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autisticlancemcclain · 5 months

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The ship was shaking like a kid holding a goldfish bag.

It was not, in case you were wondering, a good time.

Keith grit his teeth, planting his boots on the ground and half-walking half-climbing over to Allura, who was paler than Keith had ever seen her. The grip she had on her podium was tight enough to drain the blood completely from her knuckles. Despite his own fear, Keith’s heart softened for her.

“How is it looking?” he asked, shouting over the noise of a thousand asteroids and a million laser strikes. All while their lions sat, drained of quintessence, locked in their hangars

One goddamn thing after another. Jesus.

“It is looking bad,” Allura shouted, not taking her eyes off the space in front of her. “I can’t – Coran, I can’t hold it on my own!”

Coran looked back at her grimly. He had probably the most success keeping upright – seriously, was it posture or did he have a steel rod anchored to his back at all times – but even he was struggling against the whipping and shuddering of the massive castleship, attention focused on the controls. Trying to keep the shield up as well as possible, trying to get their own defenses running. Trying, as always, to keep the castle going, even when the odds were a million to nothing.

“You can,” he encouraged. The effect was less encouraging when a massive asteroid hit the side of the bridge point-blank, throwing him right off the controls and splat into the walls. Despite Lance and Allura’s cries of alarm, he made a startlingly dignified crawl back to the deck controls.

Hell of a man, that advisor.

He continued once he was steady, sweat beading on his brow but gaze soft and assuring. He waited for Allura to meet his eyes, then nodded, once. “Focus, girl. Hands on the spheres. Mind cool on the exhale. However we need to get out of this – you can guide us. Make your decision. Your team is behind you.”

“Yeah!” Pidge cheered, lifting her fist in emphasis from where Shiro held her steady, eyes trained on her computer screen. Blaring red lines of code Keith could not pretend to read flashing rapid speed in front of her, and she typed back at it just as fast, keeping their crackling systems at bay. “You got this!”

Allura breathed out. The tense line of her shoulders softened, just slightly, despite the ongoing chaos. She lifted her hands and rested them, gently, on the podium spheres as Coran instructed. They glowed.

“We retreat,” she decided, nodding to herself. “We’re already low on quintessence, standing to fight will drain us dangerously. We must get to safety if we are to survive with our home intact.” She bit her lip, eyes opening. “But, uh, full disclosure, I have enough strength in me to open a wormhole and that is About It. I will be out of commission the moment it closes.”

Hunk shrugged. “We’ll catch you, then.”

“Try not to wormhole us into a black hole,” Shiro suggested, smiling slightly. “We’ll manage anything else, Princess.”

She laughed slightly, thankfully, but within seconds called out for everyone to brace themselves. Keith did as she heeded, or he tried to – but the castle got hit as he tried to crawl back to his seat, sprawling him on the floor. He glanced over at Allura, panicked, but her eyes were already glowing, and the space in front of them was already starting to warp. He swallowed roughly, squeezing his eyes shut. The floor was shaking too badly for him to get his bearings. He couldn’t get his feet under him, couldn’t stand, couldn’t dream to crawl to his seat. He stilled, resigning himself – he didn’t know exactly what would happen if he wasn't strapped down and protected during a wormhole jump, but it couldn’t be good. He had to hope for the best.

“God,” sighed a voice to his left, “you’d die without me, Dropout.”

A hand clenched the back of his jacket and yanked, pulling him tumbling onto another body. Quick as lightning a seatbelt was stretched over him, clicking into place just as the space in front of the castle finally warped, bright blue, and the entire bridge lit up so bright Keith was blind with it.

When the light finally died down, Keith was half-convinced nothing had changed. The castle stopped shaking, but instead it was plummeting, hard and fast, controls dead and energy gone, towards the surface of a planet.

“Someone catch Allura!” Coran shouted, and on queue the princess’ eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped forward. Luckily, Hunk had been more prepared than the rest of them, seatbelt already off and arms extended to catch her. He carried her back to her seat, buckling her in carefully, and strapping himself in next to her. Wise move – trying to crawl back to his own seat, fighting against the G-forces, would be near impossible.

There was a click, and then a shove, and then Keith got to feel those G-forces firsthand.

“What the hell!” he demanded, barely managing to catch himself on the arm of the blue paladin’s seat. “I coulda brained myself!”

Lance shrugged, playing for innocent, but a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. Keith could’ve strangled him. “What? Thought I’d let you get back to your own chair. You're welcome for saving you, by the way.”

“Some saving, jerk! We're still falling!”

“Yeah. Personally, I would find somewhere to buckle up.”

“You’re so annoying,” Keith growled, and it was by spite alone that he managed to stomp back to his own seat and buckle himself in. He was bright red, anger making him hot – Lance always made him like this, so furious he could barely blink. One day they’d be making progress, working together like a dream, wiping the floor together, and the next it was like a switch was flipped. Like Lance was reminding himself that he and Keith could never get along. It was ridiculous, and Keith couldn’t for the life of him understand it. Was he so bad?

“Incoming!” Pidge shouted, shaking Keith back to himself. Her screen was now linked up with Coran’s, the only two things on in the entire castle – electronics seemed to come alive when Pidge touched them – and diagrams of the castle systems were blaring red, flashing with symbols Keith didn’t know, but recognised as bad. “The nav and power systems are down! It’s not safe to get anyone back there to force them back on manually, but I think I can get steering up in a sec. Shiro, I need your arm for power. Hunk, keep on Allura, make sure she’s upright when we crash, we don’t want a spinal injury. Lance, Keith, I’m turning steering over to you guys. Don’t fuck it up.”

