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#but i’m grateful to have one at all

sincerely-sofie · 21 days

Note

TW: child abuse and neglect (flashbacks and mentions), blood

•••

Twig learned a myriad of lessons before the few weeks she spent looking for the pair of siblings.

For one, Opal’s friend, disguised as a Gligar when Twig first found her, is actually a Zorua. The second Twig entered the house, the child still nestled into her arms, Opal had rushed to them and pointed out an injury that neither Twig nor Ark could see. The second she saw Opal, Zorua must have felt safe, because the disguised dropped shortly afterwards.

Second, Zorua’s illusions can hide injuries and the blood that came with it. Twig saw the red on her arms before she knew the wound was there. Only Ark could fully see it, and he bristled and recoiled on sight, turning Opal away from the scene and telling Twig “we need to get her help she needs it now Twig-”

The third thing she had learned was that whenever you think you’ve learned the maximum amount of stitches someone can have, know that there could always be more.

Fourth, you can be in a similar position as the child you saved, but still can’t answer your daughter when she looks at you with terrified, distraught eyes and asks you why while trembling. You can learn that you can always find new limits to your rage and fear when you hold your daughter close and she asks if this is her fault. You can learn you can find the words, be as outwardly as comforting as you can, but the intensity of the inferno burning inside you doesn’t fade.

Fifth, Grovyle never did forgive himself for Crystal Cave despite what he tells others and himself. Ark had spoken to Celebi, who had come with Dusknoir and Grovyle to go on a mission to hunt the siblings down. They had all gone pale when they saw the child’s state. Twig repeatedly caught Grovyle looking at his own hands and looking back at Zorua, and she can see the nausea brewing inside him as his mouth tightens. Zorua is much younger than Kip was that day — only a few months behind Opal.

She’s younger than Opal.

Six, miracles actually do exist beyond time traveling shenanigans, because Zorua pulls through. She is covered in bandages, her body is skinny, she is lethargic and tired, but she has defied all the odds and she’s alive.

Seven, she learns there are even more levels to her rage when Zorua immediately looks around wildly and then begs Twig not to tell her siblings she was here and that they’ll be upset if she doesn’t come back soon.

Eight, Opal, Lucky, Manaphy, Spindle, and Bud are more emotionally intelligent than Twig gave them credit for. They introduced themselves slowly and separately without complaint. They go at Zorua’s pace. Gradually, Zorua gets more comfortable, and there are mornings where encouraging her to come out of hiding is less difficult.

Nine, Zorua’s name is Ruby, but she can’t speak of her siblings without trembling. Reassurances that those two won’t even get near her again only do so much.

The tenth and final lesson Twig learned was that there is a point where you’re so angry you can’t feel it anymore. In the months that Ruby was recovering, no one had heard a thing about anyone looking for her. Grovyle tells her that in the times he’s checked Boulders Quarry, no one came back in search for her. Dusknoir confirms this. The siblings are no where to be found, or at least, they are, but they have taken on a different appearance and still aren’t even making an attempt to look for Ruby.

It’s one week, then two, then three, and Dusknoir makes the comment that the siblings have somehow made themselves harder to track down than Grovyle did in the Dark Future and present. They know they’re looking for two Zoroarks — Opal had confirmed as much — but things are more tricky when said species can illusion themselves as other Pokémon. Dusknoir suggested spreading a rumor that a little Zorua had been found and wanted to find her siblings again, but said siblings didn’t seem to take the bait. There was no way that they were going to make Ruby help in the search, and Twig had murdered the offer that Opal gave to help hunt them down. It would be over her cold, dead, unfeeling body before Twig ever let any children near those monsters.

It’s towards the end of the week that Ruby and Opal wake Twig up in the middle of the night, both transformed into Charmanders and holding hands, that they finally get something to blow open the case.

