#if an oc doesn't work out just scrap it and try again

[myymi]

Hello, sorry this is a kind of random question haha!

I saw that you mentioned on a post you and @passionartx co made oc’s together (which I am intrigued to learn more about!!! :000) I always wonder this and with this being an example of it I thought nows the time to ask someone:

How do you both go about that and do you have any tips?

Me and a friend tried to co create characters and a story once but it was really hard to get anything flowing. It always impresses me when people can! It seems like it would be fun and I wish I had somebody I could do it with!

I wonder maybe it was just me and my friend weren’t close enough or just didn’t have similar enough ideas?? Would love to hear your process :)))

(Thank you and sorry if anything doesn’t make sense, I am getting better but English isn’t my first language)

ahhh hi!!

honestly, the ocs @passionartx and i made are entirely accidental. every last detail was made by accident

originally, we had just wanted a group of 4-6 people who were, like, really bad kidnappers just as an excuse for tails to be sassy but uhm. we kinda got carried away

i will admit, it's not easy to co-create a character/story with someone. you have to come to an end point you both agree with, or you're just not gonna be happy

i've found that a good way to start co-creating is to come up with the reason for your characters first. why do you want to make them? what purpose will they serve?

when you get an idea for their existence, it's easier to build up their personalities, style, design, etc.

i definitely don't recommend making the character first, because it's trickier to find a place for them that both you and your friend agree with. you may have a vivid idea for the character while your friend has one too that is the complete opposite. if you get into the swing of things with your friend then maybe try it out, but don't do it for the first handful of characters

i also would advise against immediately building a character together.

start with two characters that just simply co-exist in the same universe (not necessarily acquainted or anything) and look for any similarities between the two

when you use traits that you both gave your separate characters it's easier to build up one together

and if you or your friend have some ideas for a character you decide to not use, do not scrap it. save it for another character, never discard anything.

but, honestly, the most important thing is communication. and you may think that's just common sense, but i don't mean just talking to each other;

voice. your. opinions.

if your friend is pushing an idea for a character that you don't want to do, tell them. even if they seem really excited about it.

the character belongs to both of you, not one or the other. find common ground that you both are happy with. (like i said earlier, don't scrap that idea-save it for a future character.)

any decision, especially major ones, for any character you two create needs to be okayed by both of you.

do not keep quiet just because you want your friend to be happy. you both need to be happy or it'll fall apart. (and finding common ground is a lot easier then you think it would be)

of course, that^ works both ways.

if you're talking about an idea and your friend says they don't want to do it, back down and find something in the middle.

and if your friend pitches an idea for an oc at you, give suggestions!! don't just go "yeah, that works!" give additional personality traits or bits of backstory to implement into the character

if you pitch an idea for an oc, make sure to ask your friend if they have anything they want to add on if they don't offer suggestions. talk!!! it gives you SO many more ideas then you can imagine

co-creating isn't so much as having similar ideas, it's more so finding common ground. you take two ideas and meet in the middle, regardless of how insanely different they are

and don't be afraid to put something on hold because you can't think of a way to finish it yet. as you create more things together, it'll eventually complete itself. trust me, it happens way more often then you'd think. just, y'know, don't forget about it

i would also advise you to write down everything about your characters, even the little stuff. even if you're sure you'll remember it, write it. things happen, it's just easier to have it somewhere you can easily locate it in case you do forget

also, get attached to your characters. i don't care how 'cringe' it is, do it. you'll enjoy talking about them a lot more

now, this isn't me saying you can't create your own characters without your friend and add them in, but just make sure your friend is okay with that (and keep in mind that your character is going into a shared world. they are yours, but just check in with your friend before doing anything major with them. they may be your character, but their impact on the story still needs to be ran by your friend)

uhhh that is all of the advice i can think to give you

and hey, it's okay if it doesn't work out.

short message from passion;

Heyo! Just adding a lil bit on cause Myla asked if I wanted to drop my thoughts too! They pretty much covered it all so I’ll keep this as short as I can! (Given how much I ramble tho I make no promises)✨ The main thing I’d say is, everyone’s different!

Like they mentioned our silly spiral into ideas happened entirely by accident and honestly… I think that’s the best way for things to happen! Makes things so much more natural and fun!

How this may go with someone else might entirely depend on what ideas you have, shared interests, story ideas, tropes you enjoy etc. Every friendships different! What matters most is having fun. It’s like a constant stream of creating content with eachother and for eachother! For example Myla making designs on the oc generator, me making art, random ideas or things that crop up from the other and it’s like “OOO YOU GENIUS”. Sometimes things from months ago you’d least expect can make a comeback and it’s like things you didn’t even think about suddenly click!

Anyway like I said I’ll try and keep this short but yep I second everything they said and above all, just have fun!! 💛

p.s: if ever in doubt about any ideas or you’re like us and are too indecisive…. spin a wheel. ✨

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Undead Unluck Theory

So I've been reading Undead Unluck since the beginning, but I haven't actually ever joined the fandom, (i.e., the contents of this blog may be Old News to everyone and/or everyone hates it and I just didn't realize...) but I was showing the anime to a friend and trying to explain my UU theory, so I googled and couldn't find anyone who had laid out something like this. If it already exists, apologies, but this is my version of what UU is all about.

Undead Unluck is a story about writing.

Spoilery things ahead!

The most important thing to know about Undead Unluck is that it's a story-within-a-story. An embedded narrative. Our characters are stock archetypes who are barely on the cusp of learning that they are in a story.

The main story outline stays the same as the author goes through various iterations and edits (aka Loops), testing out new ideas and often scrapping them. Characters evolve into different versions of themselves as the author edits. Our settings are varied as if the author were trying to fit all kinds of different genres into one story. AND THEY ARE!

Suggested listening, btw:

The Author, AKA God, adds variables to the story in the form of rules.

For example, a children's book about a goldfish has no need to mention that there is an entire galaxy of stars in the sky. The goldfish doesn't need to know. The readers don't care. It's irrelevant. That rule can be omitted from a story.

When the author changes the story, for instance, to make the story about a goldfish who goes into outer space, suddenly they need to add the concept of a galaxy, along with all the ancillary ideas (i.e., UFOs).

With their pencil eraser or backspace button, the author changes the reality for ALL of the characters in the work, so that the existence of outer space becomes a Known Thing in-universe. No biggie. It's always been that way, as far as they know. The instant the author changes something, it's done.

This Hand of God kind of author appears in other ways, like the way the Union members arrive via a crack in the sky. They literally fall from the sky like characters in the Barbie movie.

The crack in the sky is a wall-break, but it's not the fourth wall that's broken. It's the wall between the author and the characters!

Remember that cartoon where Daffy Duck argues with the animator's hand? Characters are just playthings for the author. They can be dressed up or imperiled just because.

When you begin to read UU from this perspective, some characters seem more sentient than others.

The characters are tired of being screwed over. They're tired of suffering. They're tired of being tested for no reason. Can't God just give them an easy life? Do all characters hate their authors this much?

Ragnarok is when the author effectively overturns the dollhouse and starts a new story with the same characters, settings, and themes, but adding the kind of slight variations that an author's idle mind might create. The basic "frame" of the dollhouse remains, but we can try out new scenarios like:

"What if X met Y in another time or place?"

"How would X be different if they'd grown up in a harsher or easier environment?"

"What if X was a villain?"

And so the author begins again, pitting their characters in new situations to observe and see how they react. Authors love that shit. Just look at all the ask blogs on tumblr!

Authors enjoy looking at their characters from new perspectives. Even the bad ones! Many times, an author has had a character (say...Victor) in their imagination for a long time, but the character evolves into a slightly different version of themselves (Andy). It's natural to want to keep both versions of this character. And since this is the author's dollhouse, they can do whatever they want, even if this confuses and disturbs Andy/Victor.

Victor and Juiz are, I think, God's starter OCs. Their story is one of seriousness, mystery, and a romance with unresolved tension. They want to be together; we want them to be together; but the author won't let them be happy because keeping that tension burning is what makes the story good. Of course they had a falling out! Of course they're eternally separated in a tragic and beautiful way. After all, they were the main characters for a long time.

You're probably saying, "This theory can't work because we've SEEN God! We've seen Luna!" My idea is that Luna and God are two aspects of the author.

God (Sun) as the author as a writer: Makes brutal changes, can delete everything, loves to start over and test the characters in different environments, never satisfied with the ending.

God wants to make things HARDER for the characters because they are trying to write an interesting shonen story.

God (Luna) as the author as a reader: Authors also like to sit back and read their own works. Sometimes they have a nice cup of tea with them. The tea signifies that Luna is acting as a reader.

