#carapace re design

[maddascanbe-blog]

Nino! Nino! Nino!

Poor poor Life-swap Adrien. He gets the suicidally impulsive best friend instead. Nino is a lot more interested in being a film director than a DJ, though he still does both. He's been editing together fight scenes to tell a story he's written around Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The two of them did pull him aside and insisted he's not speculate about their relationships or try and pry into their identities. He's respected that and only uses information the two have released publically.

He ends up partnering with Nath and Marc later, to plan out an entire series inspired by the miraculous.

His ever suffering best friend and girlfriend are constantly chasing after him to keep him out of the danger zone. Adrien even tried to pass the black cat miraculous off to him on the first day of school, but Nino ran off before he could. Adrien transformed as Chat to save him and resigned himself to the fact Nino will get himself killed if people like Adrien and Ladybug aren't going to look out for him.

Then Alya comes in, Adrien's actual saving grace, thank you for keeping his dumbass bestie alive. He owes her so many nice hats.

[jasper-the-menace]

Jasper's Barely-Hinged Discord Scorpion Rant

Alright, context, I started this rant because I was mad about how the tlincallis (of Dungeons and Dragons second and fifth edition) were designed and handled. I put my foot down at the point where they were reported to have eggs. No, I refuse to accept this.

PLEASE NOTE! While I will not be showing any actual images of real-life scorpions, there will be drawings of them and drawings of fantasy and sci-fi characters inspired by scorpions. Some of them are even weirder-looking than actual scorpions. Fellow arachnophobes, continue at your own risk.

We are also going to be talking about scorpion sex in the context of how they mate and launch babies out. This is my second Tumblr post on the subject and I'm afraid that this might become a repeating pattern. Everyone on Tumblr thinks I'm the scorpion person now.

With that said, have this barely-edited compilation of my feral Discord messages on the subject.

You can tell someone who doesn’t know a lot about scorpions wrote the lore for the tlincallis because there’s a heavy emphasis on egg-laying for their reproduction. Meanwhile, scorpions are one of the only arachnids that give live birth.

I’m not expecting WOTC writers to watch videos of scorpions molting or launching baby missiles over and over again, but I am expecting them to at least skim the Wikipedia article, ya know? I understand that I’m Scorpion Research Georg, but still.

Scorpions fuck weird. Both “sexes” have the same thing - an orfice known as the genital operculum (plural: genital opercula). In order to reproduce, the male will drop a sperm packet on the ground and “dance” with the female to lead her over it. If she’s game, she’ll squat and just kind of vacuum it up into her genital operculum. This is followed by what is called a “mating plug” to keep the sperm inside. The two scorpions will then split away from each other, because scorpions don’t believe in cuddles and aftercare.

Then we get to the actual birth. Or as I like to call it, the Fedex packages.

A scorpion will give birth to between 3 and 100 young, depending on the species - though notably, the size of the scorpion does not impact the number of babies they can have.

The babies are folded up very nicely inside of the mother, and when she gives birth to them, they launch out like little missiles into her waiting pedipalps and front legs, unfold, and then climb onto or are placed onto her back while their next sibling is launched. A mother scorpion is actually a super good parent, and the entire brood will attach to her with little suckers on their tarsi, because they can’t eat or sting yet.

Depending on the species, it will take between 5 and 25 days for them to undergo their first molt - in unison as a brood, taking between 6 and 8 hours - and reach the juvenile stage. Juveniles resemble small versions of the adults and can eat and sting, though they’re still soft and unpigmented. They’ll leave the mother’s back to explore in safety, but then scurry back to her if there’s danger around. Once their carapace hardens and gains color, they can start hunting on their own and will often leave their mother.

A scorpion will undergo an average of 6 molts to reach full adulthood, which, depending on the species, can take between 6 months and nearly 7 years. The average lifespan depends on the species, with some living up to 25 years.

Re: the biological terms I used, here’s a picture and explanation from the Wikipedia article:

1 = Cephalothorax or Prosoma; 2 = Preabdomen or Mesosoma; 3 = Tail or Metasoma; 4 = Claws or Pedipalps; 5 = Legs; 6 = Mouth parts or Chelicerae; 7 = Pincers or Chelae; 8 = Moveable claw or Tarsus; 9 = Fixed claw or Manus; 10 = Stinger or Aculeus; 11 = Telson (anus in previous joint); 12 = Opening of book lungs

Post-coitus cannibalism has never been reliably reported in scorpions.

Scorpions are also kinky fuckers but no one’s ready for that conversation.

So, I will give this much to WOTC writers regarding the tlincallis - most species of scorpions do actively hunt their prey. (Though there are several species that are just sit-and-wait predators.) They are also opportunistic hunters, eating primarily invertebrates but occasionally also going for things like lizards, snakes, and small mammals, though scorpions with larger claws will also go after earthworms and mollusks.

What I will not give them credit for is the method of hunting. A scorpion’s primary hunting tool is its claws. Only large and aggressive prey is given a sting - the method of death is still typically via claw, even in that case.

They also don’t chew. They rip off pieces of their prey and put those pieces in a pre-oral cavity, which uses digestive juices from the gut to start the digestion process. Once it’s liquid enough, it gets sucked right into the gut. Any indigestible matter is ejected at this stage.

They do have an anus separate from the genital operculum, and it runs up into the tail. Scorpions will eat a large amount of food in one meal, and when this is combined with their low metabolic rate and relatively inactive lifestyle, it means that they can survive for 6 to 12 months without starvation.

So no, Wizards Of The Coast, a band of scorpion people would NOT be migratory by compulsion, even if they were aggressive.

And yeah, scorpions are mainly found in deserts, but that’s so limiting. They’ve adapted to nearly every sort of biome and appear all across the world, except in Antartica. So you can literally put them anywhere.

The scorpion is found in Greek mythology (Artemis or Gaia sending it to kill Orion) along with in a page of the Anglo-Saxon Herbal.

Despite the scorpion’s usage in myths, stories, and weapons of war, very few of them are actually capable of killing a human (barring allergy). 25 species out of more than 2,500 have venom deadly to humans. Most of, if not all of these, belong to the family Buthidae, which is the largest family.

Now it’s time for “Jasper analyzes scorpions from different media”! I’ve already dragged the tlincalli for filth, so we’ll pivot to look at another WOTC media: Magic The Gathering.

Scorpions don’t get a lot of rep. At best, they appear as one-off cards. However. Thanks to vising two primarily-desert planes (Amonkhet and the Vorthos-panned Thunder Junction), we have some Guys.

We’ll start with the Scorpion God of Amonkhet. This guy did not used to look like this, but once Nicol Bolas got all up in everybody’s business, he twisted the Scorpion God, Locust God, and Scarab God into giant monstrosities and erased knowledge of their names, even from themselves, and then used them to “harvest” the mortals he had been cultivating to create an undead army. The Scorpion God killed the gods Rhonas, Oketra, and Kefnet, before finally being killed by Hazoret and a group of rebelling mortals.

He is notably the only one of the “twisted” gods to have been killed – the Locust and Scarab Gods both survived, as did Hazoret, and all three defended Amonkhet later from New Phyrexia getting all up in everyone’s business.

(Re: that third artwork, why is he kinda...)

Meanwhile, on Thunder Junction...

Oh, Thunder Junction. If not for the fact that no one in the design and writing department could agree on and work together to determine the right approach to Western tropes, you could have been interesting.

Having said that, the scorpion dragons? Not native to there. Instead, they’re from Gastal, a plane that was mentioned one (1) time back in the day. I’m willing to overlook some questions about these blokes for the sake of blaming the dragon half on everything I don’t think are scorpion-enough when it comes to these guys.

Now, for my third example... I’m going to preface this with the fact that LEGO’s Legends of Chima theme was a problematic mess in hindsight. I still love it with my entire soul, but it was a fucking nightmare.

But within that is the Scorpion Tribe, what is possibly my favorite current example of what you can do with scorpions in a (science-)fantasy setting.

The Scorpions were accidentally evolved with the magic MacGuffin of the series (Chi) thanks to some foolishness going on, and they were the antagonists of season two (or rather, wave two, as they were technically the latter half of season one and the beginning of season two). They’re led by a king, Scorm, and a general, Scolder. And yes, they all stick to the Sc- naming theme, with one exception from the online game.

So, how do you create an anthro Scorpion Lego figure? Like this, of course!

Now, something interesting to note is that because the Chi was not safely introduced to these guys, some of them didn’t “evolve” all the way and still have a scorpion lower body, like a weird centaur. Meet Scutter, posterchild for this, even though his brother Scrug speed-“evolved” to humanoid form.

Something interesting to note is just how flexible and catlike the tails of these Scorpions are. They can flick around and even hold things when curled up.

Another fun thing about Chima is that they don’t put my boys in the desert. Instead, they live in caves in a very hostile jungle. I’m so proud of them.

Analyzing the venom of these guys, though...

Scorpion God = full of god-killing venom

Akul = a "dark curse" that's basically fantasy tuberculosis

Scorpions from Chima = hypnosis mind-control agent that wears off fairly quickly

(Preface for this section: These were random additions that I sent a while later, with little connection to each other.)

Scorpion dads do tend to be deadbeats, but a scorpion mom figure? I would chew that right up.

Re: molting, it is a long, long process, even for something as small as a scorpion. So the bigger they are, the longer it's probably gonna take. It requires a lot of calorie-loading beforehand and can be predicted based on “air pockets” that appear at the sides of the exoskeleton, to give them wiggle room. Scorpions are soft for several days after molting and avoid eating anything until they harden back up.

And did I mention that scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?

So...yeah! Scorpions are so fucking cool, and this is just an overview! This isn't even getting into any particular species! There's just so much to explore in terms of scorpions in fantasy settings, so seeing them reduced to Desert Bad Guy over and over again annoys me.

Put these animals into some situations.

[theterribletenno]

Can’t draw so I’ll just write

Reclaimed Helminth Technocyte Testing.

Test site: Orokin Tower ship designation EUPHRATES, geosynchronous high-orbit above Pluto.

Overseer: Lady Chamis Muderole, 2nd daughter of Muderole family.

Staff: 14 Archimedean scientists (9 Technocyte specialist, 5 general biologist), 26 Dax, 31 Bridge crew, 109 Service crew, 19 prisoners.

Mission details: Experimental use of reclaimed technocyte from feral samples.  Former technocyte lab on surface of Pluto experienced un-planned release of specimens, resulting in colony infestation.  Contamination spread prevented by quarantine, feral infested unable to survive Plutonian surface climate.  Dax special force squadron collected samples before cauterization of compromised site.  Collected “Post-Helminth” samples have been extensively tested and modified for attempted re-integration into Helminth project.

Lady Chamis Muderole Personal Notes: I am repeatedly cautioned by my Archimedeans that the post-Helminth strains are unstable and unpredictable and that results cannot be guaranteed.  Executor Ballas has made it clear that more warframes are needed urgently, and that quantity supersedes quality.  Batch three testing will begin in less than an hour.  Archimedean Philias has been selected to fill one of the empty specimen tables after her unseemly outburst during my last lab visit.  My Dax guard’s sword came within an inch of her neck when she grabbed my wrist.  Speaking of the Dax, with only six of our seven tables filled I chose two of my Dax soldiers - Imugi and Pliamet, two of my best - and gave them a simple command.  Fight to the death, the survivor gets the honor of becoming a warframe.  Pliamet Dax began to speak, I did not bother to heed his words but I believe he intended to disregard my orders.  Imugi Dax had no such compunctions.  His sword struck true in the blink of an eye, and Pliamet’s head tumbled to the ground.  With Archimedean Philias and Imugi Dax filling the last of the seven specimen tables we can begin as soon as the injectors are loaded.  To stifle Philias’ incessant screaming I instructed my Dax to gag her with one of my golden bracelets.  It did so amuse me how perfectly that heavy golden bead fit in her whimpering mouth.

