LATE NIGHT INSPIRATION

Her Special Day

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Summary: Alexia and Nihil spend an important occasion in an unplanned way, but it ends up working out.

Warnings: reference to violence, depictions of decapitation.

Alexia sat down on a slab of stone with a sigh of relief, her attention gradually drifting to the stars above. Lifting one tired arm, she rolled the strange device in her hand absently.

“Do you think that humanity will ever reach the heavens?

Nihil hummed a response, but he was still focused on his work. He always took the worst jobs since he knew how much she hated them.

Sitting in silence felt wrong, so after waiting for a further reply for some time, Alexia finally forced herself up from the floor and slowly trudged over to the irritated man.

“Oh come on, I know it wasn’t how we planned to spend the evening, but look at it this way… Someone was going to have to deal with them and at least this way you get some of the loot right?”

The hacking stopped as Nihil turned his attention towards her.

“I had everything planned, I wanted it to be a nice evening Alex. Just one nice evening, I even had chocolate… Chocolate Alex!”

Wrapping one arm around Nihil’s shoulder while raising the device to the sky, she pressed down the trigger, causing a cascade of explosions to ripple through the compound behind them.

“But this is nice too, Wouldn’t have had such a light show if we’d stayed inside anyway.”

Nihil lowered the head in his hands before leaning against her stooped form. This was nice, and honestly it was the best birthday she’d had in years, most importantly it was the first birthday that she had the chance to do what she wanted to, and that was more than she could have wished for three years ago.

The falling stars mixed with the sparks from the burning buildings creating a beautiful display of light that dazzled her eyes.

“Beautiful”

Nihau had leaned his head back and was gazing at her. Staring down at his ruffled hair, Alexia instinctively leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. Beautiful indeed.

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. :)

Spark of Progress

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial !

Warning: minor science and bugs. Picture has mutated body parts displayed in the background.

Word Count: 395

Story: original snippet, apocalyptic

Cells danced across the lit slide, quickly overtaking the benign tissue and effortlessly mutating the sample. Carl attempted to focus in on the process for any notable variation in its pattern, but after sixteen hours, his dancing vision was persistant enough that he probably wouldn’t catch anything of note even if it bit his face anyway. 

“Sleep, or I’m gonna break that piece of junk.” Pulling away instinctivly, Carl clutched his microscope protectively. 

“Touch it and we all go up in smoke.” His baby-sitter shrugged and picked up the pile of papers that he’d haphazardly arranged for collection. These brutes had their uses but they were far too blunt for his purpouses most days. 

“See anything interesting today?” He shrugged.

“Nothing significant, the infection has been resistant to everything I’ve thrown at it.” Feeling less insecure about the safety of his equipment, Carl leaned back a bit in his chair and raised his coffee to take a drink before he caught sight of something floating along the surface. Pulling it away from his mouth, he set the ceramic mug onto the table and eyed the strange insect floating belly up on the surface. It was obviously infected, nothing that would cause significant damage by itself, but how had a dead infected bug gotten in his cup? 

“You okay?” Carl’s guard was already by his side, checking him for any signs of injury. He knew he wasn’t turning, He’d run enough test to know what turning felt like, at least what people documented it feeling like. Pushing past her, he grabbed a pair of forceps from a loose pile of tools and picked up the bug quickly dragging it over to his work station. Despite his earlier exhaustion a sence of urgency had driven the sleep from his eyes. Quickly preparing a tray, he slid the pieces into place and engaged the magnification. 

Silence settled over the room as he watched the aggressive cells shrivel up and flake apart when contacting the coffee residue. After all this time… Shaking his head, Carl pulled away to grab another sample, he’d have to isolate the cause, figure out what exactly was triggering the reaction. His fingers shook with excitement forcing him to slow down his work for the sake of accuracy. Every moment crawled by in agonizing silence, but If he was right… humanity could finally be saved. 

Attack of the dead men 

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

Note: Given the prompt, it didn’t feel right spin things into a story completely of my own, so I decided instead to summarize a story that has firmly embedded itself into the back of my mind. I became aware of this story because someone showed me the song ‘Attack of the Dead Men’ by SABATON. While gruesome in nature, it presented me with pestering question of how people can drive themselves past impossible limitations while unprepared in the face of death. 

Warnings!!!: Discussion of warfare including the deployment and descriptive effects of weaponized Chlorine/Bromine Gas. 

Chlorine and bromine. While still dangerous, these chemicals have proven to be significanly useful tools for disinfection among other things. The result of their combination in a gasious form though? A toxic cloud that can devistate both humans and the environment, corroding tools and nature with almost instantanous effect.  What then of the human body? How might it react with living cells?