Luna, as a reader, has gotten attached to the characters. They want them to succeed. They are trying to make things EASIER for the characters bc they're emotionally invested in the story. Luna also keeps the memories of past rough drafts in the form of artifacts that can be used to bring back discarded story elements.

I don't think either Sun nor Luna truly understand that our characters are capable of suffering, btw.

Luna and God are in a competition with themselves, just like the internal struggle of an author as they want to:

Create an interesting story that will be a success. To get the story "right" and fully explore all the possibilities

but also

2. Just have fun with the characters and help them reach the end of the story.

Killing God means finding a final end to the story so that the characters can have a stable existence. The characters can achieve this by resisting the author's attempts to rewrite.

So, that's the gist of my insanity. I have a bit more in the drafts if anyone is interested in hearing more. I would enjoy doing a read-through blog someday, but I thought I might test the waters with my theory first.

[jamscandraw]

New TOH OC time! 🎶🦇🔔 A lil bit of lore under the cut :)

This guy is from my TOH story/AU, A Coven Just For Two, which is (hopefully) going to be a long-running fanfic very soon! Roscoe is an old classmate and former sort-of-bully/rival to Murph (and by extension Steve). Murph is a bit of a misfit, even at Glandus, and seems to be immune to ROscoe's powers of intimidation (and flirtation), which just infuriates him and makes him try twice as hard. They scrap and squabble a lot over the years and certainly don't get on but never really hate each other either. They don't really stay in touch after Murph leaves Glandus (save for once chance encounter when they're both 19) and their paths don't cross again until Murph is asked to join the CATTs rebellion by Katya.

Roscoe is a grumpy, surly guy who always tries to be taken seriously but it doesn't always work. Over the years he's mellowed out a bit and definitely doesn't care about status and popularity as much any more (the way only highschoolers do), and has developed a little bit of a sense of justice. He was horrified to hear his cousin was imprisoned for something as mundane as writing fan fiction (even if he doesn't think it's any good) and starts to see parallels between the way the Emperor's Coven treats its subjects and the way the kids at the top of the pecking order at Glandus would treat the "weaker" ones. Determined to do something decent with his life (he's been playing in shitty bars and making very little money) he agrees to join. Things get a bit awkward when Murph joins the group (he was their first kiss. They don't talk about it) but they quickly learn to work together as allies even if they can't be friends. Even after all these years Murph still remembers exactly how to get under his skin and piss him off. I haven't quite decided what I want him to be post-canon/in the timeskip but I'll think of something!

[blindmagdalena]

Hiiii it's me again!

I just wrapped up a full-on binge of your series with Homelander and Layla, and honestly, I've got to get a few things off my chest about these two. I'll try to keep this short, but there's a lot to unpack, and if you're not up for the essay I'm about to write here, feel free to skip it. Starting with Layla's profession — genius. It just clicks, right? With a job like hers, it's totally believable that she'd cross paths with a guy like Homelander. That guy's desperate for any scrap of affection he can get, doesn't really matter if it's genuine or not. And in your story, it feels like we get a dash of both. It's refreshing because usually, OCs just snap their fingers and suddenly, Homelander's all about them, which feels a tad forced.

But Layla? She's different. Their first serious meet-up perfectly demonstrates her patience. And her smarts? She's ten steps ahead, seeing right through Homelander's act — you know the one where he pretends he's too cool for the room. Her ability to play him like a fiddle from the get-go, just by stroking his ego, is just so spot on. It's not just her cunning that stands out, though. Layla knows exactly when to use emotional leverage, she's insightful about Homelander's neediness, hence the booked meeting. She's not your typical 'strong woman' character — thank goodness we're not talking about those overdone, one-dimensional types that come off as watered-down male heroes. Love that she's profoundly intelligent, perceptive, and strategic in her emotional connections. She's an exemplary character not wedged into the role of being “strong” but one who utilizes her understanding and empathy as powerful tools.

I'm sold on her character (if you can't tell.) And I'm really going all out here because as I revisit the first chapters to talk about this, I keep finding new reasons to appreciate her more. I want to dive deeper into my thoughts, but I'm probably just rambling now, so I'll cut myself off. You've single handedly got me working on my personal oc again lmfao. Just a last note, it's cool to see an original character who isn't some superpowered being for a change. It adds layers to the world you've built that I'm just here for. I'm gonna read a few other fics you have linked about your ocs — I came for the x reader fics and stayed for the ocs LOL.

— 💌

you genuinely took my breath away with this! my heart is so full and warm, i could cry. i can't tell you how many times i reread this this morning! i'm very tender-hearted when it comes to my original characters, and i was quite nervous starting an oc fic, but this makes me SO happy that i did!

please don't ever apologize for writing essays like this, i honestly want to print this out and hang it on my wall. thank you SO MUCH for not only reading my fic but taking the time to send me such an incredibly thoughtful message about my girl Layla. it really does mean the world to me!!! and i really can't wait to get back to writing Eat Your Ego.

i'm really happy that she's coming across so well! i knew that i would have to be careful in how i wrote her for the fact that she IS human, and there's a very delicate balance to be had in interacting with Homelander. there's a tension there that yeah, one wrong move and she really and truly has no defense against him aside from her wits, so i needed her empathy and intellect to be sort of a super power of their own.

i was worried she would come across as omniscient or meta, so i tried to lean into the fact that Homelander's ego and power trips really do just have him behaving like the type of men she would regularly encounter in her line of work.

aaahhh, gosh, even responding to this i reread it a whole bunch. thank you so much, darling. i'm going to treasure this message! 🖤

[clicheantagonist]

15 Lines Of Dialog

Thankies @aceghosts and @adelaidedrubman the tag! 😘

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well! (Y'all know I can't do that.)

Some of my favorite Alex lines:

“Is that why you hate him? ‘Cause he cockblocked you?” - Alex @ Wesker, joking about Chris in Little Tyrants

“What’s your name? Who’s your daddy? Is he rich like me?” - Alex playfully serenading Jake (yeah, Wesker's son Jake, that one) in AU: Something About Infinite Cycles (unposted as of right now) Yes, she knows.

“Listen. One does not say ‘no’ to getting to do a Scarface in the coke. When was I gonna have that opportunity again?” - Alex telling Kit about a very damning photo of herself Wesker keeps on his desk in their untitled fic (The Unholy Throuple Universe)

“Boy went to law school and still isn’t smarter than my drop-out, yee-haw ass." - Alex talking to herself (judging John's lack of foresight) during the Reaping in Drown Me And Call It A Baptism.

“Um…this is…exactly what it looks like.” - Alex's response to Wesker catching her sparking up a joint after-hours. In a Holiday companion oneshot to Little Tyrants that explains their first hook up (during the S.T.A.R.S. days) and the circumstances surrounding it.

“I’ve been making and breaking monsters for twenty years – what makes you so special?” - Alex being a [playful, I promise] smartass in response to a comment Butcher makes about being a monster, in my still Untitled The Boys AU (I'm having so much fun there. I get the hype. It's awesome.) “Aw, c’mon! Something got loose after they got my ass?!” - Hearing Wesker tearing through bodies at a black site she's been caught and detained in. I posted this as a WiP here.

“I’ll kill him. I better not ever find out if he sticks his dick in that bitch.” - speaking (bitching) to Alex Wesker about Excella's proximity to Albert in a scene from Little Tyrants.

“If – allegedly - I’m willing to eat my own, imagine what I could do to you?” - a joke/threat regarding her nickname, in response to being questioned by Feds (derogatory) about her presence in Russia during the Caucasus outbreak of 2003 (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles) in Little Tyrants.

“Ya think it was God’s grace that kept you fuckin do-gooders alive all these years? It was me. I spared you. D’you know how many opportunities I had to bring your heads home as trophies? You show some fuckin respect.” - In her Rick Sanchez era when she snaps during the events of RE5 in Little Tyrants, properly encountering Chris and Marshall again after betraying the cause. Wesker is very proud in this moment.

“I need to know I have a place. That I won’t be another dying star. Like Excella. Marcus. Sergei. Birkin. All the others that worked with you who thought they were too big to fall.” - trying to express her fears regarding Wesker's obsession with his New World Order (RE5) + past history with partners - she's not so much worried for the world, she's worried about them. (Priorities, girl.) I love this line because it's such a good example of how she doesn't shy away from dangerous topics; and she's willing to name his previous partners to impress upon him she knows she has good reason to worry. From Little Tyrants.

