#I've been trying to figure out beast character designs so here's to hoping I will draw more this year

[serenanymph]

girl of all time

[wiseabsol]

Hello~

I've been a reader of yours since 2012 and I've been following you ever since. I greatly enjoy reading your stories on fanfiction and can't wait to read the future of Angelic Shadows. I've always need a bit to shy to actually reach out and comment on your works and how much I've enjoyed reading them.

I'd like to ask you a question. I've taken up actually reading books other than just fanfiction, but nothing I've read has me as entertained like storys such as yours and ChesireCat24. I was wondering if you could recommend some books for me to read? I gues I kinda enjoy the fantasy of interspecies relationships (not a sick creep or anything, but like the intelligent relationship you've made between Cassandra) and the struggles surrounding the characters you've created.

Thankyou 😊

First, thank you for your kind words about my writing and your continued interest in Angelic Shadows. I swear I will get to writing those last few chapters someday (there are only five! But those five will probably clock in at 200 pages, so it will be an undertaking XD), once I've managed to make it past the depression/burnout I'm currently stuck in.

Since you're particularly interested in interspecies romances, here are some I've very much enjoyed over the years:

Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast (webcomic, probably my favorite on this list due to the gorgeous art and complex characters)

Dragonsitter (a manga, couldn't find the author for it, but I remember being pleasantly surprised by the quality of this one, since most of the other manga on the app I read it on was...not great)

Yū Tomofuji's Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (manga, strong character designs and a fun plot. I need to catch up on this one)

Chobits by CLAMP (I read this manga as a kid and enjoyed it--no idea how it holds up now, but it was some pretty good scifi at the time)

Princess Tutu (the best children's anime ever made! The protagonist is actually a duck and her love interests are human)

Spice and Wolf (the best anime about economics you've ever seen. Also the relationship between the leads feels very mature and develops slowly over time)

Wolf's Rain (a tragic anime following a pack of intelligent wolves on their journey to find paradise, with the protagonist having a romantic relationship with a girl made from flowers)

Kiesha'ra by Amelia Atwaters-Rhodes (a book series about shapeshifters having arranged marriages and going through political turmoil. Very good for scratching that teen angst itch)

Animorphs by K. A. Applegate (the best children's book series about the horrors of war ever. Also there are a few notable cross-species romances in this one, with The Hork-Bajir Chronicles being my personal favorite)

The Firekeeper Series by Jane Lindskold (a door-stopper high fantasy book series following the adventure of Firekeeper, a girl raised by intelligent wolves, and her best friend and love interest, Blind Seer, one of those wolves. Apparently this is still ongoing?! I need to pick up the newest books from the library)

The Negotiator Trilogy by C. E. Murphy (urban fantasy book series that features a few different mythological races trying to figure out how they fit in to the modern world? I think? It's been a while. I mostly remember the leading lady and her gargoyle lover)

Gargoyles (I can't believe I almost forget this Western cartoon from my childhood. Eliza and Goliath are wonderful! Also I seem to remember this one being surprisingly dark and Shakespearean)

I'm sure there are more out there, but here's hoping you dig one or more of these!

[kate-m-art]

7?

This question is not on the list, but which artists inspire you? 👀

Neenii hi!! Ilysm <333

7. How often do you use references?

I use refs more often than not, especially if I'm trying to do anything more than sketches for fun. For a full illustration I like to collect pictures for poses, lighting, color mood and any big props or set pieces. I'll download them and then organize them into sheets to have next to me while I draw. Also for pose references, if you're looking for something specific I can't recommend AdorkaStock enough, they've put together some amazing photoshoots.

