welgaia | Recent Entries

Catch-all post for a What If...? season 3 episode 3-inspired Alexei, AKA Red Guardian.

In accordance with the episode, Alexei stopped the Winter Soldier from assassinating Howard Stark (and skipped the Ohio mission where he met Melina, Natasha and Yelena), then traveled with him to Las Vegas to find 'the Rook', a supposed Russian spy who could extract them from the country. A great friendship was formed along the way! Also, Bill Foster was punched in the face a few times. The Rook turned out to be Obediah Stane, who had made a deal with the Red Room to have Howard assassinated for his own capitalist gains. Alexei's trust in his employers was heavily shaken, Stane was killed by Bucky, the Red Room tried to take the Winter Soldier back but Alexei managed to escape. Bucky was brainwashed again, while Alexei was enlisted by Foster to join SHIELD and later the Avengers program.

So yes, the Red Guardian is an Avenger now, making him more physically fit and socially adjusted than his canon counterpart. (Hence the icons.) He fought in the battle for New York, he was there when the Winter Soldier showed up again (and helped shake the brainwashing a second time), he helped fight Ultron, and when Civil War rolled around he was firmly on Cap's side to protect Bucky. After Bucky was taken in by Wakanda, Alexei decided to stay there too, in part to keep watch over his bestie and in part to avoid being arrested for that whole... Sokovia Accords nonsense.

(Why Civil War even escalated the way it did in the end when Howard Stark was never killed- and how Tony still became Iron Man- depends on the PSL. It's very customizable and probably won't matter in most scenarios. Same for his relationship with Natasha and Yelena.)

sciencesquid

[Avengers Campus, the New York location. At this marvelous facility, Tony Stark has retrofitted one of his father's Stark Industries sites into a new hub for training and innovation. Through partnerships with S.H.I.E.L.D., Pym Technologies, Masters of the Mystic Arts and the new Worldwide Engineering Brigade, the Avengers and their allies will champion the next generation of heroes.

Or so goes the official mission statement, anyway. It's a lot of fancy words, designed to oversimplify a very complicated project. Stark's always been good at that; oversimplification.

Regardless, Otto Octavius does genuinely believe in the Campus's objectives. Superheroes can leave a mess on occasion, but it's all for the good of mankind. Anyone who has a gift, be it magic or simply great intelligence, has a responsibility to use it. In the end, it's all about minimizing those messes, which is where the Campus's technology department comes into play. The better the gadgets these heroes use, the more efficient their missions. Otto's been assigned several little projects, along with a lab to work on them. He gets to design not only new weapons for heroes, but also the more functional items. Like, say, scanning equipment or web shooters.

He may not be the next Tony Stark, but he still takes pride in his work. He comes up with interesting new innovations from time to time.

Living on Campus isn't all it's cracked up to be, though. Every so often, a self-proclaimed supervillain will show up to start trouble, or a newfound power will go out of control. The ground may shake and windows may shatter, and an ominous laser may be seen shooting up into the sky only a few blocks away... Some of the new recruits throw some pretty loud parties in the middle of the night, too. Otto doesn't have much of a social life here himself, apart from getting drinks with some of the other scientists every so often. Hank Pym is a pretty interesting guy.

All in all, it's a balanced AU life.]

sciencesquid

[When Otto was sent home, he thought that would've been the end of his troubles. He had his sanity. He had the silence in his head. He had reaffirmation that Peter Parker was someone worth trusting. Going home like this could've been the start of something great. Only... It hadn't been.

The machine was still out of control. Peter and his girlfriend were about to be sucked into that thing. It was too late to turn it off. It'd need to be drowned in the river. He was going to die anyway, ended along with his precious machine - only, he never even got the chance to do that. Glowing rectangular portals opened all around him and for a moment, he expected more people like that sorcerer to come through, but these visitors were quite different. Dressed in some sort of soldier garb and armed with peculiar sticks that glowed when activated. Peter could do nothing to stop them from adding to the chaos, as he was roughly shoved aside. All their attention had been on Otto. They identified themselves as the Time Variance Authority and spouted nonsense about 'crimes against the sacred timeline'; about how he 'had to stand trial'.

He refused to go without a fight, so he fought. The three mechanical limbs which still functioned pushed through these soldiers and threw them aside. Not with the intent to harm, of course. Merely to get rid of them, to get them out of his way. Some were foolish enough to try and dodge around him, only to get sucked into the unstable sun of the reactor. More casualties. Ultimately, Otto saw one of them fiddling with a device to call for back-up and open up another one of those portals. The device was the key, then. One of the tentacles' jaws snatched it out of the soldier's hand and delivered it to Otto's instead. It was childishly easy to operate- the menu's options spoke for themselves. He knew which day was of interest now, he knew which event.

If his newfound existence was a crime against the sacred timeline, so was someone else's. And now that Norman had been 'fixed' with an antiserum, it was difficult to say whether he could still put up a fight when the TVA would come for him two years prior.

