#vel/virl

[neopronouns-in-action]

Neopronouns in Action #059: Raining Birds and Foxes

Replace it with bek or vel Replace its with birk or virl Replace itself with biakcu or vialcu

EX:

"It is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as it gets a fence set up around its yard so the puppy can go outside without it having to walk it. Its uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting it use, since it lost its. It's going to buy toys and train the puppy itself."

Becomes:

"Bek is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as bek gets a fence set up around birk yard so the puppy can go outside without bek having to walk it. Birk uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting bek use, since bek lost birk. Bek's going to buy toys and train the puppy biakcu."

And

"Vel is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as vel gets a fence set up around virl yard so the puppy can go outside without vel having to walk it. Virl uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting vel use, since vel lost virl. Vel's going to buy toys and train the puppy vialcu."

= = =

This time, when someone gets a hijacked-satelite video of a battle on one of Foxfire and Raventide’s ‘bad days’, it’s not just a quick, two-second clip. It’s the whole thing. The whole fight, from start to finish.

Every minute, every second, every word.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why the Cybernetic heroes of Earth are having difficulty stemming the tide of debris.

Foxfire is the only one fighting to stop it.

And Raventide is–

“No, that can’t be right,” people will say, later as they watch the video, concerned, “Vel must have been hurt! Bek was protecting vel!”

Because Raventide is sitting. Vel’s sitting on the wing of the old, broken Trailblazer XIV, tripple criss-cross-applesauce, propping virl chin up with virl four hands, virl elbows on virl many knees. Jet packs cooled, wings folded nearly on virl back. Virl protective helmet folded back into virl collar.

Vel’s sitting, calmly, watching Foxfire fight the enemy's weapons. And–

“But…” Other people will say later, as they watch the video, confused, “But the Tracers didn't have access to mind control technology yet during that fight.”

Because Raventide is smiling.

And then Foxfire fends off another wave of the storm, and– ”Look!” people will say, later, as they watch the video, awed, “Bek doesn’t miss a beat! How does bek move that fast? Bek's so cool!”

Because Foxfire is between the storm of debris and Raventide, and bek’s shielding not only biakcu, but vel as well. Bek’s dodging or blocking any and all of the shrapnel and meteors, never stopping for a moment, never getting hit, never letting birk guard down for a second, and never letting a stray piece come anywhere near Raventide.

And then, and it’s here that the illict viewers will fall silent–

Foxfire calls over birk shoulder, “Raventide, I could really use–” Bek has to block a larger than normal meteor with birk force-shield mid-sentence, “–a little help here!”

And—

“What?” People will say later, as they watch the video, dumbfounded, “What–”

Because Raventide responds, not moving an inch from where vel’s seated: “I think you’ve got it covered, my darling ember.”

There’s a smile on virl face, but virl electronic voice is mean, meaner than anyone has ever heard it. Vel’s never even spoken to an enemy like this before, not even after they'd kidnapped virl creator.

“After all, since you didn't come to my quarters last night, I’m sure you got plenty of rest. You can handle this by yourself, you didn’t spend hours setting up a romantic evening like I did, which–oh wait, you wouldn’t know about that, would you? Oh, that’s right, because you didn’t show up!” Virl voice rises to a harsh electronic screech and says something more after the last part, but the words have risen above levels the camera is able to process, turning it into nothing but a burst of sharp, too-loud static.

“I told you I wasn’t going!” Foxfire cries back desperately in return, as bek dodges away from an entire abandoned shuttle, and–

“Is bek…is bek crying?” people will say later, as they watch the video, horrified.

Because yes, yes Foxfire is crying. Bek's crying as bek's fighting, as bek’s–what is bek doing? Defending biakcu from Raventide?

No one watching had even known it was possible for Cybers to cry until this moment. But that's what was happening, there was no other explanation for it. Foxfire's protective faceplate had been broken on the last 'bad day', leaving birk face, mostly black metal, exposed to the camera, and the prying eyes of the audience bek didn't know bek had.

