#i gave up on the thing being humanoid its a big Silly now.

[rockeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

no bond greater than the one between a man and his- (speaking into brick-shaped phone) i'm sorry am i hearing you right. his- are you SURE. okay. his...radiation disease

[majoraop]

It partially overlapped with the Corazon Week so I didn’t have much time to make something for the Heart Pirates Week, but I managed to write a short story inspired by several prompts at once ("strength", "longing", "soft", and "caged"). The prompts are mostly used in the song pictured above (written by Law’s reincarnation in my “A Tale of Two Dragons” soulmate AU), which I included in the fanfic. The story features the CoraLaw pairing, the core Heart Pirates crew (Shachi/Penguin/Bepo), and a one-sided LuLaw.

A Tale of Two Dragons – Moon Chapter “You could smile for once, you know?” Penguin told Law while elbowing a chuckling Shachi.   “Is he always like this?” Rocinante sat next to Law, smiling at the camera Luffy was holding.   “Yeah. He has always been like this.” Law sighed, already exhausted even if they had just departed for their Moon Tour—as Luffy had dubbed it.   “My…brother”—just a moment of hesitation, but Rocinante couldn’t avoid forever bringing Doffy up—“told me that all people inhabiting our world came from the moon. I wonder what we’ll find there!”   “I told you already,” Law said with a grin. “There are people with wings on the moon—like angels.”   “Really?” Bepo, the younger component of their band, was staring at Law with a gaping mouth.   “Really,” Law echoed him with a serious face. Penguin and Shachi tried to say something, but Law sent a glare in their direction and they closed their mouths. “They have fluffy wings and celestial voices,” he continued.   “Oh…” Bepo blushed. He was a timid boy with a soft spot for pretty singers—but a skilled drummer for his age.   “Law…you should stop now,” Rocinante reproached him playfully.   “But it’s real!” Luffy exclaimed. “I remember people with wings living in the old world!”   Everyone looked at him, wondering if he was joking. However, there was no trace of doubts or lies in Luffy’s eyes. Law actually believed in those stories too, but he still had fun teasing Bepo.   “I can’t wait to meet them!” the boy whispered, blushing even more, and everyone laughed. --- “Look, Law, we’re almost there!”   Luffy’s enthusiasm rubbed off on Law, too, when he looked out of the porthole of the flying ship they rented for their journey. The moon was so near now that he could distinguish a large city quite clearly. Sentient beings were living up there, and he wouldn’t be able to refuse Luffy his craved moon concert. Law groaned. His life had changed so fast he hadn’t been able to adapt yet. He hadn't even finished writing his new song!   “It looks beautiful,” Rocinante whispered, putting an arm around his shoulders. “I can’t believe we’re travelling together as we promised to do.”   “If only those troublemakers weren't around…”   “Oh no, it’s better like this!” Rocinante smiled. “Your friends are a nice, funny bunch, and I can help with your band. You know, I’ve learned some useful skills.”   Law stared at his confident grin. “What skills?” he asked, mildly worried. He hoped it didn’t involve setting things on fire—the speciality of Rocinante’s old self.   “I’m a dresser,” Rocinante said proudly. “Well, not really—not yet at least, but I studied costume design. I have a great fashion sense, you know?”   Law didn’t remember the old Roci and his Corazon alter ego having a great fashion sense at all—if anything else, it was the contrary.   “Leave it to me,” Rocinante said, puffing up his chest.   Law felt a shiver running down his spine as he hesitantly nodded at him. --- You always gave me strength Once, I was a child who lost his heart Once, I was a child who got your heart On the second night after they arrived at their destination, Law was finally able to sit down and work on his song.   Penguin was playing his guitar in another room together with Shachi, the bassist of their band. Bepo and Luffy were keeping them company, and Law heard the latter singing. His cheerful voice put him in a good mood, which helped him resolve a difficult verse. He would have loved to spend some time alone with Rocinante, but he needed to finish writing his composition first. Besides, Roci was busy designing their stage costumes.   Law looked down at his laptop and deleted a sentence. He remained pensive for a moment. Then, he typed a new line. He hummed the refrain one last time and nodded, satisfied. He would sing this song alone, Luffy only joining him for the chorus. He needed to sing this song alone.   Law saved the file and closed the lid of his laptop. --- They still needed an agent so, after finishing working on his song, Law started searching for one.   Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin accompanied him while Roci kept working on their costumes. Luffy, too, decided to stay back: he hadn't had much time to learn Law's new song, and even if he would only sing the chorus he wanted to practise some more. Law wondered if Luffy understood how much that song was important for him and thus wanted to make a perfect performance. Sorry, he thought, knowing how Luffy felt about him.   “This place is huge!”   Penguin’s comment pulled Law out of his thoughts, and he surveyed his surroundings. That city was the main hub of the moon. The skyscrapers that soared against the starry night looked like buildings out of an ancient civilization, but they were made from glass and not blocks of stone. A giant bubble covered the city under a protective dome and shielded it from cosmic radiations, and at its outskirts, smaller bubbles encircled fields and farms. Factories were situated on the dark side of the moon and connected to the central hub by underground bullet train. During their stay there, Law had learned that water was scarce on the moon: there weren’t rivers, lakes, or seas, but people had been able to survive thanks to their advanced technology. Tiny humanoid robots took care of manual labour, so the citizens of the moon had plenty of free time. Unsurprisingly, upon learning that Law and his group were a rock band, they had immediately asked them to hold a concert.   “People of the moon do have wings, but they are small,” Bepo interrupted Law’s thoughts, sounding a bit disappointed. “They can't fly like that.”   “They don’t need wings to fly,” Shachi told him. “Can’t you see the floating vehicles above our heads?”   “It’s not the same.” Bepo pouted.   “But their wings are still fluffy at least,” Shachi insisted, clearly amused.   “Aye-Aye, they are fluffy.” Bepo nodded, smiling.   Law barely registered their silly conversation as he wondered how many marvellous things were waiting for him and Roci to discover. The thought of being able to experience all of that with him filled him with a happiness he had never felt before in his current of previous lives. --- Finding an agent turned out to be surprisingly easy. After talking with some local people, they met an extravagant man with sparkly, ambitious eyes—a foreigner probably, since he didn't have wings. Nevertheless, he had the right contacts, so they hired him.   The day of the concert arrived in no time, and now Law was staring, appalled, at the clothes and accessories displayed before him. “What. Are. These.” He managed to say after the first moment of shock.   “These? Your stage costume and accessories, of course!” Rocinante said with a big grin on his face.   Law glared at the black leather pants, the belt with a ridiculous-looking, heart-shaped buckle, the earrings, the rings, and the “shoes”. The shoes were the worst part: how was he supposed to sing and dance on those stilts?! Law put his hand to his face, sighing, and flung himself upon the armchair behind him.   “You’ll look great in them, Law!” Luffy exclaimed, looking at him like he usually looked at delicious meat—his favourite food.   Law felt a bit bad for him since he couldn’t reciprocate his feelings, but Luffy was a good person and had accepted Law's relationship with Roci without hesitation. Law sighed again and closed his eyes, massaging his temples with his thumbs.   “I love it!” Bepo cried next to him when Roci showed him his costume. Law glanced at it and was only able to distinguish a white fur-something.   “And these are for you,” Rocinante told Penguin and Shachi with a smiling face. Law straightened his back, ready to savour the horror on his friends’ faces, but they didn't react as he expected but just let out their breath in relief.   Law stood up to see their costumes closer and then frowned. “Why do their clothes look normal and they also have a shirt? Why can’t I wear a shirt too?!”   “It’s because you’re the star, my dear!” Rocinante beamed.   “But Luffy is the co-star, and yet he'll wear a shirt!” Law felt he was losing his sanity.   “It fits his look better,” Rocinante replied with a serious expression.   “…I give up.” Law threw his hands on the air and returned to his armchair. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he appeared in public shirtless...Oh. He had just remembered about that. So, there were still parts of his past pirate life that he had not recalled yet. Ok, let’s go all out then. “Roci, I need you to paint my chest,” he said, trying not to blush.   At that, even Rocinante looked surprised. “What do you mean?”   “I mean a fake tattoo—nothing too complex, just some black ink.”   “Oh, I remember that!” Luffy chimed in.   Just perfect. Law wanted to disappear, but it wasn’t like his heart-shaped tattoo had been a mystery in his past life. He had walked around showing it on his bare chest like war painting when—no, he needed to stop thinking about that. Doflamingo wasn’t an enemy anymore. Now, we’re all free from our past.   “I…can draw it if you show me the design you’ve in mind,” Roci told him.   “Follow me.” Law stood up. “Just you,” he added when he saw the others moving too. That symbol on his chest had been his source of strength during his turbulent, painful past. More importantly, it had been a memento of his Cora-san. Only Rocinante could hear about it. --- When Law stepped out of his dressing room, he was welcomed by Penguin and Shachi’s barely held laughter and Luffy’s loud cheering. Bepo, instead, just looked at him with a worried expression.   Law sighed and tried a few slow steps on his heels. Thankfully, he was able to walk normally.   “You look fantastic,” Rocinante whispered, his eyes lingering on Law’s painted chest.   Law blushed. There were no secrets left between them: he literally wore his heart on his skin—his feelings for that man for all to see.   Now, he was ready to step on stage and scream his love for him. The white sea of clouds below me is spotless, I recall colourless roofs and skin now spotted, I recall cries and tears, smoke and flames, I recall being saved and then encaged. I remember falling on a pile of trash, I remember silence—and when it crashed. You always gave me strength Once, I was a child who lost his heart Once, I was a child who got your heart The waves are rolling and splashing before me, I recall blue oceans and endless adventures, I recall allies, friends, and their laughter, I recall legends, myths, and old treasures. I remember searching for the truth of my name, I remember crowning the very King of Pirates. You always gave me strength Once, I was a child who lost his heart Once, I was a child who got your heart The boundless sea of stars is sparkling above me, I recall worlds below and above the mountains, I recall the promise I exchanged with you, I recall black feathers, comfy and soft. I remember longing for you in the night, I remember you smiling for the last time. You always gave me strength Once, I was a child who lost his heart Once, I was a child who got your heart You always gave me strength Once, I was a child who lost his heart Once, I was a child who got your heart… A child no more, I give your heart back. [SOULMATE]

[eastofthemoon]

Feathered Friends

A silly one shot that wouldn’t leave my head.

Archive of Our Own

Rating: G

Series: The Owl House/Ducktales 2017

Summary: Luz tries something to get her back to the human realm, unfortunately the human part wasn't present. 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Luz rubbed her hands eagerly as she looked over the handheld mirror. “Alright, mysterious device of arcane mystery, let’s see if you can bring me back to the human realm!’

“Are you sure you want to do this, kiddo?” Eda asked as she crossed her arm. “We know even less about this thing than your last portal attempt.”

“But the inscription says it leads to another world when you twist the handle,” Luz said as she clasped her hands.

“Doesn’t mean it’s the human realm,” Eda added. “There are plenty of bizarre worlds out there. For all we know this thing's connected to a world of man eating toe bats or something.”

“Where did you two find this outrageous ornament anyway?” King said as he poked the mirror.

“<i>We</i> didn’t,” Eda said with a deep sigh, shoving King’s paw away. “Hooty coughed it up and apparently doesn’t even remember where he picked it up.  Not that he remembers much to begin with.”

King grimaced. “Yuck, he really needs to be more aware of what he eats.”

“Anyway,” Luz continued as she put her hands on her hips, “it’s still worth trying.  Worst case it should lead back here, right?”

Eda sighed as she ruffled her hair. “All right, but I’m coming with you. King, how about you?  Up for a little interdimensional exploration?”

“Naw,” King said as he left the room. “My tummy is craving hot chocolate and I’ve decided to graciously fulfill its demand.”

“Save some for me,” Luz said as she picked up the mirror. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Well, those are some ominous last words, but let’s give it a go,” Eda said as she placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder.

Luz bit her lower lip as she gave the mirror handle a hard twist.

The mirror sparked madly, before suddenly erupting with blue energy.  The mirror seemed to shine, and the energy formed into a swirling portal.

“Alright,” Luz said with a deep breath. “Here goes.”  Holding the mirror close to her chest, Luz stepped through the portal together with Eda.

They found themselves in a room. A very normal human looking room with a bunk bed and human style clothes scattered around it.

Hope flickered in Luz's eyes. Was it possible? Had she made it home?! Did she-

Someone, not Eda, cleared their throat and Luz turned.

Her joy evaporated.

Four pairs of eyes were staring at her. Eyes belonging to what seemed to be humanoid ducks. One was wearing a pink dress with a cute bow, another wore a blue shirt and a stunned expression. The third wore a red hat and shirt and seemed to be working out what question to ask first, while the fourth wore a green hoodie and held a soda can.

“Um...Hi,” Luz said slowly with a nervous smile. “Please don’t freak-”

The duck in green growled as he rubbed his eyes and set down the soda can.  The actual soda can, Luz found her eyes drawn to it. “Dewey, I thought you promised not to invite extra-dimensional beings into our bedroom again!”

“It wasn't me!” the duck, likely named Dewey, objected. “I mean, it was me that other time, but in my defense the number of views for my show have never been higher.”

“While that may be numerically true, that is strictly relative,” the duck with the red hat replied dryly.  "The number of views were even higher that time you left the camera on for twenty minutes of Mrs. Beakley cleaning the carpet."

“Uh….” Luz said as Eda looked around.

“Talking ducks? Hey, I think I’ve been to this world,” Eda muttered.

Before Luz could ask what she meant, the duck with the cute bow bounced up to her.

“Hi, I’m Webby!” she greeted and pointed behind her. “That’s Louie, Dewey and Huey! What’s your name?”

“I’m Luz, and this is Eda the Owl Lady,” Luz replied, slightly amazed by her chipper attitude. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to barge in-”

“Boys, what was that noise?!” shouted a female voice with a British accent.

“One second,” Huey said as he poked his head out of the room. “A portal opened and now we've got visitors from another world.”

There was a brief pause. “Are they dangerous?”

Huey pulled his head back. “Hostile or non-hostile?”

“Well, some call me a foxy mama and I've slain many a heart, kiddo,” Eda said with a wink.

Huey raised an eyebrow and glanced at Luz. “Non-hostile then?”

Luz nodded as Huey poked his head out again.

“They’re not dangerous, Mrs. Beakley!” he shouted.

“Alright, I’ll be up once these dishes have been dealt with,” the voice shouted back.

“You guys are oddly calm about this,” Luz said as she tilted her head.

Louie scoffed as he shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. “Please, on average we get at least one weird portal opening in our house a month.”

“It was twice last month,” Dewey replied and shivered. “I still can’t get that centaur’s song out of my head.”

"Averages, Dewford!"

“Okay, then,” Luz said, wondering to herself exactly what kind of life these ducks had.

Huey pointed to the mirror in Luz’s hand. “So, given the evidence, my hypothesis is that this is what created the portal.  It wasn't red, so I'm assuming it doesn't use the same method as the Solego circuit - is it magic?  Runic designs, or some sort of divine blessing?”

Luz blinked and blushed realizing she had almost forgotten she was holding it.

“Uh, yeah, again sorry, we kind of just found it and were experimenting,” Luz said as she held it up. “I’ll just turn so we can-”

“Now, hold up, kiddo,” Eda said with a smirk. “I’ve been to this world before and it’s actually pretty fun. A lot more accepting of avian people than the Boiling Isles, if you catch my drift.  It might actually be worth having a short visit here.”

“I can’t help but note you’re not asking our opinion here,” Louie asked.  "I should really start charging tolls on interdimensional travel..."

Dewey stepped forward and pointed. “More importantly will you or will you not come onto my show for an interview?”

“How much are you willing to pay?” Eda said.

“Nevermind that,” Webby said as she grinned at Luz. “Are you a magic user?”

“I’m, er, a witch in training,” Luz said as she rubbed the back of her neck. 

“Oooh, I should introduce you to Lena and Violet,” Webby continued. “We can compare notes - do you have a scrapbook of arcane secrets too?!”

“Oh really,” Luz said as her eyes sparked. That did sound like fun.

“Kids,” a female voice called out and another duck - female-sounding, wearing a pilot uniform - entered the room. “Beakley mentioned something about a portal-”

Suddenly, she gasped and pointed.  “Eda Clawthorne! Is that you?”

Eda frowned and tilted her head. “You look kind of familiar? Do I know you?  You're not a debt collector, right?”

The duck laughed and pointed at herself. “It’s me, Della Duck! Remember? I took your staff for a joyride? We had a bonding experience over nachos?”

Eda blinked, and a smile appeared as she snorted. “Della?! Ha! Wow, it’s been ages! You got old girl!”

Della laughed. “You're one to talk! Didn’t you have red hair?”

Eda snorted as she ran a hand through her hair. “True, but I am still a foxy mama though.  Silver is in.”

“I have several questions,” Huey asked.

“And I smell the start of a delicious backstory,” Luz added as she rubbed her hands.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Della said. “Scrooge, Donald and I ran into her once during one of our adventures.”

Eda chuckled. “Yeah, that was a fun ride. Hey, did Scrooge ever get over the ‘you know what’?”

Della paused, and suddenly sucked air in and looked anywhere <i>but</i> Eda. “Yeah, about that. Great catching up and all, but you should probably leave before he hears that you’re here?”

Eda froze. “Y-you've got to be kidding.  Don’t tell me that old coot is still alive-”

“EDA CLAWTHORNE!”

All heads turned and Luz spotted an old duck wearing a red jacket, a top hat on his head and an angry scowl on his face as he pointed a cane at the visitors.

“YOU HAVE SOME NERVE SHOWING UP HERE!”

“Oh boy,” Eda said as she grabbed Luz’s arm. “Time to go, kiddo!”

“What?” Luz cried. “But what about-”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Scrooge yelled as he wrapped his cane handle around Eda’s wrist. “YOU AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU RETURN THE COPPER PIPES YOU STOLE YOU SHIFTY SHORTCHANGING CHARLATAN!”

“Copper pipes?” Louie asked in disbelief. “Really?  In this economy?”

Eda rolled her eyes as she wrapped her hands around the cane. “Aw come on, Scroogey no need to be so hostile-”

Scrooge snarled. “I have every right to be horrendously hostile you-”

“Even when I specifically came here - across the dimensional void - just to bring back those pipes?” Eda gestured to the corner of the room. “All six of them, right over there!”

“What?” Scrooge looked. “I don’t see-”

Eda kicked Scrooge off his cane and watched the duck tumble flat on his face.

“And that definitely makes it time to go!” Eda said as she took the mirror, twisted the handle and sparks started to fly. “Say your goodbyes, kid, because we are out of here!”

“Uh, okay,” Luz said as Eda pulled her towards the emerging portal. “Sorry about this!”

“No worries,” Webby said as Dewey helped Scrooge up. “Send me a letter! I've always wanted an extradimensional pen-pal!”

Luz could see Scrooge rallying to give chase, but her view was abruptly eclipsed by the swirling blue of the portal as she was pulled through. Both Eda and Luz collided at the foot of the couch as the portal disappeared behind them.

King sipped his hot chocolate as he peered over them from the couch.

“So!  How was the site of my future conquest?” he asked.

Luz pointed an arm up. “Not the human realm, but we met some friendly talking ducks and I got Eda backstory so I'm still calling it a win.”

“And I got a free cane,” Eda declared as she waved the cane up in the air.

Luz narrowed her eyes. “You should really give that back.”

Eda snarked. “Luz, trust me, that guy has a ton of these things.” She held up in the air and fiddled with the handle. “I wonder if-”

A laser blazed out of the cane's tip without warning. Hooty yelped, spiraling out of the way it shot through the wall behind him.

“...Oooh, Mama like,” Eda cooed, eyes sparkling as she raced outside. “Let’s see what this bad boy can do!”

“Mass destruction! Untold mayhem! Unfettered obliteration!  It's my turn next!” King shouted as he gave chase.

Luz sighed as she put down the mirror. “Alright, so...I can check off the mirror at least.  Not a way home, but not bad.  Maybe leave the Owl Lady here next time.”

Luz heard more blasts being fired, and the growing sounds of rampaging fires. She briefly considered going outside to reduce the carnage, but decided it might be better to write that letter to Webby instead.

[just-someone-who-likes-to-write]

Permission to court

(Requested by @athenacross27 : Hello! Me again! 😂 May I request  a Nuada x Reader Reader is a simple girl who works in missions with Red shes playful and is always laughing despite hard times, Nuada becomes interested in her, one day her mom who used to work for the BPRD visits with her two little siblings and Nuada wants to impress her and makes it known he wants to court the Reader? 😁 Some Fluff! ❤)

(A/N): That was an interesting request, I had fun writing it. My apologies if I took too long (writing block was a B****) and if the story strayed away in any way from the main idea.

Warning: Fluff and possible grammatic errors.

