Tag: Swordcat

Saudade (Shard-verse)

Note: Swordcat is another sorta-multiple character in the Shard-verse. The body really is Leon Smith’s, but it was transformed when he picked up the sword, which has a personality that lives in his head and sometimes steers the body around, because swords don’t have hands. Stomlin Ward keeps the sword in the freezers because then Leon can be a calm, somewhat dim, cat. (Relevant vignette/post)

I’m incredibly proud that I managed to get this down to a perfect drabble. CN for implied genocide of humanity and of an alien race, freezing, burning, specieism

Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.

Leon dreamt of memories not his own.

Leon wasn’t like its lords before (how long ago? how- its thoughts skittered and it shuddered in the ice). Leon was grey compared to the lords’ passion. That didn’t matter. Glory would be restored, shining cities and green forests. It would be carried again by lords with thundering voices and soft wise words and dazzling eyes matching its own. And then no more coldness, no more loneliness, no more wrong-smelling air – flat, oily like enemies of old – no more furless parodies of people.

No more memories of burning and cold, cold, cold.


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Shard-verse Character Questions

Taken from my tumblr, which is pretty much abandoned now. Prompts from various character tumblrs.

Your OC has just been thrown out of a window. How did they get into that situation and did they deserve it?

The White Knight – fighting one of the name criminals, and no. Wild Rush – fighting the White Knight, and absolutely

Has your character ever believed someone they met was actually an alien?

Technically, anybody who has met Lenxoli!Swordcat* has met an alien

* (if you’re not familiar with fan jargon, an exclamation point is used to differentiate between different versions of characters. (https://fanlore.org/wiki/!). In this case, it’d be the sword part of Swordcat instead of the human part (Leon).

What’s the least attractive feature of your OC’s personality?

Wild Rush is pretty much heartless.

Daisy is overly trusting and refuses to see people’s (especially Wild Rush’s) bad sides

Delia has a bad temper and is super stubborn.

Gimmick is extremely selfish.

Does your OC have any interesting qualities in their voice? Such as an accent, a lisp, a tendency to say sounds wrong? Any verbal tics?

Techrat has a very flat voice without much intonation

Your OC has started a youtube channel. What type of channel is it and would it get popular?

Techrat would show how to fix old tech, everything from furbies to cell phones.

Then would come the day she’d been off her meds too long and would post a long rant about how awful humans are and how we should die out and be replaced by machines. Which would be taken down as soon as Gimmick noticed it and replaced with a vid that was just text explaining that Techrat was okay but in the hospital.

Then the cycle would start over.

#techrat does not take good care of herself #you’d never see anything but her hands #and her voice would be disguised through a vocoder #so it sounds slightly robotic

How does your OC handle grief?

Delia: apparently by locking herself in a room, making a superhero suit, and beating up criminals

What is a quality or feature you have that you /always/ end up projecting onto your OCs?

Snark

Which OC makes their own clothes?

Charles!

(It’s hard to get dresses in nems size)

Which OC takes great care when it comes to cable management, and which OC will probably suffer a painful injury from tripping over the cords that they leave everywhere?

Techrat keeps things neat, unless things are going badly and Gimmick is even more studious about it

Silver Dollar would be the one tripping

Which OC frequently forgets to take their medication?

Techrat, the poor soul

Which OC likes to be the center of attention?

Wild Rush of course!

And Jill

Which probably worked very badly when they dated

Which OC takes every precaution in order to hide their scars?

Mask, because they hurt otherwise and he’s very proud

On a wild night out on the town, which OC is the one to get drunk and which OC is the one doing damage control?

As Wild Rush gets drunker he finds men even more attractive (he’s bi) and he’s a happy drunk. I don’t think Daisy would drink much, but I can see her getting confrontational when drunk and Wild Rush actually being the one to calm her down for once, instead of the other way around.

