#I think they'll be more distinguishable once I color them

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Drew some very tiny boys to go with a headcanon I've been mulling over:

This is teeny tiny Apollo and Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica (1978). Since I don't think we ever find out when they became friends, but they're so familiar with each other they're like brothers, I like to imagine they met as little kids. Specifically, I imagine Starbuck got into trouble with some older kids because he tricked them and when they started beating him up little Apollo stepped in to try and get them to stop. He didn't succeed in stopping them, but he did make a friend for life so.

I'm really happy with how their poses turned out! I am *slowly* learning how to draw people from the side so this is good practice. Now I just need to ink and color them. 💜

[desultory-novice]

Marionettes' Pavane Bonus Story

"Style Savvy" (3 Pages)

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“MariPav” is a strangers to friends to ……… fan comic about Marx and Magolor’s meeting and their zany adventures in the days before Return to Dream Land. It was written before RtDL DX came out, so expect inconsistencies with current game lore!

[Previous]  [Main]

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AN: It is finally upon us. The promised "costume change."

I debated with myself for a while about whether I even wanted to change their costumes, since these were based so heavily in their canon designs. If I changed them, would they still look like Marx and Magolor? (As much as they do now, at least.)

But I also designed these costumes back when I was ju~st starting out as an artist, and in many ways they're unrefined and clunky. And even though, or perhaps because, I'm better at drawing, I find the old costumes slow me down and trip me up in annoying ways.

Plus, I think MariPav!Magolor and MariPav!Marx have distinguished themselves enough in five chapters that they'll still be recognizable!

(And not only does this addition help narrow the gap between MariPav!Magolor and RtDL DX!Magolor, who is an obvious fiend for fashion with the number of different outfits he sports, it opens the door for further dramatically-timed costume changes! ^_-)

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Speaking of changes, you might notice that everything looks approx 30% lighter than it did before. Been studying screen tone (even though I didn't use it here ^^; ) and this was a test on my part. Kind of hoping that this is a) makes the dialogue stand out a little more b) lets me fool around with more dramatic shading options and c) keeps the characters from blowing out the background elements due to contrast. Right now, it feels slightly easier on my eyes overall, but we'll see if I stick with it. (I do want to work more contrasty colors back into the comic once I know how to use them better. That's what happens when you dive in on a major project at the same time that you're trying to teach yourself everything about art from zero. ^^)

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With that done, it's onto Chapter 6!

[Previous] [Main] [Next - coming soon]

[punkgardener]

WERE HOME BIG GARDEN UPDATE

The strawberrys are strawbin' off (that's the biggest one in a while)

The pumpkin is doing good but has taken to beginning his declaration of war on the tomato and herb portion of the garden, the strawberries are holding the line, And LOOK! there's a female flower on there! (I'll probably make a post distinguishing the two flower sexes at some point)

The calendula seeds I planted in the garden before I left are doing good, I can now definitively say that they're calendula and not a weed (I may make a blog post talking about calendulas uses)

Salvia and lantana are doing great!

And here's my new Yarrow, already starting to bloom, I've forgotten the name of the variety but from the tag it looked like it'll be my favorite color, red!

Alas the peas are not doing well and I'm not entirely sure why, I think it may be something to do with the heat because if I remember correctly they don't like heat

And here we see a new development which has sprung up, in what I thought was a dead garden box we have thyme! I already have another variety of thyme but hey, I say more the merrier!

My bumblebee tomato is outshining everyone currently having produced two tomatoes, my delicious tomato's which are growing in the pot have made flowers but nothing has pollinated them, I think I'm going to have to go in with an electric toothbrush if this continues

And finally the American black cherry in my yard is producing A once in 5 years super crop, also referred to as a "good crop" (I like super because this thing is crazy) they aren't ripe yet, they turn solid black when they are and I'm worried they'll be at peak ripeness by the time I go on my big trip, which would suck because my friends were planning on coming over and helping me harvest them and make food. Here's to hoping though!

I have reached the limit of pictures I'm allowed to put on this post, just know that the nasturtiums are doing great (I'll make a separate post on them in the near future)

[ruiningsalads]

Thank you @anders95theses for the prompt! I know it's not Friday anymore, but I had too many good ones to do in one night.

This one feels like it'll be a multipart series, but I don't want to do too much at once. :)

"My dear Inquisitor! I'm so glad you could make it. You look absolutely ravishing." Though most of Dorian's face was obscured by a mask, she could still see his broad grin as he approached her, arms open in welcome.

Lavellan smiled weakly in return. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"Of course you can; I'm very charming." He helped secure her mask, then gestured towards the open bathroom with a theatrical bow. "Now remember: the theme of tonight is mystery. Don't introduce yourself by your name. You can use a title, a moniker, whatever you'd like."

"I think they'll figure out who I am anyway." She glanced pointedly at her missing arm.

"Do you truly think you're the only one-armed woman I know? How very egotistical of you."

She laughed despite herself. "I missed you, Dorian."

His smile was softer. "And I, you. But enough chatter! Go, have fun, drink. I paid out the nose for the band, so you'd better enjoy it."

When he left to greet another new arrival, the Inquisitor moved deeper into the ballroom and surveyed the other attendees. Her gown was the most extravagant thing she'd bought in years, with its delicate skills and elaborate embroidery, yet she was glad to have it. The other women were all dressed just as extravagantly, some even more so.

Movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn. A woman dressed in a crimson gown approached, leading a man dressed in all black. They both had short hair, hers black and his white, and the way she tugged him forward made it clear that he was here only to humor her.

"Inquisitor! I'm very glad to see you again under much less dire circumstances."

Memories of Adamant, of the Fade, came back in a rush. Of Stroud valiantly charging ahead so that they could escape.

