#amnesiac nix

[choccy-zefirka]

The sky is a bowl of swirling tinted water. The little droplet of blue ink that was eye-dropped into the rich streaks of orange and peach, somewhere far at the horizon, has now begun to spread. By the minute, it grows more saturated, more condensed. The vibrant mix of sunset paints is now velvety dark, all the more so in contrast with the first shimmer of the stars.

Kenyatta — carelessly sprawled in an armchair with her legs dangling over one of the arm rests and a scroll with diagrams of sick peki symptoms in her lap — could really use a lamp to make out all the little details of plumage falling out. But the truth is, she stopped reading quite a while ago.

"Huh, the night sky hasn't been this clear in days," she notes, pulling out the pencil she’s been lazily chewing and pointing at the window.

Chayne glances away from the tea he's been brewing for himself and his apprentice, and smiles softly.

"I did not know you had an eye for such things. It warms my heart when people stop and contemplate the beauty of everything Maji has given us."

Kenyatta blows her hair out of her face.

"Well, of course I have an eye for such things! Like, my brilliant strategy for sneaking out to see Nai'o is gonna be completely different in different weather! But anyways — "

She re-contorts herself into a more... conventional sitting position, and stares straight at Chayne.

"I am not just making fancy small talk. The sky is clear, which means you can go off and do your stargazing schtick."

Chayne shakes his head in fond amusement.

"A little ruse to cut tonight's lesson short, I see. I cannot blame you. It is getting rather late, and I know you have less patience for reading theory than for healing real animals."

"Oh for the Dragon's sake, old man!"

Kenyatta protests so loudly that Chayne nearly smashes his poor little teapot.

As he frantically clutches it in his clumsy oven-mitted hands, she goes on, arms dramatically up in the air.

"You promised you-know-who you'd stargaze with her! Heard that with my own ears!"

Thankfully, the teapot is safely back on its tray, among the teacups and stacks of round little cakes. Because this time, Chayne would surely have dropped it to the floor.

You-know-who. She means Phoebe. Of course she means Phoebe.

Phoebe Nix — the name given to the disoriented, amnesiac stranger by Jina, as a bit of wordplay. For it sounds a lot like Phoenix, and she is the Phoenix's child. One of the many warm-skinned, round-eared puzzle pieces — not unwelcome, yet still strange — that came pouring out of the old human ruins that one fateful day, forming a picture of a new future that is still incomplete. One of many, but somehow, standing out to Chayne in particular. Eyes sharp and clever, messy ponytail dyed into the splendor of sunset; always on the move, always exploring, always so full of eager questions, and so excited to help whichever Kilima resident she runs into.

Day after day, he's found himself smiling at her... First during their conversations, at the shrine to Maji or in his humble home or along his daily route through the village. Then, at the very first sight of her racing up to him through the swaying grass, waving, flushed with the strain of exercise (what else could it be?), bright orange leaves caught in her hair like a glittering crown... And then, at the mere hint of soft silvery smoke rising over the hills, from where the humans have started making a home for themselves. Because that must mean she is home, she is here, safe and sound, not hopping from cliff to cliff on her glider (Chayne knows she always sticks a landing, he knows she had plenty of practice before taking to the sky; he truly does; but the first time he saw her vault across that spinning blue, higher than the windmill wings, his heart nearly burst through his robe).

Maji alone can tell what his face must have looked like as his thoughts tumbled down this chapaa hole. All he is aware of, is the intense heat pooling all over his cheekbones and biting at his ear tips. Next, very suddenly and very acutely, he also becomes aware of Kenyatta. Still staring at him. Expectant.

"Well? You can see the stars bright and clear tonight, and our lesson is just about over — you're out of excuses this time around. Just visit that human already!"

"Surely, she is busy," Chayne mumbles weakly.

That is always his last resort, as far as excuses go — now that bad weather and his duties are off the table.

She is busy; she has to be! There are always so many people who want her to rush off to see them, to lend a hand. From Zeki with his... savvy business plans, to Badruu with his farm troubles, to Elouisa with her cryptid sightings, to fellow humans with their ceaseless hunt for new Flow groves. Surely, Phoebe will have no time to entertain a foolish old priest, who only suggested watching the night sky together because he'd been holding her gaze for too long, and the ache that had sprung up somewhere between his heart and his stomach had gotten too strong, too sharp and, paradoxically, too sweet... And then his tongue slipped.

He would never fathom that Phoebe might actually take him up on the offer. He would never dare be so presumptuous. Hers is to discover this new world she awoke in; his is to give her guidance along the way, as a good Shepp should. Never straying from his duty. Never doing anything selfish.

"Ugh, why are you like this!" Kenyatta groans. "You can't keep letting us down!"

Chayne blinks, fumbles his way out of his mitts, and takes off his (slightly cloudy) glasses to wipe them off — so confused that the image of Phoebe, hovering among puffs of pink in his mind's eye, pops out of existence like a carnival balloon punctured by a Grimalkin claw.

"Us?" he echoes, barely aware of how he's hoisted his glasses back on his nose. "Who is 'us'?"

"Oh, you know!" Kenyatta shoves the pencil behind her ear and begins curling her fingers to count off names. "Me, Jel, Tish, Reth, Zeki sometimes... Nai'o is also there, and Auni always tries to poke his head into our business, but we don't let him 'cause he's too young to get it..."

"Get what?"

"The thing you and Phoebe have going on! Obviously!"

Kenyatta rolls her eyes. Another teacher might have scolded his apprentice for such an overly familiar demeanor, but Chayne is too petrified — and every word she says next only makes his stupor worse.

"I think Tish was first to notice the way she looked at you when you weren't watching, and the way you looked at her when she wasn't. Tish told Jel, who was obviously over the moons with the..."

She ruffles her hair and comically changes the pitch of her voice, obviously miming Kilima's melancholy tailor.

"The romance of it all!"

Her voice returns to normal, and she crosses her legs, tapping one foot on the floor.

"And now, here we are. Gathering at the reading hall now and then. Watching. Waiting for either one of you to make a move. Zeki wanted to egg us into betting on who cracks first... Ugh, I sounded like Nai'o's old man back there..." Kenyatta huffs, making about a quarter of an effort to show disdain.

"But Caleri said no gambling at the library; and good thing too, cause as your apprentice, I would have been, like, honor-bound to bet on you or whatever, and I don't like losing. Unless — "

The taps grow faster, more impatient — the only thing punctuating the heavy silence that has fallen over Chayne's living room.

Maji preserve him, what has he stepped into?! Of course, this is all a terrible, terrible misunderstanding. A group of gossiping youths, restless in the sleepy quiet of their village, seeing storybook intrigue where there is none. That is normal; nothing to be outraged about. He just wishes he did not give reason for their imagination to run wild, with his... his foolishness.

Chayne's heart plummets; for a moment, he feels light-headed, feeble almost. Oh no. Oh no no. If Tish and the others saw his air-brained gawking and read too much into it, could Phoebe have also done the same? Great Dragon above, what would she think of him? It is bad enough he once asked her to run errands for him, when they both have their commitments to the village!

That... outlandish notion Jel came up with is not exactly forbidden for Majiri priests, but... Chayne cannot... must not, ever, be allowed to even consider that! That would be asking for too much, far, far too much! Phoebe cannot be led to believe… to realize… he actually wants that!

"Perhaps, " he mutters out loud, not really addressing Kenyatta. Her ears perk up nonetheless.

"Perhaps I should clear the air with Phoebe. Explain that I cherish her friendship and — "

"Yes! Finally! Progress!"

She leaps out of the armchair and nigh drags him to the front door, like she's a feisty ormuu and he's a heavy, clunky plow.

"Go on, you old muujin! Get that human! Don't worry, I will clean up!"

"I am not — "

He tries to object, but the door of his own house slams in his face, and he is left alone with the cold night breeze that soothes his burning flush, but only for a few moments.

No choice left but head for Phoebe's, then.

