#i. gotta be honest. my first thought was actually scourge

[dyspunktional-leviathan]

@ontdah *w i n k s*

They love him for his swagless meltdowns homoerotic relationship with his friend and long hair

[gothwarlocks]

Alright I’ll be honest and I’ve been using more time today to play Bugsnax than swtor lmao but here’s some thots on 6.2:

(also please play Bugsnax, just trust me lksdfjk)

AWOOGA ok so I had time tonight to actually play and HOOOO that was cool. I got all the way through the ship thing and killed Tenebrae on Valen’tin, now just have him chillin on Odessen before I peak at the stuff with the Mandalorians and etc.

I don’t liveblog but here’s stuff I noticed vaguely in order:

At the top of this list regardless I wanna say wow what an improvement in the cinematics. So much dynamic angles and much less instances of static standing characters doing shot reverse shot dialogue. wooooo we love growth and improvement!!

THERON THERON THERON

SCOURGE......BIG ANGRY... God I want him to fling me across a room

Bro where is Koth lol

Revan. that’s it.

Mindscape Dimension 2: Electric Boogaloo let’s goooooooo

TENEBRAE???????? TENEBRAE......................can get it 😔

LOVE that you can slutshame this evil ancient ghost for rockin his tits out. Once I run this on Azmodai I gotta have him wear something similar just to have him say that line sarcastically just for the screenshot haha

OK OK SENYA’S APOLOGY TO VAYLIN THAT’S GOOD

DARTH MARR YES KING I’LL AVENGE YOU

That was a really fun final fight with Vitiate/Valkorion/Tenebrae. Didn’t know what the fuck I was doing at all but Val didn’t die! Visuals were really cool, I love the way the trio’s voice actors sound together.

I know everyone’s made the avengers joke already but yeah. My first thought was actually Avatar, like specifically this and this, and idk... I thought it was an ok way to wrap that fight up. It’s less about the team up and more about like the whole “Force restoring balance” I think. And?? I think this means we’re finally done with Revan/Emperor stuff?? forever???

HEEHEE SATELE BEING A SWEET MOM HAPPY THAT HER SON HAS FOUND LOVE AND HOME IN THE PC OHHHHH MY HEART

Alright yeah, I can see why people said this is another instance where non-Force-user PC’s would feel a little funny lol

[trixcuomo]

Love Games

Up next on Desperate Alts’ Lives... Horde B celebrity Trixany Cuomo has finally pulled the lever to A-status, and now it’s like she’s fallen down into a black rabbit hole of gossip and dangerous glam, chasing her dreams. Is this it? Has Trix finally gone too far? One of her friends must be able to save her, but which are the right friends? Haris Pilton? Sig Nicious? Her Night Elf buddy Sharpen? Hopeless causes tend to want dark angels...

Jet black. Haris Pilton thought her once rival in all things, business, modeling, performing, climbing the Silvermoon City social ladder—Trixany Cuomo, soon to be Mrs. Sig Nicious—that Trixany would go with red for her own gossip closet. A cheery, and also dangerous color. But when they were done looking through Haris’s swatches months ago, under their new starlette truce of course, Trixany wanted her gossip closet in complete, knockout black.

Today, Trixany’s hand was on the lever, she just hadn’t pulled it yet this morning. First, she needed to gather all her targets. Haris’ pink knob was honestly so… odd. But Trixany chose a literal disco stick that reminded her of one of her favorite performers of all time. The part at the top was a classic disco ball with large tiles of glossy silver. The effect was going to take over the whole room whenever she was ready to ‘pull the lever!’ The first time she’d done it at Haris’ place was so fun, it was addicting. Yes, so wonderfully addicting.

Trixany crossed legs in her matching leather catsuit. The worker Gnomes with jumpsuits also piped in silver along the smart curves of their bodies? Still asleep. Trixany liked to get up before even they did.

She sat alone inside of the shell at the center of the room. Well, it was raised up for now, or else she wouldn’t be able to see or hear anything. The noise-cancelling, black ASMR shell-that-was-totally-not-like-any-other-famous-villain’s-personal-sanctuary-globe-thing-for-legal-reasons had its uses, just not right now. STNLAOFVPSGTLR or Stan’s Laff Vapors Get’er was a fascinating piece of technology engineered for relaxing starlettes exclusively. So it was perfect for a certain Horde B celebrity. Gotta love quirky Gnomish technology. The laugh vapors weren’t working so at the moment. They were also supposed to help her forget her stressors. Running low… White steam raised from the top of the shell and escaped through the gear-like teeth around the edges, wafting to the ceiling.

Gnomish technology to make you think, ten times, twenty times faster. Consider your options and get maybe twelve moves ahead of your opponent before they’re even out of bed, or grabbed their champagne brunch around 2 pm server… It was like farming for rares, from home, fast, and on felweed! But it was your frenemies you were felling.

Anyway…

The black control screens all around flickered with silent pictures of Trixany wannabes with their rip-off looks or performances, rival divas secretly being watched while they slept—and before you judge, Trixany felt justified; some of them were up in their own gossip closet war rooms, scheming against her even at this hour—and if you’re a true Team Trixany fan, then you also know about the runway fashion show footage Trixany had been streaming all week. All were designs from the newly launched, joint Haris-Trix fashion line. Haris had backed it financially, Trixany had endorsed it, done the leg work promoting and wearing some of the showstoppers. They had been raking in the gold over it until recently. Both their fandoms, for once, were united on the fashion line. Well, not all of the screens were filled with saucy models on catwalks. Trixany was also observing how each new outfit was being received in the market as it was launched, while simultaneously keeping an eye—with her special lace-lensed fashion goggles—for any rip-offs. New clothing that ripped off her rip-offs, if Trixany was every forced to be very honest about how she and Haris got all the designs—but that intel would only get forced out, by Goblin lawyers tougher than her own, in some inter-factional Azeroth court of law. Technically, they weren’t stealing other people’s ideas unless they got caught…

“I can’t stand this…”

Trixanys thoughts were moving more rapidly than she could speak them or even keep track of on her own. Inside the white-hot shell, little electronic flickerings along a web of wires and lights carried them away instantly, recorded them. The rest of the room was dark, so dark… But inside, Trixany was alone with her thoughts. Just merely thinking that she might sue someone for stealing her brand was stored in a databank the moment it occurred to her. A list of commands that would be sent to the ends of Azeroth to the Goblin lawyers, Horde or Alliance pop icons. (Don’t let them tell you Thrall doesn’t consider himself a Horde A celebrity… his gossip closet was rumored to be done over in the hides of his slain enemies, where no one could see of course.) And of course there were a clutch of thugs ready to ‘handle’ anyone normal out there without real connections. Quick, dirty, cheap.

That was the last bit of advice Trixany grudgingly took from Haris Pilton before she mastered the art of ‘gossip watching’ for herself. Before the student became the master. Now, on Screen Five, Trixany observed Haris in her bubblegum pink dressing robes having tea with her breakfast. Actually Haris had been doing that, and elegantly, for a while. A stray thought wondered if Haris had somehow found out about Trixany’s global network of hidden scrying orbs and had set up video loop clips at certain parts of the day when she didn’t want to be observed. And they were supposed to be the best of business partners…

A new, bright white bead of light raced around inside the shell and disappeared behind Trixany’s black chair. Screen Ninety-Eight suddenly flickered on and pulled up a list. White text against a lovely, rich dark screen. The words ‘Check up on Haris, the brat…’ already printing on a new line.

On mornings like this one, Trixany felt more Gnomish tech than woman. Sunlight… what a nice memory. Though they said something odd with the Scourge was going on outside these days. Maybe that was the real reason profits from their fashion line were slowing down? Who knew?

Trixany was a Blood Knight, had the skills of any paladin, she should have a lot of work to do with the Knights of the Blood Nexus, shouldn’t she? Shouldn’t Lady Liadrin call on her then? And beyond that, when was the last time she’d gone for a stroll—well, without Silvermoon paparazzi around her and Sig. And Sig? Sig Nicious, her fiancée… he kept postponing their wedding.

“You’re my butterfly, but it’s taking you ages to come out of your cocoon, do you understand? You’re not ontop of this celebrity stuff, Trix. I love you, but you’re just not there yet. You and Haris Pilton are friends now, why don’t you ask her for more advice? We need this to be a marriage of equals.”

Then Trixany’s own voice, it felt more like it haunted her above the constant jealous, scheming thoughts, it resurfaced. “No. I can’t do this…”

Trixany inhaled deeply of the white vapors, shut her eyes, shut off her deeper consciousness. Just a few more hours of this and she would finally be caught up with everyone else. Maybe ahead.

Caught up… Didn’t she used to like running, catching up with friends on long sunny walks? That time Sharpen took her to Highmountain, hiking so far her calves felt they would burn from sun and walking, she swore to him that they would, but he was too far ahead to hear her. Hear her catching up, catching her breath… that adorable fool.

A Night Elf man was suddenly there in her mind. Sharpen had carefully braided hair, long braids that fell over his broad shoulders. First in green, then in bright blue—he was wearing a “CYANS HAVE MORE FUN” t-shirt in one of her memories—and at last, his hair washed to a rich pink in her mind. Trixany knew all the shades Sharpen was trying these days, she’d kept track of them all, knew the brand, the shade, how many were left in stock…

Screen Fifty-Two flickered on, white lines over a dark surface, suddenly filling with numbers and a silent white web of locations united by lines on a map as a simple display of Alliance lands started to slide by. Trixany had wanted to know what her Night Elf friend’s new hair color would be, just a whim—but the gossip closet was already running the numbers, making a mathematical projection. Based on the number of colors left in the shops Sharpen frequented, the price point he usually aimed for, the favorite colors he was usually wearing.

“Forecast… 90 percent…Black.”

“Black? Really? Sharpen’s such an upbeat guy.”

Trixany hated knowing that. It depressed her. So her friend, who never had much money, who was just curious enough to try new things, not that he’d do it for a living and consult someone like she would… Sharpen was going to run into a wall soon with all the other options he’d tried, because cyan was his preferred shade of all the blues, and he’d already gone with the closest shade of pink-red her liked on his spectrum, and going back to green was too close to his natural color… The machine was printing all this detail as part of its proof… So he would feel bold—think himself just as bold as when he chose pink--and settle on black to surprise his friends. Black like her gossip closet. Black like… some big, empty hole. Trixany could no longer think it through. So she already knew what he was going to do? No surprises, no spontaneity? No reason to talk to him. She no longer had to see him to know what he was doing. It wasn’t required. He was a blip on a screen. And when was the last time she’d spoken to Sharpen, the real Sharpen?

What had he told her? Something silly about animals. Her eye twitched, she curled a fist as she remembered it. “Spiders aren’t supposed to be caught in their own webs, Trix. All these morsels you’ve ever wanted… they’re right there around you. Fixed in your web, you can have them all. But you’re still not happy. Shouldn’t you know why not? Can’t you tell? The old you would have just handled it, she doesn’t—or didn’t take anyone’s crap, whether from some monster down in a dungeon or… the well-dressed blonde bombshell kind.”

“Wait, do you mean Haris Pilton or Siggy?”

Sharpen shook his head at her, “Who are you, anymore?”

And what had she said in response to that? Sig was away from the dinner table at the moment, taking a call on his comm. “I don’t eat bugs, Sharpen.”

“No, but you do like to slay things. You like to find targets and take them out. Fix things for yourself and people, for the world, hell—for the Horde, however you think that still helps thew world. You have a sense of justice, or you did. You like to sit down after a battle, smile at how you’ve helped. But now you just look miserable. You even look unwell—”

“MAYBE BECAUSE I DON’T EAT BUGS LIKE SOME STUPID NIGHT ELF!”

Sharpen and Trixany hadn’t spoken to each other since. It was a bad, tragic gaffe to make at a busy, high-tone Dalaran restaurant. It was like… it built up and built up from… she didn’t know where. And then, like a volcano, the stupid, stupid senseless things she said just exploded out of her. Violent in its own way. It blew a hole clear through a friendship.

Trixany rubbed at the bridge of her nose. That time she and Sig took Sharpen out to dinner in Dalaran… Because Trixany had missed him. Because Trixany had hopped on a motorcycle and blown out of her own engagement party in Silvermoon City, at Sig’s place. Sig’s fancy place with all his perfect friends, all that flawless life. The pressure should have been off, she’d made it. She wasn’t a B-woman. She was A-grade. Like meat. No, an alpha, on top. She was a singer, and he was a singer too. Both of them were good people, actually decent. And he liked her, genuinely. It really felt like the lead singer of the Elite Tauren Chieftans loved her, truly, so why was she so distressed? Why did it feel like she couldn’t get a breath at times…

Trixany inhaled again, breathed deeply a few more times though it felt like she was panicking. “Why! Why is this happening to me?”

This was all she ever wanted, just like Sharpen had said. But it felt like things were hooked into her instead. Bleeding her dry. Trixany always assumed she would feel… filled up.

Filled up with things.

Things.

About forty models of all races, Orc, Goblin, Forsaken, Draenei, Gnomes, women and men of all races strutted in time across her control screens. Surely, they all had different music at their particular fashion shows. But fashion models all seemed to have the same unnerved strut. Now she saw it. They were all terrified of falling, of looking stupid. But they were charging through it while ignoring themselves. Completely disregarding their own fears, that they were hungry or tired, tired of all of it. Or, even if they loved what they did, it didn’t show in their faces nor their movements.

Maybe later. When it was all off, they could be themselves and just smile. Nobody smiled that they liked it while on stage in front of everyone, selling what was on their bodies. First rule of modeling. Since she got her start… in Goblin Gentleman’s Magazine of all places, that was always the rule. She would know. It’s not about you. It’s about what’s on you. Not what’s in you.

Never in.

“What if I’m just a pig inside?” Trixany frowned. “Scrying orb, play Gaga—”

The intercom interrupted what she was saying. A metallic sort of gnome’s voice said, “Visitor for Miss Cuomo.” Trixany hadn’t the heart to change her name over to Mrs. Nicious yet, when things honestly weren’t going well in that area of her life. He kept calling her his ‘butterfly’ yet she was still being treated like some slimy bug stuck in its pod… cocoon  thing.

“What level?”

“Popularity level three—”

“Oh, well then I don’t have the time.”

“Security level 50. Guest is Coco Cuomo.”

Her step-sister. Well what did Coco want? She rarely visited. “Let her in. And I still want you to play Gaga. Play Swine.”

As soon as the door slid open and the short green Goblin calling herself Coco Cuomo looked up and heard her new theme music, she frowned.

“Yeah, I know who’s a swine alright.” The little lime-colored Goblin girl smirked at her Blood Elf sister. Trixany stuck out her tongue.

“Um, can you at least turn down Gaga squealing out that ‘I’m so disgusting’ down a smidge? I came with some important business, you know.”

“Well, I should have assumed it would be about that. More Kaja-Cola crap? I thought I made it clear I was done with them--”

“Yeah right, when they were the ones who fired you? And who are yous, hangin’ out in hea like Darth Vader himself? Mrs. Hot-shot Sig Nicious herself, I see.”

“It’s not technically named for him so I can’t get sued—”

“Enough of this nonsense!” Coco threw her hands up. “This is exactly why I’m hea, you’re totally obsessed! When is your wedding even? Unless you’re really that low ya gonna invite the whole family and not me.”

Trixany snapped her sass-mouth shut, for now. “Sig and I are doing our best to make this… adjustment. I’m not used to being so famous.”

Coco just stared at her Blood Elf step-sister for a while.

“Swiiiiiiiine! Swiiiiiiiiiiiine!” The music started to rev up as if something was about to explode in that black gossip chamber Trixany had sealed herself in, like an enchanted tomb.

“Paint her face and, paint his face and, be a swine for… just the weekend!”

Coco erupted with new emotion, “People are dyin’ out thea, Trixany! And you’re in here plotting some… starlette’s destruction? I been trying and callin and sendin’ messenger pigeons up here for a week almost, so finally I had to come myself. I thought somethin’ real bad happened to you, all I wanted was to get you to hand over the damn Kaja-Cola Fiesta Lime contract for a damn good cause, I don’t care if you fell out with the Kaja-Cola Girls. I need your surplus stash a’ cans!”

Trixany just blinked at her. Three screens over Coco’s head started running a program, but kept coming up with repeating blank lines.

“Trixany, you really haven’t heard? You’ve truly been ignorin’ all the sufferin! We’re trying to FEED thirsty people on the front lines against the Scourge!”

“Oh. Well… I had heard whispers of that trending.”

“Trending? You’re supposed to be a PALADIN! Scourge slayer by birth or something. But you’re out here ruinin’ lives of the uppercrust like there ain’t a bottom to the pie—what’s happened to my sista! What is WRONG with you?”

“…You can’t feed thirsty people?”

“But I can bust up a thirsty trick!” Coco brandished an arclight spanner at Trixany.

“What did you just call me?? And how did you come in here armed?”

Now Coco was screaming it, “I don’t have a sista anymore. I can’t take it, I can’t stand it! You’re goin ta the Shadowlands to help with the fight, if I gotta killa ya and send you there myself! Then, Coco charged Trixany’s villainess globe, making her wild Kezani warcry.

“Yer just a pig inside a Blood Elf body! Time for you to squeal out!!”

[astrochiron]

the signs :: blond(e) // frank ocean

Aries- Solo (Reprise)

“After 20 years in, I'm so naïve I was under the impression

That everyone wrote they own verses

It's comin' back different and, yeah, that shit hurts me [...}

Was I working just way too hard?”

This is definitely a question any Aries has asked themselves before. They tend to work for work’s sake and often don't take the time to cherish in their accomplishments and, like Andre is referring to, they often don't pay attention to their peers when doing their own thing.

“So low that I am no rookie but feel like a kid

Lookin' at the other kids”

Aries, while independent and fiery, is still the first sign of the zodiac. The rookie, the novice, and kid can all be associated with his sign. Andre is equating himself to a beginner because he’s not certain if the music work works the way he thought it did when he first started.

Overall

The song represents the independence of Aries, even as simply as the name of the song being “Solo”. Andre’s personal offense to the way the rap game has changed exhibits an Aries’ stubbornness, not usually talked about; Aries aren't noted for their evolutions. The song also reflects on his hard work.

Taurus- Futura Free

“I'd say long as I could fuck three times a day

And not skip a meal, I'm good”

Must I explain? Why not: Tauruses love food, sex, and money; things that bring physical pleasure. Frank wants these daily and on a good schedule.

“I ain't on your schedule

I ain't on no schedule

I ain't had me a job since 2009

I ain't on no sales floor”

Taurus is known for doing things on their own time and with their own energy. Frank is asserting his financial independence as well as his freedom to do what the wants, when he wants, how he wants; and still make money: a Taurean dream.

