#might do this for my dnd ocs later though

[steampunk-raven]

i’ve been possessed with the sudden urge to draw a zombie girl

[thesoulbonder]

Making Waves

Hey peeps!

Sorry for the radio silence art-wise; I just finished my first semester at SCAD, so I’ve been pretty swamped with work! And surprise surprise, going to an art school where drawing is basically all of your homework doesn’t really give too much time to make personal pieces. I might post the traditional stuff I’ve been working on later though so ehh?

But this was for my Color Theory class! It was our last assignment and we could use any medium we wanted, so I was FINALLY able to pick up my precious iPad and do what I do best. So here’s a redesign of Monsoon! My ocean-themed superhero from my Super Heroines story.

I haven’t put too much focus on this world compared to DnD OCs, but it’s fun to come back to when I get tired of fantasy clothing and wanna go more sci-fi/magical girl. Monsoon’s original design was… *cringes*… but I really enjoy this new look for her. I think it properly gets across her sass and gracefulness, since she incorporates various dance styles and routines in her combat.

Here’s the old design for comparison:

Toothpaste looking ass-

Anyhoo, more art in the future maybe? I’ll think about posting my homework and then I’ll maybe go over my work in my AP Art class from last year since that’s 12 already finished pieces I haven’t released yet and am still pretty proud of. Maybe I could make it a YouTube video with commentary or something?? Would people watch that???

Idk man I’m just trying to get back into making fun art lol

[somethingwittyandweird]

Dawn of a New Year - 2025

So, once more, the turning of the year is upon us all, and once again I like to take in that an opportunity to recap the things that came before and reorient myself on what is still to come. No further ado needed, let’s start digging into the recently departed 2024.

A lot of the same things that went right in 2023 also went right in 2024, so I’ll list those first. I drew some pretty cool swords again- 5 years running, now. It was still a year full of lots of time spent with friends in person and in internet, and if anything I think I was in more gaming sessions than ever before. I got really into Civilization VI with friends, I had the incredible privilege to enjoy Four Swords for the first time with friends, and I’ve already written about how Splatoon 3 was the game that defined 2024 for me. I connected with so many people over it, and made unforgettable memories. This may be an indication of me being more open to partaking in multiplayer experiences than I’ve been in the past, which, hey, by all means let that continue. 

I don’t know that any particular new media is a standout for 2024- the things I liked previously I still continue to like, but nothing new added itself to my fandoms in a big way. I did listen to the McElroy’s TAZ: Vs Dracula after a while of not being in their sphere, and that was a delightful reminder of what I liked about their style of humor/actual play. Happy to know they’ve still got that magic that made me fall in love with TAZ Balance. And speaking of DnD…

I got to see, not just one, but two long running tabletop campaigns to completion this past year. One was an excellent Pathfinder isekai adventure to save the new world from the echoes of the old, run by @prismaticate. The other… was the best experience I think I’ve had in DnD. It’s been my longest and most consistent tabletop experience, and I didn’t think much when I began but as time went on, it turned into the *quintessential* campaign for me. I got to play through the campaign people imagine when asked to call to mind a DnD campaign; high fantasy adventure spanning the globe, godly emissaries, demonic invasions, perilous dungeons, extraplanar travel, epic fights, and unlikely heroes rallying against a powerful adversary for the fate of the world. I’ve never had the chance to see an OC’s arc to full completion like I did here, and it’s the highest honor I could enshrine my planologer warlock, Val, with. Endless thanks to the incomparable GM work of @imperatortez, and to my fellow players, for making Falamoore a campaign I’ll remember forever.

Outside of media and the things I do with friends, I did take some real life steps that made the year feel accomplished. I got to travel for business for the first time in my life (super cool experience, if just for the novelty). I successfully navigated switching health insurance providers and shouldered that adult burden without too much trouble. And I took classes again! I got to be in a college band ensemble for the first time in years, which was wonderful, and added an introductory paralegal course just to satisfy some long-held curiosity. Being back in an academic environment after so long felt as good as I knew it would, but more than that, it felt like I was finally taking steps towards a direction- that I wasn’t just settling for where I was.

I said last year, and the year before that, that I’m still waiting for a change in my life to happen- that where I am is comfortable and not easy to leave, but notwithstanding I would like to move into the next thing sooner or later, and the only question has been where between sooner and later that watershed is. As it turned out, 2024 wasn’t the year for that change either, even though in my own mental accounting I was kind of curious if it might be. It would fit nicely with the way my life’s cadence has been in fours since high school; four years of high school, four years of undergrad, then for years of this job before four years of the next thing. It didn’t happen that way, which is fine- it was an arbitrary enough pattern. So we’re spending five years where we are, and that’s alright by me. Five years isn’t a lot of time in some respects, even if it feels like it is in others. I still think I could stay exactly where I am for a couple more years and nothing bad would come of it.

But regardless of any arbitrary deadlines I did or didn’t meet, I did take those exploratory steps. And I still feel the change coming. And I think I can say it is closer now. It’s too far away to grab from where I am, there’s more groundwork that needs to be laid first, more steps that I need to take. But it feels… almost in reach. Maybe it’s time to start stretching more.

I’m hopeful to find out what I can achieve this next year. More than that- and this may just be the New Year’s zeal talking, but even so- I intend to find out. I intend to do more of the things that I liked this year that were good. I intend to spend more time with friends, deepening those connections, sharing more meals, sharing conventions and experiences, building things together. I intend to tackle gaming with the same zeal that blazed through much of my backlog this last year.

