#friends from alrest

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

Xeno Femslash February Day 1: Beginning (Lora/Aline)

Following a lead discovered by Haze, Lora travels to the small hamlet of Torigoth in search of her mother, Rynea. Although she is shocked to find the village left in ruins, she is determined to find survivors - and manages to find a Driver hidden in the nearby forest. (2360 words) Takes place near the beginning of Torna ~ The Golden Country. This piece was written for the “Beginning” prompt of the Xeno Femslash February event.

My friend @artificervaldi is running an event/prompt list for this month, aaand.. well, I wanted to have a go at writing some selfship pieces for some of the prompts, so this is my piece for the first one! I hope that this is alright ^-^

(Anyone is welcome to comment on and/or reblog my work if they want to, as long as my DNI is respected!)

Tag list and document transcript under the readmore:

Tag list: @starlit-selfships | @edencantstopfallininlove | @yoomtahsgf | @sunlight-ships | @dragonsmooch | @thatslikesometaldude | @artificervaldi | @keyblade-ships | @seahydra | @alrest | @neuvilline (If you would like to be tagged in any of my future work, please use this form!)

Document transcript:

Travelling with the lord of Aletta himself was a vastly new experience to Lora - as was the might of the Blade he had resonated with. Everything was so different, from the decoration of the inter-Titan transport to his refreshing and light-hearted banter. It was quite clear that Jin was unsure of how to see the situation, but Haze's confidence in the lead she had found was granting her Driver the strength and the hope that she dared to let build up in herself. She found herself enjoying Addam's demeanour, even if Mythra's standoffish nature made for a stark contrast - yet even she had her moments of more genuine appreciation.

When the party, as they could perhaps now be termed, landed on the grass of Gormott, Lora was amazed by the Titan's rolling plains and verdant scenery. Despite the drizzle drifting down from skies above, the wide-open views felt no less dreary; if anything, the plant life seemed almost more invigorated for the water. It was not cold, but neither was it humid - a clear freshness punctuated the air and put a spring in everyone's steps as they made their way to their destination. At times, there were a few tense moments of keeping watch for Ardainian or Coeian forces potentially skirmishing over resources, but these groups were not a strong presence in the local vicinity. Everything felt that little bit new and exciting.

It was only as Torigoth came closer, and the mists of rain had risen into stormclouds as dark as the plumes of extinguished flame-smoke, that the tone of the mission plummeted completely.

Lora found herself gripped by worry that dived headfirst into panic once she realised what had happened, fears rising almost as strongly as if she had stumbled upon her birthplace torn to shreds. Her pace picked up into a sprint as she flew along the path leading to the razed hamlet, not slowing even as she passed through the thick stone walls and further along the path and forwards into what should have been a lively and calm village square but was instead now.. no more than a mere clearing amidst piles of blackened timber and burnt remnants of buildings. There were glimpses of fallen townsfolk, here and there in the chaos; these were peaceful farmers whose lives had been gluttonously cut short by looters.

"Oh, no.."

"Here, too?" Addam wondered aloud from behind her, staring grimly at the carnage wrought before him. "Gormott's an attractive target, but this? Whoever did this.. clearly had no compassion or respect for the people they killed.."

Mythra seemed decidedly less affected by the scene, even if she was frowning slightly as she examined it. "Whether it was Malos, or someone else. Either way, clearly they're all toast."

This casual dismissal earned her a chiding look from her Driver. "Mythra.."

Meanwhile, Jin had become keenly aware of how distraught his own Driver had become, despite her face not being visible from where he was standing. Mythra had reminded Milton before that Drivers and Blades were one in body and soul, and in that moment it certainly did feel as though some of her distress was tangibly adding to his concern.

"Lora.." he began, wondering whether to approach her.

There was a moment's pause before she spoke up. "It's.. It's okay." she then said, mustering up what levity she could. "Mother.. could have run away somewhere safe.."

Her words held little hope or confidence, and everyone would likely have settled into an uncomfortable silence had that silence not been punctured by the sound of armoured footsteps running up to the group.

"You there! A moment, if such may be spared!"

All attention gladly turned from the destruction, the party looked over to one side to see a very tall figure approaching from a side path. They were dressed in quite extravagant white and golden armour, with a long cape and skirt that came down to above their knees, plus silver gauntlet-like gloves and greaves - all of which combined to make an impressive first impression. They were also almost completely soaked through, as could be seen from how much their hair was dripping pitch-black from the rain.

"Might I presume thee to be travellers?" they continued to ask as they ran, stopping upon getting close enough to speak without having to call out.

Haze had been standing closest, and so was primed to step forward to address the stranger while they stopped to catch their breath, crosier in hand. "Are you okay? What happened here?"

In response, they simply shook their head, though it was more in a dismissive way than a negative answer. "Pray be not concerned as to my status. 'Tis that of my Driver for which I would deign to seek thine aid."

"So you're a Blade, then.." Lora mused - but at the sound of her voice, he frowned. He looked up after a moment only to find himself locking eyes with her - and his brow furrowed even more fiercely at the sight.

"Art thou not Lady-?" Then his voice caught in his throat, and he had to take another moment to reassess the situation. This caused Lora and Haze to glance between each other confusedly.

Mythra, on the other hand, was eyeing up the Blade with an unusual amount of interest, looking over the gleaming gold of their armour and the blue sword-shaped Core Crystal set in their chest. "Sure don't see Blades like you in places like this.. Who's your Driver, the lord of Gormott or something?"

"Do not jest so, lest thou receivest the wrong impression. Her name is Aline - a woman of Gormott, whose hair and height art alike to yours save in length." they explained. "She is dressed in verdant green, which may yet aid in her concealment from my view.. I bid her flee for safety at first sight of the brigands responsible for this travesty, yet she is wont to fear all conflict, and mine endeavours in dealing with such scoundrels hath left me wholly unknowing of her location."

The party listened carefully to his description, committing the details to memory. Addam was keen to take charge, his expression more serious than Lora had seen it since first meeting him.

"Right then." he declared as they finished. "A blonde Gormotti girl wearing green. Don't worry, my good fellow - we'll do what we can to find her."

"Full glad am I to hear this." replied the Blade, before pausing as if remembering something. "Ah! Pray forgive my discourtesy. Mine urgency did prevent the proper introductions; you all may address me as Avalon."

"It's good to meet you." Lora said quickly, though her mind seemed to be elsewhere. "I'm thinking that- since there are a few of us, we could split off into pairs to cover more ground. Maybe.. Jin, would you mind staying with Avalon?"

The ice-element Blade, who had clearly been rather taken by their attire, frowned slightly. "..Not outright, but will you and Haze be alright on your own?"

"Yes, don't worry." she insisted. "If anything happens, or you find Aline or anyone else, come back here to the square. I saw that the forest here encroaches on the village quite a bit, so.. if Haze and I look through there, you can check over the immediate area, and then Addam and Mythra can search in the fields to the north. Sound like a plan?"

Everyone quickly gave their assent, and set off to search for the girl.

==========

The rain had not relented, splashing down in heavy raindrops through the towering trees overhead. Haze and Lora were quickly but carefully picking their way through the drenched forest, expressions tense with apprehension. Neither woman was familiar with the flora or fauna of the Titan, and it also had not been clear whether Avalon was able to successfully rout all of the brigands, so the pair kept close together in order to observe without drawing too much attention to themselves. It was a tricky and tentative situation, searching for someone they had never even seen in an environment where she would be almost perfectly-camouflaged.

Trying as she might to concentrate, Lora's mind was racing too quickly to let her focus properly. The way in which Avalon had faltered at the sight and sound of her was unsettling, and most unexpected - yet the more she dwelled on the moment, the more she wondered if it could have meant something. It had been far too long since she last saw her mother, and.. the thought suddenly came to her that it was possible the two could share some resemblance. Which, of course, meant that Avalon was familiar with her. ..She didn't quite know how to feel about that, let alone right in this moment.

Meanwhile, Haze was looking around nervously, but finding the details of her surroundings difficult to discern in the driving storm. "My lady, do you think we should call out for her?"

"I think so." Lora replied. "Avalon said she might be scared, so if she's hiding, it might not be easy to find her ourselves. Besides, we don't want to startle her.."

The Blade gave a dutiful nod, and opened her mouth to cry Aline's name - but it was then that Lora's attention was caught once again, and she failed to hear it.

The trailing ends of a long grey scarf were fluttering in the wind that had just picked up, and their sudden movement drew her gaze to spy a startling peridot gleam just above where they began. As quickly as she had glimpsed it, it fled from view behind a tree whose bark almost shone in the low light from being so rain-saturated.

"Lady Lora? Is everything alright?"

Haze had now stepped into her field of view, her golden eyes examining Lora's own with some concern.

"Wait there a moment, Haze. I think someone else is here.."

As carefully as if she were approaching a sleeping Pippito, Lora kept her sights set on the scarf tails that were even now still just about visible from around the back of the tree trunk, and stepped forward slowly to investigate.

"We're not here to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about." she said to the tree trunk after a moment. "Avalon sent us.."

This seemed to have been the right thing to say, as a hand slowly crept its way around the side of the tree. Following it was the face of a shy young woman, whose drenched blonde hair was poking out from under her grey hood that had pockets for feline Gormotti ears. She was wearing a rustic sort of dress with light, puffy sleeves - and a green skirt and bodice, just as Avalon had implied. Her face was frozen by worry, wet with what could have been rainfall or tears, and her eyes seemed to catch what little light there was in the forest to shimmer with brimming anxiety.

Lora couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief from having found who she was looking for, but she could tell that the young woman was very shaken, and so maintained as gentle a kindness as possible.

"Hello there; my name is Lora. It's alright - I promise you don't need to be scared of us."

"Ah! I'm sorry!" she replied suddenly. "Um, I- I'm Aline.. And I think I might already know a bit about you, Lora.."

This remark caused Lora to blink in confusion as Aline nervously drew back from the soaking tree bark. She noticed that her heart was racing, and had to place her hand over her chest to try and settle it. Meanwhile, Haze had crept up behind her Driver, giving a gentle smile and wave that seemed to ease Aline's worries somewhat.

"My name is Haze." she said softly, after seeing her relax a bit. "I'm really glad we found you, Aline. You're not injured or anything, are you?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you. But- thank you for asking." she stated. "Sorry, I'm not.. normally this anxious, I promise.."

"Oh, please don't worry about that!" Lora exclaimed, almost sheepishly, to try and reassure her. "You'll be safe with us now, that I can assure you. Avalon is, too, in case you were worried - they'll be pleased to see you again, I'm sure."

This remark made Aline's eyes widen. "I didn't want to just leave them alone! But they insisted on this being safer, and.. I-I don't know whether anyone else managed to get out.."

Tears began to well up in her bright green eyes once again, and she raised a soaking-wet hand to unsuccessfully try to dry them. Lora felt a rush of intense pity for her, and quickly tried to sift through her things for a not-yet-completely-soaked handkerchief to use. She had meant to offer it to her, but Aline could do instead was blink as she felt the soft fabric on her face, and her eyes instinctively darted away in every direction to avoid being faced with Lora's.

"Thank you very much-!", she squeaked, causing Lora herself to feel slightly mortified. Why had she done that? She stopped herself and pulled backwards, taking in Aline's expression in full - and then realised the answer, as the fearful aura clouding her had now finally vanished. Haze, meanwhile, couldn't help but chuckle at the kind and instinctive gesture; it was clear that Lora had been worried about her wellbeing, on top of everything else going through her mind. Above them, the rain also began to ease slightly.

There was still a blanket of worry hanging over the three as they decided to make their way back, and each was bracing for a difficult scenario upon their return to the others. Even so, the fact that Haze and Lora had found at least two survivors of Torigoth felt like it had to be something - and that feeling that dared to feel positive was persistent in its slowly-rising nature. With Aline's wealth of experience as guidance, they found a straightforward path back out through the forest, returning to the ruined- but, at least, no longer smouldering - remnants of Torigoth.

And thus, girl met girl.

#heart of the void #creations from the void #selfshipping #this post is okay for anyone to reblog as long as my DNI is respected #love: knight of the people (lora) #selfship: to fight for what matters (lora/aline) #(or at least the beginnings of it - since this is how the two met!) #self‑insert: hope without courage (aline) #and also featuring #friend: shattered light (avalon) #who is my OC for this game! I.. tried. when it came to their speech patterns. #friend: windfall memories (haze) #plus others but to less of an extent #platonic F/Os #of gods and titans (xenoblade chronicles) #some of the dialogue here is directly taken from when I rendered a part of this in the past #I probably could have added those images back in actually.. but oh well #if you see them in there after the fact then that's what I have done!

