#it’s mainly the purple eyes and the cult member thing

[whalehouse1]

Me hearing about the new Titans tie-in event that will once again stretch across the DC universe: -_- whoopie.

Me hearing Garth is in a tie-in: Alright, there’s a 99.99999% chance I’ll hate it and want to scream, but Garth. There’s a chance he’ll be written and drawn right.

[sherbetgreeceuh]

These were some mlp next gen designs. They were more of a what if kind of thing. I didn’t actually ship any of these characters, I mainly just wanted to design some next gen characters, some of them were paired together purely for the aesthetic purpose. There’s two different ones for Fluttershy just cause I wanted to design some for her and Discord and the other one I just some nurse pony that I liked the color scheme of. So all of these can be considered AUs separate from each other. The orange one is Starlight and Sunburst’s daughter. And the last two were Rainbow Dash and Soren that I did way before all the other ones.

I’ll just add the description of them from my Deviantart

1: I decided to pair Twilight with Star Tracker for this because I think their color schemes looks nice together. The oldest is an alicorn but he has trouble learning and controlling his magic. He is quiet and is stressed out a lot. He feels like he has a lot to live up to because of who his mom is. He is worried he will disappoint everyone. He is smart but doesn't like to learn and study. He doesn't like to be in crowds, and is a bit shy. His cutie mark is a moon and stars. The youngest loves to read and study science, her eyesight is bad because she spends so much time reading. She loves books as much as her mom. She wants to be a great hero like her mom, and is a bit jealous of her brother because he's an alicorn and she's not. Her magic is not as powerful as an alicorn but is a bit stronger than a regular unicorn. She has a secret love of comic books, and wants to be a superhero. Her cutie mark is a sun.

2: I paired Rarity with the spa pony guy for this just because I like his design. And Rarity does go to the spa a lot, so I can say that's where she met him. I don't really care too much about shipping. I just really wanted to design some next gen kids, I will probably do some for the other main six too. I'm going to be pairing them based on what colors look good together not by who I ship them with. So this isn't about shipping, I just like to design ponies. I won't be pairing any of the main six together or put them with other mares because it wouldn't be possible for them to have kids. I know some people design kids for mare couples anyways, but I'm just going to pair them with a stallion instead. So, yeah, this is just for fun, don't take who I pair them with too seriously. I also didn't pair her with Spike for this, because it just seems wrong. I really don't like the ship at all because I'm pretty sure Rarity is an adult and Spike is a child. He is referred to as a baby dragon. I don't have names for the kids, I'm terrible at naming. The youngest has a grumpy personality. She spent way to much time around Opalescence growing up and the cat's personality rubbed off on her a bit. She is sarcastic and likes to think she's smart. She doesn't have many friends because she is not very pleasant to be around. But she will eventually make some friends and her personality will change for the better because of them. The oldest is very dramatic and kinda smug. He likes to be the center of attention. He likes acting and has stared in many plays. He acts confident but is actually a bit insecure. He likes to star in plays that will entertain other ponies and make them happy. His cutie mark is a shining gemstone. 

3:  I decided to Rainbow Dash with Thunderlane for this because I thought a rainbow mane with a black coat would look cool. The oldest has a pretty chill personality. She loves to fly through clouds and watch sunsets. She's cheerful and loves to have fun. Her cutie mark is a heart shaped cloud. The other two are twins. The girl with the blue coat is older by a bit. I gave her the color scheme of Rainbow Dash Destroyer of Pies, because I thought it would be funny and it looks cool. Her cutie mark is a flying cloud and rainbow lightning bolt. She has sort of an extreme personality, she likes to go fast and is a bit of a dare devil. She wants to be as cool as her mom. She wants to be able to do a sonic rainboom but is frustrated because she hasn't been able to. The youngest acts a lot like his twin sister, and most ponies think they have the same personality, but he mostly just tries to be like her because he looks up to her and she is his best friend. He likes to spend time relaxing and reading. He enjoys racing for fun but doesn't really care if he wins or not. His cutie mark is a rainbow tornado. The twins find out later that they can make a sonic rainboom if they fly fast together.

  4:  Next gen Pinkie Pie kids I designed for fun. I decided to pair her with Party Favor for this just because they look nice together. For the kids I wanted to be reverse of Pinkie's family, with three kids more like Pinkie and one like her sisters. I don't have names for any of them. The youngest likes to fix hair, she did Pinkie's hair for this pic. She is kind of a creepy kid. Often appears out of nowhere. She doesn't say much, but when she does it's always something weird. Her coat color is similar to Pinkie's mother's. The second youngest has a kazoo cutie mark. He likes to sing, dance, pretend, and KAZOO! His personality is basically that kazoo kid, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRpdIr… He eventually starts a Kazoo cult. The purple one has a gloomy personality, she takes after Pinkie Pie's family, she likes rocks. She is interested in the magical properties of rocks and gemstones. Her cutie mark is a gemstone and sparkles. She studies magic and rocks. When she was younger her Aunt Maud was teaching her about rocks and mentioned that with the right stone one could rule all of Equestria, she has secretly been trying to find the right stone. For her colors I just combined, Pinkie's and Party Favor's, I usually don't like to do that because the colors end up not looking anything like the parent's or family member's, but here the colors looked similar to Maud or other members of Pinkie's family so I used them. The haven't really come up with much of a personality for the oldest, I guess he likes to party. His cutie mark is a slice of pie. 5:  Fluttershy and Nurse Pony. I don't have a name for her son, the daughter's name is Blossom. I just chose the stallion sort of randomly, I thought their colors looked nice together I might make a different alternate universe Fluttershy family with her and Discord. Blossom is a cheerful pony, she loves nature, and loves to grow flowers and plants. Her cutie mark is a flower blossom. She likes to grow flowers that attract animals. I haven't really thought up much more for her personality. The foal is a bit shy, he has trouble speaking to other ponies. He is kind of secretive and spends a lot of time alone. His cutie mark is three ghosts because he is often invisible to others because of his shy personality and because he secretly practices necromancy. 