It’s always hard for me to make proper resolutions or definite goals, to say that I Won’t or that I Will have something done by a date. I think it leaves too much room for my brain to say ‘if I Haven’t by the date, then my own credibility to myself is tarnished.’ I'm compelled to allow for changing circumstances, for unknown factors. Even here I still don’t feel like putting things into hard numbers. But I do feel good about saying that, by the end of 2025, I will have accomplished a lot. And it feels good that that feels good.

I hope that your 2025 is a year of accomplishment as well, whatever that looks like to you. Whether that’s achieving a long held dream of your own, making time for joyful moments or connections, working on a better habit or some other internal improvement, or, at the end of the day, just making it through a turbulent world intact- that’s an accomplishment too.

I look forward to seeing what’s in store for each of us. Thanks for continuing to make my life better each year. 

Happy 2025.

[shamefilledsnzblog]

A Friendly Wager

A DnD inspired fic, my first featuring this merry band of OCs. A bottle of wine is shared, resulting in an attack of the sneezes and a friendly bet. A brief introduction, though will do a proper Meet the OCs post later:

Sir Peregrine "Perry" Merriweather is a human nobleman, and "gentleman druid" who, until now, has never left the city. He's fascinated by all things fungal, is quite sickly and fragile, and is allergic to life in general.

Janessa Brightburn is a gnome artificer, and rather a messy little beast. She suffers from a constant runny nose, and is rather unrefined in managing it, and will almost certainly feature in a later fic.

These nerds and long-time friends are having their first adventure together in the Underdark, and to improve their chances of survival, they have hired drow shadow monk Talavin. She's a hardened young woman who fled her house to make her way alone. She's pretty sure her two charges are going to die. And she is absolutely not growing fond of them in the slightest. Nope. Not at all.

The wine, Talavin assured herself, meant nothing.

She trekked back to camp, the pilfered bottle under her arm. In scouting the area before the party turned in for the night, she had run into a pair of fellow drow. Members of House Zaurret. Her own former house. The pair had not been eager to greet her as a sister, and the scuffle that followed had been swift, brutal, and efficient. By the time it was over, Talavin was richer by a handful of gold, and a surprisingly good vintage of mushroom wine.

She was also sporting some nasty scrapes across her knuckles, that Perry would almost certainly insist on tending to. Perhaps assuming her constitution and pain tolerance to be as terrible as his, he was always quick to offer to tend to even the smallest scrape. Understandable, wanting the party’s guide and protector to remain in good condition, but insulting nonetheless.

It wasn’t the only kindness the man tended to offer. Every morning, without fail, he would try to get her to accept a cup of tea. He attempted to draw her into conversations and card games. When he relieved her after her watch each night, he was always quick to point out that the night was cold, and would she like an extra blanket?

His gnome companion, Janessa, was equally generous, if less refined. More than once she had tried to drag Talavin over to the fire to join in a discussion, urging her to smile and relax a little. She had begged to show her the various inventions she tinkered with, and was forever asking if there was anything Talavin wanted made or mended.

Soft surface dwellers, whose kindness would have been beaten out of them in House Zaurret. Talavin had no use for it. And when she had picked up the wine, and her first thought was that it might delight them, it was nothing at all to do with gratitude.

The camp had been set up when she returned, with a fire burning merrily, Janessa tinkering with her gadgets beside it, and Perry writing the day’s observations in his journal. When Talavin presented the bottle, Perry’s delighted smile didn’t touch her in the slightest.

“Mushroom wine? I’ve heard of it, but never had an opportunity to try it! That’s terribly kind of you!”

He examined the bottle with his usual fascination for all things fungal, before noticing Talavin’s hands.

“Oh dear! I take it there was some trouble? You really must let me clean and dress those scrapes, they look quite nasty!”

Talavin dodged away as he reached for her hand, taking her place by the fire instead.

“If you think a scratch like this is going to do me in, I really don’t know why you bothered to hire me. Perhaps you might find some brutish ogre less delicate. Enjoy your wine.”

Janessa, busily tightening a screw on some bizarre looking gadget, sniffed and wiped her perpetually running nose on her sleeve, looking up from her work as Talavin sat down.

“You know it’s not because he thinks you’re weak, right? It’s just nice to have the little things taken care of. You can drop the tough act with us!”

Perry joined them at the fireside, taking three goblets from his pack.

“At least have a drink with us? To celebrate a successful day?”

Talavin pushed the offered goblet back, shaking her head.

“The wine is for you. I don’t drink on duty.”

Perry sighed, but didn’t press any further, instead pouring two glasses and passing one to Janessa. He held his own under his nose, sniffing curiously. Janessa giggled, and elbowed Talavin in the ribs.

“Oh, this is always fun! Up for a friendly wager?”

Talavin arched an eyebrow.

“On what, exactly?”

“Well, you’ve seen how Perry tends to get the sneezes from… Well, practically everything? Wine sets him off like clockwork! Never seen a fit of less than three! So, how many, do you think? Five silver says nine!”

Perry gave a huff of annoyance, and shot Janessa a look of fond exasperation.

“Hardly like clockwork! Just… more often than not. And it’s not a fair wager. Talavin hasn’t seen me drink before. She doesn’t have the data you do.”

Prickling as usual at the slightest suggestion that she might be unprepared, Talavin took five silver coins from her pocket and held them up.

“My money’s on a dozen. I mightn’t have seen him sneeze from drinking, but I’ve seen him sneeze from everything else. And drow wine is strong. He won’t be prepared.”