The first thing he did was open an enormous time door right beneath his solar fusion reactor, allowing it to fall through. If the TVA's device was to be believed, it'd end up in a planet that was about to be destroyed by a meteor storm. No harm done, then. Even as those in his immediate surroundings attempted to grasp what he'd just done, one of his tentacles snatched up their broken fourth compatriot from the floor. The Goblin might've severed that limb back in the other universe, but it'd traveled back with Otto and he rather hoped he might one day fix the damage. He opened a second time door and dashed through it, leaving behind the few remaining TVA agents and a very confused Peter Parker and MJ.

He's coming for you, Norman.]

dappertapper

[For the purposes of this PSL, Yujin is now an Aspect in Forgotten Tales. Naturally, that means he was assigned an Essence. He's not familiar with The Adventures of Pinocchio, but it isn't too difficult for him to grasp what it means to 'be' Gepetto. Whether he can use his newfound powers of bringing wooden puppets to life for a little bit to help save worlds is a whole other question. He'll try his best, that's for certain.

Is it a good thing that Holmes is here as well? A very selfish part of him says "yes", though he knows very well that things could get dangerous around here. What offers him more conflict is the rumor that Kazuma Asougi is here. Certainly, Kazuma has been trained in swordsmanship by the best of his father's disciples and can therefore put up a much more impressive fight than Yujin ever could. Still, though... A very stubborn, reckless nature seems to have been passed down from father to son. Aside from that, Holmes had seemed a bit leery when speaking of Kazuma. The 'Hyde' Essence must not be anything to scoff at.

So Yujin finds himself stepping into the notorious Hydeout, one hand on his hat as his eyes scan the tavern in search of that one particular familiar face.]

jailbirdprosecutor

[In honor of Spirit of Justice's localized release, a festival is happening in Japanifornia! (More deets about the setting on the linked page.) Not that the inhabitants know what the festival's origin is. It's simply known as the annual Spirit of Justice Festival, which they can only assume has to do with celebrating justice, spirits or a mixture of both. Regardless, it lasts a whole week and there's a lot to do throughout the city.

There are stage shows all across the city's parks, from Steel Samurai to Pink Princess to the Plumed Punisher. Come get your Samurai Dogs, killer-shaped ice cream, magatah'man or swiss rolls while you watch! The Berry Bootleg Circus is in town as well! (Not to be confused with the Berry Big Circus.) Weirdos in Blue Badger outfits are marching the streets, handing out balloons to kids. Gavinners music blares from speakers mounted to buildings. For the week of the festival only, there's a special sale happening in the furniture stores: 50% off all traditional American kotatsus! What a deal!

At night time, the sky lights up with fireworks for roughly half an hour. Funnily enough, the colorful explosions take the shapes of attorney badges, prosecutor badges and magatamas. Aaah, what a delightful time of the year.]

[[OOC: Feel free to start your own starters if you want! It's not limited to Ace Attorney characters.]]

dehipster

[Generic Info]

[No more Wankerville, this time! Nope, this time our resident nexus place is known as Japanifornia. Some odd mishmash of Los Angeles and Tokyo, Japanifornia is in fact a huge city with skycrapers and lots of roads with hills. A tram moves through the city but people can also take a car or their bike. There's parks, a lake, sushi places, burger places, noodle places, gashapon machines and a Starbills on every corner. Most homes are equipped with a traditional Japanifornian kotatsu. It's a paradise for weebs and hipsters alike. Also, a themepark because why the heck not.

Truly, the greatest city in these United States of Nexusica.]

[De Killer bit]

[Still, a nexus is a nexus, which means it draws in people from all sorts of places. There's only so much order to be found. Turns out, some rich asshole is trying to run for 'president'. One would think it'd be mayor, but considering a nexus is basically a world of its own, he might as well be attempting to crown himself King of the World. Outrageous remarks of building a wall to keep out more 'foreigners' aren't gaining him much popularity either. He's lucky that there's a couple of rednecks on his side who feel that the city might be getting a bit too crowded.

Even so, many residents of Japanifornia are in agreement; this powerhungry douche by the name of Ronald Chump needs to go.

As luck would have it, Shelly de Killer has already set up office in Japanifornia and has now been approached to eliminate the problem. He's not going to do it alone, either. Benny (who's been around for an equally long time) will be joining him on this venture.]

[Other]

[Who else is in Japanifornia? Do a thing!]

greatestdefective

[Canon option]

[The year is roughly 1900 (give or take a few decades, we don't know) and the location is the foggy city of London. Sherlock Holmes is out doing what he usually does; that is, he's doing whatever the hell he feels like at the moment. Iris is holding down the fort back home, leaving him utterly unsupervised. One might think that a grown man- the world's greatest detective- can take care of himself just fine.

One would think that, wouldn't they?

In the middle of Piccadilly Circus square stands the relatively new Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. All the way atop the fountain is the statue of an angel, its wings spread as if it's about to take flight. Hanging from the right wing is the World's Greatest Detective. ...Upside-down. The right leg of his pants is hooked firmly into the corner of the wing, feathers holding it in place.

...Don't ask how he did this. Just get him down before he hurts himself.]