Overall

Frank can now use his natural talent to financially support himself. Taurus rules our natural gifts as well as our finances and it just so happens that Frank’s former supports his latter. As for tone, he begins to cuss a lot about midway in the song, obviously venting his frustrations with people’s attitudes toward his success.

Gemini- Skyline To

“It begins to blur, we get older (Blur!)

Summer's not as long as it used to be

Everyday counts like crazy (Smoke, haze)”

Gemini is associated with youth and the flightiness of its ruling planet, Mercury. This verse captures that youth and the carefree spirit of a Gemini, as well as the changeable spirit of Mercury.

“This is joy, this is summer

Keep alive, stay alive”

This line captures the dichotomy of summer in Frank’s world; fun and deadly. While kids are off of school and the vibe is more laid back, the summer leads to spikes in deaths, especially in the urban Black community. Gemini can understand and embody both the dire and joyous sides to this topic, as well as most topics.

Overall

This song seems to be an exercise in steam of consciousness. It can be interpreted as the mental happenings during sex: observations about their surroundings, scatterbrained feelings and disconnected ideas. Frank is known for this but this song is heavy on wordplay, a Gemini's wet dream.

Cancer- Ivy

“When we both know that deep down

The feeling still deep down is good”

This represents the memory-based experience of a Cancer. They tend to experience their memories vividly and may live in them sometimes. Even if the relationship went bad, Frank still take solace in the feelings the memories give him.

“If I could see through walls, I could see you're faking

If you could see my thoughts, you would see our faces”

Cancers are very perceptive and, as such are able to see through he emotional barriers people place around themselves. Frank was saying if he cared to look through the other guy’s walls it’d be obvious that he was faking the love he felt. If the other guy cared to look behind his walls, he would have seen just how much he liked the other guy.

Overall

This is a very reflective, memory-oriented song. It’s bad reflection though, like things he should have done better in the relationship. All the Cancers I know love to stew in the memories of their past mistakes and brood. I believe Ivy is Frank’s song to stew to.

Leo- Godspeed

“I will always love you how I do”

Leos have very big hearts and the sign is even associated with the heart. Their love is powerful and maybe even eternal. It also demonstrates the individuality of a Leo’s expression. Frank will always love the subject, just in his own way. 

“I let go of my claim on you

It's a free world”

While Leos are often looked at as fun, joyous, and creative, it is often forgotten that they are one of the more possessive and intense signs. Frank once held a claim on this person, whether verbal or emotional, that he is now letting go.

Overall

Leos love to love. Leo rules the fifth house which includes falling in love and I think Godspeed demonstrates the most innocent (Leo) love; the unconditional variety. The song itself (see Genius) is Frank talking to himself as a child and Leo rules our own inner-child.

Virgo- Pink + White 

“Glory from above

Regard, my dear

It's all downhill from here”

This reflects the rather cynical view Virgos have. In his mind, the relationship has reached perfection, an important ideal for Virgos, and, as such, its only downhill from here.

“That's the way every day goes

Every time we've no control”

Another tenet for Virgos; constant and tenuous work. Virgos often may feel as if they are slaves to their sense of duty, playing the same routine daily.

Overall

Beyoncé provided backing vocals and Michael Jackson was mentioned; both of them prolific Virgo artists. The song also gives me “pure” vibes with Beyoncé’s vocals

Libra- Close to You

“I'll be honest, I wasn't devastated

But you could've held my hands through this, baby”

While Libra’s are associated with relationships, they truly just enjoy reciprocity and for someone to return their energy. For Frank, the break up didn't devastate him, as Libras are actually usually nonplussed. Frank probably did feel a little sad though, and was disappointed that the other person didn't seem to care at all.

“Just like mine, versions of these belong to you

After a while, they're keeping me close to you”

Much like Cancer, I find Libras sometimes let their memories of someone overtake the things that actually happened. Either way, their memories are all they have now and they are the only people who have them; very one-on-one and personal.

Overall

The song reflects on a relationship once it's over. It explores how the perceptions of the lover are brought up as subjective memories that you hold onto post-break up; Libras are big on perceptions. The whole song is a cover of a very love-oriented song “Close to You” by Stevie Wonder (A Taurus with a Libra Ascendant).

Scorpio- Nights

“Although you got beaucoup family

You don't even got nobody being honest with you

[...]

I don't trust 'em anyways

You can't break the law with them”

These lines suggest a deep level of mistrust, even amongst family and close friends. No on his being honest with the person in question and honesty (especially self-honesty) is a very important tenet for Scorpios.

“Did you call me from a séance?

You are from my past life

Hope you're doing well bruh”

Pluto rules Scorpio and both are associated with death. Though Frank is talking about someone being “dead to him”, it still evokes the same finality. Scorpios are very cut-and-dry when it comes to relationships, especially if someone has proven untrustworthy or non-loyal.

Overall

The vibe of the song reminded me of meeting a Scorpio. It starts off as a rap song with a wall up and with a point to make, but then turns into a vulnerable slow r&b track. This exhibits the evolution A Scorpio is known for.

Sagittarius- Solo

“We too loud in public, them police turned down the function

Now we outside and the timing's perfect

Forgot to tell you, gotta tell you how much I vibe with you

And we don't gotta be solo”

This whole mini-stanza makes me picture a Sagittarius and his potential love interest leaving a club at 3 am, likely high on some upper, and he’s spouting a whole bunch of romantic shit he doesn't mean and is talking loud and optimistically because he’s drunk. I clearly see this.

“It's hell on Earth and the city's on fire

Inhale, in hell there's heaven”

Though typically associated with Pisces, escapism is a scourge that plagues Sagittarius too. where Pisces may use drugs to mask pain and numb sensitivity, Sag uses drugs to escape reality when their optimistic views don't match the world around them. When you inhale, even in hell, you'll find heaven.

Overall

This song is big on loneliness just like “Solo (Reprise)”. In my opinion, Sag is the loneliest sign. Theres independent Aries and above-all Capricorn, but Sag is the lone thinker and the solo philosopher; their own ideas and problems keeping them company as the world shifts around them. Frank goes on a trip to his lover's city and is metaphorically and literally escaping being “solo” in number as well as "so low" in emotion.

Capricorn- Nikes

“These bitches want Nikes

They looking for a check

Tell 'em it ain’t likely”

Yes, Capricorns are money oriented, but that's not what I'm referring to here. Capricorn is the father of the zodiac ands s such, it places a certain level of responsibility on herself, allowing others to dot he same too. These people (likely groupies) are looking for Frank to buy them real Nikes and other lavish things but he isn't their father; it’s not looking likely. 

“We'll let you guys prophesy

We gon' see the future first”

The future is the most important thing to a Capricorn. Frank is saying that he’s gonna let the people around him hem and haw about the future while he is going to grab it by the horns and make his own. Caps really like control and really like being in the know so Frank would prefer to make the future instead of prophesying about how it may be.

Overall

This track concerns searching for fame and money without finding worth and meaning in it. The groupies, worries, and expectations are trying to bring you down. He also talks about how he is in control of his own music and destiny.

Aquarius- Self Control

“I came to visit, 'cause you see me like a UFO

That's like never, 'cause I made you use your self-control”

UFOs are definitely Aquarian territory. That aside, this line shows that the two of them were slowly falling apart. There seems to be a level of isolation in the relationship as well as a disconnection. Aquarians are quite literally living in their own world and, if you've not been granted access, you can't expect to form or nurture any connections. 

“Sometimes you'll miss it

And the sound will make you cry

And some nights you're dancing

With tears in your eyes”

This bridge reminds me of the emotional constraint that Aquarians place on themselves. Something as general as a familiar sound can make them cry because the wound of the relationship was never healed. Other times, you’re going to be fighting the sadness so hard, that even when you’re having fun, you can't get away from your actual feelings.

Overall

He wrote this song about a relationship where he and his partner were in different places in their lives. “It was mutual, it was just we couldn’t really relate. We weren’t really on the same wavelength," Frank said. Aquarians are rarely on the same wavelength as their peers and this is often the case of friction in their relationships.

Pisces- Seigfried

“Dreaming a thought that could dream about a thought That could think of the dreamer that thought That could think of dreaming and getting a glimmer of God I be dreaming of dreaming a thought That could dream about a thought That could think of dreaming a dream Where I cannot, where I cannot”

Let me know if I need to explain this at all because... wow.

“(In the dark)

I'd do anything for you

(In the dark)

I'd do anything for you”

This part of the song is repeated like a mantra and it exhibits the propensity of Pisces to give their all to those they care about. The “in the dark” line exemplifies the hidden and secret aspect of Pisces. When you have a Pisces in your corner, thy will literally do whatever for you and they’d prefer you give them no recognition. In fact, they may do little nice things fro you in secret, preferring to be a quiet benefactor.

Overall

This is another break-up song and Pisces is associated with the end of things. Additionally, nirvana (the state of hyper consciousness and spiritual connection with the Universe) is mentioned, which is Piscean. The whole vibe of the song Is dream like and, as mentioned above, many of the lyrics are associated with dreams, being asleep, and connections with God.

check your moon sign (for the song that makes you comfortable and puts you in your emotions), sun sign (the song that makes you happy and the one you ride around to) and venus sign (the one that speaks to your inner artist). the whole album is a no-skip™ for me. treat yo self.

[fallout4holmes]

Journal 54

We encountered a group of the Mechanist's creations distressingly close to Abernathy farm. An eyebot broadcasted a message from their creator as we struck;

 "People of the Commonwealth. Again, I, the Mechanist, have come to warn you of the Scourge that terrorizes this land. Many of my robot allies have been defeated, leaving you all vulnerable to the insidious predators of the world today. But fear not! I have increased production of my robots. Soon, our patrols will be doubled, and there will be nowhere for our enemies to hide."

"Scourge?" I wondered aloud.

"I believe he is referring to you, sir!" Ada called as she shot down the offending floating speaker.

As the last robot fell, Valentine quipped, "Gotta say, this Mechanist fella sure gives a good villainous monologue."

I felt like an idiot. No wonder the name had sounded familiar; I was closely acquainted with The Mechanist's number one foe. That, however, was something to be considered later. The most pressing matter at hand was the restoration of Jezebel’s body, and holding her to her bargain.

Sturges was hard at work with a handful of volunteers from Sanctuary to assist with improvements around Red Rocket. When I handed him Jezebel’s head, he nearly dropped it in surprise and disgust. “Uhh… right. Ok. Building a robobrain, then?”

“Supposedly this one will be able to tell us how to get inside the Mechanist’s facility, provided we restore the body that raiders scrapped.”

“Got it.”

“Wouldn’t go crazy on the accessories,” Valentine said as he lit a cigarette. “She’s got a pretty damn big gap in her logic protocols, so. I’d stick her on something as non-threatening as possible.”

Sturges nodded, “I’ve got just the thing. Won’t take long.”

When Jezebel came out of standby mode, she found herself attached to an armless, armorless, protectron's body. She was… underwhelmed with the development.

"... Interesting. This body isn't quite what I had envisioned."

"Well, I was going to have Sturges connect your head to Liberty Prime's body," I said, "but I’m afraid relations with the Brotherhood are a little strained at the moment. This will have to suffice."

"If you're attempting to use sarcasm as an intimidation tactic, I'm afraid you're wasting your time."

“Intimidation?" Valentine was amused, "Can't say I've ever considered being a smart-ass to be intimidating.”

I've never heard a more impatient robot, “Why don't you ask me everything you wanted to know and then I'll be on my way.”

"Very well," I said. "Tell me everything you know about the Mechanist."

"Amazingly adept at programming, a veritable genius with electronics," she said, clearly impressed. "I've been dutifully carrying out the Mechanist's instructions to help the people of the Commonwealth for quite a long time."

Valentine, Ada, and I shared a glance. "Helping the people of the Commonwealth?" I asked. "You?"

"Absolutely," Jezebel confirmed, "it's my primary directive. The Mechanist instructed me to seek out and help the people of the Commonwealth. By my calculations, the easiest way to help a human is simply to destroy it. There's no point in prolonging a laughably fragile life. It's the most efficient way to assist them. Any other effort to help tends to result in numerous complex side-effects."

Valentine was aghast and furious, "You don't help people by killing them, that's insane!"

"On the contrary. Assisting a human to the best of my abilities only affords a twenty-five percent survival rate. That means there's a seventy-five percent chance that despite my efforts, the human I'm assisting will die from something beyond my control. Therefore it's better to hasten the human's death and put them out of their likely chance of misery than to deplete my limited time. It's actually quite elementary--"

"Enough," I commanded. "How do we gain access to the Mechanist’s facility?"

"It's rather simple, really. In order to gain entry to the Mechanist's facility, you're going to need to outfit one of your robots with an 'M-SAT' modification."

Ada was impressed. "A custom modification that acts as a key to the Mechanist facility. Very smart. In fact, chances are high the M-SAT may be required for multiple access points, like a robot identification card."

"Precisely," Jezebel said. "I'll upload the plans to your Pip-Boy device, and I will have fulfilled my portion of our agreement." She did so, and commented, "Perhaps I'll remain here for a while and see how things resolve between yourself and the Mechanist... purely for my own amusement, of course. I suspect you'll have quite a tale to tell once you return, but then again, I'd be surprised if you ever return at all."

"Don't wear out your welcome," Valentine warned, and we moved away to show Sturges the plans.

"Were you able to decrypt the signal, Ada?"

"Yes. The source is coming from a RobCo Sales & Service Center. Most likely a front for a larger operation."

I nodded, "Then it's time to confront the Mechanist."

"I hope you're allowed the opportunity. I too am curious as to what the Mechanist would have to say."

Sturges confirmed he had all the materials necessary for the M-SAT at hand. Ada volunteered for the installation. As she said, "I may be a robot, but I feel a strong amount of personal investment to see this mission through."

And so, "key" in hand, we headed east.

At my insistence, we made a detour south to Diamond City. Not only did I want to see my son before confronting a mad inventor of robots, but there was an item I wanted to take with us. I was fairly certain it would help.

Shaun was ecstatic to see us, greeting both his fathers with a tight hug. Codsworth greeted us warmly and asked if the rumors of war were to be believed.

"I'm afraid so," I confirmed.

"But why?" Shaun asked.

"The Brotherhood refuse to stop hunting synths. They've discovered the location of the Railroad; the only reason they haven't attacked is because the Minutemen and Railroad are allies.” I knelt down in front of him, “I wish I could have done or said something to change their leader’s mind.   Perhaps I could have, but whatever needed to be done, I didn’t do.”

“Will a lot of people be hurt?”

“Probably. Let’s sit down a moment.”

Codsworth and Ada occupied themselves talking in the workshop while my partner and I sat on the sofa with our son between us and attempted to answer all of his questions. Shaun understood the concept of war, he fully realized what was going to happen. Violence born of fear and anger and hate is something one quickly becomes all too familiar with in this world, even when sheltered behind a wall. I suppose it is especially true when one’s father is responsible for destroying an entire underground civilization. What he didn’t understand was why the Brotherhood didn’t simply leave. I told him they believe they are in the right.

This did not seem to be a satisfactory answer, but he accepted it and asked why the Railroad wasn’t involved.

"The Railroad are spies, not soldiers," I told him. "A few members might be considered exceptions, but they do not have an army. I do. I had to choose whether I would ignore the Brotherhood, let them do what they wanted as long as they didn’t hurt any Minutemen or our allied settlements, or I could stand against them and their misguided desire to destroy that which they see as strictly evil. Either choice I made, people would die. I could not choose to ignore the Brotherhood."

"Ignoring would be like apathy, right?" Shaun asked.

"It would be similar." I’ve previously made my opinion of apathy dramatically clear.

Shaun was, of course, worried. "Promise you'll come home safe?"

I sighed, "Well, Valentine will be fine, it'll take more than a few bullets or energy blasts to stop him, after all."

"Don't joke, Sherlock," Valentine said softly.

I held my son's hand and gathered my thoughts. I thought my partner would assist, but he seemed to think I was the one that should do the talking. "Shaun,” I tried again, “I… don’t know what to expect in the next few days. The next week. I can’t even say when you’ll see us again. It might be a few days, it might be a long time. But if there is one fact I know for certain to be true, it is that Nick and I both love you.”

“I love you too, Dad. Promise you’ll be careful, at least?”

“That I can certainly promise,” I smiled. “However, first we have to stop the madman releasing deranged robots into the world.”

Shaun made a face, "The Mechanist."

"That's right."

Valentine chuckled, "Awful strong look of disgust for a name. You take after Dad for dramatics."

The comment got a quick laugh from me, but a frustrated huff from Shaun, "What's the point of building robots that only kill people?"

"It seems that was not the intention," I said.

Valentine nodded gravely, "Sounds like the killing bit might just be a horrible misunderstanding."

"Then why doesn't he stop?" Shaun asked.

"We must assume the Mechanist doesn't know what his creations are doing," I said. "Either that, or there is no misunderstanding at all and this is some twisted plot."

"Whatever it is, you're going to stop him, right?"

"Yes. Now, Valentine and I are only here for tonight, so let's make the most of it."

We played. I had scavenged a chess board together a month ago and taught Shaun the basic game; he'd been practicing with Codsworth and was eager to play against me. Valentine became complicit in a teddy bear's murder, and Shaun proudly informed us he had fixed Public Occurrences’ printing press while Piper was in Goodneighbor. According to Nat, she’d gone to tell Mayor Hancock about Diamond City’s decision to remain essentially neutral between Brotherhood and Minutemen, a decision which rankled me a bit, I must admit. I don’t know what Hancock is going to do with this information, if anything at all. To be perfectly honest, I don’t have time to worry about it.

Valentine and I smoked on the roof once Shaun was in bed that night. “So what's the plan when we get to the Mechanist?” he asked.

“That depends on how convincing The Mechanist finds my Silver Shroud performance.”

“Wait. The Shroud costume? That’s the item you wanted to pick up?”

“If The Mechanist wishes to model his career after a radio drama villain, why shouldn’t the hero make an appearance?”

Valentine shook his head with a smile, “God help us if Shaun’s this dramatic when he’s older.”

[burndownthehousetonight]

((How long’s it been since I put up a compilation post for a @tinyredartist rp? Way too long, and this one was kind of a doozy ‘3′))

A few days had passed since they found a location on Leo's apartment. There were leads, sure, but they didn't seem to lead them anywhere, and the clues they found couldn't only lead to circumstantial theories at best. An despite a metric ton of wanted posters being hung everywhere from the castle outskirts to far off cities of the kingdom, there were no calls reporting the missing otter.

Basically, the investigation was screwed from the start, and Manic and his husband were dropped off the investigating team like a hot potato. They weren't even detectives, let alone anyone who dealt in investigating these kinds of disappearances. Everyone was feeling dejected, confused, concerned. Scared, to some degree. But at least they were scared together.