“You’re on!”

Perry attempted to look affronted, even as his delicate nose twitched in anticipation.

“You’re both exaggerating. I doubt it will have any effect at all.”

Janessa gave a snort of laughter, accidentally expelling a little moisture from her running nose. Talavin tried not to look too revolted as the gnome wiped her permanently red nose on her sleeve.

“He says that every time. Believe me, you’re going to wish that drink came with an umbrella, like they serve at that city place I told you about!”

“At least he uses a handkerchief. The only one here who I’ve seen spray anyone is you, you vile little beast!”

Smiling fondly at their bickering, Perry took a long sip of wine. His brow furrowed, deep in thought, as he tried to identify the flavours. And, sure enough, his nose gave another twitch. He reached for one of his many volumes on Underdark fungi, opening it and beginning to scan the pages. Then, nose twitching again, he reached for his handkerchief.

Talavin fought the urge to smile.

“Well, you were right. Hurry on with it, Sir Peregrine. I want to win my wager.”

“If I don’t sneeze, neither of you win anything. And I… I won’t.”

He raised the goblet to his lips again, and nearly choked as his breath hitched mid-sip. Janessa nudged Talavin again.

“Here he goes! Sorry in advance for taking your money. He’s right, I’ve got more data, and nine is his average.”

“He’s been sneezing half the day from spores. He’s primed to go longer.”

“That’s quite enough from… from both… Ihh.. iehh.. from both of you! Snf! Hm. Complex flavours. Would I be right in g-ghhhuehhh-guessing nimergan? I-iiihh I believe the duergar ferment it.”  

For a moment Perry teetered on the edge, his lips parting, his eyes fluttering shut. Ever the gentleman, he raised his handkerchief and pressed it to his rapidly pinkening nose. His narrow chest swelled with one great, unsteady breath, then another…

And nothing. With a sigh of relief and a delicate dab at his nostrils, Perry gave his companions a look of teasing haughtiness.

The look lasted only a second before his nostrils flared again, and he lurched forward into his handkerchief, nearly spilling his wine.

“Iiihheeshieww! Ugh, goodness, I beg your pardon! You were right, Talavin. Strong… strong stu-hhuhh-hhuYISHOO!”

Janessa clapped her hands in delight.

“And we’re off! That’s two down!”

Perry dabbed urgently at his twitching nose, already hitching in preparation for the next sneeze. He fought valiantly to keep his composure, but there was no fighting the look of desperation as his eyes squeezed closed, his brow furrowed, and his mouth opened to gasp in breath after desperate breath.

“Ihh-hehh-hihhyehh… Ih-YESHIEW! SHIEW! Ihh-TSCHIEW! Goodness, I… snf! SNF! I can’t… I-iiyishiew!”

Janessa reached over to pat him on the shoulder.

“That’s six! Come on, three more, and you’ll be all sneezed out! See, he’s losing steam!”

Talavin folded her arms stubbornly, watching Perry rub his nose in his handkerchief. True, he seemed to have been granted a moment’s reprieve between sneezes, but his breath was still unsteady, and the urgency with which he itched at his nose promised more to come.

“A-ahh-apologies, Talavin, I know it’s rather a-ah! AH! SNF! A display. Almost over, I… I’m sure, I-iiieeehhh… IIEhhhSHIEW! SHIEWW!”

“Seven, eight… Come on, one more, buddy, and that should scratch the itch.”

“YISHOO! Ugh… I beg your pardon!”

Janessa patted him on the back, beaming.

“That’s right, nice slow breaths, I think you got it all. Blow your nose, that’s it!”

Talavin scowled.

“Don’t try and stop him! Look at him, he clearly needs to sneeze still!”

Perry blinked at them both over his handkerchief, his blue eyes watering. He breathed heavily from the exertion of the fit, and rubbed delicately at his nose, clearly afraid of setting it off again. Seconds passed, with both Janessa and Talavin watching him intently, until he began to blush.

“Must you both stare like that? I know it’s something of a spectacle, but you’ve had your fun, and now it’s quite… Quite o-ohh-over!”

Talavin tried to be annoyed at the stab of petty triumph she felt, watching him start to hitch and pant again. Unable to help herself, she shot Janessa a smug grin.

“I told you! Primed for more!”

“Hey! Come on, Perry, you’re gonna lose me my bet! Come on, finger under your nose, sometimes that helps!”

“Don’t interfere! Let the man sneeze. Clearly he needs the relief!”

Perry pressed a finger under his nose, rubbing urgently through the handkerchief, but it was too little, too late. A deep, desperate breath, and…

“IihhhIIHSHIEW!”

“Ok, that’s ten. Come on, that has to have done it, I can still win if you stop there!”

“IihhTSHIEW! IIhh… Iiiehhh… Yehhh… Heh-iehh-ihhh-YISHOO!”

Talavin held out her hand with a triumphant smirk. Groaning, though clearly not too annoyed, Janessa passed her the coins. Perry turned away and gave his nose a careful blow, and when that didn’t trigger another outburst, a slightly longer one. When he turned back, lowering the handkerchief at last, his nose was red, his pale cheeks flushed, and several strands of blond hair had come loose from his ponytail. Still, he seemed cheerful enough, and gave Talavin a somewhat embarrassed smile.

“Congratulations. I believe that’s a win for you. Apologies for the display. And thank you for the wine, truly. It’s quite fascinating. Are you sure you won’t join us?”