“They wanted me to go to another town,” Ruby whispers, squeezing Opal’s hand. “They’re going to be mad I didn’t make it and stayed here. They’re going to be really, really mad when they come back. They’re going to come back and take me away- and I don’t- I don’t wanna-”

“Ruby,” Twig’s voice is soft and firm, “I promise, nobody here will ever let them take you. They’re never going to hurt you ever again.”

“But what if they break in?”

Twig almost frowns, but she immediately schools her face into something cool, “do they break into homes a lot?”

Ruby slowly nods her head, looking at the floor, “they’ll look for a while, and when they find me, they’ll watch to know when the best time to break in is. Then they’ll grab me, and-”

She chokes and trembles, her eyes start going far away, staring into an abyss no one else can see. They are only stopped by Opal’s gentle squeeze and Twig’s words.

“It’s okay, they won’t,” a soft smile follows. “Do you want to stay near me for the rest of the night?”

Both Opal and Ruby are curled up beside her in that next moment. Ark comes into view, holding more blankets and pillows. He approaches, gently tucking in the kids and then whispers to Twig.

“I relayed Ruby’s words to Celebi and she passed them along to Dusknoir. He said three days.”

Something sparks up inside her, she’s unsure what it is, but it keeps her up all night as she waits.

***

Three days, and Opal yells “Mother! Dad! I had a nightmare! Come here!” and then as soon as they arrive, she points to the window while never taking her eyes off them, “we need to get rid of that window, Monsters can get in!”

From the corner of her eye, Twig sees it. She sees the silhouette of someone move away just a second too slow for her to miss it.

“Stay with them so they’re safe,” are the only words she gives Ark before she turns on her heel and marches out the door. The Gardevoir and Gallade wave to her from their house, then turn back to speak to one another.

Twig knows that Gardevoir and Gallade would be asleep and staying indoors if they had awakened this late at night. Twig knows that Gardevoir and Gallade wouldn’t be whispering insults about Opal, promising to make her shut up for good if she gets in their way. Gardevoir wouldn’t whisper the words, “that brat is really going to get it once we get to her. I swear if she said anything I’m going to tear off all her fur.”

Twig marches up to them, grabs their arms, and yanks. Her grip is so harsh that “Gallade” squeaks and then joins “Gardevoir” in yelping when Twig pulls them. They stumble, almost tripping over themselves as the illusion finally gives way and reveals two Zoroarks. They look at her, and whatever irritation or defiance they had vanishes into dust as they gave into her eyes, illuminated by her brightly burning, purple flame on her tail.

Twig feels it. She feels the fury, pain, despair, and pure hatred that were building up over months, but had nowhere to go. The plan to have everyone surround the siblings and bring them to justice goes out the window, and Twig is positive that Ark is probably trying to make contact with Celebi so that there isn’t a double homicide. She doesn’t care.

“Six months,” she seethes. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for six fricking months — looking for six months. You hurt your sister, threatened to hurt my daughter, planned on hurting your sister again, tried breaking into my home — I’m going to tear you both apart.”

•••

Sorry it isn’t the best and I know Twig, Ark, Grovyle, and Dusknoir — actually, probably all of them — are probably ooc, but I hope it’s still a fun read!

Also, I chose Ruby for the name of the Zorua because I thought it fit at the time, but halfway through writing this I felt like it didn’t but I didn’t know what I would change it to. Feel free to rename this character — the fic is for you, so I feel like you should have most say in this. I also chose Zorua because I thought it would be cute if Opal had a friend who could also “transform” into different Pokémon.

It wasn’t at all too triggering— it was just so amazing that I was taking ages to finally gather my thoughts and react to it! It’s so poignant and impactful in all the most profound ways it could possibly be that I was absolutely flabbergasted by it all, and along with the gift of a new character I wanted to give it the thoroughly grateful response it deserves. I’ve reread it throughout the days since you sent it in and every time it left me floored by emotion. I’m sorry for not replying sooner— the writing is so impactful that I think I kind of forgot that the author might be worried about my silence indicating the subject matter upset me. I was too busy having stars in my eyes whenever I thought about it.

