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17 hrs ago
Current Shaved Gendo Ikari isn't real, he can't hurt you.
5 days ago
*swigs the open Gatorade in the fridge* Oh, someone spiked this.
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5 days ago
Somebody, design a neuralink that will write my posts for me as I vibe on them.
2 likes
7 days ago
Sometimes your muse comes back, calls you an idiot, and continues where it left off.
3 likes
8 days ago
Complacency and over-confidence can destroy your quality, but fear and apprehension can destroy your productivity. As it is so often, you must find balance.
1 like

Bio

It's me, that dood, Citrus Arms. I'm 33, I sometimes work on a book a little bit, and I play a lot of games. I like me some MechWarrior or the X-Frontier series, but I also adore some good magic-fantasy. I grew up with Final Fantasy VI's magitech world, and worlds like Chrono Trigger, Zelda, and Star Fox. Lots of Nintendo, but some other stuff, too.

I like sci-fi and fantasy and space and combinations thereof, mostly.

Discord: CitrusArms

Most Recent Posts

It's Expendable and Xalt! Hello! :D

Foxgirls? Foxgirls.
Oooh, something like this sounds like fun.



“Food’s included, no job requirements - I’m no mooch, now - no tests or entry period.. I’ll certainly take a room.” If she was going to be living in this building, Trinity had research to do. She dismissed the last instrument she had out, the trumpet, and its mute, before she began molding the sphere of energy she had held on to. Before she could, however, she stopped, studying the piece of energy in her hands and looking up and around. She was just at the door, the threshold of the building, able to see half the sky. “.. a.. thunderstorm..?” She didn’t remember a storm on the horizon, but these things could change suddenly. Perhaps one was brewing where she could not see, because of the building. Whatever.

She went inside and caught what Jenna had said about the jobs. The fishery? The musician cast her gaze for the job board, locating it shortly and going to inspect, molding her energy into a spherical microphone construct. Indeed, there was only one job left. Something about going to look for a fight? Guweh.

Jenna shouted about food and Trinity remembered she'd only had that little break at the coffee shop recently, “could you fix me something, too? Egg toast’d be great, please.” Aaah, nearly free food! Oooh, a hearty meal would be a good thing to get in her belly. She’d only had cash enough for a coffee and some whipped cream, before. Good coffee, at least. The spherical make she’d formed was feeding her information about the sound of the building, which she was using to get a feel for the acoustics. It floated over her shoulder and slightly behind her, shimmering and gold.

Jenna was busy welcoming more new members. That was a pleasant surprise, she thought she'd be the only one. There were more mages already joined than she'd thought there would be, too. This was the only guild in the Kingdom, after all. Trinity had herself a seat at the bar with her back to it and pulled out a small harp, tuning it shortly before she started to play a bit of chamber music. She would wait to introduce herself after their induction. No need to bombard them.

“.. there's no way I get booze, too, right?” The musician leaned back on the bar and peered back over it, examining what she could see as she played. There was no way. No way!

Once she’d examined the bar, she chose to watch the new recruits, wondering what their magics were and if they could fight. She didn’t really like the idea of grabbing tagalongs to do her fighting for her, but what else was she going to do? She could wait for more work to come in, but that also wasn’t really preferable. Well, at least she could eat.


Stratya Durmand

Time:
25th, 10 am
Location: Edwards Estate
Attire: Officer’s Formal
Family Dirk + Crest
Interactions: Anastasia @princess, Farim @Lava Alckon, Rohit @Helo
Mentions: Lorenzo

The Royal Cushion seemed to take a larger issue with the drinks than anyone else had. Her giggles, already subsiding, were pushed aside as she considered what he said, slowly, in her drunken mind. She thought for a moment before repeating, “tampered with? Mmnn..” her lips tightened and her brow furrowed her, then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and, with a sudden duty driving her, focused.

Stratya was used to being in this kind of state. More specifically, her training prepared her for an altered state of mind. It took a little doing, but she managed to gather herself and begin a mental check. Had she been drugged, or bespelled? Did she need to do something?

… No. She was just pretty drunk.

