Shadow 12 3 (cod Oc) - Tumblr Posts

Random Moth Lore

-before i go nuts over the character details aaa-

Ignoring the specifics, Moth usually expects to hear one of three names when in reference to him in Shadow Company

His callsign, 'Moth'

His name, either first, full or last, 'J.D Santiago'

His ID, 'Shadow 12-3'

However, Moth has acquired quite the number of nicknames during his thirty-something years of life. These include:

Dan (and then Danilo; this is fine in SC)

James Dean (because his father was a fan; gets an "I wish." reaction)

Jaded ("Only one cousin calls me that-")

Jan (and Janica, family nickname; if he hears this his head is whipping back to the person who spoke- use this on him in SC it's funny-)

Kuya Dan (acceptable if close/in SC; "My neighbour's siblings.")

Uncle Dan ("My niece.")

Dee ("Don't.")

Manong (his sister; would be an honour to have an honorific in SC but a man can dream-)

That's ignoring any nicknames from his military career prior to Shadow Company, of course.

Sooo many things that could've been his callsign.

If he hears someone even mutter 'Seko' then it's a completely different story.

FUN MOTH FACT:

if you're part of the team, the unit, the company, wherever, beware: moth is the type to affirm. as long as you're considered a teammate, you're getting praised-

old or current unit, he doesn't care. might fumble a little with addressing people but he's adjusting-

get positively reinforced B)

"Ading- matalas ang mata mo! Nice shot!"

"Wh- Sergeant that's not my name-"

"...Right then. You have very good eyes! Good job on the field! Keep up the good work, trying your best is the best!"

"...!?" [Shadow.exe has stopped working]

[UNFINISHED THINGS] i don't think i have the time to finish this so it's back to traditional-

character sheets are hard because i fear it's getting wordy. anyways, have some bits and pieces from moth's under the cut because i'm taking my sweet time with him and it's still up in the air aaaaa-

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"Come, sit down, I'm making-"

2am is a peculiar time in Shadow Company: some are fast asleep to face the coming day, some are staring at their ceiling, and some are still out and about. Of course, some members would hold roles that involve active duties past midnight.

However, some are avoiding the Sandman for different purposes entirely. Depending on the Shadow, some spend their time outside, watching the sky and, perhaps, indulging in a vice - whether that be smoking with the stars, or sharing a drink with past ghosts.

Others remain inside, though their bodies still as active as ever.

Communal kitchen, 2am. Or, he assumed it was communal, anyways.

Half of the ingredients he practically smuggled in himself, the other half he found unopened at the back of the cupboards. Unlike prior occasions, Moth's basically eyeballing it all the best he can with sleepy eyes.

Ingredients he's smuggled in include: glutinous rice flour (it looks so genuinely suspicious underneath his bed - wrapped in plastic, double bagged and it still left some remnants behind), coconut milk (oddly enough they had coconut cream, but not the milk itself) and cheese (cheddar - the fridge had an opened pack of American cheese, and processed cheeseburger slices). They're all spread out neatly and within arm's range.

Everything else - the eggs, butter, sugar and evaporated milk - was located in a couple minutes. To his surprise, he found some frozen banana leaf jammed deep inside the freezer. In case it belonged to anyone else, he took as little as he thought he needed. He'll ask about ownership later.

Sure, the normal recipe would call for more ingredients, but that would involve more smuggling, and Moth isn't in a position to ask Graves about the rules regarding what can and can't be kept in the pantry- turn the music on and start anyways.

'Strangers in the night exchanging glances

Wondering in the night, what were the chances...'

He lets the speaker take over the singing, silence being filled with sound: an old friend got him hooked on the tradition; before him it was himself and the quiet.

The recipe, how he remembered it anyways, was simple to follow. Having preheated the oven, he spent some time cutting up the banana leaf a little to fit the dimensions of the tin he found. Lining it with care, humming along to the music, and generally enjoying his night. This. This is his vice, in a sense.

Rhythmic cracking and whisking of eggs, he barely needs to measure how much flour he needs at this rate. Stabbing open the cans with a knife because he recalls how the can opener was recently broken. No questions about it. Sugar, butter- it all gets mixed in one glass bowl he rinsed in the sink.