Her reverie was broken when the woman continued. "You can call me Champion here, since our mutual friend doesn't want us using names. And this is--"

"Wraith." The man, also an elf, gave her an assessing look, as if determining how much of a threat she posed to either of them.

"It's nice to meet you at last," the Inquisitor said with a nod.

"Likewise." She could see how tense he was in the set of his shoulders and his jaw. Still, he remained by the Champion's side, as if unwilling to let her face the ball alone.

"Oh good, you two are together. That will save me some time." Dorian approached, leading a new arrival. The woman wore dark colors accented with purple, and her mask gave little away of her face. "I have a feeling you would all benefit from knowing each other. This is...Guardian, did you say? How dramatic."

The woman sighed. "It was the best I could come up with, since you wouldn't let me use Ro--"

"Nuh-uh! That's as good as a name with you, and you know it."

"You could say that about us, too," the Champion observed, her tone dripping with amusement.

"Yes, well, the newbie gets picked on a bit. Now, do play nice." He swept away.

The Guardian shifted uncomfortably. "So...hi."

The Champion grinned. "Nervous to be around such distinguished mystery figures?"

"I've read about all three of you," the Guardian admitted. "This feels...surreal."

"Half of the things you read are embellished for dramatic effect," the Inquisitor assured her.

"Not mine," the Champion cut in. "All of it is true, even the bit about arm wrestling the Arishok to get him to leave Kirkwall."

The Inquisitor suppressed a snort, while the Guardian grinned. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but they were interrupted by a loud crash as one of the exterior walls was smashed inwards. Immediately, panic set in. Most of the guests screamed and stampeded for the exit, but the Inquisitor, the Champion, the Guardian, and the Wraith stood fast, shielding their faces from dust and debris.

An earth-shattering roar shook the building to its foundation.

"Shit," the Champion bit out. "Fenris, help protect the people. We're going in."

"Hawke--"

"My love, please. You can argue with me later, after we've made sure everyone is safe."

He gritted his teeth, but took up a defensive position all the same, guarding the swarms of panicked civilians.

"What do we do with no weapons?" The Guardian looked around wildly, searching for an errant mage's staff that might conveniently have been left sitting out in the middle of a ball.

"Get out of my way! Move, I said!"

The three women wheeled around to see Dorian shoving his way through the crowd, their weapons in his arms. "I have to make sure everyone escapes," he panted as the women readied their staves. "This is my party, so if anyone dies, it'll be on my head. Just...be careful, all of you. I'll never forgive you if you die at my party."

Without waiting for a response, he was backing towards the crowd, his magic rippling through the air to create a barrier between the crowd and the monster outside. Fenris took up position beside him, his greatsword at the ready.

"Well," Hawke began brightly, looking at the other two women. "Shall we greet the party crasher?"

[samiferboy]

oopsie i never actually finished this thought. and also i don't think i have talked about it

so basically (and take this from someone who has 1) not watched the show past 10x03, 2) not watched the show since january) i have two theories about the cage and they both center around the cage itself being the torturer, whether in practice or simply by existing. bc like obviously lucifer didn't enjoy sitting there for a few thousand years (and nobody knows how long that felt to them), but was sitting there for a few thousand years the only torture they received? i kinda doubt it but that is one of the theories. i'm sure canon proves these wrong at some point but i still like them and want to use them for something. tldr theory 1: only isolation, theory 2: isolation + other forms of what humans would consider torture.

so theory 1 is basically just that. the torture of the cage is that it completely isolates its inhabitants. no contact with anyone, no way out, you are alone with nothing but your own thoughts and all you can do for an unknown amount of time is think. i don't think it alone is a physical space with physical boundaries until someone is inside of it, and then maybe it takes a form of some kind, or maybe it's just black emptiness or another color. in the case of lucifer they didn't even have a body so they were just....there. all they could do was sit in their despair and rage and wretchedness and hatred and frustration and whatever other emotions were dominating them at first. and then all they could do was continue to think and boil and rot in these emotions because there is literally nothing else there. all they can do is hope beyond hope that one day they'll be let out.

more under the cut since this is long as hell

now keeping with the theme of isolation i think that once we introduce other entities into the cage, they would also be isolated. i'm torn on whether it would deliberately rip lucifer and michael out of their vessels, or whether they would stay in them until/unless they chose to leave. i think ripping the angels out of their vessels would make more sense if the torture is isolation, and i think the cage would be able to distinguish that hey, these bodies have two entities in them. but since sam is lucifer's vessel, literally made for him, the cage might not actually see them as separate entities. (not sure how that would apply to michael and adam.) so i think in this theory michael/adam and lucifer/sam are isolated, but the angels stay in their vessels until/unless they leave. this opens up a whole other can of worms bc i don't think the fact that people can just retroactively tell angels no, get out of my body was there in s5? idr but i feel like that would have changed things esp in endverse which i have talked about before, unless that can only be done when the human in question isn't like, THEE vessel. point is i'm not sure which would be more torturous and which would make more sense to the cage's idea of isolation. because i do see it as a kind of changing shifting organism that adjusts to whoever is inside of it.

anyway the big thing about theory 1 is that it posits that no torture other than isolation actually occurs in the cage, that the torture is that you are in the cage at all. there's no, like, torture devices or deliberate cruelty beyond the fact that You Are Stuck In This Cage Forever which is pretty fucking cruel.