Despite their bickering, both of them nodded. Neither of them particularly wanted to be turned into paladin pancake anytime soon, so they could collaborate for one thing.

Seconds after Pidge spoke, a screen flickered to life in front of Keith. Stats blinked back up, glitching rapidly as they translated themselves into words and symbols Keith could understand. The hologram shifted and expanded to its usual 3D model, joystick in the middle, thrusters and controls to his left, a screen with Lance’s comm line to his right. In his little screen, Lance met his eyes, eyebrows raised in question. Keith nodded. Together, they wrapped their hands around the joysticks, breathed out, and let their minds fuse.

As always, it was a freaky feeling. Imagine the weird, shuddery feeling you get when you say the same thing as someone at the same time, voices layering, tone mixing, for a moment your own voice and the voice of a stranger synching into one. The weird, deja-vu-but-not of it, the uncanny valley feel of recognising your own voice but…different.

Then multiply that freakiness by a hundred, and you still won’t quite get it.

On some levels Keith was aware that he was his own person. He knew his name, knew his hands, knew his history – or well, some of it. Nothing about himself had changed.

But at the same time, he was also Lance Esposita-McClain. He knew his name, knew his hands, knew his history, more of it than he could ever get from shared stories or mind melds. There’s no telling the way your sister’s arm feels hooked around your neck for the sixth noogie in as many minutes. There’s no explaining the way your breathing only gets calm with your feet in the saltwater. There’s no describing the curve of your mother’s smile. Nothing Keith was seeking out – no memories he would even know to look for – but they were there, simmering, triggered by a smell or the crook of his finger in a particular way. Memories stored in the body and the soul and the senses, not in the brain, shared when two consciousnesses become one.

Lance’s mind was hyperspecific. It complemented Keith’s well, with all his flitting, quick detail-oriented observance. As Keith jumped from angle to angle, noticing the planet’s curve, the pull of its gravity, the heat of its atmosphere, Lance zeroed in on an island, one of the only ones big enough for them to land. While Keith kept their craft in control, steering along the air currents, Lance kept them directed, single-minded focus on a stretch of rocky beach – not exactly a soft landing, but not a lot of living things for them to destroy when they crash. (Keith would’ve chosen to land in the meadow. Crushing frogs and bugs or whatever is never something on his top priority list of things to avoid. But he didn’t argue when Lance nudged them towards what is about to be a very bumpy landing.)

“Brace yourself!” he shouted, not daring to look away to make sure his friends were buckled. Trusting that they were, he held his position, letting them plummet, coming closer and closer to splatting on the planet’s surface before finally yanking on the joystick as hard as he could. He felt Lance’s strength twist and tangle with his own, and together the two of them levelled the castle almost parallel with the ground, letting them glide on their own velocity until they slowed down enough to let the bottom of the craft brush against the rocky outcrop.

It was the most turbulent landing Keith has ever felt, except maybe that time he and Lance crashed blindfolded into a sand dune, and every bump on the ground gave him whiplash. When the castle finally hit the ground for good, dragging them a gauge in the ground for several miles as friction finally slowed it to a stop, the leftover inertia yanked Keith forward so roughly the buckles of his seatbelt made something crack in his ribcage. When the castle finally stopped he got slammed back into his chair so hard he was almost surprised he didn’t fall right through the impenetrable material.

It took a minute for everything to hit. His connection with Lance had been severed the second they hit the ground, too focused on being, y’know, crashed to keep holding on. After the shock of being tossed around like dice in a cup wore off, which did not take long, Keith’s body made it very clear that yeah, no, armour actually only does so much, and crash landing is one of those things that’s just bound to hurt. His skull pounded. At least one of his ribs was most definitely cracked. His wristed and knuckles ached from the strain of holding up the entire weight of the castle as he’d steered it. He was alive, obviously, but – Jesus. Being alive sucked.

“Sound off,” croaked Shiro from somewhere left of him.

“Ugh,” groaned Pidge. “Screw you, Keith, I hate it when you drive.”

“Next time I’ll be sure to let us crash,” Keith responded flatly.

“Um, you did, bozo, I asked you to land us –”

“The castle was dead! What did you expect me to –”

“Allura and I are both fine,” Hunk interrupted. Amusement lined his voice. “She’s still out, but she’s breathing fine, and I didn’t let her hit anything on impact. She should still get checked out, though.”

“Roger that,” Coran agreed. “Ease your worries, Number Two, you did well. I will have her in the MedBay as soon as our systems are up and running again.”

“Oh, whew, that’s a relief, because I didn’t want to say anything but she kinda jammed her elbow into my sternum by accident and I’m not blaming her or anything since she’s unconscious but I think my spleen may be a little dead, not a huge deal I’m sure but –”

“Everyone quiet!” barked Shiro. “That’s six accounted for! Who’s missing?”

Immediately, heart pounding, Keith whipped to his right. His stomach dropped. The Blue Lion Command Chair was empty – seatbelt torn somewhere on the shoulder, cracked helmet overturned carelessly on the seat. The crisp blue and white lines were marred by a small splash of red. Panic clawed its way up Keith’s throat, and he was out of his seat before he could register unbuckling his own straps, looking frantically around the bridge.

