#miria writes

[tsuriaa]

# 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐓 ᝰ | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

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Summary: A girl with odd morals found herself being acquainted with the most chaotic people she had ever met, especially when she's just trying to blend in with the crowd and not create a crowd.

IZANA COULD only stare at the scene in front of him out of pure jealousy, currently in disbelief at what he was witnessing. Anyone passing by could tell that he was infuriated with something, well in this case, someone. The orchid-eyed male then found himself scowling in disgust at the pair from across the corridors of the hallway, who were currently engaging themselves in their small talk — similar to how old acquaintances conversed after they finally reunited.

Normally, upon seeing such a sight, Izana would have walked away and minded his own business — however, he couldn't do that when it was a mere stranger clinging to his other right-hand man like an annoying leech. Although, no matter how much Izana tried to deny the fact that the aurora-eyed male was growing close with the [hair color]-haired female, even someone as delusional as he was could tell that his friend was growing fond of the [eye color]-eyed female.

And Izana didn't like that and wished he could simply drag his underling away from that [hair color]-haired female. Unfortunately though, just as he was about to try to mend his friendship with the aurora-eyed male, a random woman appeared out of nowhere and began clinging to his underling, denying him the opportunity to begin carrying out his plan on the first day of being a sophomore. Izana Kurokawa was a well-known man who handled his affairs rather efficiently and effortlessly without lifting a single finger — yet somehow, his plans never failed to execute the exact outcome he anticipated. That was one of Izana's skills that he greatly pride himself on, as it served its purpose for nearly his entire life, so how come things were not going his way now?

The thought of his plan not going his way, just because of a mere stranger, brought a dangerous scowl to his tan-skinned face. He had faced several enemies in the past, yet none of them ever truly became an obstacle to his plans, no matter what kind of opponents he was facing. Yet his pride refused to remain defeated over an idiotic fool who had no idea who she was dealing with. The white-haired man had never felt this much hatred and humiliation towards a person until that woman came along.

I seriously can't believe I'm about to waste another second fretting about such a trivial matter. Besides, it's nothing but a nuisance that likes to cling to him, I can easily take care of it later

The white-haired male then closed his orchid eyes in an attempt to calm himself down before letting out an exasperated sigh at himself. He began turning his heels away from the direction of the pair, intending to head in the opposite direction. However, not before casting yet another disdainful glance towards the clueless pair, specifically at the [hair color]-haired female. What was it about that woman that made the sleepy man feel at ease again around her? He was never the same towards Kakucho or him ever since that foolish incident, he knew the man longer than that woman ever did. So how come it was only the [hair color]-haired woman — a mere stranger — who managed to bring out that old side of his, that was buried so deep that not even he could dig it out?

"Izana, our class is about to start soon, so it's better if we head in now" A familiar voice soon interrupted Izana's train of thought, Izana then retracted his head that was looking over his shoulder to stare at the familiar figure in front of him. The figure who was now facing Izana was made out to be a male with natural black hair styled in a buzz cut. The white-haired male then nodded his head and let out a hum in agreement at the black-haired male's statement, before his shoes began moving on their own and started clicking against the hard concrete, which was soon followed by footsteps from his right-hand man.

Was that... him just now?

The male with a buzz cut soon came to a halt, after ensuring that his orchid-eyed friend was far enough ahead to make his absence go unnoticed. The dual-colored male peered over his shoulder to observe the figure that his friend has been eyeing for a while. His dual-colored orbs then started following the slowly dissipating figure that managed to trap his friend in a daze. A glimpse of silver locks that his squinting eyes had been trailing after — soon came to a stop once it vanished from his sight as soon as the sliding door slid back in.

Him or not, I should still learn to mind my own business. We're no longer close like before, for fuck's sake

In frustration at his previous thoughts, the dual-eyed individual turned his head to face ahead before ruffling his hair. Hoping that would at least distract him from the recent thoughts that had occurred in his mind, though there were a couple of times when his mind tended to wonder — if that incident hadn't occurred, would they still be the same? Sharing contagious laughter while recounting their silly childhood stories? Or, if they all had a bad day, would they console each other and have one another's back? As much as the male respected and saw Izana as an older brother figure, it would be a lie to say that he could blame Silver for what Izana had done to him, out of his fear and selfishness.

His younger self was probably wondering right now — if his friends had already made up as they all laughed it off before embracing each other in a group hug, just like they did after every fight that comes in their friendship. The black-haired male could only wish that was the case, but recalling the events of that day left him a bad taste in his mouth, making him never want to bring the subject up again.

Oh yeah, me and Izana have the same class, guess I better catch up then

The male with a buzz cut spent a few minutes spacing out before quickly snapping out of a daze as his gaze landed on his left wrist, where his silver watch was attached. Once the dual-eyed male saw the time on his silver watch, his dual orbs widened in surprise before the male then hurriedly hid it by tugging on the sleeve of his white dress shirt, in an attempt to hide it from the public. The black-haired man quickly shifted his head from his shoulder to face forward before his heels slowly began to clatter against the concrete floor. The dual-eyed man then started jogging in the direction where his friend had gone to.

. . .

The two males who were brawling against the concrete floor were soon brought to the infirmary, as soon as they were separated with the help of students. Along with the students who got injured during the process of separating the two rowdy males, who were then imprisoned within the Alchemy laboratory, once their injuries has been taken care of. As a result, the two males who were a few meters apart from their desks were bandaged up. Although their injuries had already been treated — anyone inside the laboratory could tell that they still held grudges against each other, owing to their frustrated expressions and averted gazes, looking everywhere but at each other. It was basically like watching two boys avoid each other due to their silly arguments, which was a pretty adorable sight to see in person. If you could easily forget the look they had on their faces, a few minutes before.

"..Augh, I can't believe we just wasted thirty minutes trying to separate you two, and now we only have twenty minutes left... Ahh, I'm not paid enough for this" The older male narrowed his gaze which was directed towards his two students, who were currently pouting and grumbling insults against each other from apart each other's desks. Though, neither of them could retort to each other's insults, seeing as how they didn't want to be in deeper trouble that could only resort to expulsion. They would rather write a 1000-word essay about the things they liked about each other than land themselves in expulsion.

"We can't waste any more time here, chop-chop everyone!" When the dual-haired man noticed the expressions on the two males' faces, he couldn't help but rub his temples in frustration at his students' behavior. Before the said older man decided to begin proclaiming his words while clapping his gloved hands at full volume to get the students' attention so that the lecture could finally begin. The older man was currently resisting the fashionista urge to leave this school as soon as the man reached his early thirties and never return to Teyvat for who knows how long! ...He merely wished to do nothing but take a long rest after dealing with everyone's nonsense here.

"Now, I would greatly appreciate it, if you could all listen to our discussion carefully, take your textbook out or not — I don't care. It's not that much needed anyway" After receiving some dismissive looks from the students, the grey-eyed man ducked his head from behind his desk and brought up what appeared to be a dusty projector, before abruptly wiping some dust that was lying on top of it. By the time the dust was finally gone, the older man gave a disgruntled look and turned his head away from the projector, as he began coughing into his elbow after coming into contact with the dust that had managed to fill his nose. After struggling for a few minutes to clean the projector, Professor Crewel began placing his laptop by the side of his desk before turning on the projector next to the laptop, which soon revealed what appeared to be a PowerPoint regarding a topic about the dangers of chemicals. Ah shit, here we go again.

"..Ow, Ahh, they sure didn't hold back huh?" Your attentive [eye color] orbs soon got distracted from the presentation, after hissing in pain as you chuckled at the end of your sentence while shifting the mini cold compress slightly to the untouched areas of your medium-sized red bruise glued to your left cheek. In case, any of you were wondering — yes, you were one of the students who got their ass handed back to them while holding back the two males. If you knew that this would be the outcome, you would've said goodbye to your scholarship because there was no way you're doing this again for the sake of your grades!

Aside from the small scratches and bruises, you were receiving while growing up, you'd admit that the red bruise was a new sensation to you. However, it doesn't mean you were planning to experience the stinging sensation anytime soon unless you were a masochist — which you were definitely not. Speaking of bruises, unlike your face, which only required a cold compress to gradually heal the bruise, Silver held up a large cold compress to his temples which has a white bandage cloth wrapped around his head like a massive cut had recently occurred, since the nurse from the infirmary panicky wrapped the cloth around his head as if a single drop of blood came falling from his cut could cost your friend's life.

When in reality — you and Silver literally had the same injury, with the only differences being the size of your injuries and where they were located. Yours was on your left cheek, and his was near his temple. Which also meant your injury surpassed Silver's in terms of sizes but did you receive the same treatment as your friend did? No, because the nurse didn't attempt to show any signs of concern for your injury and only gave you a mini cold compress before calling it a day, whereas the nurse showed double concern for your friend as she began fretting over him like a mother hen and even getting a cold compress thrice the size of yours!

Look, it wasn't because you had a problem with favoritism most of the time, since you were used to your parents favoring your siblings more than you — but the staff too?! Although you weren't close to any of the staff members, you recalled the look of betrayal and disbelief written on your face as your gaze was then drawn to your friend, who was greatly flabbergasted by the nurse's sudden attention towards him. You didn't expect the nurse to treat him with the utmost loving care, but you were hoping that the nurse would at least treat him the same way she treated you.

You didn't mind how the nurse treated you, but the nurse shouldn't have made the favoritism that obvious to the other students back there!

Although at the same time, you'd be lying if you said you didn't envy Silver and the other students who were favored and received more attention from one of the staff members. Because you knew damn well, that if you confronted one of the staff members, they would either try to deny it or kicked you out while reprimanding you to prioritize your studies more rather than asking such nonsense. Sometimes, you didn't like how this school managed to make you remember those memories from home that you wanted to forget.

Your scholarship might or might not have been the only legitimate reason you used to get away from your family; don't get it wrong, you adored your family to an extent and would do anything for them, but being with them could be... suffocating and exhausting at times. Almost as if interacting with them on regular basis was a tiring chore, to the point where you'd gladly occupy yourself just to avoid completing the task. You were a woman who didn't mind company as long as communication wasn't required, but you'd rather spend the rest of your time alone with no one interfering. Yet it seemed like saying "I'd like to be alone for now" automatically meant you didn't want them around anymore, as they would take offense to it without giving you any time to explain your side. Perhaps it was one of the reasons, why you didn't hesitate to accept a full scholarship from a prestigious school — "Anything to get away from my family" was a statement, your younger self would say.

