urbaneagle-writes

[urbaneagle-writes]

I’ve noticed an increased amount of people who have been using their mental state as excuses to be absolute terrible people. Even to guilt the people who want to step away from the toxic environment the individual created.

Individuals who use their mental illness when their friends have helped them countless time do not want the help or advice from others who have similar illnesses. But they have no restraints to guilt another if something doesn’t go their way.

Want an example?

It’s no secret that I have clinical depression and terrible anxiety that is a billion times worse in large crowded spaces. But I am not going to use that to manipulate you.

An old rp partner of mine, however. And boy what a wonderful time when it happened. I never made a post about it really til now out of some respect. Our rp was fun and I did enjoy it. However, my attention was drawn elsewhere… which they didn’t like.

For those who know me, from January 10th (my birthday) to October 31st of 2018 was a long…. long ten months. My family member was diagnosed with stage three brain cancerous tumor. She had three surgeries but towards then end we had to put her in a nursing home because we saddly didn’t have the resources to properly take care of her.

During this time not one but two rp partners who did not like when my attention was divided. One wanted use to play and rp together all the time. That all my attention should be to them. At first I was blind to it til a friend I’ve know for years mentioned something. It clicked since. And even then they would constantly start fights, delete posts and remarks on discord, make post here on tumblr, anything to use their mental state against me. All while my family member was dying. I ended up quietly parting ways with this person not even two months before my family member passed.

The second was similar in so many ways but way more aggressive and I parted ways a few months prior the individual above.

Both encounters, they both used their mental illnesses as a tool to make me feel terrible. While playing in my own selfish need to try and help people regardless of my state of mind. It became so bad that I just didn’t want to rp anymore. I didn’t want to play Final Fantasy XIV or and MMO anymore.

When someone is knowingly using their state of illness against you, then it may be time to step back before you too become hurt further. Because sometimes they really do not care about what YOU are going through.

[urbaneagle-writes]

I feel like people need to be reminded that characters don’t have to be friends. They don’t have to get along. Even if they’re working in the same circles or same job, they aren’t required to be best friends and get along on something more than a professional level. Even then, the latter isn’t a requirement either.

Some characters don’t get along. Some characters don’t make friends easy. Some prefer to keep business associates just that and not get personal feelings wrapped in the mix. 

THAT’S OKAY.

What’s not okay is trying to force the issue. What’s not okay is getting upset OOCly because not everyone is huggy, lovey, singing Cumbaya.

Some characters are pushy, and that’s acceptable. They really want to get people to open up or be friends with everyone.

But you as a writer have a responsibility to know when to stop. Some people get uncomfortable OOCly when you force those kinds of interactions. Some people just don’t want certain things about their characters to be known unless certain conditions are met.

On an IC level, characters may not react well to being poked and prodded and feeling like they’re being FORCED into revealing intimate parts of themselves, or to be friends with people they just can’t reconcile with. THIS IS OKAY. Again, not all characters are going to get along and forcing the issue IC may not end well.

The important thing to remember, is that just because there is conflict IC, does not mean there is conflict OOC. So long as boundaries are respected and you don’t try to force a situation that isn’t wanted.

TL;DR: Some characters don’t get along. Make sure when dealing with it in RP, you’re respecting the other player’s boundaries.

Just like in real life, we can’t all be friends. As a writer, know when your character has pushed too far and expect IC consequences if they keep pushing. Don’t take IC conflict as OOC conflict.

[urbaneagle-writes]

Roleplaying Etiquette: God Characters

[[Listen, y’all.  Ziya-mun here to bring a roleplaying etiquette lesson out to all you fine young cats and kittens in the audience, very specifically in regards to god or god-like characters.  For reference, I have 10+ years of roleplaying experience, both in forums and out, and have played my fair share of god characters before ol’ Ziya here.

It boils down to two very big, very basic roleplaying no-no’s.  God-mod(d)ing and powerplay.

God-mod(d)ing is where you imbue your characters with invincibility and powers that cannot be matched by other, more regularly endowed characters for the sake of constantly having the upper hand, and very often is not discussed with other muns before interaction.  This, too, encompasses such things as controlling another person’s character and acting upon another’s character without their consent or prior knowledge.

