#Nina Grayson

[dungeonsandblorbos]

Campaign/Character Intro: The Orphic Uprising and Amazonomachy, feat. Nina Grayson

Status: Completed System: Cypher

About: These were two continuous arcs that together formed the first campaign with my university TTRPG group. It was a homebrew story set in the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, following a small group of simultaneously inept and hyper-competent demigods from Camp Half-Blood on their various (mis)adventures. Out of character, we called ourselves the Confusion Crew due to the sheer absurdity of some of the shenanigans we got up to. It was delightful.

Genres: Urban fantasy, YA Rating: Teen General content warnings: strong language, mature humor, immature humor, fantasy violence, teenage protagonists, second-hand embarrassment. Posts may not be tagged due to the generally mild nature of most of this campaign's content. Tags: #confusion crew, #nina grayson

story and character details under the cut

The Story

The first arc, The Orphic Uprising, was a short and sweet 10 session wonder. Our story began with a simple game of Capture the Flag gone horribly wrong as Camp Half-Blood was invaded by a skeletal army and a beloved NPC was killed. In the aftermath, we received a prophecy:

Children of Night and lords of the deep Conspire together in the midnight keep. When the twice born God is lured and bound beneath, The impossible is tasked to the daughter of the laurel wreath; The islander shall face the Cyprian boar, And beauty's blood shall open the door; The forgotten son of Spring shall be returned. Through faith and song life can then be earned.

Once the party is determined, we're given the keys to an old model of the Sun Chariot and immediately set course for California and the Underworld.

The second arc, The Amazonomachy, ran almost three times as long, a whole 27 sessions over the course of about 9 months. It's set roughly a year after the last arc, and began with a simple game of Capture the Flag against some visiting Amazons that went horribly wrong when the Amazons turned it into a full-blown raid on Camp Half-Blood. Apparently, the new queen of the Amazons somehow got it into her head that, just as the Olympians overthrew their parents, the Titans, it was high time that we, the demigods, overthrew the Olympians, and she didn't want Camp Half-Blood getting in the way of her mission. Our intrepid heroes from last summer, together with two new unlucky campers who happened to be in the wrong right place at the wrong right time, sneak out of camp and set about sabotaging the Amazons' efforts. And if they fail to do that, well, they can still stop the queen from becoming a new god and killing the old ones . . . right?

The Blorbos

I played Nina Grayson (depicted above), who was an incredibly skilled gymnast, modern dancer, and rock climber—and why wouldn't she be? She's a daughter of Nike, literal embodiment of victory. How could she be anything but the best? Failure was simply not an option for Nina, and while she preferred to avoid failure honestly, the fear of it was so strong that she had no qualms about fighting dirty or playing tricks if that's what it took to win. She was impulsive, headstrong, extremely determined, and nigh-unkillable, with a mean right hook and a poor sense of self. She wasn't very good at making friends, but lucky for her, the rest of the party didn't leave her much of a choice there, and by the epilogue, she had more emotional support than she knew what to do with! Nina was a menace both in and out of combat because she put all her points into strength, speed, durability, and dirty tricks, and nothing into charisma or smarts. Truly, a himbo lesbian queen (literally, in fact, because I think she ended up canonically becoming the queen of the Amazons in the epilogue). Iconic himbo acts of hers included solving a hidden object puzzle by punching a horse statue in the face, getting set on fire and putting it out by drenching herself in monster blood, solving a locked door problem by punching the lock in the face, splitting the party to play double agent without telling her friends she was only fake-betraying them, and solving a vengeful goddess issue by punching her in the face so hard it temporarily killed said goddess. At some point she also acquired the nickname Larry?

Her two best friends were Chuck Hickey, an appropriately chaotic son of Dionsysus who grew up on his grandparents' vineyard, played by my lovely husband @somethingclevermahogony, and Beatrice Starveling, an incredibly musically talented and equally exhausted daughter of Apollo who made Orpheus look like a chump, played by the incredibly artistically talented @hamletphase (who I think has commissions open rn!). These three were part of both arcs, and I love this trio dearly. For the second arc, we were also joined by the iconic bromance duo of surfer dude Cameron "Murph" Murphy, a son of Epimethius ("god" of hindsight) who got himself into a lot of chaos but somehow always had the right tool for the job, played by the fantastic @ostrich-runner, and wannabe fuckboi Bryce, a totally not bisexual disaster son of Eros. And last but not least, there was our team pet Hops, a funky little alcohol grain demon who looked like if a cabbage patch doll was an actual baby-shaped root vegetable. We fed him illegally acquired beer and Chuck carried him around in a baby björn, or occasionally threw him like a football at our enemies and used him like an Entangle spell. Only the best food and enrichment activities for our darling grain demon!