6:   Applejack. I literally just chose this stallion to pair with her because I think the colors look nice together. I have no idea what his name is, I don't think he even has one. This isn't about shipping, I just wanted to design some next gen kids, so I chose the stallion based on the colors. I don't have names for either of the kids. The youngest wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She loves the animals on her mom's farm and wants to be able to care for them when they are sick or injured. She is calm most of the time and very patient. The older one's cutie mark is an apple, orange, and grapes. She wants to grow and sell lots of different fruits. She is also interested in tree grafting, she wants to be able to graft different fruit trees together. (I'm going to say it's possible to make a tree with more than one type of fruit in mlp because magic) 7: Big Mac.  I haven't come up with cutie marks for the younger two. The oldest has sort of a tomboyish personality. She loves the outdoors, animals, and running through mud puddles. Her cutie mark is an pie and an apple slice. She is good a making desserts with apples. The middle child, is calm and doesn't talk much. She is not shy, she just doesn't like to say much. She prefers to listen to what others have to say. The youngest has a personality similar to his mother Sugar Belle, he's very sweet and likes to help others. He loves helping his mother cook desserts. I used the color of Granny Smith's coat for the youngest, and the color of Big Mac's father and Apple Bloom for the oldest. The oldest one has the same color eyes as Big Mac's mother.

8: They didn’t have descriptions

[p4nd0ran-punk]

Meet The OC: Victoria the Siren

Got inspired by @border-spam​ to put more effort forth in providing info and details on my OC! Here’s a better look at my siren OC, bio and other info is below the cut.

(The first and second artworks are by me, the third was made by the awesome and lovely @lazulizard​ ! The title card above was made in Pixlr E, and the font used is Aberus.)

CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Victoria

AGE: 18

BIRTHDAY: October 26th

HOMEWORLD: Olympianas

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

» HAIR: Black (With purple and pink ombre dye at the tips). Victoria almost always wears her hair shortly cropped, usually in a pixie cut or an asymmetrical bob. She rarely (if ever) wears her hair longer than neck length.

» EYES: Light Blue. But they turn pink whenever she uses her powers.

» SKIN: Very fair, but she can get a decent tan on the right day.

» HEIGHT: Victoria is 4’10” out of her platform boots, and she’s 5’4” while she’s wearing her boots. Victoria has a bit of a height complex, and hates it whenever people bring her height up. Her height (and bust size) have been the subject of jokes (even to the point where some people nickname her “titget”).

» PHYSICAL BUILD: Victoria’s overweight, with a curvaceous figure. She’s quite content with her shape, and likes to flaunt it whenever she can.

» STYLE: Victoria often mixes corporate and gothic aesthetics in her dress style. Back when she was more associated with Hyperion, she couldn’t exactly dress how she wanted to. So Victoria would sneak in punk and gothic elements into her dress style.

BACKSTORY:

Victoria was born on the Eridian homeworld of Olympianas, and she inherited her siren powers shortly after birth. She was trained and raised by a cult known as the Enlightened Sisterhood, to become the next siren queen of Olympianas. Growing up, Victoria spent most of childhood locked away from the outside world, only being allowed to leave with strict supervision. The Enlightened Sisterhood convinced Victoria that they were keeping her locked away for her own “safety”. But they were actually keeping her locked away to fulfill their own selfish motives.

Once Victoria became of age, the Sisterhood planned to have her open Olympianas’ vault. But unfortunately for the Sisterhood, their plans would never come to fruition. Victoria had no interest in becoming Olympiana’s next queen, and became increasingly fed up with her strict lifestyle.So one day while Victoria was going for a walk around town, she siphoned her supervisor. And then she ran into a crowd of tourists, to keep herself being noticed by members of the Sisterhood. After successfully getting lost within the crowd, Victoria hitched a ride on a Dahl tourist shuttle to Pandora. 

After a certain period of time of being on Pandora, Victoria was found and adopted by a Hyperion Engineer. At this time Handsome Jack was still the CEO of Hyperion, so Victoria’s guardian went to great lengths to hide that she was a siren. After the fall of Jack and Hyperion, Victoria would stop hiding her tattoos, but she still faced problems socially. People were either afraid of her, wanted to profit off other powers, or treated her with prejudice.

Grew up being known for her child prodigy status. Being trapped in a tower for most of her early childhood came with one benefit. It gave her a lot of time to become well-studied, especially with how strict the Sisterhood was with education. She graduated from high school early, and was in college until she became bored with her rather mundane life.

Shortly after starting college, father randomly went missing. It’s suspected that the Enlightened Sisterhood might have something to do with his disappearance.

Speaking of Victoria’s education, she followed in her adoptive guardian’s footsteps, and was studying to become an engineer for Hyperion. She quit college at 16 to become a Vault Hunter, find her adoptive father, and to regain a childhood that she never had.

PERSONALITY:

Victoria is an adventurous  young woman known for her  rebellious and unlady-like behavior. She appears to be a “lone-wolf” having a more cynical outlook on life in general, and never really goes out her way to do good unless it comes with personal benefit. Victoria’s a bit of a misanthrope, and generally doesn’t have much faith in people, especially the ones on Pandora. 

She also hides behind a sort of “bad girl” persona, as a way of protecting herself from being seen as weak or vulnerable by those around her. This also means that she has a tendency of hiding how she truly feels, making her appear too cold, even at times where showing emotion is appropriate.

Her “bad girl” persona fades away with time, when she’s around friends, or when someone has gained her trust.

TRAITS:

✓ POSITIVE Traits

Undying Loyalty:

From first appearances Victoria seems to be an “every man for himself” kind of gal. But once someone has gained Victoria’s trust, she’ll never turn her back on them. She will even go as far as getting herself injured or killed, if it means protecting those who she cares about.

Diligence:

Victoria is not the type of person to half-ass any sort of job given to her, whether she likes the job or not. She likes the rewards, and sense of accomplishment that come from a job well done. 

Assertiveness: 

Victoria doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit, period. Whether it’s someone bossing around or insulting, Victoria or her friends, she will stand her ground to make sure that person knows their place. 

Adaptability: 

Victoria’s gotten used to abrupt changes in her life at this point, mainly because she’s had no option but to. Pandora’s a tough planet to live on, so you either adapt and get used to the craziness or you die.

Resilience: 

Despite everything that’s occurred in her life so far, she’s managed to keep herself together. She rarely breaks under pressure, and tends to handle traumatic experiences well enough.

x Negative Traits

Insatiable Greed:

Victoria has a love for money that  borders on obsession. No amount of money is ever enough for her, and there’s no such thing as “too much” when it comes to the finer things in life for Victoria. Her greed for money is almost immeasurable, and she’ll do just about anything to get it, as long as it doesn’t involve humiliation or sex.

Pridefulness: 

For the most part, Victoria mainly works to achieve her own goals, very rarely putting others before herself. She can be impatient and cold to those who she considers to be a waste of her time. Victoria also has a hard time acknowledging her own faults.

Stubbornness: 

One thing that Victoria hates most is being told what to do. She doesn’t take being bossed around lightly, and will often do the opposite of what she’s told to do. She also has no respect for authority figures, and this has gotten her in trouble with the law. 

