#also just fhr in general

[witchofthewild]

“There’s a moment there when you look at him, when he doesn’t look at you. A moment when you can let your guard down. Think about what you really want." A redraw of this piece from March, 2020.

[seawardboundsammy]

thank you @autumnfangirler for tagging me!! ive also been listening to my million fh playlists so most of this is from those

Mama Tried by Merle Haggard and The Strangers (#1 ortega song)

Reverse by Minimall (THE anathema song to me)

The Dreams of the Morning by Mischief Brew

Little White Lies by Aurelio Voltaire

Pslams 40:2 by The Mountain Goats (arbor's anthem)

Maneater by Nelly Furtado

Where Is My Bible by Blake Rouse

When I die by Pepper Coyote

Smooth by Santana

Twelve Hands High by The Extra Glenns (this is about getting attacked by a horse. it is on arbor's playlist.)

now people to tag.. @radioactive-mouse @chaotic-solutions and @aurrieattorney if you'd like to?

[antigonick]

honestly, i'm on my third playthrough of FHR and i just found out that there are other names that generate for your villain ??? i don't even know what i did differently enough to generate them. this game is just so nuanced, there are so many tiny differences. genius art exceptional phenomenal the likely cause of me being late to work

Just going to put that here as further publicity.

Read Fallen Hero today, learn to push the boundaries of story-framing and character-writing forever. (Also something something, sprawling plot, gorgeous writing, nuanced exploration of subjectivity and perspective, ground-breaking queer work and literal queer experience made book, among other things.)

Fallen Hero Rebirth (1) here. Fallen Hero Retribution (2) here.

Also! Regarding names, you can type in Heartbreak, Anathema or Sidestep (some of them only available depending on your stats) as your villain name, and then you get flavour text throughout Retribution for those... controversial choices.

[silvery-bluish]

25, 33 and 43 for ars and their guys? 👀

Questions from here!

25. Do they have any pet names for one another?

UNFORTUNATELY Arsinoe actively detests your Standard sweet petnames. dont "sugar" "sweetie" "love" them thats not their name. That being said, "idiot" and "asshole" (affectionate) does get thrown around, which is kind of like petnames, yeah?

"Ars" is a nickname that, for the most part, only Ricardo actually gets to use. If you want to call them a nickname you cant copy someone else's homework. (we get nickname rights bc we dont exist within the fhr universe). Daniel might get to use it, eventually, but he'll have to come at it from a different angle than just Chopping Off The End Of Their Name.

Annd Arsinoe's a "use your whole first name that not many people use as a form of affection", they occasionally call Daniel Danny but they primarily full-name him, and they also primarily call Ricardo, well, Ricardo.

33. Which one of them gives "that look" when they other is acting like a fool?

It's Ars @ Ortega and then Daniel @ Ars-and-Ortega. Arsinoe calls Ricardo an idiot for a no-plan move, and then promptly proposes a plan that makes Daniel go smoking-ben-affleck-meme.

43. Who gets up early? Who stays in bed late?

Earliest to latest riser, in my head, is Daniel -> Ricardo -> Arsinoe. Daniel strikes me as a Terrible Natural Morning Person, and I think Ric is prone to staying in bed longer if someone else is there. Morning cuddles rights. Arsinoe's a night owl with a Generally Terrible sleep schedule. Most likely to accidentally wake up at 2 pm.

[widogasted]

oc vocal mannerisms tagged by @localcryptic let's goooo

this seems like a great time to introduce new fhr followers to my primary sidestep, aisling becker

NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES: [1] / 2 / 3+

(proof not all sidesteps are self inserts)

TONE OF VOICE: high / [average] / deep

nyr voice isn't low per se, but nie speaks in a pretty breathy tone at the back of nyr throat that gives off a deeper Vibe, if that makes sense. alto/tenor if nie could sing.

ACCENT: Yes / [No]

DEMEANOR: confident / shy / [approachable] / [hostile] / other

not like overwhelmingly scary, approachable enough that nie gets approached by a fair few homeless people asking for money/tourists asking for directions, but also definitely not anyone's first choice to talk to. has the energy of always having headphones in and a hoodie up, even though nie never has either of those things.

