#he thought he was so clever because he didnt instruct them to kill he thought hed beat the system

[dontforgetthedragon]

thinking about that nerdy paleseen robotics/prosthetics guy and the personhood of his metal golems

[ghostiehatesithere]

Carry On Chapter 3

Lotor wasn't surprised when he learned of Malrvotor’s escape. He wasn't surprised but that didn't stop the disappointment from forming in his chest. It also didn't escape his attention that the Galra Empire had almost immediately lost Malevotor's home planet mere days after his escape.

His generals had also been greatly disappointed by his absence, especially Zethrid and Narti. Narti was the first if his generals to ever be introduced to Mal. She had been a mere servant girl that had been placed in his care to serve him. She didn't say much but her reaction times were amazing as well as the way she could sense the world around her without eyes.

Narti found comfort in the fact that the Prince was just like her but was nearly cowarding behind the prince when he first took her to meet Mal. She had heard the sickening sounds of his battles on the rare occasions that she was forced to work at the Pit and made sure to avoid trouble so that she wouldn't be thrown in with him. No one would miss a blind cub that never spoke and she tried to use that to her advantage to escape the ire of her superiors.

She knew Malevotor by the scent of blood that lingered around him after every match. Death has almost become something she directly associated with the Kelekonian king. She had thought that she had somehow angered Lotor and that he was going to allow Malevotor to dispose of her. However to her surprise the Prince spoke casually with the large Kelekonian. He introduced her as his friend and she had to fight herself from cringing when the stench of blood grew strong with Malevotor's approach.

He sniffed at Narti for a while and she couldn't bring herself to move, thinking that one wrong move would be her last.

"She has no eyes," he had noted aloud with neither disgust or derision in his tone like others.

"She was born without them," Lotor had excitedly explained to the former king. "I think father assigned her to me because of that and because she's a hybrid like me!"

"Why because of her eyes?" Mal had asked in confusion.

"She can't see! Can't you tell?"

"I can see that she lacks eyes but plenty of my people can be born without eyes or just one. They have more difficulty than others getting around but they find ways to see in their own way."

This intrigued Narti. People without eyes? Just like her? She had been led to believe that the very absence of eyes was an abomination as well as the impurity of her blood. Yet he had completely brushed off the latter and changed her life about the former.

Acxa had came next. She was a hybrid slave, mockingly given to Lotor by one of Zarkon's generals. Lotor felt as though his father was placing the "undesirables" under his command to remind him of all that he was and all that he wasn't. His contempt for them will always extend to his son despite their shared blood, maybe even because of it. Lotor had been the first to actually care about her.

She had stumbled upon Mal's lessons with Lotor and Narti completely by accident. Or not depending on who you asked. She had noticed the way that Lotor and Narti would sneak off in the middle of the night cycles and head down to the Pits. One night she had followed them and nearly caught a heart attack when she caught the Prince and Narti fighting an alien nearly twice their combined size.

Without a second thought, Acxa leapt into actionn ready to defend her prince against the imminent danger. It wasn't until she had been pinned down by Mal's tail did she realize that the fighting had ended. They had all stared at her with wide eyed shock. It was in that moment that she realized that she had entirely misunderstood the situation and got into to something that she didnt know that she needed.

Mal had liked her loyalty and devotion to Lotor but had also admonished her for it. "It's admirable that you want to protect Lotor but you must always understand that there is a time and a place for protecting. You have to decide when you must protect and when you must win."

This was a particularly hardd lesson that Mal had to beat into her with each lesson but she did it. Though there were still times when she would throw caution to the wind and stick her neck out for Lotor at the entirely wrong time.

Ezor and Zethrid came as a pair. They had been appointed as bodyguards which was a slight on both them and Lotor. Ezor and Zethrid because Zarkon refused to have half-breeds in his military, able to hold a position of power and Lotor because Zarkon gave his son bodyguards that he deemed was scraping the bottom of the barrel. What does it say about Lotor if his father employed the very half-breeds he deemed worthless as his personal guards. 

Zethrid was very vocal about how she felt about Lotor, thinking him a spoiled prince who knew nothing of the struggle of the people beneath his station. Ezor didn’t care one way or another about the small prince. Zethrid was full of rage and stronger than the average Galra. It actually amazed Mal when he learned that Zethrid was actually a huge fan of him. She had attended many of his matches and admired how he had yet to lose a match. He always looked so calm in even when you could practically smell the rage that permeated his being while there. 

