almost home
JVL
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Kiana Khansmith
trying on a metaphor
pixel skylines
Mike Driver
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
No title available
izzy's playlists!
occasionally subtle
★
YOU ARE THE REASON
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
No title available
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Sade Olutola
No title available
Stranger Things
Peter Solarz
seen from Germany
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seen from Chile
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seen from United States
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Poland
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@warmthofthehearthfire
WHAT ARE YOU THE PATRON SAINT OF ?
patron saint of heartbreak
not of comfort. not of condolences. there is a heart and there is a fissure, a fracture, something that starts to splinter and break open. you're the patron saint of the way a heart is rent open. the way it tears itself apart. patron saint of the rift. patron saint of the gash. when they say to "open your heart" to somebody, you are the patron saint of bleeding out.
tagged by @ofstarsandskies thanks!
"That's a good idea. Though it means Yurgen has to use a lot of artes... or else you guys have to hire people to make sure they stay cool for the long trip over there." She didn't know how strong Yurgen was at spirit artes--and she wasn't sure how happy other Rieze Maxians would be to cross the divide. "I know there's some fruits that take being frozen really well, but not everything does."
When Alvin suggested they visit them, her eyes widened. "You think so?" she asked. "...That could be fun!" But... she didn't know what being in Elympios would be like, especially for a Rieze Maxian like her. Jude was managing fine there, but that was just how Jude was. For Leia... she didn't know.
She'd hardly even left town before. It was only when they'd gone on their journey, and that was because she didn't want Jude to leave her behind again.
Still... everyone else had started to find their place in the new world they lived in, the world where both Rieze Maxia and Elympios. Maybe she should start to think about her own relation to it, not just stay in Leronde like she always expected she would. If she wanted to be like the two of them, then...
"I... think it's worth a--" she began, hesitantly, but then suddenly started. "Oh shoot! But my mom would probably kill me for running off on them again!"
Was she actually worried about that or did she just want an excuse to not leave behind the only life she'd ever known?
"That's a good idea. Though it means Yurgen has to use a lot of artes... or else you guys have to hire people to make sure they stay cool for the long trip over there." She didn't know how strong Yurgen was at spirit artes--and she wasn't sure how happy other Rieze Maxians would be to cross the divide. "I know there's some fruits that take being frozen really well, but not everything does."
When Alvin suggested they visit them, her eyes widened. "You think so?" she asked. "...That could be fun!" But... she didn't know what being in Elympios would be like, especially for a Rieze Maxian like her. Jude was managing fine there, but that was just how Jude was. For Leia... she didn't know.
She'd hardly even left town before. It was only when they'd gone on their journey, and that was because she didn't want Jude to leave her behind again.
Still... everyone else had started to find their place in the new world they lived in, the world where both Rieze Maxia and Elympios. Maybe she should start to think about her own relation to it, not just stay in Leronde like she always expected she would. If she wanted to be like the two of them, then...
"I... think it's worth a--" she began, hesitantly, but then suddenly started. "Oh shoot! But my mom would probably kill me for running off on them again!"
Was she actually worried about that or did she just want an excuse to not leave behind the only life she'd ever known?
what's in your bag?
"I liked some of those other bag shapes better, but they just didn't have any good colors. So I guess I'm using a backpack! But I need to make sure to have my camera and GHS and all my notebooks on me!"
tagged by: @ofstarsandskies thanks!
Victor had been quite contentedly watering his garden outside of the house that had been built for himself and Elle, a deliberate distance away from the other houses that the rest of the people from their world lived in--but (unfortunately) close enough in order to allow Elle to visit them regularly.
Still, something made him look up from his rose bushes and frown at the distance. He set down his shears and fingered his waistline where he hid his guns as he set off to go look into whatever made his hackles raised.
There, beyond the bushes, he found a sight that first made his eyes widen in surprise (though, in all honesty, he wasn't particularly concerned) and then narrow in suspicion.
