Thread:ThisIsXenon/@comment-32273133-20181231004208/@comment-32273133-20190303224053

Clay’s expando-bag

—A leather messenger bag that’s been magically altered so that the interior is a gateway to a room that floats around the aether

—kinda like that bag from Fablehaven with the hermit troll in it? The Yahtzee-playing troll

—Clay puts a whole bunch of stuff in there all the time so he has anything he could ever need while out

—he also has a waypoint set on his travel medallion to the room just in case the bag is destroyed

Characters and their magical items:

Clay:

—Expando-bag [see above]

—His scarf [not super magical but it never loses its cinnamony smell]

—his bow:  two halves stored in metal bands around his wrists, when he smashes them together and then pulls them apart he summons it

Micah:

—Freedom knife:  weapon crafted by Xenon; imbued with his freedom powers; can release people from possession, cut through bars and chains; reacts to emotion and works better when the user is emotionally connected to whatever they are freeing

Delphi:

—her wooden flute:  helps her blend in to crowds, causes people who are not looking for her not to see her at all when she’s playing it

Cyrus:

—her eyepatch:  fireproof

+I’m redoing the ML kids’ designs to make them GGaD characters and I’m having so much fun drawing them?? i had no idea that I’d enjoy this

+maybe I should go into character concept art as a career

+anyway, notes on redesigns

—they’re older now [Nova: 19, Tyrael: 18, Riju: 18, Katana: 17]

—they’re all shapeshifters, Nova a sparrow, Ty a redtailed hawk, Riju a koi, and Katana a roadrunner

—Nova’s keeping his nose ring and I’m adding two studs in his ears, his hair is curlier and longer, and he’s got feathers behind his ears now like all [my] bird shapeshifters

—Riju’s got a bandana still, and has little patches of scales on his arms and legs. He’s got fluffier hair now too

—Tyrael’s hair is longer and they’ve got a more femme design, plus shapeshifter feathers

—Katana is mostly unchanged, though she doesn’t wear three shirts all the time or a ball cap anymore

>side note that she looks very similar to Hester oops....and she’s got a similar Hester personality too oops

>but she’s not evil!

>she has the same arrogant air and ego issues but she has real emotions and forms real relationships with people

—their general colouring is the same [tyrael’s hair is still green, katana is still fuschia and blue themed]

Clay after the Incident:

—He’s 15

—Hester hides him in a small suite hidden behind a bookcase in her room.

—It’s three small rooms:  a bedroom, a bathroom, and a foyer area with a chalkboard

—the foyer area door sometimes closes and locks itself, and he doesn’t know why.

—The board was there for requests; Clay would write anything he needed and it would mysteriously appear the next day

—There is (1) window, frosted so no one can see in [or out] that provides light during the day

—There’s a lamp for light at night

—the room is soundproof, so he can be as loud as he wants and no one will hear

—Clay is told he’ll be there for an indeterminate amount of time, and is left to his own devices.

—he immediately starts requesting stuff, and during this period before he finds a way out, he starts learning the random things he knows:  sign language, guitar, origami, etc.

—It’s not a terrible predicament, except he’s isolated and he hates it.

—he knows there has to be someone going in and out, since he’s getting food and the stuff he requests, so he decides to wait in the foyer for it to come in

—about noon, the door between the foyer and his bedroom shuts and locks itself, then the hidden bookcase door opens, and there’s Midori

—Clay’s surprised [he thought it’d be Hester] and Midori’s like “oh no, he’s gonna try and start a conversation”

—Hester chose Midori to be the messenger/runner for Clay because Midori’s a loner and doesn’t interact much with the people who thought Clay died unless it’s on an assignment

—So whenever people bring it up, he acts nonchalant/feigns not caring

—[this pisses Cyrus off and she tries to beat him up a few times]

—Clay tries to talk to Midori but Midori ignores him until he’s leaving, when he says “two am”

—Clay’s like “huh?” But Midori’s gone sonhe cant give any information

—He decides he’s gonna stay up until 2 to see what happens

—Midori comes back at 2 to explain everything, when he knows Hester isn’t going to try and check on him [because she does, usually in the middle of the night when Clay’s asleep], since she’s out supervising an assignment

—Clay freaks out when Midori says that he doesn’t know when Hester will let Clay out again, says he’s gonna go mad if he’s trapped in there any longer.

