#I had a blast practicing humanoids!!!

[commanderthalys]

Some peeps from the VS Art Party! Please let me know who I missed so I can tag em :)

@gift-of-astralaria

@straywyvern

@commander-gloryforge

@sergeazel

@kralkatorrik

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Hello it's me again can I request the hlc students, professor and villians meeting THE VILLAIN AU of MC, (Mc is a dark entity who was stored under wookrook castle after the first ancient magic stop was open they let out !villain! Mc who's a 11ft entity who is sassy, manipulative, playfull/ Mc in this au plays a game with her victims if they lose they lose a limb if they win they get some power (btw this is a discarded au of mine Lol)

A/N: If I'm following your idea correctly, MC is not human but a dark entity that manifested inside the repository under Rookwood Castle? I can roll with that.

HLC REACT TO VILLIAN!MC

WARNING: angst,death, destruction, mayhem, evil!MC

RANROK: Finally. The Rookwood repository was unearthed. This one was the largest by far, he could practically smell the magic buzzing within its cage. In his haste, the magic beam from his hand killed a loyalist that didn't get out of the way fast enough. The repository shattered, releasing the large black and red mass of magic.

Something was different. The magic didn't automatically come to him. It didn't attach itself to his armor or go inside his body. Instead it writhed formless on the ground. He angrily shot another beam of magic, but it had no effect.

The magic did not come to him. Instead it started to rise. Higher and higher until the mass was near the height of the surrounding trolls. The magic swirled in place, gradually forming the silhouette of a human. Two exceptionally bright red lights glow where eyes would be.

The goblins behind him started to back up, looking to him for orders. He stared up at the unknown entity, unsure of the correct action. His magic had done nothing.

His hesitation was his downfall. The creature of undiluted dark magic simply pointed a finger at him and he felt as though his own soul was being ripped from his body. All the magic he had collected from previous repositories flew from him to the entity.

He fell dead while the entity seemed to grow stronger. Its form was more defined, more humanoid. The faceless head split across the front into a gnarled, chaotic smile.

VICTOR ROOKWOOD: He was outside Hogsmeade negotiating his next step with Harlow when the sky above went red. He pulls out his wand, thinking he's ready for what's about to come out of the sky when he sees it.

A large winged creature, not unlike a dragon, swooped down from above. A blast of dark and red energy came from the entity's hands and vaporized entire rows of houses. The protective barrier around Hogsmeade is entirely ineffective in stopping it.

He and Harlow try to flee, but the entity lands within feet of them. The weight of the creature shakes the earth and knocks them to the ground. He rolls onto his back and starts firing every destructive spell he knows, including the killing curse. His magic is merely absorbed.

A low shrill laugh pierces the air, he looks up in terror to see the sound coming from the entity standing over him. An impossibly tall humanoid figure with undefined features was staring down at him. They seem to be made of liquid chaos and fire, their skin constantly shifting and morphing. From the back came four large wings, like those of giant bats. They too seem to be constantly changing shape and definition.

The last thing he heard were his own screams as darkness descended upon him.

~~~

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: The school was in chaos. The alarm bells rang out as professors rushed to collect the students for emergency evacuation. He fought against the crowd to get to the nearest floo powder stantion. He needed to get to Feldcroft.

He nearly reaches one when the wall next to him blasts apart. He's thrown off his feet and half buried in rubble. His ears ring. The screaming of the students around him feel distant when he sees a horrific being approach him. It glares down at him curiously.

He couldn't reach for his wand, his arm was broken. The creature reached down towards him and he tries to shuffle away when he feels a slight tugging inside of his chest, like his own heart was trying to leave through his ribs. An oily black substance oozes from his skin, shining red like blood and he believes he's dying. But then...he feels nothing. Not fear, not anger, not pain. He doesn't need to go to Feldcroft. He doesn't need to do anything...he doesn't want anything.

He's left there in the rubble. The creature absorbed what they took from him and moved on through the school, heading downward.

OMINIS GAUNT: He's lost in the crowd and couldn't find Sebastian, no matter how many times he called. He's forcefully shoved through the hall and to an evacuation point. No matter how much he protested, he was floo-ed away without explanation of what was happening. The best he could tell was at the school was attacked by something. It had to be huge by the sounds of crashing and all the screaming. Whatever it was was horrible and he was slightly grateful he didn't have to lay eyes on it.

It's later he overhears people saying it's the end of the world. An unstoppable monster immune to magic was destroying the wizarding world as they knew it. He never heard from either of the Sallows. He doesn't know what to do or where to go. He's never felt so lost and alone in his life.

ANNE SALLOW: Her uncle rushed her away from Feldcroft without explanation. Only that it was urgent and they needed to leave the valley immediately. She asks repeatedly about Sebastian and Ominis but her uncle insists that the boys will be kept safe by the professors and likely taken to the ministry to be reunited with families.

She never sees her brother or her best friend ever again. No matter how much it hurts her, she screams and spits at her uncle for leaving Sebastian behind. Even if there was no time, he could have at least tried.

IMELDA REYES: She gets escorted away with other students and eventually gets back to her family. With them being well off, they could afford to flee the country. Not that it may matter in the long run. Any bit of news she could get her hands on, wizarding or muggle, talk of the end of days.

NATSAI ONAI: Brave soul that she is, she fights against the flow of panicked students to try and find her mother. She instead finds the monster cornering a group of second years. She casts at it, shouting for the young students to run, and gets the attention of the entity.

It stands to its full height, unfazed by her attempts to attack it. She stares back, showing no fear. The entity shows its horrible grin and echoed words, that sounded like screams of the damned, came from it. "You... look... fun..."

GARRETH WEASLEY: His aunt finds him before he knows what's happening. She shoves an old rag in his hands and he gets pulled away by it. The rag was a portkey back to his home. He sits on the floor, dumbfounded and confused. He doesn't get word until later at Hogwarts had been destroyed. Unknown casualties. He never saw his aunt again.

LEANDER PREWETT: He runs past the hall the monster is down. He only catches a glimpse of Natty in the monster's grasp, black magic being pulled straight out of her throat. He's in a blind panic for the nearest floo. Once he's on the other side of it, far from Hogwarts, he vomits on his own shoes.

AMIT THAKKAR, EVERETT CLOPTON: Both of them make it out together with many other students. The ministry had been alerted to the emergency and sending every auror they had to Hogwarts. The students being rushed in were collected in the main area around the fountain. They stayed together, trying to find comfort in their familiarity amongst the chaos.

POPPY SWEETING: Her only thought was to get home. Get back to her gran. They needed to- CRASH! The wall in front of her caved in as the entity came through it with another person. She didn't have to worry about her gran anymore. Or anything ever again.

~~~

ELEAZAR FIG: He sees the Onais with the monster. NATSAI was on the ground, Professor Onai standing numbly. He fires at the entity and distracts it. His magic doesn't seem to harm it, It just grins and rushes him. He gets shoved through the stone wall behind him. So many of his bones are broken, he can barely breathe. His suffering doesn't last long as the entity inhales and sucks the pain out of him, along with any energy he had left.

MATILDA WEASLEY: She is the one that raises the alarm. She witnesses the attack on Hogsmeade and rushes to get the emergency portkey for her nephew. If she could at least get one person out safely, it would be him. Seconds after he's gone, the ceiling above her collapses. The entity falls through the floor as it continues its destructive path to get to the repository it's senses beneath the school.

CHIYO KOGAWA: She's The first teacher to be evacuated out to the ministry to help guide the students and keep them together. Her voice is still calm and commanding as she tries to maintain order, but she feels the same dread and panic as the scared children around her.

AESOP SHARP: He actively pursues the entity. No matter how many times he fires at it, it doesn't seem to pay attention to him as he chases it through the halls. He and many aurors from the Ministry are the last ones on the grounds when the entity finally decides it's done playing and heads down to the caverns.

He sees it happen. The final transformation. When that thing absorbs every last drop of whatever magic was in the cage. Had no idea what it was or what was happening but it was bad. No matter what he threw at it, it just smiled. It looked at him and the others like they were curious insects.

To his surprise, the thing spoke to him, and it's awful voice. "Such suffering... I can taste it..." It raises one of its arms and he and all the aurors come off the ground. He struggles against the invisible force holding him, but to no avail.

Then he feels the tug in his chest. Black and red magic comes from his body, and the others, and is absorbed by the entity. When it was over, he did not care that he was falling head first to the ground. He didn't feel anything at all. Not even when his neck broke.

ABRAHAM RONEN: His class was one of the first destroyed in the attack. He and the students had no chance to defend themselves, not that there really was any way to defend themselves. For him, it was quick. Shards of glass and stone made for an unceremonious end.

MIRABEL GARLICK: She's at one of the evacuation points, getting students out. She sees the horrible thing come down the grand staircase and she stands between it and the students. The last thing she hears is it's terrible laugh as she and any students remaining have their pain removed.

MUDIWA ONAI: She finds the monster holding her daughter off the ground by her throat. She doesn't hear her own cries as her daughter falls limp to the floor with a sickening thud. She's too stunned to move. She doesn't even hear the entity's laugh as it rejoices in her pain.

BAI HOWIN: She goes through the floo after Kogawa to maintain order with the students they manage to get through to the Ministry. She is not, however, a steel willed as Kogawa so she's on the floor with her head in her hands.

DINAH HECAT: She manages to evacuate most of the defense against the dark arts tower before the monster comes stomping through. She tried to defend the floor the students were using to run, but it fired a black beam of magic and destroyed it. Her analytical eyes scanned the beast as she tried to figure out what it could possibly be. From her time as an unspeakable, perhaps this is an ancient beast that none have seen in centuries. She never figures it out, unfortunately. The monster feasts upon her pain.

CUTHBERT BINNS: He and the other ghosts are trying to Shepherd students to evacuation points. There's nothing he can do for them when the monster comes. Just watch as they become empty husks.

SATYAVATI SHAH: She makes it through a floo with her students. Only seeing two other professors and less than half the student body, the gravity of their situation hits her hard. One being, whatever it was, destroyed Hogwarts and most everyone in it in a matter of minutes. Not days, not even hours, but minutes. This was the end.

