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101flavoursofweird · 3 years ago

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Fic Questionnaire

Thanks for @sixtyfourk for tagging me! I’m putting the questions under a cut because it’s quite long :’)

I’ll tag @northernscruffycat, @northelypark, @edward-elbowlick, @vermontwrites, @asa-liz, @yoshi-g-teh-first, @call-me-rucy, and @aquamarineglow but if there’s anyone else who wants to do this, please go ahead!

How many works do you have on AO3?

107… but a lot of these are just reposts or prompt-inspired fics that are 10 lines long!

What's your total AO3 word count?

378242 words

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Professor Layton, PLvsAA, Layton Brothers Mystery Room, Rhythm Thief, Voltron: Legendary Defender (I only watched the first two seasons, haha…), The Ancient Magus Bride (I was in it for the cute dragon mage— not for the main romance), Steven Universe, Ace Attorney (only as a part of PLvsAA), Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, My Hero Academia

…10 fandoms altogether, but some like PLvsAA and LBMR fall under the PL category.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Aizawa Doesn’t Give Hugs - MHA- 1111 kudos - (Why can’t I update my most popular fic?)

Fireflies - Steven Universe - 221 kudos - (Again, WHY DID I NEVER UPDATE THIS?)

Reset - PL - 134 kudos - (This is the one I feel the worst about because it’s an ongoing long fic for my main fandom and I’ve had so much support from readers but I just can’t find the strength to update it…)

Worth Fighting For - PL - 86 kudos - (My incomplete Whumptober fic!)

Mending - Voltron - 85 kudos - (I think this was one of the first fics I posted on AO3 and I was really happy about the response it got! And for a fandom I’d never written for before!)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I usually respond to comments pretty quickly because I want to show my appreciation for people who take the time to comment :) If I’m ever slow to respond it’s probably just because I’m busy or I’m trying to formulate a long response. If a person leaves a longer comment, I try to make my response longer!

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

That’s probably ‘To Boldly Flee’. It’s a fic I originally posted on FF.net but it’s now part of an Aurora & Luke oneshot series called ‘Looking Foward’ on AO3. The fic stars Aurora and Luke in an AU set during Azran Legacy. It diverges from canon after Descole steals the Azran keystone in the Nest. Aurora doesn’t want to go to the Azran sanctuary and face her ‘duty’ as the Azran emissary— she also doesn’t want to get STABBED IN THE HEART— so she decides to run away with Luke.

Aurora receives even more angst in this AU than in canon. After Descole’s betrayal, she starts to doubt herself and her friends, aside from Luke.

With a bit of help from Rook and Bishop, the two of them fly to London and then to Misthallery when they hear Targent have taken over the town. During this time, Aurora has her identity crisis about being a golem and having the fate of the world resting on her shoulders. She eventually decides to help Luke save his hometown because Luke is worth the world to her.

This all culminates with Luke getting fatally(?) wounded and taken to the Golden Garden. Aurora is so distraught by this point that she almost ‘floods the whole world’ in a kind of failsafe doomsday device the Azran may have implanted in her. Luckily, Descole and Layton show up to assure her that Luke is alive— but just barely. Aurora returns to her normal self and they get Luke to hospital. Aurora waits by Luke’s bedside for him to wake up. Aurora mentions that Emmy’s fate is unknown, but they still mourn for her.

In the original FF.net ending, Luke wakes up.

In the AO3 ending, Aurora just keeps waiting for Luke. ‘She could not age, so she would wait until he awoke. Even if it took forever...’

If I ever did write more of this story, Aurora and Co would probably go to the other Azran sites (Ambrosia, the Infinite Vault of etc) to search for a cure for Luke. But at it is, the fic is left open-ended as to whether Luke ever recovers.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really hate but there was one anon review that may have been ‘too brutal’ (their words). I can’t say it hasn’t affected the updates on that particular fic.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I wrote a couple of light smut fics back when I really shipped Layton/Emmy. I think I’d cringe if I went back to read those fics (but then again, I do that with a lot of my old writing). I can’t see myself writing smut now.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I can’t say I’ve had a fic stolen, but I was reading a fic a while ago and the wording was veeery familiar. I’m not sure why because the fic was already good up to that point? Why would they bother copying my writing? XD I can’t complain, though! We’re all technically stealing the original creator’s characters and concepts by writing fanfic.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, for my Rhythm Thief AU, Déjà Vergier! In this AU, 16-year-old Raphael gets taken in by the Vergier family. A Deviantart user called BakApple kindly translated my writing into French. With the help of Google Trabslate, I started translating their French Rhythm Thief fic— ‘July the Fourteenth’— into English, but I didn’t get around to finishing it. My translating skills are nowhere near as good as BakApple’s!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wrote a PL fic with called ‘If You Only Had Time’ with an awesome writer called Glowbug. It’s an AU (of course) where Rachel Bronev survives and she runs away from Targent with eight-year-old Emmy. Glowbug doesn’t seem to be active online anymore, which is a shame, but I don’t mind! I’m just glad we were able to write 6 chapters.

