#Maven plays D&D

[ameasureofseperation]

So I went a little into it and made face cards for a playing card deck with most of the PCs from the current Bad Decisions Club campaign.

I had fun finding a sort of half way point between my usual style and the more traditional depictions on playing cards.

I still need to add in the jokers.....

[wydpod]

What is What's Your Damage? We're an actual play podcast featuring a group of friends and comedians. Series 1 can be listened to in its entirety of 70+ episodes, or you can jump in with our brand new series that released in September.

Series 2 takes place in the D&D 5e homebrew world of Oneasaeno, which draws inspiration from Filipino mythology, Discworld, and Studio Ghibli. Join our PCs as they try to figure out the secrets of the tavern they find themselves unable to escape.

Listen to us on your favorite podcast platform, new episodes every other Monday. Or you can find us on YouTube, and TikTok for signature character cocktails and extras.

We're also excited to bring you our "long shot" series, where we explore TTRPGs outside of D&D. Our inaugural venture is our a Brindlewood Bay triple-shot, featuring our Mavens and Murder at the Merchants Mixer.

[bl4ckr0se-3006]

Crossover Rp - Grishaverse| Six of Crows/Shadow and Bone and Another Fandom

Hey I am kind if desperate to do some kind of to do some king of crossover Rp involving the Six of Crows characters and another fandom we both agree on. I have a full list of my fandoms I will put son here below. Any ships I want to keep within fandoms and I wasn’t to keep the characters within their own lore unless necessary etc, for example I really don’t want anyone asking for us to play characters from Six of Crows as characters from other fandoms and no comparing the characters from Sic of Crows to characters from other fandoms either, especially villains, it makes my uncomfortable, especially when Kaz, he’s too good for that and I desperately want to play Kaz for this.

For Kaz only ship I am comfortable with is Kanej, no exceptions sorry. I have a la list of ships and the characters I can play for other fandoms I will also put below, we can discuss which fandom to crossover with. If interested leave me a comment here or pm me, preferably both. If we’re playing more than one character each from each fandom we can discuss how we split that I am absolutely comfortable discussing who plays who outside of Kaz and Inej and I much prefer my rp partner to play Inej and I have a stronger muse for Kaz. I tend to lean into Kaz’s trauma and PTSD, etc, like I feel bad for him yes but he wouldn’t be him without that backstory so please be fine with me doing this.

My fandoms are:

Stranger Things

Walking Dead

The Last of Us

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Tokyo Ghoul

Deathnote

Demon Slayer

Jujustu Kaisen

Dune

Umbrella Academy

His Dark Materials

Marvel

DC

Game of Thrones

Twilight

Heathers

Titanic

Harry Potter

Squid Game

Omori

Avatar the Last Airbender

Miraculous.

Howl’s Moving Castle

Spirited Away

Call me by Your Name

Owl House

D&D

Witcher

Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows

Bones and All

Crimson Peak

Red Queen

Attack on Titan

The Characters I’ll play are below listed by Fandom:

Stranger Things:

Eleven

Eddie Munson

Robin Buckley

Max Mayfield

Walking Dead:

Carl Grimes

Daryl Dixon

The Last of Us:

Ellie Williams

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children:

Enoch O’Connor (for this character I heavily prefer to work off the film version of the character though I have read and really like the books too.)

Tokyo Ghoul:

Juuzou Suzuya

Uta

Deathnote:

L

Demon Slayer:

Giyu Tomioka

Jujustu Kaisen:

Mahito

My Oc: Tomie Ryo

Dune:

Paul Arteries

Umbrella Academy:

Klaus Hargreaves

His Dark Materials:

Lyra Belacqua

Marvel:

Avengers:

Loki

X-Men:

Jean Grey

DC:

Harley Quinn (I will only play the Suicide Squad/Birds of Prey version)

The Flash:

Barry Allen/The Flash

Game of Thrones:

Bran Stark

Arya Stark (Possibly)

Daenerys Targaryen

Twilight:

Edward Cullen

Heathers:

J.D.

Titanic:

Jack Dawson

Harry Potter:

Luna Lovegood

Fantastic Beasts:

Credence Barebone

Marauders:

Regulus Black

Cursed Child:

Scorpius Malfoy

Squid Game:

Player 067/Kang Sae-Beyok

Omori:

Sunny/Omori

Avatar the Last Airbender:

Katara

Miraculous:

Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir

Felix Fathom/Argos/Flairmidable (mostly as Felix or Argos)

Luka Coffaine/Viperion

Howl’s Moving Castle:

Howl Jenkins Pendragon

Spirited Away:

Haku

Call me by Your Name:

Elio Perlman

Owl House:

Amity

Hunter

D&D:

Doric

My Oc - Cælen Ærinasion

Witcher:

I only play my Oc Cælen Ærinasion for this Fandom

Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows:

Kaz Brecker

Bones and All:

Lee

Crimson Peak:

Thomas Sharpe

Red Queen:

Maven Calore

Attack on Titan:

Eren Jaeger

The pairings I do, by fandom, the character I play is for each is is brackets (Please note + is platonic and & is ship.

Stranger Things:

(Eleven) + (Max) - (Please note for this one I do believe Max has feelings Eleven that go beyond friendship, I don’t believe Eleven reciprocates them.

(Eddie) +/&Steve

(Eddie) +/& Chrissy

(Robin) + Steve

(Robin) +/& Vickie

(Max) +/& Lucas

Walking Dead:

(Carl Grimes) +/& Enid

Daryl Dixon (I don’t currently have any ships for this characters open to any platonic pairings though)

The Last of Us:

Ellie Williams + Joel Miller

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children:

(Enoch) +/& Olive

I am also open to any platonic pairings involving Enoch.

Tokyo Ghoul:

Juuzou Suzuya (I don’t currently have and ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

Uta (I don’t currently have and ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

Deathnote:

(L) +/& Light (this is mostly in Au settings alone, I won’t do Kira and L ship rps.)

Demon Slayer:

(Giyu) +\& Shinobu

Jujustu Kaisen:

Mahito (I don’t currently have and ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.)

My Oc - Tomie Ryo (I don’t currently have and ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings. And I only do OCxOC ship wise, CCxOC can make me uncomfortable, I am however open to CC + OC platonic rps.)

Dune:

(Paul) +/& Chani

Umbrella Academy:

(Klaus) +/& Dave

His Dark Materials:

(Lyra) +/& Will

Marvel:

Avengers:

Loki (I don’t have any ship pairings for this, open to platonic pairings though.)