PHINEAS NIGELLUS BLACK: The coward fled when the school was attacked. Abandoning his post and ruining his reputation in the process, but he did not care. Nowhere in the job description was he ever supposed to fight off demons from the darkest pit of hell.

~~~

MC: Oh, what fun they've had! The screaming, the crying, the pleading, the begging! The insurmountable amount of pain they got to experience! They never felt so alive! Now the largest repository of dark magic was theirs! All theirs! They pry the repository apart with their bare hands.

When they consume the magic, they undergo their largest and most drastic transformation. They more than double in size, being about the size of a giant. They grow another set of wings, more demonic seraphim in appearance, and grow another set of arms. Horns burst forth from their skull and another set of glowing red eyes blinks open.

They're horrible cackling laugh echoes from the depths of the crater that was Hogwarts. Everything the ministry tried to throw at them, were now dead and gone. The world was theirs.

[ask-unpleasant]

wait. can you still go into the elevator in the tub. you aren't a rectangle but you also aren't humanoid.

(If you get zapped again, would infected get zapped too since he'd have to carry you there??)

we only got to STEP in the elevator. i noticed the laser powering up and we had to leave immediately 😢.

and if we hadn't infected likely would've been zapped. whatever that blast was managed to practically disable me, so no doubt he would've been obliterated.

(infected by @askinfectedregretevatorepic)

[deva-arts]

Has Vincent ever truly broken down and admitted to having real feelings? Every facade's gotta crack at some point.

Vincent likes to pretend he's uncaring and unempathetic (especially regarding Sera,) but he's surprisingly protective of others, regardless of who they are.

...

...In his own way, of course.

Teehee so I wrote something about this um I never post any written oc stuff so enjoy

Sunlight wafts through the curtains where the couple lay peacefully atop the bed. Nathaniel was finally home from a long shift at the medbay, and Seraphina had decided to take a break from tuning her weapons to stay with him for the day. Birdsong filled the room, and they savored the soft, sleepy embrace they were in; life pried them apart far too much to be wasteful with quiet moments.

Nathaniel pulls her a bit closer, then freezes, mental gears whirring. Seraphina noted the pause right away.

She pries her eyes open to squint at him. “What’s wrong.”

He still has the face on- the face that says he is trying to understand something absurd yet concerning. “I-…” As if trying to prove himself wrong, he feels for her ribs again over her shirt, following the curve as his hands enveloped her torso. Oddly enough, he even motioned to count each one, only to halt in yet another worried pause, lips pressed into a thin line.

Seraphina quietly observed him, raising an eyebrow. “…Hugs exist, Nathaniel. No need to reinvent the wheel with whatever this is."

Nathaniel stops, nonplussed, then he breaks into laughter, forgetting his previous alarm. Success. "Hah... Ahah.. No, it isn’t that…” His face falls back into a placid smile, and he pulls his hands away to sit up beside her.

Blast it all.

“It’s just that… Something is-“ He makes a vague motion with his hands. “-Different with your bone structure, but I wouldn’t be able to tell just what without proper scans.”

She blinked, sitting up to meet his expression. Were they really going to talk about this now? “Ah. Well that was kind of obvious, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t be able to function if I were a normal human with wings slapped on me.” …Was that wrong? Did he have some odd hope dashed regarding her skeleton of all things? Was he weirdly fascinated about skeletons???

He gave her a concerned, humorless grin. “I know that… But… Ser…”

Seriously? He was weirdly fascinated about skeletons?

Seraphina was unimpressed. “I fail to see how this is important at the moment, Nathaniel.” And right when they got some quality time...

Nathaniel didn’t respond. He looked away, his expression unreadable while he softly wrung his hands in thought. …She never liked when he got quiet like this. It always tugged her heart wrong.

Well, whatever it was, it was certainly worrying him to this point. Might as well hear him out. Sera gave his shoulder a light squeeze in an effort to be consolatory. This usually helped, right?

“… I was being... Harsh. What’s wrong, Liebe?”

Nathaniel hugs an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close by. So it’s a hug that works in this situation. Duly noted. She hugs him back, sweeping a wing over his shoulders.

He hums. “I…I don’t think I could practice on you and your brother with the same confidence as before.” He pauses. “All this time, I’ve been working under the assumption that you were just atypicals... But… No common atypicals have genetic variations that run that deep. They usually follow similar ‘rules’, so to speak.”

He drops his gaze to look at her. “I don't know how I've missed this, but I found something entirely different with a cursory check. Which means that I was operating on you with no clue about your bodily composition. All this time.” …Oh. Nathaniel remains ever pensive, even a little guilty.

…That...

"It also means that you've got a more heavily manipulated variation. At least enough to alter things to this point while still retaining humanoid anatomy." 

“…I see.” She says, hugging him a little tighter. His face softened a bit, which Seraphina took as a win as she considered his words. This was certainly a cause for concern... But… She also knew Nathaniel had a tendency to bear his responsibilities on himself rather harshly. He was probably beating himself up about it even now.

"You couldn't have known, Nathaniel." She says, trying to keep her tone easy.

He exhales. "That's the point."

Sera rests her cheek against his shoulder. “…Well. Even then. We’re alive, aren’t we?” Something told her this wasn’t the best way to lift his spirits. And she was right- he frowned in record time.

“You’re alive, until the next time you two inevitably get yourselves hurt, that is.” Nathaniel muttered. “What would I do then? Improvise if I encountered a new organ? use my imagination?”

“I doubt it’s to the point that I have new-“

“You doubt, but you don’t know.” He looks at her again. "And I don’t either.”

“…”

“…Can we please take a few scans in my office?”

They remained silent.

…

"...You won't let up about this, will you?"

"It's kind of important, Ser. We can cuddle later."

Seraphina huffed and kicked away the covers. “Never a dull moment…”

Nathaniel followed suit. “Let's be honest, who’d want a dull life, anyhow?”

---

“You aren’t doing shit to her.” Vincent sneered.

Nathaniel sipped some of his tea. Wow. So much for asking him for reference. He decided to waste his breath a little more. “For the nth time Vincent, I’m trying to see how her anatomy works, and that info would be really useful so I-“

Vincent loudly interrupted him. “So you can what, you lanky fuck? see how different you are? Find excuses to— to break her down? Gut her like a fish?”

Sera walked into the room in some light sportswear. "Vincent, what are you talking about-“

“NO.” He snaps at her, then turns back to Nathaniel. "Fuck you, Sasquatch. You. Aren’t. Doing. Shit. To. Her. I’ll make sure of that.” Nathaniel kept watching on as he continued the insults. Hum. Sasquatch was a pretty genius insult, actually.

Seraphina rolls her eyes. “While I appreciate your sudden and unneeded sense of protection, I’ll remind you that Nathaniel is my partner.” She said. “I don’t need your approval. Stop harassing him.”

Vincent rolled his eyes. “You don’t know— You don’t know this. You say it’s okay but then they—” Seraphina interrupts him."There is no they, Vincent. There’s only one person here that will be doing this, and you’ve known Nathaniel for years-“

“I knew them for my whole life.” Vincent balled his fists until his knuckles popped. “My whole life. They only got worse, their ‘questions' became worse, and they never stopped, even though they knew me. There was always a reason to… To…!” He looks down, making a strangling gesture with his snarled hands, eyes filled with emotions she's never seen him express.

“So don’t blame me for seeing this as another obvious excuse. That’s what they all say- that— that they need answers, and then they WRECK you.” Vincent’s usual rasp of a voice almost seemed shaky for a moment. 

Nathaniel sets his mug down. "I'm not doing any of those things, Vincent."

"YET."

This was new. It was odd to see any sort of empathy displayed by Vincent, especially towards her of all people. Sera didn’t know what to say. Where were his complaints about her? the out of pocket comments? the impromptu call to something she’s inferior for?

…Why did it almost seem like he cared?

“It should’ve been you." He says between bloodied coughs as she pulled off the last wire relays. He had no more energy to keep fighting, nor stimulants to keep him moving. He sucks in another ragged breath to speak, eyes brimming with pure hatred. "All this time… You got to have everything. Everything, when you should’ve been hacked apart with me. You should've been in hell with me. I wish you were. Then they would have realized you’re nothing special, 02. Nothing worth missing. You’ve always just been a cheap replacement.” 

...Right.

Seraphina scowled. There was no way in hell that this cockroach was going to act chummy with her of all things. That bridge was burned the day they met.

“Look, you—“ Sera started to respond, but was met with Nathaniel’s “cut it out” face. Bother. She crossed her arms and let him handle the rhetoric.

“Alright Vincent, are you really convinced that I’ll hurt your sister somehow?” Nathaniel asked, crossing his arms with an odd, almost knowing glint in his eyes. So he did have a plan... But what was it?

“…There’s always an opportunity. ” He said lowly. If looks could kill...

“Fine, how about you stay in the room, then? You’d be able to see firsthand that it’s nothing to worry about.” Nathaniel gave him a bright smile. It was almost enough to make her forget what he just offered. Seraphina glared at him. “What.”

Vincent eyed him, judging him under criteria she couldn’t guess if she tried. “Alright, Sasquatch.”

WHAT.

"If you do something funny I’m destroying your clinic. Then you.”

Nathaniel didn’t hesitate to reply. “Sounds good.”

Sera gripped her crossed arms while Vincent took a seat on the opposite side of the room. Nathaniel grinned at her, shooting her a goofy two-eyed wink.

“Relax, Ser. It’s only some scans, your privacy won’t be violated if he’s there. I'm also making sure my clinic doesn’t get destroyed.” She hated how casual he sounded about this.

“I’m starting to hate your improvisations.” She grumbled.

“You forget that he lives with us.”

—

Vincent was… Honestly surprised after everything was wrapped up. It was like being shocked— no, wrong word— surprised, but in a good way- he didn’t have the term for that feeling yet.

His idiot knockoff was perfectly fine. Sober. Painless. Not even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Possibly a little awkward since he was there, but he had to be there, otherwise-

…

Otherwise…

…Really, what would that beanpole have done?

Vincent really didn’t know what he was so upset about. He did know Nathaniel for a long while, but... He also didn’t know what separated their coats from his. He wouldn’t risk it either way. Ever since the first day he looked into Sasquatch’s eyes, he knew there was something fucked up underneath.

...It didn't sit right with him.

Hell, he didn’t even have a word for a check this boring. Nice words? Gentle handling? No shoving into scanner machines? no electrocution? No VAST tech remotes? Not even the slightest threat or restraint? As Nathaniel promised, she was okay and unmoved as ever, staring at him with the sort of look that said “I told you so.” What she would never know is that he had no grounds to believe him before this. He’s never seen tests like these before.

It was eventually finished in around three hours time. Nathaniel had made a catalogue of important scans, cross-referencing whatever he found with some basic physical inspection that culminated in checking her range of motion, doing a modest external examination, and being overall professional. Vincent thought that being professional meant being extra good at heartlessness, like knowing how to keep working for hours to the sound of blood-curdling screams. Or making deep, precise cuts even when the subject is moving.

...His chest aches.

Vincent was certain that Nate was going to pull out earplugs at some point and was ready to wring his neck like a towel.

...

But he didn't.

He didn't do any of those things.

It was there that Vincent realized another thing. If this was all Sasquatch needed to piece together what was going on inside of her, then why did they do so many procedures to him under the pretense of doing the same? He expected force, vivisection, grueling trials, and humiliation. He expected to see suffering, gritted teeth, and uncaring faces. But none of that was supposed to happen. Only a light exam with happy words, full consent, and a sunlit room.

Vincent felt something overwhelming for a moment- the sort of emotion he would’ve immediately attributed to harrowing jealousy. But no, now he finally found the word for it. The word he never understood how to convey, since he felt it all the time and no one would listen.

Vincent felt hurt; unbelievably so.

Was he just dealt a shit hand at every turn in life? Why couldn’t he have nice things? Why was everything so fucked for him from day one?

Why could no one care?

He realized at that moment, that everything he was forced to learn was a mere casualty.

—

Seraphina stepped out of the scanner’s range and walked up to him. “See, Vincent? There was nothing you needed to break into histrionics about. I’m fi-“ “Shut up.” He cut her off, and shoved a data-port into Nathaniel’s hand. “You’ll find a better use for this.”

Nathaniel briefly looked it over. “What is-“

“You two proved me wrong. Good. I’m out, now.”

Before Nathaniel could even call for him, Vincent was already out of the circular window and speeding between the clouds. A trail of mist was left in his wake until his silhouette was too far to be seen.

Seraphina took the port from Nathan’s hands and observed; on it was a familiar logo- Venus Inc.

The organization that had apparently made them both. Whose existence Vincent loathed acknowledging, even in passing. The ones that nearly got ahold of her too, had she not been taken into hero work.

“Nathaniel.”

Nathan looked back at her, still looking out the window. “Yes?”

“Your insistence on him being there… You knew there was substance to his fear, didn’t you?”

“…More than you would think.” There was something unidentifiable in his eyes. She already knew it meant nothing good.

Sera held his gaze for a moment, then pocketed the port herself. She would have to look into this later. But for now…

She rubbed Nathaniel’s back a little, offering a small smile. “Tell me what you learned from these scans of yours.”

The wave of darkness lightened up a little, and he smiled back. “Well… It’s… I can’t say I know everything yet, but for one your arterial mapping is entirely different.”

Oh.

Oh no. She legitimately could not care less.

He was bursting at the seams to speak about it though. His eyes were twinkling about the wondrous joys of… Anatomical function…?

…Perhaps it would benefit from a tactical perspective…

“Arteries? Do tell.”

"See, when we were still getting to know each other, I patched you up under the assumption that you were an atypical or something of that nature-“ He starts, activating the hologram projector in the ceiling.

“Yes, you’ve said that.” She says, eyeing some of the scan results that come out.

...Hm. Maybe it was a little interesting.

Nathaniel smiles at something, and starts to gesture towards some of the stills. “But in truth-"

[mdhwrites]

Since you mentioned it in a recent post, what do you think about TOH having a sympathetic main cast of mostly conventionally beautiful, humanoid characters while still preaching about how 'weirdos have to stick together'? Do you think there's some hypocrisy in how the show handles its less 'cute' characters?

I do think it's hypocritical and that in and of itself is a problem. It's also just really fucking boring and contributes to the problem of it feeding into the fantasy problem of "Our world but with more teeth."

So since I'm going to rip into this creative choice for the rest of this blog, let's first talk about the positives of having a cast that is effectively all humans, especially all good looking ones, instead of demons, monsters, etc. After all, we need to be fair. There's a lot that goes behind these choices and while the Isles has a lot of bizarre designs in the backgrounds, there had to be a point to all of the denizens we commonly interact with looking like generic elves. *flips through notes* *checks some papers* *flips through more notes* It makes fanart easy.

...OKAY FINE! That's only SOMEWHAT hyperbolic. The reason it makes fanart easier is also why it's really easy to just go with a cast of humans. We as a SPECIES inherently trust and connect better with those who look like ourselves, for better and mostly worse. This can be as specific as skin color and as abstract as simply the human form. Yes, for people like me who are proud monster fuckers, this line blurs but for common Joe Shmoe, they're going to want someone who looks fairly normal if they're going to get really invested.

Worse yet is if you look at modern cartoons. Bare minimum, Molly McGee and Amphibia. Yes, SOME people in those fandoms will draw the frogs and Scratch... But they ALL draw the trios of human characters. And yes, shipping matters here but I've also seen a good number of Amphibia artists just admit to spending way too much figuring out how to draw Sprig because the anatomy is wonky enough to make you question yourself. If they're all humans, you can still get by just fine with your normal style and lessons that most art books are going to teach you.

This isn't even untrue from a writing perspective. Just a cultural shift (and yes I'm calling myself out on this) can be enough to throw you WAY out of your comfort zone for how to write a character besides token elements like food. Throw in entirely different anatomy, skill sets inherent to biology, weaknesses similarly inherent to that biology, and you start to have a lot more questions you need to ask for a very basic level understanding of a character. Which seems like a good transition point to talking about the monstrous denizens of TOH. Specifically that there is ONE 'monster' in The Owl House main cast and that is King.

...

Can you tell me what the fuck is special about King? Besides being short and fluffy, his differing anatomy effectively NEVER comes into play. His magical blasts are practically replicated by Raine whistling. Make him an 8 year old elf child and the only thing you lose is his ancestry. Not his heritage, his ANCESTRY. That's pretty fucking weak.

Edit: Someone on Twitter pointed out to me that King's design is effectively just a furred Cubone and I hate knowing this.

Otherwise, the only inhumane thing about him is that they make him a dog. Which, you know... isn't exactly going very far down on the spectrum of likability for most people. In fact, this technique isn't anywhere near new. Toothless is just a giant cat and I love him for it but I wouldn't blame anyone who looked at the How to Train Your Dragon Dragons and went "I wish they acted like dragons." Because... They don't? They have the designs and move sets of dragons but most of their temperament is far more cat like, down to having dragon nip and being distracted by reflected light.