I don’t think I’d co-write any more fics now… but more for the co-writer’s sake than mine! I’m notoriously bad at updating long fics and I struggle to write under pressure or within a time limit. There’s a reason why I don’t enter Big Bang events, as much as I’d like too :’)

Writing fics is a hobby first and foremost. If I don’t feel like writing something, I’ll leave it and come back later, hopefully with renewed inspiration.

But I’m always happy to discuss fic outlines/ideas/characters’ with other people!

What's your all time favorite ship?

Apparently the ship I’ve written the most fics for is Janice/Melina on AO3?

There seems to be more content for them recently and that makes me SO HAPPY.

Ranhengela might be a close second favourite… Sometimes I literally forget both of these ships aren’t canon.

My favourite characters tend to be those who are so selfless and would sacrifice their lives for the ones they love— e.g. Janice and Henry— even if their significant other is presumed to be dead. I want these characters to be happy but I also want them to through ANGST.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I don’t want to say Reset… but maybe Reset? I haven’t given up completely but I’ve lost a lot of confidence with this fic. What I wanted most out of this story was for Luke to bond with other characters aside from Layton— his parents, Arianna, Emmy, Flora etc.— and to give these characters a chance to shine. But I guess I realised I can do this without all the crazy plot twists and time travel mechanics… like in Ready Now, for example. Most of that fic is just Arianna bonding with Luke, Layton and the others, and it’s hopefully giving Flora her chance to shine too! I guess after giving Arianna her own chapter in Reset I just really wanted to write about her, haha.

What are your writing strengths?

Someone mentioned in a nice review that I often fuse canon with fanon? That’s usually just me poking fun at the series— like when Arianna’s mother asks about Flora’s age and her adoption status, Arianna and Tony just shrug at her comedically. Who knows, really? :’)

I’ll often just make two character sit in a room TALK about their feelings.

Dialogue is an easy one, but I like writing dialogue for characters and getting their voices down. (I will forever portray Dalston with his official Yorkshire accent— not the fake posh accent they gave him the the US version of Miracle Mask.)

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it’s cool! …If it’s not used to mock another language— apart from English. Please make all the English jokes you want. I’ll probably agree with you and laugh at them.

I remember when I was re-reading Goblet of Fire and I cringed every time J. K. Rowling wrote about a character who wasn’t English.

I’ll occasionally throw French words or sayings into Rhythm Thief fics especially because that’s what they do in the game. It’s hilarious how Charlie has an English accent but then she’ll sprout a random French phrase.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Pokemon, but that short oneshot is long gone.

What's your favorite fic you've ever written?

I’m going to be boring and say Bonds Left Unbroken— an AU where Layton and Desmond both get adopted by the Laytons. I think I enjoyed the earlier chapters more, focussing on younger Desmond and Hershel, and especially their time in Stansbury. The later chapters don’t really branch out from canon that much, aside from the fact that Hershel and Desmond are on the same page during Azran Legacy.

I feel bad that I never got around to finishing the ‘bonus’ episodes, but it kind of just felt like the original series with Desmond phoned in :’) But I’m still proud of the original fic!

#Fanfic #answers #long post #my writing #my fics #thanks #TW: JK Rowling mention #Tagging just in case!#Bonds Left Unbroken #Reset #Ready Now #Aizawa Doesn’t Give Hugs #Looking Forward #Deja Vergier

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annoyinglyjovialbird · 4 years ago

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Voltron: Next Generation

A Portentous Warning: II

Word Count: 3010

The weekly meeting with Curtis on Earth and the crew of the Coeus happened on the day the teens were covering the bridge. Kova and Allie rushed past the kitchen, where the adults were eating whatever Hunk and Cake managed to make. Down the hallway, past the sleeping quarters, past Shiro's room, and to the left, was the bridge through the only doorway to the right. Kova never broke her stride, reaching out to grab her podium. Allie hadn't bandaged Kova's hands, leaving them still bruised and bloodied. Caleb, who had walked in seconds earlier, turned his chair around as Allie walked past to sit in her chair. Kova looked up at Caleb's turning, seeing the lavender fabric in his hands. He tossed the bundle to her like a basketball, and Kova managed to catch it. She had managed to put it on and pull the sleeves down to cover her knuckles when Krolia turned around.

"Kovalia," Krolia said, noticing the teen standing at her console. "I was wondering when you would come."

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Kova said. She leaned on her console, hiding her knuckles in the bend of her elbows as Krolia approached the podium.

"Um, sorry," Liz said. She and Cake were gaping at the sight of the Galra. "When did we meet?"

"Cap, you can't secrets from us," Cake whined, puppy dog eyes in full view.

"Your team?" Krolia asked, looking at Kova again. The teen had closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, hoping to ignore the other two members.

"Yep." She opened her eyes. "We have something to ask you."

"About cargo." Krolia placed a hand on her hip. "I recall. What is it and where is it going?" At that, the teen sucked in her lips and took a breath.

"Vatos," Kova called. Krolia, confused, turned around at the toddler that had been coloring in the corner. His sheets of paper were in disarray, with crudely made crayons in his fists. When Kova said his name, the little boy looked up with a toothy smile. "Hi," Kova said, giving a little wave. Vatos waved his fist before returning to his scribbles.

"No." Krolia was quick in her response. "Kovalia, I am not and will not become responsible for the child."

