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Automation Au: Jade and Floyd Leech

As always, this au belongs to @jackplushie

Warnings!: body modification/body mutilation, blood, a dead body, violence. Please please please let me know if I'm missing anything, major or minor.

A/N: This beast has been sitting in my drafts half finished for almost a week because I just couldn't, I couldn't make the build-up and the final few paragraphs mesh. It was like the two halves of this fic were part of a messy divorce years ago and still don't want to talk to each other. I feel like I sold some of my soul for this one. But it's done, and there are some lines in there I really enjoyed, so at the end of the day I'm satisfied.

Edit: I keep forgetting to name these things!!

Jade has found that a life with you was full of surprises.

When they stumbled upon you in that scrapyard, barely functional and clinging to the last bits of life in their systems, Jade had been surprised by your willingness to help them. You blindly, naively, brought them into your modest abode and painstakingly pieced them back together. You constantly checked in with both of them, asking for consent, of all things, to continue to help them. You never pried, just offered them a sense of peace neither bot could ever remember experiencing.

After they were finally whole, you were able to surprise Jade again with your easy acceptance of their presence. Not once did either Leech bot feel as if they weren't wanted. And despite Floyd's relentless attempts to act as your protection detail or Jade's insistence on managing the household, you never expected their servitude.

Floyd confronted you about it, early on in this new experience. Jade couldn't blame his counterpart for his hostility, knowing of the life the other automation had lived in the gladiatorial games. No, Jade wasn't surprised by Floyd's serrated teeth gnashing incredibly close to your delicate throat, and Jade wasn't shocked to find the dark bruises on your arms in the perfect shape of Floyd's hands later that evening either. What did catch him off guard, was the brief flash of assessment that gleamed in your eye.

Jade has found that he quite enjoys trying to pull that same glint out of you.

He starts off small of course. He's quite fond of the dynamic that has built between the three of you, and while Floyd and he could simply refuse to leave, the idea of forcing you to do anything isn't a very appealing idea. He'd much rather you choose to have them stay by your side.

So he starts off small. Little subtle movements that are too fluid in the corner of your vision, phrasing comments just so to make you question the amount of humanity he truly understands. He can tell Floyd has begun to play with you as well, upping the ante of the game the twins are dragging you into when shallow claws and teeth marks begin to appear on your skin like calling cards. Sometimes Jade can convince Floyd to wait until he can join, and other times he has to take matters into his own hands when possessiveness strikes them.

All so he can finally piece together what that strange spark in your eye is. Jade has found that just glimpses of it weren't enough anymore.

It's Floyd who suggests their current... test. His counterpart had always been the more emotional of the two, and apparently, he was growing tired of feeling like he was lacking. And despite attempting to keep himself removed from those pesky human emotions you were always trying to teach, Jade could understand where the other was coming from. There was a distinct... gap... between the automations and you. And while Jade encouraged the differences between robots and humans intellectually, a part of him was always frustrated by the divide their physicality brought about.

So that is how Jade finds himself in their current position.

Your silhouette is illuminated by the backlight of the hallway behind you, but his robotic eyes are able to see the horror spread across your features when you spot their gracious donor. Next to him, Floyd scrambles to his feet, clumsy and off-kilter, like a new bot fresh off the assembly line. Jade feels a sense of pride well up from deep within him as the other bot is quick to figure out how his new bony and squishy pieces work. The replacement was crude, a rush job so Floyd could surprise you he claimed, but clearly, the synthetic nerves were operational.

Jade watches you. Your eyes haven't moved from the corpse on their bedroom floor as Floyd excitedly rambles about his new upgrades. Jade watches as you finally twitch at the longing that begins to creep into Floyd's voice, your eyes scanning the body for all the missing pieces to match the automation's descriptions of feeling your warmth with his own hands and finally being able to truly taste you. Your eyes notice the missing body parts (the ones Jade has set aside for his own personal use at a later date) at the exact same moment that Floyd gives a whinny warning call of your name. And finally, finally Jade sees it.

He sees it when you slide your eyes up to meet their expectant gazes. For a second, just a split second, he can see you truly process what you were seeing. He can see you think through your options, and he can see when you make your choice.

He's found that your reactions never disappoint.

