goto Islands a small town for our current purposes and move on?

Anyways. Um. Naru is the kind of enthusiastic, optimistic, friendly extrovert that an introvert like Seishu or me appreciates in small doses, except six. She’s empathetic, energetic, and has no sense of restraint. Whether it’s getting really close to people or climbing up walls or breaking into Seishu’s house, she doesn’t understand why grown-ups want her to stop doing things. 

She's little cuteness

a funny and wholesome anime you can watch when you are feeling down. naru can be annoying for some people but she is very adorable to me.

Make sure to handle your Naru with care.

Also, lots of gifs.

[thoughts-about-robots]

just thinking about how Yakushiji wanted Juro to be her knight in shining robot but she ended up being his instead lmao

I was replaying her prologue last night and couldn't believe the English localization team sort of kneecapped the line that made this really click for me, in English Kisaragi says Yakushiji is a romantic, but in the Japanese voice track she essentially says Yakushiji is waiting for her prince to come sweep her off her feet (riding a white horse and all lmao). her whole arc is one big role reversal, but I feel like the English version of the line sort of diminishes this aspect of her story - it's weird because it's still pretty apparent just through the actions of the characters and the set pieces, but you're never invited to consider the role reversal aspect in the English version. it's still definitely there but your attention isn't really drawn to it imo

idk the entire arc is just one long love-letter to fairy tales (Juro is certainly the strong knightly figure at first, but then he's "cursed," Yakushiji has to make a deal with a magical critter to break the curse, she has to save him from peril, "slaying" "witches," Juro's awakening from his long slumber at the end of the game brings to mind Sleeping Beauty, etc.). thinking about it this way imo also "solves" one complaint I've seen about her arc, that Juro "magically" remembers her at the end - but like. duh. it's the most whimsical portion of the game and you're already being slapped in the face with fairy tale tropes (even with Shippo/426, a black cat, which could be both a nod to a witch's familiar or to Socrates from Odin Sphere, or both, maybe - it would make sense for him to be a call back to OS since so much of the rest of the game reiterates characters, themes, and plot points from OS)

anyway I love this game lmao

[j4m3s-b4k3r]

The Weirdlanders

When time permits, tinkering on a short ROCKET RABBIT comics story continues. 

In the stories I’ve already published years ago, Rocket & Professor were popular heroes in a city called SAN FIASCO. What I’m working on now is the first in a series of prequel adventures showing them living by their wits in The WEIRDLANDS, a wild area inhabited by an assortment of humans, animals, aliens & robots. 

As a child I loved the kooky logic of cartoons & fairy tales, with sassy anthropomorphic animals and screwy humans all bantering & squabbling together. Where the charismatic stranger met on the road might be a swashbuckling critter just as easily as a human being.

The Muppet Show was another fave with that same energy. I wanted Rocket & Professor’s world to have this anarchic dream logic too, mixed with a smidge of cartoon sci-fi (another genre that I enjoy). So It’s been a great deal of fun playing around in this world as I've slowly regained some drawing dexterity over the past few years.

So far, I've been thumbnailing these comics stories and designing the characters & environments. Such tinkering & experimentation is one of the fun things about comics (animation too for that matter). I enjoy it so much that I sometimes have trouble moving ahead. That was probably always the case, but much moreso now that my finished art skills are so shaky. However, I'm resolved to actually finalise at least one of the many tales I've roughed out. There's still a fair bit left to lock down, but I'm far enough along on the early chapters to begin tidying it all up.

Even though my drawing skill is still not yet where I want it to be, it is high time to cleanup these comics thumbnails and move to the next phase. I hope to get a short 6-page black & white story finished by the end of the year (or soon thereafter). 

From www.James-Baker.com

[pomrania]

November 2021 is Fluffyvember, where I want to draw your fluffy critters, but with alterations to make them look not like normal critters; things that make them look like they're from fantasy or sci-fi or horror. (If you were around for Septabby, it's pretty much the same thing, except "fluffy critters" this time.)

To make a request, reblog this post and add in one photo of the fluffy critter you want drawn, the critter's name, and what kind of alteration you want. ("Whatever you feel like drawing" is NOT an acceptable request.)

your request MUST include the critter's name and the requested type of alteration, in the body of the post, aka not in the tags; this helps with keeping track of everything

only one request at a time

once your request has been drawn and posted, you can make a second request if you wish; once THAT request has been done, you can make a third request, and so on

the critter has to be FLUFFY. Dog, cat, rabbit, whatever, so long as there is FLUFF. If you have a sufficiently fluffy bird, that is also acceptable. If you're not sure whether your critter is fluffy, find a photo that MAKES the critter look fluffy.

it can't just be some random picture you found online. The critter doesn't necessarily need to be a past or current pet, I'm fine with "this is my sibling's dog" or "I used to babysit this cat", but there does need to be some kind of link between you and the critter.

if your reference photo has multiple critters in it, be very clear about WHICH critter you want me to draw, and what the name is

if I reblog this post, that means I'm out of stuff to draw and I want more requests, so you'd be doing exactly what I'm asking if you put in a request

this lasts for as long as it's still November 2021 in some part of the world; even if it's past that time, if I have requests that came in while it was still November, I'll draw them

black lives matter, and trans rights are human rights

The examples given here of alterations are just that, examples; it doesn't have to be something from this list, and you can be more specific if you'd like.

alien, cyborg, dragon, eldritch, elemental, fairy, fiend, merm, plant, predatory, robot, slime, undead, wizard

[davidkeane17]

100 Cartoon Villains Of All Time

The Evil Queen Skeletor Scar Shredder Joker Jafar Ursula Cruella De Vil Gaston Mr Burns Plankton Elmer Fudd Maleficent Shan Yu Lex Luthor Hades Queen Of Hearts Magneto Claude Frollo Captain Hook Lady Tremaine Riddler Venom Sideshow Bob Mojo JoJo Him Chernabog Marvin the Martian Zira Sid Doctor Facilier Zim Vector Jessie And James Yzma Shredder 2012 Lots-o'-Huggin Bear Hans Angelica Kingpin Prowder Madam Mim Gothel Drizella Doctor Doofenshmirtz Doctor Doom Feathers McGraw Vegeta Doctor Octopus El Macho Tai Lung Smee Lord Shen Kai Anastasia Bill Cypher Ice King Slade Wilson The Lich Bane Cound Dooku Yellow Diamond Vitani Screenslaver Queen Beryl Ratigan Shenzi, Banzai & Ed Ra's Al Ghul Riddler Taskmaster Cell Light Yagami Fire Lord Ozai Darth Vader Maul Cad Bane Yosemite Sam Loki Frieza Eric Cartman The Giant Chicken Lust Rize Kamlshlro Scott Tenorman Trigon Azula Terrence Syndrome Princess Morbucks Green Goblin Will E. Ckyote Lord Farquaad Mongol Penguin Harley Quinn Poison Ivy Catwoman Vandal Savage Skullmaster Joker 2010 Riddler 2004 Sabretooth Lady Deathstroke Omega Red Deadpool Black Manta Ultron Modok Man Ray Cthulhu Stewie Griffin Ren Dr Lorre Grand Inquisitor Deadshot Charles Muntz Fairy Godmother Randall Boggs Mr Freeze Electro Ernesto De La Cruz Emperor Zurg The Father Mandark Kang And Kodos Thanos Skrulls Red Skull Baron Zemo Galactus Kraven Krang Kang The Conqueror Enchantress Mystique Magneto Yost Universe Sinister Six Red X Injustice League Kuvira Woodland Critters Delightful Children Viper Snowball Boggis, Bunce & Bean Rasputin Mom Robot Devil Jenner Doomsday Red Hood Hexxus Soto Vexus Sakharine Apocalypse Blackfire The Brain Brother Blood Robot Santa Larr Fat Tony Springfield Mafia Professor Chaos Sedusa Evil Morty Galactic Empire Galactic Federation Clayton Darth Sidious Queen La Hive Five Brotherhood Of Evil Gideon Blendin Blandin Masters Of Evil Juggernaut Abomination Giffany Frank Grimes Mister Ruckus Sir Crocodile The Major Envy Nagato Uzumakl Yohan Liebert DIO Alzen Vicious Uncle Ruckus Colonel H. Stinkmeaner Tom Cruise Barbra Streisand Krombopulos Michael Tammy Guetermann Lucius Needful Council Of Ricks Diane Simmons James Woods Evil Stewie Snake Jailbird Hank Scorpio Black Cat Count Vertigo Asajj Ventress The Monarch Phantom Limb The Son Barriss Offee Embo Bossk Savage Opress Darth Bane Inquisitorius Thrawn Van Kleiss Tiger Claw Bebop & Rocksteady Cheshire Suicide Squad Killer Croc Victor Quartermaine Winter Soldier The Hunter Black Cat Stinky Pet Darla Sherman Mad Mod Control Freak Terra Mumbo Fabrication Machine Klarion The Witch Boy Granny Goodness Sportsmaster Queen Bee Lobo Ocean Master Icicle Atomic Skull Black Beatle Prison Berry Duchess Nemesis Bendy Amoeba Boys Lenny Baxter Gangreen Gang Rowdyruff Boys Inque Shriek Blight Talia al Ghul Yubaba Lady Eboshi Colonel Muska Kushana Lord Darkar Valtor Trix Sebastian Saga Terrence Lewis Helga Von Guggen Nelson Muntz Terwilliger Family Shredder 2003 Grand Admiral Tarkin Carter Pewterschmidt Bertram Stickybeard Mr Boss Knightbrace Rob Miss Simian Zach Watterson Beatrice Horseman Doodlebob Bubble Bass Dennis Flying Dutchman Flats The Flounder Dirty Bubble Tattletale Strangler Saddam Hussein The Devil Scott The Dick Crab People Manbearpig Bill Donohue Trent Beyett Super Skrull Hydra Amos Slade The Bear Kent Mansley Rothbart Darla Dimple Dave The Octopus Makunga Squilliam Fancyson Hobgoblin Gabby Gabby Sabor Olivia Octopus Black Mask Parasite Clayface Killer Frost Bizarro Shade Giganta Sinestro Anti Monitor Atrocitus Larfleeze Ultra Humanite The Leader Annihilus Mole Man Red Ghost Frightful Four Terrax Klaw Maximus Ronan The Accuser Captain Boomerang Professor Zoom The Rogues Captain Cold Livewire Silver Banchee Aurra Sing Nightsisters Mother Talzin Pre Vizsla Death Watch Gar Saxon Jabba The Hutt Roberto Nudar Zapp Brannigan Walt. Larry And Igner Richard Nixon Donbot Flexo

[mahounomanga]

Yousei Nana-chan

By this point, magical girl is an established fantasy archetype unto itself; however, there are plenty of magical girls based on other mystical beings such as mermaids, angels, and in this case, fairies. Fairy magical girls range from strong and stylish, like in Winx Club, to tiny and adorable, like in Rilu Rilu Fairilu. Today, we'll take a look at what is probably the first fairy-centric magical girl series, and examine its' ties to other magical girl firsts.