Word Count: 3.437

The beast roared as it flicked its scorpion tail causing spikes to be thrown towards Nuada who dodged them skillfully. Hellboy, however, had taken the chance of the beast being momentarily distracted by the prince and punched its humanoid face with his stone arm, sending the beast backward.

 "You need to calm down, big guy."Said Red as he reloaded his gun.

 "How about a riddle?" You asked sarcastically as you took your shoots while walking closer to the beats with a big grin. "You like riddles don't you."

 "You are thinking about the Sphinx Sister (Y/n) that beast in there is a Manticore." Said abe through the radio making red roll his eyes.

 The Manticore, the man-eating beast that is described as having the head of a human, body of a lion and a tail of poisonous spines, similar to porcupine quills or sometimes more akin to a scorpion's. Hellboy, Abraham, Nuada and you with other agents were sent to take care of it but most of the agents either died by the beast or escaped at the sight of it, except for you who stayed along to help. Unfortunately, none of your bullets were able to penetrate the beast's thick skin. When you were busy trying to reload you didn't notice the spikes flying towards you and when you did it was too late to dodge, you closed your eyes tight and waited for the pain but the only thing you felt was being scoped from your spot, away from the poisonous spikes path.

 "You need to be more careful, little one."

 You heard a familiar voice say to you and when you opened your eyes you were met with Nuada'a golden once. He had a look of worry on his face and you could feel his eyes scan your body for any injuries, you just gave him a grin despite the pure fear you felt a moment ago to your close death experience.

 "No worries pretty elf, I got this under control." You said with confidence.

 Just then another roar broke through the ruined room before Nuada pashed you further down shielding from another rain on spikes that went pass him. You tensed in his arms and he could feel it. Nuada looked back down to you with a smirk.

 "I can see that."

 "A little help here!" Called Hellboy as the Manticore flung him, making him crash against a pillar.

 Nuada no wasting time he lifted you and hid you behind a crumbled wall.

 "Stay here." he said sternly.

 He pulled out his Silverlance from over his shoulder before jumping over to run and run to aid Hellboy. Nuada ran closer to the beast, he jumped to one of the unbroken pillars for support to jump even higher and become over the distracted beast to stab it in the back with his weapon causing his to release a pained cry. You watched from your hiding spot as Red and Nuada fought the beast. Your eyes were focused on Elven prince and sometimes for the briefest moments, your eyes would meet. The beast kept thrashing around and flick its tail allowing spikes to fly around blindly, some of them almost came near you before Abraham finally told them on how the beast's weakest point is its mouth causing Red to have the brilliant idea of forcing the Manticore to swallow a strong grenade. Seeing that you covered you went to a more firm part of the wall to hide behind, you closed your ears, eyes and waited for the explosion that shook the ground beneath you, you could also feel a few pebbles fell on your head and around you but didn't hurt you. When things settled down you stayed in your place unsure if it was safe you.

 "(Y/n)!" You could hear Nuada call for you, you could hear the hint of panic in his voice probably because he couldn't find you where he left you.

 "I'm here!" You called as you walked out of your hiding spot. You could see his shoulder slump from the previous tension after he saw you safe.

 You flashed him a grin that made his own show.

 ---

 You were setting in the infirmary and waited for the doctor to allow you to leave.

 "What did the healer say?"

 "Nuada!"

 You smiled when you saw him peeking from behind the white curtains.

 "Nothing yet, I'm still waiting."

 "Well, you will still get these."

 As he said that he pulled his right hand from behind his back and your eyes widened at what was in his hand. A beautiful golden egg-shaped container with what you presumed was an elven carving. The prince placed the golden egg in your hand before turning the key that was on the side around three times then pulled his arms away. You watched in awe as the top half started to turn around and an unfamiliar but beautiful melody filled the air, it started to open like a lotus flower as it kept turning around and in the middle was what looked like a dancing royal couple that turned the opposite side from the golden petals as they danced with each other.

 "Did…did you make this?" You asked aware of the prince's hobby in mechanics but never witnessed any of it until now.

 "Yes." Nuada asked simply with a smile, pleased with your reaction, his eyes never leaving your face but you didn't notice. "I made it for you"

 You were so focused on the dancing couple but when you heard those words you snapped from your little world and looked up to him with wide eyes.

 "I can't accept it!"

 The smile on his face vanished at your words and his brows furrowed in concern.

 "Is it not to your liking?" Asked Nuada. "I can change it and-"

 "No!...Nonononono!" You quickly interrupted. "This is …amazing! It's so beautiful and its obvious you worked so hard on it…I just can't accept it."

 You tried to hand it back but Nuada only shook his head with a smile.

 "Silly human, haven't you heard what I said?" He asked. "I have made this for you, to keep and enjoy."

 You hesitantly pulled your hand back with the gift still unsure. He grinned as he leaned a bit forward.

 "And I thank you for complimenting my work but I must disagree, my dear. For whatever I create can never match your beauty."

 A red blushed crossed your face as you failed to hid it. There he goes again with the flirting and gifts.

 When Nuada first came here he was imprisoned until the B.P.R.D deemed him safe to wander around and join in missions. You at first observed from afar not sure if you should interact with him or not, but when you witnessed how everyone was avoiding him like the plague you couldn't help the disappointment you felt for your fellow colleges for not giving the prince a chance and hurt for how lonely Nuada looked whenever his sister was not around, which was a lot considering her and Abe are now a couple. So you decided to take your shoot and speak with him one day while training.

 He sneered at you, made it clear that he despised you and did not want your company, promised to cause you pain if you came near him again. You didn't listen, kept coming around and greeted him like a friend. When he is training you were there to help him or when he is eating you were there to keep him company and even when you just met him in the hallway by coincident. Each time he would brush you off or throw insults at your trying to drive you away but you would only smile at him and keep coming back. Slowly but surely he started to warm up to you, he stopped insulting you and would show joy talking with you during the three meals

 However, after almost dying in a mission by the claws of a monster that he saved you from his action towards you changed. He started to seek you for just the sake of your company, you started to complement your beauty, strength, and intelligence. Aside from the golden egg in your hands, he had previously given you several other gifts, like a book of his clan history since you always showed interest in learning more of his people. His actions were unusual to you and when you asked Nuala she was as surprised then showed such joy. But she still didn't tell you anything.

 Your phone started to ring shaking you out of your thoughts. You looked at the caller ID before looking back to Nuada.

 "Sorry I need to take this."

 He nodded in understanding and watched you as you walked away to have a bit of privacy with such adoration In his eyes.

 He loved you. When he first met you and learned of how you wanted to be friends with him he thought it was out of pity, so he started to push you away. He tried scaring you insulting you and even tried hurting you when you tried to train with him, all that failed for you will always return with a smile on your face. He had to admit it he admired your strong will.

 He allowed you to be around him and the more time he spent with you the more he felt something towards you. It was a strange feeling that he didn’t know what it was until you almost lost your life that's when he realized that he can't continue this life without you by his side, to see your smile.

 That's why he decided to start courting you. He showered you with attention and attention. He even went to his dear sister who was happy for him and was delighted to help him by telling him your interest whenever you two spent time together. Everything was going perfect, he just needs to keep going, maybe even take you out on one of those outings the humans call "A date" and he will have you wowed in no time.

 "Hey, mom!"

 He froze when he heard you, then unconsciously came closer to eavesdrop.

 "….Yeah, I already talked to Mr.manning he didn't mind you coming to visit …"

 Another feeling started to bubble inside Nuada that he didn't know he could feel.

 "It was hard at first, but after he saw that you were a previous agent of the B.P.R.D he was convinced…"

 His eyes widened a little at that. Her mother was an agent too? That idea didn't make him feel any better.

 "Yes, mom I already told him about my younger siblings he doesn’t mind as long as they are well behaved…"

 Now Nuada knew what he was feeling.

 "I will see you guys next week."

 It was panic.

 ---

 "Mom!"

 You called as you went to hug your mother, who hugged you back. Nuada was standing a few feet away from you both and just watched. He saw movement from behind your mother and saw two younger humans who he suspected were your younger siblings. A boy and a girl, the boy was older and he gave Nuada a look of bewilderment while the girl gave him a look of fear.

 "And I suspect you are the infamous Prince Nuada?"

 Said your mother as she walked closer to him. Nuada bowed his head down to her.

 "Yes, and it's a true honor to finally meet the woman who raised (Y/n) to be the kind of woman she is today."

 He smiled at your mother before kissing the back of her hand. Your mother gave you a look which you can only describe as a pleasant surprise. Yours, however, were of confusion.

 ---

  "(Y/n)! can we go to the shooting range?" asked your brother with a grin. "I want to see you sue a gun!"

 "(Y/n), can we go to the library?" your sister asked timidly.

 "Augh!... Libraries are boring!"

 "Are not!"

 "Are too!"

 You tried your best to keep your siblings calm as they argued but at the same time tried to keep your eyes on your more and Nuada. They were ahead of you three and whatever they were talking about you couldn't hear but you could see it had your mother impressed. You didn't understand Nuada's sudden interest in your mother. Since she came he didn't leave her side which made you suspicious. You felt your hands being tugged and saw that your siblings were still waiting for you to decide where to go first.

 "Hmm... I…"

 "How about you two meet the big 3?" Your mother said when she saw you struggling and her suggestion made both your siblings excited.

 "I want to meet Hellboy!" exclaimed your brother as he tugged your left hand forward.

 "I want to meet Abraham." Said your sister as she tugged your right hand forward.

 Now you fought against monsters and demons but you can never fight the strength of your younger siblings. So with a defeated look you gave in and took them to meet the big three, leaving your mother and Nuada alone.

  ---

 "(Y/n) told me that you are quite skilled in combat, even Agent Hellboy wasn't able to match." Your mother asked as she and Nuada walked the halls.

 "Yes…" He answered."I am skilled in hand-in-hand combat and carry my Silverlance, which is forged by magical silver. It can inflect deadly wounds to both mortal and immortal creatures."

 "That is very interesting."

 Nuada was feeling very pleased with your mother's reaction. After all, it is his goal tp impress her and have her approval to officially court you.

 "May I ask, if you have all this skill why do you keep training with my daughter?"

 "Because I believe that I can help (Y/n) become a better fighter, so she can be able to protect herself if by chance I wasn't there to do so myself."

 Your mother raised her brow at that.

 "So you mean you will always be around to protect my daughter?"

 "Yes." He answered unfazed with confidence. Your mother stayed silent for a while with a knowing look in her eyes.

 "Your majesty-"

 "Please call me by my name."

 She smiled and nodded.

 "Very well, Nuada…"She began." What are your intentions with my daughter?"

 "Pardon?"

 "(Y/n) maybe unaware of it yet, but I am." She explained. "I am a retired B.P.R.D agent, I have fought against many monsters, have seen many creatures that I have learned from including elves from the Bethmoora clan."

 Nuada's eyes widened with shock but as quickly as it came it was going returning to his confident self. He said nothing, waiting for the woman to continue.

 "She told me about you since the first day you came here and kept me updated on how you two started to become… good friends." She explained. "And how later your actions towards her changed. She hoped that I would know what it meant since I met elven creatures before, which I do."

 A look a panic crossed Nuada's face that made your mother chuckle.

 "Don't worry I haven't told her."

 He sighed in relief.

 "That's why I'm here Nuada." She stopped in the middle of the empty hall, which made him stop too and face you.

 "I want you to convince me why should I allow you to court, my daughter?" she asked. "After all, you were so determined to kill humankind  before, what changed that?"

 Nuada was silent for a moment before he took a deep breath and stood straight.

 "It is true." He began. "I hated the humankind I wanted them all dead so I could save not only my people but the earth and all the magical races that lived in it. I will not lie, I still hate humans…"

 He trailed off. "But..?" Your mother said wanting him to continue.

 "But I do not hate all of them." He finished. "(Y/n) had made me see that not all humans are the same and that there are those like herself who are fighting to save this earth. But that's only part of the reason why I wish to court (Y/n)."

 "She is…one of the most selfless creatures I have ever. She always puts others before herself, she is thoughtful and kind to all, including me who returned her sweet greetings with insults and harsh words in the beginning. I admire (Y/n) strong will and the ability to keep that beautiful smile on her face no matter the hardship she is facing."

 Nuada took a step backward and bowed to your mother.

 "Lady (Y/m/n)(Y/L/n), will you give me your blessing to court your daughter (Y/n)(Y/L/n) with the intention of marrying her."

 "What if (Y/n) didn't feel the same way that you feel towards her?"

 Nuada looked back up to her he saw a strict soldier looking back at him. her question did not shock him, after all, she was a mother who wanted the best for her child.

 "I will keep trying to win (Y/n)'s heart with everything I can." He said. "However, if she truly did not wish me to become her significant other then I shall respect her wishes."

 Neither of them said anything, Nuada was waiting while your mother was still unsure. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't get the chance to say anything as they both turned to the side at the sound of feet running towards them. It was the two siblings who had a big grin on their faces and then you who was chasing after them with a tired look.

 "Mom!" They both called. Your mother greeted them with open arms and a smile.

 "I saw Hellboy!... He was so cool and awesome and …and... And he let me hold his gun!"

 " Abraham knew my name and what I liked from just putting his hand on the glass, And I met a REAL princess!"

 The two were gushing over who they met and your mother did her best to listen but she didn't miss how you went to Nuada's side with a tired grin. He greeted you then complimented your patience with the young once. She watched as you told him of what he missed but what your mother was focused on was the look of care and admiration he held in his eyes when he looked at you.

 ---

 "You're are leaving already?"

 "I did say that I only was able to come for one visit, besides your siblings had seemed to have used up all their energy." Your mother said as she tried to keep your siblings awake long enough to reach the care.

 "I'm sorry for not spending the day with you as we planned." You said bashfully. Your mother only chuckled.

 "It's not like I had spent it alone, Nuada was there to keep me company. He is quite the gentlemen."

 "Yeah, he is." You said before smiling at him, which seemed to make him melt on the inside.

 "And Nuada… "Your mother called earning the prince's attention.

 "Take good care of my daughter." She said with a wink.

 "Mom!" You hissed at her embarrassed by her action thinking that she was teasing you but in reality, Nuada knew that he had earned her blessing.

 When your family finally left after saying goodbyes you and Nuada turned on your heels and walked back inside.

 "I love these two but I almost forgot how these two can be a handful." You said as you stretched your hands. "I didn't know if I should stop Red from letting my brother shot with his gun or stop my sister from annoying princess Nuala with questions of 'were you stuck in a tower once'?"

 "It was tiring."

 "It was." You said with a chuckle. Nuada licked his lips to prepare for what to say next.

 "(Y/n)."

 "Hmm?" you still didn't look at him too busy stretching.

 "Would you like to go on an outing with me?"

 This caught your attention

 "An outing?" you asked confused.

 "I think you humans have another name for it… a "date" I believe"

 You turned red at his proposal.

 "N...Nuada, a date is a meeting between a couple who have a romantic interest in each other."

 You stuttered thinking that maybe the prince misunderstood the word.

 "I'm aware of that."

 He said almost purring the words for you with a charming grin. Your blush deepened. Biting your lower lip you mustered your courage and looked back up to him with a smile.

 "I would love too."

--- 

I hope you all enjoyed this story and if you did don’t be afraid to request

[brett-talbot-imagines]

Imagine #65 ||  okay, first off... Sorry for not updating right away. It’s been what? A year? Hope everyone’s doing good and staying at home for your frontliners (observe social distancing when going out to buy groceries!) Warning: It can be graphic? Idk? Y/F/C means your favorite color

As usual, if there are any errors I’m sorry! Not Beta read and I wrote everthing at like 3 or 4AM.

~~~

You flew as fast as you could, almost hitting a tree because you glanced behind you for a second to see if they were still following – which they were. You knew for a fact that your friends weren’t really up to anything tonight right after the wild party yesterday, yet here you were, being chased by the very same pack you were a part of. 

“What the hell was that?!” You heard Stiles exclaim just as he stopped his jeep and got out, the door to the passenger seat slamming close as well as Scott hot out.

Poor Rosco was already making a strange noise from running too fast – as fast as it can go at least – and too long in the dead of the night while a clear outline of another car - a sleeker looking one- followed behind them.

You struggled with your extended limbs as you landed on a thick branch and rested, the sudden exertion of muscles making it ache from not being used for a long time. You were only a few trees from the main road but it was still close enough to see what was going on.

“What was it?” The owner of the sleeker car spoke as he smoothly got out of his ride and walked to where Scott and Stiles were already standing by the jeep, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“That was definitely not some person with special effects, Liam.” You can hear Lydia over the phone when she was put on speaker, her tone seemingly annoyed at the joke the youngest member of the pack made about some random person using green screen; adding that he was getting tired and that maybe the whole situation will resolve itself tomorrow.

“Resolve itself?!” Lydia grew more annoyed. “We can’t let that thing roam around!” 

“That bird flew from my roof, who knows what it might’ve left here or what it might’ve taken.” The banshee was almost screaming, making Stiles jerk a little at the loudness she was emanating from the phone, it made you smile a bit at his silliness.

“Okay, okay…” Stiles suddenly turned off the speaker before placing the phone to his ear to try and settle the rage his girl was in at the moment, choosing to have the conversation between themselves and not have it broadcasted to the others.

It grew quiet for a while as Scott, Brett and Liam looked around the side of the road – Brett almost close to where you were. You tried not to take this chance to fly away because you knew you were going to cause more noise from fluttering and restarting your own ‘engine’ of escape so you settled on resting for a while and waited for them to leave. But while you planned your getaway, what Brett said caught your attention.

“Brett, what’s wrong?” The Alpha asked, his brows furrowing as he looked at the taller werewolf before him.

“It’s Y/N.” He answered, suddenly more alert than before with a look of worry and fear etched in the tone of his voice “I can smell her.”

Just as Brett mentioned it, both Liam and Scott noticed it too when they walked over to where he was.

“Well don’t you and Y/N, y’know…” Stiles spoke from the other side of the jeep after ending the call with Lydia, his arms folded and rested on the hood of his jeep. “ Do it in the car?” 

Stiles shrugged his shoulders at this while Scott cleared his throat to hide a laugh. “Maybe that’s what you’re smelling.”

Brett only looked at Stiles in disbelief with arms crossed over his chest as he leaned on his car door, all the while Liam looked almost appalled at the information that was being thrown out in the open when he was just with Brett in the car ride going to where they were now.

“I’m serious!” Brett almost growled as he started walking back to his car, opening the door before slamming it closed rather loudly. He took his phone and dialed 1.

“Who are you calling?” Liam asked, he was now walking back from the wet soil to the cemented main road.

“Did Lydia tell you where Y/N is right now?” He asked as he placed his phone to his ear, ignoring Liam’s question – too afraid to grasp that you might be the one taken by the humanoid that flew from Lydia’s house and to who knows where.

“She said that Y/N actually disappeared right when we heard the thing…” As Stiles answered, his words started to trail off at the sudden realization that there was a big possibility that whatever Brett was thinking was correct. He looked to Liam then to Scott, the same thought registered in his head and everyone seemed to panic even more. But before he could continue, they all turned their heads to the direction of the sudden noise they heard above them. 

Shooting up to the sky, you didn’t gamble a glance to see the boys and swiftly flew away. Brett and the others immediately went back in their cars and sped up chasing you. The cold wind that was hitting your face made your eyes water but not before hearing a sound that whooshed just past your face making you stop and search where it came from, your heart beating faster from the sudden adrenaline to defend yourself.

“There! Shoot now!” You heard shouting before another sharp-bladed arrow flew past you. 

“Shoot to kill!” It reminded. 

The order was repeated over the radio as more hunters started to gather from below you, you dove back down in the trees to deter from being out in the open and hopefully blend yourself in the environment. But it didn’t take too long before you were spotted again, this time their guns were now being aimed at you.

Perching on a thick branch, you then proceeded to cocoon yourself by having your wings fold around you that also acted as an armor shielding yourself from the rain of bullets that came your way. But what you did not expect was what felt like a grappling hook that managed to lodge itself on your wing before it pulled you down to the cold hard ground.

The hunter with the grappling hook gave a sharp tug that unfortunately, made you hear your extra limb pop. 

A cry of pain escaped your throat as you felt your body get dragged a few feet away from where you landed earlier.

Looking up through the few hairs that fell down on your face, you saw several hunters pulling at the slider of the guns while you heard the bowstrings of the archer's crossbows stretch - all aimed at you. 

You saw their weapons follow your every move as you stood up and steadied yourself, a face of determination plastered on you that seemed to unsettle with the newer hunters included in tonight's hunting activity. Your wings ruffled as it spread wide to display dominance in hopes that they would frighten or at the very least intimidate them.

It was quiet for a moment as you observed each of the big bulky men that had you trapped in their circle, a mix of bows and arrows and guns in their hands. You deciphered each of their position and eventually spotted the one person who was in training and aimed for him, turning sharply to your side you extended your right wing and let out a few sharp feathers fly towards the person with a whish sound and hit his gun - effectively disarming him.

This triggered a round of gunfire and arrows heading your way, your defense mode activated immediately as you cocooned yourself back with your wings. But before you can fully cover yourself up, a grappling hook managed to grasp your wrist and another on your wing pulling at it painfully.

You felt like you were getting torn in half as the hunters with the hooks started to pull in the opposite directions, your back muscles trying its hardest to retract your wings around yourself.

“Steady her.” The ring leader commanded as he slowly neared your struggling form. The tug-of-war to the ground on your body forced you to kneel with both your arms and wings spread wide.

Your eyes were full of tears as it frantically looked for an exit, trying as much as you can to calculate your escape from this hell hole you managed to get yourself in.

“What a beauty,” he commented with his hand caressing your cheek, your nose scrunching up as you moved your head to get away from his foul breath that fanned your face when he spoke. 

"Couldn't say the same thing to you, though." You replied almost cockily, not really knowing where that little confidence came from.

The smirk on the hunter's face in front of you turned into a scowl at your reply, he clicked his tongue before he revealed to you the sharp sword he held on his side as he took a few steps back.

“Always bring back a body.” He said as he raised the weapon up in the air, his voice loud enough for all his minions to hear. “Even if it's just a piece - as a souvenir.”

“You’re sick.” You spat.

"No body, no kill." He spoke again, ignoring you before he raised the sword in front of your to strike. 

You closed your eyes already accepting defeat, tears free falling down your cheeks and onto the ground.

You waited.

You waited for the sharp swift pain that would cut you in half starting from the top to the bottom.

Waiting for the pain that you would forever lose the ability to feel the air as you glided, and the thrill of free-falling just before you spread your wings.

Waiting for the defeat that you won't get to see those green eyes you keep falling in love with every day.

But it never came.

At the sound of the familiar growl, your eyes snapped back open as you released a breath you weren't aware you were holding.

Looking for your predator, you felt more tears run down your cheek as you watched him take hit after hit of his own sword with the occasional swipe of claws. Brett’s back muscles rippled under the shirt he wore as he struck the man to death, the front of his shirt already splattered with blood. 

When Brett stumbled upon the scene before him - the sight of you knelt down in front of a sword, the wolf in him did not hesitate to attack the threat his anchor was in. The wolf took full charge of the situation and Brett was not holding it back 

The grappling hooks connected to you suddenly lost its grip as you saw Liam and Scott finally take down the people concerned. Taking the claw of the hook off your wrist and wings, you felt relieved despite the lacerations you saw on your limbs and a dislocated wing joint.

“Y/N,” Your eyes looked towards the direction of the voice.

“You’re okay,” you were suddenly being engulfed in an embrace as Brett was finally able to calm down from the rush of adrenaline and anger, his nose taking a deep breath and smelling the scent he drew comfort from.

Your waterworks were nonstop as you dwelled in the feeling of being in the safety and security of Brett Talbot.

You tried to stop the sobs that lingered in your throat as Brett pushed himself away from you but still at arms length to scan you of your injuries, eyes looking, searching and taking notes from head to toe.

He could only sigh when his eyes landed back on yours, one hand cupping your cheek before the other splayed itself on your back and pulling you back against his chest in an embrace.

"So glad we got here in time," Brett could only bury his face further into your neck as his own tears threatened to spill out.

"C'mon," it was Scott who spoke up, breaking the trance the two of you and Brett were in. "We have to get you to Deaton."

"Can you walk?" You heard Brett ask beside you, his face seeming determined to carry you back to his car.

"Yeah, I can." You answered rather softly, the adrenaline in your system already losing its effectiveness making you feel tired. "Don't worry"

“Halloween was yesterday, why are you still wearing your costume?” It was Stiles who cracked a joke when he came with a bloodied bat on his shoulder.

“I’m…not wearing one?” You answered.

This is why Stiles isn't just the ½ of the brains (Lydia being the other half) but he is also a whole portion of a person who had a sense of humor, or rather, sarcasm that always lightened your mood. It looked to you that it was his top priority at the moment to keep your mind distracted from the events that occured, and you let him of course.

“Okay, correct me if I’m wrong but you didn’t have wings yesterday.” 

~

As you all walked back to the cars at a slow and careful pace with your heavy wings and it's feathers dragging behind you, it was Stiles and Liam who started to converse over what just happened (and of the elephant in the room).

"So I'm back to being the human, then?"

"Yeah, sorry." You gave a light laugh, smiling to him as he gave a sigh of defeat.

"Did you know about this?" Liam asked Brett.

"Nope, not a clue." He answered. "Though I wasn't exactly sure either if you were human or if Y/N's scent is just different because she's my mat-anchor."

You looked at Brett who matched your pace beside you despite having long legs, one brow raised questioningly at him. You weren't sure if the others were able to catch what he almost said, but you were sure as hell caught it.

"So what are you exactly?" Liam asked again.

"Avian humanoid?"

"N-no-" you answered. "-when you put it that way, it sounds like I've been experimented on."

"Were you?" Stiles asked.

"No, I wasn't."

"A Phoenix then?"

"I don't think Y/N does fire-do you?" Liam seemed to be entertained at the thought when we looked at you with the question.

"No." Brett was entertained as well as you answered, the laughs you let out bringing back a smile to his face as he watched you interact with your pack.

"Nephilim." You answered.

A chorus of Oh's came from all three of them.

“But why are your wings Y/F/C?” Stiles asked again.

“Why not? Can’t an angel custom fit the color of her wings to her liking?” You asked back with a laugh.

