#but yeah she's super volatile
Text
Penny stardewvalley makes me so sad because she's SO sensitive to, like, basically everything you tell her (telling her that you can't stand children while two children are nearby is a pretty lousy move but -1500 friendship?? being a jerk to other characters' faces typically loses you about 50 points, and if you choose the option labeled "creepy" and ask Leah for a kiss in her 2 heart event she physically hits you and kicks you out of her house but that's only -100 friendship…) and so if you want to befriend her it's a whole lot of lying and tiptoeing around her feelings (2 hearts: George was right but saying that makes her feel bad. 6 hearts: her food sucks but even if you try to be polite about it she feels like a failure; only a bald-faced lie pleases her. 8 hearts: saying you don't want to be tied down with a family loses you a little bit of friendship and she's only happy if you say you want kids) and I can't help but think she's a product of her environment. She lives in a trailer with only her mother, who gets drunk every night and has something of a temper. Penny's like a skittish rescue animal who won’t even come out from hiding under something unless you leave her lots of treats
#stardew valley#penny sdv#I didn't mention the SECOND opportunity to lose 1500 friendship with her#because I think if you go out of your way to date her and then tell her that you don't like her that way then you deserve it#but yeah she's super volatile#i was upset for a little bit after reading that one post saying the ‘right’ answer in the 2 heart event is ableist#like nooooo not my favorite farming game :(#except that in the context of several other things in the game it becomes clear that winning someone over#does not always mean doing the right thing#looking directly at how the easiest way to befriend shane and pam is by enabling their alcoholism#which is framed as a harmful thing even if the characters themselves like it#you have to lie to befriend other characters too like with sam dropping his egg#and you can lose a little friendship based on preferences like sebastian asking about what books you like#though to be fair if i saw someone who could potentially be cool and i found out that what they like was stuff im not into id also#lose interest a little#anyway those are all examples spread around on different characters#penny's got it all at once#me post
533 notes
·
View notes
Note
Mother, i had a request but i forgot what it was 😭😭 i was sooo excited tooo 😫
But in trying to remember i had another brilliant idea!!
Reader x Reggie where theyre both stoic, slightly volatile 🐍 but theyre actually really soft and mushy. And then SURPRISE!! Theyre actually also dating Remus who takes care of them and is super protective. Maybe its revealed near the full moon and possessive Moony makes an appearance.
Siri is flabberghasted; Barty is horrified his darling sweethearts are be defiled; James is shook; and Lily is yhe ultimate bro and super proud of Rem.
Anyway, im sorry your computer was so mean to you. I hope you're looking after yourself 🩵🩵
......this is going to go down in history as my most controversial post........😈
may I present to you.....poly!MoonWater 😈😈😈😈😈
poly!moonwater x fem stoic!reader (i.e., Remus Lupin x Regulus Black x reader)
Sirius Black was admittedly currently going through a hard time.
Now, depending on who you asked, one (literally everyone and anyone) might say it was his own fault.
But if you asked Sirius Black? It was everyone else and their insufferable happiness that was to blame.
His insufferable best-friend-that-anyone-could-ever-ask-for finally landed the woman of his dreams and said woman of previously mentioned best friend was horribly in love with the sod.
Even his baby brother was happy! Which seemed like an oxymoron because in looking at Regulus Arcturus Black, one would assume that boy had never known a single moment of happiness in his life.
If one took into account their childhoods, they’d be right.
But Regulus Black, who was quiet in a way that made you feel like you were always being judged and ridiculed (you were) who very rarely had a kind thing to say about anyone had found happiness (read: a girl) who, for all intents and purposes, could be his personality doppelganger.
One difference, however, was that you were quiet in a way that always had one feeling like you knew too much, saw too much, and you were far too perceptive for anyone’s good. You always seemed to be analyzing the people around you and Sirius, sue him, found that incredibly disconcerting.
He did not wish to be known, thank you very much.
And even Moony! Moony, the bastard, was seeing someone! Fucked if Sirius knew who though because the sod wouldn't tell anyone who they were. He just kept popping back to the dorm room covered in hickies and looking far too pleased with himself whilst offering no details.
He was even spending entire nights away from the dorm, and always made sure he had the sodding map with him so they couldn’t even see where he was.
So yeah, Sirius was pissed.
And before you ask – no, it’s not because he was lonely – in fact, he had frequent visitors in his bed thank you very much. And NO, he didn’t want to discuss the fact that perhaps if he didn’t run at the first sign of commitment or emotional intimacy, he too would have happiness.
Perhaps he just wanted everyone else to be slightly less happy for his own sake.
Did no one ever think about Sirius Black?
Give right now for example. He and Regulus had been...hanging out (if that’s what you could call the two of them sitting together not speaking as they each did their own homework) since Sirius insisted it was important to do so, especially since Sirius no longer lived at home meaning that their usual means of brotherly bonding (read: trauma) no longer took place.
And then James showed up (he was so lucky Sirius loved him) who was but of course accompanied by Lily Evans (she was so lucky she’s as lovely as she is) which turned into a small James Potter roast on account of Regulus and Lily both having years’ worth of material from hating him up until recently, and Sirius had loads of material on account of him being a certified hater.
And then Moony showed up, and if Sirius didn’t know any better, he had definitely been fooling around mere moments ago.
But Sirius did know better.
“Moony, what broom closet did you just crawl out of and where’s the poor soul that was stuck in there with you?” He spat.
Remus merely chuckled and pulled a book out of his bag, making himself comfortable in one of the library’s grandfather chairs. “No one was stuck anywhere with me.”
“No, I’m sure they were a very willing participant.” Regulus drawled, looking particularly bored for all intents and purposes, never bothering to lift his gaze from his book.
“No need to be jealous, baby Black. You’re more than welcome to join me in such broom closets.” Remus joked with a wink.
“Oi!” Sirius swatted at Remus on behalf of his brother (he’s welcome). “That’s my baby brother you’re talking about, and he’s taken thank you very much.”
“Merlin knows how,” James muttered none too quietly, “it’s not like he’s very approachable.”
Regulus lifted a lazy eyebrow as he looked at James from above the pages of his book. “I’ll have you know I’m very approachable to those I wish to be approached by.”
“Hi Reggie!”
“Get fucked.” Regulus called back to Barty Crouch Junior, hardly sparing his best friend a glance as he approached him from behind.
“Wow, Reggie’s in a good mood today, huh?” Barty said as he sat on one arm of Regulus’ chair, causing James to laugh until he realized that Barty wasn’t joking.
Suddenly another body showed up and gently sat on the other arm of Regulus’ chair.
Sirius watched as Regulus’ impassive face completely cleared of all contempt and he looked up at you with pure and unadulterated adoration.
It made Sirius sick.
“Bonjour, mon cheri.” He murmured softly, in complete contrast to the harsh, militarized way he had previously been spitting at everyone else.
You smiled gently at the boy as you pulled a notebook out of your book bag and produced a small, pressed flower, handing it to Regulus between your thumb and forefinger.
Regulus looked at it like you had just presented him with a hundred-year-old bottle of fire-whiskey.
“Did you pick this for me?” He asked gently, plucking the flower from your fingers with matching delicacy.
You offered him a quiet ‘mhm’ and Sirius noticed a shy smile grace your lips. Regulus’ eyes moved from the flower to your face, and he gazed at you like you had hung the moon.
“Merci, mon amour.” He said reverently and pressed a kiss to your cheek.
Lily looked at the two of you with a smile one might see on the face of a proud mother, James looked at the two of you like he was seeing a bowtruckle for the first time, and Remus looked oddly taken with the show of affection. Barty was apparently the only other sane one amongst them – oh gods, maybe Sirius really was losing it.
“Where the fuck has this Regulus been the last six years?” Barty muttered incredulously.
Without much effort on your part, you reached over Regulus’ shoulder and shoved Barty off the arm of the chair and onto the floor before sliding to sit directly in Regulus’ lap.
“You...alright, Crouch?” James called tentatively from his place on the other side of the couple.
“Oh, I’m fine. That’s just how she shows her love.” Barty said as he bounced back up, completely unperturbed.
“Is it now?” Sirius asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. Remus swatted Sirius’ leg with his book.
“What?” Sirius squawked.
“Be nice.” He chided.
“I am nice! And why do you care?” Sirius argued, though he never got an answer.
“I think they’re cute.” Lily announced, sending a sly smirk towards Remus.
“See? Lily gets it.” Remus said with a shrug as he went back to his book.
Sirius hated every single one of them.
But if Sirius thought that had been rough, he had no idea what was in store for him today.
Sirius, Remus, Peter, James and... Lily had all been sitting at the Gryffindor table during dinner when Sirius noticed you rushing into the Great Hall looking rather frazzled.
“Whoa, what’s going on with Y/N?” Peter asked, apparently having noticed you at the same time as Sirius.
The conversation stopped abruptly as Remus’ head snapped towards the entrance, seemingly on high alert upon hearing of your arrival.
Sirius watched as you scanned the Hall before your eyes fell on their group. Your face crumpled in misery, and you rushed over. You were usually so polished and poised, any and all emotions locked away behind a well-fitted mask, no wonder you and Regulus got along so well.
Regulus...something must have happened to Regulus. Sirius had a dreadful feeling settle in the pit of his stomach; what could have happened to make you rush up to him looking that alarmed?
Except...you breezed right past him.
“What’s wrong, lovebug?” Remus cooed quietly, causing Sirius to choke on his own spit.
“He was hurt during practice.” You cried quietly, voice no more than a whisper as you moved to step between Remus’ spread legs where he had rotated on the bench to face you. His hands landed on the back of your thighs were his thumbs rubbed soothing circles into your tight clad legs.
“Okay. How hurt?” Remus asked just as quietly, ignoring the sputtering happening from James, the chuckling from Lily, and the horrified expression painting Sirius’ face.
“Dislocated shoulder.” You cried miserably, as if you’d just been told Regulus was damned to spend the rest of his life in a vegetative state.
Remus’s mouth looked like it was fighting really hard to smile as his eyes pooled with equal parts fondness, worry (for you or Regulus, Sirius wasn’t sure at this moment), and no shortage of love.
What the fuck was going on right now!?
“What the fuck is going on right now!?” Sirius demanded, his outside voice echoing the one inside of his head.
You startled a little at his exclamation, leaning closer into Remus who increased his embrace around you.
“What’s happening dear padfoot, is it appears your brother has been injured during quidditch practice. Perhaps you ought to go see how he is?” Remus taunted as he continued running soothing hands over your body.
“Yeah, yeah; the sky is blue, and people get hurt in quidditch. Now what is this!?” He screeched gesturing wildly at the two of you.
You looked equal parts embarrassed from the attention and equal parts wanting to tell Sirius off for downplaying what you clearly thought was some great upheaval in Regulus’ life when Lily spoke up.
“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice, Pads.”
His mouth dropped open as he turned to regard his best friend’s girlfriend with a look of pure betrayal.
“Et tu, Lily!?” Sirius cried as James sputtered, “you knew!?”
Remus just smiled as he shoved his nose into your collarbone. You brought up a hand to begin scratching at his scalp, and Sirius was certain the sods leg would be thumping in contentment if he were a dog.
“Let’s go, Sirius.” Remus finally muttered, interrupting an argument that was going nowhere between James, Lily, and Sirius. “You’ve got a brother in the hospital wing.”
You hurried on ahead of them, clearly not interested in the talk the two friends were about to have.
“So, are you fucking my brother too or just fucking him over by screwing his girl?” Sirius finally spat with his arms crossed petulantly over his chest.
Remus groaned and looked up at the ceiling, as if praying for strength to get through this conversation with Sirius Drama Queen Black. “Sirius, can you ask me a question that’s less likely to get me punched in the face?”
“No.” Sirius muttered.
“He’s happy, Sirius. I promise.” Remus pressed. “He...he really deserves all the love he’s getting.”
And Sirius would have been an absolute arse if he’d had anything to say in response to that...
Don’t get him wrong, Sirius was an arse and did have many things to say in response to that, but the words died on the tip of his tongue when they walked into the hospital wing to see you sitting on the end of Regulus’ hospital bed.
Regulus, save the sling holding his arm to his chest and the fact that he was sitting in a hospital bed, looked as casual as Sirius ever remembered seeing him, smiling at you with...
Love.
A lot of love.
“I’m fine, amour, I promise.” They heard him plead with you as they approached.
“Still have all your limbs, I see.” Remus commented as he walked over and pressed a gentle kiss to Regulus’ hair, causing the youngest Black to blush something fierce as he looked over at Sirius.
“I’m sure she told you I was comatose.” He commented quietly, turning and offering you a wink.
“Don’t tease me...” You moaned, looking very much like you still wanted to fold Regulus up and put him in your pocket for safe keeping.
“Yeah, don’t tease her, love. You’d be sitting in this hospital bed all on your lonesome with no one you dote on you otherwise.” Remus jokingly chided.
“Love.” Sirius groaned with a dramatized gag.
“Oh, grow up, Siri.” Regulus barked.
Sirius’ head snapped over to his brother at the sound of his childhood nickname. Regulus’ cheeks were still dusted pink, whether it be at the unplanned outing of his relationship, being hurt, or the gravity of this moment.
Regulus hadn’t called him that since they were children...like, real children before the trauma, the alienation, the disinheritance, the running away...
Perhaps because Regulus had spent all of that time living in unmeasurable pain. Just like Sirius had.
And maybe, now...Regulus had people who made him feel brave enough to be vulnerable like this, to reconnect in ways he long thought impossible.
Fuck Moony and his good naturedness; Sirius hated that Remus was right about this.
“Oh, fucking Godric.” Sirius muttered petulantly as he pulled Regulus into a bone crushing hug.
Literally.
“Sirius!” Regulus groaned before Sirius was ripped away from his brother. Sirius expected Remus to be the one throwing him to the floor for inadvertently hurting Regulus’ injury...but it was you.
“You idiot.” You hissed as new tears formed in your eyes, immediately moving to grab the ice pack from the bedside table and gently placing it on Regulus’ shoulder.
Remus and Regulus looked at you with so much adoration, Sirius was certain hearts were going to start pouring out of their eyes and floating around their heads.
“I’m fine, thanks!” He called out as he hauled himself up off the floor.
“Oh good.” You said sarcastically.
“I don’t like this.” Sirius grumbled, causing all three faces to turn to him.
“Pads...”
“Sirius, please.” Regulus implored.
“What if you break his heart?” He asked no one in particular. “What if you hurt my baby brother? Who am I supposed to support then? Or you; what am I supposed to do if you hurt my best friend? And what if you tossers hurt Y/N!”
The three of you shared a look before his brother turned to him. “Sirius, if we breakup, I give you permission to side with Remus.”
“And if we break up, I promise you can side with Y/N.” Remus added.
“Nope.” You said quickly, “that’s fine, I don’t need to be included in this.”
Sirius groaned out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank gods. Okay, okay. I guess I'll allow it then....”
“THE THREE OF YOU ARE WHAT!?” Barty screeched as he stood at the door of the infirmary, still in his quidditch kit.
“Do we actually have to have this conversation again?” You groaned quietly.
Remus shot Regulus and extremely guilty look as he slowly stood.
“Remus.” Regulus warned.
Remus grimaced and slowly made his way over to you.
“Remus John Lupin, I swear to Salazar...”
“Regulus, I love you; I do. But...he’s you’re friend an- NOW DOVE” He shouted, and the two of you took off in a sprint out of the infirmary.
“Quite the catch you’ve got yourself there Regs.” Sirius taunted.
“Sod off.” Regulus muttered as Barty made his way over to his bedside.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Sirius jeered as he, too, took off out of the infirmary, leaving Regulus Black to deal with the likes of Barty Crouch Junior on his own.
don't hate me
#ask elle#marauders era#marauders au#marauders fanfiction#reader insert#self insert#remus lupin x you#remus lupin x reader#remus lupin#regulus black x reader#regulus black x you#regulus black#regulus black x remus lupin#remus lupin x regulus black#moonwater#poly!moonwater#poly!moonwater x you#poly!moonwater x reader#ellecdc fics
728 notes
·
View notes
Text
Famous Eddie decides to start a podcast. The music career rlly slowed down, the guys are all living comfortably on 30 years of roaring success these days to only play festivals for fun and tour if they feel like it. (Jeff even started acting. Who would have guessed it).
This little podcast of his is pretty all over the place. He doesn’t even market it as anything, just him and his family & friends talking shit.
Of corse it’s his and Steve’s podcast. Because they do everything together.
Dustin is a very very regular guest. Probably 9/10th of every episode. He’s fucking Dustin you know? And oh my god are the three of them fucking hilarious.
The rest of the party often makes appearances.
Max and Dustin screaming at each other about the exact details of what song was playing at a hopper-byers family Chanukah part the first time will and Mike kissed, lunging across the table about it while el just has the most wide eyed slacked jawed smile in the corner and Eddie is laughing his heart out, clinging to Steve’s shoulder just mumbling “babe, babe, babe this is- this isn’t happening” while Steve grins and is like “you two have not grown up since I met you in ‘85. You’re fucking unreal”
(It was hounds of love, by the way. Max was right. And she knows this because Kate Bush is the best song writer and singer ever, Dustin. The viewers don’t have to know why Steve’s face dropped for a moment before he agreed vehement. They (El) called Will while on air to ask, and he needed about two minutes to stop laughing before he said “yeah it was hounds of love, duh. That was the year Max got us all hooked on Kate Bush, don’t tell me you somehow forgot that Dustin” “buddy thousands of dollars of therapy and I still can’t forget it”)
There was a few episodes of a hellfire club reunited D&D game, which is of corse also wildly hilarious because it’s this super famous rock band and then Mike and Dustin and Lucas and Will who are just some guys- while the girls™ + Jonathan, Steve and argyle spectate and commentate.
They tried ASMR once. Just Steve and Eddie. It was a disaster.
They got high with Argyle and Jonathan on one episode and that was just… fascinating conversation.
Robins frequent appearances are just so pure and amazing because Steve never laughs as much as he does with ‘Robbie’. She knows exactly how to wind him up.
They’ve played the most volatile game of Uno with Robin and Nancy and Jonathan and Argyle.
They had a little Christmas special with Wayne and Hopper and Joyce. The parents edition. It was very very sweet.
I have so many ideas for this.
They literally talk about anything and everything and do the dumbest shit on mic and camera.
1K notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi! I love ur work and I was wondering if you could do a rafe smut where they film it ykk😋🤭😭
This is my first time ever requesting smth, hopefully yk what I mean🤷♀️
i tried my best! im not amazing at writing smut, so i hope you like it <33
╰┈➤ princess on camera
warnings: super nsfw, swearing, fingering, choking, praise kink, camera.
summary: rafe asks to try something new. innocent!reader x rafe
“oh, babygirl you look so beautiful f’me” rafe groaned, looking down at her as she kneeled before him. he bent down, taking her in as her big doe eyes stared up at him through her lashes. out of her peripheral, she noticed a camera stand facing the bed.
“i’m gonna ask you something, and you can say no..” he muttered tentatively. “mmhm?”
“i wanna put a camera up this time, it’ll be just for me, nobody else is gonna see it..”
y/n listened intently, considering the proposition. “only you would see it?” she asked, tilting her head. “of course angel, you think i’d let anyone get even a glimpse of what belongs to me?” he chuckled, smirking.
“okay, then yes”
rafe smiled menacingly before grabbing her chin. “on the bed. all fours, face the camera” he growled hungrily, swatting her ass as she clambered onto the mattress.
she watched as his hands fiddled around with the camera, unknowingly teasing her. she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as the wetness between her legs pooled into her panties.
after removing his clothes, he kneeled behind her, massaging circles into her behind. “all f’me huh?” he whispered, trailing his fingers up to the waistband of the lace thong.
