#rigel gang

[incorrectrigel]

Ron: So, how did you know Ginny was the one? Antiope: She looked at me like all women want to be looked at Ron: Aww Antiope: With fear in her eyes Ron: Fred & George: Bill: Percy: Charlie: Molly & Arthur: Ginny: awww

[small-world-au]

Sora Aguilar Yuuki

———INCOMING BIG ASS POST———

Age: Same as the main trio

Personality type: ISFP

Ethnicity: Asian (Japanese) & Hispanic (Mexican) <- updated

Hair color/type: Dark purple (tho it looks like dark brown.) straight-curly

Eye color: light blue (beta) brown (officially/currently)

Skin color: super light tan/dark pink

Gender: Male

Family: Natalia Aguilar (maternal grandmother)

Gabriela Aguilar (Mother +)

Shino Yuuki (Father +)

Dante (Stepfather)

Noelia Aguilar (Maternal aunt)

Unknown (Maternal uncle)

Rowan Pagonis (Older half sibling)

Kip (therapy dog/furry baby)

Stone (childhood sweetheart/fiancé),

Friends: Bailey, Jasper, Finn, Skipp, Zaria, Vinnie, pebble, maggot, Bailey’s kittens, Finn’s rat babies, old man Howard, Maroon, Olive, Ray, Rui, Maple, Chris, Zaria, Charlie, and Allay

Neutral: Tre, Rigel & cen, karma, Doña Mari, and Ivan Franzwick

Enemies: Fritz (the butler), ditch, Nadia (personal reasons), arrogant lootbags, street gangs, and AVRILLE!!!!

LIKES

Books

Sewing

Baking

Poetry

Cute animals (Kip and Fern)

Stone

Spending time with friends/family

Exploring

Springtime

Food!!!

DISLIKES

Rude/whiny scraps & loot-bag

Leaving kip behind

Being treated as a 🏆

Discrimination

Art/writing block

Not being good enough

Disappointing his family

Leaving Stone and friends

Obsessive creeps

His dad and avrille

His beloved ones getting hurt

Being unable to help/being useless

Thunderstorms

Arguments

Street fights

Being cooped inside for too long

Sora Aguilar is one of the main character of my au. A sweet, gentle, and kindhearted young boy filled with curiosity, who would do anything for the sake of his friends and family, even if it means sacrificing his own needs and wants.

He is Rowan’s younger half-brother, Gabriela’s and Shino’s only son, Natalia’s grandson, and Noelia’s nephew.

He’s a close friend to the scraps and a mom-friend who cherishes his own group dearly. He is also Stone’s childhood best friend/sweetheart.

He and his puppy (Kip) lived happily (???) in their mansion, until they wake up one night inside a big bag that was left on the streets of ramshackle.

Edit: ABOUT DAMN TIME I DID THIS SHIT!!!!!!!

Update 2: Sora’s now half Mexican!

Why? Cuz am Mexican.

Update 3: references and other ocs from “small world” au!

More facts below!!!!

[toxooz]

Reread the comic and Abbio's backstory. Is every human just an asshole to monsters or have the gang actually encountered anyone chill

nah not every human is an asshole that's way too broad of a generalization for any story to reasonably make without being scoffibly corny imo lmfao it depends on the area and the overall city or county ect. you could have a school with only a handful of monsters or a school with only a handful of humans and they may being bullied to hell and back or treated chill by the majority and maybe even become the 'token' monster or human of the school it just depends. Basically Abby's dad wasn't living in the best area when he got with Abby's mom for he was currently working toward his degree and Abby's mom had no idea about the area much less the schooling system until it was too late, so Abby had to spend most of his elementary school years in some shitty backwards school before Abio's dad was successful enough in his career so they could move. In fact i used to have a few human ocs that dropped off the face of the earth that i miiight bring back and revamp their backstories to better fit the world which is Rigel and Alaric:

only the true OGs remember them bc they were around only in the miiverse days LMFAO but this last drawing i made of them 4 years ago makes me yearn to bring them back a little plus it'll definitely flesh out the world more and bring a brighter light to the human side of it since i never draw humans??anymore??or really elaborate on their existence in the world PLUS Alaric was a tattoo designer and Ollie has his Entire legs tattooed ass cheeks n all and ive been pondering about who gave him that so he migght just be my answer

[amphiptere-art]

List of characters/worlds.

OC world

The locked door

Shadow wars

Shadon

Shadow

Vecerin

The brother

The sister

The light dragon king

The light dragon Prince

The hybrid

The hybrids partner

dreamers musings

Various

Chains

I will dig out that folder later.

Moss and car-car

Moss (spinosaurus)

Car-car (baby carcharodontosaurus)

Territory seeking sub adult carcharodontosaurus

FNAF

Warehouse

Dim/Dawn/Dusk

Sun

Moon

Glam Bonnie

Glam foxy

Glam Freddy

Music Man

Owner YN

Adopted by

Bloody lambs, blood moon

Adopted characters

Warehouse daycare

Sun

Moon

Frank the cat

Owner YN

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Mechanical medic

Ralph the repair dragon

Sun

Moon

Other animatronics in the Plex

Adopted by

Lord's brother, infero

Adopted characters

Perrfect thief

Cat King YN

Detective Sun

Police officer Moon

Gang leader Eclipse

Underground informant leader DJ

Underground informer ballerina

Underground informer mangle

Underground informer Bonnie

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Rusted wheels

Sun

Moon

Rattler

Rabbit raiders

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Cryptid eater

Hunter/Cryptid YN

Hunter Sun

Hunter Moon

Hunter eclipse

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Saving Waves

Moon

Sun

Darkened Dawn (eclipse)

Silver reflection (Luna)

Red Wave (Blood Moon)

Monty

Freddy

Chica

Roxy

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Stop you silly siren

Captain Eclipse

First mate Sun

Navigator/siren moon

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Arcade project

Arcade alt Fae

Eclipse

Blackstar

Planet

Sun

Moon

Blood Moon

Pluto

Jack-o-moon

Nova

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Tsams

Red blue and black

Blue Moon (lunar/blood moon)

Sun

Moon

Black Star (eclipse)

Vapor

Monty

Frankie the cat

Sundown dance the dinosaur

Horn the Dragon

Adopted by

Remorseful Lord Eclipse, Chaos

Lord's brother, infero

Kid eclipse, Moom

Adopted characters

TF traveler, refracted glow

TF trapped, crushed glow

TF servant sun, dying fire

TF Void, No light

TF ghosty, wisp

Recovering blood moon

CtOS solar

AE solar !attempted!

Old Tsams

Lunar

Sun

Moon

Eclipse

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Shattered Blue Moon (storyline end)

Strained Black Star (storyline end)

Cruel copy

Butler (eclipse)

Werewolf (Blood Moon)

Gladiator (Sun)

Pastel (Moon)

Witch (Earth)

Wizard (lunar)

Hunter (Monty)

Adopted by

Adopted characters

TF Void, virulent

Beast maker

Lunara

Eclipse

Sun

Moon

Blood Moon

Adopted by

Lord's brother, infero

Adopted characters

Empty cup

Honey (Lord lunar)

Cider (Eclipse)

Apple (wither storm)

Adopted by

Lord's brother, infero

Adopted characters

Chapter -SSC

Story written in ash

Chapter (eclipse)

Adopted by

Lord's brother, infero

Remorseful Lord Eclipse, gluttony?

Empty cup, Honey -SSC

Kid eclipse, teen solar flare

Adopted characters

Separated blood moon -LB

It's tough to be a god

Huitzilin (Hum) (Sun)

Zipacna (Zip) (Monty)

Xolotl (Xolo) (Eclipse like child)

Axo's Daddy

Adopted by

Adopted characters

TF traveler

Desolate hunger

Ravenous (lunar/blood moon)

Earth

Sun

Moon

Fork face

Monty

Adopted by

Lord's brother, infero

Kid eclipse, Moom

Remorseful Lord Eclipse, chaos

Adopted characters

Lost Lord

Eclipse

Sun

Lunar

Blood Moon

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Hostage Solar, little fox

Under the stage

Blood Moon

Moon

Lunar

Adopted by

Remorseful Lord Eclipse, wrath and sloth.

Adopted characters

Eclipse Brothers

Eclipse

Lunar

Blood Moon

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Sulky star cluster

Cygnus (eclipse)

Antares (eclipse)

Rigel (eclipse)

Algol (eclipse)

Star holder Glam Freddy

Adopted by

Autumbra au, kill code

Adopted characters

TF Traveler -Orion's belt

Autumbra Eclipse *friend*

Toy swap

Crimple (DCA swap)

Glam toy Freddy (Glam Freddy swap)

Glam toy Chica (Roxy swap)

Glam toy Bonnie (Glam Chica swap)

Glam toy mangle (foxy swap)

Puppet (Monty swap)

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Alternate solar

Solar

Sun

Moon

Lunar

Blood Moon

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Autumbra *friend*

Runaway eclipse

Eclipse

Incomplete lunar

Adopted by

Lord's brother ?in works?

Remorseful Lord Eclipse ?In works?

