#lyn bloom

[heyitssunnyinside]

so my friend managed to get me into infamous and now like i mean what else was i supposed to do besides draw our silly little characters yk

[divine-lyn]

It's finally done! The remastered Casual Fairy Maker is now live on Meiker.io. Dress up one of the Winx girls, or design an outfit for your own fairy student. You can play the game by clicking the link down below:

[cofradia-thg]

Búsquedas de nuestros usuarios

Taylor Anderson busca a su hermana y su cuñado. Dylan es maquilladora y esteticista, mientras que Michael es un estadista que trabaja para casa de apuestas. Tienen una hija en común: Blair.

Arya Dawson busca a Thomas Forbes e Ihab Mosi. Thomas es un chico huérfano que reside en el Centro Dawson, e Ihab es la avox que rescató Gabriel de la calle.

Aura Daniels busca a sus padres. Adryen es el dueño de la tetería familiar y Padma lo ayuda a regentarla además de hacer sus labores de ama de casa.

Gael Lawrence busca a sus hermanas pequeñas. Dakota y Evie son gemelas, pero muy diferentes entre sí. Ambas son el talón de Aquiles del mayor de los Lawrence, que daría la vida por ellas si fuera necesario.

Jonathan Brekker busca a su mejor amiga. Pese a que ambos tengan la misma edad, ha sido sus respectivos empleos como camareros en el Restaurante Seaside lo que los ha hecho verdaderamente inseparables.

Caleb Heaton busca a su medio hermano. Lorcan Smith comparte madre con el mecánico, pues la mujer contrajo segundas nupcias con Marlon Smith. Es buen amigo de Emerick Holmes y Andreas Schreave.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Blooms

Contemporary Floral Design

Phaidon Editors with an introduction by Clare Coulson

Phaidon, London 2019, 272 pages 500 illustrations , 27 x 20,5 cm , Hardback,  ISBN  9780714878591

euro 120,00

email if you want to buy :booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

A glorious survey of work by more than 80 contemporary floral designers who are extending the boundaries of their art

Blooms celebrates the explosive impact that floral designers from the last decade have had on a previously underappreciated art form. This stunning book is the most ambitious survey of contemporary floral design ever published and demonstrates just how far these innovative designers have pushed the boundaries of contemporary floral design. Blooms showcases the work of more than 80 designers across the globe – featuring established florists alongside rising new talent – each nominated by industry experts, from perfumer Lyn Harris of Miller Harris to floral-design icon Eric Buterbaugh. It's an expertly curated, gorgeously produced collection of talent that offers insight into the profound effect that floristry has on today's visual culture and on the world of design itself.

04/11/22

orders to:     booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

ordini a:        booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

twitter:         @fashionbooksmi

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

[koumeowkami]

i was about to go insane over the cospro logo appearing on the screen but ... it wasn't yuta *screams*

[astranauticus]

been thinking about this for a while but like. wow i really wanna pick up my old hobby of translating chinese music again

[hyunpic]

list of songs hyunjin has played on his lives/recommended:

note: im probably missing some & i couldn’t put links to all of them cause apparently tumblr has a link limit 🤨

lauv: julia, lonely eyes, invisible things, paris in the rain, never not, im so tired, the story never ends, i like me better

offonff: photograph, cigarette (ft. miso & tablo), dance, bath

beyoncé: crazy in love (remix)

billie eilish: i love you, &burn, idontwannabeyouanymore, ocean eyes, before i go, tv

honne: day1, la la la that’s how it goes

christina perri: a thousand years

shawn mendes: mercy, treat you better, in my blood

dvwn: phobia

dpr live: jam & butterfly

jehwi: dear moon

leehi: rose

bts: dna, waste it on me, make it right

colde: where love begins, string (ft. sunwoojunga), the museum, wa-r-r, your dog loves you (ft. crush), control me, a song nobody knows, im in love

got7: miracle, hard carry

justin bieber: lonely

josef salvat: call on me

taemin: criminal

night off: sleep

sam kim: make up (ft. crush), like a fool, sunny days summer nights

niki: lowkey

iu: the visitor, lullaby, knees, love poem, give you my heart, my sea

cha ni: starlight

sia: snowman

akmu: happening

sunwoojunga: run with me

the black skirts: everything

korea cracker: ocean (ft. hoyeon kim)

cosmic boy: can i love?

penomeco: no.5 (ft. crush)

yerin baek: blooming memories, limit

10cm: so…., however

day6: i’ll try, love me or leave me, when you love someone, you were beautiful, congratulations, zombie, days gone by, afraid

dean: d (half moon), instagram, what 2 do, bonnie & clyde

exo: first snow, the eve, love shot

sam fischer: this city

jukjae: do you want to walk with me?, lullaby

ph-1: nerdy love (ft. yerin baek), as i told you

baekhyun: love again, un village

amine: blackjack

young k: come as you are, guard you

flume: say it (ft. tove lo)

twice: dance the night away, fancy

ariana grande: thank u, next

hajin: we all lie

about: it has to be you

caroline says: winter is cold

h.e.r: u, wait for it

bol4: to my youth

monday kiz: winter is as i wished

paul kim: the road, additional

sweden laundry: the winter

jung seung hwan: in that winter

chungha: gotta go

zion.t: no make up, snow

airman: gloomy star, i’ll be your spring (ft. j_ust)

motte: dont run away

seventeen: a-teen, super

khalid: location

lukas graham: 7 years

imagine dragons: believer

bo kyung kim: dont think you are alone

jung ilhoon: spoiler (ft. babylon)

davichi: falling in love, 이 사랑

coldplay: everglow, viva la vida

lyn: my destiny

jus2: focus on me, long black, senses (jpn version)

crush: beautiful, you and i

ed sheeran: lego house, perfect, photograph, beautiful people

croosh: why

20 years of age: x

tori kelly: paper hearts

seulgi: always

luna: do you love me? (ft. george)

wisue: someone’s shining

epik high: eternal sunshine

jp saxe: if the world was ending

seori: fairy tale

bruno mars: marry you

the weeknd: earned it, die for you

jung seunghwan: its raining, an ordinary day, dear

sam tinnesz: play with fire

post malone: motley crew

jihyo: stardust love song

kim feel: your voice

sung sikyung: solar system, heejae

younha: stardust

wonpil: a journey

taeyeon: invu, some nights, toddler, drawing our moments

nct dream: boom

ha hyunsang: 3108

huhgak: memory of your scent

se so neon: nan chun, a long dream, midnight train, stranger

umi: remember me

tvxq!: mirotic

johnny balik: honey

red velvet: psycho

new jeans: hype boy

christian kuria: losing you

cigarettes after sex: k. , each time you fall in love, sunsetz, apocalypse

dpr ian: nerves, no blueberries, 1 shot

samm henshaw: broke

woodz: drowning

kelly clarkson: underneath the tree

kimmuseum: to you who cant sleep

taylor swift: betty

lana del rey: young and beautiful

harry styles: watermelon sugar, she

pink sweat$: honesty

masego: tadow

olivia rodrigo: vampire

troye sivan: youth, for him

kai: mmmh

2pm: my house

oasis: wonderwall, hey now

mac miller: that’s on me, everybody

nothing but thieves: amsterdam

bren joy: sweet

back number: i love you

mac ayres: next to you, roses

daniel caesar: blessed, ocho rios, get you (ft. kali uchis), take me away (ft. syd), do you like me?, disillusioned

green day: dilemma

puma blue: already falling

bruno major: nothing, easily, places we won’t walk, the most beautiful thing, old soul

[welcome-to-alfea]

Characters: Flora!

(As always credit goes to @divine-lyn for the meiker)

Name: Flora Espinosa

Age: 16

Birthday: May 25th

General Headcanons:

Shoes aren't common on lynphea and Flora hates them. Wears sandals as a compromise.

She's bi. Her and bloom went on a date together when they first started at Alfea together. But they decided they were better off as friends.

