Ryslig inbox

[familyproblem]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, GLADION.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 017.23.773.95

*** silverfeather has joined 017.23.773.95
<silverfeather> If you were looking for a private inbox, you probably have the right channel.
<silverfeather> I'm not at the computer right now. Leave a message.

username: ...He keeps changing it. Changes are noted on his thread tracker. Last time this post was updated it was <silverfeather>.

Comments

[i_am_emmet]

[There are some things about Emmet that will never change, and one of those things is that he is amazingly little brother-ish. So when Gladion came home one afternoon with a large bundle and rushed to his room, it activated something in Emmet. It activated the primal urge in his brain to be nosy, to be playful, and to understand what POSSIBLY could a 15-year-old boy be trying to hide from the rest of the world.]

[It took his mind off more serious matters when he went to work. And when he came back he opened up the door to Gladion's room and his eye's widened. HOW DARE GLADION HIDE THIS FROM HIM. He stayed outside of the room and shut the door quietly. He waited for GLadion to return before he could confront the teen on it.]

[familyproblem]

[He gets to Mukuro's cafe after sundown, and he comes back even later, covered in cat hair and full of thoughts.

He's pretty much forgotten about the Silvally plush, actually, or at least forgotten that that happened today. (Something does kind of...nag at him as he climbs the stairs though. Wasn't there something...?)

He unlocks the door and steps in, unsuspecting prey.]

<whichdoctor>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Your Secret Santa giftee is DIAVOLO. On the network, he's "SLEEPLESS" and honestly, that's all I could find out. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Buy or make Diavolo a gift by December 26, or Santa will come down your chimney and box your ears.

If you need more information, contact me C/O Hawkeye Pierce at Crowe Clinic, and I'll delegate him to tell you to do your own research.

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[...........wh HANG ON]

I didn't sign up for this.

[but if he withdraws it's gonna be a whole Thing isn't it.

community-building.......]

I don't get an address to send the gift to or anything?

[ibalsamina]

[On the bright morning of the 14th, just after it's left gifts for each of the residents of apartment 203, the Nattenskatt makes a return to deposit something else in the back of Gladion's closet.

Lusamine had heard the warnings throughout the month and ignored them all. Thus, her punishment had been appropriately severe. When she awoke to find her apartment and wardrobe in a state of disarray and flew into a rage (as one does when they find a deliberate bite taken out of every article of clothing they own), she met her end between the Nattenskatt's teeth. Perhaps the creature knew, as most of Ryslig does, that monsters never truly stay dead, as leaving her here of all places only seems like the next phase of her penalty.

It isn't until much later in the day that she finally regains consciousness—in darkness. Though exhausted and utterly disoriented, after a few moments of blindly groping, she manages to find the door handle and use it to lurch her way into the room beyond, blinking blearily.]

[familyproblem]

[All is quiet in this room. Was quiet.

It's not a large room - this is one of the three-bedroom units. Opening the closet reveals a rather sparsely decorated space; a window, a bed, a bedside table, a lamp. Potted plants along the windowsill. A messenger bag sitting against the wall. A stack of books beside it (A Natural History of Conifers at the top), and another, shorter stack on the bedside table (Easy Home Carpentry Projects).

Also a giant Type: Full Silvally plush sitting in a proud loaf on the bed.

It's staring at you.]

<PunnyBone>

[lottabones]

Ingo told me that you have so much to say about the harmony between human and Pokemon society in your time.

Do you have time to guide me through the museum? I have a lot to ask about your history, particularly of the Alola variety.

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[Who is th- oh it's that arachne professor.

Ingo said that??...okay that makes sense, he guesses, relative to...literally anyone else here.]

I can do that. It's a few hours until my work shift later, or I can go some other day.

Present

[lottabones]

[Triffany drops off a present box in front of Gladion's apartment wrapped in light blue paper. It contains a soft quilted blanket and a note.]

Thank you for teaching me so much about your world. Hope this helps you through the winter as you helped me!

- Triffany

a nattensfest gift!

[offtracks]

[Wrapped with exacting neatness, what does the box contain?

A KNIFE

YES!

It is a sturdy knife clearly meant for something like wilderness survival, which could also easily do whatever knife things you see fit! The blade - mostly straight but with a serrated section - was bought at market, and the dark wooden handle was carved and fixed by Ingo, distinguishable because there's a very stylized rendition of a Silvally face on it. It also has a sturdy leather sheath!]

SUDDENLY!NATTENFEST!

[i_am_emmet]

[Next time Gladion enters his room, there will be a poinsettia with a colorful ribbon wrapped around the pot, a small stack of snacks, and a giftcard to the closest thing Bavan has to a Hot Topic all nestled around the Silvally plush. Who, by the way, Emmet has slapped a festive bow on also. Why? Because why the heck not.]