theory 2, instead, posits that the cage is torturous by design AND it's filled with all kinds of nasty stuff. and in this case i think of the cage, again, as something that adapts to its inhabitants and tortures them in ways that hurt them specifically. so it shows you your worst fears, every horrible memory, makes you relive the worst moments of your life, forces the worst thoughts into your head all the time, makes you see horrible awful things that you hate. and it would also physically torture you in whatever form you're in. in the case of lucifer existing there on their own at first, they would have been tortured however an angel in its true form can be hurt. once the whole gang is there, if the angels and humans exist separately, they would be hurt in ways specific to their existence. (it's hard referring to angels since they aren't people, they don't have bodies, they don't have souls, etc.) point is that sam/adam would be hurt differently than lucifer/michael just because they are different creatures. HOWEVER, if the angels are still possessing the humans, they would be tortured in ways that angels can feel pain while within a human body, which would probably also make the human soul feel pain but idk.

the main thing about both of these theories is that nobody has control over what happens in the cage. while i think that lucifer would know the cage better simply by being there for so long and therefore have a decent understanding of how it works (regardless of theory), maybe even able to avoid some of its tortures or adapt to them, i don't like the idea that they (or michael or anyone else) can actively manipulate the cage to hurt a different entity, because why would the cage be designed in such a way that the prisoner can take the reins? if you're there, you're hurting, whether by sheer isolation or by that + other tortures. it's punishment for whoever's inside, not only one or two or whatever.

anyway my last thought is that if the cage has control over who's in whose body, if it's torture for lucifer to be in sam's body according to sam but not according to lucifer, and the cage also controls how its inhabitants are tortured, maybe that's where hallucifer comes from, maybe that's the version of lucifer the cage invented to torture sam. this actually just came to me out of nowhere and i kinda fucking love it!! COMMON AVERY W

I've talked abt my ideas of how the cage itself is torture right. idr

[soundwavereporting]

Do you think that idw Rumble and Frenzy resent Megatron/Soundwave in some way because they had to be reformatted? Would love to know what you think of their relationship with SW is post-war.

TAKE TWO

tl;dr, yes, I think they probably do (especially Soundwave) and I wish that had been explored in the comic!

The only time I can remember offhand Rumble and Frenzy ever explicitly acknowledging their relationship with Soundwave is in the OP comic, where one of them essentially tells Cosmos ‘we used to like [Soundwave] BEFORE he started hanging out with Autobots’, and weirdly, Cosmos doesn’t seem to take it that personally--they even call him ‘Cosmey’--which leads me to believe it’s Soundwave’s new alliance with Optimus that they’re bitter about (and rightfully so!), and Cosmos has picked up on that.

Of course there might be times in Phase 1 that I’m forgetting about, but most of the time, it’s the birds or Ravage who are hyping up Soundwave or actually talking to him. Rumble and Frenzy barely get a mention in Soundwave’s first flashback issue, and iirc they don’t show up in his flashbacks during the OP comic. Soundwave’s only real interaction with them during phase 1 is during that very ‘‘‘interesting’‘ time when Frenzy was ‘crazy’, but that was thankfully short lived, and a lot of Frenzy’s tendencies towards hearing too much/overstimulation were passed on to Soundwave when phase 2 started, anyway. But from that, Soundwave did care about Frenzy.

The only other indication of their relationship is during the Prowlstator arc, and even that’s up to interpretation: when everyone gets reformatted, that would’ve been the perfect time for Rumble and Frenzy to get new, non-cassette bodies if they were so inclined. Having two extra full-sized soldiers could only have helped the attempted takeover but for whatever reason, they ended up staying with Soundwave, and later in the series they pull the same ‘all the cassettes hide in Soundwave and then pull a sneak attack’ that they did in Megatron: Origin.

From the start of Phase 1 to the end of Phase 3, both Soundwave and Optimus’s close friends/officers/coworkers/support systems radically change (or in Soundwave’s change, just get whittled down); While Ratbat and Bumblebee both die and Ravage, Rodimus, and Ratchet go over to MTMTE/LL, Jazz, Prowl, Rumble, and Frenzy all end up leaving distancing themselves specifically because of decisions Optimus and Soundwave make, respectively.

And it’s the similarities between Jazz + Rumble & Frenzy that really get me! This all goes down in within a few issues! We get more insight into Jazz’s motives than Rumble and Frenzy, but I think it’s safe to assume the twins’ motives for not staying close with Soundwave are similar enough to why Jazz didn’t go back to Optimus, albeit in a far more blasè manner (”We’re trying to be good but it’s hard.”)

EDIT: having reread the issue in question, they did go back to Sanctuary, then promptly started taking weapons from the station and selling them on Earth, which almost makes it funnier because I absolutely refuse to believe Soundwave was so oblivious he didn’t know that was happening. Looking at this from the POV of Soundwave being an Optimus stan, he knew and didn’t care, because Earth was gonna become a part of the Council of Worlds. From the POV of Soundwave not being an Optimus stan......maybe he hoped it’d sabotage Earth’s acceptance into the Council somehow?

EDIT 2: having now checked the wiki, they were doing this before and after the junkion arc, but tbh my point still stands. 

Plus--finding Rumble and Frenzy on Earth--a place populated by beings Soundwave has to actually focus to hear--should’ve been easy, if Soundwave felt so inclined to go to them and stop the gunrunning. But he didn’t--aside from plot reasons, it’s likely he knew how they felt and was giving them space. I find it hard to believe that the colonists didn’t tell OP what happened between them and Jazz. Like Soundwave, Optimus leaves Jazz and doesn’t seek him out until they happen to meet up later in the series. 

I also can’t help but think about the fact that Rumble and Frenzy are probably the ones who’ve known Megatron + stuck with him the longest! Impactor went to the Autobots, Terminus...happened. The Constructicons were with him almost as long, and they explicitly wanted to go! I imagine maybe Rumble and Frenzy wanted to go as well, and like Prowl, Soundwave was like ‘no way’. Maybe that was the start of the end for them, and him joining up with Optimus was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Essentially, I think they didn’t like it at first, got used to it--enough to want to stick around with Soundwave & the other cassettes (even when they had the chance to get reformatted!), but once Soundwave changed, they decided to split.

