#zera the hero

[wolfeyedwitch]

Hand stomp for Icarus?

With Bloody Outstretched Hands, Part 12: Hand Stomp

Thank you for your patience! Have Luke having a bad day.

CW: hand whump, prejudice against fictional group (superpowers), prejudice-motivated violence

Masterlist

---

Luke was halfway through his PT exercises when Zera came into the gym like a stormcloud. He watched as they all but stomped their way over to the wall of gear while they roughly tugged off their mask. Zera ran one hand through their bright blue hair before donning a pair of boxing gloves, stalking to one of the punching bags, and beginning to attack it like it had insulted their entire family.

Luke finished his set of exercises in a state of bewildered concern. This was far from the younger hero’s normal behavior. Usually Zera was almost disgustingly peppy while in the gym. A normal day would see them bopping their head along to whatever catchy tune they had blaring in their earbuds, enthusiastically running through one of the simulations the gym had to test their teleportation skills. A bad day would have them going through weapon forms at half-speed to ensure they got everything right. Luke wasn’t sure what it would take to get his coworker in this state, and he was almost afraid to ask.

Well. He didn’t become a hero out of an abundance of self-preservation instinct. 

“What’s got you all riled up?” he asked when Zera finally stripped off one glove to grab a water bottle. “Toss me one, too?”

They took a second bottle from the fridge and lobbed it underhand across the gym. Luke caught it in both hands. Nice; the PT was really paying off. A few months back he wouldn’t have had the dexterity or coordination to make that catch.

Zera gave a smile at whatever triumphant face Luke couldn’t help but make. Then they shook their head with a grimace. “It’s Bailey,” they said, setting down their water bottle and pushing their now-sweaty hair out of their face.

It was Luke’s turn to grimace. He understood why they were keeping the villain at their med bay, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “Are they giving you trouble?”

Zera shook their head. “No, they’re eager to tell us everything they can. Maeve is probably going to have to call the interview, because I’d bet dollars to donuts that they’d push themself way too hard trying to give us info.”

“And end up paying for it sooner rather than later,” Luke said with a nod. Concussions were a bitch, even with a healer’s help. “So they aren’t being stubborn. What’s the problem?”

Zera frowned even harder. “The problem is that this whole thing is incredibly fucked up, Luke. I knew we had PR issues, after Marcus and his apprentice, but apparently the way the villains tell it is even worse. Slipknot was apparently using the threat of us as the stick to keep Bailey in line.”

“What was the carrot, then?” he asked, coming to stand next to the younger hero.

They shrugged. “A place to belong, someone helping them out after their parents died, a chance at making a difference in the world. Take your pick.”

It was Luke’s turn to frown. 

Zera noticed. “What?”

He hesitated. Zera was a good hero, but they were still pretty young, with the naivete that came with it. 

“What? You’ve got that face again. Come on, out with it, boomer,” Zera teased.

Luke shook his head with a huff of laughter. They were right to tease; he wasn’t that much older than they were, though he felt plenty ancient on days his injuries acted up. That didn’t change the difference in experience, though. Zera still had an optimism he’d lost somewhere between his first year as a hero and his extended stay in the ICU after his attack. 

“Just…” he started, trying to get his thoughts in order. “I dunno. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing something. This all feels…” He broke off, unable to properly articulate it. 

Zera was already shaking their head. “Hell if I know. But they seem genuine enough. They aren’t trying to downplay anything they’ve done. If anything, they seem like they’re taking on too much accountability.”

He hummed noncommittally in response, but Zera’s words stuck with him as he headed out, leaving them to their workout. That was exactly what it was that had been bothering him. Bailey seemed guilty. They seemed like their conscience was weighing them down like Atlas.

On the one hand, that could have been any number of things. It was looking more and more like whatever relationship Bailey had with Slipknot had been abusive, and guilt was a common response in abuse victims. It could have just been the fact that Bailey had a conscience.

On the other hand… 

He was probably overthinking it. He should talk with his therapist, honestly. This was the exact kind of thing that Heroes League had therapists on staff to deal with. 

On the other hand, why would a supposedly small-time villain be so guilty? Because maybe they weren’t nearly as small-time as they seemed. Some small, unkind part of Luke couldn’t help but think that Bailey had to have done something to be feeling this guilty about. Just because they didn’t know what it was, didn’t mean it didn’t happen. 