“He’s here somewhere,” Pidge fretted, “he couldn’t’ve just disappeared –”

Coran had a gloved hand clenched in his hair. “The windows and walls should be almost impenetrable, there is no way the crash broke them enough to let someone in –”

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck –”

“Guys,” a soft voice interrupted, and Keith could’ve collapsed with relief. The castle has been flipped sideways during the fall, floor suddenly now 90 degrees, and standing at the side of the control board, now the very high top, was Lance. For whatever reason he had climbed it while they bickered, and now stood very still, gloved hand pressed to the glass of the windshield. Blood trickled from his temple, tracing a line down the side of his face, disappearing in the neckline of his armour. “We got company.”

Shifting gears – Keith was about to tear him a new one, when Shiro says sound off you sound off – but froze when he looked out the window, following Lance’s gaze.

Marching towards them, in numbers Keith couldn’t pretend to count, was an army.

— — —

part two

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deancasforcutie · 3 months

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DeanCas reunion in the soul's paradise but it's that scene from the Purgatorio where Dante swoons at Beatrice mercilessly roasting him

#rn I'm seeing Dean as like any number of medieval protagonists who go through a catabasis/anabasis and struggle to let go of worldly things #like the Pearl protag hearing his lost loved one describe how great Heaven is and he's just Not Getting It asking when they'll meet again #little rusty on our Dante boys?????? allegorical heavenly dream visions my beloved <3 #supernatural #spn #the winchesters #it's underrated due for a reboot #dean winchester #castiel #destiel #spn headcanon #spn crack #mine

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randomwriteronline · 1 year

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Terusho joined the Survey Corps because the Professor caught them trying to figure out how to use his photocamera.

They had started out as an apprentice of the Manufacture Corps, and had gone to the ground floor offices to ask for something they had forgotten. The strange abandoned gadget had captured their attention.

It wasn't a punishment, truly - the Professor had been ecstatic to see someone interested in the technology and willing to learn how to use it. He had managed to rope Dagero into teaching them the basics and encouraged them to take pictures of Jubilife Village to practice and document its development.

So for a while, Terusho was 'the One-Eye Kid'. Wandering the world with only one eye opened behind mechanical lenses.

They took photos of buildings at first, then of people: the first ones were average at best, but that was to be expected. One day they took a marvelous one of Colza, and they blushed deeply at the praise it received.

The Professor had a lot of film for his camera, because he wanted to take pictures of Pokémon while he studied them; so one day, even though they were terrified and their legs trembled, Terusho followed him out to the Fieldlands to photograph a few of the mysterious creatures as he wrote down their behaviors from a safe distance.

As nerve wrecking as it had been, they had both returned to Jubilife safe, sound and satisfied with the day's research. The Professor was very enthusiastic about their improvement in photography, and especially complimented their pictures of a Shinx yawning and of a Starly caught in the middle of its first flight.

That was all it took them to become 'the Professor's assistant'.

Terusho wishes they would not have to go around catching and battling Pokémon as Survey Corps duty, that they do.

They're not good at either, basically a lost cause: how can you take on something that makes your blood freeze solid, and having to rely on one of its horrifying kind to booth?

They'd rather spend hours making all sorts of Pokéball for Choy to sell. They are good at that.

So while it is a little embarassing to be outclassed by an 8-year-old, they aren’t exactly complaining when AkaRei excitedly takes over the most perilous part of the Survey Corps gig, leaving their senior to just craft items they might need - because they are too young to properly grind medicinal leeks and Oran berries into potions, let alone carefully cut and carve an Apricorn to turn it into a functioning capsule.

One of the strange and good things about AkaRei is that they love to catch Pokémon: they love to complete the Pokédex pages, and they love to hear the Professor talk about Pokémon.

Being only able to carry six of them, this means that there are plenty docile specimens sitting around in the pastures - perfect for one to make a small collection of up close and personal pictures that Terusho would otherwise be too scared to even just try and attempt to take.

Terusho takes AkaRei’s second photograph in Hisui (the first one was taken by the Professor, of course): they have just gotten Lord Wyrdeer’s approval and promised aid. They look so small, sat upon the imposing creature’s back, little hands lost in the white beard; they smile brightly as they nuzzle the Lord’s neck.

It comes out beautifully.

AkaRei always smiles when told they are having a picture of them taken. They also sometimes say “cheese!” for no reason. It’s very curious.

Mr. Emmet of the Survey Corps also smiles wider when he notices Terusho is photographing him: he tips his hat, as if to get in a pose of sorts, like he’s used to it. He is surprisingly photogenic, too. He has a special look to him on account of his... Well... His entire face, really.

White of hair and eyes despite not being that old (as far as anybody knows), skin so pale that if he stood in the sun a minute too long he would turn completely red, a long straight nose that jumps out of his profile whenever he turns to the side. He has a certain piercing glare and frozen smile that make him seem unpercievable, yet curious.

(In the photograph of him and AkaRei to celebrate the quelling of Lord Kleavor, despite being forced on the ground by the aching in his bad leg, with that toothy grin and his eyes almost squeezed shut as he raises the triumphant kid's hand in the air declaring them the winner of the battle as if he’d been a mere a spectator and not a helper in it, he looks so friendly.)

It starts only with him, and then it snowballs: Terusho begins stealing secretive photos of the people around them.

It’s by no means new - this is what they do with wild Pokémon. They sneak about with their mechanical eye in hand and snap! A photo is taken without anybody noticing.

But with people it’s different, they think.

Sometimes there’s an expression that paints a face in a special way, and so they scramble silently to capture it before it disappears. Sometimes it’s just a certain way of being, repeated day after day, that when looked at from a slightly different angle turns it into a gorgeous scene.

