#Warrior of Ideals - Grey

[antihibikase-archive]

Completed their teams for this post, though some of them don’t really have a true “complete” team, since they give away each other’s Pokemon to one another!

Some notes;

Ludwig and Felix purposely have teams that mirror each other. The Darmanitans are royal Pokemon from their mother and father respectively, while Volcarona and Jellicent are meant to evoke a “true ruler / false ruler” vibe. 

The twins’ Gligar and Sneasel don’t evolve due to not having the needed items. 

Ludwig’s Absol senses disaster, while Felix’s Espeon sees the future. Felix’s Espeon is the same Eevee from The Heart’s party.

Finally, their respective Karrablast and Shelmet don’t evolve until after they trade with one another, a gesture that only happens after the end of their journey; they do so knowing they won’t see each other again.

Anita’s Larvesta is the child of Ludwig’s Volcarona, which she only receives as a present before Ludwig leaves the kingdom. While she takes care of it.. a part of her resents him for leaving the responsibility of the kingdom to her, so it doesn’t reach its full potential.

Anita’s Claydol is the same one in Priest Harmonia’s party. He gave her to him as a gift, in the event of his passing and she needed guidance.

Anita’s Pansear was raised by Babel’s Simisage. Babel gave the Pansear to her because of their similar personalities, though Anita thinks Pansear’s fondness for sounds and listening is similar to Babel’s traits.

Grey’s Mamoswine is the same Piloswine from The Heart’s party. The Heart gave Piloswine to him to show his support for The Hero of Ideals’ goals.

Grey’s Frillish is the child of Felix’s Jellicent. Though it doesn’t evolve, it’s pampered and spoiled throughout its lifetime with Grey.

Babel’s Meloetta stays by her side until she dies of old age. When she does, it accompanies Rosalita, knowing Babel wants Rosalita to carry on what she could not continue.

Babel’s Simisage was one of the Pokemon in Priest Harmonia’s temple, though it always seemed to like her. When Anita became queen, it started accompanying her more and more, as she grew to the role of royal advisor.

Rosalita’s Marill is the same Azurill from The Heart’s party.  The Heart gave Azurill to her to show his support for The Hero of Ideals’ goals.

Rosalita’s Mantine was caught near the shores of the sea temple where The Heart was laid to rest. She uses this Mantine to deliver gifts to the temple when it sinks, as well as furthering her knowledge on the temple to aid Babel in preserving its history and existence.

The Heart technically only has one Pokemon; his Tirtouga. His Lampent is one of the Litwick that Priest Harmonia cares for, and the three Pokemon he has under his care were given to The Hero of Ideals and his party as a show of support. 

The Golurk in The Heart’s party is the guardian of the temple where he is laid to rest, though it is said his spirit is the sole companion of the Golurk for centuries. 

Priest Harmonia’s Sigilyph lives on until modern times, becoming a guardian to the sinking Relic Castle and the companion of the restless spirits of the Hero of Truth, whose grief bound the rest of their companions to the castle.

The Litwick in Priest Harmonia’s party is one of the many Litwicks he has in his temple. Curiously, they always seem to glow brighter around The Heart.

[toto-the-cactus]

Ayo! Finished this damn thing. Hope this is still good. Tell me who we should go find next <333

Tagging some people that have been waiting for this update:

@danart501 @ilikemytittieswithwarmmilk

Summary: As a perpetual, you have been by the Emperor's side for most of your immortality. There's no name for what strange dynamic you both share, but you do trust him and your loyalty eventually pays off over millennia once he fulfills an old promise he made during your first ever encounter.

Pairing: Emperor of Mankind x Perpetual!Reader (Female)

CW: None

Part 1 - Part 2 - ?

The Mother (2)

The pregnancy had been a success and the development was nothing short of fast and strenuous. You should have expected Him to mold your body in a manner that would serve Him better for his wishes and plans to be fulfilled.

His Great Crusade needed to be accomplished and you suddenly became part of the means to that end.

What a dreadful fate. To be nothing but his petri dish.

And so, Horus was born. His little form being held against your chest like the precious treasure that he was, making the sorrow of not having the rest of your children there too be momentarily forgotten by his awaited arrival, cooing and grunting in delight at the warmness of your encompassing heartbeat once he settled at your bosom.

A memory you cherished to the end of time while it had burned itself on your soul to leave a lasting mark. You had cried in joy, hunched over yourself to blanket your newborn with your whole begin and feel him real, psychical, between your arms.

His accelerated growth didn’t deter you enough from enjoying any time with your baby boy, from supporting him during his unforgiving training to reading with each other's company at the main library of the Imperial Palace. All for the sake of letting him be loved by you.

It was a matter that (while not ideal) didn't interest the Emperor much, for his plans were already taking proper form and the ‘gift’ of not taking away your son from you was enough of a blessing that didn’t need to be addressed again.

Even if that notion tasted like ash on your mouth.

Your little boy wasn’t so little anymore and that sometimes worried you, as you knew very well the kind of expectations the Emperor held for Horus; the true born Primarch, a warrior to serve under his Father’s light as a tool despite his own Mother’s unyielding love. You couldn’t help but feel like this was a prelude of some sort of omen.

Most of the days eventually became grey on its core, for your son was now in charge of his Legion, the Luna Wolves, marking his very first start as an official Primarch under the service of his Father… laying you to the sides like you have always been when regarding the Emperor.

Did Horus know how much it hurt his distance? How much it hurt to witness his crave for the approval of a man made god… when you simply wished to read a book of old literature in his company?

You hated being made again this tragic effigy of the woman with the eyes of a dying lamb. You felt forgotten… a ghost from these golden walls.

But the eventual call of Erda served to stray you away from such gloom thoughts. Her psyker powers a breach through your mind’s wall but clear enough for a single sentence to make your heart take a leap out close to your throat.

“I found one of them”

You couldn’t have been faster in your life to get a lunar cruiser ready to reach the needed destination; not even willingly to explain yourself when the Emperor saw you boarding the vessel. But as always, He went and proved to still be an enigma to you thanks to his ever unnatural actions.