[pitty-aegis-parlor]

*Sigh* Sooooooooooooooooo booooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnngggg! I doubt anyone is even gonna come here to get ice cream, especially when they recognize who I am!

Again, dying from boredom, please give questions! Can be friends both in Alrest and the tournament, Alrest itself, likes, interests or hobbies, genuinely anything!

Hell, I could even give you guys a detailed description of some of the nearby buildings, gardens, me and Pyra’s dorm rooms… I just don’t wanna be alone with these thoughts…

#ask pitty parlor #super smash ultimate #super smash bros #mythra

[h-worksrambles]

Spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2 and 3:

Thinking about how all the major villains in Xenoblade portrays our struggle with human nature’s worst aspects and our own capacity for evil.

Ok, that probably sounded super pretentious but seriously. The entire event that kicked off all of this was the reckless actions and selfish curiosity of a single man. Klaus performed the phase transition experiment out both a cynicism with the current state of the world and the arrogant belief that he could surpass humanity and all its flaws. And in doing so, he not only destroyed the world in a way that took millions of years to heal, but ripped apart reality itself so badly that, as we learn in Xenoblade 3, nature itself is STILL trying to repair the damage he did after god knows how much time, by bringing together the fractured universes he created.

Zanza is very clearly inspired by the Gnostic demiurge, a false god that keeps the world in their thrall. But the very thing that makes him a demiurge is that he has the power of a god, but he THINKS like a human. Because he once was one. His evil is rooted in human emotions, ego and fear. He sacrifices his creations because he fears death and would rather cut down his ‘children’ before they forget him than fade away. Zanza was once an ordinary man, but now he has the power of a god. And he demonstrates how disastrously wrong it would go if a single human ever had that level of power to do with as they wished.

Or look at Amalthus. His entire character is built on the dichotomy of a man who has seen the worst of people, has witnessed the lengths of peoples cruelty in war across so many years, but is incapable of perceiving those same flaws in himself. He’s a lot like Klaus was, waxing poetic about humanity’s evil while making the same mistakes. He’s right about humans on a lot of counts. But he’s also a hypocrite who thinks he’s above those evils, paradoxically becoming just as, if not more monstrous than the people he hates.

Even when the villains of Xenoblade aren’t human, their villainy is often a product of humankind. The clearest example of this is Malos. Like all Blades, his personality is shaped by the Driver who awakens him. And Amalthus nihilistic outlook and hatred of the world bleeds into him and feeds his desire to destroy it. He’s a non-human living weapon, sure. But he’s a man-made weapon as well.

And now we have Xenoblade Chronicles 3 where the source of all the awful things in Aionios is a machine. Origin responded to the thoughts and feelings it recognised from the people of both worlds, their fear of death, of change, of the unknown. And that reaction created Moebius (and by extension, Z) who created ‘the endless now’ as a supposed escape from those ugly parts of the world, but only ended up repeating them, creating a hellish war torn false reality that kept everyone trapped in a pointless cycle.

Like Malos, Origin is a machine whose damaging actions mirror the flaws of its creators. Like Zanza, Z fuelled himself with peoples lives, using the people of the world as a tool to escape his fear of his own inevitable end.

The villains of Xenoblade range from gods, to AIs to abstract metaphysical concepts but they are all ultimately human or born from humans. It’s never just, ‘humans against the monsters/a machine/god because those non-human entities were typically created BY humans in some way. When you combine that with how many of the more minor villains are disgusting, despicable people, (Mumkhar, Bana, Gort, most of the consuls, D especially), it’s easy to say that Xenoblade has a very cynical outlook on human nature, that it’s saying we’re all just self destructive monsters the world would be better off without.

And yet, the protagonists challenge that by showcasing the best of humanity. Shulk breaks the cycle of violence in Bionis and Mechonis and gives everyone a future. Rex witnesses the worst of Alrest but instead of letting it break him, remains committed to change things for the better. Noah, Mio and their friends question the system that control them, symbolically face the fear of all of humankind, and resolve to restore their worlds (in turn laying the way for a new one), even if they have no guarantee that they’ll see each other again. Their only certainty at this point is each other but they’re wiling to give that up to give everyone else a chance. Unlike Z or even Zanza, they choose self sacrifice and accept change even if they personally come off worse.

Xenoblade is a series where people are the cause of 99% of life’s problems, but they’re also the solution. Even when the villains are monsters, machines or even gods (all of which can be very stock tropes in RPGs especially) they’re nearly always man-made in some way. And triumphing over them represents overcoming our own capacity for evil.

It can be discouraging to accept how much we routinely ruin everything around us, but that’s the first step to realising what we can fix as well. It’s so easy to feel defeated and assume that we’re all awful and beyond saving. That’s the conclusion Jin and N both came to: The world is fundamentally awful and you can’t change it. Xenoblade’s stories show the best and worst of people, And I found that statement really moving. We can be utterly despicable, but we can also be better.

#i’m waxing poetic about xenoblade to distract myself from crying over 3’s ending #ok but seriously this part of the series has really stuck with me #xenoblade chronicles #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xenoblade chronicles 3 #xenoblade spoilers

[gexfan32]

Me when I draw parallels between Mio’s post xc3 friend group in Alrest and the party members from old Torna (I am an absolute genius)

#mio xenoblade #xenoblade #xenoblade fanfic #CoSJ AU #xenoblade chronicles 3 #xenoblade chronicles

[lightbringer-ultimate]

Shad Plays Future Redeemed: Rex's Many Attempts To Be A Dad

A lot of the quests and prep I did were connected to Rex, so let's begin talking yeah?

I want to talk about the Cooking With Rex quests again, now that I think I've done every quest related in that chain.

The story has made it clear by this point that Shulk and Rex desire to reestablish parental connections with their kids. But while Shulk's attempts go extremely well, with several Nicol and Shulk related quests and story beats showing how excited the boy is to actually work on something with Shulk.

Glimmer however...is another story.

I describe Glimmer as basically being Torna Mythra, a version of the character that Rex never got to deal with. Rex is currently sitting firm in Adam's shoes right now, trying his best to support Glimmer but tripping every which way.

He obviously is trying to win her full favor over by cooking the food she loved back on Alrest. That being food that Pyra cooked. The first two Cooking With Rex quests just make it seem like he's teaching Matthew recipes he knows to expand their options, but every time the party goes to eat...Rex is just standing talking to Shulk right near where the former salvager can observe Glimmer's reactions.

And it's more clear in the third quest, where Rex doesn't even respond properly to Matthew encouraging him to cook again, instead remembering what Glimmer's favorite food is: The Torpedo Wrap (something that is loved by the whole base game party).

But when Rex talks with Shulk at the end of the quest like always, the game makes a bigger point to show he's waiting to hear her thoughts. Even if we never find out what they are...

Then we have the Lute quest, which shows Glimmer basically inheriting an instrument. Unfortunately given it was found without strings they need to make the strings from rare monster intestines. Which while Glimmer can handle the killing she's too squeamish to gut the monster. So Rex offers to do it, telling anyone else who is squeamish to close their eyes. (Nicol thanks you, Master Driver). He's even super supportive of her learning to play, as is the rest of the party.

But there's another character Rex parents, that being Linka, Zeke and Pandoria's daughter. In the quest aptly called "Linka's Birthday" Rex decides to make her one of her favorite foods, which is basically Octopus Balls. Zeke had told him the recipe and you go hunt down the tenticled monster all while Linka is left unaware.

Though it turns out that after she sees it...she comments that Rex killed the wrong monster for the recipe. Despite this, she tries it and enjoys it, mentioning how nostalgic it is for her.

While doing these quests along with a quest that calls back to the mural quests from Xenoblade 2...it made me wonder what Rex did post 2.

He obviously kept Garfront Mercs going, given Linka calls him Boss like every merc called Vandam but...God this is interesting.

As for story progress? I didn't get much, the beat I ended off on today was of the group stopping to rest at the Valak Mountain camp and Shulk mentioning his desire to still see the future somewhat, despite passing up the chance at godhood at 18. A does pretty much say that the future isn't set and even if he knew it could only be the knowledge of a single possibility. It's clear that Shulk's anxiety is at a peek, given he's the only one from the OG game still around.

Riku reassures Shulk that he isn't alone in all of this, and gestures to Lucky Seven, the one Noah will eventually get. And then to the Monado REX+. Basically symbolizing that the hopes, dreams and will of the friends he once traveled with are still with him.

And MMMM, Shulk bemoaning his stress being due to his age and it hurts to hear coming from him. I'm just glad they don't show Shulk and Rex being these perfect people who no longer need character development. Because golly these two still very much feel human.

#liberation and revenge #xenoblade 3 spoilers

[zeydaan-isabella]

The Queen's Doppelganger

Story by JoyfulNocturne - the events of Xenoblade 3 have come to pass- and to prevent the evil of moebius from happening again, the queens of agnus and keves need to be proactive. Fortunately, one of them happens to know a certain shapeshifter who may be able to help them. Are they willing to make a tremendous sacrifice for the safety of two whole universes?