The thoughts kept racing through his head like hamsters on a wheel, squeaky and annoying and going absolutely nowhere. They pestered him the rest of the day, no matter how he tried to ignore them. They were still there when he finally managed to get his insomniac ass in bed for the night.

Luke was no stranger to nightmares. He’d been an insomniac long before his injuries, but after? It seemed like any time he managed to steal a few minutes of sleep, some fucked-up nonsense was playing on the movie screen on the back of his eyelids. 

This dream seemed to follow the same recipe as most of them: take one soda of bad memories, add one mentos of dream logic, and shake vigorously. He was a kid, running over rooftops to escape from bullies. The next moment, he was flying over the city looking for a suspect for the Heroes League. He caught them; they caught him. 

The suspect held him over the edge of the roof—no, that was the kids. They caught him; he hadn’t run fast enough. 

Awww, are you scared, you little freak? You should be. Don’t you know we don’t want mutts like you around here?

(I thought you guys had rules about dangling people off buildings?)

He squirmed against the grip of the older boys, the ones who were always first with an insult or cruel “prank” against the kid who didn’t have enough control of his powers to keep from outing himself.

Why don’t you just float away? Get lost! 

Hands shoved him forward and pulled him back. He was falling—backwards? No, forwards, towards the edge of the roof. His hands barely came up in time to break his fall. 

You freaks are ruining the world for normal people! You can’t just run around flaunting what kind of mutant you are and expect us to sit back and let it happen!

(You can’t just ruin people’s lives and expect no repercussions!)

Someone, or maybe multiple, was kicking him. His weight shifted awkwardly on the edge of the roof. No, no, nonono, he was going to fall!

Cheering sounded in his ears, cruel and expectant. 

His legs went over the edge, torso slamming painfully into the side of the building. Now he was just holding on, and his hands were already starting to hurt. 

His fingers went from dull ache to sharp, hot agony in an instant. He opened his mouth to scream— (he… tried to? Was there something over his mouth?) but in true dream fashion, nothing happened. 

He looked up to see one of the bullies with a boot on his hand. The older boy gave an ugly grin and started to grind his heel into Luke’s fingers.

The cheering got even louder. 

Get him! Make him scream!

He looked down at the boot again. But wait, that wasn’t a kid’s shoe. 

That was a combat boot. Charcoal gray, and… familiar.

Luke looked up. 

It wasn’t his childhood bullies standing over him. This figure wore a red and gray outfit, menacing and eye-catching. 

Poppet scowled down at him and shoved their boot forward. Luke’s hand tore on the rough cement of the rooftop, before encountering nothing but air. 

He woke up before he hit the ground.

---

Dun dun dun! He's starting to remember!

Small text in parentheses is from Sadistic Choice.

Taglist:

@heathenville @nonbinary-disaster @kim-poce @whump-world @dolls-circus

@pickleking8 @ghostfacepepper @cupcakes-and-pain @badluck990 @mylifeisonthebookshelf

@pumpkin-spice-whump @deluxewhump @extemporary-whump @whumpwillow @multiple-characters1-acct

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[zemi-noelle-art]

My friend made me aware that there is a single Triceraton woman in the entirety of the tmnt animated compendium, She's in a straight-to-tv movie for like maybe 15 minutes, and it seems like there isn't a whole lot of fanart of her so,,, I had to remedy that.

In other news I've been plagued by the "becomes a fan of an incredibly niche character" disease so please wish me a speedy recovery lmao.

[zz-zera]

Full spread I did for the @cosmiccowzine Taylor zine 🕰️✨ So eager to get this one in the mail! 💌

[stupid-2012tmnt-pics]

rAPH THATS HIS FUCKING BONES

[bestest-dead-best-friend-bracket]

New Bracket Announcement!

This one is kind of huge compared to what I usually do, and it’s probably going to be a bit before there’s another one this big.

As such, I’ve divided it into four Blocks, which will each run separately before the winners of each block participate in the semifinals.

The theme this time is

Ambiguously Dead Friends

Since there are so many this time, the lineup will be below the cut, but I encourage you to see if anyone you know is there! Please reblog to spread the news and to remind yourself to come vote!

Round One of Block A starts this Monday.