“Go along with her… and make sure to protect her and obey her during the travel only” his command was absolute when he addressed four of his Custodes, their impassive disposition only showing the barest of emotion when fulfilling their Emperor’s orders like a gospel, but the specifics of his directive weren’t lost to you: to obey you just this single time. Nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, you weren't ungrateful to his gesture and thanked him deeply for it with a kiss to the palm of his armored hand when he caressed your cheek, but He quickly dismissed the matter. He knew what you were about to do and it wasn't like he Himself hadn’t been picking any possible clues to find the other Primarchs out there that you two wholeheartedly believed to still be alive.

Sometimes you wondered if the Emperor had managed to have a tiny, small part of instinctual fatherhood to be awakened within him after all the time he had spent with Horus. It was a nice thought. A hopeful one, but you knew better than to get your expectations up.

Once settled inside the cruiser, the coordinates were introduced to start the travel to retrieve one of your children.

Erda’s voice still echoing inside your mind when she told you the planet that you needed to search for: Nuceria.

-°-

The sight had been painful.

The worst nightmare a mother could ever expect.

Your arrival had been anything but discret at the revolting planet of Nuceria, having been informed of the life that the elites carried at the expense of the blood and flesh of slaves forced to fight for any resemblance of survival by their supposed masters. The irony wasn’t lost on you, but millenia of serving the Emperor had made you receptive to his ideals and methods. Justifying your own purpose by standing on his side could derive a vulnerability that you weren’t ready to confront. You needed to believe in the Emperor even if he took too far the phrase “Any means justify the end”.

After all, immortality has only made it easier for your troubling love to persevere longer in your stubborn heart and for fickle human lives to become an afterthought. You were well aware that you weren’t any better than Him in the ever present inhumanity you carried. 

When your child had looked at your direction, imposing form towering over your smaller frame and covered in so many slashes and blood, your heart had seized in a painful knot. Those scars were injuries you hadn’t been able to sooth with compassion. You had failed your son and that was something you’ll never forgive yourself.

The only mercy you could offer was to take him away from this wretched place.

Just when you were ready to take a step towards him, you saw his eyes harden and his posture change in defense with squared up shoulders. A warning if you decided to go against him and the thorn inside your chest only bled even more.

The Custodes that had escorted you as per their orders maintained a cold and terrifying disposition, deterring any of the guards surrounding you and your son’s tribe to take a last step. The commotion at the fighting pit had been great but you cared little for these people and their sick sense of entertainment. Fighting was an art of the honorable and the strong; to be used in epic battles to build history and civilizations. Using it as a careless trick was absolutely insulting.

It was beyond you to do this. Against any of the natural ingrained fighting instinct that had saved you for years, but the desperation of a mother overrode any of that to mere dust and motivated you to do the one thing you wished to believe will make your son realize who you were.

“I’ve been dreaming of finding you… for so long. I’m here now, my son”

And you saw it behind his hardened eyes, and you rejoiced in the recesses of your mind. There was a semblance of recognition shining through his stare at the timbre of your voice.

A far away lullaby that accompanied him in his lowest moments.

An step became two, then three and so on until you found yourself right at your child’s side after a few strides, hand gently touching his roughed one until the grip over his twin axe became slack, allowing you to take a better hold in an attempt to convey all the encapsulated emotions that stormed within your soul.

Grief, sadness, frustration, longing, relief… love.

You’ve been waiting for so long.

No one moved beyond you, tugging his huge arm towards you while softly telling him “It’s time to go home”, but those words instead of making him relax in your presence, had the opposite as his stance became once again defensive. At least this time he genuinely looked conflicted on the matter, glancing back at the other slaves that simply stayed behind as mere spectators of the whole encounter, unable to properly react when not just a few moments ago they were ready to lose their lives in the pits.

Ah, you understood.

“I can’t… not without my people…” he seemed to want add more into that sentence, his eyes straying just a little towards a man that looked to be quite tall by mortal standards, covered in too many scars that told stories of his battles in this wretched place but carrying himself with enough dignity to be respected.

This is where you must make a decision that will carry quite the weight. You knew that there was space enough to carry the slaves, not comfortably, but it could be arranged to be a thigh fit. You knew He wouldn’t even have hesitated at the idea of just forcibly taking your son and leaving all these humans to die with their fate already chosen. The Emperor had no time to dwell in the aspects of mercy and compassion, you could acknowledge that very well and that had been the main reason he had kept you long enough around. To remind him about the nostalgia of the humanity he once possessed. He couldn’t provide the proper love Horus and these children dreamed of… so you would carry that responsibility and dry your heart to make sure your precious sons knew they were loved no matter what.

Your loyalty will always belong to the Emperor, just as much as your body, soul and mind… but you didn’t belong to yourself too anymore… the pittance of individuality you were sure to hold crumbled into dust once you had wished to be the mother of these children and that was something you would proudly carry.

And so, your decision was made.

“Custodes!” you call them, their attention fully on you now and waiting for your command. The grasp over your son’s hand became tighter in an attempt to reassure him once you felt him go tense at your stern tone. He had probably expected the worst and that notion only made something vile twist inside your stomach. “We will be taking the slaves with us too”

There was a beat of uncertainty and you could already guess that this choice would not be well received by the Emperor… but that was something you were willingly to bear over your shoulders like many times you have done in the past.

Things will work out. You can only trust blind hope, but that is enough for now.

You stretch your arm towards his face with some effort, for he is still taller than you, but he lets his head tilt towards you to help a bit and gives you the chance to offer a sweet caress over his cheek. You can feel the rough texture of his messy shave, of the scars, and your heart throbs painfully when you think about all the hardships he had to face.

You couldn’t assure him a better life away from battle, but you could at least give him the solace of a greater future along for his people.

“I’m here now… and I will not abandon you… ever” there had been an edge of something feral in your tone. The side you rarely showed but a reminder of why you had been beside the Emperor this long.

You hoped Horus would be open at the idea of some siblings.

Just messing around with this idea, don't get ya hopes up pls.

Love ya, fellas!