[killingbill]

Well...if you want a Schneider ask 😁 with the new tour just around the corner, what do you want Schneider's outfit to be on this tour? 🍀

you reminded me of when he posted his latest insta snap of his kit, & i had a meltdown remembering that we're finally going to get to see the tour. the serotonin boost has been #real. this is a hard one. in all honesty, but firstly i have never once expected to see Schneider in sleeves, on stage. & who would ever want that? his arms, arguably, are top tier on my list of his attributes, in the sense that they're (sexy, toned & ridiculous) so attractive basically due to the practicing of his passion, so it gets me riled up. so, i suspect a sleeveless number. i feel like he always has the coolest costumes. my mans changed his bio, & It says "Father, " don't say "Daddy" - meaning he's a distinguished man, with babies. you know. no more booty shorts & fishnets to keep us happy. i would..... be in my peak prime if the outfit can somehow, let me peek at his belly. his belly is s tier, god tier... it is everything. it clears my pores, aligns my chakras. when we got the picture of him on set, thirst trapping us poor souls... (come to think of it he loves to thirst trap us.... & i think he knows what he's doing after the ... #darkn00d) i was busy absorbing the belly content i've been so deprived of since he used to take his shirt off on stage. even if it just peeks out, or something. there's also a certain wonder if they'll theme their costumes, like they did during the MIG era w. the laborer sort of vibe. you know, idk if their untitled EU tour had a theme for the outfits, although it didn't feel like it? but perhaps with a more concrete theme of this upcoming album, they will try & coordinate the outfits. i realize now i've hardly answered your question. but chances are, he'll be in a tank top of some description. fancier than lifad days. i do want this to continue being the case, though i'd like a bit looser fitting perhaps? maybe something cut like the chain mail looking costume circa rammstein paris/mig. but i think despite that, it would be nice to have him a little more understated than last tour, yet - i always like it when he feels on par with how the others are dressed. he's all the way in the back, so any details or embellishments they give him when till & richard are looking #flashy for example... it makes me smile. so yeah!! that's basically it. alternatives / wishful thinking include: put them all in suits like the beatles, at least for like - a few songs. remember that one show i forget which one but like, three of them are dressed in red & the other three are dressed in silver????? i'm pretty sure it's 100 Jahre. anyway, i fucking ADORED that vibe a lot? i'd like to see something like that again. the same vibe as when bridesmaids wear the same color but different styles of their dresses. it would be super super super cool to see him in a skirt, actually. not for any other reason than, i think he could pull it off well & they could do something super interesting with it. he arrives on stage in the black, zick zack outfit. this was so long, i missed this so much, thank you. lmfao. i very much appreciate it.

[acey-wacey]

More Lovestruck Headcanons

A/n: I'm having fun with this so more headcanons for the main characters of Lovestruck: Choose Your Romance.

Sweet Enchantments (human)

-She has a snort laugh that she thinks is really annoying but her chosen love interest thinks it's cute.

-She appreciates the nuanced taste of rich coffee but to her, hot chocolate feels more like home.

-Even if she has magic in the route, she is still amazed by tiny fireworks.

-Her favorite holiday is Halloween and she always finds someway to decorate the cafe.

- She will buy anything that looks like human stuff from the goblin market. It makes her feel less lonely without her family.

- She loves to watch the sunset on the water outside the cafe and will sit on the docks for hours just thinking.

- She sneaks into Leora's office to read her magic books.

- She puppy-pouts when she doesn't get her way.

- She is really good at distinguishing foods by smell so sometimes she guesses scents to entertain patrons.

- She is very good with names and will not forget a person who visited the cafe even once.

- She is naturally curious and it gets her into a lot of trouble.

Sin with Me (in the circus)

- She tries to learn the performers acts sometimes but it never works out.

- She really likes the umbrella academy. I cannot explain this to you.

- She also really likes comic books. This probably has something to do with why she like she umbrella academy.

- Despite her parents owning a bike shop, she didn't learn to ride a bike until she was 15.

- She used to like the Pinterest Perfect aesthetic and now has a box of fairy lights she no longer uses.

- She has trust issues because the first person she ever dated ghosted her after a week.

- She could lift half her weight and she knows she could but she doesn't tell people because she thinks they'll think it's weird.

- She doesn't have any specific body insecurities but cares a lot about what people think of her.

- She is selectively empathic which means she can only relate to someone she agrees with.

- She has a chart of constellations and info dumps on her chosen love interest.

Ever After Academy (female)

- She watched anime religiously with her brother in middle school.

- She has a clear phone case filled with printed out manga panels.

- Her bi awakening was Lust and Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist (ace: that was me)

- She will do anything on a dare, even if there's no money involved

- She has a little bit of a savior complex and has caught herself thinking "I can fix them" more than once.

- She and her brother moved around a lot so they are each other's best friends

- Because of moving around so much, she isn't used to having friends for very long.

- She makes friends very easily but has never had a best friends besides her brother.

- She is the extrovert that adopts introverts.

- She gets into a lot of mischief but she's only ever gotten in trouble when she punched a guy for calling her brother the f-slur.

- Speaking of, she will completely ignore a bully until they insult her brother. Same goes for him.

- She always texts people pictures of things that remind her if then just so they know she's thinking if them.

- She has a froggy hat. That is all.

- She had a pick-me phase in middle school where she wouldn't wear pink even though it was her favorite color.

[oncexinxmyxdreams]

OC Profile

Francisca Cordova (Encanto.)

Bio

Name: Francisca Valencia Salazar Cordova. (Francisca Reyes as an alias.) Fran for short, but call her Franny and you'll die. Alejandra calls her Cisca.