A delightful shiver crawls its way up Jade's spine as you take careful steps toward them. He almost lets out a dreamy sigh as you keep your eyes on them, never even glancing at the mangled body you have to step over to reach Floyd. His brother does allow that sigh to hiss out past his lips, clearly relishing in your undivided, concerned attention.

As you gently, oh so gently, caress the crudely soldered seam where metal meets flesh on Floyd's body, the twins make eye contact over your head. There's an understanding between the manmade brothers. You've been doing so good so far, but just one more test. Just to see exactly how far you're willing to go for them. It is only fair, now that you know just how far they are willing to go for you.

Jade reaches out to you, wiping the tears from your cheeks. Admittedly, he's only making a bigger mess. Instead of wet, salty tear tracks left on your soft, human skin, there's an intense mixture of black, slick oil and red, sticky blood being rubbed onto your face. And you, like the good, smart human you are, don't even flinch. You just reach up with the hand not caressing Floyd and hold Jade's hand against your cheek.

The three of you are left standing there, with you gently holding the two automations against yourself. You don't flinch. Not at the growing stench of decay, decay of both the mechanical and organic types. Not at the amalgamation of liquids soaking into your clothes. Not at the random sparks flying from where their experiment hasn't exactly covered things correctly. You don't flinch when their grips get increasingly tighter as time goes on.

Jade has found that when it comes to situations like this, your reactions never disappoint because he's come to predict how you'll react. He's come to find out that while you insist on treating them as if they were never anything more than people, that doesn't mean that you are naive to the fact that they have never been human. You are well aware of the danger they are capable of posing to you, and you are well aware that they will not always follow a human moral code, if ever.

So Jade was utterly delighted at your reaction upon stumbling across him and his brother, utterly delighted at finally putting a name to that elusive glint he's come to expect from you. It finally allows him to put a reason behind the reactions he has come to expect.

Jade has finally come to find that you will always pick the path that leads to your survival.

Just another little update about me (and some about writing yay!) but after two weeks of being sick as a dog, I went to the doctor, got diagnosed, proper meds, and then ended up in the ER some hours later - this was last night/this morning. Sounds fun, right?

That being said, I am so happy to have made some great writing progress at the beginning of the month before my health took a really shitty turn.

I've finished my next chapter for "Where The Shadows Lie", which I am hoping to release next week! It's a big one (lots of words).

Never had the sitting room been so crowded than when the vampire brood of Thorin Oakenshield had first arrived. Gathered together was each individual that had called this bed and breakfast home for the past few months, and of course, the head of the household. Not a word to be spoken after a letter had been read aloud, and every facial expression seemed to hold one trait in common. Concern.

I've edited a good handful of pieces this past week. Mostly event things, but I will have a lot to post before the end of the year.

I am planning for 2024 - what fics I will focus on, start, and end! It is going to be a good year.

Even more outlines are getting fleshed out.

Hopefully I can start feeling alive and well again in a few days, and really hit the ground running again for writing. I feel like I've done so good this month, and taking a little step back from updating has given me a chance to breathe some.

As always, thanks everyone for the asks, tags, dms, and I apologize for not getting to them. On top of my self-made-task to relax away from social media, being sick has just anchored me away from everything.

I'm going to tackle a few of my latest mentions, because why not!

@wanderingjedihistorian @fishing4stars and @cilil all tagged me in a "share the last line you wrote" style game. So here we are! Without context, but for a fic that will be revealed in December!

"I pulled the pain from his mind, and sometimes that pain takes something else with it when stripped." [Gandalf]

Pictured above are Ferdinand 'Ferdi' Felipe and Pepper Prince, two role sims I made over during Farming Town: Tropical Vacation's initial set up. Both are clerks at my seafood place Sharkie's, and while the game shot I shared last week was the first I took of the Little Sister festival costumes, this is the household I used to develop those costumes. I say develop, and not create, because Maya Ocean, who I'll share later, was the sim I used for my initial tinkering. She got an edit once I was done with these two.

Yeah. I know. My process is all over the place.

