#NEW CHARACTERS!!!

[aurorangen]

Time to introduce our chef couple, who have exciting plans to open a new restaurant in Tartosa! Nancy, a British chef with cooking roots in Henford-on-Bagley, is Suzume's closest friend and a promising cookbook author. Her partner Hugo is a French chef and restaurateur and a new face in the celebrity culinary scene!

[septnautical]

Hmm I suggest he goes to a base where there should be a person named Robin that might be able to help him

(I know you meant Robin Ayou from Below Zero but considering how that game ends and this being 100+ years after the games- I took some creative liberty ;3c)

Marvin swam around the shallows more- eventually finding a forest of creepvines, just like home! He grins and swims around them, reveling in the familiar feeling of the leaves against his cape and skin. Though- there didn’t seem to be any stalkers nearby… just those weird white peepers he’s seen before.

But, there is some of those strange White Islands again up on the surface. Hm… since it seemed kinda safe over here- maybe he could get a better look at them.

He warps himself up to the surface and goes to peer more at the strange cold substance. He pokes it more- seeing in some spots that it’s somewhat see through.

“What are you…?” He whispers.

Then, suddenly there’s a splash right next to him and Marvin screams in surprise. But- it’s not a fish or predator.

He’s staring face to face with a… a human…?

The human seems to be a young girl, about the age of the refugee kids. She has tan skin and brownish hair and bright purple eyes. She gasps as she sees Marvin and grins wide, showing off fanged teeth.

“I thought I heard a big fish down here but that made no sense!!” The human giggles, “You’re not a fish!! You’re a hybrid too!!”

…too?!

Marvin gasps and then backs up, staring at the girl with horror. He then warps around quickly, spurring up to the surface behind her to see- yup.. a tail! A blue gray tail with many many fins- what the hell?!

He warps back and pants, and she stares at him flabbergasted.

“That is so cool!! How do you do that?! I’ve never seen anyone ever able to do that!!” She gasps and laughs in amazement.

“Who are you?!” Marvin interrupts with a growl, eyes wide as he stares at the little hybrid before him.

The tiny hybrid doesn’t seem fazed at all. “I’m Penni! But, Robin also says that I’m PH-02 but we all don’t like that name that much!”

Marvin winces- half-expecting his warper information trance thing to take over but… nothing? Weird… wouldn’t Alterra have files on other hybrids in their systems?

“R-Robin…?” Marvin asks.

“Dr. Robin! She’s like our mom! Except also not really. she says that’s apparently not how that works but she says she takes care of us like one!” Penni grins.

Marvin blinks slowly. The hell is a mom? And… “uh… us? There’s more of you?!”

Then, there’s a terrifying roar beneath him that has him yelping in fear. A dark red figure is charging right at him! And are those mandibles?!?

He warps out of the way and down by the sea bed, curling up and hiding his head beneath his arms.

There’s a loud TWACK and a cry of distress and Marvin looks back up in confusion. Whatever had charged to attack him- their mandibles were now stuck in the White Island thing! And now that they’re not moving… it’s another hybrid…?!

“Cora!!” Penni yells and pushes herself off the island, “It’s okay! It’s okay! He’s one of us!”

The other hybrid, Cora apparently, growls at Penni as she tries to pry her mandible free. Marvin can see now this hybrid is also a girl- with very dark skin and fluffy curly hair bundled up into two low pigtails. And both of the hybrids were wearing long wet suit like shirts with Alterra’s logo on them.

Once Cora’s free- she whips around to look down at Marvin, claws drawn and fangs bared. But then she pauses as she really takes a look at him- then her eyes widen. She quickly grabs Penni and pushes her behind her mandibles.

“W-What are you?!” Cora demands, “W-who are you? I… I’ve never seen a fish like you before!”

“I… I guess you wouldn’t have… I think I’m… far away from home,” Marvin admits, “But uh… I’m Marvin and… I’m not here to hurt either of you- I promise.”

