#there is no replacement sun so what is the point LMAO

[darkbluekies]

I feel like I need to show that I am not only writing psychopaths and can also write normal, protective characters lmao

I will share 2 of my private novels with you, translated. The names are shortened so that I don't expose them, because I kinda want to keep them private for the future hehe (probably forgot a few places but oh well)

I will show the mood board for the story and a profile I've made for the characters to help you visualize them better (helps me when writing too haha)

Story 1

"Do you want to go out? You haven't been out much, have you?”

HG shook his head. Fresh air could do him good, he thought, but he knew he shouldn't go out alone. If BN was there, it would probably be okay. BN patted his skinny knee twice.

"Good, then we're going out," he decided and stood up. "Wait here. Do you need your cane, do you think?”

“No, I have the IV stand.”

Without answering anything, BN disappeared into the hall, first up the stairs, then down and then away in the narrow corridor to the kitchen and dining room. HG sat in silence, waiting for him to return, which he did five minutes later, wearing his brown coat and HG's beige jacket hanging over his arm. He gestured with his hand for HG to stand up.

"Come on then," he said.

HG pulled himself up from his chair and followed BN out into the hall. BN slung HG'S jacket over his shoulders and frowned at the hose dangling from HG'S left hand. HG pulled his right arm into the sleeve and let his other arm hang free.

“This works,” he said.

"Don't you think you're going to get cold?" BN wondered.

HG shook his head. BN opened one of the double doors, holding it open so HG could get out with his IV stand. The small wheels got stuck in the uneven planks of the porch. Frustrated, HG pried them free and sighed heavily.

"If it sticks here, it'll stick everywhere," HG muttered, biting his lower lip in frustration.

“Should I carry it for you?” BN wondered.

“No, I got it.” HG took another hold and carried it down the stone porch steps. He groaned as he put his feet down on the gravel yard. Anything but hard wood floors were foreign to him. Hesitantly, he took a few tentative steps forward. HG looked away towards the lake and the dark forest.

“Can we go there?” he asked, pointing away towards the fir trees. “Into the woods?”

"Sure," BN replied. “Has it been a long time since you were in a forest?”

HG nodded and swallowed a sad sigh. He had loved to climb trees, had known how to place his feet so as not to fall. It was just that day…

He let BN guide him past the eye-like lake. The reeds near the edges stretched up to the sky.

The ground inside the forest was wet. What HG'S IV stand didn't get stuck on, he tripped over himself. BN took a firm grip on HG'S right arm, not hard enough to hurt him, but a grip strong enough to catch him in case he fell. Few red, yellow and green leaves hung desperately on their branches, as if they knew they would soon be killed and replaced by spring. The sunlight did not reach down to the ground

"I used to see the woods from my bedroom window," said HG, letting his eyes take in the sights around him. "I saw the seasons change from a distance ... it's another thing to see it up close."

“Quite beautiful.”

HG nodded in agreement. There was something youthful about the forest in autumn.

"I have an idea where we can go," BN suggested, nodding towards the fir trees. “I saw a clearing not far from here.”

“Is it within the territory?”

"I didn't see a fence, anyway."

HG couldn't help laughing. "Adequate. Come on, lead the way, then.”

BN took him to an open field where no man had sown, but where there was still tall, yellow grass. The sun beamed down on them. HG squinted up at the sky. BN took off his brown coat and spread it out on the grass. He gestured for HG to sit down. They disappeared into the grass, the only thing still visible was the stand rising above.

"Nice fresh air," BN sighed, resting his head back. He rolled his eyes. “I needed it after that card game. [other character] does not play nice, I can tell you that.”

"Or you're not good enough," said HG teasingly.

BN opened one of his brown eyes and squinted at him with a crooked smile. “I'm fucking phenomenal at card games, how dare you? You and I will play some day and I will teach you not to underestimate me.”

“You must have had a lot of training on the ice anyway. Did you play a lot of card games at home? With your friends?”

BN fell silent. He sat up and hid his hands in his pockets. HG frowned.

"What?" he asked confused. "What is it?"

"I had a card game, but we didn't play very often," BN muttered, squirming, as if trying to get out of his own skin. His voice sounded quieter, almost sad. "That's not what we ... we did."

"'We'?"

BN sighed, seemed to be searching for the right words. His eyes remained downcast. “I'm so glad I came here, HG. And that I got to meet you and the others. You are so different from my friends back in town.”

He brought out his trembling hands. HG remembered how they had been covered in scabs and wounds the first time he had shaken hands with BN. The wounds had healed by now, but the marks of violence still remained.

"I didn't want to tell you, I'm ashamed."

He fell silent again. HG said nothing, not wanting to disturb his thoughts.

"At home, in town, I wasn't very nice," BN continued, shaking his head in despair. “I got into a lot of fights. I didn't know what to do … I didn't want to continue … so I came here.”

HG suddenly felt a pair of strong arms around him, and a warm cheek against his shoulder. He tilted his head towards BN'S and glanced down at his hands.

"Why didn't you want to tell me earlier?" HG wondered.

"I didn't mean to scare you away," BN replied quietly. “I thought you'd be uncomfortable if you knew. You don't like violence.”

“No, I don't, but you don't have to worry about that. That's just stupid.”

BN let go of him and hugged his legs. He smiled sheepishly.

"It feels better now," he laughed briefly. “When I get home, I will stop being with them. I know how I want to be now. With you I can only ... sit. We don't have to do anything. We can just sit and talk. I like it."

HG smiled weakly. He'd never thought he'd have a friend—not someone like BN, anyway. The fear of losing him haunted HG every time he was alone.

BN took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, fished out a narrow cylinder.

"You really should stop that," said HG.

"I have!" BN smiled proudly and shrugged. "In almost all cases. I barely smoke anymore, but I need to calm my nerves after this.”

He lit the cigarette and brought it to his lips, drew in a breath and blew out gray, foul-smelling smoke. HG waved his hand in front of them, trying desperately to part the smoke. BN took a sandwich wrapped in a paper out of his pocket and held it out to HG.

“Here,” he said. “I brought it to you.”

“Is this some kind of bribery?” HG grinned weakly and accepted the sandwich, unfolding the paper carefully. "So that I won't complain about your smoke?"

"No, because you haven't eaten anything today."

Story 2

They showed their tickets and identification papers to a man dressed in a black suit who studied the papers carefully. Finally he nodded and stepped aside. OL pushed GS forward first, and then TN.

"Don't push me, I can walk myself," she grumbled.

The compartment had about twenty hard, dirty wooden benches in a row, divided into four-seaters. OL frowned at the stench that had spread, despite half the windows being open. The train began to shake and OL had to grab the wall to keep from falling forward. They made their way through the center aisle until they found an empty bench. It was only built for two, so OL lifted GS onto her lap and wrapped her arms tightly around her slim waist. The nine-year-old amused herself by leaning his head out of the window and feeling the wind in his hair. She laughed and turned her twinkling eyes on OL before popping her head out the window again.

OL turned to TN who looked up from her lap doubtfully. She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers.

"What is it?" OL asked, leaning closer. "Are you okay?"

"Why is everyone staring?" TN whispered so quietly that OL doubted she had said anything. “Did I do something?”

OL bit down and let her eyes wander over the compartment. She was filled with that incomprehensible feeling again. The men in the compartment were like animals, like the magister. They shared the same dark, burning gaze that seemed to shamelessly burn away her clothes. TN didn't understand yet, she didn't understand how beautiful she really was and OL didn't want to tell her.

OL gesticulates for GS to jump to the floor and quickly switched places with TN, shoving her towards the window.

"But I want to look!" GS complained.

"You can still look," reminded OL. "By the way, maybe you shouldn't hang out the window, it could be dangerous."

TN gave her a small, grateful smile which OL returned warmly. She turned her gaze towards the center aisle and glared at those who dared to glance in their direction.

[skittlewaffle]

Toon AU beach episode where Sun wears sunscreen and Moon wears sunglasses cracks me up

[pls-hold-me-im-justa-weeb]

Zoro x Fem Reader FLUFF JEALOUSLY HUMOR!!! Zoro is always busy that he rarely ever goes on dates or hangs out with S/O. Sure, S/O always treats him like massages or cleans his training room etc, but it doesn’t help that Zoro doesn’t want to be teased. One day, to cope with loneliness, S/O makes a plushie of Zoro to keep her company! She’s more happier and playful afterwards so she barely misses Zoro! Zoro gets some free time one day and gets rejected bc S/O is playing with Chopper and plushie!

Sup Bitches I’m back from the dead. Not really lmao but I am still alive and I finished off this draft today so here.

🍶TW’s : loneliness, Zoro being dumb, swearing, sappy OOC Zoro (fight me).

Your hand jerked away from the needle as you pricked your finger again making this stupid plushie. You loved it, yes, and you knew it would be well-used, but that didn't change the fact that it was a pain in the ass (fingers) to make. You swore under your breath as you sucked the small injury, glaring at the offending needle.

"Whatcha makin?" Usopp sidled beside you, his nose poking into your personal space. You grunted before sighing heavily.

"A plushie."

"A green one?"

"Mmmhmm. Zoro's been...." you trailed off as you tried to come up with a better way of saying that you felt as if he was too busy for you.

"He's been training a lot" Usopp finished for you. You nodded sullenly, shaking out the cramping of your fingers. Usopp hummed in understanding.

"Well for what it's worth, I think it's turning out really well. Maybe you could make plushies of the rest of the crew!" he said with a grin. The compliment made your heart sting with happiness. You hadn't heard one in a while with Zoro so busy, and you returned his grin with a bright one of your own. Determination dulled the ache in your hands as you looked down to your project.

"Why don't you sit outside with us? You can bring that along and enjoy the sun." he offered. You nodded after a second. Spending time around your friends would help the loneliness that had seeped into your bones.

You joined the rest of the crew outdoors, giggling at the way your captain, Usopp, and Chopper all made each other screech through their various antics, joined occasionally by Brook and Franky. Brook tried to ask to see your panties, and even as your foot landed on his skull, a smile curved your lips. You'd forgotten what it was like to spend time with your friends like this, having been so caught up with Zoro being busy.

You made some serious progress on your plushie in between shared jokes and laugher, and by the time you were ready to go to sleep, you were finishing the last stitch by candle light. Zoro was on night watch as usual, leaving you in your shared bedroom by yourself. Again. You sighed, stroking the plushie's face gently like you would your boyfriend's. It felt... comforting- like you could pretend it was his sun kissed skin. Warmth flooded your face as you realized how ridiculous you must have looked. You shook your head, discarding the idea. He had pushed you to this point. Right?

You sighed heavily, the loneliness coming crashing down again as you settled into the cold blankets. You tried to push the thoughts of being alone out of your head as you cuddled the replacement Zoro to your chest.

"Dumbass" you muttered to the plush as you drifted off.

~~~~

You woke up shockingly refreshed. You hadn't slept that well in a while, not since you were starved of your boyfriend's attention. Dragging the plushie with you, you rose and got dressed before stepping out of the room, almost running directly into a solid wall of muscle. Calloused hands grabbed your shoulders as you stumbled to avoid the sudden obstacle.

"Oi. Careful."

Your heart flipped at the sound of his voice and you whipped your gaze up.

"Zoro!" Your eyes brightened, and a grin puffed your cheeks. You slammed yourself into him, hugging him tightly.

His arms wrapped around you lightly before patting your shoulder as a way of asking you to pull back.

"Whatcha got in your hand?"

Your face heated as you shoved the plushie behind your back, having forgot you still had it with you.

"Umm nothing?"

He raised a single brow.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing important?" you tried as he backed you into the room step by step. He kicked the door shut without breaking eye contact.

"If it's nothing important why are you hiding it then?" He smirked at you, and you wanted to smack the knowing curve of his mouth off his face.

"...It's embarrassing" you finally mumble, looking to the side. Faster than you could realize, Zoro's arm sped around your waist and yanked the plush from your hands. You gasped, and reached in vain for his hand. He placed one hand on the top of your head as you struggled, keeping you from jumping up to grab it from him.

"Is this... me?"

You groaned in defeat. There was no hiding it anymore.

"Yeah"

He chucked heartily, ruffling the top of your head.

"Cute. It can never compare to the real thing though" he teased. You scowled playfully and crossed your arms.

"It's only to keep me company when you're so busy!"

Zoro laughed, flopping down on the bed and tossing you the plush.

"Whatever you say. Now go get some breakfast before curlybrows kicks down this door. I need sleep."

You caught the mini-Zoro with a slightly ache in your chest. Not even a 'love you' or a kiss? You plastered on a happy energy as you walked out the door. As soon as the door closed, you looked at the plush in your arms in defeat, giving it a small forehead kiss to make up for the one the real Zoro had neglected. It helped a little, and you could focus on the short but sweet interaction you had with your boyfriend, even if it wasn't everything you wanted, or needed.

You walked into the dining area with the plush still cradled in your arms. The crew seemed excited to see your skill, asking you to make plushies of all of you. You agreed, with the promise that Nami would let you use more money than your usual allowance to buy the necessary materials.

The day passed as usual with the Strawhats. A mid-morning skirmish with a weak band of pirates gave you a little bit of exercise, with the Monster Trio wanting to blow off steam the most. Nami didn't even bother getting up from her lounge chair, flicking through her fashion magazine. Zoro didn't even talk to you during or after the skirmish, only tossing you a small victory smile as he went straight back to training. You sighed, clutching the plush tightly as you curled up under the tree on the deck with a book. You couldn't focus on the words. You were so used to reading aloud to Zoro while he "napped" beside you that it felt strange to not read aloud. Glancing at the rest of the crew, you got up with a faked yawn and wandered back to your room.

You flopped on the bed, disheartened and bored out of your skull. Your gaze fell on the plush, and you hugged it to your chest before kissing the top of its head.

"At least you're always here"

Your eyes fell on the abandoned book on your blanket. You sighed in embarrassment, but knew it would make you feel better to do it. You picked it up, and began to read aloud to mini Zoro. It felt natural, like he was actually there with you. A smile curved your lips slightly at the familiarity. Maybe... just maybe... it would be okay to let yourself believe that he was spending time with you.

Later that day, Zoro came back to the room exhausted, groaning as he hit the bed. You stroked his freshly showered hair and massaged his shoulders and arms as he fell into a slumber without a word. You swallowed down your disappointment and fell asleep beside him, waking to an empty bed.

The next day felt less lonely, and you didn't notice Zoro's absence as much with the plush by your side. When asked about it, you said you wanted to see how the design would wear before beginning the other crewmate's plush's, and it's not like you minded that it was of your boyfriend. Chopper took particular interest in the plushie, finding it adorable. The two of you played games together, Chopper even considering the plushie the third player you had to play for.

Unbeknownst to you, ever since meeting you for that brief moment in the morning after his nightwatch, Zoro had felt something missing from his life. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he did know that when he saw you on the deck cuddling that damn plushie like you loved it, a spike of... something... struck him. It should be him that you were showing affection. Well, it was him technically, but it wasn't at the same time. You were acting like that damn stuffed thing was actually him, instead of a thing. He sucked his teeth before beginning his next set of reps. What the hell was he feeling? You still gave him massages at night and... and... hm... When was the last time we actually spent any time together? ...Shit.

"Okay. Now it's your turn!" Chopper proclaimed as he finished his turn. You took the dice and rolled, moving your character a few spaces and drew a card. Familiar heavy footsteps vibrated the wood underneath you as your boyfriend approached you. You purposely ignored him.

"Okay, now mini-Zoro's turn!" you said cheerfully. Chopper made the plush grab the dice in his small hands and roll them one by one, and handed him a card face up so you could both see what hand he had.

"Oi" he called quietly. Chopper looked up, but you didn't move.

"Oh! real Zoro! Are you done training?"

"For today, yeah."

You interrupted their small chat.

"Chopper your turn" you reminded the small reindeer. Chopper made his turn, pulling ahead of your little character on the board with a small cheer.

You laid down two cards, and rolled the dice.

"Wow, smart move!" Chopper said, moving the mini-Zoro to make him "talk". You giggled.

"Why thank you, Zoro" you said, stressing his name. You felt your boyfriend stiffen behind you. You both knew now you were being petty, and you both knew he really did kind of deserve it. With a sigh, he stood. If that's how you were going to play it, he had to figure out how to make it up to you.

He walked away, thinking. How could he make it up to you? You'd been keeping your shared room tidy despite him just tossing his clothes and things on the floor in exhaustion. You'd massage his muscles on particularly hard days, and even snuck bottles of water near his sake when he was training. In return, he'd basically ignored you without explanation, exchange a few words here and there but there wasn't even any physical affection besides that brief hug when you'd literally stumbled into him.

You needed something special for dealing with him these last few weeks. He'd need some help from that damn cook, but for you, he'd do anything. He stalked towards the kitchen, slamming open the door. The blonde hardly flinched, glancing back with a glower.

"What."

"I need food."

"You can fuckin wait for dinner."

Zoro swallowed back an insult he crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the counter, staying well out of the kitchen.

"'s not for me" he mumbled.

"No? Did Luffy send you again? I told that damn glutton to wait just 5 minutes for a snack"

"Wha- No! It's for her."

Sanji turned around with an evil smirk.

"Oh, finally realize you were neglecting your girlfriend, and now you're trying to suck up to her with my food?"

"Damn ero-cook. Fine! I'll figure something else out!" Zoro snapped at the blonde. Sanji sucked his teeth.

"Calm your man tits, Marimo. I'll do it for her, not your dumb fuckin ass." He turned around and started to take out ingredients for your favorite dessert.

Zoro breathed deeply, nodding at the cook's back once before stalking out of the kitchen.

~~~~

You felt a little bad about being so petty to Zoro earlier. Did he deserve it? Yes. Well... Maybe? He was really busy, and a partnership wasn't always 50-50, not when one person can't give as much as they want to a relationship when they're so busy with something. You just wished he could tell you he was going to be busy so he couldn't give you the attention he usually did.

You sighed, looking down at the plushie in your arms. You wished you were the one being held, or that you were holding a warm, living, breathing being you loved in your arms. Walking back to your shared room from dinner you gnawed on your lip, concerned. Zoro wasn't at dinner. Did you go too far? No. He would've called you out right there and then if you had. So why-

Oh.

Your body froze in the doorway, hand still resting on the handle. Soft light echoed through the room, pillows and blankets scattered into soft piles with a tray full of your favorite dessert nestled between them. One soft mound was occupied by your favorite swordsman, shirtless and in grey sweats lounging easily with a furrow on his face. He looked up quickly as the door opened, slowly getting to his feet.

"Hey."

"Zoro?"

"Umm. Yeah. I uh... I'm sorry for neglecting you, and we should... spend time? um. Together. Spend time together. For you. I mean to make it up to you."

"...oh. I'd uh... really like that" your smile started small and embarrassed, and grew into a bright grin as he held out his arms for a hug.

