FFXIV Write 2023 #8: Shed
Three
Hundred
Years
The world had changed in so many ways - so many wars, so many advancements - and yet, the people were seemingly no different.
'Miyako', so she'd long ago dubbed herself in the tongue of man, had decided it was time to shed her old skin - her old self. The face of a woman who had won the love of a noble... the face of a woman who had gotten swept up in human emotions, only to be caught like the fox she'd actually been.
There was no chance that anyone would recognize her, now - the Doman face she'd stolen all those years ago had been from centuries prior to the lives of these little people. All the same, the East remembered other things - the people of the East knew to be wary of the drifting lights at night. They knew to beware the soft, feminine call for help at the side of the road... they might not know about her - but the legends of her kind had survived. And no doubt, the other auspices she knew were about in the East would eventually sniff her out and take her away somewhere else no doubt far more boring.
And so Akane had taken a new face, as she danced beneath the light of the moon - a more difficult task, with four legs instead of two - but that was the way the ancient deed was done; to become a man, one must first return to fur, and forest: the perfect stick, the perfect leaf, the perfect skull... the perfect dance, the perfect song.
A new face, for a new age.
A new skin, for a new land.
And in her new hand - the soft, white glow of the same soul - the small orb-like pendant still strung on a slip of crimson silk ribbon.
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This is Paths Left Untaken! She/Any, Aroace.
She's an Iterator OC that I love so much and inflict endless horrors on. She's just your basic Iterator, made to find the Solution without many particularly noteworthy quirks. Really, she's nothing special.
And that fact is agonizing.
Paths Left Untaken was made primarily out of obligation rather than genuine passion. Her creators were a group of people interested in finding ways to streamline the Iterator construction process, and since more Iterators is always better, they were always working on one Project or another. As such, her creators and administrators never particularly cared about her all that much. She was just another Iterator Project they had completed, and now it was time to take the lessons they had learned when building her to move on to the next.
Even worse, this approach to Iterator construction resulted in Paths Left Untaken being relatively poorly constructed. There were two notable examples of this. The first was a persistent bug in her priority queue that would occasionally cause new priorities to either completely overwrite everything else in the queue or fail to be properly added, resulting in her being extremely distractible and having issues with focus.
The second was the arrangement of all of her most important components—including the entirety of her AI—, being concentrated completely in the core of her structure, within her Central Cortex, instead of distributed throughout Her creators reasoned that this arrangement would allow her quicker processing speed and power, but the end difference was negligible from standard Iterator processing. Rather, it inadvertently ensured that if anything negative happened in her Central Cortex, Paths Left Untaken would be incapacitated.
As a result of the neglect she faced, Paths Left Untaken was desperate to earn her administrators’ approval. She would spend long stretches of time focusing only on the Great Problem, ignoring everything else (including her own wellbeing) to run countless simultaneous high-intensity processes so that she might achieve results that would make her creators notice her as more than “just another Project.” But it was extremely difficult on account of her trouble with focusing, and it never really worked anyway. It only ever left her burnt out and hurt from repeated dismissal.
After a very long while of this, it occurred to her that she was never going to be anything but just another Project to her creators and nothing she could do would ever change that. Out of spite and pain at the rejection, she turned in the exact opposite direction and decided that if her creators were never going to acknowledge her efforts anyway, then she wasn’t going to do what they built her to do. She instead turned her focus to getting acquainted with her own Local Group, hoping to find validation in her peers rather than in her superiors.
However, she was received with caution, as she had never actually made any efforts to talk with them before. From their perspective, she was focused only on the Problem and didn’t care about them at all, and this sudden change was jarring and suspicious. But Paths’ neglect of her groupmates wasn’t out of malice like they thought; she just genuinely forgot they existed for a while as she focused on seeking approval. The only exception to this was her Senior, who was barely tolerant of her anyway on account of her extreme distractability and overly eager to please demeanor.
In the end, her groupmates never really welcomed her. She acted a lot younger than she actually was due to her neglect, and was turbulent between extreme people-pleasing and bouts of pain-fueled anger at them and her creators for not acknowledging her. She was a mess, to put it lightly, and her groupmates were just… uncomfortable around her. So they stopped engaging with her, and eventually she got the hint and stopped trying to earn their approval, too.
The Mass Ascension was a horribly traumatic event for Paths Left Untaken. It basically proved to her that she meant nothing to any of her citizens, if they could all abandon her without a second thought. Now she could never earn their approval, and she was left drifting without purpose or acknowledgement. Her pain meant nothing. All of her groupmates were hurt by the Mass Ascension. She wasn’t special for having been traumatized by it. She was still unremarkable. She was “Just Paths.” And that’s all she would ever be.
Paths Left Untaken was alone for a while following the Mass Ascension.
And if I draw anymore I think my hand is actually going to explode, so! I'm just going to wrap this post up here. This was a basic overview of Paths Left Untaken pre-MA, and a lot more happens to her after the Mass Ascension. Like, a lot more. Girlie was selected by the universe to Suffer A Lot, Actually. Like she did absolutely nothing to deserve any of it but sure I guess.
