Tell Yourself The Story

Character Profile Tag: Billy

Thanks for the tag @creatrackers I had a lot of fun with this one. Sorry I'm so late getting it finished.

Full name: Billy, Shepard of the Blue Moon

Age: 4045 yrs

Gender: male

Species: Forest Guardian

Appearance: Standing at around 5'10 when fully upright, Billy is a mass of foliage and wood in the shape of a man, he appears to have a large beard made of ferns and wears a bone mask over the top of his face showing a pair of deep purple eyes.

Occupation: (Formerly) Shepard of the Blue Moon Valley. (Current) An initially reluctant member of a certain rogue squad of misfits.

Family: Forest guardian's are formed when a prior guardian is about to die or reaches their 4th millennia. In the first and much rarer case, when a forest guardian is about to die through unnatural means, they can split their core and send it into the ground for a 100 years to preserve the natural power. After the time elapses another forest guardian is formed from the core which has by this point re-fused. In Billy's case his predecessors' core did not fuze back and formed two separate Forest Guardian's. So he has one sibling named Jade, but they had their own paths and did not meet often after reaching adulthood. As for found family he has been adopted into the main squad by MA who isn't one to take no for an answer when it comes to strays.

Best friend: He gets along with most of the main squad fairly well (baring Ember), but he has a stronger connection to Hati since the mechanic was instrumental in making his more effective means of re-vitalizing nature. In turn he helps to keep Hati's unstable inventions from falling apart.

Pets: He has no pets and he prefers the company of plants.

Describe their room: (Former) A thick forest with lush foliage and a balanced echo system, it was his pride and joy. (Current) The back of a 6 passenger roofless (Stollen) military vehicle that is one bump away from falling to pieces, the one perk being a flood light that he can use to help get some 'sun' on the smog covered battlefields.

Items in their bag/purse: Assorted seeds and a copy of a half burned political thriller that he picked up somewhere along the road.

Hobbies: horticulture, reading, and hunting down particularly noteworthy offenders to the natural order.

Favorite sport: shooting

Abilities/talents/powers: As a forest guardian he has the ability to accelerate the natural progression and evolution of plants and animals. He is also able to levi an amount of control over natural things even partially extending to the human body unlike most of his species that mainly have this power over plants or animals. He is a skilled marksmen, and amateur engineer thanks to his friendship with Hati.

Relationships: He isn't and has not been in a romantic relationship before. As a Forest Guardian he doesn't particularly have any dive for connection. He does enjoy his friendships with most of the squad more than he had expected he would, but never felt the need to pursue anything further.

Fears: burning alive, watching his forests burn, fire, not being a worthy predecessor, and his squad dying unnaturally.

Faults: He is Stubborn, and doesn't tell people about his problems usually leading to avoidable consequences.

Good points: He is loyal and considerate.

What they want more than anything else: To re-establish the forests that were devastated and to watch over his squad so that they can live full and happy lives (Even Ember).

No pressure tagging:

@renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette ,

@wyked-ao3 @somethingclevermahogony @boomiburst @lyutenw ,

+Open Tag

Questions to copy:

Full name: Age: Gender: Species: Appearance: Occupation: Family: Best friend: Pets: Describe their room: Items in their bag/purse: Hobbies: Favourite sport: Abilities/talents/powers: Relationships: Fears: Faults: Good points: What they want more than anything else:

Writer Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag @renasdoodles !

What is your absolute all-time favorite idea you’ve ever had?

I really don’t know honestly, there have been so many that I’ve been scared to touch for years at this point. I couldn't pin down a favorite though, my top favorites are all there for different reasons.

Is there a question you’ve been asked in the past that really stands out to you, and you still think about sometimes? 

‘Are you a cat person or a dog person?’ This one always gets me conflicted because by all accounts I would say a cat person because I am far closer with them, but I also really like dogs. It’s a bit of a stupid question to keep thinking on, but it keeps popping back in my head at the most random times. 

What is your favorite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?