[rrcenic]

introverted guy who learns of his connections to a fallen world that is destined to rise and cause chaos. he accepts his identity but still fears that he will descend into madness but hopes that if that ever does happen than his friends (who dont know of his connections to this fallen land) will kill him to stop him. (also he has connections to a specific symbol on the bodies of people who also have ties to this fallen land) he tries to learn as much as he can about this nation through these magical things called artifacts (that are powerful on their own but are most powerful with the rest of their set) and by going to the ruins of the ancient world

x

super flirty/slutty/sarcastic guy who also has connections to that ancient world. he was trained in fighting by a group of warriors dedicated to the idea of freedom and protecting their world (but the group is flawed and doesnt always do whats right or make much of a difference). he was forced to lose his adoptive brother when his identity was revealed. he loathes himself deeply for his connections to the dark fallen kingdom and fears his own power (and also!! he really likes horses and has connections to the cavalry of the warriors!!) he misses his brother and deep down mourns his father (who had connections to a morally grey organization in which theres an object that gives you great power but slowly drives you mad). his brother resents him but still cares about him, and when he learns about the flaws within the organization of knights he quits (but still protects the same ideals as them)

IT IS ACTUALLY SO FUCKING CRAZY THAT DESCRIPTIONS AS DETAILED AND ACCURATE AS THESE APPLY TO TWO SEPARATE SHIPS FROM TWO COMPLETELY SEPARATE FANDOMS WITH NO CONNECTION TO EACH OTHER

[vitaeplaysda]

Finally a complete set with all my planned Rooks! It's just a first take, depending on the CC and the game and how I will feel in the next months they will change for sure. Also the clothing is all random. Purple because... it's Rook. Time to go back to Elgar'dad, commissions and other artworks. I will talk about them under the cut!

◆ Nadir "Lil'Rook" Lavellan

Elf ◆ Transmasc nonbinary ◆ he/they Antivan Crows ◆ Orb/Knife Mage (Spellblade)

My little baby, my firstborn, the first Rook I designed. Used to work as a lil kid in Skyhold's kitchen, until he met the demon Enfenim in that abandoned library hidden there, befriending him (it's another OCs of mines, check my pinned!)

Long story short he gets adopted by my Lavellan after his magic manifested, in the kitchens. Near boiling oil. The left side of his face and shoulder is covered in burn scars. Still he grows up to be a great but VERY unlucky mage, to the point he considers himself bad news and slowly starts to embrace this side of him in a selfdeprecating way. After yet another incident, he leaves her mother and their community, deciding he wants to make just one single good thing for her: finding Solas. Hiding his identity he ends up joining the crows, finding out he's quite good as an assassin. Relationship wise I brutally ship him with Elgar'nan, but more specifically he's in a weird... double triangle romboid (?) relationship with also Sulenan and Bellara??? (aka Sulenan also has a relationship with all of them but Bellara and Elgar'nan don't deal with each other.... unless the game will state otherwise >:D) He's hella young, in his early twenties, but usually fakes his age and tries to pass as someone older. He's also the shortest elf you'll ever meet.

◆ Saara(?) "Rook"

Qunari ◆ female ◆ she/her Veil Jumpers ◆ Bow Rogue (Arcane Archer)

She's meant to be the real Rook, you know, the one who Varric recruits. Qunari who was taken in by a (very open minded) Dalish clan. I'm still unsure if she was born in the Qun or not, in any case she embraced the elven culture as her own. She can be considered diplomatic and understanding, a good bean. The idea behind her is linked to the Qunari having metallic like skin... I wanted to make a golden one since they're usually grey in games. I'm not sure about the name Saara just because I remembered now Sera has a very similar sound. We shall see if I'm going to change it.

◆ Sulenan

Elf ◆ Male ◆ he/him Shadow dragons ◆ Two handed Warrior (Slayer)

I idealized him as a... mortal form Elgar'nan would use to mingle and learn the hell has happened while he was gone but he became a whole unique character. A Liberati of dalish origin, he's one of the angriest characters I have, hating humans for what they've done to his people and their rotten society, hating the chantry for its comforting lies, hating the elvhen gods because... well apparently they're evil now. In the end he's just very lost and heartbroken, desiring only for things to get better. Alas he's also practical and knows you gotta make your hands dirty if you wanna achieve anything. Headcanon wants Elgar'nan can control him through Vallaslin, I also fantasized about Sulenan sharing the same blood of his god. He feels comforted by Bellara's presence tho, his "Official" relationship it's going to be with her. For the headcanon chaotic one check LilRook above 👀

◆ Anarca

Qunari ◆ Agender nonbinary ◆ they/them in game but any pronoun works Mourn Watch ◆ Staff Mage (Deathcaller)

It's just... chaotic. Take the Dnd core rules and turn them into a person. They're unpredictable, at times taking a kind choice, while another time they will act in scary ways. It isn't like they don't like rules and push against them, for Anarca rules simply aren't part of their world. Beside their peculiar behavior, Anarca loves to experiment but mostly they want to have *fun*. You want to see the skeletons dance? You'll have that. Look wise people are always scared as they're extremely tall, most of their face half covered by hair with just their horns poking out.

◆ Veronica

Elf-blooded Human ◆ Female ◆ she/her Grey Wardens ◆ Shield Warrior (Champion)

Melancholic gal whom had to join the wardens in order to survive not so different from the Hero of Ferelden and also the token human (?) of this group. While she has a rooted sense of duty which made her a good warden, she still misses and fantasizes about the kind of life she would have gone through if she stayed among nobles, instead she had and still has to fight monsters and to come into terms with her Calling being closer than not. The idea was to have her romance Emmrich, letting her coming to term with the concept of death through him.

◆ Raibeart

Dwarf ◆ Male ◆ he/they Lords of Fortune ◆ Daggers Rogue (Sabouter)

The cheerful and funny guy of the group but also the most clueless one. Honestly he doesn't know why he joined the Veilguard... he probably doesn't even know he's part of the Veilguard. Still, he isn't one to ask complex questions to himself or others, somehow he's able to work with whatever is at hand, navigating through every situation, hopefully bringing a smile on people's face in the meanwhile. He's goofy but still charismatic and enthusiastic, a disney princess in the body of a burly pirate drawf.

[tomionefinds]

Fics where Tom is gentle with Hermione? Thanks

Hello Anon:

Here are some. You might want to check out the Tom:Good tag. It has more- Haus

Romantic Idealism by Meowmers

M | Complete | 55k

She falls in love with him when she's 12, but by the time she's 17 she wants him dead. For Tom Riddle, its vice versa. Tomione. AU. M for a reason.