Janessa picked up the spare goblet, passing it to Talavin with a questioning look. Talavin hesitated, looking from the still sniffling Perry, to the hopeful Janessa. Hesitantly, she took the goblet, holding it out for Perry to fill.

Grinning, Janessa nudged her in the ribs once more.

“Hey. Five silver says he has one more fit before the bottle’s empty!”

Talavin hid her smile with a sip of wine, watching as Perry drank more of his. That pink nose still looked in a rather delicate state…

“My money’s on three.”

“You’re on!”

[ironyferrum]

Re-upload because tblr thought me a robot previously >.>

Late to the party as always, but still, lol. There was a moment right after Hades 2 came out where everyone was doing fake screenshots of their OCs in the game's art style (which I love!) and I figured I'd try my hand at it as well, if later than most. I wanted to study the game's art anyway, even back when the first game came out of EA, though I never quite got to it. Well, now I did. It was quite the experiment, I have to say, I can't say I understand all of it yet, and I think I might have overdone it with the glowing rim light, but oh well. Second attempt might go better. This was rather spontaneous anyway: I hadn't planned this when I made the first sketch of Cresc, my dnd werewolf oc (who is a Twilight cleric of Selune). Never planned to redesign his armor either, but my hand slipped, LOL. It makes slightly more sense than the first version of it from a year ago but is probably going to suffer more redesigns in the future as it still has issues.

Nightshaded and Glazed this one because of the recent instagram bullshit. I'm still iffy on the software, I can definitely see the artifacts it leaves, kind of as if the picture is much less rez than it actually is, but, what's more important, it affects the colors. The lighted area of the breastplate is supposed to be a tad greener than it came out after nightshade...

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @mysticstarlightduck!

OC Interview

Slowly but surely, I'm getting through my tags! To spice things up, I'm gonna use my new dnd character for this :)

Were you named after anyone?

"No siree, I'm the only Lady 3250 on this here Rock of Bral. I picked the first part because when I used to serve at an art gallery, before I became sentient, all the finest dressed people signed in as Lady. When I gained awareness, I knew I wanted to be like those people, those walking works of art, so that's the name I picked. It was only later that I realized lady was a title and not a name, but by that time, it'd stuck. 3250 was my old designation. I keep it as a reminder."

When was the last time you cried?

"What a silly question, dahling - can't you see these eyes are made of glass?"

Do you have any kids?

"You just really aren't getting this whole warforged thing, are you? I do not have kids. I suppose I could adopt eventually, but for now, I'm not quite ready to settle down."

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

"Only when I'm in suitable company. Politeness is important, but so is humor in the right crowds."

What is the first thing you notice about people?

"The level of care they put into themselves. A man with clean armor can be expected to be thorough on the battlefield. A mage with an organized spellbook is a mage more likely to not miss anything when investigating an old scroll. I try to surround myself with careful people, though I can't say I always succeed."

What is your eye color?

"A sort of glowing yellow. Like lamplight."

Scary movies or happy endings?

"I feel that horror films can produce a wider array of reactions in the audience if constructed correctly. The moments of fear highlight the times of peace and vice versa, making them both seem all the more potent. It's like a splash of orange paint in a sea of blue."

Any special talents?

"I'm quite the artist. My original medium was sculpture, however of late, I've been experimenting more with spray paint. There's something so intoxicating about art where it shouldn't be. I guess I could say I've also been gaining a talent in talking my way into places I don't belong for that very reason."

Where were you born?

"I was constructed as a non-sentient B2 guard unit on the Rock of Bral, a city floating within the Astral Sea. A merchant by the name of Silvanus Renn bought me to watch over his art gallery, where I spontaneously gained sentience after two years of service. Not that I'm not grateful, but I'm rather curious as to why that happened."

Do you have any pets?

"No, but I've heard tell of spells that grant the caster a familiar companion. I think that would be quite an interesting thing to have at my side."

What sort of sports do you play?

"I... don't?"

How tall are you?

"Seven feet exactly, but I usually wear heels. I might have changed occupation and rewired some of my brute strength towards nimbleness, however, I am still built as a fighter."

What was your favorite subject in school?

"I never went to school. When I gained sentience, I found I suddenly understood much of what I had perceived when I was mindless - including literacy and mathematics. Books filled in the gaps. I imagine if I has gone though, I would've enjoyed learning history. It's the world's greatest story, after all."

What is your dream job?

"I always thought it was working for the Bral Artists' Union, but then the guild leader turned out to be a P.O.S. who kicked me out when I left a rather artful, if anatomically exaggerated, marble statue of him outside the guild in retaliation for his changing of my contract without my knowledge. After I've found what I'm looking for out on the starry seas, I imagine I'd like to come back and start my own guild."

I'll tag @the-golden-comet @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @cowboybrunch and anyone else who wants to play!

Blanks under the cut

Were you named after anyone?When was the last time you cried?Do you have any kids?Do you use sarcasm a lot?What is the first thing you notice about people?What is your eye color?Scary movies or happy endings?Any special talents?Where were you born?Do you have any pets?What sort of sports do you play?How tall are you?What was your favorite subject in school?What is your dream job?