—Midori feels kinda bad for him, it’s not like he did anything to deserve this, so he gives Clay one of his travel medallions

—It’s a device that can transport people between the sectors, and it looks like a cross between a pocketwatch and a kitchen timer

—Since Midori grew up in the modern sect, he’s got connections and he knows people to send Clay to [Dr. Alexander]

—Midori explains how to use it, tells him where to go once he gets to the modern sect, and gives him a note explaining what’s going on for Clay to deliver to Dr. Alexander, who can explain the modern sect and help Clay blend in

—Also warns him that Hester does come in the middle of the night to check on him, so he needs to be back by sundown, and to wait to leave until sunup

—Clay thanks him profusely and hides the medallion and the note until he’s ready to use them

—the next day, he uses the medallion and travels to the modern sect for the first time.

—Midori set the waypoint in the modern sect for that medallion in an alley across from Alexander’s apartment

—Clay is awed by everything, escpecially the cars, and walks across the street almost in a daze

—He manages to find Alexander’s apartment without too much trouble, and gives Alexander Midori’s note.

—Alexander’s like “of course I’ll help you, anything for one of Midori’s friends”

—For the next few days, Alexander shows Clay around the modern sect, and introduces him to the modern trio, who go to the “aspiring medical personnel” camp he helps run every year [i can’t remember what they’re called] during the summer

—Aziza and Chester are immediately friendly and inclusive, but Sappho is 🤨 about it all.

—She’s not rude but she’s trying to figure Clay out before she decides to do form any connections

—the trio are on winter break, and they start asking clay questions he can’t answer [aziza and Chester out of curiosity, Sappho because she doubts his story] and Alexander quickly concocts a modified story that he’s new in town and will be homeschooled for the rest of the year, but he might enroll next fall

—Clay then switches the conversation to something else and they end up talking for a few hours

—Alexander eventually says he needs to drive Clay home, but not before they all give Clay their phone numbers and Aziza declares him to be “one of them”

—Clay’s like “yay human contact! And friends!” but also he’s worried that he’ll get more questions that he can’t answer or will have to lie about

—Alexander assures him that everything will be fine and that he won’t have to lie

—he gives clay a bunch of textbooks [“You look smart enough to figure it out yourself”] so he can teach himself modern subjects, since he knows almost no formal math, science, or English and zero history

—“Look, homeschooling, you aren’t lying to them”

—Clay takes the books back to the medieval sect and crams all the information into his brain whenever he’s there

—Over the next couple of months, he and the modern trio become closer

—Sappho trusts him with almost anything now, and he’s the person she comes out as gay to

—[he’s {obviously} super supportive of her and helps her come out to her family and the rest of the trio]

—He tries a whole bunch of things for the first time:  ice cream and pizza, video games, a lot of modern things we take for granted

—Clay also ends up in (2) relationships that don’t end well for him, but he’s growing more as a person than he would be if he were locked in that room

—He has two good years there

—Skip forward to the end of year two, it’s winter

—He’s just turned seventeen, had a falling-out with Dr. Alexander, studying to get his GED, and is in a slightly rocky relationship number 3 with a guy named Bennett

—He and Bennett have been dating for almost a year at this point, and Bennett’s like “it’s been a year and I love you a lot so we should,,, y’know,,,”

—Clay’s response is “no thank you all caps full stop” because he’s managed to avoid having to come out and he really doesn’t want to deal with that

—especially since Bennett iffy on trans stuff, Clay’s brought it up before  and Bennett didn’t react well

—This causes a lot of tension between them

—Clay wants to rant to Sappho and the others but he can’t because that might require coming out

—so he’s got all of it bottled up and nowhere to let it out

—added bonus that back at his room in the Keep, Hester woke him up and told him about an assignment that he might have to take that he really doesn’t want to do [it involves one of the nine, I’m still working out who it is]

—He’s under a lot of stress, and he starts not going to the modern sect every day in order to escape Bennett

—He blames it on illness or needing to study

—The modern trio know something is up but he won’t tell them no matter now much they poke him about it