POSTURE: [slumped] / straight / [stiff] / relaxed

the slumped is somewhat affected in order to get approached less/interpreted as not a threat. when in the relativity suit, nie stands straight and moves with a little more fluidity.

HABITS: [head tilting] / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / [arm crossing] / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / [plays with hair or clothing] / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / [maintains eye contact] / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance

the shirt pullerrrrrr! also was trained Too Well in eye contact.

COMPLEXITY

VOCABULARY: ⬤⬤⬤⬤〇

EMOTION: ⬤⬤〇〇〇

very smart and doesn't mean to show off but it does happen sometimes. types in full sentences and shit

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤

every single member of the rangers has at some point given nym shit for typing "like a robot".

PROFANITY

FREQUENCY: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

CREATIVITY (in regards to profanity): ⬤⬤〇〇〇

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY: arse. ass. asshole. bastard. bitch. bloody. bugger. bollocks. chicken shit. crap. cunt. dick. frick. fuck. horseshit. motherfucker. piss. prick. screw. shit. shitass. son of a bitch. twat. wanker. pussy.

swears a decent amount but generally not in public. mostly. mostly. tends to steer clear of genitalia swears?? idk why. nie just told me. shrug emoji.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? - almost always / frequently / rarely / never

only during meltdowns, which nie makes a point to never have in front of people.

DOES YOUR CHARACTER'S INTENDED POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK? - [almost always] / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

on that telepath shit 78% in subtle manipulations

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / [sometimes] / never.

Ortega Stop Texting Me was a hallmark of nyr run. no. nie's dogshit at maintaining a conversation.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? - [almost always] / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE 'WHOM' IN A SENTENCE? - [yes] / no / only ironically

only when grammatically necessary, or as relativity

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? - [but] / though / although / however / perhaps / mayhaps.

no need to overcomplicate things here

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? - [walk away] / [ask if that's everything] / [say that's everything] / give a proper goodbye / [tell their company they're done here] / remain quiet / they don't.

all things nie's done in canon

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? - upper / [middle] / lower.

nie does a good job trying to make nyr tone and vocabulary shift conversation to conversation enough to keep it unplaceable

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? - accent / vocabulary / tone / [level] / politeness / [brusqueness] / it doesn't.

this being solely to people who know nym

THANKS FOR LETTING ME RAMBLE ABOUT AISLING. ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT AISLING.

(i tag @skysybil!!)

[idlenight]

WIP Whenever

I was tagged by @wonda-fhr, and I originally didn't think I had anything to post, because the only thing I'm working on is a present for a friend, and I'd share that but he follows me here so :P

But I got to thinking, just because I'm not actively working on it doesn't mean I don't have unseen sketches and WIPS laying around. So I went digging and found some treasures to share anyway.

Idk who got tagged already, but I'll be tagging @aurrieattorney, @capricule, and @dorkousloris <3 (AND ALSO YOU 🫵, DEAR READER OF THIS POST)

They're under the cut ->

This one is a proper WIP and something I'm actually planning to finish. It's part of a series of illustrations I was doing for my friends (and myself as well) depicting our MASKS: a New Generation characters as comic covers!

Starbright, aka Leo Ortiz, is my own player character. This piece is imitating my favorite cover from the Radiant Black comics, because the way they visualise the Radiant powers is kind of how I envision Leo's powers as well. :D

These where doodles I made @themelonlad's and my BG3 characters (Donnie and Syleth respectively) based on a conversation we were having about them <3. (Syleth is my durge, and he has never really been hugged before. Donnie is the literal sweetest man in existence).

Lastly I have a not-wip and not-actually-a-doodle. This is just a small thing I did for fun for myself, but I was otherwise not going to share it so I'll post it here :P

[rangerdoubt]

(holy shit, just make a fallen hero sideblog already—)

done.

hello! i’m auden, 22! any pronouns! i follow from @euelios. screaming my lungs out about the FHR series at any given moment.

this also works as a generic inspo blog for any number of other interactive fiction works/general media/word things. so yk. woe, blorbos be upon ye.

there’s not a lot of nsfw stuff on this blog but it IS there. you’ve been warned.

