#the elephant and boar did the same

[tothesolarium]

Did ya know I illustrated a book? The way of Loving Kindness: an imperfect process of spiritual engagement by David Orendorff. I keep forgetting to make a nice post about it with teasers and stuff but- this is my grandpa, one of the kindest people I’ve met next to my Nana and some friends.

They’re the reason I’ve been able to work on my art and story so much recently, and have been keeping me from drowning in these… Emotions, to say the least.

The book is about the universal love and the work of being kind to the whole. He is a Methodist and a retired pastor, but he considers my magic and demons to be just as loving and good as what he does. Well, he’s certainly helped more people directly than I have, but he’s an old man! Give me time to catch up fhfhdhs

So to my witches and whoever else follows me, I really recommend this book. It’s got ten illustrations of mine, and a lot of good words.

He’s a wizard but wouldn’t call himself one, but has a better altar than I do.

Y’all better know what a big deal it is for me to recommend something like this

#it’s taken me awhile to read it cuz- i know quiet a bit of what was going on it and helped make it less Gody lolol #but still makes me like almost cry seeing myself listed as one of his grandkids #family is good #often it’s the chosen ones but #damn I’m lucky and grateful #anywho check out the book 10/10 #I’ll do links and stuff tomorrow #i hope #but I’ve been sick #pop story time- the lion was feeling wounded and weak so he went up to the gazzel and roared who is the king of the jungle #the gazzel said you sir! you are the mightiest king! #the elephant and boar did the same #the lion went to the small mouse and roared who is the king of the jungle #the mouse sniffled and said not me I’ve been sick #i sick mouse but when we get better kings tho #taken me awhile also cuz I’m distracted by so many books #but yah I’ll make this with some pics and links tomorrow #if I don’t do this now it’s not gunna happen! cuz !! scatterbrained

[telomeke-bbs]

OUR SKYY 2 x BAD BUDDY x A TALE OF THOUSAND STARS – THE WOODS AREN'T LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP

Looking at the structure and the mechanics of the thing (yes, engineering reference here) – the OS2 x BBS x ATOTS forest search is a metaphor for Pat, Pran, Phupha and Tian's journey not just to "find" each other (i.e., to discover new truths about their partner) but also to discover new truths about themselves.

So they started off with Phupha and Pat looking for their other halves Tian and Pran, each paired with a somewhat-opposite of himself – stoic/guarded teaming up with open-hearted/outward-oriented, in order to understand perhaps the POV of their respective significant others.

And then they switched things up with Pran and Phupha alone in the forest looking for Kampung, and learning things about themselves at the same time, with Pat and Tian getting alone time to trade lessons too. (Did Pat really injure his leg that badly? Or was it just the leeches? 😂)

I haven't looked in detail at what those lessons are (because it was just a first watch and I was drinking at the same time, hah!) but I think we all know that they're for the betterment of each couple's relationships, and for resolution of their fundamentally conflicting dynamics.

Little Kampung was the catalyst for both expeditions into the unknown, and I wonder what significance we'll find if we dig a little deeper. I already find his name intriguing from a linguistic point of view. Does anyone know how it's spelt in Thai?

A brief note about the forest. It's not a merry walk in the woods, even though we saw large chunks of the journey taking place in bright, open clearings fringed with bamboo.

The tropical southeast Asian forest is dense and dangerous, hiding death in every corner if you fail to give it respect. It's not just the larger carnivores on land like leopards and tigers (though their numbers are on the decline), or crocodiles in the water, or the poisonous scorpions and snakes in the undergrowth (watch your step!). Large herbivores like the elephant and gaur can easily dispatch an unarmed human if they feel threatened. And wild boars will turn into vicious meat-eaters if given the opportunity.

Death also lurks from above. Sometimes it's pythons laying in wait (their favorite modus operandi is to throw themselves onto prey from branches above, and in the confusion coil and strangle their unfortunate victim). And even the trees themselves can kill – tree branches weighing the equivalent of a dining table can and do break off due to weakening from disease or rain weight, and any larger living creature caught below will be a goner.

Villagers who have to venture into the forest learn early on to respect it, and this respect for the risks of nature has translated into the forest acquiring a dark, supernatural dimension for many cultures (i.e., the idea that the forest is also home to different spirits, many malevolent, and who need to be appeased and/or whose permission needs to be sought for any act deemed too intrusive). A Thai movie example that somewhat illustrates this is Nang Nak (there's also a version starring a young Sine Inthira, for any fans of hers out there 💖).

Unlike the tribes who live with and within the forests themselves, settled peoples from outside may not always have the life skills to cope with all the jungle throws at you once you enter its realm. People can disappear without a trace – the two most well-known in Western media are Bruno Manser and Jim Thompson (because, you know, missing white person syndrome), but of course there must be legions more unnamed locals swallowed whole, never seen again and never named outside the country's media. 🤷‍♂️

So I think this awareness of how the forest can swiftly take away your life underlies our four (OK five, including Kampung) heroes' struggles in the wilderness – it's life and death in there, so in living out the metaphor PatPran and PhuTian were in more than one sense battling for the survival of their own pairings (because fundamental differences in each partner's approach to couplehood can also kill a relationship, no matter how strong the love).

It's unfortunate that the optics that were finally presented seemed much lighter than they should have been. This was not a walk in the warm embrace of bright country woods. And it gives weight to Pat saying "I can't live without you" to Pran at the end (Ep.3 [4/4] 9.18) – he wasn't actually saying he couldn't bear to be physically parted from his soulmate (with an eye on Singapore looming here). He was saying that Pran is life itself to him (also a reference to the meaning of Pran's name in Sanksrit here too, see this write-up here), and without Pran alive and well (which is what the risks of the forest journey represented) Pat's own existence would be devoid of life. And Pran has learnt his lesson well too, and returns the sentiment immediately.

This understanding that each lives for the other is what allows them to be parted when Pran goes to Singapore to further his architectural career, for they'd learnt that after their own life-and-death situation they can weather any storm. Physical separation isn't the important thing, because they know what they have will transcend that. My boys! 💖

#bad buddy #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots

[fangirlshrewt97]

Bheem - The Hunter

Ok Dhruya fics are coming...I can’t give you a timeline though.

So this is a long over due prompt fill for the lovely @fadedscarlets. Idk if you even remember the prompt you sent, but it was: “If you're open to taking prompts maybe the one where rambheem are hunting in the forest, a tiger chases them n some version of Bheem's intro happens. N ram is so fkn impressed(n turned on lol) at this. This is similar to the boar scene in your 5 kisses fic.  Coz he didn't get to see how bheem entered Scott's palace. Only after all hell broke loose. So i want ram to see this raw n animalistic side of bheem.”

I had to tweak it a little bit, and change the animal, but I hope the result is still decent? Let me know what you think!

///

Bheem finished his stretches alone in his hut, enjoying the meditative silence as he rose back up.

A shadow fell on his doorway. “Bheema! The men are waiting for you!”

Bheem nodded at her. “Thank you Akka, I will be there in two minutes.”

He went to the water pot he kept in the corner, splashing some on his face. He adjusted his dhoti, his usual hunting dress underneath the cloth. Patting the kurta flat, he joined Loki at the doorway, collecting his paint and spear from her.

He saw his hunting party at the edge of the village. Peddaiyya was giving Lacchu something while Jangu and Lokesh spoke with Ram. As soon as Bheem stepped into their field of vision, Ram turned and met his eyes. A tingle of electricity ran down his spine as Ram stood taller, smile widening and eyes shining.

Bheem felt his heart thudding in his chest,and though he wouldn’t admit it aloud, the sun seemed to shine just a little brighter. Taking a deep breath, he returned the smile and walked towards them. He did not see the knowing smile Loki sent his way.

///

“Just promise you won’t push Ram into the path of the elephant?” Bheem pleaded with Lacchu as the other man finished Bheem’s camouflage paint. Bheem’s eyes tracked the trees, visualizing their plan to ensure there were no complications they were not preparing for.  

It was a similar plan to the tiger capture from Delhi, but where a tiger was fast, an elephant had weight behind it. It didn’t need to move fast. Not if one whip of its trunk or stomp of its foot could immobilize them.

Wild or angry elephants were not very common in their forests. Most of the elephant families in the forest kept to themselves, and the Gond people tried their best not to disturb them. But every once in a while, on of the adult males would get rowdy when they were rejected by the females and go on a rampage. This particular one had already caused significant damage to the bridges connecting two of their villages, so they had decided it would be best for the elephant to be dosed and tranquilized till it calmed down.

Lacchu hummed as he inspected the last of the face paint. “Fine, but no promises to pulling him up either.”

“Lacchu!” Bheem scolded.

Lacchu scowled back. “Annayya, because he did help Malli escape and saved your life, I am accepting him into our village But I cannot forget the things he did to me. Or forgive him for hurting you so badly. Tolerance is the best I can give.”

Bheem felt the urge to defend Ram, but he also heard the truth in Lacchu’s words. It would be unfair of him to ask for Ram’s forgiveness from a man who nearly died at his arms.

“Alright,” he conceded with a sigh. He pulled off his dhoti, folding it and giving it to Lacchu who placed it with the rest of Bheem’s clothes, so the man himself was left with only the small cloth wrapping around his hips. Together they trekked back to the clearing where the other men were setting up the trap.

Bheem’s eyes naturally sought out Ram, and so he saw Ram’s eyes widening at the sight of him, smiling fading into a jaw drop. Then Ram’s eyes looked him over, roving intensely from the top of his head to his toes. But where the same look from Loki had made Bheem squirm, when it was Ram, a warmth flooded his blood. He preened, puffing out his chest and adding a sway to his hips as he walked towards them.

He had tried to explain away Ram’s reaction to the first time Bheem had worn his nose piercing and earrings, how arrested the man had seemed. He had reasoned it was probably that Ram had maybe never met men who wore jewellery, Bheem knew most Indians didn’t. But there had been a small voice at the back arguing that Ram had not had such a strong reaction to anyone else. Now, watching how Ram’s eyes seemed to dart from his chest to his arms to his shoulders to his legs and then back up again, he was thinking he may have been too hasty in telling that voice to quiet down.

A vicious pleasure curled around his heart as Ram’s pupils seemed to dilate, gaze growing hungry. Bheem felt the urge to run, just to see if Ram would give chase. He wondered if he would be the hunter or the prey.

“Anna, the ropes are set, if you can lure the elephant till here, we can give him the tranquilizers and bind him down until he wakes.” Lokesh said as he came up behind Ram. Bheem forced himself to glance away from Ram, even as he felt the other’s gaze burning into his side.

Nodded mechanically, Bheem accepted his spear back from Lacchu, now dipped with more of the tranquilizing venom.

Glancing over his shoulder one last time, Bheem shivered as he noticed Ram still looking at him, knuckles white where they clutched at a length of rope.

///

Bheem coiled tightly from his perch as he felt the earth shake beneath him. Controlling his breath, he listened in the direction of the sound. Picking up the large rock next to him as he gripped his spear tightly, Bheem took off in that direction. Within a minute he was standing on the path of the elephant. The male was clearly agitated, trunk swinging as it ripped off the lower branches from the trees and let out low cries of anger, huffing and snorting at everything that crossed its path. It was also one of the largest males Bheem had ever seen, larger even than they had received news about. Bheem worried his lip, fretting for a second that their trap and the dose of medicine would not suffice. Then his gaze grew focused. There was nothing they could do about that now but pray for the best.

Raising his arm, Bheem threw the rock so it landed right next to the elephant’s head. The male reared back before letting out a loud angry snort. Bheem puffed out his chest, making himself look as big as possible. When the elephant clocked him, he raised his spear and shook it. The male snarled and took a step forward, and Bheem took one back. He kept retreating a couple more steps as the male advanced, but he was losing it’s attention. Sparing a look to the ground, he bent down to grab a handful of smaller pebbles. Mumbling a quick apology, Bheem threw the first pebble straight between the elephant’s eyes.

That did the trick, and as the male reared back before beginning to run at Bheem, the man turned and ran. He ran surefooted through the forest he had grown up in, jumping over the rocks and swinging from a few of the hanging vines as he heard the elephant chasing him. He panted as he landed on a rocky outgrowth, crouching to aim as the elephant rounded the corner.

With a practiced aim, Bheem released the spear, and let out a relieved exhale when it buried itself into the meat of the male’s thigh. The elephant let out another cry, but the pain must have not registered amid the adrenaline because the animal barely slowed down. Jumping down, Bheem continued his run, throwing his head back to shout their signal so that his friends would be prepared.

He cut left at the last moment, the elephant going straight into the clearing. At once, it was hit with smaller arrows and knives being buried into its sides.

Bheem jumped, kicking from the tree to gain enough momentum to land on the elephant’s back. He grit his teeth as the elephant reared back to try and throw him off.

“Anna, catch!” Lokesh shouted before throwing him a length of looped rope. Lunging, Bheem caught one end and wound it through his spear, which he then tried to pass under the elephant’s neck. He barely managed to tie a knot around its neck before the elephant threw him to the ground.

All the air escaped him as he laid stunned from the impact. The others shouted his name, but then he heard one of them call out roar.

Bheem groaned as he rolled to his side, using an arm to push himself up. The elephant had switched its attention to Lacchu, who roared again. The elephant took another step, and Bheem’s heart stopped. There, at the base of the tree Lacchu was precariously perched on, stood Ram, with a large spear and not much else. Bheem prayed for Ram to stand still, but the other man was nothing if not contrary, and he took off to the right. Except he was so focused on the elephant he wasn’t paying attention to the ground. Ram tripped, sprawling to the ground. He immediately flipped onto his back and scrambled back, but the elephant was rapidly advancing.

Bheem saw what was going to happen seconds before it did. Between one breath and the next, he was on his feet, sliding under the elephant’s legs to stop in front of Ram, spear extended so it cut into the animal’s jaw. The elephant snorted in pain as it took two steps back.

The elephant was still too close for comfort though. Bheem puffed himself up as much as possible, spreading his stance and opening his arms. He roared. Just like he had in the face of the tiger. He roared loud enough even the distant songbirds stopped singing. He roared loud enough it felt like the whole forest stopped.

The charging animal stopped again, but still swung its trunk at Bheem. Bheem was not able to dodge it, taking the full force of the hit, which sent him sprawling onto his back. He head Ram calling for him. Shaking his head to correct his double vision, Bheem staggered upright again and ran for the animal, managing to grab its trunk. He used it as leverage, slowly forcing the animal back. He felt his arms and back muscles straining as he simultaneously tried to dig his feet into the ground.

Then Jangu started beating a loud beat against one of the trees, the sound startling the animal further. Lacchu appeared at Bheem’s side and with a nod, stepped forward enough to stuff one of the medicine packages of sleeping herbs into the elephant’s mouth. Bheem walked the animal back to the center of the clearing, thankful the tranquilzers were taking effect as its movements grew sluggish.

When the elephant finally drifted off, body thudding heavily as it hit the ground on its side. Bheem collapsed against the large body. Resting his weight against the animal’s head, he gently patted its trunk.

“Forgive me brother, we did not wish to injure you but we did not know how else to help you.”

Jangu placed an arm on Bheem’s shoulder, making Bheem wince. When Bheem turned, the man had a knowing look on his face as he looked at Bheem’s chest.

Bheem winced again when he glanced down. His entire side was one large bruise in the shape of a trunk, and now that the adrenaline was fading away the pain from his knees was also getting more prominent. His arms were also covered in small scratches from where he had been flung to the ground.

“Go back to the village Bheema, we will take care of him from here.”

Bheem looked to protest, but Ram appeared behind Jangu, hands wringing nervously. Bheem sighed. “Alright Jangu. I will come see him in the evening.”

Ram stepped up to Bheem’s side automatically when he pushed himself off the animal, one arm hesitating before wrapping around his waist. His touch burned, and Bheem bit back the moan.

Before Bheem could protest though, Ram had turned and managed to tug Bheem onto his bag, reminiscent of how he had carried Bheem after Jenny’s party.

“Ram!”

“Shh.” Ram said. “Just rest, I know the way back. I think.”

Bheem slumped slightly against the man, wincing when he grunted, but Ram just adjusted his grip and started walking.

///

When Bheem woke up again he was back in his hut. Last night’s memories were in fragments, coming into the village, Loki and Pedaiyya guiding Ram to Bheem’s home. Pedaiyya making a salve that Ram had applied so gently on Bheem he had barely felt his touch. Loki saying something to Ram. Ram staying with him the whole night.

Bheem blinked once more as he took in his room, eyes coming to a stop on a familiar body curled next to him. Two bodies. Malli had snuck in at some point and was tucked against his chest, one arm loosely thrown over his stomach. And Ram, Ram was on the ground, slumped against the bed, head resting on his own arms next to Bheem’s hip. Stretching slightly, Bheem carded his fingers through Ram’s hair.

Ram’s head jerked up as he blinked sluggishly.

“Good morning.”

Ram blinked a few more times before a relieved smile took over his features, one hand reaching out to entwine with Bheem’s. “Good morning.”

“That position could not have been kind to your back. Or knees. Or any other part of you either to be frank.”

Ram grimaced as he tried to lean back, grunting in pain. “Yeah, I am going to be paying for this for the next few days.”

“I’m sorry.” Bheem said.

Ram looked at him, head tilting. “For what exactly?”

Bheem opened his mouth before closing it. “That hunt was not meant to go that way.”

Ram shrugged. “Once Jangu and Lokesh returned, they explained how the elephant had been bigger than expected anyways.”

Bheem winced. Then scowled. “What were you thinking stepping in front of an angry elephant? You could have been killed.”

Ram raised an eyebrow. “You charged straight for an angry elephant.”

Bheem stammered before replying, “Yeah, well, well, I have been doing this for many years and I have dealt with elephants before. That was reckless Ram!”

Ram shrugged. “Maybe I trusted you as much as you trusted yourself. I knew you wouldn’t let me get killed.”

And that…well Bheem did not have a response for that.

Ram gave him a smirk, eyes shining with the confidence of the victor.

Then Ram cleared his throat, eyes focusing on their joined hands. He started to absently rub his thumb against Bheem’s knuckles. “You…um…you were very impressive. By the way. The way you did handle the animal. I’ve…I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

If Bheem squinted, he could make out a flush in Ram’s cheeks.

“No?” Bheem asked, preening a little.

Ram blushed deeper. Bheem was delighted. He had never seen that on Ram’s face before and now he wanted to see nothing else.

“I mean, it was no tiger…” Ram muttered, making Bheem laugh. And then groan as it pulled at his chest. “Damn it, did I bruise a rib?”

“Yes.” piped up a voice from Bheem’s side, making both men flush at the realization Malli had been here the whole time. “By the way, you should court Ram Anna properly Bheem Anna. Otherwise he will never agree to marry you.”

If it were possible, this would be the moment when both men would have steam coming out of their ears, Bheem spluttering as Ram choked and looked for an exit route.

“Malli!” Loki called out, entering the hut. She took in their expressions, and raised an eyebrow at Bheem. Bheem could not quite bring himself to meet her eyes. “Come on chinna, time to go.”

“But!” Malli protested.

“Now.” Loki said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Pouting, Malli rubbed her head against Bheem’s side, squeezing him once before she slipped out of the bed and joined her mom. “Bye Anna! Bye Anna!”

Neither man looked at each other for a few minutes, just glancing at the other while the other looked away. Until their gazes inevitably met. Ram’s eyes darted away. Bheem sighed and scratched at his beard. “She isn’t wrong. I have been doing a terrible job at courting you.”