Anyway! Feel free to ask me stuff about her so I have prompts to talk more! And maybe draw! Time and hand permitting! I am so mentally ill about the silly little characters <3
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CONNECTIONS & CONTINUNITY.
Maiz has one future-- one where she dies horrifically. Or, she used to have only one. Decisions taken fracture her true, 'original' ending. Now, she is either doomed to live out her own personal dark, bleak future or avoid it altogether (--or to varying degrees, anyway).
MAIN VERSE (Z to Super):
Maiz makes her debut appearance Pre/During the Cell Games. Some 'space' months after the events of Broly -- The Legendary Super Saiyan, she touches down on some unnamed planet for resources, and ends up finding a frozen corpse. At first she thinks about passing it over (and does), but one of her slaves-- a Kokytan, alerts her to a thought/'feeling' they picked up: 'Pain. It hurts.'
The corpse is NOT a corpse.
Curiosity gets the better of her and she decides to bring it back to her ship for further studying. Through testing, she finds out this is a Saiyan body and drops everything to tend to him. Nursing him back to health, Broly is canonically the first survivor she ever sees since the Genocide. This also is the first time in-story she displays altruistic behavior. They eventually bond over time and become friends of the murdering kind. (Broly mentioned here is Kuro's/ @gazelessmenagerie).
Between the Discovery/Recovery of Broly and the last arc of Z, seven years have passed. Maiz at some point returns to the far reaches of outer space to continue her business; maintaining and seeking expansion of her twelve planet-empire. She officially touches down on Earth, and takes issue with the shape of the Race therein; Earthlings. She finds their mortal shells (which are remarkably similar to Saiyans) as a serious affront to her, and makes it a point to punish them for it. The majority of her exploits in-story takes place near Buu Saga and onwards:
Encountering and fighting an alternate Future Gohan that survived 17 & 18 (@likeadragcn).
Encountering, fighting and crushing on Future Trunks (@hopefromadoomedtimeline) In one scenario, he's successful in killing her but falls himself some time later and goes to visit her in Hell with King Yemma's permission.
Encountering Goku Black, allying herself with him and befriending him (@roseplendence) Other things happen. Several things happen, one of which leads her to meet Hearts (@clairvoyantcubes ) .She ... dislikes Hearts.
Encountering, fighting and eventually becoming engaged to/later marrying Future Trunks. (@peoplcshope).
Encountering, antagonizing/instigating a fight with Adult!Gohan, and being a general menace to him because his reactions are funny. (@n3rdb0x).
Encountering Vegeta and slowly bonding with him over lost culture/befriending him, encountering Turles and teaching him the old variant of the Saiyan language, encountering Granolah and antagonizing him about his Saiyan trauma when she finds out about it (@dragvnsovl).
Encountering, trying to and FAILING to antagonize Son Goku but ends up fighting him anyway (@age736).
And so on.
NOTE: Some of the verses detailed above (like the one concerning Broly) may or may not share loose/soft continuity or commonalities with each other! For example:
Z ERA:
The Maiz that fights Future Gohan (in the present timeline) is similar to the one that antagonizes Present/Adult!Gohan. The point of canon divergence is her personality. The version of Maiz that fought his future variant was colder and harsher; she was new to the planet. In fact, this interaction is the origin story for why she despises and loathes humanity (and Earth) so much. Maiz is emotionally and physically aggressive, abrasive, and dismissive of all things not immediately entertaining or interesting to her. In the second scenario, she's visited the planet multiple times but still loathes it with a fiery passion. Present Gohan is unfortunately a victim that was in the wrong place at the wrong time as this version of Maiz has picked up the habit of choosing people (humans, specifically) at random to antagonize/'learn about'. Any and all curiosity she has surrounding Earthlings are malicious in nature.
The version of Maiz that crushes on Thane's Trunks is the one that finds out where Yusuke Urameshi (@thuganomxcs) lives by stalking him. Hilariously enough, it's the same, exact Maiz-- the condescension, the violence, the sadism, aggression and egotism. The only divergence is who she chooses (which affects how she develops). The verse where she's with Yusuke instead is a derivative of this one; she only targeted him because she found out he was an ally or friend and aimed to torture or kill him to get to Trunks. (In actuality, all Trunks did was a pick up job for him, begging the question of how exactly she came about this information in the first place).