Dead Best Friend Bracket

Block A

KK (Ghostwire Tokyo) vs Alma Karma (D.Gray Man)

Makise Kurisu (Steins;Gate) vs Kokonose Haruka (Kagerou Project)

Kofune Ushio (Summertime Rendering) vs Yami Yugi (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Bruno Bucciarati (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind) vs Iris Sagan (AI: The Somnium Files)

Marnie (When Marnie was There) vs Cassim (Magi)

The Snatcher (A Hat in Time) vs Professor Turo (Pokémon: Violet)

Asriel Dreemurr (Undertale) vs Sakurane Shoka (NEO: The World Ends with You)

Hayakawa Aki (Chainsaw Man) vs Fubuki Atsuya (Inazuma Eleven: Blizzard)

Block B

Audric (Dragalia Lost) vs Komikado Harumichi (Ohayou, Ibarahime)

Mondo Owada (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc) vs Brook (One Piece)

Kite (Hunter x Hunter) vs Yukine (Noragami)

Naruse Kakeru (Orange) vs Polterpup (Luigi’s Mansion)

Alear (Fire Emblem: Engage) vs Lief (Bug Fables)

Hoshino Ruby (Oshi no Ko) vs Lyman Banner (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

Shizu (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) vs Zera (Fairy Tail)

Acht (Splatoon 3) vs Honma Meiko (Anohana)

Block C

Gugu (To Your Eternity) vs Falin Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Mia Fey (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) vs Natsuki Subaru (Re: Zero)

Tikal (Sonic Adventure) vs Hinazuki Kayo (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)

Mari (OMORI) vs Sunny (Pokémon)

Sabito (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) vs Indou Hikaru (The Summer Hikaru Died)

Excellen Browning (Super Robot Wars) vs Dimple (Mob Psycho 100)

Daruk (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) vs Maria (Silent Hill 2)

Claire Foley (Professor Layton and the Unwound Future) vs Ethan Winters (Resident Evil)

Block D

Lemiel Silvamillion Clover (Black Clover) vs Hanako-kun (Toilet-bound Hanako-kun)

Pandoria (Xenoblade Chronicles 2) vs Brown (Rule of Rose)

Queen Sectonia (Kirby: Triple Deluxe) vs Joe Tazuna (Your Turn to Die)

Reginald Kastle (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal) vs Missile (Ghost Trick)

Shuu (Inazuma Eleven: GO) vs Yokomizo (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Sothis (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs Vanilla (World’s End Club)

Shirakumo Oboro (My Hero Academia) vs Auron (Final Fantasy X)

Dhurke Sahdmadhi (Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice) vs Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club)

[kingdoms-and-empires]

1. What's the difference between the Kin and the Argent mountain tribes?

2. Will Zera sympathise with them just because he also came from a tribal community, or will he snap if he and his people were compared to them. I mean, that's kind of racism and stereotyping right?

3. How different Otto's hair was compared to regular black hair?

4. How powerful Anna was in terms of politics? And, what's her relationship with her step-children?

AYO, BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE QUESTIONS! Youre asking really good and relevant questions, but the biggest and most obvious difference is the ancestor worship of the mythical hero, Arava.

Zera doesnt know much about em, and doesnt care much about em. He's really goal oriented.

People keep getting stuck on this. The hair is black, like black black. But the hair isnt the point. The issue was the second empress, and the youngest princess born from her. The hair was a convenient excuse to mess with them. My advice is to straight up just think of it as bullying. Bullying doesnt need an excuse or reason.

The 2nd Empress comes from an influential noble family, that has power that has backed Grand Vizier Resdayn's rise to power. The empress is tied to the Grand Vizier, hence why it's so difficult to actually do something to her and Princess Adelina. Plus, the Emperor really likes and favors the Grand Vizier (and Voryn for that matter) and really doesnt want to disrespect his current empress and create problems with his Grand Vizier and Ekateranna's family who hold a good amount of influence and who are his allies politically.

Her relationship with her stepchildren aint good. Adelina's sisters loathe her and the brothers are coldly polite to her. I will not be answering more questions about the empress!

[mochiwrites]

MOCHI MY MOST BELOVED BEST FRIEND EVER HELLO BESTIE HOW ARE YOU DOING WE HAVENT SPOKEN IN AGES MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED

OMG HI ZERA MY ALSO MOST BELOVED BEST FRIEND EVER HIIIII HOW ARE YOU

y’know I was just thinking about messaging you about the elven stuff since I’m almost done with this hero chapter…. 😳

also lowkey when did you wanna finish lotr LMAO

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

I have no idea what my DAV character is gonna be like.

