#nyla + tamarack

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

What's your relationship with Tamarack's family like?

I get along really well with Tamarack's grandparents.

Honestly, it would be harder not to all things considered! We're neighbors and spend so much time together so a good chunk of my time is spent at the Baumann's next door.

Grandpa Baumann is a lot like my own grandfather on Mom1's side irl, so it's easy for me to get along with him and his silent kindness. And I love eating Grandma Baumann's snacks in her drawing room and having our tea parties. It's pretty obvious to her grandparents that we adore each other but they think of it more as puppy love that the two of us will grow out of as we get older (little do they know).

I feel like Gramps is the one who realizes first that it's more than just a puppy love phase though. Granny, it takes a bit before she comes to the same conclusion as her husband.

As for Frederick and Nichole, that one is a bit harder to answer.

From a gameplay standpoint, I can acknowledge they are people that are trying their best but their trying their best led to them being less than stellar parents. So I want to see them rekindle that bridge with the grandparents and with their own daughter.

But within the context of the self-ship, my relationship with Tamarack's parents is rocky. They were a lot more intimidating as elementary schoolers when the reality of how Tamarack's life in Golden Grove was supposed to be temporary hit, become more like unstable anomalies as we get older. We don't know what's going on in their heads and it makes it really hard to get along with them.

That's also part of the reason why I have a hard time telling Tamarack that I like her, not just because I can't tell how she feels about me. Do I tell her if she potentially moves during freshman year? Or should I just keep my mouth shut? Eventually the desire of 'rejection is better than regret' comes ahead full force though.

Once we interact more with them when the game comes out, it'll be easy to figure out how I interact with her parents. So for now I have a tentative, as long as they treat me with respect, I treat them with respect as far as Step 2 interactions go. It doesn't matter if you're a kid, you're a living being and you deserve respect. I'll be relatively polite for Tamarack's sake but if they ever make her upset, that might go out the window.

If I'm too volatile and hostile, I'm afraid they'll think I'm a bad influence on their daughter and not want us to be friends anymore. I don't think that would happen because Granny and Gramps would come to fucking bat for me but then I'd wonder if that would become an argument that would solidify Tam's parents taking her back to live with them.

While Granny and Gramps eventually come to the realization that it isn't just puppy love we'll grow out of any time soon, Tam's parents are logical. They're scientists. And they also weren't there to see us grow up together and don't have a tenth of a shred of attachment to me as Frederick's parents do.

I'm assuming that by Step 3, we'll get along a lot better though. Around then they'll probably see how much we care for each other since we'll definitely dating by that time... still feel like they'd be the type of parents to potentially go 'you shouldn't go to uni with a girlfriend, either of you, a lot can happen' but then maybe the nostalgia comes out.

They met and fell in love during college even despite Granny's less than pleasant opinion of Nichole. In a way, I think Tamarack and I will eventually remind her parents of each other and they'll trust our decisions with our relationship. Sure it's a little different, we grew up together. But we are each other's choice and that's something they can respect.

What I can definitely say though is that I think Tamarack's parents are really pretty. Like holy shit, everyone in her family clearly won the genetics war, Tam included. It's something I definitely tell Serenity and Vianca if they ever ask about her parents. I'll skirt around the heavy stuff and just go "they won in genes. That family does not believe in ugly".

[themultifandomnerd]

hiiiiiii nyla!!!! i'm here in your ask box for the selfship ask game: 🎫 for sparkling leaves :3

🎫 - free pass! tell a fun self ship lore fact or just talk about anything of it that comes to mind.

well well if it isn't the lord of the hash browns uwu poking at the ol2 bear, allow me to oblige

random:

the tea collection out our place is beyond ridiculous. we're both tea fiends, always have been and we will grab just about anything that sounds like a tasty mix. we've had some duds in the past but we tend to do a good job at picking things that taste excellent uwu

tam's not huge into anime, but she likes watching cozy ones with me like aria the animation, fruits basket, skip & loafer. she was also a fan of nana. as kids we watched ojamajo doremi on youtube in parts fjdsfsf part 2 was sadly almost always missing

we're both nosy and we like gossip, a strange bonding activity we have is listening to reddit stories on youtube and pausing to give our own opinions and hot takes

lore:

when we were 10, tamarack made us cup phones to use to talk when our respective guardians were sleeping. we still use them throughout our time as neighbors on acorn rd, golden grove, oregon. when we eventually take off and leave for our own apartment, we take them with us even if don't have any use for them anymore because it's a sentimental part of our childhood

irl i don't have a lot of baby pictures due to shitty relatives, which tamarack is more mad about on my behalf so when she got into scrapbooking she makes sure i'm in a lot of the images. we have tons of albums around the place

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

i was gonna put everything in the tags but it was going to get way too long ☠️so i'll just put it all under a read more fjdsnfkjsn

i have kids for 3 separate selfships: sea otters/flaming pearls (ace/nyla), blues (satoru/nyla) and sparkling leaves (nyla/tamarack)

blues

we have a son and daughter named chiaki and kokomi respectively

chiaki is written as 千秋 written with the characters for thousand (千) and autumn (秋) effectively meaning 'a thousand autumns' because that is my favorite season

kokomi is written as 心海 written with the characters for heart (心) and sea (海) because we wanted her to have a loving heart and a nod to my love of the ocean (i have water manipulation as a cursed technique)

(both of the kids inherit that ability in the end, much to the disappointment of satoru's mother)

sea otters

we only have one daughter, portgas d. mael

mael is a french name that means 'prince' and 'ruler' and besides rolling off the tongue nicely, ace and i wanted her to be her own prince who doesn't want someone else to come and rescue her

to take her life by the reins and live it freely knowing she is in control of her destiny

i wish i could tell you what the "d" stands for but until oda provides the answer, we're all gonna be not in the know together

sparkling leaves

we have two daughters through ivf (twins, carried by tamarack) magnolia and sequoia

the theme here was 'trees' as tamarack is named after a kind of tree so we wanted to keep the theme going with our kids

i feel like if they were boys (or ever came out as trans or enby and/or changed their names) they'd go for aspen and ash respectively

if you include any children in your selfships, how do you name them? do they have names based on your fave’s culture or yours? do they have middle names? are they named after anyone important?