Powerplay goes hand-in-hand with the above, where one embues their characters with more strength/powers/etc than anyone else to make sure they can never be beaten.

With god characters, these things tend to be a give-in.  Gods are, by nature, invincible, immortal, almighty beings.  And that makes them

Absolutely No Fun To Play With.

Nobody wants to play second fiddle to someone else all the time.  Nobody wants to know they are utterly, completely outclassed all the time.  What fun is that for the other mun?

That is why the key to roleplaying a god or god-like character in public is to remember a few simple rules:

Never take actions on another character without their explicit consent.

(In fact, it is polite to approach the mun and ask for an rp first anyhow.  Not every mun is cool with a drive-by roleplay.)

When interacting with someone new, or entering a scene where one’s powers will be utilized, always run the character’s powers by the other rper.  You can have a few hard ‘must always have/uses’ but the others should be negotiable, and if the other mun expresses discomfort in you utilizing these powers, either opt out of using them for the roleplay/with that person, or do not engage in a roleplay.

ALSO it is a very good idea to have a list of your character’s powers readily available either on your blog or someplace you can easily copypaste it to your partners.

It is generally also polite to play a powered-down version of that character publicly.  That way, all new rpers will have a chance to approach without you instantly turning on the high-beams and reading their souls, or whatever the trend is these days.

There are sites easily google-able that contain full, very thorough lists of roleplaying etiquette that all roleplayers SIMPLY MUST read before engaging with others, but I do hope this helps those playing god-characters for the first (or third) time understand how to do so that is both fun for everyone and doesn’t make you look like a god-moding walnut.

Cheers! xoxo]]

[urbaneagle-writes]

Rule #1

The first thing you should all know is that I’m not the best at roleplaying and I have a long way to go before I get there. I’ve created this blog solely to help people understand what they should and shouldn’t do when they roleplay. I was actually inspired by a certain blog that could also be extremely helpful to those who want to know the major don'ts of roleplay.

Rule number one: treat it delicately.

A person’s character is very important to them no matter how silly that sounds. You should never just assume that doing something you haven’t warned them about is okay (unless they tell you beforehand that they don’t mind). This can range from injuring their character to smutting with them. You want your partner to have just as much fun as you do and that’s not going to happen if one of you makes things uncomfortable.

I’m not telling you to ask them if every single thing you post is alright; common interaction and maybe spicing it up just a little should be perfectly fine. There’s no reason to freak out if your character, say, touches their character’s shoulder. They can shrug it off or let it be - no big deal. But if you want to smash their character’s face in with a hammer, make sure you let them know what you’re planning.

[urbaneagle-writes]

What is GODMODDING?

Synonyms: powerplaying

Godmodding is taking control of another player’s character during roleplay. It’s frowned upon and with good reason: you only control your character and no one else’s. The best way to explain it is by example. Let’s say that I’m playing as Pikachu and my friend is playing as Charmander.

This is my friend’s post: Charmander inhaled deeply, summoning as much power as he could handle. Then his wild gaze focused on his attacker and his jaws opened. Bright orange flames burst forth as both a warning and defense.

And this is mine: Pikachu jumped out of the way of Charmander’s attack and dashed behind him. “Pikaaa!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Charmander’s back and knocked him forward, twitching and dazed. He couldn’t get up.

How do I know whether or not Charmander could get up, or whether he fell at all? It’s not my responsibility to control Charmander - I only have control of Pikachu’s actions. A better response would have been this:

Pikachu jumped out of the way of Charmander’s attack and dashed behind him. “Pikaaa!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Charmander’s back, making a loud CRACKing sound.

This makes it so that my friend can respond to my attack - whether or not they choose to get hit is completely up to them. It’s usually fair to allow your character to dodge two of every three hits when doing combat roleplay. That makes it fair and a little more realistic. Keep in mind that godmodding doesn’t apply only to combat: it applies to every day interactions as well. Be cautious when typing posts. Make sure to keep it fun and fair.

[urbaneagle-writes]

Let’s explore a couple of common sense tips of roleplaying.

Godmodding. This is when your character is overpowered and can do anything. They have no limits or boundaries, and/or cannot be killed or injured. For example, any form of knowledge that happens to be needed, your character knows even though there’s no way they could have realistically learned it. Or your character is in a fight and manages to get out of it uninjured every time.