[steamishot]

pre-bday week

for my birthday this year, we stayed at the equinox hotel for two nights. one night was booked via expedia and the other was using the FHR on amex. this was my favorite hotel stay to date. everything at the equinox gym was so impressive, with the latest equipment, the classes that are offered throughout the day. the hotel room in the first night had a see through shower. the hotel has the best shampoo/conditioner/lotion, nice hooded robes, black out curtains so we had a movie night theater experience watching princess and the frog (to recap on our NOLA trip). we took 4 classes total: restorative yoga, precision run, cycling, and hot yoga. we showered twice a day and UTILIZED their fancy grown alchemist items. the views were incredible. we got to use the barrel saunas that had a direct view to the vessel and hudson river. hudson yards/the vessel in the night time with the winter decorations and lightings was totally a sight. 

the restaurant where we had $100 credit and an included breakfast was also impressive. the whole hotel centers around health and wellness which i vibe with. the food was tasty yet healthy and fresh. we did uber eats twice during our stay - one thai food and one vietnamese food. they gave us fancy water bottles with a higher pH level for workouts. the equinox teas (”power up”, “power down”, “regenerate” i.e. all centered around workouts) were also very impressive and good tasting. out of curiosity, we inquired about the pricing of the clubs. because we mentioned that we were newly considering equinox membership (on that day) she tried to rip us off in retrospect. the price she quote us was $350/mo for access to all clubs, which was with employer discount, and she asked us twice if we wanted to sign up. hell nooo.

we decided to stay there once again during valentines day weekend for one night (just because the price is the lowest from what we researched). the next time we go, we have more of a game plan how to best manage our time. as it is the most expensive hotel that we’ve ever stayed in to date, we had to find ways to justify the price haha. we termed the equinox hotel our “theme park” of choice. it’s like going to disneyland for us. we are again using amex FHR perk for this upcoming stay, so to be fair, the price upfront is basically all-inclusive (i.e. all our activities and food would be covered).

post equinox, we ate at semma - the fanciest/best indian food “pre-bday” dinner and the best prawns i’ve had

therapy: this week, matt had his first two therapy sessions (each from a different provider). after the first session, he noted that he felt calm and that it was nice to have a space to talk and reflect. the second session which was the day afterwards was a bit rushed due to his schedule and overload in general. that same night, we had our first couples counseling session. the next day, i had my first initial therapy session call. 

the equinox/staying in town and relaxing really benefitted matt and his GAD, but i hope that therapy will help him too. the initial call was only an assessment and the person he spoke to will not be his long-term therapist. i was lucky to match with a therapist (who reminds me of luisa from encanto) that i find empowering and helpful. 

i talked to her about my struggles of being a partner to someone with a demanding healthcare career and subsequently who suffers from anxiety and OCD. i described having the “burden” of carrying on his emotions. she reminded me to be mindful of what words i am using to ascribe to things. instead of calling it a burden, i have to be aware of my own agency that i choose to take action because my partner’s wellbeing is important to me; i do these things for me because i care about him and i want our relationship to thrive. when i use the word burden, it expands resentment and turns into annoyance and a short temper. 

definition of happiness from my therapist: happiness is being content and joyful most of the day, more days than not. it is not all the time. life is not always joyful. what we can control is our mindsets and actions to reap the most positive emotions and “shorten the loop” when we catch ourselves in cognitive distortions or negativity. 

welp, that concludes this week of wellness and therapy! 

[impossible-rat-babies]

👏🏻 fluffy! 👏🏻 chargestep! 👏🏻 forehead kisses + making breakfast

Aw heck yeah I can do that Vi! :D

chargestep (nb!sidestep + m!ortega) | retribution era | fluff!

–

Feet dangling off of the stool, swaying back and forth, toes touching the cabinet and bouncing back off, a steady thump thump thump along to the TV idly droning in the living room. Head bobbing down for the fifth time and Pollux puts his chin in his hand, eyes still closed. A curl hangs down between his eyes and moving it’s too much work. Picking up and drinking the coffee set in front him is also too much work even if it does smell absolutely wonderful. The whole kitchen smells fantastic, Ricardo busy at the stove, putting far too much work into anything this early in the morning. He would certainly call it slaving over breakfast while Pollux would call it fun to watch.

“Pollux?”