The Professor stretching after a long day or the Captain resting her eyes a moment as she lays back in her chair. Captain Zisu crouching while she warms up. Beni making mochi batter. The Commander meditating. The Ginko merchants setting up and tucking away their caravan.

The Clans going about their lives.

Their first visit in the Diamond settlement was a year ago, actually - and they were nervous as all get-out about going around with a photocamera, eyed with at best an intense suspicion.

They had not at all expected for the quiet lady to ask for a picture - to be honest, there were so many thing they had not expected, like her apparent recognition of the gadget and quick approach of them with a shine in her eyes as soon as they had met her gaze, let alone for her to very enthusiastically invite them amidst her people's confusion to take a photo, even striking a bit of a pose. It did certainly ease her clansmen about the strange contraption enough for some to accept having pictures taken of them.

Miss Elesa seems to appear breathtakingly beautiful in every one of her photos, and Terusho is just an amateur. Who knows how heightened the effect might be if they were done by a professional.

(Even in the one where she is being helped back down from Lilligant’s arena, tired and pained and so unable to stand on her legs that she is only able to leave because AkaRei carries her on top of Ursaluna, she still flashes the lenses a genial, genuine smile by the child’s side. Her expression makes her eyes too small and her face too round - and yet she is still so pretty.)

They don’t need to hide that they’re taking pictures with her: she is always glad to be their subject or show off some clothing.

Terusho’s parents used to be weavers, working close with Anthe’s family (their child moved to Jubilife with her after all, as if she were their aunt), and when they were little they used to comb through wool and fur and fibers of all sorts to help around, watching as they were turned to vests and robes and coats. They were never too good in that trade - their hands were clumsy with needles and too heavy on the scissors - but they had remained fascinated with handywork all the same, with the ways one could spin thread to sew clothes, carve wood to make tools, melt ore to fabricate blades, mush herbs to produce medicine.

The guildsmen know how to make all sorts of things, of course. They learn quickly too, to the point where Choy jokes that they’ll put Anvin out of work with all the potions they learned to make from him. Not like they didn’t have their own recipies for that sort of thing - but many of the ones for Pokémon had gone lost in a very long oral tradition, as it happens sometimes.

But most of that knowledge is safe, and while not necessarily eager to share it they don’t mind it being documented in pictures if asked politely.

And Terusho is a very polite kid.

They have a way of singing that doesn’t sound like anything else, and they’re very good at making textiles and fabrics and ropes on their long journeys across Hisui, and wooden utensils: they’re great carvers. Must be why their pipes are so... Elegant, for lack of a better word.

Mr. Briosa always plucks hers from her mouth and snuffs it out when she sees kids around her - though once she didn’t notice Terusho in time, and they managed to snap a photo that they think is lovely.

From what they’ve heard she must know a lot about cooking, but they can’t really say they know a lot about her. They know more things about Volo, whom she always hangs around for some reason - probably to pull him along when he starts getting sidetracked while asking a million questions and such, and he said once half-jokingly that he lets her stick to him only because she can make a mean fried Barboach - and Volo is a secretive person himself.

(The closest they’ve ever come to her in a non-commercial context was after AkaRei had handled Lord Arcanine, on the shore of Firespit Island. They took a photo while she was tending to a big burn on the child’s arm: her mouth was perfectly flat, and her eyes wide, like she didn’t expect that. They can still hear her yelling in another language what was unequivocably a swear right after.)

They do know she can throw Volo, who is much taller than her. So. That is certainly something to remember.

Something else they need to remember - the Nobles. They need pictures of them, too.

...To be honest, Terusho doesn’t think they could ever approach any of the Nobles without their wardens around them. Actually, they feel safest when AkaRei is there, rolling around and throwing treats at them in a safer version of the frienzied trials the commander imposed on the kid as if to beat some record.

It’s only partially a matter of fear, though for Terusho that’s obviously the main point; but ignoring the natural scare factor, the main obstacle has more of a religious root. Rather understandably, considering they are holy descendants of blessed beasts, the Pokémon’s wardens are less than keen on having just any stranger come waving some strange device to make sounds and flashes at them for what seems like no good reason. The opinion of the Nobles regarding the camera are also something to take into consideration - some seem curious, others look at it with suspicion; some remain completely neutral to it, or might get frightened once it’s properly in motion.

The wardens tend to relent once informed that the purpose is only documentative, and that it won’t hurt them nor their wards. They still discuss with the Pokémon first, and only officially agree once they’re on board as well.

Terusho likes to photograph both the Nobles and their humans together. On one hand, it serves to show the unusual size of the creatures when compared to others of their own kind, though that’s usually achieved much more easily by putting them side-by-side with specimens grown or caught by AkaRei; on the other, it documents the wardens, their existence, their work. Terusho asks often if they’re allowed to take pictures of how they care for the Nobles, and notes if they’re permitted: this is also part of the research after all, isn’t it? For the betterment of relationships between Humans and Pokémon, one must know how to care for them, no?

Warden Ingo is often happy to dispense his more practical wisdom, if not to just invite them to come with him in Sneasler’s den to show them examples of what he’s talking about. Where others are skittish or focus their explanations on only a few things, he enjoys talking at length and very precisely about every aspect of caring for his ward or her kits - and his own team, too.

His face was awfully familiar when they first met him, what with that long straight nose, those piercing white eyes, the snowy hair, the squalid skin, something in the sharp angles of his mouth. They feel terribly silly for not piecing it all together sooner, but in their defense, neither had anybody else, it seems.