You were aware that your next statement was about to sound childish or unreasonable, but being away from them made you feel like no one could criticize every detail of your mistakes, insecurities, and generally everything they deemed as a mistake from you. You remembered that day like it was yesterday when you thought being away from them all was great because now, you didn't have anyone criticizing your failures and judging your entire existence every single damn time. This was thanks to the school's scholarship that enabled you to get away from them while using your piling work as a valid excuse to avoid having any sort of interaction with them! However, your two years stay in Teyvat made you eat your words, as soon as you noticed yourself craving the usual warmth your hometown brought you — even though these thoughts lingering at the back of your head said otherwise.

Do I even want to go home? I mean, of course, I wanted to see my family, but for some reason..-

You began leaning your left cheek more on the mini cold compress, no longer finding the pain unbearable since the cold from it was slowly disappearing. Things around you became nothing but a jumbled mess, and the reminder that you were in the midst of a class was thrown out the window, as the topics that you learned were already a piece of cake to you, thus not sparking any sort of interest upon hearing a recapped topic from last year. Until your train of thought was abruptly cut off, when your [eye color] orbs were drawn to a small crumpled ball of paper that kept rolling until it was in front of you, your dejected expression quickly changed into confusion as you noticed the object's sudden movement, as though someone had blown it to make the crumpled ball of paper move.

Deja vu much?

Remembering a scenario that was very similar to the one you were in, you couldn't help but yet again — let your curiosity win as you set the mini cold compress, which was now lukewarm, next to your right elbow before carefully opening the crumpled ball of paper as if inside the paper was a ticking bomb waiting to explode. After you finished opening the crumpled ball of paper, your curious gaze was met with what appeared to be another handwriting written on the crumpled paper.

'[Name]-san, you appeared to look uneasy; would you like me to take you back to the infirmary? And please do not worry about the lecture; I could always send you a copy of my notes later. If this isn't the case, may I ask about your well-being? I thought I'd ask since you seem bothered. Nonetheless, please forget about this, if you ever feel uncomfortable with my suggestion :))

- Silver'

Although the words written on the paper caught you off guard, seeing as how they weren't another meetup like the one you received a few hours ago in Chemistry class, it was those words that almost made you want to cry on the spot. Fortunately, you had that much self-control to hold your tears back with a teary-eyed frown; anyone looking at you would think you had just stubbed your toe against your desk to cause such a reaction, and probably felt the need to hide it from the public. This could have happened if you hadn't noticed the crumpled ball of paper in front of you, right on time.

You weren't sure why, but reading the note your newfound friend gave you made you wanna burst into tears in front of the whole class — still, you didn't want to stand out that much or embarrassed yourself on the first day so never mind. Although the tears that were slowly welling up at the corners of your eyes, accompanied by an ugly frown plastered across your face, were the only option left to you. It was the only thing that was keeping you from bursting into tears and publicly humiliating yourself. It was honestly a funny sight for everyone who caught a glimpse of your face.

Embarrassing

Was something you'd immediately thought of as you watched yourself struggle to control your emotions. It honestly made you feel, or perhaps you were sensitive, that just because someone decided to have the human decency to ask about your well-being — made you feel bad for wanting to burst into tears and feeling overwhelmed with emotions when Silver did nothing wrong to be the cause of it.

Now that you noticed, it has been quite a while, since anyone had taken concerns relating to your well-being, well at least, the genuine ones. Nowadays, people would frequently begin a conversation with a "how are you?" to which the other person usually responds with, "Oh, I'm fine, thank you for asking." However, have you ever noticed how no one uttered, "Are you alright?" as a way to begin the conversation? Perhaps, it was primarily because people would only use a statement to express their concern for their loved ones.

Normally, you would've assumed that the person asking sees you as someone important to them that they even bothered themselves to express their concerns for you. In your case, however, we were talking about the Silver, and not any other human being here on Teyvat. To be quite honest, you had grown fond of him after your brief interaction with him a few hours before. Pathetic? Yeah, you were aware. Or it was probably due to the lack of communication from people you encountered last year, but still, that nagging doubt at the back of your mind about Silver's intentions never planned on leaving anytime soon. Did he even see you as a friend? Or did he simply ask to be nice? Coming from a delusional person, you'd think you and Silver were starting to get along ever since that conversation happened between the two of you. Well, if you could call it a conversation, but if you were to say, you strangely felt at ease with Silver after that — something that wouldn't always happen to you after engaging in small talk with someone.

Never mind, it just might be your wishful thinking, all you did was exchange words with one another like what decent beings would do and you were already considering him as a friend? Quite pathetic and naive of you, honestly. Just so you know, [Name], this wasn't anything similar to "My Little Pony" or anything like a kids' movie, where all you had to do was converse with another to be instantly considered as a life-long companion. Honestly, that day could've been avoided if you hadn't been so stupid and gullible back then, you know?

No wonder why they grew bored of you

You then shook your head in a response to get rid of your thoughts. The last thing you wanted was to be distracted with your nonsense and accidentally spaced out before you could even send a response to Silver. Knowing Silver, you didn't want the male to grow worried over your inattentive-like state. At the thought, your hands hurriedly made their way through the insides of your pockets as they began exploring, yet the failure of finding a certain item that you had purposefully left behind at your homeroom made you want to smash your head against the desk because of your stupidity. Of course, Lady Luck has to put you through obstacles where certain items would have been sufficient to help you in most situations, but the problem was — you left it.

Just as you were about to dig your head into your folded arms in a depressed and hopeless-like manner, a small tap on your shoulder soon interrupted your train of thought. However, you were expected to be met with a stupid question from a clueless student who wasn't paying attention to any of the lectures, but you sure weren't expecting to be met with a joyous smile instead from one of your seatmates a few meters away from your desk.

"Ah hello there! I kinda noticed what's going on between you and Silver with the help of Koko- Ow!!" The turban-wearing male greeted you with a small wave before hissing in pain just as he was about to finish his sentence. In response to the sudden pain the turban-wearing male was experiencing, Kalim's shoulders rise ever so slightly while in the background was shown a smiling salmon-haired female.

"Kalim! Are you alright?!" You whispered in a panicked tone towards the turban-wearing male, whose head was lowered down as a reaction to the sudden pain — you guessed it — on his foot. Damn, and here you were thinking that Kokomi was the sanest person in this class, guess you better behave yourself around her to not ticked her off.

"Oh he's alright, [last name]-san, there's no need to worry!" Kokomi gleefully reassured you with a kind smile, as if she didn't just stomp hard on her classmate's foot to save herself from the embarrassment of being mentioned. An adorable sight actually, if we simply chose to ignore the whimpering noises resonating from the male's lowered head.

"Y-Yeah! What Kokomi just said.." Kalim meekly confirmed while slowly looking up at you with a weak smile, although the smile Kalim was wearing didn't look like his usual ones but instead forced, it was probably because his foot was still aching in pain by how hard the salmon-haired female stomped on it. If someone like Kokomi could make a man lower his head down and whimper in pain, just by stepping on their foot — you bet all of your allowances that you were staying the hell away from the female without an ounce of hesitation, at all costs.

Your [eye color] orbs could only do nothing but looked at Kalim up and down with concern and a judgemental gaze. Sure but with that tone of voice, it wasn't obvious that he wasn't agreeing with what Kokomi said. Once again, sarcasm exists for everyone.

Surely fate wouldn't be too rough on you this time... right?

"..Are you sure that you're really alright Kalim-" Because of how far you were in terms of the distance between your desks, you could barely see his right foot trembling slightly underneath the desk by the time you decided to tilt your head to the side with a narrowing look. Look, you were attempting to use the stool hair to help you see it by leaning it to one side a little, alright? At least, you're making an effort!

"-Alright then, since our time is almost up, know that we're all going to do a little experimenting tomorrow in order to 'improve' our relationship with one another — so I'd recommend choosing a partner for this activity and discussing your plans in advance... I don't plan on dealing with tantrums anytime soon.." Crewel stated firmly, his grey orbs narrowing ever so slightly towards the troublemakers in his lecture — roughly half of your entire section's population. Crewel then mumbled the last statement beneath his breath while he began rubbing his temples in an attempt to calm himself down before he unknowingly lashed out at the students; this would not look good on his resume if Crewel wanted to continue pursuing his dream of becoming a fashion designer.

A partner? That... seemed like a difficult task to complete, given that you didn't know any of the students here personally in your section. You weren't sure if it was just your fear of approaching people or the people themselves around you, yet the thought of approaching someone so casually and asking them to be your partner for an activity simply made your stomach churn uncomfortably, as it would appear that you were asking a random stranger to do you a favor. At least it was something you would've felt if you encountered someone strange. Oh well, guess you couldn't really do anything in this situation but find a decent one who was willing to cooperate rather than ending up with an insane one you were forced to deal with.

Alright then, let us start from-

Never mind because what the actual fuck is this?

You guessed it — everyone had already risen from their seats to discuss their plans with their chosen partners, but you had yet to find or speak with anyone about your ideas. While Kokomi appeared to be discussing something, Kalim could be seen from your left side, sending you an apologetic smile. Yes, even Kalim and Kokomi were now talking about their plans with one another, but it was more like after Kalim returned his attention to Kokomi; the turban-wearing man did little more than nod quickly in agreement with the salmon-haired woman, even though the male himself had no idea what they were talking about.

Well, if Kalim wasn't available — you could just try and asked Silver-

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself down, a wobbly grin slowly graced your sun-kissed skin before turning around to face the said male, only for it to disappear quickly by the time you noticed a — what seemed like a pushy girl — hovering around over Silver's arm whilst he could do nothing to make her stop before simply sending you an apologetic smile when the both of you accidentally made eye contact.

-And there goes my chance of choosing Silver as my partner went, goddamnit man. Who the hell can I choose now?

You know what, we weren't even going to talk about how fast they got themselves a partner before you could and just focused on finding your partner as the entire section consisted of twenty students, meaning that there was probably someone out there looking for one. But if not, then you didn't mind experimenting on your own, as it wasn't anything new for you to work alone. What? You weren't chosen as one of the scholars at a prestigious school for nothing.

Oh, you could only do nothing but pray to the archons to give you a break for once and have them pick a cooperative person for you to have as a partner for the activity. You didn't mind dealing with the twins later on — if they were going to be merciful enough to choose someone decent for you to have as a partner, then you're considering it a deal done! Although, you weren't about to encourage it, just in case they ever took it seriously. Gotta keep it safe, you know.

Come to think of it, where the hell was your supposed partner? Ohoho, they better not plan on skipping out on you — you've had experience with those types of inconveniences, so you could either blackmail them into telling their parents about their "wrongdoings," which only consisted of saying "I know what you did" with a straight face to scare them, or tell the professor that the said partner didn't do anything to help and have him separate your combined grades to your own so everything would go to you. Either way works for you, as long as they finally agreed to work with you!

You then step down from the tool chair as you have already made up your mind about what to do. Firstly, you were going to find your partner. Once you found the said person, you'd waste no time discussing your plans (mainly yours if your partner was stupid) and that's it. Then, the day of the experiment commenced.