Age: 30.

Ethnicity: Colombian.

Species: Human.

Height: 5'7".

Weight: 118 pounds.

Hair color: Black.

Hair style: A shaggy pixie cut. Hair partially covers her ears and she has natural curls which are Type 3C. Francisca thinks shorter hair is easier to manage.

Eye color: She was central heterochromia. Her eyes are forest green with brown encircling the pupils.

Birthday: May 24th 1920.

Gender: Female.

Sexual Orientation: Asexual/Aromantic.

Powers (if any): Well.... She eventually gets one which only adds to her migraine problem, but some bonding with Bruno. Retrocognition. She can see the past though it's mostly involuntary. She can have memories connected to another, but they'll be separate visions and out of order. Her organization and sharp memory help there. She writes each memory down and puts them in categories to connect. Its a heavy gift because she'll see horrible things like death, abuse and war. She even sees her mother's death again.

The tough thing is Francisca doesn't know an effective way to control visions until Bruno guides her. When she's tries controlling them it just causes her horrible pain. Her eyes turn a shiny dark green with a faint glow and her body goes rigid. Now and then, she gets a vision that's intense and she'll quote what she's hearing. Her voice automatically imitates the person speaking. So yeah...kind of creepy.

After experimenting, her gift is more similar to Bruno's. Instead of sand, shadows will seemingly crawl from behind and create a green sphere around her. She'll see the past in dark silhouettes. After each vision, she creates a small tablet of dark green glass. (It's about the size of a photograph.) When held up to light, the image appears looking like shadows. Her symbol would be a sundial since it's a symbol of time using shadow and she's witnessing shadows of the past.

Distinguishing features (if any): Skinny figure and rectangle body shape. Small chest and long limbs. Her fingers are also long and look delicate, but they're strong. Nose is kind of small but narrow like her mother's. Lips are a little more thin, but smile is identical to her sister's. Diamond shape face and thick eyebrows that are hidden under her bangs. Skin tone like Agustin.

Blood Type: O+.

Clothing

Day to day outfit: Forest green plain tiered skirt and hunter green petticoat. White blouse with quarter sleeves that has a scalloped neckline and sleeves. Has a fitted tan coat. Lace up brown boots that go to her calves. Wears a black hooded ruana during stormy weather. (If she had a power, she'd have her symbol stitched in dark green around the sleeves.)

Pajamas/What they wear to bed: White nightgown with a green embroidery of her initial. (Alejandra sewed it for her as an attempt of embroidery. Did I mention it was a birthday present?) More than half of the time falls asleep in her clothes.

Formal Clothes: Had a mint green Quinceanera dress and a blue dress she wore for her father and stepmother's wedding. Other than that, not really into formal outfits.

Work/School uniform: Nothing too different from her normal clothes.

Other (glasses, jewelry, etc): Tiny gold stud earrings. A braided leather bracelet that Alejandra made for her.

Health

Physical Illnesses: Headaches and even migraines which seem to be genetic from her grandfather, Vicente Cordova. She'll get so nauseous from the migraines she'll vomit and lay down all day.

Mental Illnesses or disorders: N/A.

Medications?: Uses different herbal remedies, heat compresses and tea. She's had doctors give her other medicines over the years. Alejandra once bought her a medicine that ended up making her vomit even more.

Addictions (Drugs, alcohol?): Does addiction to coffee count?

General Health: Fine enough, but it could be better if she had restful sleep and no migraines.

Life/Preferences:

Likes: Books, coffee, chess, organizing, piano and solving mind games.

Dislikes: Social interactions, overly emotional people, migraines, vomiting, Alejandra's mice getting in her stuff and concepts she can't understand like magic. Also dislikes avocados due to a bad experience.

Career: Doctor assistant.

Hobbies/Talents: Excellent memory, keen eye for detail and sketching. Can imitate voices well. Despite being forced to piano lessons she's very good and loved it when she could play something she liked.

Habits (good or bad): Habit of smoking, but she's tried to quit. She only has a cigarette now and then.

Family: Fraternal twin sister Alejandra who's 20 minutes younger. Her mother Mercedes and father Pablo Salazar. Also has a stepmother and half-siblings that she's indifferent towards. Her aunt Desideria and grandparents Maria and Vicente. Her step grandfather Armando. She doesn't know them well.

Friends: Besides her twin, not many. She has one friend: a helpful young man named Ramon Sandoval who lives nearby. He's one of the few who understands her and has managed to gain her respect and trust. Gets along well with her boss Dr. Velasquez.

Romantic/Love Interest(s): None.

Pets: Litzy, a cat rescued by Francisca. She meant to find new owners for Litzy, but the kitten attached itself to her. Even Francisca who could be unsocial and cold, found she couldn't let her go. Litzy became her quiet, but affectionate companion. Also has a mule named Vendaval who has been mistaken for the legendary Mula Retinta. She won him from a conartist when Alejandra didn't have a horse.

Social Status: Middle class.

Favorite Food: Almojábana (a Colombian cheese bread). Her favorite drink is coffee. She doesn't take any sugar or cream. Just plain black coffee.

Favorite Color: Dark green.

Favorite genre of music: She prefers soft folk music that isn't hard on her ears.

Favorite movie genre: Probably mystery or documentary.

Favorite Animal: She won't say it aloud, but she likes cats.

Degree of Education: Though she had basic schooling, she's very intelligent. She was able to read at 4 years old and spent all her free time learning.  

What language(s) can they speak?: Spanish, English, Palenquero and Vlax Romani.

Can they cook?: Average cook. To her, fancy meals aren't as important as basic food.

Personality

Positive Traits: Intelligent, logical, confident, astute and can be caring. She's a little protective of her sister.

Negative Traits: Insensitive, combative, judgmental and a little arrogant.