It's fine. He'll clean up after himself once he's done. He stands, in his own bubble, whisking away. The batter needs to be rid of lumps, but not too overdone that it turns out wrong.

It's admittedly quite... domestic in the kitchen, a rare mercy when it comes to the culinary sphere in Shadow Company. He pays no attention to the busted up microwave, after all. He could stay there all night and bake if he wanted to-

"Ah! Kinam- er- good evening-" The music was too loud and he wasn't fully alert when the kitchen door swung open. Now some Shadow is standing there wondering what Sergeant Moth must be up to past midnight. Cradling a bowl in one arm and whisking away like a housewife, sunglasses pushed up on his head and mask covering up the microwave. Lord, he has an apron on too.

...Before they could ask, however, Moth's already quick to talk, practically beckoning them, "Come, sit down, I'm making bibingka." His startled appearance only melts away when they take a couple steps inside the kitchen; not a single appliance combusted once during his time inside so far.

Again, it's mostly quiet aside from the music. He's already finished pouring the batter into the tray, readying himself to put it inside the oven for however long it needs to bake for. They're just sat, watching. Almost childlike. There's a curiosity, at the very least.

"...Ading," Wrong- who cares, it's late, "If... if you want to help whilst you're here, then you could help me grate the cheese? Don't have to, obviously."

Still, he's talking them through the steps, winding up some egg timer. Preheat, line, mix, bake, top, broil. And make sure music is on, because: "Music gives the food some soul, no? Good atmosphere gives it a good mood to be prepared with." Understandably, Moth isn't exactly himself - it's late, he's less concerned with appearance or suitable behaviours. He's more casual than anything.

Looking over as he washed up, making sure they don't slice a finger on the box grater, "We'll put the cheese on top once the sides look done, then we'll broil it... You're doing great, by the way." Eyeing up the first aid kit on the wall anyways, just in case. He'll do some of the cheese preparation right before he pulls it out the oven and grate cheese. "...'m very grateful to have you here." That was bad.

A brief flash of heat when the oven door opens, and he slides the tray out a little. Cheese gets sprinkled on the surface of the bibingka, almost in excess. But good co-operation means extra reward, after all. And once it's all back in the oven?

Moth's handing the Shadow the egg timer, twisted up to a couple more minutes, with a proud look on his face. "I'll make sure the food's all out and cooling once this goes off, yeah? If I'm there then you're taking some, and if I'm absent, then you can take as much or as little as you want, alright?...As long as Commander Graves doesn't find out. Go do anything you need to, Ading." Praise. He's happy for having some company that isn't set and speaker-bound.

"...I'll see you around. Have a good night." Waves them off, takea a breather and... appreciates existing a little more.

Miscellaneous Moth Doodles

no context, no thoughts, head empty. just moth.

These? Oh, they aren't of any-

"Mercado!- Wh-" Dead in his tracks for a moment. Ah. No wonder his friend was screaming bloody murder in the middle of the field. Captain's already ahead with the others, and Moth could've done with one more lap around the place. Then again, he also tripped earlier, so it wasn't likely he would catch up too easily - low energy, long day.

"Hey, Dan," Hissed through clenched teeth as Moth crouched down to look at him. "Hala- it hurts, sir." It's quite simple.

Mercado's sat up, though grounded, one knee bent and being cradled, the other leg extended out. Click of the tongue and a quiet "Right then.". Fiddling a little, taking off a boot past its many secure ties. Gently- oh so gently- taking the ankle into his own two hands, and- "Scream when it starts hurting."

Pressure. That's how it always worked when he was younger. Using his thumb to put pressure on certain regions and slightly tilting at the joint. Ignoring the way his sergeant would cuss him out in a variety of different ways: "Tangina-" One area, "Ay- bobo-", another area, "F-FUCK-!" Bingo. Eversion.

"-Cado, it'll be fine," He speaks, peeling back the sock to check the skin, already starting to discolour slightly. Bruising. No way in hell is he letting him walk back without assistance. "You've just sprained it. Hurts more because these boots don't make it any better." Possibly a lie, though if it helped to hear then Moth would tell him anything.

