* GOODNIGHT, LAIKA ... private and selective original character. established june 2011, remade november 2025. low activity, plot-oriented, 21+. written by ari (25+, any pronouns).
expect low, fluctuating levels of activity. this is a pretty casual place all things considered, just somewhere for me to occasionally write, decompress, and brain dump about my oc whenever i have the energy and focus. i'm very slow. patience is appreciated. likewise, please don't feel pressured to respond to me in a timely manner ic or ooc. there's enough going on in the world without needing to stress about that.
basic rp etiquette and dni criteria applies. this blog operates on a no-tolerance policy and any kind of discriminatory rhetoric will earn you a block.
if i follow you and you aren’t interested in writing or interacting with me, please softblock/hardblock my blog.
plots are where it’s at baby. 💃 to be honest, i'm rather shy and have a small social battery ... so the more comfortable i am with you and your character(s), the easier it will be for us to interact with one another ! what i look for in partners is mutual effort and enthusiasm. to me, collaboration is the most important part of this hobby.
while aylen is from an original canon, i will not be posting any of it publicly. instead, the majority of what is featured on this blog is an exploration of them in a variety of verses. because of this, i will only be providing a snapshot introduction to the basics of their character (see below).
i have an ungodly number of verses stashed away for aylen, but would prefer sharing their dossier(s) once we have some sort of rapport established. each verse has been developed with its own separate history, arcs, and relationships because i genuinely love building those sorts of "what if" scenarios. if i have followed you first, there is a 99.9% chance i already have something available for discussion. feel free to ask about them if you're curious.
on that note: please be aware that i like integrating aylen quite heavily into canon material. to me, it makes the verse feel more alive and grounded; like they're a genuine part of the world. however, while i might have some pre-established history written into the foundation of a verse, know that i will never force or assume anything about you or your portrayal of a canon character (if applicable).
this blog is multiship with each ship existing in their own separate verse. i loooooove shipping so much tbh, but it's not really a priority here. it's dependent on chemistry and out of character synergy. i'm admittedly rather selective and more likely to ship + practice ship exclusivity if we interact frequently.
aylen is on the aro/ace spectrum and committed partnerships are always going to fall into a hazy mix of romantic, romantic-adjacent, and queerplatonic. please keep that in mind if you're interested in developing something.
i use standard + small text with some spacing flourishes in my writing, but nothing extensive. i'm also not focused on aesthetics much these days, so i won't be using icons. really trying to pare back a lot on high-effort design in order to combat my chronic burnout. :]
psd coloring by kaisources, art credit @ RAN_CHIIIPYE
* ■■■ ... aylen, the end and all beginnings.
15-26+. almost human, not quite human. nonbinary, they/she. bisexual, a-spec.
you don't want to hear the story of my life, and anyway i don't want to tell it. (no pressure on answering both ASDFASJFH)
prompts from mary oliver's poetry.
they lay beside each other, almost touching but never quite, cradled around an unspoken truth like two bodies sharing an unmarked grave. in the faint blue light that precedes early dawn, only the edges of their bodies can be found. just the vague trace of an expression / the mirage of some hazy, phantom-thing neither possess the language to yet name.
and only when shrouded in this half-dark are they brave enough to face each other, when the shine of their eyes are missing.
i know you won't, she almost says — almost, but doesn't. it stays in her throat and dies unspoken like so many others before it. aylen thinks a lot when dokja is around, has a lot of things she wants to ask, and it all comes back to this: is the story in my head the same one as yours ?
no, it couldn't be. she's sure it's different, if just a little, because no matter how much she wanted to understand, to know, to listen, every story told is first and foremost a translation.
but even if it's not, she wants to hear it anyway. she wants to hear him tell it just because it's his.
if i ask again, will you leave ?
she fears she may already know the answer. they're the same kind of creature, after all. and still, still ... some furious, childish part of her dares to hope otherwise. it scratches weakly at her ribs like some sickly, starving beast and she hasn't found the courage to feed it yet.
so she settles with "i know," with worn-wishes sewn into the seams between shallow breaths. he's flighty. his heart is a bird. she can see it flying away and never coming back. she memorizes the lines of his face just in case.
maybe it was always going to be this way.