Adopted characters

Sundown

Eclipse

Code Moon (blood moon)

Moon

Segway

Black bear

Alcoholic human friend

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Chased Eclipse -SSC

Actual dad eclipse

Eclipse

Dad code

Blood Moon

Sun

Moon

Lunar

Earth

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Chased eclipse

Hati (moon)

Sköll (Sun)

leiðr (eclipse)

bana (kill code)

Adopted by

Kid eclipse, Moom

Sundown Eclipse -SSC

Adopted characters

Orion's belt

Betelgeuse, basil (Lord Lunar)

Rigel (Eclipse)

Saiph (Good wither storm)

Bellatrix, Bella (Blood Moon)

Mintata, Mika (cyborg lindworm)

Alnilam, Alnim (Sun)

Alnitak, Alnik (Moon)

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Tf Traveler

Supernova AU

Nova (lunar/eclipse)

Sun

Moon

Killcode

Blood Moon

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Arcane AU

Arcane (lunar/Blood Moon)

... Everyone else dead

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Demon alts

Blue Moon

Black Star

Ravenous

RBB Earth

Adopted by

Lord's brother, Vim

Adopted characters

Tf void demon, demon wisp

Mer alts

Blue Moon

Black Star

Red Moon

False star

Annular

Adopted by

Adopted characters

Fey alts

Blue Moon

Crimple

Researcher Blackstar

Hunter Earth

Adopted by

Remorseful Lord Eclipse, chaos

Lord's brother, puppy

Adopted characters

Tf Traveler fey *friend*

Warrior cats alts (mostly created by @artoutoftheblue)

Blue Moon

Black Frost

Lion light

Rain cloud

Berry heart

Many others

[moonstrider9904]

Flyin' Ace

Chapter 4 of Moonwalker: The Flame

{series masterlist} {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Summary: The crew are led to Safa Toma, where a deal struck with the gangster Millegi results in a stunt to protect Sarah's honor.

Tags/Warnings: Mature. Allusions to gangs, some foul language, smoking, alcohol.

Word count: 7.2k

Songs:dirtmouth

If Sarah had known what they were getting themselves into, she at least would have insisted on leaving Omega on Ord Mantell. Letting her be by herself for a while, even if it was enclosed in the Y-Wing with Rigel on standby, would have struck her as safer. Echo and Hunter were bound to return soon, anyway.

Instead, there they were, the entire rest of the squad walking the even seedier streets around the Safa Toma race dome. Sarah thought back to her days as a pirate chilling in Hondo’s lair, and that seemed like a high-end dive bar compared to where they were now. Cid led the way at the front and center, with Sarah at her right side. Sarah kept Omega to her left, behind Cid, figuring that would at least be where the smallest of the group would be most protected. And, bringing up the rear, Tech and Wrecker towered over the three ladies like two bodyguards, fully armored and unafraid of whoever may have so much as hinted at a dirty look their way.

Cid looked over her right shoulder at Sarah and made a brief gesture at her. Sarah picked up her pace and, mindful of still being Omega’s cover in some way, she evened her position with the Trandoshan and leaned in, prompting hushed voices. No one else needed to be listening in.

“Glad ya came,” Cid said. “This pit of filth and scum should be a piece of cake for a former pirate like you.”

Sarah took it as a compliment. “I did see some things over at Hondo’s. Never a riot racing dome.”

“Ya ain’t here for the racing,” Cid pulled to a stop. “I am.”

The multiple speeders tailgating after the other down at the track raced by their area, the revving of their engines rising and then falling. When they were out of sight, Cid faced the crew behind her. “My new racer’s gonna make us enough for two months, at least!”

“Aw, look at you being generous,” Sarah walked up next to Cid, overlooking the racing track with a confident, arrogant little smile. “We’re getting a two month vacation with this pay? I kinda like that.”

Cid chuckled. “Ya know what I mean, Strider, don’t push it.”

As Sarah enjoyed the view and the memories of her scrappy past, Cid looked around the crowd, wary, though it didn’t seem there was anyone targeting her or her companions. There may have just been one face among the crowd with particularly unfriendly eyes looking her way… or perhaps not?

At the possibility, Cid scrambled past the clones and led the way again. “We should head down to meet Tay-0. We’re not ‘ere to spectate.”

Sarah picked up on the sudden change of pace as well as the way Cid suddenly became more tense, and she walked up to Wrecker first, grasping his forearm lightly.

“Whatever happens, prioritize Omega, will you?” Sarah whispered.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Wrecker nodded.

Sarah smiled softly, appreciative of Wrecker’s reassurance—he was a pillar of strength, and not just physically. She then hurried to the front next to Cid, and she leaned in again, more secretive than before.

“If we’re to keep hell from breaking loose, you need to tell us who to look out for,” Sarah told Cid.

“You got good instinct,” Cid muttered. “You call the shots.”

Sarah couldn’t help but pull back at Cid’s words, her eyebrows raised and eyes widened.

“What?” Cid questioned.

Sarah chuckled. “Nothing. Just that… well, you’ve got a damn good right hand in me.”

Cid’s shoulders relaxed, and her lizard-like features seemed to adopt a hint of a smile. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that.”

Sarah smiled softly, oddly proud to be the one Cid recognized as in charge on the mission. But Sarah took such a responsibility seriously, and for the rest of the way, her gaze was ever-vigilant and aware of any pair of eyes that fell on them.

The squad made it down to the sidelines of the racing tracks without difficulty. The speeder that belonged to Cid’s infamous racer seemed prominent while it was parked on the sidelines, and Omega instantly ran towards it, eyes big with curiosity. Tech followed closely behind, already pulling out his datapad, no doubt wanting to check his own records to get a better grasp of what the vehicle was and, of course, how to improve it.

As Sarah watched Tech go about his business, she smiled softly at the sight of him so expertly making his way around the speeder.

“Many modifications have been made, that is for sure,” Tech was explaining. “A speeder of this caliber was not built for racing conditions, neither speed or weapon-wise.”

“Um, ahem!”

Every pair of eyes that had gathered around the speeder turned in the same direction when a male and slightly mechanized voice filled their ears. A tall, thin-looking droid was approaching them, its strut almost as confident as if it were human. When it was just in front of the crew, its hands flew to its metal hips and it leaned forward slightly, indignant.

“Who so disrespectfully criticizes my vehicle?” The droid bellowed.

“It is not criticism, it is an evaluation,” Tech said as he raised the visor of his helmet and looked at the droid, his expression clearly visible through his goggles. “Do you manage this vehicle for the racer?”

“I am the racer,” the droid said.

Everyone then looked at Cid, who walked up to the droid and slapped its back.

“This is Tay-0, my own little money-maker,” she introduced.

“At your service,” Tay-0 took a light bow.

Meanwhile, Tech looked over at Cid, skeptical. “Your runner is a droid?”

“Hey, human!” Tay-0 walked up to Tech and challenged him. “Do you think you have the mental capacity to make a split-second calculation required in the heat of a race?”

“He does, actually,” Sarah chimed in, smirking over at Tech.

Though his helmet covered most of his face, the way Tech’s eyes glistened as they hovered over to Sarah and lingered only for a second didn’t escape her. Regardless, his gaze was back on Tay-0, firm, yet sincere.

“I do not have the background or knowledge of the sport to provide an answer,” Tech said. “However, I have made split-second calculations in battle amidst blaster fire, which is not the same as racing, but similar in that there is an imminent threat that must be addressed swiftly to ensure victory. Perhaps my experience will enrich yours, and yours may enrich mine.”

“All I want to hear is praise, human boy,” Tay-0 dismissed. “So if it ain’t that, I don’t want to hear it.”

The droid waltzed off and retired into the garage, moving the speeder in towards it. Meanwhile, Sarah approached Tech from behind, her hand landing over his shoulder.

“Well, he seems delightful,” she scoffed.

“I am curious,” Tech said. “If machinery eliminates human error, does that mean the ideal racer is a droid? What is Tay-0’s margin of error, and how does it compare to that of the organic racers? If his win-rate is not 100%, does his droid nature influence who he loses to? In other words, does he only lose to droids who can perform similarly quick calculations? And this raises a different question—we are now adding a different factor to success in a race: the vehicle, the ability of the racer, their organic nature or lack thereof, and in the latter case, who has the better programming. This has potential to be truly fascinating to analyze.”

“Well, I don’t really like this place,” Sarah briefly squeezed the plastoid on Tech’s shoulder—she particularly enjoyed the sound of Tech’s voice modulated by his helmet and was grateful he’d given her such a speech in it, “but now I’m hoping we stick around long enough for you to answer all those questions.”

Tech faced her, his eyes softening over his goggles. “That was quite a compliment you gave me a moment ago.”

Sarah smiled at him. “And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“Look alive,” Wrecker called from behind, instantly drawing Tech and Sarah’s attention to the group of people who were approaching them.

The group was led by a large Dowutin male and followed by three other figures, of whom one was a Gamorrean guard, and the other one had a recognizable face since it was plastered on multiple posters around the racing dome—it was Jet Venim, another one of the racers.

“Cid,” the Dowutin called out. “You didn’t tell me you were back around. I resent you for not telling me.”

“Millegi,” Cid acknowledged. “That’s ‘cuz I wasn’t really plannin’ on seein’ ya.”

“Well, that’s on you, since you know this is my turf,” Millegi said as he got a quick glance at Sarah and the others. “Got a new crew there. Aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

“Their names are non’ya business,” Cid crossed her arms.

Towering over everyone else, Millegi scanned the crew standing guard behind Cid, and his gaze landed on Sarah, who stared back at him, unwavering.

“Nice tattoos,” he said to her.