~~~

[ick25]

Pokemon Designs I don’t like. Part 6.

Finally done with Gen 5, but we are not out of the woods yet, there are still more Pokemon designs I don’t particularly like. 

Because Gen 6 introduces the idea of Mega evolution, which is basically Digi-evolution for Pokemon, some Pokemon designs from the previous gens were altered, some of them are pretty cool, some are okay, and others are just meh, but some of them are just beyond the meh for me.

First, some dishonorable mentions.

Fennekin line.

I have mix feelings about Fennekin’s evolutions. On one hand, I love Fennekin, on the other, those evolutions don’t feel right. I get the whole oracle fox idea, but Fennekin doesn’t give me the impression that it’s gonna evolve into a biped fox sorcerer. It doesn’t carry a stick, but when it evolves, it suddenly has one. I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right.

Litleo and evolutions.

I just feel that Litleo and its evolutions could look better. I personally don’t like the brown color scheme for their bodies, and Litleo’s face is too silly for my taste. It kinda looks like a mouse.

Florges.

I actually like Florges’s design, but the only things that bothers me are those ears it has, it reminds me of a cow for some reason. Also, is she always in that curved position? That can’t be good for her back.

Tyrunt.

Just being nitpicky here, Tyrantrum is cool, but I just don’t like its pre evolution, probably because I wanted something like chibi Terry from Dinosaur king.

He’s just so cute!

Now on to the list.

1. Chespin evolution line.

I hate Chespin, it reminds me of a character from that stupid hybrid movie from 2007 that aired on Cartoon Network back when they were experimenting with Live Action content, you know the one!

Chespin is like a chipmunk wearing a lizard skin hoodie. Quilladin looks worse, and Chesnaught looks like it was in a car accident and its wearing a Poncho to cover its bandaged body.

I just don’t get it, is it suppose to be like a fusion between a chipmunk and a chestnut? That’s a neat idea, but the final design doesn’t blend the two concepts well because it just look like a chipmunk doing cosplay.

4/10.

2. Diggersby.

What is this thing? Bunnelby is kinda cute, but it evolves into this? I get the ears are like excavators, which is a cool idea, but did they have to make it look like a stereotypical middle-aged construction worker? It looks gross, specially with that color scheme. And am I the only one that thinks its in game cry sounds like a burp?

2/10.  

3. Pangoro.

This is not what I expected Pancham’s evolution to look like. Yes, I was expecting a big tough looking Panda, but I just don’t like Pangoro’s design. I don’t like its humanoid body, bears can stand on their hind legs but this one doesn’t look right. 

Where they going for a Kung-Fu Panda approach? This doesn’t scream Chinese flare at all. I don’t like the way they draw its fur, specially from the back, it looks like a its wearing a tuxedo, but why? This looks like some kind of butler thug Panda and I don’t like it. Plus, why not give it bamboo to chew on? Or have Pancham carry a bamboo stick around? That’s what Panda’s like to eat!

7/10.

4. Furfrou.

Ah, the French Poodle, so lovable, so graceful, so intelligent. Even though Poodles are originally from Germany, they became famous in France for the popular hair cuts they gave it. I have a toy poodle and she is my treasure, but why do I hate this Pokemon then?

First of all, these styles don’t last long, its hair goes back to its default form almost after every battle.

And even if you switch it out of your party, the style resets again. What’s even the point, I know that real Poodles have to be groomed very often, but not even my dog looses her haircut so fast.

Furfrou is just a normal type, not even fairy as a second typing! Poodles are super sociable, it could’ve been perfect!

Also, how could they not make a cute toy Poodle pre-evolution? Like a dog version of Skitty and Delcatty, but with something extra.

I don’t like its eyes, its nose, and the way they draw its hair. Why not make it have different abilities depending on the hair cut you give it? That would’ve been interesting.

2/10.

5. Aromatisse.

When I saw Spritzee for the first time, I never would’ve imagine that it would evolve into a cancan dancer. I get the plague doctor idea, but why make it a fairy type? Something about perfumes, I think, but the way Spritzee is designed makes me wonder if Aromatisse has fur or feathers.

I don’t hate this design, I think its cute, but very weird at the same time. I like the colors, but it just doesn’t make sense to me so I have mix feelings.

7/10.

6. Swirlix and Slurpup.

What is this suppose to be? A meringue Pokemon? I get that Meringue is part of the French cuisine, but this looks silly. 

It’s some kind of weird dog face cotton candy that evolves into a melted pink clown. I just don’t like Slurpup’s deformed body, and that tongue sticking out reminds me of Wakko Warner, minus the charm.

3/10.

7. Binacle and Barbaracle.

What does Binacle remind me of?

Binacle are two claw like things sticking out of a rock. Barnacles are ugly and gross to look at sometimes, why make a Pokemon out of one of the ugliest species of barnacles, the Goose neck barnacle? DON’T LOOK IT UP!

A creative, yet, very bold idea, if done wrong, you get an ugly Pokemon design. Can it get worse?

Yes it can. Better, but not enough.

Binacle: 2/10.

Barbaracle: 5/10.

8. Bergmite.

Avalugg looks like a turtle, shouldn’t Bergmite be a little turtle then? Is it like an animal using ice as an armor or something? I just feel the design is too simple and boring. 

Also, I might have a personal hate for this one because it was the first shiny I encountered in Pokemon X, but since I didn’t like its design I killed it so my Pokemon would get Exp, then I ran into another Bergmite that had different colors, that’s when I realized that the one I first encountered was a shiny. Oops.

That would be all the Pokemon from Gen 6 that I don’t like, but Mega Evolution designs deserve a list of their own. What are your thoughts?

[canid-slashclaw]

The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9,  Chapters 10 and 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16 , Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20,  Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Six months passed since Kaleb and Amalthia had first moved in together. Since that time, she transferred some of her most important possessions from her father's place - including the ubiquitous workbench and welding components, which she set up in Ulfgar's back storage room. Kaleb, on the other hand, could not quite bring himself to return to his old homestead, especially considering the circumstances of his departure.

His tour of duty with the Seraph was over, so now he had far more free time available to establish his career options. During this time, both he and Amalthia began searching for hotspots throughout Tyria, hoping to cash in on their respective combat skills. Helping to clean towns of troublesome undead became a particular specialty of theirs.

***

Kaleb clamored up a small hill while waving a brightly colored banner that was attached at the end of a long pole. As he held the colorful object aloft, the mournful groans of the undead became ever louder.

"Hey! Over here you maggot shitters!" In spite of their various states of decomposition, they moved with surprising bursts of speed. So much so that one of them nearly snagged Kaleb by the ankle just as he was trying to sprint away. When he reached the top of the precipice, he found that his only avenue of escape had been blocked. The undulating mass of festering corpses began surging directly towards him as he threw down the banner then pulled out his revolvers. His weapons blazed as scores of the rotten creatures began to fall in droves. Seconds later, he saw a row of their heads explode followed by a thunderous crack.

"Keep up the good work, love. You're doing great," came Amalthia's voice from another precipice three hundred yards away. She waved to him while lying in the prone position with her high-powered long rifle tucked firmly against her shoulder. Several shots from her longarm destroyed half a dozen of the putrid creatures as they tried converging on Kaleb's position.

"A little more off the side, if you don't mind Miss Steelblade," Kaleb shouted as he felled several more of the creatures with his revolvers.

"Be more specific, Mr. Grimwald. Left or right?"

Twelve more zombies surged upon Kaleb's position. He quickly turned, reloaded then emptied all but two rounds in each gun as the corpses fell all around him.

"Whichever side is closest to killing me first would be great. Please and thank you."

Amalthia reloaded as well then lined up more heads for a multi-shot takedown. As the high-velocity rounds ripped through the row of skulls, showers of rotten brain matter splattered across Kaleb's face and clothing.

"Ugh! Well, that's one jerkin that's going to become a work shirt," he quipped as he tried his best to prevent the rest of his designer outfit from getting soiled from the remnants of the undead.

"Serves you right for wearing your church clothes to a risen slaughter," Amalthia shouted with laughter.

Kaleb chuckled at the comment and responded in kind. "Well, then I am appropriately dressed, cause this sort of thing is my kind of preying!"

"Pray or prey? Homophones are a bitch, aren't they?"

"Oh. Now you're just being factious. Clear my back."

Amalthia unleashed two more rounds, as one of the risen's body started to convulse after it had been relieved of its head. Reloading, six more to your left."

"Got 'em!"

He fired the remaining four rounds then as he reached down to reload, he found that his ammo reserved had been completely exhausted.

"I'm out. Hit me up for some reloads," Kaleb shouted as he locked his eyes upon hers.

She grabbed four bundles of replacement speedload rounds then, then using an atl ltl-type throwing device, hurled them in Kaleb's direction. With reflexes rivaling that of a cat he caught the reloads then promptly attempted to chamber a full load of them into each revolver. However, the undead were almost upon him by the time he was trying to reload.

"Looks like Bob is gonna get a workout today." Kaleb drew his longsword and began hacking away at the risen masses.

"Did you hear that? Something's coming, love - something big!" Amalthia's lower ears began to twitch from picking up the low frequency sound.

"My hearing isn't a sensitive as yours. You have any clues as to what it might be?" Kaleb asked as he finally had a chance to reload his guns.

Amalthia replied. "Nada. Surely even you can hear it now, because it's really, really close."

Kaleb readied for the next onslaught when, suddenly, a cluster of trees in front of him began to part. Rising up from the parted treetops, stood a massive humanoid figure that looked to be at least thirty feet tall.

"I may not have heard it, but I sure as hell see it. Giant... RUUNN!"

With a measure of speed even he had not dreamed was possible, Kaleb darted towards a mass of undead all the while firing wildly, hoping to avoid the giant that was rapidly coming his way. The creature's enormous stride quickly closed the gap as he tried desperately to avoid its grasp. It was too late.

The hideous decomposing monstrosity grasped hold of the young man, lifting him up towards its massive head. He fired several rounds into its skull but with no effect. As the creature's lipless jaws yawned opened to devour its prey, drawing Kaleb ever closer towards its foul-smelling mouth, the abomination's entire body began to convulse. Suddenly, the creature began to buckle to the ground. Kaleb looked up at its face and saw standing atop its head; the backlit form of a slender horned feline. When the monstrosity finally crumpled to the ground, Amalthia was standing over the creature with her longsword planted deeply into the base of its skull.

"Base of the neck. It's the only way to kill those things, silly!" Amalthia said as she loped off the vanquished foe on all fours. She then ran over to Kaleb and gave him a brief but passionate kiss.

"Well, I knew that. I was just firing for effect."

"Yeah, right. Sure you were. You panicked. Admit it!" She playfully chided him.

"Did not!" He stuck his tongue out.

"Bullshit. Did too! Be a man and fess up!"

"Okay, okay. I'll admit, I was a little freaked when a thirty foot monster was going to turn me into two-hundred and ten pounds of poop," Kaleb retorted.

"Um. The undead don't poop."

"They do too. Or else how else would they be able to keep eating so much."

"Well, I've never seen one poop," Amalthia shook her head while grinning in amusement over the nature of the conversation.

Upon gaining his composure, Kaleb pointed to the fallen giant. "Poop or no poop, that's quite a haul, there. Whaddya think? A hundred gold just for the big guy?"

Amalthia shook her head. "Nah. Fifty tops. You know how cheap town mayors are in these places."

"Y'know. If neither of us had a conscience, we could have let them snack on a few of the townsfolk first. I'm sure the mayor would have paid us double for each head we turned in," Kaleb stated as he began the grim work collecting the heads (or at least what he could salvage) from the fallen undead.

"Blah! It's going to take me over a week to get this stench out of my fur. Well, it looks like I trashed yet another set of flashy clothes as well," Amalthia grumbled as she began hacking off the heads from the fallen corpses.

Kaleb gathered up a sack full of heads as well then hurled them into the back of the dolyak cart. Any skulls that were fragmented or too badly shattered to be reconstructed were placed in a separate wooden box.

"I hope they don't chince us on our kill count. I know I must have blown up at least thirty heads."

Amalthia began her own meticulous count. "Perhaps you should use Bob a bit more, then. He does give a much cleaner cut, after all."

"That's all fine and dandy from your point of view. You're not the one standing just inches away from hordes of gouls wanting to have you for their next meal." Kaleb sounded miffed.

Her ears drooped. "I didn't mean it that way, Kal. I was just trying to be funny, that's all."

Kaleb came up to give her a reassuring hug. "I'm sorry, honey. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

She looked into his eyes then gently licked him on the face. "It's alright, sweetie. I think the both of us are just tired, stressed and exhausted. Tell you what - once we show the town mayor our bounty and collect our pay, we can go to Lion's Arch and shop for some totally new wardrobes."

"Um. Did you just lick me after cleaning the undead gunk off your fur?"

Amalthia planted her muzzle on his lips then ran her tongue down his mouth for a moment before pulling away. "Would you expect anything else?"

She smiled and laughed. Kaleb, on the other hand, hunkered over and spat on the ground several times.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..."

***

The couple headed on over to Lion's Arch the following day. Flocks of seagulls soared low over the fishing docks as Amalthia and Kaleb enjoyed the seaside atmosphere. They were strolling along the boardwalk, hoping to find some unusual decor for their new place.

Kaleb held up a giant bronze starfish sculpture. "Like it?"

Amalthia placed her clawed finger to her lips then shook her head. "Nah. The nautical theme is just not our style."

"Bummer. It would have looked great hanging over our bed."

"Um. That's asking for a death wish, you know. One good bump and that thing will go falling off and wind up gouging through someone's eye socket. I'll pass, thank you very much," Amalthia said as she turned away giving a dismissive wave.

"Do your people perceive everything as being deadly? I thought they loved sharp, pointy objects." Kaleb quipped.

"Weapons, yes. Poorly made, tacky sculptures? No so much."

The artist merchant gave her an angry glare. Kaleb carefully placed the tacky object back on the display wall.

"Hey. Didn't we come here to buy new outfits?" He said.

"By Buntfur's tail... you're right love! Let's head on over to Ariyana's place."

Kaleb and Amalthia headed towards the main shopping district. Each wanting to hold the others' hand, but knowing that open displays of romantic affection between their races would only invite unwanted trouble.

They finally arrived at the boutique named Roses and Thorns Apparel. The menagerie of custom-made outfits overwhelmed Kaleb - everything from norn wedding gowns to sylvari casual wear was on display. He especially liked the charr-themed human-sized apparel.

The owner happened to see them walking in. "Darlings! Why come on in!"

"Hi Ari. I'm back, as promised," Amalthia said as she waved to the chicly dressed sylvari woman.

Ariyana immediately recognized her client and strode over with a grace befitting a feline. Her large green eyes looked Kaleb over carefully as the patterns in her barklike skin glowed a shimmering pale blue.

"Oh my. Who is this specimen of a man?"

"Kaleb's the name." He reached out to shake her hand. With the regalness of a courtier, she clasped his hand with both of her delicate fingers as she greeted him with a wide smile.

"Kaleb. Your name is no stranger to my ears. Amalthia, darling - tis good to see you!" She reached out to give the charr a hug.

Amalthia returned the favor. "Good to see you again as well, Ari. How are things going here? Is Jestin around?"

"Fine, fine. My dear. As a matter of fact, things are going quite splendidly. One of the noble families from Divinity's Reach commissioned us to design their wedding apparel. They wanted a norn theme with a bit of sylvari flare thrown in. Oh. I almost forgot... my fiancé is downstairs putting the finishing touches on a business suit for a client."

"I'm glad that things are working out so well for your business. So you and Jestin getting... what's the word, love?" Amalthia struggled with the word as she looked in Kaleb's direction.

