#cause i think lime is a Super interesting person in this au like- how did he get into this situation?!

[justletmeplayminecraft]

Legacy SMP in @martuzzio Space Outlaws AU

So, for... A while (since S2 started) I've been thinking about Legacy in Space Outlaws (including writing something I never finished & drafting out my ideas several times-) And I've come to find two ideas that I like.

So, under the cut will detail my ideas for how the Legates could fit into the space outlaws au and some thoughts on individual Legates! Of course, this is not canon! Just my headcanons for the AU.

The first idea:

The Legates' hubris gets the better of them. Experiments with plant-life escape their confinement and start spreading over the ship. When systems start failing, they choose to overload their engine in a last ditch effort, hoping to land on a nearby planet. They crash, sending the group of them spiralling across a wasteland. Now they need to use the remains of their ship to build shelter and survive, with various members injured, and that infection slowly spreading....

Also, the short bit I wrote for this one but never did anything with:

"Guys!" Pearl stumbles up the top of the hill, the sunlight hitting the back of her suit. Dark, almost black smoke billows up in front of her, blocking out the reddish sky of the planet. In front of her, down the slope of orange sand, lies the remains of their ship. Winding black threads are creeping across the metal, fires still burning tall. What silver isn't covered by the plant is battered, the ship broken apart in the middle.

Chimney doesn't stop to take in the sight, launching himself down the sand bank. Pearl is quick to follow, Logic and Jermsy with her.

"Where would he be?!" Chimney shouts, the radio in their helmets fizzling. Pearl winces at the static in hers. The UI isn't displaying properly, she had to close everything so it stopped giving her a headache. Logic stumbles in the sand as he runs, forcing himself back to his feet.

"The cockpit!" They angle their descent towards the front of the ship, Jermsy holding his blade in hand. The wreck grows as they get closer, until it's towering above them. Pearl sighs at the sight of a large thruster, broken off and standing nearly upright, half-buried in the desert. Their ship didn't deserve this. The heat is near unbearable, the sunlight bouncing off the metal, warmed by the flames. Jermsy cuts their way into the ship, Chimney reaching forward to help pull the metal away.

"Wow-" Pearl reaches her hand out to steady Logic when he stumbles. Her heart aches at the sight of their ship, their home, in this state of disrepair. The carefully decorated living space has fallen apart, anything not secured broken. Thick smoke obscures their vision, and she's relieved they know the ship off by memory.

"How are we supposed to find a way up to it?" Jermsy speaks the next problem. The entire ship is on her side. They're already at an angle, standing on one of the walls.

"Just cut through," Pearl decides. "There's nothing we can do to save her. But we need to save him." Jermsy nods, forcing himself upwards. Logic has activated the heavy flashlight on his suit, Chimney attempting to blow the smoke out.

The second idea:

The Legates are trapped on a ship/space station with an AI that is out to get them. They don't know what's controlling it, or what it wants from them. It sets strange rules and tries to control them. They have what they need to survive, but they're trying to look for a way out. They all agree that if somebody finds it, they should leave before it's closed off.

Personally, I think the second idea is a pretty fun way to incorporate the withering energy & events, but both are workable!

Also, some individual headcanons!

Pearl: I definitely see her as a winged creature of some sort, but I've always loved her as similar to a moth. Evidence: The optifine cape makes her elytra cape look like moth wings. Also, floof.

Logic: Either big-eyed alien, or goggles that make his eyes look super big. He's an engineer, and enjoys his work! He wants to discover things that help people.

Lime: A species similar to an elf. Pointed ears and white hair. Very knowledgeable of new technologies. A member of Mojang (I'm pretty sure there was lore related to them, but cannot find it please save me-) How the hell he got into this mess is anyone's guess.

Skizz: Somehow, Skizz ended up with this lot. ZIT's friend who suddenly dropped off the map. He's doing his best to help out, but is pretty worried he can't contact his friends. Not entirely sure what species he'd be. Since he was Impulse's childhood friend, leaning towards human.

Chim: Potentially a species related to bees! Mostly for the gorgeous wings. Otherwise, some kind of bee-related culture, to fit in with his bee priest storyline.

Anyway, that's all my current thoughts! They're very much concept ideas, but I just love Legacy a lot, and I think their plotline could be super interesting in this AU. Do I have any plans to write with them at the moment? No, I have so much to be working on jkhfd But am I thinking about them regularly? Yes <3

[abenignsmile]

Some Cielonica shipping meme I did! 

I was lazy so for the portraits I used the art I commissioned from my friend @toivoshi​! (Please check them, they do amazing art and has a super cool ongoing comic series!!)

Links to templates! First (originally posted by senaizuuchan) || Second || Third and Fourth

Note: I changed the second template’s “Screams at bugs” to “Scoops bugs and throws them away” and also added a horse into the driver part since this is Fire Emblem, baybee!!

Also, more talk about these memes under the cut!!

General Ship Meme Stuff

Height Ciela has already stopped growing for a long time. Her height capped at 158 cm/5'1" feet while Veronica keeps on growing. She will eventually outgrow Ciela (maybe she'd hit somewhere 170 or even 175).