"We just gotta wait, I guess." Manic said in some vain attempt to calm down Aria. She didn't want to leave her bedroom that morning, so Manic came right on in to give some company.

"Talking about this is just gonna make it worse, ain't it?" There was that chuckle, that happy chuckle like nothing was wrong. "You can come out of here and have some fun, man, you're gonna be safe. Honest."

“Manic, I appreciate the help but… I’m getting really overwhelmed. There’s so much I’ve got to take in and I need to do it alone. I’m sorry.” She was upset, but rolled over, back towards him. Shutting out yet another green hedgehog and pulling the covers up over her head to block out noises.

She was mostly inconsolable by any party. The king tried. Castillo tried. Even Faolán and Fiona tried. But she turned them all away at the door. Terra had almost taken time off work, but Aria insisted she go in order to get out of the “depression bubble”.

Damian even tried to get in, but he was especially shut out. While most everyone got some kind of excuse as to why she didn’t want to see them, her brother only received a door to the face. He clearly was expecting that. But not the question she asked him from the other side.

“Don’t like being thrown out. Do ya?” It pretty much felt useless. What the hell was he supposed to do for someone who wasn't going to help themselves? "Bluuuuuuuh." He gave a long, exaggerated, and slightly silly groan while he sat down in a chair, far away from Aria's room. "I've gotta play somewhere tomorrow morning, too, but I don't wanna leave her hanging." "She ain't gonna open up to anyone," Castillo said bluntly. "When she needs help, she'll ask." "That doesn't mean I have to like it," Manic groaned. Even though they had to start driving back home for work, it almost felt like they didn't have a choice but to stay. And by the looks of it when he walked in, Damian didn't have any luck either. "She didn't give you a chance either?" Manic asked, knowing the answer. “She … Kind of threw something I did back in my face… And I deserved it so… No. No luck. She doesn’t even want to hold David or play with Faolán. I’ve got nothing.”

He flopped down in a chair and sighed, covering his face. “Mom would know what to do if she was here… Our older sister had moods like this sometimes and she always opened up to Mom.”

“I feel like that doesn’t apply here.” The king responded, giving Castillo and Manic a warp ring so they could get home faster if they wanted. They silently took the warp ring, knowing they didn't need to head back until that evening. "Maybe it's the kind of deal that'll only get figured out with time?" Manic said, spinning the ring around his finger as he thought. "Or maybe just like... she needs silent company, someone she can just sit with?" "Just time," Scourge added. "Give her space... and booze. Lots of booze." He didn't leave a pause for debate, immediately swerving the topic off course. "No one's seen nothing of him?" Scourge added. "Not under any of his names?" “Nothing. He’s switched names again. Aria gave me a written list of names to try, but none of them come up as having been used. The whole country is on edge looking for this asshole. If what we think actually happened, he could be really dangerous. There isn’t a cop in the city who could see him and not report back,” The king sat down and put his head in his hands, sighing. “ I just feel useless. She’s all alone and this is something that’s a major hit to the trauma. There’s nothing we can do but doing nothing feels awful.” They sat in silence for what felt like hours. Waiting for news or for Aria to come out of her room. The news came first via a younger detective, and that was a good thing. “Sire! One of the names on the list that you gave me is active. Someone using a credit card was flagged in the city. How likely is it that someone shares a name with anyone on this list?” “Highly unlikely,” Damian said, shifting on his chair, “Traditionally, names are based in our language. I’m the exception because I was a favor. I highly doubt there is anyone with the same name because Aria and I are the only two people who can speak it. Which name was it?” “Aquam Regis, sir.” The cadet said, and the hedgehog grew all sorts of emotions, none of them good “That sick bastard.” Scourge didn't know the first thing about languages, but Manic was at least a little aware of these words. On bottles and in random trivia, these terms had popped up from their original source. "Water god?" Manic said, not so much disgusted as disapproving. "I'd call him a lazy asshole for that name if he wasn't being such a smug asshole." The rush to get up and get information was broken momentarily from a crying sound. A young crying sound. Scourge paused, and for once, had more than one person he wanted to help out immediately. He owed Aria for everything he did to her, but Faolán wouldn't understand- He let out a grunt as Manic shoved him from behind. "Look after your kid, man, we'll tell you this stuff!" They rushed down the hall, Scourge still pausing before running with Manic's plan, like usual. "Alright, what's that name really mean?" Manic asked as they rushed to see this new information. "Cause it don't sound like you think he's just being smug." The cadet also explained that they had witnesses as the men rushed down the hall. The king looked to Aria's brother, waiting for an answer.

Damian was slowly growing more and more enraged. His jaw clenched, hands grew fidgety and the king pulled Manic back just in time to avoid the enraged hedgehogs punch to the nearest wall. The heave of his shoulders and flicks of his ears clearly showed that whatever the name meant, it wasn’t a good connotation

“Not… Not water god. King of the Water. And I swear on the land that this bastard tried to sell, if I ever see him I will rip his heart out.” When the hedgehog walked away, the king grabbed him by the arm, waiting for a proper explanation. With a sigh, the doctor relented.

“Aquam Regis is our Father. And I wanna go see those witnesses.” Was it a good idea to let someone this invested and enraged in a case talk to the witnesses? Manic sure didn't think so, but he knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Well, let's find him and punch his light out. Just... maybe let's wait a sec. You got any punching bags, Scourge?" He was going to need another qualifier for the king's name soon, because the other Scourge stumbled up to them after Damian had a chance to get out at least a little of his fury. "What's up, what was going on with Fao?" "Ari didn't want to play with him and wouldn't talk to him. And your kid tried teething on his arm." From behind Damian, Manic looked at Scourge and made a cutting motion across his neck to say, 'absolutely don't blame him for anything you stupid snot.' So he clammed up. Damian sighed and wiped his face with the hand that the king didn’t have an iron grip on. Seems like his son was, if anything, the only way to keep him calm.

“Sorry… For both of them. But we need to get this solved fast because I don’t want to see either of the kids upset. David was calling for her earlier today too… Maybe you should talk to her Scourge. You’ve been in that kind of mood, if I remember.” Damian suggested to the king, who shrugged and left, urging Manic to text him updates.

They all continued on their way and once the witnesses arrived they were all pleasantly surprised.

“Heyyy!” Dante said with a smile, all three members of the band recognizing their friend. “Long time no see!!” "You're the witnesses." Castillo said in almost a monotone. Manic wasn't half as monotone, happy for the distraction and high fiving the crocodile and cheetah. "What is UP!" "We got to be witness to a crime again." Detour said, half joking. "Again." His face was withering just a bit. He grimaced and held his face in his hand, remembering all the hijinks he'd had to pull them out of. "...Again. We... weren't involved for once." "We've gotta celebrate that!" Dante smarmed out in that smug tone, Drench pulling Detour closer in a friendly embrace. Instead of getting annoyed, he actually seemed to grin a bit. As much as he disliked babysitting them, their presence was too fun not to make him smile. “Hey, so I count most of the gang here, but where’s our favorite bartender and our Royal Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card?” Drench asked, looking around for the two he expected to see.

Damian, who had been brooding silently at this point, was not amused. If these were their witnesses, they were screwed. But judging by the way they talked about his sister and the king, he deciding texting them both saying that their friends were here might help.

Several minutes later, a showered but still depressed Aria shuffled into the warp room, blanket on her shoulders. The sight of the band made her crack the first smile in days. "Yooooo." Drench was the most vocal with his happiness. "How ya doing? Ain't seen you in a while, you look like hell! Nice blanket!" Despite the blunt few lines, Drench didn't seem mean spirited in the slightest. To him, it was more an excited blunt observation and a compliment on what was a very lovely blanket. "Hey, nice to see you." Detour joked as he patted Aria on the back. He could at least see that this was more serious than Drench was taking it. "You should have come with to that concert last month," Dante chuckled, "Drench got drunk before the second set and got arrested for trying to take off his clothes on stage!" Dante laughed the loudest at this, with Drench as a close second. Her smile was there, but it was small and weak and even the boys couldn’t get a laugh out of her. She nodded at Detour and just shook her head at Dante and Drench.

“You’re both idiots and you need much more alcohol than you consume,” she said, patting Detour on the shoulder. “I hate to be a party killer, but what are you guys even doing here? Judging by the fact that we are in the war room, I’m guessing you have something to tell us.”

She felt and looked like shit, but even then Damian stood behind her, ready to grab her in case she grew just as angry as he had earlier. And Aria didn’t have a soft spot like he did. Drench's eyes lit up. "Right, yeah! There were all those wanted posters, right? With the gold otter?" Certain details weren't disclosed to the public, and none of the three had any idea what the otter meant to her. "We were just at some pet store trying to get a fishbowl," Dante started, not bothering to explain why they would need a fishbowl. "We went to pay, and he was at the counter!" "He was just buying... a lot of plastic boxes. A LOT of them." It took a second for Detour to come up with a guess. "There must have been a dozen in his bags. I'm the fastest, I went to chase him, but-" He scratched the back of his head. "Even I couldn't catch him. He has some kind of super speed." “Hmmm… Well at least we know he’s in town.. And that he’s still got some magic left in him… Could this get any worse?”

When the cadet handed over the information they had gathered, Aria skimmed through it before they could stop her. She reacted to his name change much differently from her brother, and burst into tears. It wasn’t surprising, since she hadn’t cried over all of it while she had been moping, and so it was a sudden burst of emotion.

“That fucking asshole! After all he’s done he pulls this? Why can’t he just leave us alone?” She wailed, clinging to Damian as he hugged her to comfort her. "Trust me, when we're catching him, we're beating his face in." Manic promised, Scourge silently agreeing and standing like they were going to go out and punch him right there. The sudden burst of emotion left the band members uncertain of how they could respond. Dante was the one who finally stepped up to her, much more somber than usual. "Hey, uh... calm down, you'll be alright-" It was already too late. Castillo was on her other side, trying to move towards the door. "You can't handle this stuff yet," Scourge told her, "you should get outta here." “No, I wanna stay!” She whined, ducking out of everyone’s arms. The constant smothering was making her sick and she didn’t need to be enclosed in a small space at the moment. “Okay, you can stay. But if I notice you’re taking this too hard, I will carry you back to bed kicking and screaming, okay?” The king compromised, keeping his distance. Aria was acting like the nine year old she was when it all happened originally, and this time around her mood swings and sensitivities were lethal if pushed too far. Personal questions were going to have to be put aside for a while. They had to start digging into something less painful, something boring. "So like, what kinda boxes are we talking?" Manic asked the obvious question. "Alright, he was buying a ton of boxes, but what was in them? Like, was he just getting a bunch of pet food or something?" "No, they were empty." Dante added. "You know, the- the plastic boxes! They're square, with green tops. And a whole bunch of slits in them?" "Habitat!" Detour piped up. "They're bug habitats, he was buying bug habitats." “Bug habitats…. Unless he’s going the true evil route and training a giant lizard, why all the habitats?” Scourge asked, looking to Manic and Aria to see if wither had a clue.

Arias glance went to Castillo and she had a thought. “Wait! The bugs on our land, if he’s trying to get magic they would provide a decent amount, since they’re primary forces of decomposition… But that means he knows where they are. And he can get in, somehow.”

She knew it sounded far fetched but that had to be it! That’s why he was able to hold onto the magic for so long! "Maybe he's using his speed, or something?" Manic offered. "Maybe he's jetting off a tree or ramp or something and going over?" Manic didn't even need to ponder bringing in Sonic, knowing that it would be a bad idea... for some reason. And besides, he had another supersonic runner on his side, now cracking his knuckles. "Lemme at it," Castillo said with a grunt, "I'll break in somehow." "Maybe we should call in... I dunno, some of those endangered species people, whatever they're called? The guys who protect really rare animals and stuff?" Not exactly an elegant explanation, but at least some form of plan. "If that's where he's getting his powers, we just gotta stop him from getting them." “NO!” Both Damian and Aria were adamant against calling the services that helped endangered species. The king made the cutting motions across his throat, signalling a bad idea. No explanation was offered

“Besides, it's basic physics. If he’s going fast enough, he could easily clear it with a jump.” Aria considered. “We don’t need to test it. But maybe we should go for a visit just to check up on Mom and Dad.”

Aria rubbed at her arm and Damian rubbed at his shoulder blade. Both were clearly sensitive to the topic of the endangered species control unit. "Alright! Alright, we won't call anyone." Manic immediately backed off. "But we gotta have someone look at them! What if they're messed up, or a whole bunch are missing, or something? Is anyone gonna know a lot about these things?" Castillo could only grin smugly and ruffle Manic's fringe, getting an annoyed smile out of his husband. It was barely a minute later that Faolán rushed into the room, tail whapping against every surface he walked near. "Are we going back to the forest?!" Castillo silently motioned from behind him to Aria, showing off a holster. If his son was going to be their bug expert, he was going to make sure no one would get near him. She didn’t want to get him involved. But what choice did they have? The hedgie reluctantly warped the whole crew to the forest, bypassing security completely. By the time Damian stepped out, the place would be slightly hostile. The leaves would shake as they passed, the trees displeased.

They went the long way, avoiding her family. She let Fao play with the bugs and pointed out tracks to the rest of the men. Footprints. And a very agitated pine, who shook as well.

“The whole place is disturbed… But I don’t know if its because of all this, or because this is the first time someone has visited.” She almost sneered at her brother. Normally sunny skies were clouded over, and everything in the area felt worse. It almost felt as though the land had been traumatized. Trees shook in their presence, the chilled breeze blew against whichever way they walked. Everyone was on edge for some reason. The way Manic and Faolán rejoined them after going to visit the bugs wasn't about to help. "Daaaaad!" The little wolf rushed up to his father, sadness blatantly painted on his puffed eyes. "Th-the pointy bugs are gone! The ones who- the ones who liked chirping at me!" "He must've come already" Manic said quietly to the king while Fao was distracted. "Calm down kiddo, they're probably on an adventure or something." He squatted down to his son's level. "You ain't mentioned 'em before, what did they look like?" "They're..." A pay wiped away an escaped tear. "They're the gem bugs. The ones- the ones with the pointy crystals on their backs. They're almost all gone..." “Aria, what are you doing?” The king asked, watching Aria take photos of the tracks before walking in them.

Specifically, she lined up her shoeprints with the ones left behind, noting imprints near the river.

“He jumped across the river. He must have super speed or the jumping power from… I don’t know who.” She shrugged, kneeling at Faolán's level and offered her arms for a hug.

“I’m sorry I was mean earlier. That wasn’t fair of me.” He was still a bit of a stubborn kid, even if it was someone he trusted, and the snub from Aria still stung. But he definitely didn't reject the hug. It was always nice from Aria, and the sadness from all the missing bugs meant he needed a lot of comforting. "Hey, kid." Scourge said, ruffling his son's hair. "Let me check, maybe they're back now." Really just a thin excuse to get him away so the others would have space to talk. "So... How're we gonna catch this fool?" Manic said, stating the obvious. "We gonna put up sensors or cameras or summat above the fences? Or like, have someone fast camp out? Maybe one of you Scourges? I mean, my bro doesn't really like me, but he's always up for fighting evil." Aria wanted more hugs, but settled for holding herself. “Maybe not… But what if we attach something to some of the trees so they shake when he shows up?”

The system wasn’t a bad one. Many devices existed that would send off a signal with movement. But which trees would be marked?

“Capito.” both siblings said, once the king asked them.

“He’s the brother in between us. His power was super intelligence, so he would be a good place to start… Then the trees closest to the beetles, a few around the perimeter…” Damian suggested, until the smell of cherry blossoms filled the air, sickly sweet.

“Someone needs to go see mom.” Aria insisted. Manic turned his head. His husband wasn't there, but the other Scourge sure was, and that glare between them was riddled with dread. This was not good. Whatever it was that was about to happen, there was no way it was going to be good. They might not have been able to speak to the trees, but they knew they were angry at something with Damian's presence. "Uh... you guys gonna be alright?" Manic asked, knowing full well they absolutely weren't going to be alright on their own. "Like, maybe the king and me should just follow you guys? Or this something you gotta do alone?" “Well… You know how sometimes if you don’t call your mom she gets really mad? That’s what this is. Half of the forest is upset about the intruder and the other half are upset that this is the first time he’s been here since everything happened. He’s safe, mostly. *

The hedgehog sighed, rubbing his neck and walking back over to their family. Aria followed along, motioning for the boys, to follow once Castillo and Faolán returned. She had a feeling her nephew would be needed to soften the mood. Thankfully, the walk avoided the graveyard this time, but that didn't mean the trip wasn't unnerving. It felt like someone was going to jump out at them at any second, like they were always being watched. But the trees weren't deeply focused on any of them except for Damian. By the time they made it to the beach, the approached the same semicircle of trees. Sure enough, the prior damage Scourge did seemed like it never happened. Those intertwined trees even looked a little taller, a little brighter. A lot more fragrant, that was for sure. "Uh... hello." If Manic had tried, he still couldn't have sounded much more uncertain and awkward talking to a tree. The way the trees shook, it was like an earthquake. The eight already there were either excited or displeased with him. One of the saplings threw fruit.

“See? Just a good old fashioned family argument.” She showed them, and the angry rustling stopped as Manic was greeted by the eight before the “yelling” continued. Aria went to one tree in particular and started explaining what was going on. There was no "good old fashioned" kind of family fighting in Manic's mind. Not in Scourge's mind, either. Not even for the king. But Aria was taking the whole affair bizarrely blithely, and what were they supposed to do? Tell her to be more afraid? Family fights never ended well for most of the onlookers, and they could only hope this family wouldn't take the ugly turn it had for any of the others. Scourge could feel his heart stop for a second when he noticed that Faolán had snuck away and up to the trees while they were distracted. "Kid, get back here!" He yelled as he saw the child touch the shaking tree on the rightmost edge. The tree slowed down it's movements the moment it was touched, but that didn't stop Scourge from grabbing the child and rushing away like the tree golems were going to attack him next. "What are you doin', kid, they'd cream you!" Scourge had gotten annoyed at his son before, but this kind of yelling was new, and they could watch the little boy's heart get crushed. “Easy Castillo. They get that he’s still a kid. He’s the safest person here. But sweetie, please don’t touch the trees. They’re covered in moss and your mom wouldn’t want you to get dirty,” Aria insisted, while the trees behind them stopped shaking. Damian rejoined the group, rubbing the back of his neck.

“They’re done with the yelling-.” The doctor started, but his sentence died off when he saw the sniffling child. He shut his mouth.