"Married?" Kaleb helped her out.

"Yes. Married."

Ariyana's face lit up when she heard Amalthia call Kaleb 'love'. "Goodness me. So are you and this lovely lad together as well?"

Kaleb held Amalthia's pawed hand. "Yes we are. We've been through a lot together and I'm very happy to call her my significant other."

"Just a moment, dearie." Ariyana ran towards the basement stairway and shouted. "Jestin my dear. You must come up now. You'll want to see this."

"Be there in a minute, dear."

Unable to contain her jubilation, Ariyana gave both Kaleb and Amalthia a big hug. Her fiancé came up the stairs a short time later. He was a slender human of long blond hair and soft porcelain skin complexion. He appeared to be somewhat shy and introverted, but when he joined his mate his demeanor changed dramatically.

"Jestin. You remember Amalthia, don't you?"

"Yes I do. Nice to meet you Amalthia." He shook her hand and only gave Kaleb a friendly stare.

"He doesn't bite darling. This is Kaleb, Amalthia's mate."

"Mate? Oh wow! Nice to meet you Kaleb!" Jestin eagerly grabbed him by the hand and shook it vigorously.

Kaleb clapped him on the shoulder and smiled as he returned the handshake. "Nice to meet you too, Jestin. Even nicer to see that there are more couples like us around."

"So true, indeed," Ariyana said as she remembered something else. "Oh how rude of me. Would you two like to go out somewhere to dine or have you already eaten?"

"His stomach is a bottomless pit and so is mine. We are game," Amalthia replied as she gave Kaleb a quick kiss on the cheek.

The two couples headed out of the shop then down along the main thoroughfare as they perused the various eating establishments. Ariyana noticed that her friends were not holding hands in public and decided to provide some encouragement.

"It's okay, darlings. People here don't think twice about cross-racial couples displaying affection with each other."

Kaleb seemed skeptical. "But a human and a charr? I have yet to see a couple like Amalthia and I."

"Well, someone has to start somewhere. Might as well be now, right?" Ariyana said as she clasped hold of each of their hands and joined them together.

"Thanks, Ari. I just don't want our open display of affection to be a source of trouble for you and Jestin," Amalthia said as she held Kaleb's hand tightly.

As the quartet rounded the corner to the next alleyway that led to another row of shops, Kaleb noticed a group of around twelve scruffy men approaching their direction. When they got closer, he could see that they had a number of weapons sticking out from under their jackets.

"Well take a look at this sight, boys. Two humans holding hands with a fleabag and a walking cabbage," said a large bearded man with a scarred face and rotten teeth.

A smaller man with a patch over his left eye reached into his overcoat for something sinister. "We don't like their kind. Disgusting!"

"Disgusting is right. Get 'em, boys!" The twelve men rushed the quartet only to be stopped in their tracks when Kaleb drew his revolvers.

"I've got enough here for each of you. Now let's just call this a cultural misunderstanding and we'll all be on our merry way."

The big man laughed. "Oh. I'm scared of your big, bad guns. Go ahead, boy, and shoot. If you do, it'll bring the full force of the Brotherhood and the Lion Guard on top of yas."

"He's right, Kaleb. Let's do this up close and personal. Ready Bob?" Amalthia said as she reached to draw her longsword.

Ariyana stopped her before she could unsheathe her weapon. "It's okay, darling. No need to draw that long, nasty object."

"Ariyana, please... don't!" Jestin shouted as he tried to stop her.

Ariyana calmly moved towards the men as she began to monologue.

"I have invited my friends to brunch. And those who know me also know that I hate breaking promises. Now you all be good lads and run along," she smiled with a strangely wicked gleam in her eye.

"Well. If they are going to lunch then they'll need to have some appetizers first, starting with a salad," the big man said as he drew out his shortsword and lunged towards the sylvari.

When his blade swung down, all it met was air. But before he had time to react, a slender feminine form emerged from behind followed by unimaginable searing pain. Ariyana's dagger thrust deeply into the man's side, causing his eyes to roll back just seconds before he fell on the ground dead.

The remaining eleven men had no time to react before the sylvari's fleeting shadowy form began slashing away at their vital areas. One of the last things the skinny man saw as a dagger going into his eye socket. When it was all over, twelve bigots lay on the ground either dead or dying.

Amalthia looked at Kaleb and confessed. "You now, if I were into doing women, I would ask her to be my mate right now."

Kaleb laughed in agreement. "I would too."

"Aren't I enough for you, Kaleb?" Amalthia teased.

"Well, you made the statement. So I just had to respond in kind." He laughed.

Jestin just sat on the ground quivering in shock. "I... I had hoped she wouldn't slip back into her old ways. Damn those narrow-minded bigots for doing that to her!"

Ariyana wiped off her twin daggers using the cloth from one of the fallen goons then deftly slid them away under her pantaloons. "Aww. I'm so sorry, dear. I had a momentary relapse. People like them cause me to do that sometimes. Please forgive me."

"I do," Jestin said as he stood up and held his mate close.

"Glad to know he forgives you. But I can't say much for the Lion Guard. Lookout!" Kaleb said as he pointed towards some approaching soldiers. "If you will, dearie. Be so kind," Ariyana said to her mate who pulled out a small staff.

Within seconds, an invisibility bubble formed around them. Jestin then beckoned for everyone to head towards the alleyway at the far end of the street.

"Hurry! It will only hold for another ten seconds," he said while trying to maintain the illusion.

Mesmers. Gotta love 'em, Kaleb mused to himself as they successfully evaded capture.

The illusion fell away once they were safely on the other end of the row. Amalthia looked at her sylvari friend and said. "That was some mighty fine dagger play. Where'd you learn to do that anyway?"

Ariyana casually smiled acting as if nothing unusual had transpired. "Well. I wasn't always a fashion designer, you know. Before my beloved found me and saved me from those dreadful Nightmare Courtiers, I used to be one of their best assassins, although I am ashamed to admit it now."

"You were part of the Nightmare Court?" Kaleb queried.

The sylvari bowed and shook her head in shame. "It was a dreadful time for me. To even think I was part of that vile entity. Anyway, my beloved saved me from myself."

"How'd he do that?" Amalthia asked.

Jestin held his mate close. "I will explain the rest. She still gets very upset whenever this subject comes up."

The young man began to tell his tale of how he and some elementalists from the Pact forces came across a Nightmare Court patrol in the Brisbane Wilds. During the engagement, Ariyana managed to kill nearly every Pact member except for him.

"There I was scared out of my wits. She held those daggers just below each ear threatening to thrust them into the base of my skull. My death was only moments away when reinforcements arrived. While she was distracted, I managed to conjure an illusion to slip away. By the time she realized what happened, she was already surrounded."

He continued his tale.

"The Pact commander wanted to execute her on the spot. I, however, wanted to see her live to see her answer for her crimes. It was during our trek through the wilderness that she began to break down and confess that she really didn't want to be a part of the Court. She was chosen because of her natural ability with the blade. So by the time we reached base camp, my perception of her began to change. I no longer thought that she was an inherently evil person, err sylvari I mean. Anyway, she was just caught up in a situation where she had to adapt in order to survive."

Ariyana interjected. "Out of all my captors, he was the one who took the time to understand me for who I was. I suppose it was then that I began to fall in love with that human."

"So what about you? Did you fall in love with her?" Amalthia asked.

"It certainly wasn't love at first sight. But after talking to her awhile, my feelings for her began to grow. It was then that I decided to vouch for her character. Several weeks later, she was put on trial for her alleged crimes. Through a miracle of good fortune, I managed to convince the judiciary that she was a victim of circumstance. In the end, the court ruled in her favor. We've been together ever since," Jestin said with a smile as he held Ariyana's hand.

The sylvari smiled and asked. "Fair is fair. Please, tell us your story."

"Oh my. Where to begin," Amalthia said as she and Kaleb took turns discussing the origin of their love affair. After exchanging stories, the two couples headed on over to one of the local eateries. They arrived at a local seafood cafe and each ordered their own local dishes.

"I wonder if they will launch an investigation into that incident back there," Kaleb wondered as he dove into his plate of shrimp pasta.

"Murders happen here all the time. If I confessed, they might actually award me a medal for cleaning up the city of its filth. Sorry if the comment may come across as cruel and insensitive," Ariyana said with a sheepish look on her face. She and Jestin shared a crab legs delight with several sides of cornbread.

Amalthia laughed as she poured her mead over a fourteen-ounce bloody rare dolyak steak. "It's okay. I understand. The old ways never truly die out. Learn to embrace them, my sire always says, because you never know when they might come in handy."

Kaleb raised his glass to offer a toast. "No truer words spoken, m'dear! To the old ways... and new."

"Here, here," came the chorus.

Once they were finished with their meals, the four of them headed back to Ariyana's place of business. Kaleb looked at his outfit then at Amalthia's and realized they had lost track of their main reason for going to Lion's Arch in the first place.

"Ari. Can you possibly hit us up for some new outfits? We need ones that are durable and can survive the rigors of our profession," Kaleb commented as Amalthia nodded with a big smile in agreement.

"Why of course, darling. Once we are in the shop, I'll break out the sketchpad and we'll work out a design that is suited to you both! Oh. I have a wonderful vision in mind already."

Amalthia's ears fluttered. "Ohh. I can't wait to see your idea! Bite-resistant body armor is a must, though."

"But of course! You will never know it was even there," the sylvari said with a smile.

Kaleb interjected another idea. "Oh yeah. Our outfits must be matching, if possible. It would be nice for people to see that she and I work as a team."

"Consider it done, dearie."

Kaleb and Amalthia spent the next few hours getting their measurements taken by Ariyana and Jestin. Once the measurements were finished, Amalthia began perusing the rest of her friend's shop hoping to find some additional inspiration. She looked at a long, white dress that appeared to be made for a petite human.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kaleb said as he wrapped his arms around Amalthia holding her close.

Even though she was a head and a half taller at full standing height than Kaleb, she lowered her heels enough so his head could comfortably rest on her shoulder. He stroked her mane and kissed the side of her neck as she purred in satisfaction.

"Um. I suppose so. What exactly is it?"

Stunned, Kaleb gave her a brief explanation of human marriage rituals and mentioned some of the traditions and customs that went along with them. Upon hearing the information, Amalthia began to smile and gave her mate an affectionate lick on the face.

"So I guess that's what I'll expect if you have to kiss me," Kaleb said with a laugh.

Ariayana overheard the conversation and chimed in. "Ohhh. Wouldn't that be special? To have the two of you join under the banner of such a sacred tradition? You keep giving me ideas, my furry horned friend."

Amalthia turned to the sylvari. "It was actually Kaleb's idea to see me in one of those."

"My dear. You would look splendid!"

"I agree with Ari. That would look really good on you, with a few alterations of course," Kaleb said as he held Amalthia's pawed hands.

In the background, Jestin looked at his new friends and smiled as he walked over and stood next to his mate.

"It is truly the dawn of a new era in Tyria when a human and a charr consider getting married to each other."

Kaleb thought to himself as he held Amalthia close, indeed it is my friend, indeed it is. (All chapters have been posted to AO3. Chapter 24 is posted here.)

[nozomijoestar]

Wrote NaraTrish having fun, confessing, and comforting each other bc they’re so great as either friends or a couple

*This isn’t for nasty pedo thotties or prudish infantilizing thotties, both sides of the discourse shut up 1-2 year gap max is fine and no one should ever sexualize minors with or without adults, this is for well adjusted people who recognize teens can explore sexuality and romance without showing sex or being disgusting fetish ty 

Anyway I made like 3 Aerosmith song references if you can find them cool keep on rockin (extra bonus if you know what the allusion is at the final paragraph and line) also bisexual hc for both

"Your hands are a lot bigger than mine. That's friggin unfair. I'm a guy!" Trish giggled yet the only irritation he felt aimed at himself. He knew why that was. How he once scrounged a year eating trash; no home or bed and the eyes of wolves reflected in anyone else. When he would tell her however remained uncertain. It brought only shame. "Narancia there's nothing wrong with that. Look, you're covered with callouses. I'd never get one in a million years." She smiled and separated their hands to trace along his. Her finger ran along his lifeline; a patch of skin on his left palm mangled by scars. He didn't know what quick thing he should say. His boyish eyes were too dazzled by how smooth she was by comparison. How nice she smelled. The way he carried himself just didn't cut it. But now wasn't the time to think, Trish was speaking. "If you're worried about looking manly I think you're already there. Halfway at least." Narancia groaned and hung his head. The bravado he clung to deflated. She touched their foreheads. Their hands returned to their laps. No hesitation bothered Trish when she stroked his cheek. He moved to rest his head against her shoulder. "You really think I'm doing a good job Trish? This whole thing, this fuckin mess...Your life in danger...Your asshole dad-" "I said before to all of you. Even if I have to die by the end; I won't meet it without knowing who I came from. I'll see this through never running away." She felt him sigh and lean against her. She'd flooded confidence into what she said. It was conviction. Not just because she believed it, or because facing one's problems defined responsibility. Courage propelled Narancia forward; eased past his turbulent indecisiveness whenever he wasn't under threat. Buccellati breathed such a thing as if it were life energy. Without her full awareness that will had a hand in shaping her, when exactly she couldn't say. To think the same man she might regard as a true father often disregarded Narancia being wounded short of death- that gnawed at her. To Trish, risking his life being part of the job didn't justify some callousness. Whether she loved Narancia as a man or a comrade he mattered beyond being ordered. When she realized he'd gone awfully quiet she embraced him. He was so small despite being an inch taller. A minute passed before anything came from him. "I was so scared. Following everyone- I was so so scared. Buccellati's never been wrong; but when I had to make up my own mind I froze. That's awful...I owe him everything but I froze. Why couldn't I just be ready to die for him and come along to begin with?" She pet his hair and leaned against him closing her eyes. He felt coarse, even a bit sweaty. No one could remember the last time they'd taken consistent showers. Yet the longer she felt his heart in silence the more she didn't care. Only he could do that. Of the talkative bunch Mista was a friend; but his fault lay in the ways he bore himself down. Asserted himself a bit too intensely. Narancia had been different from the start. Thus by her book he got away with less. Most importantly he was the easiest to talk to. He could be loud and quick tempered at insults- then soft spoken the moment he grew unsure in himself, or unsure at saying the right thing on his mind. Even if he didn't always understand, he knew how to consider what others suffered. Not once could Trish remember him speaking to her knowingly with ill intent. So she held him thinking, grasping in her mind for any smart sounding solutions. Anything Buccellati might say as much as it annoyed her to admit it. Ultimately that proved fruitless. No one else but Buccellati could be him after all. Instead she said, "No one is glad to die Narancia." He tensed up. Trish pulled back and looked him in the eyes; spoke directly to his heart. "No one's glad to die even if they say they are. They'll hate it right to the moment it happens. I think you were right to hesitate. That's not an easy choice." "Hmm...if you say so. Giorno gave me hope what I chose was right y'know; he's that kinda guy. I gotta figure out how to do that for me. And I guess also...the stuff you said about not giving up on finding things out..." Narancia fiddled with his hands. Mussed his hair. Buying this much time to think in conversation set off Trish's suspicions. She raised an eyebrow; that was her tell. "I thought you were a lot like me. But you don't just do things on whims, so I guess not. Sorry." The room inside the turtle grew quiet only for a pause. Trish broke it with a laugh light as air. Immediately Narancia's grim mood was wiped away by a panic. He spoke as she kept laughing. "Did I say something dumb?" Trish wiped a tear from her eye and fell calm. She had such control of her emotions sometimes he could always tell where one had stopped and the other began. Emotion through his mind took on the unguided frenzy of a storm. The idea of control, like obeying authority he didn't choose, slid off him no better than oil on water. "No no Narancia just silly. You can empathize with someone without being them." "Empathize? What's that mean?" "Means you can understand what someone feels. You understand it and share it. Usually if you've gone through similar things." "My mom died when I was younger and my dad could care less about me too. That's why I emp...empi-" "Em-pa-thigh-ze." "Yeah that. Empathize." "That's alright Narancia I get it." She wouldn't press him for more. That would come in his own time on his own terms. Not knowing everything didn't make the pang in her heart less real. "Dads suck huh?" They laughed. They didn't know if it was to mask hurt or dry humor or both. Though it felt sudden but certainly wasn't, now Trish wanted anything to change the mood. She stood up and Narancia's eyes followed in constant interest. No one needed to say anything for him to mimic her. "I never showed you my Stand did I? You were injured." In an instant every feature of Narancia's face glowed excitement. He made exaggerated gestures and talked almost twice as fast. The others could find it annoying or immature but she saw endearing. "You didn't you have to show me! What's its name? Lemme see lemme see!" "Settle down Narancia I'm not going anywhere." Trish stood still and shut her eyes. She breathed a deep breath. Her concentration would've faltered if it weren't his eyes watching. A trick she's formed was to focus on an idea of her father. How she'd hit him back. The rest came easy. "Spice Girl." A feeling on her skin like a buzz when you come close to an electric current swept over her. Behind her, from her a shimmering humanoid figure emerged. Despite all the attention it took to summon Spice Girl appeared in an instant. It matched her height and build; that was where the similarities ended. It's skin was pinks and reds and rare whites. The eyes were catty and yellow; all emotion reserved to observe the world. Symbols marked its head, kneecaps, and shoulders. Though he never finished elementary school Narancia thanked Fugo for learning to recognize them. They were equation markers. Addition and division. Something akin to a tunic with narrow rectangular gaps covered its chest. A tiny skirt resembling a Centurion's at the end of that hid the groin. It said nothing yet stared at him; peered into him as if seeing not his body but Aerosmith. Trish opened her eyes; shifted from looking lovingly up at her Stand to enthralled Narancia. His naturally big eyes gave him the wonder of a child. That she always found cute. What hitched her breath came seeing the gentle fascination, the pride for someone else, the way he stared as though it were the only thing he'd find tender. She moved to walk closer toward him and found him doing the same. He remained entranced until they gently collided. Finally his eyes fell on her again; their sweet emotion unchanged. In one of those rare contemplative moments he spoke soft but genuine. Forever genuine. He didn't know any other way to be. "It's really nice Trish. Way cooler than Aerosmith. It looks like it always knows what to do; that's you all the way. Looks strong." Suddenly her face grew red hot; her first blush not from embarrassment. If Narancia noticed he didn't say it, but he probably had. "What can it do?" "It makes anything softer. Like rubber. And that-" She rose her hand and clenched it the way Spice Girl had done at its awakening. "Makes them stronger than diamonds." Spice Girl punched the floor in a blink. The rug beneath them stretched like gum. Narancia stares down trembling ever so slightly. The fabric had appeared to melt into a reflective puddle. Shifting his feet produced a rubbery squish. It consumed him faster than quicksand. Before they could sink knee deep as the ground gave way, it was undone. He sighed and caught his breath. Little by little his composure returned. Though he would never be endangered at her hand such strength made anyone nervous. Spice Girl returned within Trish. They were within arms length. "Pretty crazy huh? I'd never have believed it till it appeared." Narancia nodded dumbly. When she took his hands again he swallowed hard; looked her head on. He had a knack for reading into anything if he applied himself. Right now it washed away under the racing of his heart. There was an energy to her expression he'd never seen on anyone. A look he once imagined Fugo might wear. His body tingled. Trish spoke uncharacteristically sheepish. Paused in places where he thought she'd be firm. Her thumbs brushed along his and it gave him a chill. He didn't want to pull back. The last bits of his rationale struggled to give answers. Was she sick? Did she need to lie down? More importantly how much longer did they have alone? What would he tell the guys? Buccellati? "Narancia I...uh well...this might be weird but- have you ever kissed someone?" A pause. His memory skipped in disbelief. "W-What?" "Kissed someone. Anyone. On the mouth." "Like how my parents used to?" Trish laughed into a sigh. "Yeah like that." Narancia scrambled to undo the burned out engine his thoughts became. He was growing way too hot. Hot the way he sometimes did dreaming of Fugo, or some magazine model, or...Trish. Those nights he'd wake up covered in sweat and dazed. The feeling crashed its way into the present faster than a plane. He couldn't meet her eyes. "No. You'll probably say it's weird but I used to...imagine that with Fugo. N-Not all the time! It would just happen and I couldn't do anything about it." "Oh? Really?" "Yeah. It's stupid cuz guys are supposed to think about girls. And that kind of stuff with them..." If he were looking he'd see some of Trish's fire dampen. She didn't let it reach her voice. "Do you still think of him that way?" "No! N-No...not since he left. I mean I can get why but, he abandoned us when we needed him." His eyes flit to her again. "When you needed him. It's made me real confused; angry too I guess." "Well it's not weird. Not to me. Don't tell anyone but sometimes I've thought of girls too and-" Trish grew fully red in the face again. Even she couldn't finish that sentence. Narancia gasped; his expression lit up with something not painful. "So you get it then! I thought I was the only one. Boys and girls...I don't think I care which." "Right? I don't think I could choose either. But my real question is-" She leaned closer letting him hear her heart through her pulse. He didn't need Aerosmith to tell her breathing went fluttery. It made him want to lean in. "Have you ever wanted to kiss me?" Wordlessly he held her. The spinning indecisiveness that had him tail diving righted itself. He stared at her with his mind made. The tiny gasp she gave at the move solidified his resolve. This wasn't a dream. "You should've just asked me that in the first place." "Eh? So you-" "To be honest I thought you'd never ask or do anything. I'm not the brightest guy at this stuff." "Sorry..." "It's alright." "Really?" "Yeah." Their faces were a hairsbreadth apart. "Ah-" Their eyes shut at the brush of their lips. Neither needed direction or would've taken any from anyone but themselves. He felt Trish wrap her arms around his neck; pressed all of herself against him the way he did her. Slowly she pulled him down with her fingers in his hair. Kissed him stronger when they knelt in sync. The feel of his touch along her jaw electrified them both. Affectionately he brushed her hair behind her ear. No longer than seconds passed each time they separated into another kiss; shallow  or meaningful. One after another. The thought of being caught with one look into the turtle from above meant nothing to their roaring hearts. How long it'd been before they separated they didn't know. They sighed against each other. Trish was the first to smile; to giggle in that mystical way Narancia couldn't explain but felt. He kissed her forehead; hated to let go. "Trish I lov-" She put a finger to his lips. "You've already said it for now. Just hold me. I wanna know you're really here." "Ok...ok." They laid on the rug embracing all the while. When she leaned against his chest and tickled his neck at each breath- that was a home. A place only they had. She tilted his chin and he gave it gladly; blushed at the kiss on his nose. At this distance he felt her heart through his. He rested his cheek atop Trish's hair. "Are people always this warm so close?" She asked. "I dunno. Never checked." "I guess we found out anyway." He heard the sleepiness in her voice. She grew heavier against him; relaxed into his shape. He looked down to find her eyes closed. Trish wrapped her arm tighter around his waist. He returned the favor as she slept. Narancia felt himself tire. Trish was the warmest heat he'd ever known. It could rage for him like a furnace one moment, then be gentler than sunlight. He blinked hard and fast. Never took his gaze off Trish. To hell if he was tired. He didn't want to miss a moment. Never one to deny his impulses he kissed her eyes. She made a soft noise against him. Like dusk to dawn the present became the past. The need to rest his body weighed upon him began to win. Before he could drift away his mind showed him a fleeting image. He was alone again. Damp and dirty and his bandaged eye burning. Two years ago that kind of night blended into the next without end. He'd clutch his only blanket tight; his only comfort against death or cold or despair. Narancia glanced at Trish a final time. The helpless boy of then rested into the arms of his blanket, his safety. He'd never slept so soundly.