“'At's just a verry strrong drrink, I think.” Stratya’s eyes opened slowly as the alcohol reestablished itself in her mind. The giggles came back as it did, “too strrong fahrr yeh?” The knight started on some of the food she’d picked out for herself, savoring the meat and potatoes, when Rohit approached.

Captain Durmand looked up at the new voice and reached out for something to drink. Her hand found the familiar stems and she looked at it briefly, before setting it back down. “Rrohit, y’say?” Her movements were careful, if drunkenly clumsy. She was compensating by slowing down. ”Cap'n Strratya Durrmand. T’ pigeon wit’ y’r let’err musta’ got’en lost, I’m surre we sen’ one.” The captain offered a grin, slightly nudging the half-drained cocktail away from herself again before turning back to Rohit. One was enough, she didn’t need the second. The first, emptied one was back at the table she’d sat at with Ariella.

A pint of mead was placed in front of her hand. She accepted it and gave it a happy sip, ”aye, ‘at’s t’ mead, alright.” When she turned to see where it had come from, she found the servant she asked for chocolate-covered fruit setting down chocolate-covered fruit. She gasped and grinned, “you brough’ me mead~, ooh, you ‘earrd me, did yah? I’ll come by la’er wit’ a baske’ o’ goodies for t’ staff, aye? Thank ye.”

That wasn’t quite how the servant had wanted that to go. He thought she might tip more.. baked goods? They'd better be good.

Wulfric’s appearance drew her attention back to Anastasia and whomever she was sitting on. She’d received dossiers, but those cocktails were strong. She got the feeling like she should probably know who this man was.

If she thought about it, not just anyone could get Wulfric’s attention. And without even trying! She should really know who this guy was, huh? Time to find out. ”As fine a jab as it migh’ be, I ge’ t’ distinct feelin’ I shoul’nae go ‘rround callin’ ye t’ Rroyal Cushion?” There was the barest hint of disapproval, but humor took the front of her tone. She took a bite of food.

After Farim had a chance to responded, Stratya began to discover just why Lorenzo was so infamous. The Boisterous Duke. The Ruling Riot of Vermillion. Lorenzo! Who could have missed the “DRAAAAKE” he bellowed? “Oh, Gods, wha’s tha’ man doing now?” Like an onlooker at a horrible wreck, she felt compelled, and she turned to watch.

The First Item! “Revolver?” From what we was saying, it sounded like, “a gun?” She’d not heard of a r e v o l v e r before. She was used to the older firearms found in the rural countryside. If you loaded them wrong, you could really hurt yourself. Take of fingers, or a hand. Had they fixed that problem, with whatever this was?

The Second Item! A courting.. kit..? Oh, Drake. Being from Vermillion, she felt like she should apologize to Drake for the Duke. And that was before Lorenzo mentioned: rubbers?! And the way he said it! She pressed her hands over her mouth, trying not to burst out laughing again, ”H-hhh-Duke Lorenz–" the failure to contain a laugh caused her to make a coarse noise, "Lorenzo, I’m tryin’ ta ea’! You preposterous man!”

The Third Item “F-ferrets?” She reigned in her laughter, thinking about, “twin ferrets?” Guns, cologne, condoms, ferrets. What a roller coaster! She didn’t have the energy to fawn over the ferrets, even, “is i’ ovehr? Can I e-hee hee-ea’? I’m hungrry. Duke Lorrenzo's nae gonna make me laugh again, is he,” she whined softly but had to stifle giggles and calm herself still. She chortled, and snickered, enjoying herself but also wanting to eat. She had to stop laughing to do that. After a few resurgences, she managed to calm herself and start eating.
The co-pilot space in the cockpit was crammed full of all the stuff Lay’arra usually kept in the small sleeper compartment behind, though it was possible for her to climb over it all into the seat, to use the full computer suite. She’d never had to use the sleeper compartment before, since she’d been on a sandship, usually. It was.. only slightly too small. Though it fit her from head to toe, there was no headspace or room to stretch her feet without pushing herself into the wall, head first. There was only a narrow strip of floor space between the bunks and the cockpit, some of which had been sacrificed for a closet. Opposite that was a ladder to the second bunk, the ladder doubled as a series of cubby holes and also either bed’s nightstand. She used hers as a little desk to stand her datapad on, when she hadn’t climbed into co-pilot. There was only really enough standing space to dress and undress.