Sarah tilted her head slightly and opted to use her charisma rather than anger a prominent gambling figure of Safa Toma.

“Thanks,” she smirked. “Made ‘em myself.”

“I once heard an old friend talk about someone who looked like you,” Millegi paced closer towards her—it didn’t escape him the way the two clones tensed as he did. “A pirate who graced her gang with her presence, but then left too soon, and all to be a heroic soldier, only to never be heard of again. You’re her, aren’t you?”

Sarah scoffed ever so softly.

“Hondo’s Sarah Adhara,” Millegi concluded and brought the large cigar up to his mouth, taking in a large inhale before lowering it once more, exhaling. “You’re a legend. What will the Ohnaka gang think when they hear their prized jewel played a part in losing a bet against Millegi?”

Sarah knew a signal of deference was in order, one that was just daring enough to also establish a certain territory, a relationship of mutual respect rather than to let Millegi know he stood before a doormat. Sarah paced forward slowly with a subtle sway of her hips, her back straight and features calm as she reached her hand out and took the cigar from Millegi. Without breaking eye contact even to blink, Sarah took a long inhale from the cigar and removed it from her lips, blowing the smoke out through her nose and letting it flow up in front of her face, and at last, her lips curved slightly when faint expressions of satisfactions were heard coming from Millegi’s crew. Towering over her, Millegi smirked at Sarah’s gesture.

“If my reputation precedes me, then you know I don’t want trouble,” Sarah said, handing him the cigar back. “Surely, you have bigger fish to fry than a mercenary and her new crew. We don’t deserve such attention.”

“I beg to differ,” Millegi spoke. “Your racer’s going up against mine, and Cid and I have some unfinished business. That’s enough of a premise to strike a deal.”

Millegi then looked over Sarah’s shoulder at Cid with an aura of confidence. “I was thinking of giving you more of a run for your money, but I won’t ignore such a warm introduction,” he glanced at Sarah briefly, then back at Cid. “Let’s leave it at our usual wager, how’s that? For old times’ sake?”

Though she tried, Cid couldn’t mirror Millegi’s confidence, and her chest shrank as she crossed her arms.

“Alright, deal,” Cid spoke.

Sarah briefly glanced at Cid, painfully aware that the stakes had just been raised.

“Well, this will be fun,” Millegi said as he began to turn around, his gaze lingering on Sarah for a moment before he left.

Sarah followed him with her eyes as he and his crew left, and when they were out of sight, Sarah rushed over to her own team.

“Knew you’d be great here,” Cid placed her hands on her hips, smirking at Sarah. “You actually got Millegi to soften up.”

“The point was to be off the hook,” Sarah said. “But you still accepted the bet.”

“You know as well as I do you don’t just say no to a bet with someone like Millegi,” Cid countered.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you have muscle too,” Sarah gestured at Tech and Wrecker.

“Will ya ease up?” Cid grinned. “I know what I’m doin’. Tay-0’s gonna win, and Millegi’ll respect the wage. Win-win.”

“This droid better be the best damn racer in the galaxy for what I just did,” Sarah crooned.

“Which you pulled off great, kid,” Cid congratulated. “Now come on, when have you not been able to trust me? I always come through for ya.”

Sarah found it in herself to chuckle. Cid did have a point, and there had been multiple times where she’d indeed come through for them, for her, from the Y-Wing and Rigel to those nights spent talking over a glass of aged Corellian whisky.

“For now, enjoy the race,” Cid said. “We got some money to win.”

Cid went over to the speeder with Wrecker and Omega following after her, and Omega stopped briefly in front of Sarah, looking up at her with stars in her eyes.

“You were so cool just now!” Omega beamed.

Sarah chuckled. “Yeah…” she kneeled down and crouched slightly to be just below Omega’s eye level. “Listen, as long as we’re in Safa Toma, do as I say, not as I do. Got it?”

“Yes, mom,” Omega winked, then followed after Wrecker.

Sarah felt a tingling in her marks. She’d never heard Omega call her that… but the words rang sweetly in her mind, and teasing as it was, she’d accept it.

As Sarah was standing up, Tech walked up behind her. He’d removed his helmet and was hugging it beside him, and when he made eye contact with Sarah, his eyes were slightly widened in pleasant surprise.

“That was… unexpected,” Tech said.

“Yeah,” Sarah’s voice was soft. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Your cigar stunt,” Tech answered.

“Oh! Right, that…” She turned a right angle to face Tech, gazing up at his goggled eyes. “Well? What do you really think about that?”

Tech shrugged. “That was very…”

“Yes?” Sarah prompted, smirking at the plethora of ways in which Tech could possibly admit his feelings at that very moment.

“Unhealthy,” Tech spoke.

Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, fair. Yes, that’s why I don’t do it often. I picked up the habit for about a month while at Hondo’s, but that’s it.”

“Dangerous,” Tech added.

“I like to think of it as calculated,” Sarah challenged. “You have to take some sort of a risk to establish your presence in places like these, but it looks like it went well.”

Ignoring Sarah’s explanations, Tech finally looked her in the eyes, his lips parting just enough for his teeth to bare with silent hunger. “And… absolutely, exquisitely enticing.”

Sarah cooed with a little wiggle of her shoulders. “Well, well.”

“Yes, in fact,” Tech leaned in close and hushed his voice. “I’m beginning to think we should have brought your outfit from the Old Ord Mantell ruins.”

Sarah gasped in a fake scandal. “Egads, Tech!”

“The brasier and skirt perfectly accentuate your best assets,” Tech justified his thesis.

“Come now,” Sarah teased. “We both know that’s just for you and me.”

Time wore on and the racers made their way to their speeders, even the arrogant droid Tay-0, and while he was off racing, Sarah and the others gathered around to watch, and not an ounce of suspense was spared.

Why the sport's name included the word "riot" became obvious the moment the speeders dashed past the starting line. The revving of the engines piled, one after the other, until the speeders disappeared past the first curves and tunnels of the course, leaving only the roaring cheering from the stands going wild and the announcer narrating the juiciest highlights from the track. Cid held a datapad that projected Tay-0's speeder, and as much as it surprised Sarah, he seemed to be a decent racer and a decent pilot, unwaveringly moving his own speeder to the lead and having all the others tailgating him in a matter of seconds.

Cid's excitement for the race was contagious. The prospect of winning and earning a few easy credits wasn't lost on anyone, but the overall rush of racing was what felt more attractive to Sarah, so much that a part of her was curious what it would be like to be down there racing, moving as fast as the wind, pulling stunts in front of a crowd and being the first one at the finish line. Of course, a speeder that wasn't designed for such speeds paled in comparison to a starship, and Sarah'd had her fair share of excitement inside her own Y-Wing.

But the excitement felt towards that race was short-lived, and the team's hopes came crashing down when Tay-0's speeder barely made it to the finish line, and not in first place. The speeder tumbled and crashed loudly into the side of the track, prompting everyone to instantly head down there running as varied cheers were heard from the crowd, from painfully taunting "Ooooh!" cries to cheers rampaging with excitement and satisfaction, for the moment Tay-0 became the loser, it was Millegi's racer who had been declared winner.

When Wrecker and Tech pulled Tay-0 out of the wreckage, it seemed for a moment that hope was lost. Tech took a closer look at the droid and locked gazes with Cid, then with Sarah.

"There is a remedy for this," Tech affirmed. "However, I cannot change the already disfavorable result of the race."

"Are you sure you can fix him?" Sarah questioned. "He... he literally lost his legs."

"The core circuitry seems to have overloaded due to the impact, but judging by his current state, Tay-0 is on standby," Tech said. "He is not yet a lost cause, however much I may dislike him."

"You and me both," Sarah muttered, crossing her arms. She suddenly felt a warning rising inside her, and her instincts jumped to alert as she felt multiple people approaching them. Surely enough, they were already being hoarded by Millegi and his racing crew, who only had one thing on their mind after the result of the previous race.

"You lose, you pay," Millegi opened. "How about that, Cid? You sure your star racer's gonna be okay?"

"We have the best mechanic in the galaxy," Cid was nearly successful in hiding all of her nervousness. "Now, about the payment..."

"You do have it, do you not?" Millegi chuckled. "I just wish you were as quick to pay as you are to claim a payment."

Tech and Wrecker inevitably exchanged looks, and the multiple meanings behind that paired with Millegi's remark, but Sarah chose to ignore it for the time being. She instead focused on Cid and her lack of money to pay, which wouldn't foretell a happy ending.

"And if there isn't any money, we're gonna have to keep you," Millegi finished.

"Wait, keep Cid?" Omega spoke up, her tiny, childlike figure scattering in front of Cid. "But you can't do that!"

Millegi chuckled, amused at the rare sight of a child in such a cruel environment. "It's time you learn, kid. A deal is a deal, and when someone can't pay up, the stakes are higher. Either that or you make sure you actually have enough money."

"But you can't take Cid away from us, she's our friend," Omega's worry was evident in her voice, and her big, bright brown eyes looked over at Sarah, then at her two brothers, begging them to do something.

"The thing is," Sarah chose to intervene, "we aren't really counting on splitting up. It's not something we do well."

Millegi seemed to ease up the moment Sarah spoke up, and just as tensions were rising amongst his crewmates at Cid and her crew's resistance, Millegi gave one swat of his hand to calm it all down. He then looked at Sarah again, his gaze gleaming with intrigue.

