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drdemonprince · 4 months

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I read Anna Biller's (director, writer, set designer, and basically everything-er of The Love Witch) new novel Bluebeard's Castle. And I really found it to be quite the addictive and enchanting read, though all of the criticisms of the book that you'll see on Goodreads and Amazon are completely legitimate.

The book very much does read like a screenplay -- there are long descriptions of interior design and costumes, sometimes positioned in the middle of a scene in ways that break up the emotional momentum, to a hilarious effect. For example, in one sequence the protagonist is considering a gruesome vision of suicide, and then looks in the mirror to admire her hobble skirt and reflect that she's looking very sexy.

Some of The Love Witch's less charitable viewers didn't understand the way Biller's work sweeps from the grand and romantic to the self-involved and frivolous, but it's clearly intentional, and it works on the page for me just as well as it did on the screen. You just have to have the irreverent, glamorous toxic girl sensibility for it. If you love the way Lana Del Rey mixes the high and low brows, the tragic with the prosaic, you'll lap it up here too.

In some cases, Biller's descriptions do feel like placeholders, or are so generically written that it would make perfect sense in a script (because there is an entire team working on the film that can bring a "sexy" dress or a "lovely" piece of furniture to life), but which falls flat here. Because I know Biller's aesthetic style so well, when she tells me that room is sumptuous or well-appointed, I can picture precisely what she means, and most of the time she is so specific with her descriptions of outfits and accessories that you can easily conjure what she's going for. At some random moments, though, things are underwritten and demand that you as the reader fill in the details she normally provides.

Bluebeard's Castle is the story of a contemporary romance novelist and converted Catholic virgin, Judith, who falls under the seductive spell of an aloof, gruff, emotionally volatile Baron's-son, Gavin, who sweeps her off her feet following a fated encounter at a wedding. After a whirlwind romance and a hasty wedding, Biller's protagonist moves into a remodeled castle with her brooding lover, and the cracks in his shining armor begin to show. The charm of the love interest is something of an informed attribute; you have to believe the narrator that he is handsome and dracula-like (or believe that she believes it) in order to allow the story to move along. Since this is a tragedy rather than a romance novel, I think that buy-in is relatively easy to provide. The sex scenes are largely left to the margins as well; this book isn't meant to titilate but rather pull you into Judith's rich, sad, delusional inner world.

Some of the most positive reviews of Bluebeard's Castle describe this as a novel about how and why women find themselves entrapped within abusive relationships. As someone who has been in abusive relationships, I think this truly is where Biller's writing excels -- and she truly gets what it's like to become romantically and sexually addicted to someone who is bad for you to a degree that is almost embarrassing to see oneself reflected in. She truly gets it -- the way you excuse small violations, blot out any consideration of your own consent, justify unexpected outbursts from your partner and then take steps to prevent them, the way you must romanticize every single tender moment, rewrite the gradual conditioning of your own behavior as yourself becoming a canny, subtle manipulator of the situation, and color in between the lines of a truly unfulfilling existence with grand narratives and self-serving lies.

It's not a pretty portrait -- Bluebeard's Judith has a fanciful, inconsistent mind, constantly swapping between admitting to herself that her husband has mistreated her, and seeking refuge in religion, fantasy, alcohol, sex, and self-negation in order to convince herself that such abuses did not really happen, or don't really matter. She also uses other people -- leaning on her sister and a former romantic interest, the respectful, reliable doctor Tony -- extracting as much attention and support from them as she possibly can when she and Gavin are in a rough patch, then abandoning them entirely the moment he returns to her. I think a reader who hasn't been in an extended abusive relationship will probably find Judith infuriating and unsympathetic. But as someone who has done and been all of these things, I feel incredibly exposed by Biller's narrative, in a bracing way. It's like a shot of cold water to the face.

Many people will justifiably write this book off as melodramatic and arch, but I think it perfectly nails the alluring drama of being wrapped up within a terrible relationship dynamic. When you're being abused and you deeply love your abuser, you are absolutely fascinated by their unpredictable emotions and your own love -- you think constantly about how you might elicit the treatment from them that your heart longs for, you're reading into their every gesture and expression all the time, and you're inventing satisfying explanations for your situation in your head all the time. It's an isolated, deluded life, but it's pleasurably intense too sometimes, and those of us who fall prey to it often have some deeper longing for connection and passion that makes us easier to prey on. Biller really understands that.

If you adored The Love Witch, you'll probably have a lot of patience for this book's flaws and feel appropriately targeted by its strengths. Sad girls, Virgin Suicides fans, BPD baddies, Jane Eyre lovers, grown up former Twilight readers, and all kinds of other pitiful glamorous freaks will enjoy it.

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blackat-t7t · 22 days

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Another jangobi idea I don't think I've talked about anywhere:

Soulmates AU

Inspired a bit by this fic and this other one

(For some reason, this fic, or at least the first part, really wants to be written from Jaster's perspective, instead of Jango or Obi-Wan's 😆)

Fun ("fun") fact- according to wookieepedia, both the battle of Galidraan and Obi-Wan's time on Bandomeer take place in 44 BBY. (I love playing with this fact.)

So, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are on their way back to Coruscant after Bandomeer, when the jedi council sends out a request for any masters or knights who are in the area and aren't otherwise engaged to join Dooku on his way to Galidraan as backup.

Obi-Wan is supposed to stay on the ship, but he feels the Force urging him to go out, and he's curious. When he sees the mandalorians and jedi squaring off, he recognizes his soulmark painted on Jango's armor, and he can't believe his soulmate would have done the things the governor has accused them of. He thows himself in between Dooku and Jango and begs them not to fight. Although they argue over Obi-Wan's head, the truth eventually comes out that the Jedi were told the True Mandalorians were killing innocents and came to stop them, and the True Mandalorians were set up by the governor and Death Watch. Some of them are sent out to secure the governor and any Death Watch still on the planet, and the mandalorians and jedi agree to a ceasefire while they sort things out. Jango (head of True Mandalorians' supercommandos) calls in Jaster (the Mand'alor) to handle the politics and negotiations.

Later, Obi-Wan sneaks into the mandalorian camp hoping to spot Jango again, and ends up hiding from a passing mandalorian in Jaster's command tent. When Jaster asks what he's doing, Obi-Wan swears he's not a spy, he was just curious. They end up discussing mandalorian iconography, the mythosaur skull and the variant that is the True Mandalorians' sigil, the shreik hawk that the Death Watch wear, jaig eyes, the journeyman protector symbol, etc. Jaster, of course, is happy to educate him. When Jango stops by, Obi-Wan asks about the lightsaber in the symbol on his armor, and Jango is kind of dismissive, says it's not a lightsaber, but the Darksaber. Jaster explains the history.

Eventually, Qui-Gon comes to bring Obi-Wan back to the Jedi ship because they're leaving. He didn't recognize the symbol on Jango's armor at first, but now he's remembered Obi-Wan's soulmark and put two and two together. He doesn't want anyone to realize Obi-Wan is Jango's soulmate, partially because of the political implications and the age difference- but mostly because, after Xanatos, he's convinced that any close relationships, including soulmates, can lead a jedi to fall, and he doesn't want Obi-Wan and Jango to become close.

Before he leaves, Obi-Wan asks Jaster to tell Jango he's sorry they couldn't get to know each other better. Jaster is confused at first, but he quickly realizes what Obi-Wan was saying, and why Obi-Wan was asking about the mythosaur and the light/darksaber symbols, which are both part of the soulmark. When Jango comes to see him, he asks if Jango has checked his soulmark. Jango does, and it's colored in now instead of in greys. The lightsaber has the unique shape of the darksaber, but it's blue, which surprises him. He says he didn't feel a pull to any of the Jedi he met, and asks why Jaster thought the color might have changed. Jaster reminds him of Obi-Wan, intervening to protect Jango and asking about the symbols in the soulmark. By this point, Obi-Wan and the jedi have already left, and Jango can't go after them because he has responsibilities in mandalorian space.