[dungeonsandblorbos]

my girl Nina once got set on fire in the middle of a monster fight and instead of doing, oh, i dunno, stop drop and roll or patting the fire out or anything else remotely normal, she decided the best way to douse herself was to drench herself with monster blood

so i think for her the answer to all of these questions is yes

things to ask yourself when designing a female character:

how much blood is she covered in

are her eyes filled with madness

can she rip things to shreds with her fingernails

[jkriordanverse]

Matthias/Jameson "don't kiss me I have a cold" boyfriend and Avery/Nina " Idc we have be sick together :D" girlfriend.

[tales-from-drama-school]

Fictional characters based on whether I think they'd like vegemite or not

None of these characters have come anywhere near vegemite because they're not australian but I think whether or not you like vegemite says a lot about you so here we go

Aziraphale: he would not like it as a spread, it's a bit too strong for him, but he would LOVE vegemite scrolls (is this because he likes delicious cheesy pastry? yes. are vegemite scrolls delicious? also yes)

Crowley: Absolutely not. It's way too salty for him, and because he eats stuff very rarely, he would not choose to eat ThAT

Muriel: is still getting used to the idea of eating food and would straight up just refuse to try it

Maggie: Would try it. Would be polite and finish a sandwich made for it, but it's not something she would choose

Nina: Thinks it's fine but prefers Marmite (she's wrong but she's also british so it's fine)

Jon Sims: would love vegemite, he's that salty. He would also tell no one he loves vegemite and would stash a massive jar of it behind other 'normal' british foods in his cupboard.

Martin Blackwood: Would not like vegemite. He would try it at Jon's insistence and say, 'why on earth would you eat this?' and never eat it again

Gertrude: Likes vegemite but would only eat it when she's in australia. She is the most likely to have actually eaten vegemite out of anyone else on this post.

Gerry Keay: Would hate it. He'd take one bite of it and go 'bleARagh' and then go off and do Gerry Keay stuff

Tim Stoker: Is fairly neutral about vegemite. He would eat it if he was given a sandwich or a vegemite scroll but he would not actively choose to eat vegemite

Sasha James: Would not like vegemite. She tried it once while on a trip and despises it. Would not be at all surprised to learn that Jon likes vegemite

Not!Sasha: Loves vegemite so much it's disgusting.

Helen: Doesn't eat human food

Elias/Jonah: Elias's tastebuds do not like vegemite at all, but that doesn't matter because Jonah tried it once in a previous body and now eats it straight from the jar

Bruce: does not mind vegemite. He has had it a couple of times on various trips/various events and didn't like it but didn't dislike it either

Alfred: refuses to go anywhere near vegemite, as '[it] is an abomination.' Occasionally eats Marmite on toast.

Dick: also does not mind vegemite. Would not volunteer to eat it, but if forced to also wouldn't hate it

Jason: Hates vegemite. Too salty, tastes weird, why would anyone eat it. He only thinks this because he has only eaten it directly off the spoon

Cass: Would not like vegemite at all. Hasn't tried it, and will go out of her way not to try it, ever.

Tim: Likes vegemite. A good vegemite sandwich pairs well with black coffee. The salt and preservatives help keep his body functioning

Steph: Has eaten a vegemite sandwich once and was not impressed. Would probably like vegemite scrolls but doesn't know they exist.

Babs: If you presented her with a vegemite sandwich, she'd look at it and then look at you, and then you would leave.

Duke: Has never tried vegemite. Doesn't know what vegemite is. Probably won't unless one of his siblings decides to use it in a prank.

Damian: Likes vegemite insofar as it is associated with kangaroos and other australian creatures. Has never actually eaten it, and if he did he would hate it.

(there are a lot more batfam members and characters I could do here but the list is so long so I'm sticking to the faves)

Jude Duarte: Has not tried vegemite. Would love vegemite. (It's salty and therefore a very safe food in faerieland.) Someone get this queen some vegemite.