"Alright then," Millegi looked straight at Sarah. "I'm giving you the chance to make a counter offer."

But Sarah was out of ideas, and normally when that happened, Omega was quick to intervene with a bright idea of her own.

"Let us fix Tay-0 and run the next race," Omega said. "Tomorrow morning."

"That's not a counter offer," Millegi said. "You need to offer up something that'll make this second round more intriguing, kid."

"We'll pay you double if you win," Omega said, decisive.

Sarah couldn't help the way her gaze shot over at Omega, but the child had a confident look in her eyes. Sarah felt a grim sense of foreboding flooding her body, its eerie cold spreading slowly through her marks.As much as Sarah had learned to trust Omega and her instincts, she couldn't find it in herself to feel at ease with the stakes being raised that drastically.

"But if we win, we leave here with Cid," Omega finished.

Millegi raised a brow. "You don't want money?"

Omega lightly shook her head. "We want our friend, and our freedom."

Millegi paused to ponder for a moment, but eventually, he nodded. "You got yourselves a deal. But for the night, we're keeping Cid as collateral. You understand - we have to make sure we're not sweet talked just to be fooled afterwards."

"Standard procedure, I suppose?" Tech inquired.

"Sure," Millegi agreed, and he gestured towards Cid to have her follow him and his crew.

Before Cid left, she took one last look at Sarah. Sarah gave a nod, appearing as confident as she could, but at the moment, Sarah wasn't sure how much that was. She then watched as Cid walked away with all the others, and when they were out of sight, Omega walked up next to Sarah, slightly hunched over her shoulders.

"Are you mad at me?" Omega asked her.

Sarah instantly looked at Omega, her facial features softening as she knelt down to be at Omega's height. "Darling, no."

"I know we're risking a lot," Omega said. "But I didn't want to leave Cid."

"And no one's holding that against you," Sarah said. "Yes, the deal is a little more risky than I would have made it, but you bought us time, and you bought us hope." Sarah then looked over at Wrecker and Tech as they held Tay-0's chassis, nodding briefly at them.

"We'll make do with what we have," Sarah finished.

"Yeah, we always do," Wrecker reassured.

"I will get to work on Tay-0 immediately," Tech said. "Wrecker, if you could bring the speeder into the shop, you'd be helping volumes."

"On it."

Cid

The night life outside was at its peak. Sitting on the couch and overlooking the elongated glass window before her, Cid could see the entire lowly festival that bloomed in the streets of Safa Toma. Laughter and racket could be heard coming from outside as the sun went down, and though those clones had proven to be resourceful before even in the worst of times, Cid couldn't shake the feeling she'd been pushed into a corner. She didn't have the credits to pay Millegi double - Tiny was adorable, but sometimes her bright ideas proved costly - and at that point, even Cid herself couldn't keep up blind hope that the heap of metal she'd chosen as her runner would succeed. It was up to Goggles to fix the droid, which Cid didn't doubt he could finish.

Winning the race was the problem.

Maybe if she sweet-talked Millegi into giving her some time after the loss to go and get the credits, Cid could head over to Ord Mantell and get some out of the reserves she had for herself and for the Batch. But wherever extra time was involved, so was collateral, and Cid couldn't stay as that and go to Ord Mantell for the credits. She also wasn't gonna ask one of the boys to go and empty the cases for her. The only one who Cid might have felt confident enough to ask for such a thing to was Strider, but Cid knew she wasn't gonna like the idea either.

Only a part of Cid felt guilty screwing over the batch, but it was either that or having Millegi come after them mercilessly, and that was assuming he even let them get off the planet, or that they were somehow able to get off planet without him noticing, which would open a whole other lot of gruesome possibilities waiting for each of the mercenaries.

"You look troubled," Millegi interrupted Cid's train of thought as he poured a glass of bourbon. "Ease up. Drink. Your loss will come until tomorrow anyway. For now, enjoy."

"I'd rather not," Cid dismissed.

"This is the most tense I've seen you since the last time you didn't have enough money to pay me," Millegi teased after downing his drink. "Surely that's not the case now, is it? 'Cause if it is, how are you gonna get out of that one?"

"You're gettin' ideas all up in your head," Cid challenged. "I won't lose."

"You're smarter than that," Millegi poured himself another glass and went to sit on the couch next to Cid. "You've said yourself, a blind confidence makes a dead fool. You'd be stupid not to consider all possibilities."

The feeling of being cornered returned to Cid.

"Better think fast," Millegi took a sip out of his drink, his tone friendly, even if the words were menacing.

With crossed arms and her body turned away from Millegi, Cid looked over her shoulder at him. "Whattaya mean, think fast? I'll get ya the money if it comes down to it."

"You'd be ruined after the wager the runt of your crew made," Millegi chuckled. "Double payment in exchange for you. It's so noble it almost has you believing you wouldn't turn your backs on each one of them in a second."

"I might surprise you," Cid crooned.

"No," Millegi said. "On the contrary, you're gonna pull a dirty stunt on them, and it'll be exactly what anyone expects."

"I've changed, Millegi."

"So you won't listen to my counteroffer?" Millegi prompted. "It'll be much easier than getting me all that money."

Cid angled her figure towards Millegi, intrigued.

"Adhara," Millegi finally stated.

"Strider?" Cid frowned. "What about 'er?"

"If your racer loses, you hand her over," Millegi proposed.

Cid's features crinkled in a grimace, but she didn't turn away from Millegi, nor did she dismiss his offer. She kept silent, and her eyes idly found different corners of the room as she examined the recently-raised stakes.

"Not a single ingot would wind up in my pocket," Millegi continued. "If you lose, give me Adhara and you're off the hook."

"Why do you even want her?" Cid asked.

"Have you seen the skillset she carries?" Millegi chuckled. "That woman is the deadly combination of a sorceress and a soldier, with enough of a gut to make it in this world. Ohnaka was a fool for letting her go."

Cid considered her options. She could blow a stream of hot air with reasons why Strider would never go with him, tell him she'd throw him off the nearest ledge using nothing but her hand and all his henchmen would follow, threaten with those two clones never being willing to let her go without a fight, convince Millegi he didn't know what he was getting into.

But Cid still didn't have the money, and if agreeing to the new terms would mean ending the conversation as well as not worrying about credits in either outcome, it became the safest of all options. It was a no-brainer. And with that, Cid made eye contact with Millegi, and she nodded.

"Deal," Cid concluded.

With a dark laugh, Millegi handed the spare glass of bourbon to Cid and sealed the offer. Cid took a sip of the bourbon and exhaled deeply as she forced away any remorse at the deal she'd just made.

Tay-0 was just gonna have to win.

Sarah

When the sun was out, Sarah found herself on the same chair she'd fallen asleep on in the middle of the trackside workshop with a makeshift blanket draped over her. She stood up and ignored the faint ache that plagued her neck, although she did resolve not to fall asleep on a chair again anytime soon. Instead of pondering on it, Sarah left the blanket over the chair and made her way towards the sunlight, and she took a deep breath in as she observed the scenery of the riot racing dome in front of her, its bleachers already filled with enthusiastic watchers and wagers.

That was one more thing amongst the many she hadn't thought she'd do since the war ended, but it wasn't the worst by any means.

Her gaze scanned the area and eventually found Wrecker and Omega overlooking the track with what appeared to be sticks of fried street food clenched in their hands, a breakfast worthy of the place they were in. When Sarah remembered the weight of their current situation, she lost all physical need to eat, and it was replaced by the plain longing for everything to be over. She'd learned not to be overly optimistic about anything a long time before that.

But the race was going to happen whether she wanted or not, and the moment she acknowledged that was also the moment her gaze landed on Tech in the distance. Also overlooking the racing track, his back was turned on her and he seemed to be holding his datapad in hand, and Sarah would have been far more pleased at the sight had it not been for Tay-0 hovering over Tech the entire time. Sarah could hear Tay-0 talking, unable to make out what exactly he was saying, though it wasn't necessary to. His circuits got to every last nerve of hers whether Tay-0 was near or far.

Sarah chuckled at a thought. With Tay-0 being so vocal that close to the start of his race, it was evident that Tech had fixed him up well. She never doubted Tech, of course. Tech could do anything, for better or for worse.

Sarah's mind pondered on Tech until the entire racing dome seemed to vanish around her, but her attention was robustly brought back to reality the moment a speeder flew past her eyesight, blocking her view of Tech for a split second only for her to realize that the vehicle had taken Tay-0 alongside it. The next thing she noticed was Tech beholding the crash site, astonished, and then he ran towards the scene of disaster where the racer walked out of his crashed vehicle without a scratch.

Tay-0 hadn't been as lucky.

Sarah, Wrecker, and Omega all ran after Tech towards the crash-site, and none of them were optimistic. It was Wrecker who reached into the ruined speeder and pulled Tay-0's limp chassis out, and they could all instantly realize this hit hadn't been like the one he'd suffered in his previous race. There was no light in Tay-0's specs, not even a flicker, and smoke was emerging from the inside of his head. The last sounds of his modulated voice could be heard as a drag of sound lowering in pitch, signaling the poor droid's futile end.

"What happened!?" Cid called as she approached the site.

But the others were still speechless and exchanging looks, as though doing that - or not doing something about what had just happened - would change the fact that they'd just lost their pilot. Cid finally caught up to them and reached towards Tay-0, and as she did, electricity crackled from the inside of Tay-0's metallic remains, which darkened the smoke that was already emerging from him. And, as if it wasn't bad enough already, the bewildered silence that clouded Sarah and the others was broken abruptly by a thunderous, mocking laughter.