Age I never decided on their age. All I know is just Brave!Veronica (I will write as Beronica from now on) is older than Princess Veronica (just Veronica if I write her more) because she seems more mature and more stable as a person. I HC-ed that Veronica is somewhere at 13~16 y.o. while Beronica is at 18 ~ early 20s y.o. and Thrasir is already at mid 20s (maybe 26~27). Ciela in my mind has always been the age of uni/college student, or a fresh graduate who's struggling to find jobs in the world. Her background is still very much vague so I never really thought much about her age.

Falling in love Ciela is very much easily attracted to people, esp those who makes her feel really good. Her romantic disposition usually doesn't stop at anyone w/ feminine tendencies, but she just feels far more comfortable around those who identifies as female, due to multiple reasons. She doesn't mind guys in general, but they just don't get her going. Anyway, she fell in love with Beronica literally at first sight.

Beronica, due to her position, lived a more isolated life, and also is more wary of people in general. There is a limited number of people who she trusts. I HC-ed that she doesn't have much great experience with males (cause iirc her dad was a bastard) except those who she viewed with more brotherly or platonic view like her own brother or Xander. She's most likely a lesbian but also a demiromantic at the same time. Took her a while to develop her feelings towards Ciela, but after that, she's like a car without brakes.

Relationship experience Ciela had been in relationship w/ some guys before she realized she's not really into them. She never really hooked up with any girls because of some prejudice about same sex relationship where she came from, so Beronica is literally her first lesbian partner.

As mentioned above, Beronica lived quite in more isolation so she never really had any romantic relationship experience beyond the formality. She’s not awkward at them however, due to all the manners and diplomatic lessons she received. (And Beronica does have that different streaks of confidence than Veronica. The way they talk is vastly different, with Beronica showing more confidence and is more demanding in tone compared to Veronica’s more flat and reserved tone).

Affections/PDA/Protectiveness Once Beronica enters a serious relationship with Ciela (post their support thing you can read here), Beronica shows Ciela tons of affections and lavishes her with love as she realizes how great of a person Ciela is, and is a bit in a way to repay her for everything she did. Bero doesn't hestitate to hold her hand, hugs her, or even treats potential Ciela courters with much cold or threatening gaze. She'd leave "marks" on Ciela's body but since Ciela dresses very modestly, there's just no room for that, lmao. Fortunately, Bero can show great degree of professionality as a hero first and foremost and not terribly possessive in "you can't interact with people but me" way, since she understands that Ciela is a very important person in the Order of Heroes. She also trusts Ciela enough because she knows Ciela isn't really attracted to anyone else but Bero really.

Ciela mostly have treated Vero the same since the beginning. She did show a great deal of attention towards Beronica to fight off the Embla curse and for everything else really (since she was the fool who fell in love first). She's more reserved in showing her affection since she's a little shyer at times, and a bit bad at words, but she can also be clingy to Beronica, and never minds the affectionate PDA thing Beronica do to her. She also knows that Beronica is rarely ever interested in anyone else but her so things are really bueno for them.

Pet Names They call each other "my beloved" or "dearly beloved". Ciela has a secret nickname for Bero that is "Ronnie", but she uses it more privately because some early heroes who knew about this often teases them about it. They don't have other "silly" pet names because they're just that type of straightforward couple hahah.

Bonus: an alternate versison of Ciela who used to be Thrasir's SO called Thrasironica with the nickname of "night charm" and "night sky". In return, Thrasir called her "thunder" or "paradise". Both pet names are references to some important symbols in their relationship (that are quite different from present Ciela and Beronica).

Smaller stuff/trivias

“Scoops bugs and throws them away” was changed from “screams at bugs” because both Ciela and Beronica thankfully aren't afraid at bugs. They have different level of fascination towards it and behaves really differently. However, Ciela is more pacifist in her approach when dealing with pests while Beronica is more straightforward to kill.

Beronica being a princess once made her very sloppy at doing chores and cookings (I'll talk about this in the food section). She's doing her best, but ultimately Ciela or other heroes prefer to do it on their own most of the time. Beronica is good at keeping her stuff organized at least. They’d still let her do polishing or weapon maintenance since she’s very meticulate and careful. They will also let her do the horse care duty since she’s good with them.

On driving - Beronica has a very loyal horse named Randgridr (whom I don't talk about enough) so she's very good at dealing with animals in general and has great mastery on working with them. In modern AU, this just means she'd get her license as early as she could and just go everywhere with the car she owns. She's also not a clumsy driver. - Ciela eventualy gets to have a falicorn of her own (a black falicorn named Benthe whom she and Bero found when they both ran away to the mountain when Anna declared beach day) so she'd get a mastery on working with mounted animals. In modern AU, she's probably that person who has driving license but doesn't really drive unless she really has to.

On sleeping habit - Ciela is very much a night owl and has hard time getting up in the morning. She often misses roll call and at this point most people in Order of Heroes already accepted this and can proceed business as usual without her.  - Veronica is also a night owl, but this derives from her often having nightmares due to the Curse of Embla. Once meeting Ciela, her sleep quality actually improves a lot - Sometimes they do a lot of “things” at night to tire themselves out and helps them falling asleep better. 

Food Meme Stuff

I imagined both of them aren't very picky eaters. Bero maybe so in the beginning, but being a royal, I imagined she has great palate and experience with foods, and was able to help improve the flavor of foods in the Order via her feedback. She generally eats anything as long as they're prepared properly. She also understand the importance of eating well being a soldier herself.