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

there really isn't enough tamarack content in the reader tag, thank you for your contributions. what are your plans for the game with your mc?

If there is one thing you can count on me for, it's talking about Tamarack. My MC for Tamarack is pretty much just a self-insert/self-ship thing with me being whipped for Tamarack Day One.

One look at this girl with fluffy, sparkly gamboge gold hair and berry-red eyes and I knew she was the one I'd marry. We bond pretty much instantly as new kids and we're always together. If you can't find me, just look for Tamarack. If you can't find Tamarack, look for me. Chances are, you'll find us together somewhere.

It's obvious to anyone who sees us for a split second that we adore each other. We promised to be besties forever in the prologue and that's a vow that never gets broken even with the usual growing pains.

I go from mostly well-behaved to a laidback potty mouth and the same sense of corny humor I've always had. I stay pretty good friends with Qiu as well, harboring no resentments regarding their changes in personality. Definitely curious as to why they aren't friends with Tamarack anymore but hey that's none of my business.

By Step 2, my feelings for Tamarack haven't changed but considering how drastically her personality has, I'm not too sure how she feels about me anymore. As little kids I was very sure she liked me back but things could have changed as she became less of a wild child and a shy and more demure young lady. Unbeknownst to me though, Tamarack does, in fact, still like me. She's just a bit more shy about it compared to me who doesn't necessarily hide it but I never say anything explicitly either since I'm unsure where she stands. But that gets cleared up eventually after deciding that rejection is better than regret and womaning up to ask her out.

We've been going out for a while by Step 3 and while we don't know what's coming for it yet, I like to think that I have my plans to study abroad but Tamarack would prefer to stay home for uni. So we end up being long distance for a bit but once we graduate we're back to living it up together and I propose by Step 4.

Sidebar: I do have an actual MC for Qiu though since I plan on romancing both leads. But I'm still working on the details for that, all I have planned though is that we have a non-linear relationship.

We're good friends in Step 1, actively hostile towards each other in Step 2 (they severed the friendship with their distance and I'm upset about it) and by Step 3 with them making the effort to reconnect what we've lost there and end up asking me out either by the end of Step 3 or maybe Step 4?

He's a bit jealous in Step 3 of my friendship with Tamarack since throughout all this we're the best of friends (platonically for the sake of the Qiu route).

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

Hallooooo! :D

Perdón por hacer esta pregunta en español (mi cerebro no procesa bien el inglés hoy snsnns)

Si no te molesta puedo preguntarte por tortoiseshell o white cat del cat themed self-ship ask? Me parecieron buenas preguntas

Espero tengas un buen día o noche ^u^

Tortoiseshell: Who has the worse temper? Can you get snippy with each other?

Hmmmmmm

Mikasa + Tamarack + Hajime: yo? Pero no me gusta estar enojada, especialmente si tenemos un desacuerdo. Después de que estoy tranquila, hablamos sobre el problema.

Satoru: Hiiiim pero somos iguales en filosofía. Nosotros tenemos la misma astrología jfdnkfjdfnkn (sag sun, aries moon, cap venus) no nos gusta enojarnos el uno con el otro. Sin embargo, una vez me fui durante una desacuerdo… (ERA JOVEN! YO! ERA! JOVEN! DON'T JUDGE ME)

White Cat: Are your f/o’s eyes particularly striking to you? In what way? Do they find themselves captivated by yours, in turn?

Normalmente prefiero ojos marrones peroooooo

Mikasa: Me encantan los ojos oscuros

Tamarack: Sus ojos son del color de las berries (no recuerdo la palabra en español, whoops). Pero su mejor trait es su cabello que brilla como las estrellas

Satoru + Hajime: Azul ha sido mi color favorito desde que era una niña, así que me encantan los ojos de estos chicos. Guilty as charged. Ellos son el color del cielo y el mar, mis lugares favoritos. Soy básica lo siento

As for my eyes...... sí 🥺 *pretty brown eyes by mint condition plays in the background*

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

isn't (s)he lovely?

cw. f!reader, step 4+ (pre!olnf release), established relationship, pure fluff

pairing. baxter x reader

synopsis. "it's a lot more golden in the fall," baxter chuckles. (or, your boyfriend of 3 years takes you to his hometown)

notes. a christmas present for my glorious queen @cafedanslanuit. to think we really became besties over a commission from ages ago. we've gone through our fandoms and our recommendations, so i wanted to give you a nice little holiday surprise. enjoy the rest of your trip in germany! this took so long to edit because tora kept interrupting TuT

"For a town called Golden Grove it isn't very gold."

"My hometown is a lot more golden in the fall," Baxter chuckles, brown eyes meeting yours playfully. "You'll see the next time we come here. It'll live up to the name then."

He squeezes your hand and you squeeze back, enjoying the summer-hued warmth in your chest. There's a stark contrast in the summer of Oregon and the summer of Southern California. What Sunset Bird lacks in trees Golden Grove more than makes up. It's hard to imagine spending summer here when you're more than accustomed to waves and sand at your every turn.

Here, green eaves and shade reign supreme.

"Yes, the diner's name is an intended pun. My parents never ate there but I would on occasion with my friends."

"This used to be a barber shop, believe it or not."

"We should stop by the park before we head to Qiu's place; we used to ride our bikes there. Renee and Qiu always had to have a race."

He tells you about Qiu Lin, the charismatic ringleader of the long gone Boys Club. The one who glued everyone together with how they seamlessly looked to include everyone. How the two of them learned at the same dance hall, although Qiu's interests lied in ballet rather than ballroom.