The sound suite in the cockpit was way better than the datapad’s, and the co-pilot had a few different monitors to use, some smaller but the main screen was nice and big. She’d watch videos off the comms network or that she’d stored internally with some food in her lap in copilot or get into the pilot’s chair to admire the view of space and the glass keeping her safe. She’d started poking around her mech’s systems interface and found some interesting, dormant items, but was interrupted when they entered the destination system.

What a beautiful planet below them, green and blue and clouded! No band of desert across the center. And look at that station! Like nothing She'd seen around Grael II. She'd never been away from her home planet, never been away from the sandships and the facilities available aboard. Never had to use the sleeper in the back of her mech for anything but storage. It made her think about the second bunk and second seat a little more.

Her ruminations were interrupted by comms from the hauler captain, “this is your stop, ma’am. Good day.”

“Thanks. See ya around.” She turned tossed the old copy of Gurren Lagann to the copilot’s seat above and behind her. She didn’t feel confident in her ability to fly from co-pilot. It was all cameras and no canopy, no direct view to orient herself with. It had been tricky enough to dock with the budget transport to get here. Space walks are finicky, she found out very quickly, and docking procedures are pretty specific, and though there was an autodock, she’d never used it before and didn’t trust it. The LX-DrGN computer had some guidance features to support manual coupling, as well as a basic AI, capable of handling things like docking handshakes. It was how she had managed at all, honestly.

Instead of a dock coupling to latch on to from a weird angle, this time she understood there was a hangar bay to aim for. Ooh, that was much preferable. The disconnect from the transport pushed her mech forward, and she eased on her thrusters to clear the ship. He’d had the kindness to bring her to a straight approach, too.

She saw a transforming mech change shape as it came in to land and felt a pang of jealousy. The Violet Dragoon was a bit of a bucket of bolts, if she was honest, and she was wondering who had even scouted her when she heard an automated, female voice,

“Docking granted.”

“Right. Thanks, Betty.” Lay’arra laid her torso forward against the support of the cockpit seat and aligned herself as she approached the hangar. A sleek fighter craft entered, and a quadruped mech. The variety was pretty cool. Another biped mech flew in ahead of her. That one had a pretty definitive head to it.. isn’t that an obvious weak spot? Well, so was her cockpit. Mnn.

Gliding into the hangar, carefully following Betty’s flight recommendations, the mech spun just before hitting the touched down with a flare of wrist and ankle jets. The Violet Dragoon took a few short strides to come to a complete stop. Feet now on the ground, her confidence returned. Fitting into a hangar bay, from here, manually, under the conditions of gravity, was something she’d done many times before.

Yes, those riggings looked familiar, and this was the right bay, by the number on the wall. Made sense, since she used the door she’d been directed to. Betty’s advice confirmed, though she was already maneuvering herself to step back into the riggings waiting for her.

“Standby.”

“Aaaye,” came the bored reply, though it wasn’t long before she was cleared to proceed and she fit herself neatly into the waiting infrastructure.

”Cleared to resume docking procedures.”

Once the mech was all hooked up and in, the cockpit glass hissed and swung open, allowing the Anhur within to emerge and stretch greatly. “Whooo! Damn, that’s a small space for traveling.” The fox-like woman groaned as she stretched out her back, first forward and then backward.








Stratya Durmand

Time:
25th, 10 am
Location: Edwards Estate
Attire: Officer’s Formal
Family Dirk + Crest
Interactions: Anastasia @princess, Farim @Lava Alckon
Mentions: Victoria, Lorenzo

The Princess really was a peculiar princess. Whenever she’d heard stories or tales, princesses were rarely so carefree. But, then again, those had just been stories. That classic idea of a princess. This princess liked to sit in laps and be touched. She had to wonder if it was a reflection of her royal-class upbringing being too strict or stiff? Perhaps something else.