Ciela isn't picky because of her previous background not letting her eat as much as she wants so she's always eager on trying something new. She became good at cooking solely for the reason of feeding herself and some people who lived with her at some point.

Favorite Food/Drinks

Ciela likes food that tastes great both hot and cold, but she has more tongue to eat more "refreshing" food. Maybe she used to live in a tropical country...

Bero is a meat lover. She loves them anyhow they're cooked, but she mostly likes them roasted or made into meatballs and served with some juicy and sour berry sauce or jam to balance the fatty flavor.

I don't know how to describe "herbal soft drinks" better than it does, but basically soft drinks are sort of any drinks that is meant to be enjoyed lightly as opposed to alcoholic drinks, right? (though they are mostly being used to refer to carbonated drinks). So one day I had the chance to eat at an international restaurant in a hotel and for the local menu, they have these selection of "soft drinks" that are basically combination of herbs and fruits and woods that are just so??? good??? They're clear colored (some red, some green, depending on the ingredients) so maybe they're like infused drinks or filtered juice(?), and one of my favorite has peppermint, ginger, sappan wood, and lime in it. It is served cold and is also sweet (maybe they added sweetener to it). So I imagined Bero would like to drink these refreshing drinks because they taste great and possibly has great benefits for health too since they're mostly from natural ingredients.

On Cafe Drinks

I HC-ed that in Zenith, Askr grows tea while Embla grows coffee. This makes for the reason why Askrans like to drink tea a lot and Veronica in one of the FEH comic is clueless about tea brewing.

This reflects on Bero's choice of caffeine drink. She doesn't mind tea but more used to coffee. She usually takes them plain or just with milk or cream.

Ciela prefers tea because she just doesn't like the flavor of coffee. She prefers her tea chilled though. She drinks boba or jelly drink back in her world.

On Alcoholic Drinks

I think both Ciela and Bero are very modest drinker, as in they won't drink unless it's for someone else or for any important occassion.

Ciela is a moderate drinker. She holds herself very well and will definitely stop before she gets drunk and totally lose herself. When drunk however, she will get very "proper" and apologetic. She will get sad and apologize a lot, letting out much of her inner worries, and probably also auto pilots herself to properly tidy herself before she fell asleep. Some people enjoys her drunken state because finally they'll be able to find out more about her since Ciela keeps to herself most of the time.

Beronica if drunk gets on the pretty happy but sarcastic side like suddenly her words became much sharper (and honest) while she says it in very smiley face or her normal tone. She also gets far more daring. Her auto-pilot mode isn't as great as Ciela's however.

On Food

Living in Order of Heroes, everyone gets to eat properly and equally due to the strict living schedule, though Ciela gets to skimp on that sometimes since she often misses breakfast. The heroes often save an easy to eat breakfast for her so she can eat them during meetings or study or chores.

Ciela eats quite a lot. Nobody knows where all those extra calories goes. Most guesses it goes to her brain and her tiddies.

Veronica loves spicy food and Ciela can't stand them so much. She has a tongue that's pretty sensitive to the spice that'll numb her tongue and make her unable to taste anything else. It mostly saddens her because she thinks it's a great flavor and makes food exciting.

Ciela loves her sweets and bakes or cooks to feed herself. Veronica is more moderate on it, but she'd take some sweet-savory snack for herself.

That’s all for now?? If I missed anything, feel free to ask!! 

Thanks for reading uwu)b

[fantroll-purgatory]

@47098

Sorry about my spriting here, I’m not good at making pants. ;

Left is her in her coat. It’s the only piece of lime-colored clothing she owns. Right is her usual wear, or what she puts on when she leaves her cave.

FIRST: Alternia or Beforus or some type of AU?

Alternia

Name (preferably include how you came up with it and why): Orwnet Jketli

I really don’t remember how I came up with this name! I feel a bit bad about that, but I do remember that I partially made it nonsense because of the fact that Calliope said Lime names were a bit more weird.

Okay so looking at her, I notice a theme of sneaking/fleeing, fear, those sorts of Prey Animal themes. I also notice an interesting in practical goofs and cartography and also her disconnect from relationships. A lot of neat stuff to work with! 

I think I’m going to recommend changing her name… to Quarie Jkrebt. I wanted to keep playing with the ‘weird lime names’ rule you pointed out, and I wanted to preserve that cool Jk sound in the last name. 

Quarie comes from Quarry, which is what a hunted animal is called. And Jkrebt comes from Jack Rabbit! 

Age: 6.9 sweeps

Weapon: Confetti Cannon! She is pretty non-violent overall, so I figured she wouldn’t have an /actual/ weapon.

A confetti cannon is cute, but I don’t know if it fits the theme super well? I does fit her love of jokes… Hmm. Oh, I know! Maybe Jacks!

A good ol bag of jacks. She can scatter them on the ground when she needs to make an escape. It’s also another pun on Jackrabbit. And it has some alchemization potential. Like creating jacks that can Also release a puff of smoke. 

Inventory: WHEEL OF FORTUNE! Spin the wheel, who knows what you’ll get! Anytime she wants an item she has to spin the wheel, and she doesn’t actually get to choose what comes out.

I do like the Fortune thing because Lucky Rabbit joke. 

Blood color: Lime

Symbol and meaning: A sort of eye, peering over something. It’s also partially meant to look like a record.

I’ll be picking out a new one when we get down to the title and moon.