"Please?" Kova pleaded. "We can't safely transport him without running into the Fire." Krolia sighed, looking at the little boy. Vatos had managed to draw a mess of yellow, red, green, blue, and black. He stood, walked over to Cake's console, and proudly held up the paper to show it to Cake. Cake fawned over the picture, telling Vatos what a great job he had done. Krolia closed her eyes in defeat.

"Where is he going?" She asked, turning her head to face Kova. It didn't help that Kova was trying to hide a victorious smile.

"Earth, if possible."

"Not Altea?"

"If the Emperor were to become aware of the war, he would order all available troops to prepare," Allie cut in. "All of our citizens would be rehomed, and travel to Earth for refuge. Altea won't be safe."

"Like Daibazaal," Krolia said, her voice low. "Alright, I'll do it. But I expect something in return, Kovalia."

"You have my word." Kova rolled her eyes, sending off a message to Kenny. Since Kenny had been in charge of the toddler, Kenny was also assigned to prep a bag in case the deal came through. "Kenny will bring the bag, and Vatos is all yours."

"You're lucky I was already on my way here." Speak of the devil. The door opened up and quickly closed behind him, tossing the bag to Kova. Kova, in turn, tossed it to Krolia. "Hey, Grandma," Kenny said, waving. "Wait, Grandma?!"

"Kenneth, correct?" Krolia asked Kova, swinging Vatos's bag over her shoulder. Kova nodded. Cake explained, as well as you could explain to a kid, that Krolia was going to take him somewhere safe.

"Where Mommy is?" Vatos asked. Cake's smile faltered. Allie's shoulders sagged. Caleb didn't meet the little boy's eyes. Kova moved, descending the staircase to Cake's level, and sat down on the step. "Where's Mommy?"

"Mommy will join you later," Kova said, smiling at the little boy. "But she wanted us to keep you safe. So that's what we're going to do. Is that okay?" After a tick, the little boy nodded. "Good. Krolia, the woman over there, is going to take you to Earth. One of my dads is going to take care of you when you get there. Okay?"

"Okay." Another head nod from the little boy. "Will I be able to color on my way there?" Kova shrugged, picking up the little boy so he rested on her hip.

"You're going to have to ask Krolia," Kova said. "But I think she will." Kova had leaned in to stage-whisper in his ear, causing the little boy to giggle. Kova approached Krolia, handing Vatos to her. The little boy wrapped his arms around Krolia's neck to look over her shoulder at Allie and Caleb. Allie gave a small little wave and touched her markings. Caleb smiled at the little boy, only staring at him.

"Until next time, Kovalia," Krolia said on her way out, heading towards the emergency exit to the right of the doorway.

"Until next time, Krolia," Kova said softly, crossing her arms. After a few minutes, the Coeus shook again, and an escape pod flew past their window. The teens watched the pod until it was unclear if they were looking at a ship or a star.

"How long has Grandma been here?" Kenny exclaimed, finally unfreezing from his stance.

"Not long." Kova turned around, hoping to end the conversation. "This isn't—"

"Is the first time she's been on the ship?" Kenny asked, staring at Kova with wide eyes. Kova pursed her lips. With a raised eyebrow, she waited until Kenny finished.

"No, this is not the first time she's been on the ship." Kova walked over and climbed the stairs one syllable at a time until she reached the floor. "No, she hasn't asked how the ship is running and who fixed it." Kova finally made it to her console, pushing Kenny aside. He stood with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. He was shocked. Anyone else would.

"She probably thinks it was you," Kenny spoke at last. Kova did what she could to not roll her eyes.

"I can't speak for other people's thoughts, Ken."

"Everyone else would." With that, Kenny marched out. Kova looked after him. If it wasn't her shift. Kenny would have to wait.

The day stretched into the next, where the teens switched off with the adults. Liz and Cake offered to teach Pidge and Hunk about the little upgrades they had managed to do with their spare time. They admitted it was mostly Kova, but they helped.

Kova, on the other hand, stood in front of Kenny's door. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore her blue dress and leggings under her lavender sweater since her gray vest was given to Keith. She held only a tablet in her hands as she stared into the door. Liz, Cake, and Caleb were pulling out all the stops since Kenny decided to stay in his room today. With a deep breath, Kova knocked and opened the door.

The room was dark, save only for a distant red light. Kenny had turned part of the closet into a vertical garden. Kova wasn't sure if the plants were already here pre-launch, or if they were collected over their trip so far, but it was a mystery. Immediately to the right of the doorway, the door to the ensuite bathroom lay, also dark. Across from the door, a bundle of blankets lay on the bed. The door closed behind Kova as she approached. The only shifted when Kova sat on the corner closest to the pillow and the wall. Pulling an outermost blanket away, Kenny's head of brown hair appeared from the bundle. At least he was still here.

"Ken," Kova said softly. "Kenny, look at me."

"Go away." Kenny's voice was hoarse. "Go be perfect somewhere else." The mountain of sheets moved as Kenny tried to merge with the wall.

"Kenny," Kova tried to say.