"dokja." when aylen speaks his name out loud, it always has a certain softness to it. she doesn't remember when it started anymore. "tell me a different story, then."
⭐️ (as many times as you’re inspired) for aylen & leda maybe?
headcanons about our muses.
[ 1 ] the place in which leda stabbed aylen to kill her at the very end of the needle knight massacre is the reverse of where she was stabbed upon arriving to the lands between. aylen's old exit wound, a blade in the front just between the ribs and the very same that was then nursed away, became leda's target point from the back. an injury which has no beginning or end.
[ 2 ] aylen probably gave leda some sort of keepsake before everything went to utter shit and it would be very fun for her to have kept it all this time despite everything that happened. probably some kind of hair comb. tucked into her bun ... something like these maybe ?
pre-development/arc, aylen really only ever found safety in solitude. they frequently grow up in environments where they are both smothered and persecuted before being neglected entirely. there is a pattern of unreliability that haunts their upbringing and so aylen often grows up to be a self-reliant and independent type of person who feels most at ease when left to their own devices. even if such an existence was lonely, if they were alone there was no one there who could hurt or disappoint them.
as they're able to heal and grow, they begin to find safety and security in the presence of those they come to trust, rely on, and love. a support system allows their nervous system to settle down and relinquish its instinctual survival setting. still, despite that, they do like and require their own alone time. it's not that they necessarily prefer it (okay, maybe they sometimes do ... it gets tiring !), but rather that their natural introversion requires reprieve from constant company.
give them some time to recharge and they'll likely float back to you soon enough. be patient with them.
@reienne : "i'm starting to think you want to keep me here." (:D) / prompt.
❛ ... is it that obvious? ❜ rena admits, her laughter sheepish in nature. she'd been leading them around the unovan plaza for the better part of half an hour now———————— maybe longer, by now. at first, rena convinced herself that she'd been leading them in circles to get the best view of everything. just one thing after another. somewhere, along the way, she'd stop giving a tour & started showing them pieces of herself. & … apparently they'd notice.
earthy-greens darted away immediately, seaching the plaza for something——————— anything, to focus on besides the knowing look directed her way. the polished stone beneath them, the pidove pecking at crumbs nearby. none of it helps. the warmth creeping up her neck only worsens, as well.
aylen had no plans to remain in unova any longer than what was already relegated for their trip. the package had been delivered, the ruins methodically journaled, and a baby sewaddle reunited with its kin.
so, why were they still here meandering the city streets ?
truthfully, it didn't take them more than a few minutes to realize rena's charade. it was difficult to miss how unregimented her itinerary was, but aylen had no real obligations to attend to and the weather was pleasant enough. a whim or a curiosity; it didn't really matter which one it was.
" it was enlightening, " they hum, unbothered and still loose in their step despite the chagrin rena is hoarding. for the first time since they started the tour, aylen takes the lead. " let's get some ice cream. you can tell me more while we eat. "
[ 🫳 ]ㅤ.ㅤwho do they feel they owe, but never paid back ?
[ ✉️ ]ㅤ.ㅤwhat kind of letter would they write but never send ?
[ 🫳 ]ㅤ.ㅤwho do they feel they owe, but never paid back ?
it's completely verse dependent ! this usually falls to characters that occupy a parental and/or mentor role in aylen's life, typically someone who helped them get out of some awful circumstance and towards a better tomorrow from a young(ish) age.
i would actually consider what aylen feels towards these sorts of characters as less being indebted to and more so a feeling of gratitude ? though that also depends on just how strained and complex their relationship actually is, because very rarely does it remain something straightforwardly positive.
to name a few: bruce wayne (dc), cross marian (dgm), shanks (op).
[ ✉️ ]ㅤ.ㅤwhat kind of letter would they write but never send ?
aylen has all sorts of letters and vague addresses in journals that will either remain buried forever in the annals of time or become integrated somewhere in their songwriting and poetry. most of them are letters addressed to people long gone from their life, either through death or separation. it's really just an exercise in unraveling the tumult of their head and heart.