And then artists that inspire me....

hmmm that's hard 😅 There are so many and the list is constantly growing akdjh And there are different artist I look at for inspiration in different aspects of my art. That being said here's a few and what I love about them ^^

One of my biggest inspirations and favorite artists is Glen Keane, I wrote an entire paper on him sophomore year of college. He was an animation artist who worked bringing the Beast, Ariel, Tarzan and many others to the screen. He has an amazing way of capturing emotion and expressive gestures in his figures that I adore. Also just as a person, I've listened to so many interviews with this guy and he has such a humble, gentle and genuine approach to talking about his life and art and I hope to be like that someday too <3 Also, if you haven't seen some of his post-disney shorts like "Duet" and "Dear Basketball" I can't recommend them enough, absolutely beautiful works of art (a small warning with the latter one though, it was a collaboration with Kobe Bryant done to commemorate his retirement so,,, it's a little heavier to watch now.)

Another artist I adore is Jin Kim, I'll never get over the expressiveness and life in his characters! I also love watching videos from Sam Yang, he has a really gentle and approachable way of explaining his process and I love the lighting and color in his pieces. Daniel Gerhartz also has stunning lighting in his pieces that inspire me every time I see them.

There's so many artists here on Tumblr too who inspire me every time they come across my dashes (And if anyone doesn't follow them already they should definitely check out all their blogs!) There's too many to list them all but @yasmeensh has such a gorgeous, loose sketchy style that I love! They capture so many emotions so quickly and their work has such a nostalgic, simple and elegant feel. I've also been loving seeing @ezdotjpg 's work, their character design skills are amazing and I love the way they use colors. @quirkle2 has a way of bringing out life and expressiveness in characters I admire so much, and their linework is exquisite! @liccy has such a fun style and the way they draw figures is like art goals to me, I also love the way they capture forms, drapery and folds in clothing. And uh, oh also! If you guys don't follow @tamberella please go do it right now, I love everything about their style (figures, lighting, colors, settings, all to die for!), they have amazing resources for artists and over on insta (@devinellekurtz) they share their process and amazing advice in their stories that's helped me out so much!

And of course, you inspire me too Neenii!! I love your soft style and colors, and the way you capture such sweet expressions and emotions with all your characters. Whenever I see your art it always makes my day brighter!!

[justasimone]

黒死牟 - The tale of the Six-Eyed Demon (spooky story fanfic)

By justasimone

This is a fanfiction based off of the series Kimetsu No Yaiba. This is based on Kokushibo, a character from that series.

If you get through this (yeah, it's super lengthy of a read) I will be astounded! 

I've written too much

Disclaimer:

This is a story that contains no spoilers nor

gives away any canon information on this

character. This is a creative interpretation in

the form of a short story. There may be more

tales to be unveiled.

Edits and writing by justasimone

黒

死

牟

Kanji: (Kokushibo)

 ʟᴏꜱɪɴɢ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ

 𝐘e𝐭

ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ʟᴏꜱɪɴɢ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ.

【黒】

【死】

【牟】

ᴛʜᴇ ꜱɪx-ᴇʏᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ

𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒙-𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔.

It was said that this entity had walked the earth at night in search of human blood. The villagers were quite terrified, noting that strange things had begun happening all over the country that could not be explained. The appearance of demons had thrown the city into silent, deadly chaos that many could not escape. Since then, others had begun to see a pattern with them. Some folks claimed that one man was behind the horde of them, claiming that he used them all to fulfill his wishes. Others believed that they could be working for more sinister reasons outside of just one leader. Although there were many stories for the reasoning behind it, the most popular belief had to do with a hierarchy.  

There were very few who tried to piece this horrifying story together. One was a man who claimed that he had witnessed his brother being transformed by the six-eyed demon. The man insisted that he was a deadly adversary that embodied evil itself. The tale began with the man waking up to the sound of a ruckus outside. He heard someone scream and noticed that his younger brother was missing. He opened the sliding door ever so slightly, so he could see what was going on outside without being detected. Believing that the shadows of the night would conceal him in the darkness, he looked out into the abyss before him. By a dim light coming from one of the house’s lanterns, he saw his brother hunched over with a sword. It laid shattered on the floor in pieces while the mantle stuck out of the ground. It was then that the man saw the demon.  