Cardan: Would not like vegemite at all, but understands why Jude does

Oak: Would despise vegemite. Too salty. Too...taste. As a kid he would throw it away, now he would politely but forcefully decline.

Heather: likes vegemite.

Vivi: Was introduced to vegemite through heather and now adores it.

Grima mog: tried it and loves it. Uses it everywhere. Like hot sauce.

Suren: hasn't heard of vegemite. If you showed it to her, she would be displeased. If she ate it, she would banish you from her court.

Taryn: only eats vegemite scrolls, has never tried the actual spread

I will add more by request

[kevinmchalenews]

Kevin McHale singing "Magic Foot" at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee rehearsals (via theatrely)

[dungeonsandblorbos]

Ariel.

i say this with no hesitation. like, yes, he would be unhappy about it, and he'd go to Confession as soon as he was able to, but he's very much a "when survival is on the line, you gotta do what you gotta do" kind of person. if his party was in a situation where there was no food but there were dead bodies, he would be the first one to suggest cannibalism as an option. he'd probably also be the one to do the butchering. and he'd sleep just fine afterwards.

Nina would never suggest it but if it was necessary to survive and someone else did all the preparation for her, she could reluctantly do it. she'd have a lot of issues about it after getting back to society, though.

Jun would politely refuse. as a D&D cleric, she could hypothetically just summon food as long as she has the spell prepared, so either she wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, or it would mean they're in a situation where her magic doesn't work, in which case they have bigger problems than starvation.

Cerris would aggressively refuse, and actively discourage or even try to prevent others from doing so. he's also a cleric and has used the "summon food from nothing" spell before during the campaign, so he's in the same boat as Jun there. something would have to be very deeply wrong in order for him to willingly do a cannibalism.

ironically, Cerris is also the only one who has eaten sapient flesh before. more than once, actually!

in each case, he was unaware of what he was eating at the time and immediately purged the contents of his stomach as soon as he found out, and he's had multiple nightmares about it since. any kind of disrespect for the dead, including cannibalism and graverobbing, are major taboos in his home culture/faith, so these instances were not only deeply upsetting for him, but they also really pissed off his temperamental storm god patron, who punished Cerris for the accidental cannibalism by weakening his magic until he enacted proper penance. now, given that Cerris didn't even know what he was doing, did his patron give any indication of why he was pissed off or what acts of penance he would accept? absolutely not, no. why would he do that.

Important things for a writer to know: Which of your characters would be the quickest to resort to cannibalism?

[fuckyeahwilliamfinn]

a preview of the Kennedy Center production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which plays October 11-20th, 2024 at the Kennedy Center in DC.

[albinoratman2200]

this weeks art poll!

[nfcomics]

BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT no.8 • cover art • Jorge Fornes [Dec 2021]

A Legends of the Dark Knight double feature! In "The Ghost and the Knight," rising-star creative team Che Grayson and Belen Ortega have Batman chasing down the Ghost Dogs, a group of thieves plaguing Gotham City, and he’ll have to face down their leader: the glorious Ghost! And in "Healing," writer/comedian Yedoye Travis and fan-favorite artist Nina Vakueva have Batman’s ultimate trauma removed by the Scarecrow, and he’s going to have to fight to get it back!

(W) Che Grayson, Yedoye Travis (A) Belen Ortega, Nina Vakueva (CA) Jorge Fornes

[theaceofarrows]

Reasons why I would kill for a Batfamily/Six of Crows crossover⬇

Bruce and Kaz having a glaring contest that last for a whole hour before Alfred and Inej tell them to stop

Dick and Inej trading circus stories and showing and teaching each other different acrobatics moves

Jason and Jesper having a shooting contest where they just keep doing more and more outlandish shots

Tim and Barbara show Wylan all the different bat gadgets and they start nerding out over crazy inventions

Matthias meets Damian's animals and very formally introduces himself to each of them. Damian tells cute stories of Titus and Matthias tells him stories of Treskell (don't think I'm spelling the right-)

Steph and Nina debating what the best toppings are for waffles

Dick, Steph, Nina and Jesper having bisexual solidarity✨

Bruce: "killing is wrong. If you take a life you're no better th-" Kaz: [gags]

Cass and Inej being the most lethal and absolute badass duo in all of Gotham

Alfred and Colm talking over tea about how exhausting it is to deal with children (Bruce included) who are always putting themselves in mortal danger

