Here's a (hopefully) fun ask: for your characters and their partners, tell me what they'd say their favorite thing about the other is, and what their actual favorite thing is!
Example with one of my own OCs for clarity:
Rae would say: Warren's eyes
Her Actual Favorite: The moments when he shows his gentleness and kindness in small ways, like playing Tag with her little cousins/nephews or offering to carry an old woman's groceries out to her car for her.
Warren would say: The way Rae puts her hand on his back when she comes up behind him
His Actual Favorite: How unbelievably dedicated she is to protecting the things she loves - he's included in that, and it makes him feel wanted
Again, I'm gonna just randomly pick a few couples using my OC randomizer wheel-
Namaari + Solari
What Solari would say: Namaari's genuine kindness and mercy despite her harsh exterior
Her actual favorite: How badass and protective Namaari is of her.
What Namaari would say: Solari's adorable little button nose and wide smile
Her actual favorite: Solari's laugh- not the soft giggles she was trained to laugh with in the royal court, but the genuine guffaws that come out when Namaari really makes her laugh.
Rae + Claire
What Rae would say: Claire's confidence and sense of style
Her actual favorite: Claire's determination to get what she wants, even to the point of being a little bit scary
What Claire would say: Rae's intelligence and skills
Her actual favorite: Rae's goofiness and fun-loving tendencies
Castor + Pyrrha
What Pyrrha would say: Castor's smile that always catches her off guard.
Her actual favorite: Castor's ability to get her out of her shell like no one else can; to break through all her walls in only seconds.
What Castor would say: Pyrrha's absolutely brutal sense of humor
His actual favorite: Pyrrha's empathy and kindness beneath her hardened exterior
Max + Kyle
What Max would say: Kyle's musculature and height
His actual favorite: His natural disposition to care for those who can't help themselves
What Kyle would say: Max's sarcasm and dark humor
His actual favorite: Max's passion for what he believes in, even if they don't agree on everything (see: Max's tendencies towards political violence)
What would Indigo think of Pyrrha? I feel like they're vaguely similar people, personality wise
Ah good question! I don't usually include Indie on the usual ask lineup... not sure entirely why, I just finished her story a good while ago and there's a lot of spoiler-y things that play into her character that I'd rather people read the full fic for, so I'm sorry I didn't include her in the initial first impressions ask.
I agree that they're vaguely similar people, in personality but also a bit in experiences - I mean, Indie defected from a bad experience on Corellia and then another bad experience in the Order, so there's a lot to connect with there. And Indie would understand the whole "everyone assumes you're powerful because of your status but really you can hardly walk across a room half the time" thing because of her heart problems, so there's another thing to bond over.
I think it would be nice for Indie to have someone with genuinely similar experiences to be able to talk to, and I'm sure the same is true for Pyrrha too. It would definitely be neat to see them interact... though probably not at Indie's house, since I can't imagine Pyrrha would do well to be around Hux (hard-fought redemption arc or not)
Assumption: Pyrrha's skin gets really itchy, especially along the seams/scar tissue where her prosthetics meet her skin
Oh definitely! It's actually a major issue in her story that her cybernetics were purposely installed slightly wrong in order to cause her pain and discomfort, and she has to learn to trust doctors in order to have them replaced or adjusted as need be, so she can live her life without discomfort. She also really has to moisturize the spot where her shoulder joint meets her prosthesis or else that spot will get rubbed so raw it'll bleed.
Your OCs are in the grocery store when they notice a woman hiding in the corner of the store, clearly on the run from something. She's clearly terrified and is breathing hard, like she's just run a long way, and is curled around her hands like she's trying to hide them. On a closer look, your OC sees that one of her hands is made of metal and is broken and sparking dangerously, while the other hand is completely missing save for what appears to be a port where her other prosthetic would attach.
It's Terra, running from a second encounter with Smeech! What do your OCs do?
I ended up doing something with just one OC rather than multiple. Enjoy the cyborg girlies!
"What were you even looking for, Castor?" Pyrrha mumbled under her breath, scanning the shelves at the market.
She'd been searching for a specific part for a project Castor was working on for hours, since she'd gone out to get some grease for her prosthetics, since her right wrist had been a bit squeaky this last week. When he asked for her to look for his spare parts, like an idiot, she'd agreed, despite not knowing in the slightest what she was supposed to be looking for.