“Couldn’t trust you with no dirt. Retrieving your virus gave me leverage, and that made me more comfortable." - During her affair with Neil Fisher (Resident Evil Revelations 2); she's telling him very directly who she is and how she operates in explaining why she gave him a chance. I posted this as a scrapped WiP here

“I had to level the playing field. I’m a sore loser.” - to Butcher, regarding a life-altering decision she makes in near total secret. He asks why, and this is how she says: "cause my ego can't take anyone, even a Supe, kicking my ass and getting away with it." They really do mirror each other in ways I hadn't realized till just now. I swear I'll post some of this when I figure out where it's going/how long I expect to be invested. From the as of now Untitled The Boys AU

'Oh, I'm doin' a big stupid. The Lord God himself could come down and be like 'No, bitch' and I'd pretend I didn't hear him.' - Alex's inner monolog the night she and John start hooking up in Drown Me And Call It A Baptism. I didn't give her inner voice enough recognition here, but I should of. I love her running inner commentary.

Tagging, If y'all wanna (ignore me if you have): @socially-awkward-skeleton @josephslittledeputy @shallow-gravy @carlosoliveiraa @i-am-the-balancing-point and whoever else may want to.

[8-rae-rae-8]

Back with my being sick shenanigans!!! Okay thinking of Los Vaqueros, Task force 141 AND shadow company working together before Graves' betrayal. And also thinking of agere things my oc Siren again, I've had this thought since last night AAAAAAAAA

But like thinking of Rudy patching up Siren's wounds, she's just sitting there staring at Rudy's hands while not saying a word. Even when Rudy asks how she got injured she doesn't respond, she just stares at Rudy's hands while having bandages wrapped around her knee.

This action reminded her of when her mother was helping her out when she scrapped her knee on pavement, just the gentle motions and Rudy trying not to hurt her even more.

She feels fuzzy, she knows this feeling, she's experienced this many times. She couldn't help but just slip into little space as she watches Rudy's hands, she just slowly blinks before putting her fingers up to her mouth while just mumbling very quietly.

"Mama?..."

Now Rudy's just frozen, just staring at the bandages while just seeming confused as to why he was called mama.

OKAY IM RUNNING AWAY NOW BYEEEE

Oh my goshhh 😭

Rudy, the poor man, needs to call Graves now and get the little one sorted

I love that !! Siren <33

[weiyingsbigbooty]

You know what? Throws at you my totally unconventional kny oc that I made a total au just to fit in.

Goto Clan.

It's roots date back to the Heian period, and is one of the big three clans that control and look after Shindo shrines. A clan of warrior priests that used to wander Japan, but have settled near the Ubuyashiki mansion as their paths crossed long ago and have been intervening ever since. It was a Goto heir that spoke to the Ubuyashiki's about their curse, and has been acting as a consulting clan. A few centuries ago, some of the Ubuyashiki's have taken a Goto name, bringing the two families closer than ever.

In other words, making Natsuki and Kagaya first cousins.

Who is Natsuki? You wonder.

Well…

“ Have you seen Natsuki-sama? She stepped out for some fresh air.”

“Isn't she supposed to meet her future husband now?”

“Yeah.”

“...”

“... she ran away again didn't she.”

“...yikes.”

“Oyaji is going to be so mad…”

… a Goto heir.

That's a little snipped from Natsuki's fic story, where I created a new clan for the sole purpose of her being validated in the universe. I took inspiration from the fact that a priest visited Ubuyashiki's back when their curse first appeared, and ran a mile with it. The Goto's serve as the Ubuyashiki's left hand, their authority ranked third from above, right under the current leader's wife, which in this case is Amane. The Goto's usually work from the shadows, and they are rarely known to the Hashira, and a complete unknown force to the rest of the slayers.

Natsuki of course plays by her own rules, and even tho her presence being known to the current Hashira was a mistake on her part, she doesn't care about it much. The Goto also act as the Ubuyashiki's personal body guards, even tho canonically they have rejected having any.

A bit more about Natsuki; at first I created her as a Gojo variant/ancestor because I wanted to make a jjk/kny crossover because kokushibo six eyes + gojo oc = satoru gojo six eyes. But I scrapped that because I was a bit too lazy to try and have an actual crossover where it's plausible for it to exist and the gojo oc WOULD be too op because muzan = kenjaku's failed experiment in merging (young) adult and a curse.

Then I wanted to just make a gojo clan in the verse, but my sister told me that she couldn't imagine my own gojo variant (natsuki) at all because all she could think about was satoru, so I just changed her last name to Goto, which was close enough and fit the theme.

GOTO = Later Wisteria

NATSUKI = Summer Princess

How is she related to the Ubuyashiki's= simple, Kagaya's father is her uncle, and her father is his. Her father married into the Goto clan and took over as the head, her mother being the previous heiress. Yes, her father and the Goto clan is old fashioned, they don't have women in direct power. A big reason why he's trying to set her up with a future husband as soon as he can, so his son in law can take over. Her father feels like he is living on borrowed time, something that all Ubuyashiki's do. Well, you can take him out of the family but you can't take the family curse out of him. It's a wonder he survived to see Natsuki grow past the age of 15, much less 25.

Kagaya is 23, so I made her two years older. While he is her cousin by blood, Natsuki sees him more as a younger brother, especially with the fact they grew up together.

Now her personality is similar to Satoru, given that he was main inspiration for that, but she's a bit more feral like a constant teen gojo. Loud, whiny, and never takes anything seriously. Obnoxious about her battle prowess to the point one of her standards for the future suitors, that her father tries so hard to set her with, is to challenge her in a duel that always had her as a winner. It's not that she is just op, but as an individual who grows up as a heir to a warrior priest clan as well as a consultant and bodyguard to the Ubuyashiki family since birth, she has spent from early childhood till today learning about the art of war, battle and strategy.

"My husband cannot be weaker then me..."

"You lost, after all, you're weak."

Her ideal man is based by her own experience when she was younger; at the age of eight, she got lost in the woods when traveling with her father, and cut her hand. A man with ink black hair with red tips, golden eyes and black and purple kimono (wink wink) helped her by tearing his sleeve and bandaging her wound with it. He carried a sword, so a samurai, a warrior in his right himself. He was the first person to reject her wish at that point in her life, which was to be her future husband. A quick, cold No, something that stuck with her ever since and has made a promise, albeit one sided, to become strong enough to fight him for his hand in marriage, with a plan to win which just made the man snort and exclaim that she's 200 years too young to do that.

(I live in delulu land along with Natsuki)

The outfit she wears was based off of a specific Male! Yae Miko fanart I found on Pinterest, something that I fell in love with at first glance, and thought was perfect for Natsuki as it fits her well. When sketching I did draw sleeves, but opted to leave them out because they would just get in her way, and I think sleeveless turtleneck + long gloves are peak character design.

She wears glasses because her eyes are very sensitive to the sun, something she got from the Ubuyashiki side. Her eye color and hair color come from her mother, same with her complexion.

In Asia, power beads are often given as a token of respect or affection. They can also symbolize a vow, like more dedication to your training. Pulled straight from Google, but it fits well, they were given to her by her father, but she vowed on them to become strong enough to defeat the mysterious man from her childhood.

Out of all of the Hashira, Natsuki gets along the most with Kyojuro and, to everyone's surprise, Sanemi. Two white haired feral people who can and will beat the shit out of you over the smallest inconvenience? A match made in hell. With Kyojuro she is more down to earth, enjoying their training spars and hitting the restaurants right after. If he wasn't a demon slayer, a Hashira, he would of been a candidate she would introduce to her father herself. Alas, she has known his father while he was still an acting slayer, and let's just say Shinjuro would rather commit familicide then suicide then ever let either of his sons anywhere near that snot covered Goto brat.

Shinjuro may or may not have been on Ubuya-Goto babysitting duty on a few occasions in the past, and don't let that angelic face of Kagaya's deceive you, he's the brains, Natsuki is the brawl. He hides it well, but Natsuki has rubbed off on him.

.

I think that's enough for now (I just can't remember the rest, haven't thought about it and don't want to vomit too much info to no one). Feel free to ask me more about Natsuki , give me your thoughts, or simply give ideas!!

[nichenarratives]

Hurricane Heller 11

A Niche Narratives Fanficiton.

last | first | next

[TWs: Period typical antisemitism; graphic depictions of violence; gun violence; details of blood, gore and injury; minor character death (OC); murder]

11. Unsanctioned Retribution (Part 2)

It feels surreal, returning to the launderette knowing what is about to unfold. Mordecai pauses across the street from the crumbling structure as he's done a hundred times before, a hand on his lapel and the other pressed into his coat, a cool breeze shifting his popped collar against his jaw. He feels as if life is coming full circle, returning to the place he began as a different person, one with a much darker heart.

