#Drew her in her alternate outfit but without the hat

[knightmareaceblue]

A redraw of the group photo from the Nether hopping arc! I wanted to get in more practice drawing the characters in this specific style, and also see if I can fix some issues with their designs that were bugging me. I... mostly succeeded on that 2nd part?

Some notes regarding these CG designs (plus some headcannons):

-Red's outfit frustrates me, because I like it a lot without colour, but once I start trying to add colour it always ends up looking off. The current colour scheme is fine, I guess, but I'm a little torn on whether or not the colours suit Red, and not making him too close to the other colour schemes present (which I like a lot more).

-Red's outfits will often have animal motifs designed into them. Usually cat, rabbit, or pig, but they have all sorts of animal clothes.

-Though it can't usually be seen due to not drawing them with their hood up often, Red's hoodie has cat ears. The reason I don't usually draw the hood up is because I like drawing his hair too much.

-Red will alternate between gloves, bracelets, and, post AVM season 3, a yellow headband and armbands.

-Under the hoodie Red will usually wear a tank top or crop top. Though it can't be seen in this photo, the arm holes for the hoodie are incredibly large, so Red's top can sometimes be seen when lifting her arms or looking at them from the side.

-In general, I do like Yellow's outfit. It suits her personality well and has some good colours. My primary concern is that it may be too... plain? Stereotypical? Basically, that it's too stereotypically 'nerd' to be interesting. But I can't come up with anything better, so this'll be her default outfit for now.

-What I do like on Yellow, however, is the hair. I think the short hair with a singular braid is really cool. A nice mix of neat and practical and stylish, especially mixed with the glasses.

-One issue I do have is with the boots. All the shoes in general, actually. They all look so samey, especially Blue and Yellow's boots. This is a pretty simplistic style I'm drawing in though, and I don't want to make anything too complicated. Why do shoes have to be so stupid?

-I used to have the same problem with Second's outfit as with Red's - particularly, with their shirt. However, that's when I realized that Second is an artist, and can change their shirt design at the drop of a hat. So, now the shirt has a different drawing on it regularly. Second will try to use all their friends colours in their designs. If they leave a person off, it usually means their either consciously or subconsciously upset with that stick. If they don't draw on their shirt at all and leave it blank, it usually means something's up with them.

-I also added leggings from the previous design. It felt right.

-Both Second and Chosen dislike shoes. I will not elaborate, but Second's tolerance is better than Chosen. He can handle it for short periods of time, but is usually grumpy and will kick them off first chance he gets.

-I like to imagine Second using her large, poofy hair to put things in, the same way she'd put things in their inventory. I also like to imagine Green is low-key horrified by this, while Red, Blue, and Yellow will also use her fluff to store things. Sometimes without Second even noticing.

-Second carries the belt with them in their hair in their inventory and will put it on before fighting/platforming so their oversized shirt doesn't get in their way. Otherwise they prefer to have their clothing loose and flowing.

-Everyone has a multicoloured accessory. Second was the one who started it with his bracelet, then the others wanted some too so Second drew up more for the gang. An anklet for Red, an armband for Yellow, a belt for Green, and a neckerchief for Blue.

-Green may just have the best outfit of everyone here. It's sleek, it's cool, it suits them, and it's easy to fight in (with an easily striped jacket if need be). I also added a lil choker.

-I don't think I expressed this before, but I didn't like Green's previous hairstyle. Something about it irked me, but I couldn't place what at the time. Now I know it'd needed more on top, haha.

-Blue's outfits tend to be more on the practical side, since they do a lot of manual labour, but with bits of fun and whimsy added in. After AvM Season 3, she trades her funny socks for long funny socks and fun stockings.

-The original intent was for everyone to have a different type of hair, but Blue's and Yellow's ended up a lot more similar than I'd hope. The idea was for Blue to have really thick hair, but it's hard to tell. Might think of something else later.

-Anyone who wants something different can go to Second and ask. They all have their own things they like, but they're all willing to try almost anything, with very little exception.

Feel free to let me know your thoughts. I think I really like these character designs I came up with. :)

Original pic used for reference:

[furaiehgu]

Dinah from Summon Night Swordcraft Story 2

[napoleondidthat]

The Siege of Toulon

Having been lucky enough to get himself reinstated in the army and even promoted captain, Napoleon hastened, not to his regiment, but to Corsica, where he tried in vain, and for the last time, to act a political part. Threatened with death and pursued by his own countrymen, he fled with his family to France. After that he made every effort to get back into the service,  and succeeded not long before the bloody incidents in the South. In the course of a mission to Avignon, he published a pamphlet, ‘Le Souper de Beaucaire’. He was then a savage Robespierrist, and was shortly to become intimate with Robespierre’s brother.

However, his most effectual patron, the man who is said to have ‘invented Bonaparte’, was Paul Barras, soon to bring about Robespierre’s fall. It was Barras, as a Commissioner of the Convention, who discovered Napoleon Buonaparte at the seige of Toulon, and secured him a general’s epaulettes at twenty-four.

He he describes the beginning of his acquaintance with the young Corsican gunner.

I thought we should give serious attention to that part of the Provencal coast where fresh enemy landings might take place. I needed an officer who could reconnoitre and place batteries. An intelligent lieutenant would have been enough. I chose one of the youngest officers. He fulfilled his mission with promptitude and dispatch. Satisfied with the report he submitted on my return, I said: “Thank you, captain.”

That was Bonaparte’s first interview with me.

On my arrival at Ollioules, I was struck with the confusion reigning in Carteaux’s division. I discussed this with my colleague Saliceti. He agreed with me that no time should be lost in sending Carteaux back to his paint-brushes. (He was an artist by profession.) We communicated our findings to the Committee of Public Safety, and Dr. Doppet was appointed commander-in-chief at Toulon.

Carteaux was doubtless what people are in the habit of calling a worthy man, when they mean to describe a second-rate man, but he had no experience of war. Into the bargain he had a conceited wife, who wanted to have a hand in administration and indeed the war itself. According to some officers, especially the young artillery captain, who was already, in point of fact, little inclined to say or hear a good word for anyone, and who, while ingratiating himself with Carteaux and his wife, jeered at them continually, it was Mme Carteaux who drew up the orders of the day, and went so far as to sign them, whether from simplicity or imprudence: ‘femme Carteaux’

On my tour of Carteaux’s camp, since I was dissatisfied with the general and could get no proper intelligence from him, I made it my business to visit the outposts. I was escorted by the young artillery officer, who had taken to following me about since my arrival.

‘Everything is going wrong,’ he told me. ‘I feel obliged, citizen commissioner, to let you know the state of affairs. Your loyalty and your military rank assure me that you will welcome my observations. I am,’ he continued, ‘up against the Corsican faction, the arrogance of Carteaux and his wife. I believe myself to have some knowledge of the artillery arm. I appeal to your judgment: every useful suggestion of mine is dismissed. I beg your support; my zeal shall be answerable to the protection you will bestow on me when you have scrutinised everything.’

As he talked in this style, Bonaparte presented me with several copies of a pamphlet he had just composed and printed in Avignon (Le Souper de Beaucaire), and asked my leave to distribute it to the officers and even the men of the republican army. Laden with a great bale, he would say, while handing the copies out one by one:

‘This will show what a patriot I am! Can on be revolutionary enough? Marat an Robespierre, those are my saints!”

He was not drawing the long bow in his profession of faith. It is impossible to conceive anything more ultra-Jacobin than the principles of that hellish tract.

Even at our first meeting I was struck by his activity. His attention to duty inclined me in his favour. Intimacies are quickly formed in a life of common danger; I lost no time in securing for the young Corsican all that he desired and that interested him personally. I allayed Salicet’s prejudice. I showed my goodwill to him in public. During the preparations for the siege we had frequent talks. He was soon admitted to my table, and was always placed next to me.

We are apt in general to feel a kindness, and even a certain admiration, for any man who, in a weak frame, displays more vigour than nature seems to have granted him. We feel that his spirit has overcome his body, and that we owe him gratitude for a double triumph. Independently of this cause, which may have been at work unknown to me, I had a peculiar reason, of which I shall make no secret, for being attracted to this young artillery officer.

It was not only the merit, in his small person, of the zealous activity, that perpetual motion, that physical restlessness which, compact of force, began in the head and did not stop even at the last extremities! There was also, in the whole manifestation, a striking resemblance to one of the most famous, or even the most famous of all the revolutionaries to have appeared on the republican stage.

This other Bonaparte was Marat.

I had frequently seen the latter in his place in the Convention, and even earlier. It was impossible that I should feel more sympathy with him than was inspired and permitted by his everlasting violence and his appeals for carnage. Nevertheless, without seeking to justify or explain his methods as a publicist, I was far from believing Marat such a grisly fiend as he has been and will always be thought.

My predilection for Bonaparte silenced his enemies. Meanwhile the Committee of Public Safety, appreciating the soundness of our reflections on the inefficiency of Carteaux and Doppet, replaced both of them by General Dugommier.

Bonaparte was present on the arrival of the new commander-in-chief. Dugommier at once showed the greatest confidence in the man he called, and who was proud to be called, ‘my little protege’. Bonaparte was not slow to abuse it. He soon took a peremptory and dogmatic tone which displeased the commander-in-chief. Dugommier, with his reputation and character, was not to be dominated. Losing patience with his criticism and insinuations, alternately sycophantic and violent, Dugommier invited Bonaparte to restrict himself to the sphere of his own command; he ordered him to do so, in a firm tone which allowed no rejoinder.

After the siege of Toulon, he (Bonaparte) was appointed brigadier-general, with the orders to join the army of Italy, under young General Dumerbion. It was there he made friends with the younger Robespierre, Ricord and his wife, who were to become his patrons. From his first period of Italian service, when, as a very junior commander, he was already longing and planning to rise by every means, Bonaparte, who believed women to be a powerful one, paid assiduous court to Ricord’s wife, knowing the deputy to have great influence with the younger Robespierre, his colleague. He dogged Mme Ricord with attentions, picking up her gloves and fan, holding her bridle and stirrup with deep respect when she got on horseback, escorting her on her walks hat in hand, and seeming to be constant terror lest she should meet with an accident.

Before the departure of the generals and representatives of the people who had retaken Toulon, the revolutionary committees were to give us a banquet of friendship and fraternity. I said to him: ‘You will come and dine with the commissioners.’ Bonaparte declined, showing me the holes in his elbows.

‘Go and change,’ I said, ‘at the military stores. I will give the commissary an order.’

Bonaparte reappeared in a twinkling with a whole outfit, newly equipped from top to toe, keeping the most respectful distance from the commissioners, and hat in hand all the time. He carried it as low as his arm could reach.

The dinner went off as usual in those days: patriotism in abundance, very fiery talk, in which Bonaparte joined at intervals with the greatest vivacity. Yet, already acting the double part which was in his nature, he found time to oscillate between the commissioners’ dinner, where he was so happy and proud to be, and that of the sans-culottes in the other room, going in to apologise, as it were, for not being with them, and carry on the sort of Italian flirtation which may be seen here in its beginnings.

Napoleon In His Time, Jean Savant, pgs 18-22

[psychosistr]

Pride

Summary: Domino and Steelbeak are sent to eliminate a target at a rather colorful event, leading Steelbeak to question his past attitude and learn a few things about a community he never thought he’d be a part of.

Notes: This is the result of having no power at work for eight hours, having typing programs on my phone, and remembering it’s pride month. So, enjoy this one shot of @thefriendlyfour‘s OC Domino and Steelbeak experiencing his first pride festival and learning more about himself x3

Another day, another mission, Dominic thought to himself as he and his partner, Steelbeak, made their way through the streets of Saint Canard.

Today’s assignment was fairly simple: F.O.W.L. High Command had plans involving a local company with rumors circulating around them regarding the possible production of portable thermonuclear generators with the same power output as an entire factory. If the rumors proved to be true, then such powerful devices could do the world a lot of good…or a lot harm, in the wrong hands. (Hence why F.O.W.L. had taken an interest in the company.) While the idea of a portable thermonuclear generator was certainly enticing, High Command was nothing if not thorough in their research & planning and needed more information on the validity of these rumors as well as information regarding the stability of the generators.