(The photograph Terusho took after his and AkaRei’s succesful quelling of Lord Electrode is gloomier than the other ones. It’s not a matter of lighting, nor because of the warden’s constant frown; it’s the kid’s furrowed expression despite a weak smile, and the bandages being wrapped around them. He made them laugh afterwards, though: so Terusho thinks of that instead.)

Ever since he started spending a lot of time in the training grounds of Jubilife, he’s been eager to explain battle strategies as well, to both them and Zisu, and a few of the Security Corps. They don’t really understand what half of the things he says mean, but they appreciate the effort and enthusiasm.

As for Terusho specifically, they already have a tutor. That’s AkaRei.

It would be much more embarassing if the 8-year-old wasn’t one the most skilled battlers in Jubilife, and also the only one who can explain battles simply enough for someone as hopeless as the professor’s assistant.

But it’s working! Their fear has eased up considerably, Pikachu actually likes them, and they’ve even managed to evolve Mime Jr! Even the prospect of participating in excursions through the various lands of Hisui makes them excited to capture wildlife scenes instead of causing them a stomach ache for the dread and anxiety that used to overtake them. They’re still as cautious as ever, but it feels much less daunting.

The clan leaders speak to them, even. This is something they would have never expected - Terusho is nobody important, let alone someone interesting to speak to - but they come to camp from time to time and greet them politely, asking news from Jubilife or wardens they’ve visited recently while the professor barely manages to tear himself away from his work enough to welcome them. The two of them even asked how the camera works, in a different occasion each - and Terusho did teach them, to the best of their abilities.

(They had to physically guide Adaman’s face closer to the device, as he kept getting further away and trying to squint into the lens, while Irida was so tense in handling the machine that her fingers jerked the focus too quickly, constantly pulling the image out of it. Their skin was rough in different ways, one dusty from remains of sunbaked muds, one harshly carved in by wind and ice, and if Terusho starts thinking about those little photography crash courses they gave them they end up spending the whole day in an embarassed daze, thinking only about their hands and faces and everything.)

(Their first photographs were of Terusho. Of all the subjects they had pointed to the two leaders, both insisted on chosing some Jubilife kid instead. Irida smiled, proud of herself, as she thanked them and apologized if it ended up all blurry despite her attempt at keeping her hand as still as possible; Adaman repeated the click with his tongue and changed pose and framing a few times, as if taking multiple pictures, and laughed sweetly at their bashfulness.)

(Terusho hadn’t had the guts to ask to take a photo of them until after Avalugg had been quelled. Hands clutched tight in AkaRei’s as the kid raised them into the air solemnly, Adaman does his best to fight the shivers that would make him a shaky mess while Irida remains unbothered by the cold. Despite wearing worried faces, they smile at the photographer: Terusho’s heart skips two beats.)

“We are zoologists, my dear!” the professor said when they first complained about the dangers of photographing wild Pokémon. “We aim to discover the secrets of mysterious and strange creatures to understand them! To better our relationship with them!”

Isn’t man too a strange, mysterious creature?

Despite all their works on human subjects, the professor has never chastised them for wasting film. Maybe he understands their fascination with mundane things - with making and washing and sewing, and living and eating and talking.

What Pokémon do - eating and flying and burning and sleeping and shocking and hovering and yawning - it must be mundane for them, too.

Everything looks so... Weird. Behind the lenses.

The world closes in and focuses on a little piece of itself in perfect clarity. That’s the moment, the place: click! Immortalized.

All is where it should be.

Even the five of them, of all things and people, look in Hisui’s landscapes like Pokéball halves slotted together in a perfect fit.

They call them ‘the Misplaced’ - through time and space, and maybe even fate, why not. This is not where or when they belong, although they’ve molded themselves in the ways of the land enough to be plenty comfortable in it.

Terusho has documented gods and ghosts by now, beasts that tower over houses and others that barely reach their ankles; they’ve stuck them in photographs as they raged in battle with incredible feats of strength and mastery of the elements.

Still, they like above all to capture the subtle differences between the warden and guard while they watch a battle, to pause the forager in the perfect moment as she raises her arm in a certain graceful way, to press onto paper memory the way the merchant’s muscles carve into her skin. To catch the hero of Hisui off guard as they rub the tip of their cold red nose on the back of their hand.

They take one of the four adults as they speak to one another in the Highlands, sitting on the ground in different stances, hands flying; they call for them and they turn, and click! A smile, a frown, a small ‘o’, a perfectly flat mouth. A catalogue of human emotion in one shot.

If they were to count the ones where AkaRei joins them, it might take them a week and a half, both night and day. In part because they’d have to distinguish the from all the other ones with AkaRei, who likes to do what they call a ‘photobomb’ by jumping into frame when they see Terusho ready to take a picture, and whom the older kid likes to amuse by not telling them to move away and letting them pose.

A good number of the ones with their fellow Misplaced feature Mr. Emmet, usually with him holding them in his arms; this is because - as they themself said - he is their favorite one. (This doesn’t seem to happen often, asafter the initial surprise he moved on to bragging to his brother about this for a while.)

The picture that they’ve taken with Miss Elesa which they like the most features both of them showing the lens their tongue, noses all curled from how hard their squinting eyes are shut, index and middle fingers in the shape of a V, the child proudly displaying the badge they just earned on their kimono.

Their best one with Mr. Briosa has them in the middle of being thrown onto a futon. They’re just about to leap off of her bare shoulders and are clearly laughing madly; grinning wide, sarashi and ribs out in the open like nobody’s business, she’s clearly dosing her strength as to not hurl them in the sun.