Yousei Nana-chan (yousei being the Japanese word for fairy) is a 1969 children's manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama (Yes, THAT Mitsuteru Yokoyama. We'll get there.) about, well... a fairy named Nana-chan. As a flower spirit, it's Nana's responsibility to keep the peace in the forest, but a variety of bad guys try to ensnare Nana, make life miserable for the critters who call the forest their home, or both. Thankfully Nana is always able to thwart them with her trusty magic wand.

There doesn't seem to be any overarching story. This is another one where I only have access to scattered page scans but as far as I can tell, none of the villains ever come back. This manga is geared towards a very young audience, and to that end all of the text is written in hiragana. This manga also has rather large panels and was printed in color.

Yousei Nana-chan began publication in Yoiko, a Shogakukan publication, starting with the November 1969 issue. Yoiko would change its' name to Youchien starting with the January 1970 issue. Yousei Nana-chan ran for a total of nine chapters, with the final chapter being published in the July 1970 issue of Youchien. These chapters were quite short, with the whole series running for a combined total of only 44 pages. The manga has never been officially republished outside of its' original magazine run, but unofficial reprints have been published by the Mitsuteru Yokoyama fan club, first in 2009 as a black and white collection of five chapters, and then in 2015 with all nine chapters in their original full color.

As for Yokoyama himself, the man is best known for pioneering the giant robot/mecha genre with titles such as Tetsujin 28-go and Giant Robo. Tetsujin 28-go specifically is both the first manga of his to receive an anime (in 1963) and the work of his to be most recently adapted to anime, with a reboot in 2013 (titled Tetsujin 28-go Gao!). Within magical girl fan communities however, Yokoyama is known as the creator of Sally the Witch, that series people (including myself) keep name-checking as the first magical girl anime, which began airing in late 1966.

Due to Sally's popularity, there is a bit of a misconception that she is the first magical girl. Himitsu no Akko-chan technically came before her with a manga that started in 1962, even though her anime wouldn't come until 1969. As well, even Akko-chan is predated by Super Rose, a 1959 manga that, despite not being nearly as well known or influencial as Sally or Akko, could be argued to be a magical girl series nonetheless.

Yousei Nana-chan would be Yokoyama's third magical girl manga, following Sally the Witch in 1966 and Comet-san in 1967. Comet-san didn't get an anime in its' own time; however, it would be reimagined as Cosmic Baton Girl Princess Comet in 2001. While the plot of this anime is somewhat similar to the original manga, the title character was heavily altered to appeal to young girls of the time and utilize magical girl tropes that had become staples of the genre in the intervening decades. So Comet-san technically has an anime, which is part of why she didn't get her own post here on Mahou no Manga. The other reason is the manga was adapted the same year it began, as a live action drama. Starting in 1967, the Comet-san TV series is the first live action Japanese magical girl series, and if you don't count Bewitched, Comet-san is the first live action magical girl, period.

It's really intriguing that Yousei Nana-chan came from the same creator who brought magical girl stories to two different mediums, but it's unsurprising that just being the first magical girl fairy doesn't get her as much recognition. It's a cute manga, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not an especially important one. Which is fine. Sometimes, being a cute fairy is enough.

[alison-anonymous]

what the hair?! ♡ varian

What the Hair ♡ Varian Imagine

Requested: noootttt exactllyyy, but @technolilly gave me the idea. Darling, if you're reading this, let me know what you think!!! 😉😁

Warnings: lovestruck Varian😍

Summary: basically the first episode of the Tangled series, but I weaved the reader in and tweaked a couple things!

♡♡♡

Your life was incredibly complicated.

Like seriously, if someone were to give out an award for Most Complicated Life, you would win the title, hands-down. 

You were Y/n L/n, daughter of the infamous L/ns, or, as they are better known among the criminals as, the Kingdom Snatchers. Not a very creative name, but then again, their title was given to them by the puny-minded brains of burglars, thieves, and murderers. Your parents were villains who would weave their way into a perfect kingdom with the perfect Queen and King, and take over their kingdom before they reached dessert. They would murder the real Queens and Kings, imprison the citizens, and then leave the kingdom in ashes. They were driven to practical insanity from their corrupted, power-loving minds and became known and feared in all of the lands. Wanted posters littered the forests, offering generous amounts for their capture. But of course, anyone who tried to get close to them ended up dead.

And of course, after they had you, they tried to teach you their ways to become a Kingdom Snatcher so you could take over once they got old and withered. You were supposed to become a vicious, kniving, power hungry, and insane mass murderer/dictator/whatever the hell you want to call it.

There was only one problem.

You didn't want to be the bad guy.

Of course, your parents were furious. If you weren't willing to become an evil thief like them, then of what use were you to them? To have the ability to watch you grow up, living a happy and healthy life, making them proud that their daughter was able to find her own source of happiness in life? Ha! Your parents were killers! If you didn't want to join them, they might as well kill you and keep trying until one of their kids decided they loved the evil life.

And so, you did the only thing you really could do.

You ran away. You were only 7, hardly a child.

And as time went on, you learned how to fend for yourself against the treacherous ways of the world. You were alone for most of your life. And after a while, you began to fear that it might just stay that way. Until you met a certain blonde princess with seven feet of hair, and everything changed.  

♡♡♡

It was a bright, shiny morning; a morning that Rapunzel would fall in love with. You were out looking for the certain blonde herself, and lucky you to have found her sitting next to the fountain with her favorite Lady in Waiting.

“I was thinking about your hair,” Cassandra said as you walked up to them, pressing your hands on Rapunzel’s shoulders. She gave you her signature bright grin and motioned for you to join them. “Maybe we can find a way to get some answers discreetly, just us.”

“Ooh, mischievous,” you giggled. “I like it.”

Rapunzel nodded and leaned her head on your shoulder. “I mean, I still think you’re being a bit unfair about the Eugene thing, but what do you have in mind?” 

Cassandra’s features grew a little more excited as she used hand gestures. “Well, I’ve heard stories about this guy named Varian. Apparently, he’s some kind of wizard.” 

Your eyes raised slightly at the sound of his name. Varian... where had you heard of him before? Probably from some of the little off-their-rocker villagers. Rapunzel seemed pretty excited too as she clapped her hands together like a giddy child. “Wow! A real wizard? Like with a pointy hat and casting spells and stuff?” 

You couldn’t help but snort. “Those only exist in fairy tales. My money says he’s selling something. Probably laxatives.” 

Cassandra did her best to hide her laugh, but was still smiling as she continued. “No, girls we have to be careful. Very little is known about him and what is isn’t that good. He’s dangerous.”

“But if we want answers, he’s our best bet right?” Cass nodded. 

“Looks like we have a wizard to visit!”

♡♡♡

It didn’t take long to make it to Varian’s house, which was in Old Corona. The house looked simple enough, had it not been for the dark and foreboding feeling that apparently only existed in Rapunzel’s brain as the three of you approached the door. It was actually a quaint little thing, simple colors, no broken boards or cobwebs, and was decently larger than the other houses you had passed by.

“It looks nice,” Rapunzel spoke nervously. “In an I-wish-I-said-goodbye-to-my-loved-ones-before-I-left sort of way.”

Cassandra pushed open the door just before you could warn them about the importance of knocking and you all proceeded into the dimly lit house. The shadows seemed to crawl towards you as you help up the caboose of the line, Cass leading the way through the halls of the house until you finally pushed through a door surrounded by some very suspicious looking fog. 

“Geez, I guess those laxatives must really be working,” you joked as you propelled yourself through the cool mist. It passed through the soft fabric of your pants and your combat boots as Cassandra pushed open the door revealing yet another dimly-lit room covered in fog. Who was this guy? Just as you were about to speak, Cassandra’s boot made contact with some sort of string on the ground, triggering a myriad of complicated reactions that ultimately ended up with some sort of magenta ball being launched at your feet. You let out a shriek as it exploded into a goopy substance, gluing your feet to the ground. The three of you struggled to get yourselves free.

“A booby trap? Really?” Rapunzel grunted. 

“Everything’s going to be fine, Raps, we just need to-” Suddenly a very scary, very robotic looking figure emerged from the shadows. Your heart began to pound faster inside your vest-covered chest as your eyes widened in terror. 

“W-who... is...that?” You could barely muster as the figure got closer. Two, electric yellow orbs were all that you could see as Rapunzel held an arm out protectively in front of you. 

“What do you want?” The voice boomed throughout the halls, striking terror into your heart. Your mouth fell open as you stared, slight PTSD forming from all of the moments you spent witnessing your parents torture innocent people. 

“U-um, hi, sir, I really hate to bother you, but I was just wondering if I could get your help about my hair,” Rapunzel did her best to hide her stutter. “Because you’re such a magic exper-”

“Magic?” The metal laxative man robotically asked. “I do not work with magic!” He suddenly lifted the helmet off of his head to reveal someone a hell of a lot less intimidating and, dare you say, kind of... insanely cute. “I mean, technically, it’s alchemy but...” He drawled off the moment he laid his adorable blue orbs on you. It was almost as if though he had gotten lost in a trance as his eyes looked over every inch of you before finally resting on your face once again, a twinkle in his eyes that, the more you looked at it, reminded you of the way Eugene looked at Rapunzel. 

A little butterfly flew around in your stomach. 

“Um, hate to interrupt, but um what is this stuff?” Rapunzel awkwardly chuckled, breaking whatever just happened between you and this supposed “Varian.” Your cheeks held a tinge of pink to them as he quickly regained his composure, a bit of a blush to his own as well.

“Oh! Um, this is a chemical compound of my own design. We have a little bit of a beautiful- I MEAN critter problem,” he chuckled, glancing at you as he pulled out the “neutralizing particle” and sprinkled it over all of your guys’s feet. You watched with an amazed expression as the compound instantly dissipated before your eyes. Varian smirked slightly at your reaction. 

“I am so, so sorry, Your Highness.” He bowed to Rapunzel. 

“Your Highness?” Rapunzel asked in confusion. “You know who I am?”

“How could I not? Look at your hair!” He suddenly realized the error in his exaggeration and quickly apologized. God, how could one person contain to much adorableness?

...Wait, what?

“Rapunzel is just fine,” Raps smiled at him. “And this is Cassandra, and Y/n.” Cass gave him a firm nod and you offered him a polite smile. His eyes lingered on you for a moment longer.

“Y/n... okay! Anyway, so fantastical stories about your hair have spread throughout Corona. Most people think that it’s magic, but as you’ve probably learned by now, I don’t believe that.” You couldn’t help but smile at his boldness, the pride that he took in his work. He seemed to have something that you only wished you could have: pride. 