Powerplaying. This is where you control another person’s character. It’s often confused for being Godmodding, but it’s a slightly different concept. What is considered Powerplaying can vary on each person, but there are a few examples that are just outright powerplaying. Killing or injuring their character without permission is a popular example. As is saying they did something without the roleplayer’s consent. The only character you control freely is your own. However, if you ask, some people are willing to overlook the rule in favour of a plot twist or a direction for a thread. It’s always good to know your partner’s rules on Powerplaying.

Mirror Posting. It’s not always fun working hard on a 3-4 paragraph post only to get one or two paragraphs back. It’s just polite to try and mirror someone’s posting if at all possible. If you can’t manage it sometimes, however, please regard the next guideline.

Quality over Quantity. Threads can be long, threads can be short. Long threads can be rubbish and short threads can be fantastic. It all depends on the content. Quantity is nice, but it means little if the post has no quality, and even short posts can hold a lot of material and action to respond to if the quality is right. It’s always advised to try and follow quality over quantity and make your words count.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. We’re all here to have fun, and it is of utmost importance that you respect your fellow roleplayers, even if you don’t care for their character. Treat others as you would want to be treated. You don’t want to see hate in your Inbox about how you play a character or run your blog, so it’s only natural that others wouldn’t want to either. There’s an Unfollow button, an X button, a Back button. So many buttons you can click rather than send hate-mail. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

These are simple guidelines that I’ve picked up and followed over my thirteen years of roleplaying. You’re not obligated, of course, to follow them. But they’re rules I try to follow and expect my partners to as well.

[urbaneagle-writes]

The Cardinal Sins of Roleplaying

Meta-gaming, god-modding, and power-playing. These are some of the most sinful of sins that a roleplayer can make. When confronted with it within your group, how do you react? What do you do? Members, fellow admins, take a seat while I share the secrets to making sure this does not happen (or, at least so it is prevented as best as can be). 

Keep reading

[urbaneagle-writes]

An RPer’s guide to Metagaming and how to avoid it 101

I got a request to make a guide about metagaming and on how to avoid it because not everyone understands from the get go what metagaming means and I haven’t seen any guides on it myself so here we go y’all. *Note: This can apply to general story writing too for keeping things logical and consistent.

Abbreviations used; RPer = Roleplayer RP = Roleplay RPing = Roleplaying OOC = Out of Chracter IC = In Character

First things first;

What is “Metagaming”?

Metagaming is a term used to describe an action a character performs using knowledge that they hadn’t have access to, but the person writing the character did and decided to bestow that knowledge upon the character. Since describing things like this isn’t my best suit I will go ahead and give a few rough examples of how metagaming looks like.

Example of metagaming #1 Character A meet character B for the first time, they’re ordinary people who live normal lives and don’t have any prior connections with each other. A: “Hello, my name is A. Who are you?” B: “My name is B, it’s nice to meet you.”

The person who writes character A decides to chat it up with the person who writes for character B. The person writing character A decides to tell the person writing for character B that it is almost A’s birthday, on the 7th of April character A will turn 29 years old. The RP thread between these two people continues and the characters A and B get to know each other a little better, but character A has never mentioned their birthday or how old they are to character B. The person writing for character B decides to use this knowledge anyway and writes the following reply; B: “You’ll turn 29 on the 7th of April, right? Do you have any preferences for a birthday gift?”

THIS IS METAGAMING

The person writing for character B just used knowledge that was told to them OOC in an IC RP thread where character B did not have any access to such information. Giving a character knowledge that was given to the RPer outside of the RP thread and using that knowledge inside an RP thread is frowned upon. RPers generally don’t take it well when someone else’s character suddenly knows everything about their character from the start.

Example of metagaming #2 The person writing for character A and the person writing for character B are doing a plot together! Both of their characters have been captured and put in a prison cell. Escaping seems impossible but little do the characters know there’s a loose brick on the bottom of the wall in one of the corners hiding a lockpick behind it that was left there by the previous prisoner. Neither of the characters know about this loose brick and will have to do an extensive search to find it. The person writing for character B writes out their reply as follows; “After agreeing they should search for a way out character B walks up to the wall in the corner and pulls out a loose brick, revealing a picklock hidden away behind it.”