It was Jude, yes, he recognized him instantly, but a Jude just a little bit taller than the one he'd come to know here, with wild hair and a lab coat that was much more like the one he had first known in his own time. Much more importantly, however, and something that would concern probably anyone else who looked at this new person, were the clear injuries--though how extensive, and how recent, he couldn't tell, half-hidden as they were by Jude's layers.
"...Hmph. Annoying." For him of all people to have to deal with this...
Raising his voice, he called, "--Are you alright?" Whether he cared or not, he had to put the question out there. Depending on the answer, he could just leave this problem for others to deal with and get back to his garden.
@mathcs responded:
It hurt. He didn’t know where he was. He was mostly used to that. His hand gripped the lower side of his abdomen, fingers digging— but it felt like a phantom pain. The rest of him was also hurting, but at least he could walk. Slowly, limping. Breathe. He smelled like blood and dirt, but it seemed like he’d gotten through the worst of it. Lately, just being seen with him could be dangerous for the other party… but it usually took them a while to understand that.
And he was always relieved if they had a chance to realize.
To prevent further regrets, he’d went alone. Someone always wanted him gone, or worse, and took advantage of that ( whether they’d be crying or laughing, he could never fix it ). Was it Exodus again? They were probably wondering why he hadn’t given up yet.
He stopped along with the thoughts, staring ahead— the world was still blurry, but was… wrong. There was greenery…? A house. It smelled… different. Nice? That didn’t… make sense.
There was also… somebody………
Wha…t? Why…? Even though he’d asked those words before, they refused to come out. It didn’t make sense. His chest constricted— a hallucination? The man perfectly dressed for a funeral ( protected by his mask—— ) blurred in and out, image uneven like his breathing. This man should’ve been—… No, he was dead, he was killed before everything had become so much worse, if only they hadn’t let it end this way—
Ah. That meant that he was dead too now, right? Somehow.
But I didn’t die, I’m— still——
"….!!"Sharp pain mixed with dirt. His legs were suddenly lead, and they took him to the ground for his stubborn resilience. He was always good at fighting it and pushing his limits. He only let the crash happen when he was alone, somewhere familiar and safe temporarily.
He’d made a mistake. Even as he passed out, he heard the man’s voice, managing to understand something.
It sounded concerned. It was the same voice.
Now Victor could see that--Jude--was also unsteady on his feet. Those injuries were definitely no simple matter then. Not only that, but it appeared he recognized him, something even those other people from approximately the same time didn't.
Well, it was either good in the sense that he didn't have to explain... or bad in the sense that he already knew.
Still, while he was asking how Jude was, Jude went down, legs dropping him unceremoniously to the dirt, despite how obviously he tried to fight it.
Whether Jude didn't want to leave himself in a vulnerable position in Victor's care or he was simply just being a stubborn fool, who could say.
He sighed, loud and annoyed, but then quickly moved forward to heave the boy up onto his shoulder and carry him into the house.
He deposited him (none-too-gently, in all honesty) onto his bed and quickly moved to strip him, trying to figure out just how badly he was injured. Meanwhile, he put a call in to ask for help from any healers, but unfortunately they were either very busy or too far away to help at this time.
"...You just had to choose to land near me of all people," he muttered, annoyed. "I've never had much in the way of healing artes."
Either way, he'd try to clean and dress the wounds as best he could while waiting for a healer to be available (and take this mess off his hands) and, if he still had time before Jude came to, start working on an invigorating and healing meal, since he would clearly need it.
(He half-considered burning the damaged clothes, just to let out some of his irritation at this situation... but ultimately decided against it and instead made plans to wash and repair them if he had time. No... he would be the perfect host so as to not invite complaints--and hopefully this unwelcome guest would be out of his hands soon.)
"Everyone really assumes my favorite food is tomatoes..." He's not mad about it--amused really--but just because he has over 400 tomato recipes memorized doesn't mean it's his favorite.
wanna chat... can't find a good mun meme :/
not me making up OCs for Leia's coworkers...