Post-Helminth Batch 3 test results

Specimen 1: Total failure, tagged for incineration.  What a mess.  It was sickening to behold.  Specimen 1 (John Doe, convicted of heresy) was an immediate failure.  The flesh at the injection site began to boil immediately, deforming into a raspberry-like mass of tumors that hung from naked bone.  The subject’s body continued to degrade until catastrophic failure of multiple organs.  What’s left of him wouldn’t even look like it had ever been human if it weren’t for the bloody skull visible on the left side of what was once his head.  The right side of his body was less affected, as he died before the infestation could spread thoroughly throughout.  Initial prognosis for failure is over-mutation of technocyte sample.  No further testing is required, the sample will be atomized.

Specimen 2: Success.  Unique phenotype, tagged for further study.  I had high hopes for this specimen (Son Nguyen; convicted of aiding and abetting rebel terrorists) and I was not disappointed.  The Archimedeans are right, the helminth strain does more with what’s inside a person than their flesh alone.  His flesh changed rapidly, the technocyte covering his arms, legs, and head with a smooth shell of gleaming steel.  Across his round iron carapace a multitude of pockmarks emerged, a pattern of sunken recesses that glow with unnatural blue light, a long thin needle rising from the very middle of each one.  These pocks and needles emit a tingling electric hum.  He will need to be inspected by experts on sacred Lua to determine if he is a new type, or a variation of the golem they call Volt.

Specimen 3: Final-stage failure, tagged for autopsy.  Specimen 3 (Dorian Mastiff; convicted of armed assault, murder of the first & second degree, and three other crimes) responded well to initial injection.  Very little screaming.  Plate-like extrusions of dull gray metal emerged across his skin, dermis underwent full replacement.  Musculoskeletal augmentation appears successful, pending autopsy report.  However, after protracted convulsions the subject’s belly collapsed inwards and then ripped open, spilling pink, red, orange and yellow entrails across the table and floor while the subject’s vitals flatlined.  Cause of failure to be determined during autopsy.

Specimens 4 & 5: Unqualified success, recommended for immediate deployment.  I had no particular expectations for our last two criminal specimens (Torres & Sia Fallon; convicted of possession of illegal firearms and conspiracy to commit treason) and so I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  It all began with the usual howling and thrashing as bone reshapes and skin turns inside out but imagine my shock when each of the two managed to wrest an arm free of the clamps, only so they could hold each others hand as they endured holy metamorphosis.  Beautiful to behold, as the shapes of their bodies deformed into haunting curves bulbous and hollow, hand in hand as they sang into the walls of the transmogrification lab.  Seeing them now I nearly feel a tear in my eye, the shapes of their curves, their peaks and valleys seem perfect to fit against each other like the pieces of a puzzle.  Two halves of a whole; balancing each other in both shape and color.  If Executor Ballas allows, I would very much like to keep these two for myself.

Specimen 6: Success.  Unique phenotype, tagged for further study.  Our Archimedeans are chosen for the prowess of their minds, not for their ability to withstand even the slightest amount of pain.  With the golden ball from my bracelet muffling her screams Archimedean Philias squealed and whimpered throughout the entire process.  If I had not gagged her I’m sure her screaming would have drowned out all other noise in the room.  And oh how I chuckled when I saw that gleaming golden bead trapped permanently in the angular beak that had replaced Philias’ mouth, clenched and frozen.  A precious little momento of her final moments as a human being.  Oh, I do adore her now.  How her research vestments gave way to streaming silken ribbons, how her features were completely hidden by the shining metal mask that grew from her skull.  She is so beautiful now, and so quiet.  I think I wish I could keep her most of all.  No telling what powers this new form of yellow gold and red silk could possibly possess, but that is what tests are for.  I wish I could see that perfectly chiseled beak of hers clutching that golden ball every day.

Specimen 7: Unqualified success, recommended for immediate deployment.  (Imugi Dax, volunteered)  In retrospect, I admit that subjecting Archimedean Philias to the transformation was impulsive and emotional, and doing the same to Imugi Dax was pure whimsy.  The only things aboard this ship that are allowed to second-guess me are myself and my cephalon.  I won’t express regret for my decision, but I will admit its shortsightedness.  With that said, I now ask myself why we do not use the Dax soldiers for more of our warframe projects.  The technocyte grafts with their flesh and bone so easily, Imugi never once screamed.  While the others howled, cried, and gurgled, Imugi was silent as stone.  The nanomachines rushed through his veins and arteries, turning his whole body a noble blue.  How calmly his shape changed.  The quiet re-ordering of bone and muscle.  Thick yet slender, powerful yet elegant, the stately helmet of the Dax fusing to his skull to give him a most commanding silhouette... and that beautiful slate blue all over him accented by dots and streaks of noble jade glow.  A perfect warframe.

Additional notes: We are squandering a great deal of potential using criminals as our primary test subjects for the Warframe Project.  The Helminth technocyte is best when it has good material to work with: individuals of exceptional quality.  Results from tests conducted on subjects with superior skills, knowledge, and physical condition like the Dax have such a high success rate while wasting test batches of degenerates and reprobates leaves me with tables full of mangled corpses.  The criminal fodder is much more suited for use in controlled mass-production cloning of archetypes.  This research is no longer just my assignment.  It is my passion.  It is my art.  We should not be wasting time and resources on reclaiming technocyte clay from the feral mud, we should be culturing strains of the finest porcelain for our masterpieces!

[sonicasura]

SonicAsura's Doodles #73

Leon still questions how one mission could have gotten so insane. That he would end up getting infected and said parasite responsible transforming into something no one could have foreseen. Yet here Leon Scott Kennedy stood, all eight eyes set on one simple objective. DESTROY SADDLER.

Here he is. Plagas!Leon War mode in all his buggy glory. Part of his inspiration came from a very different game series I grew up with, Spectrobes. The muse in question being the Evolved Flash Element Naguzoro. You can consider him the OG Guzzlord or Proximamon as he existed since 2007.

The lower half of his body holds the Plagas parasite itself, completely altered and consumed. Hence why Leon's green chitin like caparace is more prominent in the design than the yellowish green of the parasite, HE is in control. Not the Plagas nor Saddler.

Both heads think independently but have to work together in controlling the body if Leon doesn't want to be an absolute clutz and huge liability on the battlefield. Now the strangely big segments of his carapace aren't for show. Plagas!Leon's body is actually compressed hence the plates not matching in size.

It's meant to protect the less durable flesh but also hides insect wings. These hidden wings are like a bumblebee's, small compared to Leon's huge body. Only function they serve is to slow down his descent as his caparace won't protect him from huge falls. Any time Leon needs to stretch out his body is either for carrying more things/people, sneak attacks or travelling very rough terrain.

Size wise, when compressed Leon's 25' long from toe to tail and 12'6 tall. Not compressed his size is 32' and 22'3 tall as his Plagas legs are also compacted. His insect like legs are very strong so they can support his weight without the prehensile front paws. The bones in the paws are folded and the flesh is like putty so they stretch into thin gangly limbs when extended.

The man is often mistaken for a dragon or dragon rider since the folded scythe like limbs on his back resemble wings at an angle. Yeah, those strange shoulder spikes are actually claws to his Plagas limbs. Think of them like Devil Trigger Nero's wing claws in how they function.

I'll be drawing some reference art for when I begin working on his Plagas!Leon's Hybrid form. Here's the link to his behavior for anyone who has missed it. Between Luis and Ashley, the former took the appearance of this form a bit better. Mainly cause he wasn't present to see Leon transform into War mode for the first time.

Ashley nearly fainted as it ain't a pretty sight especially since the transition began in Disguise mode. You know the chest burster scene from Alien? Imagine that but the Xenomorph kept growing as the host messily merges with it in the process.

Leon going from Hybrid to War is less mortifying than when he looks like a normal human. Luis was immediately documenting every detail he could. Even asking the agent to shift into War from both his other modes.

(Luis will always live if I write anything RE 4 related. Stab wounds like that aren't lethal. Man just passed out from blood loss and walked away after the whole Los Illuminados was over.)

The government don't find out about Leon's infected status until RE 6. He's quite good at hiding his Plagas nature. Shit just really hit the fan in RE 6 especially since his Plagas doesn't like the C Virus strain very well. It's all I'm going to say about it.

That's it for now! Until next time folks, continue to thrive in the wake of Raccoon City.

[weaselle]

something from the never ending stack of un completed WIPs

I put so much time into this, notes on gameplay, movement rules and class abilities... Skill trees for the 81 character templates. Maps, character design sketches, a rock-paper-scissors system of gameplay balancing both for resources and energy attacks/defenses.

If you want to know before you read the story, the three factions are

The Cyberians Mostly human cyborgs with downloadable/transferable minds and robotic/cybernetic support crews. When a Cyberian is killed, their mind is simply downloaded into a new body, which is 3D printed with one mineral-matter jet and one organic-matter jet. For a price. Player Character Cyborgs require electricity to function, water for power moves, mineral matter for ammunition and armor, and hydrocarbons/organic matter for healing. Special abilities are orbital support (like missile/laser strikes or supply drops) which costs money and may require waiting for an available satellite. Cyberians specialize in kinetic and explosive damage, and maintain a physical damage option for ammunition budgeting and special counters. They can employ laser shields or physical shields; mechs and mega-classes have metal armor. Their on-world faction center is a couple of large Cyberian Citadels. The Cyberian off-world faction power base is a metropolis on one of the moons that orbit the planet. They use Cyberian credits for currency, and also gold and gems have an exchange rate. Their resources are Hydrocarbons (organic matter, used for healing) Minerals (mostly using metals for repairs and ammo) and Water (which is split into Oxygen and Hydrogen for use as fuel for power moves and weapons).

The Sporeborn

A symbiotic partnership between a sentient fungus (the Spore) and insectile aliens (the Hive-born) as well as a few other species that have been assimilated from around the galaxy. These are mostly sentient Spore-symbiot species, and “infected” (Spore-controlled) non-sentient support crews.

When Sporeborn die, their DNA and memories are all held by their personal spores, even a single one of which can make its way back to a colony/hive spawn point for re-birth.

Special Abilities pull from all personal resources to create large numbers of spores and/or chemicals, allowing special plasma, chemical, or spore-cloud moves that require specific minimum spore-counts.

Sporeborn specialize in chemical and plasma damage, but are robustly equipped for physical damage. They can employ plasma shields or physical shields, as well as spore-cloud shields and mold armor. Insectile species secrete mineral armor carapaces, non insectile species have wearable armor.

Their on-world faction center is a network of Spore-hive Colonies and their Genomorph Queens. Their off-world faction power base is the Colony Fleet, a bunch of biome-ships in orbit around Starsys 9. Sporeborn use hivepoints as currency, and the Queens use precious metal and gemstones for their metallic carapaces therefore creating a sporeborn market for gold and gems.