THIS IS METAGAMING

Character B had no way of knowing where to find this loose brick and would have had to do an extensive search first, pushing at every brick in the wall to find out if they’re loose or not. While it’s nice to have an advancing plot, no-one likes it when your character magically knows the answer to every problem on the fly without putting in any effort to find the solution.

Example of metagaming #3 Characters A and B are talking about character C! Character C is evil and is scheming something bad, but C has characters A and B convinced they’re just an ordinary person. They have no idea what C’s nature is truly like and have no reason to suspect anything. Character B says the following; B: “Yeah C seems pretty nice, but I can’t help but feel like they’re planning something bad behind our backs.”

THIS IS METAGAMING

Nothing happened between characters B and C that would make B suspicious of C. Having a character’s nature revealed like that all of a sudden can lead to a lot of frustrations because any things that have been planned for the character may not be able to happen at all anymore because you used your OOC knowledge to reveal something big IC where there was no way for your character to know such information.

So now that you know what metagaming is like, how can you avoid it? Here’s what you should do when you want to avoid metagaming;

Problem: You want to use information obtained OOC in an IC reply, but you don’t want to metagame, what do you do? Solution: You simply ask permission and discuss if there’s any way this information may have reached your character without explicitly RPing it out! If you two can’t find a way yet for the character to know about this information then you don’t use the information in your IC reply!

Problem: You’re doing an RP plot and everything that will happen in the plot has been discussed already, there’s a puzzle your characters are stuck on and you want to advance the plot but don’t want to RP out every detail your character is doing to find the solution to the puzzle, what do you do? Solution: You ask your partner if it is alright to make a short summary of what your character is doing to find the solution instead of writing out a detailed narration of what your character is doing and lingering around so that your partner knows you’re not trying to metagame but prefer a quick advancement in the plot!

And that’s it. There’s barely any effort into avoiding metagaming. Simply put: If you have obtained information about a character through OOC means don’t use that information in IC replies without permission.

I could have made this post much shorter, but I had to put in these examples because unfortunately some people fail to see what metagaming can look like and can sometimes be confused with godmodding, which is a different topic entirely that you can read about Here.

Now have fun RPing and don’t metagame! Even if you character is a mind reader or an all knowing god always ask permission if it’s alright to use information obtained through OOC means in IC replies!

[urbaneagle-writes]

Basic Roleplaying Terminology

Since not everyone understands what certain roleplaying terms mean, I thought I’d put together a quick reference guide. Now, this is only going to encompass the basics, and it should be noted that most fandoms have their own unique “lingo.”

-

OOC: Out of Character. Speaking as yourself and not as your character. Anything that occurs/is spoken/relates to something going on outside of the roleplay itself. OOC can also be used to describe a character that is being portrayed poorly and acting how they would not normally act. ( The person OOC is the mun. )

.

Keep reading

[urbaneagle-writes]

Writing Prompt: Gold and Dumb

Starring @the-stray-liger‘s OC Roberta

     It’s been so long. So damn long. And the first thing this kid said to her was: “Where’s the gold?”

Bobby stared dumbly at Keith. “We’ve got gold?”

The young Blade in training seemed a little more uncomfortable than last she saw him. In classes he’d made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with anyone, and during the earlier days of the Voltron team... he actually seemed to make an effort to try and assimilate into the group despite his obvious uncertainty.

Now he was obviously clear that he was losing his cool. Some character development. But he’s a growing boy and she couldn’t help but feel a little proud. She did teach the kids at one point.

Keith cleared his throat.

Bobby blinked herself out of her reminiscing. “Gold. When did you bring over gold?”

“Uh--” he dragged a hand over his face. “Right. It’s not like the gold on Earth. It... I gave it to you in a small box.”

She definitely remembered a small box. That was weeks ago. “I haven’t touched it since you gave it to me.”

“Cool, that’s good. Can you hand it back? I need it for... uh. Monetary reasons.”

She’s heard that tone before. “Why do you sound like you’re hiding something?”

Keith sighed. “Just. I didn’t want to lose it during missions.”