She sighed, drifting between shelves, when she heard someone hyperventilating in the shadows. Pyrrha stepped closer, pupils contracting in the dim light. A woman stood, hunched over, arms close to her chest.
Both hands appeared to be cybernetic, like Pyrrha's own. The left was simply damaged, sparking and hanging on a loose hinge, while the other was completely gone, as if it'd been ripped out of where it had been anchored to her flesh.
Pyrrha cleared her throat, announcing her presence. This was something she could help with, another tally she could make to erase the bad things she'd done before, under the monster who'd raised her. Castor could find his own supplies, after all, he knew what he was looking for.
"Hey, hey." Pyrrha put her hands up, as to show she wasn't a threat. "I'm a medic. You're hurt. Can I take a look at you?"
The woman, who was probably just barely older than Pyrrha's twenty-one years, backed away. She clearly wasn't quite all there at the moment, still hopped up on the adrenaline from whatever had done this to her, and she didn't perceive Pyrrha's presence as anything less than a threat.
"Don't worry." Pyrrha's voice was quiet and calm, in the way that Kyerion had taught her. "I won't hurt you. Not on purpose, at least."
She removed her gloves, revealing the prosthetics Castor had made for her, the ones lined with a bluish-white ceramic to protect them from the elements and to give her a softer touch when interacting with her patients.
"See?" Pyrrha showed off her hands, the ceramic plates clicking against each other as she moved them. "I'm like you. I know what you're going through. Please. Let me help."
The woman, still hyperventilating, looked over. "They're looking for me. I can't stay here."
"Then come with me." Pyrrha shed her coat, revealing her extensive cybernetics that lay underneath, and handed it to the woman. "I'll take you back to my place. I'm a medic, my partner's a mechanic. We should be able to put you right."
The woman put on the coat, still hesitant to trust, but seemed to understand this was the best offer she was going to get. She pulled up the hood, hiding her face and her pastel hair below. Pyrrha led her through the market and back to her and Castor's home, hand at the weapon that hung on her belt, senses on high alert for any potential attackers.
When they got inside, Pyrrha pulled all the drapes, activating the security system. She'd had to turn her home into a makeshift clinic before, as this wasn't the first time she'd treated someone on the run.
"Sit." Pyrrha gestured to the armchair in the corner of the room. She sat on the footstool in front of her, inspecting the woman's hands. "Name?"
"Terra."
"No last name?" Pyrrha cocked her head. It was common around these parts, but she still wasn't used to it. "Pyrrha. Pyrrha Auclair."
"Thank you, Dr. Auclair."
"Oh, no." Pyrrha laughed, now inspecting the port where Terra's other prosthetic would attach. "Not doctor. No, I'm just a field medic. I was trained by a doctor in the basics, but if anything, I'm little more than a glorified nurse."
Pyrrha finished her inspection before speaking again.
"I should be able to patch this one, at least temporarily, with some of my spare parts. The other? Well, I think I might have one of my old prosthetics around. I'm not sure if it's compatible; my partner would know if he were around, but clearly, he's off somewhere, but it's worth a shot. Wait here."
Pyrrha went upstairs, digging through the chest across from her bedside where she kept her spare parts. There were a few pieces that would at least allow Terra some limited mobility if she were to replace them, and at the bottom of the chest sat a much younger Pyrrha's right hand.
She pulled the hand out from under a pile of spare parts, inspecting the end that would have connected to her arm. It appeared to be the same shape as Terra's, but was unlikely to be proportionate to the rest of Terra's body, as she had received the prosthetic at sixteen. However, it was worth a try.
Pyrrha came downstairs with the parts and the hand in a small sack, sitting down again across from Terra.
"Your systems don't seem to be too different than mine." Pyrrha removed the damaged servo from Terra's hand, replacing it with one of her spare ones. "I can't fix whatever defensive weapon you installed in the wrist, I'm no mechanic, but I can at least give you your independence back."
"That's fine." Terra nodded. Her breathing had calmed, but her body still trembled. "Thank you."
When she had finished, Pyrrha prompted Terra to test out the repairs. There was a slight lag, but overall, it was in much better condition than earlier. Then, Pyrrha moved on to the other arm.
"It's going to feel a little off at first." Pyrrha warned. On a second inspection, it appeared she'd been correct- they were compatible. "I was much younger and smaller when I received this. But you are smaller than me, so it might not be so bad."
Pyrrha attached the wires, installing the spare hand into Terra's arm. She looked down, flexing the fingers. With each motion, a needle-sharp metal claw extended from the fingertip. Terra looked up at Pyrrha in surprise.