You looked at them for a second before leaping at him and slamming your body against his, wrapping your arms around him. His grunt turned into a breathless chuckle as he caught you. You breathed in his scent, took in the warm skin under your hands, the beating of his heart. He nosed your temple before landing a kiss on it.

“Don’t let me get away with that shit again, got it? Come beat my ass if I ever start to take you for granted again. You’re… everything to me.”

You pulled back and met his gaze, eyes shining with emotional wonder.

“I’ll beat your ass so hard” you promised cheekily. He snorted.

“Promise?”

His calloused palm scratched pleasantly against your skin as the fingers of one hand curled around the side and back of your neck, thumb brushing your cheekbone. You leaned into the touch greedily, drinking up the attention like sand soaks up water. His face was closer.

“I promise” you whisper, eyes flicking between his gaze and his lips. A small smirk curls one end of his mouth, making your breath hitch. He noticed.

“Good.”

Zoro was a man who never apologized with words, believing that actions are much more important than honeyed words. His kiss conveys it. His chapped lips mold to yours tenderly, lovingly. He was warm, his breath hot. His hand on your face held you to him, while his other wrapped around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer to his body.

You thought of all the loneliness he had caused you, how little he communicated, and how frustrating he was. How he seemed to care more for training than your relationship, and therefore about you. Yet you couldn’t have it any other way. He drove you mad because he slashed a way into your life and heart that could never be filled by anything or anyone else. You loved him.

Fuck, I love him.

[thatdeadaquarius]

PART 2 - Genshin Impact SAGAU / Isekai: Gifts to Give Your Allogene!

ELEMENTS HERE: Dendro, Hydro, Cryo, Geo

Part 1 / Part 2 (you're here!)

☆

Sun: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them only)

Planet: General SAGAU / Isekai Stuff, Platonic Cuteness

Orbit: Headcanons-ish, a couple sentences for each

Stars: a little bit of everybody as of Baizhu/Kaveh update! including rare beloveds like Aloy! (I hope I got them all… at least the playable ones… ) Please understand that some characters are more “foreground” characters and have more screen time so I may have written some more for them because I knew them better!

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: weapons for gifts?? 16+ Older Teen Audiences Advised, light cussing

☆

& Trigger Warnings: None Known.

☆

Edit 1/1/24: Hey I expanded on this in my Eldritch Fanfic Post Part 2, but I just wanted to vet the old posts and say I did do a form of exoticism by including the word "Huangdi" throughout this.

I've since replaced it for better readability with "Emperor" but I didn't want to erase my mistake like it never happened. I'm genuinely sorry about this, I never had ill intentions by including it, but regadless of intentions that's the impact of my actions. I'm absolutely going to be looking out for kind of thing in the future/get a sensitivity reader/a beta read from that culture to check me.

I hope you still enjoy my writing and can understand.

Dendro Allogenes:

Tighnari = with some help again to put magic into it, you give Tighnari some head coverings you sewed together that have the power of Cryo in them! So now he can actually see what plants are out in the desert, visit Cyno, or just enter the desert to his heart’s content, which, yes, his tail started unconsciously wagging after you explained what it was. “Oh! For me? Well I’ve taken to avoiding the desert if I can because of… wait a minute, you say it has cryo in it? What? How does that work?? You think it’ll genuinely help me in the desert?? You made it???” Tighnari’s ears are all twitching with excitement, and he’s holding the covering (that matches his clothes/dark green) like it’s a new plant for study, omg he pulled out his magnifying glass and everything-

Collei = so she’s actually a really good seamstress, and makes plushies a lot, esp for kids! but one day you found one of her first attempts, a ragged looking sort of pale pink bunny… her first attempt at a plushie Baron Bunny!! so you decided to mimic her design (still baron bunny but with a sort of Sumeru-like clothing on it), and sew her one! You made a whole day of it, eating together, going to the best spots to sightsee (for as long as Collei was up for it/not too tired) and then gifted her the plushie Baron Bunny! She accidentally let out a small scream that startled both of you tbh, and then snatched that shit so quick lmao, kicking her feet on the picnic blanket and everything! With your permission of course, Collei then tackled you for a hug lol, she ranted about all the little details and made you tell her several times over how you made it so she could make some more in the future too! She may or may not have talked about missing Amber and teared up… but then you redirected her attention to the bunny saying, it’s like a gift from Amber and you really! (you also added a function where, if you squeeze the Baron, it’ll dish out some healing power and some heat! …Collei tackle hugged you twice for that one)

Alhaitham = what a hard person to get gifts for, he’d probably be like “thanks” no matter what you got him 😭, he means it tho, it would just be underwhelming… but on the bright side, he definitely seems like he’d show a deeper appreciation for handmade gifts! Since you learned how to make one for Yoimiya, you decide this calls for another handmade hammock (also bc Teyvat doesnt have hammocks)! You painted symbols like green crystals and geometric patterns, but also lions and a golden Palace of Alcazarzaray for Kaveh, and your symbol, the eight point star (like the four point but with flare/not like the jewish symbol with equal points lol)!! So that way he can keep lazing away, and avoid people more comfortably lmao, and also if he is going to do that, he doesnt have to sit on rocks or hard structures for hours reading, and you hope it’s encouragement for him to spend time outside/take a break and nap! (Haitham knows that’s part of why you gave him this, even if you didn’t say it, and so he makes a point to do that more often to make you happy, take the advice for his health) oh look, after thoroughly looking at your craftsmanship for 10 minutes, you got a smile in addition to a “thanks”, damn, that’s actually how you know he likes it a lot <3 :)

Nahida = you remember vaguely from Nahida’s storylines/friendship levels that she loves games, and so you collect her a nice deck for Genius Invokation TCG! You also made her a cute bag and container for it, her bag is a rose maple moth crocheted bc really this was an excuse to just make the cutest character in Sumeru look even cuter, (like this, i tried very hard ok, bc this doesnt exist yet, im shocked) The first image is most correct, (imagine the face and stuff is cuter/simpler) as that’s also the backpack part! Her eyes were so big when you handed it to her, (you honestly were shocked they even could get any bigger lol). She jumped up and down excitedly with the backpack on (ur fucking heart, just like you intended, the wings flapped around and everything <333) you are also currently working on a luna moth (the pale green moth) in case she wants it to match her outfit more! even tho Nahida insists something handmade once is enough, you can see the childish yearning in her eyes, like a kid trying to say no to a toy that’s being offered right in front of them lmao

Kaveh = pretty girls deserve pretty things, and you were definitely feeling the pressure to make something high quality enough for Kaveh, tho u know he’s sweet enough that he’d appreciate anything you’d take the time to handmake (and tbh.. it sounds a little arrogant, but ur hoping something so cared for by what he, or at least most people see as some kind of all-powerful god above the archons, will boost his self-esteem/confidence in his own worth more, or at least let him know one more person cares about him…) so you didnt make it super detailed, and you put a note on it too to let him know your not as great at that as he would be, but you made a model of the part of the teapot house you’re going to design for him! Like a sort of sneakpeak, you made a small lookalike of Alhaitham and his house, but filled it with decor like if Howl didnt hoard all the cool shit in his room in Howl’s Moving Castle, but instead spread it out, and sort of used your modern taste for layout, (not the ugly ass corporate aesthetic) and a small garden. You also made nearly all the decor and stuff something interesting (like some primogem strings, they can be pretty small, for string lights, lampgrass from Mondstadt that he’s never seen etc.) and while you very shyly handed him the model at first, he was practically vibrating with excitement!! “You made this?! Oh of course I don’t expect perfection, it looks wonderful so far, especially if this was your first attempt!!” Kaveh has like sat down, and is delicately holding it and looking around, and when you tell him it’s an actual space, meant for him, he gently sets down the model and grabs you by the shoulders, “Show. Me. Now. …please?” looking at you with very determined puppy dog eyes lol

Yaoyao = …idk what you expected. It was so obvious. A crocheted bunny backpack. brown, so it matches her, since her basket was brown, or you could leave off the feet, whichever u prefer, and anyway, Yaoyao is always doing things for others, so the little girl was so cute and pink when you actually gave her something instead! (once again, using ur old trick of making the person think u need something then shocking them with a handmade gift instead hehe) She IMMEDIATELY switched it out for her basket and has pretty much converted to using it full time! (tho when she needs the more solid one she’ll still wear it, she just alternates, esp if there’s some occasion she’ll deffo wear the bunny backpack, it’s her “fancy god-made bunny backpack!”)

Baizhu = the doctor isn’t one to talk about himself a lot, so you weren’t sure what he would like other than some new tea… but you wanted to make it yourself so while you were a little disappointed it was just a basic pet gift, you wanted to maybe put a little extra into it so maybe Changsheng will use it and Baizhu will think it’s cute! You crocheted a little pet pod/cave for her to hang out in (imagine this but a Jueyun Chili hehe) and it also has a little crocheted vine rope so the little Jueyun Chili cave can be hung from things, or even tied onto Baizhu’s apron/hold it like a purse! That way Changsheng doesn’t always have to drape across his shoulders/has somewhere to retreat! When you shyly showed Baizhu and Changsheng, he literally clapped, so did Qiqi lol (he usually does those tiny smiles… but this one was the brightest most genuine you’ve ever seen, even in game…!!) You find that Baizhu’s eyes look like that type of person’s eyes were they just look like “happy”, like there’s a little fond sparkle in his eye. Changsheng was all like “about time I got something instead of him! I’m basically an assistant too y’know! …thank you very much, my Emperor.” (if you’re NOT squimish of snake pics, pls look at this cute smile Changsheng would give)

Hydro Allogenes:

Barbara = …so even Barbara was a little hesitant at first, but came around to the idea after some convincing, and some encouragement (and showing her she was capable of it) but you basically ….may ….or may not have… found a loop hole for her being a catalyst? So, thru a lot of persuading Barbara to train with you and Childe (who also thought it was amusing to see such a young girl who’s literally a nun and a singer do this) you got Barbara to make water bombs! Like her circle of notes that float around her when healing, she sings and gestures and similar to her ult, (but like Childe’s E-skill it just switches between the two), the notes fly out and explode in the direction she sings/aims! You wanted to remind her of her old dream of being recognized, and wanting to help in battle in a more combat way, and besides, you’re sick of women getting regulated to the healing magical role in games/anime fantasy, so yeah. You and Childe are literally evilly giggling to each other in the background as Barbara sends quater notes and lines of music that explode (like how water can sharpen and cut things like Childe’s blades? Yeah he taught her that) so intensely that it cuts into the Pyro Lawlachurl, bringing it to its knees- Barbara accidentally cuts its head off as the finishing blow. While she gasps in a little fear, but mostly shock, Childe jumps up and down and starts cheering.

Mona = got sparkly eyes, nearly snatched the gift out of your hand, you made her some awesome earrings from the character banner wishes! All pretty ombre pink and blue they swirl and look so pretty framing Mona’s face, she only wears them on special occasions despite your claim of everyday use, they also help her figure out where the clearest view of the night sky each night but glowing brighter and brighter when she gets closer to seeing clearly, Mona is almost? weirdly envious?? for her past self that had to suffer thru all the inconvenient cloudy nights lmao

Childe = like anon said, a new pair of knit gloves, using the fur from the snow king boar! he’s amazed they never wear out now, and he totally uses them as an excuse to hold your hands all like “I just can’t get over how soft they are, feel them, you did amazing comrade! even better than some Snezhnayan shops!!”, exactly what you expect he’s leaning into your face and everything- 🙄

Xingqiu = an ao3 account you had a hard time with Xingqiu’s, afterall, he’s from a wealthier family, so he can get mostly what he wants, and you don’t wanna just get him another book… so you kidnapped him to Inazuma! (idk if this is canon, or happened in an event or smth I missed idfc) So, you also kidnapped Albedo for this trip, so that Xingqiu could actually see the impact his writing made overseas! While you intended for this trip to make Xingqiu feel better abt his writing, (and to help Albedo feel appreciated too, despite him not expressing much low self-esteem in his art, compliments heaped upon him def cant hurt, plus u can see him go pink too hehe) you also wanted to surprise him with a author book signing! If he was up for it, of course, which he “I absolutely, definitely, certainly am, my liege!” Kid’s practically hopping in place, as you get him all ready for his book signing (and not rlly Albedo bc he’s always fucking perfect, u dont have to do shit, even his messy hair looks nice 💀) …you also may or may not have given him some hair decorations (to help his asymmetrical cutting, not that it looks super bad, but for a change at least)

Yelan = …it’s official. You are intimidated. It’s only pretty hydro women and Ayato from here on, on your “Gift List”. Needless to say, like a few other allogenes, you wouldn’t know shit about this woman if you didn’t read her lore… it’s not a fine replacement, you don’t think, but with (lots of almond tofu, and osmanthus wine too) dev access to help you, you created another bracelet for Yelan. Inscribed (just like the heirlooms) inside simply says “You Are Not Alone”, with your eight star symbol following after (like a four star but with some flare, and also not the Jewish star lol), it glows an otherwordly gold, a contrast to the bright blues of the other bracelet. Its function is a geo shield, to protect Yelan and any teammates nearby when it’s activated, she can also leave the shielded area in one spot, so she can do her e-skill and still protect people. You’d just casually asked her to meet up with you one day in that teahouse you know she runs for intel, and when you presented her the bracelet, she held it delicately, saying nothing as she examined it, reading the inside. A small smile tugged her lips up, and she slips it on as she sips her tea, “…Well, I’ll have to show this to present this one to the family shrine, I think this more than makes up for the heirloom I failed to keep. A replacement from the Guide of Teyvat themselves… Thank you, my Emperor, for this handwrought gift you bestow upon a mortal such as me. …and thank you, for not leaving me alone.” Yelan bows a little in her seat, sharp blue eyes more softened than you’ve ever seen her, trained on yours. Her hands are together in that same praying motion that gives you the weirdest sense of deja vu…

Kokomi = so you don’t know much about her, as the it seems the character lore for Kokomi you can remember was… lacking, to say the least. Hoyo definitely plays favorites, BUT YOU DON’T!! At least when it comes to gift givining so everyone feels appreciated, you got a pretty book (handmade or bought) and got it/made it kinda small, like the size of the book in her idle animation, bc turns out that’s her diary of sorts. You know the priestess feels if she expresses any opinions that her people will just take her side, or her word as… well, a divine priestess, the weight of her title you suppose. She also keeps track of how many spoons she has! Like what things drain her, and what things make her feel better (big social interactions vs. reading a war treaty book by herself for example) So you made her a bullet journal! (here’s one of my favorite bullet journal youtubers, here’s a flipthru of her completed journal) you didn’t fill out the whole thing, just some example pages, to show her the possibilites! …you were kinda worried bc she turned away at first after delicately accepting it, and since it was just you two, she allowed herself turn back around and start excitedly chatting your ear off as she leaned in- and wow. Kokomi’s eyes really are, dreamy, like cotton candy… and they’re so much prettier when she smiles…

Ayato = …you know exactly what to do. Interrupting his busy schedule (and only actually taking one day out of it actually bother him so he can have the others as a secret vacation hehe) to come over to the Kamisato household and homemake some boba drinks for him, Ayaka, and Thoma to try! Mostly Ayato tho, you got all the syrups, the milks teas, the boba, and luckily, were able to get some help from Xiangling in experimenting in making… popping pearls! (they’re edible boba pearls that are actually filled with juice/syrup flavors and burst on your tounge when you barely bite them! they’ve very sweet, and Inazuma definitely didn’t have any different pearls other than tapioca, those squishy black pearls you see in his regular boba tea) …Ayato is literally holding your hand like he’s about to drop to one knee, this man is down bad for boba (and you) and… are those tears?! Is he tearing up?! “I can’t believe… THE Akitsu Mikami… blessed me, personally, with boba?? With NEW boba teas and pearls I’ve never even seen?! …Thank you, my beloved emperor!” Mans has quite literally gotten on his knees, but bc he’s so tall, he can still comfortably hold both your hands in his bigger gloved ones …Thoma is desperately trying to get Ayato up, Ayaka is getting onto her brother in the background.

Candace = it’s not exactly a traditional gift… but the reason Candace doesn’t wear a lot of her jewelry or finery is because of the hard job she has as a Guardian/in the desert, so you figured giving her more things she can’t even really wear wasn’t the way to go.. So instead! You gather a journal or advice from Ningguang, Keqing, Yelan, Zhongli, and all the others in the Qixing who were willing to help you, and kidnapped Ganyu for a sight seeing trip! (since u and Ganyu has that whole “in between two very different worlds” bond) You brought Ganyu because you know if anybody would be good at managing something/getting it started (like the music fest back for Lantern Rite… that I missed bc I dont understand how lantern rite works 😭😭😭 VIOLENTLY SOBS ITS BEEN 2 YEARS AND I HAVENT GOTTEN A SINGLE LANTERN RITE U GUYS-) it would be Ganyu herself! …and to also give her a break. See Aaru Village suffered from little to no economy before Candace finally negoiated with the elders to let Sumeru merchants travel into town/buy from them/sell to them, but she’s had a rough time keeping the old coots from being dicks about it since, …and it’s also hard to convince the younger generations to come back after many wanted to see the outside world because of this… So what better what to solve two birds with one stone?? GANYU!! And all the economy and business advice you could gather form Liyue! You hope that the village flourishing (and helping Candace cut down on shady merchants) would impress the older generation, yet also get more money in the town so they can dress it up a bit more (like fixing unsteady bridges, also u kidnapped Kaveh to help revitalize their cultural architecture buildings back into life/or help make the simple buildings just prettier) Now Ganyu and her are besties (Candace rlly needed another friend besides just Dehya alone to come out and see her in the desert) and the adepti was very willing to come visit her and Aaru Village to help the economy maintain its footing/run smoothly, and Kaveh also comes and works on it/checks on her/the village! …When you initially showed all the plans to Candace, saying it’ll impress the old by bringing back old designs/architecture plus interest/satisfy the younger generations to know their hometown is advancing and make it more appealing to come back to… The Guardian puts her shield and spear off to the side, she lowers her head, and greets you, bc u kinda just started rambling without saying hello- whoops- , “Salaam aleikum Qore, **I have already become the first Guardian to have been blessed by the gods, to receive this Vision was the only aid I could turn to in trying to help my village, my community… but to be blessed once more? I would never have dared to dream, let alone the Ogdoad Qore… I am grateful on behalf of myself, my village, and all of King Deshret’s people. …truly, I did not expect a gods eyes to turn favorably upon us since my ancestors’ time. Thank you, my Qore.” You just give her a smile back, she taught you the return phrase, so you hope it’s appropiate, “Waaleikum us salam.” :)