Warden Ingo doesn’t have much luck with photos despite being as photogenic as his twin - he’s awfully embarassed by them, by his lackluster expressions. But they managed to take a lovely one during a long day, of him sprawled under a tree, the kid resting on him, the both of them snoring peacefully.

There’s a lot more, of course. But aside from a few that migh interest future historians, and an even smaller part they gladly gift to the four adults, Terusho will probably end up keeping them for themself.

Never to be seen by anybody else. Maybe passed down in the family.

It’s not at all a bad thing.

On the last day the five spend in Hisui, because their return home has finally been granted and they want nothing more, they have two photos taken of them.

The first one has the professor behind the camera. They stand in a nice row for him just before the snowy patch of land preceding the cave that leads up to the peak of the mountain, an artful mismatch of what survived of the clothes that came with them and new garments in place of the uniforms they’ve worn for years or months, looking into the lens for a picture they can’t sign the back of and that they hope to maybe see one day, perhaps in a museum; after it’s done the kid runs into the poor man’s shins and hugs him tight, saying thank you and goodbye as he embraces them back and cries a bit.

They say their goodbyes; they go.

Terusho watches them for a while, until they seem to disappear. A knot in their throat makes their eyes prickle.

It takes a look to get the professor’s undying support as the camera gets almost shoved in their hand, and off they bolt! Their feet are cold and the tips of their socks are a little wet, and thank goodness the Electabuzzes and the Alpha Electivire have taken a vacation today so they don’t have to worry about dodging lightning strikes as they run - there they are, all set to get in the tunnel - wait, wait, hold on, just one, just-

“Hey!”

All five turn towards them.

They stop without reaching them, seeing as the Misplaced don’t continue on their path, instead waiting for them. Their heavy breaths, tired from the sprint, turn into clouds as they leave their mouth.

Terusho raises an arm and waves, smiling.

AkaRei raises both of them and waves back, smiling.

Click!

The Misplaced say one last goodbye to Hisui, arms up in the air caught mid-motion, smiling.

Terusho, professor Laventon’s assistant, the One-Eye Kid, turns around satisfied by a photo nobody will ever care for and walks back to the camp near Moonview Arena, rubbing their cold red nose against the back of their hand.

(”I know this one!” Luce tells their mother, gasping as their hand gently caresses the old glass frame that preserves one of their great-grandparent’s photos from deterioration, and recognizes first and foremost their pijama peeking through the large plush kimono they’re still not done growing into of all things: “Terusho took it right before we came back home!”)

#pokémon #pokemon legends arceus #professor laventon #submas emmet #pokemon elesa #submas ingo #pokemon irida #pokemon adaman #briosa pokemon #random writing #EVERYBODY GETS EEBIE DEEBIED AU ONCE MORE LADS YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY #THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE #AND IN THE END THE TRICK WAS JUST LISTENING TO Starbound OST Novakid Theme I Was The Sun (Before It Was Cool) FOR LITERAL HOURS #i have written. the entire last half of this. tonight more or less. to a WILD WESTERN SOUNDTRACK #anyways! terusho my beloved <3 #if youre wondering abt their name! its a mix of the japanese protag names! Teru (male) and Sho (female)! like AkaRei!#photography #idk how to tag this but im so happy abt it #also terusho gets a crush on adaman AND irida. 15yo bi mess for the win

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yourbestdream · 1 year

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Generally I think everyone's interpretation of pokemon games concerning which protag is canon are valid for the most part but also if you think sumo xy or bw have male protags you are literally insane

#/lh #pokemon #this is all jokes all in good fun etc but i just cannot fathom the male protag being canon in those games specifically #also only reason i didnt include swsh on here is because of the made up backstory i have for gloria in my head where she's sonia's sister #that i refuse to let go of even at the cost of gloria not being the swsh protag in my mental version of canon #but if you think the sumo protagonist is a boy genuinely what is wrong with you. like its a joke but also not.#anyway female pokemon protagonists my beloveds<3

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raidante · 1 year

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The ref is sitting there,,,, menacingly!

-🌩️☕

IT IS!! honestly tho I do need to redo the full body aspect..it looks so ugly 2 me now... but the headshots are still perfect methinks

its the best ive adapted Kaneko's art into my own style + gotten his hair correct

#fun fact the main inspiration for his hair is david bowie from labrinyth #i just love that puffy long 80s metalhead look #which i kinda based the way the body sort of grooves #after like one piece rock costumes too #like ziggy stardusts for example #with the way the neck opens up and the shoulders are nice and thick #one of my ideas is to have a secret hard to get weapon that deals crazy damage be like #a rock guitar with an amp #so its sort of a joke weapon #but also if protag equips it (most weapon equips are pretty much only for Style like in smtiv)#(same with armor sets)#protag strums the guitar between actions to the battle music #and using physical attack he whacks the enemy w it and it makes a loud guitar shred #Its also what I hc that Nanashi does in smtiv final but instead of a guitar its a bass #since bass is more his style #he would use his bass to demon negotiate #Music is a powerful thing #ALSO the hair and colors are inspired by Angel's Egg #yoshitaka amano my beloved <3 #thats another movie i fucking love that has a lot of thematics of birth and rebirth #with the literal egg and the fossilized angel #and how the child carries it tucked near her stomach #kind of like how the AI in protags stomach area is essentially a womb #and when you plug wires into it to download map and updates #its like an umbilical cord <3 #when you are a weird newborn fully grown man with the soul of a bomb victim #from 30 years ago #and an ai who talks in text to speech microsoft sam and wants to understand people and why it made you #who eventually grows themselves a protein organic body from your dna and your shared travels #and becomes Heroine

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winterlilyarts · 1 year

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SO EXCITED FOR P3RELOAD!!!!