Recklessness: 

Tends to be carelessness and recklessness with her own life. She suffers silently with passive suicidal ideation, and generally hates that she has to take Eridium to live.

Arrogance: 

Acts like a bit a know-it-all due to status as a siren and child prodigy. Nobody can control Victoria, and very few can tell her what to do, due to her inflated sense of self-worth. 

Likes: 

Money.

Being treated like a normal person.

Makeup.

Rock and Metal music.

Alcohol. Victoria likes it… Maybe a little too much at times.

Bunkers and Badasses.

LARPing.

Dislikes: 

Being a siren.

Rude nicknames, especially the ones directed towards her height, weight, or bust size. 

Tight spaces. Victoria is moderately claustrophobic.

Being treated like a child. Victoria’s 18, and because of that some people try to baby her.

People. Not all, but most.

Being seen as a “nerd”. She’s secretly nerdy, but she prefers that everyone sees her as a badass.

[therealvagabird]

Some D&D characters!

I made this adventuring party a little while ago, inspired by the idea of an “all-monster” play on the traditional D&D party. Mainly just a fun exercise in character design. I even played as one of them solo.

I might write some excerpts of various adventures of this fictional band, but no promises. They do have something of a vague story-arc to them, though.

Name: Brute

Race: Bugbear

Class: Fighter

Appearance: Very large and burly bugbear, with almost ankle-length arms. Medium grey skin, thick black fur coat with prominent beard. Gold eyes. Features strong but weathered. Has many scars.

Usually wears a sturdy breastplate with simple, dark-colored underclothes in a soldiery style – sometimes with barbute helm. Attire is overall simple, crude, and military, favoring convenience over flair.

Specialties: Polearm defence, medium armor, military discipline, mercenary attitude.

Bio: It was after the landed Lord Francis of Aquila slew a tribe of feral bugbears on a hunting trip that he decided to take one orphaned youth as a personal slave, believing it would make for an intimidating warrior. Though given the sanctified name of “Barba Molossus” (or “Hairy Dog”) in accordance with religious rites, the bugbear was most often known as simply “Brute”. Brute was trained to be a loyal soldier and personal guard of the Aquilan noble family, and steadfastly served despite the constant derision directed at him. When Castle Aquila was ultimately overrun by a rival house, Brute fled into the wilds, eking out a living before coming across a large goblinoid tribe. Once again an outcast for his human rearing, Brute learned that ultimately his brutality would earn him the respect of most greenskins regardless.

Brute is a dour and bitter man, having been exposed to the worst aspects of many different environments and cultures. He has a reputation for savagery and ruthlessness that strikes fear into the hearts of many, even if they deride him as a simple dog. Despite this reputation, Brute is actually quite disciplined and reserved, only exposing his wrath when pushed, and being an otherwise very effective mercenary most of the time.

—

Name: Wu Jinn, “White-Eyes”, “The Clever”, “The Spider” (pejorative)

Race: Hobgoblin

Class: Wizard

Appearance: Shorter hobgoblin, long limbed but average build. Very dark, burgundy skin. Almost elven features, with blunted nose. Wavy black hair with white strands, close on sides but gathered up into long, braided nest on head to be wrapped in turban. Facial hair wispy – if left unshaved will grow slight Fu Manchu, goatee, and sideburns. Black irises.

Sharp-cut purple underclothes in Eastern style. Black, hooded over-robe. Beige leather lamellar armor offers simple protection with flexibility. Black, stiff mantle on shoulders. Pointed shoes. Tight, beige turban on head. Many pouches and arcane tools carefully sorted about person.

Specialties: Magical manipulation and lore, history and general knowledge. Carries enchanted whip and sword.

Bio: There was a time when the hobgoblin mage covens of the dark East were sought after fiercely by warchiefs looking to secure magical power and sage council. Now, the respect allotted to the goblin mages has severely diminished. Wu Jinn trained in the hidden arcanums, perused the libraries of many great kingdoms, and became a learned scholar at a very young age. Now, he is stuck as the disregarded councilor to an orc chief, usually relegated to distributing medicine and conjuring fireballs when he has the knowledge of the past and future at his disposal.

Wu Jinn is a highly analytical hobgoblin, but was drawn to magic over simple scholarship due to the inherent mystery of the arcane. All knowledge is of interest to him, though this has not come without cost. Wu Jinn is aware of what terrible forces are at work in the universe, and it only heightens his frustration with people. He’s not terribly concerned with issues of power or politics, and regards most beings, even himself, as very insignificant in a cosmic sense. Regardless, he can never understand why so many would-be governors concern themselves with such things if they could just listen to him and organize everything so much more conveniently.

—

Name: Mary, “Nightingale”

Race: Tiefling

Class: Sorcerer

Appearance: Tiefling woman with almost black skin and fiery red eyes. Hair is black, straight, and usually kept around jaw length, though held back by nomad-style bandana. Rather tall, lithe but with powerful stature if not slouching. Horns have been completely filed off and hidden with bandana. Facial features strong and very beautiful, though haggard. Fangs, claw-like nails, barbed tail, and forked tongue kept hidden.

Usually dresses in light leather garb with comfortable underclothes and many bandanas. Loose, dark blue linens with tattered black hooded longcoat. Outfit always arranged to disguise infernal features. Prefers as much jewelry as she can wear without being conspicuous.

Specialties: Shadow magic, deception, psychological attacks, stealth, theft, assassination

Bio: Mary was born as the result of a dark ritual by cultists of the Lower Planes, believing she would be the Agrat bat Mahlat, or “Gift of Desolation”, destined to lead a fiendish conquest of the world. An attack against the cult and secret rescue of Mary by a kindly cleric disrupted that plan, however. Mary was placed in an orphanage when the cleric could no longer guard her, and given her current name. A rough childhood and many caretakers later, Mary took to the streets to become a rogue known as “Nightingale”, an enemy of the cruel and powerful, all while running from the remaining members of the old cult that wished to return her to her destiny.

Mary has the misfortune that evil runs very strongly in her blood. Her magical power can only be used to bring pain, confusion, and destruction even when carefully applied. For this reason, she has made it her mission to only target evil and tyrannical enemies, taking them down either directly or with careful manipulation in the hopes that good might fill the void. Nightingale prefers to remain out of sight and out of mind, disguising her infernal heritage in public and attempting to get in and out without a trace when on a mission. She is naturally attracted to many vices, and may have sudden bouts of rage or bitterness, but most of the time tries to retain a peaceful attitude in the hopes that goodness might one day come naturally to her.

—

Name: Batul Grimhand, “Hacksaw”

Race: Half-Orc

Class: Cleric

Appearance: Tall female half-orc with dark olive-green skin. Older, with sturdy figure and many minor scars. Kinky hair shaved into short tight stripe. Broad features, dark brown eyes, prominent but well-kept tusks.