The classroom soon became a bustling crowd by the time your heels landed against the concrete, making it a bit overwhelming for you to focus on the task with your classmates' loud chatters invading the air and overlapping with one

another. Well, this was just awkward; better make it quick, you supposed.

"—imp! Hey! Here here!!" You wouldn't have realized you were spacing out if it hadn't been for the cheerful voice interrupting your daze-like state halfway through, miraculously, however, you could still make out a couple of words being yelled out, despite the loud chatters almost blocking the voice midway through their sentence. Heh, you guessed that seeing firecrackers go up to the sky up close and suffering the consequences of it helped sharpen your hearing, huh? Seriously though, it did help improve your hearing by making you deaf for around one and a half month.

Good thing you had your old friends to suffer the consequences and the scoldings of your parents with, otherwise you would have to carry everything all alone.

Ah, you seemed to be getting sidetracked again. If it weren't for the eagerness and curiosity itching your brain to find out the source of the voice calling out to you, you'd one day get distracted to the point where your mind could stray far from your current objective, that would be no good.

Realizing that you might make the owner of the voice wait any longer, you quickly pulled yourself together before scurrying over with your best efforts to get through the small crowd that would probably be enough to trap someone else in. You'd have to thank the owner of voice for helping you out back there.

"Hah, hah, hah... Ahh, thank you so much for helping me back there, if it weren't for you who knows how many seconds we have wasted-" Oh. Shit, fuck fuck fuck. It's him, It was the guy you were trying to avoid all this fucking time. Your first instinct was to run away from your spot immediately, but if it weren't for the failed marks scaring you even more than this guy right here, you would've taken the rare opportunity to get away from this guy.

"Hmm? Can you continue what you were saying?? I really like the sound of you thanking me, y'know!" Floyd looked down at you from his tool chair with his heterochromia eyes before humming happily at himself. Although it might be very obvious to your other classmates that you looked like you just shit yourself with the said male's gaze on you, they paid no mind to the both of you and continued with their business. There's no way that they're about to risk their whole career, for a person they barely even knew.

"Ahem! Well... I think we can do that later, uhh shouldn't we be focusing on how we're supposed to go on about our experiment tomorrow?" You cleared your throat in the most formal manner you could handle, you weren't planning on giving them the pleasure of knowing that you were scared of them! even though they most likely knew about it, since you were running away from them this morning.

"Tch, that can wait, don't plan on being boring now, little shrimp!" The sly twin rolled his eyes at you, before merrily beckoning you over to the tool chair next to him with a shit-eating grin.

"Alright, you know what," You spat in an eerily calm manner. His lack of interest in his studies was something you could care less about, given that it wasn't necessarily your business, but for god's sake — your grades were on the same line as his of getting failing marks if you continued to play along in his gig and you weren't letting some random dude involve you in his idiotic shenanigans that could cost your hard-earned scholarship to vanish into thin air like Thanos' victims.

"It's either we think of ways on how we can start our experiment for tomorrow — or I'll simply tell Mr. Crewel that you didn't help out in any way and have him erase you from my team. So, what's it gonna be, Floyd?" You finished with a deadass look indicating that you were serious about the words you uttered, at this point, you were just hoping that you managed to cover up your petrified state pretty well to not make it obvious that you were fucking scared. Having the enemy know that you were a scaredy-cat hiding behind a tough facade would do you no good.

"And here I thought you're a fun one to mess with.." Floyd grumbled before looking up to the ceiling, pissed that his good mood was ruined again but he didn't expect that his crush would be the one blackmailing him which kinda worsened his mood more. His heterochromia eyes then landed on your figure in a creepy leisure manner with a frown decorating his face.

"Oh no, you didn't. Listen here, I don't know what I did in the past to "suddenly" made you gain interest in someone like me nor do I care, but I swear to god if you don't fucking cut this crap right this instant, Leech! I can and I will get you suspended on your first day." You snapped at the male before you, slowly closing the distance between you two while firmly pressing your finger against his chest, applying more weight with each contact. Even though it has only the first day of your sophomore year, this guy was already testing your patience. You didn't know why you were being dramatic for some innocuous words, but you felt humiliated by being told you were basically boring when you did nothing to him, and he even said it in front of the entire class! And you weren't boring!

Students who turned around to see what was causing the uproar quickly regretted their decision when they saw Floyd staring at them with a crazed expression. Floyd gave the students a look that said, "Mind your own business or you'll see what happens next." Some students, on the other hand, simply watched in amusement. Not feeling like stepping in to ease the fight that had nothing to do with them. Besides, it was basically like witnessing a couple's argument in real life and they were pretty sure whatever they were watching was much more interesting than whatever the hell they were doing.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, a habit of yours whenever you tried to calm yourself in situations that required the most patience and willpower "Did... Did you really not listen to anything I just said?!" Looking up, you began noticing Floyd's gaze was nowhere near you before letting out an offended scoff at his behavior. At the same time, you couldn't help but deadpan at yourself, you saw this coming that a guy like Floyd would purposely zone out whenever they were being called out on their childish behavior yet you couldn't help but let it infuriate you!

"Hah, what? Sorry, I didn't-" His previously crazed-wide eyes had been replaced by eyes laced with confusion. Did this kid take acting lessons or something? Damn, he's really good at this one, you gotta say. Almost had you fooled if you weren't part of the situation unfolding.

"Ugh, whatever, you know what, fuck your stupid ass, Floyd Leech!" You rebuked Floyd while shooting him an accusing finger on his chest for the last time. By the time you saw the stunned look gradually form on his face, just like you were hoping for, you stormed out of the laboratory with tears gathering at the corners of your [eye color] orbs. They were about to slide down the side of your cheeks if you hadn't managed to wipe them just in time for people not to notice. "Boring" might not be that deep to anyone, but for you, being called by that word takes you back to those memories you'd rather forget. The fact that you were in the middle of lecturing him until you found out he wasn't listening at all, made you feel like you just tried to talk to a wall.

You never would have expected your second encounter with the sly twin to turn into such a disaster, but one thing was certain: you don't think you want to see him again for a while.

NOTE : this chapter might be unedited since i just copy paste it from wattpad, will fix it later once i have the motivation though dw

[thaisibir]

Claymore backstory headcanons

(Yagi has set up a compelling world and cast of characters in Claymore, but so many of them have unknown histories, so that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I thought I try fleshing out some of my favorite characters with my own takes.)

Miria: She was the daughter of the most talented tracker and scout in their village. Her father would coordinate search parties and patrols, working well within groups. She learned about leadership from him and greatly admired him. In her warrior days, she strives to follow her father's example. One day her father returned as the only survivor of his search party from a yoma attack. A smart girl who knows him well, Miria caught on to his suspicious behavior and realized he must be a yoma in disguise himself. She'd refuse his orders to come home or stay home. As a child she enjoyed racing other children for fun, often coming out as the winner. From those races she knew the village like the back of her hand. She'd run around ducking into nooks and crannies beyond the yoma's sight and reach, sending him on a wild goose chase until the village had time to call in a warrior to kill him. The warrior's handler was so impressed by Miria's spirit and intelligence that he recruited her on the spot.

Galatea: Though born with a humble background of no distinguished class, she was famed for being the most beautiful girl in her village. She married a man and had a son in her late teens. Their happy life as a family was cut short when a yoma killed and took over her husband's body, and Galatea had to witness him devouring their son. Rafaela was the warrior who intervened and saved Galatea's life. Ermita, the man who found Galatea in exile from her village and would become her handler, is the only one in the organization who knows of her past life. She never speaks of her deceased spouse and son to anyone, preferring to keep memories of them locked deep in the back of her mind. Galatea joined the organization as the oldest among the trainees, though her maturity served her well as she quickly rose through the ranks to number 3. Despite herself, her strong maternal instinct and soft spot for children never went away. She sees Clare as a wild child who often needs a firm hold on the leash, and dotes on the orphans in Rabona.

Sophia: Born into a noble family as the only child of a powerful and wealthy lord. She was a sickly girl whom her father doted on. When she wasn't bedridden and sick, she enjoyed singing. She survived many bouts of life-threatening fever and a yoma attack that killed her father and decimated her estate. Fearing she was a yoma too, the surviving servants sold her to the organization and fetched a hefty sum for her noble status. Since warriors don't succumb to illness as humans do, and stinging from the servants' betrayal and the loss of her father and home, Sophia's inner strength manifested as extremely powerful physical strength that led to her high rank and moniker within Teresa's generation. Noble roots are behind her elegant demeanor and polite speech. Unlike her peers, she's great at exchanging pleasantries to put regular folks at ease while on the job. She can sweet talk her way to staying in nice inns at a discount, mostly because she loves a nice clean bed and hates sleeping outside in the dirt and cold like a vagrant. The one thing she enjoys while being on the road is singing and humming to herself. Underneath her lady-like aloofness is a persistent melancholy and the ultimate wish for a quick death in battle that would end her warrior life, so she can be reunited with her father. In the end, she got just that.

Noel: Born into a family of traveling performers, Noel can't sing to save her life, but her acrobatic talent and prowess was put to good use as she'd astound the audience with daring somersaults and jumps. She was the only girl amid four brothers, so verbal spars and rowdiness among them was commonplace. Her family was attacked by yoma on a path through the woods, on the way to their next performance at a nearby village. Noel ran as fast as she could to that village, leaving her the only survivor. As a warrior, she loves to put on a good show while slaying yoma, giving it a performer's spin. Sophia poking fun at her acrobatics is always a sore spot. Noel is secretly jealous of Sophia's talent for singing, though she smugly enjoys her rival's discomfort with the nomadic life she had known since birth. So used to having brothers and her family allowing free reign of her tomboyishness, Noel feels out of place surrounded by girls and women as a warrior. The power system of attaining ranks and numbers stirs her competitive streak. It's the only thing that gives her some sliver of purpose in what she believes is an otherwise bleak and pathetic existence. Deep down she misses her brothers and wants more than anything, even more than being a top warrior, to see them again. She ended up getting what she wanted.

Irene: Born as an orphan with no memory of any family. She scraped by stealing from vendors in the streets for food and clothes. A shrewd observer and gifted with tactical intelligence, she'd gauge her targets from afar and work together with other orphans on joint thieving operations. But outside this, she has zero people skills and has no idea how to go about socializing and making small talk. When Teresa's hit squad stormed the inn, Irene let Sophia handle the payment and apologies to the innkeeper. After Priscilla's awakening, Irene was perfectly content and good at living as a hermit with no civilization in sight.