He has been to her house a couple of times before. Once, he rushed here with an unseen iron wire cutting into his spine and discomfort squirming in his stomach. Nothing makes him feel worse than conflict. He came to apologize for being short with Phoebe, when she told him she'd asked for help on his behalf, when he had expressly begged her not to (after all, he was imposing too much on the community already by letting his moon observations distract him from his work). One look on her face, one smile of forgiveness, was enough to put him at ease.

"Getting help is not a failure, you know," she told him, and while he is still uncertain if he's... allowed to believe this, that moment still glows within his memory, like a Crystal Lake lotus, delicately plucked and put on display. Because she took his hand into hers.

And then there was that night — or, well, very early morning; he remembers the faint green tint in the sky, the first inklings of dawn — when he walked her back from her Acceptance Ceremony. It had been a wonderful, heartwarming occasion, with fireworks and festive wreaths, mouthwatering food, and, of course, a generous flow of drinks — for which Phoebe had all the enthusiasm of Sifuu, but none of her tolerance. She clung on to him all the way from the Mayor's mansion, erupting into the sweetest giggles whenever she almost sent them both tumbling to the ground, and gushing on and on about what an incredible Shepp he was, and how perfectly handsome. Chayne himself had... imbibed somewhat, mostly to be polite and to show appreciation for all the hard work his dear friend Ashura had put into the preparations. At the time, Phoebe's slurred praises went to his head, and he almost accepted them as more than silly ramblings. He almost believed that she meant it when she blurted out, "You have such a beauuuuutiful, kind smile, and your nose is so lovely! I'd boop it over and over if I... hic!... could!"

Now, of course, he knows better. She remembered none of this when she woke up, and he had best forget it as well.

Now. Here comes the final bend along the path, and the familiar rickety gate. And beyond, is his destination. Oddly recognizable in how… unrecognizable it is.

Each time he stepped foot on Phoebe's little land plot, her house looked entirely different. And so it does tonight as well. The cluster of ever-branching, asymmetrical wings — bristling with scaffolding, and far more maze-like than most of the other human residences he has seen — is constantly being reshaped, renovated, and rebuilt anew. It seems that, whenever Phoebe is not mingling with the Majiri or with her own people, she is always neck-deep in some elaborate construction project. And if not that, then digging around in her garden, which also expands and changes with each new visit.

She is doing that just now, it seems: Chayne spots her as he hovers tentatively behind her fence, and the corners of his lips move up, without fail, like they always do, the instant he makes out her silhouette. She is digging a narrow groove in the ground, leading towards the dark, rustling silhouettes of her apple trees... The first inklings of an irrigation system, perhaps?

She's brought along an oil lamp to see by, securing it in the metal jaws of one of the several clockwork chapaa that dot her front lawn. Its glow falls upon her like a cloak of gold, allowing Chayne to, dare he say (he shouldn’t) bask in the sight of her, from muddied overalls to unruly hair… Until that sweet ache blooms within him once again.

"It is rather late for gardening… Are you certain it is safe?"

He scarcely hears his own voice — for him, there is only her abrupt exclamation of surprise, and then the sound of his name, bouncing joyfully off her lips.

"Chayne! You remembered! I was wondering if you'd ever come by!"

"I wanted to — "

Wanted to make certain I am not acting untoward, he plans to say. Or something along those lines. Something that befits a wise spiritual master, a Shepp, a conduit of Maji's light... But in a few leaps, she is beside him, clasping his hand again in her earth-smudged fingers... And then drawing back.

"Sorry. Boundaries. I am a little, uh, sleep-deprived. Been working non-stop on all sorts of things. Experimenting with this and that. But I will..."

She wipes her hands along her pant legs. Again and again, long past cleaning them.

"I will gladly stargaze with you, like I always... Like we planned."

Chayne squints in the bleary mix of starlight and the now distant lamp. Phoebe does look rather more frazzled than usual. It could be the play of light and shadow, but are those... Dark circles under her eyes?

Come to think of it, the last time she came by his shrine, she was frantic, jittery, and did not stop for long.

All the wilting poetic anguish, which Jel would have surely reveled in watching, vanishes from Chayne's mind. He is now a Shepp, first and foremost. And a friend.

"Are you feeling well, child of the Phoenix?" he asks, as tenderly as he can, laying a hand on her shoulder without second thought. "You said you were not getting enough sleep."

"It's nothing, I just want to get so many things done in a day, I — "

She looks up at him, transfixed by something in his eyes... And suddenly lurches forward and buries her head in his robe.

They've never been so close. Not even when she swayed next to him in their drunk embrace. He swears he hears her heart thumping next to his, fast, erratic... Frightened?

"I don't want to lie down and close my eyes. I... I know it makes me sound like a petulant toddler, but..."

Her hands travel up his chest now, clutching at the fabric. Like he is the sole anchor keeping her from drowning.

"The moment I slow down, the moment I'm left in the quiet with my own thoughts... I start panicking. You know how you discovered odd volcanic flashes on the moon? And how my people vanished before? In a huge, devastating disaster? What if..."

Her voice crumples into a tiny, helpless whisper, and Chayne suddenly finds his fingers gliding through the tangled strands of her ponytail. Stroking her head in comfort.

"What if our return is a bad omen? What if we are destined to bring about some terrible doom upon... all of you?"

She tears away from him to look up in his face again.

"I can't bear to imagine it. But the thought haunts me; it comes back, again and again, whenever my hands are not doing something, building or gardening or I don't know what; whenever I am not so dead-tired I just collapse. I..."

Her voice, her lovely, energetic voice, which has always been like a song to Chayne's ears, cracks into a hoarse half-sob.

"I am so sorry. I did not mean to come here. None of us did. I've... I've fallen in love..."

She casts her eyes down and blushes deeply. Humans have such a rich skin tone palette compared to Majiri; she is one of the pale-pink ones, which makes the rush of blood to her face incredibly obvious, even in the night.

"...With Palia... But if whoever sent me here meant for me to be a weapon of its destruction..."

"Phoebe..."

For a while, Chayne has no words left in him, save for her name.

He wraps his arms around her, locking them tight, and holds her until the frenzied drum inside her chest slows down, falling in time with his own heart's rhythm. She is warm and soft, and smells of damp earth and fresh apples, with a sharp tang of paint, from whatever she must have been tinkering with inside her house. He ought to comfort her as a Shepp would, dependable and selfless and wise... But instead, he drinks in her scent until his head spins, and wins the bet Kenyatta never got to make.

The kiss he gives her is almost chaste — an awkward brush of lips against lips. He is rather out of practice for anything more. When was the last time his mouth touched something that was not a relic of Maji, or the forehead of a devout spiritual sibling? Oh, so many years ago, back when he was still a young wanderer, looking for his purpose. But even this small kiss is already scandalous, and the instant their lips part, he's already mentally berating himself. Will Phoebe ever forgive him for this?

She lifts her hand to his face, tracing the outline of first his jaw, then his beard.

"Will you ever forgive me for this, Chayne?" she whispers, through rising tears. "For upsetting the balance in your world, for disturbing your peace..."

"You never did that," he mouths, his own voice beginning to tremble. He takes a few steps away from Phoebe, but only to properly look upon her once again. His hands find hers, and do not let go.

"Your people strengthened our peace; you brought us joy and companionship and new knowledge. The Phoenix has not yet revealed to us why you are here, but I trust in Her will, and in Maji's. I refuse to believe that something that made us all so happy — made me so happy — is a sign of the end times."

She parts her lips to reply... But is abruptly cut off by a deafening clamor that has erupted inside her house. Something, somewhere — another one of her late-night projects? — has collapsed, sounding like two Galdur rolling down a hill, hitting rocks incessantly along the way and perhaps also punching one another.

Phoebe whips her head around.

"I should... Probably check on that," she says.

Chayne sharply inhales the cold, sobering night air. Gods. He could have shared all those encouraging words without —

"But it can wait."

Turning back to him, she pulls him in again — and returns the kiss. Open-mouthed. With her tongue caressing his. With her scent headier than ever. He closes his eyes, glasses knocked sideways, and surrenders himself to this nigh-divine trance, comparable only to his most fervent prayers to the Dragon God.

She is doing this on a poorly considered impulse, she is overly emotional and sleep-deprived, do not presume she wants you as much as you want her, he tries to warn himself. But her hands are back on his chest, touching him, guiding him, inviting him. They are over the fence now, past her porch, through the front door.