"Looks like a forfeit," Millegi announced himself as he and his crew approached their opposing team.

His presence managed to put Sarah, Tech, and Wrecker on guard, while Cid walked up between the two teams holding her hands out.

"Now, now, this ain't a forfeit," Cid tried to persuade.

"You have no racer," Millegi gestured at Tay-0, limp and broken in Wrecker's grip. "No racer, no race, no victory. Those are the rules, and you know that better than anyone."

Cid's features hardened, and she didn't budge. The gesture of defiance riled Millegi, and suddenly he seemed to become taller as he glared down at Cid.

"I'm waiting for you to hold up your end of the deal," Millegi threatened.

"No," Sarah walked forward and positioned herself next to Cid. "Our deal stipulated a result after the race, not before it. We still have a right to run the race."

"That loophole never worked on me," Millegi told her. "Your buddy Cid here learned that the hard way. I'm surprised she was stupid enough to put her foot in her own grave a second time."

"Hey, there's no need for language like that," Sarah tried to moderate, but he was admittedly getting on her nerves. "We'll find a racer, we'll win, and then you'll let us be on our way."

Millegi chuckled. "You still have a lot to learn despite your reputation, little girl. You may as well just dump Cid now and make a better name for yourself, all of you," he gestured at the others behind her.

"Our loyalty is our business," Sarah replied.

“And where is your loyalty coming from?” Millegi turned to Sarah with a devious smile. “Even if I let Cid run free, you’re not going back to Ord Mantell, pretty girl.”

“What?” Sarah’s frown eased into concern.

“You’re coming with me,” Millegi looked her up and down. “Didn’t Cid tell you she offered you up instead of the money?”

Laughter emerged from Millegi’s henchmen, and Cid saw herself scrutinized by the batchers’ pairs of eyes. Omega looked at her in disbelief, Wrecker looked angry as he began stepping in front of Sarah, and Tech looked at Cid with disappointment.

Sarah’s gaze held sheer wrath.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Sarah pierced into Cid’s gaze.

“I knew what I was doin’!” Cid tried to persuade. “I knew Tay-0 was gonna win, I’d never make an offer to hurt ya, Strider.”

“Enough talk,” Millegi said, and one of his henchmen paced towards Sarah.

But Sarah intended to blast her way out of that one if that’s what it took, and she quickly unholstered her hand blaster, pointing it at the Gamorrean guard, and everyone around them pulled their weapons out in unison.

“Easy,” Millegi held his hands out, gesturing to his men to lower their weapons. “A deal is a deal, and as a former pirate, you should know it’s about the business. Your racer is down, and you cannot race, therefore you forfeit and the wage’s in our favor.”

“Oh, we are running that race,” Sarah nearly yelled. “I’m not going to give myself up just like that, you’d better be sure I’m—”

“I will be the racer,” Tech interrupted.

Sarah lowered her blaster as she turned to look at Tech, her nebulous eyes raided with fear and confusion.

“Well, this is interesting,” Millegi crooned.

“No way,” Sarah walked up to Tech. “No, I’m the one being offered, I’m—”

Tech looked directly at Millegi. “I will race.”

“Done,” Millegi accepted the wager.

Millegi left, followed by Cid and his henchmen, and Tech wasted no more time before the race. He directed himself towards the speeder, and once the confusion wore off, Wrecker went over to help him take it to the starting line. As much as Omega attempted to calm Sarah down, the latter felt she was incapable of such a thing. What the hell was Cid thinking, and why the hell would Tech make such a rash, uncalculated decision?!

Sarah ran after Tech when he was readying himself to get into the speeder, leaving Wrecker to look after Omega. Sarah ran as fast as she could, not giving a damn about the personnel repeating to her that she wasn’t allowed near the racers.

“Tech!” She yelled during those final steps, and when she reached him, Sarah clung to his forearm with desperation. “Tech, how could you do this to me?!”

“I am getting you out of harm’s way,” Tech faced Sarah, stern, yet comprehensive.

“By putting yourself in the line of fire!” Sarah was near crying. “Tech, this is my problem, my race to run!”

“I have analyzed the course and the mechanics of the sport,” Tech said. “You, on the other hand, are not thinking straight. Finding out that Cid would bring you into the wager is a shock, and thus, you are in no condition to race.”

“I can’t let you do this,” Sarah’s voice quivered as she made her last attempts to hold back tears.

“You have trusted me on dangerous endeavors before, and I have emerged victorious,” Tech said. “By my calculations and analyses, this will be the case again. I have the correct strategy.”

“Tech—”

“This is the best way, Sarah—”

“I can’t lose you!”” Sarah finally cried, thundering across the entire starting line. “I… I lost Crosshair… I can’t lose you too, Tech.”

Upon noticing her distress, Tech set his helmet down on the ground next to him and when he faced her again, he took his goggles off and looked at Sarah with his own eyes. And when he did, Sarah stopped crying—it was almost as if she’d stopped breathing for a moment, and without blinking, Sarah stared into Tech’s eyes in awe.

“You have beautiful eyes,” she whispered.

Tech paced closer to her and gently brushed the back of her palm with his gloved fingers.

“Trust me,” Tech began. “You will not lose me. Not today, not ever. For all purposes, Sarah Adhara, I am yours, and I have now chosen the duty of making sure you do not end up in Millegi’s hands. And I will not fail.”

Sarah sniffled as a wave of emotions coursed through her. Feeling both hot and cold on her marks from the confession she’d just heard Tech speak, as well as the fear of him not making it out of the race, she felt she would break if she didn’t do anything at the moment. Without thinking of it any further, Sarah cupped Tech’s face with her hands and perked herself up on her toes, and she pressed her lips to his. The way she pressed herself towards him seemed desperate, but the way her breath slowed down as she was with him spoke of true adoration and gratitude, and when she parted from the kiss, her eyes had pooled with tears again.

“Come back to me,” Sarah uttered.

Tech gave her a hint of a smile as he replaced his goggles over his eyes. “Do not doubt.”

“Racers, to your speeders!”

At the final announcement, Sarah knew it was time for her to let Tech do what he did best. She returned to the sidelines next to Wrecker and Omega, who each held onto one of Sarah’s shoulders as the racers’ names were being called, partly out of comfort, but mostly out of mutual nervousness. The danger of Tech’s current situation didn’t escape them either.

But the moment the starting bell blared, Tech seemed like a natural, at least, that was until he fell into the last place among the racers. The pronounced curves of the track and the high speed weren’t his problem, as he was a fantastic pilot, but none of that would matter if he lost.

Sarah became filled with dread, and her mind began to wander with the possibilities of what would happen. She would set fire to the racing dome herself if it guaranteed her and her family’s freedom—perhaps if everything went wrong, she could finally find an excuse to hide in a remote planet, or declare war on Millegi and his gang, as well as Cid. The dread returned to Sarah as she remembered she was capable of offering her.

But then, Sarah felt a warmth scattering itself over the blue of her marks. Her familiar hunches were never wrong, and at that moment, she could hear what the Force was telling her to trust in, and her instincts all pointed in the same direction. Tech was the best pilot down there, and he was the smartest, too, far more capable than any machine programmed by a mind inferior to his, and far more reckless than the racers from the low worlds.

Trust.

“He’s climbing!” Omega cheered as the screens projecting the race around the dome showed Tech’s speeder passing one racer after another.

The final lap was upon them, and he was already in third place, but that also attracted the attention of Jet Venim, who didn’t intend to go easy on Tech. The tunnels were approaching for the last time in the race, and through the comms, Tech announced his intent to cross the left tunnel, the one revered as a death trap.

And though none of the stunts were easy to watch, Tech was successful in all of them, just as Sarah’s instincts had told her. Finally, Tech was at the last leg of the race, and this was it. The three speeders in the lead were close together, two of them very clearly harassing Tech’s vehicle, and at times it really seemed Tech would end up in a crash and a subsequent loss. In the last tunnel, it became difficult to keep track of the speeders given how close they were, and emerging from the tunnel, everything seemed to collapse. Blasts were fired, metal could be heard crashing, and a large cloud of dust hid the speeders from view at the very moment when the tension was at such a high point that the dome fell silent in expectation.

From the cloud of dust, the small blue speeder sped through the finish line, and the announcer called Tech’s name, declaring him the winner.

Sarah let out a scream that blended surprise, relief, and admiration, and alongside her, Wrecker and Omega cheered like they hadn’t done in far too long. Around them, the crowd gathered in the racing dome went wild, with their cheers albeit carrying surprise, but an undeniable satisfaction at the result of the race they’d just witnessed.

Sarah ran down to the track with Wrecker and Omega following closely after her. As Tech got down from the speeder and removed his helmet, he seemed as neutral as he always was about anything, and it didn’t seem like he cared if there was an entire crowd around him chanting his name. His expression only shifted to astonishment when Sarah threw her arms around him and leapt into his arms, causing Tech to spin as he held her, feeling her fingertips tracing soft patterns around the back of his head.

“You did it!” Sarah panted as relief and adoration finally showered upon her. Tech had single handedly pulled her and the rest of the squad out of any trouble. He’d made sure she would be safe, that she would return home without anyone following her. He had raced for her, and he’d succeeded.