Flora: Born to merchant parents who made a living of selling and arranging flowers. She got initiated into the family business at an early age, and found her talent in swiftly yet elegantly nicking off thorns and other undesirable parts of a flower with a small knife. She was always soft-spoken, though sharing her extensive knowledge of flowers would break the barrier of her shyness. When yoma invaded her village, they destroyed her family's establishment while slaughtering them. The sight of crushed flowers smothered in blood was seared into her mind like a hot brand, fueling her desire to later grow strong as a warrior so she can cut down the ugly stain of yoma in this world. Born and raised in the warmth of the southern region, she despises the cold because hardly anything colorful and beautiful grows there (which she hid very well during the mission in Pieta).

[silverwings22]

Help Moth Make a Decision

So I very much want to participate in ClonexOC Week. I had a ton of fun with my Arttober project and I really think that towards the end the daily practice was starting to improve my digital art skills. (I am bullied by my own lack of knowledge, having done only traditional art for 30 years, but I wanna learn.) My problem is: Picking an OC to focus on feels like trying to pick a favorite child. I've narrowed it down specifically to the Bad Batch OC's at least. For context here, Face of Blood and Ink will at least be partially posted by February. Doctor's Orders will not be. Caught in the Crosshairs and Song of the Sea are finished.

[raven-of-domain-kwaad]

Miria Ivon, veteran of the Great Galactic War, Jedi Shadow and later member of the Council of First Knowledge.

[ibrokeeverything]

I want an Isaac and Miria buddy comedy spin-off full of zany misadventures so bad

[lena-artz]

Miria Madin's Story(my Star Wars oc)-part 1:

Tw: probably very bad english lol(I'm sorry, english is not my first language and I translated most of this on Google)

Miria Madin lost her parents when she was very young, because of this and being very poor, she started stealing out of necessity. She stole things like food, money or things she could sell or trade with someone. She was caught by the guards almost every time, but she never received really severe punishments, as she did not commit such large thefts.

When she was 13, she met a boy, he was poor like her, so they started stealing together. They ended up falling in love, but it was a child's love, pure and innocent. They did everything together.

One day, because of a small robbery gone wrong, a corrupt and heartless guard killed Miria's love.... She was devastated. The only thing she had to remember him by was a jacket that he always wore, and she never took off the jacket again so that she could always remember him.

A few years later, when Miria was 15 years old, a very strange thing happened, a Jedi master came to Ephyria. This was a very unusual occurrence, due to the fact that the queen of Ephyria, a narcissistic and controlling woman, did not like Jedi or any authority from another planet(or the Republic) coming to Ephyria to try to solve problems that were not theirs or to try to get her to sign some stupid agreement.

This Jedi finds Miria, just because she was actually trying to steal from him, but he notices the Force in her. These powers were things that Miria never gave much importance to and, because she lived alone, no one ever noticed either. The Jedi asks Miria if she would like to leave Ephyria with him and receive the proper training, which she should have had since she was a child. Miria, with all her hatred for her home planet, immediately accepts and goes with the Jedi to Coruscant.

[paging-possum]

WAITTT IM SO OBSESSED WITH HER LIKE first of all the colors on this are sooo pretty and I’m loving her palette SO much but also TRANSLUCENT WINGS?? COOL TATTOOS???? I cannot believe Miria died saving someone she isn’t even there but she’s so tragic for that…I’m assuming you mean the spell was from the same deity/source of power that Cyrus gets hers from which is even WORSE, even if it wasn’t her it was still the one she was devoted to killing the other one she was devoted to…Cyrus Raymond u are so much more to me than the tank of the party….

I have a new dnd oc. since we’re starting a new campaign (pre written but idk which one totally) and uhmmm buff aasimar paladin gal who’s trying to decide what to do with her powers after her fiance died (AND SHE’S GAYYY) anyways-

OH MY GOD I ALMOST LOST THIS IN MY INBOX WHILE WAITING FOR THE TIME TO RESPOND BUT AUGH. BUFF AASIMAR PALADIN???? I simply must know what her powers are and what she was using them for before and how her fiancé died and what she looks like

[angst-and-fajitas]

Haaiii Emma in amongst the boops im popping by to ask you for some oc fun facts pretty pleaseee :)))) I've been coming up with a new dnd character so oc brainstorming is on my mind! anywaysss feel free to ignore this if you are focusing on something else hahaha

HELLO friend Rainia!!! Smacking you with my lil paws!!

I'm assuming you mean fun facts of my guys, and not that you want me to come up with fun facts for YOUR ocs (tho that would be funny), I've got plenty of those so let's roll the wheel in my brain and see what we get!

-Norvori has pretty severe selective mutism and real bad social anxiety. Dusk becomes the one person he can talk to, but at first when they start traveling together he still can't speak at all, so she doesn't figure out his name for weeks

-speaking of Dusk, in her music career she only got to drop two albums before vanishing off the face of the earth for spoiler reasons. I have attempted to write some of her songs before and sucked very badly at it, which is funny to be saying to you since you're literally the musician/composer/opera singer here

-when dusk was younger her hair was fairly long, but when she ran away from home she tried to cut it short, failed miserably, and had to find a salon to fix it

-Azurifel was one of two apprentices to the faethen Icellus. The other was a woman named Miriae. Icellus didn't tell EITHER of them that he was taking two apprentices, so they both thought they were special until they only found out when they met each other, and they hated each other like crazy from that moment on

-Azurifel makes literally everything he wears, even as king of the Veynon empire. This is par for the course with all rift lords, but Azurifel is just excessive about it. He's unwilling to settle for anything less than perfection and couldn't give up creative control over anything if it killed him. To be fair tho, he is very, very good at this

-more of a cultural thing than a single oc, but rift lords tend to dress with more layers and cover more skin the more formal a setting or situation. At the most formal level, everything will be covered, including mouth, nose, and hair. (The exception is the onerai, who need their hair to see). They do this to try and forcefully remind people not to treat them as individuals but as forces of nature in those situations

[seventhdoctor]

OKAY SO @linkspooky GAVE ME YUBEL FOR THE YUGIOH ASK MEME AND TUMBLR ATE BOTH MY DRAFT ANSWER AND THE ORIGINAL ASK. Take my word for it that they chose violence and asked me about one of our mutual brainrot characters and now here's my boi [gender neutral].

Why I like them/why I don’t

Yubel is only my single favorite character in the entire Yugioh franchise. Y'know.

I'm saving everyone's dashes this time with a readmore.

Here's a list of some of my favorite tropes:

Partner relationships, of all kinds. Buddy cops, spirit buddies, two guys who share the same goal/path, whatever Isaac and Miria from Baccano count as, just two people Who Click. Bonus points if they're fucked up in complementary ways

Guardian/protector character types, as a subset of the above

Reincarnation, and exploration of different lives

Yubel originally just hit one of these points and they still hooked me. Then episode 155 hit and slapped me in the face with the other two points. This character...it was made for me!

Really, I've been interested in Yubel since episode 106 first aired and they were just an eye with implied connection to Judai's backstory. I didn't know WTF the eye was, just that it was super haunting him.

Then it came out that they were Judai's childhood spirit partner, but in a twisted way: they held affection for him that he obviously didn't return, and I was fascinated by that in a "this is unhealthy and fucked up but what if something about their connection was still undeniable." I have the dubious honor of being one of the first people to write Yubel fic back in 2007, before the season even finished. (It was essentially just writing out their known backstory at the time into a short narrative, but yeah I sure did that.)

I was resigned to living in the trash dumpster with my terrible taste in a guilty pleasure ship* when GX episode 155 aired and added a whole new dimension to Yubel. And, well - they were still fucked up, but now there was so much more material to work with. Also my messed-up ship being kinda validated by canon was not on my list of S3 finale expectations, but boy did I feel vindicated!

I drifted away from GX for multiple reasons in 2009 but slammed back into it in 2023 when, IDK, one day after the worst week of the worst two months of my entire life I started thinking about GX again and tripped down a rabbit hole thinking about my old ship again. And both being an adult and also needing a coping mechanism for a rock-bottom period, I dove straight into my old bullshit and embraced my love for this trashfire problematic dragon.

And there's so much to chew on where this dragon is concerned. Even as a kid I was like "past Judai and Yubel must have failed to defeat the Light of Destruction and died tragically in their past lives, which is why they reincarnated to the present and probably why Yubel was attacking people in present Judai's childhood." And in retrospect the Light of Destruction is probably a force you can't ever totally get rid of, but I stand by the rest of it.

Yubel's dialogue in their duel with Amon in episodes 149-150 just hints at things, but the way they talk about a world where you've achieved your goal but nobody is there to celebrate with you? Their very pointed rant about worlds and how being together with the one you love is better than the empty promises of a king? Canon doesn't give the details about what happened in their past lives, but there is ABSOLUTELY something there.

Not to mention what kind of person you have to be for the king to take you out, tell you an old tale about the light and darkness and an opportunity to give up your humanity to protect your friend...and for you to accept instantly, without thinking twice or even talking to said friend.

(When I started Need I intentionally gave Yubel a large family because it's one thing to take that kind of offer when you have nobody but your one person who would miss you - but it says so much more when you have an established life and people and you still give it all up without a thought.)

Anyway. Yubel was a messed-up guy before the Dragoning and boy are they messed up after! And that's before Judai accidentally gets them tortured into insanity!

And just...Yubel did a lot of wrong, on purpose, with and without the Light of Destruction influencing them. But with everything they went through you can also understand how they got to where they are and how they got to doing what they did. That doesn't make them any more right, but it does make them compelling to study. And boy are they fun to study.

* In the year 2k24 I realize I could have done a lot worse but I was a kid back in 2007. My idea of dark content was Phantom of the Opera. Give kid me a break.

What I like about their appearance

Yubel looks soooooo cool. The asymmetry of their design, and the alchemical symbolism of their body's male-female split? The eyes on their knees like knight's armor? Their thorn-armor-maybe-clothing, in conjunction with their plant theme? Love it all. Probably a nightmare to draw, admittedly.

But honestly, my favorite thing is how they're voiced. Giving them a man and and a woman's voice works really well for their design, and the way they flow between voices…

I love listening to Yubel dialogue like this. When I write Yubel in fic I imagine them switching voices a lot based on their whims, and I wish I could convey that more often without it sounding clunky.

Do I prefer their dub names or original name?

No major difference for Yubel the character.

Their cards, though, and specifically their evolved forms? Loving Defender is the only localized name I accept :V I know Das Abscheulich Ritter and Das Extremer Traurig Drachen are butchered German but they're still interesting.

Yubel -> Yubel the Abominable Knight -> Yubel the Extremely Sorrowful Dragon tells a story. I've written before about how I think GX hints Yubel and Judai's past lives didn't end happily and this is part of why! (On top of a lot of really interesting lines from their duel with Amon, which I go crazy thinking about.) But aside from that, it tells you about their character even at face value: Yubel is a knight, so they fight for a cause, but they're also a horrible creature currently trying to destroy the world and ruin the protag's life. Yubel has experienced tragedy, and whether they're sympathetic or not that's a defining part of them. They're a monster with history.