Cora seems to deflate a bit- but she still glares at Marvin suspiciously. “…what are you here for then?”

“I… I’m not sure, really…” Marvin says, rubbing his arms and flicking the ends of his tails. “I wanted… answers to some stuff I guess… wanted to find stuff about these things called the… architects?”

Penni perks up from behind Cora and grins, “Oh oh!! Robin knows soooo much about those guys! She studies all sorts of things around here! I bet she could help you!”

Marvin looks back at Penni with wide eyes. He looks between her and Cora then asks sheepishly, mostly asking the more aggressive hybrid of the bunch, “is it… okay if I meet her then?”

There’s a tense beat of silence before Cora eventually sighs and flicks her tail, “…alright. But no funny business okay, Marvin?” She spits out his name like it’s poison.

He winces but then nods. “Okay…”

“She’s up on the ice- not too far.” Cora says shortly, swimming up to the surface by the White Island.

Marvin blinks and follows after, “Oh… is that what this white stuff is called?”

Penni barks out a laugh, “you don’t know what ice is?! The ocean is full of it!”

“There’s nothing like this where I come from…” Marvin admits, his cheeks flushing a bit.

The brunette hybrid laughs more, “that’s so crazy!! I can’t even imagine that!”

As they swim around… Marvin can really tell that these two are.. way younger than him and his brothers. He hadn’t seen baby hybrids since he was one. That means… they must have been made after him and his brothers were. But if that were true… why? And why weren’t there any big signs of Alterra around? Why weren’t these guys in the database?

Something strange was going on here… but he had to admit he’s relieved that Alterra doesn’t have their grubby fingers over here. If he could bring his brothers here…

Marvin is snapped out of his thoughts by a sharp flick of a red tail in his face.

“Look alive, stranger,” Cora growls. “Robin’s right up here.”

Marvin blinks up and then pushes up to the surface, trying to sink his claws into the ice and hoist himself up.

Penni bursts up after him and expertly scales up the ice and pushes herself onto the surface. She waves wildly, “ROBINNN!! We found another hybrid!!”

There’s a woman on the ice- surrounded by a group of strange looking creatures. They have huge eyes on the side of its face and actually have legs! And their heads seem to be giant beaks. The woman has tan skin, a bit darker than Zara’s and brunette hair pushed to one side- the other half shaved. A bright blue strand of hair is braided on the longer side of her hair. And she’s wearing an Alterran uniform. She startles as she hears Penni’s shout and laughs a bit turning to face them, “is that so Penni? Lemme see-“

The doctor’s eyes widen as she sees the sight of Marvin clinging to the ice. “…WH-5…?!”

Marvin gasps back and shrinks down some. “Y-you know me…?”

Robin hurries over to kneel down by the ice and smiles warmly, “Yes! Actually I used to work with the hybrid branch over in the main sector! Oh but I haven’t seen you since you were just a few weeks old! Look at how big you’ve gotten!”

Marvin can’t help but look scared. She’s… a white suit. But, she helped watch over him and his brothers… and she seems… nice. Like the doctors from Ocean’s Arms.

“If you were there then… w-why are you here now…?” Marvin asks quietly.

“Oh I got reassigned to be over here. Or more accurately- I started here but went over there to help with the hybrid project then was sent back here to start prep for our own,” Robin explains. “We aren’t nearly as successful and well… no one really likes to stay working in the cold-“

Marvin shivers as a strong cold wind blows past them. Robin sees this and smiles softly, “why don’t we go talk more at our base? It’ll be warmer there.”

“…there’s no other white suits there… right?” Marvin asks through chattering teeth.

“Nope- it’s just us. I may not have had contact for a while but… I heard some stuff from Dr. Danan. She’s a good friend of mine. I promise- you’ll be safe here. No other Alterrans will know you’re here.”

