#desdemona jaffres

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so I was tagged by @thevulturesquadron​ to share some pics of my OCs faceclaims. thank you, darlin’!!

so hmm this is pretty difficult because I like looking for faceclaims (even though I don’t hold that a priority when making a character) but everyone I find is just so pretty!!!! and I like especially my dnd characters pretty rough-looking!!!! but I’ve done my best here

oh and I’m gonna focus on dnd characters here since they’re the only ones I have thought of faceclaims for

tagging: @that-one-tall-dorky-dude and @alivewiththesun and @emrize and @shuurima (again lol but I just rly love all your characters and npcs [eyes emoji] and also everyone who wants to do this!!

Valdis Kalgarrak

so this here is Michaela Bercu from Vogue Italia in 1988, and I consider that face as close to Valdis’ as it gets. still could look rougher, but I suppose it’s hard to find pretty pics of people with scars and a broken nose and such. the hair is pretty good, too, although Valdis has darker skin and very light grey eyes, but honestly this is the best pic I’ve ever found. the moment I saw it, I just went “that’s Valdis!!”

Frida Moore

the model is Misha Hart and the pic is taken by Jaan-Erik Fischer

this was probably my easiest faceclaim to find, since Frida is actually p young and sweet-looking like most girls on pinterest. the hair matches perfectly, too, so that’s nice. 

so then of course shit happened and Frida aged 42 years and is nowadays a spry 64-year-old granny. this is how I imagine her looking now. still goddamn gorgeous. the model is Yashmeena Rossi, but I’m not sure who took the picture

Desdemona Jaffres

took me a while to find this one, too; I’ve always imagined Des looking thoroughly Eastern-European, and finding any suitable pics with that specific goal in mind was difficult. then I stumbled upon this one, and even though it’s not a 100 % match, I’m holding onto it until I find something that fits her better. idk who the model is but the pic is from this article

okay so now a couple of npcs in my campaign just because I love them and their faces and I’m excited to show them off

let us start with the boys since I just listed three ladies

first one from the left is Tigran the halfling courier. he is short and freckled and I love him. the model is Lee Tae Kyun, the photographer is Lee Young Hak for Grazia Korea Jan 2017

the second one is Felix, my magical merchant guy. his character was actually born from that very pic; I saw it and I just knew that I needed a mage character who looked like that and who is incredibly flashy and has a general store. idk who the model is (his instagram seems to have been beard.on.fire at some point, but not anymore??) but the photographer is Adrian Blachut

last but not least, Quentin the human --. something. my players don’t know yet (8 . but he is a bookkeeper and one of the leaders of the Assembly, and man it was hard to find a pale man who looked like the most slytherinest Slytherin. Tom Felton wasn’t an option, sorry. model is Emil Andersson, pics by Carlos Montilla

also I now realize that I can’t drop any more characters since either they’d be spoilers or I just don’t have faceclaims for them yet.

ah well. this was fun!!

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character ask thing (for all three girls if you're up for it!): 3, 14, 15, 21, 23, 28

aaaaa thank you so much for asking, friendo!!

3. Biggest regret?

oh man this is p easy. listen, Valdis has been more or less consciously working on her guilt and feelings of failure regarding the deaths of her brother and his family, but she still has ways to go on that front. but she’s not as consumed by guilt anymore.

Des on the other hand has convinced herself that it was right to kill her lover (who had a wife and a small child, but upon finding out about her husband’s infidelity the wife killed herself) but somewhere in the back of her mind Des regrets that more than anything. 

Frida’s simultaenously very YOLO and All The Regrets, but her biggest regret is def drinking that potion of heroes that aged her 42 years and tldr made her pretty insane

14. Most heroic thing they have ever done?

Valdis and her party killed a god. I feel like I need to put that out there. but idk she’s not very heroic otherwise. I mean, she’s gotten some pretty badass HDYWTDTs but most of the stuff she does isn’t glorious, it’s gritty and dirty and done out of necessity. tbh I’m not even sure what heroic means. like, is it supposed to be glorious?? idk one of my fave memories is when the party was in the underdark on an invisible bridge that suddenly started disappearing, and Valdis held onto everyone with her amazing strength and kept them from falling. that is, until the bridge disappeared and they all fell.

Des isn’t super heroic either, and since the campaign she’s gonna be in hasn’t started yet, I think I’ll just say that her heroic deeds are yet to come (she did kill one evil knight boss in the last campaign she was in tho)

Frida isn’t a hero either. the biggest win she’s got is killing a rat swarm by herself. I think story-wise drinking that potion of heroes or whatever its name was was pretty heroic, but it didn’t turn out too well for her so.

15. Most despicable thing they have ever done?

um, Valdis once tortured a duergar for information. she pushed knives under his fingernails and in the end cut off his ear. Good Times.