Yubel -> Yubel Terror Incarnate -> Yubel the Ultimate Nightmare just doesn't have the same richness to it. Oooo, Yubel is scary. It says nothing to me. Half the time I can't even remember which name applies to which stage.

And now with the new Yubel support, Yubel the Eternal Love Guardian/Loving Defender Forever is pretty good on both sides - but it still works better as a capstone to the tragedies of the Japanese names.

OTP

Judai/Yubel, obviously. :D Romantic or platonic. I've written both (some is unpublished/WIP) and enjoy reading both.

Just. Judai and Yubel, man. How about that Yu gi oh G X season 3. Neither of them is fully in the right, and neither is fully in the wrong. There's such a complex tangled history between them, complicated by things that were the fault of one party or the other and things that were neither's fault but made everything that much worse. Judai's choice to ensure they'll always be together, that they'll bear the pain and guilt and everything else with each other...it kills me. It really kills me.

And I think there's a lot to plumb with the reincarnation angle to this relationship: how much continuity do you think there is between the prince of the past and Judai Yuki in the present? What is the nature of the love Judai Yuki feels towards Yubel? What kind of love does Yubel feel for Judai, once they're healed of the Light? What does knowing about Yubel's sacrifice in a past life change? What does growing up and taking responsibility mean for each of them? With the history between them (in Judai's childhood and in the present) and their current status as a fusion, what relationship can they even have?

There's all kinds of different answers depending on your interpretation. I don't even subscribe to a single interpretation myself, and I think it's fun to poke at these questions from different angles. And that's what fanfic is for, baybee!

NOTP

I don't know what Yubel ships there are besides Judai/Yubel and Judai/Yubel/Johan. Which are both good. Yubel is A Fucker and brings that to any relationship, but then that kind of factors into the equation by default when considering ships anyway.

OT3

Judai/Yubel/Johan. As Jay puts it, it's Judai with his partners of the past and present - and there's a lot of room to explore with the Yubel/Johan dynamic.

That said, the fanfic that helped me get through the worst period of my life was Manjoume/Judai with sides of "and WTFever Judai and Yubel have going on" and "well dating Judai means I'm also kinda dating Yubel but oh my god why are they like this" so I'm pretty partial to that now too.

Favourite card they use

It's not the most iconic form of Yubel's, but the moment when Judai finally gets rid of Yubel on the field only for Yubel to dramatically announce "Das. Abscheulich. Ritter." and reveal they're a multi-stage boss monster from a dissipating cloud of smoke? A literal "You fool, this isn't even my final form"? Lives in my brain forever. Basically cheered when I got to the moment rewatching GX last year.

And see above re: the name telling a story, and how it implicitly adds to Yubel's characterization.

Favourite moment they were in

Yubel's monologue to Amon about "You never loved Echo, or rather you loved her just enough to be able to sacrifice her to Exodia for power."

This duel just tells you so much about Yubel, and invites further questions (what was that about kings, Yubel?). But the emphasis of the reciprocality of inflicting pain and the laughing-to-crying moment of "Judai hurt me, now I'm hurting him, surely this must be what love is" as Yubel downs another bottle of copium...mmm. Goddamn that's the good stuff.

Also Yubel dunks on Amon a bunch and I always support dunking on Amon.

Least favourite moment

IDK, maybe that bit in the desert arc where they fused two kids with monsters just to provide enemies of the week to stall with? It's interesting as a preview for Yubel's nature and the season finale, but also it felt like an otherwise whatever part of their whole plan.

[haxo-wolfie]

i remember i said i would draw modern au designs for some of the claymores so here’s clare!

i did post a wip of a modern au clare awhile ago but i never finished it so here’s her concept + other characters concepts below the cut!

———

clare is a guitarist in a band with helen, deneve, and miria and works a morning shift as a barista. she’s also in college and her roommate is jean! her adoptive moms are teresa & irene; her adoptive sibling are priscilla and raki! clare is the middle child while priscilla is the oldest and raki is the youngest. clare currently majors in music and minors in creative writing. she also has a pet snake named fey.

jean is an art student that mostly does figure drawing and human paintings while doing the occasional landscape. she’s clare’s roommate in college as well as her friend. jean has had a crush on her ever since she saved her from a really bad car wreck. ( she actually thought she was cute since they became roommates but her saving her amplified the crush x10 ) she attempts advances but they’re either extremely vague or clare is just plain oblivious. ( they do date later on dw )

helen is a college dropout and does bass in their group! she works at a gas station in the mornings and sells weed after shifts if she’s not practicing with the band. she’s dating devine and has been since she was in college.

deneve never went to college but instead took a job as a freelance editor ( which surprisingly makes her quite the buck ) on the side of playing drums for miria’s band. her and helen have a cat named bugs!

miria is the lead singer of her band and is currently in college as a music major and an english minor. she makes the lyrics and keeps everything in check within their band. they aren’t well known, but they’re pretty famous locally. miria doesn’t talk about her side job because she’s ashamed of it ( she works at a daycare ) also she has a thing with a certain nun…

i might tweak some of these ideas but lmk if y’all would change anything about these! or if u have any ideas for other characters

[drfeelgreed]

What other muses did you wish to add to your roster but never did? ( and why did you want to muse them? and why didn't you end up adding them? )

oh boy there's actually a lot of them even keeping it contained to just baccano! characters!!

i'd have to throw out molsa martillo, esperanza c. boroñal, donatello, the poet, and kalia gandor as answers first ... i HAVE actually written all of these characters before on different baccano! blogs of mine, but ultimately when i was making this blog i decided to cut them off because they tended to be difficult for me to write---and kalia never actually appears in the series except for mentions anyway, so it wasn't really that big of a loss. i think mostly the reason i had them in the first place was because there were other active baccano! writers to play them off, but ... well. i feel like i have more leeway to NOT write characters i don't want to write as much when i'm the only one writing for the fandom anyway.

aaaand now on the the characters i've ACTUALLY never written:

carl dignis! i love a good investigative journalist type, and the tone of volume 16 in general is well suited to my tastes. he's not on my roster because he didn't come to mind when i started making my carrd, and now i'm like ... i dread adding MORE bios to my to be completed list, especially with how complex my bios over here actually are. it's possible i add him here in the future though!

miria harvent! to be honest i ALWAYS feel a little guilty for writing isaac and not miria since they're a package deal, so when i've considered adding her it's usually for that reason. i mostly have shied away from adding her because i don't want to always have to carry the weight of two muses in ask responses, and it's always more fun to throw my isaac at OTHER people who write miria anyway.

multimuse stuff! / accepting!

(bonus below the cut where i talk about some non-baccano options in relation to my other multi ^^)

in terms of some of my other fandoms since i've at least GOT another multi...

from hellaverse, i actually have a non-zero desire to muse husk. i like characters who are gamblers, i like designs that incorporate cats, and i generally just really enjoy his vibe. i DON'T write him because i have a very odd tendency to sideline my own portrayals when anyone else writes a character that i write, ever, under any circumstances ... it doesn't help that there are a LOT of people i either interact with or see on my various dashes who write him very well already, and i take a probably-unhealthy approach to picking up characters sometimes that's based on the actual demand for those muses in the rpc ... alas this is just not in the cards for me ever.

from bungou stray dogs, i've been thinking about musing kunikida recently. he's been on my mind and i don't know why because i've literally never written him before. i honestly couldn't give you a reason other than the urge is there right now. as for why i'm not musing him it's because i'm the number ONE hater of bungou stray dogs and i refuse to pick up another character from it out of sheer spite.

from the witcher, stefan skellen! he's a book character and one of my favorites from the nilfgaardian cast, and i have actually written him before. well. "written". i featured him on my blog and never actually got to write him, because nobody ever asked for him. which is also why he's not on boundlss today </3

[silverwings22]

Caught in the Crosshairs: Chapter 71: Hush Little Baby- Ashley Ryan

Series warnings: Smut, mind control, canon typical violence, childhood trauma, language, chronic illness Chapter warnings: major injury, medical procedures, canon divergence, tears because this is three years of watching and writing this fic and it's over. Final chapter.

Previous chapter:

“Take care of the troopers.” Miria gave her new friend dryax a pat on the nose and pointed it in the direction she spotted Imperial soldiers moving. It roared and took off, buying her time to get back to her squad and taking out a few more enemies they could save plasma on. She found them crouching against a fallen log, Hunter administering a medpack to Wrecker while Crosshair looked through a set of binocs. 

“Did you really think wrestling that creature was a good idea?” Crosshair muttered, trying to see through the shake in his hand. 

“At the time, yes.” Wrecker grumbled. 

Miria hopped over the log and landed next to her husband, all of the clones reaching for their weapons until they realized it was her.. “He’s sorry about that, by the way.” 

“You talked to it?” Crosshair looked at her, letting her bring his trembling hand back down and hold it between hers. 

“Yes. Remember when I told you I was a little unbalanced in the Force? I think I’ve fixed it.” She looked up at the base in the distance.

“It’s five klicks away, and we’ll still need to find a way in.” Hunter sighed, helping Wrecker to his feet. 

Miria glanced back at Wrecker, her jaw tightening under her helmet. He was hurt, she could see his bloody injury through the rent in his armor. The dryax’s strength was no joke. “Wrecker…”

“I’m fine, Miri. Don’t look at me like that.” He waved her concerned voice off, and started trudging after Hunter. Miria and Crosshair exchanged looks, but followed quietly. 

“They captured Rampart.” She said softly. 

“Good. They can keep him.” Crosshair muttered. “They know we’re here, and that we’re coming for Omega. He can’t tell them anything they don’t already know.”

“He was… extraordinary unpleasant.” She agreed. 

“Your kindness is wasted on that bastard.” He sighed. “... you know how dangerous this facility is.”

“I was trapped here too, love.” She nodded. She could feel his thoughts racing, and she had to settle her own and hope he didn’t decide he needed to do something stupid. He was guilt-ridden, had been since she’d gotten him back, and she’d have to keep an eye on him when they ended up in danger. Because they definitely would.

The five klicks between them and the base they both were dreading going back into went faster than any approach she could remember, and they all stopped to check the area. Wrecker was flagging behind, and Miria winced slightly as Crosshair looked him over. “He’s going to need another medpack.”

“That was our last one.” Hunter sighed. 

“I’m fine.” Wrecker argued. 

“No you’re not. Change of plans.” Crosshair straightened up. “You two fall back and comm Rex for assistance. I’ll go in on my own.”