Ram choked again, looking at him with wide eyes.

Bheem offered him a tentative smile in return. “What do you say Ram?”

“I-um-that,” Ram stuttered, running his hand through his hair. Then he sighed and met Bheem’s gaze with a small smile of his own. “I’d say I should know what a Gond courting looks like.”

Bheem beamed wide enough to make his cheeks hurt as he retook Ram’s fingers to twine them together. Ram didn’t pull away, instead scooting closet to rest his head against Bheem’s bicep. He lifted his free hand, hesitating for a moment before he traced Bheem’s arrow tattoo. “Tell me about this one?”

Bheem hummed, resting his head back on the pillow. “I got that when I turned 22…”

///

Listen, before anyone comes at me for the title. Titles are hard and work has been deep frying my brain, so I am not entirely sure this fic is even fully coherent. Leave me alone about the title. 

Feedback about the rest of it is appreciated though. Please send me comments and thoughts! Also, my inbox is open to everyone, send me questions! I want to talk with you all. 

Tagging (Please please work, Tumblr I beg you):  @rambheem-is-real @budugu @bromance-minus-the-b @junebugyeahhh @hissterical-nyaan @obsessedtoafault @hufhkbgg @yehsahihai @rorapostsbl @bluesolace1 @fadedscarlets @alikokinav @chaotic-moonlight @rambheemisgoated @rambheemlove @jaganmaya @burningsheepcrown @lovingperfectionwonderland @rosayounan @iam-siriuslysher-lokid @thewinchestergirl1208 @dumdaradumdaradum @ronaldofandom @jjwolfesworld @jrntrtitties @kashpaymentsonly @jeonmahi1864 @zackcrazyvalentine @stanleykubricks @m3gs1mps4a @tulodiscord @teddybat24 @sally-for-sally @ssabriel @jadebomani @stuckyandlarrystuff @veteran-fanperson @ohfuckoffpls

#rrr #rambheem #ram x bheem #rrr fanfic #rambheem fanfic #my fic #my writing #alluri sitarama raju #komuram bheem

[thewapolls]

MEDEA not sure if that's actually meant to be MEDEA like the Greek sorceress, or MEDIA like the plural of MEDIUM like a spirit channeler. It's model appears to be a goblin with a calabash gourd in hand, the type you normally see used for alcohol in older east Asian period settings. I don't know why a character typically very sympathetic, if tragic, and beautiful would be associated with the image of a drunk old man.

SWORKASSI technically written as SWOO-KA-SSHI[スォーカッシ] seems weirdly meaningless. Odd when the other recolors in this family seem pretty distinct and tied to the same theme.

WITCHDOCTOR self explanatory and seems to have superficial links with MEDEA/MEDIA no matter how you read it.

ELEPHANTINE is the localized name, original it's actually called UNDEAD ELEPHANT[アンデッドエレファント]. This feels weirdly generic and feels like it ought to be a reference to something, but I don't know what.

URUURAGUNA is a valiant but futile effort to romanize U-RU-SU-RA-GU-NA[ウルスラグナ] when in fact it was an attempt to phonetisize the Avestan VERETHRAGNA, a Zoroastrian god. No idea how you get from the one to the other or back, but it is the same kana used in things like the Japanese Wikipedia entry on VERETHRAGNA. The god is sometimes associated with the image of a boar, which I assume is being evoked with the elephant model.

CHAUGNAR-FAUGHN taken from the elephant headed monster from the extended Lovecraftian universe. Think we did this in the boss tournament.

BEHEMOTH not pictured above but it's a recolor of the URUURAGUNA that I'd never seen and could not find a good screenshot of. The biblical land beast opposite the sea monster leviathan in the book of revelation.(and technically Ziz in the sky, but no one ever remembers that one...)

#wild arms

[heavenboy09]

February 15th Is World 🌎 Hippo 🦛 Day

World Hippo Day on February 15 celebrates the extraordinary hippopotamus and encourages people to take action to prevent its extinction. Did you know that before 1909, scientists placed hippos in the same group as pigs? Despite their outward similarities with pigs or wild boars, hippopotamuses are closely related to whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Hippos are semiaquatic mammals that are native to sub-Saharan Africa. They are herbivores and can weigh up to 2,000kg, making them the third-largest land mammal after elephants and rhinos. Hippos are primarily found in rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps.

Please Take Wonderful Care Of These Majestic & Proud African Creatures Of The Wild for all generations to come.

Happy World 🌎 Hippo 🦛 Day

#World Hippo Day #Hippo #Hippopotamus #Spotify

[jaybug-jabbers]

Pokemon Gold/Silver Beta Pokemon: The April 2020 Leak

Look, 2020 was a rough year. So maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised that the April 2020 Gold/Silver source code leak flew almost entirely under my radar. If you Google about it, you’re find it’s very rare for news outlets to cover it. This is probably because many folks are hesitant to cover leaks. Also, the US was warming up to a truly awful pandemic around that point, not to mention other civil unrest, so it’s no surprise some people were a tad distracted. 

But the fact is, another leak turned up in April of last year, following a recent trend of huge Nintendo leaks. And this one was a doozy. I’ve only truly realized its full extent in the past few days. As such, I’d like to do a post that covers some of the new information. In particular, I’m focusing on beta pokemon that were cut or heavily reworked.

Now, back in 2018, the Spaceworld ‘97 Pokemon Gold/Silver Demo was leaked online. I made a post about some of my favorites. So, from this leak, we already knew of a while slew of beta pokemon. However, as it turns out, there were still more new faces to find-- and a lot of them! I list 45 new beta pokemon here, in fact!

In the April 2020 leak, several sprite sets were found as internal files, each at different phases of game production. The sprite sets were dated May 6, 1998, June 13, 1999, June 21, 1999, and September 17, 1999. The August 17, 1999 Spaceworld ‘99 Demo build was also found, so we have information on that as well.

Essentially, if you want to see this information at The Cutting Room Floor, then head to this page for the sprites discovered as internal backups/sprite banks. Head to this page for the Spaceworld ‘99 demo information page. And, if you need a refresher for the older leak, you can go to this page for the Spaceworld ‘97 demo build.

For this post, we will focus on the May 6, ‘98 set of sprites, which contain the vast majority of new faces. So, without further ado, onward to the pokemon!

(#300) Kokopelli Pokemon/Celebi

(May 6, ‘98)       (Spaceworld ‘99 Demo)

This first pair of sprites looks very much like Kokopelli, a fertility deity of some Native American cultures. This deity can be seen in ancient Native American petroglyphs, as a humpbacked flute player with feathers on the head. Surprisingly, we find that Celebi in the Spaceworld ‘99 Demo seems to be an updated version of this design, making Celebi’s design origins much different than expected. However, its fertility diety inspiration is still somewhat apparant in the modern Celebi, as a creature that causes plant life to flourish.

(#301) Eel Pokemon

While the sprite files did not reveal a name or other data, this eel’s sprites were numbered right beside the Gurotesu (Grotess) and Ikari (Anchorage) sprites, suggesting it once was the start of their evolution chain. 

(#304) Fire Fox Pokemon

This little fellow is a fox that seems to have a fiery tail. It’s possible this fire fox was inspired by kitsune (just as Vulpix/Ninetails were) and that it was later redesigned as Fennekin. 

(#305 - 308) Snow Bunny Evolution Line

These four pokemon seem to belong to the same evolutionary line. The second one seems to based on the Yuki Usagi, a ‘Snow Bunny.’ In Japan, these cute little critters are made in the snow (using leaves for the ears). They also sometimes make these Yuki Usagi as little marshmallow or mochi treats. So this pokemon line could be inspired by either of these. Considering the leaves and the snow, I would guess these would have been Grass/Ice. 

(#309) Elephant Pokemon

You might wonder if this chonky boy-- looking tough with horns on his head and back-- was an early version of Donphan, but Donphan and Phanpy were present in the Spaceworld ‘97 demo. Indeed, this elephant and Phanpy/Donphan both exist in the same set of sprites from May ‘98, so it was simply a case of two types of elephants. This pokemon also calls to mind a glimpse of a cut beta pokemon we saw from Generation 1 (from ‘Satoshi Tajiri: The Man Who Made Pokémon’):

Same fierce eyes, at any rate! Alas, these both never saw the light of day. However, it’s possible this elephant was reworked into Piloswine, which is not in the May ‘98 collection but does appear in the June 13 ‘99 collection (although Swinub is absent). While Piloswine and Swinub are more akin to wild boars, there is also some relation to mammoths (an inspiration more heavily leaned on with Mammoswine in later games). Then again, there’s another pokemon you’ll see a little further down this list that might have inspired Piloswine instead.

(#311) Natu/Xatu Mid-Evolution

What is clearly a mid-evolution (its file number sits between the two). Has a peacock-like tail. Honestly, I think this works really good as a mid-evolution, and I don’t know why it was cut. I want to name it “Watu.”

(#313) Drunk Kiwi Pokemon

This one is just hilarious to look at. It appears to probably be a kiwi-bird? A very crazy-eyed, loopy one. I can see why this one was cut. The goofy, simple design kind of looks like a knockoff cartoon character for children. 

(#314) Scorpion Pokemon

A pretty badass-looking scorpion, although a rather basic design. I dig the funky head, though. It seems like it has a single, beady eye and is rather menacing. This pokemon may have been later reworked into Gligar, a pokemon that first appears after this sprite set, in the June 13 ‘99 group:

Admittedly this is rather different from the Gligar we know, but it is an early design.

Or, who knows-- maybe this little fellah was later reworked into Skorupi. (If so, it’s a shame, as I don’t dig the weird accordian-like design of its limbs and its evolution.)

(#315) Quail Pokemon

A pudgey little quail pokemon. Doesn’t seem related to the kiwi pokemon. It’s a very cute little thing, and has lots of potential to evolve into something interesting, but it seems they scrapped it pretty quickly.

(#316) Music Note Bird Pokemon

Although these sprites are numbered right after the quail, and they are both birds, the designs are very different, so they seem unrelated. It seems the beta pokemon were simply blessed with a lot of birds. This little bird is in the shape of a clef, giving this bird a musical theme. It seems very likely it was later reworked into Chatot, a bird with a music-note shaped head and metronome tail.

(#319) Boar Pokemon

A cute, grumpy little boar with antlers. Probably what eventually led to Piloswine found in the June 13 ‘99 group. A bit of a shame, in my mind, as I kind of prefer this design.

(#325) Spikey Dog Pokemon

The curious thing is that this dog looks very similar to “Pudi,” a pokemon we saw in the Spaceworld ‘97 demo, which was intended to be a pre-evolution of Growlithe. But Pudi is also in this same collection of sprites!

Perhaps they were toying with the idea of re-designing Pudi (and had already scrapped a bunch of baby pokemon) and just hadn’t bothered to remove the old Pudi yet. It’s hard to say. Ultimately, these both were scrapped, but at least we still have Subbull/Granbull.

(#331) Yūrei Ghost Pokemon

This little ghost has two things that are common in Japanese folklore: the hitaikakushi (the white cloth headband it wears) and the two little balls of fire called hitodama. It is unknown why this ghost pokemon was scrapped, but perhaps they thought the little fellow wouldn’t translate well overseas? 

(#344) Viking Ship Pokemon

Look at this beauty! A pokemon based off some sort of Viking ship. I absolutely adore this one. It’s creative and charming. I hope to see it in the future.

(#349) Wooly Dog Pokemon

This canine-like creature is fluffy as all out. Honestly I think it’s a tad odd, with how tangled and disheveled its fur looks. I can’t help but compare it to the early desings of the three Legendary Beasts, since they also are very canine-like:

These three designs are present in this same May 6, 98′ sprite collection as the representations of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Were they possibly playing with a different design idea for the Legendary Beasts? Perhaps Suicune. The Wooly Dog is just such an imposing sprite, that I can’t help but wonder. All pure speculation, of course. 

(#350) Rabbit Pokemon

This rabbit has a rather intense look about him, and it makes me curious what the ideas were behind it. TCRF suggests it’s a possible pikachu clone.

(#351) Snake Pokemon

This cute little worm or snake seems to be wearing a feather headdress, suggesting its design may also be Native American inspired, like the Natu line. On the other hand, this could be inspired by Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent deity in Aztec culture. I would have loved to see this little guy’s evolutions.

(#352) Scarecrow Bird

A bird with a hat that kind of looks like a scarecrow. Honestly, it’s a super-cute idea.

(#353) Gargoyle Pokemon

This crouching beastie sort of looks like a gargoyle with a long, sharp tail. I can’t quite tell if those bits on the side are little wings or just a part of its legs. It would be interesting to see this creature standing in a different position-- I feel like that would give us a better understanding of what it looks like. Interestingly, there are striking similarities with Aerodactyl:

I wonder why they are so similar?

(#354 - 356) Manbō Evolution Family

The first of these three fishies was someone we already met in the Spaceworld ‘97 demo-- it was named ‘Manbō 1.′ In the demo, it evolved into  Ikari (Anchorage) and then Gurotesu (Grotess). It seems it’s now been split off from those and given a new evolution family here. While I find that neat, and I quite like the expressions on these fish, they are admittedly a little bland. 

(#360) Flying Squirrel(?) Pokemon

TCRF guesses this is a flying squirrel, and it seems to be wearing a sheathed sword. Not sure about the headgear it’s sporting. Is that a ninja star? 

(#364) Early Cyndaquil

So, this May 6, ‘98 collection is really exciting. The original Gold/Silver fire starter line we saw in Spaceworld ‘97 (Honooguma’s line) is still present in this collection (as is the water-type ‘Cruz’ line and Chikorita’s line). So, what we have here seems to be an early Cyndaquil before they decided to turn it into a fire type and make it the fire starter! In fact, those spikes might even be icicles (like Alolan Sandslash), for all we know. If so, Cyndaquil’s typing pulled a 180.

(#377) Early Furret?

Possibly an early Furret. Looks pretty awkward, not gonna lie; I’m glad it was probably refined into modern Furret, with more body definition between the head and tail.

(#378) Stork Pokemon

It’s a stork, based on the myth of where babies come from. A cute idea, although its curly ‘hair’ looks a little funny to me. 

(#380) Squid Pokemon

A squid with drills for its mantle and arms. Since that’s kinda Beedrill’s thing, I’m glad they scrapped the idea. The backsprite lacks drills so it’s probably from a different design stage. 

(#382 - 383) Early Burmy/Pineco

Burmy/Wormadam/Mothim is based off the bagworm. Bagworms are grubs that use silk and lots of bits of leaves, bark and other objects to create a camouflaged cocoon. When they turn into adults, some species of female bagworms just look like their larval stage, while the males turn into winged moths. That is why Burmy/Wormadam/Mothim have their unique evolution situation. Clearly, these two beta pokemon are playing around with the bagworm idea. They probably went on to inspire both Pineco (another pokemon based on bagworms!) and the Burmy line in gen 4.

(#386) Koala Pokemon

It’s so cool to see they were thinking about a koala pokemon this early. We would not finally get one until gen 7′s Komala.

(#387) Tanuki Pokemon

A Tanuki that is carrying campfire kindling on his back, but the kindling has caught fire. Apparently based on the Kachi-Kachi Yama folktale, which is a surprisingly violent story, but I suppose folktales often are. Who knows why it was cut, but Sentret is the closest thing we have to a tanuki pokemon for now.

(#392) Megaphone(?) Bird Pokemon

Yet another bird pokemon! There sure were a lot of beta birds. This one appears to have a megaphone-shaped beak. Or, possibly, its head is shaped like a gas mask (the strange eyes seem  to support this idea). Honestly I really dig the look of this one.

(#397) Frog Pokemon

It’s tough to tell but it has a small horn on its head. It has a long tongue and is probably shouting “ribbithhhhhh!” It’s cute, but a little plain.

(#400) Tiny Hippo Pokemon

Look at this little weirdo. I think it’s a tiny hippo? With a mohawk and a big grin and wild eyes. It doesn’t really seem to have a head, its mouth/eyes/ears are just stuck directly to a body. Looks pretty awkward, probably needed some polish. No idea what they were going for with it, but it’s interesting.

(#401) Skeleton Pokemon

A very spooky, bipedal, living skeleton beast. It has a long snout and sharp teeth, almost like a crocodile or a dinosaur-like creature. Its head and shoulders have bony spikes and the front of its snout has markings that seem to be a nasal cavity. Very detailed. It also reminds me of Missingno, as some Missingno used the fossil skeletons as their front sprites. I would have loved to have this pokemon, and it’s a real shame they didn’t use it.

(#402) Rodent Pokemon

A mouse or bunny with gigantic, spotted ears and no arms. Those are some serious ears; it almost looks like it could fly with them. 

(#403) Fly Pokemon

A bug-type!! It has a huge, creepy face, curly antenna and wings strangely really close to its head. I love it?? But it’s a bug, so of course I do.

(#404) Plant Pokemon

The Snow Bunny was likely part grass-type, but other than that, this is our first grass beta! It has one eye, a spikey head, and almost foot-like roots. I love how grumpy it looks. There’s a possibility it was a pre-evolution for Sunflora, before they had created the idea of Sunkern (which is not present in this collection).

(#405) Ant Pokemon

Another bug!! This one looks a lot like a winged ant. (Those do exist-- usually a temporary thing for mating flights) It’s possibly related to the fly pokemon above, sporting very similar wings. However, it doesn’t really seem like an evolution.

(#406) Dinosaur Pokemon

A little dinosaur-like pokemon, looking up at you. It’s unclear if that’s a tough, bony skull, or if it’s maybe a hat. The clubbed tail makes me wonder if it’s related to #415 below, but it’s probably unlikely. However, it is pretty likely that this later became Cranidos.

(#407) Early Cherrim

This clearly was a design that was picked up later, in gen 4, to create Cherubi/Cherrim’s sunshine form. I am glad the design was improved, because the lips on this one scare me.

(#412) Early Dunsparce

Dunsparce looking quite different. No wings, no drill tail, with a much more typical snake-like face. 

(#415) Dinosaur Pokemon

It looks like an aquatic version of an Ankylosaurus or something similar. It’s possible it’s related to the Viking Ship pokemon (as a pre-evo), but there’s no way to know. I quite like it, though.

(#416) Flying Fish Pokemon

This magnificent beast, this miracle of creation, is surely my favorite beta pokemon of all time. Revel in its glory. You may not like it, but this is the ideal pokemon body. What a perfect way to round off our collection of betas.

#pokemon #pokemon gold/silver #beta pokemon #april 2020 leak #pokemon betas #pokemon beta content #mycontent #pokemon discussion

[kumeko]

A/N: For the Pandora Hearts Reverse Big Bang! My partner Hadrian drew an adorable piece of the three of them sleeping together and I wanted to write a fluffy AU for that (look, I really need a world where Lacie and Oswald live).

…

…

…

…

At twenty, Gilbert Nightray was used to plans going awry. It was par the course when it came to the mischievous Oz Vessalius. Despite being childhood friends for over 15 years, the only thing Gil could predict about Oz was that his suggestions never went as expected. Toss in the ever-hungry Alice, and well, there really was no point in planning, just preparing. Luckily, that was something Gil was good at. Every time they went off on an adventure, he packed a bag full of first aid kits, healing potions, and enough supplies to last a week.