He tells you more in-depth about Renee Murray. You'd been aware of her first before even the other friends Baxter told you about. It had all been thanks to Instagram recommending her account to Baxter as someone he may potentially know. Sure enough, she had been although she'd look completely different than when Baxter saw her last.

He even tells you about Tamarack and Nyla, the girlfriends turned fiancees who had moved to Golden Grove around the same time in their youth. He'd never been quite as close to them but things are clearly looking up as he'd been planning their wedding presently.

All friends you'd be meeting in person once his tour of Golden Grove finally came to an end.

His anecdotes make you nostalgic for a time that has never been your own.

You try to imagine it, Baxter as a young boy running down the streets of the town as he points out his various haunts. Hair not quite black and a band of friends he enjoyed the company of. You wonder briefly if it's selfish of you to wish you'd met then before the pain and insecurities set in? If that would have made anything different?

Maybe there could have been another sad boy in Sunset Bird if his parents ever decided to rent a condo. They certainly had the funds for one, all things considered.

There could have been many summers shared between you both if things had been just a little different. More times you could have run through sprinklers hand in hand, unaware that Sunset Bird was short on trees and ice cream trucks. We should find another one while we're out here! Make an inter-state tradition.

It isn't that selfish, is it?

"Things happen as they're supposed to," you can hear Lee telling you. "Live in the moment! Have fun and all that jazz!"

She isn't wrong but you decide it's fine to wish Baxter had been another one of your childhood friends. You'd spent enough of your life being selfless enough to justify wishful thinking. In another life, you'd choose him again. You release a soundless breath with a smile, watching as Baxter's eyes light up with familiarity and fondness at a weathered convenience store. "Did I ever tell you about this Snack Master game we used to play as kids?"

"I haven't heard this story, no." You brace yourself eagerly.

He's beautiful when he looks down at you, hand on the small of your back as you step closer to the store's window. His grin is wide and from this close you can see the tracest hints of his natural hair color. He isn't quite ready to let go of the tradition he's maintained since he was 14. You'll wait patiently for the day he potentially decides he is. "We'd play rock-paper-scissors," he doesn't note on the familiarity of the store clerk, so you wonder if the cashier has changed in the years since he moved. "The winner would have to buy snacks for everyone before we went out somewhere."

At his humorous expression, you can already predict where your boyfriend's story is heading. "Let me guess, you played 'rock'." You almost dare him to tell you otherwise. That there was, even if it was brief, a period of time your boyfriend played anything but 'rock'. His snort tells you otherwise. "Seriously?" You chortle in disbelief. It's all too easy to imagine a younger Baxter unabashedly. "Even back then?!"

Even Baxter can't help a chuckle at the absurdity, "I'm consistent. You said I was a stereotypical earth sign."

You roll your eyes, leaning into him with another chuckle. "Yes but even then? For this long? Why not through in 'scissors' or a 'paper' from time to time to spice things up; keep people on their toes."

"Would I be Baxter Ward if I did otherwise?" Pecan brown eyes glint as he beams down at you smugly. Even with that smugness, you still see his joyful fondness for you in full.

You sigh pleasantly, pressing your lips against his cheek, "no, I suppose you wouldn't."

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

now & forever

cw. olnf week 2024, pre!release, step 2, day 3, pre!relationship, slight angst with a healthy dose of comfort

pairing. qiu lin/hash browns (ft. sparkling leaves)

notes. day 3 of @olnfweek2024. me? writing for qiu lin? i know, check and see if it is hailing in summer i can't believe this is happening either. my good friend @hash-slinging-slasher-trash recently got done with their final exams for their summer semester so this is a treat for them. surprise! (even if i am sure this was obvious considering my questions from yesterday lmao)

“You can roll your neck and stomp your feet but this black girl you sure won’t beat!” Nyla and Serenity chant in audible unison from across campus, moving in accordance to the words. From where they sit, Hash can see Tamarack giggling at the antics. Black Kid Solidarity, Nyla calls it. She finds it where she can. While not a member of that particular duo, Hash’s lips curl into an instinctive smile. The energy is contagious.

Dark raspberry eyes catch blue eyes observing the scene.

“Hi,” Tamarack mouths, her smile small but courteous as she waves.

Hash waves back with a small smile of her own, balancing her tray carefully with one hand. “Hey,” they mouthed back.

Hash remembers Tamarack’s squeals as they climbed atop the tire swing her grandfather set up. The cool autumn wind scratching their cheeks and lifting their laughs and giggles to the heavens.

When was it those times playing in that tire became infrequent? Hash can’t recall; four years is four centuries in teenage years.

Tamarack shuffles to the side on the grass with a hopeful expression, thin eyebrows knit carefully. When did Tamarack start plucking them again? When did I start noticing in the first place? Hash wonders what it says about her that she can’t remember that either when a long time ago it felt like her and Tamarack’s friendship was tighter than gorilla glue. Slowly but surely, that bond had been weathered by the rain.

There were no storms that attacked their friendship. No trials.

Just the passage of time.

Hash sees the spread of trays on the grass, like it’s a picnic. “Sorry,” Hash mouths and Tamarack nods in unsurprised understanding.

Hash and Tamarack were friends; they’re still friends. Standing across a ways from one another during lunch hour, however, the physical distance feels representative of their state of affairs.

Hash, Nyla, Tamarackー The new kids.

Four years ago, it felt like the three of them against the world as fellow newcomers to Acorn Rd. Golden Grove, Oregon.

“You ever stop to think how we’re like a reverse oreo?” Nyla, age 11, noted from where she lazily laid back against the Browns porch step. Summer was the worst season in Golden Grove and not even the chilled watermelon pieces in the bowl split between them could completely fight the heat. “Y’all are the vanilla whites, I’m the chocolate filling.”

Hash choked on their piece, “Nyla, shut up!”

“Hey I’m the one who said it, y’all can laugh,” Nyla stuck out her tongue with a snicker. “Quit smiling if you don’t think it’s funny, Lord Hashington!”