My 'canon' DA heroes are:

Ibernia Brosca - casteless sword and shield warrior and more than happy to leave to the surface as a grey warden; swept off her feet by Zevran, Anora on the throne, and survived the end.

Desdemona Hawke - "blue" entropy mage, romanced Isabela, helped the mages and all her friends but told Anders to gtfo of her sight at the end. Was currently sailing the seas with her beloved until the fade opened up.

Zera Cadash - another casteless dwarf, a rogue who'd escaped to the surface, 22 and a single mom of a 2-3 year old daughter; in the wrong place at the VERY wrong time, but took on the role of Inquisitor out of necessity (with bumps along the way). Began a courtship with Josephine, but soon felt very out of her league competing for Josie's hand, and soon parted ways amicably. Eventually, her and Sera (and yes, the names were, well, a funny joke at every given opportunity by their friends) got together. Sided with mages, helped her companions, and lead the inquisition to ultimately keep it going, in the end.

[lyranova]

Listen to Your Heart

Hi everyone! This is a oneshot for @vs-redemption ‘s Disney Event, and I decided to go with “Hercules” couple Meg and Hercules for a William x Reader/Zera fic 😁! Now I wrote this with my OC Zera in mind but I didn’t use her name so it can be read as an Xreader as well. I hope you all enjoy~!

Word Count: 1,789

Warnings: None

———

The young woman watched intently as the young white haired man named William Vangeance posed for another portrait. It was probably his fifth or sixth one this week, and the woman could tell that he was exhausted. His normally charming and dashing smile was pulled down at the edges just slightly, and the bags under his eyes were only just barely covered by his mask.

William Vangeance had superior strength, speed, and agility. But most people ignored him and dismissed him since he was only a farmer’s son. But after he defeated a Hydra single handedly and saved two young children in the process did the people of Thebes believe that he was the son of the god Julius Novachrono, and he became an overnight superstar!

But the woman watching him already knew all of this.

After he rescued her from a centaur he quickly introduced himself to her, and she could tell he wasn’t a normal human, but couldn’t quite place exactly what he was until Zagred appeared and told her.

After seeing how smitten William was with her, Zagred tasked the woman with trying to derail the young gods plans of becoming a “true hero”. At first she refused, saying she didn’t want any part of his plan, but firmly reminded that she didn’t have a choice in the matter since Zagred owned her soul.

The woman was pulled out of her memories as William nodded graciously at the painter as they wrapped up for the day, and his new assistant Langris Vaude escorted the painter out of the room. And that’s when she saw the real William Vangeance finally reveal himself.

He walked off the pillar, took his mask off, and flopped himself down onto the chaise lounge that sat in the center of the room. He threw his arm over his face and sighed loudly, all this sudden fame and fortune was beginning to weigh on him.

The blonde haired woman walked over to him quietly and sat down at his feet, she watched William move his arm slightly as the weight of the chaise lounge shifted and a tired smile appeared on his face.

“ You’re here.” He said softly as he moved his arm back over his eyes, and the woman nodded.

“ I am.” She then tilted her head. “ Why the long face hero? Things not working out with your group of fangirls?” She asked with an amused tone, and William chuckled.

“ It’s not that, although I am a little stressed out about them.” He admitted as he moved his arm and sat up. “ It’s just…I’ve defeated all these monsters for weeks and have made Thebes a safer place but…I’m still not a true hero yet, at least, according to my father.” He continued softly as he looked at the blonde haired woman, and she turned to look at him.

“ Maybe there’s more to it than just being strong and making Thebes safer. Maybe your father’s keeping something from you?” She suggested thoughtfully, and William tilted his head.

“ That does sound like something my father would do.” William admitted after a moment, and the woman laughed softly.

“ Of course it does. Do you really think Julius Novachrono, the god of all gods, would just simply hand everything to you on a silver platter because you’re his son? That’d look pretty bad on him, Wonder Boy.” The woman smirked, and she watched as William laughed while shaking his head. She had a point.

Suddenly the door burst open and the two quickly turned their heads towards it.

“ OMG THERE HE IS!” A young woman shouted loudly and pointed in William’s direction, behind her was a group composed of men and women wearing shirts with his face on them as well as other pairs of his merchandise.

William jumped up and grabbed her hand, but before his fans could come running towards them, William’s trainer jumped in front of the crowd.

