Ic - Blog Posts

@gnzma

Fuck it all fuck it all fuck it all FUCK EVERYTHING!

Guzma barely reaches the first floor before he can't take it anymore. With a frustrated scream - something way closer to a roar -, the Skull leader reels back a fist and punches the first wall he finds.

" FUCK! "

... through the wall.

Oh that's a big ass hole.

"Goddamn- " he snarls, holding on the now wounded hand "Fucking! God fucking damn walls shitty ASS FUCKING HOUSE FU- "

... Aaaaand then blinks. Looks up, inside the hole.

He forgot Archie was inside.

" . . . the fuck ya lookin' at?!"

Oh don't get him wrong, he's still pissed. Just a bit embarrassed too, now.

"...Nothin'."

He can read the room. Even with a hole in it.

"I guess it's up to the Tapu to decide who's Kahuna. I frankly think it's bullshit."

Forcing people into roles like that? Not cool man.

"Though I doubt the Tapu care if people wanna have that responsibility t'begin with."

A shrug. "At least with bein' Champ you kinda choose that life, right? It's somethin' you aim for."

“You kidding? I already get enough grief from people about bein’ champ. I’d never hear the end of it if Bulu decided to make a funny joke and force me into a kahuna position.”

Hau’s situation isn’t theirs to gossip. They keep that shit to themself.

“Nah. I’d make a shit kahuna, anyway. Nanu’s already… like that, so.”

They’re babying their bad leg, trying to keep weight off of it. They don’t have their cane on them.

“Yeah. I went to Kanto for a tourney. I won, and then I got to meet moltress.”

"Yeah no shit. Unless yer Kahuna 'r somethin'."

"Though I'm not sure if that's somethin' ya wanna be? It's usually fer life, anyway. 'cept for recently, I guess? Some bullshit with Koko."

He has no idea the former Kahuna is a honorary Skull, it seems.

"Moltres, hmm? Big fire bird, right?"

“Yeah, uhm. They don’t really… like people.”

As if that’s not the understatement of the century. Ree continues to scratch the inside of their wrist, thinking.

“Jirachi sounds pretty cool. That’s the one that wakes up every thousand years, right? Uhm… I met moltress, once…”

"Well, that's good. I feel like I hear stories 'bout them fuckin' people up all the time."

Tapu were weird like that. Fickle, as some would say. "I met Jirachi once. Still got the picture 'n everythin'."

“— yeah. That was me.”

It’s always so weird when people know who they are. It’s something that Ree knows that other people know about, but…

“— I only met bulu once. An’ that was by accident mostly. But he didn’t like, hurt me or nothing.”

"I'd say so, yeah."

Hmm. Maybe this Crobat was also weird. Still. It hadn't attacked him just yet.

"What 'bout yerself? You seem strong, too."

Archie's crobat rests on his shoulder for a bit. Not getting on the ground with that other one right now, thank you. Didn't pass the vibe check.

Cyrus' Crobat was as curious about Archie as its companion had been. It sniffs him all over, taking particular interest in his legs. When it got as much information as it'd get smelling the 'human', it rest its heavy body on the ground to keep an eye on Archie and the fellow bat. Wings kept the front half of its body up.

It's energy wasn't... friendly. Similar to Cyrus, it was way too intense, in fact. Like it could launch up and attack at any moment.

Cyrus was unperturbed by this obvious tension.

"That looks to be a powerful Crobat. Are you a skilled trainer?"

"I can take on all o' you without even movin'."

@silverfates // closed starter for Lo;

Why do things keep getting awkward in this place... In front of him was an ex-Aqua member somehow.

"...Hi."

Well. He did say he misses Aqua's family feel, but... he'd never reboot the team. Nuh-uh. Not even when he misses it a lot. It was wrong to do in the first place. "What a coincidence, huh? Bet ya didn't expect t' run into me here." Neither did he expect to run into Lo, but still. "Guess the merfolk secret is out, hmm?"

"I saw you on TV, scamp. Champion's match, right?"

That had been Ree, right? Did he remember wrong? "I might be a fish but I keep up with the news, heh. And yeah, I know about the Tapu bein' a li'l shit. More o' a Fini guy m'self, if ya catch my drift. Though, to be honest? They're all kinda weird."

He had never met them in person, but he heard stories about the Tapu.

“Yeah, po town. The town the tapu cursed to never stop raining. Sis said you were from here, right? From Alola. You gotta know about that… right?”

They shift on their feet, trying to stave the hurt that they’re going to feel pretty soon.

“You don’t gotta patronize me though. You haven’t seen me battle or nothin. You wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s fine.”

"Po Town's Hero? That's where we are now, I guessin'?"