“We’ve got all the information we can from here I think. Time to go home,” the king suggested. "Ah, kid- Kid, don't run up to shit that's flailing around!" Manic nudged Scourge to try and get him to watch his language near the child, but he didn't respond. They waited a few moments, but it was obvious the little wolf wasn't going to forget it that easily. "I'm not angry at you, squirt. Don't wanna see anything happen to you." He put aside all macho nonsense and just hugged the child to comfort him. The sniffles were dying down. things were looking better, and Manic was comfortable enough to ask. "So what's the plan? And what do y'all need from us?" “Well if Luci would STOP THROWING TWIGS AT ME THANK YOU VERY MUCH!” Damian turned to yell at a tree who merely rustled and threw at stick at his forehead, making Aria laugh.

“Lucett. Stop, he’s just being a baby again” Aria insisted and the tree would have crossed its arms if it could have. “Right now I need motion based signals we can attach to some trees… And a drink.”

She sighed at her siblings bickering. Even separated by plains of existence they still fought. The rustling of several other trees and Damian’s rusty switch into their native tongue would have been humorous if Aria couldn’t understand her brothers words and the tone that everyone else was communicating in. She covered her ears to block him out. The first time hearing the language spoken by someone else in years, in anger. It wasn’t helping. "Those'll be real easy to find, we can string up some signals easy." But what was he supposed to say to the fighting? She might have been playing it off as a simple family argument, but the way Aria's ears clutched to her head made it obvious this was anything but normal. "Uh... maybe we should go back without Damian, leave him a way to warp back?" He suggested sheepishly, hoping that wasn't the worst possible idea. The words were grim and uncomfortable. Their moods were grim and uncomfortable. Even Fao was scared and confused by everything. "You mind mixing us all drinks before we get back to work?"

Scourge tossed a warp ring to the doctor and he caught it. The king lead his friends into another clearing for aria to warp them back

“Yeah I can do that Manic” she insisted, scratching open a portal and scooping up Fao to snuggle with after they got to the castle.

“What do you guys want?” She asked, setting the kid down on a barstool and booping his nose gently as she rummaged around the bar.

The air felt more comfortable to the young child. Fiona had loosened his leash around Scourge - the king, not his father quite yet - and these were the situations he’d see them in most. Cozy, usually having something to eat or drink, pretty much always with his dads. He was calming down more, and Aria speaking the most was definitely helping. Scourge leaned forward to look at all the bottles. “You got Black Lashes back there…? Yeah, just some of that scotch, straight.” “Just a red russian.” Manic was caught up in patting the child’s back to try and comfort him, and barely even looked at Aria.. “You want a soda or something, buddy?” Those small eyes gazes at the brilliantly colored and labeled bottles he knew he couldn’t have, and thought on some things he might like to drink. “A r- a red russian?” “No,” Manic said firmly, “only I can order that. It’s law.” Another spot of thinking. “Can I get the lashes drink?” He just gave a sassy, if amused, look at him and ruffled his hair. “Ask when you’re a little older, buddy.”

Aria mixed the drinks they asked for, serving up the Red Russian, Black Lashes, and a Shirley temple for her “nephew”. She slid the king his usual wine and got herself a bottle of sugar vodka she drank from. It was quiet between them all. For once it was peaceful. Aria pet the child, scratching behind his ears idly with a soft smile.

“So munchkin. What’s new?” Fao was always a source of cuteness and purity, this time was no different. "The beetle people like all the photos," he said as he sipped away. "I put up more pictures and they all wanted to see more of the gold ones. A scientist told me she wanted to see if they were a new species! I told her to go away for you." At least he was thinking about Ari, regardless of how he was using that trust. His expression soon turned sour as he swirled the drink to mix in the bit of whipped cream on top. "But someone else had pictures of the jewel bugs, maybe they flew away and don't like me anymore..." Manic and Scourge took a moment to process those words. "Uh... what's he post about them?" Manic asked, trying to sound casual. "He asked for those gross organ pictures, I think he wants to hurt them. I told him I didn't have any, but he kept asking, so I told him to suck a lemon." “Gross organ pictures?” Aria looked a little confused up at her friends, and even more worried at her nephew. Kissing his forehead, she smiled.

“Well thank you sweetheart. That was very nice of you to tell all those people to go away. I’m sure the bugs are fine. Maybe they’re just visiting someone. I’m sure they’ll be back. But did you wanna show me the place you post these photos on? I wanna see something.”

When the phone was fetched, she looked through the conversations. Quite a lot of people were interested. One account stood out and Aria showed it to Manic.

“If this is his account, can you trace it?" She asked quietly while Fao finished the sweet drink. "Totally." Manic raised his glass like he was going for a toast, downed the last gulp left, and made his way over to his laptop bag. None of them could have been more concerned about that string of words, and Scourge was quick to snatch up that open page. A forum of some kind. "ILoveBeetleBugs" was clearly his son, just from the total lack of any kind of proper writing. As new as he was to literacy, he seemed to know plenty of terms in this specific area. At some point, his shoulders finally relaxed. "He wants to know the organs they've got. One of those anatomy diagrams with organs and crap." He turned back to the child and held down the phone to show a shot of the thread. "Don't tell these people anything. You don't know these assholes, might be someone bad." Faolán seemed confused by these words, staring up blankly at his dad. There was a good few seconds of silence. "O-okay." He said sheepishly. "Can I still look at-" "Look at whatever the hell you want, just don't tell anyone anything." Fao was surprised by a gentle punch to his stomach - judging by his giggle, some kind of ritual between them. "He ain't hurting any of 'em. Speaking of... he put up any pictures of them?" With a nod, he began going through the forums again, finding pictures of a few select beetles a few days old. The habitarium they were in was virtually empty, with some grass and leaves chucked in carelessly. Maybe there would be something in the background they could use? Aria hummed as she looked over the picture, displeased with their care obviously. Several people called him out on the poor treatment though, which made her feel better.

In the background was a window with the blinds half drawn over it. The only things they could see was part of a balcony, a part of another building and the sky turning orange, light spilling into the room he was in to illuminate the bugs glittering shells.

“Wait… Maybe we can use the view here… His balcony faces west… And maybe we can grab a shot of that building and see what we can find? Or am I delving too far into the unreasonable crime drama side of things?” "Sounds pretty alright to me," Castillo shrugged. "But hell, that'll be pretty convoluted, we ain't even got a city yet. Looks like some bland building, too, ain't too distinct..." "IIIII got a rough location!" Manic would eventually shout out, standing up and walking down the room. "Okay, like, you can't get TOO specific with an IP, but we're looking for some city called Greyling. But he ain't put up any emails or nothing, without something else, can't really hack into his stuff." When he would look up from the laptop, Scourge would be giving that overly smug toothy grin. "Y'all know something I don't?" “Greyling isn’t very big. I bet we could find the building with a quick web search and a map” the king suggested

Aria had left them to figuring it out, and happily scooped up the cub. “Whatcha doing there munchkin?” She asked, watching him play his video game. She enjoyed his joy at the device and the game. He was amazing for lightning the mood and she thought to take him out for ice cream when this was all over. It definitely wasn't a hard platformer, she could see that from a distance. Of course he didn't care, it was a fun, mindless distraction. Something all of them needed, frankly. The little orange bat flapping around was in some kind of an autumnal Halloween world, even if the date was months away. It was easy to see why the little boy would be attracted to a game detached from reality on such a simple level. "And you eat a bug and get- you change your power!" He was explaining things in detail Aria could ascertain from what was already happening, but no one particularly cared if it was redundant. Even though the work the three were doing was simple, it was hard to ignore the little boy as he spoke on and on. Eventually, Castillo would stand up, pat the king on the back as he left, and sit down near the child. "What'd you say about werewolves?" A fake question - he was fully aware of the enemies, he just wanted to make up with his son over his yelling. Go back to being the fun dad. And with as much as he dove back into his passionate explanations, it was clear he wasn't holding it too harshly against him. Aria and Castillo were just as interested in the he as the child was, but really they were just glad he was enjoying himself. She did wonder where Fiona had gotten off to, and asked Castillo quietly.

“She doing okay?” She asked, concerned about the fox. She WAS leaving her son alone with Castillo. That rarely happened. She wasn’t complaining though, but she knew it might be bothering the kid. "She ain't gonna trust me. Ever." Saying this while he watched his son innocently enjoying his game made him feel years older than he was. "She doesn't trust me. She trusts you and my clone usually. I know she saw that tabloid about me pummeling the king, she knows you'll fuck me up." Scourge had shown many trashier sides of himself. For a few moments, he was strangely somber, almost looking subtly terrified. "Used to be unstoppable, now I can't even fucking handle some kid getting sick..." When he straightened his back, he would be back to his normal posture and emotions. But in that moment, he seemed like a different person. Even like the king. “He’s not some kid. He’s your kid. Your own flesh and blood. Its not weak or unmanly to care and stress about someone’s well being, nor is it unreasonable considering the medical trouble he’s had to go through. Plus, in a no powers fight between us you would win, probably.”

She tried to joke, hoping that would help a bit. They fell into a soft silence, Aria looking back over at Fao.

“If it's any consolation, Faolán seems to like you and Manic much more than Scourge or me. And he should, you’re his father. I don’t know if Fi will ever trust you but… Maybe one day when he’s a little older he can convince his mom.” Scourge didn't respond. He seemed like he didn't even hear those words, even as they slapped him again and again. He didn't want to think about his weaknesses, his age, anything, just go back to sitting pretty and enjoying life. So when Aria was done, there was no rebuttal, only a longer, heavier silence. Even Faolán wasn't immune to the words, knowing just from their tones that they were talking about something depressing again. Was there going to be another fight stopping him from seeing his dad? "Hey, look, look!" That chipper voice could usually cheer them up no matter how stubborn Scourge was being. "It's one of the secret costumes!" Not a rare find at all, but if it got them to stop being so dour, it would work, right? Manic and the king were blissfully unaware of this conversation, instead rolling through pictures of the apartment buildings and hotels of Greyling. "Like, the Datura Suites has the right kinds of balconies too. I mean there are so many brown buildings, I dunno where to start, man. Aria gently nudged the hedgehog to go spend time with his son, while Aria joined manic and the king. With a paper map, setting it out, she placed pins in the places they thought he was in. Then with string, she connected each pin to another one off to the left, thinking. Tracking the sky.

The king shook his head. “I still think there’s something up with the blinds. It's too awkward, why not open them all the way? Maybe he’s hiding something.” "He's already a huge creep, ain't he?" Manic pondered. "He's gotta be looking out at something. Like yeah, maybe he's just giving the bugs light for the photos or whatever, but... I dunno, could he be spying on someone? Maybe it's not a random place and he's looking at someone? Or looking out for someone?" Where was there in town, and who might he have been worried about? "Doesn't seem like he's working with someone, I think he's probably solo. I dunno, is there- Like, you think he might be planning a theft or something to get weapons?" “No, not like that. Like maybe there’s something identifying behind the curtain. Like part of a sign or something. Do any of the buildings you see on the list have large signs on them?”

The king didn’t know the city well, but he remembered running through it once as seeing a lot of colors. A sign wouldn't be unusual, especially if he was living in an apartment rented by his employer. Manic turned back towards the map, noting the dozens of pins that had been put into the map after searching the town. "Uh... this is gonna take a minute." Address after address. Letter after letter. Manic kept a marker in one hand, marking each location one by one by the type of building. Not a casual comb through, either. "Alright, here are all the places," Manic said, looking at the map. "All these circled dudes have something really identifiable, or are painted some really bright color, y'know, identifiable stuff. Y'all can just forget about these Xes. And these dudes here," he said, motioning for the four circled buildings with blue pins instead of red, "these are all apartments and hotels." Aria pointed at one automatically, wits string tied and making the perfect angle with the building to make the shadows they saw.

“This one. And across the street it's got a major hotel chain. It's the only place that meets all the requirements.”

Scourge went to the computer and typed in the hotel, going to check the photos of the rooms they had up.

“Look. Balconies match. He’s in one of the king suites.” The king explained. Manic was just a little slower, just a little more cautious. "I've gotten really risky with other investigation stuff," he said, "and it ain't always ended well. We're kinda presuming a lot here, are you guys sure he's there? It makes sense, but... like, if we're wrong, we've pretty much lost him again, we've got to get this right." How could they prove it? The idea came to him in a second. "Maybe call up the front desk and ask if any of his pseudonyms are there?" They all looked to each other and Aria was surprisingly the first to put her finger on her nose and shout, “Not it!!”

The king chuckled, ruffling her hair and grabbing the phone to do it himself he thought she was just being cute or funny, but once he left to make the call, she excused herself and left the room. They wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t in the castle until the king would get off the phone to confirm that the otter was using her father's name as an alias.

She was tired and stressed, and so took refuge in the nook on the roof she always did. Only her wife knew of this safe spot. For now. Manic and both Scourges were going to be working on a plan to make sure he wouldn't escape, so Fao was brought up to the guest room he was using while the adult went back to work. As fun as his game was, he was still Scourge's son, and there was nothing he loved more than a little exploration. But what was next? He had already explored much of the castle, what was... left? He only had a small window to look out of, but he could see some kind of balcony walkway outside of the farmost guest room, turning around the castle to who knows where. Maybe there would be some kind of little secret or discovery out there? So like usual, he locked the room door to make it look like he was inside, crawled through the hidden door in the closet to the adjacent room, and rushed down the hall. There were always a few rooms he couldn't unlock, maybe this would be a way in? Whatever it was, he was quick to dash through the king's bedroom and onto what was hopefully the walkway to adventure. The walkway was well maintained, if not a little unused. Regular ivy had crawled along the walls, giving it charm.

It was a little known path that passed by windows that had no visible rooms beyond them. Several were completely blacked out, with no way in. A gentle sound played from the end of the walkway. A music box let out a sweet lullaby, and next to it, Aria relaxed in her little nook of solitude. Her mother’s things usually calmed her, but now they just made things worse. The ache for her family had never been greater. Sometimes, family was the only thing that could soothe her. Friends were fine. Company was great. But there was a pain there that only one thing could mend, and that one thing was long gone. Either she was going to need to conjure a family from nothing, or continue in her misery. The clinks and dings of the music box were soothing, gently, scratchy... scratchy? They had never sounded that way before. Because they weren't coming from the music box. The sound could be mistaken for a squirrel scratching at the glass, but down the walkway was Fao, scratching at some of the blacked out windows to try and peek in, but only realizing that he wouldn't be able to do anything. The music was going to have to sate his curiosity. When he stepped around, he knew he was intruding on a private moment with herself. But he didn't want to quite leave, either. Aria was never closed off about her emotions, but this was a more subtle kind of sadness. This was the sadness he would see when Scourge would hug him close and clench his teeth as hard as he could, or Fiona would when she was close to passing out on liquor and lounged across the couch, glaring at the skyline blankly. A pain that was nowhere as obvious, and yet many times more horrifying. He only sat at a distance, listening to a light melody and wondering what words were once there. She noticed him, but couldn’t find the energy to scold him. She was very tired. The private moment could be shared, and she motioned for him to come sit.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” she told him, more a statement than a scolding. She closed the delicate music box to stop the music, and beckoned for her nephew to come over and sit. Then when he had settled against her side, she opened the box again and the gentle melody resumed. He was just expecting an adventure, nothing like this. That didn't mean the moment wasn't welcomed, of course. Aria was always nice company, and she needed company herself. He sat quietly, Aria sat  quietly. It was just the delicate strains of the music box looping and chiming for them. The air was chilly, and the moment awkward while they sat near each other. Faolán nipped both problems by standing up, and moving to sit on Aria's lap. This wasn't a normal hug for them, it was more of a comforting huddle than anything lighthearted. Something to cling to while they feared for whatever was going to happen next. The little wolf didn't know exactly what Aria was trying to fight through, or even if she was sad in the first place. Whatever his thoughts were, he certainly didn't realize the familial closeness they seemed to have in those few moments. She did though. Their curled up position reflected a photo taped inside the music box of her and her mother when Aria was just a baby. She let the irony ring out for her ears alone, he was too young to understand anyways. She shifted to wrap a blanket around his shoulders, keeping him warm and snuggling him close.

The box was meant to play a lullaby, so the child might have felt sleepy. Aria was too focused on her grief to feel much of anything else. She wondered if she should explain to him what was happening. She decided against it. That was Fiona’s talk, not hers. Fao didn't want an answer, he didn't want to make her worse, and Aria didn't want to give any answers. It was a good balance. "Mom wants to send me to a boarding school when summer's over," he said quietly. "I think she wants to get me away from dad." Heavy moods got both of them thinking heavy thoughts neither of them really wanted to keep thinking. "Are you hiding too?" “I don’t think she would do that. She would miss you too much… Besides, you’re too young for boarding school.”

She tried to remain calm. Fao was certainly not old enough to be in a place full of strangers! He was still developing his brain! Plus, he didn’t know how to take care of himself yet and Aria had very low faith in any teacher.

She nodded when he asked, curling up closer. “Something like that.” Knowing nothing of Aria's situation, he didn't really KNOW anything he could do. But at least he could try, right? "I know a lot of hiding places!" He said hopefully, still sounding a little mopey. "There are lots of rooms no one goes in anymore, you could always hide there, too." No, that didn't feel right. It didn't seem like she was hiding from people, maybe she was hiding from something more immaterial? That stare was always there when his mother was feeling like a terrible mother, or when his dad was feeling lonely. Whatever if was, he wanted her to be happy again. "Do you miss someone?" “Yes sweetie. I miss a lot of people. But right now, just one in particular.”

She was quite obviously trying not to cry. Her eyes had grown red and shiny, tears just in the corners of her eyes. He breath got shaky, but she held her ground as best he could. He was a child. He didn’t need to see her break down like the blubbering baby she was.

“I’m sorry… It's just very complicated and there’s a lot of drama and bad memories getting stirred up.” She apologized,wiping at her eyes. "It's alright, mom cries too." Maybe not the best words in that moment, but a fine sentiment. Very complicated... that meant there was a lot going on, right? He had seen this crying before, and if Scourge's sadness couldn't fully explain this, what else could? Maybe... his mother did cry, it could be bits of both wirling together. There were many times where he had walked in on his mother sobbing or thinking about horrible things that had happened in the past. Anger at herself for not being able to see what Scourge was going to do to her, anger at herself for not being able to stop harm from happening to her child... At this point, he was almost being crushed in Aria's arms, but she didn't seem to notice, and he didn't mind too much. "Are you mad at yourself?" She relaxed her grip once she noticed how tightly she was clinging to him. She brushed her hair out of her face, and looked at him quite surprised. “Not exactly sweetheart. But its odd that you would ask about that.”

