#she’s supposed to be guiding the main characters through the city but she’s so bad with kids and people in general

[lunimy]

i love the newest character i’ve made she’s soooo cool you don’t understand how much i love her

[yanderes-galore]

May I ask for headcanons for Yan Peridot (Steven Universe) with Gem reader? Perhaps they arrived on earth after the events of the series finale (before Future) with other gems, if that helps.

Yeah I can try! This is assuming the main Peridot. I took awhile to write this as I had trouble writing Peridot's character for some reason? I apologize if she's too OOC.

Yandere! Peridot with Gem! Darling

(After series, before movie/future)

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Jealousy, Clingy behavior, Stalking, Thoughts of violence, Manipulation, Poofing of Gems mentioned, Peridot actually does want help for her emotions, Dubious partnership

You and Peridot would parallel a lot with each other.

You're a Homeworld Gem that came to learn about Earth after Steven began to save the corrupted Gems.

You weren't corrupted but did want a change of pace from the strict rules of Homeworld, even if they were easing up.

You heard on Earth you aren't judged by your Gem type... so that's new.

When you arrive you're greeted by all sorts of people.

You get acquainted with other Gems and even try to speak with humans.

Despite your attempts at understanding Earth culture you still struggle with it.

That's when Steven thinks it'll be a good idea to have you meet Lapis and Peridot.

He has his hands full after the finale and asks the two Gems for help.

After all, they went through a similar situation.

It took those two some time to understand Earth but they grew to love it!

Peridot is probably the most excited to be given this job.

Earth has taught her to be an entirely different Gem!

She used to be so cold and calculating, valuing work for the Diamonds above all else.

Now she's her own Gem! She's passionate and fun-loving and loves the change.

A bit too excited even... which requires Lapis to warn you about the smaller Gem.

Peridot is friendly towards you when you first meet.

How the friendship between you and Peridot forms is her showing you how Earth works.

She shows you water, plants, the people... and even the Meep Morps she created.

Peridot becomes your guide to Earth.

Lapis helps out too but the water Gem notices how upset Peri gets when Lapis spends time with you without her.

Which seems odd to you both but you don't expect anything.

Peridot could feel platonic feelings or romantic feelings towards you in this scenario.

Honestly, Peridot is just excited to make another friend and introduce them to the planet that changed her.

Anything after that could develop later.

Peridot isn't even aware of her own obsession until the longer she hangs out with you.

Okay, sure, the jealousy is a bit strange...

But it has to be normal in small amounts, right?

Then her jealousy grows....

It starts with just Lapis.

Peridot feels Lapis is trying to take all of your attention....

It upsets the Gem... she liked it when she acted as your guide to Earth.

It was originally supposed to be a shared job.

Yet Peridot is convinced she can do it alone!

Peridot follows her Gem! Darling around Beach City.

She doesn't think of it as stalking....

Just... hanging out with you at a distance.

You don't entirely see Peridot's clingy behavior as a bad thing.

You just think Earthlings are like that and Peridot picked it up due to her time on Earth-

It's a bit strange, you don't deny that....

Peridot loves to cling to her darling.

Even more so if you're a larger Gem type.

She loves to give hugs but that's about as far as she goes.

This could be due to her seeing you as a friend or not understanding romantic displays of affection still.

Also the idea of accidentally fusing is a slight fear she gets over with time.

Peridot thinks something is strange when she starts wanting to be violent towards other Gems or humans over you.

She thought she was over her phase of violence....

However, Peridot can't help but throw a fit when she sees you getting so much attention on Earth.

Lapis may notice this and tell Steven about it.

The idea is to get Peridot help with her jealousy before she hurts anyone.

Talking with her obsession also helps.

If Peridot didn't get help for her obsession one way or another then she can get worse.

Peridot may try to manipulate you away from others, claiming you two are meant to be partners one way or another.

Everyone else is a clod....

It's sad because Peridot essentially replaces Lapis with you.

Peridot may actually get violent, too.

Which causes fights and tension.

You were originally thinking of living with them, then saw the fights and decided against it.

With her new personality it would take awhile but she considered poofing others a few times before....

The idea comes to mind more than once for her.

She's even thought of keeping your Gem to herself... but fights that thought.

There's a good chance Peridot will ask for help before things get to that point.

But if she doesn't...

She promises to keep your Gem in a good place and will just tell the others you went back to Homeworld with a teary frown to hide her true feelings.

[gaming-thoughts-by-an-idiot]

Fable 3, fuck Logan, lil bitch

Game: do u want to be Prince or Princess?

Me: I'd like to be the third secret sex

Game: what?

Me: THE MAIN CHARACTER

Game: y-yes that's-

Me: WHO GONNA SAVE THE WORLD

Game: that's what the sex-

Me: gotta go girl, boys are so obvious, he's gonna be all proper

Game: have u ever met a man...?

Me: girls are so badass, just look at Buffy

Game:...

Me:...

"Ready to see my man... the bastard Reaver"

"Damn, the city sure got bigger in like 20? Years"

"The hen tried to fly but couldn't but they can actually fly so we were all lied to"

"Damn, children working..."

"I cant remember this part of my castle"

"Holy shit it's fucking huge omg"

"Hehe that's what she said"

"That feather had plans"

"Ew look at that hat"

"Damn my dog could've been prettier"

"Pff, do u wanna look princess-y or cool"

"Obviously I'm picking the short and movable one"

"I fucking LOVE Jasper"

"I'm standing still, I wanna hear his comments to it"

"What happens if I try to leave in my pjs"

"He just went 'are u sure?' "

"Damn, he just threw a word at me that idk what means, but I think its like 'silly' "

"I look so pretty- wtf is that hair?"

"Jasper said avoid my brother, but what kind of sister would I be if I did?"

"I'm glad the princess can talk"

"Lmao I just had like the most gangsta handshake with a guard love it"

"I'm so happy I get to pet my dog, not a fan of how she sounds tho"

"Oh wait, I think maybe since I'm playing 3rd on xbox one, but did the 2nd on 360, maybe I won't have the queen but default king..."

"I'm just walking around shaking people's hands"

"Elliot is such a.... name, and- wait... who's gonna be the girl if I'm playing as him???"

"Next time..."

"I will be EVIL and idk why that's a guy"

"Hohoho I kissed the man"

"The city doesn't look like my city :( or... are we not in bowerstone, was that the name? Jesus, I've played the 2nd game for so long and I've forgotten"

"I love we're holding hands"

"I love Walter"

"Oh no my Prince, he ran away"

Walter: I want u to fight me, like your life dependent on it

Me: wow, that doesn't sound like a tutorial at all

"I'm gonna fuck up the buttons"

"Hell ye I did not"

"Damn, thought I should end the game here so I could sleep, but apparently you can't until a spesific place in the game... oh nooo, I have to do my fave hobby? Terrible:)"

"Running with my bois<3"

"There were NOT this many doors in my castle"

"The default is king :/"

"Imo king is so vanilla, like you don't give the same respect as a queen"

"All my hard work of being a queen just gone"

"Basically next time I'm doing it all on xbox one"

"Right, war room"

"Listening in"

"Damn, I'd be upset too if I was Logan, if I had that haircut"

"Oh, same throne at least"

"Ah... here comes the choice"

"Well, as the queen... I'm a good person... until I charge rent ofc haha"

"Bye baby :("

"He loves me😭"

"My MOTHER'S daughter, thank u very much"

Game: the hero was your dad

Me: what was that?

Game: I said the her-

Me: sounded like the wind

Game: tHE HE-

Me: whatever it was, it was saying bs... I miss my queen

Game: u know what? Fuck it.

"Run run run- Where's my dog btw?"

"Oh nevermind"

"Ugh, we're gonna look at the imposter, the king"

"I mean technically, Reaver IS a hero, he's just a bad one"

"Did Logan also go through the whole grab seal, end up in front of Theresa?"

"The seer of the SPIRE???"

"The queen would've fucking whipped Logan's ass if she knew"

"I'm sensing the fanfic energy... not from that Logan thing but for Reaver"

"I'm such a simp"

"For these terrible men...

"And my queen"

"You guided my MOTHER"

"What does Theresa even do in her spare time? I bet she crochets"

"I got a glove that let's me use magic... can anyone say Link? Cuz im getting Link vibes"

"OH FOR FUCKS SAKE, STOP RUNNING IN MY WAY, YA BASTARD DOG"

"Do I get to name my hero? Or am I cursed to see 'hero' every time she speaks?"

"Do I get to name my dog?"

"Isn't the dog supposed bark when there's treasure close by? Cuz I only found that key cuz of my own memory"

"Jasper is scared of bats, he'd make a terrible batman"

Walter: did u see that Jasper???

Jasper: indeed your MOTHER would've been very proud

"Why can't I run"

"Did the queen make these tunnels?"

"What happens if I don't buy the castle in the second game?"

"Can I slut around in this game too?"

"Like mother like daughter, or is it like daughter like mother? I honestly don't know"

"What's with the gift in the symbol in the corner?"

"Thought all the transportation gates were all gone, I'm pretty sure I'm on one"

"Oh wow, look at all that winter. Just like norway"

"I can make friends by shaking hands"

"I'm gonna make everyone love me with how great I am with my hands"

"For handshakes, I meant handshakes"

"I forgot I had to go back to sanctuary to change, which is much better than just changing out into the open imo"

"Oh hell yea! Look at all those gifts!"

"Bleh the outfit is... yeah"

"Dog potion? For what?

"Pink poodle"

"Doberman"

"White poodle... who wants a poodle?"

"Clockwork dog potion??? What does that even mean???"

"Setter dog potion??? What"

"Five star dog potion...?"

"That's all the gifts, i wanted a gift for myself"

"AWW I GOING WITH ALSATIAN DOG, LOOKS LIKE A GERMAN SHEPHERD OMG"

"I CAN NAME THE DOG"

"should be something fun-.... hehe"

"Betcha u can guess"

"I'm giving 10 coins to everyone, I have 129 left"

"Damn, 20coins left"

"Gotta talk to the man with the small fish name"

"What are those jester shoes"

"My mom, the queen, was busy for like 20 or something years..."

"Oh! I'm getting more gifts!"

"They better be for me istg"

"I went into a sink hole water thing and found a wedding ring"

"I think a fish is proposing to me"

"Ooo, dye"

"Are all my packages dye?"

"Tattoo set, nothing says rebel as much as this, I just got out of the castle"

"Bushy hairstyle"

"Bowerstone soldier uniform...???"

"Yule costume lmao"

"Silly outfits, dye and hair types, oh and that tattoo set"

"Out to explore more!"

[anomalocrisis]

Hey. You. I want to know about your characters please? 🥺

I--,, Ok i dont know on which one to start,, so i'll do like quick bios and shit with pics of my boys (lies)

I just want to say these dudes are from waaayy back to when i was 12, and im still building on them, so,,

First ONE!, my sweet little angel,, FL-11X Aka. Felix!

This poor motherfucker used to be a basic af model mainly used for costumer service, he was being deployed as a receptionist for the main building for his creator company, until The Incident happened, the day he lost all his limbs and a big chuck of memory.

He was thrown in the trash, deemed as unusable and nothing more than scrap, until an old lady found him still barely functioning, she took him with her and took him to her local repair shop and the mechanic did what she could to save him, his limbs were replaced with obviously lower quality ones and they don't match well with what remained from his old frame but they work! (kind of)

When i say that the lady took him with her, i really meant it. FL-11X became like,, his adopted grandchild, not son, grandchild. Once FL-11X was repaired, he had nowhere to go, so the lady just let him stay with her, after a while she did the needed paperwork so FL-11X, now called "Felix", could legally live with her as her "caregiver", you know, since old age, just so they hadn't to take him away.

She really spoils him, she lets Felix try anything that catches his eyes optics? sensors?

The Next one is my literally sweet boy man, Sayvius!!

This man has nothing to do with Felix! This man is made of honey and he fucking hates humans!

A literal living Mellified Man, yes he's based on Lemon demon Sweet Bod if you want.

This motherfucker, man. I love him. He has like 3 jobs, dude. he barely has money despite of that, he lives in a fucking abandoned house that he acclimated.

I don't know what to tell you bc i ABSOLUTELY LOVE EVERYTHING I MADE UP ABOUT HIM, His limbs produce healing honey (he sells it), he's practically a dead person, but not really? He needs to constantly eat meat so the honey he produces doesn't consume his body, He's a waiter in the local Tavern on the only-monsters commune where he lives, His Mom (who i also adore) is a human-fucker, making his dad a human DESPITE he hating humans.

I JUST-- AAAAAAAAAAAA

[OLD AF DRAWING] SLITES!! a local fisherman that has a broken dream about being a pirate... so he buys in the aesthetic! also he's one of, if not THE BEST FRIEND of Sayvius.

He's really a fish aficionado, so he fishes and cooks them and he sells the fish raw or cooked. mf goes to the beach and then comes back to tell Sayvius about his new fish findings and asks him if he can use the kitchen to cut them open and cook them and then slap Sayvius hand when he wants to taste the fish raw.

He also carries super sharp knives with him everywhere he goes.

Slites is way more chill about humans than Sayvius and he usually tells him to relax about them, since his brother, Kridate, lives in the city and he constantly goes to visit him. He also gets annoyed when people confuse him with vampires bc he isn't one, or so he claims.

Either way, these two love to sit in the "porch" and talk bad about life.

Now, My boy Glyzer!! He has nothing to do with the prior ones!

He was supposed to be the heir to the throne for his planet, but he said "haha nope" and ran away! now he's wanders through the cosmos and he's a proud single father of a kid who saw alone and that wanted to join him in his adventure.

Glyzer is quite a mf, since he's kinda used to a life of luxury, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to learn how to do stuff, he's also quite stupid and doesn't know how to manage money (he tries)

The kid in question

Vip, They used to live with his uncle and aunt who treated they more as a tool than a person, They encountered Glyzer one day in the market and practically became his guide for his whole stay, one day Glyzer saw how their family treated them and decided to stand up for them, and then they pulled an "Adopt me, Miss Honey! You can adopt me!"

Glyzer was reluctant but in the end Vip joined his journey with no destination.

Vip is cute, and they know that, so despite looking clueless most of the time, they're really smart, so Glyzer and them use eachother for getting free stuff once they end up with no money and have to look for a temporary job.

Another one, Kamaleon!

Tokusatsu inspired as you can see. he's a robot made from scratch by a dude, who then, with his roomie teach him how to function.

He usually goes out and does the functions a local hero would do, people think he's a human in a suit instead of a robot, so they roll with it.

When he interacts with people for almost anything he gets a little stiffy and doesn't know how to move or what to say. He has also stopped some robbery attempts totally accident, gaining some following online and shit.

Kamaleon's "Team" also got into making stage shows because, why the fuck not, so they have this whole thing where Liam, the roomie was the og villain for him, but then he became a sidekick to Kamaleon when someone else started to show up to the stage shows as a bigger villain to be defeated. the fun thing is that no one knows who that guys is but they keep showing up at shows and making tweets about how "evil" they are and how are going to defeat kamaleon and challenging him, and the kids love it, so yay!!

also, since Kamaleon is a robot i can retcon him to Felix story and i can make him a Kamaleon fan, big win for me.