That was where the chief officer and his partner came into play- the two had been tasked with tracking down the head of security while he was away from the premises and “relieving him of duty” so that a similar looking agent could go in undercover to gather information and ultimately make any actual plans to breaking in easier when they were ready to make their move. Due to the nature of the lab’s research, it was hardly a surprise that they’d been assigned a security detail comprised primarily of military-grade personnel, with the head of security himself being a retired brigadier general. Needless to say, challenging him head-on in a location where there could be possible cameras- not to mention armed reinforcements- would be a very bad idea, meaning they had to get to him when he was as far away from the company as possible.

Luckily, F.O.W.L.’s sources had it on good authority that he was a regular presence at a certain event that took place downtown every June…

While the deadly duo would typically arrive at their destination in one of the agents’ cars, the streets were currently closed to vehicle traffic, so they’d been dropped off on a rooftop a few blocks from the target’s location via helicopter. After making their way down to the streets and navigating a few back alleys, the fowls found a side street leading them right to the middle of the festivities that had claimed downtown Saint Canard.

“You sure these outfits are gonna cut it, Deedee?” Steelbeak questioned as they prepared to enter the bright and colorful crowd in front of them.

“For the hundredth time, yes.” Dominic replied for what certainly felt like the hundredth time he’d repeated himself. Stepping out onto the sidewalk and revealing himself to the light of day, the loon was dressed in an outfit that was a far cry from what he normally wore. His usual iconic coat and hat had been exchanged for a sweater with large horizontal stripes in three main colors- purple on the bottom, white in the middle, and gray at the top with a black turtleneck collar- and a pair of square purple sunglasses. “Now come on, we’re already behind schedule.”

“I dunno, Dee..” Steelbeak mumbled as he stepped out to join the loon. Like his partner, he had also left his usual suit behind and was now dressed in a pair of vibrantly deep blue colored jeans with a plain black belt, a form-fitting light purple sleeveless muscle shirt, and a faded pink bandana around his neck. “How the heck is this-” He gestured broadly to his outfit with one hand, starting at the white ankle boots on his feet and moving upwards to his usual metallic prosthesis. “-not gonna get any looks?”

His answer was the frustrated rolling of a pair of red eyes and a shake of the loon’s head, his colored glasses briefly being removed to make the action more apparent. “I did what I could with what you had in your wardrobe, though it still would have been better if you’d taken my advice on the shoes-”

“I ain’t wearin’ sandals anywhere ‘cept the pool an’ the beach.” The taller bird rolled his own eyes while repeating his earlier opinion regarding his partner’s insistence on wearing a pair of ocean blue sandals that had been in the back of his walk-in closet. “An’ I still don’t get how walkin’ around dressed like a friggin’ unblended berry smoothie stands out less then my suit.”

“Trust me- I know more about this sort of thing than you do.” Not wanting to waste anymore time debating the matter, Dominic put his sunglasses back on and ventured out towards the colorful crowd of people in front of them. “The more you stand out here, the more you fit in.”

“If you say so, red eyes..” A look of uncertainty made the chief officer’s feelings on the matter clear, but he reluctantly followed his partner into the vibrant and noisy spectacle that was the annual Saint Canard Pride Festival.

Steelbeak’s general discomfort with his current clothes was quickly forgotten as he took in the various outlandish and far more insane outfits of the festival goers around him. The looks that passed over his face when he saw spectacles such as a female tiger walking around in nothing more than a bikini to properly show off how each of her normally orange stripes had been dyed a different color of the rainbow or a peacock with with an obviously fake set of oversized tail feathers alternating in pink, white, and blue were all truly priceless expressions that made Dominic wish he had a camera handy to capture the moments for posterity.

Unlike his partner, Dominic was mostly unfazed by the vibrantly energetic crowd. Although it had certainly been a while since he’d attended one of these events, it was most definitely not his first time going to a pride parade or festival. There were many reasons for him to avoid such gatherings (huge crowds, a general sense of chaos & disorder, and a unsettlingly large number of people who seemed to have trouble remembering things such as personal boundaries after a few drinks, to name a few), but, despite those irritations, there was still something comforting about being surrounded by such a generally cheerful atmosphere full of people who, to at least some capacity, all shared something in common. It definitely brought about a sense of pride and community to everyone in attendance-

“Burn in hell!”

-well, almost everyone…

The cursing followed by a loud crash drew the duo’s attention to the one unplanned yet ever present part of pride festivities that was universally despised by all attendees: Protestors.

The crash had come from one of the booth’s that had been set up along the side of the street selling pins and other small accessories. The short border collie in a frilled red, pink, and white sundress (the poor girl couldn’t have been older than twenty) who had been working at the now overturned table was currently cowering in fear from the intimidatingly tall grey and white goshawk dressed in dark jeans and a green button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows who was giving her an intimidating red-eyed glare while looming over her.

“Geez, what’s his problem?” Steelbeak watched the goshawk shout curses and obscenities at the cowering collie with a mild look of annoyance.

“A religious protestor, apparently.” Dominic replied with a scowl. “They’re usually lurking around these events somewhere, graciously taking time out of their day to make sure we all know how ‘immoral’ and ‘sinful’ we are.” The sarcasm and general feeling of disgust in his voice were nearly tangible.

“Sounds like someone’s got too much free time..” His partner commented with an appropriately matching amount of sarcasm. “..Wait a minute…” Dark eyes narrowed as Steelbeak looked the predatory bird over. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. After opening it up to take a look at the paper’s contents, a pleased and devious smirk found its way to the fowl’s deadly beak. “Oh-ho, Dom, you are gonna love this.”

Curiosity piqued, the loon moved closer to the chief officer so he could see the information as well. “…?” As he read the description and took in the blurry photograph printed on the crumpled paper, Dominic found a similar smirk spreading across his own beak. “My, my, that IS quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Almost feels like we’re doin’ a public service on this one.” The taller bird put the paper back in his pocket before winking at his partner and doing a sweeping gesture with one hand towards the altercation across the street. “After you.”

“What a gentleman.” The darker fowl winked back with a quiet chuckle before weaving his way through the crowd. Along the way, he smoothly swiped a half-full plastic cup from a blue jay’s slack hand without being noticed. “Sir,” He began once he was close enough, earning the goshawk’s less-than-pleased attention. “All that screaming is bad for your throat. You should have a drink- my treat.”

Right on cue the taller bird opened his beak wide, likely to shout something derogatory, but whatever he had been about to say turned into muffled gargling and choking when he suddenly found the cup in Dominic’s hand shoved firmly towards the back of his mouth before he had time to finish drawing in a single breath. The unsuspecting goshawk was so preoccupied trying to cough up the liquid in his windpipe and dislodge the mass of plastic in his mouth that he didn’t even notice the equally large man drawing up behind him until a fist slammed into the back of his neck, sending him crashing to the ground. The attack served the dual purpose of (ironically) dislodging the cup from his beak and knocking the gray bird out cold.

There was a beat of silence from the festival goers around them before the crowd erupted into whistles and cheers. “Woooooh!”, “Nice!”, “Way to go!”, and “This is why we don’t need cops!” were just a few of the words and phrases that accompanied the applause.

“Ha..” Steelbeak grinned as he hefted the unconscious bird’s body up onto his shoulder. “Don’t think I’ve ever heard people cheerin’ just for doin’ our job.”

His voice had been just loud enough that only his partner had heard it over the loud clapping and excited hollering around them, so Dominic matched the tone with a grin of his own and a shrug. “They’d probably be less enthusiastic if they knew more about us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nobody questioned where the pair of fowls were taking the knocked-out protestor (odds were high that they all wanted him as far away from them as possible and would more than likely play dumb if anyone came looking for him), making their job of bringing him into a back alley for disposal much easier. The noise from the festival goers further aided them- after all, with so much cheering, loud music, and general merry-making going on, no one noticed the sound of a silencer-equipped pistol being fired and the resulting blood splatter would be washed away by the rain later that night.

Taking a few twists and turns to be absolutely sure they weren’t followed, the agents finally spotted a dumpster behind a currently closed restaurant.

An efficient, if unpleasant, place to throw away their man-sized load of garbage.

Dominic, luckily, won the coin toss they’d used to assign tasks for the disposal process, meaning he got to search the body for its wallet, keys, and anything else necessary for their impostor’s charade to be a success while Steelbeak, much to his chagrin, was forced to rifle through the trash bags filling the dumpster and try to find enough nearly-empty ones to hide the remains in.

“Ugh, I’m seriously gonna hurl…” The rooster grumbled for the twelfth time since he’d started, the sound soon followed by a louder one when a bag dripped an unidentified black substance (hopefully just soda) onto his pant leg. “Ack! Well ain’t that just great?!”

Grabbing the last of the former head of security’s personal belongings, Dominic stood with a roll of his eyes. “If you stopped complaining, we’d be done by now.” He could feel the brief glare cast in his general direction, but chose not to acknowledge it as he pulled out his guns. Taking aim at the body on the ground in front of him, he fired out a burst of flames from one pistol, making sure to thoroughly scorch the remains.

“Hmph, easy t’ say when you’ve got the easy part..” Despite his complaints and protests, Steelbeak finished his job and managed to open the bags with minimal retching (though at this point he was likely just playing it up to be annoying). “Alright, short fuse, we’re good t’ go.”

“It’s about time.” The darker bird replied while pointing his other gun at the body, this one firing out freezing rounds of ice that encased the charred carcass in seconds.

There was a lull in the conversation for a while as the duo worked to break apart and hide the evidence of their crime. With Steelbeak’s exceptional strength, breaking apart the frozen-solid corpse was as easy as snapping a popsicle in half, making quick work of the body and handing the pieces off to Dominic so the other man could put them in the appropriately sized trash bags before they were chucked back into the dumpster. It was simple, monotonous work that they were able to do effectively without a word needing to be spoken between them to get the job done.

Comfortable silences were, surprisingly, a common thing for the chief officer and his partner, especially when they were on the clock. They could go back and forth between bantering, arguing, flirting, silence, and everyday chatter in equal measures and had gotten to a point where they were generally comfortable in one another’s presence with or without words…but this was not one of those comfortable or busy types of quiet- this was a “something needs to be said but hasn’t come out yet” type of quiet that generally brought the mood down until the issue was addressed.

By the time they’d finished throwing everything into the dumpster, Steelbeak had a look on his face that Dominic knew all too well: It was the one he wore when he wanted to say something but was doing his mental back-and-forth debate about if it would be “the wrong thing”. The taller bird was normally so cocky, so brimming with self-confidence to an almost insufferable degree, that sometimes it still took the loon by surprise to see him looking so unsure of himself.

Depending on his mood, Dominic could find it either endearing or frustrating. At the moment, though, after doing so much physical labor, he was leaning more towards the latter. Unfortunately, he knew how bad Steelbeak was about admitting what was bothering him, so it would likely fall on him to break the silence and-

“Hey..” Red eyes regarded the lighter bird curiously. So Steelbeak was going to bring it up on his own without any prompting this time? Good. Dominic would count that as some form of progress. “Was I…y’know…” The rooster was avoiding eye contact and moving one of his hands towards the dumpster in indication, an uncomfortable frown on his beak. “Was I…that bad before……?”

Even though he trailed off at the end, Dominic knew perfectly well what he meant. “No.” The answer came without hesitation, a small smile on the loon’s beak as he looked up at his partner’s still uncertain expression. “You were rude, callous, ignorant, insensitive, clueless-”

“Alright, alright, I get it- I was a jerk.” There was a bit of red under the off-white feathers of the other bird’s cheeks, making his attempt at a scowl fall hopelessly flat.

A quiet laugh rumbled in the loon’s chest as he reached up towards the rooster’s face. “You’re still a jerk. But-” A single black feathered fingertip lightly touched the other man’s deadly prosthesis without a shred of fear and began lightly running back & forth along the metal, a wider smile coming over his own dark beak when the tension quickly left his partner’s body and the familiar trilling sound filled the alleyway. “-you’re a tolerable one.”

He might never say it out loud, but Dominic REALLY enjoyed touching Steelbeak’s namesake in such a tender way. The lack of natural keratin didn’t set off the usual discomfort he felt when making physical contact with another person. Plus the reactions it elicited from his partner- that instant relaxation, contentedly happy trilling, and blissful half-lidded smile- were always gratifying to see. He still wasn’t 100% sure how much Steelbeak could ACTUALLY feel from the light touch, but he certainly felt something, even if it was mostly psychological. Ultimately, it was an intimate gesture that both of them found enjoyment in.