He forgot to ask Plumeria where she had taken him town wise, he just realized. Oh well.

"Gotta say, yer real' strong. A real powerhouse from what I've seen." Archie slowly sits up a little more, leaning against the backboard of the bed.

“I got another bottle of painkillers somewhere. I ain’t worried. I wouldn’t give it to ya if I didn’t want to.”

Ree scratches the inside of their wrist, keeping their eyes down and away. They’re awkward and anxious, and it… sucks.

“Yeah. I’m Reese. Everybody calls me Ree. I’m Po Town’s Hero.”

"Keep 'em? That's generous of ya. I hope I won't be needin' them soon, though, but it might take a bit."

So they knew who he was. Doesn't surprise him too much, but still. He figured he'd introduce himself anyway. "Yer Ree, righ'? The Champ?"

Could probably kick his ass. Not that he was worried about it too much. He was a changed man, and tried his best to be good... even if it was hard sometimes.

“I know who you are.”

Ree thinks about tossing the bottle, but … they’ve got no depth perception, and they wouldn’t be able to accurately throw it. So they step forward and place it on the bedside— keeping a safe but respectable distance.

“… here. They should help, or somethin. Take two at first if it really hurts.”

A pause. Ree’s chest itches a little bit.

“You can keep it. You pro’lly need it more than me.”

"Oh, neat."

He trusts Plumeria with this kind of stuff. She had shown a lot of knowledge about this kind of thing, after all.

"I'll take some, then. Feel free to retrieve 'em whenever, though." They don't care if it hurts? Archie is usually the same, honestly. He could tell them it's not the best thing to do, but. That'd be super hypocritical of him. "...Mind givin' it t'me?" A beat. "Or ya could toss it t'me, I guess."

Didn't wanna make them uncomfortable. He can read the room. "My name's Archie, by the by."

“It’s fine. These are the same kind sis wanted to get you. I don’ think you’re allergic”

if he doesn’t want it, that’s fine, but… Ree is trying to do something nice. Despite their anxiety and knowing that this guy keeps picking fights with their dad and upset one of their best friends. They’re trying to be nice.

“I always got a stock up of stuff. I have enough for me for a while. Besides, I don’ care if it hurts. It just gets in my way sometimes.”

They’re not moving any closer.

Archie looks up from his position on the bed, the Mightyena next to him immediately taking a defensive stance upon seeing a new face appear in the doorway. "Hey-- 's 'kay." He gently pats the Pokémon on the back, and it hesitates, before slowly lying down next to him again. Eyes never leave Ree for now, though.

"...Are those painkillers?"

"Are ya sure, scamp? Don't ya need those yerself?" They probably needed them if they were carrying them around, right? He keeps petting his Mightyena, not sure what to do next. On the one hand, he'd love to take the risk, but... "'Sides, not sure if my body can take 'em. Got a bunch o' allergies."

@nolongeraqualeader

"Ow. It's fine. Ow."

“…”

They could ignore him.

Ree was only passing by Plume’s room when they heard him muttering in there. The blond tenses up at the unfamiliar voice; they know who it is, they know he’s allowed, but they’re still incredibly anxious about all of this.

…

They could ignore him. But Ree bites hard at their bottom lip and moves to open the door. They fish a bottle of painkillers out of their jacket pocket— something they keep on them at all time for their own chronic pain.

“… here. You can take em.”

"Ya wanna know 'bout merfolk?"

Well, colour him surprised. This was the first person besides Plumeria who'd asked besides just pointing out the fish tail.

"Heh, that's a lo' o' questions. But I don't mind sharin' 's long as ya keep it on the down low."

He leans back a bit, grinning. "I think ya have t'be born one, yeah. Unless ya find a sea witch maybe? But that's really hard for a human anyway. There's more 'round Alola, yeah. And I do have pretty cool powers, but I can't do most o' 'em righ' now 'cause it takes energy I don' have."

-✖

Really? Not many people questioned him? Apparently, certain people don't share Cataleya's adventurous curiosity in the face of such things.

"Well... Can you tell me about merfolk? Do you have to be born one? Do more live around Alola? My mom used to tell me stories that my gramma told her, but they were pretty vague. Do you have any cool powers?" she asks, words coming out quite fast in her excitement.

"Why are ya so tense?"

Jeez dude. Calm it with the bouncing. It's making him nervous too at this rate. "Fiiiiine. But yer not gettin' my Aqua lore either."

Doubt he wants it, but still. Archie's quiet for a bit, just staring at Guzma. The fin wiggles slowly stop.

"...Though, I guess. If ya have any questions, this is your time to shoot 'em. I'll be honest."