He described him as a creature with an uncanny yet warped human appearance. The man’s skin crawled when he saw six eyes and a mark of fire along his face. He studied his fallen brother, who gritted his teeth as blood ran from his mouth. He was so shocked to see a warrior as powerful as him easily defeated. The man knew at once that this demon was far more terrifying and disturbing than the rest of the demons, he had the rare chance of witnessing. His brother coughed up blood, muttering something inaudible to the demon. The man watched the terrifying demon stare into his brother’s eyes as lightning struck as if it was splitting the sky into glass shards.  

He held his breath and tried to hear what his brother said. Finally, he heard a bit of his dialogue. “Please…Don't do this to me. I cannot be one of you. I swore to him…”  

The six-eyed demon’s eyes lit with a dangerous rage akin to a burning flame. “You cannot take back your promise, Kidou. You will become a demon to serve my master.”  

“Please, I beg you! I no longer want to live forever, living the violent, brutal life I have been trapped in. I would rather die with honor in my heart than to live with the sinful bloodlust for immortality. I dare not give in to the darkness of my heart any longer.”  

The six-eyed demon narrowed his eyes. “Do you think I will allow this? You will not forsake me now. You are a warrior designed for the bloodshed that must be used for my master. You cannot break an oath to me nor to him.”  

“Please!” The young man cried out in anguish as he knelt before Kokushibo. “I don’t deserve to serve anyone; I would rather perish!”  

Suddenly, before the man knew it the demon grabbed Kidou’s face and made him look into his eyes. The lightning continued to burst with an electrifying pandemonium. With the quick flashes of lightning, the man saw the demon’s eyes glowing in the dark while it scowled at Kidou. “You will pay with your family’s lives. Nevertheless, you will become a servant.” Suddenly, the lantern by the house flickered in the wind while Kidou screamed. When the light was refocused, the man saw his younger brother hit the floor with blood dripping down his mouth. Except, something told him that it wasn’t his blood. Kidou laid lifeless on the ground for a few moments until he suddenly sprang up like a puppet. His movements seemed unnatural and rigid as if he were being controlled.  

“You will come with me,” said the six-eyed demon. As the man looked on in horror, Kidou turned his neck and faced him. Another burst of lightning revealed a terrifying expression that the man could never forget. His younger brother Kidou looked vile, staring into his eyes like a hungry beast. The six-eyed demon smirked and looked over its shoulder at the man. The tale ended with the man running into the forest and hiding into a ditch. He had managed to run from his brother, who he figured was turned into some sort of monster like the one he had seen before. It is said that the man only lived for two days until he was never seen again.  

Another tale was told by a father of two twin siblings who disappeared. He said that before his children disappeared, his son had complained to his wife and himself about two demons. The story began with their daughter Chinatsu wandering into the forest. She had been determined to find supernatural creatures and believed the legends she heard from her grandparents concerning these creatures. Her twin brother Chihiro, however, did not believe any of it. He merely dismissed the tales as silly myths to entertain children of the same age as them. He rolled his eyes whenever he heard his grandmother speak of mythical demon slayers, demons, spirits, deities, fantastic creatures and reincarnation.  

One day after his grandmother told a specific tale of a man who was cursed to live forever after eating a forbidden fruit, he went out to play as usual with his sister. This time, his sister was thoroughly engrossed in the tale and claimed that she would find this mythical man that day. They wandered through the forest as she wandered about, holding what looked like a jade coin with a quartz centerpiece that could show the forest from a fish eye’s view. His sister Chinatsu claimed that this coin would allow her to find him, just as her grandmother claimed. Her brother warned her that their grandmother had said only to use it if danger was approaching.  

Chinatsu laughed and shook her head at her brother. “No, no, silly! We’ll use it so we can help the man who is cursed!”  Her brother Chihiro glared at her with dissatisfaction. “Right. We should be avoiding someone that unlucky instead. If he was actually real, all he would do is give us bad luck.”  