<MADMAX> backdated to the 20th or smth

[zoomingupthathill]

[ The problem: It's only a few days until Christmas, and Max still has to find something for Secret Santa. The network has given her nothing. She has no idea who this person is, and the network strategy hasn't helped, it just means she's looked at a lot of the network, and the network fucking sucks.

The strategy: Fire off messages to anyone she has in her contacts to see if somehow, someway, someone has something she can use, because she's not about to go back tail between her legs—not literally, please don't give her a fucking tail—to the guy who pretends to be Santa to cope with all the shit he spilled about his crap life.

Why isn't she asking the people she actually knows? ...Well, that would be admitting she's in over her head. Max is even more twitchy about that, right now. ]

hey
its max
the girl you shoved in a closet last month
with the antlers

this is a longshot but do you know someone named lusamine?

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[Well.

This is definitely A Time to get a message like this in his inbox. He'd love to be Smart Gladion about this and handle it strategically, but Smart Gladion has been lying face-down in his room for about a week now.]

Did someone put you up to this? I won't do anything if they did, I just want to know.

[Weird Gladion is on the phones rn.]

Secret Santa

[charmpagne]

[Gladion is going to find...quite the elaborately wrapped gift box on his doorstep this morning. Two boxes even! The first one's purpose is immediately evident, since it's actually a tray covered by a clear, plastic dome. It's a small, individual-portion size Christmas Cake, with a little fondant figurine that has been clearly shaped by hand. It's...a Rockruff! Because this is the only Pokemon Sparkling knows, and it's also modeled after Junior, owned by Beat who gave him some advice on what might be a good present. And Gladion seems to like animals in particular, so...

Inside the other box is a silver and gold scarf with various woodland creatures stitched into the patterns all across it. Along with everything is a note:]

Merry Nattensfest! I am your Secret Santa this year. I appreciated you coming to my party earlier in the month; I hope you enjoyed yourself! I know that Cheesecake very much enjoyed your being there. She would love to see you again, so you are welcome to stop by the Grapevine to visit any time you might like. I was told you were an animal person, so I hope you enjoy these gifts I picked out for you.

Stay warm, and have a wonderful Holiday.

-Sparkling Cookie

<TheCoolestTurtle>

[makesascene]

[Okay, its been A While since he's actually spoken to Gladion after their weird fight before Nattenfest. Leo tries this whole reaching out thing.]

So.

Glads.

Do you wanna go to the zoo again?

RSVP today!

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

["What the hell," Gladion says out loud to himself when he reads this. Several thoughts go through his head.

1) He was kind of an asshole to turtlebug. Who had said he'd thought Gladion was "cool", which could be either in the "chill" sense or the "impressive person" sense; either way, one would think that the asshole behavior kind of deducted some points there? So he's not sure he takes this message at face value.

2) He has, however, made a resolution to help people and to be helped. Which...doesn't...necessarily encompass Whatever This Is, but if he explains that to Mind Lillie she gets this exasperated look on her face, which means he needs to get a fucking grip. Okay. The mature and normal thing to do is to say yes and be nicer this time.

3) With that said: no, but, he still doesn't quite get why Leonardo wants to hang out with him. They're blatantly not on the same wavelength. Gladion can stand there and let him talk at him, but what exactly does Leonardo get out of that? What is being expected of him? What is he supposed to do on this outing? In short, what the fuck is this?

4) If he gets a fucking grip and goes anyways, does he actually have the grip strength right now (VINE JOKE!) to maintain that grip the whole time?


...]

Not sarcastic: what do you expect this outing to be like?

<joker> post shade event

[le_mat]

safe?

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[experiencing a moment of clarity, or perhaps a series of moments]

Yes. How are you doing?

After timeloop ends

[makesascene]

[Leo had spent at least three days just sleeping, and now he was back on his feet, ready to visit people again.

Apparently, Gladion was on that list.

There is a knock upon the train houses door. Once answered, there stands a turtle very green spider monster balancing a comically large sheet cake in one hand.

The design on the cake is a dog riding on the back of a train with a conductors hat on.]

So, I heard you got a cool dog. I wanna see.

[This is not a request.]

[familyproblem]

[Gladion is not expecting any of this.

How much is he not expecting any of this?

He gets the front door halfway open and physically jolts back in shock and alarm. If he was a manticore, his tail would surely be enormous. And he blurts:]

How did - who told you I lived here?

[Behind him, out in the living room, something stirs at the raised pitch of his voice. The head of a beast surfaces, over the back of a sofa. Dun dun dun dun dun dun...