#persona 3 #persona 3 reload #persona 3 protagonist #persona 3 femc #snowlilycosplay #minato arisato #hamuko arisato #makoto yuki #kotone shiomi #yes i know hamu wont be there #but idc #they are my beloveds #i love the p3 protags so bad #persona 3 is my beloved #cant wait to see chidori in hd tho

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switchcase · 1 year

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Oh speaking of the seizure disorder thing, don't remember if I mentioned but I didn't have any seizures during my last EEG so we're still on the same boat of "PNES but also maybe epilepsy at the same time? Possibly?" as we were 3-4 years ago and the neuro wants me to do Another EEG if/when my seizures increase in frequency again (because this shit took so long it was 6 months after the initial seizure flareups before I got to the EEG). 🙄

#me sitting there like beloved I do not care what it is as long as the seizure meds work thank you!#while the neuros get all nerdy about the whatever the fuck focal whatevers #I will endure a lot but my patience with head wires and having to call a nurse every time I want to take a shit is extremely low #T said it's because of the complete loss of autonomy being triggering as well as like. the head wires obviously #well that and also an alarm sounds every time you shift wrong or try to leave the bed which is NOT my personal favorite event #exhibit A of me being a terrible little patient was I got annoyed waiting for them to unhook me at the end of my stay #that I just took the wires off myself #I would make a great action adventure protag with the ripping out of IVs except I am marginally smarter than ripping out an IV #oh they also had to use like 3 nurses a phlebotomist and 2 ultrasound machines to find a good vein to stick for the IV 💀#my annoying little veins that I found out from the phlebotomist is partly a genetic thing #.log #needles

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caruliaa · 2 years

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no u tricked me u all tricked me by having a gifest of the character that ik is a lesbian in this show abt how that character is a lesbian w one of her w a fat character u made me thats that her love interest but she isnt u tricked me

#IM NOT GONNA WATCH A LEAUGE OF OUR OWN NOW #BC OF THIS #okay maybe i will but i feel tricked........#if i watch it its bc of my beloved darcy carden <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 #but also i want a fat lesbian as a protag in a tumblr beloved show NOW !!!! *blasts the room w my mind powers*#<- sorry idk why i said that bit at the end im jsut weird and quirked up ig <3 #also maybe she is a lesbian protag character idk !!!#but i dont think she is bc ppl posting abt a leauge of our own hasnt included any 'good fat character rep' posts that iv seen w wwdits #so maybe shes just a side character... but maybe can she at least b a lesbian too pleasee........#flappy rambles

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wonderfulxhappiness · 1 year

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i like the catboy :3

holds you so gently. i love you

#kazuya my beloved. he's such a silly little guy #going off of his manga personality he's like. very calm and passive and sees things in ways others don't but also loves his friends #and his family and like. he's quick on his feet and adapts to change easy and just oughhhhhhhh i love him #he's my silly little guy i adore him with my entire being #the catboy is Kazuya Minegishi btw!!!! he's the protag tho so technically he can have any name but that's his like #manga/drama CD name which is usually used as the 'canon' name #also his kitty ears are his headphones!!!! he wears headphones all the time :>#he is so beloved to me. so so so beloved to me #srry this game makes my neuros diverge hardcore sdkghsd #srry for rambling at you in the tags </3

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hirokiyuu · 2 years

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god luka/myeongok is so much. it's so much. can u imagine being an abused teenage princess and u want so so badly to make ur mom proud + love u and instead some shitty girl from another world u dont even care abt shows up and takes the sword thats supposed to be YOURS and u are so mad abt this but over time this girl shows u like, the beauty of the world + being alive and u fall so so in love w/her even tho she has to go back to her own world

and hten things start to go to shit again after a few years and that's bad but a part of u is maybe also happy bc it means u get to see Her again only when u see her. it turns out. bc of magic. she has become a 50 y/o mother of two and also hates you. you are teen divorced to her. but also you are still so madly in love w/her but also. also. also. also. also

#personal #luka/myeongok........ is sooooooooooooooo #this is like the least spoiler version of these two i could write but i am just Dying #PLEAse read fabled warrior i am fucking sobbing every single day of my life #myeongok my beloved. bitter single mom protag of my dreams #luka my poor little meow meow (derogatory) (affectionate)#luka is like all those posts abt how we need more women who are cringefail #thats luka <3 my beloved

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starfilled-galaxy · 11 days

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LMFAO

me when my ocs

#niko.txt #asks #tied wings protags my beloved<3 #💫

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steampunkedparm · 1 year

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i lied ab doing homework

IS IT REALLY A ROMANTIC-ORIENTED PLAYLIST IF GARBAGE TRUCK FROM THE HIT MOVIE SCOTT PILGREM VS. THE WORLD ISN'T ON THERE???

/hj (not really)

#scott pilgrems been on the brain me my brotjer and dad just completed it on my brotjers switch #anyways kim my beloved you violent queer drummer <3 #wallace too but thats because hes who i 'main' in the game so uh.#scott pilgrem vs. the world. where everyone but the protag ends up being in a gay relationship :)#also scott pilgrem sucks as a person. great character Terrible person

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mksvault · 28 days

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FO2 MKVB my beloveds

( he looks a little different bc just like my mk protag designs, vb gets his slight variations too depending on which game theyre in :3 )

#self insert #self ship #oc x canon #fallout #fallout 2 #vault boy

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mblue-art · 2 months

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Sorry for that question but I really curious!