[more-than-a-princess]

The streets had begun to thin, at least in comparison from the hours ago when they'd first arrived, but it hadn't occurred to Sonia to feel wary of it at all. Perhaps because she wasn't often out so late in such areas of the city, or at least without her security detail and a car. Frankly, the unsavory part of her home away from home was more of an adventure than anything else, the blonde blissfully unaware of the way men, young and old alike, leered at her and Anzu. She could spot it across the room at a fundraising gala but out on the streets, with normal people? She was too intrigued by the various lights and displays around her. Advertising liquor, H manga, and of course, men and women whose attentions could be bought. That didn't include the assortment of young people huddled in groups and sitting in the neighborhood's main courtyard, or the young women holding signs to advertise their club or bar, or something more private.

"It does not seem that bad," She insisted, watching a young man approach one of the women, dressed in one of the smallest dresses she'd ever seen. Was she not freezing in the weather, in her heels and short hemline and plenty of cleavage? "But I am happy to be walking with you all the same, Anzu-san. And it is quite different than what I am accustomed to as a 'club night!' We have sat so much, my feet do not ache from dancing." Her idea of a nightclub was clearly different from Anzu's, which made the evening all the more exciting. And she'd spare her eardrums in the process. Her car would follow them along, keeping pace a block and a half away where they could still see both girls easily.

As long as no one caught on, Sonia thought, as Anzu's arm linked through hers and guided her along. "I did have a good time, but you are right, it was somewhat awkward for me. I should show you why, one day." The prospect of paying for attention from a group of handsome men wishing for the most surface of friendships and relationships due to what the woman had to offer was far too similar to her usual social life for comfort. The more she thought about it, she supposed Anzu would relish attending royal events, provided the well-to-do men in attendance found her as appealing as they did the Princess of Novoselic. "I think the closest experience I could liken your host club to is one of my favorite cafes! It is a vampire-themed cafe, where the owner and all of the employees are dressed like vampires and stay in character the whole time. The entire establishment is decorated in macabre design and the food and drinks are equally spooky! It is usually quite busy around Halloween but otherwise they can often make room when I visit. I find it so very soothing and healing there, sitting at my favorite coffin table. Everyone is so very friendly there as well, I think you would enjoy it! If you would accompany me sometime, of course." If Anzu could get over the bloodstained (paint, really) bathroom, with bloody handprints on the wall, mirror, and sink. And the very real coffins used as tables. And the food, where everything took on a gothic flair.

But Anzu was, in Sonia's opinion, an open-minded and generally cheerful person. She would probably enjoy the experience, or at least the handsome male vampires who worked there. A far cry, however, from their current destination. "A...mobile food cart?" Sonia replied, piecing them together as words that didn't make sense in the same sentence. And she thought a cafe was positively common, eating at a cart was unheard of in her family's social circles. Even food trucks at weddings and other gatherings were seen as a terribly cheap method of feeding others. "Well, I am quite interested in trying it! But one cannot eat ramen from a stick or a cup, unless it is the instant kind. Do they have a table and chairs, so we will not spill?" Whatever mental image she had, it did not compare to reality.

And neither did Shinobu. As Anzu let go of her to appraise Shinobu in a more hands-on fashion, Sonia lingered in her wake, her own appraisal done through her gaze, the icy blue of her eyes warming in the frigid winter night. As did Sonia's cheeks, going from rose to crimson. She'd come from somewhere else, that was sure, in a suit that draped over her chest and shoulders unlike the more uniformed sort she chose as her school attire. Or maybe it was due to the fact she'd gone without a tie, the first time Sonia had seen her in a suit without one, the top two buttons undone to reveal unblemished skin of her neck and collarbone, and the small arrow that dipped between them, disappearing towards her cleavage. Her eyes, always piercing, were now in competition with her mouth, having given it a bit of color that coordinated with her hair.

While Anzu fawned, Sonia swallowed, focusing her gaze on a particularly uninteresting street sign. This was insane: Shinobu was her friend, first and foremost, and would hate the fact that she noticed her chest rise and fall, the ease of her posture, the intensity of her gaze even away from kyudo. Anzu had said it herself: she'd been on a date, albeit a boring one, and Sonia mentally kicked herself for wondering what her date had been like. Probably like Kaori Hara, the sort of girl that wasted no time in asking Shinobu for her company.

And of course, she couldn't forget that Shinobu, despite her more traditionally masculine attire, was still a girl and she wasn't allowed to fancy girls: it wasn't illegal at home of course, but it was forbidden in the Royal Family. As much as Novoselic touted their royals and the happily ever afters from a country of castles and engagement rituals and a low divorce rate, their leaders were given a very shallow pool of such romances. It was for the good of the country and its future, far more than the happiness of the people involved. Case in point: her own parents, Uncle Arthur and Aunt Olivia, even the Queen Dowager and her grandfather, may his soul rest in peace. Strangely enough, it was her mother's side of the family, the Borgheses, who seemed either content with their lot or causing enough drama to make them fascinating for the tabloids, to Queen Valentina's dismay.

"Me?" She asked, only turning her attention back to Shinobu (and Anzu, though she was a secondary focus now. Sonia apologized for that) when she heard her name. "Thank you." Though her forest green lace cocktail dress wasn't anything special, particularly when it was hidden under her coat. She'd chosen it for precisely how normal it looked, different from the attire she was told to be seen in. Short, clipped answers would likely be seen as cold though, when Sonia was anything but. She just needed to breathe, deeply and steadily, to calm her nerves. Her beating heart. And something else.

She was the worst friend ever just for thinking it.

At least Anzu was there, to maintain her grip on reality. Or her hand. Sonia was thankful for her for so many reasons, but this just added to the list: to pull her out of thoughts couldn't have, that she had no right to have. She squeezed Anzu's hand in return, grateful to be pulled along. She wondered if Shinobu felt the same, among other things.

"I do not mind paying!" She spoke up, falling into step with both Shinobu and Anzu. Or the best she could, not to trod on Anzu's feet with her Roger Vivier heels. "You both are kind enough to take me there. And you look nice too, Yaguchi-san. If you do not mind me asking, how was your date? I hope it went well!" Whether she meant those words was, quite frankly, up in the air. From the way her stomach twisted in knots, she wasn't sure if she could keep down ramen. She'd blame the liquor: it was quite a lot, even if she wasn't anywhere near as tipsy as Anzu.

"No, no," King corrected her with a smile. "Nothing like that. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, especially if the drinks are flowing." Anzu snorted at that, having seen firsthand how thriftier customers had tried to stretch a single bottle across an entire night. "It's entirely at Anzu-san's discretion when we end things for the night." It wasn't only for her own benefit, and Sonia's. King had been drinking a good amount with them as well, and while Anzu knew he could handle himself, like any respectable host, she didn't want him to feel rough in the morning. This late, he'd probably just be sent home, rather than stay on until the club closed in a couple hours.

"But, it was nice to get to know you, Sonia-san, and you know I'm always happy to see you, Anzu-san." King flashed the two of them his bright, winning smile as he discretely slipped Sonia her receipt. "Thanks for your company as well." As the pair gathered up their things and headed out, Monsieur gave a smile and a nod as well. "Thank you for coming, and don't be a stranger." One of the other hosts gave Sonia a grin and seemed about to say something, before Monsieur's hand yanked him back by the collar. "Hopefully next time you're in, Anzu-san, our little prince will be back to see you."

With a wave over her shoulder, Anzu nodded, even as she walked arm-in-arm with Sonia. "Yup! It was nice to see everyone, have a nice rest of the night!" And with that, they were back outside in the cool winter night. "I know you've got your people, Sonia-san, and it's not really that bad, but stay with me, kay?" With her arm linked with Sonia's, she gave a light flex to imitate a squeezing hand. "It can get just a little sketchy by this time." The seasoned drunks could stay in until closing, and the responsible adults were out long before this point, meaning that most of the wandering people on the street were lightweights who'd been cut off, or troublemakers who'd been kicked out. "I'm here all the time, though, so we'll be fine."

Besides, they were heading towards the older entertainment district, which had a different vibe for sure. "I hope you had a good time at the club, by the way." The smile she gave Sonia was a mix of cheery and apologetic, as though she wasn't quite sure what to make of things. "It seemed like it wasn't totally your thing, so I'd feel bad if I dragged you around and made you pay for something that wasn't fun." Even if she couldn't understand not wanting to be adored, it seemed like that was Sonia's situation, and that meant she had to respect it.

"But you're going to love the ramen, definitely." Again, she squeezed at Sonia's arm, giving a certain frosty expression to anyone who might have been looking at them and thinking of shooting their shot. "It's a mobile food cart, so they set up in the late afternoon, and then tear down in the morning. They used to be really popular in the Showa era, but there aren't a lot left in the city anymore." Kyushu still had a culture of them, but elsewhere, they were a dying breed. A shame, in her opinion. Even if it was before her time, the vision of pull-carts with little paper lanterns and small stools had such a nostalgic feeling. "It's the best ramen in Tokyo, though, and my little secret." An impish, conspiratorial smile grew on her lips as she gently bumped her cheek against Sonia's shoulder. "Bestie privilege that I'm taking you and Shinobu-chan."

And speaking of Shinobu, Anzu thought, there she was on the street corner. "Shinobu-chan! Over here!" With a large, beckoning wave, she was impossible to miss, with Shinobu walking over towards the other two girls in short order. "Good evening, Miss Nevermind, Anzu." "Oooooh!" Disentangling her arm from Sonia's, Anzu stood in front of Shinobu with an appraising look. "You're looking good, Shinobu-chan!" Like a child, she jumped into a hug, and then, like a fussy parent, began to try and adjust Shinobu's collar.

It was true that Shinobu looked a bit different from her typical school attire. High-waisted slacks accentuated her long legs, and a more relaxed, casually feminine cut of her open blazer, sleeves slightly pushed up from her wrists, softened her overall look from the cold prince's more severe styling. The top pair of buttons of her white shirt were left open, with no tie but rather a silver necklace around her neck with an arrow-shaped pendant, the tip of which disappeared just below the fabric. Along with their typical eyeliner, there was just a hint of color on their lips, and they'd swapped their usual dangling earrings for a pair of sterling silver studs with rich, red inlaid garnets.

"You're one to talk," Shinobu answered, lightly pushing Anzu's hands away before gesturing to her kimono. "That's a rather expensive outfit for a club night, don't you think?" "Nah, it's not too bad. It's a cheap one, honest." Shinobu shrugged, not willing to argue the point. If Anzu's kimonos were damaged, that was her business. "You look nice as well, Miss Nevermind. I hope Anzu hasn't dragged you into too many unpleasant things tonight?" To that, Anzu rolled her eyes, grabbing at one of Shinobu's hands, and then at Sonia's as she began to walk-pull them in the direction of the promised ramen some blocks ahead.

"We had fun, and now we're going to get ramen - at that food cart you and I went to that time you came to my opening night, remember?" Shinobu hummed to herself before nodding. "Ah, I remember - it was excellent. If I'd known, I would have had a lighter dinner, but I'll manage." Hmm, so she had been on a date, Anzu thought. Well, if it was important, she'd hear about it sooner rather than later anyway. "Sounds like you'll have some extra money in your pocket then, huh Shinobu-chan?" With an impish smile and a cheesy wink towards Sonia, Anzu nuzzled closer to Shinobu. "So you'll treat Sonia-san and me, then, right?"

[officialinvisibleanon]

H, sorry too tired to spell your name, can you explain your past?

((Sorry, Hanazuki is not here right now, however, I can answerAUGH-))

Hanazuki, pushing Starlo out of the way: "HELLO! IT'S ME! HANAZUKI! Okay, my past, I can do that. You wanna know about my origin or the part whereip I deviate from my canon? You know what I can do both."

"Right, so, I'm not an OC. I'm an actual character from a real show called Hanazuki: Full Of Treasures. You can link that at the end, right? Okay good. And I was birthed from a rainbow. Now; my origin was never explained so I don't know exactly where I came from but logistically speaking I was probably made to fight a biiiig evil planet-eating blob thing called the 'Big Bad' and bring pEaCE ThrOuGhOUt tHE GaLAxY or something."

((Uh- break up your paragraphs, buddy. People won't want to read if there's too many words.))

Hanazuki: "No. Also, there are two- uh- one-and-a-half seasons, and after season one is when all the stuff that made me separate from my 'Canon' self happened. So after season one and before season two I asked my sister Kiazuki what would happen if we mixed specific fruits and if we could induce certain specific emotions. Also the only fruits in my world are basically juice pouches that make you feel stuff. It's complicated and watch the show. Anyways one thing led to another and she basically became a scientist."

"So around this time the Mouth Portals, watch the show, started spewing out human things like TVs and Car Batteries and Gameboys and DVDs and this is basically what introduced me to pop culture. So after indulging in unhealthy amounts of fictional media I fell into undertale. No idea how but a sinkhole opened up and I fell into undertale. Long story short I did a genocide, felt bad, reset, changed the story in a weird way that wasn't supposed to happen and a portal opened up leading me through a multiversal adventure guided by this guy's broken playlist. On that note: I think I have ink-related PTSD."

((Got it. No more BATIM songs.))

Hanazuki: "No more please. So during all that I started missing having a home and due to becoming the main character of like every video game and TV show ever, I had become almost infinitely powerful and had gained the ability to make interdimensional portals. So I took a random white void, one of many, and threw a few neighborhoods from my friends home world's, and BingBangBoom the ImagiNation was founded. It didn't have a name until years later though."

((Yup. Okay. Why are you here exactly?))

Hanazuki: "Time in your Officialverse is extremely slow compared to my world, which moves about at the real world's speed. I gotta deal with the politics of my universe getting literally reset and everyone being sent to a black void; A process that is so complicated that I literally cannot explain it to you as you don't understand it yourself. I'm just here cause this is the first question about me in a while."

((Fair.))

Hanazuki: "Oh, by the way, don't freaking do that again. There are children in my city. Not smart main character children, but children children. And they are all traumatized now. You are a mod and can stop bad things from happening and I honestly do not understand why you didn't turn off the wormhole. No one wanted it, everything stopped, that reboot you hyped up didn't even work and- it was stupid all around man."

((Yeah yeah, hindsight was 20/20-))

Hanazuki: "No, it was blatantly obvious and you did it anyway because you- I dunno- wanted to???"

((You may go now.))

Hanazuki: "A- we aren't done!"

((I apologized to everyone already-))

Hanazuki: "YOU DIDN'T APOLOGIZE TO ME!"

((...Oh. Oh, alright. Um... Sorry for... Destroying your world for a bit.))

Hanazuki: "You don't mean it. You don't really care that my feelings are hurt because I'm not real in the same way you are. Just- put up the links."

((Oh, okay. You can find Hanazuki: Full Of Treasures pirated on YouTube and I recommend the playlist below.))

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4pcemdPlJvbP7CjxKxZglj0e67tunOMJ

[wondersofdreaming]

Lost Boys - TEN

Characters: August Walker / Captain Syverson / Walter Marshall

Word count: 2.605

Warnings: Guns. Lost brothers. Blood. Death. Shooting. The aftermath of the explosion.

Author’s note: The end. I know it's crap but thanks for reading anyways.