“ Hey get back! This is a private area, you can’t be in here brats!” Yami Sukehiro, William’s trainer, shouted as he tried to keep the crowd back on his own. “ Go on and get outta here Goldie Guts, I can handle these kids!” He shouted over his shoulder.

William nodded and silently thanked his friend before running out of the room with the blonde haired woman in tow behind him.

———

They ran and ran until they were good and far away from the building. William and the woman stopped to catch their breath next to a large tree with white blooms, William rested his hand against its trunk and bent over a bit. It had been a while since he had to run that fast.

“ Ahem,” he turned as the woman cleared her throat. “ You can let go of my hand now.” She added as she held up their encased hands, and William felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“ S-Sorry about that…” he apologized before reluctantly letting go of her hand. The blonde haired woman shook her head.

“ It’s fine, you only did it to help me escape.” She said softly, she tried to hide the hurt and dismissal in her voice, but failed.

Again, she knew he had feelings for her, and had tried to firmly keep her distance from him. But between Zagred making her spend time with him, and her own curiosity, she just…couldn’t stay away from him.

“ Actually…that’s not the only reason I grabbed your hand,” William said softly. “ I just wanted to hold your hand, is that…okay?”

The woman looked at him with eyes wide in surprise, he held her hand just because he wanted to? Not because they were running away? She felt her cheeks burn slightly and shook her head, no, this was bad. She shouldn’t be flattered and happy about this, she should be trying to put more distance between them.

“ And if I say it’s not okay? Then what?” She asked curiously, and William smirked a bit.

“ Then I would say you’re lying if that tinge of pink on your face is of any indication.” William smirked back at her, and she couldn’t help but scoff. So, the hero knew how to tease and be playful too huh?

The woman’s smirk disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.

“ Don’t fall in love with me, because if you do, it’ll only end badly for both of us.” The woman said softly as she stared into his purple eyes, she watched confusion pass over his face before it was replaced by something else, something she hadn’t seen before.

“ And if I still decide to fall in love with you, knowing it’ll end badly for us, what would you say?” He asked curiously as he pulled down one of the tree’s upper limbs to inspect a flower, the woman just scoffed.

“ Then I would say you’re an idiot.”

“ Well then,” he began as he plucked a flower off the tree, let go of the limb, and watched as the tree snapped back into place with such force that leaves and petals fell down around them. “ I guess I’ll just be an idiot in love.”

He handed the woman the white flower and quickly kissed her on the cheek as she stared down at it. The woman looked at him in surprise and her cheeks turned a bright red, William chuckled a bit.

“ You look really cute when you blush.” He muttered softly as he looked at her, his eyes widened and he quickly placed a hand over his mouth. That��wasn’t supposed to come out of his mouth.

“ And you don’t look too bad yourself when you blush, Hero.” She said back to him, and it only made his blush deepen, he really was too adorable sometimes.

Suddenly the two heard a noise coming from the woods behind them, William reached out towards the woman and put her behind him. After the noise continued for a few more seconds a white horse with a blue mane and tail suddenly appeared.

It was Pegasus, and Yami was sitting on his back with a stern look on his face and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“ Sorry to interrupt the romantic moment, but we gotta go Goldie Guts. There’s a large Siren causing trouble in the Eastern sea, the fishermen want ya to take a look at it.” Yami said as he leaned over, grabbed the back of William’s shirt collar and pulled him onto the pegasus.

“ O-Oh alright…I guess I gotta go.” William said softly as he looked at the blonde haired woman, and she couldn’t help but grin at him.

“ See ya around Wonder Boy.” She told him as Pegasus took off quickly, she waved goodbye and as soon as he was out of sight her smile slipped off her face and was replaced by a sad look.

“ Y’know, you make it really hard not to fall in love with you, Hero.” She muttered to herself as she stared down at the white flower in her hand.

All this time, she had been telling herself that she didn’t like him, that she was only doing her job to try and get her soul back from Zagred, and that once she completed her mission she could go back to how she was. But…now? Now she wasn’t so sure.

He was kind, gentle, and maybe a little naïve. But his heart was always in the right place and he tried his best to keep everyone safe and worked hard to try and achieve his dreams. It was inspiring.

She also loved the way he didn’t belittle her or treat her as a regular ‘damsel in distress’ like the other guys or treat her like nothing but an object. He treated her as a normal person, he took her thoughts and feelings into consideration whenever they were together, he did a lot more for her than her last boyfriend did and William wasn’t even dating her!