[ 1 ] the first time atsumu tried to hold aylen's hand, he was quite unclear about it due to nerves and ended up playing it off as wanting a high five. aylen gave him the high five, confused as fuck, while osamu and suna were losing their shit in the background.
[ 2 ] aylen can identify atsumu by the sound of his footsteps before he even enters a room, something he finds both endlessly endearing and extremely frightening. sometimes, he suspects he's dating some kind of psychic witch.
[ 3 ] even when they aren't living together, aylen is usually the one to pick up atsumu after a post-game celebration. they're the one to call when it comes time to corral his drunken ass back to his apartment, which inevitably results in atsumu clinging to aylen like a koala when they try to leave.
[ 1 ] anything portia designs for aylen, whether it's something they've actually worn for whatever occasion or not, is kept within regulus' mansion. aylen doesn't have the closet space to house anything so expensive, especially if the outfit quantity ever exceeds two — which it does. regulus is going to end up with a new walk-in boutique filled with things portia makes for aylen of all people. they haven't even seen half the things in there yet.
[ 2 ] somewhere down the line, aylen ends up traveling somewhere fantastical for about a year and regulus begins to receive letters from them with botanical sketches and watercolor landscapes attached. i hope they have a magical equivalent to a carrier pigeon that's sending their missives back and forth. maybe some sort of flighty zipping six-legged mouse.
[ 1 ] the best way to get aylen to eat a proper meal is to have marceline take them to the mess hall by saying something like "it'll be sooo boring without you there." historically, aylen would forget to eat until hunger pains alerted them. not so much the case anymore. head chef jerry burst into tears when it first happened.
[ 2 ] once swapped uniforms to see if anyone would say anything (marceline's idea; order personnel were very surprised that aylen went along with it). komui immediately said something quite stupid that caused marce to fly at him like a squirrel.
[ 3 ] they used to have a hideout they found together at the old headquarters. it was a secluded loft, almost like a balcony, that had a stunning view of the forest below. the two weren't able to find another to replace it when the black order was forced to move. now that aylen is gone, it's unlikely that they ever will.
[ 4 ] aylen and marceline have a few pairs of matching clothes that johnny made for them a couple years ago. you can see marceline wearing it during the zombie arc, though it's not revealed to be a pair until aylen is shown in the post-arc omake with bak wearing the matching set.
[ 5 ] while kanda and aylen are on pretty good terms (he considers aylen to be good company because they're so quiet), the second marce is around them he disappears. same with lavi. he considers the two of them as aylen's loudmouth entourage.
repost & fill in the prompts with what you most associate with your muse!
um ... i got a little carried away, so let's put this under a cut.
animal.
chimeras, more specifically the concept of chimerism. multiple unlike parts coming together to make something new. while neither the creature itself nor its greecian mythology are associated with aylen one for one, the word and its definition are far more applicable for narrative/thematic purposes.
in a similar vein, snakes/dragons aren't technically representative of aylen as a character. you may instead sometimes see me refer to a character called dio, who is a former incarnation of aylen and a vital aspect of them. they actually do possess more explicit snake/dragon motifs, which then carry over to aylen and influences their narrative journey.
this can especially be seen in the symbol of the ouroboros or "tail-eater," which i sometimes depict with an east asian dragon instead of a traditional snake; both are used in proximity to divinity though.
from a more representative angle: stray animals, most notably cats and dogs (visually and behaviorally, spitz dog breeds and black cats are the first to come to mind), have come to be associated with aylen alongside hybridized crossbreeds (wolf-dogs and savannah cats). creatures that have been domesticated, evolutionarily changed by human touch, and for some reason or another abandoned despite the inseparable history they once shared. full of both love and mistrust and a longing for the esoteric "home."
on a completely unrelated and funny level that has nothing to do with any of the above and is more for the bit: shrikes and grasshopper mice. the pov of "cute, stereotypically prey animal that is actually a terrifying killing machine" really spoke to me. but that's more just for sillies. nothing serious.
color.