Trolltag: amicableJukebox [AJ] (very open to suggestions on this, i did NOT mean for her trolltag to be apple juice)

uneasyBinky, maybe? Uneasy referencing her anxious and unsettled nature and binky being the cute little hoppy thing bunnies do. 

Quirk: orgets the beginning parts of sentences! oesn’t really use capitals or emphasis either, even when upset.

The lack of capitals and emphasis is a good nod to her blood caste’s calming role. I don’t really understand the Origin of the forgetting the beginning of sentences quirk? But it’s still legible and it’s a cute idea, so I won’t switch it up.

Special Abilities (if any): She has the ability to calm people down extremely well. She is good at diffusing arguments as well, making her a good auspitice. It isn’t really an innate power, but it is something that comes with her caste, I suppose? She also used to have a empathetic link to her lusus, where her lusus could project certain feelings or invoke certain kinds of memories to ‘communicate’ with her.

I was also thinking of adding the empath link as an actual ability, as in she could use it on other trolls if she really concentrates, but I’m not sure how well that would really fit.

I think it would fit really well! We know that lower-blooded trolls are more prone to gaining psychic abilities and it’d fall in line with what we already expect from limeblooded trolls. I like the idea of her starting off with a weak empathetic link that she ends up developing and strengthening. Maybe she can only use it with her lusus at first, but slowly gains the strength to utilize it with other trolls, sharing emotions with those around her. 

Lusus: A four-eyed rabbit. Two eyes on the front of its head, two eyes on the back. It also sort of… eminates white particles, just because. Orwnet calls her Hippy.

I don’t want this Bunnymom to be just a plane ol four-eyed rabbit, so I think I’ll recommend a Rasselgeiß. That’s a rabbit with antlers and fangs. Just unique enough.

Personality:

Extremely secretive and chill, Orwnet keeps all of her emotions behind a wall of jokes and self depreciation. Orwnet can get along with just about anyone, but that’s because she doesn’t put much weight into what she wants so she lets everyone walk over her. She will speak up when a plan is obviously bullshit, or if she thinks people will die from said plan, but if she thinks no real harm will come of it she’ll let it slide. If someone is being rude or overly confrontational, she will most likely skirt out of the conversation. She has no close friends, and finds it hard to get along with people on a deeper level. She often distances herself.

Orwnet takes great pleasure in persuing a cause. She will devote herself entirely to something passionately, even if she seems to be joking around about it or skirting around the issue. People will most likely think she’s slacking off when she’s really coming up with plans, trying to work them through in her head. She is very skittish by nature, so she often doesn’t share her plans with others, but makes sure to work her plans around the people she is with. If her plans fall through or fail she will be crushed, but won’t tell anyone about how she feels.

Orwnet is very jumpy and evasive due to her childhood of terror. She has a deep distrust for everyone, fearing that they will turn her in or try to cull her. She still acts friendly, but will bolt at a moments notice if she senses danger aimed only at herself. If she feels like someone else is being targetted, she will try to help in any way she can, but that often involves finding a non-violent way to get them out of the situation. She finds more value in running away than in physical confrontation.

I really, really like this personality. I’m interested in her lack of self-confidence, her passion, and her emotional struggles, and her fear of intimacy. All great character traits!

Additional info:

Okay her existence and alive-ness is due to shenanigans on part of my fankids.

She lives in a cave, where she and her lusus have taken residence ever since her lusus picked her up. The cave has since been added onto, extra tunnels being dug by Hippy. In Orwnet’s room there is a secret passage hidden by some maps taped onto the wall. It’s for when others enter her cave without her knowing.

Interests:

MAPS (keeps them b/c she needs to know her way around so she can sneak better)

PAPER CRAFTS

JOKES

Self-depreciation

VEGETABLES

HIDE-AND-SEEK (a joke about how shes always hiding from the drones)

LONG DISTANCE RUNNING (a joke about how shes always running from the drones)

FUNNY NOISES (she mixes a lot of gag-noises on a soundboard she carries around, she presses the buttons when something funny happens)

These are cute interests. Maybe as part of maps you could give her a bit of an interest in cartography or tracking? Also I have to wonder about vegetables- how does she get them? Does she farm? I know Kanaya mentioned landscaping is uncommon on the planet, but it’s possible farming is a bit more common… Maybe have her do some self defense training, too?

Title: HEIR OF TIME

Now I have to contest this gently. I think she’s most likely a Heart player! The fact that she lets people walk all over her… The fact that she has trouble with intimacy, her intense devotion to causes and her incredible passion- it all reads as very heart player! It seems like an area she needs a lot of development in, too. I think placing her as Seer of Heart with her inverse being Witch of Mind is a good place to be!

Land: MUSIC and LOCOMOTION

Land of Carnivores and Locomotion, maybe?

Dream Planet: Derse

I definitely agree with this!

Which means we can decide on a symbol now!

Cano, the Translucent. 

(thank you for helping with maroux as well! your sprite was so cute and all of your help was so good!) 

Glad I could help with this one and with Maroux! Now onto the design!:

Horns: I adjusted the horns to fit the new symbol I provided. I wanted to keep them relatively small and rounded!

Hair: I just beefed it up in a few tiny places because it felt a little flat up top in particular.

Eyes: I gave her some eyelashes and also slightly larger pupils to reflect those seen on a prey animal! 

Mouth: I adjusted her teeth just a little to make them a little neater… And make it more obvious that the one tooth is coming up from the bottom. 