I want to make art of Ruby + a profile for her to go along with this, which is the main reason I’ve been taking a while to respond— but I want to reassure you that you did nothing wrong whatsoever, so I’ll give an art-free response now and make Ruby’s profile later!

The characters are all represented in such lovely ways, and the pacing and prose are both absolutely astounding. This was a phenomenal piece and it’s been keeping me company as I’ve come down with a bad cold— I’ve been feeling severely under the weather, and this fic has been a silver lining amidst that. Ruby is precious, and I’d kill for her… actually, hang on. Move over Twig, I want to get a few punches in.

Thank you so much for this fic! I’m sorry for the anxiety you must have felt in the time I didn’t respond— rest assured that this is something I adored the second I received it and will treasure forevermore :>

#i’ve got 40+ things in my inbox at the moment and I want to let everyone who’s sent something in know #I read everything that is sent in and love every last ask and submission!#I’m trying to get through all the inbox items but I’m fairly slow about it and need to be better about strategizing how I answer things #i hope you guys know that I’ve never received an ask that I didn’t like #heck— I’ve got a meaner anonymous ask sitting in my inbox mocking my religion. and I regularly pull up that one up and laugh at it!#all of that aside---#thank you again for this fic! it’s stunning and I plan to incorporate Ruby in future posts #I’m really grateful to have received the fic and this character :>#her being a zorua so she and Opal can transform into other Pokémon together is so precious I have no words #the present is a gift fanart #shadow baby AU #PMD OCs #PMD oc #PMD darkrai #PMD dusknoir #PMD celebi #PMD grovyle #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokémon mystery dungeon #pmd explorers #pmd sky #pmd eos #pmd2 #pmd #sofie answers asks

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starfiresky · 2 months

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Feeling downcast?

I have some more important blessings and reminders for you:

1. The Wayfinder trio was reunited! ⭐️

2. Situations look better when you’re less tired. Remember to get some sleep! 😴

3. The Traverse Town theme exists ☺️

4. Keep going ❤️

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compacflt · 6 months

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OKAY I’M DONE‼️ tomorrow‼️

(Subtract about 3-4k [in-progress notes and afterword for my print version—which will be sent to those who asked once i finish editing (might be a minute)!] but here’s proof)

sorry it took so long. I was really unhappy with a couple sections and decided to stop bitching about how unhappy I was with them on tumblr and take the time to rewrite them to a standard that I would actually be happy posting… which I thought would take like a week… silly compacflt… always triple the amount of time I estimate i might need… so sorry I’ve been MIA. ive been working on this the whole time.

but now I’m actually really happy with these. And with their completion, it means this series is over. I think this is an ending I can actually be proud of, now. so for me it was worth it.

also i think i should reiterate, these aren’t supposed to be read all at once, i just thought it would be crazy to post these dozens of individual one-shots as their own chapters. that’s crazy. Lol. so you can treat them like chapters if you want. or don’t. I’m not your mom

these sections (ice/mav retiring, getting married, hangster wedding, retired life etc.) will be posted tomorrow. Thank you for waiting‼️

#a couple of you asked if I’m okay. yes!! just angsting over these sections #this is the end of the series. I had to get it right. I had to.#really not a perfectionist but when stuff is busted it gotta get fixed.#also just a warning. i might delete this fic sometime soon.#not the whole series. just this fic.#im incredibly proud of part two but part one especially is not my best work #I’m fine with people reading it now but maybe not in perpetuity.#and slider was a pretty good way to end the series otherwise #these extras were just for me ☺️#happy thanksgiving btw! very grateful for all of you. have a good holiday.

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lifeonmvrs · 4 months

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preparing for valentine’s day >:3 i present to you ace attorney + bad puns valentine’s day cards!!