King is also the only foreground deviation for the protagonists. As I said when I first mentioned this, you can't even really go with Willow being heavier set. She is pretty much the textbook definition of "More to love" seeing as her being slightly heavier just gives her a softer design than the rest of the characters instead of being anywhere close to unappealing like one of Mabel's friends in Gravity Falls is. You're supposed to look at Willow and go "I bet she gives really good hugs" and that's about it. Her weight, much like her ethnicity frankly, is hardly what you're supposed to think about with her design besides basic contrast.

And she's still better than the rest of the cast who are models. Including Luz for that matter. Now the show's style doesn't lend itself well to distinguishing how pretty a character is besides their reactions from a different character... But it can also absolutely do ugly. And no one in this main cast is ugly. You want a NASTY scar, you're gonna have to look elsewhere than the tatted up teenage boy and the girl who has a little flair on one of her eyebrows. One is meant to look cool, the other is still the same job while also being slight enough not to embellish the main face too much.

Amity and Eda though are explicitly in text stated as REALLY PRETTY. Like model pretty from how people react to them. Yes, one of these people is Luz's girlfriend but literally any acknowledgement of her looks is more than Gus, Willow or any of the villains (especially positively) are given. Not even Odalia who is the best case against this argument. But, you know, those are Amity's genes running through Odalia. She's not gonna be ugly because then how are all of the Blight Children ready for a Vogue cover shoot?

And here's the thing: In most media, this isn't really a problem. People like attractive people and there's nothing wrong with that. I know people want more representation and they are right to want that but also most media is a fantasy of some sort. Especially for a basic wish fulfillment isekai like TOH, a really pretty harem is packaged explicitly into the fantasy because who doesn't want hot magical beings saying they're the best?

Except then there's the line of "Us Weirdos Gotta Stick Together," or the fact that Luz is stated to be bullied (but didn't actually look out of place amongst the cheerleaders or drama kids), or the fact that TOH theoretically peddled early on a Fantasy vs. Reality theme. It is a show that is meant to CELEBRATE the Other and be challenging to those who are commonly seen as better... But the Other isn't present. When they are... They're villains. Belos is the only character with a curse that doesn't make them pretty. It's really gruesome what the curse does to him, even before he becomes a full monster. Contrast that with Eda who sprouts feathers and that's really it? Then you have Tibbles, who is a literal pig, the evil publisher who is a lizard, the monster hunters who are orcs effectively, Warden Wrath who is a homunculus? There isn't actually a clear inspiration directly for him besides 'monster' which is part of why he's one of the best one off villains of the series. The closest to a protagonist monster is Hooty which the series goes out of its way to make most people mock, outright hate and/or be actively repulsed by him, especially if it's a character we're supposed to care about.

When it comes to the villains, there are two who stand out as prettier than the rest and they both have direct connections to the main cast. In fact, to Amity. Odalia who I talked about earlier and Boscha. I guess Matt if you want to count him but as far as looking like a basic ass bitch goes, you don't get much more basic than Matt without bleaching his skin. Boscha on the other hand's prettiness is pretty much the best argument we had before she was given a half assed redemption that she was going to be redeemed. Why else make her so much prettier than everyone else? Unless it was just fueled by "She is going to be next to Amity a few times and a Blight wouldn't interact with anyone too... alternative." None of Amity's friends are more monstrous than a third eye after all and that doesn't really hold Boscha back all that much. Frankly, it probably saved her from large forehead jokes akin to what Amity gets since they both have hairstyles that pull their hair back and that's a problem for the show's style.

What does all of this mean? Well, it means in a show that is trying to lift up those who feel like they don't belong, it's still reinforcing standard beauty ideals of society. Worse yet, it just kind of discredits that Luz meets ANY outcast. I wouldn't have called my friends in High School ugly of course but were any of us ready for the runway? Of course not. We didn't take care of ourselves right for that or just didn't have the right genes for it.

Because let's face it: The eyeball head girl was NEVER going to be a main character. And that's... also really boring. The fact that witches are just elves but without any of the culture, long lifespans (as far as we know) etc. like that is also just really boring. And for a fantasy show, especially one that pitches in the first episode that ANY folk tale we have originated here, that's not good. Especially since even if they look like elves, you could have still at least TRIED to make them interesting with things like the bile sac but that's a throwaway joke to the writers. And the saddest thing is... If you're a person who LIKES weird characters, or actually embraces their weirdness and so doesn't need to be told they'll have a Victoria Secrets model as a wife... What is TOH gonna do for you? Or for anyone who doesn't want designs that are less interesting and less unique than even Danny Phantom's. And that's from fucking Butch Hartman who is not exactly known for being a top tier artist. Like SAM as a goth is more alternative (especially for when the show first aired) than fucking ANYONE in the main cast of TOH. And that show debuted ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO. And Valerie even had a similar bodytype to Willow but with WAY more personality!

Now I'm just thinking about all the shows I grew up with like Total Drama Island that had so much fun with even their pretty boy designs. That's frankly my biggest issue. The pretty problem in TOH IS bad thematically. Above all else though... it's just boring. Boring and lazy. How these characters look don't mean ANYTHING to them. It doesn't say much about them, the show or anything else.

They're pretty just because the creator probably likes making pretty people and I can usually support. I support Yoko Taro after all. But Yoko Taro makes people (or androids which are based off humans). This is fantasy. You can do whatever you want and the TOH crew couldn't be assed enough to even do a demon.

In a world called the DEMON REALM! I think at that point, you need to ask why the fuck they're bothering with it being a fantasy show in the first place, let alone one trying to pitch itself as anything other than basic wish fulfillment.

=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[the-canary]

high ground [vash the stampede] .08.

Summary: Snippets of the little moments in between the chaos of traveling with one Humanoid Typhoon. [Vash/Reader]

prompt: procession.

A/N: Practice for the larger series I have in mind and practice on how to write Vash’s character, so this will be on the short end. more on the mc’s background mini-arc.

It starts with a letter. Vash will never understand how the members of the Roessler Mailing Company always managed to find their intended delivery target, but having seen the work she picked up from time to time he understood that they were persistent above all else. He watched from the other end of the diner talk as she talked to the brown-haired man, thanking him before taking the letter and opening it.

She frowns, something he isn’t used to seeing, as her eyes scan the letter over and over again. She lets out a sigh before pocketing it and walking over to where he and Wolfwood are sitting. The Insurance girls had taken a job at a local shop to make extra money, so they wouldn’t be seeing them anytime soon. Since he has known her, she had been making deliveries on and off to the mailing company, but those up to recently had been few and far between. Blue eyes watch her and Wolfwood talking, but he doesn’t seem to catch the gist of what they are really saying.

“And what are you going to do about this?” Wolfwood remarks while dragging a huff of his smoke. She shrugs, as if she has already been defeated and there isn’t much to do about the issue.

“I have to go,” she sighs out,  “I have no other choice.”

“Why do you need to go?” Vash can’t help but ask, as she turns to look at him. It sounds something between whine and something serious that she doesn't know what do say for a moment. She gives him a sardonic smile that makes her look older than she actually might be.

“This isn’t a thing I can say no to,” she pauses, as if choosing the best words to describe the situation, “It is part of my contract that I do deliveries whenever I get called on. It’s just my turn this time around.”

“Couldn’t you just ignore it?”

She laughs before answering, “Ignoring it or leaving it alone isn’t something I can do. They’ll just find me again eventually.”

She stays quiet after that, which Vash has come to understand to mean that she will no longer be speaking about the topic at hand. Wolfwood shares a look with him, but they don’t say anything either and the rest of the night is spent drinking and playing cards with the local townsfolk. She does the same as well, but leaves the bar earlier than either him or Wolfwood do. It isn’t until much later when they are finally heading back on their own that Vash decides to finally ask more about the subject.

“I don’t know the exact details or much about her own situation,” Wolfwood looks up at the moons above them with a somber stare, “But the Roessler Mailing Company is known to use to sorts of couriers to get their mail around this blasted desert from mercenaries to indentured servants. They pick up orphans while they’re young and train them, so they are so indebted to them that they spend the rest of their lives paying for it. Some die while carrying out deliveries and others would rather not live that kind of life anymore, so they disappear…but they’re always found somehow and they have to pay twice the price for doing all that work.”

Vash can’t help but stop walking and frown as Wolfwood turns to look at him: “Like I said, I don’t know her own situation, but I am sure she’s got it figured out. She’s a smart gal.”

“I know, but still…” Vash drifts off, remembering the early days of their friendship and how she moved in and out of his life due to making so many deliveries.

She would make a complaint here and there about having to always meet him and it cost her and though it never seemed to bother her, Vash couldn’t help but wonder if any of that cost her most of her life. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was all that she has known all her life -- following someone’s line and order so that she could live another day.

In the morning, she’ll give them her goodbye for now and it will take Vash a long time to ask her the questions bubbling up from the night before.

[lavendarlily]

ectoberhaunt day 5: hunt @ectoberhaunt

give & take

words: 2112

read it on ao3

tucker has to protect his loved ones, because no one else will.

(tech hunter au)

cw: death, slight mention of blood

i had too much fun writing this there may be a part 2 eventually

Tucker raced home, hand clutched to his side. He could already feel the blood seeping through his suit, the drying liquid creating a sticky mess. He snuck back into his bedroom with practiced stealth and nearly collapsed on the floor. Peeling back the torn fabric, Tucker saw it was indeed a deep gash. This would need stitches.

Cursing to himself, he pulled out his first-aid kit from under the bed. This thing had seen a lot of use over the last few months, and while he was proud of his ability to take care of himself, it wasn’t preferable. Tucker knew he was messing himself up; he knew it was irresponsible, but if not him, then who?

Who would protect this town? Forego all instincts, put their life on the line, just to make sure everyone else was safe?

Tucker scoffed at the thought, then returned his focus to the task at hand. He hissed at the sting of the needle passing through his skin again and again, relieved when the waterfall of blood became a slight trickle. A grim realization hit that he could very well soon be buried under scars if things kept up the way they were, and how would he explain away that? 

It had only been three months so far. The learning curve was tough, but Tucker was tougher. He had to be.

What hurt more than the cuts and bruises was how these ghosts had changed the lives of his loved ones. Tucker despised the way his mother was afraid to walk alone anywhere, or that his father had to take off work to tend to a broken collarbone from a particular incident. His heart broke at the way ghosts consumed the life of his best friend, and how they seemed to seek him out specifically. As the son of people who dedicated their lives to dissecting and eradicating ghosts so publicly, it was no surprise he had a target on his back, and Tucker resented that fact. 

That’s why Tucker chose to remain anonymous. He couldn’t risk outing his civilian self to his enemies. They would only come at him harder, and surely make his loved one’s lives more difficult than they already were. No, this was something he had to keep secret. It was best for everyone. 

It was increasingly challenging though, to maintain a low profile. Sam was, somehow, on the side of the ghosts, and criticized every person or organization that made it their mission to hunt them down. Not that Tucker was too surprised considering her personal beliefs. Danny displayed noticeable discomfort every time the subject was brought up. Especially when it came to Phantom. 

This seemed to be the main point of contention. Almost every one of Tucker’s peers idolized the humanoid ghost. He’s a hero! So handsome! Did you see the way he blasted the Box Ghost? Incredible!

In Tucker’s mind, Phantom was the root of the problem. He wouldn’t leave Amity Park. He escaped every assailant. He was showing every other ghost that they too, could remain in the Earth realm and cause havoc without having to face the consequences. 

Tucker would make an example of him. 

He finished up the stitching with a layer of antiseptic and popped two over-the-counter pain relief pills. After carefully removing his suit (it would repair itself come tomorrow) and changing into a set of pajamas, Tucker slowly laid down on his bed, favoring his uninjured side. His clock read 2:26am, and he internally groaned. Four hours of sleep would have to be enough.

The next day was rough from his sleep deprivation, but it wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last. What happened over the course of the school day, he didn’t know. He could barely focus, barely keep his eyes open. It’s a miracle he didn’t fall asleep in class; that was Danny’s reputation anyways. 

Once at home, Tucker immediately flopped onto his bed. Homework could wait. A nap was necessary. He lost consciousness as soon as he was curled up under the weight of his comforter.

A blaring noise from his nightstand brought Tucker out of his sleep. He must have really dozed off, for his bedroom was almost completely dark. He turned his attention to the source of what had woken him.

His alert system was going off.

There was a ghost.

Instinct took over and Tucker geared up in the blink of an eye. He threw his window open and jumped outside, his hoverboard catching him. His tech latched on to a spectral trail and Tucker sped off in its direction. 

The trail brought him to a clearing just outside of town. At the very end of it, he found Phantom. 

The ghost wasn’t doing anything, simply laying on his back, hovering maybe an inch off the ground. There was a calm breeze that gracefully sped through the grass, ruffling the ghost’s sparkling hair. Phantom’s attention was focused upwards towards the sky, as if he were gazing at the stars.Though Tucker couldn’t see his face, the ghost seemed…relaxed.

Which worked perfectly in Tucker’s favor.

He was careful not to make a sound while he pulled out a weapon that he’d recently added to his collection. Phantom’s hearing was, like the rest of him, supernatural, and Tucker couldn’t risk giving himself away. 

Thanks to his friendship with Danny, Tucker had (unofficial) access to the tech at FentonWorks. Sure, Tucker was an engineering whiz, but none of the equipment he came up with paralleled that of the Fentons.

The last time Tucker had been at Danny’s house, he’d excused himself to the bathroom and snuck into the lab. He swiped an ecto-paralytic that the Fenton’s had been particularly pleased with, and Tucker had been saving it just for Phantom. 

Once the dart was loaded, Tucker brought the weapon to eye level and secured his aim. He couldn’t miss. This was a one-time opportunity to have Phantom so off guard, and he wouldn’t waste it.

Tucker sucked in a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The dart hit its intended target dead on. 

Phantom yelped, bursting out of his relaxed position. He spun around and spotted Tucker, then took off.

This was no issue. Tucker just had to keep Phantom in sight while the paralytic worked through the ghost’s system. As soon as he was incapacitated, Tucker would have no problem with the rest.

Strangely enough, Phantom’s route began to look familiar - it just so happened they were speeding down Danny’s street. Tucker realized Phantom was trying to make a break for the Fenton’s portal and escape into the safety of the Ghost Zone.

Like he was going to let that happen.

He quickly typed a command into his suit and activated the ghost shield around the Fenton’s residence. Phantom slammed into it - he crumpled into the alley beside the home. From above, Tucker watched.

The paralytic finally began kicking in. Phantom struggled to get to his feet, but failed. Once he was a motionless heap, Tucker moved in, landing beside the ghost.

“Thought your actions would never catch up to you, huh?” Tucker taunted. He kicked at Phantom, rolling him onto his back with his foot. The ghost’s face was scratched up with ectoplasm leaking from the wounds. 

“You thought,” Tucker continued, voice growing louder, bolder, “you could terrorize my town, and get away with it?”

As if Phantom could answer in his paralyzed state. Tucker chuckled, and leaned in closer to the ghost’s face.

“Not any more.”

Tucker disabled his helmet. He wanted Phantom to see who was responsible for bringing him down. 

Phantom’s eyes seemed to explode with energy. 

“My name is Tucker. Tucker Foley. I protect this town, not you. You have invited yourself here for too long, caused too much pain. My mother fears for her life every time she walks out the door. My father suffered at the hands of one of your kind. My best friend is constantly being targeted. He doesn’t sleep. His own parents don’t care because they’re so busy studying your existence. And I can’t let that go on.”

Tucker stopped, letting himself breathe. He couldn’t get emotional now. This was business. He powered up the ray that sat in the palm of his hand, and placed it directly on Phantom’s chest, right where his core sat, then reactivated the helmet, shielding his face. This could get messy.

Despite being paralyzed, Phantom’s core was alive. Even beneath the suit, Tucker could feel it beneath his palm, even see an intense glow that he’d never witnessed before. The ghost’s chest was heaving quickly, like he was hyperventilating (this was impossible - ghosts had no need to breathe). Peering at his face, Tucker found streaks of tears escaping from Phantom’s violently glowing eyes. 

What a sick joke.

“Fuck you, Phantom.”

Tucker channeled all his anger behind his blast, sending it straight through the ghost’s core. Green consumed his vision. When it cleared, where Phantom had been underneath his palm was now a pile of green goo. 