"Now that's one thing to get used to," Pyrrha explained, extending the claws from her own hand. "My people all have them. It'd feel unnatural to not."
Terra pursed her lips, readying herself to stand up. "Thank you."
Pyrrha sheathed her claws, pressing on Terra's chest. "You've still got that head wound. And whatever's bleeding under your shirt. I'm a medic, remember?"
"You've already told me that several times."
"I know." Pyrrha replied. "But please. Don't do this alone. Let me at least treat your wounds, then you can go where you will."
Once Pyrrha had grabbed the first aid kit, they sat in silence, Terra allowing Pyrrha to disinfect and bandage her wounds, then to massage numbing gel into her side before stitching that wound shut.
"Be careful." Pyrrha warned as Terra stood. "This is a patch job. It won't stand to another fight."
Terra sighed. "What's the cost for all this?"
"No cost." Pyrrha shook her head. "I'm not doing this for the money."
"Then why?"
Amber eyes met pink-tinged hazel. "Because I know what it's like to lose power over your own body."
Song rec: What Do You Make of Me and/or The Ghost That is Still Alive by Beth Crowley
Thank you!!
I'm not sure if What Do You Make of Me gives me any vibes for my own OCs, but I'd guess that it's on Pyrrha's playlist for you! This is also the type of song that I, as a preteen, would probably end up imagining How to Train Your Dragon animatics to in my head lol
The Ghost That Is Still Alive is absolutely HAUNTING, for one. From the title I was expecting this to be a song for Jimmy (and there are still some lyrics that fit him), but instead it's so very Nikoletta it almost physically hurts.
Poison (Annapantsu) - Yes, it's a Hazbin Hotel cover, but it's such a good song for Laila's relationship with Nyx- the "poison" being both Lux and the toxicity of Nyx's control. I can definitely imagine Laila going on a Lux-powered murder spree through the chorus.
Good Luck, Babe! (Chappel Roan) is perfect for a Lailathena pining montage, especially highlighting Athena's commitment issues and Laila's anger over her refusal to put a label on their relationship.
Earth Eyes (Xana) is another good one for Laila's sad gay pining, but this one is better for after Athena is presumed dead and Laila is still pining over her. I can imagine it playing over Laila crying on the floor in the fetal position, a picture of her and Athena clutched in her hand.
Pyrrha:
Weapon (Against The Current) over a scene of Pyrrha before her defection. It's perfect for the way she sees herself at that point, and the role Nyx has pushed her into. It'd be perfect for her desperately, singlehandedly dispatching a group of Rebels, out of fear of Nyx's retaliation.
The Fruits (Paris Paloma) for a scene of Pyrrha having a panic attack over her relationship with Castor in the early stages, when she fears he doesn't truly know what kind of person she is. The lyrics may technically be about sexual assault, but I feel like they also work for the other kind of physical violation that Pyrrha was forced to go through in order to survive under Nyx. "Angel, he calls me/Does he know that I'm fallen/From the precipice that I tripped off long ago" is just such a Castrrha line ngl.
Arien:
Elastic Heart (Sia) would fit Nyx and Arien's relationship really well. As Nyx overlooks her again and again, to the point that she's nearly forgotten their existence by the time they're an adult, Arien becomes stronger and more independent, creating their own beliefs that are a mishmash of Sith ideology with their own opinions.
Headlock (Imogen Heap) could play in the background of a flashback scene as Arien is defecting to the Resistance, remembering back to begging Rue to defect with her, who claims to be "too far gone" to ever make it out.
Rue:
Sucker (Marcus King) would really fit a scene where Rue is fighting Nyx's possession after her previous host was purged, stumbling through hallways and arguing with mirrors. Because Nyx repeatedly took temporary control of her as she grew up, Rue is, in a sense, 'innoculated' against Nyx's control, able to keep her consciousness intact and occasionally take control of the body.
Hand That Feeds (Halsey, Amy Lee) over a scene of Nyx training Rue, showing how both Nyx continually smothers her with her golden child status, violating Rue's privacy and her boundaries and grooming her into her next host, and how she is relentless in training, holding her eldest up to an impossible standard and punishing her if she does not meet that.