[hufflesmonsters]

Albino Lizard Man

Wow, look at that, I do know how to write sobs,  this was commissioned by @aelia-likes-monsters, who simply screamed STORY. So, here we are <3 

Maybe you were experiencing an early midlife crisis by quitting your job and moving out to a small town in South Carolina. It wasn't like you had any reason to, you had a decent job, a good apartment. You weren't rich but you were fairly comfortable. Just… One day you had looked up and decided that you didn't want this kind of life any longer.

So you quit the next day, gathered all your savings and canceled the lease on your apartment. You sold anything that you weren't fond of, the stuff that basically made its living on the back of your shelf, and shoved the rest of your belongings into the back of your van. You set out down south, pausing at every rest stop to look through brochures for upcoming towns. You did that for three days before you came across one, advertising itself as the second town to have a “lizard man”. It was ridiculous, two towns claiming the same myth. And yet you found yourself drawn to the pamphlet in a way you weren't sure if you could ever explain.

You hit the town the next day, and had found a place to rent by noon. It was a small, but cute little lake house that was way to cheap for the location, but you knew when to not look a gift horse in the mouth. You had had all of your belongings set up by dinner, and was lucky enough to have pizza delivered. And as you sat down on your couch, a slice in hand, you looked around the home and felt a wave of satisfaction. Whatever you were craving, it was here, you were sure of it.

But that was months ago, and you still hadn't found the calling you were looking for. You got a job at a grocery store, nothing big or fancy you only did cashier work. The hours were okay, you managed to keep a steady income. And the job wasn't too bad, the people here were pleasant so you didn't get many, if any, creeps. You just felt… lost almost. Like you were searching for something, or someone, and just couldn't find it.

You also hadn't seen the infamous lizard man, despite your neighbors insisting that he's real. You'd seen alligators, sure, though none of them were big enough to qualify as a “man”. You were beginning to think that the townsfolk had just made him up for tourists, when one day a new alligator appeared.

It was early morning, you were off and wanted to experience the morning on your back porch. It was something you'd always wanted to do, but couldn't in the city. But here, here was perfect.

As you sat, nursing your coffee, a flash of brilliant white caught your eyes. You looked up, eyes wide at the sight of a large, alabaster alligator head floating along the top of the lake a mere ten feet away. Its pink eyes, strangely humanoid, stared back at you, an inquisitive look in his eye. You were suddenly very grateful for the railings that separated the two of you. You slowly placed your cup down and leaned forward to observe the colossal reptile, taking in the scarring on the side of his face.

You'd be the first to admit that you didn't know much about alligators and crocodiles alike, far from it actually. You'd seen videos, and watch them feed some days. They were terrifyingly beautiful, in the way that the same grace that they use to swim can also be used to kill. But, if there was one thing that you did know, it was that albino alligators were a rare find indeed. Only aquariums and zoos housed the animals, finding one in the wild, especially this big and old, was rarer than rare.

Suddenly realizing that you'd been staring at the reptiles pink eye, you averted your gaze to the snout. He'd gotten closer during the time you had spaced out, and was now five feet away. The water was too murky to see the rest of his body, and you really didn't want to see it this close. He was huge. You gave him a hesitant smile, your eyes locking back to his pink, and felt a wave of shock when his own pink orbs widened before he dipped back down into the water. You sat there, staring at the spot where he was in silence.

How about that, you thought as you leaned back and grabbed your cup of coffee. Taking a sip, you let your gaze wander around the surface of the lake. Maybe there is a lizard man after all. A snort escaped you, oh you were funny. One large alligator and suddenly you were believing the rumors. 

You stood, back cracking, and grabbed your cup. You had things to do today, like the pile of dishes that you’d been avoiding like it was the plague. The floor needed to be swept, and you had a whole pile of books that you needed to sort between keep or donate. As much as you really, really, wanted to stay outside and watch the water, you knew that the chores needed to be done. You were an adult, you could totally do this.

It was almost night when you finally allowed yourself to sit again, exhaustion filling your body as you attempted to relax. Your head hit the back of the sofa, a grunt escaping as you adjusted yourself into a more comfortable position. You wanted nothing more than to just sink into the cushions and never get up again. Your whole body hurt, because once you had started on the floor you realized that you hadn’t liked the way your furniture was arranged. Which lead to you rearranging things around, which lead to you not liking that arrangement. By the time you were done, it was dinner time and all you wanted to do was sit.

Your head rolled to the side facing the kitchen. Shit, you hadn’t even touched the dishes. You closed your eyes as you faced the ceiling again. Take out again tonight, it seemed. With a groan, you got up and stretched, wincing when your back popped audibly. You staggered into the kitchen, reaching for your phone you opened your contacts for the local pizza joint. A flash of white caught your eye through the window as you turned, your interest piqued, was your albino friend back?

You walked over to the window, smiling at the large alligator that floated in the water behind your home. You were half tempted to just throw some chicken out into the water for him, to keep him well fed in these cold days. Which, after seeing all of the lake placid movies, you knew was inadvisable. The last thing this town needed was an influx of alligators getting fat and comfortable around humans. But, you thought back to the almost human look in his eyes, it'd be a nice experiment to see if he really was all alligator.

You dialed the pizza place, listing your order as you watched the large alligator. You had ordered a thing of chicken tenders as well, partly to eat and the other part to throw into the lake. The employee gave the time table of forty minutes before you hung up. That would be enough time to do the dishes, maybe. You glanced at the television that called your name, your stance wavering. This was a dangerous territory you found yourself in, the need to get your kitchen in order was just barely winning the war to re-watch Daredevil.

With a sigh, you turned and walked to the sink. Rolling up your sleeves, you went to work. Your mind wandered, as it always did when you did your chores. You glanced up at your alabaster friend, he was still out there, still watching your house. You screwed your lips as you looked back down.

You felt almost silly, being this enamored with the wild animal. Yeah, he was a sight to behold, but you really didn’t need to be staring this much. You had never felt so relieved to hear your doorbell ring, tearing your gaze from the window and shutting your water off. You grabbed the towel and walked over to the door as you dried your hands.

The pizza man was here.

You opened the door and greeted him with a smile, placing the towel on the side table and grabbing your wallet. “How much?”

“Ah,” the kid fumbled with the boxes as he looked for the order ticket. “Twent… Twenty five sixty.”

You pulled out two twenties and six dollars. “The other twenty is your tip,” you told him when he tried to hand it back. His eyes went wide, and you swore that you saw tears well up. You smiled again and took the pizza and chicken from the kid, nodding when he wished you a good night.

Shutting the door, you weighed your options. It was actually a nice night out, the air not as cold as it had been the past few weeks. Plus, it'd be nice to relax out on your patio, with no one but the alligator to see you. So, with your mind made up, you grabbed a plate, napkins and a drink, piling them onto the pizza box, and timidly made your way onto the back patio.

You placed your food down on the table, and collapsed onto the chair, taking in the moment. It really was beautiful outside, the lightning bugs were out and dancing along the lakes surface. The trees and Spanish miss danced in the wind, slowly swaying from side to side. The owls were hooting, the frogs were croaking, and the cicadas were thankfully on a low pitch tonight. You felt an ease settle over you, this right here was why you moved to this secluded spot.

Your stomach alerted you that it was indeed still hungry, the loud growl caused you to jump as it shook you from your thoughts. With a slight chuckle, you grabbed your plate and piled it with pizza and a chicken tender. You ate slowly, going from looking at your phone to looking at the lake. Your new friend was still there, still watching. He looked hungry.

“Can you even eat cooked chicken?” You asked him with a raised brow. Raw meat was for certain, but with the breading and the grease, surely that couldn't be good for an alligators digestive system.

“It's one of my favorite things, actually,” a deep rumble answered. The voice sent a shiver down your spine, goosebumps rising along your arms. You were always a sucker for voices, and this one was no different. You looked around wildly for the source, eyes wide. There was no one there, but you still heard the deep chuckle all the same.

Then, the alligator rose out of the water. Large, strong hands connected to some very well muscled arms grasped the railing. The large reptilian head towered over you as he ducked under the roof. A large knee rested along the wooden floor, and a large tail swept in the water from side to side.

You dropped your pizza in shock. Your mouth opened and closed for a few seconds as you struggled to gather your thoughts. The albino alligator was really the lizard man, you'd been checking him out for the whole day. Hell, you were still checking him out, but you could always tell him it was because his scales looked pretty as they glistened in the low light. That was normal, right?  God you hoped so.

“I…uh, here?” You shakily grabbed a tender and held it out for him to grab.

He gently took it from you, the coolness of his scales brushing against your skin caused you to shiver and blush. Why was he attractive to you? Yeah, the voice is one thing, you even thought those dragons from skyrim were hot, but this?

Him?

You watched as he downed the chicken like it was nothing, and, considering how big he was, it probably wasn't. A long pink tongue snuck out to lick his lips, teeth glistening. His pink orbs fixated on you again.

“Thanks for the snack,” he purred as he leaned down closer to you. “My name is Irsosz, and who might you be?”

Yep, you were fucked. You were absolutely attracted to this reptile of a man. “I, uh, Anna,” you said not quite as smooth as you were praying.

“When did you move in? This house was vacant when I left.”

“F, four months ago,” you said as you tried to keep eye contact. It was so much easier when you thought he was just a normal ass alligator.

Irsosz nodded. “Ah, and I've been gone for five months,” he said. “If I had known how beautiful my new neighbor is, I would have made the effort to come back sooner.” He gave you a wink, and you hated him just a little for it.

“Where did you go, if you weren't here?” You asked, latching onto that tidbit for dear life. You weren't going to verbally acknowledge his advance, your mind was still stumped by it.

“Further up stream, visiting my brothers,” he answered smoothly. “My twin is getting engaged, by our customs at least, so I was helping him propose.”

“You guys get married?”

“We made for life, of course we get married. But his mate is human, so she can't get married by your standards.” Irsosz nodded to himself as he glanced back at the lake, his tail sweeping the water again. “Our marriage isn't complicated. We give our mates a scale, and them in return if they're lizardfolk as well. Our hands our bound to each other by a vine, and we say our… vows I suppose. It's more or less promises, assurances. And then the ceremony is over, and the two are bound.”

You nodded as he finished. “That's kind of cool, actually. She could totally have a “normal” wedding, all you need is someone who is ordained to watch over the vows.”

Irsosz thought that over. “My little brothers girlfriend mentioned that,” he mused before looking at you with a reptilian smile. “You're right, Belle will be thrilled to hear it.”

You smiled back at him. “So you have a twin and little brother living up stream, any other siblings nearby?”

“No, thank god, I'd hate to have to fight them off if they decided to set their sights on you,” he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, white nostrils flaring at the thought. “No, it's just Igrisz, who I absolutely don't mind, and Bruxo, who I do.”

“Aw, what did he do?”

“Besides being a little shit? He spent the entire time I was up there showing off to his girlfriend up until me and Igrisz had enough and tried to drown him.” He chuckled fondly at the memory.

“I take it he's the youngest of the family,” you gathered.

“He's a couple clutches younger,” Irsosz said. “But not the youngest anymore. Our mother had about five clutches after him, the youngest being ten.” He sighed and shook his head before looking at you again. “But enough about my woes, how are you enjoying the lake?”

“I like it,” you said honestly. “More now that I know you're here.” Was that too strong? You took in his grin, maybe not. “I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised. The locals had me thinking that you were going to break down my front door and start wrecking everything I hold near and dear.”

Irsosz let out a laugh. “I’m not surprised, they like to project Igrisz’s antics onto me. So long as you keep respectful of the lake, I don’t care what you do.” He paused and glanced down at you. “You, however, I am very interested in what you do.”

You stared at the floor as you wrapped your head around that comment. The way you saw it, you had two choices. Go with your head and tell him that it will never work out between the two of you, or go with your heart that said to jump into those drool worthy arms and swim off into the sunset with him. “Is… would it be…” You took a deep breath. “Is it crazy to say that I might be… into you?” God, you sounded lame.

“Not at all,” Irsosz said softly as his large head leaned down closer to yours. “I’m not as theatrical as my brothers, nor as dramatic, but, I look at you and I feel like, for once, my home is complete. A reason to stay here, for more than a few months at a time.”

You wanted to say that this was moving way too fast, that you were a woman who deserved a long series of complicated courting. But you didn’t, because frankly you felt the same thing. The draw, the way you felt like you were complete around him. Maybe, maybe when you quit your job, when you moved out here, it was all in preparation to meeting him. He was your missing piece in life, you knew it now. “So stay,” you whispered to him softly.

His pink orbs searched your face, looking for anything that could contradict your words. When he saw nothing, a shudder went through his body before his hand reached out and cupped your cheek, his head lowering, his lips covering yours. The kiss was sweet, and tasted salty but you found yourself liking it. There was a groan, deep with a creaking echo. Before you could place what it was, Irsosz suddenly dropped onto the wooden floor with a solid thump. A moan of pain escaped him as you looked down wide eyed.

The railing had broken under the immense pressure, the two posts sticking out on either side of his pearline skin. You pressed your lips together, a giggle bubbling up and threatened to burst. Irsosz looked at you with a sigh, resigned to the inevitable.

“Go ahead,” he said as he placed a hand under his chin, trying to regain some dignity. But, as your peals of laughter echoed across the lake, he found himself grinning up at you. You smiled back, eyes alight in adoration. Yes, moving out here may have been a huge decision that you hadn’t fully thought out. But it was worth it, god was it worth it.

[randombtsprincessa]

Azure || 2

Author: Randombtsprincessa

Characters: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Chapters: 01

A/N: This is my attempt at being cracky. I probably suck at it. The below gif is basically what I am imagining in the chapter.

I always wonder why it is that routine is so mocked in life.

There was nothing wrong with waking up to an alarm, taking a shower, dressing and going down to breakfast with your family.

There was nothing wrong in patting your dad’s back and feeling your mother place a plate of toast and eggs in front of you and a kiss on your head.

Routine was nice.

It was boring but nice.

Maybe that is why it was so mocked.

Everyone is always looking for something more, more adventurous, more reckless, just…more…

And while I used to be one of them, I realized that maybe a routine wasn’t so bad…until more came knocking on my door that is…

I was content to be doing my course in this small town, with good friends and family…

More could wait; I wondered what was so special about more anyway…

“Did you see the news?”

My dad said, around a piece of toast that threatened to break off at the edge of his mouth.

“Honey,”

My mom sighed and I took that as cue to leave for college, waving a bye to my parents who had already started arguing about whatever news was in the papers.

Slinging my bag into the car, I turned my head just as sounds of creaking and metallic rubbing reached my ear.

I stared into the woods, eyes keening for more sound but then with a small call of a bird song I shook it off, deciding to hurry now as it would take more than half an hour to get to the campus.

The first thing I was met with when I entered the grassy sitting area in the pavilion was two of my best friends bickering.

Yoongi’s midnight hair was gone; thanks to a bet he lost, resulting into him to becoming one of the most obvious kids in the town with bright blue hair.

He was lucky it was Jisoo who had done it for him, the blue suited him magnificently.

Now, however, the blue strands quivered in annoyance in the face of Jisoo’s cold indifference.

“Don’t be silly, Suga, my dad hasn’t yet been wrong about anything in this town.” She said, before aiming a big grin at me when I sat down.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Yoongi paused, taking a breath before he nodded at me. “She’s being a big know-it-all.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong is her attitude when she’s actually not that smart.” Yoongi spat out scathingly and Jisoo’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You take it back! I’m not dumb!”

“J, calm down,” I said calmly placing a hand on her shoulder, looking over it to see one of the best distractions coming along.

“Look, Jin’s probably looking for you.” I said quickly.

“Oh, where?” She looked around wildly to see Seokjin standing well away from our group, eyes turned to something else.

“Yeah, must be waiting to grant a review for the blowjob you gave him last night.” Yoongi grinned.

He got hit with a purse as the Queen of our group rushed away to her conquest and we watched Jin look startled for just a second before letting Jisoo latch onto him, leading him away, a wave tossed behind her.

“Uh, good riddance,” Yoongi flopped onto his back.

“What were you talking about anyway?” I asked undoing my satchel off my side and throwing it at him to use as a pillow. He placed it under his head obediently.

“You didn’t see the news?”

I was about to shake my head no when soft, smooth palms covered my eyes, followed by a melodious croon on “Guess Who”.

I heard Yoongi scoff lightly under his breath and I laughed, catching the smooth hands over my eyes.

“Is it the sweetest baby around?” I teased.

“God,” Yoongi snapped.

“Fuck off, Min,” I heard a deep voice snap right back and then a soft giggle.

“Jiminie,” I crooned back and the hands vanished to let my eyes fall on the ‘sweetest baby’ of our group.

“It’s me!” He exclaimed and I smiled widely as he sighed, a heavenly sound and leaned against the second hottest boy on campus, his boyfriend and not so coincidentally, Seokjin’s younger brother, Kim Taehyung.

Taehyung, at the feel of Jimin’s weight on his shoulder, chose to instead grin at him than continue the shoving match with Yoongi.

“So, you were telling me about why Jisoo was pissed.” I prodded and Yoongi sighed.

“It’s about that star thing. She says it’s an indication of the end of days.” He said.

“Ah, Jisoo,” I shook my head.

“So true, we all know it’s an alien.” Taehyung suddenly spoke up.

There was a pause in which Jimin, Yoongi and I stared at him in silence.

“Yeah, we have another one.” Yoongi nodded to himself before grabbing my hand.

“Well this has been lovely but Y/N and I have class. See you,” He waved before literally dragging me after him as the sharp trill of the bell rang around us.

The rest of the day, I spent in comfortable silence with Yoongi. As the only two non attached people in our group, we’d made a pact that whenever the Kims would steal our friends; we would go on a day’s trip around by ourselves.

Most of the time we did homework in the parks, knowing that we were going to get badgered by Jimin and Jisoo who hadn’t bothered to do it until the night.

Sometimes Yoongi would bring one of the tapes he would be working on for me to listen and review.

Other times we ate like a pack of starving wolves and then went home and slept the calories off.

In this matter, routine was something I adored.

Right up until it is time for me to come home.

Of course, there was that matter of the day when I came back home to find thick grey smoke billowing from the tree line behind my house.