Sorting it out. Normally, the stash of bandages is for his own personal use, but the truly injured take priority. Sitting with his legs crossed, foot on his lap, being wrapped with practiced precision. "Heh- with the way you're working at me, you should've been a medic."

"Ah, that's my sister. Hands are too rough for that," Tying the last of the bandage off, shifting the sock back over it all. "After you're back, I'll try and buy you a couple days off. Don't worry about it, just rest up. No walking it off."

"Dan." Packing everything up - taking any of Mercado's heavier belongings to carry himself.

"-And I'll do the paperwork, too. See if you can get rest without duty, you're my responsibility,"

"Danilo." Stern. Snaps him out of it.

"Yes, Cado?" Stare back.

...Concern?

Concern's written all over Mercado's face: "...Your hands are...".

Looking down.

Ah.

Dusty, dirty, covered in blood and scraped a little raw. He didn't just trip and fall - he pretty much ate shit after missing a rock and mis-stepping. Now that he's stopped to think about it, his foot feels like it's on fire. It's not great. It's not a main concern. It's not...

...Not sterile- "Ah! Cado- Don't worry- it's not an open wound or anything. Can't get infected, alright? We'll... still get the bandages changed, though." But the look on his friend's face doesn't falter at all.

Warmth rushing to Moth's face. Red. Running down his cheek, even. No, later. If it's cut then that's a later issue. Right now?

Loosely putting the boot back on his comrade. Helping him up to his feet. Slinging an arm over his shoulder. They'll walk eachother back - stumbling, but walking. They'll sit down and wait until a medic attends to the sergeant, and then he'll wait until his friend is properly admitted. Then. Then...

He'll check himself in the mirror later to see if there's any wounds left to lick.

Normally by then, they aren't of any concern.

this seems interesting! MOTH GET OVER HERE-

Step right up! Step right up! Take a peek into the sergeants psyche-

"Don't think like that, Dion said not to think like that-" Standing there, looking at his rookies after being informed that one of them keyed Graves' car, eye twitching under his sunglasses. "Ah... fuck.". His mind is a treasure trove of secrets. Their helpfulness though? ...Eh, unless you want to hear about all the stuff he's cover up. The old him would've disciplined the hell out of misbehaving rookies.

But nowadays? What would probably shock a mind reader the most- all those situations of rookies screwing up and Moth oh so graciously sweeping it under the rug and taking the fall time and time again before his superiors find out. There's just a barage of thoughts about hiding things.

"It'll be alright, gotta think of how to do this..."

Car driven into a ditch? Gotcha. Torn uniform? He'll fix it, borrow his in the meantime. Forgotten equipment? Take his gun, he's fineee. Need a note of approval? He can forge one, c'mere- you... seriously tossed a flashbang into Graves' office by accident? ...Don't ever say I've never done anything for you-

-And that's all the stuff in Shadow Company. Externally?

Haha.

Anyways, honourable mentions:

A LOT OF CALLBACKS TO THERAPY. He's standing with clenched fist and s voice reminding him why his knuckles are a bit screwed. De-escalation.

Recipes. On one hand, "They don't deserve anything extra because of [---] incident.". On the other hand, "Hhhh the rations aren't good this time- think think think-". They're a constant nagging sometimes.

Oh wow [insert superior] is cool as hell.

Oh, wow, [insert most members, really]? Cool-

No thoughts sometimes. Genuinely has the worst brain fog.

🕺 🎵 DANCE DANCE DANCE- Yes, seriously. He follows musical theatre emotions rules he bounces and rocks when pleased and why? THE MUSIC IN HIS HEAD- SSHUT UP MOTHH THEY WANT ACTUAL INFORMATION--

"I miss him." "He's not dead?" "I miss him."

Thought about not screwing up his chances in Shadow Company. No more grave mistakes.

This mind reader could be in the infirmary trying to get medical information from people and Moth's thoughts are all "Damnit not again- Captain's mad- aaaah-" because he doesn't understand exhaustion are you sure you're not asthmatic or something? He's thinking about whether or not to disclose past injuries and it's concerning sir- sir- sir???