Oh, fuck's sake. This whole bullshit is getting more and more tense every second, isn't it? Archie falls quiet for a few seconds, and those were enough for Guzma to return to get as annoyed as possible, a leg bouncing with clear nervousness.

What do you know? What the fuck does he wanna know?!

"I know what I know." he grumbled, dismissingly waving a hand "Oi, ya said to be nice, not to be besties. You're like, level -4 when it comes to friendship, ya ain't gettin' any hint of Skull lore dude."

"..."

This ain't getting anywhere. Now he just feels even shittier and he's getting riled up. "...Well. What do you know, anyway?"

Guess he was wrong when he thought Guzma would understand. He huffs, cheekfins flared out and wiggling in annoyance. This fucking guy.

He's not liking this discussion. Like. Not one bit. Finally stopping his constant dangling, Guzma now puts his head on his open palm, resting his elbow on a leg as he avoids eye contact. If you're not talkin' to 'em, how the fuck d'ya know they're doin' fine?, he thought -- the same words he mentally yelled at himself during his own three months hiatus from the whole team leading thing.

…nah, this is different. With Skulls, he was the problem. Guzma doesn't think it out of self-deprecation, he was the only one on board with Lusamine's stuff. This was a group of lunatics who wanted to flood the world from day 1! It's different. There's no parallels here.

"Yeah well.

Ya never know."

Stay vague Guzma, stay annoyed.

"--Okay??" Well, she's off... So he tosses the bag to the side of the bed again. Now he can only hope for the best.

"Nope! No money required ! I will be right back! I will see what I can get!"

With that she was off like a zubat out of hell.

"...Are ya sure ya don't need me t'give ya some moolah?"

He's already reaching for the little bag he was carrying when he was found.

"I prefer nothin' fried. Allergies."

" Oh don't worry about that ! I can go get it. Whats your favorite kind?"

"I do like tha', yeah-- But sushi's crazy expensive... I can't ask tha' o' ya."

"I can probably get you some Sushi....Do you like Unagi?"

"Where's all the fresh fish in this house..."

✿

SEND “ ✿ ” FOR 2 HEADCANONS FOR OUR MUSES’ RELATIONSHIP.

Archie tastes all of Ree's food creations, despite having a sensitive stomach. That's not to say Ree's creations aren't good or edible, but Archie just has a ton of intolerances (common among merfolk despite blending in with humans.) I feel like once they find out about that, they start making special batches for him to eat that lack the things he's intolerant to.

In turn, Archie teaches Ree some different cooking combo's from the merfolk world and regularly catches fresh fish and dives up sea berries/plants for Ree to experiment with.

"...I have like. Legs too, yanno."

Phew... Seems like he passed the vibe check somehow. At least for now, that was.

"Heh. Hey there, bud."

Archie lights up at the Crobat inspecting him, before pulling out a Pokéball and tossing it in the air. Out comes his own Crobat, battle-scarred beyond belief, but seemingly very content to be there.

Crobat makes a gentle clicking noise, curious about this other Crobat that's here.

"There we go. Now it's a playdate."

The only change in his expression so far: a narrowing of his eyes, scrutinising poor Archie further.

Hm.... on further inspection...

No, any familiarity must just be his imagination.

Cyrus finally cares to look away, breaking all the tension.

"That's unnecessary," He answers at once, before pausing, contemplating, and then switching his focus between Archie and the Crobat at his side. He cocks his head towards the stranger, and as if commanded to, Cyrus' Crobat breaks away from its owners space to investigate Archie. "- But that's what it wants to do, so very well."

"I don' really like flyin' either."

Okay, he slowed down a tad. Still going waaaay too fast for his liking though.

"Why do we need to get to the malasada shop this fast??? Ya worried they're running out o' them???"

Vicious let out a chuckle at that.

"You know we get there faster if we speed, right? Besides, I'm a good driver, never crashed or hit anything."

At the I'll walk comment he did slow down a bit, taking some pity on his company. "Better? If you prefer I can lend you Coviknight for you to ride."

He clears his throat nervously, before plapping his cheeks.

"Ne'ermind. Err..." Just say it. C'mon, this is so unlike you. "Jus' noticed the device you're tinkerin' with. Was curious 'bout it. I do some tinkerin' myself, too. Always down t'learn more techniques, tho'." He pulls out his phone. It looks highly modified, pretty professionally done, too.

"Been wonderin' how to improve this thing further."

"Uh... yeah, sure."

Weirdo. Sonia glances over her shoulder at the device she's been tinkering with, then back down to her device. Then... sheesh, he's not going away, is he? "...Can I help you with something?"

"Ehh, not questioned tha' much."