Choosing Grey by betagyre

E | Complete | 124k

Hermione has always been a warrior for the Light. But when an attempt to salvage more than a Pyrrhic victory lands her in 1944, she quickly realizes that sometimes it is best to allow a lesser evil to flourish, because defeating it only creates the conditions for a greater one to rise. With conspiracies, schemes, and difficult choices in every corner, and a charismatic young Tom Riddle who is increasingly interested in her, she will eventually have to answer the question: How much darkness and grey in him can she accept?

Tempora Abducto by Flaignahn

T | Complete | 53k

Inconveniently it's the things that need fixing the most which are often irreparable.

[vigilskeep]

I think the way people go about justifying in-world homophobia and sexism through andrastianism is so interesting to me. like it’s evident that it’s not religiously based, or it SHOULDN’T be. like yeah you can argue that the whole Andraste/Maker thing is an idealized relationship but there’s no condemnation of same-sex relationships in any Andrastian text that we’ve seen.

also if the church is so powerful in southern Thedas and a matriarchal concept at that, where does the sexism come from? probably also from the idea of normative conformity to need for traceable bloodlines. (another point I like to drag here is that in Andrastianism, I believe what they consider to be “original sin” is Envy? And not performed by a woman? vs Eve in the Bible with the fruit and how everyone blames her LMAO)

anyways take that with the caveat that I don’t have spoons to elaborate much on my own musings

yeah it’s interesting! i think that’s down to assumptions both the writers and fans have made i.e. fans sometimes assume that culturally christian experiences are universal and all homophobia operates in that same format. the sexism is more a failure on the writers’ part to fully think through the consequences of their worldbuilding and also a failure of imagination to even conceive of a society where sexism is not foundational, which is especially true when you look at the myths they felt forced to create (ser aveline and astyth the grey) to explain why it’s possible for women to be warriors

[somethingwittyandweird]

Swordtember 2023 Final Collage

Here's the final results for this year's Swordtember! As always it's been a delight to do. When I first saw the prompt was based around owners/wielders (something I knew I wouldn't be drawing) I wasn't sure if I'd like it as well as previous lists. But I'm proud nonetheless of where the ideas have taken me. Huge thanks to all my friends for supporting me and having nice things to say! Until next time.

Here's a link to the master list of every individual post.

Blurbs for all the swords are under the cut.

Witch- This sword belongs to the sole occupant of an eerie wooden hovel on the far edge of a bog. The runes traced on its blade glow unnervingly, and it reeks of indistinguishable concoctions. Though it isn’t wielded by a trained warrior or a paragon of physical strength, this weapon should be respected and feared by anyone who wants to retain their non-frogified form.

Wizard- This sword belongs to a wizard known by many names-  Olórin, Mithrandir, Grey Pilgrim, the Grey, the White, servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor, or simply Gandalf. A relic of the First Age of Middle-Earth, its blue-tinged bladed bears its name in runes: Glamdring, the Foe-Hammer.

Rogue- This sword belongs to a marine mercenary who frequents the disreputable dockside taverns of a port town to ply his trade. For the right price, his services cover everything from larceny to bodyguarding to assassination. His techniques may not be the most refined, but the damage inflicted by the wicked hook of his blade is evidence enough that they are brutally effective.

Dragonslayer- This sword belongs to a reclusive warrior of countless years. Long ago were the days when dragons roamed the sky in great number. This warrior is among the few survivors of the band who came together to drive the dragons into parts unknown. The jade of this sword hums with the energy needed to pierce through any dragon’s magical resistance.

Spymaster- This sword belongs to a royal spymaster and never leaves their side. Though its wielder operates as much in light as they do in shadow, this sword still conceals a few tricks- namely, the hidden compartment in the hilt used to subtly transport written plans or occasionally crucial devices. The symbol on the hilt is used as an identifying sign by their agents.

Knight Errant- This sword belongs to a paragon of the chivalric age. Wandering the lands without castle or title, this knight seeks only to live by the ideals of the code, providing for the unfortunate and thwarting the wicked. It’s rumored that once the knight has wandered long enough to purge their past misdeeds completely, they may at long last witness the incomparable relic they once sought so fervently- none other than the Holy Grail.

Oracle- This sword belongs to a priestess who dwells in an ancient temple. Archaic in appearance, temperament, and vocabulary, she speaks the words of the visions that come to her- not always to the pleasure of those who came seeking them. The sword is her defense against any pilgrim that might unwisely choose to violently object to the sights she sees. In more normal circumstances, the sword itself is used to channel oracular magic through the lens inset in the blade.

Jester- This sword contains the essence of Marx, an innocuous-seeming jester who once schemed to gain ultimate power over the world of Popstar with a wish. Revealed in his true form, his glittering wings reflected prismatically, and the stars of the Milky Way swirled behind him. He was defeated by Kirby, who returned triumphantly home and proceeded to take a nap.

Royal Hunt Leader- This sword belongs to a well respected huntmaster, proud owner of several breeds of hunting hounds. The leather wrapping on its horn hilt matches the leather collars in place on the dog heads carved at either end of the crosspiece. It’s said that between her dogs’ uncanny tracking and her own keen intuition, there’s no place in the royal lands she doesn’t know. 

Healer- This sword belongs to a pragmatic and dependable cleric of a sun deity. The runes on its crosspiece allow them to channel divine magic through the weapon- but, if that well of power is overdrawn, the bandages and spare flask of potion are helpful as backups for tight situations.

Queen- This sword is one of a pair. A more offensively balanced blade, its wielder prefers to make the first move.

King- This sword is one of a pair. A defensively balanced blade, its wielder prefers to let enemies come to them.

Royal Heir- This sword has been passed down from ancient times, but the ages have not dulled its blade or its shine. The gemstone inset in its crosspiece holds a magic that can only be awoken by a member of the Laputian royal bloodline.

Royal Guard- This sword is a hypothetical fusion of the Royal Guard’s Sword and the Master Sword. A sufficiently skilled smith may well have been able to fashion a replica of the latter in the style of the former, if calamity had not struck.

Enchanter- This sword was commissioned from a master weaponsmith and enchanter, who was instructed to provide as many sockets for magic gems as possible. This blade boasts a whopping 16 available sockets, well above the count that would normally be advisable. The fact that the weapon still remains as stable as it does is a testament to the enchanter’s craft.

River-spirit- Infused with the energy of a whitewater river, this sword surges fiercely in its holder’s grasp, and churning spray constantly emanates from it. Whoever would hope to wield this blade must possess sufficient strength to keep the rapids’ coursing power in line.