I love being able to write the stories that I want to read, sometimes I go back to a draft that I abandoned months ago and re-read it to find that I'm really interested in what happens next, and that's a really fun experience. 

What I don’t particularly enjoy is probably when I leave notes for myself to fill stuff in later and it really isn’t enough information to know what in the world I was intending to write. 

What is your greatest motivation to Write/create? 

When It comes down to it I really want to be able to reach a point where I can write the stories from my mind in a way that does them justice. I also want to be able to draw the things that are rattling around in my head.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever heard or been given as a writer? 

First drafts aren’t meant to be perfect, you are just getting the ideas down on the page and setting the ground work for your story to start solidifying your next steps. I particularly struggle with this one since I want to have everything perfectly in place but for my writing style that just isn’t realistic. 

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?

Don’t be scared to ruin your stories, just write them. If you get to scared to even try working on something it will die in your mind forever unspoken and for me that is worse than failing because I gain almost nothing from the wasted creativity.  

What is your favorite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!

Honestly, I’ve disappointingly only been able to finish a couple of fan fictions since I developed a really bad habit of abandoning story ideas out of fear for the results. I’m trying to get myself back on track but it’s just a bit of a task to keep myself in line. ;-; Sometimes I wonder if the writer part of my brain got switched with that of a hyperactive child. Of the Fan Fictions I've managed to post on Ao3 'A Bit of Clean Water' Fandom: Vampyr (Video Game) is short little story that I'm pretty happy with.

Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you particularly feel about their ideals? 

I won't mention the character but their mindset is that people are inherently weak short minded creatures that are incapable of governing themselves. No matter how great a thing they might make it can be devastated in the span of a generation because their will could not be inherited by their successor. The character believes that because of this people are inferior and do not deserve to stand at the top of the food chain.

I personally understand some of where he's coming from because it is pretty scary how easily something great can be destroyed by a bad successor no matter how great the founder might have been, but I feel like this character is a bit to critical of the race and extreme with his execution.

If you when you first started writing met you now, what would younger you think? 

Probably be a bit horrified at first, but the first story I wrote before I was ten ended with the main character dying in a car crash after someone cut her breaks for a petty reason, so I like to think that my younger self would at least somewhat understand where i'm coming from with my writing. As for my personality... That would probably be a much harder sell. (Younger me could barely play mobile games that had any community features, knowing that I put my writing out for people to see might give younger me a heart attack)

No pressure Tagging:

@kuebiko-writing @wyked-ao3 @creatrackers @davycoquette,

@somethingclevermahogony @laisley-writes @flurrysahin @zaynabameen,

+Open Tag

Empty

Random writing??? Who knows where it came from.

How was it that when he looked into his memories, all that stared back at him were blurred fragments?

He felt that there should have been something concrete there, something to cement him down as whatever creature he happened to be. Shouldn't all creatures capable of thought at least have that much?

Gripping the side of his head in frustration, he stood from the cold ground and stumbled along in the darkness, his vision just as blurred as his memories. A part of him knew this was wrong, that he should know something specific, but like a shadow dancing at the very corner of one's vision, the thing seemed to fade whenever he tried to bring it into focus.

Did he even want to know what he was? The idea bored into his mind like a worm making him question the only purpose he had managed to latch onto. Like some cruel tyrant it seemed determined to smother his confidence in the matter, making him all the more egar to pursue what he was.

There was something in that he supposed, some drive that he hadn't been aware of the moment before. It appeared that for whatever else he might be, stubborn was a part of it.

A New Start

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

Coming back to a background story from one of my WIPs Bloodmage. Luis first meets Jade.

Chapter warnings: some body horror

A flurry of minute red crystals flowed from his lungs. Mixing with the frosty air, the fragile shards easily shattered, sparking an array of pinpoint explosions. Fragments ricocheted wildly, tearing up more of the ground around his still form. As he lay still as a corpse, a particularly robust fragment landed in one of his unblinking eyes, embedding itself slowly into his cornea; he hadn’t been particularly interested in the view, but it would be a shame to lose his sight before the end.