[Image Description: a half-body digital drawing of mia fey from ace attorney. she’s crossing her arms and smiling with her head slightly tilted to the left and two little hearts by her side. her hair is wavier than canon. on the left, there’s some text reading “You’re drop-dead gorgeous! From: [colon] To: [colon]” in comic sans. the background is a solid turquoise.

the second picture is of a postcard and greeting card of the drawing as redbubble products. they are showed in a frame that resembles the structure of an instagram post with the user lifeonmvrs. it has a title reading “already available :3 [cat face emoticon]” and in smaller text one that reads “link in bio [heart emoticon]”. the third picture is the same but the products this time are a pin and a sticker. /end ID]

#get it? cuz she’s dead?#anyway! i have lots of ideas for bad puns and cheesy pick-up lines :3 #i have an edgeworth one ready and i’ll probably post it tomorrow #i hope i get to do all my ideas but idk seems unlikely!#they will all be available on my redbubble shop :]#i am moving countries soon so i really need that extra cash! so if you can buy some of my products i would be really grateful!#no pressure tho ofc 🫶#oh it was a NIGHTMARE to draw mia but that’s understandable given the fact i’ve only drawn her once before #but i love how much i’ve improved since that one last time :D #i really liked how it turned out! i’m pretty happy with the result and i hope y’all like the drawing as much as i do :3 #bye bye!!!!#mia fey #mia fey fanart #mia fey ace attorney #ace attorney #ace attorney fanart #aa #fanart #art #digital art #digital artist #valentines day #valentine’s day #valentine’s day cards #bad valentine’s cards #my art #stickers #pins #postcard #has id

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princesskkfish · 5 months

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it’s been quite a year-

I’ve been saying this every year but this year I’ve grown so much and that all thanks to the amazing people I’ve gotten to know and inspired me on tumblr I definitely wouldn’t have improved this much otherwise

All the people on here are so kind and so so talented and have truly inspired and pushed me to grow in my art even with this super busy and challenging year.

I wanna keep improving next year with lighting and backgrounds and storytelling thru my art and just getting better all around and let’s say just making these descriptions cuz I suck at em

but anyways here’s to the new year! :D

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rise of the turtles #my art #2023 art #2023 art recap #12 months of art #idk what to tag this #uhhhh #Did this all with my left hand cuz my right one is outta commission rn lol #ok but seriously #There are so many people who have inspired me to improve and I’m so grateful #At the beginning of the year I could’ve never dreamed of improving this much my goodness #My tumblr peeps are the best <3

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stardustdiiving · 8 months

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I would read your zhongxiao codependent yuri Like, I do generally picture them as a vaguely father/son dynamic BUT THAT IS NOT CANON. It's just as much fun to view them through a romantic interpretation! Idk why people can't view the same characters in different kinds of relationships without being weird about it.

Anyway I love your vision and would love to hear more about it lakdjs

THANK U SO MUCH Im not sure if I’m gonna write zx in the future since I’ve tended to be shy about posting my stuff relating to them for over a yr now, but I did post this fic with them last year while trying to get a hold on how to write them (mind the tags it’s pure angst omg). I was too shy to tag it as ship since it didn’t feel shippy enough, which is kind of funny to me in hindsight bc I reread it and am like. Man I think only a zx shipper would write this NUFNVJVJV

Post got kind of lot Im gonna go on a tangent about them under the cut

Honestly my theory for why ppl r very set on the father/son interpretation is everyone’s immediate thought on to how to make the power imbalance between them seem less uncomfortable is to apply a parental interpretation to it. Which is fine ofc, I get it, but the way ppl push it as canon a lot kind of grates on me a little bc they’re usually incredibly passive aggressive and pushy even if u clearly designate ur post as ship OTL

Also not really a fan of the characterizations either since ppl tend to treat Xiao like a moody teenager Zhongli has to reel in (this is hilariously reminiscent of the post I made about how ppl handle scaramouche and nahida a bit ago haha). And idk I just feel kind of polarized about the headcanon overall bc I associate it with people being really uncomfortable and frustrating about zx