Flora is a good cook and takes great pride in being able to raise a plant, harvest it, and then serve it.

She's royalty but also never mentions it because the attention it brings gives her anxiety.

Flora is technically the second strongest member of the group but prefers to use her magic for healing. Get her mad though and she becomes a tank.

Her favorite food is grilled lamb with seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Her hair is the longest of all the winx.

Organizes weekly movie nights for everyone.

Scared of spiders.

Has anxiety.

[mistresskayla-blog1]

Reclaiming Purity

Lyn's Writing Event Day 8

May 8th: Week 2: Andromeda  (plant – Lily of the Valley – white bell shaped flowers in spring)

Characters: AU - Dr Mikhel Astrov x OC Cassandra   (18+)

Fandom: Richard Armitage – Plays – Dr. Astrov (Uncle Vanya)

Dr Mikhel Astrov character was created by Anton Chekhov in a play called Uncle Vanya

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: age play, angst, kissing, natural decay, smut,  

A young woman, with wavy brown hair is laying in a field, lily of the valley surrounding her in the warmth of the sunny spring. She ties up her hair from her face with a scrap of string from her bound books. Her journal lay open in the grasses, pencil holding its place among the pages. The breeze was warm and it smelled of flowers and blooming grasses.

Cassandra rolled back to her book, and started sketching again, the blooms of the flowers she was drawing blowing in the breeze. She sipped some water from a travel jug, and set the stopper back into the hole, making a suction sound. Birds chirped and flew overhead, playing in the afternoon breezes busy with their chores. Cassandra smiled up at the sun kissing her cheeks. When she brought this back to the Doctor, she knew he would be pleased. But would he be so pleased that he entertained more with her?

----

              Gripped by anguish Dr Astrov sits at his desk and weeps openly. The trees in his forest are dying, dying from some organism he cannot control. Mushrooms are creeping up all over the forest, bright red and shelf like at the base, indicating a rash of what the dendrologist called, “heart rot”.

He couldn’t believe it. He had worked months tirelessly with his assistant Cassandra replanting the fields and protecting the larger deciduous trees from this plight. Dr Astrov felt helpless and utterly broken. He pulled the cork out of the bottle on his table, and poured it into a glass, nearly overfilling it, then just gulped down the fruit bearing liquid directly, putting his lips to the bottle. He took a gasp as the brandy burned down his throat. And coughed a bit, rambling as Cassandra came into his study.

She moved the bottle as he went to grab it again, “mm No, that’s mine” Astrov slurred. Cassandra shook her head and took it across the room, “No, that’s enough. We cannot fix this issue with drinking. You know that doctor”. He smirked at her, “well then can we fix it with something more fun than drinking”. Cassandra smiled coyly, “Not, -- look what you have been doing to my notes, its all” she acted disgusted, as she cleaned off the desk and removed her journal from the desk. Dr Astrov turned to her as she wiped her journal off with her skirt.

“I was reading that”, Astrov said, growing slightly annoyed, “And I think you may be onto something”. Cassandra looked amused, “Oh, do you? Is that the brandy talking?” Astrov burped and stood up, “No, no, no look, look,” he snatched the book from her hand, “Its all in here, the way you drew the bells on this plant, if we let them grow around the bottom of the tree like a girdle, than maybe we can prevent the rot from even touching the root of the tree”.

Cassandra looked at him, with endearing grace, “I know that, I wrote it”.

Astrov looked at her, smiling broadly, “Its brilliant!” he grabbed her face between his hands, squishing her cheeks and placing a triumphant kiss on her pursed lips.

He dropped his hands straight away, and stepped clear of her, “I,… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that” he walked back over the desk, trying to busy himself with his papers, running his hand through his fallen brown locks.

Cassandra still a bit stunned, leaned against a bench and looked down a moment, “Its, fine, really” she tried to hold back a grin. She had wanted him to kiss her for a long time now. Cassandra had worked with the doctor, training under him for about 18 months now and this was the first time he had seriously touched her.  

Astrov turned back towards Cassandra, leaning against the desk, “I, just wanted to say, (looking at his feet, than back up to meet her gaze) I have really appreciated your help this past year, and all the work you are doing, trying to sort me out (he scratched the back of his neck, looking back at his desk)”. Cassandra nodded, “Of course, yes. I am honored to do it, Doctor. Really”.

Astrov looked at her, moving towards her again, “But, its not appropriate for me to take advantage of your; virtue and grace, when, I”  he trailed off, and held himself back from touching her, while Cassandra stood in suspense desperate for him to touch her.

“Doctor” Cassandra, “Mikhel?” 

Astrov looked at her, “my name on your lips sounds, (smiles) beautiful, Can I kiss you?”

Cassandra nodded.

Astrov moved towards her again, taking her face in his hands more gently, and when there lips met, the lightest brush of skin and heat to skin. They both held their breaths, then sighed gratefully into each other’s mouths. Astrov pulled her close with his hands around her waist. Cassandra’s hands moved into Astrov’s hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Astrov deepened the kiss in response, and then lead her back to the desk. He pivoted his body, carrying her against his chest, and boosting her into the desk. He swept things off of it with a crash of papers and tools, and leaned over the desk, kissing her neck and moving towards her skirts, her knees rising up.

---

Cassandra was panting and excited. After waiting so long, he was finally going to touch her, in the way she had been fantasizing about, been writing about (thankfully in a separate journal). Her head was swimming with thoughts and anticipation. Astrov continued his kisses, moving down her throat, and reaching for the buttons on her blouse, muffled he groaned into her breast, “You smell like those flowers”. Cassandra smiled, holding his head against her breast, “I’ve wanted you for so long,” she breathed.

Astrov came up from her cleavage, her blouse opening further, her belly exposed to the open air of his breath, “You… wanted me?” his voice was a question in between his heart thundering in his ears. Astrov looked over Cassandra, “The first day I saw you, I was hooked, and then you shared with me your mind, and your comfort, I… I never thought, I”. He kissed her passionately again, and Cassandra ran her fingers through his soft hair.

Cassandra spoke through her kisses, “I.. never.. thought.. you would..” Her hands digging into his hair deeper, as they kissed. Astrov kissed down her neck again, and into her soft and inviting cleavage. His beard tickled her soft sun kissed skin and she giggled. His lips trailed down her belly then, moving lower. Cassandra’s need was palpable, her core throbbed at his every touch.

“yes” she bid him, as he looked up at her again, heat in his eyes, as he moved to her skirts and moved them up against her thighs, his hands slowly moving in season with his lips. He started at her ankles and up the slope of her calf, and he nibbled behind her knee, and she let out a gasp, looking over the billow of her work skirt. He chuckled, “you liked that?”  She sighed a ‘yes’. And he continued onto her inner thigh, Cassandra’s breath gulped in a nervousness, and Astrov felt her tense. He paused, “I can stop, if your not,” he trailed off, resting his head against her thigh, seeing the curls damp against her knickers.

Cassandra whimpered, “I want you to,”

Astrov groaned under his breath, and licked the inside of her thigh, all the way up to her knickers. He scooped his hands under her bum and slid them down, discarding them casually on the floor, as he shifted onto his knees, and buried his face in her nubile curls. His breath toned husky, as he took in her scent and kissed her folds softly. Cassandra cried out at the delicateness of it. Astrov’s hands caressed her ass, and her thighs, moving in to touch her, but for now, he wanted to just taste her. Drink in her essence, his cock twitched in his trousers as her scent hit his sharp nose. He nudged his nose against her sensitive clit, and she moaned beautifully.

