#like. he’s ‘the calm one’ the way kit the fucking fennec is ‘the calm one’: NOT CALM

[inamindfarfaraway]

Team Chaotix in Sonic Prime

My headcanons for what Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee are like in the Shatterspaces.

New Yoke City

Vector’s variant is called Missile (a missile is a vector, having direction and magnitude). He embodies Vector’s responsibility, practicality and seriousness. He was trying to make a difference as a teenage detective when the dystopian city appeared around him four years ago and it became clear that, with the Chaos Council’s control of the new justice system and law enforcement, the person he aspired to be would never make it. Of course he wants to fight, but the Council is brutal and their absolute power seems impossible to overthrow. He soon ended up with two children in his care, one only a toddler. If he got arrested, killed or roboticized, what would happen to them? If the three of them had the Council’s protection, on the other hand, as per the contract of an exclusive, specialized detective agency who would do whatever dirty work they were ordered to… he knows that those tyrants are the reason his kids have nobody else. He knows that the vast majority of people he leads the robotic police to don’t deserve any punishment, and none of them could deserve the cruel horrors they get. He knows that he isn’t a hero - that he may even be the exact opposite. And he hates it. But any money that keeps his family alive is money worth having, he’s regretfully decided. Big concepts like good and evil are none of his concern. He’s just trying to pay the rent. It’s too late to back out now, anyway. Now that the people are rebelling en masse and the Council is busy exploring the Shatterverse, he’s desperately waiting for things to stabilize and daring to hope against hope that some positive change occurs. And that the citizens don’t recognize the collaborateurs in their midst and turn on them.

Espio’s variant is called Trace. He embodies Espio’s stoicism and pragmatism. His ninja training was cut short - and his village razed and everyone he knew killed or taken prisoner - when the Chaos Council remade the world in their image. But he’s gained plenty of experience in stealth, deception, infiltration, espionage and combat working in the Chaos Detective Agency. Dishonour means nothing to a ninja. That’s what he tells himself, at least. On the outside, he’s reserved and aloof, a cold, ruthless foe. He will only show his family the slightest show of emotion. Internally, however, his repressed grief for his old family, community, home and life; guilt, shame and self-loathing due to his service to the Council; and years of accumulated trauma are brewing into a storm that he barely keeps contained under the surface. He’s afraid of his feelings burdening his teammates and distracting them from what’s most important: survival.

Charmy’s variant is called Sting. He embodies Charmy’s eagerness to be helpful and fighting spirit. He can’t remember anything except New Yoke and doesn’t understand much of how his society works, but he knows that his family’s work is very important to them being alive and wants to be a part of it. He does notice their stress and the general unpleasantness everywhere and can infer that circumstances could be improved. But their work being dangerous is all the more reason he should help! Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Danger just adds to the fun of stopping ‘bad guys’. He’s also terrified that if they leave him behind, they might not come back. So he kept breaking out and running away when Missile and Trace went on missions until they agreed to train him and let him join them. He revels in the thrill of action and finds people getting hurt amusing the way a six-year-old boy can, not emotionally connecting to anyone he’s told they need to catch and earnestly believing that their enemies must be in the wrong. He often imitates Missile when trying to be tough and intimidating.

Boscage Maze

Vector’s variant is called Reed. He embodies Vector’s optimism, lightheartedness and musical side, and tends to have his coarser manners too. He, the other two and Cream and Vanilla’s variants are in a different small tribe to the Scavengers and haven’t yet met them, so Thorn Rose didn’t banish them to the emergent layer; they are nomadic and moving toward the Scavengers’ territory. He’s cheerful and generous, always ready to raise the tribe’s morale. He can be immature and irresponsible at times, more focused on enjoying life and entertaining his companions than applying maximum effort to practical tasks. He’s highly resourceful when it comes to instruments and has invented drums and a reed flute. He loves to play them and sing. He’s also bold enough to flirt with Vanilla and the casual first stage of a romance is budding between them.

Espio’s variant is called Berry. He embodies Espio’s caution, wisdom and love of art and culture. Yes, that’s in this dimension. The tribe took him in after they crossed paths when he was eight, him having previously had to survive on his own for as long as he can remember. He’s mature beyond his years, highly knowledgeable about the forest’s flora and fauna, wary and prepared to defend his tribe from any threat using his carved flint blades and hand-to-hand skills. He used to find it difficult to relax, but has learned to unwind through playing a shamisen-esque string instrument Reed built for him and painting with plant pigments. While acutely aware of nature’s hazards, he can still appreciate its wonder and majesty and respects it.