Nilou = This woman is consumed by dancing, other than keeping the peace (well, within reason apparently bc she’s okay with a coup-) but you’ve heard how hard it can be on dancers, how plenty of them have to have strong muscles to perform consistently. So, using adepti magic, you’ve enchanted this minakari you’ve painted (a type of metalwork that’s then painted by artists, on Earth countries like Iran, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan make them) like the teapot! It’s a small island that has a dance studio, and more importantly, a spa with hot springs, a sauna, and a room full of medical supplies dancers would need like salves, heating/cooling pads (using pyro/cryo), and space for stretches! Overall, just a place for her to get away from all the people and to heal her body up for the next performance, and after getting it all prepped/packed up with supplies, and showing it to Nilou… she literally had her hands over her mouth the whole walk around the rooms and showing her everything. Nilou had already been shocked you’d painted her a minakari piece, let alone all this! Like some others, she was quick to drop the formalities, and before you could even say “I hope you like it!” she was wrapping her arms around you and squeezing as tight as she could, tearing up and saying how happy she was that someone understood how hard dance can be on the body and how hard it can also be to take care of yourself, and how she can’t possibly show her gratitude- wait a minute. She’s pulled back and gripping you by the shoulders, not even bothering to wipe her eyes, before she swears to give you a dance every year with all the culmination of her work as she learns and makes newer and better dances!! <3

Cryo Allogenes:

Kaeya = horses so he’s actually a calvary captain- you actually wanted something that’d emphasize the handmade part of the gift, to really let Kaeya know somebody out there really cares about him, cares about him in the way that they’ll sit down and think of an idea and think of him, and then work for hours, sewing, drawing, crafting something just for him, to happy about. You make him a small, pocket sized photobook, and have a picture of every person who cares about him in all the slots, and near the end, from his last birthday where you gathered everybody together to celebrate, is a photo of Jean, Klee, Albedo, Sucrose, Venti, Rosaria, Noelle, Amber, even Eula, Diona, Mika, Barbara, and Mona came! But most importantly, you got Diluc to host it at Angel’s Share, and after some convincing, got him to get in the picture, you’re slightly off center, sandwiched by Kaeya and Diluc, where Kaeya is mid-laugh at the center, having just seen Diluc’s embarrassed face. It’s the last one in the mini album, and each photo has an even small message at the bottom, giving Kaeya a message from everybody, just for him. At the very end, with the group photo just before, is one of yourself and him posing together, you having taken him out roaming Mondstadt for the perfect picnic spot, just to give an excuse why you wanted a picture with him. And at the time, he found it a little suspicious, but was just flustered enough he let it slide. But now, opening and unfolding this tiny album, full of smiling friends and caring words, Kaeya gives a small, watery chuckle, you’ve left him a message too. “Take care of yourself Kaeya, because someone out there really cares about you. :) “

Rosaria = After seeing her “nun” outfit, there’s no doubt in your mind that Rosaria is yearning for clothes closer to her preferred aesthetic. So, using your knowledge of punk clothes and modern goth religious aesthetics, you’ve made some pieces for her to try! Some black pumps with metal crosses for heels, yes they’re sharp and this nice shawl with beads, and finally, a nice lacy skirt (no you did not make fucking lace, jesus christ, you’re not a miracle worker, despite the belief of some teyvatians-). All of which, wow, got Rosaria to give you an honest to god… smile. A full, genuine smile from Rosaria… yeah that made all your hard work worth it.

Eula = a book on common manners so Eula is actually great at cooking! So what better chaos to gift to her other than introducing her to Xiangling! Especially since you’ve given the young Liyuean cook recipes from your own world for her to try out, she’s been on a rampage of new things, and so what better new experience than a cook from an entirely different country? You also made a small book of recipes (look up how to make a zine book on youtube it’s actually kinda easy) from your world, different from Xiangling’s because you thought Eula would like different recipes than her. …So needless to say you were then being berated by two chefs for not sharing all the recipes lmao, tho that really just gave them reason to share recipes! Also any new spinoffs Xiangling’s already made from the initial ones you gave her, and now Eula not only graciously thanks you for the recipes, but also her new pen pal! :)

Diona = So, to prep for this gift, you forced converted the Cat’s Tail to a non-alcoholic cat cafe during the daytime, and only in the evenings do they start serving alcohol/cats put up. You also got onto Margaret for hiring a child to make alcohol, so instead have Diona work better hours, and only during the cafe time, so she’s not making alcoholic drinks either. (you also checked in on child labor laws in Mondstadt, and ran some paperwork by Jean just in case) But most importantly, you teach Diona all kinds of new drink recipes to make, like Shirley Temples, smoothies, etc. You even (once again, by getting help from Xiangling and Diluc) made a drink for hangovers, but more importantly, helped her make one called “Sober Up” which magically flushes out the alcohol out of someone’s body, so Diona can finally sneak people a drink that (while still cursed to be well-made since Diona made it) is a trip to drink lol, it’s like a blast of carbonation/electricity to the system and will typically make most people very nauseous (but since magic’s doing it, they dont need to throw up, they’re just sick feeling for an hour depending on how much they drank). Diona nearly cried after she saw the effect on hungover customers, and immediately started sneaking them into her father’s drinks, so now he’s leaning more toward sobriety most days, and after finding out what Diona did, started to talk to his daughter more. The next time you see her, and ask after her father, she just wraps her little arms around your waist, the highest she can reach, you hug her back.

Chongyun = for prep for this gift, you painstakingly, slowly convince Chongyun to accept more and more moments of warmth, like trying some spicy food that’s gone cold, but just away from people so he can be silly out in the Liyuean mountains instead, and to try and use exposure therapy to try and get him used to yin energy/warm/excitable things, rather than the inefficient method of just avoiding it all (as it doesn’t always work/deprives him of so many nice things!! >:[ ). So that way! You can finally! Take him to have fun!!! You haul him (and Xingqiu bc the more the merrier) to go swimming in Luhua Pools, go jumping off all the peaks from one to another paragliding, using cryo to surf down waterfalls, and most importantly, go to a hot springs at the end of the day! Chongyun was worried about them being too hot and activating his yang energy, but you all agreed he had been training to get used to it, so now he when he goes to try it, he just relaxes into the heat. He could feel the tug to get out and run in circles and get excited, but finally, Chongyun could just choose to sit and relax into the warmth with friends instead :)

Ganyu = if I had a nickel for every woman In teyvat who just needs a break I’d be fucking rich …Obviously, a day off. But an ACTUAL day off, with work regulated to others, and unless there’s an Osial level incident 2.0 (fuck his wife, you put Shenhe on duty to protect Liyue just in case) NO ONE. IS. TO. DISTURB. GANYU’S. FIRST. VACATION. IN. DECADES. You get her to show you the prettiest viewing spots in Liyue, and as you go, tell stories from your life on Earth, showing her pictures on your phone (from both the internet and ur photos), to show her how mortal you are on one hand, but then how different you are here, upgrading her weapons and artifacts, and most importantly, her gift, a Teyvat modified cellphone! Albedo and you had been working together for months to try and make something close enough to connect ur two worlds, while introducing him to adeptal magic and other powerful objects like primogems and wishes that you have to help power it, that way the only other person who might understand immediately how it feels to be (literally lol) caught between two worlds can always rely on each other! …Ganyu cried. Yep, tears down her cheeks and everything, “…I- I- don’t even- even know what to say? All this, telling me about your mortal world, helping me get stronger, and now- now this? I may not have much to give in return, other than my company and my bow… but should you ever need me, or even wish for me, I will hold you as steady as I hold together Liyue itself, my Emperor." Ganyu’s smile is so, so, so pretty, and all the prettier now that her soft blue hair and sweet eyes are framed by the sunset, like it’s her own gift back to you.

Qiqi = A backpack for herbs! You’ve made sure to stitch her name into it so in case she forgets it’s hers, she’ll just see her name again, and lots of little pockets so she can carry all the herbs/make deliveries, it looks a little like this but with a goat instead of cow, and some cocouts lmao, literally a “coco-goat” milk backpack! She is now the cutest person in Liyue, everyone agrees, nearly every single person who comes into Bubu Pharmacy gives Qiqi a compliment now, and Baizhu will periodically take a break just so he and Changsheng can coo at her lmao (Qiqi made sure she wrote down in her notebook in big letters next to your name “This person made my cocogoat backpack, remember to thank them during prayer times, and collect lots of fresh herbs for them”)

Shenhe = It’s kind of a lot, but really, at this point, you’ve done more for some of the others so this probably isn’t even scratching the surface of how big of a gift you can give, so why not. Going full steam ahead, you furnish her a house at the edge of town, so that she’s not overwhelmed by all the human traffic/people, but still close enough to make the friends she wants! When you first show her the dining/living room so plenty of guests can come over, and begin to tour her through it, the strongest woman you’ve probably ever known gently holds your shoulders and stops you from speaking, and turns you to face her, Shenhe’s eyes are sharp with observation as they roam your face, and then settle on your own wide eyes. Her eyes soften, and a small smile warms her usual stern face, (idc how tall you are, she’s taller, I fucking promise) as she leans down a little to look at you closely in the eyes, “Thank you for being a kind god. You did not have to be so generous to me, and yet here you are. If you ever feel like you’re an outsider in Teyvat, in any country or company you find yourself in, please, promise me you’ll come here. Come home to me?” ✨💘✨

Ayaka = You manage to get her away from her duties to take her out to Sumeru! Mostly so you can introduce her to Nilou, see her performance, and the flourishing arts that now fill Sumeru City’s streets, and more importantly, a dress you made so she could dance with Nilou + dance on stage, she wasn’t confident enough/didn’t want to dance for a crowd, so it’s just you three or just you two after awhile. Ayaka looks the happiest she’s been in awhile, more so than you ever saw in game, and it’s… almost like a breath of fresh air to see her away from what you felt was such an isolating environment, even after the Vision Hunt Decree was over. For her last dance, Ayaka does so alone, a little after the sun has set, so it’s all blue, and the stars are coming out, finally, you get to see an even better version of the dance she gave the traveler that night. She only opens her eyes at the end, to give you the giddiest smile you’ve ever seen on her, cheeks cute and plumped up bc she’s smiling so hard, and bows to you (Ayaka’s thanked you a million times, but she doesn’t need to, you can feel how happy she is just from this)

Mika = THE BOY!! One of the most boys to ever boy in all of Teyvat!! Your boy!!! :D What a boy, he nearly fainted when you handed over his gift one day, and you had to reach out and steady him, then hand him it again 😭 It’s similar to the Marauder’s Map, since you enchanted it (once again, what’s the point of dev access if I can’t make gifts for my skrunklies?) and since you don’t want it to end up in bad hands/get spyed on, it only shows itself with a phrase as well “I wish upon a golden star, to know this land as well as its player.” and it’ll show him everyone in public spaces in Mondstadt, not private homes, but like the plaza, the church, the Knights of Favonius, etc. He thanks you every single time he sees you for the map, as it’s both fascinating to him to have a proper well-drawn map of the city of Mondstadt (you copied it from the Teyvat in game map, but there were some buildings missing bc they’re more real here/more fleshed out as a irl city) but that just made Mika even happier bc he can go and map them out!! Literally can’t talk to you bc all he’s saying is “T-TH-TH-THANK-THANK YOU ALL FURST-!!!” before running away most of the time lol

Layla = An embroidered tiny pillow for her to easily clip onto her bag/fit in it, and take on the go with her! (this but the text just says “Sweet Dreams Layla ♡” ) that you’ve also added scent to, including some sleep inducing magics, so she’s guarenteed to sleep well and efficiently when she uses it! She blushed so hard you thought she was sick at first when you gave it to her, and she also used the pillow as a shield to hide her face as she thanked you lmao, and she made you a pillow in return! …even if she thinks it’s not as good as yours, both craft wise and function, Layla worked for weeks on it! …lol now ur the one hiding ur face behind a pillow (this but they’re all plants of sumeru)

Aloy = …if you had a nickel for every person you’ve provided with a house, you’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice… Poor damn heroine just got dragged from one world to the next, just as the last one finally was at peace, now she’s here in Teyvat, where nothing’s familiar, the entire world is set up different, people are nicer and more open here, and there’s still threats looming on its horizon. Needless to say, she is tired, and misses her own homeworld. You really wish on her behalf that Hoyo hadn’t done a crossover, but since she’s here, you figure you might as well make it easier on her. You’ve made another teapot-like adeptal magic container, so she can have a place all to herself, and given her a ticket to your own, afterall, if anybody knows what’s its like to get yanked to another world, specifically Teyvat, it’d be the travelers and yourself, and sure enough as time goes one, Aloy becomes closer with you all, and begins to finally feel a sense of familiarity, she wraps an arm around your shoulders the first time she saw you tried to make her own personal teapot place emulate her homeworld. The widest grin you’ve seen on her face, she gives you a squeeze, “It’s just been one adventure after the next, and when we started out, you were just another stranger in a world I didn't understand. But after everything we've been through, I can say this for certain: My bow is yours, now and always. Thank you for the second home, my king.” Aloy says teasingly, laughing at the face you make.

Geo Allogenes:

Noelle = goddamn when will the busy women trend END these poor souls Motherfucker, you’re gift to Noelle was to knight the damn girl yourself. No, but you nearly talked Jean’s ear off for an hour, after gathering evidence (both from eyewitnesses, and Noelle herself, including other knights and Jean herself) about why the literal fuck Noelle wasn’t a Knight of Favonius yet, and why she should be. After genuinely shaking Jean’s nerves a little, she agreed, and finally, Noelle was going to knighted along with any other potential recruits during the testing season, (as people with high reputations, which, once again, using your god status for all its worth, could recommend new recruits) but most importantly… You gave her a 5-star claymore, which, you do have to somewhat work on yourself physically in teyvat now, but your dev access lets you cheat a little (like the cooking meter on cooking dishes, you’re the goddamn cooking god when hosting guests hehe) so you also are allowed to edit it, like adding a Geo-bonus to the weapon itself! When the ceremony for knighthood was going, and pretty much all of Mondstadt came to finally see Noelle get knighted, you made a fun show of walking out where you were hiding and replacing Jean, to knight Noelle yourself. She’s gone completely red in the face, and is starting to sway a little in her down on one knee position, as you gently place the blade on both shoulders, and grin at her as you turn and pull out the claymore for her. She actually does end up falling over, pale as a ghost, whoops-

Albedo = internet access so he can become a fucking god basically the alchemist is a hard guy to make a gift for, another person you’re a little afraid high-quality handmade gifts would impress him more… so you worked hard, and eventually you managed to make three big notebooks for Albedo, one with lined paper, one bulleted, and one blank for sketches (you did the title page a decent sketch of his pretty face smiling and “For Albedo” underneath, and while that one had a picture, the other two had just the words) and you also loaned him your cellphone for awhile, and suggested the idea of a laptop to make for himself, as he already managed to get you connected to Earth’s internet again, that’s part of the reason you customized/made him notebooks, so he could research from the internet and write down any notes he wanted! …wow. you really did it. after explained all this, and leaving him notes about the laptop idea as loose paper stuck inside one of them, you managed… to get Albedo to… smile. At you. Like a FULL smile, pretty lips, wide smile, and flushed cheeks-!! Albedo caught the notebooks you almost dropped.

Ningguang = what do you get the woman that has everything? so you started to think of things that’d make an experience, and after remembering her lore about her making a chess game, you decided a board game would be good! And if you make the little pieces, it’d be one of a kind too! (she’s the type that really loves handmade gifts/as long as you put effort in it doesnt matter how “bad” it looks to her, she’ll believe it’s still good <3) …So you made a Teyvat version of Monopoly. You figured the business part would be in her realm of expertise, and maybe she could use it to play with business associates or friends, and of course, she’s a competitive woman, so she thinks it’s great, and even asked permission that a marketable version be made (one that’s not nearly as nice quality as hers from you obviously)! Ningguang also treated you very well as a thank you for making it for her, a nice dinner at Liuli Pavilion, with a useful gift of places you haven’t seen in Teyvat yet bc it’s more expansive now that you’re physically here!! You may have gotten over-excited about it… and she may have chuckled at you… and you may have gotten flustered after she rested her pretty hand on yours for nearly half the dinner as you stuttered thru and explanation of the game…

Zhongli = …what do you get the man that has everything (ningguang problem 2.0)?? Well, since you thought of something for her that was an experience a little bit, yet also one of a kind, you figured the same path for the previous God of Wealth/literally invented money/etc. would do, plus he’d the type to deeply appreciate handmade gifts too! Using a few chunks of Light Realm Core, 3 Masterless Starglitter, 1 Intertwined Fate, and 1 Condensed Resin, to make a nigh indestructible Ginko leaf hair pin, which also to replace his last pin, which while not broken, was getting old and beat up (he’s immortal he doesn’ notice these things unless they’re like magically long lasting items lol). But in a few spots are these peach beads like this instead of all white beads, like on the ring both have symbols of longevity, and are usally associated with immortals, you wanted to make something that’d also hold memories (hence the resin, from leylines) so if the erosion ever took him, Zhongli could hold the pin and see some of his favorite memories played back (like misty glittering gold projections)! When you told him all this, the materials, (he obv knew the symbols) and the intentions, and then handed him the gift, his soft smile got bigger and bigger, until you could see him small fangs (❤️‍🔥) and then he turned around? You were confused, until he look over his shoulder, his eyes flashing gold in the sunlight, “Will you do me the honor, my Emperor?” OH- you unclip his old geo cor lapis one, and pull his hair up into more of a low bun, and put the hair piece in. the golden ginko leaves chime softly in the breeze. The old god turns back to you (idc how tall you are, he’s taller, and he had to crouch a little so you could reach lol) and gives you that blinding, beautiful smile again, the kind that makes his eyes look warm and happy. He takes your hand delicately, like you’re made of something fragile instead of stars and magic stronger than any he’s ever seen, “Truly, you bless me too generously, my Emperor. Thank you, for caring for a forgotten god like me, for caring about my heart.” …Zhongli presses a soft chaste kiss to your knuckles, right on the middle finger’s knuckle, his lips are warm and so, so soft, like they’re barely even there. <3

Yunjin = a bit difficult because she’s so theater focused in life, but you figure since she does solo shows a lot, she’ll still be the one to benefit the most from your gift, you made some floating plaustrite lanterns to help heft some platforms for more stage space/cool effects! (this but a little more detail, you painted some bamboo and a few simple adepti on them) Like putting props up there or lights to aim on actors, or even actors themselves since the floating rock is steady enough! Yunjin practically squealed (which immediately made every actor in the vicintity be like “YUNJIN!! UR VOICE WILL GO HOARSE STOP-”) and gather the whole troupe to thank you! But she especially told you that although she already intended for you to have front row seats every time you came to see her plays, she especially wanted to get some stories from your life, or even just your favorites from Earth for her to perform for you!! (she even suggested that one of the platforms could be your special seat, like an opera box seat lol)

Itto = you know that belt buckle he wears that’s just an Oni head? Yeah, you made him a second belt but with a onikabuto beetle as the buckle instead! (kinda like this) but a small enough it’s not inconvenient and poking his stomach, which you definitely got a Inazuman blacksmith to help out, you mostly painted it, and when you show Itto the belt, mans literally just wraps his buff arms around you like a hug but then just starts spinning you rapidly, and lets out the highest pitch “EEEEEEEEEEE-!!!” you’ve ever heard him make (and you’ve given him a few trinkets before, so this is a new record wow). No, it doesn’t matter to Itto how much you weigh, have you seen his abs?! He says as he’s still got you a little off the ground, and is now walking away with your limp body and wearing his new belt, “This, and a proper meal to thank you are the bare minimum, my wonderful emperor! Come on, the gang’s already there anyway, you gotta try my Granny Oni’s food, and I’ll make something too! My best, most special, sandwich, Way of the Strong!! Y’know, because if anybody deserves it, it’d be the strongest, and sweetest, you!!”

