#who would and wouldn’t abandon their creation tho?

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite tech-oriented characters? And what do you like about them?

The technology they're good with can be very real-world based or complete fiction; it can be digital or mechanical (a hacker or a machinist), electric or nuclear or solar or petroleum or clockwork or steampunk or magic or use futuristic power sources.

They can be of any race/species from any genre of any media (books, movies, shows, games, etc.), too. What matters is that one of their primary skills, roles in the story, and traits as a character is being good with the story's available level of technology.

Okay this is gonna shock you.

Donatello.

I built this blog on the tmnt fandom, it would be wrong of me not to say Donatello.

Also, he’s just neat. especially rise. I like the impossible tech (but o also really like it when the tech is explained) I also like how he has hobbies and interests outside of technology (like dancing)

I like all Donnie’s tho- I think they’re neat.

[xdollydoodlesx]

I now have an official Poppy Playtime OC! Their name is Jumble and below is the reference sheet for them along with a quick info dump.

Also before you ask yes this is a toy type/species/etc (with no title atm) that I ended up creating because my picky self just couldn’t settle for a Huggy, Cat bee/Candy Cat, Boogie Bot, or Poppy styled character XD

-If ya wanna try your hand at drawing them or making your own be my guest cus I friggin love this thing, all I ask is being given proper credit. Also for any OC’s, real and fake animals are allowed and if possible I’d prefer them to be depicted as plushe-

Toy Info:

This type/race/etc had been a ambitious project for when the company figured out how to easily make a fully functional/controllable toy.

Think Build-a-Bear as for how they would have been made once in stock since limbs n such could be personalized into various colors, types, and textures for tons of neat combinations!

Sizes range from medium dog to miniature pony.

It has a zipper on it’s back or belly for storing things, know tons of games, be able to hold simple conversations, and in some situations be rideable however the most important thing was that it would always be willing to play with their owner.

This ended up working too well tho since the poor thing couldn’t stop this strong desire no matter how long they interacted with playmates which led to a sort of abandonment issues where they would become restless and borderline possessive when requests were declined or ignored.

During this and other situations their voice box gets damaged and their jaw broken which explains their permanent jaw drop.

Hoping to remedy it’s problem they go through a lot of unpleasant trials and tests until something happens.

So desperate to keep it’s playmates near it began to eat them (and by eat I mean swallow whole) which wouldn’t have been so bad had there not been a big problem. The toy’s zipper which gave access to their unlucky victims (who often end up suffocating in the storage pouch) wouldn’t open no matter how hard they tried to fix it to free the captives.

Normally when this sorta thing happens said creation is simply put down but with how expensive their prototype was they end up deciding to leave the people inside where they began to rot in the toy’s gut

After a few more incidents the people ultimately decide to lock it away until better plans could be made, this lasts until the ‘vanishing’ of the workers happen allowing them to free themselves and wander back to the testing area in the hope of finding someone to play with.

During all this it ends up growing a good bit over their natural limit to say the least. (Look up the size of a hippo compared to a human and you can imagine their new size)

Eventually learning no one was around they go to try n find them only to learn they had grown too large to leave, now they are stuck all alone with only the occasional Player or wild animal to keep them company.

[codenamesazanka]

More incoherent musing about Oneshot Tenko and Shigaraki Tomura, specifically their convictions: the things they wanna destroy - swords for Tenko; ‘everything’ for Shigaraki lol.

Underneath that, tho—

For Tenko, swords are tools that causes pain and suffering; iirc he’s explicitly stated they’re used to kill, which he is against. Swords are the symbol of samurai - the very soul of the warrior. Without swords, Tenko believes, there would be no more samurai, no more fighting and killing. In one scene, when he breaks someone’s sword, he happily asks/tells the man to stop being a warrior. Obviously this is naive, but he’s like ten years old here.

Tenko was born into a samurai family, his father being one - but kid was rejected by his dad, due to his power; more specifically, tho this is deduction/conjecture on my part, he’s rejected for being unable to become a samurai because his power wouldn’t ever let him hold a sword. Essentially, he’s got no place in the feudal system he lives in.

What’s more, is that swords (samurai) took away what little he had - it’s how his father killed his mother. With one swing, he loses his parents, his family, his home.

Bit of a reach here: So while he’s fixated on swords, Tenko is probably more actually hating death/killing/injustice, and hating who he perceives to be responsible for these tragedies. It’s only thanks to his mother’s last words that he focuses on swords instead of people/others - mom told him to not hate people, to use his power for something other than killing, find a purpose. Probably, in following those words, Tenko is unable to kill samurai - but he can destroy their ‘soul’.

AS FOR SHIGARAKI:

(I probably shouldn’t try to draw a direct parallel, but here I go anyways.)

He hates: Heroes, society, people, everything. The world as he knows it. “Hero Society” (Basically substituting ‘Hero’ for ‘Samurai’, ‘Hero System’ for ‘Feudalism’?)

Heroes are bullshit. That’s what Shigaraki believes and he’s largely right. They’re hypocrites, they’re failures as guardians and protectors, they’ve coddled the masses into being helpless trash, they’ve ignored (caused) pain and suffering. Being that Heroes are the core/foundation of their current cultural system, this also means society is tainted. Rotten. All of it is just rot. As he says.

“This whole system you’ve built has always rejected me.” Self-evident. He walked along a crowded street and everyone ignored him. It’s implied that his quirk would’ve branded him as villainous from day one. Jin says heroes only save the ‘good’ people. Even if he was being facetious, he had a point about the monopoly of violence - villains and heroes both use violent force, but one is deemed okay, the other isn’t.

(This is particularly significant in that historically, at the formation of the Hero System, Heroes were kinda abritarily picked/licensed from the pool of vigilantes. Then Heroes were legalized to use their quirks; while the category of Villains was created to punish those who used their quirks; and all the vigilantes not picked to be Heroes were suddenly Villains.)

So he’s got no place in society. Sort of becomes literal because as ‘Shigaraki Tomura’, he’s a ghost - never been in school, quirk not on record, no document of his existence, mostly raised separate from everyone else.

(As to the circumstances of the Shimura family... gotta think on this more. Hero stuff led to Kotaro being abandoned, leading to his issues suffocating the household. Even then, even with the rules flipped, Tenko also didn’t fit in with his family. Hm. And all that led to Tenko under the bridge.)

Anyways! That rejection, that failure; that ‘itch’ - pain and suffering and despair - no surprise Shigaraki hates it.

I think, subconsciously, maybe— the injustice of life, the apathy people have, the ideas they delude themselves with (Chapter 69, Shigaraki narration: Someone is being killed right at that moment somewhere in the world, but no one cares. Or even thinks about it.* All Might smiles like he can save everyone, but he can’t, so he’s a farce.) All that is what Shigaraki truly hates, and since he believes heroes to be the cause of that, he’s gotta destroy it them and whatever they’ve built. Tho tbh, it’s looking like Shigaraki just has no faith in the world or people anymore, hence ‘let’s kill everything’.

And see, here: while Oneshot Tenko has his mother’s words, Tomura did not. Instead he had AFO encouraging him that it’s okay to hate people, it’s fine to destroy whatever he doesn’t like, Murder Is Good Actually, that’s his purpose. Words to live by.

One big question is: his intent. Is he destroying everything in hopes of creating something better? Does he believe he’s doing a good thing? Is he a force for love, justice, and peace

Imo, my answer is No. Shigaraki isn’t an idealist. He’s always kinda ‘seen things as they are’. Stain is just a murderer; no one is All That, not even Sensei; he cares nothing for MLA’s lofty goals and history. He’s a Villain. He’s angry and he’s never gonna feel good again and he hates everything and wants to break it all into pieces. He doesn’t believe in creation or a future; whatever happens will happen and he’ll just be standing in the horizon at the end of the world (with his allies who he promised they can have what’s left and do whatever they want).

tl;dr: Shigaraki is an angry bulldozer, knows it, and will annihilate everything that makes him feel bad, which he concludes is Heroes and also Everything Else.

*I’ve always thought: Shigaraki is like that quote supposedly from the Talmud.

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.

Except he is daunted, and it drives him a bit crazy. His tendency for black-white extreme thinking causes him to reject the second part of the quote. Either everyone gets saved/the work is completed— or fuck it all, let’s abandon everything. That’s the guiding idea for my interpretation of him.

[kikoqueenofrats]

Oh boi here we go again!

@toastraccoon​

There is gonna be an end to this, don’t worry, I’m getting there slowly-

Tw Karen encounter

It had been a few days after their hostile encounter with a user and Cel was feeling confused. Waking up in Maris arms had been quite the experience, an experience he seemed to want to go through again. Much to his terror, Cel didn't think it was right.... No.... The protagonist didn't think it was right.

The protagonist who abandoned Cels village in their time of need didn't think it was right.

If Cel was being honest with himself, he wasn't really sure what his opinion on the matter was. He continued to think about this as Mari lead him into what looked like another cooking game.

"Welcome to Papa's Pizzeria!" A large shout from inside the kitchen startled Cel out of his thoughts, he looked over to where he thought the noise had come from to see a large man with a weird white hat and a large brown mustache currently making his way out of the kitchen area.

"You must be the new employees! Welcome welcome! Right this way!" The man beckoned for the duo to follow him into the kitchen.

Cel looked up at Mari confused, Mari looked back a large smile on their face. Cel couldn't help but feel comforted by Maris large confident smile. So when Mari grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards the kitchen he didn't feel as, bewildered as he usually did.

He actually felt quite excited.

After showing the duo around and teaching them how to use the different machines scattered around the kitchen Papa, as the man had asked them to refer to him as, left them to it. Customers slowly began making their way into the pizzeria soon after papa had left. Cel was tending to them to the best of his abilities whilst Mari was completing the orders.....

And by completing their orders I mean molding the dough into weird shapes and then decorating those weird shapes with the toppings. Most of the customers were okay with Mari's creations, some of them actually enjoyed them. Cels current customer however wasn't too pleased with their, leaning tower of pizza.

"What, is this?" The man yelled gesturing to a mound of dough covered in sauce, cheese and pepperoni currently sitting on his plate. Cel stared at it for a few moments "To be honest...I'm not sure...." He muttered.

Cel knew he could've just smooshed the thing into a more pizza like shape but he didn't have the heart to crush what Mari had made like that. A small part of him was still scared as to what Mari would do if he ended up really upsetting them, however most of him would just feel guilty for potentially ruining Maris fun.

He looked back into the kitchen and watched on as Mari made a dough teddy bear, humming out a happy tune as they did so. It made him feel warm...fuzzy even.

"HEY!"

The man bellowed startling poor Cel out of his thoughts "did you hear what I just said?" Cel shrunk slightly at the question. "N-no sorry" he muttered looking down at the floor in shame. 

Cel yelped in surprise as the man slammed his fist onto the counter. "Look at me in the eye when I'm talking to you punk!" The man ordered glaring at in fury. "S-sorry sir" Cel whimpered trying to make himself as small as possible whilst also staring at the man like he wanted Cel to.

"HEY!"

Another voice joined the fray and Cel couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief at it. Mari brought their hand down on the space in-between Cel and the man, throwing the man one of their meanest looks. "Do we have a problem here?" Mari asked firmly, the man didn't seem phased by Mari's tough look and continued to glare.

"Yes actually" the man huffed "tell me is this a pizzeria?" A confused look fell upon Mari's face "yes?" "And does that look like a pizza to you?" The man gestured towards the mound of dough and toppings. Mari followed the mans hand, giving him another look before rolling their eyes. 

"No, there's no need to yell about it tho!" Mari huffed, crossing their arms "It's an easy fix too, watch!" Mari then proceeded to pick up the platter and squish it into the mans face. "There, now all we gotta do is cook it!" Mari smirked going to pull the plate off the mans face, but hesitating when the man began shaking, loud grumbles and grunts coming from under the dough and plastic.

"Though I think you're doing that already" Maris smirk grew wider as the sound of Cel's quiet laughter reached their ears. The man quickly ripped the plate from their face, giving the duo a look of utter fury, before sticking up his nose and leaving the building.

After the man had completely left the building Mari and Cel both proceeded to burst into pelts of laughter. 

"Did-did you see how red his face went?" Mari chuckled. "Yeah, it was almost as red as a...pepperoni!" Cel replied a large smile on his face. The duo began laughing again and Cel couldn't help but wonder how his life would've gone if he hadn't met Mari.

It probably wouldn't have been as fun, that's for sure.

"Hey Cel?" Cel looked at Mari. "Yeah?" They inquired so Mari knew they had his attention. "Since that was the last customer, how about we have some fun!" Mari grinned turning towards the kitchen before walking in. "What kind of fun?" Cel asked a he began following them.

Mari gave Cel a knowing look, "The largest pizza in the world kind of fun!" They replied kneeling down next to the dough bin. Cel looked at them in confusion before shrugging and walking over to stand next to Mari. Watching on as they pulled what looked like the entire lump from inside the bin and placed it onto the large table standing at the end of the conveyor belt like work space.

Mari began gently pulling out the dough, carefully kneading it to avoid ripping the delicate substance in two. Cel watched on for a while before noticing how thin the dough was becoming. It was too stretched out to properly support the toppings Mari would most likely assault it with when they were finished.

Cel was about to mention this to Mari when they reached into the dough bin and pulled out another large chunk of dough. Cel stared at them in shock, before going over to look into the bin to see how deep it actually was. Cels shock grew when he saw the almost fully filled bin of dough. He quickly reminded himself of the physic deifying game mechanics he had recently experienced, before shaking the shock off and going back to watching Mari.

A few moments later Mari stopped stretching the dough out, stepping back to look over their handy work. The dough was now unskillfully stretched out across the entire table, it was far from the worlds largest though it was certainly the biggest pizza Cel had ever seen.

Nodding proudly Mari looked over to Cel and smiled, Cel smiled back. "Hey could you grab the vat of tomato sauce for me?" Mari asked before walking off towards the pile of pizza toppings they had made whilst clearing the large table for their giant pizza.

Cel gave Mari a mock salute before running off towards the large container of tomato sauce. Grabbing it by the bottom Cel struggled to lift it up. Whimpering slightly as he slowly hobbled towards Maris work station the weight of the vat too much for his small body.

Mari noticed Cels struggle just in time to catch it as Cels legs gave out from under him and he stumbled forward. The contents slushing forward, resulting in Mari getting splashed by the red liquid. Cel stared at Mari in horror "S-sorry" Cel gasped as they both carried it over to Maris work station, Cel wanted to get the pot out of his hands as quickly as possible so he could help Mari clean themselves up. "It's alright!" Mari chuckled, not really minding the fact that their face was almost completely covered in sauce,  as they tipped the entire vat onto the pizza.

Cel stared at Mari in shock and was about to make a comment when someone burst into the kitchen.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RA DOING!?!"

The loud shout cause both sticks to jump out of their skin, resulting in the large container to fall onto the floor with a loud clatter. The remaining sauce ending up on both of their trousers and feet as well as the floor below. They both turned to see Papa standing just inside the kitchen door, almost as red as the guy Mari had chased away. "We were...trying to break a world record?" Mari chuckled, hoping that would be enough to convince their "boss" not to fire them.

They were wrong.

"GET OUT!!" Papa yelled pointing to the now open pizzeria door. Mari sighed and nodded, gently taking Cel by the hand and walking out. As soon as the duo had walked through the doors, they slammed shut, causing the sign hanging just outside the door to twirl from its open position to its closed.

Cel and Mari both looked at each other for a few moments before beginning to chuckle.

"And I thought that last guy was mad" Mari grinned "I could literally see the steam pouring out of Papas ears" Cel began laughing more at that.

"He was almost as red as your face is!" Cel chuckled and Mari gave him a playfully perplexed look. Cels smile faltered slightly as his brain finally processed what he had said, he was about to back track when Mari began laughing. "Yeah it was!" They chuckled and Cel relaxed.