There she was spreadeagled on the desk, her skirt billowing over the Doctor, on his knees before her, in total submission to his cause. He moaned against her sex and licked playfully parting her sweet folds with his tongue. It played at her entrance, and pushed his way in a little, feeling her tightly wound around his tongue. His cock strained against fabric even more. He pulled her closer, deepening his kiss and his tongue into her core. Cassandra moaned a little louder, grinding against his face with her burning need. Her core was swimming in this sensation, wanting to build this over and over again. Cassandra was so excited she barely noticed the wave overcoming her. Astrov moved his tongue faster, and rubbed her clit with his thumb, strumming her along, knowing exactly how to make her complete her ascent into madness and relief, his breath against her mound, “Tell me..” he panted. Cassandra sat up on her elbows, pushing her skirt out of her way to look at him, “Please doctor, I want you inside me”. He smiled broadly and sucked on her clit, pushing his finger inside her, as he stood up, hunched over her and worked at getting his trousers off. She climaxed against his finger and he groaned in acceptance, pulling out slowly as she shuddered, her cunt wet and creamy now, ready for him.

Astrov teased at her entrance, stroking his cock in his hand, making it slick, at the tip. Cassandra mewed at him, her legs gripping at his hips, drawing him closer, “Easy, easy my dear,” he cooed back at her in his deeper voice. Astrov leaned down between her legs and kissed her mouth again, her flavor mixed with the brandy on his breath was intoxicating and she caressed his hair again, keeping him close. Astrov moved and pushed into her entrance, Cassandra gasped as the stretching of her flesh against his intrusion, had her seeing stars. Her pussy gripped his cock so tight, Astrov shuddered and gaffawed, sliding deeper, Cassandra’s tongue entered his mouth and danced with his. They were joined now, and their hearts thumped in unison. Astrov began to stroke into her slowly and shallowly, easing it in and out, she adjusted well and still she clung to him with limbs and cunt. His arousal was at its peak and he wanted to thrust faster and harder, but he steeled himself to continue to go slow, for her benefit.

Cassandra, panted against his ear, as he held steady, letting her pussy throb around his shaft,

“Please, please,” she begged, “Please more”.

Astrov did not hesitate, he sunk all the way in and she cried out her legs gripping him harder, her hands digging into his shoulders and hair. He shuddered again, “God, you feel so good,”

Cassandra smiled playfully, as she whispered against his beard, “harder”.

That pushed him over the edge and Astrov started to pump against her pressure, building them both to the summit, to the wave that would inevitably crash against both of them in bliss. The heat inside his loins was growing and growing. And inside her core, Cassandra was overwhelmed by all the sensations, her body simply reacting to his, and in righteous chorus of expletive joy.  Astrov kept at it, moving faster and faster, a little harder, and a little faster. Sweat was gathering at his brow, he tore his shirt open, and she clawed at his chest. He looked at her, deeply as he came close to his edge. Cassandra’s walls clamped down on him and he seized, pulling out quickly and spilling himself onto the floor. She clamped against the emptiness, for mere seconds, as his fingers slid into her and he pumped again and again as she shuddered over him.

Astrov dropped to his knees again and feasted on her, licking her clit and making her scream against her sleeve, biting down, as his fingers and tongue and lips just suspended her in utter pleasure. She shook on the desk, as he held her legs over his shoulders. His tongue quieted to languid licks against her folds, and peppered her thighs with kisses, before he replaced her skirts, and helped her up to a stand. He stood, above her, and kissed her sweetly on the mouth, his hands cradling her face again. Cassandra looked up at him with sleepy eyes. He smiled as he looked at her, “Such a treasure, I’m so glad to have the wonder of all of you, thank you, Cassandra”. Cassandra was still swimming in her waves, but she was stable in his arms, and that is what mattered. He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, lying down next to her, still half dressed, there limbs lying softly with each other. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheek, and finally her mouth. Her eyelids drooped heavier, and he whispered against her forehead, “Rest now”, in his soft and sultry voice.

Raspy and confused Cassandra mumbled up at him, “What.. what happens now?”

Astrov looked at her, “you mean with the trees?” 

Cassandra burbled up a giggle,

 Astrov smirked, “oh you mean with us,”

Cassandra nodded,

“Let’s just learn to grow together” Astrov smiled and kissed her again, gently. And held her close to him all night.

END?

Tag list:

@legolasbadass @middleearthpixie @riepu10 @evenstaredits

@scariusaquarius @sweetestgbye @lathalea

[smash-or-pass-otome]

Tags and Links A-M (In Progress)

Some might still be missing cause I just went down the Smash or Pass tag on here and there's some i forgot to tag

Also I put links for the Lovebrush guys cause I didn't want to list each version

If any links don't work please let me know. I tested some but not all

The * is just me marking where I stopped when making the list

Alice in the Country of Hearts

Elliot March

Amnesia Memories

Kent

Arcana

Asra

Julian

Lucio

Muriel

Nadia

Portia

Arcana Twilight

Sirius

Ayakashi Romance Reborn

Kuya

Toichiro Yuri

Yakumo Koizumi

Backstage Pass

Adam Eaton

John Brandon

Matthew Partridge

Baldur's Gate 2

Anomen Delyrn

Birushana

Minamoto Yoritomo

Blind Griffin

Alexei

Emilio

Giovanni

Blooming Panic

Quest

XYX

Boyfriend Dungeon

Sunder

Bustafellows

Crow "Scarecrow" Miller

Helvetica Orsted

Limbo Fitzgerald

Mozu Shepherd

Shu Lyn O'Keefe

Cafe Enchante

Canus Espada

Ignis Carbunculus

Il Fado de Rie

Kaoru Rindo

Misyr Rex

Charade Maniacs

Akase Kyoya

Futami Ryouichi

Iochi Mizuki

Mamoru Chigasaki

Cinderella Phenomenon

Karma

City of Love Paris

Louise Paquier

Cloud Meadow

Kreyton

Code Realize

Impey Barbicane

Saint Germain

Collar X Malice

Takeru Sasazuka

Court of Darkness

Fenn Luxure

Cupid Parasite

Alan Melville

Gill Lovecraft

Raul Aconite

Ryuki F Keisaiin

Shelby Snail

Cute Demon Crashers

Akki

Kael

Mirari

Dangerous Fellows

Lawrence

Zion

A Date With Death

Grim Reaper

Demonheart

Raze

Sir Brash

Xan'ari

Devil butler with Black Cat

Berrien Cliane

Devil Kiss

Cain

Dragon Age Origins

Zevran

Dragon Age 2

Fenris

Dragon Age Inquisition

Cullen Rutherford

Eldarya

Leiftan

Error 143

Micah Yujin

Even If Tempest

Tyril I Lister

The Fate of Wonderland

White

Fire Emblem Fates

Kaze

Saizo

Fire Emblem Three Houses

Claude Von Riegan

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Edelgard Von Hresvelg

Felix Fraldarius

Mercedes von Martritz

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4

Hiiragi

Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town

Cliff

Gray

Hatoful Boyfriend

Kazuaki Nanaki

Shuu Iwamine

Havenless

Noah

Hustle Cat

Grave Serling

I was a Teenage Exocolonist

Marzipan

Ikemen Sengoku

Masamune Date

Sasuke Sarutobi

Ikemen Vampire

Arthur Conan Doyle

Kamigami no Asobi

Anubis Ma'at

Loki Laevatein

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder

Mamoru Kishi

Shuichi Hishikura

Knights of the Old Republic

Carth Onasi

Love Spell Written in the Stars

Enix Gray

Florian Atlas

Jamie Niro

Marcello DiNucci

Lovebrush Chronicles

Ayn Alwyn

Cael Anselm

Clarence Clayden

Lars Rorschach

LoveLink

Blake Bailey

Lover Pretend

Asagi Eiichiro

Kamikubo Kazuma

Makino Harumi

Sena Yukito

Riku Nishijima

LoveUnholyc

Leo

Lullaby of Demonia

Ifrit

Max Gentleman Sexy Business

Samuel Finch

Sinterklaas

Vicki Lestrange

Vlad Nibblesome

MeChat

Wu Xiang

Metro PD: Close To You

Katsuyuki Kyobashi

Monster Prom

Damien Lavey

Moonlight Lovers

Aaron

Beliath

Ethan

Ivan

Neil

Raphael

Vladimir

Mr Love Queen's Choice

Gavin

Kiro

Lucien

Victor

My Candy Love University Life

Castiel

Mystic Messenger

Jumin Han

Saeyoung Choi

Yoosung Kim

Zen

[autumnslance]

Hi Autumn/Lyn! First things first, as someone who's embarrassingly into WoLcred stuff, I wanted to say that I love your writing and I'm a huge fan! Thanks for sharing your work with us!