Chinatsu shook her head again. “No! He would be saved because we can help!” She laughed and continued to wander through the forest with the coin as her guide. She looked through it and continued to wander, turning every so often down a different path. The sun was setting and Chihiro had a bad feeling about this. Soon the two twins found themselves deeper in the forest as the sun disappeared under the mountains. “Great, now we’re lost. Good one. Now father will scold us and mother will worry!”  

His sister was completely unfazed and kept wandering. “This coin will get us out if we need to.” His sister stopped in the middle of the forest. Her eyes lit up as she stared a bit in the distance. Her brother was just pushing away some branches from scraping him when he looked and saw what his sister was staring at.  

He nearly jumped when he saw a man with red eyes and a suit watching them. The man smiled gently at them and walked towards them.  

“Are you lost?”  

His sister nodded. “Yes, but first I need to find someone. Have you seen him, sir? I’m looking for a man who is in trouble.” Chihiro glared at her while she spoke. “Stop making things up,” he said while grimacing.  

“Are you? Do you need help finding him? What does he look like?” The man looked empathetic, yet Chihiro felt uneasy around him. He sensed a strong, negative energy emitting from him.  

“He ate a blue fruit and got cursed because of it. I want to find him so I can try to help him. My grandma says he got changed from a human into a demon because of it.”  

The man’s eyes grew wide as Chinatsu continued narrating the story her grandmother told her. After Chinatsu was finished, she smiled. “I was hoping to find him today so I can help him.”  

The man stared at her in silence. Somehow, he seemed troubled by the tale, yet oddly moved by the girl’s opinion of the cursed being in the legend. Chihiro cut into the silence with an apology. “I’m sorry, my sister is a fool. She only listens to stories from our grandmother and doesn’t know the difference between reality and fiction. I sincerely apologize for disturbing you.”  

The man looked surprised and his pupils seemed like they changed for a minute. The man then smiled and laughed. “Don’t worry, she has quite a healthy imagination for her age. Let me help you two find your way home. Your parents must be worried about you!”  

Chinatsu smiled and took the man’s hand while Chihiro took hers and followed. In a short amount of time, they found themselves back at their small village. Chinatsu and Chihiro bowed to the stranger. “Thank you so much for guiding us home,” they exclaimed gleefully.  

“No problem,” the man responded as he waved. As his sister was out of earshot, Chihiro heard the man whispering. He thought he heard him say something odd. Later, his sister would confirm what he heard. “The man you speak of in that tale is right here, young one.”  

When the twins got home, everything seemed normal at first. Then Chihiro noticed his sister looking out the window like she was waiting for something. The more he asked her about it, the less responsive she was. As they were about to go to bed, he heard her whispering to herself. “I get to help him…” she said before closing her eyes to sleep. Later that night, Chihiro awoke to the door of their home left open as the cold winter air seeped in. He dressed and went outside, looking to see a trail of footprints that matched the size of his sister’s geta. Nervous, he followed them until he saw her sleepwalking in the forest. Her eyes were open and she was smiling. “Where are you going, sister?”  

She turned and smiled at her brother. “To give our souls to the man. That will help him,” she said while giggling. The boy was so alarmed that he tried to drag his sister back home. He told his father about it as he struggled to keep his sister from out of the forest. No matter what he or his parents could do, his sister wouldn’t stop screaming and trying to fight them to go outside. She even tried to bite them at one point while screaming non-stop. Her mother finally let her go in fear and Chinatsu ran into the forest. Her brother ran right after her without warning.  

Days later, Chinatsu and Chihiro’s parents found a note next to a Sakura tree. It was written in scrawled writing, signed by the first few letters of their son’s name. The note read:

Running from people in the night. They aren’t normal. They have sharp fangs and have ungodly strength. We slipped past them until we saw a man with three pairs of eyes. He caught Chinatsu. I tried to fight him, but I lost. I am looking for her now. I’m following the man. Please find me before he takes her away.  