Jacket: I adjusted it to the correct color and also spruced it up a little. Fixed the outline, the lapels, give it a little tie around the waist. 

Shirt: I adjusted the color and outline. 

Pants: I made them have a little more form but didn’t do much else. 

Shoes: I took some of Jade’s shoes and edited them to make them look a bit more comfortable to run in. 

Now we’ve got ‘em done! Thank you for sharing her!

-CD

[bluebeirry]

This is dedicated to Suzume42, whose works got me into this pairing and filled a prompt I sent. I didn’t manage to write out a fic, so I just wrote out some outlines of how I think this pairing might have gone down. Slight warning for lime, mental illness not being properly treated, some slut-shaming, and bad parenting from Paragus and Vegeta. Non-explicit.

So I came up with a Broly/Trunks AU where Broly kinda has his abridged personality (though the others are cannon, and the slaves are given the name “Shamoshans”). Except slight expansion on his past, complete changing of Bardock’s origins, and my own half-assed attempt at trying to justify the “crying baby” backstory. And I am of the opinion that the reason future!Trunks had such trouble entering SSJ form when present!Trunks discovered it by accident is because tailed Saiyans fuel SSJ with rage, but tail-less Saiyans do not. Basically Gohan teaching Trunks SSJ form was the equivalent of a right-handed teacher trying to teach a left-handed student how to write. Also my strange opinions on Saiyan mating habits.

So the party spends a night on the planet. Reason: the stupid comet is too big and if Vegeta had wanted to look out the window on the way over he’d have easily seen it & fucked up everything. Since Paragus knew nothing about Vegeta as a person except a) he’s Vegeta Sr,’s son, b) he used to work for Freeza, and c) he lives on Earth now; Paragus knows nothing of Vegeta’s personality and couldn’t take the risk of him wanting to be in the command center of the ship (with all it’s nice windows and scanner equipment) and chose to wait another day. Gohan, Krillin and Trunks spent the day exploring the planet and came home late; by the time they returned they’d missed dinner and raided the kitchens instead.

Unfortunately, the Shamoshans? Aren’t so willing to trust people who look in every way like the (monsters) beings who rule over them- especially since two (and then three) admit to being Saiyans. Even if they saved them, the Shamoshans don’t know if they’re honest or if they orchestrated this entire thing with the guards in order to manipulate them into speaking the truth, especially since no guards were killed or even crippled. From the Shamoshan’s POV’s and cultural understanding of war, this means their “rescuers” are on the guards sides- and ergo not to be trusted. Merely respected and sucked up to and told what (the Shamoshans think) they want to hear. So on that first night, Trunks is kind of still poking around the castle, having done most of his earlier exploring outside it. Broly was in the room when a servant reported to Paragus that the other guests had returned late, but as soon as Goku came up Paragus kicked Broly out so he could talk about him in private. Not sure what to do, Broly figured that their guests were probably hungry- especially the Saiyans. He’s not sure how much non-Saiyans eat but from experience can guess that non-Saiyans probably won’t become immobile if they don’t eat for twelve hours, so chooses to send some food to Gohan’s room and Trunks’ room- y’know, the small one and the cute one. Trunks, meanwhile, is caught off guard when a random servant shows up with a cart full of food while he’s literally picking apart the room (hey he’s Bulma’s son- he can do some “science-y analyzing stuff”). And is reminded by the food that there’s someone else there who might know something.

So Trunks tracks down Broly at a nearby lake; Broly explains that he likes lakes. They’re nice and peaceful and nobody’s around them (usually, since most sapient aquatic species prefer rivers and oceans), so it’s a good place to practice doing “that thing he can do that his dad can’t where his hair changes color and he feels a lot stronger and faster and confident.” Getting back on topic, Trunks asks Broly about the Shamoshans and the planet. Broly doesn’t know much about them; his father handles most of that. He also doesn’t know how Paragus found this planet, why he chose it, how they got the Shamoshans there, or where the Legendary Super Saiyan is- though when Trunks mentions never having heard of them Broly is surprised, then wonders if the LSSJ seems to be following him and Paragus; wherever they go reports of the LSSJ aren’t far behind.

Trunks starts to ponder this, and Broly in turn asks if he can ask him a question: if he knows why his father kept those servants since they don’t seem very strong. By “servants” Broly meant Oolong, Krillin, and Roshi; he assumed from the smell that Gohan is either Trunks’ little brother or else Vegeta’s ward. Trunks figures out that Broly assumes non-Saiyans to be inferiors and servants; Broly is confused by the assumption that they’re not. Except for the Galactic Patrol- but he hasn’t really seen those guys since they left their original galaxy- he’s only known his father and various servants and underlings. Well, not his underlings- they answer to his father, but he can command them. He assumed it was the same with Trunks. Trunks in turn explains that they’re his friends- and again Broly is confused, he’s heard that word used by non-Saiyans in relation to each other but he’s not sure what it means. By this point Trunks is thinking that this guy might be somewhat amoral, but that seems to be mostly his upbringing; so he describes “friends” as someone who’s your equal and who you enjoy spending time with. That, Broly can understand; he sometimes enjoys spending time with his father, but his dad is the superior officer there. But… wouldn’t that make Gohan Trunks’ friend and not the others? Trunks then tries to ask what makes someone “equal”- is it strength? Broly admits that no it isn’t, because Broly can do that hair-changing thing and his father can’t, he’s stronger than his father. His father is older than him, though, especially when you factor in the years Broly spent in Cryosleep when his father woke up.