I really relate to your WoL Aeryn (I too am Thavnairian irl Indian, in love with Thancred, love reading, main RDM, etc etc), which is super funny to me because I don't identify at all with my own WoL, who was originally meant as a self-insert, even (I didn't know what an "OC" was so I just made myself but in-game?), but then had her own ideas and went and became her own person (example: she has dyslexia and hates reading). No clue how this happened, and I still love my daughter OC dearly, but… you see why I also love your Aeryn. Lol.

I wanted to ask, did Aeryn inherit her grey eyes from her father? Or does the Thavnairian side of her family have a tendency towards grey eyes too? Does she have any relatives other than Zaine who have grey eyes?

I'm not sure why, but I got fixated on this one little thing because I've always loved grey eyes (especially described in literature) and the idea of a South Asian fantasy-equivalent with grey eyes fascinates me. Anyway, apologies in advance if this is too weird and/or offensive! Also sorry about how long this ask got! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Thank you so much, what a lovely ask to get! And funny how our WoL kids just do their own things, huh? Can't stop won't stop the WoL, not even their own writers. 😉

Aeryn did indeed get her eyes from her father (and it is mentioned most strongly, I think, in Bearing Sins of the Past), though there's probably some predisposition in her mother's side; her mom's eyes were very dark blue. I lean into the fantasy world's idea of "similar, inspired and influenced by, but not 100% the same" for the setting and characters, and am pleased Thavnair ended up labeled by the devs explicitly as a "melting pot" society (which makes sense for such a centrally located trade hub). Since I had Aeryn raised in Thavnair, with her reasons to return to Eorzea as an adult, but this was back in late Heavensward/early Stormblood before we had it in game, I had her mother's people be a more "recent" immigrant group (within the last couple hundred years) so they have mostly assimilated into Thavnairian culture, while maintaining some of their own traditions to give myself leeway, not knowing how the devs would go into the South Asian influences when we eventually got there.

Also I am very white, and know there's nuance I'd be missing, so while I wanted it to be a part of her character, and be respectful, I'm not trying to write about an Indian experience I have no inherent connection to, but a character whose upbringing includes similar influences to shape her. It's a weird and fine line when writing characters different from oneself.

There's also the meta where I based Aeryn's appearance roughly on the unused CGI Midlander woman model, though Aeryn's darker skinned (I'm still not sure if I want to adjust her facial features post-graphics upgrade or not, I might need to play around a bit). I wanted her to do some dragoon stuff for HW, but not just cuz "she's the WoL" so that got some of the backstory in there, which also worked with "she left as a kid and is now returning as an adult." And the idea that 1.0 WoL, based on Meteor (with some color shifts again), was her lost brother and it gave her a weird tie to Ardbert (before Shadowbringers even came out!).

Even the skintones for my FF14 characters are meta, as having played in earlier versions of World of Warcraft where the natural skin color options for humans/dwarves/gnomes/blood elves were "different shades of white", and my priest glowed like a lightbulb under Ashenvale's bloom lighting, seeing the sheer variety of the palettes in FF14 back in HW was a delight, and so Dark Autumn ended up brown cuz it wasn't an option at all in the other game (at that time). Even C'oretta's in the middle of the options for Seekers as my lightest OC...and Iyna being darkest Rava was playing in the Benchmark while annoyed at the examples shown by the devs at that FanFest.

What a character looks like, either in a visual video game or in a piece of writing, often comes early on to me, and in Aeryn's case, there was an appearance I wanted to adjust and build off of, and then went "OK, so what's the reasons for not only her looks, but also X and Y things I want to do with her story, and how would that work and shape her, and let's use the devs' trick of being a little vague here and there for now until the lore updates, and...."

I do fret sometimes, about how my characters look and how I portray them, especially with Thavnair having such a strong inspiring influence. But I mostly follow the game lore, fill in some gaps with light research, make up a few of my own things and remain consistent with them, and try to be true to the character and story I've written, and let the rest sort itself out. I can't and won't please everyone, but I'm always glad to hear from those who love my girls and their stories.

[violettesiren]

Something under skin crunched and sizzled as if something else was inside. People turned away as they do with those who've survived some explosion, lost their faces and only go out at night. My mother and I drank apricot sours, it was all that could stop the pain as ants bloomed in the hot nights and I lay flat as long as I could and then brought the manuscripts that had howled all summer downstairs: diaries of the woman who only only wrote when she left her body, women who thought they'd been to Mars. Lightning bugs grazed screens and damp walnut leaves huge as palms that kept shaking. Squirrels tore the pale nuts from them as thunder moved in and my mother and I curled close to the dripping lilies like survivors who, laughing, wash their hair in underground streams.

That July by Lyn Lifshin

[divine-lyn]

I've finished drawing all the clothing options for the game, and now I've started working on the colours! Here's Bloom and Stella's season 1 outfits in game.

[banorawhite]

for the music ask game :D how about 5, 14, 20?

YES LET'S GO!!!!

5: a song that needs to be played LOUD

i would be lying if i didn't plug love me right again. as soon as i hear the opening i am turning this song ALL the way up and having a jam session!! i love it so so much.

i believe by lyn for persona 5 royal. it brings back all of the emotions playing the end of that game, and it hypes me way too much to play quietly! dover beach by baby queen - this song is very much an oc song and i always get very into it. and no light no light by florence and the machine. i go a little insane every time i hear this song.

14: a song you would love played at your wedding

eyes locked, hands locked by red velvet. this song is just way too beautiful.

also soundtracks: feast of starlight by howard shore. not only is it gorgeous but it plays during one of my favourite scenes. and flowers blooming beneath the church, nobou uematsu. probably one of my favourite pieces of music ever and just. ah. so, so pretty.

20: a favourite song with a person's name in the title

i'm in my shameless julie and the phantoms propaganda era - unsaid emily. godddd this song. this scene.

also georgia by vance joy <3

[saltnpepperbunny]

Till World’s End- 9: Two Days Remain

PREVIOUS: Three Days Remain > NEXT: One Day Remains >

COVER

Till World’s End is rated Mature. Viewer discretion advised. Content Warnings listed on the Cover.

* * *

The wailing of wind through the open maw of stone sounded like a baby’s cry. Sleep never came to Shadow, for within minutes of closing his eyes, that infantile shrieking would jar him awake. Shadow was not a “kids’ pokemon.” If a baby was present, he had to leave the room. Something about laying eyes on a creature so miniscule, so shamelessly helpless, turned his stomach and brought bile to his throat. He didn’t understand his reasons behind it. All he understood was that a baby��s cry brought the itch of violence to his claws. 

Shadow knew it was all in his head. The whining was just the wind. But when he stood outside the Cave and heard that sound, fear leashed him. Shaking, he turned tail and made sick in the bushes. The Cave was definitely empty; all he could smell within was bone cold nothing. But the what if held Shadow prisoner in the outside world. The sun rose, set, rose again, and still, the wind kept howling, and he did not venture in. What if…? What if…

Dawn painted the sky rose red. Shadow lifted his face to greet the morning. He had to do this. Before everything ended, he had to make his return, complete the circle. It was the only way to move on. But that damn wailing! What was he supposed to do to break the spell?

Shadow…

The zorua’s ears pricked. He whipped his head in the direction of the Cave entrance. His breath hitched. That voice… It couldn’t be. No.