“Listen kid, we’re kind of in a hurry here, but let’s just get one thing straight here. Everything that happens here stays here, you got-”

“I don’t think we need to threaten him, Cass,” you quickly removed her hand from Varian’s shirt and gave her a reassuring smile. “He seems pretty harmless. Right?”

He quickly nodded his head, like a love struck puppy as he stared at you. After figuring out that Rapunzel’s hair no longer held its fantastical healing properties, Varian stuck her in a machine that he apparently made himself to determine the entire chemical makeup of any substance. 

“Woah,” you breathed as you stared at the great machine. “This is... amazing, you built this yourself?”

“Y-You think so?” Varian giggled, a bright crimson tinting his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I did.”

“It’s incredible.”

“You’re incredible.”

“What?”

“What?” You were both staring at each other with wide eyes until you finally started giggling. 

“You’re funny,” you chuckled, shaking your head slightly and turning back to watch as the machine tried taking an axe to her hair. Little did you know that he was still staring at you the entire time. Time seemed to practically fly by as Eugene came in and then a bunch of Varian’s underground machines suddenly became radioactive or something. Cass and you went out to find him and before you knew it, Old Corona was in near ashes. 

You slowly approached Varian after his father had talked to him, and by the looks of it, it hadn’t gone well. You stopped when you were just behind him, trying to debate whether or not you should put your hand on his shoulder. 

“Varian...” You began, but stopped, trying to form the right words in your brain. He turned to look at you and instantly became flustered once again.

“Y/n, I am so, so sorry for this, I swear that I-” 

“It’s okay, Varian,” you assured him, flashing him a smile and tucking a stray lock of your hair behind your ear. “I mess up too. But that doesn’t mean that we’re any less amazing.” 

A small smile grew onto his lips at your words and he let out a soft chuckle. A short, comfortable silence fell between you two as you stared into one another’s eyes until he broke it. “Hey... I know we just met, but would you want to... umm... hang out sometime?”

“I’d love that,” You couldn’t help but grin.

♡ a.a.

[kiame-sama]

Made some Fakémon and made two Galarian forms of old pokemon.

Ghost/Fairy Mareep/Flaffy/Amphiros (Dream sheep) “typically seen jumping fences one-by-one to help the restless sleep”

And yes, the Dustox is the top one like a lunar moth and is fluffy like a moth. Butterflies have little fluff so the bottom one is the Beautifly. They did moths so dirty in the game and made Dustox unfairly robotic looking when they should have been the fluffier one. Moths are fluffy soft critters, butterflies are smooth and rigid critters.

[the-order-of-fools]

Stage Enemies interacting with the Knightfucker (AKA reader)

.

King Knight, of course, has his goldarmors. They were meant to serve King Pridemoor, but since a fool is now running the kingdom, they have to adapt. They're all tired and just doing their jobs in order to support themselves and their families, but the shit they have to put up with is incredible. The whiny little manchild king changes his mind over and over again when it comes to banquets, festivities and everything alike, and then has the royal audacity to criticize them instead. Due to the circumstances, some of them have resorted to becoming bootlickers, it's the only way they can survive. Though, bootlickers or not, they all agree on one thing: You're far better than their king.They were shocked when you complimented them for the first time. They thought King Knight could only get with someone as annoying and unpleasant as him, but luckily for them you're the loveliest person to have around. And you care about their feelings, damn. Finally, someone who has the sobriety of a responsible adult. Finally, someone who actually respects them and praises their efforts. They're pooling all their efforts into convincing King Knight to marry you. They don't want you to leave, please, stay with them. 

Polar Knight isn't known for being the warmest out of the Order. He lets the ice creatures do their thing, he welcomes the Spinwolves with gentle pats and watches them roam and play around the desolate, frozen lands that surround the Stranded Ship, when they're not busy fighting off nosy intruders. He doesn't do much else. He's caring towards them, but they always find themselves craving more - the harsh climate and lonely scenery must weigh on them as well. All of this, until you found your way into that forsaken place and, most importantly, into the heart of its lord. Now, the wolves keep running towards you for their daily dose of pats and belly rubs and someone to play with them in the snow. You're the perfect source of warmth for such a cold place like the Stranded Ship - and now that you're here, it seems like Polar has become a little bit warmer as well. A win-win for everyone.

Tinker Knight has three types of companions: Cogslotters, electrodents and you. His workers appreciate him quite a bit. He's truly a hardworker who puts a lot of effort and creativity into his gadgets, not to mention his giant robot. He's just and fair with them, praising those whose work he admires most. All of those who have worked for him have mostly pleasant occasions to recount. Even if he may be the shortest thing alive, he is still their number one dad. Your appearance startled them a little. Work is work, but you? How could they not raise a brow and whisper among themselves when they figured out that you and Tinker were more than friends. Debates took place, investigations were ran to see if you were truly who you pretended to be. As all the results came clear, they more or less stared at you aghast, suddenly realizing that their boss fucks. The electrodents cannot think or feel, they only move around, oblivious to the fact that their creator is fucking in the same room as them.

The Gulper Mages weren't so keen on accepting a stranger on the Iron Whale the first time they saw you. They're greedy things just like their captain, they don't want anyone to come and try steal their gold. The fish? They don't care, they simply swim around peacefully as long as they don't perceive any foul presence - and they seem to have a sixth sense for that. Still, the normally attentive Serprizes seemed not to be bothered by you, which caused great confusion among the Mages who largely relied on them to spot enemies. With time, even the most distrustful among Treasure Knight's ranks learned that you weren't someone to worry about - you were never interested in the Iron Whale's gold, but its captain. Soon, they came to know you better and realized how much of a pleasant presence you could be. Grapps came out of their dens just to look at you with their big round eyes and earn a good pat, Serprizes and Martars swam around you peacefully as you stretched out your hands to caress them as they crossed your path. Even Treasure Knight seemed more... peaceful around you, if not happy. The only thing that could make him happy was gold, and once the Mages saw that in him, they understood you valued just as much, they couldn't help but accept you with all the rightful honors - and no one had anything to object for.

The Flying machine is organized in the exact purpose of making the life of all intruders completely miserable. It's rather unsurprising that Hoverhafts are ready to slice and dice whoever comes through, minus the ladies and gentlemen Propeller Knight brings onto the ship. They're quite content with him as their captain. They all came here for adventure and they're sure as hell enjoying life to its fullest. With a such a suave and charismatic captain, their lives have reached higher than the sky. Thanks to this, they have managed to meet quite the interesting creatures in during their travels. Floatsomes are rather docile in nature unless an intruder is nearby. They can spend as much time as they want petting the harmless jelly blobs. Plantos are rather strange but adorable creatures that seem to be around the airship wherever they go. Their captain seems very fond of them, so very fond that he makes a point of showing you the dancing Plantos every night. It's quite a sight really, seeing them twirling in the skies above the lights of the Flying machine. The care their captain takes to invite you out every night makes them ponder: are you truly the one? You have been with him much longer than any other partner, is it truly more than a little romantic adventure of his? They're not here to judge, they only await their captain's commands.

Plague Knight doesn't seem to be very keen on taking care of his subordinates - some of the Plague Minions even seem to be scared by him, as he supposedly used to experiment on those who weren't efficient enough for his standards. However, they are slowly warming up to him again now that he has found someone to soothe his frustrations and convince him to turn a blind eye to their minor mistakes. You have become their angel and their best friend, and they couldn't be happier to welcome you in the Explodatorium and escort you to Plague Knight's lab every time you visit. At first, they weren't sure how to welcome a stranger - Plague Knight seldom lets people in, so it was only natural for the guardians to mistake you for an enemy. A Macawbe almost hit you in the head with a poisonous potion once, which taught you to always look up when you enter Plague Knight's not-so-humble abode. Ratsploders now run to you and then around you, waiting for you to lean down and pet them, Fairies (which normally are the most aggressive and unapproachable creatures in the kingdom) fly to you and swarm around you peacefully. If even Fairies accept you as part of the family, you have nothing to be scared of anymore.

The Leech Yard has, what the kids call, "spoopy vibes". Its inhabitants are usually undead monsters. That isn't to say that there aren't adorable little critters who you would absolutely die for. Tadvolts will zap you if you touch them, but gosh, look at them, they even have little crown-like crests. How can you not pet them? You're not quite sure what Invisishades are (as you have cleverly called them much to Specty's chagrin), but gosh, you love these things. You're at least partially sure that they're not actually the ghosts of late mortals (still, Specter Knight refuses to answer you thoroughly), so you try and fail to pet them every second of your trip. Man, you sure hope you aren't petting the ghost of a human or animal or else that would be weird, unless they're furies that is. Boneclangs act more like... servants. They're weird, and they stare at you through their eyeless sockets most if not all the time. Specter can turn their heads with a flick of his finger, but you like to keep them that way. You like to think they are appreciating you in their own weird, spooky way. Zambies are even weirder. They shuffle around awkwardly around the swamp. You have tried talking to one once but then he decided that your face would look better pressed against a gravestone. Thankfully, you happen to have the speend and energy of a living person. Sucks to be dead, Zambies. Of course, you have had more than one interaction with Super Skeletons. You're not quite sure why they call themselves that, but they might as well call themselves super if they're giants. You suppose they're Specter's right hand men, but they're also lovable doofuses that are dimmer than a candle in the rain. Still, you're quite fond of these giant babies.

The miners in the Lost City usually don't expect visits (unless it's another one of those annoying heroes), as Mole Knight is known for his dedication to his work and consequent lack of interpersonal relations. That seems to be a recurring topic among the members of the Order of No Quarter, although it's not commonly tackled. Mole Knight seems not to mind, he gets the most happiness out of an ancient artifact or peculiar stones anyway - until he met you, of course. Now, the most valuable of gems seem mere pebbles in comparison to you, and he is always happy to show you around the mines (that's how you discovered the wonders of Big Bohto rides) and share his knowledge with you. Molers pop out of the ground from time to time to greet you, others -the shyest- hide in the ground whenever you approach them to give free pats. There are even Molers that hide their face behind their claws whenever you kneel in front of them to pet them and compliment them for their hard work, and you can bet your knightfucker ass they're absolutely adorable. If Mole Knight had a face, he'd aww too. Blorbs are the most peculiar among all, and they all seem to have quite the jolly personality. Some of them jump right into your arms (unless they're Blazorbs, of course - they wouldn't want to set Mole Knight's beloved "friend" on fire, now would they?). Good thing that they're gummy and you can squeeze them as much as you want, they're the perfect anti-stress balls.