Did Dominic play dirty and use it to his advantage sometimes when Steelbeak was in a bad mood, arguing with him too much, or flat-out refusing to talk to him? Yes- a minute or so of the gentle contact was enough to turn the chief officer into putty in his hands and make him far more agreeable and willing to go along with whatever Dominic asked of him.

Did Steelbeak realize it was happening? Definitely- he’d sometimes grumble out a muttered curse at how manipulative the darker bird was but he’d still smile through his cursing and do what his partner wanted.

Did he ever try to stop it? Surprisingly, no- even in the middle of an argument when he noticed those fingers heading towards his beak (sometimes Dominic was subtle about it, sometimes he was direct- either way, Steelbeak noticed the approaching hand eventually) he’d never once tried to move away or avoid the other’s touch, meaning whatever sort of enjoyment he got out of the contact far outweighed his usual pride and dislike of admitting defeat to the point that he’d submit to whatever the loon demanded of him just for a simple touch to his prosthesis.

“Hmmm…ya make a convincin’ argument, Dee.” Steelbeak gave a pleased sigh once Dominic’s fingers finally left his beak. He looked far less stressed than he had a moment ago, that blissful smile still on his face. “But..are ya REALLY sure I wasn’t as bad? I know I wasn’t exactly ‘Mr.Tolerant’ back then.” The tone of his voice made it clear that he wasn’t doubting the validity of Dominic’s earlier claim, he just wanted confirmation now that he wasn’t so worked up over it.

The loon rolled his eyes, but it was with a good-natured, fond smile on his face. “Yes, I’m sure.” Red eyes looked back up into the other’s dark ones, his tone conveying the sincerity and certainty of his words. “You were confused and uncomfortable because you were dealing with something that you weren’t familiar with, but, while you were rude, you weren’t hateful. Most of your problems were because you were in denial, not because you wanted me to ‘burn in hell’ and, take it from me, the ones who haven’t figured themselves out yet are MUCH better than the fire and brimstone zealots.” He gave the tip of the taller fowl’s beak a quick tap before heading back down the alleyway they arrived through, winking up at him with a more alluring smile. “Besides, you get a one-time pass for being more attractive than him.”

Within seconds he heard that particular laugh that he was growing more fond of every day accompanied by quick footsteps that soon drew even with his own. “Good t’ know this mug of mine’s still good for somethin’.”

The pair of fowls shared a smile and a quiet laugh as they made their way back towards the main streets, knowing that was probably the closest thing the taller man would give in terms of a “thank you”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting to a point where they could be picked up and brought back to HQ by their designated vehicle and driver meant once again navigating their way through the throngs of colorful animals and many booths of the festival, something the deadly duo had to be more careful about given the crowd’s growing numbers as the day progressed and Dominic’s aversion to them. To avoid any accidental contact, the pair of fowls did their best to stick to the sidewalks near the walls of the surrounding buildings or behind the stalls when possible. Thankfully, they’d made it through without incident-

“Hey! You two!”

“!!” Dominic and Steelbeak instantly stiffened at the call clearly directed at them. They both instinctively reached for their hidden guns but didn’t draw them just yet- the streets were too crowded and it wouldn’t be a good idea to cause a scene.

When the pair turned to see their potential enemy, however, they were surprised to see the small border collie that had been the victim of their target’s earlier aggression standing at her now right-side-up table. She waved to them with a bright smile on her face as her tail wagged happily behind her. “Was hopin’ you’d come this way!” Deciding for the moment that the dog wasn’t a threat (and even if she was, they could easily take her hand-to-hand if it came down to it), the fowls relaxed their previously tense stances and walked closer so they wouldn’t have to strain to hear the energetic young girl. “I wanted to thank you for helpin’ me out earlier. That guy was a real pain.”

“Don’t mention it, doll.” Steelbeak told the grateful collie with a quiet chuckle, clearly amused at the idea of being THANKED for such a thing (if she knew what they’d actually done and why they did it, she probably wouldn’t be thanking them).

“We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.” Though he held back any sounds of his own, Dominic was equally amused by the situation. “There’s really no need to thank us.”

“Aw, come on, don’t talk like that- it’d eat me up if I didn’t repay you guys somehow! Here,” She grabbed a display box from the other side of the table and dragged it closer, showing off a wide and colorful array of different pins shaped like waving flags. “I know it’s not much, but take a couple in your colors!”

“Our colors?” The taller bird asked while looking down at the pins in confusion. “Ya mean the ones we like best or..?”

“No, I mean the colors for your pride flags.” The girl at the counter explained with a giggle. “Go ahead and help yourselves!”

Picking up the rainbow striped flag hard-enamel pin with a golden butterfly clutch on the back, Dominic examined it carefully to make sure there wasn’t anything dangerous hidden in or on the unassuming pin (tracking devices, mini explosives, microphones- they had to be careful in their line of work, after all). “These are very well made.” Finding nothing off about the small accessory, he pinned the colorful flag to his chest and contemplated grabbing the one for his other colors-

“Hey, stripes, I’m lost here.” His partner was still looking down at the pins curiously. “I thought the pride flag was supposed t’ be a rainbow? What’s with the rest??”

“You’re joking, right?” The quiet laugh that had started in the loon’s chest died the moment he actually looked at the rooster’s face. He saw no traces of sarcasm or teasing anywhere in Steelbeak’s eyes as he looked down at the colorful flags- only honest confusion and curiosity. “…You’re serious..” Dominic looked at the other bird in disbelief, feeling honestly bewildered by the whole thing. “You can’t REALLY be this clueless, can you?”

Dark eyes rolled slightly before looking back down at the shorter bird. “Hate t’ burst whatever bubble ya got ‘bout me, red eyes, but I didn’t exactly get a full education on this sorta thing with how I grew up.”

Oh..right…

With how clever the chief officer was, it often slipped Dominic’s mind that Steelbeak never received any sort of official education growing up. Everything the other man knew, he’d learned on his own or through experience later in life. Growing up alone on the streets, it stood to reason that he never received any reliable information on the subject, and it was highly unlikely that his initial training and education with F.O.W.L. included a comprehensive high school-level sex-ed course for the fifteen year old rookie.

“……” After deliberating on it all for a moment, Dominic looked back up at Steelbeak with a soft, understanding smile. “Would you like me to teach you?” After receiving a nod from his partner, he started his explanation by tapping the rainbow flag already pinned to his shirt. “The rainbow is the most well-known pride flag- it’s typically known for representing homosexuality. There are a few variants, as well as the lesbian flag for gay women.”

“That’s my flag.” The girl running the stand told them while happily pointing to the multi-striped flag pin that matched her colorful dress. “That’s the original version with all the pinks and reds, but there’s another version now with fewer shades of pink and red and a couple of orange stripes.”

 Moving his fingers down to the rest of the pins in their box, Dominic pointed to the first one in the upper left corner. “This one with the magenta, lavender, and dark blue stripes is for bisexuality- it traditionally means being attracted to both men and women, but many people have expanded that definition over time to include other genders. Other variations have popped up as well, including pansexual-” A black feathered fingertip moved to the brightly colored pink, yellow, and blue striped flag nearby. “-which means attraction to all genders, and polysexual-” The finger moved to a darker pink, green, and blue striped flag. “-which means attraction to many different genders, but not necessarily all of them.”

“Hold it, back up a sec- ‘other genders’?” Steelbeak seemed fully invested in the loon’s explanation, giving him the same look he often used when the darker bird was laying out their strategy for a mission. “What does that mean?”

“Ah, right, we should probably cover that, too.” Dominic said quietly to himself before addressing Steelbeak again. “Aside from male and female, there are a variety of genders and labels in between the two.” He pointed to a pair of flags with light blue, light pink, and white stripes. “Transgender, for instance, is used for people who are assigned one gender at birth, but identify as a different one. Some of these people get surgery if possible to physically match what they view themselves as, but it’s different for each person. There’s also intersex-” He indicated a yellow flag with a purple circle in the middle. “-which is for people physically born as more than one gender, and agender-” His finger moved to a symmetrical flag with black, grey, and white stripes surrounding a single light green one in the middle. “-for people who don’t identify as any gender.” The next pins he pointed to were one that was a light purple, white, and green flag and another right next to it that was yellow, white, purple, and black. “Many of the others fall under the label of genderqueer or non-binary, meaning that they don’t exclusively identify as male or female; one of my ‘coworkers’ up north preferred using gender plural pronouns like ‘they’ and ‘them’.” The loon’s mind wandered for a brief moment- it had been a while since he’d spoken to Wildcard and the others, he hoped they were all doing alright…

“What about this one?” The taller man’s voice brought him out of his thoughts to see him pointing at a pin with pink, white, purple, black, and dark blue stripes.

A small smile reappeared on Dominic’s beak. It seemed Steelbeak was thoroughly absorbed in his lesson and genuinely wanted to learn more. “Oh, that’s gender-fluid- it’s for people whose gender and pronouns change frequently. Some of them also identify as bi- or tri-gender, meaning that they identify as more than one gender, but not everyone who’s bi- or tri-gender identifies as gender-fluid.”

“Wait…” Steelbeak looked back to his partner in surprise. “That’s a real thing?” When his answer was a nod of the loon’s head, he groaned and brought a large hand up to smack himself in the forehead. “Think I need t’ call up one of my ex-partner’s an’ apologize for bein’ such a jerk…”

“I’m guessing you didn’t use their pronouns correctly?” Dominic tried not to laugh at the guilt-ridden frown on the lighter fowl’s face, but it grew harder when an embarrassed flush became visible on his cheeks.

“I thought the guy was gay an’ just liked cross-dressin’ or somethin’! I mean, sure, he told me felt like a girl sometimes, but I didn’t think he MEANT it!” The rooster hid his face behind his hand, clearly trying to avoid the immensely amused look in his partner’s eyes. “Great, now I feel stupid..”

“You are not stupid.” There was a hint of a laugh in the loon’s voice and an amused smile on his face. “You’re just…uneducated.”

Oh, that annoyed glare he received when the other man removed his hand was truly priceless. “Wooooow, you always know just what t’ say, don’t ya?”

“I try.” The laugh that followed Dominic’s words was quiet, but it seemed to be enough to ease the glare in the other’s dark eyes until they were both snickering.

With his mood improved and a smile returned to his gleaming beak, Steelbeak looked back down at the pins and saw a particular color combination that caught his eye. “Hey, this one looks like you.” He looked back down at the darker bird’s sweater for emphasis.

“That’s because it’s my other flag.” Taking the small black, gray, white, and purple striped flag that he’d considered grabbing earlier, Dominic smiled as he pinned it to the other side of his chest. “This is the asexual flag: It’s for people like me who don’t really experience sexual attraction to others.”

Steelbeak gave his partner and the new pin on his chest a curious look. “So, what, they just don’t like sex or somethin’?”

“Not necessarily.” That was a pretty common question that Dominic was more than used to by now. “Being ace isn’t the same as being celibate or disliking sex. It means not being sexually attracted to other people, but it’s a fairly large umbrella that covers a wide variety of people: Some don’t have any interest in sex at all. Others like the way it feels, but don’t really get ‘turned on’ by any specific gender. There’s also demisexual-” He pointed down to a flag with similar colors to the ace flag, but with a white stripe on top, a purple one in the middle, and a gray one on the bottom with a black triangle on the left side of the flag. “-which is for people who can develop sexual attraction for someone they have a very strong emotional connection with.” Spotting a nearby pin with stripes in dark green, light green, white, gray, and black, he tapped the area near it to draw the rooster’s gaze. “Asexuality can also sometimes go hand-in-hand with aromanticism, but the two can also be separate cases. Similar to asexuals with sexual attraction, aromantics don’t typically experience romantic attraction. There’s even a demi version-” His finger moved to a flag that looked identical to the demisexual pin, but with a green stripe instead of a purple one. “-for people who usually only develop romantic attraction after they begin to feel a strong connection with another person.”

“Huh..guess the whole ace thing makes sense with you an’ your ‘quirk’.” Steelbeak was back to looking intrigued by all of this new information. “So, these flags can tell people what you’re not interested in, too?”

“Of course. Pride is about knowing who you are and not being ashamed for things like how you identify yourself or who you are or are not attracted to.” Feeling he had properly covered every pride flag in the box, red eyes looked back up at the lighter fowl inquisitively. “Any questions?”