“Not happening.” Hunter snapped immediately. “We don’t operate like that.”

“Open your eyes. Clone Force 99 died with Tech. We’re not that squad anymore. Wrecker’s in no condition to do this. I know this base, I know what we’re up against. If we all go in, not all of us are coming out!” Crosshair’s voice was sharp, right fist clenched into a fist at his side. “It has to be-”

“Stop.” Miria, just a pace behind Crosshair, took her helmet off. “Look at me, Crosshair.”

The sniper turned around, prepared to argue with her beskar but not her lavender eyes. “Miria…”

“If you call Plan 99, then I will take it. I will go in, and you will stay here and comm for help if Hunter and Wrecker have to drag you to a safe perimeter. Unless you can look me in the eyes and tell me you’re okay with me sacrificing myself, don’t you dare ask me to be okay with you doing it.” Her breath was a little too fast, eyes glassy at the thought of Plan 99. Just saying the words made her feel sick. “I didn’t survive a war, Order 66, and this hell just to end up a widow.”

“Omega needs them. Mayrin needs you… and I deserve this, Miria.” He tried not to look at her face, but she just stepped closer so he had nowhere to look but at her. 

“If you do, so do I. I’m the leader, every failure was mine. And I didn’t catch Tech on Eriadu. Now answer the question, darling. Am I calling Plan 99 in your place?” 

He pulled his helmet off, and his eyes were misty despite the stoic hold of his jaw. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Then don’t ever ask me to watch you do it again.” She put her hand on his chest plate. “If we go down, we go down together. We don’t leave our own behind.”

Hunter nodded, almost wanting to clap at how well Miria could handle Crosshair. She always had been able to see right through him, and anticipate what he needed to hear. 

Before Crosshair could say anything else, or even try to apologize, the base hangar door they were facing exploded outward. He and Miria shoved their helmets back on, and Miria started laughing darkly. “It’s the Zillo from that shuttle crash! It’s escaped!”

Crosshair stared at the giant creature that he was almost entirely sure had been killed on Coruscant during the war. “... Echo’s handiwork, or Omegas?”

“Omega.” Wrecker, Hunter, and Miria all said at once.

The giant reddish, angry creature was decimating units of Imperials, and Hunter nudged Miria. “She gave us an entrance.” 

“Yes she did.” Miria nodded. “That’s our girl.” 

The group moved in for the hangar, moving slowly with their blasters out. Miria froze, an icy feeling moving up her back. “Guys. Something’s off… like Teth.”

“Get low.” Hunter muttered. “If we haven’t been spotted, we might need you hidden. We’ll keep moving in.”

Miria nodded, carefully moving behind cover and approaching along the wall of the hanger instead of the center as the clones did. She felt her skin prickling, but settled into the curve of a broken shuttle chassis the Zillo had destroyed. Once they were inside, they’d signal her and she’d come in after. 

To her horror, a pair of legs walked past her hiding space. She had to stifle a noise as she recognized them. 

On her stomach, bleeding into the sand. The inside of her helmet smelled like blood as he walked away, her screaming daughter in his arms. Her little pink stuffie was on the ground, Mayrin’s chubby hands reaching back for her. 

Mayrin. Mayrin. Omega. He’s got my girls. 

She swallowed hard and talked herself through a mental kata. No, she couldn’t fall apart, but she had to pay attention. She had to complete the mission and find the girls. She knew the risks. So did the guys, and they’d agreed to do this together.

In silent horror, she watched more of the assassins stepping out. Their armor were all subtly different, making recognizing the one who’d stolen her daughter and Omega easy. And they were brutally effective. One with an electrostaff had Wrecker pinned, Hunter knocked out with an explosive and trapped under debris. Her stomach clenched, fingers moving towards her lightsaber. There were too many, could she even hope to-

Stay put, Miria. Crosshair’s voice through their bond ordered. They’re not going to kill us. Not right away, anyway. You can’t get captured too. You’re our only chance.

Crosshair was on the ground, and her stomach dropped when the one she recognized, the one who took Mayrin, pinned his wrist with a foot and held out a hand to another assassin with yellow electroblades. The sword, an dishonored version of a lightsaber, was placed into the same hand that had put a knife between Miria’s ribs. “You should be more careful with your shooting hand.” He said, deadpan, and lifted the blade.

Crosshair!

Miria shoved her hand into her helmet and shoved her hand over her mouth to stifle a shriek as Crosshair screamed. Her right wrist burned in agony, a ring of red and inflamed skin popping up almost instantly as some of the injury was shared through the Force Bond. She sucked air through her nose as the three clones, now all unconscious, were thrown onto hover gurneys and the assassins walked out. 

She took a slow breath, putting herself back together. Crosshair was right. She was the only shot now, so she very carefully crept into the base. There were holes in the walls, ripped open by the Zillo beast’s furious escape, so she took a leap and slithered into the air vents. She had to move carefully, peeking through each exit vent in search of the girls. She could get them onto a shuttle, Omega was a good pilot who could get them to Pabu, and go back for the men. She’d never leave them behind. They didn’t leave their own behind. That was the one rule, the one that mattered more than life itself-

The humming of a wet lab, not dissimilar to the one she’d found Mayrin in, caught her attention. A moment after, she heard a familiar wail. A cry any mother knew, their own baby’s inconsolable sobbing. She scuttled to a vent, peering down in search of her daughter. 

A white-coated lab technician was holding down a struggling infant, trying to get a blood draw from her little foot while the baby screamed. The woman was too rough, talking sharply to the tiny victim. “Stop all this squirming, X99-01.”

Hearing her baby referred to as a number sent Miria’s blood boiling, and she held out her hand. The technician coughed, setting the syringe down and trying to clear her throat. As soon as the needle was out of her hand and she’d stepped back from Mayrin, Miria snatched her by the neck with the force into the wall as hard as she could. The woman crumpled, unconscious, and Miria drew her saber to cut the vent cover off. She dropped into the room, putting her saber back on her hip and taking her helmet off to scoop up her daughter. “Shh, shh. You’re alright, May. Mama’s here.” She breathed, letting the baby see her face. “Shh.” 

Mayrin’s sniffling stopped and she reached for Miria’s cheeks, the Jedi bringing her up to her shoulder to cradle her. Once she stopped crying, Miria reached for her helmet. “Let’s get out of here, starshine. I can find Omega, and we’ll-”

Mayrin yanked a handful of Miria’s hair before she could put it on and made an indignant noise. Miria frowned, turning her head to a closed door between this lab and an adjacent one. She glanced at her baby and frowned. Through the Force, she felt the tiny insistence that she open that door. “Are you sure, May? We’re already in quite a bit of trouble here…”

Mayrin yanked her hair again, and she sighed. “Alright, starshine. But we need to hurry. I’ve got to find your father and uncles.” She tucked the baby into the sling she’d been wearing on her back since she’d lost her on Pabu and picked up her helmet with one hand, lightsaber out in the other, and cut a hole in the locked door.

It was creepy in here, dimly lit, and she held up her saber to see. Inside was a single bacta tank, with more screens and readouts than she’d ever seen. Miria took a few steps closer and pushed her saber closer, to get a look at the man inside’s face.

Sharp, angular features marred with a few deep scars were quiet inside. He was missing an arm at the mid-forearm, and one leg below the knee. His narrow chest was also studded with deep scarring, and it was clear he had been in the tank a while just to be as stable as the readouts showed. Miria leaned in a little closer, looking back up to examine his face. His hair was a little reddish, as far as she could tell inside the bacta, but he looked eerily familiar. He was built so much like Crosshair, taller and slimmer than most clones. Just like…

“Tech.” She whispered with a sudden realization. 

Tech was alive. Minus two limbs, but alive. Hemlock had lied.

Miria glanced over her shoulder at Mayrin. “Good work, starshine. Let’s see what else they have in here.” She went tearing the lab apart, ripping everything out of every drawer and cabinet, until she found two sealed prosthetics sitting in sterile casings stacked in the back next to a black uniform eerily similar to the one the assassins wore. She quickly checked the diagnostics, finding multiple notes about CT-9902. “So that’s what you were planning. Turn Tech into one of those hollow killers and let them train my daughter.” She turned around and started typing at the bacta tank until it started draining. Her too-long missing friend settled on the bottom and she leaned over as the door opened. “Tech? Ner vod, can you hear me?”

He grimaced as he came back awake, mumbling to himself. “... Plan 99. There’s no time… sever the connection hinge…” She could almost hear Echo muttering the same way when they found him in Skako Minor.

“Tech.” She reached into the tank, catching his face gently. “Open your eyes.”

The clone shivered, skin wet with bacta and cooling rapidly, and opened his eyes slowly. “G-general?” 

She smiled, eyes a little watery, and took his good hand. “Oh, I’m so mad at you. Let’s get you out of here.”

He nodded, letting her help him upright and get the prosthetics on. “Did you… commission these for me?”

“If you want to be technical, I stole them.” She adjusted them for him carefully. “How’s that? Can you move?”

He nodded. “General… why do you have an infant?”

“This is your niece. My daughter, will Crosshair, who we did find. We’re in an Imperial base, and we’re getting out. I can’t give you a full brief, because Crosshair, Hunter, and Wrecker have been captured. Put his uniform on, and here’s some boots.” 

He nodded, squinting. “Do you know where my goggles are?” 

“Broken, in the Archium on Pabu. We’ll get them fixed, I promise.” She helped him to his feet once he was dressed. “Now, we’re going to need to climb through the vents. Think you can make it?”

He nodded again, rubbing his face and frowning as he traced the depth of the scars. “...How long have I been here?”

Miria looked at her daughter, doing mental math. “Ten months?” 

“.... shit.”

“Yes. Now here, let me boost you. Go left and I’ll direct you from behind.” 

She gave him a leg up and he followed instructions, Miria following behind with Mayrin on her back and carefully guiding him to the broken entry she’d used in the hangar. As they came back out, she spotted a white-armored trooper and a familiar head of auburn hair. She flipped her blaster up. “Doctor Karr.”

Emerie turned around, hands up. “Master Halcyon-”

“Easy, Miri.” The trooper said, lifting a hand. 

Miria paused. “Echo?”

“Yeah. Had to change clothes on the descent.”

She sighed, holstering the blaster and walking over. Omega was standing with four other children, one of which was a toddler, and started to grin until she saw who was walking behind the Jedi. “T-tech?!”

“Hello, Omega.” He oof-ed when she tackled into him. “It is good to see you as well…” 

“I thought you were dead.” She whispered, overcome.

“Based on the injuries I believe I have, I think I might have briefly been.” He patted her hair gently with his new metal hand, then glanced at Echo. “We seem to lose an extraordinary amount of limbs on this squad.”