Compasses, the trusty tool of many an adventurer, were supposed to help guide you to your chosen destination. At least, if you are on a boat or a space-faring vessel of some kind. But the Hawkmoths adventuring guild, always the unusual sort, relied on different sorts of compasses entirely. Ashley the Dragon was usually the first to become aware of potential adventure when her arcane device, an astral staff that channeled an enigmatic cube of exotic matter, reacted to the energy of other dimensions. These emanations, like ripples upon the multidimensional sea, were often a prelude to big events that a plucky squad of adventurers-for-hire might make a tidy profit in. But the magic of such an artifact is temperamental, even for an experienced mage like Ashley. As of late, something in the depths of the arcane cube was irradiant, like a bright sun in the mind’s eye, causing even Ashley to have to look away with its intensity. She figured this must be the build-up of something big, on the multi-cosmic scale. And so, with the team on call, Ashley sent her magical cube to the science nerds of the crew to be parsed into more structured information. Zeydaan hadn’t even noticed that this preluding incident coincided with a long-range message addressed to them, received by the scientist Alvis’s communications matrix. Sending data across dimensions was understandably a very challenging endeavor. And for strange cosmotechnological reasons that Zeydaan didn’t bother to keep track of, it was actually more difficult to send messages into the “important” dimensions like the one the Wolf Witch and the Hawkmoths called home. But still, when you made a living fixing multidimensional problems like they did, you invested in good equipment. So it was for all these reasons that Zeydaan was a bit stressed and worried by the message, in particular its brevity. The sender was Nia of the dimension known as Alrest, one of the few people outside of the Hawkmoths that Zeydaan truly considered a close friend. And they certainly still were friends, although… the last time they had met had ended with Nia telling her interdimensional pal that she was going to be “so bloody busy” for a while, and wouldn’t be available for their usual antics together. And then silence. Back in the present, all the message said was that there was something urgent they needed to discuss, and that it had to be face to face. The wolfdragon and the catgirl had talked cross-dimensionally plenty of times before, so… what had changed? Something had to be up. The rest of the Hawkmoths, all keenly aware that Zeydaan cared deeply for Nia, were glad to help out in every way they could. In the heart of their headquarters was a giant, room-sized piece of arcanomachinery that formed the core of a miraculous, specialized, interdimensional… meeting room. Adventuring wasn’t all action and whimsy and combat like everyone seemed to think. There was bookkeeping and contracts, interviewing and strategy-planning, all the more mundane stuff that was handled by constructing perhaps the most advanced office in the multiverse. Zeydaan, Alvis, Ashley, and the others waited for the connection to go through. Then, for a few moments, the walls around them shimmered and shifted, like the metal was becoming unsure of whether it actually wanted to be metal anymore, trying out new and impossible possibilities. Then, while also being the sleek modern metal that it just was, it was now also the older, rugged military metal of another world, Nia’s world, layered atop as if both places were now the same place. A door that was there but also not there slid open, and in walked the smiling face that Zeydaan had sorely missed.  Nia was just as animated as ever, despite now wearing elaborate red and silver robes befitting royalty. For a few steps, she was cautious and level-headed, as if balancing a book upon her head. This act lasted barely halfway to the conference table before the catgirl gave it up, and was soon pouncing right into Zeydaan’s wide open arms. “How… is my favorite wolfie from another world doing!” Any semblance of regalness fell away, and Zeydaan let out a sigh of relief, only just now realizing they had been holding their breath the entire time. Was it from a worry that their friend had changed since… whatever had happened? Not to mention the desire to know what had happened to her. To the surprise of the entire Hawkmoths, including Zeydaan, another figure walked in through the same door Nia had entered through. A tall woman with white feather plumes sprouting from her forehead, dressed in purple and silver. Graceful, especially in juxtaposition with the fiery feline Nia. “Melia?” Zeydaan had only seen the Entia woman… twice, they could recall? But those were encounters from the far past, when Zeydaan traveled in the region of worlds intermingled with Nia’s own. On said interdimensional road trip, Zey briefly found themself in a world called Bionis, and fought strange creatures alongside Melia and a creature named Riki. Even as distant as the memory was, it was hard to forget such a bright-shining individual. With a strong sense of duty and a sharp mind, the dimensional wanderer had left that world quite confident Melia would one day do big things indeed. Also, she could wield some truly awesome elemental magic, and Zeydaan had made sure to pick up a thing or two from her, in their brief time together. “Thank you for joining us for this meeting. Your technology for bending our locations together like this is truly marvelous.” Alvis grinned, taking a seat around the conference table. “Bend is a good enough way of putting it… sort of. Although in this room we appear to be in physical proximity, it is not actually so. And neither party can exit out into the other side, or pass physical material between the two. But for a simple meeting, that should be more than enough.” Zeydaan wanted to get to the bottom of this disparity, how Melia and Nia were together before coming here. “But Nia, Melia… you two are actually physically together. How?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “So, let me get this straight.” Alvis remarked, fascinated yet unimpressed by the tale that had taken multiple hours to explain, he touched a paw to his temple to review his notes. “Your two dimensions were originally one dimension, and after your grand adventures you discovered that they were going to combine back into one, so you and your friends miraculously built two massive refrigerators to store two dimensions worth of souls in. But while the worlds were combining back together a malevolent being hijacked the whole thing- seemingly out of nowhere, might I add. This ‘Zed’ thing then made a brand new third dimension only obtusely based upon the original two, which was not what you two wanted, allegedly. So you laid the seeds for new heroes to rise up and rescue you both, and now the two worlds are crashing together into a new one, but the ‘right’ way this time.” Melia, ever the more serious one, nodded while Nia made looks of increasing annoyance. “Well if yer gonna simplify the whole bloody story down that short, then yea, it does sound silly. But it's the truth! And bein’ frank here, I still feel like I’m not getting due credit for all the science and high-concept stuff I had to learn to design Origin. That took a helluva lot of work, I reckon I was a bonafide scientist there for a smidge.” Alvis’s eyes lit up at that. “I would do anything for a look at that research, if you still have it.” Nia scoffed, shaking her head. Melia gave her a look, one of trepidation, as she knew where this conversation was going to go next. “Well, why do you tell us all this?” Ashley was starting to suspect that there was something deeper going on. ”I mean, things sound like they’ve worked out! Assuming your Origin ark is still running right, you can just keep following through with the plan put in place before things got off course.” Melia was the one who broke the brief but palpable silence. “Our people, even if they don’t fully remember… they will long for their connections made to the souls of the other world, made in Aionios. This was not in the original plan, so we cannot say for certain what effect it will have. But, given what we learned from the manifestation of Zed, our concern is that this longing, left unaddressed, may birth something monstrous just as before with Zed.” The entire room took in that possibility. If negative emotions like anxiety and insecurity could coalesce into a monster… could even positive ones like love do the same? … “Love is chaotic, impossible to predict. You are right to be overly cautious.” The stark warning came from Ashley, of all people. And, well, none at the table could disagree with such a thing. They all knew full well just how intense the emotions of love were. Over the course of her very long draconic lifespan Ashley had had her good fair share of romantic engagements. Alvis didn’t really feel romantic love in the way that most of his companions did, but he had a studious mind in his own right. Zeydaan remained silent. Nia lept up from her chair and firmly pounded her fists on the meeting table, leaning forward. “So right, that got me thinking. And ye know what, we’re just not gonna let somethin’ like that happen, no way no how! From what we’ve learned about all this stuff, we believe that there needs to be an outlet for that longing, a reminder of what was and what might one day be within reach again.” She smiled, one ear (wiggling?)(the cat ear thing) as she sat back down, looking to Melia to continue. “The two of us plan to continue our roles as overseers of this transitional period in our worlds. Queens, is what the people decided that meant. So combining that with our outlet theory, our goal is to have each other serve as royal emissaries to each other’s world. An embodiment of the world that now flows concurrently to our respective people’s own, a sign that we may one day connect again. But as you may have already suspected, this would mean each of us being in two different places at the same time…” Before Ashley and Alvis could get into the depths of their knowledge of magic and science respectively, Zeydaan at last spoke up, not even bothering to get up out of their seat. “I’ll do it. Whatever you two have in mind, whatever the plan is, I’m game.” ~~~~~~~~~ “Are you sure about this?” Zeydaan really, really wished everyone else on the team would stop asking that. They all understood, because they knew how important protecting an entire universe was; especially the universe of such a close friend. And yet, that didn’t stop them from asking, repeatedly.  It came from a good place. But even so, despite it all, it was not as if Zey would have so enthusiastically agreed to the request were they not completely and truly commited to it. Something about the Wolf Witch that made them, well, them, was Isabella. Them when they are not a wolf at all, instead a dragon of fae ancestry. When Isabella ebbed, Zeydaan flowed. The sun might rise upon Zeydaan, and the evening moon’s grace would settle upon Isabella. In accepting that both sides of themself deserved the ability to take up space, the whole of them both flourished. In that instant between realizing what their friend was asking and leaping up to accept it, a whole conversation had played out in their mind, in the luminous way that indescribable thought unbound by words can become. A cloistered blossom of Fae, petals fluttering in morning light // Directionless. They ask for much more than they know. A deep change, fundamentally replacing us with her. One wolf, wild and unburdened, paws pressing into wisdom’s soil. It circles round. // Seeking We’d give our all to do it. Would have to give our all. Overhead, a dragon’s shadow, cast upon the mind with grace, certainty // Realization. Yes. And we are the only ones who can truly do it.  A howl into the mind, echoing back distant memories // Encroaching. Nia is a wonderful person. Driven. Caring. She’d not ask unless she had to. A dewdrop in the air, both gaze out into the beyond it reflects. All this is not all // Passion She’s not just a friend. She’s an aspiration. She deserves our all. The trees shudder in breezy joviality. The conclusion stirs in every leaf. // Warmth We’ve often thought, dreamed of being more like her. Oh, how true that is now! Leaping upwards, swooping downwards, joined in equinox agreement // Harmony. It might be fun, too! And that had been that. Zeydaan had set to work on following a laundry list of tasks, from the folder that the Hawkmoths wryly called the “stepping out for a bit” plans. Making sure that of the many, many plates that an adventurer keeps spinning, none are left to topple over when the keeper of said dishware is functionally absent for an extended period of time. From putting in their notice at the Maiden Menagerie, to bank account stuff which Zeydaan was already quite indifferent about, to writing up reports about worlds that Zeydaan would have planned to check in on, that would now fall to the others to manage. But Zeydaan wasn’t the only one who was busy. Even Asriel had taken time out of his busy schedule at the local hospital to come by and do a full checkup on the wolf (“I’ll draw more blood when you get back, I’m sure the comparison will be fascinating!”). Zey wasn’t sure if this had been an order directly from Zachary, or if everyone was simply on the same page to begin with. But even being the boss, Zach himself was on the frontlines helping them out, making lists of different dimensions, the  It was good to have friends. Especially ones who would hear something as wild as “I want to leave for a few years to literally be transformed, body and mind, into my friend to help her protect her home world” and be like “how can we help?” And at the end of it all, once every loose thread had been followed and tied up, they threw a party. The excuse being something to the effect of “your dimension-hopping will need lots of energy so that’s why we’re getting cake.” It was a good cake, flavored slightly by the sweet sorrow of parting. ~~~~~~~~ It was easy for Zeydaan to phase into the world Nia called home, even though it no longer bore the same meta-location data it once had. After seeing Nia at that meeting, her light was bright in Zeydaan’s mind, and the winds between spacetime bore the wolf easily to Alrest… except it was also Agnus, now. At least for a little while.  With Zeydaan lending a helping hand hidden from the rest of the royal government, Queen Nia had completely cleared her schedule for a single day. She was reasonably certain that what remained of Agnus could stay functioning for 24 hours without her there. And frankly, if she came back to Agnus Castle to find that some universe-ending horror had rolled up to the doorstep and everyone had fought it without her, they’d have bigger issues to have to worry about. Now that Aionios was waning, the mixed-together bits and pieces of the two realities that constituted it were separating back out, like oil and water. The grand stratagem that Melia and Nia, plus Poppi and Rex and all the others, had devised all those eons ago was finally happening as intended. And so it was with a profound, nostalgic swell of emotions that Nia took Zeydaan out into the cusp of what was reforming: her true homeland, the Gormotti Province. Rebuilt in the mind’s eye of every Gormotti soul in the Origin Ark, it was even more beautiful than the erstwhile cat could have possibly imagined. But that also meant that old problems would return, and chief among them was the beast that had haunted many a young adventurer. Its thunderous footsteps and horrendous stench had etched themselves into Nia’s memories, and even after so, so much had happened since those days, the terror of that overpowering monster lingered in her nightmares. This didn’t just need to happen for the people’s safety; it was personal. The Territorial Rotbart had to go. “Let’s fockin’ do this. Divine Sword, to me!” “Right on! Fey witch beam!” Across the newborn Gormotti plains Nia charged forward, her blade bursting luminously into a blossom of blue light. The giant beast turned slowly towards them just as Zeydaan’s first long range arcane shot struck its backside. With a terrifying roar and a slam of a gnarled fist on the ground, the Rotbart charged. Nia continued her sprint, tossing a quick spell of blinding brightness outwards to get the monster's attention firmly on her. Then tusk met blade, a scimitar of pure arcane light energy blocking the beast’s mouth, and in that moment Nia grasped at the opportunity she’d dreamed of: punching that giant ape right in the eye. She was laughing as the Rotbart raged and swung its fist, far too late to hit the cat who had already deftly slunk below its legs, aiming to embarrass it by going for its rear end next. It was the little things that made life worth living, after all. Zeydaan’s weapon of choice was a delightful, anachronistic thing. Inspired by both an early-modern military rifle and a witch’s broomstick of yore. The staff, enchanted by fey craftsmanship, combined the raw magic channeling of a witch’s instrument with the focus and precision of a marksman’s tool. Naturally, it had been given the title of The Boomstick, and Zeydaan adored it. They stalked closer at a careful pace, channeling long, powerful spells in the window of safety created by Nia’s swiftness. Spikes of glowing pink crystalline energy grew from their broom like thorns and launched towards the Rotbart. The wolf’s fur stood on end, crackling with potential. Nia deftly dodged side to side, landing hits each time the Rotbart stumbled and howled as a blast struck its hide. “You fall here, wanker! Saber Slash!” And the Rotbart did fall. Specifically, forward. A full force body slam that caught Nia as she tried to dodge aside. “Ow! Bloody hell, get offa me you nasty beast. Get em, Zey!” The Wolf Witch quickened their pace, sneaking in a few more shots before focusing instead on a defensive spell. The dim glow of a fey ward flashed across Nia’s body, mitigating some of the beast’s next blow and transferring the energy back into the witch. Now with only a few meters between them and the Rotbart, Zeydaan dropped the Boomstick and clasped their paws together, pouring mana into their arms. But what came out of Zeydaan’s paw wasn’t a blast of fey magic. A blue sweep of crystal, curved and arching upward, like a scimitar. And a hilt formed in their paw just in time to grasp firm as the beast charged once again. Zey wasn’t one to use a sword, much less one this big. And yet… to protect Nia, they let something deep within their heart whisper guidance, and with a heroic shout Zeydaan brought a heavy slash down onto the Rotbart’s head, with such powerful force that the beast toppled onto its back. As the Rotbart flailed about, Zeydaan helped Nia back up to her feet. They both chuckled half-heartedly, well aware of what that trick there really meant. Zeydaan’s soul, now harmonizing with Nia, was beginning to shift. Now each wielding the same sword, the path to victory over the notorious menace was cut and clear. “Dual Divine Sword!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By the time they’d returned back to the castle, the fur at Zeydaan’s paws was beginning to lighten. And maybe it was just paranoia, but Zey really felt lighter as well, thinner, as if all the fur across their body was shrinking by miniscule amounts. That was probably an overreaction. But it still sat in the forefront of their mind. If you had asked them how they felt about the prospect of this transformation into Nia at the start of all this, Zeydaan would have laughed off any worry at all. They’d turned into so many other things before, even Nia once or twice (although never in the presence of the original, else she might have been miffed. Or maybe even comically critical of the facsimile). But now, after saying goodbye to her team, at the cusp of it, Zeydaan couldn’t shake a deeper emotion of concern in their churning stomach. Was it the finality of it all? Becoming permanently, for a long time, incapable of returning to their true form? Eh, sort of. But then, it wasn’t like they weren’t aware of this always being a possibility for shapeshifters. Was it knowing that the Hawkmoths would be Zey-less now? Bean was sad, as to be expected; she didn’t fully understand the stakes of all this yet, what being a force across the entire tapestry of the multiverse truly meant. It meant utter freedom, but also confinement, committed to knowing when whole realities were on the brink of destruction, and being the only ones with the position to try and save them. Whether it was charging directly into the way of some world-devouring threat, being the couriers of truly otherworldly magic and technologies that could defeat such threats, so on and so forth. Zeydaan, and all the Hawkmoths, weren’t the first to strive for such lofty standards, and they wouldn’t be the last. But right now, it was up to them. “Wolfie, you're lollygagging. Everything alright?” Nia was back in her royal garb, now that the eyes of her kingdom and her people were upon her again. But out of earshot from any of them, she hadn’t yet put on that practiced cadence of queenliness that made her more… “approachable.” “Yea… I’m good. Just tuckered out, I guess. Pretty stoked to find out what the Queen of Alrest gets to eat for dinner, heh.” Nia nodded, and the two ascended up the steps of Agnus Castle, a place that was certainly regal, but grotesquely militaristic as well. Nia was certainly looking forward to these sort of vestiges of the world of eternal war sinking into memory as the real worlds took their rightful places. “Roight, ahem… excuse me, you there! Come hither… could you please escort my… guest to the private quarters of the castle?” The gun wielding guard stowed his weapon and walked up to the two, bowing to Nia and making a poor effort at pretending to not be surprised by the wolfish person accompanying her majesty. “Y-yea, I can do that.” Nia smiled, calm and carefully. “Good. I shall join thee once I have caught up with matters in the throne room.” And with a stilted but well rehearsed bow, the Queen departed to go, well, be the Queen. As they walked, Zeydaan felt an odd tug at their tail. Keeping pace with the guard leading them through the pathways of the castle interior, they tried to catch a good look at what might be going on back there. It felt like their large, furry tail was matting at a surprising speed. With each swish accompanying each step, the volume was decreasing, condensing downwards. While Zey looked themself over, the soldier made sure to keep his gaze forward, although he kept glancing at the unusual sight of this wolf-like person fixating on their own tail. “So uh, are you from Keves? Never seen a… seen a being like you before,” the guard sheepishly asked.  “Soooort of?” And Zey said no further. They knew a thing or two about how to avoid giving out too many details, and how word can spread fast. Even if that wasn’t a critical concern here, in a place of peace, it was better safe than sorry. The guard however, didn’t let the subject go, and instead rather awkwardly shuffled into a pause, looking at Zeydaan with the face of someone who maybe had more on their mind than the helmet covering parts of their head suggested. And well… oh to hell with it. Zeydaan felt unusually chatty, and figured talking would keep the fellow moving. “I’m from… beyond Keves, even further, outside of this eternal war that your countries are in.”  “Well, were in. It's all over now… and gosh, I’m still sort of confused about what’s coming next, you know?  “Roig-<cough>, right. This war is all that you people have lived for ages.” It was probably still quite scary for a lot of people in this world, knowing so much was now uncertain, in flux. Even if the literal monster born from that insecurity was gone, feelings themselves weren’t something you could bash with a sword. “My combat training, it's… really all I know how to do, you know? So if nobody needs that anymore, I’m useless… will I be useless?” Zeydaan kept walking forward. “I’m not sure what things will be like for people here, from now on. But also, don’t count out what you’ve already got. Maybe you only know how to shoot well right now, but hey, you learned that. So you could learn new things too. Or… bloody heck, just keep doing that! There’s still gonna be challenges that require combat.” It felt remarkably easy to raise their voice a bit, because it seemed to Zeydaan quite clear what this guy was feeling, and that the solution to that was to just keep pushing forward. “Yea.. I guess you’re right. But still, what if… I dunno, what if I mess up, you know? Its hard to trust in… well…” the young man trailed off, even as he kept walking and opened a door into the castle’s upper chambers with his keycard. “Well, if you don’t believe in yerself yet, that’s fine. But for now you can just believe in your Queen, cuz I know for sure that she believes in you. She’s got that sort of sense about people, she’ll make sure everything gets sorted out.” Zeydaan smiled, muzzled nose crinkling as it pushed in slightly. “G-gosh… thanks, uh… whoever you are.” But Zeydaan was already turning tail and heading on their way, even as that tail diminished into nothing. ~~~~~~~~~ Nia pulled off the last of her royal accessories as she kicked the door open to her private quarters, tucked in the highest floor of Agnus Castle. “I’m back Wolfie! Bloody hell, turns out the core chips are holdin’ up better than we- Oi! Eating before I even get here? The gall!” Zeydaan, their face only partially clad in fur, slowly chewed and swallowed the mouthful of salmon. “<gulp> c’mon, I’m undergoing a soul metamorphosis, and I’m starving!” Nia tried to fake being angry for as long as possible, before her fuming cheeks gave way to breezy laughter. Zey scooted aside on the Queen’s royally soft bed, and they tucked into the platter of food together. “So, when I become you, you think the royal etiquette training will come along with the deal, or am I gonna have to do some cram sessions?” “Fer your sake, I sure hope it does! Ugh, I mean I get it, ya know, people feel more calm when the leaders seem roight in control of everything. Still, its a bugger<?> of an inconvenience, sometimes.” By the time they reached the delicious paratha bread, Zeydaan was brushing one arm’s paw across the other arm, back and forth, each time seeing some strand of fur fade away with every brush, vanishing. The skin underneath, usually hidden entirely under dark purple and gray, was soft and unblemished. And their legs too were slowly changing, the footpaws and large digitigrade shape straightening into more humanoid thighs and calves. Ones which were quite the opposite of furred, instead smooth and hairless. The days since Zeydaan started to change had been filled with a whirlwind of learning. The two of them had juggled through multiple ways of getting Zey in a position to study and practice what being the Queen of Agnus was like, from hiding covered behind the Palace’s obnoxiously large throne, to disguising as a butler. After Nia recounted to Zeydaan how a robotic doppelganger with a golden mask had been created by the Consuls, they’d even dug around and found the robot’s mask, considering whether it would fit on Zeydaan’s still-sorta-wolf face. But that plan was quickly discarded upon determination that the “hunk o’ junk gives off major heebie jeebies” as Nia put it. They both figured that once they started on the objectively harder part (learning how to speak posh and put on royal etiquette), the easier stuff (changing physically and mentally into a different person) would be a cinch in comparison. And to an extent, they were right.  Every day, more and more of the deep purples became silver hair, rose pink eyes became golden yellow. And it all felt so easy. Zeydaan didn’t have to focus on a spell, or deal with any uncomfortable sensations. It was simply happening. In fact, the affinity for these changes was so great that at times, Zeydaan didn’t even notice what had changed until Nia pointed it out, often with a joke at her own expense. She no doubt meant well, but even as Zeydaan laughed along at Nia’s joviality (“Bloody hell, have I really gotten that tall ‘n thin? Bugger it, this Queenliness is totally distractin’ from how cute I am!”) they felt the slightest current of anxiety amidst it all. The sixth day was the hardest. Nia was able to get a good long look at Zeydaan as they tried a new studying approach (dangling from the ceiling). And what Nia saw on her friend’s face was sorrow, consistent across the parts that were wolfish and Gormotti both. “Out wit’ it. I can tell yer off today, no good sleep last night?” Zeydaan sighed, voice lilting upwards in the all too familiar tenor of the same person to whom they were speaking. “Yea. Had some weird dreams about my friends from, <ahem>, elsewhere. And since I’ve woke, they’ve felt so… distant. It takes time to remember names, names that I know so well. And I’m… I dunno, both right and… urgh, bloody hell.” In an instant, Nia had pulled Zeydaan into a hug, giving one of their ears an affectionate pat. As she did, the ear pushed upwards, higher and pointier than before. “Hey, I get it. I’m here for ye. Through thick ‘n thin, whether it's body or mind. I know well enough, even when friends, well, depart… you’re not alone.” It was good, to have friends. Some days, when there was little else to do, Zey went up to the higher parts of the castle, these large flat exteriors pocketed by tall diamond-adorned pillars.  Despite nobody ever telling them… somehow they knew that up here, momentous, terrible things had happened. Either a very acute sense of this place’s rather harsh vibes, or something more in their mind, their blossoming connection to Nia conveying such knowledge.  Nobody came up here anymore. They were all down below, focusing not on a bloody past, but on a new future. The people of Agnus/Alrest were learning how to let go, but with the right sort of respect and care for all that had been lost along the way. That was why, on a warm summer night, they’d came up here alone, in the company of only the unending sky above. In this contemplative moment, with plenty of room to breathe, the Wolf Witch who was no longer looking like a wolf began to dance. As far as the physical act of it, they knew they’d win no awards, often fumbling and slipping especially as their paws changed to more human-like feet. But there was nobody around to see it, and the point wasn’t about perfection, it was to act as a guide for their lingering fae magic. It had remained inside their changing body, facilitating the transition into this Gormotti form. But now the magic itself was out of place, water soaking the clothes of a swimmer who had emerged out of the ocean. It needed to be shaken off, thus the reason for Zeydaan’s dance. With every step and twist, they conjured great blasts of arcane fireballs, fueled by all that was left in the lingering bits of themself that still looked and felt like the person they were, but also needed to let go of being. The raw magic shot high up into the sky and burst with luminous passion, a brilliant display that cast long shadows and color across the metal edifice of Agnus Castle. Some far down below might catch some glimpse of the beautiful explosions, but they’d never know that it was the final performance of a being from beyond their dimension. In-between the fingers of one hand was a small slip of parchment, on which Zeydaan had written a short note, a declaration to themself and the World. And with the last bit of a magic that was no longer theirs to control, the message was cast aloft, rising up into the sky like a free bird: “I am Zeydaan and Isabella Jem, of the Hawkmoths adventuring team. I am gone now, but never truly gone, and one day I will return.” By the time the message was so high above that it was lost amidst the stars, its paper burned amidst the fireworks, a name and identity transformed into ash that dissipated into the skies. As the lingering lightshow settled and dissipated, the briefly nameless girl stood alone, her hands now free to grasp at her future. With clarity and certainty, she was ready. In her other hand there was a small blue crystal, given to her by Nia (“Roight bloody good I’ve made a habit of keeping spare Cores handy”). She raised the Core Crystal up to her chest, and her body welcomed it, slotting perfectly into place. A last fragment of thought lingered in Nia’s mind as she began the long walk back down into the castle. She felt like she had friends, somewhere far away, who had a knack for spotting big shows of magic. Maybe they’d been watching the fireworks too. ~~~~~ Finally, the day came. The last cusp of Cloudkeep that still bridged the two worlds was about to push away, the engine keeping the small dimensional gateway up now wavering. Like two bubbles being pushed together, the pressure couldn’t be applied forever without repercussions. Melia had sent a message informing the twin Gormmoti that she’d be ready to perform the swap, sending over the new replacement Melia and receiving the new Royal Envoy in kind. But even in the face of it all, Nia and the formerly-not-Nia couldn’t resist having just a teeny bit of fun with the situation. “<pssssh> <beep> Hello? <boop> <CONNECTION ESTABLISHED> This is Melia, here with, well. Melia.” The holograph machine by the portcullis fizzled to life, and the faces of not one, but two people who looked the spitting image of Melia the Queen of Keves could be seen. They each wore the same outfit, and were utterly indistinguishable from each other, even more so than the two Nias. Both of the High Entia ladies bowed respectfully, and the two catgirls waved hello, both trying halfheartedly to hide their scheming grins. “Roight, pop quiz fer Melia and Melia!” “Yup! We gave it a thought and ya know, we can’t be too sure whether or not everything’s up ta snuff. Both wit’ our dear friend’s soul shifting and with how well you’ve trained your own doppelganger. So you gotta figure out which of us is the original, and if you can’t, well… you better not!” Both versions of Melia gave the exact same look of “there is no way they’re doing this right now” so… that was already a good sign in their favor. “Okay, sure. Your joking aside, this is a good thing to do, a fair test for us all. So, what do you think, Melia? Anything we can deduce from the start?” “Quite. One Nia wears the royal garb of Alrest, while the other wears something stylized in the fashion of the Gomotti people.” The left Nia smirked and pulled at the cozy collar of her adventurer’s get-up. Along with the golden yellow skirt and comfy tights, she definitely preferred this over all the fancy stuff her colleagues wore. “Exactly. So, assuming both are equally on board with this… exercise, do they expect that we’d just easily pick the Nia wearing traveler’s clothes, and have thus swapped outfits to mislead us?” Both Melias in unison bore looks of deep concentration. The Nia duo were impressed, truth be told, at how perfectly their similarity in body and mind were. “To the Nia wearing royal garb, a hypothetical question: a noble from what was formerly the Tantal region is visiting on a diplomatic endeavor. How do you greet him?” “Roight, that’s easy. In fact, we’ll say it at the same time, 3, 2, 1…” “Push ‘em offa cliff! If they go splat, then they weren’t a Tantalese worth their salt, and weren’t much of a noble worth our time.” And more and more questions were thrown about back and forth, until all parties were confident that this scheme had worked “Final question…” Both Nias leaned closer, definitely failing to hide their enjoyment of this little game. “Who's the father?” That was the critical hit that gave away their game. Although the royally dressed Nia was able to keep her composure, not sensing any issue, the adventurer-dressed Nia went wide-eyed. Deep in the subconscious of her mind, she knew full well JUST how controversial that topic was. “Okay, okay, you win! I’m the copycat. Just uh, let’s stop talking about who did what with who, roight!” And the four ladies laughed, forgetting for a moment all the momentous steps being taken today. “Okay, we all know how the portcullis works. So let’s get this going.” The communication device fizzled out, and Nia turned to look at, well, Nia. Neither of them had really experienced a farewell of this peculiar sort. “Well, uh… right, so… best o’luck over there, not like you really need it. And uh… you know… ju-” Nia was interrupted by her doppelganger’s embrace, the mirror of an equal in understanding. “And just you don’t get into too much trouble without me, ya hear?” The second Nia, in her favorite getup for big adventures into the unknown, stepped onto the teleporter. With a smile and coy wave, her twin touched the machine’s datapad and pulled the lever, diverting the device’s remaining power to sending one last teleportation. As the world she recognized began to shimmer and dissolve away, she felt a phantom hand upon her own. She looked around the churning, shifting magic, but saw nobody. But she could take the invisible hand in her own, heard a silent whisper, and reckoned this must be the other side of the elaborate dance they were all a part of. Though she couldn’t reach out and see them, Nia shouted out into the cosmos so that she might hear. “The other Melia? If that’s you there… be nice to my “sister,” ya hear? She’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world, even when we’re worlds apart.” Epilogue ~ Nia was… bored. She’d felt like being Queen was stuffy enough back in Agnus, but it was at least offset by the occasional opportunities for action and adventure as crises game up. But as a diplomat, with a very specific role to play as a third party to the new government Melia was establishing, things were quite different. It was nothing but all the formal meetings and decision making that made her wish for something, anything to happen that might get things livened up. …Hold on, didn’t someone at some point establish the threat of wishes creating eldritch monsters? Maybe if she… “M’lady Nia, the afternoon meeting with the architectural team has been moved to a luncheon meeting at Queen Melia’s request. I believe it relates to the latest group of visitors welcomed to the castle?” The castle guardsperson spoke through the communication relay, but Nia could practically feel how he no doubt bowed respectfully as he delivered the news about the change of lunch plans. “My thanks, Irven. I will attend the lunch, and I do very much hope that Ansel stew is on the menu again.” She’d come to appreciate some of the new opportunities that came from living in this world though. Like the food. She still missed Gormott and the rest of Alrest though. It probably wasn’t good to already be counting down the days of this diplomatic exchange until she could return home, given the circumstances. But still. Nia briefly took to the mirror in her chambers, running a brush through her hair and adorning herself with the newest set of bangles and flourishes of her elaborate dress. To everyone here, it seemed they only understood Alrest as some far-off land, beyond the Bionis and Mechonis. She was the only tangible thing they had to connect to, other than any deeply subconscious memories of the third world. So as much as she wanted to not care about getting every part of her look in careful perfection, it was for everyone back home that she put her best foot (paw?) forward.  “Ahem, m-m’lady, it would seem some visitors are seeking to speak with you, although… I do not believe they are part of the visiting delegations? They r-really insi-” “HEY! Shut it and let us in, Jeeves!” “Rest assured, Regicide is not on our agenda, I promise!” “Unless there’s an evil monarch oppressing the populace! We rock at fixing those sort of things!” “Lilith, please…” Nia hopped out of her seat and hurried to the door, swinging it open to find two figures she did not recognize, who were… well she sure hoped they weren’t planning on Regicide, though what else that giant gun would be for was unclear. They looked like run-of-the-mill Homs, except… well actually, they weren’t that run of the mill at all. Nia had never seen a man with such peculiar dark blue scales accenting his muscular body, and nor had she seen a lady so… green, before. They seemed friendly, if a bit out of place, and were not-so-subtly pushing between each other to stand in front of the doorway. “Oh, ahem…” Both stopped muttering to each other about past run-ins with monarchies and . As she’d practiced, Nia put her hands together and bowed slightly, in a way that was polite but also all I’m a queen and bloody important apparently. “H-hello there, y-you… you’re highness, yea! We’re your… well, we’re friends of a friend, and we just really wanted to stop by and make sure you’re doing well and, since we won’t be able to later, you know… gosh, uh.” “You two are… travelers, then? Ones who thought it wise to sneak in here uninvited?” The two strangers both kept their smiles, although there was a subtle shift in the man’s eyes that suggested something deeper. “We just, ah… I… wanted to make sure you weren’t just in there moping about on your own, you know? By your lonesome as a Queen.” He spoke with a suave, deep voice that was, to Nia’s thinking, pretty charming.  “And I came too! You know, in case there was any problems that needed taking care of.” The cat racked her brain trying to make sure she wasn’t missing something here. Who… were these two? It seemed plausible they were from Alrest, but also not likely. They were treating her with such casualty, as if they knew her well. That or they were simply oblivious as to what sort of propriety was meant for meeting with a royal emissary. “Course there isn’t any problems, Lil! There’s a whole kingdom’s worth of soldiers and such here now!” “Zach, but what about, you know, crazy stuff!” Sounded like the latter. But they were sweet about it at least, in a way that was… nice. “Okay, and speakin’ of those soldiers, you two, whoever you are, can’t just be bargin’ on in here like this, or I’ll have to call em. I appreciate your concern, but I’m doing just splendid!” And that was the truth, despite the intense boredom she sometimes felt, Nia was proud to be managing this whole situation with aplomb. “Well then… good! Just, you know, stay splendid like that then.” For reasons not quite within her understanding, Nia felt herself raise one of her hands up towards them in a fist. Zach and Lilith nodded, as if this meant something to them, and bumped that fist with their own.  The three parted ways soon after. The strangers went to the same window they used to invite themselves in uninvited. Mantling over the castle wall, Lilith turned and looked at Zach, who even now hid his melancholy under a suave smile. “Hey, chin up. We got to see them. Now’s time for the brilliant escape plan…” “Yea…” “Zach.” “I know, I know, I should be happy that they’re, er, she’s doing-” “ZACH. Do you have the parachutes charged this time?” “...Um…” Nia distantly heard the sound of heavy objects splashing in the moat outside as she continued down the halls and stairways down into the inner chambers of the castle. By the time she finished walking down the stairs into the large meeting hall, she’d shifted easily back into the measured, regal gait of the foreign Queen. Melia was in the antechamber as well, along with other ministers and advisory folk. After the standard route routine of bowing and introductions, Nia “The Esteemed Emissary of Alrest” took her seat at the table, and grabbed a plate of food while listening in on the conversation. The architecture nerds had even brought a rolling data-screen in to show notes on. Truly riveting stuff, these rivets. While everyone started discussing reconstruction and construction material procurement and yada yada yada boring things, Nia discreetly scanned the long table of dining guests. Surely someone here was just a wee bit more interesting than this bloo-oooooh, whose this? A young man with bright blue eyes and long black hair pulled up in a ponytail. He gazed forward, as if deep in thought, a hand resting against the sheathed sword at his side. Nia waited very politely for a lull in the conversation to get Melia’s attention, nodding towards the teen and inquiring with utterly civility who he was. “He’s a boy from the Lower Bionis. A Brog infestation was causing trouble in the beaches in the Colony 9 region, and this Noah fellow here helped take the leader down. He asked to come along back to the castle, for he is looking for jobs. In fact… Noah, I do believe you mentioned being interested in wanting to do some sightseeing of the rest of Bionis, yes?” The young man caught Nia and Melia’s gaze, and wordlessly nodded. Nia felt something stir in her chest, trying to place what it was about this young man that interested her, other than the simple fact that he looked substantially more fun than these scientists.  “If you are interested, Nia, perhaps you might consider a…diplomatic mission, soon. And as an envoy of the Queen, you would be good to hire some bodyguards, and Noah has shown himself to be quite the swordmaster.” The fair feathered Queen didn’t even need to drop a coy wink or anything, Nia knew exactly what she was getting at.   She couldn’t act upon it right away, as it would be far more regal and fancy-like to wait until the meal had finished and the parties were beginning to leave the table. Nia rose and gracefully walked down towards this fellow, and as she got closer, something clicked within her mind. A realignment of a memory that even she had forgotten, from what felt both like distant memory and unrealized dream. It caused a hint of confusion, even worry for a moment, but then… elation. Enthusiasm, even! Optimism. “Well, roight good to meet ya… tell me, you up for a bit of adventurin’?” It was good, to make new friends.