Inside, her house seems to be as much of an elaborate maze as outside — but he has no time to study the layout, or even deduce what it was that fell and broke so loudly. For now, the only relevant piece of interior is the couch she pushes him onto, pillows and plush chapaa raining from under him in all directions.

Oh, the young matchmakers from the library would surely hate a fade to black, but he and Phoebe need their privacy. Even Maji himself would have to wait until Chayne is… available.

[krdraws]

Vera Pyrus(Annora Nix)

The once glowing person now walking ice nymph corpse, Vera. She is amnesiac who still loves life.

[couriernix]

Thanks for 100 hits on Not With a Bang and 300 hits on Looking Out for Me on AO3!

Although both stories follow the same courier, they take place in different universes so to speak. LOFM inspired me to write a full length fic (NWAB) so it's the same courier but different timelines.

NWAB:

Not With a Bang (23821 words) by ilostmypensandpaper Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Craig Boone/Female Courier, Craig Boone/Original Female Character, Female Courier/The King Characters: Craig Boone, Arcade Gannon, Raul Tejada, Lily Bowen, Eddie (Fallout: New Vegas), Rex (Fallout: New Vegas), The King (Fallout: New Vegas), Original Fallout Characters, Female Courier (Fallout: New Vegas), Rose of Sharon Cassidy, Manny Vargas, Benny (Fallout), Mr. House (Fallout), Carla's Mom (OC), Carla Boone Additional Tags: craig boone/female courier end game, Developing Friendships, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, Healing, Friends With Benefits, Canon-Typical Violence, mostly canon i think, Amnesiac Courier (Fallout), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, courier has abandonment issues, Smut, Banter, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Freeform, Mystery solving, Blackmail, will tag as I go, people b catchin feelings, potential love triangle, but not the cliche kind (hopefully lol), Love Triangles, Emotionally Repressed, Denial of Feelings, Friendship, Suicidal Thoughts Summary: Phoenix Vida-Jones truly thought that the world would end not with a bang, but with a whimper. Then, she was shot in the head carrying a platinum chip by a tacky city-slicker. Fortunately for her, she got fixed up with just enough memories to get her by on her quest for revenge. Guess the world doesn't end with a bang. What she wasn't counting on though, is the past she barely remembers coming back to haunt her as she plans to take down Benny and resolve the conflict at the Hoover Dam. Meanwhile, her developing and probably unrequited feelings for a mourning sniper have her conflicted and looking for love in other places. Enter: the King. Boone on the otherhand has enough trouble going on just keeping up with the group's antics, let alone the old wounds opening up as Boone is forced to face the past with the sudden presence of Carla's mom.

LOFM:

Looking Out for Me (2387 words) by ilostmypensandpaper Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Craig Boone/Female Courier Characters: Craig Boone, Female Courier (Fallout: New Vegas) Additional Tags: Smut, Shameless Smut, Rough Sex, slight exhibitionism, Exhibitionism, Some Plot, Not much tho, Spanking, Doggy Style, Friends to Lovers, Praise Kink, NCR-Aligned Courier (Fallout) Summary: Nix, a courier, has been traveling with Boone for almost a year as they try to track down who shot her in the head. They have fought together, drank together, and even shared a cigarette over loved ones lost. Their uneasy alliance blossomed into one of friendship, but now Nix is beginning to want more. When the pair settle back down in Novac for a quick break, will Nix finally make her move where it all started? * First time posting on AO3 so go easy on me lol.

[phoenixdaneko]

Amnesia. (Amnesiac Nix Story (Possible AU?))

@jackalclot here it be, your daily dose of angst

~~~~~~~

Today had been a normal day, a day like any other.

Emphasis on had.

Phoenix Grim, a hero in training, was walking towards her dorm at UA, after she had headed back to Aizawa's house, having dinner with her dads and her younger sister Eri. She had left around 8, and as she walked, the sky got darker and darker. She wasn't worried, she had her provisional hero license, so she could use her quirks if needed.

However, she never made it back to her dorm that night.

At first, her friends assumed she had stayed the night with her father, as she mentioned it offhandedly to them that she was going to visit him.

Except she wasn't in class the next day.

And then a day turned into a week. A week turned into two. Two weeks turned into a month, and there was no sign of the girl. Aizawa was looking more stressed, Mic was less peppy, Bakugou and Kirishima seemed drained, Shouto and Hitoshi were even quieter than normal, and even Izuku couldn't find the energy to be hopeful.

There was no sign of the girl. Her phone had been found in Hosu, completely destroyed. The only hope for a lead, gone. Underground heros were searching during their patrols, hoping for anything that could help. But hope could only get a person so far.

~~~~~~~

Another week had passed, and everyone's hope was dwindling.

Bakugou walked out of the school alone, heading back towards the dorms after he had stayed late to train, hoping the intense workout would distract him from the fact that one of his best friends could be dead.

As he neared the dorms, he stopped in his tracks. There was someone, or something laying there. Friend or foe was unknown, he had to be smart about this. Pulling his phone out, he dialed Aizawa Sensei. After the summer camp incident, she was there too, he'd been given his teachers number.

"Bakugou... What is it?" The tired males voice rang through the speakers, concerned, as the usually independent student had contacted him.

"As much as I hate asking for help, there's something laying right in the entrance to the dorms. I don't know what it is, but it looks humanoid." He spoke, making sure to keep his eye on the thing.

"Alright. Go back inside the school, I'll handle it." The blonde made a noise of agreement and walked back to the school as he hung up the phone.

Aizawa walked outside to the dorms, capture weapon at the ready, but as he got closer to the lump, his hands frantically flew to his pockets, dialing 119¹. As the line connected, he carefully rolled the lump onto their back.

Blood stained her skin, winding through her hair and soaking her clothes. He could barely recognize his adoptive daughter's face through all the injuries and blood.

"Emergency services, what's your emergency?" The voice crackled through his phone, startling him out of his inspection.

"I-- I need an ambulance to- to UA, please. My- My daughter is, she's, she's bleeding out, she's unconscious, I-- I don't know how bad her injuries are...!" He frantically spoke, crisis training failing him as he stared at the child he raised for 11 years.

"Alright sir, an ambulance is on its way. Can I get your name please?" The operator spoke calmly, typing in the background.

"Aizawa... Aizawa Shota." He spoke, not noticing the rain that began to pelt his skin until his clothes plastered against him, hair falling down around his face.

"Alright sir, I need you to stay on the line until the ambulance arrives, can you do that?" The operator's voice was soft, and Aizawa nodded before remembering he was on the phone.

"Y-yes, I can. I-- I can see the lights." He spoke, picking the broken girl up, sprinting towards the gates, phone crashing against the concrete.