Shadow… Shadow…!

He jumped to his feet. Body rigid, ears erect. It was just the wind, wasn’t it? It was just the wind? But the murmur of his name emanating from the mouth of the Cave was unmistakable. Shadow sometimes heard whispers on the wind. The rustling of leaves in the trees pieced together into words. He usually heard names, his own or Selkie’s. Sometimes, he heard taunts. But not in that voice. Never in that voice.

Shadow darted to the Cave’s mouth and looked deep into the darkness. She couldn’t be here, right? There was no way.

Shadow…

“M-m-m-mom…?”

Shadow… Come home…

His tail tucked between his legs. Shadow gulped. Who he would find within, he had no idea. But at the end of the day, Mom         knew best. She would see through his inaction, she knew all he’d done was put off the inevitable. After all, his two nights of waiting had been pointless, hadn’t it?

Selkie never came to find him.

So, fine! He knew it was just the wind. There was no baby in the Cave! Whether Mom was in there or not, he didn’t give a damn. With the whisper of her voice curling in his ears, with the icy tremble of fear on his breath, with shaking paws, Shadow finally returned to the Cave.

His paw pads tread against frigid stone. The earth was flat and smooth beneath him. Shadow descended further and further into the dark. The tunnel pressed tight around him, and his whiskers brushed against the rock. Shadow worked hard to control his breathing. His lungs burned from effortful sucking of the breath. But though his paws resisted the forward momentum, though everything in him wished to collapse and curl up into a heap, Shadow pressed forward. The tunnel widened. The space opened. And Shadow stepped out into the wider space of the underground Cave.

Shadow’s lungs ached as he gazed out upon the skeletons littering the stone. He crept out amongst the stalks of bone blooming from the earth, looked into the sockets of each skull, and glassy feline eyes stared back. The cavern was a garden of bones. As Shadow stalked across the cemetery of unmarked graves, Lyn’s pleas for mercy echoed in his mind. A breeze from nowhere brushed past him, carrying on it the screams of the pokemon who died here. Somewhere, a baby cried. Wherever that wretched creature was, Shadow wished it would shut up.

He came to the place in the wall where the tunnel narrowed again, went deeper. Shadow swallowed his spit. He knew this way. What lay at the end. As Shadow descended further into the narrowing shaft, he heard the screams and wails of a child dragged into the depths. The tear stains caressed his cheekbones. He felt the talons peel through his fur and pinch into his skin as laughing monsters dragged his body against stone. Deeper, deeper. Crying for Mom. Where was Mom?

Shadow took a deep breath. If he lost himself in his mind now, he would never reach the bed. He pulled himself out of the labyrinth. The nightmare had been years ago. No living being walked the depths but him. He pressed on and went deeper.

The iron door of the cell was unlocked, just as they left it those years ago. The open doorway, pitch black. Shadow stopped and stared into the darkness, tried to swallow the building, bubbling panic in his chest. He was scared. So scared. He had to do this, but he could already feel it: The blinding pain of talons ripping through his skin, the horror of those cold blades digging through his flesh. His own screaming and crying bounced across the walls, and from the blackness echoed laughter. His body shuddered in sickness. The laughter was the worst part, it was always the worst part. How could someone gouge him, maim him, and just laugh? How? How?!

Shadow gasped, yanking himself once again from his own head. He realized he’d started to cry. Furiously wiping at tears, though his heart darkened at the thought of her, he longed for Selkie’s resolute strength. She left him to brave this place alone. Brought him back here in the first place. That fucking bitch.

Shadow shuddered under the swirling storm of his emotions. Angry, mournful, terrified, he choked back a sob and leaped forward into the black hole.

The cell was tiny. The ceiling low. Cramped. Shadow had no idea how long he’d spent prisoner here, but he remembered vividly the torturous claustrophobia, hardly enough room to pace let alone truly stretch. The constant, aching tension in his muscles measured up to the sharp, jarring pain of the beatings. Shadow stood still at the cell’s center. He let his tears fall. He listened silent to screams of blinding pain. Raucous laughter. His own voice, begging for mercy. Soft sobbing as he lay alone on the icy floor, clutching at his throbbing groin. The orchestra of the nightmare.

Shadow could so clearly see himself, small, unkempt, curled in the corner of the cell, crying alone. His heart, gouged open and oozing with black hatred for Mom. How could she do this? How could she abandon him to this?! Chest throbbing from the storming pain, Shadow fell to the floor of the cell and let loose a wail of agony. He covered his face in his paws and choked up sobs. The hatred for her consumed him, the agony of the betrayal, the understanding that she really had hated him this much. She threw him away like nothing, and the pain of it threatened to devour Shadow alive.

He took deep breaths, just as Selkie had shown him.

When the worst of the storm began to pass, still forcing himself to breath, Shadow lifted his head. Across the cell, blue eyes met the empty sockets of the Rogue’s bleached skull. His bones, like the rest of his minions, flowered from the spot where Selkie killed him. He would never forget it.

No, Shadow would never forget. The moment of his rescue was as distinct in his mind as that of his imprisonment and abuse. When the cell door swung open to reveal not the Rogue, but instead a popplio about his age, Shadow knew instantly that she was not amongst his captors. She stared at him like an alien, as if Shadow was the last pokemon she expected to find at the bottom of the earth. As if she was not the one out of place in this hell.

And then, the approaching footsteps of the Rogue. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Shadow had come to believe only pain and hatred could exist here. But somehow, he found again the white flower of kindness, bruised and buried deep, deep within his soul. “He’s coming… Quick, hide!”

Into the cell she came. After her came the Rogue, and the pain. Shadow embraced normality, the reality of his eternal prison, squeezed the scream in his throat and refused to cry out. Popplio, forgotten. This was his life. This was the world Mom abandoned him to. She sold him away for their money, how could she? He was never leaving this Cave, he would die here! He would never see the end of his misery!

Then Selkie sliced open the fabric of the world, and in came beams of light. Jumped from her hiding spot, and a burst of water separated the Rogue from Shadow. She rushed him, Shadow jumped back, and by the time he spun around to understand what the hell was going on, the deed was done. The Rogue was dead, murdered by Selkie.

Yet at this point, she was just Popplio, just a popplio with jewelry of teeth. Shadow couldn’t understand. The Rogue was dead? The Rogue was dead? What the hell was happening?!

“You… Y-y-you…”

“Saved your ass, that’s what! Now, unless you wanna sit around for them to lock you up again, get off your fucking tail! Let’s go!”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Fight.”

And she did. Popplio stormed the Cave, and every pokemon she found lay dead at her claws in seconds. Most never got the chance to scream. Shadow watched as one by one, the monsters who’d held him captive dropped, and dropped, and dropped. Thunk, thunk, thunk of bodies against the sticky stone floor. The world ripped apart, inverted.

When she was done, when the Rogue and all his minions lay dead at their feet, Shadow did not look at the bodies. His eyes lay only on her. The being with the power to tear the world asunder, to rip the fabric of the universe to shreds. She was a pokemon, just a popplio, but Shadow knew then this being was something different. If this world had abandoned him, then she could not be of this world. Something different. Something special. Something that, against all convention, had decided to save him.

Why? he asked with eyes alone.

In the still, murky pools of her eyes was no answer. All she did was hand him a fang.

It was overwhelming. Sheerly overwhelming. Looking out amongst the dead and the one who’d slain them, Shadow cried. He wept and wept, coughing up soft sobs, engulfed by the understanding that he was free. He’d been saved! He’d been saved… Good Arceus, how could he ever repay a debt so deep?

For now, his words would have to do. His actions would follow. He promised himself and, silently, her, the moment he took the fang from her delicate hold.

“T-t… T… Thank you.”

“… You’re welcome.”