Similar dynamic for Mick and Delia. Mick is pan and loves everybody, but usually can judge when it’s okay to make comments (he’ll flirt with everybody even if he doesn’t want to do anything). When Mick’s drunk judgement goes right out the window. Delia ends up trying to keep people from fighting with him, while he’s just grinning in joy from all the hot people around.

Which OC could fall from a two-story building and walk away like nothing happened?

Bonus: Which OC would curl up on the floor and sob if they so much as stubbed their toe?

#1 Wild Rush, Daisy, and Swordcat
#2 Techrat? Dunno

your character pretends they’re really upbeat and confident when really they’re a nervous wreck

This is Wild Rush in a nutshell


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Character Writing Finale!

Let’s see if I can’t finish off these character building questions that I’ve been working on too long!

What does your character’s bed look like when he/she wakes up? Are the covers off on one side of the bed, are they all curled around a pillow, sprawled everywhere? In what position might they sleep? (TW: child neglect)

Wild Rush – the thing you need to know about Wild Rush’s sleep habits are that his parents were super neglectful. He slept in the basement on a cot from an army surplus. If he’s stressed at all or having nightmares, he’ll toss and turn winding himself in the blankets, and make himself as small as possible (but not curl up, because the cot was too narrow). If he’s relaxed or dozing, he’ll splay out which takes up most of the bed. He’s not a fun person to sleep with, is what I’m saying.

Daisy – As absolutely terrible as her dad was, he at least bought her a proper bed. She tends to curl up and snuggle with a pillow or somebody if they’re there. She gets warm and throws the blankets around and they end up in the floor by morning.

Charles – Charles runs hot, so usually just wants a sheet. Ne sleeps on neir back mostly. Ne sleeps really hard and sometimes snores.

Andre – He runs cold, but luckily he sleeps with a human furnace. He’s a side-sleeper that starts curls up and straightens out as he gets hot. He drools and snores. If he’s sleeping alone he buries himself under a pile of blankets until you can hardly see him. Half of them end up shoved to the side by morning.

Delia – she prefers just a sheet and light blanket. She often ends of sleeping on her front, especially after long days. She likes to splay out and if sharing a bed, to just barely touch each other’s legs and arms. She sleeps really hard and has a hard time waking up.

Joel – Joel buries himself under blankets and sleeps on his side with his limbs relaxed. He snores, but not that loudly, and will talk nonsense in his sleep. He’s a zombie in the mornings.

How about we finish off the Troy-Burton family?

Leonard Burton – he absolutely prefers to sleep with someone and will start as snuggling on his side of the bed and not move until morning no matter where the other person moves to and how much of the blankets they steal. If he has to sleep alone, he’s got a body pillow, but he doesn’t sleep as well and ends up wrapping himself up in the blankets.

Nathan Burton (Delia’s husband, Leonard’s brother, Joel’s dad) – he tends to splay out on his back or side and hog the covers. He moves a lot in his sleep too.

Are there any blood relatives that your character is particularly close with, besides the immediate ones? Are there any others that your character practically considers a blood relative?

Wild Rush – Nope. He hates his family with a passion and will have nothing to do with any of them. If he considered someone a blood relative, he’d loathe them.

Daisy – she never really knew any of her grandparents. Her mom was an only child and her dad’s brothers died in The War. Andre and Charles are like brothers to her.

Charles – not really. Neir extended family lives in different states and ne never saw them much. Ne thinks of Daisy as a little sister.

Andre – He’s got a whole bevy of cousins, but nobody he’s super close with. Like Charles, he thinks of Daisy as a little sister.

Delia – she’s got an aunt that she visits often, and then Leonard, her brother-in-law.

Mask – most of his family is in another country, but he’s close with several of his cousins and tries to spoil the younger members of the family. He’s good friends with several of his aunts and uncles too, although they don’t talk about his work much. He’s got a friend in a monastery that he’s practically brothers with, but that doesn’t approve of his work at all. He considers his lieutenants like younger family too.
What’s your character’s desk/workspace look like? Are they neat or messy?