Tamarack’s small hands covered her face, unable to contain her laughter. There hadn’t been an attempt to stop it in the first place. The two of them were always the blunt new kid trio members, saying most anything that came to their mind.

Four years later, the world has split a world with the three of them distinctly in different sects. Friends… but not best friends.

Four years in the past, the kids of the cul-de-sac were a quartet.

Four years in the present, there’s a line. A distinct one.

We’re all still friends, Hash tells themself. Most of us. 

Qiu and Tamarack’s relationship had fallen off compared to the rest. The two of them aside, things aren’t the same anymore and Hash has come to accept that. Tamarack is going to leave one day, tugged down a path by her parents. Qiu sinks more and more into themselves, outsiders unable to penetrate their newfound icy fortress. Nyla’s problems are harder to look into when she keeps them hidden behind bad jokes and laidback nonchalance.

Of their original friend group, everyone has a favorite.

Nyla and Tamarack’s eyes have always been reserved for each other.

Qiu has Hash and Hash has Qiu.

Nyla’s lunch hour is reserved for Tamarack and Hash’s hour has always been reserved for Qiu. Speaking of Qiu, Hash knew they were waiting for them in Mr. Murray’s class. “See you,” they wave one last time before turning towards the building the professor’s class is located in.

Things might have changed with Nyla and Tamarack, simultaneously grand and minute the changes have been, but things have never and will never change with Mx. Qiu Lin.

Hash finds them as they always do, draped over a desk lazily with their brown hair spread across their shoulders haphazardly. “Qiulet,” Hash calls playfully and a brown eye opens unamused. “I’ve finally returned from the battlefield. Looks like you don’t need to come down from your balcony, after all.”

“It was never a balcony in the first place, you weirdo,” Qiu murmurs, leaning back to sit properly in their chair as Hash placed their tray between them.

“Not-so-secret hideout, Juliet’s balcony,” Hash rolls their eyes in mock irritation. “What’s the difference?”

Qiu smirks, resting their chin on their palm, “sounds like plenty to me.”

Hash sits down with their nose in the air pointedly smug, “well it’s a good thing you’re not the one in charge of my allusions.” Qiu’s response is to take one of Hash’s fries. For someone who said they weren’t hungry, that never stops Qiu from suddenly desiring food when someone else provides it. Regardless, there’s little that isn’t shared between them now. Hash feels no reason to make a fuss. “You gonna go to ballet practice for once?”

“That depends, who’s asking?” Qiu raises a brow lazily.

Your mother, technically. Mrs. Lin knew it’d be a pointless endeavor in bringing it up herself, however, so she relied on you, the Qiu Whisperer. “Me,” Hash replies smoothly. “I wanna have a post-lunch show after school. I haven’t seen you practice in a while, so I guess I felt like going. Only if you want though.”

Qiu shrugs, taking another fry thoughtfully before eventually relenting, “I guess.”

That’s as much of a ‘yes’ as one will get in the language of apathetic Qiu Lin.

“Good because I have your leotard in my backpack,” Hash grins giggling when Qiu flicks her forehead lightly. “What? I had to be prepared just in case you said ‘yeah’, otherwise we’d be late!”

“Yeah, yeah, if you say so,” Qiu rolls their eyes but Hash can see amusement swimming in them. Sees their lips quirk into a playful smirk and how light and airy their movements are. It’s a shame people like Vianca and Serenity don’t get to see this side of them but you can’t help relishing in how you’re one of the coveted few that do. “You’re not slick.”

Hash bats their eyelashes adoringly, “I know not to what you are referring.”

“Mhmm,” Qiu hums in disbelief but unbothered as they are, they let it go. If they truly hated it, after all, Qiu would have let you know expeditiously. Pretty as a rose Qiu may be, they have their thorns. They never seem to brandish them against Hash, however. Any pushback they have are small pricks, soft. This isn’t anything that has them pressed. “But the next time you decide to beat me into going to ballet practice, I demand compensation.”

“Is my charming personality not enough?” Hash gasps, clutching their chest in imagined pain.

“It is most of the time, but I like to shake things up from time to time,” Qiu chuckles.

Hash isn’t sure if it’s the joy they got them to smile that has them flushed or the comment. Probably both. It’s just them joking around, Hash reminds themself. Just a joke. Nothing serious. “Well what will satisfy you, Mx. Qiu Lin? Your humble servant will provide the goods tomorrow.”

“Mom’s making dumplings tomorrow and is forcing me and Dad to help,” Qiu sighs painfully. Hash’s mouth waters at just the thought of it. Dumplings are a long but rewarding affair in the Lin household. “You’re suffering with me.”

“That isn’t even a punishment,” Hash smirks, moving a stray lock of dirty blonde hair from their vision.

Qiu smirks in return, closing their eyes in satisfaction, “glad to know you’ll be there then.”

i was really trying to keep in mind the hash lore they developed from their playthrough of the ol2 demo and our discord chats fjnfkjsdnf. things get a bit angsty TmT. still homies with tamarack but because tam might be leaving, there's a bit of distance between them and they've gotten real close to qiu because of the insurance their not going anywhere. i wanted to play with that concept with a mixture of the day 3 prompts with crossing our verses together and hash looking back on the memories

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

i'm just a kid (i know that's it's not fair)

cw. olnf week 2024, pre!release, pre!relationship, step 2, day 2

pairing. sparkling leaves

notes. day 2 of @olnfweek2024. i actually hard a hard time picking between these two prompts so i used a wheel generator and sick days won so here we go. who said the interpretation of 'sick' had to be in the literal sense?

I’m sick of being a kid.

When Nyla was 10, she thought life would be one big adventure when she moved to a small town in Oregon.

At 14, reality has since set there’s little action to be found in the sleepy town of Golden Grove. 

Golden Grove is fine on the best of days.