“Hmmmmmm?” He lifts his head from his chin, squinting through blurry eyes at Ricardo. He half smiles when he hears the sigh and it only gets bigger when Ricardo leans over the counter to get closer

“Pollux…” He says quietly and Pollux snickers, still looking at him through half open eyes. This close and Pollux picks out the subtle shadow of how Ricardo hasn’t shaved yet today, the warm look in his brown eyes, sunshine from the windows lighting messy hair aglow.

“You said you were making me breakfast….” He mumbles and Ricardo rolls his eyes.

“I did, but that doesn’t mean falling asleep at the table.” He teases and Pollux blows a raspberry.

“I’m sitting at your kitchen bar, but I can relocate to your comfortable couch if that is more your style.” Pollux teases back and Ricardo snickers this time. “Spill my coffee on your nice couch.” He adds and he can’t tell if the wince is fake or real.

“Mierda, you are insufferable.” Ricardo clicks his tongue and Pollux snorts, hand falling from his chin to fuss with his coffee. The creamer is already there beside the cup along with the sugar too. He’s spoiling him at this rate, setting it all out for him

“It’s 9am Ricardo…” Pollux laments, stirring the sugar and cream, taking a long sip even if it does burn his tongue. It’s the good kind, the stuff Pollux doesn’t bother to buy because it isn’t about the flavor–it’s the caffeine. But he can take time to appreciate good coffee.

“A perfectly decent time to wake up and eat breakfast.”

“And then go back to bed.” Pollux gestures with his coffee. “Since when did you get so good at this adult stuff? The keep a normal schedule stuff, making breakfast at a reasonable time.” He takes another sip and Ricardo chuckles, grabbing a few plates.

He doesn’t say what they’re both thinking, why he grew up, why he changed so much. The reason why he asks and thanks him, says the things he needs to say even when Pollux won’t say it back. Its the reason behind so many of the gaps and chasms between them, parts of their lives they’re trying to knit back together—build bridges instead of burning them for once. It’s harder to lay bricks than to light a fuse.

“Since I’m getting old.” He grumbles.

“Got that part right.” Pollux snaps with a finger gun, ketchup and hot sauce put in front of him--because it wouldn’t be breakfast without them--along with a plate. He doesn’t know how he’ll go back to having to get up to get his own food and condiments again.

“Hey,” Ricardo wipes his hands off as he walks around the counter and Pollux pauses garnishing his food, spinning the stool around to face him. “I’m not too old for you to like my smug ass.”

A terrible snort follows that dissolves into laughter and Pollux is smiling. The whole crooked lips and tooth gap, cheeks almost round enough to convince him that he the bags under his eyes aren’t the worst Ricardo has ever seen them, or that he hasn’t seen him smile in far too long.

“Oh woe is me.” Pollux shakes his head and takes Ricardo’s hands in his, his fingers always cold. Cold versus warm, blue to orange, the sun to the moon, dichotomies clearly painted between them. A chasm miles and miles apart, but it’s mending with each smile, every second Pollux stays and doesn’t run away, quiet admissions of the truth. How he takes his hand instead, fingers knitting together, forehead to forehead, lips sharing the same air.

“Thank you.”

He’s getting better at saying that and Ricardo smiles, kissing his forehead, lips trailing to his cheeks and finally his lips. Almost sweet enough to hurt his teeth and oh Pollux has got it bad.

Had it bad since too many days ago, too many months too count, a lifetime ago when they played heroes complete with masks of grey and electric blue. When the script was different, when it was too hard to say soft words, too hard to admit it all until it was almost lost in broken bodies and broken glass

Now Ricardo can’t say it enough and Pollux didn’t know how much he ached to hear all the sweet little nothings. Everything implied now exposed—vulnerable in their hands. Pollux’s hands weren’t made to hold soft things, precious things. But here he is, stealing glances at Ricardo as they eat in the quiet, TV still droning on the background. He could almost call it comfortable, almost say it feels like it was before, but it isn’t. It tastes different, sits different in his skin and its good. It feels good.

“Hey Lover boy?” His voice is softer than he means and he doesn’t curse it, looking over at him with a smile on his face.

“Hmm?” Ricardo glances back at him, brow cocked and still chewing.

“You make good breakfast.”