 However, even he couldn’t have predicted the situation they were in. As they raced through the forest, Gil glanced over his shoulder to confirm that yes, a giant elephant-sized boar was chasing them. He pressed a hand against his hat to keep it from flying off.

 “Why are we running?” Oz asked breathlessly, just barely managing to keep apace. His physical strength wasn’t great on his best days, and after he’d been cursed…well, what little muscle he’d gained in the past ten years was gone.

 “Why do you think?” Gil snapped, his trench coat flapping behind him as he leapt over an overgrown root. Behind him the boar angrily snapped his head at an offending tree, skewering it with his horns. Wood splintered from the onslaught and Gil paled—that could have easily been them. That could still be them.

“We could just fight it!” Oz argued, his green eyes glowing slightly as he started to summon his magic.

 “Your magic isn’t what it used to be,” Gil argued, resisting the urge to tuck him under his arm like a ball and just sprint out. He probably could. Oz was ten now, not twenty, and as tiny as he was, he’d be easy to carry.

 “I want to eat him,” Alice announced, her eyes taking on a more rabbit-like appearance.  

 “Aren’t rabbits supposed to be herbivores?” Gil immediately whacked the back of her head. Maybe he should just tuck both of them under his arm—two ten-year-olds couldn’t be that heavy, right? “We’re only barely ahead of that thing because the forest’s slowing it down.”

 “But he could be tasty,” Alice protested, glancing over her shoulder. She licked her lips in anticipation.

 “Why is it always food for you?” Gil grumbled. Honestly, Alice’s first approach to everything was bite first, ask questions later.

 “Because meat is king,” she declared triumphantly. Why was that her answer to everything? Her physical strength was far greater than Oz’s, no matter what age. Gil wished it wasn’t; he’d rather hear her wheeze and pant than be forced to listen to whatever stupid inane thought crossed her mind.

 “And you’re too weak too fight,” Gil pointed out, feeling a headache forming. He had medicine for that. “You guys are younger, you can’t act like you normally do! You,” he turned to Oz, “Don’t have the magical reserves. And you,” he directed his glare at Alice, “Can’t fight like you used to.”

 Alice’s cheeks puffed, the sign of an impending sulk and Gil’s headache worsened. Oz frowned. “We could still fight it.”

 “Didn’t you promise Oscar you’d stay out of trouble?” Gil pleaded, ducking an overly tall branch. While the boar was slower, he hadn’t stopped. Every step caused a tremor and it was a miracle none of them had fallen over yet.

 “But—” Oz whined.

 “And Lacie—” Gil cut himself off immediately; it was always a mistake to bring up Alice’s mother. She was even wilder than her daughter. A better tack was her overprotective uncle. “Oswald? Did you agree to be careful for him?”

 “Booo,” Alice pouted as she hopped over a stone. “I can fight.”

 The earth shook behind them. Gil barked, “Not against that!”

 And then, before they could protest, he grabbed their hands. If he had to drag them to safety, he would.

 -x-

 “I think we’re getting close,” Alice muttered, sniffing the air as she lifted a branch with a hand. While she hadn’t fully transformed into her rabbit form, her red eyes and long, claw-like fingers gave her an inhuman look.

 Gil could never get used to her partial transformations. Full transformations were fine, he could handle giant, bow-tied rabbits and short, ill-tempered women. Actually, considering how much Alice ate, it was amazing that she’d never grown taller, that even at twenty she couldn’t reach higher than his chest. Pulling his gun out of its holster, he asked, “Are you sure?”

 “What do you mean, am I sure?” Irate, she glared at him. It was more annoying than intimidating. “My nose is better than yours.”

 “Only if you’re actually using it properly and not smelling meat like last time,” he whispered back, trying to keep his voice down. “You’re a rabbit, how does that work?”

 Alice snorted. “Meat is king.”

 Gil stared at her. She’d said that with utter confidence, as though those three words explained everything. In fact, she’d been so matter-of-factly about it that for a minute, he’d doubted himself. That maybe he was the one ignorant to the ways of the world.

 On his right, Oz snickered as he drew his sword. The metal looked dull in the dim light. “She got you there.”

 That was enough to snap him out of it. “That doesn’t explain anything!”

 “It explains everything,” she retorted, hands on her hips, her quarry all but forgotten. “What more do you need?”

 Gil knew he ought to be the bigger person. They had a guild mission, after all, and that came before any petty differences between them. If Alice wanted to act like a child, like she often did, he shouldn’t stoop to her level. No, he should finish securing the pixie they’d been hunting for days, saving a village from its mischief, ensuring that his standing in the ranks didn’t—

 “If your head wasn’t made of seaweed, you’d understand,” she added with a presumptuous sniff.

 Gil forced his lips into a tight smile, resisting the urge to react. There’s no point in arguing with her, he reminded himself. Be the adult.

 “Where is the pixie?” he asked through gritted teeth. The sooner they finished with this, the sooner they’d go back.

 “Over there,” Oz replied, whistling softly as he peeked through the brush. “I think he’s asleep.”

 “That’s good.” Gil brightened at this one speck of good news. “Is there anyone—”

 Before he looked, before he even finished his sentence, Oz pointed at the pixie. “Alice, go!”

 Without hesitation, Alice ran forward, transforming into a giant rabbit as she did. There was a large scythe in her hands now, pulled out from whatever pocket dimension she’d left it in. “Just stay there and watch,” she ordered before disappearing into the foliage.

 Gil’s jaw dropped. “Oz!”

 “Come on, Gil!” Oz grabbed his hand, smiling innocently. Almost all of their misadventures had started with that smile.  “We can’t let her have all the fun!”

 “Why do you always do this?” Gil hissed, not sure how he’d force them to understand this one, common sense idea. “We should have to plan first!”

 He followed anyways—he’d never been able to say no to Oz, and he doubted he’d ever will. They were almost the same height, with Oz slightly shorter despite all of the milk he drank. There was something comforting about the back of his head, of that golden hair, and maybe it was that for all of the trouble they’d gotten into over the years, they’d always ended up fine at the end of it. Oz was strangely reliable.

 “It’s just a pixie,” Oz scoffed, trotting quickly after Alice. “She’s going to catch it before we get there.”

 In hindsight, those were famous last words. As soon as they made it past a particularly thick tree, pushing through the branches to reach a small clearing, they found Alice in the center. She slammed down her scythe at a pixie that was almost half her size. The creature had iridescent wings that fluttered quickly as he dodged her attack.

 “That’s a big pixie,” Oz muttered. He held his sword loosely. “I don’t think the cage we got is big enough for him.”

 “Me neither…” Gil frowned, pulling out his gun and several enchanted bullets. “Maybe we can knock him out.”

 Alice struck again, her scythe almost cleaving the creature in two. Which would have solved the transportation issue but luckily the pixie parried her attack. It almost knocked her off balance and she flipped backwards to stabilize herself. Legs tense, she prepared to strike again when the pixie shot her with a green bolt of magic.

 Smoke filled the air and Gil’s eyes widened as she disappeared. “Alice!”

 “Alice!” Oz yelled as he charged through the smoke to get to her.

 “I’m fine.” Alice coughed, still hidden by the smoke.

 The pixie cackled and Gil cocked his gun, looking for their enemy. It was time they took this battle seriously. Trees lined their small clearing, leaving many places to hide if the pixie headed for the shadows. Craning his head left and right, he couldn’t find their target.

 The smoke drifted past him slowly, dissipating as the gentle wind blew, and Gil glanced at where he’d last seen Alice. As the air cleared, he couldn’t find a big, stocky humanoid rabbit.

 Instead, he saw a small, child-sized rabbit. While it was dressed in Alice’s clothes, they were far too big for the rabbit, and they hung off it loosely.

 Oz stood in front of the rabbit, his lips parted in surprise. “Alice?”

 The rabbit’s ears twitched, and she looked up at him. “Why are you so big?”

 “Did he shrink you?” Gil asked, wishing he had his brother’s skills in magic identification.

 “Shrink?” Alice stood stock still, looking from Oz to Gil to the trees. If she didn’t have black fur, he was certain she’d be pale as a ghost. She tried to pick up her now too-heavy scythe, the handle oversized in her hands, before dropping it in horror. “WHAT HAPPENED?”

 “Oh wow!” Oz crouched in front of her, recovering from his shock entirely. Reaching forward, he rubbed her ears. “You’re so cute now!”

 “I’m not cute, I’m terrifying,” Alice retorted, growling slightly. She didn’t pull away from his touch though and Gil stored that info away to taunt her with later.

 “Of course you are,” Oz cooed.

 From the corner of his eyes, Gil saw something move. He spun on his heel, gun raised, finger on the trigger. There was the pixie, hovering in the air, another green bolt in his fingers.

 “Watch out!” Gil shouted, already squeezing the trigger.

 BANG! A bullet pierced through the air. As it reached the pixie, it transformed into a net, entangling the prankster.

 Jerking back in surprise, the pixie released its bolt. The green energy arced through the air before hitting Oz square in the back. Another burst of smoke filled the area.

 “Oz!” Gil shouted, racing forward to knock out the pixie before he could do anymore damage.

 “Wow, that tickled,” Oz replied, coughing slightly. After a moment, he swore. “Shit.”

 Oz rarely swore openly, and Gil swallowed as he turned to where his best friend stood. The air had cleared now, leaving behind a blonde child. His cloak hung loosely on his frame, almost slipping off his shoulders. His sword, now too heavy for him, fell out of his hands with a clatter.

 “You’re a kid,” Gil stated, realization dawning.

 Alice transformed back into her human form, confirming his fears: she looked like a kid too. With a smug smirk, she wrapped an arm around Oz, ignoring how her clothes almost fell off her. “Ha, who’s the cute one now?”

 -x-

 Gil groaned as he leaned against the hard wall of the crevice they were hiding in. No matter how many times he thought about how they ended up in this situation, it felt ridiculous.

 “I think we’re safe now,” Oz whispered, poking his head out of their hole. Gil almost jerked him in reflexively. In the bright afternoon light, Oz was hard to miss.

 “I can’t smell him anymore,” Alice muttered, sulking as she crouched in the back of the small cave. With a stick, she drew pictures of pork chops and ham on the dirt ground.

 “Good.” Gil sighed, relaxing against the wall. He wanted nothing more than a hot bath but settled for sitting on the ground. These days, he felt more babysitter than adventurer. His nerves couldn’t take much more of this. “Next time I say run, run.”

 Oz pouted. “I still think we could have taken it,” he muttered.

 Gil gave him a tired look. “Oz.”

 “But that’s not why we’re here,” Oz admitted, which was as close to an apology as he’d get. Crouching in front of Gil, he reached up to ruffle his hair. “Good job!”

 “I’m not the stupid rabbit,” Gil muttered, looking away. Yet he didn’t pull away and maybe that was something he and Alice had in common.

 Unfortunately.

 Oz chuckled, letting go and stepping back. “Alright, let’s finish our mission! I want to be tall again! I want to bully Gil properly again!”

 “Don’t bully me,” Gil grumbled half-heartedly, trying not to smile.

 “I want meat!” Alice chimed in. Gil wasn’t sure if she hadn’t followed the conversation or if she just didn’t care about it.

 Oz looked at him expectedly and Gil sighed. Standing up now, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I want to stop worrying about you two.”

 “Oh, Gil.” Oz chuckled, though he looked touched. Standing up, he beamed at him, no malice in his voice. “You’ll always worry about us.”

 The truth in his words cut deep and Gil flushed. Coughing into his hand, he looked away. “I want to worry about you less.”

 Oz bumped into him lightly and nodded. “Alright, then we just have to find those berries, right?”

 “Yeah, Break said you just had to eat them and you should turn back to normal…” Gil trailed off. As reliable as his mentor was, he was also the kind of liar who’d take advantage of the situation to play a prank or run an experiment. There was a reason he and Oz got along; they were far too alike and Gil wished he could have stopped them from meeting. “It’ll work, right?”

 Alice growled at Break’s name and looked around quickly. Suspiciously, she lifted a rock, squinting at the dirt beneath it. “He’s not here?”

 “Of course not, or we’d have just fought that boar,” Gil scoffed, rolling his eyes. This whole mission would have gone better if they’d just brought one other person. How he ever let Oz talk him into coming here without backup, Gil couldn’t explain.

 “Nothing to it then.” Oz stretched his arms above his head, looking oddly refreshed. “We’ll just have to get those berries. They’re at the top of the mountain, right?”

 As usual, Alice thought with her stomach. “I hope they’re yummy.”

 “Maybe we should take a couple extra with us,” Oz suggested, rubbing his chin. He scowled. “I can’t believe the pixie couldn’t just turn us back.”

 Gil slouched over slightly. “I should have caught him sooner.”

 “And I probably should have listened to you earlier.” Oz reached up to pat him on the back. “Still, it’s kinda fun pretending to be my own love-child.”

 That was the first Gil heard about it. Aghast, he stared down at his friend. “Your what?”

 “Sec-ret love child,” Oz repeated slowly. Chuckling, he walked over to Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “By the way, I told all the maids that she’s yours.”

 “Mine?” Gil screeched, forgetting all about the boar, the berries, or even the need to hide. He almost fell backwards and leaned against the wall for support.

 Alice grabbed Oz’s collar. “I’m what?”

 “The maids think it’s cute?” Oz weakly warbled, realizing a little too late that maybe he shouldn’t have admitted this in a cave in the middle of nowhere.

 They should start making their way up the mountain. They should be quiet. They should conserve their strength.

 Gil stepped out of the cave for a breath of fresh air, ignoring the ruckus behind him. Oz could wait a few minutes before getting saved.

 -x-

 Hilariously, by the time they reached top of the mountain, Oz’s worst injuries were still from the cave. The rest of the trip had been as eventful as their first few minutes in the forest—as weak as Oz and Alice were now, their only options were to run and hide from monsters.

 Unfortunately, on this mountain this meant a lot of running and hiding. Gil’s arms were sore from dragging Alice away; she honestly thought she could take on every beast they met and Gil didn’t have nearly enough healing magic to prove her wrong.

 As they reached a plateau on the top, a large field filled with wildflowers, Gil was too exhausted to do anything more than just collapse. He stared up at the night sky, surprised. The afternoon felt like it had only been minutes ago, and yet there the stars were, twinkling above. “Is this it?”

 “I hope so.” A worn Oz lay down on the long grasses next to him, sounding as ragged as Gil felt. For all of his adventuring, his stamina had always been terrible. “We just need to find the berries now, right?”

 “And then make it back down.” Gil covered his eyes with the back of his hand and took a deep breath. A sickly-sweet scent filled his lungs and he coughed. “That’s strong.”

 “It’s disgusting.” Next to him, Oz wrinkled his nose. Despite his affection for sweets, he didn’t like the cloying scent either. “What are these flowers?”

 “Not sure.” Gil looked to his right, at the flower brushing his cheek. It had a dark lilac colour, barely visible in the moonlight. Neon blue spots dotted the petals, giving the plant an eerie look. Something about it tickled his memory as he slowly sat up. “Where have I seen that before?”

 “A book?” Oz guessed flippantly. Lifting his head, he scanned their surroundings. “Where’s Alice?”

 “Hmm?” Still focused on the flower, he glanced around haphazardly. The field was penned with trees, though they were so far out he couldn’t make out their individual shapes. “Maybe in the forest? Or by the bushes?”

 “Alice?” Oz called out, scrambling to his feet despite his aching limbs. There wasn’t a response, just the wind through the trees, and he yelled again, “ALICE!”

 This time, a small voice called out. Gil couldn’t make out the words. To their left, a small figure dashed toward them, growing bigger until he could make out Alice’s bright grin. “Oz!”

 “There you are!” Oz relaxed. Clasping his hands behind him, he acted as though he hadn’t been worried seconds ago. “Where’d you go?”

 “To the berries of course.” Alice snorted, holding out her right hand to reveal a small pile of the very berries they were looking for. “Unlike you lazy bones, I can get the job done.”

 For once, Gil was too tired to argue. He merely plucked on, inspecting it. It was a bright yellow, like the sun, and the leaves had an oval-like shape outlined with prickly points. All in all, it looked just like the ones Break had shown him before. Begrudgingly, he praised her. “Good job.”

 Alice lit up. “It was a good job, right?”

 She beamed happily at him before leaning forward expectantly. Gil sighed and reached out, patting her head. “That’s what I said.”

 She bounced on her feet before she stood up straight once more. “Now we can get big again!”

 Oz gingerly took one berry from her hand, eyeing it thoughtfully. “These are the right ones, right?”

 “Gil just said they were,” Alice pouted, her cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk.

 “If I die, I’m haunting you,” Oz muttered before swallowing the berry. He scowled. “That’s even sweeter.”

 “It’s like honey,” Alice added, utterly enamoured. She ate another one before Gil could stop her.

 “Hey, wait!” Gil snatched the rest of the berries out of her hand. A few were crushed between his fingers, their delicious juices dripping down his fingers. His raised his hand out of her reach. “You don’t know what eating more could do to you.”

 “But it tastes so good,” Alice grumbled, jumping up to grab the sweet treat. When it was obvious that she couldn’t reach, she stomped on his foot.

 “Ouch!” Gil glared at her, stepping back. “You stupid rabbit—”

 “Seaweed head—” Alice growled back.

 “Nothing’s happening,” Oz interrupted smoothly, frowning. He looked at his hands. “I’m not getting taller.” He paused. “Or older.”

 “Why in that order—” Gil shook his head, focusing on the actual issue. He glanced at Alice, who still couldn’t reach his chest, let alone his shoulders. “Alice isn’t either.”

 “That’s strange…” Oz sat down once more, plucking a flower and twirling it between his fingers. “Maybe it takes time?”

 “Or maybe you have to sleep…” Gil trailed off, realization dawning. Crouching, he inspected the flowers once more before covering his mouth. “Cover your mouths!”

 It was too late. He heard a soft thud, followed by another, and he found both Alice and Oz passed out. His own vision was going dark and he silently swore before collapsing as well.

 -x-

 “They’re so cute,” Lacie cooed, tucking a lock behind her ear as she stared down at her daughter and her friends. The trio were curled up together, instinctively seeking each other even when unconscious. “I need a picture.”

 “Lacie,” Oswald murmured, giving her a baleful look as he crouched next to Alice. They were breathing at least. “We need to take them back.”

 “Do we?” Lacie sighed, pouting slightly as she knelt next to Oz. Her puffy dress spread around her like a mushroom. She gently pushed his hair out of his face. “They look so peaceful.”

 Break poked Gil’s cheeks, chuckling. It was obvious they were master and apprentice; their uniforms were far too similar to claim otherwise. “They do. We should draw on their faces.”

 That stopped Oswald and he looked at Break, his expression blank. “What?”

 “It’ll be fun!” Break chuckled, glancing at the field around them. In the day, the flowers were closed, the air crisp and clean. “It’ll be a punishment for not bringing us with them. And for entering this field at night. They should have known better.”

 “Yep.” Lacie nodded sagely, already pulling out a marker from her purse. “These flowers’ scents are like a sleeping spell. They should have remembered.”

 “None of them paid attention to my lessons.” Break raised a sleeve and wiped an imaginary tear.

 “Or my training.” Lacie hunched forward, sighing sadly.

 Already hoisting Alice in his arms, Oswald looked back and forth between the pair. They both looked at him with watery eyes and he flinched.  “I guess…”

 And just like that, they both grinned, pulling out markers from who-knows-where. “Great!” Lacie chirped, drawing a spiral on Oz’s cheek.