Damian and Wylan having a violin and flute duo

Everyone keeping a tally of how many times Bruce and Kaz say something emo, and taking bets on who will say more

Steph and Nina having a heated argument about which is better between purple and red

Matthias getting his ass kicked by Damian after asking why a child is here. Nina and Jesper are laughing at him the whole time

Kaz criticizing EVERY. SINGLE. Gotham rogue about how they are all pathetic excuses for criminals, and then whacking them with his cane

Jesper seeing the Discowing suit, followed immediately by himself and Dick talking about their shared (terrible) fashion sense

Damian and Inej bonding over knives. Inej immediately mastering throwing batarangs

Jason and Kaz casually talking about traumatic stories about being child criminals living on the streets

Nina falling in love with Alfred's cookies, followed by her joining in the batfam fights over who gets the last cookie

Steph, Cas and Wylan having the "my father is an evil piece of shit" Club™

The crows stealing the batmobile for a joyride. Jason laughing his ass off

Wylan and Jason exchanging formulas for different kinds of explosives

"Why would you go with go with robins?? Crows are CLEARLY way cooler-" "[unholy screeching]"

Someone brings up Lex Luthor and it just goes "rich blackmailing piece of shit who lies for political gain? Yes, we know the type"

Kaz: "-and so then after I cut his face with an oyster knife, I ripped his eyeball out and then tossed him over the side of the ship" Jason: "Nice, nice. Points for creativity. There was this one time that I cut off the heads of all the major gang lieutenants in Crime Ally, placed them all into an old duffle bag and then tossed them to the bosses while they were all in a meeting I set up" Kaz: "Hmm, I'll have to remember that" Jason: "I got it all done in only 2 hours" Kaz: "Very efficient"

I will probably add to this

[hizzielover]

my life savers right there 💪🫶

[dungeonsandblorbos]

BLOOD - What would they do if they saw a stranger's corpse?

thank you for the ask!

hmm, we'll answer this one for all of my main four, and assume this is a fresh corpse that's in decent shape. oddly enough for TTRPG characters, only one of them has actually encountered a stranger's corpse in the wild before. can you guess who?

Nina would freak out just a little and call 911. immediately after hanging up she'd open up the group chat with Beatrice and Chuck to text them "i know what it's like to be that person at the beginning of a crime show now," and then go silent on them for three hours because, ya know, the cops showed up and interviewed her and she got distracted.

Jun would grimace and make a mental note of the body's location, then immediately go to the nearest temple and tell them about it. she'd try to keep her distance and would wash her hands afterwards, even if she didn't touch the body. she studied medicine a bit while living at one of her goddess's temples, so she's fine with things like severe burns and putrefying wounds and stuff, but once they're dead she's just kinda like "nope!" after getting home she'd probably vent to Tim about it in the hopes he'd offer her some of his pipe weed.

Ariel would calmly check the body's vitals to confirm they're dead and look for any kind of identifying factors or relevant information to whatever quest the party is on. he might reflexively offer a little prayer himself before moving on with his day, and notifying whatever authority seems most appropriate (e.g., local church or law enforcement) as soon as he's able to. he's not all that phased by death unless it's someone he knows, and he'd want to make sure they received proper funerary rites. if he's with his party, he'd probably also make a gentle effort to stop the two rogues from looting the corpse, but ultimately he has more pressing concerns most of the time and it's really not worth the risk of Maria trying to stab him with her dagger of many curses for daring to tell her what to do.

Cerris would give the corpse a cursory examination in case there's anything of note, and give the surrounding area a cursory examination as well, wary that whatever (or whoever) killed them could still be close by. and then he'd just continue on his way. there's little to no point in attempting to notify Barovian authorities or temples, and even if there was, he's not exactly on good terms with most of them. but he'd do what he could for them, like moving their body to the side of the road so it's not in danger of getting run over, closing their eyes, and covering or sheltering the body in some way, if possible.

[jkriordanverse]

Gigi x slater & Solangelo, leoni x adrik, and helnik

when cats hold each other >>>>>>>

[ac1numa]

muses tags part i.

[jkriordanverse]

Slater and Gigi but Slate as a Russian/German accent (or any type of accent) and Gigi wakes him up randomly in the middle of the night to hear him say words like schedule or smt because she thinks it's funny and he just absolutely finds it amusing and adorable.

same thing applies to Matthias Helvar and Nina Zenik.