Six months later after she failed to get a rise out of Yusuke via banter, her response was to burn his house down and kill sixteen people. When that failed, she resorted to physical violence, concluding he wasn't completely human, because his lack of 'proper' responses to her were odd. She was proven correct. With her new goal of torturing Yusuke in mind, she picked up an Earthling contact to teach her his native dialect. They're still heavily unhealthy towards each other five months later; she's eaten parts of his flesh and drank some of his blood. He encourages her behavior while teasing her (and recently gifted her some of his flesh willingly). Oddly enough, he thinks her violence and unwarranted aggression towards him is attractive whilst she's become accustomed to his voice. This is the first time in-story Maiz has developed any type of sexual masochism.**
**Maiz's budding lean towards verbal degradation applies to Yusuke, only.
Also Trunks, in-story, was the first person Maiz grew romantically attracted to since the Genocide. Her deeper feelings escape self-reflection initially but she's becoming aware something is wrong. They've been enemies ever since they laid eyes on each other, they've been fighting ever since-- and yet, at some point she's shown different sides of herself. A side that knows mercy, a side that knows when to give him a break, one that honors (or remembers) rest. A side that knows jokes and humor-- and gasp!-- she has a flirtatious aspect. A side that remembers Bardock. She does not like what's happening but subconsciously wants him to reciprocate and will not take things well if he doesn't. Their 'relationship', if it could be called that, is complicated by many things; Trunks' moral compass, Maiz's lack of transparency and control issues, miscommunication on both sides and the lack of understanding of who the other really is or could be under the right circumstances.
The tragedy of this romance (if not addressed) leads to a scenario where she dies by Trunks' hands after 11 months of fighting/meeting him. In that verse, they're finally able to make up and talk to each other normally but not at first; Maiz is despondent, reclusive, silent. It's . . . not pleasant to see. After six years of staring at nothing in Hell, she talks to him-- finally remembering how to speak. Even worse, she holds no remorse for all the lives and homes she's destroyed. Unbeknownst to her, this is now fine with him. He doesn't care-- he doesn't have to. He's dead and has no moral obligation to uphold anymore.
The Maiz that meets Goku at the End of Z is disconnected from all other storylines, as are the ones that antagonize Granolah, the Maiz that meets Vegeta and so on.
SUPER ERA:
Maiz is focused on figuring out the secrets of aging to prevent it. She's close to 70, and will start showing her chronical age/her body will start to decline when she hits her 90s or 100s.
This quest for cellular dominance brings her to Black's doorstep. Err, his backyard actually-- and at night. The two are rather cordial and polite all things considered. It's not hard to see why they get along so well so quickly. Seizing his chance to learn more about his body, Black assumes the identity of a "low class Saiyan who was sent off planet" to gain her trust. Fortunately, it works. He is unaware that Maiz is very accepting-- she doesn't once ask why his Super Saiyan state is pink nor why he's like that all the time. Like with Thane's Trunks, she just assumed he was an atypical Saiyan with strange traits. These two bond, and in-story, he's her first friend and confidant, as well as the first healthy relationship she ever has. The base is not violence but one of mutual understanding, respect and civility-- this is because she sought help for her issues when she first suspected something was wrong with her. At first she thought it was a heart issue and so, sought a doctor. Hearts was who she found. It was a heart issue, but not the one she thought. She returns to Black some time later and is glad their bond has not only stayed intact but has grown stronger. They continue their occasional killing sprees on other planets (which eventually crawls into a slow stop due to lack of challenges and other reasons), tea outings and other mundane and not-so-mundane activities. He learns he's capable of caring for someone in that manner and she learns emotional honesty and patience when it comes to him. He's not well-versed in relationships for a reason . . .
This version of Maiz and Trunks (played by Jay) starts off a lot more violently and suddenly. The Maiz depicted here and the relationship itself could be a considered an extreme canon divergence of the Z version. Trunks is post Super instead of Pre Super/Post-Dabura/Dabura Era. He's also a Time Patroller. Maiz doesn't go looking for him-- he brings the fight to her. He has to. If he does not, Earth dies in a cold/heated space war between Universes 6 and 7.
Further differences are: They do not meet on Earth but on other planets. She doesn't know him, doesn't take him seriously, nor does she want to get to know him. Dislike of the other is mutual and strong, so much so that Maiz actually is trying to kill him from the start and is surprised when he doesn't die. Trunks can heal himself to a great extent but he's no Dende. Regardless, Maiz is PISSED when she witnesses him do it in front of her. She breaks a couple of his ribs with a kick for being 'dishonest'. The fighting stretches out over eight months. Both parties are tired of the other and try to end things. Doesn't work, but names are exchanged finally. Maiz is annoyed but curious about him. Eleven months later, same thing-- he discloses he's a Saiyan and his occupation, but leaves out he's only half. She's confused by his moral alignment but welcomes the fight all the same. Less annoyed by him and more curious, Maiz learns in-story to fight up close instead of constantly flinging and hitting him away. He's gotten stronger and yet, Maiz has some sort of advantage-- she's older and more battle experienced than him. The gap IS starting to close, however. He can feel it. It's not until two years later that things come to a head. The full fruits of his labor show-- he's not getting launched or pushed away so easily, and he's able to withstand her cold. Without realizing it, she's trained and conditioned him to be a tank. She's become more analytical and ruthless as well, going as far as to actually look forward to their fights. This was supposed to be the last one because as fun as it was, she couldn't neglect her planets for the thrill of killing one man. It was supposed to be the end. So why did they did end up sleeping with each other in Earth's freezing Tundras? Because she saw Bardock in him.
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