[hiiddenrose]

here to ramble about my dnd oc , Vitalia

so. she is declawed.

the ‘community’ she grew up in, specialized in healing magic. many of them eventually moved on to be clerics, with the belief that the most good they could do was protecting others. regardless of how it might impact themselves.

she’s a tabaxi. her claws, her fangs, they’re weapons. and you can’t have that. from a young age, the little ones have their claws removed, and when their adult teeth come in, the sharpest fangs are filed down. in her case, she was declawed, but her teeth were not considered sharp enough to have to file.

she lost her tail at a later date ( most of it anyway, and i still have to figure out how )

with no claws, and no tail, Vitalia has a lot of trouble balancing. she can not climb the same way as others of her kind, and she isn’t as agile. in general, she is reluctant to fight, as she was always told to do otherwise, but then also feels as though she is supposed to protect others. even if she doesn’t have much attachment to them. and it’s strange and frustrating; decisions were made for her before she even understood the gravity of the situation. she knows what she was raised to be, but an important part of her being was stolen from her at a young age.

and yet she feels having these doubts are betraying those that loved her the most. how could she doubt her family? her community? her purpose. she was molded to be a healer, and self sacrifice is supposed to be the greatest gift of all, so how could she doubt what she was literally made to do?

[eorzeanflowers]

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

(( A fun one! Ty Rayn <3))

There is always a catalyst for when I make a new character. Some drive, or some impetus. I'll try to remember the main catalyst for each character of mine, let's start from the top!

The Lily - Lily was inspired by Kugane at large and Historical Japanese Fiction. I had already long shifted to Au Ra at the beginning of HW, but when I dipped my toes in the water of RP during the Stormblood lulls, i settled on the exiled Shinobi background, wanting to not make a WoL.

The Azalea - Archie's main inspiration is and will always be, the Tenth Doctor. Its my favorite few seasons of New Who and I wanted an old character that was reborn multiple times. Hence my looks at Dr. Who. XD

The Rose - Benoit is not actually my creation! He is my wife's first and foremost, but she let me play him as her first mate. He's mine now though. :3 General pirate things are his inspiration.

The Sunflower - A'tyla was my thoughts on if a Hyur was raised by Miqo'te. That's it. XD She's long grown past that.

The Gardenia - Yasha is inspired by none other than her namesake, Yasha Nydoorin of the Might Nein. The sapphic nature, falling for a punchy punch girl, her quieter nature with some silly jokes. Yasha was actually a run off of when I made Tatiava. I wanted a Garlean character and couldn't decide between Highlander or Midlander, so I said, Por que no los dos?

The Snapdragon - Tatiava was a direct response to people making villainous Garlean characters. I wanted a double agent who could dip in both crowds. Did I ever actually get a chance? NOPE. XD It is what it is.

The Dahlia - Lhei was made from what little we knew of Old Sharlayan at the time of her creation, late shadowbringers. I was just getting back into RP again after losing the drive in late Stormblood.

The Strelitzia - Beatrice is from my dnd game! A character I've got the chance to properly play. I think when I made her I just needed the sapphic goodness of her and her partner. T.T Speaking of...

The Tulip - Mai is also from my dnd game! Mai was an npc my players got real attached to and well, she evolved from there. She's always been mute tho.

The Triteleia - Myste just formed fully into my consciousness one day and well, there he is! He is inspired by Dynamis and its crazy applications tho.

The Gladiolus - Jana is near and dear to my heart. I wanted to revisit an old echo idea I had for Lily that had got cut late in her development. And I ran with it. Now Jana is my weird future child that doesn't care about where she is from.

The Linnaeas - Pola and Deta are the easiest to spot the inspiration. They are based off of Popola and Devola from the Nier Francise. Specifically the Automata ones. Later they've been heavily influenced by Ianthe and Coronabeth of the Locked Tomb series.

The Hyacinth - Eulanne is inspired by the Dark Urge of Baldur's Gate 3. I just wanted to remake my sorta good guy Durge (i raided the grove my darling Minthara in that run, but she's been trying to do better since!) and I thought it would be cool to tie it to Reaper/Voidsent lore.

The Amaryllis - Marisol was spawned from the Viper reveals at the first DT fanfest. Nothing more influenced her original development.

The Lewisia - Glifet is anther Dr. Who inspired character, this time based off of a Cyberman. A what if you could say, a rehabilitated Cyberman.

The Iris - Lucca is just Lucca from Chrono Trigger with a bisexual streak. Chronic inventor, not much works right the first few times. Super smart. Those glasses.

The Aconite - Tista-Moa came to me in a work haze. I just had the idea, i wrote down what i thought about her and her very strange journey, came home and made her! I don't have enough villains to scratch that itch so she was a delight to make.

The Dicentra - Cissnei came about cause I am/was interested in playing as a Zenos-like character. Cissnei has evolved past that by now, but that is her start! I got so attached to her I finished the EW story in a single weekend with her. XD

That's all my debuted flowers... now for the few undebuted ones.

The Celosia - Sarel is my main dnd PC right now, and I saw the Celosia flower at the local green house and I wanted to make a character based on it. So I ported her over (somewhat, she is more different than the other dnd based ones) and she has been patiently waiting for months to be debuted. One day I'll that up. XD

The Nerine - Hinoka is Lily's rival from waaaaay back. I just felt like putting a name and face to the standin I had been using for Lily's story. Oh, and a nerine is a Spider Lily. :3

The Jasmine - Kokolai came about because I wanted an RP character to manage my submarines for me. He's just a merchant that loves his surrogate daughter. ^_^

The Protea - Tanzanite is a direct response to Solution 9 and its inhabitants. How fun it would be to have a scientist from there. She also just spawned from me messing with hair on Lily's fromer lady. >.>;

The Snowdrop - Agate just willed themself into existance. Also inspired by the DT story, they were the product of me sitting down to make a Sol 9 character and failing, making a Yyasulani native the wished to return to the sunlit world.