When I was a kid, I thought I’d travel to the end of the forest. Mom’s rules be damned, one day she’d go further beyond the forest she ever thought possible and find something amazing. The grand adventure never came. Common sense and the desire to avoid being grounded would win and Nyla stayed on the beaten path.

It’s not that she hates Golden Grove. Far from it. But it’s hard to appreciate the location when Tamarack isn’t in it. Or to be more precise, when Tamarack is with her parents far from it. That has Nyla rolling around her bed anxiously.

Frederick and Nichole Baumann throw everything off whenever they visit.

Typically around this time, Tamarack’s cello fills the air as she practices a piece and Nyla listens cheerily from her room.

Typically around this time, they do homework together at the Baumann family dinner table.

Typically around this time, it isn’t strange if the two of them decide to head The Diner Table and share a stack of pancakes.

Maybe they’ll even feed pigeons at the park or walk through the forest they love so much behind their homes.

Instead of either of those scenarios, Tamarack is visiting her parents in Corvallis and there’s little Nyla can do about that.

“I’m sick of being a kid,” Nyla murmurs aloud even if she knows that will do little for her predicament. Allowances aren’t consistent in her house and with an education focused parent like hers, she’s too young for a job. Kids in the shows she watched always have some larger than life quest they embark on. In reality, kids her age have little to show for the emotional toils they bear.

If they were adults, Frederick and Nichole would have little impact over their lives.

If they were adults, no one would be in control of where they lived or where they went.

All of those decisions would be entirely up to the two of them.

Until then, Nyla O. and Tamarack Baumann’s lives are completely up to the whims of their parents. It’s just an overnight visit though, Tamarack’ll be back tomorrow. At least she’s supposed to; there’s nothing stopping her parents from deciding that visit becomes permanent.

.

“How was big city living?” Nyla asks with a lazy smile from her side of the booth. It’s the next day and Tamarack has returned from limbo and they are celebrating with breakfast dinner at the Diner Table.

“It was okay,” despite how her eyebrows knit, Tamarack’s lips quirk into a small smile. “Mom said that if your mom’s okay with it, you can come with us next time.”

“Trying to get us used to those long distance sleepovers already, huh?” Nyla replies wryly. She regrets her comment immediately when Tamarack’s smile falls and her shoulders sag. “It was just a joke,” it wasn’t. “It’ll be fun hanging out with your parents. I’ll actually get to know them.”

Frederick and Nichole Baumann are anxiety-inducing anomalies in the peaceful life Nyla has built in Golden Grove. They are scholars first and foremost and that takes precedence over everything, even their own daughter to a considerable extent. That picture doesn’t leave much for a positive interpretation of their character even if their actions led to Nyla meeting their daughter in the first place. 

Frederick gave Tamarack her eyes, Nichole gave Tamarack her beauty.

Both of them have pieces of Tamarack you can pick out but none of those pieces come with the warm familiarity Tamarack offers.

“What if we run away?” Tamarack blinks in surprise at your sudden suggestion and you repeat yourself. “Let’s run away together. No parents, no Corvallis, just the two of us.” In this old booth in the furthest corner of The Diner Table, it’s easy to pretend you’re grownups living your adult lives.

Yusuf is busy chatting it up with a trucker passing through the town.

A couple of vaguely familiar faces from Riverview rowdily discuss the most recent episode of Glee.

A trio of aunties dressed in faux fur coats and silver rings on their fingers enjoy their steak dinners and wine.

Who’s to say Nyla and Tamarack aren’t two women enjoying their time together before they hop into their car and drive to their shared home? 

They’ll own their two cats and Nyla will feed them dinner while Tamarack practices her cello one last time for the night. Then they’ll go to bed in the same house and in the same bed, not having to worry about whether or not Tamarack will be taken away. The idea warms Nyla’s chest even if reality dictates neither of them have cars, nor do they know how to drive. “We take off and get our own place.”

“No one’s going to rent out to kids,” Tamarack tells you pointedly but the smile on her face is genuine and she seems lighter.

“We’ll just live like Snufkin then,” Nyla raises her eyebrows playfully and Tamarack giggles at the display. It sounds like music. “We’ve already got the forest. We might as well start acting like we live in Moominvalley. I’ll build us a house and everything.”

“How are we gonna make money?” Tamarack asks incredulously.

We’ll live in a cabin in the woods, how much money could we need? They could grow a garden and rely on that for everything we need. Knowing some money would be helpful for the few times they would go into town, however, Nyla is quick to offer a solution, “you can play music.” Tamarack’s a genius at the cello, there’s no way she wouldn’t make money performing. “And we both know I’m gonna be a super rich novelist, we’re probably gonna move into a house before we know it after my first book deal.”

“You’re crazy,” Tamarack’s shoulders shake in her amusement and she’s grinning widely. When she smiles like that, Tamarack feels more like her 10 year old self. The version of herself that had all of the world’s confidence in one body. There are many times you wish the people of Golden Grove could see it but you can’t deny feeling special it is something reserved for you. 

Tamarack Baumann is special, she always has been.

It doesn’t matter if she’s a wild child throwing paper airplanes at strangers or the shy but determined teenager she’s grown into.

“Crazy about you,” Nyla agrees easily.

Rosy pink dusts Tamarack’s cheek at the admission, red eyes darting away in flustered satisfaction. Or maybe that’s what Nyla hopes from the way Tamarack’s lips curl into a small smile and her fingers fiddle with her napkin. A beat later, it’s Nyla’s turn to nearly jump out her skin as she feels Tamarack’s leg brush against hers under the table.

It’s rare Tamarack is this forward, not the way she used to be. Before teenage insecurities and anxieties settled in along with the impermanence of her placement in Golden Grove. Nyla likes Tamarack, Tamarack likes her. At least, moments like these tell Nyla Tamarack likes her just like how she liked Nyla when they were 10. It’s a fine line neither of them are quite ready to cross yet, but for now it’s fine.