“lift your knees baby, taking these off..” she did as told and lifted a knee at a time, helping him remove the material.
she released a shaky breath as he dipped his hand underneath, starting to rub slow circles on her clit.
keeping the pace with his finger, his other hand danced closer to her core, earning a flinch as he trailed his fingertips along her wet folds.
whining, she leaned back slightly, hoping to lower herself onto his fingers. “so needy baby, you gotta stay still m’kay? be a good girl for me yeah?” he breathed, teasing her again with the tip of his hardening cock.
her head fell as he pushed two finger inside, pumping them slowly.
“fuck..” she mewled. “please, rafe, faster..” she pleaded.
electricity surged through her as he granted her wish, his arm flexing as he moved at a volatile pace. he kept it up for a few minutes, pulling her closer and closer to the edge.
the sudden emptiness had her whining, clenching around nothing as he retracted both hands. “smile for the camera princess..” he growled, roughly pulling her head up.
before she had a chance to comprehend it, he buried himself inside her, eliciting a photographic moan from her.
“that’s it baby, you’re doing so good..” rafe groaned, leaving crescent shaped indents on her hips.
his deadly pace turned the coil in her navel tighter and tighter, walls clenching around rafe’s length.
“you gonna cum for me huh?” he teased, wrapping a strong hand around her throat, pulling her back up against him.
“look at the camera baby, atta’girl” he smirked, trailing sloppy kisses along her neck.
“no, keep your eyes open..” he muttered in her ear, hand tightening as a string of strangled profanities fell from her lips.
her eyes widened as her legs shook, threatening to give up on her. “r-rafe, im-im gonna-” her pleas were interrupted, an animalistic groan fighting its way through her lips.
rafe grunted, the vibrations only adding more tension to her release. “fuck, fuck…” he whimpered behind her, filling her completely.
with two rough thrusts, he pulled out gently, stroking her cheek as she collapsed on the bed. he lay down beside her after turning the camera off, a smug look on his face.
“you did so well angel, so beautiful..” he whispered as she curled into him.
“m’gonna run you a bath, okay sweet girl?” he cooed as her legs shook against him.
#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron x fem!reader#outer banks#rafe cameron#outerbanks rafe#dom!rafe#obx#rafecameron#rafe obx#rafe smut
617 notes
·
View notes
Text
babe wake up androgynouspenguinexpert posted another character analysis from the train during her finals week because she's banned herself from drawing anything new
its time to tackle vega, because he's cool.
all of the characters carry a unique narrative theme or motif - the importance of self worth for gavin, impostor syndrome for asher, consent and control for marcus, etc. vega's theme is one of, if not my favourite: nature vs nurture, learned behaviour, and the morality of necessary evil.
vega doesn't start out as a moustache-twirling villain, but he's certainly hurting people for selfish reasons. however - the line between right and wrong starts to blur even across vega's first few appearances. as he points out himself later, vega has essentially created a closed loop of suffering to feed from. yeah, he got someone roofied and kidnapped, which is bad, but he's limited his victims to two people. ivan and baby. there's even a case to be made about baby's safety - ivan is volatile and incredibly dangerous (breaking either glass or ceramic with his bare hands???), but we never see him physically harm baby other than restraining them.
vega's age (pin this) has granted him an incredible level of experience and therefore intellect. he's probably the smartest piece on the board right now, save maybe for brachium (but he's sort of on a board of his own anyway). vega knows exactly what he is. he feeds on suffering and agony, and there's nothing that can change that. equipped with this knowledge, vega has managed to streamline the production of agony without really getting his hands dirty, and basically guaranteed the survival of both people involved.
then in comes caelum. he accidentally discovers vega's operation, and immediately runs to freelancer for help. vega proceeds to kick the shit out of caelum for snitching, and almost kills him. again, this is bad. i'm definitely not defending vega's actions here - but think of it from his point of view: he's set up a way of passively producing agony and is minding his own business. a daemon who is 24 (at time of writing) stumbles across this, and immediately threatens to shut it down as well as get him arrested. that's like a toddler walking in on a meth lab and running to the cops. vega probably could drop everything and relocate to avoid the department, but that would take a lot more time and effort than just soccer kicking the toddler over a fence. so he tries, and fails, because gavin steps in. gavin being able to overpower vega - despite being potentially hundreds of thousands of years younger - speaks to the inefficiency of vega's agony system, and he's smart enough to be well aware of that. agony (in a relatively nice part of california, anyway) isn't really a renewable resource like lust or joy are. harming someone, whether physically or otherwise, enough to fuel vega for any significant amount of time would either permanently damage or kill that person. that's not sustainable.
and then vega gets arrested. the human government asks a being probably older than civilisation to pinkie promise he'll stay in a little concrete box for a while. vega explains later that he doesn't believe in unnecessary violence - unless he decides that it is necessary, i guess - so he probably went along with his arrest fairly peacefully. there's another analysis in here somewhere about where (or from whom...?) the department learned its containment methods, considering they haven't really figured out aria yet.
but anyway - vega gets tossed into maximum security. and even from behind the ward, he's finding subtle (and less subtle) ways to stir the pot, especially with his new department-assigned therapist (another quick aside that's too good for the tags; did anyone else find it super fucking funny that vega's first real friend on elegy is his therapist?). i think vega feels neutral about elegy, leaning ever so slightly towards liking it, but he knows what he is. a demon. vega never was, and never will be, human. that's why he never audibly speaks (which is a fantastic detail) - he's rejecting the most basic form of modern human communication. language. yes, he knows english, but he's probably never spoken a single word out loud. vega's fear of daemons growing away from their roots is also why he starts testing for cracks in the warden's façade - he's worried that daemons are starting to assimilate a little too much. they're losing their identity as a separate species, and losing sight of the sacrifices made during the cacophony. and he's right - the cacophony has entirely faded into myth. his suffering and loss has now been turned into a fable; a cautionary tale about dealing with forces beyond our control.
next is the escape, which is both interesting and sick as hell. vega proves that he's not a fan of violence for the sake of violence by mincing some solitaires, tossing an unconscious warden over his shoulder, and escaping the detention facility. this is vega's first real selfless action. he definitely could have left the warden to the solitaires, but chooses to save them because of their compassion towards him. this shows a little of vega's internal struggle - he's never been around unconditional like, let alone love, because he doesn't need to. he needs to be unlikeable. manipulative. cutthroat. these are the things that keep him safe, but more importantly fed. we know from his imperium counterpart (who will eventually be getting a post of his own) that vega wants to be wanted. as much as he denies it and dodges the topic when it's brought up, vega is not intrigued by the warden because he can toy with them. he's drawn to them because they're willing to understand. they're hesitant, but for now they're giving vega the benefit of the doubt. he's never been given that before.
he also starts to wear down the warden's already fragile sense of morality with the kidnapped department officer. although his methods are very questionable, vega is correct again when he explains that he doesn't really have a choice. he won't hurt the guard, and the guard can't hurt him or the warden, but will keep spewing out hate that vega can feed on for the forseeable future. he's killing two birds with one stone as well - the warden is an inchoate. it's far easier for vega to track down (read: kidnap) one racist than to juggle the emotional intake of two people.
i don't think vega is just trying to break the warden out of their department mould for the sake of shenanigans, nor does he want to return to the glory days - vega knows that humanity and daemonkind are now inseperable after the imprisonment of the sovereigns.
he just doesn't want daemons - genuinely good people trying to make the best of a not fantastic situation - to lose sight of what they are. what they used to be. not anarchists, or pawns for the department. starchildren.
forgive me. i tend to wax poetic.
#redacted asmr#redacted audio#redactedverse#redacted vega#MAN i love vega he's so cool no matter what he's in#and the warden just waltzes into his cell with a clipboard and an i can fix him complex strong enough to drag satan himself up from hell#the slow swap from warden to darling is going to take me out#idk man vega can blow up armoured vehicles with his mind but also he's such an old fashioned romantic methinks#alexa play put you through me by arrows in action#also i might possibly maybe have playlists for most of these bastards#maybe ill share em someday
34 notes
·
View notes
Text
your turn to die ship pairings that i think would be interesting:
1. reko x nao. thé lesbians!!! i know this is not remotely a rare pair but i feel like this ship is super interesting because they’re so different but when it comes to core values they have a lot in common. they both care so deeply about other people and form attachments quickly. and in a way, i feel like when they’re together, they’re stronger. nao helps reign reko in when her emotions get the better of her, and reko helps keep nao centered and focused in times of crisis. i just think it works so well.
2. sara x nao. this is a ship that is technically frowned upon in america (since sara is 17 and nao is 18-19 ish) but in japan there’s no problem with it i’m pretty sure? idk. they’re so close in age anyway that i personally don’t see it as an issue but maybe that’s just me. i feel like it would work similarly to reko x nao but to me, sara and nao both have a very strong inner peace that makes them stronger than they seem on the outside. though nao is a bit volatile in times of distress, for the most part, she’s very thoughtful and gentle. sara on the other hand is logical and sharp, and i feel like these two personalities would work super well together because they both think so deeply about the world and try to have faith in others.
3. kai x shin. okay this one sounds weird but hear me out. they’re both somewhat vulnerable young adults who put on a front in order to seem untouchable. i feel like since they have this in common, they would understand and trust each other, and be able to break down the walls that they both created. i also think since neither of them are very socially adept, they would enjoy each others’ strange senses of humors, and there would be no weird power imbalance that might throw shin off. even though kai is powerful, he’s also very humble, and he rarely actually causes danger. shin would likely find comfort in kai more than fear, and kai would feel little instinct to protect somebody who is already so clearly capable. also shin showing kai how to use a smartphone and kai making shin eggs benedict.
4. q-taro x mai. okay yeah i know that mai like lowkey almost killed q-taro or whatever but like mistakes happen mai is literally just a girl. anyway i think especially out of the context of the game, these two would make such a cute couple! they both sort of come off as selfish, but they both care a lot about their effect on the world and the people around them, and they both have a lot of passion! i feel like they would just match each other’s energies and support each others’ ambitions with enthusiasm which is just so cute to imagine.
5. sara x ranmaru. okay considering their situation in the game i highly doubt that this is a rarepair in any capacity. but i sort of see this as an opposites attract sort of deal? sara is so connected to the world and fiery and passionate while ranmaru is sort of detached and in his own world. but i could see them complementing each other very well. ranmaru being the constant gentle hand on sara’s shoulder, quietly protective, and sara inch by inch pulling ranmaru out of his shell and showing him how vibrant the world could really be if he just let himself exist in it. idk i think it would be cool!
i’m not sure how much i truly ship these pairings but i think they’re at least kinda fun to think about!
#your turn to die#yttd#your turn to die fandom#prodigal yttd#shin tsukimi#mai yttd#kai satou#q taro burgerberg#yttd qtaro#reko yabusame#nao egokoro#sara chidouin#ranmaru yttd
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
WHAT I THINK THE ICARLY CHARACTER’S BIG 3 ARE IN ASTROLOGY
ok time for icarly edition of the big 3. it’s the layers of an onion. i talk abt the rising sign first bc that’s how u come across to others on first appearance, then the sun sign is like ur identity & shit, and your moon is ur deep emotional side. all of the icarly characters’ birthdays have been confirmed so yeah all of these sun signs are canon but the rising & moons are my wild guesses. imo these sun signs are ON POINT and the icarly writers or whoever the fuck did a good job picking the characters’ birthdays lol. except for spencer tho idk if scorpio would’ve been the best sign i’d pick for him. okie….
CARLY:
yeah carly is DEF a libra rising she comes across super nice, sweet, polite, & friendly and she’s always mediating conflicts when sam & freddie are fighting LOL. but yeah when u peel back the onion she’s a canon leo (her bday is july 24) bc when u get to know carly better she’s not as sweet as she seems and she’s actually rlly bitchy and bossy AF like a leo LOL. (which is why her & sam get along bc sam is an aries which is also a fire sign so that’s why carly enables sam’s cruelty and bad attitude sometimes AND why they both like to be in the spotlight). she’s a total diva & an egomaniac bc the bitch named the webshow after herself and thinks it’s all about her (look i know how to make fun of my own sign isn’t it great how we leos know how to take a joke) & carly is a HUGE leader too. i’m also a libra rising leo sun so i have the same problem where i come across all nice & sweet at first to most people but then when they discover my leo they realize how much of a cunt i rlly am LOL (and then they hate me bc they thought i was someone they could use & manipulate at first but then they discover i’m not so they’re like oh shit bye i’m done with you). i feel like most of us leos are like carly we’re all nice & friendly and shit but we’re not afraid to let out the sass and be mean if we have to which is carly af LOL. and then carly is a capricorn moon which explains why she’s def the responsible one of the group. carly is rlly mature for her age and has her shit together considering the fact she’s always the one who ends up parenting spencer and not the other way around.
SAM:
sam def gives me earth rising vibes so i feel like she’s a taurus rising. sam comes across rlly dependable and loyal (she sticks by carly’s side through thick and thin) and sam keeps shit real too like a taurus. AND she loves food too LOL. but yeah peeling back the onion she’s DEF an aries which is EXTREMELY fitting bc they’re the aggressive, feisty, impulsive ones of the zodiac and that’s literally sam’s entire character. but yeah peeling back the onion even MORE i think sam is a cancer moon bc deep down sam is sensitive AF like a cancer and she’s rlly intuitive too which is why she’s so manipulative in so many episodes LOL. jennette mccurdy is a cancer irl so i feel like there’s a lot of cancer vibes in sam’s character too. it also makes her aries outbursts like 100x more volatile and emotional bc of all the mood swings she has. sam is a rlly caring person she just doesn’t like to show it prob bc of her aries sun lol. AND she’s protective af too like remember that time she whooped that girl’s ass at the groovy smoothie after she was bullying carly?
FREDDIE:
yeah he’s def a virgo rising. freddie comes across rlly brainy and analytical & he’s extremely dependable too and quick to lend a hand and help someone out if they need it. peeling back the onion he’s actually an aquarius which is fitting AF. freddie is a total tech nerd and aquariuses are the innovators of the zodiac lol & he’s rlly aloof and overly logical abt shit but freddie is still rlly friendly, nice, & easygoing like a typical aquarius. but deep down freddie is a pisces moon bc freddie is sensitive AF and gets butthurt easily lol. he’s a rlly passive person and he gets pushed around easily and taken advantage of like a pisces which was why he let carly string him along for 47373892 years and let sam bully the shit out of him LOL. freddie is too nice for his own good and has a total martyr complex bc he helps bitches too much who don’t deserve his help.
SPENCER:
spencer is an aquarius rising bc yeah spencer comes across weird af. he’s constantly inventing shit and sculpting random ass art projects and he does NOT like to live life the conventional way hence why he has no real job. but yeah spencer is actually a scorpio (which honestly isn’t the best sign for him i’d rather him just be an aquarius sun) which makes sense to some extent how he’s RLLY passionate and focused on his art projects and shit. spencer is also rlly loyal, caring, & protective like a scorpio and he has his occasional moments where his stinger comes out and he gets overly protective like that time he didn’t want carly dating the peewee baby dude LOL. but yeah spencer is a sag moon bc he’s SUPER energetic, spontaneous, & adventurous and he does NOT like to settle down. i mean the dude was only in law school for 3 days and then dropped out that is some sagittarius shit right there. spencer has to have some fire in his big 3 bc he’s the dude who literally starts fires all the time soooo LOL.
GIBBY:
yeah gibby is a sag rising he comes across SUPER outgoing & adventerous and he’s always down to do the craziest shit. he’s a fun guy u wanna hang out with. and he also can be aggressive af too like u do NOT wanna mess with gibby, remember when he whooped nora’s ass???? but yeah gibby’s bday is jan 20 which is RIGHT at the beginning of aquarius season (i deadass thought he was a capricorn at first) so yeah he’s an aquarius bc he’s weird AF. gibby doesn’t give a fuck and he does his own thing. he likes dancing with his shirt off. only an aquarius would do something so humiliating. but deep down he’s a taurus moon. gibby def gives me earth vibes he’s chill af and he’s rlly solid & dependable and always there for everyone. he keeps it 100% real no bs. gibby doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not. gibby is gibby.
#icarly#creddie#seddie#carly shay#sam puckett#freddie benson#spencer shay#gibby#gibby gibson#ASTROLOGYSHITPOSTS
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sunshine & Rainbows
Alfie Solomons x Livy (OFC) — Chapter 15
18+ NSFW - minors don’t interact 🙅🏻♀️
MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3
CHAPTER 15: only love could hurt like this
Summary: The Shelby women torment Alfie and secrets are revealed ...
TW: language typical of Peaky Blinders, a touch of angst
Word count: 3273
A/N: It’s been a while, so here’s a super quick recap! (Or click here to read Chapter 14 again!)
Alfie found out Livy was missing, then beat the crap out of Tommy. A few hours later, Polly and Esme show up at his hotel room ...
This chapter picks up right where we left off.
“Well, go on then,” Alfie demands. “We haven’t got all fucking night. Where is she?”
Polly chuckles darkly, looking far too amused for his liking. She takes a moment to light a cigarette, raising it to her painted lips before replying. “And what makes you think I’m just going to hand over that information?”
Fucking hell.
The room goes deathly silent, save for the ominous tick of the clock, reminiscent of a bomb just waiting to explode.
… much like Alfie's stormy expression.
He’s exhausted, and his patience has officially run out. A volatile mix at the best of times, but with Livy gone, the look on his face is more than a threat. It’s a promise of violence.
But Polly doesn’t notice or, more likely, doesn’t care. Instead of backing down, like any sensible being, she stands with one hand on her hip and the other in the air, smoke dancing from her fingers, chin raised like the Queen of fucking England.
“‘Cause that’s what you said, ain’t it?” He glares at her through narrowed eyes. “You asked if I wanted to find Livy.”
“Exactly,” she smirks. “I asked if you wanted to find her. I didn’t say I would tell you where she is.”
Alfie considers snatching her cigarette and shoving it down her slender throat. Polly’s asking for trouble, pushing his buttons at the worst possible time, and they all know it. It’s almost like she wants to see him lose his temper, or at least expects it.
But he is nothing, if not unpredictable.
Despite the displeasure written across his features, Alfie remains seated. He doesn’t speak, barely even blinks as he raises his fist and cracks his knuckles, slowly and methodically, one by one.
The women watch on, seemingly unfazed, but the longer Alfie sits and stares, face like a predator stalking his prey, the more their facade begins to crumble. They are bold, not stupid, or so it seems. The minutes pass, and Polly takes a hesitant step backwards, Esme following suit, dropping her boots to the floor as they brace for an explosion.
Alfie surprises them all. He should be fucking furious, but his blood cools when he recognises this for what it is: a negotiation. And despite the high stakes, the familiarity of it all is comforting.
This is one game he knows how to play.
“Right, then.” Alfie grins as he leans back and spreads his arms wide. Everything is still fucked, Livy is still fucking missing, but at least he has something to work with. “Let’s talk, love. Why don’t you tell me what you want, yeah?”
“For you to fuck off,” Esme mutters, confidence restored now that the danger has passed.
Polly shoots her a stern look before returning to Alfie. “What makes you think I want anything, Mr Solomons?” she asks, cool and composed behind a cloud of smoke.
Alfie laughs; in another time, another place, he might genuinely enjoy their banter.
“Don’t play coy, sweetie. It’s three in the fucking morning. Now she”—Alfie waves in Esme’s general direction—“she might be here for Livy. But you?” he huffs. “You’ve got too much Shelby in you.”
Polly’s mouth falls open, a retort on the tip of her tongue, but Alfie cuts her off with a raised palm.
“I don’t want to hear it, yeah. Normally I’m happy to go along with these little games you fucking gypsies love so fucking much. But tonight, I’m going to need you to get to the point, ya hear?”
Alfie watches as Polly visibly bristles, her lips pressed in a firm line, her spine impossibly straighter. But the Shelby matriarch quickly recovers.
“Of course, Mr Solomons,” she replies, her voice and smile sickly sweet. “You’re obviously a very intelligent man.”
Polly waits for a reaction, but unfortunately for her, Alfie is a very intelligent man. So he ignores the trite tactic and gives her 30 fucking seconds to explain herself. The clock continues to tick, and he resumes cracking his knuckles; it’s a veritable symphony of unspoken aggression.