"Kova this, Kova that." His voice was mocking. "'Why can't you be more like Kova?' 'If Kova weren't the Colonel's kid, I would've thought she was my grandkid.' 'Kova's everything everyone wants.' 'Kova is perfection." Kova hadn't said a word while Kenny mocked the comments. She almost jumped out of her skin when he turned his head to glare at her. "Why do you have to be so perfect for everyone?" He turned back around, almost slamming his head against the wall. Kova retracted her hand from the blanket, but she hadn't moved off the bed. As the blood that rushed in Kenny's ear calmed down, he noticed Kova had yet to make a sound. He turned around again, looking at her face. Those pretty amber eyes were downcast, filled with so much sadness and hurt, Kenny wished he could take his words back.

"I wasn't perfect enough for them." Kova's voice held just as much sadness as her eyes. "I have to fight with that every day. It doesn't help that eyes are always on me." Kenny waited as Kova took a deep breath. "I'm the Colonel's kid. I'm a top student. I'm the jack of all trades. I don't' have time to wallow, to process my feelings. I wish I did." Kova's eyes moved from her lap to Kenny's. "I wish I could be invisible, to not be the center of attention, to not worry about failing."

"You wish you were me." Kenny finished her sentence. A rueful smile appeared on her face, nodding gently.

"I wish I could do what you did." Kova continued before Kenny could say more. "You rebuilt, upgraded, and in some places, restored this massive outdated ship without anyone ever noticing." With a hesitant hand, Kova ruffled Kenny's messy hair. "Sam would be proud. So would Matt."

"What about Colleen?" Kova scoffed as she returned her hand to the tablet in her hand.

"Colleen has always been proud of her grandkids, whether they became evil emperors, homebodies, or high-ranking soldiers." Kenny smiled, playfully glaring at Kova. He sat up in bed, pushing his glasses onto his nose. That was when he saw the tablet in Kova's hands.

"What's that for?" He asked, pointing at the tablet. Kova looked down and smiled.

"I was hoping you would watch some old videos with me." She looked up, holding the tablet in front of her chest. "From before."

"Before?" Kenny asked, looking between the tablet and Kova. "Like, /before/ before? Before the Achlys?"

"Before everything."

"Let's do it!" Kenny said, excited. He scooched over to leave some room for Kova, who leaned into his pillows uncomfortably. They were much too soft. The tablet turned on and Kova clicked on a video file hidden under a folder labeled 'KHK'.

The first video opened with a dark screen, with muffled voices over it. At last, the camera opened to reveal a toddler. The little girl had short black hair with a little ponytail on top of her head, held in place by a red hair clip. The toddler had big light brown eyes, with her tongue intermittently darting in and out of her mouth. As the camera zoomed out, more of the toddler's outfit was revealed. She wore a long-sleeved red shirt with a bow in the middle and ladybugs where her pockets would be, and a pair of light gray pants covered in little ladybugs and red shoes tap shoes. Her playful smile at the camera quickly turned into giggles as someone behind the camera bounced their dark pants-covered leg up and down. The toddler turned her attention from the camera to whoever was there.

"Klance!" She shouted happily, squealing.

"How come you're 'Klance', but I'm 'Unatt'?" Matt said off-screen. The little toddler turned her head to presumably Matt with a smile.

"Untt!" The camera zoomed out further until the backs of Lance and Matt's heads could be seen. Lance had thrown his head back in laughter. The toddler, now assumed to be Kova, giggled again.

"At least you're 'Untt' now." Lance was holding little Kova, bouncing her on his leg.

"Be careful, Uncle Lance." The camera turned, giving a full view of what was the Kogane family home. With a turn of his head and across a floor shift, Lance looked at the dining table, where Kenny met his eyes. "TJ is gonna get really mad if you drop her."

"I know, Ken," Lance replied, grabbing little Kova's waist and holding her above his head. "She's just a little daredevil."

"She wouldn't be if you left her alone." The camera turned, flying over the armrest to focus on Pidge. She wore a long-sleeved green shirt, hands planted on the kitchen counter. Her eyes, matching the toddlers, were hard.

"Sorry, Pidge," Matt said, and the camera flew to the other side of the room. "But if she weren't a little daring, she wouldn't be walking, talking, or potty-trained."

"Yeah, Pidge," Lance said, finally lowering the little girl. She sat down on his lap, facing where the TV would've been. Matt handed her a stuffed ladybug, which she gladly accepted. "Pretty soon, little Kyla will be riding a bike into town."

Before Pidge could respond, a giant wolf appeared in front of the couch. Lance, who had been reclining, sat up to secure a hold on the toddler. Matt nearly jumped onto the couch. Kyla, with the black and blue wolf only inches from her face, screamed. The wolf's bright yellow eyes turned to face the screaming child, approaching her to sniff. As Kyla calmed down, about to reach out to pet the wolf, it disappeared. After the moment of shock passed, Kyla was lifted again to stand on Uncle Lance's lap.

"That was Kosmo," Matt said, coming down from the couch.

"Y'know what that means, Ky?" Uncle Lance smiled up at the little girl, who smiled back. "Daddy's home!"

"Daddy!"

Behind the couch, the front door opened. Keith, muttering something was wrong with the wolf, walked into his home. He wore his Blade of Marmora suit, recognizing him as a high-ranking member.