He must admit that he'd expected way more questions about the fish part. But he'd only really had a handful of people ask about that-- or him in general. For some it was violence on sight instead.

"Thank ya f'r bein' kind." A nod as his Pokémon all start munching outside of the bathroom (way too cramped in here otherwise).

"As f'r questions... Shoot. I'll try t'answer what I can."

-✖

Cataleya thinks for a moment before nodding. "Think I can manage that. Be back in a bit..."

The trek to and from the kitchen takes a little while, but she returns with food and some bowls for his Pokemon as promised. It's econo kibble in a big bag, so nothing fancy, but it'll ensure his team is fed.

"Now...I'm sure you've been questioned about all sorts of things by this point, but I have some of my own. Can't blame a girl for being curious when someone like you is being hidden away in her friend's bathroom, yeah?" she asks, mouth quirking in a mischievous grin.

"I'll even answer some questions, too, if I can."

"..." So that's how this was gonna be, hmm? He's in the shittiest position right now too, 'cause if he retaliates he's giving him ammo to throw him out for real.

Cheekfins flared, he just retracts further into the bathtub, praying that at least the sparks don't hit him. This sucks.

"Sure, sure - get your beauty sleep." Jacks waved an hand in dismiss, pretending like he was going to just relax. But in truth he figured, if he was being the worst roommate ever, maybe the guy would just fuck off on his own.

So he released his Toxtricity. "Just ignore me and my buddy just jammin' out a bit." And as if on cue, Riff the Toxtricity began to play some loud music, causing sparks to jump into the air.

"I'd say hi to them, I s'pose."

If they wanted to see him, sure. In the end, this talk's just making him dizzy. And kinda warm? He's sweating bullets-- Ah. Fever's back. Yippie. No wonder he's being so vulnerable with this other Team Leader.

"...I want t'be a better guy. An' I think I am, if even jus' a li'l bit, but..." He leans back against the backboard of the bed. Whew. Dizziness isn't going away.

"If they're thriving withou' me... Who am I to interfere 'gain? They deserve t'move on from me, and all the shit I did."

…shiiit, fuck you, man. Don't get relatable. Frowning, Guzma lifted an eyebrow as the other kept on rambling about needing a good beating and and past adventures with his Team.

"Well fuck. Ya ain't even gonna tell 'em hi, now?

I dunno. Nobody's forcin' ya apart, right."

Oh, how hypocritical of you, Guzma.

"Nah dude, I jus' enjoy me a good fight sometimes."

This guy was a little dense, huh.

"...No? --Are ya tellin' me that?" Wow, rude. "I meant the Team Leader thing. Not the fish part. Bein' here makes me kinda miss it, yanno? --Not that I'm startin' again. Nuh-uh. Once was 'nough fer me-- I jus' mean I miss the family feel."

...and now he's laughing? He's laughing. Cool. He got a fuckin' masochist mermaid.

"...ya want to get punched?!"

...I mean. Mood. Sure. Okay. Felt. Sometimes you really gotta throw hands, but c'mon now.

"...understand.

You're tellin' me I smell like fish or somethin--"

"...Until I feel better?"

"BWAHAHAHA!!" So he was planning on starting shit with him when he felt better? Now that's funny. No, really, it hurts to laugh but fuck he's doing it. At this rate he's gonna pop his stitches.

"Lookin' forward to it." Archie grins, leaning a little closer. Been a while since he had a good fist fight, and a laugh, too.

"...I guess I can't force ya t'like me, tho'. Jus' felt like ya'd understand me a bit. Even if I'm a merfolk."

"Daaamn, really? Who would've thought bein' forced to be nice doesn't woooork."

Hey, he's shit at that. Who gives a shit. As far as he knows, he's not yelling or insulting him, so that's nice enough.

"Dude, don't flatter yourself. I don't hate ya.

Just don't like ya." a shrug "Simple as."

For no reason at all, of course. ...at least until he offers to punch him?!

"--huh??? Nah, hey-- nah. I promised Plumes I wasn't gonna start shit until ya feel better, and I'm fuckin' not taking a punch in the face and just sit here like, hoh, thank you for the free therapy!"

"..."

"Ya suck at bein' nice, huh."

His cheek fins droop a bit. Hm. Now this is just akward. "Ya hate me that much?" Guess he's used to it. Part of it was probably deserved, and yet...

"'Kay, hear me out: if I give ya one free punch will ya stop bein' so fuckin', iunno. Tensed up?"

"Uhu, sure."

Oh, great. Smalltalk. His fucking favorite.

He starts dangling backwards, looking around, keeping in a sigh. Oh my goooood this is annoying.

His leg is bouncing, besties.

"Got somethin' else to say, or."

Being kind is so hard.