Their resources are Organic Matter (which they use for healing and increasing their spore-count, either via spore disassembly or by consuming directly) Methane (which they use as fuel for power moves) and Minerals (insectoids consume metals and gems to create armored carapaces, non insectile aliens use minerals to create/repair supplies like armor and weapons)

Dimenkind, or Dimens

Short for "Dimensionalkind" or "Dimensionals" these are inter/multi-dimensional entities that have possessed sapient beings from several parallel dimensions. Players Characters are possessed beings such as mages, vampires, elves, dwarves, werewolves, etc who act in the service of their patron eldritch hyper-dimensional semi-gods.

Player Characters control a support team of bound servants like imps, zombies, hellhounds and goblins. Players are themselves considered the eldritch entity that possesses player characters; when killed, player characters can be resurrected or simply possess another similar/identical being. For a price.

Dimens specialize in magic damage/debuffs and physical melee damage, and sometimes use poison and a few kinetic weapons like slings, crossbows, and catapults. They can employ elemental shields (electrical shields damage or stun cyberians on contact, fire shields damage sporeborn on contact) or physical shields, they can have magic armor or worn armor (often both at once).

Dimenkind’s off-world power base is an unknown dimension, their on-world faction center is one or two pocket dimensions called Realms, the entrance to which are enormous hellmouth portals on the planet of Starsys 9. Dimens use gold and gems as their main currency, but there is an exchange rate for Eldritch Favor Points, which are transferable.

Their resources are Dark Matter (transmuted from Mineral Matter) for summoning/creating and repairing, Dark Energy (obtained through life-drain/blight on any Organic Matter/living character) for healing and casting spells. And Sulfur which is traded directly to Patron Dimens for Eldritch Favor Points, which can also build from performing actions dedicated to their eldritch patron, such as slaying enemies or landing critical hits.

Special Abilities and Power Moves draw from all or any of these depending on the specific action. Raising undead minions requires access to organic parts, which are found as drops from dead enemies, or in varying supply from sites designated as a graveyard (dimens) cemetery (cyberians) or burial ground (sporeborn)

I have a video game idea, but am trying to write it up as a tabletop RPG source book

YOU KNOW IN SOURCEBOOKS THEY ALWAYS HAVE, LIKE, A FICTIONAL STORY THAT SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE OF GAMEPLAY? THIS IS LIKE THAT, WRITTEN WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF IT EVENTUALLY BEING AN ANIMATED VIDEO FOR A GAME TRAILER

(please excuse my terrible sketches)

An alien planet. Two moons are visible already as a large red sun prepares to kiss the horizon goodnight - copper light still warms the tops of a group of small mountains, or perhaps large hills. Between them, a dark fog pools in one of the shadowed valleys. Purple tinted lightning flashes in the gloom… once, twice; a glowing purple rift opens.

Keep reading

[bonksoundeffect]

Update on Solana and Castis's design

Personal headcanon is that Garrus inherited his aim and looks from his father and his temperament, and tech savvy from his mother. That’s why I gave Castis a carapace shape similar to Garus's (wider rim, but might also make the edges taller later on) while Solana has a carapace shape that's closer to what we see in other turians.

(Here's a post on the female turian re-design I'm working on rn if you're interested)

I know in his canon appearances Castis has normal mandibles, but I wanted to give him a distinguished vibe similar to Victus make him a dilf.

Lmk what you guys think about his mandible markings, I only added them bc otherwise they felt naked to me, but I can also keep him more lore-friendly 🤔

(Image courtesy to this amazing mod)

As for the colour scheme, I'm keeping Castis' lovely orange and blue C-Sec armour from the comic. The man's bde is strong enough to make it work and is also required dad fashion 🧡💙

For Solana, it's gonna be similar to ME2 Garrus with blue and black and maybe some silver accents. She has the a slightly modified Phantom armour (Nihlus's armour) so you can probably imagine the final result.

(I've also just realised as I'm typing this that the armour has asymmetrical design with only one tube attached to the right side kms)

Also the little line with G next to it is- as you might've guessed- proof that Garrus is the shortest member of the family. 🥰

Anyways, I'll add more details as I think of them bc tbh it's 6am rn and I haven't slept all night. I'm also debating rn if I should create a design for Garrus's mom as well, but if I do I might need assistance with some things 😔

Instagram | Buy me a Coffee | Commissions

[tears-of-xion]

So I decided to try my hand at drawing @mavilez ‘s lovely ML designs, and I had a lot of fun! ^^

I definitely want to draw them again in the future (as well as the Rena Rouge + Carapace ones).

-

Please do not use or re-post my artwork without my permission. Thank you!   (reblogs, however, are welcome and appreciated)

I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, nor it’s characters. All rights to their owners.

[demi-shoggoth]

2021 Reading Log, pt 23

111. Extreme Medicine by Kevin Fong, MD. Given the cover depicting a mountaineer and the subtitle referring to “exploration”, I thought that this book was going to be about medicine related to the age of exploration and the extremes of conditions on Earth. It’s not, really, except when it sometimes is. “Exploration” is used as a metaphor for experimental therapies here, except when it does actually refer to people at the limits of human experience, like free diving and space travel. The book is kind of less than the sum of its parts—although individual chapters are well written, the muddled theme and lack of focus hurt the book.

112. Crocodiles of the World by Colin Stevenson. Adding to Lizards of the World in the theme of “older herpetologists being cranky about taxonomic revision”; a fair bit of page count is spent grousing about the trend towards taxonomic splitting and the uncertain position of the tomistoma. About the first third of the book is a general overview of crocodile evolution, anatomy and behavior, and then the remainder is species accounts. Since there are relatively few species of crocodiles, it can actually spend some time with each species. The book is very pretty, although some of the photos are reproduced at a small enough size it’s hard to make out details.

113. Super Fly by Jonathan Halcombe. I welcome this (small) influx of books about flies for general audiences. As Halcombe says, with their numbers and ecological diversity, flies are “god’s favorites” (there’s some smack talk in the book between dipterists and coleopterists, which is hilarious). The book is divided into three blocks of chapters—a how and why of flies, a section on varying fly ecologies, and a social history of the interactions between flies and people. Halcombe wrote What A Fish Knows, and is clearly most interested in animal cognition, which leads to my biggest problem in the book. At the beginning, he equivocates on whether or not he thinks flies have a form of consciousness, and then spends the rest of the book clearly believing that that is the case. Don’t play coy with your readers, my dude! If you’re going to make a big claim, stick to it!

114. The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt. You know the expression “a book you can’t put down”? This was a book I couldn’t pick up. The actual act of reading it was pleasant enough, but my attention kept wandering and I kept finding other things to do. The makeup of the book is short essays on topics of urban design—why are manhole covers round, the arms races between skyscrapers, the development of and resistance to hostile architecture. I think this book would be better in chunks, reading an article or two at a time, instead of powering through it as I did. One thing I actively disliked, as opposed to being generally neutral to positive on, was the art. It’s done in a messy line style that makes it difficult to know what it is I’m supposed to be looking for. I had to Google what a “mansard roof” was, for example, because I couldn’t tell from the illustration.

115. Ants: Workers of the World. Photography by Eduard Florin Niga, text by Eleanor Spicer Rice. The photography credit is first of a reason. This is an art book of ants, macrophotographs of their bodies and head capsules, close enough to see ever little hair and dent in their carapace. There is some information on the species depicted, but a few paragraphs worth per genus. It is a gorgeous book, but very short. An enjoyable coffee table book, but I’m glad I got it from a library, because I’m not likely to re-read it.

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette did not sign up for this pt 3

  Part 3 time. part 1 here part two here, ao3 link here     

             Cass had long since taken to eating at Yan Toh Heen when she was in Hong Kong, where head chef Cheng Wang served her favorite soup, Marinette Soup. Given that Cass often came at odd times and remained a regular whenever she was in town, she had come to know of Shifu Cheng’s inspiration, his niece’s daughter. A girl who reminded Cass of Bruce’s usual adoptees when she first saw her picture, and mentioned it was a good ting her father hadn’t begun adopting until the girl was already a toddler. Shifu Cheng had laughed at the time, and mentioned that Cass might be a good influence on her, if she could keep her father from trying to steal his great-niece away that is.

             Now Cass was looking at the girl’s picture a bit more critically, and with Bruce and his parents in mind, she wouldn’t be surprised if this Marinette—a young designer who had managed to have two major figures in the industry recognize her by 16 with an apparent knack for helping her local heroes—was Bruce’s daughter. Her eyes reminded Cass of Thomas Wayne’s from the portraits, and her smile was a lot like Bruce’s when he wasn’t hiding anything.

             With all this in mind, Cass was already on a plane to find the girl and test out her theory—to see if Marinette of the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie was also Ladybug—Batman and Bruce Wayne’s daughter.

             She did smile when she saw the group chat for “Middle Kids Only—No D’s Allowed” exploded with Jason, Tim and Steph arguing over who would find her first and what the prize would be. It looked like Cass would win at this rate. She was fine with that—and having a no-questions asked favor from each of the three in the future would be the icing on the cake to meeting their new sister first.

---             

             Marinette has to explain to Adrien a bit of her blow up while they were civilians and out of sight in her room. Tikki and Plagg were napping.

             “So, you’re uh…” she couldn’t blame him for the lack of words. She tended to forget (re: ignore) the fact herself most of the time.

             “Yeah,” Marinette shrugged. “Maman and Papa got me in a closed adoption case, the mother was young.”

             “… I’m now picturing a young Batman and can’t wrap my brain around it.”

             Marinette snorted at that. “It was before Batman existed.”

             Adrien frowned at that, thinking it over as… “So did you ever…”

             Marinette shook her head. “My mother warned against it, the note she left for me said it was dangerous to even attempt contacting him.” She ran a hand through her hair as she remembered Maman and Papa letting her read the note not long after her Guardian training began. It was another life entirely. “She said he was an unfit father, and that she never wanted kids so I was better off not looking for them when I grew up. I never planned to—Maman and Papa were all I ever needed or wanted.”

             Adrien smiled at that, grabbing a cookie for himself. “So what happened?”

             Marinette winced. “I, I don’t want to talk about it. Long story short, a wild Murder Robin appeared and told me not to contact his family or else, and I promised to steer clear of affiliates so he wouldn’t try anything.”

             Adrien twitched at that. He knew Marinette and Alya made a few comments about it once upon a time but…

             “Is he the one dropping off the weapons and flower threats?”

             Marinette looked away, keeping her eyes low.

             Adrien tightened his fists. “I see. If he or that family get near you, they’ll have to take on Chat Noir first.”

             Marinette huffed at that. “They’re the normies that took down the world ending metas, I doubt there’s much we could do against them chatton.”

             Adrien shook his head and jabbed a thumb at his chest. “Black Cat wielder, destruction incarnate, and the idiot you share a soul with.” He gave her his Chat Noir smile. “There’s nothing I can’t take on.”

             Marinette snorted at that. “Chemistry.”

             Adrien’s face fell at that. “You cannot tell me chemical reactions are that easy!”

             Marinette smiled at him then. “I can and will say it—Chemistry is easier and superior to physics. Kitchen Chemistry is how we get food.”

             “And physics keeps us from floating off into space.”

             “Not studying it. Studying chemistry I get food, physcics is just a headache of formulas on formulas on formulas.”

    ��        “But the theories!”

             With that, the pair fell into their familiar rhythm of banter for the rest for the night.

             Tim was crossing French designers in Paris aged 14-20 that own or work at a boutique, online or physical, and turned up a large number of candidates for who Ladybug/the missing Wayne could be.