"Sir..? Sir?"

~~~~~~~

Tired eyes slowly opened to blinding white. For a second, Phoenix thought she had died. Blinking, the room came into focus around her. She turned her head to the side slowly as her hand twitched, and she slowly, painfully lifted her arm, pressing the call nurse button, her arm falling back to her side.

Nurses soon rushed in, shocked to see the girl awake. They quickly got to work on sitting her up comfortably in bed, one nurse helping her drink a cup of water.

"Alright, honey, you've got a visitor, but remember, no talking." The nurse reviewed her rules for the third time, and the girl nodded tiredly. Finally, she let the visitor in, and a tear slipped from her eye as she saw him.

"Nix. You're ok. You're alive." The normally serious, stoic Eraserhead rushed over, gently gathering her in a hug before pulling away.

"Do you know who I am? They said you... You lost your memory. Parts of it." The girl stared at him, and he began to think she had forgotten him.

But slowly, shakily, she lifted up her hands, doing the sign language for dad. He smiled, squeezing her hands gently.

"Good. Are you hungry? You haven't been awake to eat anything..." The male spoke softly, and the girl nodded.

"Alright, let me ask for a wheelchair." He patted her head, walking to the hall, flagging down a nurse, who quickly brought him a wheelchair. He helped the girl in with help from the nurse, and wheeled her out of her room. She still had an IV attached, hanging from a post attached to the wheelchair. She let her eyes wander as she was pushed through the halls, cold air brushing against her mostly bare legs.

Her injuries had been horrible. A fractured ankle, 3 broken ribs and multiple bruised organs, lacerations across her whole body, and a previously infected stitch pattern across her cheeks and lips. The stitch pattern was now just a series of indents across the lower half of her face.

The worst injury, however, was the handprint branded into her throat. Unknown if it was her hand or another that inflicted the burn, the mark was a sight.

As they arrived in the cafeteria, she came back to her present situation. Aizawa brung her a tray of food, setting it on the table in front of her.

The female took a bite, looking to Aizawa slowly.

'Why can't I speak?' She signed out slowly, and Aizawa winced.

"Your throat had... Severe damage. If you try to speak, you might end up tearing your vocal cords completely." He spoke softly, refusing to meet the girls gaze.

The girl huffed, tapping the table and signing again. 'Can I leave? Go back to... U...'. Her hands faltered as she struggled to remember the name of her school.

"UA. And yes... You can leave tomorrow as long as your tests today go well." He spoke, gently squeezing the dejected girls hand.

She slowly nodded, slowly signing again. 'Are Papa and Eri alright?' The black haired man nodded, worried as to why she felt the need to ask.

She smiled slightly, wincing as the motion pulled at the healing wounds in her face, and the smile quickly dropped.

After she had painstakingly eaten, Aizawa brought her back to her room, pushing her hair back from her face as she laid on her bed.

"I'll be back to pick you up tommorow morning." He spoke softly, patting the girl's head, squeezing her hand gently before being called to leave.

The girl felt her eyes drift closed, and she hoped this night would go quick.

~~~~~~~

The next day, the girl was walking, with the help of crutches and a metal brace on her fractured ankle. Walking next to Aizawa, she climbed into his car with his help, pushing her crutches next to her on the floor. He climbed into the drivers seat, quickly driving towards UA.

As they approached the school, the girl stared outside, grabbing her crutches as they parked, waiting as Aizawa opened the door and took her crutches, slowly getting out.

The two walked into the school, and the two approached 1-A's classroom. Aizawa slid the door open, and the girl hobbled in.

The class was silent as she waved, and then they weren't.

