#the old fashioned way. so far i haven’t touched any junk food in days. i’ve been eating only home cooked meals and whole food snacks (not

[acidbathcat]

also the lexapro is finally wearing off after like a week. which is kind of crazy because usually it happens like 2 days in. and the brain zaps are driving me insane.

[ladyanaconda]

Helluva Boss Vol 2: Loo Loo Land

Striker awoke with a start, panting heavily. His heart pounded so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest at any moment now. The imp sighed as he ran a hand through his ash white hair.

He had that nightmare again. He didn't cry, as he had no more tears to shed and it wouldn't being her back but the wound was still raw. He'd tell himself that he did what she asked of him: to save their son. However, the guilt was still there.

Striker went to the kitchen for a glass of water. As he looked through the window, he noticed it was raining. There were no thunders tonight but still, he better go check on Jake just in case.

Something pulled on his pants. Speak of the devil! Striker looked down and found the infant next to his leg, his little hand grasping his pants. How Jake managed to crawl all the way down from his nursery was a mystery to Striker.

"What's up, kiddo?" Striker asked, not really expecting an answer. Jake reached out his hands, asking to be picked up. Sighing, he bent down to pick up his son. " Can't sleep either, huh? That makes two of us, my boy," he said gently as he walked up the stairs. "How about we keep each other company for a while? It'll be less lonely that way."

Striker sat on his bed and placed Jake on his lap. He entertained the little one with the rattling of his tail for a while until Jake lost interest and snuggled into his father's chest, yawning. Striker knew what the little one needed. Jake protested via whimpers as he was tucked back into his nearly started to wail if not for the familiar sound of a guitar's strings and his father's voice as the cradle was rocked from side to side.

Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small

You seem so strong

My arms will hold you

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

Can't be broken

I will be here don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart

From this day on

Now and forevermore

You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here in my heart

Always

Always…

Jake had long been lulled into sleep by the end of the song. Smiling, Striker kissed the little one's forehead.

"Good night."

*HB*

"M and M, J and S, get in here! We're going to Loo Loo Land!"

Striker frowned under his hat, annoyed at having his nap interrupted. "Isn't that the rip-off of Lucifer's far more popular LuLu World?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, Strike! Stolas is paying us extra cash for making sure he and his daughter are still breathing by the end of the day."

Striker covered his face with his hat again. "Sorry, Blitz, my contract only includes assassination jobs."

"Look at it this way: you're going to 'assassinate' whoever tries to lay a hand on Stolas and his daughter."

The cowboy frowned. "Why us? Doesn't that blueblood have a whole legion of guards at his disposal?"

"Come on, dad! I want to go to Loo Loo Land!" Jake pleaded, taking his father's hat. "I've never been to a theme park!"

"Yeah, Strike, it'll be fun!" Millie wrapped an arm around the cowboy's shoulder. "You won't find a cheaper theme park in all of Hell, plus it's a good opportunity for you and Jake to spend some quality time together!"

Striker would have protested further, but Jake (and Blitzo) were giving him the 'puppy eyes' face. At last, he murmured. "Ugh. Fine."

They picked up the owl Goetias in I.M.P.'s van and went straight to the theme park in the Greed ring. As always, Striker and Jake rode Bombproof to avoid an overcrowding inside the vehicle, especially with two bluebloods inside.

Striker'd seen a few tv commercials about Loo Loo Land, but something he'd learned over the years is that no intentional rip-off of anything was worth wasting money on. He was soon proven right once they arrived at the place. Most of the attractions within Loo Loo Land were either broken, cracked, or disheveled-looking. And judging by the look on Octavia's face, she didn't like it here either. Jake, on the other hand…

"Cool! Look, dad, there's a carousel! Can we go? No, wait, I wanna try the roller coaster first! Whoa, is that a dragon? I must pet it!" the impling was running around the place, awing over the rides and booths with wide eyes.

"Blitz better add another zero to my next paycheck." Striker murmured under his breath.

"Woow! I haven't been to this place since I was a tot! It hasn't changed a bit- oh, LOOK!" Millie pulled Moxxie and Jake into a hug and gestured to an old dinosaur-like animatronic. "It's Big Woobly!"

"That is… deeply upsetting," Moxxie whispered.

"Oh, come on! It's fun! You've never been here?"

"No, theme parks always disturbed me. Especially the mascots."

"I agree with Moxxie." Millie, Jake, and Moxxie himself gave Striker a baffled look. "As incredible as it sounds."

"Well, hey there!" Striker was caught off guard as Moxxie suddenly jumped into his arms with a frightened yelp as a guy in an old cartoonish apple costume appeared out of nowhere. The only reason he didn't drop Moxxie was that he too was disturbed by the awful, smelly costume. "I'm Loo Loo! Welcome to Loo Loo Land! If ya'll get hurt, just try and sue us!"

Striker quickly wrapped his tail around Jake's waist and lifted him up before he could get too close to 'Loo Loo'.

"Hey, dad, let go!" the impling protested.

"Stay away from that predator, kiddo." Striker finally dropped Moxxie to the ground.

"I have a question."

"Well, ask away, little girlie!" the mascot made a poor attempt at goofy laughter.