“What manner of creature are you then?”

A voice rang out to his left, pulling his focus from the cloudless expanse above him. Opening his mouth to speak, he found that his voice refused to work, his heart still too dead to manage even that. He frowned in frustration, but without the energy or will to move, he was trapped here, like he had been for many years.

“It’s rare for someone to have destroyed more humans than plants… You seem to have put most of my little ones to shame.”

What looked to be a deer skull hovered over him, finally coming into full view. Pink hair ran across the top in a messy array, reminding him of cherry blossoms in spring. He’d always enjoyed watching the delicate petals dancing through the wind.

His breath hitched suddenly as a strange surge of power coursed through his skull as one of the creature’s fingers gently rested against his cold face. Whatever this creature was, it was humming with a strange and beautiful power that was strong enough to steal his breath away.

“Don’t give up yet. There is much to this world worth living for.”

He could sense the creature’s disappointment in him and his decision. As the hand began to pull away, a piece of his fractured soul suddenly sparked at those simple words. He’d counted everything lost, felt that this world had nothing more to show him, but this feeling. He suddenly felt that he needed more of it.

“W…it”

The creature’s attention turned to him once more, filling his mind with a strange spark of excitement. He took in a deep breath and let out a choked laugh at his own pathetic efforts. The creature returned the laugh with a trill, and he could almost imagine that it was smiling at him.

“Good, warriors shouldn’t fall so easily.”

The creature’s clawed hands gently encircled him, pulling Luis free of the earth.

Happy Halloween, What would your OC's do if they saw an army of ghost approaching them on Halloween?

Thank you so much for the ask!

When faced with an army of ghosts, most of the main bloodmage squad would realize that there isn't much to be done against such creatures and retreat until Hati or Ma could come up with a counter measure.

The sole acception to this would be Ember. In a ghost army scenario, she would definitely have to get dragged away with the others while trying to see what it took to burn a ghost.

OC's favorite snack tag game.

Is there anything so undoing as a good snack?

What is one of your characters' favorite snacks, and why?

(I had this idea randomly and was suddenly very curious to hear about different character's choices on this topic) (If you feel so inclined to talk about multiple examples, I'd love to hear them!)

For my part: Owen the Medic

Favorite snack: chocolate chip cookies.

He wasn't originally a big fan of sweets, but one of the members of his squad started baking for all of them whenever they got the chance, and Owen discovered his love for warm cookies. He has gotten experimental with caramel and pretzels, but the classic chocolate chip always wins as it reminds him of the family he found during the war.

Tagging: @renasdoodles @davycoquette @kuebiko-writing +open tag!

Bad News 

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

Summary: Unexpected news is not well received on 2 hours of sleep.

Warnings: Implied and threatened violence

“So… I think that Charlie and I might be dating.” Veins on the side of his neck began to pulse visibly as Simon set down the document he was reviewing. He hadn’t noticed the gaggle of idiots wandering into his room, and normally he wouldn’t have caught what they were saying, but even more cups of coffee than he’d care to admit and 4 hours of overtime thanks to their antics, he wasn’t nearly tired enough to miss a comment like that. Seb was the first to notice his sudden engagement, moving from his usual perch on the edge of Simon’s desk 

“Well, I guess the cat really got out of the box this time huh?”  Simon breathed deeply through his nose, as his knuckles started to get even paler than usual. 

“Its bag though isn’t it?” Ruth interjected slamming her fist down hard enough to knock some loose papers out of their stacks, sending them strait to the damp floor. 

“No. Everyone knows that Cats love boxes, so if the cat leaves the box then things have really gotten out of hand. Common Ru, think about it. Why would a cat be in a bag?” Tapping the side of his desk with his unclenched hand, Simon began eyeing his half empty mug of cold coffee while eyeing the side of Seb’s head.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s bag, Right Si?” Ruth turned to him with a hopeful glint in her eyes to let him know that she wasn’t ready to just drop the stupidity this time. As the sound of Simon’s teeth grinding filled the silence, Seb finally seemed to grasp a semblance of the situation, positioning himself behind the main problem in this mess. 