“It’ll be fine, we'd work it out somehow,” Nyla ignores the heat of her face in favor of bravado and moves both her legs forward to twine around her best friend’s. “Just trust me,” she jabs her fork into their shared pancake stack. “My ideas are only bad 30% of the time.”

Tamarack’s cheeks are a deeper red. “Yeah,” she nods, dreamy and wistful. “Only 30%.”

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

the leaves were sparkling

cw. olnf week 2024, pre!release, step 1, day 1

pairing. sparkling leaves

notes. it's august 3rd and @olnfweek2024 is finally upon us. i'm not gonna lie, i'm the most boring our life player. with my favs, i just play as myself and act accordingly to the age i would have been at the time. across both games, tamarack is my absolute favorite lead and i can't not indulge in the shenanigans. not apologizing for my shitty editing skills lmao

Standing in the fork of a road in the autumnal forest of Golden Grove, Nyla feels more like the protagonist of a movie than a normal person.

Gone is the familiar scenery of Richmond, California and the people that came along with it. Richmond came with honking cars, oil-stained parking lots and the turbulence of being an inner city kid. Golden Grove, Oregon is practically a new world in comparison to the hoods Mom normally could afford to live in. And if it wasn’t less-than-savory neighborhoods with gang violence and shady neighbors they were staying in, it was Grandma or Grandpa's.

It isn’t the first time Nyla’s moved out of California but this time feels so different.

Everything about this is different.

They weren’t moving into the house of extended family Nyla only knew through stories beforehand. Or moving in with either of her grandparents. As far as Nyla knew, they didn’t have family in Oregon.

It’s just be her and Mom.

And we’re in a house!

A house not an apartment.

An actual home not temporary residence.

Nyla would have her own room, her own space, her own everything and it was far, far away from the normality that had been Nyla’s life until today.

And it’s just ours! At least once the real estate person finally came and let the both of them in the house. 

Until then, Nyla was free to play in the neighborhood and she wasn’t restricted to Mom’s normal “you can go from that corner to that corner”. At least, she wouldn’t be as soon as they’d moved in properly and gotten to know all they needed to know about the mountain town. Who cared about the town itself when there was a veritable forest to explore right behind their new house, however. 

In the forest, she’d find an answer to the mystery at present.

Hello.

Go out.

Hideout.

Nyla.

Nyla reads over what had been a paper airplane once more.

Hello.

Go out.

Hideout.

Nyla.

What does it mean?! Perhaps this is how Jack felt when he was equal parts confused and enraptured by the lights and toys of Christmantown.

Strange paper in hand while she stands between two roads, it’s not hard to believe Nyla's life has suddenly become a movie. Was this some strange code left to her by the mythical beings of Golden Grove? Where is this hideout she is supposed to go to? Would this entire journey take her into one of the fantasy worlds she adored reading about? There is only one way to find out and it all comes down to whichever path she takes.

“I’m right-handed, so I should go to the right, maybe,” Nyla mumbles thoughtfully. Talking to oneself is an easy habit to develop when your many siblings live far away from you and you have to make company somehow. Nyla loves to talk, she doubts she’ll ever be incapable of shutting up and being quiet like a good chunk of her relatives desired. “But I always go right though.” Because I’m right-handed.

Going right has never steered Nyla wrong before.

In spite of her tried and true method, brown eyes can’t help wandering to the path less traveled. She can feel it in her bones, something really really good is going to happen if she goes left.

Magical adventures never happen to characters like Chihiro or Kiki or Yusuke because they decided to do what they’d normally do. Chihiro got into the spirit world because she took a risk, Kiki met Tombo because she left earlier than planned and Yusuke would have never become a spirit detective if he never pushed that kid from getting hit by a car.

Adventures come from being different.

“I’m going left!” Nyla announces to no one in particular, wide-eyed in her excitement. Humming Smile Bomb obnoxiously loud, Nyla continues her quest.

What if this really is her moment, Nyla wonders.

What if she manages to stumble onto something mystical and normally unseen? In a forest like this, it’s easy to imagine being like Alice and falling into a rabbit hole into Wonderland. Or perhaps she’d find a cave with a sleeping dragon. Or perhaps she’d even stumble upon a faerie revelry and dance with the queen?

All of the aforementioned scenarios are easy to picture in a place like this.

There were no forests in Richmond, at least not where she lived.

Nor were things so magical.

Reds and golds blend into one another, mushrooms dot the forest floor. Living with the faerie folk crosses Nyla’s mind more than once as she takes in the sights and sounds of the forest.

Then she hears it; a clatter.

With as much reckless abandon a ten year old can possess, Nyla walks off the dirt path to find the source of the noise. Thin branches and crunchy leaves splinter underfoot and her heartbeat quickens in anticipation as she reaches a cluster of trees akin to the Circle of Holiday Towns. This is magic.

It has to be, Nyla thinks, as the golden rays that peek through the canopy paints everything in a pale glow. This is a place where faeries have their revels. The trees were harmoniously aligned and leaf piles dotted the ground. What if faeries are in them? Faeries are supposed to be good at hiding, Nyla remembers from her stories as she follows her instincts to one pile in particular. This one has a faerie.

Fate doesn’t give Nyla a second later to act on her faerie tale references.

“Hello!” Leaves red, brown and orange rise in a whirlwind as a kid around Nyla’s age leapt out of a pile, arms raised high. Brown stares into red as everything they’d thrown up gently drifts back to earth and just when it seems magic can’t be anymore real, their chests are aglow in berry-reds.

This is the prettiest person I’ve ever seen.

Sparkling, everything is sparkling.

It’s like all the sparkle in their fluffy gold hair was sharing its glow on everything surrounding it. The air and the leaves resting around them. If this is what magic is supposed to be, Nyla doesn’t feel the urge to argue against it.

“You’re so pretty,” Nyla breathes, brown cheeks warm.

