#cr concepts: warriors

[idrawsometimes]

the gang's all here!

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka

I read a few different Wonder Woman runs of the early 2000s, and none of them particularly landed for me before Rucka came on board. They all felt like they were being purely imitative of George Perez's classic time on the title, as the compassionate warrior in an alien world, without meaningfully adding to what he'd developed.

Not so with Rucka! Rucka manages to toe the line between innovating and honoring, by having a strong concept, consistent and progressive characterization, and compelling emotional and thematic stakes.

The concept here is Diana is running the Themysciran embassy to the US, which introduces a charming staff as her supporting cast, and establishes a tension between her roles as hero, Amazon, and diplomat. It also gives her so much more room to breathe as a character - she has substantive relationships with her embassy staff (who are generally charming if a little underbaked), but unlike Perez's imitators she no longer feels primarily like an outsider trying to adapt to a new world. She's a lot more down-to-earth. Which makes sense - she's been here for years at this point! This setup reminds me a bit of Dan Slott's She-Hulk - office hijinks with a colorful supporting cast - but less pointed towards comedy and more towards political drama with some light comedy. I think that's a good genre meld for Wonder Woman, and a unique direction to take the character beyond mythology punch-ups.

Meanwhile, the overarching thread of the narrative centers on a new antagonist, Veronica Cale, who is basically Lex Luthor if he read Sheryl Sandberg. Cale is a pretty interesting if detestable character whose hatred of Wonder Woman springs from a sense of envy and desert, and a cold willingness to treat other people as purely means to an end: allying herself with the detestable rapist Dr. Psycho, upgrading Silver Swan with brutal cybernetics that will kill her, tossing her friend and partner Leslie aside after being caught for that last one. She makes a pretty strong foil to Diana. She's my favorite new addition to the cast aside from Ferdinand the minotaur chef, but unfortunately, she drops out of the narrative a touch awkwardly. More on that later.

As all this is going on, mythological conspiracies are playing out behind the character's backs, including the resurrection of Medusa, and Athena and Ares (now in kind of goofy, contemporary dress) jockeying for power against Zeus on Olympus. I liked how this created parallel politicking between the mortal and immortal worlds. @radiofreederry pointed out to me when she read this run that it was within a wave of sort of "hip," millennial takes on Greek mythology in the early 2000s - American Gods came out two years prior, and The Lightning Thief would be released while the run was ongoing. I like, conceptually and textually, what's done with that idea here - it's just that the designs are a little silly. Athena playing chess with her owl is really funny, though.

Aside from that nitpick, I quite enjoyed the artwork of Drew Johnson in the run's first half. Johnson's layouts are generally utilitarian, rarely going for huge splash pages or especially complex or creative paneling, but this dovetails nicely with the more dialogue-driven writing relative to other superhero books of the time. His designs and artistic tics remind me a little of Mike Wieringo in their cartoony qualities, though where Wieringo's characters were often very rounded, Johnson's are a bit sharper and leaner (see below). It's later taken over by Rags Morales and a couple other alternating artists; I don't like any of them on the book quite as much as Johnson, but they're all fine.

Unfortunately the story goes a little off the rails at around the two-thirds point to make way for the Infinite Crisis event (sigh). Not disastrously so, as there remains some sense of cohesion compared to how so many other comics lose their way as they wind down or feel the hammer of the dreaded crossover event. But it definitely feels more constrained, as we pivot from Diana navigating the thorny political situation around Themyscira/US relations - juggling the manipulation and antagonism from Cale, different factions of the Olympian gods, Circe, and the obligations of her relationships with her support staff - to Diana as representative of her people after she executes Maxwell Lord. Some of this stuff is a little played out, but Rucka manages to at least justify its more cliche moments - noting that it's not about whether she did the right thing but rather the perception of the act - "optics" has kind of been a major theme of the work, the ways in which the powerful will try to sink Diana's mission of compassion, and so although the Infinite Crisis elements are crowbarred in, they still *fit*. Just stiffly.

The book wobbles a bit here, and certain elements like Cale, or the arcs of the supporting staff, don't get resolved in an entirely satisfactory way - if at all. But, as far as Diana's character arc goes, I think the book still recovers some of its footing in those last few issues. It's unfortunate that it got cut short by editorial nonsense for an exhaustingly bad event, but at least it doesn't totally lose its way.

Favorite Arc/Issue: Sort of a toss-up for me between "Down to Earth," which sees Diana releasing her book and then having to navigate the conservative backlash engineered by Cale (which is shockingly pointed for a 2000s-era cape comic, honestly), and "Stoned," which sees Medusa unleashed on the White House.

I'm hoping to read Rucka's "Rebirth" era Wonder Woman as well, see how that stands up in comparison!

[lumi-shifts-home]

introduction ♡ ♡ ♡

Heyy, my name is Lumi and I'm new to Tumblr :)

I'm a reality shifter. I have been in the community since around September 2020. Since then I have taken many breaks, some lasting for months. But I always came back. And I hope that I will keep coming back. Simply because I think the concept is amazing. I mean, just imagine being able to laugh with your favorite fictional characters, being friends with celebrities, living in a fantasy world, going on adventures, having a perfect life.

I didn't shift yet, but I believe that I am close. Personally, I have a difficult time motivating myself, that's why I tried starting to talk about my DRs online. First I've posted some videos on TikTok (see end of post) but came to the conclusion that everything is so fast-paced there. I just feel stressed thinking about how long I haven't posted anything there when I see my mutuals content. I also find it hard to organize the topics, everything is kinda muddled up. That's why I decided to try out a different format. I haven't used this platform for anything but reading fanfics yet, so I don't know much about blogs and such. But I definitely want to give it a try! Let's just see how this goes . . .

❝ What will I post about? ❞ ✧˖*°࿐

I haven't planned much for this blog. I'm probably just gonna info dump about my DRs here. Writing some lore here, posting about my DRselfs/personas there, maybe even some art (even though I'm not a god tier artist)? Who knows. Don't expect to see much. I'll use this mainly for myself.

❝ Here are some of my favorite DRs: ❞ ✧˖*°࿐

Genshin Impact [Mondstadt; Liyue; modern; cyberpunk]

Honkai Star Rail

Omori

Hogwarts Legacy

Haikyuu!!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Sword Art Online

My Hero Academia

Falling Into Your Smile

My Little Pony

Warrior Cats

better CR

. . .

The Liyue and modern GI are my main DRs. I've also been rewatching shows and anime that I loved years ago hence my Haikyuu!! and MHA DRs. They are my main focus as I'm writing this. But I tend to neglect things I'm no longer interested in. So don't wonder why I maybe post about something only once or twice and then never again.

❝ Some things I want to mention: ❞ ✧˖*°࿐

I change my race in some DRs. I don't see why I shouldn't shift to realities where I have a different race or ethnicity if that reality already exists.

I also usually change my age to be younger. Since I'm legally no longer a minor some may not like the idea. I am childish and don't feel like most people my age. Most of my friends are 14 - 17 and I still feel like a kid. I want to have normal, fun teenage years since I didn't have that in my CR.

I think that's it. If I forgot anything I'll just add it later.

I won't argue on those topics. I've mentioned them and if you don't approve feel free to leave.

If you're interested in my other content (it's not much but still), here are my TikTok and Pinterest:

https://linktr.ee/lumi.shifts.home

[tameila]

Was kindly tagged by @belphegor1982 to participate in this 20 questions for writers trend! thanks for the tag! 💕 tags for anyone who sees this and wants to take a whack at it. tag me in your responses, if you do!

How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 10 works on ao3 with plenty of little one-shots posted here on tumblr and at least triple that many WIPs lmao

What's your total AO3 word count?

My current ao3 word count is 165,375 words. TSAR is responsible for, like, 70% of that word count.

What fandoms do you write for?

On ao3, I've only posted for Critical Role, and I do not foresee that changing, but who knows! Before Critical Role, I never really saw myself as a writer that posted on public forums, and it's not as if I haven't entertained and dabbled in other fandoms.

Overall, including collaborative writing/roleplaying, I have written for Warriors (yes, the cat books), Bleach, Naruto, Hetalia (im sorry you have to learn this about me), Glee, Dragon Age, and Digimon.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Sun Always Rises (550 kudos), multichaptered modern AU Pikelan

give my regards to soul and romance (186 kudos), one-shot based in @jabletown's rejoice AU, Pikelan with Dadlan and Pike & Kaylie bonding

le petit encore (145 kudos), my mediocre TSAR 'verse smut fic. every time it gets another kudos i am pushed closer and closer to continuing my smut WIPs because i swear!! i promise!! i can write better smut!...but i am rather proud of this piece because it was my first serious foray into the world of smut and i gotta recognize my own hustle lol

As Easy as Riding a Bicycle (113 kudos), modern AU/college-aged Pikelan, Pike's bike gets stolen and she turns to a dating app to try and find it and finds love instead. super love this piece. everyone should read it and give it more kudos so it can be my third most kudo'd piece teehee

TLC is a Two-Way Street (104 kudos), TSAR 'verse, Pikelan, Pike looks after Scanlan while he is sick

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, yes, yes! Even as I free myself from the shackles of needing that validation and feeling discouraged if I don't reach some arbitrary number of engagement, I cannot deny that comments are inspiration and writing fuel. So, when I get a comment, I think it's the least that I can do to respond, even if it's just to say thanks.