Personality: article type focus (age)
tired older man who complains quite a bit (lifetime bachelor; he's too busy boozing it up after work to really have much of a personal life, but as much as he complains about everything and everyone, he does genuinely like them all and he'll always rally to help out no matter what kind of hangover he's got): locations (47)
older woman who acts like a mom to everyone (is a mom to several kids she talks about regularly): celebrities (42)
serious/extremely private and professional man (has a wife who's Rieze Maxian and a couple of kids but literally never talks about his personal life at all; if he had his way he'd have given them a fake/pen name to work under): finance (36)
gossip lady #1 who is recently married & a new mother: government (34)
Leia: Editor-in-chief (33)
guy with dating troubles (his girlfriend's actively abusing him tbh): entertainment/sports (28)
gossipy lady #2 who dates around a lot and isn't really ready to settle down: fashion (27)
guy who's a bit of a troublemaker and likes to tease (Rieze Maxian): politics (25)
younger, serious lady (Rieze Maxian): business (22)
bubbly fresh-from-school girl who gets along with Leia quite a bit (but did accidentally refer to her as "old" once): anything/still a trainee (18)
not me making up OCs for Leia's coworkers...
As Leia woke up the next morning to brave this weird house, she'd find an odd sight: Ludger's wide awake and very much ready to start another day. At the sight of Leia's gaze, Ludger waves her a bright hello, his other arm hidden behind his back. Must be something nice since for once? The house smells of baked goods and not dust and mold.
"Leia, I have some good news! And because of that good news, I also have a surprise present for you!"
Ludger hands Leia a tray fashioned into the iconic Rolando Family Inn's literal house-cat logo. On the tray is a sugar lover's dream cupcake: three layers of batter, a chocolate pudding center, a vanilla ice cream top, a swirl of whipped cream, adorable rainbow cat-shaped sprinkles, and a tiny licorice heart poking out from one corner.
If this cupcake isn't diabetes enough, there's also a chocolate sunflowers around the cupcake's base as per proper flower language's demand. All this was prepped much ahead of their usual wake up time and not a moment too soon given he'd just come upstairs to wait.
Now for the explanation!
"Since it's my birthday, Brother allowed me to partake in my usual birthday tradition under the condition I give him an itemized list of ingredients with no weaseling for extra goodies. He also de-cursed the stove so I could do this without worrying I'll be dangling by a steam monster's hands again. I couldn't say no to such a generous offer, especially to cheer up a friend."
The next part, he's sure to put on a bright smile Leia'd appreciate, "I never thought I'd spend my birthday in a haunted house with ghosts, steam demons, and whatever else around every corner. But it's not too bad since you're here with me."
Leia slowly opens her eyes. At least the bed in this house is comfortable... even if there's only one of them... After a few seconds, she finally realizes Ludger is standing in front of her with a smile.
"Ludger...? What's going on...? Did I oversleep?" Shoot! She didn't mean to do that! In a second, she hopped out of bed and was now standing in front of him.
"Alright! Time to start a new day!" And maybe get out of this place... "--Oh wait, you said you had a surprise for me...?" Her eyes widen with curiosity. "It'd better not be some slime mold!"
When he reveals what it actually is, her whole face lights up. "That's--! This is--! Thanks so much, Ludger!"
Considering all they had been eating lately was what dregs they had amidst the moldy leftovers, this is so, so, so much better! Just the look of at is absolutely beautiful, completely different from the nauseating substances they've found all over the house.
When he explained, her eyes go wide once again. "Oh, shoot...! I didn't realize it was already that time...! Happy birthday, Ludger!"
To think he gets to use his birthday to their advantage--with delicious, sweet foods... That's so cool! "Great thinking, Ludger! Now we can actually enjoy your birthday! Let's try not to spend all day cleaning up, okay?"
She blushes when he says that his birthday wasn't too bad with her here. "Thanks, Ludger! And same to you too! It's not been so bad, and you've really been able to whip up some decent food despite the ingredients we've been able to find! And you're really good at cleaning, so at least it makes it faster! So... if anything else, at least we can manage to get through this together!"
@ofstarsandskies replied to your post:
"Low Gremlin? That's a shock--" Ludger realizes he said that out loud and coughs up a lung.
"Wha-- Hey, Ludger! That's not nice! I'm not a gremlin at all! I'm a nice, cute girl!" (With a big stick.)