Shadow Company OCs question!!!

If a mind reader was snuck into the shadow company base, and they started reading your OCs mind… what would shock the mind reader the most?

I’ll go first: Adam on certain days, will be talking with a shadow, and he would just randomly start thinking about how he would go about making a certain plushie. I’m talking sewing patterns, materials, tools needed, the whole shebang. He’s quite literally making a plushie in his head, albeit at a much faster speed than it would take in real life. Then after the conversation is over, he’ll just stand there for a moment… then go find someone else to talk with. Then it’s repeat the process over and over again until he’s needed for something or the day ends. He does this because he’s trying to decide who he wants to make a plushie for the next day. And he’s also trying to get a feel for the person in order to exclusively make the plushie for them. So he’s talking with them, and he’s also planning out the plushie or pillow, and changing it as he sees fit as he’s talking it out with them so he can fix it to how he thinks the person would like it best

Adam doesn’t really know very much about company trade secrets since no one teaches him or tells him the plan because he’s not a soldier, so the only time he ever hears about the missions is when someone tells him about it, but it’s only about past missions. In the end, the mind reader would only be able to get individual Shadows’ weaknesses that have talked to him in sessions (he’d never reveal them willing), instead of Shadow Company as a whole.

…………………………………………………………………………

Now it’s your turn! Use as many or as little ocs as you’d like!!

I challenge(optional): @pampanope @olibird @mr-1-2-3-4 @tw1nkee28 and you! ^-^

Once the flirt/compliment/appreciation mentally clocks:

This man is mentally SCREAMING FAINTING SWOONING THIS APPLIES PLATONICALLY AND ROMANTICALLY, MOTHHH❗❗DON'T DISH OUT WHAT YOU CAN'T TAKE-

If Moth in my opinion is known as the “the Shadow Father” for that one meme

In Moth’s opinion would he hate Orion in a way because they basically share the rookies?

Because this a small chunk from a Shadow story I’m working on🥲

Jack says as they both heard Moth get dog piled by some rookies, that got to come due to good behavior, Orion looked down at Moth

“Your turn to watch them.”

Orion said with a evil-ish smile as Moth struggled to get up

“This sweater is new. And you got them to dog pile me.”

Moth said looking up at Orion, who waved his hand dismissing the rookies who just went to sit in a pile of hay. Orion pulled up Moth and helped him to dust off

“You good?”

Orion said already knowing the answer

“No. No I’m not ok, I just got dog piled by mine and your kids.”

Orion laughed a bit

“Ha! Well don’t take them away from me when it’s my turn to watch them”

“we had training”

Moth grumbles and you know that, Orion goes to speak but before he can, they both hear the rookies starting a fight, they both ran over to break it up

(I will change it if you want me to, hope I spelled that right)

i think this is also a question for @zante-selachi just to be safe, but i'll provide my own viewpoint! if this goes off track a little it's because it's early soz-

No, Moth does not hate Orion. He does look up to him (for being a half-decent authority figure and also physically- Moth is kinda short in comparison haha-) and make of that what you will.

Despite what the rookies insist, Moth doesn't fully view himself as their 'father': he feels responsible, as an officer should, but because Orion is their captain, he feels the authority automatically goes to him once he enters the room. If they wanna call him 'father' then he won't argue, though. Some of them are Moth's kids until Orion takes the reins but Moth would never admit that.

That being said, Moth does view the rookies as kids because they somewhat remind him of his niece so it's easier to deal with them as such.

Moth could never hate a man like Orion (or what Orion appears to be whenever he's around).

Do ask more if you've got further questions❗i just read this before i had to leave so it might be a bit messy-

LOOK AT THEM👍❗❗🫂🫂🫂🫂 aaah- even if he is $1 Moth is Moth either way-

@mr-1-2-3-4 you made me re-download gacha in the middle of a restaurant so i can shamble together Moth- i am FLATTERED i am 😊😊😊👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

THIS ISNT MY ARTISTIC MEDIUM BUT LIKE- HERE'S THE SHORT MAN IN YOURS- o7777 you have me like ^^^^

(did him in gacha club tho-)

Need I say more why I hate Moth’s design, god I need to change it. I couldn’t do his hair in Gacha so I give you Moth that cost 1$

@lemons-pears

Questions, Questions, Questioning.

gotta love queuing posts lmao:

"Hm? Me?" A question from one of his rookies, catching him off guard, "That's... completely none of your business."