"Daddy!" Kyla exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Hey, Lance," Keith greeted, finally seeing the child. "I didn't know you had a kid." Both Lance and Matt looked at each other, then at Pidge, who was trying to blend in with the fridge. That was when TJ emerged from the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Dad!" He all but shouted. TJ's hair was shorter, cropped at the nape. He wore a familiar red and white jacket over a forest green shirt and black pants. TJ, with arms outstretched, walked towards Keith, who did the same. As Keith let go of his oldest, he walked past his second and ruffled his hair on his way to the counter to finally see his wife. It was quick. It could've been missed. Little Kenny, still sitting at the dining table, passed a note to TJ as he took a seat. TJ's smile fell as he read the note. He looked up to meet Kenny's eyes and Kenny gave a quick nod.

"Hey, Uncle Lance?" Kenny said, a little too loud for an inside voice. "Does Kyla need to go to the bathroom?"

"I don't know, Ken." Lance caught on quick, meeting the little girl's eyes. "Kyla, do you need to go to the bathroom?" She shook her head. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head again. "Are you tired?" At that, she nodded her head. A yawn followed, and Kyla started rubbing her eyes.

"I'll take her to bed," TJ said, standing up from his chair. "She's our little sister, anyway." Keith looked up at his son, watched him pick up the little girl dressed in red, and walk deeper into the house. Keith stared at Pidge, who had only closed her eyes. Kenny silently slid out of his chair, walked to the couch, and sat in between Lance and Matt. He was staring right at the camera.

"So," Kenny said. "What's the camera's name?" Both Lance and Matt now stared directly at the camera.

"Chad?"

"Why?" Lance asked, staring at Matt. "How about Buddy?" The camera did something, earning Lance's attention. For a brief second, the lens turned colors before returning to normal. Lance smiled. "Buddy it is, I guess."

"Okay, Buddy," Kenny said, and the camera deactivated.

Kova paused the video before it could continue. She looked up at Kenny, now fifteen years older than the video. He pushed his glasses up as he stared at the dark screen.

"I, uh, didn't know Buddy's deactivation phrase," Kenny said, laughing. "But it was boring afterward anyway. TJ came back out after putting you down and admired the camera. It wasn't until he realized that the camera could've captured an unflattering angle when he asked if it was on."

"Uncle Matt talked you through it, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled at the memory. "I was the only one who knew the phrase, besides you."

"I remembered." She smiled, too. "I always turned it on whenever something was happening. And if I didn't turn it on, Pops or Dad did."

"Who made the video?" Kenny reached his hand out to Kova, who handed over the tablet. "There's, like, an hour and a half left."

"Probably Pops." Kova shrugged. "Maybe it was Buddy. I just know that the video has been under my file for years and has only grown." Kova stood, stretching her arms.

"Thanks for that, Ky," Kenny said. Kova froze mid-stretch. "I really needed that."

"What? The memory?"

"The before."

Kova smiled, holding her hand out. Kenny handed her the tablet, watching as she turned and walked towards the door. No words were said between the two, but the nostalgia hit them all the same.

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darkchose · 8 years ago

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( I have a confession to make. I have fallen for...space cats. )

#🐾 tbd ;;#{ Liz watches Voltron 2k17 #like; i have seen some of my #online mutuals posts about 'em #and i just CAVED #I LOVED avatar the last airbender so #yeah; IT COULDN'T BE HELPED #plus i'm a cat person ;w;#ANYWHO #i'll get to drafts && IMs later tonight #for now i have to finish some job applications #&& i heard from a friend that #the ffxv chocobo festival is going to expire today??#so i'm gonna be playing that after i get some job stuff done #ttyl lovelies~ }

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heroes-never-discourse · 6 years ago

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So, there was an afterbuzz interview with the Voltron creators....

Man I've just like. Had absolutely no desire to seek out talk about Voltron. I've made my peace with the ending and I've holed myself away in my little Sheith and Allurance corner like I've been doing since I started watching the show and I've been happy there.

I have skimmed over some talk about it on Liz's blog and that's about all the interest I can care to give. I'm glad to have it confirmed that the epilogue was a last minute addition and that the ending was supposed to be kinda open, that's nice that's what I wanted to hear four months ago.

Which is my main point of irritation. I dunno what the situation was concerning talking about it but I really wish they'd done this like, four months ago. We just went way too long without a goddamn word about it that now I can't help but just be like

#anonymous online #vld is the first thing to have truly disappointed me #last time i was this disappointed over something was skyward sword #and that still wasnt on this level #sigh