Marvin deflates in relief at this then nods. “Okay… show me the way.” Then he pauses and finally looks back to meet Robin’s eyes, “oh and uh… b-by the way… my name is Marvin.”

Robin’s eyes shine as she smiles wider, “Marvin, huh? A pleasure to meet you then, Marvin.”

[wormwood-dream-emulator]

Disguised and Disgusted - story under the read-more

The Robber Baron shifted in her chair. Anxiety had filled her body since the moment she sat down. She glanced at her friend, a Mover-and-Shaker sitting at the same table. While they were doing what they were supposed to, it was unnerving. The truth is, they're both toons.

Their mission was a simple one: Test out their Cog Disguises (without getting caught), and also gather intel. This exact situation isn't what anyone had in mind however...

Waiters came by the table and served cans of oil. A Micromanager sitting with them thanked the waiters, and began to happily sip the oil. The Mover-and-Shaker looked at the oil, trying her best to not cringe obviously. The two decided to not touch their oil cans for now.

Meanwhile, two more Toons kept a close eye on them while hiding away. While it would be easy to just hear about the results after this experiment, these two always think it's good to have another set of eyes on the scene. They both had built the Cog Disguises after all, and they wanted to see first hand how the other two would do. The sea-green cat whispered, "The disguises are working well! It's like as if they blend right in!" The yellow cat chimed in, "The designs are unique, but you're right, they work well." Seeing the oil being served, however, neither of them decided to question how the group got into this predicament.

The Micromanager finally chimed in after enjoying her serving. "Oh, girls, have you not finished your drinks yet?" The Robber Baron and Mover-and-Shaker looked at her, then at each other. "It's quality stuff, you know. I can get plenty of it too because I help out with the catering, so please help yourselves!" "I'm uh... not hungry," the Robber Baron said. "I ate earlier since I didn't know we were gonna be... here." She smiled meekly, and pushed her can towards the Micromanager. "You can have my serving." Do Cogs even eat? She wondered if maybe she could have said something different to deflect suspicions, if there were any. The Micromanager then turned to the Mover-and-Shaker. "How about you? Is yours alright?" The Mover-and-Shaker had a look of surprise and anxiety, but soon answered. "No thanks!" She said as a quick and nervous response. The Micromanager leaned forward with her arms on the table and a hand resting on her face. "I know you two must be nervous... You're both new hires, but I'm determined to help guide you through this company!" The two disguised Toons looked at each other, confused; It wasn't too long ago that they were fighting this one very Cog, albeit without their disguises on. Of course, they were never going to see this side of her as Toons, but it still surprised them that she acted so caringly for those she saw as new or lower. "Of course, that's why I thought it would be a great idea to bring you two to the Banquet! You'll get to socialize and learn about everything that goes on here." "Socialize..." the Robber Baron mumbled. "Of course, of course..." the Mover-and-Shaker said, too confused to do anything else.