The first of many decisions he will make without Hashem's guidance, Mordecai rationally knows he should feel afraid; every decision before this was done believing his actions were sanctioned by God, almost predestined to succeed. Now he carves out his own destiny, with tools he's gathered alone, and Mordecai feels at peace knowing he's in control.

As the young feline steps off the curb, the street lamp above him flickers and dies, casting the young feline in darkness, an unheeded warning for what is to come.

He steps into the store with a jingle of the bell, drawing half a dozen pairs of eyes as the door closes with another jingle behind him. Unlike his first and many subsequent entries to the launderette, he walks unencumbered through the shop, a clicking of his loafers echoing in the suddenly silent space, eyes on his back as he keeps a casual, unhurried pace.

Rumours flowing around the newest recruit of Mr Savage's personal repertoire have already permeated through to each arm of his wider operation. The bookie turned torturer, a young man with impeccable manners to counterbalance a bloodlust he guarded behind closed doors. Mordecai hates those implications, yet they keep the enforcers effortlessly at arm's length as he heads through the back door.

Right where they belong; out of my way. 

As usual, the room is thick with cigar smoke, the gray fumes curling around a single bare bulb suspended above a table in the center. Mordecai scrunches up his nose in distaste at both the smoke and the smell of food scraps left to fester in the stuffy room. Fiores sits at the head of the table, working on a ledger, his gaze flicking up as soon as the tom enters.

Their eyes meet for the first time since the adolescent tom was headhunted for Savage. Former boss and employee at a stalemate, both finally on equal ground. Fiores closes his ledger and shifts his weight back in his chair. "Well look at that," he says sarcastically, the usual thick cigar belching smoke from between fat fingers. "Our Littlest Bookie finally came crawling back home."

Mordecai narrows his gaze and flicks an ear irritably, but he doesn't respond otherwise, back to the open doorway as the enforcers begin to gather and listen. He intends to let Fiores talk himself into a corner and the underboss obliges just as expected, pointing his cigar at the tuxedo. "You left me high and dry, boy. The guy Savage brought in was useless! I've been doing all your damn books since then!"

His voice level and hands still pressed into his pockets, the adolescent raises his chin intransigently. "With due respect, Mr Fiores, there was no opportunity to refuse Mr Savage."

"There never is, though it wouldn't have helped you to try," the overweight cat chastises, pausing to take a deep toke of his cigar. Dark smoke flows freely from his nose and mouth when he speaks again. "Heard you've made a real name for yourself though, eh? What is it now, the… Killer Kitten?" 

He chuckles at his own joke, enforcers joining in from the doorway. Mordecai doesn't rise to the bait, instead reaching inside his coat to a hidden breast pocket. Only his ears turn back to signify he heard half a dozen guns cock behind him before he extracts a photograph he lifted from the file on his  latest target. He holds it up between his index and middle fingers. "Do you recognise this young man, Fiores?"

Fiores immediately frowns, silencing any laughter from his goons with a discrete wave before leaning forward not to look at the photo, but stare the tuxedo down. "I highly doubt Savage sent you to question me, so I'm going to give you some advice; quit while you're ahead, Kosher."

When Mordecai holds his ground, the underboss sits back in his chair and takes another puff of his cigar. "He's not the type to look at ingenuity and think 'how can I use this' like me. He'll see you going rogue and cut you out like you'd cut out a cancerous growth." Fiores' frown morphs into a deep scowl. "I don't take kindly to bring accused of things by a damned kike, either. Think about that before you go on."

"This is the kid I interrogated today," Mordecai continues, unphased by the threats. He can still sense the guns on his back as he takes a few calculated steps towards Fiores to put the photograph down in front of him. "Savage put me on him because after being acquitted of some minor offenses, three of his coworkers ended up either incarcerated or dead, suggesting he's feeding the police information."

"What does that have to do with me?" The overweight man growls. "Why'd I know some poker-stacking brat?"

A tiny smile curls a corner of pale lips. "I didn't yet mention a profession," Mordecai clarifies; the man is framing himself at this point, making the tom's job far easier. He taps the photo with a claw, finally drawing the underboss' gaze down to the photo. "He worked at your casino, Fiores. You bailed 'some poker-stacking brat' out the same day he was charged, to make sure he ran his table that night. That's suspicious."

The bulbous man finally stands to face his accuser. Where he used to tower over Mordecai, they're now practically the same height, looking the adolescent dead in the eye as he speaks through grit teeth. "I can do what I want with my pay, boy. Not that it's your business, but I bailed him out because we were short-staffed. Your contrived narrative ends here."

"You bailed him out because he's your middle man," the tom refutes calmly, not even flinching as Fiores snarls and bares yellowed fangs barely six inches from his muzzle. "You feed him information, which he relays to the police, maintaining a degree of separation that protects your interests at the expense of another. You're a damned rat, Fiores-"

The punch comes fast and hard, clocking him square in the jaw. The scrawny feline stumbles back into the table with a grunt. Gingerly pressing a hand to his face, Mordecai looks up in time to see Fiores shrug off his suit jacket, letting it fall to the floor as he rolls his sleeves with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Get up, boy," he demands with a growl. "You want to insult me, you better be ready for a good fucking beating. Now get up and take it."

He always knew it could come to blows, but he'd assumed it wouldn't  be an ambush, and how naive he feels now, forced to use the table to steady himself. Without time to prepare or draw a weapon, he's a sitting duck; a scrawny kid with practically no fighting experience, which certainly shows in how swiftly his confidence drains.

Rough hands grab Mordecai from behind and pull him to his feet, shoving him back into the fray before he can object. He's thrust straight into taking a blow to his right eye; the tom hears his pince nez shatter before the punch connects with his flesh, the dull tok of meaty fist to skull before an explosion of pain and the momentum have him once again falling, this time jarring his ribs on the table before sprawling out on the floor at Fiores' feet.

Theres a sharp kick to the ribs and the underboss snarls. "Back off 'im," he commands his enforcers. Mordecai barely registers their shadows shifting away before he's flipped roughly onto his back and a boot planted squarely on his chest. Barely able to breathe, he grabs at the ankle and tries to dislodge it to no avail, Fiores putting his massive bulk onto his leg and looming over the younger tom. "Bit off more than you can chew, did you? Wanted my job too, hm? You greedy fucking kike."

He struggles under the immense weight as Fiores takes his time returning his cigar to thick lips, then casually pulling a pistol from his waistband. Emerald eyes widen as the barrel is leveled at his forehead and recalling his letter opener, the monochrome cat scrabbles in a pocket as Fiores pulls back the firing pin with a twisted smirk. "Looks like I get to tell old Savage his favourite pet wasn't house-broken. Lucky me."

Grasping the letter opener, Mordecai rips it from his pocket and plunges it into the underboss' calf. 

Fiores screams and jerks backwards, pulling the trigger as Mordecai rolls to the side. Red hot pain sears down the lad's cheek as the bullet skims flesh and melts fur, but there's no time to acknowledge it. Down one weapon, he goes for his last - the switchblade in his boot straps - flicking it open with an audible snick just as Fiores yanks the letter opener out of his leg and slings it across the room.

Enforcers rush in, only to retreat as their boss turns his snarl on them, wordlessly demanding they adhere to his previous statement; back off, he's mine. Mordecai steadies himself on shaking legs as they face each other down. His right eye is already swelling shut behind the empty lens frame, cheek and jaw on fire, entire body shaking with adrenaline as the underboss levels the barrel with his chest, taking a limping step closer. "Hold fucking still, boy."

Mordecai does the exact opposite, diving towards the table at his right. Another shot ricochets dangerously close to his heels as he stumbles full-body into the table and overturns it for makeshift cover, clutching his switchblade to tightly his knuckles turn white. There's not enough space for the table to be effective cover - all Fiores has to do is limp closer, and he'll be a sitting duck - but it bides him a moment to think.

A third shot goes clear through the table, barely an inch from his hip. The tuxedo feels the air heat up, singing his fur tips as it passes, making it clear he can't stay there. He needs to disarm Fiores, but there's no obvious way to do that, time ticking past far too quickly with the click of a fresh chamber being loaded. 

If it's useless as a shield, perhaps it can be a weapon.

With no time to plan anything more elegant he pivots on his heel, grabs hold of two of the table legs and pushing back to his feet, charges the wooden table in the direction of the last bullet, using as a temporary battering ram. There's a yell of surprise and yet another shot through the table before he crashes into Fiores. 