Wild Rush – super messy. He’ll have pencils, pens, and markers everywhere and doodles in all the margins. He has a huge desk he works on and ends up with a pile of rejected ideas on the floor. He pins tons of stuff to the walls too.

Daisy – she has a smaller desk in her room for homework. She tries to keep it neat, but sprawls out when she’s working, then shoves everything inside when she’s done.

Charles – neir workspace is the kitchen. Ne’s a super neat cook, washing dishes as ne goes and such, but ends up with splatters of stuff on neir clothes and in neir hair. Which is why ne has a collection of cute aprons.

Andre – the closest thing he has to a workspace would be the bathroom when he’s primping. He makes a mess, but cleans it up when he’s done, otherwise Charles nags him.

Techrat – is super neat. Everything has a place and that’s where it stays.

Gimmick – also very neat, but will misplace stuff when he’s focused. His neatness is learned because he was a messy kid and got tired of it.

Delia – her workspaces end up a mess, but she knows where everything is. It all gets taken care of when she’s done of the day.

Joel – about the same as his mom, although he’ll often leave things out because he’s going to get back to them.

Donna Cooper – super neat. She’s got an inbox and an outbox and stuff is in one or the other or being worked on.

Harry Suchek – also very neat, although he tends toward the pile method. He’s got a clear desk by the end of the night.

Kella Aurita – she drives Sucheck (and Cooper) nuts because her desk looks like total chaos. She says she can find everything, but a lot of the time it’s after several minutes of searching. Nothing ever gets lost, but that’s because it won’t leave the desk until she’s done with it.

What might your character’s ideal romantic partner be? (TW: sex, misandry, misogynistic stereotypes, BDSM…)

I’m going to have to diversify, since most of the people I’ve been doing are or were in relationships…

Joel Burton – he says he’d like someone to spoil him at home and just relax with, but he ends up dating extroverts and going to concerts, theme parks, outdoor stuff, and other exciting events.

Jill – she wants excitement! And maybe a sugar daddy. She wants fast cars, fine dinners, dancing, and really hot sex. And he has to be smart enough to keep up with her. Which is why we know two of the people she’s dated were Gimmick and Wild Rush (and WR’s brains are only borderline good enough).

Techrat – if he were to think about a romantic (non-sexual) partner, he’d want somebody that would take care of him. Basically a mother.

Tectrix – …probably a harem of brainless beauties that he’d mostly ignore as they got up to lesbian fun… That or somebody as twisted as him.

Mick Adler – a very smart, very independent domme that would treat him harshly, take care of him after, and leave him alone when he’s working. … He may be the character with the healthiest, most reasonable idea on this list…

Describe your character’s hands. Are they small, long, calloused, smooth, stubby? (TW: weapons, violence)

Wild Rush – he has large elegant masculine hands. He’s a master at sleight-of-hand and watching him work, whether it’s lockpicking, doing card tricks, or playing with guns and knives can be mesmerizing.

Daisy – she’s got small soft hands. Everything looks big in her hands, but she can be as mesmerizing as Wild Rush when need be.

Charles – he’s got very strong hands. He keeps them soft, but everybody knows he can crush anything in them. He likes to keep his nails a little longer and will paint them sometimes, often doing Daisy’s too.

Andre – his hands are rough and calloused. He’s not as strong as Charles (not surprising), but he’s quick and nimble.

Delia – her hands are large, very strong, and tend to be rough. Her nails are always battered and short.

Mask – his hands are gnarled and stiff. He can be strong when necessary, but pays for it later.

Techrat – his hand are beat up, rough, calloused, but he has long elegant nimble fingers. His nails and cuticles are always broken and bitten.

Jill – has very feminine elegant hands, but they have a ton of scars from working with her ferrets. She forgets to use lotion, so they’re usually rough.

Mick Adler – he’s got stubby fingers that are often rough from working. He likes to get manicures and will even get his nails painted, but he’s got tough calluses from working in his lab.