Charmy’s variant is called Honey. He embodies Charmy’s innocent kindness, friendliness and trusting nature. He and Cream’s variant are best friends and adoptive siblings, since his parents entrusted their friend Vanilla with him when they left on an exploratory expedition in his infancy. They didn’t return. But Honey doesn’t mind. He has everything he needs right here. The one thing he can think of that would make his life better is a friend who can fly like he can.

No Place

Vector’s variant is called Bullion (because of precious metal and a male crocodile is a bull). He embodies Vector’s sharp intelligence, charisma, greed and courage. He left his home island in a modest but sturdy vessel, dubbed the Treasure Trove, to seek his fortune and established himself as a travelling merchant. Cunning, socially savvy and theatrical, he is willing to (if you insist on using such accusatory language) ‘scam’ customers and has an endless supply of get-rich-quick schemes. He and his crew live in a fiercely competitive, unpredictable environment full of pirates! Material wealth is essential! That being said, he isn’t all talk. He will brave high seas and stormy weather, chart uncharted waters and do business with anyone to obtain the best goods and things no other merchant is selling, and the genuine quality and rarity of a lot of his stock keep people endeared to him despite his rough edges and occasional bad deal. He takes pride in his competence as a salesman and seafarer and part of him is more fulfilled by honest work. Not that he’ll admit that. He’s very attached to his swashbuckling rogue self-image.

Espio’s variant is called Fathom (a measure of water depth and a verb for contemplative thought and understanding). He embodies Espio’s firm sense of morality and diligence. He met Bullion when the crocodile docked at his home island and, struck with wanderlust and needing a job to get by, Fathom offered to manage his finances with his advanced mathematical ability and do some manual labour. Bullion agreed, but it didn’t take Fathom long to figure out that he was both running a con and a broke mess. A weirdly likeable broke mess. In the aftermath of Fathom exposing the con, the customers angrily demanding refunds and the Treasure Trove being hastily undocked, they made a deal to support and protect each other, with Fathom promising to follow his boss’s lead on the strict condition that Bullion stayed on the straight and narrow. He’s a dutiful hard worker, patient and polite. He tries to remain calm and be civil to everyone no matter how wild things get. He grounds his crewmates, restraining their more energetic, eccentric and, most frustratingly for him, selfish and amoral behaviour. He knows they can be better. And when they are, it’s extremely rewarding. But they certainly test him - though he won’t deny that the motley crew all truly care about each other and would stick together through anything.

Charmy’s variant is called Dodger. He embodies Charmy’s mischievous, irreverent side. He was born to pirates and left at an orphanage on one of the larger islands, but could never follow rules or be satisfied with a simple, mundane life in one place. He wanted excitement, and usually made his own by causing trouble and playing tricks. He totally wasn’t lonely. One day he stowed away on a ship. His plan was to steal all the stuff he could carry on him and fly off. Bullion and Fathom, the sailors who caught him, took a liking to him and were hesitant to send him back to his boring, miserable old home once he explained his life before. They were nice and cool and made him feel wanted and like he belonged more than anyone else ever had, so he hung around. Bullion makes him do chores, but respects his pranking prowess and nerve. Fathom is a great listener and playmate, albeit sometimes a killjoy.

#thought process for new yoke: #what if i made their ‘just trying to pay the rent’ motivation and vector’s apparent guardianship of two kids really dark and tragic #in an examination of how good people can be twisted by factors beyond their control? #thought process for boscage maze: #what if they were all fine and happy and chill actually? #thought process for no place: workplace/domestic sitcom hijinks ON THE HIGH SEAS #the nyc trio’s contract definitely has fine print that the council can roboticize them if they disobey any order or something #so that’s hanging over missile’s head! #them finally rebelling is going to be EPIC though #sting really wants to call missions ‘sting operations’ after himself without understanding what that means #bullion has big stan pines energy #like stan pines in his twenties career (with fathom exasperatedly shutting down the dishonest elements) #combined with his dream of sailing around going on adventures #fathom: business offer. i receive: FAIRLY earned wages. you receive: help getting your shit together #berry and fathom are the voices of reason in their trios like canon espio #but trace is NOT #firstly because missile is reasonable enough #but more importantly because trace is one more emotional straw away from a complete breakdown #which could be either sobbing himself into dehydration or a no-holds-barred rampage against the council #like. he’s ‘the calm one’ the way kit the fucking fennec is ‘the calm one’: NOT CALM #i could have just made a vector variant greedy to the point of evil #but i choose to believe that every part of vector fundamentally cares about his whatever versions of espio and charmy are present #they’re a three-pack - do not separate #plus that’s been done with knuckles the dread #and especially since they’re in the same dimension i wanted bullion and dread to be different #sonic prime #team chaotix #vector the crocodile #espio the chameleon #charmy bee

[blaurascon-kzk]

KZK Discord Digest [Week of May 30 - June 7 Pt.1]

SUMMARY: There's a big thing we're doing that I'm gonna split off into its own post so people can directly reference that. Plus this post is gonna be enormous. Pt.2 should be up shortly after this one. It’s been a busy week!