"Phoenix?!"

~~~~~~~

¹- 119 is the emergency services number in Japan.

[hiemalice]

okay, ill bite. whats voltz wars and why do you like it so much?

Nix I am kissing you on the mouth. /p

SO.

To start off, the original Voltz Wars was a very old modded Minecraft series by Finbarhawkes and D_2the_avid (David), which was joined by FMBsChannel later on. FMBsChannel was comprised of three brothers: FunkMasterBlast (Rob), _Ricochet (Rich) and Edd2012/SpeedMasterDash (Edd). These guys… knew how to tell a story to say the least when they joined. They IMMEDIATELY set up a lot of lore and roleplaying that comprised of Edd turning into an evil overlord and Rich & Rob (sometimes with David and Finbar) trying to stop him. It was all over the genres, swapping between a futuristic sci-fi verse and time-traveling (SO MUCH TIMETRAVELLING) back to the fantasy era (in which Rob created a kingdom called Winterly Rock which is where my URL comes from) and was generally very fun and interesting because of the sheer amount of heart they put into it! They're also SUPER adept with an NPC mod which allows you to add people to talk to and create quests and raise armies and they used that amazingly in their work. It’s still somewhat going of a series, they had around a 5-year break but tried to pick it back up a year-ish ago and I’m not sure how that’s going.

Fast forward some years. It's quarantine and one Tubbo Underscore is thinking of new content to do. Suddenly, he remembers one of his favorite series watching and decides hey, what if I do something with this. He gets in contact with a group of writers and builders called noName, gathers some ccs, and begins the new Voltz Wars. This Voltz Wars is extremely futuristic and sci-fi-y, taking place on an unknown planet inhabited by possessed locals. The current roundup of ccs includes the amnesiac Researchers: Captain Sparklez and Ranboo, the Bounty Hunters: Tubbo and Jack Manifold, and the Convicts they're hunting: the og guys Rob Rich and Edd.

Sadly, this project didn't take off due to conflicting schedules, but each group got around 4 episodes in of super interesting lore and worldbuilding setup. There might be plans to continue it in another form eventually so many voltzers like myself have our fingers crossed!

And there you go, the story of Voltz Wars.

[carmenxjulia]

I put together a transcript of the 2 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Showrunner Duane Capizzi. All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

Duane Capizzi:

Hi there!

Am I in? Is this thing on?

PizzaHorse:

Hi, welcome!

Yep, you're in the right place!

Duane Capizzi:

Sorry I'm late, I was wandering around some empty Discord hallways looking for the right room haha

PizzaHorse:

No worries. Let's get started!

Who is your favorite character?

Duane Capizzi:

Moose Boy!

KIDDING!

Alright, how to NOT get myself in trouble if my answer isn't "Carmen" haha.

But really, they are ALL my babies.

So I know it's going to sound like a cop out to some that I can't pick just one. But hmm, some for instances...

I love that she's so morally evolved at such a young age; her ability to always take the high road and never lower herself; her drive and conviction and dedication. Her ability to kick serious booty and look good while doing it. Her progressive values, her fashion sense. I could go on and on. But then there's Shadowsan and his arc; Chase and his. Julia, who's every bit as strong as Carmen but shows it in different ways. The Cleaners don't get enough love.

I'll close that question with an anecdote about The Cleaners ...

I love that all our characters are embraced and that everyone seems to have favorites. Our sound engineer Marcel is a pretty serious guy: he has a serious job that takes high levels of focus and attention. He's always deeply focused and not prone to small talk. Anyway, we were in the middle of our first or second sound mix, and he suddenly stops in the middle and turns around to face us. I'm thinking, "uh oh, we're giving too many notes." That's when I notice he's freeze framed the Cleaners. He says "I really like these guys." Then he turns around, hits play and gets back to work.

PizzaHorse:

What was the biggest challenge for coming up with new stories and plot for the reboot?

Duane Capizzi:

THE biggest? Sigh. I'm not sure I could come up with just one. Plotting is always challenging and we had the brain trust of the room, our trusty white board, and writer assistant to keep the threads of the ongoing storyline together. I think the single biggest ONGOING challenge was tracking which character knew what at any given time.

The caper part was challenging - coming up with new capers and keeping them interesting and fresh. But, it was the characters and their interactions that kept things fresh and interesting. Another museum heist? That's okay - Chase is on the case and he gets to interact with "X" this time (for instance).

There were also some episodes - Duke of Vermeer and Crackle Goes Kiwi come to mind - where there was SO MUCH SET UP needed to get the payoffs to work. I was really worried about too much talk/too much detail. Very "Swiss watch!" It took a lot of work to make sure it all clicked and was clear - hopefully it seems effortless on screen but I can't say there wasn't some sweat and the occasional tear (mostly from me - I'm a big cry baby

But really, what made it fun was that we had so many buckets to draw from: sometimes a story germ initially began with a character idea; sometimes it was inspired by global location; sometimes it was a clever way to update or reimagine an idea from old Carmen lore. Usually, it was some combination of all of the above!

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite scene to write?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we have a theme here! "How can I pick just one ...?"

As a film buff, I got to indulge in some serious fan nerdery on this show: I got to write spy movies, yakuza movies, spaghetti neo-westerns (though turning it on its head: spaghetti westerns usually involve REVENGE and because of Carmen's character make up, this was sort of anti-revenge).

Is writing coming up with the idea or typing it? Haha. An "if a tree falls in the forest" question. The writing team and I had so many cathartic "that's how it goes" in the room. But on my own, writing the Pilot, was a very inspiring time for me: I remember laughing out loud the moment I thought of Chase falling on his own car (in part because of doing my spin on "that trope" that we've seen in so many hard boiled movies recently). But also how emotional I got when I imagined the simple but potent image of Black Sheep deciding to take her destiny into her own hands and walk that long corridor to the Faculty who we were about to meet for the first time.

I think I've cited this in another interview, but there was a period where I was completely immersed in Chase's arc and the scene where he would crack the location of VILE island ... by listening to Julia in a dream ... was a big one for me. It revealed he was finally open to admitting he needed Julia more than he would ever admit - yet, it was his own subconscious speaking.

The next morning, after cracking that scene, I bumped into Raf Petardi (voice of Chase) ... at the supermarket! It was very strange and hilarious

PizzaHorse:

Did you scrap any lengthy or funny scenes that you would be able to share?

Duane Capizzi:

With few exceptions, most scene cuts are done at the script stage so that the story board team doesn't waste effort over boarding. A variety of trims to any script are common, but they are usually for the better

The easier question to answer might be scenes were part of our "wish list" at writer room stage, but never made it to story or script. I hesitate to go too deep here (in the event that we might ever do more Carmen episodes in this canon - I'm not giving up hope). And there were cases where things we wanted to do earlier in the series wound up getting nixed or not fitting for whatever reason, but we got them in later - USUALLY FOR THE BETTER. So there's sort of a reverse Murphy's Law/rule of good fortune somehow in these things. But some fun things that didn't make it into the show, that leap to mind were: a Bollywood dance sequence (!). A Vegas caper involving Brunt wanting to steal an Elvis jumpsuit against the backdrop of an Elvis impersonator convention. We also thought it would be neat to get Maelstrom imprisoned so that Julia could interrogate him and he would play mind games with her - very Lector/Clarice!

PizzaHorse:

Were there any different treatments of Carmen you pitched before settling on the one we ended up with?

Duane Capizzi:

I was one of several "pitches" that I'm sure HMH heard before running with my version. But I can honestly say I've never pitched anything as fully formed: the take on Carmen felt so right to me, and clearly HMH and by extension Netflix agreed

I'll answer your question with an anecdote: I had the entire Pilot pretty well worked out, and pitched it in the first meeting. But one key thing that changed (much for the better!), simply because it wouldn't have fit without slogging things down ...

In my Pilot pitch, Black Sheep's escape on the boat was off screen: we see Shadowsan corner her, then we cut away. The rest of the Faculty show up to find SS's broken sword on the rocks, and are led to believe BS killed him (!). In the present, Crackle points his weapon at Carmen and prepares to pull the trigger. We know that Chase is on the way and may rescue her. The compartment door opens to reveal - not Chase - but Shadowsan! Big surprise! Then we cut back to BS's escape and find out what really transpired etc etc.

Crazy, right? SS would have been hanging out with the gang in season 1; we might not have gotten to 203 with his back story, since his sword was broken and he couldn't return it. Just one of those magical things where "things work out" the way they are supposed to. THAT SAID, it made for a heckuva pitch

PizzaHorse:

Are there any characters that ended up taking a direction you didn't initially anticipate?

Duane Capizzi:

GRAY.

I didn't know we'd make him amnesiac when I wrote the Pilot, that was something we came up with in our first week Writer Room.

And even then, when it became clear he'd be a key piece of the bigger puzzle, we didn't know how exactly (mostly the Season 4 stuff).

We did get very deep with a version where 404 ended with his protective streak for Carmen kicking into high gear, and they would be fighting off Vile Guards back to back in perfect tandem. Then, having chosen Carmen over VILE, it was Carmen who actually orchestrates Gray going "off grid" so that VILE can never find him again. Funny, I know that is arguably the version of Gray's arc that many fans might have preferred seeing. But in the tradition of spy thrillers and film noir, and for a lone wolf character like Carmen who is focused on her life mission and not romance, we stand behind where we went with him. We felt it was so much more compelling ... and truly more emotional that he totally has a get out of jail free card when he sacrifices everything (including his life, potentially) to save Carmen.

when she needs him most!

I know I made some controversial comments about Gray "not being good enough for Carmen" and I'd like to clarify that I meant, until that final episode. What he did was so selfless and heroic. Is there hope for them in the future? Who knows?! But I do hope we get to explore that one day