The underboss falls flat on his back with a heavy huff of air as Mordecai flies over the table, landing a few feet away, the dull thud of a forgotten third weapon hitting his hip bone as his switchblade ricochets away. Disoriented and dazed, he tries to get back to his feet using the nearest wall and hisses when his left leg burns with pain. He doesn't looks down though, struggling to focus through a pounding headache and squinting through his remaining, crooked spectacle lens, attempting to locate Fiores.

Out of nowhere, Fiores grabs him by the neck and shoves him back against the plaster. He squeezes Mordecai's throat so tight the lad can't draw breath, his attacker gleeful as the adolescent struggles beneath his grip. "Your luck's run out," Fiores informs his prey. "Better use those last words to pray for forgiveness, though I doubt your God wants your soul back, after all you've done."

The monochrome feline pulls uselessly at that thick, meaty hand for a few precious seconds. He's suddenly very afraid to die, desperate to survive this encounter, when he recalled the tool he kept as a failsafe that knocked painfully into his hip before. Still clawing at the man's hold with one hand, he scrambles in his coat pocket and fumbles the handle of his last resort with the other, struggling to grasp it as his brain is slowly deprived of oxygen.

Dark sport dancing before his eyes, he finally gets a good grip on the claw hammer and swings.

His first strike is uncoordinated and clumsy, smacking Fiores not in the temple as planned, but the cheekbone, creating a resounding crack that echoes through the tiny room. Taken by surprise, Fiores releases his throat and stumbles with a scream of agony, pressing his hand to the fractured bone as his instincts put distance between him and his attacker.

Mordecai sags against the wall and sucks in breaths, lungs burning from the almost-fatal defect, but he doesn't wait for his head to clear. Still unsteady, limping slightly on his left leg, he follows Fiores the couple of feet he managed to put between them and taking aim this time, Mordecai strikes the man square on the temple with his claw hammer. A splatter of blood mists the tom's face and Fiores is knocked to the ground.

Fuelled by adrenaline, his near death experience and years of bitter resentment, Mordecai straddles the groaning man and slams the hammer onto his head again, and again, and again. Each hit sprays the adolescent with fresh blood he barely feels speckle his face and clothes, his weighted tool crushing the man's skull until his temple is concave and he no longer breathes.

Only then does Mordecai stand, letting the hammer drop to the floor from his shaking, bloodied hand. He stares at his former boss' corpse almost disbelieving, processing his first willing murder from an abstract perspective; it doesn't feel entirely real and yet, he can feel the blood crusting rapidly in his fur, the scents of iron and flesh thick in the air.

When he glances at the gawking enforcers, they recoil from the unarmed Kosher Butcher, not daring to approach the unhinged killer in their midst as Mordecai removes his pince nez to inspect the damage to the frames. Frowning deeply as he feels their twisted state, he sighs and replaces the bent specs on his muzzle, turning to the nearest enforcer with a chillingly cold stare.

"Contact Mr Savage," he orders calmly, glancing back down at Fiores' as he runs a now steady hand through disheveled hair and readjusts his suit jacket. "Apologize for the lateness of correspondence on my behalf, then emphasise the import of the call; that Fiores has been forced to resign."

[changelingsandothernonsense]

🎮, 🎻, 💯, and ❤️ for josh!! 👀

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies? (Outside of drinking and fucking) Josh's main hobby is tinkering. Mostly he messes about with Dwemer Artifacts trying to get them to work. He's pretty close to getting that DWIFI up and running...or at least he thinks he is. He's certain he's getting close. Any century now! He also doodles...like a lot. Mostly things he sees or shit he finds funny. He's able to draw quite well but will just default to stick figures if it's aimless scribbling. He's also very into cyphers, code breaking and languages. All his journals and letters are written in at least three layers of code. Tends to stem his paranoia. 🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)? No, he's not really all that musically gifted but he does insist on trying to get cred by learning the lute. He can play one song...and he's terrible at it. 💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know. Hmmm a lot of stuff about him is found in my art but - - Josh wears a prosthesis that he created himself out of dwemer scrap on his right foot. Corprus took his first and second toes (along with half his right pectoral and nipple) so he experiences balance issues if he's not using it. - He's almost completely deaf in his left ear due to a head injury that never healed right. - Josh spent 33 years in prison. Most of that time he was clasped in magicka-draining irons. It's affected his stores of magicka as a result and whilst he has a lot of raw power, he lacks any real reserves. He gets magicka drain quite frequently as a result. Josh has developed an overreliance on restorative potions to compensate. ❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

Josh kinda verges on sociopathy at times so-

He's persistent. If he wants to get something done he won't stop until he's through.

Despite what he tells himself he does actually care. A hell of a lot. He spends a lot of time ridding Tamriel of smuggling rings because (and he says it stems from selfishness) he doesn't want what happened to him to happen to anyone ever again.

He's a hell of a lot of fun at parties, provided he's not too plastered.

[springlock-suits]

"Ooh, tell us about Dave"

(To start, seeing so many aus and versions that made use of "Dave Miller" during actual events in Freddy's, instead of as some random mall guard DEFINITELY inspired me, I had never before considered that potential Dave had)

Dave works at the 90s location. As William was very much Not Allowed in Freddy's after '87

(Now, I haven't read the book in. Literal years. But I think my Dave might? actually be pretty similar to TSE canon? A bit less creepy though. And more seemingly trustworthy. Take this with a grain of salt though as again, its been many years since ive read the book)

He's very dramatic and showy while kinda pretending not to be

He never really outright lies, he doesn't make anything up, its more of just not telling the whole truth and leaving out (incriminating) details

He definitely considers himself "one of them" like canon Dave does. And will walk around the place just wearing the Springbonnie mask when there's no one to see him

When I think about what I personally want from a fnaf story, want it to be in the classic 90s location, when all the murders are already said and done. And I want the employees there to start trying to unravel the mystery after realizing the animatronics are alive. It ends up being like a murder mystery, unfortunately, I can't hide from anyone familiar with fnaf who the killer is, but at least I can still keep it from the characters! Letting them discover it in the end >;]

(Fun fact! In my design, Dave's haircolor is the same as Springbonnie's fur)

My William wears glasses, and while he can usually get away with not wearing them as Dave, he still needs them for reading. So I had a (scrapped) comic idea where Theo sees a glint of light and walks into the backstage area to discover Dave wearing glasses, queuing a flashback where we see William n the same pose wearing the same glasses! A delightful hint for Theo on who Dave really is!,, that he ends up ignoring because Dave has already established himself as a Trusted Friend and coworker-

.

"Any original FNaF characters and a bit of their lore?"

Fnaf ocs? Yeah! I've ah, only actually made and designed one character for my version so far, Theo!

Since the 90s location never had a missing children incident, but still had newspapers about them from previous locations, I imagine there are in universe "fnaf theorists" trying to figure out what happened, especially since Fazbear Ent is really determined to cover everything up

So I made Theo! (Theodore Emmet)

He's a works along with Dave at the 90s (fnaf 1) location! Any lore snippets you see in the area were most likely put up by him, his favorite animatronic is 90s Bonnie

He was alive and in the area when the original missing children's incident happened, so when he saw how Fazbear ent was trying to convince people it never actually happened, it sparked his interest in finding some indisputable proof. And keep the fact that such a tragedy happened common knowledge

He's around 45 I think! Ohh wait 30ish is better. And um, theres not much else about him! ľm trying to give him some more personality and interests, but right now I can't help but keep comparing him to my version of phone dude;-;

He's really not that finshed or fleshed out yet bdjsndks

[canis-rex-lupus]

GUYS I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY. MY OLD PSYCHONAUTS OC. RIGHT NOW

his name is

philbert funk.

this is him right here in fact. it's very old art but i still like it. there will be even more art of him later in the post...

click the read more to learn his JUICY backstory ok?

ahhhh good to see u. so glad ur interested in my philbert let me tell u about him.

PHILBERT!!! FUNK!!!! was an employee at psychonauts hq, and a hell of a good one at that. he was an inventor slash researcher, like otto mentalis, who he even got to work with on occasion. he'd invent psychic gadgets to enhance existing powers - things like telekinesis extender headbands that let you pick up more objects at once or telepathy mufflers shaped like earmuffs to get some peace and quiet without having to stick around in an isolation chamber (you can guess who that one was for). he was a quick learner and a hard worker who refused to let ANY job of his turn out less than perfect. real high standards - maybe worryingly so. he skipped a LOT of sleep to keep up his momentum. he was ambitious, VERY ambitious, and liked to test the limits of both his inventions and himself.

problem is, when you make overperforming your baseline, people expect a hell of a lot more out of you than they should - and most certainly more than he could deliver. the popularity his work earned him turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing as he worked himself to the bone trying to invent more and more impressive things to win approval again and again. what started out as a simple curiosity and love for science turned into the desperate need to keep things up lest he disappoint everyone.

philbert funk flew too close to the sun.

one of his greatest fascinations was animal telepathy - he had none. he'd always been, admittedly, BURNINGLY jealous of those who could speak with animals, as zoology was a special interest of his for...well, forever. so the idea occurred: what if there was a way to fabricate the power by making your dna more compatible with the animal you want to communicate with? if your brain chemistry is altered to be more similar, maybe it would be easier to make the connection for those who don't do so naturally, like himself. he creates a big elaborate machine meant to intertwine your dna with an animal by having it read the animal's pattern and then manipulating your dna to its shape. around summer 1981 he test runs it in front of everyone in a fancy tech demo using a goat, his favorite animal!