I just like how there’s sort of an imbalance to them, some zxs like them being more fluffy and functional but I sort of like it where it’s not like, entirely dysfunctional but I’m prioritizing a specific kind of character study over romance. This tends to be how a lot of my ships go ngl I just sometimes enjoy the intensity/intimacy of romantic feelings thrown into the mix if it makes it interesting but I’m not often interested in a lot of my ships following more standard romance plots(?) I guess? Unless it’s specific ones. Which sounds clinical when I put it like that but this is just bc I am very aromantic NHFBVJVJ

When I say codependency in zhongxiao honestly it’s sort of a theoretical(?) codependency—not sure how to word it? I think Xiao would be really fucked up if he didn’t have Zhongli in his life suddenly but I don’t think his relationship with getting attached to people invokes what people would majorly think of when they think of codependency in a ship I suppose. It’s moreso I just feel Xiao could be at his worst with dehumanizing himself in comparison to other people with Zhongli, because said mental state is driven by how he feels about debt, service, and duty which are very closely tied with devotion and how he would feel about someone he considers his god and leader, as well as someone who saved him

It’s fun this is paired with Zhongli who generally knows how to work with Xiao kind of understands the self destructive depth Xiao’s loyalty/devotion comes with. Also fun they have been around each other for a very long time and Xiao as one of the adepti is familiar with the past I think Zhongli appreciates having around. They work but it’s also a case where Zhongli is in such a position of power over Xiao its kind of very delicate situation that’s hard for both of them to navigate. Which is fun to explore. I esp love contrasting it with other Xiao pairings (actually i think i still have that xiaoven fic up on my ao3 where I tried to convey a specific interpretation of them in a similar exploration vein too)

I totally get why people wouldn’t like it (I feel a lot of my opinions on xiao ships just clash with a lot of fandom consensus so bad all the time And it’s just bc I’m like this I’m not even trying to be contrarian or anything. HELDINCJD) but I just tend to handle shipping in a specific way. It’s not I don’t enjoy fluffy or lighthearted zl and xiao stuff I actually enjoy it a lot I just like there being layers. This makes it feel more impactful when I think about how Zhongli looks out for Xiao in canon or how Xiao gets like textually flustered talking to him (lantern rite 2023 was so tailored to my tastes it’s not even funny)

#the yuri part is more of an inside joke w my friends bc this is how we all talk but I did once compare zx to my sapphic awakening pairing #which is rose & Pearl from steven universe and it is truly my favorite thing to pitch to people verbally bc It kind of sounds #incomprehensible but also I’m totally onto something….no one understands….#Pearl and xiao r literally both spear wielding birds who’s arc revolves around being ok w being a person who lives for themselves ://#and they r eternally grateful to their war general leader . no one gets it. it torments me personally bc #I loved Pearl SU when I was 11 and now I enjoy xiao a lot and it’s like…we’ll these r very different characters but also I think I have not #changes. JUDJDKXJD #it’s 3am I woke up in a haze to answer this…I need to go to bed smh #fern.txt #zhongxiao #Edit: I woke up and finished writing this post and I a #am so tired #asks

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wanderingchocolateeclair · 5 months

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Happy New Year!!!

Wishing the new year to be filled with good things and health for you all <3

Also wanted to say thank you to everyone who have stuck with me over this past year! It’s been quite a slow and rough one, not been able to post or crest as much due to life, but we made it through, and will continue on steadily and happily!

Let’s hope that this upcoming year will be kinder than the last :]

#eclair’s art #happy new year!#I have so many things to post and release but it’s been a rather slow and tedious year for creation #art and writing block has kicked my ass #but we made it through the year and that’s what counts #and I’m grateful to each and every one of you #for sticking with me or joining me in this last year #thank you <3 #I hope you all have a good new year

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