“Yes,” Tech answered matter-of-factly. “I told you I would.”

Sarah chuckled, and she didn’t undo the embrace even as Wrecker and Omega caught up to them. Despite not reveling in his own success even when his siblings brought it up, Tech then looked up at the racing dome filled with his newly acquired fans, all of them chanting and repeating his name in unison, their hands flailing in the air as they celebrated his victory.

Tech watched them and approached the scene with the same curiosity with which he approached anything that was new to him, and with one hand still holding Sarah’s silhouette to his side, the other one went up to his temple, and he offered the crowd a brief salute that made the cheering thunder around them.

Sarah grinned at the sight of him acknowledging his crowd, and the way his lips curved softly into a tiny smile didn’t escape her. She felt like she could have kissed him again, but she let him enjoy his glory undistracted for a few more moments.

He truly deserved that.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog to support me!

Taglist:@nunanuggets@rexandechosandwich@redheadgirl@coffeyorky@arctrooper69@wildmoonflower@the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond@stardust9905

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

NEXT CHAPTER -> 

[mountainashfae]

got the dream in my head of "what if I made games in my original setting" and just thinking over hypothetical plots and gimmicks

Hypothetical Dating Sim 2 - the current writing project that I haven't touched in a bit oops. - named that because Cerdinen started as "Hypothetical Dating Sim AU" - noncanon but most likely to be finished

Plague Campaign: The Seeding Decay - started as a hypothetical Pathfinder campaign - works better in VN form if not a PF campaign - Vio, Alec, and Celeste as playable characters - takes place before Shit Hits The Fan - Vio and Alec only have a single save slot while Celeste has multiple but every time you reload an old one the saves past that point are deleted.

it would be cool to make something focusing on Alec/Meph but idk what the plot would be

Dragon Slayers RPG - Cei, Myrddin, Seville, and Lucio as the adventuring party from hell going off to slay a dragon that is wreaking havoc on the middle of the continent. - listen man I can only imagine problems for a party of a warrior, two mages, and a priest - this one takes place over a thousand years in the past

✨The Dream✨ #1 - VN style game following Aurien and Orion before the Deicidal Cannibalistic Apotheosis - PoVs from both twins. 5-6 endings in total. - both of them are unreliable narrators for different reasons. This is the Unreliable Narrator Game.

✨The Dream✨ #2 - the real dream! a CRPG! - probably following a group immediately after the Deicidal Cannibalistic Apotheosis and the resulting change in the deity cycle - I have no fucking clue what the actual plot is here. It's too early to have a Dragon Slayers group. The most I have for this time period is Aurien and Aurora setting out to change Orion's reputation and Orion starting up a worldwide cold spell. - The Gang Stops An Ice Age I guess??? - I want to put DAO Origins in this for the prologue. It's the Dream. - I need some kid here that knows too much about devils. Is it mean to put Alec/Meph in this one. - mostly I want the characters to see glimpses of Mabhan's existence but realize that she's been wiped from their memory despite existing so recently.

The chaos gang of Aurien, Madelynn, and Victor is churning in my brain lately. The summoned memory of Vio does not help. Woe, antics upon ye. Victor what is your deal other than being a Rysterian noble turned Dullahan. This takes place a long, long time in the future.

I need to revisit Smaragden in something since it was the original setting for Hypothetical Dating Sim 1 which has ceased to exist

[tripping over myself] I FORGOR THE ROWAN/AELIN/RIGEL PLOT

[midnightmah07]

Pookie I've been thinking bout making some book seven cards or sprites for my OCs.

Scylla's would def be where he has a normal life, no abuse or anything, which of course would mean that he doesn't know of our Ignihyde gang

And Rigel's would be where everything is going right, where he can allow others to care for him and say his feelings, and can be who he is without judgement. And also Achelous is alive

Anyway, just wanted to tell ya that bcus I think it'll be really fun to make their dreams. I can't stop thinking that Rigel would be rather quick to believe that everything's a dream, but is too attached to the dream so he denies it until he can't starts playing Class of 2017 by Mitski

That would be fun to do, hard ofc but very fun! Good luck on making it!

[sigery]

@amphiptere-art some ideas for d-class/anomalies for the cluster

Possibly Black Star got startled and instead of trying to suck something into him, the energy/pressure blew outwards. Could be Cygnus which is why he might be fucked up. Parts either missing or have been replaced with similar matter to Black Star's body. Or maybe Cygnus bit Black Star or something and instead of dying, became a hybrid of sorts.

Though Cygnus being a criminal d-class would also make a lot of sense. Accidental or intentional, he seems like he could kill a guy... or severe. (he built a bomb to use in a gang war maybe?)

Antares could be a spoiled rich kid who got cut off and eventually arrested but daddy wouldn't bail him out and he ended up chosen to be a d-class. Or depending on Black Star's origins, maybe Antares is the same type of being as Black Star and either weakened or stronger but more unstable.

Rigel and Basil's parent died and they got separated in foster care with Basil being younger and seemingly more adoptable. Rigel was heartbroken and hurt and maybe he got into drugs or something, anything to replace the pain. Him wanting to be numb as a parallel of him pretending to be non sentient. He got jailed for drug dealing or possibly doing something bad while under the influence. Or he could have killed a guy who had done something to himself or possibly Basil before they were separated.

[angel-of-arson]

Incorrect quotes

William: What is it called when you kill a friend? Edith: Homicide. Sam: Murder. Rigel: Homiecide.

Sam, filling out legal paperwork: Were you guys born AMAB or AFAB? William: Bold of you to assume I was born at all. Edith: I personally was created in a lab. Rigel: I just straight up spawned lol.

*The gang responding to being stabbed by a sword* Sam: Rude. William: That's fair. Edith: Not again. Rigel: Are you gonna want this back or can I keep it?

Edith: Oh gosh I wish I got more sleep I only got six hours! Sam: Six? I only got three! William: You guys got sleep? Rigel, comes stumbling out of their room and grabs a jug of coffee before saying: What year is it??

William: Whose turn is it to give the pep-talk? Sam: *sighing* Rigel. Rigel: Fuck shit up out there, but don’t die. Edith: *wiping away a tear* So inspirational.

*Comments under an image of a really hot knife cutting bread* William: Imagine stabbing someone with this knife. Rigel: It would instantly cauterize the wound, so the person wouldn't bleed, so it's not very useful. Sam: if you want information it is Edith: why would you STAB a person when you can have TOAST?

William: We call that a traumatic experience. William, turning to Rigel: Not a "bruh moment". William, turning to Sam: Not "sadge". William, turning to Edith: And DEFINITELY not an "oof LMAO".

Edith: What’s it like being tall? Sam: Is it nice? Edith: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards? William: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb four chairs, two boxes, a small coffee table, and six oddly placed stools to get what they want.

William: I haven't slept in seventy-three hours. Sam: Eighty. Democratically elected leader of insomnia. Rigel: Bitch, it's been ninety for me. I'm going for an even one hundred. Edith: You guys are fucking terrifying.

Edith: I told Sam to grab snacks for everyone. Rigel, looking through the options: Why did you grab fruit snacks? Are you five? Who even likes Fruit Snacks? * Edith, Sam, and William raise their hands*

William: So, everyone, what does a story NEED? Rigel: A character! Sam: A setting! Edith, a gleam in their eyes, in a near-whisper: REVENGE.

Edith: You deserve a reward for putting up with me. William: You are my reward. *also* Edith: You deserve a reward for putting up with me. Rigel: True, you can be really difficult at times.

Edith: I am darkness. I am an power. I am your worst nightmare. I could kill a man in more ways than you can imagine. I am the night. I am fury, I am a weapon, I am- Rigel: A doll. Sam: A cinnamon roll. William: A sweetheart. Edith: Edith: ...stop it.

Rigel, gesturing to William: Sam, look what you did! You made Dad upset! Edith: Dad, please don’t cry, we’re sorry! Sam: I’m sorry Dad... :( William, near tears: I DON’T REMEMBER GETTING TO ANY OF YOU!

[charliechaotic]

ayup. gonna do some headcanon / writing requests for a specific set of au sanses, except its just gonna be my am versions, as kinda a way to develop it a bit :>

(note: esp for Cross/Backstab, I dont know what im doing! The others I have at least vague concepts of TvT)

Name references:

The Stars:

Ink -> Sketch, 'Squid'

Dream -> Solaria, 'Sunshine', 'Ria', 'Glowstick'

Swap -> Orion, 'Blue', 'Rigel'

The Bad Sanses/Nightmares Gang -> The Comets

Nightmare -> Lunaris, 'Luna'

Horror -> Butcher, 'Butch'

Killer -> Blade

Murder -> Fracture

Cross -> Backstab, 'Bax'

Error -> Terminal

NOTES!!

•Sketch is kindaaaa a manipulative bastard(sorry gang)

•Solaria is transfem! (also, was in stone 1000 years instead of 500, so the apple twins are older!)

•Orion is very freshly 16 years old, universe was destroyed, and is the current main target of Sketch's manipulation- cowabummer! (is aware of being a replacement.) Uhhh right also he isnt Technically a 'Sans'- Think of it like.. Au-ing an Au. He's from an AU of the Swap au? [also he may be my favorite] TRANS MASC !!

•Lunaris is very non nightmare- more dadmare core, really? Also, its the kinda thing where the corrupted and past version are kinda the same? Corrupted Lunaris has his memories, and isnt Quite the original, but he isnt some random dude. Think of the corruption even like his birthday ig?