Divider by @firefly-graphics​!

Everything in this story is a figment of my imagination, with inspiration and snippets from the movies ‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout’, ‘Sand Castle’, ‘Nomis/Night Hunter’. This is pure fanfiction. If something doesn’t make sense, it’s not supposed to.

I do now own any of the characters from the movies that I write about in this story. Only the OFC’s are mine.

Feedback is appreciated.

MASTERLIST

[ONE] [TWO] [THREE] [FOUR] [FIVE] [SIX] [SEVEN] [EIGHT] [NINE]

Walter had a grim look on his face. He could see that Melanie was starting to panic. Her face contorted into a look of worry, also her eyes were searching for the big body of her brother underneath all the rubble.

“We’ll find him,” Walter assured her, “Are you hurt?”

Walter helped her sit up on the pavement.

“I’m feeling a little woozy, and my back hurts from colliding with the car. Else I think I’m good,” Melanie answered. Walter made a mental note to keep an eye on her, as she could have a concussion or may be bleeding internally.

“Lucas!” Melanie walked into what used to be the front garden, calling for her brother.

A high pitched tone was ringing in his ears. The blast had knocked Lucas off his feet and onto the nearest solid thing, the neighbouring house. His broken arm was throbbing with pain, while a burn was slowly spreading across his chest. He had tried breaking ribs before, so he wasn’t doubting that he might have cracked a few from the blast.

Lucas opened his eyes and watched burning paper dissipating in the wind. The scorching heat from the fire warmed his face, as he lay there watching the orange and red hues. It was quite beautiful to look at, while it destroyed the childhood home of this triplet brother.

Brother. Sister. MELANIE!

He scrambled to his feet, hissing as the jolting pain thundered through his body. His head was spinning as if he had just gotten off a wild carousel ride. He was feeling nauseous as he tried to move.

“LUCAS!”

It was a distant sound, but he heard his sister’s voice through the loud ringing.

“Mel!” he tried yelling back, but the tone was low. His throat was sore and felt raw like someone had tried scratching the flesh from the inside.

In the distance, he heard a fire truck's siren, but he didn’t care about the fire, he needed to get to his sister. He jumped over the broken fence between the neighbouring houses. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to walk, it hurt to even think, but he had to make sure that Melanie was safe. The adrenaline was pumping in his veins, making him move faster.

“Mel,” he said hoarsely as he saw her crying into his triplet brother’s shirt. They both turned their heads towards him. Melanie released Walter and ran towards her injured brother. He was prepared for the impact, as his sister collided with his cracked ribs, but let out a gasp anyways as she hugged him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Melanie sobbed, “I wouldn’t even know how to tell mom if you had died. And what about dad? What about Josh? And your job?”

“Mel, stop talking. We’re okay,” Lucas shushed her. He hugged her close, even though it hurt, but he didn’t care.

The sirens grew louder, making the raging headache Walter was sporting even worse, but despite that, he moved towards the road and guided the fire truck and fire engine towards the burning building.

Soon the area was swarming with ambulances and police cars. The firefighters contained the towering flames, while medics were attending Lucas, Melanie, and even Walter, who had stubbornly told them that he was fine, was looking into a flashlight.

“Can you remember your name, sir?” the medic asked.

“Walter Matthew Marshall, detective at the Minneapolis PD,” he grumbled.

“Well, detective, you might have a concussion from your head hitting the pavement. You need observation for the next 24 hours.”

“I don’t have time…”

“Detective, it is not up for discussion.”

Walter was groaning the entire way to the hospital. He and Lucas were placed in the same room. Lucas’ injuries weren’t as bad as expected, with only a few broken ribs and a concussion. Melanie had escaped unharmed, except for a few bruises and a high tone ringing in her ears.

The brothers needed observation for the next 24 hours, and with a lot of stubbornness from all three, Melanie was allowed to stay in the room with them for the night.

The police arrived a few hours later to take their statement. If it wasn’t because the situation was quite serious and Walter rarely laughed, he would have been rolling on the floor after seeing the confused faces of the detectives, when they told them that Melanie was the sister of Lucas but not of Walter.

It didn’t take long before Melanie fell asleep on the pull-out bed the hospital had provided. Lucas watched as her chest rose and fell, feeling relieved that she was alive and breathing.

“How are you feeling?” Walter asked from the window. He was watching the people walking in and out of the hospital, as they had a clear view of the main entrance.

“I’m good, sore, and pissed,” Lucas answered, “What do you think happened?”

“My theory is someone planted that bomb to either set it off when we came back or to destroy any evidence that could be found in that house,” Walter mused.

Lucas nodded, having had the same thoughts.

“Do you think he had anything to do with this?” Walter asked after a silent moment, pulling Lucas out of his train of thoughts.

“I don’t know, brother. I have no clue what our brother is capable of. He is a wanted criminal all over the world.”

“Do you think he’s the mastermind behind this?”

“He could very much be, are you having second thoughts?”

Walter turned around and glared at Lucas, who stared back. Their equally blue eyes were sharp and alert.

“No. I just hope we can catch him, get him into a prison that can get the idea of world domination out of his head, and where I can keep an eye on him.”

August walked into his mother’s new house on the outskirts of the city. He had been transported in a cargo ship to get back into the states. His tech associate Marc had been furious at him for leaving the safe house in Thailand, but nothing could stop August, he always got what he wanted.

“Mother!” August’s voice echoed across the mostly empty house. He removed the hood of his jacket, revealing his identical face to Walter and Lucas, with the exception of the moustache.

“Auggie, my son,” he heard her soft voice coming from his left. She looked frail and thin as if she would crumble at any given moment.

“We had a clear agreement that my brothers were not to be harmed,” August growled. His patience was running low as he stared daggers at his adoptive mother.

“They were at the wrong place at the wrong time, my dear,” her voice was calm and as if she was talking to a toddler.

Since the death of her daughter, Amanda had toughened up and had started the hunt for revenge. First, her plan was to kill all of the abusive men in the world. Then her plan expanded as her organisation became bigger. August had stood by her side while she ordered people to be killed. She was merciless and cruel, not the astronomy-loving woman August had grown up with.

“You’re hiding something.”

“For the hundredth time, I am fine. Sign the damn release papers, you cannot hold me here against my will,” Lucas raised his voice at the young resident doctor standing before him. Lucas was a tall man, and from his time in the army had gotten quite muscular, which were straining against the moss-green T-shirt Melanie had helped him in.

“I must advise against it, Mr Syverson,” the resident said firmly, but still, he took a step back.

“It’s Captain Syverson.”

“Your release papers will be ready in 10 minutes, captain.”

The doctor left the room. Walter was standing by the windows, looking down at the people walking. One hooded figure caught his eye, but he blinked and the person was gone.

Two phones rang simultaneously, waking the trio who had all fallen asleep in their respective beds after they’d gotten back from the hospital. Lucas looked at his screen and was immediately wide awake.

“Aiden?” he grumbled.

“I heard about the explosion. How are you?”

“Got out of the hospital this morning. I had to take a nap. Me? Take a nap?”

Lucas heard his friend roar with laughter. He would have laughed at himself if he had the energy for it, but instead devoted said energy to concentrate on why Aiden was calling.

“I’ve found your missing brother,” Aiden’s voice was serious as he explained that August was back in the country. He had avoided getting in through flight but had been caught by a few security cameras at a harbour in Norfolk, two days earlier.

Lucas walked out of his room, needing to tell the others about the news. Walter stood by the windows, stoically listening to whoever was at the other end of his phone call. Melanie was in the kitchenette, pouring coffee into three mugs.

“Thanks, Charlie. Tell Faye that I’ll be home soon,” Walter ended the call. “That was Charlie. Raven got a hit on August’s whereabouts, he’s here.”

“Aiden told me the same thing.”

Walter frowned. His mind racing.

“Fuck,” he whispered, “I saw him earlier. He was at the hospital.”

“How do you know? You’ve never seen him before,” Melanie chimed in.

“Call in triplet-intuition or maybe it was the way he was standing. Still as a statue in the middle of a parking lot full of people walking by.”

“We have to go find him,” Lucas said. He fastened his gun to the holster in his belt and covered himself with a black zip-up hoodie.

Just as they’re about to head out, there was a knock on their door. Walter opened with caution, one hand on his gun behind his back.

It was one of the receptionists with a note that had been left for them. She handed Walter the black envelope, he thanked her and closed the door.

“Meet behind the library at midnight.”

“I can only be from August,” Lucas said. He paced around the room, wondering if it was a trap or not.

“Or maybe it’s a trap, you shouldn’t go,” Melanie told the two brothers.

“We have to. If we’re not back before 2 AM, call the police and say where we are.”

“No, I’m going too!”

“Over my dead body! If dad finds out, he’ll have my head. Mel, if this is a trap, someone needs to know where we are and can tell the police or FBI why it happened.”

Melanie sulked but agreed to stay back at the hotel.

Under the cover of a moonless night, the three siblings met for the first time. Lucas and Walter stood with their backs to the closed library, while they watched as their triplet brother walked down the pathway towards them.

August opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of heels clicking on the pavement.

“You have always been such a soft boy, August.”

The three brothers saw Amanda Walker coming closer with a raised gun in her hands.

“And your two brothers are a big pain in my ass,” she continued. Before anyone could move, Amanda aimed for Walter, but August’s reflexes were faster and he jumped in front of his brothers.

Everything happened in slow motion. August turned around with a sad smile on his lips beneath the moustache. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his body landed on the cold hard ground. Lucas ran towards August, while Walter set off after Amanda.

August whispered something in Lucas’ ear before he took his last breath. Lucas closed the blue eyes of his brother as Walter came back.

“I lost her,” he grunted. He kicked the grovel around him, cursing at the world.

“It’s not your fault, Walt. Come, help me carry him home.”

A year later the two remaining brothers stood side by side looking at the tombstone with their brother’s name on it. Oliver Thompson.

“We found her, brother. It took some time and a lot of travelling, but we found her, and she’s going to be in jail for the rest of her life.”

“And we went to a hypnotist who unlocked our forgotten memories. No clue how she did it, but we remember the good times, the bad times, the sad times when mom and dad…”

“Let’s not become all too sappy, bro. Walter is getting married. She’s a nurse. Wish you could meet her, a feisty one, I think even she could whoop your ass.”

“Lucas has also found a woman. She is a veterinarian with a short fuse, but she makes the sweetest apple pie I’ve ever tasted.”

The brothers kept on babbling about what was happening in their lives, not noticing the hooded figure standing in a grove of trees, listening to everything.

August smiled at his brothers. His moustache had been shaved and he was growing out his curls. Somehow he looked like a beardless Walter, which he had chuckled over as he shaved.

“I’m sorry, brother. I wanted to burn down the world for being such a cruel place, but I know now that no matter how much I make it suffer, it won’t take the hurt away from my heart. Please, take me to the docks. Warehouse 16. Leave me there and don’t look back.”

Those were the words August had whispered to his army brother.

He had realised that he loved the peaceful life of living in a village in Thailand. In the few weeks, he had resided in the faraway hut, he had gathered food and helped the villagers with their farming, even though he didn’t want to help. But a particular black haired woman had insisted on him helping since he had such big muscles.

The world looked different from before with the woman’s help, he saw beauty wherever he went. But when Marc stood at his doorstep, telling him that his mother wanted to see him, he refused, so Marc did the only thing he thought would persuade the moustached man, he held his black-haired beauty at gunpoint.

August promised to go with Marc and made another promise to his new lady that he would be back, which he sealed with a kiss to her soft lips.

She had waited for him to come back, even demanded to know his secrets. If she were to be his wife, she needed to know about all his demons. So he told her. He had been astonished that she hadn’t run away screaming. Instead, she had smacked his cheek and told him that the world was a beautiful place in the eye of the beholder and that he needed glasses.

He couldn’t wait to go back home, to the woman who was waiting for him, who loved him for him, and he hoped he would be back in time to meet his child, the miracle he had created and would protect.

But he had needed closure to see that his brothers were well and happy as he was.

“... And Faye keeps saying that I have to shave off my beard and keep the moustache, so she can see what you looked like. I said no, of course, telling her that she can go harass Lucas instead.”

“She is such a sweet angel, with a devilish charm. I hope to one day have my own kid, who’ll wrap me around their tiny fingers and I’ll be putty in their hands.”

“Well, we hope you’re happy, brother, wherever you are.”

[captain-yeet]

A Beautiful Way To Die

Pairing: Heidi x Fem!Reader

Summary; When you thought of death or the possibility of you dying, you never seriously considered the possibility of dying at the hands of a gorgeous vampire.

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: swearing, Heidi accidentally being creepy give her a break she's new to interacting with mortals and NOT eating them

Author's note: I've been wanting to write about Heidi for a while now because her character, even though we got so very little of it is fascinating (again thanks smeyer for making your side characters more interesting than the main ones). Also, am a simple gay.

Arising from your jet-lagged slumber, you'd hoped the beautiful blue, sunny skies you enjoyed yesterday would still be there. Sadly, your luck was out the window along with the welcoming warm weather.

You'd travelled to Italy with the intention of finally getting out into the world and having the freedom to explore and go your own path. Looking online for travel destinations was both a struggle and exciting! "Where should I go?" you wondered while scrolling through all your proposed options. None caught your eye until you landed on one listing;

Enjoy an enriching, quaint experience in the city of Volterra!

Nestled in the country hillsides of Italy, Volterra has a host of activities for you to enjoy, from historical site tours and many shopping locales, bars and more. From the Palazzo di Priori to the Volterra Cathedral... Come, and lose yourself in a city who's architecture is frozen in time.

You wandered the town, taking in the sites of all the old buildings around you. Even with the clouded sky above your head, Volterra was still a breathtaking place.

After an hour of wandering you came to a stop in the Palazzo, plopping down to sit by the large fountain. Hands resting under your chin, you entered a blissful, happy daydream.

Sighing dreamily, you let your eyes close.

You didn't notice the woman watching you attentively.

Heidi had been tasked with finding more humans to feed the guards and the masters themselves, her own hunger growing more ravenous by the day. She'd managed to lure in a few stray helpless tourists, but she still needed just a few more.

Striding through the streets with confidence, she halted as a sudden alluring scent hit her like wave. Mouth pooling with venomous saliva, she held in an instinctive growl. Where is that scent coming from? More so... who?

Following the mouthwatering aroma, she let herself be guided through the cobblestone streets of Volterra, the beast within her growling with glee as she got closer and closer to the human. Heidi had had many victims, many catches that she's reeled in from her "fishing" that have satisfied her, but none that made her yearn for blood more so than whoever it was that smelt like this.

She found herself in the Palazzo, her eyes desperately scanning every face, every scent of anyone who was nearby. She needed to know which it was.

Taking in another deep breath through her nose, the scent hit her again, and she found the poor helpless human.

A woman, who smelt better than anything she'd ever had before. Heidi sunk into the shadows of a nearby alley and studied you. You were plain, simple clothes and your eyes were currently closed as you enjoyed some blissful daydream. Her throat burned with thirst by this point, and as she watched you... something else began to grow.

Curiosity, was it? Heidi couldn't put her finger on it. Letting out an unnecessary huff, she decided to approach. I'll make sure to let Felix and Demetri know that this snack is strictly mine alone. Heidi put on her best smile and sauntered over to the human.