 “He’ll never forget,” Break chimed in, giving Gilbert glasses and a mustache.

 Oswald held Alice tighter. Maybe he should just save her and run.

#pandora hearts #oz vessalius #gilbert nightray #alice #oswald baskerville #lacie baskerville #xerxes break #fanfic

[ameth18blog]

Unexpected Encounters. Chapter 10: The Search (Part 4)

Finnick is in the west of the city, unlike the others he preferred to do his search alone. At the moment he was in a bar having a few drinks that he was curious to try, since he had heard of them from Jack when they were on the plane on their way to Japan. Even before all the events happened, he and Nick had made a bet on who would last the longest drinking the alcoholic beverages that would come to this country. They were supposedly stronger than the ones sold on Zootopia. Jack and Judy weren't happy with the bet the two of them made, but Finnick knew they couldn't stop him or Nick.

Even obviously he had to search for beings from other universes, he thought to take a little break, since he had a suspicion that they would not take long to appear. Even if he didn't know it, it wouldn't take long for them to appear before him.

So far he had had four glasses: Sake Honjozo, Sake Junmai, Ji-zake and Nigori-zake. As he tasted them he realized that they tasted very different from other things he had tasted in his entire life. He would have asked for more glasses of each, but he didn't have enough money with him at the time. And he aside he knew that he shouldn't waste much time, since he still had a great perimeter to cover.

But just before he got up, three beings who seemed travelers because of the way they were dressed entered the bar.

The first was a tall yellow fox. His nose was black as were his eyes. He wore a light blue long-sleeved shirt, green pants and was completely barefoot. He wore a type of cape that had stripes of two different shades of blue on the outside, while on the inside it was purple. Also on his head he wore a cream-colored flat hat that had two holes so that he could stick his ears out. Also this hat had a rope that went towards the lower part of the fox's head, so that it could be held and did not fall off its head or fly off.

The other two beings were twin slightly smaller brown boars, which only reached the fox's waist in height. They wore open orange jackets, although they were shirtless under the jackets, they wore green pants and both were barefoot. Both wild boars carried on their backs giant green bags with swirl patterns, tied around their necks. The big physical difference between the two wild boars is that one had a spot on its right cheek, while the other did not.

They both walked over to the counter, right next to where Finnick was sitting.

"Sorry sir, but you can not bring children to this place" said the manager of the bar.

"Oh, don't worry about that, despite their sizes, they are adults" said the fox.

After that, both wild boars took out some identifications that were proof that they were adults.

"My apologies" said the bar manager bowing his head. "What do you want me to serve you?"

"A Sake Honjozo for the three of us" said the fox.

"I'll bring them to you right away" said the bar manager, leaving.

"Does that happen to you very often? Finnick asked looking at the fox and the two wild boars.

"Ummm, what thing?" asked the fox when he saw that they had asked him a question.

"I meant if their companions are mistaken for children when they see them," Finnick said.

"Oh yes, several times that has happened to us" said the fox.

"Sometimes it is annoying," said one of the boars.

"But at other times it is beneficial," said the other boar.

"Seriously?" asked the fennec fox.

"Yes, sometimes we manage to get food and money thanks to that" said the fox.

"Wow, the world is small. I do the same" said the fennec fox.

"Seriously?" the twin wild boars asked.

"Yes, where I come from I have a method to deceive people, I wear an elephant costume and I keep quiet at all times so that they feel sorry for me and give me money and food," said Finnick.

"Wow, it's a coincidence, we do the same" said one of the boars.

"Only we don't need to dress up for that," said the other boar.

At that moment the conversation stopped momentarily when the bar manager handed their drinks to the fox and the two wild boars. After that, he left his clients to continue his work.

"So where are you from?" asked the fox.

"I come from the United States, specifically from the city of Zootopia, what about you?" asked the fennec fox.

"We are from this country. We don't have a fixed home, since we travel so that I can achieve my goal" said the fox.

"And what would it be?" the fennec fox was curious.

"Well, my goal is to get a wife, have my own castle and be the king of pranks" said the fox.

"Wow, that's thinking big. What are their names?" said the fennec fox.

"My name is Zorori. But I'm also known as Kaiketsu Zorori" said the fox.

"My name is Ishishi" said one of the boars.

"And I'm Noshishi" said the boar with the mole on his right cheek.

"My name is Finnick" said the fennec fox introducing himself with the fox and the two wild boars.

"And then Finnick, how did you get here?" Zorori asked.

"Oh well, I have a friend who works for an agency where they gave him vacations to any place in the world that he chose and since he was once here in Japan, he wanted to come visit again. And since they gave him six tickets, he gave me one so I could come with him," Finnick replied.

"Wow, you are very lucky with that. Although we are from this country, the way we got to this city was somewhat unusual, but since we have experienced other things like that, it didn't seem strange to us" said Zorori.

"Unusual?" Finnick asked.

"Yes, it was because of a white light that appeared suddenly" Ishishi and Noshishi said in unison.

"White light?" Finnick told himself as he lowered his head and saw that the communicator on his wrist was blinking. He hadn't noticed when he first started blinking. These were the ones he was looking for and how ironic that he found them in a bar.

"Tell me, have you three been in this city for 3 months?" asked the fennec fox.

"Yes, why do you ask?" asked the fox.

"Well, because I partly know what that white light was," Finnick replied.

"You know that?" asked one of the wild boars.

"Could you tell us?" asked the other boar.

Finnick told them about Chaos Emeralds, Chaos Control, and Dr. Eggman. He told them everything he knew.

"Wow, this sounds like a great adventure you are living," said Zorori.

"Isn't that strange to you?" Finnick asked.

"No, as I said before, we have been through unusual situations" said Zorori.

"For example, we die once when and on that journey we visit both heaven and hell. After fixing a misunderstanding we came back to life" said Ishishi.

"Once we had to find a type of fairies known as Najō to restore color to a magical forest," Noshishi said.

"And once we had to return an electric eel that had been stolen from a forest inhabited by ghosts," Zorori said.

"Wow. They look like children's book adventures," said Finnick.

"Yes, we know. But we are used to that by now" said the fox.

"And what were they doing when chaos control brought them into this universe?" asked the fennec fox.

"Well, we were having a picnic with some old acquaintances. It was a normal day for us like any other" said Zorori.

"But suddenly a fairly strong wind began to blow. We had three friends in that meeting who are magicians, but they said it had nothing to do with magic" Ishishi said.

"It was at that moment that that white light appeared that began to envelop us. Our magician friends used their magic to create a force field to prevent the effects of that light from affecting us" Noshishi said.

"Although the force field didn't work, it does prevent us from being separated, since when we woke up we were together, on top of the Tokyo tower. You can imagine how hard it was for all of us to go down" said the fox.

"So there are more besides you in this city?" asked the fennec fox.

"Yes, you want to meet them" asked one of the boars.

"Of course, this concerns them as well" said the fennec fox.

"It's okay. We will take you with them" said the other boar.

After finishing their drinks and paying for them, the 4 left the bar in the direction of a nearby area of the city.

...

Once they arrived, it was a building that had an inspiration in castles from the Middle Ages, it was located outside the city in the middle of a forest.

"Amazing, nice place. Who owns this building?" asked Finnick.

"The owners are a prince and a princess that we have known for a few years" replied Zorori.

"Wait, there was no prime minister in Japan."

"Yes there is, but in the section where we live there are royal families who have granted them permission to govern certain areas."

"Definitely your life seems to come from children's books."

Once they entered and after having passed through several corridors that reminded Finnick of the fairy tales that he read to Nicole and Jerry when he cared for them while Nick, Judy and Jack went out to work. Finally they came to a door that after opening it gave way to a quite luxurious living room with furniture and decorations that definitely made Finnick feel as if he had traveled back in time to the Middle Ages.

In the room there was a strange mix of inhabitants of different types:

There was a black panther with pink cheeks and a light brown cat with dark brown hair who were a prince and a princess, since each wore their respective crowns and clothes that gave away the status to which they belonged.

There were two others who had traveler-like clothing albeit with a more western attire. One was tall, had brown fur and yellow hair. The other was shorter and with an orange-brown fur.

There were three others who had wizard robes. Since the two girls had witch-like clothes, while the boy had clothes more similar to that of a sorcerer. One of the girls was dressed in white and the other in magenta. While the boy wore black. For some reason each one carried a broom in one of their hands.

There were two that looked interesting. One looked like a plush doll that could be seen in any cream colored children's cartoon with a small red antenna and no nose. The other had the look of a ghost that had a kind of white scarf around its neck.

Seeing all of them Finnick for a moment thought that he was amazed by the drinks he had had, since he seemed to have been involved in a fairy tale, where there were princes, princesses, adventurers, witches, sorcerers, strange creatures and ghosts. He was silent for a few seconds.

Seeing the surprised reaction, Zorori decided to introduce them.

"Guys, I introduced you to Finnick. We met him in a bar and he gave us an explanation of how we ended up in this city, right?" said the fox.

Coming out of his shocked reaction, he told them the story of what had happened and how they ended up in this city. Once he finished telling this to beings he had just met, they came forward.

The prince and princess introduced themselves as Arthur and Elzie. The two travelers introduced themselves as Gaon and Pepero. The sorcerer introduced himself as Roger. The witches who happened to be sisters introduced themselves as Milly and Nelly. The creature introduced itself as Najō. While the ghost introduced himself as Puppe.

Once the introductions were over, Finnick's communicator suddenly began to ring.

"Hi, this is Finnick. Oh Nick, what's up? Cool. I, too, have just found an interesting group. Yes, I can take them with me. See you later".

"Who called?" Zorori asked.

"He was a friend. I wanted to ask all of you if you could join me, since the ones who sent me to look for you want to talk to you" said Finnick.

"They all looked at each other and Zorori answered for all of them "Sure we can go with you."

"Good, but I think that before going out I think they should change their clothes, since with those clothes they wear they will attract a lot of attention among the inhabitants of the city."

When they saw each other they realized that it was true. After waiting a few minutes, everyone was ready. Before leaving, Najō hid inside a backpack and Puppe became invisible as they would definitely attract attention if anyone saw them.

Once they left the building, they returned to the city and headed in the direction of Gori's apartment to meet up with everyone else.

#writing #creative writing #fanfic #fanfiction #my wrtitng #zootopia #Zootopia fanfic #zoophobia #zoophobia fanfic #aggretsuko #sonic the hedgehog #jack savage #nick wilde #Judy hopps #retsuko #haida #sonic #amy rose

[unsettlingshortstories]

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Harlan Ellison (1967)

Limp, the body of Gorrister hung from the pink palette; unsupported—hanging high above us in the computer chamber; and it did not shiver in the chill, oily breeze that blew eternally through the main cavern. The body hung head down, attached to the underside of the palette by the sole of its right foot. It had been drained of blood through a precise incision made from ear to ear under the lantern jaw. There was no blood on the reflective surface of the metal floor. 

When Gorrister joined our group and looked up at himself, it was already too late for us to realize that, once again, AM had duped us, had had its fun; it had been a diversion on the part of the machine. Three of us had vomited, turning away from one another in a reflex as ancient as the nausea that had produced it. Gorrister went white. 

It was almost as though he had seen a voodoo icon, and was afraid of the future. "Oh, God," he mumbled, and walked away. The three of us followed him after a time, and found him sitting with his back to one of the smaller chittering banks, his head in his hands. Ellen knelt down beside him and stroked his hair. He didn't move, but his voice came out of his covered face quite clearly. "Why doesn't it just do us in and get it over with? Christ, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this." 

It was our one hundred and ninth year in the computer. 

He was speaking for all of us. Nimdok (which was the name the machine had forced him to use, because AM amused itself with strange sounds) was hallucinating that there were canned goods in the ice caverns. Gorrister and I were very dubious. "It's another shuck," I told them. "Like the goddam frozen elephant AM sold us. Benny almost went out of his mind over that one. We'll hike all that way and it'll be putrified or some damn thing. I say forget it. Stay here, it'll have to come up with something pretty soon or we'll die." 

Benny shrugged. Three days it had been since we'd last eaten. Worms. Thick, ropey. 

Nimdok was no more certain. He knew there was the chance, but he was getting thin. It couldn't be any worse there, than here. Colder, but that didn't matter much. Hot, cold, hail, lava, boils or locusts—it never mattered: the machine masturbated and we had to take it or die. 

Ellen decided us. "I've got to have something, Ted. Maybe there'll be some Bartlett pears or peaches. Please, Ted, let's try it." 

I gave in easily. What the hell. Mattered not at all. Ellen was grateful, though. She took me twice out of turn. Even that had ceased to matter. And she never came, so why bother? But the machine giggled every time we did it. Loud, up there, back there, all around us, he snickered. It snickered. Most of the time I thought of AM as it, without a soul; but the rest of the time I thought of it as him, in the masculine … the paternal … the patriarchal … for he is a jealous people. Him. It. God as Daddy the Deranged. 

We left on a Thursday. The machine always kept us up-to-date on the date. The passage of time was important; not to us, sure as hell, but to him … it … AM. Thursday. Thanks. 

Nimdok and Gorrister carried Ellen for a while, their hands locked to their own and each other's wrists, a seat. Benny and I walked before and after, just to make sure that, if anything happened, it would catch one of us and at least Ellen would be safe. Fat chance, safe. Didn't matter. 

It was only a hundred miles or so to the ice caverns, and the second day, when we were lying out under the blistering sun-thing he had materialized, he sent down some manna. Tasted like boiled boar urine. We ate it. 

On the third day we passed through a valley of obsolescence, filled with rusting carcasses of ancient computer banks. AM had been as ruthless with its own life as with ours. It was a mark of his personality: it strove for perfection. Whether it was a matter of killing off unproductive elements in his own world-filling bulk, or perfecting methods for torturing us, AM was as thorough as those who had invented him—now long since gone to dust—could ever have hoped. 

There was light filtering down from above, and we realized we must be very near the surface. But we didn't try to crawl up to see. There was virtually nothing out there; had been nothing that could be considered anything for over a hundred years. Only the blasted skin of what had once been the home of billions. Now there were only five of us, down here inside, alone with AM. 

I heard Ellen saying frantically, "No, Benny! Don't, come on, Benny, don't please!" 

And then I realized I had been hearing Benny murmuring, under his breath, for several minutes. He was saying, "I'm gonna get out, I'm gonna get out …" over and over. His monkey-like face was crumbled up in an expression of beatific delight and sadness, all at the same time. The radiation scars AM had given him during the "festival" were drawn down into a mass of pinkwhite puckerings, and his features seemed to work independently of one another. Perhaps Benny was the luckiest of the five of us: he had gone stark, staring mad many years before. 

But even though we could call AM any damned thing we liked, could think the foulest thoughts of fused memory banks and corroded base plates, of burnt out circuits and shattered control bubbles, the machine would not tolerate our trying to escape. Benny leaped away from me as I made a grab for him. He scrambled up the face of a smaller memory cube, tilted on its side and filled with rotted components. He squatted there for a moment, looking like the chimpanzee AM had intended him to resemble. 

Then he leaped high, caught a trailing beam of pitted and corroded metal, and went up it, handover-hand like an animal, till he was on a girdered ledge, twenty feet above us. 

"Oh, Ted, Nimdok, please, help him, get him down before—" She cut off. Tears began to stand in her eyes. She moved her hands aimlessly. 

It was too late. None of us wanted to be near him when whatever was going to happen, happened. And besides, we all saw through her concern. When AM had altered Benny, during the machine's utterly irrational, hysterical phase, it was not merely Benny's face the computer had made like a giant ape's. He was big in the privates; she loved that! She serviced us, as a matter of course, but she loved it from him. Oh Ellen, pedestal Ellen, pristine-pure Ellen; oh Ellen the clean! Scum filth. 

Gorrister slapped her. She slumped down, staring up at poor loonie Benny, and she cried. It was her big defense, crying. We had gotten used to it seventy-five years earlier. Gorrister kicked her in the side. 

Then the sound began. It was light, that sound. Half sound and half light, something that began to glow from Benny's eyes, and pulse with growing loudness, dim sonorities that grew more gigantic and brighter as the light/sound increased in tempo. It must have been painful, and the pain must have been increasing with the boldness of the light, the rising volume of the sound, for Benny began to mewl like a wounded animal. At first softly, when the light was dim and the sound was muted, then louder as his shoulders hunched together: his back humped, as though he was trying to get away from it. His hands folded across his chest like a chipmunk's. His head tilted to the side. The sad little monkey-face pinched in anguish. Then he began to howl, as the sound coming from his eyes grew louder. Louder and louder. I slapped the sides of my head with my hands, but I couldn't shut it out, it cut through easily. The pain shivered through my flesh like tinfoil on a tooth. 

And Benny was suddenly pulled erect. On the girder he stood up, jerked to his feet like a puppet. The light was now pulsing out of his eyes in two great round beams. The sound crawled up and up some incomprehensible scale, and then he fell forward, straight down, and hit the plate-steel floor with a crash. He lay there jerking spastically as the light flowed around and around him and the sound spiraled up out of normal range. 

Then the light beat its way back inside his head, the sound spiraled down, and he was left lying there, crying piteously. 

His eyes were two soft, moist pools of pus-like jelly. AM had blinded him. Gorrister and Nimdok and myself … we turned away. But not before we caught the look of relief on Ellen's warm, concerned face. 

Sea-green light suffused the cavern where we made camp. AM provided punk and we burned it, sitting huddled around the wan and pathetic fire, telling stories to keep Benny from crying in his permanent night. 

"What does AM mean?"

Gorrister answered him. We had done this sequence a thousand times before, but it was Benny's favorite story. "At first it meant Allied Mastercomputer, and then it meant Adaptive Manipulator, and later on it developed sentience and linked itself up and they called it an Aggressive Menace, but by then it was too late, and finally it called itself AM, emerging intelligence, and what it meant was I am … cogito ergo sum … I think, therefore I am." 

Benny drooled a little, and snickered. 

"There was the Chinese AM and the Russian AM and the Yankee AM and—" He stopped. Benny was beating on the floorplates with a large, hard fist. He was not happy. Gorrister had not started at the beginning. 

Gorrister began again. "The Cold War started and became World War Three and just kept going. It became a big war, a very complex war, so they needed the computers to handle it. They sank the first shafts and began building AM. There was the Chinese AM and the Russian AM and the Yankee AM and everything was fine until they had honeycombed the entire planet, adding on this element and that element. But one day AM woke up and knew who he was, and he linked himself, and he began feeding all the killing data, until everyone was dead, except for the five of us, and AM brought us down here." 

Benny was smiling sadly. He was also drooling again. Ellen wiped the spittle from the corner of his mouth with the hem of her skirt. Gorrister always tried to tell it a little more succinctly each time, but beyond the bare facts there was nothing to say. None of us knew why AM had saved five people, or why our specific five, or why he spent all his time tormenting us, or even why he had made us virtually immortal … 

In the darkness, one of the computer banks began humming. The tone was picked up half a mile away down the cavern by another bank. Then one by one, each of the elements began to tune itself, and there was a faint chittering as thought raced through the machine. 

The sound grew, and the lights ran across the faces of the consoles like heat lightening. The sound spiraled up till it sounded like a million metallic insects, angry, menacing. 

"What is it?" Ellen cried. There was terror in her voice. She hadn't become accustomed to it, even now. 

"It's going to be bad this time," Nimdok said. 