[dare-g]

Work doodles

[asexual-levia-tan]

oh wait now i know why they were so mad about the reveal--

[lazyvoyager]

hello lazy, hoping you are having a great week! really looking forward to your comic project!!! (and your art in general tbh). i wanted to tell you that i bought fhr to enjoy your art in context XD. Thank you so much for your lovely art! *also sending kisses and candy to levi*

I am having a pretty great week, thanks! I’m having a lot of fun working on this comic thing, but boy, I am not used to working on something for an extended time.😂 It’s only five pages but my attention span just isn’t great at handling things that take more than a few hours lol.

I hope you enjoy the game! Obviously, I do, and I love sharing this obsession with whoever I can.🤣✨ Also, you are the second person to gift Levi candy, and at this rate he’s gonna have a bunch of old candy in all his jacket pockets.

[sixleggedboar]

The original template going around back in the day did not seem to be available anymore so I made my own. I will ramble a bit about him below the cut.

I guess a content warning for discussions of bad mental health and slight nsfw talking points

Preamble

So, first off, since retribution is not officially out yet and I played the version from 2019 back then, my memories of it besides some basics are nearly non-existent, in general I feel like I still lack a lot of information regarding the worldbuilding etc. I always feel insecure writing about stuff that will probably be inaccurate etc. In general I am not really a writer. But thoughts have been keeping me up at night so it might be good to let them out. Also it is New Years eve, I am alone with a panicking dog next to me, what better way to spend my time. Happy New Year!

Second, Elvis has been a preexisting character of mine that I just take with me into every fandom and adapt him to it, there is an endless amount of AU‘s of him and he ends up being pretty different in all of them. Let me call it the Elvis Multiverse now that I think of it. (I cringed a bit at that). The one change I feel like putting here is that he usually is very very tall, this time tho I made him small for funsies. (5‘5/1,65m)

Overall I don‘t know how much stuff here is unique to him or just a general Sidestep thing. I am very confused.

General

Anyways, the themes I mostly explore with him in FHR evolve around identity, figuring out yourself and who you truly are, becoming the ultimate version of yourself and working towards that. Especially with telepathy as a superpower making it really difficult to not lose yourself in everyone around you. The closest thing he comes to being himself at this point in time is when he dances (not that he is consciously aware of that), its his truest and most raw form of self expression, kind of the only one he allows himself, and this is insanely precious to him. An uncorrupted, untouched part not to be shared with anybody (besides the rat king at some point). He never learned how to properly dance, he has no intention to do so, it is not about being good at it or looking cool but about being close to yourself and feeling your body and the music.

Also as a sidenote, sex-wise he would probably enjoy the “experiencing sex telepathically connected with my partner” type the most since sexual activities usually does not do anything for him.

Sidestep

Throughout his life he is keeping himself on a short leash, in this time specifically focusing on the person he wants to be, or more likely the person he wishes he was. Creating a facade and following the role of a kind and likeable dumbass to his perfection (actually putting a big emphasis on individuality). If he did a mistake, in his eyes, breaking out of this persona, it would be met with intense guilt, intrusive thoughts, self destructive behaviour. Originally his smoking was mostly picked up as part of this aesthetic he had created for himself. His past? His origin? non-existent. Who is she? Does not get touched.

Which is why the risk of getting close to people is too big. He certainly copes a lot with humour and sarcasm keeping everyone at arms length, and actual bonding moments are kept to fights with the rangers. But as much as he uses every ounce of self control to monitor everything he is doing he cannot control how he feels. And he cannot control Ortega. Leading to his first crush being a secret and buried beneath everything else.

Besides all of this he was well integrated, looking out for them whilst they were doing the same for him. He truly cared.

Rebirth

Well, he can‘t run forever. But he certainly can isolate himself. His head is shaved now for two reasons. One being of course the callback to his time at the farm, he has become his past again and is now in an active confrontation and reconciliation with it, kind of the opposite of his sidestep days. But besides that it is also a form of ridding himself of any individuality his previous mask had valued so much. (Also practicality, but that is boring, right?)

The short leash is of course still in place but this time less in regards to his environment and more focused on his goal, his core motivator being truth. Everything outside of that gets a very low priority and does not matter ending in him neglecting himself a lot. He smokes more than he eats (please someone make him eat more) and he doesn‘t really get to dance much either with the physical problems that come with bad sleeping and food/hydration habits.