I'm sure Gray is living off the grid somewhere now, inspired by Carmen's selfless good and thinking of her from time to time.

PizzaHorse:

You mentioned in the interview with Alicyn that Carmen is a love story, but you were cut off before you could finish discussing. Could you elaborate on your answer now?

Duane Capizzi:

Ugh, yes! Sorry about that. I actually answered that privately for someone so will cut and paste that response here. Let's see if it works.

Something we never said in the show, but something I imparted to the creative team was: Carmen Sandiego is (among other things) a LOVE STORY, where every character in our ensemble is in love with Carmen in one way or another. Even if they don't know it! That love can take different forms: we see how spurned by Carmen Coach Brunt feels and why she retaliates so excessively. Chase eventually comes to realize that he too loves Carmen, even if he wasn't initially aware of it haha. One of the most moving things to me about the series is how all of the different factions come to Carmen's rescue at the end when she's not "in her right mind," without knowing the others are there too. It's a massive group effort to bring back the Carmen they love. But we weren't looking for a fairy tale ending for Carmen with ANYone - Carmen's a classic lone wolf anti-hero, that goes with the territory. At least at this stage in her journey.

PizzaHorse:

Were there other locations that you wanted to feature in the show that didn't make it?

Duane Capizzi:

I think we managed to cover a lot of ground and "cadence" between different countries/cultures/continents was important to us. Many "iconic" locations of course, and it would have been nice to explore some lesser known locations if we had more episodes.

One that we almost did was Niagara Falls, Canada - actually literally going to the Falls and doing a big hydro-electric caper, where Player could actually get into the field with Carmen and the team.

But ultimately, we wound up bringing Player into the fold the way we did and wound up stronger as a result. It made his "first face to face" with Carmen even more impactful, IMO.

PizzaHorse:

Were there any changes in production between the first half and the second half of the series?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there was that Covid thing

But while it was no doubt a colossal undertaking to get the entire staff transitioned to work from home (animators! and their equipment!), we managed to make up for lost time WITHOUT a dip in animation quality. My fedora's off to our amazing team at Wildbrain for pulling it off!

We did lose some staff between orders, but that is a natural part of production unfortunately. Namely, one of our episodic directors Kenny Park, our first storyboard artist Dennis Crawford, and our story editor May Chan were among those who moved on to other shows during the break. But, as hard as their shoes were to fill, fill them we did!

PizzaHorse:

What is your favorite season?

Duane Capizzi:

Easy. Hands down, Season 3.

(crickets)

KIDDING!

Again, another "they're all my babies" answer (and yes, I love Season 3 equally

It's hard, because really when you step back I'm sure you'll agree it's a series, with stand alone capers; but it's really all ONE BIG MOVIE.

Season 3 is like the scherzo of a symphony: the shortest movement of four, and the one that tees up the big finale.

That's my hoity toity answer but I'm going to put to rest all of the various theories on what happened with season 3. It was a combination of two things: Netflix's desire to experiment with different ways of "dropping" seasons, and their desire to do a holiday themed drop (in this case Halloween, naturally). It became our challenge to come up with a theme (easy enough: masks), and the bigger challenge to serve their need while not interrupting our ongoing narrative. A challenge to be sure, but a challenge met. I think the biggest bump was perception: it was a short season and I know that was disappointing to many. But, by design.

So, Season 3 = an essential part of the whole. I don't think there's a wasted episode, and it gets everyone into position for the big finish. I can't pick a favorite season - you can't make me

PizzaHorse:

Were there any characters you had wanted to give more time to but couldn't due to time/plot restraints?

Duane Capizzi:

Well, there's the "what was on the white board" answer but hopefully some of those ideas will see the light of day in some way, shape or form some day. I think if we had more episodes, we would have shaken up the internal dynamic of VILE a bit more (as hinted at Brunt's displeasure with Maelstrom for leaving her hanging out to dry at end of 405 - a seed we planted "just in case," as some have noted). And we had more scenes in mind with Chase's partnering with Carmen for the first time that we had to cut to the bone because of what little room we had in that otherwise packed episode (worry not: it's mostly more gags, more embellishment, more twists and turns - but the important stuff is there). Mostly, and I don't think it would have been right for Season 4 but I hope to tell in the future, I think there's an interesting history between Shadowsan and Lady Dokuso - possibly tragic - that I would love to explore one day. (She was a cameo in Duke of Vermeer at the dinner party BTW, I'm not sure if anyone noticed. And we built a bigger role for her out of that)

PizzaHorse:

What are some pre-2000/nostalgic Carmen references you snuck into the show? Do you have a favorite reference that was included?

Duane Capizzi:

Doing that was so much fun! I'd say roughly 60% of the characters were from previous iterations of Carmen, though often in name only. We had fun reimagining most everyone to make them more relevant or updated or giving them a more colorful personality for starters.

"Suhara" was Carmen's Japanese mentor when she worked at the ACME Agency in a flashback episode in the 90's series, for instance. I don't think I need to spell out how we turned that one inside out

And Tigress was also one episode only: she was a "rival thief" to Carmen, but revealed to be an ACME agent in disguise - a persona created solely to bait Carmen. It was really cool of course, but it seemed like untapped potential so we made her an ACTUAL Vile Thief.

My own internal rule was to make sure the references/easter eggs wouldn't confuse anyone - they were there for those who were in the loop and window dressing. The one and only time i broke that rule was Dark Carmen's line from 407: "I do it for the mental gymnastics." It was one of the most absurd lines from the 90's series (IMO) and i was determined to have it come out of Dark Carmen's mouth. I'm sure it left some 7 year olds scratching their heads

aside from that, the key references were the music: I still tingle at how we worked the Rockapella theme into the Interactive Special; and the 90's main title theme (composed by Mozart!), in our Vienna episode ("They're playing my song"). If you wanted Rockapella or Carmen as a bad guy, well ... be careful what you wish for!

PizzaHorse:

Was there any improvised content from recording sessions that made it into any episodes?

Duane Capizzi:

Yes! Not much, because a lot of it would have pushed us into TV-MA haha

Mostly Mary Elizabeth - Coach Brunt has a POTTY MOUTH!

Mikey and Abby usually riffed their banter WAY beyond what was on the written page and had us in stitches. Some bits definitely made it in! But mostly there was too much or it would get off point (hmmm, much like my interview answers maybe? haha)

Sharon Muthu did rise to Pun Goddess status with "Mask and you shall receive." And Raf pitched me "Chasse means hunt in French" after one session and I said: "I'm going to write that in." I don't think he believed me. You can't say I'm not a straight shooter.

PizzaHorse:

If you could get more season, would you do it, and what type of story would you tell?

Duane Capizzi:

Well if that hasn't been clear so far, ABSOLUTELY

There have been discussions of course. It's up to the powers that be at this point. I will say this: the beauty and tradition so far has been that every iteration has been its own thing. I definitely think there are more "different canon" versions of Carmen that can be had and be a part of this wonderful tradition. After all, there were many naysayers for our version when it was first announced.

I will also say that if we don't get to tell any more stories in this canon with these characters, we've left a perfect gem that will stand the test of time. I would rather go out on a high note than overstay our welcome.

All that said, we worked within the allotted episodes given, ended it as we wished, but left the door open for other stories. I'd love to do an expansion and a deepening: pick up where we left off; find out what happened in those two years; and proceed to do the equivalent of Godfather II or Better Call Saul as related to the amazing originals they followed.

Let's hope! Keep putting good vibes out there!

PizzaHorse:

If you could pick a character on Carmen Sandiego who'd you switch places with for a day (you get to control their life and they get to control yours) who would you pick, and why?

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, THIS is difficult. So you're going Freaky Friday on me?

on a Sunday?

Hmmm, I know Ivy would get along with my cat ... but then I'd have to hang out with Zack!

That's the trick: I can't pick my favorites cuz I couldn't hang out with them!

(not that I have favorites - they're all my babies haha)

Okay, I have one: ROUNDABOUT. I could fill Shadowsan's seat - how cool is that? Then, I could enact all my evil fantasies - but still have a get out of jail free card cuz he'd be sitting at my desk!

(cut to Duane being brain wiped - D'oh!)

PizzaHorse:

Who are two characters who don't really interact in the show that you think could be good friends or work really well together?

Duane Capizzi:

Hmmmm. Okay, now I'm going to give you quick and sassy answers. Gray and Julia! They'd be so cute banding together to rescue captive Carmen (for instance). And they could also duke it out and maybe settle things between themselves re: shipping controversies instead of dragging me into it

PizzaHorse:

The FINAL QUESTION. Have you learned anything super impactful while working on the show?

Duane Capizzi:

Aside from Iceland's terrifically low crime rate?

I think I have learned to never underestimate how meaningful characters can be to fans. Social media has obviously brought us a lot closer to our fan base in more immediate ways: it's been really gratifying to hear/see/read feedback and not be writing things in a vacuum. It's been gratifying to see that ideas that were meaningful to myself and the creative team on Carmen that were crafted with care, have also resonated with our fan base. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who has traveled on this journey with us - for embracing Carmen's world view, and her friends and foes alike. Take care everyone! Stay safe! This has been fun, thanks for having me!

PizzaHorse:

HUGE thank you to Duane Capizzi: for being here today.

Thank you everyone for watching and reacting!

Duane Capizzi:

Okay, gotta run - just gotta find the door

Anyway, really: THIS HAS BEEN AMAZING. I speak for everyone involved in the creation and production of Carmen: it has been an amazing and inspiring series and we're elated to see it connect with such a CREATIVE, TALENTED and INTELLIGENT fan base. Take care everyone! Until next crime...