Outfit includes knee-length white undercoat and clothes tucked into sturdy boots, and long leather gloves. Dark blue pants. Solid breastplate covered in all manner of medical pouches protects torso. More accessories affixed to leather belt and faulds. Keeps white bandana around neck to cover face if needed. Will don long leather cloak for bad weather.

Specialties: Field medicine, general healing, shock stabilization, combat support

Bio: Though it has been many centuries since orcs and goblins were defined as lawless and endlessly cruel raiders, the reality of the greenskin strongholds can still be exceptionally brutal in the modern day. To be born a half-breed, and a rare female at that, lead to a tough upbringing for Batul. Service in the warhost and later as a mercenary soldier abroad gave discipline and protection for Batul when there was none. She trained as a medic, seeing the violent realities of the world and wanting to make a difference. However, her clerical training only did so much, and most of the time she was only allotted the time and resources to get the injured back on their feet so that they could die fighting. Trauma and bitterness soon seeped in, and by the time she was an experienced medic, she was also a surly and iron-hard orc. Now, Batul has the respect she always wanted, at the cost of her enthusiasm and optimism. Though there are still the occasional jeers, most know not to mess with Hacksaw if you know what’s good for you.

Batul carries a genuine desire to help people within her scarred and hardened exterior. She is often the voice of pessimism and caution, always expecting the worst and never much trusting in anyone but herself. Years of belittlement and wartime shock have given her a grim disposition that earned her few friends but also few enemies. Her strength is in getting severely injured people back in fighting shape in short order, though she can’t do much more. Given time and resources, she could perhaps do a great many things, heal people body and mind, but she doesn’t hope for such high ideals anymore. Despite her negativity, she is always ready to suggest that a situation might be more than it seems – that enemies might be misunderstood, that what others call “weakness” might not be so reprehensible, and that killing and death are not so noble. Of course, if it comes down to letting a patient die or taking up her axe, she will swiftly choose the latter.

—

Name: Tash, “Tashi”

Race: Goblin

Class: Monk

Appearance: Very thin goblin, shorter than average, with skinny face, impish features, large ears, and huge yellow-green cat eyes. Pale grey-green skin. Messy mop of warm black hair. Would almost be cute for a goblin if he wasn’t covered in all manner of injuries and other old maladies.

Ragged cream sleeveless gi, and dark blue pants, with dark over-cloak and a faded burgundy belt/sash. Wears dark jika-tabi style footwear. Hands and other parts of body usually wrapped in bandages. Has many satchels for trinkets, as goblins like to have.

Specialties: Sword-and-hand fighting, danger sense, survival, dodging.

Bio: Though the greenskin stronghold Tash was born into was far from the worst around, it is still a hard life to be one of the mine-dregs. Despite being very sickly, scrawny, and cowardly by goblin standards, Tash worked in the mines until he sustained enough injuries to earn him a discharge for menial work. The misfortunes heaped upon him would have crippled or driven other goblins mad, but somehow Tash survived. Eventually his survival rate earned him a place in the Dregs’ Union, the goblin racket that allowed successful menials a chance at higher privilege. Though he earned few friends for his paranoid and self-loathing demeanor, he was taken under the wing of Master Maka, an old goblin warrior. Maka was far past his prime, but recognized Tash as “lucky” and so gifted him with the secrets of his Sword and Fist style. The martial secrets were enough to put Tash on the path from survival to possible success.

Tash is an extremely paranoid and mentally degraded goblin. Oftentimes he feels as though he was born into the wrong species. Weak, sickly, and fearful of many things even goblins would have no problem with, Tash tends to underestimate his hidden fortitude. While often the voice of fear and worry, he has proven to be adept at surviving even when thrust into the middle of battle, his fight and flight instincts somehow giving him incredible speed and clarity when they balance out. He is also very intuitive, and while often derided as stupid he has a keen eye for detail. Tash’s greatest obstacle is overcoming the pain and fear of his life to realize just how noble he could be.

—

Name: Baako, “Bomber”, “Batty”, “Blossom”

Race: Goblin

Class: Ranger

Appearance: Hale and lanky goblin with forest green skin, fiery eyes, a wide grin, large batlike ears and a batlike nose. Wide face with sharp features, and long black dreadlocks usually kept back in a ponytail.

Wears tan, sleeveless tunic and baggy tan pants tucked into tall black boots. Black leather cuirass in the style of apron overalls. Black archer’s gloves. Tattered, dark ranger cloak. Green belt sash. Many leather straps and harnesses all over body holding component pouches.

Specialties: Subterfuge, traps, ranged combat, tracking

Bio: Baako is a highly eccentric goblin whose erratic behavior has earned him equal parts distain, fear, and camaraderie from his peers. Born into the foragers, his energetic nature saw him advance quickly before joining the Union and becoming a ranger. He now runs as a scout, warrior, and hunter, wielding numerous traps and diversions to protect his stronghold’s borders. Baako is also a big fan of pranks and debauchery, however, and his constant petty theft and disruptions to his comrades and superiors has earned him as many enemies as his outgoing and driven nature have earned him allies.

Nobody knows for sure if Baako is just theatrical or suffers from some sort of split personality. He will often slip into different “personas” depending on the task at hand or even just swings of his mood. Common nicknames for himself include “Bomber” when he’s hoping to cause mayhem, “Batty” when acting as a ranger, or “Blossom” when he wants to feel cute. Most just leave him be, as for all his oddities he’s proven to be a highly competent goblin. Focused and indefatigable so long as he’s kept occupied, it’s only when Baako gets bored that trouble starts.

[mysplaced-pen]

Day 2.1: Sometimes Home is a Color

This one is for @a-mess-of-a-princess , who is a new friend of mine. A good pal, a salty buddy, always willing to talk buddy. Also as a kind of apology for getting you into 17 with me im not sorry about that at all lmao

I hope you enjoy!!! I love you!!💛

[ Word Count: 1589 | Prompt: The world is in black and white until you meet your soulmate. ]

“No visible marks, no countdown, no response if skin is written on,” the figure looming above them read off from a checklist. They still couldn't tell anything about the figure. Even their voice sounded like a robot. Interesting. “There's only one more test before we can let you through.” They said. The test they had been preparing for.

Joining this agency was the wrong move, they knew that. But getting off the map was the only way to survive. And they could do that here, as long as they passed this test…

“What color is this?” The figure spoke, holding up a picture. It was of a person they had never seen before, and they were pointing at the person’s hair.