“We all have missions, Keith.”

“Well this place was safer!”

“Of course this place is safe!” Alarm flashed across Keith’s face, and Bobby whirled around to see Hunk peeping into the lobby. A box was sitting in his hand, opened up and reeking dead fish, rotting eggs, and sewage. “But it’s not safe from getting dirty! Wanna help me clean the rooms?”

That was the box Keith gave her for safekeeping. Was that really what the alien... gold looked like?

Judging by the boy’s pale face, it probably was the gold. “Hunk! Give that to me!”

“No, man. I’m tossing this out!”

“Hunk!”

[urbaneagle-writes]

Update 10/11/17: Just saw this week’s prompt for @finish-the-clone-wars and now it looks like I can recycle this short fic for the prompt: “Hostage”.

Dreams of a Hunter

Guess who wrote three different pieces for @finish-the-clone-wars​‘ prompt (I swear I was doing it bc I couldn’t get the right feel for it;;) (I think I took it a little too vaguely but this is the one I’m most satisfied with lol) And guess who’s posting it in the right blog this time :D

… *cough* Anyways, enjoy~

Keep reading

[urbaneagle-writes]

Dreams of a Hunter

Guess who wrote three different pieces for @finish-the-clone-wars​‘ prompt (I swear I was doing it bc I couldn’t get the right feel for it;;) (I think I took it a little too vaguely but this is the one I’m most satisfied with lol) And guess who’s posting it in the right blog this time :D

… *cough* Anyways, enjoy~

     It was cold. Too cold. Colder than the woods in the middle of a winter snowstorm. Didn’t Mama turn on the heating system this morning?

She rose from the bed, calling out for her mother, for her father, for either buir several times until the events of yesterday finally clicked in her mind. She opened her weary eyes and looked around, taking in the shabby walls and the ice-packed ground, and started to cry.

This wasn’t even her home. This was a shed that the scary person tossed her into. They didn’t even bother tying her up. Why? That question was answered as she scrambled towards door and then to the windows, finding every possible exit sealed shut. Not even a squeaky budge. Whoever had taken her had really wanted to make her feel miserable. She shivered and grasped at the lone sheet on the hay pile, using it to wrap around her shoulders as a makeshift shawl.

Was this the type of situation Papa had always told her to be careful about? But she never opened the door to a stranger when she was home alone, and if either buir were home she’d get them to answer right away! Even when she was outside playing with her siblings, they’d always stayed close to their house!

“The galaxy is dangerous,” Papa had always said, “and this city isn’t any less.” She always listened to him! Where did she go wrong?

The door slamming open startled her out of her thoughts, and a whimper slipped out from her without her meaning to. She stared up at the stranger entering the shack and could actually see what they looked like for once. She stared at the attire, realizing the familiar beskar’gam and the blaster that they held loosely at their side.

Her fear morphed into anger, like a river dropping into a waterfall, and she snarled. “Beroya.”

A deep chuckle escaped almost like static from the bounty hunter’s buy’ce. “Correct, adiik. Now come.”

She took a step back, anger– not fear, she refused to be scared– causing her to clench her hands tightly around the blanket. “Where am I?”

“Far away that your di’kutla buir can’t find you,” he said. Then he reached forward and grabbed her by the arm.

She had stiffened up at the words. Her parents are not stupid at all. “My parents are the smartest!” she cried, punching the hunter’s armored chest repeatedly. “They’re smart, they’re brave, and they’ll find me! They’ll find you!!” Her fingers ached with each punch, but she didn’t care. She needed to leave. She had to get away from this man, away from this place, away to wherever–

The grip tightened on her arm, hard enough to make her stop shouting and to start whimpering in pain. “Come now, Auri’ika. Don’t be such a hu’tuun.”

“That’s not my name!” Her voice cracked at the obvious lie. She tried to pull away, but her arm didn’t budge at all. “And I am NOT a coward! You’re the one who can’t even face my parents head on and just decided to run off with me!”

“I’m very thorough with my research, brat,” the hunter said coolly. “Now if you want to live, Aurii, you better come with me.” He pulled her but she refused to move, even though she could feel her shoes dragging across the ground. “It’ll be better if you behave, but I’m sure any bruises you get can be passed off from a bumpy ride on the ship.”