             Babs rolled in on this particular search, and gave him a look. “You know the Justice League wants us to not to contact her, right?”

             Tim made a vague sound of acknowledgement.

             “And that Bruce probably didn’t have a kid at 15, right?”

             “Just covering my bases.”

             Babs looked over his search margins. “Did you check Damian’s search history?”

             Tim scowled at her. “Of course I did, he’s been doing more through wipes, I couldn’t get more than a few scarps of useless code.”

             Babs began to grin then. “So that means I do have a leg-up on you then.”

             He didn’t even want to know how she knew about the competition. But she wasn’t officially in it either (all of the placed their bets down negotiated rules (re: no asking for help from Damian) and agreed the only participants were the four of them). What did Barbra Gordon want out of this?

             Tim paused at that. “What.”

             Babs grinned at him. Tim remembered why Oracle is the queen of hackers everywhere—nothing is safe from her reach.

             “He was particularly taken with a few designers, and one of them happens to be in the range you’re looking for.”

             Tim scowled at her. “What do you want?”

             “You know that picture of me you took a few years back?”

             Tim blinked as that was what she wanted. His ‘Don’t tell The Family’ insurance.

             “Yes.”

             “I want your copies of burned, and any you may have floating around returned to me.”

             Tim weighed the pros and cons to this. The girl should be in his current data pool. And he does know to use Damian’s search again (tracking Bab’s hacks was child’s play now) but she probably deleted most—if not all of—her trail. Decisions, Decisions…

             He could just wait to meet the baby bat. But then he would owe Jason a no-questions asked favor if he found her first… and he didn’t want to know what Jason would use it for. Owing Cass a favor meant family nights with the worst board games or tea parties when he was elbow deep in a mission. A no question favor for Steph was always interesting and usually resulted in Bruce giving them both looks.

             Did he want to lose his leverage on Babs, or did he want to avoid the consequences of the bet more?

--

             Chat and Carapace exchanged a quick look when the pair arrived. A nod from Carapace as he trailed after their paling Ladybug was all Chat needed to begin operation Distract the Justice Leaguer Members.

             He and Rena Rouge were having the time of their lives. Both were genuine in their admiration of the pair and the work they had done. And they were both eager to learn from them—both as individuals and what their people knew of the Miraculous—something Chat and Rena knew there were large gaps in the history of still. And if they could help out Ladybug with gathering information and ensuring she was given space, well, the pair were down for it.

             Chat was asking a confused and mildly frightened Aquaman for combat tips in aquatic situations for future Syren-eqsue akumas.

             “So how do you keep an eye on attacks from all directions? Is it a ‘feel the water movements’ thing? Or is it just something you know how to do from growing up underwater? Could you teach me a few things on it—it’s a weak point that I need to work on.”

             Aquaman was quick to agree to help, eager to avoid angering the Black Cat and given Ladybug’s (apparently continued) evasion of Justice League Members, this may be the best way to both prevent the possible apocalypse and ensure Atlantis’ future safety.

             Wonder Woman was having an interesting conversation with Miss Sting about the uses for her spinning top and potential ways to work on her use of Venom while Rena asked about the Amazons and was there really an amazon who wielded the Ladybug miraculous? There were no confirmations from Ladybug and the Guardian was impossible to find to ask. Was there a Fox and did they have anything on the Miraculous’ history?

             Wonder Woman was quick to supply answers while scanning the area for Ladybug, and noted that the Turtle was missing too.

             “Is Ladybug well?”

             Rena and Miss Sting exchanged a look.

             Miss Sting stepped forward. “Ladybug just needs some space. She isn’t willing to risk breaking her promise since certain people do know where she lives.”

             Rena tensed at that, a scowl quick to her face as she remembered why Ladybug was absent. “She can’t talk to either of you until Murder Robin,”--Wonder Woman winced at the reminder of the current Robin’s past--“makes it clear he won’t keep threatening her if she does.”

             Chat caught enough of the conversation to join in. “Its also not good to stress her out, especially since its going to be open season soon.”

             Miss Sting sighed at the reminder. “Application and testing season.”

             Rena rubbed her forehead. “Don’t remind me. Last time Ladybug was so stressed over her workload that the cure was off for a week.”

             Wonder Woman and Aquaman exchanged a look.

             “Are you stating that stress on Ladybug alters how the Miraculous Cure works?” Aquaman asked cafefully, hoping it wasn’t the case.

             “Yeah,” Chat rubbed the back of his neck. “I figured it always did.”

             Wonder Woman shook her head, mind racing as, “No. Not during Mother’s time—it must be a side effect of something. May I speak to one of the Guardians?”

             Chat didn’t even have time to respond. Both adults noted the way his pupils shrunk and body tensed at the question. He knew something the others didn’t.

             “Uh, there’s only one, and the guy has been radio silent for months now,” Rena explained. “And not to be rude, but given the security breaches in the past, I don’t think it’s the best thing for our Guardian to be in contact, just in case.”

             “I see…”

             Aquaman was the quick to defuse the situation. “Perhaps one of your sisters could reach out to Ladybug? They are not affiliated with the League so that should lessen her stress.”

             Chat nodded along at that. Good. It was better to keep the Destroyer content.

             “I can see who Mother would like to send of the historians given the interest in past miraculous wielders,” Diana conceded. “Could you ask Ladybug if that is acceptable?”

             The teens grabbed their respective weapons and messaged Ladybug. A moment later the trio stated that Ladybug would agree to those terms.

             In the meantime, Chat, Rena and Miss Sting caught the adults up on the Hawkmoth situation and their limitations on investigation. Rena was particularly annoyed by the lack of progress as “Our best suspect was akumatized before Mayura showed up, so he can’t be Hawkmoth. But he lives in the target area, has the funds for a butterfly garden and the ability to keep it underground if LB’s theory about artificial sunlight to keep it secret is right.”

            “But we know he can’t be, so we should drop it and look for other suspects,” Chat added a bit nervously.

             Miss Sting nodded in agreement.

             Rena sighed. “I know, its just, too much adds up on him being Hawkmoth, but then again, that would mean he’d put his own kid in danger just to get the Miraculous. I mean, he’s bad and all but…” Rena shook her head. “LB is right about him making sense but it’s too obvious. I mean, who hides in plain sight, right?”

             Wonder Woman made a mental note to find out who this suspect was and maybe—MAYBE—let the bats do a deep search on this suspect if Rena would name them. He could very well be their villain, but she didn’t know enough on this investigation yet to make a call, nor did she have much knowledge on the Butterfly or Peacock miraculous. She only paid attention to the Ladybug and Black Cat legends—a soul spilt in two, destined to always find one another and willing to do whatever it took to protect the other from self-destructing once they grew close as allies.

--

             In Gotham Jason Todd is on a Mission. That mission happens to be meeting the Baby Bat before Timmers or the Waffle Queen herself beat him to it. Cass hadn’t responded to any of their texts, so he figured she was knee-deep in Black Bat and forfeited for once. He hoped.

             Either way, Red Hood would be tracking a certain Little Lady when he touched down in Paris once his plane took off, and take out whoever this “Hawkmoth” was. Magic terrorism is one thing. Targeting kids? Well, that puts you Hood’s list and high on his priorities real quick. Add threatening his family (estranged, feuding or 'well they're a Bat') to that? Gotham would live without him for a bit.

--

             Ladybug is currently holed up with Carapace in one of their hide-y holes on patrol. She has borrowed (re: snagged and is not returning any time soon) Carapace’s headphones. The music helps her breath. No immediate danger, she didn’t (further) break the rules of engagement, and she didn’t see any sign of Murder Robin in Paris from news reports.

             “So, uh, Murder Robin?”

             Ladybug wanted to groan. She knew this conversation was coming. “Can you send the others the cliff notes?”

             She did not want to do this with each one of them. there are a lot of miraculous users. Besides Chat and Carapace, there was Rena, Miss Sting, Pegasus, Ryuuko, King Monkey, Viperion, and Bunnix. She did not want to have this conversation seven more times.

             “Sure thing Ladybug.”

             Ladybug took a deep breath.

             “Remember Incinerater and Goo-Boy?”

             Carapace paused, face a bit slack as he nodded his head. “The first time Mr. Bug appeared, and the day Rena, Sting and me got our miraculous.”

             Ladybug nodded. “Well, it lasted so long because my transformation timed out. I couldn’t figure out what my lucky charm meant—I didn’t know what the kwami box looked like, and a bigger version of the jewelry box I got Tikki in meant nothing to me.” Ladybug sighed, as once again, she realized how much easier it would have been if Fu contacted her and Chat Noir after the first attack, or even during one on their built-in communicators. Just. Something.

             “So you timed out.”

             Ladybug nodded. “And I got caught in the building that went down.”

             Carapace froze. “Most people were still injured.”

             Ladybug winced. “I was. Still. Chat somehow knew to look for my civilian identity and found out I was Ladybug. I thought…” Marinette shook her head, pushing old fears of losing Tikki away. She’s the Guardian now. Tikki and her are together as long as Marinette remains so. “Nevermind. The point is, even after he cast the cure and helped me get home, Goo-boy showed up and Mr. Bug was needed again.”

             Carapace put the pieces together. “You were still hurt. And he left you alone.”

             Ladybug ran a hand through her pigtails. “He had to. I told him to, I figured I could make it the rest of the way.”

             Carapace frowned at that. “LB…” He put a hand on her shoulder. “What happened?”

             Ladybug swallowed a lump. “Tiny Murder Robin.” She stiffened a bit, fiddling with her yoyo then. “He uh, grabbed me, pulled me into a car and held me a sword-point. Not gun point, sword point.” Marinette bleed through then. “Who does that? What kid goes around and says they’ll kill you with a sword at your neck?”

             Carapace rubbed her back, keeping her grounded. “I managed to get him to leave since I was ‘unworthy of the Bat legacy’ and all, discarded and useless.” Marinette shook her head, reminding herself she’s moved past those feelings, the one that tried to well up in her moments. She was bigger than those thoughts. “He let me go since I wasn’t worth the effort if I didn’t know I was Batman’s daughter.” Marinette kept her eyes on her lap, a nervous hands running through one pigtail vigorously. “I kind of sicced him on the current Robin to save my skin.”

             Carapace pulled her in for a hug. She clung back a bit. she didn’t have to look at him as he explained the deal. “I promised to not contact Batman or the JL and he agreed to leave me alone. And he did.”

             Carapace pulled back. “That’s not all of it, is it?”

             “He uh, started leaving flowers and some weapon for winter holidays, Easter and my birthday in my room….”

             Carapace paled at that. “He’s threatening you.”

             “y, yeah…”

             “So that’s why….”

             Ladybug nodded.

             Carapace hugged her tight. “One sec, I’ll text the team. Then we’re doing that plan of action you made the rest of us do for when we can’t show up.”

             Ladybug nodded.

             She noticed a text from the others, asking if she’d be willing to talk to an Amazonian historian on the history of the Miraculous and learn from her. That… wouldn’t violate the terms of the agreement, in spirit or wording. She sent her agreement on the terms that none of the sent historians were Wonder Woman or the Queen herself. As cool as meeting Hippolyta would be, Marinette does not want to risk the violation in spirit (family members probably counted to Murder Robin.)

             “Done.”

             Ladybug blinked as Carapace turned to her.

             “Now what can we do to help?”