The duo continued to joke about until they were kicked out of the game entirely by Papa and a group of angry customers.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey what did you think of this week's episode it was really good and i fell like everything came full circle. What do you think of ironwood actions. I also see ozpin returning to help oscar soon since I imagine that neo is probably just bring oscar to cinder as soon as she realizes it is ozpin but I do not know if she knows about Ozpin and salem's war tho...

Hey there Dagger. I thought this week’s episode was pretty great, actually =D Easily one of thebest episodes of the season so far for this squigglemeister. In regards to Ironwood, would it be weird if I said that I’m halfand half on his actions from last episode?  

It’s one of those rare moments whereyou expected something to happen given how things were being staged but stillfind yourself being shocked when it does go down, y’know what I mean?

Like I was actually expectingIronwood to go off on Team RWBY from as early as CH9 but when it didn’t happenand our heroes once again got away with their deceitful actions towardsIronwood, I was left feeling like the Writers were once again playing off yetanother scenario where the heroes did something wrong while portraying theauthority figure challenging them on their actions as the bad guy when inactuality, they were more in the right than the heroes. I figured it was goingto be just like Argus again. But no, the Writers subverted my expectations withIronwood giving into his Baobab and turning on our heroes, calling them out fortheir deceit. And to that, I clappedbecause I’m sorry, they deserved it.

I know Team RWBY are supposed to beour heroes and therefore as ourheroes, I’m always supposed to view their actions as some brave act ofrighteousness done for the greater good---but I’m sorry fam. I couldn’t get behind anything our heroes have done since…welllast season.

For the folks who’ve been followingmy posts since the start of V7, you know that my stance has always been that the heroes were heavily in the wrong fortheir deceit towards the General. I did not agree with that one bit nor didI buy into their reasoning for it either.

So seeing them finally receive theircomeuppance as a result of this is the poeticjustice I’ve been waiting on since V6. In a way, you can almost say thatour heroes unintentionally were partially responsible for the creation themonster that is Heartless Ironwoodsince their deceit provide fuel to the Baobab that’s been manifesting withinhim since the Fall of Beacon.

Don’t get me wrong---Obviously I amnot in favour of Ironwood’s new plan to shoot Atlas into orbit while abandoningthe People of Mantle especiallyafter he promised on camera while standing in the presence of Robyn Hill---theproverbial voice of Mantle---that he wouldn’t leave them behind ever again. Formost of V7, we’ve observed the results of Ironwood’s neglect of the Mantle andits citizen. This was what made the moment in CH11 so virtuous and benevolent.It was great to see Ironwood finally take a stand with the People of Mantle andspeak towards looking out for their well-being. All the more reason why seeinghim go back on his promise to Mantle feels so disheartening. This was themoment where Oscar’s words about keeping one’s humanity even in their pursuitof their accomplishments came back into play. I’m not trying to say thatIronwood losing his humanity wasn’t properly foreshadowed. I’m more saying thatit still doesn’t make it any more disappointing as a fan of his character tosee him fall so low and to witness yet again that Mantle is the unfortunatevictim caught in the wave of Ironwood’s descent. So yeah; I’m not happy with whatIronwood is doing to the people of Mantle.  

However, at the same time I’m not mad for the General reacting theway he did towards the heroes. In my opinion, the heroes deserved this punishmentsince their past actions put them in this position. The one thing Ironwoodasked of them from the get-go was to reciprocate the trust he was willing---emphasis on willing---to offer them. Instead theheroes actively chose to lie to theirAtlesian allies from the start and continued to do so up until the point theywere called out for it. The only reason the truth managed to come out in someshape or form was due in part to Oscar’s encouragement. Yes I understand thatRuby also agreed to tell Ironwood the truth too and it’s actually a decisionthat she and Oscar were on the same page about. However, the difference betweenRuby and Oscar is that Oscar was shown to disapprove of the team withholdinginformation from their Atlesian allies. He even challenged Ruby on the matter.

Not once has Ruby has been shown toregret her actions towards the General. On the contrary, she seemed rather indifferent about it even whenchallenged by Yang about the subject. The one time we’ve seen her express doubtin her decision to deceive Ironwood was in CH4 during her conversation withQrow, which I’d like to believe was influenced by her talk with Oscar at thestart of CH3. Though initially apathetic on the matter, I could at least tellthat Oscar’s words weighed deeply on Ruby’s subconscious after their talk. Allthe more reason why I was disappointed in Qrow for actually encouraging Ruby intheir deceit of their Atlesian allies. Especially coming off the outcome ofwhat happened back in Anima with Oz and the Lamp.

Apologies if I sound like I’ve beenharping on Ruby a lot for this volume but I’m afraid I have to because hercharacterization for V7 hasn’t been favorablefor me. However if there is one takeaway from the Writers’ approach to Ruby’sstory for V7 that I liked a little is showing more of those “faults” about her that Oz mentioned toOscar about back in V5.

���…In some ways, yes but in many others…no. She has quirks. Her faults, just like everyone else. But she also possessessomething unquantifiable. A spark that can inspire others even in the darkestof times…”

“This must be really hard on hertoo.”

“It most assuredly is.”

For many seasons, Ruby has beenplaced on this pedestal as this voice of guidance and inspiration within thehero team. In spite of her young age and her initial shortcomings in the past,we were able to watch Ruby grow into the role. While the leadership was thebadge she was graced with based on Oz’s decision, over the story, we watchedRuby slowly and surely grow to prove that it was a title she was meant to have.She earned it of her own diligence.

But like every leader, at somepoint, you waver and make poor decisions that end up bringing the worst outcomefor you and your team. What bothered me about the way Ruby was written so farfor this season is that it never felt as if she genuinely thought that heractions towards Ironwood and their Atlesian allies were wrong. The show always portrayed her with this sort of bright smilethat, to me as the viewer, gave the impression that she’s almost blissfully naïve to the cause and effectof her own choices.

Basically the point I’m trying tomake here is that in her own Ruby way, she became arrogant. Without even realizing it for herself, in an ironic way,Ruby didn’t just mimic Ozpin’s behavior. She also became just like Ironwood,mimicking the same behavior that became the basis for her choice to deceivehim.

Doingwhat you think is best for everyone while completely ignoring the ramificationsof what your choices might do to others and/or how it might cause others toview you in the end once the action is committed?  

Wasn'tthat not the reason Ruby and by extension, the other heroes used to explainwithholding the truth from Ironwood? Don't tell the General the truth becausehe was doing what he thought was best for the People of Mantle while ignoringhis reputation in the eyes of the People of Mantle and how his actions wereaffecting them? Didn’t our heroes not commit the exact same feat but with theirAtlesian allies?

Basicallythe main point I’m making here is that, in trying to do what they believed wasthe right call, everyone made the wrongone. It’s not as one-sided assome folks might think. It’s not so much that Ironwood is wrong and the heroesare right or even Ironwood is right and the heroes are wrong. From myinterpretation, everyone is in the wronghere. Both sides have done bad inthe name of good. And both sides need to understand this very importantfactor.

However,at the moment, both sides are too ignorant to really listen to each other andthe rising tensions caused by the evacuation/abandonment of Mantle and theimpending arrival of Salem isn’t helping the situation. Despite being two sidesof the same coin---our brave faction of heroes and so-called protectors ofhumanity, they are divided.

Whatthe group needs more than anything now is a middleman.An impartial voice. Someone who hasspent time with both sides and has earned their respect or at least, the trust of their leading figures (i.e.Ruby and Ironwood). Someone who has listened to the rationales of both sidesand understands what either was tryingto accomplish with their actions. Someone who never took a side but rather identifyand spoke out on the flaws in either side’s actions.

Onnormal circumstances, Ruby would’ve been that impartial voice given herinfluence on her team. However right now, I highlight doubt that Ironwood (orany of their Atlesian allies for that matter) would be willing to listen toanything Ruby has to say after what has happened.

Itis for this reason why I’m looking to Oscar to set things straight. In previousmusings and theory posts, I’ve advocated for Oscar to be the smaller, more honest soul to mend thetethered bonds of trust within his team. I figured he would’ve played a role inOzpin’s reconciliation with his former team. But now we have the tension withIronwood.

Thisis what I believe the season has slowly been building up to with Oscar. I believe Oscar will be the one to finallytalk some sense back into Ironwood. You’ve heard me quote this once ortwice before but last season, Watts remarked that Ozpin was the only person whocould talk sense back into James.

Originallymy assumption was that Oz would’ve return to the PLOT to help with that.However, while I do want to see Oz return, I feel like Oz being the one to talkto James might somehow undermine Oscar’s development for this season. V7 has steadilybuilt Oscar up to be someone whose advice Ironwood might look towards when he’sat a loss. Not to mention that this season has also been slowly building upIronwood respecting Oscar as himself and NOT“another life for Oz or Ozma to live”.

Sowith that thought in mind, I want to see the payoff of this development for Oscar. I want it to be a case whereIronwood comes to accept Oscar as a worthy successor to Ozpin while still respectinghim as his own person.

Iwant Oscar to be the one to talk sense into Ironwood and talk him off the cloudof conceit he’s risen into. Even if it means having to actively fight him first to get him to listen tohim. It’s a shame Oscar can’t simply just project Ozpin’s soul as some kind ofastral projection before Ironwood to see. And no I’m saying that should be hissemblance. I’m just saying it as an idea.

Oh!As a matter of fact, what I would actually dig is a parallel to V5. Remember that scene with Lionheart where Oscarfirst drew the Long Memory, surprisingly Leonardo and prompting him to say“…Ozpin?” only for Oscar to smirk and cheekily respond “Not quite.”

Ithink I need a mirror of that moment with Ironwood now. I need Oscar toapproach Ironwood with this kind of commanding aura about him that demands hisattention and respect---a presence that James had only once seen reflected inthe eyes of one man named Professor Ozpin.

Imagine a moment where Jamessees Ozpin mirrored in Oscar and in a similar manner to Lionheart, it promptshim to ask “…Ozpin?”

Onlyfor Oscar to respond, in a gentler tone. “…Notquite”

Becauseit wasn’t Ozpin. It was Oscar. But now he was channelling some of Ozpin’sinfluence (as per his guidance) as ameans of getting James to finally listen to him, which he does.

Ithink that kind of moment would be great for little barn prince. Maybe it couldeven be complemented by Oscar glancing back at an apparition of Ozpin standing over him with a proud smile on hisface at his growth since his absence.

Imagine if…this moment evenencourages Oz to take more of a backseat within Oscar’s mind; relegatinghimself to more of a watchful guardian role, silently continuing to watch overOscar from the back of his mind while only offering advice when Oscar asks ofit.

Iknow some Ozpinheads want Ozpin toreturn to the story. However, let stress this by saying that Oscar is meant tobe Ozpin’s successor. The one to take his place in time. While I don’t mind Ozsticking around to look out for Oscar, I can’t picture things going back to theway they were before with Ozpin constantly taking control of Oscar’s body.

Itwas for this reason why I was glad that the show took him out of the story fora little bit since it allowed for Oscar to learn how to stand on his ownbearings while forging his own identity within the team. It was a way tofinally have Oscar step out of Ozpin’s shadow and earn his own respect amongstthe peers that he gained through Oz. While I didn’t always agree with the waythe show executed this development on Oscar’s part, my views on the outcomestill remain.

IfOz is to return, I expect him to be more of a bystander while Oscar continues to pull the reigns moving forward.Picture it as being equivalent to watching a father raising his son; helping inhis development from boy to man. At some point, the son grows up and the fatherhas to take a step back in order allow him to continue to grow on theirown---only returning when his guidance is asked of him unless it’s desperatematter of ensuring Oscar’s protection.  

Itis at this point I expect Oscar and Oz to be more in harmony with one anotherthan they’ve ever been with Oz watching Oscar continue to grow into hissuccessor until the time comes for him to become a part of him. At least,that’s how I see it.

Ifanything I’d much prefer it if Oz only returned to lend Oscar some of his poweron the battlefield. While I share in your theory of Oz returning, I’m not sure if Oz will be the one to help Oscar with Neo.

Based on the way CH11 ended off, itappears that JNR might be the ones to help look for Oscar. I’m not even sure ifOscar was even kidnapped. Some FNDM theorists seem to believe he was takenhostage by Neo while others believe he might be off on his own in pursuit ofNeo. I, for one, am indecisive on which theory I think it will be.

I’m starting to lean more towardsthe notion of Oscar pursuing Neo on his own since I like the idea of Oscarbumping into JNR along the way and the four of them devise a clever scheme tolure Neo into the Tetris Training Room so that they can corner her and take herout in a similar manner to Neon of FNKI.

But in the event that Oscar has beenkidnapped, I do like your idea of Oz returning to help him out of that trickyscenario. I’d like to think that Neo is aware that Oscar is Oz since Cinderknows and she probably would’ve told her back in Mistral. Speaking of Oz, perhaps, with his guidance again, Oscarmanages to free himself from Neo’s captivity, blindsiding her and retrievingthe Relic back from her before making his escape.

As a matter of fact, instead ofbeing kidnapped, how about the idea of Oscarbeing probably off somewhere in a game of cat and mouse, trying to protect theRelic from Neo who is hot on his tail.

Perhaps…after Neo took out the droids, Oscar blindsided her and made a quick dashbefore Neo could get the Relic off of him. So for all we know, Oscar could besprinting through the halls of Atlas trying to avoid Neo. Atlas is a bigpremise since its home to the huntsmen academy and the military in addition tothe Vault and the medical facility that’s secretly housing the Winter Maiden.

So Oscar could be anywhere on the premises trying to desperately get awayfrom Neo. What’s worse is there is potential for that to actually provemore difficult for Oscar than one might realize. Since Neo’s semblance isIllusions and since she’s able to mask objects with her semblance, imagine…poor Oscar being trapped in anillusion where he’s running around in circles unsure of which direction to gosince let’s say…Neo masked off all the real exits----making any exit Oscar stumbled up berevealed to a dead end while the deadends were the real exits. Or something like that. Picture Neo toying with Oscar is that kind of way. Even worse ifshe disguises her as one of his female allies who he might desperately wishwere there to help him (like Ruby or Nora).

And with Ironwood locking offcommunication between our heroes, Oscar is probably a poor sitting duck unlesshe takes Neo head on by himself. I mean, it’s ain’t bad as a Pineheadheadcanon.

That being said, I hope the showgives us a nice little flashback of what happened with Oscar in the lastepisode. I hope they actually deliver on that explanation this time but whoknows. Overall, I hope this answers you, Dagger.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[kimostv]

get to know me(me)

the rules: answer 17 questions & tag 17 people you want to know better

tagged by @ultrasopp so long ago and then i kept putting it off bc i didnt wanna do it on mobile and forgetting.. galaxy brained. anyway i saw @marywhals post and went oh yeah this so. thank!

nickname: in certain circles i am known as Angstface Mcgee but otherwise none

zodiac sign: Leo

height: somewhere between 172-178 cm?? i genuinely don’t know and i dont intend to find out because my brother will still be taller than me

hogwarts house: in the good year 2020... hufflepuff

last thing i googled: functions for math bc a bitch decided that being able to apply for more uni programs would outweigh the fact that i stopped being good at math in sixth grade

song stuck in my head: Dear Dictator by Saint Motel... love me a good bass line

following and followers: following:49(im trying to follow more accs but!! i am very bad at it!!) followers:97(which exceeds p much any expectations i had when i started this blog :0!!)

amount of sleep i get: anywhere between 4-9 hours but usually around 7. i havent slept in in like. two years. bc i spend the weekends out at my grandparents place and in the mornings i take the horses out+walk the dog for them which means getting up early

lucky number(s): wouldn’t say lucky number but i like 5 since that used to be my shirt number when i played handball

dream job: illustrator probably.. like. art. ideally i’d do concept art and character design etc. or freelance but idk and its stressing me out a little

wearing: old flannel shirt id only wear outside after top surgery and sweatpants. its the ideal isolation look babey

favorite songs: depends a lot on my Mood but safe bets are most Muse songs and most AJJ songs but specifically the entirety of The Bible 2

instruments: ukulele lmao and id really like to learn bass i think its cool

random facts: i own a horse!! he’s a retired harness racing horse which means i got to learn how to do harness racing and its really fun. big boy goes fast smaller boy is just hanging on on a few pipes of metal. uhhh all my joints are horrible creations of evil. cannot focus on just one thing. i have to do at least two things at all times. it can be music+schoolwork or tv show+game or doing this meme+listening to my history teacher but it has to be More Than One Thing. also im swedish :0!

aesthetic: the aesthetic i want is like. cowboy aesthetic and cottagecore had a lovechild that’s going through its rebellious stage ie punk cowboy wants to abandon capitalism and move into the woods and have animals. in reality tho im just vibin’

tagging: i do not know 17 ppl... but @ultraglitterjellyfish and @freijan and then everyone who wants to do this and hasn’t been tagged yet im tagging you go ham

[fly-sky-high-bug-games]

The infection affects all insects, but the effects are the same with butterflies? Radiance created the butterflies. they is more kind with them or much more violent with them?