While I was mostly picking sims to dress for this event based on age and whether they'd associated with Conquer outside their profession, Ferdi and Pepper, Maya and Tanner, were redressed because of their unresolved feelings. Basically I provided them an opportunity to possibly hook up. Although Ferdi and Pepper are in reality members of the same household they are not a couple. Most of my role sims (if not all) do not have actual houses. I simply tethered them to out of the way empty lots in relative distance to their places of work using one of the NRAAS mods, MC maybe. I did this so when they were called by their registers or reset they wouldn't take forever to return to work. In my imagination, Ferdi and Pepper live in two different households with their families (that don't actually exist).

Yeah, so now to the point of the post.

I already mentioned that the natives of Isla Paradiso believe they're descendants of mermaids, which is why they paint their legs with scales for the festival. I also mentioned that their sarongs all share the same pattern, but that the color of those sarongs vary. However, what I did not say is that there are only three color variations: orange, purple, and sea green. I think I initially went with these colors because they were one of the default scale options that came with the Island Paradise game pack. I didn't slightly edit the scales trying to fix the dullness of the men's scales, and then I connected my selection with aspects of nature associated with Isla Paradiso. Those being orange for the sun, purple for the the night sky, and sea green for the ocean waters.

While some sims like Pepper and Ferdi, wear mostly single colors on their garments, others like Angelina and Azalia in the previous post, mix the colors together, wearing an orange sarong with a solid purple top, or a sea green top with a purple sarong. The mixing is a way to tell specific family or ancestor histories. As I did not think this part through very much, though, I'm relying on the realities of colonization to explain this. For example an active series of processes by the colonizers over the years to prevent the colonized from knowing any version of history other than the colonizer's version.

Although I planned to speak about the specific gender variations with regards to accessories here. This post is much longer than intended so I will save those details for the coming weeks. The only thing I want to note is that due to my cc options and my own socialization, the gender stuff is very binary. I didn't really realize that until now, and it's a little disturbing for me considering that I am not binary.

what's next!?

Oh hey! So I finally finished my little simblr story I had planned! I started Princess & Me in 2021 simply b/c I had been drawing cordy in the pose on the poster- and it just snowballed from there. (If you didn't know, I was vaguely adapting the 2004 film starring Julia Stiles. And I do mean vaguely.)

I also thought that I would do this entire story in 1 month. lol. I'm glad I took my time with it, because I think it's much better for it :3

so! what is next??

I'll be returning to my Cortes Legacy with my Gen. 4 heir, Sorella. If you would like to catch up with the main legacy I have some starting points listed here But all that you would really need to catch up on is the tag Gen 3.4 As that is Sorella's childhood. Could be helpful! Bonus: Teenage Cordy and Co. are my side characters! (I almost always have a side story so i can hop into a different household if I need a refresher)

Edit from 1 month later: I'll be posting a few supplemental things in the next few days, the family trees for the main families in the legacy (including an updated one for the steeles :3 ) as well as an updated legacy map. I'm painting that in clip studio paint and it's taking a while so odds are there will be a small hiatus. Esp since the game is like a week from getting an update that ruins it lol.

I might actually be ready to update my game in the next few days. Despite not getting the actually achievement, I have successfully played through ten generations in the sims 4. The achievement still says 8/10 but I know that I've now had 10 generations die. I think it's because I split their household and it stopped counting the rest of the Langleys or it's broken either could be correct.

This means I can retire the save and edit some post together. I have zero timeline on when those post might actually come out and I don't want to hear I peep when I start posting about other sims for a while before you ever see the Langleys again. I may need an extended break from thinking about them.

So that means I have to cross check all my mods to see what needs to be updated and what is safe to use and what is obsolete. It might take me a few days or a few hours it depends on how motivated I am. Thankfully there are handy tools for helping with that process. I can't wait to get my hands on some other sims! I have a green woman to make and I know just what my inspiration will be 🤭.