A chorus of 'please sir's and 'please sergeant' trying to butter him up. 'But sergeant, you're the best at these', 'You always answer our questions', 'Maybe we can defend you?' - completely inappropriate topic mid-training out on the track. Ugh.

"No, look, I understand the curiosity - you're like toddlers. Insatiable things," Groans, grunts and unsatisfied whines. From to-be soldiers, no less. Moth's busy drinking from a bottle of water, then answering, settles, "But, I won't carve my whole heart out to you, alright?"

Code for 'I'm telling you a secret'. Code for 'Don't tell a soul'. Lean in, like a huddle.

"I guess... I kissed a girl in sixth grade. If- if that crosses anything off mentally-" Well, there goes half the internal bets.

it's so crunchy, but-

MOTH DOODLE MOTH DOODLE MOTH DOODLE

he's older than some lieutenants. hell- some captains.

If Moth drinks what does he drink and how does he get when drunk?

No need to answer just curious

(Also I love the boi🥺)

@mr-1-2-3-4 gonna be a long one because i've talked about it before on the discord-

Short answer: Cocktails, no hard liquor. Not necessarily flirty, but considering he already praises people when sober he doesn't understand that it's interpreted differently when drunk. He doesn't really drink.

Medium answer: He shouldn't drink since he's a lightweight. Moth stopped any alcohol consumption once joining Shadow Company but one time the rookies got him drunk and yikes. Big cocktail fan, loves a good Piña Colada. He's more likely to be caught drinking mocktails than straight up alcohol out of the bottle (he likes the flavour). Dude loses his filter a little but also gets really emotional and sobby when prodded.

Long answer: Okay, so, he's a mess.

Moth doesn't drink for various reasons e.g. religious, social and personal beliefs. However, he kept on being gifted wine once.

He drank a bottle and a bit once when his former captain helped him move and- uh- ramp that praise up to 100 and see if you can tell if he's flirting or not. Really.

He's one to sing someone's praise when drunk - "Your eyes are- are so beautiful-" "You-... ☺" - and already it's worse because you know he means it platonically most of the time but GODDAMN.

As reference for how much he flirts accidentally is too much on the drunk compliments, one time pre-Shadow Company he accidentally brought a person to his hotel room from a bar, himself being inebriated as hell.

Things were said that he didn't know could be interpreted that way that resulted in this, bawled because he didn't actually want to do stuff with them, apologised five hundred times over because he thought he led them on and gave them $30 so the person could get a taxi back to their place. He wanted to watch Star Trek and sleep.

Hold someone's hands, sing some Sinatra, try to keep his balance. Proceed to topple.

Badly-done waltz, "In other words: hold my hand-... In other words: ... nno that sounds wrong actually wh-where are the words-... Fill my heart with song-"

Moth's drunk behaviour includes holding someone's hands oh so tenderly, swinging them slightly and singing whatever comes to mind with his face reading "☺😊"

Sometimes though he's incredibly emotional. Incredibly.

Once all is said and done and he's intoxicated he's probably going to be in a corner somewhere crying because his brain isn't working like he wants it to. Or he misses someone.

Often gets his old superiors mixed up with his new ones. Sometimes that's fine. Sometimes, "Sarge are you alright- the captain's over there, what do you mean you want him?" "I want my captain-" "-Sir? Sir??? You can't say that about him-" "🥺😢"

How do we know this?

The His rookies got him drunk and recorded it.

Very important distinction his are less disciplined the others.

And as always, if any of the recruits that are under him get in trouble with his superiors, "No, it's my fault, I brought alcohol to make tiramisu. Yeah. My bad. I'll... make them do pushups or run laps or something. After the hangover."

Moth avoids alcohol because he knows what he's like when absolutely intoxicated.