#I think it helps that the iron throne has such straightforward analogues you can imagine in the real world

[outeremissary]

6, 14, 26 for whoever you want to talk about most :3

Sorry for how late I got to this!! Definitely had a weird week last week with energy and stuff ^^;; Thank you for the questions!! And apologies if. This goes in any incomprehensible direction, I already answered 6 for Balthazar elsewhere and can't quite recall what other OCs of mine you know.

[prompt list]

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

Ismene would be a historian or an archivist. She's strongly inclined towards study, thrives in environments of intellectual discourse, doesn't easily fold under pressure, and enjoys long periods of time in libraries and archives. I think it would be her preference to be involved in historical research, but there's a strong pull towards a position like archivist when thinking about the ways that researchers beholden to universities wind up both as teachers and involved in administration and committee work. Those are things she wouldn't do so well with, but perhaps it's a necessary evil... She'd be a terrible teacher though, I pity anyone who had to take a class taught by her. She's not the type to meet people where they're at. If students can't keep up or don't have a strong enough grasp on context or concepts, I think she'd be the type to treat them like it was a problem with them... Of course, with all of this said it's somehow easiest to imagine her as a graduate student herself.

Having said all that, in the past when I've imagined her in a modern AU it was because I had a Powerful Vision of a world where she and Imoen ran a webshow dedicated to urban exploration and paranormal experiences. I suppose in any world it could be a thing she did on the side of other things. And it's fun to imagine the kind of urban fantasy setting where she retains her supernatural visions of the future because I think you can get so very, very silly with it. The sisters' obscure webshow suddenly becomes embroiled in conspiracy and scandal after Ismene predicts prominent CEO Rieltar Anchev's murder on it with detail and accuracy so powerful that she winds up getting investigated by the police twice- first on charge of making intimidating threats against him before he dies, then for. Well. His actual gruesome murder.

Oh, and I guess I can also imagine that in any kind of modern setting she'd be the kind of person who ran a side hustle doing tarot and psychic readings. I think she'd be very sincere about it, too. In her eyes she's got the gift.

14) Who's a character your OC cannot stand! It's on sight when they see them!

I am sorry to say to all of the fun enjoyers of the world that Balthazar really does hate Nok-Nok. He cannot stand that silly little goblin and there have been true Looney Tunes moments of trying very very hard to get Nok-Nok killed only for the Stolen Lands' strongest cockroach motherfucker to somehow bounce right back. He didn't even have Nok-Nok untied when he first met Kingmaker's All Time Creature, he turned around and left. And of course, didn't make it ten paces before bam, there was Nok-Nok, conspicuously free of his bonds and a self-appointed member of the party. And in Balthazar's eyes Nok-Nok has been a thorn in his side ever since. He's messy, he's loud, he can't take a hint, he's actively resistant to fitting into anything, he's hard to massage into anything except a liability for a perfectly manicured image, he has the most obnoxious delusions of grandeur, and he thinks that they are friends. It drives him nuts.

And of course, it's not possible to force Nok-Nok to do anything without it somehow cartoonishly bouncing around to Nok-Nok coming out ahead... mostly. In the end Nok-Nok still being alive and in the kingdom is not a choice Balthazar has made but a fate he has resigned himself to.

26) What flower do you associate your OC with?

I'm not the strongest for flower associations just because I'm not very well acquainted with floral symbolism, but there are a small number I've thought about in connection with OCs either because I've been asked in the past or just had an Art Urge.

Oleander is a flower that I have connected to Balthazar in the past- it's toxic, but it's a very beautiful little thing and some people keep it as a house plant. There's something that comes off especially nonthreatening about house plants. It really appeals to the "harmless on the surface, treacherous beneath" thing I go for with him.

Kas/Asperia have a number of floral associations both because of their nature and because I've done a few projects that made me think a lot about flowers to represent them. This portrait has seven and I still have writeups for all seven, but I'll just keep it to two. Kasander's signature flower is aconite, perhaps better known as wolfsbane or monkshood. It's extraordinarily toxic and even touching it can trigger a reaction. That thing is the real deal. It's also Kasander's favorite flower- a tag game from almost a year ago that I'm not sure will ever be posted elaborated on that a bit, but it's something they feel a pang of connection with. Removed somewhat from the world by its nature, but so vibrant and so resistant to control and interference by that same nature. It's a very beautiful flower to them. I don't doubt it's also one they're intimately acquainted with the application of. On the other hand, the flower I associate with Asperia is black hellebore. In the original source where I'd read about it, it was described as an unspeakable toxin and associated with delirium and scandal. But my book had some things wrong: it's toxic, but not nearly as toxic as the book insisted, and it doesn't even contain the toxin signature to some other hellebores. It also has a long history of use as a medicine. While I pretty much expect muddy and diverse results when digging into flower meanings, I guess it still felt like an appropriate complement to the toxicity that casting a wider net brought meanings connecting it to healing, growth, and a tranquil spirit under adversity. And I think the paradox, the twisted truths and confused meanings, capture something about Asperia to me- the illusory aspect of someone who performs the expectations of their dark destiny, but somehow has never quite fit within it.