“Fine,” Polly huffs, rolling her dark eyes when it becomes clear they're doing this on his terms. “I need your help,” she reluctantly admits. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I have a son….”
Livy wiggles her toes, delighting in the morning dew against her bare skin. The sun is low on the horizon, but it’s already promising to be a beautiful day. The air is crisp, the birds are singing, and she half expects rainbows to fall from the sky. She breathes deeply and, for a few minutes, finds peace.
Almost.
Because then she remembers what brought her here.
With a groan, Livy flops on the grass, not caring about her state of dress—or her hair, for that matter, her scarlet locks tangled, free from adornments save for a few twigs and burrs. She’s feeling quite sorry for herself as she drapes her arm across her eyes, the weight pressing her into the damp earth. If only it would open and swallow her whole.
“Well, Holy Lord God, it’s Livy Lou, queen of the fairies. What would your father say if he saw you like this?”
Livy smiles at the familiar voice, lips curling despite her melancholy.
“That we should bury our sorrows and rise like the sun,” she recites.
“Rise like the sun,” Aberama repeats as he drops into the grass beside her, stretching his long legs and propping himself on an elbow. “A mighty wise man, your William.”
She hums in agreement, grateful for the company, and together they sit in comfortable silence, watching the sun rise higher in the sky. Minutes pass until it blinds—not the light but the unfettered hope that for once feels so fucking foreign—and Livy turns away, tracing the ground, wishing she could take her father’s advice.
But her sorrows refuse to stay buried.
As she inspects the dirt beneath her brightly painted nails, Livy can’t help but wonder if she made the right decision. Which is strange in and of itself; usually, she’s so confident, trusting her gut and following it faithfully, eyes on the horizon, never looking back. It’s her life’s motto and often the only thing keeping her sane.
Except now she’s in love with Alfie—and doesn’t that just change everything?
She wipes her hands on her dress and closes her eyes to avoid Aberama’s curious gaze. Being here with him reminds Livy of those first months after escaping Bernard. It was all new then; the kind faces and open fires that chased away the darkness, smoke and songs accompanying them into the night. As joy and laughter replaced fear and pain, she was, in many ways, reborn.
How fitting that she should find herself here again.
Last night was a turning point, and Livy knows it, although she’s not ready to face the truth. Instead, it would be easier to ignore altogether, to fall into the comfortable rhythm of life on the road and let it consume her as she rides out this chapter.
With enough time and enough whiskey (or perhaps that broody Shelby gin), she might come to see this nightmare as a blessing in disguise. Livy was truthful with Esme; she missed the life, the freedom, even the creaky wheels beneath her bed.
One door closes, another opens—right?
Livy snorts before she can stop herself, drawing another look from Aberama, who she continues to ignore. Her usual optimism has bolted, much like Cyril, who is off in the bushes chasing a rabbit. This is no blessing, of that she’s sure. More like a lesson—the universe punishing her for holding too tightly onto something that was never hers to begin with.
Of course, Livy knew this day would come, but she wasn’t expecting this.
Only love could hurt like this.
His scent still lingers on her skin—warm and slightly spiced, like rum and sweat and home—and despite everything, a part of her wants him back. She misses Alfie dreadfully; those beautiful lips, maddeningly distracting as they trace the valley of her breasts, his whiskers teasing her flesh, leaving his mark behind.
Just like the mark he left on her soul, and he should be hers, even though logic and reason tell her to run and run and run.
And she will because as much as Livy hates to admit it, the truth is she’s terrified.
Not of Bernard McCall or Thomas Shelby, as one would reasonably expect…
No, Livy is afraid of Alfie.
Because if he knew about Bernard and still chose to do business with him, he couldn’t possibly love her back.
And how on earth is she supposed to survive that kind of heartbreak?
Livy shakes her head.
She’s always been impulsive, but she’s never been in love, and sometimes it’s easier to give everything up than to have it all taken from you.
She picks a blade of grass and pretends to be fascinated by the vibrant shade of green when Aberama reaches over and plucks it from her fingers.
“You know…” He pauses, eyeing Livy from beneath his low-slung hat. “I didn’t expect to see you again. At least, not anytime soon.”
Livy blushes at the unspoken question, her thick lashes kissing her cheeks as she averts her eyes. How can she explain when she barely understands herself? Everything is jumbled, and she’s never felt so confused.
“Yes, well, you see …”
She bites her lip and considers how much to share with Aberama. He’s fiercely protective of those he considers family, and Livy’s fortunate to count herself among the few not related by blood. But she doesn’t want to see a bullet with Alfie’s name on it. At least not yet.
“I’m taking precautions,” she finally replies. “Keeping a low profile for a bit.”
“Precautions?” Aberama repeats. He stares for a long minute before wiping his palm on his thigh and extending his hand. “Well, come on then. You know the promise I made to your father.”
Livy nods in relief and accepts his hand as he pulls her to her feet. She’s grateful for the help—and the lack of questions—but it’s still too much. The weight of everything is drowning her, and she needs a distraction, something familiar to ease her troubled mind.
“Aberama, darling, do you still keep that blade inside your boot?”
He flashes a brilliant smile.
“What the fuck does Michael have to do with anything?” sputters Esme, the shock written across her tired face.
Polly ignores her, keeping her chin raised and eyes hard, refusing to wilt beneath Alfie’s probing stare.
“Michael has recently shown an interest in joining the family business,” she continues. “But Thomas has … ambitions that come with unnecessary risk. Risks I cannot allow my son to be exposed to.”
“Right…,” mutters Alfie, stroking his beard as he contemplates her words. It’s just as he suspected: a fucking mess. “And what the fuck does this have to do with me?”
“I need you to terminate the deal with Bernard McCall. Ensure Thomas no longer has access to Liverpool.”
“Why would you want that?”
“Does it matter?” she snaps. “Help me, and I’ll help you find Livy.”
His heart clenches at the sound of her name, and in that moment, he’d sign away his fortune, his bakery, anything to get her back.
But then he has a better idea.
“Tell me more about your business in Liverpool,” Alfie demands.
Her eyes flash darkly. “Our business is not your concern.” Polly exchanges a look with Esme, and her face softens. “But I’ll make you a deal, Mr Solomons. Agree to help me, and I’ll tell you more about Bernard McCall. And trust me, there are things you need to know.”
“Trust you,” Alfie repeats, the words hanging heavy in the air. “Right, well that’s just it, Mrs Gray. Trust is a fragile thing.” He strokes his jaw. “And what about your boy? Is he … fragile?”
Polly leaps forward. “Are you threatening—“
Alfie stands, towering over her with his broad frame. “I don’t make threats,” he warns, advancing slowly until she has to crane her neck to face him. “Now, you’re going to tell me about Liverpool, you’re going to tell me about Bernard, and you’re going to help me find Livy. If she’s safe, nothing will happen to your precious son, and in exchange, I will end things in Liverpool.”
She glares at him, and Alfie can only imagine the gypsy curse she’s placing on his black soul. But he’s already damned, so he returns her cold stare. Livy is all that matters now, and he’d deal with the devil—or worse, a Shelby—to get her back.
“Fine,” Polly finally agrees, spitting on her palm and extending it to him. Alfie responds in kind, and she nods, inhaling deeply from her cigarette.
“Thomas is working with a group of Americans who support the Bolsheviks,” she begins, taking a seat. “He’s importing weapons from them under the protection of Shelby Company Limited. But security is tight in London, which is why he needs Liverpool.”
Alfie briefly closes his eyes. “Fucking hell. Meddling with the Russians, that silly boy.”
She snorts. “Exactly. It’s going to blow up in his face, and I don’t want Micheal around when it does.”
“And what about Livy?” he asks sharply. “Don’t fucking tell me she has anything to do with—“
“No, not the Russians,” she reassures him. But something in her tone has him on edge.
“But what?” he demands.
Polly gives him a sad smile. “Alfie.” It's the first time she’s used his given name, and a chill runs down his spine. “I’m assuming you know that Livy had a … difficult past?”
A growl escapes from his chest, a feral sound, raw and violent. “Yeah, I fucking know. And when I find the fucker responsible….”
Alfie trails off at the look on the women’s faces.
No.
Oh, fuck no.
The table goes flying, splintering into pieces, just like his heart.
“Bernard?”
“Yes.” Polly and Esme reply in unison.
He wants to vomit.
Alfie has a strong stomach—after France, not much offends him—but when he thinks about Livy, he nearly drops to his knees.
And he will soon, to beg her forgiveness.
But for now, violence will have to do.
“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to fucking kill him.” He stalks forward, reaching for Polly, unable to stop himself. “Does he have her?” he roars, yanking her to her feet. “Does he fucking have her?”
Polly remains oddly calm. “No,” she assures him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Alfie lets go, visibly relieved. “Right, then where the fuck is she?”
Polly and Esme exchange another look, and he glances around for something else to throw.
“Stop with the fucking faces and tell me where to find Livy before I cut off your—”
“She doesn’t want to be found,” interrupts Polly.
“I don’t give a fuck what she wants—“
“Maybe that’s the problem,” snaps Esme, arms folded defiantly across her chest. “You men are all the same. How do we know you’re not working with Bernard?”
“Esme, shut up,” retorts Polly.
“No, you shut it. Neither of you care about her, it’s all about Michael with you, and fuck knows what he wants—“
“Enough,” roars Alfie, his temper at breaking point. “Fucking, enough. I love her, yeah, and that’s all you need to fucking know. So gather your shit, and let’s go get her.”
There’s a moment of stunned silence before Polly nods, looking relieved as she collects her bag and makes for the door. But Esme stares at him, eyes dark like the window to her soul.
“I don’t give a fuck what they say about you,” she announces, stalking forward until she’s toe to toe with him. The top of her head barely grazes his chin, but Esme speaks with a confidence that betrays her small frame. “If anything happens to her, it’s you that will be afraid of me. Do you understand? I’ll be watching you, Mr Solomons.”
She takes a few steps backwards. “Always watching,” she repeats before turning on her heel, leaving Alfie no choice but to follow.
Bloody Shelby women.
“Fuck off, no. Categorical.” Alfie pokes the side of the wagon with his cane. “That there, right, is a coffin on wheels. If you want to travel like the living dead, knock yourself out. But you see, for my people, it’s a matter of principle, ain’t it?”
Polly sighs. “Do you want to find Livy or not? We can’t go any further by car, and it’s too far to travel by foot. So unless you want to ride a horse, this is your only option.”
“Ride a fucking horse,” Alfie mutters as he steps forward and nearly loses a shoe in the mud. “This is just fucking perfect, innit? Drag me out in the middle of nowhere, in one of your curious gypo wagons, yeah? Then you put a bullet in my fucking skull, and when my poor Jewish soul is liberated from my body—“
“I can’t fucking do this,” mutters Polly, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. She takes a deep breath and gathers her strength. “Mr Solomons, please, I implore you. Get in the fucking wagon. If there’s any hope of finding Livy, we need to move quickly.”
Alfie nods and, for once, does as he’s told.
The mud and wagon had provided temporary distraction, but now his nausea returns with a vengeance. His head is spinning, his mind frantic, desperate to pinpoint the moment where everything went so horribly wrong. How the fuck did this happen? All his men—a network of spies, a fortune in bribes—and not one goddamn whisper about that bastard McCall.
Because they’re all bad men, but there are just some lines you don’t fucking cross.
Alfie grits his teeth and settles into the vardo (which is surprisingly comfortable, although he’ll never admit it) when the truth hits him squarely in the face.
Thomas fucking Shelby.
It’s the only explanation. Somehow he knew the truth about Bernard and Livy, and purposely kept it from him to protect the Liverpool deal.
Because of the fucking Russians.
Alfie groans and runs a hand down his face, recalling the conversation in Tommy’s office. It’s all coming together now, and it’s not fucking good. Livy is gone, and he’d bet his left nut both Bernard and Thomas are searching for her, making this whole fiasco a race against time.
And here he is—creeping across the countryside in a fucking box.
To make things worse, his fate lies in the hands of not one but two Shelby women and for all he knows, he’s riding headfirst into a trap. But what choice does he have? He’s armed and angry, a dangerous mix, fueled by emotions that are entirely new, fucking raw, and he will find Livy because right now nothing else matters.
Of course, what happens after he finds her is another story.
Fucking hell.
Just 24 hours ago, he was working up the courage to share his feelings. Now he’ll be lucky if she doesn’t cut his fucking balls off.
And that’s if Livy agrees to see him.
Alfie shakes his head and sits taller in his seat. He’s negotiated ‘deal or die’ offers with some of Britain’s most dangerous men, and this is Livy. His Livy. When he finds her, he won’t give her a choice. After all, it was God himself who delivered her to his doorstep.
Some things are meant to be, and once he has her in his arms, he won’t let her go again.
A/N: So ... let me know what you think! I really wanted this chapter to be longer, but honestly, I’ve been sitting on this for months. It got to a point where I think I just needed to publish it, so I could get creatively unstuck! 🙈
Or at least, let’s hope!
Thanks to everyone still reading this story. I appreciate all of you xx
Tag List: @noz4a2 @confessionbrain @omgeternal @potter-solomons @quarterpastmidnight @woofgocows @shaddixlife @redhead7799 @cillmequick@goddessfuck @peakyscillian
#livy x alfie#alfie solomons#alfie solomons fanfiction#alfie solomons fanfic#alfie solomons x ofc#peaky blinders alfie#peaky blinders#peaky blinders fanfiction#peaky blinders fanfic#Tom Hardy#tom hardy fan fic
41 notes
·
View notes
Note
waitttt tell me about faedren’s fantasy surgery i don’t think i know about that
omg yeah cause it only happened a couple weeks ago! ummm so basically faedren was turning into a vampire right. got bitten by his friend who was essentially possessed by the power of a vampiric goddess and Fucking Died about it (didn't see heaven that time but he went to 0 hp) so! whoops! vampire time! which sucked and his body kept rejecting all of his own blood and eventually like. his guts. so the party had to get him what THEY thought would be essentially a blood transfusion to get him back to how he was before.
throughout all of this he's being terrible to his friends and especially the party member that got possessed and bit him. and it's because he's really shaken and having to confront his own mortality but truly he's been AWFUL to everyone. that party member says she loves him and he won't even really acknowledge it. bad time for this group.
anyway they had to make a choice between the creepy priestesses of that goddess or a rlly volatile wizard who wanted them to like. commit terrorism. faedren (religious freak who hates wizards) wanted the priestesses to do it but! none of the rest of the party trusted those guys (they were really creepy and their cathedral had a river of blood and stuff which was not too bad for faedren who was raised in a cult of murderous revenge but was really unsettling for everyone else) and eventually faedren agreed to let the wizard do it (not because he wanted to but his goddess sent an emissary to tell him that he had been practicing heresy and that he should stop being a dick to his friends and he was so upset about upsetting his goddess that he fully accepted that he was probably going to die and it was what he deserved 👍)
so they show up to the wizard after going on a little side quest for the materials that they need (some unmagical blood) and the wizard tells them that what they're going to do is Fully Kill Faedren And Bring Him Back. which is HORRIFYING but again he goes into this accepting it as punishment for being a bad follower of his goddess so he goes in there and lays down on the table and confesses his love to one of his party members fully thinking that he's not going to come back from this. (party member is a devil stuck in mortal form and he says "i love you" in infernal it's super emotionally meaningful actually.) they knock him out and then like. god. can't even remember all the things the dm said happened to his body. so many dice being rolled for all the wizards doing this operation... cracked him open and took out his heart and all his other organs, put his body in An Incinerator, reform it, reanimate it, it becomes a zombie for a second, they kill the zombie, and then bring his spirit back into his body—
and while his party is watching all of this go down, horrified, faedren appears in some kind of celestial meeting room, sees his goddess, sees his friends' gods, receives a sacred mission to go hunt down and slaughter the cult that raised him for their heresy against their goddess, and chooses to take the help of his friend's god and travel to the hells for like. plot reasons. can't entirely remember what's supposed to go down with that but! emotionally significant because what faedren chooses is an option that lets them go back to the place his party member considers to be home and an option that he thinks might let them like. settle down. incredibly meaningful gesture. and his friend's god tells him that when he comes back to life he'll be better than he was before but his blood will run like tar. and faedren goes "alright. cool. sounds good man" (<— awestruck from speaking with his goddess and run emotionally ragged)
so back on the mortal plane what happens is his party member (under the influence of like. theoretically his god) Sinks His Hand Into Faedren's Chest And His Nails Into Faedren's Heart and taints faedren's blood with his own blood. and THAT'S what brings faedren back. incredibly poetic moment where the party member who doomed him by poisoning his blood saves him by tainting it with her own. and faedren comes back and he's slightly more gorgeous than before and all his scars are gone but his blood runs black now 👍 and he's not going to get turned inside out by his own body transforming into a vampire 👍 hooray for modern medicine. he was absolutely correct to be horrified and it Did kill him but divine intervention came through for him in the end...
#would say so much more about his emotional state through all of this but this post is so long already.#have been talking about it in my little faedren tag i think so. more info in there.#this is just me telling you the little story :)#love u jules <3#faedren#ask#the pathfinder party
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Title: Volatile Status Condition
Ship: Nemona x Juliana
Rating: T
Summary:
“We, uh-- well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”
Miriam squinted at you.
“Could you be a little more specific, please?”
You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,
“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”
“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,
“Yeah, exactly. That.”
Wordcount: ~17k
Notes: This is rated T and is relatively tame, but it's still a bit spicier than my usual stories, so keep that in mind. Also up on a03
It had started out so innocently.
You were just getting a little shopping done with Nemona before heading out for a fun day: you'd planned a hike, a pokemon battle and a picnic afterwards. Nemona needed some pokeballs, so you'd dropped by the local Delibird Gifts.
The store was a lot busier than usual, which seemed strange since it was still pretty early. As you pushed through the throngs of people, though, you seemed to find the reason why. There was a booth set up near the back of the store, decorated with red and pink balloons and big, sparkly, eye-catching banners, some kind of promotion for a new product, it seemed. People were crowded around and gawking, as the man behind the booth was talking to customers with a big, cheesy smile and a loud voice.
“Step right up, folks, for the revolutionary new product that is going to transform the entire meta of pokemon battling as we know it!”
Naturally, such a claim caught Nemona’s attention. She squinted at the big signs, which read in flashy cursive,
Pokemon Love Potions!
100% Accurate & Effective
Invoke the Infatuation Status Condition On Command!
“What the heck? I gotta see this.”
You rushed to follow after Nemona, who quickly pushed to the front of the crowds.
“Nemona–”
You were about to suggest to her that it seemed like possibly a scam, but the man at the booth saw Nemona’s approach. Something in his eye sparked, as if catching sight of a perfect target for his sales pitch.
“Hello there, young miss! Would you like to be among the first to try Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions? It’s an incredible new product that’s premiering here, only at Delibird Gifts–”
Nemona wasn’t interested in listening to his pitch, though. She came forward and took one of the potion bottles from the booth, looking at it and cutting him off,
“But how’s it work? Wouldn’t using this on your pokemon just inflict them with infatuation?”
The salesman grinned and replied,
“Indeed! And that is why these potions are designed for a trainer to use on the opponent’s pokemon! You will notice, unlike other potion sprays, the nozzle on these bottles is far, far more powerful, allowing for simple, accurate aiming and long-distance spraying! It’s quick and effective, even a child could use it!”
Arriving to stand beside Nemona, you leaned in to inspect the bottle she had. It was bright pink and squat and looked very similar to the standard potion and super potion bottles, although the nozzle did look a bit different, as the salesman had noted; it looked like it was probably pressurized, like a can of bug spray or an air duster.
You frowned, commenting,
“Isn’t that against the battle rules or something? I’ve never heard of an item you can use on your opponents’ pokemon.”
Nemona set the little potion down and pulled out her phone.
“Let me double check. It does sound kinda fishy. I know that trainers giving hold items to their opponent’s pokemon is explicitly banned, because someone tried to do that once, but . . . hm . . .”