 “Pardon me, Miss?” a smooth voice called your attention away from your daydreaming. 

You jump in surprise as you turn your attention to the source of the voice that startled you. The owner of the voice was equally startling; her beauty blinded you, as she stood directly in front of the faint rays of sunlight you swore she was literally shining. The red dress she wore clung nicely to her body, an off the shoulder piece that only highlighted her best assets. Violet eyes gazed at you curiously, flicking from the art book open in your lap to your face. 

If angels were real, you’d believe this woman was one.

Unbeknownst to you, but the shock went both ways. Now that she was face-to-face with you, Heidi’s painted red lips had parted, an inaudible gasp to your ears escaping them.

A pull she had never experienced before took hold of the vampire. She needed to be near you - not just in the hunger sense, but more of a “If I am separated from this woman for any reason I will rip someone’s arm off” kind of way. At least, that is how Heidi would describe it.

Trying to shake herself out of her jumbled train of thought, she flashed you a quick smile, savouring the way it made your heart stutter. “I couldn’t help but notice you sitting here, are you new to Volterra?”

You nodded, gently smiling at the pretty woman. “I am, just passing through on my way to Venice.”

Heidi giggled. "Venice? That's quite the destination. And what brings you to Volterra?"

"I'm going on a tour here before I leave for Venice," you explained, none the wiser to the sudden shift in Heidi's demeanor. "I needed a place to stay since it was such a long trip, and..."

"What tour, if you don't mind my asking?"

You blinked. The woman was now very serious, the playful almost-flirtatious air about her gone. "In there, actually," you reply, pointing to the castle-like cathedral just behind her.

"I see."

Shit. Shit, shit, fuck! A string of curse words swam in Heidi's head in multiple languages. She can't go in there! But she's booked already, they'll be expecting her and we don't often get cancellations and if we do -

"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" You ask, growing more confused by the pretty lady as the seconds went by.

"Ah, hello Heidi."

You both turn your head to the rather tall man who had appeared at Heidi's side. He was quite the looker - very tall, heavy build and looked like he could break you in half with one hand.

"Felix, what are you doing here?" The woman - Heidi - says to her companion with an airy smile.

You didn't fail to notice the sharp look she had in her eyes.

"Just roaming about the city is all," the man replied coolly, a grin on his face that faltered into a curious smile when his gaze shifted to you. “And who might this lovely lady be? Perhaps a tour guest of the castle?”

With a laugh, Heidi linked her arm into Felix’s bicep, her fingernails digging deep into his arm. Under his breath Felix hissed and looked at Heidi with wide, confused eyes but she kept her airy exterior up perfectly.

 “Our tour bookings are full, Felix,” she said pointedly.

You looked on at the exchange feeling lost. There seemed to be some animosity between the two but why? You didn’t know. Maybe they were exes.

 “I see.” A thin, curt smile replaced his cocky grin from just moments ago. “Well then, I’ll meet up with you later. We’ll talk more then.” 

As the man left, Heidi left out a small huff and then turned back toward you, her brilliant smile bewitching you again. "Forgive him, he's always prowling during the tours for pretty young women to bore to death with his rants about his hobbies."

You giggled, grinning back at her. "I'll be sure to try and stay off his radar when tomorrow's tour begins."

Tomorrow's tour, Heidi's thoughts echoed your words. So she's coming in on that tour. Keeping her composure cool, she tilted her head down and gazed at you from beneath her eyelashes. Seduction tactics, only this time she was trying to steer her prey away. "Please beautiful, I want you to listen to me very closely."

Frowning at her sudden serious nature, you began to stand up from where you were perched, listening intently.

"Volterra has a lot to offer tourists, many fascinating sites to see. Our cathedral however... don't come. Please," she pleaded, her voice low and silky, "find somewhere else to go sight seeing."

You froze mid-way through putting away your art book. Her serious tone and the look in her eyes... something about the look in her eyes sent a chill down your spine. "I - I'll consider it."

The corner of Heidi's mouth twitched. She then straightened herself up and the deadly serious disposition left as quickly as it had appeared, the friendly seductress returning once more. "Well, I suppose all I can do is steer you away," she chuckled, more to herself.

You smiled politely back, your eyes flickering to your surroundings briefly. As you took in how the sky had gone much darker than it was before, you gasped. "Oh damn, it looks like its going to rain!"

Sure enough, as soon as the word "rain" left your lips, Heidi felt a droplet from the sky land on her cheek.

"I had better get going, it was really nice meeting you!" You began saying your farewells to the beautiful lady, pulling your backpack hastily up onto your back. You didn't want to get potentially drenched in the downpour.

"Wait!"

Ice gripped your wrist abruptly, sending a shock up your arm and making a surprised gasp escape your lips. The fuck?

Oh.

Heidi had grabbed your wrist. She must have some bad circulation, you vaguely thought to yourself.

"I never got your name." The word were desperate, to Heidi pitiful even.

"It's Y/N," you breathed, taken back by Heidi's behavior.

She let go of your wrist, a half smile appearing. "Y/N," she repeated, your name leaving her mouth - in your mind anyway - almost reverently. "Beautiful name, cara mia... anyway, we should head our separate ways! The rain is sure to stat pouring any moment now."

You hummed in agreement, internally trying to shake yourself out of the stupor you now found yourself in. God damn, this woman... help. She's pretty. So pretty. I am very gay.

"It was nice meeting you, Heidi. Maybe I'll see you around?" You offered with a hopeful smile, trying to shut out your internal screaming.

As you quickly walked away, Heidi carefully breathed in after holding her breath. The air stung her throat, your scent, your blood, making her moan wantonly.

She only hoped for two things; one, that she would get the pleasure of seeing your exquisite face again, and secondly and most importantly, that you would heed her warning not to come to the Volterra Cathedral tour tomorrow.

[shadowandjoltdev]

Jolt Inspirations

Hey! My bad on the radio silence here. While I was working on Heater’s design process mentioned last post, I realized a lot of the decisions made for the supporting cast are so dependent on how Jolt and Strike turned out that I’d need to start on those two before diving into the other guys. Hope that didn’t put too many people’s hopes up. ^^’

Anyway, I did a little social media challenge to choose three images of things that inspired your oc. Of course I chose Jolt (wow). But for here, I’m gonna expand a little more on these and why I chose them as influences.

Let’s touch on why I went with these and how I came upon them. (Keep in mind, I went through much trial and error to find the right influences to draw from. We’ll go into that another time)

Power

My choice to do an electric theme for Jolt came from a pretty anti climatic process:

“Hm, this oc (side note: she had no name at this point) is pretty boring without powers and feels like the scales between her and Shadow is way too tipped out of her favor. She needs something that pairs with him better. What hasn’t been used as a power set yet?

.....Electricity?

....Yeah ok. I could have fun drawing that.”

Riveting stuff, I know.

When S&J was first conceived, I was living in the historical city of Boston. If you’re from the New England area, one thing it’s well known for is the very boisterous thunderstorms especially in the summer. After deciding on her powers, the super dramatic storms served as further inspiration for how to depict it.

One day, a storm brewed outside my window where I saw this astonishingly beautiful display of pink lightning dancing in the sky. I was so entranced by how pretty it was, I just sat there watching it. That’s how I landed on that color.

Hair

It’s tricky to design something based on an established franchise. They already have a style and specific guide for what they want for any new addition. How do you add something that feels convincingly like a part of it?

One thing I learned that was quite helpful was immersing myself into the the media popular for the time of it’s original conception. Since Sonic’s a product of the 90′s and early 2000′s, there’s a ton of material that the original creators could’ve drawn from in movies, anime, music and so on.

I was going through a list of 90′s anime (I do love that era anyway so it was a real treat for me) and got into G Gundam, which is so over the top and out there it wasn’t tonally similar to what I wanted to do for S&J. However, you never know what might influence you! I really liked the look of Rain and in particular her hair. I struggled with finding out how to draw Jolt’s spikes in a unique fashion so when I incorporated Rain’s hair flow to her, it just fit well! Sometimes older works can be repurposed for new ideas. Never forget the classics!

Main Colors

This was decided on before her lightning was pink. As noted, I lived in Boston which has lots of historic buildings topped with copper rooftops and motifs that have long since oxidized to become the infamous Patina Green.

But the idea didn’t actually sink in until I was in a meeting at work discussing products painted with a metallic ink. We were trying to come up with a third metal to use since we already had Gold and Silver. I offhandedly said “copper” and everyone ended up agreeing. A co-worker then said:

“Hey, why don’t we match the copper with Patina Green on the product? That’ll look really good!”

The passing remark hit me like a bolt (ha....ha) and I realized that not only could it work for Jolt, but it would functionally make sense since copper is highly conductive to electricity!

Inspiration strikes at strange times. You never know when a good idea will hit so be exposed to lots of things and be observant!

(And then the whole bus clapped)

Overall Silhouette

I’ve mentioned once how important a strong silhouette is for character design. Bold shapes help define and set a character apart from the rest of the cast.

I had the colors, I had the hair shape and things were making sense....but drawing Jolt in different angles proved super difficult without an idea of how that silhouette changes as she turns her head.

While perusing for inspiration, I thought back to my original “Rules of Design” I set for myself before starting this project. These were more self-defined and meant to help me stay on track in case I get lost and in need of a direction.

One of these rules is that Jolt is meant to be, thematically and visually, a foil to Amy. She needed to suit her in a way similar to how Sonic and Shadow are foils to one another. One of Amy’s main motifs is the Rose, a symbol of her strong romantic drive and femininity. I wanted something similar for Jolt that’d suit her and wouldn’t be too overt.

The Lotus came to mind! It’s construction helped me see how I could draw her at multiple angles and still convey that “lotus” shape in her hair. This was tremendously helpful for making her both easier to draw and also add some depth to her design.

Influences don’t always need to be super prominent but can instead be subtle and a good accent to the main ones. So after much mixing and matching, these were the core pieces that fit the best for the kind of character she’s supposed to be.

Whew, we made it! Thanks for reading this far. Stay tuned for more posts like this in the future. I’ll be sure to make them for each of my characters when I have the chance of digging deeper into them. Until then, take care! :>

[sophie-writings]

Hi! This is the Gala anon, I was wondering if you could do a follow up where bakugou gets a little too tipsy and has to spend the night at Y/N's place? He ends up gushing about how he loves them and cuddling (maybe make out?) ensues. (You did an awesome job with the first one and I saw that someone wanted a part 2!) Thank you!

☁️ Synopsis: After a long night of drinking, will Bakugou finally confess his feelings to his crush? Part 2 to this ☁️ Character: Katsuki Bakugou  ☁️ Type: Scenario. Sfw 17+ ☁️ Warning: Light cursing. Steamy but nothing too wild. Alcohol. ☁️ Note:  This was wayyy to fun to write about! It was supposed to be a small scenario but it turned into a full blown fic!! Hope you like it!

Bakugou gulped hard while you straightened his tie. He was trying his best to look as composed as ever, but having you so close to him always had this effect on him.

Things weren't always like this. Back when you both still attended UA, Bakugou saw you as another classmate, but by the time you were graduating he had actually started to respect you as a hero. He knew you were strong and capable, and that was the only reason he accepted to work alongside you all this time. Not to mention of course, that he also found you incredibly attractive, something he hadn't noticed when you went to high school together — He was far too focused on becoming a pro hero to care about it.

Now that both of you were pro heroes, he actually paid attention to your features. The way your eyes were looking up made his knees weak, and he couldn't help but stare at your lips which, in his defense, looked really kissable.

"Shall we get going?" Your voice was enough to snap him from his trance-like state. Damn, he was going to need a drink if he wanted to get through the night. "Yeah, these paparazzi are starting to really piss me off." He groaned, pulling you close by the waist and guiding you to the main hall.

And while you looked super confident, only God knows how fast your mind was racing at the moment. Bakugou's hand on your waist was driving you insane. "Why is he doing it?" "Does it mean anything?" "Is this just an easier way to pose for pictures without much effort?". These were only some of the millions of questions going through your mind at the moment.

Bakugou led you to the main hall, where all of your old classmates and co-workers were gathered, waiting for the ceremony to start.

"Kacchan, Y/n, is that you?" A familiar voice made you snap your head back, and a familiar face with the biggest and kindest eyes you know made a smile crawl to your lips almost instantly. "It's been a while."

"Izu!" You smiled, now stopping on your tracks, which caused Bakugou to stop as well. "It's been so long! How have you been?"

You and Izuku were really close during high school days. He was basically your best friend during the three years you spent at UA, besides the girls of course. He listened to you ramble on and on about how strong Bakugou was, and he always told you that you just might have a crush on his childhood friend, which you always denied. You couldn't deny it anymore, but it was pleasant to reminisce about the old days.

"I'm sorry, I kind of disappeared didn't I?" He scratches the back oh his head, laughing sheepishly. "I went on a secret mission, and I couldn't tell anybody about it until recently."

"I heard about the operation on the news! I don't even know how I haven't noticed since Bakugou went missing in action for some time as well..." You say, remembering about the recent raid made to a League of Villains hideout. Bakugou was one of the heroes chosen to go, much like Izuku. He didn't tell you a thing about it until you found out yourself.

Speaking of Bakugou — you didn't know, but he was actually silently fuming at the moment. The sudden way your eyes lit up when you saw Izuku made his eyebrow twitch, and he doesn't remember the last time you smiled this brightly when looking at him.

Bakugou snatched a drink from a waiter passing back, chugging it down in a swift movement, trying to drown out the conversation you were having with his childhood friend. He wasn't used to drinking alcohol, even when both of you would go out for drinks, he's stick to water or some juice.

But he wasn't doing that tonight.

By the time you had stopped talking to Izuku, Bakugou had already downed 3 drinks, even though you spent 10 minutes tops chatting with the green-haired hero.

"Woah there, someone's rowdy today." You giggled, grabbing a glass of champagne and taking a sip from it. "Nervous about the awards?"

"As if!" He said, downing another glass in one big gulp and moving to grab another, but you were able to grab his arm before he could. "What are you-"

"I know you can take care of yourself, but you're not used to drinking alcohol, Bakugou." You said, pulling his arm closer to your chest. Bakugou blushed at your actions but looked away before you could notice.  "Take it easy, okay?" You smiled the smile he — oh so adored and he couldn't bring himself to say no to you.

"Whatever." He grumbles, before snatching his arm from your grasp and pulling him closer to him by your waist.

The sudden motion made you slightly lean against his chest, and before you could even process what was happening, Bakugou's face was inches away from your own. His red eyes staring intensely into your own.

"You and Deku seemed pre-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Bakugou was cut off by the announcer's voice.

"Welcome to the annual Hero Gala! I am Present Mic and I'll be your host tonight!"

"Oh! It's starting..." You whisper, trying to focus on anything else but the smell of Bakugou's cologne mixed with alcohol filling your nostrils. Damn, he smelled good. "We should go!"

You grabbed the blond's hand, leading him to the main stage area, and trying your best to brush away the thoughts filling your head.

The rest of the gala went by as smoothly as possible. Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki won the main awards of the night and each gave speeches in their own peculiar way. Izuku, shedding some tears, Todoroki thanking everyone BUT his father and Bakugou sprouting some nonsense about beating them all next year.