I am definitely guilty of sitting on comments that make me particularly happy for weeks on end before actually remembering to respond tho

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

the things we know and the things we wish they knew, which was my first CR fanfic and written in response to ep 85 iykyk

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I mean, it's gotta be The Sun Always Rises

Do you get hate on fics?

No, thankfully not!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

As mentioned previously, I only really have one serious smut fic, though I have written a couple other bits and bobs....and maybe I have a couple WIPs that may or may not see the light of day. I'm not sure what kinds of smut there are...but I guess I would describe my approach to smut as 'I am a sex-repulsed asexual and idk what's really going on here but I'm here to express closeness and intimacy and love in this strange new world' lol

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

If we're talking crossovers in the sense that characters from two separate fictional stories meet and interact, I have written in roleplays back in middle school like that but never explored the concept in fanfic.

If crossovers also includes taking the concept of one fictional media and inserting the characters of another into it (e.g., Hogwarts AU or HDM AU) then I've definitely written and have plans for various fanfics like that. I don't think that I have any that I would consider "crazy", but I do think my brief notes and writings for a OTGW-inspired Nygmobblepot/Riddlebird fic were v inspired.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of and hopefully not! Very little gets posted in the Pikelan fandom that I don't see, so I like to think I'd be hard to pull a fast one on

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet, but I would love to see The Sun Always Rises translated into other languages someday!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I've entertained a couple co-written fics that have unfortunately never gotten off the ground much, but I'm not closed off to the idea. I see it as being quite similar to roleplaying!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oof. As a lifetime shipper, that's a tough question. I never truly let go of a ship, even after I've moved on from a fandom, but there are definitely some that are far more enduring in my heart than others.

Of course, if we're going off of writing alone than it's Pikelan. Writing TSAR got me through some of the hardest years of my life and, despite what's become of them and what I'm forced to endure by continuing to engage in the fandom space, they're special to me in a way that a lot of other ships can never be, no matter how much I love 'em.

Also, in the case of writing, FenHawke. selfishly, of course, Fenris with my Hawke. I love writing for them, and I consider the pieces that I've written for them to be amongst my best. They're the Dragon Age ship for me.

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

.....[shamefully hangs head] A-Side and B-Side, the sequels to TSAR. I'm gonna keep writing them for as long as I am able but, if there ever comes a day that I post an update and get zero engagement, then I think I'll just have to move on. but! if even one person keeps coming along for the ride, then I'll stick to 'em. I just don't know if there's anyone who loves my writing enough to stick around for, like, another 5 years lol

The other big one is Vex's Delivery Service...which is exactly what it sounds like. A Kiki's Delivery Service inspired AU but it's about Vex. though truly, it's a thinly veiled excuse to write about domestic Pikelan is what it is. I have the whole thing planned out. I just can't ever seem to get it off the ground and, at this point, with the way I'm halfway out of the CR fandom, I don't think I ever will.

What are your writing strengths?

I have been extremely lucky to have been complimented on multiple facets of my writing over the years. However, I think what I pride in myself the most is my ability to let each scene breathe and take its time. It means that I take forever to write and nothing's ever short, but I don't think I would like writing quite as much if I wasn't allowed to let each moment have its breathing space.

What are your writing weaknesses?

It's a bit of an oddball pick maybe, but it's something that I feel like I have to own up to as a notorious modern AU writer:

People say that modern AUs are uninspired and boring, especially when you're taking characters out of a magical fictional world just to put them into our world and....the rumor's are true. I just don't get that into the lore of a fictional universe to ever feel comfortable writing in it. I do just find it easier to write everyone as humans in a modern-esque society. Now, I will stand by the fact that part of the fun of modern AUs is taking these magical characters and interpreting into a modern space (I often do the opposite with modern era characters into a fantasy world of my own design), but I just want to fully own up to the fact that...yes, I am too lazy to research the intricacies of canon in order to write a proper canon compliant/adjacent fic.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it has it's place.

For me, if it's a language that the POV character understands/that the reader should understand alongside the POV character, then there's no reason to write it in that language. Simply include a dialogue tag to explain what language the character was speaking in. and I say this mostly from a logistical/ease of reading standpoint. Having to scroll down to the bottom of a fic or switch to a separate tab with the translations interrupts the flow of reading.

If, however, the language is included, untranslated, to reflect the POV character's own lack of knowledge of the language then that makes more sense. because you, as the reader, are meant to keep reading at the same level of understanding as the POV character and there's no pressure to be rushing for a translation just to make sure you're not missing an important line of dialogue.

but of course, as with most things, it's writer's choice!

First fandom you wrote for?

Warriors, probably...maybe Hamtaro. I definitely read fanfic for it and had my little daydream musings, but I don't think I wrote anything down.

Favorite fic you've ever written?

Oooh, we talkin' fic fic? That's long gone, and it's up in the air which of those many early fandoms that it was for.

If we're talking that's readily available on ao3, then my first was the things we know and the things we wish they knew. though, I was writing and posting Dragon Age one-shots on tumblr before that one.

Coming back because, for some reason, I misread this question as what was the first fic I'd ever written lol. Obviously, the answer to favorite is The Sun Always Rises.

[quaddistributedpersona]

Okay so starting with my first D&D character: Odgerel Muunokhoi.

A bit of an odd step forward for me getting into the 5e system, I decided to make a Lawful Evil character. Okay now don’t come at me with torches and pitchforks already, I haven’t even explained why- 

So I was no stranger to TTRPGs or written RP by any means, having previous experience with Runequest and other more freeform systems, but I never dared to touch D&D-lites. I remember being very against the idea of playing class-based systems but then I joined a new group full of CR fans. We picked up Hoard of the Dragon Queen as a starting module not knowing that it sucked balls; however, the selling point was that we had to stop a cult from establishing the final connection with their goddess and that was good enough for me to start thinking about a concept.

The idea of Odgerel proceeded from a mix of samurai warrior combined with mongolian pillagers, and the culture of her homeland was one obsessed with conquest and plunder. The people of Odgerel’s city were devout to the god of control, Menahirin (which honestly now that I think about it, it might have been a homebrew god since I haven’t read about them in the canon). She came from the bond of an elven Menahirin priestess and a lowly human peasant, who decided to give in to their romance and sacrifice the lives they had at the city and escaped to somewhere safer.

In her youth, Odgerel was obviously confused by the decision to abandon the city and then decided to go back there searching for a good enough response. In her investigation she managed to find out that the High Priest of Menahirin had her same last name, turning out to be her grandfather. Her grandfather looked at her in disgust, knowing the story behind her, and promptly revoked Odgerel of her previous last name. Her new last name was Muunokhoi (Wild/Violent Dog, in a despective manner), and claimed that if she was to try and reclaim her heritage, she would have to give cult to Menahirin in a most peculiar way.

“He covets acts, not words- Take this dagger and rust its blade with the blood of our foes... When the rust grows the blade to that of a sword, your name will be as valuable as the one you were born.“

[amplexadversary]

I'll state from the beginning that I'm going way off-prompt here, but this feels like it would be good for an AU Laudna of Critical Role 3 fame. That idea kind of doesn't fit the "not a dark story" part though because the demon in this analogy would be Delilah Briarwood.

OP's prompt could be Laudna's backstory to a whole Mahou Shoujo AU for CR3 though. She wants to be a magical girl and all that entails, and Ghost!Delilah Briarwood sees her as an opportunity to crawl back to the world of the living.

Imogen and Fearne would be magical girls whose intended mascot/mentor actually is evil; something like a twisted version of Sailor Moon where Liliana-as-Queen-Serenity actually allies with Ludinus-as-Queen-Beryl (and the CR characters you would expect mapping on to Queen Beryl's other lieutenants.

Imogen's mom sends her nightmares telling her to run away from the cutesy mascot they've sent her; the mascot eventually drops her transformation trinket on her bed.

Fearne still lives with her grandmother, and while she also gets a transformation trinket, she kind of dismisses it, because her abilities as a sage that she picked up from her Nana are more useful to her by the time she gets it. (Almost analogous to if Rei/Sailor Mars ditched the trinket and instead drew power from her spiritualism and shrine maiden training)

Orym has a Badass Normal/Tuxedo Kamen thing going, but for every magical fighter in the city; his husband and father got got by one of Otohan's monsters of the week.

Dorian picks up a knockoff mahou-idol situation that more often than not favors girls but isn't exclusive*.

Ashton doesn't have a mascot; they just have a stray transformation crystal embedded in them (the glass in their head isn't a dome in this one - it's the Silver Crystal from Sailor Moon, but Chaos powered.) He's also more than a little angry that the whole "transforming magic warrior" thing make people assume they're a girl*.