She wanted to be as strong as him and was incredibly jealous when she found out that Lotor had been training with her idol. She demanded to join the training session and was shocked and impressed when Lotor stood up to her. Despite his shorter stature it felt like he was towering over her when he met her gaze and told her no. He didn’t back down even when she threatened to tell his father and that made her reluctantly respect the runt. He made it explicitly clear that he would introduce her when he was ready and not a moment sooner. He even took a little petty revenge by dragging his feet to introduce her. 

Mal was particularly amused by her because she always demanded that he fight her. She was particularly impatient when he took his time consider how he would train her, It was obvious tat she was strong and even had the potential to become stronger than him in terms of pure strength. However, it was as she was sparring with the others that he realized that Lotor’s greatest strength was her greatest weakness. 

She didn’t think. She would get easily frustrated and fly off the rails into a violent rage. She had skill but very little considering she solely relied on her brute strength. It would be easy for a quick and clever opponent like Lotor or Ezor to be able to manipulate her uncontrolled anger into a victory. 

Ezor’s biggest problem was that she was too easily read. You could tell what she was about to do just by looking at her face. Upon telling her as much, she huffed and glared at Mal. “Yeah, I know.”

Mal gave her the best “oh really” look, not appreciating the teenage attitude. “Knowing doesn’t mean anything if you’ve learned to accept it. This is a fatal flaw that could end up killing you Red. Do you want to die?”

Ezor pouted sheepishly and crossed her arms, properly cowed, “No.”

“Then quit the grumpy teenager act and listen. You need to find your game face,” Mal had instructed and continued to explain upon receiving a confused look from Ezor. “It’s the expression you’re most comfortable with which means that you won’t have as hard of a time keeping it up.”

It took a while but Ezor found her game face in her smile. She explained that she enjoyed the way her blood would roar in her ears and her heart pounded in her chest when she fought and she couldn’t help but to smile while fighting. It wasn’t a knowing or bloodthirsty smirk like Lotor or Zethrid. It was a genuine smile of amusement. Mal congratulated her for her achievement.

“You’ve got a good grin Red. It would unsettle lesser opponents and frustrate others,” he’d said.

Lotor was riding a high after his fight against Throk that helped him gain the favor of the empire. He’d ordered Throk to be transferred to the Ulippa System to prevent any possible trouble later on before heading back to his rooms where he changed out of his military garb and into a loose pair of pants as he examined the geode that Mal had gifted him.

It’s warmth was still steadily pulsing, although he couldn’t help but to notice that the pulse was a lot slower than usual and he couldn’t help but to worry. Even the glittering white flecks in the dark crystals weren’t shining as brightly as they did before. What did this mean? Was something wrong with Mal? He’s not dead otherwise it would have gone cold and lost all color so what is going on?

He found neither answers nor rest that night as he prayed to the stars that Mal was alright. He needed to know that there was still someone in the universe that he could trust no matter what. His generals were around but they didn’t completely understand. Not like Mal. 

He promised himself to set aside time to establish some form of contact with Mal or his people as soon as he stabilized his position as ruler. He needed the people’s support whether his father miraculously got better or not. Maybe he could even study why Kelekonians’ bodies rejected quintessence and how they managed to survive without that which seemed to be present in every other living being that he’d come across. But that will have to come much later.

Hey everyone this is the end of the third chapter and I’m glad that you all have been enjoying the story so far! So far I’ve been presenting things solely from Lotor’s POV and what Mal means to Lotor. In the next chapter I will be delving into Mal’s side of things. How he feels and thinks in relation to Lotor and his generals. Keep in mind these are his babies but he is at the point where he’s letting his babies make their own mistakes. It won’t stop him from agonizing over where his kids are and “casually” asking about them occasionally but I digress. 

@starfaring-princelotor @motheroflittlelions @fandomsoffeelings @done-with-your-shit-shirogane @kirahhhh @legendofcarl @lotor-for-emperor @marvelheaux @yanderemommabean @lotorrential @planet-jumping-warrior

[brielleinstitutehq]

MAEVE HOLMES is a 20 year old PATIENT in the PSYCHIATRIC WARD. She has been diagnosed with OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE DISORDER and INTERMITTANT EXPLOSIVE DISORDER and she looks a lot like Meghan Ory.