Whump prompt: through some means or another, Pyrrha briefly experiences what it's like to live entirely without chronic pain... then wakes up/is flung back into her body where she's in pain again
The Call of the Void
Word Count: 859
CW: Drowning, near-death experience, graphic injury/amputation, medical trauma, references to non-consensual cybernetic augmentation, pain, choking, blood, emetophobia triggers, references to abuse/childhood trauma.
She should've been more careful.
Pyrrha clawed towards the surface, her waterlogged cybernetic leg dragging her down to the bottom of the river. Water flooded her airways and she choked, burning down her throat and deep into her lungs.
Go after the medic first. That was one of the first lessons she'd been taught, when she was just a girl fighting for her life against a woman with incomprehensibly more life experience than her own. She should have remembered that lesson while she was leaned over one of her comrades, providing first aid, when an unidentified boot met her back, throwing her over the edge of the bridge and into the river below.
Pyrrha had once loved to swim, sneaking off in the transports with her sisters when the Stormtroopers would leave the ship to go on shore leave. Now, water was her enemy, ever since Nyx had replaced nearly the entirety of her right leg when she was twelve.
Her vision went hazy as she sank deeper and deeper, and soon, even the mere concept of trying to make it to the surface seemed inconceivable. Slowly, a strange sort of peace replaced the panic, and as her feet met the muddy bottom of the river, fish flicking by above her, her eyes fluttered closed.
Pyrrha's dreams had been... interesting, was the only way to describe it, ever since Nyx had part of her brain augmented. Flashes of various error codes and system updates across a greyish sky, as bits and pieces of memory replayed themselves, trying to reassert themselves after the thirteen and a half years she'd spent in that hell.
CRITICAL SYSTEMS FAILURE IMMINENT
RESPERATORY SYSTEMS CRITICAL
CARDIAC SYSTEMS CRITICAL
WARNING: SUBMERSION IN WATER MAY CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO CYBERNETIC SYSTEMS
Pyrrha blinked, the usual greyish void her dreams took seeming to glitch into a thousand colors. She'd seen it like this once before, when the implant that had replaced her heart had failed and she'd been brought to the brink of death and back.
She was dying, here, now, while her physical body was trapped at the bottom of that river. At least it was more comfortable, here in her dreams. Her pain receptors didn't seem to work while she was unconscious, an augmentation Nyx had ordered to save on anesthesia when they would alter her against her will.
Here, in her dreams, she lived intact in a way she hadn't been since eight years old, when she'd had her heart torn out of her chest while she was still half-conscious, all for the supposed crime of refusing to kill her enemy's child. There was no sense of touch, no taste, no smell, just an empty sort of nothing, but the lack of pain was worth it.
Not only the pain of drowning, but the burning she lived with daily in the chafed spots where metal met skin, the stabbing phantom pains where her limbs had once been, the pressure in the spots where bone had been fused with machine. Of all ways to die, this wasn't so bad.
She laid on what could best be described as the floor of her dreamscape, staring up at watching as system after system reached a critical point, then crashed. She was going to die. This was okay, she told herself, trying to build up courage.
REBOOTING: 3... 2... 1...
Then, pain flooded in, blinding every sense for a sheer second as Pyrrha's consciousness was thrust back into her physical form. She wanted to cry out, but instead water pushed its way up her throat, muddy and bitter from the river she'd fallen in.
Her right leg ached, the artificial neurons sending all sorts of contradicting signals to her brain. When she opened her eyes, Castor leaned above her, eyes wide in concern, Pyrrha's lightsaber gripped tightly in his hand. Pyrrha coughed, eyes squeezing shut as her throat burned, water dripping from her mouth and nostrils.
"You almost died."
"I know."
"Medic! We need a stretcher." Castor called to the team. Somehow, while she was unconscious, they'd managed to retake the bit of Resistance territory they had been fighting for, even against the Stormtrooper hordes and their more advanced weaponry.
"It's fine, I can walk-"
"Pyrrha." Castor squeezed her shoulder. "You were at the bottom of that river. I couldn't pull both of us up, not with you unconscious, and that waterlogged prosthetic of yours probably weighing a hundred kilos on its own. I took your saber, and I had to cut it free."
Pyrrha looked down. There was a cut-off stump of sparking metal where her right leg would usually go. She sighed. She'd never been emotionally attached to the limb, especially not since it was the sixth one she'd gotten since hitting her growth spurt, but to lack it was inconvenient at best.
"We'll get you a new one at base, I promise. One that actually works and isn't a piece of crap like your old one."
Pyrrha managed half a smile. "This one had better come with a missile launcher."