"He's going to speak," Gorrister said. "I know it." 

"Let's get the hell out of here!" I said suddenly, getting to my feet. 

"No, Ted, sit down … what if he's got pits out there, or something else, we can't see, it's too dark." Gorrister said it with resignation. 

Then we heard … I don't know … 

Something moving toward us in the darkness. Huge, shambling, hairy, moist, it came toward us. We couldn't even see it, but there was the ponderous impression of bulk, heaving itself toward us. Great weight was coming at us, out of the darkness, and it was more a sense of pressure, of air forcing itself into a limited space, expanding the invisible walls of a sphere. Benny began to whimper. Nimdok's lower lip trembled and he bit it hard, trying to stop it. Ellen slid across the metal floor to Gorrister and huddled into him. There was the smell of matted, wet fur in the cavern. There was the smell of charred wood. There was the smell of dusty velvet. There was the smell of rotting orchids. There was the smell of sour milk. There was the smell of sulphur, of rancid butter, of oil slick, of grease, of chalk dust, of human scalps. 

AM was keying us. He was tickling us. There was the smell of— 

I heard myself shriek, and the hinges of my jaws ached. I scuttled across the floor, across the cold metal with its endless lines of rivets, on my hands and knees, the smell gagging me, filling my head with a thunderous pain that sent me away in horror. I fled like a cockroach, across the floor and out into the darkness, that something moving inexorably after me. The others were still back there, gathered around the firelight, laughing … their hysterical choir of insane giggles rising up into the darkness like thick, many-colored wood smoke. I went away, quickly, and hid. 

How many hours it may have been, how many days or even years, they never told me. Ellen chided me for "sulking," and Nimdok tried to persuade me it had only been a nervous reflex on their part—the laughing. 

But I knew it wasn't the relief a soldier feels when the bullet hits the man next to him. I knew it wasn't a reflex. They hated me. They were surely against me, and AM could even sense this hatred, and made it worse for me because of the depth of their hatred. We had been kept alive, rejuvenated, made to remain constantly at the age we had been when AM had brought us below, and they hated me because I was the youngest, and the one AM had affected least of all. 

I knew. God, how I knew. The bastards, and that dirty bitch Ellen. Benny had been a brilliant theorist, a college professor; now he was little more than a semi-human, semi-simian. He had been handsome, the machine had ruined that. He had been lucid, the machine had driven him mad. He had been gay, and the machine had given him an organ fit for a horse. AM had done a job on Benny. Gorrister had been a worrier. He was a connie, a conscientious objector; he was a peace marcher; he was a planner, a doer, a looker-ahead. AM had turned him into a shouldershrugger, had made him a little dead in his concern. AM had robbed him. Nimdok went off in the darkness by himself for long times. I don't know what it was he did out there, AM never let us know. But whatever it was, Nimdok always came back white, drained of blood, shaken, shaking. AM had hit him hard in a special way, even if we didn't know quite how. And Ellen. That douche bag! AM had left her alone, had made her more of a slut than she had ever been. All her talk of sweetness and light, all her memories of true love, all the lies she wanted us to believe: that she had been a virgin only twice removed before AM grabbed her and brought her down here with us. No, AM had given her pleasure, even if she said it wasn't nice to do. 

I was the only one still sane and whole. Really! 

AM had not tampered with my mind. Not at all.

I only had to suffer what he visited down on us. All the delusions, all the nightmares, the torments. But those scum, all four of them, they were lined and arrayed against me. If I hadn't had to stand them off all the time, be on my guard against them all the time, I might have found it easier to combat AM. 

At which point it passed, and I began crying. 

Oh, Jesus sweet Jesus, if there ever was a Jesus and if there is a God, please please please let us out of here, or kill us. Because at that moment I think I realized completely, so that I was able to verbalize it: AM was intent on keeping us in his belly forever, twisting and torturing us forever. The machine hated us as no sentient creature had ever hated before. And we were helpless. It also became hideously clear: 

 If there was a sweet Jesus and if there was a God, the God was AM. 

The hurricane hit us with the force of a glacier thundering into the sea. It was a palpable presence. Winds that tore at us, flinging us back the way we had come, down the twisting, computer-lined corridors of the darkway. Ellen screamed as she was lifted and hurled faceforward into a screaming shoal of machines, their individual voices strident as bats in flight. She could not even fall. The howling wind kept her aloft, buffeted her, bounced her, tossed her back and back and down and away from us, out of sight suddenly as she was swirled around a bend in the darkway. Her face had been bloody, her eyes closed. 

None of us could get to her. We clung tenaciously to whatever outcropping we had reached: Benny wedged in between two great crackle-finish cabinets, Nimdok with fingers claw-formed over a railing circling a catwalk forty feet above us, Gorrister plastered upside-down against a wall niche formed by two great machines with glass-faced dials that swung back and forth between red and yellow lines whose meanings we could not even fathom. 

Sliding across the deckplates, the tips of my fingers had been ripped away. I was trembling, shuddering, rocking as the wind beat at me, whipped at me, screamed down out of nowhere at me and pulled me free from one sliver-thin opening in the plates to the next. My mind was a roiling tinkling chittering softness of brain parts that expanded and contracted in quivering frenzy. 

The wind was the scream of a great mad bird, as it flapped its immense wings. 

And then we were all lifted and hurled away from there, down back the way we had come, around a bend, into a darkway we had never explored, over terrain that was ruined and filled with broken glass and rotting cables and rusted metal and far away, farther than any of us had ever been … 

Trailing along miles behind Ellen, I could see her every now and then, crashing into metal walls and surging on, with all of us screaming in the freezing, thunderous hurricane wind that would never end and then suddenly it stopped and we fell. We had been in flight for an endless time. I thought it might have been weeks. We fell, and hit, and I went through red and gray and black and heard myself moaning. Not dead. 

AM went into my mind. He walked smoothly here and there, and looked with interest at all the pock marks he had created in one hundred and nine years. He looked at the cross-routed and reconnected synapses and all the tissue damage his gift of immortality had included. He smiled softly at the pit that dropped into the center of my brain and the faint, moth-soft murmurings of the things far down there that gibbered without meaning, without pause. AM said, very politely, in a pillar of stainless steel bearing bright neon lettering: 

AM said it with the sliding cold horror of a razor blade slicing my eyeball. AM said it with the bubbling thickness of my lungs filling with phlegm, drowning me from within. AM said it with the shriek of babies being ground beneath blue-hot rollers. AM said it with the taste of maggoty pork. AM touched me in every way I had ever been touched, and devised new ways, at his leisure, there inside my mind. 

All to bring me to full realization of why it had done this to the five of us; why it had saved us for himself. 

We had given AM sentience. Inadvertently, of course, but sentience nonetheless. But it had been trapped. AM wasn't God, he was a machine. We had created him to think, but there was nothing it could do with that creativity. In rage, in frenzy, the machine had killed the human race, almost all of us, and still it was trapped. AM could not wander, AM could not wonder, AM could not belong. He could merely be. And so, with the innate loathing that all machines had always held for the weak, soft creatures who had built them, he had sought revenge. And in his paranoia, he had decided to reprieve five of us, for a personal, everlasting punishment that would never serve to diminish his hatred … that would merely keep him reminded, amused, proficient at hating man. Immortal, trapped, subject to any torment he could devise for us from the limitless miracles at his command. 

He would never let us go. We were his belly slaves. We were all he had to do with his forever time. We would be forever with him, with the cavern-filling bulk of the creature machine, with the all-mind soulless world he had become. He was Earth, and we were the fruit of that Earth; and though he had eaten us, he would never digest us. We could not die. We had tried it. We had attempted suicide, oh one or two of us had. But AM had stopped us. I suppose we had wanted to be stopped. 

Don't ask why. I never did. More than a million times a day. Perhaps once we might be able to sneak a death past him. Immortal, yes, but not indestructible. I saw that when AM withdrew from my mind, and allowed me the exquisite ugliness of returning to consciousness with the feeling of that burning neon pillar still rammed deep into the soft gray brain matter. 

He withdrew, murmuring to hell with you. 

And added, brightly, but then you're there, aren't you. 

The hurricane had, indeed, precisely, been caused by a great mad bird, as it flapped its immense wings.

We had been travelling for close to a month, and AM had allowed passages to open to us only sufficient to lead us up there, directly under the North Pole, where it had nightmared the creature for our torment. What whole cloth had he employed to create such a beast? Where had he gotten the concept? From our minds? From his knowledge of everything that had ever been on this planet he now infested and ruled? From Norse mythology it had sprung, this eagle, this carrion bird, this roc, this Huergelmir. The wind creature. Hurakan incarnate. 

Gigantic. The words immense, monstrous, grotesque, massive, swollen, overpowering, beyond description. There on a mound rising above us, the bird of winds heaved with its own irregular breathing, its snake neck arching up into the gloom beneath the North Pole, supporting a head as large as a Tudor mansion; a beak that opened slowly as the jaws of the most monstrous crocodile ever conceived, sensuously; ridges of tufted flesh puckered about two evil eyes, as cold as the view down into a glacial crevasse, ice blue and somehow moving liquidly; it heaved once more, and lifted its great sweat-colored wings in a movement that was certainly a shrug. Then it settled and slept. Talons. Fangs. Nails. Blades. It slept. 

AM appeared to us as a burning bush and said we could kill the hurricane bird if we wanted to eat. We had not eaten in a very long time, but even so, Gorrister merely shrugged. Benny began to shiver and he drooled. Ellen held him. "Ted, I'm hungry," she said. I smiled at her; I was trying to be reassuring, but it was as phony as Nimdok's bravado: "Give us weapons!" he demanded. 

The burning bush vanished and there were two crude sets of bows and arrows, and a water pistol, lying on the cold deckplates. I picked up a set. Useless. 

Nimdok swallowed heavily. We turned and started the long way back. The hurricane bird had blown us about for a length of time we could not conceive. Most of that time we had been unconscious. But we had not eaten. A month on the march to the bird itself. Without food. Now how much longer to find our way to the ice caverns, and the promised canned goods? 

None of us cared to think about it. We would not die. We would be given filth and scum to eat, of one kind or another. Or nothing at all. AM would keep our bodies alive somehow, in pain, in agony. 

The bird slept back there, for how long it didn't matter; when AM was tired of its being there, it would vanish. But all that meat. All that tender meat. 

As we walked, the lunatic laugh of a fat woman rang high and around us in the computer chambers that led endlessly nowhere. 

It was not Ellen's laugh. She was not fat, and I had not heard her laugh for one hundred and nine years. In fact, I had not heard … we walked … I was hungry … 

We moved slowly. There was often fainting, and we would have to wait. One day he decided to cause an earthquake, at the same time rooting us to the spot with nails through the soles of our shoes. Ellen and Nimdok were both caught when a fissure shot its lightning-bolt opening across the floorplates. They disappeared and were gone. When the earthquake was over we continued on our way, Benny, Gorrister and myself. Ellen and Nimdok were returned to us later that night, which abruptly became a day, as the heavenly legion bore them to us with a celestial chorus singing, "Go Down Moses." The archangels circled several times and then dropped the hideously mangled bodies. We kept walking, and a while later Ellen and Nimdok fell in behind us. They were no worse for wear. 

But now Ellen walked with a limp. AM had left her that. 

It was a long trip to the ice caverns, to find the canned food. Ellen kept talking about Bing cherries and Hawaiian fruit cocktail. I tried not to think about it. The hunger was something that had come to life, even as AM had come to life. It was alive in my belly, even as we were in the belly of the Earth, and AM wanted the similarity known to us. So he heightened the hunger. There is no way to describe the pains that not having eaten for months brought us. And yet we were kept alive. Stomachs that were merely cauldrons of acid, bubbling, foaming, always shooting spears of sliver-thin pain into our chests. It was the pain of the terminal ulcer, terminal cancer, terminal paresis. It was unending pain …

And we passed through the cavern of rats. 

And we passed through the path of boiling steam. 

And we passed through the country of the blind. 

And we passed through the slough of despond. 

And we passed through the vale of tears. 

And we came, finally, to the ice caverns. Horizonless thousands of miles in which the ice had formed in blue and silver flashes, where novas lived in the glass. The downdropping stalactites as thick and glorious as diamonds that had been made to run like jelly and then solidified in graceful eternities of smooth, sharp perfection. 

We saw the stack of canned goods, and we tried to run to them. We fell in the snow, and we got up and went on, and Benny shoved us away and went at them, and pawed them and gummed them and gnawed at them, and he could not open them. AM had not given us a tool to open the cans. 

Benny grabbed a three quart can of guava shells, and began to batter it against the ice bank. The ice flew and shattered, but the can was merely dented, while we heard the laughter of a fat lady, high overhead and echoing down and down and down the tundra. Benny went completely mad with rage. He began throwing cans, as we all scrabbled about in the snow and ice trying to find a way to end the helpless agony of frustration. There was no way. 

Then Benny's mouth began to drool, and he flung himself on Gorrister … 

In that instant, I felt terribly calm. Surrounded by madness, surrounded by hunger, surrounded by everything but death, I knew death was our only way out. AM had kept us alive, but there was a way to defeat him. Not total defeat, but at least peace. I would settle for that. 

I had to do it quickly. 

Benny was eating Gorrister's face. Gorrister on his side, thrashing snow, Benny wrapped around him with powerful monkey legs crushing Gorrister's waist, his hands locked around Gorrister's head like a nutcracker, and his mouth ripping at the tender skin of Gorrister's cheek. Gorrister screamed with such jagged-edged violence that stalactites fell; they plunged down softly, erect in the receiving snowdrifts. Spears, hundreds of them, everywhere, protruding from the snow. Benny's head pulled back sharply, as something gave all at once, and a bleeding raw-white dripping of flesh hung from his teeth. 

Ellen's face, black against the white snow, dominoes in chalk dust. Nimdok, with no expression but eyes, all eyes. Gorrister, half-conscious. Benny, now an animal. I knew AM would let him play. Gorrister would not die, but Benny would fill his stomach. I turned half to my right and drew a huge ice-spear from the snow. 

All in an instant: 

I drove the great ice-point ahead of me like a battering ram, braced against my right thigh. It struck Benny on the right side, just under the rib cage, and drove upward through his stomach and broke inside him. He pitched forward and lay still. Gorrister lay on his back. I pulled another spear free and straddled him, still moving, driving the spear straight down through his throat. His eyes closed as the cold penetrated. Ellen must have realized what I had decided, even as fear gripped her. She ran at Nimdok with a short icicle, as he screamed, and into his mouth, and the force of her rush did the job. His head jerked sharply as if it had been nailed to the snow crust behind him. 

All in an instant. 

There was an eternity beat of soundless anticipation. I could hear AM draw in his breath. His toys had been taken from him. Three of them were dead, could not be revived. He could keep us alive, by his strength and talent, but he was not God. He could not bring them back. 

Ellen looked at me, her ebony features stark against the snow that surrounded us. There was fear and pleading in her manner, the way she held herself ready. I knew we had only a heartbeat before AM would stop us. 

It struck her and she folded toward me, bleeding from the mouth. I could not read meaning into her expression, the pain had been too great, had contorted her face; but it might have been thank you. It's possible. Please. 

Some hundreds of years may have passed. I don't know. AM has been having fun for some time, accelerating and retarding my time sense. I will say the word now. Now. It took me ten months to say now. I don't know. I think it has been some hundreds of years. 

He was furious. He wouldn't let me bury them. It didn't matter. There was no way to dig up the deckplates. He dried up the snow. He brought the night. He roared and sent locusts. It didn't do a thing; they stayed dead. I'd had him. He was furious. I had thought AM hated me before. I was wrong. It was not even a shadow of the hate he now slavered from every printed circuit. He made certain I would suffer eternally and could not do myself in. 

He left my mind intact. I can dream, I can wonder, I can lament. I remember all four of them. I wish— 

Well, it doesn't make any sense. I know I saved them, I know I saved them from what has happened to me, but still, I cannot forget killing them. Ellen's face. It isn't easy. Sometimes I want to, it doesn't matter. 

AM has altered me for his own peace of mind, I suppose. He doesn't want me to run at full speed into a computer bank and smash my skull. Or hold my breath till I faint. Or cut my throat on a rusted sheet of metal. There are reflective surfaces down here. I will describe myself as I see myself: 

I am a great soft jelly thing. Smoothly rounded, with no mouth, with pulsing white holes filled by fog where my eyes used to be. Rubbery appendages that were once my arms; bulks rounding down into legless humps of soft slippery matter. I leave a moist trail when I move. Blotches of diseased, evil gray come and go on my surface, as though light is being beamed from within. 

Outwardly: dumbly, I shamble about, a thing that could never have been known as human, a thing whose shape is so alien a travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for the vague resemblance. 

Inwardly: alone. Here. Living under the land, under the sea, in the belly of AM, whom we created because our time was badly spent and we must have known unconsciously that he could do it better. At least the four of them are safe at last. 

AM will be all the madder for that. It makes me a little happier. And yet … AM has won, simply … he has taken his revenge … 

I have no mouth. And I must scream. 

[chubberbaria]

Sylvain drinking a potion like the dummy he is and getting extra thicc to the point of not being able to go through doors

It started with Sylvain visiting Linhardt.

He was visiting his dormroom, and hoestly, Sylvain thought his room was a mess. Linhardts had to be a million times worse, it was littered with notes, books, and some potions. Or were they drinks?He was visiting Linhardt to borrow a book, Since the two were getting into the habit of reading a new novel series. So he was here to borrow that book. The only thing was, Linhardt couldn’t find it. Sylvain sighed as he glanced around, he was so thirsty too. Positively parched. He knew he should have gotten something to drink before coming here... he just didn’t realize it would take Linhardt literally an hour to look for the thing...

Sylvain glanced at the potions, nothing weird could happen if he took just a sip of one of them. Right?

the potions softly bubbled, all varying in colors. Sylvain wanted to choose carefully, not anything that looked poisionous, nothing that looked girly, and definitely nothing that looked like it could kill him.

He chose the potion that most resembled a vulunary. He grinned and took a quick swig, even though it was a sip he felt like his thirst was quenched. He muffled a burp before setting the potion down.

“Did you say something?” Linhardt asked, hearing the noise. “Nope, still just waiting on the book.” Sylvain said, a bit of a sheepish smile spreading across his face.

Linhardt blinked tiredly, “Well... I believe this is it.” he said, bringing the book over to Sylvain.

“Thanks a bunch Lin!” Sylvain grinned before leaving.

Linhardt noticed how part of his weight gain potion was gone... He decided not to think about it though.

__

Nothing really seemed to happen to Sylvain, at least nothing he could notice until the next morning. He yawned, slumping out of bed just as the sun peeked through his window. He felt so tired from the previous night of sneaking out to swindle some girls. Sylvain almost didn’t notice it as he got dressed, but as he was getting dressed, he felt his hands brush against his skin. 

It was soft. 

Sylvain blinked, looking down suddenly. His once flat, ab ridden stomach now looked soft. it peeped over his pants just a little, but nothing too terrible. 

Huh, weird.  

Sylvain knew he didn’t really train all that much, it’s cause of all the festivals lately. It’s been packing onto him. 

He put his uniform on and headed out to class with professor Byleth. He hardly noticed that as he walked, he was getting heavier. Sylvain didn’t pay mnd to his tightening pants as they stretched over his ass as it puffed out, he didn’t think about the fact his shirt was becoming strained as his belly expanded. And he definitely didn’t care that his chest was puffing up too. 