•Butcher is also very dad core- He doesn't eat until he's made sure everyone else has- also, doesn't have a 'papyrus' / general brother character-

•Blade is like a goofy uncle kinda guy, def a prankster- Tends to go against Lunaris the most often

•Fracture doesn't speak too much, general keeps to himself- but when he does it's either a Lot, or something important to listen to- Also he's a major space and greek mythology nerd.

•Backstab uh. Doesn't have anything to him yet? I'll mostly base it off of fandom stuff I've seen of cross shdjej (gladlt accepting suggestions- my buddy helped start this stuff and he kinda has the role of Backstab but is hyperfixating on smth else rn 😔)

•Terminal is 16, and WAY less destructive than Error. He still destroys stuff, but 1. He's a kid, and 2. Once he joined The Comets he's kinda only destroyed stuff for when its needed for a job. (note: terminal i ALSO made by my other buddy, but I have a better hand of him) HUMAN RACIST!!(/hj) He is a BULLY to HUMANS ONLY!!

Also yeah these guys aren't skeletons anymore lmao- different kinda monster species that comes with the AM. Monsters are the ones with Soul traits in this too :> (Havent worked out who is what yet- Solaria is /Probably/ Kindness)

I have refs for everyone except Fracture and Backstab rn but theyre all done in gachalife2 except for like. one drawing ive done of Orion (literally done less than thirty minutes ago)

[voidplume]

vinh has been an oc longer than vega and i Do Not actually think hes been talked about a lot so like lemme give some context (its long im so sorry)

i have to start with rigel sadly cause like. i remember i did a HUGE fucking lore exposition on him a while ago that i forget where i put...... but basically tldr rigel is apart of a now dead and defunct clan that wanted to be the first like. not the FIRST settlers of Alpha Centauri but the first group to make it their mission. and he has a twin sister, lyra. they used to pretend to be the same person and took the name vega and it kind of. has poor memories attached to it for both of them.

but blah blah i am obsessed with my OCs having weird families and made rigel have a kid w/ laz. him and lyra figured "hey we';re not using it anymore lets give it to a real person this time" and named him Vega

hes a 2nd gen tenno so like. he doesnt have powers from teh Zariman but he DOES have powers cause his PARENTS have zariman powers. like hes a tenno but maybe not as apeshit crazy powerful as First Amalgam, Warden of Minos Lazarus and Void Father Raphael, Creator of the Void Angels Rigel.

vega is just a normal tenno with a couple of frames and a love for shotguns and one handed swords. :) his favorite frame is Mag and he likes spamming Polarize and Crush

Technically vinh is his aunt since laz is dating her brother, Seveht, in the polycule, but shes like...... hundreds of years younger than him (i said 20 earlier and forgot about corpus ages sorry) so they kinda regard each other as more like cousins or some shit idk theyre in teh same age group and are also Friends :)))))

also laz/rigel stole dominus out of duviri and now HE has weird tenno adjacent powers and his own Kullervo and he makes it everyone elses problem

and they are the 2nd gen gang :)

[hiddenwashington]

@rcvcrics said : alright, dont judge, can i change han solo's fc to david corenswet, altair rigel's fc to daniel sharman, florence bishop's fc to emily bader, and esmera's fc to leighton meester sorry gang

sobbing as we speak but altair rigel is now david corenswet daniel sharman, han solo is now andrew garfield david corenswet, florence bishop is now hannah dodd emily bader, and esmera monsula is now brie larson leighton meester.

[small-world-au]

Okay everyone…meet the CUTEST and SWEETEST LIL’ BABY EVER!!!!!

Odessa Stone Aguilar yuuki

Age: 4

Personality type: ENFP

Ethnicity: Asian (Japanese) & Hispanic (Mexican) & Irish <- updated

Hair color/type: purple/straight-curly

Eye color: brown

Skin color: fair cream

Gender: Female

Family: Natalia Aguilar (maternal great-grandmother)

Gabriela Aguilar (Grandmother +)

Shino Yuuki (Grandfather +)

Noelia Aguilar (Maternal Grandaunt)

Sora Aguilar (Father)

Stone ( 2nd Father)

Avrille (paternal aunt on Stone’s side)

Rowan Pagonis (paternal uncle/aunt/titi)

Friends: Captain Crepitas (teddy bear), Scribble, Lila, Luca, Yuri, Skipp, Bailey, Vinnie, Finn, Jasper, maid, Quinn, Gabe, grown up versions of Baylee, taylee, Jayden, Adi, Maple, Maroon, Bailey’s kitties, Dante, all grown-up versions of the iconic 4 and rest of the gang

Neutral: Rigel and Cen, Pebble (will change)

Enemies: Fritz, Tre, Ivan, Nadia, Ditch, Avrille, mean people who hurt animals and “Scraps”

LIKES

Spending time with her family/friends

Magic

Storybooks

Playing pretend

Her papa’s singing

Dress up

Her papa’s cooking

Sweets

Skipp’s music

Bailey’s kitties

Flowers

Animals

DISLIKES

Fritz

Animal cruelty

People flirting/being mean to her papas

Bullies

Fighting

Losing Captain Crepitas

Leaving her friends

Her papas being alone

Smelly places/objects

Scary people/animals

Her Grandfather (based on her family’s stories about him)

Her grand-aunt and her oppression on Sora when he was a teen

She is Stora’s daughter, Rowan’s half-niece, Noelia’s (grand)niece, Gabriela’s only (Grand)daughter, as well as Natalia’s (great)granddaughter.

She’s also a selective mute.

[startrek-readerslog]

Rise of the Federation: Tower of Babel by Christopher L. Bennett

I know I am a few days late of my monthly deadline, but I had a busy January. This one is the next in a series of five novels in this Rise of the Federation Series. They are all by our dear friend Christopher L. Bennett! This one continues the themes of Federation expansion and the constant meddling of Garos and the Orion sisters. Let's go!

The Author

Yep, its still Christopher L. Bennett. I did notice that this book had a QR code that lead to a "more about the author" kind of page. Here it is if you are curious. Apparently his degrees are in history and physics which makes a lot of sense to have as a writer of Star Trek fiction.

The Summary

This one bounces around a lot like the last one. We have Archer on T'Pol's ship, the USS Endeavor, that is going to a conference about the Rigellian Trade Commission joining the Federation. We also have Reed's ship, the USS Pioneer, which is sent to do some recon about the Rigellian system to learn more to let the Federation have more facts before they admit them. There is also some stuff going on on Sauria which is a planet we spent some time on a few books ago. If you remember Sauria had a lot of mineral wealth but was not a politically united planet, and one massive ass of a dictator named Maltuvius. Well they have a plague now. On top of all of this, the Federation is in the throws of its first election year.

So Archer is T'Pol take a delegation of Rigellians to Babel, a planet that has a history of being used as a neutral discussion zone. The Rigellians have a complex history as there are several habited planets within their solar system with several distinct species. There are the Chelon's (a turtle like species from Rigel III), the Zami (native to Rigel IV), the Kalar (native to Rigel VII, but they are very insular and not in the Trade Commission). There are also more inhabited planets that have been colonized in the system. They already have their own like local Federation in the Trade Commission, which is the governing body that is being approached by the Federation. The politics of this place are kind of insane.

We learn that Garos has intertwined himself with the First Families of Rigel, basically feudal lords, in order to push for them not to enter the Federation. Oh we also spend some scenes with the Orion sisters, but don't know the extent of their involvement in anything yet. Also Trip and T'Pol had a fight about Section 31.

Malcolm is doing his recon about the culture of Rigellians and Samuel Kirk and their Tellarite comms officer, Grev are kidnapped in their archives. That sends them on a chase around the system to find where they went. They were kidnapped to decipher a log of secrets that the Trade Commission uses to blackmail the system into order.

T'Pol comes back to help with the search party while Archer stays at this conference. He sleeps with the Zami representative named Sendra Hemnask, and that morning an assassination is attempted on one of the presidential candidates that clearly tries to frame Archer. Sendra does not provide him his alibi.

While all that is happening, Trip goes to Sauria to try and figure out what is up with this plague. It is clear that the plague was manufactured by Maltuvius so that he could come to the rescue of other nations which means occupy them. We learn the plague was given to Maltuvius by the Orions, and that Maltuvius doesn't want to stop at conquering the planet. Trip is recalled to let the politics of Sauria settle as they are.

Trying to find Sam and Grev, the gang splits up and looks for clues. Travis gets lightly kidnapped but reveals the truth about the Malurians to the Chelon who were conned into helping. But they can't help with the Sam and Grev situation. Valeria Williams infiltrates the First Families to try and find their angle, but gets caught after helping a battered servant escape. Valeria is eventually brought to Garos who upon learning that the First Families will destabilize the system helps them with info to get Sam and Grev back. Also in there somewhere some of the crew while looking for the two of them gets stranded on Rigel VII with the Kaylar.

In the end, they get back Sam and Grev (with yet another failed romantic tension between Sam and Valeria). Archer's name is cleared and Sedra is unveiled as having ties to the First Families that caused her to become involved with Archer as a political ploy orchestrated by Garos (partially thanks to T'Rama, Spock's grandmother). The assassination was orchestrated by an Orion syndicate.

