#also bonus Red and Wolf appearance— the two might have some history.

[camping-with-monsters]

It’s Nice To Meet The Demon Breathing Every Breath You Breathe!

OH WHAT ANOTHER ANIMATIC RIGHT AFTER YESTERDAY’S?? IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS. Anyways. Silly thing with Bo Peep cause I’ve been dying to play with her character more often and making an animatic was a good excuse to also get the hang of drawing her! This also gives some subtle hints to her tale… wonder if it means anything more? Maybe it’s obvious? Who knows!

[poetictrekkie]

TNG Crew Highschool!AU

Anonymous said: Hey! I was wondering for the 500 followers list prompt, you could do Headcannons for a TNG high school au? I was thinking of it as if they were students. Thanks so much if you decide do this!

Jean-Luc Picard

He’s one of those rare types who defies stereotype. 

No one can place him in any particular group, no set table in the cafeteria.

Of course, he prefers to spend lunch in the library. For some reason, the librarian never reprimands him if he eats there.

He’s fairly popular, and certainly no outcast. Whenever he enters a room, he exudes this undeniably authoritative aura.

Always taking the lead in group projects. Always.

Enjoys athletics, especially long-distance running. He’s trained for marathons in the past, and participates in cross-country events.

Subtly nerdy. He raises his hand all the time in English class.

Whenever students are assigned memorization work of a poem or a monologue, they can’t wait to hear Jean-Luc recite it.

His recitation of Hamlet’s To Be or Not to Be soliloquy went down in the history of the school as receiving a standing ovation and actual tears streaming down the teacher’s face.

He’s been the lead in the school play since his sophomore year. He was the first sophomore to get the lead.

Very private, especially in regards to his personal life. No one ever knows what’s going on in his head – or who he’s dating.

Will Riker

That guy. Every coming-of-age movie has one of them.

The more than slightly annoying, jock, “cool” guy that everyone wants to be around.

Secretly not a complete dunce. If he put in some effort, he could be doing great things.

Comes from money. The Rikers have been pumping money into the school for generations. Probably the only way that Will hasn’t gotten expelled.

There are probably several plaques in the school with ‘Donated by the Riker Family’ on them.

Has his own car the moment he turns sixteen, making him even more of an object of envy for the next few months.

Like his infamous escapades, his string of girlfriends is legendary. There’s a new girl on Will Riker’s arm every month.

But lately, since he started dating Deanna Troi, he’s toned down his reckless behaviour.

He’s also begun to realize that underneath his act, there’s a surprising amount of vulnerability that he’s refused to acknowledge.

Data Soong

Very likely the smartest person in the school.

He can memorize dates for history and formulas for math without a single error.

He is the captain of the school robotics team, and they’ve had a winning streak in the district and state tournaments since he joined.

He is also responsible for the construction of “Broomby,” a highly modified Roomba that can go 20 km/hr and is very good at wreaking absolute havoc when a distraction is necessary.

He is also on the autism spectrum (he has Asperger’s), and he finds it difficult to interact with people and feels uncomfortable in social situations.

This sometimes makes him a target for bullying, but Data has learned to ignore the people who tease him.

Even the teachers sometimes grow annoyed when Data tries to answer every question in class.

His adoptive father, Dr. Noonien Soong, is very protective of his son. But although he often wants to intercede on his behalf when he hears about the bullying, Data always stops him.

He hasn’t told him, but Data just wants to make his father proud, and prove that he can stand up for himself.

Geordi LaForge

The kind of person everyone wants to be friends with.

Rarely has a bad word to say about anyone. Very kind, funny, and helpful.

Geordi excels in the classes which require some hands-on work.

A star in woodshop. He has a knack for carving.

But he’s also very good at automotive work and technology-related tasks.

Always helps people with their homework. Might not know the answer every time, but he’ll sit and work it through.

He’s working at all the open houses for the school, talking to prospective students and touring them around the facilities.

When Data comes to the school, they immediately become fast friends.

Geordi understands how difficult it is to be different from other people. He’s visually impaired, but he doesn’t let that stop him from doing the things he loves.

The two of them spend late nights working on robotics projects, and Data even designed a pair of visual aids for his friend.

They didn’t work as well as the ones he already had, but Geordi kept them anyways.

He’s absolutely hopeless when he works up the courage to ask his crush out.

Hopeless.