As her ex popped into her head she felt her heart sink into her stomach, was she really willing to risk having her heart broken again? Every fiber of her being told her to take the risk, to fall in love with William, they were telling her that he was different. But her mind…her mind didn’t want to listen.

Which did she listen to? Her heart, or her mind?

“ Maybe…maybe it’ll be okay to fall in love with that idiot.” She mused as she sat down on the marble bench underneath the tree and smiled softly at the flower.

At that moment she decided to listen to her heart. All this time she had been listening to her mind and clearly it wasn’t working out, so maybe it was time to give her heart a chance?

———

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[varian-wonder]

"GREASE IS THE WORD"

Splatoon x Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Soundtrack PT 1.

THE SONG FICS BEGIN (I'm gonna try to make it non-cringe and not have them sing every line and not take every line from the song... I promise lyric changes aren't to be cringe :3)

Trace arrived to Inkopolis again after defeating Octavio with fresh eyes. The Great Zapfish is back and despite the grueling few months or so she was challenging the DJ, she was back to the surface with a smile.

She had just bought some near gear as her hero gear was on job only and as she finished putting on her jacket she headed out of her apartment.

"I solved my problems and I see the light! We gotta loving thing we got to feed it right," She was singing her her trusty hero shot, sadly she had to use the replica in ink battles but she still loved it so. "There ain't no danger we can go too far! We start believing now we can be who we are. Grease is the word!"

Trace raced off to the lobby wearing a hand me down jacket from Marie. The idol's name was embroidered on the back.

"Is that Tiny Trace?" A inkling in the plaza muttered

"In Marie's jacket? Susan's going to flip! I've got to go tell her!" Another muttered before getting up

Around Trace in the lobby of cephalokids they were hyping eachother up.

"Grease is the word! It's the word that you heard! It's got groove it's got meaning!" Chanted the lobby with Trace joining in with equal enthusiasm. "Grease is the time! It's the place! It's the motion! Grease is the way we are feeling!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addison was packing up with Marina. After hearing the Calamari inkantation they were freed... but not everyone was. And the army wasn't fond of defectors. Addison looked at the older octoling for some guidance.

"We take the pressure and we throw it away! Conventionality belongs to yesterday," Marina put her hand on Addi's shoulder with a smile.

"Yesterday?" Addi repeated confused

"There is a chance that we can make it so far. We start believing now... that we can be who we are..." Marina grabbed her bag and Addi followed suit before sneaking out.

They started their way to Mount Nantai, Addi looking back on Octo Canyon quitely remarking to herself, "Grease is the word..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callie and Marie came back to Inkopolis under alot of paparazzi. They had just helped defeat DJ Octavio and had helped Cuttlefish recover. Lights were flashing all over their eyes. Marie leaned into Callie and muttered to her cousin, "I forgot.. I hate the spotlight; let's hurry up." Marie covered her eyes with her hand squinting.

Callie smiled at Marie and went to assure her, "It's fine! Let's just go grab some burgers!" The cousins tried to push their way through the crowd but people were following super close, "Grease is the word! It's the word! That you heard! It's got groove. It's got meaning!" The crowd said in unison. "Hey Callie! Where you going so fast? I just have a few questions-" One reporter was cut off my the cousins running into their apartment and slamming the door closed. "This is a life of illusion..." Marie huffed as Callie went into the kitchen to search for food, "wrapped up in trouble... laced with confusion." Marie said softly. She walked over to the window as the paparazzi was clearing, "What are we doing here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grease is the word~! Woah! It's got groove it's got meaning!" The inkling girl packed the final book into her bookbag and stared at her scholarship at Inkadia University. She ran out grinning, jumping off her steps as she ran towards the train station at the end of town. "Happy last day of summer dipsticks!" she said to her friends while she was running. "Bye Zera!" Grease is the time! It's the place! It's the motion! Grease is the way we are feeling!

"Woah~!" Zera jumped down the steps of the train station, her sneakers contrasting with her school uniform. Grease is the way we are feeling. Grease is the word, is the word that you heard! "The way we're feeling~" She ran towards the train as it was nearing time to depart. Making it on just as the doors closed behind her. She sat down and grabbed a photo of her younger self and her older sister smiling after Zera's spelling bee.

