jagervitdefonnyhat

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

(Short form fics, to help me write more regularly, maybe. Off of a list of reverse tropes prompts. Helpful crit, and comments welcome.)

"Iz barely spring, vhy iz it zo hot already," Maxim grumbled into the peachy colored arm acting as his pillow.

"Nah, iz goot" Ognian, owner of said arm, purred back. "Move in a leedle closer, mine side iz cold." He curled around Maxim's shoulder to pull him closer to his bare chest. Thick fingers tipped with claws dug into long purple hair. Maxim reached behind and pulled it out of the way. His back was already starting to sweat through his shirt, his hair certainly didn't need to get tangled up in it.

"Iz only colt cause hyu dun vear nottink more den a vest."

"Und hyu's only varm cawse hyu insist on vearink more," rose a grumble from Dimo, occupying Oggie's other side. They lay pressed together shoulder to rib to waist to hip to Dimo's leg thrown atop Oggie's.

Maxim shifted onto his side so he could see his third companion. "Ho, vhat’s hyu excuse, den? Hyu gots fur to keep hyu varm."

"Ho, vell, iz cawse iz cold hyu dumkoff." He scoffed. "Hyu chust run varm like zum furnace on legs. Zo get back to vork."

Maxim sat up and crossed his arms. "Hy ken't!" He whined. "Mine back iz a sveaty, mine hair is shtickink to everyting, de ground is stabby vitout vearink sometink," his voice went soft at the end. "Is-" he sniffled, "is too varm! Demmit, I miss de hall!" He kicked out at his neat pile of cape and sword and boots, sending it flying across the cave. The rapier clattered against the wall. Dimo and Oggie sat up. "Is too varm too cuddle und hy hates it. At least give me de dignity of complaink."

"Brudder..."

Dimo inturrepted, "eediot. Sleep on oggie's jacket, he isn't uzink it. Can put hyu cloak on top if hyu needs. Den strip down und get over here."

"Vhat? but-"

"Ho, dun vorry. Hy iz fine vit it gettink all dirty!"

"Vell?"

Maxim slumped and dragged the back of his hand across his eyes. "Ja, ja hokay." Stripping off the long shirt and tight pants was more an ordeal than he'd have liked with shaking hands from now all that anger built up for nowhere to go. The energy from it buzzed under his skin. He stumbled getting his foot out the leg. Gathering everything back up and laying out the jacket and cape helped, as the slight draft cooled over his sweat damp skin. He looked up from his bed arrangement to see Dimo and Oggie still sat up. Dimo patted the space in front of him, so he sat.

"Hy gets dis in a braid qvick, dat should help, ja?" He asked.

"Ja, dat should help." He took his hat into his lap.

"Hyu gots a hair tie?"

"No," he said quietly. "It broke months ago. Vas mine last vun. Ve haven't had spare fabric fer a new vun yet."

Dimo huffed, and Maxim knew an eyeroll followed. "Oggie, cut a strip off de market leadder, vill hyu."

"But dat ruins de value!" Maxim twisted to stare with raised eyebrows.

"Vhat, like some townie vill notice a leedle strip done later inshtead ov vhen ve skinned it. It vill shtill sell."

Oggie handed Dimo the strip, an arms length long and dark brown on one side. "Here hyu go!" A bit thin but functional enough. Dimo put his hand atop Maxim's head and swiveled it back around.

"Tenks." He put it between his teeth as he seperated the sections and braided down a few inches. Then took the folded strip, adding each half to a section. Maxim shifted. It slipped. He took it out and put it back in. A few sections down a section fell out when he shifted again. It was slow, from there. With it braided in the rest of the way down, he took the leather ends and tied them around the tail. "Dere hyu go. Better?"

"A bit, ja." He pulled the braid forward, stroking over it, other hand tapping the brim ofhis hat. Dimo glanced at Oggie and raised an eyebrow. Oggie bit his lip and smiled, then moved into a crouch.

"Hy know chust de ting." And with a heavy shove, Dimo flung Maxim into Oggies waiting arms. Both fell back at the impact as Maxim let out a shout of surprise, hat clutched firmly in hand. Oggie reached for it.

"Hoy! Vatch vhere hyu's puttink hyu hands!" Maxim slapped the reaching hand away and leaned back into Oggie, pressing him firmly into the floor. Oggie wrapped a leg around his hips and pressed to the side, flipping them over.

"Ho ja, hy's vatchink verra carefully!" Oggie giggled. "Come here hyu!" He reached forward, where Maxim was attempting to keep it out of reached. He squirmed and dragged himself forward, out from under Oggie.

"Looks like hyu's loosink over dere!" Dimo called. "Hy bet tomorrow's cookink hyu dun effen touch his hat!"

"Hoy! Hy can manage dat, et least!" Oggie turned to defend himself.