Gorou = since teyvat isn’t exactly the pinnacle of advanced civilization, though there are some advancements sure like the Kamera, there are still a fair amount of things that’re just left up to locals to produce and make using whatever process they’ve got, regardless of efficiency, and one of those is soap. Yep, soap. Earth is more advanced when it comes to beauty products, but also hygiene products, and Gorou has a hard time maintaining his tail he’s said when he’s stressed/overworked. So, you used some knowledge from your interdimensional smartphone (love u Albedo) to find a homemade recipe to make soap! (…for dogs, but you don’t know if he’d find it offensive… so you don’t tell him LMAO) and you even made it a cute shape (just so when you handed it over, he’d open it and of course, go all red all the way down his neck even, hehe, (he secretly liked it)

You towards all of Teyvat, except it's not even their birthdays (idk if u want it to be it can)

☆

PLEASE LET KNOW IF ANY LINKS/PICS ARE INACCURATE FOR A CULTURE/MISLABELED ETC.

Me after writing all this:  _」(´ཀ`」 ∠)__

… so I may have hyperfixated a little too hard on this one.

Did the OG asker want this? …probably not…

Did anyone ask for this?? …no.

…did I do it anyway….…yes.

…sorry?

(I promise I only thought to do this because there are so many characters left out in favor of the more popular ones for most SAGAU posts, and bc i never want any of my babes to feel any less loved than any others if I was actually there in Teyvat… you get… this mess.)

sorry!

☆

Safe Travels,

💀♒

☆MY BELOVEDS☆

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche

[djarincore]

Down by the River pt. 2

SUMMARY: Wyll accidentally finds you bathing in the river.

PAIRING: Wyll x reader

WORD COUNT: 1k

TAGS: slight hurt/comfort, fluff, nudity

A/N: another version of this fic but with Wyll I just love this trope sm I wanted to write it again LMAO

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The horns on Wyll's head weighed him down—both metaphorically and literally. The new, extra weight to balance made him uneasy on his legs, which earned him extra cuts and bruises in battle, as well as a singed ego.

He was only as good as his blade. And what good was The Blade of Frontiers if he couldn't even use his blade? Who could he protect if he was stumbling around and people feared his new appearance?

The sun had set long ago and his fellow companions were readying themselves for bed. It was the perfect time to slip away and lament over his new appearance in solitude.

He wandered through the forest aimlessly, ignoring how late the hour was getting. His path eventually led him towards the river where the sounds of water could wash away his thoughts.

Unfortunately for him, the time for quiet respite would have to wait.

As soon as he reached the river, he locked eyes with you, chest-deep in the water. Your eyes widened, but you remained frozen.

“Gods, I'm sorry,” he apologized, averting his gaze to the ground. “I didn't mean to disturb you.”

He didn't expect to see you here. Last he saw you, you were exchanging recipe ideas with Gale by the campfire. He hadn't realized he was gone from camp for so long.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “You didn't disturb me. I was just taking a dip—care to join?”

It certainly was tempting. Especially when the offer came from you.

“I won't bite,” you teased, smiling to show off your non-pointed teeth.

“No, unfortunately, that's Astarion’s job.”

The two of you shared a sly smile. Teasing the vampire spawn happened to be a favorite pastime the two of you shared.

Of course, it was all fun and games. Astarion would always come up with a quick quip to shut the two of you right up, something about how the two of you should put your mouths to better use on each other. That little comment always worked, sending you and Wyll in opposite directions to pretend to scout for supplies.

“So, are you coming in or are you going to leave poor, defenseless me here all alone?” You pouted, pressing both hands over your heart. Though you pretended to look like an innocent maiden, he knew your fighting prowess was a match for him. You could easily fend off whatever malice lurked in the forest, but he would play along.

“How can I say no when you put it like that?”

With a beaming smile, you covered your eyes but left a small sliver between your fingers open.

Wyll wouldn’t say he was a shy man, but to have you watching him made the moment feel too intimate. All at once he could feel his shirt brush over every ridge along his back as he lifted it over his head. And he was keenly aware of the fabric catching on his horns.

“What’s wrong?” Your hand had gone below the water again. Any amusement is replaced with concern.

He was aware of so much wrong with his new body that he failed to realize he was frowning. He tossed his shirt on a rock at the water's edge.

“It's just… me,” he said, like it was something so obvious. He looked like a monster—a devil. You and all your companions had to see it too.

Your brows furrowed and you reached out a hand above the water, droplets fell from your fingertips as you beckoned. “Come here.”

“I-” He swallowed. “Can you turn around?”

You nodded and turned, waiting for his okay. He shed the last of his clothing, leaving it all in a neat pile where his shirt was. He slipped into the river soon after, taking in a sharp breath when the cold waters bit his skin.

He wadded behind you. The water reached just below his pectorals.

“You can turn around now,” he said. He almost wanted to hold his breath. He felt more vulnerable now more than ever. So close to you and completely bare.

You turned and moved closer, hoping to catch his eye. “You know I don't see you any differently.”

He laughed bitterly, turning his head down. His reflection rippled in the water, obscuring any clear reflection. He was glad—he was afraid of seeing the devil looking back.

“I'm serious.” Your hand moved to cradle his jaw, tilting his head up. His eyes were still downcast, sullen, lost in his murky reflection. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“No, but-”

He just couldn't see it anymore—the hero he was, was now just a devil in the reflection.

“Can I kiss you?”

His gaze finally snapped up to yours, mouth falling agape. You wore a cheeky smile.

“A kiss? I-” He felt his cheeks begin to warm. “You want to kiss me?”

“Yes, I have for a while now,” you confessed.

His heart was beating wildly because he felt the exact same, if he was being honest.

The slight nod from his was all it took for you to lean in and meet his lips. He could taste the sweet mead from dinner still lingering on your lips.

“Oh, finally,” an exasperated voice spoke from the bushes.

You both jumped away from the kiss and looked to find Astarion pushing aside some foliage to step out into the clearing.

“What in the Hells are you doing here?” Wyll demanded.

“Looking for a snack, of course. I guess I ended up following the scent of two lovebirds instead.” His signature smirk pulling across his pale face.

“Oh, piss off, Astarion.” You rolled your eyes and splashed some water in his direction. There was no need to be embarrassed by his comments now that the two of you knew your feelings for one another.

The vampire turned with a haughty laugh and called over his shoulder, “Don't stay out too late, lovers, or I'll be telling everyone why the two of you are exhausted in the morning.”

When Astarion disappeared into the brush, you smirked. “Is it too late to stake him?”

“I think I saw a few decently sized pieces of wood on my way here.”

“Lead the way.”

[inzaynety]

him: stoic & sincere ⤫

➢ summary: random scenarios that tell you about what zayne is like

➢ content: zayne x fem!reader, 2306 words, not canon au but he’s in med school (college au bc i can)

➢ notes: pls i just saw a youtube short about ready-to-be airport dads lmao so it made it into this; also yes ur roomie’s name is that and yk why 😭 not beta read 👍🏼

When he walks down the street he’s not stopped by many vendors. His face is enough to draw them away and while he doesn’t get much of that in the hospital, all his patients love him, the same thing can’t be said when he’s just out and about.

The rain doesn’t seem to be letting up and Loren watches as the sky is relentless in its attacks. The concrete is barely visible with the streams of water passing by and she’s grateful to have worn her boots to work that day, however, she forgot her umbrella. The coworker who left before and brought the lost-and-found umbrella from the back and the others were still working and came in their respective cars.

She stays under the overhang for a little more until she really has no choice but to move. The sun, though it was hidden behind the thick clouds, was going down and she would have an earful from her sister if she returned too late.

Taking a deep breath, she steels herself before a hand comes into her view. She whips her head over to the side and comes face to face with a stranger. His face was visible and she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her, luckily muted by the rain and wind.

He was handsome, yes, and familiar.

Thinking back to earlier in the week, she was the one who served him during lunch. He seemed unapproachable when he walked through the door but spoke politely when guided to his table; sitting alone and reading over a small notebook he pulled from his coat pocket. His order was also something out of the ordinary for someone of his looks and she never saw him look up except to thank her for the meal and to wave over the check, but now that she was able to look him in the eye, she was speechless.

“Did you need an umbrella?” He offers the one in his hand and it must have been a few seconds too long as he asks again. Loren shakes her head after the second time and waves her hands.

“O-Oh, no thank you! I wouldn’t want you to get caught up in the rain either. The station’s not too far so it’s okay if I just run over!” She gives him a smile but the man raises a brow and shakes his head, insisting that she hold the handle.

“No worries, I insist.” Seeing as there was no way she was going to reject his offer, and seeing as how the rain did not let up, she accepted the umbrella with a nod.

“I can return this to you in that box,” she points over to the umbrella holder outside of the cafe, “I assume you come around this area quite a few times?” Loren thinks she’s imagining it when she sees a small hint of a smile on his face that disappears as quick as it comes. The man only nods and walks away towards the cafe’s doors. He must be having a quick dinner before he goes home.

Loren holds the umbrella tightly in her hands and rushes over to the crosswalk. Thankfully, his umbrella was sturdy and as she waits at the red light, she finds her gaze trailing over to the glass of her workplace. The lights inside make it easy to see who was in front and she’s surprised.

The man had his arms around a girl who looked excited over something she was saying and upon looking at his face, it was filled with nothing but adoration. The coldness was gone and replaced with a sight she felt she was intruding on.

Loren blinks and turns away, walking briskly when the light turns green.

What a gentleman.

–

Tara hasn’t seen you for the longest time due to your busy schedules, and what better than to have a double date with you, her, Zayne, and her new boyfriend.

You haven’t seen much of him except for the pictures she would send, but from her words he was a nice guy who genuinely loved her, and that was all you could ask for for your friend.

It’s a small family owned diner that you both settled on meeting and with Zayne’s hand in yours you guide him over to the table Tara and her boyfriend were seated at. Upon this being your first official meeting, he politely introduces himself as do both you and Zayne. You notice he’s a little nervous but that could just be due to first impressions; you are one of Tara’s closest friends.

But no. While Jack was nervous about meeting you, the piercing gaze and stone-cold features of the other man were enough to make his palms sweat a little. While you did most of the talking, Zayne would look between you, Tara, and him and with just a glance he could stop talking all together. He had this aura about him, but he just met the man for crying out loud.

Tara talked about you and Zayne from time to time mostly just about when you’d be seeing each other and all she gave about him was “He’s a doctor, tall, really nice, and I think you guys would get along!” That was clearly not enough information.

Being the best girlfriend with the ability to read his mind, Tara squeezes the back of his hand and he looks over to see her smile for his comfort. She suspected he’d had the same reaction she did when you first introduced him. She was skeptical at first from his expression being the most jaded thing she noticed, his actions around you were far from that.

“So, Jack,” Zayne says after you point out the things you wanted from the menu to him, “I heard you’re also into medicine.” Their conversation flows easily and he sees how well-spoken he is. There aren’t any awkward pauses or words he regrets saying: it’s all natural and nothing like how he felt only moments before.

When the waiter comes to the table in the middle of Jack’s story, Zayne recites your order perfectly along with his own all the while holding her hand beneath the table. And when the waiter leaves after going through everyone, he returns to the conversation, “What were you saying about the…”

What a nice thing to do.

–

Your roommate Xavia thinks Zayne is funny. Not in a funny “haha” way but a funny “he’s an interesting guy” way. You both were friends since diapers and moving into your shared apartment was a childhood dream. Where you were going for school, how you were going to decorate, and what things you guys could do were endless.

When you moved in now both in your last two years, Zayne, who had been your boyfriend for a years now since the beginning of college, helped unpack. He took the heavier boxes along with Xavia’s brother who made it into a friendly competition. You would think Zayne would have brushed it off, but he accepted the challenge and soon both men were walking up the steps with about five boxes in each arm. Even you had stopped and stared at them as they looked ridiculous coming up the steps with nothing but the top of their heads visible. In the end, unloading was probably the quickest thing done that day.

You offered to go down to the grocery store to pick up some drinks and Xavia’s brother was also tasked with helping when Zayne took a phone call in another room. Xavia was unpacking one of the living room boxes when he walks out from the hallway and asks about your whereabouts. After she tells him, he nods and asks her if she needed any help. She expected that he would be a lot better than her brother, which he was, but he was also meticulous. It was like he knew where things were supposed to go to look the best and honestly, she was thankful that he did.

A few minutes passes and you texted that you were on your way back. Xavia stands up and pats down her jeans but a small sounds stops her. She turns around and on the balcony is a kitten pawing at the glass. The sliding door was slightly open and it looks like it saw it as it quickly made its way over and squeezed through.

She panics a little as a small animal running through all the new furniture and boxes wouldn’t be the most ideal. Zayne sees it too and crouches down when it practically splints inside, quickly scooping up the kitten in both of his hands. It looks surprised but doesn’t move, the two of them watching at it nuzzles down into his palms and closes its eyes.

The door opens and both you and Xavia’s brother see her and Zayne frozen with a small ball of fluff purring loudly. Your boyfriend cranes his head to face you and darts his eyes from yours over to the kitten. Xavia can’t help but laugh at the sight.

What a funny guy.

–

Zayne’s apartment might as well be yours now too with how much time you spend the night. It’s gotten a lot more familiar with your presence from the drawer filled with you undergarments, the vanity cluttered with your skincare and makeup, and even the pantry overflowing with snacks he says he would never get but for you they’re there.

The heater is turned up for your sake, and since he runs a bit cold as well it’s for him too, but it’s just a little too hot for him though you never complain when he walks around without a shirt.

And you also rarely sit on the couch alone. Your legs are always placed over his as he massages your calves while watching your favorites. His attention is split between the dialogue between the main characters and your commentary should you have any, and you don’t usually need to repeat yourself because he listens to every word.

“This is such a dumb show, I love it,” you mumble after your breath and Zayne’s quirks his lips into a small smile upon looking you way. You mumble something about spine magic and creampuffs and he can’t help but let out a small chuckle. Humming in response, you don’t pause the episode but you do turn your head slightly his way. “What?”

“Nothing.” He comments and reaches down to roll out the tenseness in your muscles from the day. You watch in silence for a few more moments until he gets a text. Reaching for his phone, he unlocks it with a few quick taps of your birthday and looks up towards you again. “Are you packed for tomorrow?”

There’s a few beats of a pause and you’re rushing to your feet and down the hall to his (your shared) room. He’s got some suitcases you left there and practically a whole wardrobe of your stuff anyway. “I knew I forgot something!”

Zayne sighs, reaching over to the coffee table to pick up the remote and pause the show before getting up from the couch and following in suit.

–

The airport is surprisingly not as crowded at this time but you’re a bit upset. Zayne would laugh if it wouldn’t put you in a worse mood but you looked very cute in sweats and his hoodie, standing beside him as he got your bags dropped off at the terminal. But anyway, clearly you were not a morning person.

Winter vacation was a perfect time to see family and friends back home and he was more than happy to accompany you this time like you had for him the year before. At least the upside to arrive at the airport nearly five hours before your flight was that you were flying with him.

The attendant finishes up checking your larger bags in and hands Zayne your tickets. He thanks her and puts away your passports and papers into his coat before taking his carry on in one hand and your hand in his other, after making sure you have your own bag, and pulling you along to the security.

You don’t know exactly why he’s in a rush considering there’s not many people and your flight is literally a few hours away, though it’s a little endearing. You lift your phone to record a few instances.

After security, he grabs a cart to place your bags on and follows you around to the duty free stores so you can shop hands-free.

“You can sit down, you know?” You tell him and he only shakes his head.

“I’ll follow you around. Where are you going next?”

On the flight he’s clutching tightly to your passports as you know for sure you’re going to lose it, and when you land he’s already taking both of your carry ons down from the overhead compartments. You make it to the carousel for your bags and there’s an elderly couple who seem to be having trouble picking up their luggage and he rushes over without delays to get it for them.

Zayne leans down to hear one of them describe what their bags look like and he grabs it all, receiving a pat on the cheek and a bag of sweets from the elderly woman.

“You’re a kind young man,” he only shakes his head and thanks her for the treats as they go about their day. When he walks back to you, you smile and press a kiss to his cheek. Looking behind him here’s a lot more people around now waiting for their stuff. You beckon him to you and he leans closer.

“Our bags just passed by. We have to wait for it to turn around another time.”

[hearts4renaa]

WOULD’VE BEEN YOU.

summary: childe, diluc, and alhaitham as the loves you experienced and let go of. maybe in some other world, they were the one. contains: 1.2k words. the one that got away, angst, breakups, loves that simply didn't work out. gender neutral reader a/n: oopsies i just disappeared lmao 😭 wrote this while listening to folklore, more specifically "the 1" by taylor swift. enjoy, reblogs appreciated <3

The one who stays as your biggest “what if”.

The two of you were well aware your relationship wouldn’t last. After all, an Inazuman noble like yourself and the esteemed Master Diluc surely don’t belong together. Besides, he knew your stay in Mondstadt was temporary; you’d only be around for three months. Despite all the signs pointing away, the two of you were brought together by some twist of fate. A cruel or magical twist of fate, Diluc wasn’t sure. But he knew you’d have to leave one day. And that day was today.

Diluc’s eyes are fond as he gazes at you. You look back with the same affection, but he cannot ignore the looming sadness in your stare. The two of you are standing in front of your carriage, truly putting everything into place for Diluc. After this carriage door shuts, it’s over. You grab his hands, softly cradling them. “Thank you, Diluc.”

He looks at you, confused. “For what?”

“For giving me the best three months of my life.” You chuckle sadly. “I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”

He offers a small smile. It’s quiet for a fee moments before his soft voice reached your ears. “Do you ever think about how our relationship would be if things were different?” You give him a look, one to silently ask him to expand. “If we weren’t both high class, or if we had met when we were older. Things like that.”

You sigh. “I do, all the time.” You peer at the sun. Ever second brings you closer to your departure. It’s time to go. You let go of his hands and wordlessly open the carriage door to climb in. A hand stops you from closing it.

“When will I see you again?” Diluc whispers.

You smile ruefully. “I cannot guarantee that we will meet again.” His face fell. “But,” You grab his hand to gently remove it from the door. “I can confidently say that I will never forget you.”