#isabella #isabella jem #fey #hybrid #dragon #draconic #xenoblade 3 spoilers #zeydaan #nia #xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles #nia xenoblade #gormotti #cat #catgirl #queen #spoilers #xenoblade 3 #chronicles #soul #sword #memories #hawkmoths #the hawkmoths #willing #semi-permanent #twinning #clone #melia #story

[windmagicuser]

So I’ve finished Xenoblade Chronicles 3 main story yesterday

I really had a good timing btw, they announced the DLC story just a few hours later haha

Anyway, I really enjoyed the game, I’m still not sure if I appreciate it more than the first game.

About the ending...

Well it was so bittersweet, I loved it! And honestly I didn’t expect Bionis and Alrest to be separated again, so it was even more moving to me. Not sure how I feel about the fact everything seems to have turned back to the moment before the worlds collided... Still, Noah hearing Mio’s offseer song is likely to suggest that everything actually happened and everyone kept some of their memories of Aionios. So, maybe a Xenoblade Chronicles 4 will clear that up?

Also, about that photo Nia’s looking at, wtf are these babies? Rex became polygamous in the end?? He really meant that when he replied to Nia’s confession saying he loved all of his friend lmao (and I guess Mio is Nia’s daughter? Especially considering what Nia is about to say in a quest later?) Still I’ve wished Melia had a similar picture instead of looking at Monado, but it was also a nice nod to her feelings about Shulk. By the way I’m so glad about the way they put her back, she really got a regal, charismatic and commanding presence, I love her so much.

About the story, I’m not sure I’ve fully understood everything. Like, how come the original Noah and Mio were from the City and even got a child, but ended up recycled each time? Why did they ended up in the flame clock cycles? And I guess their were both split in two personas because they both got extremely strong feelings of regret (the Moebius, N and M) and strong feelings of hope (the characters we play, Noah and Mio), but I feel I’m wrong haha. Or is it simply a part of Z’s game?

But I’m sure the DLC will give us many answers. And probably many more questions haha.

#Xenoblade Chronicles 3 #spoilers #XC3 spoilers #mine

[void-kissed]

For the SI development meme: 4, 5, 6, and 8 for any or all of your Xenoblade SIs?

Sure thing, friend!! Thank you very much for sending these in, it really means a lot!~

(question source: "Self-insert Development Meme" by blushpanda)

Hmm.. You know what? I didn't catch this when I first read your ask, but I now see that you wrote "for any or all", rather than just "for any". So how about I answer all four questions for all four (well technically three but functionally four) self-inserts? ^-^

..That'll make this quite a long ask answer, so I should probably go under the readmore, haha.

Alright, here we go!~

4. Do your self-inserts have a backstory? Tell us about them! How do their backstories, if any, define who they are? How do they reflect their relationships now? Their hopes and dreams? - ..In short, yes to the first question, so to elaborate:

Sapphire's backstory is that she was born on Gormott to Gormotti parents, but while they were sailing across the Cloud Sea, their boat was swallowed up by the Urayan Titan and became shipwrecked. Sapphire was still a young child here, and sustained many serious injuries, mostly to her back and her arms. A team of Garfont Mercenaries led by Vandham himself went to the mouth of the Titan to investigate, and found Sapphire in the wreckage - none of them had brought any healer Blades with them, so Vandham picked her up and ran all the way back to Garfont Village with her in his arms to get help. To this day, none of the mercs are quite sure how she survived, considering the extent of her injuries and the time it took for her to be healed - but she did, and Vandham immediately decided he would adopt her as his daughter (naming her Sapphire), so from then on she grew up in the village amongst everyone else and training alongside the mercs until meeting the party when they arrive in Garfont Village themselves.