You and a few others actually won awards as well, each on their own category. You couldn't be happier to be making your family and everyone else proud by taking home an award. Even Bakugou congratulated you on your win, which was rare for him.

After the award show was done, the celebration continued at the after-party. And before you knew, Kaminari and Sero were distributing tequila shots and you had lost sight Bakugou.

"Hey Mina, have you seen Bakugou around?" You asked the pink girl who looked like she had a little too much to drink as well.

"Katsuki? He's over there with the rest of the squad, I think Kaminari wanted him to try some shots."

Ah fuck.

You thanked Mina before speedwalking towards the place she pointed and finding the rest of the Bakusquad trying to hold the explosive man back.

"What's going on?" You snickered at their exasperated expressions. "Why did you think giving shots to Bakugou would be a good idea? You know he never drank this much before." You said.

Bakugou's head snapped towards you, and he finally was able to get away from Sero and Kirishima's grasp, using the opportunity to swing his arms around your body and placing his forehead on your shoulder. Your eyes widened at his actions, but you were too shocked to move, and only looked over at the other guys, who chuckled.

"I'm sorry about that Y/n." Kirishima sighed before pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call for a taxi, is it okay if Bakubro sleeps over at your place? I'd take him home, but I need to take care of the rest of the squad-"

"It's okay Kiri!" You reassured. "Bakugou helped me out a bunch of times when I was the drunk one."

"Thanks, Y/n, you're the best!" He smiles. "The taxi's outside already, please take good care of him."

You nodded at Kirishima before leading Bakugou outside. He was still clinging to you, which got you a few confused stares from strangers and thumbs up from your girlfriends. Even Izuku blushed before mouthing a "use protection" to you, to which you responded by violently shaking your head in hopes he realized he got it all wrong.

The car ride was silent, as Bakugou seemed to be in a bad mood, probably because he had to go home early.

You sighed in relief as the taxi pulled over next to your complex and you helped Bakugou out of the taxi and into your condo, which was at the top of the building.

"You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch tonight." You whispered, helping him sit on your bed. "I'll get some fresh air and then I'll come to check on you, okay? Call me if you need anything." You got out of your room and walked to the balcony, staring at the city below.

You weren't able to confess your feelings to Bakugou tonight. Not that you didn't have the chance, you just chickened out every time he got dangerously close you. Well, it wasn't your fault he was so attractive that every time he looked at you with his red eyes you could feel your heartbeat race and your knees turn into jelly.

Being his friend was easy, and even though you wanted more, the chance of ruining the friendship you had built after so much effort was too great to ignore.

"What are you doing here all alone." Bakugou's rough voice made you jump a little. You hadn't noticed his presence since you were so deep in thought.

He got closer to you, and you could smell his cologne again. "Thinking about Deku again?" He muttered.

"Uh?" You were genuinely confused. Did Bakugou misunderstand your relationship with Izuku?

"I noticed the way your face lit up when you saw him, you ain't slick." He continued, bringing his face so close to yours, your noses were almost touching. "You like him, don't you?"

"Uh, no, that's weird." You managed to say. "Izu's my best friend, he's like a brother to me."

Bakugou tilted his head to the side in confusion. "And why did you smile at him like that back at the gala?"

"I  haven't talked to him in forever!" You said more confidently this time. "I just missed Izu."

"And why do you call him Izu, yet you keep using my last name?" Bakugou blurted out, causing you to widen your eyes at his sudden outburst. "We're close, aren't we? Yet you keep calling me Bakugou!"

"Wait, wha-"

"Fuck, I wish I didn't find you so damn attractive to the point I couldn't focus the whole night. I hate the fact your lips look as if they're begging for me to kiss them. I hate the way you call Deku by his own nickname..." He rambled.

"Bakugou..."

"There you go again." He brought one of his hands to your cheek. "I fucking hate that I like you and you haven't noticed it yet! I'm right here, dammit." Bakugou said, bringing his face closer to yours. He hesitated for a second, but you got on your tiptoes, finally connecting your lips. Using his free hand, the strong man pulled you closer by your waist, giving it a little squeeze, and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

The kiss started off slow, but it rapidly got hungrier, as Bakugou sucked on your lower lip and squeezed your waist once again, making you gasp. He used this opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth, causing you to moan into the kiss.

His large hands went down your waist and using his strength, Bakugou held you up by the back of your tights, and you wrapped your legs around his waist, never breaking the kiss.

Bakugou carried you back to your room and sat down on your bed, you know straddling his lap.

Your arms leave Bakugou's neck and cup his face finally breaking the kiss, and you stared lovingly into his eyes which shined brighter than you've ever seen before.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do this." You whisper, resting your forehead on his.

"You should've told me sooner, I've also been waiting to do this for some time now." He answers, his hands still on your thighs, caressing them tenderly.

"Well, you're kinda hard to read Katsu." You giggled. "How would I know you were interested in me if all you did was frown?"

"Call me that again." He whispered, completely ignoring the rest of your sentence.

"Uh, Katsu?"

"Again."

"Katsu."

"Hell yeah, I'm Katsu." He grabbed you by the neck, pulling into a kiss once again.

He was definitely still tipsy and he knew that. There's no way the Bakugou Katsuki would let someone call him Katsu without him complaining, even though it was you, and he loved to sound of it.

But he'd leave that to "next morning Bakugou". Now he was more focused on how to find your zipper using one hand only.

[big-dong-zhong]

2 - A Gleam In Eye

[Previous Chapter] [Next Chapter]

Words: 2,831

Rated [PG]  - Here is an explanation of my rating system.

Pairing: ChilLumi

Summary: Childe follows Lumine to Mondstat, unaware that he is about to stumble upon an object that will set everything into motion.

Read on Ao3, or continue to read here on Tumblr under the cut.

This chapter was originally going to be much, much longer, but I had to cut it into two chapters to get it out sooner. Now it's been cut into three chapters thanks to the addition of a new scene, so there's a lot to look forward to in this "Mondstat arc" it seems! We'll get to see some more characters next chapter, too!

Apologies for any formatting errors, it doesn’t copy/paste to tumblr very well.

Tartaglia knew he had it bad before, but since he’d had a taste of normalcy with that one-day respite he couldn’t stop thinking about Lumine, calm and sleeping wrapped around him. It had been the first peaceful sleep he’d experienced in years. Saying goodbye so soon after felt wrong, so he made excuses and lied to the Fatui in order to pursue his own interests. That’s why he found himself approaching the front gate of the City of Bards.

“Mondstat, uh…welcomes you?” the nervous guard muttered, knitting his brows and curling his lips downward. The man tensed his body, gripping the hilt of his sword tighter. Tartaglia smiled and lightly waved his hand, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. It seemed to have worked because the guard loosened up just a bit, enough to convince him that he wouldn’t be accosted by The Knights of Favonius as soon as he crossed the city’s threshold.

He had been to Mondstat before, but never for long enough to get to know the city. The smell of food wafting down the main corridor was the first thing to catch his attention. Tartaglia thought perhaps he could buy something to tide him over until-

“WHAT THE-?!” That voice echoed through the main street, bouncing off of the outside walls of the shops and drawing the attention of everyone around. Tartaglia looked up the stairs, immediately catching sight of exactly who he wanted to see. Lumine’s arm was outstretched and pointed directly at him. She quickly covered her mouth when she realized the attention she had drawn to the both of them. He watched as Paimon took advantage of the distraction to steal the food of the skewer in Lumine’s other hand. Another companion peered from behind her, red ribbon headband twitching with her motions.

Two patrolling knights walked toward him from either side, alerted by the commotion. He lifted his arm into the air and waved.

“Hello Lumine, Paimon!” He called out to them in order to diffuse the situation before it began. Lumine looked at the knights approaching him and then ran down the stairs, waving them away as she approached.

“Honorary Knight,” one of them addressed her, “is this man causing trouble for you?”

“No, no!” She shook her head and laughed awkwardly. “I can take care of him, don’t worry about it.” She then leaned in close and glared up at Tartaglia.

“What are you doing here?!” she whispered through gritted teeth.

“Would you believe me if I told you it was for work?”

“I hope not,” she groaned. “Jean has enough on her plate as it is, she really doesn’t need to deal with you too.” She brought the hand holding the skewer to her forehead, now realizing that her snack had been pillaged. She turned around to her floating companion who was now making her way toward them along with their other guest.

“Paimon!”

“I was hungry!” she tried to defend herself. He laughed as Paimon dodged Lumine’s strikes with the empty skewer, apologizing profusely.

“Well if you’re still hungry, let me buy you an early dinner. I was about to grab something to eat anyway. I’ll treat the three of you.” He smiled.

“Oh!” Lumine stopped her assault on Paimon and turned back around. “Sorry Amber, this is, uh-”

“I’m Tartaglia but please, call me Childe,” he introduced himself with a smile.

“I’m Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius!” She put her hands on her hops and grinned. “I’m the best guide when it comes to exploring around Mondstat!”

“Hey!” Paimon whined. “Paimon is the best guide!” Her complaints went ignored as Amber continued.

“I’m gonna have to pass on that early dinner, though. Kaeya gave me a huge list of jobs to do today and I’m only halfway done.” She rested her face in her palm and sighed.

“He’s been really piling the work on you lately,” Lumine frowned.

“I know, right? I can’t stand it!”

“Might I suggest a solution?” Tartaglia interjected. Amber turned her head and looked at him quizzically, headband bouncing in the air. Lumine grinned with her eyes narrowed and arms crossed, ready for him to announce his grand plan.

“Fight him and win! Then he won’t be able to boss you around anymore.” Paimon palmed her face while Lumine chuckled and shook her head.

“Yeah, right. Like I could beat the Cavalry Captain in a fight,” Amber sighed.

“Then train and become stronger. I know!” he clapped his hands together and smiled. “Start by sparring with me!”

“Are you crazy?!” Paimon yelled and glared at him.

“Actually that doesn’t sound like such a bad idea,” Lumine said. Paimon tried to argue, but the arrival of a man in blue grabbed everyone’s attention.

“Oh, it’s Captain Kaeya! Hi Kaeya!” Paimon stated aloud and waved to greet him.

“Picking a fight with our outrider? You Fatui do love your political scandals, don’t you?”

“I only offered to spar with her. What are you gonna do, arrest me?” Tartaglia held his hands in front of himself in surrender, giving the captain a sly wink. “Handcuffs will hurt my delicate wrists, you know. Or maybe you would prefer if I picked a fight with you instead.”

Kaeya let out a hearty chuckle in response.

“Oh you’re funny! No wonder Lumine likes you, Childe.” So this man already knew who he was. It made sense, him being a high ranking officer for the Knights of Favonius. Kaeya looked him up and down, and he could tell he was being sized up. The captain didn’t seem to have so much of a possessive aura, though. It felt more as though he had a more simple motive to protect his fellow knights. The Fatui had a tendency to cause a lot of trouble in Mondstat, so of course they would want to keep a closer watch on any Harbingers. They may have been keeping even closer tabs on their Honorary Knight as well. Either Lumine wasn’t keeping their friendship as much of a secret as he thought, or they didn’t trust her to the extent that they let on. Despite how he felt about it, it was in their rights to be suspicious of her, and especially of him.

“You’re in my city now, so step lightly,” Kaeya continued and narrowed his eyes. “We don’t want any more incidents with the Fatui. Anyway,” he turned to Lumine, “an emergency commission just came in. A ruin guard was spotted near Starsnatch Cliff. There’s something strange about this one, so Amber,” he nodded toward the other girl, “you should go with her.”

“I’m on the case!” Amber brought her fist to her chest.

“I’d be grateful if you would help them out as well, Childe,” Kaeya suggested. “It would comfort me to know that Lumine and Amber are keeping eyes on you. As for compensation though-” Tartaglia cut him off.

“Don’t worry about it. Of course I’d be happy to help Lumine out with her commission. Not that she really needs it, but it gives me an excuse to spend time with her.” He winked at Lumine, which was met by her slapping his arm in frustration. She looked cute flustered like that. Tartaglia felt his face relax into a soft smile, and in that moment he didn’t care that the others could see how he looked at her.

“You should come too, Kaeya! That ruin guard will be toast in a snap if you all go at it!” Paimon said.

“Unfortunately I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t be able to go with you this time. I’ll catch you later, then.” With that Kaeya turned and walked away waving goodbye to the four of them.

“Well let’s get going,” Lumine said. “Kaeya did say it was an emergency, so we should take care of it immediately.” She looked at the empty skewer in her hand and sighed before tossing it into a bin nearby as they all walked through the city’s front gate. Tartaglia knew she would want to take care of her commission before eating, so he didn’t push the subject of food. It was only one ruin guard anyway. If anything he figured Amber, as a Knight of Favonius, could take care of it herself. Well, with three of them fighting it should be easy to dispose of quickly, and then he could treat Lumine and her friends to a proper meal.

“So, Amber,” he started as he stepped between her and Lumine, grinning, “when’s our first sparring match?”

“You were serious about that?!” Amber averted her gaze. “I’m not really sure…” she trailed off, looking into the distance with an indecisive expression.

“Geez, Childe, stop harassing her already!” Paimon stomped into the air. “Didn’t Kaeya just warn you not to cause trouble?!” Tartaglia laughed.

“Oh? But Lumi said it was a good idea!” He side-eyed Lumine, admiring the light blush on her cheeks when he shortened her name. When she saw him staring she jabbed her elbow into his ribs and looked away without a word. “Okay, I’ll drop it,” he sighed. “You’ll just have to fight me twice as often, Lumine!”

The rest of the walk was filled with nothing more than simple talk amongst themselves until they approached what they assumed to be their target.

“Is that it?” Amber tilted her head, puzzled, and he could see why. The ruin guard looked ordinary enough to be of little concern, and it didn’t even seem to be active. They all approached the machine to get a closer look, but it still just appeared to be nothing differing from the usual specimens as it peacefully sat on the grass.

“This is supposed to be an emergency?” Tartaglia chuckled as he reached out to touch the ruin guard. “I wish my work was this laid back.”

“Hey uh, Paimon has a bad feeling about this…”

“What the-?!” he gasped as he pulled his hand back, shaking it off as he did so. The thing was scalding hot, much hotter than what would be normal for sitting in the sun all day. Was it sitting on a flaming flower? If that was the case then it was a good thing he had accompanied them as neither Lumine nor Amber had a chance of cooling this thing down with their abilities alone. Still, it didn’t make sense for the situation to be that simple, and as if on cue, the ruin guard powered up. As its core glowed he could see something inside of it: the muddy glow of an abyssal spell. Now it felt like more of an emergency.

“Watch out!” he warned. Amber leapt backwards an impressive several feet and grabbed her bow, prepared to fire. As the automaton stood up Tartaglia confirmed there was no flaming flower beneath it. He wondered if the spell somehow harnessed some kind of pyro energy. He wanted to find out, but there was no time. Amber fired rapidly on their enemy, and Tartaglia fired a hydro-charged shot at it. Steam rose from it as it hit.

Lumine ran straight up to the machine, uncomfortably close for him to witness. She tried to create a swirling reaction, but there was no elemental affliction to be seen in the result. Perhaps this thing was being shielded from elemental reactions with that spell. He couldn’t think about it too long, distracted by how close Lumine was to the burning hot ruin guard.