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solange-lol · 6 years ago

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tagged by @jayjay-graceless and probably some other people but tbh ive forgotten

rules: answer the questions then tag ten people you want to learn better

name: e(liz)abeth

star sign: libra

height: like 5′5 but just barely

middle name: mae

put your music playlist on shuffle and list the first four songs: You Let Me Walk Alone by Micheal Schulte, Falling For Ya from Teen Beach Movie, Toy by Netta, All Time Low by Jon Bellion

ever had a poem/song about you?: i think my friend wrote a poem about me as a joke in 7th grade but i cant remember

last time you played air guitar?: never bc why air guitar when you can actually play guitar

celebrity crush?: DODIEDODIEDODIEDODIE <33

sound you love?: the sound of ross lynch singing “i dont wanna make it stop” in cant stop singing from tbm (i love ross lynch okay)

sound you hate?: fire alarms. i had to listen to one go off in my room every 10 minutes in the middle of the night bc it was broken and my mom didnt know how to fix it and didnt want to uninstall it

do you believe in ghosts?: i sleep in a haunted attic so yeah

aliens?: ive watched so much voltron ill just say yeah

do you drive?: no but it would be really useful if i could

have you ever crashed?: on a bike yeah

do you like the smell of gasoline?: who fuckin likes the smell of gasoline

last movie you watched?: the greatest showman

any obsessions?: percy jackson, voltron, and any rainbow rowell book

do you hold grudges?: no im weak and i break really easily

in a relationship?: no thank god i could not survive in a relationship rn

tagging: @bellecesca @g3mstone @percyseggos @underworldystuff @ditigaba @yikiesdotexe @temporary-teddycup @anonomonomous99 @liloloveyou024 @vlindervin7

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oasisofbabel · 6 years ago

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1 Intro - (working title: not a voltron fanfic)

Rebecca Athena Promachos

<Let’s see; four gun emplacements, thirty some armed Crădyn, and a VITA walker,>[Joy] Tyler’s voice drifted into my mind, projected through the air on a tightly aimed infrared beam.

<We planned for this; we knew the walker might come into play the moment we found out they’d taken it,>[Confident] I projected.

Six confirmations pulsed back at me, hidden among the electromagnetic spectrum under encryption that would make it look like random noise to anyone else. The pulse carried various other bits of data with it, and my body dutifully implanted the direction of each pulse into my mind to confirm that the others were in position around the pirate camp.

The camp was built from camouflaged tarp and rough-cut wood, likely gathered from the swamps around it. Pallets and pallets of hard cases stood under tarps meant mostly to hide them from overhead eyes. If we were right, there were millions of credits worth of black-market weaponry holed up in this camp – as well as the VITA walker we’d tracked to find this place.

The VITA was by far the most modern weapon these pirates owned, all the rest were ancient things but in good repair. The VITA could sprint through almost any terrain and carry its rifled cannon into the battlefield with it, unlike the Crădyn whose myriad of shelled legs didn’t give them a lot of maneuverability to begin with. The VITA’s mounted gun could tear through our armor, and if it managed to hit one of us with its cannon … well, best not to think of that sort of thing.

We crouched in thick undergrowth, on the dark side of a tiny moon orbiting a banded gas giant. A storm plagued this part of the little world, further hiding us in the gloom. Even to the ever-watchful sensors of the VITA walker and its vigilant turret we were practically invisible. Infrared detection would see a silhouette breaking temperature pattern built directly into the hardened plates of our armor, and the same plates could absorb LIDAR and other radiation.

The aliens couldn’t see us. The walking gun couldn’t see us. But I could see everything: Two binocular eyes that could pick out the lice crawling on the pirates and tell me that they were exactly one hundred and six point three meters away from me; two more monocular eyes that extended my peripheral vision until I could practically see in all directions at once and into spectrum bands well beyond color. A fifth “eye” buried in my skull could even see gravity.

<I see two Crădyn with recoilless rifles> Elizabeth reported. <Nine rifles of various make, and the rest are armed with spears.> With her pulse came a long list of data that my body quickly parsed through, confirming what I’d suspected since we arrived.

<Liz, Tyler, John, Evan: you round up the Crădyn, capture who you can and silence resistance quickly>[Command] I pulsed. <James, Kelly, and I will collect the VITA.>[Command]

Six confirmations projected back to me, and when I sent the pulse to move we would switch out of silent running and strike at the same time.

Silent running mode stiffened the muscles and closed the armor around my joints, face, and over the exhaust ports along my spine. I was invisible, but stiff and slow. The moment I intended to move, however, my entire body unlocked.

I pulsed the others and willed myself into motion in the next instant. At my will electricity flared through my skin: it flexed muscles attached to my armor plates in critical points to pull them out of the way, and finally unlock my limbs so they could really move. With my nose and the exhausts along my spine finally free to breathe the turbine in my chest screamed to life. Joints free and air flowing through our radiators we exploded up the hill with titanium claws extended.

We crossed into the camp in four seconds, sixty-five tonnes of screaming metal and polymer slammed into the side of the walker at nearly one hundred kilometers per hour. James and I ducked our heads at the last moment, contacting with the horns on our heads. Kelly slammed into it in a full body tackle. Our combined momentum launched the much heavier vehicle off three of its trunk-like legs and we pushed against it.

James’s turbine screamed louder as he urged the VITA to tip over onto its side, but caught itself and teetered but would not fall. He was the largest and strongest among all of us, but even with Kelly and I we simply could not hold it. The VITA’s legs kicked and curled as its inertia saved it, and gravity began to overcome us.

In the back of my mind update pulses from the others flashed across my perception: They’d routed or killed the armed Crădyn that had been on patrol. Evan had cleared a command tent, but whoever had been running the camp was long gone. Various data leaked in with every update, but it was nothing unexpected, so I didn’t bother to comprehend any of it.