Vibe Check
"H-Hey, I'm not feral! Or a clown! But I guess at least I'm not cursed..."
Where'd he-- oh right, he forgot about Victor's super speed from his Chromatus. Ludger keeps a strong hold on the bag and holds it open wide enough so Victor can dump the handfuls obstruction free. Can't risk annoyances when Victor's this worked up.
"Zig said the same thing when he confessed his little scheme to me," Victor can thank Zig's sub-par poker luck for this juicy detail. "If it's any help, he's in Rieze Maxia for a tournament. So it'll either be a few days or you know exactly where he is."
All the way over in Rieze Maxia...
He swipes the bag from Ludger's hand and takes it out into the yard. "Heatwave!" He incinerated it utterly. It only made him feel slightly better because he still had a hole in his house where there shouldn't have been a hole.
"...I'm going to put a hole in him," he hisses viciously to himself before turning on his heel and stalking off.
He has a long journey on his hands.
Alright, crisis averted. And now for his end of the deal. As promised, Ludger leads Victor to what seems to just be the guest room's closet. But when he feels down for a special patch near the left corner of the room, he pulls open a secret hidden safe door that Zig built.
And sure enough, there was a stockpile of weeds from the highroad just outside Victor's house waiting inside. Some even very recent pulls given their emerald green leaves.
"I don't know how or when he did it, but he's been using this place for a while from what he told me. He's determined when he wants to be isn't he?"
Victor follows Ludger along and then to the closet--which he had recently looked through for just such a thing, but when he reveals the hidden compartment--and the hole that was vandalizing his house, he's livid.
"That... rat... bastard!"
He vanishes and reappears with a trash bag and some tools. He shoves the bag at Ludger and immediately starts cleaning out the hole, throwing the weeds into the bag Ludger's holding, before completely sanitizing it.
"I'm going to kill him... I'm going to kill him... He's going to be dead... He's going to die, painfully..." he mutters as he cleans it out.
As he thought, redirecting to Zig is always the safest bet. The perks of having a mutual friend(?) who doesn't mind if you do a little backstabbing. "Guns all the way down or I can't trust telling you quite yet. All I'll say is I didn't believe it myself until he showed me proof." Because as is the Zig way, it is wild.
"...Hmph." After a few seconds, he finally put them away. "...Now. Show me."
Good news: although a second gun is being pointed at him now, he isn't dead yet! The deterrents are working to some degree! But he has to direct this anger somewhere before it explodes on him anyway.
"I-If it'll dissuade you at all, as an early Verius Eve present, I could show you where Zig keeps his hidden weed stashes so you can get rid of them! He even has one in your house that he said as recently as yesterday is still there-- surely getting rid of that's more important, right?"
His eyes narrow as he drops his stance a bit. "...Where?" The last thing he needed was that damned idiot munching on weeds and getting dirt all over his clean house when there was perfectly good food available.
Figures... his movement wasn't subtle enough. So for now, he keeps his hand stationary and waits for a chance to spring into action.
"Killing me will just create more problems than it solves! If Brother's reaction isn't deterrent enough, Milla, Elle, and Big Elle won't take the news well either. Wouldn't your anger be better served on a consequence free target?"
Subtle or not, Victor knows what he would do in a situation like this.
"I couldn't care less what Julius thinks," he spits out. "If he has a problem with it, I'll just kill him too."
Still... he does hesitate. The lectures he'd get from everyone else...
Uh-oh! Look out, Ludger! Victor's decided you're perfect for target practice right now!
@warmthofthehearthfire || Look what you've done--
Wait wait wait, why is he staring at the barrel of Victor's gun right now? What is going on?!
"Wha-- what'd I do?!" He's gonna freeze in place save for a very slow crawl of one hand deeper into his pocket which has Julius' pocket watch inside. "Did Atsuro bother you and you're taking it out on me or something?!"
"Don't you touch that." He sees your hand creeping to your watch pocket, Ludger. "And it doesn't matter what happened. Your existence is enough of a reason for me to shoot you right now."