His eyes are downcast. “I won’t forget you either.” You lean down to kiss his forehead gently before the carriage door shuts. Before Diluc knows it, you’re riding off into the distance, away from Mondstadt. Away from him.

It’s over.

The one you liked but didn’t love anymore.

You really thought you and Childe were each others forever love, but something changed. It was hard to admit; the two of you were together for so long. Years of time and effort were poured into your relationship. Were you really able to throw it all away, just like that?

Falling out of love with someone you still like is a process. First, denial creeps around the corner, trying to convince you that time will fill the gaps, or you think you can replace what’s left. Then rolls around anger. At yourself or at him, you don’t know. But you do know that you don’t want things to end like this, or to end at all. Bargaining happens next, where you pray to the Seven. “Please, please, please” being the only words to leave your lips, begging them to bring back what was once there. Then, it turns into sadness, where you know you need to grow. But you can’t do it together. Finally, it ends with acceptance, like being in a hot shower for hours. But then your skin starts to shrivel, and the water begins to cool down. You want to stay in it’s warm embrace forever, but you know it’s time to go.

You can’t run away from the truth forever. So there you were today, sat across from Childe at the dinner table.

“Childe, I don’t think I love you anymore.”

And so it goes. The tears flowed and throats got choked up. He knew it too; he may act dumb but he’s definitely not stupid. There’s no way he could miss how the affection fleeted away, like dandelions in the wind.

“I don’t want to fall out of love with you.” He chokes through his tears, one hand gripping yours, like you would disappear if he dared to let you slip through his grasp. “I don’t want to live without loving you.”

"I know." is all you can whisper as your own tears fall. Later that night, when all of his items are in boxes and into his ride, the two of you stand on your porch in the heavy rain. The rain mimics the tears you two shed as you hold each other for the last time. He kisses you one last time before getting into his ride. He looks you in the eye, sadness evident.

"I really, truly, loved you." He tells you, and you feel your eyes begin to sting again.

"I loved you so much more."

The one you let go of because everyone else doubted your relationship.

Alhaitham’s reputation precedes him, there’s no doubt about that. Rumors and controversy almost always lingered around him like a smoke he couldn’t ever shake off. Telling your loved ones about your relationship with the scholar didn’t provide you with the reactions you had wanted; many of them were doubtful, no matter how they said it.

Some were sugarcoat it and tried to lay it on you easy - “Well, I just think he’s a very stoic man. Do you think you could stay with him in the long-run? He seems very busy… we just want what’s best for you.” Others were blunt, not bothering to try and smooth things over - “He doesn’t seem like he’s anything but trouble. You’re only going to get hurt.” But no matter what string of words flowed from their mouths, they all led to the same thing: You and Alhaitham wouldn’t last.

But you were ready to block out the noise fron the beginning; you saw what no one else did. How his eyes softened at the mention of you, how he was attentive to all your needs, how he showed his love in ways only you could understand. But one person can only take so much. It’s not hard for the opinions of your family and friends to seep into your mind, through every tiny crack in your resolve. Eventually, each crack caused your determination to stay with him to crumble. One cut won’t kill you, but a thousand of them will.

“I think we should break up.”

The look on Alhaitham’s face when you ended things with him is engraved in your memory. His features were void of all emotion, just neutral, like a blank canvas. “Okay.” is the only word that leaves his lips. He is silent afterwards.

“That’s it?” You question, slightly hurt by his seeming indifference.

“What do you expect me to do?” He responds, crossing his arms. “You already made up your mind. I figured this was coming sooner or later. I’m not deaf. I know what’s been said about me.”

You couldn’t say anything. What could you possibly say about that? There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Your mouth is dry, breath hitched, and thoughts of him, yourself, and your relationship spinning in a whirlwind in your head, and suddenly it all feels like too much. “I’ll take my leave.” You mutter, rushing to the door.

There’s two things you’ll never forget about this incident: the way he made no effort to stop you, and the way you regret it for months after.

[monpalace]

ships .. (ocarina of time/majora's mask) link/reader, (linked universe) time/reader.

content .. it's only natural you search for your nephew after he enters the lost woods on a dare. you can't have a problem with the hand dealt to you when the beast who gives you shelter is so kind.

warnings .. no beta, we die like the promise i made to finish this before the summer after my junior year ended (i started this in april, it's august). i didn't know where i was going with this after a certain point and i think that's obvious. reader uses she/her pronouns. large, legal age gap (reader is in her 30's - 40's, time is a few hundred years old). less of a fic and more snippets, but it's almost 7.5k+ words. i don't think i explicitly say which link it is, so i guess it's ambiguous? nephew is named because this would be a pain to write otherwise.

notes .. prompted (not inspired!!) by beauty and the beast, but also the batb fanfic i found after my friend showed my an nsfw ao3 tag account on twitter. beelzebub / lord of the flies from fear and hunger was a huge inspo for link / time's physical description but there is leeway for how he can be envisioned. he's still large as shit though lmao. the layout of the manor was this, only because i wouldn't be able to write this without knowing.

supposedly there's gonna be a second part. supposedly.

idk. i might hate this enough to just. not.

The Lost Woods wasn't as intimidating as everyone talked it up to be.

Yes, it felt like the trees moved when you turned your back to them, and, granted, there were a few mobs of monsters that could get the jump on you if you weren't paying attention, but you had managed to get away with a few scrapes the few times it had happened.

The only thing to keep you company was the howling winds that grew in intensity and your own thoughts that were sprawling into whatever corners they could reach, but that was fine. You'd gratefully take decades-old gossip from the next town over instead of the creeping paranoia of what was behind you.

Of course, you would willingly go through this, that, and whatever else one thousand times over if it meant finding your nephew— and to keep yourself from reprimanding yourself from reprimanding the teens that had dared him out into the woods, but that was another thing.

Along your investigation, you'd found a broken trail of breadcrumbs that led to nothing when you followed them. They were torn pieces of fabric from his clothes, just big enough to be noticeable but small enough to keep himself protected from the elements.

(You'll forever be thankful that a younger your drilled the idea into his head.)

You'd long since discovered calling his name was useless. The only thing you've managed to do was draw the attention of a few wandering stalfos dressed in clothes from centuries ago.

The ones that had managed to find weapons were always the most painful to deal with.

If your determination weren't so established, you would've lost your sanity within the first day.

Food and water were no issue, you were smart enough to pack more than a week's worth of both. There were non-perishable options and several choices for your nephew when you found him; he'd no doubt have his fair share of cravings after being lost for so long.

(Three days was an eternity to you.)

Just before the sun had reached its crest in the sky, you'd realized that there were more empty clearings than trees. Wildlife had become scarce as well.

Where deers and wolves previously ran abundant, birds and squirrels that ran from the smallest of noises replaced them.

The wind had calmed, at least. It no longer wanted to push and shove you in whatever direction it pleased or steal the bag full of items you brought along. You didn't have to hug your sweater to your chest in fear of it being ripped from your arms either.

Instead, it was still.

Admittedly, the clearing gives you more paranoia than anything else.

When your mind starts to wander to places you'd rather it not reach, you begin to hum a quiet tune to yourself— your nephew's favorite— and allow it to ground you.

You were here for a reason. You wouldn't leave until you found him. You'll be fine until you find him, and you'll find some way to live in the forest that refuses to let its inhabitants go peacefully.

It's hours later when you hear the first sound of life (or suspended death) that doesn't feel like a threat— though, in hindsight, you should've been smarter and more suspicious of it when you first heard it.

A high-pitched instrument repeats each croon you let out, eventually taking over and silencing you. You follow the tune without much of a thought. If it were some sort of elaborate trap to lure you in, you couldn't be mad at yourself if you fell for it.

Clusters of trees become less and less as you follow the instrument and its recreation of your nephew's song. You call his name and are met with nothing but the music (from an ocarina, you quickly recognize) growing louder as time passes.

To say you're shocked when a large and, admittedly, well-kept manor enters your field of view would be an understatement. It's covered in vines, invasive arrowroots, and spreading flowers, but looks lived in if the smoldering smoke slowly dissipating in the afternoon air was anything to go by.

You couldn't begin to imagine who lived inside before the woods took it over (or what lived in it now). The architecture says it predates the Hero split in four, but you doubted the inhabitants of the floating sky built something so elaborate when they returned to the surface.

Your eyes jump past the crumbling pillars and dilapidated statues to the half-glass double doors that seemed to open on their own.

The music was coming from inside the manor now.

Steeling your nerves and squaring your shoulders, your hand grips tight on the strap of your satchel as you walk up the stone stairs covered in moss. You have to hold onto the guardrail installed next to it just as tight. Looking down, you find the carvings of it sorely separating it from the older antiquity of the manor.

Taking in smaller details (for future escapes or weapons against whatever lived inside, you'd figure out later), you find that the small pools of water that came from the sides of the manor and ran and fell alongside the stairs you climbed held small clumps of straw-colored fur. Some caused the surrounding water to turn into a pink hue that reminded you of fairies you've seen in childrens' books.

(Your hand reaches into the satchel to make sure you brought all of your nephew's well-loved books as well as a novel or two for yourself.)

(You did, thankfully.)

There's a smell filled with musk that permeates the air the closer you get to the manor, thick with amber and ginger and it reminds you of the times you come across a pack of wolves during your childhood.

Upon entering the manor, you find it was strongest in the wing of the manor to your right. It took over almost the entirety of your senses, but it wasn't an unwelcome or overwhelming sensation. If you paid close enough attention, you could sense the homely feeling underneath the ferality of it.

You prayed you'd be able to tell when the beast returned; if it was gone in the first place.

You take close note of how the foyer wasn't truly a foyer with how it was filled with windows rather than walls that led to a courtyard and how the only way to enter the wings of the manor was the winded stairs that connected via the terrace.

You don't fail to notice how the wing coated in the musky scent is coated entirely in shadows despite all the sources of light.

You couldn't decide if you were thankful or filled with loathing at the idea of what roamed on that side of the manor.

It's a struggle to turn your eyes away from the darkened wing of the manor, but you do manage when the music picks up once more from the left wing. It's significantly brighter and doesn't fill you with a sense of dread as the right one does.

Trap be damned, your nephew was here, you knew it— you felt it.

Reaching the top of the stairs, you find that you're inside a parlor room that leads to three other pathways. One was a library, another was a dining room, and the last was a small hallway.

In any other situation, you'd explore some more. The supposed beast that possibly lived in the manor kept everything in better shape than what you'd expect— or hopefully it was the forest spirits that lived throughout the forest.

Hopefully, those same spirits kept your nephew safe.

You have to close your eyes to better determine where the music is coming from, the only thing you can hear beside it and your own breathing being the manor settling. Your ears guide you inside the hall and you find it branches into a corridor, a bathroom, and two bedrooms.

Common sense seems to leave you when you spot the back of your nephew's head. Your breath quickens as you watch him clap along with the ocarina, you force your eyes to keep their clarity when you hear him hum each note just as you remember.

"''ire," you call in a weaker voice than you intended or thought you had. The nickname he claimed he hated so much tumbled from your lips so easily as you rushed inside the room, one arm rushing to remove your satchel while the other reached out to almost check if he was real.

The Lost Woods were known for their tricks, after all.

When he turns to face you, he's scrambling over himself in the bed. You're able to see how he limps on his right ankle and knee, how the entirety of his limbs were wrapped in bandage wrap as though done by a child. There was no blood, so you hold off on checking him over.

(The bandages were stained, thankfully not with blood. It was mostly dust and grime.)

(You'd have to sanitize whatever was wrong.)

You meet him more than halfway when you catch the way he winces and hisses with each movement.

"Auntie— Auntie— Titi!" His voice is airy as he speaks, emotion causing his words to come out as chokes. His arms reciprocated the tight hug you had on him, forcibly keeping his arms from trembling due to either nerves or injuries. "Titi, Titi, Titi!"

The way he says the word makes him sound like some chittering bug. If you listened hard enough, you could tell how his teeth clattered together, but you couldn't decipher if it was from a chill or emotion.

All you wanted to do was keep his head against the crook of your shoulder and neck while you pressed kisses to the crown of his head and kept him as close to you as you could, but you knew better.

Pulling away, you reach back for the satchel that you previously discarded. "What's wrong? What happened?" You force your voice to even out when you speak, hands already reaching for his arms after you sit the bag against your hip.

He shakes his head, but you've known him long enough to know there was something wrong. "They're from when I first went in the forest," he answers, voice quivering. "It's all healed. I think."

He doesn't push your hands away or pull his arms back when you skillfully unravel the bandages, carefully pulling and prodding the scars that littered the skin, and he was telling the truth despite the coloring.

"Did you forage like I taught you? Why are most of them green?"

"The spirits."

"The spirits?"

"And the soldier." He looks over your shoulder as though searching for their figures. "I haven't seen him yet, though."

Your eyes squint as one of your hands rubs over the strange texture of the scar, the other reaching for the antiseptic and clean fabric in your bag. "Are these spirits children or small trees with masks?"

You'd heard of both in legend. No one's ever seen them.

You're not sure which you'd rather watch over your nephew.

His eyes drift to his side before peering back over your shoulder once again. His brows furrow as he thinks of how to answer, head tilting as his pupils dilate.

"Both," he answers, "and ones that look like scarecrows. I asked them to bring you."

You force your gaze to keep itself on your nephew. You wouldn't let it wander to spirits you couldn't even see. "The ocarina?" You instead ask another question jumping around your mind, sucking your tongue in appreciation when he nods. "Smart boy."

An airy laugh leaves him, his face lighting up with a smile. "Learned from the best," he snorts.

You risk pressing kisses to the apples of his cheeks and forehead at his flattery, hands cupping themselves on the nape of his neck to bring him closer.

A younger him would push you away without a second thought, whining on about how you were embarrassing him in front of his friends.

He lets you do so now regardless of the spirits that surround you both.

"What've you been eating?" Your hands drop to his biceps when you pull away. They weren't thin like you'd expect them to be after three days in the forest; they were fatter than they had been before he left. "Who's been feeding you?"

His answer of "the Soldier," is quicker than you would've liked. "He goes out and hunts. He always brings back meat. I think it's deer.. it tastes.. bland."

"He.. cooks it, right?"

Another laugh wracks through your nephew's body. He knows you're only being cautious, but he can't help it.

"All the way through," he hums, flexing his arms when they start feeling stiff. "I think I don't like it because it's not your cooking."

He knows what your response is going to be before he finishes speaking, years of having lived under your guidance making him attuned to the smallest of your movements.

When your expression shifts from being relieved to disappointment with a twitch of your eye, he can tell you're not pleased with his statement.

Dousing the fabric in the antiseptic, you take his arm in your hand and begin wiping it down. "Don't be rude." Your voice takes on a less-than-pleased rasp, speaking lowly as if you knew the Soldier was near; but you still apologize when the sting sets in. "Have you thanked him?"

(You're sure you would continue to speak quietly regardless of the context of the conversation. You didn't want to risk "the Soldier," doing anything unfavorable.)

(Your nephew's words of praise did little to ease your stressed heart.)

"I never know when he's here. He drops the food off while I'm asleep. He brings books and carvings too." He watches as you wrap his arm in another roll of (cleaner) bandages, undoing the old one on his other arm while you prepare another piece of fabric. "The Spirits say I'm the most excitement he's had in a while, so he doesn't mind."

His voice was beginning to grow hoarse from speaking so quietly. You tap his throat to tell him to relax.

"They say he's nice," he continues, doing as told. Tapping the fingers of his now free hand against your shin, he tries to recall what all they've told him.

"I think they said he used to live in another part of the woods when he was a kid?—" His eyes glance back over your shoulder, suddenly becoming sure of himself. "— Ah. They did. They said he left and came back when he was older."

You raise a brow but don't speak your question.

Your nephew takes hold of your retreating hands in both of his.

A clatter and snippy huff outside the bedroom door rouses you from your light sleep.

Nearing a week into your stay at the manor, you'd think you'd be more accustomed to the noise, but you aren't.

You carefully remove your nephew's head from your arm, using even more caution when trying to remove the conjoined weight of several spirits from your legs as you slip out of the bed.

It's hard, but you manage to do so without waking any of them— you hope.

(You still couldn't see any of the Spirits, but over time you could feel when they crowded around you and when the wind moved as they rushed past you.)

The floorboards creak beneath your feet.

You hear the sound of claws scratching against the floor on the other side of the door.

Pressing the crown of your head against the door, you tap your fingers along the handle to give the Soldier a warning and wait a few moments.

If you listened hard enough, you swear you could hear him scurrying into one of the other rooms before he shut the door behind him.

It reminded you of a dog.

Smiling to yourself, you're careful opening the door, keeping your head to it and your eyes on the floor. You turn to the other side of it to close it, waiting for the click of the lockset to speak.

"Are you decent?"

His confused "huh," sounds more akin to a gasp than any other noise.

You rap your fingers against the handle again. "Can I look up?"

"Oh—" he sounds choked. "Yeah— Yes. Yes. You can. Sorry."

"Thank you," you hum, leaning down to pick up the tray of food. It consisted of almost entirely meat with a few vegetables you figure are exclusive to the woods. "For both the food and taking care of my nephew."

There was a thumping noise behind the door, the frequency of it was like a tail beating excitedly.

The Soldier lets out a croaking noise and you know his mouth started moving before his mind was able to catch up. "No, I should thank you for looking for him— and for telling him not to use his name."

You let out an airy laugh. "It's common knowledge where I'm from. I wouldn't be a good parental figure if I didn't."

Another noise leaves the Soldier as you fix yourself to open the door. You can't discern what this one means. "I don't know when they started calling me the Soldier, but it's not— uhm.. A favorite.. of mine."

"Oh?"

"Soldier," he sounds more confident in himself and you don't have the heart to tell him you heard him the first time, "it's a nickname. I don't know where the kids got it, but I don't like it."

Readjusting the tray to rest against your hip and forearm rather than in both your hands, you hum curiously. "So what should we be calling you?"

He pauses longer than you'd think it'd take to remember your own name, but you wait.

"Link."

"Link?"

"Yes."

"Like in a chain?"

".. Yes."

You nod even though you're sure he can't see you. "I'll be sure to tell 'ire."

"Thank you." There's more thumping from behind the door.

"And thank you."

There's another noise from Link you struggle to understand, but you figure it's because he starves for conversation. "I heard what your nephew said about the food, too. I'll try to find something to flavor it with next time I'm out."

"Thank you," you repeat. Your eyes curve with your smile. "He'll greatly appreciate it."

Link raps his fingers against the door in response, but he doesn't say anything. You take that as your queue to reenter the bedroom.

"How come your side of the house is always dark?"

You gently pinch your nephew's elbow and he swats your hand away, leaning impossibly close to the door that separates him and Link.

There are a few moments of silence from the man that 'ire filled with bated breath. Link takes an audible, steadying breath before knocking what you think is his nail against the door.