Birk eyes were not human, but tears of glowing, searing yellow were streaming from them and floating off into space, creating a trail that followed birk every move as bek continued to dodge and roll and blast out, singlehandedly protecting the Earth below birk from the deadly rain sent by the enemy.

Birk voice, transmitted through the communications device hardwired into the camera, picks up birk voice with clarity, even as bek gets further and further away from the spying satelite in birk efforts to destroy the incoming debris.

Everyone watching can hear clearly as bek says: “I told you I wasn’t going to go! I told you I didn’t want to go with you! I told you I just want to be friends! I told you I just–” bek blocks another meteor with birk arm guard, and this time everyone watching can see the way bek's movements falter from their sure, swift movements, the way bek’s losing focus, the way bek just barely managed to not get knocked back. “I just want to be friends! Please, Raventide, I need your help!”

The next meteor to strike bek hits bek right in the face with shocking forcing, sends bek spinning rapidly head over heels, birk cry of pain loud in the comm unit's speakers, birk rocket sputtering as bek tries to right biakcu and stop the out of control spin, even as more shrapnel, now no longer impeded by birk shield, begins to pelt bek.

Welts, dents, and cracks begin appearing in birk protective armour, the sound almost like rain against a metal roof.

And Raventide?

No one can believe what they’re seeing.

Because Raventide? Vel just stays where vel is, now leaning back on virl arms, casual as can be. Like there isn’t a massive cloud of debris raining down on the unprotected Earth right in front of vel. Like Foxfire isn’t fighting for birk life and now seriously injured, and sustaining more damage with every moment of the uncontrolled spin that passes. Like none of it matters. Like vel doesn’t care.

Foxfire manages to speak, birk stabilizers finally firing, slowing the deadly spin and allowing bek to get birk force-shield raised again, but flickering weakly. Bek calls desperately, “Please, Raventide, I can’t do this on my own!” The pain bek is in is clearly in birk voice, the damage to birk armour and the sensitive sytems in birk head making birk voice come out distorted and glitching, now joined by a constant, high, steady beep of alarm. “Please! Help me!”

Bek’s not meant to be fighting on birk own. They were built to fight together, as a pair, each covering the other's weak spots.

And Raventide, vel just smiles, expression plain as day without virl visor, glowing blue teeth bared against the light metal of virl face, and–

”No,” someone will say later, staring at the video, “That’s not a smile that’s–that’s a snarl.”

And vel tells Foxfire that vel isn't going to help bek protect the Earth until bek apologizes for not going on a date with vel.

Later that same day, when the storm ended and the two returned to the Earth's surface for repairs, Raventide told a grand story of virl bravery and heroism in protecting Foxfire when a clumsy, distracted move got bek hit and sent out of control. Vel awes the crowd of reporters with a story spun from nothing but lies, while Foxfire, severely damaged, but still not too damaged to speak, remains uncharacteristically silent in the background, letting Raventide have the stage.

Four months passed before the video recorded that day could be recovered, giving, to a few dozen people of Earth, their first idea that something was going seriously wrong with the cybernetic heros they idolized.

It wasn't the first warning they received, but it was the first one that hit home. And it wouldn't be the last.

[neopronouns-in-action]

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Neopronouns written for so far, in chronological order:

ze/hir (The Mirrored Dream)

ve/vir (A Different Perspective)

card/cards (Werewolves)

it/its (The Interworld Growing Club)

ae/aer (Reclamation)

lu/luna (I Fucking Hate Athiktomisics)

de/dim (Creature of Kindness)

zey/zem, X/Xself, and ne/rix (The Chain of Command)

sy/rup (Inconvenience)

mae/mer (Thunderstorm in the Apocalypse) +

te/ter (The First Decision)

ith/kir (Rueful Snowstorm)

kit/kitten (Isn't That Confusing? Not Really)

ivy/ivys (Dream Call)

cy/cyb (Indispensable)

aix/arix (Birdwatching, Plantwatching)

deq/dir (Convenient Distractions from Awkward Conversations)