She trailed off as she pulled up the massive document that was the official rulebook for pokemon battling. It didn’t surprise you how quickly she had pulled it up; she probably had the whole .pdf practically memorized. While she was searching, you asked the salesman,
“How exactly was this potion made? As far as I knew, only Attract or Cute Charm can cause pokemon to fall in love. And destiny knot, of course.”
“And G-Max Cuddle from a Gigantimaxed Eevee,” Nemona chirped from beside you (while still scrolling). You chuckled,
“And G-Max Cuddle, yeah.”
The salesman looked pleased at the opportunity to brag about his product and answered,
“Our formula is an innovative concoction developed from Dream Mist obtained from the exotic Unovian species Musharna as well as Sylveon’s magical and psychic influences. It’s like purified, refined charm and adorableness in a bottle! We cannot reveal our exact refinery process, of course, as that’s a trade secret.”
You hummed skeptically, reading the bottle’s label. It was true that you’d heard of Dream Mist (you came from the ‘exotic’ land of Unova, after all), which was pretty powerful stuff. But the stuff in the bottle could just be sparkly food-colored water, for all you knew.
“So, technically, it’s not against any of the rules,” Nemona suddenly announced, finished with her search.
“Trainers directly giving hold items to an opponent is banned– there’s a reason Trick and Switcheroo are moves, after all– but no such ban exists for using general consumable items on an opponent’s pokemon. There is a ban on feeding berries to your opponent’s pokemon directly, but the way it’s worded is specific to berries, not all consumables.”
“Huh,” you said. She tucked the phone back into her pocket and added,
“But I think that’s only because nobody’s ever had a reason to try before. I’d say the legality of it’s still kinda in a gray area.”
“Worry not, my young friends. Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions are technically classed as a type of medicine, and thus there is no rule against using them on your opponent,” the salesman said, smiling. You didn’t like his smile, it was kinda creepy.
“A medicine? But it inflicts a volatile status condition!” Nemona argued.
The smarmy salesman answered,
“This potion inflicts feelings of love and adoration; it fills a pokemon’s heart with joy! Slyveon’s Love Potions are beneficial, technically speaking. Who wouldn’t want to experience love, after all?”
“Hmmm,” Nemona said, looking thoughtful. She eyed the bottles of potions.
“I guess that’s true . . .”
You crossed your arms. In a wary tone, you said,
“Nemona . . .”
She looked to you, smiling bright.
“Well, c’mon, you can’t tell me you’re not curious too, right? Trainer-inflicted status conditions could be kinda interesting, mix things up a little!”
You sighed. You answered,
“Yeah, okay. I do admit I’m a little curious too.”
The salesman enthused at you two,
“Wonderful! You young trainers are going to love it. Sylveon’s Love Potions are even better than a Pokemon’s moves or abilities, after all. They are the wave of the future for the infatuation condition.”
You raised a brow.
“Better? Better how?”
He tapped a case of his products and said proudly,
“No more discrimination! Pokemon of the same gender as their opponent or genderless pokemon can fall in love as well, guaranteed! Truly, love wins.”
Nemona’s eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh, really? Holy Tauros, now we have to get it, Jules!”
You frowned, watching the suspicious salesman. That was a pretty big claim. And why didn’t he lead with it?
Still, Nemona was so excited. You might as well try it. Maybe it really was as amazing as the guy said.
“Okay, okay, we’ll give it a shot,” you said. Nemona had already eagerly grabbed a few bottles. Her excitement didn’t fade even when the salesman told you the exorbitant price, and soon you both finished your shopping trip and left the place with a couple of shopping bags in tow. You sent your Koraidon out from his ball and hopped onboard, heading out to the South Province. It was a nice place for a hike, full of pretty canyons and trees. The sun was shining bright and it was a beautiful day, and you had a lot of fun ambling along the trail with your best friend.
Once you’d finished hiking, Nemona was eager to try out the new items with a pokemon battle. It was just a casual, low-stakes fight, so you didn’t feel too pressured or anything. You enjoyed your very serious battles with her too, of course– you loved that you could battle her with such fierce intensity. But some days, it was fun to just fool around, too.
After you cleared out her Goodra with your Cetitan, she sent out her Pawmot, which tended to be an absolute menace for your team. Neither one of you had used the fancy new item yet that you’d purchased, but you decided now was the perfect time to try. If you could infatuate the darn thing and give Cetitan a chance to use its Play Rough, you’d be golden. Smiling, you snuck the little potion bottle out of your bag.
Then you whipped it out, aiming it at Nemona’s Pawmot and squeezing the trigger. The liquid shot out of the bottle in a powerful jet stream, right on target.
Except, there was a bit of problem. That problem was Nemona’s Pawmot had very good reflexes. Probably far superior to human reflexes. And the moment you shot a squirt bottle full of potion its way, it panicked and leapt out of the way. Which, normally, wouldn’t be too big a deal, other than totally wasting a ton of money on the bottle of potion. The real issue was that Nemona was standing directly behind her pokemon.
So when Pawmot bounded aside, Nemona caught the dose of Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potion full on in the face. You absolutely drenched her, the bottle emptying its entire load in one go. You both froze in mutual shock, utterly caught offguard.
The bright pink liquid dripped down Nemona’s face and chest, her wet ponytail stuck to her neck, her crisp white uniform shirt ruined. You stared, your mouth agape.
“Uh . . . crap. I’m so sorry, Nemona–”
But then the full implications hit you like a train. This might be more than just a mild inconvenience. You stammered,
“W-wait, does this stuff affect humans?”
You thought back and realized that was a question you never asked the salesman. Then you thought about regular pokemon potions, and how they did help with human’s injuries, just like vitamins did and other items which affected humans too, and–
“Oh, my god,” Nemona intoned, her eyes growing wide in alarm. Okay, yeah, there was a very good chance this stuff affected humans too. In a panic, you yelled,
“Crap, crap, crap! Are you okay?! Oh my god, what do I do? Uh, can you get it off?!”
Nemona started to frantically swipe at her face and shirt, shouting,
“I don’t know, I don’t know!”
You ran up to her and started helping her wipe the potion off, but Nemona waved you away, yelling,
“Jules, don’t touch it!! It could affect you too, you silly Zangoose!”
“Oh, god, I’m sorry, I just– what can we do, we need to wash it off or something!”
You turned and blurted,
“Water, we need water, hold on!”
Digging through your bag, you quickly located a water bottle and rushed back up to her, twisting the little cap off. Then you upended the bottle over her head, dumping it over her.
Nemona gasped as the cold water drenched her, the water making a glug glug glug noise as emptied out onto her, soaking her even more thoroughly than the potion already had.
She stood there, frozen in shock again and staring at you with wide eyes, water dripping from her nose and chin, her shirt completely plastered against her skin, the rest of the water running down her legs and sopping her shoes.
You suddenly felt like the worst person in the world. Nemona began to ask incredulously,
“D-did you really just–”
“Oh my god I’m so sorry I was just trying to help, I’m so sorry!”
You buried your face in your hands, apologizing profusely. You heard Nemona laugh, which to be perfectly frank was absurd, given the circumstances.
“Juliana, it’s okay, I’m not mad– Jules, c’mon, it’s okay, I was just mad for like one second, but I know you were trying to help–”
You dropped your hands away and dared to look at her again, though you still felt like such a massive jerk. Anxiously, you asked,
“Did it at least help at all?!”
Your soggy friend seemed to think for a moment. For what it was worth, the water did seem to wash a lot of the potion off, although her shirt and some of her skin were still stained pink– your hands were stained pink too from trying to wipe it off. What the heck did they put in this crap that stained so well?
“Y’know what, I don’t think we need to worry. Either your quick thinking saved the day, or this stuff doesn’t affect humans to begin with.”
You looked at her hopefully.
“Yeah? You think so?”
She paused for a moment and then nodded, saying,
“Yeah, I feel fine!”
You stared at each other for a beat. You said awkwardly,
“Well, that was certainly . . . uh . . . something.”
Nemona broke out into giggles and you laughed along with her, relieved everything was fine.
“I know I said it a ton already but I’m so sorry–”
“Jules, seriously, it’s okay. It was an accident! Totally understandable.”
“I know, but I still feel bad. You’re drenched. You wanna go back and change?”
Nemona thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“Eh. I’m fine. Let’s finish the battle!”
Your eyes widened.
“Seriously? You wanna finishing battling??”
She grinned at you.
“Of course! I’m not gonna let a little thing like this stop me! Although I think it would be best if I held off on using my own potion for this match.”
With an amused smile, you said,
“Agreed. Well, okay, if you’re really fine with it, then we can keep going, I guess.”
It really shouldn’t have surprised you– of course she’d want to finish the match. You were pretty sure Nemona could break a leg mid-battle and she’d still want to finish the fight. You both returned to your pokemon battle. In the end, Nemona even beat you.
After the battle, Nemona had her Flamigo sort of blow-dry her with one of its moves, which seemed to work surprisingly well, so you didn’t even have to return home. Instead, you could lay down your picnic blanket and have lunch like you’d both planned. Before long, the little potion accident was all but forgotten. You enjoyed your sandwiches and snacks and ended up in a meandering, lazy conversation afterwards, just laying in the shade of the trees and enjoying the lovely sound of Nemona’s laughter at your antics.
“Look, I’m telling you, it’s true. Everyone eventually looks like their ace. Or at least one of the pokemon on their team, usually their lead. It’s inevitable. Here, see? The moment I saw Arven I was like, ‘Ah, yes, Skwovet Boy.’”
Looking at the picture on your phone, Nemona snorted.
“Did he like that name?”
“No, no he did not.”
“Okay, I’ll give you Arven, and I guess Penny, but there’s no way the rule holds true for everyone.”
“I’ll prove it! Just name somebody.”
“Okay, uh . . . how ‘bout Director Clavell?”
You took a moment to scroll through your Pokedex and pick out an entry. Then you showed her your phone. Nemona giggled and said,
“What?! Oh my god Juliana, that’s kinda mean.”
“No it’s not!! It’s just true!”
“I dunno–”
“Look, look, I’ll show you!”
You pulled up a photo of Clavell and placed it side-by-side with Oranguru.
“See? Look at their faces, their expressions. Identical! And the hair? Can barely even tell them apart! Plus the move ‘Instruct’? It’s a dead-ringer.”
Still laughing, she admitted,
“Oh, jeez, I do kinda see what you mean…”
Confidently, you told her,
“Okay, pick someone else.”
Humming, she said,
“Mmm . . . Prof Raifort?”
You searched up another image and showed it to her,
“Zoroark, see the hair, the ‘lil eyebrows, the sneaky smile?”
“Pfffttt! All right, how about Mr. Jaqc?”
“Oh, he looks like Arcanine for sure.”
“What? But Arcanine is like, bright orange and Jacq’s hair is purple. I’d guess him to be a poison type.”
“Nah, you can’t just look at color. Jacq looks all fluffy like Arcanine and he’s also super friendly and goofy too, but very loyal and knows his stuff!”
Nemona studied your phone, scrutinizing it seriously.
“Hm . . . that is a compelling argument. Maybe you really are onto something.”
She turned to you, smirking.
“Who do I look like, then?”
You crossed your arms, answering,
“Hah, that’s easy! You look like your Pawmot. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, super energetic and friendly, plus super adorable.”
Nemona broke out into giggles and shoved your shoulder a little.
“Stopit, you just like making me blush.”
“It’s true! You’re like, super smart too. And brave, and powerful, and pretty.”
“Jules,” she whined, covering her face. You laughed, unable to resist teasing her. She was just unbearably cute when she was bashful.
Suddenly turning to you, she shot back,
“Yeah well, you– you’re like– uh . . .”
She paused, gazing at you for a few moments. You raised your brows.
“. . . Like?”
You waited. Her expression softened as she looked at you, her smile gradually shifting into something very warm. In a gentle, almost reverent voice, she finally said,
“Vivillon.”
You blinked, a warm flutter stirring in your chest.
“O-oh?”
She leaned forward and continued softly,
“You are so sweet, and incredibly kind, and graceful . . . and you came into my life, dancing on the breeze as light as air, and made everything so much better.”
“O-oh,” you repeated, feeling your face warm. She leaned even closer to you, her eyes bright. Her voice dropped down even quieter, and she half-whispered to you,
“. . . but you’re also fierce and wild and way, way more powerful than people realize, and I think that excites me most of all.”
You could hear your heart hammering in your ears as Nemona smiled at you and touched your arm lightly, her fingertips tracing along your skin, causing a sensation like little electric sparks. You desperately tried to say something, but it came out as a little squeak.
Then Nemona paused. She blinked, as if coming to some realization.
“Uh,” she said, pulling back from you just a little.
“Jules, I feel . . . ummm . . . I feel pretty funny.”
You were entirely unable to give an intelligent reply and grunted,
“Funny ha-ha or funny weird?”
She glanced away, a crimson blush overtaking her pretty face.
“Oh, man. Umm, funny weird, I guess. I-I think . . . that love potion is . . . hitting me really hard all of a sudden.”
Oh. Oh, crap.
That explained it.
“Oh. Uh, uhmm. W-what should I do? How can I help?”
Nemona looked like she was considering your question seriously. Still not looking at you, she answered in a calm voice that only wavered a little:
“W-well, you definitely shouldn’t start kissing me, because I would kiss you back. Hard. And probably not stop.”
Your face flushed hot and you sputtered,
“Wh-whuh, wh-why would I suddenly start kissing you now?!”
Sounding half-panicked herself, she shouted back,
“I dunno, you asked!!”
You sucked in a breath and tried to settle down all the thoughts screaming in your brain. Okay okay, think, think. You pushed yourself up and climbed to your feet, shakily.
“R-right, okay, okay. So, uh. W-we should get you to a nurse! Right?”
Nemona answered,
“I-I guess! Yeah.”
“Okay, okay. Give me just a sec.”
You quickly gathered your things to repack the picnic basket, then turned to her.
“Okay, do you think you can walk?”
She paused a moment.
“. . . I’m not sure,” she admitted,
“I feel a little dizzy.”
You nodded.
“Okay, I’ll help you up.”
She looked so anxious, and you were starting to get really worried about her. You hoped this stupid potion didn’t have any dangerous side-effects. It was made for pokemon, so there was no knowing how a human’s biology might react to it.
You reached down and carefully helped pull Nemona to her feet. She swayed for a moment, so you kept your hands on her shoulders. Nemona’s warning that you she would kiss you back, hard, and not stop, was still looping in your mind, but you had to be the calm one here and look out for her safety, so you shoved the thoughts back down and focused. You studied her and asked,
“How are you feeling? Is your breathing okay? Are you still dizzy?”
Your friend shook her head, not meeting your eyes.
“I-I’m okay, I think.”
You didn’t like how uncertain she sounded. You tried to remember how to take someone’s pulse.
“Give me your wrist, I wanna try to take your pulse.”
She reluctantly held her non-gloved hand out to you. You tried to find her pulse, but you were never any good at this.
“Jeez, okay, hold on. Let me try the other pulse point, it’s easier.”
You reached up and set your fingers gently to the side of her neck, just under her chin. She stiffened at your touch, startled, and her eyes snapped up to yours; you realize belatedly you should have warned her.
“U-uh, sorry.”
You could feel her pulse and focused on counting it; it was bouncing along like a hyperactive hamster on crack.
“Christ, Nemona. Okay, I don’t think you’re in imminent threat of a heart attack, but it’s pretty damn high.”
Nemona’s eyes didn’t look quite right; her pupils were blown wide and she was gazing at you with an intensity you’d never seen before. When she spoke, it was with a forced calm, drawling out slowly;
“Well, that might have to do with the incredibly pretty girl who’s currently touching me.”
“Uh,” you grunted, moving to pull your hand away from her. She caught your wrist before you could.
“N-Nemona–”
“I should check your pulse too, shouldn’t I?” she asked, voice soft and husky. Turning your hand in hers, she exposed your wrist; but instead of holding her fingers to your wrist, she lowered her head down, her lips brushing against your pulse point. You jerked, your entire body immediately swimming in icy-hot goosebumps, straight up your back and neck and all the way to your scalp.
"W-W-WAIT, N-NEMONA–”
Your startled shout seemed to only encourage her, and you felt heat searing against you, her breath tickling as she pressed her lips to your delicate skin, followed by the sensation of the tip of her tongue swiping against you–
You made a noise at the back of your throat you didn't even recognize, and it took every ounce of your willpower to pull your hand away from her and back off. She froze when you pulled away, looking shocked for a moment. You quickly came to realize she wasn’t shocked at you, but rather, at herself. She blushed deeper and held a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. She mumbled into it,
“Oh my god, Jules . . . I’m so sorry.”
You stood there rigidly, forcing out,
“I-it’s okay! It’s fine. Look, we know you’re not yourself, i-it’s fine. We just gotta, um . . . get you back to the nurse!”
“Right,” she muttered quietly, not looking up. She repeated, “Nurse.” She seemed to be trying to wrap her brain around it. You repeated, somewhat shrilly,
“We can do this! It’s not far.”
You were saying it just as much for your sake as for hers. You were talking so loud, but that was because you were busy trying to drown out the thoughts screaming in your brain about your friend’s tongue on your skin and, oh, god–
Nemona repeated, a little louder,
“Okay. Okay. We can do this.”
She started to walk, hesitantly, and you were relieved she was finally moving, because you guys really needed to get out of there. You picked the picnic basket back up and lurched forward, but you’re a goddamn idiot, your lovesick brain still addled over ‘Nemona, tongue, skin’ and you tripped over your own stupid feet.
Nemona’s reflexes were good even when she was doped up on a huge dose of love potion, it seemed, and she caught you before you could eat a face full of dirt. Her amber eyes were wide in surprise, and you both stared at each other a brief moment as Nemona held you firmly in her arms.
Then she quickly let go of you and spun away, bemoaning,
“Unnghh, Jules, you’re killing me here!”
Feeling like such an ass, you quickly shouted,
“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’m not trying to, I swear!”
Nemona flung her hands up, turning to you and snapping a frustrated reply;
“You don't have to try! You never have! You've been incredible from the very first moment I've met you! Your passion, your heart, your brío! Y-you-- you have no idea how badly I've wanted to, t-to–”
"--Nemona I am begging you to not finish that sentence, I don't think it's in either of our best interests, you're indisposed right now, remember!"
She halted and stared at you. You could literally see the wildness behind her eyes and her struggles to rein it in; her breathing had become so heavy that she was practically panting.
“Y-yeah. Okay. Yeah. You’re probably right.”
Your face was so, so damn hot, you started to wonder if you might be at risk of fainting. You were an awful, horrible person because seeing Nemona in this state should have made you worried about her, worried about her wellbeing, but in the moment it was just so thrilling, seeing her so completely undone over the thought of you--
You didn’t even have the stupid potion dumped on you, for god’s sake, you needed to get a grip! Swallowing a suddenly very dry throat, you forced out,
“Let's just go. Go to the nurse. It's not far, we can make it. Let’s just– wait! We could order a taxi!"
Wow, if your brain was functioning properly, you would have thought of it sooner. But as you grabbed your cell phone to find the number, Nemona protested.
“W-wait, wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
You paused.
“Why?”
She was turned away from you, probably so she could focus better. She said in an unsteady tone,
"There’s hardly any room in those things, you know? I don't think I can be that close to you for any period of time, I can barely stand being this close already without-- without--"
“O-okay, okay, I got you, we'll-- we'll walk. Or– what about riding Koraidon, could we do that?”
She paused.
“Kind of the same problem, we can’t ride together like that.”
You cursed.
“Yeah, true. Although. I mean. I could send just you but, I really don’t want to do that, I don’t want to leave you alone like this.”
There really was no good solution. It seemed like walking was still best. You repeated,
“It's okay, we can walk, it's not that far. We can make it. We’ve done this walk out here before plenty of times, probably like a hundred times by now."
It was true, the walk wasn’t long. Probably just fifteen minutes at most to reach Mesagoza. That wasn't so bad, that was easy.