She wouldn’t tell him not to worry, but she also wouldn’t admit to how empty she felt without her family around her. She had many people who cared for her, and a wife who loved her deeply, but nothing could replace her family. And how were you supposed to tell a child that you wished you had died? It was too mature a topic for him. At least for now.

She kissed him gently on the forehead. “It's not something you need to worry about pumpkin.” "But you're my friend!" He almost whined the words out, as nice as he meant them. "I want to make you happy!" How was he supposed to make her happy? He had no clue. Just being a friend, that's all he could try to do. "Don't cry, you're a nice person. You're happy, and you're friendly, and you have good jokes. You're a better mom than my mom is. Don't be sad, I don't want you to be sad." The sad thought he left buried in the mess didn't seem half as harsh to him as it should have. Because it wasn't a sad thought to him, it was a fact in his mind. "Do you wanna play my Batsy Bijou game?" Orange hands rummaged through his pockets until he found his well loved gaming device, offering it over. Once again the words from his gap toothed mouth surprised her, and she gently shifted him on her lap.

“Let’s talk about you for a second. It’ll make me feel better. What do you mean ‘you’re a better mom than my mom’?”

The thought appalled her. She was reaching much too far into Fao's life if she was becoming the preferred maternal figure. However, Fiona needed to step up her game as well. Aria knew if she didn’t give Fao the attention he needed that no one would. But still, the thought of preferring an “aunt” over a mother was, in her mind, concerning. He shrugged in much the same way his father would, but the words didn't come out immediately. Even he didn't quite know what to say. "Mom's not nice a lot," he started. "She's always sad and mad and stuff. She doesn't wanna see me go outside, or have fun, and- and she's always crying or yelling. She's always talkin' about how she doesn't know what to do. I don't think she likes me." These words weren't half as painful for him as they must have been for Aria to hear. "And she's never there, she's always at work." Ears were now drooping against his own head. "I wanna see mom more." Aria pet him gently, snuggling him close for comfort. “Poor pumpkin… I’m sorry that you feel that way… I can try talking to your mom and seeing what I can do. Have you tried telling her that you want to see her more?” She asked, reaching to close and put the music box away. She knew Fiona wasn’t the greatest mother but Fao sounded like he was being neglected.

She made up her mind to question the fox, and as a cold wind blew, she wrapped Faolán's blanket around him.

“Let’s got inside,” she insisted opening a portal and carrying him in. "It's not... something you need to worry about." Word for word, taken straight from Aria's mouth. Was this just something adults did? If he wasn't supposed to care about Aria, then she shouldn't have to care about his problems, right? Not thinking about them felt a lot better anyways. No, it felt worse to say that, and he could just tell Aria wasn't going to take that. "She's not fun anymore." He nuzzled into the blanket Aria was letting him use, accepting the pampering after how sad the conversation had turned. Thankfully the warp brought them straight to his room, and he wasn't going to have to give away his way of escaping. He wanted to offer to sit down and play his games with Aria, but she probably couldn't. Everyone was busy again. She kept snuggling him, knowing how much he loved it. He was probably a little touch starved, as was she most of the time. She pampered him with affection cause it made her feel good.

“Hey pumpkin. Don’t go out on that ledge again without me, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt. You’re very important to me and I want to keep you safe. So, anything new on the bug forum?”

Fiona was missing out on a great kid, if only she took the time to spend with him… Where was she anyways? None of them knew in that moment. And unfortunately, it seemed Fao was happy with things that way. He wanted the reprieve from everyone running around and being busy, no matter how brief it would end up being. It was going to be dashed soon enough, as everyone was getting done finishing preparations for a raid that was hopefully going to finally capture their prey. Maps were laid out, blueprints gathered... "I dunno, Ari should at least know that we're gonna be pulling this now, right?" Manic expressed his concerns out of nowhere as he tapped some drum pattern into the table with his fingers. "I know this is real hard for her, but... It's her battle, right? Shouldn't she know when it's starting?" “Yeah… She should. Castillo can you go get her? She’s probably with Fao.”

The father was sent up while the rest of the group plotted and planned the final details. Damian seemed very worried about something.

“Aria is not to be left alone with this guy. She will challenge him to a fight on our turf with old rules and our family fought to the death." It was a painful thought that lingered, and only got worse the more they thought. "This guy got sneaky, too, he don't fight for honor." Fighting a fair fight wasn't going to end well for Aria, not in the slightest. "We've gotta watch her and make sure she doesn't do anything." In that moment, there was someone watching Aria. Scourge was watching from outside the hall at first, but he could tell that Aria and Fao were both clinging to each other for some form of comfort. 'Fuck, I'm getting soft,' he thought to himself, sitting down in the hall out of eyeshot of the door. Aria had to know, sure. But she didn't have to know right then. And they didn't need to start right then, either. It wasn't too long before Fao yawned a little, his jaw stretching and making a light noise as he fumbled a little in his game. He was comfortable enough that he could fall asleep, which he was very tempted to do. She cooed at him gently, urging the child to save and get some rest. She pulled the music box out again, opening it so the gentle tune floated through the air.

“I’ll have to go back downstairs eventually… But why don’t you sleep for a little while pumpkin?” She insisted, allowing him to snuggle up and pulling the blanket over them. She could hear Castillo outside the door and was a little more affectionate, nuzzling him gently.

“Sweet dreams.” If the rest of their meetings didn't hit Scourge hard, those two words certainly did. Even Aria had more chances to make Fao happy than he did, and she wasn't even his parent! But he was happy and taking his nap, now wasn't the time to say anything and wake him up. When Aria would leave, the bittersweet glop of emotions would be blatant on his face. "Planning some stuff downstairs." The tone and style of his voice were normal, but he was much quieter. "Need you to come down." They would  barely be out the door before the words were out. "Thanks." Not sarcastic, but still rather jealous of her. “Sorry… I’m not trying to elbow in on your parenting but he needed some affection and I needed some company… He’s a lot smarter than we give him credit for… I’ll be down in a second, I want to call Fiona.”

She pulled out her phone and dialed the fox’s number. Trying to keep the blood from boiling under her skin. She had heard the planning the boys had been doing through an open window while she was on the ledge. She figured she should tie up all her loose ends. The phone rang. Three times. Four. Five. "We're sorry, the caller you've requested is not available at this time. Please call again, or leave a message-" Her office number was called. Then her phone. Then her cell again. Every call failed to connect her to Fiona, wherever she was and whatever she was doing. Even from the guest room, Fao could hear her placing several phone calls in the hall, hear her stomping get slightly louder. Another angry adult. They just needed to calm down. He just nuzzled up to his oversized tail and tried to rest. Grown-up stuff was always boring and sad anyways. Finally, Aria walked away from Fao’s door and left a message, tucking herself into a side hallway away from everyone else.

“Fiona, it's Aria. They found the guy and we are going after him… I don’t… I don’t know if I’m going to come back from this. And I just want you to know exactly what you need to do. You need to stop trying to tear Fao from Scourge. He’s half his biology, he’s important to the kid. And don’t send Fao off either, he’s a child. Schools like that are horrible for kids, especially for Fao with his condition. You’re … You’re a really good friend Fiona, and you try really hard to give Fao the world, but all he really wants is to see you… Depending on how today goes, he’s gonna need you a lot more. I’ve got to go. But so help me, if I find you’ve sent him away, or emotionally hurt him any more than you already have, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

She hung up and went to quickly write a note to Terra, spilling her heart out onto the page. Promising the moon and the stars upon her return, or her eternal and undying love if she failed.

By the time she got downstairs, she was battle ready, at least mentally.

“Let’s do this.” Plans were being set into motion finally. He was cornered. At the very least, he was coming out of this in handcuffs, but no one knew what to expect from the fight itself. There was only one person who wasn't privy to the plans in that moment. Fiona was just getting away from some meetings regarding her casino when she finally had time to turn on her phone. Several messages as usual. Several messages from Aria was anything but usual, and she hit play. Not coming back from that? She wasn't saying she was going to die, was she? The longer the message went on, the more she wanted to block out the words Aria was saying, believe that she had been doing the right thing. But the brevity and strength of those few early words was enough to stop her from blocking it out. How had she missed this?! Every instinct told her to scream into the phone, tell Aria not to risk her life like that. And then she checked the time stamp. Three hours before. Whatever was being set in motion was almost certainly out of her control now. Aria was ready to go, looking up at the boys.

“So, how are we getting in? Warp inside or knock on the front door?” She asked them, pretending to joke. But the atmosphere was serious and Aria wasn’t smiling like she normally was when she was joking. She seemed to have made peace with herself, and all that was left was anger.

Her brother looked over, concerned but silent. Castillo and Manic were made to lead the way. The tall apartment building wasn't shabby, but wasn't breathtaking either. Simply a building. If it weren't for the circumstances, it would have felt totally nondescript. "The punk's real dangerous, some of kingy's men are checking it out. Should get a word when they've got him." This wasn't going to be long, the photo gave them a small range of rooms he could be in based on the view. Manic and Damien were staying close to Aria to try and make sure she wasn't  going to be completely torn up. The Scourges, however, were a short distance away, trying to look like they were just talking plans for the raid. "And what if the kid runs, how're we gonna stop it?" Castillo asked, arms crossed. "There any rules to her family battles?" “Apparently. Damian gave me a brief overview. A challenge to a battle cannot be turned down for one. They have to get to their family land, and then he said there’s some ritual shit they gotta do. They seal off their magic and it… It becomes a fight to the death. Apparently there’s also a referee that can stop the fight, which would be Damian, but it only works in cases of cheating and natural disasters… The second she calls for one, we can’t interfere.”

A solider came in. “Sire! They’ve located the balconey! We are ready to go on your order!” "Then you make sure she doesn't say shit." The alternate told the king after the interruption. "She tries to say anything, stop her. Don't care what it takes." The otter seemed too cowardly to actually challenge himself, at least in Castillo's mind. If he was doing all this running, he probably wasn't going to want a fight to the death if he wasn't forced into it. "Yo, Ari!" He yelled, motioning for the hedgehog. "You let us clear it out first, don't know what traps he's got, we'll holler when it's ready." In essence, 'we absolutely are not calling for you.' She bristled with anger. “No. My family, my revenge, my mission. I’m coming in with you, and there’s no way you can stop me”

The king didn’t like it at all, but he knew that upsetting her wouldn’t help. “Easy Aria. He’s just trying to help. No one wants you to get hurt.”

She turned from the group, grabbing a few extra weapons from the table. Several knives and one handgun. Of course, Castillo took advantage of that moment to tug forward and give them a head start. He made a motion for Manic, trying to tell him to keep Aria back. They couldn't let her go through with that. No way. The balcony was zeroed in on, but the door hadn't been knocked. In fact, if someone hadn't seen the many cars parked out of eyeshot of that particular window, no one would even know that anything was happening. If he wasn't alerted, he couldn't be half as prepared to fight back. Slowly, an officer stepped forward to knock. "Duuuude, wait." Manic didn't need to act, stepping in front of her quite alarmed and blatantly stopping her. "Dude, we've gotta wait, we don't know what he's got in there! You don't wanna fall for a trap and lose a fight with someone that's not even there!" Aria followed after them, unamused by Manic trying to step in her way.

“I’m not going in first numbskull, I’m not an idiot. They can clear the place first, but I want my turn with this son of a bitch.”

She shoved past him and joined the boys, waiting patiently as the door was knocked. She was seething anger, and the king sandwiched her between himself and Castillo so they could control her somewhat.

The agent knocking was in plainclothes, trying to make it look like she were some random pedestrian through the peephole. Everyone stood further down the hall to stop them from being visible.

There was no reply. "Hello? Are you home? You left something downstairs."

From behind the door, the cover could be heard slipping off of the peephole. It would be a few more seconds before the sound happened again, and the door barely creaked open. "You can come in," a voice said, ringing through Aria's mind and deep into her memories. The agent swung the door open without giving her a chance to recover.

The explosion was deafening, and there was barely any time to curl and protect themselves from the shrapnel.

In a second, a good chunk of wall that used to be a doorway was now a crumbling hole, the explosion strong enough that holes in the floor and ceiling could show parts of the rooms and halls the floor was sandwiched between. The agent was curled in a ball against the wall, clutching her injuries but breathing and fighting the pain to reach for her gun. Through the hole was his lair - a strangely empty yet organized room with plenty of books on Chaos magic, dissection tools and a makeshift surgery table, charts and photos of bug anatomy. The walls were obsessively and neatly lined with the strange bugs that lived in Aria's forest, looking to have lost some of their luster. The dead bugs they didn't have the time to truly look at were totally luster-free, their magic somehow drained post mortem... or even antimortem. But they couldn't worry about his psychotics in the moment, an agent was down and the suspect was close by.

"Your majesty!" A voice bleated through the king's earpiece. "The suspect's leaped from the window, he's hopping between room balconies!"

“Roger that. I want the building surrounded and the upper floors evacuated!” He ordered everyone. In all the fuss, Aria was left unattended.

That was a mistake

She booked it for the hallway window, climbing out onto the fire escape and jumping to the next balcony. Judging by the weaponry aimed at the other side of the building, he was headed right for her. Perfect.

Damian was the first to notice she was gone, and alerted the trio of green hedgehogs. "Oh hell no...!" Scourge's growl couldn't have come fast enough. Him and Manic were already booking it down the hall, towards the window Aria had evacuated through. Manic was first out the balcony, trying to grab and restrain Aria. "Aria, get outta here, he's got other bombs planted out here!" It was a total lie, but that was what Manic knew best. The otter's running wasn't clumsy or calculated. The golden creature was running like a feral cat might, not landing anywhere but the hand holds to save time as he tried to improvise an escape path. When the flash of gold came into view, that's when they knew they had no choice, and Scourge reached for Aria's face, trying desperately to clamp her mouth shut as the otter searched for another window entrance. She was just barely out of reach, and tackled the otter, sending both tumbling to the ground. Damian forgot to breathe until Aria ripped open a portal and dragged the otter through it before they hit the ground.

They dropped behind the trio of green and her brother, Aria pinning him to the ground by his neck.

“Hello Leo. Its been a very long time and we have so much to catch up on. What do you say we go say hi to everybody? The forest is DYING to have you back,” she hinted, punching him across the face several times, since her weight was pinning him down.

“Get off me you crazy ass bitch!” He called out, only recognize her when she pressed her claws to his throat. He paled significantly, like he was seeing a ghost. In that moment, Damian realized that Aria was playing a game with him like a cat played with their food. Scourge simply wanted to stop her from making the call. Manic, however, was having flashbacks. This was the same cracked glare she'd given when she was being rescued. She was going to lose it, if she hadn't already. It was Manic who lunged forward, holding down the otter to make sure he wouldn't pull anything, but still not able to totally side with Aria. "Ari, zone jail'll give him hella worse punishment than this, that'd be quick and much less painful, you wanna-" "Don't talk like- like psychos, you moldy assflap-!" Was all Leo could say in response, getting a knee to the scalp from Manic himself. "Kingy, get this dude chained up. Now!" Castillo told the king as Manic tried to barter with the hedgehog. “That's not what I want! I want him to suffer! I want him to have every. Thing. He. Cares. About. Taken. Away!”

She pushed Manic back just enough to keep hitting the otter as hard as she physically could across the face. Bloodlust wasn’t a common feeling, but she felt it thrumming in her veins. She wouldn’t be sated until he was dead by her hands, and everyone in the room knew it. No one made any move to stop her.

Leo had other ideas, and once he realized that Aria and Manic combined didn’t weigh a while lot, he extended his claws and channeled his super strength to throw them off of him. “You wanna play like that then kid? Alright. Let’s play! I need to have you dead anyways. USQUE AD OS IN AGRIS!”

“NO!” Damian yelled, but the damage was done and Aria stood up, fire blazing in her eyes.

“As you wish. Those words will be the death of you. Scourge. Warp ring. Now.” She told the king, holding out her hand. Manic and Scourge were faltering. Scourge wasn't dumb to criminal shenanigans, he knew that stepping in could have cost Aria her life, but so could allowing this to happen! Manic knew that he was close enough to probably find something, ANYTHING to take him out with just then, but what would that truly entail in a culture as powerful as Aria's? This gave them just enough time. "Oh, allow me!" His voice, his posture, Leo was certain of everything he was doing. The ring was snatched from the king's belt in a blink of an eye, and judging by how fast his hand pressed the buttons, he knew the warp coordinates for Aria's homeland off the back of his hand. He wasn't just prepared. He was begging for this moment. "What does- what does this mean? What's gonna happen?" Manic poised the obvious question as the gold otter left through his warp. “That remains to be seen.” Was all Aria said, warping herself out as Damian shut the ring. After Aria left, his hands would start to shake, visibly tremor as he realized that if it all went down hill, he would have to bury the last of his family.

The king put a hand on his shoulder, to comfort.

“Through the warp. Now. And someone.. Someone call Terra. She’s.. She’s gonna wanna be here.” He lead Damian through the portal and jumped through himself.

They would end up in a field on her land, everyone knee deep in geraniums and poppies. Aria was trying not to show how upset she was. Damian was just a little confused. He didn’t remember the field.

“I know this isn’t the traditional venture, but an exception can be made.” Leo hummed, and Aria growled as Damian’s claws extended and he started craving circles into the ground around Aria and Leo. Aria explained to the others that since Damian was the only other adult, he was forced to be the referee and to set up the battle ground. "Why's there need to be a battle? Why you need a fucking referee?!" Out of everyone on the scene, Scourge had the least problems with any kind of ceremony. "What, you gonna give this asshole a fair chance? After everything, you wanna give him-?! Fuck him, Aria, just shoot him! I hold him down, you claw his eyes out, what the fuck are you doing?!" He wasn't seeing Aria die, not at all, and with no regard for the forest, the ceremony, anything at all, he rushed past the circles and Damian, heading straight for Leo. However, the completed circle created a forcefield around both of the fighters, and Castillo ran right into it.

“Oh! Castillo! Be careful!” She scolded, pressing on the forcefield from the inside, worried about how fast he had rammed into a solid surface.

“Please. You don’t understand why I have to do this but I do. Its important. Far more important than you realize.” She insisted, removing every gun and knife strapped to her.

“Leo, you remember the rules do you not? Any other weaponry on you is an automatic disqualification and certain death. As much as I would love to see you die, I would much rather do it myself,” she reminded, growling and setting herself in a fighting stance. "Hmph." The small huffing noise Leo made was just as smug and knowing as the rest of his actions. His pockets were empties, but the only things that came out were minor trinkets and mundane items. His wallet, a burner phone, nothing of note. "I don't need any extra help, Aria. I'm a lot more powerful than I used to be." The claws that came out of his paws were nothing like Arias or Damians. Theirs were slender, metallic, elegant. His were thick and blunt, more like daggers than the normal scythe shape. Moreover they didn't appear to be metal, instead a creamy white material that wasn't natural for the species. Almost like he made them for himself, another power just as unnatural as his others. Almost like they were made of... ...bone. Damian and Aria just looked… Confused. Not horrified at the state of his claws, but just curious.