X-Men:

(Jean Grey) +/& Scott Summers

DC:

(Harley Quinn) x Joker

The Flash:

(Barry/ The Flash) +/& Iris

Game of Thrones:

Bran Stark (I don’t currently have any ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

Arya Stark (I don’t currently have any ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

(Daenerys) +/& Khal Drogo

Twilight:

(Edward) +/& Bella

(Edward) + Any of that Cullens

Heathers:

(J.D.) +\& Veronica

Titanic:

(Jack) +/&Rose

Harry Potter:

(Luna) +/& Neville

Fantastic Beasts:

Credence Barebone (I don’t currently have any ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

Marauders:

(Regulus) +/& James

(Regulus) + Sirius

Cursed Child:

(Scorpius) +/& Rose

(Scorpius) +/& Albus

Squid Game:

Player 067/Kang Sae-Beyok (I don’t currently have any ships for this character though I am open to any platonic pairings.

Omori:

(Sunny/Omori) +/& Basil

Avatar the Last Airbender:

(Katara) +/& Aang

Miraculous:

(Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir) +\& Marinette Dupain Cheng/Ladybug

(Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir) + Kagami Tsurugi/Ryuko

(Felix Fathom/Argos/Flairmidable) +\& Kagami Kagami Tsurugi/Ryuko

Luka Coffaine/Viperion (Platonic pairings only please)

(Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir) + Felix Fathom/Argos/Flairmidable

Howl’s Moving Castle:

(Howl) + Mark

(Howl) + Calcifer

(Howl) +\& Sophie

Spirited Away:

(Haku) + Chiro

(Haku) +/& Oc

Call me by Your Name:

(Elio) - I don’t currently have pairings for this character. Open to CC +\& OC if necessary though.

Owl House:

(Amity)+/& Luz

(Hunter) +\& Willow

(Hunter) + Gus

(Amity) + Willow

D&D:

(Doric) +/& Simon

OC+/&OC

(OC)+ CC (Willing for double up in which I will play a CC)

Witcher:

OC +/& OC

(OC)+/& CC (I won’t play CC for this Fandom.)

Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows:

(For this fandom bear in mind I do very much see Kaz as asexual, not necessarily aromatic, look it up if need definitions. Asexual does not mean can’t fall in love.)

(Kaz) +/& Inej

(Kaz) + Jesper

Bones and All:

(I do see Lee as Bi -- well aware it might seem like a bit of an obscure one to some.)

(Lee) +/& Maren

(Lee) +/& Oc

Crimson Peak:

(Thomas) +/& Edith (Preferable)

(Thomas) +/& Oc

(Thomas) + Lucille

Red Queen:

(Maven) +\& Thomas

(Maven) +\& Mare

(Maven) + Cal

(Maven) + Tiberias Vi

(Maven) + Elara

Attack on Titan:

(Eren) +\& Mikasa

(Eren) + Armin

If interested comment or Pm me. I won’t reply to liked as I find those too ambiguous.

[titleleaf]

As Zanuck Sr. repeatedly told his son, had Valley of the Dolls been a product of the Hollywood studio system at its apex, in less than a week he would have assigned it to a contract director, one or more of the studio’s stable of thirty-plus top screenwriters, an available cameraman, production and costume designer, a composer, and a cast selected from 20th’s contract talent roster. It isn’t hard to imagine a forties-era Valley of the Dolls. On tap at the studio were any number of great beauties and “types,” some of them quite talented. And if those weren’t quite right, Zanuck might have arranged to borrow talent from other studios. There was Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell, or Jeanne Crain to play the reserved New Englander Anne Welles. Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, or Lana Turner might have played the luckless showgirl Jennifer North. The young Bette Davis, Susan Hayward, or Ida Lupino would have fit as brilliantly talented, tormented Neely O’Hara. Tyrone Power/Gregory Peck/Cornel Wilde could have slipped easily into the role of suave, slippery Lyon Burke, alongside Dana Andrews as press agent Mel, Vincent Price as Charles Revson–inspired cosmetics empire maven Kevin Gillmore, and Clifton Webb as fashion designer Ted Casablanca. For good measure, Zanuck could have thrown in Gertrude Lawrence as fading Broadway virago Helen Lawson, Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin/Vic Damone as Tony Polar, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Miriam, sister of the sexy, childlike crooner. Or had Zanuck made the movie later in his career, he could have helped himself to the talents of, respectively, Hope Lange, Diane Varsi, or Shirley Jones as Anne, Marilyn Monroe, Joan Collins, or Debra Paget as Jennifer, Joanne Woodward as Neely, Richard Burton or Stephen Boyd as Lyon, Roddy McDowall as Ted Casablanca, Claudette Colbert or Mary Martin as Helen, Elvis Presley as Tony with Angela Lansbury as Miriam. But in 1966, the days of the studio system and exclusive contracts were on life support. With the long shadow of Darryl F. Zanuck looming over Valley of the Dolls, it would take Richard D. Zanuck, producer David Weisbart, and director Mark Robson long, torturous months and many reversals before the casting—let alone the entire production—finally pulled together. And, from his Paris headquarters, Zanuck Sr. thought that was laughable—when he didn’t find it infuriating.

-- Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!: Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls, the Most Beloved Bad Book and Movie of All Time, Stephen Rebello

Rebello's bonkers fancasts here have captivated me.

[theropoda]

markarth, riften, and solitude for the skyrim asks!

Markarth: If you could rewrite one questline in Skyrim, which would it be? DANG i dunno. college of winterhold comes to mind? it's kinda nothing... i would rewrite it to give more information on ancano's motivations and more about his relationship with the thalmor and thalmor in general possibly. in the game it's just "he wants the eye of magnus because he's bad guy and the eye is big powerful" iirc. also more on savos aren id like.

Riften: What's your favorite guild? How do you feel about their questline? NGL it has been a while since i played guild questlines and stuff, very long, so i don't remember much of them... i should give my memory a jog and play through them all again. so sorry i don't really have a solid answer to this D:

Solitude: Who's your favorite Jarl? Who's your least favorite? Why these? oh boy. again i don't remember all the jarls very well, especially the ones that take up place when the original jarls are told to fuck off. that's a lotta jarls. umm i like balgruf ig cause he's familiar and he helps the player out, i like that he doesn't commit to either side in the war since they both suck. i don't like ulfric, i don't like maven black-briar as a jarl, i remember liking the guy that takes over ulfric's place at the end of the imperial questline but again that's a loooong time ago.

[truetgirl]

Screw it, I feel like sharing, so here are some heroforge models I've made over the years and am actually still kinda satisfied with/proud of.

Basic backstories under the cut, if you're interested.