“I’m not ashamed of myself, She’s really changed this time and Psych already cleared her again for active combat so this is really just a win win for all of us in the end.” Jon began grinning like an idiot as he shrugged. “ You should really be thank…” Before the cup had time to leave his hands, Ruth had already jumped over the table scattering the rest of his documents. 

“He didn’t mean anything by it… You know he got hit in the head last time he was on the field!” Clarity crashed through his exhaustion for the briefest moment, and Simon considered if he truly wanted to strangle the idiot in front of him. Gingerly grabbing Ruth by the scruff of her collar, he quickly moved her to the side and drew himself up to his full height. Staring down at the crazy fool he decided that he didn’t exactly have any good reason not to. 

Heyyy, I forgot to ask bc I got busy but what’s Absolute Zero and The King and His Fairy about? (Wip game) !

No problem! Thanks for the ask :)

Absolute Zero

The story takes place in a world governed by spirits. Once every 500 years two groups of spirits wage war to see who has control over the world for the next cycle, and who will be locked away in the spirit realm. To maintain pride and prevent unnecessary blood shed of spirits they use human vessels who combat in their place. After loosing for more than 3 consecutive cycles, the dark spirits devise a plan and use human servants to work towards creating perfect vessels for them. The cult that forms from that plan steals people and turns them into potential vessels. The main plot follows a failed vessel with a water attribute who finds himself under the thumb of a crazed spirit who was forced to replace one of the original light spirits. To prevent being sealed, the crazed spirit tasks him with finding the other vessels and protecting them so that the spirit is not sealed away.

I've started this story over 6 times now, but I'm never happy with how it flows, so unfortunately I don't have a snippet for it yet :(

The King and his Fairy

Summary: After an event called the awakening gives Warframes more sentience and autonomy they struggle to adapt to the new way of life and their interpersonal dynamics. Titania comes back from a mission and comes to Oberon for a bit of healing. Just a short little one shot story between Titania and Oberon from Warframe that takes place in a slightly altered world. (It's mostly finished I just need to edit it and get it posted but it's a bit sappy and i've been putting it off)

Thanks again for the ask, I love being able to talk about my stories. :)

For the wip file ask game

I'm intrigued by three (well actually more but I narrowed it down some lol)

What can you share about them?

Coral Crown Adjacent

The King and His Fairy

Shadows of the Past

Thanks for the Ask :)

Coral Crown Adjacent is the spin off for a story that I only had in the planning phase. Somehow it ended up getting more attention than the main plot...

Summary: A low level guard (Former assassin trainee) is unexpectedly given a promotion to a higher position and sent to be the bodyguard of the kings advisor/regent to spy on him. The king is on a very powerful drug called ambrosia that allow him to communicate with spirits and one in particular has possessed him and is trying to manipulate the kingdom but the advisor is getting in the way. The guard is trying to do his job while doing his best to survive.

I haven't really worked on it all that much, but going back into the document this little snippet was fun :)

Callen had always kept his hair clean and tidy with the time and finances he had but the glossy texture of his hair after being cleaned with the expensive oils scared him. The general smell of the city which he thought had been permanently ingrained in his skin was appallingly absent, replaced now with a slightly floral smell that he couldn't put his finger on.

The King and his Fairy

Summary: After an event called the awakening gives Warframes more sentience and autonomy they struggle to adapt to the new way of life and their interpersonal dynamics. Titania comes back from a mission and comes to Oberon for a bit of healing. Just a short little one shot story between Titania and Oberon from Warframe that takes place in a slightly altered world.