“You have no idea.” Miria placed Mayrin in Tech’s arms. “You need to go. I have to go back for the others. We’ll meet you.”

Echo handed Emerie a set of coordinates. “This is where you need to take them. We’ll catch up.”

Omega looked between Miria and Emerie, then stepped back with her and Echo. Emerie frowned. “Omega?”

“I have to do this.”

Emerie nodded and handed her a datapad. “This will give you access to the whole facility.”

The other kids threw their arms around Omega tightly, as if they’d planned it, and she hugged them and sent them on their way. Miria patted Tech’s arm. “I’ll see you soon, vod. Look after my little one.”

“Of course, General.” He followed Emerie into the shuttle they’d indicated, and she ran off with Omega and Echo.

Omega bolstered her resolve with a grin. “Let’s complete the mission.” Miria was so proud of her, of who she’d become and who she would grow into.

 They made their way straight for the detention block Omega had busted them out of, clones crowded at the bars of their cells with wide eyes when they saw them.

“What’s going on?” One asked. 

“We’re busting out.” Omega plopped the datapad into a dock and unlocked every cell door. Miria turned around, watching weak kneed but determined looking soldiers step out and come around. Along with Rampart, who she was less than thrilled to see but still willing to honor her deal to get him out safely. Nala Se as well, and she quickly went to check on Omega. Miria had to appreciate the Kaminoan woman, who’d both saved Omega by warning her and made sure Miria found Mayrin.

Echo turned around, passing out guns left and right. “I know you’ve all been through hell, but we’re going to need help. Will anyone fight with us?”

One bearded clone took a deep breath. “I will. I’ve got one more fight left in me.”

“Me too.” Another responded. 

Echo grinned and looked at Miria, who held up her lightsaber. “I want my riduur back, and I want Hemlock’s head on a platter. The only way the girls will ever be safe is if he’s dead.”

“Sounds good to me.” He looked at the datapad. “The pneumatic tube system runs through here. It’s the method Omega took through the walls. Omega, can you get us eyes in there?”

Omega nodded, Miria nodding to her and handing her a comm. “Don’t engage until we give the signal, okay? You’re as reckless as I am.”

“I take after my sister.” Omega smiled, slipping into the wall. 

Miria tapped her foot, rubbing the hilt of her lightsaber and taking slow breaths to maintain her clear head. She had to stay calm, keep her balance, and fight. She had to face the fear of the clone assassins. 

This time she was not going to be caught off guard. 

“Miri, Echo, I’ve found Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair. There’s guards, but I think I can get them loose if you give me a decent distraction.”

Miria smiled darkly. “You’ve got it, dear.” She looked at Echo, and the gathered clones who would join them. “Ready, gentlemen?” She cooed, pulling out her lightsaber and twirling it. She saw some of the clones light up and throw salutes at her. 

“Yes, General.”

She led the way to the training room, where Hemlock had tormented Crosshair and countless clones before him. Where he would have tormented Tech, if Miria hadn’t found him. She’d had enough of this place and that man, and cut the door off its hinges. “Give them hell, boys.”

The room was dark and had moving obstacles, which were immediately put to use against her and her band of rescued clones. The assassins hunted them in the chaos, while Omega worked hurriedly above to get Wrecker free first. 

When Miria heard the crackle of an electroblade, she turned and put her own saber through his chest. “You’re not the one I’m looking for.” She muttered, dropping him and taking off up the side of the platform with the Force. Echo had the other clones, and Echo always pulled through. He’d never let her down. He never would.

When she made it up to the level where her team was restrained, Hemlock had already put his hands on Omega, cuffing her wrist to his. “I’ve got you.”

“You forgot I’ve got them.” Omega smirked, and Wrecker ripped one hand loose and cannon-balled his way out of the torture seat. Miria grinned, immensely proud, and moved to cut Hunter out when a blaster shot narrowly missed her head. She spun, facing the assassin who’d taken her baby as Hemlock ripped the control patch off his arm and ordered him to cover his own escape.

“He left you for dead.” Miria said dangerously.

“I left you for dead on that beach.” He responded, still deadpan and uninflected. 

“And I should have killed you on Teth. I won’t make the same mistake twice..” She lunged, deflecting shots as he took them. Wrecker got Hunter and Crosshair free, the sniper barely on his feet and Hunter picking up the electrostaff that another assassin had dropped in the shuffle. 

“You should have stayed down.

“You should have kept your hand off my husband.” She went low, sliding to her knees and coming up behind him. She thrust her blade backwards as Hunter aimed for the chest, and the two of them skewered him in two directions. Just behind them, Wrecker put the other one’s head through a wall before he had to sit down and clutch his chest.

“He went that way, with Omega.” Miria pointed.

“I’ll go, make for the shuttle.” Hunter wheezed, picking up a pistol.

“Like hell you will.” Crosshair muttered. 

Miria nodded. “Together. Echo, get Wrecker and the others to the shuttle.” 

“Yes, General.” 

The three parents walked out onto the rain, the clones missing their helmets and Miria swapping her saber for a blaster. 

Hemlock was cornered and he knew it, holding a blaster to Omega’s head. “No closer! Stop right there!” It was the first time she’d ever heard panic in his voice. He was usually so disgustingly calm and wickedly composed. He was scared. 

Good.

“We all know you won’t hurt her.” Miria called out. “You need her, Hemlock. Like you needed me, and my daughter. And failed to keep us, so just hand Omega over.”

“The Emperor would kill me for failure.”

“Killing you is the least I can do.” Miria assured him. 

Hunter sank down to one knee and Crosshair lined up a shot with his left hand, the sniper spotting something shiny in Omega’s sleeve. “Miri, keep his eyes on you. Cross, aim for the cuffs.”

“It’s too close. I can’t risk Omega.” Crosshair breathed.

“She knows what to do. And I know you can do it.” Hunter had absolute faith in his brother, and so did Miria. Crosshair just had to believe in himself. 

Miria held her saber up again, keeping Hemlock’s focus firmly on her. “You’re afraid of him. And Vader, have you met him yet? Do you want to know the real, terrible truth? I’m worse than either of them, if I need to be. I raised Darth Vader.”

Hemlock shuddered, and that was the opening Omega needed to yank a metal instrument from her sleeve and stab him in the leg. He doubled over and she threw her arms up, giving Crosshair his shot. He pulled the trigger, and hit the cuffs. They came open, and Omega hit the deck. Miria and Hunter opened fire, slamming shot after shot into Hemlocks chest and throat, until he toppled over the edge of the bridge and vanished into the rain. 

The blaster fire petered out, and Miria crouched next to Crosshair as Omega came running as fast as she could. When she got close enough to see clearly, she froze. Rain and tears streamed down her face as she looked at them, eyes fixing on Crosshair’s missing hand. 

Before Crosshair could blink, she had thrown her arms around his neck and was sobbing into the hug. His eyes widened, then softened and closed as he leaned in, and Omega looped another arm around Hunter to pull him into her embrace too. Miria was dragged in by a little brown hand smacking into her helmet wetly, and put her head against Crosshair’s shoulder. 

It didn’t matter that it was pouring, or that lightning was flaring all around them and lighting up the miserable base. What mattered was Omega was safe, in their arms, and their family was together again.

Crosshair lifted his head slowly and looked at Miria, who had her hand on his vambrace that lead to the missing hand. “Mayrin? Did you find her too?”

Miria nodded, taking off her helmet so he could see her smile. The rain even felt kind of nice, cleansing after the fog of the fight. “I put her on a transport with the other children they were holding… and Tech.”

Hunter and Crosshair did a double take. “Tech?”

Her grin brightened. “What was that you were saying about the squad being dead, my darling? Because I think I’ve disproven that.”

“He’s alive?” Crosshair whispered. 

“He should beat us to Pabu. I went ahead and sent him home.” Miria put her head down on the water-slick expanse of her husband’s shoulder. “After all, we don’t leave our own behind.” 

It felt utterly bizarre to step back onto Pabu after the stark horror of Tantiss. Miria led the way out, turning back to watch Crosshair turn his face up towards the sun, like he’d never really appreciated it before now. Maybe he hadn’t, still swallowed up in his own guilt. Now he was softer-eyed, a small smile playing across his lips. She stepped to the side and let Hunter and Echo help Wrecker down the ramp, holding out a hand to her husband. “How do you feel, darling?” She smiled when his left hand slipped into hers. 

“Better than I have in a long time.” He admitted. “It’s good to be home… to have a home.”

She nodded, bringing him down to stand beside her. They looked around, spotting the three clone cadets Hunter had rescued offering ice cones to the children Omega had set free of Tantiss. Tech was standing nearby, squinting as Phee handed him his broken goggles from the Archium. Crosshair swallowed hard, looking at his twin until Miria gently squeezed his fingers. “Go on, love.” She whispered.

Crosshair slowly pulled his hand away from hers and started towards the genius. His strides started slow and measured, but the longer he walked the more speed he built up until he was all out running. Tech turned just in time to catch him, arms wrapping tight around his twin and pressing his forehead against Crosshair’s. “You’re alive.” Crosshair whispered.

“I am.” Tech smiled. “And the General found you. I knew she would.” 

“You’re still an asshole for that Plan 99 banthashit.” Crosshair’s voice cracked.

“I could say the same thing to you.” Miria caught up, smiling at Phee when the pirate raised an eyebrow. “He tried to tell me he was going to infiltrate Tantiss by himself.”

“Where is your hand?!” Tech blinked, finally getting a visual on Crosshair’s right wrist.

“You’re missing one too.” Crosshair huffed. “So is Echo.”

“I am also missing a leg, but I fell off a rail car from a great height. What did you do?”

“The bastard who kidnapped our daughter and stabbed me in the ribs.” Miria patted Crosshair’s back.

“It is fortunate you found me, then. I can make a prosthetic.” Tech nodded. “And upgrade my own.” 

“That can wait. Where’s my kid?” Crosshair frowned.

“I gave her to Lady Annalise. I did not realize she was on Pabu, General.”

Miria turned around, spotting her parents standing near the edge of the Archium looking for her in the crowd of newly freed clones. Mayrin was on her grandmother’s hip, and Miria reached into her pocket and pulled out Rosie. “We should probably take this back to her.” 

Tech glanced at the doll, then at Crosshair. “You made another doll?”

“I knew you knew.” Crosshair chuckled faintly. “Yeah, I did.” 

Tech’s smile a genuine, if a little squinty still. “All this time I believed you were severe and unyielding, but you seem to have changed despite my conviction you could not.”

Miria smiled. “There is no force more destructive to a strong man than a daughter.” 

Tech nodded. Crosshair left his arm slung over his twins shoulder. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to her properly.” 

They walked off to see her parents, and Miria looked over at Phee. “He seem like himself?” 