It's not at all subtle because it's preceded by like two feet of enormous white crest.]

<MADMAX> March 6th or so

[zoomingupthathill]

[ The message comes...pretty much out of nowhere, honestly, and with no explanation. ]

so its impressively fucky that we move out of the city to avoid the shit but the shit follows us nevertheless
how you doing
are you goopy

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[Felt, though!

He replies around lunchtime.]

Camping out in town, on a roof, vainly hoping this stops when the fog does.

Thought I'd be immune to new changes and good to help newcomers.

I may in fact be goopy.

You?

<TheCoolestTurtle> March 26th

[makesascene]

Dear, Glads,

You are cordially invited to come over to my sick new digs whenever possible. Hang out expected as I show you around Lou Jitsu's School Of Ninjutsu.

Signed,

Leonardo Hamato (Leo)

<silverfeather> march 27th

[familyproblem]

Thank you. It might be some time before I can visit.

<rindragon> 3/5

[worldisyours]

[Sometime in the afternoon on the 5th, Gladion will receive a short series of messages on his laptop.]

hey gladion, im the new guy you met yesterday. my name's rindo
just wanted to give you an update since you helped me out (thanks again for that btw)
i talked with the lighthouse crew then a friend from back home recognized me
i ended up going with her. she lives with a few other people but theyre all cool with me moving in with them
so...i have a place to stay now i guess

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[...huh. okay yeah this improves the goop ordeal somewhat.]

Hey Rindo. Great to hear it.

Get enough space to yourself for now? My roommates have always been alright, but living stacked on top of monsters can be a hassle automatically.

[we simply do not talk about the felfri experience.]

memshare event!

[offtracks]

[Ingo's the one who arrived home first. He regrets this terribly!

But as worried as he is about Emmet and Gladion, Ingo has to accept that going back into the city won't help them. It's a Warden's sense; sending someone unqualified on a rescue mission will only end with two people in need of rescue, and here, Ingo is very unqualified. He already needed to be brought out once. Even now...being out of the fog has stopped the worst of it, but he still feels scattered and absent-minded.

Alone in this house, he can't really be sure that his remaining memories aren't still slowly drifting away.

By the time Gladion shows up, Ingo's hunched over on the couch. He hasn't cleaned up at all, so he still looks tired and disheveled from his own days wandering the streets. But he's found other things! He's reading through a journal - out loud, in fact, mumbling to himself - and squeezing his locket in his free hand.]

[familyproblem]

[Between him and Max and Basil, Gladion's the one with the rarely-exhausted mount. So they part at the Palazzo, and Silvally takes him home.

He's dead on his feet, animated by the fog but still feeling the days of...deprivation? Self-neglect? There are already little buds growing where Basil sliced his mostly-dead vines away, but without them his balance feels strange. And the moss on his back surely needs more thorough pruning, too. And - he needs more water, and food. And probably to put roots down. Maybe...maybe it would be prudent to feed feed, too. It's not as if he can't do that piecewise.

All thoughts that roll back and forth as Silvally sort of pushes him up to the door, and then through it once he opens it. It needs its own food, too. And a bath, probably. And-

oh.


Gladion looks, frankly, like shit. Rumpled, a little muddy, leaning somewhat on Silvally's neck. There's a funny texture to his skin, just faintly, missing some of the vibrancy of his usual green. He looks odd around the eyes, particularly, and not just because they're not moving quite as quickly as they usually do.

They track up over Ingo. Over to the chain of the locket. (Something flips over in his stomach.) Silvally hisses quietly at him (worried.) and Gladion lifts the hand thrown across its shoulders to give it a little scratch.]

Sorry I was out so late.

[It is absolutely a joke but he absolutely is not mustering up the energy to laugh about it.]

[i_am_emmet]

[It was raining and Emmet had been thinking on a plan he had idly pondered off an on for a few weeks, but decided it is best now that he acts on it, after all, to get everything going he would need to start as soon as possible.]

[So, on his way from the kitchen he stops by Gladion's room and knocks on the door.]

Are you in?

[familyproblem]

[At this hour, he is, in fact, in. Evenings are winding-down time: specifically for still being awake to create some overlap in the household schedule, but not for starting anything new. Tidying up before bed. Reading. Talking to Silvally about tomorrow's plans. And so on.

There are a few seconds of shuffling sounds from inside. Then, Gladion in the half-open door with a questioning expression. A vine slips idly out and up along the doorframe, following meaningless patterns across the wall and ceiling.]

Yeah?

<rindragon> 4/13

[worldisyours]

[Rindo goes to sleep on the 12th feeling a little off in some indescribable way. He thinks nothing of it, really. Even if his changes appear to have stopped for now, he figures it'll take a little while longer for the exhaustion to subside.