black, white, and gray. aylen was originally conceptualized as a character with little to no color whatsoever in their design before they evolved into something that appears monochrome at first, but actually has a beautiful play-of-color that erupts when looking closer. i compare them a lot to water or the sky, the ways in which light is able to reflect and change depending on the environment, angle, and time of day, as well as something like the sheen of a pearl (of both the black and white varieties). i wanted aylen's design to reflect the nature of their person: something that appears one way at a cursory glance, only to find a rich but subtle depth after being more carefully known. besides that: the spectrum of blue, purple, and red.
aside from the psychology associated with these six colors being applicable to aylen, both subsets mentioned also reflect aylen's theme of duality, of things opposite but complementary; a sort of yin-yang situation, but one in flux and inevitably merging. black and white mix together to make gray, blue and red mix together to make purple. the base/primary color and all the shades in between.
i might make some boards to not only show the colors, but also aesthetic associations each color scheme has in relation to aylen and their motifs. if i do, i'll link it here later.
month.
december + january, though december is (again) more an aspect derived from dio that then extends over to aylen. the end of the year and the beginning of the year. death and rebirth, cycles, and such. you understand. january also has the added benefit of being named after the roman god janus, god of beginnings, gateways, transitions, duality, passages, and endings. at this point, it's kinda self explanatory.
song.
this is a landmine of a question you do not want to set off.
NO ISFDMSFD, but really it's difficult for me to pick off the top of my head and soooo much MORE difficult to just pick one ... let's choose a little handful, but know there are many, many other songs that are also extremely aylen-coded, generally an aylen vibe, or something aylen themself would write and compose.
forever... (is a long time), runaway, one for sorrow, two for joni jones.
number.
0. represents nothingness, null, void. at the same time: unmatched potential and new beginnings. there's so much symbolism associated with this that gets applies to aylen and their designs. the visual elements of zero translating into circles, the ouroboros, beginnings and endings but also neither because what is a cycle but loops ad infinitum. both the simplest integer and a root cause of invalid calculation. zero and circles are quite important symbols to aylen.
day or night.
the transitory period of twilight into/out of nightfall, the dead of night itself, and the witching hour at its center. if you take into account aylen's self as dio, you tie that into the other half of the day/night cycle, into beautiful daytime and the warmth of the sun, and the combination of the two results in an ecliptic phenomenon. but if we're talking about aylen in the strictest sense, day melting into night, night itself, then night melting into day suffice.
fun fact: aylen was born during a lunar eclipse (a.k.a. the bloodmoon) at 3am (a.k.a. the witching hour), tying into many myths associated with omens and devilry, so make of that what you will.
plant.
forget-me-nots: in both eastern and western cultures, it means everlasting love, remembrance, devotion.
morning glories: fleeting beauty, transience of life. the genus also has a night-blooming variant called moonflowers, which represent dreams and intuition. they're associated with the dawn and the night/moon, respectively.
blue roses: mystery, the unattainable. they do not exist in nature and even any genetically modified "blue roses" that have been created over the years do not have a true blue hue, being more mauve in color. you can dye a white rose blue using some coloring, but it's not the same.
anemones: death, forsaken love, brevity. literally named "windflowers" and associated with the spring breeze, which is fitting for aylen/dio's air motifs. like blue roses, blue anemones do not exist in nature. i associate blue anemones specifically with dio.
smell.
i've spoken about this before, so i'll just copy and paste what i wrote.
"a clean and understated air. carries extremely subtle and vague notes of vanilla and honey. it is soothing and pleasant, if difficult to pinpoint. even at a speaking distance, aylen seems to smell like nothing at all. scents from products and the environment also have a hard time clinging onto their person. at best, their clothes may retain traces of it."
aylen is something that is almost there, but not quite. always present, but also always missing. the absence as a presence, if you will.
side note: i think it's very cute when aylen shares clothes with others and they start to smell like them instead and when returned, very faint but lingering traces of them can also be found that you have to chase after before it's gone. just something super personal and intimate about it all ... really tickles me. only real yearners will get it.
season.