Of course, this is only the begining of the story. There's more, when Obi-Wan seeks mandalorian help while on Melida/Daan, and when he's on Mandalore to protect Satine. But that's the basic premise of the fic.

#jangobi #kenfetti #fic ideas #soulmates #soulmarks #star wars #a blackat-t7t original #blackat-t7t's fic ideas

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zoomzooml · 1 year

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[Worldbuilding] Protoforms and sparklings - basics.

Apologies for any translation errors. I'm doing my best to avoid them, but due to the fact that I'm a sleep-deprived human disaster they can still occur. Sorry!

PROTOFORMS

How are they created?

[Text under picture]

Vector Sigma in the depths of the planet creates a new Protoform and gives it a spark. The protoform is a primitive mechanism, resembling a mechanical larva, whose main purpose is to protect the spark during its first period of life.

The protoform digs its way to the surface. The tunnels they leave behind are barrenly small and usually collapse back quickly.

The protoform, after getting to the surface, leaves the underside in the soil, sticks to its place, and grows "roots" that will take up minerals and resources needed to build the actual organism.

The armor becomes a cocoon that grows as the organism inside grows and develops. As the mechanisms and organs of the body become more advanced, it begins to be called Sparkling.

The protoform can also build a cocoon on vertical walls; extremely rarely and only under exceptional conditions on the ceiling.

A fully built sparkling hatches from a cocoon. It is already at its maximum size (not including artificial expansions, rebuilds or upgrades) and has a full range of natural and instinctive abilities, such as transformation or movement.

Medical units with appropriate training perform hygiene and initial examinations and clean up the cocoon's shell, which will later be recycled.

It's worth noting that there were places on Cybertron where emerging organisms were a large percentage of the whole lot. Maturation Centers* were placed there. They were in charge of taking care of the sparklings in the first months of life to detect developmental anomalies, censusing the hatchlings, bringing them into the system and giving them identification (usually numerical), and looking for suitable places to send the young ones, which would provide further care and upbringing.

[*Maturing in terms of physical independence and presence in the census and institute’s system.]

Cursory information about cocoons and protoforms.

TAKING CARE OF THE COCOON

If the cocoon nests in an unsafe place, with nutrient deficiencies in the soil or simply threatening to be trampled, the cocoon should be moved. The first choice should be to transplant to a relatively better, safer place.

However, if the cocoon shows signs of disease it should be quarantined. If it shows difficulty in extracting materials from the soil, it may be necessary to place it in an incubator.

A malnourished or diseased cocoon can be recognized by a dull color of the armor, slowing or stopping of growth or discoloration. The shade of the armor may go gray and/or become covered with pinkish or yellowish spots. The armor may weaken and delaminate, and the roots may wither. The body proper of the protoform (the blob inside armor) also becomes discolored, grayed or yellowed.

If the cocoon is not threatened by anything, it should be left alone, being checked from time to time.

SPARKLINGS

After hatching, sparklings are noted for their many colors, which are usually pastel or near-pastel. As they age, the colors mostly dim or are covered with another color of choice, for aesthetic, cultural or regulatory reasons.

Individuals with several colors appear, usually in ombre-like form. However, they are rare.

The colors of protoformal tissue, like the face, can range in grays (also called blues), reds or, in rare cases, golds.

Probable colors of optics can be found almost anywhere on the color wheel, usually in bright and light shades.

Behaviorism

Young sparklings precociously observe and analyze. They will stay still observing surroundings. At the beginning many of them will not show emotion with their body, face or voice, most likely because they are not yet familiar with function of this and action. If the phenomenon they are interested in moves, they will follow it with their gaze, but they will not move their head unless absolutely necessary. Their staring may be repulsive to some. Learning about the environment seems to take priority over learning about the extent of their own body and capabilities.

Sparklings have full control over their body, but as some actions are instinctive and already coded others must be learned.

When this perennially quiet period of their lives is over the so-called period of heightened activity usually begin, in varying intensity. Now that they've learned the basics from observance it's time for experimentation, experience and exploration, which usually manifests itself in sticking their noses where they shouldn't, touching what they shouldn't, dropping and throwing objects, entering strange, theoretically inaccessible spaces and the like.

For the young, vocalization is rarely the first choice for communication. Rather, they rely on the simple language of the electromagnetic field for their initial period of life, sometimes reaching far into the period of heightened activity. This contains the means for very simple communication and is often supported by body language.

Already at the moment of hatching, the Transformer has information about its alt-mode and the ability to transform. In most cases, it will use this only after it enters a period of heightened activity. The alt-mode information is one of the primal codes, analysis of them is one of the evidences of the evolution of Transformers.

UPBRINGING

The vast majority of offspring are raised in the brood, and raising them is a communal task. Typically, multiple caretakers take turns caring for them, sometimes fulfilling different upbringing functions. If a sparkling manifests unusual talent in a certain field, it may receive individual upbringing by a specialist(s) in that field. [An extension to the topic is planned.]

FROM ME

The colors of these scribbles are completely different on the laptop and on the phone, so I don't know if they are as I think they are. Sorry if I accidentally hurted anyone's eyes lol

#Transformers Cheesy Fan Continuity #TFCheesy #transformers #maccadam #worldbuilding #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #long post #sparkling #protoform #my things #plant babies lol

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dwarvenbash · 3 months

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Dwarf Longbeards!

Definitely one of my top 3 favorite Dwarf units in Warhammer. I tried my hardest to match the feel of the excellent 6th edition designs by the legendary sculptor Colin Dixon as pictured in the bottom-most picture (the standard bearer in the center-left has been promoted to a Runelord), but I have quite a few quibbles with the newer plastic kit.

Even so, while my take on these old fogeys could maybe do with a couple additions to fill some gaps, I'd like to think I preserved some of that grumpy character to help them fit in with the rest of the unit!

As promised though, more complaining under the cut...

Now before I dive too deep into a screed of negativity, I'll gush a bit about the aforementioned 6th edition sculpts.

Colin Dixon is responsible for some of the best Warhammer Dwarf designs in my opinion, and absolutely nails all the elements that make them stand out from their other more generic fantasy equivalents. They are loaded to the whiskers with small details, from the iconic angular "ancestor" detailing of simplified dwarven faces on their weapons and armor, to accessories from beer steins to smoking pipes to rings on their fingers. Each miniature tells a story, and for these Longbeards especially it's like they're carrying a long lineage of heirlooms and history with them into battle!

One of the greatest parts of Colin's sculpts however in my opinion are how he poses his dwarfs. An essential element that seperated old Warhammer Dwarf designs from others were how short their legs were. Most of the time, a Dwarf's boots were all you could see on a miniature, the rest obscured by long-hanging chainmail or beard hair. While this did a great job of helping them have a distinct look, it also meant it could be hard getting more dynamic and characterful poses out of them; not so for these Longbeards, however! Unlike their more follicle-challenged kin, these old Dwarfs are not shown charging into the fray, hopped up on adrenaline. This is not their first battle, and you're sure to hear them mutter something about how that "back in their day" the orcs were nastier, and the ale tasted better, to boot! So to reflect this, they are posed at ease, resting on their great weapons like walking sticks, unimpressed, just waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Now, much like in the Dwarfen kingdoms of Warhammer, the new-fangled miniature designing ways somewhat pale in comparison to the old masterworks, which brings us to the new Longbeard model...

I'm not going to sugarcoat it; in my opinion, this is a terribly designed kit. The eclectic choice of colors here isn't doing this promotional image any favors, but the problems run a lot deeper than that. Designed to pull double duty as both Hammerers and Longbeards, this 8th edition kit saps all the uniqueness and character from both unit types in order to kill two proverbial Dwarfs with one stone. The kit is basically mono-pose: the head slots into the body in a very specific way, and the ball joint sockets for the arms might as well be for show. Jamming two different unit types into one kit also means there is no room for any interesting accessories or fun bits like (nearly) every other Dwarf kit has; there are only extra heads or weapons from the unit you weren't building in the first place, which in my opinion, have different enough aesthetics to warrant two separate designs.