There was no hesitation. “They're blonde.” The figure put the picture away and picked up another, now pointing to the person’s eyes. Again, no hesitation. “Hazel.” Another picture, of a building, the figure pointing to a single letter of a sign. “Red.” Now pointing to a random person’s jacket. “Aqua. Bold choice, if you ask me. With those shoes.”

The figure put the picture down and picked up the clipboard with their checklist again. “Color, check.” They marked a checkmark in the box and looked straight at them. “Agent Vanderwood, welcome to GFX.”

---

Those tests were all fairly simple, but crucial to the recruiting process. Agents were not allowed into the program if they had a soul mark. The agency had begun cracking down on more of the non-visible ones, too. Which is why Vanderwood had to prepare for the test...because they couldn't see colors at all.

It took forever, but with enough practice and one trustworthy colleague, they were able to guess colors by the shade of grey they were. It was excruciating, but worth it.

Who needs color anyways?

---

707 was going to drive Vanderwood insane. What the hell was he on about? A cult drugging people for the sake of happiness? A hacker better than him but it turned out to be his long lost twin? All because of lover’s quarrel and intense sun imagery? What kind of charity association is this? It sounded like a pipe dream.

“But it's over. And we’re finally going to have our party, so you have to come.” 707 said.

“I don't have to come, 07. I'm not part of this mess.” The responded.

“No, you’re not. But you can join our association.”

Vanderwood let out a laugh, “Absolutely not. You tell me all that, then expect me to join that mess? No way.”

707 leaned back in his chair before kicking his feet up, laying them on his keyboard. “You're gonna want to when we release the information about the agency. And no, you're not going to stop me. I'm not going to be the one to do it. So you either join or you go down with them.”

His tone had that unfamiliar serious to it that only showed up when he was extensively late for a deadline or after they tased him. It was intimidating, rare for 707. All they could say was  “...So, the party.”

“Noon, tomorrow. I'll tell V you're coming.” 707 said with a smile, the cheeriness back in his voice. This kid really scared Vanderwood sometimes.

---

The party wasn't actually that bad. There was quite a lot of people as well, considering that their new coordinator had a limited amount of time to invite people. Vanderwood was quite impressed.

They followed Saeyoung’s lead, mainly because they didn’t know anyone else here and was still wary about their agent status, but also because he wanted them to meet V. As much as Vanderwood heard about the guy, they had never met him. It was only fair.

“V!” Saeyoung called out when he was close enough, causing V to turn around. Dang, his hair really was blue. For a second, Vanderwood wondered what it would look like if they could actually see it, instead of the light grey it was, but they chased the thought quickly. Start thinking like that, the thought of finding their soulmate would come with it, and Vanderwood knew it was not the time to worry about that.

“Saeyoung, you look more excited than usual.” V said with a small, almost fatherly smile. “And remember, it’s Jihyun now. Anyways,” He turned to Vanderwood with a smile. “I’m glad to see that you made it, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Vanderwood managed a smile back at him before shooting Saeyoung a look. “I’m sure it’s not good, but thanks. I’ve heard a lot about you too, in a good way.”

V let out a laugh, “I’m honored. And I hope you consider our offer to join the RFA. The members will be glad to meet you. But for now, enjoy the party. Our coordinator did a wonderful job!” He said. On that last bit, he moved to the side, gesturing towards a woman, her back turned. “Hey, Faith!” V called out, making her turn around.

She walked over, smiling at V. “Yeah? Is something wrong, V?” He shook his head, gesturing to Vanderwood. “I just wanted to introduce you two. Vanderwood, this is Faith - our new coordinator. Faith, this is Vanderwood, Saeyoung’s...partner?”

“Babysitter.” They corrected, earning a slap from Saeyoung that they ignored. “Nice to meet you,” They said extending their hand for Faith to shake while turning to face her. And as soon as their eyes met, Vanderwood froze. They could tell Faith did too.

The first thing they noticed was her eyes. They were...brown. Like, actually brown. Not the grey they were used to distinguishing as brown, but the color. It was the first actual color Vanderwood had seen. And then they took in the rest of the room and people around them.

Everything was colored. They could see just how obnoxiously red Saeyoung’s hair was, how nice these decorations really were, how just...vibrant everything was.

Faith saw the exact same thing. And before they knew it, the two of them were looking around the room, bewildered.

“Uh, guys?” Saeyoung said, snapping both of them out of their amazement. “You okay? You both look like you just realized where you were.”

Vanderwood ignored him, as they tended to do, and looked at Faith with a small smile. “I know I said this already, but it really is a pleasure to meet you.”

Faith smiled at them widely. “Same to you, it's a real pleasure. Are you, uh...joining the RFA?” She asked, hopeful.

Oh yeah, that.

They still weren't sure. Going down with the agency was going to be one big hellhole, but being on the map again…

But Faith also changed things, they realized. They could both see colors now. They were soulmates. And things changed when you found your soulmate. The agency would know.

“I-” they started.

“Yeah, I am.”

---

Faith had her legs propped up on their lap, scrolling through her phone. The chat room, probably. It had become a lot more busy since the first couple parties. And with the holidays coming up, the RFA wanted to have a fundraiser, so it just made them all extra busy. It was nice, though. It felt like they were all a little family.

“Hey,” Faith said, making Vanderwood look over at them from the book they were reading.

“Yes?” They answered, putting their book to the side before grabbing Faith’s legs and pulling her more towards them. It made her smile.

“What's your favorite color?” She asked.

They didn't hesitate, “Brown.”

She say up, raising an eyebrow, “Never heard that one before.”

“What did you expect, purple? It's my aesthetic, hun.”

“No, I mean, that's not something people usually say is their favorite. It's nice, but...why favorite? Out of all colors?”

They looked over at them, thinking for a second. Vanderwood was never exactly good at expressing what they felt, but..it was worth a shot.

“Well, it was the first color I ever saw. It’s the color of your eyes. The color of my soulmate. It reminds me of the day I met you and how the world literally changed. And it might seem weird that it's my favorite color, but it holds a lot of importance to me.”

There was a moment of silence before Faith could muster up words. “Wow, I-”

“Don't tell anyone I said that.” Vanderwood said, now blushing and attempting to hide their face. It made Fauth laugh and lean forward, pressing a kiss onto their shoulder.

“I won't, don't worry. That was really sweet, thank you…”

“No need to thank me. You’re the one that made me see it, after all.” Vanderwood said, still attempting to hide their face.

“Yeah, well, same to you. It's the first color I saw, too. And now it's just...comforting. It feels like home.”

Home. Vanderwood never had much of an opinion on that word before. It never meant anything because they never had one. It was all just running and trying to survive, but now...now they were part of an organization that wasn’t out to kill them upon first mistake and they were sitting with their soulmate.