Ugh, disgusting. He shook the mess from his hand.

Grabbing three different thermoses, Tucker gathered up the mess. No point in risking it reforming. He’d have to bury these somewhere they wouldn’t be found, but that was a task for tomorrow. Right now, he wanted to bask in the relief that Amity Park was finally safe. He’d done it. He’d gotten rid of the ghost kid. Now hopefully all the others would get the message to Stay Out. 

The elated part of Tucker wanted to rush up to Danny’s bedroom and share the good news. Sure, he’d never told Danny about his secret side-gig, but now that the worst was behind them, Tucker felt safe sharing this part of his life. 

Yes, Tucker had feared the backlash from his enemies, but he also had to admit he had other reasons for keeping his friend in the dark. Danny was so protective - Tucker couldn’t face that worry, or worse, repeated lectures on his safety. With the threat gone now, he felt it was time. Besides, this was Danny. They were best friends. Very little could come between them.

It was time to head home.

To Tucker’s disappointment, Danny wasn’t at school the next day. Sam hadn’t heard anything, so he shot off a quick text in between classes to check in. The entire day went by with no response. Maybe he’d swing by the Fenton’s after school. 

Walking up to Danny’s door, Tucker flashed his eyes to where just barely a day before he’d ended the scum that was Phantom. Faded green splotches stained the pavement, but little other evidence remained. He refocused his attention to the door and knocked. 

A red-eyed Maddie greeted him, and waved him in. Tucker saw two men standing in the middle of the room, notepads in hand, badges around their necks. Maddie led him to the kitchen and pulled out a chair.

“Just one moment sweetie,” she said, her voice raw, then returned to the living room.

He didn’t have to wait long before she reappeared and took a seat across from him.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

Maddie tenderly smiled, and softly took his hand. “Danny didn’t come home last night. I’m sure you noticed he wasn’t in school today either. Both his phone and wallet were still in his room. We…don’t know where he is.”

Tucker’s heart dropped to his stomach, and tears welled in his eyes.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything that could help us find him, do you?”

Tucker shook his head. Was Danny already gone when he was right there last night? Could Tucker have been able to do something? 

Where was Danny?

The ring of the phone interrupted their conversation, and Maddie gave Tucker an apologetic smile. “You should go home. Be with your family. We’ll let you know if we get an update.” She stood and picked up the call.

Tucker let himself out. Instead of going home, he went straight to Sam’s. They hugged and cried and tried to think of something, anything , between the two of them that could lead them to their friend. 

Weeks went by. The sting of Danny’s absence followed Sam and Tucker down the streets, through the halls, in their sleep. The events from the night before Danny’s disappearance remained a secret. Tucker couldn’t bring himself to tell Sam. He couldn’t risk losing her too.

Yes, the disappearance of Danny Fenton was tragic. But one small blessing came upon Amity Park that gave the citizens a sense of relief they hadn’t felt in so long. 

At least the ghosts were gone.

[silverbroc]

Sketch-dump under_glitches

Well, hi again! today i'm going to post some of my underglitches drawings/sketches, i'll put only the digital ones in this post, later i'll post the traditionals (there are more of them)

I'll explain the context of each of these drawings

Those above are some characters practices, i drew these just to understand the way i'd draw them

Here i tried to set the dynamic between sans and Frisk, the context to this conversation is sans's "visit" to the loading screen(void), Frisk and Chara saw a giant blast while they were reseting, i'll give more details next post

Finally Sans Gaster Blaster design (First version)

This is the first design i've come to think of, later i changed it to be more humanoid, newer design will be next post

This an Alter version of page 10, not as bad as i thought it was back then

Here are the pages i was working on (12 and 13), i was going to finish them this year but as i said here, the script had more holes than a swiss cheese

The UNKOWN

AANNNNDDDD the "villan", basically "he" was an error created after Frisk reseted the timelines too many times

"he" has these tantacles that can be used as arms, everything "he" touches becomes "glitchy" (thats why this au name's under-glitches lol) and he can posses other NPCs body, but only the "weak"ones, i have his whole origin story, maybe i'll do a post about it later

All drawings from this post were done in december2021 and february2022

And for this post that's it, i'll post the traditional drawings tomorrow, hope you have a nice day, see u next post :D

[supermediabrothers6]

So I wrote a short story about the First Doctor to submit to the Big Finish writing contest this year and I was rejected. Since the story won’t be turned into a Big Finish audio it’s now just a fun little fan fiction. Therefore I’m posting it here for your amusement :) enjoy!

“A Step Too Far” By Billy.

The Doctor was young. Their current body was wearing a bit thin, but that was practically nothing to a Time Lord. It was their first body. The only one they’d ever known. The Doctor’s people cycled through a little over a dozen over the course of their life span. Of course, if they were honest with themselves, they were quite nervous about renewal (The process by which a Time Lord exchanged an old body for a new one). They acknowledged this fear as irrational. Billions of Time Lords before them had regenerated successfully to the point where it wasn’t worth remarking upon. “But,” the nagging voice at the back of their mind said, “you have never done it.” The Doctor’s subconscious, played on their own prized feelings of individuality to undercut their confidence. The cheek… It was a good thing then that the Doctor was almost never honest with themselves, or anyone else, about anything.

Portraying a confidence so real they almost believed in it themselves, the insecure youngster who called themselves the Doctor strutted into the control room of the TARDIS that they had the audacity to call theirs.

While the Doctor was young, next to the individuals who met them there, they were a corpse several times over. Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright, looked an awful lot like Time Lords, but they were in fact alien intruders from a strange and barbaric world known as “Earth.” “Earth,” the Doctor thought, sounded like a word one would say while trying to move a heavy object across the room. “URTH!” Ian was humanoid, generally speaking, but strangely box-like. He had a rectangular body, rectangular features on a rectangular head, and two rectangular arms that ended in cuboid fists. Even his sense of style added to the effect. His constant frumpy sweaters, rectangular ended ties, and his haircut angular and semi symmetrical. Barbara’s fashion sense the Doctor approved of much more. Her hair was worn in a big, almost spherical, shape. She also wore mostly sweaters, but hers were much less boxy than Ian’s, and the collars were often rounded like the collar of a spacesuit, which the Doctor found amusing. The last of their companions, however, was no savage alien creature, but their own granddaughter. A charming young woman who had become so interested with the culture of Earth that she also dressed in an earth style somewhere between Ian’s and Barbara’s. Nice sweaters, and a high and tight haircut. Annoyingly she even insisted on being called by an Earthling name: “Susan.”

The Doctor could hardly blame Susan for being so interested in the blue-green speckled world. They admitted to also being intrigued by it for several key reasons. First and foremost being of course that they couldn’t seem to escape the bloody place. The day they and Susan had “borrowed” the TARDIS from a scrapyard on their home planet they’d set course for the wonders of the universe, and landed right away on the blasted thing. Ever since it seemed every other trip they took it was another random visit to a culture or historical period on the planet Earth. Another reason, of course, was the fact that the Doctor had two abducted Earthlings living on their ship.

It was all Susan’s fault. The Doctor had landed for a time in London on Earth in the mid 20th century for reasons of their own. Susan had insisted on participating in the local schooling system. Perhaps inevitably two of her so called “instructers” at the institution she had attended noticed something suspicious about her, and had followed her home, discovering the TARDIS. In a move spurred by absolute panic, the Doctor had taken off, abducting these two earther subjects, and dragging them all across the universe. Ever since then, they’d spent even more time on Earth than before as the Doctor tried everything they could to find a way back to the time period from where Barbara and Ian used to belong. To make matters worse it was on that same disastrous trip that the ship’s chameleon circuit had stopped working. Trapping the ship in the shape of a “Police Public Call Box” whatever that was. Ian, Barbara, and even Susan had tried to explain it to the Doctor multiple times and they still weren’t sure they fully understood.

So maybe it was only because of the sheer amount of exposure the Doctor had had to the earth and its people. But the Doctor also found themselves absolutely fascinated by the earth and its people. When arriving on earth, on the voyage that resulted in the alien invaders on their ship, the Doctor had adapted to wearing earthling clothes to blend in. Now their earth style wardrobe had become the only items out of their expansive closet that they ever wore. They had not sunk so low as to wear the dull sweaters their companions did, but instead wore a jacket with tails, a waist coat with a watch chain, a flowing cape, and a series of colorful patterned ties. Fashion had been a passion awakened in the Doctor by their travels. At home, everyone wore the same drab robes, with only minor differentiation based on ranks or certain professions. In many other places in the universe clothes were used as an expression of the inner self. There was an art form in choosing the right clothes to leave the right impression in the minds of the people around you. Today, as on most every other day, the Doctor wished to create the impression of maturity, near omnipotent wisdom, and supreme confidence.

The Doctor stood at the console of the ship and placed their hand, in what they hoped was a masterful way, on the control panel. “Ms. Wright! Mr. Chestermum! You’ve made no secret of your casual disrespect and disregard for me and my ability to control this vessel. As if the man who built this great craft would not be its master!” They hesitated somewhat after that. Concerned that Susan would call them out on their flagrant fib, but as always she left them un-challenged. They continued: “But I promised you that I would indeed bring you back to your own time and your own planet, and I as always, am a man of my word. So, if you would be so kind to observe the scanner!” With a flourish the Doctor flipped the scanner switch and pointed dramatically at the screen overhead, keeping their eyes on Ian, and Barbara’s faces. Sadly, rather than the looks of excitement, gratitude, elation, or even shame, that the Doctor expected, their faces had a look of bemused condescension. Angry, and confused the Doctor looked back at the scanner, only to see the screen buried in static.

Susan piped up hesitantly, trying to be helpful: “It must have developed a fault grandfather.” “Nevermind!” said the Doctor cutting her off. Their self confidence was rapidly depleting. They needed to do something fast to save face. “We don’t need the scanner after all” they said as they moved as casually as they could with how hard their hearts were beating towards the door controls. “Now hold on Doctor.” Ian interjected “Just a minute! You haven’t even checked the environmental readings yet!” The Doctor was feeling heat rising in their head. In their state of shattered hubris, Ian’s words, meant as a friendly reminder, instead felt like a cruel insult. The heat in the Doctor’s face boiled over and exploded outward “FOR THE LAST TIME CHEDDARBIN! I AM THIS VESSEL’S MASTER! I am sick to death of your insinuations, and insults sir! Once and for all I will tell you this: I am the Doctor, and I know what I’m doing!” they then wrenched the door control a good deal harder than necessary, stormed through the slowly opening inner doors and grasped the door handle of the police box shaped outer doors. They took one extra second to look back at their companions, probably to finally get the reaction they had initially hoped for, and flung open the doors. They then immediately, and quite against their will, flew out the door, and into the vacuum of space.

In the briefest millisecond after the Doctor realized they were about to die, a series of thoughts passed through their mind at a speed that surprised even them. Their earlier insecurities about the concept of renewal of course sprang immediately to the forefront of their mind. They were almost grateful. The lifespan of any individual’s body was always hard to gage. Though their current body looked, and felt, to be near the end of its tether, they could be living with their fears and trepidations about the end of their first life for another year, or another hundred years, or another thousand. As unpleasant as a sudden violent, or accidental death might be, at least it would be over. They would know what it was like, how it was done, and could live the rest of their lives without ever having to worry about it again.

They wondered what they’d look like when it was done? What they’d BE like when it was done? Renewal wasn’t just a new body after all, it was a full body and mind metamorphosis! What if they decided they didn’t like their clothes anymore? What if they ended up as an incredible bore who decided to be mature, and responsible, and take Susan, and the ship back home? They could never go back. They simply couldn’t, even if they wanted to. Even if they could, outsiders would not be permitted. What would become of Ian and Barbara?

They had always assumed they would go through this alone, or perhaps with Susan by their side. They’d never thought of the possibility of their first renewal being observed by two strange, savage, aliens. They couldn’t help but be greatly amused at the thought of the human’s reactions to seeing the process take place, and the result of it. If they had failed to impress them with their ability to pilot the TARDIS at least they’d finally wow them using basic time lord biology. They wondered if they’d be able to see their faces as they changed. They tried to think about where they were in relation to them so they could turn their head towards them again.

They then realized as the shock began to wear off, that they were spinning through space into an endless void. They would either asphyxiate, freeze, or explode from decompression. Regardless there wouldn’t be enough living cells in their body left to start the process. They were going to die, really die, pointlessly, and very far from home. Instead of impressing their companions, they’d shown in their final moments to be a blustering preening idiot. They’d traveled with these people, as alien, and irritating as they often were. They’d fought with them, laughed with them, cried with them, and now because of their own ego, their own insecurities, they were dying alone. Despite all they’d been thru together, the last memory they’d have of them was them shouting like the petulant spoiled child they were.

It was finally at this moment that the Doctor was broken out of their thoughts by incredible pain in their arm. They’d never taken their hand off the door handle after opening it. They’d flown out the doorway, and their arm had just snapped taught like a rope between them and the TARDIS’ outer door. They flapped like a leaf on a breeze, barely hanging on to its mother tree in fall. Despite the impression of wind, it was eerily quiet as the Doctor was buffeted about. “Of course!” The Doctor thought, “sound doesn’t carry in space!” Almost as soon as they’d had that thought, they impossibly heard the sadly familiar noise of their granddaughter in great distress: “Grandfather!” she shouted. With effort, the Doctor looked up at the open TARDIS door. Susan was just standing there, in the TARDIS doorway, in almost the same spot the Doctor had stood when they were flung from the ship! Yet she showed no sign of being sucked into the void with them. Barbara stood behind her, she looked as if she had rushed forward to prevent Susan from falling out, only to realize the same strange fact the Doctor had.

There was a moment of impasse where neither Susan, nor Barbara wished to abandon the Doctor, but neither could figure out how to reach them without leaving the TARDIS. The moment lasted just long enough for the Doctor to realize despite all logic that they were still able to breathe. The moment concluded as Ian came to the rescue. He approached the doorway of the TARDIS brandishing the heavy wooden coat stand from the console room. Barbara and Susan, understanding what he was trying to do, moved to brace him as he extended the stand longways out towards the Doctor as a lifeline. The Doctor gratefully grasped it, thanking their lucky stars that their artificial hand was holding up so well.

After tense seconds that seemed to stretch on for eternity, the Doctor was safe on the solid extra dimensional ground of the TARDIS interior. They felt their frail, and worn body threatening to drift into unconsciousness but they were unable to allow that. Their companions dragged them bodily within the interior doors. “Shut the doors!” barked Ian. Susan rushed to the control panel and obeyed. The doors hummed shut. The serene buzz of the machine was rendered irritating in relation to how hard the Doctor’s heart was pounding. The Doctor struggled to their feet, and moved to the controls. “Are you alright grandfather?” Susan asked. “You should rest” said Barbara. “Hm? What? Oh no no no no no, quite out of the question.” The Doctor muttered almost to themself. “Susan, check the fault locator.” Reluctant to leave her grandfather’s side, Susan nevertheless obeyed. “Everything is reading normal grandfather.” “Not possible.” The Doctor sputtered. “Surely at least it’s reading a fault in the scanner?” As they spoke they checked the scanner switch. The scanner worked perfectly, showing a frankly breathtaking view of the world beyond. The Doctor also noticed rather ruefully that even when the TARDIS had landed in empty space, from the positions of the stars, they appeared to be only a stones throw from Earth.

Eventually the Doctor was able to get a rough idea as to the sequence of events. Apparently the moment the Doctor was thrown from the TARDIS door the magnificent ship had extended a kind of protective barrier that contained enough oxygen, pressure, and heat to protect the Doctor and their companions from serious harm. “What a marvelous safety feature!” the Doctor exclaimed without thinking. Recovering quickly they sputtered: “Silly old fool that I am, I quite forgot I installed it! Hehe! The only part I don’t understand, If I understand, I mean, if I remember correctly, how this feature works, as it was working even before the door opened, there should have been no explosive decompression when I opened the doors.” “There wasn’t.” said Ian. “What do you mean my boy hm?” snapped the Doctor. “Do you think I flung myself out the door in a fit of peak hmm? Do you imagine I’ve lost my wits completely?” Their companions exchanged a glance. “Doctor”, said Barbara, “If there had been explosive decompression we all would have been sucked out too. When you opened the doors the ship pitched violently. It almost felt as if the ship was being shaken in such a way specifically to push you out the door.”