Aline's backstory is that she was originally a resident of Torigoth Village, one day unexpectedly becoming a Driver after unearthing Avalon's Core Crystal in a field. When the village was razed, she fled, becoming separated from Avalon in the process - Lora and Haze, at Avalon's request, found her hiding in a rainy forest nearby. There wasn't much time for her to introduce herself before the party were attacked by Gort and his mercenaries - Addam and the others were impressed by Avalon's abilities, so they asked him and Aline to accompany them on their journey, and Aline was somewhat nervous but tentatively accepted (mostly both for Avalon's sake because they actively wanted to help, and also because she had nowhere left to go now. And also to get to know Lora more).

Calanthe's backstory is that she was initially a programmer in Vector Industries' First R&D Division; specifically, she was part of the team responsible for coding KOS-MOS' emotion module. She had been working on a modification that would remove the limiter placed on KOS-MOS' emotions, allowing her to express emotions whenever she desired as opposed to only when her module deemed it necessary; she was in the middle of fitting this modification when the Gnosis attacked the Woglinde, causing KOS-MOS to self-activate and resonate with the Zohar. Since Calanthe was in physical contact with KOS-MOS at that moment.. she accidentally gets transported across universes into Alrest, appearing outside the room where the Conduit (as it is known there) is kept. In the process, she also accidentally awakens the Blade version of KOS-MOS from her Core Crystal, and has a very confused conversation with the Architect himself before wandering out of Elysium. She gets as far down the World Tree as the 7th Perimeter Skyport before accidentally falling off, causing KOS-MOS Re: to jump down after her; the two fall through the Great Void before it completely closes and end up falling into the Land of Morytha, where Poppi spots them and flies up to help them both before they hit the ground. This then allows Calanthe and KOS-MOS to meet and join the party.

Citri's backstory is that she grew up as a resident of Colony 9, and has been friends with Shulk in particular (as well as his friends by association) since her childhood. When Colony 9 was attacked by Mechon, she was injured and captured, being taken to be turned into a Face unit alongside Fiora (who suffered a similar fate). Due to Citri's friendship with Shulk, who had since begun to wield the Monado, she was chosen by Vanea to pilot Face Nemesis and become the vessel for Lady Meyneth's soul. The soul transfer worked, but Citri ended up retaining her memories and consciousness coexisting alongside Lady Meyneth, allowing her to start to get to know both her and Vanea.

..Ah, this is already a long answer. Oh well!

5. Do your self-inserts have any magical talents or otherwise special abilities? Are they passive, like the ability to befriend animals, or dangerous power that the villains want? Or if they're evil - any powers the heroes want to stop? - This varies across the four!

Sapphire has the somewhat mysterious power to crystallise atmospheric ether! This ability is rather strenuous for her to perform, and she can only do it on a small scale. However, it enables her to fix Blades' Core Crystals that have been cracked, allowing those Core Crystals to be reawakened again when they would otherwise not have been able to. She doesn't know why she can do this - in part, some of her initial motivation for joining the party is to see if she can find out - but it's because she has shards of Avalon's Core Crystal inside her, and ether crystallisation was how they used to be able to heal both Drivers and Blades, so the fragments of their Core Crystal in her body are what meant she essentially "inherited" that unique ability of theirs.

Aline doesn't really have any particular magical powers, but she does have the aptitude required to become a Driver, as she found out when accidentally resonating with Avalon! She is also quite good at befriending or calming down scared animals or creatures, but this isn't really a magical talent so much as it is just "her natural personality makes her comes across well".

Calanthe also has aptitude despite not actually being from Alrest, as she discovered when she awakened the Blade version of KOS-MOS. You could argue there's also some potential for magical stuff by virtue of having literally gone through a gate between universes despite being an ordinary human, but.. so far nothing is planned for that. She's just a very out-of-her-depth-in-a-whole-new-world programmer.

Citri may also not really have magical abilities (at least, unless the whole "harbouring the soul of a goddess inside her" part counts), but she is unique for being able to pilot Face Nemesis. Her new robotic body also makes her a lot more resilient than she would have been as a Homs, and probably also gives her faster reflexes and higher strength and things.

6. Do they fight? What’s their weapon of choice? Do they stay on the sidelines? What would it take for them to get off the sidelines? Revenge? Saving a loved one? What’s the motivation for them to fight, or to stay OUT of a fight? - Yes, all four fight in various ways and levels of willingness to fight!

Sapphire is fairly skilled in combat thanks to growing up amongst the Garfont Mercenaries, who taught her how to use a fair few different weapons (sometimes at a bit too young of an age, but it was fine). She doesn't actually become a playable character until after Chapter 4, when Tora decides to go back to Gormott with his father in my version of events and she takes up the role of Poppi's Driver (since Poppi is an artificial Blade). When this happens, she is excited to finally be on equal footing with the rest of the party, and doesn't shy away from fighting if it seems like the right thing to do!

Aline does not enjoy fighting, but sometimes has to as part of travelling alongside the others. Her weapon of choice is a sickle that she'd previously used while farming, and she starts off as the wind element, but can change this. Her non-combative disposition may be a large reason of why both the Blades she awakens during the TTGC story are healers. If she does have to be in a fight, she much prefers supporting her allies and staying back from the main fighting - the most offense she will choose to muster is self-defense if something gets too close or possibly debuffing enemies to make them easier for the others to take down.

Calanthe also isn't that much of a fighter, but is more willing than Aline - it's moreso that she isn't used to it, but can adapt fairly well. Her main weapon ends up being KOS-MOS' Ether Cannons, which is good because it keeps her a bit further back from the action while she's inexperienced; she tends to pass the cannons back to KOS-MOS for her to do specials very frequently, especially initially when she has no idea how to use these two massive Zohar-shaped cannons she's just been thrown. But with how overpowered KOS-MOS is, Calanthe still definitely holds her own (and gets flustered by KOS-MOS' awesomeness often).

Citri can also fight pretty well! In my version of events, she takes Fiora's place as the seventh playable party member (since.. she kind of fills in a lot of what her role in the story used to be, oops). She isn't naturally someone who starts fights, but at the same time she isn't afraid of fighting, especially considering the story parts she is playable for because she is confident in what needs to be done and who needs to go down (especially after the events of the Mechonis Core where she is a lot more driven to defeat the villain).

8. How do they fit into their canon world? What’re their roles to play, if any? Do they have big destinies? Or do they more live as side characters that’re helpful for the protagonists/antagonists? - All four have different roles, but the extent to which they are "main" or "side" characters varies a bit!

Sapphire is a member of the main party from Garfont Village onwards, though she only becomes playable herself after the end of Chapter 4. I think she would be quite prevalent in the story due to her relationship with Pyra, and the fact she is with the party for a lot of the overall story, especially since Tora leaves after a certain point in my version of events so there are less characters sharing the spotlight. I also think being a more important character suits her in terms of her personality, if that makes any sense!

Aline joins the party right before the first fight against Gort, and continues to be a playable character within "Team Aline" (which consists of her, Avalon, and later Ursula) for the rest of the game! From there, she acts as a supportive character to the others. Despite the fact she appears so early in the game, TTGC comes across as very focused on Lora, Jin, Addam, and Mythra specifically, so I think she would be an important but not necessarily "main" character (especially also considering her naturally more introverted and less spotlight-hunting personality).

Calanthe would join the party during Chapter 8, when they encounter her and KOS-MOS in the Land of Morytha. I think she could be playable, given that KOS-MOS being her Blade indicates that she could go on to awaken more Blades, but at the same time that's very late in the game to have a new party member join. She doesn't have that much story relevance considering she's not from the world of Alrest, so she'd be more of a side character who only gets developed more if you make the effort to go back to Alrest and do sidequests and things in the final two chapters before beating the game.

Citri is quite important within my version of events as the vessel for Lady Meyneth, whom she ends up forming a close familial connection with! She and Fiora both share the whole theme of "reasons for Shulk and Reyn to fight the Mechon and figure out what happened to them both", as well as being a link between the Homs and the Machina by virtue of being a Face unit (although Citri has a notable difference in a) the whole Lady Meyneth thing but also b) she's the only Face who retains her original hands, due to a mechanical defect in the ones she was meant to have had).

Overall, I would say that Sapphire ends up the closest to a "main character" out of the four.

Phew! That was a lot of writing! But, hopefully it was all okay - this, if nothing else, will serve as an excellent reference post for introducing new people to my Xeno self-inserts. So, thank you very kindly for the opportunity to write all this out!! ^-^

#a call from the void #heart of the void #selfshipping #self-inserts #oh boy here we go this is going to be a lot of tags. let's go in order of mentions so I don't miss anyone hopefully #self‑insert: gem of garfont (sapphire) #father: the dad from down under (vandham) #self‑insert: hope without courage (aline) #friend: shattered light (avalon) #love: knight of the people (lora) #friend: windfall memories (haze) #self‑insert: in a world displaced (calanthe) #love: power of another world (KOS‑MOS) #daughter: poppi power! (poppi) #self‑insert: vessel of nemesis (citri) #love: a wish for peace (vanea) #mother: soul of the mechonis (lady meyneth) #is that everyone??? #of gods and titans (xenoblade chronicles) #familial F/Os #platonic F/Os #out of the inbox #selfship asks #berry tag! #*phew!* #maybe this should be the only one for today. but! it's done! hopefully! I didn't really proof-read it but hopefully it's okay #echo's info posts

[moved-to-void-kissed]

"Welcome, challenger. You've made it to the end of this region's Pokémon League. Before all else, I want to congratulate you and your team on your achievements! Your skills and abilities, as well as those of your Pokémon, have been demonstrated time and time again. So, regardless of this next battle's outcome, I think that that in itself is something to celebrate. ..To tell you the truth, although I stand before you now as the Champion, my own claim to this title might not quite be as concrete as I'd like it to be. After all, I haven't actually done what you are standing here to attempt - I haven't actually beaten the previous Champion in battle here. However.. let's just say that I count as the closest thing this region has at the moment. This is not the battlefield I would personally have chosen - I wasn't quite able to reconfigure the terrain properly.. But, that doesn't mean your victory is assured. So, challenger, I suppose this is the part you have been preparing yourself for.. Come and see if you are able to join me in the Hall of Fame! On behalf of this region's coveted Champion, I - as the Shadow Champion - accept your challenge!"

"..Do you think that sounded alright, Mx. Flores?"

(Reblogs of and comments on my work are always okay and appreciated, but are never required!~)

Tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @alrest | @tex-treasures | @ayatosamore | @tartaglialovemail | @lilacslovers | @kalliopi-ships | @moltarshusband | @dragonsmooch | @blackbirdcrime | @strawberryshipz | @pandapup | @harmonic-function | @candyforthebrain | @bonetrousler (to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

This is what I've been working on today - a Trainer sprite of my self-insert, Adriana! My friend Clara very kindly made the hair, and my other friend Ginger also very kindly helped me sort out the ribbon. The sprite base is from here and the skirts are from here. I'm really happy with how it turned out in the end! ^-^

Once I had finished the sprite, I had the idea to try and portray it in a canon situation, so that's what I've done here - I had already written out the hypothetical dialogue Adri would give before a battle against her, so I decided I could share that here too!

To give a bit of explanation.. Just as the Reborn Pokémon League has reserve Gym Leaders, Adriana acts as the region's reserve Champion, as she is strong enough to stand in place of the actual Champion whenever they happen to be absent (which happens at least twice in the story). The silver-haired person in the screenshot is one of my platonic F/Os, Adrienn - xe acts as the administrator and manager of sorts for the League, so xe is helping make sure Adri has everything sorted out to receive challengers in the "true" Champion's absence.

Here is an upscaled version of the Trainer sprite, as well as her VS sprite (although it's technically facing the wrong way for if you were to be challenging her, I made it for use in my own playthrough of the game, so that's why it's in place of where the player's would be!) Yes, those are Giratina wings. I can explain if desired.