Beyond the kit itself, though, the design you are left with after you put it together (if you follow the instructions) is egregious. Most glaring is the model's scale: these Dwarfs are for some reason far more bulky than any of their brethren, so much so that it's a challenge trying to rank these guys up on 20mm bases! (These 8th edition models I suspect are one of the reasons TOW moved their bases up 5mm) Their stupidly bulky armor, too, is bedazzled with this bizarre flowing curly-cue ornamentation that looks more like elven handiwork than anything Dwarf-crafted. Their helmets don't even have horns of any kind like the old designs, opting instead for an odd football helmet-esque look with these orbs on each side that I absolutely despise.

The worst offender might be the model's pose. While it might not be as bad when they are built with hand weapons, the great weapon pose has absolutely no character or energy behind it. I assume the idea is that they are supposed to be mid-march, but they look like they have about as much agency and personality as a chess piece. Embarrassingly, most of the Longbeard head option's beards barely even touch the ground! The one requirement to make this unit recognizable as what it is supposed to be, and they could barely manage that.

I will say the Longbeard unit champion in this kit (pictured front and center in the above picture) does maintain some of that original repose and character by virtue of leaning on his shield and great weapon, and in order to salvage this kit I relied heavily on these bits for my own Longbeards, which you may be able to spot in the initial photos.

That and some old reliable bits from the 4th edition Dwarf Warrior kit saved this build for me, but what stings the most about this new kit is that it is what two of the most iconic Dwarf units are stuck with looking like for most people for the foreseeable future. It has been kept in production solidly since 8th edition as an Age of Sigmar unit, and now with The Old World, it'll probably hold that course.

That being said, there's still a chance for some new developments with The Old World, as some units like the Dwarf Lord with Shieldbearers will almost certainly be getting new models. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but like any good Longbeard, I'll probably just keep sticking with the old stuff. :)

Thanks for reading this somewhat rambling editorial, I'll try to keep these constructive rather than full on devolve into GW-bashing all of the time (while that is quite fun...), but I had to devote some time to articulate why exactly I feel so strongly about this particular variety of Dwarf, as one does.

Not to end on a sad note, but Colin Dixon passed away quite recently, so if you have a moment, here is a very nice article memorializing his career as a painter and sculptor of miniatures:

#warhammer #warhammer fantasy #dwarf #kitbash #fantasy #tune in next time for a model with some actual paint on it!

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makethosenarratorsfight · 11 months

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UNRELIBALE NARRATORS; SIDE A

Rebecca Bunch Propaganda:

Okay, so Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a musical from the perspective of Rebecca. However, a very notable thing which is only fully confirmed at the end is that every single song is from her perspective. Not sure how this applies to songs she wasn't there for, but there's that. The point is, these songs are how she sees and processes things, which often casts her friends as characters/roles. I hate to bring up a song with an explicit version, and I'll bring up less nsfw songs later so you can ignore this (I only added paragraph breaks for this purpose), but a very notable one is I'm So Good at Yoga, which is the first song of Valencia, the girlfriend of the guy Rebecca is trying to get with. In this song, it quickly devolves into Valencia just talking about how much better at literally everything she is, often bringing up sore spots which Valencia would not know about (such as her talking about how her father didn't leave her when Rebecca's did). This is Rebecca casting Valencia into her role in her life, when this role ends up becoming wholly inaccurate later on. Face Your Fears is another super good example of this, even if it's more subtle. The whole song is Rebecca's best friend Paula trying to get Rebecca to just take a step forward in her life and set up a party that could help her get closer to Josh. However, Rebecca ends up seeing this as so absurd due to past traumas regarding running parties (as in her dad literally left the family the very night she decided to set up a party as a child) that the whole situation sounds so absurd to her that it, in her imaginary song, becomes "Go ahead and do the must stupid, dangerous things you can think of. Confront a bear head on, stay in a burning building, run with scissors, just do every stupid thing you can think of". This absolutely was not Paula's message. Angry Mad is one of the songs Rebecca wasn't even there for, but I think it works as a Rebecca pov song just because it's a song which ends up portraying Josh as a simple man who represents every masculine stereotype ever and does not have a complex string of thoughts when he gets upset. Josh is a guy who Rebecca heavily casts into a role that he ultimately does not live up to as a guy who has thoughts not entirely revolving around her. I could keep going on but the whole point is that Rebecca is the source of every song in the musical and unfortunately a lot of those songs are about how she sees others and the roles she's assigned them to instead of who they actually are.

Tsurugi Kamishiro Propaganda (TW; mentioned suicide):

He thinks he's the best and that everyone loves him, but sadly he's a disgraced noble son exiled from the family for being a disgrace. He doesn't even know the "him" that exists is an echo that lives in the memories of an alien who killed and impersonated him. He thinks he still has time to make up for all his sins. He thinks he will be able to live lavishly once again after his estranged relatives decide to call him back to live with them (his parents were also killed by aliens, but only he was impersonated). The first inkling you get of his skewed perception of reality is that he introduces himself as "Tsurugi Kamishiro, The Man Who Will Defeat God With One Slash Of His Sword." I don't think he even brought his sword with him when he committed suicide. He walked into the ocean and never came back. That scene shocked me to my very core because I had believed Kabuto was just fun and games before that happened. Tsurugi had just started to adapt to normal life, too. He had been befriended by the protagonist's younger sister Jukka, and she was teaching him basic life skills. I had hope for that guy, and was rooting for him, despite how pompous and annoying he was. Plus, his combat armor was purple, which is my favorite color (I admit that might have caused some of my favor). His family's butler was really the only family he had left, and that old man cared about him as if he was his own son...

#unreliable narrator battle #unreliable narrators #polls #side a #rebecca bunch #crazy ex girlfriend #tsurugi kamishiro #kamen rider kabuto

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tarmac-rat · 2 months

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"Small" Riley Post-Mikoshi Info Dump because I'm bored lmao:

Follows DFTR -> Temperance, so spoilers at your own risk

I've been going on and on in servers about how I think V should be extraordinarily fucked up after going toe to toe with Smasher, even if it's an close match, since Smasher just seems like the kinda dude who'd tear you to ribbons even if you have the upper hand. Riley ends up needing to replace two limbs, dislocated her organic shoulder, breaks her organic leg, loses her left optic, ruptures her left eardrum, you get the drift. I beat her up to hell and back, basically.

Post-Mikoshi, Vik determines that Riley's cybernetic leg is just beyond saving. It's barely functioning because the wirework and neural connection were damaged in the fight and Vik just doesn't have the materials on hand to fix homebrew cyberware, so they ditch it (despite a lot of protesting from Johnny). He gives him a RealSkinn prosthetic that's standard in NC, the one with the hydraulic kneecap that all the NPCs have.

Johnny gets Riley's left optic replaced, same neon-green color as before. It leaves him with two huge scars over and under the socket at a diagonal (direction-wise, think around 11:27 on an analog clock, the scar curves slightly downwards). The cut requires upwards of 75 stitches between the forehead and the cheekbone-- it fades better around the eyebrow but still looks pretty gnarly the further down you go.

Riley's final blow to Smasher was a point-blank firing of her projectile launcher that essentially blows the entire mechanism (as well as her left hand) up, so Vik digs out the shards of what used to be the launcher and seals up her now-empty forearm with a black plate. He recovers her left hand with matte-black subdermal armor and leaves it at that (covering up the tattoo ink she has there, RIP). The yellow areas in the picture below are all black plating while everything else is RealSkinn.

From a distance it sort of looks like she's wearing a glove and wristguard, probably not very unusual in the grand scheme of things. Johnny wears a lot of long sleeves post Mikoshi to keep the thing under wraps regardless.