Yeah, there goes routine right out the window.

My feet hit the ground running.

Maybe it was dad again, doing something with a barbeque, I thought to myself, digging myself deeper into the shady realm of wood and leaves, the crunch of pebbles and fallen debris accompanying me.

It was a surprise my mother hadn’t come out to check on him but as I climbed over a mound of dirt I was sure wasn’t there before I stopped.

Everything stopped.

I stopped moving, breathing, even thinking as my eyes soaked in the view in front of me.

No, it couldn’t be true…

There was no such thing as…

It was just a ruse by story tellers…

There, in front of me was a not too big crater, shallow in depth and not too wide. The dirt around it, forming the mound I stood on, had settled with the wetness of the night dew.

In the middle of the crater however was a smooth egg-like metal ball. It wasn’t huge, much like the size of my car, only…oval.

I blinked.

The glass front of the ball – pod – was cracked, the top of it propped open and billowing thick puffs of the smoke that had brought me here.

A crackling whirr sounded, breaking into the soundless atmosphere and I jumped, the dirt shifting under my feet as I backed up.

Something was out there…not too far from me, tinkering at the base of the…thing – in front of me.

By the time I realized that, it was too late.

Whatever it was had stopped moving, freezing in its tracks and then slowly, through the misty smoke, I saw something…humanoid, appear.

The silhouette was distinctly the shape of a man, I thought as it moved slowly to the edge of the end of the crater, peering up at me.

It was too dark for me to see its face but I could tell it was studying the person who had been staring at it for the past ten minutes.

I don’t know what divine knowledge hit me at that time, but I pulled out my phone, turning the flashlight on before flashing it, none too gently at the figure.

The beam lit up purplish blue, and a pair of eyes – bright blue eyes looking back at me and I let out a small yelp just as a mouth opened, one word falling from it.

“Hello.”

Goodbye routine.

[niyes-lahiffe]

One Thing to Say

happy EXTREMELY LATE valentine’s day ya’llll ;)

Ao3

Nino let out a determined huff and confidently glared at his reflection in the mirror.

Today was the day, he could feel it.

He was going to tell Alya he loved her.

Considering today was Valentine's Day, it of course seemed like the perfect time. He bounced on his feet a little and shook his head rigorously, pumping himself up.

Even though he and Alya had already been dating for a few months, no kisses or 'I love yous' had been shared as of yet. So far, the most of it had been tender hand-holding and cuddling, a dash of flirting mixed in. However, Nino really felt like he was ready to take the next step.

"Come on, Lahiffe..."he mumbled to himself. "Come on, you totally got this." He flexed and tried doing pose after pose in front of the mirror, only to be interrupted by the bathroom door suddenly swinging open. Nino jumped back with a surprised squeal.

Chris, his younger brother, gave the DJ a perplexed look. "What are you doing?"

Nino blinked. "Uh, nothing!" He pulled out his phone and checked the time, eyes widening when he realized how late it was. Suddenly frantic, he dashed past Chris while shouting, "Gotta get to school, bye!" He grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it in his mouth before opening the front door.

"Have a great day, sweetie!" his mother called out after him.

"MMMPH, phanks, ma!" he yelled back through the toast, slamming the door shut a second later.

He ran for the school, ignoring the way his heart started picking up its pace the closer he got. As he neared his destination, he could already see the plethora of red and pink. Nino slowed down and took the last bite of his breakfast, already feeling his anxieties and insecurities creeping up on him.

Was it really the right time? He hadn't even gotten Alya a gift or anything, and it was Valentine's Day! What was he thinking?! She was totally going to reject him!

He was tempted to turn around and give up for the day, but a sudden and rather large shake of the ground captured his attention. Soon, screaming in the distance followed.

He wanted to groan. Another akuma. This just proved Hawkmoth didn't have a heart. Couldn't he just give it a rest, especially on a holiday? Especially on VALENTINE'S DAY?

The akuma sounded distant, so Nino sprinted to the school. As he neared the entrance, he almost ran smack into his best friend, who seemed desperate to escape the school as soon as possible.

"Whoa, dude!" Nino exclaimed, grabbing Adrien by the shoulders. "What's going on?"

"An akuma," Adrien answered simply, eyes wary and never landing directly on one thing. "School's been temporarily canceled until further notice just in case it gets too dangerous."

Nino wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more nervous than before. He put his hands back to his sides and threw his head back with a loud sigh. "Why today, of all days?"

"I dunno. If you ask me, it's kind of selfish of Hawkmoth."

Nino scoffed. "Since when has anything Hawkmoth's done not been selfish?"

Adrien scratched his neck and laughed a little, though he seemed really fidgety. "I guess you're right. Ah, listen, Nino, I really gotta go-uh-get away from the akuma! I'll see you later!" Before Nino could respond, his best friend sprinted away with frightening speed.

"Nino! There you are!"

Nino jumped and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with his beloved girlfriend. She had that spark in her eyes, the one that always had Nino's skin crawl with worry. She grabbed his arm and harshly dragged him along with her before Nino could say anything. "Marinette disappeared the moment there was an akuma alert and I reeeaally need someone to come with me," she answered his unasked question once he opened his mouth.

"What?" he responded with wide eyes. "Alya, you can't go after that akuma!" He tried shoving his feet into the ground to slow her down, but she pursued her antics stubbornly.

"Why not? We'll be sure to keep a safe distance, Nino, I thought we agreed on this!"

Nino was silent for a moment, listening to the distant screams that only got louder the closer they got. Akumas didn't usually make people scream.

"I just...have a really bad feeling about this."

The ground shook again, this time with enough ferocity to send both Nino and Alya to the floor.

Nino's response was a worried whine. Alya's was giddy laughter.

"This is gonna be so big!" she nearly squealed, leaping to her feet and dashing off without bothering to grab her partner.

"W-WAIT," he screeched, getting to his feet as quickly as he could before chasing after her. Alya soon stopped at the corner of a building, peeking her head over the side as she observed the calamity before her.

When Nino finally caught up to her, he gasped before immediately taking shelter behind his girlfriend. He had only seen a small glimpse of the scene, but even that was enough to make him clutch onto Alya's shirt and hide his face in her back.

It was chaos, from what he could've seen. Every table in sight was turned to the side or was upside down, along with a few being broken. Crevices and holes were everywhere, deeming it nearly impossible to walk through. A plethora of papers and food were also strewn about, what from Nino did now know, nor did he care. The scene was...eerily quiet. Not a person was in sight.

"We need to leave," he spoke into her shirt.

"Where's the akuma?" she said, completely ignoring his previous statement.

"I don't know, but I don't plan on staying here long enough to find out." He grabbed her wrist and pulled it back a little, not wanting to forcefully drag her away but to give her the memo. For the first time in what felt like forever, she turned her face towards him and locked their eyes. "Please.." he begged, refusing to tear his gaze away from her gorgeous hazel eyes.

Alya turned her worried eyes back to the wrecked area, biting her lip anxiously. She was clearly having a battle with herself, deciding if it would be better to follow her boyfriend's ambitions or her own.

It broke Nino's heart, seeing her excitement fizz away, but he would rather that than lingering any longer.

"I just...I just want to get a few pictures.." she said, gazing longingly at the disaster. She turned back to him. "I promise it won't take long."

Nino sighed, reluctantly letting go of her wrist. She smirked at him to lighten the mood. "I'll be fine! There's no one here, anyway." She leaned forward and pecked his cheek, smiling triumphantly when he suddenly stood rigid and wide-eyed at her actions. She took his moment of distraction to good use and raced to the area that had her dangerously curious.

The reporter observed every nook and cranny while taking pictures of everything she found interesting, not noticing that in no time she was no longer in Nino's sights.

It surprised Nino how long it took him to recover from the innocent cheek kiss. When he shook his head and got back to his senses, though, he turned to where he last saw Alya.

And that's when he screamed.

He couldn't find her. The area wasn't even that big and she had completely disappeared. "Alya!" he screeched, dashing into the scene and pushing over tables and other messes without a second thought.

A scream closer and more recognizable than the others caught his attention. He stood stiff as a board for one moment, then ran in the direction of the scream the next.

He hoped beyond anything else that the scream did not come from who he thought it did. He had never hoped for anything more in his life.

His hope spiraled downward when he turned another corner. Alya was backed up against a wall and a terrifying, ten foot tall...thing was looming in front of her. It was undoubtedly the akuma; the creature was mostly humanoid, yes, but it had features that were anything but. Her height was one thing, but her cherry-red skin and extra set of limbs was another. The akuma wielded a terrifying spear nearly twice her own height, and just the sight of it sent chills down Nino's spine.

However, what worried him most was how vulnerable Alya looked. His girlfriend couldn't have backed further into the wall behind her if she tried. One of her arms was in front herself defensively and while she stood her ground courageously, giving the akuma a defiant glare, her posture showed that she was clearly petrified. Nino couldn't blame her. He thought Anansi was frightening, but just one look at this akuma was enough to make Alya, of all people, cower in fear. Nino knew he needed to do something to get her out of there, but his feet didn't seem to want to cooperate, much to his dismay.

"Silly little girl.." the akuma taunted in a thick accent, her booming voice nearly shaking the ground beneath her. "You really think you can fight me?"

"I can sure try, you red-skinned piece of turd!" Alya shot back.

Something twisted uncomfortably in Nino's gut once the words left her mouth. She probably shouldn't have said that.

The akuma threw her head back and guffawed loudly, a few windows nearby breaking to pieces by her laugh alone. When she finally righted herself, she snarled in satisfaction as she readied her spear, twirling it a few times simply to add extra effect. "You'll soon regret those words, child." Her actions caused Nino's stomach to churn and, when she pulled her spear back, his brain immediately went on autopilot.

"ALYA!" Nino screamed deliriously, finally able to lunge himself forward and harshly shoulder his girlfriend out of the way. Her surprised grunt when she fell to the floor was the last thing he heard before an indescribable amount of pain seared through his body, significantly in the area directly below his chest. What he thought would be a grunt of pain turned out to be a desperate gasp, one that unfortunately did not give him the air he thought he would receive.

------------------------------

Alya had prepared herself for the worst when the giant akuma before her pulled her spear back, ready to attack. What she didn't expect was a distressed cry coming from her boyfriend, followed by a fierce shove. Alya fell to the floor with a startled squawk, rolling a moment before getting back on her knees.

When she looked up, she choked on her own gasp, feeling her eyes widen at the scene that had befallen before her.

The akuma's spear was going right through Nino's rib cage, giving the wall directly behind him a powerful tap. A noise that was a mix between gasping and groaning fell from the boy's lips as his eyes weakly fluttered open, tears of pain already streaming down his face. Alya felt her own tears begin to fall down her cheeks as she let out a cry of anguish, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

Nino's body started slumping forward but the akuma grabbed his neck harshly, forcing the boy back. His teeth were clenched in pain as one of his hands weakly grabbed the akuma's by the wrist.

The red being eyed him for a moment before jeering, "Hmm. Brave boy..." She pulled the spear out, ignoring his miserable outcry as she held him up still. "But stupid."

A purple butterfly silhouette appeared around her eyes. She rolled her eyes and grunted a few times, but once the butterfly faded, she took a few steps backward and leaped away, soon out of sight.

Alya gasped again when Nino fell to his knees and then to his stomach. She quickly crawled over to him despite her trembling limbs and cried, "Nino!", already noticing blood pool around his body and soaking his shirt. Tears falling rapidly despite her constant sniffling, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him over. "No...no no no..." He slowly opened his eyes and smiled sweetly at her, bringing one of his shaky hands up to her cheek. She instantly fell into his hand, grabbing the back of it with her own.

"Ah-Alya," he croaked. He looked down and cringed at his ever-growing red body, bringing a hand down to his abdomen and gawking at it when it came back up covered in blood. "Ow." He coughed a few times as Alya merely sobbed. "Alya, I-hah- I need to tell you somethin..g."

Alya placed his head in her lap and urged him to continue with a nod.

He laughed shallowly. "Heh. Now's as good a time as any, I guess.."

"What is it?" Alya choked, her stuffy voice foreign to the both of them.

His golden eyes met with her own, soft and filled to the brim with adoration despite his current agony. "I...I love you. I-" He coughed, a few droplets of blood escaping his mouth. "I was g-gonna tell you today...and I made sure of it."

Her eyes clenched shut and she sobbed, bringing his head forward and placing a wet, tender yet heartfelt kiss to his lips. She felt him smile against her lips softly, and though he was currently unable to kiss back efficiently, the amount of effort he put into it nonetheless told Alya that his words were really true. When she pulled her head back up, she hugged him tightly and babbled, "I love you...Nino, I love you so much. Please...please you need to stay with me.."

The way Alya felt was indescribable. She was in almost as much pain as he was, unable to take the immense guilt she felt off her shoulders. All she could do at the moment was hold his head as close to her as she could, ignoring the blood sprouting from his lips and onto her lap and arms. He was now too weak to even keep his eyes open, breath growing shallower by the second.

And soon, he wasn't breathing at all.

------------------------------

"Okay. So. Don't ever. Do that again."

Nino snorted at her playfully. "Do what? Save your life?"

"At the expense of your own life, yes!"

Once the akuma attack was finally over, Alya and Nino had decided to go to find a quiet place in the park to talk rather passionately about the day's earlier events. Nino sat on a bench as Alya stood directly in front of him, giving the boy an accusing yet worried glare.

Nino crossed his arms and smiled at her. "I guess you're just gonna have to live with it, babe."

She gawked at him. "What?"

"If you think I'm just gonna...stand back an-and do nothing if something drastic happens, you are very, very wrong."

Instead of arguing back as he had expected, she sat next to him on the bench and sighed. "Nino..." she said, eyes casting to the floor. "You died."

Nino blinked at her instead of responding, so she continued, nose beginning to twitch.

"Listen, I...I know we put so much trust into Ladybug, and for a good reason, but...what if one of these days...she doesn't beat the akuma?"

He gave her an impish smile. "You, of all people, are saying this?"

"I'm serious, Nino!" she nearly wailed as she grabbed his shirt and pulled his face closer to hers. The tears were already flowing freely before she had a chance to control it but, frankly, she didn't care all that much. "The akumas these days are getting harder and harder, we know that! Ladybug and Chat Noir are the unstoppable team but they've had to get help countless times and-and-" She sniffed once before stuffing her face in his shirt and weeping uncontrollably.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." he soothed, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"I can't lose you, Nino..." she mumbled, voice muffled. "If you keep doing that, one of these days you won't come back a-and-" Her fists clenched around his shirt and she pulled it closer towards her. "And I won't be able to live with myself."

Her words caused Nino's eyes to water, as well, so he simply held onto her tighter, ignoring the tears that soaked his shirt as she continued her uncontrollable snuffling.

They were in their tender embrace for quite a while, a few tears falling freely down Nino's cheeks as Alya steadily calmed down. Neither of them said anything, but Alya was comforted enough by his secure grasp to not need any words. They took the time to purely enjoy the presence of the other until she finally pulled her head back to stare lovingly into his soft, honey-colored eyes, despite how red and puffy they were. The girl grabbed his hand and linked their fingers as she sniffed once more, giving him a sweet smile and his hand a light squeeze. He smiled back with equal adoration.

"Can we promise not to get too close to akuma attacks now?" he teased after a small sniffle.

She placed her palm on his cheek and used her thumb to brush away another tear as she laughed lightly. "I don't ever want that to happen again," she replied, that clearly being answer enough. They spent a good minute staring into each other's eyes, taking it all in, when both pairs of eyes shifted to the other's lips.

They both simultaneously leaned forward slightly with lidded eyes and agape mouths, each noticing how drastic the atmosphere between them had changed in such a short amount of time. The hand on Nino's cheek moved lower until her thumb grazed his lip.

"You're a dummy," she whispered, surprising even herself at how voluptuous her voice sounded.

"I'm your dummy," he replied with equal flirtatiousness.

Alya hummed as a response before finally closing the space between them. It was nice to be able to feel his mouth against hers without the lingering taste of blood and before she knew it, she clutched his shirt and pulled desperately, tilting her head in an attempt to get closer than she already was. She heard and felt him squeak in surprise at her actions but he recovered quickly and happily complied by tilting his head as well.

Neither knew how long they had been like that, for it felt like forever and nothing all at once, but eventually Alya pulled away, giving the now glazed-eye boy a warm and teasing smile. "I love you, you know."

Nino shook his head to get out of stupor before haughtily replying, "Hey, I was supposed to be telling you that!"

"You already did," she giggled.

"So did you! And I mean it!" He placed both of his hands on her cheeks, giving her a look so soft, she thought she might melt on the spot. "Alya Césaire, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on and I will gladly do what I did today another thousand times if it meant you'd be safe. I love you so much an-and-mmph!"

Alya crashed her lips against his once more, already a crying mess once again at his words. He happily sighed into the kiss, bringing a hand up to her wonderfully soft hair.

No matter what happened, he knew they would always love each other. Of course, as sappy as it was, neither would want to be spending this holiday with anyone else.

Alya broke away after another moment and stood up, giggling again at Nino's dazed state. She grabbed his hand and dragged him off the bench, saying, "Come on, it's Valentine's Day and you're buying me flowers."

"O-Oh okay!" he laughed as she dragged him along. He truly did love this girl.

[jojosthetic-boogaloo]

Good morning, lovely! (This is jojo-blurbs' main here to send you a request!) I'd like to request a matchup, please (M!). Characters from any part from 1-5 are fine, and I am a tremendous Stand lover, so you are more than welcome to include a Stand in my request~ I'm a straight female who likes to read and write, draw, and listen to music (older stuff mostly, anything from the 80's I absolutely love.) (1)

“

I love you immensely for letting me go ham with Stand matchup for the first time hhhhh yes! I took a bit more time with yours because I was so indecisive on who would I end up choosing, for I had a few contestants high up in the ranks.

Alas! Here’s your matchup with an extra dip of Stand!

Fanart used made by: @baie-moeg​

Josuke and Crazy Diamond!

Have you ever seen both a stand user and their stand make the same exact idiotic, love struck face upon seeing someone? Well now you have!

Josuke met you in a cafe he was working in for the summer, to earn some sweet dough yo. He did not expect, at all, to meet the biggest crush of the century while he scrubbed clean some used cups behind the counter.

You were quiet, your mannerisms gentle and adorable, he loved it, he was struck hard by Cupid the moment he saw you set foot into his workplace. 

He saw, delighted and with the most old style Grease pose he could gather up to seem cool in front of you, how you started chuckling quietly when you got close to the order bar. You looked at him, feeling a slight blush rise to your cheeks upon seeing such a handsome guy getting your order and smiling so gleefully at you. You had to take mental note to come more often to this cafe. 

He looked at you with a most comedic, classic flirtatious smile and a raised eyebrow. “What’s so funny, beautiful?” He asked, clearly not used to speaking this way due to the slight pink staining his cheeks now. You raised an eyebrow at his utterance and answered. “I just found it funny that, right the moment I come in, they’re playing Take on Me.” He beamed at that; he was the one in charge of playing the store’s music that day!

“I’m glad you do miss! Yours truly chose the playlist today.” He cooed, his posture now turning more relaxed, resting his elbows on the counter to hold his head with his palms under his chin, the silly smile still not leaving his lips. You noticed he must have had taken some interest in you, which made you snicker in both amusement and giddiness. “Well, you’ve got great music taste, handsome.” You retorted, making him chuckle and promptly steady his posture, ready to take your order with two quick claps and a pat to the small apron on his waist. 

He took your order while exchanging flirty, stolen glances at you, which you returned almost equally playful. When your order was done, he gave you what you’d ordered for takeaway, noticing he’d scribbled with a black sharpie both his name and a number with X’s and O’s on the brown paper bag.

You directed a tiny smile at him as you waved goodbye, noticing he waved back and quickly brought his hand to his ear in a phone gesture, wigglin it gently and mouthing “Call me!”

You did call! It took great mental effort but you did it! And oh, were you glad you did. He answered almost immediately with a “Yes?? Are you my pretty cafe angel?” You were about to sink into the ground by those words, how cheesy could he be...

Upon exchanging a few words regarding a meeting soon for a date, mostly on his part, noticing he was the chatty, bubbly type; you hung up. You didn’t know he’d be set on conquering your heart by all means! Nor did you know he was a stand user until your first date.

When you met, he was waiting for you at the square’s fountain, casually sitting on the fountain while nervously playing with his phone in his hands. When he spot you, he wanted to spring up so fast from his seat he was about to fall back onto the water. Imagine your surprise when you saw a pinkish humanoid figure appear out of thin air and hold him back up. The man’s strange savior turning to look at you and give you what you interpreted as a clumsy smile before disappearing again.

Josuke was a bit troubled. You could see Crazy Diamond? Were his chances with you be ruined now that you saw his stand? Well, picture his face when you mentioned how kind of the stand it was to help you up with such a trivial thing as falling into a fountain. You weren’t afraid? This was a first.