As it was, without its troop support we could take down the VITA with impunity.

I pulsed at James and Kelly and we dropped the VITA back onto all six legs. I moved quickly to latch my jaw over its cannon and the others surrounded it. The cannon fired into the ground and I felt the recoil wrench at my entire body, but it wasn’t enough to shake me loose. It dragged me along the ground as it tried to back away or turn its turret, but the turret lacked the strength of the legs and could not maneuver the gun with my weight hanging off it.

Kelly and James leapt onto the VITA’s back and together nearly drove it to the ground. James braced himself against the cannon and wrapped his jaws around the mounted gun to twist it away. It barked angrily but compared to the cannon in my mouth its recoil was nothing; if he wanted to I suspected James might be able to rip it off.

Kelly scrambled to get her teeth into the hatch, chewing on where she hoped the latch or the hinge was. Electricity arced as the capacitors mounted inside her mouth discharged into the VITA, it was a long shot but in simpler systems the shock could open electronic locks all on its own. When the shock failed to be effective she started on the seal between the hatch and the hull. Her claws and hardened steel teeth quickly opened a tiny crack that the pressurized air of the cabin hissed out of.

Kelly pulsed at James and they switched places. She took the gun and gave it its own shock to try to deter the gunner from firing any more, and James attacked the hatch with the sharpened armor on his nose. Essentially a head mounted axe, James swung the entire weight of his head into the crack Kelly had made for him and wedged open a hole in the hatch.

A sidearm barked inside the cabin and James flinched as the plasma deflected off his armor. He dove back in and used his jaws to open the hole just enough that the fuel pumps in the back of his throat could spray accelerant into the cabin.

The panicked hissing from the Crădyn had been subdued before, but it rose to a crescendo now. I activated the radio sitting between my shoulders and aimed a high-powered radio burst at the antennas attached to the walker, demanding immediate surrender. The walker capitulated through the Crădyn equivalent of violent coughing.

The hatch unlocked, and James backed off as the Crădyn rushed out of the VITA, desperate for fresh air in their gills. Kelly herded the crew of six away from the tank and circled them, just in case the oily fuel that was soaking into the creases between their shell plates wasn’t threat enough for them.

With the VITA and its crew secured I recalled the others, who gathered the few prisoners they’d secured and made their way toward our position at the walker. John arrived first and took a running leap over the VITA, close enough to James that he had to flinch back to avoid being hit. John landed in front of the huddled crew and revved his turbine in an imitation of a scream.

<Stand down!> I pulsed as the Crădyn startled.

John froze instantly. He didn’t broadcast it, but I could almost sense his shame as he began dutifully inspecting the other members of the pack for damage. He spent more time with Kelly, checking to see if her botched tackle had hurt her.

Tyler arrived a moment later dragging a pair of Crădyn across the ground in a net that was still attached to the mechanism mounted in the back of his throat. Elizabeth was close behind and quickly deployed her own net over the VITA crew with a pneumatic hiss.

Evan approached in a relaxed trot and hopped casually up onto the crouched VITA alongside James. Evan leaned over the hatch and I braced myself as a set of segmented legs pulled a small drone free from the mount at the back of Evan’s throat. It dropped into the tank and I could hear its little legs as it moved into the pilot seat and began to manipulate the controls.

[Disgust] Kelly broadcast as she turned her head away.

<I still say the drone is grosser than the nets>[Mirth] James noted.

<”Grosser” isn’t a word>[Mirth] I broadcast idly with a shake of my head.

<I said it didn’t I?>[Smug]

<So gross!>[Disgust] Kelly’s whole body shivered, and even though neither broadcast it I could almost picture the ear to ear grin James and Evan would be wearing.

I only remembered to activate our retrieval beacon as an afterthought, too caught up in the bantering that James had started. I may have prided myself in being able to read the squad, but James had an uncanny ability to derail concentration.

Evan stood the tank up with jerky motions. I could only imagine how difficult it was to pilot the drone, using the drone to remotely pilot the walker had to be ridiculously awkward. Add James’s pestering and that a VITA wasn’t very graceful to begin with when compared to us and it was a miracle Evan could even stand the thing up, let alone get it walking. Nothing that any alien had ever built could possibly match up with even one of us.

I knew the tank could easily reach forty kilometers per hour in the muck of the swamps, but we could double that easily – more on favorable terrain. Wide webbed paws kept our weight spread across unstable footing, while this walker would sink into the ground and move by sheer strength and mass alone. If they flipped, turning back over was an awkward affair – but we were agile, enough that we could twist and turn in the air.

The walker was blind and dumb, even compared to James who only had two eyes. Most of us had at least four bioelectronic eyes, both in binocular and monocular position. A second artificial brain hooked directly into our own meant information processing and reaction time was almost instant. No alien pilot or system could compete.

A roar shook the air at the approach of the SST Stargazer, our modified System Security Transport. A moment later and the clouds opened around the ship. The clouds swirled around it as it circled the camp and lowered itself down until its hangar doors were level with the hill. Only the very front balanced on the soft soil of the hill, the rest was supported by its reactionless drives and the generously sized grove it had crushed in the process of landing.