Terrorpin may seem intimidating at first glance... afterall, it's a spiky turtle mixed with a rhinoceros, it looks ready to impale everything that treads on its path. For that reason, you give it the best pats. You're already hanging around Black Knight, you're used to small intimidating things. Still, Terrorpin is huge, but like anything related to Black Knight, you find it absolutely adorable. You would die for it. It's huge and dumb and it likes salads and god you keep its shell shinier than Treasure Knight's gold. Black Knight may (not so gently) order you to stop spoiling it, but fuck him, this is wholesome turtle time and you refuse to stop  kissing and snuggling the giant spiky turtle. Don’t lie Black Knight, you want the kisses and the snuggles too. -Mod Tinker and ~Mod Propeller

[ad1ostoreador]

>> View the mirthhive mirror...

(...or, a purposeful encounter between @fiduspawn-master and @ad1ostoreador, featuring several counts of awkwardness, an emotional shock, a missing moon, and at least one dragon.)

ad1ostoreador: It didn't take much preparation, for Tavros to be ready to go.  A poncho-like cloak, thrown over his folded wings, a small spare bladeleaf-woven basket hooked over one arm, filled with crumbly orange bits of bark chocolate, and an uncertain scratch of the back of his head, before he was inspecting his wrist transportalizer and keying in the right coordinates.

The transportalizer went vworp, with its usual disorienting stutter, and he lifted a hand in greeting, as he appeared on the other side and gave his head a tiny shake to rebalance himself.  "Uh.... hey?"

It was hard, sometimes, to know just how timelines would diverge, and what quirks would strike a passer-by as strange... but the amount of color he was wearing, between the poncho and his loose, patterned pants, would likely be quite odd on any Imperial Alternia, especially for a lowblood.  The fact that he was stubbornly shoeless, maybe, too, but after sweeps of feeling nothing, he was largely uninterested in having anything between his feet and any possible source of sensation, and running around on a beach and through woods all the time for the past months had done quite a lot to toughen them up, post-pupation.  Adult pupation itself had left him well over six feet tall, with hide darker than wiggler-gray, both from frequent sun (freckling included) and from chitin reinforcing it, and his eyes had long since filled in bronze. His hair was a bit shaggy on the sides of his mohawk, in the absence of a recent shave, and showed hints of lighter bronze in streaks through the black, there.

fiduspawn-master: Tavros spent the few minutes it would take for the other Tavros to arrive nervously tidying things around his hive. He was naturally a very fastidious troll, but it was a hard thing to keep up all the time in his condition. He was putting his dishes away when he heard the noise he now recognized as a visitor appearing just outside his hive.

The wind was still racing in from the sea, its constant whisper joined by the creaking of the windmill turning high above and the roar of the waves crashing against the cliffs. A few hop and cluckbeasts that had scattered in fear at the strange phenomenon were starting to wander back as Tavros opened the door to greet--

Oh man. He looked up at the familiar, unfamiliar figure standing in front of his hive. It was like looking in a mirthhive mirror. Seeing an adult was still somewhat alarming in and of itself, (even though he was basically an adult himself) And seeing one that was post molt was even more wild, not to mention one that was kind of him...

This might actually be weirder than meeting Bull...

He was staring- "Uhhhhh, H-hi!" He raised a hand in a stiff, awkward wave. "Do you, Want to come in?" that wasn't a great question.

ad1ostoreador: The location might have been starkly different from his own long-ago hive, but the creaking of the windmill was familiar, bone-deep, and left him awash in a curious mix of nostalgia and wrong-footedness, mixed as it was with the alien smell of the sea.  The scent was somehow very different from the ocean he lived beside, at present... some difference in the blend of minerals, or in the things living and growing in it, and it took Tavros a moment to remember how to answer, with his communing-sense flickering out automatically to touch and catalog beasts he hadn't encountered in sweeps on end.

"Um...." A slow blink, and then an awkward little grin, as he faced the other troll.  "Yeah, sorry... I just... forgot what Alternia felt like.... It's been a... long time."  He lifted the basket a little, and moved nearer, but none too quickly.  Better to give his alternate room to steer clear of the doorway, first.  It was strange, too, how much smaller his wigglerhood hive felt than it once had, to him. He'd visited occasional memories of it, back in the dreambubbles, but none since he'd grown to his present size, and this was real, with a sense of weight and solidity around his horns that the bubbles had never really managed to achieve.

fiduspawn-master: Possibly the biggest visual difference was the quality of light. The pink moon above was not overshadowed by a green neighbor, having only its moonlet for company. It cast the world in softer, warmer hues. 

There was an impressive variety of local beasts in the area, including at least a dozen fairy bulls and an assortment of unfamiliar, synthetic beasts, fiduspawn or fakespawn presumably.

"Oh, You're fine! Take your time!" Tavros reassured him, deftly rolling back and to the side as he pulled the door open more for him. The doorframe was accommodatingly wide and a couple of the antlered hopbeasts slipped inside before the new guest had reached the door. 

Inside was one large open room, with a nutrition area to one side and many windows and low tables against the opposite wall. Half of them had the curtains drawn already, and there were wide paths around everything, and not a lot of chairs. 

"Uhm, The pot's in the kitchen, and, I can go grab the thing I made for Gamzee, If you, Uhh, Give me a second,,," Tav said from behind him, shutting the door carefully, mindful of critters slipping in or out.

There were two fairy bulls perching around the nutrition area, though one was weird and shiny and definitely a robot. Both of them jingled in alarm at the stranger and darted towards their ward to hover protectively around him. "Oh, Uhm, Sorry, They're still not used to other trolls being here, And, That being okay..." Tav apologized as he reached out to bring the flesh and blood lusus out of the air and into his lap, petting it soothingly.

ad1ostoreador: Honestly, he hadn't even registered the green moon's absence, perhaps assuming it was still beyond the horizon.  Tavros moved forward, stepping on through the door, and froze as his gaze landed on the living fairy bull, breath hitching as if he'd just been surprise-punched in the gut.

Right.  Of course Tink was alive, here.  Of course he was prepared for that.  (He wasn't.)

"....Yeah, of course they, uh... wouldn't..." Tavros murmured, a little weakly, and tore his eyes off the lusus who didn't recognize him, looking down at the basket he held.  "...Where should I, um... put this?" He struggled for a casual tone, swallowing.

fiduspawn-master: Tav's fingers brushed his own brow as he sent brief reassurance to the small lusi, both calming down immediately. "Oh, you can leave it in the kitchen, I'll be right back!" He pivoted and rolled off towards the back of the room and down a hallway, disappearing for a minute and leaving the other Tavros alone in the space. A hopbeast sniffed his foot curiously as some other critters moved about the room, including one's he'd made himself. There was a tank on one of the low tables where the colorful newest project was swimming around contentedly. 

Tavros would return a couple of minutes later, flanked by the two fairybulls and holding a small parcel wrapped in a scrap of blue gingham fabric. "Uhm, Here it is!"

ad1ostoreador: Tavros gave a small nod, not looking up, and took a deep breath or two as his counterpart rolled down the hall.  The hive layout was... partially the same, and partially not.  Definitely less cluttered than his own, at six sweeps, and it looked more... purposeful, somehow.  Widened, maybe, with more convenient paths to wheel through.

He moved into the nutrition-block area, and set the little basket on a counter, within easy reach of the edge.  The borrowed pot, he saw, and held awkwardly for a moment before remembering his sylladex--it wouldn't work, back home, but here, it made a decent place to stash things out of his graspers.  Then, the curious hopbeast got a gentle head-scritching, between the antlers.

When his alternate returned, he turned around and straightened up to accept the offered parcel, still not quite daring to look at either the fairy bull or the robotic version.  "Thanks... I'll, um, pass it on to him, and let him know..."

fiduspawn-master: There were a few low ramps in the nutrition area, in front of the counters and prongtrap and the crisprange so that they were reachable. Everything was otherwise uncomfortably low for an upright troll as tables had been modified for the hivedweller's convenience.

Tav held the parcel up to his guest, rolling back a bit once he'd taken it so he wouldn't have to crane his neck to look up at him. The normal fairy bull had alighted on the counter near the familiar stranger's elbow and was leaning over to carefully sniff him, its breath tickling his skin. 

"Yes, Okay, Uhm, Tell him I hope he gets better soon I guess..." He smoothed his hands anxiously over the thick blanket wrapped around his legs. "Uhhhh... Is this, Weird for you too?"

ad1ostoreador: "He's... Gamzee's good.  It's just... he's got a thing, right now, where he's... not wanting to go off-planet."  A thing that Tavros wasn't entirely ready to think too hard about, just yet, for assorted reasons. "I'll tell him, though..."

His fingers twitched and curled a little more by his side in an almost-flinch, where the fairy bull was sniffing his arm, and he looked over at a tinted window instead, nodding a couple of times, rapidly.  "...Yeah.  It's... pretty weird.  I can't, uh... actually remember the last time I met another... living version of us, face to face."  A weak smile.

"It's good, though... I'm glad."  It was a rare enough occasion that he thought it was pretty special.  Someone else who'd managed to survive the worst Alternia could throw at them, instead of ending up just another blank-eyed ghost of a dead kid no one really bothered to consider.  Tavros shifted his stance slightly, folded wings rustling under the poncho and skimming the floor behind his feet at their tips as he weighed the option of sitting down on a ramp against the logistics of trying to arrange his wings somewhere without knocking over or breaking anything important behind him.  "How are you, uh... doing, though? With... alts, and timelines, and everything..."

fiduspawn-master: Tav's brow pinched a bit with worry. "Uhm, Yeah, I think he mentioned some stuff to me... Yeah..." He didn't elaborate, it wasn't his place. He reached up awkwardly to rub the back of his neck as his alternate self agreed about the weirdness, blanching a bit when he mentioned 'living versions' "Oh... Oh man... You've seen-?" That sounded terrible, seeing his own corpse... "Uhm, Yeah I guess." He tried to return the smile, giving Tink a glance as they flew up to hover around the other Tavros' head, jingling softly.

His ears twitched as he herd the rustling of wings and noticed his guest fidgeting "Oh! Uhm, Do you want to sit down? I have a loungeplank!" He said, quickly backing up and spinning around to the other side of the big, open block. There was indeed a mostly unused loungeplank shoved back against the wall across from a row of windows, a skylight letting in the moonlight from above through a heavy tint. There was a screen on the third wall and another low table with a half dozen stacks of fiduspawn cards he'd been organizing, along with his old, beat up husktop. He quickly cleared a stack of host plushes off of the couch, dumping them off to one side for now and turning back towards his guest. "Oh, uhm, well... Its- Uhhhh." He broke eyecontact, hands coming together to twist the ring around one of his thumbs. "its... different... from normal..."

ad1ostoreador: "...Ghosts, and stuff, mostly. A little different from, uh... the type Aradia used to call up, though... in a place where they all sort of, um.... hung around and didn't remember they were dead, usually."  Or that he'd visited before.  Or much of anything, outside of whatever set of memories or pan misfirings they'd gotten hung up on going through the motions of repeating, over and over and over.