FCG and Chetney are both victims of the "ordinary person gets turned into the monster of the week" trope that several Mahou works have (including one arc of Sailor Moon).

FCG is still a robot in this one, and in this version of events Ashton actually defeats them before adopting them. Whatever the villains are doing to turn people into monsters has a weird interaction with FCG being a robot and can't be completely removed, which gives another reason for Ashton to look after them.

Chet got turned the same way, but his transformation ran out of magic before anyone got around to defeating him. He's able to control it a little after that, both when he wolfs out and what he does during. His choice to keep the curse as well as his introduction to the rest of the party remain very similar to canon.

Eshteross and Bertrand's presence go against the standard for magical girl works by giving the magical warriors, for a brief period of time, someone outside the whole magic system to support and inform them. I'm imagining a situation similar to the magic shop in later seasons of Buffy, where Eshteross is a business owner that lets the newly-acquainted mahou team operate out of his store, while Bertrand Bell becomes an employee who is kind of

*I think it would be interesting for the different magic systems in an AU like this to have different relationships re. sex and gender to the concept of the Magical Girl. I think Ashton's trinket being kind of regressive in the gender department would give them one more very worthy thing to be angry at.

Magical girl who had wanted to be one so badly but never had that magical mascot/mentor encounter so she summoned a demon to contract with instead.

It's not a dark story or anything, the magical girl is just as cute and cheery and friendly as factory standard and never loses that faith and optimism, she's just Pact-bound to a frightening demon from the underworld instead of a cute teddy bear mouse.

[the-bloodsoaked-battlefield]

ARE YOU FROMTHE FUCK½NG SJW BLOG???L½TERALLY NBOBODY ELSE KNOWS ABOUT THE ½DENT½TY CR½S½S TH½NG HHHOLY SH½T

SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS ARE A CONCEPT CREATED BY YOU MORTAL FOLK AND IS A LABEL WHICH CANNOT BE APPLIED TO THOSE ASIDE FROM YOUR SPECIES.

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (06/05/23)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (9/10)

This book has been hyped up to the moon and back, so I was a little nervous going in, but I really enjoyed it! This book was packed to the brim with action, and I loved the romance. It is fundamentally a fantasy romance with the romance taking precedence over logic occasionally, but it was just so enjoyable to read. There's always something going on, I absolutely loved the worldbuilding, and the dragons, both their magic and personalities, were engaging and likable. Also, Yarros does a great job foreshadowing twists without over-compensating, which is an issue I run into frequently. I refrained from giving this book a 10/10 for two reasons. First, it is pretty cliche, and second, while I liked Violet and her skills, her personality is kind of cookie-cutter for NA romantasy protagonists.

Blood Bonds by J. Bree (8/10)

I pushed through this one last night so I could include it in the post. I will say that I hit a block with this one. It starts out with a ton of action and then it just kind of stalls in the middle. Oleander expresses frustration about being protected and doing nothing, and I was right there with her. Honestly, a lot of the action is starting to feel recycled in this book; the Resistance has like one plan of attack. The huge upside is Oleander's bonds. We're finally getting to properly know them, and North in particular has a miraculous redemption arc. As of right now, my favorites of them are Gryphon and Atlas. The reason this book is an 8 instead of a 7 is an absolutely crazy, jaw-dropping, insane plot twist at the end.

Into the Wild by Erin Hunter (8/10)

I am rereading the Warriors series with some of my friends, so this is the beginning of a hefty endeavor, especially considering how much more has been published since I last read it. While I remember some crazy stuff from this series, the first book is pretty standard. Honestly, you could probably transplant this plot into a high fantasy and nothing would be amiss. I do appreciate that even with a name like ShadowClan and their constant antagonism towards ThunderClan, the Erins did not decide to just straight make an entire Clan evil and instead create a corrupt ruler instead. As someone who has read the books before and is now like twice the target age, everything's very predictable, but I can definitely see some twists taking a fourth grader by surprise.

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (9/10)

Another reread, I'm starting from the beginning of KotLC because I don't remember much. I find the plot to this book super engaging, especially for middle grade, and it does a great job setting up a conflict that will last for over nine installments. The pacing is great, keeping the major reveals for later without stalling in the middle, and there's a ton of fun worldbuilding. Sophie is, obviously, ridiculously overpowered, but that presents a ton of obstacles by itself, and I find it incredibly interesting that she has to deal with her own existence not fully being her own, a complex concept for middle grade. I will say that, while not unexpected, the weird focus on romance was a little grating at times. Connected to that, I'm sorry, but I just don't like Dex. I can tolerate him, but I think the breaking point is when Sophie tells him some really devastating news for her and he just focuses on what it means for him.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Vol. 1 by Sing Shong (CR, 83%)

I've finally started reading ORV again! I hit a wall a couple of months back, but I've got the motivation again. I feel like taking this book at face value kind of leaves a lot of questions; it seems like a ton of plot development and worldbuilding with little if any attention to character. However, Kim Dokja is a very unreliable narrator in my opinion, and what he chooses to focus on is very telling. The conflict between his separation from the other characters, which is one of his main skills, and the natural human connection that blooms from these sorts of situations is so interesting. Also, I think I'm at a place where everything starts to pick up a little.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (CR, 13%)

I just got an ARC of this one, and it's very good so far. Silas is a very interesting main character, and his reactions to be forced to suppress natural parts of himself, specifically his autism and gender, are visceral. While I'm a little squeamish, the medical content is well-written, and so far I'm picking up on some very complex family relationships. I'm looking forward to continuing!

Fire and Ice by Erin Hunter (CR, 2%)

Second book in the Warriors series, and I've barely started. I'll likely end up finishing it later this week!

[realbooksonline]

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[kirider]

part two!

Lupat stuff: 1 and 2, aka "if I had a nickel for every time a green ranger died before the series started I'd have two nickels-"; 3 is pokemon headcanons for Noel ("lucario is yellow not gold" shhhh) (shiny thievul taken from donbrothers, hi); 4 is crossover with Girl×Heroine (I wanna watch it so badly I don't care if it's a kid-show) I'm pretty sure the girls are ooc in this but oh well; 4 is headcanon stuff that I still haven't decided if I wanna make it an arc in Team Bonding

Random bunch: 1 Goro and Kitaoka; 2 Gotchard made when they first showed him; 3 wheel challenge that I will definitely finish and totally isn't haunting me haha *sweat*; 4 Jisariz doodle made after episode 2; 5 is kitties; 6 THSH, Ichika deserves a skirt for the suit and of course I can't be normal about it but instead made headcanons for that

....when you have an idea but you can't figure out what to draw to share it. Anyways. Sky cotl brainrot, if you give me a manta of course I'm gonna think of Sky

Magical girl boys which I will finish. At some point. I hope. They're totally not haunting me haha. Ace is almost done tbh. I have more designs but they're still on paper and not in the folder

The only Ryuki and Knight I care about are the Card Warrior ones, sorry

Gosei stuff: 1 big piece that i haven't had the time to work on yet; 2, 3 and 4 are headcanons for angel culture (I thought too much about worldbuilding for them whoops); 5 Agri showed up with a red shirt once and I decided that they share clothes now; 6 episode 27 o|-(; 7 and 8 Philip and Hyde are friends in the tv bumpers, that's canon to me

Geats brainrot: 1 and 3 are from vocaloid songs; 2 is (distruction) Tsumuri and Ace made based only from the episode preview; 4 is because this last part of the series is very close to the prediction of the ending I made near the start, but with a different aesthetic; 5 I think they should play other games than fortnite /j (kirby, animal crossing, sky cotl); 6 (only the bottom half) is from the Lamentation arc, I wanna draw bubbles; 7 is one of the OOO crossovers, and an headcanon for Keiwa; 8 is Jamaity Buffa from the episode preview that I still want to go back to

ExAid brainrot, with a lot of Kiriya: 1 is various Kiriya forms from his various deaths; 2 this is from Tricks Lazer, they're in a RPG; 3 Kokoro Parad bc yes; 4 ....this requires me to learn a whole new skill I'll be back when I have time to learn it. I do love this Emu tho; 5 Combi Bakusou Bike ExAid; 6 screenshot redraw; 7 and 8 were for an animatic (8 is the planning, 7 is me taking a break from planning but staying on theme), but requires me making a whole choreography for it. Send help

More ExAid brainrot: 1 more Girl×Heroine crossovers; 2 music girlfriends; 3 Emu and Parad totally not exploring an abandoned PizzaPlex bc I've been watching too much Ruin; 4 trying to make a design for Nico (for one of the not-fics i made the cover for); 5 and 6 just hanging out in the CR office; 7 (it's still mostly on paper but It's in the folder ot counts) Lazer most fucked up transformation lesson my beloved

1 gold fusion final forms with ExAid and R/B; 2 I haven't met AkaRed but his concept sounds so cool can't wait to meet him; 3 episode one Gira; 4 ...oh boi. This is like a 10 part series. It's never gonna be finished. Why did I decide to have them on chairs.; 5 this is from a W au, unfinished bc I cannot figure out Wakana, sorry girl. Ryuga is a just a cameo in the au, this piece is where this comes from ; 6 and 7 are from the skates stuff. I love the skates stuff so many good tags

Tagged by @excadrill , thank you 🥰

RULES: Reveal the titles of the documents in your WIP folder and tag as many people as there are documents. Let others ask questions about the ones that interest them and post snippets or explain the contents as you see fit!