Chinatsu and Chihiro’s parents never saw their children again.  

Perhaps the most famous tale came from a retired demon slayer. The old man claimed that he knew much about demons and told many townsfolk to avoid them at all costs. He watched several towns with such a watchful eye that the townspeople never witnessed a single demon inside their town. This time of peace would not last eternally, despite the old man’s skill and great prowess as a former demon slayer. The man claimed that many great comrades of his were slaughtered by demons, but most notably of all were the attacks from what he called the upper moons. He had told his story once in an inn when the townsfolk celebrated his success, claiming that they were all too naive.  

He claimed there was one demon in particular that had made him the most uneasy. This demon was the most conniving, ruthless and calculating being he had ever known. The man called this demon Kokushibo and had nicknamed him the harbinger of death. He claimed that this demon took not only the lives of many innocent people but that he also posed the biggest threat to his entire team, including the most skilled of pillars. He described Kokushibo as very powerful with an incredulous amount of strength and great skill. He claimed that Kokushibo could bend his power in the form similar to nature using breath techniques that he never thought any demon would ever understand.  

When the old man was pressed for more information, he refused to disclose any other specifics. Even his younger comrades were left in the dark, questioning the existence of this elusive demon. The last thing the man was quoted saying was that he felt that he had known this demon’s true identity due to his family crest. He felt that he knew which clan he was from yet did not confirm it with certainty. He warned his last student before he died of Kokushibo. The old man stated that if his student was to discover Kokushibo's true origins he should never disclose this information under any circumstances.  The old demon slayer died with that secret a year later due to a heart attack.  

Since then, more tales have begun to surface of this demon. While many narratives have not been confirmed to be firsthand accounts, many elders believe in his existence. The younger townsfolk who even doubt the existence of the supernatural still shiver with fear when they hear of him.  

It is said that to this day, Kokushibo roams this very earth.  

(End)

(I decided to add some haunting edits...muhahhaa of the "six eyed angel".)

➡️Note:

Tales and legends from word of mouth are often edited with multiple variations added on from many years through various storytellers. This would lead to some information or firsthand accounts of demons to vary greatly and contained exaggerated, even warped versions of the original accounts (such as the blue fruit version instead of the actual story). Hence why I thought of writing this based on that perspective without any spoilers or worrying about how canon it is.

(I will soon post this story on fanfic.net when I get the chance.)

I deleted my amino account to protect my mental health so I no longer use the alias of Solar Eclipse. Hence why I removed the amino link.

[its-morphin-time-xiv]

TBH, I've always wanted to RP with your Belladonna, she seems interesting,but for quite some time now I've never been able to figure out who, or what, she is? I see a lot of what I'm guessing is the power rangers, as aesthetic posts and I've been trying to figure out how that would apply to FFXIV and its lore? I'm not accusing you of lore breaking, and even if you were it's your choice to play how you want! I'm merely just curious how she fits into the FFXIV world and what she is about. Help me?

Hello Anon! I’m actually really glad you asked, I know with how vague the blog itself is in regards to everything like who, or what she is. And quite frankly, Tags on posts aren’t helping either. The concerns or at the very least, curiosity in regards as to how “Power Rangers” fits into FFXIV Lore and the universe itself are entirely understandable, and I’m always more than willing to explain the reasoning as to why its here, or even how!

I’m more than willing to help explain things in a more clear and concise manner, now with that, please bear in mind that this post might be a touch lengthy, but I hope you understand and that this isn’t something that can be explained with full-clarity without getting down and dirty. I hope that by the end of it, some of the fog has been cleared! So without further ado… Let’s get started, shall we?

I’ll go ahead and place everything I’ve got under the cut, I hope you enjoy it!