Stuart Ashbow – he has beautiful hands, with a wedding ring tattooed on one finger. It’s garland of rose branches with a small rose where the diamond would be. He gets manicures often (sometimes him and Mick go together and maybe drag Delia along) and takes good care of his nails and hands.

Swordcat – has fuzzy, super strong, clawed hands. They’re big (… I’m noticing some author appeal here… ) and with thick fingers and knuckles.


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Character Writing #7 (or so)

I misnumbered one last time and had a mini, but we’ll call it seven.

Yeah, been a while since I did this. I’m trying to do Camp Nanowrimo and don’t really feel like working on the story I was trying to do, so I’m doing this instead. And counting it.

It occurred to me a few days ago that Wild Rush’s grey skin could be related to argyria (tw for medical stuff and eyes in that link). He got splashed with some sort of chemical in a robbery gone wrong and a patch of skin turned grey and then spread. Now, he stayed grey and turned completely grey because he wanted to, so his powers made it happen. But. I dunno.

I’m currently trying to find out if it would turn his tongue and around his eyes grey too. (The pictures I can find of people with argyria aren’t very clear). It looks like it’s worse where light hits it? So the inside of the mouth probably wouldn’t be affected? (Unless I decide it is…)

But. To the actual character writing.

#29. How does your character smell? Do they wear any perfume / cologne?

Wild Rush – like wool and aftershave

Daisy – I’d imagine she likes flowery scents and would wear perfume. If she hasn’t put any on, she smells like jasmine or something from her shampoo.

Delia – when she’s superheroing, like leather and metal. Otherwise, probably likes spicy scents.

Joel – he burns incense a lot, so he smells like that

Leonard Burton – cotton, leather, and motorcycles. Just good man smells.

Charles – ne wears perfume, something spicy and flowery.

Andre – he wears a subtle cologne, something with a vanilla undertone

Techrat – like cotton. Doesn’t wear anything. Often sweaty and metallic smelling from working too long with electronics.

Gimmick – if he’s working, like metal and sulfur and other electronic smells. If he’s showing off, like nice cologne.

Swordcat – like a cat. Kinda a dusty musk.

Mask – not good. Wool, with b.o. He doesn’t sweat and hardly has a sense of smell. He does his best, but it’s an uphill battle.

 

 


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Let’s talk about Swordcat

(TW: mental institution / prison setting, mild threats, cold)

As a reminder: you can request to find out more about the world of the White Knight! Check out this post for topics.

This guy
This guy

Swordcat, aka Leon Smith (the mostly human part) / Lenxoli (the part associated with the sword, which wants to destroy all humans) (See this post for details – tw for ableist language)

 

So they found out that keeping the sword in the freezer helped out Leon one day, during the coldest winter Shard City had had in decades, when the heating system in Stomlin Ward (the special security ward of Stow Prison) broke down, completely.

A little before the normal free time they herded all the prisoners that weren’t horrible security risks into the break room. There were extra blankets and electric heaters. Swordcat was usually found without a shirt [1. Which totally isn’t author appeal / fan service, I swear], but today was covered up, while most of the other inmates were wrapped up in blankets (except Wild Rush, who didn’t appear to notice temperature changes of any sort).

The biggest and baddest claimed spaces in front of heaters, pulling chairs and sofas closer. Wild Rush claimed a couch and heater and curled up next to Daisy. Swordcat dropped a blanket to the floor in front of a heater, growling slightly when another inmate gave him a dirty look, and curled up on the the blanket, his tail covering his nose.

Pretty soon, people were getting cozier, forming clumps of those that could get along.

Magpie sat down next to Swordcat, scratching his shoulders. When that had no negative affect, she curled up next to him. Others joined them. Daisy pulled Wild Rush over, and he sat warming what would have been her cold side.