Castor laughed, taken aback by Pyrrha's rare and unexpected use of humor. "We'll see about that."
Thanks @practically-an-x-man for the ask. You know, this has been in my drafts for over a year and I keep forgetting to finish it? Kinda pathetic, I know.
❤️ (heart) - Who is the most important person to your character? To what lengths would they go to protect this person?
Ellis: Gabi, being their first human friend and the child that they lost their angelic status to save, means a lot to them, and given that Ellis is kinda running on borrowed time, they'd do just about anything to protect her.
Jay: Cassandra, definitely. He would burn every bridge and cross every line to keep her safe, even if it meant betraying everything he believes in.
Pyrrha: Her sister, Zahrya. Even more than her partner or her friends, she cares about her sister. Maybe it's because it's her identical twin, unblemished by Nyx's torture, and she sees her as a better version of herself. She'd do just about anything to protect her.
🌹 (rose) - What does your oc find attractive in other people? Are these traits found in their friends and/or romantic partners? Are they found in themselves?
Ellis: Is aro, but they like people who have good souls. The kind of people who are compassionate for no reason.
Jay: Competence and intelligence. The way to Jay's heart is through his head, and he finds a big brain incredibly attractive.
Pyrrha: Kindness. People who are compassionate and genuine, unlike the environment that Pyrrha grew up in, are just so perfect for Pyrrha.
🍷 (wine) - Does your oc drink? What kind of alcohol do they enjoy? What are their drinking habits? What kind of drunk are they?
Ellis: Doesn't drink. Angels can't drink alcohol or consume any other form of intoxicating substance, being creatures of pure light.
Jay: Is California Sober. Doesn't drink, but smokes a literal shit-ton of weed.
Pyrrha: Doesn't drink, since most of her internal organs are cybernetic and it'd either not work on her or it'd damage her internal parts- probably both. Either way, it's not worth the risk.
❗️(exclamation point) - What was the scariest moment of your character’s life? Does it still affect them?
Ellis: When they were smited and cast out of Heaven. They thought they'd be falling straight to hell, where their mind and body would be twisted into something wretched and unrecognizable.
Jay: When Cassandra almost dies, and he has to blast off her arm in order to save her life. It's an action that still haunts his dreams long after it's happened.
Pyrrha: Having her heart removed at 9 years old, while under just enough anesthesia so she'd be barely conscious, but powerless to resist.
💄 (lipstick) - What does your oc think of their face? Do they have a positive or negative opinion? Do they wear makeup? Do they have a skincare routine? What traits do they like most about their face?
Ellis: Before their fall, they were pretty neutral about their appearance. Beauty standards don't really exist in Heaven. Now, they're a bit self-conscious about their smiting-mark, since they see it as a symbol of corruption and their fall.
Jay: He likes his face well enough, especially once he's been on T for about a year and the fat redistribution has really kicked in. He's not really vain about it, but he thinks he looks pretty good.
Pyrrha: Hates a lot of aspects of her appearance. Her face is... fine, I guess, at least the parts that aren't 'blemished' by her cybernetics. Essentially, she doesn't really mind the natural parts of her appearance, and thinks that she could be quite pretty, but has a lot of issues with her cybernetics.
🧣(scarf) - What comforts your oc? Is it an item? An action? A person? Whatever it is, how any why does it comfort them?
Ellis: Having their wing feathers preened. Since there's not really anyone on Earth that really knows how to do that, it's almost just as good to have their wings petted, or to just have anyone touch their wings.
Jay: Cassandra. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. Cassandra is Jay's everything, and when she's around, he almost instantly feels at ease, regardless of how he was feeling beforehand.
Pyrrha: People who get her, who aren't weird about the scars or the trauma or the cybernetics. It's a pretty short list of people she trusts like that, but she tries to keep at least one of them by her side at all times.
🩸 (blood) - Is your oc squeamish? Are they disturbed by the sight of blood? Have they ever been in a situation where they had to overcome being squeamish?
Ellis: Somewhat? Angels don't really have blood, they bleed light when injured, so seeing a human or other earthly being bleed for the first time would be quite disturbing to them.
Jay: Not really, at this point. He used to be, when he was younger, but he's done enough work in the field that it doesn't bother him as much anymore.
Pyrrha: Is completely desensitized to it. She's done enough killing, and had three of her limbs at least partially amputated while fully conscious but drugged so she'd be powerless to resist. She's seen well enough blood for it to not bother her.