Forest Spirit- This sword belongs to an elusive guardian of the forest who shows no mercy to trespassers or those with ill intent. Though some believe her to be a human living among the wilds, others are convinced she must be a spirit- no mortal could move as quickly, travel as unerringly, and vanish away so entirely. No encounter with her has lasted long enough to produce a certain answer.

Bard- This sword belongs to Red, previously a lauded singer before her voice was stolen in a botched altercation. She wields this weapon, the Transistor, in an effort to strike back against those who took that from her. A familiar voice speaks from within the blade to to guide her.

Alchemist- This sword belongs to an enterprising alchemist who spends a good deal of time away from their facilities. Rather than carry pre-brewed potions, they've installed an apparatus that can draw from flasks of certain base essentia to synthesize any needed brews on the fly.

Summoner- This sword belongs to a mage tasked with defending a kingdom by calling upon allies from distant worlds. It has historically taken many forms, but has appeared in this day and age as a sword. Its centerpiece forms a socket for the focus the mage uses to summon.

Mermaid- This sword appears to have been assembled using a shattered bowsprit from a shipwreck. It washed ashore and sparked debate on whether it was a prank or if a real mermaid could have made it. If so, the question is: just how big was that mermaid?

Vampire- This sword belongs to a particularly vain vampire noble, who takes every opportunity to show it off. The markings on the blade are enchanted to glow according to the phase of the moon. 

Vampire Hunter- This sword belongs to a well-traveled warrior who has sworn an oath to use the power of the sun to vanquish the creatures of the night. Monsters and dark creatures alike recoil at the sight of this whip-like blade.

Barbarian- This sword belongs to a brash, impatient barbarian who wields it with reckless abandon. Thanks to a combination of heavy use and unwillingness to bother with whetstones, its owner has dulled many blades in the past. He was finally convinced to take up a weapon that could still be effective while unsharpened. 

Inquisitor- This sword is issued to the heavily armored Inquisitors of an unnamed sect. Though their rank is Inquisitor, they actually do very little questioning themselves- instead their role is largely to impose, intimidate, and where necessary, put their heavy blades to use in rooting out dissension.

Artificer- This sword belongs to a tinkerer with an incessant desire for improvement. Its modular design allows it to change forms between longsword and greatsword as the situation calls for it. In its larger form, its crystalline power source is visible.

Assassin- This sword belongs to a lethal covert operative. Its ethereal blade can be summoned or dispelled at will, and makes short work of even heavy armor- the blade passes through it as if it weren't even there.

Druid- This sword was recovered from the remnants of a standing stone circle. Its weathered shape is covered with signs of age, faded mystic carvings, and mossy patches. Its original owner is lost to time, but the one who wields it now gives new life to the ancient druidic lineage.

Paladin- This blade belongs to a zealous warrior who has sworn an oath to bring light to the dark places of the world. Radiant power infuses this blade at all times, causing it to emit a constant glow and a holy aura.

Necromancer- This sword, in the shape of a looming, leering skull, is carried by a wicked practitioner of dark magic. The bite of this blade isn't to be feared, but the withering curse it inflicts on its victims most certainly is.

[whereserpentswalk]

Supersoliders are very popular among the core worlds of human space. You've been a programmer for a noble family on alpha centauri for nearly a hundred twenty years, and you’ve been seeing them more and more as the decades pass.

They used to be just for practical military matters, and they still are, especially way out on the edge of human space. But in the core of human space, where the wars are smaller, and between humans, where not all of a country's or a family's soldiers are going to be on the front lines, technologically augmented super soldiers have a social component to their creation as well. They're an example of wealth, of power, and of human ideals of perfection, contrasting themselves with the alien empires abroad, or from the 'impure' humans of the outer edges of human space.

Nobles keep them all over their holdings. From their public facing towers and shopping centers, to their private mansions. You've seen some who won't go anywhere without at least two super soldiers flanking them. It's half about paranoia about assassins and alien interlopers, but half just to show that they have them. Their armor is so colorful now, power armor that used to be a military grey is now painted in bright colors of noble houses and decked out in local cultural symbols.

Most super soldiers are trained for obedience and patience, they can be savage fighters when they're on the battlefield, but during peacetime, within the great mazelike halls of the ruling class, they're as submissive as guard dogs, loyal to their masters. Some nobles brag how guests can stroke a warrior in their mansions' power armor without the soldier underneath reacting at all. How they can take off their helmets and stoke their cheeks and perfect hair, without them flinching at all. How even the commoners whose bodies are turned into those of demigods still how to their nobles.

You know that the prince of the house you work for has one that he favors. A woman who weilds a laser pistol and vibrating spear, whose always stationed outside his room. She's completely his, he pets her head, touches her body, asks her to do the smallest things for him, and she never disobeyed. He's started letting her into his room at night, if letting can be said to be the right word. She's always a bit shaken afterwards but she doesn't say anything. She never does.

Human society, at least within the inner worlds, is strangely obsessed with the bodies of supersoliders. While cloaked in power armor they're barely human looking, but without it they look so much like an ideal of perfection. Their bodies are slender but muscled, like ancient Greek statues, and they're so smooth and hairless, and without libidos most of them have a strange sexlessness to their beauty. You know your prince likes to watch them bathe, you're not sure how weird that is.

You've started talking to the soldier who your prince has become fond of. She seems nice. Though strangely shaken. She's suprised that you're so willing to just talk to her, and even more suprised that you ask her before you touch her body. She says she was taken from her parents because they didn't have the money to raise her, and they turned her into a supersoldier when she was young, as a way of assuring she had a good life. You try to be nice to her, you talk about art with her, and you realize she's never gotten to talk with someone about something like that before. You try to give her chocolate, because all she has to eat are rations. And when her prince comes for her, all you can do is comfort her afterwards. She says she hopes there's a war, one where all the warriors of humanity will have to go, she hopes she's wounded so badly she can spend the rest of her life resting, hopes she's wounded so badly she won't be so pretty.

You waks up one day to find out that your prince is dead. Something strangled him in the night, something that was in his room, something that could break a man's neck with its bare hands. They'd never dare speculate one of his house's own supersoliders did it, they're too obsessed with the idea that such beings are inherently obedient, they'd rather make up conspiracies about aliens. But when you meet the supersolider you've been talking to, the one who was his favorite, she seems satisfied, you can tell she's smiling under her helmet. She tells you in private, without hinting at too much, that before they trained her to obey, they first thing they told her was too slay the deserving enemy, from what you can tell, she did.