Hmmm not sure about butterflies but Radiance certainly created (if that’s in a literal term in game lore but not sure) moths, which are a different species of insects but *reads from wikipedia* belong to same classification. 

Details aside, I think Radiance is bound to moths of Hallownest specifically, the whole creation part can be taken with a grain of salt, at least in my opinion. :0 Moths, I feel, would be pardoned if still around in game, unless she considered them traitors of their kind for abandoning or forgetting Radiance. I like to think, because of the Seer, they have a chance to properly speak to her in dreams because it’s “in their blood” due to their origins, culture and ancestry. At least, regarding Hallownest moths.

As for butterflies, there aren’t much in game (and none alive ones :’D) that can help me answer this question. XD I like to say Radiance isn’t picky bug species wise and it’s all about bug’s will and strength of mind that keeps them away from getting infected.

I’ll put some stuff about Silva bellow~

Characterization and story wise, tho, I want to say for Silva (and Alyssum I suppose) that they aren’t any different from other bugs regarding infection. If Radiance can draw them in through memories into endless dreams and control them with it, I don’t think it makes a lot of difference to those who aren’t familiar with how dreams work.

However, Silva has quite a bit of experience with dreams thanks to Taka. While bugs at the mines got infected, Silva stayed the same and it wasn’t just because of her determine, stubborn nature. When ever Silva was to dream “hearing” Radiance or seeing her light, Taka would seal that memory away from her so she wouldn’t remember Radiance upon waking up and succumb to her control in next sleep. He hid this from Silva until recently.

Bonus story tidbit:

In Silva’s attempts to rid of infection from miner’s mind, she tried to bind and seal away Radiance from the individual's mind, drawing goddess’ attention. Her “encounter” with Radiance almost got her infected at some point because she was suddenly considered a treat for being able to “make bugs forget Radiance” in a sense and make them stop dreaming. The goddess used Gambit to draw Silva in control, even if she resisted anything else Radiance threw at her before that. Taka had to interfere using nightmares and, surprisingly, Silva’s seal of binding, locking away all of Silva’s memories so Radiance would leave her alone because she had nothing to grasp for control. It worked but Yonna had to make dives into her mind to unlock them all again...

[hamu-eggu]

All 20 for Gampsable and Corlamanth

okay this is long, but info about these boys under the cut

1. Do they like rain?

Gampsable - Yes. Corlamanth - He has no personal preference, really. I suppose he doesn’t, in a professional sense. Less people out in the rain, really. Althoooough, the ones he does find in the rain tend to be the most fun to toy with. Once upon a time he enjoyed the feeling of rain on his skin.

2. If they have any pets, what are they? If not, what would they have as a pet?

As far as their stories go now, neither of them have pets. Gampsable - He loves pretty much any animal. If you asked him to pick a pet he wouldn’t be able to decide for himself, he’d just get stuck trying to figure out what he Really Really Wants. The best pet for him would be a lizard. A funny little green guy just like him! Corlamanth - I don’t think he’d have a preference any way, and animals tend to avoid him. But, I do think he’d look sick as hell with a raven perched on his shoulder or maybe hanging out on his horns.

3. What do other people tend to think of them?

Gampsable - Weird. Why’s he green? Is that a tail? Must be a cosplayer. Jeez he’s loud. And annoying. Oh no he’s talking to me. Oh, he’s.. sweet.... Oh my god what an angel. Corlamanth - [ f e a r ] That doesn’t last long though, because after they meet him people have a tendency to stop thinking.

4. Do they have kids? Do they want to have kids?

Gampsable - No kids.. and he hasn’t given it much thought at all. If the time comes where the thought does enter his mind, he’s the type to get fixated on it. He’d want to be a dad really bad, and be a Darn Good one!!! Corlamanth - No kids, couldn’t have kids if he wanted. Not that he does. He wouldn’t know what to do with a kid.

5. What’s their favorite color?

Gampsable - Orange. It’s the colour of his best friend’s hair! Corlamanth - Boy you picked an interesting fella! [/s] He doesn’t have a preference. If there was a time he did, he doesn’t remember it. Though he is always surrounded by green and he chose that place for a reason. He may have a deep fondness for the colour that he just doesn’t realize. 

6. Describe their eyes.

Gampsable - Oh boy. His eyes were fucked up by his dad, so he’s got some Wild Peepers. Left eye is all black sclera and a blood red iris. Right eye is your average white sclera with two black rings circling the small iris. It’s a milky pale lavender, just like his brother’s, but his iris is much  Corlamanth - If you ever see them then it’s too late for you.

7. What’s their handwriting like?

Gampsable - Horrible. He’s got chickenscratch  Corlamanth - He’s got some Vintage Calligraphy Font handrwiting, but it’s rare that he ever has to write anything.

8. Any phobias?

Gampsable - Gamp is a pretty fearless guy. What do you expect from a monster who grew up in a swamp? Corlamanth - The only thing Corlamanth truly fears is being forced to stay in hell and never return to the land of the living. Even the obliteration of his soul is better to him than that.

9. If they have a love interest, how did they meet them? How would they describe said love interest?

Gampsable - He had a deep fondness for his best friend growing up, that’s about the closest he’s come to a love interest. He cared for her immensely and was completely destroyed when he couldn’t find her. They met when he crawled up out of the bog one night and ventured up to her father’s property looking for food. He’d say she’s the sweetest, kindest gal he ever done met and he’s hopin’ real hard that he gets to see her again someday. Corlamanth - Again, if he had a significant other or feelings for someone long before he became the demon he is now it’s all lost. 

10. How would their love interest describe them?

Gampsable - Martina would say Gampsable was a lovely fella, but it’s been so long she can hardly convince herself he was even real anymore. She doesn’t even have anything to remember him by. Corlamanth - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. How many times have they fallen in love?

Gampsable - I guess just the once, but he’s got a big heart and he loves to love. It’s bound to happen again! Corlamanth -  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12. How many people broke their hearts?

Gampsable - Just one. Corlamanth - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

13. How many hearts did they break?

Gampsable - None!! And he’d very much like to keep it that way! Corlamanth - Oh, you KNOW there’s plenty of people who wander into the wild and fall for the mysterious man in the forest who then mercilessly turns their brains into mush

14. Favorite fruit?

Gampsable - Peaches! Corlamanth - Corlamanth doesn’t really eat, but when I think of him and fruit I think Sour Grapes.

15. Favorite vegetable?

Gampsable - Southern Boi Like A Corns. Corlamanth - Hmmm..... when I think Corlamanth I think Artichoke. I can’t really remember what they taste like tho.

16. Do they have any mental illnesses? If so, what are they and how do they make everyday life harder?

Gampsable - Ah... yea. He’s certainly not neurotypical, he’s got some stuff in there making it harder for him to grasp certain stuff and connect with people, but I haven’t really put a name on anything yet because I’d have to do research and augh I don’t really think I’m the person to make a character to represent people with any particular mental illness, yknow? Corlamanth - Uh. His brain is... it doesn’t work like any human brain.

17. Did they grow up poor, rich, or somewhere in between?

Gampsable - Dirt poor. Literally not a penny to his name. Apart from meeting Marti, he didn’t actually enter Society until he was a grown-ass man. Corlamanth - :)

18. Where did they grow up?

Gampsable - In the swamps and wetlands way south of the Destin Sea. Raised by gators, living amongst the wildlife. Corlamanth - :)

19. What were their parents like?

Gampsable - His father- the man whose DNA he began as a clone of- is a complete asshat. He thinks highly of himself, believes he’s a genius, and pushed aside or throws away anyone he considers unworthy. He uses and manipulates. He deemed Gampsable a failed experiment and abandoned him as a under-developed child in the swamplands, planning on his death. Too much of a spineless coward to destroy his creation himself. The gators, tho? They were cool. Corlamanth - His birth-givers have been blown away with the sands of time. But he has someone who helped shape him into who he is now. I suppose he’s a parent of sorts to Corlamanth. You might know him-- Satan? Yeah, he’s kind of a jerk.

20. Do they like the ocean? If they do, what do they like about it?

Gampsable - Gamp is all about swimmin and lotsa water, baybee. He’s never been to the actual ocean, but the Destin Sea is big enough for him. Corlamanth - Corlamanth has also never been to the ocean, but there’s no reason to suspect he would Dislike it. He’s also further from the Destin Sea than Gampsable, but he likes it enough to want to stay in the area.

[ghost-town-story]

Alright my friends are bastards who made a bet on this, but it’s ramble time about OG story and the rewrite. Let’s goooooooooo

Ok so I think the best place to start out with is with the characters. So I’ll recap the character bios from when I reread this shit, then go into how they’d change for the rewrite. 

OG Kiddos: They’re all ~13 here Melody: Protag. Basically my self insert lel. Secret princess of another world. For reasons, she was brought to this world as a kid and adopted by a random family (oh wait it’s my fam). For (basically) plot reasons, said family dies and she’s being foster/adopted by her nameless foster mom. Magic powers are shapeshifting, elemental, and some dumb thing that’s never relevant Finn: Named and modeled after my crush at the time, also Melody’s crush (and eventual boyfriend/husband lol). Magic powers are shapeshifting and Jake’s stupid magic powers Jared: I’ve posted about Astral Jared a lot. Just imagine that, but way shittier bc this is the dawn of his creation lol. Will’s twin. Magic powers are elemental, time powers (that are rarely mentioned), and some weird shit that boils down to, he’s a seer and also way overpowered lol Will: Jared’s twin. Again, just take whatever I’ve mentioned for Astral Will, and make it shitty bc he’s a baby. Magic powers are he’s a werewolf, a telepath, and for a hot minute he had what was basically the opposite of Jared’s OP power. That got dropped I think before the story transferred from paper to computer tho, bc it was never used/never fit with his character Jake: Mel’s foster brother who turns out to actually be her real brother, through a series of coincidences. Same thing happened with him when he was a baby, due to time fuckery he’s now the same age as Mel, and he was raised in a Spanish-speaking home so he’s fluent. Magic powers…. please. they’re so stupid. Don’t ask me to elaborate

And now the rewrite boissss Melody: From another world, but doesn’t realize it. Thinks she was abandoned as a toddler (she kinda was). Her foster mom ends up adopting her, and she takes on the role of “big sister” for any other kids they end up fostering. Magic powers would be elemental and shapeshifter (rip dumb irrelevant thing) Finn: The quiet, stoic one. Best friends with Mel since childhood, ends up with a crush on her and has no idea how to handle it other than “Turn it off!” (sorry i had to lel). Magic powers would be shapeshifting again. Trash powers are going in the gotdamned trash Jared: ehehehe let’s just take Astral Jared and take away the trauma and we have this lil dumbass lol. Very much a dumbass, very oblivious, 10/10 would try to shake some brains into his head. Magic powers would be elemental and seer, taking away the weird connotations with his seer powers. Depending on plot, I might also bring back the time manipulation, but that’s still unknown Will: Again, take Astral Will and take away the trauma, and he’s a sassy lil shit. 10/10 would be the one shaking Jared’s dumb ass. Still a werewolf, still a telepath. His magic is easy yo. Important note: All the above kiddos would be around 15. I cannot write them at 13 bc I cannot write 13-year-olds without intense shame Jake: Pequeno bebe. Similar case to Mel, abandoned as a baby, but the family that found him quietly took him in and raised him as their own. Due to plot reasons that have yet to be figured out, he ends up in the foster system and with Mel. Very quiet and shy, but with a ferocious temper once raised. Also hella gay panic at Jared. He’s significantly younger than the others, by at least a grade or two, so around 12/13 I think. I also have no clue yet what his magic powers are gonna be, since trash ones are trashed. Ryder: Mel and Jake’s dad. He’s had a name since the OG sequel, but he’s being added here so I can refer to him easier Cassiopeia: Mel and Jake’s mom. Also being named for ease of reference later

Alrighty, that’s enough of that. Now onto the stories!

Original plot: It was trash. But I’ll summarize the trash as best as I can. 

So basically, mysterious voice tells Mel and Finn to go on an adventure (who the voice is, I honestly don’t remember). So, being absolutely idiotic, wannabe heroic 13-year-olds, they say “Sure!” and off they go! 

Meanwhile, Jared and Will get kidnapped by Ryder as bait to draw Mel in. Why? Because he is a colossal dick. Also he needs Mel for something (I don’t quite remember what. Besides a giant “fuck you!” to Cassie). So off they go to another world. 

Mel learns Ryder has Jared and Will, also learns he’s her real father, yaddah yaddah, goes off to confront him with Finn in tow. They don’t.... He ultimately gets away, yay victory, kiddos go home, Jake has more than a few throwaway lines. That’s... about it tbh

Now keep in mind for the rewrite, I don’t have everything quite planned out. But here we goooooooo

Jake has been with Mel and her foster mom for at most, three ish months by this point, bc we gon start approximately first day of school ish. Therefore, Jake finally meets Will and Jared, and as kids are stupid and stupidly vicious, there’s some teasing him. Jake has amber eyes and a birthmark on his face. Kids are mean. 

One of them calls him a werewolf, and of course Will intervenes, and because he’s a sassy lil shit, the following interaction happens:

Jake ducked out from under the boy’s arm. “I can handle myself!” he hissed.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it. But those kids were pissing me off. After all,” and his easy grin shifted into something more... predatory, “they wouldn’t know a real werewolf if one bit them in the ass.” 

Sassy dumbass. 

So at some point soon thereafter (probably for like a week or so), Jake notices this dude hanging around the school every afternoon when they get out. But when he points him out to anybody, the guy just disappears before anybody else notices him. 

But Jake sees him. And his familiar amber eyes and birthmark. 

So maybe one afternoon Jake slips away from Mel, or he ducks out of the house one Saturday to go back, to see if he can find the guy and see wtf is up.

And so Ryder takes Jake with him. Kidnapping? Coercion? fuck if i know yet!

Mel has gone full on mama bird/big sister on Jake, so when he disappears, she starts to worry almost immediately. When he’s still not found for ages, it only gets worse. Finally, she drags Finn and Jared and Will out to the school to help her search, because maybe there’s something magical going on, but also she has to find Jake. 

They don’t find Jake, but they do find a portal. So with a little preparation, these idiotic wannabe heroic kids jump through said portal to see about rescuing Jake. 

(how do they know they’ll find Jake through the portal? Maybe they don’t. Or maybe Jared’s seer powers have told him something. shhh this isn’t well planned out)

What happening to Jake as this goes on? Good question

Mel and Co end up running into somebody else who is also seemingly stalking the same place as them. Turns out, yo, it’s Cassie! 

“What are you doing here?” 

Melody refused to back down under the woman’s glare. “I’m looking for my brother.” 

“Your brother is not here.” 

“Yes he is here, and I’m going to get him back!” Melody snapped. 

“I made sure he was safe. There is no way he can be here.” 