Finally Techrat was the only one left, sitting on a couch near a heater, with his blankets carefully positioned to not aggravate his phobia of being restrained, and bearing a look that said clearly “Do not touch me. I will turn you inside out. I have the technology” as his teeth chattered. He apparently decided that being close to others was less offensive than freezing and sat between Daisy and Gimmick who both scooted over enough that he was only barely being touched.

It was when the heating was fixed and the store room where the sword was kept rose above freezing, that Swordcat returned to what they had thought was his normal, growly, threatening self, in contrast to the purring snoozing Leon they had found as they checked the break room (It was inhumane to not let the inmates be warm – and there was nowhere they could have been shipped off to – but it would be just carelessness to not check for trading of contraband while they were all so close).

It took only a few experiments to confirm it, and from then on the sword was stored in the kitchen’s deep freezer. While Lenxoli could still be talked to (for those doctors that wanted to risk it), it was much easier for Leon to shut it out.

 

(Note to self – each cell has a window on the other side of the bars made of nearly unbreakable plastic that can be opened as the inmate prefers)


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Character Writing #5

… I’m not doing these in order. These are supposed to be #28 and #21 of the 30 questions (a few of which I’m not doing at all)

If your character’s life was a genre, what would it be? (I’m thinking of this as from their POV)

  • Wild Rush – action, probably with lots of explosions. Maybe action comedy
  • Daisy – romance or romcom
  • Delia – probably a sitcom? Maybe?
  • Charles – action thriller
  • Andre – spy thriller
  • Techrat – horror
  • Swordcat – live stream webcam (… that’s probably a copout :P )

Does your character have a symbol or would they pick a symbol?

The one’s that actually have a symbol:

  • Delia – white knight (chess piece type)
  • Wild Rush – cards
  • Daisy – two hearts
  • Techrat – barcode
  • Mask – his mask, obviously :P
  • Joel Burton – a black rook (chess piece)
  • I swear Gimmick has one, but I can’t think of it
  • Jill – a ferret’s bandit mask
  • (there are a bunch more – pretty much all the Name Criminals have one, as you might expect)

The one’s that don’t:

  • Andre – hibiscus flower, like off a Hawaiian shirt
  • Charles – a bullet casing, I think
  • Mick Adler – a battery

 

 


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Character Writing – Mini #1

I felt like talking about a few other people’s sexual orientations.

– Techrat: sex-repulsed. If he didn’t find contact with people and, basically the human body, viscerally disgusting, he’d be straight and allosexual (non-asexual). As it is, he’s celibate and almost libido-less. (He’s got serious mental problems that would probably respond better to therapy and drugs if he didn’t think he knew better than the doctors and was actually compliant. But nothing is going to get rid of it entirely).

– Swordcat: straight, but to a species of space cat people that haven’t existed for millions of years. You can imagine what this does to his love life. Before he got turned into a cat person, he was straight, in a normal way. He’s got a daughter and ex-wife that he gets along better with now that he’s a cat person (he was a jerk; now he’s a lazy tom cat).

 

(I need to write more people who have serious problems that aren’t criminals. A lot of the criminals with problems – like Techrat – aren’t bad people and I have criminals that don’t have serious mental conditions, like Mask – who also isn’t really a bad person. But. I still need to have civilians and good people that have serious mental conditions that they struggle with.)

 

(And, unrelated to anything else in this post – I suspect at some point somebody is going to ask/think that Wild Rush is autistic. I’m going to say right now, no, he isn’t. Not because there’s anything wrong with being autistic, but because they deserve better than Wild Rush. I’m not writing him to represent any particular condition – I think borderline personality disorder is the closest, but even that doesn’t fit very well since he truly and deeply loves Daisy. He’s kind of a horrible person. He can be charming, he can be entertaining, but he’s very dangerous and his only truly redeeming quality is loving Daisy. Although he puts on a hell of a show.)

(About the only character that has no redeeming qualities at all is Tectrix. I’m writing him as that guy you love to hate. Silver Dollar is also pretty awful and Gimmick is completely self-absorbed.)


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