[dragonagekeeper]

Class related polls: Mage Warden, Rogue Warden, and Warrior Warden

Race related polls: Dwarf Warden, Elf Warden, and Human Warden

See the descriptions of each specialization from the Dragon Age Wiki below

Berserker

Berserkers are fierce warriors who harness their inner rage to gain strength and health at a cost to finesse fighting.

2. Champion

Champions are warriors who are confident and skilled at leadership. Because of this, they gain talents that inspire their allies and terrify their foes.

3. Reaver

Reavers are terrifying fighters who are driven by the pain and fear of their enemies. They are created through an unknown method of ritual involving the person intending to become a reaver to drink dragon blood—similar to the Grey Warden Joining ceremony.

4. Templar

Templars are a militaristic branch of the Chantry charged with policing mages. Because of this, they possess talents designed to withstand and dispel magic.

5. Spirit Warrior

These two specializations are only available in the Awakening DLC.

Spirit Warriors are not unlike Spirit Healers or Arcane Warriors, but are instead fighters who have bargained with spirits for a potent connection to the Fade. They can channel magical energies into their attacks and manifest magical explosions.

 6. Guardian

Guardians are the defensive ideal, with talents that allow them to suffer damage in place of the party, increase the party's defenses and draw attention from party members.

[dragonologist-phd]

15 Lines of Dialogue

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

tagged by @ammoniteflesh! thank you!!

I chose Marja Aeducan this time around, since she gets some pretty good lines through Of Diamonds And Dust!

"I merely mean to express my surprise that an untrained alley fighter would cause so much trouble for the Proving participants. It would seem that either this Casteless is worthy of the Warrior title, or our actual Warriors are not."

"Fine. Don't consider the fact that it's the right thing to do- consider the fact that if the Blight wipes out Ferelden, you'll be wiped out with it. Don't you understand? There's nowhere you can hide from this."

"You mock me, but you do not understand that title. Since I was born, I have been trained in the arts of war and negotiations. I have faced off against politicians twice my age. I have led soldiers into battle. And I have survived against the darkspawn, even when left alone and defenseless in the Deep Roads. I do not fear the Blight. I plan to stop it. And I plan to use every resource to do. Right now, unfortunately, that includes you."

"You don't have to be happy, and you don't have to trust me. Just do your job."

"In Orzammar, when a loved one dies, we return them to the Stone. Their spirits enter the thaig and become part of our foundation. Our strength. I know these customs are different than yours, but I believe the principle still applies. His spirit is still with you, and it makes you stronger."

"I cannot change the hard times you have faced in your past. But you are not the only one who has known injustice."

"I know it's not simple, and I know it's not enough. But we have to start somewhere."

"It will work. Just leave the talking to me."

"I never scheme. It's called strategizing."

"These are the choices we have to make. We're Grey Wardens, remember? The last in Ferelden. And that means we have to make some difficult decisions."

"It wasn't fair. But none of this is fair, Alistair. To any of us."

"I ask again, Knight-Commander, was I misinformed of your order's purpose? Or are you merely strikingly incompetent?"

"This is not pretend, this is my life! And I will not lose it again!"

"No offense, Brosca, but that might be the saddest thing I've ever heard."

"I do not lie. Occasionally, I decide how much of the truth a person should know, and when they should know it. But I don't lie."

And I'm realizing now that she has a lot of long quotes, too. Definitely one of my more verbose OC's!

I tagged a bunch of people for this fairly recently, so i'll leave this as an open tag for anyone who wants to do it (or do it again!)

[bonefall]

so i translated a few names from a warriors au thing im making into Clanmew and i wanted to share some i really liked! please let me know if i made any mistakes fhsjfsd, i just thought it would be fun

Riverrunner - Ssbasspyrripyrapp (River swift-walk; i couldn't find a translation for "run" lmao. i considered adding "ya" somewhere in there so it would potentially be something like "may you run as swift as the rivers" but it would be way too long HGFJSHF)

Greypaw -> Wolfpaw - Shubpwyr -> Urrbayaopwyr (She changes her name to Wolfpaw part of the way through the story; since "urrn" means stormy-grey i thought it could be some sort of "evolution" from Greypaw if that makes sense? ideally her name means "stormy-gray-large-dog" or something along those lines :,) )

Shadowstep - Washapphass (Shadow walk-quiet; ideally "walks silently in the shadows")

Windweaver - Fofwarra’a (weaves wind-that-changes-pace)

bonus fun fact: shadow, wind, and river are in a poly relationship :D wolfpaw isn't related to them, i just wanted to share her name HGSFJKGDF.

sorry if any of these are wildly incorrect lmao, i discovered this blog yesterday and immediately got obsessed with clanmew lmao. hope you find it neat tho!

I do! Welcome to the fray!! I love the way you've combined multiple words-- I made it so people could translate the two-part names directly, but this is a completely valid way to use Clanmew if you'd like! Great job going ahead and making new words using the contraction system!

If it makes names too long, you can always invoke the way that Clan cats use nicknames. Take part of the prefix and part of the suffix, and combine into a shorter word. "Squirrelflight = Squilf" & "Pishkafsheek = Pishee"

Riverrunner, SSBasspyrripyRApp, could become Ssbra! It could translate as "Rivrun."

Onto vocab,

Just today, I made a word for wolf; Uruoo! You can use that for Wolfpaw if you'd like to make the name more accurate.

It's time for me to make some more words for different types of paces. I currently have one for Gallop which I was using for 'Runner,' but we're going to need some more.

As always these are in past/present/future tense,

Gallop -> Nyoopabar/Nyoopab/Nyoopa This is WindClan's running technique specifically, and almost always the one being used for the 'runner' suffix there. You curl your spine a certain way and maximize the stride.

Sprint -> Fwioonee/Fwioon/Fwioo Running as fast as possible. Breakneck speed. Zoomies.

Running -> Panpeanpe/Panpean/Panpea General running, quickly going somewhere, implies more endurance than Fwioon.