The Doctor felt a chill shoot through them. The fact was that when they left their home planet they’d had next to no experience with these machines. They’d heard stories but they’d assumed that people who spoke of TARDIS as if they were alive were engaging in romantic exaggeration. But between this instance, and the incident with the fast return switch…

The air corridor had been in place before they’d been ejected. They didn’t believe the ship meant them harm, but they did think they were being warned. What was it they’d said before the ship had thrown them out? “This ship is mine!” “I am the master!” They’d started believing their own lies, and the ship was fighting back. Warning them not to take it for granted. The Doctor felt then the true enormity of the situation. They stood not in the control room of a space-time vessel, but in the belly of a great creature. A creature that could expel, or potentially swallow them, at any time. The Doctor decided to keep this information to themself. One more lie would have to be acceptable if it meant allowing their companions to sleep at night. They would simply have to be more careful to live in harmony with this beast, this ship, this being, that they had begun to think of as home.

The Doctor turned to their companions, “Oh Susan!” They said. “I wonder, have you been keeping up with your lessons child?” Susan looked bewildered, “Well, no grandfather.” “Oh dear, dear me. We left Coal Hill school quite a time ago now my dear and I’m afraid you’ve fallen quite behind. What good fortune it is then that we have two of your teachers here to help.” “Doctor…” Ian seemed about to interject. “cha cha cha!” The Doctor said to interrupt, “I will not have a juvenile delinquent in the family, now go with Ian and Barbara and they’ll fill you in on what you must have missed in the time you’ve all been gone.” They shuffled Ian, Barbara, and Susan towards the door to the rest of the TARDIS. “What are you going to do Doctor?” Ian asked. “Work on figuring out what went wrong?” “What? Oh no no no no.” The Doctor said. “It was nothing my boy. Just need to give the old girl some over due maintenance that’s all.” As soon as their companions were out of earshot, the Doctor set about giving the console room the most thorough cleaning it had ever received. They resolved that from then on this would be the best cared for TARDIS in all of time and space.

If you were to ask her, the TARDIS would not answer of course, but inside she would think, that while this promise was not always kept, the intention, and spirit of the thing was what meant the most.

The End

[taewritesstuff]

Say hi!!! To Bennet Beau, a Lupin paladin, I made him to practice my furry art. And maybe one day play him in a dnd campaign. After designing him I just had to give him a backstory aswell.

Bennet lived in a tribe of Lupins, humanoid dogs, life was simple, living amongst the wilds, they had set up a village that was self-sufficient, they grew crops, and hunted wild game.

Though their most prized targets are werewolves, Lupins have evolved to be great at hunting werewolves with them being able to sense them even in their human forms.

Bennets father, Bastian Beau, is the leader and strongest in their tribe, he led in the tribe's last great hunt against the werewolves when he was still a teenager, he cares for everyone in his tribe, as they are like family to him.

On a quiet night, Bennet had been awoken by a butterfly that had flown through the window and landed on his snout, sneaking out of his home to follow it. He dashed past trees, pounced over logs, he loved the feeling of wind as he ran.

Finally catching the butterfly in his hands, he looked around and noticed he had run all the way to a hidden lake.

“Is this what you were trying to show me little guy? It's beautiful.” Bennet said with a smile.

Gently holding the butterfly, he watched how the lake reflected the stars.

His focus was broken when he heard the sounds of fighting in the distance, releasing the butterfly, running back to his village he began to smell smoke, breaking through the tree line, there was fire everywhere.

Neighbors ran, Lupin warriors fought back, against men in large suits of armor and wearing animal pelts.

By the time he noticed him, one of these men had raised a sword ready to take his life, that's when his father impaled the man with his spear.

“BENNET!!!”

Bastian hugged his son then picked him up, and ran for the tree line.

“Dad, what's going on?!”

“Poacher's son, they're here”

Bennet had heard stories of poachers but believed they were mere stories meant to frighten him.

“Where is mom?”

“She's leading a part of the tribe through the forest, we'll catch up with them soon.”

Bastian could hear horses they were being followed, running at breakneck speeds, Bastian had finally collapsed.

When Bennet looked his father's back had been riddled with arrows and he had lost a lot of blood.

“DAD!!! NO GET UP PLEASE!!!” Bennet cried and yelled for his father to stand, to keep running, but he was just so tired.

Circling around them, the poachers on horseback, were closing in.

Raising their weapons to skewer the two. One of the poachers was stabbed through the gut.

When Bennet looked up from his father he saw a man in silver armor, draped in a blue cloak, he was practically glowing, lifting his hand he sent a blast of golden light that knocked the poachers off their horses.

Getting to their feet they attacked the man, but could hardly touch him, as he was too swift, the one who did manage to land a hit, his blade hardly scratched his armor. Before Bennet knew they were all cut down.

Sheathing his blade, the man walked over to Bennet and his father.

“My dad… He's really hurt can you help him, please.”

Placing a hand on Bastian's back, and closing his eyes, he began to glow, the arrows lifted from his dad's back, and his wounds scarred over, seeming to be coated in a golden substance, when the light faded. Bastian began to sit up.

“Dad!!”

“Bennet!!” They said before hugging each other.

They then turned to the man

“Who are you” Bastion said

“My name is Gregor and I am a traveling paladin. I have been hunting these nasty fellows for some time now. But I lost them a few weeks back. Had a feeling the smoke would lead me right to them. I feel bad for losing their tracks, this could have been avoided if I hadn't, so if you'd allow me, I'd like to help you rebuild what you lost.

“Of course we'll need all the help we can get, thank you, but first we have to gather the lost, injured, and scared.

That night and morning Bennet, bastion, and Gregor, found the rest of the tribe, all throughout the forest, a few were injured but with the help of Gregor, they were all recovering.

Gregor lived amongst Bennet’s tribe for a few months to help them rebuild, in the process they learned from each other, the tribe taught Gregor their traditions, and Gregor shared stories of his adventures of the outside world, great kingdoms and menacing monsters.

Bennet was especially close to Gregor; he loved to hear his stories, and every day he checked in on Gregor, to see what he was doing and to help him with whatever he could.

When the village was rebuilt, with some improvements to defensive positions and equipment, Gregor was ready to leave.

Before he left the tribe celebrated with a feast and music, when the party began dying down and Gregor was packing his stuff onto his horse.

Bennet approached him

“Do you have to go, I thought you liked it here”

“Aww Bennet, I do you have all shown me so much and you have all been welcoming.”

“But I'll miss you”

“And I'll miss you little hound, I can always visit”

“I know” but Bennet still seemed sad.

Fidgeting with his armor, Gregor took off his insignia and handed it to Bennet, here so you can always remember me, and who knows maybe one day you can become a great Paladin yourself, I am sure you'll be able to help so many people.

Bennet hugged Gregor, and just like that Gregor was off, before leaving he instilled a dream of being a savior in Bennet's heart, and from that day forward, Bennet trained amongst his tribe, to become as strong as he could, to protect those who can't protect themselves.

And when he reached adulthood he set out to become a true paladin.

[assbutt-writes]

A Heart Of Iron Chapter 25

Chapter below cut

LOKI

Loki was pissed. He could practically feel the power emanating from Tony's hoodie pocket, and, with Thanos coming, something that powerful could either help them win the war or make them lose it. With the way Tony was being so secretive about what it was, Loki was pretty sure that it was the latter, and that both infuriated and worried him.

Once he got to his room, he quickly changed into a t-shirt and shorts and started to head down to the gym to blow off some steam. He went inside and looked around, deciding on trying the virtual arena that Tony had set up a while back where they could face off against different simuls with various power sets and selected a humanoid one with the "super-soldier" power set. He got so lost in his ruthless attacks on the simulated enemy that he didn't notice Natasha sitting on the bench in the simulation room until she said his name.

"Loki? What's going on? I never see you down here," she asked, and Loki flinched at the interruption.

"I just needed to blow off some steam," he muttered, going back to pummeling the simulation with blasts of green magic.

"Look, I know about what happened in Tony's room. You don't have to talk to me about it, but you should probably stop attacking the poor simul. He looks like he's one hit away from death," she said with a smirk as Loki threw another punch and the virtual fighter fell to the ground, his health bar showing a zero as his body faded away and the words "You won!" appeared on the screen.

Loki sighed in annoyance and let his hands fall to his side. "What you heard was probably all there was to hear. Tony had a really powerful object that he was hiding in his hoodie pocket and refused to show me. He snapped at me, so I got mad back. There's really nothing else to say."

He turned to move on to the next enemy, but Natasha pressed a button and the simulator turned off. He turned around and glared at her, opening his mouth to snap at her, but the look on her face made him falter. She motioned for him to sit down next to her, and when he hesitated, she sighed.

"Okay, I might not know all of what's happening between you and Tony, but I think I have some idea," she said with a soft look on her face that made Loki think that she knew more about his kind of situation than she was letting on. "You need to just talk to him. The more you keep yourself from telling him, the less likely you will be to ever do it, and I don't think that's what you want."

"But Steve-" Loki started, and she shook her head.

"Whatever you think is going on between them, I can assure you that it's not what it is. Just talk to him," she told him, and Loki tried to take that in.

"Yeah," he said, standing up to leave. "I'll think about it. You might want to do the same, though."

She looked at him with a look of surprise and consideration, watching him as he left

As he walked back to his room, Natasha's words played over and over in his head. What if she was right? What if him running away only made things worse? What if Tony-

Suddenly, he heard a choked shout of his name come from Tony's room. All thoughts of what had just happened vanished from his mind, and he sped toward Tony's room, a million possibilities running through his mind. When he got to the door, he could hear muffled choking sounds coming from the room, but the door was locked. He kicked as hard as he could on the door, which didn't budge. He kept kicking before remembering his magic and using it to unlock the door, throwing it open and rushing inside.

What he saw, however, he never could have expected. Tony was suspended in the air, his right hand clutching at his throat as if he was trying to pry something off of it and had a red arc reactor pendant dangling from his left that was glowing a brilliant ruby red. His eyes were glowing the same color, darting around as if he was looking at an invisible threat. Loki immediately rushed forward and tried to yank the pendant from his grip, but the second he moved to grab it, he was sucked into the vision, too.

Loki is fighting a horse-like alien with a blue-skinned humanoid alien riding it on the Bifrost. He ducks under the rider's attacks and stabs them in the shoulder with his sword, and, when they fall off their horse, Loki moves on to the next, working his way to where Tony and Thanos are fighting. There's a gash across Tony's chest that barely misses his suit's arc reactor, and, as Loki watches, Thanos picks up Tony by the neck, and one of Tony's hands comes up to his neck to try and pry Thanos's off. It doesn't work, though, and Tony calls out Loki's name before Thanos stabs him right above the heart and throws him off the Bifrost.

No. This can't happen, not again. Loki rushes to the edge of the Bifrost, screaming Tony's name, and Thanos is coming closer to him, and Loki feels a stab in his chest as if his heart is bleeding, like a part of his soul just got torn out, and he realizes that Tony is dead, and Loki slowly turns around to face Thanos, eyes filled with rage, and he's pulling out his dagger, moving to strike-

And suddenly he was back in Tony's room, crouched down on the floor. He looked around for Tony and found him lying down on the floor. The red glow was gone from his closed eyes and the pendant, no longer glowing, was in Steve's hand, who was looking equal parts scared and confused, his eyes moving between the two of them.

Loki quickly moved over to Tony, wrapping him in a fierce hug, tears streaming down his face as he held on to Tony as hard as he could. Tony was relaxed in his arms, almost too relaxed, but Loki didn't notice. All he noticed was that Tony was here. Safe. Alive.

After what could've been eons, Steve cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think we need to talk about what the hell just happened. I mean, Tony, your eyes were glowing red, and I could've sworn that, when I first walked in here, you were floating at least 2 feet off the ground."

Loki reluctantly pulled back and froze when he saw his hand. It was covered in blood, and Loki was almost positive it wasn't his own. He looked up shakily at Tony, whose face was pale and eyes were closed.

"JARVIS, get Bruce," Loki heard himself say, his head spinning.

"Loki?" Steve asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"He's hurt. Bad. I think-" Loki choked on the words he knew were true. "I think he's dying."

Steve paled.

"How? I mean, I saw him an hour ago and he was fine, and JARVIS didn't alert us to any intruders," Steve asked worriedly.

"That amulet you're holding gave him and me a vision of Thanos killing him, and the damn thing made it real. I knew that it was dangerous, but I ran away and made him hate me, so he didn't trust me enough to tell me about it. This is my fault," Loki realized with dawning horror.

"Hey, no, Loki, look at me. None of this is your fault. Sure, you probably shouldn't have run away that day, but you don't control how he feels about you. And, anyway, he didn't tell any of us about it. I have a feeling he knew how dangerous it was, and, as usual, he thought he could handle it by himself and didn't want to worry us," Steve assured him, moving to kneel beside him.

Their conversation was interrupted by Bruce and a team of medics coming in. They lifted Tony up onto the stretcher and put an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, wheeling him out of the room. Loki tried to follow them, but they blocked his path, and, when he tried to push through them, Steve laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't do anything else for him right now. They're gonna take care of him," Steve said, and Loki shook his head.

"That's a magical wound from an Infinity stone. There's no guarantee that anything they try will work. I'm the only one here that might have a chance of saving him. Please at least let me try," Loki pleaded, and, after a moment of consideration, Steve let him go.

Loki ran to the medical wing and, when he got there, he quickly explained the situation. The doctors reluctantly let him try, nothing that they had been trying having worked, after having him thoroughly sanitize himself so that he wouldn't make things worse. Loki went up to Tony and gently pressed two fingers to the other man's temple, entering his mind to try and fix him from the inside out.

He sees Tony floating in a pitch-black void, and Loki has a sudden urge to get closer to him. When he does, memories that are not his own suddenly start to filter into his mind.

He remembers finding his soulmate, a brilliant dark-haired Midgardian that made his entire world light up, at a Stark Expo. He had seen the soulmark on Tony's ring finger, a black drawing of a horned helmet on an Iron Man mask that matched the one on his own, and decided to go up to him. When he did, Tony had arrogantly asked if he wanted an autograph, and, when Loki had said no and tried to talk to him, Tony had pushed past him, and gone on to the next person. Loki had rejected the idea of Tony being his soulmate and decided to hide his mark by wearing a plain black ring over it.

They had kept running into each other at coffee shops and conventions and in bookstores. He had slowly learned more and more about the other man, growing to love him. The first time they really spoke was when Tony offered to pay for Loki's coffee and Loki took he chance to start up a conversation about the Percy Jackson book that Tony was carrying. They exchanged phone numbers before they went home and spent the next few days pretty much constantly texting each other.

When Tony had needed to leave the country for work, they had Skyped every day that he was gone. After Tony got back, they went to the coffee shop and spent hours just talking. Loki's ring slipped off in the middle of their conversation, and Loki rushed to put it back on, but he wasn't able to do so before Tony had seen his soulmark. He got upset at Loki for hiding it and ignored him for months, and, when they finally ran into each other at the same coffee shop that they first spoke at, Loki apologized to Tony. The other man had given him another chance, telling Loki that wanted to take their relationship slow, so they did.

Loki had worked up the courage to kiss Tony for a month, and, when he did, he had felt a warmth spread through his chest that he was everything he had ever wanted. He wanted more, and, when they finally had pulled apart, Tony had a blush on his cheeks that made butterflies in his stomach and a haze of pure joy in his head. He had spent the entire night unable to sleep, thoughts of Tony filling his mind.

They had dated for 2 years before Tony had proposed at their coffee shop with a diamond ring set in a golden band that resembled two strings tied into a knot. The kiss that had happened after he said yes lit up his world like fireworks. At their wedding, he had started to cry tears of joy when he said his vows, and, when he put the wedding ring over Tony's soulmark, he had felt like his entire life was finally slotting into place.

Tony had brought up the idea of kids 3 years into their relationship, and Loki had been overjoyed at the idea. Him and Tony spent months making sure that their house was perfect for a kid, and, halfway through decorating the room, Tony had burst into the room with a huge grin on his face, saying that they had gotten approved to adopt Peter, the 10-year-old son of two of Tony's friends who had died in a lab accident.