While this would technically be "gathering intel", it wasn't the ideal place and event to do so. This wasn't their first time in the disguises, but they hardly understood what the norms of Cogs even were. Of course, they existed, and they seemed fundamentally different from Toons, but the details... they never bothered with the details, actually. It's as if they landed on an alien planet, and had to act quickly and accordingly to something completely new. The fact that the two have been guided by the Micromanager was both a blessing and curse, as well; They could learn some of the norms from her, but if they messed up she would be the one to see it. The two cats slowly became worried. "You know, Jellyroll, I think we should be more concerned with the toons inside the disguises," the yellow one said. "Hmm... fine. We can't have them being found out, after all." In the Robber Baron and Mover-and-Shaker's earpieces, a voice emerged. "Gator! Sparkle! We're not feeling too confident in your acting skills." The Robber Baron discreetly glanced over to the place she knew the two cats were hiding, and started to tap her finger anxiously. "Of course, it'll be easier to blend in once you get exposed to more suit-uations... but for now, try mimicking what everyone else in the room is doing!" Looking around, the Robber Baron knew everyone was chatting and drinking oil. She knew Jellyroll was kind of insane, but he couldn't be recommending..? A waiter holding more oil cans came by suddenly, preparing to serve more oil cans by taking the two empty ones. "Is everything okay? This one drink hasn't been touched and you've hardly asked for refills," They asked. The Mover-and-Shaker suddenly spoke. "N-no, everything's good! The oil's good!" The waiter nodded and moved on. "I just haven't drank it yet 'cause I want to savour it," she explained to the Micromanager. The other three thought this was a good save, until the Mover-and-Shaker drank some of the oil. She did her best to hold back a look of disgust, and also hold back from throwing up the oil right then and there. The Micromanager noticed something was wrong. "Is everything alright...?" The voice in the earpieces rang out, saying in a forceful whisper, "Sparklezilla, what the HELL did you do?!" She wiped her mouth. "You were right, it's quality stuff.. but... I'm a lightweight it seems," she said, smiling nervously. "Ah!" said the Micromanager. "That makes sense; You're not as strong as your Robber Baron friend, huh?" Gator thought to herself, That made SENSE to her?? She felt somewhat relieved that at least that her friends were somehow both insane but also geniuses.. or Sparklezilla simply got lucky. Either way, their cover wasn't blown, and they seemed to dispel any suspicions once again. The two cats looked on, absolutely baffled. "Bonbon," Jellyroll suddenly said, turning to the yellow cat, "I think next time we'll have to sneak in some soda for those two..."

The rest of the night went as planned, with Gator gathering info about the Cogs. Of course, it was boring, but it was nothing compared to Sparklezilla, who sat there the entire night, sick to her stomach.

[sunny-boooo]

I'm jumping off a bridge. Their backstory is so tragic, I can't.

The fact that even Queenie being in the state she was, Kinger still found humanity in her, the fact that he risked his life knowing she could go crazy and attack him just so he could touch her one last time.

And the fact that Queenie allowed him to do it, the fact that she was able to keep control as a abstracted just so she could feel him. Because she loved him and he loved her back and both of them knew her fate, but in that moment, it was just them, their last moment together so both made it work.

This is such a powerful image I want to hug both of them.

[ionomycin]

your last light

[sillyfroggremlin]

watching/rewatching a show when you already have an established favorite character is great because every time they come on screen it's like

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[monstertidbits]

ryoko kui is hands down the queen of character design

[blanchebees]

Perfect organism

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Tip jar

[hinamie]

happy gojoday to all who celebrate

[eliotbaum]

My Sun 🌤

(Lydia Petrovna from Curse of Strahd and my cleric PC)

[frankenbuggee]

“It would be rather fine to possess such an enduring affection.”

Part 2

[katoobee]

shenanigans with nightmare and co

highly [puntable] imp

[apollos-boyfriend]

they hated him for his low-empathy autism swag

[starii-void]

going to chb must be crazy like imagine sharing a camp with

-one of the strongest demigods ever who's saved the world like at least 3 times, fought multiple gods & titans and WON (and is a tartarus survivor)

-the literal main architect of OLYMPUS who's also saved the world multiple times (also tartarus survivor)

-THE lord of the wild who's also close friends with the first two (and has helped save the world multiple times)

-an emo kid from the 1930s who again helped save the world and is also a tartarus survivor (TWICE)

-a son of apollo who survived tartarus with nothing but cargo shorts and sheer will (pun intended)

-the main designer and builder for the argo II, also the first hephaestus kid to have fire powers since hundreds of years ago (did i mention killed gaea? no? yeah he did that too)

-a girl who somehow charmspeak-ed gaea into falling back asleep (also side note daughter of super famous actor because why not)

-pretty much everybody is a two-time war veteran

-THE GOD APOLLO who just sometimes comes down to visit in the form of a teenage boy

-did i mention dionysus, god of wine madness and theatre

-also chiron, trainer of pretty much every greek hero ever