Melody had a realization. “I don’t care about what brother I may have had once upon a time,” she hissed. “He was lost to me the second my parents abandoned me. I’m here for Jake.” 

To her surprise, the woman’s face twisted with worry. “Jake?” She turned to the castle. “Oh Ryder, what have you done?” 

*meanwhile, elsewhere*

Ryder: Dammit Cassie, not everything is my fault!

And that’s about all I have thus far lol

[gionamim]

BRIANNE TJU,  CISFEMALE, SHE/HER.  —  looks  like GIONA MIM is  attending   AURORIA UNIVERSITY  in  auradon.  they’re  the  NINETEEN  year  old  child  of MADAM MIM,  which  means  they’re  from  THE ISLE OF THE LOST.  heard  they’re  SOCIABLE  &  LOYAL,  but  can  also  be  RECKLESS  &  FORLORN  ;  we all have our bad days.  people  normally  associate  them  with  LETTING MUSIC LEAD YOUR BODY , MUSHING A PIE ONTO SOMEONE’S FACE , STOMPING AROUND IN BOOTS TOO BIG TO FEEL POWERFUL ,  CLOSING THE DOOR SO NO ONE SEES YOU WISHING ON A STAR —  

hello hello !!! it took me way too long to plan this child but now that she’s here im so excited for her !! pls if u like cabaret, magic, baking, and bitching, then step right up !!!

[ PROFILE ]

NAME: giona giulietta mim

NICKNAMES: gg

AGE: 19 

HEIGHT: 5′1″ (smol)

BDAY: november 2 ( scorpio! )

BIRTHPLACE: camelot

DEATHPLACE: .....camelot

FEATURES TO NOTE:

vk colours: pink and green and black

tattoos of constellations dotted and lined on her left calf: the lyra, and scorpio

dotted by herself

she has no pulse, no heartbeat

she doesn’t bleed

body temperature is cold

her skin heals quicker than average, if damaged

DOESN’T LOOK ‘DEAD’ (no dead skin, no disconnecting limbs)

she actually looks pretty perfect lol thats the star in her heart ayyy

when she’s truly happy*, she glows (like a halo around her head)

*truly happy = well ..... it’s a case-by-case basis

ON THE ISLE: it wouldn’t have been a full halo ... just more like a sparkle in her eye 

[ BACKGROUND/ SUMMARY AT THE END OF THIS SECTION  ]

madam mim has always been an average witch, but the way she gains excessive power momentarily is by eating the hearts of other witches, wizards, and magical creatures. this was how she fought merlin, way back when. and when she was defeated, she was furious, distraught, ashamed, embarrassed, but mainly furious

she spent years trying to find the perfect heart to consume, the one that would give her the ultimate power to defeat merlin once and for all (petty bitch)

she REALLLYYYY just hated losing and its SO PETTY BUT SHE LETS IT DRIVE THE REST OF HER DAMN LIFE

and it took her years and years. TOO LONG, in fact. because by the time she found one, the creation of the isle of the lost had been found, and she was running out of time.

she figured out that the way to beat merlin was to use his own tools against him: LOVE, BELIEF, GOODNESS. and she was losing power, so there were no pure hearts to be found easily (though snow white had plenty of children, they were too heavily guarded), so she sought other means. 

she studied the lore of stars. she charted, planned, and waited for the next fallen star. it is said that if you were to consume the essence of a star, you would be filled with the purest magic of all, an everlasting, and sustaining magic. 

a week before she’s meant to be thrown into the isle, she finds a star. 

but it’s not all she thought it would be. the essence of the star was so pure, it was fading in her evil hands. in its raw form, it refused to be consumed, let alone touched, by her. so she wrapped it up in a cloth (its light already fading slowly), and scurried away, seeking another way to keep the star and ultimately eat it. 

bear in mind this is all just to defeat merlin 

she experiments quickly, using millifractions of the star and testing it on different creatures: she finds out that if she chooses the little woodland creatures and let them eat the heart -- and she eats their hearts...she’s awashed with the intense magic. 

but how to find a large enough heart that will stay alive all these years in the isle? she decides to find her child. the child she abandoned decades ago, the one where she can’t even remember where she left it. 1 year old, wandering the woods, died in the cold of winter. but she knows where it would have gone -- to the land of the dead.

and there, she finds a wizened old skeleton (elder gutknecht) telling her that she simply cannot take the dead out as she pleases -- but madam mim uses the last of her magic to find a way and now she finally has a capsule in which to keep the essence of the star

she keeps it in her daughter’s heart. and as soon as it is in there, the girl comes back to life -- well, an almost-life. she has no blood rushing through her veins, no heartbeat. she doesn’t feel pain or exhaustion as a living girl does. 

on the isle, mim begins a MIM’S MUSICALE -- a cabaret show and dinner theatre. giona is the cleaner and the waitress, as soon as she was old enough to carry a tray of food and a mop&bucket. it helps when your child’s half-dead and somehow seems more energetic at night. 

this is where mim’s ego truly thrives bc even tho she’s lost her shapeshifting powers, its still like 7 nights a week, ppl going to HER place to watch HER perform (like they have a choice lmao)

probably gives herself awards

fast forward to 12 yrs old: mim is settling into isle life but still impatient for when she and the other villains can break out. she hears giona singing while washing the dishes from the night before. the girl can sing. and, yes she was losing patrons bc mim’s performances are just too abstract for ppl to like (clearly). so she forces giona to become the new act. makes her perform, sing, dance, every night. 

mim almost forgets that there’s a star in this girl’s heart. she almost forgets, until she sees those small moments when giona’s in the kitchen, when she thinks mim can’t see her; baking a small cupcake from whatever ingredients she could find, and though there’s no magic allowed on the isle ... there is still something unnaturally bright about that girl. and she hates her for it. 

this ‘goodness’ and ‘purity’ thing is very merlin-y and she HAAAAATES THAT

HATES SUNLIGHT, HATES BRIGHTNESS, HATE, HATE, HATE!!!

BLACK SORCERY IS IN !!! MERLIN IS OUT !!!!!

so she works giona to death (sort of). and tells her she’s ugly. and bullies her into low self-esteem. 

16 years old: mim is getting more restless about being trapped in the isle. she decides to take action again. she begins to teach giona the mim magic, which is hexes and jinxes and shapeshifting, and ofc, a hatred for merlin. 

but by this time, giona’s made up her own mind about her life. and she won’t let her mother live it. 

SUMMARY: giona was dead and brought back to life with star-essence that mim put inside her heart, so she will eat the heart when giona breaks her out of the isle and then she’ll use that star magic to destroy merlin and be considered the greatest sorceror once and for all mwahahahaha. also the star thing is a complete secret, mim hasn’t told ANYONE and giona has no clue about the glowy thing.

WHAT CLOSE FRIENDS OF GIONA WOULD KNOW:

she has no heartbeat, her body is sort of cold, doesn’t bleed, doesn’t need as much sleep

probably if they’re the kind of friends that like ... are genuinely good for each other lmao, they probably saw a bit of giona’s ‘glow’ when she’s truly happy

[ PERSONALITY ]

100 bad bitches can’t tell me nothin’

still a sort of mini-mim because giona also has a very short temper and is prone to just .... never letting things go lmao 

hates her mother: found out at a young age that actually, she’s not ugly, and she’s not stupid and she starts to drown out mim’s nagging and bullying

but still, in the middle of the night (bc for some reason she feels more active at night and cant sleep), she hears her mother’s voice in her head and cries herself to sleep

loves music & shows & plays & acting & performing:  but hates being forced by her mother to do everything. she hates being forced to sing by someone, she hates being told what to do

hate hate hate !!!!

loves to bake: little cupcakes and muffins and baked goods, and cookies ofc, and bread, she loves to make all kinds of bread and pastries. at least, that’s the dream. on the isle, she’d be lucky if she could find clean flour. so far, she’s only made cookies and tiny cupcakes.

these foods are only reserved for her friends, and they are all SWORN to secrecy that they will never tell her mother

loyal to a fault: once she feels she can trust you, she will never let u go. it’s ride or die. growing up with a mother hell-bent on hating her, she began to appreciate the few friends she made on the isle, and will do absolutely anything for them

still tho she’s like ..... she’s a bitch first and a friend later 

loud as hell and speaks her mind and would probably get a tattoo that says NO RAGRETS.

loves magic: CAN’T WAIT TO USE HER POWERS AND TURN INTO ??? A BIRD ???

doesn’t know anything about her heart: all she knows is that her mother tells her to keep herself safe, otherwise all that “business of trying to bring you back to life will be for nothing”. 

so yeah, she knows she was dead. but she just believes her mother used necromancy to bring her back, and it clearly didn’t work the whole way because she’s not fully alive

but you wouldn’t even know it unless you tried to find a heartbeat

[ how they feel about heroes/villains ]

giona only hates one thing for sure that is her mother lmao

merlin ???? will be fun to see but like otherwise doesnt give two shits, will probably praise him and send him a cupcake to thank him for defeating her mum

operates on a “if you mess with me, i will mess with you back” basis

doesn’t want to join any squads that plan to ‘ruin auradon’ because to her its just hakuna matata bro let it go why can’t you just be happy we’re actually here ?? lets fuckin run away !!!

[ CONNECTYONS ]

from the isle:

VKs who regularly came to MIM’S MUSICALE and saw her perform! she will hate the reminder ty 

MIM probably also hired a few weekly performers, ppl who performed once a night so if ur muse was a performer on the isle pls hmu !!!! 

VK friends that giona met and has them try her tiny baked goods 

they must love the cupcakes and cookies OR ELSE >:(

now in auradon:

those who know magic, who would investigate/recognise why she glows when she’s ‘truly happy’ and tell her that she’s a STAR and that her mother is probably planning to EAT HER

DEAD PEOPLE TO BOND WITH OVER BEING DEAD 

women/nb to squad up with and go shopping with and basically pls give her a girl squad she will fight anyone for you and you can do each other’s nails and just MAKE HER TRULY HAPPY W REAL FRIENDS AAHHH

someone to show her the kitchens :0 and take her grocery shopping :0

MAGIC PPL TO TEST-DRIVE MAGIC WITH. i’m talking fun duels, and pranking people pls.

musicals ?? to join ??? where she can finally play the roles she wants to play, and sing the songs she wants to sing ??? amazin

[ MAD MIM MAGIC ]

shapeshifts into any animal !

shapeshifts their size ! can be teeny-tiny or gigantic

shapeshifts their features to look a little different ??? like can look hideous, or more beautiful, or taller, or with bigger ears -- but can’t change into a whole other person

potions and hexes and jinxes take more concentration, but she can do it

[ NOTES / STAR THINGS ]

oKAY SO !!!!

the star part is greatly inspired by Stardust, the movie, especially the part about her glowing when she’s truly happy

mim is essentially growing her child to one day be able to eat her heart, gain the infinite powers, and defeat merlin

but since giona is the star (over the years, the star became a part of her heart), rather than someone who consumed it, the magic works differently for her. so she glows, and she heals easily, and she is awake more at night. with giona, the star ecomes a way of being rather than a power-source.

if her heart were to be taken out, she would go back to being dead, with no hope of a second life as an undead or zombie, because the star is the only life giona actually has. once it is gone, she is nothing.

giona can still do all of madam mim’s typical magic ! shapeshifting is the big one, and her thing is pink-green coloured animals. 

[kleeboy]

okay im deleting and reposting this because i put a swear word in the tags and it wasnt even showing up in searches for my personal, and i don’t trust the mobile editor to fix my problems but its time 4 me to make a post

Here's what I’ve got for a Thunderbirds D&D AU! I'm not gonna get into numbers and stats and levels because I do that enough when I play normal d&d and I'm gay and tired. Also, there’s probably gonna be a touch of rule bending not only to reconcile d&d with the Thunderbirds canon but just to boost the fun factor a bit. It’s not like we’re setting up a playable campaign so it doesn’t really matter as long as we’re not making it unrecognisable as part of the d&dverse. At that point, you might as well just call it a fantasy AU (still lit tho lmao). This is mostly TOS based but I’ll add some notes on TAG stuff now and then in italics because I’m here to provide. It’s hefty, so everything's under the cut. Hopefully comprehensible.

IR (presumably going by some other name but we’ll just stick with that for sake of ease) is still a rescue organisation - it operates on a somewhat smaller scale but access to magic means it’s got a pretty big reach for typical d&d technology. It’s centred around an ancient deity that few people have heard of and even fewer worship. There’s only one known temple dedicated to said deity and it had been abandoned for a long time before they found it, so it’s currently being restored - if rather agonizingly slowly. Anyway, IR is deity-based because nothing screams “fight for a cause” like paladins! They’re paladins, mostly, is what I’m saying.

Jeff is likely an ex-adventurer, probably a paladin but I’m seriously considering cleric just for interest’s sake so sue me, I love clerics. His party did some pretty cool stuff back in the day, and adventuring pays well as long as you don’t die, so he’s pretty well off. He left the party and settled down in one place when Scott was born, and the rest of them presumably disbanded and went about their own lives eventually. Or maybe they’re still out there causing a ruckus. Who knows. Pretty easy to just say “and he’s not there anymore” for TAG, rationalise his disappearance as you please. Either way, at some point he decided to start an organisation that would make saving lives a bit more structured than the usual “Let's hope a squad of adventurers stumbles on our predicament” that people have been relying on.

Scott is a Battle Master archetype fighter who multiclassed into paladin. Battle Master provides the most appropriate mechanics for a field leader, and also seems like the sort of thing Scott would have been doing previous to IR. He’s the least proficient spellcaster of the group if only by virtue of his class, but access to paladin magic gives his fighting an extra kick which, along with the Battle Master maneuvers, makes him pretty damn dangerous with a sword. It also means he can cast Find Steed, and because said steed’s form can go beyond normal when permitted by the DM and we’re making the rules here I’m giving him a pegasus, which is about the fastest flying mount you could get as far as the monster manual goes. A roc would just be too much. Very VERY cool. But too much.

Virgil is a College of Lore bard into paladin. When it comes to support classes, nothing beats a College of Lore bard for versatility. He’s got the range, darling. Slap an arsenal of magic items on that and you’re well on your way to the d&d equivalent of Thunderbird 2. He has some good offensive spells and weapon training but mostly works to keep others from getting hurt. With a high constitution, the Tough feat, good armour and a shield he pretty much becomes a mobile wall to be put between danger and anyone who can’t take too many hits. Find Steed again lets me give him something interesting to ride, and what better than an owlbear. A big one. Not quite as appropriate stat-wise as the pegasus for Scott but when it comes to aesthetics I’m yet to find something as good as a bear-shaped and -sized owl.

John is predominantly a Divination wizard, with a low paladin level - two maximum - giving him access to a lot of powerful magic but leaving him, how do you say, squishy. Divination is gameplay-wise pretty underwhelming, with not many spells to its name, but for someone whose job is centred around keeping an eye on things, the ability to see very far away and receive premonitions is gonna be useful. The system by which distress calls are sent is giving me some concept trouble but when it comes to receiving it’s as easy as a focus with some capability to project images and sound, gear already necessary to cast Scrying. So, as in canon, rather than going out on missions (at least for the most part), it’s John’s job to keep tabs on incoming signals and active operations. This is all based in the previously mentioned temple - out of the way enough to let me call it a T5 equivalent. He also has the secondary job of making sure nothing else tries to take up residence in the decrepit building. They had to clear it of goblins the first time. As far as Eos goes I don’t have room for all my thoughts (so many) but let’s call her a sentient magic item. Additionally, TAG John probs gets a level or two in cleric.

Gordon is a paladin into druid, Circle of the Land (Coast). He and Alan didn't have any previous class levels before becoming paladins. Neither of his classes give any bonuses for it beyond proficiency for paladins but nobody can stop me from making his primary weapon a longbow, plus the Sharpshooter feat is helpful. Coast druid is the only subclass of any d&d class that has a specific focus on water and what could go wrong if we let him turn into animals? It also has some good circle spells, when he gets to that point. He’d probably have a lot of fun with Mirror Image. There was probably an incident that catalysed his becoming a druid, I'd like to think it's the equivalent of the boat crash just placed on a different point in the timeline. Might get into it at a later date.