It felt like home. The word had meaning now. But all they could manage to say was, “Exactly. It’s safe, comforting..”

Vanderwood finally showed their face, but only to quickly turn and give Faith a kiss on the forehead, one because they felt like it and two because they wanted to see them blush when they said, “It’s you.”

[my-job-is-to-fangirl]

I went for my first ever concert this April in Bangkok with two of my best friends (Nabi and Bunky, as mentioned in my other Bangkok posts). I am still not over the fact that we actually went, and it’s been four months. I just thought I’d make a blog post because I think I can handle looking back at the videos now without hyperventilating. (edit- I couldn’t.)

Anyway, I will talk about everything in detail- the ticketing process, the days leading up to the concert, and the day of. Also, my ‘favourite moments’ list went on and on so I stopped after a while. Let’s begin! I hope this is slightly helpful at least, and if not, enjoy the video! xD

TICKETING We found out that they were having a concert in BKK in October and began the process of badgering our respective parents to let us go, and in my case, to come with us on the trip. Everything worked out pretty soon and we couldn’t handle our excitement. Then we remembered how hard it would be to get the actual tickets. We prepared ourselves for the worst, obviously, and I had my mom tell me practically everyday ‘don’t be disappointed if you don’t get tickets okay, you can try later’.

The tickets were going on sale in December, and I think we religiously prepared for the ticketing process for a good week before ‘the day’. I don’t think we slept the previous night, I have butterflies in my stomach even as I’m typing this that’s the sheer amount of anxiety we had about it. We all had notebooks with seating charts and which seats to aim for and everything ready. 

The morning of the ticketing, we were up by 6:30, ready with laptops and the webpage open (thaiticketmajor.com). And of course, our notebooks, a pen, and water to last us the hours ahead. Oh, most importantly, we had credit card details written down too. There would be a very tiny window to finish payment, assuming we got tickets. We were on a conference call, dying in anticipation. I had my aunt, mom, dad, and grandfather all walking around the house, probably thinking ‘these kids are mad’. They all helped though, they were my hype-people, giving me food and saying ‘have hope’ xD

It took forEVER to enter the damn website, and once we did, we had to wait in line. We also had other friends on the conference call to help us out- THANK YOU ALL, and all we said for hours was ‘my man moved!!’ (you’ll see in the picture below what I mean). We all used multiple browsers, and for me, Safari worked magic. I got in line at about 8 I think, and finally got into the website at around 9:45. We were on the website from 7 though, refreshing and waiting for it to open. I don’t know how mine was fast, we all got in line at the same time.

Once I reached the end of the line and entered the website properly, there was a lot of screaming in my earphones. ‘STAY CALM YOU CAN DO THIS WE NEED THESE TICKETS.’ I went through, picked seats that were close enough (after about a minute of deliberation, we didn’t have more time than that), and waited to see if it would go through. I think I had to change seats thrice because they were booked by the time I clicked on ‘select’, but we unknowingly got great seats (more on that later). My aunt was sitting ready with card details so we went ahead and paid!! Again, there was a lot of screaming. I think we all went silent for a few seconds just taking it in.

This is what it looked like in the beginning. The man kept walking and taking the green line with him.

Now, the next three months, we kept counting down and planning our trip, it was so much fun researching where to go and what to eat at the 7/11’s (okay that was mainly me). Buying and figuring out what to wear at the concert, listing places to shop there, what to do on the day of the concert- our priorities.

THE MORNING OF 7.4.19 My parents obviously didn’t come for the concert, but they spent that day taking care of us and giving us food because we were so excited, it was like having an out-of-body experience, I swear. We got up by 6:30, got ready (not in concert wear, because the concert was in the evening, and we were going to come back to the hotel after collecting the tickets because it was quite close by to the venue), ate breakfast and went to the venue. We walked around a little bit to find the stalls for tickets. We were greeted by posters of each of the members and a HUGE one of all of them with the concert details.

This is the clearest one I have.

We were sitting in line in the sweltering heat, but thankfully it didn’t take too long, we were early and there weren’t that many people.

  We didn’t know it would be that hot, we didn’t have anything to cover our heads with. Anyway, we got our tickets pretty quickly and then stood in line for army bombs. They give you a sheet with all the merch and you have to select everything you want so it becomes easier. We just got those, got them synced to our respective seats, and then got Fanta xD they were selling giant cups of ice with whatever flavour of Fanta, we all got strawberry. I don’t know why, but I felt the need to include that detail. We then went and got small fans outside on the street. We saw 90% of the people holding fans and we thought ‘oh we can take the heat we’re from India’, but god no we needed them. [Random shoutout to the really sweet girl from Indonesia I stood in front of in line for the army bombs :D] While leaving, a random girl was coming to each of us and saying ‘sorry, please take this’, and I thought it was a pamphlet or something, but it was a cute Hobi sticker ㅠㅠ The concert experience had officially begun xD

EVENING We left at around 4 to go to the venue, the concert was at 7. Adventure time (not the show)- We were in the cab on the way, and the cab driver stopped somewhere and started to talk to us in Thai. We kept telling him we needed him to speak in English and finally, he told us we had to get down there. Google maps showed that we were almost 2 km away from the venue, we thought we could walk, but there was traffic for as far as the eye could see, and we’d get all sweaty and disgusting. While we were contemplating what to do, there were a lot of guys wearing traffic vests (I am so sorry I don’t know what they’re called) and one guy spoke into his phone and showed us google translate, it said we had to get out here and cars weren’t allowed past the point because of traffic. They said they’d drop us on bikes to the venue, and after seeing a lot of other girls going, we decided to go too. This was honestly one of my highlights of the trip, it was so much fun, and such a good initiative.

ANYWAY. We went in and were ogling all the people there, MAN they dressed so well. We saw a queue in the middle somewhere and thought we had to go for the bag check so we joined in. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A GIRL GIVING OUT A FREEBIE. We were so happy with it. We walked around, joined a lot more queues, we couldn’t be stopped, it was too good to be true. We collected so many freebies, and the quality of the photocards and whatever they gave was so so so good, it was unbelievable that people were just giving them out for free. That’s how nice Army’s are :’))))) Here are all the freebies I got.

the first freebie we got, its a sticker :’)

this was for us to place our ticket in the centre, we didn’t :p

love this one.

the other side of the card above. the quality of this card is amazing

kook postcard!

the girl who gave this to us is friends with honeyjoonie94 we were so excited!

this girl told everyone to take two Jin pictures each I love them

the Jikook and Vkook ones were literally packaged in plastic covering, look at the dedication :’)

all together now, lets say thank you armyyyyyy.