When Arasaka eventually comes a-knocking on H10, Johnny barely has time to grab the Malorian, her Samurai jacket, a few personal items, and an old guitar he'd bought before corporate guards swarm her place. Everything else of Riley's-- her bike, her weapons, her personal belongings, all of it-- are seized by Arasaka and eventually wind up as evidence in the NCPD.

After Johnny fucks off to squat in Pacifica, he starts changing Riley's physical appearance up-- partly out of fear of Arasaka hunting him down, partly out of guilt and an unwillingness to see her face whenever he looks in a mirror, and partly out of depressive negligence. He grows her roots out, and when her hair's long enough, he dyes it black with CHOOH-station hair dye just to feel a bit more like himself. He wears more makeup, even though he's shit at remembering how to do it. He gives her a few more piercings (nose ring, eyebrow piercing, he tried to give her a tongue piercing but it got infected so he was forced to let it close up). He pretty much ditches her entire wardrobe for long sleeve tshirts and flannels and sneakers because it's all he can afford and all he can afford to bring himself to wear.

He starts going by "Jo" (this is something I'm still workshopping tbh-- I don't think he'd refer to himself as a derivative of "Robert", and calling himself "Riley" seems in incredibly poor taste and a disrespect to V's memory. Calling himself a simple "Jo" a la a John Doe seems like the easiest solution) and warms up slowly to Steve, who won't stop pestering him about music because Johnny's depression-playing's easy to hear from down the hall. He also strikes up a weird semi-friendship with Steve's mother, Gillian, who asks Johnny to watch Steve sometimes when she goes to work and doesn't want him alone with his dad.

Between the alias, the hair change, the new piercings, the radical change in wardrobe, losing Riley's cybernetic leg (arguably her most identifiable physical feature) covering her cloud tattoo (arguably her second most identifiable physical feature), and already being absent from most NCPD databases, pretty much no one's able to tell that the woman in West Wind Estates used to be the most famous merc in the city for four months. Johnny's able to fly pretty under the radar for the most point moving forward, save for watching his back regarding Arasaka, and most people who knew V have a somewhat hard time realizing it is V under all the new changes. The only people who don't struggle are Rogue-- she's too astute to be fooled by something like that, imho-- and Mama Welles-- she's seen Riley change her facial apperance several times under her roof, I have no doubt she'd be able to pick her out beneath all that hair dye too.

Johnny sticks it out for three months before he decides he's had enough and makes the plans to break for a fresh start. He takes the bullet pendant and his dog tags and puts them in Jackie's niche, since he views Jackie's sacrifice as the reason he and Riley got to meet in the first place. Even when shenanigans happen and Johnny eventually stays in NC, though, he doesn't retrieve the necklace. Not until fix-it gets firmly underway.

#V #My V #Riley Aldana #“Short” I say. Like a fool #And honestly I still have so much I could say but I'm sitting on more of it because I want to :3 #Her post-temp look is so weird to me but deep in my heart I know it's supposed to be the point. Black hairdye is a BAD look on her lol #But he never changes the eyes. Nah the eyes are her thing and he's not altering them.#Riley fixes a lot of the changes made once everything gets fixed-- gets a more lowtech leg; redyes her ends blue; redoes her tattoo #But she'll keep the nose ring maybe :3 #Aldi speaks

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irisarchborn · 10 months

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Entry for @far-side-skies art challenge, this month we were assigned the splendid sunbird and I had some fun with the colors..may have used the purples a bit too much but i regent nothing XD This was from a stomhawks next gen thing I thought up of years ago and never went into much detail for any the characters in it XD

~info~

Name: Ozul Nickname: Oz Age: 16 Height: 5.8" Race: Human/Bird experiment (no feathers yet)/Clone of the Dark Ace (doesn't know that yet) Gender: Hermaphrodite Sexuality: Unsure Home Terra: Farside - New Cyclonia Region Skills: Sky-fu, basic sky and ground combat, Crystal mage trainee

~Story~ When the floating terra of cyclonia fell and Master Cyclonis fled through the portal, she fled with a few loyalist but one wasn't among them ..the champion known as the dark ace was gone.

Being the Impatient women she is Cyclonis ordered Nikolai to get to work on bring back the dark ace. With not much of a lab set up this annoyed the scientist, but rather then risking his masters wrath he did as ordered and began the long process of cloning. Years later after a few failures, little Oz was the one that survived into his first stages of life, but as he grew his body wasn't holding up as it should have given the lack of Dark Ace's DNA to help build it back up Nikolai had to use what he had on hand, which was the DNA's of a bird and the masters to stabilize the boy. Around the time Oz turned five he was wondering around the farside boarder between when he bumped into a young Shang Akagiyama of Terra Kistune royal family, the two boys grew to bond and this gave Cyclonis the idea to use him as a pawn to get an alliance with the Kitaran. This then made her take the boy under her wing and removing him from Nikolai's care.

Growing up Ozul slowly learned just what type of person his mother was and what happened when she was made upset or disappointed. The burns on his left arm will be a permanent reminder of those lessons. Weirdly enough all Oz wishes if for her love and approval and thinks her coldness and harsh punishments are merely an act she puts on, to showcase her standing as ruler of New Cyclonia, so he pushes himself to study, train and practice in hopes of achieving that.

Having Shang for a friend definitely made Ozul feel less alone, hell the Kitaran was his first and only best friend, his mother forbid him from ever leaving the palace, not truly caring about his needs at all and just wanting a weapon to keep by her side, In the early morning on his sixteenth birthday Shang got him to sneak out and took him to Atmos. One glace of the sky and clouds, was all it took and Oz fell love with it, the duo continued this habit of sneaking over to the other side and not wanting to get caught Nikolai had a special outfit created for Ozul (he caught Oz sneaking back in one night but kept it hush hush) that would hide his identity; the armor on it would react to his crystal binding abilities and actually amplify them by a small percentage, thanks to the metal it was forged out of.

Wow that was a lot to type, hope it wasn't too allover the place XD

#storm hawks bird challenge #digital art #oc #storm hawks #digtial artist #art challenge

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starsmuserainbow · 1 month

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1OO IMPORTANT CHARACTER QUESTIONS

taken from beth kinderman and nikki walker’s the 100 most important things to know about your character. a good list to help develop a character’s background, personality, and general aspects.

(Template link here)

PART 1: THE BASICS

What is your full name?

“Ryand'r. On Earth, I have taken up Wildfire for it is easier to pronounce for the humans.”

Where and when were you born?

“Within the castle of Tamaran, after my 2 sisters. The war was still going.”

Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

“Myand'r, the Grand Ruler of Tamaran, and Luand'r, his wife. He was a very good ruler, I believe. Very strong and confident and loud enough to convince the people. And mother was great, always supporting him, very caring for us children… but perhaps those descriptions are more wishful thinking than anything else, from me. I have not been many years at home so these might be images of them, and not truly how they were.”

Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

“I have not been with them for a long time, until recently. Blackfire has apparently become evil, she seems to always be acting with the intention to bring Starfire suffering or harm. I am very sorry that it has come to this. Starfire is wonderful. She is so happy and strong and open… she makes me happy and feel welcomed and she always helps people and likes to learn new things.”

Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

“I don’t really have a living place. I am often staying with friends, sometimes in the T-Tower for example, but it… would feel wrong to get myself my own home here.”

What is your occupation?

“I don’t have any! I am learning about Earth, and enjoying the friendships that I can make here, as… as long as I can.”

Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

“I have lighter skin than the typical tamaranean. I have red hair and blue eyes, and I am almost all the time wearing a tamaranean armor that I have possessed for many many years, as well as a similar cloak.”

To which social class do you belong?

“I don’t know of social classes.”

Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

“I am rather certain that I am weaker than the default tamaranean, although perhaps that is merely because of me thinking so. I am also unable to do the language-assimilation that all tamaraneans are capable of.”