IT DOES NOT .... go well.

he comes out with a goat face, the goat comes out with a HUMAN FACE, both are in critical condition cause hello it's a machine that TWISTS YOUR DNA, everyone freaks. phil is immediately written off as a danger to himself and others and fired as soon as he's stable enough to leave the infirmary. blacklisted too. he's made to leave and no one sees him again....

.....UNTIL!!!!!!!

couple years later, now 1983 (just a few months after raz gets into the biz officially), otto sends raz on a little fetch quest to an old building on the edge of the woods - it used to be a facility for testing gadgets or scientific studies or whatever but it went out of commission due to budget cuts shortly after phil was fired and hasn't been touched since. it's a cut and dry mission. go find the place, get the tools otto wanted, come back. right?

ummm. wrong. cause tools aren't the only thing in there.

that's right babey. the funkatron has been hiding out in there for YEARS! two of them. to be precise. living off scraps and whatever he can find in the woods, all to stay and try to fix his machine so he can turn himself and poor greff normal again, hoping it would be enough for the psychonauts to forgive him and maybe, just maybe, take him back. and GOD does he look ROUGH!!!!

like the pic implies he doesn't actually feel all that messed up about what he did to himself (though he does feel bad for greff -- he gave that thing a human consciousness and now it has to be self aware forever) cause like. hey! it didn't go exactly as planned but it was one hell of a scientific feat. he just wishes he hadn't been so stupid and reckless; he lost the respect of his compatriots and idols AND lost his dream job, and rightfully so.

despite not outwardly showing a lot of guilt (still being able to be lighthearted about it and all), raz sees for himself that poor phil's mind is a MESS. it's a courtroom and the same hearing happens over and over and over. prosecution shows off the memories of the day of the machine demo as evidence, no one's there to defend him, he admits guilt, repeat cycle. the judge always gives him a chance to say something else but he ALWAYS pleads guilty. he is, but hanging onto the guilt forever isn't gonna help anyone so raz has to jump in and be his defense lawyer and do a sick phoenix wright like maneuver to finally convince him to break the cycle, pointing out that while he IS at fault he's not helping anything by dwelling on it and he needs to move on. raz finally gets philbert out of his............... funk B) IM the funniest guy on earth it's me.

raz does a lot of convincing and phil pulls off his best puppy eyes and it ALMOST doesn't work but greff steps in to vouch for him (he DID dedicate the past two years of his life just to try and help it) and hq agrees to take him back and get him on a rehab and therapy program since...he. hasn't talked to any human beings in 2 years he needs a little re-acclimating. while he's getting used to normal life again he gains some new interests like gardening! and crochet! since they don't really want him engineering again quiiiiite yet... but i think he's welcomed back after an initial period of wariness and he works hard to earn back people's trust and finally keeps a healthy work life balance 😋 and from then on he joins the ranks of the psychonauts' cool old guy club

THAT is my philbert story... thank you oh so much for listening. i just remembered about him today and i got so excited. psychonauts ocs are oh so much fun

[aliensmoothie]

ill be real i know jack shit about skyrim and i forgot. your skyrim ocs name . but canyou tell me about them

HERE THEY ARE the one on the left is Yol-Miin/Jack shes my dragonborn oc and the one of the right is Ruarc hes the ghost in Jack's head and also my eso character . i had some old discord messages that i spruced up ( some stuff has changed a little since i wrote them originally LMAO ) for you below the cut :) this is mainly like their backstory stuff as it's relevant to skyrim but there is a little more ( like the eso stuff ) . its just complicated to explain and ALSO im afraid of sounding cringe . but its ok because the skyrim stuff is like the important part LOL

so she was raised for basically her entire life in windhelm . whenever she ended up there ( as like a very young baby probably ) an old dunmer man ( Malran ) took her in ( also was the one who found him maybe ? ) and to the best of his ability taught her how to survive in windhelm . generally through the route of stealth which he was really talented in but he was very cagey about his past so jack doesnt know like . why . he was also married to a redguard woman ( Shinir ) , who was only in town every now and then , cause she worked as a caravan guard , but taught Yol-miin varying skills she learned out on the road . generally though , Yol-miin was Really talented at being able to read about something and then just . teach himself how to do it . So when he got older he ended up using that skill doing any odd job that needed doing in town ( from chopping firewood to fixing swords to whatever really . the jobs usually came from the dunmer in town and occasionally the dock workers but i know she also helped around the hall of the dead alot ) . Malran ended up getting arrested ( undecided on the reason . there might not have been one ) when she was like 18 , and he disappeared from the prison without a trace . There was like No clues or anything even for Jack , so he was assumed dead . After that he ends up staying at the argonian assemblage at the docks for about a year before realizing that there's really no purpose in staying in windhelm anymore when she feels like she doesnt really belong . So ( mainly because of Shinir's visits i think ) she decides she's going out to start adventuring . Then she goes to helgen , and the whole Skyrim Thing happens .

Ruarc is a little more um . complicated . to explain . he was , when he was alive , a necromantic experiment by a group of daedra ( maybe sheogorath or namira ? i havent decided at all . sheo would be fun though ) cultists living out in valenwood a long long time ago ( like eras before skyrim maybe . it was a while ago ) . the cultists' intent was to summon a demon into a piece of primordial ooze pulled off a dead changeling as a powerful vessel for . whatever demon they were summoning . but instead the demon and whatever like Living Potential was in the ooze fused together and made Ruarc . The cultists weren't awful to Ruarc , but they were trying Very hard to figure out how to get basically the same experiment to go correctly while using him as a catalyst . Eventually , they tried it again and it backfired WAY HARDER and set the whole surrounding area on fire , killing Ruarc and all the cultists . Then , a long time later , he ends up as a ghost living in baby Jack's head . he doesn't remember his life before at all , so he just kind of convinces himself that he's an imaginary friend , and hangs out in Yol-miin's head . He definitely also influences Jack's array of skills with the scraps of Past Life Knowledge that he has .

[elfmoon3]

A Shadowy Mist Chapter 12 (Transformers Animated story)

Pairings: Prowl x Oc and Bumblebee x Oc

Summary: Things have gotten more lively with PixelSpark around. At least Shadow Mist has another girl bot to talk to.

Location: a dealership in Detroit.

Shadow Mist helped PixelSpark find an earth vehicle mode so that the bubbly girl bot can blend in as Bumblebee waits for them. "Capitan Fanzone gave us permission from the owner. So pick whatever you want." She said, PixelSpark looked around and saw convertible. "That one." She said, scanning it and then transforming into it. "Ooh, this feels so cute." She said excitingly. "Y-yeah, very cute." Bumblebee said, blushing. PixelSpark transforms back to her robot mode and hugs him. Shadow Mist smiled at the two young ones. The three of them drove off to the Hideout, unknowingly that someone is watching them from the sky.