ae/ryn (Vacations and Kidnappings)

ze/zem (Preparations for Change)

ni/nir (The Voyage to Arcturus part 1)

izi/av (Alterhuman Advancements: November 2122)

ky/shal (Tutorial Sword)

shey/shem (The Wild Dragon)

an/droid (The Universe Likes You)

che/chim, xi/xir, thi/hil (Race to the Top)

xe/xim, ze/zim, li/lia (The Great Machine)

neo/neos (Crash Landing on Earth)

ne/rix (You Learn Something New Everyday)

heart/hearts ("Blurry Shape at Corner of Eye")

clo/loc, ri/riv (Boundaries are Made to be Respected, a short, touch-averse Horror story)

vey/vem (Alterhuman Advancements: December 2122)

su/uvu (Real Heroes Kill Cops)

xiy/rik (Customer Service)

hea/ler (Executive Execution)

fe/ir (A Friendly Encounter in the Woods)

they/them (Into Thin Air)

ve/vei (Don't Stop to Pay)

ivo/na (Kill the Hand That Threatens You)

sie/sir (You Are What Eats You)

meh/uto (Interspecies Solidarity)

an/dro (Opportunistic Hunting)

xe/xir (Character Creation)

li/lia (When in Doubt, Leave Gifts)

fae/faer (Mutiny or Malfunction)

rhe/rhek (Viva La Revolution)

hero/heros (046)

ama/ranth, ki/kir, fir/nix (The Perfect Creation)

mie/mym, vi/vir (The First Sign)

nae/nym (An Inconvenient Haunting)

ghoul/ghouls (A Wasted chance)

051: de/ad (Neither Nor) 052: ser/sera (The New Bridge) 053: pearl/pearls (The Cycle of Lives) 054: qua/tre (Emigrare) 055: joker/jokers (Universal Translator Mistranslation) 056: cat/cats (Thrown for a Loop) 057: hy/hym (Back to a New Beginning) 058: ay/li (The Proper Reaction) 059: bek/birk, vel/virl, (Raining Birds and Foxes) 060: ze/zer (Perfectly Normal) 061: ne/nim (Every Moment, and the One That Came Before) 062: da/dar (Flatland Warriors: Ponder the Meaning of the Words, or, The Breaking Point) 063: ne/nim (Not In The Loop) 064: he'er/him'mer (Living Smoke) 065: wy/vyr (A Glimpse Back in Time) 066: skull/skulls (Dirt Nap) 067 shy/hyr (The Arrest of Arsène Lupin) 068 et/eil (Game Changer) 069 zo/zol (First Day of School) 070 drae/drem (The Overcoat of Arsène Lupin) 071 rhe/rhem (Rhayn's Descent) 072 sun/suns, lae/laer (A Rumor Grows Like Weed) 073 ero/ilas, hea/ler, ido/eis, zal/az, ae/ryn, sia/lia (With a Smile) 074 zig/zag, that one/that one's, ae/aeth (The Hitchhiker) 075 shade/shades, alternating she/her and he/him (The Crystal Connection) 076 fin/fins, ai/ain (The Port Freehaven Mermaids) 077 rat/rats (Jenny Every...Who?) 078 kal/vir (Guardian Star) 079 rhi/rhim (The Theft of the Synphirim) 080 zim/zur (Knowing When to Run) 081: zim/zur (The Well of the Depths) 082: xal/xalv, nova/novas, they/them (Mickey Mouse in Out of the Dreadful Depths) 083: grey/greys/greyself (Alterhuman Advancements April 2124) 084: she/shim, faal/fala, zae/zaen, dae/daes (The Griffon's Curse)

= = =

Audiobook versions so far:

Done: 3/62 (1-2 and 062)

"https://archive.org/details/neopronouns-in-action/Neopronouns+in+Action+001+01.mp3"

= = =

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Update December 23rd 2023: alright, you can submit fanfiction that uses neopronouns to this blog as long as you aren't changing the pronouns of character who canonically use other neopronouns, and aren't shipping anything harmful.

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