             Ladybug opened and closed her mouth, running over her options. “Just keep non-miraculous heroes from contacting me, especially in battle. I just...” Ladybug struggled for words. “He knows where I live. My family.”

             Carapace nodded, keeping a steady hand on her shoulder. “Can’t risk it, I got you—we got you.”

             After a moment of silence, Carapace spoke. “Keep the team on speeddial—if you don’t want everyone on, then at least me, Pegasus and Rena. Rena can distract without getting hurt, I can protect all of us and Pegasus can send him and anyone he works with packing. Monkey probably would want in on this too—he is the Distraction King after all.”

             Ladybug laughed a little at that. It came out weak. “Sure. Chat, he’s…”

             “Busy.” Carapace shrugged. “We all know his dad has him running through hoops to make it to patrol half the time.”

             “Yeah…”

             (Marinette agreeing to intern with M. Agreste and work on her accessories brand under the Gabriel umbrella did give Adrien more lee-way than he had before, but not by much at first. Ever since her line of scarves based on the miraculous heroes took off last winter, he was given more free reign if it involved Marinette as a designer, not Marinette as his friend and classmate. Adrien was allowed at her house at all hours now without no questions asked on the basis of ‘Marinette’s muses have spoken’. As far as Gabriel was concerned, Adrien was learning more about the designing process and crafting of individual garment and accessories from her, and offering critiques as a model on wear-ability and helping her develop her style as a designer while keeping her ‘on-brand’. The fact they mostly goofed off or worked on miraculous-related things together was another matter for another time.)

             Ladybug and Carapace stayed like that for a while, until after the JL left. She may have trolled the Monkey tab on the Ladyblog and snorted at someone’s short of ‘era 1’ Chat running at an akuma while screaming “this is how I will get Ladybug will love me!” with an ‘era 2’ Chat cringing. “That. That is how I got Ladybug to baby brother me.”

--  

           Dick was wondering where the rest of the bats were during patrol. The night before, it was only him. Something about needing to look into something for the JL on Bruce’s end, and Damian was working on something again—trying to make up for a past wrong was the most Dick ever got out of him. It was the third year in a row this happened, and around the same time. Apparently needles are part of this apology.

             Dick really hopes Damian manages to meet the person face to face this time. He has a feeling the person Damian’s apologizing to might be a civilian by Bat standards, and is probably missing Damian’s message completely. Maybe Dick would check up on him tomorrow—Gotham wait for no one and apparently Nightwing is the only responsible Bat at the moment. Thank god for Oracle’s Birds of Prey and the other vigilantes Gotham’s collected over the years. Dick doesn’t want to think about what would happen if this happened without them all.

--

PART FOUR HERE

Thanks for waiting on the update. Working with burned hand so it will take longer for the next installments. Mostly planned for the next chapter but character will do what they want and highjack my writing constantly. Things are moving forward (somewhat) on the Bats and JL end, while Miraculous Team stands with their leader, Ladybug, and aren’t ready to let Anyone threaten her.

this makes for a set-up for much to go Wrong. Feel free to add to the upcoming chaos or put in things youd like to see happen in the comments or by messaging me. 

@heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06

[maddascanbe-blog]

Nino's design as Carapace is already pretty clean. But I am set on making changes to every design in this series. Also adding the bottom face mask to better disguise him because even with the hood you can just see Nino's face in cannon, magic can only do so much.

Bubbler is so weird looking, why does he have that thing on his head? I thought bubble hair would be more visually striking and really sell that this was something magical. And the shades- I wanted to add something on his face other than the plain black marking and giving him sunglasses that should by all logic not stay on was too perfect.

Story wise Nino is the same as he was in cannon. Pre- Season 4 of course, what were they thinking? Adrien needs his bro to drag him out of his photoshoots and encourage a little rebellion. If only he knew how much his words Adrien took to heart as Chat Noir.

Chloe will be done soon. Not sure who I'll do next though? Maybe Hawkmoth or Mayura? The other classmates? Lila? We'll see.

[butwhybother]

Possibilities of new Kholin uniform designs to accommodate carapace. (I am assuming that carapace makes a Listeners' body more bulky compared to a human's, and sticks out especially around the shoulders.)

Topless

Pros: Natural. Shows off an individual's pattern. Freedom of movement.

Cons: Cold! Lacks pockets. Needs a different way to display rank and company (perhaps piercings in carapace for pins/badges?).

Painted-on uniform

Pros: Shows off the silhouette nicely. Display rank and company easily. Can be made to resemble a standard uniform very convincingly.

Cons: Conceals individual pattern. Cold. Labor-intensive to apply and re-apply. Time-consuming for the painter and the soldier (or is that a pro?).

Spandex

Pros: Stretchy. Flexible. Form-fitting.

Cons: Still not accommodating enough for any sharp or pointy bits on the carapace; might end up looking like a nylon hose with runs.

Mesh

Pros: Displays both company colors and individual pattern halfway.

Cons: But only halfway. Cold. Cannot hide anything in the pockets. May evoke the look of a crab caught in a net.

Sleeveless or Halterneck

Pros: Minimal amount of clothing to interfere with carapace. Could be paired with long gloves, if that's the look you're going for.

Cons: Cold. The jacket has become a gherkin, and that's a word that brings unease to my brain.

Tube top

Pros: Similar to sleeveless, but without anything touching your shoulders. Might feel nice if you have a sunburn.

Cons: Constantly needs to be tugged up. Cold. Easily leads to wardrobe malfunctions, which will either result in a power-up or a change of genre.

Off the shoulder

Pros: Looks pretty.

Cons: No spear weilding in this thing.

Holey shoulders

Pros: Holes make room for bulky shoulder carapace. Warmer than sleeveless. Requires only minimal alteration to the standard uniform.

Cons: I think this is pretty much what Rlain wears, and he seems so unhappy. Besides, what if shoulders aren't the only place where carapace is bulky or sticks out? Are you going to keep cutting holes out until the uniform looks like Swiss cheese?

Puffy shoulders and balloon sleeves

Pros: Warm. Covers everything without feeling too restrictive; probably feels more comfortable than staff uniform, even for humans. Has room for hiding stuff.

Cons: Too cute?

Padded shoulders

Pros: Looks powerful and proud. Covers the carapace and protects it, too.

Cons: May be mistaken for a Dragon Ball character.

Cape

Pros: Majestic. Very good for enveloping hugs.

Cons: May attract unwanted attention; not the best choice for someone who wants to blend in.

Poncho

Pros: Like a cape, but smaller. Nice with a hood.

Cons: But it could have been cape.

Mistcloak

Pros: Mysteriously mysterious. Blends in well with the mist.

Cons: Mist what mist. Has a worldhopper vibe.

[spartanxhunterx]

Bug And Shell(d): The Bubbler.

Normally Nino was excited for birthdays, between him, Kim and Marinette they were often a blast or at least memorable.

Today, however, was Adrien's birthday and Nino was a little afraid on how to proceed, just slightly really.

He'd only known Adrien for all of a few weeks and he felt like he didn't know much about his new bro-friend.

So he had decided to pick out a gift based on a little something that he did know about him. That was wrapped up in the box.

For now though, Nino's attention was drawn to the other item that had arrived with it. All very last minute but he didn't care. Opening the packaging he pulled out his brand new wireless headphones, gone was the plain orange and black colour scheme.

His new ones were custom designed with the outside of each ear piece looking like Carapace's shield, the inside was a dark green much like the darker shade on his costume and the head band came with a soft plush cushion of the same colour.

Overall, not bad and he could always claim it was his way in supporting the heroes, even if he looked a little biased towards his own alter-ego.

As long as their wasn't any harm, then there would be no foul.

 "I'm not as caught up with technology as I probably should be." Wayzz stated as he flew around the headphones, inspecting them. "But I'd imagine these won't last forever, power wise at least."

 " No they won't, " Nino picked up the headphones before pointing to a small cover, opening it to reveal the ports for wires. "That's why these are here, so I can re-charge it and not worry about power."

 he placed them on his neck, feeling a little tension fall out of him at feeling the weight on his neck. He'd gotten slightly stir crazy without his last pair, which he had broken helping that old gentleman, he had almost been tempted to break out the old-old headphones that he kept locked away.

 "That's better, come on dude." He opened up his jacket and waited for Wayzz to fly into the inner pocket. Picking up the wrapped present he tucked it under his arm before he left his room, messing up Chris' hair as he walked past him he called his goodbye as he shut the door.

-

 "Here you go dude." Nino placed the slightly haphazardly wrapped present in front of Adrien before he swung around the table to sit in his seat. "Happy birthday dude."

 " Oh, " seeing that look of genuine surprise on Adrien's face made this worth it, seeing the real excitement as his hands rested on top of the box before he turned to him. "Thanks Nino, you didn't have to do this you know."

 " I know. " Nino leaned back slightly. "I wanted to, you're my buddy after all."

 He leaned forwards, arm leaning against table. "Besides what friend would I be if I didn't celebrate my buddies birthday?" Holding up a hand to cut off Adrien's protesting he pointed to the gift. " Now are you going to sit there all day? Or open your present? We gotta get it done before miss Bustier gets in here. "

Nino watched as Adrien gave in, fingers carefully peeling back the paper as he tried so, so hard to not tear the paper.

Nino was patient though and let Adrien open it in his own time. By the time he was done the standard red paper was half torn off, half preserved and left all over their desk. Not that he minded though.

He saw Adrien peer into the clear plastic, seeing the Ladybug themed wireless headphones that were the same model as his.

It felt a little cheap or unoriginal but when the headphones came with a '50% for a second pair' deal he couldn't not capitalise on that. Besides, now he could also make the argument that they symbolized their friendship as they both had a single set of the pair.

 "100% accurate, Ladybug themed headphones dude. How's that for a B-Day present?"

 "Its... Wow, thanks Nino, I don't know what to say."

Slinging his arm over his shoulder he pulled Adrien into a side hug. "Its cool dude, Don't need to say anything," He smiled at him, getting one in return. "Say, why don't I throw you a party?"

That made Adrien's face drop slightly and Nino's own smile dropped as well.

"I don't know Nino... My father... I don't think he'd allow it."

Nino was about to respond, however, Both Marinette and Miss Bustier had entered the room. Marinette handed a wrapped gift to Adrien as she past him. "Happy birthday Adrien."

" Thanks Marinette. "

Before Bustier could get on their cases about the mess Nino scooped up the torn paper before depositing that into the trash bin as Adrien slipped the gifts into his bag.

 "Alright class, hope you've settled down now. Cause its time we get started."

-

 " Come on man, it's your B-day, Insists. " putting away his tube of bubble mix Nino wrapped his arm around Adrien's shoulder, leaning himself closer to him. "You know what? I'm gonna have a conversation with your pops."

 "Don't waste your time, he's not going to change his mind." Nino shook his head. His best bud wasn't going to go without a birthday party, not if he could help it.

 "Adrien, dude, I promise you, I will get your father to let you have a birthday party. I promise."

 Adrien turned to him, about to respond but was interrupted by Chloé, who had come running from behind them and latched onto him in a sort of awkward hug.

"Adrikins! Happy birthday!" She pulled back and Nino caught onto the genuine smile she seemed to give him. Perhaps Nino was imagining things but he was sure Chloé had been smiling more ever since Adrien had started going to school. It was subtle, but he could see it.

Perhaps her friendship with Adrien meant more to her then people realised.

 "Anyway. I ordered something special for you for your birthday, it should be there by this afternoon... Provided the moving guys aren't lazy or anything."