The Belladonna - Jane is, with no shame, directly inspired by Jane Doe of Zenless Zone Zero. That character has me by the throat. XD Add in a mix of Agent 47 and you get my Jane!

And that's everyone! A bit long, but I was on a roll if I'm being honest.

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Sicktember #2

Prompt: Quest for a Cure

Fandom/OCs: DnD OCs (Filius, Gundor, Kandry, Lorellyn)

Words: 2200

Inspiration: None

Author’s comments/background: I couldn’t see the word quest without thinking of my favorite adventuring party, though I haven’t written them since last Sicktember. They just make me happy, okay? This fill is one of the few that didn’t have any prompt inspo this year but I think it came out really nicely in spite of that. At risk of sounding egotistical, I'll say I think it's one of the more poetic things I wrote this year. Or maybe I just have a soft spot for this foursome and this setting. 

~~~***~~~

Lorellyn threw open the door to the party's shared suite in the inn, excitement dancing in her eyes. 

"I've had an idea!" she called. "I think I know our next step!"

Her sleepy companions roused themselves. Filius, who had been dozing in one of the beds, shuffled into the room rubbing an eye. Kandry, red-nosed and sniffling, had also been sitting in bed, but she set aside her books and notes right away, giving the Elf her attention. Gundor had been doing his daily weapon maintenance, but he lay down his ax eagerly, even as he coughed into a handkerchief. 

"For th' quest? What've yeh found, lass?" asked the Dwarf. 

"Nothing new, not here… but that's exactly the problem. The trail has gone cold in these parts, at least for now. I believe we should travel south, just as we've been saying we should do for months. We each have mentioned contacts in the southern tip that might have information for us, but we are never able to get there when it's warmer. The winter months are the perfect time to go explore that region, before it gets busy for us in this area again. We can start with a friend of my father's, an old war companion, who has a farm in the Way South. I know he has a stake in some of the things we've been exploring, and I'm certain he'd have some information for us. I've found a group of Halfling merchants that are traveling that way, and they would be happy to have us accompany them, so it's all worked out. What do you say?"

Filius and Gundor were quiet, pondering for a moment. Kandry's eyes had flickered with interest at the mention of a group of Halflings, but she looked skeptical.

 "I dunno, Lor. It's such a long way. We'd be gone for at least a month. What if we miss something important here?" asked the Halfling. "And you know how dangerous traveling in winter can be. I'm not sure we're… up for it."

The Halfling gestured at their group for emphasis as she spoke. For it was true, one could see they wouldn't be up for harsh travel just by looking at them. It was midwinter, and the season had not been easy on the adventurers. Even before the first snows, Kandry and Filius had fallen sick with the influenza. Both had gotten seriously ill, and still hadn't fully recovered. Kandry had had a series of colds and sinus infections ever since, and her nose was perpetually red while her head perpetually ached. Filius was shaky and lethargic, and still spiked a low grade fever nearly every night. Even Gundor hadn't escaped. He had had some dealings with a local clan of Dwarves and had stayed with them for many days. In that time he fell ill with a respiratory sickness unique only to Dwarves and had been bedridden for a week, feverish and coughing and weak. A lingering dry cough continued to plague him weeks later. Only Lorellyn was spared, but the mental burden of caring for her ailing companions weighed on her also.

Lorellyn looked around at them all with softness in her eyes, then met Kandry's gaze. "We've spent months and months here with nothing to show for it. I think a change of scenery is exactly what is needed," the Elf said firmly. "And the merchants aren't in any hurry. We'll travel easy, and safely."

"Aye, it's a good plan, lass," Gundor said, stroking his beard as he nodded. "I m'self know of some folk who could use a good shaking down in those parts." He coughed roughly as he finished, jerking his head in frustration.

All eyes turned to their wise Cleric, the final decision resting with him as usual. Filius, flushed and heavy-eyed, slowly nodded. "I agree that we need some fresh surroundings to shake the cobwebs from our minds. Going south is as good a plan as any. You have my vote, Lor." 

Lorellyn clapped her hands, grinning from ear to ear. "Wonderful, then it's settled. I will write to my father's friend at once so he'll be expecting us. The merchants are leaving the day after tomorrow, at first light, and we'll be right there with them."

~~~

The foursome had never had so pleasant a journey as they did with the merchant band. The adventures rode their horses in the midst of the group, surrounded on all sides by carts and ponies and donkeys. It took nigh on three weeks before the end, for they did indeed travel easy, stopping to make safe camp at the first sign of danger or bad weather, but the time flew. Halflings are a merry bunch by nature, and there was always conversation and singing and laughter. They welcomed the adventurers with open arms, happy for the added protection and new folk to talk to. Kandry at first kept herself separate, feeling out of place with these kinsmen that were so different from herself. They would not allow her to distance herself, however, and their welcome was so earnest that she couldn't help but be drawn in. 

It was still travel, however, and the weakened foursome felt their weeks of illness heavily as they were once again forced to sleep on bedrolls and spend hours on horseback. They didn't worsen, but neither did their health improve (though their spirits did), and the Halflings fussed over them endlessly, making sure they were always as warm and comfortable as possible.

The landscape changed almost imperceptibly day by day, but by the end of the journey, what was harsh and cold and wintery became bright and warm and green. By the final days, they had stowed their winter cloaks deep in their bags as the sun warmed them from sunup to sundown. They soaked it in eagerly. 