Back at the Hideout

PixelSpark found an empty room in the Hideout that Sari used when she was kicked out of the tower once. "So you were kicked out of your own home once?" PixelSpark asked Sari. "Yup, it was before I found out I was part Cybertronian." Sari said. "Oh. Wait, how does that work?" PixelSpark asked. Sari explained that her father found a protoform in his lab and that he touched it, creating her. "Wow! Learn something new every mega cycle." PixelSpark said. As she saw Ratchet come out of his room. "Morning Ratchet." She greeted. "Morning PixelSpark, morning Sari." He said. "I'm sorry, it's just an honor to be in the presence of a veteran of the Cybertronian war." PixelSpark said, but Ratchet just kept walking. "Is he ok?" She asked. "He doesn't like talking about the war." Sari said, "I see." Then an explosion was heard from outside. Everyone went outside to check out what happened. Only to see Megatron and his Decepticons attacking them. "Megatron!" Optimus said as he took out his axe. "Optimus Prime." Megatron said, "It's good to see you Autobots again." He said as he stared at the two females, "and got new recruits as well." He said devilishly. "I never thought Megatron would be this scary up close." PixelSpark said, hiding behind Bumblebee, "What do you cons want?!" Shadow Mist asked angrily, taking out her katana. "An offer, I heard that you research energon, Shadow Mist. Especially dark energon." He said, "My notes don't belong to you." She said, "But they will, old friend." BreakDown said, transforming into his robot mode along with the rest of the decepticons. "And I know that this place isn't rigged with Master Shade's traps." He said, "You have no right to say his name. You killed him!!" She yelled at her former classmate. "So what? He was lame anyway! Always saying that anger isn't the way of the cyber-ninja and all that scrap!" He said angrily. "But you could've controlled it. He was trying to help you. And you murdered him." She said, "True, but was he ever proud of me? No!! He always saw me as a delinquent. The decepticons know how I truly feel!! But if you missed our Master Shade so much. HOW BOUT YOU JOIN HIM!!" He said as he attacked Shadow Mist, who fought against him. The decepticons and Autobots started fighting. BreakDown and Shadow Mist fought each other, but Prowl kicked BreakDown away from Shadow Mist, "Shadow, you alright?" Prowl asked, "I am, but I'm still mad at him." Shadow Mist said. "Well, how fragging cute, your boyfriend had to come in and ruined the fun!" BlackOut said as he got up. "I gotta say Shadow Mist, I've always known you like the quiet ones." BlackOut said jokingly, "Why you." She was going to attack him, but Prowl stopped her. "Anger isn't the way of the cyber-ninja." He told her. Those words reminded her of something that Master Shade taught her. She disappeared and then reappeared behind BreakDown and used a move with her two fingers multiple times as he fell to the ground. "That was for Master Shade." She said, "The two finger stasis strike." Prowl said, "Impressive." He added. "Of course she's knows that move." BreakDown said, still unable to move. "You can at least go ahead and finish me off, I know you want to." He added, "I used to want revenge on you, but like what Master Shade always said, anger is not the way of the cyber-ninja." She said as Blitzwing quickly grabbed the young decepticon, "You wanna be next?" She asked him, "Let's consider this a lesson for him." He answered, "Decepticons, retreat! It seems we're at a disadvantage." Megatron commanded, all the decepticons left. Shadow Mist stared at them, leaving.

Later back inside

Shadow Mist saw that her notes were still there on her computer. She sighed in relief. "They're still here." She said. "Good." Ratchet said, "But why are they after your notes?" Bumblebee asked, "I don't know, it doesn't make sense. They attacked us, and that would have given them an opportunity to take them. But still, they didn't take them." She said. PixelSpark looked at her fellow femme bot and sighed. "Maybe they want the notes and you?" She asked in confusion, "But still, what is their goal?"

Meanwhile, at the location of the decepticons.

BreakDown screamed in anger as he sliced through a piece of scrapped metal like paper with his katana. "How dare she use that move on me!!" He yelled as Blitzwing watched, "You should at least calm down first." He said. "Says the bot with the multiple personalities!!" He yelled, Blitzwing then switched to his aggressive personality. "YOU WANT ME TO CRUSH YOU INSTEAD, SCRAPHEAD?!" He yelled at the young con. "Now, boys, let's not fight." Black Arachnia said smoothly, suddenly BreakDown calmed down staring at her. "Yes, ma'am." He said. Blitzwing went back to his calm self. "So, what happened to my sweet boy this time." She asked. "Shadow Mist used an old trick that my former master knows about on me. The two finger stasis strike." BreakDown said in a growl. Then Starscream came up to them with Lugnut. "But didn't you learn under the same ninjabot as her?" Starscream asked. "He never taught me that move because I was unworthy. So I was kinda at a disadvantage." BreakDown said. "But it was also her boyfriend's fault for taking me by surprise." He added, "So, the ninjabot and the scientist finally hooked up. Great!" Black Arachnia said sarcastically. "Speaking of boyfriends, where's your bounty hunting friend?" Blitzwing said in his crazy personality. "LockDown and I aren't dating for one, and two, I don't know. He and I only partnered up when the Autobots patrol around the city." Arachnia said. "Besides, he's not my type." She added.

Later in the city

LockDown drove to his hideout in a warehouse where he entered his ship in his robot mode. He stared at a modification that gave him memories of an old friend and rival. "If only you could see how much she's grown, Shade." He said quietly.

To be continued...

[aethesfaelibrarae]

Some of the earlier iterations of the main character/MC, Aderinsola AKA Rin Tanaka (the name was chosen as a slight differential to the OG MC Ren/Akira) with their tagline being "The Cynical Joker". As this is an Adult/University! AU, I've been moving away from the uniforms and more towards a dress code that the Thieves definitely aren't following in more subtle ways. With this version of Joker, I'm leaning more towards the Quiet Unhinged and Pragmatic side growing softer towards their companions over time. I really like the idea of incorporating more of the Karma system from SMT as well as trying out a new Fear mechanic -- more on that later. But it's also been really fun trying to walk that line of Rin being mistaken as male by a lot of the older cast at Shujin and still being able to be read a feminine. Rin is X-gender (or nonbinary, for those of us in the west) and doesn't really have a reason to correct anyone. When we first meet them in the story, they're basically still recovering from their stint with the Japanese police force and handling this new transition rather poorly and gets thrown into similar events as the original.

This collection of iterations is the most recent one where I was trying to commit to the visual identity and take notes. This is more than likely getting simplified and reworked because I definitely underestimated how hard the hair would be to draw in multiple angles. Do I want to keep the wolfcut inspiration? Yes. Will I be able to? I have no clue, please pray for me. But I am incredibly happy with the take your time icon.

The iteration before this one:

Where some of that more disheveled look comes to play and the trenchcoat layers idea starts up alongside the longer hair that becomes significantly shorter due to shrinkage. I was still struggling with anatomy at this point but I did know that I wanted the red inner layer for the trenchcoat and Shujin sweater.

And last but not least, the version that started it all. This was relatively early on where I just wanted to explore the concepts of Joker/the Wild Card users in general just being a little but fucked up than the average person and being a Black + nonbinary university student trying to fit into a society as homogeneous as Japan. I am incredibly proud of both that head angle on the scrapped Shadow from Kamoshida's Palace and the gold effect. I can probably figure out more of the UI elements in Figma now but as someone just starting out using CSP, I'm absolutely proud of younger Day.

The Game Over, You Lose was an earlier attempt at the All-Out Attack because again, the Show's Over wouldn't have necessarily worked for someone who views the world as one big game board. But nowadays, I am leaning more towards having the You Lose in the background and instead having Pay Up in the foreground using the iconic ransom font that P5 uses with a paper tearing effect.

I hope that this helps lean into the advice of draw your OCs as much as possible and shows the benefits of continuing to practice as well as gives some insight on how I, a self-taught artist, go about re-designing/designing a character.

[geminai-ramblez]

𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐀𝐔

SUMMARY: Oh, how the stories told everyone about a warning when daring to unleash this foul creature. There was a reason why he was erased from history. There was a reason why there were warnings in his cave. Oh, how foolish of you to think that you could tame an immortal being.

CONTEXT: A continuation of my previous post about an alternative universe where instead of being a hero and a student in UA. Midoriya Izuku was/is a tyrannical God left behind by history, yet his body still remains even after centuries of inactivity.

CHARACTER(S): Midoriya Izuku and Unnamed OC's.

WARNING(S): ABUSE OF POWER, BLOOD, COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT, EXPLICIT AND IMPLIED BRUTAL MURDER, GRUESOME ACTIONS + MINDBREAK + MIND GAMES, GREED, QUESTIONABLE MORAL CODES, AND VIOLENCE!

(let me know if I missed anything!)

A/N: As mentioned before, there will be sensitive topics that will be discussed, and for your sake and mine, don't read this if it makes you uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form.

Looking out for yourself is your main priority! You won't hurt any of my feelings if you decide this isn't your cup of tea, and that's okay. I just hope you enjoy the rest of your day after this. Thank you and onward to the continuation of this unethical AU!

CONTINUATION

Where the discovery of the rocks surrounding Izuku's grave could be dated back to the era/reign that was erased from history, aka, Izuku's reign.

It left scientists, historians, and probably the entirety of Japan ecstatic about recovering lost cultural meanings, events, and more that ancient Japan erased.

But this is where things take a turn for the worse.

Izuku has been dormant for centuries now, accumulating his "divine gift" to work outside his grave, influencing life outside his prison cell.

And what I mean is that while scientists and archaeologists are excavating his burial sight, people claim hearing a voice(s) begging for the grave to be open. For the door to be broken in.