She sniffed. “You’re going to hurt a child?”

“You’re the child of an enemy.” The hunter suddenly lifted her up, gravity and vertigo fighting with the child’s body, and hauled her over his shoulder, ignoring all her shouts and punches as he marched out of the shack and into the cold.

She didn’t stop fighting. “Let me go!”

“You keep this up and you die,” he growled.

The details from their words inside the shack slowly embedded itself into her mind as she went over them. A realization hit her. “You need me alive for ransom!” she declared, a wave of triumph washing over her. “There’s no way you’re going to kill me!”

“You smart little shit,” the hunter scoffed. “You’re still going to die once we get what we want.”

Whether that was true or not, Aurii didn’t wait another moment. She wriggled out of the blanket that the beroya was foolishly holding onto, pushing at the back of his helmet for an extra boost, and slipped onto the snowy ground. Her skin was already tingling from the cold, but she darted away from the hunter and the shack regardless.

“Oi! Get back here!”

Aurii did no such thing. Despite her shoes and pants, she could barely feel her feet and legs at this point. She barely felt her feet trip over themselves and soon she was falling, rolling down the side of the powdery cliff.

She could only tell that she’s stopped falling once the world stopped spinning. The howl of the wind was too strong. The snow was blinding her. She continued to run.

Where was she going to go? She surely didn’t want to go back to the hunter; that spelled death. But she had no way to call for help or to find a way home, either.

No. Her freezing chest seemed to melt from the red-hot anger. She’d rather die than being used as bait.

A flash of light lit up the snow beside her, sizzling the ground as the powdered ice melted from the blaster fire. Aurii turned around, hands and teeth clenched and eyes wild with fury.

She only caught a glimpse of the hunter as the butt of his blaster connected to the side of her head, knocking her into darkness.

Aurii awoke, breaths shallow and fast. The cold and the pain disappeared, replaced by a lazy warmth and a sense of security in the form of a thick blanket that had tangled up in her limbs. An extra layer had somehow draped itself over her. Strange, since she’s only just collapsed onto the cot after returning from a particular grueling mission, with only a handful of troopers that she– regretfully– deemed was enough to go with her. All of them were in the medbay with a variety of wounds, while she was lying there with a wet cloth over her forehead. 

“General Taum?” She looked up, one hand inching towards the lightsaber under her pillow; too late, she realized, that it wouldn’t be there. The source of the voice came from the side of the bed.

Commander Ace held a steaming much of caf in one hand, eyes full of worry. “Are you alright, Audr– sir?

She bit back the smile that was threatening to form. She’d let that little name-slip side this time. They were the only ones in this part of the medbay anyway. “Yeah.” The Jedi accepted the caf and downed it in one go, hot and strong and scalding as it was. Good enough to kick her fully awake.

She’ll get that hunter, one of these days.

[urbaneagle-writes]

     He hung on to the side of the cliff and looked down. The beast yawned its mouth open, revealing a seemingly bottomless pit. But he knew. With the heavy storm approaching, it knew that its thirst was about to be satiated. That gave him a few minutes to do what he came here for.

Nimble hands flew over his gear, loosening and tightening several straps and clips without once breaking his gaze from the beast, knowing that after so many years of diving, he knew just the right tricks. He finally breaks his gaze away, looking long and hard up at the top of the cliff. His companion was there, checking the line again and giving him a thumbs up.

He returned the gesture, then looked back at the beast. If a rookie had just looked back, they would have been startled by the realization that the gaping chasm had grown wider. Those beasts have always done that; it just meant that the storm was growing closer. If he hurried, he wouldn’t be caught inside and swept away by the torrential rainfall.

The raucous chirping from the trees below have grown quieter. The winds have picked up, already beginning to sway him back and forth in his precarious position. The beast groaned, the noise rippling throughout the whole forest, and moved to sit. The ground trembled with its movements. Thunder cracked with every small shift in its footing. With a final grunt, the beast sat down, causing the whole forest to shake.

All the animals were quiet. The wind was howling now. Small droplets were beginning to kiss his skin.

It was only a small window of a chance, but he’s done this before. He knew that he crosses the line between a calm and a storm. That is exactly why he does this now.