—At this point, he wants to end the relationship because Bennett is being pushy about wanting to sleep with him and it’s incredibly uncomfortable to have to make weak excuses, but he’s afraid of what Bennett might do/how he might react to a breakup

—But one day, the requests and pleading stop

—Clay’s relieved but suspicious, because something must’ve happened to have Bennett  change his mind so quickly

—Clay doesn’t ask about it, not wanting to bring it back up and risk going through all that again, and tries to tell himself that he’s being paranoid

—But one fateful day/night, he walks into Bennett’s apartment and finds him asleep on the couch, clothes scattered everywhere, with someone else

—And then Clay is pissed

—he’d worked hard to even approach Bennett before they started dating, he gave Bennett all of his heart, he’d been supportive, and in his mind it was all for naught

—Bennett first tried to cover up/deny what happened

—then when clay storms out, Bennett follows and tries to apologise, saying that the other person didn’t mean anything

—But Clay’s done and won’t listen

—He tells Bennett it’s over and says something to the effect of “go back to your bitch”

—Bennett flips

—punches him in the face and fractures his nose, then runs off

—Clay stumbles his way to a drugstore and buys stuff to patch up his face, then goes to a Burger King or somewhere to get ice for it, also fries and ice cream bc he’s upset and needs feel-good food

—At this point it’s way after dark, but Clay’s too in his head to notice until the cashier tries to make small talk as he’s walking it and asks him why he’s out so late

—Then he realises he missed his “curfew” and sprints into a secluded area to phase back to the medieval sect

—When he gets back, it’s eerily silent

—Clay knows he has to make his escape now, so he starts throwing stuff into his expando bag, puts on a cloak and a face-cover so no one will recognise him if he ends up having to go through the Keep

—he’s mostly packed and ready to zap out when he sees the foyer door swing shut and lock

—every instinct in him is telling him to run and get out but at the same time, it could just be Midori

—he makes the decision that whoever it is is gonna get attacked as soon as the door opens, and he summons his bow

—turns out Hester is the one who gets tackled

—She throws him off and cries for help, because she’s slightly drunk and knows that she can’t take him alone when she’s like this

—Micah and Midori come upstairs just in time to see Clay shoot Hester and bolt for the roof access ladder

—Midori stays in Hester’s room to see if she’s dead [she is], Micah follows Clay

—Micah doesn’t know who this mysterious cloaked archer is and wants to know who because no one’s ever tried to gun down Hester and succeeded

—Clay just knows that he’s being chased and that he needs to disappear, so he jumps off the roof and teleports back to the Modern sect, leaving Micah dazed and confused

—Clay ends up in his waypoint alley and sheds the cloak and mask bc modern people might get suspicious

—it’s snowing/sleeting and he’s shaking from adrenaline and cold

—he stays in the alley, trying to sort through what just happened

>he got dumped

>his ex broke his nose

>he stayed out too late and made Hester suspicious

>he attacked and killed Hester, his first kill in two years

>now he’s cold and alone in an alley with no idea what to do next

—naturally, he has a breakdown, and sits in the sleet/snow until he’s soaked to the bone

—when that’s over, he trudges to a pay phone, puts in some loose change and calls Sappho

—she’s irritated that he woke her up [it’s now around 1am] but her mood changes when he starts talking, because he’s obviously upset and shivering

—he says he’s got a lot to explain and needs somewhere to warm up

—Sappho speeds over to him, meanwhile calling Chester and Aziza and telling them to meet at her house

—she lives in the apartment above her parents’ garage, so she can sneak people up there without her parents knowing, and Clay, Aziza, and Chester all have a key

—When she gets to Clay, he’s sitting on a bus stop bench, hypothermic and his clothes slightly frozen in the wind

—Sappho helps him into her car and cranks the heat up

—Once they get to her apartment, Aziza and Chester try to get him to talk about what happened but Sappho tells them not to bother him and leads him to her room and shuts the door

—She tells him to change and that she’ll help him bc he’s lost some motor skills from the cold, he says he’ll be fine, she says “no, you need to get into dry clothes,” he still refuses, and she finally says “look, I’m not gonna judge you or hurt you, if there’s something you need to say, just say it. You need to get out of your wet clothes or you’ll freeze and you need help.”