Maxim used the opportunity to shove Oggie off and fling him onto his back. "Hoy, vhat do hy get out ov dis?"

"Snails dun get anyting out ov de bets, deys de subject ov dem."

He stood up and put his hat back on his head "So hy dun gots to cook if hyu vin?"

Dimo raised an eyebrow. "Hy tinks dat iz a goot ting."

"Hey! Umph-!" Oggie tackled him back to the floor, atop the laid out jacket and cloak.

"Ha!" He lay a had on top of the hat, pressing it over Maxim's eyes. "Iz sleepy time now, hokay?"

"Ja," Maxim nodded. He smiled. "Ja, hy's goot now."

"Great, now get hyu asses over here. Hy'm cold." Dimo dragged Oggie off of Maxim and resumed his position, half on top of the other jäger and shoved together at every possible point. Oggie lay an arm out an Maxim curled up in it, hat placed carefully above him.

A moment passed and their breathing evened. In the quiet, bugs chirped and distant sticked snapped and the whistling scream of the auralnautic owls echoed through trees. The cave wasn't as cold as stone should be.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

20, 21, 22 lilya

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

Avírdin. Perfectly tolerable jäger- cheeful, stab happy, good with a long sword/great sword/claymore, or even just a basic armong sword. But gods, lilya does not like how they just miss seemingly basic things that would use logic of common sense that can be extrapolated from observation. Lilya knows thats rude to think, unfair a bit given herself can't seem to extrapolate things others claim is obvious in social contexts, but she finds it so frustrating when all Avírdin needs to do is glue two things together, uses too much glue, comments how its sliding out of places cause of all the glue, and proceeds to not know how to fix it by simply removing the excess glue. The excess glue that shouldn't even be there cause obviously other glued together things don't have dried glue spilling out the sides, so why even use that much in the first place!

On the other hand is Radovna (aka Rodya, not to be confused with Radovana ie Rada, who is not mine. The names are a coincidence). She just kinda hates Radovna, cause she's so stuck up and full of herself and a know it all who tells people what they should be gpdoing all the time in the smarmiest condescending way. But, her work however, fully backs up that she does actually know what she's talking about. She is good at what she says. She's never actually wrong. And lilya hates that she admkres Rodya's work. Its really very good work.

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

Eye contact. Indirectness for the sake of politeness. Preformative social politeness in general. Stupid socialising to maintain basic social social structures. Is a lot of the reasons that she's always gelt rather drawn to the jägers. The culture jägers had deveover years had simplified down significantly compared to the townie culture. More direct with easier to read cues. So, after realizing some things about herself a few years after getting her mechanic position, after becoming a jäger especially, she decided to simply full drop participating in those etiquettes if they didn't actually feel like it.

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

Full time jobs. Which in 1800s and prior meant something different, but still. Especially farmers. She understands the irony of essentially having no life/work seperation, of having sworn herself to her job, yet fearing the concept of daily(ish) work. She hasn't had to do that, not even as a mechanic's assistant when there were several assistants who filled in what days they would do in a week themselves. She did two days with 6 hour shifts, and two days with 3 hour shifts. The idea of six hour shifts four five days sounded soul crushing.

Most of being in the army, though, she still gets to spend her time in a more relaxed way, including fighting. Its more rare when they're sent to run around doing menial tasks for hours on end with no meaningful contact with anyone they care about nor time alone.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

17, 18, 19 lilya

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Certainly depends on the person. A local townie might notice the more distinct traits first, to know which jäger it is since some of them looks kinda similar. The blueish skin, the horns, maybe the hat, and the long red hair might got first. An outsider townie, might notice the accent first. Then the skin, horns, and think 'construct', then process the ears, teeth, claws, then rapidly fill in everything else screaming jäger and fill in how to respond once thats processed. Another jäger will probably notice smellfirst, depending on if their sense of smell is bad or not. If it is, hat, distinct traits (the horns vs tusks vs weird eyes vs color) will clue them in quick for who it is. They'll notice a lack of hat, or a new one, more likely than just the same hat in general.

For herself, she'll zero in on her hat and hair before anything.

None of them, surprisingly, will likely notice the tail too quickly. In her tail's defense, present!canon lilya's horns are rather tall and dramatic.

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

I mean, (most of) the pack and the Heterodynes are obvious answers here. There's nothing either of them could do to make her not love them, even if she disagreed with something. And verylittle the Heterodynes could do that she'd actively disagree with rather than accept as being what this heterodyne is gonna do.

Her not-husband significant other tfrom the late 1600s/early 1700s, he'd be on that list, while he lived. And he adoptive mother, of course.