–

I suppose we can start from the beginning and that, Bella, the initial character concept was created about… maybe two years ago. Three technically if you just count how long this blog has been standing. Initially, Bella is (was) a Thavnairian blooded hyur. Or rather, for a bit more clarification, is from an Island near Thavnair that could be and is considered part of the island.

Now that we’ve gotten an… okay grasp as to how long I’ve been working on this, we can properly start with things, like where she’s from, then we’ll move from there!

If I could place it on the global map we’ve been given of three continents it would be placed around here, right under the span of clouds within the red circle. 

Around there is a fairly good estimate of where I’ve placed the island she’s from, that island being “Gisana” (Yeah, totally original with names, i’m great.) [Not Really] Now, Gisana borrows very basic culture concepts of what Thavnair is, I use Morocco mixed with my own culture, which is Filipino. It’s bit of a homebrew, yes. I take influences from what we know, what we’ve been given, then I slip my own to fill in what gaps I need filled, if that makes any sense. 

Now, the island itself is a moderate size, nothing too extreme or anything like that. If anything? It’s about the size of one of the islands there, circled in blue. The island is surrounded by a maelstrom of whirlpools and actual maelstroms due to the unfortunate blend of the waters of The Bounty, and the Dorvos Narrow. Those two create fairly poor conditions for an island’s existence, so much so that the island lays in the ‘eye’ of an ever churning storm. 

Something I could equate it to visually, was the storm that surrounded Skull Island in the newest King Kong movie. (If you’ve ever seen that, it’s pretty cool). 

The storm itself on the outside and within the clouds were extremely rough, but any sailor with an actual heading and idea of how to travel through the treacherous waters or pilot grave enough to fly the hurricanes could make it through no problem. But solely due to that, this island gets left off the map fairly frequently, which is why it’s counted as nothing in particular outside from just a natural disaster waiting to happen.

Now the reason why the storm remains seemingly like a permanent constant is due to the fluctuations of the aether in the environment, being so turbulent and visceral. Far more than unmanageable than that of Eureka (The Isle of Val) [At least I think that’s what it was called]. 

Due to the fluctuations, the veil between this realm and the Void is thin, very much like how Eorzea is, except on a much more smaller yet just as dangerous scale of that. This meaning, that incursions of the void are more frequent on the island itself and solely on the island (not counting the water of course). 

That’s unfortunate for the inhabitants of the island, which Belladonna was one of them, as a child anyways. Now that’s essentially the ‘Fanon’ locale of where the Rangers essentially originated from. 

But not quite yet of where a Ranger comes from, per se. In order to do that, I’ll need to divert our attention back to the island, just a little bit. The Island has been present and weathered the passing of the Astral and Umbral eras ever since the age of Allag. And the people of the island have, through this time collected themselves and united to create one settlement, one city for themselves since they could not bear to leave their island home in the state it is. (That and the storm’s a thing too).

While forging themselves a forever home, they raised walls to keep the demons at bay and away from their people. But walls alone do not protect a fortress, so sometime ago, two of the most brilliant minds there sought to create a tool, a weapon, or even a shield of sorts to defend against the darkness that clawed at their doorstep. 

Now I mentioned that the island had been present since the fall of Allag, the “Tek” that the Rangers used are extremely basic in comparison as to what the old Empire had, but it uses old plans and even ideas that they could and would have used back then. Now, I say this because, Nero has a magitek transformation, and Gaius has a powered up transformation too! That only seemed to bolster my idea that or at the very least influence to m that the notion of ‘magitek morphers’ could and would be feasible. 

With this in mind and using it as my springboard, I use it to essentially state that the “Morphers” that they use are inherently modified Allagan devices if not further worked with and attuned for the uses that are needed, in regards to Gisana and it’s constant demon plight. 

Thusly, Ranger (suits) are created via the Morpher itself, first designed outside by an armorer, then the device essentially borrows the design/uses the armor itself and “stores” it within the device. Sort of like Aetherial de-materialization and re-materialization on the spot, via commands of magick incantations and actual magitek innerworkings. Alternatively, you could describe it like they would use a separate method entirely, like how Allagan teleportation nodes work, and it just gets -teleported- onto your person. Either one works honestly but it gets pretty… mumbojumbo at this point, but it’s a fair explanation on things, at least it is from my perspective. 