You steeled yourself, muttering once again,
"We can do this."
<3<3<3<3
Of course, in your current situation, the time felt like an eternity. You both walked in tense silence, not particularly close to one another but you didn’t dare stray too far, worried that Nemona might get another dizzy spell. The weather was still very lovely, at least, a soft, spring breeze and the cheery sound of Fletchling chittering. You tried to focus on that during your walk back, occasionally asking Nemona if she was still doing okay.
Unfortunately, you both ran into a problem before you could return to Mesagoza. It seemed to be a twist of awful luck, during a day you were already having such rotten luck. The issue was that you both met a trainer passing by along the same path, and they were keen for a battle. What’s more, it seemed they recognized Nemona.
“Oh, hey! Look at that! It’s Naranja’s little Golden Child. Nemona, wasn’t it? Wow, what luck. I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. They say you’re always up for a pokemon battle, no matter what! You wanna go?”
The young man was dressed in the same uniform as you both had, obviously a fellow student. But you immediately took offense to the way he was talking to Nemona, and his greasy little smirk. Nemona looked at him and answered warily,
“Um, actually, now isn’t exactly the best time for me, I’m really sorry. My friend and I need to get back to Mesagoza. If you give me your number I could battle you later, though?”
The boy’s smirk dropped into a scowl.
“What? You’re seriously trying to weasel out of it? What’s wrong, are you scared of having a little match right here, right now? They said you’d fight anyone, why am I exempt from that?”
Nemona glanced away, muttering,
“I’m really sorry–”
Normally, you weren't really the confrontational sort, but your blood was boiling immediately. Lurching forward in front of Nemona, you snapped,
“What's the matter with you? She said now isn’t a good time. Respect her boundaries and get out of her face, she doesn’t owe you anything!”
The boy looked you up and down, sneering.
“And who’re you, her pet Rockruff? I’m not interested in wasting my time on freshmen.”
Then he shoved you, pushing you back. You were so taken aback at first, you didn’t even know how to react. Was this guy for real? What the hell?
Unfortunately, when you were stunned into silence, this gave Nemona the chance to react in your stead. And she was . . . well, she was pissed.Far more so than you’d ever seen her before. In fact, she looked about ready to bite down on the man’s jugular. Stalking forward, directly into the student’s personal space, she snarled at him,
“Oh, so you want a battle so bad that you think it’s okay to shove around my best friend? FINE THEN, LET’S GO.”
There was a certain delight in seeing Nemona capitalize on her height, because she towered over the toxic trainer who’d been harassing you; you could see genuine fear glinting in the student’s eyes. He did not want to admit to it, though, and answered,
“U-uh, ok then, fine!”
He backed off and fumbled for his belt and released his lead pokemon, the purple-finned Veluza. Nemona threw out her usual lead, her Lycanroc appearing.
“Veluza, use Liqui–”
“Stone Edge,” Nemona barked, fists balled, eyes still locked in a withering glare on the trainer. Her Lycanroc cast her a sideways glance, sensing something was very different from normal; noting how tense she was, the dog turned and charged, snarling savagely, like a pokemon that was determined to remove what was deemed a very dangerous threat.
The rock that erupted from the ground KO’d the fish immediately. Lycanroc stood and growled at the trainer, and the boy nervously sent out a Tauros.
“Okay Tauros, use Raging Bull!”
Nemona held out her pokeball and wordlessly recalled Lycanroc. She threw another ball.
“Ceruledge. Flare Blitz.”
As the Tauros’ fighting move passed through the ghost type harmlessly and it was instead struck with a Flare Blitz, the student stammered,
“Wha–aa-uh? Ceruledge, I didn’t– uhh, Tauros, Zen Head–”
“Bitter Blade.”
The flaming pokemon’s spinning blades quickly felled the Tauros.
“Nobody told me you had a Ceruledge–”
“Flare Blitz,” Nemona said. The boy almost tripped and fell in his haste to send out his next pokemon.
“Wh– Tyranatar!”
The Flare Blitz crashed into his Tyranatar, blades smoking and spinning. The trainer cried,
“Tyranatar, use Stone Edge, quick!!”
The foe’s Tyranatar turned to comply, but it was frazzled by its trainer’s panic, and it missed the Stone Edge.
“Godamn it–”
“Close Combat.”
Ceruledge smashed straight through Tyranatar, toppling it over. Half his team was already down, in under three minutes.
“G-garchomop, go!” the trainer yelled, sending out the large dragon. Honestly, his team wasn’t too bad. But none of that really mattered, not when he was a crummy trainer and he was up against one of the best of all of Paldea. Especially when she was not in the mood to play around.
The trainer ordered his Garchomp to Earthquake, and Nemona recalled her Ceruledge so she could send out her Meowscarada. Garchomp quickly fell to Play Rough, and the trainer sent out a Talonflame to counter. Nemona swapped her Lycanroc back in and destroyed the fire bird immediately.
The boy sent out his final pokemon, a Cryogonal. He looked miserable as Nemona’s Lycanroc stared down at them, drooling, waiting for Nemona’s signal to finish things off.
“What’s the matter?” Nemona called to him, speaking something other than terse pokemon orders for the first time in a while.
“Don’t like losing 6-to-1? Here, let me give you a chance to take one of mine out, even the score just a little, huh? Which one of my team do you want me to send out?”
The trainer blinked, looking startled and annoyed. He asked,
“What? Are you . . . are you toyingwith me?”
“Which one do you want,” Nemona repeated, icily. The trainer jerked and stammered,
“U-uh, uh, Meowscarada?”
Nemona recalled her Lycanroc, smiling. The smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Okay! Here goes!”
She flung a ball, her Pawmot materializing.
“Oops, wrong one. Silly me.”
Nemona took an orb from her pack and flung it. Pawmot exploded into crystals, terastializing.
“Oops again! I’m so clumsy.”
The trainer looked angry, incredibly frustrated, and frankly a little freaked out, but he still called to his pokemon,
“Cryogonal, use Ice Beam!”
Lazily, Nemona instructed,
“Okay Pawmot, let’s . . . ehhh, let’s use a Thunder Wave, why not?”
Pawmot was struck by the incoming Ice Beam, grunting in pain, but not fainting to the move. It charged up and sent a shockwave rolling over to its opponent.
“Just finish the battle off already!” the trainer yelled in disgust. Nemona crossed her arms and stared at him.
“Oh? You want this to stop now?”
He hissed through his teeth, muttering curses under his breath.
“Yes,” he finally said, staring miserably at the ground.
“Fine,” Nemona said sharply,
“Apologize to Juliana, and then we can finish the battle.”
“What–” his head whipping up, he seemed about to protest, but he shut up the moment he saw Nemona’s eyes, deadly serious. Face red, he reluctantly turned to you.
“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” he muttered.
Nemona nodded in satisfaction.
“Good.”
Then she turned to her Pawmot.
“Okay, Pawmot, Close Combat.”
Her pokemon rushed headlong into the massive snowflake, shattering to bits. The young man recalled the pokemon back to its ball, defeated and humbled.
And then, Nemona’s voice ordered calmly:
“Pawmot, use Charge.”
The pokemon rubbed its little paws on its cheek pouches, charging up energy, building and building in its sparkly, crystallized body. It shone brighter and brighter, until it was almost painful to look at. The trainer looked up, his eyes growing wide. He stuttered,
“I-I-I’m out of pokemon! That was six! Wh-what are you– I’m all out!”
Her arms still crossed, Nemona regarded him calmly. After a moment, she answered slowly,
“Hmm. Well . . .”
She glanced to her Pawmot.
“Then I guess you better find some more . . .”
Her gaze returned to the trainer. Her eyes took on a hard edge. She intoned quietly,
“Or you better run.”
The trainer looked as though he was about ready to wet his pants, falling over himself to grab up his pokeballs and turn tail, scrambling down the path as fast as he could, like the little coward he was. For a while you could do absolutely nothing but stare as he ran away, simply trying to absorb the past ten minutes that had played out before you.
Eventually, Nemona returned Pawmot to his ball. Then she heaved a groan and turned away from you, looking . . . embarrassed, to your surprise.
“U-ugh. Juliana, I . . . I’m really sorry about all that. Cielo santo, I can’t believe I just did that . . .”
You raised a brow, confused.
“Sorry about what?”
She seemed too ashamed to even face you. She gestured vaguely, crying out,
“That! All that! I was so freaking mean, I obliterated that guy. Ay, it was like I couldn’t even stop myself, I just . . . I got so mad when he pushed you, and the way he was talking about you, like you were beneath contempt or something and– gahh! I couldn’t stand it.”
Her eyes were still lit in anger just thinking about it. You told her calmly,
“Nemona, don’t worry about it. Your reaction was perfectly understandable, that guy was being a massive jerk!”
“Yeah, but that’s no excuse!” Nemona protested, shaking her head.
“I know I’m bigger then that, I can’t stoop to, like . . . tormenting someone during a battle like that. Dios, I even threatened him with Pawmot . . .”
She cringed, mumbling,
“You must think I’m a terrible person after that.”
You bit down on your lower lip as you thought back to watching Nemona absolutely dominating that douchebag of a trainer.
Don’t tell her she looked hot while she kicked his ass, oh god, don’t say it
“U-uh, no, not really." You paused, mumbling, "Quite the opposite, actually.”
Nemona glanced up at you, asking,
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it
“Uh . . .”
You rubbed your face, frustrated with how difficult it had become to think clearly. What was wrong with you today? If you didn’t know any better you would have thought you’d been the one dosed with the stupid . . .
Your train of thought stalled as you gazed at your hand, still stained pink from when you were trying to help Nemona wipe the potion off.
“Oh. Crap.”
“What is it?” Nemona asked, looking concerned. You shook your head, trying not to worry her too much.
“N-nothing. It’s just, u-uh, I think . . . I might have absorbed some of that potion earlier.”
“Oh.” She paused, then added,
“Crap.”
“Yeah.”
A few moments passed. Then you shook your head and reassured her,
“Look, it’s fine. Nemona, you have nothing to worry about, that guy wanted a battle and you gave him one, so fair’s fair! No one got hurt and maybe next time he’ll think twice about acting like a horrible little bottomfeeder. Besides, you know you’re under the influence of weird pokemon potions right now. So let’s just stop worrying and try to get back to the nurse before we both end up ff– uhhh– let’s just get back, okay!?”
“Okay, okay!”
You both returned to walking the path leading up to Mesagoza. Fortunately, you were able to complete the journey this time without any other . . . incidents. The only real concerning thing left at that point was your old nemesis, The Stairs. While normally you’d hop on Koraidon to skip them, that wasn’t an option this time, so you and Nemona begrudgingly scaled them together.
<3<3<3<3
By the time you’d reached the top of the stairs, sweating and panting, you were very ready for this tense journey to be finished. You both rushed to the nurse’s office on the bottom floor of the central building, finding Nurse Miriam sitting at her desk, tending to paperwork.
When you burst in, you startled her a little, and she quickly stood and asked what the emergency was. It was only then you realized you hadn’t really planned on what you were going to say to her. Awkwardly, you exchanged a look with Nemona and then answered,
“We, uh– well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”
Miriam squinted at you.
“Could you be a little more specific, please?”
You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,
“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”
“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,
“Yeah, exactly. That.”
The nurse came over, indicating to Nemona to sit at the patient table, and she grabbed her stethoscope.
“Could you tell me more about this ‘love potion’? This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”
As the nurse checked Nemona’s breathing and heart, you tried to fill her in.
“Well, this morning we were in Delibird Presents and there was this sort of promotion for a new item? You’re supposed to hit your opponent’s pokemon with it. So we bought some to give it a try. Except when I went to use it, Nemona’s pokemon dodged and she got the full dose instead. At first we thought it didn’t really affect her, I washed it off with water, but . . .”
Miriam stuck a thermometer in Nemona’s mouth and scowled.
“Sounds like a flagrant disregard for the National Pokemon Drug and Food Administration, there’s no way they signed off on a product like that. Do you happen to still have the bottle with you? It would help to know the ingredients.”
You thought a moment.
“We ditched the bottle already . . .”
“I schill hash my bobble in my bag!” Nemona said excitedly, around her thermometer.
“Oh, right, yeah!”
When she pulled it out and handed it to Miriam, the nurse quickly checked the bottle over. She didn’t look happy.
“This is ridiculous! There isn’t even a list of ingredients! All I can find is ‘Formulated from Dream Mist and Sylveon Magic.’”
You answered,
“I think he said the exact ingredients were a trade secret or whatever . . ."
In a tone of disgust, she muttered,
“This smells like a lawsuit to me.”
Then she turned and took Nemona’s thermometer, asking brightly,
“How are you feeling, Nemona? Can you describe your symptoms for me, after you came into contact with the potion?”
Nemona blinked up at her, looking a little uncertain.
“Well . . . at first I didn’t feel any different. I think it was around an hour later when I started feeling funny. Kinda . . . really happy, and my thoughts all felt sort of fuzzy and warm. Like I could actually feel them swirling around in my brain, you know? And my heart was goin’ kinda fast. But I didn’t really notice too much until– uh. . . well, Juliana and I were talking and I, w-well I . . . I-I . . .”
She trailed off, glancing away and blushing. The nurse, taking mercy on her, said,
“It’s all right, sweetie, I think I get the picture. How are you feeling now? Is it just as strong or has it started to wear off at all?”
Nemona paused for a moment, considering the question. Shyly, she glanced over at you and held your gaze. It was just eye contact, but you felt heat coiling in your belly as those amber eyes remained locked with yours, as if she could read your thoughts.
“Y-yep it’s still there!” Nemona quickly answered, turning away and clearing her throat.
Nurse Miriam nodded, sighing.
“Very well. Sit tight for a little bit, you two. I’m going to try and call the number on this potion bottle and see if I can get any answers.”
She moved over to sit at her desk and make the phone call, while you stood there awkwardly beside the patient table Nemona was seated on. You pondered the mystery of what to say to your best friend while giving her emotional support for being hit with a love potion. Which had made her become infatuated with you.
What could possibly be helpful in this situation?
Eventually you settled on saying,
“I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out soon. And then it’ll be just a funny story we can look back on, right? Haha . . .”
“Mmm,” she answered, gazing at the wall.
Fortunately, Miriam wasn’t away for long. She soon finished up her phone call and returned, her expression inscrutable.
“If you’re about to tell me the potion was nothing but water and food coloring and this whole thing was just the placebo effect I’m gonna flip a table,” Nemona grumbled.
Nurse Miriam chuckled.
“Oh, no, I’m reasonably confidant you have been exposed to some kind of drug. Unfortunately, the man on the phone was utterly no help, so I can’t say for certain what it was. At this point, all we can do is monitor you closely and treat any possible harmful side-effects if they arise. I’ll have to hold you for observation.”
Nemona frowned, looking as though she really didn’t like this answer.
“For observation? For how long?”
The nurse scribbled some notes down on a clipboard.
“Oh, for several hours, at least, to be on the safe side.”
You watched as the anxiety quickly materialized in Nemona’s expression. Her voice taut, she asked,
“Hours? Is it, um, is it completely necessary? I-I . . .”
Miriam tried to answer kindly but firmly when she trailed off.
“Well, yes, I do think it’s important for you to be monitored.”
Your heart wrenched at the sight of Nemona struggling to fend off a full-blown panic. The signs were subtle, but you knew her well enough by now to recognize them clear as day. Quickly, you butted in,
“What if she went back to her dorm and I monitored her? Would that be okay?”
Miriam glanced to you, answering warily,
“Hmm . . . well, I’d prefer it if she stayed here, but . . .”
With pleading eyes, you said,
“I’ll watch her real close, I promise.”
Miriam hesitated for a bit. You stared at her until she sighed.
“. . . all right. If you take her vitals every 30 minutes and call me at the first sign of trouble, then I suppose that would be all right . . .”
Yes.
“I’ll take really good care of her!”
Looking relieved but still a little troubled, Nemona gestured to your hands, stained pink, and asked,
“But Jules, what about you? You told me that you were–”
You quickly tucked your hands behind your back and cut her off,
“–ahaha, I’m fine, Nemona! Yeah, I was a bit tired from our hike, but I feel great now!”
Miriam frowned, glancing between you both. You beamed at her with a big, fake grin, and Nemona decided to remain silent. You prayed she wouldn’t notice anything odd.
“. . . very well.”
You sighed in relief, but it was apparently premature.
“However . . .”
Nurse Miriam fixed you with a serious look.
“I do have one concern. Forgive me if this feels like prying, but . . . Nemona seemed to imply that you were, ah . . . her . . . object of affection? In that case, wouldn’t that make being her caretaker a bit difficult?”
You blinked, then glanced awkwardly to Nemona. Desperate to convince her, you stammered,
“I-I’ll, I’ll manage it. I know I can do it!”
From the patient table, Nemona added,
“It’ll be okay. It’s not so bad when I’m focused on something.”
The nurse didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the arrangement, but she acquiesced anyway.
“All right, if those really are your wishes. Then, Juliana, give me a moment and I’ll set you up with a few things to borrow while you monitor Nemona.”
<3<3<3<3
Before long, you both were out of the nurse’s office and had made it safely back to Nemona’s dorm room. When you’d entered and Nemona clicked the door closed, she sagged against the door and sighed in relief.
“Dios mío, I am so glad to be back here.”
She looked so drained. Gently, you told her,
“You should rest, tesoro.”
She glanced up to you, concern etched on her face.
“Yeah, I know. But first, are you sure you’re okay with doing this, Juliana? I know you’re partially affected too.”
You nodded, telling her firmly,
“It’s okay. The dose I got was barely anything compared to yours, and I think it’s worn off by now anyway. I just didn’t want the nurse to know, because she would have made a fuss and might not have let us back here, you know?”
Nemona nodded slowly.
“Yeah . . . I still feel kinda bad, though, making you take care of me. . .”
You laughed.
“What? You’re not making me do anything, I wanted to! I could see how much you hated the idea of staying in the infirmary, I wasn’t gonna let you stay there!”
Nemona sighed again.
“Yeah . . . I just, ugh. I can’t be cooped up there right now, I think I’d feel like a caged Incineroar or something.”
“And that’s fine,” you reassure her, going into her kitchenette to fetch her a glass of water. When you returned to her side, you told her,
“Of course you’d want to come back to your dorm so you can actually relax. We can just chill now, so no worries!”
She took the glass from you and downed the water in one go. Then she answered,
“. . . okay. As long as you’re sure you’re okay with being stuck watching me.”
You grinned, reassuring her,
“Of course I’m okay with it, you silly Zangoose. You know I’m always down for hanging out in Zona Nemona. So don’t give it another thought and just relax, all right? Doctor’s orders.”
She gave a dry laugh.
“All right, all right.”
Nemona decided she wanted to change her clothes since her outfit still felt a little sticky from the potion, so while she was in the bathroom you kicked off your shoes and opened Nemona’s cupboard in the kitchenette. You found a muffin and inhaled it in just a few bites and then wandered into the bedroom area. You had been in Nemona’s dorm so often that sometimes you suspected you’d seen more of it than your own room.
Suddenly realizing how weary you felt, you plopped down on Nemona’s bed and groaned, splaying out over the comforter. It had been a long, weird day. At least you were back now. The worst of it was probably over by now, right? You just had to keep an eye on Nemona and wait for the stuff to wear off. You sighed, closing your eyes, your thoughts drifting aimlessly for a bit as you rested.
You heard the click of the bathroom door opening and Nemona emerging, saying,
“So d’you wanna watch anything, Jules, or . . .”
You blinked your eyes open and answered lazily,
“Mmm?”
Nemona appeared at the foot of the bed, gazing down at you. She remained silent, as if she’d abandoned her sentence entirely. You blinked sleepy eyes at her and said,
“Hi. Sorry, what were you saying?"
You watched as the blood rushed to her face, her eyes wide, cheeks reddening incredibly fast. Oh, crap, what– what did you do? You were just sitting there.
“Um,” Nemona mumbled, struggling for words.