 " Thanks Chloé, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. " A cars horn went off several times and the trio turned towards Adrien's limo as it pulled up. "Anyway, I gotta go, Photo shoot."

Nino's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "On your birthday? Not cool dude."

The two of them watched as he walked to the car and Nino adjusted his hat so it wasn't loose. "Looks like I've got some business to take care of with Adrien's old man."

"You. Speak with Gabriel? Don't make me laugh Lahiffe, Gabriel would never waste his time with you."

He shrugged at the blonde girl, a small smile etching onto his face. "So? I thought you of all people would have been thrilled that someone was trying to give Adrien a B-Day party. "

 "I'm just saying it how it is." Chloé spoke as she examined her nails. "Uncle Gabe is very stubborn and set in his ways. So don't come crying to me when you can't do anything."

 "I'll keep that in mind... Cosplay."

 " Hey! "

-

Standing in front of Adrien's house made Nino feel slightly inadequate and nervous. Here he was, outside his buddy's house that looked big enough to house his family, cousins and other distant relatives and still have empty space inside.

Given that it was only Adrien, his dad and several staff, he could understand why Adrien was so keen on getting out of the house. It must have been terribly quiet.

Stil, he resolved his nerves and pressed the button on the intercom as Wayzz nestled into the crook between the headphones and the back of his neck for his comfort, yet out of the way of prying eyes.

He was not, however, expecting to have a large camera come out of the wall and nearly smack him in the face.

"Yes? How may I help you? "

Must've been some fancy camera.

 "Uhh... I'm Nino..." He spoke slowly, confusion clear in his voice. "I'm a friend of Adrien's and I was hoping to speak with his father regarding his birthday."

With each passing moment that was silent Nino grew more uncomfortable.

"Please wait, I'll be out there to guide you in a moment. "

within a minute the gates pulled back open and he could see someone walking towards him, he stepped several steps forwards until the two of them met.

"Come with me. Mr. Agreste will see you but only for a moment, he is a busy man."

Ah, this must have been his assistant. Nathalie, if he remembered correctly from when Adrien would take about his home.

The two of them stepped into the front door and Nino's hands shot into his jackets pockets and his hand fiddled with the bottle of bubble mix that was in there. He could feel Wayzz wiggling his way down his top and had to tense to not squirm in front of Nathalie.

Hqer head turned to him with one eyebrow raised but she didn't say anything.

"Nervous. Just a little."

She nodded before peering at her tablet before looking back up at him.

" Mr. Agreste will be here in a moment. "

Great... Just Great. He brought out his tube of bubble mix before unscrewing the cap, his hands fiddled with it as he waited, not spilling a drop.

Even though he knew they could most certainly afford to have to pay someone to clean it up.

Was it him or did the house feel cold?

"Adrien's not home yet." The sharp voice of the man of the house brought his attention to the top of the stairs, his hands freezing in place as he was dragged out of his thoughts.

He suppressed a shiver as he looked Mr. Agreste in the eye, he could feel no warmth coming from those eyes, not like what he saw when he looked in his mother's eyes.

Closing the cap of the tube he swallowed down his fear. "No I know du-Sir. I came to speak with you, actually."

" Me? " There was a shift in his posture that Nino couldn't place and the raise of an eyebrow that made him worry.

"Yes, I came to ask about giving Adrien a party du-Sir, it's his first birthday with some real friends and I think he really deserves to hav-"

" No. " Nino blinked at his cold voice, causing him to stop mid-sentence. "Adrien is my son, and I say what is best for him."

Somehow his eyes grew colder and Nino had to fight to not cringe away. None of the those present in the room noticed as Adrien slipped in behind them.

"Du-Sir. Adrien has been working really hard lately." Slowly Nino extending his fingers as he started his list. "Piano, Photo shoots, fencing, Chinese. I think it's only fair that he gets one day to enjoy himself. "

"Nino?" He turned to his side seeing Adrien next him. " You're here? "

Wrapping his arm around Adrien's shoulders he pulled him closer before before bumping his fist to his shoulder. "Of course, you're my buddy."

" You know what young man? " Looking back up the stairs Nino grew hopeful, maybe he had gotten through to him. "I've just decided that you're a bad influence on my son." Both boys eyes widened at that, Nino's hands tightening around his bubble tube. "In fact, you are no longer welcome in my house ever again, leave."

" Father. " Adrien called out, pulling away from Nino but Gabriel didn't listen as he turned and walked to his study, adjusting his tie as he went.

Nathalie stepped in front of Nino before he could try to follow. "Goodbye."

Eyes darting between between her and Adrien, he took a deep breath in before turning and walking out.

Adrien caught up to him after he was a few steps out and stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Nino, I'm sorry, my father is stubborn... Thanks for trying though. "

"Its not fair Adrien..." Nino struggled to form his words as he gestured to Adrien, as if he could convey his thoughts that way. "Its totally not cool dude. "

Pulling his strap up his shoulder he turned and stalked away, he could feel Wayzz moving up his jacket again and he simply tapped where he was gently.

-

Plopping himself down on the park bench he pulled out his tube of bubble before taking the wand out and blowing a few bubbles out into the air.

"That dude it straight up not cool."

He switched forwards before resting his elbows on his knees. Trying to regulate his breathing and calm himself down, it wouldn't do to stay in a bad mood.

"But dad!" His eyes shot up, landing on the child who was trying, and failing, to break out of his father's grip.

"No Son, it's not playtime, you've got chores to do." He watched as the boy was taken out of the park before blowing a sharp breath out of his nose.

"Why have parents got to ruin everything man?"

Feeling Wayzz moving around again he opened his jacket enough to let him pop his head out. He didn't want to make him feel like he was trapped, not in the way Adrien was.

"You agree with me right little dude?" He turned his head away as he shook it. " I mean, we're kids, we should be allowed to have fun and be ourselves. "

"While I agree, I must say kids need adults, to guide them through life." Nino didn't stop him from floating out of his jacket, just a little in front of him as he started to look around. "But please calm down, being angry won't solve anything."

"Maybe not but I'm just so... Ugh, " he kicked his leg out at the grass, watching as it bounced back into place with ease.

"Please. Master, copy me. Deep breaths, in and out, copy me."

Nino turned to him, missing the pleading expression Wayzz was giving him before he groaned and rubbed his hand down his face. "You don't need to call me that dude, it's not necessary."

Today had been going so great until now and he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault.

He jerked slightly as Wayzz thumped against his temple. " Nino. Akuma. " The words spoken in his ear caused his head to jerk up, eyes widening as they landed on the black butterfly that was making a direct path to him.

"Woah!" He threw himself off the bench, before backing away from the butterfly without letting it out of his sights.

Why was an Akuma after him? He had a miraculous. Didn't they grant him immunity to being akumatised?

He grunted as his foot hit a upsticking root of a tree and he fell flat on his butt. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to find some way out of this situation, his arms pushed against the ground as he tried to back away.

"Think happy thoughts!" Wayzz fluttered around him, trying to be both encouraging and hidden. "It can't get you if you're happy."

Happy thoughts? What was his most recent happy thought? Seeing Adrien happy this morning? Maybe Marinette's smile? that made him happy.

He could tell it wasn't working as the Akuma grew closer, his eyes darted to the tube in his hand and he threw it at the butterfly without thinking. As it made contact it sunk into it, leaving it to go a horrid grey colour.

"Ohh... That was close dude. Sorry about that." He kept his eye on it as he fell back to lay down on his back, just in case it came out on his own.

Wayzz landed on his shoulder before patting his check. " it's my fault, I should have warned you sooner, you're not immune to the Akuma's, I should have told you. "

Rubbing his head, Nino gave a slight huff. "Not your fault, I shouldn't have assumed." He sat up pulled Wayzz into the crook of his neck and gave him a one handed hug. "What are we gonna do about that?"

"We need to get Ladybug, then we release the Akuma and she can purify it. Don't touch it. "

 He nodded as he began to stand. Eyes looking around to find the closest place to transform. He didn't want to leave the Akuma unattended for long.

 "No!" His attention was drawn to the centre of the park, the boy from earlier was back and it looked like he was out for round two.

He watched as the boy ducked and weaved around people, doing his best to avoid his father. It looked like he really intended to stay at the park for as long as he wanted.

Which, now that he was looking at it more calmly, didn't look as good as it did before. He Could just imagine himself and Chris in that situation... It wasn't good.

Feeling Wayzz tugging at his clothes he was about to turn away before he saw the kid catch sight of the tube of Bubble mix. His eyes widened as he saw the kid make a break for it, no doubt thinking it was nothing more then bubbles.

"No, Kid! Don't! " Despite trying to run to it first, he had thrown it a good distance and had neglected to move closer in case the Akuma sprung out of it.

He, unfortunately, wasn't fast enough as the kid had picked it up before he could stop him. Hawkmoths symbol appeared over his eyes and Nino could see the discoloration that occurred around his eyes.

 "Kid!" he Stopped before him, hands hesitating to reach for the akumatised object, in case it somehow affect him too. " Don't listen to him kid, he won't help you. "

The boys father stopped not that far from him, seemingly hesitating to come closer. Nino grew hopeful when the boys eyes looked towards him and not spaced out, maybe he did get through to him.

"Yes... Hawkmoth." Oh Speakers, Hats and tables that was not good.

 The dark bubbles clouded around him and Nino scrambled to get a few feet back. As the bubbles peeled away he caught sight of the Akuma's form. And... ugh, it was going to make him sick just looking at it.

The boy now looked like a cartoon character, his top half was a bright red colour while his arms where a solid black, small 'bubbles' were sat around his joints and his legs were the same. He looked entirely like he was made out of plastic.

"Jason?" His father seemed to snap out of his stupor, stepping closer to his son. Nino was torn between running off to transform and staying to try to convince him to hand him the Akuma.

The akuma, Jason, turned his head towards the man with a frown on his face. "My name's not Jason." Quick as anything the boy raised his wrist and Nino saw what looked like a water gun strapped to his wrist , a small tube lead back to a tube looked backpack on his back. "Its bubble boy!"

In an instant a large bubble shot out and captured the man within it, turning it from its original purple to a sharp green, as the man floated up Nino decided that was his moment to finally get away.

-

The sound of an explosion caused Marinette to stumble off her chair with a scream, her dinner going flying, her mother jumped from the noise too.

scrambling to the window she could see both Carapace and an Akuma fighting it out.

"I... ugh, I'm going to my room! To hide!" Marinette scrambled up to her room, not giving her mother a second glance. Said woman stared after her daughter in confusion before closing the shutters on the window, just to be safe.

-

Carapace dodged to the side as another burst of bubbles shot past him, the park had long since vacated she to the Akuma and now it was just him and said Akuma.

"Listen to me kid! This isn't the way. This isn't solving anything, just causing more problems."

The akuma screamed at him, much in the same was all kids did when they were angry before pointing his bubble gum at him. "It's bubble boy! And I say it's playtime, Forever! "

Bubble boy fired off three massive bubbles towards him, two red and one purple. He knew he could deflect the red ones but he also couldn't touch the purple one without getting caught in it. He also would have time to deflect the red ones of he avoided the purple one.

He was about to cast Shell-ter when he felt something wrap around his torso. He was quickly yanked up and over the Akuma, at the peak of his impromptu swing he caught ladybugs eyes from where she was flying before he landed to a skidding halt well behind the Akuma.