He wakes up on the morning of the 13th feeling hungry. He thinks nothing of that, either. Waking up hungry is just about the most normal thing.

But after he eats breakfast, he grows anxious. The hunger isn't going away. It isn't strong, but it's there in the background, nagging at him.

For a moment he tries to convince himself it's a fluke. Just satiety taking a little while longer than usual to kick in. It's been barely over a week since his changes started, after all. It's way too early. Nothing to worry about.

An hour passes. Then two. He eats again, just in case. He's still hungry. …Hungrier.

…

He told himself he'd let someone know right away. But everyone's sleeping—or trying to, at least. He… should at least confirm it before bothering them.

So back up to his room he goes, flipping his laptop open on his bed as he's done so many times before.

Gladion will know.]

hey are u busy?
i need to ask something but everyones asleep
it might be urgent

[Then he waits.

…If there's no reply within half an hour or so, he'll go get Swallow.]

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[Twenty minutes.

Gladion opened his laptop to check if he was needed at the cafe today after all. It's good luck that he checked when he did.]

Not doing anything important. What's going on?

< TheCoolestTurtle > - Mid-May

[makesascene]

Glads, check your porch!!

ur welcome, btw

ps; tell your cool dog I say hi

[When Gladion does check, he'll find a Skateboard with a comically large red bow wrapped around it. Along with a bag of stickers Leo bought so Gladion can decorate the plain top of the board as he sees fit.]

July 12th <TheCoolestTurtle> cw: emeto mention

[makesascene]

[Leo feels like he's going to hurl from nerves. How does one confess to a crush? Is it easy? Is it hard?? He might die. This is the end.]

When are you free? I'd like to talk to you in person real quick. Nothing bad, just you know, stuff.

<silverfeather>

[familyproblem]

[...KIND OF AN ALARMING MESSAGE TO GET. When the turtle calls him up out of the blue, it is, uh, not ever like this.]

I'm in town for a morning shift tomorrow and free afterwards. How much of an emergency is this?

GIFTS

[i_am_emmet]

[It seems like Emmet had remembered Gladion's birthday, and when Gladion is out of his room Emmet has snuck in and left a small pile of presents. New clothes! And things that are really for Silvally but you know!]

[The clothes are in a similar style to what Gladion wears, and fits- obviously showing Emmet checked the tags on Gladion's clothes when given the chance.]

[familyproblem]

[...Oh.

Gifts of clothing, as a rule, make him feel a little uncomfortably seen at best. But they're also never this...appropriate. Not perfect, but not something he dreads wearing.

Expect these to show up in his ensemble soon. They might be modified, but they'll see use one way or another.]

<TheCoolestTurtle> nebulously late august

[makesascene]

[Given their last conversation, Leo already has a good idea Gladion is going to ignore him. Sure, sure, fine!! He can cope with that.

He still has to say something.]

fyi, humans are starting to poach monsters for parts. So keep a wide berth from Vandere.

<silverfeather> several hours later

[familyproblem]

[Rindo has now been missing for over 24 hours.

Not the best circumstances in which to stumble home to a message like this. Gladion was expecting, if anything, something from Shoka or Beat. Instead: he gets ominous turtle.

Fantastic.]

How wide?

after september fog

[sweartoyou]

[Hunting is never a dramatic affair for Rachel, who was used to the idea of death and dead bodies since before she came to the peninsula. She doesn't schedule it or put it off until she's starving for it, so it's coincidence stacked on coincidence that has her swatting someone to the ground, the rifle the young woman had slung over her shoulder in a bid to intimidate monsters away with the same apprehension and fear she felt over being in such a monster-flooded city clattering onto the pavement, useless. The Nymph drops to a crouch instantly, bark-covered knee dug into the woman's abdomen to hold her down during the time it takes for Ray to lean closer.

When she starts fighting back, arms flailing, Ray catches her by the wrist, thorny nails scraping the skin enough that the protesting slurs and softens to something akin to an exhausted child insisting she doesn't want to sleep yet. She's put to bed fully as Ray bites her forearm for good measure. When she goes completely limp, unconscious from the Nymph's venom, Ray sits back on her and sighs, folding her arms over her stomach and tucking her hair away from her face. Like she's gentle and going to watch over her while she sleeps, instead of killing and eating her.]

From Vandare... Probably not going to be very tender. I don't think we have what we need for a good marinade...but I could salt her for a while. It's too bad... I need to make jerky again soon.

[...Well, at least it'll be obvious for anyone listening to her, since she's talking out loud to herself like she is.]