“I thought his claws were gold?” Damian asked, leaning closer to his sister

“I remember them being gold? Fillings maybe?” She responded with a shrug, tossing her weaponry out of the bubble and sliding into a fighting stance. Under her breath, she whispered out a prayer to some unknown god before stepping up to the mark, and waiting for the male to do the same. “Castillo? If I don’t make it out of this, tell Fao and David I’m sorry that I won’t be there to watch them grow up.”

As the otter stepped up to the mark as well, the ground started to shake. Every tree in the forest had uprooted themselves to circle the group, everyone vying for a spot to watch. He wasn't going to be telling those kids anything, Scourge told himself. They didn't need to grow up without her, Fao didn't need to lose someone at such a young age. But from a distance, outside some strange bubble he couldn't enter, there was nothing he could do. Just watch with the rest of the peanut gallery and try not to break down in anger. "You like them?" Leo could see Arias curiosity in his claws, his hand now waving in front of him like he was admiring them as he explained. "I carved them myself... and fused them on. I don't like leaving whole bodies out in the open, so I just left most of them."   The trees rustled, but whoever those bones were once a part of was lost to time. He was in position, his claws were bared, the ceremony was prepared. Most of all, Aria was terrified. "Tell Octavius his body's incredibly strong." A total bluff on his part, but he just needed Aria's face to go the right shade of pale before heading forward. "En garde." “Here’s an idea for you, bastard. TELL HIM YOURSELF!” she screamed, face flush with anger instead of pale with fear.

Aria slammed her foot down in position, and the fight began. Instantly she jumped at him claws out and scratching at his face as hard as she could, keeping a hand protectively over her stomach so he couldn’t get at her major organs. Most of her slashes were aimed at his brow bone and eyes, trying to blind him.

Terra ran in, having been warped in by the king. She almost screamed, but all that came out was a choked sob. The king wrapped an arm around her, to try and support her as they watched Aria fight. Metal clashed and scratched against sturdy marrow, and as strong as Aria's claws were, all she could do was scraped the claws. Leo wasn't concerned about going for a kill immediately, he just needed something, some little leaping point. All Aria had to do was falter for a second, but she was too consumed with rage in that moment to emotionally manipulate. His claws closed as Aria swung at a bad angle, clutching tight and leaving both their hands useless in the moment. Leo's claws couldn't swipe, but their blunt weight and stab damage more than made up. Hands unlatched, and those three claws held together in a bludgeon aimed straight for Aria's scalp. She dodged, his claws catching hair more than scalp. Using her chin to trap his hand, she bit at the arm as hard as possible, blood dripping from her jaws.

He wretched his arm away and Aria spat the blood at him. She tried again to go for the face, almost, but at the last second started aiming for his chest and neck. If she could time a strike just right, she could stab right between his ribs…

Damian was torn looking at the scene. The trees rustled at the sight of blood, and even Aria's mother shook with pride. Or concern. Hard to tell with trees. When clenched, his claws could form a pretty solid shield, and he did his best to back away as the swung at the guard. Oh, she was biting? as much as it hurt, this was only fueling his desire to sink his claws straight into those eye sockets. The blows were consistent, aiming for the same few ribs about, and her swings were alternating. If she didn't realize this, her own swings were creating a pattern, and he threw a plan together as she swung yet again in time. There was a rip. Trees stood still, too still, and everyone watching couldn't move for a split second. The flesh near the base of one of Aria's right claws was sliced straight open, one hand holding her arm and the other tugging and wrenching her thin metal claws between larger, sturdier bone marrow. He wasn't aiming to kill, he was going to tear apart Aria piece by piece, cutting and pressing harder into her flesh until the claw popped out in a bloody snap. The scream she let out could have been enough to deafen. Terra dropped to her knees, unable to handle the volume, or the thought of her mate being hurt. Even Leo winced a bit.

Aria clutched her hand to her side, switching her offensive and defensive positions and now leading with her left. Her claw hit the ground and on instinct she picked it up to prevent him from using it. Technically not a weapon. There was no contesting that.

She jumped at him again and managed to topple him, throwing punches as hard as she could, claws back in. She was beating his face as her heels dug into his biceps. Blood was everywhere. Leo's chuckling was only going to feed her bloodlust. "You stupid bitch," he grunted between slams to his face, finally grabbing her hand as it swung and simply holding it, looking at the unharmed hand. "You could've let those damn claws out right now and won." The tumble of the two struggling to try and pin down the other may have seemed desperate on both their parts, but every move of his was carefully planned to draw this fight out, just stop Aria from attacking for long enough to watch her go pale from bloodloss. At this point, Manic and Terra were clawing at the barrier, unable to breakthrough but desperate to find some way to help. Aria's size was both a help and a hindrance. She wasn’t able to pin him down for very long, but he was unable to pin her down because she kept slipping away. Playing dirty, she delivered a swift kick to his crotch, shin bone colliding with parts unmentionable. While he was distracted by the sudden pain, she flipped him off of her and retreated a bit to catch her breath. The blood loss was making her vision blurry.

The king looked over at Damian. “Can’t you intervene?!”

The doctor shook his head no. “Stopping the fight for no reason would kill whoever is ‘losing’ per say.”

And Aria was very much losing. Leo knew this, and brandished his claws, growling. “That’s enough playtime child.” The years he had spend building his powers off of these sacrifices, everything from the original people to the wildlife that thrived off of the power that ebbed through the homeland, this was all about to come to a conclusion. But what was perfect for this situation? He wanted Aria to suffer, a chance to... No... no, offing her with fire or strength would be too easy. Aria was scarcely breathing, he wanted to savor her consciousness, torture her for himself, and what was a better way to torture her than keep her from moving? Magic restraint was the way to go. It wasn't even a totally strong shove, but blood loss was leaving her weary. One hand rose, beginning to glow with an ethereal power.. Her limbs went stiff, body still, perfect for his gory plans. For just a moment. He drew closer as the king screamed for Damian to intervene. Damian responded by reminding him that his sister was losing, and that pausing the fight might kill her. Aria's breath was coming slower as invisible bonds constricted around her, gulping down air in deeper and deeper gasps as Leo came right up to her, planning to spend a few seconds savoring the look of fear in her eyes. But the look he craved wasn’t there. Instead, she gave a breathless laugh.

“You’re… An idiot… Forgot the biggest battle rule…” She mumbled, subtly sliding the broken off claw out of her pocket.

“Oh, and what was that?” The otter asked, barely an inch from her face.

In one swift motion Aria dropped her act, stabbing upward through his diaphragm with her solo claw, and then extending the other two. Blood gushed from the wound.

“No. Powers. Allowed!” Aria said in a taunting voice, pulling her claws out and stabbing him right through the heart. The gap created between her claws by removing one blade made it easy to slip through his ribs and cut the life sustaining organ. She braced her foot on his chest and kicked him off her claws, then knelt on his chest again and started punching and stabbing him.

“This is for my PEOPLE!” She screamed, beating him several times

“This is for my FAMILY,” this time she only threw eight punches , calling out her siblings and parents names

“And this? This is for me! VALE, ET FRAGMEN STERCORE!!

With no hesitation, she slit his throat and arterial spray coated the ‘walls’ of their shield. The circles and their shields disappeared. Aria was left kneeling over a corpse.

It was over

They won. This didn't stop the terror Manic or Terra were struggling with. The wall was the only thing stopping them, and the moment it was gone, the two rushed up to Aria, Terra to cling to her and just kno she was still there and Manic wanting to get her the hell out of there. Blood was everywhere, but they didn't care, sitting down and clutching to Aria just to know this was real, this was over. Manic's husband had dealt with plenty of blood on his part, and stepped forwards to start yelling commands. "Dami!" was all he yelled to get her brother's attention. "Just stop the blood. Kingy, get some OTHER doctors in here!" He couldn't be expected to do surgery on his own sister, after all. All that was left to deal with was the corpse. What was there...?  They couldn't leave a corpse sitting in the middle of nowhere, so as the three sat and recovered, he hoised Leo's body over his shoulder and started the walk, aiming for deep within where those beetles could be found. “Castillo, wait. I’m not done.” Aria mentioned, getting out of the death grip her mate and friend had given her. The body was pulled off Castillo’s shoulders and Aria grimaced as she had to pull her snapped off claw out of the gaping hole in his rib cage. She handed it off to her brother, who also seemed disgusted.

“Don’t worry about the surgeons. I can fix her with magic.” Damian insisted, working on his sisters hand while she looked down at the body.

“I’m sorry about this you guys, I wasn’t up front about anything. I promise, I’ll try to be better about telling you how and why I’m doing things but.. It had to be done. Can someone warp back to the room and try to salvage some beetles? Maybe we can restore the population.” She asked, squeezing Terra’s hand with her other one, in a lot of pain as metal and flesh reformed.

The trees rumbled, moving back to their regular spots and leaving the land seemingly untouched. Aria slumped on her mates shoulder and the bat caught her, concerned. "Don't ever- It's over, right? There's no one else you wanna have a death battle with, right?" Manic was still trembling, voice sturdy but his body weak. Watching what was essentially a surgery wasn't helping his nerves. “It's over. We need at least three members of our people. Derek won’t be old enough for a long time and I won’t be fighting my brother. It's over. It's all over.” She insisted, patting the green hedgehogs cheek. She was physically exhausted, and some cuts still bled. She looked like crap but she was smiling through the tears threatening to fall. Enthusiastic. Overjoyed. "Kingy, c'mere." Castillo hoisted the corpse over his shoulders as he restarted his walk. Even at a glance, he wasn't totally normal. His fur was metallic - TOO metallic, just like those strange bugs his body was about to be fed to. He had spent years terrorizing Aria, killed countless people, and now he was just a thing dripping blood onto Scourge's jacket. Not an undeserved fate. "Aria's NEVER having a fight like that again without us kicking ass with her. I don' care if it's tradition or what, she looks like she's snapping. Feel like she's gonna go insane if we don't stop this crap from happening." They were commanded, not requested. Rattled off almost like a list. "What are we telling Fao? Let's get our lies straight." “It's over.” The king reminded. Looking back at his friend as Aria's sobs heaved, and she burst into tears. “Tell Fao that she got attacked? I certainly don’t know what to tell him. Ask Fiona what she thinks.” "Aria got attacked," Scourge said almost emotionless in tone. "The guy's in jail now. That's all he's hearing." The paths in the forest grew more and more laden with the insects, starting to pelt Scourge more the deeper he went into the trees and landing on the body. The trees almost seemed to encourage him, shifting slightly to make his path deeper into the woods easier to traverse, until he reached a small circle so shrouded in shadows and heavy foliage it would never see sunlight on any other day. And deep within the homelands he had destroyed, Leo's body was abandoned to be devoured by the creatures that he sought to kill, and now tightly encircled by trees making sure evidence of Aria's crime would never reach the light of day. "Come on- come on, we're getting you out of here." It was almost told to Aria like it wasn't an option. "Y'all, we're gonna get you- A huge dinner or like, a spa trip? A-a lot of therapy?" The last line was barely a joke at this point, what was he supposed to do for her? “I… I think I wanna go home… Get some sleep. I'm tired.” She whined, playfully almost. Even as the tears rolled down her cheeks, she still smiled, kissing Terra’s cheek. Her wife was cuddling her close, almost possessive. Terrified of someone trying to take her away.

The return to the castle was quiet. Fao was already tucked in for the night, and soon after Aria was sitting on the bar, while Damian and Terra patched her up and she poured everyone a strong glass of alcohol. Wondering where Fiona was, but assuming she was with Fao. It felt as though they had come back from a battle to the death, that was for sure. Aria might have been happy, but she had nearly died, that was impossible to avoid. Manic was laughing, trying to smile through it, but his fear was still hard to ignore. His husband simply said nothing and acted like he wasn't invested. Bored, even. As the sun just began it's descent past the horizon, they could hear the door open again, and everyone's breath was held in horror until those tiny, energized footsteps were heard checking room to room until he was at the door to the sitting room. The room felt brightened by his presence, and he couldn't quite tell yet how serious everyone was feeling. While he did sit happily next to his father, his concern seemed to be Aria's injuries. He just stared, eating some ice cream but not wanting to ask the question. The good news was, the remnants of some wiped-off face paint on him indicated a fun day out. The bad news was, he looked fitted for a little vest with a school emblem on it that he was now staining with his treat. "Is she- is she hurt?" He tried to be quiet and onyl ask his father, but the question was loud and clear in the quiet room. Aria caught sight of the uniform and her heart sank. Her own death was fine, she hadn’t expected to live through the fight. She had hoped that would convince Fiona to leave her son close to his father. She dry-heaved suddenly, covering her mouth more out of surprised than nausea. Damian and Terra didn’t seem too surprised and the bat helped her to the bathroom. The doctor put a hand on Manic's shoulder to calm him

“Its the stress. With magic healing, nausea is normal. Especially with the level I had to do. She’s okay,” he insisted, but could hear his sister’s curses in their native language between fits of vomiting. Both he and the king noticed the sweater, and only Scourge said something.

“Hey buddy, where’d the vest come from? A little to fancy for just a day out, isn’t it?” The king asked, moving closer to Castillo in order to check his alternates rage. He recognized the crest on the sweater. Fiona walked in with a shopping bag in hand, looking terrified at the sight. Or was she terrified that they saw Fao wearing his boarding school vest? Boarding school... Actually, the crest looked a tiny bit different. Wasn't that supposed to be a lantern, not a candle? And- Actually, none of it looked the same! As Fao happily ranted on about the day's events, a little introduction fair day for the new students, Fiona sat with Aria and showed her a brochure. "Green Ivy Academy. It's a private elementary school twenty minutes away." Her voice was quiet, pose suggesting silent fear of whatever she was going to say. "It's not a sleep away school, and it's in a very secure neighborhood, I didn't mean to startle-" Aria was forced to lay back on the couch as her brother checked her over, scolding his sister under his breath. Also cussing Fiona out for being dramatic. But she didn’t need to know there was any hidden meaning hidden in his tone. The hedgehog let him finish before answering Fiona.

“Good. Glad to know it took me almost dying to get you to listen.” She was slightly bitter, but clearly not mad. Arias silent and unchecked rage had been pulled out of her from her fight with Leo. For now, all the fox got was a hint of disappointment.

But when Aria looked up when Fao started talking, Castillo and Manic would catch the look of utter relief. Joy almost. With everything that was going on, she was glad her nephew of sorts was going to stay close to home. She looked back to his mother, hiding her utter glee. “What are we going to tell him about what happened today?” "You were attacked, but you will be fine. He doesn't need to know any more than that." Her idea may have gone the same direction as Scourge's thoughts, but the question wasn't even brought up by the child. Even when he was sitting down next to Aria, he seemed polite enough not to say a word directly to her. "And the yard there is really big!" He kept bringing up small details of what must have been an incredibly expensive school to attend. "There's this big fountain with fish in it! And there's a big field... ...!" Manic leaned close to speak quietly to Aria. "You sure you should drink that much? You lost a ton of blood, man." She looked at the clear liquid, then back at Manic, holding it up. “It’s Gatorade.”

She returned returned to listening to her nephew speak, asking him questions about the people and the campus. She loved his blatant excitement over everything. Everyone would agree that his cheerful personality and his ability to make Aria laugh lightened the mood.

The room settled slowly, couples drifting together to try and relax each other. Manic and Castillo were already sitting on a loveseat together. Aria and Terra had Fao squished between them, the little boy still raving about the school. Fiona had settled in a plush recliner, and subconsciously the king found himself moving to sit on the arm of the chair. Damian had bid his sibling adieu and left to go see his own family. All was peaceful. School would only start for the child in a few month as the summer reached its end, but for now, they didn't worry. Aria would have to find a lot of emotional support in the next few days even, and the healing wouldn't be completed for a long time. But at least for that one night, she had space to laugh, space to think. Space to recover. People would weave their ways out of the room at the time passed. Manic, Damian, Castillo, Scourge, Fiona and even Fao left, until it was only Aria and Terra alone in the room, nuzzling on the couch and enjoying the comfort of the moment. For a short while, the hedgehog would find a kind of peace she had scarcely felt before.

Terra leaned over to pull Arias music box out of her bag, opening it so they had some soothing sounds.

The night was quiet as all the castle lights got turned off one by one. First, the young child was tucked in by his fathers and mother, wished goodnight by all. The green couple left to spend their night in the van, as they usually did. They would sleep curled tightly together, dealing with their own stresses from the day.

The king and the mother were left, and in his private study they enjoyed a quiet nightcap of her favorite drink before turning their separate ways.

Even the lights in the main room would be turned off by a ghostly hand when the women fell asleep. All was dark. All was safe. All was perfect.

[rose-fury]

came across this list and thought it would be interesting to do for my ocs starting with Cel since I consider him my main whatever its called on here

A. Psychology

What of the Meyers-Briggs personality types they most fit into? INFP, ENFT, et cetera… ○ ISFJ-T

What alignment are they? Chaotic neutral, lawful evil, et cetera… ○ Lawful Good

Do they have any emotional or psychological conditions? Are they aware of it? Do they try to treat it? ○ The biggest one for Cel is PTSD, I think. I don’t think he’s really pieced together it’s PTSD yet so, as for treating it, no.

Are they a pessimist or an optimist? ○ He’s somewhere in between

Are they good at handling change in their life? ○ Yes and no. It really depends on what the ‘change’ is. But, usually, yes.

Does your OC tend to assume their interpretation of events and reality is correct, or do they question it? I.e., “I’m sure that’s what you said” versus “It’s possible I misheard you.” ○ Unless he knows it for a fact, he’ll question it.

Is your OC confident in their reactions to life in general, or do they get embarrassed or easily shamed for it? I.e., if something startles them, do they insist it WAS scary? When they cry, do they feel like they overreacted? ○ Cel is an overly emotional bundle of feelings and he’s aware of this. So he does get embarrassed whenever he gets scared/cries/etc.

Is your OC a martyr? ○ I don’t think so, no.

Does your OC make a lot of excuses? For themselves? Others? ○ Depends on the situation. Relating to the whole “being emotional” question above, he would make excuses if someone were to catch him. But otherwise, he’s pretty straight forward.

Does your OC compromise easily? Too easily? ○ To an extent, yes, though not necessarily “too easily”. He wants everyone to be happy but understands that won’t always be the case.

Does your OC put others’ needs before their own? ○ Without a doubt, yes.