[the-selenian-system]

obligatory intro post!

hello! we are the selenian system, a system of around 30 alters. we are in the process of a diagnosis so we are not sure if it is DID or OSDD, although we suspect DID because of the extreme amnesiac walls.

the body is 16.

here’s an intro of everyone, starting with me!

pacific, 19, they/them

the rest will be in alphabetical order (we use simplyplural to keep track of everyone)

aelius, ageless, they/them

androme, 22, he/him

apollo, ageless, he/him

asi, 30, they/she

avrialla, 21, she/her

cherry, 12, she/her

cleo, 21, she/they

cosa, 6, she/her

deimos, 16, he/him

elii, 17, he/they

eros, 15-17, he/him

evan, 15, he/him

foz, 23, he/him

gemini, ageless, he/they

hibiscus, 17, flower/flowerself

inais, 23, he/him

iris, 19, they/them

itadori, 16, he/him

jaei, 18, he/him

jasmine, 20, she/her

jev, 17, they/them

julian, 33, he/him (the arcana)

kiana, 32, she/they

L, 25, he/him

mason, 7, he/him

mello, 19, he/him

mimi, 5, she/her

nebulis, ageless, star/starself

neva, 22, they/them

nix, 19, he/him

quasi, 26, they/them

rede, 25, he/they

rose, 17, she/they

ruby, 18, she/they

sage, 21, she/her

skye, 17, they/them

star, 14, they/them

vince, 20, they/he

zaya, ageless, she/her

we unfortunately had a split recently as a means of protection. anyways, that’s all of us that we are aware of. the inner world is pretty big i would say. DENIAL IS A BITCH. the last thing i’ve gotta say is:

ENDOS DNI. SERIOUSLY.

[jojotier]

J O T A R O for the writing ask meme!

going with the best trash disaster i see lmao

J.  What are the best jokes you told this year? Any jokes you thought were funny that people didn’t catch? Vice-versa? 

A lot of my writing is, by default, generally pretty humorous, so it’s a little hard to pick which jokes are some of my faves- but some lines that I personally really liked were, 

- “I dunno, getting macked on by discount Dracula until all my blood rushed outta my jimmies sounds way less sexy than any schmuck on the internet would make it out to be.” (All That Glitters and All That Dulls, Homestuck)

- the little bit throughout A Tale About Nothing At All (Wealth of Stability, JJBA) where Jotaro’s too fucking big for that tiny ass hospital chair 

- “Pretty much any normal, well adjusted person would realize that no, a five year old wouldn’t be doing something as passive aggressive as all of that. Ogata on the other hand was neither of those things and was also filled with paranoia, dissociative tendencies and quite a lot of spite.” (Excuse You, Golden Kamuy)

- on two separate ocassions I wrote bee movie au fic. There are two bee movie aus in the world now, one for Jojo’s and the other for Homestuck. They’re just. There. I don’t know if I can be proud of those but those are definitely highlights for fics that other people went mental over

O. Do you believe in outlines? Show us one!

Oh hell yea I believe in outlines!! I believe in making them and then going so off track that the final product is completely different from what I intended!!! Because that has a tendency to happen.. a startling bit ngl. My outlines tend to be pretty bare bones, but here’s the outline for what I want to do for Forgotten Monarchs second set of quartets focusing on the Deck of Swords; Echoes on the Breeze !

- Savior of the Dreaming Dead: Jotaro and Joseph’s souls are ejected from their bodies, and both have to survive being chased down by the Knight of Swords, whose stand destroys the soul at the atomic level. While running they run into a familiar face for Joseph, and a blue haired man with a star on his shoulder…

- Everyone Says I Love You: Jotaro hears what sounds like Noriaki’s voice saying “I love you!” carried by the breeze, and from there everything dissolves into far more romantic comedic nonsense than he ever needed in his life as the Page of Swords tries to lead them astray of the whereabouts of a large amount of money…

- Savior of the Waking World: Noriaki comes into his own hamon in an explosive display as the name of the King’s game seems to be gladiatorial combat, and he and Jotaro have to find a way to beat out the whereabouts of the pillarman Santana. It’s revealed that a specialized space probe is being built.

- The Butterfly Effect and other Conveniently Timed Things: They are judged by the echoes of their past, present, and future, and Noriaki must face with the reality of what he’d done for Dio while under his control before having to face a more disturbing truth- the fact that his living past Egypt is apparently an anomaly and that he should be dead. A young Joseph makes a return for one last warrior’s hurrah.

- Intermission 2- The Obligatory Training Montage:  Before they leave Italy, Joseph takes the boys to be taught how to use their hamon under the tutelage of Lisa Lisa. When it becomes apparent that their hamon is far more limited compared to previous generations, and may very well not last, they’re also forced into a more weapons intensive training so as to not need to rely on their stands if they’re in a pinch. Included: copious amounts of Kakyoin using the “your next line” trick, Joseph versus Jotaro and Lisa Lisa versus Kakyoin.

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

God dude I am all about themes. Some of my favorite themes tend to be about learning about the importance of communication and found family, but the theme that seems to be popping up more and more in my stories is about the ideas of fate being an illusion and autonomy being more in play than you think, and the idea that even those who are born to be bad and who aren’t naturally good can become good if they try.

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Recommending music for my fics has always been tricky because, for the most part, they have this tendency to shift narrative tones at basically random times that it’s hard to recommend one specific song… Though if I had to choose one, I’d say try listening to Come Little Children while reading “Little Red”- the basic premise of a naive youth being caught up in Dio’s “garden of shadows” fits pretty well I’d think!

R. If you had to rewrite one of your stories from scratch, which one would it be? What would you do to it?

I’d rewrite Strike a Chord, Clear as a Bell and Surprise! in an instant, honestly- those were some of my earlier attempts at Jotakak, so they aren’t completely in character and don’t have nearly the characterization I want. 

In Strike a Chord I made Kakyoin too ambiguous in his intentions and also made him too…. weirdly possessive. I thought that because he was a siren I could get away with making him a little more ‘dark’, and made him a complete patronizing asshole. After writing a bit more the fanon clone fic and realizing I took this characterization too far, I’d rewrite it so that Kakyoin is less gritty and dark and more whimsical and amused. Oh, and I’d also make him stop controlling Jotaro as soon as he comes out onto the rocks and nix the whole “Why don’t you be my pet” section. I was gonna do a bit where Kakyoin takes Jotaro down to the depths so he can see some cool mythical shit, but I’m exporting those creatures out to the myth au, so I guess there’s really no need ?

In Surprise!, since the focus was less on plot and more on fluff, I ended up making Jotaro a little too soft and awkward. For one thing, he talks a little too much and shows visible embarrassment when he says something dumb/kinda incriminating. For another, when it gets to his point of view chapter, while the characterization is slightly better, he still kinda wears his emotions on his sleeve. I’d rewrite it so that Jotaro was a little more in character, but otherwise, a lot of it is fairly solid on its own.

There was another O so here, have an outline for the original plan of the Fanon Clone AU- though of course, the ending’s different from what I’ll be really doing and it has no mention of what I’m doing with the Yanderetaro subplot lmao

Part 3: The clone roundup continues until Jotaro and Kakyoin have them all mostly under control. Except, now they’re all causing troubles for the originals and each other, and the user accidentally gets a photo of some of the fanon clones. The stand user is found and Jouta ends up being introduced, demonstrating that he has a corruption effect upon clones like Awkward Jotaro.

Part 4: They finally confront the stand user(s) and must face an army of clones and Jouta. Amnesiac Kakyoin finally summons his stand and as the canon versions run off to contain the stand user, amnesiac Kak and awkward Joot hold off the army on their own. The canons fight through the worst of the fanons and then, finally, capture the boss. The story ends as all the clones are burned alive, and the fanon pair closest to canon willingly walk into the flames together. Kakyoin and Jotaro vow never to speak of it again.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Decided to address this as its own post, since my response to the post itself didn’t actually get any traction:

See, I’d buy this except A) I have been a DC reader for far too long and B) I was actually around and bitterblogging when Didio actually said “heroes shouldn’t have happy personal lives.” That was in 2013.

For context, at the time he said this (right after the editorial veto on Kate and Maggie’s wedding), Dan Didio was literally refusing to let the writers write heroes having happy personal lives. Examples:

Clark and Lois broke up over petty stupid shit and then Clark said “I didn’t really love her that much anyway” and swanned off with Diana for awhile (See Superman/Wonder Woman). Like they split Clark and Lois up on their 75th anniversary year. Honestly, I feel like this point alone makes my point, but I’m going to keep going

Grant Morrison was remaking Talia Al Ghul into a literal batshit crazy character that didn’t bat an eye at killing her own son to get back at Bruce

on that note, the killing/fridging of Damian Wayne to advance the angst arcs of like the entire Batfam happened about this time too

Bruce and Selina were hostile towards each other (like lmao them getting married now is justice for readers who had to deal with what DC put us through from 2011-2013 with them)

Barry and Iris were not married and had barely met each other at the time, and the rest of the Flash family was erased from existence

including Wally West (and by extension Linda Park and Wally’s two kids), meaning that they simultaneously broke up two of the happiest and most stable marriages at DC

Arthur and Mera’s relationship was in editorial flux and DC couldn’t decide if they were married or not, despite Mera being Arthur’s queen for over two years at that point

Dinah Lance was married to another man and she and Oliver Queen barely knew each other, and there was all kinds of angst happening on both sides of that

Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris were once more broken up and/or waffling on the status of their relationship

Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman weren’t together (despite their whole schtick being “continually reincarnated souls that find each other in every life”)

The “Core Four” Birds of Prey members (Babs, Helena, Dinah, and Zinda) either didn’t exist (Helena, Zinda) or had their previously good relationships with each other erased (Babs and Dinah)

Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon were no longer together and had a pretty rocky relationship