What made you fell in love with Cross and Lust?

Tell us more!!

😳😳😳 hhuh what rreally,, , ,,, 😳 u wanna hear me yap abt my sillies, my beloveds,,, (i appreciate the enthusiasm tho omg 🥺🫶🫶🫶)

i want to have the yuris with lust and the yaois with cross I I MEAN HWHWAT 🧍‍♂️

UM.

haha anyWAY,, (oh gog this ended up long)

🍫—

cross checks so many boxes for me it makes me go insane. too good to be true. versatile(??)— like it's somehow way too easy to put him in Situations. (he's bf and husbone material??? just -20hp me now; that already kills me) he's. hh. gawddamn there's reasons why he won a utmv sans sexyman poll.

he's like a crush that you can't get out of your head no matter what you do, i'm so freaking down bad for him it's not even funny anymore. ever since simping for cross i have not been the same since. the man has changed me. the attraction/simp feelings hit me like a bat out of nowhere and i don't understand why it's so intense— i. hh.

,,i like when ppl make him dorky. stupidly silly (absolutely love shitpost shenanigans and would absolutely LOVE to get into silly shenanigans with him and with/without his bestie epic). fun to be around when he's deemed you as a good friend. stars, he'd give good hugs. strong, solid, and warm, the kind of hugs u don't wanna pull away from so soon. a little endearingly cringe. fanon simp cross is adorable and fun to mess around with. tsundere cross is adorable and fun to mess with. cute anxious guy under all that intimidating aloofness. when i say his smile is an absolute treasure, i mean that. his blush making him look like a grape or a glowing bulb is adorable and makes me wanna tease him more. anime protag/character vibes so strong i wanna have a cute bl/shoujo manga romance with him type shit yk.

then there's times when he's The Hot Dude and i think it's illegal if he's all confident and smug and dom actually (/hj) cause that makes me wanna fucking fite him HELLO? SIR? ILLEGAL????? (<- the fight or flight response of a tsundere towards a milder tsundere LOL).

-hp every single time. mf gets successful d20 rolls w/ rizz on me and i get a critical hit every time. it's a 50/50 either i fluster to death and become weak or i wanna fite his dumbass

i'll. i can fight him. i'll lose but i can fight him for sure. (why is he so cool⁉️‼️💢💢💢RRRRRRR)

he makes me feel things. lots of things. (mostly fluster but when i'm feelin sooper soff i jst wanna shower his skull in keeses. ima kissy lil guy)

tired cross makes me just wanna take care of him. want him to come home to me without any worry because he thinks i'm his safe space.

when he's being stubborn i want to tell him to chill out for a little while, take a break and watch some funny stuff while drinking choccy milk or eating his fav foods and be cozy. bapping him if he's gonna try to get out of this too soon. he's gonna get the free time he deserves n relax n get cuddles n kithes.

the way he can gently hold my hand and look at me with a sincere look in his eyelights and say something genuinely affectionate feels like cupid shooting an arrow through my soul, but also feels like a balm. (a promise of loyalty and faithfulness.) (a kiss on the forehead? a cherry on top.)

well now i can't be mean to him with all the nice he's saying and doing. i just want nice things for him o(-< (even if he's a bastard sometimes lol<3 all circles back to the silly) (silly is always important)

💜—

i love lust. so so so much. the fanon interpretation of him, anyway.

(don't get me wrong, i absolutely adore the feminine slay content of lust; but am i wrong for yearning for more masc lust content?)

i like my lust sans respectful, goofy, sans-like, an absolute sweetheart, and a caring, wonderful life partner. under the flirty personality and charm(ing looks), is a sans behavior that made me fall deeper. (he makes me feel very gender too) (ohmygofd yeah no he actually makes me think of gender sometimes rauauagrrgh<3/pos). i don't have to worry about showing my cring, weird side to him, because he's also a gremlin,, o(-< he doesn't have to present himself all nice and pretty all the time (although he's always pretty in my eyes). he can be comfortably himself; with me 🥺

i want to be his safe space.

i want to see him heal and be happy and be happy with me and give him all the love i can give and care for him and make him soso happy i just want him to feel SO sosososo loved, he deserves so much more

he's the only one who's able to get a certain reaction out of me; to pull flowers out of my heart. to pull out words of love and devotion and appreciation, heart bursting with affection only for him.

for him, i would try. i would live for him. i wish someone like him (the him i've created from interpretations and headcanons) was real irl.

i want to not care i don't care if he's a gorgeous well-known person that people fawn over, or if he's a campus crush, etc.,

i want him to think i'm worthy enough to keep in his life. for him to know how special he is to me, for him to know how much i want him in my life as much as i want him to keep me in his.

my immediate reaction when i think of him is: 😊💕💜💜💜eeeee kicks and giggles and flaps hands teehee

i love him so much i get a heart-on for him (/silly but it is true sometimes; love him so much it aches (in a good way))

#ask #mblue talks #m rambles #(embarrassing myself under the cut 😁!11! !)#(these words are messy like my thoughts hahagahgs forgive me for not making it proper or something)#(oh whoops is that my heart down there uh haha sry i must've dropped it lemme pick it back up—)#(honestly it gets kinda personalll?? but yeah my heart haha whoops)#(head full yet empty only purple beloveds...)#(took me so long to answer bc... thoughts... i wasn't sure which ones to omit or include)#crossrot #lm #cm

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