Does your OC have any addictions? If so and problematic, have they admitted it to themselves? ○ Being a blood elf, I feel like this could be pointing to the whole magical addiction thing. I wouldn’t say Cel has been addicted to it but not necessarily avoiding it since I feel like outright avoiding it is impossible for belfs ? idk I have a hc where, since his powers all deal with the Light/Darkness part of lore, there was almost no reason to go down the path of arcane addiction like so many others had, save for recreational reasons. Hopefully that made sense lmao

Does your OC have any phobias? If so, where did they come from? ○ Scourge. Both because of the history scourge and blood elves have and especially death knights terrify him, save for the exception of Yasil.

Is your character empathetic? ○ Yes

Is your character observant? ○ Mostly, yes.

Does your OC have to go through their own trials to learn a lesson, or do they listen and learn from observation and lecture? I.e., does your OC listen when someone tries to tell them the importance of budgeting, or do they have to go experience what happens if you don’t budget first? ○ Yes but I feel like that goes with everyone, though.

What’s one of your OC’s proudest moments of themselves? ○ finally finishing his priestly studies was pretty nice. and being recognized as a fully fledged priest, essentially.

Do they get jealous easily? Do they feel bad if they do? ○ Not necessarily, no.

What instantly irritates them or puts them in a bad mood? ○ That’s actually really tough to do. Liars tend to set him off, though. Especially obvious liars.

Are they harsh on themselves? ○ Depending on the situation, yes.

Do they make excuses often? ○ see question 9

Is your OC intended to be found generally attractive? Unattractive? Average? Is there a reason why? ○ I didn’t really intend for him to be overly attractive or not when i first made him. However, I do see him falling more under the average spectrum.

Does your OC place much importance on their appearance? Do they feel confident in it? ○ Sort of. He does make an effort to properly take care of himself and while he mostly is confident in his appearance, there’s still moments where he can be a bit self conscious.

What are some of your OC’s biggest personal obstacles? This could be emotional, physical, social… Are they aware of it? Are they trying to overcome it? ○ other than the previously mentioned PTSD, his social anxiety plays a big role sometimes. He’s trying to get that under control but so far, there’s not much progress on that front.

B. Social

Do they believe you have to give respect to get it, or get respect to give it? ○ He treats everyone with respect at first. Its just up to their actions whether it stays or not.

Do they get frustrated when lines at places like pharmacies, check-outs, delis, banks, et cetera, are moving slowly? ○ I can’t think of a scenario in Warcraft where there would be a line lmao but, metaphorically, I think he’d just suck it up and deal with it.

Under what situations would they get angry at servers, staff, customer service, et cetera? ○ The only situation he’d get shitty like that is if they were rude.

Do they tip well? How easily can they be moved to not leave a tip? ○ He would leave what he could, yes. As for not leaving a tip, it’d be the same reason above.

Do they hold doors open for people? ○ Yes

Would your OC let someone ahead of them in line if your OC had a big cart and the person behind them had very few items? ○ Yes

How do they respond to babies crying in public? ○ They don’t really bug him, much.

Is your OC considered funny? Do they believe they’re funny? ○ He makes jokes rarely but when he does they’re usually clever puns that you gotta think about for a minute to appreciate them.

What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM… ○ other than being the occasional punny type, his humor is pretty basic

Does your OC find any “bad” or “mean” humor funny? Do they wish they didn’t? ○ No, he doesn’t see any kind of humor in that kind.

Your OC is running late to meeting someone: Do they let the other person know? Do they lie about why they’re late? ○ He would be honest with them.

Your OC orders something to eat and gets their order done in a pretty wrong way, something they can’t just pick off or whatnot to correct, or something major is missing. What do they do? ○ He would politely ask them to fix it and if it happens a second time, he just deals with it quietly to himself.

Do they have a large or small group of friends? ○ It’s a rather small group, mostly consisting of Yasil, Nezza, and Mo’hir as his closest friends. He gets along with a lot of people but doesn’t necessarily consider someone a “friend” easily.

Do they have people they are genuinely honest with about themselves? ○ Nezza.

Does your OC enjoy social events, such as parties, clubs, et cetera..? ○ Absolutely not. Sometimes Nezza drags him to some social event but otherwise he’d rather stay home or do literally anything else.

Does your OC like to be the center of attention or more in the mix? ○ He likes to be in the back, away from the center of attention.

C. Morality

Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it? ○ ah this is actually a bit of a tough one. Cel, being the overly good protagonist type, sees things with rationality and what makes the most sense based on who or what the situation is.

Would your OC feel bad if they acted against their morals? If not, would they find a way to excuse themselves for it? ○ Yes. Cel would feel guilty or like he’s lying to himself if he were to go against his morals.

Is it important for them to be with people (socially, intimately, whatever) whose major ideological tenets align with their own? ○ I don’t think it matters much to Cel so long as they’re not warmongering assholes.

Do they consider themselves superior or more important than anyone else? Lesser? ○ As ironic as it could be with the whole hierarchy that consists in Warcraft, he seems himself as equal to anybody else. He recognizes rankings play a huge role in beliefs all across azeroth and whos “lesser” or “greater” in that sense and frankly doesn’t much care for it.

Do your OC’s morals and rules of common decency go out the window when it comes to those they don’t like, or when it’s inconvenient? Aka, are their morals situational? ○ No. He takes his morals very seriously regardless of the situation.

What do they do when they see someone asking for money or food? If they ignore them, why? If they help, how so? ○ Cel would help in any way he could, either by giving them enough gold to buy a meal or giving them food directly.

Do they believe people change over time? If so, is it a natural process or does it take effort? ○ To an extent, yes. So long as there’s an obvious effort of wanting to change. Though whether thats for the best or not depends on the person themself.

Is your OC more practical or ideal morally? I.e., do they hold people to high expectations of behavior even if it’s not realistic for the situation, or do they have a more realistic approach and adapt their morality to be more practical? ○ He leans towards being more realistic and practical.

D. Religion and Life and Death

How religious is your OC? What do they practice, if anything? If they don’t associate with any religion, what do they think of religion in general? ○ He takes his devotion to the Light very seriously, despite everything that’s happened.

Do they believe in an afterlife? ○ Yes.

How comfortable are they with the idea of death? ○ It makes him very uncomfortable.

Would they like to be immortal? Why, why not? If they are immortal, would they rather not be? ○ No. He wouldn’t be able to deal with seeing everyone (and, by extent, everything) he’s ever loved age and die without him.

Do they believe in ghosts? If not, why? If so, do they think they’re magical/tie into their religion, or are they scientifically plausible? ○ Ghosts essentially exist in the Warcraft universe so it’d be pretty odd for him to not believe in them, I think.

E. Education and Intelligence

Would you say that your OC is intelligent? In what ways? Would your OC agree? ○ He is, yes, because of his critical and quick thinking abilities. And he’s full of useless knowledge so that’s pretty cool too. Personally, Cel sees himself as average.

Which of the nine types of intelligence is your OC strongest in? Weakest? (Linguistic, existential, naturalist, et cetera) ○ Strongest in linguistic, weakest in Interpersonal

How many languages do they speak? ○ Not counting Thalassian, he’s fluent in both Orcish and common and is currently learning Zandali.

Did they enjoy school if they went to it? ○ Yes

What’s their highest education level? Do they want to continue their education? ○ Seeing as how he did, eventually, become a fully fledged priest, he has completed his studies leading up to it. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn.

Do they enjoy learning? Do they actively seek out sources of self-education? ○ Yes and yes.

Are they a good note-taker? Are they a good test-taker? Do exams make them nervous? ○ Yes to all of those as well.

F. Domestic Habits, Work, and Hobbies

What sort of home do they live in now, if at all? How did they end up there? ○ He currently lives with Nezza in a little corner of Orgrimmar, as its where Nezza was born and raised and is most comfortable. They actually haven’t been living together for long but so far they’ve loved every minute of it.

What’s their ideal home look like? Where is it? ○ His ideal home is anywhere where Nezza is. So, continuing the previous answer, he’s achieved his dream home.

Could they ever live in a “tiny home”? ○ I wouldn’t say their current home is particularly huge or small, just enough for a 5′5″ blood elf and an 8ft troll to live comfortably. That being said, I don’t think they could do a tiny house, no.

How clean are they overall with home upkeep? ○ Cel is a clean freak so everything has to be spotless. Well, as spotless as one could get their home with an easily excitable druid under the roof.

How handy are they? Can they fix appliances, cars, cabinets, et cetera? ○ he could do basic repairs if needed but anything else is left to Nezza.

How much do they work? What do they do? Do they enjoy it? ○ despite living in orgrimmar, his ‘job’ is with the Netherlight Temple, assisting with operations dealing with the Legion as best he can.

What’s their “dream career” or job situation? ○ His dream, ever since he was little, was to be some great healer. Being forced to be a shadow priest kind of put a damper on that, though.

How often are they home? ○ He usually returns from the temple in the mid afternoon and occasionally, on the rare chance the tempe doesnt need help, he’ll take a day off.

Are they homebodies and enjoy being home? ○Yes

Do they engage in any of the arts? How good do you intend them to be? Would they agree they are? ○ Not really, no. He does admire those who are, though.

What are some of their favorite things to do for recreation? How did they get into it? What part of it do they like the most? ○ His recreational activities are pretty basic. He tries to spend as much time as he can with Nezza and that usually consists of a really cheesy date somewhere.

Would they enjoy a theme park? ○ The Darkmoon faire is essentially a theme park, right? He enjoys that, yes.

G. Family and Growing Up

Is your OC close to their family? ○ To some members, yes. Mostly to his brother and mother.

Who makes up your OC’s family, at least the more important members to them? ○ His mother and brother are the ones that have had the most impact in his lives. His mothers name is Galidia and his brothers name is Thalaron. His father wasn’t really in the picture much growing up before he died, grandparents long since dead, and he never met cousins/etc.

Does your OC find their family supportive? If not, what would be an example why not? ○ Yes and no, sort of. His family affiliates heavily with the Blood Knights so everyone, including his parents, expected him to become a paladin and follow this seemingly family tradition. When he first announced he wanted to be a priest, his family was disapproving at first. However, once they realized there was no changing Cel’s mind they kind of gave up and let him do as he wanted. Galidia still wishes her son would change his mind and become a Blood Knight but Thalaron seems to be the most understanding and supportive in his brothers choices.

What kind of childhood did your OC have? ○ He had a very strict and very controlling childhood. Galidia sheltered her sons more than whats healthy, which could tie into Cel’s lacking of social skills.

Did they go through any typical phases growing up? ○ Not really, no. Thalaron went though that rebellious phase and tried to drag Cel into it to but he couldn’t bring himself to rebel against his mother, not until he wanted to be a priest anyways.

Do they have any favorite childhood memories? ○ There was once where Thalaron and Celendis snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to meet some childhood friends. They ended up getting lost in the woods and didn’t manage to find their ways back home until the next afternoon. To say all the parents’ involved were worried is an understatement. Galidia was furious but it was still a lot of fun to them.

Do they have any childhood memories they’d rather forget or be less affected by? ○ On more than one occassion, Galidia was known to get physically abusive with her kids. I think both Cel and Thalaron could forget those days.

H. Romance and Intimacy

What is your OC’s orientation, romantic and/or sexual? Has it ever been a source of stress for them? Have they always been pretty sure of their orientation? ○ Cel has known his sexuality ever since he first learned what sexual attraction was. He’s never been attracted to women and, initially, didn’t know how to react about discovering he was gay. He’s pretty reluctant to tell others his sexuality, especially given the stigma with gay people in his culture, because of it as well. 

Is your OC a thoughtful partner, in whatever aspect of that you want to cover? ○ He is, yes. He’s always taking into account Nezza’s actions and thoughts and does whatever he can to make his boyfriend happy.

Does your OC believe there’s only one ideal partner (or multiple ideal if not monogamous) for everyone, or that there are many people who could be right? ○ He’s never really thought about it like that much. Other peoples relationships are their own business, so long as they’re happy.

Does your OC believe in love in first sight? ○ Not really no. He’d rather get to know someone first.

Does your OC believe in marriage (or their culture’s equivalent)? ○ Yes.

Has your OC ever cheated on anyone or been cheated on? ○ He’s never cheated, no. And, yes, he has been cheated on. Not by Nezza but by his first boyfriend.

What do they look for in partners? (Emotionally, mentally, physically..) ○ Someone that loves him unconditionally, basically. Who loves him despite his flaws and learns and grows with him.

What’s your OC’s idea of a perfect date? ○ As far as dates go, he’s not really picky. His previous relationships were pretty lackluster as far as dates go so he doesn’t really have many expectations with them. That being said, Nezza always going all out with every date they go on always means its gonna be amazing and special in some way, shape, or form.

What are some things that your OC finds to be an instant turn-off in potential partners? ○ Brutishness, usually. He loves a partner with a soft side.

I. Food

What are their favorite kinds of flavors– Sweet, salty, sour, spicy, creamy, et cetera? ○ Surprisingly, maybe, he loves spicy foods. He also has a lowkey sweet tooth.

Do they have any eating requirements or preferences? Allergies, vegetarian, organic-only, religious restrictions… ○ Not really, no.

Are they vegan/vegetarian (if their overall culture/species generally aren’t)? If so, why? Do they think animal products are wrong in all circumstances? ○ No. Nezza is actually a vegetarian so he finds himself eating veggies more than anything. But otherwise, he’s not.

How often do they cook? Do they order out a lot? ○ He always makes a home cooked meal every night. He prefers it over anything. Though, occasionally, they will go out somewhere to eat.

Are they a good cook? ○ Yes, Galidia taught both of her sons how to cook extremely well so they wouldn’t have to rely on other people.

Could they eat the same thing they enjoy over and over and not get bored of it quickly? ○ Yes, absolutely. He could live on Firecracker Salmon if he were able to.

J. Politics, Current Events, Environmental Aspects

Where does your OC stand most politically? What would they align with most? ○ While he thinks the constant battling between alliance and horde is pointless and they should try to find some semblance of peace, he will always proudly stand behind the Horde.

How politically aware are they? ○ Cel tries to keep as up to date with recent happenings as much as possible.

How politically active are they? ○ Not much, only when it’s needed.

Is your OC the sort to fall for fake news? If not, do they ignore it or make a point to clarify that it’s wrong? ○ He’s always critical of new news until more facts are presented to back it up.

Are they or would they protest for a cause they’re passionate about? ○ Yes, if needed.

How do they react to people whose political viewpoints are very opposite of theirs? ○ Doesn’t bug him much.

K. For the Writer/Owner

How have your characters changed since you created them? ○ Cel’s only existed for I believe about a month since posting this? So he hasn’t changed much since then so far.

What do you consider the biggest themes in your character, if any? soft crybaby, is that a theme? it is now

Did you create the character to be like yourself, did they end up being like yourself, or are they very different from you? ○ I didn’t intend for him to be but it seems we’re both giant emotional balls of feelings. That’s purely coincidental, I swear.

Would you hang out with your OC if you could? ○ Absolutely, yes.

Which OC do you think is the most decent morally or behaviorally?  AKA, which is supposed to a “good guy”? ○ Cel is, out of all the ones on this blog right now.

Which OC do you think is the worst morally or behaviorally? AKA, which is supposed to be a “bad guy”? ○ It’s hard to say, really, since they’re all meant to be protagonists in their own ways. But, moral wise, I’d probably say Yasil would be the ‘bad guy’

Which OC do you think is the most attractive? ○ they all are in their own ways donT MAKE ME CHOOSE ONE

What’s the longest you’ve had an OC for? ○ Taking into account *all* of my ocs, probably 7 years if not longer.

How did you come up with your OC? ○ Making a belf priest ingame then got attached to him pretty much.

[burndownthehousetonight]

((What’s that? ANOTHER @last-of-my-bloodline RP that ends on a cliffhanger? I don’t know what you’re talking about I never do that (^: ))

Scourge might have been taking his time learning everything that had happened. The tentails, Finitevus, and the arrival of Fiona were of special concern to him. With time, he was just beginning to get used to these ideas, even if he wasn't comfortable with them.

But clearly, he was loving living out of the castle.

"Ain't what I thought a castle'd be like," Scourge said aloud. Himself, Manic, and Light were all walking through the portrait gallery of past monarchs. Manic was very careful with how he walked alongside Light, giving him as much support as he needed. "Thanks for lettin' me crash."

"And thanks for helping Light walk around." Manic said with an exaggerated pout. Scourge rolled his eyes and grinned, walked up to the king and helping him walk through the hall.

Light himself chuckled lightly as he looked to Scourge. “It is no problem, really, it wouldn’t have been right to have you living elsewhere,” he replied, though he did get a scolding from one of his least favored advisor, a wolf. The one thing he was glad about was the castle 'n the nearby towns were far more active now that repairs were pretty much complete. “The place has been very lively since the village learned of the soon to be newborn. It’s been interesting around here.”

"Yeah, honestly, just 'cause this ain't a city doesn't mean it's not exciting here," Manic said. "We've gotta take you to that huge street bazaar... I mean, when Shadow gets back with the baby stuff."

Scourge would occasionally steal looks at the baby bump, but wouldn't admit it. "Your wolf friend doesn't want me here," He admitted with a smile. "Don't think Shadow likes me, neither."

"Eh, he doesn't like anything. The dude doesn't even wanna see me going through the wrecked wing of the castle. The dude doesn't like my clothes!" Manic slowed down while they reached the end of the portrait gallery, near some blush benches. "Uh, you need to sit down, babe?"

With a soft nod, Light sat down. “My brother is just concerned that I may be lax on whether my puppy will learn…but I keep telling him being free to play n have fun is also important as well,” he said calmly. “But Fawlist is just a pain if you ask me, he’s always looking for an excuse to get mad n hate someone or something.”

Shadow didn’t take long to return with some stuff for the room. “How are things here?” He had asked the three. "T'sall good over here," Manic said, getting up to meet Shadow and check the bag. "Alright... Yeah, this should be everything we need for babyproofing and stuff, sweet!" Babyproofing. Manic may have been stressed, but Scourge was even moreso. Manic was actually having a child, and Shadow seemed to have plenty of disdain for him. Scourge silently watched from a distance as the two searched through the bag and made sure they had everything. It would only be a matter of weeks before the baby was born, and Scourge had no idea what was going to happen then. Light had easily known how Scourge worried about things recently, but hadn’t had the time to speak with him. “Think you guys are able to handle things?” He had asked them knowing how the two were with safety for the pup. "Yeah, we'll be good," Manic said. "This is all pretty simple stuff, we can handle this." Manic could tell Scourge was nervous, but he had too much bride to say anything about it. "Let's go get this stuff in. Scourge, can you look after Light for a while?" "Got it," Scourge said, letting the two walk out of the hall and towards the upstairs nursery. Scourge looked around at the paintings hanging. He didn't know much about art, that was more Manic's specialty, but he knew this was some gorgeous brushwork. "Nice paintings," he complimented. "These all your family?" Looking to him, he sighed slightly. “I’m sure some of them could be… I’ve been trying to make up on lost history due to the war that started when I was a baby. I know the two over there were my mother n her husband,” he replied. “My father lives in the regal woods with his pack.”