Phee nodded. “Clueless as ever… but I did finally kiss him. I think he gets the picture now.” She headed over to stand with Tech again, reluctant to let him out of her sight now.

Miria smiled. “Oh good…” She looked around again, eyes wide. Civilians were giving aid to the clone refugees, Pabu’s people capable of the same endless kindness Miria admired so much in Omega. Crosshair had Mayrin in his arms, ignoring his missing hand in favor of introducing his daughter to Tech. The genius was smiling, brightening when Phee wrapped her fingers into his again.  Wrecker was sitting down to rest, Shep and Lyana checking on him while AZI inspected his chest. Hunter and Omega were up under the large tree, the darling girl with her head on his arm as they talked. Echo and Emerie were talking, and she could feel the acceptance building between them. 

The war would go on outside Pabu. The Empire would rage a little longer, and eventually she knew she’d be called back into the fight. It was almost inevitable, when the Empire was led by a Sith and so few Jedi remained to stand against him. But for now… there was a little peace.

She turned and walked over to Crosshair and her parents, giving Mayrin her stuffie once Annalise had freed her from a tight hug. “I thought you were going back to Naboo, Mother.”

“We decided to stay.” Jet shook his head. “We knew you’d come back here, once you found the girls.” 

“No doubt we’d find them?” Crosshair raised an eyebrow. 

“Never.” Annalise patted his arm. 

Miria smiled and gently tugged Crosshair’s chest plate until he came down to her level, kissing him firmly. “Ni kartayli gar darasuum, my darling.”

“Darasuum, cyare.”

Ten years later

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 The little girl froze mid-footstep, halfway down the steps from Upper Pabu to Lower, with a bindle full of snacks and a stolen blaster in her hands. She turned slowly, silver ponytail bouncing, until her lavender eyes were reflected in the flashlight held in her direction. “... how’d you hear me?”

“You’re not as quiet as you think, May.” Crosshair raised an eyebrow, facing his daughter with his flashlight in his prosthetic hand and the other one on his hip. Ten years on Pabu had changed him some, though he was still the smartass he’d always been. He’d grown a scruffy beard and let his hair grow back, and was far more comfortable in civilian clothes than he thought he’d be when he retired. “Besides, your mom just knows stuff.”

“I do.” 

Mayrin squeaked and turned around, finding her mother two steps below her with her arms crossed. Miria’s hair had grown longer and the beginnings of gray were starting to creep into her temples, but Crosshair still thought she looked just as perfect as she had the day she’d met him on a Coruscanti hangar bay and asked him his name instead of CT number. 

“Auntie Mega snuck out! She’s going to the Rebellion!” Mayrin frowned. “I want to go too.”

“You’re a kid, Mayrin.” Crosshair shook his head. “Now give me back my blaster.”

“How come she gets to go?” Mayrin huffed as he eased the weapon out of her grasp. “She’s a good pilot but I’m a better shot than she is!”

“Because she’s twenty-three, and you are ten.” Miria put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “It’s her decision as an adult. You, however, are still our responsibility until you’re grown. When you are, you can make your choice about where you go. And if you choose to fight, we’ll support you.”

Crosshair chuckled. “Hell, we’ll go with you.” 

Mayrin frowned, looking up at both of them as Miria guided her back up the stairs. “You will?”

Crosshair nodded. “I think I’ve got one more fight in me. What about you, cyare?” 

Miria nodded with a laugh. “It wouldn’t be our first fight.” 

“You’re a preschool teacher, Mom. What kind of fighting have you done?” Mayrin squinted at her. 

“Your mom was a Jedi, and a general.” Crosshair shook his head and looked up as a ship launched from the lower caves. Hunter must have gotten to say his goodbyes before Omega snuck off… they’d known she was going to go eventually. She talked too much like Echo, about doing more and saving more lives. They’d raised her well, and she’d make them all proud on the battlefield. 

“I was the leader of the best black ops squad in the Clone Wars, with your father and uncles. We never failed a mission… your father was the best sniper in the Republic.” Miria chuckled, glancing up with the same proud expression he had. Omega was, as she’d always hoped, not just as good as them. She was better. 

“Dad’s only got one hand!”

“You wanna hear how I lost it, kid?” Crosshair smirked. 

“You’ve told me fifteen different versions. Last week I was helping Ba’vodu Tech with an engine block and you said ‘watch out, that’s how I lost my hand.’” Mayrin wrinkled her nose. 

“Well, let me tell you the truth. The whole story.” Miria steered her daughter back towards the house. “Before your grandmother notices we’re outside and comes at me with a shoe.”

“Fine. But I wanna know the whole story, from the beginning!” Mayrin said firmly. 

“We’re gonna be up all night. I’ll start a pot of caf.” Crosshair chuckled again. “And tea for you, cyare.” 

Miria smiled. “Alright then. If you want to go back to the very beginning, it started when I was six years old. I was on Illum-”

[iheartgarrus]

N7 Month Day 24: Portal

(AO3 Link - I was STUMPED for most of the day, then this angle came to me, so have this scene that's been in my head for years with Garrus and my OC, Iris. Whenever I publish their fic, this scene will be from Iris's POV, so it doesn't feel like cheating to write it from Garrus's for this. :D)

“Are most of these spoken for?” Garrus asked, scanning the studio walls. Paintings of every size featuring a range of subjects both living and inanimate hung throughout the space in effortlessly attractive arrangements.

“Sort of,” Iris replied from behind him. “In the sense that they aren’t for sale. Some things are just for me.”

He glanced back at her with a flare of a mandible. “Nothing wrong with that.” He leaned closer to a small cluster of paintings low on the wall not far from Iris’s desk. Each featured a young, happy asari girl, ranging in age from infant to preadolescent - admittedly Garrus’s math on how many years that worked out to was fuzzy. “Your daughter?” he guessed.

He only recognized the sound she made next as a type of laugh thanks to years spent on a human ship. “Sorry, that was rude,” she said, though she was still chuckling a bit as she stepped up beside him in an echo of their position from the night they met at her show. “No, she’s my sister. Half-sister, I guess, though that’s not technically how it works with asari. She’s 23, so I’m not quite old enough to be her mom.”

If a portal could appear on the ground beneath Garrus and swallow him up, that’d be just great, thanks.

“I, uh-“ He coughed as his neck flushed what he was sure was a deep blue. “I apologize, I didn't mean-"

"Don't burst a blood vessel, Councilor," Iris teased. "A human my age with an asari surname? Married to one was a much safer bet. My parents were the first ever asari-human marriage, and Miria was born a couple years later." She shrugged. "Name comes in handy though. If people assume I'm married they're less likely to feign interest in buying a painting just to get my omni ID."

…Now why was he so pleased to hear that she wasn't married?

[lena-artz]

Miria again, but that's her when she was a teen:))

(I need to make a better version of this drawing lol)

I already have a bit of her lore(from before she started her Jedi training) and things about her species written, but it's not in english(bc english is not my first language), so I'll translate it and post it here later

[closedcoffins]

In your ideal world, what Baccano characters would you most want other people to write?

oh my goodness! what a question!

supposing we're talking about purely hypothetical characters unaffected by anyone's personal writing preferences... well, it's actually difficult to narrow my answer down. i'd love to see just about anyone.

under the cut, i've provided a list of all the baccano! characters that i'd most like to see, but it actually got very long and unwieldy so i decided to answer the question twice: once with muses i have a really burning desire for, and twice with every muse that would make me even a little bit happy to see.

here's my "burning desire" list:

aging.

claire stanfield.

czeslaw meyer.

fil.

hong chi-mei.

ladd russo.

mark wilmens.

miria harvent.

monica campanella.

nile.

rachel.

renee parmedes branvillier.

ricardo russo.

shaft/sham.

that said... the real answer is "please write whoever you want". i won't be unhappy to have ANY muses in the rpc, since the person writing the majority of them currently is naturally me. whoever you want to bring---which, well, i HOPE you want to bring someone if you're asking me this---i'll be really happy to see. even if it's our third jacuzzi or chane. please just write whoever makes you the happiest to write!

... anyway, the full list of "biggest asks" is still under the cut.

adele.

angelo.

begg garrott.

berga gandor.

carla alvarez santoña.

carzelio runorata.

chané laforet.

claudia walken.

denkuro togo.

edith.

elmer c. albatross.

ennis.

esperanza c. boroñal.

eve genoard.

firo prochainezo.

frank.

fred.

gretto avaro.

huey laforet.

illness.

keith gandor.

nader schasschule.

sickle.

sylvie lumiere.

zank rowan.

[valenshawke]

Weekly Writing Report - April 14, 2023

I’m just glad I can write this at all.

I’ve had very little progress this week. But there has been progress with, at least, the two main fics and the two scenes that I have been trouble working on in both fics.

Clare meets Miata: Only 197 words written, but it’s for the scene that, coupled with my mental health crash, put me in writers’ block. I think what helps is that the other fic has a similar scene set about a year later and the contrast between who Miata is here versus who she is a year later helps what I need to do. It’s awkward, it’s uncomfortable, it can be socially painful or cringe. Which is exactly what I want because Clare sure as fuck ain’t a social butterfly either and everyone kinda-sorta fears her in a parental way.

Clare apologizes to Miria: Only 76 words written. So the same type of scene except it’s Miria there instead of one character and Miria is now observing whereas the above fic is from Clare’s POV. But still, Miata has grown some more and clearly has a different relationship with her squad and, dare I say, friends now. There’s a tremendous sense of relief Miria feels as a result and also notices a difference in Clare, who is a lot more comfortable being around large groups of people. 

As for the rest, both fic and original. No progress and I’ll try to keep the rest of this short.

This week, in particular, has been difficult both professionally and personally. 

I almost caused a scene remotely (which I think is a special kind of statement on how angry I was getting) but managed to calm down enough not to. Going to HR with a formal complaint didn’t do shit. And my managers are incompetent buffoons. 

Personally? Family issues still rear their ugly head. This week was particularly bad.

Good news is psychiatry finally approved and sent in a prescription for Effexor. Maybe the combination of Wellbutrin and Effexor will work better than Wellbutrin and Prozac (which numbed me out emotionally, but I didn’t view that as a bad thing like they did).

My therapist and I continue to do a deep dive into my life and societal issues regarding mental health and that helps. But it’s a long process and we’ve been at it for 11 months. This isn't a criticism of him or therapy, we're making progress more so than my previous therapist (nice person, just needed more). There's just a lot to untangle.

So, I couldn’t write as much because, honestly, I have no energy because of the aforementioned issues. And that’s interfered with everything else I could be doing that I know would help. I mean when I leave work feeling half-dead, yeah. I guess I’m back to being stuck after some progress. But I am not where I was 2 months ago. 

That’s something I suppose.

So ends this week’s report.