Octavia sneered. "Is it true this park is just a really shameless spin-off or Lucifer's far more popular Lu Lu World? This place reeks of insecure corporate shame."

Striker held tightly unto Jake until they left the creepy mascot behind. Being new to this place, he decided to follow Millie and Moxxie around for a while.

"You really love this place, huh?" Moxxie asked casually.

Millie nodded eagerly. "I love this place! My parents would bring me and my siblings here when they could swing it. Money-wise."

"Dad, look!" Jake ran towards a gift shop and pressed his face against the window, eyeing a plush dragon like the one on the Petting Zoo. "Can I have one?"

Striker only had to look at the price, 400 souls, to reply. "Absolutely not."

"Whyy?"

"400 souls for a doll you'll end up throwing away? Don't you wanna throw away all of my salary, since you're on it?"

Jake pouted, arms crossed. "Meanie."

"He does have a point. I mean, that much for a novelty cup you use one time?" Moxxie added, pointing at said cup worth 29 souls.

"Cause it's Loo Loo Land!" Millie chirped.

"Listen to your hoe, Mox." Blitzo seemingly had no trouble with loading up on the theme park's merch. "Hey, Strike, how 'bout you and I take the first watch while M and M have a little fun with Jakey?"

"Can I, dad? Please, please, please!"

Striker sighed. "Fine. Just stay close to Millie and Moxxie and listen to whatever they tell-"

"Um, Striker, I have to interrupt your fatherly monologue, but they already left." Blitzo was right. Millie, Moxie, and Jake were gone already.

Striker merely sighed and loaded his rifle.

*HB*

Jake still couldn't understand why his father had never brought him to Loo Loo Land before. This place was incredible! The rides, the junk food, kicking the guy in the Loo Loo costume; for some reason, he couldn't resist the urge every time he saw the apple costume. And of course, Moxie simply had to ruin everything. His wimpy stomach couldn't handle The Lawsuit ride and he ended up vomiting unto the people in the front car, Jake included. They had to get him new clothes in the nearest gift shop.

"You're so lucky my dad wasn't here or he would have fed you to that," Jake pointed at the dragon peeking over the Petting zoo fence.

"Okay, guys, how about we take a look around the smaller rides?" Millie suggested.

"You mean the kids area? That's where the Petting Zoo is! Can we go there to see the dragon?"

"I don't care as long as I don't have to get on top of it," Moxxie murmured, his hand still clutching his stomach. Jake squealed happily.

There were lots of animals at the Petting Zoo. Jake recognized some from Wrath, most notably some Hellhorses with green fire to reflect Greed. He had seen how Bombproof's fire color change from orange to red each time they entered Pride, and it had changed to a minty green when they entered Greed. There were other animals he had only seen in books too, but his attention was entirely focused on the giant red, black and white wyvern. Known as Hellvern, it is native to Greed and is often used as a 'guardian dog' of sorts by Overlords.

Jake felt a shiver down his spine as the giant dragon stared down at him curiously. Taking a deep breath, he stroked the animal's snout. Once he realized his hand was attached to his body, Jake began to laugh and jump.

"I touched the dragon, I touched the dragon!" he cried out happily. "Just wait until I tell dad!"

"Oh, I bet he'll be very proud of you!" Millie smirked, ruffling the impling's hair. "

Afterward, they took a break from the rides and wandered around the snack and game booths. Jake and Millie ate big cones of ice cream bugs and fried butter sticks. Moxxie chose not to consume any 'junk food of questionable origin'.

"This place is amazing! Man, I wish I'd come here sooner!" Jake said happily as he looked around the game booths.

"So Striker has never brought here? He would have loved the rides for sure!" Millie pointed out.

"Nah, dad's never been too fond of machines. He'd rather do things the old-fashioned way."

Moxxie scoffed. "Yeah, why would he come to work on a horse otherwise?"

"Well, at least we don't waste time on looking for a parking spot."

"Touché, kid."

"Hey, now that we're on it, I don't think we've ever met your mom."

Jake stopped in his tracks. His… mom? It's the first time someone's brought that up. Dad has never talked about her and there are no photos of her in the house. But surely he had one, right? Everyone has one.

"Hello, hello! Step right up and win a thing!"

Millie's excited cry distracted Jake from his thoughts. "Oh, look, Moxxie! A thing!" The 'thing' in question was a purple stuffed penguin-like creature with imp horns and pink overalls.

"Oh, you like that thing?"

"Yesss! I don't really know what that thing is but I want that thing!"

Moxxie smirked. "Finally, something I can handle." he placed a soul bill on the counter. "Okay! One game, please!"

Unsurprisingly, the cork but the target. To Jake's surprise, however, the target barely moved. Moxxie didn't seem to mind since he had hit the bullseye.

"Strike one, little man!"

Moxie's smugness faded instantly. "But I hit it!"

"Hmm, I don't know what to tell ya, buddy. The target, see?" the vendor pointed at said target "It didn't go down, so yeah, no go, bro."

Growling, Moxie placed another bill on the counter and fired another cork at the bullseye, but again it didn't move. Annoyed, Moxxie slapped the pistol. "The Heaven's wrong with this thing?!"

"Oh. Man, a real shame, I tell ya." the carnie made crying gestures in a mocking manner, prompting Moxxie to slam yet another bill on the counter.