The offer of a loungeplank made him shrug slightly, rubbing at the back of his neck one-handed.  "Is it okay if I, uhh... pull it away from the wall a bit? I'll put it back, after..."  The ring on Tavros's thumb caught his eye, unfamiliar as the accessory was to him, but he didn't pry.  "...Yeah... it's definitely different, for sure."  It was still hard to look at Tink, and he couldn't bear communing with the lusus, at all.  He'd have thought four sweeps would dull the edges there, some.

fiduspawn-master: "Oh, Right, Wow..." He'd always thought ghosts were pretty spooky, and he'd only seen Aradia conjure them up once. He didn't really want to think about himself being... like that.

"Yeah! Of course! Whatever you need!" He replied quickly "Here!" 

He rolled over to one side of the loungeplank, grabbing the corner and bracing his other hand against the wall, pushing it forward a few feet pretty easily, if unevenly. 

"Uhm, Yeah, It's been... A lot... I think maybe I'm not dealing with it that great..." he mumbled, looking into the dark space behind the loungeplank as a trio of sleepy eyes blinked back at him. He rolled backwards to let the soothcoon waddle out from its nap spot.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros moved to heft the other end of the loungeplank, scooting it easily forward to leave clearance for his wings, and pausing to chirp a quiet greeting-noise at the soothcoon, with a touch of apology for disturbing it.

"I... think, probably, it would be hard for anyone to, uh... deal with it wonderfully, all things considered.  Even for those of us who played the game, because it was dumb and awful...  ....So... it's okay to be kind of... rattled, about it all, yeah?"  He trailed off, then carefully took a crooked seat on the loungeplank, wings draped over the back and down to the floor behind it at an angle.

fiduspawn-master: Tavros turned to situate himself on the other side of the table, his hands smoothing distractedly over the blanket wrapped around his legs again as he looked around the floor. "I'm not really sure if 'rattled' is the word that I would use, Or that even all of the crazy other timeline versions of people I knew are, Uhh, the thing that I'm not handling well..." he admitted, his fangs digging at his lower lip a little. "I mean, I think that I can just kind of accept that that's a thing, since, I've known for a sweep by now..."

The robotic fairy bull was still perched on the back of his chair while the other had landed on the back of the couch, directing a tiny moo in their guest's directions, the naturally affectionate creature demanding attention.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros worried at his own lip a little, with a fang, sneaking a glance toward the living fairy bull and twisting his own fingers together in his lap, slowly, until his knuckles paled.  "...No?  What part is, uh... messing with you, then?"

fiduspawn-master: The small lusus fluttered its eyelashes at him and mooed again, fluttering its wings with a little jingle as well, practically begging for a pet. 

"Uhhh.... It's, Probably not important... And, Also kind of hard to articulate. And, Maybe kind of terrible?" He winced as he bit his lip a little too hard, starting to fidget with the ring around his thumb again. "Sorry, You probably don't want to talk about this..."

ad1ostoreador: Tavros took another deep, slightly shaky breath, and fought down any pathetic grub-noises before they could slip out, very carefully reaching up and giving the fairy bull a gentle pet.

"...I mean... it's not fair to you, if parts of all this are messing you up.  So... maybe if you can, uh, articulate at least some of it, you might feel kind of better?"

fiduspawn-master: They were ecstatic! Nuzzling his palm and licking his fingers as they jingled happily.

Tavros nearly mimicked his alter's shaky breath, his claws tapping against his ring "Uhm... I guess there are just, Some feelings I've been having, That, I'm not used to having..." he mumbles, shrugging slightly.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros stared into an indistinct spot somewhere near the middle of the floor while the lusus licked his fingers and nuzzled on his hand, his eyes gone a little bit glassy, but managed to keep his voice largely level, if somewhat quieter than usual.  "...I don't want to, um... assume things. About you, or feelings that happen to you... even if I kind of, uhh... suspect that maybe we had some of the same... problems, relating to that general, uh, area of experiences..."

fiduspawn-master: Well, maybe, if anyone could understand, without thinking he was just really terrible, it would be another version of himself, maybe... He finally looked up at him to respond before noticing his expression and stopping. "Uhm, Are you, Okay?" He asked, concerned. 

The lusus still looked pleased as punch to be pet, its little tail whipping back and forth.

ad1ostoreador: He bit his lip again, and looked up, almost guiltily jerking his hand back to his lap, with a quick rub of the other hand over his eyes.  "....yeah. I'm okay.  It's fine..."

fiduspawn-master: Tavros frowned, tilting his head slightly as the lusus mooed in disappointment "Uhm, Okay, But, No, I don't think that you are?"

ad1ostoreador: A few beats of silence passed, and then Tavros managed--"...I wasn't... expecting to see..." He jerked his head slightly in the direction of the lusus.  "...that's all.  It's dumb, and I should have... expected.  I'm okay."

fiduspawn-master: His brows furrowed in confusion. "To see a fairy bull? Uhm... Oh, Right, I guess there must not be any in the place that you live... Uhm, I can ask him to go in the other room, If you want" He offered.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros hesitated, then shook his head, though a tiny part of him wanted to nod, instead, and another part wanted to maybe just curl up in a hole.  "No.... no. It's okay... really.  It's just been a long time.  You were, uh.... you were saying?"

fiduspawn-master: He wasn't totally convinced, sending a brief thought to the fairy bull to not bother their guest. Reluctantly they fluttered down to the other side of the couch and sat down, pouting a little bit. "Oh, Uhm, I don't know. We don't really have to talk about it..." His alter looked upset and distracted, and he didn't want to make him more uncomfortable or bother him about his problems...

ad1ostoreador: Frankly, a distraction from the shitty ache behind his eyes and missing his own lusus would be welcome.  He rubbed at the ring in his own nose, briefly, and let out a tiny breath.  "....like I said, I don't want to, um... assume things, which could be wrong, if you don't... want to say anything.  But... you don't have to."

fiduspawn-master: He sighed faintly and fiddled with his ring again, looking off towards the windows. "Well... I guess I have just gotten pretty used to the only feeling I felt being loneliness? Which, Was really pretty terrible, But also, Familiar...?" He trailed off a moment, one hand squeezing into a fist. "Now, There are people to talk to and, Uhhh, Watch, Live their lives, Doing important things and, Uhm, Having friends that care about them a lot, And, It has just been making me have a lot of feelings about everything, And, It feels like it was easier, To just be lonely, But, Also, Somehow, I feel even more lonely than I did before?" He swallowed, looking down as his hair flopped forward into his face, his hands kneading together hard. "Uhm, Sorry, That probably sounds pretty dumb, And, Terrible..."

ad1ostoreador: "No, I... I get it."  Tavros cleared his throat a little, fingers back to being laced together in his lap.  "...Being in the Furthest Ring alone was... really lonely.  And in some ways it... felt even worse to go online, and see everyone just... busy and happy with all their own, uh, lives, and stuff, and people they actually cared about..."

fiduspawn-master: He finally looked up at his alter again as he spoke, nodding a little with a small sniff "Yeah, That is, Pretty much it exactly..." he huffed, reaching up to push his hair back into place again. "I, Don't really know what to do about it, Or, If it would be better to just... Not go online..."

ad1ostoreador: "...It's not easy.  And sometimes the bad times like that just keep happening over again, when it's extra, uh, hard, and lonely, and everything is awful. But... if you stay away from everyone, and you don't meet anyone, or talk to anyone.... you won't get any of the good times, then, when it doesn't feel that way, and when you can believe that people would notice, if you... weren't online."  It was possibly a cycle Tavros had been through multiple times, himself.

fiduspawn-master: His hand stayed in his hair, twisting it between his fingers some as he tried to get the lump out of his throat, making it hard to breathe. "You, Uhm, Really think that it could be like that for me?" he huffed, looking down a the blanket over his legs. "For me?"

ad1ostoreador: "I think, definitely so. And... I think that trolls aren't... meant to be all alone.  We... need other people, more than that... even with all the dumb Imperial stuff, trying to draw lines between everybody and keep them apart..."  Tavros echoed the faint 'huff', with a small shake of his head.

fiduspawn-master: Tav fidgeted a bit at the empire talk, shifting a little in his chair and shrugging "I mean, I wouldn't be alone if I wasnt-... I could- could have, Made other friends, And, Uhm,  known people... I could have tried..." Maybe he shouldn't be defending the empire here, but it was kind of his fault for being a cripple. "I wouldn't have gotten stuck in being lonely, I don't think..."

ad1ostoreador: "...It's not 'could have'... it's 'can'," Tavros pointed out, glancing up from his own fingers then.  "Only, without the part where V--she, uh, ruins everything, always.  There's... lots of options, you know? Even if you haven't always... had some of those options, before now."

fiduspawn-master: His fingers fisted tight in the blanket in his lap at the mere mention. "Yeah." he huffed with a scowl before sighing again "Yeah... I guess, It will only be too late if I stop trying... It's... Hard though. It still kind of feels like I'm too late, And, Not ready, At the same time..."

ad1ostoreador: "....Used to feel sometimes like everyone was... busy finding all their serendipity back before I even, uh, knew the site everyone uses now was a thing that existed.  Like I was... just too late to ever be anything important, to anyone, even as a friend..."  Tavros said, a little too off-handedly.  Sometimes it still felt that way, except for Gamzee, but he usually tried to remind himself that that was probably the horrible gray creep of depression talking, and not actual reality. "..But don't stop trying, is the point, mostly. Like you, uh, said, it's not too late unless you quit trying..."

fiduspawn-master: Tavros nodded slowly as he listened. Yes, that was pretty much exactly how he felt about it. Maybe though, if another version of himself could overcome it, (albeit, a way cooler more interesting and less broken version of himself, but, that wasn't a helpful thought to have) Then maybe he could too. 

"Yeah, Okay... Thank you. Uhm, I'm glad that you understand, Even though, I'm also sorry that you understand..."

ad1ostoreador: "It's... one of the good things, I think, about there being... so many versions of so many worlds, out there... the odds are probably, um, pretty good that somebody understands just about anything... yeah?" He tried for a small and crooked smile, shrugging.

fiduspawn-master: Tav mirrored the lopsided smile with another small nod. "Heh, Yeahhh... Uhm... Sorry, Things got kind of heavy. I hope this visit hasn't just been really terrible." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck again awkwardly. "Maybe, If you ever wanted to come by again, We could do something actually fun?"

ad1ostoreador: "It's fine, really... and, that would be a thing that we could, uh, do... or... you could come visit our planet, sometime, if you wanted?"  Beach sand might not agree with wheels, so well, but the 'social' hive had smooth, solid floors and lots of open space to maneuver.  "I think you would like to meet the, uhh, oggos a lot..."