“Nah, that was pretty thorough, Dee.” Off-white fingers reached down to the box of pins and picked out exactly the one that Dominic knew he would go for. “Least now I get why ya had me walkin’ around dressed like a fruity-cereal mascot.”

Dominic watched the other bird pin the bisexual pride flag to the right side of his chest with an amused smile and a shrug. “I figured it would be accurate.” Preparing to bid the girl behind the table farewell and continue on their way, the loon paused when he saw the lighter fowl reach back down to the box and grab one of the less colorful pins as well. “..Demiromantic? Really?” He asked with genuine curiosity at the other’s choice.

“Yeah. It’s just…I dunno..the way ya described it…it just felt like me, y’know?” Steelbeak looked down at the black, white, green, and gray pin held between his thumb and forefinger. “ ‘Love’ don’t exactly come easy t’ me. I could probably count the number of times a ‘relationship’ actually meant somethin’ t’ me on one hand an’ still have a finger or two left over.” Dark eyes glanced down at the aquatic fowl beside him, the corner of his mouth turned up in the slightest of smirks. “Present company included.”

“Noted.” The wink sent his way made Dominic smirk right back before his expression softened, watching how the previously playful gleam in those dark eyes faded into something else. Something almost…sad..

Looking down at his hands while pinning the demiromantic pride flag to the left side of his chest, Steelbeak kept an unreadable smile on his face but the look in his eyes contradicted his beak. “Started thinkin’ maybe that sorta thing just wasn’t for me..that maybe…I was too messed up for it or somethin’…” As he finished setting the pin in place, the expression on his face changed from its previous state of sad, indifferent neutrality to a small but far more genuine smile. “Knowin’ I’m not the only one like that..that it ain’t just me bein’ too cold……it’s..kinda nice..” He looked back down at Dominic, that same smile still on his face.

If Dominic ever made a list of things about his loud-mouthed, arrogant, cocky partner that made him fall for the over-confident egomaniac, that look would be within the top three. That soft, unguarded, completely open and sincere look in those dark gray eyes combined with that small smile which was so different from his usual smug grins and smirks that it was almost like looking at a completely different person- like he was seeing the man beneath the suave bravado and flashy showmanship. It never lasted long, but Dominic mentally filed away each and every moment he was treated to the sight to make sure he NEVER forgot that look.

“……” With a softer smile on his own dark beak, Dominic reached up to the pin on the left side of the rooster’s chest and carefully straightened it. “It suits you.” Red eyes met dark gray and the smile on both agents’ beaks grew a little more.

Not everything in life needed a label, but sometimes it was nice for a person to know they weren’t alone in how they viewed themselves or others. Having something as simple as a flag to show others a part of who they were could make a world of difference to a person. It showed them that there were others out there going through similar experiences and let them know that their differences were something to be proud of.

For all the issues that he’d had growing up, one positive takeaway that Dominic had from his youth was that he had a decent education and grew up in an environment where he was free to express his own romantic preferences. His mother knew he was gay before he’d ever even heard of the word and wasn’t surprised at all when he came out to her as a preteen. Thinking about it as they thanked the border collie for the free pins and continued their walk towards the extraction point, Dominic supposed he was at least a little lucky in that regard.

Despite how clever and outspoken he was, Steelbeak grew up without access to information that should have been common knowledge to many people and had no one he truly felt safe talking to about things deemed “outside the norm”. While that didn’t excuse his previous behavior towards Dominic (and others, given what he’d said about one of his former partners), it was easy to understand where his ignorance stemmed from. Now, at least, he was at a point where he was willing to learn…and had apparently decided that he was comfortable enough with his partner to admit he didn’t know something and ask for information.

For Steelbeak, Dominic decided, that was remarkable progress compared to how he was when they first started working together. He took a small measure of pride in being both a witness and a major part of what helped foster that growth and looked forward to seeing how his partner would continue to grow over the course of their partnership.

End Notes: This may have been unplanned, but it was fun to write ^.^ Sorry if I missed any flags, I was really just running through a mental check-list and did a  quick double-check when I got home to make sure I got all of the colors correct ^^”

[eirian-houpe]

Modern Wonders - Chapter 1

...And Into The Fire

Fandom: Once Upon a Time / Alice (TV 2009)

Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Tags and Warnings: Alternate Universe - In Storybrooke | Cursed (Once Upon a Time), Wonderland, Drug Use, Recreational Drug Use, Pining, UST, Violence, Psychological Torture, Torture, Exploitation, Revenge, Angst, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Reconciliation

Summary: Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold, and when Regina casts Rumple's Dark Curse, just a few words here and there creates Storybrooke in a very different place, with a very different atmosphere, and very different issues to deal with. Alliances and enmity permeate the lives of the citizens of Storybrooke, (and beyond), as they tiptoe around the various dangers they face every day. Who is awake? How can they break the curse within a curse? And what of the power struggles rife both within, and outside of Storybrooke itself.

Modern Wonders 1 - ...And Into The Fire.

As bluebirds went it was a pretty piss-poor specimen. That probably had something to do with the fact that it wasn’t a one at all, but at least it was a bird, and it was flying, pretty fast too, almost as if…

The watcher shielded his eyes and looked in the direction the bird had come from. He sighed heavily as he watched the steel banded airship gliding in over the mist-topped mountains, heedless of the tall tree’s he knew were hidden in the mist.  Like some giant, silent, woodlouse, it went, heading for the many towered, many spired city that floated on the lake. He knew what it was, where it was going, and what was contained in the boxes that hung on thick, black metal ropes beneath the belly of the beast.

He shuddered, and counted them under his breath, “…fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…” a good haul. He shuddered again, pitying the poor bastards that were being flown to their mindless bliss.

The bird-that-wasn’t-a-bluebird wheeled in the sky and flew across his field of vision, between him and the airship. He took a breath. “No fucking rainbow either,” he told the sorry creature, but then… no point thinking of rainbows.  This wasn’t Oz. He’d rather be in Oz than here, and for just one second he considered abandoning his mission, tossing down his hat and going…?

“Anywhere but here,” he answered the unasked question in the same low and dangerous voice in which he’d counted - albeit a whisper then, but no. He couldn’t let himself do that. What he had to do was important, might well save so much pain in the long run.

With another sigh, Jefferson dropped his hat back onto his head, and set off along the narrow pathway toward the docks with a determined stride.

**

The Enchanted Forest - many years ago

He looked behind him to check that he wasn’t being followed, then Jefferson tossed back the tails of his borrowed coat before stepping into the shadows between two of the buildings that framed the marketplace. He knew better than to call out; draw attention to the two of them now in the gathering darkness. Instead he melted against the wall hiding even his tall frame from sight until a figure detached itself from the darkness nearby.

“You took your time,” the voice attached to the figure said. “Trouble?”

Jefferson scoffed. “It’s because I took my time that there was no trouble,” he said, and from the deep pocket of his coat he drew the article of jewelery - stolen of course, and of immense value - that had once belonged to the daughter of a local nobleman, and handed it over to the man still half hidden in the shadows.

The man turned it this way and that, and whistled softly, before casually tossing a purse full of coins in Jefferson’s direction. He caught it deftly, and then moved his coat carefully to one side while he affixed the pouch to his belt before covering it with his tailcoat again.

He nodded to the shadowy figure and asked, “Anything else?”

“I’ll be in touch.” The answer melted into the shadows again, as if fading away on a breeze.

Jefferson took a deep breath, ready to head home, a smile coming to his face as he thought of his beautiful wife. It was enough to put a spring into any man’s step.

“You really should take more care of your things.”

The almost playful, sing-song, impish voice sounded from the mouth of the alley, and with his heart in his mouth, beating hard enough to choke him, the thief spun around, pulling the knife from his boot, he brandished it toward the direction of the voice.

The man on whom he laid eyes was twirling the purse the fence had given to him in return for the stolen necklace. Jefferson’s free hand fly to his waist, finding, indeed, that the purse was missing, The other man was small and almost as flamboyantly dressed as he himself. The hair around the man’s face - at least he thought it was a man - was unruly, wavy, and he had a face covered with scales that sparkled in the light it caught from what remained of the fading daylight. It was his eyes, though, that captured Jefferson, and put apprehension in his racing heart.

The man raised an arm and pointed at him with a finger so clawed it looked more like some kind of beastly talon, and his face creased into an amused sneer.

“What do you expect to do with that toothpick?” he said, and before Jefferson could answer swirled his already raised hand as if trying to attract the scent of a good meal.

Jefferson’s head snapped one way and then the other, watching in mounting fear as the purple fog whorled first around his ankles, then his legs, and torso, before finally engulfing him, obscuring the world from sight.

When the mist cleared, Jefferson found himself standing in what looked like the great hall of some grand castle.

**

Decades of apparating from place to place gave Rumplestiltskin the advantage. He was not disoriented when the great hall of the Dark Castle came suddenly into view, and as such he was moving before the man he had brought with him had stopped swiveling his head from one side to the other as if it were on a stick.

He’d been watching the thief, he had come to know was called Jefferson, for some time, impressed by the man’s skill in appropriating what was not his to take; his ability to find his way into, and safely out of, hard to reach places. To see him so unsettled, like this, struck him as highly entertaining.

Amused, he set the man’s dagger down on top of the long table that graced the center of the room, and began to walk toward the fireplace, igniting a warming fire with the wave of a hand as he did so, and dropping himself into a large armchair that also appeared in the same moment - one of two, separated by a circular table bearing a silver tray with a tea pot and tea service upon it.

“Well, don’t just stand there gawping,” he almost sang in a teasing voice. “Come. Sit. We have things to discuss.”

“But you…” Jefferson’s stupor seemed to ease, but gave way to a stuttering address. “You’re… you’re the dark one!”

“Yes, yes…” Rumplestiltskin waved a hand as if it bored him to consider it, then added, with far more intrigue, “and you’re about to become… a very fortunate man.”

He gestured again toward the vacant chair as her made himself more comfortable and crossed his legs, raising an eyebrow at the master thief.

“There’s… nothing I need,” Jefferson answered, though, Rumplestiltskin noted, he did move toward the chair. “I know the danger in making deals with you.”

Rumplestiltskin opened his mouth in a very wide, but silent, ‘oh’ as though offended, placing a hand over his chest, and then almost sorrowfully said, in a plummy kind of voice “You wound me, Sir!” Then, as Jefferson lowered himself gingerly onto the edge of the seat, seemingly ready to bolt at the slightest cause, leaned forward and in a nasally, confidential voice added, “Besides, what I have in mind is more of a, uh… business proposal.”

“Business proposal?”

“Yes,” he answered, drawing out the word and, with a snap of his fingers, filled the pot with steaming, fragrant tea. He took the time to pour the tea into the two matching blue and white cups, before fixing Jefferson with a level stare as he held out one of the cups, on its matching saucer, in his direction. “You know - I pay you to do something for me. All business. Much like your friend out there.”

He could feel the man was doubtful in the way he took the saucer - hesitant and carefully. “If I already have an employer,” Jefferson’s voice was full of resentment as he named the man from the alley as such, “why would I want, or need another one?”

“Because, Dearie,” Rumplestiltskin sat back in his chair, cup held delicately between finger and thumb of his right hand, and with his left he tossed a pouch that was easily three times heavier than when he had appropriated it from Jefferson’s belt, toward his guest. Jefferson caught, without even spilling a drop of his tea. Rumplestiltskin pointed a scaly finger at Jefferson as the man looked up at him in surprise. “I pay better.”

He waited, sipping his tea and watching out of the corner of his eye as the obviously astounded man unfastened the pouch and peeked inside; completely vulgar to do so in front of a client, but Rumplestiltskin could forgive him that - so long as he got what he wanted.

“Consider it a down payment,” he suggested, drawing Jefferson’s attention back to his face.

“All right,” Jefferson said cautiously. “What is it that you want me to do?”

In lieu of an answer, Rumplestiltskin looked him up and down, before declaring, “You know what you need with an outfit like that?” Jefferson merely frowned in confusion, so Rumplestiltskin told him anyway - summoning the item in question from up in his work room with a simple thought, before holding it out in Jefferson’s direction as he said, “A hat.”