Archetype: Um...not sure about this one. Maybe the Magician archetype?

Way they interact with others: Francisca is unsocial. She's quiet around others, but she's analyzing them. If she's ticked off, she'll act calm, but have quite the biting words. However, if someone has earned her trust and respect, she softens. She'll be more caring.

Way of speaking: Voice inspiration is Rachel Zegler.

Introvert or Extrovert?: Introvert. Going by the MBTI, she'd be an INTJ. One if my besties is that type. :)

Backstory

Francisca was deemed strange by her family since she was little. She seemed smarter than she should be for her age. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles and later on cousins loved her, but just didn't understand her. Unfortunately, this became the situation with her father, Pablo. He'd encourage her to play like a normal child and it'd backfire. She didn't like hugs much and he couldn't understand why. The only ones who knew Francisca best were Mercedes and Alejandra. With her parents separating, she wasn't that upset because she and Pablo weren't close. She's had (and still has) to be the rational one with problems since Alejandra has anxiety.

Life Goals

Francisca's life goals? Just solving whatever problem comes her way.

[wjforever]

Shatter me again. Chapter 51

I woke up earlier than usual. Today I need to be ready for everything. I'm acting on autopilot. Go to the closet, take another shroud. I don't distinguish its color, style, fabric structure. I go to the bathroom and clean myself up. Allow myself to take a shower, wash and dry my hair with a hairdryer.

It's a long time before breakfast and I sit down on the bed looking blankly at everything that surrounds me. There are the books on the nightstand and I feel a wave of nausea. I don't want to touch them anymore. They don't cause me any joy or interest. They'll be burned anyway. Like all the good things that are left of the old world. Something that I didn't even get to know.

Nearby are the medicines, water. I take the right dose, thinking about whether I should violate the dosage, whether I should take everything at once? He's not watching me anymore, I could... but he's right. I have too strong thirst for life in me. And I don't understand how it's still with me after everything I've been through.

The eyes notice the perfume bottle, and the hand unconsciously reaches for it. I remember I promised myself I'd never touch this flacon. But I'm breaking the rules I've set myself. I don't care anymore. My fingers remove the cap and I bring the bottle to my nose, inhale a pleasant aroma. It's not enough for me, so I spray perfume into the cap several times. Now the fragrance becomes much more intense, alluring, dizzying. And I inhale it again and again. There is something invigorating and at the same time calming in this.

I know that I have to put everything in its place, that Adam is about to come to take me to another breakfast with the monster. But I can't tear myself away from this bottle, this fragrance.

Time goes by, but Adam doesn't come. Another change in plans, another mind games.

Apathy takes possession of me, plays with me as if I'm its toy. There is emptiness in my head, yesterday's events seem to be dusty, covered with white veils. This is the past. Forgotten. Unnecessary. 

I'm disappointed in my own made-up illusions. What could be sadder? What could be more miserable?

When he had been shotting those mirrors yesterday, when Adam walked into that room, I thought I'd never forgive him for that. But now I'm not even sure that I have something to forgive.

I imagined all this by myself and paid an insane price for it. I can't even hate him anymore. Maybe because all the feelings died inside me, were mercilessly murdered by him the day before. Or maybe because he was always honest with me. He didn't hide that he was a predator, not a pet. He didn't promise me anything. I chose to hope myself. I myself… 

I suddenly hear a strange squeak, and then a voice sounds. 

"Juliette Ferrars, The Chief Commander is expecting you for breakfast."

I wonder if it was for real or it was just a figment of my imagination. Yes, most likely. But if all this is really happening, then the door must be open. I put the perfume back on the nightstand and walk towards the exit. It's amazing, but the door gives way, and I go out into the corridor. There are no soldiers here, but they're farther away. I don't care.

My feet are carrying me along a usual route. The elevator is activated for me by soldiers standing nearby. Without questions or words, but with the fear in their eyes and movements which is already familiar to me. I don't care.

I don't even know how I'm going to behave, what to do. I don't plan anything, no more. It never works with him anyway. I have no thoughts of ignoring him or keeping silent. Whatever I come up with, he will turn the situation to his advantage in-any-case.

The door of the achingly familiar room is open and waiting for me. I go inside. Warner is standing by the window, his back to me, with his hands in the pockets of his gray trousers. I don't announce my arrival, just go to the chair and sit down. I have no idea if he noticed I came or not. I don't care.

"I know you hate me."

His sombre voice resonates somewhere in my head. I turn and look at him. He turned just a little in my direction. Out of sorts, well, that's not new. All this is not new to me for a long time. And I don't care.

"I'm not." I reply dully, and he twists his head sharply, narrows his eyes at me. "This feeling is too strong. You don't deserve it."

A smirk on his lips. Not a happy one at all. Understanding.

"Well, sure. How are you? After yesterday." The tone of his voice doesn't change and it drags me into the depths of dark, impassable waters. 

"Are you asking me how I am?" I'm amazed at his impudence, and he just nods once, pursing his lips and slightly raising his eyebrows. This is another demonstration of his power over me, his indifference. "After what you did yesterday…"

"What did I do?" A spark of irritation, defiance flashes in this impenetrable gloom. He feigns surprise, not even trying to make it more believable. He's openly mocking me. Shows that this is a matter of course, that I have no right to be indignant.

I open my mouth, but I don't know what to say. So I'm just laughing nervously with a mirthless laugh. "What did you do? Should I remind you?"

Warner turns farther to me, crosses his arms over his chest.

"We hadn't been doing anything new." He's annoyed, it's felt in his posture, his voice, his facial expressions. And I'm striking again and again by his unconscionableness.

"You did the shooting!" I grate through clenched teeth.

"Shooting is not something new for you. You'd already witnessed me shoot. This wasn't news to you."