After months of trying to land a rental and a job in VA so they can move, Kat and April have decided, fuck it, they're going - some generous friends will be having them stay there until they're able to find a place of their own. The PODs are already being loaded. Kat will likely not be able to make / release new things for 2-3 weeks while they move and get settled. On top of that, he has to put his cat Ishizu to sleep soon - she's developed kidney failure and the only treatment would involve dialysis and subq fluid injections, so the difficult decision was made to let her go.

To help fund the move, we've put up a lot of our old LEs and plushy avatars, including things like the Darastryx, Mana Machina, and Murk Beast that haven't seen the light of day since their release. The sale will run for a few weeks, minimum. Check it out here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Okarthel/181/81/50

The Direwolf plushy is still WIP. See below for a sneak peek (with a lot of color) Direwolf freebie devkit is finished, barring documentation and instructions. Paid devkit will be getting a v1.2 update soon as well. No ETA on their release given IRL circumstances, but rest assured they are coming as soon as possible! Direwolf update is still WIP pending the move. We apologize deeply for the massive delay with this, and want to thank you all for your patience.

_____

May 30

Kat05/30/2019 @everyone Another quick teaser for the Eastern Dragon coloring page:  Noodle derg!

Kat05/30/2019 @everyone Last teaser for today, as this one took me all day to finish, but here's the final result for the Eastern Dragon coloring page. The PSD for it, as well as the Northern will be made available once they are both complete. And a quick reminder, You have until tomorrow night to contribute to my patreon at the 10$ or more level if you want to snag a cool resin crystal! I've got another batch of mail going out in a couple of days to fill recent orders so now's your best chance! https://www.patreon.com/darkecokat

______

May 31

Kat05/31/2019 @everyone Amazing how much quicker something goes when you've got less detail to contend with! The Northern and Eastern Dragon pages are done, as per the votes on the most recent Coloring page Poll. You can download all the available pages here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PfjTfO0M2a47arowNzhXD7MWxEDeNfgI  And here's a preview of the Northern Dragon coloring page! A lone Dragon emerges from its den to greet the emerging spring as the final snowfall starts to melt.

Kat05/31/2019 @everyone Keeping the productivity train rolling. Decided to pick up the Direwolf plush today to break up the monotony of setting up devkit stuff and arting. Here's a preview of one of the steps of making a 3D model. This color vomit is not just awful to look at. It actually serves a very important purpose. Once I've finished the low poly model, I will bake these colors onto it, and my software will be able to use these very distinct colors as a 'Color ID' Mask. It'll save me a bit of time later setting up all the markings during the final baking/texturing phase. Stay tuned for more updates.

Kat05/31/2019 @everyone Been a busy day for announcements the last couple of days. Apologies for nuking your notifications. So update on the job situation.

As of this moment, my fiance and I are on the brink of burning one of our last few bridges with no way of going back. Her job has failed time and time again to work with her on scheduling for travel, and through no fault of her own, could be jobless by the end of tomorrow. Monday she flies up north for an interview, and if they don't hire her, we're out of options. She'll be jobless and we'll be stuck in Louisiana for at least the next six months which is far from ideal.

I say this because I need to start looking forward toward new projects. I'd intended to get the Direwolf update out before I started anything new, but this move has already caused so many delays and problems, that things are now piling up and I need to keep my income stable if I have any hope of qualifying for a place on just my income alone.  So I will do my best to get the plush av out, get the freeby dev kit out, then I will be moving forward with production on a new avatar, while simultaneously working on the remaining bug fixes, missing features and general QoL improvements for the Direwolf.

I promised the update, and as usual, I've dropped that ball. For that I am sorry, and I can only hope for your forgiveness and support as my Fiance and I try to transition through this exceptionally difficult time in our lives.

I hate this state. I hate the people here. I hate being alone all the time. This move is supposed to help fix most of that, and putting out new content is the only way I can make that happen. I hope you all understand. Thank you.

______

Jun 1

KatLast Saturday at 7:08 PM @everyone Update on the devkit progress: The Paid devkit will be getting a 1.2 release to address some minor issues bugging me, but that's not happening just yet. The freeby kits have been finished. Now I'm penning up the documentation and usage instructions. Those should be available once I get back from Dallas.

Speaking of Dallas, I will be gone for Sunday, monday, and tuesday. Its cheaper for us to book a hotel room and stay two nights to wait for her return flight than it is to drive back and forth (a total of 12-15 hours of driving for two round trips to dallas) so I'll be camping out in my hotel room with my switch and laptop xD. Hopefully I will have some good news on monday.