This piques Trunks’ interest, and he learns that inter-galactic travel is far more recent than he’d thought- the technology to jump galaxies in hours was only developed in the last year or so, and even then the ship they used to get there was cutting edge technology. When Broly and Paragus first came to this galaxy years ago, it took almost a full decade to get there; they and all the other passengers were put into cryosleep to make the journey go by quicker. But Paragus was woken up after only a year of sleep, because the ship lost its best fighter and ran into an unexpected band of Wraiths (Wait what-), they needed someone strong enough to fight off the Wraiths for them and with enough strategic, logistical and tactical knowledge to keep them alive. So even though he’s technically 30, he’s only got about 21 years of memories and physical growth behind him. Ergo he’s still a child and his father is his superior. Trunks thinks that’s a little foolish to call him a “child;” he can fight after all, and besides which Paragus should still include him in his work to show him how he runs things. After all, he won’t learn how to do the things Paragus does if nobody shows him how.  

(Wait, wraiths? Oh yeah, big carnivorous space whale-penguins with a hive mind that like eating people’s souls. “…You’re going to have to tell me more about them later,” says Trunks.)

Broly would like to point out that his father does try to include him in planning; but he always gets confused and either keeps interrupting to ask “silly” questions, or he gets bored and stops paying attention. Besides which, he doesn’t really fight all that much. Which is not to say he doesn’t know how, just that he’s… not very well controlled. He kind of… blacks out when he’s in danger and goes into a Berserker Rage, which he can’t really control; once when he was like that, he gave Paragus that eye-scar. Trunks compares it to Super Saiyan form- no, not like the Legendary Super Saiyan, more like a toned-down version that any Saiyan can access- shouldn’t Broly know that? He was doing it earlier.

Thus Broly learns that “that thing he can do that his dad can’t where his hair changes color and he feels a lot stronger and faster and confident” isn’t just something cool that got his father really excited when he first did it. Trunks can do the same- and Trunks can and does prove it. And then Trunks invites him to show his own form- so he does. And it’s kind of… nice to have someone else who understands it.

So the two of them get talking about their forms. Broly explains that his father used to get scared and angry at him a lot, because he was narcoleptic. (Or at least that’s what he assumes- he used to black out a lot and wake up in new places. Still does, sometimes, but now it doesn’t happen as often or in inconvenient places or times.) So his father took him to see a lot of holy people- monks, nuns, gurus, priests and priestesses and shamans and people like that. They’d work with him on meditation, on getting control from the inside, and after a lot of practice he learned how to access “that thing he can-” er, SSJ form. Which basically took finding anger where it was hidden away and accepting it, even without knowing it’s cause (or how to kill the cause), and letting it be replaced by other emotions- positive ones. And Broly talks about the teachers he’s had, the stories they told him, the lessons they gave, and the problems they had that sometimes he could help them with (he liked that, it felt good to know that someone he cared about was doing better because of him). (It tells Trunks something important about this person- he’s not dumb. He’s not a child. He’s just… sheltered.) Trunks in turn explains how SSJ form was a huge part of his past and it took him so damn long to find in himself the rage needed to create it. Broly is silent when he hears about how Trunks grew up in a dying world and so helpless on a personal level- he’s never experienced something so horrible himself and he doesn’t know what he could possibly say in response that wouldn’t sound like pity or dismissing his experiences. Trunks asks if Broly can maybe show or explain how to use SSJ form without the rage; it’s something he didn’t think was possible, but the hardest part for him has always been keeping that rage going- usually it just burns out. Broly’s not sure he can, but he agrees to try.

They spend a few hours flying around that pond, mostly playing around with a little bit of instruction going on, and soon leaving the pond to explore more of the world- there’s a lot of forests and wilderness alongside the rubble, and the unoccupied deserts have some real beauty. Until eventually, finally, Trunks drops out of SSJ form while in the middle of it- and pretty high up, giving Broly a bit of a scare- only to push back in at the last minute, laughing and smiling. He’d never gone SSJ like this before- with the delight of the challenge, the thrill of the flight fueling it. Gohan had always said to be angry, use the pain- he’d only ever seen his own powers as weapons, not something so, so, fun. Not something good, or nice, or- (“Beautiful,” Broly whispered.) (Then he blushed and tried to backtrack.) (“Broly,” he said so softly yet strong, confident, with moonlight shining in his hair, “Thank you.”)