My Thoughts

Wowie that was such a long summary and I still didn't really hit everything that happened in this book, including some in fighting among T'Pol's crew between her first mate and Hoshi (and their cute resolution at the end). It wasn't even that long of a book! I think that Bennett still really made the incredibly amount of POVs work in this book. It was fun to see how they all tied together, because at the beginning there was a lot of disjointed POVs that didn't feel connected.

Unlike the last novel this one felt way more plot driven than character drive, which was ashamed because I feel like Bennett does that well. There were some nice moments of introspection from Archer about his work life balance, and dating life. As well as some good character development for Thanien in learning to trust Hoshi. However those beats felt so small in comparison to how many emotional moments there were in the last book. I think seeing the messy history of the Federation helps it feel more real as an organization. Of course the first election was a political mess, with some even doubting its mission (just like the first US Presidential Election). It makes sense that they want to strengthen their numbers, but also they can sometimes make decisions for economic reasons instead of moral ones like continuing to trade with Maltuvius on Sauria.

I didn't like it as much as the previous novel, but I will still give it 7.5/10 stars! The next one is another Rise of the Federation Novel: Uncertain Logic!

[imissthefire]

well gods damn it all, I'm in part 4 finally and haven't said a word since I started, but hrjskajdks I have so many thots and feelings. under the cut because it's meaningless rambling but if u feel like reading then that's chill

First one being WHERE IS MY BABYGIRL (I know I get him soon but I'm still annoyed that I've had to wait so long and I miss him) second, why the FUCK is pelleas. Like. Just why. Why he? For the first 2/3rds of his presence, I wanted to drop kick his ass to hatari but eventually he went from being a fucking loser (derogatory) to a fucking loser (affectionate) and now... yeah. it's my first playthroygh, I could not save him and was unfortunately very upset by his dumbass sacrificing himself without reading the fine print. And then mommy almedha finding out her dumbass precious son died for naught but also it's fine, he was clinically stupid so it wasn't an unforeseen scenærio. Can't believe iz*ka found The Most Pathetic Little Guy and said "yeah, yeah, he's gonna be the next king" like I know he wanted someone easy to gaslight and manipulate and all that jazz but holy mother of FUCK could he not have found somebody with like even an ounce of confidence or self-preservation 😭 it did work out tho for almedha tho seeing as her aggressive need to mother hen the hell out of a child paired very well with how helpless and less-than-with-it pelly was. If only her son was a genius mage with a hunk of a bf and not a pathetic limp noodle mage with a lowkey cute crush on miccy, but alas, this is my first playthrough therefore those dots will remain unconnected ✊🏼😔 but got damg. Also, insanely silly of kurthy to be all :( I love my sister and dead brother who sacrificed everything for our nephew who is now also dead :((( when he's actually very much alive and well, like, two tents over. Crazy stuff, man, truly.

And damg don't even get me started on how fucking stressful drafting the armies was because I spent over an hour on it and I just got to the 2nd chapper with the elincibarn army and I realise now that I made a Big Mistake because they're so underpowered 😭 I made so many mistakes drafting that but at least I was locked with tibs AND ranran, both of whom have been pretty great so I have hope that between them, elincia and the LBGs (I assume b*stian will join us at some point (I need to complete the LGB(E) gang, it's imperative to our success)) things will be manageable.

Meanwhile, I put too much thought into the silver army or whatever miccy's is called and it was Still Absolute Ass! Slaysala carried along with skrimscram and mordy (and a shit tonne of olivi grass) the majority of the battle. that feathery slut only got hit, like, maybe 5 times? Powerful birdy, fucked up morally but also fucks severely on the battlefield so I'll forgive him and trust him bc he can't really betray us given how almost everyone else has been dwayned (rock) so they can't really buy his treachery. I also think he'd have perchance just enough self-preservation and sense to NOT side with the same ppl trying to kill everyone, thus nullifying the possibility of saving everybody, which includes Kilvans, which is actually quite understandable. It gives a bit of a sov rudolf vibe in that rudy knew that with his little green-haired secret prince with a brand that complicates his life without him realising it for like 17 years who was whisked away at birth/a very young age to live like a peasant voiced (in english) by kyle mccarley (gatekeeper must have one hell of a backstory) that along with his antithesis (anthieseses if you will) would unite zofia and rigel but in order to trigger that unity, he had to lean hard into being a bit fucked up and evil etc etc this isn't what that's about tho, I just am trying to justify why I think naenaesala isn't a completely iredeemable piece of garbage idk idk bottom line, rudolf had to suck but it was for the best of his people and naesala is a dick but does it with his people in mind and I think that's understandable. Doesn't justify or excuse his actions, but it sure gives important perspective to them. But anyway, everyone else in the silver army is lowkey dogshit ahaha I'm Fighting For My Life with these units, man. Snaki has been decent, (her lesbian mums do be pulling through as well) but she's also for some reason got the absolute worst luck with getting hit when enemy hit rate is <20% and either dying or coming damn near close. I know mages are squishy and aren't supposed to get hit but bro, she got hit by a 3% and fucking died when I was nearly through the map 😭

On the flipside, fortunately the gmercs and friends slay absolute penis, ike and soren alone can take like a dozen men at once (in a fight) and come out pretty much unscathed. sor's real good at dodging and having flare AND adept activate almost every second hit, so homeboy's keeping himself going easy peasy. And ike's just out here throwing his giant sword at bitches, also healing, but hella dealing (damage) ugh, power couple and neither get range locked so they can kill every last one of them which is quite nice. I'll send them into the fray and they have their cute little support *klboomph* bonus so they got that avo and other stuff idk I didn't look at it that hard.

I will say tho that the combining of the inventories was an absolute blessing holy shit man, I was fighting for my life between having next to no funds in any of the armies and running out of shit but having extra of what I need for one team on another and vice versa. truly a blessing that I can just hand stuff back and forth, only issue is i can't snag anything if it's with someone in another of the armies but I just keep units I'm not using on a map unarmed and empty-handed otherwise. Works out pretty well if I'm being perfectly candid, friend. Anyway, I'm gonna leave my absurdly long update at that otherwise this would be even longer and worse. Since I know babygirl shows up in ch3 with miccy and the gang, I apologise in advance for the impending thristposting. I'm holding myself back from being horny on main over several ppl but stefan, man, he just *chef's kiss* makes my brain go buckwild.

[tiptapricot]

Misadventure May Day 18!

Prev

Almost caught uPp

———

18. In To The Depths

Rigel swears again as the leviathan’s jaw begins to close, pulling them upwards like trailing bits of dental floss.

“Don’t think we want this, Mero! Don’t think we want this!” they holler.

Romero slams a hand against their chest in agreement and tugs messily at the rope, and Rigel hisses out a breathy “Fuck,” as they try to pull themself up to get it undone.

They don’t like running from a fight. Hell, they start ‘em more times than they finish ‘em, but this is different. They’re damn sure they can kick the ass of anything on a bounty board. Alongside Bass they’ve corralled sand worms and mutant lizards and struck out gangs armed to the teeth, but those were all things they could punch, all things whose teeth Rigel could make into a necklace or (in rare cases) a dish plate. This thing’s teeth half-skewered their partner and are longer than they are tall, and it’s got a mouth big enough to swallow half a town. Who knows what the rest of it’s like, how far that body goes.

Ain’t no chances there, no sir.

They’ve got to get out.

Rigel gets their knuckles in around the lasso knot and tugs at it like a wild man, but it’s snagged, refusing to come loose. The beast lets out a guttural groan, rotting air sweeping from its mouth, and there’s a rumble of movement from below, something huge shifting like a wave of gravel. Rigel laughs out a sound of exasperation.

“C’mon,” they mutter. “C’mon!”

Romero is once again held tight around their waist, and they feel a pang of guilt about that, about tonight. In their defense, goin’ up on a big beast was great the first time, it only looks bad now that they’re hangin’ off the jaw of another one. Real… real bad.

The upper teeth swing down, the beast’s eyes sparking wide and monstrous, and foreign panic rises white hot in Rigel’s chest. Bright lights and a plan gone wrong, sand on their arms and a burning rope beneath their hands. Fuck. They try and shake off the sensations, try to keep focused. It’s Bass’s memory, his body’s memory, not theirs. Not theirs. They scrabble at the rope, fingers scraping, flecks of orange cracking off.

They. Need. To. Get. Out.

The threads surge cool beneath their fingers, and all at once, time slows.

It’s a strange experience. A single warped moment, sluggish and straining for lost breath. Rigel feels suspended, cradled over the abyss. But then… Bass just does things like that. Always the rise before an impact, the smile before a scream, swooping in at the last second when you’re desperate and confused and can’t keep going. Maybe it’s something about how he died, something inescapable in suspense. Rigel’s not sure. They aren’t sure if Bass knows either.

They see his face while the world hovers, frozen in time. It presses forward, sliding through their bones and leaving the phantom feeling of hot skin. They shudder, invisible eyelashes fluttering closed, and just for a moment, there’s sun in the shadows.

And then the knot slips apart like oiled leather.

Rigel yanks the rope free, listing back into blackness and curling around Romero as they plummet down. Above them the beast jerks, a massive face swinging towards them for just a moment, a moment so pointed the eyes make Rigel feel like they’re blistering at the seams.

“Sorry,” they mumble against Romero’s cheek, squeezing a bit tighter as the first slamming impact hits them.

———

Next

(ID in ALT)