**

Present Day - Wonderland

Light and sound, mechanical jangles, and the call of voices made a sensory cacophony around her, and yet she felt unnaturally still and calm amid it all. It didn’t feel right, and the part of her mind that still remained insulated from the otherworldly state in which she found herself, shrank away from the uncomfortable dissonance.

She looked down at her hand, and the chips held tightly in it, her knuckles white. They weren’t supposed to be that white. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way, so tense, so confused.

“So… wrong,” she whispered under her breath.

“What was that, love…?” The croupier in front of her asked, and she looked up at to see the frown on his face. That drew a frown to her own. There weren’t supposed to be frowns in this place. She looked around herself, at all of the people standing by slot machines, and card tables… the game with the dice - craps, she remembered it was called - and the others at the Roulette wheel beside and opposite her.  Everyone was smiling.  Everyone’s face was full of bliss.

“Nothing, I…” she spoke with the same confusion, the same vague awareness that made her suddenly look down at her feet - her bare feet.

“…Malcolm at table three,” the sound of the croupier’s voice made her look up again - why are my feet naked? Where are my shoes? - “We’ve got another one.”

He was speaking into what looked like a black, legless insect attached to the front of his jacket, on his lapel, nearby to the pocket that was adorned with the red heart symbol.

“No, no, no,” she said quickly. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“That’s what they all say, dear,” he answered, not at all kindly, as she started almost frantically looking around herself. Dear… not enough, something more.

She stopped suddenly, a new frown coming to her face. “But I was coming back… coming to…” as she spoke a door behind her opened, and two men marched through. They were dressed in crisp white uniforms of some kind - pants and a long smock. They took her arms and she fought them, repeating, “No… No, but I was coming back!” Though she couldn’t remember to where or why.

“Yes, coming back,” one of the two men crooned as they began to drag her back toward the door, “It will all be all right.”

“The usual?” one man said to the other.

“That’ll be right,” he answered. “Up her dose a little bit, and then let her rest in solitary for a few days. She’ll soon be fit to get back to the casino floor.”

“Please, I was coming back!” she insisted, and as she tried to catch hold of the door frame to prevent herself from being dragged away, she opened her hand, spilling her red and blue chips everywhere, watching in horrible fascination as they fell toward the hard floor.

She flinched, words of apology tumbling from her as the vision of a falling teacup replaced the chips from her hand.

”I’m so sorry,” she stammered,” but uh…  it’s… it’s chipped.” She held up the cup in her hand, assuring, “You… you can hardly see it.”

“It’s just a cup,” Belle whispered, not knowing where the words came from, as the men succeeded in dragging her through the door and away.

**

Jefferson looked first one way and then the other as he stood against the wall beside the ramshackle looking entrance that was, he thought sarcastically, the perfect design for the entrance to a thriving casino. He shuddered then. Not the kind of place he’d want to, or would - under normal circumstances -  be trying to break into. He only hoped his contact on the inside wasn’t going to let him down.

He never could tell in this gods forsaken realm.

He reached out, and with the side of his fist hammered once, twice, three times on the seemingly broken down door, which after a moment opened to reveal a small head darting back and forth as its owner looked around, before grabbing a hold of Jefferson by the arm and dragging him inside.

“You have to hurry,” the twitchy little man told him, holding out a smock and a pair of shoes.

“Hurry why?” Jefferson asked darkly. “What’s going on?”

“Couple of days ago, she started a kerfuffle on the casino floor. Roulette croupier, Malcolm reported her and they took her away for treatment. She was raving about… coming back, or something.”

Jefferson swore softly, slipping out of his coat which he rolled into a ball, and placed into a hollow space in the base board of the room, before pulling on the white smock over his otherwise flamboyant clothing. The shoes he carried in his hand and followed the little cockroach as he scurried along the corridor leading the way, and then, when he stopped, Jefferson strode on past and kept walking as though he belonged.

He reached the desk, beyond which he could see the doors to several rooms - rooms he knew to be ones of confinement - and smiled at the stern looking woman behind the desk, waiting for his accomplice to begin the agreed upon fuss. The woman did not return his smile.

Counting under his breath, he tried to come up with something to head off any suspicion the woman might have if he just stood there waiting, just as tension began to pick at the base of his neck, the little weasel came through with his much needed diversionary trick.

“What in the name of—”

The woman got up from her chair, and started toward the side of the desk, to come around, but Jefferson held up a hand.

“Don’t trouble yourself,” he said. “They warned they might have to bring someone down here today. Some woman fussing about her boy she thinks she lost.”

“I better prepare the paperwork then, I suppose,” she huffed. She turned away from Jefferson, to a file cabinet in the corner that held up a spindly looking tree in a planter. He let her continue long enough to pull the small vial he’d palmed when he took off his own coat, and slipped beneath the cuff of his shirt.

The cursive on the label read, ”bliss” and he wasted no time in sipping its content into the woman’s tea cup.

“I don’t think you need to rush,” Jefferson said as the noise continued. “Seems to be taking them some time to bring her along.” He gave her another smile as she turned back. “I’m sure you’ll have time to… finish your drink while it’s still warm.”

As if he had reminded her, she picked up the cup and took a large swig, lowering herself into her chair as she did.

“And you,” she snapped.  “What are you doing down here?”

“Me?” Jefferson asked, as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He watched as the woman’s face began to go slack… as the bottled bliss slowly took hold. “Oh, I take it you haven’t heard about me then… shame…”

The woman didn’t respond. Her eyes glazed, seeing far into the distance of her imagination, ignorant of the world around her. Jefferson reached across the desk for her keys, picked up her overcoat from where it hung over the side of her workstation, and then as he passed her, leaned down to almost whisper in her ear with low menace, “Didn’t you know… Hatter knows best.”

**

The ‘medicine’ they gave to Belle did not take away the dissonance - the very real belief that something was not right in the world.  That she shouldn’t be there.  That she didn’t belong.  All it did was make her groggy, and insensible… numb.

She didn’t even look up when the door opened, at least not for several seconds, several heartbeats. Not until she sensed the movement in the doorway; realized the shape of her visitor was not the same as that of her jailer, did she raise her head to see the weirdly familiar, unfamiliar man standing on the threshold of her cell with his hand extended to her.

“Come with me,” he said, and his voice was soft and in a strange, vague kind of way, also familiar.

“Who are you?” she asked, confusion in every cell of her being.

“My name is Jefferson,” he said. “And I need your help to do something that I can’t.”

[thearkhound]

Drama CD Metal Gear Solid interviews

The following is a series of interviews that were published in the booklets for the Drama CD Metal Gear Solid series. The booklet for Vol. 1 contains an interview with Hideo Kojima himself, while Vol. 2 contains interview with Motosada Mori (the series’s military advisor, who served as the audio drama’s screenwriter as well) and illustrator Yoji Shinkawa. The scripts for the Metal Gear Solid radio drama has been translated for quite a long time now, but the interviews have not until now.

The Metal Gear Solid radio drama is a non-canonical continuation of the game in which Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, Roy Campbell and Mei-Ling continue working for the U.S. military following the events of the Shadow Moses island takeover as they become involved in new missions set in various conflict zones. You can read a translated transcripts on the following links: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Hideo Kojima

It seems that the story for the Drama CD is set after the events of the game itself.

Don’t think about it too deeply. (laughs) That was my biggest concern when it came to discuss the radio drama. There are quite a few inconsistencies if you think about it seriously. More importantly, I don’t think they [the main characters] would be willing to return to the battlefield after the ending of the game. You’re better off thinking of this audio drama as an alternate story using the same characters.

Mr. Motosada Mori, who worked on the game as a military advisor, seems to had been in charge of writing the script this time...

Originally I was told to write it myself but I wasn’t able to due to various circumstances. So when it came on deciding a writer, it had to be someone who was not only be knowledgeable of the Metal Gear universe, but also be familiar with military and world affairs, as well as firearms... I was wondering if there was such a worthy candidate. Not only does Mr. Mori has the expertise and experience, but he is also a published author. On top of that, he provided entertainment advice on the game itself, so I was confident to assign the job to him. At first I wanted Mr. Mori to employ his own unique gimmick and we thought a lot of what he could add to the script. But then the amount of technical terms he added to the script became too much for the average listener to understand, so we ended up reducing them. (laughs)

By the way, the character of Allen Iishiba was based on someone we knew... When we went to the United States for research, we were able to observe a tank in person thanks to a friend of Mr. Mori in the U.S. Army, so he became the inspiration for that character. [Translator’s note: The person in particular is Tomoaki Iishiba, who is credited as one of the military advisors alongside a Michael Allen.]

Were there any difficulties when it came to the difference in expression between a videogame and an audio-only CD?

Perhaps this is the fate of videogames as a medium, but there is a chance that if you only hear a line of dialogue once, you might not understand it the first time, so we have to repeat things like a parrot during conversations. [Translator’s note: This is why most conversations in the MGS series end with Snake repeating what the other person said in the form of a question] As a result, we end up writing dialogue that would seem out of place in a normal conversation. We had no choice but to write like that in order to make the game easier to understand, but because this is purely an audio drama this time, it covers more acoustics than the game itself. Therefore, the difference between the mediums was not a problem at all.

Finally, can you give us any last words?

I think that the Drama CD will depict a lot of things that could not be done in a videogame. Give Mr. Mori my regards. (laughs)

Motosada Mori

You worked as a military advisor in the original Metal Gear Solid game, but this time you’re writing the screenplay...

I actually played Policenauts when it was first released, so my feelings are rather complicated. I became a fan of Kojima because of Policenauts. While observing the game’s development process, I thought many times about how it would be like to be one of the players anticipating its release. Putting it in another way, I might be wondering if it was going to be a good game and I would wish to play it without knowing anything about it... (laughs) If there is ever a next game, I want to be just a player.

This time you’re working on an audio drama. Did that present any difficulties?

How to depict the world of Metal Gear without the use of visuals? That was the biggest challenge. Moreover, whether you’re listening to just one episode or the one that comes after, you have to write them like a single storyline. On top of that, I intended to write a drama that would appeal to both, people who played the original game and those that didn’t. Nonetheless, it was difficult. Writing the screenplay was an everyday hell. Basically, the story takes place after the events of the game, but like Mr. Kojima said, writing a story that follows the ending of that game was the best opportunity to show off my skills. To what extend can you demonstrate a unique worldview? The results is a kind of progression that proceeds from the video game to the audio drama and vice-versa.

Were there any instances where you based the story or characters on your experience?

Most of the incidents, including the characters who appear in it, are fictional, but some of it is partly based on my own experiences. For example, is it possible to distinguish between good and evil on the battlefield? The characters in this story, like Schultz, Cortez and Ivanovich, all act in their own interests, believe in themselves and try to justify their means. It’s a rule that doesn’t work at all on a normal society, but somehow you can get away with on the battlefield. Those with power seize everything. This is a drama about tragic men who were drunk on a power struggle and were conversely swallowed into it.

Finally, can you give us a few last words?

Enjoy this audio drama and let us know what you think! I want to make the best use [of your feedback] next time... Will there be even be a next time, Mr. Kojima?

Yoji Shinkawa

There are many characters being drawn for the first time for the Drama CD. What kind of mood do you usually have when you design a character?

My creation method varies depending on the character. For Allen Iishiba... well, he was modeled after a real person. (laughs) He was actually a gentle guy, but he became a bit scary in the artwork that I drew. 

For Sergei Ivanovich, I originally drew him as an older man in his 50s or 60s, but then Mr. Kojima requested him to be “a younger and cooler type.” When I asked him what kind of feeling he wanted from the character, he answered “someone like Tony Redwood [a character from Policenauts].” I then drew him younger, but he still didn’t stand out, so I wanted him to hold a small arm. I asked Mr. Mori if it was alright if he was holding a knife and he answered that was fine. It’s the same feeling I had when working with Mr. Kojima.

The image of Marc Cortez was that of a brave soldier with a decisive military history. However, since he is a character of questionable allegiance, I gave him a hat that obscured his eyes in order to make him look very suspicious. Maybe it’s just like Roy Campbell and his beret or Master Miller and his sunglasses. Can you recognize a character with just that [an accessory] alone?

The familiar characters from the original game all appear in new outfits here too. Especially Meryl Silverburgh, who looks cool in her sneaking suit!