And the moment is just so right, and nobody’s talked to him like this since that one nun who died while Broly was asleep from one of his blackouts, and he’s neve met anyone who felt like a real equal, like a real person only with compassion and a new sort of affection he’s never felt before, and it just seems so right. So Broly asks Trunks if he wants to spar. (He’s never asked this before, and it’s so strange to say and to feel the words on his own lips. Gah, too forward!) And Trunks agrees. And they fight- first in their base forms, but that’s fine because they’re pretty well matched (one is stronger but the other faster, one has more organized training and the other more experience [even if it was almost always against the same two enemies] [even if they’re wrong about who has more experience, but only one of them can remember all of his battles]), as near as Broly can tell. And it’s… good. To have something like this, to have someone else challenge your skills and your strength and make you feel alive and strong while still being so alive and strong. He wants to share that- he wants Trunks to know how he feels and wants Trunks to feel the same way. (Unknown to Broly, Trunks is feeling something very similar.) So when they’re grappling, and Broly had Trunks pinned but he managed to flip them, Broly kisses him. And he kisses back. And they sort of keep going from there- both the spar and the kissing, which just feels so right. Because every bit of pain is a reminder of how strong (and ergo beautiful) the other one is, and furthermore it feels good, at least once they get going. So being scratched and hit and bitten is wonderful, and they both want to share that so they scratch and it and bite the other so that they can see how it makes their partner smile. And soon, they’ve gone all the way. Until they’re united in body, and Trunks starts to feel that feeling of joy in being strong, because Broly is making him feel strong, and he powers up in this newer, better way with that joy and delight motivating him. And to Broly, it’s like being closer to anyone than he’s been in years in ways he’s never felt close to anyone before (not even with that one prostitute he got for his birthday a few years ago- that was just awkward and messy), and seeing Trunks ascend reminds him of one more way he’s not alone. Because somewhere in the back of his mind, behind the repression and damage, he knows what it means for him to be able to transform, and he knows it sets him apart from the rest of the universe in ways nothing else will. And at this moment, when giving in to instinct, it’s waking up all of him- both halves are coherent for just this one time, and he knows full well that Trunks cannot truly match him. But even with that knowledge, he can fool himself for just a few moments into thinking that there’s someone else who can truly match him in every way- and he gives himself this luxury, powering up to the same rank Trunks is at.

So they have fun. They end when the first rays of sunlight from the dawn start to crack- except that they’d flown so far they’re in what amounts to a different time zone. Back at the castle there’s still several hours until the night is over. It doesn’t really matter, it was the changing light and the romance of it that stopped them. Probably for the best that they head back now; Trunks points out that for practical reasons, they probably shouldn’t go a whole night without sleeping. Broly kinda quietly mumbles that he’d rather be impractical and spend more time with Trunks. Trunks blushes a little- which worries Broly, but he’s assured that it’s good blush. Trunks jokes that he feels a little bit like a cradle robber, since Broly’s so sheltered.

“’M not that sheltered- I know things.” “Yeah? Like what?” “Well, I know how to…” [Meanwhile, his brain cannot stop focusing on how Good Trunks looks with those hickeys] “… do stuff. Lots of stuff.” “Such as?” “You.” “…” [One Super Saiyan is instantly worrying if that was too crude or too forward, until-] “Well, I walked right into that one.” “Y-yeah, yeah you did.” “…” [‘Okay, Trunks, now you have to decide- do you really want to do this? You could just go home now and pretend this never happened. Or you could…’] “What, else do you know?” “Um…” “Or, what specifically do you know? About, me?” [‘Think brain! Right now all I can come up with is very, very literal stuff that I only just learned- unless that’s what he wants? For me to be more forward?’] “Well… I know that you’re sensitive behind your ears.” “Oh?” “And, I know that if I kiss you, like this-” “Hoo!” “you make a little noise just like that. I know that… I like that noise. I like it a lot. But… I like the noise you make when I do this-” “Uh!” “-even better.” “Hey- you wanna know what I know?” “Huh? I mean yes- yes please.”

Alternatively, the two just lie there for a while and talk about it. Which is just as nice as the other option, just in a different way.

Either way, they didn’t head back until the entire sun was in the sky. And when they did return had to stop for food- and a bath. They broke apart here, since it was late and was probably a better idea to go alone and actually get what they set out to do done (Broly’s idea).

So the next morning, when Broly doesn’t show up to leave with Vegeta on time and the servants report he didn’t eat breakfast, Paragus has to bluff to Vegeta that Broly must be sick or something (as Vegeta is cranky and ready to go and will take any excuse to leave this dump behind if it’s given to him). Vegeta in fact decides to collect his own offspring to come with him instead, or better yet get “Kakarot” to teleport them home.

Paragus, unable to stop Vegeta without breaking the ruse, quickly goes to wake Broly, and is at first furious that the boy was still asleep, then confused why Broly is wrapped in a blanket like a cape or a toga. Meanwhile Vegeta is also mildly disappointed that his offspring wasn’t already ready to go, and then confused why he’s curled up and holding his jacket around him. Paragus insists the blanket is unnecessary and yanks it away, just around the same time Vegeta grabs Trunks’ arm and sees that the jacket is actually ripped. Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Oolong and Roshi choose then to show up. (Goku says, “Hey Vegeta, are we going or what because Iiiiye holy-” Gohan says, “Trunks are you okay? You look like you got in a fight.” Krillin says, “Huh- I didn’t think I saw any ladies around here. Guess I was wrong.”)

Vegeta is like “you know what, fuck it, I don’t care if you screwed a hundred strangers last night. Just make sure it doesn’t interfere with your ability to function. If someone like Cell, or this stupid Legendary Super Saiyan were to come in and attack while you were asleep and you made it easy for them to kill you because whoever spread your legs wore you out to the point where you couldn’t wake up- then we’ll have a problem. We’re leaving in ten minutes, get your shit together and meet us there or beg Kakarot to come back for you later, I don’t care.”