Thank you very much to anyone who happens to have read all of this! Please feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts or questions! ^-^

#a call from the void #creations from the void #this post is okay to reblog! #selfship #selfshipping #heart of the void #self‑insert: soul‑touched (adriana) #friend: timeless visionary (adrienn) #platonic F/Os #of a city reborn (pokémon reborn) #of leagues and trainers (pokémon) #the reason why it’s shadow champion and not just reserve champion is because I specialise in ghost-types ^-^ #I thought it was clever hehe #and adri's specifically holding a luxury ball because she keeps all of her pokémon in them! #they provide the best environment for them to be most comfortable. and she can also afford them comfortably. so it makes sense #since she comes from a noble family in kalos

[jinmalos]

its beginning to look a lot like shitscram

#rex #azurda #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xbc2 #scribbles #local rex spends all money from salvaging by buying his friends gifts #AGAIN I THINK ALREST HAS MULTIPLE RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS SOME LIKE AND MANY UNLIKE CHRISTMAS #but i thought this would be haha silly

[bccfggffbgv]

Azem:…that was less convincing than when Elidibus tried to pose as Ardbert, and Elidibus was very bad at that. So, then, what was wi-

(The question was interrupted as…well, it turns out in the time it took for this meeting to happen, the other group went through a lot, with one of the heroes from the Alrest Natives being captured by Jin and Malos, the others going on the chase, finding a ruined land below the cloud sea (below the part that seemed like Water), and now being on the massive tree, which actually was growing around a…space elevator complex? This was not what anyone expected. What’s more, an ally of Jin and Malos, who they knew not the name of (A.N. It’s Mikhail) was now attacking Indol, which was now shown to have secretly armed their own Titan with weaponry. As expected, everyone who wasn’t with Amalthus all the way where in a major panic, forcing many to take charge to calm everyone enough for emergency evacuations. Without missing a beat, Azem opted to get rebel air support to help get people off of the Titan, which worked. They then turned to Amalthus after summoning some backup)

Azem: If you somehow survive this, I’ll be sure to finish the job. Oh, and don’t bother getting Haze. She…*points to her, after Libertas came to pick her up*…isn’t under your thumb anymore.

(As they left, Azem thought that they heard Amalthus mention that at least they where unaware of Overdrive Protocols, the only thing that can change who a Blade’s driver is normally. Thus, they decided to ask Adenine about if after they made sure everyone was off of Indol. Thankfully, this was quick, given they had plenty of ships to work with, including the Ark and the Ragnarok (the S.S. Biscuit wasn’t well equipped enough to handle that many people). Soon, they where also flying away from the dragon-like Titan, with Azem and Adenine on Landerwaffe)

Azem, to Adenine: So, Adenine, if I’m not mistaken, that Amalthus guy said something about an “Overdrive Protocol”. Do you have any info on that?

Adenine, in response: One moment, then. *checks her memory for if there’s something* Got it! It’s a strange object that appears to hold some sort of code that, upon activation, allows a Blade’s bonded Driver to be changed, as the only way it can be altered without the death of the Driver. Rex and his friends might have one, but they are very rare so-

(She was interrupted herself by the airship the ally of Jin and Malos (Mikhail) turning into a…mech? What?)

Azem, while Adenine is silent in shock:…That wasn’t what I expected to see…

(A.N. Can we get other reactions by those not on the World Tree (the tree around a space elevator) in response to Mikhail’s robot?)

Eda, unsure on how to react:...Okay then...*She began casting various spells at the mech to distract them while the others shot at it as well*

Ross, after getting an idea: Guys, I need one of you to throw me at the mech's cockpit-! *V had immediately grabbed him and prepared to throw him* Wait, wait, wait! Aren't you curious about what my plan is?!

Serial designation V: It's Do or Die kid! Now let's see if you can fly!! *She had then tossed him impressively far at the mech*

Ross, while panicking on the inside: Gia and Gods, I hope this actually works!! *He had then grabbed out the Plasma cannon Uzi had remodeled and pointed it straight at the pilot*

Mikhail, both confused and shocked by what he then saw: What the-? *Ross had then pulled the trigger and got sent flying back to the others due to the cannon's recoil and the blast force* Someone catch me!!!

*The mech had then crashed onto Indol, causing both to crash hard onto the earth. Everyone had soon met up together at the tree*

Jackrow:...That just happened...Do you think the civilians are gonna be mad at us for this?...

#Multiversal Fusion #crystalverse #Chaos-verse

[gexfan32]

More post XC3 Alrest Headcanons

Not long after the intersection, Poppi gathers Mio and her friends and just tells them the whole story of Aionios, which initially only Poppi, Rex, and Nia were privy to. Poppi eventually formats the data into a sort of Aionios Wikipedia, for use if anyone wants to know something specific abo it the endless now

After the harrowing revelations from Poppi’s plot summary, Mio, Glimmer, Miyabi, and Sena go try to distract themselves with a game of tiger tiger kart 64

These events play out a bit differently in the Crystal of Shining Justice AU, which will be explained here, and depicted in a bonus chapter, and possibly future fics

Nia gives a basic explanation of what Aionios was to just about everyone who was with her and Mio at the time, but later, after Sena has a nightmare of her driver,, Miyabi’s death, Poppi notifies Mio and her friends that her database has finished formatting so they can investigate the events of the endless now.

#mio xenoblade #xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles 3 #Miyabi xenoblade #sena xenoblade #glimmer xenoblade #poppi xenoblade #nia xenoblade #CoSJ AU #xenoblade chronicles #headcanon #People kind of ignore that Tora invented video games canonically during xc2

[zeydaan-isabella]

Zeydaan joins the Fight!

Story by Metroid711 - Zeydaan gets a mysterious letter in the mail. Opening it they find themselves flung into a whole new reality. They've been chosen to join the ranks of Smash. And their first opponent, Samus Aran herself. Zeydaan will need to use all their talents of transformation to seize a victory.

Zeydaan would be relaxing at home. They had a pretty uneventful weekend all things considered. After their last adventure in a dimension of witches and titans, they figured they could use some time to relax. However, this would change the moment they went to open their mailbox for anything sent to them that day. And to their surprise there was one single letter. It was about the average size of an envelope, although the color of the paper was a bit more orange than it usually was. But what got their attention most of all was the big wax red seal in the middle of it. They would close the mailbox and take it inside, turning it over. No written address or stamp. The only significance to state where it was from was the design of the seal. On closer examination they recognized just what it meant; it was the spherical design with a set of cross-like lines through it. Or otherwise known as the Smash Brothers symbol. Now Zey was aware of this crossover world of different dimensions, given they’ve met several of the characters in the past and even become a few of them. However, they had never been given an invite directly this way. They figured, bottoms up, and broke the seal, opening the envelope. There was a bright flash of light, squinting their eyes as they felt their body grow light as air. Falling through what felt like a column of light, until they would feel their paws reach solid ground. As the light cleared from their vision, they would be met with something truly magnificent. They were standing on an upper viewing platform for a massive, rounded arena. It was packed to the brim with cheering crowd members, many of which were minor characters. The middle of the arena was a large green field, with two individuals duking it out with all their might. That of which being the easily recognizable Mario and Kirby. But before they could do or say anything, they felt a tap on their shoulder from behind. They would end up turning around, and a grin spread across their muzzle as they instantly recognized the familiar face. The woman standing in front of the fae-wolf was none other than the Welsh cat-blade from the dimension of Alrest, Nia. The sassy silver-haired cat shortie would place her hands on her hips sassily with that usual smirk she had. “I see ye got my letter, wolfy~” Zey would rub the back of their head with a chuckle, happy to see an old friend like her. Not only a friend, but someone Zey had turned into often in the past in many situations. She would gesture to follow, and Zey would oblige. As she was leading them in the back areas of the arena, where most of the worker characters would keep the whole show running. “So, I didn’t invite ye for no reason, I need yer help.” She would flick their tail a small tad as she would lead Zey to the main waiting room, close to the fighting arena entrances. “So Samus o’er on th’ other side needs a competitor due tuh’ Ridley takin’ a sick day.” Zey was aware of both, Ridley more specifically, but the thought of the big, enormous menacing bio-dinosaur having to call in sick was a funny one. Zey would listen to her continue to explain, the crowd was particularly excited for a rival fight. But even if Ridley couldn’t come out, an unheard-of combatant like them would make for good entertainment. “Use some o’ yer powers! Lead the crowd on an’ give Samus a good ol’ run for er’ money~” Zey would nod, taking a bit of a deep breath in preparation. As Nia gave them another pat on the back, with them going to take a seat as they waited. Eventually, after almost 30 minutes, a Koopa Troopa would step out with a clipboard and ref’s outfit. “Ridley’s replacement! Yer up!” Zey would stand, nervous, but also a little excited they’d get to take part in one of the most fantastic competitions in the multiverse. Nia would snicker as they would walk towards the door, “Break a leg! Ye got this!” she’d say in jest. They would take steps out onto the large green arena as the crowd would erupt into cheering, a large screen above them showing a close-up camera shot of Zey. The fae-wolf would end up waving to the crowd, if not a little embarrassed. And on the opposite end, in all her shining orange suited glory would be Samus Aran … the Samus Aran Zey was so well familiar with, who the crowd would cheer louder unsurprisingly. Zey would have thought up a couple good forms for fighting while they had been waiting. The first one they felt would be a crowd pleaser, while also maybe catching Samus off guard as the announcer counted down. 3… two … one…Fight! And instantly Samus began to charge up her beam attack, her metal boots thumping against the ground. It would be important to mention that ever since Zey got here, their powers felt more … flexible. Like they felt the expanse and interchanging abilities being more heightened than usual. Although Zey would run towards her, as they would focus on their abilities and swipe upwards, knocking the cannon upwards. Samus would kick them back, only to realize they were holding a tennis racquet in their paws. Paws however, that were now smoothing and swelling into thick white gloves with more manly and lanky fingers. Samus was a little jarred for a moment, as the thick and soft clothing material was rapidly converting up their arms. It was a deep purple, and as it replaced their fur and skin of their arms, they would get longer and lankier. Their elbows bent a little easier and they felt physically stronger, their chest flattening and stretching as they grew taller. He had a bit of an odd figure so this was a bit difficult for them, but Zey could do it. Black overalls rapidly replacing their chest with round gold buttons on each side, with them slung over their longer, furless shoulders. They felt the black overalls stretch and thicken their legs as they got rapidly taller. That odd lankiness bent at the knees, with their feet paws curling and fusing into sleazy orange shoes. The backs of their gloves would have backwards Ls, ones a lot of people in the crowd would be familiar with as they gasped. And Zey felt the oddest parts of the changes eating up their face as they ran forward, feeling male as their fur was being swallowed by scratchy human skin. They felt their chin jut and swell out, cracking their jaw as it reshaped to be more defined and a brutish sort of look. The skin stretches their jaw, and particularly their mouth out over their face. Teeth gnashing and flattening together to form more human shapes. As their black, messy hair would slick back into a light brown pompadour of sorts. Their furless ears would stretch out the sides of their head. The end of their flat nose would feel nasally as it swelled out like a balloon, curling out and turning pink as their eyes flattened and grew out across their now furless, itchy skin covered face. Thick, gaudy eyebrows curled over their eyes as they keeled in to look skeevier. And with a plop of a purple hat bearing the same logo as their gloves, or rather his gloves, Zey had turned into a perfect copy of Waluigi. He was surprised to find had way more physical strength than he expected as he shot at Samus. Never had the crowd seen someone capable of transforming in such a way other than Kirby, but even his changes were minor. Samus would dodge and knock the kicks and tennis racquet-based attacks, on the defensive. This was until she would charge forward and slam into his chest, knocking him backwards. She was adapting to his moves, surprisingly. As he chucked the racquet at her to bonk off the visor of her mask, he would quickly focus on another character. And two words came into the big lanky man’s mind as he would hold out his glove, a green crystal forming in it. “Chaos…Control!” And for a few moments, time slowed down. But it was enough time for him to quickly reshape his body, his lanky arms and legs were rapidly shrinking as his gloved hands grew even larger. Golden rings forming as bracelets around his wrists with his clothing material melting away to reveal perfectly smooth black fur taking over his arms and legs. His orange shoes would swell and grow more complex, curving up into Air shoe designs. A mix of black, white, with red edges and golden rings around his ankles. His rear would have a small spiked black tail prodding out, with his shortening chest fluffing out into a small tuft of white fur amongst the black. He felt the abilities of time and space filling his being as he clenched his fists. Especially as he felt his odd, shaped head start to take an even odder metamorphosis. His mouth and jaw pulled forward and thickened with new sensations. His lower jaw and cheeks had taken an orangish cream color, and his once long pink nose would compress into a small and round black one. His short brown hair would explode out in luxurious and glossy thickness as it would clump together and solidify. It would rapidly darken and thicken, flaring out like a starfish, as red streaks formed in the black as the fur had compiled into perfectly styled quills. Their eyes would also grow and stretch, becoming more cartoonish with deep red eyes. They looked far more serious and less goofy than Waluigi did, or once again he did. As his new ears formed, time would return to normal, and Shadow the Hedgehog had been the next form Zey took. He would charge forward, knowledge of martial arts and speed filling his veins. He would warp around the bounty hunter as she kicked and fired in his direction, clearly getting overwhelmed. He would knock a kick into her visor and smack her back, only for her to stop, waiting for him to make a move. And when he went in for a strike, she would grapple him with a beam and fling him up, slamming him against the ground with a pained crack. He would grunt and leap back. He would hold out the chaos emerald he had used temporarily … and crushed it. He figured he might as well fall back on what he was good at. As his form was encased in light, the crystal would go to attach to his chest as his fur was shed like water or a coat. His outline got slimmer, with soft womanly skin and a nice figure. As his large hairdo would shorten into a smaller do, the shed fur would compress over his body into a tight and cozy outfit. It was a yellow jumpsuit of sorts, or a sweater, with large armor-like boots covering his legs. His smaller hands now enveloped in gloves still as tassels flared out his neck as a scarf. He felt his muzzle shrink into a human face, with small fangs and a cute, yet feisty demeanor. Although he wasn’t the best explanation, more she, as the light dismissed, it was revealed Zey was now Nia. Or rather her original design as she would form the rounded blades in her gloved hands. Samus would lay fire to her, only for her to dodge and swipe them around, much more agile. The audience was at the edge of their seats, silent and completely invested in this intense match as if she would clash with Samus. They both would hold their ground, trying to push each other back to gain ground. Zey knew this body and wasn’t letting up. Before going to duck down and kick Samus’ legs out from under her, only for the Bounty hunter to spin and do a backwards kick upwards to strike Zey in the chin. It felt like with every hit Zey was more in danger of being knocked back off the arena. It was like their own personal gravity was getting weaker with every hit, but so was Samus. Zey figured now it was best to fight fire with fire, or rather fire with space dinosaur. In an ironic fashion, Zey would smirk, her sharp teeth showing before they would rapidly begin to sharpen and stretch out. Across their body, their limbs would crack, snap, and extend. Their fingers would tear through their gloves, revealing sharp purple claws. Ones that would dig into her cute face as she tore it off like paper. And bursting out would be an enormous purple scaly muzzle, filled with sharp fangs as they tugged and gripped the Nia shell and tore it in half to be free of it rather quickly. This would catch Samus the most off guard as an enormous sharp tail shot out jammed into her chest. Zey felt this primal, familiar feeling in their chest. Their bony and enormous torso would grow out larger, with big flared out wings shaking off any remaining bits of the Nia body. And staring through bright yellow eyes would be Zey in the form of the space pirate Ridley, the one who couldn’t make it today. This got the crowd very excited as he would flap his wings and slam his feet down at Samus. This was the first character who was on the main Smash roster, so it was exciting, letting loose bursts of flame from his maw and followed up with further tail stabs and slashes and swipes from his wicked claws. Samus was getting hard to keep up, taking hit after hit until she found herself knocked to the edge, charging up one large final blue beam attack. But just before any of them could attack, a flash would appear in the air, and the rainbow Smash Ball would float around. This was it, the game ending opportunity. Both fighters leapt up towards it, Samus firing off her charged blast, but Zey would manage to fly up quickly and slam the tops of their wings into the ball of energy. And all at once they felt the rainbow strength fill them, landing in front of Samus. And before she could have any chance to retaliate, he would grab her, flinging her up into the sky as he shot up after her. She would be knocked into space, slamming into the side of her ship as it flew past. This was well recognized as Ridley’s Final Smash, and Zey felt fantastic pulling it off as he charged his breath attack. And with one powerful screech, he would let it rip, blasting through Samus and erupting the ship into a fiery blaze. Both would end up falling back into the Arena, with Zey landing … and the defeated Samus landing near. And just like that the crowd would erupt into roaring cheers. Chanting Zey’s name over and over in the process. As the dinosaur would look around, they would compress and shrink back into their cute and furry self. They would wave to the crowd, the largest grin on their face. It wouldn’t take long for Samus to be lifted up by a mechanical platform, one that would glow and heal her injuries as she stood up, soon letting her down. Zey would hold out their hand to her, and she would look up and gently take it, standing up and shaking back. “You did well, I look forward to seeing what you can do in the future.” She would remark, which made Zey feel a sense of pride fill their chest. And as the bounty hunter strutted off, Zey would take one more look at the crowd, and they felt fantastic.