*HB*

As incredible as it may sound, Striker envied his son. Jake was probably having a great time at the admittedly cool-looking rides while he is stuck babysitting a blueblood. He couldn't say he was completely bored, though. Turns out the pervert was right when he said there'd be lots of people going after him. Striker even ended up making a bet with Blitzo over who could shoot more people by the end of the day. Up to now, Striker was winning.

The cowboy casually spotted Octavia, who by then looked like she'd snap at any second now. He couldn't blame her, the show's musical number was rather bizarre.

"How come that pervert hasn't noticed his daughter is not enjoying himself at all?" he asked Blitzo casually.

"Not our business, Strike. We're their bodyguards, not their family therapists. Speaking of which," Blitzo shot an assassin in the back before he could stab Stolas. Blitzo smirked. "That makes it four on my count, Striker."

"Let's save that for later, Blitz. Looks like the mare's finally kicked." Striker motioned to Octavia as she fled the tent, Stolas following closely behind.

"You should find Jakey. It's Millie and Moxxie's watch, anyway, they can go keep an eye on Stolas."

Striker nodded gratefully and left the circus tent. Surprisingly, it didn't take him too long to find Jake, Moxxie, and Millie. They were at a shooting game booth. Judging by the enraged look in Moxxie's face and the 600 souls in the vendor's hands, the wimp just got scammed.

"Hey, dad! You won't believe what I did, I petted a dragon!"

Striker chuckled and petted the boy's head. "I'm glad you had a great time, kiddo."

"Hey, you, cowboy! You look like ye might be better at shooting this sad little fella."

Striker frowned. He knew from experience that these booths were rigged to scam customers out of their money at the vendor's leisure. He had a better idea. Smirking, Striker pulled out his pistol and handed it to Jake.

"Show them what you got, kiddo."

The impling's face lit up. He pointed the barrel of the weapon at the carnie to give him a fright before shooting all of the targets with flawless precision in quick succession. The bullets went right through the targets, leaving big holes. The carne was reduced to a trembling, frightened mess.

"H-Hey, take it easy, p-pal…" he stuttered nervously as Jake pointed the gun at him again.

"That's my boy!" Striker laughed, patting Jake's shoulder.

"Now I think," Moxxie sneered as he leaned unto the counter. "That you owe us a thing."

Something crashed through the roof of the shooting gallery and on top of the carnie. The group leaned in to take a look.

"Sir?" Moxxie asked.

Striker sighed once he turned around and found the theme park literally on fire. "Really, Blitz? I leave you alone for a second and you screw the damn place up?"

"Oh, hey guys!" Blitzo seemingly didn't hear him as he drew his pistol. "You should probably go, uh, make sure Stolas is okay. I got some… unfinished business to take care of."

The group dispersed, with Millie quickly grabbing her plush thing. Strike quickly picked Jake up and moved out of the way as Blitzo fired at the burning robot; the thing caught the bullet in its mouth and curled up to roll towards Blitzo in a fiery charge. Blitzo jumped out of the way just as the robot hit the booth and it exploded in an inferno of green flames.

"Um, Dad, should we lend Blitzo a hand?"

"I suppose so lest he ends up blowing the whole place up with us inside."

Jake smirked as he spotted the dragon from before on the loose. "I got an idea!"

Striker knew what the boy was thinking. He wasn't sure if it was such a good idea, though; he's dealt with wild hogs, hellhorses, and many fauna, but never a fully-grown Hellvern. Then again, he's always liked challenges. He had Jake climbed onto his back and cling to his neck.

"Hang on tight, my boy, this will be one hell of a ride!"

Grabbing a discarded rope and tying it into a lasso, Striker expertly threw it over the dragon's neck and pulled, tightening around its neck. When the animal reared back and spread its wings, Striker took advantage of the momentum to pull himself onto the Hellvern's back.

"Easy, there! I'm your new master now!" the cowboy shouted over the Hellvern's angry shrieks, pulling the ropes tightly in the manner of reins. It wasn't that hard, as the Hellvern had already been tamed. Otherwise, it was like riding a giant version of Bombproof.

"Woohoo! Can we keep the Hellvern, dad?!"

"I already got enough with a Hellhorse, kiddo!"

Striker led the animal through the green inferno, eyeing the crazy robot going after Blitzo. Millie and Moxxie were shooting it, but it was far too fast for bullets. Striker couldn't contain an excited 'yeehaw' cry as he whipped the Hellvern forward and it snatched Robo Fizz right before it could run Blitzo over; the animal threw Robo Fizz into the air before eating it whole.

"Got a new mount, Striker?! Can I keep Bombproof?!"

"In your dreams, Blitz!"

They barely made it out of Loo Loo Land before it was consumed by flames, then made a run for it before anyone could identify them as the people who destroyed the place. Mammon would look for heads to roll before the day's end, after all.

*HB*

"Best… Day… Ever…" Jake laughed in-between exhausted pants as they got home that night.

Striker fell on top of the couch, groaning in exhaustion. "We're taking the rest of the week off, kiddo. If Blitz calls, tell him Bombproof has a cold or something like that, but I'm not moving from this couch."

Jake joined his father and snuggled against him. "Thanks for taking me to Loo Loo Land, daddy."