"I'm on my way Tracey"

[hydralisk98]

Nucleus of "character" agents for the '16 power 12' galaxy

('Servitor', 'Blackhand' and 'Her Camera' are set in the wider world of Angora, a alternative world to ours with many similarities and some key divergences. It is not the only world in the larger meta-narrative 16^12 but definitely a major focus, explaining the rest of the "galaxy" can wait by far)

Protagonist & narrative focus

Klara 'Olive' Kér, Shoshoni female Oracle of Time, also Enlightened Philosopher + Seer (self-insert);

"Triad / control group"

Konstanz Blackhand, Chronomancer & Archaeologist & Clocksmith from times far far ahead, interfacing with "solarpunk Angora" future historians and lead Servitor grid modules;

Ava 'Nova' Kér, the synthetic Dandy, Camera-lady & Arbiter, social interpreter for Klara Kér and interfaces with Nil too;

"Nil", 2nd person singular perspective, customizable role agent embedded into the meta-narrative, quite vague & responsive to user input purpose but most likely interface with Ava from this Earth, linking to the last six centuries of history (1440s-2020s) and to themselves;

Antagonist (here she is not a flat vilain / nemesis, probably more akin to a anti-hero / rival with some shared and many conflicting goals with Klara 'Olive' Kér)

Irma Milan, initally a Hexcrafter Magus & Code Runner Ranger before becoming a governor of the Shoshoni senate, with eldtrich & demons & devils relationships akin to human contractors within "Helluva Boss"; Still incredibly nuanced and multi-dimensional as all sapient agents are, just got a interesting flavor and backstory with such darker entities.

Historical background characters for Angora (early-on still but not in the first few chapters)

Theodora Rose, , ; (Theodore Roosevelt equivalent, connected to the alternate history strongest divergence point)

Cleo Hugues, , ; (Charles Hugues, connected to the alternate history strongest divergence point)

Terrance Fairbanks, , ; (Charles Fairbanks, connected to the alternate history strongest divergence point)

[ I got some explaining to do here, my constructed world is heavily inspired by many things and amongst them being this, https://youtu.be/hLiI6kXZkZI ; And as such to explain some of the later stages better to the audience, which is also "Nil" btw, I feel like a short political scene that shows how Woodrow Wilson never got elected ever in this world is quite key / useful knowledge to better understand the present day in Angora. More details in my other threads in the #maskutchew tag I curate, https://hydralisk98.tumblr.com/archive/tagged/maskutchew ; Thanks. ]

Side characters

Pan 'Arya' Blackhand, Musketmaster Gunslinger, ;

Micha 'Hagekh' Magnavox, Faceless Vigilante & Masked Performer Bard, ;

Sasha Blackhand, Tinkerer Alchemist, ;

Shun 'Xen' Suni, Cartomancer & Winter Witch, ;

Magali Soler, Preservationist & Witchguard, ;

Gustav 'Leo' Vanguard, Chemist & Herbs Physician, ;

Ursae 'Maskoch' Eike, NonBinary Dreamweaver Witch, also True Polymorph with much honesty and sweetheart vibes for once (quite a differing, warmer hearted take to most media shapeshifters, ain't it?);

Karl "Iwa" Deo, Hussar Cavalier, ;

Franz Ferdinand, Heavily Armored Fighter & Cavalier, ;

Engelo, Angelfire Apostle & Mystic + Theologian, ;

Persephone, Iron Priest & Stoic Caregiver, ;

Abe Nirvana, Skinshaper Druid + Zen Archer & Black Asp Monk, ;

Family relatives & the author placeholder stand-in

Falah Becker, mother of Klara;

Gustav Hayden, father of Klara;

Deno Hayden, twin brother of Klara;

Wyatt Hayden, masculine younger sibling to Klara;

Astra 'Zera' Petra, Loremaster Steward and Royalist (think of a contemporary times female 'Pedro II' of Brazil), GameMaster & Pseudo-Author-sona?;

Total: ~20-25 agents in the meta-narrative to be tinkered with. Probably shown and explored with different story chapters, stages and tiers of narrative exploration.