Alan is just pure paladin, it's all he's really had time to do with his life so far beyond being a kid and growing up, y'know? I’ll get a little into the subclass here, all of IR’s 3rd level or higher paladins take Oath of Devotion. From the PHB: “These paladins meet the ideal of the knight in shining armor, acting with honor in pursuit of justice and the greater good.” Devotion’s core tenets are honesty, courage, compassion, honor, and duty. Also their Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon is just really cool. Who doesn’t like glowing stuff, man. Alan's got some more powerful paladin abilities than any of his brothers but probably has the lowest total level regardless. Giving him the Athlete feat, which lets him jump and climb a lot easier, feels appropriate. He snuck a griffon home when it was a baby, and is trying to train it. It's not very well behaved and causes a ruckus when it gets bored but he adores it. One day it’ll make a phenomenal companion. For now, it will continue to attempt to eat his fingers.

Brains is an artificer! Love that class. Artificers, rather than casting spells (though they can do that), make magic items. The artificer class is from Unearthed Arcana and a lot of the mechanics can be hit or miss, it’s been revised many times by lots of different people. But when it comes to the basic idea, it’s the obvious choice for Brains. The less common a magic item, the longer it takes and harder it is to make. The higher level an artificer the more, and more powerful, their creations are. Pretty simple. Also pretty much every version of artificer you come across has some sort of option for a mechanical companion so there’s MAX for you.

Tin-Tin is also an artificer, with a few levels in paladin for good measure. Her time is split between making and repairing gear and going out on missions, and when on call is incredibly useful for lightning fixes and is incredibly creative when it comes to the ways magic items (and nonmagic items) can be used to get out of predicaments. This is the character who constantly has Inspiration. Kayo is an Assassin archetype rogue into paladin. Assassins do… a lot of damage. If you know much about d&d rules (I don’t expect you to), the only thing scarier than a bard, stat wise, is a rogue. +10 to stealth is pretty easy to get by 5th level, combine that with Sneak Attack and Assassinate and you can deal up to 26 damage in one hit with a dagger alone. I said I wouldn’t do any maths but I lied.

Penny doesn’t necessarily have any class levels, though rogue would be appropriate. She falls more under the NPC umbrella, somewhere between Noble and Spy, perhaps? NPCs have a lot less restrictions when it comes to what they can and can’t do laterally, but it’s harder to make them powerful without assigning a class. I also think it’d be really neat to use the fantasy setting to make her nonhuman. High elf would be fitting and cool, but she’d also make a fantastic tiefling. Though, like, call me biased, everyone would make a fantastic tiefling.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter right now. I have a lot more specific details that I’ll get to eventually but this post is more of a jumping off point listing some options for anyone else who might want to mess around with a d&d AU but doesn’t know where to start. Pick out things you like, ditch things you don’t, add whatever sounds cool, and honestly? Congratulations on getting through this whole thing. This post is kind of in shambles. And thanks! I love taking any excuse to pore over these books.

Shoot me an ask or something if anything’s too incomprehensible or there’s something up with the formatting. Later, skaters.

[theliterateape]

"You’ll Never See His Like Again!": Revisiting Comics Legend Stan Lee’s Best, Most Literary (and Vastly Underrated) Story, The Silver Surfer (1978)

By Jarret Keene

Stan “the Man” Lee is dead, but his creations are alive, pouncing across theaters, game screens, and t-shirts with equal parts vitality and sorrow. Today, Spider-Man and Thor and Captain America and Black Panther and so many others dominate our media landscape to a degree unthinkable 40 years ago when my father bought me The Silver Surfer graphic novel from a B. Dalton inside Tampa Bay Mall.

Back then comics (22-page floppies) were relegated to a single spinner rack in mall bookshops, a gimmick to draw kids into the store so their parents felt obliged to pick up garbage Sidney Sheldon’s thriller Bloodline. But The Silver Surfer didn’t fit in a metal rung; instead it was displayed amidst the regular literary trade paperbacks. Today it is vaguely praised on obscure blogs as being among the very first efforts to push comics into the realm of the literary epic during a brutal moment in the history of the comics industry. Staggering inflation, a crushing 1977 (and then a 1978) blizzard, and rising paper costs nearly sank DC Comics. Marvel, though, endured such challenges with Stan Lee’s relentless cheer, his grace under pressure, his courage to always try something new when everyone else cowered, caved.

In the late 1970s, the U.S. continued to fall apart. There was the ongoing energy crisis, serial killers like Ted Bundy lurked in every shadow, the Jonestown mass suicide played out like a dress rehearsal for a larger and more diabolical event, toxic waste burbled in landfills adjacent to pleasant neighborhoods, and Soviet Russia  rattled its nuclear saber. You wouldn’t know this from reading Marvel Comics, every issue offering a column called Stan’s Soapbox, wherein Lee waxed passionately, positively, and with the eloquence of a poetry-reading pitchman, about what was forthcoming from “the House of Ideas.”

Today Marvel is an idea-resistant shell of the company Lee built and oversaw, a house of ideology teeming with dour, OMG-chirping social-justice superheroes (gay mutant Iceman, lesbian Latinx warrior America Chavez, Muslim teenager Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, female cancer-stricken Thor). Instead of debuting new characters, the current editorial team is content to reverse race and flip gender of, and add a dash of disability to, classic characters. In its prime, though—and starting in 1961 with the first issue of Fantastic Four — Marvel excelled at depicting authentic outcasts who felt a fierce responsibility to protect even those who hated them, feared them, wanted them dead. Lee’s characters — which he co-created with Jack Kirby, the artist who visually defined comics for an international audience — didn’t nurture wounds of identity and grievance; they waged their internal battles on a mythic scale. In the same way Oedipus confronted the ignorance of his birth, in the same way petulant Achilles struggled to overcome his narcissism, so did hapless high school reject and science nerd Peter Parker combat his own teenage doubt and ego and feelings of inadequacy.

Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) containing the debut of Spider-Man, is arguably the single greatest and most important comics story ever written, its 11 pages defining not just the Marvel superhero but also the last half-century of U.S. comics. “With great power comes great responsibility” wasn’t merely an inspirational and moral slogan; it was also a metaphor for American exceptionalism, which could only result in senseless death (like, say, the murder of Peter’s uncle, Ben) if not applied toward just and proper ends. Parker is spoiled, his own worst enemy. He’s a purveyor of fake news, taking photos of himself in action as Spider-Man and selling them to the Daily Bugle to cover the cost of college tuition. We love Parker for his flaws, though, and for his commitment to overcoming them. We cherish his humanity even as we’re thrilled by his brawls with violent predators like Kraven the Hunter, bulky crime boss Kingpin, hideously armed Doctor Octopus.

The Silver Surfer isn’t human like Parker. The Surfer is carved from the “doomed messiah from beyond” mold a la Superman (or Beowulf or Jesus). But he isn’t adopted as a baby and given a Midwest upbringing. He is a silver-skinned alien riding a floating board, arriving on Earth to determine if it’s suitable for his planet-eating master Galactus. Lee and Kirby made a wise choice in never pinning down the exact size of this god of interstellar death, who, like the Surfer, was first introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four #48–50 (1966). That three-part story is a must-read, yes, but then, a decade later, Lee and Kirby collaborated on a 100-page retelling of the Surfer-and-Galactus saga, only this time the superheroes were removed, leaving just the god and his fallen angel. The result is a romantic, philosophical, and artistic statement that outstrips everything else Lee and Kirby collaborated on prior — which is saying a lot. It is also the last major work either of them would produce for Marvel, or for any company thereafter.

Today Marvel is an idea-resistant shell of the company Lee built and oversaw, a house of ideology teeming with dour, OMG-chirping social-justice superheroes

The Silver Surfer was published by arrangement with Fireside Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster in New York known for publishing a famous chess book. Based on a Kirby sketch, the cover is by artist Earl Norem, known for painting the covers of men’s adventure magazines and more than a few Marvel mags (like Savage Sword of Conan). Indeed, the painted cover gives the book literary gravitas. The interior art is all prime Kirby, with eloquent inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Glynis Wein (first wife of the late Len Wein, who created Wolverine). The Silver Surfer is a feast for a comics-lover’s eyes; my battered copy still radiates visual power. But it’s the heartbreaking story and dialogue that set this effort apart from anything else in the history of comics and in the bibliography of Lee and Kirby.

Here the protagonist must choose between living forever to serve a devourer of worlds, or else die alongside eight billion earthlings to be rejoined with the obliterated love of his life, lovely and golden Ardina. In The Silver Surfer, Lee gives us a hero who sells his soul to the devil so as to thwart a holocaust and save a populated globe. He only meets a few dozen — many of who attack him physically. But he understands their potential to grow beyond their limitations. It’s not a story in tune with the 1970s, that post-Vietnam, post-JFK, post-Watergate era during which Marvel delivered dark, humorous characters like Ghost Rider. No, this was something else entirely.

The opening splash page is the closed fist of the planet-eater: Behold! The hand of Galactus! Behold! The hand of him who is like unto a god. Behold! The clutch of harnessed power — about to be released! The tone here is elevated, serious, Lee is writing in a style that evokes the Old Testament of the King James. The second page is a splash, too; in it, the mitt of Galactus opens and from it erupts the Surfer, who “streaks through the currents of space — ever-seeking, ever-searching — for he alone is herald to mighty Galactus.” The image is the visual distillation of an artist’s self-confidence, his arrogance. After all, doesn’t every artist believe himself to be God as he  manipulates his characters, his images, to suit his imaginative fancy? It’s also a breathtaking rendering of a big bang, or a biblical birth of the universe, without a benevolent designer in control. Here the god of the universe is a destroyer.

The universe seems endless and infinitely alluring to this mysterious star-wanderer, who yearns for  his own homeworld, Zenn-La, lost to him forever for reasons Lee doesn’t initially explain, but we presume Galactus ate it.

The Surfer enters the atmosphere of “a verdant sphere” unlike any he’s seen before. Soaring high above the streets of New York, he doesn’t hide from view. He is fascinated by the fear in the eyes of people, noting “how it is always the young who are the first to accept — and to trust.” He sees a woman who reminds him of Shalla Bal, a woman the Surfer loved on his own world. Haunted by her memory, he pursues this woman through the alleyways of Manhattan while imagining a conversation with this Shalla Bal lookalike. We learn that, years ago, the Surfer sacrificed his mortal body to Galactus to save Zenn-La from destruction.

Finally, the woman abandons him to his painful recollections… and then Galactus suddenly appears in a whirlwind of crackling energy, ready to devour Earth.

He congratulates the Surfer on a job well done and articulates in excruciating detail how he plans to sate his appetite: “Here shall I drain the gently rolling seas. Here shall the bountiful land yield to me its gift of life.” It is an impending act of reverse creation, a backward Genesis. But the herald of Galactus isn’t having any of it. When the Surfer fails to convince his master that the price of eight billion souls is too high, he lashes out at Galactus with “the power cosmic,” using it seal the destroyer in a concrete cocoon. It doesn’t hold Galactus for long. Disgusted, the world-eater blasts the Surfer from the sky, cursing the herald to live amidst “the dunghills of man” for a spell in order to ponder his mistake. Then Galactus disappears.

The Surfer recovers from his fall, then disguises himself by altering his appearance to resemble a male fashion model from a billboard. He wanders the city with admiration for its denizens until muggers approach him in Central Park. The Surfer shoos them away with a pyrotechnical display, then pledges to walk around without hiding his identity; concealment did nothing for him anyway. Meanwhile, we witness Galactus gorging on a planet in another solar system. Sated, his thoughts turn toward his missing herald. What can Galactus do to make the Surfer submit? The world-eater’s counsel, a sniveling Master of Guile, advises Galactus to provide the Surfer — our alien Adam — with an Eve, someone to betray the Surfer’s heart.

And so beautiful Ardina enters the picture. She sneaks the instantly smitten Surfer beyond Earth’s atmosphere, and they share in the pleasures of the spaceways. Floating now on a patch of green ringed with bright flowers in a neighboring galaxy, our hero is tempted to give up his standoff with Galactus. In the same way Dido tempted Aeneas to give up his destiny to found Rome, so does Ardina begin to entice the Surfer to submit to her — and by extension Galactus. He refuses, says he’s willing to die to save Earth, and so Ardina leads the Surfer on a journey into human darkness. “You will perish for a worthless cause,” she warns. She shows him “brutal images, a morbid montage of heart-rending scenes filled with carnage and strife.” Domestic violence. A child killed by a hit-and-run driver. A mass execution. Bombed ruins of a once-thriving city. The Surfer is jarred but not dissuaded.

And then something interesting happens: Ardina, designed to coldly seduce the Surfer to make him betray his convictions, ends up feeling a warm love for him.

So much so that when the Surfer, driven mad from having set foot inside a suburban home where the walls seem to be closing on him:

The ceiling — almost touching my head! No room to move! No place to soar! I see no sun — no sky — no endless reaches of rolling space! Wherever I face — wherever I turn — I am surrounded by smothering objects! Shelves and books! Pictures, clocks, and lamps! Chairs and drapes and shuttered windows! But where is the sky? Where is the cold, crisp touch of rolling space? Where are the hills, the seas, the nourishing stars in endless profusion? Without them I perish! 

Interestingly, the aspect of humankind that nearly causes the Surfer to surrender his mission is man’s stultifying existence inside tract-housing boxes.

Troubled by the experience, the Surfer races to escape Earth’s atmosphere. Riding bitch, Ardina screams: “The barrier! You have forgotten the barrier!”

The Surfer falls to Earth while Ardina re-materializes before Galactus inside his giant space vehicle. She admits she has failed. She confesses her love for the Surfer. Displeased, Galactus recalibrates her cloned body for one last mission. A mission that involves shattering the Surfer’s heart.

Meanwhile, the Surfer continues to be attacked by various humans. He is shot at, shackled and hammer-smashed, then the U.S. military blasts him with an ultra-sonic cannon, which nearly kills him. Ardina consoles him for a moment, kisses him, telling the Surfer she is with him and by his side, even after death. Which is when Galactus dissolves her into dead particles using a matrix-drone.

Now Galactus asks the Surfer to again join him in scouting the universe for other edible planets. It’s the only way Earth can be saved. The command is agonizing, for what Galactus offers is a living hell. To save Earth, the Surfer must cast off death, the ultimate escape and the one chance he has at being reunited with Ardina. But as the Surfer himself says: “Never was there a choice!”

The curse of immortality at the cost of true love is a familiar idea in ancient epics. The sea nymph Calypso offered Odysseus eternal life, but he refused it in order to be with his wife Penelope. But the Surfer has no options; he can’t be selfish enough to die and thus doom the Earth. What makes him a hero is his refusal to surrender and his willingness to embrace the agony of existence, of enslavement. He must deny himself every exit for humans to live on until they hopefully change themselves for the better. They must have a chance; the Surfer and Galactus give them one. 

The Surfer returns to the gauntlet of Galactus, disappearing within the destroyer’s fist.

✶

In this story, there is no Fantastic Four. No cameo appearances by Lee and Kirby. No clever narrative captions. Just the purest narrative of a hero fighting for an ideal, for the steadfast belief in our ability to one day rise above our petty evils, our arrogance and wrath. Lee wrote so many masterpieces of comics literature, but this one is his best because it best speaks to the principle he and his characters lived by: Never succumb to nihilism and despair. Never forget that we are similar in our anxieties and weaknesses, and that our individual identities matter less than our collective aspiration to improve our world and the lives of the people who inhabit it.