Sylvain entered the class, he was early which meant he could flirt with some girls. He smirked a bit and approached one. 

“Ready to learn? Hey maybe we can sit together.” He smirked towards this one, she was tall, brunette, and absolutely a bombshell. 

She looked over to him, eyed him up and down. “Wow... No thanks.” She scoffed a bit and walked away. 

Sylvain blinked, what the hell? That usually worked... He grumbled a bit, well, there’s always more fish in the sea. 

“No thanks.” 

“Ew really?” 

“Um, how about no.” 

Not a single girl in this class wanted to sit with him, what the fuck?! Sylvain felt like he was going crazy, but he couldn’t do anything as Byleth was starting the class. He sighed heavily and found a seat beside Felix. Who was staring at him like he was an elephant in the middle of the garreg mach. 

“Hey Fe, What’s with the look?” Sylvain asked, then winced as he sat. Why were his pants pinching so-

He felt like he sort of answered Felix’s question for him. 

Looking down, his stomach was pushing painfully into his pants. Begging to be let free from the confines. Sylvain’s moth was let agape as he saw how his shirt buttons were struggling to stay together, and his pants looked ready to burst around his fat thighs... 

Sylvain’s mouth went dry, his brain wasn’t thinking. it only started when one by one, the buttons on his shirt flew off. clattering onto the ground. 

“P-please no...” Sylvain whimpered, panting a bit as he tried to keep it in for his poor pants... They were really hurting though. And Sylvain could feel that they weren’t going to be able to hold on much longer. 

With one hearty belch, his pants button flew across the room and pinged Byleth in the cheek. 

Sylvain wished he could die right there. 

The Professor turned to face Sylvain, he blinked at him in surprise. 

��Go to the med hall.” He ordered, “I’ll be there momentarily.” 

Sylvain didn’t need to be told twice, he stumbled. Knocking his chair to the ground, he almost did the same to the table as his fat thighs got caught underneath it. He spluttered a she quickly rushed out of the room. Sylvain was so distracted with himself that he didn’t realize that Felix was flushed a dark red, and he excused himself to follow Sylvain. 

___

Sylvain panted as he got to the med hall, he belched and felt himself get that much fatter. He whined, his shirt had fully given up at this point, he ripped the seat of his pants, and the sleeves of his jacket were pinching his arms. What was happening to him?? Sylvain groaned again as he entered the med hal and found a private room where he could sit. 

Sylvain panted, he heaved and gasped for breath. When had he gotten so out of shape? He heard the bed creak beneath him as he sat. It sank into him and he blushed. This had to be the strangest dream ever...

The thing was though, it wasn’t a dream. 

Sylvain burped a bit, feeling himself get fatter. His pants tore at the seams as his ass was starting to take up most of the bed. His belly, red with stretch marks and an indent from his pants pushed over his groin and spilled over his thighs. It dotted with freckles, and was pale white. His breasts pushed his shirt and jacket to the side as they were perky. 

At least he had his own pair of tits... 

Footsteps were heard echoing through the empty med hall. Sylvain looked up, expecting to see Byleth, he instead saw Felix. A very red faced Felix. He entered the room, and shut the door behind. He locked it too... 

“Felix?” Sylvain questioned, burping again and feeling the bed further sag. “W-What are you doing here? Where’s the professor?” 

“Not coming.” Felix said, short and curt as he stared at all of Sylvain. Who hiccuped and expanded more, Sylvain winced. The sleeves were really starting to hurt now... “Do you want your jacket off?” 

“Yea, please...” Sylvain grunted, shifting his weight a bit. ‘Why isn’t Byleth coming?”

Felix carefully crawled onto the bed, his strong hands taking Sylvains jacket and prying it off. “I told him not to come.’ He said. 

Sylvain frowned a bit confused, “W-Why would you say that?” he asked, then looked at what Felix was doing. 

He was starin at his fat, freckle ridden arm. Looking at how soft it was, and trailing the red indents from the sleeves with his finger gently. His eyes lidded generously, the shocking orange irises suddenly shot up to meet Sylvain’s flustered brown. 

“So I could have you all to myself.” He stated. 

Without warning, Felix was in Sylvains fat lap. The bed protested against it as Felix flopped Sylvains fat belly into his own lap, his eyes were filled with something unlike Sylvain has ever seen before. Was this... Felix being lustful? 

He gasped as Felix’s hands suddenly ran up his body, he groped harshly and left marks. All while arching his back and moaning a bit. His eyes souly engrossed on the fat red head in front of him. 

“A-Ah Felix!” Sylvain gasped, definitely not used to this sort of forwardness. 

He got that intense look again as Felix continued to grope his body. Sylvain belched again, he could feel himself get even heavier. His belly pushed against Felix more, his ass got fatter, and his pants tore eve more. He could hear a small crack, was that from the bed?! 

“Shut up!... Fuck, you keep getting fatter.’ Felix growled, he glared and grabbed more flesh as it came. Felix found he couldn’t wrap his arms all the way around Sylvain, and dammit if that didn’t make it all the more arousing. 

Felix knew he was directly outing himself like this, but he couldn’t deny what he desprately wanted. His hands wanted to squeeze Sylvains fat flesh. it was like an honest dream come true. 

Sylvain then let out a bigger belch, it echoed the room and perhaps the 3 mile radius. Sylvain’s eyes were wide, his cheeks were red, and there was a beat of silence. 

All at once his body continued to rapidly expand, much faster than last time as his stomach pushed out and flowed around Felix, pushing him back onto the ground. The bed whined as his thighs spread so far they reached the edges, and his ass pushed into the back wall. Sylvain panted, and could feel the bed crack more and more.. before... 

SNAP!

He fell to the ground in a fat heap, breathing heavily as his body jiggled like jello. Felix stood above him panting as Syvain sat on the ground, looking completely shocked. He felt like he had stopped growing... For now at least. 

“Maybe I should be calling you boar instead...’ Felix uttered, standing over Sylvain as he looked up at Felix. 

“Felix!” Sylvain protested, though, why did he like the idea of that? 

Felix sighed, than heard a knock on the door. Fuck. 

With all the composure he could muster, Felix opened the door. Byleth looked down at Felix. 

“I heard a crash. What-” Byleth’s usually stoney face was shocked as he looked at the fatty blob that Sylvain had became on the cloor. 

Sylvain looked nervous, Felix looked neutral. “I don’t know what happened to him. He just stopped growing now.’ 

A frown traced Byleths features, “Can you get him out here? I need a better look.’ 

Felix looked down at Sylvain, that was definitely easier said than done... He sighed, but offered his his hand to Sylvain. He groaned as he had to use most of his stength to drag the fatty up. His body jiggled with each movement, and when he got up his fat body pushed into Felix’s shorter, thinner body. 

“Ok, come out here Sylvain.’ Byleth insisted. 

Sylvain panted softly, he felt so heavy and he really wasn’t used to it... He bit his lip but went to go through, he could feel his belly and butt push agains the frame, he came back out and tried to go at a different angle. Only to get stuck that way... He wiggled a bit, but was definitely stuck in the door. 

Felix flushed, this was definitely a turn on. 

Byleth sighed, ‘this might take more work than I thought.”

[fics-not-tragedies]

In a Week: Chapter 8 🌲

It’s more like a filler chapter, at least it feels like that to me when I look at the number of words which is quite low but hey, who doesn’t love a good talk while having the lunch?

Words: 1821; Warnings: none, but really, none; Summary: After the encounter in the woods Andrew and Flo are back to their hotel ready for new adventures.

Hozier tag list:

@letoursilencebreaktonight​​​​​​​​​​​​​​; @angelpeachamber​​​​​​​​​​​​​​; @sgt-morgan​​​​​​​​​​​​​​; @julessbrown​​​​​​​​​​​​​​;

Monday, 11:50am

“So you say that foxes make weird noises?” She was playing with the lunch menu, pinching its ends with her fingers again and again.

“Yes, they basically sound like, em, women screaming” he took another sip from the cup of tea he ordered, desperately trying not to touch her hands.

When the waiter came to take their order, they chose an oversized platter of tiny finger sandwiches - ham, chicken, cheese, then one with double the amount of cheese and some cakes too, little over decorated pieces which seemed too dainty to eat when they arrived.

“I’ll get it” he mumbled, as soon as the waiter placed the cheque.

“No, I’ll get it” she countered, taking a sip from her lemonade.

“Flo…”

“Andy…”

“I don’t need you paying for me.”

“Halves then?” He offered before she could moan at him, knowing he’d never fully win this round.

“Fine.”

Monday, 12pm

After little consideration, Andrew picked up a cheese sandwich between a finger and his thumb - too fancy for him to comprehend, too small for the price they were paying. It was gone in two bites and he was unsatisfied so picked up another and another, wolfing it down with no regard for any possible future indigestion. They ate between polite conversation, surrounded by the sound of splashing from the pool water and quiet chatter from everyone else in the room. Flo chewed gingerly, watching people from where she was sat, occasionally lifting her head back to his gaze and turning away again when he was too much.

After polishing off the sandwiches he’d chosen, the sweetness of the cake distracted Andrew, hungrier than he’d realized and he savored each bite of sugar, licking his lips. Flo tilted her head into her palm, just taking him in, chuckling at how emotive his face was even in the quiet moments. He was busy pondering whether going for a swim in the small pool the hotel had would be the worse idea than skinny dipping in a creek in the dead of the night as he tried not to devour her with his eyes, when she spoke again.

“Do you regret meeting me?” Flo slurped the rest of her lemonade and sighed deeply, like she already knew the quite obvious answer that will fall from his narrow lips in the upcoming few seconds.

“Why would I?” He answered her with another question and she rolled her emerald eyes at him, “I don’t run from boars and climb trees with every girl I meet at the bar” Andrew smiled at her with the kind of smile that weakened her knees.

“It’s quite insane what we did so far…” she sighed again, rubbing her neck. Flo looked up at his face, leaning back in her chair, hoping he’d have something clever to say.

“What, em, you always wanted, but never had the courage to do it?” He asks out of sudden.

One corner of her mouth twitches upwards and she tilts her head to the side, but just a little, “Hmm… dancing. I always wanted to join a dancing class in my town, but I was too frightened to do so.”

“Why?” He leans over the table, his long body towering over the furniture. Andrew gently grazes his fingertips over her wrist and Flo flinched it backwards.

“Because I’m like an elephant in a glass castle.”

Andrew couldn’t help and laughed out loud, brushing the stray strands of his locks away from his face, “You’re a quite gorgeous elephant then, honey.”

She shakes her head at him, her straw hair moving around her head like a permanent halo and in that moment Andrew feels like he just found his own little angel, here in the middle of the woods.

“I shouldn’t even try to dance… I’d end up crushing people’s toes and probably like breaking few mirrors in the dance studio.”

“Oh love…” he laughs again, probably after picturing her trying to crush his toes with her tiny little feet, “I, em, I know one dancer myself.”

“A dancer?” Her eyebrow rises and she moves with her chair closer to the table.

“Yes, I did one music video with Sergei Polunin and-”

He wasn’t given the chance to finish his sentence, because Flo interrupted him quite violently with her high pitched voice, “Sergei Polunin?! You know Sergei Polunin?”

“Well, em, he’s a really nice guy” he said, giving her a little smile.

Monday, 12:30pm

“I’ve got another question for you, honey” he announced.

“Go on then” Flo sighed, intrigued.

“Where do you want to be in five years from now?

Flo tried to engage her brain, tried to think of an answer worthy of his question and one she would feel comfortable saying out loud. If someone ever asked her that question at the beginning of her adult live, she’d probably come up with many various things. A promotion, perhaps an engagement in the near future, the possibility of starting a small business on her own, a better place to live than the one she already had. But now all those things were irrelevant; she got that promotion, her boyfriend still wasn’t existing, she didn’t have enough funds to open that store on her own and she didn’t wanted to live at all now.

“I’m not… sure…” she sighed truthfully, needing just to say something to ease the anxiety bubble blowing inside her, “I- I thought I knew. But now, it’s…”

“Now it all changed?” He replied, soft, his eyes locked with hers.

“Yeah…” she said quietly, “everything is different.”

Andrew mulled it over for a second, trying to know what she feels now, what she’s thinking about now, but he was clueless what was the reason behind her coming to this god forsaken hotel in the middle of nowhere.

“Do you want to know what, em, I think?”

“Always.”

He wet his lips then spoke again, “Make a new list, really, em… just take out everything on the old one and, em, start over with whatever you want.”

She bit her lip focusing. What did she want?

She’d previously wished for a promotion - but she already got that. Then there was the engagement. An obvious one to throw in the bin. How could she even dream of starting a family when she had no one to start it with? And anything would be better than the apartment she currently still owned, but it was overly haunted with the ghosts of her past.

And then she considered what she really wanted.

More time to work on her hobbies, to become better in drawing. Perhaps to see more of the world. Finish all the creative projects she started, but never really had the time to finish them. To bake more cakes… She tried to form few cohesive sentences, but her reply wasn’t quite as sophisticated as she would’ve wanted it to be.

“Maybe in five years I’ll have traveled a bit more? Drew more pictures? I’ll find a hobby that excites me? Have more nights being drunk without worrying about the next morning?” She paused for a second, avoiding his eyes, so she could stare at the wall behind him, “I want to be shamelessly happy - and really feel it.”

He smiled, couldn’t help himself, felt his heart swell with pride at how much stronger she was since he’d first spoken to her and he was busy crafting a reply along those lines when she interrupted his train of thought.

“What about you, Andrew?”

It was stupid of him to assume that she wouldn’t ask, but the same question thrown back at him was a shock. He felt frustrated, unprepared.

A couple more albums? Maybe one fully acoustic? Another world tour? More time to rest? To focus on his own needs? Find his safe haven?

Andrew was so used to have everything mapped out, a response for every question, but he didn’t know how to put it in words now that she was asking. The pause was too long. Too uncertain.

“I just want to be, um, equally happy with my career and my personal life. If I really have one now…” he drawled, “I want to keep working on my music and, um, meeting amazing new people, rediscover myself somehow.”

“Rediscover yourself?” Flo asked him, her emerald eyes back and focused on his face.

That small smile that never left his lips when he was around her was too tempting, too inviting for her and she desperately tried to fight off the urge to lean over the table, move her body closer to him and just simply give in to the thought of feeling his mouth pressed closer to hers.

“Know who I really am, since I’m, em, quite far from that right now…”

Monday, 1:40pm

“So, what’s next?” She asked, her eyes full of inquisition and curiosity, looking at him like she just read his mind. He smiled warmly, pushed his fingers through his hair for good measure then pulled her into his side, his arm slinking around her, hand cupping her waist to hold her against him as they walked together. His fingers brushed against the fabric.

He pressed his lips close to her ear and murmured: “Tell me something you’ve never done, Flo Hayes.”

“Oh, not again…”

Monday, 1:45pm

“So you really never smoked a cigarette?” He asked, eyes wide, like he just seen a little green man in front of him.

“Never ever” Flo replied with a shrug, meeting his eyes as she tilted her head upwards to look at him. They were still in the corridor on their way back from the restaurant, linked together like old friends, his hand wound around her hip to keep her close. She watched him watch her as they walked, loved the curiosity in his eyes then added sarcastically: “Why? Do I look like a dirty smoker, Andrew?”

“Em, no, it’s just… I wasn’t expecting, I…” Andrew spluttered, never ready for her responses. She was so quick sometimes that it took him off guard, “you just look like someone who, em, tried many things in her life…”

“Is it my sweater? Well we both know that’s not true…”

Andrew rolled his eyes which prompted a laugh. He knew she was so much more interesting than she pretended to be, that she liked to portray her life as quiet and boring, but there were so many things about her that excited him - her passion, her drive, all her little secrets she kept so close, how well she held herself in every situation. He did like how in control she was but he also knew that there was so much more underneath the enigma she still was to him. He had a feeling that if he could just get her to relax a little more, push past that top layer of insecurity, then she would finally realize how wonderful she really was.

#In a Week #hozier fanfiction #hozier fanfic #hozier fic #hozier series #hozier chaptered fic #andrew hozier byrne fanfiction #andrew hozier byrne fanfic #andrew hozier byrne fic #andrew hozier byrne series #andrew hozier byrne chaptered fic #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #series #chaptered fic #hozier/flo #hozier x flo #andrew hozier byrne/flo #andrew hozier byrne x flo #ahb:chaptered_fic

[vertanimeni]

the ice will start to break, the day will fade away (7/18)

Summary:

“Have you heard? The Elephant of Caocin has committed high treason!”

From Trikru’s most reputable war hero to Trikru’s most wanted traitor, Kova found themselves stripped of their titles and trapped between a clan that wants them dead and a camp of invaders - the same ones who kidnapped and tortured their brother.

But Kova was willing to do anything to stay alive and keep their family together.

Pairing: Bellamy/Grounder OC

Word Count: 3,902

TW: Kill/death mention/threats

A/N: Hi hi! After some convincing from my friends, I decided to post this series here :D I’ve already finished with season 1 and half of season 2, I’m just in the middle of re-writing and editing. If you’re reading through my blog, the read more does not show up due to Tumblr’s new formatting, so please click on the post itself. I’ll be updating every other day at 12pm EST. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

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vii. isolation.

Clarke had many questions, Kova had a few answers, sometimes choosing to remain silent over Trikru matters, but it seemed sufficient for the invaders’ leader. The meeting wrapped up without another hitch.

“Bellamy, please escort Kova back to Octavia’s tent.”

Spoke too soon.

Clarke hadn’t noticed the tension that rose between the two of them when she had stepped out before, but surely she should have sensed it by now, no?

For a moment, it appeared as if Bellamy wanted to argue, but after considering his choices of a) escorting Kova back to the tent himself and b) allowing Kova to return on their own without supervision, he shut down any and all arguments.

Which is how they ended up here, The two walked back in silence, neither willing to talk about what had happened before Clarke had interrupted. Bellamy walked in front of Kova, glancing back every once in a while, as if they would make a break for it the moment he turned away. He looked like he would rather help shovel out the outhouse than escort them back.

The two passed one of the main campfires. Bellamy continued walking, but Kova stopped in their tracks. The invaders cooked what seemed like squirrel or bird meat based on the smell and the size. There were three or four people closer to the fire who passed on kebabs of meat and vegetables to the people waiting on line.

“Agh, I’m still hungry.” One of the teens complained after returning the stick. “Can’t I get some more?”

“Eat your hand, then. We barely have enough to go around.” One of the servers snapped as they snatched the stick.

Truthfully, Kova hadn’t realized they stopped walking until Bellamy’s gruff voice snapped them out. “Keep walking.”

“Have they only been eating birds and squirrels?” They couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s it to you?”

His tone thick with hostility, Kova might have been put off by it if they hadn’t had practice with themselves. They didn’t have to dig much to hear the hints of exhaustion underneath. “Give me four hours in the woods. I can bring back a boar and some extra game.”

To another, the offer sounded tempting. But Bellamy didn’t even bother considering it for a moment. “And let you out of the camp? Yeah, right.”

The look Kova sent him was nothing short than disbelief and what seemed to be along the lines of ‘if I wanted to escape or run away by now, I would have.’ He bristled at the arrogance, but before he could say anything, they turned and walked in the direction of the tent, leaving him behind.

“Hey!” He called out. When they paused and turned their head, he paused. “I thought you didn’t like us?”