Are you right- or left-handed?

“I think I prefer the left hand.”

What does your voice sound like?

“Um… an odd question. I am not as loud or strong in my voice as I should be.”

What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

“I am still learning the earthen languages, so if there are words or phrases I use more frequently than others, it is simply because I do not know another way of saying something. I cannot think of any word or phrase in specific, though.”

What do you have in your pockets?

“A small notebook and a pencil, here. Some money that the people sometimes insist on giving me. This… is a letter. And a communicator, of the Titans.”

Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

“Perhaps my stuttering with the earthen languages can be defined as this. I cannot think of anything else.”

PART 2: GROWING UP

How would you describe your childhood in general?

“… I did not have much of it. Not in a typical way. I was sent away from home very early to preserve the royal bloodline for the case that the war would have gone worse, ... and I could not afford being a child after that.”

What is your earliest memory?

“My mother. She was carrying me with her in flight, and singing a song to me.”

How much schooling have you had?

“I did not have much of the typical learning. But I have taken care to learn many things from scrolls and books that the… that I had where I was after Tamaran.”

Did you enjoy school?

“I didn’t experience it for much time. But I think yes, I did.”

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

“By training them myself. I… I was on my own a lot of my time.”

While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

“My father. I knew I was to follow in his footsteps eventually, and so I have always admired him. …”

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

“I was not with them very long. I loved my mother and Kori dearly, and I believe they returned such. With what I know of Ari by now, I am uncertain about my connection to her back then.”

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

“There was never the question of what I wanted. I knew my destiny.”

As a child, what were your favorite activities?

“…”

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

“… I don’t know. I lived alone most of the time. I think I was focused on what I was required to do.”

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

“… Must you really ask me to repeat it again and again how isolated I grew up?”

When and with whom was your first kiss?

[[NOTE: I like to take the answer below as default for when it isn't a topic in our threads. If however we're doing our own version of him coming to Earth, or if it works better for like shipping or whatever reason, I won't assume this to have happened, and his answer then would be that he didn't do any first kiss yet.]]

“It was… once I came to Earth. I wasn’t aware of my inability yet since I left Tamaran before it would be tried, and I was hoping to learn the earthen language faster this way. It was with Hay Lin (aerokinesiiss), she has helped me a lot even before we could talk with the other understanding, and I explained it to her. It was… very wonderful, even if it also showed me that I cannot learn the languages in the typical tamaranean way.”

Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

“I am not special for a tamaranean.”

PART 3: PAST INFLUENCES

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

“… My isolation. Losing everyone, twice.”

Who has had the most influence on you?

“My parents, certainly. Also, the Shallas that were taken because of me, perhaps.”

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

“I didn’t do anything good.”

What is your greatest regret?

“That I left them. That I wasn’t there, when the place was… when they were… I’m sorry.”

What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

“I don’t think I did anything evil.”

Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

“Not that I am aware of, no.”

When was the time you were the most frightened?

“In the capsule… after the ship was destroyed, and I was drifting…”

What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything.”

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

“What happened. I want to stay on Tamaran, either, or not lose the Shallas. Because all these experiences were very very painful. And perhaps I would be better now if they would not have happened.”

What is your best memory?

“The togetherness with my mother.”

What is your worst memory?

“Coming back to the village of the Shallas, after… it.”

PART 4: BELIEFS & OPINIONS

Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

“I think, I am more pessimistic.”

What is your greatest fear?

“Having those that I care strongly for come to harm, without being able to act against it - or worse, because of me.”

What are your religious views?

“I don’t believe in any religion.”

What are your political views?

“About what?”

What are your views on sex?

Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

“It is never right to kill. Even violence alone is always wrong.”

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

“Kill and hurt others. Especially when they are innocent or still children.”

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

“To a degree, yes.”

What do you believe makes a successful life?

“Being happy, having someone around that loves you and that you love.”

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

“I try to be honest. But I sometimes don’t understand what I am feeling or thinking, so it is difficult to be honest about that.”

Do you have any biases or prejudices?

“I don’t think so.”

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

“If the circumstances truly leave no other choice, and it is for saving someone I care for, I would not refuse to do anything needed.”

Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

“My family. My friends. Anyone that I love.”

PART 5: RELATIONSHIPS W/OTHERS

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

“I try to be friendly, and polite. Regardless of if I know them or not.”

Who is the most important person in your life, and why?

“Now? Starfire. It was Will (skymade) for a long time, although I was convinced that I had only made her up to have company during my loneliness.”

Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

“Galfore. He is so strong, so capable, he is a good successor of father.”

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people.

“I don’t know about a best friend. Is it something you must discuss and agree on? I love all my friends much. They are too many to describe.”

Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person.

“I don’t have that, no.”

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.

[[NOTE: Connected to the 'first kiss' piece above, same thing applies here, otherwise his answer would be no he hasn't]]

“… She helped me. We couldn’t communicate at all, and she helped me. Without words, without knowing anything. I could have been a danger too, but she helped me. How could I not, how do earthlings say, fall in love?”

What do you look for in a potential lover?

“I don’t want anyone who uses too much violence. Be friendly, help others, have the patience to understand me despite my language difficulties. But, really, the only thing I really want is to love and be loved equally. ... To not be alone anymore.”

How close are you to your family?

“I am growing closer again to Starfire with every time that we meet again. With Blackfire, I doubt that it is possible to grow close to her.”

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

“… It is a nice idea. But I haven’t yet, and I fear doing so. It is difficult, when I will not be able to stay here, when I am often still unsure about understanding my own emotions, and… and the risk of getting a child is also very big.”

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

“Starfire, or Galfore.”

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why?

“All my friends. And Galfore. Because I know they would do the same for me as I would do for them. I believe Galfore has also sworn it to our father.”

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

“… I don’t know. I was missing for a long time. I think Starfire would miss me. Perhaps my other friends as well, although I would not want anyone to suffer from missing me.”

Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

“I don’t despise anyone. ... Perhaps the Gordanians, but none in specific.”

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

“I avoid arguing. It is not something I enjoy.”

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

“No. I am not good with social matters.”

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

“Large groups are making me more nervous. I prefer a few friends.”

Do you care what others think of you?

“Yes, but also no. I know it matters most what I think, but… it helps, to know what others think.”

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

“I like to watch people. I sit somewhere, at a street many pass, and watch them. Oh, I like drawing, as well. And writing my thoughts down.”

What is your most treasured possession?

“My cloak. It gives me comfort, and it feels to me like mother.”

What is your favorite color?

“I don’t know. I like the less strong ones; is it called pastel?”

What is your favorite food?

“I don’t have a favourite. I’m still learning about the varieties of food.”

What, if anything, do you like to read?

“I read many things to learn the languages. If I could understand it easier, I think I would like to read stories that take me into a different world, into a fantasy.”

What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

“As long as I am not alone, I can enjoy it. It is not the entertainment that truly matters to me, it is the company.”

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

“No, I don’t.”

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

“Not any different than another day. With friends if I can.”

What makes you laugh?

“My friends being happy and joking.”

What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

“Unneeded usage of violence. Verbal insulting is also very rude.”

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

“I would go to a roof, and watch the stars. The view of the stars in the sky has always helped me think.”

How do you deal with stress?

“Not good. It can hinder me a lot.”

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

“I don’t know. Both? I might prefer a plan.”

What are your pet peeves?

PART 7: SELF IMAGES & OTHER

Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

“It is not different from the routine of everyone, I assume. Waking, preparing, eating, doing something, eating, perhaps doing something more and eating again, and then prepare for and go to sleep. How I feel about it depends on if the disruption is pleasant.”

What is your greatest strength as a person?

“… I don’t think I have any.”

What is your greatest weakness?

“How much not-tamaranean I am.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

“I… I don’t know. Maybe I would make myself more tamaranean. Braver, louder, stronger, more confident. More like father was.”

Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

“Introverted, I think.”

Are you generally organized or messy?