It’s a moral stance that today remains obscured by Internet social-justice frothing and the political insanity of being ruled by a reality-TV star. But the embers of Lee’s views are there for anyone to ignite and carry forward. Make no mistake: the world is poorer now without Lee. As the blurb on The Silver Surfer ’s back cover announces: “You will never see his like again!” We can, however, always see Lee’s passion and his love for humanity — for life! — in the work he and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko and others left for us to enjoy.

Lee didn’t need to die for our sins. He endures, and so will we.

Never was there a choice.

Jarret Keene is an assistant professor in residence in the English Department at UNLV, where he teaches creative writing and ancient and medieval literature. His fiction, essays and verse have appeared in literary journals such as New England Review, Carolina Quarterly, and the Southeast Review. He is the author of several books and editor of acclaimed short-fiction anthologies. He is currently working on a critical biography of comic book legend Jack Kirby.

[balancedpluto]

All arcana asks ;)

I hate u so much Hayden. Putting it under a read more cuz HECK this is a lot. Also u can clearly tell Rose is my most fleshed out apprentice lmao. U can also tell when I started to burn out lol. THIS TOOK ME ALL DAY HECK

1. Name? Surname?Rose LaFontaineAaron (???)Lyra (???)

2. Any Family?Rose: she has a sister who’s 10 years older than her named Yvette, she’s a pirate. And her mother still lives in Fantasy France.Aaron: SO MANYLyra:….she doesn’t like to talk about it

3.Any Familiar?Rose: A bull mastiff named Mika who can change in size (so she can fit in a pocket or be the size of a horse, at her will)Aaron: A bearded dragon named Sir Slappy Skiddaddly the Third Lyra: A cute little rat named Pixie

4.Asra, Nadia, or Julian?Rose: JulianAaron: AsraLyra: Nadia

5. Best strength in magic?Rose: IllusionsAaron: Fire magic. Anyone who follows Eereree saw this coming.Lyra: the creation and manipulation of light

6. Favorite color?Rose: Maroon or light pink Aaron: Red. Surprise surprise Lyra: Purple

7. Favorite number?Rose: 69Aaron: 420Lyra: HOW DID YOU TWO ANSWER THAT SO FAST??? Uhh, 7?

8. Sexuality?Rose: BiAaron: PanLyra: Lesbian

9. Weird hobby?Rose: not really weird so much as unexpected for her, but she likes to sew and knit.Aaron: Weed lmaoLyra: Buying books but never actually getting around to reading them.

10. Favorite season?Rose: SpringAaron: FallLyra: Spring as well

11. Favorite weather?Rose: Sunny, but not hot.Aaron: Thunderstorms Lyra: Drizzly

12. Favorite place in Vesuvia?Rose: The Raven, or Mazelinka’s place. She loves that lady like she was her own grandmother.Aaron: The market. That pumpkin bread thoLyra: The palace library

13. How does their laughter sound like?Rose: Sober, its a soft almost teasing giggle. Drunk, loud cackling. Both are very charming in their own way.Aaron: LOUDLyra: giggling and soft snorting

14. How do they look like when they cry?Rose: She doesn’t cry often so when she does its…a lot. Loud gross sobbing often accompanied by yelling. Its not pretty.Aaron: Ghibli tears. You can’t convince me otherwise.Lyra: A lot of sniffling

15. What do they like to wear?Rose: Long dresses/skirts with low cut tops. Her brests are her best asset and she’s gonna show em whether you like it or not.Aaron: Tits out. That’s all u need to know.Lyra: Long, modest cut dresses with a corset. Very simple, but she always looke nice.

16. What are their fears?Rose: Fears? Don’t know her. (Actually death, which is…ironic considering the circumstances)Aaron: Abandonment. And cockroaches.Lyra: Rejection. The dark.

17. What do they like to do Friday night?Rose: put on fancy lingerie, get wasted, and play card games.Aaron: Blaze it lmaoLyra: (cuddling with Nadia) Reading

18. Do they use makeup?Yes. All 3 of them.

19. Favorite food?Rose: Mama LaFontaine’s crepesAaron: Spicy Vegetarian ChiliLyra: Cookies (technically not FOOD, but sweets are her big weakness)

20. Favorite drink?Rose: Rosé wine. Sounds redundant considering her name, but thats why she likes it. Growing up she thought it was named after her.Aaron: Just water, surprisingly.Lyra: Green tea

21. Zodiac sign?Rose: CancerAaron: Cancer Lyra: Aquarius(I dont care i have two apprentices that are the same sign leave me alone)

22. Day of birth?Honestly haven’t even thought if that lmao

23. Favorite movie?Rose: Heathers. She loves a bad bitch movie.Aaron: Shrek. Lyra: Not really a movie person tbh. She likes Disney stuff tho.

24. Favorite music genre?Rose: Classic rock or indie. Also has an interest in things involving old or obscure instruments.Aaron: Pop PunkLyra: Soft indie or video game soundtracks

25. Favorite song?Rose: Over the Hills and Far Away- Patty GurdyAaron: It’s Never Sunny in South Philadelphia-The Wonder YearsLyra: Youth- Daughter

26. Favorite TV show?Rose: Likes to watch cooking shows cuz its usually the only thing good onAaron: Doesn’t really do TVLyra: Also not really into TV, will put on like, QVC or something for background noise tho (im guilty of this)

27. What is their style?Rose: Like i said before. Long skirt, tits OUT.Aaron: Lazy but somehow manages to look hot? How does he do that???Lyra: Simple and modest, but always in pretty colors.

28. Any mental health issues?Rose: She has some anger issues, along with a tendency to bottle everything upAaron: hrrhgghh i haven’t gotten that deep with him WHOOPSLyra: Really bad anxiety

29. Any health issues in general?Not really?

30. Are they human?Yeah….or are they dancer?

31. Favorite book?Rose: She honestly can’t remember the last time she had time to read for fun.Aaron: Wtf is a book lolLyra: Don’t make her choose for the love of god

32. Favorite book genre?The person writing these questions assumes I know books lmao

33. Favorite time of the day?Rose: SunsetAaron: Early afternoonLyra: Like, really early morning. My sweet child why are you awake this early

34. If they weren’t a magician, who would they be?Rose: A pirate like her sister. Unless this is meant as like a modern AU then she’d probably sew and knit cute things and sell them online.Aaron: Probably a video game youtuber tbhLyra: Not much different, only she’d run a little mom and pop knick knack/ book store instead of a magic shop

35. Do they believe in ghosts?Yeah

36. Do they believe in aliens?Kind of?

37. Do they like sports?What is this…sport you speak of?

38. How do they look like?Sexy

Rose: 

Aaron:

Lyra:

(art by @willowwish64 )

39. What is their biggest motivation to solve the Lucio’s killer mystery?Rose: To clear Julian’s name Aaron: To make sure it wasn’t him and he just doesn’t remember. I mean…fire is kinda his thing, so…Lyra: To put Nadia’s mind at ease

40. What do they think of Lucio so far?Rose: “He’s an asshole.”Aaron: “Goatman! Fuck you, goatman!”Lyra: “I can never look at a goat again without feeling terrified”

41. What do they think of Nadia so far?Rose: “She’s the kind of woman I strive to be. I have so much respect for her.”Aaron: “A smart, capable woman. Also really hot like wowie.”Lyra: “She’s so amazing and so beautiful and i don’t know why she likes me so much, I’m so dull compared to her and-” (this can go on for hours)

42. What do they think of Asra so far?Rose: “A great friend and mentor. I’d do anything for him.”Aaron: “He’s like…a human sheep…but really skinny…imagine hugging cotton candy filled with bones…its amazing. Also dat ass.” (He loves him but he’s bad at serious answers)Lyra: “A close friend to whom i owe my life”

43. What do they think of Julian so far?Rose: “Oh, Julian. How do i begin to describe how i feel about him? I’ve never met someone who’s so smart and witty yet so dumb? And he’d do anything for you but doesn’t think he deserves the same, even though he does. And, well, i could go on but the long and the short of it is, I love that idiot.”

Aaron: “He’s like a taller, hotter version of me AND IM SO PISSED”Lyra: “he sure is…something”

44. What do they think of Portia so far?Rose: “My future sister in law???? I love her so much! ”Aaron: “She’s…so small…my god im surrounded by small people”Lyra: “She’s so lovely!! She’s like my best friend!”

45. What do they think of Muriel so far?Rose: “He…doesn’t like to talk much does he? And he’s so…TALL. Makes you wonder about…things.”Aaron: “Him big. ”Lyra: “He…kind of scares me a bit? ”

46. Do they like animals?OF COURSE

47. Are they allergic to anything?Nope

48. Do they have any talents (except magic)?Rose: Again, she’s really good at sewing/knittingAaron: He can lick his elbow. And he shows off his “skill” to everyone. Charming i know.Lyra: She’s really good with animals

49. Do they get drunk easily?Rose: No, she can hold her liquor pretty well. She usually just gets tipsyAaron and Lyra: YES

50 .What is their personality type?*fart noises*

51. What is their worst negative quality?Rose: She tends to dodge any question that’ll make her show any negative emotion. Being with Julian is kind of helping her with that, since he needs her support and she feels okay talking about this stuff with him. Also she tends to be kind of overly sexual. She doesn’t really mean to, it just happens.Aaron: He tends to take serious things as a joke sometimes.Lyra: She likes to just, avoid people. She’d rather just be alone by her own choice than face rejection.

52. What is their best positive quality?Rose: She’s like a mom? You wouldn’t think that on the surface, but she’s actually really warm and motherly.Aaron: So fucking funny.Lyra: She has a heart of gold

53. What is their position to fall asleep?Rose: She likes to fall alseep with Julian resting his head on her chest and petting his hair. Motherly instincts, i guess. Also it’s the only surefire way of making sure he sleeps. If she’s alone, on her stomach or side with her arms under the pillow.Aaron: Starfish. Asra just has to deal with it, i guess.Lyra: Curled up with Nadia. It’s where she feels safest.

54. The most uncomfortable moment they ever experienced?Rose: (spoilers) Finding out she died. Considering death is her greatest fear, it was especially hard for her to swallowAaron: When his brother found out him and Asra were fuckin…and he found out his brother and Nadia were fuckinLyra:…..

55. Their happiest memory?Rose: When she first came to Vesuvia. It was kinda scary, but there’s SO MUCH TO SEE!!Aaron: Getting Slappy. Lyra: Finding out Nadia likes her back. She nearly fainted.

56. Do they blush?Rose: Not really, if she does its hard to tellAaron: SometimesLyra: YES

57. Are they clumsy?Nah

58. Do they like jokes? Of course, they’re people, arent they?

59. How do they flirt?Rose: VERY direct. She’s not afraid to let people know what she wants.Aaron: “Hey cookin’, what’s lookin’?”Lyra: oh god she’s so bad at it help her

60. Favorite fruit?Rose: StrawberryAaron: Orange Lyra: Kiwi

[daddysfavouriteboytoy]

Project - Heir Nr. 74

This is a character for a cyberpunk omegaverse rp-group, which was deleted before I could actually use him. But I still like him so I posted him.

Name: Project - Heir Nr. 74 Nickname: PH, 74, Robot Doc (usually by lower-class people) Age: approximately 250 years, designed to look like early to mid-20s Gender: Male Secondary Gender: Beta Sexuality: Pansexual Species: Cyborg Appearance: (Face-claim: Toni Petkov)

Height: 1,89 m/6'2" Weight: 117 kg/258 lbs due to being build form heavy metals Body Type: despite being a beta, his design very muscular and on the taller side so he could fight back if someone started a fight with him Scent: Coffee and Petrol Personality: PH's strong will makes his dedication to his creator's intent of him possible, and he doesn’t give up his beliefs of equality because of simple opposition. This trait of his also mirrors in his dedication to giving everyone the opportunity to have a fair and good service. Tasks aren’t simply abandoned because they’ve become difficult or boring, he takes them up when they are the right thing to do, and they will be finished as long as they remain the right thing to do. However, PH is very easily annoyed when he's concentrating on his work, therefore it would be best to just leave him alone during that time if you can't handle his sass and cynicism. Being a cyborg and handling emotions different than humans, makes it sometimes nearly impossible to express his emotions properly and feel empathy for strangers. All of those traits don’t make PH a bad, introverted or uncaring person though, he is the most loyal, patient and reliable guy you can find. When he says he’ll do something, he keeps his word.  PH also a strong sense of justice and despite the fact he might lack empathy, he's still very protective of those who can't protect themselves. At the same time, PH is known to be an extrovert, a quite humourless one but still an open and talkative person, who is always interested in learning new things and has no trouble speaking his mind in straightforward statements. Relationships: Rowland Jonathan Lewkenor - "father"; human; alpha; deceased Bee Lewkenor - adopted "stray"; human; omega; 19 years old Likes: when people who knew his creator personally tell him stories about him, general when people tell him interesting stories, Bee, his customers being satisfied with his work, the fact that he doesn’t feel pain unless it destroys (parts of) his body (leaving a dent, breaking something, melting some part of him,...), challenges at his work, updating his database and his body, his regulars at his store, being able to keep peace in his store, being the best at what he’s doing Dislikes: being called old or outdated, people fighting in his store, alphas/betas trying to sexually harass Bee, having to kick someone out, being threatened (he knows they won’t follow through with their threat because they rely on his work too much), when his workplace is a mess, having to always keep an eye on Bee when they go out together, people trying to convince him to only work for them, the roles people are pushed into because of their secondary gender, the basement because his prototypes are still down there and they make him feel uncomfortable (he still takes parts of them whenever he needs them tho) Social Class: Middle class but quite popular throughout the other social classes Occupation: self-employed cybernetic specialists/cyborg mechanic Position: Switch Virgin: No Turn-ons: teasing, being called master, cream pies, dirty talking, sleep play (receiving) Turn-offs: vore, watersports, chastity, pegging, tickling Others:

he treats everyone as equal no matter their race or secondary gender

he has the body type that is usually typical for alphas so he can protect himself and his clients better if they get threatened

he is a father figure for Bee and very overprotective of him, especially when alpha clients get too touchy/close to Bee

Backstory: Rowland was one of the greatest inventors if not even the best one during his time. He created a lot of things that shaped the world and turned it in what it was today. However, unknown to a lot because his creations overshine this aspect of his life, his main occupation was repairing and improving cybernetic machines. His knowledge about these things seemed to be endless. Due to his accurate and flawless work, he was the first person the rich went to whenever they had problems with something technical. Even the poor loved him because of his generosity and the fact that he adjusted the price of his repairs to his customers' amount of income. In his mind, everyone should be able to afford good work, no matter their social class and or secondary gender. He was a very neutral person in aspects of politics and clan reigns. In his house, everyone was equal and got treated the same way. Once he got older, he realized he needed an heir to continue his work just the same way he did. Despite the fact that he took in all kinds of races and species from various backgrounds as an apprentice, none of them managed to satisfy Rowland. Therefore he got the idea to build himself an heir instead. A cyborg couldn't die of old age and always updated himself to keep his database up-to-date, a machine could also work even more precisely than any biological being on this world. However, this task turned out to be even more complicated than the man had thought. It took him 42 years to eventually create a cyborg he thought worthy of being his heir. Rowan never bothered to name his "son", he always called him by his project name or masterpiece. The last years of his life Rowan taught his creation everything he knew and could so it could continue his legacy until the end of time. After Rowan's death PH took over the store just like his "father" intended him to, however, he was just a machine so he lacked the creativity of an actual biological being so he was unable to invent things and his father’s legacy got forgotten. Nevertheless, his main priority was to repair the broken technology and cybernetic machines the people brought to him anyway. PH worked like this for centuries on end without ever getting worse at what he was doing. The cyborg was keen on keeping his database up-to-date and even modified himself to keep up with the newest technologies. Due to that, his physical appearance changed a lot over the years but his basic design always remained the same. He also never changed body parts if they weren’t broken or wouldn't improve his work in some way or another. Therefore his body is still incredibly heavy despite there being very light metals on the market which could decrease his weight. PH also never thought about settling down during all his years of existing. Due to being a beta, he didn't experience any ruts or heats and therefore also lacked the sexual desire for a mate, flings or sex friends. Besides, he was also infertile due to being only a machine. The single remarkable event in his life was only 19 years ago. After purchasing a few new things he needed for his work, PH was on his way home when he heard some strange crying coming from a dumpster he was just passing by. Obviously confused the cyborg took a look inside and saw that there was a baby boy laying on a pile of garbage. PH looked around but there was no one to be seen. His guess was that someone abandoned the baby and so he decided to take it with him and raise it. Despite the fact that PH soon realized that the baby he took in was actually an omega, he couldn't care less about that. Just like his creator, he thought everyone was the same and deserved to be treated the same. So he raised the baby just like his "father" raised him. And it turned out, just like his father PH was terrible at giving names when he named the baby after one of the first things he saw on his way home, a bee. He named the child, Bee Lewkenor. During all the years PH was raising the child, he was also teaching him what he knew about the world and his work. He treated the omega as an equal but was still very overprotective of him when they went out together. Bee grew up to be a talented and intelligent young man and he loved to show off in front of the customers. Fortunately, most didn't care that the boy was an omega and even enjoyed engaging in conversations with him while PH was repairing their stuff or themselves. However, whenever someone asked about their relationship, the cyborg replied by saying that Bee was only his maid. They tried to make it believable by Bee was always serving drinks and snacks to PH's customers when they were visiting. He knew how the world out there treated omegas and this was his way of protecting the child and being able to keep him by his side. He was scared if he would reveal the truth that someone would take Bee from him. Also, telling customers that Bee was working for him and therefore more or less his “property”, it prevented most of them from making inappropriate advances towards him or touching him inappropriately.