Tavros couldn't help one more furtive glance over at the small lusus at the other end of the couch, and swallowed.

fiduspawn-master: "Oh, Yes! Uhm, Gamzee mentioned there were new kinds of beasts there, And it sounded really beautiful also!" He brightened up a bit at the idea, his hands relaxing in his lap. "That would be fun."

The fairy bull had curled up once it became clear it was going to be ignored by the new troll, and was dozing off, shimmery wings folded down against its back. "Uhm... Do you want to take some with you?" Tav asked, seeing him eyeing the lusus again. "There's, Uhh, A good sized herd around right now, You could probably take enough to start breeding them, If you wanted." He was still working under the assumption that he simply missed the general presence of fairy bulls.

ad1ostoreador: For a moment, he froze, then slowly shook his head.  "...I think... it would just, um, make me think more about missing mine, probably... a lot."  He shut his eyes briefly.  "...How did you, uh, get a robot fairy bull, anyway?"

fiduspawn-master: He bit his lip and nodded a little "Yeah, Okay, Sorry. It is definitely always really hard when they die, I can't imagine there not being more to come and replace them..." he mumbled before glancing back at the shiny white fairybot. "Oh, Uhm, That was, Uhh, Bull. He kind of changed the one that was taking care of me, So that they could always be monitoring me, and, the thing that he did to make my legs not be hurting pretty much all of the time, Since, I didn't want any of the robot stuff to be in my sponge..." He patted the fairybot a little more tentatively "I guess that it's okay, Since, They still are happy.”

ad1ostoreador: Tavros was very quiet, for a few more beats, and then quirked a quarter-smile that mostly looked like it hurt. "There was just... the one, for me. When I was younger.  He... always acted like he missed other fairy bulls, but... there weren't any more wild ones nearby, not for leagues and leagues... and nobody rust was allowed more than one lusus.  Even if they were... really small."

The thought of anyone just being changed that way, even a lusus, still made something roll over unsettled in his stomach, but he let out a breath.  "...I'm glad he, uh... helped your legs not hurt."

fiduspawn-master: Tavros frowned as his alter spoke, his ears drooping. "Oh man... I'm so sorry, That must have been, Really hard..." he mumbled, his eyes wandering to Tinkerbull as he twisted the ring around his finger. "Uhm, Yeah, I'm glad too, And that, That is all that he did, Also..."

ad1ostoreador: Tavros couldn't help a small, wry, but real-er smile, at that. "Yeah... He really, um, likes the... robot stuff. But... he won't do it, if you remind him not to..." He shrugged slightly. "And if you don't want to, uh... be like that."

fiduspawn-master: "Yeahhhh... He was really sorry for, Uhm, Freaking me out afterwards. He just, Really wanted to help... I think, That I just don't want to not be me..." His jaw tightened slightly as his hands smoothed back over his blanket "Even if, Me, Isn't as cool or smart, Or, Really confident, As I guess he could have made me..." He trailed off, eyes downcast.

ad1ostoreador: "I think... for him, he didn't feel like himself until he went all... robot. So... he has a hard time, maybe, understanding people who don't feel like themselves because they've been made a robot...." Tavros added, quietly. 

"...He does try really hard to help, though. And... I think you are already pretty cool, and smart, what with being all, uh... an illegal rebel, hiding on-planet, and... building fakespawn, and stuff that I don't have any idea how to do, but you do it really well. And... the fact that you are still alive, when... most everything on Alternia is designed to, um, try to prevent that. And you're away from her..." Which was a big thing, all by itself.

fiduspawn-master: He huffed, reaching up to fiddle with his hair again. "Uhmmm, I don't know, About all of that stuff... But, I don't really need to be anything special..." He gave a half hearted shrug "I think that I will just probably always be the same, Until..." He trailed off again before shaking his head, finally looking up at his alt with a strained laugh "Hah, Wow, This is all pretty depressing to talk about! Uhm, We could definitely probably be talking about things that are not that!"

ad1ostoreador: From where Tavros was standing, it already looked like a few major changes, from the pupa they'd once been.  He didn't argue the point further, though, just giving his head a little shake.  "Sorry... you should definitely, um, come visit sometime soon, though."  He had the beginnings of the inklings of an idea, even.

fiduspawn-master: "It's okay! And, Yes! I think I would like that a lot, If you guys felt like it." he said as he kept up the smile a little more naturally. "I can't wait to try the chocolate you brought also, I can't remember the last time I got to have any!"

ad1ostoreador: "It's like... a tree-fungus, where we are. It grows on their stemrinds, on certain types... and it tastes just like chocolate. Not the, uh, over-sweet candy type hivestem stuff, but the real stuff."  Tavros might have been rambling a little, for the sake of a topic that didn't sting. "I use it in, um... hot cocoa, and spicy huskbean stew, and some other things..."

fiduspawn-master: "Oh wow! That sounds like an amazing thing to have grow where you live! Hah, Man, I don't have a lot of stuff to make spicy food with, I wish I was better at cooking fancy stuff..." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

ad1ostoreador: "I don't know that anything I make is, uh, fancy... it's all just... country, um, warmblood type food, but..."  It was still a conscious effort, for Tavros, to remember to say 'warm' and not 'low', sometimes.  To avoid sliding back into old, Alternian habits, like they might inadvertently stain their new planet with the leavings of the old.  But he was trying. Gamzee was more of a stickler about it than he, even.  "We're not that far into the cool season, I think... but for now, there's lots of food to find, still."

fiduspawn-master: "I'm glad to hear that! I have been, Uhhh, Saving a lot of food. I dug out a whole nutrition cellar last sweep, After the drones managed to damage my windmill, And, I lost power for, Like, A perigee, And all my food went bad..." He shook his head again and shrugged "But, I have learned a lot about preserving food now, And, I have plenty of it stored up for the dim season!" he continued cheerily. "It was definetly worth all the work, Heh."

ad1ostoreador: Tavros nodded, brow furrowing at the tale.  "Oh... no.  Do you, um, have enough power back now, I hope...?"  He looked up.

"We, uh... had to kind of learn some things suddenly.  About preserving fish.  These... whartlebeasts came through our, uh, bay, and I think they were just migrating, but.... they feed by crowding everything up into the shallows, and just taking big gulps as they go by.  So... we had fish flopping up on the beach, fish all over the place... and the oggos were, uh... having a very... messy blast with it all. "  He snorted a half-laugh.  "...We started smoking excess fish, then. Or it would have just... stunk everything up terribly."

fiduspawn-master: He nodded "Oh, Yeah! The power cells are all full up after the storm last light! I, Uhh, Wish I could get more to store more power, For emergencies, But, That would be kind of hard." he admitted.

He smiled at the mental image of all the beasts, laughing with his alt and grinning "Hah, That sounds so fun! And a great way to get a lot of food, Heh,"

ad1ostoreador: "Definitely... I mean, raking the sand clean after it all wasn't fun, but... feeling the whartles was... sort of like with skywhales, only all heavy and rough-shelled, and staying in the water, and just, um, thinking deep cool thoughts, as they paddle along..."    He raked a hand through his shaggy hair.

"I'm sure there's people online who, um, would trade more power cells, for something you can make, or else find, around here..."

fiduspawn-master: His eyes sparkled as he smiled wide, imagining the unfamiliar beasts. "Wow!!! I hope I get to see them, If I come over, Heheh,"

He leaned back in his chair, looking to his husktop on the table "Uhm, Yeah, It's been kind of hard to trade for things that are that big and heavy, And, Also expensive...."

ad1ostoreador: "I don't... know much about that kind of thing, really, but there are definitely people who can find that stuff."  He shifted his wings a little, with a crickety, papery rustle.  "You, uh... said that drones broke the windmill, before? How did... that happen?  I mean... without them doing worse...."

fiduspawn-master: "Uhhh, I think that it was just really unlucky? Since, They came in the day, And, No beasts spotted them coming until it was too late. They managed to tear off two of the blades before I could organize enough beasts to fend them off. Usually, They will leave a hive alone if it seems to have become a, Uhm, Lusus den..." That had been a very difficult few perigees, with no power and not much food, having to work all night every night to rebuild the windmill, and then to dig a nutrition cellar after that. The beasts had helped of course, but there was only so much that they could do...

ad1ostoreador: Tavros grimaced slightly.  He might have been off Alternia for sweeps, but the prospect of fending off determined drones with stray lusii and wild beasts was none too appealing. "...It's good that you were able to, uh... drive them away, before they did more than that... and that you were able to fix it, and do all that work, after..."

fiduspawn-master: He nodded solemnly before smiling with a small chuckle "There have not been a lot of fly bys for the last couple of perigees though, I think I have managed to mostly, Uhhh, scare them off from this area!" His smile spread into a big, slightly smug grin. "I managed to find a beast that they will always steer clear of!!"

ad1ostoreador: "Good... good.  That's... definitely better than the alternative."  Tavros's ears flicked, cupping curiously towards him.  "Oh yeah? What kind of, um, beasts will they stay away from, around here?"

fiduspawn-master: He leaned forward a bit in his chair, coppery eyes sparkling with excitement "Do you want to see?? You have to promise not to look, Though, Or to feel for them either! It will be a really cool surprise that way!!"

ad1ostoreador: Tavros nodded slowly, a mixture of anticipation and puzzlement on his features.  It was hard to rein in his automatic level of communing and then deliberately try not to think about it, though.  Harder yet to not think about the thing he was supposed to not think about.  "Uhhh..." He tried shutting his eyes, and just focusing on the sleepy soothcoon and the flittering, too-familiar feel of the fairy bull in the vicinity, instead.  "...Okay..."

fiduspawn-master: Tavros giggled, giddy as he turned to the wall of windows, putting a hand to his temple briefly to focus and find the beast he was seeking. They were pretty far away, but that didn't matter, it would only take a couple of minutes for them to get here. In the meantime he tugged at the blackout curtains to reveal the open, rolling fields outside, the wind still making the grass ripple like waves. He could feel them approaching, and he turned to go back to his alt, grabbing one of his hands to guide him over to the window "Here! They're about to land!"

A shadow blocked out the rosy moonlight for a moment before with a heavy thud, a gleaming, white dragon, nearly the size of a galleon, landed in the grass just outside. "Tadh! Heh, This, Is my new friend, Who has scared away most of the drones!" Tavros announced, throwing out an arm towards the huge lusus. “Uhh, Here." Reaching out, he pulled open one of the windows which was actually a door. "You want to meet them?"

ad1ostoreador: Tavros kept his eyes shut, even when he was tugged closer to the window, until his counterpart called out.  Then.... Oh.  That was... that was an actual real live adult dragon, of a sort he'd never encountered on his own Alternia, Terezi's sleeping unhatched lusus notwithstanding.  For a moment, he could almost taste an echo of the smell of burning tissue, but it wasn't real and it wasn't here and nobody was creep-crawling through his pan.  And that was a dragon.