[casualjster]

i realized that there is in fact a collection of icons in the third download link so i can only hope that one of those joels made it. but OKAY we're back in it. time for issue 2! ft doody, maruu, zera, tj, & eirian.

and apparently ft an injury too. uh-oh!

low res grian you are everything to me

how dare you look so baby when i'm incredibly suspicious of you

now i have to wonder. if scar goes around doing shit like this. whether he is Actually viewed as a hero. bc. like. girl. you can't just run around shooting anyone you see. or..... rewriting their reality, as the case may be

oh i LOVE him. the little cutesy cloak... the fuckin flamingo-ass wings.... the watcher-esque ear-wings... wonder what significance THAT will have 👁️👁️

new dialogue box color just dropped

THIS GRIAN DESIGN TRULY IS SO NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH. HOW ARE YOU SO OMINOUS AND SO CUTE AT THE SAME TIME

adfkasjdflajflkjasdfljasdf. grian: king of anticlimax (affectionate)

hgcz liveblog time!

along with the playlist, hehe-- which has a strong start! hollow knight soundtrack my beloved, & "truth, beauty and hatred" is a very cinematic song in general, but that's mostly an aside. let's get into it!

cover is immediately gorgeous, and i love the foreward. stories & love are always a good place to start a project.

also a very good amount of cw at the top, some of them VERY intriguing 👁️ but like they have clearly done their homework irt keeping things safe for readers, which is nice!

aaaand i am immediately obsessed with the way they have incorporated hermitcraft-y puns into the worldbuilding from the ground floor. "threat control group" is rly good. maybe they can make a trading card game on the side. and scar being a former actor is SO funny. i hope he was on a bunch of trashy tv shows. can't wait to see what other fun stuff gets incorporated into the worldbuilding/plot aaa

and also very intrigued by the idea of villains As Well As heroes! obviously we know hotguy and cuteguy are going to be hugely important here, but i wonder who else will be out on the streets, for good or for ill....? and for that matter, whether we'll have a whole rogue's gallery of villains, or a single outstanding nemesis? much to consider

(also..... keeping an eye on that biohazard. Could Be A Good Number Of Things. is my money on sculk? maybe. but that's mostly bc i remember the mod team posting about being super excited about sculk a while back LMAO)

[stupid-2012tmnt-pics]

you simply cannot do this to me. THE SONIC SPIN DASH SOUND EFFECT WHEN THEIR CLOTHES DISINTEGRATED

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

Dragon Age Protagonists

Hero of Ferelden - Ibernia Brosca

Champion of Kirkwall - Desdemona Hawke

The Inquisitor - Zera Cadash

Rook - Ilona Laidir

[einkleinesmittelding]

Tassadar's bizarre adventures in QMs

[wolfeyedwitch]

Dammit i DO NOT NEED another AU for that story!

Hm.....

Yeah, I can't quite see that working in the auction of evil au. They've already had enough close proximity to Zera and are tired enough to just fall to their knees at the heroes feet and go "make it quick please" rather than fighting like a cat confronted with bathwater, which is what this prompt really needs.

I dont need another au, I don't need another au, I dont....

Dammit the plot bunnies are already arriving.

Caretaking From The Enemy

The rest of Whumpee’s team has been wiped out, leaving them alone– And on the run. The longer they run, however, the worse things become. They’re hurt, hungry, barely able to walk

When Whumpee is at last captured, they fight with everything they have left. Of course, that’s not much. Their wrists have grown so thin that they barely fit in the handcuffs

Whumpee wakes up, wondering why they aren’t dead, yet. Do their enemies have something worse in mind?

Yet, when someone comes to visit them, they bring no cattle prod and no whip. Rather, they have food, and pills for Whumpee to take. They ask how Whumpee is feeling– Do they need anything?

What kind of trap is this?

Starving as they are, Whumpee won’t touch the food, and certainly not the pills.

“Getting better isn’t a choice. Either you eat, or it gets forced down your throat.”

Whumpee eats. They’re absolutely starving, and the food is the best thing they’ve ever tasted. The pills, too, dull the ache in their body

At last, Whumpee is able to rest. Their sleep is wracked by nightmares. When they awake, one of their greatest enemies is standing over them

“You were making a lot of noise. I was worried.”

The rest of the night, they manage to sleep peacefully

The next day, however, there is no peace. After breakfast, they’re taken from their cell. Carried from their cell, in fact. The vulnerability makes them want to scream, but they’re just so tired…

Whumpee is taken too see the team’s doctor. They fight the care at every step, squirming and struggling to escape. It takes half of the team to hold them down so that their wounds can be treated

But why is the enemy treating their wounds? Why do they care?

Over the next few days, Whumpee begins to feel… Comfortable. Almost. It feels wrong, relaxing in the base of the enemy.

But how long until the enemies show their true colors?