Actually it won't really be that terrible of a situation because I'm itching to play some vanilla-ish save so I don't really have too many mods to update in that case. Yes that will bite me in the ass later when I switch to a more modded save but I'm due for a break from that right now. First I need to make my green woman so that's my cc save and I already saw that all the mods I use in that save are updated. Then I'll switch to vanilla-ish. I guess I just rambled my way into a plan for the week. Yay!!

the beautiful person's journal - #8: the film review series…and its lost successor

this entry was originally supposed to cover both the film review shows and the caddy show, but it just ended up being way too long. so the next entry will cover the caddy show, and the one after will cover the second channel :)

caddy's film fridays/cinemaggots (february 19th, 2016 - may 2nd, 2018)

established after the channel's first major rebrand in february 2016 as a way for caddy to discuss films on his channel, caddy's film fridays was the first show on the channel to not solely be focused on video games. of course the caddicarus show had just started experimenting with episodes about movies, but it was still first and foremost a show about video games.

cerys' contributions to this series through her editing made the 3-days-a-week schedule more doable, though caddy would later express that this schedule made him enormously stressed.

the caddy's film fridays iteration of the film review series ran from february 2016 to february 2017, and it made up 33 of the 52 episodes. it reused the tinker time intro - just with caddy screaming "caddy's film fridays!" instead. i honestly thought tinker time's intro was better but that's just me lol.

this show had two segments: "my thoughts on" and "kids explain". most episodes were in the my thoughts on format, which was just caddy sitting in his office talking about any kind of film. kids explain was easily the most notable and memorable aspect of the series, where caddy would interview phoebe and amy about any kind of movie or TV show. they've tackled star wars, cool cat saves the kids, peppa pig, jaws, and more. so many iconic moments with those two. oh, and fun fact - the "what's the point?" clip from the platinum relics video is from the star wars kids explain.

in spring 2017, the caddick-mackay household experienced an unfortunate string of events - ranging from caddy's reheated meatball tragedy to cerys breaking her ankle. the combination of these events along with cerys' other work caused the production of CFF to be put on hold, and this was properly addressed in an update video in april 2017. caddy said that he had been coming up with ideas for another show about films that could upload at any time with less stress. and this led to...

you know i'm a pre-2020's caddicarus fan because i CANNOT hear the current subscribe jingle without the deep piano note playing in my head.

although this was a new format with a different name, cinemaggots was still in the same playlist as CFF. this iteration made up the last 19 of the 52 episodes. kids explain was still around and was as iconic as ever, and the proper review episodes had a little more pizzazz to them - they now starred both caddy and cerys! the episode on pirates of the caribbean also featured chloe, so this is the one other show on the channel that had the entire family in on it.

this was uploaded pretty regularly in 2017, but there was a huge gap between the last two episodes. the penultimate episode on the last jedi was uploaded in december 2017, but the final episode - a kids explain on the phantom menace - aired in may 2018, several months later. after this, the show was quietly canceled. caddy officially acknowledged and confirmed cinemaggots' cancellation that november, stating that cerys has been too busy with her side businesses.

so this show started and ended with a kids explain about a star wars movie. how poetic.

so as far as the fan reception to this film review series went, it was...lukewarm? i mean, kids explain was the big draw and even those didn't do spectacularly well, even for the channel's size at the time. the regular review videos performed a lot worse; before the series was privated and then unlisted, the cinemaggots on murder on the orient express was the worst performing video on the already-stagnating-at-the-time channel, only bringing in 17k views.

there wasn't really anyone who loved this show to bits and dropped everything to watch it, but neither was there anyone who really hated it. it just kinda...existed? i personally watched all of them as they were released but that was pretty much because i made an effort to watch every single video caddy released; i remember very little about the series apart from stuff like the intros, endigo's 8-bit outro, cerys' editing, and kids explain of course. looking back on some of the videos, though, i find the series - especially the cinemaggots era - pretty underrated. yeah barely any beautiful people during the 3-videos-a-week era were wanting to watch a game reviewer talk about films, but the videos were still good regardless. although that's just my bias because i absolutely love caddy's family.

as a result of The Great Caddicarus Video Purge of October 24th, 2021, the entire series was privated along with other older videos. to this day i'm not sure exactly why he privated the whole series; i'm sure he's said why in a stream but i don't have the time and energy to skim through a bunch of those. i mean there was this Instagram comment that's pretty straightforward about it.

but one day in september 2022, the playlist miraculously returned, with every video unlisted except for three - here's a few links to the crow, the emoji movie and the IT (2017) videos. 😉

after this, there wasn't another film-focused series on the channel again...or was there?