“Y-you . . . uh . . .”
She seemed to tear her eyes away with some effort, looking towards the wall. She swallowed, her throat bobbing. Quietly, she stammered,
“M-maybe . . . maybe it would be best if you didn’t . . .”
Her voice went even quieter, until it eked out of her, so very small:
“. . . lay on my bed like that . . .?”
You blinked, not getting it at first. You had to actually run it through your head again to understand.
“Oh. OH.”
You hadn’t given it a second thought, because you had laid on Nemona’s bed before, normally. But thinking about it now, sprawled out across her bed like that, there was definitely the potential for some, uh, less-than-innocent thoughts?
You jerked, sitting upright.
“I-I– sorry! I didn’t–I wasn’t really thinking!”
Nemona looked intensely embarrassed at having to confess the problem to you. Talking more at the wall than you, she said,
“It’s not your fault, it’s just, I-I, I was a little worried about us being here in my room alone together, a-and then I came out and you were just . . . hnnnff . . .”
You quickly exited the bed and shimmied away from her, feeling a blush of your own. You had to remind yourself this was just the potion talking. This was just the potion. Nemona wasn’t normally plagued with intense longing for you that she could only barely keep in check.
Right?
You laughed nervously, saying,
“Okay, no sitting on the bed for me, check! I’m just gonna . . . go sit at your desk. Maybe get some homework done. Haha . . .”
“O-okay,” she agreed, sitting on her bed, looking a little lost.
Things after that were . . . well . . . the best word for it was probably ‘tense.’ You got your biology textbook out and did some homework while Nemona hopped online and watched some pokemon tournament videos. You had hoped this was the perfect chance for you both to finally relax and recuperate from the strange drama of the day. But you could sense how restless Nemona was. You recognized the videos she was watching– they were some of her favorite matches. She liked to re-watch them over and over, and normally she was jazzed to see them. But not today. She kept fidgeting and sighing. You asked her if she needed anything, but she said she was fine. So you just kept highlighting bits in your textbook and trying to focus on your work.
The only thing that broke up the monotony was when the alarm went off on your phone and you had to check Nemona’s vitals. You didn’t make the same mistakes as last time, though. You just handed her the little pulse-checking device you’d borrowed from Miriam and the thermometer. It was awkward, but at least it didn’t take long. Her vitals all looked normal, so there was no reason to call the nurse or anything. You then went back to studying, and Nemona returned to her bed with her tablet.
You felt like the situation was deteriorating, though. Your friend only grew more and more restless. You tried to suggest ideas on stuff she could watch or do; watch more episodes of that anime Penny had gotten her into, or maybe play some of that adorable farming sim you’d discovered last week. To Nemona’s credit, she tried your suggestions, and tried very hard to get into it. But it seemed her ability to focus was just gone. As you watched her from the corner of your eye, concerned, you felt as though you were getting as tense as Nemona was feeling, just from worrying about her.
Eventually, Nemona gave up, tossing her tablet aside. She hopped up from her bed with a disgusted grunt and began to pace. You looked up to her.
“You okay?” you asked her gently, knowing she wasn’t.
“I feel so antsy,” she said, running a hand through her hair, where her ponytail was slowly coming undone.
You sighed,
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do?”
She grumbled,
“I dunno, I dunno, I–”
Suddenly she stopped and turned, looking at you with intense eyes, saying,
“I wanna pokemon battle!”
You hesitated a moment and said,
“W-well, we can’t indoors . . .”
Her expression fell and she cursed under her breath something in Spanish you couldn’t make out. With a bit of a desperate edge, she said,
“We could go to the schoolyard!”
You frowned. Slowly, you answered,
“I . . . don’t think it’s a good idea, honestly. You’re probably not gonna want to be out and about when you’re . . . like this. Don’t you think?”
Nemona made another pained noise and ran her hand through her hair again, her hair band dislodging even further in her messy ponytail.
“I know you’re right and I hate it,” she groaned, turning back to pacing. Your heart felt like it was being slowly squashed in a vise, watching her suffering like this.
“I’m so sorry, Nemona, I wish I could make it better. Do you want me to call the nurse? Maybe she could give you something to help . . .”
Nemona shook her head adamantly, looking anxious at the suggestion.
“No, no, I don’t. . . I don’t. . .”
“Okay, that’s fine. We don’t need to.”
Nemona had stopped pacing and was staring dully at the wall. You stood from your seat, approaching her slowly. You weren’t sure if you could make things better, but you were determined to try.
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna think of something to do, okay? I’ll brainstorm for the both of us. I’m sure I can think of something.”
She looked so wound up and stressed, and you just wanted to make it go away for her. You found yourself automatically reaching out for the hair band that was all crooked and uncomfortable-looking in her hair, and gently tugged it loose for her, her dark, long strands slipping free.
Softly, you told her,
“It’s gonna be okay, girasol. I’ll think of something. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do?”
Nemona turned, slowly. She looked at you with those pretty amber eyes of hers, the ones that could look so fierce and fiery mid-battle, but that could also look so soft and warm and honeyed when she was smiling at you; in the moment, you couldn’t tell which they were. It almost seemed as though it was a mixture of both.
“W-well . . . every time you call me by such sweet names it . . . makes it harder for me to . . .”
She trailed off. Her entire body looked tensed up, drawn as tight as a bow string. She glanced away from you, wetting her lips, before finishing softly,
“. . . hold back.”
The heat returned to your face again, and you suddenly became very keenly aware of your proximity.
“Nhhh,” you commented, with your usual amount of eloquence. Her eyes returned to yours and suddenly the warning bells were going off in your head like klaxons, because the longer she gazed at you, the faster you felt your own self-control buckle.
You had to stop this. You had to. You promised you’d look after her, she trusted you to not take advantage–
“W-wait,” you mumbled, forcing yourself to back away a few steps.
“I-I have an idea! I know what we can do to pass the time.”
Those stunning eyes of hers never left yours, although now she looked amused. You watched as she quirked a brow and commented, smooth as silk,
“Yeah, I had a couple ideas myself.”
It took you a moment to process that, and then your eyes widened and you yelped,
“N-nemona! C’mon!”
She had the audacity to smirk at you. It looked way too good on her, especially when coupled with the rare treat of seeing her with her hair down. You bit down on your cheek and told yourself to focus.
“W-we can watch Ghost & Glitch Hunters! The first few seasons are up on RotomTube, we can marathon them! It’ll easily take us through the night.”
Nemona’s brow furrowed in confusion. Hesitantly, she answered,
“I . . . I guess we could? But Jules, you know I kinda hate that show, right? We’ve talked about it before, don’t you remember?”
You nodded.
“Yeah! Of course I remember. That’s why I’m suggesting it. It’s the perfect distraction! You’ll be too scared from the show, so you won’t be able to think about . . . about other stuff.”
Your were worried she’d hate the idea; quite honestly, you wouldn’t blame her. But it was the only thing that had jumped into your head, so you had to latch onto it.
To your surprise, though, she seemed receptive to the idea once you explained it.
“Hm . . . that does make some sense, actually. It might actually work.”
You were incredibly relieved, because you had no clue what you were gonna do if she said no.
“G-great! I’ll grab my laptop and fire things up! And we can make it a whole big thing, we can make popcorn and stuff, if you want. Ooh, and turn all the lights off!”
Nemona looked immediately regretful.
“Ughhh. Do we have to turn the lights off?”
Already headed over to grab your laptop, you answered with a cheeky grin,
“Well if you’re scared enough with the lights on then we don’t!”
“Ughhh.”
<3<3<3<3
It was actually getting pretty late in the day, so after checking Nemona’s vitals again, you both have a light dinner before setting up the spooky marathon watch. (Dinner consisted of zapped TV dinners, because neither of you were particularly good at cooking, nor did you have the mental capacity for anything else today) Then you popped some popcorn and set the laptop up on the foot of Nemona’s bed for her. The student dorms weren’t exactly super well-furnished, so it was kind of the only place you could put it. You moved her desk chair a bit closer to her bed, close enough you could mostly see the video but not close enough to . . . well. Be within reach of her. It was probably best to maintain a safe distance for now.
Then you hit start on the playlist and began with the first episode. Ghost & Glitch Hunters was a very cheesy, melodramatic program that followed a team of self-proclaimed ‘experts’ on paranormal phenomenon, who travelled to places to try and document said phenomenon. If you asked any pokemon professor, of course, they’d be the first to tell you that Ghost-type pokemon are just as natural and explainable as any other pokemon type; the fact that their bodies were largely made of gas and that they could control their density at will, manipulate dreams, etc etc, was honestly no stranger than the myriad other qualities and abilities that other pokemon types had at their disposal. However, superstitions about Ghost Types had been popular for ages, and these spooky stories still persisted about them. Another thing that was very popular, especially in particular regions, were urban legends about so-called ‘glitch’ pokemon. Supposedly these ‘glitch’ pokemon came from bizarre, distorted dimensions and were associated with terrifying ‘glitch phenomena,’ which happened when the laws of nature somehow became warped or broken.
You were a little obsessed with glitch pokemon stories, ever since you were a little kiddo in Unova, eating up the stories that came mostly from Kanto and Johto, with the occasional reports from Hoenn thrown in, too. Now that you’re older, you know in all likelihood the stories are complete bogus, but it was still fun to imagine the possibilities anyway; and the creepy stories made you a bit nostalgic, to be honest. Nemona, on the other hand, did not share your affection for the tall tales– she found the stories unnerving.
It was actually pretty adorable. Nemona was an incredibly smart, brave young woman, possibly the bravest and smartest person you knew; you’d seen her face down angry, Tereastalized wild pokemon twenty, thirty, forty levels higher than her team; you’d battled side-by-side with her to save the region from the Paradox Pokemon; and you’d seen her face down a semester carrying a full load of classes, active membership in several school clubs, Student Council duties and Champion duties back-to-back and still come out of it smiling with top grades. You admired her more than you could possibly say. And yet, she freaked out over the silly ghost stories from your cheesy TV show. You kinda loved that about her.
. . . okay, you kinda loved everything about her. But that was beside the point.
The first few episodes weren’t too bad. They focused on Ghost types and investigating rumors about some ghosts that the Silph Scope failed to decipher in some small town in Kanto. Nemona spent some time nitpicking the rumors and complaining that they didn’t make much sense. The blurry pictures they captured and the dramatic music and crackpot theorizing was pretty tame, relatively speaking. But things amped up a little as you worked your way further into season one. The investigators travelled to Cinnabar Island, to pursue the popular rumors of a glitch named Missingno. You perked up at this episode, because it was one of your favorites. Nemona, apparently, did not feel the same.
“Oh, no, can we skip this one?”
“What?? It just started, what do you mean?”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t really like Missingno stuff,” Nemona grumped, making a face.
“Why?”
“Because! It’s. I dunno, it’s weird.”
On screen, the investigation team was outfitting a glorified dinghy boat with their equipment, in preparation for their trip. The boat was woefully inadequate for the choppy water, which the investigators blithely ignored.
“But you told me you like weird. You said I was weird.”
Nemona quickly corrected,
“I do! But you’re good weird. Missingno is creepy weird.”
“Maybe Missingno is just misunderstood. Maybe they just wanna be loved,” you teased. She groaned.
“You’re just exploiting my good nature to keep me watching.”
You shrugged, grinning.
“Maybe.”
The show cut to night, when the crew embarked on their journey. They were sailing along the island’s coast, aiming a bright spotlight into the crashing waves. Rumors held that Missingno hid deep in the ocean by day and surfaced at night just a few miles offshore, perhaps to feed or to cause some other kind of mischief. You watched as the crew became excited over strange readings on their sonar, and they raced to catch up to whatever was causing the odd readings.
“Their boat is way too tiny! They’re gonna capsize just from sailing out in that storm,” Nemona complained anxiously.
“Pssh, yeah, I know, it’s kinda ridiculous. I think that’s the only thing their budget could afford.”
The waves kept bouncing them around as they struggled to aim their spotlight and keep the cameras steady.
“Why don’t they just–”
Suddenly, there was a deep, guttural noise that echoed out across the ocean, and the crew froze on the spot, shocked. As the boat bobbed up and down in the water, the noise repeated, louder, shuddering and twisted, sounding a bit like a human voice crying out in pain.
Nemona’s eyes were wide and she shrank back a little in her bed.
“What the heck was that?!”
You grinned, munching on popcorn.
“It’s weird, yeah?”
“It sounded almost human,” she said, eyes glued to the screen. The camera cut to an image on sonar, showing the sea below. It was incredibly fuzzy, but there was a cluster of shapes slowly moving along, lurking among the deep. As the crew’s boat rushed along and they drew closer, it became easier to make out; there were distinct, sharp lines, and what looked to be a head with a long snout. There was something strange about it, though; where there should have been eyes, there was only empty space. The show displayed an artists’ rendition of Missingno beside the sonar image, using red pen to outline the shape in the water.
“What?! They think it’s just a- a skeleton?”
You excitedly answer,
“Yeah! It’s like, the tortured remains of a long-extinct species, according to some people.”
“But that doesn’t . . . maybe it’s just wearing the skull, like Cubone or something?”
You shook your head.
“Nah, there’s nothing inside the skull. It’s empty, it’s just a reanimated skeleton goin’ around.”
Nemona made a skeptical noise, but then the boat seemed to be struck with something large and heavy, rattling and shuddering from the impact. The crew scrambled to assess the damage.
“Oh my god, what was that? They’re gonna sink their dinky boat!”
The ship rumbled with another strike, and then another, something thumping against the hull. It became clear they didn’t simply hit a rock, and that whatever was hitting them was doing so intentionally.
“Aaaaaaa, Jules!” Nemona whined, reaching out and grabbing her nearby Goodra plushie to hide behind. It was far too adorable. You laughed,
“What? It’s fine, they’re just getting a little smacked around.”
She pleaded,
“Come sit with me at least, this is way too creepy alone!”
You hesitated a moment, ready to ask her if she was sure that was a good idea, but then you realized she was probably way too freaked out for it to matter. So, you obligingly got up and sat down beside her, the bed dipping a little as you slid into place. Nemona looked to you and seemed to be a little relieved at your presence.
“I don’t know how you stand watching this stuff.”
You chuckled,
“This is just season one, it gets way creepier from here on out.”
On the laptop, the crew were desperately trying to navigate away from whatever was attacking them. Despite the damage to the hull, they seemed to be making some progress in escaping. However, a minute later, from the depths of the sea, there was an anguished, distorted cry– a blood-curdling sort of shriek– and the boat was struck again violently, throwing several people off their feet. Nemona squeaked and instinctively grabbed you, apparently deciding you were better protection than her Goodra plushie. Urgently, she demanded,
“You’ve seen this before, tell me what happens!”
You giggled and answered,
“Aw, but spoilers–”
“Jules!”
She was so unbearably cute, it was hard not to tease her. You continued,
“Okay, okay, it’s almost over, I promise–”
Blasts of water shot onto the deck of the ship, which seemed to be intentionally directed at the crew, as though some pokemon was using a water move against them; at the same time, something under water began to glow a bright white, and the winds picked up speed, a whirlwind starting to form over the boat. The crew began to panic, everyone shouting at once.
Nemona buried her face into the crook of your neck and complained in a high-pitched tone,
“It’s not over–”
You laughed, trying to reassure her as the video footage went blurry and chaotic, accompanied by awful screeching and thumping noises, before the footage suddenly cut out and the screen went to black.
“There, see! It’s done. It’s over now, you can look now!”
The show fell quiet, displaying somber white text on a black background, explaining the events that had transcribed after they lost the footage. Nemona was still attached to you and grumbled into your neck,
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s safe now! I promise.”
Warily, Nemona turned to look back to the laptop. The episode had a narrator doing a wrap-up of events, which seemed mild enough for Nemona to eventually release you from her panicked grip. She sighed, then mumbled,
“Sheeeesh. That was awful.”
You felt a bit of guilt as you looked to her, since she really did seem to sincerely hate watching this show. As the episode ended, you told her,
"Hey. I'm sorry, I don't wanna torture you or anything. I didn't realize you hated the show that much."
She sort of just shrugged, murmuring,
"Eh, I'll survive."
Not happy with that, you tried to think of what other shows you might try instead.
"Yeah, but, maybe we could--"
Nemona suddenly yelped in fear and grabbed you again, burying her face into your shirt and whimpering. You quickly looked to the laptop and stared at it, confused.
"Wh-what's wrong, Nemona-- Nemona, nothing's happening! It's just the end credits rolling!"
Did the end credits flash a creepy photo or something? You rubbed her back in comfort, trying to reassure her,
"It's okay, it's over with now, I promise!"
After several lingering moments, Nemona reluctantly pulled her head back a little to peek at you, but something seemed off. Instead of fear, her eyes had a strange sort of twinkle to them. Then an impish smile reached her lips. She confessed,
"Yeeeeah, I know, but I didn't really get the chance to enjoy doing this the first time round, so . . ."
As she trailed off, you balked, squawking,
"Nemona!"
She giggled as you pushed away from her, desperate to put some space between you. You nearly fell off her bed in your haste, although corrected yourself before actually falling. Indignant, you said,
"This show was supposed to distract you!"
"It did! For a while. Most of that was real fear, just maybe not the end bit!"
While that was probably true, it was still very distressing how easily she fooled you. You huffed,
"I thought you said you were a terrible liar."
You weren't actually angry at her-- if anything, you were mad at yourself for being caught off-guard like that. Despite that, Nemona's gaze lowered and she murmured,
"Sorry."
Oh, god, no, not the sad eyes. You felt instantaneous guilt.
"Nemona, you have nothing to apologize for. You're wonky on a love potion, it's my job to keep a clear head. Not your fault, it's mine."
Her head drooped and she rubbed her face, mumbling,
"Yeah but maybe if I was better at fighting the stupid thoughts racing around in my head right now . . ."
You shook your head, then realized she couldn't see you.
"Nemona, no. It's literally a drug in your system, you can't expect yourself to just 'fight it off.' C'mon, don't worry about it."
You glanced to the laptop and continued,
"Look, why don't we keep watching something? It doesn't have to be the ghost and glitch show, we can watch anything you want."
She looked back up at you.
"Nah, we can keep going with this. I think you were right about it. The stupid ghosts and stuff do make it hard to think about anything else."
Uncertain, you asked,
"Are you sure? I don't want to make you miserable, that is definitely not my goal."
She nodded.
"I'm sure. It kinda sucks, yeah, but it's not too bad. It's way better then being so restless that I feel like crawling outta my skin, you know?"
You didn't really like that answer. You wanted her to feel comfortable, in the very least, but maybe that wasn't realistic at this point. And in the absence of a better plan, you didn't really know what else to do.
Sighing, you begrudgingly agreed.
"All right. But if it ever gets to be too much, you just give me the word and we'll stop immediately. Okay?"
She nodded.
"Okay. Sounds good."
You went over to your laptop and picked through the playlist, trying to choose an episode that wasn't too intense. After settling on an episode you both decided to pop some more popcorn, on the theory that food was a great distraction too.
For a while, you had real hope that your plan was working. You managed to get through several full episodes, and to Nemona's credit, she took them really well. She clearly still found them very creepy, but it seemed like she was starting to get used to them. In fact, after a while, it seemed a lot of her initial fear had given away to curiosity, and you talked for a bit about various Missingno theories. It was perhaps not inaccurate to even claim she was starting to enjoy herself a little.
But as the hours ticked by, Nemona seemed to turn restless again. It was possible that her decreasing fear was in fact the problem; the more she grew accustomed to the show, the less of a distraction it became to her. It grew increasingly difficult to convince her to continue the marathon. To be honest, you had been hoping that as it got later, she'd get tired, but she still seemed as wired as ever. Which was very unfortunate, because you were starting to feel exhausted.
"C'mon Jules, it's super late now, nobody is gonna be out in the courtyard anymore. Come battle with meeeee," Nemona whined, looking up at you with pleading eyes. You laughed gently and answered her,
"Nah girl, sorry, I don't think it's a good idea."