They made introductions then. She introduced herself with a melodious name: Selkie. Shadow wanted to sing it to high heaven! She was a recruit with the Spectrum Island Rescue Guild, training in outlaw capture. A mission to apprehend the Rogue had brought her to the Cave. Wow, a solo recruit after Talonflame the Rogue? She must have been a big shot! As they caught up, the field of bodies surrounding them faded out of Shadow’s consciousness. All he could take in was her.

Together, they left the Cave.

Shadow would never forget Selkie’s glinting silhouette framed against the mouth of the tunnel as she guided him to freedom. The full moon illuminated the night sky, cloaking all in a misty blue, shedding pooling wisps of light across the jungle trees and earth. Seeing the outside world once again, feeling the breeze in his fur and the soft dirt beneath his pads, Shadow cried once again. Selkie rolled her eyes and snapped at him to hurry along, and he dutifully followed, but Shadow could not stop his weeping. Oh, how beautiful the world was! How beautiful, this chance Selkie gave him!

Together, they crossed the sea. What a terrifying journey! Shadow buried his face under Selkie’s collar and clutched on tight as she surfed the waves. She slipped through the water with swiftness and grace, slid across the foaming crests, and Shadow’s fur ran damp with saltwater. He was scared, but not like the Cave. His fear ran charged with the thrill of the journey, entering the unknown of second life.

Alone together, surrounded by open sky, Selkie and Shadow forged ahead into the dawn. Whatever came next, ensuing that blissful moment in time, Shadow believed right then that he could face it.

But Shadow would soon come to find that the challenges he would face at Spectrum Island Rescue Guild were near insurmountable. He would come to find what weak flesh he was made of.

That blissful moment in time between Selkie and Shadow, from their leaving the Cave to their arrival at the Guild, that liminal space, the gap between worlds where Shadow looked into a crack in the sky and saw potential, proved itself ephemeral. When Shadow saw a crowd of pokemon emerge from the Guild and fix him in their questioning gaze, his blood turned to ice. He cowered behind Selkie, putting her body between him and the onlooking strangers who just kept staring, stop fucking staring! When an oricorio stepped out from the crowd and approached Shadow, he snarled and shook, don’t come near him, don’t fucking come near him! Selkie growled at the oricorio to back off, but a makuhita barked at her to shut up, psycho, and Selkie slung insults back. Within seconds, the crowd was buzzing and barking, and the oricorio was still creeping closer, and Shadow couldn’t focus, there were too many pokemon, he couldn’t breathe! He spun around to bolt, but someone grabbed his tail and Shadow screeched. Kicked out with his back feet and connected with something solid. Someone grunted behind him, and Shadow’s lungs heaved but found no air. The world was getting louder, and darker, and darker…

Shadow remembered the tumult of his waking in the Guild’s infirmary. Waking up alone, panicking to find himself in a cave, panicking more when Oricorio, the Guild’s head nurse, came back in, and panicking even more when she trotted across the room in his direction. Within minutes of waking, he filled the infirmary with screams. Tried to bolt. Remembered being held down, unable to think, crying out. The commotion only remedied when Selkie’s bark cut through the nightmare fog. Growled at them all to “shut the fuck up, some pokemon are trying to sleep.” Despite the snarl on her tongue, the storm stilled in Shadow as he paused and soaked in the sight of her. She’d reappeared! His savior was back! She could protect him from these pokemon, right?

So, Shadow darted out from the crowd of nurses and heeled at Selkie’s side. Wagged his tail. “Hello again!” He ignored the stab of pain in his chest when Selkie looked him up and down like he’d drooled on her. She took a step back from him but then whipped around to the nurses and barked, “For Arceus’s sake, don’t just crowd the kid, you fucking morons! Did no one tell you where he came from?! Show a little fucking respect for once!”

That’s when Oricorio darted over and started to squabble with Selkie, but as they barked back and forth at each other, the nature of their words faded from Shadow’s consciousness. His eyes drank in Selkie alone. He watched her eyes pulse with irritation for the nurse, baring her sharp teeth, and Shadow saw again the glint of her fangs as she ripped out the throats of his captors. Something turned hot inside him.

He looked deep into the still pools of her eyes and within saw nothing through the murk. It daunted Shadow, but not like the crowding Guild pokemon frightened him. Not like the Rogue petrified him. The emotion he’d felt in his journey across the sea returned, and inside Shadow stirred the instinct not to run from what scared him… but to near it.

When Selkie left the infirmary, finally fed up with Oricorio’s bleating, Shadow trotted after her. Selkie didn’t notice at first, but as she shuffled through the hall and pricked her ears at the pawsteps behind her, her shoulders dropped with a huff. “I can hear you, y’know.”

“I, um… I wanted to go with you!”

Selkie turned to glare at him, but there was something halfhearted about it. She was clearly annoyed, but her eyes were still. The storm of rage that flared from her in the Cave was absent. Thankfully, not aimed at him.

“Why?” she muttered.

“Because I, ah… I wanted to! Is that okay?” Shadow’s tail wagged. His heart oozed with something warm and sticky and soft, perhaps blood? His cheekbones flared with heat, but he didn’t understand why. How could he explain to this pokemon that his attraction to her was beyond all language that could possibly explain it? Shadow wanted to be near her, just because!

Selkie scrutinized him for a long time. Shadow held his breath, awaiting the moment she might rebuff him and break his heart. Selkie’s gaze flicked steadily to and fro, up and down as she took Shadow in, he could see the gears spinning behind her eyes. She looked… annoyed? Or possibly… no… confused? Before Shadow could figure it out, the oncoming stomp, stomp, stomp of heavy footsteps startled them both out of the spell. An exploud and a glaceon approached them from further down the corridor.

“Hey, Selkie. That the kid you rescued from the Rogue?” Exploud’s voice rolled like soft thunder.

“It is.” Selkie squared her shoulders. Her face settled into an unamused scowl. Eyes still.

As Exploud and Glaceon approached further, Shadow found his paws carrying him behind Selkie. He peered out at the newcomers from behind her, felt ill from shame as they scrutinized his malnourished, scarred figure. Exploud scoffed. “Damn, he’s been through a number. You do that, Psycho?”

Shadow blinked in shock. What? What did he just say? There’s no way he heard right. But no, he watched Selkie’s eye bulge and twitch as she took a breath and growled back, “Obviously, his disfigurement is the fault of Talonflame. Why would I harm a victim for no reason?”

“You tell me,” Exploud chuckled, flicking one of the teeth on her leather chains. Selkie snapped at him with her teeth, and he wrenched back and guffawed. “Ha! You never change.”

Glaceon smirked. “I know she rescued you, Zorua, but keep a wide berth from Selkie if you know what’s good for you. She’ll hurt you just as bad as the Rogue did.”

Her words struck Shadow. Within him erupted a volcano of anger, but before he could even dare to retort, Exploud and Glaceon strolled off down the corridor and rounded a bend. The growl trailed from Shadow’s throat, cut off when Selkie hissed, “Shut it! If they hear you growling, they’ll come back and keep making nuisances of themselves.”

“Let them come back! T-t-they’ll get a piece of my mind!” Shadow yapped.

“What do you even care? You’re not the one they insulted!” Selkie growled.

“I know!” Shadow hollered. “But I’m furious! I hate what they said to you, what they said to me! How dare they?!” He huffed and heaved. Anger cracked bright, white, and electric in his mind. “You saved me from the Cave a-and the Rogue. You brought me back with you! Y-y-you saved my life! How could I stand to hear someone insult you for it?”

Selkie’s eyes widened. She blinked. Then scratched the back of her head. “Oh…” A pause. “Okay.” And her eyes softened.

Shadow blinked back at her, not sure what to make of her reaction. She didn’t smile, she didn’t thank him. Just, okay. And her eyes softened. At least she wasn’t scrutinizing him in cold confusion anymore? His heart oozed with warmth… But still, maybe he said the wrong thing. “Um, I’m sorry if I overreacted.”