Travel -> Paohaoha/Paohao/Paoha The sort of walking you do while you're going somewhere or looking for something. Walking with purpose. "Seeking." BB!Harespring's Dishonor Title, Darkseeker, was Loerpaohaoha.

Mosey -> Pi'ahiaha/Pi'ahia/Pi'ahi Walked leisurely and without purpose, not seeking anything and not going anywhere in particular. When your cat is standing with their little baby tail up and just meandering about, they're doing a pi'ahia

March -> Hupbhar/Bhar/Hupb An irregular stem, it means to move for a long period of time in tandem with others, usually after being commanded to go somewhere. Bhar/Hupb can be used as a chant to keep pawsteps in perfect sync.

Walk -> Pappap/Pappa/Papp Just walkin'

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, what would have happened if Dinobot 2 had survived and joined the Maximals on their journey back to Cybertron?

Dear Sempiternal Saurian,

In one reality, Optimus Primal was able to successfully rescue the cloned Dinobot from the Nemesis and carry him to safety, moments before Rhinox’s shuttle obliterated the ship’s bridge and foiled Megatron’s final gambit to win the Beast Wars. Initially, the jubilant Maximals believed that their old friend had somehow returned to life, but were dismayed to find that this was not quite the case. While this “new” Dinobot had indeed inherited some jumbled memories of his genetic template, he also bore the scars—both literal and metaphorical—of serving Megatron throughout the last third of the Beast Wars. Worse yet, he still carried the spark of Protoform X, itself a failed attempt to mimic Starscream’s immortal spark. Suffice it to say, the second Dinobot was a traumatized, empty shell—a living weapon bereft of purpose, forced to work alongside the same ‘bots he’d been conditioned to hate, and perpetually at war with himself as competing instincts vied for dominance. The Maximals quickly learned to give their nominal ally a wide berth, and none of them were particularly enthused when he declared that he would join them on their voyage home, in the hopes that he could find some kind of new purpose on Cybertron.

As in many of the timelines you know, Megatron slipped his bonds during their voyage back to Cybertron, conquered the planet with an army of mass-produced Vehicon warriors, and infected his captors with a paralyzing transformation virus. Thanks to his Transmetal 2 body, Dinobot resisted the virus, but was forcibly devolved back into a simulacrum of his genetic predecessor. Soon enough, Optimus Primal found him, Rattrap, Blackarachnia, and Cheetor; guided by Primal’s supernatural visions, the five ‘bots fled into the depths of Cybertron, and eventually encountered the mysterious Oracle. Dinobot emerged from the computer with a new, technorganic beast mode: a crimson Guanlong with steel-grey plumage, his teeth and claws could easily penetrate Vehicon armor. As he had never truly “known” Cybertron before the Vehicon apocalypse, Dinobot fought not for any kind of higher ideal, or to rescue the populace of Cybertron, but merely to survive; when the Maximals learned that Megatron had engineered the entire disaster and taken control of the planet, Dinobot decided that he hated Megatron more than he hated the Maximals and grudgingly stuck by their fledgling resistance movement, defiantly wearing a modified Predacon insignia for no other reason than to incense his creator.

Already torn between so many states of being, it should come as no surprise that Dinobot struggled to master the art of transformation. Because of this setback, however, the Rattrap of this timeline—who’d already taken a very real dislike to the “cut-rate knockoff”, and could now look down his nose at someone even worse at transformation than himself—never faced the same kind of crisis of conscience that many of his alternate selves struggled with, and learned how to transform by himself. When Dinobot found that “emotional still point” and unlocked his robot mode, he was a mighty warrior indeed: not only could his optics project a wall of telekinetic force to cover his allies and send enemies flying, but his mighty two-handed claymore could also open tectonic fissures and create localized earthquakes. Tormented by his own demons as he was, however, those moments of emotional lucidity were fleeting at best, and Dinobot spent most of his time trapped in beast mode: in his worst moments, the other Maximals had to physically restrain him as his old Transmetal instincts overwhelmed him and he reverted to a feral state of being. Even while trapped in beast mode, Dinobot proved an ambitious and cunning warrior, and he and Cheetor repeatedly butted heads over the position of leader while the Maximal leader was indisposed.

In this timeline, Dinobot’s warrior instincts and animalistic thirst for vengeance helped push Optimus Primal, already convinced that his mission was to revert Cybertron to its primordial organic state, further and further down the road of extremism. Thanks to his influence, by the time that Tankor’s true consciousness reasserted itself and made a play for power, Optimus had already discovered the Plasma Energy Chamber and used it to send an ultimatum to Megatron: leave the planet now, or perish. This time around, it was Megatron who had to go on the defensive; despite these minor changes in the timeline, the end result was largely the same—the clash between the Key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber resulted in near-deaths for both Optimus Primal and Megatron. The other Maximals realized that their comrade had played a major role in Primal’s death and turned their back on him. While the other Maximals eventually revived Optimus and dealt with the strange Savage/Noble creature, a grief-stricken Dinobot, convinced that he had permanently killed the first being who had ever treated him kindly, buried his higher functions beneath his animal instincts and turned feral, indiscriminately roaming the empty tunnels and savaging any wayward Vehicons who deviated from their patrol routes.

Finally, after many cycles of exile, Optimus Primal—who had dedicated all his time to meditating in front of the Oracle and casting his own sensory net across the planet in the hopes of finding their most troubled comrade—finally reached Dinobot’s sleeping mind and pierced his layers of mental armor. In this shared dreamscape, a jumbled nightmare world of Transmetallized bones and a burning valley—Dinobot admitted that he had no idea who he was. Was he a warrior or a monster? A beast or a robot? A Maximal, a Predacon, a Decepticon? Would he forever toil in the shadow of his progenitor, desperately trying to live a life he’d never known? Or was he nothing but a freak of nature who concealed his monstrous nature beneath the veneer of an honorable warrior?

Inspired by his own recent voyage through the Matrix, Optimus offered his own opinion: just as the Matrix had chosen them to bring nature and technology together into a single, harmonious whole, so too was Dinobot more than the sum total of his origins. He was not the original Dinobot, nor was he Rampage; he was himself, a loyal ally and just as much a part of the Oracle’s grand plan as the rest of the Maximals.