Inhale. Exhale. From my side.

"Yes, you're right. You almost killed a man in front of me. Again."

I feel my eyelids quivering in nervous tension, my jaw tightens. A dormant rage, that have been resting from yesterday's events, begins to raise its head inside me.

"Don't talk nonsense." He utter through his teeth, likened to me.

I can't hold myself back anymore. He pisses me off terribly. His face. His perfectly styled hair. His immaculately pressed suit. Indifference gives way to anger. I'm a dim candle flame, and he's a damn can of gasoline. As ever. I can barely restrain myself from jumping out of the chair. Trying to express my emotions not with gestures, but with voice and facial expressions.

"Nonsense?! Is this all nonsense in your opinion?! I did what you asked! I did everything you asked of me! Everything! But you… you were going to kill…"

His loud voice cuts me off in mid-sentence. "I didn't try to kill Kent!"

Silence. Just two pairs of eyes piercing at each other.

The fire is extinguished with cold foam. Abruptly, without warning. I'm left with only the ashes of disappointment and disbelief with which I entered this room.

"You didn't?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"No, I didn't." He answers firmly.

It's obvious. If he wanted to kill Adam, Adam would already be dead. This simple thought makes something inside me click. Awareness. Why didn't I even think about it before?

"So you were just playing on my nerves, right?" It makes me so madly angry that I'm like a loaded gun again. It was just his evil game. An innocent joke, maybe. Entertainment before tea.

His face is calm and serious. And in his facial expressions I can read just the same endless irritation.

"I wanted him to pick you up after…"

I don't let him finish. I don't want to hear this. "Stop lying. I'm tired…" My head turns away from him, but he immediately draws my attention back to his person.

"Let me finish." And again this tension. Warner is angry, and it seems to me that we are in the same emotional state. He looks offended, insulted by yesterday's events no less than I am. As if his expectations had been betrayed as much as mine. "You care about him, that's obvious. And yes…" he pauses, lifts his eyebrows, "I took advantage of it."

I jump up, with one desire. I want to hit him. I want to kill him. 

"How dare…!"

"That's exactly what you need, Juliette! This fire!" He says loudly, on the verge of screaming, but doesn't scream. "You don't want to test your power on the soldiers, it hurts you too much. What do you think I should do?! How am I supposed to recreate these stress conditions that we need?"

I step towards him, just as he usually steps towards me. Driven by overwhelming emotions. The volume of my voice, normally the quiet one, is surprisingly not inferior to his.

"Have you ever thought that you don't have to do this?! Haven't you thought to just leave me alone, huh?!"

I'm expecting the same emotions, I'm waiting for the aggravation of the conflict. But he suddenly calms down. Abruptly. Completely in control of himself again. This is alarming and makes me calm down too, to lie low.

"I already said that I can't. So no, that's not an option."

"You said we made progress…"

"We are. But without experiencing the same strong emotions, you won't be able to achieve more."

He's mad at me. He's so annoyed, even though he's trying his best to keep himself in check.

"You don't know what you want from me, but you want it here and now." My voice is laced with resentment. "What's your endgame here?"

"I know what I want. For you to develop your power."

He's so hopelessly stubborn. And his absolute confidence makes me bewildered.

"What makes you think it's even possible?"

"Because I just know. Do you think I brought you here without doing the necessary research, without studying the issue? I know a lot about this, about this your…" he waves his hand vaguely, "condition. It can progress, evolve…"

"I'm not going to ask you why you need that. You won't tell me anyway. In any case, I'm not sure I want to hear this creation of your sick subconscious. But didn't you think about letting it develop gradually so as not to put pressure on me like that right away?!"

The very thought of it makes my blood boil. I set conditions and this almost scares me. Because I'm having a dialogue with him that I shouldn't be having. And I don't understand why I'm even trying. Why I'm still struggle to get through to him. Yesterday's questions, yesterday's resentments come to mind and slip out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"Why are you doing this to me?! Why?! I'm not a weapon! I'm a human! Do you think you just have to pull the trigger to make a shot ring out?! But it's not like that! Have you thought about just giving me time?!"

I almost scream, on the verge of hysteria and he responds at the same volume as me. If not louder. Toughly, firmly, confidently. With a kind of desperation that almost frightens me.

"We don't have this time!"

It's like we've used up all the air and sounds are dying between us again. I'm staring at him and he suddenly closes his eyes, sighs, throws his head back, runs his hand through his hair, looks at the ceiling, sighs again, trying to calm himself. 

"We don't have this time." He almost whispers, raises his eyebrows, shakes his head, and I don't know how to react to this sudden change of mood.

Why does it feel like he's almost sorry? That he himself doesn't want things to go like this? 

Does he know I was scared? Well, surely he knows. Of course he knows. And he's sorry? God, no, Juliette. Don't let these ridiculous thoughts soak your mind again with venom that will poison you again and again.

I mustn't fall into this trap over and over again. I shouldn't make this mistake one more time. I need to remember Adam's words and listen to common sense, but this is stronger than me. I need to know the whole truth.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

I imitate him and also lower the volume of my voice, all at once feeling calmer.

He doesn't answer right away, keeps silent for a few moments.

"Because we don't have much time. We can't just sit and wait for you to allow your power to develop slowly and gradually, pitying yourself and not trying to test it in those conditions in which its manifestation is most significant. That's our problem, Juliette." Irritation gets the better of him again. "You cower when you could conquer. You let everyone else tell you what to do, what's right and wrong. Start acting. Stake a claim! You have so much more power than you’re aware of. But you don't even want to try… And you get angry when others try to do it for you."

"You make me go through hell." I say roughly, almost resentfully, although I want to sound harsh.