That didn’t stop him from closing his eyes for a brief moment and whispering a prayer to the winds.

When he opened his eyes again, he had leapt away from the cliffside and started his freefall into the chasm.

[urbaneagle-writes]

some cold

For @finish-the-clone-wars‘s Writing Wednesday Prompt: Virus

Keep reading

[urbaneagle-writes]

Towering Stars || 01

(A PT Star Wars fanfiction using Voltron: Legendary Defender OCs)

     This isn’t exactly a serious project, but it’s a writing project. Just trying to get back into the habit of writing, so why not start with writing fanfiction for two things I’m still hyped about: Star Wars and Voltron: Legendary Defender?

So here it is. There’s not going to be a set pattern in updates, but I’ll just... write this.

Towering Stars

Chapter 1

     Nausea rolled through her body in waves. Even the smallest twitch would bring her ever closer to purge nothing but stomach acid out from her system. Yet she persisted, hands and limbs shaking violently with effort as she dragged herself away from the speeder’s wreckage.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Whoever had caught her on her way out of the small town’s port had known she was passing that way. The realization tickled the back of her mind, and a low snarl crept along her lips. The trembling stilled. Her hands grabbed at the grass and tore them up from their roots as she continued to make her escape.

There were shouts in the distance. She doesn’t know who they were, or what they were doing nearby, but the longer she stayed conscious, the more she felt her mind slipping away. Weak, she reprimanded. You’ve gotten yourself into worse situations than this. It didn’t stop her from ceasing her movements to rest for a while. Exhaustion swept over her like a warm blanket, and she could feel her eyelids drooping with a newfound weight.

There were footsteps approaching. Her mind screamed, but her body couldn’t budge. A warm hand rested on the back of her neck, and the pain that was mingling with her exhaustion melted away. Brown eyes fluttered open as she looked up at the stranger.

“Someone like you shouldn’t be able to survive that,” an elderly voice muttered. “Who are you?”

The girl couldn’t stay awake any longer, but she was sure the stranger was asking her name. “Audrey...” she whispered just as she fell into slumber.

     Roberta’s frown didn’t leave her lips as she continued to listen to Kremzar’s report. She had been in the Healing Rooms for a day now, having been sent there right after she returned from her mission. Her side was still healing from the nasty crash injury, but at least she could walk around just fine. She’d have to walk around with a crutch for a while. But she was fine. This girl laying in one of the beds on the other hand...

“Did you say you found her near a speeder crash?” She asked, peering closer at the girl. It seemed that she was only a child, her gauntness making her appear even older. “Who else was there?”

“There were three speeders in the crash,” Kremzar said. “A stolen speeder, and two that belonged to the nearby gang. One of the victims and the child appear to be Mandalorian, judging by the victim’s armor and the child’s clothes.”

Roberta sighed and looked at her friend. The old Galra looked at the child with such sadness in his yellow eyes that she started to feel a sliver of sympathy for the child as well. “Why did you decide to bring her all the way back here instead of to a nearby town?”

“Because...” One of Krem’s ears twitched. Roberta let her own gaze flicker around the room they were occupying. After they were both sure no one was within earshot Kremzar leaned forward, brows creased together that Roberta recognized as a gesture of concern. “I sensed a great disturbance in the Force from this child.”

When Jedi brought children to the Temple, it was because they sensed anything else other than a disturbance in the Force in there. “Is that your only reason?” She whispered.

Krem’s ears flicked again. “Bobby--”

“No. That can’t be your only reason.” Bobby took a step back away from Krem and away from the bed. She pulled her outer robes closer to herself as she started to pace back and forth in the small room. “Kriff, Krem. I know you’re old, but is your age really getting to you?”

Kremzar let out a sigh and scratched at his beard. “I... apologize for your lack of faith in me.”

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in you--”

“But I felt... something else.” 

Bobby paused midstep, and looked back at him with a withering stare. “I trust you, Krem. I really do. Far more than I trust my former master.”

“I’m glad you do, but I feel like I test your trust so many times.” Krem looked away from Bobby and stepped closer to the girl. He held out a hand, letting it hover over her forehead. “I just... sense something powerful. Yes, there is that disturbance, but there is also something beneath that. I want to find out what that is.”