Before they knew it, they had reached their destination. The merchants left them nearly on the doorstep of Lorellyn's friend, with fond farewells, and a few tears. Once their new friends had departed, the Elf led them bravely ahead to the sprawling, picturesque homestead that overlooked acres of fields and orchards and vineyards. The door was flung open while they were still a long way off, and a broad High Elf stood grinning, bouncing on his toes as they approached. 

"Welcome, welcome, to Everlast. What a joy it is to have you all." He looked each one of them in the eyes, smiling. "I am Gaibel. I hope your time in my home is restful and pleasant.” He turned to Lorellyn last, kissing her on both cheeks as they murmured to each other in Elvish. Though the three others knew some Elvish, they respectfully held back, for a greeting between High Elves is a sacred thing.

 In time Gaibel turned back to the rest of them, speaking in common once more: "We have prepared the guest house for your use. I myself wanted to give you the best rooms in my own home, but Lorellyn thought you might want your own dwelling for the duration of your stay here. My beautiful wife Marilai will lead you there now. Please don't hesitate to come to me at any time for anything you might need. In due time we will discuss the mission that has brought you here, but not until after you've had food and rest."

At his words, a breathtakingly beautiful female Elf moved silently from behind him, a smile of welcome gracing her features. She floated down the path that led to a smaller building on a rise across from the main home, gesturing to the companions to follow. She spoke not, but her warm presence made them all feel at ease, travel weary and dirty though they were. She carried a basket, and when they arrived at the guest house she breezed into the kitchen and began to lay out a feast of hot food and cold drinks. The party would have dug in right away, the tantalizing smells almost too much to bear, but Lorellyn shooed them away. 

"Let's clean up and change first. The food will keep, never fear."

Stomachs growling, they did as they were told. It was a good thing they were hungry, though, otherwise they might have forgotten the meal in the bliss of the rooms that awaited them. The warm, clean, peace of the huge beds, the steaming, scented baths and the magnificent, soaring windows overlooking sun kissed green fields would have drawn in weaker creatures. The party members lingered far longer than they intended over their grooming. Yet when they returned to the kitchen, yawning, but changed and fresh, the food was as hot as if it had just come out of the oven, and the ice in the drinks looked as if it had just been poured. Marilai was gone but Lorellyn, also clean and changed, acted as host, serving the others. There was no talk at first, as the adventurers were intent on filling their stomachs with food that hadn't been cooked over a campfire. 

Kandry, always the most focused, put down her fork first. "When is Gaibel expecting us to meet with him? Tonight?" she croaked, scrubbing at her nose. "I need to review my notes before we see him." 

Lorellyn's eyes softened and her mouth quirked up into a smile. "Oh no, Gaibel won't be available for at least a week. No, we don't have to leave this building for many days, except perhaps to soak in the sun and explore the plantation at our leisure."

Kandry sat back with a frown. "Why would he leave when we just got here? What about the quest?"

"He's not leaving, he's just not available for meetings. Don't you understand? Right now, this IS the quest. Getting you all back to health. Between the sun and the food and the sleep and the medicine that Marilai left for you all, I will see to it that you're well again before we move another step or interrogate another person. Though I don't know what it's like to need sleep, I know what exhaustion is, because I've seen it in each of you everyday for months. I can't stand seeing you all so weak and pale and sick for even one more day. So for now we're continuing MY quest, with the help of Gaibel and Marilai. The quest for a cure. Only when you're well again will Gaibel agree to meet with you about other things. I've given him strict orders about that."

Shocked silence hung over the room, and Lorellyn saw several emotions cross her companions' faces. Filius was the first to start smiling, though, slow and quiet. Then Gundor shook his head, chuckling. Finally, with a dramatic sigh Kandry threw up her hands, smiling in spite of herself. 

"I guess I won't complain about a few days off. My face cannot wait to get acquainted with those giant pillows, that's for sure. And there's no such thing as too much familiarity with a good pillow," the Rogue said with a preemptive yawn.

"These legs o' mine wouldn't mind a bit o' leisure," Gundor agreed. "Me ol' knee ain't been th' same since it was broke. Long as there's adequate refreshment," he said, looking at Lorellyn meaningfully.

"They have plenty of ale, don't worry. There should be some in your room," she soothed. 

"I haven't been able to take a bath every day in years. There's nothing I'd like more," Filius said softly. "And I'm so tired of being too hot and too cold and too tired. I'm willing to rest and try to get rid of this ailment once and for all."

"Aww, Fil," Lorellyn groaned, pressing her hand to his flushed face and clucking her tongue. "You're already warm. Here, this tonic is yours. Take it right now, poor thing." She produced three vials of different colors and handed one to each of her companions. "These should help all of you. If you don't feel better in a day or two, Marilai will make more."

"You're sure we're not being poisoned?" Kandry asked even as she unstoppered hers and gave it a sniff.

"My father and Gaibel have been as good as brothers for years beyond years. They mean us no harm," Lorellyn said earnestly. 

The invalids drank down their tonics with no further complaint. Each felt immediately better in one way or another, especially after the food and drink. 

"Now finish eating, and eat as much as you'd like, then off to bed, each of you. I've seen more yawns tonight than I can count," Lorellyn said sternly. "I hope you all sleep all day tomorrow if you want. There's more beverages in your rooms. Once you all have had a few days of decent sleep and food, then we'll see what there is to see."

Like obedient children, they cleared their plates and began to head for bed. Before they could, though, Lorellyn squeezed them all together into a tight hug. "Feel better, all of you. I miss your dear, healthy faces. You'll be back to normal in no time, I just know it." 