Where all the queues were happening.

our beautiful tickets :’)

Army time :’) We were so lucky to get a banner with lyrics from Moonchild, it made it extra special ㅠㅠ

Standing around for a little more, we finally went inside the stadium. I’m not kidding, we all almost cried just entering the place.

LOOK AT IT I MEAN CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

There’s not much to say about the actual concert other than they were amazing, we’re still not fully convinced they’re human, anyone who says they’re not good live, please show this to them for proof that they exist on a meal of their own CD’s. That’s how good they are. BTS has been such a huge part of my life for the past two and a half years, only armys will understand how happy we get when we see them or listen to them. They really are something else, and something so different from usual artists, they never, ever fail to make me smile.

Best moments (in no particular order) in bullet points because otherwise, this will get way too long:

1- Love. Screaming 사랑 사랑 사랑 was the best thing ever, I will never forget the army bombs making purple hearts in the crowd. 2- Yoongi in the glorious red suit for Seesaw + his choker later on. 3- Serendipity- Jimin sitting on the stage like a baby. My friend who isn’t even army watched the clip and said it made her so happy :’) 4- I DON’T KNOW NAN MOLLA. 5- Them walking towards our side. We were shocked by how close our seats were, we had no idea. And we could see them up so close ㅠㅠ 6- Tear. That’s all. 7- Chanting Jhope for Just Dance. We screamed it for a long time and you could see the surprise on Hobi’s face, it was adorable. 8- The fact that we actually got to see Run and I Need U live is insane. 9- Baepsaeeee. We wanted this medley solely for Baepsae. If you know, you know. 10- Euphoria. I feel like Koo and yellow army bombs together were perfect :’) 11- Singularity. Unreal ethereal out of this world beauty of Kim Taehyung cannot be explained. 12- Epiphany. Singing ‘I’m the one I should love’ felt cathartic. I put a nice long clip in the video. 13- Ours being the last concert of the Love Yourself tour was a blessing. 14- Jimin’s adlibs in The Truth Untold. 15- Mic Drop red cult+dance break+Yoongi. 16- Anpanman. This was one of the songs I was most excited for because they’re always so chaotic. 17- So What. I never listened to this song much, but after seeing it live, I love it. It brings back memories of just so much energy and the rush of being there. Also fake ‘mist’ that was apparently water. 18- Army time with Love Myself+confetti. 19- Seeing 50,000 people on the streets all waiting for cabs. I had to include this because it was just so fun xD 20- The number of freebies we got I LOVE ARMIES. 21- Curly hair JK. YEAH WE GOT TO SEE OUR 90’S HEARTTHROB LIVE. 22- The rain. The rain that did certain wonderful things. Again, if you know, you know. Just look up Namjoon pictures from that day, you’re welcome. 23- Tae speaking Thai was the cutest thing ever. 24- Fire dance break. 25- FANCHANT. I was living for it. 26- Army bomb. Just buying it and having it in my shelf now. What a feeling. 27- Large cups of iced Fanta. yes, it’s a highlight for me. 28- There was this girl who screamed ‘Park Jimin, ULJIMA’. An icon. 29- Seeing armys all over the city felt like some weird dream. Honestly from the minute we landed, they were everywhere. In the airport, in the hotel (there were about 60 armys in our hotel), on the streets, e v e r y w h e r e. 30. Going to an actual BTS concert was a dream of ours for two years and we were lucky enough that everything worked out in the end. I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t sung in like 15 years, but I did that day. And the next time I sing will be at another concert, I hope, only in the presence of 50,000 people who truly love these boys. It was a surreal experience, and what made it even better was going with two friends who mean so much to me.

[In conclusion- this is what I wrote the day after our concert in my journal- ‘Joon is poreless. Hobi is everything. Tae is beauty. JK is baby. Jimin is angel. Yoongi is pale. Jin is ethereal.]

Okay bye. I’m glad I finally made this post. Now enjoy the video! I made a video with all the clips, the individual ones are huge and not viewable. I had to upload it on youtube because I thought it wouldn’t upload here. Anyway, you have two options now :p

Love Yourself.

  Post (BTS) concert depression is real ㅠㅠ I went for my first ever concert this April in Bangkok with two of my best friends (Nabi and Bunky, as mentioned in my other Bangkok posts).

[materializingthedisembodied]

The Taste Of Fear

Being the beginnings of a Star Wars universe short story/novella - let me know if anyone wants to see more of it based on this snippet? And yes, it is about horror/psychological trauma/identity issues alongside moral concerns that might play out alongside a admittedly ‘fetish’ centric concept.

Kambrie Raislam sighed and shuffled in the small enclosed space of her working zone, taking a brief pause in the constant cycle of repeating motions that made her hands stiffen and joints ache. It was a hell of a lot better being indoors than in the torrential rains outside in some ways - yet it was trading one set of unpleasant circumstances for another, when you came right down to it. The young woman groaned as she stood on her tiptoes, arms thrust over her head as shoulder joints creaked and popped. Her work station was mostly clean, but some grit remained and black gunk stuck in corners of the durasteel tray that no amount of scrubbing had been able to clean. Her tools were neatly arranged, though and the bits of scrap and salvage she found along the Boney Shore were ready to be stowed away, as gleaming and presentable as she could make them.

Her work finished, she pressed hands to the small of her back and began to prepare to head to the main portion of the city. Vaxalon may not be the most luxurious planet, what with the stinking ore pits and gloomy storms that never seemed to cease, but the main settlement wasn’t so bad. At least plexi covers were over most of the streets. The dark furred girl snatched up her shoulder bag and stuffed the day’s salvage inside, wrapped in protective mesh. Following that was her laser knife and handful of fine brushes, empty canteen, a handful of credits that she jammed into her pocket and the remnants of a half-eaten container of spiced noodles with a seeded Ivoraji fruit that was deftly wrapped in a barrier of clingfast before being deposited in her sack.

Her worn boots stomped in the warm puddle that always formed outside the workshop door and she sighed, the broad-brimmed hat at least protecting her face from the stinging spray of the mildly alkali-smelling rain. She had lived on Vaxalon for going on seven years and was just scraping by, but she had a place to stay at least and a few meager possessions. Her life was not luxurious but she made do. It sure as sleemo beat where she was born, a slave-labor hotbed planet in the Grolaith system. Her parents were well off, but the casual atrocities there sickened her stomach even though she was not subjected to their full depth thanks to her social and familial status.