It would take time before the Predacon warrior learned to channel Primal’s sense of balance into his own fighting style as he rigorously trained in private—aided by Primal’s occasional remote coaching sessions—and longer still before he worked up the courage to rejoin the Maximals. When he did, however, he returned not as Dinobot, but as his own ‘bot—he was now Preditron, a courageous and honorable warrior who combined his bestial instincts with the experience of two lifetimes lived. Preditron fought bravely alongside the Maximals in subsequent campaigns, stood by as they welcomed Botanica and Silverbolt into the fold, and made a courageous stand in the final battle against the Vehicon hordes.

Many centuries in the future, long after the Great Transformation that saw Cybertron reformatted into a technorganic utopia, young technorganic Cybertronians still whisper tales of the reclusive Last Predacon, whose immortal spark burns forever. When all else fails, it is said that the Last Predacon will emerge from his secluded jungle home to take young Cybertronians who struggle to master transformation under his wing, and teach them to find the balance within, as he once did himself.

[danielsarmand]

not that anyone cares but for the sake of documenting,,, if i ever live long enough to romance everyone in veilguard my plans for each rook are as follows:

DAVRINMANCE — cis man, he/him, elf, rogue (duelist), grey warden

EMMRICHMANCE — cis man, he/him, qunari, warrior (reaper), antivan crow

LUCANISMANCE — trans man, he/him, human, mage (spellblade), mourn watch

NEVEMANCE — cis woman, she/her, elf, warrior (champion), veil jumper

BELLARAMANCE — nonbinary, they/them, dwarf, rogue (veil ranger), lords of fortune

TAASHMANCE — trans woman, she/her, elf, mage (necromancer), shadow dragons

HARDINGMANCE — nonbinary, they/them (ideally it would be she/they), qunari, mage (evoker), lords of fortune

some combos definitely make more sense than others but i really wanted to try everything i could fit and i managed to justify pretty much everything to myself. except now....... i want to play all of them at once

[howyouducan]

The howyouducan Worldstate (DAO)

(Part One) (Part 2)

Lady Audrun "Iron" Aeducan

Audrun was born of noble caste, specifically to the royal family of Orzammar, House Aeducan. Audrun was second-born of three, and thus not the immediate choice for heir; instead, she was trained in battle strategy to become a commander. With a thirst for battle, she spent much of her youth at (or in) Provings. She held her ancestor, the Paragon Aeducan, at the height of heroic ideal; this was not uncommon in Dwarven culture. Unconventionally, however, Paragon Aeducan's origin as a member of the warrior caste was the point of the worship.

As a result of her father's focus on her eldest brother, she was a bit of a brat; she was not interested in politics and knew only as much as would allow her to mess around and then navigate out of trouble. Her unserious demeanor and knack for scrapping led to the childhood namecalling of "Lady Iron," courtesy of her brothers, Trian and Bhelen.

With her lack of political insight, suffice to say Audrun was caught off-guard when Bhelen framed her for Trian's murder. Cast out into the Deep Roads with no coin nor caste, nothing more than the guidance of her own will, she joined the Grey Wardens to stand against the Darkspawn like her Paragon ancestor before her.

A rogue duelist and later trained in legionnaire tactics, she engages in combat more akin to a Provings warrior than a surface assassin. She enjoys meeting her enemies head-on, but not without strategical unfair advantage. Due to her upbringing her morals were on shaky ground, but that eventually solidified from the influence of her partner Alistair Theirin.

Things she has done:

Followed Harrowmont's quests to the letter until she found Caridin and Branka, then chose Bhelen for the politics. She never returned to Orzammar, out of spite

Did name her Mabari after Ferelden's King Cailan, who she liked, until his untimely death by Darkspawn. Naming one's child after the respected and the fallen is customary in Orzammar.

Coincidentally, her dog's namesake also happened to be the late son-in-law of her archenemy, and also the dead brother of her lover. Well done

Also she spelt it "Khelan"

Chose Caridin over Branka, at the request of her golem companion

Drank the dubious wizard blood potion at Soldier's Peak

Did steal Loghain's crown and become The Dark Wolf

Tried to become queen of Ferelden but when told no because she's a dwarf, decided to elope with her Warden fiance instead

As Warden-Commander, found her apostate underling's blood vial and destroyed it. Also was besties with a spirit of Justice

[betweenlands]

time for another originshift au post -- this one ties back into yesterday's, technically! for reasons that will become immediately obvious. anyway, our second entry is: Legundo (Piglin Evoker)

An Evoker hailing from a fairly prestigious faction of illagers, whose lineage traces all the way back to the Arch-Illager of old. Legundo started as a prisoner of these elite scholars and warriors, but quickly showed his worth as a full member of the house through hard work, diligence in study, and utter commitment to illager ideals. Given full evoker training and appointed an envoy of their faction, he’s been sent out to extend the dominion of his faction over the rest of the world using whatever methods he sees fit – and he’s got his sights set on closing the long-standing divide between villagers and illagers by any means possible. Trained heavily in magic and working with spirits. Highly superstitious. Quick to judge and slow to trust. Hardworking, but stubborn. Doesn’t mince words; phrases things very carefully. Cares for money only as a means to an end. Distrusts overuse of technology. Cares deeply for his people and only his people. Will not reach to others, but they are welcome to join him – so long as they do their part. Doesn’t have naturally grey skin, but he wears grey warpaint (stripes and patterns) to mark himself as an illager. Wears purple robes (the Splendid Robe from Minecraft Dungeons).

as a side note here id like to mention that this is a theoretical version of evoker that doesn't suck to play as. i am not that cruel

[ariesgamesandminis]

Shrapnel Issue #16 and restocks are up from Catalyst for BattleTech!

A Rock and a Hard Place Betrayal of Ideals Decision at Thunder Rift Fortress Republic Gray Death Rising Grey Watch Protocol Legend of the Jade Phoenix - Book One - Way of the Clans (Hardcover) Legend of the Jade Phoenix - Book Three - Falcon Guard (Hardcover) Legend of the Jade Phoenix - Book Two - Bloodname (Hardcover) Rock of the Republic Shrapnel Issue #1 Shrapnel Issue #15 Shrapnel Issue #16 Shrapnel Issue #3 Shrapnel Issue #4 The Proliferation Cycle The Warrior Trilogy - Book One - En Garde (Hardcover) The Warrior Trilogy - Book Three - Coupe (Hardcover) The Warrior Trilogy - Book Two - Riposte (Hardcover)