"I'd say 'anytime' if the park hadn't been reduced to ashes." Striker chuckled, eyes closed as he wrapped an arm around his son.

As Jake snuggled into his father's arm, he thought about what Millie had said back at Loo Loo Land about.. "Hey, dad?"

"Mmm?"

"Can I ask you something? "

"What?"

"Well…" Jake took a deep breath. "Do I have a mom? I mean, Millie has one, Moxie too, Blitzo… Even Stolas's daughter has a mom. I've never seen any pictures and you've never told me about her…"

Jake trailed off as he heard snoring. Dad had already fallen asleep. He must be really exhausted, Jake thought. I can ask him some other time. I'll let him rest for now.

…

Striker didn't open his eyes until he was certain that Jake had fallen asleep; then he carefully cradled his son in his arms and carried him upstairs all the way to his room. He carefully tucked Jake in as quietly as possible; Jake shifted a bit, but otherwise didn't look like he'd wake up anytime soon. Striker smiled as he stroked his son's hair.

It's not that he didn't want Jake to know about his mother. He wanted to tell his son about the wild-spirited, strong-willed woman that stole his heart. He really did. But he just couldn't find the words to explain what had happened to her. Just even remembering her was like adding lemon and salt to an open wound. Striker would tell Jake about his mother eventually, just not now.

The cowboy carefully placed the stuffed dragon he had grabbed from the shooting gallery in Jake's grasp, carefully leaning in to kiss the boy's head.

"Good night."

*HB*

Well, seems there's been a hint about Jake's mother. What do you think happened to her? I might go into details later on.

[mistyarcanabrightdawn]

A Marshmallow’s First Prom

Sparkler leans into the couch, a rear leg dangling lazily off the side as she flicked through a magazine in front of her. Twilight pokes her head into the room. "won't your date be here soon?" "Probably." Sparkler responds, glancing at her mother. "And this is a party, not a date." Twilight waited a beat for her to say more, but she didn't. "You don't seem...ready." she finally tells her daughter. "I'll get dressed up when she gets here, it's only noon." Sparkler says, brushing her off. Twilight goes to say something else, but the door suddenly comes to life with knocking, and twilight goes to answer it.

Huffing, Sekkachi finally stops sprinting to knock on the front door. She'd woken up late, having stayed up late eating junk and watching anime. She was slightly overweight, which made running distances harder - she never cared for exercise. 

Twilight Swings the door open, smiling brightly. She initially looks a bit too far up, and seems a bit surprised by how short Sekkachi is.  She shakes it off quickly enough though. "Hello, you must be Sekkachi!" Sparkler saunters to the door, straining to peek from behind her tree of a mother. "Hey Sek." Sekkachi blushes on seeing Sparkler. "H-hi. Don't call me your date, PLEASE..." She walks in.Sparkler raises an eyebrow. "I never called you my... you know what, sure." she says, rolling her eyes.

 "I overslept....sorry about that." She gets a sheepish look on her face. "Um. What now?" Her manes full of chips and chocolate from snacking all night, and more a mess than normal. "Apparently 'now' we need to get the food out of you mane, because I'll be damned if we're getting a tailoring done with your hair like that." Sparkler huffs, grabbing her by the hoof and leading her to their bathroom upstairs.

Sekkachi is slightly annoyed with how forceful Sparkler was. "a...tailor...what? What are we getting?" She shrugged, pouring a glob of shampoo into her mane and rinsing it with water, missing half of the food. "Dresses, hun. This is a somewhat formal event."  Sparkler tells her in a sarcastic tone. Sekkachi rolls her eyes a bit. "I thought it was a party. Not some royal wedding anniversary or something!" She joked. Sparkler continues. "And your mane is still all messy! You have crumbs in it, and it's all..." she trails of and squints, struggling for the right word. "Clumpy!" She finally settles on, flicking at a loose strand up front that intertwined itself with another."

Sekkachi snorts and brushes a hoof through her mane. Bits of chips came out. "Oops. Yeah, those are probably last week's chips..." "Last week? What, do you not bathe?" Sparkler snorts, smiling at her joke as she wipes more crumbs to the floor. They could be swept later. Sekkachi nodded. "Yeah. Just a big waste of time to me.” Sparkler finds herself with a smear of chocolate on her forleg as she brushes through Sek’s mane, though to her it was unidentified brown mark that she shrivels her nose at. “Oh, and that's just chocolate from a month ago. It's not...what you might be thinking.  Just month old chocolate. I fall asleep eating, okay?"

Sparkler stares at her, eye twitching. "Month old...that's not the improvement you think it is!" She exclaims, walking over to the bathtub and plugging it, water already starting to fill it. "We're not goin' to the one party in Ponyville that has an ounce of class being filthy. When's the last time you had a bath, anyway?" Knowing Sparkler wouldn't like it, she hesitated to answer. "Um...gosh. When I last saw my parents. So, two years ago?" She smiles sheepishly.