MAYBE THEY’RE HIDING

Maeve was never a good child. From the moment she could talk, she was rude, defiant, even cruel at times. She was mis-diagnosed with ADHD when she was 5. But Maeve grew more destructive as she aged. Despite how much her parents loved her, they had to also care for her younger sibling, Daniel. After Maeve grew enraged by her younger brother ripping one of her drawings, and threw her 3 year old brother at a wall, her parents decided it would be best for both themselves, Maeve and Daniel to place her in foster care.

Of course the system failed her. Maeve was passed from home to home from the age of 12. She never stayed in one place longer then a few months, for the girl had become bitter and cruel. Her parents kept in contact, trying desperately to stay apart of her wayward childs life. Somehow that made it harder. It was a cycle of new home, a brief spell of quiet, a build of tension, an explosion of emotions, a new home again.

It wasnt until she was around 17 that she found a home she could tolerate. She was the only foster child in this mans home. Reginald Smith was an elderly man in his 80s. He was kind, his home was quiet, and he offered Maeve undying support. It wasnt long before the wayward girl grew to see Reggie as a grandfather of sorts. The year she spent there was bliss for her. He never scolded her for her outbursts, or her defiance.

But it wouldnt be a tragic backstory without a little death, now would it?

WE HOPE THEY ARE PLAYING A GAME

Reggie suffered a horrific heart attack, which killed him in his sleep. Maeve had woken before him, which was odd, because Reggie usually woke her with a cup of tea. But maybe it was time she woke him with a poorly made brew? Maeve had never been good at making tea, at least not like her carer. But she knew he would drink it any way. So, she wandered into his toasty room, mug in hand. The other reached out to gently stroke his stubble rough cheek, now cold with the ice of death. “Reggie?” Her soft voice called out to him, laced with concern.

The girl called an ambulance, sobbing down the phone. They arrived a little while later, and declared him dead. Maeve went numb. The police arrived, and called Maeves parents. They instructed her to gather some of her things, and that her parents would be along in an hour or so. Maeve did gather her clothes, a picture of her and reggie, and some of his money she knew he had stashed away. But she wouldnt be going back with her parents.

The system had failed her, and so had her parents. Why would she go back with them? Maeve escaped though the back garden, over a fence she had climbed many times.

BUT THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

Of course her parents and the police launched a search for her. Posters, search parties. All desperate, especially when an unfound Maeve was a dangerous Maeve. But Maeve was clever. Or at least clever enough to dodge those looking for her.

After jumping a few cities, Maeve bounced between rough sleeping and sleeping in motels. It wasnt easy, but it was a damn sight easier then returning home. She stole where she could, got agressive with anyone she could. It took 2 years for her to finally be found.

It was a simple bar fight gone wrong that brought her back into the eyes of her parents. Maeve had started it, though she would never admit it. The man had bumped into her. It wasnt her fault. He deserved to have her fist in his face. But he thought the same thing. The stranger broke 2 of her ribs and her eye socket. Maeve was unconsious for 2 days. The doctors didnt know who she was, not until they found her ID buried in the bottom of her bag. It was old, worn, but the staff managed to figure out the name written there.

When she did wake up, the doctors and nurses were in for a shock. Because Maeve wasnt happy, at all. After she attacked a nurse and broke her nose, Maeve was restrained. Her parents were called, as were the police. Despite how happy her parents were to see their lost daughter, they realised how dangerous she was. The consented to have their child admitted to an institute, on advisement of the doctors. And so Maeve was shipped off to Brielle.

CONNECTIONS: None

Unfortunately, Maeve is TAKEN!

[jones573]

what jack is (and isnt! he’s NOT a ‘genie’ he is VERY bitter about that comparison)

probably done being written, unless people have questions because i almost certainly forgot to address things

jack is the janitor’s cart of the universe, the broom and the bleach to make the nasty things go away. he is the caretaker of the natural order, and a destroyer of what would threaten it. but even that is too poetic. 

in actuality, he is more like the neglectful and largely uncaring supervisor of a plethora of toddlers, if the daycare facility were an abandoned ammunitions and explosives factory with a lot of improperly stored gasoline. if a sentient being blew itself up- Well. It happened sometime. And they didn’t necessarily need that wall, did they? But if things got to the point that the entire place was going to blow, or damage the structure in such a way that would cause irreparable damage, then jack (or things like him) are the ones that ensure that doesnt happen. this is largely done by monitoring how loudly the small toddlers are screaming- if someone knows they have well and truly fucked up and is projecting that in their mental state, jack checks in. and usually he lets whatever’s about to happen, happen. 