“Hey! Fall Back!” he called out to her. She ignored him and kept slashing at it with her sword. Now wasn’t the time for her willfulness, but he couldn’t think of how to get her to listen to him before flames erupted from the machine’s front core as she tried another swirling attack. The sudden burst caught her off guard and sent her flying.

“Lumine!” Tartaglia screamed out as he ran to the side for her to crash into him, sending them both to the ground. At least he managed to break her fall with his body.

“I’m fine,” she huffed, lifting herself from her position on top of him. He grabbed her arm to stop her from running right back to a repeat of what had happened.

“You’re reckless,” he chided. He looked her up and down but didn’t spot any obvious injuries. It was possible that he had slightly overreacted.

Amber was still firing at the machine with charged shots, its metal chassis was starting to glow with how hot it was becoming, and the grass around it steamed and withered away with each step, too hot to even catch fire. At the rate it was heating up, Tartaglia thought the automaton might even begin to melt soon. Seemed like sending a pyro user was working out for them after all. In fact, she was doing more damage than he and Lumine combined. He had to fix that.

“Lumine, do you have a large amount of anemo energy ready to use?” He let go of her and stood, offering his hand to help her to her feet which she promptly slapped away and stood on her own. She nodded in response to his question.

“Fire away,” he said. Lumine put her hand on her hip and frowned.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” The automaton approached them, ignoring the shower of flaming arrows pelting it from above.

“It’s going toward you guys!” Amber shouted. “Lumine, use your vortex!”

The corner of her mouth twitched and she let out a loud sigh, clearly irritated with their demands. She lifted her sword and readied her attack.

“I’m getting the most expensive dishes at Good Hunter after this,” she growled. “Paimon, too. You’re paying.”

“Why of course,” Tartaglia sang as he lifted his bow and prepared a charged shot. “Didn’t have it planned any other way.”

As soon as Lumine unleashed a huge burst of anemo energy he fired into it, infusing the whirlwind with hydro energy. The current crashed against the ruin guard and stopped it in its tracks. It fought against the immense pressure while the sudden coolness caused the metal to hiss and steam. It cracked and popped out bolts and metal plates as it struggled. One object in particular caught Tartaglia’s attention as it flew from the machine. As soon as the automaton collapsed he rushed over and grabbed the it from the ground, quietly pocketing it before the others noticed. He also picked up a couple of components as to not look too suspicious.

“Careful, it’s still steaming!” Amber called after him.

“Let him get hit by stray bolts if that’s what he’s into,” Lumine sneered.

“So cruel to me, Lumi,” he smiled as he approached the girls. “And even after I rushed into danger to pick these up for you two.” He handed each of them the components he had picked up; Lumine snatched the piece out of his hand while Amber smiled and thanked him politely.

“That thing was crazy! Paimon was so scared!” Paimon reappeared, excitedly bobbing in the air.

“You didn’t do anything!” Tartaglia laughed. “In fact, I’d say you made this fight even more difficult.”

“What?! How could I have possibly interfered with your battle if I was hiding?!” she argued.

“Well,” he grinned and pointed at her, “Lumi is extra grumpy and uncooperative because you stole her lunch.”

“Wha-?! I-! Ooh…” Paimon conceded. “I’m sorry,” she pouted. He had learned that she was a pushover when it came to Lumine, which made it easier to get along with her. He might have even been inclined to call it a sort of common ground between the two of them, if such a thing existed. At the very least, doting on Lumine was something that they could agree on, even if Paimon forgot sometimes.

“I forgive you,” Lumine said as she pat her on the head. “If only because Childe will be the one treating us to our next meal.” She grinned at him with a light of accomplishment in her eyes, a light he got lost in for a moment before Paimon’s cheering tore him from his emotions.

“What are we waiting for?! Let’s head back to the city and eat!” She floated toward the path to the city, Amber close behind her. When he started to follow suit, Lumine grabbed his sleeve and stood still. She waited until the others were no longer within earshot before she spoke.

“What did you take from that ruin guard?”

“Those components I gave you, of course,” Tartaglia answered.

“No,” she said. “What did you take?”

The weight of the object in his belt bag was undeniable proof that he would brand himself a liar if he didn’t tell her. He couldn’t stand even the thought of that.

“I’m not sure myself,” he admitted. “Let’s discuss it later.”

“Promise?” Her brows knitted as she frowned and gripped his shirt sleeve tighter. He smiled at her.

“I promise.”

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Breath of Fire IV

I think we’re closing in on the end. But in good ole BoF fashion, the last leg is taking the longest. Also, Nina is totally the main character of this game.

NINA

I’ve only ever beaten BoF 3, 4, and 5--though I’ve played 1 & 2. It’s a constant that Ryu is the main character, and that Ryu is the player. Ryu is never (to rarely) given dialog because the player is meant to imagine the voice of Ryu. And while this definitely works for BoF 3 and 5, Nina is clearly the main character in 4.

1. We Start the Game as Nina

In both BoF 3 and 5, we start the game as Ryu, and that’s basically where we stay for the whole adventure (occasionally controlling other characters). BoF 4 has us start with Nina. It’s a simple distinction, but sets up my next point.

2. Nina Makes All the Decisions

My screenwriting professor said the main character makes the decisions that drive the story. In this sense, Ryu is extremely passive. He’s mostly just along for the ride. It’s Nina that offers to help him, Nina that decides he should tag along, and it’s Nina’s quest he joins. Later, Nina decides to rescue Cray. Nina goes to her father for help. Nina asks the gods for assistance. Nina insists they save Ryu. Nina encourages Dies not to abandon Ershin. Nina insists on the helping that furry...thing. All the while, Ryu is just like, “...sure.”

I vaguely know how the game will end, so we’ll see if this all holds up.

3. It’s Nina’s Quest

The game starts with Nina and Cray on a mission to find/rescue her sister. While Ryu is integral to the plot, he doesn’t have a lot of skin in the game. Nina is also royalty, and this game has some Games of Thronesian politics going on. While Ryu’s actions carry little weight beyond the act itself, everything Nina does has the ability to affect policy and international relationships. We see this when the Empire pressures the Alliance to cede territory post Nina’s rescue op failure.

Also, Nina just told Ryu that she loved Cray. Ryu isn’t even the love interest in this game.

I’m actually really happy that Nina is the star. Female characters aren’t normally given the respect they deserve. Maybe instead of Breath of Fire, they should have called this “Wings of Destiny”...cause Nina has wings.

Back to the Plot

So, Ryu went super-Dragon and killed some imperials. The gods have offered to help Ryu, (as long as he plays hide and seek first), and Fou-Lu has escaped the village in which he had started to feel at home.

Nina and the team discuss things and decide that if it’s Ryu’s destiny to meet up Fou-Lu, they might as well confront him proactively. They seem to be under the impression that the empire is using Fou-Lu gain power (if they only knew).

Ursala is the Imperial captain that captured us, but now she’s our captive. The team asks her to help them get into the Empire. She’s confused. It was her mission to bring the dragon to the Empire, so this kind of works out...She agrees and is now a playable party member.

I like her.

Heading back to the warp gate, we learn that it’s broken because of our previous activities (and because we were attacked by Captain Jackass). Ursala tries to make us feel bad, but she works for an evil Empire--so jog-on. We have to head north and need a sandflier but don’t have the cash. This is comical, cause I put in a cheat for infinite Zenny way back when...

We’re supposed to ask a merchant sandflier for help, but we’re too late. Ursala immediately jumps to action and without a word, Scias follows her lead. They take the merchant ship like a band of pirates and it turns out to be a French-accented froggy friend from before that sexually harassed Nina, Marlok. He tries to make use feel guilty, which works on Nina and Cray--but the rest of us know he’s a POS. He offers us a bond to buy a ship, expecting that we’ll do great things and thus able to cash in on our success.

We get to a checkpoint, but it’s blocked. Ursala wants to fight the guards, but Nina is against it. We do the non-violent solution of trampolining over the wall. We get to a ship yard...I only now realized in the game that the oceans aren’t water--but mud. weird...where’s all the water? So the only seas are up north.

The captain doesn’t want us on without the blessing of the sea god. We got to coastal cave and find the Sea Dragon there...I think. We get his blessing and are good to go. The captain now doesn’t want women on board. The women insist that they are tough and have been through a lot. The muscle the dude we keep fighting shows up, and it’s implied that his defeat would prove we’re tough. Ursala shoots him and falls off the mass of the ship. So  a new test of courage is needed. Ursala and Nina must stay within the hull of the ship over night with ghosts and bugs. They succeed.

As we travel across the sea, we fight muscle dude again (he was much stronger this time). And then the wind stops. The sailors think this area is haunted, maybe by a god. We go check it out. The dungeon is interesting, but frustrating. You have to walk across planks to get to the other side, but the planks break and drop you down into the hull. There’s a light over your head to warn you when you’re about to fall, but I still fell a lot. In the hull, as you walk, skulls that are spread about rattle and vibrate: it’s eerie and entertaining. Eventually we find a rock creature that thinks of itself as a god, but it’s just a rock powered by god-power. So we kill it.

No remorse.

The wind returns and we make it across the sea. After traveling through a jungle, we meet a furry thing. I feed it some food and it seems happy...I think. At the end of the jungle we find a treehouse and are attacked by more furries. The previously furry comes to our defense and we meet Beyd. He has married one of the furries and maybe these are his children? Cray had my reaction and was like, “Well...uh, anyway--how do we get to the empire?”

One of the furries gets sick and Nina vows to save it (cause she’s the main character!). This brings us to an interesting, but not super fun mini game. We get to sail the boat, but you have limited supplies. Every second you’re on the seas, the supplies get used, but they’re used faster if you row. Rowing is necessary because the wind doesn’t always blog in the direction you need. So you have to decide whether to burn supplies by rowing, or wait for the wind to change directions. There’s places to find and treasure to discover. It is, kinda fun...

While we’re out here collecting medicine on the high seas, I also find the sea god: SCORE!

We save the furry and are guided to some islands that are available to walk across when the tide is low. So we venture a cross some tropical keys. It’s pretty. The group gets tired and Nina insists on taking a break: cause she’s the main character. After our rest, the tide has risen and the group is trapped. Cray is pissed and Nina feels responsible.

This is an interesting part of the game cause the group has to survive on an island and reflect on their mission. Ursala warns it could be months or years before the tide recedes. Chill Ursala. The group explores the island and finds both water and and great fishing spot. We’re gonna be fine. Just delayed.

Scias likes the island, as he just sleeps all day. After a while, Cray chills out and apologizes for his temper. While Ryu is casting a line, Nina reveals that she’s in love with Cray, causing Ryu to trip. Nina reflects on her feelings, unsure if they’re true and doubtful that Cray feels the same.

The tide recedes and the team escapes. We come to a riverlands that requires some log riding and log dodging. It’s cute, but I want to get out of here...

Fou-Lu, after escaping the village, receives a direct hit from the hex canon. They apparently used the friendly lady that help Fou-Lu as a “sacrifice” to power the canon. EVIL! Fou-Lu survives and arrives at the capital. He meets statue guardian that recognizes him as the first emperor. Fou-Lu orders the guardian to destroy the imperial city. Fou-Lu is pissed, and just doesn’t seem to think humans are worth it...

As the guardian destroys the city, Fou-Lu cleans up loose ends, finally killing the general that ambushed him on the night of his awakening, and then killing the current emperor. The Emperor first tries to act subservient to Fou-Lu, but then stabs him with the “dragon slayer” sword. It doesn’t work and Fou-Lu laughs in his face.

Similar to Breath of Fire 3, the game has reached a point where it doesn’t have more story to tell, but wants to add hours. So there’s tons of little quests and obstacles that have little to do with the overall plot. It’s sad, because the minigames and mini-nations they’ve created are really interesting.

I tried to think back to how Final Fantasy 7 handled this. I think, for the most part, the game doesn’t make its endgame clear until much later. Most of the game is, “What should we do now?” So I don’t feel there’s as much a “rush” to get to the end. Also, much of the game is about tracking Sephiroth, so you’re really looking for clues as you find obstacles, vs having an end destination and just running into a million reasons why you can’t get to it. You feel out of control and inconvenienced. But these obstacles would make really interesting and fun side quests. Having them as options would absolutely make them more interesting.

Another thing that Final Fantasy 7 really succeeds at is making each new area a new piece of the puzzle. You’re always learning history about the world or a character. So while it might be a brief obstacle, it’s also an interesting deeper dive into the world. Breath of Fire’s diversions don’t feel as enlightening.

Still, BoF4′s diversions still feel like progress cause we inch closer to the goal...it’s just that we’re not getting much character or world development in the process.

Combat

I do prefer the combat over BoF3 (and many RPGs). I like that the other characters are always on-call in the battle, and it’s easy to switch out (more so than Final Fantasy X -- how I remember it anyway). I’ve done zero grinding, and I’m pretty proud that I’ve survived so far. After crossing the sea, it seemed like the enemies were getting ahead of me, but I got better at using the spell combos (which are cool!). So surviving a few battles usually meant getting a few levels up. When I first played the game, i was cool with grinding, but I’m glad I don’t have to now. The only thing that is cheating: I gave myself 99999+ zenny. So I’m able to stock up on healing supplies. Though it helps, I’m sure a few hours of grinding would have me being just as well stock on healing supplies.

Is it better than Breath of Fire 3?

I’m a little torn. Breath of Fire 4 is “epic”. There are multiple nations that have a strong sense of culture and history. The mythology around the dragons is of the galactic scale. World War is in the balance and my party includes two members of royalty and two semi-gods. The world feels huge even if the story is pretty linear.

In contrast, Breath of Fire 3 had three nations--that I could tell: Wyndia, Eastern Kingdom, and across the sea. Strangely, Wyndia had gangster cities, gangster markets, and amoral lab that was accidentally making mutants. While eastern kingdom seemed pretty chill and peaceful--but lacked a ruling entity. Hmmm...

Where Breath of Fire 3 feels “better” is that it feels more personal. The story starts small: a lost dragon-boy found my starving thieves. We live in a small town and solve small-town issues. This slowly grows to include local gangsters, a kingdom, and a dragon holocaust before we battle God. I like Breath of Fire 4′s characters, but I feel like I have a stronger bond with BoF3′s. Also, I felt like BoF3 tried to explore the grey area: killing monsters that had feelings. I felt emotionally challenged in the different scenarios. Whereas, BoF4 is always: “We’re the good guys, and we do the good things!”

[mst3kproject]

The Flame Barrier

I’ve got an awful lot of movies from 1958 on my resume, don’t I?  Why is that? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. Apparently it was just a bumper year for cheap, crappy black-and-white films.  This one stars Kathleen Crowley from The Rebel Set and Rodd Redwing from The Mole People, in a movie written by George Worthing Yates, who also penned Earth vs the Spider.  Also featuring a blob from outer space, with motives even less clear than the one in The Space Children.