Sparkler stops in the middle of getting a variety of different, nice smelling soaps and washes. "How do you..." she begins, then shakes her head. "You know what? I really don't want to know. Let's just Get you clean so I can forget I heard that." A small shudder goes down her spine at the thought of all the build-up something like that would cause. Sek giggles a bit. "Alright." Her coat has the years of bits of food, blood, sweat, everything all caked and congealed under the long fur. Her mane is worse, adding a thick layer of dandruff to the mix. She steps into the bathtub, waiting. "lordy" Sparkler mutters, now wishing that she had taken her mother's advice and sprung to do this yesterday. 

She gazes over an assortment of body washes, finally plucking a blue bottle with her mouth, and begins to drizzle a generous helping onto Sek's back, muttering "Hold still" through the bottle.Secretly enjoying this, Sekkachi held still patiently without a fuss. "..Why IS it so important? Do I smell bad at all because of it? I know I can't tell..."

"Well, not really, surprisingly." Sparkler admits, working the soap through Sek's fur with her hooves "But going without cleaning isn't healthy! It's breedin’ ground for bacteria, and any wound is bound to get infected!" She explains to the mare, moving to get a sponge as she does so. "Plus, it has to be making you itchy. I can barely skip a day showering without feeling like I have bugs all over me." Sek shrugs. "Did at first. Guess I got so used to it I was desensitized. I just prefer to lay in bed, eat junk food, and watch anime or play games. What do you do in your spare time? I also find going outside pointless...just like exercise. Time wasted!"

"Well, I do a lot of farm work. Not the best activity, but it builds muscle." she admits, pausing to flex a rear leg, proving her point. Sparkler has some kick to her. "When I'm not doing that, I'm mostly hanging out with friends. I guess I read sometimes."

Sek replies, "Farm work? Sounds boring...wouldn't you rather skip that and chill with your friends then? It sounds hard…” "Well, yeah. I do that all the time." Sparkler snorts. "Point is, When you work out, you get ripped. And exercise highs." She explains, dumping a generous amount of hair shampoo into her hooves. “Am I done being cleaned?” Sekkachi mutters. "No. I haven't even started on this hair!" Sparkler says, before suddenly scrubbing it into her scalp. 

After a pause, the pink mare asks "Did your parents not tell you it's not healthy to be so...sedentary? Or that you should keep clean?" Sekkachi shakes her head. "Well, yeah. They were pretty strict..." She hesitates, debating whether to continue. "..which is why I ran away and bought my own place." She gives a quiet moan of satisfaction from feeling Sparkler's hooves in her mane.

Sparkler makes a small face of concern from behind Sek, having moved onto attempting to separate the tangled up mess of hair before her. "How'd you get the money for that?" Sekkachi again hesitates. "Well..I  stole my dad's wallet." Her voice goes to a whisper. "Oh..I didn't realize it would feel so good to get cleaned." Sparkler's mouth makes a thin line, but she doesn't say anything. She finally finishes the bath itself with taking a cup and pouring some of the water over Sekkachi, rinsing the mare. "Alright, I think we just need to brush the mane out a bit. Then we can go to aunt Rarity's."

Sekkachi nods. "Alright." She sits still further. She's surprised Sparkler didn't immediately reprimand her. "I guess, after that we put dresses on and go?" The brush goes through the knots, pulling the hair a bit as it did.  Sek only cringes slightly at the tug. "Sorry" Sparkler mumbles. "Rarity told me she had the dresses almost ready, she just needs a few more measurements form you. Then we'll go."

Sekkachi nods. "Okay then!" She smiles, then gets a bit more serious. "Can I ask...what was your..uh, reason for picking me of all ponies?" Sparkler doesn't look at Sekkachi right way, instead focusing on the little tangles. "Well, I..." she coughs, shifting on her hooves. "I just thought... I mean, you seemed available." She mutters, suddenly putting the brush away. "C'mon then, let's go." She giggles hearing the stutters. "Makes sense. Alright!" She stands too fast, falling flat on her face. "Im fine. Landed on a towel. I'll follow, because...yeah."

Sparkler giggles back, leading her downstairs. Twilight's eyes widen at them. "You're still here?" she asks, a bit indignantly. Her daughter shrugs. "We still have time." She replies,  leaving her mother to  just shake  her head at her. Sparkler trots through town, turning down sideroads and allies with the confidence of someone who'd walked a path a million times. Mostly because she had. Sekkachi is slightly uncomfortable, following Sparkler. "...aren't these allies dangerous?!" She looks side to side and behind her to make sure they weren't followed. "Not in Ponyville. I've never had problems, anyway."  Her date shrugs. As they exit the ally, the boutique comes into view.

"Will she be able to dress me? I'm a bi on the..big side." Sparkler Stifles a laugh at the dumb pun. "I've lost bets on whether Aunt Rarity could dress a pony and make them look good,  she can handle a bit of chub." Sekkachi loosens up, then straightens her posture. "..how formally do I speak? Fashion ponies are..usually strictly formal, right? At least the ones I've met.."

Sparkler looks at her for a beat, then busts up. "I mean, Rarity complains about ponies dragging mud in enough, but Ponyville's not exactly the epicenter of formalities!" she says, still giggling to herself. "You're fine hun. I could pull out my really thick farm accent, and she wouldn't care." Sekkachi nods, smiling, and silently follows her into the boutique.