He rolls his eyes, looks at the ceiling again, inaudibly, with only his lips, swears in frustration, and I feel an incomprehensible anxiety. I don't want to be a disappointment to anyone because it's too familiar and painful for me. But I don't understand why I might want to not disappoint someone like Warner.

"For someone who so deeply hates themselves, you have too much pity for yourself." Though his words should sound insulting, there is no offensive in them. Just the same endless disappointment. And I'm starting to feel like he's beginning to give up on me.

"I just don't want to be a part of all this." I whisper, barely audible. I prefer feeling angry rather than embarrassed. I don't like feeling myself so pathetic anymore.

"It's too late." He says in a doomed, harsh, peremptory way. "You're already part of it all. You'll never be able to live like everyone else. You're not normal. Never was and never will be. Accept it already and learn to live with it."

It hurts. I almost expected compassion or understanding from him, but he's not going to relent.

"I got along perfectly well without you and your idiotic advices."

He laughs sharply, viciously.

"Yes, sure, perfectly well. I noticed. You were on your way to success, I'm sorry for interrupting."

I killed a man, a child, and got the punishment I deserved for it. But all this can't be called my personal achievements, and even more so my successes. I didn't choose to kill or not to kill the baby, I didn't decide to lock myself up or not. I don't want to talk about it anymore. 

"And you decided it was a good idea to let the predator out of the cage and let it roam free?"

I'm snarking, and he seems to understand that. Because our conversation is getting nowhere, we are going round in circles, not understanding each other, not telling something to each other, not wanting to understand each other.

"A predator needs freedom, liberty. This's people who decide that it must be restrained, in order to protect themself. But this is a struggle with nature, with the natural. Besides, my predator is under guard. So it's fine."

It might even sound funny, but it's not.

The thought.

Adam… Adam didn't bring me here today.

"But not today." I want to sound confident, but my voice is anxious.

Warner abruptly moves away from me, shakes his head, spreads his arms slightly.

"Jesus Christ, give him some free time, Juliette. You're so possessive."

I purse my lips. He infuriates me so much that I can barely restrain the urge to rush out of this room. I myself don't know what stops me from taking this step, because it's absolutely pointless to try to talk to him. It's like talking to a wall.

"By the way, do you know why I chose him?"

A huge boulder, preventing me from taking off, falls from a cliff into a bottomless abyss, dragging me along with it. We suddenly get off the ground in our conversation, and he definitely attracts my attention, ignites my interest. But this boulder is pressing me down to the earth.

Adam was chosen.

Of course he was. He wasn't just any soldier sent to my cell. It's not a happy coincidence. Warner does nothing without reason. He must know Adam and I have a history. He is more cruel and calculative than I gave him credit for.

"No." Inhale. "I don’t know why." Exhale. I can’t forget to breathe.

"He volunteered," Warner says simply, and I'm momentarily taken aback. "Even before he became the part of my personal guard. He said to me that he'd gone to school with you so many years ago. As it turned out, he remembered you perfectly. Although he was sure that you yourself wouldn't remember him, because it was a long time and he, of course, looks a lot different now than he did back then. When he heard that I needed a person who would be in the same cell with you, he asked me to appoint him. He was so convincing, you know. Said he was thrilled to hear you’d been locked up."

My bones are like cubes of ice clinking together, chilling me to my core.

"I'm curious," he continues, tilting his head as he speaks. "Do you remember him? Is that why you're so attached to him?"

"No." I lie, and I'm not sure I'm alive. I'm trying to untangle the truth from the false from assumptions. I'm trying to connect all the facts together, to resurrect everything that happened in my mind. But run-on sentences are twisting around my throat.

Adam knew me when he walked into that cell.

He knew exactly who I was.

He already knew my name.

He knew everything when I told him what had happened, what I had done.

He knew me and kept silent the whole time, pretending he didn't.

"Does this information make you angry?" He asks and I want to punch him in that self-assured face.

I say nothing and somehow it’s worse.

"I didn't even have to give him any information about you. He didn't need me to tell him what you were capable of. He already knew that perfectly well. What a threat you always were. Maybe not in details, but he knew. I even doubted whether it would be a good idea to send him to your cell, given your history together. You never know what could happen. But you didn't seem to have any personal conflicts, right? All the more surprising that, according to his own words, he wanted to get a closer look at the freak you’ve become."

My heart cracks. My eyes flash. I'm so hurt so angry so horrified so humiliated and burning with indignation so raw that it's like a fire raging within me, a wildfire of decimated hopes. I want to crush Warner's spine in my hand. I want him to know what it's like to wound, to inflict such unbearable agony on others. I want him to know my pain and Jenkins' pain and Fletcher's pain and I want him to hurt. Because maybe Warner is right.

Maybe some people do deserve it.

I approach him with the clear intention of harming him. To hurt him. Maybe even kill. I managed to control myself once, but then I wanted the person not to get hurt. I don't want that right now. All my pain, resentment, doubts and disappointments are yearning to spill out. At him. He again, with a few phrases, in a few minutes, woke up the sleeping beast in me. And I want him to have to face the consequences of his own actions and decisions.

I don't repeat my mistakes, I don't ask him to take something off. Instead, my hand goes up to brush his face. And he doesn't even try to resist, to lean back. He's looking at me so intensely that I can hardly understand what kind of fire is burning inside me.

"Sir? Can we serve breakfast? You have a meeting in fifteen minutes."

I bounce off him like I'm scalded, breathing heavily, don't know what to do with myself. I suddenly feel scared and ashamed and empty, and I rush to the door. 

"Miss?" Delalieu asks.

"I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry." I mumble, trying to get past him.

"But miss."

"Let her go." Warner says. "Take the breakfast to her room."

"Yes sir."

I leave Warner and my criminal thoughts along with him.

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