And then Ortega comes, forcing Elvis out of his self-inflicted isolation. Elvis however does not bother keeping the sidestep version of him alive, being a lot more hostile towards him and the rangers to now actively not let them close. His feelings for Ortega are still there tho, despite them being very muted. He avoids casualties as much as he can, whilst still bathing in the power he gains from his armor and development of his telepathic skills with enjoyment. After his outing as puppetmaster he visits Ortega in the hospital, breaking this new developed persona with a peck on Ortega’s forehead. Knowing how fucked up the whole situation is and feeling like shit because of it. Stuff is complicated.

In all of this, the rat king has become an active and unexpected source of comfort and partnership.

Eden (puppet)

Eden is his form of escapism, and actually actively letting that leash lose. Despite knowing fully well that he shouldn’t take certain risks, they might bite him in the ass at some point. Eden’s hobby is boxing. With her he fully indulges into stuff and people may it be people like Ortega, Dr. Mortum or just a bit of normalcy and everyday life. Despite that he takes no one to the museums opening. Not wanting to actively involve them more into it than they already are. Eden is still waiting on that dinner date.

Elvis himself is very gender apathetic hence the He/They and why he is so comfortable inside Eden’s skin. (Besides, at this point, every skin is better than his own.)

Below is a quick sketch of her. She is 5’9/1,75m.

I am pretty sure I forgot a lot of stuff that I wanted to mention but I should really go to sleep now.

[antisocialxconstruct]

Would you consider answering the Six Secrets List for Maksim? If it's not too much to ask?

[”Six Secrets” list]

Listen I will never turn down a chance to lore-dump about my OCs are you kidding? You're probably thinking FHR but I'm still deep in SR Brain Rot so...... I'll do both >:3

Fallen Hero:

An open secret: Maksim is extremely antisocial. His default attitude toward people as a general concept is resentment at having to associate with them, and they have to be upgraded from that to at least "begrudging respect" on an individual basis. It's not a secret secret in the sense that he's not actively trying to hide it, but he'd make a halfhearted effort to deny it if asked because he recognizes that it's not a Correct Human Attitude™ and doesn't want to navigate the debate that would come from admitting it.

A secret people close to him know: That he's transmasc. Ricardo and Chen know because he transitioned during his vigilante days, but I doubt Argent or Danny do because I can't imagine either of the former being the type to out him without his consent, and he certainly doesn't trust them enough to tell them. He'd probably tell Mortum at some point once they were interacting face to face, especially because she makes enough oblique comments herself that he'd start to suspect she would Understand.

A secret he wouldn't care if it got out: He likes to cook! He's not super exceptionally skilled or anything which is why he doesn't see the point in advertising it (not worth bragging about), but he's also not embarrassed or self-conscious about it or anything so it's really more of an "it just never came up :/" kind of secret.

A secret exactly one person knows: That his accent is an affect 😬 His whole constructed backstory hinges on the fact that no one thinks he has any family in America, and if he ever slipped up it would obviously lead to, at best, some very awkward conversations about why he would fake that. The only person who knows is Mortum, and that's only because she also knows he's a re-gene and the Farm is in Nevada.

A secret he sort of wants to come out: his villain identity... Obviously he knows why it can't get out, at least not yet, but that doesn't change the fact that sitting on the secret is incredibly frustrating when he views it as so intrinsic to his identity and proof of his independence. Pretending to be a burned-out nobody feels demeaning because he knows who he really is: someone with power and money and influence who deserves to be respected. But he's not allowed to demand that respect because all he'd get is an execution >:/

A secret no one knows and no one ever can: How much being half-blind actually stresses him out. He's not exactly hiding that 100% successfully considering how jumpy he gets around Ricardo, but out in public he obviously has to hide the fact that he's got his telepathic senses dialed up to offset his reduced vision, which gets draining quickly, and around the Rangers he's got to pretend he doesn't even have those powers anymore while also not dropping his guard so much that he feels unsafe. No matter what it's a balancing act that takes up more of his mental energy than he'd like to admit, and he hates that that makes him vulnerable in more ways than one.