Over yet another stock-footage rocket launch, one of those deep-voiced 50’s narrators informs us that there’s a layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the Flame Barrier which destroys everything it touches. This particular rocket was no exception, and its crash-landing in the Mexican jungle may be related to the disappearance of explorer Howard Dalman, whose wife Carol has now come looking for him. She seeks out a pair of prospectors, Dave and Matt Hollister, to guide her to his last known location.  As they go deeper into the bush, they find they’re wandering into something unknown… something that can make men burst into flames!

This movie isn’t terrible.  It’s not great, but it’s not irredeemably awful.  It reminds me a lot of The Giant Gila Monster, in that there’s a story going on and it’s not a bad story per se, but it’s one that’s got nothing whatsoever to do with the title and premise that drew us to the film in the first place.  When the supposed main plot pops up again at the end, it makes for a sudden and jarring shift.

The Flame Barrier starts off all right.  We have the inevitable narrator to give us the backstory, and then it gets right on with meeting the characters.  They’re introduced one by one, telling us their personalities and goals: Carol is naïve and spoiled but she’s trying her best, Matt is a drunk fool but he’s got a good heart, and Dave is a gruff, cynical realist who loves his brother but is tired of his bullshit.  None of them are exactly nice people but you can see where they’re coming from, and they each get an arc.  Carol struggles with whether she really loved Howard, whom she barely knew, and the movie allows her to toughen up and learn how to survive in the wilderness. Dave spends much of the movie being a jerk to Carol but eventually realizes he judged her too harshly and apologizes.  Matt gets a chance to be a hero and takes it, believing that he owes it to Dave for never giving up on him.  The writing is frequently unsubtle but the actors are competent, and these little stories work just fine.

The movie that surrounds them, however, is often very sloppy.  The narrator tells us that the space probe from the opening crashed because ‘it unexpectedly lost its gravitational force’.  What?  What is that supposed to even mean?  The narrator also tells us it’s been six months since Howard disappeared, then mere minutes later Carol says it’s been four. There’s a bit where Carol is menaced by an iguana… the creature is never actually in the shot with her, so they couldn’t find anything scarier?  The stock wildlife footage on their trek through the soundstage sets of Central America includes hyenas.  I can hear Crow saying, “boy, are we in Afri… wait a minute…”  And, pet peeve, they describe a snake as poisonous instead of venomous.

This being a jungle movie, obviously there are ‘natives’.  I think most of these are actual Mexicans, although Wikipedia says Rodd Redwing may have been from India (if so, I like to think his entire career in Westerns was based on just walking into casting directors’ offices and announcing he was ‘an Indian’, and letting them draw their own conclusions).  Being as this is a movie from the fifties, the natives are there largely to provide a body count – white people aren’t allowed to die until the climax.  To its credit, The Flame Barrier mostly (though not entirely) avoids the trope where the natives have interpreted the mysterious happenings as supernatural, leading the white characters to scoff at the whole thing.  There is some of this, but Dave clearly knows these people well and respects their culture and their warnings.

Then there’s the love story.  Obviously this is a movie, so Carol’s gotta fall for one or other of these idiots, but neither of the Hollister brothers is a good choice. Matt is sweet to her but he’s also a useless drunk who only has a job because his brother puts up with him.  Dave spends eighty percent of the movie being an asshole and I have no idea what Carol sees in him.  At least the two men never fight over her.  I guess the love affair is important to the plot, because it spurs the party on to finish their search for the missing Howard Dalman despite the odds being stacked against them… but that basically boils down to Carol and Dave needing to be sure she’s a widow before they can bone.

After all this messing around in the jungle, with the run time half over we get to the plot, and the movie changes gears with an almost audible ka-chunk.  Now we’ve got this space blob sitting in a cave (how did it get in there when it’s still attached to the rocket?) doubling in size every two hours, which must be destroyed before it can consume the entire earth!  Suddenly we have a laboratory, because all the scientific equipment Howard brought with him is still in perfect condition despite having been sitting in the jungle for either four or six months.  Suddenly Dave the rugged survivalist is a scientist and mathematician.  It’s like they took the same actors and sets and started trying to make a totally different movie.

Honestly, I think this is more or less what happened. I think the multiplying space blob was the movie somebody originally wanted to make – it starts out as a tiny thing in a test tube, growing bigger and bigger until it consumes the whole building and will destroy the entire city if it isn’t stopped!  That sounds like a pretty fun 50’s sci-fi movie in itself. It also, however, sounds like an expensive 50’s sci-fi movie, needing miniatures destroyed and screaming extras and other stuff The Flame Barrier just didn’t have the money for. Hence the need to spend so much time wandering around in the jungle swapping tragic backstories before the characters are allowed to get to that point.

The unfortunate thing about this is that the movie doesn’t really have time to get into the nature of its alien.  In Spacemaster X-7, the Blood Rust was offscreen much of the time but we still had a good idea of what it was and of its capabilities, and the explanations we were given made a reasonable amount of sense.  In The Flame Barrier, we’ve got this blob that apparently lives in the rarified and super-hot outer atmosphere (the writers seem to have confused Earth’s atmosphere with the Sun’s corona), but can also survive on the ground… and its effects are all over the place. Sometimes when things get too close to it, they’re just electrocuted and disintegrated, as happens to the rocket’s original passenger, a very young chimpanzee.  Sometimes people get horribly burned and then burst into flames and are reduced to skeletons hours or days later, as keeps happening to the natives. And then there’s Howard, who somehow managed to get close enough to be swallowed up by the thing and his corpse is still completely intact inside it.

None of this makes any sense.  If the blob has that protective electrocution barrier that the humans must be so careful to avoid, how did Howard get close enough to be trapped in it?  How did the chimp get out to end up wandering around in the jungle?  What the heck is happening to the natives who get burned and then skeletonized and why doesn’t that ever happen to the chimp or any of the main characters?  And how do they manage to kill by electrocution a creature that uses lethal amounts of electricity without any harm to itself?  ‘It’s an alien – we don’t understand it’ can cover a multitude of sins in movie writing, but the blob’s random effects don’t even feel like they could potentially make sense.

The Flame Barrier reminds me of other MST3K movies, too. Prominent among them are It Conquered the World and The Crawling Hand, both of which ended on the same unintentionally depressing note: they suggest that the dangers of going into space are so great that humans will never be able to overcome them.  It Conquered the World tells us that there are eight more Venusians just waiting for their own turn to invade.  The Crawling Hand says that exposure to outer space causes mutations that will turn astronauts into mindless murderers.  The Flame Barrier posits that not only is space itself deadly, but is also full of deadly creatures, and the only way to avoid them is to stay on the ground.

This has always interested me because movies like this stand alongside things like the tales of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!, in which humans have an exciting future among the stars. Stories set in space can be about either the exhilaration of discovery or the terror of the unknown, and this dichotomy seems to be as old as science fiction – Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered the first work of proper sci-fi, and it encompasses both.  Frankenstein tells us that if we let our fear over-rule our curiosity, we’ll miss out on something potentially wonderful.  Movies like The Flame Barrier, and even modern space monster flicks like Alien, seem to say the opposite, that we shouldn’t meddle with the unknown at all.

This movie was kind of a compromise on my part.  I’ve had a lot on my plate lately and I picked The Flame Barrier as a movie that was kinda stupid but wouldn’t be either a test of my endurance or particularly challenging to write about.  I’m hoping to have something a little juicier for you next time.

[thanksjro]

Dark Cybertron Chapter 3: This One’s All About Skywarp. Honest!

It’s a beautiful day during Cybertron’s apocalypse, and Starscream is talking to a corpse to work through his emotions. He goes through a very brief rundown of what happened last issue, I guess because Swerve’s too busy being in space to do the Story So Far, and caps it off with an apology to Metalhawk over killing him. Rattrap watches this go down in the background, because this is Skywarp’s toy tie-in issue.

After this very incriminating conversation, Starscream goes out to see to the massive crowd standing outside, including Scoops’ little Targetmaster buddies.

I don’t care for that man’s beard.

Starscream promises to go talk to the Titan, though he really doesn’t want to, and Rattrap catches up to him to touch base. The two of them go to see Megatron, who’s still trapped in the forcefield hamster ball Wheeljack stuffed inside his chest back in RID. Starscream teases Rattrap about trying to be conniving, comparing it to his own endeavors as the Decepticon SIC, and offers a bit of advice.

Implying that Starscream hasn’t been flying by the seat of his proverbial pants since he became a main character in Phase Two.

Starscream, having met his daily quota of rubbing his success in Megatron’s face, goes off to see what he can do about this Titan situation.

Over at the Titan itself, the Autobots and Decepticons are duking it out, with the man of the hour gracing us with his presence.

Outstanding, you funky little robot.

Arcee tries a little banter, but it falls flat, and instead she just decides to sword fight a cat. Bumblebee asks Soundwave just what the hell he thinks he’s doing, and Soundwave gives a complete non-answer in the form of Decepticon propaganda, because anything else would make things too easy. This is where Starscream shows up and has his little chat with the Titan.

Back over in prison, Rattrap’s getting the skinny on the dark prophecy Scoop introduced into the narrative last issue. Rattrap wants to know just how this information got passed around so well outside of jail, and Scoop suggests that there are people who perhaps have a vetted interest in what may or may not be happening with Starscream. Then Rattrap makes it weird by A) not being terribly concerned about the potential end of the world and B) being impressed by the idea that Starscream somehow planned said end of the world.

This Skywarp issue is really good.

Over with the Lost Light, Ultra Magnus has taken command, and the lads are about to make the quantum jump to chase after Jhiaxus. But wait! Something’s off! The ship’s moving in a way that it shouldn’t be! Very odd, that. Brainstorm calls with answers, asking Magnus to grab Getaway, for some friggin’ reason, and head down to the shuttle bay.

Getaway asks Magnus how it feels to be big man on campus, and Magnus seems to think it’s a bit overrated.

Wow, someone needs to go talk to Xaaron about maybe thinking through his debate topics before he posts them, so he doesn’t get pegged as a space racist. The Universal Killswitch happened, like, last week, my dude.

The two of them get to the shuttle bay to discover that Metroplex’s thumb- which they picked up back in Spotlight: Trailcutter- is floating, and more or less pushing the Lost Light off-course. Getaway is pretty jazzed to see this thing on the ship, sort of missing the bigger picture. Brainstorm hypothesizes that Metroplex is using his severed thumb to guide the Lost Light to him.

Not sure why Getaway needed to be here for this.

Back on Cybertron, Everyone watches as Starscream flies up to the Titan. Arcee is ready to blast him out of the sky with a gun as big as she is, but Bumblebee wants to see where this goes. This pisses Prowl the hell off, and he starts yelling, but Bumblebee tells him to shut up. Bumblebee tells a lot of people to shut up in “Dark Cybertron”.

So we’ve got a team-up going on between the Autobots and the Decepticons- Bumblebee says it isn’t, but it pretty much is. Soundwave and Prowl get into a bit of a scuff, as Starscream lands and asks the Titan to chat.

Yeah, that doesn’t really work out too well.

Starscream manages to escape the Titan death blast in his alt, as the poor bastards on the ground below begin to dissolve into black fizz.

But Skywarp’s okay, so it can’t be all bad!

Yeeeeah, Skywarp.

Prowl starts yelling at Bumblebee again, as if he can’t see that the friggin’ death wave the Titan shot out of its face is still heading for Iacon, Starscream just barely managing to stay ahead of it. He lands as it hits, screaming about how Cybertron is his and he’s not gonna let some murder energy to steal his thunder, bracing his arms out as if that’ll do anything. Everyone watching him do this has about the expression you’d expect from witnessing such madness.

As the Iaconian populace gets dusted, someone else wakes up from the dead. It’s Metalhawk, and it’s time for him to become a tool of the narrative.

Metalhawk launches into the air and lands on top of Starscream, interrupting his personal diatribe to gripe about how he killed him. Still, there are bigger fish to fry, as he kicks Starscream through a wall and walks into the room where they keep Megatron.

Metalhawk releases Megatron from his hamster ball prison and carries him away, despite Starscream maybe insinuating that Megatron is dead somehow? It’s not super clear. Anyway, Metalhawk must do some pretty intense arm exercises, because he carries Megatron out and shoots into the air, holding him one-handed to his side.

Eat your veggies, kids, and you too can kidnap an entire warlord.

As the city falls apart, Rattrap and Scoop enter the scene, the prison likely having collapsed in the aftershocks of the death wave. Good thing they’re giant robots who can’t be killed by mere crushing damage. Rattrap tries to connive, but Scoop is more concerned with the fact that many people are dying, because he’s a somewhat decent person. Some of these people have begun to turn on Starscream, who takes it about as well be you’d expect.

Back on the Lost Light, the lads have decided to go find Metroplex, and to hell with bringing Jhiaxus to justice. At least for now. Of course, Ratchet tries to argue that they should do what Orion wanted them to do, but Orion isn’t here right now, is he? And Orion isn’t the space pope at this present time, now is he? So yeah. Metroplex time. They quantum jump, ending up underwater, with said water swarming with robots. That might be an issue, especially since they don’t seem to be terribly friendly.

Back in the Crystal City with Shockwave, Metalhawk’s dropped off the package, and Shockwave reminds us that he installed a space bridge in Megatron’s torso. Scientists sure do like to shove random bullshit into Megatron’s torso.

Hey.

Let’s talk about the NAILs for a second.

This is Tappet. I’ve been calling him Hat Guy up until this point, but his name is Tappet.

Everything Tappet done in the last 20+ issues of RID can be explained without him being the subject of the sentence:

The Decepticons kicked Tappet’s ass. Prowl sent Tappet to prison. Metalhawk bailed Tappet out of prison. Metalhawk brought Sky-Byte to the trashcan fire to talk to Tappet and some other neutrals. Starscream takes off his top as Tappet watches.

The point I’m trying to make here is that Tappet doesn’t actually do anything. None of the NAILs actually do anything, other than die and fill out crowd shots. Sometimes they bitch about the current situation, but even then, a lot of the time, those more vocal NAILs were actually involved in the war at some point.

This is an issue, because we’ve been presented with this entirely new group that’s in direct opposition of the war caused by every character we’d met prior to The Death of Optimus Prime.

And they have zero agency within the story. Shit just happens around them and they react. In fact, one of the major point points of RID is whether or not the Autobots should let the NAILs have agency within the very government that rules them, and it is such a point of contention that it takes literal in-story months and several disasters for them to reach a consensus. A decision that barely involves input from Metalhawk, the guy who is a NAIL, and is meant to be their advocate. Metalhawk, who is supposed to be on the same level as Bumblebee in terms of sway in the narrative.

At first, he did- he was the subtly conniving bastard who would trip Bumblebee up in front of others to make him look bad, and then deny anything of the sort happened if questioned. It was an interesting dynamic with a character that was new to the continuity. Metalhawk was interesting.

Then Starscream got involved, and Metalhawk’s role was reduced to yes-man and character motivation to both of them, because conniving is Starscream’s thing, and obviously we can’t have two bastards gang up on poor, sweet lil’ Bumblebee.

Who had a remote control that could blow up people’s heads if they pissed him off.

You remember when Bumblebee was the kid appeal character? Because I do.

The point is, the NAILs exist, but their existence isn’t justified within the story. They’re set-dressing, not characters. And now Metalhawk in particular is a prop for Shockwave, and somehow I doubt the other guys are going to be doing a hell of a lot in this story.