“It’s fine.” Selkie turned down the corridor. “Um, if you’re not interested in staying in the infirmary, you can follow me if you really want. Just… keep five feet back. If you get too close to me, you’re done.”

She started off down the corridor then, and Shadow’s brows shot up in surprise. Oh! Okay! He could keep five feet back! He trotted after her, a respectful distance behind, shoving aside the agonizing urge to push further, closer into her bubble, snuggle against her. No way was he gonna mess this up!

And so, in between healing at the infirmary and trying to answer Guild’s pressing questions about the Rogue, Shadow followed Selkie around the Guild. He kept five feet behind just as she’d asked, except for when she turned her head or lost herself in a book, at which point he would sneak closer. Four feet, maybe three. Shadow would follow Selkie to the mess hall, to the library where she read quietly for long hours, to the morning briefing, to the beach to decompress and splash in the crisp surf. Shadow could tell his presence agitated Selkie. She’d hunch her shoulders when he hovered behind her, would sometimes shudder like a bug-type was crawling up her back. Sometimes, she’d bark at Shadow to back up further or get lost, and he would retreat to the infirmary in quiet tears, unsure why it hurt so bad but understanding more each day that his attraction to Selkie was swelling like a tumor in his heart. At night, he dreamt of the Cave and of her.

Selkie must have hated him. Shadow could understand why. He cringed at the way his magnet heart pulled him to her. He knew she hated his looming presence, the attention flustered and unnerved her. Shadow knew it the day she caught him hovering over her sleeping form and shoved him back with her flipper. “For Arceus’s sake, you cling to me like my own shadow!” He ran back to the infirmary sniffling, cried through the night. Nurse Oricorio stroked his back as Shadow’s heart tore itself asunder, victim to the storm, terrified that Selkie was fed up with him, done. The next time he saw her, Selkie said to him, face neutral, “Hello again, Shadow.” His heart burst. His tail wagged. He turned the pet name over in his brain. Shadow.

From their first meeting in the Cave, Shadow never introduced himself with his childhood name. This was for two reasons. The first: Even thinking the name brought nausea deep to Shadow’s gut, let alone uttering it aloud. His mind whispered it in Mom’s haunting voice. It bound him at the ankles, shackling his soul to the one who abandoned him. Second: Shadow felt reluctant to introduce himself as a pokemon who was truly dead and rotting.

He kept it secret even from Selkie, especially from Selkie, the understanding that he was somehow both living and dead. Shadow knew that he’d entered the Cave, and some number of weeks later, Selkie delivered him out. But he vividly remembered dying, crumbling into earth, the Cave had become his tomb alongside his captors. Mom’s child followed the Rogue into the crypt, and that boy had bled and fractured and mutated, withered. The thing that escaped the dark was unrecognizable from that which it had been birthed. A shadow of the real pokemon he’d once been. Shadow spent more nights than not in the infirmary pooling over his fragmented memories trying to figure out if he’d died, if he hadn’t, when it happened, how. They returned no understanding, just nightmares.

Shadow didn’t know who or what he was anymore. All he knew was when he searched within for himself, he found nothing but empty space and blank walls upon which long shadows stretched. A smoking wisp of nothing, an empty field after the battle. Hadn’t there been something there before? Something he could feel within and grasp onto that reminded him he was a person? Or had he really always been so empty?

He breathed in Selkie’s pet name and let it fill him up. When she continued to call him Shadow, he never once complained. Within time, amongst the Guild, it took root. Selkie started to let him follow her four feet behind.

Shadow came to understand some things about Selkie as he observed her from behind. For one, she handed out fibs like candy. White lying seemed to be one of Selkie’s most impulsive habits. Shadow couldn’t tell if she prepared them beforehand, so once when they were alone, he asked her about it. Selkie shrugged and responded that they “kinda just came to her in the moment.” Most often, they were harmless falsehoods, functioning to smooth over the interactions that came to her with much difficulty. But Shadow often watched her lie for the purpose of soliciting coin from other pokemon, sometimes in a pinch after realizing she’d forgotten her own money at home, sometimes to soothe a foul mood. Then she’d buy herself a treat at the canteen. Her favorites were the blue poffins.

Sometimes she lied about other pokemon. Shadow once watched from afar as Selkie huddled in a corner with two younger Guild apprentices, whispering of how Exploud coerced his partner Glaceon to please him after light’s out. Shadow could hardly keep his jaw from dropping as he watched Selkie assemble her face into an uncanny approximation of sympathy. The way she made her voice tremble with concern as she spoke of the horrors Exploud enacted against Glaceon made Shadow’s stomach turn. But wow… So, she didn’t take their insults lying down, huh? She took back her power in the shadowed corners of the Guild halls, and though the eeriness of her masking gave Shadow chills, he recognized the virtue in it. Selkie did not just roll over and take it. She was stronger than that.

The pokemon she lied about sometimes caught wind of the rumors, but rarely did they trace the root of the grapevine back to Selkie. Exploud was an unfortunate exception.

Shadow was watching Selkie practice aqua jet in the training grounds when Exploud stormed in, beelined for Selkie, and punched her hard in the back. Her pained screech jolted Shadow like a livewire. She whipped around and blasted Exploud with water gun, igniting battle. Exploud was a brick wall of an opponent, but despite the assault of his hypersonic roars and walloping punches, Selkie came back at him just as hard. She fought with terrifying ferocity, threw herself into attacks just to deliver her own, she didn’t even seem to feel pain! The horror of watching Exploud bruise and bloody her, combined with Selkie’s own inability to stop throwing herself at him over and over, dragged the cry out of Shadow’s mouth: “Stop it, stop it! STOP HURTING HER!”

When his cry fell on deaf ears and Exploud reeled back to swing again, though the sight of spattering blood and purplish bruises terrified Shadow beyond end, his paws carried him forth. Without thought, he decided. Exploud screamed as Shadow bit down on his forearm. His teeth, charged with pulsing dark energy. Exploud hollered and shook Shadow off, and the zorua scrambled back out of the way of his swinging arms. He met eyes with Selkie, and the still pools within rippled. She stared at him like he’d burst into light.

Later, as Nurse Oricorio treated their wounds in the infirmary (finally having shut up about how Selkie should “know better than to be spreading fibs about her fellow Guild mon”), fixing her gaze on the ground, Selkie muttered to Shadow, “Why did you do that?”

Shadow hesitated to answer. Why did he do that? Violence still petrified him; he was still shaking from the anxiety of the altercation. But within he found not a smidge of regret. “I don’t know,” he said. “I just couldn’t stand to see someone harm you.”

Selkie’s eyes narrowed. “Was he not within reason? You know what he’s pissed about. You know I did it.”

Shadow shrugged. “He started it.” Her eyes softened.

From there, something changed. It was a slow shift in the relationship between them, not one he understood was happening in the moment but psychically sensed. It was the shift from walking four feet behind Selkie to padding at her side. The shift from watching Selkie read books to reading them to her aloud at her request. From watching her train to heeding the call as she beckoned him to practice his dark-type moves with her. When they sparred on the training grounds, dark magic against water, Shadow came to life. The rhythmic movements of their violent dance shook loose scar tissue in his heart. In those moments, he felt like a real pokemon again, and Selkie had given it to him. A single petal in the flower of her heart had opened to him, and with it, in little ways their closeness grew. Not just Selkie and her shadow. Selkie and Shadow.

He felt it in those summer nights when he’d lie awake with throbbing heartache as he longed to lie beside her. All their time apart sent him buzzing, grinding his teeth in anxiety, pacing the infirmary, tending to separation pangs. Shadow had never known dependence, had only ever seen it in Mom, but he recognized then his addiction to Selkie. Every moment together swelled his heart with euphoria. Every moment apart left him despondent, anxious, and painfully lonesome. The company of the other Guild pokemon ceased to hold meaning. When Selkie went out on missions, Shadow was thunderstruck with wild terror that she may not come back.