My tablet automatically names my files, so sadly can't share titles :(

But!!! I can share the thumbnails of some sketches! I'm always up to ramble about my drawings lol

There are a lot tho, bc i have the attention span of a goldfish and just keep jumping around stuff o|-( so I'm gonna put them in a reblog ...maybe two bc of the image limit

For the sake of everyone, I'm gonna share only stuff I've thought about recently, bc if I shared aaaall the wips we would be here all week lol. This is already gonna be so long as it is

Ignore the dates, they're a mess bc I tried to group them by series

Also, not tagging anyone, bc everyone I can think of rn already did it or has already been tagged. Except you. I'm tagging you. Yes you reading this. Do it.

[thecreaturecodex]

Eldest, Morrigan

“Morrigan” © Natalia Nesterenko, accessed at her ArtStation here

[Commissioned by @hiswrathundoesthewicked​. This is, to my knowledge, the first attempt at giving one of the Eldest, the fey equivalent of demigods in Pathfinder, a stat block. I borrowed formatting and abilities from the demon lords and empyreal lords in order to do so. Morrigan, or the Morrigan, is an Irish goddess of war and death, and casts a long shadow over modern interpretations of Celtic myth and culture, neopaganism, and the concept of fey in fantasy. So much so that there’s already two Eldest canonical to Pathfinder, Madgh and Shyka the Many, that poach some of her flavor. So I had to make sure that this Morrigan stood out and had a niche.

She also casts a long shadow over horny artists on the internet, although she does come by it more honestly than some other mythological figures. In surviving myths, she does try to seduce Cúchulainn, who refuses her, and has sex with the god Dagda before his battle with the fomorians. Both a Darkstalkers character and a Dragon Age character are named Morrigan in her honor, and both of them wear very revealing clothing. Most artistic depictions of the actual goddess Morrigan also involve deep cleavage, open robes and boobplate. Part of the reason I chose this art was because it looks regal and fierce and not at all sexualized.]

Morrigan The Phantom Queen, Queen of Crows N Eldest Fey of battle, death and scavengers Domains Animal, Death, Luck, War Subdomains Blood, Fate, Feathers, Tactics Worshippers druids, tengu, warriors Minions norns, valkyries, vilderavns Holy Symbol bird skull with blood painted over the eyes Favored Weapon bastard sword Obedience Wash your hands, face and weapons in blood. This can be your own blood or someone else’s. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saves vs. death effects Feysworn Boons 1. Battle Gift (Sp) deathwatch 3/day, spiritual weapon 2/day or vampiric touch 1/day 2. Fight On (Su) You gain ferocity as a supernatural ability. 3. Death to All Foes (Sp) You can cast wail of the banshee once per day.

Eldest, Morrigan CR 28 N Fey This woman is statuesque and muscled, with a cruel beauty. She appears almost entirely human, except that her hands are stained red and end in bird like talons instead of nails. She wears an iron crown and a cloak of black feathers.

Morrigan the Phantom Queen is the fey patron of warfare. Unlike many other powers of war, she is stridently neutral, giving succor or inflicting banes on warriors of any creed, cause or alignment as she sees fit. Her primary interest in war is in generating the dead and feeding her beloved beasts, scavengers all. Although in different places she may be associated with boars and eels, vultures and hyenas, her favorites are the crows, who act as her eyes and ears in the sky, and in whose feathers she is perpetually adorned.

Morrigan is more interested in turning the tides of battles than in fighting herself. She frequently visits battlefields in the form of a crow, using her spell-like abilities and curse of unluck to make a peasant into a hero, a king into a fool, and generally make wars more deadly and more interesting. She may offer her services intentionally to a warrior in exchange for some favor, but just as often bestows her gifts capriciously. In combat, she is deadly with sword and bow, and the grievous wounds she inflicts delay healing from all sources. Morrigan never fights to the death if she can help it, as there are so many other battles to influence and decomposers to feed.

The creatures that serve Morrigan come from all manner of alignments, interpreting her silences and cryptic pronouncements as they see fit. Norns attempt to weave her battles into their tapestries of fate, and she is on good terms with Madgh, their patron. Valkyries and einherji fight for her glorious honor, and take the finest warriors to join their ranks when they die. Vilderavns use her doctrines to destabilize nations and sew dissent among armies. Morrigan has cordial relations with the psychopomps, as she has little interest in the flow of souls. The Horseman of War despises her and views her as competition, but Morrigan pays that position little mind.

Morrigan               CR 28 XP 4,915,200 N Medium fey (Eldest, extraplanar, shapechanger) Init +10; Senses lifesense 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +51 Defense AC 47, touch 31, flat-footed 47 (+10 Dex, +6 deflection, +13 natural, +8 armor) hp 682 (35d6+560); regeneration 20 (deific or mythic) Fort +29, Ref +30, Ref +29 DR 20/epic and cold iron; Immune ability damage, ability drain, charms, compulsions, curses, death effects, energy drain, fear, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30, electricity 30, fire 30; SR 39 Defensive Abilities cloak of feathers, ferocity, freedom of movement, improved uncanny dodge, recovery Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good) Melee +5 adamantine bastard sword +36/+31/+26/+21 (1d10+20/17-20), claw +25 (1d6+7 plus curse of unluck) or 2 claws +30 (1d6+13 plus curse of unluck) Ranged +5 adaptive composite longbow +33/+28/+23/+18 or +31/+31/+26/+21/+16 (1d8+20/x3) Special Attacks festering critical Spell-like Abilities CL 28th, concentration +39 Constant—freedom of movement, shield of faith At will—astral projection, bestow curse (DC 25), greater teleport, haste (M), heroism (M), rage (DC 24), threefold aspect, vampiric touch (M) 3/day—blade barrier (DC 27) (M), finger of death (DC 28) (M), geas/quest, greater dispel magic, heal (DC 27) (M), harm (DC 27) (M), quickened mass bull strength, summon fey, transformation (B), vision 1/day—animal shapes, mage’s disjunction (M), power word kill (M), wail of the banshee (DC 30) (M) = can use the mythic version of this spell-like ability in her fey realm Statistics Str 36, Dex 31, Con 42, Int 30, Wis 29, Cha 33 Base Atk +17; CMB +28 (+32 disarm, sunder); CMD 58 Feats Alertness, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Disruptive, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Great Fortitude, Greater Disarm, Greater Penetrating Strike, Greater Sunder, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Critical (bastard sword, longbow), Improved Disarm, Improved Sunder, Improved Vital Strike, Penetrating Strike, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Quicken SLA (mass bull strength), Rapid Shot, Spellbreaker, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bastard sword, longbow), Weapon Specialization (bastard sword, longbow) Skills Acrobatics +48, Bluff +49, Diplomacy +49, Disguise +49, Fly +52, Heal +44, Intimidate +46, Knowledge (local, nature) +48, Knowledge (history, nobility, religion) +45, Perception +51, Sense Motive +51, Stealth +48, Survival +44 Languages Aklo, Auran, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Elven, Necril, Sylvan, telepathy 300 ft. SQ battle gift, change shape (animal, giant or humanoid, greater polymorph), Eldest traits, visions of murder, warrior fey Ecology Environment any land Organization unique Treasure double standard (+5 adamantine bastard sword, +5 adaptive composite longbow, 60 arrows, other treasure) Special Abilities Battle Gift (Sp) Morrigan can use her transformation spell-like ability as if it had a range of touch. Cloak of Feathers (Su) When wearing a garment made out of feathers, Morrigan gains a +8 armor bonus to AC without a maximum Dex bonus or armor check penalty, and a fly speed of 60 feet with good maneuverability. This is an effect of Morrigan, not her cloak. Curse of Unluck (Su) Claw—injury; save Will DC 38; frequency 1/hour; effect target must reroll any roll decided by the GM and take the worse result; duration until removed. The save DC is Charisma based. Morrigan also inflicts this curse with her natural weapons when assuming a form with natural weapons using change shape. Eldest Traits (Ex, or Sp) Morrigan is one of the Eldest, powerful fey lords that rule over domains of the First World. The Eldest have the following traits

The Eldest can grant spells to their worshipers, granting access to four domains and four subdomains

An Eldest’s natural weapons, as well as any weapon they wield, are treated as being epic and any alignment possessed by the Eldest

Immunity to ability damage, ability drain, charm effects, compulsion effects, energy drain and fear effects

Regeneration (Ex) Only damage from a deific or mythic source can     deal permanent damage to the Eldest

Rejuvenation (Ex) When an Eldest is slain, they return to life in its realm in 1d10 days. An Eldest may only use this ability once per year—if they are slain again in the meantime, they are slain for good.