"I wouldn't want to scare you both off."

It was an answer you expected, but you were disappointed nonetheless.

"Boo," your nephew groans. You're sure Link could hear the pout in his voice if the quiet chuckle he lets out was anything to go by. "You can't be worse than what I've seen out there."

There's genuine intrigue in the noise Link lets out. "Oh? What exactly have you seen then?"

Pure excitement fills your nephew's expression when he turns to look at you from over his shoulder. His fingers tap against the floor restlessly, tongue already listing off whatever monsters he's encountered (read: come up with) in his twelve years of life.

"— but their teeth are the worst! They're poisonous and there isn't a cure for it!"

You have no clue as to what creature he was talking of now. There were at least fifteen of them who injected poison through their teeth, eight of which had no cure.

(You don't have to strain as hard to see the Spirits as you did two weeks ago. The shadows and light shift around then as they move to sit around your nephew, seemingly hooked on your nephew's every word.)

(You remember when he would crowd himself around you similarly whenever you would tell him a story.)

You close the book that sat in your lap more for decoration than entertainment at that point and place a hand over your heart.

"I drew a lot of them too! My aunt brought them with her!" He pushes himself through the motions of standing up before immediately stopping and returning to his seat in front of the door. "I'll show them to you if you eat dinner with us!"

There are a few stammering noises from the other side of the door and yet you can't bring yourself to apologize for your nephew's bargaining.

Your own curiosity was quickly starting to get the better of you against your wishes.

The noise he had made several nights before makes itself heard again. His claws (you discovered those a few nights ago) scratch against the wooden flooring as he moves to sit against the other wall rather than the door, his voice moving with him.

"I don't want to— I wouldn't want— want to disturb you— either of you." His words are muffled by the door and his growing quietness, a  regretful lilt stuck in his throat. "But thank you for the offer."

If he truly didn't want to join you and your nephew (and the spirits) for dinner, he was terrible at showing it.

"I know I wouldn't mind," you hum, standing to put away the book. A loud thumping makes the floor vibrate and 'ire has to stifle a laugh. "I wouldn't mind picking up a pot and pan again either."

"No!" Link quickly apologizes for his tone after realizing his outburst. "You don't have to. I wouldn't be a good host if I made you do that."

"Are you scared I'll poison you?"

Your nephew's voice drops to a whisper he swears you won't be able to hear. "She can't. She's the best cook ever."

You're not sure how the two correlate, but you'd take thew compliment.

"She won't?" Link's voice drops to entertain your nephew despite his earlier convictions. It takes on a playful direction, fur rubbing against the wood-tiled floors in excitement (based on prior interactions). "You've never gotten sick? Not once?"

'ire begins to shake his head but quickly stops. "Only from eating too much— which you will do, by the way. Best cook around," he reiterates.

Link chuckles, tapping his fingers against the floor restlessly. It takes him a moment to come up with something to say and neither of you push him to hurry.

You were both too hooked on his every word to do so anyway.

"I'll.." He's shy for all the attention. You wonder when the last time he got so much focus on him outside of the spirits. ".. I'll be sure to think about your offer. Why don't you tell me about a few of your monsters so I have more of an incentive?"

Your nephew jumps on the opportunity while you think over the plethora of recipes in your mind.

It wasn't rare for one of the imps to accompany you outside when you went foraging.

You never strayed too far from the manor— the last time you had been dragged outside of the area you had designated for yourself (and your nephew) by the children, Link had to come and rescue to lot of you before the sun had gotten too low.

Suffice to say, it was a rather humbling experience.

Kneeling, squatting, or sitting on the ground had never been easy on your knees or back, but the grass below you had felt as though it were a pillow hailing from the Heavens itself.

Your body works on picking herbs from the ground before placing them in your bag repurposed for your (new) everyday tasks while your mind wanders elsewhere.

You're humming to yourself when a twig snapping breaks your focus.

It was a nice reminder that the imps hadn't, in fact, accompanied you that day.

Your head lifts to survey the surrounding woods. Your entire body was still, mimicking a deer caught on a hunting trip.

There was nothing immediately in your line of sight that could be seen as a threat, but you had lived a long enough life to know that wasn't enough reason to let your guard down.

You're slow to rise to your feet and your ears are strained as you listen for whatever had made the noise.

"I'm sorry!"

You can feel your body relax when you hear Link's voice call out from behind a tree. You sink back to your knees without much thought, clutching the fabric of your top to calm your battering heart.

You weren't sure what you were going to do if it were an actual danger anyway.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he continues. His arms move and you can see one drop against the side of a tree while the other tightens around the corpse of an animal. "You were so still, I wasn't sure if you were okay."

A quiet, breathless noise leaves you. You're not sure if he could hear it, but you can see his shoulders relax when you do. "You're— You're fine! I just.. didn't know that you'd be out and about at this time."

When the hand not occupied with that week's dinner (barely) lifts to grab ahold of a tree branch, you're shocked to just now find out how tall he is.

"It's not your fault. I didn't know you were out here," he grunts while gently tugging at the branch. "Are you alone?"

Your eyes drop to the flora that surrounds you to not feel so invasive. Your fingers rub against the blades of grass idly when a restless feeling overtakes you. "A few of the kids said they'd join me later, but I'm not too sure when that's supposed to be." A short, genuine laugh leaves you. "I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot."

Link lets out his own, quiet laughter that you can only clue together when you see the entire tree shake in your peripheral. "I wouldn't take it to heart. They say they'll join me in hunting all the time but never do."

"Have you ever given them a stern talking to? I've heard that usually works with spirits."

"They barely listen to me as is. I think you'd have more luck than me."

"Is that an offer?"

"Are you headed home now?"

A strange vice tightens around your heart at his wording while you look through your bag. "Mhm," you hum, standing now that your legs aren't like that of a newborn. "You'll have to remind me of the way, though."

"I can guide you," he hums in reply. "You just can't look back."

Turning your back to him, you're surprised you don't jump when a sharp claw gives a ghostly touch to the center of your back.

You're shocked that you disregard the urge to check over your shoulder every step back to the manor.

You were no stranger to 'ire's night terrors.

They'd gotten better over the past few years as he aged, but all that progress had been undone during the near month you'd been in the forest.

Wiping away the tears that had managed to slip out, you ignore the prickly and uncomfortable feeling that comes with keeping your lulling head up so you can watch him.

You'd done it a thousand times before and would do it one thousand and one more if it meant he felt better.

You don't miss how his grip on your arm tightens when you start humming his favorite song. Your hand trails up to his hairline, nails (claws?) tracing the paint on his face that refused to fade.

You'd spent so long trying to scrub them and the green marks off, you hadn't even realized his skin had started to pale into a sickly grey in patches while darkening into (what looked like) a necrotic black in others.

You didn't even want to think about the changes that had started coming to your body.

You were, however, thankful you weren't thinning into a stalfos.

"You're not as sneaky as you'd like to think."

"How'd you know?"

"I have a young nephew. You learn quickly."

A brief laugh leaves Link from behind the cracked door. Though you didn't face him, you could see the way his eyes illuminated the wall in front of you, even managed to catch on some of 'ire's face.

It was a pretty blue color.

You don't comment on it.

"What's wrong?" Your voice has a deep rasp to it, your hand continuing to stroke your nephew's face even after he begins to calm down.

He'd slowly begun dropping more and more barriers (physical and mental) when it came to communicating with you both, having taken up shadows in their stead. He had gotten more confident in conversation as well, stammering and stuttering less the longer your nephew forced him to talk.

It makes you wonder how long it'd take for him to finally make true on those dinner plans.

"I heard him," Link hums just as quietly, the glow of his eyes moving to instead look over the sleeping spirits that crowded themselves around the space not occupied on the bed. "I was worried. Do you want help with them?"

A soft laugh leaves you when one of the imps buries their head onto your calf as though it were a pillow. "They've been like this since we first got here. 'ire," you press a kiss to his forehead when he rouses, waiting for him to settle before speaking again, "says they like to cling."

"You don't mind?"

"He's not too far off from them nowadays."

"Does he miss anything?"

Laying on your back, you being 'ire's head to rest against your shoulder. Your gaze is finally able to see how he'd take up all of the doorway (and then some) through the crack of the door.

You'd be shocked he hadn't flinched away if it hadn't been for the way his hand reached out to clasp it.

The tips of his fingers reached well past the frame of the door, his claws further, and you could only imagine just how much space he was taking up in the small hallway.

You were confident he could fit five or six of you in his hand without trying.

Your eyes jump back to the three (possibly four?) eyes before he can become self-conscious.

"Almost everything," you answer after pulling yourself from your thoughts. "His clothes, his dolls.. He could go without his friends, though."

His eyes jump from your face to the window as he huffs out a nervous laugh. It makes you wonder if he knows something you don't, but you don't push. "And you?"

"Hmm?"

"And yourself," he clarifies, "what do you miss?"

You're silent.

What exactly did you miss?

The feeling of your village's grass between your toes after the rain, the baker's treats that no other could replicate, being a part of such a tight-knit community, the sun after a particularly muggy morning—

There wasn't any need to be a sap.

"I'm not sure," you finally say after a long period of silence. You hadn't realized your eyes had left Link, yet when you force your gaze back to him, he holds it without issue. "I struggled with becoming attached to things unlike 'ire."

"Hm."

"What?"

"I can't remember the last time someone said something like that."

"You have visitors like us often?"

"More than you'd think."

"And what's become of them?"

The glow of his eyes drops to the sleeping spirits that litter before looking to the window again and you quickly understand.

The hum that leaves your throat is more lackluster than you intended it to be, but given how quickly the topic had changed, you give yourself the grace.

"Well," you start after clearing your throat, "what's something that you miss?"

The manor creaks when Link leans against a wall and his confidence in the movement tells you more than you'd expected.

You don't think you'd ever have the same amount of trust he held in it.

There's a playful tone in his voice when he speaks, one of his hands raised to scratch against his chin. "You'd have to promise not to be dramatic when I say."

"Is it my fault you use such outdated terms thousands of years behind my time?"

Link turns away to stifle his laughter, shrouding the room in darkness and forcing your eyes to strain with it.

"I can't say I've had the easiest experience understanding you or your nephew's sayings," he hums, drowning you in the light of his eye when he turns back, "the kids have to keep filling me in."

"Shame, and here I thought you'd been closer to my age. Have you been leading me on this entire time?"

Link's claws knock against the wall, his tail wagging against the floor while he huffs his amusement. "Have I? When I don't even know your name?"

If the weight of 'ire wasn't on your shoulder, you're sure you would've had a physical reaction of some sort.

"It'd do you good to not forget it," he hums, the movement of his tail slowing until it stops entirely. "Titi and Auntie, as much as I hate to say it, won't do much good."

Another lackluster noise leaves you as the arm trapped underneath your nephew lifts to rub your thumb during his forehead. "How fun."

"The kids are too attached to do anything now." The door slowly creaks open before stopping. It shuts so there's only a crack instead. "You'll be fine to share your name now."

"You never answered my question."

"Which one?"

"I haven't asked a lot," you huff before taking a softer tone, eyes rolling closed. "What is it that you miss?"

Link quietly snorts, muffling it by pressing his face to the door. He takes a steadying breath before saying a quiet, "a lot, I suppose. I can't name just a few things." A low noise leaves him, it's similar to a growl. "My friends? Playing music as well— my hands aren't good for much but skewering these days. My horse, Epona, too. She was the prettiest mare."

"Is she red with a white mane?"

"You saw the kids' drawings?"

"I've seen her before, I think— or maybe it was a hallucination?" The hand stroking 'ire's forehead stops as you scrounge your memories. "When I saw her outside the forest, I knew it was real. Another fated hero was mounting her."

You'd like to think yourself a master of figuring out what each noise he makes is meant to mean, but the one Link lets out once you finish speaking is short and of a higher pitch than normal.

When he begins to stammer over his words as he had when you first interacted with him, it feels like years' worth of progress has been undone.

"I— uhm— You— I don't— err— Thank—"

His tail thumps three times before he knocks his head against the door with a heavy groan. He lets out a quiet "Hylia, be damned," you couldn't help but think he hoped you wouldn't hear to go along with his frustration.

"It's been a long night," you finally prompt. "You'd best get some shut-eye before 'ire bombards you with more from his imagination, yeah?"

"Yeah," Link answers in a weak voice. "Yeah," he repeats to himself more than anything, "of course. Good night," he steps away from the door. "Sleep well."

"Same for you."

The night Link finally takes you and 'ire up on your offer for dinner, your nephew and the spirits had taken to floating around the east wing's dining room to prepare it for such a grand event.

"Titi, titi!" One of the Kokiri exclaims, tugging at the fabric of your skirt (that Link had made out of a spare bedsheet). Her voice had a strange echo to it— all of them, really— and had given you migraines up until you'd finally become accustomed to it. "'ire says that you'll make your world-famous pudding! Will you? Will you?"

You ignore her exaggeration in favor of forcing yourself to wrench your eyes away unless you wanted her puppy dog face to work on you. "Should I? I.. I can't say any of you have been acting well enough to deserve it.."

Even in your peripheral, it's not hard to miss the absolutely crushed look on her face. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip wobbling like she was about to cry despite your joking tone.

"But why—y," she whines, dragging the last syllable on while hiccuping on her breath as she went on. You know the tears pooling in her eyes are just as fake as your rejection of her request— but you know just as well who'll win the battle at the end of the day.

"I—" hiccup. "Want—" hiccup. "Cake—" hiccup.

You raise a brow. "Pudding or cake, sweetheart? I can't make both."

The girl begins to climb your back while you return to sautéing the vegetables, arms wrapping around your neck so she can press her cheek against yours. "Cake! No, pudding! No! Cake! No—"

"I'll tell you what," you interrupt, taking the pan from over the open flame once the food is charred to your liking. Your skin thanks you when you step away and douse the fire, the arid air leaving through the open window. "Why don't you ask a few of the others which they want then we can try and get Link to bake it after dinner?"

The girl jumps off your back with stars practically filling her eyes. She cries out for several names while she runs off, hands clapping excitedly as she shouts out the change in plans.

You're left in peace until your nephew enters with his journals clutched between his arms, bouncing between his feet while he watches you finish plating each food item on dishes you could only dream of owning where you're from.

"D'you think he'll come?" 'ire's voice is low, almost as though scared Link will hear. You know he does if the night of his nightmares a few months ago were anything to go by— but he didn't need to know that.

"He'd better," you answer in an equally low tone. "I didn't spend so long slaving away at this just for him not to."

"Is that a threat?"

The plates in your hands aren't spared by the flinch that wracks through your body. Your reflexes are quick to catch them before any of the food can hit the floor.

'ire, on the other hand, has no issue with voicing his shock in the form of a scream, scurrying from the doorway while dropping his journals. He jumps behind you, hands clutching the fabric of your skirt while he hides himself behind your hip.

"Well?"

Placing a hand over your racing heart after putting the plates down, your other hand comes down to rest on 'ire's head. "It's rude to sneak up on people, you know."

The blond fur of his chest rustles with his laughter. It was difficult to see much else other than that, what with the way he hid himself behind the wall connecting the kitchen to the pantry.

You hadn't even heard his footsteps or creaking floorboards when he first approached. Had he been there the entire time and 'ire hadn't seen him, or had he only walked in after 'ire entered?

You wondered if he was naturally quiet or if he just learned which floorboards were loose.

"Is it sneaking when you were expecting me?" Link's voice is lighter than it usually is, a slight tremble could even be heard if you focused on it enough. He rocks on his feet and briefly leans forward, a less organic-looking side profile coming into view before leaving right after. "If I knew I would be this unwelcomed, I—"

"That's a joke, right?" 'ire stomps away from your side while he speaks, stepping over his discarded compilations of works to stare up at Link with wide eyes. Your nephew ignores the way Link's hands raise to cover his face and how he backs away as soon as he pivots in his foot to face him. "You're not actually gonna pansy out, right?"

Your feet lead you to the two before you can have much of a thought. "Zaire," you say in a terse voice, taking hold of his shoulder and bringing him against your front so you can stop him from interrogating the poor man. "Don't be rude."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Whatever argument he has dies on his tongue when he takes a good, long look at Link. His mouth gaped open like a fish, one of his fingers lifting so he could push it into the fur of his stomach, watching the skin beneath sink with the force of it as though it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Woah."

If you had any less sense of dignity, you'd let yourself have the same reaction.

"Don't be rude," you reiterate, pushing Zaire's hand down until it finally reaches its rightful place at his side.

"No," Link breathes into his palms, clearing his voice to try and rid it of the anxiety (and, possibly, humiliation). "He's— he's fine. This wouldn't be the first time someone responded like that. I'd be more concerned if he did any other way."

Zaire shrugs your hands from your shoulders, stepping until he is toe-to-claw with Link. "Then why are you hiding your face? It can't be that bad," he says, tugging at the fur of Link's elbows, rubbing them between his fingers so he could better be accustomed to the texture.

Spreading his fingers enough so you both could see the four holes in the inorganic material, Link lets out another heavy breath. "I'm self-conscious," he can tell the answer doesn't please Zaire and continues speaking, "It's been.. too long.. since I've shown anyone either of my faces."

"A mask is.." Your voice falters off when you finally find the words to speak, losing them again when you fail to find a proper way to articulate your thoughts.

"It's mostly you and the kids, no?" You try again when you figure out a way to better word it. "Is a mask not.. Is it.. necessary?"

When the blue light that emits from his eyes lifts to look at you, an unidentifiable emotion shoots through you. He holds your gaze for a few, silent moments before turning his head and dropping his hands.

"It's like a second skin," he simply offers.

"Sad," Zaire sighs, backing away and turning until he stood in the center of the kitchen. "Can you still eat with it? Like I said, Auntie is the best cook in all the realms and you have to taste it to believe it."

Curse your nephew's skill of lightening a mood.

Rather than let his insecurities keep him from looking at either of you for the duration of the night, Link looks down at Zaire with a playful jolt of his shoulders. "It's not fused with my face."

Zaire's eyes curl into crescents while he grabs two of the plates from the counter. "Good!" His tail (a terrifying new addition when he first started changing) wraps around the third dish, walking himself past the two of you in the pantry so he could place each one on the dining table. "You'll love this then! Auntie," you don't miss the way he adds your name causally, "always makes this on a big day!"

Link repeats your name under his breath before doing the same with Zaire's. He lets out a thoughtful nod as each one rolls off his tongue, one pair of eyes looking at you while the other continues to follow your nephew.

He wrings his hands together when he catches the way you examined him oh-so-carefully, arms crossed with your head tilted.

"It's nice," he gulps as though every inch of nervousness had reentered his body. "It's a nice name. I like it. It suits you."

You don't know if you were teasing him prior, but you decide to do so now.

"I'd hope so." You pat a hand against his arm as you walk into the kitchen, ignoring the oily feel of his fur. You ignore the feeling of him watching and instead focus on searching through the cupboards for the drink you had foraged around to make just days before. "I could say the exact same for you, thankfully."