in the earliest days of the universe, jack was at his busiest. at least a couple times an epoch, some idiot would get into magic in a way it should not be gotten into, and jack intervened. but sentient beings got smarter, and magic got less accessible (perhaps the two are related, jack was not really interested in the proceedings at that point) and generally speaking, things got a lot quieter.

jack’s general state of being is one of passive hibernation- he just kinda chills out on his plane of existence and passively monitors the fuck-ups that are happening. i imagine if there were other things like him (there must have been, i suppose) they went into a deep hibernation sometime over the last several millennium, and have not risen since- perhaps their inactivity indicated they were no longer needed, and they simply ceased to exist. but jack was summoned by a shepard girl who found his ritual engraved inside a cave in the Atlas Mountains, and... well. finding livestock is absolutely in NO way anywhere near his job description but it was such an odd request and the girl’s general ‘not terrified’ attitude was interesting. (the visualization of his true form is awe-inspiring and quite alarming, but i imagine half the reason people always pissed themselves in fear when he arrived was the knowledge that they had fucked up enough for this thing to come for them)

at any rate finding livestock is not a task jack can expend his resources on but he stuck around until she had found them and found it a weird, if annoying experience, and he went back to chilling in another plane of existence. by the time he thought to check in on the girl, she had long since died (as had the livestock) and that was a bit sad and jack was unused to feeling things like ‘a bit sad’ and so he started paying attention to the little sentient critters a bit more actively. just to pass the time. and he made a few appearances here and there, even when he knew he couldnt or wouldnt do anything to assist. and he did find himself ‘assisting’ more often than he might otherwise have, finding ways to justify it to himself, and on one occasion even coaching someone on what NOT to say because so long as he wasnt directly told a certain fact or two, than he was free to act

in the arthurian age, the wizard merlin did some shit. really, quite a bit of shit- he binged jack’s radar a few times, but the clever wizard always managed to figure a way out of it before interference could be considered. but eventually merlin called him, having created something too terrible and too powerful that the wizard feared he could not control it, and that it would ruin everything he cared for

but merlin offered something in exchange for jack’s help- not completely unusual, of course. but usually it was tokens one might leave for a god entity- food and flowers and the like. but merlin asked jack to fix his mistake AND spare his life, and in return merlin would create a means for jack to become human

jack agreed, which was a terrible sign for merlin, really. generally, the unnatural or threatening thing is destroyed, as are all involved in its creation- but such an action isnt always necessary, and in this case it hadnt been. (and jack killed several that merlin cared for, but he would have had to have done that anyways, and besides, the wizard didnt mention them by name)

but merlin was true to his word, and upon his death, the great bulk of magic he had acquired over his many years was put to work powering a very complicated spell. essentially, roughly every 30 years, jack can possess a human body for about 3 or 4 months. (the times are kinda arbitrary, they can be changed if you guys feel they are too long or short or whatever. in my head the spell also is tied to jack’s own energy, so staying four months instead of three would potentially weaken him). the body must be human and must be living at the time he inhabits it. he cannot wield his powers to their full extent while a human, as his true form cannot possibly fit inside such a tiny thing, but he can fully experience everything the human body does. if he wishes to wield his powers, he must completely leave the body, though he can return to it when finished with his business. he can also use different bodies if he wishes- that’s how he ‘traveled’ in his early exploration days.

jack very much enjoyed having a human body- the novelty! the fun! but honestly he wasn’t super regular about it. sometime in maybe the 1400′s he was summoned by the young vampire he would eventually take the name Matt. matt requested that his youngest sister be spared, as her magic was uninvolved in the debacle. jack was impressed by this- not that matt had advocated for someone else, but that matt had had the guts to ask /anyone/ to be spared. matt’s people were up to some truly high-level apocalypse shit, and by all rights he would have been perfectly justified to just carve their entire territory out of the south american landmass and completely disintegrate the whole thing

but anyways. he spared them both. and checked in on them sometime later during one of his human escapades. and then kept checking in on them. he is NOT sentimental, it’s just practical, is his refrain. finding a human lover that he enjoys as much as Matt would take WORK, and they’d be weirded out by him reappearing in thirty years in a different body, and they die so often! really. he’s fond of Matt, sure. But he isn’t attached to him or anything. Dont be silly.