1 & 2: Winter Parrin. Feylock, multiclassed into bard, and my current D&D character. She's a creature of stories, this one. Fairy tales are a big part of the reason she's still drawing breath; both those she's read and those she's lived. She's also chaotic at heart, but cruel fate has cursed her to be team mom. The wings were part of a session of "our DM gives us sick abilities" after a major story beat, and I'm trying to lean into her becoming a bit less human, a little more fey as time goes on.

3: Lisseia Cole. A half-elf beast barbarian I never got to play, and more's the pity, because I wanted to find out what that DM had in mind for her backstory's gaps. It involved an archmage father, a terrible fire, years spent drifting as an orphan, and a mysterious shadow following her. That's what I handed the DM and told them "surprise me" with. Gods, the unfulfilled potential.

4: Cirania Starchaser. A high-elf redeemer from a long-defunct campaign (messy, messy drama with one of the other players). She was a noble scion of a people whose empire had fallen, but who still believed in their superiority. Being brought low and living in poverty in the lands of her people's former subjects gave her... new perspective. Taken in by a priestess of the twin gods of light and redemption and her family, Cira learned, tried to better herself, and set forth hoping to mend old wounds and show her people a way to better themselves.

5: Spite. Not the name her mother gave her, but the one she chose after her mother was killed before her eyes. She is an avenger, retribution in tiefling form, and she is coming for all those who seek to hurt her kind, and for the diabolic bastards that dealt them their lot in the first place. One day, I will find the right place to play her.

6: Mags, short for Magnificence, is a cad and a scoundrel. A glory paladin on one hand, seeking to make her mark, and a lore bard on the other, singing and reveling in the stories of the great heroes whose ranks she hopes to one day join. But, of course, there's still time for much drink and the company many beautiful women along the way.

7: Tana Duskglow. A straightforward glory paladin made for a one-shot, she was quite keen to get down to the fighting and the saving of damsels.

8 & 9: Maven Alesig. My Innistradi fanwalker, once a priestess of Avacyn, she sparked when her empathic magic failed her in the travails, and in so doing allowed the children under her protection to die. Her first planeswalk was to the Cathedral of Serra on Dominaria, and there she recovered and trained as a knight. A version of her has also been transplanted into SWTOR, and is the padawan of Thali, the main character of Millie over at @arvadthecursed.

[kevrocksicehouse]

American Fiction.

D: Cord Jefferson (2023).

American Fiction, like the great Percival Everett novel that it adapts (Erasure, buy it), grounds an outraged literary satire in an utterly prosaic family drama. Jeffrey Wright (In a peerless performance of bemusement underlaid with bitterness) plays Thelonious “Monk” Ellison a professor (on enforced sabbatical over his refusal to teach Flannery O'Connor without using racial epithets) and novelist whose latest book (“The Phoenicians”) is being rejected for not being “black” enough. While at a literary seminar in Boston he walks into a reading by Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) whose novel “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto” (“YO! Sharonda! Girl you be pregnant again?”) has become a best-seller by pandering to urban black stereotypes. Affronted, he writes his own novella, (under the name Stagg R. Leigh) called first “My Pafology” then “FUCK” (“just to rub their noses in it”) which to his even greater disgust becomes a publishing sensation. 

 At the same time a family tragedy leaves him a caregiver for his elderly mother (Leslie Uggams) who is sinking into dementia, without much help from his brother Clifford who has recently come out as gay, and even more recently went through a nasty divorce (Sterling K. Brown balancing hilarious fecklessness with pathos). Cord Jefferson’s script and direction is able to merge the can-you-top-this escalation of Monk’s hoax with the quieter story of his struggle to reconcile with his family (the kind of universal struggle, it is implied, that literary culture denies to “black” characters). I wish the film was longer so as to contain more of the book’s ironies (a few more dramatizations from Monk’s parody book might have helped – the one we see is a pip). And some of the depictions of (white) literary mavens skirt their own easy-target stereotypes (though a member of a literary panel talking about connecting with black culture while ignoring the only black panelists brings one of the film’s biggest laughs). At it’s best, the movie suggests a William Baldwin determined to beat Preston Sturges at his own game. Recommended.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Saturday, 18th November

Welcome, 안녕하세요, Willkommen, Dzień dobry 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 18th November through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

18th November 2022 🗓️ : Death - Tabassum Tabassum, Indian actress and talk show host (b. 1944) "Tabassum (born Kiran Bala Sachdev (later Govil); 9 July 1944 – 18 November 2022), was an Indian actress, talk show host and YouTuber, who started her career as child actor Baby Tabassum in 1947. She later had a television career as the host of first TV talk show of Indian television, Phool Khile..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Vijay govil

18th November 2017 🗓️ : Event - Cyclone Numa Cyclone Numa, a rare "medicane", made landfall in Greece to become the worst weather event that the country had experienced since 1977. "Cyclone Numa, also known as Medicane Numa, was a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone with the properties of a subtropical cyclone. Numa formed on 11 November 2017 west of the British Isles, out of the extratropical remnants of Tropical Storm Rina, the seventeenth named storm of the 2017 Atlantic..."

Image by MODIS image captured by NASA’s Terra satellite

18th November 2013 🗓️ : Event - NASA NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the..."

Image by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

18th November 1973 🗓️ : Birth - Nic Pothas Nic Pothas, South African cricketer and coach "Nic Pothas (born 18 November 1973) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played as a right-handed batsman and fielded as a wicket-keeper. In a total of over 200 first-class matches, he has taken over 500 catches. Pothas is an accomplished batsman, with an average of over 40 in..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by AssociateAffiliate

18th November 1923 🗓️ : Birth - Ted Stevens Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010) "Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history at the time he left office. Stevens was the president pro tempore of the United..."

Image by United States Senate Historical Office

18th November 1814 🗓️ : Death - William Jessop William Jessop, English engineer (b. 1745) "William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ..."

Image licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0? by

RobHist.46

18th November 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Alphaeus and Zacchaeus "Saints Alphaeus and Zaccheus were two Christians who were put to death in Caesarea, Palestine, in 303 or 304, according to church historian Eusebius in his Martyrs of Palestine. They are commemorated on November 18...."

Image by

Unknown Miniaturist, Italian (active first half of the 14th century)

[asteroiideae]

2, 4, 6, 8 for the DnD asks?