Before the doors even opened our Director was on the radio, she growled and yipped over the airwaves to demand my presence on the bridge immediately.

Evan piloted the tank toward the hangar door as it opened, heedless of the ranks of furry Centillan officers filing out to collect the contents of the camp. The cavernous interior of the hangar slowly revealed itself, eventually just wide enough to carefully walk the VITA through. We rushed in ahead of it, and while the rest secured the cargo and prisoners I moved to my rack.

Seven metallic frames circled the hangar, my own at the rear. Metal restraints unfolded from their carefully secured position as I approached, bare polymer actuators flexed and twitched to life in a clumsy imitation of the real mounts they were based on.

I turned around in front of it and the restraints began to guide me into their embrace. They firmly secured and immobilized my tail and limbs before lifting my entire body into the air. Override connectors snaked their way into ports revealed as the muscles sown into my armor flexed, an autonomous response to the specific electrical signal of my frame. As they connected, my mind began to fragment in a familiar way. I felt the connection to my body and artificial brain terminate in stages, gently but firmly separating us.

I gasped within my cockpit as carbon dioxide began to build inside me, the reflex normally overridden by direct blood oxygenation given to me by my body – no, by the warform I was piloting. The binocular eyes of the warform closed, and with it my vision was returned to my real body.

The pilot’s cradle was dark and claustrophobic, but the firm grip the seat held on me slowly began to release me as its cells shrank. I felt the frame settle the warform into its final reclining position as the layers of armor in front of my eyes began to open like a zipper.

The stomach of my warform flayed itself open to reveal the interior of the hangar. The frame carefully positioned the warform in front of a hanging catwalk and the heavy metal supports to either side of my warform grasped. I felt the machine sigh as the final connection it had to me was terminated and the cradle fully released me from its firm hold. Metal connectors along my spine unlocked from the seat and I pulled my arms down from above my head.

Climbing free of the cradle was always difficult, after such a long synchronization with the warform my own muscles felt stiff and unresponsive. A set of handles on articulated arms presented themselves to me and I pulled myself out of a reclining position onto the catwalk, the texture of the metal stabbed at my flesh through the polymer-weave wraps around my feet.

The stab resistant unitard that was standard for the females in the squad left the spine exposed to the air: Every motion, even breathing, made it feel like sandpaper against my skin even though I know the weave was nearly as fine as silk. The oversensitivity was normal, and thankfully the hangar lights were dimmed or else I’d have been blinded when the warform opened.

After twelve hours in the warform I needed to move to the grooming suite, but even thinking about scrubbing myself clean made my skin itch – and besides, the Director was waiting. I hissed with every step as I made my way toward the bridge. I passed scaled Vyrăis wayfarers who examined our warforms as they went about their business, marveling at the wonders of human innovation – innovations from a long, lost empire. I felt their quartet of eyes on me as I walked, fixated on one of the only humans alive.

I checked in my belt with its knife at the lockers near the exit of the hangar. I even risked the pain of pulling the cap from my head to release my hair, I hissed as even the relief of removing the tight cap brought pain with it.

By the time I entered the bridge I was feeling slightly better, at least enough that the lights didn’t immediately blind me.

The bridge of the Stargazer was a hodgepodge. There were as many science officers as actual security officers huddled around workstations, all keeping the vast machine that allowed us to deploy afloat. And the consoles were equally mixed, either standard as they would be in a normal Security transport or something that James and Evan had torn apart and put together again to interface with our warforms. Director Astrid Dromgoole paced along the raised platform running down its center, her authority amplified by the higher ground.

Director Dromgoole was in charge of the entire assembly, a position she continued to decry as a punishment in disguise as a promotion. She was Centillan, a long and slender people with short arms and legs tipped with clawed paws. Her long muzzle was tipped with a nose unparalleled in sniffing out criminals, and a chipped fang that flashed in the light as she turned to face me.

She walked away from the officer she’d been arched over, rising to her full height to tower over me as she demanded my report. I delivered it in my best imitation of her language, from what I knew they had many languages but that this one had become their trade standard because it was easiest for alien species to learn. Lots of species did that – except for humans, there were only seven of us around and we all spoke the same language.

I could imagine that my accent was terrible, the language was easy to learn but I could see her cringe on every other syllable. I tried to be terse for her sake, summarizing how the assault went for her from my perspective. As I spoke a science officer offered her a tablet that began to display other data we’d recovered, like the water-logged ledger Evan had managed to find. Her long whiskers twitched thoughtfully as I finished my report and scanned the data.

She growled her displeasure. She’d been hoping to find the “head of the serpent” during this raid. Unfortunately, other than the weapons, this pirate cache had been practically abandoned. With what amounted to a Centillan sigh, she asked me what my thoughts were.

I dutifully reported that my team and I were exhausted and needed to recover after a long synch. One of her round ears flicked at me in annoyance, but she agreed on the condition that I send her a memo on the subject as soon as I could.

She dismissed me, and I knocked my ankles together in my haste to perform a stiff Imperial salute. I managed to hold my expression of pain until after I’d exited the bridge. Now all we had to do was wait to return to the Home Ship and take an extremely unpleasant shower.

#hfy #science fiction #chapter1 #is this how you post things?#oc

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