But Data doesn’t really get that sort of thing either, so it all works out.

Beverly Crusher (Howard)

The model student and president of the Student Council.

Like Will, she also comes from a family of significant repute, but she doesn’t try to use her status for bonus points.

For her entire first year of high school, she denied any relation to the Howard family, just to prove she could make it on merit alone.

Everyone knows that Beverly is definitely going to get into a very good medical program in an Ivy League university.

She has top marks in Biology and Chemistry in her grade (Data is a year younger than her), and is an Honours student.

Beverly is friendly and effusive, but still introverted. She prefers to stick to her small group of friends.

She also has very high standards about the people she dates. Not many people can say they’ve gone out with Beverly Howard.

That’s why everyone was so shocked when she started dating Jack Crusher. A nice guy by all means, but no one particularly remarkable.

The two of them loved each other with a passion that could have went far beyond “high school sweethearts.”

But just before graduation, “could have” became all it ever could have been.

He was in the car.

Distracted. Listening to music. Talking.

Not seeing the truck that ran that red light.

Then Beverly didn’t know who to think to blame, not even Jean-Luc. Who was in the car too. Who survived.

Deanna Troi

The most popular girl in the school.

On first appearances, she comes off sometimes as a bit of an airhead.

Some people say she’s concerned more with her clothes than school itself.

But they couldn’t be more wrong.

Deanna is constantly motivated, trying hard in all her courses.

She knows she’s no Beverly Crusher, and certainly not Data, but she’s determined to succeed.

She’s an empath in every sense. She’s a great conversationalist, and has high emotional intelligence.

Whoever talks to Deanna always feels better and happier by the end of the conversation.

She gets top marks in the psychology class, and she’s considering becoming a psychiatrist or a counsellor.

She likes to make people feel good, and talk them through their problems.

Some people honestly prefer talk to Deanna than the actual school counsellor.

When Will Riker asks her out, she almost says no. In fact, she only says yes on the condition that she won’t become one of his cast-offs.

And surprisingly enough, Will Riker stays true to his word.

Because to him, Deanna is worth all the things in the world.

Worf

The slightly frightening exchange student.

He came from Belarus with his adoptive brother, Nikolai.

Compared to his rather rebellious and genial sibling, Worf is very stoic and prefers to keep to himself.

Some people joke that the brothers might as well have come from different planets.

Not many people have seen past his stony exterior. There are a few exceptions, though.

Deanna Troi, who he dated briefly in his junior year. But it ended up not working out, and they parted as good friends.

Jean-Luc Picard, who he respects as an intelligent person and capable leader. 

He is brilliant at sports, if rather aggressive.

He’s the captain of the school wrestling team, probably one of the best they’d had.

The bulk of sports-related injuries at the school had some relation to were caused by Worf.

He spends quite a bit of time in the gym, where he discovered he had an aptitude for basketball.

Tasha Yar introduced the game to him, and she remains his usual partner for shooting hoops.

He always stands up for the underdog, because he knows what it’s like to be one.

So, if he sees any of the younger kids being bullied, there’ll be hell to pay.

Tasha Yar

Ever since her first day of freshman year, Tasha Yar had acquired a sort of rebel mystique.

In the first lesson, she corrected the History teacher on a particular fact about the Cold War.

Not very politely, mind you.

By the end of the first month of school, she had been sent to the principal’s office twice.

Tasha’s very much a lone wolf. Wasn’t there to make friends, no matter how many people thought her defiance was “cool.”

“Tragic backstory unlocked at level 4.” No one’s got there. 

Protest is her art form.

She’s consistently skipped Fridays to strike for climate change.

She came early to school (for once) in order to put up signs protesting the heartbeat laws in Alabama and Georgia.

Tasha is a killer debater, and Debate is the only club she participates in.

If you try and argue anything with her, you’ve just dug your own grave.

Loves heavy metal, but also classical music. She doesn’t talk about the latter one as much, though.

When she’s not protesting the dress code, her favourite t-shirt reads: “Dismantling the patriarchy, brick by brick.”

And no one dares make fun of her, because they know they’ll pay for it one day.