Des is an assassin. before she got her moral compass in order she used to kill people just for the sake of money. so I suppose that valuing money and personal gain over human (and other humanoid) lives is pretty despicable.

idk I suppose I gotta mention Frida’s drug addiction here, even though that’s now in the past. I haven’t thought of the exact things she’s done for drugs, but I imagine some have been pretty despicable, although I think Frida can mainly just be pathetic at worst.

21. How did they become an adventurer?

Valdis initially became a mercenary because she was good at it and liked traveling, and then she got swiped into all this end-of-the-world-ish stuff and now she’s too attached to her party to stop running with them

Des…… idk yet. right now she’s just an assassin for hire. I think my dm will have some motivation for adventuring planned for her. for now I think Des could become an adventurer because it’s a good way to see the world, get rich and stay a step ahead of some people she doesn’t wanna see. she also rly likes the idea of making the world a better place, so that’s plenty of reasons actually.

Frida ended up as an adventurer partially on accident, really. she, too, was mercenary to begin with, albeit not a very good one, and she’s just tried to keep on the move and earn enough money to pay for her addiction. her party was initially looking for a place to settle down and form a mercenary guild, but it seems they’ve become traveling mercenaries and adventurers now

23. Thoughts on death?

Valdis has seen so much death, especially that of loved ones, lately that her stance on death has changed, I think. death used to be something that happens to everyone sooner or later and it’s useless to try to avoid it, but now, especially when she’s recently discovered that dead people don’t necessarily have to stay dead, death’s become…… a thief, I guess, that takes what’s not theirs and gives nothing back. a lot of people have died around Valdis before their time lately, and it’s starting to piss her off. tldr; I imagine that if Valdis ever gets a chance to meet the Raven Queen, she’ll be angry at her. (stop taking people that matter to her gdi)

as an assassin Des thinks death is a solution. I also think she tends to think of herself as immortal, or maybe unkillable is the best word. overall Des has like. a flippant attitude towards death. how could she not when she can just dish out death?? I think that if anyone needs a chat with the RQ, it’s Des.

as for Frida, it’s really amazing how someone so eager to play with their own life can fear death so much. Frida wanted to be a healer to begin with, and she’s kind of obsessed with keeping people alive. at the same time she’s terrified about her own situation because she’s a young girl in an old woman’s body and she’s scared of the day she dies of old age.

28. What do they do between quests?

I imagine Valdis taking care of her armor and weapons a lot in her freetime. she enjoys reading to some extent when she’s feeling like it, likes exploring and hanging out with her friends (she’s not super big on unfamiliar people)

Des cares about her weapons, too, and I think she’d be rly into shopping. she also likes spending time with people and basically just chilling and doing nothing much.

Frida likes crafts, like crocheting. she’d enjoy hanging out with people, too, but there aren’t any people in her party who she’d want to hang out with atm.

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You, for any of your OCs: B, E, F, G, H

I’m just gonna do…. fukc it I’m doing all three

B) What inspired you to create them?

WELL for Valdis originally I just had this idea about a middle-aged dwarven ex-mercenary lady who owns a tavern and is completely settled down but has to pick up her warhammer again for one reason or the other

of course I ended up embellishing that a little bit, mostly because of a calculation error that landed Valdis a lot younger than I originally intended her to be, and the tavern went to her brother instead and she got a sad childhood and such

for Des I just thought of a feminist vigilante assassin who’s also a prostitute. I thought it was a fun concept

and Frida? I just figured it’d be fun to play the sweetest girl ever who just wants to heal people and be the best cleric, but she also struggles with a crippling drug addiction. nobody in my party saw that coming

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

I love all my girls but I don’t know if I’d get along with any of them. I mean, we’d get along the same way you get along with friends of friends at parties, but I don’t think we’d rly hang out

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

I’m v proud of all my characters because I think that it shows how much thought I’ve put in all of them and their personalities. I also sometimes feel sad when I think about them because oh god they’re all just such sad people. I hope they get to get better

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

o shit hmm

I generally think that both negative and positive traits are fun to play, but if I actually met them, I’d probably be v tired of Valdis’ tendency to hold onto grudges and Des’ fickle judgement and belief about her always being right and Frida’s mix of hedonism and guilt and her addiction to her addiction

H) What trait do you admire most?

I would give so much to be as buff as Valdis is. she’s STRONG, y’all. I’d also love to be as nimble as Des is and to be as compassionate and caring as Frida is.

thank you so much for asking, anon!!