Paragus is much more anxious and freaking out- it’s one way in which he doesn’t have control over his ultimate weapon. And he didn’t see this coming, so that means that either he didn’t understand Broly as well as he thought he did, or something big came along that changed things outside his predictions (though Paragus doesn’t know it, both are true). Oh, and Vegeta’s about to leave too early.

So when Paragus and Vegeta cross paths near the ship, it’s a bit embarrassing for everyone involved who isn’t named Gohan. Broly and Trunks both have new outfits out of nowhere. Broly got his from various clothing items the staff and soldiers could provide; it covers everything but doesn’t fit well. Trunks is wearing Roshi’s (still somewhat smelly) shirt, and Krillin’s belt. Nobody wants to talk, so Vegeta tries to just go “See ya,” which reminds Paragus why exactly they were there and drives them all back into the plot.

This is where things get complicated.

After some time of arguing, Vegeta makes a nasty insult, Paragus looses his patience and decides to fuck the plan- time to break out the ace. He then chuckles and brags cryptically about how Vegeta played right into his hands. It was hard going, and Vegeta almost “won,” but in the end Paragus will get what he wants. (Trunks looks over to Broly, who just shrugs- he didn’t ask questions about why they came here in the first place.) Paragus claims he has the ultimate weapon (“And despite (Vegeta’s) attempts to send (his) spawn- if that is (Vegeta’s) offspring and not just a hired whore- to seduce him, that power will remain in (Paragus��) hands.”). And Paragus uses it by activating the crown to initiate Broly’s split-personality takeover, and get him to kill Vegeta. (He’s not focused on Earth, but he can’t stand the thought of someone else ruling his empire- and he knows if he wants Saiyan rule, he can’t exactly uphold Saiyan glory if they all die out soon. If the prince is alive, he outranks Paragus, and thus any other Saiyans he discovers would just follow Vegeta around, not him. First he has to kill Vegeta- then he can go looking for survivors.)

They all start fighting, but something is off. Though Trunks isn’t holding back- he understands the concept of mind-control and knows the dangers- the change comes from Goku and Gohan. In that whenever Goku or Gohan shout in battle, Broly flinches and gets angrier, fiercer, stronger. Until eventually the crown breaks- and he’s still in a blood-rage.

When the crown breaks, Trunks is the one who tries reason. It helps that Broly seems to be solely focused on Goku and Gohan, ignoring everyone else and swatting them out of the way like flies. Trunks shouts at Broly to stop, there’s nobody making him do this anymore, what’s going on. Broly in return does talk- about death. Describing death, or rather several deaths, as though he’s experienced them. Then he hits Gohan- and outright says “Now, it’s a daughter, watching the corpse of her parent as she bleeds out, blood filling her lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe, she’s-”

And Broly keeps talking, but Trunks realizes that this isn’t a fantasy- somehow Broly is experiencing another person’s death, every time Gohan and Goku raise their voices (and then Broly stops talking and goes back to beating up everything in sight). But… the way he said it seems like there’s about one vision per yell. And he was rambling a lot, but describing more deaths than Gohan and Goku could have given him in this short time they’ve known him. He tells the others his theory, saying that maybe if they stop yelling they can calm him down (which as Goku points out isn’t easy when he’s beating them up).

As the fight goes on Trunks and Piccolo wind up grouped up at one point and making a plan together. Trunks remembers some of the advice Broly said his teachers had given them and, with Piccolo’s input, they realize in hindsight that those teachers were trying to help him recover from some early trauma. Something repressed in his memories, something he usually can’t remember until he snaps like this; and then they re-enter the fight. They start spreading this guess to the others when they can, and Piccolo informs Vegeta of this while Paragus is still there. Only now does Paragus learn that Goku’s scream has this influence on Broly, and only now does he make the connection- remembering that he saw Goku’s cradle next to Broly’s years ago. He knew there was some trauma that caused this split personality- Saiyans can remember infancy, some even recalling their own births. But he always assumed it was the attempted murder that made Broly so uncontrollable. But now…

(And Vegeta remembers, but doesn’t feel the need to say, that according to the few files he could find on the loss of his planet, that Bardock was reported to have gone mad a few weeks before the loss of the planet- trying to tell everyone that their planet was doomed. At first he thought it was just bitter irony, but now he wonders if he had seen something. If the blood of a seer could carry the genetic potential to one day have a child who is a seer; and if a being whose power is the very epitome of all Saiyan power might be affected by the power of another Saiyan, if that power was unusual enough.)

(At the time, nobody but Broly recognizes or remembers that Kakarot wouldn’t stop crying. He’s a bit too distracted by the [3 hours = 3 x 60 = 180 min, 180 min x 60 sec = 10800 sec. Lets say an average of 15 seconds per death if we assume that a new vision begins as soon as the last one ends if he’s still screaming and/or screaming again when the vision ends, so 10800 / 15 = 720 deaths] ~720 deaths being replayed over and over, fuzzy from time but still there, plus the new ones from today.)

“Why didn’t he try to kill Kakarot, then?” “It’s been 30 years- in that time, your voice changes, your appearance changes, your scent changes, everything but your hair, and let’s be honest- there was quite a few third-class Saiyans with hair like that.”

So. The battle. It goes as it goes. Not much of a choice. They make it out, barely, and everyone’s trapped in a tiny pod. Meanwhile, there’s a guy who wakes up, dizzy and confused, figuring he fell asleep, and everything around him is about to burn up and he can’t really breathe- he needs to get the fuck out of here ASAP.