"....Yes... uhh, yes, can I?"  The question was half to his alternate, and half to the massive creature itself.  It was only proper to be polite, of course, when meeting someone new.

fiduspawn-master: On closer inspection, although large, the dragon was still technically an adolescent, its eyes still sealed shut though a dull red glow was visible through the lids. By way of answer Tavros simply wheeled out the door ahead of his alt and moved to the side.

The dragon turned its massive head towards both of them, nostrils flaring as it sniffed them out. It- she, was friendly, if a little aloof, showing a little more interest in the winged stranger than the one who'd called her.

ad1ostoreador: "...She's beautiful," he breathed, stepping out the door and shrugging his poncho off with a quick slip of a fastening that let him spread his wings and give them a flick or two to stretch.  He approached the dragon, fearlessly, to be sniffed to any degree she liked, and reached up to scritch gently along a seam of fine scales on her jaw.

"I bet even the drones definitely, uh, don't really want to pick a fight with her, do they...?"  Tavros paused, gazing up at the dragon's bulk.  "...Was she Terezi's? Or...?"

fiduspawn-master: "Heh, Yeah," he agreed with a smile that faltered when he looked to his alt and saw him shrugging off the poncho he'd been wearing, seeing the wings in person for the first time. Oh... That was a little worse than a mirthhive mirror. He wanted to look away but he also didn't.

The dragon lowered her head, longer than a troll was tall, giving Tavros a more thorough sniffing. An uncomfortable heat radiated from her closed eyes and she generally kept them angled away from both trolls so they wouldn't be seared by the proximity. Her scales were hot too, at least on her head, almost too hot to touch.

Tav was still staring at his alt, only snapping out of it when addressed "Oh! Uhmm, I kind of think that she probably was, Since, They are so rare, It is pretty likely, But, She is kind of, uhhh, Cagey, About information regarding herself..."

ad1ostoreador: He kept the touch light and careful, skimming shy of burning his fingers on the heat of the dragon's scales.  "I don't know how, uh, fast they grow, after hatching..."  It was hard to tell, with some of the megafauna.  Some would shoot up in a couple of seasons... others just inched larger incrementally from sweep to sweep.  "She feels... strong. How long ago did you meet her...?"

fiduspawn-master: "I'm not sure either, But, I don't think she's too old..." He stayed back a bit, letting his alter interact with the magnificent beast on his own. "Uhm, Maybe six perigees ago? She was just, Flying along the coast, And I brought her in to get to know her a little bit... She has been coming to help me with the drones every now and then since then..."

ad1ostoreador: Tavros looked from the dragon to his alternate, and back, not speaking for a moment.  Like any psi-active troll, if his powers were pushed hard enough, even his eyes would visibly glow... but for a mere touch of mental communication exchanged with the beast, in the form of a polite query, the flicker was so muted and brief that it would pass unseen.  Had she ever flown with a passenger? And more importantly, would the gracious lady be willing to?

fiduspawn-master: She returned an affirmative, followed by the mental equivalent of a nonchalant shrug. Not opposed. 

Tavros noticed his alt looking between him and the dragon, simply raising an eyebrow. "Uhhh..."

ad1ostoreador: He grinned then, fangy and bright.  "...Have you, uhh, gone flying with her, before?"

fiduspawn-master: His eyes widened "Oh, Uhm, Like, Riding her? No I, Definitely haven't done that..." He looked to the dragon's imposing bulk and, yeah, that would have been a bit of a climb to get up there, and those claws were maybe a bit too sharp to safely hold a troll...

ad1ostoreador: "Then... that is a thing we are going to do, because I can definitely help you get up there, and also back down again," Tavros announced, beaming... then hesitated.  "If... if you want to, I mean...?"

fiduspawn-master: His mouth hung open a moment as he looked at his alter, and then the dragon. "O-oh, I-... Yeah, I, I think that I would like that..." he said, a little quietly, giving him a nervous smile.

ad1ostoreador: Good.  It just wasn't right, somehow, for any of their bloodline to be entirely ground-bound.  He moved forward, coaxing and coordinating with the dragon to lower her stance, to position one foreleg just so, outstretched for potential support, and reached out to offer his alternate both hands, for a solid forearm-to-forearm-locked grip.  His wings spread wider and tilted against a gust of the sea wind, and a strange, faint, smaller set of rust-orange phantom wings shimmered into being with them, almost like a flapstraction's holographic overlay. There was a hint of blue shimmer at the edges of his clothes, too, but his actual, real clothing stayed firmly where it belonged.  (He really was emphatically not a fan of his godtier's default cut, or of having that much of his legs exposed, even sweeps and a pupation after the fact.)

"What I can do, is lift you up over her shoulder, and, uh, set you down between her neck-ridges.  Slowly.  Okay...?"

fiduspawn-master: He watched for a second as his guest conversed with the dragon before jolting slightly in realization, looking down at his lap. Oh, this probably wouldn't work, how could he keep them wrapped up? He didn't want him to have to see-- not after Bull's reaction had been so bad. Dang it, why did he have to prefer the comfort and convenience of shorts? He was so preoccupied he totally missed his alter's subtle transformation, rolling his chair backwards towards the door again. "Uhhhhh, Do you think, You could maybe, Uhm, Wait a couple of minutes? Uhh, Sorry, I just, Have to do something really quick!"

ad1ostoreador: "Okay, uh... no problem. No rush."  Tavros lowered his hands again, no longer braced to lift off, and instead rubbed the back of his own neck, then raked his hair out of his eyes, where the wind had blown it around wildly.

fiduspawn-master: Tavros retreated quickly inside, emerging after a few minutes, blanket discarded and long pants donned. There was still a hint of, visible mishapenness to them, but the pants were baggy enough to hide most of it.

He rolled back over to his alter, smiling awkwardly "Uhh, Hey, Sorry about that, I'm ready now I guess?"

ad1ostoreador: Well, it wasn't as though Tavros would judge his alternate for the shape his legs were in... he just had lingering sensitivities about his own.  This time, he sprang up off the ground to get his wings beating fast enough to hover, as he would have to back on his own planet, then furrowed his brow, dipped closer to Tavros's chair, and offered his hands again, as the weird holo-overlay wing effect remained perfectly, ornamentally still, and his flight steadied from a hover into something more like a gravity-free float. Godtier nonsense and physics were not always on the best of terms, and occasionally resulted in the latter presumably throwing its metaphorical hands up and wandering away for a stiff drink.

"Here..."

fiduspawn-master: No longer distracted, he watched his other self take to the air, making it look so, natural and effortless, then, maybe a little unnatural, but still effortless. 

Swallowing, he nodded and reached up to firmly grasp his arm, letting himself be pulled out of his chair. He still winced, even though he knew it wouldn't hurt, it was just a hard habit to break at this point.

ad1ostoreador: It was slow. Easier than it should have been, even as the muscles in Tavros's arms went taut and he lifted them, as smoothly as a balloon drifting up from the chair and angling upwards along the dragon's shoulder, dangling feet not skimming her scales, but barely above them.  He stopped, when his alternate was suspended neatly over the notch in her neckridges, then carefully, carefully hovered him lower, prepared to hold his weight up one-armed if need be until the other troll had gotten his legs arranged to his satisfaction.

"...All set?"  Given the affirmative, he would lower him the last few inches, to settle his weight there safely.

fiduspawn-master: He clung to his alter's arm, pulling his legs up a bit to keep them from just dangling as he was airlifted over to the dragon's back and gently lowered down. The scales were still hot but not burning like they were on her head, and he settled himself, reaching forward to hold on tightly to one of the neck ridges and looking up at Tavros with a nod. "Yeah, I'm good I think..."

ad1ostoreador: Tavros grinned, broad and pleased, and went from that odd drifting float to wing-buzzing flight again, lifting higher against a gust of wind and hovering near the dragon's head as he called her to take to the sky.  "Hang on, okay?"

fiduspawn-master: He didn't need to be told twice, bracing himself and connecting to the dragon in order to anticipate her movements and better keep balance. She sensed his readiness, standing and turning away from his hive to face the cliffs, starting at a trot to gain speed. The trot turned to a gallop as her wings spread, tilting to catch the wind as they launched themselves off of the high cliff and took to the air.

Tavros was hanging on for dear life, the ride quite bumpy while she was still on the ground. His stomach flipped as she jumped, his breath catching in his throat as the ride turned into a soaring sensation. He finally managed to gasp before letting out a whoop, laughing and hanging on as she tilted upwards to start gaining altitude with mighty wingbeats.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros angled for an updraft and soared higher, circling above the massive sweep of her wings to keep an eye on his alternate and a light thread of communing-sense on the dragon... nothing harsh enough to vie with her rider's.  "Isn't it great?" he called, hands cupped to his mouth to carry over the wind. There was nothing quite like flying, and doing it on the back of an actual dragon probably counted for like... nine thousand extra coolness points, all by itself.

fiduspawn-master: Tav couldn't stop smiling as he kept low to the dragon's back, hanging on as she climbed higher. He could barely hear over the rushing wind, but he glanced over at the flash of bronze, fluttering wings, laughing and letting go with one hand to pump his fist in the air in clear confirmation.

ad1ostoreador: A whoop that he might have learned from Gamzee, and Tavros made a dizzying swoop to plunge past the flying beast's outstretched neck, beneath her, then fight his way up again, grinning wildly and thoroughly windblown.  It wasn't often that he got to play midair with anyone but flapbeasts, especially someone who really appreciated the experience, and he was going to enjoy every minute of this while it lasted.

fiduspawn-master: He quickly grabbed on again, watching Tavros dive and swoop as the dragon evened out her angle of ascent. She let the currents catch in her wings like sails and slowly banked back towards the land again. Now she wasn't flying upwards, Tavros could finally sit up and look around, seeing the sea spread out and glittering below in the moonlight, and his hive, tiny in the distance, standing alone. He spread out his arms to feel the wind rushing past his whole body and took a deep breath of rarefied air. It tasted and smelled better than anything he could ever remember, and he let his eyes close briefly so he could just savor the moment.

ad1ostoreador: It was the kind of moment Tavros was content to let play out, for as long as his counterpart needed it. He kept pace with the dragon's flight, alternating diving glides with fluttering spirals higher, and maybe a brief game of something like tag, even, with subtle gusts of wind rising up to carry him along when he wasn't thinking too hard about it.

fiduspawn-master: The dragon flew in slow arcs, like a gentle roller coaster, nothing too fancy or fast in consideration for her rider. Tav laughed giddily, especially on the descents, relishing the weightless feeling as he clung to her back. Eventually she was flying over his hive and he let her start a slow, circular descent so that she could land, not wanting to push his luck with the magnificent beast. She wasn't his lusus or anything, and he already appreciated her helping with the drones. also he could feel his thighs and behind getting uncomfortably hot from her scales, probably should have thrown his blanket over her back or something.

ad1ostoreador: Tavros followed the dragon downward, there, grinning as they descended, and he would finally still into that physics-gone-slightly-flipped-sideways floaty hover, once she had come to a complete landing stop. "I can, uhh... lift you back down, the same way, if that's okay...?"

fiduspawn-master: Tha dragon hunkered down onto her belly once she'd gently landed, getting low to make dismounting easier. Tav squirmed a little in his seat, looking up to his alt and nodding quickly as he extended a hand "Uhhh, Yes please. Thanks."

ad1ostoreador: Once again, Tavros got a firm hold on his forearm--or both of them, if he offered the other, and then floated him up and off the dragon's neckridge, to carefully airlift him back to his chair, giving him time to get his legs situated before he set him completely down.  "All, um, good?"

fiduspawn-master: He held on with both hands, looking down as he was taken back to his wheeled device. He settled back in easily enough, shifting in his chair as he let go of his alt. He looked up at him with a smile, giving him a thumbs up "Yeah, Thanks!" The dragon was getting up again, sniffing around casually. 