Yaaay! Thanks for the ask! :D 2. When did you buy your first dice set?There are actually three answers to this question??? Back in 2012, I decided I wanted to run the Dragon Age RPG for a couple of friends but I didn’t have any dice so I went to my FLGS and sorted through their bin of loose d6 dice to find what I wanted/needed for that system; I got a beautiful set of swirled brown and swirled blue dice which I later found were just one-offs from Chessex’s pound of d6. (I never ended up playing that system.) Then, in 2017 I was invited to join a friend’s D&D 5e campaign! So I went to the FLGS and, because I was broke and had a pocket full of quarters to my name, painstakingly picked out a mixed set from the loose bin of Chessex pound of dice bags. (I fell in love.) Later that summer, my best friend gifted me with a GORGEOUS set of the Q Workshop Cthulhu dice for my birthday. The first set I truly picked out for myself though, was the Chessex Royal Purple Borealis which I still treasure to this day. —4. What is your favorite dice type?THIS QUESTION IS UNFAIR AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. I really, really, really, love the Crystal Caste Fire Opal and Magma lines, and the Chessex Borealis and Vortex lines, and pretty much ANYTHING Gamescience. Those are probably my top faves, but like, listen y’all I’m a dice hoarding dragon at this point and this is super tough to answer.—-6. What is your best dice set?I’m not totally sure what’s meant by best here? My most expensive set is easily my sandstone gem dice which I adore, but I also have a $40 d12 arriving any time now? In terms of rolling well for me, the Vox Machina d20 dice have generally favored me. In terms of INTERESTING rolls that has to go to my Cthulhu set, which got my first ever character fucked up by a Daedric Prince. :P—8. Do you have an unlucky die? Not yet? brb gotta knock on wood. lmao—

Hey guys! If you liked my DND rambling shenanigans, please feel free to see the original post, and drop me an ask! :D

[crymeariveronceagain]

Hmm... so you like blonde boys with trauma.. what are some character types you hate?

lovely question with many answers :D

Flawless jerks. Someone who can do no wrong, but is an absolute pain in the rear end to deal with or learns that YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE YOURSELF, NO MATTER WHAT, At the end of the story. I especially hate "strong" women who can do no wrong and never fail.

Drug addicts. Something about them I honestly can't stand. Like, no matter what story, no matter what book. If they're heavily addicted to drugs, I usually will strongly dislike that character.

Diversity Play(personified). This is your token not straight/not white character.(Examples: gay best friend, black neighbor, Hispanic trans cousin, etc. etc.) They exist to win diversity points and I loathe <3 their <3 Every <3 Existence <3 Diversity should naturally occur in your story! Don't shoehorn it in, stars above.

Wimp. A cowardly character who stays cowardly. Who is faced with difficulties and instead of getting up after puking their guts out from anxiety like the REST OF US has a breakdown and cries about it for a couple years. Especially if this character is a guy. Ugh.

Toxic Bad Boy. Not counting, of course, Maven Calore, he's attractive af. But that boy from a rich family who breaks stuff when he gets pissed and yells at his gf like he hates her existence.

Flip-flopper. No definite sense of morality. Has no clue which way is up, could kill one of their best friends and cry about it the next day because their sense of what's right and what's wrong is so hinged on emotion, and not on anything concrete. Real jerkish move, honestly.

Pervert. I don't need to say more on this. If they're disgusting about how they treat other characters, they can die by my blade <3

Old Character that changes in an Illogical Manner throughout the series, and gets an unsatisfactory ending that leaves you screaming about how out of character that was and how it resolved nothing and how you want to have loud words with the author about how they thought desecrating such a good character was a good idea.

I have more, but these are just the main ones I know I detest.

[fanatichistory]

The Dark Within Part 5

CW: possessive whumper moments, burns, hero turning dark side, betrayal

Masterlist1 Masterlist2 Part20

Awright here's part 5! I hope you enjoy :D Feel free to comment on any of the series or ask me anything about them...remember those fluffy bits I mentioned earlier? Here it is! Villain caretaker in this one mwahaha

*Edited (So sorry for the spam reblogs everyone! Just wanted my mutuals who have already read the choppy crappy version to know it’s polished and pretty lol)

Deimos sprinkled some spice over the chicken sizzling in the hot pan and gave it a flip as he incorporated the flavor. He began to chop the vegetables into bite-size pieces and prepared to add it to the pan.

Maven was still fast asleep in his bed, hopefully resting well and so far there were no complications that he could see with her wounds throughout the night.

He had managed to find some burn gel but he used all he had and he needed to do a supply run for more medical supplies. Healing was going to take her awhile, having had the blade ran through her and all, not to mention how drained of power she was beforehand. 

The burns alone would take a few weeks given their severity and the fact that he couldn't treat them right away. The burns...he worked tirelessly to keep up with the cooling and cleaning. 

Unfortunately such a thing was too painful for Maven and she screamed often though she tried not to. He knew she couldn't help it, burns were serious in many ways and that burn on her shoulder was the most serious and it was in the shape of a hand. 

His nemesis's hand.

He felt the cool touch of the shadows try and comfort him, snapping him back to the present. He was tired from pulling an all-nighter, trying to make sure she didn't bleed out on him again and what not.  

He closed his eyes for a moment as the shadows embraced him with their cool touch and helped to soothe his seething anger. He didn't want to scare her more than she already was of him and his shadows.

Deimos always hated Leader with a passion. Knew he took lives carelessly and needlessly. It was a waste and the kills made no sense, serving no purpose. Leader, or Jason rather now that he had his identity, would sacrifice his teammates without a thought. As long as the civilians were 'safe' and Jason had met his goal. His nemesis was ruthless. A serial killer dressed up in Heroic clothing.

And if he wanted to defeat his nemesis he had to be just as ruthless.

The shadows embracing him gripped his chin and turned his attention back to the pan on the stove. Apparently they added the vegetables he had diced and added it to the pan while he was zoned out. 

They dissipated back into the darkness of the room as he checked to make sure the meal was done, he was to tired to wonder if it was his connection to the shadows that made them sentient or if they were sentient all along and grabbed two plates from the cupboard, preparing to take the meal to the bedside where she lay resting. Passed out from exhaustion for the moment but he had no doubt the pain would soon rouse her once more.

He knew his little hero would be too weak to sit at the table, let alone know how to navigate his living quarters-

Deimos stopped dead in his tracks. What was he doing? Playing house?

Nurse?

This was not him, not his style of villainy. He was pain, darkness, blood and death. Keeping his little hero prisoner should warrant the same. And she was his prisoner. They were not allies, not yet anyway but that will happen in time. He was sure of it now given the circumstances.  

He needed to continue being patient.

Patient. Not playing house. Keeping the prisoner alive to squeal. Not playing Nursemaid.

Deimos glanced over to the bed and came to the same earlier conclusion. The little hero was simply to weak at the moment to be moved anywhere. Guess she's getting dinner in bed after all...He picked up the plate meant for her and strode across the living room to the side of the bed and set it down on the nightstand. 