It might be more effective, really, to say who managed to stay on that list despite maybe they shouldn't have. Namely two friends growing up- from elementary, and from when she joined on as a minion to the mechanics at the castle. The first who, unexpectedly and with no stated reason, decided to end the friendship and cut her off. She thought they'd been close. And if that friend ever came back, she'd have questions, but still love them. The second was less severe. Just, lost contact when they split ways, lilya to join the army, and the friend to travel merchantry. Lily ahad tried reaching out, sending some dictated letters, with no response for decades to follow. But she thought they'd been close, and if they came back, she'd still love them.

She did at least see them breifly around town post becoming a jäger, and decided not to interact because they'd made their decisions to stop contact. Lilya had worke don herself since and decided she just didn't care. She still loved them.

She went to their respective funerals, when they were announced. Met some family and descendants. Asked about how they'd been in life. She was glad they'd at least been happy, even if she didn't know why they just... stopped talking to her.

Her birth parents, well they fell off the love category a few years after ditching her alone. She just didn't really remember them anymore.

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Huff and get to trying to fix the problem. Answer questions if asked. It might depend on why she'd been avoiding them. Like for casual just not liking them reasons, versus them being a superior officer who's been trying to track her down for a punishment detail since yesterday. The latter of which, well, less huffing more slightly mopey resignation. Still some huffing though. Then back to problem solving after getting told off/chastised/whatever.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

14,15,16 lilya

How do they put out a candle?

Used to be just blowing. After joining the Heterodyne's army, she learned about doing it with fingers. Apprehensive at first, tried it on a stillchot but already put out wick. That kicked up her willingness to try it proper. Now itll either be fingers or blowing, depending what she feels like. Fingers has less smoke, so its generally preferred.

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

Well, friends/work/home are all pretty much the same. Its the jäger pack. Lives there, doesn't know much of anyone outside of it, is her job/life. School isn't much a factor. She'll learn stuff from people, or teach herself, but treats them pretty similar to anyone non-jäger. Namely by remembering not to punch them in the shoulder playfully and accidentally break something.

Alone, she is much less talkative, less energetic. Which makes sense in a quieter more controlled environment with no one to talk to. So most distinctly she's generally more anxious, and thus more stimmy. If she's around non-jägers, or just no one, for a solid long ish while, she just gets... not exactly anxious cause there's no thoughts really. No 'what ifs' or ruminations. Just a sense of understimulation feeding into things being too much and leading to her just doing stuff as distraction. Just the sense of waiting for someone your meeting with being late and not answering messages, stuck anticipating them but having no way to check in.

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

People she thinks did something stupid but was obligated to not point that out cause the resulting yelling wouldn't be worth it. Which, well its not often, unless someone else actively pulls her away or gives a direct order. In which case she deals with the stewing emotion by just yelling at them for their stupidity in her head. Or grumbling about it. "Hy told hyu dat marker dun vork on de board. Vhat kind ov shtupid, it did vork, hy showed hyu right dere! Iz gonna stain de board, hyu says. Hyu's gonna have to clean it, hyu says. Dere’s nottink hy ken use to write vit. How iz hyu zo shtupid hyu ken't read de box dats sayink 'fer use on de boards' right dere hyu fokken idiot!"

There's a lot of name calling and finding a fellow jäger to drag into a fight to let off some steam on someone who isn't an easily squashable townie.

The other answer to this is preparation for discussions she expects questions in. Like saying why she should be allowed to detach for the long search. Or more minor, why she thinks she deserves to have the good nap spot. Regardless of if these discussions ever come up. Or if she remembers what she rehersed at all.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

11,12,13 lilya

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

Like, without the visual of looking the same? Over audio maybe? Really this is just gonna depend on extent of impersonation. The easiest thig would be a knowledge check, probably. If the impersonator can copy her hand writing/writing style, then there's no reason the think they can't copy her personality well enougg. So knowledge on something that couldn't have been observed (well, without time travel at least). Jägers have a long history so any of them could well ask 'what happened that one time [etc.]'? And then have three of them arguing about what exactly did happen.

Or if it were like some sentient goo that mirrored the original person and had their memories and felt the same as the real person and there was an active life threat on the line so just beating up everyone wasn't an option, and one of them had to die and others needed to guess correctly, then..... well honestly there's not much to be done at that point is there? Unless the sentient goo smells different. Hmm. This one could be fun to write a fic about.

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

Some hundred years is a long time for 'every single time' to stay applicable in, while being specific. The closest that'd get is 'things she like' not in general of oh she likes that joke, but more specifically pandering to the current interest. Is it knitting? Knitting jokes. She just learned how etemology works? Etomology jokes. Been realy stab-happy lately? Anecdote about that guy you killed.

Well, the last one will do it pretty often. Be it anecdote, general theorising on how to hide a body in the middle of this lab, or increasingly nonsensical ways on how to mortally wound someone with a piece of hay. She'll find it hilarious.

There's very rare periods where that won't penetrate. The long search for the missing Heterodynes was hard, but starting up a nice theorising session, devolving into more and more implausiblity will at least get a nosey huff and a tight smile eventually.