“No you!” The sparkly-haired stranger giggles, round cheeks flushed pink as she beams in return.

I met a girl I'm gonna marry.

soulmate au: when you meet your soulmate, your chest glows. one of my favorite spins on soulmate verse that i rarely ever see, so i decided to whip it out for my olnf week debut! within my playthrough of olnf, it's love at first sight for the two of us, kid nyla knew she was marrying this girl when they grew up.

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

reach for the stars

cw. olnf week 2024, pre!release, step 3-4 (step 1 flashback), established!relationship

pairing. sparkling leaves

notes. day 4 of @olnfweek2024. arguably the day i was looking forward to the most because i had a very creative interpretation of the stargazing prompt. i can't believe i've written consistently 4 days in a row for an event week, that's the power of olnf i guess

“Did you know I can hold stars in my hands?” 

“Really?” Tamarack perked up at Nyla’s sudden revelation, raspberry eyes wide in amazement.

“Uh huh!” Nyla grinned, scooting closer to her best friend on the leaf-dappled ground.

It was a good day in Golden Grove. First and foremost, it was Friday, the best of all weekdays. Mrs. Murray played The Nightmare Before Christmas for the last half-hour of class and even passed out cookies. The day was only made better when Mom didn’t mind if Tamarack spent the whole weekend at their place. Until the hour drew for dinner and bedtime near, though, the two girls were content to play in the forest they called a backyard.

It had only been a few months since Nyla and her mother moved to the mountainous town in Oregon but it felt like she’d known Tamarack Baumann her entire life.

“Show me,” Tamarack whispered in awed excitement. Tamarack believed in the magic of the world as easily as she breathed, both of them did. If Nyla could do something as magical as holding stars in her hand, she wanted to see it.

“Alright,” Nyla started coyly, shifting so that she sat in front of Tamarack. “But you have to close your eyes first.”

Tamarack squeezed her eyes shut fiercely, giggling all the while. 

Nyla had met a lot of people in her 10 ーalmost 11!ー years of living.

Some of them had black hair like her and her parents. Some of them had green. Some of the people she met even had hair that was red, pink, purple or peach! But none of them ever had hair that sparkled, Tamarack was the first and only. 

It was amazing.

Nyla had plenty of questions about it ーwhere the sparkles came from, how they never fell off when Tamarack’s grandma brushed themー but Tamarack never had any good answers about it. Her hair just sparkled, that’s all there was to it. It’s something simply Tamarack. Nyla thought that was the answer she liked the most.

“Tada!” Tamarack opened her eyes and excitement turned into surprise as she took in how close their faces were.

“Where are the stars?” Tamarack blinked up at the taller girl.

“I’m holding onto them already,” Nyla beamed, heart fluttering as she held gamboge waves in her hand. They sparkled like a million precious jewels. It’s hard to breathe as Tamarack’s berry-red eyes look up at her, just as shiny as the sparkling hair that frames them. Tamarack Baumann is the prettiest girl in the world, Nyla knew this was the truth in its purest form. No one came close, not even Brittany Taylor who kids like Adrian Woodward swore was the prettiest girl in school. Nyla wiggled her fingers, marveling at every individual speckle that glinted in the process. “I’m holding stars in my hands.”

“That’s my hair, Nyla,” Tamarack giggled, shaking her head gently so as to not snag her hair on Nyla’s fingers. In spite of her protest, Tamarack’s cheeks were flushed. “That’s not a star.”

“Nope,” Nyla emphasized the ‘p’ stubbornly but mirthfully, brushing her thumbs across Tamarack’s fluffy locks. She felt as pink as Tamarack’s cheeks, both of them smiling widely despite their differing views. “I’m holding stars.”

Nyla chuckles lightly at the memory as her thumb and index finger toy with a lock of her girlfriend’s hair. Sitting in the living room of Tamarack’s childhood home, watching the Cinderella movie Brandy and Whitney Houston with Tamarack is a far cry from the young girls they once were running amok through the forest. Back then, their responsibilities were few and far in between. Presently, they were simply housesitting for the Baumann elders as they went on a trip to Long Beach to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

I was obsessed with Tam’s hair back then. Watching the soft golden speckles glint in the dim glow of the television, Nyla’s lips curl into a lazy smile. They’re laying in a comfortable position on the convertible couch mattress, Tamarack resting her head on Nyla’s chest. Not much has changed, I guess.

One cool day in autumn, Nyla moved to Golden Grove and was struck with a paper airplane that changed the trajectory of her life forever.

But considering how we were neighbors, we would’ve met eventually. Plus we had school the next day too. Logic is pushed aside for the magic that was their first meeting. Fate had been at work that particular day Tamarack caught sight of a bright-eyed fellow new kid looking for something to throw herself into. Nyla wouldn’t have their first meeting go any other way.

Girls like Tamarack should be met in the forest.

Looking at the soft, sparkling crown that grows from her head, however, Nyla thinks girls like Tamarack can be met under the light of the moon too.

But with how she carries the stars with her wherever she goes, my girl can go wherever she wants. Nyla presses a firm kiss atop Tamarack’s head and her girlfriend giggles, arms squeezing just a firmer. She may have lost a portion of her enthusiastic squeeze but Tamarack still gives the best hugs Nyla’s ever received.

Tamarack shifts so that she is able to look at Nyla properly, a serene smile adorning her face. “Hey you,” she murmurs softly against the sound of Prince Christopher’s parents fussing over the party preparations for his birthday.

“Hey,” Nyla’s fingers run through Tamarack’s chin-length hair without shame.

Tamarack’s eyes squint with a gentle but playful gleam, “you’re not paying attention to the movie are you?”

Nyla doesn’t argue against the observation, “oops,” she says despite sounding not particularly bothered she’s been caught. “Looks like you caught me. Guilty as charged.” We’ve seen this movie a million times anyway. Nyla is sure she could quote it in her sleep. Could sing the songs in perfect harmony, mostly perfect. She only gets to look at Tamarack in this specific moment once and she is going to cherish each and every second.