The civic center of Korbloght City was not precisely the pinnacle of cultural refinement - it was no Coruscant - but the citizens of the planet were mostly decently well-off and cultured. The squabbles and battles between the Republic and the stubborn remnants of the Galactic Empire never impacted this system overmuch, and if obvious members of the various factions did come to Vaxalon, it never seemed to be on official business. There were street-level gangs and cults of course: droid splicers, spice dealers, devotees of the Midnight Mare, and the like. Kambrie always made it a point to avoid certain neighborhoods that she knew no non-desperate humanoid or bioform would frequent, but she never felt particularly in danger in the city.

This night, she plodded rather aimlessly down a narrow thoroughfare mostly lined with junk shops and pop-up food vendors. A shining red droid with multiple pincer-like arms was serving a steaming cup of something to a tentacled patron wearing a sleek dress as she passed by one of the temporary stalls. As Kambrie ducked a inverted umbrella clutched by a slightly staggering Rodian, a new sign caught her eye - buzzing and glowing, it was a deep red in color and a series of gracefully curving black lines formed the shape of a three-pronged implement, with a single word underneath in Aurebesh - ‘SAVORY’, she thought it was. That was odd. There had never been any fancy restaurants in this district, there wasn’t the market for it.

The lanky woman stepped closer, shivering slightly in the damp air and pulling her long coat around her frame, wanting a better look. Through the single display window, she could see the lights inside glowing brightly - they swirled from golden to purple, blue to deep orange like a desert sunset on Jakku. They were emenating from within the walls, making elaborate yet soothing patterns. Pretty fancy. The gathered diners inside were all well-dressed and seated at low tables swathed in elegant fabrics, and a highly polished wheeled droid zoomed to and fro, delivering drinks. No one was eating, however - yet no one seemed put off by that. It must be some kind of timed service, she figured.

As she turned to leave and head to a local store for a bit, get out of the weather, motion caught her eye and she half-turned back to the window. Once she realized what she was seeing, her stomach plummeted sickly and one long-fingered hand covered her mouth. A female alien (a Besalisk, Kambrie thought) was pushing a levitating platform into the service area, two of her powerful arms gripping it lightly, the other two grating some unknown spice over the meal on the platter she was moving - to the watching woman’s horror, she recognized it as a cooked female alien of a race she did not recognize - long arms and legs, multiple small horns on her head, a tail - completely naked, steaming, and with limbs cut into and displayed at unnatural angles.

Kambrie felt sick and woozy, aware she was swaying and about to fall. This was disgusting, indecent. How could….how could they be serving a individual creature so brazenly? The galaxy was long accustomed to a mostly meat-free diet, given the sentient and varied natures of creatures on all worlds, and this was a blatant slap in the face. That woman had a life, before, and now she was being paraded before a dining room of accepting - even eager - lifeforms, ones acting like nothing was wrong. How could this be? Her mind swam and reeled as she grabbed for the wall to keep herself from falling. As she did, an unexpected voice sounded at her side, and she gasped.

“Are you quite all right, my friend? Do not be alarmed. I am here to aid you.”

Kambrie turned, swallowing her fear, and calmed some at the sight of the bug-headed droid peering at her. The mechanism was short and non-threatening - a few steps above the standard R2 class, and these sort were mainly bearers of information, she thought.

“Thank you, I appreciate that - what should I call you….?”

“I am known as KT-8B0, thank you. Kati will suit me if you like that.”

Kambrie nodded, and glanced back at the window, frowning, before responding slowly.

“Kati, do you know why this place is allowed to operate? I mean…that….they are going to eat a sentient, that can’t be legal. It’s wrong. Does the District Constable know about this?”

“Oh, my friend, I suggest you look again. Do not trouble yourself. It is not as you fear, no distinct bio-life is to be harmed. See, turn and view the selfsame being, there with the Besalisk cook. She is quite safe and whole.”

Kambrie frowned and did she was asked, and her jaw dropped open. Standing besides the cooked form and the squat alien woman who was serving cuts of the cooked alien woman even now, was…..the same one that lay there, prone, dead, and well cooked, very much alive? How…..?

“You see, this restaurant is pioneering. They do not kill a one-of-a-kind sentient at all, but, the desire and demand for meat is still there. They take a volunteer of any race and use advanced technology to create a perfect replica - the methods are quite advanced since the days of those dreadful Clone Wars - and the original entity is safe and sound, no harm comes to them. The replicant then can be cooked and served. It is the thing to do among the moneyed and fashionable, I understand, to select someone to dine on. A status symbol, even, to be desired as a meal in such a way. The resulting bioform, the copy, understands this and is treated kindly and with great respect. They are told how much of an honor it is and made to feel no pain at the end, without affecting the quality of the meat for those who will be dining. In addition, the credits for allowing the process are considerable, to hear creatures talk. Still, it is very odd, the things you biological constructs get up to, if I may cause no offense, my friend.”

As Kati talked, Kambrie just stared, dumbfounded. By the asteroids, could this be real….? People of all planets allowing clones of themselves to be cooked alive in return for credits…? Her head was pounding as she watched the slender alien woman stand by as her identical duplicate was cut up, served, eaten. What must it be like for her, watching that, maybe even meeting the clone or seeing her replicant being prepared and cooked…? The dark skinned woman shuddered.

The young woman backed away quickly, thanking the friendly droid as she went. Even as she spoke to KT-8B0, however, her mind was racing. She had to get away from here and fast. How the frag could this go on, here, on a civilized world? Bile rose in the throat and her stomach was roiling uneasily as she trod the familiar path home. She was never going back to that neighborhood, that was for damn sure. Even if that alien lady had been a willing participant - no, no, stop thinking about it, she scolded herself. Kambrie paused underneath a awning shading a fruit vendor’s stall, nodding to the elfin-looking creature working there. Absent-mindedly she dug out a few tarnished coins and passed them over to receive a spherical purple fruit in return, then stepped back out into the weak rain.

Once inside her small flat, overlooking a garden cluttered with spindly metal detritus, she collapsed into a exhausted half sitting, half laying position on her bed. Her bag was kicked into the corner and she flicked on a single yellow light, leaving most of the room in shadows. Resting her aching head in her palms, the woman sighed deeply and tried to control her breathing. Why was this haunting her so…? The female involved had been willingly, clearly. But what about the rights and feelings of the cloned version destined to be killed for a meal….? She knew that several of the combat-trained clones had developed separate personalities, morals, interests quite apart from the ‘baseline’ expected of them. What if the replica of that woman had been afraid to be killed, resisted the process she had been doomed to? Was she even given a choice or just locked away? Did her - well, her sister, for lack of a better term, interact with her at all, tell her she was destined to be cooked alive solely for the pleasure of eating her with no respect for her intrinsic status as a living being?

To Be Continued, as desired.