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I've been working on my dnd moodboards for like an hour now and I'm not gonna talk about my npcs because all my players are following me here but all my three pcs are so sad and they break my heart Valdis is constantly spiraling downwards, like both me and our dm agree that she's a tragedy, and tragedies can only end in death or redemption. I'm not sure whether redemption is even a possibility at this point. she's so sad and tired. Des is just rage. like, Valdis is actually known for being angry but it's the tired, helpless kind of anger while Des' anger is boiling over so much she's passed the point of rage and become wrath that no amount of justice can satisfy. that wrath just hides behind layers and layers of jokes and smiles and flirting. Frida is just lost and desperately trying to cling to whatever she still has left of herself.

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1, 2, 24, 33, 45 for both your dnd girls! :3

eeeee thank you friendo!!

1. A little-known talent of your OC?

ooohhh um oh man I hadn’t thought of this. no wait I know

Valdis can benchpress people. like, actual living people. she’d do that with her niece and nephew sometimes just for the sake of playing and getting them to laugh, and then later with her mercenary buddies when they wanted to see exactly how strong she is and that’s the story of how Valdis ended up benchpressing a laughing tipsy elf wearing a chain shirt

Des is flexible af and can do bridges and walk on her hands. it’d def be her party trick if she was ever invited to any parties and if doing handstands in skirts was a good idea.

2. What trait does your OC like best about themself? (Eyes, guitar skills, random bird facts, etc)

Valdis likes her body and especially her muscles. not just because HNNGGHH STRENGTH ME SMASH but like, she likes how her body looks. she likes how the life she’s led is drawn on her skin in scars. it reminds her of all the battles she’s won or at least walked away from.

Des really likes her snake tattoo. it’s basically this big picture of a snake curling around her entire right arm, starting at her collar bone and stopping at her wrist. also Des likes her face and her body in general and also she likes the charisma she’s built up. yeah, Dessy isn’t one for self-hating

also they both quite like their similarly shitty sense of humour

24. Something you like that your OC would hate?

ooohhh hmm. I like drawing and I’m pretty sure Valdis would absolutely despise drawing just because she’s shit at it. even her handwriting is crappy. oh and cocktails. I like margaritas but Valdis doesn’t drink

oh and I feel like Des would hate walking barefooted outside because she’s a city girl and if you go walking barefooted in city, you’re bound to step either in glass shards, nails or shit. OH AND SHE HATES CLIMBING. yes I actually like climbing. Des hates it. her strength is 6 so not only she hates it but she’s also tremendously bad at it. those two things are probably connected

33. A song that reminds you of your OC?

OHHH PREPARE YOURSELF

I Will Never Die by Delta Rae is my ultimate Valdis song, but I also rly like Papaoutai cover by CUT_ for her and her family issues and also The Sun by Parov Stelar for the mercenary days and and If I Had A Heart by Fever Ray for that period after the deaths of her best friend, her brother and his family (and also because sometimes she wonders if she doesn’t have a heart because she doesn’t feel romantic love oops) and honestly I have more but maybe these’ll be enough for now

and honestly every song Gin Wigmore has ever made fits Des super well but Oh My and Devil In Me are probs my favourites for her (but honestly ALL OF THEM are so good). basically all Des’ songs are either about how the guy she was in love with fucked her over or how she kills people for money. Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde and Good Girls by Elle King fall into the latter category. Des is bad news if you’re against her

(I have so many songs for these two honestly but I gotta control myself)

45. What kind of self-esteem does your OC have?

it’s complicated :’’’D

Valdis’ self-esteem was basically crushed by her abusive father and it took her years to start rebuilding it again. on bad days she still feels worthless as a person, like people only value her because of her strength so that they can hide behind her when shit hits the fan, but otherwise her self-esteem is….. well it’s kinda fragile and not very big but it’s there. she accepts it.

Des on the other hand has great self-esteem but a shitty sense of self-worth. like, she has a pretty realistic image of what she’s good at and she appreciates herself as she is, but she also grew up in poverty and spent a decade working as a prostitute and she was treated like shit for both of those things so she doesn’t consider herself very valuable as a person. that’s why she sometimes has trouble understanding the amount of impact the decisions she makes can have on her environment and the people around her.

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† and (・∀・ ) for Valdis and ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ and ☂ for Des. Kisses!!!

already answered † and ☂ here but thank you friendo!!

(・∀・ ) = The character’s emotional state most of the time

ohhhValdis is in a little weird place right now mentally. she lost her remainingfamily and her best friend (and almost got herself killed, too) some months agoin-game and I’ve only now managed to work through most of the grief, althoughshe still suffers from ptsd. but she’s feeling a lot better instead of constantanger nowadays. hmmm let’s see. 