[vmheadquarters]

What Goes Around... (Part 26)

This is PART 26 of a story that is being told in segments by twenty-seven different authors, campfire-style. Each author will take over the story with no prior planning and then pass it on after putting their own spin on it! Expect the unexpected! :)  You can check our vmhq campfire tale tag for all of the previous installments or read the story as it develops on AO3. — Part 26 is written by @ghostcat3000  

[Part 25]

Neptune is not a large town. A person could drive around and hit all the important corners in a little over an hour. They wouldn’t even need to speed. On one side, the ocean and the bended pines, the glassy, silvery wide half moon of a cove, surfers bobbing out to greet the waves, ducking their heads under the spume-curl. The other side—dry canyon brush, curved roads and boxy one-level ranch houses, stuck in some 1980’s decor time warp. To the south, all the poors and college kids living together in what passes for the hood in Neptune; chock full o’ check cashing places and liquor stores, always on the brink of conversion to cold coffee cafes and farm-to-table restaurants. Northside: formerly trailer parks and large undeveloped plots, now home to several boutique farms and wineries.

Most of them are closed now, all those grapes drying on the vine. Only one still in operation; the Van Vliet Winery. Running, not on grapes and weddings, but promise. The promise of power, the chance to get finally end up on top and win. Miles from Neptune’s center but seemingly a world away—no lights, no reception, only darkness and an occasional ribbon of warm wind—the epicenter of the revolution.

“Yo, Rubster. You have a great ass but HOLY SHIT, do you talk a lot.”

Ruby sighs and spins around, her long arms hanging loose at her sides. “Point is, we are out in the middle of fucking nowheresville. Our phones don’t work. We’re completely cut off from civilization. The pink zombie apocalypse could be happening, like, right now, and there’d be no way for us to know.”

“In the vineyard, no one can hear you thcream,” Sean lisps, then coughs, spitting down into the dry dirt beneath them. Somewhere between here and the tunnels, he appears to have lost another tooth. He brings up his hands to his face and rubs his nose with his palms; a frantic up and down scratch.

Dick flicks the back of Sean’s head with his free, non-gun-carrying hand. “No one asked for your input, douchecanoe. We're the ones with the firepower. Your job is to lead us to the girl and hope you get a plea deal.”

“What are we going to do when we find Katie? We can’t call for help and who knows when Logan will be back.” Ruby spins and stops, holding her cell phone at different angles. “Seriously what is the deal with the reception?” She casts a withering glance at Sean. “You realize this means you can’t call anybody either? You are not good at being bad guys.”

Sean shrugs. “The thell phone tower died. About three monthth ago. The community took the Van Vliets to court. Apparently, it wath never thupposed to be there tho it never got reactivated or whatever. We uthe the landlineth.” He tightens his lips together and looks away.

“Cell phone tower?” Ruby frowns.

Sean jerks his head forward, sighing with something like relief. “We’re headed right for it.”

Dick peers into the darkness. “That’s a tree, dude.”

“No. It’th not. It’th a thell phone tower dethigned to look like part of the foliage. It died. We don’t know why.” He rubs his nose again.

Ruby takes out a pair of binoculars from her Veronica bag. She peers through them, the wrong way around. “Is Katie near the cell tower?”

Sean doesn’t answer, keeps trudging along, rubbing his nose. Dick shoves him.

“Hey, numbnuts. Talk.”

“Yeth.”

Ruby lurches alongside Sean. She’s taller than he is, so the effect is predatory but also comical. “You had her here the whole time? Why?”

“Yeah, dude. Why run the risk of having her be found by the people you’re hiding her from? Where's the foresight?” Ruby and Sean stop walking near-simultaneously, turning slowly towards Dick.

“Hey,” Ruby says, stretching the vowels like a rubber band, approaching Dick. “You feeling okay?”

“Totes McGoats. But seriously, so much of this whole super soldier plan doesn’t make sense. You’re a sleazoid drug dealer-” “Video director,” Sean hisses.

“Sleazoid drug dealin’ video director. Who is more likely to be snorting the merchandise than selling it amirite?” Dick sniffs for effect.

“He’s got a point.”

“I’ve been clean for two months.” Sean pauses. “Okay, one.” He resumes the violent nose scratching.

Dick puts the gun down at his feet, digs around his front jean pocket, pulls out his weed and papers, and quickly rolls up with an exacting efficiency. He lights the joint and takes a deep drag, pausing to look at his fingers, smell them and shrug. “None of this adds up. You’re a joke, bro. You know who else is a joke? Your pharmacist. Mad Scientist Barbie creating super soldiers by day and clubbing with the rest of the ‘09ers at night? Her brother? Pass. Liam Fitzpatrick? As a recruiter? According to Logan, that guy is a psychopath who can barely run a mob, much less a globetrotting merc-creation operation.” He pauses to laugh. “That rhymed. Boss.”

He licks his teeth and takes another hit, “The whole using the near-abandoned winery as a base of operations is solid. I’ll give you that. This place is isolated as fuck and if anyone stumbles over here by accident, they’d be easy to contain. Throw ‘em in the tunnels. Wait. Are there..whatchamacallit...floor plans for the tunnels? There's gotta be a bigger section we missed.”

“Floor planth?” Sean’s eyes trained on the gun at Dick’s feet.

“Yeah, like a room where, if this wasn't a weird ass Bond-meets-Living-Dead movie type of winery, but like a romantic comedy with Ryan Reynolds as me and I’m at a wedding and I found the perfect underground room full of wine barrels to bang the bridesmaid played by the hot Swedish chick in Mr. Robot.” Dick pauses to do some pelvic thrusts and mimed ass slaps. He stops and points at Sean. “Blueprints. That's the word. How much you wanna bet we find a whole room of pink goo coffins up in that bitch? Whaaaat.”

Ruby motions to the joint burning between Dick’s pinkish fingers, “Can I have some of that? Keep talking.”

He passes the joint to Ruby. She takes a hit and nods. He returns her nod with a slower nod.

“This operation is half genius and half muy ‘est-too-pih-toe’. The parts don't match. Taking a little girl as a hostage. That does sound like a mob thing. Intimidation and whatnot. Is it long-term though?” Dick squints and grimaces. “Not really. But keeping her here, keeping her close? Knowing exactly where to hold her so that she’s not easily found? By the people providing you with the goods? I don’t know, bro. That’s next level.”

“It wath my idea,” Sean says smugly.

“Sounds fake but okay. The Irish mobster? Chhhyeah, again I'm gonna say no to that too. I can see House of Pain getting into guns to go with his drugs but soldiers? It's too… ambitious.”

“This isn’t working on me like it is on you,” Ruby says, still nodding but returning the joint back to Dick, whose narrowed eyes are nearly shut from the exertion of his thoughts. “Why Nice Guys?”

“Why Nice Guys? Dude, that's one of the parts I don’t get. They won’t be loyal, like all good soldiers need to be, all they want is revenge. But what would Fitzpatrick know about that? I think what really happened is Toothless and his pals decided to…what do you call it when you try to make stuff cooler?”

He snaps his fingers and Ruby jumps up.

“Ooh. Innovate?”

“Yeah. That. Like I said, not smart. Know your workforce.”

Sean sighs. “I read Flowerth for Algernon. It doethnt end well.”

“Whatevs, nerd. There’s got to be better options. Like cops. Neptune’s got plenty. Or actual soldiers maybe. Like Logan. You just gotta get ‘em all here at once. Dump the goop on them and BOOM, army, yo.”

“Dick.” Ruby says, her eyes going wide.

“Whoa. This is some good shit, right. I feel like, smart.”

“Can I be high too?”

“Shut it, Sean. Unless you can explain everything this-” Ruby bats her eyes at Dick. “...wise man is saying, you’re not allowed to speak.”

She takes the joint back from his outstretched hand and blows the smoke back in his face. “And what about this terrorism stuff happening in San Diego? Are they stealing cops?”

“Maybe it’s the mercs.”

“Maybe. Oh shit. Delayed reaction.” Dick turns to Sean in a slow heel-swivel. “He said community. The community sued the Van Vliets. What community? There’s no community for miles.”

Sean has been shuffling away from them, backwards, in the direction of the dead cell phone tower.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Ruby barks.

“My new tooth thtub is quite sharp.” Sean holds his hands up, they are free of tape. “And you're not going to shoot that gun and draw unnecessary attention to yourself. See you later, moronth.”

He runs for less than a minute. No more, no less, twenty seconds of scurrying and poof. Like a climactic comic book panel, he drops out of sight. Dick doesn't even have enough time to pick up the gun.

“What the fuck.”

Sean’s scream is high, hysterical and also, muted, dampened. Ruby and Dick hesitantly approach the sound.

“The ground ate him.”

Dick gulps. “Are we in a horror movie now?” Absentmindedly, he pinches the ends of his joint, puts it in his front pocket, and picks up the gun.

The closer they get to Sean’s screams the more they see that the part of the road they thought was road was not. It’s a hole, leaves surrounding the edge of the drop. At the bottom, sits Sean, his leg twisted underneath him in a backwards L-shape. His screams are thinning out, turning to whimpers. Next to him is a man, eyes wide and surprised, a sharpened pole going through his neck like a kebab.

“That sucks,” Dick intones.

“Yeah,” Ruby breathes out, a hand at her throat.

“Get me the fuck out of heeeeere!”

Dick leans down to look into the pit. It’s not as deep as he’d previously thought, maybe ten feet. There are roots sticking out of the edges, like little grasping fingers, useless to someone falling in; nothing to stop the descent or hold on to. At the bottom of the pit there is a single line of stakes. Sean managed to miss it when he landed. The other man, not as lucky.

“It’s like those things that cops lay out in the road to blow out tires.” Ruby kneels down alongside him.

“Oh yeah, but like huge.”

“It's kind of cool.”

“What the fuck! There’s a dead body in here. I know this guy. GET ME OUT.”

Ruby takes out a pair of eyeglasses from her bag and puts them on. She peers down into the pit. “I don’t see a ladder. Do you, Dick?”

“Nope.”

“COME ON.”

“Sorry, Stubby. We can’t get down there.”

Sean’s whimpers become sobs. Ruby digs into her bag and pulls out a small pack of kleenex, she throws it in. “I guess since you didn’t know about the Death Pit, you’re less in the know than you thought.”

“What she said.”

Ruby shoots Dick a baleful look. “Sean. We can’t get you out right now. But you need to keep your part of the bargain. Tell us where Katie is so we can go get her. Once we do that, we’ll come back with help. Okay?”

A small, broken little yes rises up. Ruby straightens up and dusts her hands. “Where are we going?”

“Thraight ahead. To the thell phone tower. Thereth a thmall cabin behind it, hidden in the pineth.”

“Thank you, Sean. I promise, we will come back.”

Ruby takes Dick’s arm and they walk around the pit. Dick leans in and whispers in her ear. “We’re not though, right?”

“Ugh, you smell like pee.”

Dick does his best Blue Steel. “Are you negging me right now? ‘Cause it’s working, babe.”

Without discussing it, they start walking by the side of the road. Shoulder to shoulder, tight and quiet. Before long, Sean’s whimpers can barely be heard; ahead of them, where the taller trees give way to a small clearing, there’s the faint sound of music. Dick points the gun in front of them, completely focused.

“I wish I had a gun too,” Ruby murmurs.

“I wish I had a crossbow. And a red turtle shell.”

Ruby shushes him, but holds his free hand tight enough to hurt. They arrive.

Up close, the disguised cell phone tower looks less like a pine tree and more like an enormous mascara brush. At the top of the tower, jutting out from the fake greenery are the metal arms, useless and rusted. A tiny white cement house sits at the base of the cell tower, a squat square behind a locked fence.

Dick tests the strength of the fence. “Should we bust in?”

“No, we need to find the house where they’re keeping Katie.”

The music they’d heard from the path comes from behind the trees. As they get closer, the melody becomes recognizable.Tell it to my heart, tell me I’m the only one, is it really love or just a game? a woman moans, with the urgency of a UTI at Sunday brunch.

“That is not cool.” Ruby whispers and straightens the set of her shoulders, as if preparing to charge, walking towards the trees and the darker darkness beyond them.

The cabin is painted in shades of muted browns and grays, and seeing it, head on, it looks tiny. It isn’t until they’re right up to it, that they realize that as narrow as it is in the front, it goes deep. It’s mostly dark, except for the windows which glow dimly behind red curtains. There's a pick-up truck parked there, the tire tracks in the mud behind it showing a large curving last minute turn.

The song ends. A few moments later, it starts again. Dick and Ruby nod at each other and approach the front, silent and fast. Dick gets there first and when he puts his hand on the handle of the screen door, he turns to Ruby and holds up his hand. Stop. She doesn’t. When he steps inside, she goes right after.

The walls are wood paneled and the floors are hardwood as well. Bob Ross-style paintings hang on the wall and an incongruously cheery beige-and-brown plaid couch facing the door, a red velvet pillow stitched with the words Shattered Dreams. Across from the couch, a TV set to a Spotify playlist with only one song, Tell It To My Heart blares. Free from the outside vista, the volume is even more unnerving.

Dick goes over to the television and picks up a remote, looks at the buttons, then points it at the screen. Ruby rushes over, “Don’t-”

He clicks it off. “What?”

A telephone rings out shrilly. Dick shoots into the floor and both of them jerk into high-pitched screams, the sound dying in their throats at the next ring. And the one after that.

“Should we answer it?” Ruby asks, throat dry.

“Fuck no.”

A fourth ring.

“Or maybe yes. Man. I’m too high for this shit.”

“Me too. Give me the gun.”

He hands it to her. Five rings, six, seven. They follow the sound of ringing to a console table in the hallway. It’s got a lime green rotary phone on it; cheerful and strange and utterly terrifying. The ringing stops. Dick picks it up anyway. Even a few steps away, Ruby hears the dial tone. And three soft knocks.

“Whoa, did you hear that?” Dick knocks three times on the receiver. “Hello?”

“No, Dick. It’s coming from down there.” Ruby rushes down the hallway and Dick follows behind. There’s three little knocks again, coming from the last door on the left.

“Whoever you are,” Ruby’s voice pitches a little higher. “Name yourself. We're armed. And dangerous!”

“Yeah, we know kung fu, sucker!” Dick chops at the air with his hands and kicks out.

“Stop it, you buffoon.”