Kremzar has always been cryptic. Not as much as Master Yoda, but he had his own air of mystery whenever he felt like it. This was one such moment, and Bobby didn’t like it one bit. She replayed his last words in her head, and realization boiled up. “Kremzar,” she warned. “You better not say what I think you’re going to say.”

“What, that I’ll take her in as my Padawan?” The smile he gave her looked more like a wince.

Bobby sighed and started to make her way out of the room. “If the Council refuses, don’t say I told you so.”

“I assure you that won’t happen.”

[urbaneagle-writes]

        "You have taken something very important," was all he said as he activated his saber.

Audrey refrained from saying anything as she stared him down. The man sighed and shifted his feet apart, getting into what she assumed is his battle-ready stance.

Audrey still stared at him as she clipped the bag to her belt. The man's eyes hardened as he watched her do so. Audrey changed her grip on her staff. Then she twirled it around to rest beside her as she took off running. 

She didn't turn tail. No, she ran to the side. She can keep an eye on the man as she's running for her life. 

"There's nowhere to run to on this planet," The man shouted as he gave chase. "You'll have to stand your ground if you want to do anything!"

Audrey heard the footsteps vanish. She skidded to a stop. She looked up and saw that the man had leapt up into the air and was bearing down on her, his talons the lightsaber and her being the prey.

The woman twirled the staff in her hands and took one step back, and watched the man swing down on thin air.

She was quick to retaliate. The staff slammed down hard on the man, but not where she wanted it to be. He'd moved at the last moment, the staff missing the top of his head as it glanced off of his pauldron.

Audrey spun the staff again and swung at his feet. He jumped. She swung again. He parried. The bout only took a few moments, frustrating Audrey with each passing second as none of her hits landed on him while his saber narrowly missed her.

The man took a step back. Audrey made to swing, but Kremzar's words hit her. 'These so-called peacekeepers know their way around a lethal confrontation.'

Audrey watched as the light flashed from its parry and then floated right above the man's head, and she hurriedly twisted the staff around the middle.

The lightsaber hummed too close to her face as she struggled to push it away with one stave. All too soon she felt the tip of it kiss the side of her face.

"Fucking--" Searing pain was instantaneous. Audrey took a few spinning steps back and held one stave out in front of her, keeping one eye and one weapon on the man as she used her other hand to feel the injury. It's already been burned over. She blinked; she could still see. So it missed her eye. Lucky her.

"I don't understand why you can't follow simple instructions," the man spoke again, barely winded. "We only wanted to bring you along for questioning, away from hostile territory. Why is it hard for you to have a simple conversation with us?"

Indignation flashed through her. A simple conversation while she was bound to a table and stuck inside a room? While there was a war in this galaxy, a much bigger one was wreaking havoc throughout the universe. They didn't know; they're all caught up in their own troubles. "And why is it hard for you to understand that I have no time for this?" she demanded.

"Yes," the man replied. "Of course. You have no time, nor do you have any means to leave this place. All the more reason to stay with us, however temporary."

Audrey blinked away the tears of frustration welling up. Where was Kremzar when she needed him? No, she shouldn't drag this out for too long. He was right; she was cornered.

[urbaneagle-writes]

Bad Dream

       Every night, she dreams of smoke and ashes.

       Every night, she dreams of fire and lava.

       Every night, she dreams of screams and tears.

       Every night...

       She was writhing in her sleep, but she did not know it. Dead to the world, with no one to wake her up or to see what’s wrong, the dreams carry on well into the morning. She would wake up feeling sore. She would wake up feeling wetness on her cheeks. She would wake up with a new weight in her heart that would be carried everywhere until she sinks back into the worn-out pile of blankets that is called a bed.

       That is... the habit she has when she was at home. Where she is now? Once, the stars would offer her solace. Now they stare down at her in their shining stoicness, unwilling to even blink as she stretched out fitfully from the recurring sequences that loved to reply over and over the moments her eyes closed.

       She curled up with her blankets and stared out of the wall of a window, observing the quiet sheets of those things called stars. Why have they stopped talking to her? Can’t they see she needs them now? 

       Can’t they see that she is now living in a bad dream?