After what happened the last time you both ran into a trainer, you really didn't want to chance anyone running into you two along the way. It was just safer in here.
"Ughhhhhhh, it's so boring in here," she carried on, rolling dramatically on her bed. You smiled patiently and tried to placate her.
"The next episode is an extra spooky one, I think you'll really like it? It even freaks me out a little."
"I don't wanna watch anything, I wanna get out of here."
Sighing, you answer,
"I know it sucks, Nemona, but we gotta stay put."
She grumbled,
"I can't. I can't anymore."
Her eyes were defiant. You answered her,
"Nemona, c'mon, don’t make me tie you down or something, ‘cos I’ll do it if I have to.”
You were just joking, of course, but she responded as if your comment was serious.
“Pfft, like you could. Jules, I love you, but there’s no way you could tie me up, you’d have to pin me down first and that ain’t happening.”
You actually felt a little slighted at how confidant she sounded.
“Hey, you don’t know that. I could take you . . ."
She chuckled,
“I’d like to see you try it.”
You rolled your eyes. When you looked back to her, she was gazing at you steadily. She said,
“I meant it literally, I actually want to see you try.”
You swallowed and then laughed nervously.
“Maybe some other day, I don’t-–”
She suddenly rose from her bed and approached you, grinning,
“Aw, c’mon, you chickening out now?”
Oh god, she really was serious. You hopped from your chair, your heart immediately hammering in your chest, realizing how risky the situation was.
“Wait wait Nemona this isn’t, this isn’t a good activity right now--"
"You don't want a pokemon battle, so why not? You don't wanna see who's stronger?" she asked with a giggle, advancing towards you. You backed away from her, your thoughts screaming.
"Nemona, we can't--"
Your back suddenly met with the wall, causing the rest of your sentence to die in your throat. You wondered how you managed to lose control of the situation so fast. Nemona was already close enough to you that you could see the flecks of gold in her amber eyes and feel the tickle of her breath.
She was gazing at you like a hungry Lycanroc, her eyes roaming you up and down. Your muscles were tensed up so tightly you felt yourself begin to shake. Youhad to do something, you had to stop this, you knew you did . . .
The trouble was you didn't want to.
And as Nemona closed the space between you, instead of fighting it, you closed your eyes and waited.
The jingle of your Rotom phone was nothing more than mere background noise you paid no attention to.
Unfortunately, you still had your phone set to 'auto answer,' so the Rotom that inhabited your phone flew out of your pocket and floated beside you, switching the call on. Suddenly, the voice of Nurse Miriam was blaring in your ears.
"Hello? Juliana? Hello, are you there?"
Gasping in surprise, you both jerked away from each other. (Or, at least, you attempted to, but you were still backed against a wall, so in reality it was just Nemona who jerked away a little.)
Your heart was still pounding and you didn't really trust your voice at the moment, but you had no choice. You rasped out,
"Y-yeah? Hello, yeah, I'm here."
There was a sigh of relief from the other side of the line.
"Oh, thank goodness. I was concerned when you didn't respond to any of my texts requesting a status update. I'd thought that maybe . . . well, never mind that. Is everything all right with Nemona?"
Your eyes moved helplessly back to Nemona's. She returned the gaze. She was holding back for the moment, but her pupils were blown wide again and you could still see something terribly wild and hungry in those eyes.
You swallowed, throat dry.
"U-uhm, umm, w-well . . ."
To your exasperation, Nemona nodded and gave you a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile, as if trying to indicate that you should say all was well. The situation felt absurd.
"Yes, Juliana? Are there any problems?"
"U-uuum . . . I-I guess not . . ."
What were you doing? That clearly wasn't an accurate answer, but you weren't sure you wanted to give an accurate answer. That would have been terribly awkward.
Nurse Miriam pushed,
"Are you sure? You sound uncertain."
You cleared your throat and straightened up a little against the wall, smiling nervously.
"Yeeeep, everything's . . . peachy keen. I've been, uh, taking her vitals every 30 minutes like you said, and all's good. Sorry I missed your texts, we were just watching a show, I guess it was kinda loud."
There was a pause. Nemona looked very satisfied with your answer.
Maybe a little too satisfied. She was starting to inch back towards you again.
Miriam replied,
"I see. And what about any other symptoms or behaviors? Are you having any difficulty looking after her and keeping her out of trouble?"
Nemona's brows bounced upwards when Miriam said the word "trouble." The devious look that she gave you made you shiver.
"NOPE WE'RE GOOD," you squeaked, your voice unintentionally rising an octave higher. Miriam seemed to pick up on it.
"You're certain? I'd be happy to drop by if you need me to, Juliana."
You opened your mouth to reply and hesitated. She was giving you a way out of this, you really should seriously consider it. As reluctant as you were to involve Nurse Miriam, if things carried on like this for any longer you were pretty sure you were going to crack. Hell, if she hadn't called exactly when she did, you probably would have let Nemona just . . . uh. Do whatever it was she had planned on doing.
From the look she was giving you, was still planning on doing, in fact.
"Well, um, m-maybe . . ." you stammered. Nemona's expression shifted to one of alarm. Miriam continued,
"I could come over as soon as I finish locking up here at my office."
Nemona snatched the Rotom phone from the air.
"Ahahaha, Nurse Miriam, heyyyy! How are you? Ummm, you don't gotta do that, we'd hate to bother you and make you come all the way over to the dorms like that. I feel fine!"
You crossed your arms and raised a skeptical brow at Nemona.
"Nemona, it's good to hear you. As I was telling Juliana, it would be no trouble at all for me. I'm accustomed to making house calls when necessary on campus."
Nemona answered quickly,
"Of course, but I'm just saying it isn't necessary! Juliana told you my vitals and everything are good, right? Nothing to worry about!"
The line was quiet a moment before Miriam answered,
"Be that as it may, your friend does sound a little strained with the task of watching you. That was my primary concern, since your symptoms otherwise have not been too unusual."
Nemona's eyes flicked to you, and she seemed to finally sober to the fact that she was acting weird. She winced, considering things for a moment before saying,
"Okay . . . yeah, I admit I've been a little rowdy tonight, but I swear we don't need a chaperone. I'll, um, I'll behave from now on, I promise!"
You could hear Nurse Miriam sighing again on the other side of the line. Patiently, she said,
"I'd prefer to have the final say from Juliana, if you don't mind. She's the one who's responsible for your safety at the moment."
Nemona turned to you, then awkwardly handed you the phone. Then she folded her hands together as if in prayer, gazing at you beseechingly, but careful not to speak anything outloud.
You frowned, giving her an unamused look. She really thought her sad Rockruff eyes were gonna work on you now--
"Juliana, are you there?"
Nemona's amber eyes widened even more, and she mouthed an exaggerated 'pleeeeeease' at you, and goddamnit, she was so ridiculous, why was this working--
"Hello?"
You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed, before saying,
"Yeah, I'm here, sorry ma'am. Um, yeah, I'm a bit tired but otherwise I'm doing all right. I don't think you need to come over, it's getting late anyway. I'll be sure to update you first thing in the morning."
The nurse seemed to finally accept this answer.
"Very well, Juliana. Thank you for the update. I'll speak with you later. You both have a good night."
"Yeah. Thanks. 'Night."
Once you hung up, Nemona sighed in relief,
"Thank you, Jules, I was so worried she was gonna take me back to her office--"
You pointed at her, cutting in,
"I know, but you gotta promise to behave, all right? I don't want to deal with Nurse Miriam anymore than you do, so don't give me a reason to."
Nemona looked at you with a serious expression and nodded,
"Right. Yes, of course. I will. I'll be good. I'll--" Her serious expression almost immediately gave way to a little smile that made you feel uneasy, and then she purred lewdly at you,
"I'll be a good girl--"
"Nemona!"
"What?"
This was it, this was how you were gonna die. You buried your face in your hands, hiding your blush. When you dared to look back up again Nemona seemed to be genuinely struggling with keeping herself in check. She muttered,
"Okay, I just heard it outloud, and yeah, um. S-sorry."
You were in the middle of figuring out your reply before Nemona suddenly announced,
"I'm just gonna. Take a shower. It's getting late anyway, like you said. Is that cool?"
You paused, then nodded.
"Yeah. T-that's . . . a good idea."
As soon as she'd gotten a change of pajamas and vanished into the bathroom, you released a shaky sigh, thunking down on the bed, nerves completely shot. This had to be the longest day you have ever lived in your life. You deserved a metal or something if you made it through.
You looked to the clock on the wall, realizing something terrifying. The potion was still affecting Nemona and it was nearly midnight. You were gonna have to stay over so you could continue looking after her. You glanced around the room, which had little more than a desk, a desk chair, and a bed for furniture.
Okay. Okay. Hold on. You didn't come this far to be defeated by some stupid 'there was only one bed' trope. You were smarter then that, you still had your sleeping bag from when you were backpacking across Paldea with Arven. You glanced to the bathroom, wondering if Nemona would be safe to leave on her own for a bit. It wouldn't take you long, it should be fine.
You rushed back to your dorm, grabbing your sleeping bag and pillow as well as a toothbrush and your phone charger. You got back to Nemona's room and found there was plenty of time still to set things up and have a midnight snack (another muffin) and then just try to rest a little. You were scrolling through social media on your phone when Nemona finally immerged from the bathroom. She'd been in there a pretty long time, but hey, as long as she was staying out of trouble, that's all that mattered.
"Hi," you said as she padded out in her fuzzy Pawmot slippers. Her PJs were orange too and matched the slippers, with little pokeballs as buttons on the top and pants. It was adorable, but you kept that to yourself.
"Hi," she answered in a relaxed tone, her damp hair fluttering about her. She looked over the sleeping bag you were sitting on, then asked,
"Slumber party?"
You chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess. I figured it might be smarter for me to sleep down here tonight."
She nodded, then asked,
"You okay with that? I'm sure you're exhausted by now, I want you to be able to sleep."
You waved it off,
"It's fine. I slept in this a ton while backpacking, I'm pretty used to it by now. It's kinda cozy in its own way, y'know?"
To your surprise, she didn't try to fight you on it, just accepted it at face value.
"Okay, sounds good."
She then flopped onto her bed and sighed. You asked,
"Sounds like the shower helped calm you down?"
"Mmmhmm," she answered, almost dreamily. You felt a tension melt in your chest. Thank Arceus. You were beginning to fear that she would never wind down.
It was around then you realized just how damn tired you were yourself. You already knew you were exhausted, of course, but it was really starting to hit you, now that you knew you could relax a little. Your limbs and head felt heavy, like lead.
"Oof. You know, I think I'll take a quick shower too."
"Okay."
When you stood, though, you cursed.
"Aw crap, I forgot my pajamas."
Nemona waved lazily in the direction of her dresser.
"It's fine, just borrow some of mine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah? You know you can borrow anything of mine, you can borrow my toothbrush if you want, Jules."
You laughed, answering,
"Okay, okay. I brought my toothbrush though, so I won't need to."
You shuffled over and grabbed something that you thought would fit, then headed into the bathroom, which was still foggy from condensation. You had hoped that the shower would help you relax too, but your thoughts very unhelpfully kept cycling through the events of the day, and all the things Nemona had said and done. You weren't nearly naive enough to think any of this stuff had to do with how Nemona really felt about you. But your mind seemed to keep ending back up on the picnic you had with her earlier today. The moment she looked at you and told you that you reminded her of Vivillon, and all the reasons why. She'd said it with such tenderness, but also with this spark of repressed excitement in her eyes, and it was right before she told you she'd started feeling funny-- so part of you hoped at least that moment had been real. Maybe? Possibly.
Certainly it was foolish to hope anything else had been really from her heart. Especially as the night wore on and she'd been increasingly, um, focused on you.
Such as when she decided she was going to try and pin you down.
Suddenly feeling far too warm, you dipped your head under the spray and cranked the temperature down to cold, grumbling.
When you immerged from the bathroom, you still felt far tenser then you'd have liked, but maybe it didn't matter; you were close to passing out regardless. When you returned to your sleeping bag, Nemona glanced up at you and grinned sleepily.
"Aw, you chose the purple ones. You look cute."
You muttered a "Thanks," looking down at the pajamas. They were a little too long on you, but they were fuzzy and warm. From the bed, Nemona continued to mumble,
"I like it . . . seeing you in my clothes. Makes me feel . . . good. Mi pequeña mariposa . . ."
She really sounded out of it. You sat down and wriggled into your sleeping bag, trying very hard to ignore the thrill inside from the adorable new nickname she'd used.
Instead, you asked her,
"You, um, about ready to shut the lights out for the night?"
She gave you an airy,
"Yep!"
She reached over and switched the lamp off, the room dipping into darkness. You felt so grateful. You were pretty sure you fell asleep before your head even hit the pillow.
<3<3<3<3
Your sleep was a little broken throughout the night, despite your exhaustion, so it wasn't the most restful night. Still, it was far better than some nights you'd had.
When you woke, you felt very groggy. It took you time to even remember why you were on the floor in a sleeping bag, and then the events of yesterday came rushing back to you.
"Ugnnhhh," you mumbled, reaching for your phone to check the time. 10:00. You'd better get moving. Glancing around, you suddenly realized Nemona wasn't in her bed; she must have woken before you. You typed out a quick text message, letting her know you were awake. Her reply came a few minutes later, saying she was just finishing up in the cafeteria and she'd be right back.
You're finished changing by the time she returns, carrying a little bocadillo de heuvos and a cup of coffee.
"I brought you some breakfast!"
The smell of coffee made you want to sob in joy and you had to fight the urge to jokingly ask her to marry you right then and there. Probably too soon to be joking about that stuff. Instead you just thanked her repeatedly and sat at her desk to eat. You inhaled the sandwich in three bites.
"So how are you feeling?" you asked her, the question feeling heavy, since you were worried about the answer. Nemona turned and smiled at you, and it's the usual, dazzling smile you'd come to know her for.
"A hundred percent better. It feels like the weird blanket on my brain is finally gone and I can think again."
You sighed in relief.
"Thank Arceus."
She nodded and laughed, glancing away.
"Yeah . . . that whole thing was . . . a lot."
You sipped the coffee, which was only just barely not-scorching, and hummed.
"Yeah, I'll say. But you're better now. That's what matters."
"I guess."
She looked back to you, her gaze serious.
"But I wanted to thank you for looking after me. I know how crazy and exhausting it must have been dealing with all of that. And I also wanted to apologize. For, um, everything, really."
You shook your head.
"There's no need to apologize, Nemona."
"There is, though. I was so . . . ughh," she buried her face in her hands, and you felt a pang of empathy, knowing that looking back on yesterday fully sober had to be pretty rough.
You sipped your coffee and answered calmly,
"You had an entire bottle of some weird potion dumped on you with unknown ingredients, it's fine. I'm not holding anyone accountable for something like that. Heck, it was technically all my fault, since I did it."
"Yeah, I know all that, but, ugh. I still want to apologize, Juliana. For everything I said and . . . urg, did. I realize how hard it must have been for you. And I wasn't exactly making your job easy. Plus, I know how horrible it would have been if . . . well, if I'd ended up, y'know . . ." She fidgeted nervously with her tie and looked at the floor, continuing weakly, "Ended up kissing you or whatever, ha . . ."
You frowned, your stomach souring. You timidly echoed,
"Horrible?"
She looked to you nervously.
"Well, y-yeah, it would have made it super awkward and uncomfortable between us, right? I'm just glad it didn't happen, I would hate it if I had caused that! Unintentionally or not. I never wanna be the cause of you feeling uncomfortable."
You gazed down into your cup of coffee, deciding it was still too early to be having this kind of discussion. All of your self-doubts and worries were swimming around your brain and you couldn't tell if Nemona was repulsed at the mere thought of any sort of romance with you and was just wording it very kindly, or you were just really overthinking it.
"I wouldn't have chosen the word horrible," you muttered into your coffee, before you could stop yourself. It had apparently been too quiet, since Nemona asked,
"What?"
You swallowed.
"I, uh. I just don't think I would have used the word 'horrible' to describe it if we had . . . kissed or something."
She gazed at you intently.
"What word would you have used?"
You blinked, plenty of words coming to mind, none of them particularly useful in the present moment.
Amazing. Fantastic. Incredible. Thrilling. Exhilarating, a dream come true--
"I-I dunno," you mumbled, taking another sip of coffee to avoid speaking further.
Nemona glanced away from you. Her voice was tense and strained as she answered quietly,
"It's okay, Jules. I think I get it."
You felt panic rising in your throat.
"I don't think you do, though!"
Those pretty amber eyes were on you again. Oh, god, were you gonna do this? Confess? Confess to her now? Right now, still only half-awake and in your gross wrinkled clothes from yesterday, on the heels of the weirdest day ever? This wasn't how you'd wanted to do it, you weren't even sure if you ever were going to do it!
You must have taken too long to decide, because Nemona was telling you gently,
"It's fine, Juliana. I get that it was awkward. We can just forget about the whole thing, the entire day. Pretend it never happened, never speak of it again, ok?"
You were such a coward, because that was tempting to you. It was so tempting to just stuff your feelings down and move on with the semester, never let Nemona know the truth. Never have to face the likelihood of rejection, never have to risk damaging your friendship, never have to explain yourself, never have to try.
You stammered,
"I-I . . ."
And as you hesitated, you felt the window rapidly closing on your opportunity. Your heart began to hammer in your chest, and despite all your fear-- terror, even-- something was suddenly so plain and clear to you.
You spoke your revelation aloud.
"I'm sorry, Nemona, but I can't. I can't just leave it at that. After yesterday, I think it would kill me if I didn't finally say something. I . . . god." You rubbed your face.
"I have to tell you the truth."
Your friend looked increasingly concerned. She asked,
"The truth?"
You pulled in a breath.
"Yeah . . . and, uh, before I say anything further, just so you know, this isn't something I realized recently or decided hastily, I-I mean, this, um, this has been going on for months now."
"What has?" Nemona pressed, voice rising a little in her alarm.
You pulled in another big breath to brace yourself.
"That . . . oh, man . . ."
You wanted to do this looking her dead in the eye, but apparently that wasn't gonna happen, so you stared down into your stupid coffee instead.
"God this sucks, I'm so crap at this. Okay, um. So. I-I . . ."
It felt like trying to wade through mud, getting any of the words out.
"W-what I wanted to say was that I, I, for a while now I've been having . . ."
Your eyes screwed shut, and you forced out,
"--feelings. About you. That um . . ."
Your cheeks began to heat up a little, which annoyed you, you wanted to play this cool, damnit.
"Feelings that are, that are, not just best-friends feelings?"
Oh my god that was the stupidest way to put it in the history of confessions. The shame of your awful confession gave you the strength to force yourself to look back up at her.
"I really like you," you clarified, and realized it was getting easier, so you continued,
"A lot. And I realize yesterday you had a love potion dumped on you so don't worry, I don't expect you to feel the same, I realize that all that stuff yesterday wasn't real. I just had to tell you, I had to get it off my chest. Before we moved on and never spoke of this stuff again. I dunno why exactly, I just had to tell you. So. Yeah."
You watched her like a hawk for a reaction, feeling your heart balanced on a razor blade.
Nemona's expression seemed to be almost entirely blank, as if her mind had just blue-screened with this information. This was terribly frustrating since it told you nothing. You watched and waited, trying to be patient, but every second felt like eons.
Finally, her expression seemed to settle into one of . . . mild exasperation?
"Y'know that would have made things yesterday a heck of a lot easier if I'd known this a little sooner."
Befuddled, you asked,
"What?"
She looked to you and stated in a plain tone,
"Yeah, I've been completely and utterly infatuated with you since pretty much our first day together."
All the breath exited your lungs at once and your eyes boggled. Shrilly, you gasped,
"W-what?!"
She seemed almost amused with your reaction.
"Is it really so hard to believe? I thought you already knew. Or suspected it anyway, I was really bad at hiding it! Especially yesterday, hah . . ."
"You were drugged! On a love potion!" you said, gesturing dramatically at her.