When do they fake a smile? How often?

Not often. Rarely even. Mostly if they don't like the person but have actual strong reason to not be unpleasant towards them. Otherwise her smile is generally real. Even if it were 'wow your being a bitch, but ive gotta be nice', the smile would probably be there cause she's enjoying the stupid drama that she doesn't care about.

But mostly, really, she's just not particularly expressive, so the smile isn't that often anyways regardless of mood.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

Questions 8, 9 and 10 for lilya.

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Not particularly loose. At all.. Essentially, if its true, she definitely uses it more, but even then, tends to need to remember to say it, or uses it when particularly emotional. In her mind, love is distinct from care. Plenty people she cares for. But love? Its more limited and in... some varied ways.

She doesn't like everyone in the pack, but as a whole, she loves them. The pack comes with a sort of inherent care, regardless of jäger. On a whole, her place in the pack that she values so greatly, is love, in a slightlymore familial sense. The Heterodynes and the family, that is a mix of obligation and loyalty and unrepayable debt. It is most simply understanding and thankfulness for the centuries long arrangement the Heterodynes have upheld with the town(in varying fashions) which comes to being love, no matter who the Heterodyne is. Neither of these get said aloud as 'i love you' basically ever.

With those of the pack she's closest to, it comes up at least twice a month, or if they say it first. Or special circumstances.

With the humans she's been close to, it was more rare. The sense of not wanting to acknowledge she's gotten attached cause when they die itll hurt more. But inevitably it comes up at least a few times after some years knowing them

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

I think it'd be tough, but by accident? But fairly tame by jäger standards? She's naturally blunt and sees no reason to not explain a point to someone if they're being stupid. And has rather poor control at wording or tone. But has no patience to bother force them to not do the stupid thing. If its a problem, someone with rank can deal with them later. Thats an issue for someone with responsibilities. Unless its someone she cares about. If Barsin decided for some inexplicable reason to try jumping off a cliff after breaking a leg for no reason, well, Mamma can deal with him. Unless she's gonna get yelled at too, then he's gonna get dragged away from the cliff by the horns. She'll still drag him back if he jumps off anyways out of loving care, with minor jostling even. Instead of ditching him there to learn a lesson.

For the first few decades of her life, she thinks she prefers tough love. Her biological parents raised her on that first, and she never quite responded well to gentle love after getting adopted in Mechanicsburg. She would rather need to figure out a solution herself after doing something stupid, would rather do the stupid thing than have someone try and be all empathetic about 'i know you want to sweetie, but maybe don't'. Tough love is mostly what she expects to face, from people she barely knows. And therefore simply avoids doing things that would result in facing it.

She does get to know some jägers, though. And with them comes more gentle, comparitively speaking, techniques. Which then results in her being comfortable doing stupid things just for fun on ocassion. But she certainly prefers it. And will take whoever is trying to tell her no into serious consideration before deciding whether to ignore them.

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

It changes up. Most commonly, on a more day-to-day basis, it'll be new fun facts. Fun facts ranging from science discoveries to gossip to updates on the vegetable garden. Long as she can make sure everything is as factual as able, for the time. She won't tell everyone, per se, but will bring it up regardless of if its reasonable to.

But higher excitement level, it'll be whatever is her newest intrest. Mostly learning craft skills. For this, she will actually tell everyone. Regardless of their personal interest or if she doesn't like them. If its a jäger she doesn't like, she'll actively choose to annoy them by telling them any updates on her craft learning journey.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

For questions 5, 6 and 7

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

Pff no. Crying is unlikely as it is, if only because fewer things would make her cry, compared to townie civilians at least. Mostly because she just doesn't quite empathize the same way. But if she does start ruminating on something sad that had happened, it can result in anything ranging from silent little tears to bawling and having to focus on breathing.

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

There's this one spot in Mechanicsburg, right near the jägerhall even, thats so much more nicely quiet and dark. Its great for sneaking away to for some alone time, a break from irritating sensory things, or to hide notebooks in. She's never recommended it, for fear of it being taken. Well, that and her favorite children's crafts fair in one of the towns nearby within Heterodyne protection. It's just not actually a good faire, certainly not good enoughto bring children the half days round trip walk. And doesn't really appeal much to older folk. And if word spread amongst the jäger, she'd be blamed and banned. So. Yep.

What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell to find them in a crowd?

Well, closest category of friend, at least from the jägers, would be Barsin, Shaf, and post-detachment also Iistro, Ivan and Verni. A good 'hoy!' in an identifiable voice will get her attention easy enough. Rather unfortunately, there have been nicknames. Barsin took to calling her 'fish' after a joke pre-jägerdraught of just... calling her fish for no real reason. And she was just non-reactive about it which he found hilarious. It didn't last long as an actual proper nickname, but Barsin still brings it up. He picks a new one ever now and then over the decades, but fish was the first one. "Here fishy fishy fishy!" is a rather distinctive call. Shaf doesn't have someting in particular.