"Now, why don't you have a seat so I can play host this time?"

[analogwriting]

Star-Crossed

Chapter 13: širdies

Donquixote Rosinante x gn!reader word count: 2.2k a/n: this one is a bit smaller than usual and it's a lil uneventful. kind of a filler chapter as i set grounds for the next one lmao first|next

You're not exactly sure when you fell asleep - well, more than likely, passed out, but when you woke up, you found yourself in your room at Pops’ house. It makes sense Marco brought you here. You probably weren't safe in your own place. You had no idea who would come after you or even if anyone would come after you. People didn’t typically know where Pops’ lived and he’s been out of the scene long enough that they should leave him alone for the most part.

You just hoped that they wouldn’t drag him into your mess like you had everyone else.

That, and being alone probably wasn't the best idea. This way Marco could keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't run off. He was well aware of your bad habits; take just the other night for example. He didn’t want to have to hunt you down again. He’d already done that once this week. You only did it once in a blue moon, but this way he could prevent it from happening in the same week. 

You sighed, putting your head in your hands. You weren't even sure how long it had been since you , but it was dark outside. You rolled over and glanced to your tableside; the clock read three in the morning and your phone laid there with a shattered screen. You didn’t even bother trying to see if it worked. Who did you have to get a hold of right now? All you needed was Pops and Marco and they were both in this house. You’d replace it eventually.

But not right now. 

The events replayed in your head. You hoped everyone was able to make it out okay. As much as you didn’t trust Doflamingo or your own father now; Crocodile seemed like the kind of man who would at least keep his end of a bargain. If not, you would unleash hell. You had no problem taking all of them down or die trying.

After all, you had nothing left to lose now.

You sighed, laying on your back and staring at the ceiling. What were you to do now? You didn’t have the hospital. You had gotten Corazon shot. You dragged innocent people into your own mess that you created by being an absolute idiot. 

Why did you think you could have it all? Leaving your father’s family and still keeping a good relationship with him? Being able to have the hospital but also aiding those who were injured and helping others escape from the hell that was that lifestyle with no consequence? 

You were Icarus and flew too close to the sun. Everything you had worked so hard for - gone in an instant.

You felt a headache come forth and you knew you’d cry if you had any tears left at this point. Exhaustion was creeping back into your very being. It wasn’t long before you fell back asleep.

--

The following week, you hardly left your room or your bed. Hell, you hardly even ate. You just didn't have the energy to do anything besides sleep. When you were awake, you were plagued by your own thoughts of what happened and how you have nothing now. It just wasn't something you could deal with - you still had a hard time believing it. It was easier to sleep - especially when you didn’t even dream. It was just an endless black void and you welcomed it with open arms.

Marco basically had to drag you out of bed to make you shower, but you went right back into bed afterwards. He tried to talk to you, as did Pops, but you didn't provide much of a conversation, so they both ended up just leaving you alone for the most part. 

You heard the door open and the smell of food. It made you sick to your stomach, but one could also argue that you probably felt that way because you haven't been eating. “I’m not hungry, Marco,” you mumbled from your blanket cocoon.

“Yeah, he mentioned that you might say that,” a voice mumbled that was very much not Marco - or Pops for that matter.

You sat up quickly, squinting in the dark room to see who it was. You recognized his voice, but you just couldn't believe it for some reason. 

“Rosinante?”

You felt your face heat up and honestly you didn't know why. Quickly, you turned on the lamp on your bedside, hissing at the light. You’d hardly seen any in the last week anyway. “What are you doing here?”

“I might have begged Marco to let me come visit…” The man made his way over to you and that feeling struck you again. You went to move to catch him, only to get tangled up in your blankets and crash to the floor the same time he did. 

“Ah, fuck.” You slowly pushed your way up off the ground, only to realize something.

You froze in place the moment you sat up and realized he was under you. Your entire body suddenly felt like it was on fire. “Oh my god, I am so sorry,” you mumbled, scrambling to move off of him. “Are you okay?”

You remembered his wound, sitting back slightly and lifting his shirt without thinking. “How are you healing?” 

“If you wanted me alone in your room with my shirt off you could've just asked,” he teased, nervously grinning at you with red cheeks. Your eyes widened and you covered your face. 

“Oh my god. I'm so sorry.” For fuck’s sake. A week was all it took for you to forget how to interact with others? 

He slowly sat up, chuckling as he did so. You slid into his lap as he moved, not removing your hands. You were too embarrassed to even look at the man.

He removed your hands from your face and you looked up at him, face red. “I'm healing fine, thank you.” His expression was soft as he took your face in his hands with a gentle smile. Your eyes widened as you looked at him, heart beginning to run wild.

“Are you okay?” 

Then it was as if the floodgates opened. So much for thinking that you ran out of tears because you had plenty now as they started falling down your face. Dammit. Doesn’t he know that he’s not supposed to ask a question like that? 

“I'm so sorry, Rosinante,” you said softly. “I’m sorry that I dragged you into all of this.” You pulled your face out of his hands only for them to find your face again so you had to look at him. You averted your eyes, refusing to look at him.

“Look at me.” His gentle demand made your heart lurch and your gaze shifted to him in surprise.

His expression was still soft, tone still gentle. “You didn’t drag me into anything, y/n.” 

“Y-Yes, I did.” You hiccuped slightly from your sobs. “You were out. You were free from all of this. I shouldn’t have even tried to entertain the idea of us. I should’ve known it’d be dangerous. I’m so-”

“Y/n.” You stopped, sniffling as you looked up at him. 

“None of that is your fault. You didn’t know that your own father would betray you.” Marco had filled him in on all the details of what had actually happened, unbeknownst to you. “You didn’t know that he was going to team up with my brother. You didn’t know they’d take over your hospital and use us as collateral.”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing. Yes. I got out, but I also know that things can catch up with me at any moment, just as you do. One can never really leave this life and all that, right?” You just looked at him, trying to find the words to say. You didn’t know why he wasn’t mad at you. He was just…so kind and you didn’t understand. It just felt like it’d be easier if he just hated you, then you wouldn’t have to deal with all these other complex feelings.

“Not only all that, but I still made my decision even after finding out who you were, remember? Sure, it took me a minute. Mostly because I was embarrassed for having made an ass of myself that night. Law was trying to get me to talk to you the whole time. I’m pretty sure he was ready to have my head.” He made a sheepish expression as if he was apologizing to the young man in his head for that one.

“I don’t give a shit where you’re from - I’m from that same place. I’d be hypocritical if I judged you for it. We’re in this together now. I mean. Well, uhm. If you want,” he mumbled, rambling a bit towards the end, his face slowly turning red.

You had stopped crying at this point, honestly just taken aback by his words. Your heart was beating so fast as you sat there, in his lap, with your face in his large hands. You could read between his ramblings. 

He was right, though. You didn’t necessarily drag him into anything. He had been the one to take the initiative. Hell, he was even going to ask him out before your father showed up. You had planned on telling him everything if things did end up getting serious. If he had asked you out that day, you would’ve immediately told him everything. You hadn’t planned on lying to him at all - you believed in full transparency. Especially since he was from the same background as you. 

The way he found out was unplanned, but it was going to happen all the same. 

He had come back. You thought it was only because he found out that you were also the person who saved Law, but he had hardly mentioned that. Law had even confirmed that it wasn’t because of that. It was just shit timing from when they found out and when he was ready to confront all his feelings. Everything seemed to be happening out of order and now you were trying to put the pieces together.

You moved without much thought, kissing him hard. He made a small noise of surprise, but was quick to melt into it. Your arms slipped around his neck as his found their way around your waist. It was getting hot and heavy quickly, but you knew you couldn’t go too far since you were in Pops’ house and you would rather die than get caught by him or Marco.

You pulled away, both of you panting heavily as you tried to catch your breaths. Corazon rested his forehead on yours, looking deep into your eyes. You finally spoke after a moment. “Yes. We’re in this together.” You supposed you should answer the sentiment he had stumbled over earlier.

He chuckled softly, pressing another soft kiss to your lips. “Good because I’d be real sad if otherwise.” You snorted, rolling your eyes. He was such a goober, but it was cute.

You thought for a moment, frowning slightly. This was great and all, but…where did you go from here? You could start dating, yes. This was one thing solved. There were still tons of things you had to deal with. You had to get your hospital back somehow. You also needed some answers from Pops. It was time you found out exactly what happened between him and your father. You needed to make sure all your staff were safe. Obviously Corazon and the boys were safe, but you needed to know about everyone else as well.

You had let everything get to you. You had fallen off the deep end, but you were back now thanks to Corazon’s help. Only…you had no idea where to begin.

You suddenly felt him press a kiss to your forehead and you looked up at him. “I can see that big brain of yours is back in business,” he said with a large, goofy grin. You felt your heart start racing again. Fuck, he was beautiful. He stood up, picking you up with him. Luckily for him, Pops was also a very large man, so all the ceilings in this home were tall. He could stand with ease.

“However, it’s late. There isn’t much we can do now. Why don’t you sleep on it, let your thoughts organize, and we can figure things out in the morning, hm?” He slipped into bed with you and you felt your face warm up. 

“If your goal was to get into bed with me the whole time, you could’ve just asked,” you mused, using his words from earlier. This time he went red. “That’s not…uh…”

You laughed, settling into the bed and pulling him with you. “I know, I know. Now c’mere.” You could already feel the exhaustion from the crying and from your brain turning back on. He was right, you needed a good night's sleep before you started tackling this absolute shitshow that you needed to deal with. You’d waited this long, what was a few more hours?

The moment you felt Corazon pull you in and wrap himself around you - you were out like a light.

-----

first|next

[loving-delusions]

it was just supposed to be a warm up,,, how did it end up like this lmao

also correction evil lunar wasn't the only one left in his dimension lol he mentioned having 200 something ppl still around

deets under the cut because i dont wanna take up much space rambling endlessly

basic explanation uhmm

these are the two lunars from different dimensions that got shown in the Sun and Moon Show :3

i actually have a headcannon that the people that use the star ends up having a mark of the star somewhere on their body

lunar doesnt look like he's melting in these because. unlike the currently dead eclipse we have. he actually used the star and didnt need to store all of it in his body. he has a way to keep it from overhwleming his body ((death and destruction rrraaahh))

and i also have an additional thing related to where the star is located, because i think that's where they 'change', yknow...?????

Eclipse has it on his chest, hence his change of heart

because in my little itty bitty head i think he does end up feeling bad about shit once the star has taken root on him

but his pride kinda got in the way?? and he didn't admit to his fault quick enough so he just up and died lmao, i dont know, just pretend this makes sense

Lunar has it on his head or forehead or wtv, which is like changing how he acts, in a way

he kind of loses himself, like he doesn't hold back on what he wants to do and just crosses the line on where his morals are

i mean yeah, he's one chaotic sonofabitch

but with the star he disregards almost everything just to cater to his own wants with the star just corrupting shit in his head and changing him

Sun and Moon have the mark on their hands

i dont wanna mention which hands because i forgot which of them prefers whichever hand... but it's in their preferred hands to use when writing, because ambidextrous shit

i haven't thought about these two in using the star much

but i did notice they do a lot of.. physical work?

like sun cleans the play area a shit ton, and moon tinkers with his machine and tech. both are a way for them to try and get away from their own stress, i think

i dont have much ideas for them yet but imma think of a way lmao

Earth has the mark on her back

i dont know why. i dont have much idea about her

it started as some joke abt me saying she's the sole backbone of the celestials' familial relationship but i think i just predicted that because she actually is turning out to be that

girly is breaking her back trying to fix shit

but yeah i only have the location and a vague idea/explanation why that's the location

also if the star glows behind her it would cast light on her cloudy hair and itd look like a cool lunar eclipse

(( hehe.. lunar eclipse... get it? because she's with lunar))

((and sun (which is a star)—earth—moon is the positioning of a lunar eclipse— okay that's enough))

I don't know about Monty, but it's probably in his eye or replaced one of his eyes. imagine like a messed up scar the shape of a four-pointed star

at least he wouldn't need his glasses to have stars in his eyes now lmaoo

Headmaster Lunar

named him that bc Eclipse called him that in the episode once

i see him like some (:3) character that could definitely tell you're bullshitting him and doesn't appreciate your lies Not One Bit.

he'd make sure you get the consequences for bullshitting him

that's the vibe i get

and because of the headmaster title uhmmm... think of him like the chill professor/instructor that still does what he's supposed to, as long as you're not causing major trouble, yknow?

older of the two ((between him and evil lunar))

"Evil" Lunar

would fling you to the sun for funsies

i think he's close to Headmaster Lunar's age, but still younger

this is like HM's Lunar's edgy phase where he lets out all his frustrations and just fuck all and just destroys and incinerates people

do you think he plays god in that church of his, those that pray for their survival

he also mentioned being able to create people, which means at least a few of the 200 something people are actually some of his creation..

hm :3

ALSO!!! side rant

In the episode with Evil Lunar, it's said that it should be the same dimension that Gregory went to, even the computer said so

so it's a little weird that it's different to the one Gregory saw

I have a lil theory that Sun did land in the same dimension that Gregory did, but in a different time maybe..?

which kind of ties to what i mentioned about Evil lunar seeming to be a bit younger than HM Lunar :0

Because in Evil Lunar's setting, he's still in earth i think. the nuke bomb stuff from the government is still there, meaning humanity still existed or at least majority of humanity had not been gone for a long ass time

While in HM Lunar's setting, he mentioned making a platform far from earth to escape the wither storm that's consuming stuff

And! Evil Lunar mentioned being able to create people.

But could he create machines..?

Do you think after destroying most of the earth, he got bored of destroying things and just stuck with creating and just toned down his destructiveness? He created organic life, humans, and possibly created machines as well?

What im saying is that Evil Lunar probably recreated Eclipse after his whole world destruction thing, and then we now have Headmaster Lunar's current place in the timeline.

does this make sense. am i making sense to you. do you understand the words im saying.

So yeah.

Sun met the other Lunar's younger version, while Gregory met the older one :)

[nico00235]

SHAKING YOU VIOLENTLY /POS

ME RN:

BUDDY. I CANNOT PUT INTO WORDS HOW FERAL YOUR BONE SOUL AU MAKES ME FEEL. I LOVE THE DETAILS. THE ONE DETAIL WITH LBD JUST BASICALLY BEING TRAPPED FOREVER, TRYING TO DO SOMETHING TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE, BUT JUST NOT DOING ANYTHING.

(L LBD. LARRY BITCH DEVON.)

ANYWAY, FOR THE SECOND PART OF THAT COMIC YOU MADE, THATS GOTTA BE, LIKE, TERRIFYING. BRO IS JUST, COLLECTING TRAMA AT THIS POINT, LMAO. AND THE OTHERS BEING LIKE, “Bud, you ok 😃” NO HE’S NOT OK, WAKE THAT BOY UP. AND NOW HE JUST HAS TO, DEAL WITH THESE SIDE EFFECTS.

(From a different comic of yours where MK is upset he can’t pick up the staff, and Wukong is like “it’s ok, you’re still my successor 😅”)

Honestly, how would their attitude change towards him?

Cuz like, LBD isn’t gone. She’s just no longer a problem. But like, others getting uneasy around MK. Getting flashback and stuff.

COOL NEW WEAPONS. AHHHHHHHHHHHH

I CANNOT REMEMBER FOR THE LIFE OF ME IF I ASKED ALREADY, BUT WE KNOW LBD BASICALLY CANCELED OUT MK’S POWERS, BUT DOES HE GET SOME OF HER POWERS???? WHAT IF HE ACCIDENTALLY POSSESSED SOME, LIKE-

THE HORROR HE AND EVERYONE ELSE WOULD FEEL. (ANGSY, MY BELOVED-)

GOING CRAZY, GOD I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

(Am very sorry if anything here is hard to understand, it’s almost 1am on a school night, lmao-)

Don't worry

I really don't mind when people ask me things

In fact

YOU DON'T KNOW, HOW HAPPY THIS QUESTIONS MAKE ME, REALLY, LITERALLY HAPPY, THEY GOT STIMMING 💞💞💞💞

BuT YEAH, I NEED TO ANSWER, SO

Wukong's attitude towards MK changed a bit, MK was dead for almost 2 years (yea, you read it right, the boy was gone for 2 YEARS) , things changed since then

Wukong still loves MK, of course he does, but now that the connection between them is literally broken and unrepairable, this causes somewhat awkward situations that Wukong can't control (like the times MK releases ice breath, it's one of the things Wukong still struggles to deal with) but he keeps trying to train him as his protégé

ANND as you know, LBD cancelled just some of the powers MK got from Sun wukong (or "changed them"), the powers that he still has are:

The 72 (he has 2 extras now)

The Clones (they are all changed now to literally skeletons)

But the powers he got from LBD are:

The ice knife (better known as the "Ice Dao")

A breath that causes an intimidating environment (ice breath)

The chance to create ice (just like LBD)

The possibility of seeing spirits (it doesn't always do it, it is very rare, it is like the replacement of the Golden Vision, but this ability is not at will)

AND, LAST BUT NO LEAST:

MK cannot possess people, but he can apply the method that LBD used with him in the second season (example:)

which is to make projections of himself in a spectral way (this is unconscious and only happens if he is very scared or stressed, his projections cause terror and pain to those who see them manifest)

This happened once with Macaque, he didn't take it very well

[ichinoue]

Whilst watching the anime did you at any point think that Ichigo & Rukia could’ve had a chance (since that’s what a lot of ppl that just watched the anime thought would’ve happened) before you read the manga, it’s quite obvious that the anime was biased towards a certain ship. Or was it always Ichihime for you ?

I started with the anime only. I went into it knowing about the ichiruki fandom popularity, and was fully expecting to ship ichiruki. And as I watched the first arc (AotS), I did see a few moments that definitely seemed to be hinting at an IR romance.

...Only to find out later on when I read the manga: all of those moments were anime-only filler. I explain more on that below.

But still, at that point, I was an anime-only fan. And then the next arc, the SS arc, began. And I was confused. Because a majority of the "shippy" moments of the SS arc went to RenRuki and IchiHime instead of IchiRuki. I talked about that more here in this post.

So the ships seemed up in the air to me. Because there were definite romantic IR hints in the first arc (or, so I thought, not realizing they were filler). But IH and RR were now presenting themselves as strong contenders for canon as well.

And then the arrancar arc began and IchiHime came in swinging like a wrecking ball. And the moment Ichigo bowed before Orihime, looked her sincerely in the eyes, and vowed to protect her, I just knew it would be canon.

But I kept in mind that I had only ever seen the anime at that point. And I thought, "well, maybe the anime is distorting things and downplaying IR while playing up IH/RR with fillers."

At which point, I decided to read the manga from the start to see for myself what was filler, and what was canon.

Come to find out, the few moments that I did think were hinting towards an IchiRuki romance?