If that doesn't get the people from opening the grave, he'll use more than just voices, making things disappear and appear near his door or making people have dreams or glimpses of when Izuku's reign was still around, showing and asking them, "You want to know? Get it from the source."

It got to the point that people began to question if recovering this burial site was even worth it or not because people kept losing their minds over things not being what they seemed anymore.

Then they closed the burial site for the sake of the employees and everyone involved due to the number of accidents and issues revolved around it.

Some even said that the wildlife around this place wasn't behaving like normal.

Because of that Izuku got mad because he was so close to freedom, but the people doing this 'excavation were weak-minded populace.'

It was then noted that people who did work around the excavation site and or were involved directly had misfortune after misfortune happened to them. One even lost their mind completely after repeating over and over again, "We anger a God, oh God, I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sorry...!"

Izuku's burial site was heavily guarded and had a routine shift so that those who protected this site wouldn't lose their marbles like the excavators.

But Izuku is ever relentless.

Those who dared enter and try to steal from his burial spot were met with the same voices, the same sweet little lies, and the same fate that those involved with his excavation got. Albeit, much crueler because if there was one thing Izuku hated the most, it was selfishness and greed.

A part of his character is that while he was a tyrant, he never took more than he should have because Izuku, somewhere in his cold and hardened heart, understood what it was like to eat the scraps.

To be the scraps that crushed his young soul before meeting the Emperor Sun.

In a way, he's honoring Yagi. Izuku's reign was bloody and miserable, yes, but it also allowed for prosperity for the common man. He never took more than he allowed himself, and he shared what he could with his servants which gained him some brownie points.

It didn't stop them from being scared of Izuku, but it showed how he still had the ability to be kind if people didn't harm what kindness was left inside of him.

He didn't care if the person had a family or not taking things that weren't theirs deserved a punishment, one much crueler than death.

Which is how guards discovered something ever so gruesome. The bodies - modern bodies - of the thieves were found near Izuku's sealed door, all mutilated yet alive, moaning out their pain and sorrows on repeat, begging for forgiveness and mercy from someone they call 'God.'

And it kept happening over and over again like something was compelling these people to do this and get the punishments that got more gruesome over time that the guards themselves couldn't handle it anymore.

"I have done this for twelve years now... I don't think anyone could handle seeing this. This is absolute torture... They have to destroy this place! I don't care if it holds Japan's biggest mystery, but there was probably a reason why this place was so well hidden!"

The guard who said that statement in an interview was found dead later on, near the burial site with their uniform still on, but dead this time. However, after a body analysis, their death was slow and painful.

Superstition surrounded the burial site and anyone sane knew not to go anywhere near it or badmouth it because no one wanted to be like the night guard whose death was quite gruesome.

But then finally!

One day, Izuku got his wish, and he was able to finally trick someone into opening his grave.

This person worked for the Hero Public Safety Commission, though Izuku could care less what a 'Hero Safeguard Advisor' was. He just wanted to get out.

He lured the person in with sweet lies about the endless riches inside his grave and the river of liquid gold that could be extracted and turned into actual gold.

And in Izuku's defense, his burial site, the inside of his grave, did have high-value things and even a river of gold that never solidified.

The reason behind this is that I mentioned earlier how Izuku got brownie points for being 'kind' to his servants.

It was his servants who put these things inside Izuku's sealed grave. They put meaningful stuff like a golden rabbit pendant, gold and emerald jewelry, and books and scrolls that held stories that Izuku read many times before.

Even things that meant something to Izuku, like a painting of the Emperor Sun and a river of gold he once mentioned offhandedly that he wanted to be buried with when he died.

When Izuku was sealed, trapped inside this "grave," he saw these things that were put inside with him. It made him feel funny and even brought a few tears out of him because he was again reminded that kindness was still out there.

He just didn't look for it hard enough.

These servants who worked for him were engraved into his memories, and when Izuku comes back, he will repay those families because Izuku is a tyrant, but he's a tyrant who knows where credit is due.

So, in a way, the HPSC person could've gotten rich and gained an easy way out of life.

Something Izuku utterly hates because life isn't easy. He didn't have an easy life, and even with the riches and gold at the tip of his fingers, he refused to indulge because these were gifts, and they should be treated with respect.

But, they were used, and when opening the grave and seeing money's worth of things and gold, they were slaughtered brutally and looked at the body of someone so young that had angelic features yet the poison and voice of the devil on their shoulder.

"So, alas, the greed overtook the heart and released the God to take on the maker."

Izuku said this in Old (or Late Old) Japanese. He doesn't have a grasp on Modern Japanese, but he knows no one will understand him. So, he uses tactics that he knows puts fear among the crowd.

After all, that's how he ruled over Japan for several decades and became a tyrant that was left forgotten.

Why not show Modern Japan the monster they left behind?

A/N: AND HERE'S PART TWO!

This is a bit shorter, but I feel like I explain what I have so far about this AU. I have not thought of who the servants will be or how the story progresses, but I'll continue to add to this AU when I think about it more thoroughly.

To be honest, this AU makes me feel giddy because I'm experimenting with 'A tyrant character who still has humanity because of that one act of kindness.'

Remember, one act of kindness can go a long way!

The same goes for this AU, but I'm also not going to keep it lighthearted because Izuku's cruelty is a big part of this story and how he interacts with people.

I'll make another post about his overall character after I finish drawing him because I have three drawings of how he looks on my sketchbook that I really want to share, but I have to finish.

Thank you for your time in reading this, and I hope you enjoy your day! Take care of yourself because you deserve it! - Gemini Out!

[gasolinerainbowpuddles]

Hey Puddles! Just finished the new installment of Whistle in the Dark and wow wow wow

First of all I am such a S L U T for soft!joel

Second, I was married to man who was physically abusive to me and you really hit this right on the head. The feeling of possessiveness, of a debt owed, of "You won't have anything unless I give it to you" is so spot on it made my stomach hurt a little.

I really appreciate your note at the end. I've never been one to shy away from a scrap, but when my husband was the one throwing blows I was literally frozen to the spot. It's hard for me to wrap my head around why that was my response even 15 years later.

Sorry for the rant, thank you or making me feel seen!

🫶🏻

Hi bb!

Not a rant AT ALL. Thank you so so so so so much for sharing this and your thoughts. I have been sitting with this message in my inbox for a few days now bc I wanted to give myself the time to process it all and respond appropriately.

Whistle in the Dark might be my softest Joel, second only to Feral Woman Joel. His character is so wonderful in all the different aspects of his personality that can be leaned into without going entirely OOC. He's such a rich character, and of course Pedro Pascal brought a whole new wave of inspiration with his interpretation of him.

I'm sorry to hear about your past relationship. I'm happy you're away from that and in a safer place. Unfortunately as you know, those experiences stay with the victim - even if they receive support or therapy or whatnot. Not saying it has to control your life, but it etches itself into the deepest parts of the brain for sure.

Anyone who has been in a situation like that before (or perhaps has seen it secondhand through parents or a friend) knows all too well how you struggle with what you "should do" and what you end up doing in the moment. The secret is, there's no right answer when you're with an abusive person. You will never be perfect because they will never accept anything no matter how hard you try to be "good." It's a lose-lose situation.

I knew I was on the right track when I was writing when my stomach also did that uncomfortable clench and turn. Although it was difficult to write at times, I wanted to give the story the realism and care that the themes call for.

I'd also like to point out that the reader/OC in WitD is a very strong individual. She endured horrific circumstances at the hands of her family before ending up in a survival team situation with Matthew. She works patrols in Jackson and is incredibly capable (I think back to the first installment where Joel had taken the time to help her learn to shoot better, and her marksmanship notably improved with the support). She's resourceful, a quick learner, and reliable, and she still has a good heart despite all the things she's been through.

The note at the end was meant to redirect any upset at the appropriate source (in this case, Matthew). I think it's common for the kneejerk reaction to be "why didn't you run?" or "you should've fought back!" because that's ultimately what we wish for the character or person in this circumstances: a deep desire for them to escape it somehow. Because human emotions are difficult and messy, this often comes out as victim blaming when it's merely the energy being directed in the wrong place. (Of course there are people who do blame victims. I'm not talking about those assholes.)

The concept of "no perfect victim" comes to mind with the third installment. If she freezes or doesn't fight back, she's weak or stupid. If she fights back or tries to get out of it, she's setting herself up for failure because he's bigger/stronger/etc. There's no right answer.

There's no right answer because there never is when you're with an abusive person.

Tysm again for reading, and I feel very strongly that the fourth and final installment will feel quite vindicating for you.

catch ya later, ♥Puddles♥