#zeydaan #adventurer #transformation #multi #waluigi #shadow #shadow the hedgehog #samus #nia #ridley #samus aran #super smash bros #super #smash #bros #arena #fight #canon #story

[holydragon2808]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 One Thing I Would Change (SPOILERS)

I’ve been rewatching scenes from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lately (largely out of boredom) and the scenes after defeating Malos and Aion in the final battle really bug me a bit when thinking about Rex as a character. 

Vandam’s death is suppose to be a major turning point for Rex so it’s sort of baffling that he’s hardly brought up after Rex resonates with Roc’s core crystal. I’ve seen some people online speculating that it would have been fitting if Vandam had a cameo appearance during Rex’s secret test of character in chapter 10 shortly after arriving to Elysium.

I agree and disagree really. I do think Vandam should have been used in the final chapter, just not there personally (even though I do get why some people thought it would have been fitting).

After defeating Malos and Aion in the final battle, Pyra/Mythra have to go behind Rex’s back and manipulate the entire situation (the one leading to their sacrifice) to FORCE him to let them go rather than him coming to the conclusion on his own terms that he wouldn’t be able to help Pyra/Mythra.

Not helping matters is that it was framed as required on Pyra/Mythra’s end because Rex wouldn’t have let them go otherwise…..honestly, that doesn’t really do much justice for his character growth IMO…..to the point where I’m baffled as to why the writers chose to execute this the way that they did.

Here’s what I would have changed if I could:

I would have kept Pyra/Mythra’s manipulations intact as well as Rex’s heartbreaking panic about losing them and the scene with Poppi and her mentioning the promise (and her heartbroken refusal to help Rex). Hey, I get it. This is the woman he loves who’s about to make a heroic sacrifice and leave him behind. Makes perfect sense for him to be upset and against it.

But then, after Gramps/Azurda tells Rex that “sometimes a man must know when to let go”, I would have also had him say “Remember what Vandam said to you. We all have to fight our own war”.

That’s when flashbacks of Vandam’s moments in chapter three would happen for Rex, including the moment where Vandam ultimately sacrificed himself (due in large part to Rex’s immature stubborn refusal to let go back then).

Then, Rex would have realized that he was about to make the same mistakes with the woman he loved so he stands up (with tears in his eyes along with Zeke encouraging him but sympathizing too “That’s right chum. She’s the girl you love. You’ve got to accept her decision”) and he accepts her choice. Then the rest of the chapter plays out like normal (with Morag declaring that she’s thankful for meeting all of them and Brighid respectfully bowing towards Pyra/Mythra as her goodbye to her friend/rival and so on).

Then of course the credits play out the same with with Pyra and Mythra returning but the moment would have felt more earned? I guess for want of a better word? For me personally, this version hammers home how much Pyra/Mythra mean to Rex, how he still carries memories and the weight of Vandam and his sacrifice, and actually would have better reflected how much he’s grown and matured as a character (this was suppose to be a coming of age story for Rex after all). 

More importantly, Pyra and Mythra’s prior manipulation of the situation would have been framed less as a requirement to force Rex to move on, and instead more like a precaution.

What about the rest of you? I really enjoyed my time in Alrest, but I just felt like Vandam should have played more of a role in Rex’s story and that the final scenes on Elysium with Pyra/Mythra didn’t really do as much justice for Rex as a character as he was warranted by that point.

See other xenoblade related post from me here about Addam, Rex and their comparison/contrast relationship with the Aegis.

#xenoblade chronicles 2 #xbc2 #Pyra (XBC2) #Mythra (XBC2) #malos (xbc2) #Vandam (xbc2) #zeke von genbu #brighid #morag ladair #pneuma #poppi (xbc2) #xenoblade chronicles #rex (xbc2) #xbc #xbc1

[void-kissed]

Happy birthday to Pyra :D!! Any thoughts on what gift(s) Sapphire would give her?

Aaah, thank you, friend!! I will be sure to pass on the well wishes!~

Hmmm.. I think Sapphire would probably help everyone else set up a big party to celebrate Pyra, and that would be a bit of a surprise present for her! (Sort of a mirror of how everyone else helped Pyra set the scene for when she proposed to Sapphire, hehe.) But, aside from that.. Pyra's favourite drink in the game, which is one of her favourite items overall, is Jenerossi Tea - which you get from Garfont Village, where Sapphire grew up. So, even if the party are in another region of Alrest on Pyra's birthday, Sapphire would definitely get in touch with some of the Garfont Mercenaries to get some Jenerossi Tea delivered to her in time, so that Pyra can have it freshly made on her birthday!

As well as that, I think Sapphire might get Pyra an item of clothing of some kind. She's shown to be somewhat self-conscious of her appearance - specifically, the fact she starts glowing at night due to her ether lines - so a coat or cloak of some kind, like a longer version of the one she was wearing to disguise herself in Torigoth, might be something she would like! Even though she naturally runs quite warm, being a fire-element Blade, I still think she might like something like that to be more covered up and whatnot if she's feeling self-conscious; I believe her ether lines glow over her default armour since that's sort of a part of her, so an extra item of clothing may be needed. After all, she's not just any Blade - she's an Aegis Blade of legend, so that might draw unwanted attention.

The final thing I can think of that Sapphire would get Pyra is a recipe book! She very much enjoys cooking and is very good at it, after all, so I think she would enjoy the opportunity to try out some new dishes!!

Thank you so much for asking me about this, friend!! It was really fun to think about ^-^

#a call from the void #heart of the void #love: fire of the aegis (pyra) #selfship: to our own elysium (pyra/sapphire) #self‑insert: gem of garfont (sapphire) #of gods and titans (xenoblade chronicles) #out of the inbox #selfship asks #cookies tag! #am I right in remembering that it's currently summer for you? if so I hope it hasn't been *too* hot #it was 30 degrees celsius for my brother today and I was extremely jealous because that's like a near-perfect temperature for me #but I know that a lot of people prefer much colder weather (and it's winter where I am right now) so #selfshipping

[moved-to-void-kissed]

First off, happy birthday! I hope it's a great one! For the meme... 5 for Calanthe and KOS-MOS and 8 for Citri and Vanea? :)

Aww, thank you so much for this! It has definitely been a good day overall, I would say ^-^

Also, thank you very much for sending the questions!!~

(question source: "🎁🎈 selfship ask meme ~ birthdays!!!" by sennamybeloved)

5 ~ who is invited to your birthday? your friends? people in your F/O’s canon? - This depends on whether these birthdays are taking place before or after Calanthe gets thrown into Alrest, but I'll focus on it being afterwards, since that's where my selfship with KOS-MOS is mostly based despite Calanthe originating from the world of Xenosaga. I think it's safe to say that the whole of the XC2 main party would be there, maybe even as the ones setting up the party to help Calanthe feel more welcomed as part of their world! It'd sort of be difficult to not invite some people but still invite others in the current travelling/adventuring situation, haha.

8 ~ is there anything super special your F/O does for you on your birthday, other than throwing you a party, buying you a cake, etc.? - I like to think that one of the things Vanea could do for Citri is to take her to different areas of Mechonis that Citri wouldn't have experienced before but that Vanea is familiar with - somewhere where a wonderful view could be seen, just for the two of them to get to experience together; it's a present you can't physically give someone, but it's still a memorable gift nonetheless. I'm afraid my knowledge of XC1 is not quite able to let me provide an actual example of where we would go, but I think it would be nice to spend that time with her together, away from worries about the world even if just for a little while. Plus, it would be special to hear more about the titan and all the memories Vanea has of it, especially given Citri's status as such a newcomer there (for lack of a better word).

I hope that those answers were alright!! Thank you very kindly again for sending this in, it means a lot to me ^-^

#a call from the void #selfship #selfshipping #heart of the void #love: power of another world (KOS‑MOS) #selfship: encoded emotions (KOS‑MOS/calanthe) #self‑insert: in a world displaced (calanthe) #and then also vanea my beloved #love: a wish for peace (vanea) #selfship: a love to last millennia (vanea/citri) #self‑insert: vessel of nemesis (citri) #out of the inbox #selfship asks #B tag! #very nearly called you valdi when I saw this this morning. that would not have quite been right =P #birthday stuff #my other idea for the vanea one was getting citri a gift that is not just from vanea but also from other machina #as like a way of showing her that she is welcome and wanted in their community despite not being completely a machina #but i wondered if that would just make citri miss her old life and old friends from colony 9 #maybe after they make it to mechonis