A bell softly rings out as the door opens, and instantly the clicking of hooves could be heard along it. Rarity comes into view, her smile looking a touch strained. "Sparkler, you're a touch late dear." She tells them through gritted teeth. "Sorry Aunt Rarity, I got held up." Sparkler shrugs. The unicorn sighs, then looks to Sekkachi with a small smile. "You must be the date. I'm Rarity." Sekkachi nods. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Sekkachi Orichalcos." She brustles her mane a bit.  "So you're the tailor in Ponyville, right? Also..I thought the Elements of Harmony were unrelated?"

Rarity smiles. "ah, that's just what Sparkler calls me. The elements are quite close, as you can imagine, so we all ended up being unofficial "aunts" to each other's kids."  She explains with a small shrug, then levitates a some measuring tape over to Sekkachi. "I just need some dress measurement really quick, if you don't mind dear." she hums, glancing at Sparkler. "Sparkler, your dress is already done, it's in my workroom.  Could you go try it on?"  Sparkler nods and strolls up the stairs.

Sekkachi nods. "Okay!" She steadies herself, stays still, and allows the unicorn mare to measure her. "I hope to Tartarus I don't spill anything tonight.." She says, seeing how well made and well looking the dresses were. Rarity hums as she takes measurements, floating a little notepad to write numbers it. "The material I'm using for your dress should be fairly washable, but do be careful with it." she replies, wincing at the thought.

Sekkachi nods. "Does this kind of job ever get exhausting? Seems like it could..really destroy your brain if you do too much in one day." "I find that the creative outlet makes up for it, And I do takes breaks from it!" she explains.

Sekkachi nods. She stays still for a moment, then takes out her small, portable radio and lets the loud anime theme songs blast. Her ears go flat and she cringes as the Music goes on blast. "I'm going to...finish those stitches now." The unicorn says quickly, trotting off. "Sekkachi, what the 'ell is that?" Sparkler's voice suddenly calls from the stairs.

Sekkachi yells back "It's anime music!" She starts to sing along. "I'm waiting for Miss Rarity to finish the dress!" "It's LOUD." Sparkler snorts, her hoof steps coming down the stairs. She rounds into the room, in a layered dress the same blue as her eyes with a silver belt.

Sekkachi laughs. "So?! I do this every night, may as well while I wait!" Her voice gets louder than the music itself. "Oh, is that why you were late?" Sparkler asks sarcastically. "What's this from, anyway? Sekkachi nods, not hearing the sarcasm. "Well, these songs are from Fairy Tail! Not...that kind of Tail."

Sparkler's about to say something, but Rarity trots back it with a "Done!", interrupting her. A long, green dress with pale highlights and a red sash is floating in her magic. "Try this on, will you?" Sekkachi forgets her music is on and takes it into the changing room. She carefully puts it on, only getting some dust on the very front of it. "Its..great!" She marvels, walking out. "I love it, thanks!"

Rarity smiles with pride. "I'm so glad, dear. I'm gonna wave the cost as a favor to Sparkler, So you're all set!" She says with a little nod. Sparkler glances at the clock, then chokes a bit. "It's already 6!? We need to go!" She yells, grabbing onto sekkachi. "Thank you again for the dresses, Rarity!" She says, nudging her date out the door.

Sekkachi nods, "Thank you Miss!" She runs out blindly. "Oh. Right. Lead the way, I sure as Tartarus don't know it..." "Well, from here we can just follow the crowd." Sparkler shrugs, pointing at the small line-turned-moshpit of young ponies trying to funnel into the ponyville castle. The crowd seemed surprisingly careful not to step on everyponies dresses, but was still rather cramped.

Sekkachi looks around. "Okay. So...um. Prom is like a dancing thing right? Or is it more than that? I never heard of it, it just sounded fun..." "I think so, this is actually my first time." Sparkler admits, scanning the crowd. "I think you mostly dance. And talk, I guess."

Sekkachi nods briskly. "Got it! RACE YA!" She dashes ahead. She normally hated running, but she knew Sparkler must like it and wanted to entertain her. Sparkler grins and sprints, almost immediately pulling ahead with her stronger, longer legs. Some of the other ponies giggled and "awwed" watching them give chase with one another.

Sekkachi nearly trips, but another mare catches her. She runs to catch up, but loses Sparkler in the crowd. "Hey! Can you stop? I can't...pant...run anymore.." Her head is moist from sweat already, she had to sit and breath for a moment.

It takes a few moments, but sparkler's head pops above the crowd for a second, looking for her lost date. Another minute, and she pops up again, this time a little closer. "Sekkachi?" she calls, before she descends back into the sea of other ponies. Sekkachi curses, her height being a hindrance here. She wanders, not realizing she's going backwards. "Um..Sparkler? Can you yell?!"

Sparkler pushes herself up again, and with a small jump she pokes through the crowd. "SEKKACHI, OVER HERE!" She calls, catching a small glimpse of her cotton-candy hair. She lands with a grunt, and pushes towards the rough direction of her date. Sekkachi hears the yell, turning face and walking through towards Sparkler until she sees her. "Phew! My fault. Sorry, Sparkler."

Sparkler gives a nervous chuckle as she trots to Sekkachi. " let's try to stay together, at least until we get inside." she teases. They were a bit further back in the line now, but it was at least moving.Sekkachi nods. She blushes, and her inner alarms blare, but she gives Sparkler a short hug before they push through. "Wow, it's a pretty popular event!" She remarks. 