You enjoyed a wonderful, casual stroll around the city, walking aimlessly through the rural streets and chatting about whatever the topic shifted to. You both liked the same music, you shared your love for certain shows, and you even introduced him to some of your favorite books! He was set on changing his ways and start on reading those asap to impress you.

He loved the way your face lit up when talking about your interests, giving you an almost dumbfounded smile while nodding like an idiot. You sometimes even doubted he was listening, but he looked so invested and focused on you speaking you quickly shook away your small insecurity. 

Sometimes, when you kept meeting up other days for dates, you noticed he’d started to let his stand linger around for longer; the intense yet very gentle gaze of it on you making you curious as to ask about them. “What’s the name of the big guy, Jo?”

Josuke seemed to ponder for a bit before muttering an almost too quiet “Uhm... Crazy Diamond.” He and Crazy were both surprised upon your cute giggling in response and your following words. “Well, isn’t this one lovely and cute music reference manifestation.” Josuke laughed and felt his body ache with relief as he did, immensely thankful you liked his stand. Crazy Diamond looked at you with a cute grin, before it sneakily closed in and, without Josuke being able to help it; gave you a gentle hug while nuzzling its face against yours, feeling your cheek rub around in circles with the surprisingly warm being’s.

You didn’t mind, if anything, you found it endearing, tentatively placing one hand on the stand’s other cheek and squeezing lightly against yours. It seemed to really like that, for it seemed to let go of you and turn to Josuke while doing a heart sign with it’s hands over his chest, turning to you once more and guiding his “heart” hands to your own chest. 

Josuke panicked because his stand was acting mostly on behalf of his own feelings. But relaxed once he saw you laugh and pat Crazy’s hands tenderly while giving it back a heart shaped hand gesture. 

Days went by, and finally, one day, Josuke decided he had to come straight with his feelings and tell you all about it. He’d tried his best to style perfectly his pompadour that day, dressing as best as he could and even wearing his newest designer shoes. When he knocked on your door, quickly held open for him with you right there, he did not expect to find the bouquet behind his back snatched by his own stand, who offered it to you with a cute smile on it’s face. While he seemed to struggle with how to react for a second, and while you took the flowers from Crazy with a smile, he said it, almost  a bit too loud. “I-I want you to go out with me, Y/N! ... If you want to, of course.” 

Of course you wanted to! You left the bouquet on the side before leaping into his arms, feeling how you were now held tightly between Josuke’s gentle embrace and Crazy Diamond’s slightly stronger one. Josuke was overcome with joy and couldn’t hold back an excited “Hell yeah!”.

When already dating, Josuke liked to hold you close from behind when standing in lines, be it in the supermarket, the amusement park, the cinema, or just at home when you stood up to do anything. More than once earning an annoyed whine from you since he wouldn’t let you move properly. You loved this gesture though, he just liked to feel you close.

Get ready for countless evenings where you’ll blast out 80′s bangers in his living room and he’ll drag you around, spin you and move you up and about with him as he had the time of his life dancing along. Laughter filled the house, and Tomoko was more than happy to hear you both enjoy yourselves, giving you your space as she quietly left the nights you stayed over.

Speaking of Tomoko, she adores you! Be prepared for motherly spoiling from her, from baking and cooking for you to take home for the next day to buying you new clothes every now and then when she went to the mall once she’d learnt better about your tastes.

Josuke thought it was embarrassing that his mom and his stand liked to pamper you so much, the first with her motherly shenanigans and the later with constant lingering around you, be it peeping over your shoulder into your sketchbooks, gently massaging your shoulders when you read. Damn it, his stand was almost taking his place when he did that!

You assured him with kisses and gentle smiles that it was not the case, for you loved him very, very much. More than anything, you dared say, which made the man melt and drop his face into your lap, letting you run your hand along his broad back to help him recover.

Maybe you didn’t know, but Josuke had it very clear. “She’s the one, and I’m going to keep her happy for as long as I’m possibly allowed to.” He thought to himself, quite often.

Hope this was okay dear! If you wanted more stand moments, or Josuke for a fact, do tell me! I’ll comply asap! 

[ghostsray]

(Merry Christmas Truce, @purpleillusn​ ! You asked for something wholesome with Dani and/or Jazz, and, well, I hope this is good enough.

Warning: Slight body horror I guess?? because of Dani melting)

Word count: 3038

     Jazz’s grip tightened around the book in her hands as she tried to drown out the sounds of her parents arguing. Last Christmas, the two adult Fentons had agreed to forget about their yearly arguments over Santa Clause. Unfortunately, they somehow moved on to arguing over Santa’s elves, which meant that the Christmas tradition of fighting over useless topics persisted, much to the exasperation of their two children.

     She could tell that Danny was trying his best not to be a Grinch after the events of last year, but after listening to around five minutes of how there was no way elves could survive the freezing north pole’s weather in those silly costumes of theirs unless they had fur or blubber, he eventually made the smart choice of spending the Christmas day out with Tucker and Sam. Unfortunately, since she had no close friends of her own, Jazz was unable to experience the same freedom. That was why she was in the living room now, sitting on a couch by herself with a book in her hands as her parents argued away.

     It became evident, once she had to reread the same sentence for the fifth time, that reading in the same room as her parents was impossible. She sighed and left the room, heading toward the stairs. She would have made a comment to her parents, but she doubted they would hear her when they were so invested in their debate.

     Halfway up the stairs, a sudden indoors breeze made her shiver—then something cold and wet landed on her shoulder. Of course, it couldn’t be snow because she was indoors and there didn’t seem to be any ice ghost around. Confused, she turned her head to look at what could have touched her shoulder. A small lump of glowing green goo greeted her.

     She jumped in surprise, nearly tripping down a step, before quickly wiping the substance off her shoulder. A green stain on her sweater was left in its place. She flapped her hand to shake the glowing goop off, and it was then that her eyes caught another stain on the stairs a few steps down. As her eyes traveled farther, she saw more and more green blotches roughly leading to the kitchen.

     She didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that this substance was ectoplasm. Why it was dripped in a trail inside her house was another matter entirely. From her experience hunting specters, she had seen only two forms of ectoplasm which leaked from ghosts. The first kind was in the form of saliva drooled by animal ghosts (which was unlikely to be the case, since there didn’t seem to be any canine phantom around). The second kind was in the form of a ghost’s blood.

     She felt a weight settle in her chest at that thought. Was this Danny’s blood? Did he get injured in a fight? But he said ghosts won’t attack on Christmas. Could he have been wrong? She cast a quick glance to the living room at her parents, but they seemed unaware of the ectoplasmic stains on the floor. Bringing her focus back to the stains, she bit her lip before deciding to follow them to the kitchen.

     Nothing was there, but she did see two more blotches on the floor. It was hard to tell because they were spaced apart, but they seemed to lead toward the basement, so that was where Jazz went. As she reached the basement’s door, she thought she heard clattering coming from below, and she hesitated, wondering what its source was doing. Steeling herself, she finally pushed the door open before cautiously stepping inside.

     Since nobody used the lab on Christmas, the lights were switched off. However, that didn’t mean the place was completely dark. Neon light came from the various ectoplasm in the lab—from the portal behind its striped blast doors, from the ectoplasm-storing weapons, from more stains scattered across the lab and from the thing these stains led to, which was…

     Jazz had to swallow back the bile that rose up her throat. There was a ghost in the basement, but a ghost of what, she wasn’t sure. It looked like it may have been humanoid at some point, but it was melting. Drops of bright ectoplasm fell from parts of its body which it failed to hold together, staining the floor where they hit. The melting ghost was frantically searching through her parents’ inventions, throwing metal scraps off tables and shelves, and Jazz realized that was the reason for the clattering she heard from the kitchen.

     She didn’t realize that her body was moving down the basement stairs until she accidentally skipped a step. She caught herself, but a loud sound echoed from her footstep as she did, alerting the ghost to her presence. It whipped around to face her—

     Jazz had to catch herself after seeing the ghost’s eyes. Though green eyes were not entirely uncommon among ghosts, there was something about the vivid, lime glow in this one’s pair that reminded her greatly of Danny. And they seemed scared. But before she could confirm if this really was her brother or not, the ghost vanished from sight.

     Jazz blinked. It was difficult to see in the dull glow of ectoplasm, so she reached for the light switch and flipped it. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling overhead turned on, giving her a clearer view of the mess that had been her parents’ lab. The girl turned her head in every angle in search for the disappeared phantom when a soft plop snapped her attention to a corner behind a shelf. There, another small blob of ectoplasm had fallen. More drops joined it in a small puddle of green; they were dripping from what appeared to be nothing, becoming visible as soon as they left the ghost’s main body.

     Slowly, Jazz made her way toward the spot. A smear in the green puddle told her that the ghost had moved, so she swiftly held up her hands in what she hoped was a placating gesture. “It’s alright,” she said. “I won’t hurt you.”

     There was a brief silence, and for a second Jazz wondered if maybe the ghost had left. But after a while, she heard an echoey voice ask, “You won’t?”

     It was a girl’s voice—a young one. She even sounded a bit like Danny when he was younger. Jazz turned to where she thought the voice came from and gave a gentle smile. “Just because I’m a Fenton doesn’t mean I’m as impulsive as my parents. If you want to talk to me, I’ll listen,” she told her. She wasn’t sure why she was being so gentle with a ghost—maybe it was because she reminded her somehow of Danny, or maybe it was because of the fear she saw briefly when their eyes met—but she had a feeling that this ghost was innocent and just wanted help.

     Another beat of silence. Jazz could almost feel the hesitation coming from the young ghost. Finally, the phantom let herself become visible again and floated in front of Jazz.

     Now that she was right in front of her and wasn’t disappearing from sight, Jazz was able to observe her appearance; and she found even more traits she shared with Danny, or at least a younger version of him. It was hard to pick them out at first due to all the melting, but she saw, in addition to the glowing green eyes, snow white hair and a faint splash of freckles across her face. She also wore a black-and-white suit akin to Danny’s, although her design was slightly different.

     As Jazz wondered why this ghost looked so much like Danny, a memory clicked in her brain—a story of one of Danny’s adventures which he had relayed to her one day. She remembered how she felt so fussy over her little brother after hearing what happened to him, and how angry she was at Vlad for having done such a thing. But her brother had shrugged it off and said that, on the bright side, at least he had a likeable half-ghost “cousin” now—the same cousin, Jazz was sure, that stood before her now.

     “I know, it looks kind of bad,” Dani said, pulling Jazz out of her thoughts. She had a sheepish smile on her face, although it looked like only half a smile since the other half was literally melting—which, by the way, her face was melting and yet the girl seemed fine by it. Jazz watched as she brought a hand up in a ‘wave it off’ gesture, and she had to swallow back bile when it caused ectoplasm to spray from her hand as she waved. “But don’t worry,” the ghost girl said, ignoring the amount of substance her body was losing, “I’ve totally got it.” Jazz didn’t seem convinced.

     “You’re melting,” Jazz pointed out, still horrified by the sight before her. The younger girl chuckled and brought a goopy hand to rub at her neck.

     “Yeah, I guess I am,” she admitted with a shrug. “…Okay, so maybe it is pretty bad. I’ve kinda been hoping I could find something here to fix me.” Quieter, she added, “Danny did last time.”

     “‘Last time’?” Jazz questioned, having heard her sentence. “So it’s not the first time this happened to you?”

     Dani looked away. “I’m…unstable,” she said after a moment. “Normally, I can keep myself together…but apparently not forever.”

     Jazz felt a surge of sympathy for the young girl, who currently seemed to be sinking lower into the ground as her body spread across the floor. Right. She was still melting. “You said Danny helped you last time,” Jazz pointed out. “How did he do that?”

     Dani scrunched her face (or what was left of it, anyway). “He used something called…Ecto Dejecto, I think,” she stated. “It sort of un-melted me.”

     Jazz nodded. Ecto Dejecto. She knew where that was…right? She always tried to pay careful attention to all her parents’ inventions in case they ever use it on her brother, but lately she’s been focused on prepping herself for college, so she wasn’t as attentive as she used to be. Her brows creased with worry as she tried to recall what Ecto Dejecto was and where her parents may have placed it. From the corner of her vision, she saw of Dani, who was more puddle than person now. The sight made her heart quicken its pace. She had to find this Dejecto thing now.

     She walked in big strides to one of the shelves and scanned the things sitting there. It was then that she realized she still didn’t know what the thing she was looking for looked like, so she turned to Dani (ignoring the churning in her stomach when she saw her) and asked, “Do you remember what it looked like?”

     “It was a liquid, in a needle,” she helpfully supplied. “Could you find it quickly, though? ‘Cause…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence.

     Jazz’s eyes zoomed past the entire shelf, but there wasn’t any needle she could find. She was missing something, she knew, but what? She shut her eyes, trying to remember anything about this Ecto Dejecto—and she did.

     With a bright glint in her eyes, she rushed toward a box in the corner of the lab where her parents dumped all their failed experiments. She rummaged through its contents, and when that took too long, she dumped them on the floor then rummaged through them again. There! A needle with a tape on it labelling it as Ecto Dejecto. She picked it up, hurried to where Dani was, felt startled when she saw that she had become no more than a green puddle, shook away her fear, and pushed the needle’s contents into the puddle that was Dani.

     At first, nothing happened. Then the puddle started to bubble. It continued to bubble, and Jazz began to fear that maybe she got the wrong needle in the dark—or, worse yet, that her parents might have perfected its original purpose of dissolving ghosts. But just as her heart was pounding and tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, the green liquid began to rise, shaping itself into the form of a small girl. Jazz let out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding, and the tears in her eyes did fall, but out of relief.

     As she watched, green turned to black, white, and tan, until Dani was once again herself, in one piece and fully solid this time. The ghost girl looked down at herself, flexed a hand experimentally, and when she was sure that it worked, a large grin broke out on her face. “Thank you!” she cried to Jazz, and she seemed to hold out her arms for a second, but then she hesitated and dropped them by her sides. Sensing her wanted embrace, Jazz smiled and pulled the girl into a hug. After a moment, the girl hugged back.

     “I’m just glad you’re fine,” Jazz said, “Danielle.”

     Dani pulled out of their hug to give her a surprised look. “You know who I am?”

     Jazz laughed. “Of course I do! Danny told me about you.”

     “Oh,” Dani said, then smacked her own forehead. “Right. Of course he did—you’re his sister.”

     Jazz giggled, enjoying the dumb expression on Dani’s face. “But hey, I guess that makes us sisters, too, right?” she said once her laughter died down. “I mean, Danny said you’re his clone, and I’m not an expert on genetics, but…”

     Dani thought about this and smiled. “Yeah…I guess we are,” she replied. She let a ring of light form around her waist, which then split and traveled up and down her body, turning her hair black, her eyes blue, and replacing her monochrome suit with a colorful hoodie and shorts. Jazz found herself faced with an almost-exact copy of a younger human Danny, wearing a smile that reached her eyes. “Sisters. I like that.”

     After getting over the surprise from her sudden transformation, Jazz smiled back. She understood, now, why Danny was willing to forget what Vlad did back then as long as it led to the creation of Dani; though she only just met her, she could tell that Dani was a sweet girl. Then Jazz broke their eye contact to look around at the lab, and she winced at the sight of scraps and gizmos scattered across the floor. “Yeah, we might have to clean this lab up pretty soon, or Mom and Dad will want to know what happened.”

     “If we’re sisters, then does that make them my mom and dad, too?” Dani asked excitedly, still wearing that grin on her face.

     “Well, sure, genetically,” Jazz said. That must have been a wrong thing to say, because Dani’s smile faded. Realizing what she said, Jazz quickly amended, “We could get them to adopt you, though! Just think about it. We could be real sisters, and you won’t have to live without a home anymore.”

     “Did Danny tell them his secret?”

     Now both the girls’ smiles were gone as that question sunk in. Of course, if they wanted to adopt Dani, then Jack and Maddie would want to know who she is, and there was no way they could answer their questions without revealing Danny as Phantom. Silence hung heavy around the two girls.

     Dani broke it with a shuffle of her foot and a saying of, “I can clean the lab. I’m the one who messed it up in the first place, after all. You should go back to your parents and celebrate Christmas or whatever.”

     At this, Jazz scoffed. At the confused look Dani gave her, she held up her hands and said, “Sorry, but no one would want to be around Jack and Maddie Fenton on Christmas. They argue all the time this day over nonsensical subjects.”

     “Huh,” Dani said. “That explains the yelling I heard when I came in…but I thought Christmas was a time for family bonding.”

     “It is, for most families. But the Fenton family isn’t like most,” Jazz informed her with a sly grin. After a second, her smile receded, and she observed Dani for a moment. “…Have you ever celebrated Christmas?”

     Dani shook her head. Then, smirking, she pointed at herself and said, “This baby is only a few months old. Today is literally the first Christmas ever in my life.”

     “Really?”

     “Yeah.” As her arms lowered to her sides, she looked away and said, “Not like I have anyone to celebrate it with.”

     Jazz frowned. Then she set her face into a determined expression. “That’s not true,” she announced. “You have me. And Danny.”

     Dani looked up at her. “But what about your parents?”

     “I already told you, no one wants to be around them today. Besides, we see them every day. I’d rather spend the day with you.”

     That seemed to put the smile right back on Dani’s face. But then she looked around uncertainly. “What about the lab?”

     “Oh, that.” Jazz took in the sight of the messy lab, then turned back to Dani and shrugged. “I can just say a ghost came in and destroyed it.”

     “Well, it wouldn’t be a lie,” Dani responded with a smirk as she allowed herself to transform again into her phantom form.

     Jazz’s smile stretched across her face once more. Then she got up and held out a hand to Dani. “Coming?” she asked. “I’m thinking about finding Danny and forcing him to celebrate Christmas with us against his will.”

     “Isn’t that kind of rude?”

     “Hey, it’s a sibling’s job to be rude. You’ll learn soon enough.”

     Dani laughed. “Alright,” she said, taking hold of her older sister’s hand. “But we’ll have to sneak past your parents.”

     “I don’t know. I bet they’re still arguing over elves and what they should wear to work.”

     “Wow. Those really are nonsensical topics.”

     Laughing, the two made their way up the basement stairs. “Oh, and Dani,” Jazz said, catching the younger girl’s attention. “You can call them your parents, too.”

[facelessxchurch]

I'm talking about the Faceless Ones that have taken giant semi-humanoid physical forms in the hell-world beyond the portal to fight Darquesse. if you have a Bedlam PDF, then search "saw a god". The description is actually good imo, and in it the giant Faceless Ones only have a mouth. Google "Myrddraal Wheel of Time series prime" and the first image from the new trailer is exactly how I imagine this type of physical Faceless One looking.

A shadow fell across him, and he looked up and saw a god. It was big. The kind of big measured in skyscrapers, in mountainous peaks. It stood on two legs, its sagging grey skin mottled pink and blue. Its arms were long and triple-jointed. Its hands had three fingers and a thumb. All clawed. From its back there sprouted the sharp, twisted bones of what may once have been wings. Spiders as big as cars scuttled on its shoulders. Its head twitched on a thick neck. The head had no eyes, no ears, no face. It just had a mouth, a dark circle rimmed with teeth. Behind it was another one just like it. In the distance, three more. Faceless Ones.

Not the kind Sebastian had read about. Not the kind whose appearance alone would be enough to snap his sanity. These were Faceless Ones that had taken physical form, that had channelled their power into a shell of meat and teeth. He knew this instinctively. This was a cosmic truth that some part of his mind recognised without question.

[...] until purple blood leaked [...]

[SP: Bedlam, Chapter 72]

If the Faceless Ones' chosen physical form has a mouth then why does it grow shut when they posses a human?? And why did they take turns possessing Batu in 'Dark Days' when they can just give themselves a physical form??

The first mental image that description gave me was the Living Failures from Bloodborne tbh. He made them sound so ugly and unintimidating by describing them as having 'sagging grey skin mottled pink and blue' and a 'thick neck' wHAt tHe fUcK- And the spiders on them were random AF. What happened to the fuckers they kept as pets mentioned in 'Dark Days' Chapter 11?

“It has pets,” Skulduggery said. “And its pets have pets.” He pointed to the red sky. “And here they come now.” She saw them, black against the red, beating their massive wings. Their bodies were the size of buses and their jagged tails were twice as long again. She saw what appeared to be straps, criss-crossing their underbellies, and she realised these beasts had a dozen riders or more saddled on top. “You’ll know they’ve spotted us when they screech,” Skulduggery told her. The creatures screeched. [...] Two riders landed close by. They were skinny things, with primitive tattoos covering their yellow skin, dressed in leathers and furs and wielding thin, wicked blades. Their teeth were sharp and their eyes were dark, and their hair was spiked like porcupine needles.

Were they mentioned in another chapter or nah?

I've read the entire chapter and, fucking hell, did he steal spirit!Darquesse from the Korra vs Vaatu fight?? It was one of my least favourite parts of the anime and it's just as silly and weird in SP.