He knew even then that his explosive fear agitated her. She dreaded the obligatory visit to the infirmary after every mission to calm Shadow down. His raging emotional storm unnerved her, he could see it in her rippling still water eyes. But her leavings horrified him, and he had no idea how to make it stop. The mental torture eventually became too much, and one night—the day after Selkie snapped and called him a “perpetual crybaby­”—Shadow snuck out from the Guild and stole away. Voices whispered on the wind, calling him with his old name and new, and Shadow knew it was the right choice. His intention: Find a tall bridge to jump off.

Shadow’s trailing paws took him higher up the island. Above a gorge that split through the land, he found a rickety suspension bridge. Looked down into the tumbling waters below and imagined his brittle bones breaking upon the rocks. His second life, evaporated. Wasted on something weak and worthless. The Rogue’s raucous laughter bounced across the gorge walls. The river hissed in Selkie’s voice. At least his action could free her of the obligation.

“So, this is where despair brings you?”

When Selkie spoke out, Shadow didn’t expect it to truly be her. But suddenly she was beside him, Shadow nearly jumped out of his skin. Something about her materializing beside him snapped Shadow out of his lonesome spell, and he became cognizant of just how high up they were. “S-Selkie…” Shadow breathed. “You followed me?”

“I saw you leave, and I was bored. I hoped you’d go somewhere interesting,” Selkie said. She didn’t look at him but instead stared into the bottom of the gorge. “Do you mean to jump off?”

Shadow gulped. “I did…” Selkie said nothing, still staring below. “What d-do you think of that?”

For a long time, she remained silent. Stared into the waters below. A breath of a ripple crossed her still water eyes. “I… don’t know.” A pause, a breath. “I’ve seen death rock the world of people and pokemon alike, but it never fazed me. Been to funerals but never shed tears. I think if you died, I would recover.”

Shadow’s throat trembled. “O-Oh…”

Selkie stared into the void below. Her eyes dimmed. Shadow felt ice on her breath. “I know yearning for death is ordinary. I’ve read so much online and in books about people wanting to die. Like catching the common cold. In my world, several millions die from suicide every year.”

Shadow’s brows furrowed. “In your world?”

“But even though it’s common, it’s still weakness. Most would stand to collapse before they could ever reveal it. I have never once heard someone admit to me that they want to die.” Selkie looked up. Her gaze pierced the storm of Shadow’s eyes. Probed his soul. “A night or two after I returned you to the Guild, I tried to drink myself to death.”

Shadow’s jaw dropped. “Selkie…?”

“That’s not even my real name. I threw away the old one when I got here.” She spoke matter-of-factly, but Selkie’s eyes swam with darkness. “I thought I could make something of your world for me. I have never known what it’s like to come home. I thought I could find it here, but something about the night we met knocked something loose in me. There’s no world I could call home.” She looked at him hard. “Let’s jump together. You and I.”

Shadow stood there, stupefied. What the fuck was going on? Selkie wanted to jump with him? What? He questioned whether the popplio before him was real or illusory and reached out a paw to prod her chest just to make sure.

Selkie flinched from his touch. “Why are you poking me?!”

Shadow responded with the only words that came to mind. He looked her in the eye. “Selkie is the only name I’ve ever known you by. It’s real to me.”

“It’s the name of a monster.”

“No. It’s your name. And it’s as real as the one you gave to me,” said Shadow. Selkie breathed. “I felt like you hated me. That’s why I came here.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I assumed maybe you hated me. I’m so often the source of your pain.”

“I could never hate you, Selkie!”

Under the full moon on the bridge above the gorge, they talked for hours. Shadow lost track of the time as Selkie, usually so quiet, let loose the contents of her mind. She spoke of the stillness of her heart and soul. She spoke of boredom and anhedonia and how she’d long forgotten the feeling of joy. She spoke of purposelessness and explained the definition of nihilism. She spoke of feeling adrift, alone, understimulated, and deeply hateful. She spoke of only ever feeling truly alive in the rush of battle. She spoke of wanting to die since she was a young child.

And Shadow spoke as well. Spilled what had tormented his mind for so long. He spoke of plaguing nightmares and the voices on the wind, of unendurable emotional storms that left him gasping, reeling. He spoke of the uncertainty regarding his own death in the Cave, and of reaching inside and feeling nothing where his self should be. He spoke of the crippling, unshakable fear that someday, Selkie would come to regret her choice in saving him. That someday, she too would be gone, and he would have nothing.

Selkie asked him where such a convincing fear came from. Shadow paused then, gulped. He’d never told anyone this before. But the momentum of their conversation and the comfort of her listening ear soothed Shadow’s anxieties. Selkie knew of the Cave, so Shadow told her of before. He spoke of Mom, who hated him from the start. The ways she berated him, criticized him, cuffed him when he cried. Made salient how Shadow was the living reminder of her own pain. Sometimes she cuddled and kissed him, licked him behind the ears and told him she was sorry. But those moments had been fleeting and ultimately meaningless. They didn’t save him from the exchange, the Rogue, or the Cave. They didn’t save him when she threw him away like nothing.

Shadow couldn’t take the pain his memories brought. He clutched his head, pulled his own fur, cried, and screamed. The excruciating emotional storm ripped him apart inside, and Shadow was sinking under the waves. In desperation, he jumped at her, clung to her. Felt her muscles tense and braced for her to shove him off. Instead, she murmured a question.

“Does it help your pain if we touch?”

“Y-y-yes…” Shadow hiccupped. “I-is it okay?”

“… I guess so.”

And so, under the full moon on the bridge above the gorge, Shadow grieved. And Selkie held him.

When he finally calmed, breathing against her stillness, Selkie murmured to him again. “Shadow… I’m going to take you back to the Guild now. I have something very important to tell you about this world.”

As Selkie led him down from the bridge, as she guided him back down the island and to the doorstep of Spectrum Island Rescue Guild, as she took him inside and let him into her dorm, Shadow marveled at the fact that though Selkie was a stranger to it herself, she could still gift to another soul the feeling of coming home.

They huddled in her dorm and spoke together until dawn washed the little room in soft gray light. Hopes of sleep forgotten, Selkie told Shadow unbelievable things. How she was not a pokemon but a human summoned from another world. How this world was marked for death, and she was a hero tasked to save it. How her meeting with Shadow had snuffed out all desire to accomplish that goal.

She asked Shadow what he thought of that. She asked if he believed she should save the world. Shadow answered, “No.”

Together in that little underground space, a human and a pokemon sealed the fate of the world. Between them bloomed a secret, an agreement, an unbreakable pact. Maybe their choice was born in anger. Maybe it was born in hatred or despair. No matter the nature of its origin, from their choice, their secret, something incredible came into being. Something greater than Selkie and Shadow combined. From the union of their powerless bodies, Selkie and Shadow forged together the power to destroy worlds. It was a power greater than stillness and greater than storms. Together, they could become the tempest that would lay waste to all that had and could hurt them. No longer alone together, but a singularity. A team.

Was this love?

But now, they were divided. The power that they birthed together, from their separation, was now forfeit. Shadow was back in the Cave, called back by Mom, staring into the empty sockets of the buried monster that had abused him. What happened? What had gone so wrong? The destruction they wrought would still come to pass, but what about all they had built together? What about Selkie and Shadow? Was everything between them truly… over?

Shadow kicked over the Rogue’s skull as he ran from the cell. He didn’t give the skeletons a passing glance as he dashed by. They were dead and gone, the Cave was a tomb, but not his. Someone had died here, but Shadow was still alive. As long as he was still breathing, he would make it back out. He would make it back to her. Maybe there was nothing to salvage, but he couldn’t know until he tried.

The light of the sun cut through Shadow’s eyes as he sprang from the Cave. Before the end of everything, he had to know for sure.

[koumeowkami]

this is most probably my last pull for rei's scout 🥹🥹 at least they gave me my bby aira </3