______

Jun 2

KatLast Sunday at 11:13 AM @everyone so.. I will not be going to dallas, as originally planned. Last night my eldest cat ishizu got very sick. I'm sitting at an emergency clinic right now and wont be home in time to join. So please.. do me a favor, send @AprilsaurusRex words of encouragement for her interview. I'm not able to be there to support her on this trip and its tearing me apart.

KatLast Sunday at 1:07 PM @everyone At home now, waiting on news of the blood test results. Doctors had to sedate her to draw blood because she was fighting back so badly. Normally i'm there to calm her down but the clinic was exceptionally busy and I desperately needed food in my stomach. Total costs are already up around $400 for the IV(sever dehydration from constant vomiting), blood work, and the exam fee. that, compounded with the expenses to book the flights for this interview have taken a bite out of my savings so.. expect some sort of sale or something soon. I'm going to use the unexpected next few days home to focus on work. Thank you all for your support, patience and understanding.

______

Jun 3

KatLast Monday at 3:01 PM @everyone Going to try to keep this brief today. Lab results came back early yesterday for my cat(I spent all day just.. processing, and... preparing myself for whats coming.).  I've been reviewing her bloodwork and doing my best through research to interpret the results, along with the information provided by my vets. Her kidneys are in bad shape, and the only 'treatment' now is dialysis and weekly subcutaneous injections of fluids to combat dehydration. I can barely give her a syringe of chicken flavored medicine, let alone get her to sit still long enough to give her a shot. They had to mildly sedate her to even draw blood so... I've made the soul crushing decision to.. stabilize her for now, make her comfortable, and set a date. She will be buried next to my other animals.

As for moving... My fiance and I decided 'fuck it'. Job or no, we're leaving. Thanks to some generous friends in the area, we've got a place to stay while we find a place to live or while she looks for a job should the worst happen and Geico fall thru. I've already ordered the pods and i h ave 15 days to load it before city officials fine me for the pods overstaying its welcome. That'll arrive on the 6th so.. basically everything's on hold at this point while I move and prepare myself to say goodbye to my beloved Ishizu. I got her as a freshman in highschool. I'm going to miss her. so much. I dont want to put her to sleep but weekly injections, stress, and constantly being dragged to a vet where its cold and sterile and constantly stinks of fear is not how I want her final days to play out. I didn't come to this conclusion easily, and even now I wish there weer another way.

KatLast Monday at 3:08 PM @everyone All I ask is that when you get home, or if you are home.. give your cats, dogs, brids, lizards, snakes, turtles.. whatever animals you share your love with, please just.. give em a hug for me, ok? Let em know they're loved, even if they dont understand it. Thank you all for your kind words.

KatLast Monday at 9:58 PM @everyone As mentioned before, I've opted to put up a bunch of retired stuff for sale. Some of the stuff was sold recently when our car broke down, but some of it, like the freeby will o drakes, the murk beast, and the mana machina, haven't seen the light of day since their initial release. Also available is the darastryx, the winter hunt freebies (wings, horns, tail, ect), and a bunch of LEs released for the Sergals, Fennecs, Raptors, Central Dragons and Rift Dragons. I hate that I have to do stuff like this but I will have no time over the next 2-3 weeks to produce any new content, and this is my best chance at staying afloat financially while the move happens. Thank you. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Okarthel/181/81/50

______

Jun 4

KatLast Tuesday at 11:07 PM @everyone We've been having some major issues with our host, so if you have any issues with a purchase, PLEASE let myself or @Blau know. I will do my best to respond and resolve the issues.

That said, by popular demand I've set up 4 new sets of avatars out that were previously exclusive to preorder or hunt events: This is the LE Fennecs, LE Ferox, LE Kaori, and the Hunt exclusive Rift Dragons. This sale will only go on for a few weeks.

A fond thank you to everyone for their support and kind words. It means the world to me. Ishizu is home with me now, and has spent the majority of today relaxing and resting.  She's yet to eat anything, but she's drank a bit. Hasn't used the restroom yet though which has me really worried.

______

Jun 5

KatLast Wednesday at 11:08 AM @everyone If you or someone you know has had any issues with deliveries, please drop me a message in SL. I know the alloy was a bit issue (entirely because of a mistake I made), so just drop me a message mk?

KatLast Wednesday at 12:32 PM @everyone If you're wearing a Kirin Alloy and your neck/spine guards attach to your HUD, this is a bug with Firestorm, not the avatar. I've just tested a freshly unpacked copy on the Default viewer and it works just fine for me. So make sure your viewer is up to date, and if it is, send a bug report to the Firestorm devs. Thank you.

#kzk-dd #kzk