despite associating the months of december and january with them, when i think of aylen i actually think of the tail end of autumn as it dissolves into winter. when the world quiets down, on the cusp of hibernation, maybe some snowfall but most definitely addled by chilling winds and silence. transitory periods baby !
food.
i've never really associated food with aylen, but if i had to pick some i'd probably stay in the realm of fresh fruit. not only do they like to eat fruit (it's their favorite kind of snack ... get them some cherries, strawberries, or citrus and they'll be a satisfied customer; they're really not that picky), but classical symbolism of things like apples or peaches could reasonably be applied.
astrological sign.
aylen's big three (scorpio sun, cancer moon, aquarius rising) are also littered around their entire chart and really do appear to influence a lot of their character. i'd also argue libra, but like ... on the periphery. that's what happens when you're on the cusp just half a degree away, i guess.
element.
water and air dominant for sure (see astrological sign above). even beyond just their chart, water and air as elemental symbols have heavily featured in aylen's themes for ages now, and from them aspects like darkness, the depths, and obscurity + weightlessness, freedom, and change are represented.
i also attribute fire and light to them, but in very specific circumstances that follow a chain of association from water > ocean/darkness > space (as compared to the oceanic abyss) > moon/stars/sun > celestial fire/light. it's less traditional, but still relevant.
drink.
plain ol' water. if you're feeling fancy, you could throw some tea leaves in there too. or fruit juice ... bitches LOVE juice.
tagged: @dokseoga (TY!!!! this was very fun to do 🙂↕️)
tagging: @amouralgia, @proditeur, @reunion (i could be really evil and say one per fandom but for now let's say phainon), @pathologized (LEDA TIME?), @willwant (my girl beatrice needs to fuck it up), anyone who hasn't done it yet !
“Will you teach me?” The words, abrupt and almost-clumsy, tumble out before Leda can catch herself, clearly struck by the few glimpses she had caught of Aylen’s swordplay in practice. With her helm removed in a rare moment of leisure, Leda suddenly regrets listening to the captain’s gentle advice. She should’ve kept her helm on. A bare face is vulnerable—but it invites camaraderie, too. “Your bladework is beautiful. I have never seen anything like it.” With each new syllable she utters, Leda feels more and more unmoored. Weightless, like a shimmering leaf fluttering in the caressing wind. Concealed by the pleasant veneer of her half-embarrassed expression, a glinting light dances in her pale eyes: excitement, admiration, hunger. Then, as if instantaneous, she remembers herself: who she is, what she represents. What need does a fashioned Needle of Kindly Miquella’s have for something her compatriots also lack? How can any swordplay, no matter how beautiful, compare to the purifying techniques that Miquella has bestowed upon her? Leda’s mouth twitches into an approximation of a concerned smile. “…Although, should you be exerting yourself like this? I doubt your wounds are fully recovered.”
their hand slows on the out push and pauses mid-polish. aylen looks up towards the woman, equally flat from an onlooker's perspective, and blinks at the suddenness of her words. here, at the needle knights' haven in a room loaned by charity, they sit straitlaced upon the floor. their legs are tucked neatly beneath their body with the heft of their sword laid in their lap, and they listen.
" i thank you, " said earnestly. aylen bows their head, slow and careful, as not to open the fine stitch-work of their wounds. " i am alright. my wounds are healing well and i do not wish to overstay my welcome. you and yours have already been generous enough. "
aylen has not been here too terribly long. the memory of their rescue is still fresh in their mind, the slivers of battle that robbed them of their blood. the moon had yet to fully crescent that night. absently, they drift to cradle the gash in their side: once deep and butchered, scarlet and sticky. it was a wonder that they still breathe. they were informed of the knight who happened upon their body several days after they awoke. quite unusual for her, the captain had laughed, and what a sight to see.
" ... leda, was it ? "
aylen resumes the repetitive maintenance of their katana, pallid gaze downcast again. it is a needless motion at this point, but an act that eases the encroaching timidity they feel in their gut. this was the first time since their arrival that someone sought their company. it helps them find the means to speak. " shall we exchange blades ? your own sword looks quite unlike my own. "