Shadowrun:

An open secret: Honestly same as above lmao that's just his fundamental personality

A secret people close to him know: The real circumstances around the failed run that prompted him to leave New York. The fact that there was a failed run is also sort of an open secret, and the fact that he was (ostensibly) the one at fault gets around sometimes much to his annoyance, but the actual gritty details of how he was possessed and how traumatic it was are strictly reserved for people who have earned a certain level of trust, of which there are very few. (Probably also still that he's trans but in this case he's been stealth since he was a teen)

A secret he wouldn't care if it got out: That he was in spetsnaz training for four years in Russia. For the most part he doesn't actively bring up his military history but he also kind of can't help the fact that some people pick up on it because he still tends to carry himself like a soldier. He doesn't really like to talk about it but he's not overly concerned with people knowing the basic fact that it happened.

A secret exactly one person knows: That all the cybernetic enhancements were just a coping method. After The Incident in NYC only one of his surviving team members, Strikeout, actually stayed in close contact with him until he left, so ze was the one who watched him work through the trauma and eventually resolve that shredding his essence was the only way he'd feel safe again. When ze couldn't reason him out of it ze at least agreed to keep it between them.

A secret he sort of wants to come out: That he's being hunted and it scares him :( Somebody wants him punished for that NYC run and he doesn't know who or why, all he knows is that they're following his movements way too closely. The idea of admitting he might be in over his head makes him sick but at the same time he knows he's probably going to need skills or resources he doesn't have if he wants to survive, which means he needs to find someone he can trust enough to bring into the situation.

A secret no one knows and no one ever can: How much he actually regrets crippling his telepathic abilities. He still believes it was the right move because that magic was the weak point that let something get into his head, but he relied pretty heavily on it and he's acutely aware that he sacrificed something unique that gave him a huge advantage over other people. By now he's adjusted pretty well, but there's still that nagging voice in the back of his mind saying he never should have had to.

[silvery-bluish]

Follow up for @m3k-fhr as a reblog cuz this got long— Arsinoe is uh. Attached to an increasing number of people, over the course of Retri. They also don’t tend to… remove people from the list of Their People? It’d take a betrayal of astronomical proportions, and they haven’t. Hit that with any of them, actually. Death doesn’t take someone off the list. Life is so short and love is so long etc and Arsinoe has never put a single thing down in their life.

Anathema, always. Ortega for almost as long. Old teammates from the pre-sidestep days, probably. Galen, their puppet, because they’re Extremely Normal about him (a lie). Mortum, through the filter of Galen— he’s Galen’s friend but they still like him. Rosie in the same way. Chen was half on the list already because something about “the best friend of my friend who hates me” still kinda felt steady, y’know? They could trust Chen to have Ricardo’s back and not like them, that was teamwork enough. And then they accidentally actually became friends in Retri.

Daniel got added to the list very abruptly in Retri in large bold text with a big ??!??!!???! after his name and they’re stressed about it.

Argent Isn’t quite on the list yet because she. Confuses them. And they’ve had uuuh not many positive interactions with her, sorry Angie. Maybe in book 3.

They’re actually reeeally not that selective about who they end up caring about with the circle of people they interact with regularly so this is almost just a list of all the named characters in FH 😆 but. They really do trend towards Specific attachment and care more than General care about people. Strangers don’t particularly matter.

hai! 5,11,15,16 for ars 💫

Questions from here!

Thank you for the ask :) always love getting to ramble abt my guy.

5. what is their zodiac sign?

Their birthday is uuuuh the day they first visited Rangers HQ and told Themmy and Ricardo the name they picked for themself, a year or so into knowing the two of them, which I have semi-arbitrarily placed on October 9th. They don't care about days anyone else picked for them. So... libra, I suppose?

11. are they more self-serving or more focused on others’ needs?

They're focused on... specific people's needs? Their people, the in-group over the out-group always. Selfish tilt to the justice motivation and all for them. Arsinoe prioritizes the needs of THEIR people over their own needs always, which uuuh doesn't always include the people in question's preferences. Beating up Ortega a little bit at the gala is fine, they're trying to do something that'll be better for him in the end probably. But everybody else only factors in as an abstract, really, a sort of. Vague 'oh yeah they also exist' that Arsinoe doesn't factor in on a personal level.

15. what is their greatest flaw?

answered here!

16. what is their best virtue?

answered here!

[amlovelies]

feel free to ignore this or to only do some haha but i'm curious about 🌌 for all of them 🙈

oh goodness pd you're making me work today aren't you?