Sekkachi’s eyes gleam when she hears anime music coming from the building. "YAAS! Woo!" "Oh boy. Where's that coming from?" Sparkler laughs, her ears flicking about to catch it. She gives a dramatic fake huff. "Somepony will be getting a strongly worded letter about such music choices!" Sekkachi laughs along. The music blasts even more as they inch closer to the castle. "Well...I can't say I'd write that letter!" She recognizes the next song and begins singing. "...is my singing bad? Sorry." She stops suddenly. Sparkler smiles at her date. "naw, hun. You sing fine." she tells her, ruffling her mane. "Nothing wrong with showing your love, anyway." 

The event is open-door, you could even see pegasi couples simply fly onto the balconies above to avoid the crowds at the door. Once the pair squish through the doorway, the castle itself became far more open as ponies wandered into different halls. Sekkachi stares in wonder. "It's huge...I...where do we go? I feel lost already!" She took the splendor of the castle in, tuning out for a moment.

"well, I know there's a lounge area over this way." Sparkler hums, pointing to an arc on the left. "Has some nice couches. And probably food." Sekkachi nods. "Let's go!" She walks over to the lounge, which, indeed, has some comfortable-looking couches and tables upon tables of food. "Oof. I'm overeating TONIGHT..." she mutters.

"No getting it in your hair!" Sparkler teases, playfully wiggling a hoof at her. She gets herself her own plate, mostly pastries and some fruit. A lush chocolate fountain sits in the middle of one of the tables, which sparkler pokes a strawberry into.

Sek's eyes draw to the chocolate, but she goes for the savory foods first, overloading her plate to the point she needed a tray as food spilled over. Finding a free couch with a table, she set the mound down. "Want any? My first serving, I can share.." Sparkler shrugs, munching on her own sweets she's piled up on. "If I want some, I'll get some." She tells her. "Mom'll have a fit if I only eat sugar, though. I'll have a sandwich later."

Sekkachi digs in, not noticing she's eating messily. She does take care not to sully her dress, but she constantly gets crumbs around her mouth. In a space of 20 minutes, she's finished. "Oof...I'm full. Time for dessert!" Sparkler is still chewing on her own pastries, giggling. "Can you fit dessert? Because I'd be impressed." She chuckles, reaching for the sandwich she's promised to eat.

Sekkachi nods. "Oh yeah. Maybe, I'll go for seconds.." However, she already finds getting off the couch to be a challenge as she takes one of every dessert, while Sparkler takes a few more treats for herself. The lounge is beginning to fill up, which isn't surprising given the vicinity to the entrance.

Sekkachi eats her food quickly, then sits. She moaned, "Told you I'd overeat...You done eating too?" She's eaten enough to be bloated. "Mind helping me onto the couch? It's higher than my bed.."Sparkler nudges Sekkachi with a shoulder, pushing her up on the cushion. "I'd offer to find us somewhere you can be bloated in privacy, but I don't know if you're in a state to travel." She tells her, climbing into a spot next to her.

Sekkachi giggles. "I can walk, I just can't pull myself up. Where would you suggest we go? I'd rather not be in the public eye too long like this." "Well, I'm guessing there won't be ponies in the bedrooms. I mean, not an unlocked bedroom." Sparkler snickers. "Besides that, I'm sure there's some random room around here that's empty."

Sekkachi giggles and walks with her slowly, spotting an empty bedroom. 'Here!" She walks inside, pushing up onto the short bed. "So...whatcha want to do now?" She motions for Sparkler to shut the door. It shuts with a light click, and sparkler snuggles next to her date on the bed. "I don't know, this beds pretty comfy though." Sekkachi nods and rests her head on a pillow. Losing track of time, she quickly falls asleep, snoring softly. Sparkler Rests her head on top of the smaller mare, smiling to herself as she too begins to drift off.

(Written with @asksparklingcider)

[anunconnectedmarketeer]

Leo Greatfang

He came to laugh at you.

I’m really nostalgic for MMOs. To the point where I never want to touch one ever again, for the experience will cause the romanticized nostalgia to evaporate. Before the announcement of Warcraft classic I wanted to make a MMO isekai with a Leeroy Jenkins Expy and an undead frost chicken, and while that has not changed, looking at the Warcraft Classic community min-maxing the game minimizes the magic. One cannot capture the sense of discovery of the old days, so even though nothing has changed, the way one experiences it sure does. I still have an old printout subsection of my dad’s old - paid - leveling guide, something no one needs in the Modern Classic.

In a similar vein, I love gunpla - at least pretending that I know what I’m doing with it. I dyed a white kit koolaid red because I wanted to be lazy and experimental with panel lining. And while I want to project that idealism onto a fake Gundam Build Fighters character... I can’t get hype with that character going to an arena and likely having to face - and lose to - children. If it’s a video game where I can’t see their face? Sure, I’ll take some lunch money. Even though Gundam Build Divers is admittedly the lesser of the two series, and basically junk food anime, let’s make (another) virtual representation of the sel-

Damn, I’m 2-for-2 on fursonas on this blog.