They had gone to Asgard with Peter for the kid's 15th birthday and showed him the palace, Peter in awe at the ornate structure. Halfway through Loki showing Peter the dining hall, he heard a ship landing and went outside to see what was going on. He saw Thanos's ship and told Tony and Peter to stay inside while he took care of it. He joined the battle alongside Heimdall and Thor, and, when he saw Tony come out wearing his Iron Man armor, he shouted at him to get inside. Tony insisted that he was going to need all the help he could get, and he took on the Mad Titan by himself. Loki tried to fight his way to them as Thanos landed a well-placed slash across the chest of the suit, barely missing the arc reactor. Tony had glanced over at him for a split second to make sure that Loki was okay, and Thanos had taken that opportunity to strike across Tony's faceplate, taking out one of the eye-lights.

Thanos had picked Tony up by the throat and Loki had heard Tony scream his name. He screamed as he watched Thanos stab his soulmate in the chest and throw him off of the Bifrost, and he felt an unbearable pain in his heart as Tony died and part of his soul was violently torn apart. He brutally killed Thanos in the exact same way that Tony was killed, using magic to lift him up in the air by his throat, stabbing him right above his heart, and throwing him off the Bifrost. He went on a rampage through Thanos's army, the loss of his soulmate driving him insane. He killed every single one of Thanos's soldiers that was unlucky enough to be in his path, and he was about to turn on his allies before Thor grabbed him and Heimdall hit him in the head to knock him out.

He had woken up in his bed at the tower, all of his memories of the beautiful man that was his soulmate behind a magical bulletproof glass wall in his mind, able to be remembered but unable to hurt him anymore. He had looked down at his soulmark and seen faded grey where there used to be vivid black, and, when he had to tell Peter what happened to Tony, the look on his face nearly broke him. Peter had rushed into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder, and Loki had known that his life would never be the same again.

The memories stop coming. Loki takes a step back in shock, overcome by the grief of the alternate version of himself, before remembering why he' there, shaking it off, and trying to continue saving his Tony. He uses his magic, realizing that it is ten times stronger here than it is in the outside world. He gets to work on casting a healing spell that his mother had tried to teach him, one that he never would have dreamed about doing out there. The spell starts to work and the wound starts to close, and once the wound is fully closed, he steps back and sighs, leaving Tony's mind.

Once he got back out, he noticed that the doctors had moved him into a chair by Tony's head and started to work on Tony, their efforts now starting to work. Loki slowly left the room and went to the waiting room outside of the tower's medical wing, head spinning with all of the new memories. That had to be one of the alternate universes that Tony had mentioned, one where Loki and Tony were soulmates, where Tony had died. Loki didn't know the implications of the fact that there was a universe where, not only were Loki and Tony together, but they were literally made for each other, and he was worried that if he thought about it too hard, his head might explode. Loki slumped back in his chair, and Steve sat down next to him, looking over at Loki with concern.

"What happened in there? The doctors said that, once you explained what happened and they let you in, you walked over to Tony, touched his forehead, and then just froze. 30 minutes later, you woke back up and Tony started healing," Steve said, utterly bemused.

"I just went into his mind, used my magic to heal him in there, and came back out. That's it," Loki said, choosing to leave out the memories for now.

"Wait, so you can heal people? Why didn't you do that when-" Steve started, and Loki cut him off.

"I normally can't. Something about being in there made my magic stronger, allowing me to use spells I could never dream of using out here," Loki explained, and Steve seemed to accept that fact.

"Well, it seems to have worked. The doctors said that, while it'll take longer because Tony still hasn't fully healed from his last encounter with Thanos, he'll still make a full recovery. You saved him, Loki," Steve said, amazed, and Loki felt a bit better about what happened. Steve handed the pendant to him, and Loki went to the lab and set it on one of the shelves.

Once Tony woke up, Loki apologized to him for running away, still saying that he couldn't tell him why yet, but assuring him that it wasn't his fault. Tony seemed to accept the apology, and they resumed their weekly Supernatural nights and started watching a list of movies Tony had made for him, such as the Princess Bride, Top Gun, and the Mission Impossible movies. Tony had gone on multiple rants about how Benthan, the ship of Benji and Ethan from Mission Impossible, was severely underrated, and, while Loki barely understood anything of what Tony was saying, he still hung on every word, relishing in the excitement that the other man was practically glowing with.

3 weeks passed, Loki visiting Tony every single day, and, finally, Tony was cleared to be in his wheelchair again. One of the first things he did was go down to the kitchen to try to bake cookies.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Loki teased, and Tony looked at him bemusedly. "I mean, you do remember the last time you tried to do it, right? The way the oven-"

"I thought we agreed to not talk about that," Tony pouted.

Loki laughed and Tony playfully swatted at his arm. He tried to bake them anyway, and the end result was lumps that resembled charcoal far more than they resembled anything close to cookies. Loki laughed and then baked cookies for Tony himself, Tony letting out a groan at how good they were.

"You had to have used magic to bake these," Tony accused him, and Loki laughed.

"That's not how magic works," Loki grinned, and Tony shook his head in disbelief.

"Either you used magic to make them, or you drugged them with ambrosia," Tony insisted.

"Only the Greek gods like ambrosia. To the rest of us, ambrosia tastes more like a graham cracker than anything godly," Loki said, and Tony's face lit up with a look that Loki knew meant that he had another one of his "brilliant" ideas that would inevitably cause something to explode or, at the very least, get set on fire.

"I want to try it," he declared, and Loki did a double take.

"You what?" Loki asked dumbfounded.

"I want to try ambrosia," Tony clarified, and Loki let out a startled laugh.

"You do know that if you tried, Zeus would probably strike you down with a bolt of lightning or something," Loki said, and Tony remained unfazed.

"I know, but you could protect me," Tony said dismissively. "Think of the scientific possibilities! We could cure cancer or create immortality or something, and probably save thousands of lives from heart failure and diseases like that with only a crumb of the stuff."

"I don't think there's anything in the entire universe that can protect you from Zeus's lightning," Loki said, and Tony slumped down in his wheelchair.

"Okay. Maybe we could at least try to recreate its flavor. You said you've had it before, right?" Tony said, and Loki shook his head.

"Graham cracker, remember?" Loki said, and Tony sighed.

"Okay," Tony said, his face lighting up with another idea. "How about we make lightsabers instead? I want to prove to JARVIS that it's possible, and how cool would having one be?"

Loki grinned. Now this was an idea he could get behind. They went up to the lab, Tony trying to figure out how to make a laser as powerful as the one in the lightsabers from the movies while Loki watched on in awe. Tony made at least 20 failed lasers, the most powerful of them barely able to cut through a centimeter of steel, much less a whole door like in the movies. He gave up on the laser for right then, switching over to the hilt.

After 16 straight hours of designing hilts, Tony fell asleep on the desk he was working on, surrounded by half-finished and failed lasers and lightsaber hilts. Loki pried him from the desk and carried him to the cot that they had set up there, summoning a blanket to put over Tony and laying down in the other one next to it. He laid his head down on the pillow on the cot and closed his eyes.

"I love you," he whispered to the other man, too afraid to say it when Tony was awake but needing to say the words out loud to him at least once. Then, he fell asleep to the steady sound of the machines in the lab humming.

Tony's eyes snapped open.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (207/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball,  which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made  on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: This story This story takes place about 1000 years before  66 years after  1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[2 February, 238 Before Age.  Dorlu Prime.]  

Less than thirty-six hours ago, Luffa had been battling for the fate of the Time Patrol in the distant future.  Then she found herself in a featureless void, which led her to Dorlu Prime, five years in her own past.  Now, as she struggled to make sense of it all, her surroundings changed once again, and the man behind her predicament greeted her with an insincere smile.

"Demigra!" Luffa shouted.  "Then this was an illusion, and you're a fool if you thought it would stop me!"

She had been standing in her apartment on Dorlu Prime.  The Dorlun settlement had hired her family to help defend it from the Tikosi, but in practice, Luffa's father and husband spent most of their time patrolling the sector, while Luffa stayed behind to watch over their clients.  The Dorluns had provided her with living quarters to use while her ship was unavailable, and Luffa had come here to think when Demigra had suddenly appeared.   As she leaped across the room to attack, the walls and sparse furniture faded away, leaving in their place an dark expanse.  Crystalline shards, each as large as a humanoid, floated in midair like chunks of ice drifting across an ocean.

Luffa barely noticed any of this, as she was singularly focused on her enemy.  Yet, as she drew closer, he made no move to defend himself, and when she tried to tackle him, she found herself flying through Demigra, as if he were a phantom.

"So predictable," Demigra scoffed as Luffa went tumbling onward.  She let her momentum carry her for a short distance, then somersaulted and flew back the way she came.   The result was the same, except when she flew through Demigra's body this time, she turned back and fired a ki blast at his face.  But this also passed through him with no effect.

"I would think the point has been made," Demigra said idly.   "But if you insist on trying that again, I suppose I can wait a while longer."

"What have you done, Demigra?!" Luffa shouted as she floated in front of him.  Despite being unable to touch him, she still balled her fists in a threatening pose anyway, as though she could defeat him through sheer determination.

"Oh, come now," Demigra said.  "You make it sound like I've hurt you in some way.  I thought if I gave you some time to acclimate to your new surroundings, you would understand that it's for your own benefit.   I had hoped you might even show some gratitude, but it seems you believe we are still enemies."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Luffa demanded.  "You turned the entire Time Patrol into your personal army of slaves, and forced me to beat Trunks half to death to snap him out of it!   And then, when you couldn't turn me into one of your puppets, you tried to destroy the whole Time Nest!"

"I have destroyed the Time Nest," Demigra corrected.

"What?"  Luffa asked.

"The Time Nest," Demigra said.  "It's gone.  The battle between us is over.  I've already won."

Luffa turned her head and spat.  Normally her phlegm would hit the ground, but in this bizarre expanse, it just continued to fall, perhaps forever.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she shouted.  "If you destroyed the Time Nest, then all of history would be destroyed along with it!  Chronoa said so, and you didn't deny it!"

"Of course not," Demigra said with a smirk.  "History was destroyed.  Why do you think you're not in the Time Nest right now?   No, I can see that you don't handle rhetorical questions very well, so I'll just save you the trouble: You aren't in the Time Nest because I destroyed it, and it no longer exists.  It never existed.  The history in which it was built has been erased. All that remains of that timeline are you and I, and our memories of that former world."

"You're bluffing," Luffa seethed.

"Why bluff when I've already won the game?   I'm a  god now, Luffa, the only god left in this universe!  Everyone who could have stopped me no longer exists."

"Then why am I still here, Demigra?" Luffa asked.   "Because as long as I'm still breathing, it's not over between us."

"Which brings me to the purpose of this little visit," Demigra said.   "I've come to negotiate a settlement, Luffa."

"Why negotiate when you've already won the war?" Luffa asked, imitating Demigra's snide tone.

"Because I recognize that you won't accept defeat so easily," Demigra replied.   "I had to erase the Time Patrol, but you're different Luffa.  They drafted you into their ranks, and I'm willing to offer you more favorable terms.  So tell me, have you enjoyed your return to Dorlu Prime?"

Luffa's impulse was to respond with more defiant posturing, but when he said "Dorlu Prime", she suddenly found that she had nothing to say.  "What are you talking about?" she finally asked.

"It's no illusion," Demigra said.  "It's not a fantasy or a dream.  Nor is it one of those 'Parallel Quests' as you call them.  It is the real Dorlu Prime, of 238 Before Age, to use the Earthling calendar."

Luffa shook her head.  "You're lying," she said.  "Things are different in that world.   I've seen the changes myself."

"Yes, it was rather unfortunate what happened to the Tikosi, wasn't it?" Demigra said.

Luffa's eyes went wide as the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.  "You killed them," she said.  "Father said it looked like the Tikosi all turned on each other.  He thought they had all gone mad, but it was you.  You used your magic to make them fight one another, just like you did with the Time Patrol!"

"Well, I could hardly allow them to capture you again," Demigra said with a smile.

"Why?"  Luffa asked.  "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this," Demigra explained, "because this is my destiny, and I will do anything to make it into a reality."

Several large crystals now drifted around Demigra and Luffa, and as their facets glowed with a preternatural light, images began to appear in their surfaces.

"I'm sure Chronoa told you her side of the story," Demigra began.  "A tale of the Divine Tokitoki Bird, and how the Kais chose her to be his guardian.  Mechikabura was older and more experienced, but he sought to use the power of Tokitoki for his own gain.  He was banished, and sealed away in what became known as the Demon Realm."

"So they made Chronoa the Supreme Kai of Time," Luffa said.  "And not long after, you tried to screw with Tokitoki too, and got banished yourself."

"True," Demigra said.  "The difference is that I understood the true potential of Tokitoki.  Mechikabura only wanted to extend his lifespan, and increase his power.  But I knew Tokitoki could give me control over all of creation.  And because of my knowledge of the workings of time, Chronoa could not risk sending me to the Demon Realm.  Instead, she banished me to the Crack of Time, a place where I would be unable to meddle with the flow of history."

"But you found a way," Luffa said.

"What the Kais never understood was the the true power of ambition.  They already rule over the universe, and want for nothing.  Beings like Mechikabura and myself have always managed to prosper by using less powerful beings to support us.  We fulfill their lesser ambitions, and they help us achieve our greater ones.  Mechikabura had his Dark Empire, and demons like Towa have their lesser underlings, and I had my own disciples and lackeys.   They were the ones who helped me interact with the outer universe during my long imprisonment in the Crack of Time.   Through them, I was able to gather the knowledge I would need, not only to escape, but to triumph!"

"So while she thought you were ancient history, you spent all those millions of years plotting against her," Luffa said.  "What does this have to do with me?"

"Simply this," Demigra replied.  "In preparing for my escape from the Crack of Time, I considered every possible contingency.  These crystals floating around us are natural formations in this place.  They may seem inert, but they actually resonate with chronal energies.   Eventually, I learned to use them to see what was happening in the outer universe.  I could look to the distant past, or glimpse possible futures.  Including yours, Luffa."

He gestured with his outstretched hand, and Luffa noticed the crystals displaying more familiar images.  Before they had only shown strange worlds and unknown people but now she saw places and people she knew.  The scenes   would only last a moment or two before changing to some other event.   Luffa thought she saw her mother in one of them, but before she could look closer, it suddenly changed to show a meadow on Hexil VI.  Then she saw an enemy soldier she had killed in battle years ago.   Then the Camelian Senate in session.  Then a dam being built on Planet Wist.   And then Luffa saw herself as a Super Saiyan, slaughtering the Tikosi on their Hiveworld.

"Then you claim to know everything about me?" Luffa asked.  "Seems like you wouldn't have underestimated me so badly when we fought in Toki Toki City."

"I can see almost anything from here," Demigra said.  "The problem is that it's too much information to sift through.  So no, I don't know everything about you, Luffa.   But I learned what I needed to know."

"Give me a strong ally!  Someone with the kind of power to help me defend time itself!   This wish I ask of you, Shenron!"

Luffa looked over to find Trunks in one of the crystals.  He stood before the altar in Toki Toki City, making a wish before the Eternal Dragon, Shenron.  The Dragon's eyes glowed red, and then a figure began to materialize.

"I didn't know you got audio on these things, too," Luffa said.

"I had to reconstruct that one from outside reports," Demigra said.  "Toki Toki City was one of the few places where my vision was limited, but I still learned what I needed.  Trunks wished for an ally, and that ally was you, Luffa.  Once I confirmed your identity, I could study your past, and see what sort of threat you would be."

"And you caused those time anomalies to test me in the present, didn't you?" Luffa said.  "I mean, sure, you needed them to weaken the seal keeping you trapped in the Crack of Time, but besides that, it helped you take my measure."

"True, though there was little need for that," Demigra said.  "Your power was diminished after Shenron brought you forward in time, and while  you recovered quickly, it was easier for me to witness your power in the past."

There was another crystal, which showed Luffa as a giant ape, glowing yellow like molten iron.  Surrounded by magma and broken enemies, she raised her bestial head to the sky and howled with righteous fury.

Luffa tried not to wince at the crystal as the image shifted to the explosion that destroyed Planet Nagaoka.  It was the height of her strength, but she had lost control of her ki by combining her Super Saiyan and Oozaru forms.  The thought of looking at the full moon again still bothered her.

Then the image changed again, to show Luffa lying naked on a broken chunk of Nagaoka's crust.  A faint force field protected her from the vacuum of space, but she was too exhausted to save herself.  Then, suddenly, she vanished in a flash of light, echoing the same effect seen earlier, when Shenron granted Trunks' wish.