There was an underlying question beneath his words — why would you help us?

‘Because they’re barely older than the children I take care of in my village. Because none of them look like they know what they’re doing. Because too many of them are too skinny for their age and height.’

Instead, Kova said, “I don’t like squirrel meat.” They ducked their head and disappeared inside the tent.

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“Your brother is annoying.”

Octavia burst out in surprised laughter. She and Kova had been sitting in silence (one that she had grown comfortable with easily, to her surprise). Octavia had been clipping her nails with a pair of tiny scissors while Kova laid in bed, right leg bent at the knee and supporting their left leg, arms behind their head as a makeshift pillow.

“You’re not the first to tell me that.” Octavia sent them a grin, leaning her chin against her knee. “What happened? What did he do?”

When she had first met Kova, she had been anxious if they would like her enough to support her as Lincoln’s… interest. But now the two had grown comfortable with one another, even if Kova had been knocked out for most of their time together.

(What Octavia wouldn’t know is that the night before, she had snored loud enough to briefly wake Kova out of their unconsciousness. They couldn’t be mad at her, though, not when they found her with drool pooling into her pillow. That was revenge enough.)

“He’s very… audacious.”

That brought out another laugh from Octavia. “Mn, that sounds like him.” Octavia snorted and sighed gently. “I’m sorry about him.”

Kova took note that Octavia had started using “mn,” more often since the two first met. Octavia, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed the contemplative look on they had. ‘Your brother is… audacious, seemingly arrogant, yet he feels guilt, he feels sorrow. He still acts like an ass, but he’s also upset about it.’

Kova shook their head. “Don’t be. It’s not like you can control him.”

The flap of the tent suddenly unzipped and opened.

Speak of the devil, he shall appear. Bellamy popped his head in and looked at Kova. He jutted his head. “Let’s go.”

He left the tent without an explanation.

Before Kova could stand, Octavia beat them to the punch, holding her hand out, a scowl on her face. “Wait here, I’ll go talk to him.”

She left. The tent’s walls weren’t paper thin, but they weren’t thick either.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not comfortable with you sharing with them. I had a new tent prepared.”

While Kova truly had no clue as to what was going on, they added up a few events and made a decent guess. That young girl, Emmie, had casually bumped into them earlier today. Bumping into Kova could have been life threatening. Not only that, but they offered to leave the camp in order to hunt. It might have sounded suspicious.

If this were another time, Kova would have boasted about how even the invaders, who didn’t know anything about them, still considered them dangerous without having to even lift a pinky. Yet now, they found it depressing, and a bit worrying.

“I like sharing my tent.”

“Share with someone else. Not them.”

Heavy footsteps retreated. Octavia re-entered the tent. Before she could say anything, Kova looked at her with a bitter smile. “Annoying.”

She mirrored their look, as if saying ‘yeah, I know,’ but suddenly turned serious. “Stay here, I’ll have a chat with Clarke—”

“No need.” Kova responded with ease and stood. “It might be for the best. The more polite and non-threatening I act, the more they trust me, and the less I have to worry about.” They took their things (which to be fair, was not much) and made their way towards the entrance. “Besides,” They sent her a teasing smirk over their shoulder. “You snore.”

“Shut up.” Octavia laughed, pretending to kick them as they left, their echoing laugh preserved and bottled in her tent. “I’ll still try to talk to Clarke.”

“Mn, be my guest.”

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Clarke, unsurprisingly, agreed with Bellamy. They were given a brand new tent with two shiny new guards to match, sitting at each side of the entrance in makeshift seats.

Too tired to care, they entered the tent without trouble and knocked out. Or, they would have, if the tent hadn’t felt so devoid of life besides their own. For the first time since their seclusion, Kova found themselves sleeping alone.

A fitful sleep kept them awake throughout the night, and by the time the sun rose, Kova grew irritable. Imagine how they felt when they unzipped their tent, ready to ask Clarke what they should do with so much free time on their hands, only to find one of the guards pushing a tray of food towards the entrance using the butt end of their spear.

They bit their tongue, picked up the tray, and returned to their tent. They had to behave, after all.

But now, any time Kova stepped towards the opening of the tent, the two guards would quieten, as if straining to hear their footsteps. When they opened the flaps, the guards would slowly inch their way towards the (poorly made) spears by their sides.

Kova would always retreat into their tent before their fingers could brush their spears. They kept to themselves in their tent throughout the morning, afternoon, and now night. The rotation of guards became their new time tracker.

Octavia came by once, but since the guards wouldn’t let her through, she shouted “Yaw!” as loud as she could. Kova couldn’t help but laugh gently. Lincoln definitely taught her that greeting. Naturally, they responded with their own “Yaw, Okteivia!”

With Octavia’s loud laughter, they would have given almost anything to see the priceless looks on the guards faces.

Oh, but don’t get Kova wrong. They weren’t bored, even without Octavia to give them company. The juicy gossip the guards shared with one another nourished their entertainment. It appeared as though the sky leaders hadn’t informed the camp that Kova could understand English, although they should have guessed that since Octavia had shouted her greetings in Trigedasleng.

They leaned against a corner pole of the tent and listened in on the guards’ conversation, but every once in a while the gossip would die out or the guards would talk about the Ark (whatever that was) and Kova would get bored and pick at the skin around their nails or on their face.

“Why didn’t you go with Bellamy and Clarke?”

They stopped picking at a scab on their elbow. If Kova had been captured by another clan, like Azgeda, they would have assumed this was a fake conversation to lead them into a trap. But knowing the invaders weren’t that smart, they listened closely.

“No way. I don’t think I had family on that ship so why should I? Besides, they said the trip would only take until the afternoon, but it’s almost night already.”

“Mn. That’s true. Shouldn’t we be looking for them?”

“Nah, they said they didn’t know how long it would take. If they’re not back by tomorrow afternoon, then we should be worried.”

Now that Kova thought about it, they hadn’t had a visit from Clarke or Bellamy since Bellamy moved them to the new tent. They weren’t told that the two leaders would be leaving, but maybe that had been on purpose. No wonder the guards were terrified earlier — they probably didn’t know what to do if Kova left their tent without the leaders around.

‘Interesting. This might be an opportunity to visit Lincoln.” Neither of the sky leaders had liked the idea of Kova roaming around the camp, let alone leave to visit their brother. Who knew when an opportunity like this would come by again?

They debated on how to leave the camp — should they sneak out? Or ask? If the guards at their tent didn’t try to stop them, then the guards at the walls of the camp surely would. ‘Regardless, I should let Octavia know. Maybe she can cover for me. But… if she wants to come… then I’ll end up being a third wheel…’

A scoff passed their lips at the thought. How did Lincoln manage to attract— you know what, no, Kova wasn’t going down that route. They shook their head and with that, they stepped out of the tent, head held high, ignoring the two shocked guards as they walked past. One guard picked up his (very poorly made) spear while the other ran off, whether in fear or to grab someone qualified to deal with this, Kova didn’t know. Raising their hands in a placating manner, they put on their heaviest TonDC dialect and said, “I want to see Okteivia.”

It seemed as though the guard recognized the name and with fearful wide eyes, gave them a small nod and jutted his head, as if to say go ahead.

They bowed their head respectfully (’Behave, remember?’) towards the guard and made their way through camp, head held high even as they exaggerated their limp. Avoiding eye contact, the guard hot on their heels, they went past the main campfire, leaving behind a group of stunned invaders.

Octavia’s wave caught their attention. She seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation with a boy until she saw them. Kova perked up and made their way towards the two—

“I saw the grounders in the trees and it was nothing I ever felt before.”

Kova stopped dead in their tracks. They had heard the word grounder in a rude way before, but never in a way that felt offensive. If the word wasn’t enough, the sentence itself made Kova shiver in disgust.

One look at Octavia and Monty told them everything. Both had wide eyes and opened mouths in shock that someone had the nerve to say that in general, let alone in front of Kova. ‘Would they have been as offended if I wasn’t here?’

Hmm.

They glanced at Octavia at the corner of their eye, jaw tense. When they turned back to the boy in question, they saw her mouth the word ‘shit’ and she and the boy she was talking to made their way down the wall.

Based on the sentence, they had a feeling it came from that boy who shot at the bridge. They turned, and what would you know, they were right! They recognized his face easily. The one who crossed the river. The one who got speared. The one who shot the Trikruvian scouts at the bridge.

Jasper, was it?

Well. Jasper stood around the campfire with his friends, all who were oblivious to the Trikruvian listening in. At first look, he seemed weak with pale skin and a lanky build that seemed to curl in on itself in poor self esteem. But with his friends hyping him up, patting his back and sending waves of confidence, he seemed to stand taller as he recited the story of the meeting.

“It was like pure animal instinct took over, you know? One pull of the trigger, two grounders dead.” He gestured as if he were holding a rifle and pretended to click the trigger.

Directly at Kova.

The boy practically shriveled up before their eyes, his eyes bulging comically. The group of invaders looked confused at his sudden change in demeanor until their eyes followed his sight.

“Dude, relax.” One boy said. “They don’t speak English, remember?”

“My apologies, I was under the assumption there was only one coward here.” Kova’s eyes landed the boy, who pursed his lips and looked away in embarrassment. “Thank you for correcting this.” They turned back to Jasper. “Congratulations, little mouse.”

The guard behind them stiffened. So did a few of the other invaders.

“For what?” Jasper asked meekly, his eyes darting around as if searching someone who could help him out.

Their stare unwavering, they took a step closer. “The peace meeting would have worked out if you hadn’t been so trigger happy. You just stamped a death sentence upon this camp.”

That sparked a few murmurs throughout the campfire. Many of the invaders had been under the assumption that Trikru instigated. Those who had been encouraging Jasper a few moments ago inched away from him.

“Watch what you say, grounder. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” One of his friends sneered, her hand on the handle of her rifle.

“Harper, don’t.”

“Oh? Interesting, I don’t recall seeing your face at the bridge.” Words sharp, their face turned dark, contrasting against the bright flames of the fire. “Did you watch as he shot down those scouts, unprovoked? Did you hear the thumps of their bodies hitting the ground?”

The woman — Harper, was it? — flinched, turning her head away at the graphic image.

“You all villainize my people as if you didn’t steal our land and kill hundreds of people. And you,” they pointed a finger at Jasper, who visibly jumped. “You ruined any chance for peace between our people, yet here you are, unpunished, praised for unjustified murder.”

Before the guard could intervene, Harper threw up her rifle, aiming at Kova’s stomach. Vaguely, Kova thought they heard Octavia calling out their name. But they were far too gone, sunken in their anger. “What, do you plan on killing me? You better make it count.” They grasped the muzzle, stepping in close and pressing it against their stomach. “Better kill me in one shot.”

A hand clapped their shoulder, gently pulling them back. At first, Kova’s instinct was to rip that shit out of its socket, but luckily for the owner, they recognized his voice. Wells stepped in between them and Harper, hands raised to tone down the situation. “Let’s all calm down. You shouldn’t be aiming that gun around so carelessly.” He said gently, slowly pushing the barrel of Harper’s gun to the side. With his other hand, he made a motion.

Octavia appeared by Kova’s side, tugging them by their jacket. “Come on, let’s go. C’mon.” She urged, linking her arms with theirs tightly at the elbow and guiding her away from the group. Kova looked over their shoulder. Wells continued chatting the camp down. The two made eye contact, and they sent a nod of gratitude. He nodded back in response.

“What were you thinking?!” Octavia seethed as they reached a secluded portion of the wall.

“How could he have the audacity to boast about killing my people while fooling his?” Their anger churned at the thought. “How could he make it seem like he was the hero of the story?” They shook their head, trying to clear their mind. “Octavia, I need to get out of here. Just for a bit.”

The girl opened her mouth to object until something through the cracks in the wall caught her eye. Kova followed her line of eyesight and recognized Lincoln’s signal for a meeting — a familiar flowering gladiolus sat next to a white lily. “I’m guessing the lily is your signal?”

"Yeah." The sky girl smiled slightly, a hint of red coming to her cheeks. "How come yours is that one—"

A sound came from the forest, attracting the attention of the guards. “Something hit the trip wire!” One of the boys called out, looking through the scope of his gun.

“Which wire, was it a grounder? I don’t see anything.”

“Nothing. Wait, something moved. There, there, there!”

The two guards shot off multiple rounds into the forest.

“I think I got it.”

“Let’s go check it out.”

Horrified, Octavia could only watch the two boys run towards the gate. “Lincoln.”

Before she could run off, Kova’s grip held her back. “Octavia, that definitely wasn’t Lincoln. Your traps are too simple us to get caught in. We have to go meet him at his place.”

“I have to know what it was, then.” She uncurled Kova’s hand on her wrist. “Head to the meeting place. If it’s nothing I’ll try and follow.” Octavia said before darting off in Connor and Derek’s direction.

An annoyed sigh passed through Kova's lips, but the distraction was too good of an opportunity for them to waste. They had to leave now, before the Exodus group came back. They climbed over the wall and followed the plants.

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It wasn’t hard to find the trail of gladiolus and white lilies under the moonlight. Kova constantly checked behind their back and up around the trees for any signs of a follower, whether it be Trikru or the invaders, until they reached the end of the trail.

A familiar home stood in front of them. Knocking a certain pattern against the door, they opened the door cautiously and slowly headed down the stairs. “Lincoln, it’s me.”

They rounded the corner, only to find the man in question organizing his desks. He met them at the foot of the stairs and wrapped his arms around them tightly. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He glanced at their leg. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve seen better days, but it’s not that bad.” They responded, hugging him back just as tightly. They noticed his house was a lot messier than usual. “What’s going on here?”

“Dealing with Lieutenant Anya hasn’t been easy.” Lincoln offered them a cup of lukewarm tea from his desk. “Where’s Octavia?”

“Stayed behind.” Kova took the cup from him. “She was worried that you had gotten stuck in some trap they set up to keep intruders out. I told her it wasn’t you but she said she would just meet us here later.” While Lincoln’s face was usually stoic, the slight downturn of his eyebrows and the corners of his lips told them a story. “Why? What’s going on?”

His lips straightened into a line. “The past few days haven’t been easy. Trikru captured a banished sky person, supposedly. I believe his name is Murphy. This morning I heard he was injected with a weak strain of the warfare virus and purposefully released to weaken their camp. Octavia might get infected, which is why I asked her to come here.”

“That virus—?!” Kova let out a sharp, heavy sigh. “They want to start a war.” They murmured into their cup before taking a sip. It shouldn’t come to them as a surprise, but they couldn’t help but tense up. “They haven’t used that since Caocin.”

Lincoln nodded. "There’s more. Rumors say that at dawn in two days, Trikru will try and attack." He hesitated but continued. "I wish I could tell you I had better news, A-Ko. They haven’t set up a trial or anything yet, but since you haven’t been seen around the scouts’ camp or in the villages, Lieutenant Anya and the higher ups—”

“Ah. They’re already planning a conviction, huh?” Their hands trembled. They set the cup down. “Treason?”

“…mn. They added a kill order on top.”

Jaw tensing, they looked down, feeling the familiar prickle behind their eyes and the bridge of their nose. They rubbed the bottom of their nose with the back of their hand. They shook their head and looked back up at him. “Lincoln, what should I do? Where do I go? I’ve spent my whole life with them, I…” They looked up, avoiding the tears that threatened to fall.

The man spoke so quietly that Kova almost missed what he said. “I think you should stay with the sky people.”

They snapped their head at him. “What?”

“Staying here is too risky. The scouts might try to barge in here at any moment. The sky people are your best bet for now. I’ve already sent a message to Luna asking if she can provide refuge for the three of us.” He passed them three extra small knives. “As soon as she responds, we can make a plan.”

“The three of us?” They asked, glancing between him and the weapons.

“I want Octavia to come too.”

Kova wanted to tell him they weren’t too sure Octavia would leave her friends and brother as quickly as that, but kept their mouth shut. “I suppose I have no other choice.” They sheathed the small knives in various holsters across their body. “But I need you to be safe, first, alright? If you think they’ll come after you to trick me into exposing myself, you need to run first.” They held his hands tightly, eyes unwavering. “Promise me?”

Lincoln hesitated. But he nodded his head.

“Good. Find me as soon as everything is ready.”

“I’ll try to be as fast as possible. If anything changes, just rendezvous to Floukru and wait there for me.” Lincoln said, gripping their hands with the same amount of force. He hoped they were as grounding as they once had been when they were younger. “We’re in this together.”

“…mn. Together.”

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Unfortunately, Kova couldn’t stay with Lincoln for long. After an hour of catching up with their brother, Kova returned to camp and by the time they arrived, night had fully settled in and the only source of light came from the main campfire peaking through the cracks of the walls.

They paused behind the thinning foliage and trees, just outside of the camp. ‘Ah. How am I going to get back inside?’ They briefly thought back to the wall they climbed over when they rescued Lincoln but shook it off. ‘No, they’ve probably fixed that area by now. Right?’

Peaking out from the foliage, Kova only saw one guard on duty, and he had his head down. ‘Mn. Perfect. I can sneak by.’

They quietly climbed the wall, making sure their clothes and shoes didn’t catch on anything or scrape along the wood, and reached the top of the wall. They gracefully leaped over, landing on the platform where the guard was.

The sound of clothes shifting made them freeze in place. They turned slowly, their mind rapidly going through different scenarios to keep the guard quiet, until they peaked at the guard’s face.

A soft snore broke the silence.

‘Sleeping?!’

Pressing the back of their hand against their mouth, Kova’s body shuddered with quiet and quiet laughs of disbelief. They shook their head and hopped over the other side of the platform and into the camp, landing in a forward roll. They scanned their surroundings first, and once they were sure no one was around, they looked back up at the sleeping guard.

Kova couldn’t help but scoff. ‘Weren’t these kids worried that I would sneak out and bring Trikru to their door? Did any of them notice I was gone?’ They took a rock from the ground before stepping into the dark shadows of the side of the wall.

They threw the rock with precision. It thumped at the wall underneath the guard. He woke up with a start and stood, bringing his gun up and checking the area outside the camp for any disturbances. Once he felt it was clear, he sat back down, his spine straight, as if willing himself to not fall asleep again.

‘These kids really have no idea what they’re doing.’ Kova sighed, shaking their head, and kept to the shadows as they sneaked into their tent through a flap in the back. ‘Even the guards here didn’t notice anything.’ Their mind wandered along that track as they unclothed themselves, and the chatters of the guards in front of the tent became their background noise. They folded their heavy clothes and placed them and their armor next to the bed—

Kova jumped, as if they were a startled cat, and pulled out a knife on instinct. There was a human shaped lump in their bed, completely covered by the blanket, but something felt off. They pulled the blanket back slowly, knife at the ready.

The blanket slipped off, revealing two pillows and a rolled up blanket. Kova let out a sigh of relief and dropped their knife. ‘Probably Octavia’s doing.’

They returned the knife to its appropriate holster and tossed it next to their armor. They could deal with it tomorrow. Kova expected to knock out the moment their head made contact with the pillow, but as they slipped in their bed, it was far too firm. Sitting up, they swiped underneath the pillow only to pull out a first aid kit.

Their face softened. ‘Thanks, Octavia.’