Verni, Iistro and Ivan all got to know her at the same time though. Under rather more stressful circumstances. Circumstances that were more stealth than crowd specific. Tongue clicking, as in the sound for 'tsk', is a quieter call, for one of them being nearby and needing to communicate something basic. After it was safe, they kinda picked it up as a call too, using it louder.

And she never married but did have a sort of significant other once. Significant enough to get symbolic rings, despite not marrying. He had a familial call-response tradition dating back to the Red Heterodyne, in early 1600s, similar to how people use marco-polo. He'd call out "bats go!?" and the response would be a whistle of sorts. High pitch and quickly rising. Lilya was never adept at whistling, which he found mildly amusing. Rather, she'd respond with "twee!"

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

Questions 3 and 4 for Lilya

3) How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

Depends on the person. And when in her time line. Pre-draught? There were some issues that made understanding feelings difficult. The emotions were themselves overall lacking, so it wasn't often, to anyone. Mostly her mother, if through words at least. In which case, its mosthe audience. The threeish years before the draught, she became more directly vocal about feelings, if they were relevant to the conversation. Such as 'im not staying because im bored and don't want to.' Or 'i don't want to interact anymore.' Which is improvement over just sitting through and bearing it. But about... 10-15 years after becoming a jäger? I think? She started open up more. Not much. But closer to 'im tired. No, im gonna stay. Im just complaining at you.'Can i be crushed into a pancake' and 'you're fun'. More non-informative type things. It improves from there. Visually she's still not particularly expressive. Very happy is easiest to read. Excited, overwhelmed, anxious, they're not facially visible but her tail and other small behaviors tend to give those away. Anger is not clear until she's starting a fight. But at least she'll usually just say it. She'll say a lot of emotions if they're relevant to someone knowing or if she just feels like talking. Overall, still probably easier to know how she feels if its the audience knowing.

4) What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

If she missed it, she'd pick it back up again. Over long enough years there's not much reason not to. But the closest might be when she couldn't. Lilya was detached, so it kinda limited some hobbies she'd had supplies for back home. She'd been able to keep up some leatherwork and carving while searching for a Heterodyne, and even took up writing a journal. But hadn't been able to keep up sewing too well. Sure, it came in handy repairing clothes, but carry around scraps that progressively were added to and took up room for a patchwork blanket was difficult. Fabric scraps hard to come by and risky at that. Any clothes would be kept for clothing, any patches that could be made, would. Older clothes in poor condition were often repurposed for bandages, or rope, or kindling starter. Sometimes she could make small plush toys and Verni would see if someone wanted to buy it. But it was more often a waste of rather precious thread. She misses her fabric collection in her chest, tucked under her claimed bed in the jägerhall most.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

Starting with questions 1 and 2 (causethey turned out longer than i expected) for Lilya, cause i know the most about her, including backstory stuff, pre-jägerdraught.

1) What’s the lie your character says most often?

Mostly, 'i don't know' or 'no'. Very helpful for not knowing something, knowing and needing time to think, or knowing but not caring about the conversation. Mostly the last one, but more commonly really, is getting out of having to end up with responsibility. 'Do you know how to fix this?' 'No' 'Don't you tailor yourown clothes' 'Not in dat vay before. Sorry, ken't help hyu.' She does know how. She just doesn't feel like it.

2) How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

Very strictly. Pre-draught, friends were rather not forthcoming. Maybe a mix of how she perceived things like social interaction, maybe cause other children just didn't like outsiders much. But as she understood it, friends were something you could feel. Like how you can feel love,aconnection. So most people aren't friends, as far as she's considered. More like close aquintances at most.

Brother on the otherhand- wellits restricted to otherjägers, but after some decades, it is quite easily all jägers, even the ones she doesn't like. Pack is bothcollective jägers and some very specific jägers she's particularly close to. Less so, as an individual/singular term, for those she doesn't interact with much or doesn't like. Friends no longer feels quite accurate, quite strong enough a description. Rather, its for the few non-jäger citizens she likes interacting with semi-regularly.

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

There is... so many questions here. I may well make my through them eventually but, uh, to try and incite interaction (something kinda new to me on tumblr, but thanks to boops, im gonna try it) if you wanna ask me for a specific one, feel free.

I knkw i don't really have a list of my ocs or anything so additional fun, if you don't wanna pick one i have posted about, you can just say number 23 for a jäger who would accidentally eat fake fruit' or would challege an inanimate object to a fight or has deer horns or whatever. Can be 'two jäger that hate eachother' if you like. And if i don't have one yet, well i have plenty that aren't particularly developed, personality wise, so i can just choose someone and itll be part of them now.