After the Metal Gear Solid game finished development, I wanted to have [Meryl wear the sneaking suit] and did a drawing. It felt quite right, so I asked Mr. Mori about it. She’s armed with just a single Desert Eagle pistol, so she would need the infinite ammo bandanna to match Solid Snake... (laughs). Just kidding about that. I wanted Meryl to be depicted much closer to her namesake from Policenauts.

Speaking of weapons, there’s seems to be quite an elaboration on them in this Drama CD...

That’s right! Even the AKM assault rifles wielded by the bad guys was chosen by Mr. Mori. I’m pretty sure it was his choice. I always think of the visuals first in my case. We had a few meetings before producing the Drama CD and I was surprised when they brought in an AKM without any prior announcement, as it was very different from how I was imagining it. But it was fun to collect reference materials. I was grinning while drawing them.

[justfor2am]

steven universe the movie au but it’s sanders sides

I’m calling it the Thomas Universe AU! 

(creative, I know)

okay but hear me out

anyone who is human irl is still human in this au...this would take place in FL where Thomas lives, and this goes with the assumption that the sides are real and his friends + family know/can see them. patton + deceit appear unconventionally, and i know it wouldn’t make sense for the canon sanders sides universe rules, but i’ve already disregarded most of those so...

also, i know it wouldn’t work EXACTLY like the movie obvs and some stuff would have to be left out (like the diamonds....sorry babes) 

also also I’m sticking a cut in here because i just realized this is gonna be a long one

Characters

Steven/Pink Diamond: Thomas (I’ll explain the PD later)

Garnet: Roman + Remus except it’s the opposite of a love story; learning to love themselves “unfused” as individual creativities (no remrom here please)

Amethyst: Virgil (i considered him as Pearl and you could make a case either way, but song-wise this works slightly better)

Pearl/Pink Diamond: Logan (see above, you could also make a case for him as Amethyst, and I’ll explain the PD later)

Bismuth: JayisJo (because i love them)

Lapis: Joan

Peridot: Talyn

Spinel: Patton + Deceit Fusion (yes, i know i know. i’ll explain)

Plot

Thomas is his best self, healthy, happy and surrounded with friends + family. They’re in the middle of fixing up their new office (Little Homeworld), and home (Thomas’s Apartment) is stable. The sides are all getting along, even as insufferable as Remus can be.

In this universe, Patton + Deceit were never thought to be “real” like the other sides. Whereas Thomas would film using his actual sides, he and Joan “invented” Patton and Deceit for the series’ storyline. They were, accidentally, repressed to the back of Thomas’ mind, and finally through their feelings of abandonment, come forth as one fused side called “Ethos”.

Ethos plants a bug in Thomas’ mind that would repress all of his sides back into his mind. He wouldn’t be void of personality, but it would hurt, and ran the risk of contaminating his friends. Since his friends don’t have sides, it would drain their personalities instead, and it’s a race to get Ethos to stop the bug.

Title Character Backstories

Steven Universe is self-explanatory enough, title character yada yada. Thomas also being Pink Diamond is meant as a younger Thomas, more so as a symbol of immaturity and also because I didn’t want to use Thomas’ actual mom because that literally wouldn’t have worked. 

(For Logan, see Songs: Drift Away)

“Garnet” would have been the result of the great Creativity Split. Roman and Remus, once expected to stick together as one side, have learned (sort of) to co-exist with each other. In this universe, Thomas has accepted Remus (after a lot of wor) and the two creativities are more brotherly. 

“Amethyst” would have been a reflection of Virgil’s time with the “dark” sides. Young and impressionable, him learning to accept love from the “light” sides and be himself despite the fighting between the two halves.

“Pearl” is a call-back to Logan’s quickly shifting from “Teacher Guy” on Vine to “Logic” in Sanders Sides. He felt his only purpose was to help Thomas; any emotions he felt were meant to be disregarded.

“Spinel” as a Patton + Deceit fusion still has her original stretchy powers, because with Deceit’s constant usage of shapeshifting and Patton’s joking manner, it just makes sense. They have Deceit’s Director!Patton Disguise, with four arms and two eyes, one blue and almost constantly tearing up, the other Deceit’s snake eye. There’s a monocle on the blue eyes, and small patches of snake skin. They also have a top hat, because snazzy.

alternatively: pick whichever fusion of them that @fangirltothefullest​ drew because that’s kinda the best way to visual them. 

Weapons

• Instead of a scythe-style Rejuvenator, Ethos have a collapsible staff that can be split in two, each half with a long, thin blade inside. Swiping the sides with a blade does the same as a Rejuvenator + plants the “bug” in them. For Thomas, it only plants the bug.

• Roman uses his sword, and his shield to launch Remus in the air for attacks. Remus sticks with his morning star. Neither have future vision.

• Virgil doesn’t have a weapon, his “power” would be speed and darn good punches. He still has his “tempest tongue” ability, when his anxiety is extremely high.

• Logan has a shortbow, but is not above straight up wacking people with it.

Songs

Let Us Adore You:

Since I don’t have a Diamond equivalent, this song only really matters during its reprise.

Happily Ever After:

Moves the plot from Thomas’ house to “Little Homeworld”. Logan is being taught the bass by Jamal at his house (Logan is summoned by Thomas to the office later). Thomas drives to the office and talks to Roman and Remus, who’re play-fighting and writing scripts. 

He walks into a room to be stopped by Virgil, because he was about to step into a can of paint. (This is one of the unfinished rooms). Joan, Tayln and Jay are there too, helping out. By the end of the song, Thomas is standing outside with all of his sides, enjoying the sunshine and being happy.

Other Friends:

Ohhhh boy. Ethos monologues at them for a bit, perched up on a lamppost. Logan recognizes them (this will be important later). They’re clearly unstable, and the sides get ready to fight. 

Ethos uses their instability to their advantage, fusing and unfusing quickly around them to avoid getting hit. Ethos also uses their rubber powers to throw Logan into the air and letting him fall, trapping Virgil in a tree, and knocking Remus’ and Roman’s heads together. He finishes it off by scaring Thomas and pushing him into the ground, jumping back on the lamppost.

They all regroup, in pain, and after Thomas’ obvious lack of recognization, Ethos is only more unstable, yelling. He pulls out the staff and poofs the sides. Thomas manages to poof Ethos as well, but not without getting hit first.

system/BOOT.PearlFinal(3).Info:

We have this nice intermission where we see all of the sides “reset” and Logan narrates as his episode 1 self. Here we see Remus and Roman fuse automatically, without showing their individual forms. They pose still and quietly, without their individual quirks. Virgil forms as his Pre-AA self, bitter but also quiet, looking very nervous and trying to blend in.

Ethos reforms, but not fused. Deceit and Patton are both happy and friendly, acting like a Spinel-duo. Patton specializes in jokes + puns while Deceit does more physical humor. Deceit’s outfit is white instead, and he has no hat. Patton’s outfit is is original cardigan one. Patton and Deceit also finish each others sentences.

Thomas beings to notice the bug affecting himself, stinging him occasionally.

Who We Are:

Thomas is moping around while Jay, Joan and Talyn try to help figure out a solution. They set on the plan to make them all remember who they are.

Isn’t it Love?:

Remus and Roman accidentally unfuse, and they both feel a breath of fresh air. Neither of them have a proper “form”, and they take the song to pick out who they want to be. While they’re both much happier apart now, they still don’t know themselves.

No Matter What:

One of my favourite songs from this movie, and the key reason why Virgil would work better as Amethyst. Thomas takes Virgil back through his memories, showing him the music he used to like, how to sew, and they retake the sorting quiz together and talk about it.

Thomas puts on a few Halloween movies and Virgil starts to come back. He goes to stand in his corner by the stairs, and Thomas runs up to his room and gives him the ‘famILY’ card. With that, Virgil comes back.

Disobedient:

I don’t have as much to say here, but for funny purposes Logan “belongs” to Jamahl.

Independent Together:

A Thomas/Jamahl duet, they don’t “literally” fuse, but they’re still singing together. Logan remembers who he is and duets with Virgil. It’s a sweet moment.

Drift Away:

Ohhhh boy (part 2). Deceit and Patton are singing over each other here. The “Garden” is Thomas’ mind, and Logan/a younger, immature Thomas are Pink Diamond. Inadvertently, as Thomas was maturing, he wanted to put silly, childish things behind him. Logan, acting as his Logic, realized that meant Ethos, and went to “put them away”.

He told them Thomas was growing up, and that he would come back to them soon. But Thomas was young when this happened, and he soon forgot about them. Deceit is the one to pose the question: “Is this how it works, am I doing this right?” Patton is unwilling to ask such things, not wanting to doubt Thomas.

They stay there, mostly silent together. They see Thomas grow up, but never the other sides after Logan, because they don’t know the two are stuck back there. Patton keeps making excuses for Thomas, that he’s not ready yet, that he’ll be back soon.

The tipping point is when Deceit’s “character” is introduced. Patton was more than happy to excuse his own “character” into the Sanders Sides Series, but Deceit wasn’t. Upon seeing himself, and hearing Thomas and Joan talk as if Patton and Deceit weren’t really there, broke him.

Deceit called Patton out for excusing Thomas’ behavior, and grief breaks over him. With Deceit’s anger and Patton’s sadness, the two fuse into Ethos. Deceit wants revenge, Patton wants answers. While Deceit is the stronger of the two in the fusion, Patton does have his moments of fronting.

Found:

Thomas talks to Ethos, offering him a place in the Mindpalace again, and apologizing. Ethos takes him up on the offer, Patton clearly fronting. He turns off the bug in the sides and in Thomas.

True Kinda Love:

Remus and Roman finally come to themselves, play-fighting again before working together to protect Thomas + co. from Ethos. Ethos reactivates the bugs to work faster, and runs away from Thomas’s office to his home. Joan and Tayln offer to look after the sides while Thomas goes to find Ethos, who’s perched on top of his house, curled up. 

(work with me here,) Thomas goes up the fire escape to the roof, (pretend his roof is flat would y’all?) to face off. 

Change:

Ethos is ready to fight. Thomas is not. He actively avoids hitting/getting hit by Ethos, moving the fight back to the ground and darting between the park near his house, letting Ethos punch the trees instead. He talks to Ethos, who’s starting to come undone. After getting punched into a tree, Patton pulls himself out of the fusion and goes to help him.

Deceit sees him do this, and after a moment of self-frustration, refuses with Patton to turn off the bug before unfusing again. Thomas takes them back to the office to check up on the other sides, who are now doing just fine.

Let Us Adore You (Reprise):

Finally, this song comes in handy! Instead of the Diamonds singing to Spinel, the sides offer Patton and Deceit a place back in the Mindscape with them, while Thomas says that if they need some time alone, he understands.

The sides all apologize, especially Logan for leaving them alone for so long.

Patton all but jumps at the idea of having a real home, and is thrilled to have a place. Patton sings first, “Today, right here, right now, I'll love again. I've already found someone.”

He starts walking toward them, but stops. Deceit has his arms crossed, and is standing farther back. Patton offers him a hand, and Deceit finally takes a step forward. He’s more hesitant, mostly because like ten minutes ago he was trying to kill all of them. But he misses playing with Thomas, even if as a side his purpose has corrupted with time.

“Yes, I know that you're not her and I was her's. You know what it meant to love her, and you remind me so much of her.” A group hug ensues, and Deceit and Patton are both holding on tight to Thomas. A few tears are shed, and the healing has started.

Finale:

Thomas is continuing to work with all of his sides to make sure Patton and Deceit are adjusting well. The office is eventually finished, Patton and Deceit even get to play themselves in the series. All is well, and Thomas is looking forward to the future and what it brings.

And yeah, that’s all folks! Feel free to do whatever for this, I might write some things for it too. But if y’all do stuff with this, please tag me, I’d love to see whatever y’all make! :-)

[fauxrest]

Epiphanies in G-Sharp Minor

The Ultimate Pianist Kokichi Oma and the Ultimate Inventor Shuichi Saihara hold a strategy meeting to the sound of La Campanella. [Talentswap AU; set after Chapter 3 with different deaths. I would not recommend reading this if you do not know the full story of Danganronpa V3.]

You can also read it on AO3.

(Word count:1,876)

A/N: This is by no means needed to understand the fic, of course, but I’ll leave you with a link of someone playing Liszt’s La Campanella anyway. It’s a very pretty song, and is apparently infamous for its difficulty. (I spent some time trying to pick a song that would fit Kokichi in some way; I hope I succeeded.)