Luffa turned to Demigra and raised a skeptical eyebrow.  "Is this what you do in your spare time, Demigra?" she asked.  "You look up moments in time where I blew off all my clothes?"

Demigra made a mirthless snort.  "You can use all the humor you like to mask your trepidation," he said.  "It doesn't matter how you react.  What matters is that I understood your perspective, Luffa.  Time and again, I found you caught in moments like this one.   Glorious triumphs, coupled with humiliating despair."

What Luffa saw next in the crystals came as no surprise, but she still shuddered at the images they revealed.

In one crystal, there was Luffa, on the bridge of the Emerald Eye, learning that her alliance to destroy the Jindan Cult had collapsed.   Her son had betrayed her for the final time, and there would be no final assault on the Jindan base of operations, unless she dared to fight alone.

In another crystal, Luffa saw herself drifting through the upper atmosphere of Pflaume II.  The city state that once floated through the skies of the ice giant had been utterly destroyed, leaving Luffa stranded in a hostile environment with no hope of escape or rescue.

In a third crystal, Luffa saw herself on Extraliga, moments after defeating the Shockmaster.  It was to be the greatest victory of her life, but her wife had been badly injured and left in a coma, while their dear friend Keda had been lost without a trace.

A fourth crystal showed Luffa on the Plant Wist, moments after her first encounter with the Shockmaster.  The mighty warrior had been the first to defeat her since her ascension to Super Saiyan.  Worse, he had refused to kill her, leaving her to languish in the shame of knowing her legendary power was found wanting.

The fifth crystal saw Luffa wandering the crimson fields of the Makyo Star, a rogue planet illuminated only by the bioluminescent glow of fungal stalks that covered much of its surface.  Lost in her own private madness, her eyes burned red and her blood ran hot from the Black Water Mist that had taken hold in her mind and body.  Corrupted as she was, Luffa eagerly submitted herself to the eternal servitude of the demons who lived on the Makyo Star.  Their ruler, Wildthyme, found it amusing to have the galaxy's ultimate warrior patrolling his planet like a guard dog.

Then there was the sixth, which only showed Luffa screaming herself hoarse in the shadows of the Tikosi laboratory.

Though Luffa took a moment to look, she did not bother to linger on any of these unwanted memories.  Instead, she focused her gaze on Demigra.

"I knew right away what a person like you would want," Demigra said.     "What would desire more than anything," he said.   "It was the one thing I knew Chronoa could never give you."

"You altered history," Luffa said.   "You sent me back to a time before the Tikosi captured me, then you made them kill each other so that it would never happen.  The suffering, the treachery, the loss..."

"You know as well as I do that Chronoa would never allow you to make such a drastic change in your own past," Demigra said.  "It would do harm to the rest of the timestream.   But that no longer matters, because I erased the rest of the timestream when I destroyed the Time Nest."

"Are you telling me," Luffa asked, "that you went out of your way to preserve a piece of history, just to give me chance to live my life over again?"

"It was an interesting challenge for my new abilities," Demigra said.  "Now that I've absorbed Tokitoki, I'm beginning to find that there is very little I cannot do with the fabric of time."

"That still doesn't answer the question," Luffa said.  "Why would you bother with this at all?  And why do it for me? Why not just kill me, or use your powers to make my parents kill each other before I was born?"

Demigra chuckled.  "I keep forgetting the mortal perspective," he said.  "Your lives are so brief that you cannot grasp the timescales of gods."

"I know, I know," Luffa said.  "Seventy-five million years.  Enlighten me."

"As I said, I left nothing to chance when I planned my conquest," Demigra said.  "Any possibility of failure had to be eliminated.  Using projections and forecasts, I could anticipate possible outcomes.  In some cases, I could predict the future more literally, using divination techniques.   Looking back, it all seems so... crude to me now.  I have become so much more..."

"Then why didn't you just divine a way to defeat me?" Luffa asked skeptically.

"Because no matter how hard I tried," Demigra said, "I was unable to see beyond a certain date.  April 21, Age 850."

It took Luffa a moment to catch on.  "Oh, right," she finally said.  "The day you destroyed the Time Nest.   There can't be an April 22, because you destroyed it."

"Exactly," Demigra said.  "The End of History, the ultimate proof that my triumph was inevitable.  For once I became a true god of time, I would create a new history, one much more suited to my liking.  But I couldn't find a way to eliminate you as a threat.   Any measure I came up with would lead to the collapse of my victory.  After all, without you, Towa and Mira would have erased Trunks from history, which would have altered the formation of the Time Patrol.  And I needed you to lead Beerus to the Time Nest, so that he could carry my enchantment into the city and enslave the Patrollers."

"So you couldn't get this far without me," Luffa said.   "But now that you've gotten this far, I could still be a threat..."

"There's no way to know," Demigra said.  "I couldn't predict what would happen after I destroyed the Time Nest.  Time is fluid now, waiting eagerly for my divine will to shape it into being.  And since I couldn't kill or erase you beforehand, I knew I would have to deal with you now."

He turned his back on her and walked along the emptiness of the Crack of Time, gesturing towards the crystals that floated in the distance.  "As I see it, you have only two choices.  You can continue to oppose me, and perhaps you can find a way to defeat me.  I doubt you have much of a chance, but the fact remains, you have a chance, however small.  Shenron chose you to fulfill Trunks' wish.   Perhaps he saw something in you that I cannot."

"Perhaps," Luffa said, clenching her fists.

"I won't throw away my hard-fought victory on a gamble, Luffa," Demigra said.  "That's why I haven't destroyed you already.  You Saiyans have an annoying tendency to discover hidden potential within yourselves.  The Tikosi underestimated you.  I won't make the same mistake.  But even if I refuse to fight you, you could still choose to attack me.   That is why I've come to negotiate a settlement, Luffa.  That's your second choice, Luffa, and I want to make it as attractive to you as possible."

"Let me get this straight," Luffa asked.  "You won't kill me because you think there's some tiny risk that I'll ruin your plan.  So you created a whole other timeline for me to live in, just so I'll leave you alone?"

"As I destroyed the Time Nest, I made sure to secure a fragment of the original history," Demigra explained.  "It's not a recreation of Dorlu Prime.  It's the real thing, just as you remembered it, but without the Tikosi to spoil it for you."

"You said you'd create a new history," Luffa said.  "Or was that just an idle threat?"

"I will create a new history, Luffa," Demigra said.  "It will proceed independently of the one I made for you.  I only need your world to carry on for a few centuries, or however long you expect to live."

"Then what?" Luffa asked pointedly.  "You just erase everyone else in there?"

"If that troubles you, then I can make other arrangements," he said.   "Fifteen billion years.  Is that long enough a legacy for you?"

"How would I know you'd honor that?" Luffa asked.

"Are you asking me for immortality, Luffa?" Demigra asked.

"No, I'm just trying to--"

"How could you ever be sure that Chronoa wouldn't simply pull the plug on all of existence?"  Demigra asked.  "You're going to have to trust me to some extent.  I would think that what you've seen so far would demonstrate good faith."

"All right, all right," Luffa said.  "I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around all this.  You're going to run off and be God of your own universe, and leave me in another one.   And what am I supposed to do with myself?"

"Anything you please," Demigra said.  "I don't have any stuffy rules and constraints, unlike Chronoa and the other Kaioshin.  The world I have set aside for you is yours, Luffa.  Tikosi aside, I will not interfere.  You may live your life as you wish, unencumbered by the burdens of the Super Saiyan form.  Or you can train and fight to your heart's content, and achieve the Super Saiyan transformation in your own way.   Or you can settle down on Dorlu Prime and start a family."

"Just like that, huh?" Luffa said.  "You think it's that simple?"

"I think you and I want the same thing, Luffa," Demigra replied.  "When I first sought to usurp the power of Tokitoki, I wanted to alter the course of history to suit my purposes.  I accepted my banishment in the Crack of Time, because I knew that it would not matter in the end.  When I am finished, the banishment will have never happened.  My fondest desires will be realized.  I am offering to share that opportunity with you.  I could make you a goddess to rule alongside me, but we both know that holds no interest for you.  You're a mortal, who treasures mortal values.  Strength.  Family.  Self-actualization.   Fine.  Have your humdrum little life.  I won't quarrel with your narrow vision."

"You're forgetting," Luffa said.  "I made a promise to the God of Destruction.  You insulted his honor, and I offered to serve as the instrument of his retribution.  I can't just let an obligation like that slide.  What would Lord Beerus say?"

Demigra shook his head.  "The Lord Beerus you knew," he said, "no longer exists.   I suppose he would still remain in the world I left for you, but he has no memory of any dealings you had with him in the 9th Century Age.   Those events no longer transpired.  They were erased when I destroyed the Time Nest.  The insult you pledged to avenge... Hmph.  It simply never occurred."

"And the Time Patrol?" Luffa demanded.

"The same," Demigra said.  "In your new life, the year is 238 Before Age.   The Time Patrol doesn't exist.  Trunks and Son Goku won't be born for another thousand years."

"I still remember them," Luffa insisted.

"Then you remember this as well, no doubt!" Demigra said.

Suddenly, the crystal closest to Luffa displayed a new vision of the old history.  The planet was unfamiliar to her, but the spaceship in low orbit was not.  She had seen the craft before, during a Time Patrol mission on Planet Namek.  And she had also seen the alien who emerged from the ship, riding in a personal hover-carrier.   With an arrogant smirk, he raised the index finger of his right hand, and formed a tiny spark of ki energy from his fingertip.   Like a miniature star, the ball of ki shone a bright, baleful orange, and then it expanded, rapidly swelling up until it dwarfed even the starship beneath it.  And then, with a sadistic cackle and a flick of the wrist, Frieza launched the giant fireball straight towards the planet.   Then he watched with glee, laughing as the ball of ki exploded on contact with the planet's surface.  Bright lines appeared on the disc of the planet, like cracks in a pane of glass.  The cracks spread, and then, finally, disastrously, the entire planet exploded, leaving nothing but broken bits of its crust, and white hot iron-nickel vapor from its interior.

And as the force of the explosion buffeted the starship, showering it in sparks of molten debris, the alien continued to laugh, enjoying the spectacle like a child watching a fireworks show.

Luffa waited for the planet's remains to fade into darkness, then looked back at Demigra.

"Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta," he said, "dooming your entire species to extinction.  I've erased that tragedy as well, along with countless other disasters that you never even knew about.  By accepting my terms, Luffa, you not only give yourself a second chance, but the rest of the universe as well."

"No," Luffa said.  "This is all some kind of trick.  You're just trying to confuse me."

"I knew it would be difficult for you to accept the situation," Demigra said.  "That was why I arranged for you to see Dorlu Prime for yourself.  I wanted you to experience it firsthand before I explained what I had done.  I would have allowed you to go on experiencing it, but then you found that scroll, and so I had to step in."

"The scroll?" Luffa asked.  She had nearly forgotten it.  On Dorlu Prime, she had noticed what looked like the Scroll of Eternity, glowing in a forgotten corner of her quarters.  She had reached out for it when Demigra suddenly appeared, and brought her to the Crack of Time.

Demigra nodded.   "As I said, Luffa, you have a choice.  The world I left for you is  a cession, not a prison.  You're free to leave at any time.  The scroll is your doorway to my world.  I have allowed you to see into my world, but we appear to each other as phantoms, unable to touch one another.   But if you choose to take up the scroll, you will be brought to me in person, and we may renew hostilities."

"A battle I'm sure to lose," Luffa said.  "According to you, at least."

"You asked how you could trust me, Luffa," Demigra said.  "The simple truth is that I don't need your trust.  If you think this is a trick, then go ahead.  Take the scroll, and fight for a world that no longer exists.   Win, if you can.  But if I were in your position, I would take my time before deciding.  Think long and hard about the opportunity I'm giving you.  Think about what it would mean to give that up, only to die for a useless cause."

He raised his hand, and his bone scepter appeared in his palm.  The red crystal ball at the head of the scepter began to glow, and the Crack of Time began to fade away.

"Think about it, Luffa," he said again.  "Or if the dilemma is too much for you, then act impulsively.  Take the scroll, and fight a battle that you will almost certainly lose.  It's all the same to me, really.  The choice is yours..."

Luffa stepped toward him, holding out her hand as though to ask him to wait.  But she said nothing.  There was nothing more to say.  Demigra's position was as clear as it was ever going to be.

As the Crack of Time vanished around her, Luffa found herself back in her quarters.  The Scroll was still there, tucked away in the cabinet.  She knelt down and examined it closely.   Then she sat down on her cot, and stared at it for a long time.  She wasn't sure how long.  The sunbeams from the windows had time to drift across the wall.

"It's over, then," she finally said to herself.

This was the only certainty of it all.  One way or another, her time as the Legendary Super Saiyan was finished.  She could either start over in this place, or take her chances against Demigra, but there seemed to be no way back.

Now that the truth about this world was revealed, she felt silly for having played along with it.  She had tried to avoid doing anything that would give away her knowledge of the future, but now it didn't seem to matter.  The future she knew was no more.  And the future that lay ahead was unwritten.  All the half-formed plans she had shared with Kandai and Zatte had just been idle conversation, fabricated to keep them from getting suspicious.  But now...

Maybe she hadn't been fabricating those ideas after all.

Perhaps, without realizing it, Luffa had begun to accept that she was stranded in this place.  And she had already started to make choices about how to start over.  It was easy enough to plan.  All she had to do was keep the things from her old life that she enjoyed, and steer clear of the things that had gone wrong.

And with the Tikosi out of the picture, that seemed very easy to do.

It was all very tempting.  In spite of this, she still felt the urge to grab the scroll and be done with it all.  And yet... the scroll wasn't going anywhere.  She could exercise that option at any time.  What was the hurry?

As she mulled it over, she heard something outside.   Footsteps, but lighter and more scattered than the typical pedestrian traffic that walked through the Dorlun settlement.  These were children, and the sound of their laughter and playful chatter confirmed it at once.

Luffa might have ignored them, but she heard a familiar voice among them, and she stood up on her bed to look out the small windows that ran along the wall, just below the ceiling.  She could see them clearly.  Five Dorlun children, three boys and two girls.  They all had long red hair and blue skin.  Once upon a time, Luffa had trouble telling them apart, but one in particular stood out very well.

It was Keda.  Nine years old.   Alive and safe.

Keda had lived a strange life in the history Luffa remembered.  After the Tikosi massacred the colony, Keda stowed away on their ship and infiltrated their Hiveworld.  She then organized a rescue mission to free Luffa from their captivity.   Afterward, Keda became something like Luffa's personal assistant, maintaining her finances and handling various functions on her ship.  Then Keda sacrificed herself to save Luffa, Zatte, and the entire population of Extraliga.  Luffa had thought Keda had died, but when she joined the Time Patrol, she soon discovered that a strange twist of fate had sent Keda to the era of Son Goku.  She settled on Earth, where she started a family.  The last time Luffa had seen her, it was on the streets of West City, where Keda had lived to a ripe old age.

It all seemed very unfair, though Luffa had no idea what should have been done about it.  The Supreme Kai of Time had promised to "consider" the situation, but it seemed to Luffa that Chronoa's hands were tied.   There were rules surrounding time travel, and Chronoa had to enforce those rules.  What was best for Keda could not outweigh the good of the entire universe.

But now!  Now there was no universe.  At least, not the one Chronoa had been concerned about.   There was Keda, young and happy, and free to live her life without the burden of Luffa's failures.

Demigra was wrong, then.  This wasn't just a second chance for Luffa.  It was a second chance for Keda as well.

For all of them.

Was it right to deny them that chance?  She could imagine what Chronoa or Trunks might say to that question, but their rules no longer applied.   And while Luffa could accept an honorable death fighting an opponent like Demigra, could she accept what that would mean for the Dorluns?

By the time she got down from the cot and opened her door, two more children hand joined the group, and they had begun playing with an inflatable ball.  When they saw Luffa, a few of them took a step back, and one even took cover behind an older boy.  The children of the colony had always been fascinated with Luffa.  They were frightened by the other Saiyans, but her constant presence in the settlement, and her eagerness to cook for them had made her more approachable.   They saw her as a sort of gruff-but-friendly monster.

Even Keda seemed slightly nervous, but she maintained eye contact as she saw Luffa step outside.  In this era, they knew each other, but  not as well as Luffa had known Zatte.

"Hi, Luffa," Keda said.  "Sorry if we were disturbing you."

She wanted to rush over and embrace Keda.  As it was, she barely managed to suppress a smile.  A lump was forming in the back of her throat.  She wondered if this was how it had been for Trunks, when he first traveled into the past.

"It's fine," she said with a wave of her hand.  "I was just... I was wondering if I could join you guys..."

 NEXT: For the Saiyan Who Has Everything...

[theherosreturn]

Bradley: Got it! We’ll be as swift as we can manage. Quietly…that depends on what there is. Either way, we’ll make sure it happens asap.