Gonna temporarily pin this while i go through the questions.

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

Girl Genius Self Insert OC Poll

The world of Girl Genius is frightfully well populated for a setting of Marvelous Manic Mad Science. It's very easy to imagine all sorts of folk in the background feuding, flouncing, fighting, (and other verbs that start with f ;)) without necessarily crossing paths with the main story. With that in mind, let's imagine for a moment...

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Vingettes of the Jägerhall part 1

In Which a Bath is Desperately Needed

The rain streamed down from the smooth stone roof. It was coming down hard, perfect for a decent shower. Jägers splashed around in the courtyard of the jägerhall, tumbling about in the mud- defeating the point of a shower- and scrubbing the excess oil and grime from their hair with their claws under the heavy stream diverted by the roof. As soon as thunder had struck and the first sheet came down, clothes were stripped down to skivvies or less and left in the main hall to keep dry. Even the more finely furred among her brethren cupped their hands out to manage a bird bath. Lilya hid, sitting behind one of the pillars in the main hall. Not that she was trying very hard to hide.

"Hoy, Lilya, hyu gonna take a bath?" Splayed hand landed atop her hat as Barsin jovially came up beside her. "Iz been a vhile since ve'z had a goot rain instead ov goink down stream, ja?"

"Ja, but no, hy tought hy might skip dis vun. Hy already got clean recently." She leaned back as he crouched down beside her, leaning into her space. He took a breath in through his nose.

"Woo! Mebbe if hyur recently is from de bigger picture ov hyur whole life." He dramatically flapped his hand back and forth to wave off the smell. His smile dropped as he added "Bot seriously, hyu needs a bath. Iz gettink too much und dats a lot to get to."

"Nope! Not heppenink!" She rolled to the side, right before he tried to reach out and grab her a mite too slow. She ran.

Of course she had very good reasons here. Firstly, she already cleaned up as much as necessary a month- two? a few months back give or take. She didn't notice anything. Her hair was fine, the smell wasn't- well at least it wasn't particularly bad. To her. Her sense of smell had never been great of course. Except when trying to overwhelm her. Secondly, or thirdly technically, being wet just felt bad. Being submerged was fine. But the start when the temperature was wrong? The end when it was cold and damp and drying? The hours upon hours of damp hair? She didn’t know how Maxim or Mardok managed to wash their hair once, sometimes even twice! a month to keep it soft and silky smooth how they liked it. The whole process was miserable. Except the actual activity when it was warm and she was completely submerged which was rare.

And when her hair was wet, she couldn't wear her hat. That didn't help. Sometimes having a fur lined hat had downsides.

She hid in a supply closet, really the only place concealed enough to hide in the hall. It didn't last long as the door cracked open and light streamed in. A low growl rolled from the back of her throat as she frowned up at the intruder.

He pinched his nose frowning, rolled his eyes and grabbed the patch kit from the shelf above her, having to lean over through the door frame with a leg out for balance. "Hoy!" He called down the hall once the box was safely tucked under his arm, nose still pinched. "She's over-ah! here!" He was already being tackled to the ground before the second word. The box got tossed and slid away across the stone floor.

"Hyu leetle-" She started.

"Ho no hyu don't." Hoisted up by her under arms, she dangled in Barsin's hold.

"Hy can't! Hy von't!"

"Hy dun tink hyu have a choice enymore." He dragged her down the hall to one of the few bathing rooms. "Is not effen a scented soap, all very neutral smellink, no burnink eidder."

"Soap!? Hy don't deserve dis ponishment."

"But hyu really need eet. Iz for de goot of de pack, believe me. Anodder veek dey vould be set to tear hyu apart so hyu blood covers de smell."

Barsin dragged her back to the courtyard. The rain was starting to let up, hardly enough for a good soaking. He groaned. “Ho gotts leedle feesh-”

“Ho? Vhats’s dis now?” Commander Gkika, head of the field medic’s squad, bloodthirsty battle goddess.

“Ah, Mamma!” he casually addressed the other towering over him by the height of his hat. “Dere’s a leetle problem vit de bathink, ja?”

“Hy don't vanna. Is alvays zo cold un slippery.” She kicked at his shin and he readjust his hold to loop around her neck just shy of choking.

“Ho voo, clearly. Come on sveethot, hyu needs to get hyurself cleaned op.” Gkika threw her over her shoulder easily, held in place by a hand the width of her entire back. Trapped and no better off than a two headed giant toad, Barsin came and plucked her hat right off.

“Hoy! Dat’s cheatink! Give it back!” Her tail wgipped back and forth, smacking against Gkika’s face.