Gail Simone had to deal with editorial interference on Barbara’s Batgirl book because they wouldn’t let her write what she wanted because it was “too happy”

they did a weird sort of waffling erasure concerning Dick and Damian’s time as Batman and Robin (so that the two weren’t nearly as close) in favor of emphasizing the relationship between Damian and Bruce

Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown were erased from existence, and Scott Snyder literally created Harper Row because he wasn’t allowed (by editorial edict) to use Cass in his comic

Starfire was a sexualized amnesiac that didn’t remember the Teen Titans

the original Teen Titans had apparently never met

Conner Kent/Superboy and Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl were broken up and were hostile towards each other

Tim Drake was in an absolute disaster of a relationship with Cassie, and the Teen Titans were a mess in general because the Teen Titans comic was being written by fucking Scott Lobdell of all people

heroes that previously had great interpersonal relationships with each other now either hated each other, were lowkey and sometimes outright hostile to each other, or simply didn’t know each other

Grim and gritty Booster Gold happened. Yeah. I know.

Grimdark Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle happened.

Grimdark bratty Billy Batson happened. Like what even was the thought process there

Lots of other bullshittery where characters didn’t know each other, were erased from the universe/didn’t exist, or had their relationships erased/sabotaged/ended happened

People literally wrote posts upon posts and pulled together photosets on photosets (and even more photosets) of all the ships and various relationships that had been utterly wrecked by the New 52. Hell, I wrote posts about how bitter I was about DC wrecking my characters’ personal lives because of Dan Didio’s stupid mentality. Kate and Maggie were in no way the only casualties of this debacle. So...was it tone deaf beyond belief to not let Kate and Maggie marry and sent a very different message to people than they probably wanted? Hell yeah. Was it the result of homophobia? Probably not. So yeah: I’d buy the whole “homophobia” thing if I hadn’t been there for the whole hellscape trainwreck that was 2011-2016-era New 52 comics and knew better.

Also:

9/5/2013 - Citing last-minute editorial meddling on approved storylines (and not because of an anti-gay marriage stance from DC Comics, as some spreading the news would have you believe), J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman stepped down from their duties on Batwoman. Williams stated on his site,

“Unfortunately, in recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series,” wrote Blackman and Williams. “We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc’s origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman’s heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end. We’ve always understood that, as much as we love the character, Batwoman ultimately belongs to DC. However, the eleventh-hour nature of these changes left us frustrated and angry - because they prevent us from telling the best stories we can. So, after a lot of soul-searching, we’ve decided to leave the book after Issue 26.”

It wasn’t just the marriage that got nixed in the Batwoman book.

tl;dr: it wasn’t homophobia and this isn’t a double standard. It really was Didio just being an absolute dick for 5 years and refusing to let heroes have happy personal lives and romantic relationships, and in general, it was the absolutely ridiculous editorial interference on various levels that led to several of the debacles of the New 52 days (not just this one). The game has changed due to the Rebirth initiative. Writers and editors alike have thrown tons of shade on Didio’s perspective. Geoff Johns, after five years of putting up with it, basically told Didio to fuck off and took over the reins in steering the direction the company took with the characters/plotlines. Hence Rebirth and DC’s apparent determination to get all of the classic couples together again and have them be in (more or less) happy and healthy relationships.

[nix-rising]

hi i was wondering if you could tell me a little about systems sorry if im bugging you i just want to learn more so i can try and be as supportive as i can ok thanks bye

Sorry we took so long to respond, Nix hasn't been awake and Rain doesn't like using this account

I'm Toob btw

Systems form when a child from ages 1-9 (I think, I'm not certain about that part and it depends who you ask, but 9 is the oldest) experience on going trauma. It has to be those ages because that is when the personality is developing and forming, and so when the brain forms amnesiac barriers it stops the personality from developing in the way a child's personality would form without the trauma. I can't remember this part but this means multiple alters form instead of one singular personality.

I think that's basically it?

Also this probably isn't completely correct, and there is a whole part in the middle that I just don't know, to do with why that means separate alters form, so if a system who understands it better could correct it, please do!

[mikemortgage]

Peter Foster: Obama just wiped his shoes on the Maple Leaf, and Canadians cheered

One can understand how former President Obama would be greeted enthusiastically in Vancouver, but what brand of amnesiac sado-masochism would lead Albertans to give him “a rock star’s welcome,” as Global News reported it? Perhaps the analogy would be appropriate if the rock star were, say, Neil Young, who was recruited by the U.S.-funded Tar Sands Campaign to suggest that Fort McMurray was (before the Great Fire) “like Hiroshima.” But would Neil Young get a rock star’s welcome in Calgary? There would surely be a few placards outside the venue.

The most salient reason for doubting the mental grasp of those in Calgary cheering the former U.S. president, who was in town Tuesday for a live “conversation” at the Saddledome, is that he is significantly responsible for the desperate state of the Canadian oil industry, specifically through his nixing of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015. That rancid decision, which was without any coherent rationale but was made only to burnish Obama’s “legacy,” has cost tens of thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars to the Albertan and Canadian economies.

It is worth noting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shares similar legacy aspirations, as does his recently resigned policy minder, Gerald Butts. Butts put on a master class in smarmy evasion before the justice committee on Wednesday. He repeated ad nauseam the alleged threat to 9,000 jobs that was the sole reason for the government’s deep concern that former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould make the right decision on SNC-Lavalin. One could only wish the PMO cabal had been equally concerned about the much greater number of jobs already lost in Alberta.

China was the climate champion of Paris. Now it’s doing a complete U-turn

Terence Corcoran: How smug politicians — including Harper — sabotaged Canada’s dreams of energy superpowerdom

Lawrence Solomon: Trump finally ends the undemocratic autocracy of Obama’s climate crusade

Obama’s Calgary “conversation“ was the middle of three such engagements this week, starting in Winnipeg and ending on the left coast. Local media in all three places drooled over him, despite the fact that he delivered nothing but a pastiche of family bromides, bogus integrity, fake facts, policy revisionism, gross political partisanship, and climate porn. He even took swipes at the beleaguered Trudeau.

According to a barf-worthy news report in the Calgary Herald: “With divisive politics and changing economies stoking fear and anxiety on both sides of the border, former U.S. president Barack Obama brought messages of hope and optimism to Calgary on Tuesday, paving the way to a kinder, gentler and cleaner planet.”

An equally star-struck Herald columnist took the opportunity to dump ritually on the current incumbent of the White House, highlighting the contrast between “grace and vulgarity, integrity and corruption, kindness and cruelty.” But while President Donald Trump may have reality-TV-sized personal shortcomings, any suggestion that his narcissism approaches that of Obama is more than a stretch. After all, as a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama declared that his accession to power would be the point at which the earth would begin to heal and the seas cease to rise. Canute without the irony.

Apparently nobody threw anything or stormed the Saddledome dais when Obama patronized the locals by saying that they ought to be proud of their oil and gas because it had “powered the world … and is still the cheapest means for us to power everything that we do.”

This is the guy who declared oil a dirty and dwindling 19th century resource shortly before presiding over a spectacular U.S. petroleum boom due to advances in fracking technology, for which he subsequently tried to take credit.

Although Obama admitted that you couldn’t link any particular weather event to climate change, he inevitably got into floods and droughts and hurricanes, and projected that “with the current pace we are on, the scale of tragedy that will consume humanity is something we have not seen in perhaps recorded history.” The bubonic plague, world wars, communist and fascist genocides? Mere blips. He suggested moose might become extinct.

“I am an old-fashioned guy,” he said boldly in Vancouver. “I believe in the facts, and the facts are that the planet is getting warmer.”

But nobody denies that fact. The pertinent question is: how much of that (mild) warming is attributable to man? Obama’s idea of science was established years ago when he tweeted the bogus — indeed ridiculous — claim that 97 per cent of scientists believe that climate change is “real, man-made and dangerous.”

Obama was declared to be above grubby partisan politics in Calgary, but appearing at a similar event in Vancouver later that day, he claimed that mainstream Republicans had “lost control” of the party when Sarah Palin was appointed as John McCain’s running mate in 2008. No mention of mainstream Democrats having more recently lost control of their party with the arrival of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her flat-out barmy Green New Deal. But then how could Obama oppose the idea that such extreme measures were needed to save the world from neoliberalism? Sorry, I mean from climate catastrophe.

Obama ridiculed Justin Trudeau for being concerned about softwood lumber. “I was, like, ‘Dude. I’ve got Syria, the Paris Accords. Is that how we want to spend our time? On a timber agreement?’

He had used the same line in Winnipeg, but — to his infinite credit — interviewer Michael Burns noted “You just insulted us and we all laughed.”

And still Obama gave his sparkling shoes one final wipe on the Maple Leaf flag suggesting that Canada was merely paying “lip service” to its commitments to the Paris climate accord (from which his own country is now opting out entirely). He didn’t note — or probably didn’t know — that this mere lip service has thrown interprovincial relations into turmoil. And this from the guy who included in the Paris accord a desperate “agreement” with China under which the U.S. would commit to hard reductions, while China would commit to nothing.

And still nobody booed.

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