This time she did laugh a little, and it distressed you how calmly she seemed to be taking all of this. Bluntly, she responded,
"Yeah, but all that really did was make it harder for me to keep my mouth shut about the stuff that's been running through my head every day about you."
Then her eyes widened and she cringed, as if realizing how much of a confession her statement had been. Nervously, she added,
"Uh. Um . . . shoot. Sorry. If that freaks you out."
You felt your face getting very hot, because that was a lot to process. All of this was a lot to process.
"It, uh . . . wow."
Nemona fidgeted with her tie.
"Wow . . . wow-bad or wow-good orrrrr . . ."
You answered quickly,
"I mean, wow good, it's just I've been spending a seriously long time telling myself that it was all just wishful thinking, so it's gonna take me a hot minute to, uh. Wrap my head around it."
She was quiet a moment, pondering things. Then she began to speak in a thoughtful tone.
"I guess I could say the same. I . . . I was so sure it was just me. At first I thought I was just ecstatic with finally finding a real friend, and it would wear off or whatever, but it just kept going and. Well then I made some other good friends but it still felt really intense with you, so for a while I told myself it was just because you and I were best friends and rivals for life, that's just how it feels! But no matter how I kept trying to talk myself out of it, it never really worked and I eventually realized that it was more than that and . . . and I'm rambling. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
You smiled a little, quickly assuring her,
"It's fine."
"Anyway, even after I realized all that I was still so sure you didn't feel like that, and I didn't want to put that on you. When I find something I like, I tend to go at it a thousand percent, heh, as you kinda already know. And . . ."
She glanced away.
"And I know most people find me a bit . . . much."
You immediately got to your feet, stepping closer to her and answering urgently,
"And I love that about you, I wouldn't have it any other way."
She flicked her gaze back to you briefly, eyes wide. Then she turned and started to pace a little, saying,
"Hold on a moment, I'm gonna need a moment. Ooh."
You were a little confused but you remained quiet, watching her pace and fuss with her tie, fidgeting with nervous energy, until finally she asked,
"You're really serious, aren't you?"
She sounded so . . . shocked.
"Yes. I would never-- I'd never joke about this!"
She waved her hands,
"I didn't think you were joking, but, I wasn't . . . I don't know, it's just hard for me to believe, I guess?"
Staring at her, you grappled with a feeling of profound frustration. You'd spent hours upon hours thinking about all the ways in which you admired and adored your dear friend, but suddenly faced with the task of putting them all into words at once, in this moment, felt . . . entirely impossible. It all just jammed together in an incredibly powerful knot of feelings.
You stammered,
"H-how? Why? You're so, you're so amazing, I don't even know how to . . . I still find it hard to believe that you really like me that much!"
You heard yourself outloud and suddenly found yourself snickering over how ridiculous this conversation sounded. Nemona smiled and chuckled, mostly out of tension it seemed, and asked,
"What is it?"
You shook your head,
"It's just silly, we're apparently madly in love and we don't even believe each other."
Nemona's smile increased and her eyes grew warm with mirth, as she seemed to appreciate your point. After a few beats, she said,
"Well, if you need further convincing, I have a pretty strong argument I've been wanting to make for a while now."
You nodded.
"Yeah, absolutely, go for it."
She hesitated.
"You sure?"
You said,
"Of course!"
For some reason, she remained unconvinced. She glanced away, gnawing a little at her bottom lip. You weren't sure what the problem was, but it seemed whatever she was considering had her very worried.
You stepped closer to her.
"Nemona," you said gently. When she looked at you, you could see such vulnerability in those golden-orange eyes. You felt like it was a look you'd seen before, in your more serious conversations with her. Usually when she was describing her past attempts at making friends, and how she'd apparently scared them all away with her intensity.
You reached out, tenderly brushing aside the dark green strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. You told her softly,
"Hey, it's okay. You're not going to freak me out. All that stuff that happened yesterday and I'm still here, right?"
A smile curved at your lips at the end of your sentence and she laughed a little. You could see the confidence building in her eyes. Her voice was a little firmer when she repeated,
"You're sure?"
You nodded. She seemed to be studying your gaze, so you let her see all of the certainty that you felt.
Quietly, hardly more than a murmur, you told her;
"It's okay, Nemona. No more holding back."
And as she looked at you, those incredibly expressive, beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle, like the rising sun. A joyful grin spread on her face, one that you'd helped put there, and god, you felt giddy with the knowledge.
You loved this girl. She was radiant.
"Okay, good," she said,
"Because I've been wanting to do this for god knows how long, and I'm not waiting any longer."
She slid her hands over your waist and pulled you close, kissing you with a hunger that was all-encompassing, a roaring inferno that made you shiver as you surrendered yourself into the moment. Kissing her felt like eating flame, or drowning at sea, or being pulled into a hurricane.
Wild. Unfettered. Untarnished passion.
When you eventually pulled apart, she was grinning like an idiot, and you realized you were, too. Giggling, you said,
"Wow. That was, um. That was worth the wait."
She pressed her forehead to yours, sighing.
"Yeah. It really was."
#julinemo#terajules#juliana x nemona#nemona#julinemo fanfic#second person POV#juliana POV#love potion trope#flirting#hijinks
39 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello, it's me again. Asking for more ♡ from the Perfumare cast. Today's request: When the LI's are in a bad mood would they rather spend it with their SO or by themselves. I feel like Reed would immediately start sulking to us🤭
Yeahasdsada Reed would blow up the smallest inconvenience out of proportion just to have MC baby him 😩
Jewel gets temperamental when she's mad, so while she'd like to stay near MC, she'd just go for a walk
Now Laurent tho, he's used to dealing with his moods by himself and other ppl just walking around him on eggshells, but having MC to vent to he'd feel super spoiled asdsad he's so low-maintenance 😂
Nino's bad mood are volatile but short, she knows that, so she usually just goes to spar with someone. I actually had this went scenario written as Amalgam's preview for her on Patreon, but she basically barks at MC to go away, then gets mellowed a second later when they decide to stay
Alan's yeah solo time with his telenovela, he needs to cry it out guys 😅
Flavio aha he's kinda like a sick dog hiding in a hole, because he hates letting people know he has negative feelings at all🥴 he'd still stick to MC tho, pretending he's peachy until MC confronts him
#aaaa jsyk I only have this one message from you boo#hopefully you meant you send the previous one(s) on anon and it's not tumblr tripping again#pfm#jewel#reed#laurent#nino#flavio#alan
69 notes
·
View notes
Note
Edgy/misc OC ask meme ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Dolores Webb
№ 2, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17,24.
Thank you for the ask <3
What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?
The most notable thing is probably that she's a bit of a metalhead, which is something that (for most people) doesn't really fit to her shy and gentle personality.
----------
What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?
Ufff hard to say.
Dolores didn't really have as much room to develop as she deserved yet. I've been kinda neglecting procrastinating her development a bit until she makes a proper appearance in Volatile.
When I initially created her however she started out as a replacement for an OC I scrapped a long long time ago. That OC was sort of a very plain love interest for Mel when I first started playing around in sims.
Since then Dolores devolved into more of a side Character, but at the same time she also became way more complex I'd say. She's also no longer a love interest for Mel (although she had a bit of a crush on him as a kid)
That plot turned more into an introspection of her need for affection/approval in order to feel whole.
----------
Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?
Dolores always makes me think of Creep by Radiohead (this cover version by Daniela Andrade in particular)
I would pick out a specific line but honestly the whole song perfectly describes how Dolores perceives herself in comparison to the people around her in my opinion.
----------
If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?
Most definitely. Dolores reminds me quite a bit of how I used to be as a teenager, I have a lot of sympathy for her.
And she's just a super sweet and kind person and very easy to get along with, if you don't mind her insecurities and her being a bit of a hermit, so I wouldn't see how we could not get along.
----------
How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?
She just wants to be liked and cared about, plain and simple. To her people showing any sort of aversion towards her is pretty unbearable so she tends to be a bit of a people pleaser, but yeah, she mostly just wants people to perceive her favorably.
----------
What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise
So many things honestly...but mostly her school time. She was a victim of bullying throughout most of it and never really had any friends, aside from Mel for a short time in elementary school, who dropped the friendship once they went to different schools leaving her completely alone.
Another thing would be her generally being emotionally neglected by most people in her life and never getting the appreciation and affection from people that she deserved as a child.
Also having the two of people she ever really had feelings for fall in love with each other. But that one hasn't happened yet in the story so I'm not sure if it counts ^^"
----------
What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?
I never really thought about that to be honest.
To be fair, the way her life turned out up to this point wasn't really down to her or her decisions, quite the contrary I think.
But...i think if her life circumstances could've been better, if her mother never got ill (which was the main reason she spent a couple of years in a children's home on and off) and she could have grown up in an environment with a better support system, it would have allowed her to become a more self assured and possibly happy version of herself, but she also wouldn't have any connections to my other characters, hence she wouldn't be part of the story.
Apart from that I don't really see many ways in which her life could've been that different.
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
random thot but you’re the expert here, which fallout game would suit the camelthots most?
WAS A MISTAKE ASKING ME THIS BITCH DFGJF 💖💖
Short Answer: Fallout 4, but I'm barfing up under the cut lmao.
Long Answer:
The Knights 12 is already built to hardcore fuck as the Brotherhood of Steel bc they're literally based off feudal knights in their ranks—Squire, Scribe (seperate semi-non-combat research/tech/clerical role), Knight, Paladin, Sentinel with sub ranks and titles.
Arthur would be the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel, which funnily enough the canon Elder is named Arthur (Maxson). He's been urged into a burgeoning occupation of the Commonwealth (Massachusetts) by the Proctors of his various Orders (Sword, Shield, and uhh Quill I think??), but he's reluctant to committ so many forces in such volatile and unmapped territory that's not only wilderness but also occupied urban. Don't know if Synths are gonna be the Devils of this game but I'll come back to mess with that later.
——— There IS a super mutant subplot that's pivotal in the Bethesda East Coast Fallout lore that's heavily focused on their eradication and has a massive influence on their plot.
Since this is a military op, Lancelot is probably one of Arthur's most trusted Sentinels, alongside Lucan. Guen I can see being a Head Scribe or Proctor, as well as Ysele.
I could see Morgana being an ousted Head Scribe who was meant for the Elder title, but muscled out. Weligan I could see being a traveling merc that's built a rep for himself up and down the east coast as a mutant killer, becoming smth like a living legend or smth in that neighborhood. Also, could be a Railroad operative, which would be the perfect thing for his rep to hide. Lead em to what the right hand is doing and away from the left hand.
Elowen I feel like is a hmm. See, so much is tired up in the Brotherhood it's hard to get away from it. But she was a waster in the Capital Wasteland, where the Brotherhood's home base is, and (after the events of Fallout 3, where basically they abuse the Lone Wanderer into facilitating their ascension to being the ruling force in the Wastes [hi Lone Wanderer!Perrin and RW crew 😭😭] by leveraging their good name, they go on a colonizing campaign and make it a Steel territory, then they recruit recruit recruit) was inducted to the BoS as a kid. We got child soldiers baby!! Guyeruenna (sp) and their bunch are former wasters turned Steelers from the same territory.
Mordred I could see being yeah a waster turned Steeler, but not by choice. Could've even been a raider or raider captive. Not sure!
I think the main outliers are the other pagans, who were in the Commonwealth already. This is where the rest of it gets fucky.
Deorwine I could see as being the mayor and last inhabitant of Goodneighbor, which is basically a walled anarchist community, that was wiped out by raiders. The timeline is fucked but it exists, and the other pagans are actually settlements across the region. Nimue is the leader of an independent settlement, and Gawain is kind of next in line to become the General (leader) of the Minutemen, which had become incredibly corrupt at the end before its reformation.
I have to fiddle around and figure out who is the player character role this time—Perrin's the Wanderer and Z's the Courier for instance, so we're looking for the Sole Survivor here—and I think that might be Elowen actually? The basic plot needs redone but that's a given bc Bethesda plots are hot garbage.
I WILL CONTINUE TO CHEW TY FOR ASKING LOVE DFHJD
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
I've been trying to figure out what Madelyn thinks of Homelander's batshit crazy rogue move of creating super terrorists. Basically, what's going on in her head in this moment:
What Homelander thinks (and what he is presumably supposed to think) is that she finally sees him; she is so impressed by his actions that she wants him. Of course Madelyn is under pressure to act because he's beginning to panic about what she might say, so things could go south any second now.
But what else is she thinking? The question is important, of course, because it's directly tied to what's going on in her head while they're at it in the next scene.
It's pretty obvious she's doing it to reassert herself and get him back under her control, but is it essentially a panic move after realizing just how crazy he is, is she confident in her ability to keep him under control and thinks she may even benefit from his madness or perhaps a mix of both? This has been bugging me for a while now, and sometimes the answer seems super obvious, but then that certainty slips away again.
In terms of how she feels about him creating supe terrorists, we have three basic options:
She's panicking because her main portfolio has completely lost the plot. He's already angry because of the Ryan situation. If she doesn't get him back under control asap, he might just end the world/her career next if he hasn't already.
She just got a massive raise and a potential promotion to Vought CEO thanks to this mad supe, so while she still thinks his actions are batshit crazy, well, they also just got her a raise. They got away with the mayor's plane (dumb move on his part, but no real harm done in the grand scheme of things) and with Flight 37 (he spun that one into a big win), so if she plays this right, maybe he can help her go places.
She feels ambivalent about it because both 1 and 2 are true.
We don't really have to argue about whether she thinks his move to create supe terrorists was crazy, because, one, it's crazy, and two, well:
That face is screaming ugh fuck/le big sigh/goddamnit... why's that guy *my* responsibility!? At the very least, she's unpleasantly surprised that even someone like Homelander would do something like this and annoyed he essentially put a much bigger potential scandal on her plate than the ones she's already been dealing with.
(Yeah, I wouldn't want to have to manage him, either.)
BUT I just don't think this is a pure panic moment for her either because just a few minutes earlier, she felt pretty triumphant about where she was going in life.
That feeling might have been dampened by Homelander's bragging-confession, but she's still pretty happy about her raise and her promotion when she tells Homelander about it later on the couch.
So I'm thinking option 3, ambivalence, is probably most likely, and how she feels in those moments probably depends a lot on how she rates her own ability to manage him and use his crazy impulses more smartly if not more ethically.
Yes, what he did is terrifying and objectively bad, and yes, this is going to be a volatile and dangerous situation to manage, but hey, supes are already in the military and she's also been managing this volatile and dangerous creature for two decades and survived it, so part of her has to be thinking, "Who if not me is going to take all the crazy inside this man and turn it into a success story?" Plus the thrill of the raise and the promotion are still there, probably boosting that false sense of invincibility/control/power.
So when she kisses him, she probably starts out from a position of ambivalence-leaning-towards-panic, but then with each little step that goes right that evening, she's growing more confident until ambivalence-leaning-towards-triumph becomes... almost exclusively triumph again, at least for a brief moment.
Which is of course also a necessary step from a narrative point of view so that all that triumph can be stripped away again in her last few scenes.
THE END.
#homewell meta#madelyn stillwell meta#madelyn stillwell#homelander#homelander meta#gif essay#the boys#the boys meta#HONESTLY TUMBLR I DON'T GET YOUR CENSORSHIP POLICY#WHY IS THIS CENSORED??#tumblr is becoming an awful lot like weibo (back in the day) and wechat in how randomly stuff gets censored and I don't like it
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you ever have people comment on your posts that are clearly Eluciens or Gwynriels and when they disagree with your point but they Know they can't argue it-
They hit you with the "well all sides of the fandom are so toxic and rude and we can all be a little nicer"
Um Okay? Thanks for saying that after attacking an Elriel post and then after losing the argument hitting us with the "ugh I wish everyone would be kinder and we could all bake a cake with rainbows"
I had an account comment on an analysis I made saying I need to be less rude and there's so much toxicity in the fandom. And when I asked ... where was I rude to anyone? This post was about Elain and azriel and I didn't even mention other ships - they were like "oh I don't mean YOU specifically were rude just like ... everyone should be much nicer in this fandom"
And I was like ok... cool... thanks for telling ME that?
And then she blocked me lol so that is cool.
What is this weird behavior I don't understand? It's like they want the smoke but as soon as an Elriel says anything in defense, they switch to playing the victim and acting like we were attacking them and the fandom should be nicer
Yeah it happens all the time.
The initial interaction is always aggressive. Like, whoa--I am here to debate, not call anyone names.
I am not a super confrontational person, and sometimes, I just want to talk about something, and yet the knee jerk reaction is always volatile and super negative. I may challenge something, but always from a canon standpoint. I am not the type of person--and many Elriels aren't either--when I would be rude or belligerent. Like, I don't have a personal relationship with you, so I am not going to be an asshole to a random person on the internet. But I dont mind having a debate.
But it seems like you can't have a debate with anyone unless there is a fight, and that's not my jam.
I don't know. The art of discourse is mostly dead, which is sad.
No facts. Just feelings.
4 notes
·
View notes
Note
Ok, now I really want to know what exactly Adonis's powers are, cause he is doing stuff I don't we've seen any other butterfly do.
Oh, on the contrary. He's on par with Absolution!Papilllon and quite possibly Salvation!Colt. Allow me to explain without spoiling Adrien's reasoning or what he's aiming for. Because, honestly, it's kinda twisted and completely tied to why he uses his powers the way he does. Maybe as dark as Absolution!Papillon, but no. Absolution!Papillon is fucking broken. Anyway!
See, he still retains the powers of transformation, much like a lot of other butterflies. Each butterfly uses their powers in interesting ways. Now, this will contain spoilers for their powers. So, here's your warning if y'all even care.
Absolution!Papillon uses her powers like a mad scientest that violates every part of the Geneva convention. She places akumas into the hearts of people to find the others that are as broken as her. Those she twists into horror abominations, similar to what Adonis is doing with the faerie food and fog. Aside from her work on the living, she works with the dead. The cocoons she has? Yeah, those are the corpses of the main heroes parents that she's currently merging with miraculous to turn them into superpowered super horrors. Oh! And let's not forget the hordes of reaper guards she has patrolling her lair and the, uh, "homemade" bombs that line it made from those that die from having an akuma in their heart that she also uses their corpses as incubators for her butterflies.
Salvation!Colt, well, you need to look no further than Felix. See, Felix once was like Adrien, a scrawny twig, but full of terrible anxiety being raised now only by his abusive father. Once Colt became an avatar, he warped Felix's body, turning him into the buff, obedient statue he is. It was also due to Colt that Felix became an avatar as well. And let's not forget that Colt also took control of Chloe to do as he wanted in an attempts to subdue her and make her the perfect pawn like Felix. Then he got Marinette when she used her Bond Creation powers on him, but then he uno reversed her and made her obedient to him, giving him a powerful, if not volatile, pawn. There's also that I've daydreamed a few times where Colt, as punishment, would painfully manipulate and distort Chloe and/or Marinette's body to "teach them a lesson" like he would have done to Felix to break the boy's mind.
Now, Amaranthine!Adrien. So, heh, he's not actually human anymore. The whole faerie food thing was an experiment he was working on, first to make him more than a human (essentially a fae). He retains the usual monster thing like most others do, but the faerie food is what he's going to use to, uh, change things up. Starting with Marinette. The pomegranate thing is a reference to Hades and Persephone where he's now transforming her soul and body to make her like him and, uh, seeking to fill the world with their love. Especially once he seeks the mass genocide of the entire human race. (No I won't elaborate yet)
Also, is it strange that I find Nathalie and Colt's methods not as bothersome as what Adrien is doing? Nah, I'm mentally stable. Why do you ask?
#miraculous au#au#alternate universe#colt fathom#adrien agreste#butterfly kwami#butterfly miraculous#amaranthine au#absolution au#nathalie sancoeur#salvation au#au info#ml au info
6 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
teknoinformasikomunikasilogic
Untitled
mediadiscord
Media Discord
camtasticalsocks
Camtastical Socks!
very-much-not-kur0m1-spam
Hey Whores