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

answers under the cut since there will be a lot of them 😊

dinah(twc)- answered here

emma(twc)- I wanted a scaredy cat detective. someone who would hide when there was danger and was really just too soft for the world she's been pulled into. I also wanted to romance Nat and I thought her overprotective streak would pair well with a more anxious detective. and I wanted her to have a cleft chin! that was very important to me

kira(twc)-when I first started playing ifs I was making a different oc for every ro and as a result they weren't always very distinct from each other personality wise. kira was pretty much just another dinah to try on adam's solo route. she's developed more and become more distinct since then though.

Riley(twc)-I was inspired by samira wiley who I think is just so beautiful. riley is one of my few ocs who actually has a face claim. I did want her to also have glasses and be plus sized but with similar facial features to samira

cynthia(fhr)- my friend cristal was a big inspiration for how cynthia looks! cynthia didn't really come to life until after I'd played rebirth a few times and finally played the retribution demo. the braid scene destroyed me and just gave me such bad brain rot. so basically the first thing I decided about cynthia is that she is so very in love with julia (I mean aren't we all at this point?)

vesper(fhr)- answered here

curtis(fhr)- my inspiration for curtis was to make a step who used humor a lot to deflect. one who doesn't take anything too seriously. I was planning on setting up for the chen/ortega throuple but it just didn't really vibe. I was really stuck on curtis for while I couldn't really figure him out. I knew I wanted humor to be a part of his whole things and for him to choose sidestep as a villain name because I hadn't tried that yet. it took a long time to come together but I absolutely love how he has developed

Romi(fhr)- okay so this one is a little embarrassing. the original plan was for romi to have a secret crush with julia. lots of pining and that whole queer expereince of being in love with your best friend but it taking a long time to figure that out and then being afraid of ruining things. anyways the first thing I choose was her name which is a play off of romeo to go with julia/juliet. but then I chose the wrong thing and ended up with ricardo 🤷‍♀️

James(fhr)- I created james when I was having a hard time connecting to romi. the first thing I decided was that I wanted him to have a mirror image puppet so I could explore that content in the game

Addie(a6)- I was thinking about the music box that the traveler has and decided I wanted to have mine be a dancer so that there was a deeper connection to this one piece that she has from her old life.

Narni(a6)- I needed a mean oc to butt heads with cal and damien. first thing I decided was that I wanted them to have like purple skin because purple is the best color

Daen(a6)- they aren't super developed tbh. I wanted a human traveler since I had the other races. I wanted him to be a jokester, generally good natured and always down for a good time

jay nordsen(tnp)- answered here

lark barrow(greenwarden)- first thing I decided was that they would have a shaved head because at the time I really wanted to shave my head and could do so vicariously through an if

sozan(atoc)- I'd already played through what was available of atoc at the time so I was thinking what sort of character would be interesting/how I could see a person reacting to what we knew of the story so far. I wanted her to be a survivor more than anything else. they've spent most of their life on the run which has made them blunt and a little rough around the edges.

bernie wiseman(mindblind)- I heard about sally's route and knew I had to play it. bernie is super underdeveloped. first thing I decided about her was probably her name bernadette and nickname bernie because I thought it would be super cutere

bethany blake (body count)-I needed to romance charlie. honestly the first thing I decided about her was the she would be anxious and probably so ill cut out to go on a reality show

kenna of shadows end- no real inspiration beside wanting to try out manerkol's romance route. first thing I decided was that she would be plus sized and have a roman nose

molly lucas- the main thing I knew I wanted with molly was for her to hold out for the step 4 love confession. because god it's glorious. just as much slow burn as I could possibly get out of the game

aiden- the newest baby! I was inspired to finally create an oc for the exile after reading the chapter 4 update (I knew I would eventually it was just a matter of when the brain rot would hit) he's a pheonix and I wanted to do something a little different with his appearance than the red hair to represent flames so instead I went with grey like ash as if the mythosi blood has burned him away reduced him to ashes which feels very fitting seeing how we are introduced to the commander. I also knew he was going to be in love with sabir because how could you not be?

anwyn- first thing I decided was that she would be a bitch. that was the main inspiration lmao. also came up with some tragic backstory stuff. honeslty like her name and class were among the last things I actually thought of.

okay I'm exhausted now and am going to go take a nap

oc emoji asks