[draegonkin]

Beneath Shadowed Wings: Chapter 7 – The 2.4.1 Deal

(Alternate Title: A Jewel in the Desert)

The group had a few minor details to clear up before leaving the city.  First, they stopped by their tavern and left one of the Rocky Talkies with Selkie, who they gave the radio handle “Seal”. Next Olek and Bitsy stopped by their favorite armorer: Killa.  Olek gave him the vivisector pieces to include in a piece of armor from the smith, while Bitsy asked for a unique set of gauntlets that could be worn when she was in beast form.  Killa was a little bit taken back the request, but he agreed to try.

Finally, they went to Khaless’ representative to the Consortium and signed up as a group, while Bitsy agreed to remain on as an independent contractor.  After a little bit of discussion, inspiration from Olek’s coupon idea to sell two for one drinks at their new bar, and an interesting in advertising their business, they agreed on the name “2.4.1. Drinks”.  The representative thought they might be joking, but when assured they weren’t, he signed them on as the Consortium’s newest protector group.

The next morning, they met with Korvis Blazebeard, journeyman of the Consortium and his caravan members, Nell Brant the driver, Alistar and Riva Keen the animal handlers, and Ipsen Rillis their quartermaster.  Korvis explained to them that they would need to stay with the caravan at all times. He was glad to have a cleric of Ariss with them and made an arrangement with Kizzy to fill up their water each day in exchange for a bonus at the end of their trip.  Soon they set out, Bitsy taking the form of a Coyote as long as she could before resting, ranging out ahead of them to scout.

Eventually they came to some ruins that the vague road they were on passed through.  Curious, Thyme moved on slightly ahead to check them out, Bitsy coming with to keep watch on him.  The ruins appeared to be little more than eroded old buildings and some four armed, insectoid humanoids disguised as stones among the ruins.

Underestimating their prey the creatures, known as Thri-kreen, attempted to take the two by surprise.  Unfortunately, both proved much heartier than they expected and they fought back. Thyme sent up a series of sparks into the sky to signal the others, drawing them into the battle.  The others arrived, moving in to help.  As Bitsy killed the first of the two attackers, and one leapt to the walls of the ruins to flee, three more jumped from the stones and immediately moved to attack the caravan.  Olek, using the powers of his new axe for the first time imbued his strike with the power of a lion and leapt at his foe, his axe felling the creature.

The remaining Thri-kreen stuck at Nell and the water within the cart.  The third attempted to kill Absinthe, but an arrow from Thorn killed it, pinning it to the wagon.  The bard used magic to be sure that Nell did not die from her wounds.  Desperate now, one grabbed a barrel of water, and one dragged of the form of Nell, paralyzed by the venom of the creature.  Fortunately, Bitsy was quicker, killing one, while Kizzy used a blast of divine power to kill the other.  Safe, Nell thanked them profusely, and soon they headed off again.

After a total of six days they arrived at the intimidating Gabran stronghold.  A massive manmade pit surround the entire fortress, a bridge spanning the gap across.  The fort was made of red stone and iron, and a decrepit shanty town was built in the surrounding pit.  An arena was there, as well as a market for the servants and prisoners.  Outside the pit was a small organized town belonging to the Consortium, known by the inhabitants as Gateway Outpost.

The group stopped in at the Gateway Outpost, an extension of the Consortium here in the wasteland. Once there Korvis pulled them aside and gave them a few words of advice.  He warned them that crime here was punished by stints as indentured servants in the mines or arena run by the Gabran clan and that they would need to be careful to stay on the good side of the Legions.  Indicating that he knew they had some business beyond their Consortium contract, he said he’d been informed by Khaless to wait for them before heading back to Jarmaulk.

Knowing they had a contact to meet here they headed to the local tavern: The Last Oasis.  There were a few people there, a human and a few assorted members of the Consortium, a few workers from the Gateway outpost.  Beyond that were two individuals that stood out: A half-orc wearing a finely crafted breastplate of mithril and a giant falchion, and a kobold wearing a fine hat on his head with a whip at his side.  After a brief awkward conversation, they determined this was indeed Rastin’s contact at the stronghold.  Olek sat beside the other half orc.  The large armored man looked at him and said, “Thog think needs drink.” Olek wholeheartedly agreed. Smiling, Thog asked, “You speak orc?” Olek replied in orc, with a smile. Thog let out a sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness. Common is such a barbaric language, don’t you agree?  So few words for such important things!  It is so refreshing to speak a civilized tongue again!”

They became fast friends.