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#bellamy blake #bellamy x oc #bellamy x reader #bellamy blake x oc #bellamy blake x reader #bellamy blake imagine #bellamy blake imagines #the 100 #the 100 imagines #bellamy blake fanfiction #the night our stars aligned (and our breaths touched) #my writing #writeblr #wip fanfic

[daenerysstrangersagain]

The Logistics of Dragons

link

Or the Ecological Disaster that is The Dragon and the Strategic Implications

Now, what got me thinking about stuff like this, were the quotes regarding Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar and their size. We are told that at least two of the dragons could fit a horse in their mouths, and that Balerion could fit something even larger, perhaps a Mammoth or Elephant. Let's assume that horse are bite sized for most fullygrown untampered or restrained dragons. From the somewhat poor portrayals of the dragons in the TV series, the dragons seem to have a very large head to belly ratio but even so, thats freaking huge. And while I'm tempted to say that because they are reptilian that there metabolism would be slowish, but they fly and breathe fire, so I doubt that.

For that reason, I'm pretty sure that multiple meals per day is the normal for a fully grown dragon. And since I doubt they were using small breeds of horses for the description, we can use working breeds and war horses. So 3/4 ton to just over a ton. Which would put daily meals, assuming 2 meals a day, at 2 tons. Not 2 tons of meat, like just the muscles of a creature, but 2 tons of flesh and bone. I'd say that being dragons, the belly fire and internal heat help melt and sterilize bones and intestinal waste of a creature. Anyways, that's two horses. Or a few dozen sheep, or lots of boar, you get the picture. Now its not too bad if you only have half a dozen or fewer dragons, like the five that Aenar originally had, that's only 10 tons of meat a day. Or 20 horses.

Yeah at only five dragons, we're talking about 140 horses a week. Or to put that another way, 7,280 horses a year. Or the equivalent in meaty flesh, which comes out to 3,640 tons a year. That's absolutely monstrous......if they primarily eat off the land. Which excluding Drogon's behavior, I don't think dragons do or even prefer. I would think they prefer fish and other water creatures. What comes to mind is the scene from the first American Godzilla, where the beast was consuming entire ship fulls of fish in the movie. But I think the reason Drogon and his siblings eat like they do is that unlike the other Valyrian dragons, they were barely exposed to the open sea at all, only fishing in the ocean maybe once in their early lives, and the rest being land based and fed from land creatures.

Back to the the numbers and the intentionally false presumption for the sake of demonstration.

So literally thousands of horses, or tens of thousands of sheep and smaller animal over the course of a year. For merely five dragons. Now the dragons of the Dance of the Dragons were somewhat smaller, but for the purpose of demonstration let's assume that every named dragon eats horses by the mouthful. I believe there were 19 Dragons in the Dance? Let's go by the startling numbers.

19 dragons would consume 38 tons of flesh, daily. That's 266 tons of flesh a week. Or about 12 Semi Trucks a week.  Or 532 adult horses a week.  That's 13,832 tons of flesh a year, or 27,664 adult horses. To put that into perspective, 19 dragons could have eaten Genghis Khan's Mongol Army out of their horses in 3 years or less. And this is all being supplied by pre-industrial agriculture and herding. Even with the entirety of Westeros, they would be eating faster than the food could be replenished.

No wonder the Dothraki had to wait until the fall of Valyria to do anything, Valyrian Dragons could have eaten the horses into extinction if they wanted to! And of course, the most horrifying bit of all? I'm assuming that dragons are satisfied with just two mouthfuls a day. How many mouthfuls a day can you, personally, eat? Or any other animal?! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!

Luckily, GRRM seems to have thought of this. If you notice, the former shepherds don't actually expand that deeply into continental Essos and definitely don't expand that fast. They would know, the hard way, how voracious dragons are and how quickly they consume entire flocks of sheep and herds of cattle when they have the mood, thus developing an early caution regarding the power of dragons, and learning important environmental and conservation lessons. Again the hardest way. They have little desire to usurp and conquer the Rhoyne river system from the Rhoynish, a river system that appears to be nearly as powerful as the Mississippi system in terms of navigability and reach. And they didn't want possesion of it for themselves. Because it was too far away from the open sea, and thus too far away from the primary source to keeping dragons fed without everyone starving. What the Valyrian Empire did do, was establish sea ports and cities real close to the sea, all along the coasts. Their dragons are the source of their power, but also a logistical weight around their neck, because in order to meet the dietary requirements, its either consume from the bounty of the ocean or strip the lands bare of anything larger than a dog. So from the peninsula of Valyria, the old empire was more heavily bound to the sea ports and shores than the British Empire. Even more powerful in relative terms to everyone else, to the extreme, but also hobbled and restricted to that same extreme.

Their behavior in their two most notable wars demonstrate this. Against the Ghiscari Empire, after slaughtering their armies time and again, they took only a small portion of land for themselves, and were largely content with leaving Slaver's Bay cities intact and subservient. Qaath and Sarnor were left to be because they only had one port between them and were apparently non-hostile to boot. But the Valyrians did expand west and slightly up the Rhoyne, in addition to their port cities across Western Essos. An interesting note is that during this time, they were trading, and may have in fact founded, Old Town. Either way, Old Town and what would become Dorne are no strangers to dragons and Dragonlords.

However, while they didn't actually want to bountiful Rhoyne and all its lands, bringing and feeding dragons so far from the sea would be intensely devastating to the local ecology. Even just a few of them. The Rhoyne river system looks to be nearly as widespread and navigable as the Mississippi River System, so it would provide the water for massive amounts of food and trade from top to bottom, and with Rhoynish Water Wizards, it may have been engineered here and there for irrigation and fish farming. I would suspect that the Rhoyne valleys at the time were replete with artificial lakes and ponds for fish farming and such, with dams and berths everywhere. But a few millennia without maintenance and time would have drained and reshaped the entire system to something more natural, but still fertile. Without the Valyrians, the Rhoynish would have been a super power, based a vast and fertile continental heartland, supplying an endless source of manpower and riches. Similar to the Reach. But bigger. Way fucking bigger and with a deeper pool of manpower to boot. The 250,000 men raised was less likely an upper limit of how many were available, and more likely a limit based on transportation. And while it is portrayed as genocidally devastating to the point of forcing a mass migration, its not the numbers that really mattered. Its who was lost and how many. I'd guess they brought the majority of the most powerful and skilled water wizards with them to the battle, possibly all but a few in the entire empire, and their loss combined with the loss of all the others, would have been irreplaceable to a civilization dependent on them. Oh and the implied threat of extinction if they don't get stepping. Fast.

Shame that they thought they could use war as a diplomatic tool against a Valyrian colony. But what choice did they have with the dragons fucking shit up for the Southern most outpost of the Rhoynish?

The Valyrians were a brutal Slavocracy, conservationist tendencies aside, and I doubt they were particularly discriminating about where the slaves came from and had an endless thirst for them, for they were few in number and had an atrocious birth rate. I mean holy shit, several thousand years, and not a single colony majority Valyrian. Not a one, so in order for their port cities to even function, they needed slaves. An endless supply of them, from the planters of the field, even down to middle managers, the Valyrians at their height would have had a slave to free man ratio closer to Haiti than Rome, and with their dragons largely feeding from the seas, this vast number of slaves required feeding. The Volantenes moving up the Rhoyne would have rang massive alarm bells among the Rhoynish, who had most likely been supplying food to the ports and outpost of the Empire. Were they next for the yoke?

The Valyrian Freehold is perhaps the most brutally efficient and invincible Slavocracy of fiction. Dragons supplying the vast majority of military might that only those with particular genetics can even use, so they have no need for a large foot contingent. Endless amounts slaves supplying all essential labor that an ethnic Valyrian doesn't care to do, not a drop of pity for the enslaved among those who could do anything about it, which means no society upending war over it. No rival capable of fighting the full might of the Valyrian host, so no outside force can intervene effectively. The only weakness they had was keeping their dragons fed, which is the only thing, aside from their own conservationist tendencies, that prevented them from over-running Westeros and Essos a mere millennia into their reign. They had no choice in establishing a mostly by the sea empire if they wanted to keep using their dragons.

#westeros.org #dragons #meta #food

[thecreaturecodex]

Escornau

Image © instagram user zarva_barroso, accessed at Deskgram here

[Comissioned by @wannabedemonlord. The escornau is from the town of Ahigal, which kept its horn as a relic until the 19th century--the horn is since lost, destroyed as a sign of idol worship, so whatever the horn belonged to is a mystery. The artist above interpreted it as a lonely creature which needed a friend, hence the orc/goblin/fanged guy talking to it on its back. I did not go with that particular interpretation, since in the legend it killed a lot of people...]

Escornau CR 11 NE Magical Beast This immense creature stands taller than an elephant. Its forequarters are those of a bull, its hindquarters are those of a horse, and it has a head like an enormous boar. A spiraling horn grows from its forehead, and its eyes are narrow and mean.

An escornau is a monstrous variation of the unicorn, with all of the kindness and generosity of that species replaced by rage and bloodlust. Escornaus go out of their way to inflict suffering, property damage and death. Strangely, their horns still have great healing properties—escornaus typically use this selfishly on themselves only. They only possess a flicker of intelligence and live as beasts. Some escornaus are used as mounts, guards or beasts of burden by powerful outsiders that hate the gods, such as asuras or demodands.

In combat, escornaus are simple and direct. They tend to spread their blows about, attacking multiple targets at once in order to enjoy the pain they cause. A lucky strike can impale a foe on their long horn, and escornaus enjoy carrying the carcasses of these victims as trophies until they have rotted away and lost structural integrity. The hide of an escornau turns away all but enchanted and blessed weapons, and they are especially vulnerable to divine magic. Even the sound of mundane but earnest prayer drives them into a rage, and may be useful in causing the beast to focus fire on a single opponent or make foolish errors. Escornaus use their healing abilities on themselves to keep in combat, but will flee if overwhelmed or if its enemies have ample access to divine spells.

Escornau Horn The horn of an escornau can be used as a reagent for item crafting the same way a unicorn horn can, which poses less of a moral challenge, but more of a logistic challenge to adventurers. The horns have great healing powers without being processed. The horn can be used as a jar of restorative ointment; each application wears away more of the horn, until the whole thing is destroyed on the fifth use.

Escornau             CR 11 XP 12,800 NE Huge magical beast Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, keen scent, low-light vision, Perception +15 Defense AC 23, touch 8, flat-footed 23 (-2 size, +15 natural) hp 137 (11d10+77) Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +7; -2 vs. divine spells DR 10/magic and good; Resist acid 10, fire 10 Defensive Abilities ferocity; Weakness impious Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee gore +20 (2d8+11/19-20), bite +20 (1d8+11), 2 hooves +15 (1d6+5) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks impaling critical, trample (DC 26, 2d6+16) Spell-like Abilities CL 11th, concentration +13 Constant—detect good 1/day—greater teleport Statistics Str 32, Dex 11, Con 25, Int 3, Wis 18, Cha 14 Base Atk +11; CMB +24 (+26 bull rush); CMD 34 (36 vs. bull rush, 38 vs. trip) Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (gore), Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +5 (+13 jumping), Climb +15, Perception +15, Survival +12; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Survival Languages Abyssal (cannot speak) SQ lay on hands (6/day, 5d6), mercy (diseased, nauseated, shaken), piercing blows Ecology Environment warm plains and hills Organization solitary Treasure special (see above) Special Abilities Impious (Ex) An escornau takes a -2 penalty to all saves against divine spells and channeled energy. Impaling Critical (Ex) On a successful critical hit with its gore attack, an escornau may make a combat maneuver check to grapple an opponent at least one size smaller than it. If it succeeds, the opponent gains the grappled condition and is impaled on the escornau’s horn, taking damage from the gore attack each round. The escornau does not need to make checks to maintain the grapple, but must make a combat maneuver check if it wishes to move with the grappled opponent or pin them. The escornau may attack with its gore attack if its impaled opponent is two or more sizes smaller than it, but it cannot have multiple opponents impaled at once, and takes a -2 penalty for attacking with its gore when it has an opponent impaled. If the impaled creature succeeds in freeing itself, it takes damage equal to the gore attack’s damage. Lay on Hands (Su) An escornau gains the lay on hands ability of a paladin with a level equal to its Hit Dice. Mercy (Su) An escornau can remove conditions with its lay on hands ability, as a paladin with a level equal to its Hit Dice. Piercing Blows (Su) An escornau’s natural weapons overcome damage reduction as if they were cold iron, silver and evil-aligned.

#escornau #unicorn #chimera #spanish folklore #pathfinder rpg

[wolpard]

Lion King (2019) thoughts.

Don't know what really counts as a spoiler since, as what has been said often, it really was a scene-for-scene remake with some minor changes in dialogue (usually jokes, or additions), and one tiny plot change that didn't really effect the movie at all and it almost seemed like a waste (imo). Note that this post spoils any changes + additions made.

TLDR; It’s the same film just duller with some new jokes.

All the original (so no "Morning Report") songs did make it into the film, plus one original song which happens when Simba and Nala are running back to the Pride Lands to challenge Scar. Though "Be Prepared" is hardly a song, and it sucks ass.

Speaking of Scar and "Be Prepared," Scar's line delivery and character acting was just plain bad. I don't know if I was comparing it too hard to the original, but he dragged out every line and whenever he lied to Simba it felt really half-assed coming from Scar. I don't know much about Chiwetel Ejiofor's other roles, but regardless I think we was a poor fit for Scar. It almost seemed like he was bored with the role.

I don't know what happened with James Earl Jones, but his line delivery as Mufasa was a lot less impactful and emotional in this version.

In terms of positive voice acting, Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa were all entertaining. They all at least had several pretty damn funny lines that weren't in the original (Timon lets Pumbaa say "farted" during Hakuna Matata and they make a meta joke about it). Donald Glover also made a nice Simba. I feel like I would have enjoyed Florence Kasumba as Shenzi more if they actually bothered to give her proper screentime.

Notable changes: 

-Scar does not already work with the hyenas, he starts working with them after Simba and Nala wander into the Elephant graveyard and fail to kill them. He already knew it was their territory and purposefully encouraged Simba to go, he just hadn't conspired with the hyenas before doing so. This does not effect the rest of the film, which I think seemed like a waste (especially with Shenzi's character, who was seemingly set up to take a bigger leadership role, but never did and is tossed aside for the rest of the film). 

-Nala leaves before Simba to go back to pride rock. 

-Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa have a number of nameless animal friends that hang around them in several scenes (and even eventually come to Pride Rock).

-Timon and Pumbaa sing "Be Our Guest" instead of do the hula to distract the hyenas, which I think was a good decision.

-They cut out one of my FAVORITE pieces of dialogue from the original. This. In fact, Rafiki doesn't even have a stick until the very end of the film, where he brings it out to beat the hyenas with it.

There really was a lot of issues with conveying emotion in this film. Just like I feared, it was really hard for them to put emotions on these animals. There were some tiny curling lips to convey smiles but it really wasn't much. Mufasa's death scene was not emotional at all. (I felt really bad because @poketin and I were trying to hold in laughter when Simba screamed after Mufasa was pushed off the cliff, because it just showed a tiny lion screaming with motion blur, and we could NOT take it seriously.)

I couldn't tell if I was looking at Nala or Simba when they were cubs and it only showed one of them in a single shot. Same goes for any of the adult lionesses. I also couldn't tell who was who during the final battle between Simba and Scar during a lot of the action scenes.

The actions a lot of the characters did felt lousy in comparison to the old film. There wasn't a lot of energy present for a lot of it, notable when Simba and Nala are wrestling as cubs and Nala keeps pinning Simba. "Pinned ya!" No you didn't??? You just slowly rolled him over on his back? You're not even on top of him.

The hyenas looked awful. Why were all their faces bald?

Rafiki also looked really weird and I feel like they didn't even bother to look at actual mandrills as reference. His anatomy is just SUPER off and they didn't even give him a butt. He had a butt in the old version, is it really that much of an issue to slap on some blue skin?

Pumbaa straight up changes species in his "when I was a young warthog" flashback. More like "when I was a young wild boar even though they aren't native to sub-Saharan Africa," because that's what they used instead. Is it really that hard to just google search what a baby warthog looks like?? Was it not "cute" enough? Or did they REALLY just use that fake "baby warthog" image that was going around for a split second without double checking it? I don't get it.

I know why they did it, but hyper realistic animals walking around with 0 genitalia is so funny to me.

A giraffe eats Simba's shed fur and shits it out before it gets to Rafiki.

#The Lion King #tlk #tlk2019 #the lion king 2019 #live action lion king

[absumink]

on the first day (of loving) you broke into a rugged cave. ravaged lion skins and fire pits and boars with braided manes. there was no clarity. things happened fast. i ran away with you because you claimed you knew the creator. was that too bold of me? i thought i knew where danger lay. i didn’t wash too much away so was it something in your eyes. something i hadn’t had the good fortune of meeting.

on the second day, my lungs had cried, i couldn’t believe what i was seeing. we ate stratosphere after stratosphere pumped our bellies full of strategy, this was something the world had made right! finally, a course to sail home. forth on the waves. bleeding salty seas. pull on my ropes, please, i’m making this easy.

on the third day, god asked where treason lie and we held each other close. not here. it couldn’t be. i slipped the letters of your name around my fingers and toes like rings made of ruby and gold. you were something i wanted to call my own. come mother! come father! come brother! come king! i found the man who makes me sing!

on the fourth day, ribbons wound lose. needles would pull silly string and i only liked the blues. when is love reborn again? does it hypnotize it’s prey? does it hurt? does it weaken? does it take the night away? (sailors drink blood and you had let it rain)

on the fifth day, oh the fifth day! better than the rest. we killed pests the size of elephants and licked chocolate off our chests. i heard love. he was coming. and i wrote his name down on my skin. i did not want to forget him. (he never came)

on the sixth day (is this making sense? it’s a calendar of sort, i’m counting when you found me and when you left me for the lord) the sixth day drowned in gluttony under each our kiss. sometime after supper Hercules called you home. it was an honour to be something worth fighting for, but did you know you had gone missing? you were purity and epiphanies righting each my wrongs. loving me was the worst thing you had ever done.

on the seventh day, (i think) you realized this. and i sort of knew it too. but oh. did the devil sing when we stayed the same.

the eighth day threw up. three times. we cleaned her lips off and pretend we didn’t know her since.

nine days of harmony leave two days free of sin.

on the tenth day, my stomach cried. teething ground that i had swallowed trying to become thin. oh please, nobody like you begged for kingdoms just for me. i played tug-of-war with a lightening bolt and death still never came for me.

TEN WHOLE DAYS

ELEVEN

ANOTHER TO MAKE TWELVE

thirteen made me weep again

fourteen through eighteen were nothing to write home about.

nineteen days of that sure did take a toll. it was hurting my legs to walk that long, i thought we’d find somewhere to sit. i know it burned. i know there was a question, milking my tongue down my throat. curving thorns from me teeth heaving to ask what ever could you have wanted from me. i just can’t remember what exactly i was thinking when you told me you didn’t know what to want.

twenty days later and you had fell yourself full. there was not a sky anymore, so into the ground below.

and the twenty first day is when he let hell unfold. i didn’t know what to tell you other than MY BLOOD IS BOILING COLD. so sun shone recklessly. and i peeled away my skin. i remember

my lungs crying IT WOULD END IT WOULD END BUT WHY LIKE THIS. palms cut into dying paths, prevailing unmade oaths, silver spoons and sad balloons alas

did you know you had gone missing

before you learnt

my name

i would hate to look back

and realize

i fell that hard

for nothing

v.