He then spoke up on the detail he was curious about. “You seem nervous… is it because of the pup?” He asked Scourge. Scourge wasn't surprised he'd seen through his act. "Yeah," he said simply. "Manic 'n me always joked about havin' a kid, but actually knowing he's gonna have one's weird." He leaned his back against the wall casually. "Ain't my first kid, but... it's my boyfriend, and it ain't my kid." He looked over to the two portraits Light had directed him to. "Though I guess that's the situation you came from." “Yeah. My brother n’ sister were related to the king, but my bloodline resides with the Alpha Lovos in the woods I am not sure how my mother's king reacted to my birth. I wasn’t old enough to know either of them since they died when I was a pup along with my siblings. My brother Shadow is from my adopted family in Darkring territory.” He then placed a paw on his stomach. “I know it must be strange, but blood relations or not I do love the idea of my children having extended family. Makes an interesting adventure in itself trying to manage an unusual lifestyle.” Light smiled lightly to Scourge. “I’m sure they’d like an uncle whom isn’t a strict way of living,” he chuckled softly. "Sure they would," Scourge said, sitting down near Light and smiling. "If they got raised by Shadow, he'd be one hell of a bored, boring kid." He was staring at the ceiling. There was a simple, elegant pattern carved into it, nothing that would have taken too long and distracted from reconstruction. "Manic said you were thinking Cassio as a name? "Serenade Cassio," just what I'd expect outta Manic..." He grinned and smiled. But the stare grew more somber the more he thought. "He said it was based on my name. Castillo." His glare was looking past the ceiling now. "Thought I would've broken his heart so bad, he'd want to kill me or somethin'." “He seemed more worried on where you had gone, since I met him,” Light said looking a little concerned. “He got excited the closer we got to finding you.” He wasn’t sure why he’d think that. “We felt that it was fitting n’ I don’t see how the name wouldn’t fit.” "Ain't that," Scourge said. "It's a hell of a name. I'm more wondering why..." He looked at Light suspiciously. "You found a hot guy, and you got knocked up. So he moved in with you... and you helped him look for his old lover? Just 'cause he asked? Now you're letting me crash at your place, you're letting Manic sleep in my bed..." "...Who are you?" He asked. "I don't know if you're stupid, or one of the most selfless guys I've met." “It's difficult to explain…” he said, looking away as he felt uncomfortable suddenly. “I don’t wish to make things uncomfortable, he's a good person, n’ I wanted to help him n’ repair any voids that had been made when you vanished,” Light started. “I have lived a life where at my age, death shouldn’t be something well known to me…n’ yet I’ve seen so much of it n’ been a cause of a fraction of it too. I didn’t want Manic to feel that sort of burden if something had happened to you.”

He rubbed his arm a bit. “I’m not stupid, just someone whom wants others to be happy with something they can cherish, whether it be a new life or even old friends whom deserve a better shot at life. Call me selfless or not, it's just how I am.” Scourge took in every work Light said, his face not showing any new signs of emotion. He took every word silently. "You're gonna be a hell of a good dad..." Scourge said quietly. "Whenever Manic talks about you..." He smiled and laughed a bit. "'ts like he doesn't wanna stop. He loves you a hell of a lot. A kid like him's a hard catch." He tilted his head to face Light head on. "He's happy with you, so... thanks." “I’m sure you’d be just as happy here. I mean you both have your quirks n’ I’m sure things could get even better.” He smiled slightly, though he did flinch glancing down to his stomach. “Heh…this lil rascal is gonna be one heck of an adventure, I can feel it.” "So... you're fine with this?" Scourge asked, smirking. "Good. A kid growin' up with Manic's gonna need all the other parent's he can get." He let out a laugh. "Hope you don't mind if I'm sticking with him. I missed out on raising my own kid, don't wanna miss out on that again." "You mind if I feel the... bump?" Scourge asked, looking at his stomach. Light looked over to Scourge. “I can understand that well enough n’ I have no argument with more help. It was a disaster raising the triplets two years ago. They have leveled off now…even if they are still trouble from time to time,” he chuckled lightly. “I don’t see a problem with it, Manic already does so n’ Shadow likes to know its healthy too.” He said with an honest smile to his green twin.   Light's fur was incredibly warm to the touch. He couldn't feel the baby kicking, but he didn't need to to feel surreal touching his skin. "There's really some kid growing in there," he said to himself. "Wild..." He pulled away and looked again. It was another Scourge, and that bothered Scourge more than anything. Was Manic just dating him because of who he was, or as a kind of replacement for himself? Scourge couldn't have blamed him for any of that. He was forced to disappear and didn't speak to him for years... it was his fault. It was his fault. "Manic's fucking terrified," Scourge informed him to try and cast the attention away from himself. "He wakes up at night jittering and crap. He keeps talking about the kid and..." "I thought Finitevus died," Scourge said. "So why's he still scared about the tentails?" Light could tell he was still worrying about the fact that himself is another alternate to the green one, but he shivered slightly to the question. “The echidna did die…but the Tentails hate me for slaying their mad king, whom tried to wipe my people out…it's a nasty trail of problems, n that weapon we saw- apparently Finny had others left with the foxes.” He frowned a bit. “No doubt he worries they will try n’ undo all that I’ve managed to regain.” Scourge frowned. "They're getting a shitty lot," he mumbled. "Kids shoudn't have to deal with that kinda crap. Tentails..." There was some anger starting to boil deep in his gut. Was it the fact he had a chance to finally raise a child? Was it the fact it was his Manic and a Scourge having a child? Was it just Light taking in himself and his boyfriend despite what they'd done? He had no idea. But the fact that there were these foxes specifically targeting the Lightwings send him into a fury he didn't want to contain. "Gonna fuckin' slaughter 'em..." Scourge growled. He shivered slightly. “You're not the only one whom has thought that, my friends have been trying to keep an eye on them since the war ended three years ago.” Light said glancing over to Scourge, he was sure many people he knew thought that way at the moment. Scourge noticed just how much he was shivering. Whoever the tentails were right then, they weren't a casual threat just because Finitevus was gone. He kept staring at Light. He was a Scourge aesthetically, sure, but he wasn't anything like a standard issue Scourge. There wasn't the explicit evil a Scourge had at all. Even from what he'd heard of the fight, Light had a perfect chance to end his life and didn't use it. Of course, he also clearly wasn't a normal Scourge. His fur wore stripes, his face wore scars, and he had fully formed wings. Who was he anyways? Whoever he was, he was the worst medium. Too similar that he seemed like a replacement... too different for this kid to seem like his own. Only similar enough to make him feel somehow inferior. Even if he knew that couldn't have been true logically, his emotions weren't listening. He pushed off his jealousy to pat his back. "You need someone who knows Finitevus, I was his cronie for years. I'll find that weapon and squash it, kid." He nodded lightly to him. “I wish I could help…but in my current state, I’m in no shape to deal with any real threat. I just managed when we saved you n’ I worry about the next event that could happen, but I am thankful I have friends n’ family to help in the days I can’t,“ he said stretching as best he could. “I don’t wish to be an uncomfortable subject for you as well…I can feel in your energy that I might offset you a bit because I’m an alternate like you. I gave up on my old name in the hopes I could drift away from it since I’m so different.” "Feel in my energy?" The words were confusing, to say the least. "That some new age nonsense?" New age nonsense or not, he was spot on. The moment lingered in the air awkwardly, begging to be broken. Scourge got tired of the wait much quicker than Light did. "Fine, yeah... Yeah." He admitted. What was he doing? He didn't open up to just anyone! Light was nice, sure, but he'd known him personally for about a week. Why was he saying this? "Yeah, I hate seeing Manic with other Scourges, okay?!" He gripped the back of his quills, frustration masked as anger. “Yeah, we were concerned with the thought of your opinion in this as well with how much he talked about n’ missed you,“ Light said looking off to where the two left earlier. “I donno why it is that I’m an alternate of you. Yeah there is the scar that is famous among them…n’ the color, but I’ve seen so many that I don’t feel anywhere near like them. I mean I hear of the stories of how evil most are but I don’t have it, n’ I’m so far the oddest one among alternates.” He glanced back to his wings n’ tail.

He sighed slightly “I bet among the other alters I’m just a freak of nature cause I fall out of balance for them…” He then shook his head. “Sorry bout that…damned mood swings are a problem.” It was mostly points Scourge had come to on his own time. Even if they weren't hard conclusions to come to, hearing someone else agree with him made him feel much better about his own thoughts. "Most Scourge's ain't born to be king," Scourge reassured him. "Hell yeah, you ain't normal. That's worth more than most of 'em. An' if we're being honest here..." Scourge patted Light on the back, grinning a dark smile. "Feeling like a freak's the most normal thing a Scourge can do." He laughed at his own joke hollowly. Even if Manic didn't like most Scourges, there was a camaraderie Scourge could only really share with... Scourge. As different as he was from himself. “Maybe, I never thought about that,“ he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “Though I wonder what the future still holds for all of us, it always makes me wonder.”

With a light smile on his features again he tried to get up again. “They are taking way too long for simple things to put up, makes me wonder what they are really up to.” He couldn’t help being suspicious n’ he wondered if they are up to something about that as well. “Shadow has been tight lipped about things recently n’ I know when he’s like that he’s up to something.” Scourge stood up. He wasn't sure what exactly to do to help the king get around easier. Hold his arms for support? Nah, that'd be too... soft. Maybe even condescending. All he really did was stand close to the king, either arm ready at the first sight that he needed help walking. "Only one way to find out," Scourge said to both his comments. There weren't many halls to go through, but they were a slower walk with the baby so close to being born. "Whaddya thin, maybe Manic's annoying the hell out of Shadow?" He offered as an explanation. Not an entirely far fetched theory. “Couldn’t be too far off I guess, but I’m curious if they have been keeping up some secret,“ he said. Who knew for sure, but they eventually arrived to the room after stopping once for Light to get a breather. The room had been baby proofed rather thoroughly. Sliding plates over the electrical outlets, a folding screen and padding set up around the fireplace, small babyproof locks on all the drawers, it was a thorough job. The problem was Manic and Shadow weren't here, nor was the bag of tools. "...Ah, come oooon!" Manic could he heard, assuring Shadow from the room where the nursery was supposed to be set up. "I mean, not like we can return it, right? Who cares if this old kid's book is stolen or not? I say leave it." Shadow huffed. “I know you want to keep it, but the book wasn’t meant to be out of the museum, this is more at risk of being damaged here without the know how to tend to this thing,” he said in return to Manic.

Light sighed. “Guess they started talking bout the book Rouge gave us earlier.” He said walking to the source of their voices. ”Is there a problem boys?” Manic and Shadow both looked surprised at Light walked in, stepping away from the case on the drawers that the stolen book was being displayed in. There clearly was a problem alright; Light's presence. "Oh no, dude, close your eyes!" Manic said, hoping he would but knowing it was too late for that. "Starlight's having us touch up the nursery, we wanted it to be a surprise!" The nursery design was simple and elegant. There was a new, traditionally carved crib with floral motifs, painted in white and lined and padded with soft white blankets. Simple, decorative curtains hung on the wall behind the crib. The chair, chest of drawers and bookcase lined with new purchases and baby shower gifts all matched the style. Judging by the moved furniture, blue tape on the walls, and the stains on the two hedgehog's clothes, Shadow and Manic seemed to be painting tiny white stars onto the light blue walls fading to a soothing blue, like an early morning sky. With a shy chuckle he turned away from what they were doing. Thankfully nothing seemed to be fully set by the details of the incomplete paint job n’ maybe possible other things still packaged up. “You could have let me know to wait outside before you left to work, you know I get overly curious when things start to seem secret based,” he said.

Shadow sighed n’ shook his head. “I tend to forget that with how impish you are half the time lil brother,” he said, walking over n’ putting his hand on Lights head, earning a whine from the royal. “Thankfully nothing is finished yet, so Scourge, if you can manage it keep my brother out till we finish tonight. His curious nature's gonna cause a problem.” "Y'all, he can handle me." Manic said with a stupid grin. "He ain't half as impulsive, he can keep Light away." Scourge smiled. This room definitely wasn't anything Manic came up with, it was actually tasteful. "Fine. Don't go killing each other," Scourge joked. "Alright, kingy." Scourge already started walking Light out of the room, giving Shadow and Manic a chance to continue their bickering. "You wanna check out that 'bazaar' place Manic was talkin' about?" He was starting to feel more comfortable the more time he spent with light. Sure, putting their problems out there might have made things initially uncomfortable, but things were feeling better. Not really needing to think on it, he nodded to Scourge. “Seems fair, since I need something to pass the time.” He chuckled softly as he looked to the end of the hallway. Walking on, he knew that part of the details was what his adopted mother had planned for the baby room, but he wondered just what did she have in mind that she had the two working on. ◇        ◇        ◇        ◇ The bazaar was not a great choice. There was a lot of walking that had to be done. Far too much, in fact, and Light needed to take constant breaks to sit. Customers and vendors were all curious about the baby and being this late in the pregnancy. They were thankful Scourge decided to drive him down. He wouldn't have been able to walk back without constant stops. It wasn't all slow, though. Scourge might not have had Manic's kleptomaniacal urges, but he did still have the urge to steal from certain stands. Light, however, was much more honest. The thought never crossed his mind. In fact, he seemed happy to pay for the impulse foods and baby toys they came across. There were many, many stands selling baby things, in fact. Perhaps hoping that the king or his friends would make a visit? And as the sun began to set, the two were starting back to the castle. "You're different," Scourge understated. "Different than what I thought you'd be like." There were still pains on the corner of his mind, but for how pained he felt originally, it barely even registered. Until the topic turned back to Manic. "What's gonna happen to him when the baby's born?" He asked. "He's a pretty well known thief." “Only time will say what becomes of us all, but hopefully it's in the good meaning rather than the bad,” he said smiling lightly. Getting a little fresh air after a week was good for his mood. His tail gave away how pleased he felt after all that being cooped up due to the advisors worrying about his health. Scourge knew they couldn't possibly know. All they knew was they had to keep going, and hope life didn't ruin everything. They pulled up in the usual space by the castle. "You're soundin' good," Scourge said. It was hard not to notice the constant whapping of his tail against the seat. "How long have you been trapped in there? Ain't you a king, can't you go anywhere you want?" “Under certain conditions I can’t. Sickness, pregnancy in the later months…it's a pain sometimes that the advisors worry so much n’ keep me locked up if my health isn’t well enough for travel,” he said, looking out the window. “But I enjoy the points that I can get out even in those situations as I hate sitting still for too long unless its with kids for odd reasons.” Light chuckled softly, placing a hand on his stomach again. "You like kids, too?" Scourge said as the car was put in park. "Manic loves kids. You guys... you're lucky." The language meant a little more for Scourge than he would admit, but he wasn't letting that affect him now. He helped Light get out of the car safely. "I've handled a kid before," Scourge said gruffly. "Real early in his life, too. Anything you gotta know?" The two entered the house, equally curious as to how the nursery would end up looking. “One learns a lot from raising triplets, remember?” He chuckled softly again. “But no two pups are the same so who knows what I’ll need to raise this one...” Making his way back inside the castle, he wanted to go look, but he knew he’d better wait till one of them come get him this time. That took shorter than expected. "FINALLY!" Manic could be heard saying from down the hall. He walked from the direction of the kitchen, holding a tall cup of fruit juice he was already halfway done guzzling. "Shadow and Starlight are waiting upstairs, what are you guys waiting for?" Scourge carried the bags of new baby supplies from their trip as Manic escorted the king up towards the nursery area. The door was opened slowly. The touch ups were subtle, but effective - some of the faint stars painted on the light blue backdrop had been decorated with a light sparkle. Several small decorations were placed around the room to add small elegant touches. Tiny flourishes painted subtly on the sides of furniture, little crystals planted tastefully, and most glittery of all, a mobile hanging over the crib containing a small number of medium to small sized crystals. But Starlight had her own touches in mind. The cushioning to the chair, crib, and small cloth decorations she came in with seemed welcoming and light, almost like they were floating. Most importantly, a deeb blue veil was hung around the cieling lighting and the window, making the room look like a fantastical night-time sky even in full lighting. If his expression didn’t say how he felt, his tail did as he looked around. “It looks so great, much better than I had thought it would,” he said looking around once again. Shadow chuckled n’ Starlight smiled softly as he eventually hugged the two but then blushed as he thought he was acting out of manners.

“We had hoped you’d like it, it wasn’t easy figuring out how to set this room. Mother eventually had t jump in to get the ideas processed,” Shadow said ruffling Light's head gently. If Scourge had to be perfectly blunt, he would have said it was too boring. It was actually fairly tasteful, but Scourge and Manic's ideas of opulence were the tacky and over embellished world of royal portraits. But they didn't say a word. Light was happy, and they were happy for him. "We're glad you like it, dude." Manic said, standing near Scourge and covered in many more paint stains than Shadow. "And if you like it so much... I'm sure you like that old kid's book display we've got going." He shot a friendly but sassy glare at Shadow. Shadow sighed as he had way too much trouble convincing Manic that it had to be returned, but was glad he still went to look as he was curious to see just what all they did. Scourge seemed to have been done being surprised. He opened the toy chest in the corner of the room and started  to put in the few new toys and things they'd picked up at the bazaar. Manic seemed to be done with his teasing about the stolen book. "Hey, Light?" Manic walked up to him and put his arms around Light's waist. "I'm real nervous. Like, hella nervous, but we're gonna be alright. We ain't getting more ready for this." He pulled Light a bit closer and kissed him on the cheek. “I know the feeling. The only thing I keep hoping for is that things stay good or as close to good as possible,” he purred softly with a light smile upon his muzzle as he glanced over to Manic.

Shadow gave a small smirk knowing that even if his brother had experience in child raising, he was still gonna work hard to help him no matter. Everyone in the room seemed to be smirking, at least for a short while. And in fact, in spite of everything, they were going to stay happy in the coming days. Starlight was happy to see her adopted sons ready for the birth. Shadow was happy Manic's relationships seemed to be working out. And of course, Manic and Light were happy about being so close to meeting their child. There were only two things that were truly making some of the castle residents unhappy. The first was Scourge's strange discontent, how he kept flip-flopping between being complacent about the relationship and seeming to glower and reserve himself to the corners of the room. The second thing was two weeks before the due date, in the middle of a security meeting, when Light's water broke without warning.