as i’ve mentioned, Jack can be ‘summoned’- In fact, he pretty much has to be. but ‘summon’ is a very loose term for it- the mental anguish of realizing you’ve fucked up so badly that the entire world might be in danger tends to count. way, way, way back in the day there were more formal ‘rituals’ that could be used to bring forth a visual analog of his true form for mortals to interact with, but merlin was the last to use one, and jack has destroyed any remaining instructions (that he was aware of)

unfortunately, this means that Jack can be tricked. if absolutely no one involved in a project that threatens the natural order has any inkling of the damage their activities could create, or has no feelings of regret associated with that inkling- the world could potentially end with jack being none the wiser. i imagine there are also magical protections that could be used to prevent jack from interfering if one was aware of his presence, though he has yet to come across such things and probably believes that no one could really create something that would keep HIM out of where he wanted to be

jack is also limited in what he can fix. it has to be something that is truly a threat to the natural order AND it can’t be something that the lowest form of sentience can do anything about. (this is a rule that he has justified himself down on over the ages to reach the current stage it is at, and unfortunately he cant seem to get it any lower. not that he WANTS to help, of course.)

these days he often visits suspicious folk in dreams to suss out the situation- less likely to cause a panic, and in the morning they barely remember. he appeared to a very distraught member of the Manhattan Project in a recent near-interference. and he was totally on board with making sure this thing completely stopped existing but then. the damn fool said something about their fears that the bombs would be used and... well. its not an active threat if someone just has to NOT do something, is it? and a human someone, too! and so jack told the scientist that this was something the politicians were responsible for stopping. (technically, jack already KNEW this- he cannot really be lied to, exactly. but he cannot actively know everything all at once, and intent of things is often what determines whether or not jack can act.) jack’s refusal to help- even after the bombs had been deployed and there was nothing humans or supernatural beings could do to stop them- was the source of the biggest fight jack and matt have had to date. it was also the point where matt began to realize that jack IS dangerous, and he began sharing information about jack with maria in an attempt to better understand his limits and abilities

Jack is not inherently dangerous to the average person. In his human form, supernatural beings that can ‘read’ others- by scent, auras, telepathy- will know he is wearing a borrowed body. Those more familiar with planes of existence may be aware that there is more of him hiding somewhere, just out of sight. 

most alarmed by his presence (both his true form and when he’s tied to a human body) would be people and things that are in defiance of nature. the beast creature that Merlin had created, for instance, went rigid and frothed at the mouth when he appeared, in blind panic and fear

Jack’s involvement in taking care of Dr. Rawe and his subsequent invitation to the New Year’s Day party are part of an ongoing research project started by Maria that is being kicked at by Annabelle. Clearly, he is not impartial as he claims. And he uses his biases to work around his own rules. Annabelle believes that should be harnessed.

Matt’s suggestion that Jack take care of the Dr. Rawe problem probably went something like shown below. its also highly possible that jack was aware he was being ‘manipulated’ and allowed it- he is VERY keen to meet May and ‘the friends’, so.

M: boogeyman shouldnt be able to use magic should they?

J: no, not actively at least- just drawing stuff into their lairs. processing fear, creating nightmares. thats all instinctual stuff

j: why

m: oh nothing- well. i guess a wizard that had previously been absorbed by a boogey was taking control of it. being both

j: it... shouldnt. it couldnt.

m: well, it did. went around kidnapping other magic users, forcing an actual boogey out of its lair, ripping open portals and not properly repairing them... you look pained. this isnt your ‘sort of thing’ is it?

j: ehhh i mean. its only the one?

m: i think so? i mean i guess theres no way to know unless the thing could be inspected

j: ehhhh

m: you have to be asked, don’t you?

j: i dont HAVE to be anything-ed! i am free to act as i please

m: well im asking anyways- the things a menace, and its been targeting other oddities. im sure the endangerment of some of your other ‘keep an eye on’s would pull some strings out of the rug, yes?

j: ...

m: humans certainly cant take care of it. even i would have trouble disposing of it properly. much less permanently.

j: ...okay. throw that blanket on my body, i dont want it to be all cold when i get back to it. and itll only be like, ten minutes tops, so help me if youve put your pants back on by the time ive returned