Isuppose she’s reached a point where she’s worked through all five stages ofgrief and can mostly control her emotions better. I dunno, it’s a difficultquestion. mostly her emotional state is stable, confident (’cause she hella strong. ain’t nobody gonna fuck with her) and kinda suspicious. she generally doesn’t trust people any further than she can throw them

｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ = What makes the characterlaugh

it’s not that hard to make Des laugh. she generally enjoys laughing and her sense of humour is GARBAGE (if you enjoy telling shitty puns, Des is your girl)

she’s also very much delighted by simple magic tricks, sparkles and minor illusions

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† ¥ ☂ and (⑅ ‘﹃’ ) for both Valdis and Desdemona! :3

oooohhh thank you friendo!!!!

† = How the character feels about murder

wellll Valdis is a mercenary so she has a very professional stance on murder. like, yeah she’ll do it but it’ll cost you. she’s pretty indifferent towards the act in itself because in the end it’s nothing personal, just business. I remember once saying in-game “I’d never hurt anyone for free”. then again, there’s someone she’d rly like to murder slowly and painfully for the sake of personal revenge, but in her mind that doesn’t count because it’s not murder, it’s justice (okay yeah still murder)

Des is an assassin, but she sees murder as a solution among others, and an easy one at that. a pesky rival? murder them. an unconvenient relative? murder them. a love affair gone sour? murder them. she, too, likes getting paid for her work, but she’ll make do with no payment too if she feels like she’s made the world a better place by removing a nasty person from it

¥ = How the character handles money or spends it

they both grew up v poor so they’re super careful with their money.

Valdis likes to haggle and basically considers every purchase an investment that has to be thought out carefully. she’s all for practical stuff and doesn’t care to pay extra for small luxuries (I’ve gotten into some….. situations in that campaign for sometimes refusing to use coaches when we travel around the big city we’re currently in. partyni on täynnä porvareita)

Des is more frivolous and loves shiny stuff, and she’s more willing to spend money on herself; she’s basically the “treat yo self” meme. but she, too, tends to think twice and count her coins before buying anything (but she’s absolutely that kind of person who dreams of dumping a bunch of money in a bathtub and bathing in it)

☂ = Weather the character enjoys

ooohhh hmm. well Valdis used to be a part of a mercenary company that operated mainly in a desert so she’s used to the weather being hot af. she doesn’t necessarily like it but it makes her feel a bit more like home. she’s most comfortable when it’s a bit chilly and sunny.

meanwhile Des enjoys the warm-but-not-too-warm kind of weather with some clouds in the sky. like, 17 celsius degrees maybe? 

(⑅ ‘﹃’ ) = What the character daydreams or thinks about

Valdis isn’t rly the daydreaming type, but she does like to think about places she could travel to one day. one of the reasons she became a mercenary is that she wanted to see distant countries and stand on mountains and say she’s seen every shore of the land. also she thinks about the mercenary company she used to be a part of (she misses her friends okay)

Des thinks of money, mostly. I wrote that as a joke but honestly she does daydream of shiny stuff. also the city she’s from and still considers her home, and sometimes when she’s having a bad day she thinks about this one kid that’s orphan because of her actions

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playing dnd in roll20.net and looting a chest and

well well well guys

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I just did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in any rpg in the history of ever

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alivewiththesun said: ooohh i wanna hear more about this desdemona, she sounds awesome!

omg yes I’m always ready to talk about my dnd girls!!

so basically Desdemona “Des” Euphrasie Igerna Jaffres is a half-elven assassin and a former prostitute. her human momma gave her a super long and fancy-sounding name ‘cause she thought that a name that doesn’t give out her social standing would help her in life (they were poor af). mom also taught her how to be an assassin

so basically Des was taught to be an assassin from young age, not ‘cause her mom especially wanted or planned for her to follow in her footsteps but because it’s a good skillset to have and making a living killing people is better than starving

and she became a prostitute around the age 22 or so and discovered that not only was she good at it, she also liked the job. also being a freelance assassin on the side. at one point she had to kill her childhood sweetheart for reasons and then she basically started to care about the world and those who can’t defend themselves more

also her stepdad/mom’s old boyfriend/dude she despised tried to fuck her and she stabbed him and had to leave the city

and and yeah she likes fancy and pretty and expensive things and pet names and making inappropriate jokes. she’s my feminist vigilante, dismantling the patriarchy one kill at a time (8

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I just!! realized that there’s a Desdemona in Fallout!! ! gdi!!

not that it bothers me that I named my brand new character Desdemona too, I just. literally forgot that there’s someone with the same name in a game I’ve played a lot lately

I literally found the name in a list of names I read, thought about the Desdemona in Othello and a woman named Destemóne in a tattoo book I have and decided that it’s a perfect name oops

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it’s 1 am and I just finished my new dnd character’s backstory and I meant to make it short but it’s fukcin over 5 pages long

also I gotta edit it ‘cause this is the unedited version which is like. secret. and then there’s the version she actually tells if people ask

but tbh I’m very happy with this. I’ve weaved hell of a backstory (8