Would Pianist!Shuichi and Inventor!Kokichi make a lot more sense for their canonical roles than the other way around? Yes. Is that part of why I did it the other way around? Also yes.

“Night-time” had officially started a few hours ago. Kokichi had heard it, even over Der Flohwalzer—a piece he would normally play with all the enthusiasm he could muster for the valiant cause of annoying anyone in the immediate vicinity who was doing anything that required their attention, although recently, he had taken to using it for a slightly different reason—but he also knew that Shuichi and Kaito were finishing their “exercise” session with Maki Harukawa soon, and he had two reasons to care about that.

Firstly, the third trial had been a red flag that should have told everyone not to trust Maki Harukawa, and yet those two idiots who were having friendly outings every night with her seemed to blindly trust the antisocial Ultimate Child Caregiver—was that even her real talent? She had been reticent about the details of it, and unlike the other Ultimates, her outfit didn’t reflect much of anything. She was by far one of the most suspicious characters in the group, but Shuichi seemed to refuse to consider the possibility of a mastermind after what happened when he mentioned it before. In truth, it was mostly Kaito that led the “blind faith” crusade—that obnoxious moron had far less sense than Shuichi—but the inventor had blindly clung to that brash idiot since the events of the first trial, and Kokichi wasn’t sure he liked the way Kaito had been influencing him.

Second: the Ultimate Inventor was an invaluable asset for his talent, and on top of that, he had proven himself to be the most useful character during investigations and class trials so far. With the Ultimate Detective becoming the first victim, that was ever more important. Shuichi was the most fun to mess with, too, and Kokichi greatly enjoyed watching the other boy’s attempts to figure out the mechanisms behind Kokichi’s thought process. That was one way Shuichi really did seem to fit his title.

For the Ultimate Inventor, Shuichi wasn’t very inventive. Kokichi had expected the quiet, shy boy with the hat to be secretly some sort of weirdo who kept to himself only to hide his idiosyncrasies; for some reason, the idea that he might truly just be an introvert with low self-esteem hadn’t crossed his mind the first time they met.

Other people couldn’t be trusted—especially under these circumstances—but Kokichi had confidence in himself, and he could detect a liar. Therefore, after the first trial had gone by, he concluded that Shuichi was not one.

So what was he?

Well... he was interesting, at least.

And so, Kokichi passed the time by alternating between practicing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Clair de Lune during the night, when the moon could be seen through his lab’s window; he was periodically looking there anyway.

He was, however, starting to get very bored of sitting still and playing without an audience by the time the three alleged “companions” finished their night-time rendezvous. He switched back to Der Flohwalzer, and just as he predicted, exactly one set of agitated footsteps could soon be heard coming up the stairs. Shuichi, for some reason, seemed exceptionally bothered by the song. (“What, did your lover die while this was playing or something?” Kokichi had asked once. Shuichi had actually laughed, in his quiet, subdued manner, so that theory was sunk.)

When the door opened, Kokichi stopped abruptly, only pausing for a moment before he decided to play La Campanella with all the intensity the piece called for. That was one song where he absolutely couldn’t look away from the piano, and the exaggerated movements of his hands and body were actually needed if he wanted to play to his standards, with his small stature, to put the optimal amount of emphasis on the loud notes and reach the entire piano.

Shuichi was silent until the pianist finished with all the dramatic flourish he could put into the two loud chords that came at the end of the song. Was that out of courtesy, or genuine enjoyment? Kokichi wished he could have seen the other boy’s expression while he was playing, but when he turned around to face him, he smirked; Shuichi had his hand on his chin in thought, as if he were trying to decipher some sort of message being sent with the piece. That was especially funny because, for once, Kokichi hadn’t meant anything by it; he just wanted to show off his playing.

“That… was really nice.” Good. Kokichi was worried he wouldn’t comment on it. That would have been disappointing. “But,” Shuichi continued, “why do you always play that other song when you want my attention? Can’t you just come and talk to me, like anyone else would?”

“Nope! Well, I could, but this is more fun,” Kokichi said with a grin. He leaned away from the piano, putting his hands behind his head for support and enjoying the company. This time, he was completely honest.

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes—Shuichi probably waiting for an explanation from Kokichi as to what he wanted to talk about—but that pleasant moment couldn’t continue for long and, frankly, wasn’t normally Kokichi’s style at all. In the interest of keeping in-character with his outward persona, he started playing the same piece again with a slightly more subdued ‘voice’—tempo, volume—and spoke over it, keeping his eyes trained on the piano.

“Kaede mentioned seeing a little black bug,” Kokichi offered. Shuichi didn’t immediately answer. Kokichi started improvising to extend the softer part of the song as he waited, and finally caught a slight nod out of the corner of his eye. “So,” he continued, “now that you have your lab open, I need you to build me something.”

“Ah… right. Rantaro said something like that too, didn’t he? I suppose you want me to make something to detect them...?”

“Hmm, good guess! But no! Try again, Mr. Inventor,” Kokichi said as he played a high-pitched trill on the piano.

“Wait, why are you making me guess this?! You’re the one that wants my help… and why do you need such a thing, anyway? I hope this isn’t for some sort of prank…”

Kokichi huffed. “Aw, I thought you stopped suspecting me by now. Guess I was wrong.” Shuichi certainly should be suspecting him, he thought, and probably more than the boy seemed to be. Out of everyone, Shuichi was one of the only people who tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, and even then, Kokichi would normally push him away. If there were exceptions, they would be the conversations between the two in Kokichi’s research lab. Even then, Kokichi reminded himself, he was only using Shuichi in the end. He only needed to convince Shuichi to use his talent as an inventor when it was needed. Any trust built up might need to be broken later, anyway.

“It’s not that,” Shuichi said before the pianist could ruminate further. Kokichi just happened to play a particularly energetic part of the music when he heard that; it got louder in the room, briefly. Shuichi spoke over it, explaining, “I want to trust you, Kokichi. But honestly, I don’t think you want to be trusted. You’re not exactly doing much to open up to me.” Hmm.

“Are you suuuuure about that, Shuichi? All this time, I’ve been trying to reach out to you! You just wouldn’t take my hand…” Kokichi said, as the song reached its crescendo. He went back to improvising. Moving his hands like this was the way to get through conversations that required his full attention. He couldn’t keep letting his thoughts spiral like this; he just had to focus more on his playing.

The other boy faltered. “I… uh…”

“Nee-heeheehee! Just kidding! Brainless people like Kaito are the ones so intent on trusting people in a killing game like this. He’s such a bad influence on you, Shuichi. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed that invention, though. It’s not for a joke. Just make, like, a vacuum for them, or something. You’re an Ultimate, so you can at least do that, riiiiight?”

“Then will you please tell me what it’s for?” Shuichi pleaded over the music.

This was getting frustrating. People had always done what Kokichi wanted in the past, but with only other Ultimates around him, it was no longer as easy to get authority over other people. He would definitely never, ever compromise, though. So he brought the song to a dramatic halt and flung his legs over the piano bench, turning to stare straight at the other boy. He raised his finger to his mouth and forced his face into a conspiratorial smile. Shuichi recoiled. “If you want to know that, then you’ll have to make it for me first. If you do that, maybe I’ll tell you. Or maybe not. It all depends on your performance!”

That would get him. If Kokichi had to pick one thing about Shuichi that matched the talent of Ultimate Inventor, it was the boy’s thorough determination to understand the things around him. That was what made him so useful in trials, and so fun to tease. It was also the best way to manipulate him. “By the way, I drew up a blueprint already. It’s in the pile of sheet music by the door.”

—

Shuichi stood at the entrance to his lab. He hated it. So far, all the other labs had been tailored to suit the students. The black-and-white marble tiles around the perimeter of the Ultimate Pianist’s research lab were shaped to resemble piano keys, perfectly mirroring the design on Kokichi’s scarf; the floor of that room was littered with scattered sheets of music and bizarre, childlike gadgets strewn chaotically around it, all somehow pertaining to piano mechanisms or musical notation, which were very obviously catering to the eccentric personality of its owner more than the talent itself. Shuichi couldn’t help but want to pick apart some of those gadgets. One in particular had caught his eye—what looked like a stereotypical pair of walkie-talkies at first glance, which appeared to be used to record and transcribe music—but Kokichi had actually handled that one a few times, and Shuichi didn’t want him to find it missing from the room. Other labs had been more subdued, depending on the personalities of the people that occupied them.

Meanwhile, Shuichi’s research lab felt as if it were designed specifically to remind him of everything he despised about his talent and the way he earned it. It was perfectly sterile, yet cluttered with bookcases of textbooks and cabinets of materials; the latter included several floor-to-ceiling glass cases of chemicals, some of which he knew to be dangerous. The invention that had brought him fame was nowhere to be seen, thankfully, but there were lab coats and goggles and a menagerie of other equipment to remind him of the time he spent working on it. The lab was absolutely full of dangerous objects. It was the perfect condition for working on the blueprints Kokichi had left for him.

He hurriedly gathered the materials and tools he needed in a bag and towed them back to his dormitory room.

Endnotes: So. This was something I wanted to avoid posting until I could actually give it some kind of closure, but honestly, it's been preventing me from continuing my other fic. I have more written, but this was the closest to a stopping point. Sorry. RIP. I don't know if I'll write more or not. I hope this is somewhat interesting as-is.

[asylum-miniatures]

Entry 8 - Progression and changes

Last time we had just escaped the city for now and were hiding out in one of ninja-sans safehouses until we were all set to go to the next city as part of our ongoing mission to prevent a coup.  We had spent this time buying new equipment, training new skills aka levelling up stuff.

Session 8, part one, the level up

I (Jaune) gained my next level in ninja and had gotten my hands on various supplies such as various alchemical weapons, a few potions, and plenty of new clothes for disguise purposes.  For more magical equipment I finally got my hands on a ring of protection and an amulet of natural armour to bump up my AC, a masterwork kusarigama for twf/reach, a belt of dex and headband of Cha for stats and a sleeve of many garments for more outfit choices.  My most important item was the circlet of persuasion, which combined with my level seven feat of deceptive meant that my face skills went through the roof.

Occelot had gotten his hands on an endless bandoleer and a beneficial bandoleer covering most of his gun needs.  He also got his hands on a revolver and rifle (home ruled advanced firearms with only one range increment touch AC) meaning he could finally fire multiple times a round without reloading and have some ranged options respectively.  Aside from these he got a hand of the mage (in another game this item ended up breaking the game slightly so he really wanted it) a set of boots of leaping a striding (making his jump in the 20’s) and ammunition.  As for his level seven feat he chose far shot, meaning he could shoot at ridiculous ranges with his rife and still get pluses on his rolls.

Draspher had initially really wanted to get craft wondrous items, but upon reflection he found that the list of items he could make was really limited as a sorcerer, so he instead went for lifeless gaze, both for the boosts and in character the horrors he had both seen and been blamed for had taken their toll on him.  He went for a ioun torch, the travellers any-tool, a ring of spell knowledge (to get unseen servant), bracers of Armor +1, a hat of disguise (to hide the mad bombers face), a ring of sustenance, a headband of Cha and a handy haversack.  As for spells, he finally got his hands on some fire spells in fireball and burning hands with summon swarm for more harassing spells.  He also still has most of his cash to the DM’s annoyance.

Yurion retroactively got the noble scion feat giving her Cha to initiative.  She also got a few pieces of equipment, most notably a ring of revelation, giving her, the brain drain ability for interrogation, and the lore keeper ability from oracle level up giving her Cha to knowledge checks.

Sim got a few items.  She followed my lead with a set of boots of the cat, a belt of str and a headband of wis to boost her stats up, a handy haversack for storage and a cloak of elvenkind to help her stealth score.  Most of her focus went to her new feat, brew potions.  She spent most of her free time making cure potions and any other ones we requested (for the cost of making of course).

Part two, the setup

One morning about a week after we had arrived ninja-san approached us at the breakfast table.  He was in the awkward where he had been asked for help but all his own operatives were too busy to do it themselves.  The fact that he was approaching us, as I pointed out, despite our track record was a sign of how desperate he was.  A short trip from the safehouse was a mountain with a nature preserve protected by a few druid sects.  The problem is that the druids had seen the signs of poachers but despite their best efforts they had not been able to locate them, nor how they had been getting in and out.  Ninja-san wanted us to go in and try to sort the problem out.  We would also not be going in alone

A new Player has entered the game!