And I looked up what the Myrddraal/Shadowspawn look like and I'm sorry but its face looks like a beluga whale fucked a shark lmao

But yeah, that mouth looks like I'd imagine semiHarpy!Alice's mouth to look like tbh. Not impressed by the rest of the creature tho.

Sorry about bullying all the monsters you've sent me so far, I'm just fucking jaded by now. Curtesy of being a horror-fan and a monster fucker lol.

[broken-endings]

silly me

it’d been a year since I caught up on Digimon Tri

I assumed “it’s probably complete by now”

wowwwww

nope

the 6th installment isn’t out (and someone said it’d be SEVEN parts?)

i was watching the end of 5 being like “twenty minutes is not enough time for a satisfying ending to this series

well good thing that sure wasn’t the end

spoilers for everything released under the cut

i probably should’ve rewatched it for the beginning cuz there’s a lot I forgot.

but it’s interesting the elements they’ve dropped into it from both the previous series

I never expected Nishijima and Himekawa to be revealed to have been digidestined THEMSELVES!!

Seeing that flashback where they were fighting the dark masters and four of the five digimon became the 4 guardians, azulongmon and them.

In the original series, before the kids faced Apocalymon, Gennai spoke of the darkness on the other side of the wall of fire: “the digimon knew they didn’t have the power to defeat it,” so they worked together with children from another world.

We only ever see their silhouettes but there were 5 of them. 

And here in this flashback there are 5 of them. 4 became the digital world’s guardians who were sealed away by the dark masters. The fifth, Himekawa’s digimon was destroyed? To the point that it would never be reborn?

So does this mean that Azulongmon started out as a partner digimon???

I never would’ve expected that one brief summary of the original digidestined in season 1 to come into play but i’m SO GLAD it did. the world building!! AND combining it with the creation of the four guardians that were introduced in zero two?? YES

So does that mean Nishijima’s partner could be Azulongmon?? YES yes it could.

So the Gennai looking guy is creepy beyond fuck. He said he looks like Gennai. On two occasions, in the season 1 flashback courtesy of homeostasis, and the world tour arc in season 2, we’ve known that there were other humanoids that look like Gennai. He is just one of many. I don’t think that’s him. I think he’s one of the others.

Before it was actually revealed to kind of be the truth at the end of the fifth installment, I voiced to myself the idea that “what if the real big bad of this series is the one who chose the digidestined to begin with??” which is the homeostasis entity right?

If their enemy is the one who originally chose them, then it’d make COMPLETE sense why everything began showing us the assumed destruction of the zero two kids. It would be getting rid of the kids it chose in reverse order.

I’m not saying this homeostasis was always bad. But it’s the enemy right now. Kind of like the digimon emperor was, or blackwargreymon.

I think this all began because of Himekawa’s obsession with finding a way to bring Tapirmon back to life. To see her partner one more time. Everyone and everything told her it was impossible. So she spent her whole life trying to make it happen.

Whatever she did to try to make that happen, corrupted one of the Gennai people OR, the darkness that exists to balance the digital world took advantage of her obsession, using her to achieve its own ends.`

It sounds like Himekawa might’ve been part of Meicoomon’s creation in order to achieve the reboot. Ylsdir? or whatever it’s called? wanted it for a different reason.

She was obviously created after season 1 if there’s a shard of apocalymon contained in her.

Maybe Himekawa’s vendetta allowed Ylsdir?eruehj to corrupt Homeostasis. In the flashback, it looked like Himekawa was the vessel Homeostasis used to communicate with the original digidestined, just like it uses Kari. So for a chosen vessel to be corrupted, perhaps allowed the corruption of the entity who uses them as a vessel?

Either way. I have a feeling wherever Tai and Nishijima went. WE MIGHT SEE DAVIS AND THE OTHERS!!!!

yeah. no way he’s dead. When he disappeared i was like “of course he’s the one to disappear. He’s ALWAYS the one to disappear”

The battle at the end of installment 5 gave me vibes that something similar might have happened with the other 4 digidestined right before the beginning of installment 1. That however Tai disappeared and wherever he disappeared to, that’s where they are.

I was ALSO shocked to see the dark ocean. Himekawa is in the dark ocean. Another thing that her and Kari have in common. Both were the voice for Homeostasis, both were snatched by this other world.

It always felt like the dark ocean episode was a dropped plotline in zero two, so i’m not sure where this is going is going to make it make more sense, or less sense. I fear the latter but we’ll see.

The vibes I’m getting from Himekawa feels a lot like Jeri’s arc in Digimon Tamers. She was forced to watch her partner destroyed, for no reason. She folded away from the world and became the target of possession from an entity that almost consumed both worlds due to her despair over her loss.

Jeri had Takato and her friends to help her snap out of it and move on. Himekawa doesn’t seem to have had the same experience. It’s slowly consumed her. In fact, she hasn’t even gotten to the loss and despair part because she’s convinced if she does the right thing she can bring her partner back. Sure tapirmon is back after the reboot, but...is it still your partner if it doesn’t remember you? The other digimon have proved otherwise, but that’s cuz the kids are close enough to who they were when they first met. Himekawa can’t be. She’s a jaded adult driven by obsession.

She was chosen as a digidestined and given a partner digimon. But she was the only one of the five who wasn’t chosen for their digimon to become an all powerful guardian. Instead her digimon was sacrificed. She was chosen, and then she wasn’t chosen. She was chosen twice, both to be digidestined and have a partner, and to be the vessel for homeostasis. Then she wasn’t chosen and lost her best friend.

[eloquent-cabbage]

Ouroboros

The lightning illuminated the sky, shortly followed by the monstrous thunder. It was lucky, really, for that was the only way he could actually see where he was heading. His legs were slightly wobbly due to his state of drunkenness and the wet grass didn’t help. It was the third time this week he went to the graveyard to visit her.

She had died last week. Car crash. Nothing anyone could have done. The police had said the oncoming truck swerved into her lane and before she could react she was underneath it, all mangled in her car. They needed dental records to identify her and called him only the next day with the bad news. He already knew though, and how could he not? She didn’t come to his place that night and he knew something was wrong.

He managed to stumble to her grave as the rain was getting heavier. The sky lit up again, immediately followed by a deafening sound of thunder. The oak in the middle of the graveyard was cracking as its thickest branch fell to the ground with a loud thud. He looked over and something made him get up from his knees and walk over. He could feel the taste of sulfur in his mouth and everything seemed even foggier than before in his head. The ground was slightly uneven and his left foot slid into a slight hole in the lawn next to a headstone. He stumbled and hit his head on the stone, and fell onto the grave. He managed to look up. “Samuel Connor, father of six, loving husband, 1937-2008.” His eyes slowly shut, flooded by the raindrops, and the world was getting darker.

He was awakened by the screams. His head was aching, and every scream – they seemed to come in patterns – made his pain worse. It felt like a needle was being stuck into his ear, penetrating deep into his brain. He could see a vague shape of a humanoid creature that seemed to be swinging something back and forth. The room, or whatever and wherever he was, felt hot, but unnaturally so. There was a faint smell of sweat in the air, mixed with a scent he couldn’t quite pick out. Looking around there were walls, but he couldn’t quite say how far away there were. He felt as if he could almost touch them, yet he could barely see where the floor joins with them. The creature seemed further away, even, its movements appearing so perfectly repetitive as if they were robotic. He tried getting up only to find he was chained to the wall behind him, and his wrists were sore from being squeezed tightly by the chains. The sound of them must have disturbed the creature for now it was looking at his direction. Its look was full of malice; it felt as if evil had possessed its eyes. And it was coming over in slow, long steps, which echoed throughout the room. The screams had stopped, he noticed, but suddenly those really weren’t on his mind anymore. He could feel his heartbeat increasing; every pump of the heart seemed to be more violent, while simultaneously his breaths were getting quieter as if he attempted to make himself smaller. A natural instinct probably, like playing dead so that a bear wouldn’t maul you and make you into a meal. The demonic creature was before him, observing him. It seemed huge, roughly twice his size. In his left hand, it held a whip made of chains that were bound together by what seemed like worn-out leather. Its head seemed almost human, except for the horns protruding from his forehead at both sides. “I am Nazgaroth,” it bellowed, yet its lips were not moving. He wondered whether the creature really spoke or if he was hallucinating it.

“Here there is no time, only pain,” it added. Its stare was unblinking, and he felt pierced by it. It didn’t even look directly at him, more so it was directed through him, or in his general direction. He stepped further forward and put its big, rough hand on his head. He was shaking in fear but could find no words for what he imagined was the last few moments of his life. However, Nazgaroth quickly retracted his hand and began to walk away. The last thing he saw was his back. It was scarred severely all over, the skin wasn’t even skin anymore, it had turned more into something that looked like bark. Noticing that, the world got darker again, and the steps were fading. Slowly, sleep took him.

 He dreamt of her again. She was in bed next to him, wearing nothing, but her panties. The shape of her was always intoxicating to him, much like her smell. He leaned in closer, absorbing her scent. She would always laugh when he told her she smelled of lemons. “Sour like your personality,” she’d say. He’d smile at her, because what else could one ever do when gazing at her, but at the same time her remark hurt slightly. He never wished to be as bitter as he was, and he always thought she’d leave him for it. She moved in her sleep and opened her eyes. Noticing him staring at her she smiled. “Hey, babe,” he said. His hand went to her head, moving the hair out of her face.

“You’re gorgeous, you know?”

“Shut up,” she responded with a smile and an eye roll, then turned on her side, closing her eyes again. Something was off with her voice, he could tell, yet he didn’t pay it any mind. Looking at her sleep so peacefully was always entrancing to him. Her small breasts rose and fell with her breaths, and her nipples were stiffened by the chill in the room. She always had an odd liking of the cold, leading him to call her Ice Queen. She would laugh at him, thinking him silly, and that always made him happy.

He was smiling thinking of her and their relationship. For the first time, he could call himself happy. He looked back to her as she slept so serenely. She seemed to be as close to absolute beauty as one could be. He noticed then a drop of blood coming down from the side of her mouth. With his finger, he wiped it off and turned around to grab a tissue, wiping the blood off his finger. Looking back again, the blood was starting to drip from her mouth. Quickly he put a tissue to her mouth, and tried waking her up. There was no response. The blood was pouring through the tissue, staining her pillow. As he pressured into it, the skin of the corner of her mouth cracked, revealing a wound that went nearly to her ear. Panicking, he shook her with a hand on her chest, but it sank into her body as if she was made from sand. He jumped back, but in the hole in her chest, he saw her heart. It was still, yet a very vivid red. He thought he saw it move, and then again. Her heart was beating, but not as a heart should. It felt more like a countdown, each pulse of it was stronger and the muscle seemed to be stressing heavily. Finally, it could handle no more. It exploded and shot blood all over the bed and all over him. He looked at the corpse that was once her and his breath stopped. The blood was dripping down his face and all he could say was her name. 

“Selena.”

The whip slashed harshly against his back. He screamed before he was even awake, unaware of anything else but the sensation of his whole body being on fire.

“I am Nazgaroth,” a voice said behind him. “Here there is no time, only pain.”

Nazgaroth struck again, and he felt it even worse than before. The skin on his back cracked and opened. Blood was running down from it, and sweat was running into the wounds, causing even more of a sting, although it was hard to tell what actually hurts more, or what hurts at all. Again and again, the whip struck his back and he was sweating profusely as the weakness took over and he could stand no longer. As his legs gave in it was only the chains around his wrists that held him up. The pain blended in slowly. He could feel every beat of his heart in his head and soon he was hallucinating. He felt as if he was floating on a cloud, his body weightless, and his mind clear. Nazgaroth was suddenly next to him, unshackling his wrists, and it brought him back to reality. He was aware of the pain again and the demon was staring at him with malice. One wrist free, he felt a sharp pain in the other one as all of his weight was transferred to it. When Nazgaroth unshackled that one as well, he collapsed to the floor.

“Here there is no time, only pain.” The words echoed in his head. What could they mean? How can time not exist? He definitely understood the pain part, but if there’s no time, does that mean this is where he’ll spend eternity? Was this hell?

Suddenly he was standing in a garden. He could smell lilacs and he saw carnations blooming, which were shadowed by large sunflowers. It didn’t make sense, though; those three can’t be blooming at the same time. A hallucination, he realised. A person was standing in front of him, seemingly coming from nowhere. He stepped a step back, startled, but the person didn’t even flinch. They seemed artificial somehow, like a projection or a hologram. They spoke then.

“Hello. I’m Samuel Connor.”

The face of the person was expressionless, the eyes staring through him and into nowhere. The name rang a bell, but he couldn’t place it. The person continued.

“You know me as Nazgaroth.”

He felt fear in his chest and instinctively tried to make himself smaller. He was reminded of the whipping, but the pain wasn’t present anymore. He touched his back and it felt normal. There were no scars, no open wounds, and no blood. “How?” is all he could manage to say.

“I have pulled you here to talk to you. There are things you must learn.” Nazgaroth’s face remained neutral and his voice monotone.

“What are you?” The question seemed obvious.

“I am the guardian. I am the recruiter. And the keeper of the keys. Yet I must earn entrance myself.” None of what Nazgaroth said made sense to him, yet he nodded as sort of a polite gesture. He noticed the man in front of him was rather handsome but in an unconventional way. He had a long, narrow face, and gorgeous blond hair. His eyes were blue and, even though the stare was absent, something about them was alluring. A stubble covered his cheeks.

“Why can’t I remember my name?”

“You have no name. It was lost when you arrived.”

He looked down before him deep in thought and tried to wrap his mind around Nazgaroth’s words. “Am I dead?” he finally asked after a long silence.

“No, but you will have a grave. It will have your name.”

“I thought I had no name.”

“You will pick one.”

Nazgaroth vanished then as if someone turned off the projector. He looked up at the cloudy sky. It had started snowing. The sunflowers were faced towards the ground. His vision was blurred and soon he could see no more.

 He was back in the cave. His pulse had settled now, but the excruciating pain was back. He could feel the heat radiating from his wounds. A bowl of water was on the ground by the wall and he crawled to it then drank from it like a dog. He heard steps coming up to him. It was Nazgaroth. Without uttering a word the demon grabbed him and chained him to the wall again. His whip cracked through the air and hit his bloody back. He screamed this time. He screamed until his throat hurt more than his back and he was coughing up blood. The bigger pain would prevail, he read once somewhere, but in practice, the two pains only intertwined, and at moments alternated. His breaths were getting shallower and he felt on the verge of passing out. The blows stopped then just as he felt he could take no more. He welcomed death - his heart giving out from the strain – but alas he was robbed of it.

It continued like this for what seemed like an eternity. Nazgaroth brought him to the edge and then stopped. If he tried asking anything he either got ignored or Nazgaroth would repeat his mantra. “Here there is no time, only pain.” Occasionally, a bowl of water was there for him, although it wasn’t Nazgaroth that brought it. Somehow, it just appeared. He was grateful for that, even though he never really felt thirst. Nor hunger, which was lucky, for there was never any food. It made him start to wonder if those words are literal. If time doesn’t pass he can’t get hungry or thirsty. Everything just stops. The pain truly was the only thing that was real. After a while, he didn’t even mind anymore. He was resigned to his reality and the whipping was the only thing that made him know he’s alive. His skin adjusted well, too. It grew back in much thicker and harder, like leather. He noticed then it was starting to look a lot like the demon’s back.

A door opened, which didn’t seem to be there before. The room was brighter suddenly and Nazgaroth walked through the door. He was followed shortly by a smaller creature; one that looked even more demonic. Its skin was reddish, mixed in with black. It looked as if it was burnt severely and never properly healed. On its head, there were massive horns, long and bent backwards like those of an Alpine ibex. The skull was caprine-shaped as well. It turned his head towards him and smiled a wicked smile, revealing big, spaced-out teeth.

Nazgaroth walked over to him and held him up by his neck. His life instincts kicked in and he started struggling as he couldn’t breathe, but Nazgaroth put him down quickly. The smaller demon cocked his head to the side and walked closer to where he was on his knees, still trying to properly catch his breath back.

Bringing its hands together and fumbling with its fingers, the demon spoke.

“It’s game time. I love games. Don’t you? They’re just so fun. Well, for me, at least. Are you having fun? Are you, Eric?” The demon spoke quickly and playfully. It must have been enjoying itself very much. There was a slight lisp in its voice.

He looked up quickly. Is that my name? he thought.

“It can be!” the demon interrupted his thought, seemingly reading his mind.

“Do you like it? I should tell you mine first. I’m Azazel. You can call me Azzy!”

The demon knelt and leaned in closer to him. “Never call me Azzy.” The tone in his voice was completely different. Whereas before Azazel sounded and acted like a deranged clown, it was now being threatening. With a swift move, the demon grabbed him by his neck and lifted him up into the air. “I will impale you on my horns!” it screamed with might in its voice that shook the cavern. Even Nazgaroth flinched slightly. Azazel swung him with incredible ease and threw him against a wall. Its eyes glowed a vivid yellow and the demon seemed incredibly angry. As he hit the wall air was punched out of his chest. He started coughing, which seemed to amuse Azazel tremendously. It laughed maliciously and seemed to be feeding off of his pain.

“Evil,” he said with disdain. “Performing bad deeds simply for one’s enjoyment. It’s a frightening concept, isn’t it? Do you think I’m evil, Anthony?”

He was looking up at Azazel, but didn’t answer. The demon’s grin was gone, its face was now completely indifferent, perhaps leaning slightly towards being angry. It ran suddenly towards him and struck him in the face with its fist. He was knocked down to the floor. Blood started dripping from his nose and his lip was swollen.

“AM I EVIL?” The demon yelled so ferociously he could feel it in his head. He found himself yelling back although he couldn’t hear himself.

“YES! YES! YOU’RE EVIL!”

“Good.”

Azazel’s smile was almost pleasant and its voice soft in its reply.

“Now, your name. Pick.”

The demon had three decks of cards and offered them to him. He grabbed a card from the first deck and looked at it. The remaining cards in the deck Azazel threw into the air and they fell to the ground Joel, the card said.

He read it aloud and looked up at Azazel. The demon nodded. “Next one now,” it said.

Reluctantly, he reached for the second deck and grabbed a card.

“Chevalier,” he said, struggling to pronounce it properly.

“Fancy,” added Azazel. Cards flew in the air again and the third deck was offered. He reached for the third deck and Azazel smirked, which made him even more reluctant, but he picked a card still and read it.

“Nazgaroth?”

He was uncertain what that means. How can he get the same name as the demon?

“My Lord? Does this mean…?” Nazgaroth spoke, unsure what the meaning of this is as well. For the first time, its face seemed to have an expression on it, one of confusion mostly.

“Oh yes, you’re coming with me. Congratulations. You are relieved.”

Nazgaroth took a deep breath and bowed its head, trying to appear humble and smaller than he is.

“Thank you, my Lord,” it said in a voice as gentle and thankful as it could muster.

“How long has it been?” asked Azazel, as if he making small talk.

“I…I don’t know, my lord.”

“Ah, of course. No time and all that.” Azazel seemed to be bored with himself and the situation. Nazgaroth nodded awkwardly.

Azazel looked at Joel again and his eyes lit up deviously. “Oh and don’t worry about Selena. She’s with us already.” Joel gasped and tried to speak, but no words came to him. The demon placed a hand on his head. Joel felt awfully sleepy suddenly and he could no longer keep his eyes open. In the distance, he saw the demons walking away. The door disappeared as they went through it and soon he could see no more.

 He awoke in the middle of the cave. He immediately noticed how much better he was feeling physically. Strength was back in his body and he felt rejuvenated. Rising up he noticed he somehow grew larger. His legs were definitely longer and more muscular. He touched his face, which seemed to be rougher now. His jaw was stiff and tracing his hand over his skin he noticed how much less feeling he has in his fingertips. As he reached his forehead he gasped in fear and surprise. His hand was stopped by a horn protruding from the side of his forehead, right where his hairline begins. As his other hand reached up he found another horn on the other side. He grabbed both and tried to pull them off. He remembered Azazel and figured it must be another of his games. The horns didn’t budge though; they were real. More of what happened before was coming back to him. Nazgaroth was the name he drew, he remembered. He heard a cry then, in the corner. Looking over he saw a man chained to the wall, slowly waking up. Something was compelling Joel to walk over. It was telling him what to do. The man shivered as he saw the demonic figure approach him. His forehead was sweaty and his irises shrunken with far. He stopped a few meters in front of him. He opened his mouth and spoke with a deeper voice than ever before.

“I am Nazgaroth,” he said. “Here there is no time, only pain.”

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If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Please feel free to leave me some feedback, I accept admiration, adoration, veneration and the occasional critique. I also will not say no to donations if you happen to have some excess money. Which you don’t because you’re millenials, let’s be real. I hope you enjoyed this and there will be more in the future. Probably. Really depends on those donations, ya know.