“No, eets collatorall. Hy’ll keep eet nkce und dry und hyu gets it back vhen hyu isn't fit to make evervun in hyu radius keel over. Altough, it vould be goot in battle…”

“For de odder side mebbe, but hyu gots de pack dat srill gots to fight” Gkika frowned. She wrapped the split tail around her forearm gently, holding it still. “And hy don't tink hyu is too keen on livink alone, are hyu.”

She settled then on, but still grumbled her complaint as she stripped at a losing snail’s pace and climbed into the waiting washtub. Barsin turned off the spigot in the corner, carrying over a filled bucket. Lilya tucked up her knees in the awkwardly shaped washtub. At least it was marginally warm.

“See? Is not so hard is it?” Gkika took a soap lathered cloth to her back and shoulder. Her tail flicked bubbles over the edge, pooling on the stone floor around them. Gkika’s pants were soaking through at the knee. Barsin upturned a bucket over her hair. It plastered down to her face sticking weirdly around her horns. It felt wrong. The claws that dug through her hair and scalp were merger compensation but freely accepted. “No different from de odder times.”

“Ho, ja, is still miserable.” She let her arm be manipulated and scrubbed down.

“Is for de greater goot ov de pack, dollink.”

He scooped up more water to rinse what came loose in her hair. Finally done, finally allowed to get dressed again, Barsin handed back her hat.

“At least hyu still gots hyur hat, all safe und dry.”

She frowned mournfully, holding it to her chest. “Mine hair is vet.”

[jagervitdefonnyhat]

There's a lot of OCs in here, so I won't talk about all of them individually, maybe just a smidge about the four in the fore-ground. Names in the tags will go left to right onthe fore-ground then loop right to left for the background.

I've always kinda imagined the jägerhall to be all stone (with wooden hanging rafters that also probably hold some lighting). It was more difficult to make a nice background with the limit of pencils i had (graphite and charcole mainly) but eh. Thjs scene depicts some general average day shenanigans. A brawl, a little minor threat of violence, some card games, some pranking, some going about their buisness-ing. The original sketch had someone climbing a pillar, but i couldn't decide what colour to colour him and it was due the next day so i left him out. Rather, there are claw marks.

The four in the fore-ground are:

Shaf-telling Vodea to be quiet (lest he wakes the sleeping jäger getting pranked) (he wouldn't). Shaf gets along with and tends to hang out with Petzold (one with the goat legs).

Vodea- is watching, finding the whole thing hilarious cause he's just mean like that.

Petzold- doing the pranking ie stealing boots and hat from an unsuspecting sleeping jäger to hide them somewhere. Is often a perpetrator of such things cause even if he's caught, he can usually run for it and not get caught, either through speed or agility or anti-gravity esque goat balance. Also, good at yodeling.

Tugel- the unsuspecting victim. Loves nothing more than gold and thrills. Decent at plan making but doing so makes him want to smack his head against a wall repeatedly. Generally friendly and optimistic. Also generally loud-mouthed, saying the wrong things before thinking them through (cause unfortunately, that requires planning). Will be incredibly upset when he wakes up and finds his hat missing. This is what Vodea looks forward to and finds hilarious.

Honourable mentions- polyraost 3 and the qp3 (the two groups of three getting on with their buisness in the hall and threatening violence via choking hazard in the background respectively).

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Here be Cünczil and Falvo. There's of course likely many reasons a jäger may be detached or stay with the pack but one concept I work with is 'even if they insistently volunteer, if the generals know that jäger is prone to trouble/more socially dependent/more likely to die, the answer is no'. Cünczil falls under this. And such trait is most noticeable in regards to the fact he keeps losing/not being able to get/keep a hat.

And jägers do get bored on an airship. So while Falvo holds his trusty bostaff for him, he (playfully) teases Zoing for his hat. (It would suit him, he thinks. Of course, despite his speed and agility, Zoing isn't much of a strong opponent.) (The mail carriers have gotten used to jäger shenanigans.)

I've not yet figured out ideas for those who didn't volunteer/stayed with the pack. I suspect it will heavily rely on the fact it is in fact a suicide mission, and because of orders from bill and barry, but still need logistics for why they didn't volunteer.

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Mostly due to her dislike of getting wet (and the smell of soap, which is easily remedied by very plain non-perfumed soap as most commonly preferred by jägers who largerly and bregrudgingly (with variation of opinion) accept that bathing is occasionally a good idea) Lilya generally dislikes bathing. Her hair gets wet and then says that way for several hours due to it's length, she's wet and cold and damp, and the whole process feels mundane and like a waste of time.

Unfortunately some pack-mates get to the point of deciding either the grime, smell, hair grease or multiple of the above are too much. Thus is she forced into taking a bath. With citrus soap if she doesn't cooperate (floral would just be too cruel.) Her hat (either kept hostage or kept safe) is safely stowed away from the water. Her hat and water don't mix well. In this case, that place is Barsin’s belt. She knows he won't take it cause it doesn't even fit over his horns well. And, frankly, its a rather plain hat. (But more importantly its her hat.)