Leo Greatfang is a player of Gundam Battle Nexus Online. His avatar is a white maned lion with a jacket and sunglasses. He pilots grunt suits and is at his best with generic weapons like beam sabers.

These are the fundamentals. I’ve basically been writing stories in my head while daydreaming, and honestly due to this, this character with no planned story thus became a bit bloated. In my latest daydream I split off his love of character based suits, conflated it with my love of Gundam’s female pilots, and made a separate character - whose arc might be that they transitioned, a minority in their old force caused a stir about it, that minority was ostracized, then that minority spread rumors that made them out to be a “playboy” that split the force, putting the onus of fracturing the force on that individual player instead of themselves - but I don’t think I’m quite qualified to write that. And I’d probably want to pretend guild toxicity didn’t happen in my romanticized fake reality.

Also, this a toy commercial OC I use to daydream during working hours.

So, who is he when I refine his character? Well, he takes the Newtype (as weapon) mentality and turns it on its head - instead of reading emotions he plays in a fashion that inspires emotions in his opponents, making them excruciatingly easy to read and counter. Yep, he’s a that guy. Him being an American playing on Asia servers helps with this, as his ping is enormous. However, relatively speaking, he is mechanically unskilled, and doesn’t use much beyond the basics. This means opponents he can bait are too easily bested, while opponents he can’t bait basically curbstomp him. His main desire in Gundam Battling is to convey emotions that transcends a language barrier through long and drawn out beam saber clashes. 

His Custom Mobile Suit is the Tallg00se. It’s still in the classic white, but both the Dober Gun and Shield have regional designations, as if to taunt those who miss solely due to lag, or to drive the point home when shrugging off being called out for being annoying due to a language barrier. It’s also a misnomer, while the twin hyper verniers were replaced with two GN drives, the chassis hosts a third reactor. While only two - at most - drives are active at a time, the GN drives that replaced the verniers can detach and act as hunter/killer support units. “To avoid copyright claims, I’m just going to call these things America Drones!” Basically stealing Red Alert 2′s terror drone design, making it fly, and disguising self depreciating political commentary as copyright avoidance. 

Unlike funnels, which normally attack from blind spots, Leo’s strategy is to let one of the support units fly directly at a mobile suit’s camera, and then follow up on the ensuing panic. These little buggers are made to penetrate a mobile suits hull and tear internal components to shreds - including the pilot. He’s also fond of leaking the fact that, like in Red Alert 2, an easy way to destroy them is to destroy the mech they’re tearing apart with conventional weapons - friendly fire included. 

In-universe, he shrugs off most criticism of going too far under the claim of satire by pointing to the in-universe cape wearing superhero that drops Axis as a “joke attack.” For me, myself, I’m not 100% sure I’m okay with this, aha.

The only other weapon was fashioned from an old screw to replace a missing hand - Leo’s name sake. It’s kept strapped to the back as a good luck charm on every gunpla sans Leo’s first, and when equipped is a unweildy melee weapon that replaces a hand and screws up the weight distribution, even though a beam saber is usually all you need. But, since it’s still a full metal part, its power is unmatched. And, utilizing the unbalanced nature of the mobile suit, maneuverability can be enchanced by “throwing one’s weight around.” And since people are used to the hum of beam sabers, and not the chaos of a mech sized drill, it can lead to people dropping the ball where it really counts. I also like big melee weapons.

To replace the phenomenon of Quantization, the Tallg00se uses a ZERO system supported Chrono-stutter. While active, the outcome of any action - normally judged impartially by the server - is weighted in Leo’s favor. If you’ve ever played Team Fortress 2, you likely know of ‘missing’ headshots while blood splatter is clearly shown, or have been backstabbed while the culprit is clearly in your field of view. A fun result in differences between what you see and what the server sees. However, the strategy used by the system that determines outcomes is also biased by Leo’s favor. While he claims - even to himself - that Chrono-stutter is used to minimize the amount of ‘battles with no worth due to ping differences,’ the system works simply by choosing the outcome that prolongs the battle, meaning neither party can land a decisive blow, and struggles between the two will go back and forth instead of either being able to fully press the advantage. 

I’ve also thought up things I have terrible names for - “Timeline Divergence/Convergence,” where instead of Quantization the mech would split into ZERO system controlled bodies of GN particles, fighting as individual variations with styles based on Leo’s old battle data, but eventually converging back, as Leo only ever finishes a fight with a melee thrust - call it drama or a tell. There’s also the “rhythm emotion” system, that would force Leo and his target to compete while adhering to rhythm game rules...

Which has led me to the worst part of this OC, introspection. Despite putting up this wall of text, I haven’t been able to completely convey all of my day dreams, esoteric as they may be. But this is the part that fucking sucls. These systems, his playstyles, all focus on giving everything he’s got so he can have a “fair battle between two evenly matched pilots,” but with Chrono-stutter and Rhythm Emotion most especially, he’s forcing it upon others. Like Zech’s ideals regarding war, or Graham forcing his distorted ego upon others, he tends to force his hypocritical fairness upon others. And when it comes to the online games I both romanticize and play... so do I. 

On a lighter fucking note, I’m now realizing that my 3 of my latest TRPG characters have been controller styled characters - the last of which playing one of 2 explicit Controllers in LANCER.

Haha, I have a type.