“I think I prefer organization.”

Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

“… I don’t think I’m good at anything.

I’m bad at being tamaranean. I’m bad at being convincing. I’m bad at interacting with others.”

Do you like yourself?

“… Not really.”

What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing the strange and heroic things that RPG characters do)? Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons…)

“I never really had much of a choice. I explore Earth because I like it here.”

What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

“… I don’t know.”

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

“I don’t like to think about it.”

If you could choose, how would you want to die?

“I would like to only die after a long life.”

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

“I would go to my friends. I would go to… who I care for the strongest, and admit that. I want to fill my last bit of time with as much as I can.”

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything.”

What three words best describe your personality?

“Shy. Weak. Hesitating.”

What three words would others probably use to describe you?

“Un-tamaranean. Weak. Incapable.”

If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…)

Oh Ry, my poor sweet little Ry. All that I really would need to give him as advice, though I know that it won’t help a thing, is that he needs to stop thinking so low of himself. He needs to understand and accept that he is capable, that his differences to the typical tamaranean might even be good for a change for a Ruler, that there is nothing wrong with being different.

#✫ General Tag (Wildfire(Semi)) ✫#✫ IC (Wildfire(Semi)) ✫#✫ Wristtranslation Activated ✫#✫ Headcanons (Wildfire(Semi)) ✫#✫ About (Wildfire(Semi)) ✫

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spuddy-buddy · 1 year

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(Disclaimer: in no way related to this post)

Dunno what possessed me to do this, but I got to thinking about some DST skins that I didn’t particularly enjoy the execution of last night and how I thought they could be done differently. In my infinite wisdom I decided the best thing to do was do edits by hand until like 3 AM. For the sake of easy comparison my edits are on the left and the OGs are on the right.

Thought process and explanations for each under the cut.

Wigfrid’s GoH is pretty good in theory, but suffers from being literally the first skin collection in the game’s history; the art team at Klei had no way of knowing how skins would evolve as time went on. That being said, it’s still really inconsistent with other metal/armor-type skins, being completely flatly colored and lacking highlights. Her circlet is also inconsistent with other headdresses from future skins, being more or less completely flat instead of bowing upwards to imply depth. The point of this edit was purely to bring it up to the standard of more modern skins.

Maxwell’s GoH was another simple one. His trousers are colored weird and he looks fucking miserable instead of posh(which is what I think they were going for). Another really basic edit, just to fix the trousers and un-depress his expression; admittedly this is the one I’m most iffy on. If I’d have thought about it at the time I probably would have also unrolled his sleeves since we have skins like that now, but c'est la vie.

There wasn’t anything really wrong with Snowfallen Wurt per se, but I really hate it when people give rabbits dog-like noses. After editing the nose the pink inside the ears threw off the colors so I changed that to be more in line with the rest of the skin. For funsies I added lil paws on her feet since Klei changing Wurt’s feet isn’t unprecedented(Abyssal, Verdant, and Victorian).

I’m sorry, fellow Woodie mains, but they really did our boy dirty with his Snowfallen. It’s a bad skin when compared with both the other Woodie skins and the other Snowfallen skins. The mountaineer theme is fitting to Woodie, but he’s just so boring to look at - just a mass of grey and brown and gold, a far cry from the blues of the Snowfallen collection. Aside from Treeguard it’s his only skin that completely changes his hair color, which also doesn’t help it sticking out so badly(also warm cream greying with cool grey hair? blech). The main goal here was to bring the skin up to speed with the rest of the collection. Every color was sampled from another skin already in the game to help produce a coherent design(if you ask politely I’ll tell you what’s from where). The blue hair, I feel, still looks a bit out-of-place when put next to the other Woodie skins, but it plays nice with the rest of the collection. As for the addition of more brown when I cited that as a bad thing in the original, the main problem was that it was such a warm color compared to his grey hair that it looked very out of place; using a cooler brown and distributing it across more of the design helped with the color balance I think. The most extreme edit was changing the sleeves completely; I just couldn’t find a good balance with the more plain sleeves, plus I feel adding a bit more fur sells that this is an outfit for trekking across freezing mountain peaks.

#Don't Starve #Don't Starve Together #DS Wigfrid #DS Maxwell #DS Wurt #DS Woodie #constructive criticism welcome

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cfkingdoms · 9 months

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felix mallard, cis male, he/they, 24 — dear all nations, TYR MAGNUSSEN has crossed the city borders to edinburgh to the sound of SEVEN by TAYLOR SWIFT. the PRINCE of DENMARK is known to be AGAINST making peace. HE reminds me of THE GLINT OF A BLADE & BROKEN GLASS AT YOUR FEET however did you know that HE KILLED THEIR FATHER & HAGEN HELPED CONCEAL THE TRUTH?

tw for abuse, injury, eye injury, ptsd, death, murder, unhealthy coping mechanisms

BASICS.

full name: tyr erik valdemar magnussen

nicknames: n/a

age: 24 years old

gender: cis male

pronouns: he/they

orientation: gay

family: magnus hagensen (father, deceased), anneliese ivarsdatter (mother deceased), hagen magnussen (brother, deceased), ivar magnussen (brother), [open] magnussen (brother), clara magnusdatter (sister, deceased), dagmar bjørndatter (sister in law), anneliese hagendatter (niece)

religion: norse pagan

language(s): danish, swedish, polish, russian, english

status: single

APPEARANCE.

hair color: brown

hair length/style: shoulder length, usually pulled back

eye color: brown

height: 6' (183cm)

dominant hand: right

distinguishing marks: several small scars littered across hands, chest, arms, and chin/jaw ; two especially prominent scars on the left side of the face, one jagged from the temple to the middle of the top lip that runs across where an eye was & one that extends from the bridge of the nose down ; several thin scars on lips, right eyebrow, and left cheek

BIO.

you’re born into war, but not the sort armor will save you from. the youngest of your brood by quite some years, your eldest brother, the future king, is thirteen years your senior. doting and protection would abound, but not from your parents. it’s your brothers who look after you and your sister, hagen the most so. you spend early childhood as his shadow, knowing better than to stray too far from your big brother’s protective watch. straying too far means dealing with him. your father is not a kind man raising his children. your father is a general raising soldiers without a war to send them off to. you’re four when he puts a practice sword in your hand, and barely eight when you’re handed a real one. you never take to it like your brothers do. the sword feels unwieldy and awkward in your hands. hand to hand combat isn’t much better. your father tells you you hit like a woman. it’s not that you can’t fight. it’s that the ways you want to train –daggers, a bow, maybe? not to mention your poison knowledge is extensive– do not align with your father’s vision for you. come to think of it, little about you aligns with what he wants.

you’re a child when talks of betrothal reach your ears. in your father’s opinion, you’re not much use for your strength, but you can still be useful in alliances. you and a young girl from another clan are promised to each other, and every time a visit is made in either direction you’re all but shoved together, like the forced socialization will help. you don’t like her. it isn’t necessarily anything she says or does or how she acts, you just. you don’t like her. something is off. you don’t have the vocabulary for it, yet, but. everyone tells you she’s beautiful and you’re going to be so lucky and they bring up children. you hate it. it feels wrong. you don’t voice any of this, though. you've been nothing but a disappointment your entire life. you can't fail at this, too. this betrothal will break, later, along with a few other constants from your life.

and this is how your life proceeds. training, studying, learning when to duck and when to just let him hit you. you learn not to cry. you learn when to just endure the shouting and when you can clamp your hands over your ears to try and block it out. when you’re 12 you take a blade to the face, at your father’s hand. he misses your eye, just barely. the scar is pale now, almost unnoticeable if you just glance. it’s your punishment, he asserts, for losing your focus in training. go stop the bleeding and come back. and so it goes. for years. you learn to take a hit, get back up, get hit again. you're 16 when a guard is instructed to swing on you, and does not concede you the mercy of missing. now, your father asserts, you can look as useless as you are. this will cost you an eye, an injury that spells the end of any hope you might be good enough for him. he's already written you off. there is no comfort to be found with this brute. you've long given up on the idea he's even trying to toughen you up. you're not a hope, you're an example. one thing your father should have anticipated, however, is that you can only kick a dog so many times before it bites. you’re a powder keg waiting for that one, good spark. once you get it, you’re going to blow.