Snippet:

A familiar buzzing sound echoed through his room as Oberon reluctantly looked up from the book he had finally managed to start reading. His ears flicked in minor irritation at the interruption, he had just been getting to the interesting part too.  "Love, what can I do for you?" The buzzing stopped for a moment before a small fairy crashed into his face showering him with kisses. So she was in one of those moods then. Discarding his book, Oberon uncrossed his legs and braced himself for impact as his fairy changed to her full size.  "I didn't think you'd find me this time my deer." He snorted in irritation at the name as she began giggling in triumph. He felt his ears flattening back at the comment and he hummed disapproving of the attack. 

Finally to my little monster: Shadows of the Past. This is a Valorant AU long fic with Bloodborne inspiration for the tone and setting. The Bloodborne tone really started to shine through in the later chapters, but even early on it was prominent.

Summary: Cypher has failed to protect what he treasures the most, but his hope that the hunters will honor their cruel contract keeps him going. So he struggles alone, a shell of his former self, until an unexpected twist in fate sparks the dying embers of hope in his heart.

I made the mistake of not fully editing this piece before I started posting it, so what was planned to be an eleven chapter fan fic written to commemorate my first year of writing fan fiction is now 13 chapters long and about 2/3rds of the way finished. Here's a little excerpt from chapter 3

“We’ve arrived.” The exclamation was said with a level of grandiose that was unbefitting of both the place and time. She seemed to have sensed his hesitation and tried to offer him some comfort.  “Hey, don’t worry, like I said, it's just a simple interrogation just tell us what you know and then we can part ways like this never happened.” The words were sweet, but they didn’t mask the faint smell of blood seeping out from the cracks of the door. The interrogation room then, it seemed this was where the mask came off, though hopefully not in the literal sense this time. 

Extra, while looking for a snippet to share I found this note that I wrote for myself back in November and burst out laughing.

Flipping need to make sure that I go back and do some pre writing every week because the later half of this story isn't even half written. It's really just sad.

The Little Things

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Um... who knows where this came from.... I'm tired and well the tired brain will make what the tired brain will make.

I hope you enjoy it!

He’d been gone for a few days, and at first, the silence had been nice. She’d enjoyed the silence in the beginning, but as the days dragged by, Lua noticed that the hearth lacked a familiar glow she’d had grown accustomed to. It surprised her how cold the house she’d lived in for so long felt with the absence of one thing. There was no food in the pantry, and the outdoor light had been left on even though the sun was shining high in the sky. Then the storm clouds had come on the fifth day, and with their arrival, Lua realized that among all of the things that were absent, she missed Aaron most of all.

The rain beat down, and lightning flashed across the night sky as Lua paced the dark halls. The dogs hadn’t returned that evening. It seemed that the light had finally died after burning for too many nights in a row. After calling for them over roaring thunder, she relented and spent a good hour trying to track them down in the rain.

Rain drenched her armor, weighing down her head and making the fir of her mask more cumbersome than usual. Following the fading traces, Lua hunted them down in irritated silence. When she finally returned with one of the dogs held firmly by the scruff of its neck, she was greeted by the cool glow of the lantern, burning just as brightly as it had almost a week ago. Without thinking, Lua released the dog and rushed to the house, flinging open the door to find Aaron standing there stunned, with two of the other dogs. He was drenched, and she could smell blood on him. It wasn’t right. Without thinking, she rushed forward and picked him up, spinning him around in unexpected excitement before pulling him close.

The tightness that had been welling up in her chest dissipated in a puff of smoke as Lua dragged the irritated human further into the house. She slowly pulled off his wet clothes as they went until finally reaching the living room where the empty hearth sat as cold as ever. It didn’t matter right now, though. Aaron was back, and soon, things would go back to the way that they should be. Wrapping them in a warm blanket, Lua held him there, soaking in the feeling of someone close once more.

“Did you have trouble while I was gone or something?”

He leaned back his head to look up at her, pressing his head against the fur of her hood.

“No trouble, it was just weird… Don’t go away for so long next time.”

He gave a small smile and lit the hearth with a flick of his wrist. The warm glow of the fire gently lulled Lua to sleep as she held Aaron close.