—so he comes out

—this is the first person since Cyrus back when he was 11

—Sappho hugs him and tells him she’s glad he told her even though she didn’t give him that much of a choice “but really you need to change like right now”

—he has clothes stashed at her place because of his conflict with Dr. Alexander so he changes into warm clothes

—they argue about him taking off his binder and Sappho wins that one and helps him put on extra layers to hide his body shape, because “you don’t have to tell the others if you don’t want to but you need to take that rib-crusher off”

—In the meantime Aziza’s made both tea and a blanket nest on the couch for him, and Chester’s setting up the space heater

—Clay curls up in the blanket nest and says he’s got a lot to explain

—The other three join him on the couch and make a giant huddle

—He starts out with being trans, then talks about the other sectors and what his life was like in the medieval sect, how he was an assassin and what happened to him and Micah, how he knows Midori, what happened with Bennett, and finally how he killed Hester

—There’s a long moment of silence

—Then Aziza says that she’s not mad at him for any of it

—She’s the real gauge for anything, because she’s very pacifistic and hates fighting and murder and all that

—Chester chimes in and says he’s also not mad, and that Clay should’ve said something earlier

—Sappho’s reaction is similar but subdued, because now she knows that he was lying to her, and that Midori lied to her all those years ago

—She says she needs some time to think about it all, and goes to her room

—Clay’s convinced he fucked things up for good so he tells himself he’ll leave in the morning and figure out what to do next

—he sneaks out while everyone else is sleeping

—for the next two years, he hops between the Modern and Medieval sects, starts his struggle with alcoholism and goes in and out of sobriety

—his relationship with the modern trio is never the same, especially Sappho, though they’re generally friendly

—They try to help him stay sober but he’s got access to bars in two different worlds, one of which they can’t get to and doesn’t care about underage drinking, and eventually he stops going to find them

—at the end of those two years, he tries to re-enter society and finds Micah again, and he tells himself that hes never going to drink again, but it’s harder than he thought

—so now he’s juggling hiding his addiction and reconnecting with Micah and all the CD stuff that’s going down

—In the GGaD fic, whenever he’s offscreen by himself, there’s a 90% chance he’s either drunk or getting there

—he’s learned how to hide evidence really well, which is why Damian didn’t know about it and Micah didn’t fully realise he was an alcoholic

Cyber Sect ideas part 1:

Difference between “tech” and “mech”:

—tech is all the electronic stuff that’s regulated

>ie hover vehicles [hovees], food printers, entertainment devices

>requires power cells [nuclear, reusable power, etc.] or another type of power source

>sleek and modernised

>usually has certain seals/stamps that show it’s approved

—mech is everything else, stuff that doesn’t need a power source

>like bikes, pumps, pulleys, hydraulic systems, simple faucets, push-doors, etc.

>technically, paper books would be mech because they don’t require a power source

>mech is unregulated and in some cases illegal [mech personal transportation devices are outlawed because they’re “dangerous”]

—Naturally, there are black markets for mech and other things he government has deemed illegal

>mainly wheeled devices, gears, mechanical parts

>it’s really hard to get your hands on screws or nails or bolts, bike chain, pipes, really anything that you could use to build your own mech devices

—some people go outside the city to the landfills in order to find bits of mech to sell, mostly lower class

Socioeconomically split into four classes

—Low class:

>ground dwellers, trash disposal, maintenance, factories, pumping station workers, transportation

>do not own hovercars or any hover transportation, have to go places via foot or illegal mech

>live in slum areas, most below street level

—Lower-middle class:

>programmers, lab workers, builders, mechanics,

>use the hovee buses, railcars, etc. to get around

>live in street-level apartments or sometimes up to the fifth level of apartments

—Upper-Middle class:

>inventors, architects, lab supervisors, government officials and representatives

>use higher-quality railcars, some have their own personal hovees

>live in residential towers, in house blocks on levels 20+

—Elite class:

>corporate owners, inheritors of fortunes, some government higher-ups

>use personal hovees or carts in their floating neighbourhoods

The lower you are in class level, the lower you are to the ground, so you’re literally lower class