A soft voice, as soft of those knocks says, “Ruby?”

“Katie?! Sweetie? Are you okay?”

“The door is locked. I can’t get out.”

Ruby bends her head and peers at the padlock.

“Hold on, honey. Auntie Ruby will be right back.” She turns to Dick, hands him the gun, saying “Stay here. Put the thing on that keeps it from shooting. Keep her calm,” before rushing down the hall, bag jingling.

Dick slips the gun in his waistband and leans in to speak through the door. “Hey there. What’s up?”

“Hi. Who are you?”

“I’m Dick. Uh, Ruby’s friend.”

“I’m Katie.”

“You okay in there?”

“I’m a little hungry.”

“Bummer.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we can get a burger or something after this?”

“Okay.”

Ruby returns with a little straw and a hammer. She hands Dick the hammer.

“Step aside.”

She removes a can of air from her purse, shakes it furiously and sticks the straw in. Angling the straw into the lock, she sprays until she drops the can. Using the hem of her t-shirt, she picks it up and sprays some more until the lock goes from silvery to white. Ruby grabs the hammer from Dick and brings it up high and down hard, just once, on the frozen lock, which splits in two pieces and onto the floor.

“Look at you, Rubster McGruber!”

They high five.

“Veronica Mars isn’t the only one with skills,” she drawls, flipping her hair.

With a flourish, fingers spread like a spider, Ruby pushes the door open. Inside, in an old fashioned wheelchair that leans slightly to one side, sits a young girl with long, wavy blonde hair, big brown eyes and a tiny, pointed chin. Ruby bends down and hugs her fiercely.

“How long have you been in here?”

“I don't know. Usually they let me move around the house. But this morning, Andy wheeled me in and said I had to stay here all day. Then that song kept playing and it was horrible.”

“I know, that song gives me nightmares. There's always someone murdering it at Karaoke and not in a good way. Who’s Andy?”

“The man that brings me my food. There's a lady too, Julie. She helped me with bathroom stuff.”

“Gross.”

Ruby kicks Dick in the shin.

Down the hall the phone rings again. They stop and listen, barely breathing. It rings six times, and stops. Dick puckers his lips into a silent, extended no which transforms into a wide grin.

“Hey, I’m remembering that this place sucks and we need to get out of here, pronto.”

“Yeah, let’s. We should use that nightmare phone to call the cops.”

“You can't,” Katie says. “You need a code to dial out.”

“Of course there is. Honey, can this wheelchair get you to the front door?”

“No. They took away my real chair.”

“I see. I’m going to carry you out then. Dick, hold my purse. We’re gonna hotwire that car outside and save this little girl.”

“You got it, hot stuff. You sure you can handle it?”

“I'm stronger than I look. Let's go.”

They speed through the house, Dick leading the way, Ruby close behind with Katie in her arms, and go out the back, through a small kitchen that smells strongly of paint.

It’s cooler outside and when Dick opens the driver’s side door, a very pink Liam Fitzpatrick tumbles out right out onto the ground, eyes open and dried froth around his mouth, dead-as-a-doornail dead.

“Holy shit!”

“Holy shit!” Ruby repeats after Dick, then looks at Katie. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, dad says that all the time.”

“Cool. Cool. Dick, open the passenger side door. Quickly. Katie, sweetie, don’t look at the corpse. At least I think it’s a corpse.”

“It is.” Dick kicks Liam’s body. “Ouch.”

Ruby places the girl into the car, Katie uses her arms to shift to middle of the front seat.

“Dick, check his pockets for car keys. And grab his wallet too. There might be something important in there. Clues and whatnot.”

“Do I have to?” He throws Ruby’s purse next to Katie.

“What?” Ruby says, clicking Katie’s seatbelt in place.

“I said, you have guns, lady. What do you do to stay in shape?”

“Boxing and modern dance.”

Liam Fitzpatrick looks different than his picture in the paper. His hair graying at the temple and while generally trim, the skin on his face sags at the jawline like a bulldog. A pink-hued bulldog, bloated and shockingly bright. One hand clutches the air, a claw, the other is pressed tight in a fist. Near the knuckle, there’s a tiny bit of metal. Dick swallows the nerves and unpeels Fitzpatrick’s swollen fingers back like a gross banana. In the center of his palm are the car keys.

Inside the house, the phone starts ringing again. Staring at Fitzpatrick’s lifeless eyes, Dick sees his own reflection and with every ring, feels less and less like himself. Like he’s disappearing into the sound of the ringtone.

“Did you find them?” Ruby stands next to him, hands at her waist. She blows her hair out of her face and widen her eyes meaningfully.

Dick dangles the keys up to the light.

Inside the house, the phone stops ringing, after five rings this time.

“Is this a countdown?” Ruby swallows. “Don't forget his wallet.”

A phone chimes, closer at hand. A cell phone.

“Dick. Your phone is ringing. Answer your phone. Dick?!”

“What?”

He throws Liam’s wallet at her.

“Your phone!”

He pats his pockets and pulls out his iPhone. The screen reads Unknown Number. Dick hits answer call and locks eyes with Ruby who holds her clasped hands to her mouth.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Uh, is this Dick?”

“Uhyeeees.” Dick nods at Ruby, who nods back, and pulls her phone out of her back pocket.

“Hi, um, I’m Detective Leo D’Amato. We haven’t met.”

“I know you. You’re the dude Veronica was working for. You can’t intimidate me, dude. I know my rights and also that you’re EVIL.”

“What? No. Listen, I’m in the hospital. My partner, Wei Breitski, shot me and left me for dead. I have reason to believe that he’s either running or helping to run some kind of drug operation out of Neptune. Is Veronica okay? Do you know where she is?”

“Yeah, she left with your dirty partner to go find the antidote for the pink goo for Wallace?”

“What? I’ve been trying to call her. I need to speak to her. This is very important. She has to-”

“Wait. How do I know you’re not playing us?”

“Yeah!” Ruby yells.

“Who’s that?”

“Ruby.”

The phone cuts off abruptly. A moment later it rings again. A facetime call.

Dick accepts and Det. D’Amato’s face fills the screen. Half of his face is swollen and he’s got bruises around his eyes, like a panda mask. He’s wearing a hospital gown and is lit in the sad, sallowing way of hospitals.

“You look like shit, bro.”

“Thanks, Dick.”

“How did you have my number?”

“Veronica gave me a list of contact numbers, you were on it.”

“Aaaaw, Ron Ron.”

“Barf.”

“What did you say?”

“Barf. Veronica told me to say that in case you called her Ronnie, Ron Rons or Ronniekin.”

“Bitch knows me. What can I say?”

“Charming.”

“Was that Ron’s too?”

“No, that was me. Look, you don’t have much time. The so-called street uprisings I was told to investigate turned out to be bogus. Falsely reported incidents meant to distract us from the real problem. The-”

Leo’s face freezes.

“Dude, I can’t hear you? See you?”

“-You have to tell Veronica-” Leo cuts out and back in again. “The soldiers will get a modified formula, a refinement to make them dumber, more compliant, less likely to question things.”

“WHOA, I have a solid plan for that. I got this super weed and I’m going to smoke them all up and make them smart again.” The screen freezes on Detective D’Amato’s look of open-mouthed confusion. It unfreezes. “Okay, you do that. I’m going to call in my boys in San Diego and also the couple of guys at the Neptune PD who aren’t-” D’Amato freezes again. “Get as far from that winery as possible. Don’t let-” Freeze. “Pink.” Freeze. “Touch-” Freeze. “Got that?”

“Like almost none of it, dude.”

“Great.”

Ruby snatches the phone from Dick. “Hey, you. I’m Ruby. Give me proof that you’re one of the good guys. How do we know you’re in a real hospital, even? You could be lying.”

D’Amato does a reverse shot and gives them a shot of his hospital room.

“Not good enough. Show me your ass.” “Excuse me?” The phone returns back to his face in time to catch a raised eyebrow.

“Your ass. Show it. If you’re really in a hospital, you’ll be commando under there.”

“Like me!” Dick offers.

“Fine.”

Leo jostles out of frame and there, frozen on the screen, a pale ass cheek.

The Face Time call drops.

“Fuuuuc-I mean-udge,” Ruby looks over her shoulder at Katie. “The battery on my phone crapped out. Can you call anybody?”

Dick goes through his phone list. Logan, Veronica, everybody—nobody picks up.

“Okay. Veronica’s cop friend’s partner is evil. We knew that. She might be dead. I have to save the world.”

“No. Logan is with Veronica. He’ll protect her with his life. Oh no.”

“Oh no.”

“He’ll protect her with his life!” They shout simultaneously and run to the pick-up truck.

They drive back towards the barn by following the tire tracks out to the main road in silence. When the main buildings of the winery become visible, they kill the lights and go off road, wobbling slowly in the dark towards the barn.

“What are we going to do?” Katie asks.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. But Dick might drive you into town. I have to stay.”

“Fuck that! You need to go. I’ll stay.”

“Dick! Language.”

The door to the pick-up truck opens suddenly. Before any of them can scream, the wide-eyed blonde puts a fingers to their lips.

“Shhhh. I think I lost him but he’s insanely fast.”

“Daddy?”

Rooks takes off the wig and leans over Ruby to hug Katie tight. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Where were you? I was so worried.”

“I’m okay, Daddy. There’s bad stuff happening.”

Dick glances at Ruby over their heads. She rolls her eyes and shrugs, in a what-can-you-do? sort of way, then grabs the fabric of Rook’s shirt and shakes him to attention.

“Rooks.” Ruby whispers. “We’re going to give you the car keys. You have to get Katie out of here. Dick and I need to stay and kick ass. You got it? You and I will never be okay, you know why, but go, take care of your daughter. Don’t fuck this up. Also, you owe me a leather jacket.”

“Oh man, you don’t want it. That monster... grabbed it and uh, got intimate. I left him with it, used the moment to get away.” Rooks dries his eyes. “Wait. What? What’s going on?”

“You have to go, guy. NOW. And, uh, gimme that.” Dick grabs the wig from Rooks. “I might need it.”

“Katie, sweetie, you think you can tell your dad how to get back the way we came?”

“Yes.”

Ruby hugs her and Katie, softly says, “Thank you.”

“You got it, kid.”

They watch them drive off in the dark.

“You know what’s weird.” Dick says, stroking the blonde wig in his arms as if it was a Persian cat.

“What?”

“All these people, all these freaks, you, Logan, Rooks, Sean… They’re are all connected to Carrie in some way.”

“You think I’m a freak?” Ruby’s big eyes catch all the moonlight.

“Oh, I know you’re a freak.” Dick shimmies around her, grinding and whisper-singing UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ.

She doesn’t move at all, her arms folded tight across her chest.

“In high school, you used to say I smelled like wet bathing suit.”

Dick laughs. Ruby doesn’t. He stops.

“You said I would die alone in a dress made of banana peels.”

“What? Dude.”

Dick kicks at a patch on the ground.

“I was an asshole and didn’t know shit. Okay? I paid for it. Believe me. I’m sorry.”

They walk towards the barn. In the distance, there’s a howl. The Pizmonster can’t be too far behind.

“Okay. We have a gun and a hammer and we are super fucking smart.”

“Fuck yeah. So what do we do?”

Ruby swats at a buzzing insect near her ear. “We look for those landlines, plural, that Sean mentioned. I know they said that all the wires were cut but they're all, like total liars, so there has to be another one like back at the cabin. Maybe in another one of the buildings?”

“Right.” “And we keep an eye out for Logan. Protect him.”

Dick nods. “You’re a cool chick, Rubster. But I got to tell you, Logan will never quit V-Mars. She’s his… heart.”

Ruby breathes in. “I know. But I have my part to play. ‘It is a far, far better thing that I do’ and all that jaaaaaazz.”

“Yeah. Man, I’m hot. Are you hot?”

“No.”

Dick holds his hand up, the nerve endings on his fingertips are dancing with electricity.

“Hey, Dick. Look, isn’t that Veronica’s dad’s car?” They move towards the car in a low-to-the-ground undercover crouch and peer in the window—there’s nobody inside. There is no sign of anyone around, no footsteps or voices. Only wind.

“There’s a note.”

On the dashboard, in left-slanted all-caps letters—I HAVE YOUR FATHER, MS. MARS.  DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID.

Want to find out what happens next? Check back next Saturday for the next installment written by…  @cheshirecatstrut  Tag, you’re it! Make sure to submit your segment to vmheadquarters@yahoo.com by Wednesday, November 1st.

[verbjectives]

valko and dardanos!

VALKO

B A S I C S

full name: Valko Fejes. 

gender: Male

sexuality: Bisexual

pronouns: He/Him

O T H E R S

family: Mila Fejes (mother), Damien Fejes (father), an unborn younger sibling

birthplace: Northern Verina

job: Mercenary, Champion of Pelor, 

phobias: abandonment, disappointment, failure

guilty pleasures: most of his kinks???? idk he isn’t really ashamed of things he likes

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: Technically true neutral, tho i feel like he’s been steadily moving towards a good alignment

sins - lust/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/envy/wrath

virtues - chastity/charity/diligence/humility/kindness/patience/justice

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert: introverted 

organized/disorganized: disorganized like woah

close minded/open-minded: open-minded (for the most part…)

calm/anxious: anxious altho he tries to hide it by acting calm

disagreeable/agreeable: depends, but usually agreeable

cautious/reckless: SUPER RECKLESS

patient/impatient: impatient

outspoken/reserved: reserved

leader/follower: follower….his last attempt at leadership did not end well…

empathetic/unemphatic: empathetic

optimistic/pessimistic: pessimistic

traditional/modern: modern probably….

hard-working/lazy: overall pretty lazy tbh…

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp:

him/grisha (altho thank pelor he’s out of that one it was super unhealthy and abusive and um…. BAD

him/the kind and patient person he ends up hooking up with in the future (hopefully)

(yes i have a certain character/type in mind but i’m keeping that private because i don’t want to hijack your npc creation :P)

him/peace and happieness

ot3: i’d be lying if the thought of grisha/him/artie and grisha/him/thanos haven’t crossed my mind….not that any of those would have worked in the long run but still…

brotp: 

him/fortune…

him/faylen, 

him/eryk, 

him/ovak

him/thanos (before he kind of….sabotaged that relationship….)

notp: him/getting back with grisha, him/any of the thieves guild, 

DARDANOS

B A S I C S

full name: Dardanos of Xaskea

gender: Male

sexuality: Heterosexual

pronouns: He/Him

O T H E R S

family: Mother and father are deceased (i …didn’t name them…)

birthplace: Xaskea (small town)

job: Royal Assassin

phobias: failing his queen

guilty pleasures: lmao any time his queen asks him to join her in any kind of frivolity (fine dining, relaxation, etc)

M O R A L S

morality alignment?: Lawful Evil

sins - lust/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/envy/wrath

virtues - chastity/charity/diligence/humility/kindness/patience/justice

T H I S - O R - T H A T

introvert/extrovert: introvert

organized/disorganized: organized

close minded/open-minded: close minded

calm/anxious: calm

disagreeable/agreeable: depends. agreeable to his queen and to anyone who will aid in him achieving his goal/finishing a job. disagreeable to p much everyone else

cautious/reckless: more cautious, but i think he has his reckless moments.

patient/impatient: impatient

outspoken/reserved: reserved.

leader/follower: follower but will lead if required

empathetic/unemphatic: unempathetic

optimistic/pessimistic: he prefers the term “realist”

traditional/modern: traditional

hard-working/lazy: hard working

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

otp: him/queen konstantina and i ship him a bit with diana ngl…just a lil bit…

ot3: lmao no he’s entirely devoted to his queen

brotp: ok listen he and Merthos (the tiefling warlord) were kind of bro-ing it up before everything went down. tho the thought of him/diana being unconventional bros is highly amusing too. 

notp: him/tuckus (tookas? idk how to spell his name) just….that poor dwarf deserves someone who…wouldn’t murder him in his sleep….