He left the candles unlit, remembering how the flames had scared her earlier, so he left the room in it's inky darkness as he gently shook her unburned shoulder to rouse her awake. She blinked slowly and moved her head around as if to try and see, something she did back in the punishment room which puzzled him. It was like she forgot she couldn't see in the dark and would constantly try too. It seemed pointless to him.

"...Deimos..." Her voice was weak with exhaustion but he did like that she preferred to call him by his preferred name and not the many other nicknames he had. Jason's name for him was Ghost, knowing it hit home from back in the day before-

Deimos shook his head to clear it of unwanted memories and cleared his throat alerting her that he was there. He needed to sleep. That was all.

"I am here little hero, and I have food that you need to eat. Get you're strength back."

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "I told you not to call me hero..." She grumbled. She tried to move but winced back groaning as pain registered, her uninjured arm reaching for her burned one as she began to whimper from the pain of it. 

He stopped her and summoned shackles which the darkness clicked around her uninjured wrist and restrained it at the headboard, keeping her from reaching her burned arm and possibly injuring it further. She scowled at the use of the restraint but didn't say anything. Probably knowing he was right in it's necessity he wagered.

Deimos smirked. "I didn't think you'd remember last night." He summoned another shadow and sent it to the kitchen to bring him a chair to the bedside as he went about checking the gauze and the burns for signs of healing. Or infection. 

She shivered at his touch, or from the cold or maybe the memories. He wasn't sure, but she shivered and he noted it. "Are you cold?" He kept his eye on her in the peripheral of his vision as he continued a once over to the burns, checking that there were no signs of infection. It was almost time for another round of cleaning and disinfecting of the burns but he wanted her to eat in peace first before the struggling and the screaming.

"A little...well, only half of me is...where are we? What's going on?" He gently sat her up in the bed and rested her back against the pillow, taking care to avoid her partially healed stab wound and her burns. How to answer...especially when he wasn't sure what he was doing himself. "Deimos?"

"I am not sure how best to answer you...about the going on part." He answered truthfully. "Do you need the light to eat? " She nodded mutely and he sat down in the chair the shadow had deposited for him. He picked up the matchbox behind the plate of food and struck the match, pausing to glance up at her as she gasped and recoiled away from the flame instinctively.  

He blew the candle back out plunging the space around them back into darkness once more. He expected the reaction but was curious to see if it was going to be a recurring thing going forward. It seemed to be the case so far.

"I only have candles as sources of light for when you are good." He explained. He didn't apologize unless it was his fault and Jason was the source of her fear of fire. He had to be the one to beg for forgiveness. Deimos shook his thoughts away a second time, mildly surprised in the direction of his emotions, when he caught her lip quiver as she was still afraid. "I will feed you this one time and provide an alternate source of light in way of rewards when I return." 

"...Thank you..." Though Maven was still confused as to why she was suddenly being rewarded with all the promises of light and food and just all around comfort really. She hasn’t exactly been co-operative the past few weeks up until her brother betrayed and tried to kill her last night. 

Now though, she found she had no problem telling her captor everything, and maybe that’s what all these rewards were for...She still couldn’t figure out why she was beginning to feel comfortable with him though. Even when he was torturing her, or when he would visit her cell to bring her food and water. 

He could see it all over her face as she tried to figure out what he was up too. He saw it then and he saw it now. Deimos thought of reassuring her and tell her she was on track with the reward system idea. He had no reason to torture her now that she was going to be co-operative with him but she would be mistaken to think punishments were no longer a concern if she didn’t follow the rules or submit.

"Oh don't thank me just yet little-um...woman...?" He fumbled at the end. Unsure if she was still a hero or not in her core. It mattered little to him, she wasn’t leaving either way, but he hoped she would join him and make a career change.

Hope...What a strange word.

Maven laughed, her voice was still weak but he smiled at the effort she was displaying. "Nice save." She hung her head instantly as he scooted the chair closer and picked up the plate once more. "I guess it's time to cash in on that bet huh..." 

He gripped her chin and brought her head up as he guided her, knowing she couldn’t see him or the fork of food. She blinked back tears as he gave her a fork full of chicken stir fry. She moaned and savored the bite of food and Deimos found himself working hard at staying focused on the task at hand and not the images forming.

"Food first little Maven." Little Maven...he rather liked the sound of the new nickname. He still intended to toy with the 'little hero' nickname in the future should she start displaying anything remotely heroic. It would do to serve as a verbal warning of sorts so he filed that away with a memo to himself to teach her the meaning so she would recognize it as such. 

There was so much to do in her training. Plans to plot. A nemesis to squash an Academy to overthrow and a city to rule.

"So...where are we? Or can't I ask..." She pressed after swallowing another forkful of food as he continued in feeding her the dinner he cooked.

"You are in my living quarters. Only Supervillain knows it's location due to her telepathy so be rest assured when I say your brother shouldn't find you here."

He fed her another forkful but noted her frown. "I still have yet to figure out how he found Supervillain's Playhouse- I know, she named it. I didn't." He patted her leg to reassure her when she began to react. "'Playhouse' doesn't inspire the kind of terror indicative to my brand of villainy." He teased her though he was being truthful about it. 

"Wow... was that a joke? I'm surprised...But I know Jason won't find me..." She sat there with her mouth open but closed it after a second when she realized the fork with food wasn't coming. "I'm sorry-it's a lot- there's a lot to explain..." He opened her mouth with his fingers as he resumed feeding her.

"So you do intend to make good on the bet then." He murmured as she chewed.

She nodded, knowing he could see in the dark but not wanting to speak with a mouthful of food. He chuckled but glad her naturally submissive nature was swaying to his benefit.  

"That's dinner little Maven, but I can always make dessert if you're still hungry later." He offered as he took the plate to the kitchen and began to quickly eat his. Pausing as he shocked himself at his own offer.

"Can I ask you something? Without you getting mad and adding more scars to my brothers collection?" Deimos paused again mid-bite thinking it over and wondering what she could be so curious about. 

Supervillain and Villain2 always had an agenda whenever they conversed with him. And don't get him started about the 'heroes'. Such self-righteous lecturing speakers. His people skills were very limited as he didn't have an identity that existed outside of this one. He was Deimos 24/7 and that unnerved even Supervillain, though she was loathe to admit it to him.

"Deimos?"

"I am not used to being around curious people. You caught me off guard but proceed to ask your question for I am now just as curious." He responded and went back to eating as he walked back over to sit himself down in the chair. He knew she was in pain and this conversation helped to distract her from that while also being necessary communication as they got to know one another.