And I just like Gkika. In the original planning of Lilya's backstory/first few years as a jäger, pre-general Gkika had a significant role cause it's my self-insert and projecrion, I can do what I want. Sakd backstory has since changed and evolved, but honestly, Gkika had to have gotten the nickname/title Mamma from something/somewhere. I like the idea that by jäger standards, she's somewhat the mother-hen type. Which involves more metaphorical pecking ie knocking of heads, but still incorperates 'being reasonable and responsible' (comparatively) and care (violent though it may be). Even though her time line and story might've changed a bit, Lilya does still get kinda attached to Gkika in some way or another.

Barsin, the green one of course, is from the same generation/group that took the draught as Lilya, so they've known eachother a decently long time and get along well. His name is short for Barsinufious.

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This picture I've had for a long time as a thumbnail sketch. Finally i dew it up at about quarter of a sheet of paper size and coloured it. One day, Greta tells Lilya about her collection of skulls. Most likely, she was asked to. Skulls hold the place in Greta's heart that would otherwise be reserved for a hat (but she became a jäger some decades before the hat concept/tradition started and collection the skylls of her most powerful enemies was a culture she still held on to from her original hometown, even though she willingly defected fromt here when it was clear the Heterodynes were more powerful.) (She's based off a tenuous concept that some celtic tribes did the skull thing, perhaps not to the same extent. Here's proof of concept.)

Though she may not look it, Lilya is intrigued by the stories (what jäger wouldn't be?) but is a tad distracted by sheer curiosity regarding the bird-esque skull.

Greta keeps the trunk under the bed she occasionally uses in the official jäger barracks in the jägerhall.

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Hy figure for de fist post hy can go vit my first jäger hy ever designed, my self-insert Lilya. (And hy've had de accent stuck in my head so imma use it cause hy can, but diluted.) (Picture above is a bit simplified and hy forgot de earrings and arm glove-sleeve tings and her pants doesn't have any buttons, but ho vell. It vas mostly to show de colours better den de vuns below.)

A little about her, she came to Mechanicsburg vhen she vas young after being on her own for two and a half years, but the story on how keeps changing cause hy can't figure out someting sensible, so hy’ll chust say she doesn't really remember or know for sure. She vas taken in by vun of de Professional Grave Diggers, people who made sure dat dead tings dat needed to stay dead, stayed dead. Vit Heterodyne experiments dat can be harder den hyu tink sometimes.

She vas really interested in physics, how tings did stuff. Function. So she vent into minioning vhen she turned 16. Finally taken to de battlefield as a field mechanic she saw bloodshed and var. De adreneline rush, de burn in her legs from running from being shot, it felt so lightening vhen she got back to de safe area of camp. De usual flat feeling, de neutrality vas exhilaration instead. She'd call it being happy. She vasn't wrong per se.

But being used to her minioning job she'd vorked nearly de past four years, she couldn't make herself reqvest a transfer. But she vasn't very subtle in vanting to fight and years of digging graves then running about de castle made her good for it, had some potential.

Girls vasn't technically encouraged to join de army. De population needed to come from somevhere, even if de girl never vanted kids. But de Heterodynes have alvays velcomed dose who vanted to serve. She chust had to be, subtle. Not too obviously a girl. Vhich very luckily vasn't hard and she found she radter enjoyed de new perception.

Her adoptive-mama died tree years after joining de army vhen she vas 22. It vasn't a good ting. Gro-ing up vit iffy parent, living on her own, problems dat isolated her in childhood, her mama vas de closest ting she ever had. Being in de army she had started opening up a bit. Her mama dying shunted her back into isolation and trew her even more into her loyalty, her lifeline.

She alvays liked de jägers, to her dey seemed alvays so jovial, so touchy, so close to eachodder and she envied it. Vhen she joined de army, she started asking about de jägerdraught. Over six years she'd been denied. De generals knew, it vouldn't do to have somevun who chust vanted to be jäger because de envied de pack. Dere are wrong reasons and dat vas vun. Six years, during vhich her mama died. She isolated, she stopped asking for tree years before she finally got herself togedder. Figured out vhat she vanted and vhy. Dis time vhen she asked, de general keeping de list said she could vatch de next troth.

After dat, she took de brau for herself.

And some bonus pictures of de first of her drawings and designs. Mostly, hy have improved in my drawing ability. Her cloes haven't changed much, favouring simple easy to find stuff- vit leg and arm sleeves to protect against questionable acrobatics. Hy haven't drawn anyting for vinter yet, but hy really hope she at least vears a vest or a coat or someting.

Her hat looks kinda like dis, but vit de sides folded up (hy tried taking a picture of my actual hat, but it's all black so it doesn't show very vell. Dis vun is close enough.)-