(Thus, the search for this switch, and ways deeper into the complex, ensues. Traps aplenty were found, of course, though perhaps the button was somewhere…stupider than expected. Sounds weird, but it’s possible. After all, a stupid location would be less likely to be checked. The heroes would loom in any possible spot anyways)

Serial designation N, after noticing something was blinking(?) inside one of the empty bottles in Husk's cage: Hey, could you pass me that bottle right there? *After catching the tossed bottle, he noticed that a remote was inside the dang thing*...I can't tell if this was clever or stupid of them...

*He smashed it open and pressed it, lowering the cage down...However, the chains did make a loud enough noise to get the attention of one of The G.I.S elites*

Serial designation N: Gimme a minute to cut open the lock! (Husk: With what?) *N soon changed his hand into a cutting laser and carefully began cutting the lock...Heavy footsteps were suddenly heard coming towards them...Then, an absolutely loud shotgun blast was heard and practically felt...It had sent an incredibly injured N crashing into a wall...Everyone turned to see a massive humanoid creature that wore clothing similar to an outdoorsman/huntsman*

Eda, while glaring at this freak with the protective rage of a mother: Oh. Hell. No!...You're gonna regret that deeply...

The Huntsman:...*It wordlessly reloaded its gun...This wouldn't be a fight to it...This would be another hunt*

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, Vigilantes 77, Replies Part 1

1) “Time for Vigilantes, which, again, I was asked to warn will be getting a bit heavier from now onward, which can mean anything from someone licking vomit to sexual assault being passed as joke. Such is the inner world of Furuhashi.”-Spot-on, minus the joking part. This is serious time now, for Koichi, Pop, and all individuals wrapped up in this ongoing drama. That means if they’re gonna imply Nomura took advantage of Pop’s current situation for that, then they’ll damm well imply it, and let the thought stew in our heads. 2) “Oh, there he is, bringing forth his inner spidey, oh I missed you, you fucking dumbass(affectionate)”- Izuku has the webs, Koichi has the clinginess, together, they are the Incredible Spider boys! 3) “Shooting practice, I see. Well, if he`s gonna snipe a bee from the sky then he better get ready to shot a lot farther than that. 20 meters is insultingly close, no way Pop is gonna let him get that close.”- Well, like Soga says, it’s also limited to being inside their current private training grounds in case anybody witnesses them training outside, but getting Koichi to get the hang of shooting a target with pinpoint accuracy has to start from somewhere, and whilst they’ve got a lot more advantages than they did without Knuckle’s cache before, they’re still not running on an official hero budget here. Gotta make do with what they have. 4) “Again, we will discuss names later on, alright? For now, just visualize a spiky hair on that target in front of you.”-Well, if he shortens it to SGKB, it actually goes sound a lot more gun-like and ‘official’ as an attack name. 5) “I didn`t expected that much spread. Sure, all the target you trained on were closer, but even so, I was expecting a bit more accuracy, although you didn`t ever had to push the power that much those past three years, so, kinda understandable.

Kinda.”- He actually hit the non-human targets straight in the bullseye, but because of his subconscious mental roadblock, he intentionally aims any harmful blows away from humanoid targets…which in fact, indicates how precise his control actually is when you think about it. Unleashing a rapid-fire blast like that straight out in a quick-draw motion and aiming every single round that might hurt a human away from them, whilst precisely hitting the others dead-on, indicates Koichi’s got quite the dead-eye on him.

6) “Alright, so the problem is a mental barrier preventing him from hitting her. Now that`s bullshit, but we`ll let it slide because I want to see my kid growing since the last two years had none of that. “- It might be because I recently saw Trigun: Stampede, but Koichi’s issues here remind me of Vash’s main dilemma throughout the series. Like Koichi, Vash has an insanely nice demeanour even in a world that rewards his kindness with cruelty, only he has a more proactive stance towards the conflicts that erupt around him – namely, that whilst he abhors violence and refuses to kill another person, he will draw and fire for non-lethal attacks in order to incapacitate his opponents if the situation starts escalating and people won’t be talked down from possibly hurting others. To do this, he’s cultivated some crazy reflexes and shooting skills to be capable of defusing any kind of violent shootout without killing or letting his opponents kill. I see Koichi’s struggles here as him starting to come closer to being that archetype- somebody who dislikes hurting others and always wants to avoid violence, but is deceptively competent at it when it comes down to throwing hands, precisely because he doesn’t want to hurt the opponent more than necessary

7) “And I think that problem could be solved if Koichi managed to get up close to Pop, that way he wouldn`t have a chance of missing, and he could unleash it at full power. You know, like he did with the Octo Nomu three years before?”- He hasn’t quite gotten round to the mentality of unleashing a machine-gun blast of SGKBs yet. He can do it with the regular, non-lethal rounds just fine, but like he says, those are too slow and won’t keep up with Pop’s mobility like his new, actually-lethal move. Instead, he’s got a small, roughly 6-round shooting stance he can pull off, but can’t keep that state of mine for too long, or push it too hard, in part because some part of him knows how dangerous it is and really doesn’t want to let it hurt anybody even those he’s aiming it against. It’s fine for non-human targets, but against Pop, Koichi likely could kill or even cripple her with a single stray shot, so whilst it’s far easier to take her down with it, he can’t get himself into the mentality to actually do that.

8) “ Oh? so my idea of getting up-close to her before hitting her with full power is up? Hell yeah, time to see the cockroach chase the bee around, that`s gonna be fun”- A drive-by shooter on a motorcycle vs a drone pilot with guided missiles. Let the chase commence.

9) “Also, I think that training how to dodge would be better if they had like, a paintball gun, because projectiles are faster and would force him to make quicker moves than two dumbasses with melee weapons.”- You think Knuckle keeps any namby-pampy paintball guns in here? It’s real lead that goes into these weapons only, to be use with maximum overkill on any punks still littering up his streets.

10) “Now this is what I wanted to see- Well, not them being buddies and even sleeping on the same bed, but koichi showing his determination to become a hero for the people that matter, and pushing himself to the limit.”- Also becoming competent by doing what Izuku does for a habit and relentlessly training himself to achieve his goals, though in this case it helps that Koichi now actually has a goal to strive for.

11) “C`mon Koichi, you can carry more than that, put a bit more weight on that back. You see, by now Midoriya had already dragged a 90-kilos fridge across a beach, and he didn`t even had a sliding quirk to help him!”- True, but on the other hand, because he didn’t have a quirk to take some of the load off, Izuku is by now demonstrably more buff than Koichi. Even Knuckles, whose Quirk was speed-based, pumped some serious iron to keep himself in fighting form even without his main power. Understandably, Koichi’s not really the punching type, but I still expect him to start gaining some definition now he’s actually starting to become a true-blue hero in training.

12) “You see, this was the years that Uraraka`s family business was at its peak, but alas, Koichi had to stop the fun and prevent them from earning their honest money. What a monster that Koichi boy is”- Actually, another factor in Vash’s issues with being a ‘nice guy’ in a relentlessly cynical world is that his efforts to avoid killing caused a lot of collateral damage, to the point he’s widely known as a walking disaster. I’m just saying, if Koichi’s arc takes him on a similar path, business is going to be booming for people like Uraraka’s folks.

13) “Heroes on patrol on a hero society? Shut your mouth at such absurd concept, it is impossible for such an event to take place!”- Well, likely a higher-than-average number of heroes patrolling this lower section of the city at least. There’s a difference between cops being spread out over an entire city-state and being concentrated around a single neighbourhood.

14) “Which is a shame that she was brainwashed, it would`ve been so much more fun if she was actually corrupted into the dark side and choose to blow shit up, but then again, Furuhashi letting a female character have agency? Preposterous.”- Honestly, whilst that would have been more engaging, I’d have had a harder time rooting for Koichi to save Pop if that was the case. It’s hard to balance the extreme destruction Pop caused, and thus escalated the stakes to a point of no return, against keeping her character sympathetic, especially if she’s doing it of her own violation. Pop losing her agency and being forced into this role is bad, but on the other hand, it’d have been too much of a 180 from her previous nice self, built up over the manga’s storyline thus far, for her to still be saved and deserved to be protected from the repercussions of this. Looking at Toga, for example, shows that she can be sympathetic, maybe even convinced to not fight the heroes, but she does not deserve to get away scot-free after she’s gleefully killed and hurt others to sate her own wants and needs at the expense of their wellbeing. It’s tragic that she just doesn’t get that hurting others is wrong, and maybe she could be convinced not to do it if somebody else sees her perspective on events- somebody that won’t enable her violent tendencies like the rest of the league did, even if they meant well by it- but it’d be equally unfair to the victims and surviving family members and loved ones of those she hurt if she wasn’t made to face the consequences. Pop getting possessed and forced to do these bombings against her will means she’s more sympathetic, if lacking agency to affect events herself, but it also means we root more for Koichi to help her even if it means going up against official heroes and becoming a target himself.

15) “Uhhhh, okay? That`s your analysis of it? Okaaaay… I have no idea how you came to this conclusion with the current evidences presented, but sure, since you`re an example of high perception towards other`s feelings and all that.”-Well, he does have personal experience with not being able to tell when he’s going too far with his actions- beyond the point of recovery, depending on your perspective. But apparently Furuhashi decided that was enough to upgrade him to the group’s psychiatrist, alongside their analyst.

16) “Now what`s the hurry Koichi? She just blew up a few buildings, let her have a bit more fun, ignore what that jackass there said. Jesus, god forbid women do anything in this world.”- Well, the larger and more frequent the incidents and the more destruction happens, the more the chances of All Might getting involved go up, and if Koichi ends up going against him, then it’s game over man. @thelreads

[void-ink-studios]

A Year in Review!

Well, this has... been a year, hasn’t it?  A lot of ups, and a lot of downs, both to the wider world and personally.  But, with that last digit moving on up, I’m gonna take a moment to look back on what this year meant for me, and what 2023 means moving forward!

First, well... Meet me!  I haven’t been very active on this account until about half way through 2022, so anyone looking around knows pretty much nothing about me.  Since I plan to be way more active this coming year, let me shed some light!

I’m Void, but I also like the name Coda, if you’re so inclined.  I mostly go by She/Her, but I’m experimenting a bit with She/They, so either work for me.  I’m aromantic asexual, and damn does that feel nice to say with confidence.

I draw all sorts of stuff, but I mostly dabble and practice in character and creature design.  I love dragons, monsters and horror creatures, fantasy and D&D, Sci-fi and aliens, and writing and worldbuilding!

I’m not squeamish or over sensitive by any stretch, but too much of anything is a bummer, ain’t it?  And while I’m not sex repulsed, please keep your kinks to yourself.

I drew quite a few things for personal projects that I never got to post (and I’m not quite allowed to yet), I do have some highlights to share!

This was actually one of the earliest pieces I drew this year, back in January.  I posted it to Twitter, but not here on Tumblr.

Here’s a character design I made for a short horror game project for school during my Spring semester.  I call him Old Mr. Smiler, and he just wants to keep a... close eye on you.

This here is Patches!  I think if you go back far enough on this blog, an older version of him is back there somewhere.  I made him with the idea of “What would I do if I made a children’s show?”  So, Patches!

Smaugust, now that was a fun challenge!  I know it took quite a while to finish it, but I’m glad I did.  Here are my top 5 favorites from the batch in no particular order.  I think I’d like to do it again this year, and hopefully get it done on time, maybe with a more specific secondary prompt list.  This whole batch reminded my how much I loved dragons, they’re what got me into drawing.  So, I think I’ll indulge much more this next year.

And finally, how could I leave out a representative from my Kirby art collection?  My actual favorite pieces I’ve done I can’t show y’all yet, but I think the one that started it all is a good stand in.  It’s been a fun character design exercise, taking a game with characters that are mostly just circles and making humanoid designs out of them.  Also helped that I had a lot of Thoughts about the Kirby series, enough to form it into its own AU, that I’m having a blast writing.

So, what should you expect now that I’m looking to be more active this year?  While I can’t promise much in the beginning, I’m graduating in May (hopefully), so we’ll see where things take me.  I’m hoping to carve out much more regular time for myself this time around.

First, lets start with my fan content!  I have a lot of fandoms and interest.  To name a few, we have Kirby (of course), but also Undertale, the Owl House, Hades, Pokémon, Dungeons and Dragons, Good Omens, and Animal Crossing!  I’m hoping to show my love of all of these series.  Some might pop up more than others, but I’m hoping to show some more stuff off.

Of course I’ll be continuing to expand on the Kirby Incarnations AU.  But did you know I have an Undertale AU?  I’ve been drawing and writing for it for years now, just not posting it here much.  I’ll be fixing that of course, look out for the Funny Things AU tag.

As much as I love fan work, I do have my own personal projects and characters I want to play with and explore.  Writing and drawing bring me so much joy, and I hope to share that with everyone.

As a fun exercise, throughout the year, I’ll be trying to draw every card from the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck.  Tarot has always fascinated me, so I’ll be essentially drawing my own deck.  Maybe I’ll do an end of year reading, who knows?  Expect those about twice a month (hopefully!!!!!!!).

I actually have a massive world building project I’d love to show my art and writing for.  I have a fun character with a colorful life I’d love to explore with anyone who’s interested.

He’s a nerd, he’s a queer trans man, he’s traveled around his world, and he lives his midlife dream with his husband and twin daughters as a professor and staunch labor rights activist.  What’s not to like?

I’ll probably set up an ask blog for that specifically, so keep an eye out for that announcement!

I’m actually a Game Development major in school, and I’ve been neck deep in my senior thesis (hence my disappearance since August).  I’m the Creative Director for a team of 13, and we’re all working hard to complete a fun little stealth puzzle experience called Sintern!  I’m hoping to share more details and the character concept art I made for it as it gets closer to completion.  And, possibly, answer some questions about Game Development to anyone who wants my perspective.

I learned how to use Zbrush in the Fall semester.

It’s honestly been the most fun I’ve had in school in so long, and I think I’ve found my career passion.  Likewise, I’m going to be practicing and developing my portfolio.  I’ll share some process and glamor shots with y’all, from concept to completion!

Exactly what it sounds like.  I want to improve my art, find my weaknesses, and address them!  So, expect anatomy studies, object studies, background studies, color pallet experiments, all sorts of stuff!

I write stories too!  I’m a Creative Writing minor, and I’m hoping to publish some stuff someday.  So, if you see me drop a piece on the dashboard every once in a while, you know why.  Speaking of....

I’m a writer.  I’m an artist.

And there’s been a story I’ve wanted to tell for years.  I think this will finally be the year I share some of it.  What is it you may ask?  Well....

You’ll just have to wait and see, my wandering eyes.

Happy New Year.  May 2023 be a productive and fulfilling year for us all.  I’m excited for what I have in store for y’all.

If you like what you see, or are interested in anything I mentioned here, please feel free to reblog or shoot me an ask.  It means the world to me.

[cola-canine]

System Shock 2 is good. Only real complaint was that I was not a fan of walking around in circles in a big fleshy map at the end - my sense of direction just left the building during all that. Navigation is a bit of an issue towards the end of the game but overall, exploring a research station gone awry is always a blast. Alternate ammo types were actually useful. Wish I learned that you could unload ammo from weapons you picked up by just simply right clicking on them, though - feel that’s on me, however. Because lemme tell you, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for ammo at the end. Game really makes you pick your fights carefully. Favored the pistol and shotgun mostly, AR and EMP rifle were locked behind the highest weapon tier so I had to work for those. Melee weapons were practically useless - it doesn’t hit where your cursor is rather than where the animation swing hits.

Enemy designs were unique in both designs and approach. The hybrids are genuinely terrifying when they catch you off guard. Monkey’s are annoying at first but then they get a Psi upgrade and then they can really fuck your shit up - at least they’re weak. Turrets and cameras are bastards - the game really knows how to trick you into a false sense of security and I enjoy that. The enemies are easy to identify too, a lot of humanoid-like enemies but they all pass the silhouette test. Hybrids, for example, have three variants: A melee one, a shotgun one, and a grenade one. Melee and shotgun one look very similar because of the large pipe and shotgun the two carry respectively. Except, if you pay attention to the lower half of their bodies they’re modeled differently. Easy to make a split-second reaction if they get up close and surprise you too because the pipe one’s face is more sad and sunken whereas the shotgunner’s is more boney and tight, like as if it’s a thin layer of paper over a skull. Grenade one is easy, big army jacket with hands free.

Didn’t use any of the Psyonics, just stuck with firearms. Maybe that’ll change in a future playthrough. I dunno, the ones they gave you in the tutorial were kinda lame so I just didn’t put any of my cybernetic modules into them.

Could go a bit more into detail but don’t wanna spoil everything for those who might be interested. 7/10, it’s influence on the genre hasn’t gone unnoticed.