"Why are you being nice to me?" She whispered. He set his fork down as took his time to choose his words carefully.

"Remember when you asked me this back in the punishment room?" He asked in response finally. "Do you remember what I said?"

"That you wanted me as an ally, submissive to you though that part wasn't hard to figure out with all that implication you threw my way. " She chuckled before dropping her smile and it unnerved him that she found such a thing to be normal when it should really terrify her. "I still don't know what that means by the way. You're view on 'allies' I mean. So far, so good though! You play nurse well for a big scary villain I will admit. I can feel how tired you are...did you stay up all night just to make sure I didn't finish dying?" 

He noted her voice was getting stronger the more she talked and he was pleased at that as it meant her vocals weren't damaged from the screaming. He also noted that she was getting more confident these past few days in particular. The first two weeks in the punishment room all she did was remain silent in between tortures or beg for him and Supervillain to stop.

"You are correct in assuming submission is part of your future equation once I'm sure that you are indeed an ally. For now you are still my prisoner who holds information and that is why I will keep you from death until I deem otherwise." She nodded as if expecting as much, and she probably did. He could only guess her now former team's dynamics. "I will explain more later once you make good on our bet and tell me all I could ever need to know about my nemesis and your adoptive Superhero family."

She shrank herself smaller against the pillow. He was sure she could still feel heat radiating from her burns as she lost herself in a moment of pain. Just as he did when he sported similar injuries from fire fights with Jason. As if reading his mind the shadows reached out a tendril from their depths and took the plate away from him and placed the med-kit down in it's place. 

Odd, the shadows were protective of him. Specifically to him. Their behavior in offering aid to the little hero was rather...abnormal. He spared the shadows surrounding him a inquisitive glance as he opened the kit and found more medicine inside. He stilled and stared at it in wonder as he turned to face the shadows closest to him. Why are they so keen to help her? And where did they get this medicine? How sentient are they?

"Are you okay?" She asked when he was quiet for awhile as she came back to the present. Breaths shallow from the effort and the exhaustion her body still felt.

"Just curious..." He shifted in his chair but opened and began to clean and rinse the burn on her shoulder, ignoring her squirms and trying to work fast to get it over with for her. The one on her arm was always the worst and he saved it for the last while he continued work on the shoulder.

"About?" She ground out in pain but pressing on anyway bringing the smirk back to his face. She huffed but otherwise was able to keep herself from crying so far. Her pain tolerance was high, which he noticed a few weeks ago when he first took her and tried to break her.

"The shadows got more burn medicine for you. Only I did not command them to do so..."

"Huh...Maybe that means you're commanding them subconsciously somehow? After all you were up all night making sure I didn't die from my injuries so maybe they're just following yesterday's lead still?" He pondered that for a minute as what she was saying did make a little bit of sense. "Do they talk to you? Are they sentient?" 

"Don't be ridiculous little hero."

"I told you not to call me hero." She bit out angrily as if she could bite him with her voice alone.

"Know from here on that I will use it to verbally warn you to stop what you are doing or saying." Deimos informed her, satisfied with the burn treatment of the shoulder and turned his attention to her arm. The worst of her injuries now that bleeding out from the stab wound was no longer a concern.  

She practically hissed at him as he made contact with her burned arm and began the treatment there.

Maven thrashed and screamed but like the other times Deimos treated and cleaned her burn he had the shadows hold her still against the bed, the pillow moved aside. 

They didn't continue the conversation as she was preoccupied with pain and Deimos was focused on treating the source of it. She heard herself cry and beg him once again to stop touching the burn on her arm and to leave it alone. But like all the other times he didn't. Just kept cleaning and cooling despite the pain it caused her.

After it was over Deimos sat back and gave Maven a few moments to recover. 

"I am familiar with burns. I have quite a few of them myself." He lifted his shirt to reveal  the burn scars and raised an eyebrow when she weakly laugh in between pained breaths. 

He blushed tomato red and pulled his shirt back down. Embarrassed that he forgot, yet again, that she could not see in the dark. "I guess you use your other senses to track me so well I keep forgetting the darkness blinds you. "

She closed her eyes, scrunching them in pain and he waited patiently as she took another moment for herself. "I can- I can almost hear you blush." She said finally with cheshire smile on her face. "You're not used to this nursing other people thing...are you?" She panted, eyes staying closed. She was probably to exhausted to open them he guessed.

"I am embarrassed that my communication skills involves blades and instruments of torture, not band-aids and medical care yes. And the fact that you just may be the first ally I've recruited is...new." 

"I can't be...on your side unless I know what you're all about. What you're goals are." She spoke slowly, her voice quiet.

"I am aware. Supervillain trained me as her second. For now just focus on healing yourself. That would help me tremendously right now. I'm rather fascinated that you haven't done so already, unless you are growing fond of the burn treatments." She made a face as he grabbed the pillow and placed it back underneath her head.  

"Why can't you?" He asked her. Slow realization slid across her face as she finally figured out that he knew what her main power was. Her supposedly secret main power. 

"I-How did-I mean.. "Deimos chuckled as he wiped the sweat soaked hair from her face, beginning the cooling part of the treatment while tucking the other half of her body under the thick blanket. 

"Don't tell me you endured all of this just to keep it secret from me?" She nodded meekly. "Well, no need for wasting any more unnecessary time then. Heal yourself, now." She bit her lip. He knew he was being to rough with her again by ordering her around and he silently cursed himself for it. But it was her fault for wasting time, when she had the ability and chose not to use it all.

"I'm to tired, exhausted. I don't have the energy to do it...I'm sorry..." Deimos thought it over, if she was still to drained to heal herself.. but there was a way for her that allowed her too somehow...he needed to understand her abilities more, knowing that her other power was the ability to power boost another and all.

That was energy manipulation at it's finest in his opinion and that power alone made one very useful in collecting intel. Something that she was rather good at in Team Hero until Hero2 came along and took over those missions which made no sense to him when on paper Hero2 was fresh off the Sidekick train and was just scratching the surface of their own abilities whereas Maven was proficient in her psychometry and intel gathering.

"How do you manipulate the energy of another to power boost them?" He asked, rousing her awake. He needed to learn her abilities, her strengths and weaknesses and why she was refusing to heal herself at the moment.

"Huh? Like the specifics?"

"The specifics. Walk me through how you do it."

"Um, well I feel the force of their energy. I then connect it to my field of energy and pool my energy through that connection into their energy field. Viola, power boost..." She explained tiredly, not caring anymore if he knew. Deimos grinned ear to ear. 