I dunno, it just seems like a bit of a waste.

Anyway, Skywarp sure was present in his toy tie-in issue, huh? Remember when he did that thing? And the stuff? Ah man, that was so cool!

Yeah, someone probably crossed their I’s and dotted their T’s on this one, because I’m pretty friggin’ sure this wasn’t meant to be his, even if the exclusive cover says otherwise.

[molluskwritesfic]

Between Rivers: Chapter Seven

A Mandalorian can't show their face to anyone - with the exception of immediate family. Although they haven't known each other long, there's definitely something growing between them. But is it enough? When an ex-spy must look beneath the helmet to save Din Djarin's life, there's only one option that allows him to continue following his Creed. Marriage.

This story is also on Fanfiction.net and Ao3.

Masterlist

First Chapter - Previous Chapter - This Chapter

Chapter Seven

Noa Enti was dead.

Finally. 

Redin Deedi might be dead. Might not. To tell the truth, she didn’t care much either way, so long as her bridge to him was as charred as the corpse she’d left in place of her own. 

She didn’t like killing off her characters; she’d lost five of them in the past six months. Her pool of identity options was dwindling, and she hated being without a cover. 

Soon, she would have to come up with some new ones. 

It wouldn’t be as easy as it once had been. 

For the moment, though, she was fine with being no one. Noa Enti was dead. Nenana Orze had never set foot on Dafin III. 

No One stalked through the darkened hall, guided by the blinking security lights. Her clever planning and well placed credits had seen the power cut, and the explosives she’d smuggled in under the guise of an engineer had done their job perfectly. The extra security uniform and helmet had been easy to steal, and the others were far too busy doing damage control to notice that their ranks had grown by one. Everything had gone exactly to plan. 

There was one problem, though. 

She was hurt. 

Human variables - something that couldn’t always be planned against. There had been precious few seconds between Deedi learning about the fake explosives strapped to her chest and the detonation of the real ones embedded in the drink trolley. In the chaos of those few seconds - where everyone was scrambling to get out of the room - one of the guards had panicked.

The blaster bolt had clipped her side - just below the ribs. Mercifully, it hadn’t hit anything important, but it still hurt like hell and would pose a real issue if she didn’t get the bleeding stopped soon. 

Also, it was slowing her way down.

But other than that, everything was fine. She was struggling to keep moving, but good at faking it. The cover wasn’t elaborate enough for her liking, but the black tinted visor covering the upper half of her face and requisition blaster she carried were working well enough. 

Well… almost well enough.

She’d actually made it out of the building and was moving through the alleyways created by the auxiliary buildings surrounding the main tower - Deedi’s own little self-sufficient town within the city; the wealthy businesses and housing that the rest of the planet couldn’t afford. 

Smoke choked the air, reducing the usually well-lit streets into a greasy haze. The place was abandoned, the people all having fled the shadow of the burning building or hiding away in safe rooms built into the basements for situations like this. A droid or two bumbled by, locking up the businesses and generally doing the things their owners weren’t willing to stay out to do, but they didn’t pay her any mind. 

Slowed by her injury, she was about a minute and a half behind schedule; Deedi’s men would be reorganizing by now. Her window for a clean exit was closing fast.

Sure enough, Nenana cursed herself when three guards - real guards - came jogging around the corner of a soot-caked Colo Claw Fish dinery and a jeweler’s. 

It was too late to hide. Even in the subpar conditions, they’d already seen her. 

“Hey, you! Stop right there!”

And they knew that there was something off about her. Great.

In her condition, she needed to avoid a shoot out if she could. 

Only one thing for it.

She lifted her head, squared her shoulders, and marched straight up to them. 

“Report!” She barked impatiently in her best Huttese accent, knowing that it was the first language of many of the soldiers hired from Dafin III. She turned her helmeted face from one to another, fixing them each with an imposing glare. 

The trio wavered. She jumped on their confusion. 

“What’s the status of Sector Three? Has that section been secured yet?”

The one in the middle - the highest ranking, according to the button on his lapel - squared his shoulders. “No, ma’am. Squadrons Two and Four are converging on Sector Seven. Looters have broken through the outer barriers.”

Ah, excellent. She’d hoped something like that would happen. Although Deedi controlled the major crime gangs, his shift to higher caliber goods had left the lower niches up for grabs. The smaller underground gangs would be moving in to see what they could get. 

A great cover for her, should the resolution to her current problem require the corpses of the three guards.

She heaved a frustrated sigh. “Get on the comm and divert Squad Four to Sector Three. Those cargo entrances are wide open.”

He immediately moved to do as she said, but hesitated when one of his companions, a green twi’lek man, spoke up. “With all due respect, ma’am, why not call in the order yourself?”

Shit. 

“You don’t get to fucking talk to me that way!” She snarled, hoping a threat from a supposed-superior would blot out any doubts he had running through his head. “Do as you’re told, or I’ll have you strung up and shot.”

“Ma’am, you’re bleeding,” the third guard, a human female, pointed out. “There hasn’t been any shooting in this Sector yet.”

Fuck.

“That’s right,” the first man who she’d almost fooled finally caught on. He stepped forward menacingly, his hand going to the blaster at his hip. She held her ground. “Unless you’ve been through Sector Seven already, eh?”

This was exactly why she hated not having an elaborate cover. She would have created one in advance, but she’d already made one for when she’d had to pose as an engineer, and she hated creating more than one new person per mission. A single anomaly in a database would be overlooked, but two? 

“I was patrolling Sector Seven when the first looters pushed through,” she growled. “I was hit and fell back. I was on my way to the medical wing, but got fucking distracted when I saw that those exits are wide open. The main building should be on lockdown! Do you know how much the droids in the cargo bay are worth? A lot more than you’ll ever see, you can believe that. When the Commander finds out that…”

A flash of silver flickered around the corner of the jeweler’s, dim in the smoky light. Nenana was cut off by the flash and whine of three blaster bolts. 

The guards slumped to the ground. Dead. The Mandalorian loomed behind them, silent as a ghost with a rucksack bag slung over his shoulder, blaster still half-raised. 

Unexpected, sure, but she couldn’t say she was disappointed to see him.

Nenana let her posture slump, tearing off her black helmet and clamping her hand to the wound on her side. Blood oozed between her fingers from where they pressed into the soaked fabric. 

“Just can't get enough of me, eh?”

The Mandalorian lifted one of his shoulders in a half-shrug. “I thought you might need help.”

“I had it under control,” she defended lightly, sliding back into her native accent now that she had no reason to do otherwise. And anyway, it felt like the right one to use with him.

His head tipped forward slightly. “Looked like it.”

A smile twitched on her lips at his dry humor. “It would’ve all been fine, but this…” She lifted her hand to show him her bloody palm. “...was slowing me down.”

“That looks bad.” He holstered his blaster and moved to her side, indicating her injury with his head. “You okay?”

Nenana shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

“Here.” Mando dug into the bag he carried, coming away with a thick gauze patch and peeling off the plastic covering the adhesive side.  “This is bacta-infused, but it’ll still need to be cleaned and bandaged properly.”

“Oh, bacta-infused,” she quipped goodnaturedly as she picked the sopping fabric away from the wound. “What did I do to earn such quality care?”

He shrugged. “You overpaid.”

Nenana huffed a laugh and pulled up the hem of her uniform, exposing just enough of her blood-slicked hip for the Mandalorian to press the bandage firmly in place over the weeping gash. 

She gritted through the pain. “Thanks, Mando.”

Mando dipped his head in acknowledgement, smoothing down the edges of the bandage before tugging her shirt back down to cover it. 

Nenana sighed and straightened up. “We need to move. They’ll be focused on Sector Seven, but they won’t leave this section undefended for long.”

“Agreed.” Mando adjusted the bag on his shoulder, visor glinting in the half-light as he cast a quick glance about the empty street before fixing back on her. “My ship, or somewhere else?”

Nenana chuckled breathlessly, leading the way around the corner while Mando followed, blaster drawn and on guard. “I know I promised you a date, Mando, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

He stiffened, having caught the suggestive undertone behind her words.

“That... that’s not what I...” he stuttered, making her grin. His helmet jerked to her, but when he saw her smirk he looked away sheepishly, shoulders rolling loose with acceptance. “Yeah, okay.”

She barked out a soft laugh. “Yours.”

Nenana wasn’t sure what to make of the Mandalorian. When he’d first appeared on her homestead, she’d been impressed with his steadfast composure in the face of the olfdo, and then again with his quiet good manners and helpfulness as he worked in her kitchen. 

She hadn’t been lying before when she said that she liked him; it was something that she’d readily admit. But now that he’d made it clear that he was interested in something more than a business arrangement and thoroughly charmed her with his gruff awkwardness… she wasn’t sure what to think.

And that uncertainty had nothing to do with him. It had been a long time since Nenana had even considered what he had insinuated… something more. For her entire adult life, she’d thought of relationships as an end to a means; getting close enough to the right person to overhear the right sentence or to plant the right suggestion in the right ear. 

That, she knew how to do. But doing it for real - because she meant it; because she wanted to…

Nenana wasn’t sure she could leave her old mentality behind enough to manage it.

But that was why she’d been doing all this, right? Putting her life on the line again even after she’d gotten out of the service. Tying up all her loose ends so she could leave her past behind; so that she could have an After. 

In the hull of the Mandalorian’s ship, deep in hyperspace, she watched as the warrior, clad in dirty, battered armor cleaned and dressed her wound. His hands were large and strong, worn by blasters and combat, and yet his touch was careful and feather-light. 

Yes, she liked him. 

She knew he liked her.

But what came next? She couldn’t even imagine what the next step could possibly be. Sure, she’d gone through the motions before, but was struggling to work out how to apply them to the man before her. 

They couldn’t exactly go out to dinner.

How did you go on a date with a Mandalorian? Hell, how did someone go on a date with her?

She was at a complete loss. 

He probably didn’t have a clue, either.

Maybe it didn’t matter that they didn’t know.

As Nenana watched him work, his helmet bowed close to her shoulder as he focused on getting the bandage just right, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this is what the start of the After she’d been wanting looked like. 

Whether it was or wasn’t, it was worth the effort of finding out.

~0~0~0~ .

[mylordshesacactus]

Jo. Jo. I'm going to go to an early grave, and I want you to know that it's 300% because of your writing making my heart and brain fucking explode.

Okay see the main issue is that I’m not totally sure about where the main plot goes after that incredibly vivid “pilot episode” in my head. There’s some Vague Impressions of varying solidity though!

Our Hero has to run for it at some point; the natural recourse for the false avatar is to discredit the real one, until she can be killed. Take refuge in audacity and say she’s the fake. This wouldn’t be a “series”-long conflict ie ATLA, the Fire Nation isn’t the bad guys here.

I’m actually not convinced the FIRELORD is even in on the deception; there’s absolutely someone in the palace, probably a sibling, who genuinely believes their brother is the Avatar at first.

(Either a younger sibling, highlighting the idea that birthright is not a real thing and leadership should go to the person best suited for the job, or else an older sibling that the false avatar was trying to leapfrog in order to inherit the throne.)

Heroine, while on the lam, does need a mount of some kind. Breaking with Avatar tradition this is not her animal guide--it’s very probable that her animal guide is, in fact, Red the roosterdog, but if so it’ll be a long while before she knows that. The poor kid assumed that the animal guide thing was, you know....a ritual. As part of Being The Avatar, “they” (whoever “they” are, you know, the sages or whoever) give you a magical companion. That’s not an option for her, which just ties into the idea that she’s not a real Avatar.

(This is her main character arc, I think. It’s not like with Aang--it’s not avoidance, it’s not that she “doesn’t want” to be the Avatar. It’s just that she’s no one special according to her, and she had to keep her bending quiet for the sake of the people around her, she doesn’t know how to live the kind of life the Avatar is supposed to lead...she doesn’t know how to think of herself as important. And because of that she doesn’t know how to see that she’s already doing it.)

The mount is a stolen Fire Nation war rhino. It’s a very sweet animal who stays with her until the third act, when I think it actually does get killed off.

Somewhere, there is a dragon with her name on it.

The Firelord’s son isn’t stupid; he could never have sold this deception if the next Avatar in the cycle was due to be an earthbender. Our Hero is passing herself off as a simple, untrained earthbender because that’s the genuine extent of her self-taught earthbending skill.....because she was a firebender first.

By rights, the Fire Sages would have helped her bond with a young dragon.

By rights, a young dragon would have bonded with her. Both of them were robbed of that bond--but she has Red, and the dragon who might have been hers will never miss what he never had. No one has a destiny set in stone, and there’s no such thing as “the One”.

The Firelord’s son has a dragon.

It’s young, exactly the right age for the “Avatar”. A great, black serpent named Blackflame, golden-eyed, the terror of the Fire Nation. Rarely is the Avatar seen riding him; the sages and the Palace say that that the creature is so powerful that merely by flying over the countryside it would devastate the surrounding area, and so the Avatar “keeps the peace” by holding such terrible power in reserve against nothing but dire need. Rumor is less kind, and whispers that the beast is so vicious and unstable not even the Avatar has been able to tame it yet.

Dragons are not fools. Whatever was done to the poor creature, it is not there willingly. This part...I’m not certain. Perhaps they have hatchlings, or children, or dragon eggs held hostage; perhaps the dragon’s golden “armor” collar has some kind of dark spirit magic to it. 

I suspect the dragon isn’t controlled at all--but rather chained in the spirit world. Invisible from our plane of existence--by all appearances the dragon is just standing there, but from the spirit world it’s obvious that he’s bound by every limb with heavy chains that prevent him from escaping and sell the illusion.

Don’t worry. The true Avatar is going to find that out. She names him Lotus, cuts the spirit chains, and he flies free again. 

This is likely also the moment she realizes Red is her animal guide--in all likelihood, the highly risky journey to the spirit world was planned because the whole “thing” for this girl is trying to reclaim the power of the Avatar despite never having known ANYTHING about ANY Avatar traditions except through vague misconception and hearsay. They know she should have an animal companion, and they know about the black dragon, and they learn he’s bound--and assume this is it, this is Our Hero’s missing connection, they have to rescue him. Once he’s freed, she asks if he was meant to be her guide--and he rests his forehead lightly against hers and silently, mournfully indicates that he can’t help her.

After some brief despair something happens, she’s placed in danger in the spirit world, and instinctively--devoid of bending, after all--she calls her dog--and Red answers.

At some point after the heat gets turned higher but before everything goes tits-up, Our Hero spends quite some time in the capital city doing some Robin Hood shit to try to help people.

OBVIOUSLY Team Avatar has some transes. I’m feeling one of them is the airbender.

Team Avatar’s obligatory waterbender is a male healer who’s a history nerd and only SOMETIMES dead wrong.

At some point during this whole thing and probably at the point where Our Hero has revealed herself and REALLY has to run for it, she and the little sister get split up. I think she hands the kid off to the girlfriend before the big reveal and tells them both to leave now and keep their heads down, so as to shield them from being openly associated with her.

This, implicitly, places immense trust in their community--a single word from anyone on that farm would kill them both, but one fugitive travels faster and more securely than three, even with a dog...and her sister is five.

It works--for a while.

Black Lotus comes back for the finale.