~ the mysterious case of the lost second caddicarus film review series (may 2019) ~

may 2019 was a rough month for the caddicarus channel. i'll go into more depth about this in a future entry on what i call the channel's second intermediate period. but in short, the channel only gained about 300 subscribers due to a huge loss in subs mid-month, there was a divisive sponsored video that probably contributed to the sub drop, caddy had a very messy network transition for ads that resulted in his entire channel being demonetized, and by june he nearly had to quit because of just how bad things were getting.

(gonna provide images for community posts for mobile users because apparently, links to community posts don't work on mobile. yeesh.)

during this month, we saw two videos that never again saw the light of day after the few days they were up. there was an update video that someone thankfully saved and uploaded to the internet archive, and the pilot episode of a film review series that would've been bite-sized reviews of new films.

we do have proof of this pilot being released - here's the facebook post announcing its release, and here's this french imdb-esque website that has its thumbnail archived. i do think i remember watching this when it was sent to me by my fandom friend; i'd stopped watching the channel a couple months prior but she kept updating me on things. i remember the video was under a minute long and looked like it was quickly put together in the mobile imovie app. there wasn't a fancy intro or outro, it was literally just jim talking about detective pikachu with no music. unfortunately, while i was able to grab the link from the facebook post, the wayback machine didn't have any captures. so therefore, the video is lost to time.

curiously, the aforementioned update video was the one inverted-thumbnail-with-cryptic-title update video (aside from the madness season 3 announcement) that didn't make the cut for the unlistings in september. that video didn't only announce this failed series, but also the repurposing of the second channel, updated patreon tiers, increased social media presence, and experiments with the caddicarus show.

caddy eventually got a letterboxd account, and began promoting his reviews on social media and youtube community posts. and after a while, he stopped doing that. he still updates his letterboxd frequently, but it's no longer linked in his channel about page - it's only linked in the descriptions of his videos. with this and the unlisting of the CFF/cinemaggots videos, you gotta dig a little deeper to find his film opinions these days. which is fine - people have always primarily tuned into caddicarus for monty python insanity about video games.

all in all, i enjoyed my time watching the film reviews back in the day, despite me forgetting a lot of it. it was a good outlet for caddy to express his passion for film - you can see that passion in his massive blu-ray collection that was showcased in just about every video pre-brick wall era! he honestly seems like he prefers films over video games...video games are just what he ended up specializing in on his channel. i believe he was even trying to get into the film and TV industry before youtube.

man i didn't expect to go on about the film videos for this long lmao. get ready for the next entry where i go deep into the history of the caddy show and all the twists and turns it had.

Hetalia incorrect quotes part 10/? Germanics edition(long. I am so sorry. I am having too much fun)

Characters: Germany, Prussia, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. The Nordics will have their own incorrect quotes post at some point.

Link to part 9

Netherlands: Achtentachtig prachtige grachten(google how that sounds) Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Prussia: *put their hands over their ears* Prussia: And this is why I never understand why everyone says German is a barbaric, harsh language. I mean have they ever heard Dutch. Belgium: *smirks* Prussia: Hey, let’s do ‘get help’. Germany: What? Prussia: ‘Get help’. Germany: No. Prussia: Come on, you love it. Germany: I hate it. Prussia: It works every time! Germany: It’s humiliating! Prussia: Do you have a better plan? Germany: No. Prussia: We’re doing it. Germany: We are not doing ‘get help’. *moments later* Prussia: *limping around the corner, carrying Germany* Get help! Please! My brother is dying! Get help! Help him! *flings Germany at their enemies* Luxembourg: Would you slap Gilbert for €1.000.000? Netherlands: Definitely Austria: I’d do it for a cup of cold coffee and a half eaten cookie. Belgium: Lame, I would do it because I feel like it. Prussia: I feel very unsafe in this household. Prussia: My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, but you can call me... *aggressively takes off sunglasses*... anytime. Prussia: If Ludwig, Roderich and I were drowning, who would you save? Switzerland: You Dummkopfs can’t even swim? Prussia: It’s a hypothetical question, who would you save? Switzerland: My time and effort Prussia: I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff Switzerland: I’ve witnessed a lot of the dumb stuff Netherlands: I’ve recorded a lot of the dumb stuff Belgium: I’ve joined in on a lot of the dumb stuff. Germany: I’VE TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM DOING A LOT OF DUMB STUFF Liechtenstein: What does "take out" mean? Prussia: Food! Germany: A date? Switzerland: Murder! Austria: It can mean all 3 of you're good enough. Cashier: That'll be €24,80. Netherlands: Lemme just grab my wallet... Netherlands: Oh hey, hold this for me for a sec. *pulls out a whole wet fish from his pocket and puts it in Belgium's hands* Belgium: Belgium: Why am I okay with this? Luxembourg: How can tall people sleep at night when the blanket can't possibly cover you? Netherlands: Gabriel, it's four o'clock in the morning. Luxembourg: So, you can't sleep, huh? Is it because of the blanket? Switzerland: Can you pass me my phone? Liechtenstein: *throws TV* Switzerland: I said my phone Liechtenstein: I thought you said television Switzerland: Why the fuck would I say television? Netherlands: Toss me my keys Belgium: [throws printer] Netherlands: I said my keys Belgium: I thought you said printer. Netherlands: Why the fuck would I say printer Germany: Toss me my keys Prussia: [throws Christmas tree] Germany: I said my keys Prussia: I thought you said Christmas tree. Germany: Why the fuck would I say Christmas tree?