[Logic & Deduction Experiment Theater option]

[So your character just got caught behaving suspiciously at a crime scene! Perhaps something was stolen from a store. Perhaps someone was found dead just around the corner. ...Or perhaps there's nothing suspicious going on at all, there's merely a trivial little thing that your character is attempting to hide.

Either way, Sherlock Holmes is on the scene and he's ready to jump to assumptions- I mean conclusions.

Throw in a setting with as many inane little details about the surroundings and character quirks as possible, and prepare for a whirlwind of rapid-fire deduction!]

[Nexus option]

[Generic panfandom nexus time! Let's make it Wankerville for convenience, a small town (roughly ten houses) with a store that restocks itself. It's situated in the middle of a forest that, if crossed, will inevitably lead a character back to the village. Ooh spooky.

Holmes is seated on the front steps of one of the houses, idly puffing from his favorite pipe, nose buried in a book. Which book, you say? "Welcome to Wankerville, Random Nexus Facts For Dummies". This thing is so convenient it's not even funny.

...Well, at least Sherlock won't be completely oblivious to the notion of 'other worlds', 'alternate timelines' and such things when he's approached by a space alien or whatever.]

madonnya

Because why not? Have at!

( Call Out Post with Prompts! )

justintrust

[A certain someone is back in Wankerville. Not that he knows he's 'back' just yet. Much has happened since the last time he was here, if one could even say he was here at all. He was a different person then. He's a different person now. About a year and a half have passed, but it feels like a lifetime. He's Lex Luster Jr., though he no longer has a passport to prove it. The only identity he legally has is Sam-Sara Bardo's, because Interpol takes the protection program very seriously and so should he. Not that he's wearing Sam-Sara's mask or even his clothing. His appearance, from the thick woolen sweater with long sleeves to his favorite scarf, is very much Lex.

The memories from before are so vague that they don't reach him through the initial panic.

The first thought that strikes him is that he's not supposed to be here. Not out in the open. Not like this. He doesn't have anything to cover his face- what if someone recognizes him- what if they think he broke his house arrest agreement again? He didn't mean to! He doesn't know why he's here at all, or how. What if this was the last straw? What if they decide to overturn the penal committee's suggestion for real this time? What if they lock him away for good, or finally subject him to that long overdue execution? That's so unfair! He didn't choose to leave the house! He didn't choose to leave Benny-

-Benny. Shit shit shit. Is he okay? Does he know what happened? Did someone attack him in order to move Lex from the house? Why go through so much trouble and then leave him in some abandoned village in the first place? Is he even near L.A. anymore? What is going on?-

His immediate reaction to the reeling train of thought that he can't control or make sense of is to hide. To find somewhere safe and regain his composure there. Phantom or no Phantom, hiding is his first answer to everything. Hiding is that one instinct he's had since childhood that never left- not once. Hide and then wait to be found by someone trustworthy, no matter how long it takes. No matter how agonizing it is to feel alone and abandoned.

Once he can actually get his feet to move, he sprints towards the nearest house to yank the door open. Somehow, the fact that it's unlocked doesn't strike him as odd at all. It seems almost natural for it to be open to anyone. He darts inside and slams the door shut behind himself again, then allows his knees to buckle. He hits the ground with a thud. After all the training Benny's been putting him through, he'd been doing so well with controlling his emotional instability. He'd made such great progress. With the way he's hyperventilating into his hands, all that progress sure feels insignificant.]

dehipster

[So Benny's still in Wankerville. By now, he's getting a better grasp of what's going on and what to expect. This isn't just because he's spoken to Shelly and Tori; it's because he found a certain convenient book. It's titled "Welcome to Wankerville, Random Nexus Facts For Dummies".

That's not the only thing he's found.

Right now, he's sitting on the front steps of one of the houses, playing with four kittens. He's not sure where their mother is, but he does know they were incredibly hungry when he stumbled across them. Luckily, they seem to about four or five weeks old, so they accepted meat scraps just fine. He fed them and now he's stuck with them. Not that he minds, of course. He enjoys their company. Shoe was already a fully-grown, lazy tomcat when Benny got him, so the opportunity to play with actual kittens is new to him.]

dehipster

[Benny's used to having a certain amount of logic in his life. A simple formula of waking up in his own bed, feeding the cat, tending to his other responsibilities and going to sleep in his own bed at the end of the day. With the occasional break to do something fun, of course. That's just common sense.

Imagine his surprise when he does not wake up in his own bed for once. Or even his own house. ...Or even his own city, by the looks of it. It's really quite disturbing. Even more so because he can't remember how he even got here.

A nice picturesque village surrounded by forest. There's very little forest in- or even near Los Angeles, these days. He encounters a sign that says Wankerville, but he's not sure how seriously to take it. Why is this place abandoned? It's like he walked straight into the setting for an M. Night Shyamalan movie. ...The most recent kind that are lousy, not the golden oldies.

Well, at least he's got his treasured belongings with him. His phone, his wallet and his watch. Now he just needs to find another person to ask for help.]