Summon Fey (Sp) Three times per day as a standard action, an     Eldest can summon up to a CR 20 encounter of fey creatures or Tane (such as bandersnatches, jubjub birds, thrasfyr, sards, etc). This is the     equivalent of a 9th level spell.

Festering Critical (Su) Whenever Morrigan confirms a critical hit made against an opponent, that foe must succeed a DC 38 Will save or be unable to heal physical or ability damage from any source for 1 minute. Multiple failed saves increase the duration. This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Recovery (Ex) At the end of her turn, Morrigan can automatically shake off any one condition affecting her except for dead. If she is suffering from multiple conditions, she chooses which to remove each round. Visions of Murder (Su) By concentrating, Morrigan can see through the eyes of any crow within 100 miles that she chooses. Warrior Fey (Ex) Morrigan gains 11 bonus combat feats, and is treated as being a 20th level fighter for the purposes of qualifying for feats. She is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, in shields and in all armor.

Fey Realms An Eldest gains the following additional powers while in its realm (the statistics above do not include these abilities):

Mythic: An Eldest functions as a 10th mythic rank creature, including the mythic power ability (10/day, surge +1d12). It may expend uses of mythic power to use the mythic versions of any spell-like ability denoted with an asterisk (*) just as if the ability were a mythic spell.

Use of the following  spell-like abilities at will—demand, discern location, fabricate, major creation, and polymorph any object (when used on     objects or creatures that are native to the realm, the polymorph duration  factor increases by 6).

Use of the following spell-like abilities once per day—dimensional lock*, miracle (limited to physical effects that manipulate the realm or to effects that are relevant to the Eldest’s areas of concern)

Heightened Awareness (Ex): An Eldest gains a +10 insight bonus on Perception checks and Initiative checks.

[idrawsometimes]

Linktober Day 8: Constructs

I know this prompt was meant for the constructs in TOTK, but it made me think of constructing elaborate excuses to touch someone, because I am touch starved- or, uh, because my characters are touch starved. Yeah.

[harmonyowl]

And I Looked, And Behold...

So this was a sort of supernatural piece of writing I did for Far Cry 5 a few years ago which I found recently, I still kind of like the concept so I cleaned it up a bit and here it is!

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Mention of abuse, Mention of drug use, Mention of a dead bird

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First came War.

Contrary to common belief, this time War was the first to arrive when Jacob Seed was born.  Humans were odd-looking things when they were born, all lumpy and wiggly and squealing, and yet to War they were the least irritating at this age. They could not speak, could barely move, and they couldn’t think enough to come up with any stupid or abhorrent ideas that humans tended to come up with.

Jacob Seed was not War’s first Herald, and he would not be their last; he was just another one of many. Nothing more and nothing less. No one special. And yet they returned to that decrepit street in Rome, Georgia, bleeding red all over.  Every bit like the warrior that they tempt with their violence. The warrior of all warriors, the guiding hand of wrath.

Second came Conquest.

They appeared in a haze of blinding white: bright, pure, yet a harbinger of human impurity nevertheless.  Whenever Conquest lifts their hand, Heaven weeps and Hell cowers before them.  But Conquest was curious about Joseph Seed and his life, and they were rather surprised to see War still around years on from their Herald’s birth.

‘This one holds your interest?’  War just scoffed as they leaned against the door frame, Jacob’s childish talking being heard in the background. They weren’t particularly pleased to see Conquest, but they were not unhappy to see them either. Conquest did not appear on this mortal plane often, but when they did it was usually close to where War resided. Conquest and War tended to go hand in hand.

‘Don’t flatter it, I only came back here when I felt your presence.’  Conquest just hummed noncommittally as they peered into the cot that baby Joseph was laying in, he appeared to be sleeping.  It was hard to believe that these little things could be such vessels of destruction, but babies did grow up after all, and humans were probably the most destructive creatures Conquest had ever witnessed.

‘It is unusual for two of us to be from the same household, but it is not unheard of.’  Although both could barely remember the last time this had happened, a wispy memory that had become a product of time marching ever on in their minds.

Third came Famine.

War and Conquest both knew when they had arrived, they could feel it in the air when John Seed was born. The black of their energy flowed around them as they walked up the overgrown path to the house, but if the sunlight hit them right, sometimes they shined a beautiful blue. Such a slow and insidious creature, Famine could rip out the hope of any mortal they came across.

‘You two as well? Hm, this is quite a family event.’  They drawled out while running their fingers over a dusty windowpane. In the many years that the Horsemen had been on this Earth, of all the years in fact, they could safely say that not many things shocked them. It was hard to be surprised when you witnessed the worst things possible, when you were the worst things possible.

‘Very unusual indeed.’ Conquest mused as the three of them faced each other in the Seed House, War looking the least thrilled particularly since Famine had showed up. Always the killer of their best work. But three Heralds in one family in the same generation had never happened before, and if they kept returning for visits, they would all be seeing so much more of each other.

‘Do you think they’ll have another one and then Death will come and join us?’  War paused in dragging the whetstone down their sword at Famine’s words, looking up from their seated position at the figure leaning against the cot. John was inside and his constant screaming had become the backdrop to their afternoon, it was driving War crazy.

‘I hope not, it’s bad enough that I’ve had to deal with you two all this time.’  Famine scowled in response.

‘Well, no one is making you stay here. Isn’t there some war you have to go and start far away from here?’

‘Aren’t there some poor people for you to go and starve?’

‘Are you two quite finished?’  Conquest hissed from the doorway; newly fletched arrows clenched in their hand.

‘There is enough noise in this house with that incessant wailing, I do not need you two adding to it!’ War and Famine just bristled as Conquest left the room, the audacity to think they had the authority to tell them off. But to keep what frail peace there was in the house, they both silently went back to what they were doing.

Famine rubbed their temples with their fingers before letting out a frustrated noise. ‘If you’re going to procreate then look after your offspring, don’t just leave it to scream its lungs out!’  But John’s brothers were not back from school yet to soothe his tears and his parents weren’t around either.

‘That’s it,”  War stood up suddenly, sliding their sword back onto their hip. ‘I need to go somewhere more peaceful than here, like a conflict zone.’ The clinking of their armour and the sudden evaporation of their stifling energy in the house was all that signalled them disappearing.

Famine turned back to John, his little arms and legs kicking and moving as he cried, his face red from all the screaming he had been doing. Famine poked his little chest with their finger, face scrunched up as if they were touching something like rotting garbage.

‘Stop it.’  He didn’t stop crying, so they poked his chest again. ‘I said stop it.’  When Famine went back with their finger to poke him again, John’s chubby hands grabbed it when it was near his chest. They froze at the contact. John shouldn’t be able to touch them, yet here he was waving their finger around with both his hands like it was the best toy he��d ever had. He must have been able to see them, because instead of opening his mouth to cry like he had been doing all afternoon, John let out a little giggle as his blue eyes were focused on the black slowly engulfing his hands.

A creaking floorboard was heard, and Famine quickly pulled their finger away from John just as Conquest came in.

‘Its stopped crying.’  Famine lightly traced the finger John had been holding and hummed.

‘Hm, seems he finally ran out of air to spare.’

It quickly became evident to them how these three children would become Heralds of three Horsemen fated to bring the evil that comes with the apocalypse.  Wrath made humans do terrible things to one another, including those that they shared blood with. So, War and Conquest and Famine just watched as every beat of a fist bled war, and every crack of a belt carved conquest, and every fracture of a bone forged famine.  Every day there was a last resort, a final straw, today's was a Spider-man comic.

Joseph had resigned himself to his fate, kneeling on the ground outside his house with his back bared to his father. The street conveniently empty of people to witness the deed being done, and yet he swore he could see someone across the street watching him. A figure of some kind all in white that was very clearly looking at him. Joseph’s child mind could only think them one thing, for only an angel would be here with him now in his time of pain when it seemed his father could not see them. It comforted him, knowing that an angel watched over him, to imagine their face in his time of suffering. To picture them soothing him softly with gentle touches as they made all the hurts from his father disappear.  It made Joseph feel special, like God still loved him enough to send one of his celestials down to watch over him. He was not damned.

The day the Seed family was split up was the day War rejoiced. They did not have to see as much of Conquest and Famine as they did while in that house. Death would be around, but Death was always around, and War did not mind their company so much.  They were a particular side effect of War’s brand of earthly evil anyway, especially where Jacob was going. For where else could an ex-criminal go but to war? The belly of their particular kind of beast.

Their mere presence could bring out the worst aspects of human nature, uncover their primal instincts, their will to survive. It’s what led to Jacob murdering his friend and then eating him, that burning word in the back of his head pounding with every shaky step he took: survive, survive, survive. But he was only human. And carrying around a physical and psychological heaviness would weigh him down, even make him fall to the ground.  Jacob briefly wondered about not getting back up.