that spark does come. the two of you had been left alone, and– well, really, the full details are a blur. he was in your face, you’d upset him, somehow. he was yelling, he grabbed you, you wrenched your arm away, tried to shove him away from you, panic overtaking logic. the look in his eyes as he advanced forward is the last clear memory you have. you don’t remember picking up the rock. you don’t remember hitting him. he’s on the ground. you hit him. you hit him. you hit him. you drop the rock and you just….stare at him. he looks…pathetic. he’s still alive. you can see him gasping for air, his eyes going unfocused, and he just lays there. is he dying? oh gods, what have you done? you don’t move. you don’t help him. you stand there, and you freeze. if you get help now, will he survive? but if he survives, you’ll be executed for what you’ve done. your brother can protect you from much of his wrath, but not this. but can you really stand here and wait for him to die? you don’t know.

it feels like ages later you make your choice. you have to find hagen. even if he cannot protect you, you need him. you're hysterical when you reach him, and he hardly understands what you try to tell him. there’s been an accident. it was an accident. an accident. help is too late. you're both horrifically aware of the seriousness of the situation. you've prided yourself on learning to be quick, to plan for everything. such a skill escapes you now. hagen, though. his plan is simple. it's quick work, and the story quicker still. clearly, magnus had overindulged, as he was known to do, and in his staggering, lost his balance and bashed his head heavily, right on this corner here. what a pity. clearly you’d tried to help. you’ve grown up around most of these people. the idea you could ever have something to do with it, well. it feels preposterous, even if the circumstances are a little strange. the king’s death is ruled a freak accident, and life goes on.

nightmares plague you. when you close your eyes you swear you see his staring back at you, glassy and unseeing. you swear you can hear him screaming for you. it’s horrific. you barely sleep. you’re prone to nodding off at meals and at meetings and even sitting to watch the others train. you’re easily distracted, often staring off into space, oblivious to what happens around you. you know people are concerned. but what can you do? hagen takes your father's place, and he and dagmar settle into their new roles. you and hagen never breathe a word of what really happened. you'd almost convince yourself of your own lie if you didn't still see the blood on your hands some nights. you do what you can to ignore the emotions it stirs up, falling into beds it would be best for you to avoid, overindulging yourself in a marked uptick. doing anything you still can to keep yourself busy. you think you manage it well, until. hagen is killed, and a third king is on the throne in your lifetime now. losing hagen sends you on a spiral. grief is not an emotion you understand well, having been so young when you lost your mother, guilt ruling over any grief for your father. this, though? this is a pain you haven't yet known.

you do what you can to shake it, to ignore it in favor of the things still left to do. hagen leaves behind a pregnant wife, and not long after his death your niece is brought into the world. from the moment you see her, the connection is strong. call it guilt, call it all you know, but as your brother hovered in your own life, so do you in hers. he isn't here, and you know if he was he would have doted upon her less like a mere princess and more like a girl granted godhood. he cannot, but you are here, and you want to see right done by her. the news of an invitation to scotland has you wary. you do not trust easily, and though...certain things may sway your hand, as it stands you do not trust the people as a whole, and you do not want to participate. but news of the viking clans in attendance leave little choice. they cannot be left to form alliances. you need to secure your own. and so travel you do. had you known then what you now know, you would have said to hell with it all. ivar can go by himself. you will not allow the others to be in harm's way. but you did not know. and so you all went. and now tragedy has struck once more, your sister, your only sister, struck down in the night by a yet unknown assailant. you have your suspicions. by now, little else is left.

#nomad.intro

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thevehszlegacy · 1 year

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OC: Jessi Toklar-Sept

Basics

Full Name: Jessi Solus Toklar

Prefers: Jessi Toklar-Sept as full name

Gender: Genderqueer & intersex (she/her)

Faction: Neutral -> Eternal Alliance

Rank: Cadet -> Combat Medic, Inferno Squad XO

Call Sign: Nexu Bait

In-Game Class: Trooper - Commando/Sniper

Primary Role: Heals

Primary Spec(s): Combat Medic, Virulence

Physical + Mental

Species: Human/Zabrak

Height: 6'3" (190cm)

Hair Color: Dark brown, near-black

Eye Color: Dark brown

Notable Features:

-Four horns; middle two significantly larger than two behind them. -Missing left eye; has eyepatch implant. -Cybernetics on right side of face. -Tall and muscular. -Sharp canines.

Scars: Claw marks across left side of face. Along bridge of nose. Right side of mouth down chin. Various across knuckles, fingers, and tops of hands. Other, minor, scars scattering body.

Strengths:

-Cybernetics provide her with quicker computing for statistics & ways to alter plans. Cybernetics provide higher pain tolerance than she'd naturally have. -Physically strong. -Works well with others. -Good social abilities.

Weaknesses:

-Has a blind side, so is forced to watch her surroundings more carefully on-the-job. -Uses an assault cannon, and it can slow her down when she needs to get somewhere quickly. -Lower endurance than average Zabrak/Zabrak-hybrid due to malnourishment as a kid. One of her hearts doesn't quite function at optimal capacity. -Doesn't function well without a fair bit of real meat in diet, so long stretches with dried military rations can be rough.

Fears: Small fear of large nexu.

Disabilities/Disorders: Half-blind (missing left eye).

Relationships

Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Heteroromantic, demisexual

Status: Single

Parents: Biological deceased. Jen Sept and K'hedif "Kitty" adoptive fathers.

Siblings: oldest-youngest - Liakige Harren (adoptive sibling), Jeva Toklar-Sept (bio sibling), Luci Sept (adoptive sister), Riza Sept (adoptive sister), Vili & Kol Sept (twins, adoptive sister & brother)

Miscellaneous

Usual Attire: Lightweight, gray and black armor with red-orange accents. Most protection at chest, shins, and forearms. Wears a mask that can be connected to oxygen or various stimpacks as needed.

Weapon of Choice: Heavy-duty assault cannon; it's been painted in the squad's colors (gray and red-orange). Also possesses a simple sniper rifle in the same colors, and fairly proficient with it.

Home: The Star Hopper; her squad is normally on the move and doesn't stay the same place for long, but she'll always consider the Hopper her home.

Place of Birth: Nar Shaddaa, Red Lights District

Favorite Color: Sunset Yellow

History

Born on Nar Shaddaa as older sister to her sibling Jeva, the two had a rough life from the start. Their parents were both spice dealers, and stiffed a Hutt one too many times. Bounty hunters were sent to retrieve the family; when their parents defended themselves and a firefight broke out, Jessi grabbed her sibling and took off into the alley. When they later went back to their home, their parents and one of the hunters were dead inside.

From that point on, Jessi scrounged for scraps for the both of them while keeping them tucked away in forgotten alleyways. A few years of that passed before they encountered a Sith Pureblood bouncer, K'hedif, who offered them some food. K'hedif would continue to bring them food and changes of clothes for the next few weeks, until finally offering to pay for a hotel room for them when they were no longer timid of him.

When K'hedif left the planet, having finally saved up enough credits for a shuttle, he again gave the siblings an offer: Join him and get off Nar Shaddaa. Jeva was still young at the time, Jessi accepted the offer and they found themselves adopted by the man. He job-hopped a lot, taking the siblings with him whenever he did, until finally settling with an old spacer.