Thoughts Stratya might have had, were she sober.

By the time she’d actually taken her seat, the alcohol from her first super cocktail was really starting to hit. She’d noticed it, before, but now it had had the time to really get into her system. Ooh, that really was strong.

”... because you could totally just ask, silly.”

Separate from the flush of alcohol on her cheeks, the Knight's ears reddened. Did the princess practically just invite her? Pretty much. The village woman in her was star-struck, but the military woman knew she had to respond. Both were drunk. “Lit’le ol' me? Hehe, oye, if ye pu’ i’ tha’ way,” with a short glance at Farim, she offered him a reassuring smile, “migh’ I join y’ game, Prrincess?”

When Drake mentioned Charlotte, and following Stratya’s small compliment to the Lady, she looked and caught that strained smile on the Princess’s face. How strange. Did they not get along? It didn’t seem to her like there should be any reason for it, but, lacking sobriety, the thought left her mind quickly when Drake took his tumble. ”Seems like he’s ok, Prince Callum ‘as ‘im.”

A certain suggestion caught her ear, and she snapped her attention away from Drake, to look across at the man with the deck of cards. ”Now? Here?” Before she could say much else about it, a familiar-sounding woman invited the man with the cards aside for a conversation. Stratya sighed and said, absentmindedly and to herself but probably audible, as if t’ wanderin’ ‘ands weren' bad enough.

It gladdened the knight to see her jeer was so effective. Victoria was speechless, the Princess was giggling, and then Duke Lorenzo contributed. She’d held her stare-down of Victoria steady, through the Princess’s giggling, but when Lorenzo contributed, her reaction was.. layered.

First, he proclaimed that it would be a crime. In response to this, Stratya turned to look at him, intrigued and, actually, mostly, confused. A crime? What the f-

“…stinkiest feet in the kingdom…”

There hadn't been enough time to turn to him fully. Stratya lurched forward as her abdomen tightened, falling right out of her intimidation pose. Her crossed foot thumped to the ground, she pressed a hand to her lips and leaned on her knee with her elbow, containing herself, just getting down the cocktail she’d sipped before Lorenzo got the kicker out,

”… Week-old Royal Curd Cheese…”

She turned to the table and put her drink down before she spilled it. Laughter seeped past her hold as she, too, doubled over laughing. She looked up at the Princess, looking to share in the mirth together.

Then Victoria decided to try damage control, If anyone doubts me, you're welcome to sniff my feet yourselves!"

”N-na-hahahh, noo-hoho hooh-noo~ooo! Kee-heheh-eep them on, f’r Gods’ sakes, eeeee-heheh-, for ev’rryone’s hehehealth an’ say-heehee-fety! Eeee~heheheh, hmhmhmhm!” Her other, gloved hand slapped over her knees before pressing over her mouth, as well. Shaking from suppressed laughter, Stratya came out of her chair carefully, taking a knee and planting a fist on the ground to steady herself, one hand still pressed over her mouth. The humor began to fade away, “hoooh.. hoo, hoho.. hweuuh..” and she placed a hand on her chest and shook her other, as though to shake off the humor physically. Gathered, the Captain resumed her seat.

Panting, calming herself, the knight gazed at the cocktail she’d set down, ”I- hehe- t’ink ‘ese cocktails are wha’s go’ me, Prrincess. Heheh. 'Ere pret’y strrong, enough ta take t’ fun ou’a drrinkin’, ey-hehe? I’d rrather ‘ave thrree or fou-our pints o’ mead. Y’won’ black oot af’er jus’ an ‘our, tha’ way, but t’ese colo’ful t’ings’ll do ye in, they will. Think I bet’er eat somet’in.” The plates of food on the table drew her attention, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she considered the seating arrangement she’d been assigned. Somewhere, but nowhere she noticed. She grabbed some beef rib(!), some sweet potato, a bit of cheese, and turned to catch a passing servant’s attention, “coul’ I bot’er y’ ta bring some o’ ‘at frui’, covered in choc’la'e, please?” She slipped a few coins over and offered a smile.
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