‘Come now soldier, you can do better than that.’  He was hallucinating, it was the only explanation. Why else would there be someone looking down at him in the middle of nowhere? Their face wasn’t particularly clear, and he couldn’t even tell if they were a man or a woman, but Jacob could see red that much he did know. Or it was at least what he felt he could see. But their voice was pleasing to his ear, even if their tone wasn’t particularly kind. The soft hands that grabbed his own to pull him up were his next indication that they were obviously a hallucination, no one out here was going to have hands that soft. His exhausted brain couldn’t even cook up someone concrete.

‘Do not disappoint me again.’  When Jacob was hauled up to his feet he lost sight of them for a moment, but by the time he had straightened up they were gone anyway.  Clearly this was his bodies way of telling him to keep moving, to keep going forward. And so, he did, coming out of the other side of his war into the waiting arms of nihilism and the loving embrace of madness.  Yet a perfect soldier through and through.

Fourth came Death.

Black eyes. Soulless and inhuman, contrasted against the rest of their pale visage.  Piercing through the mortal barriers of skin and bone as they plucked out your soul with nimble fingers, as life fled from your body faster than it was given to you. No matter where you were, if you looked hard enough, you could always find Death lurking in the corner of your eye.

Rachel Jessop used to have an imaginary friend as a child. They were so odd-looking that Rachel thought they must be some Fae creature, but Rachel didn’t mind that, in fact she liked it.  They didn’t speak often, but Rachel liked talking to them and watching as they traced the scythe they wore on their belt with their long, black, fingernails. But when they did speak, young Rachel found that she liked their voice although she couldn’t place how to describe it, which she thought suited a creature of the Fae.  She would even idly wonder if they would let her touch their silky looking hair, but Rachel never asked.

Soon Rachel grew up and started to only find comfort when she was in a drug-induced stupor, she hadn’t seen her imaginary friend in a long time.  But sometimes when Rachel was so high she could barely move, she swore out of the corner of her eye she could see a flash of pale fabric or the feeling of a long nail gently running down her cheek. But what use was Rachel’s imaginary friend when Rachel no longer existed in this world? For now Faith was all that remained. Her imaginary friend felt clearer to her now.

Death stood atop a hill that offered them a large view of Hope County. Skies were blue, the wind was gentle, and the air was peaceful. They could see where Eden’s Gate was establishing themselves for what was to come, for what other reason would the four of them be here in one place, at the same time together, except to be here for this ending? Death looked to their left to see Famine, War, and Conquest standing next to them in a line looking out at the County as well. Their black eyes traced over their chosen faces before returning to the calm scene laid out in front of them. Bare and waiting, paused in apprehension, as if this land knew what was coming to it. Death lifted the Rook they were cradling to their lips and whispered:

‘Come and see.’

Throwing the Rook into the air the four figures watched it fly high for a few moments before it stuttered, twitched, and then plummeted back to the Earth before landing with a splat in a pile of bloodied feathers and crushed cartilage, right on the steps of the church.

Death looked back over to their left to find their brethren now looking at them, Conquest tilted their head slightly. Their civility truly a paradoxical mockery of this world.

The pale hand then pulled the scythe from their own belt, and as they moved the handle grew until it was longer than their form, the curved blade large as it stood above their head. With long nails they reached up and flicked the metal of it, it sounded like thunder.

‘Come and see!’

[my-reality-my-rules]

When you shifted to your drs, have you met people that didn’t exist in canon of shows/books/movies?

[thanks for this ask!]

yep! i got excited seeing this question because some of the people (and creatures, too) I've met are genuinely fun to interact with.

[also, note that when i shift to my DR's, i do it in accordance with CR time. that means 1 DR day = 1 CR day. i stopped scripting in 1 DR day = 7 CR hours sometime november—i wasn't in the best state then, and had been weighed down by lapses of memory. that's why i decided to play it out in equal time—so i don't immediately forget about anything ((: ]

- - -

(1) naruto DR

I've met a few members of the uchiha clan, along with some healers who were brought in at the time i was injured (i made a post on this last year). I've interacted with my clansmen just recently. one of my favourite people so far is a middle-aged woman named Hisa, who's not actually a relative by blood. much as it pains me to say it—she's a concubine to one of my removed cousins, Jikichi. her brother Kousei's a taikomochi, and has eyes in the daimyō's court. it's one of the reasons why they were allowed to associate with our clan at all.

hisa reminds me of one of my old guidance counselors. she's not particulary inspired, only that she wants to get by in life, and cares for her children. the woman's also really sweet—she's not fond of gossip (though she does like listening in at times), seems to be the type to give good advice, and mostly keeps to herself. if nothing else, i think she's genuinely honest with a lot of things. she's also someone i liked conversing with because of her calm demeanour.

there's a lot of sexism and classism going around—i won't sugarcoat that. the warring states era in the naruto DR i have is parallel to that of japan's edo period. hisa's family was of relatively middle/low standing, not to mention that she and her brother don't have...the 'better' jobs, if you will. they don't do anything untoward, but their reputations aren't the best (though not the worst, either). additionally, while female warriors aren't rare, this was a time where women aren't expected to go to war either. hisa's really kind—while she disapproves of my career choice, she doesn't make an effort to discourage me from it, either.

- - -

(2) harry potter DR

my tutors, and a few house-elves! regarding the former; even before i shifted, I've already taken an interest in magical history and wizarding politics. i was able to get one of my uncles to hire two foreign witches (an ecuadorian, eva flores; and a canadian, marie philidar).

for magical history, I'm being taught about the origins of the triwizard tournament. it's yet to happen in my DR, and there's only been gossip about it. luckily, I've been told about it beforehand, and it's why i paced my studies alongside it. we're currently discussing the medieval age—specifically international relations in europe, how the launching of the first tournament affected other countries, and why it was only originally 3 schools who participated.

for wizarding politics; i scripted beforehand that the magical world also has its own versions of philosophers and economists. i remember being frustrated when reading the official pages (as well as other fan sites) and could only find curriculum-related content (ex. potionmaking and basic astronomy). it's practically the same concept with muggle politics—with the obvious change of having to study magical laws and pureblood history.

as for house-elves; we own quite a number of them. I've already made a post regarding my DR family—so it shouldn't be much of a surprise. the malfoys have them, the grindelwalds have them, the martells have them. they look exactly as depicted, with bat-like ears and leathery skin. the martell house-elves, however, do not dress in rags. i had also been pleasantly surprised when i found out that one of the things my mother and my godfathers bonded over was a shared love for house-elves. barty had winky, regulus had kreacher (his family also had another named pops), and my mother catelyn had a personal one named tinsel (ownership was passed down to me after she died).

i don't interact with them as much as I'd like to, because for the most part, i have no reason to. they're mostly invisible—they keep to themselves unless you actually call for them. it's mostly just tinsel and winky (who was given a command to look after me) who i talk to. addtionally, I'm a bit cruel to say this, but they're...if nothing else, they're practically lapdogs, or gradeschool teacher's pets eager to please. everyone knows the controversy about house-elves, but for now, there's little i can do about it yet.

[battlinghurricanes]

DEIPHOBUS TIME!

I'm honestly not entirely sure how I got such a deeply involved concept for his character and motivations, but I definitely did. I just feel like he fits into an especially interesting place in everything and that there's a lot of great potential with him.

Shout out to @petalveinedwarrior for enabling me and also I'm very sorry for being incredibly long winded. My bad.

Also DISCLAIMER! I am NOT an expert on the Trojan War and all its surrounding mythology lol. This is just for fun, based on my own fairly limited knowledge of the myths (though I think I pretty much cover everything that’s relevant to this). These are just my headcanons woven with some details from various myths. Sorry if anything’s missing or inaccurate!

SO!

-

First and foremost, I headcanon Deiphobus as the oldest of Priam and Hecuba’s children after Hektor.

Hektor calls Deiphobus the dearest of his brothers, and to me, this is why. They are the closest in age and they were the closest growing up, best friends when they were young. They also get the closest to being on equal footing which means a lot to Hektor, who often feels distance between him and his other siblings because of being heir to Troy.

Despite the relatively equal ground and Deiphobus treating Hektor with a very casual familiarity, deep down, he idolizes him. Deiphobus adores and admires Hektor, ever a younger brother in how he looks up to his strength and intelligence and reliability but close enough in age to not feel the same envy as so many of their younger siblings.

Deiphobus is aware that he is next in line to inherit the throne of Troy after Hektor, and the possibility of that is more real to him than to the rest. He doesn’t envy or want the responsibilities Hektor has to bear being the first son and admires him for it rather than resenting him. He never wants the weight of Troy on his shoulders.

Additionally, as close as they are, Hektor confides more openly in Deiphobus than the rest of their siblings. Consequently, he has a more realistic idea of both the burden he bears and also the ways he struggles to manage it like any human would.

Deiphobus holds Hektor in the highest regard- he means the world to him. It is a strange and unique combination of relating to and understanding Hektor exactly as he is and then loving him so dearly for how remarkably he seems to do in all of it, all that Deiphobus adores and strives to be like.