Liechtenstein: Basch, please don’t do this. You're my big brother. Switzerland: I’m sorry, I have to. Liechtenstein: Please, I’m begging you, after all we’ve been through? Switzerland: *sheds a single tear* I’m sorry, Erika. *places a 4+ card* Switzerland: Uno. Prussia, on the phone: Break his knees and he'll talk, I'm at a parent-teacher conference - Prussia: - anyways, you said that Ludwig enjoys finger painting, that's great! Austria: You treat that plant with more respect than you do me!! Prussia: Because, unlike you, the plant has done nothing wrong. Austria: Prussia: And because the plant is not a complete potato head. Austria: *dramatic gasp* Germany: Let me show you a picture from last night that really upset me. Prussia: Okay, but in my defense, Luxembourg bet me €20 I couldn’t drink all that shampoo. Germany: That’s not what I wanted to-- you drank SHAMPOO?! Netherlands: Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus. Adiuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae perditionis venenum propinare- The North Sea: For the last time, I'm not a demon and you can't exorcise me. Netherlands: *crossing off #5 on a list* Worth a shot.

Luxembourg: *reading a recipe* “Beat three eggs”. Luxembourg: At what? Hand to hand combat? Belgium: It must be. Willem banned swords in the kitchen a few weeks ago.

Netherlands: Truth or dare? Switzerland: Dare Netherlands: I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room Switzerland: Hey Gabriel Luxembourg: Yeah? Switzerland: Could you move? I’m trying to get to Emma.

Belgium: I don't like your little games

Belgium: Don't like your tilted stage

Belgium: The role you made me play of the fool

Belgium: NO I DON’T LIKE YOU

Germany:...

Germany: Emma, chill, it's only a supermarket that’s out of chocolate.

hi  hello  !!  it  has  been  ages  since  i  last  wrote  an  intro  post  so  it  is  entirely  possible  that  i  might  be  outdated  in  what  information  is  deemed  relevant,  but  i  will  give  it  a  good  ol'  attempt  and  hope  for  the  best. 

my  name  is  kit,  i'm  twenty     ( 21  in  july,  hello  you're  looking  at  a  whole  ass  cancer  )     and  i'm  in  the  mdt  timezone.  i  go  by  them/they  pronouns.  i  have  a  plethora  of  interest  and  none  of  them  correlate  with  each  other,  but  that  means  i  have  a  lot  to  scream  about  if  you're  interested  !  lastly  but  always...  always  most  importantly,  i  have  two  cats    (  link  and  navi  )     and  i  am  waiting  for  the  birth  of  my  future  pitbull  puppy  which  i  will  never...  ever...  stop  crying  in  anticipation  for.  that  was  all  from  me  !  continue  on  to  find  out  some  stuff  about  the  real     ( dumbass )    star,  tequila !

first and foremost, you can find all of his stats HERE by clicking on the third link. i will try to keep his backstory brief and simple ! tw: underager substance abuse, addictions, ptsd, divorce.