 For the 800 men guarding the Osowiec Fortress in 1915 without the protection of gas masks, those effects were almost completely fatal. Of the entire garrison only 100 soldiers survived due to their distance from the gas batteries. As the gas gradually dissipated and reinforcements arrived, the burned and dying survivors crawled up from their trenches like the living dead to attack the charging enemy. While coughing up their own lungs even as their organs were slowly being desolved by the resulting hydrochloric acid formed from the moister in their lungs and the chlorine gas, they stumbled towards the attackers without hesitation. The sight of their horrific forms was enough to cause bedlam in their enemies ranks, and paired with a concentrated artillery strike form the reinforcements, the soldiers were able to temporarily secure the garrison in the face of overwhelming odds. The victory was short lived however as the reinforcements were later forced to retreat from the garrison at a later date. It is a haunting story from a haunting time that can leave one to ponder the limits that the human will can force a broken body to ignore. 

Heads Up, Seven Up

Share 7 lines from one of your WIPs

Thanks for the tag, @renasdoodles

I haven't reached the editing faze of my WIP yet, so you just get the unedited insanity that it is at the core.

Taking a deep breath, Owen released his hold. Maren had finally calmed down once he got her out of the water and rested.

Well calmed down in the fact that she was currently unconscious. He still had to go off into the woods to look for anything that could help fight the withdrawal symptoms.

This was fun. Thanks for the tag!

No pressure tagging: @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette +open tag

The fluff hair is fun to draw. I think I like purple for his eyes. He keeps his hair up when he has work and lets it down whenever he gets a breather.

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:

Protector

Thank you for the prompt, @flashfictionfridayofficial

Janus smoothed out her crumpled letter as he watched the sunset beyond the horizon. To say that he hadn’t longed to see his sister after she abandoned them would be a lie, but after years of contemplation and bargaining, he thought that he had at least gotten past caring so much. Chuckling to himself at the irony, Janus supposed that his role of protector wasn’t so easily forgotten, despite what his therapist had been insisting on for years.

What really struck him about all this, was just how simple the letter really was. No pleasantries or excuses, just his sister, asking to meet her brother in a neutral area, and promising to actually explain things for once. Without a doubt it was one of her ruses, so predictable, that it would make anyone who'd known her roll their eyes in disgust. Even as her brother, he’d be a fool to believe such empty words again, yet here he stood, waiting for her like always.

“Mr. Janus?”

Turning, Janus felt the muscles in his jaw tense. The boy standing before him was her spitting image. If he hadn’t known better, then he might have suspected that she ran a fowl with some spirit that compressed her into this form. It wouldn’t be that strange for her, but the boy’s eyes were distinctly inhuman. 

“You must be Clarance.”

The pre-teen nodded his head slowly, gripping the strap of his duffle bag until his knuckles began to turn white. Mother had mentioned him once or twice, but Janus had stopped himself from inquiring about the boy, convinced that it wasn’t his business. Whatever the result, now it had been made his business, and he wished that he had at least listened to the basics.  

“Well then, I suppose your mother left you with some instructions?”

The boy’s eyes widened in panic and he began rooting through his bag, eventually producing a crumpled piece of paper. Stepping hesitantly forward he shoved it towards Janus, who accepted it with a quiet thanks.

-Please keep him safe-

Letting out a heavy sigh, he crumpled the paper and stuffed it into his pocket with her letter. As always it seemed that her promises were as paper thin as the cheap scrap she wrote them on. Straightening his posture Janus smiled at the nervous child. It was pointless to dwell on the twisting mass disappointment in his chest, he could figure out her situation later. Now he had other things to focus on. 

“Are you hungry?”

Another Cog

(A little study of Margaret before she calmed down)

One, two, punch.

Dodge, quick check behind, and repeat.

Blow after blow her fists contacted skin until they were bruised and bleeding.

This wasn't even her blasted job... she wasn't getting paid for this crap so why did she always end up babysitting fools?

'Just a small favor Mag, I'll put in a good word with the boss.'

The ever present promise of promotion always just a hair out of reach.

Raising her fist, Margaret bought it down like a hammer on one of her fallen assailants for good measure. Pulling back her arm with a hiss of pain, she examined her shaking fingers and found part of a tooth imbeded in her knuckle.

Standing to her feet Margaret kicked one of the attackers again for good measure and wiped some blood from her nose.

She needed a drink, or a smoke, probably both. The idiot she had been protecting wasn't around anyway, so after calling for an ambulance, she stepped out of the lobby in search of the nearest bar.

Which character has the most symbolism surrounding them?

Thank you for the ask! Sorry, I'm so late with the response. This week has been something else 😅

Honestly, I might have to say that MA fits that bill the best. Without giving too much away, her story is mainly rooted in the idea of innocence vs. The worst of human depravity.

There's more to it, but it's hard for me to properly explain without giving away a plot point that I'm still debating on.

She is the heart and soul of the main group of misfits, and to slight her is to make an enemy of them all.