He had that job a while, before his employer was killed by Twin Suns gangsters. Jessi tucked her sibling into a closet on the ship and grabbed a spare blaster, positioning herself at the entrance to protect Jeva until K'hedif came for the two. Another spacer named Jen had stepped in just in time to save K'hedif and the siblings, and hesitantly offered a job. Jessi would later learn that it was only so she and Jeva would have a roof over their heads, and that Jen hadn't originally wanted K'hedif on his ship because he was Sith.

While Jeva was raised by the Sept crew, Jessi was hesitant to put too much trust into them and remained pretty independent despite her young age. It would take nearly three years before she even started calling Jen and Kitty her dads. When they adopted Sith apprentice Liakige onto the crew, Jessi grew fond of them pretty quickly; they were a lot closer to Jessi's age than her sibling, so when Ki became more comfortable with the crew, the two of them developed a close bond.

She'd always wanted to be like Kitty - a healer, a medic, whatever she could do - so took an interest in the Alliance as she got old enough for military. The life of a smuggler just wasn't for her. So, though she loved her family dearly, she started getting in touch with the Alliance with various questions on their military program.

With Ki at her side, Jessi decides to eventually leave the Star Hopper and join the Alliance. Jessi became a cadet training as a combat medic, while Ki began training in the newly formed Paladin Order.

Upon graduating from her training, Jessi was recruited to Inferno Squad as its medic - a new squad tasked with protecting rebuilding efforts on various planets. It was when the squad was on Taris that Jessi was mauled by a territorial nexu; it resulted in the loss of an eye. ...As well as finally earning her a military nickname that would soon become her call sign: "Nexu Bait." She was irritable with the name at first, but grew quite fond of it and would laugh about it over the years.

Inferno Squad uncovered a plot on the Commander's life purely by accident, and when Terrin decided to look at them with a little more scrutiny than she had previously, she realized she was holding the team back with their current jobs. They were tasked to train under Alliance Intelligence for a while, and became a subterfuge squad; their job became to track down traitors and various assassination and ambush plots before they could happen. It was around this time that Jessi was made the second-in-command of the squad, after the previous was removed due to not fitting with the restructuring.

Inferno Squad ended up the sole reason that, many years later, the Alliance wasn't totally wiped out when the Empire struck in an attempt to remove a thorn from its side. Had it not been for the squad, their losses would have been far greater.

Jessi readily followed when the Alliance disappeared into unknown space to avoid being wiped out completely. Though she would eventually leave the squad, she'd remain part of Odessa's security force, accompanying teams out into the wilderness as the Alliance slowly worked on building up a city...

#swtor #republic trooper #zabrak #zabrak hybrid #swtor oc #jessi toklar-sept

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karagin22 · 11 months

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You know you've been gone too long if…

When mortars land near your compound and you roll over in bed and think "still way off, I got another 5 minutes"

When you start humming with the Arabic song playing on the radio on the shuttle bus

Every woman that reports to your unit starts looking attractive

Every guy that reports to your unit starts looking attractive

You actually volunteer for convoy security duty because you still haven't seen the country yet

You start picturing your wife in traditional Arab dress

When you go to the bathroom at night you bring your gun, flashlight, and toliet paper with you. be prepared to walk at least 1 mile.

When you go on R&R, you duct tape your child to the roof of your car, hand him a pellet rifle, and assign him a sector of fire for the ride to "The Olive Garden."

The contractors have more fire power than the military combat units. (This is true)

You take the time to add your lines to this list

You've spent $200 dollars at Haji mart on DVDs buying Basic Instinct, 9 and weeks, and Body of Evidence just for the sex scenes

You drink the water from the tap because you want to drop 20 pounds in two weeks

Driving around in SUVs with weapons pointed out the windows and forcing cars off the road seems very normal to you

You can put your body armor and helmet on in the dark in under 5 seconds

When the organization you work for has changed its name more than 3 times

When you actually spend more time writing e-mail about the dog in the compound versus doing real work.

When you actually get excited to get a package that contains 3 pair of socks, 12 bars of soap and a Victoria Secret Catalog

you get pissed off because you don't need any fucking more baby wips.

When you start to enjoy the rocking of the trailer every time the MEDEVAC choppers fly over

You memorized every episode from the 4th Season of Sex in the City, sopranos, simpsons, and anthing else on dvd.

You see celebratory fire going over the compound at night and think, "wow the colors are so pretty" and want to fire back

Your thinking of buying real estate in the green zone

Your idea of sex is 20 minutes of Instant Messaging with your wife on the computer, OK, 10 minutes, who are you kidding?

You wake up and think Baghdad, I am still in friggin Baghdad

You make the new guy show you his count down timer on the computer just to make you feel better about your time you have left in country

You're in the Army and you start saying Ooorah

You're in the Marines and you start saying Hooah

You're in the Navy and you realize you are in the middle of the desert, the exact opposite of being in the middle of the ocean, where one might normally find the Navy.

You're in the Air Force, and you're on the plane home laughing at everyone else because a tour only lasts 4 to 6 months. So long fuckers!!!!!!!

You plan on removing all trees and grass in your yard when you get home so it will look more natural

The temp drops down to 102 degrees and you shiver while reaching for your Gortex jacket

When you call home and your kids ask "Who is this?"

You call home and your wife says hello Bill (your name is Sam)

when you get home you still brush your teeth with bottled water.

While on R&R, you look out the window and find Nature, which leads you to wonder who stole your sandbags.

When some of the contractors wear their DCUs (Desert pattern camouflage uniform) more properly than some of your soldiers.

When 12 hours is a short work day

You go Battle Captains!

When, During the BUA, "DIV asked MNSTC-I for the FRAGO that MNC-I was supposed to publish, but couldn't because MNF-I hadn't weighed in, since they were too inundated with MOD and MOI war-gaming the JCCs (and you know what this means)

When you start using words like G'day mate, Cheers, and Bloody hell as part of your normal vocabulary

When you have your opinions printed in the STARS and STRIPES more than 3 times

When you step into any office and there are 6 colonels, 12 lieutenant colonels, 15 majors, 8 captains, and 14 first- and second-lieutenants supervising the work of 3 staff sergeants

When you're ordered to get a mission together on short notice because it's a "Hot priority" only to have the Major call back once he is in the air to ask "Does anyone know where I am going?"

When the weapon buyback program has become so successful that you have issued the same AK-47 to the Iraqi army 3 times

When you can actually tell the difference between the sound of an exploding car and an exploding mortar

When on R & R you tell your wife that your weapon status is Red and your looking for the clearing barrel

When on R&R you go to Church and wonder why no one is wearing body armor or carrying an automatic weapon to the service

You see an indirect fire attack take out an air conditioner and your vigor to fight is renewed

You yell at the FNG for shouting incoming when the rounds don't impact close enough to hit your tent with dirt

You know that you need to run inside immediately after any win of an Iraqi sports team to keep from being hit by celebratory fire

You decide for that for shits and grins - lets take a run around Lost Lake at Camp Victory to see if we can get shot at by the sniper

You never worry about oversleeping because if the morning call to prayers doesn't wake you, the daily 0430 mortar attack will (most mornings)

The highlight of your shopping experience at the BX/PX is to see that they got in a new shipment of Schick Tracer razor blades

When you send out your laundry and your whites become grayer, your blacks become grayer and your DCU's become grayer - makes it easier to sort loads…

You get offended by people wearing clean, pressed DCU's

You decide that it is a better course of action to pull your blankets over your head than put on your body armor during a mortar attack - the woobee will save you and at least you are comfortable

You make a contest out of seeing who can wear their uniform for more days before becoming entirely disgusted with themselves

You wonder if the fish served at dinner really was carp caught out of the Tigris or Camp Victory's lake

You find it completely acceptable to pick your nose while talking to a complete stranger or member of the opposite sex

A rocket or a mortar really isn't a big deal until the crater it leaves is big enough to trip over in the dark on the way to the latrine

You go to a social gathering and intermittent gun fire or explosions don't even cause a pause in the conversation

you actually start to think " I wonder what's on afn tonight"

FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR OWN TO THE LIST*

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