"You could probably take energy then, through that very connection..." He proposed. "And if you took enough... you would then be able to heal yourself, yes?"

"Does that mean you're offering?" She asked with a bit of bite in her tone. She spoke softer when she continued. "You'd be able to stop me from going too far?"

"And what makes you think you'd go too far?" He asked curiously as he drew back his outstretched hand from grabbing hers in warning for the biting tone she had before she spoke fearfully, her eyes widening as if replaying a memory that made him wonder.

"There's a rush in the taking...it serves to power boost me." She shivered as if that was bad or something. 

Which he found funny considering she admitted to there being a type of rush present. That indicated a thrill of sorts. His little hero was more villain material than he realized and for the second time since finding out about her, he thought he hit the jackpot. 

"And?" 

"And that's bad. If I take to much then they die, people need their energy to live. That's why it's called the 'life force'." She looked in his direction but as usual she could never find his eyes in the dark to make the eye contact she wanted to emphasize her point. He still didn't know why she bothered to keep trying when she obviously couldn't see in the dark.

"And?" He repeated, seeing the shock splash across her face once she registered it. He chuckled. She was submissive enough in her nature due to her upbringing that once training was done she would be a valuable ally indeed.

Maybe even a true partner if he dared let himself think a life shared with someone like him was attainable.

"Does being your ally mean I have...to... to kill?" Deimos almost didn't hear her because she whispered it so quietly. As if they might be heard and subsequently punished, which he chalked up to her upbringing and filed some more of his questions away for now so he could stay on task.

"When I deem it necessary." 

"I don't understand." Her face was still pale, eyes having trouble focusing but he no longer believed it was because she couldn't see in the darkness of his quarters but because of the pain her body was in from the burns and her injuries.

"Because you are getting ahead of yourself. It is not time for you to understand." Deimos stood and the shadows cleaned up the living quarters as he dressed in his villain suit. She was getting worse and he needed to bring a doctor to her at once. She was still cold and clammy to the touch when he was treating her, the burns radiating heat still, and now her lips were a shade paler than before he woke her. 

"Are you leaving? Did I say something wrong?" Deimos could hear her voice shake as she struggled to sit up. 

"Stop." At once she froze. Good. "Lay back down." She did so and he found himself letting out a sigh of relief. They had a long way to go together but first things first.

Putting his boots on he went on to explain to her what was expected. " I am going to bring someone here for you to connect with and draw power from. Then you will heal yourself. I will then take that someone away and when I return again we will talk about your brother and I will finally get the information I have waited weeks for." 

He deliberately didn't tell her that someone would be a doctor in case she was to weak to do as he commanded.

"What if I accidentally kill them?" He paused and noted the fear written on her pale face. She still spoke softly from the exhaustion. 

"Has that happened before?" She nodded. "Welcome to villainy then."

[traumagician]

Could you perhaps tell us more about your visual novel? 👀 The character art you've done is lovely!

Absolutely! Thanks for asking! :D

You play as a human messenger in the capitol city of the sprawling Maven Empire, populated by demons and fae of every kind. You begin as a slave, kidnapped from your home dimension, but your ending is up to you to discover—and there will be over a hundred endings for you to find, because I love writing and I go ham with stuff like this. There will be lots of interesting ways to die, because the City of Dis is not kind to humans, but there will also be lots of ways to increase your social standing and/or find your way back home… though you may not want to go home by the end, because there are very many attractive fae and monsters in the city, and you can flirt with anybody you can talk to, including the two characters I’ve posted art for so far. The game is second-person with a gender-neutral, masked protagonist, though I may eventually try to add a custom character creator if I can figure out how to make one work.

The general vibe I’m shooting for is eerie but beautiful, dark-but-not-depressing surreal fantasy, with a pretty open-ended, nonlinear storytelling style. I have plans for sixteen characters and corresponding stories so far, but I’m sure it will spiral even more out of hand as I write more, because that’s how I roll, haha.

I’m excited to finally let people explore this city that I’ve been building up in my head since high school, and I’m hoping to have a two-scene demo up in the next two months or so!

[asteroiideae]

S A M E

just found out there’s a fetish thing called fin-dom where rich people get off on sending vast amounts of money to people who verbally abuse them and hey just sayin if you’re into that hmu, i got a paypal and i’m mean

[minijenn]

Five Years of Universe Falls Celebration!

Well ya’ll, this September will mark 5 years, half a decade since I started writing Universe Falls. And in light of that, I wanted to share that milestone with all of you with another celebration! The whole zine thing last year went a little... less great than expected, so I decided to make this announcement a lot sooner so people can get started working on submissions for it a lot sooner! 

So how’s this years celebration going to work, you ask? Well its sort of similar to what was done for the 3rd year anniversary. Each week of September will have a different UF-related theme and for each of those themes, you’re free to create whatever you’d like in line with them (fics, art, HCs, general thoughts/feelings/opinions, any other creative work you’d like to submit). This year’s themes are all focused on what I consider to be the very heart of UF itself, its characters, specifically certain sets of them. Those sets (and the weeks that fall in line with them) are as follows: 

Week 1 (Aug. 30-Sept. 5): Mystery Kids: We’ll start the month off celebrating everyone’s favorite plucky set of precocious youngsters! The focus here is on our beloved Mystery Kids: Dipper, Mabel, Steven, and Connie (and Pacifica if you’d like to include her in the group as well). This also includes any of the MK specific fusions: Stevonnie, Stepper, Maven, Convenper, Dipevebel, Mabonnven, Stonipbel, and so on ^_^

Week 2 (Sept. 6-12): Gems: A week to celebrate Gemkind, both good and bad, Crystal and Homeworld. Anything goes here, from Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, to Lapis and Peridot and Jasper, to the Off Colors, the Diamonds’ Pearls, Bismuth, even Gems that haven’t appeared at all yet like Spinel or Amber! You can focus on your favorite(s) or on a bunch of them, whichever you’d like, its all free game. And once again, this includes any and all fusions, even fusions that might not happen in UF canon itself. 

Week 3 (Sept. 13-19): Humans: To celebrate all of the unique and varied humans that appear throughout UF, from Stan and Ford, to Greg, to Wendy and Soos, Lars and Sadie, even the most obscure side characters are all game here! You can write or draw them interacting any way you please :) 

Week 4 (Sept. 20-26) Villains: A time to honor the evil side of UF. You can have your pick of Bill Cipher himself, or maybe you favor the Great Diamond Authority instead! Or perhaps on a lesser scale you’d like to have some fun with the likes of Gideon or Jasper, even a more obscure baddie like a corrupted Gem or one of GF’s several antagonistic monsters. There’s plenty for you to choose from when it comes to UF!