If that isn’t necessarily as clear as needed, I can further branch upon it, please let me know!

My idea for a city within a wall and the darkness beyond that was pretty inspired by The Last City in Destiny, while the island secluded away, only by natural disaster means was a mix of “Themyscira” and “Wakanda” but also “Skull Island”. More predominantly the latter most than the foremost.

The magitek morphers are also powered by not Ceruleum, but of crystals, more so hypercharged ones. (I am keenly aware of how dangerous that could be in a character/ situation.) But they’re handled on such a far and infantismal level that most characters hardly have to deal with it save for the scientists and Belladonna herself. Crystal shards get reduced and refitted down to be the size of a coin, a “Power Coin”, as it were. Much like how Power Rangers Zeo, Megaforce, Dinocharge, Dinothunder and Lost Galaxy exhibit their Ranger powers and the like. 

I like Lost Galaxy because they use ‘beast spirits’ along with crystals. I akin those to soul essences that are also required to properly use a Ranger’s armaments 

I hope its been clear, or at least a bit more digestible with this explanation! We’ve still got a little more!

So, lorewise this sits a bit snug in with essentially backdrop and background happenings that weren’t really… significant to anything stated already on the timeline. As the Eras passed, the island suffered, but still most encounters go unnoticed or unrecorded at all do to the hostile nature of the island’s environment surrounding it? Or the denizens within the water below. The island itself could and would become what essentially amounts to sailor’s tales, mysteries and myths you’d hear in passing at your sea-side Tavern. 

Sort of like tales of colorful beings in shimmering lights fighting harrowing beasts countless times. Stuff like that! 

Now, let’s take this back to our girl!

(Sorry, I just really love this picture.)

From here and below, if I can recall some writing that could pertain and assist with a bit more contextual understanding, I’ll make sure to link it with bold letters to identify!

But yes, as I stated prior, Bella is a character concept that’s been growing and evolving over the course of the past two years since her first… ‘creation’, in a sense. I suppose its also very important to note that much of her story is very much ‘The past doesn’t stay dead’ kind of thing. Some reading may or may not have figured that from my previous drabbles regarding Belladonna. Essentially, Belladonna, herself has been present and around for a long time now. Fifty or so years at the moment, regarding the Game’s Lore Timeline. 

That being, from an ooc standpoint, I  would run into… rather serious hurdles, regarding my personal life, and to cope, a new concept would be formulated. But I already have trouble playing more than one alt, in regards to RP, i am… poor at attempting it, but I am working on getting better at that. And so, at the time, Balmung was already locked forever™. And I truthfully only had one character to play for a long time. So instead of re-rolling my character and essentially ‘stranding’ myself as it were in regards to RP, I would.. just insert another chunk onto Bella’s timeline. If that makes sense. 

While yes, that is a poor maneuver some might say, it’s helped me, in all truthfulness create very memorable moments.  But that wouldn’t be without my friends who accept my ideas openly, without them? I might not even have this blog anymore. 

But anyways, before I get too far off-topic; Belladonna is a woman who has had a lot of history happen, solely through the past. And what you see now, are mostly new developments and new experiences. I guess you could say, a woman out-of-time, as a possible explanation. 

This, however doesn’t explain why she’s an elezen, and not a hyur, as she started, or even why I refer to her as “Mutant” in my writings a lot. You might be sighing and rolling your eyes, but please allow me to explain just a little bit longer. 

At her very core, she is still a ‘hyur’. But the reason she is an elezen now, is due to a unfortunate mishap during one of her adventures in which a voidal summoning turns hectic as a Succubus sought to inhabit Bella’s body. Her aether signature already being in turmoil and a rough state in general due to an Imperial sub-project that she subjected herself to in order to.. “keep up” and “combat” the things she fights with her comrades in arms.