Meanwhile Rufus the kobold was telling the party that with their information about the general location of Gbranth’s tomb, he was able to focus his information gathering.  He knew that there was a monolith in a city called Cliffkeep, at the edge of the desert, that spoke of the entrance to the tomb. The Ember Chief of the Gabran had found it, but Rufus did not know what it said.  He also gave them more information about the situation with the clan’s laws. Everything in this desert was theirs, in their own eyes.  Everything in, above and under belonged to the Gabran clan.  The group deduced that telling them about the amulet was likely a bad idea, to which Rufus agreed enthusiastically. He told them that to enter the desert without permission of the clan was a crime that would land them in the mines for decades.  They would need to get permission of the Ember Chief or one of his War Masters, and would need a good reason to be entering the desert.

Thog also indicated that because he was one of the Champions of the arena he could get an audience with the Ember Chief, though he would only be able to bring two of them with him. This gave them some things to think about.

As evening settled, Thyme pondered their problem.  He thought about what he knew of men in power and thought that appealing to man’s baser nature might get them somewhere, so he thought about finding out what kind of partners the Chief preferred.  The obvious conclusion was checking in at a local brothel might shed light on the information he sought.  And despite Kizzy begging the young man not to go – and telling him he couldn’t because he was too young; it was past his bed thyme – he went anyways, as a rebellious teen does.  Olek and Thorn went to watch and see what would unfold.  Bitsy went to keep an eye on things, disguised as a mouse.

Eventually they entered the Common grounds, even worse up close than it looked from the rim of the pit. It was a rundown district where workers in the mines, mostly slaves and indentured servants, lived.  Those that lived there were weary and a bit on the hungry side.  In a district like that the brothel they were able to find was equally terrible.  Thyme went in undeterred.

What followed was perhaps one of the most awkward exchange in the history of the world of Alia.

Thyme entered and saw at once that the woman running this establishment was part of the Wildfire legion that ran this part of the town.  She could tell immediately that he was out of his depth.  As he awkwardly pressed for information she demanded that he pay for a girl, or get out.  He was hesitant to choose a girl, so the Mistress of the house chose one that would suit a “first thymer”.  A middle-aged gnome known as Jewel came forward and after Thyme paid the Mistress 50 gold pieces led him to a room in the back.  Mouse-Bitsy followed.

For the next few minutes Thyme avoided the suggestive advances of Jewel, even going so far as to offer her some dried trail rations if she was hungry.  He learned that few from the stronghold came here, and that they had their own places for that kind of entertainment there.  They were more likely to come to the arena than here, though a few might visit and spend their winnings.

Once he’d learned that he left her room.  The house Mistress gave him a pitying look.  Olek patted him on the back consolingly letting him know that it happened to everyone.  Thorn pointed out it was his first time.  Later Mouse-Bitsy was sympathetic, telling the young man that she wouldn’t tell anyone what really happened if he wanted.

The four of them made a quick stop by the arena, watching an orc fight a dire wolf.  Thorn lost five silver on a bet when the orc knocked the wolf out cold.  Curious they asked a few denizens of the city about the arena and found out that anyone could join if they proved themselves against some weaker beasts.  A member of the legion offered to show them some of the beasts they had, rather proudly.  Bothered, Bitsy, no longer a mouse, went with the others to see them.  She found them in small cages, scarred, feral, and mad. It ate at the deepest part of her nature.  She clenched her jaw and left with the others, for now.

Back at The Last Oasis, Kizzy waited for Thyme with a look of disapproval.  Absinthe watched the frustrated Tiefling, keeping her company. When Thyme returned, he was very quiet about what had happened which only seemed to confirm their beliefs.

Eventually Kizzy told them that the temple to Ariss here could put them all up for the night. Absinthe and Thyme took her up on the offer.  Olek wanted to spend some more time drinking with Thog, and Thorn was more comfortable at the inn.  Bitsy, to Kizzy’s surprise stayed at the inn as well.  She told Kizzy it was because she preferred it, but in all honesty, she didn’t feel comfortable around gods after being raised to believe in the Old Way her whole life.

They rested for the night and agreed to meet in the morning to determine a course of action.

After a restless night, Thyme woke early and was met outside the temple by a hulking goliath name Bron. The man, a carpenter in the city, handed Thyme a crate containing a new lute, and instructions for his next one. The young Tiefling went back into the temple and played a few notes on the beautiful crystalline lute, the color of it shifting with the notes he played.

Thyme was not looking forward to how jealous Absinthe was going to be…