"Just as a serious question. Is this going to become a regular thing with you? "

Fluttering down next to him, Ladybug let her yo-yo hang limply. "You're my partner, of course I'm going to protect you."

 "Yeah, but that's my job." He muttered quietly before taking his shield off his back and holding it in front of him. " Be careful of his bubbles, red explodes, purple captures you and they're unbreakable. He's already sent someone high up with one. Akuma's either in the bubble gun or in the backpack. "

 "Right," She nodded, eyes squinting at the Akuma . "Then let's get this done before I'm missed."

 Spinning her Yo-Yo into the air she called out- "Lucky Charm!" - The ladybugs swarmed around each other into the air and came together to form A- "Skipping rope? How's this going to help?"

 "He did say that he wanted playtime to last forever."

Ladybug nodded as she looked around, her nose scrunched up in thought. " Right I got it, " She tossed one end of the rope to him, which he caught. "You ever tie yourself up?"

Catching her meaning he nodded before he brought up his shield, the rope handle in his other hand. "Right, ready?" Receiving a nod he ran forwards, Ladybug floating just behind him.

 "You won't stop me!" Bubble Boy raised his hand at them, a large red bubble forming at the end of the bubble gun. "It will be Playtime!" He launched the Bubble and it shot towards them with speed.

 "Shell-ter! " A small semi-circular shield formed around his shield, protecting their front halves and allowed them to keep moving without removing it.

The bubble hit dead on, causing it to explode against it, the force caused his arm to real back. Instead of fighting against it he let himself be spun, throwing the shield once he was fully turned around again.

it flew through the air until it sailed right past the kids head, causing him to flinch in surprise.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction Carapace slid to the boys left while Ladybug flew past his right, as soon as both of them passed by his shoulders they turned to loop behind him.

Carapace ended up on his right, while Ladybug was on this left, the skipping rope was looped around his chest and arms, loose.

 "Now!" Both of them pulled, tightening the rope just enough to pin his arms down. Slowly Carapace wrapped his side of the rope around his arm as he moved closer.

Grabbing the Akumatised object he carefully removed it from the boy before violently tossing it towards his returning shield, where it shattered on impact and released the butterfly within. Ladybug released her end of the rope to capture it and purify it.

Carapace relaxed slightly as the boy when more limp in his arms as his Akuma form was stripped away from him. He carefully pulled the skipping rope away before throwing it to Ladybug And pointing upwards. The boys father was still up there after all.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

 There wasn't nearly as many magical Ladybugs as before, given the lack of damage, but Nino knew he would never tire of seeing them swarm the area.

 "Jason!" And there was the boys father, Nino released the boy and both of them collided into each other in a hug. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. What had he been thinking when he was groaning about the adults earlier?

The ringing of their miraculous brought him out of his trance and he turned to Ladybug as she began to hover slightly. "Not to charm and dash but I've gotta go."

" Bug wait! " He reached out and grabbed her wrost, stopping her from flying away for just a moment. "We need to talk."

Oblivious to Ladybugs face growing darker he looked to the father son duo as she began to talk. "Now's not a good time Cara, our timers."

 " I know," as if to punctuate her point their miraculous beeped again. "Eiffle tower, Tonight, ten thirty, yeah?"

Carapace was so caught up in organizing what he was going to say that he missed Ladybugs dreamy sigh. " Yeah... ok... " Snapping out of it Ladybug shook her head. "I mean, yeah sure, Ten thirty, not a second late."

 Nodding Nino let her go, watching as she fluttered away, chuckling as she looped in the air. Flashing the duo a peace sign he made his own quick exit.

-

Adrien's birthday might have been a bust but he had learned several important things today and Ladybug needed to know about them.

Which is why he found himself waiting on the top of the Eiffel tower, far above where anyone else could even reach. He didn't mind the height, despite how it was a little difficult to actually get up there for him but they needed the privacy.

Especially since what he was going to talk about was not something he wanted any civilian to hear. Lest he cause a little bit of a panic.

He was a little nervous about bringing it up to Ladybug, given that the Akuma was originally after him and he couldn't quite say that without worrying Ladybug and/or revealing who he was. Both of those things were bad in their own right.

The heavy thump of feet hitting metal caused him to spin around, meeting Ladybugs eyes with a nod. "Sorry I'm a little late, didn't want to get caught sneaking out."

Nino chuckled as he shook his head. " Oh, I know that feeling. The paranoia that you're being watched, your heart racing like it's beating its last. I know it well. "

"Sneak out a lot then?" Nino couldn't quite place the look that was in her eyes but he got the impression that she was... Impressed? Or maybe evaluating something about him.

"Not a lot, but sometimes I just needed some air and a walk around, you know?"

She shrugged, her wings fluttering behind her, despite being on the ground. "I guess, sometimes I need new stimuli to be able to work on some of my projects. "

He nodded and the two fell into a sort of awkward silence, he offered with his hands, finger brushing over his miraculous as Ladybug swayed side to side slightly.

"So?..."

 "I learned something today, a few things actually." Slowly Nino moved to the centre beam that stuck up the middle, before hitting his back against it and skidding down till he was sat down.

"We're not immune to the Akuma's bug. " Unknown to him, his words had ripped Ladybug out of her hypothetical daydream of Carapace confessing to her atop the tower.

Thoughts on having a hamster on hold she moved closer before kneeling down in front of him. "What do you mean? "

"Earlier, with the akuma," when he got a nod from her he continued. "The boy, he wasn't the original target for the Akuma." Seeing Ladybug about to open her mouth he held up his hand to signal that he wished to finish .

"There was this other boy, had these sick headphones styled after me, he was upset..." He completely missed the way how Ladybugs eyes widened in surprise, he had not way of knowing that she knew his civilian self. "Or mad, I dunno. "

"Point is, it went for him and he threw... Whatever the item was and it absorbed the Akuma but didn't turn him." He took a breath in as he pulled one of his knees closer. " The boy picked it up, became the Akuma. "

"Oh..." Ladybugs eyes darted around for a moment before she moved and sat next to him, their shoulders touching. "So we can trap Akuma's?"

" As long as no-one touches the item and we somehow get you there to purify it quickly. "

"Ok?..." Ladybug twisted her hand in a Thoughtful manner. " So, how does all that connect to us not being immune? "

"I made an offhand comment to Wayzz, about being glad we were immune. He said we weren't, that Akuma can come for us and we need to be careful."

He shivered as he remembered how close that Akuma had come to him, never again. Noticing the far off look in ladybugs eyes he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and bumped their shoulders together.

His missed as her face began to go the same shade as her suit, hands shaking slightly from the surprise contact. "Don't worry about it too much Bug. Just ask your Kwami to help you find your happy place, that should do it."

 " Yeah... ok... "

Despite it all, Marinette couldn't stop herself from looking at Carapace in slight awe. She leaned into his hold, glad to be able to take advantage of this moment, even if it wouldn't last.

[arolla-pine]

I, Marinette - p.9

(9) – The winner takes it all

While I was running alongside the Seine, I could compare traveling by Cat Noir’s staff and by Ladybug’s yo-yo. The latter was much more suitable for me, yet the Cat’s costume was better in absorbing jolts. I landed quietly nearby the Eiffel Tower. I hoped that Ladybug would find me before Juggler appeared.

“So, how did it go, Bugaboo?” I heard a whisper next to me.

“How are you feeling, Cat?” I asked instead, trying to read some emotions in Ladybug’s eyes.

“I still can’t believe in what I learned! Wow, it’s really…”

“Just in case…” I began in a serious tone. “Adrien… In case you still remember Ladybug’s identity after the ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ spell, never reveal your identity in public. Even if you want to protect Marinette.”

That was all I could do to prevent ‘Cat Blanc’ storyline.

“You’ve started talking about yourself in the third person…” Ladybug smiled.

“Don’t you have a feeling that you’re talking to yourself when you’re talking to me?” I asked instead to avoid answering.

“I’m sure I won’t confess any of my feelings to you right now. That would haunt me till the end of my life…”Adrien-Ladybug joked.

“If only Plagg could see that… I think that would kill him…”

“By the way! Was he nice for you?”

“Of course! He was so cute!”

“Er… Plagg?”

“Sure. You know, he’s a very sensitive little cat… If you can see through all those layers of sarcasm… And I think he’s very attached to you…” I admitted. “OK, Cat! Let’s go back to work. I’m going to sleep in my bed tonight, so let’s get Juggler! Here you are!” I handed two miraculouses to Ladybug.

“What’s that?”

“We need Alya and Nino.”

“But… Hawkmoth knows their identities… Maybe we’ll try to combine our miraculouses with…”

“No. I need them here. If my plan works, we’ll defeat Juggler. Besides, Hawkmoth won’t expect that we’ll ask our friends for help. Please, take those miraculouses to them and hurry back here.”

“But… Why me?”

‘Because I don’t know the address…’ came across my mind.

“It was always Ladybug who was giving them miraculouses. Let it be as it used to be. Oh, just tell them to focus on their costumes to be different than before. To mislead Hawkmoth.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

I was sure it would work. I had checked that on myself when I had to recreate Ladybug’s costume as it was originally designed by Marinette. That should work when someone wanted to create a new one too.

“The costume is what you really want to, isn’t it? If Alya and Nino take care of new outfits, we’ll have a new Rena Rouge and a new Carapace… Meanwhile, I’ll work on details of the plan…”

“I’ll be right back, M’Lady!” Ladybug saluted and disappeared in the darkness.

I found a safe shelter and waited. After a quarter or so Ladybug came back accompanied by two new superheroes. Alya had loose hair that partly covered her face. Her outfit was different – it looked rather like a short flamenco dress than like an overcoat. Nino looked like a real Ninja killer – hooded and masked.

“Great!” I said satisfied. “Now, listen to the plan…”

“Wait a sec… What?” Alya interrupted. “Since when Cat Noir is the strategy guy? You’ve finally grown up to let him do this?” she asked Ladybug.

“Let’s call it a compromise…” Adrien laughed.

“You haven’t told them, Cat?” I was surprised.

“What should she…” Alya began. “No, wait… Why is Cat Noir calling you ‘Cat’?” she asked Ladybug.

“I didn’t know I should tell them…”

“It’s crucial to succeed… OK, listen up… Juggler can move souls between bodies. He exchanged me with Cat Noir.”

Alya gasped, and Nino half-grunted half-chuckled. I winked at Ladybug.

“We need you here not only for the mission, but also to mislead Hawkmoth about your identities. He must start thinking that I’ve found new holders for the Miraculous of Fox and of Turtle. Have you worked out your new names?”

“I’ll be Jade Defender.” Nino suggested. “I wanted to pay tribute to Jade Turtle.”

I was moved hearing that. It was kind of symbolic gesture but so meaningful.

“I wanted to be Flame Dancer, but someone made fun of this name…” Alya said, narrowing her eyes ominously when she glanced at her boyfriend. “So, it seems that I’ll be Flame Enchantress. But… I really miss Rena Rouge…”

“Let’s keep it temporary…” I smiled trying to give her some comfort. “Now, focus! Flame Enchantress has to hide. You’ll create an illusion where Ladybug and Cat Noir regained their bodies. Ladybug must convince Juggler that she broke his spell. Jade Defender will create a shield to protect the illusion from a new spell, because that will reveal the trick. I hope Juggler will take the bait and will focus on the fight with the illusion. Then Cat and I may try to take over his wand, baton or whatever it is… Ladybug, you have to call your ‘Lucky charm’. Without it the ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ spell won’t work and we won’t be able to go back to our bodies. I’ll try to destroy the akuma object.”