She happened upon a very small trace and trail of the Empire’s workings through connections she had gained while living in Kugane and of her own brief Imperial service. 

The end result of the use of said ‘project’ gave Bella more drawbacks than features. Having lost all sense of pain, she can push past her would-be limits, even if it means self-harm. Her body wasn’t attuned or conditioned to any capacity for it to handle the testing done, so she now suffers a biological and ‘aetherial’ mutation. Since the project itself deal with matters of using Voidblood and essence to infuse Imperial conscripts / criminals with it for further service of the Imperial Banner. 

Learning to live with these new changes, such as biologically having.. a new spine extending from where your old one, being shorter, looking like wade wilson /after/ project x –

– like that, only y’know… “prettier” and with hair. Mildly like a mix of both Wade Wilson and Marrow, if you’ve ever seen them.

I don’t believe there’s any right to call it living, rather than just calling it suffering, because that’s truly what it was. She received extreme chronic pain from her mutations, and.. essentially she wanted an “out”. This was around the time she started really going back to her roots, her roots being… “Rangers”, and the island. 

Slowly, in time, despite the rather… negative results she had been given during her time home in an attempt to “cure” herself. And.. possibly to a degree, she got better. 

With her already weakened state, she looked to intense and darker means to try and find a way to rid herself of her “problems”. This eventually leading to the summoning and the disasters that came swiftly after. The Succubus, seeing her would-be host in no suitable condition to survive, took liberties and adjusted Bella to her liking. After all.. this is a succubus. The change itself was gradual, a hex on a very slow burn after the situation was resolved, albeit messy. 

Slowly she’d see height differences, skin cleansing but some things don’t go away, like the spine. That would learn to stay and not all of her wounds and scars from testing would disappear completely. So she sought after an ink artist, giving her tattoos that coincided along with her scars, some even masking out the worse ones. 

And now, she looks the way she looks. Tall, and a bit more happy too. 

—

Final Fantasy XIV’s Lore leaves a lot to be user interpreted, even with lorebooks being published. And with the Allagan empire and dark magicks abound, there’s still… lots of room to leave up and open to people to have some creative fun and freedom with. 

Knowing this, and using this, and even using the lines from the book(s) themselves, we can come up with amazing stories and do amazing things. All while still being.. in the relative realm of ‘grounded’ to its roots. 

[Here’s a link to her about page as well on her tumblr]

Belladonna Slater is a very… complicated character, she strives to learn her place in the world once more but also sees the past calling back to her to be a “Hero” again, hero being a very loose term now since she has grown from lawful neutral to that more of a chaotic neutral in response to just about everything that has happened to her.  

But I hope that.. me writing this as an answer to your ask, Anon, that this helps clear the air, if by only a little as to worries and or questions you had. I’d also like to note that this isn’t a complete character breakdown, there are still at least one or two elements of her ‘story’ that could be branched upon and explained if asked. 

If you’d like to know about them, you’re more than welcome to ask me, either through Tumblr inbox for the sake of anonymity or even in Tumblr DMs, Discord is also an option as well. 

I also do have a document that I have written out in regards to Ranger Corps. I can leave that in a link here below as well. However: The document itself hasn’t been edited or revised since May of this year, 2018. So there are revisions and slight edits to be made. I just haven’t sat down with the time to do it yet. But let it not discourage you from reading! 

Ranger Corps - Documents and Information 

Anon, I do hope this writing, both the answer to your ask and this document have been able to assuage some of your worries, or curiosities, rather. And if there is anything else from you, specifically, or from anyone else for that matter, that would like to know more, or have a specific question?

You are more than welcome to come and ping me for a conversation! 

I love being able to talk to new people, and well… I hope you’d like to talk to me too!

Thank you for your curiosity and question, Anon. 

I hope I was able to help.

– M