°✧｡ [CHARLIE HUNNAM, CISMALE, HE/HIM] IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE TEQUILA JOINED VELIA FROM TROY, USA. APPARENTLY THEIR NAME IS HARPER LLOYD AND THEY’RE A MARTIAL ARTIST. THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING AS A BLOOD OATH MEMBER FOR A WHILE NOW. DIDN’T PEOPLE SAY THEY WERE NOT A BETA TESTER? I HEARD THEY TURNED THIRTY-SIX THIS YEAR. LET’S HOPE THEY MAKE IT OUT ALIVE. 

harper lloyd was born in 1999    ( did anyone else cry about the birth year of their characters ? lots here are 2000's babies ? no ? ok. )    on the day after saint valentines came rolling around, so you can imagine how often he used that to his advantage in later years. yes, he fully expected chocolates and presents, thank you.    ( also, will you be my valentine ? come on, it's my birthday tomorrow. )

the easiest way to go about his childhood is to say that, because of him, the 500 point system of being grounded was invented in his household. he grew up with one older sister, and she absolutely demolished him about it. 

he went pretty damn loco in middle school through high school, and as the transitions happened from teenhood to being an unruly teenager, it only got worse. his parents raised both siblings extremely catholic, but harper just had other things in mind. alcohol ? let's go. weed ? why not. drugs ? let's keep it lowkey but sure. 

it got to the point of no return when his father, completely fed up with it, kicked him out of the house. harper was nineteen, just barely finishing high school    ( late )    and without a care in the world. cut scene to couch surfing, crashing at parties, and anywhere that had a semblance of a roof.

he was twenty-three, with no future and no plans for one, when he got approached by army recruiters. it was a no brainer after they explained the benefits and his income, and he did not give much thought to the grueling lifestyle he was signing up for. 

( edit: this is where the timeline gets messy, pls bear with me. )

he thrived in the military, but in an unanticipated way. seven years in, he began an underground fighting scene among the troops, and relished in the winnings for the three years it took the officials to find out afterward.  

during that time, he was consistently dating pauline smith, a girl he had met where they were stationed. they were together for two years when they got married, and then a year later had a baby girl    ( two years prior to harper being discharged from the army ). 

after being    ( dishonorably )   discharged, he moved in with her, though they were already experiencing turbulence in the relationship. harper was not the strong and responsible man she wanted to marry, instead, he was lined with worry on the onset of his depression. he had been diagnosed with ptsd one year prior after years that went by with him avoiding to seek for professional help. he wanted to be the father aria deserved, but he let his addictions eat him away.

pauline filed for a divorce, and harper went back to troy, michigan, where his parents and his sister still lived. he now had a fourteen-year-old nephew and a seven-year-old niece that he had barely gotten to know, and he began trying to reconnect back with the world. 

it went very badly, of course. he had visitations with aria twice a month, and it was not looking any brighter than that. this is just about the time when he purchased velia on that fateful day, a present for his nephew who was turning fifteen years old in a week. 

his sister, unlike him, followed in their parent's footsteps. she was a catholic woman through and through, and harper decided that he would let his nephew play the cool, popular games kids were playing in his apartment. of course, he needed to make sure    ( for the sake of his own neck because his sister would, not for the first time, absolutely demolish him if she found out he was gifting her son anything too wildly inappropriate )   that it was actually okay for his nephew to play the game. 

guess what, the game ate him up ! 

he, overall, thinks that was good luck. either he dies in the game now, or he would have been killed by his sister's hands after he got her son stuck in a video game.

needless to say, harper had only vague knowledge about video games. he knew a few from when he'd watch fellow soldiers play in the barracks on their downtime, and from watching his nephew, but that was it. instead, he relied on his experience on real battlefields, and that was how he made it to the blood oath guild. 

he wants to leave the game as soon as possible, wishing for his return to the real world where he can be with aria and watch her grow up. every day that passes by of being stuck is another day where his frustration only grows and festers, dangerously amassing inside of him. she is now three years old, and harper has been absent for two of those years. he believes that being with the blood oath guild is the quickest way to that path, though unlike the compassion that many members of the guild don, harper will stop at nothing to get out. he keeps that part hidden, just how he kept the underground fighting scene in the army hidden.

trivia: harper chose his username because he was drinking tequila at the time he signed in. 

i’m not sure if it is still common to do this, but like this and i will go to you for plotting !