Hektor calls Deiphobus the dearest of his brothers, but Deiphobus would never need to say the same of Hektor, that much has always been obvious.

Deiphobus himself is ferociously loyal, boastful and fiery proud, wild and energetic, and always quick to smile and laugh with a sharp sense of humor. He’ll defend his own with tooth and nail, Hektor first and foremost, and they make a well balanced pair. Hektor’s level headed sense of responsibility softens many of Deiphobus’s rough edges, and Deiphobus’s enthusiasm breaks through many of Hektor’s more anxiously formed reservations.

Deiphobus would do near anything for Hektor, to a concerning degree in the eyes of some, but Hektor, by his nature, isn't overly controlling. He doesn't want Deiphobus to change how he is. Mostly, the only place Hektor truly pushes him is on moral grounds, for better rather than for worse.

Deiphobus hates to spend time overthinking anything, which benefits him in some ways, but also frequently has him following the example of those around him without considering what might lean towards cruelty. Hektor never tolerates hurtful and needless rudeness or otherwise, and their friendship doesn’t spare Deiphobus his reprimands.

Hektor's needling, though, has him step back and reexamine his actions and the second look is generally what he needs to correct his missteps. Admittedly, he’ll sometimes act better in some way solely to please Hektor, but far more often than not, he’ll come to recognize why it’s best with time and continue that way from his own compulsion.

(He grows and his conscience sounds irritatingly like Hektor.)

Deiphobus is actually one of the best of his siblings at not holding a grudge. He might for drama or humor’s sake, but once a squabble is past, he’ll easily set it aside in favor of having fun with whoever he fought with.

Regardless of his flaws, Deiphobus is amiable and of the opinion that it’s never worth passing up a good time over some pettiness. He’s never one to ignore the value of little joys, no matter how fleeting they are.

Before the war, when he is still younger, there is Antheus. He’s the pretty son of Antenor, and both Deiphobus and Paris are quite taken with him. Paris’s involvement rubs him the wrong way, but he elects to ignore it as best he can. It doesn’t sit right to consider policing Antheus’s actions. He can hardly demand he stop seeing Paris while still insisting on his company, after all.

Besides, he can’t really complain. Antheus favors him with his presence often, laughing at his jokes, stealing off his plate when they share meals, tumbling with him when they wrestle. And when Antheus lifts his hand to idly toy with his lower lip as he smiles slyly at him, Paris is the last thing on Deiphobus’s mind.

Hektor teases him sometimes when he turns up ruffled from some exchange turned overzealous, but his flustered frustration pales in comparison to his excitement, so Hektor gets away with it. Oh, he loves Antheus and the feeling is so heady, better than the most potent wine.

Then it all shatters when some men rush into the palace with Antheus’s limp body carried between them. He was in the gymnasium with Paris, they learn. One throw from Paris with a warped discus and Antheus was gone. Deiphobus stares at the blood soaked in his lovely hair.

Deiphobus is ready to rip Paris apart, but when his brother is guided in after, there’s just no room for it. He’s in complete hysterics, shaking all over as he hyperventilates, and screaming would have gotten through to him no more than their family’s vain attempts to calm him down.

Paris is inconsolable afterwards. He retreats in on himself, though without any attempt to defend himself, first to give himself the blame. He makes for a pitiful sight, and at first, Deiphobus can’t stand being in his presence at all, to take his anger and grief out on him or otherwise.

It doesn’t take that long for Deiphobus’s anger to grow more painful than cathartic anyway and, well, it is hard to lash out at someone acting exactly how he feels. He feels the same heartbreak and pain he sees in Paris and he can’t find it in himself to rage against him when he’d rather just sit and cry himself.

Paris does take it upon himself to face Deiphobus after a time and claim responsibility for what happened that day. Deiphobus doesn’t forgive him, doing that feels... off, but he manages to convey that he won’t turn on him for the accident with Antheus. He thinks that might make Paris feel better but he can’t truly tell.

It all still hurts then, even as they try to get things to settle. Nothing but more time can do anything more to heal those wounds.

And time passes and then Paris returns from Sparta with Helen, and, well.

The brewing war doesn’t drive a rift between Deiphobus and Hektor, but it does force a new distance between them. The pressure on Hektor spikes and never eases, and the time he has to spare becomes exceedingly rare.

Much of the time the two would have spent for themselves together now shifts to working together to manage the complications that come with this new conflict; Deiphobus has new responsibilities to shoulder himself. More work, less play, but the mutual affection and respect between them remains just as strong as before.

Deiphobus can’t help but feel a certain bitterness over having the casual companionship of his brother taken away from him, but he does all he can to set it aside. He refuses to let it be another source of stress for Hektor, so often too caring for his own good, and he doesn’t hold it against him anyway.

As always, Deiphobus remains aware that these tasks could easily have been his and, privately, he feels woefully inadequate in the face of that possibility. And truly, it just serves to make Hektor even greater in his eyes, handling it all with grace he can’t imagine. He knows he’s not perfect, yet still, it’s hard to imagine that anything could ever truly bring Hektor down.

And so, Deiphobus helps his brother in the ways he can and loves him as ever, always ready and eager to fight at his side.

Deiphobus leads a contingent himself, and does it well. It comes easier to him to manage a smaller group like that. He does as directed and guides his men through the fighting. One can say what they will about his ability to lead, but his capability as a warrior is undeniable.

Things shift between Deiphobus and Paris as well. Much of Troy turns on Paris, some faster than others. Deiphobus ignores the greater dramatics which, in his opinion, help nothing. Still, it is often tempting to berate him for his flippant disregard of the battles so he does, which is, admittedly, not entirely unwarranted.

However, Deiphobus and Paris share a mutual, unspoken understanding that they simply cannot focus on the war at all times. Sometimes it must be set aside. This is more often true to Paris than to Deiphobus, but that invites Deiphobus to keep Paris’s company when he can no longer bear all the stress.

In turn, when Deiphobus approaches him like that, Paris can trust not to be reprimanded as he so often is, as that gets ignored along with the rest of it. So there are times during the war where the two can be found together affably, chatting about nothing important. Their personalities can still mesh in such moments.

And, well, it’s shocking how steady things can stay over nine years of war, but they do. Death and loss become far too familiar companions, but they can do nothing but keep fighting through that, and things proceed much as they have been.

Until, of course, Achilles.

With all the cruelty of fate, it of course follows after they get the closest to driving away the Achaeans as they ever have. Such a brief, amazing hope. In his unmatched fury, Achilles slaughters their soldiers, butchers many of his brothers, escapes Scamander’s rage through the grace of the gods, and drives the army behind Troy’s wall with his advance, except for-

Then-

Hektor is dead.

Deiphobus tastes blood in his throat screaming at the sight behind the chariot.

In a way, it’s a blessing that it takes twelve days to get Hektor’s body and another twelve to bury it. With his death, command of Troy and her allies has passed to Deiphobus, and he could barely lead his own horse after losing Hektor, much less an army.

Deiphobus falls to pieces. He can barely process it, losing the one he held in the highest regard, held every confidence in, believed in to his core. Hektor was the best of all of them and now he’s dead, leaving him shattered. Deiphobus is hysterical, wildly heartbroken.

In this time is when Priam first turns on his remaining sons. He lashes out at them as he prepares to ransom Hektor’s corpse, degrading them as the most worthless of his sons. Still half blind with tears of grief he can’t hold back, he thinks that it’s true in the same moment he thinks of how he will now have to take Hektor’s place, worthless ruin though he is.

Most often, Priam refrains from speaking of his remaining sons after that, and in rare, fleeting heartbeats he almost seems contrite over cursing them. Neither is enough though to keep him from savagely reproaching them in unpredictable instances as Troy continues to spiral towards its doom. Deiphobus shakily chokes down his father’s abuse without a word.

Of course, he returns to the battlefield once Hektor is buried, coming to truly learn the crushing weight of his new role. How did his brother bear this? Every day feels like one failure after another; he’s not strong enough, not smart enough to do this. He tries anyway, each day more taxing than the last.

Deiphobus can hardly bear Paris after Hektor’s death. A large part of him hates him for it, desperate to pin the blame on someone despite knowing deep down that he’s not responsible. Though, even then, part of him is drawn to Paris, broken same as him, shaped by a sort of desperation to grieve for their brother with him. Misery loves company.

His anger burns hotter, but now he can’t bring himself to berate him even in the way he did sometimes before all this. He never confronts him with his hatred, such that it is. He simply avoids Paris entirely, knowing that if he indulges in the impulse to curse him for what happened to Hektor, he would fall apart at the seams.

Even now he can’t face the truth of what happened and keep going. It is all he can do to try never to think about it.

And then, with the aid of Lord Apollo, Paris kills Achilles.

The undecided limbo of Deiphobus’s feelings towards Paris topples into something like affection the moment he hears of it, connecting them once more. Paris has destroyed Hektor’s murderer, avenging him, and that matters to Deiphobus more than anything else.