“And what’s got your mind so preoccupied,” Tamarack inquires dreamily.

“Just stargazing,” Nyla murmurs before pressing their lips together.

not enough people wax poetic about the fact tamarack's hair sparkles, so i decided to go full throttle

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

What are your our your Our Life MCs like, if you don't mind my asking?

When it comes to my favorite love interests, I'm boring as hell because it's just a self-insert. So in the cases of Cove and Tamarack, I'm playing as myself and keeping in mind how I'd most likely answer/respond to situations based on the age I would have been at the time

For everyone else, my MC is called Alyn (which is just Nyla backwards), Al for short (I love when female characters have masculine names/nicknames)

I feel like my Qiu MC rendition of Al is the most interesting because they have a friends to enemies to friends to lovers thing going on. Sadly I am the most boring OL player on the planet lmao

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

heeheehee hiiii nyla!!!! i'm here for the selfship ask game: 7 & 10 👀?

well well well uwu if it isn't the homie hash and after the boopening (i say this like we don't talk every other day lol)

7. You’ve just come to realize you have a crush on your f/o. How was it like when you encountered them again after that? Were you able to keep your cool around them, or was it awkward? How about vice versa?

mikasa + tamarack: in both cases with these girls, it was love at first sight. i knew what kind of timing i was on from the first day. but i'm relatively chill when i have a crush so i was quite normal since i was already on cloud 9

mikasa's a bit shy but she sticks a bit closer to me after she realizes how she feels. tamarack's a demure soul but she's a romantic and whimsical. if she knew i liked her already, she'd probably say something. but i'm competitive so i'd wanna beat her to it

nanami: boy gave the japanese version of denzel in the preacher's wife and morris chestnut's deep voice. i simped from day 1 sadly...... TuT he was never interested. we stay good friends after i shoot my shot though so nothing's lost in the end. i'm the type who can stay good friends with even my exes so former crushes i got rejected by i have no problem being friends with either

gojou: i have to act normal because i don't want to give him the satisfaction lmao

there are two of my self-ship shenanigans with gojou. canon and this au me and my friend allie call the 'ani may university cinematic universe' (fndjkfn feel free to ask me for the link to it if you're interested, hash)

in the latter, we meet at a party thrown by mutual friends and keeps pestering me for a date until eventually i lose a bet (he said whoever got drunk fastest won, i was an idiot who didn't consider the fact i already knew the idiot was a lightweight) and have to go on a date with him

the date went well though but i was very salty about admitting it (still went on the second date though). but in his case, it was pretty much being smitten at first sight and wanting at least one date to prove his case we'd be compatible (sadly we were, much to his credit the universe wasn't letting me put on my blinders)

in the case of the former though, considering i'm pretty sure he'd look down on me even if i was a sorcerer, i'd probably dislike him. but we get along decently enough because we have similar tastes. but just because we can get along, doesn't mean we actually like each other (dislike on my end, indifference on his)

i think we'd both act normal towards one another in either case of feelings being realized

10. Before dating, were you guys friends? Enemies? Anything else?

mikasa, mitsuya, tamarack, nanami: friends

gojou: ani may university cinematic universe: he's an annoyance albeit a cute one. but in the canon, we are mutually tolerated classmates

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

In Step 1, whenever Mom2's truck driving routes led her close to Golden Grove, she'd stop by and sometimes take me on a ride in her truck. I'd always ask if Tamarack could come with us and we'd take turns sitting in the passenger seat. Whoever wasn't in it would have to sit on the bed behind the seats but that was always fun too.

It's something Mom2 talks about when she makes her speech at our wedding. She was happy I met someone who met my energy when I was a kid and was told by Mom1 of my marriage plans, turns out Kid Nyla was not capping when I said that. Congrats to the both of us

Mom1 has a lot of memories of the two of us over the years seeing as we were neighbors. She loved living in Golden Grove. I just know she'd get along exceedingly well with Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Baumann considering at least with Tamarack, we're almost constantly in and out the house for checks in. She probably has her own book club with them and they have their shows they go 'oh did you watch the new _???'

She remembers Qiu's change in pronouns. She remembers the occasional let downs of telling Tamarack I couldn't play because she had to do my hair and that was an all day endeavor as a kid. She remembers making us take turns over who got lick the beaters or spoons when she baked. And she remembered school dance photos and the like.

She'd have a crap ton of stories is what I'm saying lol

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

Self-Shippin' with Nyla

because black girls self-ship too and i wanna be more self-indulgent on main. completely unoriginal masterlist idea i got from the homie @hash-slinging-slasher-trash.

self-ship tag gen

sharing is okay

🔥🦪Flaming Pearls

Portgas D. Ace

🧣🛡️Soft Armor

Mikasa Ackerman

🩵💙Blues

Gojou Satoru (Moon & Sea | Cloak & Shadow)

🌻🍅Sunflowers & Tomatoes

Umemiya Hajime

✨🍁Sparkling Leaves

Tamarack Baumann

🍫🏵️Chocolate Cosmos

Inoue Orihime

🌹🧵Red-Dyed String

Makima

❄️🔥Thawed Flame

Kaeya Alberich

🖌️🌊Painted Waves

Mualani

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

hiiiii nyla! honeydew and mango for sparkling leaves?

honeydew 𖦹 what’s a sweet something they say to you?

haaash! thank you for pushing the tamarack agenda uwu

"i learned how to play (insert song that i like). can i play it for you?" and then i listen to her play it on her cello =m=

mango 𖦹 what are your favorite summer activities?

staying in the house with the AC

hahahaaa jk. partially. summer is our collective least favorite season because we both get hot easily but we still manage to find fun things to do. going to an aquarium is probably a staple for us because of me and tam has a really cute sunhat that she'll wear

we'll also go to cafes at the earliest possible time so we can have a cute little date but then head home when it starts getting warmer