"Heh, Man, That was... Wow, Heh"

ad1ostoreador: Tavros was still grinning, looking pleased and a bit relieved all at once, that his counterpart had both enjoyed the experience and not inadvertently injured himself in the process.  He dropped back to the ground, himself, landing on his feet and folding his wings back with a bit of a sigh to avoid being pushed about by the wind.  The phantom shimmer of a second set of wings evaporated, a moment later. "Yeah... I'm glad she didn't mind," he added, looking up at the dragon with a grateful wave.

fiduspawn-master: She sniffed in his direction before starting to wander off, preparing to lift off again and go back to whatever she'd been doing before.

"Heh, Yeahhh, Me too." He agreed, watching her start to take off, smiling wistfully.

ad1ostoreador: "I guess you do have a pretty, uh... thorough anti-drone defense system..."  He, also, watched the huge beast abscond, though not with quite the same note of wistfulness.

fiduspawn-master: "Heh, Well, It's definitely, Uhhh, Better than it used to be." he hummed, finally tearing his eyes away from the quickly shrinking white dot in the sky to smile at his guest. "Uhm, Thanks for helping me, That was really great..."

ad1ostoreador: "No problem... I'm glad it was fun," Tavros said, smiling back.  He'd had the inklings of the idea, and then the dragon had presented herself as an immediate opportunity.  It was certainly a welcome distraction from the faint, nagging itch of Gl'bgolyb's presence on this planet.  "Maybe we could, uh... do that again sometime..."

fiduspawn-master: "Yeah! Heh, But maybe, Uhh, Not too soon" She wasn't exactly a tame hoofbeast or anything. There was a faint redness along the horizon that hinted at the dawn that would come in the next few hours, and Tavros turned to head back inside now the dragon was out of sight.

(there was something a little different about that itch here too, less eldritch, more predatory, no less uncomfortable, especially this close to the sea.)

ad1ostoreador: Tavros nodded, glancing out toward that tint of color in the sky.  It was amazing how fast being back on Alternia, even for a visit, could remind him that the day was something to fear, not something to greet.  He moved to follow his alternate back inside the hive, picking up his poncho to re-secure it, on the way.  "I should, um, probably head back soon, I think..." He had one more stop off-planet to make, too.  Two if he braved an excess of crowding strangers to find Gamzee a better coat, while he was at it.

fiduspawn-master: Tavros spun around to face him, looking up at him with a slanted smile "Oh, Heh, Yeahhh, probably, It is getting pretty early." he acknowledged, glancing at the row of windows before rolling back over to start closing the curtains. "Uhh, Thank you for coming though! This was, Really nice... Oh, And I hope that Gamzee likes his present!" He added, looking back over his shoulder at him.

ad1ostoreador: "I'm sure he will," Tavros assured him, double-checking to make sure he'd put the fabric-wrapped little package in his sylladex.  It was there, as was the pot he'd come to collect, and he returned that smile crookedly.  "I'll, uh, see you around, yeah?  It was really nice to meet you in person..."

fiduspawn-master: He finished with the curtains and turned to face his alt as he was leaving, smiling more warmly and raising a hand in farewell. "Yes! See you around, Uhh, Tavros, Heh, It was nice to meet you too, And, Not as weird at the end."

ad1ostoreador: It was clearly necessary to offer a fist for a proper fist-bunp, there.  "Definitely not as weird at the end," he agreed, then gave a little wave of his own, and looked down to fiddle with the device on his wrist.  A moment later... fworp, and he was gone the same way he'd arrived.

fiduspawn-master: The fistbump was easily reciprocated and he watched his guest vanish into thin air.

[moonlightreal]

Winx Club season 8/2

In which we meet our returning cast.

2 A Kingdom of Lumens

The eaters are called “staryums”? Aieeeeee.

Alfea!  Morning!  Twinkle awakens with great enthusiasm and flies around Kiko.  She is one cheerful little critter.

In Bloom and Flora's room Bloom's texting Sky, in all emogis probably so the animators won't have to translate the animation into Italian and English.  She's got an adorable little “time for action” emoji of a chibi Bloom that transforms into Butterflix and flies off.  

Their room looks like a throwback-- didn't they each have separate room the last few seasons?  Or am I misremembering?  But the girls are clearly sharing like they did in season one.  Flora has her flower bed and chairs that you can get in the Winx Fairy School game, and the same amount of plants she had in season one.  Flora's packing.

Stella's running around in her pajamas. She throws open her closet door and... it is like the Tardis in there.  Shelves as far as the eye can see!  No judgment on Stella; I have basically the same setup but with books.

Over in Tec and Musa's room, Tecna has her clothes folded into exact cubes for packing but they're jolted out of her suitcase by the vibrations from Musa's headphones.  Musa's rockin' on so loud she can't hear Tecna yell at her.  Musa is just tossing things randomly into her suitcase.

Aisha pulls an entire drawer from her dresser, dumps it into her suitcase, and is good to go.  Heh.

The others are outside waiting with their bags when Stella shows up pushing a suitcase as tall as she is.

Bloom gets a cute emoji message from Sky: he's finished kicking monster butt and returned to Red Fountain.

Stella grabs Bloom's phone and suggests they stop by to see the boys on their way out.  Sky also has a surprise!

The girls go to Red Fountain and there are hugs.  Then Sky presents the surprise: Riven!  Nobody is thrilled.  Musa yells at him.  The boys say Riven saved them from monsters in the Omega Dimension so they decided to welcome him back.

Ok I gotta declare my bias: I love a good redemption/second chance story but I think it'd be way more fun if Riven came back and Musa fell for the space pirate instead. Double if the space pirate had been a girl.  

Good bit here with Bloom saying they’d better go since they have to save the universe, as usual.  Sky offers to come help but Aisha squashes that saying their “surprise” was quite enough.  Go snarky Aisha!

Back at Alfea the girls are ready to go—once Stella grabs one more teeny piece of luggage.

Twinkle flies around them showering glitter, the girls giggle, and... space clothes!  Twinkle takes off straight up and the Winx are pulled after her—without their suitcases.  Stella despairs, then gets over it and the girls fly though space leaving colored trails.

They reach Lumenia quickly.  It's a glowing yellow orb with star-shaped stars orbiting around it.  We see the lumen city then the girls land and scare the lumens.  The queen arrives in her floating boat.  She's a weird design, her eyes are beautiful but her face is an oval with no chin.

Infodump!  There are rivers of colored light that reach the queen’s throne, that are very important but one of the rivers of light is blocked somewhere in the jungle.  

Butterflix time!  The girls fly through the forest of Lumenia and find a dark orb not unlike the wild magic from season 7.    The girls fly down into a cave where mysterious robots are absorbing the yellow light.  It activates two golems, that attack!  Butterflix fight!  Butterflix power isn't doing the job, the golems just shrug it off.  One grabs Musa!  Twinkle attacks it to no result.

Then the boys come flying in, all posing in their new flight suits.  How did they get to Lumenia?  They open a can of whoopass on the golems.  

(Hey!  Helia has a phantoblade bow just like I gave one of my characters.  Cool!)

A golem grabs Musa and Riven rescues her.

A golem collapses into pebbles and Valtor's mark glows over its body as ominous music plays.  The girls recognize it but there’s some, “It can’t be.” and ‘Does that mean… he’s back?”

The robot that was powering the golems attacks then and the girls destroy it.  The top of the robot opens and there's Valtor's turban-headed lackey.  Who is really small.

Stella: “...and who are you supposed to be?”

“I am the great Obscurum, and you haven’t heard the last of me!”

And he vanishes through a magic portal.

With the enemies defeated Aisha uses morphix to clear the stream, letting the yellow light flow naturally. The gang walks back to the specialists' ship.  Musa's mad that Riven was sneaking around following them without them knowing.  Riven says he was trying to show that he’ll “always be there for you when you need me.”  Musa’s having none of it but Bloom gives Riven a thank you hug!  Then the boys pile into their spaceship and head for home.

Aisha calls Musa on her cold attitude, asking why she’s being harsh when Riven is being so nice.  Aisha is the absolute last Winx I’d expect to do that.  Musa just says Riven has a lot left to prove to her.  ...you know, they didn’t break up because Riven was evil or anything.  He was kind of a jerk a lot but mostly it was just that he and Musa weren’t a good fit for each other.  I can see Musa would be weirded out and maybe needs to set some boundaries but I’m not sure everyone’s reactions are quite right.  

The light in the queen's throne room has been restored.  The girls talk to the queen about their suspicion that Valtor may have returned.  They describe him as “a very powerful dark sorcerer we defeated a while ago.”

...wasn’t Valtor dead?  

He has returned, in a hologram that Obscurum is talking to in the streets of the lumen city!  Blocking the river was just a diversion for an attack on the star core!

The queen senses the appearance of evil and decides to give her new friends a new power!  That’ll give them the power to restore power to stars, pretty cool.  Cosmix time!

The first transformation sequence in a long time that actually looks like a transformation sequence!

I do like the return of the transformation sequence that’s actually a sequence rather than a showing-off of the new clothes like they had in Dreamix and Onyrix, but on the other hand having the Winx receive all their transformations as gifts from powerful beings is getting repetitive!  Dreamix and Onyrix were gifts from the Spirit of Neverland, Butterflix just sort of... they defended Nature and then there were spiky stones.  Tynix they got from their animals so that made a bit more sense, but we haven’t got quests anymore, and we haven’t got foreshadowing of the forms.  I’d love to have a few minutes in class with Faragonda telling the student fairies about different forms they might attain later, or see a book about all the different forms. 

The girls barely have time to check out their new look, as portals open all over Lumenia and spit out a whole horde of star-eaters!

Which Obscurum calls “staryummies” so I suppose I’ll have to call them that from now on.  Sigh.