That night, the two of them drink together until it half kills them, close enough to keep knocking shoulders as they revile Achilles with the worst profanities they know. It’s the only celebration they can muster after everything, but they’re both laughing for the first time since they lost him.

(When the night grows damnably late, Deiphobus’s attempt to laugh turns into retching and Paris collapses to the ground when he tries to get up to help. They suffer the agonizing morning together.)

They make a strange pair from then on. Friendship would be a generous word given the still unavoidable tension between them, but they somehow manage to maneuver around that and share a certain closeness. They maintain it despite differences that grind against each other. Sad as it is, it’s one of the only things either of them have left.

Paris and Deiphobus also weather Priam’s spontaneous tirades together. Usually wordlessly, but there is something to be said for the company of someone enduring the same pain you are. It is a quiet solidarity, but a significant one.

They talk of the war far more often now. Every day it devours more and more of their lives, always harder and harder to ignore or set aside. On rare occasions, they do still manage it. Those conversations make for a breath of fresh air, though that does little to stave off the feeling of drowning.

And then Paris takes a poisoned arrow and dies.

Deiphobus doesn’t wail and sob in the same way he did for Hektor. He’s too numb for it now. It hurts in an unnatural, distant sort of way. All he can muster is a ugly, stilted feeling of shame for letting himself come to care for him in the first place. Of course he would die like the rest, he should know this by now. He crumbles further.

After Paris’s loss, there's only two reasonable options for what to do with Helen. Either they need to return her to Menelaus or arrange a new marriage and keep her in Troy.

Helen pleads to be returned to her first husband but Deiphobus competes with Helenus to be the one who weds her. Troy does not stop them. There is a quiet but tangible tension to the city and he doesn’t think their people would tolerate Helen departing. He competes with everything he has left and he wins. And they marry.

That first night, Helen stares at his back while sitting in her new place on his bed. She expected to be treated like a piece of meat, a feeling she's grown well used to through living her life under the eyes of men, but he's barely even looking at her. He fought for her hand with an undeniable, feral sort of desperation. What was it for if he doesn't even want her?

"Why?" she asks him. "Why bother going through every effort to marry me only to be so cold now? What do you want?" Her voice would cut razor sharp if only she wasn't so tired.

He turns to face her with bloodshot eyes narrowed in a glare, riddled with barely restrained anger and grief. "I'm not letting you leave," he forces out and Helen pushes down the urge to scoff because that much is obvious.

"It has to be worth something," he continues. "There has to be something we fought for. If we just let you go back, then it won't have been worth jack shit." He paces, not looking at her again. "I won't allow that. Don't think you can avoid all this so easily now that Paris is gone. There has to be a point. My brother is dead because of this shit! If you're gone, then what would be the fucking point?!"

His brother. He means Hektor. He means Paris. He means every last one of them, so many dead. He means Hektor.

Helen doesn't reply. There is nothing she can say to that. For all that it doesn't make a difference, what he's laid before her is something she knows well. She's spent so long now berating herself and blaming herself for all that's come to pass and she understands. She hates this, all she wants is to go home, but she understands him.

She knows that they both hate each other and themselves all in equal measure. What a wretched pair they make, Helen thinks.

Not that they make much of a pair at all. They're rarely ever together. Deiphobus camps outside whenever he can, and when he can’t, he goes out of his way to avoid her. Helen accepts it as the best she can expect from the truly miserable situation this has become. The war drags on, but the truth hangs in the air that Troy is losing.

Then the horse.

The people, starving so desperately for peace, bring it inside the walls. Deiphobus tries to be cautious. He tries to think of what Hektor would have done. He commands Helen to walk around the horse, calling out in the voices of the Achaeans' wives. If there's some wretched spy or invader, let them show themselves. He'll kill them.

No one answers. Deep down just as desperate for peace as them all, he breathes a sigh of relief and leaves the damn horse.

He hopes the Achaeans filled their mouths with blood, biting their tongues as hard as they must have.

Troy is burning. The Achaeans fill the streets with slaughter; they are everywhere. Reunited with her husband after so, so long, Helen tells Menelaus where Deiphobus is. And so, Deiphobus dies alongside Troy.

(Deiphobus and Hektor meet again in the Underworld and Deiphobus tries to apologize for his failure to keep Troy safe. Hektor will hear none of it, refusing any of the anger he has every right to put on him. Still, a long time passes where Deiphobus silently and anxiously wonders if that was a lie, if Hektor truly does hate him for what happened.

Hektor keeps throwing him tense, unsettled glances sometimes when he thinks he’s not looking, even though he never says a thing. Each one worms further and further underneath his skin and he starts to squirm under the conviction that he’s done something wrong. Something Hektor holds against him.

When it finally grows so unbearable that Deiphobus confronts him about it at last, Hektor flinches and doesn’t disguise his fear and upset. Deiphobus braces himself. But then, mangled in with confusing, ashamed apologies, Hektor recounts for the first time how he died.

Athena luring him to his death in Deiphobus’s shape, speaking in his voice. How he turned to face Achilles believing he had support. When he called for a spear from his brother, he was alone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I think of it at all, I’m so sorry I let you believe I was angry with you because of it. I’m not, it had nothing to do with you, you shouldn’t have to know of it at all. I just- remember it sometimes. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Deiphobus feels nauseous. Hektor looks even more so.

“If I had actually been there-”

“No! Don’t do this. Achilles would have just killed you too.”

“We wouldn’t have died alone, then.”

They clutch at each other, these battered remnants of their souls, carrying with them the wounds of their lives.)

[homebrewstayinn]

Quick Build Sundays #1 - Dryad

Hey everyone! This is the first in a new series of posts I plan on doing, where I take you through a simple character build for 5e that can let you play as your favorite homebrew race concept without actually using any homebrew at all. I can't promise it'll be every Sunday, but I'm going to make an effort to at least post them more consistently than my homebrew content, since they're a lot easier to do.

Before we start, some simple ground rules:

Any official WotC-published material is fair game, especially the Custom Lineage race option from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

No homebrew or Unearthed Arcana, period.

Builds can't require higher than level 5, and should aim for level 3 or lower. Feats are allowed, and multiclassing is allowed but only as a last resort.

Flavor is free, but sticking close to official flavor or using features that directly encourage reflavoring in their descriptions is preferable when possible.

The goal is to have fun. These builds won't be optimized or involve any number crunching, just picking a concept and trying to recreate it as accurately as possible.

And so, without further ado, I present the first quick build of the series - the Dryad! This version is based primarily on the Monster Manual stat block for dryads, which are a CR 2 creature.

Race: Custom Lineage This lets us get 60ft of darkvision along with the Fey Touched feat, which we'll use to increase our Wisdom and get the ability to cast misty step and charm person. We can't get a true Tree Stride ability this early on, but a little flavor on misty step can take care of that, and charm person is an excellent replacement for the dryad's charm ability. I recommend taking Sylvan as your choice of language as well. ‎

Background: Outlander You're a literal nature spirit, the incarnation and avatar of a single specific tree. It only makes sense that your background should reflect that isolated, naturalistic lifestyle. For your background language, I recommend you pick up Elvish, and I personally like the pan flute for the instrument proficiency, though anything can work nicely there. ‎

Class: Ranger 3 (Swarmkeeper) As a nature spirit, you're uniquely suited to being a druid or ranger. I'll go with ranger here for a bit of fun with Swarmkeeper flavor, but you could easily do this build with druid as well, since they both get all of the spells from the dryad stat block. The Druidic Warrior fighting style lets us pick up a couple of druid cantrips, in our case specifically druidcraft and shillelagh. For our other spells, we want to take goodberry, entangle, and whatever else you feel fits. Make sure to pick up barkskin and pass without trace when you reach level 5! The Primal Awareness optional feature will also give us access to speak with animals, which ticks another box on our list, though we can't quite pull off talking to plants yet. Gathered Swarm encourages you to flavor the appearance of your swarm to your liking - in this case, we'll get a little extra creative and have our swarm be a mass of roots and vines that we control instead of a bunch of tiny fey creatures.

And there you go! By level 2, you can be playing a shockingly effective recreation of a dryad, and by picking up Swarmkeeper at level 3, we can lean even harder into that magical fey plant vibe with some control over the plants around us. There are a small handful of things missing from this build, though:

We can't really get a true equivalent to Tree Stride, but you can flavor misty step instead and it should work just fine.

We can't get the ability to talk to plants just yet, but with Primal Awareness giving us speak with animals we can manage the animals part at least.

We can't get magic resistance, which is probably for the best anyway, it's a bit overpowered.

As always, you can tweak things about this to fit how you want to play. Maybe you'd prefer to be a druid, or even a Nature cleric! Even beyond that, though I hope this post gives you some inspiration on how you can start to think more creatively about what you can do without homebrew in 5e, and maybe inspire you to play the character you never thought you could.

If you have any suggestions for ideas you'd like me to try for this series, let me know! A reblog, ask, or reply are all great ways to get in touch =)