“You think it’s the wand?” Ladybug asked.

I remembered ‘Cat Blanc’ episode again where Ladybug couldn’t find the object where the akuma was hiding. This time we didn’t have a second chance. Not with Juggler… He was too clever.

“Honestly? I have no idea what else it could be…” I admitted. “So, let’s get to work! Good luck, you all!” I said and then I added under my breath. “And… See you in the other life, Cat…”

We took our positions. I felt like a spectator. It wasn’t anything weird for me, Lena, but for Adrien it had to be tough observing Ladybug and Cat Noir playing their roles. For the last half an hour he’d been calling Cat Noir by a name ‘Bugaboo’. Now, he saw both of us doubled.

We didn’t wait too long for Juggler. He appeared surrounded by dust, laughing at superheroes.

“Oh, my poor super-kids! You’ve recharged?” he scoffed at superheroes.

“Better! We’ve regained our bodies!” Ladybug shouted with satisfaction.

“What? No! It’s impossible!” supervillain yelled. “I exchanged your bodies! You have no power to revert my spell!”

He swung with his wand  but this time smoky spheres vanished when they reached a green dome created by Jade Defender. Juggler swore and tried to turned around to transfer himself under the dome. But he failed. His right hand was captured by Ladybug’s yo-yo, and a second later his wand was caught by a red black-dotted lasso. I was watching, speechless, Ladybug keeping supervillain tied with her yo-yo while her left hand swayed the lasso to snatch the wand out of Juggler’s palm and to passed it in my direction. Where that boy had learned that?!

Defeating Juggler was a mere formality. I summoned the Cataclysm and the wand turned into dust revealing the akuma. Ladybug captured the black butterfly and cleansed it. Seconds later we could see Thomas Astruc sitting on the ground, totally confused.

“You’ve saved me again…” he muttered. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome…” Ladybug grinned.

“I see you have new superhero-mates.” Thomas noticed. “I don’t remember those…”

“These are new holders of miraculouses…” I explained.

I didn’t want to ask him if he liked the way I messed up his universe. He’d probably get upset and was akumatised again. But I could congratulate myself – my theory of a supervillain was correct. But Tikki would say that it was magic. All in all, I wasn’t sure of anything anymore…

“Could you tell us, what happened?” Ladybug asked.

No, better not!

“The last thing I remember was a story… My assistant gave me that to read…” Thomas said, and I felt faint. So, now I knew why it was me… Thomas had to read one of my fanfics. Great… “That was the story about your fight against Oblivio… Re-written…”

Let me guess… ‘Not so oblivious anymore’?

“But none of us remembers what happened that day…” Ladybug blurted out. Damn you, Cat! Neither of us! Not ‘none of us’! We should keep Alya and Nino’s identities secret!

“Er…” I cleared my throat and kneeled down next to Thomas. “Did you like that rewritten story?” I couldn’t miss the opportunity to ask.

“Yeah. And that made me angry…”

So, I could die happy now. What a shame I couldn’t put those words in a frame…

“Next time, please hire the author instead of sending her for a trip…” I whispered and winked at him. “OK, Cat!” I stood up and looked at Ladybug. “It’s time for going home…”

My partner nodded and gripped the red lasso. She threw it in the air with the spell ‘Miraculous Ladybug’. At the last moment, I saluted like Cat Noir had done so many times before and whispered:

“It’s been an honour…”

* * *

I knew it worked, even before I opened my eyes. I just felt my own body. My face was hidden in my palms and I felt my husband’s hand on my arms.

“Lena?” he asked me, and I could hear a tension in his voice.

I was so moved that I couldn’t say a word. Instead, I fell into his arms.

“You got me. I have no clue what’s going on here…” he murmured.

“I’m back…” I whispered happy. “I assume you had a little end of the world today?”

“You spent half a day in the bathroom, and then you were talking about Marinette, Tikki and Master Fu. All day long. I think you need a break from your fanfics…”

“Yeah… I think that too. But at first, I have to write the last one. You won’t believe what happened to me…”

 THE END 😉

---

I, Marinette - p.8  <-  Previous part 

Read the story from the beginning

[umbralundertaker]

The Pi Club (my carapace OCs)

Remaking this post bc I have updated some things about them!

Again, they aren't developed past vague ideas, but I’m slowly working on them.

I have designs for all of them, but I only have 3 committed to paper. They all have unique suits too, but you cant see them very well on this camera. Sorry about that ^^"

I'm planning on making information about them when they were exiles but I haven't gotten to it yet. Also, they have nonstandard names, because I was hyperfixating on topology at the time and I named them all after mathematicians. 

Information about them in general, they are a gang in the Troll's universe, like the Midnight Crew. They might not have has big of a physical grip on the city that the MC does, but they have all the citizens information at their disposal.

The leader is a Dersite named Euclid. He doesn’t go out on jobs, he instead stays inside the base and controls the rest of the crew.

The gang has three members who are the muscle and are the ones who go out on hits. They are Euler, Gauss, and Fibonacci.

There are two extra members who specialize in information gathering. These are Ramanujan and Schrodinger. They also go out on hits, but they go less often then the muscle does.

Then there’s Fermat. Ne is not formally a part of the group, but ne regularly interacts with Euclid to nis benefit. Ne acts as the information hub, and is generally one of the most feared people in the city due to the massive amount of blackmail ne has under nis belt.

-Anyways, here's Euler!

(Jeez, I really wish I had a better camera. Sorry!)

Euler is bigender (male and a nonbinary gender), and uses he/they/it pronouns. He is for those he is close to, they/it is for anyone else.

He’s a Bard of Mind, and autistic. His special interest is ant keeping, and has several colonies of ants in his room.

So as you can see he's physically different from normal carapicians. I don't have a reason for this yet! I just thought it looked cool u_u"

Otherwise, he’s average height.

He has four arms, four eyes, and wings. He also has special breath that can... do something, I haven’t decided yet

He has two pistols as his weapons, though he's good at hand to hand combat and is physically very strong.

He's generally a stoic guy, and quite blunt, but he doesn't try to be rude. He’s pretty group oriented, but can be inadvertently self-centered while under pressure. Once you get to know him better he becomes less standoffish.

His matespirit is Gauss.

-Next up is Gauss!

He's male, and rather friendly for a gang member. He wouldn't try to make friends with strangers or something but is generally cordial.

He’s a Knight of Hope.

He is a little taller than average.

His weapon of choice is a sniper rifle, along with a machete for when combat gets close. He's polite, efficient, and has a plan to kill everyone he meets.

-Next is Ramanujan:

Ramanujan is a male Thief of Void.

He doesn't talk or interact with the other members much and he's kind of humorless, but he does lighten up eventually.

He is the healer (I know kind of a weird choice) so he fights less than the others, but still is formidable. He has a revolver and a few knives to defend himself.

He’s about the same height as Gauss.

He is ashen with Schrodinger, and their auspistice is Fibonacci.

-Next is Fibonacci! I haven't drawn her yet but you can see the beginnings of a sketch next to Ramanujan. She's a tall Prospitain and she has a black suit and hat.

She has a friendly disposition and is a little silly, but does her job very well. She uses a submachine gun and a shortsword in fighting. She is a Witch of Rage.

-Next is Schrödinger, a tall trans woman. She is a Dersite with a white suit and hat. 

Like Fibonacci, she's less serious than the rest of the group, but she has a bit of a fiery temper. She has a long club to defend herself with. She’s a Page of Time.

-Next is Euclid, the leader! He's a Dersite with a black suit. He also has these two large canisters attached to his back, red and blue. I may say what these are for later. A hint is that he’s a Mage of Space ;)

He’s also pretty old, so he doesn't fight; instead telling his crew what to do from his base. 

He's intimidating, even with his short temper. He's very grumpy and does not mess around. 

-And the last member: Fermat.

Fermat is a tall Prospitain with a black suit and hat. Ne is neutrois and uses ne/nim/nis.

Ne is very level-headed and open to new ideas. Ne is less involved with the day-to-day activities of the gang, and mostly serves as an informant. Ne has a shotgun, but ne has no reason to fight. Ne’s an Heir of Light.

[nzoth-the-corruptor]

Scarab Lord Drama of Sulfuras

Those who have been keeping up with WoWhead’s Classic news posts are likely already aware of this microcosm of e-drama. For those who haven’t, feast your eyes upon the true Classic experience:

For some background, Sulfuras is one of the larger US PvP realms in World of Warcraft: Classic, and was one of the few realms to complete the Ahn’Qiraj War Effort in time to be able to ring the gong on the Tuesday after Phase 5 dropped. The majority of the War Effort contributions are reported to have come from the infamous Alliance guild <GRIZZLY FROM REDDIT> (to be known as GRIZZLY for brevity), originally from the PvP realm Stalagg. 

A highly contentious issue on PvP realms is ‘cross faction collusion’ where Horde and Alliance guilds group up to mutually ensure guilds that aren’t them are prevented from engaging in particular activities such as killing lucrative mobs or accessing a zone/raid.  The most difficult part of the Scarab Lord questchain is obtaining 42,000 silithid carapace fragments, which can only be obtained in Silithus, for a single player to turn in. Naturally, this resulted in coalitions forming on PvP realms to dictate who is allowed to farm for these.

On the realm Sulfuras, one such pairing was <GRIZZLY> and the Horde guild <Amnesty>. They are reported on reddit to have taken over Hive’Regal.

And then, while <Amnesty> was working on The Corruptor for the Scepter of the Shifting Sands, their designated Scarab Lord (Souffle) was hit with a ban.  A few different stories of what exactly is the reason for his ban went around, covered in this WoWhead post and its links, but the version of events that the majority subscribe to is that <GRIZZLY> mass-reported <Amnesty>’s Scarab Lord until an automated ban happened. For abusing the report system, a number of <GRIZZLY> members received suspensions that would expire during the Ten Hour War on Tuesday... including <GRIZZLY>’s own Scarab Lord.

And then, on Tuesday, shit hit the fan supreme.

Souffle of <Amnesty>’s suspension was repealed in time for them to happily ring the gong, and for the first few hours of the Ten Hour War everything went well. Then, when <GRIZZLY> was preparing to finish their own Scepter, several hundred Horde players set up shop outside the Caverns of Time to prevent anyone from interacting with Anachronos.

Because quests cannot be turned into Anachronos while he is in combat, and because the Scarab Lords can only be made during the Ten Hour War, the few servers that had completed their war effort in time to start the 10HW as soon as a Scepter was assembled with the second lockout of BWL after the patch were in a perfect storm where any sufficiently dedicated group could prevent any and all other would-be Scarab Lords on their realm from existing simply by locking up Anachronos with a several hour raid until the Ten Hour War ends.

In the end, the Horde were successful at denying <GRIZZLY> their Scarab Lord. And, unfortunately, several other would-be Scarab Lords who had nothing to do with <GRIZZLY>’s griefing and exploiting.

And this is all over a re-release of a 15+ year old video game.

[sntechsupport]

SO I HAVE A MACHINE MENT FOR RE ENCODING CARAPACES IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO HOOK IT UP TO THE ALCHEMITER SO I CAN KNOW EVERYTHING ALCHEMISABLE ~ TH

No, it is a VERY bad idea. Your head is not designed to contain that.

Sincerely SN Tech Support (Gear)