Draspher IRL had gotten a new girlfriend.  She is a nice girl, a bit anxious but with a perverted sense of humour.  Needless to say, we all immediately took a shine to her.  Our DM had a few sheets prepared (so that we could just pick one and jump straight back in if he did kill us) so she chose one she liked and got stuck in.  Introducing, for your reading pleasure, Vex Shinesword, Half-Orc Paladin/Samurai.  The DM made this character initially as the samurai class, but after deciding that its class features sucked so badly he just made him a paladin with samurai armour, and a katana and wakizashi for twf.  She is also notable for being the only party member aside from Draspher who likes fumbles the raccoon.  IRL I got Draspher a raccoon plush and he has enjoyed taking this with him to the sessions.  This time it spent the entire session alternating between sitting on Draspher head and being cuddled/petted by Vex.  She also has a perverted sense of humour.  Although she is but a Padawan in comparison to my mastery of the perverse side, we played off each other well (to the horror/irritation of the rest of the table).

Part three, steam boat Ocelot

After re-acquainting ourselves with our old guildmate, we get to logistics.  We decide that, as we will be mostly dealing with nature and druids, Sim should be in charge for this mission.  We find that the best way to the mountain is to take the boat upstream directly to a lake at the base of the mountain.  (Truth is I don’t think this lake or river was originally supposed to exist.  When the DM drew the mountain Draspher started pointing out that the way he had drawn it there should be a lake there.  I think the DM just added it then ad-libbed it into the story).  As we are riding along we quickly spot dark shapes in the water.  We ask the captain and it turns out there have been sahaguin (water lizard/frog people) attacks recently, but we should be fine.  Don’t start killing them unless something happens.  Ocelot spends this entire trip staring down the sights of his new rifle.  At one point an eye looks out above the water, so he takes a pot shot.  Unfortunately, one passenger was on the poopdeck, by which I mean two planks of wood off the edge of the boat with a gab in between and a guard rail enabling them to “relive themselves” directly into the water.  This guy was not expecting the gunshot, and falls straight between the gap into the sahaguin infested waters.  Sim and Draspher try throwing a rope to him, but flub there rolls.   Just then a dark shape comes up under the water, grabs him and they both disappear.

Occelot, immediately upon seeing this holsters’ his rifle, pulls out his dagger pistol and uses his insane jump score to dive in after him, downing a potion of water breathing he got off sim.  Vex uses her +1 enchanted +5 compound longbow to fire upon the creatures in the water and hits one.  I decide to run over to the captain to let him know what’s happening, (since, as I jokingly put it, what kind of idiot would jump in the water to fight opponents that have such huge advantages over them in such conditions) and he stops the boat and engages the man overboard protocols.  Yurion decided it’s not worth bothering over and never looks up from her book the entire time and Sim starts planning.

Upon jumping into the water Ocelot is confronted by two regular sahaguin’s, one with an arrow through his shoulder and one diving down lower with the poor guy heading towards the bottom.  The two healthy ones engage Ocelot while the shot one decided to go after the annoying people on the boat, jumping up onto the deck.  Draspher successfully summons a dolphin which charges past the first two sahaguin, going after the one with the one with the captive and successfully knocks him out of his grasp.  Sim seizing her opportunity, jumps off the boat and transforms mid fall into a giant squid, then uses it jet ability to charge 100’ straight at the poor sap, grabbing him in her tentacles before just managing to stop herself hitting the riverbed.  Seeing this, the first two sahaguin break off their planned attack on the one in the water and go after the squid stealing their captive.  Luckily Draspher still has spells and uses one to summon a smaller squid to occupy them.  Ocelot meanwhile has just had a great idea, and positions himself for next turn.

Meanwhile the first sahaguin is eying up the weak and squishy crew when he hears a voice shouting at him “hey you stupid calamari, why don’t you try picking on someone who can fight back”.  Turning to face the ninja running towards him, he fails to notice the large samurai half orc come up behind him before his head is removed from his shoulders in what you could call a single ‘critical’ blow.  As his head hits the floor, the last thing it hears is the ninja saying “well I didn’t necessarily say that meant me”.

Thing do not look good for the captive though.  It was shocking enough when he was dragged under, being punched out of the sahaguin grip by a dolphin didn’t help and then being grabbed and dragged by a giant squid was the last straw before he lost consciousness and began to drown, so the heroes are going to have to act quickly.  Realising Ocelots plan, Sim angles herself before launching full force at him.  Thanks to a slight miscalculation though, rather than passing by him, grabbing him and leaping clear of the water, she instead slams into his stomach before launching him and herself out of the water.  Ocelot, pulling back his composure, lands gracefully on the floor in a daring pose.  Behind him, the unconscious man falls with a thud, followed by a giant squid with a splat.  We all gather round and all utterly fail at CPR.  Taking matters into her own ‘hands’, sim slithers over and uses her tentacles to perform chest palpebrations and brings him round.  Upon one look at his rescuers oversized squid pupil he immediately faints, but he is alive.

The trip back is relatively quiet after that, except for Yurion deciding she wants to dissect the sahaguin for any information she can gather about it (none) and Jaune standing alongside with a bucket, picking out any good-looking parts to cook afterwards.  Ocelot realises his powder and ammo is wet, and so Draspher offers to dry him with magic.  Vex turns to ask her old friend Draspher a question, but sees him rubbing his hands all over Ocelots body, and decides to ask later.  A little while later, Ocelot realises he should check his guns, make sure nothing got water damaged and Draspher offers to magically repair them.  Vex goes looking for Draspher, deciding that he must have had enough time to finish whatever he was doing before.  She now finds Draspher rubbing his hands up and down Ocelots ‘shaft’, and turns away.

Part four, the wooden bar in the wood

We finally make it to a small town at the base of the mountain next to the lake.  We decide the best place to start is the inn.  We go in and find the place mostly empty.  It has an unusual style, the bar is a tree chopped in halve vertically, and the only person in there is a barmaid with a spring of mistletoe in here hair.  I had previously mentioned to sim that we should try to keep on the down low and find out as much as we can about the druids without letting anyone know we were here about the poachers.  Ocelot immediately announces we need to meet the druids since we are here to stop the poachers.  (OOC he apparently is just enjoying being the one to get us in trouble this time round rather that Draspher, I have decided to go for him in his sleep one day).  This actually works out for us, turns out the barmaid is a low-ranking druid in one of the local groups, and she recognises that we must be the guild they requested help from.  She doesn’t know all that much, just what we had heard before, but also that some of the druids were setting up to look after nests near the top of the mountain.  

She can contact one of the other members to escort us up there though, so we wait around for a few hours.  Draspher keeps pestering the barmaid about whether she has any cups or other items to mend (he wants to feel useful, failing to realise that as a druid she can do it herself) until I walk over, take a wooden mug and smash it on the floor, telling him he can repair that.  Ocelot get bored and: Ocelot – I shoot the eagle DM - …….. Ocelot – ok, not really DM – the eagle flies down and lands, shapeshifting into a woman Jaune – oh, hahaha, you nearly shot the druid Turns out that it would have been a terrible idea, since the eagle lands and turns into the druid, also the barmaid’s sister.  With that crisis barely averted, we set off up the mountain.

Part five, mountain scaling encounters

As we begin the trek Ocelot has an idea.  Sim has now gained the ability to turn into large creatures, so she turns into a giant vulture to scout above us.  The DM turns down his plan of ferrying us two by two up the mountain as the transformation wouldn’t last that long and splitting the party like that is a bad idea.  Instead, he uses rope to tie himself to the back of Sim while he carries his revolver so he can shoot freely from his back.  This works for the most part except for one thing.  We are all traveling up a mountain so high that the top is constantly covered in snow and blizzards.  We haven’t gotten that high yet, but the two of them are traveling much, much higher so Ocelot starts getting dex penalty’s for not having warm enough clothes.  Luckily, he had a dex boosting potion that sim gave him, so he chugged that to compensate.

We end up approaching a small cliff in a sparse woodland area, with the only way forward being a small valley that leads to the higher area, only about 20-30’ long.  As we come out of the bottle neck, two arrows smack into me and the druid who were at the front of the party.  Luckily Sim had spotted six figures in the tree above us and made to attack (Ocelot failed his roll, mostly distracted by how cold he was starting to get), three to the right, two to the left and one right at the back.  Combat had begun.

I turned invisible and went to ambush the nearby archers on the right I could see while Vex decided to shoot back after dropping a lay on hands on the wounded druid.  The first archer is very satisfied with his shot, up until a giant vulture and drops on him, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh before getting grazed by the bullets of the top hat wearing guy on his back.  Just as Sims cheetah moves up to join in Yurian drops an obscuring mist on their position helping stop further arrows from coming in.

By this point, the other two on the right gather their wits and start shooting at the massive bird, so Sim starts to take a beating, but she kept on ripping into the guy while Ocelot just keeps firing at them.  Draspher meanwhile has some trouble deciding the right thing to do.  After both my own and the DM’s reassurance that starting a wildfire up here is virtually impossible (IRL I start playing psychotic jiminy cricket to him, telling him “this entire game you have been ridiculed and had the crud kicked out of you, its time you started kicking back”) he strides out of the mist, takes careful aim at the bandit at the back and proceeds to blow him to hell with his newly acquired fireball spell.  He is both horrified at what he is becoming and astounded at how big a blast he pulled off.  I just carry on the jimmy cricket part, “Pinocchio, you want to save your friends and family don’t you?  The only way is to burn the whole world down”.  He survives but the tree he was in sure didn’t, and getting blown away by a fireball into a 10’ drop certainly makes an impression.   As the second bandit on the right turns to see this massive explosion, he gets one of his own in the form of a flask of alchemist fire to the face, curtesy of the already disappearing ninja.

Vex also decides now is the time for action.  She charges at one of the trees to the left and in a single, you could say critical, blow she rends the tree and the bandit has to leap to safety from his now falling cover before facing the samurai.  It’s at this point the DM realises what he’s done.  When the DM made this samurai, he wanted to give him some damage output in combat, so he decided to, against my own advice when we were talking about it, give her a +1 keen katana and a +1 wakizashi for duel wielding.  He failed to realise the effect giving someone a 15-20 critical range, especially a strength based fighter, would have on combat prowess and damage output.  This is made even clearer when her next blow on the bandit is a non-confirmed critical.  Every attack roll she has made so far with this sword has been a crit, and it doesn’t look like it will be ending any time soon.

Part six, you have got to be kidding me

The DM starts asking for perception rolls.  Sim and I are the only ones who get high enough, and so he passes us both a note with only one sentence written on it.  “You hear a loud rumbling in the distance”.  Turns out that he had rolled survival rolls for both Sim and Ocelot but both had failed to realise any loud noise could set off an avalanche, and the combination of gunshots and fireball explosions had been enough to do it.  Sure enough, over the last few turns, a few of the bandits start breaking off and just legging it along the mountainside.  I shout out “run for it avalanche”, and make to follow them.  Only a wisdom roll tells me that I won’t make it, and the bandits won’t either.  Our best bet is to get to the bottom of the cliff, let the initial part of the avalanche flow over the top of us thanks to the lip, then try and dig our way out afterwards.

I shout this to the others.  Yurian takes the druid down the valley and starts planning.  Myself, Draspher and Vex quickly follow.  Ocelot cut himself loose of the ropes, and leaps for the very damaged bandit we had been attacking previously.  He tells him that if he comes with them he will live, hoping to use him for interrogation purposes.  He and his new friend also follow us down the valley to the cliff.  Ocelot, Draspher and myself all pull out equipment and latch ourselves to the cliff.  Yurian pulls off her own plan, to levitate the druid, sit on top of her then use the extra Hight to get grabbed by Sim and flown over the avalanche.

Days on mountain – 5 Disasters blamed on Draspher – 1, DM gave some lip service about how it was Ocelots rapid gunfire that did it, but we all know who still has blame on his plate Incidents caused by Ocelot – 3.25, he got a guy dragged overboard, he blurted out our plans immediately to the first person he met (.75, malicious intent but it worked out), nearly shot down our guide (.5, malicious intent but didn’t go through with it) and helped start the avalanche