Bonus week! (Sept. 27-Oct. 3) Animals/Magical/Inter-dimensional creatures: Because there’s so many other characters besides just those four groups this is kind of the catch-all for everything else. Maybe you’d like to create a tribute to our beloved pink friends Lion and Waddles? Or examine any theories about the role the Axolotl might play in UF’s future? Or draw a lovely portrait of Jheselbraum the Unswerving? You’re free to tackle whatever doesn’t fall within the above groups right here ^_^

Now, keep in mind that you’re free to work within whatever AU or set of circumstances you’d like for each of these weeks. Like say you wanted to do week one with the base UF MK, but then week 2 you wanted to do something with the Swap Crystal Gems, that’s fine! Feel free to be as free and flexible as you’d like with this. You can also do things like pay homage to your favorite pre-existing scenes from UF or make predictions to upcoming scenes and such. Also, these themes aren’t mutually exclusive. If you’d like to write a drabble that involves a little crossover between these weeks, such as the MK interacting with one of the bad guys or something, that’s perfectly fine! It’s something that can be released in either week so that’s totally up to you. :) Most ships (appropriate ones at least) are also acceptable to be factored in here. 

As for the specifics when it comes to submissions, you can submit stuff either to me personally or you can post things to your own blog and tag me or PM me links since I wanna collect everyone’s work and show it off! Or if you’re on the UF Discord, I’ll be reopening the UF celebration channel for submissions to be posted there! But for now, you’ve got about a month to start planning so go ahead and get to it! I’ll be immensely looking forward to seeing what you all come up with this time around (especially in light of UF’s most recent bundle of game-changing chapters... ;) As always, if you have any questions about all this, feel free to ask! Anyone’s welcome to participate so please, don’t  hesitate to let your creative juices flow! Have fun! :D 

[degenderates]

hello maven! secret sankta here. since i'm posting your gift on friday, i thought i would leave you with one last teaser to chew on: “Come and sit,” he said. His voice was cool like a poisoned spring at the height of summer, the last drink of the desperate. (p.s. darklina for the ship asks)

AAHH YES i love that!!!! so excited for it to be Christmas sdfjhsdkf

now onto the ship ask

SHIP: Alina/Aleksander

a) if i ship it

hell yeah!!! darklina is my OTP, the ship that made me join participatory fandom (instead of solely consuming content reposted to Pinterest), and embodies all my favorite ship dynamics!

b) why i do/why i don’t

the  ✨drama ✨ It’s like, let’s take the two people who literally embody the yin and yang of the universe and smash them together in the most unhealthy way possible. then they have to fight their attraction to each other, both physically and emotionally, while staying sane and fighting for their respective causes. i think aleksander does love alina in a really fucked-up way, and she loves him despite everything her senses are telling her. it creates this insane, dramatic, allies-to-lovers-to-enemies-while-lovers dynamic that we LOVE to see, especially since they’re both so powerful that they match each other in both physical fighting & uh...passion.<3

c) what makes it toxic

the darkling manipulated her, has killed many people, blinded his mom, hurt and attempted to kill her boyfriend...yeah. lots of bad stuff. i don’t deny he’s evil, and i don’t deny that the relationship is unhealthy. i just think it’s so interesting. oh! also that he’s centuries older than her. but in the end, i don't think that the age gap plays much in part of their relationship because she ends up taking advantage of it and twisting his emotions just as much as he did to her in the beginning. while it’s a toxic relationship, it’s not because the darkling has oh-so-much power over her, it’s because they treat each other like crap. and i love seeing that play out!

d) what makes it ship-worthy

dark/light personified. literally. that’s what drew me to them in the beginning, and it sold me throughout the series. we also love to see the escapism they take in each other (cases in point: the winter fete, where the darkling admits that she’s his weakness; alina letting him kiss/make out with her via force skyping their bond). they are at their most understood when with each other. for alina, it means that she’s seen as her most dark and selfish, and aleksander seen at his most vulnerable and noble. it’s awesome.

thanks for asking about the ship ask & i’m so excited for the fic:D

(Send me a problematic ship and i’ll give you my thoughts!)

[heart-of-flames]

Did you base the ROs off of anything? Or did anything influence you when making them?

I did yes :D.

Aeleanor/Aeson: I based A off of two characters that I absolutely adore, and wanted to see a mixture of-- Daenerys Targaryen and Queen Islanzadí, I obviously was inspired by the Targaryen’s when in regards to A’s appearance, but I was also heavily inspired by Islanzadí when in regards to their personality. Not necessarily the manipulative portions, but the love that they have for their people and the cool, pragmatic way they’re able to assess things. 

Elaria/Ezra: E was actually based off of one of my OCs. I changed their appearance-- changing blood red eyes to sea green and snow white hair to platinum blonde... but they are still largely the same. 

Catherine/Caleb: C is based off of a trope actually. I saw a list of common tropes when it comes to writing, and the loveable extrovert was part of said list-- plus an added bonus if they have a stoic introvert best friend. So I took that idea and created C with it. With my own spin on things obviously, but I think I did an okay when creating them.

Lydia/Luca: L is purely based off of the multiple flirters that I have seen, but with  a down to earth twist. As they would never force their presence on someone if they weren’t responding-- as you can see during their interaction. I also pulled some personality features from Tony Stark and Lucifer. 

Samara/Silas: S came to be when I wanted a comedy relief amid the ROs, though they do have their own problems too, I wanted someone that’s main goal was to put a smile on other people’s faces. I wanted someone to see the world with sunlight in their gaze and warmth in their heart. (They remind me of Star Lord to be honest...)

Milena/Maven: M is actually a harder one to pin down when it comes to their inspiration, but I do remember making them around the same time that I made Ayleth-- which is probably why their mannerisms are the same. Though they are still their own people with their own insecurities plaguing them. 

Natalia/Nikolas: A lot of N’s mannerisms comes from my love of the Black Widow. I absolutely adore her and wanted to make a character based around her... so N was born. Which is also why I chose the name Natalia too. 

Lauren: Lauren is actually based off of another Lauren character-- as I thought if fit because of how inspired I got when creating her. I don’t know if any of you have seen the show Lost Girl, but if you have our Lauren is based off of Lauren Lewis played by Zoie Palmer. 

Faolan: Truth be told I just wanted a wolf-shifter and Faolan’s character type just popped up. Though if I had to say who he was like he reminds me of a mixture of Thor and a golden retriever. 

Aidan: Aidan is based off multiple characters that I have enjoyed over the years-- one of them being Bruce Wayne.