They were all filler.

Linked below are episodes on crunchyroll with timestamps:

Episode 8 @ 15:05 The random shinigami dude who shows up and accuses Rukia of being in a relationship with Ichigo while blushing i.e. "are you finding pleasure with a human boy?" while she gets all flustered and tells him it's none of his business? Filler. (Literally, the animation team created a whole ass filler character just to tease at some IR romance that didn't exist lmao).

Episode 11 @ 4:10 Orihime watches Ichigo and Rukia run off together at school, followed by Orihime wondering if they're dating? Filler.

Episode 15 @ 17:40 Ichigo and Rukia staring at each other and awkwardly stumbling over their words, as if they're holding back from confessing their feelings, as the sun sets and soft music plays? Filler.

Episode 18 @ 6:34 Ichigo having a flashback to Rukia's glowing face while he thinks to himself "her place is here" (which immediately follows the peptalk Orihime just gave him, which takes away from an important IH moment 🤦‍♀️) Filler.

Episode 22 @ 12:04 Ichigo staring longingly at SS as the sunsets as if he's staring/thinking about Rukia? Filler. (And this moment actually replaced the canon moment of Ichigo offering Orihime a drink while she was healing Jidanbo.)

Episode 146 @ 20:04 Nel getting jealous of Rukia and demanding to know what her relationship is with Ichigo? Filler.

So, when I read the manga, I realized that all of these seemingly romantic shippy ichiruki moments didn't actually exist.

Meanwhile, I was introduced to a lot of canon IchiHime moments I had never seen before in the anime, such as Orihime's feelings for Ichigo being introduced in chapter two, Orihime and Ichigo meeting up on the way to Urahara's house, Ichigo bringing Orihime a drink while she healed Jidanbo, the guys in SS wondering if Orihime has a boyfriend and then saying "definitely" when they see her walking with Ichigo, etc. All of those moments were left out of the anime.

So, essentially, in the first two arcs, the anime added in some heavy-handed filler IchiRuki content, while removing canon IchiHime content.

And by doing so, they effectively bamboozled so many people into thinking IR was romantic and endgame. Especially those who only ever watched the anime and were fooled by all the filler.

The anime got better about all the butchering once the arrancar arc began, but by then, I think it was too late. The damage was already done. So many people had already declared IR as their otp and were reluctant to jump ship--especially to the ship they had already spent so much time bashing.

[bitterkarmaa]

OHOHOHO IS THAT ANGST I SMELL? ok ok ok but if you dont mind me hopping onto the abandonment thing - IMAGINE Eclipse gets worse to the point either the others start to seemingly abandon him (more like avoiding because i can see the arguments Eclipse's growingego would bring)

OR HE ABANDONS THEM because of what you said in him not feeling the need for their approvel anymore - so should the star leave him there is that moment of horror when he realises no ones gonna help him because in his arrogance he pushes them away and the star left him for dead and its his fault once again he brought this upon himself.

Oh how bitter that karma must feel, now its happened not once but twice

So he's lying there, dying, desperate, terrified because he is once again alone and he did this to himself and its worse because he actually had another chance, one that only he has ruined and now has no chance of getting back again.

Unless...

Someone comes back for him - Moon, Lunar or Rays even! Maybe Rays is the first? He comes back and sits with Eclipse (maybe the others follow suit?) and maybe the star also returns too when Eclipse shows genuine sorrow for his actions or maybe Rays himself convinced the star to give Eclipse another chance?

I chose Rays specifically since i figured it would be interesting given how he was the first to notice the star in Eclipse, when even mr clips himself had no idea (nor did Moon the guy who made the thing) so maybe he'd have some sort of influence over it? Especially since the star allowed Eclipse to use its power to rescue himself and Rays.

But it could be anyone else too! Moon who willingly brings the star he made back to his once (and possibly nearly again) mortal enemy, or maybe Lunar is the one to convince Moon to bring it to Eclipse, reflecting the first fic when he told Moon he didn't want to leave Eclipse to die? So many options!

ANYWAYS THATS MY LIL RANT LMAO SORRY FOR THE WORD WALL BUT IT GAVE ME SO MANY BRAIN WORMS HDKFJGH

…

The eyes that stared back at him weren’t familiar anymore. At one point, he would’ve called this feeling surreal and dismissed it. Would’ve claimed to have been paranoid.

White has taken over his single iris, drowning the normal orange that resides there. He has felt off all day. Weaker. For all the power he held, it’s almost ironic.

He carefully reaches out to the glass, a clawed hand coming to rest on the smooth, cool surface of the mirror.

He stares at himself as the white gleam vanishes from his eye, replaced by his piercing ember stare once again. Like fire rests in his gaze, contained only by his hand and will.

He twinges. It’s still too soon.

Unsteadily, he makes his way back to the corner. The generator hums mockingly as he settles by it’s side, leaning his head back, a heavy sigh leaving his mouth.

The cable hangs pathetically from his chest, constant pain radiating through his body with each simulated breath he takes. Things are shutting down.

But the others can’t know. They don’t.

Just as a reminder, the star has stayed with him. It sits off to the side of the room, its glow no longer comforting. Waiting for admittance that won’t come. One hand raises up in front of him, single eye examining brutally sharp claws that shift in and out of focus.

This is all his fault. He should’ve listened. Sun was right when he said that he was reverting to his old ways.

And that’s what’s going to get him killed, isn’t it?

A silhouette come into view, standing at the other end of the room, overshadowed by the darkness that is not illuminated by the single light that dangles from the ceiling.

He wants to apologize, but it wouldn’t do him any good at this point. He’s dug himself too deep this time around.

The cold sinks into him, just like before, and this time he can’t help the tears that come to his eyes, spill down his face, drip over his sad, shaky smile as he feels the air sharpen like icicles into his body.

The star twinkles hauntingly, hearing it whisper to him, shame him, tell him the truth that he spent so long denying.

The figure moves forwards slowly, stiffly. Two gleaming red eyes gaze down at him in clear pity, and he doesn’t have the energy to be offended by it.

In that moment, it didn’t matter who was standing before him. He raises his hands, grasping loosely at a torn, faded sleeve. Faint whispers of blue and grey hide amongst the wear.

“Listen-“ Eclipse rasps, breathlessly. He grits his teeth against the pain. “You need to- you need to tell them that-“ It’s like he’s choking on his own words, a sob wracking through his body as tears spill more freely down his face.

“Tell them that I’m sorry.”

Much to his surprise, the animatronic that overshadowed him kneels down to his level, reaching out with long, thin claws to wipe away Eclipse’s tears.

“Tell them yourself.”

The last thing he remembers is being scooped up off the ground, the cable torn from his chest in a show of sparks and screams.

[sketching-shark]

Honestly the way they butchered sun Wukong's character in LMK made me feel like that LmK's version of Wukong never went on the journey to begin with, I thought the whole point of the journey is to better himself? Any thoughts on this?

Also:

So yeah, Macaque is really cool and an Uwu misunderstood monkey.

Me: ARE YOU KIDDING?! He cannibalized one of the monkeys, hurt Tripitaka and tried to steal Wukong's identity! People just don't forget that! Unless you're Mk and Tang who seemed to have never read the part about Macaque in the classic JTTW

Xiyouji & Monkie Kid spoilers and some complaining below, so read or ignore as you prefer:

tbh anon for as much as I found Mr. Six's "read the book" spiel annoying because of the lengths to which Flying Bark has now bent over backwards to change Journey to the West and like a LOT about og classic Sun Wukong's background and motivations specifically to centralize that emo monkey I actually do hope it gets more people to read Xiyouji so that they too can enjoy the whole murder/replace plot and cannibalism funtimes of the true and false monkey king arc lmao.

But at this point I feel more disappointed than anything else that Monkie Kid's writing decisions confirmed that in their canon we've got yet another western Journey to the West retelling where Sun Wukong is a blundering idiot, and not only that but he has now been confirmed to be a terrible strategist and a terrible friend, just like Macaque said. Plus there's been this kind of annoying writing choice to have these dramatic scenes that are all about how the monkey king ruined everything before following that up, sometimes much later, with a pretty hand-wavey line about maybe he's not that bad or that he had some actual reason for doing what he did. Doesn't feel that balanced friends! And it honestly is aggravating how even 4 seasons in and even when Sun Wukong was trapped in a hell scroll that forces you to watch your worst mistakes forever we still have no idea why he and the Demon Bull King had their battle, why he killed Macaque (but I guess even after the shadow simian revolved his entire life around getting revenge against him for 500 years that's all immediately forgiven now lol), and there's still no word on why the journey here ended so disastrously that all the pilgrims except Sun Wukong presumably died badly while he was left in a self-imposed exile for centuries. I mean, I and others have proposed that maybe it was because of the journey's hypothetical disastrous end that the monkey king ended up a wreak and went into a self-imposed exile? But Monkie Kid does have a tendency to make a lot of things Sun Wukong's fault...said it before, but it is still kind of wild that even Xiyouji Sun Wukong, the hyper murder monkey himself, never did anything as cataclysmic as put all of reality in danger through his dumb decisions lmao.

[lavenoon]

For funsies: what would Dawn/Dusk’s reaction be to a fellow agent attempting to drop a nickname on Robin, either stealing “little bird” or something like “honey”, “sweets” or “duck” (a legit thing in North of England, used in the same way as “miss” or “buddy”) I hope you’ve been having a good day! Have you been able to have a treat (food/drink/activity) recently? - @clxckwork-sun-n-moon

Robin isn't even aware of their scary dog privileges, but whatever agent tried that would be. Very very much aware. /hj

So assuming Robin would just kinda miss it/ not hear somehow (because otherwise they'd look at that agent in a way one would usually regard like. idk. the moldy vegetables you forgot about in your fridge drawer or something, and that in turn would make their rival just fight not to laugh at the poor sod who tried that. Robin is not friendly with any field agents except their rivals friendly being generous in reverse Dawn's case lmao)

In the case of blatant special nickname stealing - i.e. "little bird" or "little thief"?

Dusk can be scary, too, and maybe he doesn't need the sharp teeth and the thermal vision in that moment, but when a 7 1/2ft animatronic suddenly gets glowing red eyes and levels a death glare at you, you don't really think about how unnecessarily extra that is. Maybe adds in a lighthearted "Plagiarism is frowned upon, you know." That's it for then, but the feeling of being watched won't leave them any time soon, and they kind of decide getting close to the human star agent is not worth getting past the animatronic one(s)

Dawn? is regularly scary, so honestly stealing his nickname for his rival just invites trouble. The sweetest, most polite death glare you'll ever get, truly. May break something replaceable to distract from the conversation while maintaining eye contact, and whatever fool tried will know Dawn wasn't just being "clumsy"

And I know you asked for their reactions, but in the case where Robin reacts? Just tells the other agent pretty point-blank that they aren't that close, don't call them that - their respective rival has special privileges that come with actually keeping up with them, meanwhile they've never even been on a single mission with Robin. And their boys just preen, so smug about it, and totally would stick their tongue out at the agent if they had one.

If it's a more generic nickname?

Dusk wouldn't care too much (though he still is severely unimpressed), because what he has with his little bird is special, and a generic petname from a random agent really only shows how little they know Robin. If it's a repeat offender they'll also get the death glare sooner rather than later, though honestly, Robin would tell them off before Dusk would get the chance

Dawn struggles still here, since he also dabbles in the generic petnames (mostly under the guise of undercover missions, but that doesn't mean he doesn't mean them). Not amused but can't outright tell the other agent off, given that it's not obviously stolen from him, but may drop a low "Take a hint" with Robin out of earshot. (Again, that's presuming Robin didn't make it clear that petnames from unfamiliar agents won't fly).

In either cases they both may gravitate closer to Robin, just showing off that they can, that they aren't sent away, and also maybe just. A teensy tiny bit of a claim on Robin. If they ever find out they're gonna be so exasperated, but in an amused way, because really, pay attention. They aren't using nick/petnames with any other agent - that should tell them enough about how they feel about the reverse. (Dawn in particular would need the reassurance, though he wouldn't quite admit it. May lay it on thick with the petnames in return though for a while.)

I. I'm not going to add post-reveal canon Dawn and reverse Dusk, because this is already a beast LMAO. The dynamics change that even the original rivals may change their reactions in subtle ways - more assured of their presence in Robin's life, and thus more inclined to let them handle it on their own.

But I probably should go drink something, quite right - but I've had breakfast, a good lunch, and apart from work I also got a looong dog petting session! (Work was fun, too, though I won't call it a treat simply out of principle. I love kids so much though they're so cool lmao)

Will take it easy for the rest of the day, too, since it's almost dinner time, I have my rule to not push myself to create after dinner, and really, I don't need to work on a comic or a drabble every day lmao

Hope your day is going well too! Take care of yourself! <3

[reides]

yesterday i managed to hatch a shiny horsea in my copy of emerald version!!!!!! this shiny is one that means a WHOLE LOT to me for so many reasons and i am absolutely gonna start up what will hopefully be a saga of posts related to him.

the gist of it is that this little one is, first and foremost, a nod to my beloved dnd oc, reides. secondly, he is gonna be my first earnest attempt at the ribbon master challenge!

the ribbon master challenge is a really fun - yet really difficult! - challenge which consists of trying to get as many marks/ribbons on one pokemon as possible (basically, from their origin generation to the current one). there are many resources related to this challenge, my favorite one being athis' ribbon handbook. you can see a lot of people talking about this challenge on the pokemon ribbons subreddit as well as in random places online (like this post right here LMAO). there are also quite a few videos about ribbon master challenge attempts on youtube, too; again, my personal favorite one is the story of toast the scizor.

anyway, i talked about potentially attempting the challenge back when i successfully manipulated gen4's rng for a shiny of my fav mythical pokemon, manaphy - which i also named reides, as i associate manaphy with him. i eventually strayed from that idea, however, because i really, really want my first ribbon master to have the gen3 ribbons; most importantly, the hoenn contest ones. (this is 100% just a personal thing - ribbon masters that are from gen4 onwards are obviously still incredibly awesome and i still wanna try the challenge out on my beloved manaphy at some point. i just have a lot of nostalgia associated with gen3's ribbons so i want my first attempt at the challenge to include the grind for them.) that being said, i didn't want to stray from the initial concept of putting it on a pokemon that i associate with reides, so…

that's where this horsea comes into the picture!

i've associated reides with the whole horsea line for a loooong time - longer than i've associated him with manaphy, tbh! i even have a post mentioning that i hatched eggs for a shiny one - also named reides - in ultra sun. i struggled a lot with if i wanted to evolve that horsea fully or not, ultimately deciding to keep him as a baby. but i always wanted to catch another one which i'd evolve fully. i mean... look at this thang.

shiny kingdra absolutely rules, and the royal theme that it has going on is, again, very much up reides' alley. it seemed like my procrastination re: actually hunting for that second shiny horsea actually paid off, in this case, because i realized it'd be sick if my ribbon master was a shiny kingdra. that way, my other shiny horsea can remain as a unique hunt, too.

beyond my shiny requirement, i wanted the horsea to be male, like reides, and for him to have a nature that suited reides' personality. since i already have a brave manaphy, i was torn between quirky or bold for him, but i ultimately decided on bold. so... a shiny, bold, male horsea was the goal. this isn't an impossible shiny hunt by any means, but... well... <3 let's just say i wasn't in the mood to phase on tons and tons of different shiny horseas that didn't meet my somewhat-specific criteria. frankly speaking, it would sour the entire experience for me. add emerald's wacky rng to the picture and it just... wasn't fun to even think about. so i figured that i'd take yet another page from my manaphy's book and that i'd rng manipulate for my ideal horsea. furthermore, i decided that i'd try to hatch my horsea in a cool spot - hence the 'seafloor cavern' met data. (sadly, since i'm transferring him up through the generations, this data will eventually get replaced with a blanket 'hoenn region' line - but i still wanted to do it!!!)

once i had a general Plan of Action, it was time to execute it. a few weeks ago, i made a post about learning how to rng manip in gen3. in that post, i showed you guys my shiny treecko, ivy, and vaguely mentioned in the tags that having the means of shiny hunting in emerald opened up a lot of ribbon master challenges... but i didn't mention my true goal of learning the inner workings of gen3; namely, reides. LMAO. by shiny hunting for that treecko, i was able to deduce my tid and sid combo, which would aid me in my future rng-based shiny hunts in that particular game file.

i then had to play through the entirety of emerald's plot. at first, i dreaded this, since i wanted to grab my horsea asap and get right into the challenge - but it was a TON of fun! i kept practicing different rng hunts and ended up getting four more rng-based shinies in addition to my shiny starter and reides. plus it was just plain nice to re-visit gen3's storyline after all these years. once i got the super rod in mossdeep city (since horsea is a super rod-specific encounter) and my seventh badge (since i needed to be able to use dive so that i could get to the seafloor cavern), i caught a male horsea and a female horsea, popped 'em in the daycare, and - through MUCH trial and error which could, in itself, end up as a huge post - managed to hatch this perfect little horsea.

given all of the setup that went into getting reides, i knew that i wanted him to be on my very first team that beat the hall of fame. it was only fair, considering that the team pretty much existed because of him! and, while this post is focused on reides, trust & believe that i still developed a TON of fondness for the rest of my lovely storyline team! i couldn't have possibly gotten reides his first ribbon without the help of ivy the sceptile, popsicle the cradily, metal the aggron, chimney the camerupt, and miku the flygon!

next on the emerald agenda is ev training reides. i am going to be training him alongside a latios named albatross, a beldum named origin, and a bagon whose name is currently pending as i try to think of something! i've never ev trained in a gen3 game before, so... fingers crossed that it goes well and that i can keep count of the encounters without fuckin up! ;LDFSGKD;FKG i'm ev training so that i can get the effort ribbon on reides but ALSO so that we are at full power for taking on emerald's battle tower afterwards. i'm SUPER nervous about doing this, as i have never attempted the battle tower before, but i'm hoping that it'll go okay!

in addition to aaaaall of this chaos going on in emerald version, i dusted off my good ol' wii and started a replay of an INCREDIBLEEEE game called pokemon colosseum, since i'll need to send reides over there eventually to get a ribbon for clearing 100 battles in a row over on mt battle. (luckily, i still have the necessary hardware from my childhood for doing that.) mt battle is going to be seeing a lot of me, as i'll also need to grind for pokecoupons there so that i can buy special berries which will help him in becoming a contest pro back over in hoenn. colosseum's plot also gave me the chance to soft-reset for a bold-natured suicune that will probably get ev trained too, and who will likely join reides in all of his future battle tower endeavors. i named that suicune after reides' in-universe god, 'persana.'

so... yeah! the setup for this challenge alone has been A Lot but i can honestly say that i've been having so much fun with it. i feel like i'm interacting with like... every single aspect of gen3 at the moment. it's totally revitalized my love for pokemon as a whole and i'm really hoping that i can stick to it and complete the challenge in its entirety!