For once, no one complained about the hug, and they lingered together in the embrace as the pink evening sunlight danced across the fields and came to rest upon their shoulders. 

[grokebaby]

Oh hey, I'm a transformers fan and Terrorspark is a transformers oc! Here's a question for it, if you want: Is it aware of any previous TF lore? If so, does it know of the characters/have any opinions on them? Does it align more with the decepticons or with the autobots? I'm willing to read up anything I can find on them!

Oh oh and, if Terror were to assign itself a morality alignment, what would it choose? (<- d&d thing, the "good/neutral/evil" one :))

How nice to get to talk about my tfocs for once! I'm gonna answer this more like a conventional ask since it doesn't seem to be intended as a character interactive one.

For a basic rundown, you can read this! I'll be referencing it throughout this reply.

All my tf ocs are set in the aligned continuities since that was my first exposure to transformers and one I'm most familiar with (Prime, most specifically). I do take bits from other tf media and modify according to my own discretion bc some stuff from aligned is either stupid (like the gender thing) or just wasn't handled well in that. And yeah I do take some lore from RID15 but selectively bc wtf were they doing back there.

With this in mind I'd have to say that Terrorspark is only familiar with Unicron when it comes to Canon characters, since it's been in the same place all these millions of years, and fluctuatingly slumbering. The times where Terrorspark was most involved and active (including being in bot form) was back when the original 13 Primes were more or less still around, though it didn't get to interact with them that much. Terrorspark was more like a jailguard type of bot, not in on the action, fighting and plotting, but moreso someone who bots were thrown to after they were already detained in some way. After everything cooled down Terrorspark has just been dutifully subjecting bots on it's surface to various nightmare scenarios, alone, and isolated, so it's not even aware of the Decepticon/Autobot conflict that formed later on.

Terrorspark would prefer to remain sideless entirely, despite being a creation of Unicron (who is ofc associated with the decepticons more). This is unsurprisingly bc as mentioned earlier it's tired of continuous suffering and I suspect if it came in contact with any modern day cybertronians, TR would likely make strong attempts towards peace between the two factions.

As for some opinions:

Unicron - currently it's opinion of him is conflicting, since the circumstances of TRs existence are very cruel, but Terrorspark can't really bring itself to be mad at Unicron (although that could very well happen later). It doesn't admire or worship him either, not anymore, there's just this sort of quiet, sad bitterness about it all. Respect only in theory, and very impersonally.

Megatron - first reactions would probably include "Megatronus, is that you?" lol, since Megs has named himself after one of the og 13. Initial reactions aside, Terrorspark would see him similarly to Unicron; sad, bitter, but not anything particularly fiery. Terrorspark is, emotionally speaking, too numb towards atrocities to have a strong guttural reaction about it, even when meeting or witnessing bad bots. I'm sure Megs would be very interested in Terrorspark as an ally considering everything, but TR would politely decline and make an effort to not engage with any decepticons after that. There might be attempts at encouraging Megatron to seek an end to the conflict but that would turn up fruitless, so ultimately yeah, avoidance.

Optimus - Vaguely positive opinion bc these two share very similar mindsets, I could kinda see Terrorspark working with the Autobots on the sidelines but I feel that it would tire of the constant conflict and prefer to, as I said, keep more sideless. It would respect Op and totally see where he's coming from but still be uncomfortable with participating in either side of the war. So, maybe an occasional help, and an emergency ally if needed.

As for the dnd thing, I honestly am not sure? Terrorspark itself would definitely be very reflective and thoughtful if it was asked to identify itself to some moral alignment and would probably think long and hard, until simply saying "My morals lie with minimizing overall suffering to all. Make of that what you will. I shall no longer blindly follow any one beacon as superior to others, and I'd prefer to tread my own path. But, you are warmly welcome to walk beside me on that path."

I'm not super familiar with how the dnd moral alignments work or are defined but I guuuuuesss I'd call Terrorspark a... Neutral good? Does that sound right?

[fullofvexation]

Failure and Fear for the oc ask game! For all of them 👀

Thank you anon you just made my day!!!!! Okay!!! Here we go

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

Haven: Honestly, Haven doesn't have one Great Failure to look back on. He's only been alive for a year, and has spent a lot of that time running around and putting out fires. I think he has a lot of little failures, like anyone (normal bad choices, or choices that seemed good but weren't) but he tries not to dwell on them!

Roka: As a child/young adult, Roka was raised to become a priestess for her village's cult. She sacrificed her best friend to her goddess, only to later learn that her goddess wasn't real at all, just an undead fairy taking advantage of the credulous villagers. She has NOT moved on, and has bent her whole life to getting revenge on this fae creature that wronged her. The whole DnD party, Haven included, knows about this, but she's pretty cagey about it to everyone else.

Nona-Paloma: After a disastrous battle in the faewild, her adventuring party struck a deal with some unseelie fae in order to not get fully murdered. They all tried to be careful, but got bamboozled by wording, and accidentally traded away the life of their cleric. Nona isn't the type to get stuck though, she's moved on from feeling bad and into the "trying to fix it" phase. She's bad at secrets so she'll tell anyone who asks what happened.

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

Haven: He's is afraid of so so so many things. He's afraid of being alone, afraid of water and boats, afraid of dying again, afraid of his friends getting hurt. More than anything though, he's afraid he won't be able to succeed on his quest to save the person who's body he inadvertently stole. He tries to hide all this but is terrible at it.

Roka: Roka's whole being is focused on vengeance, I don't think she really has space to be afraid anymore. The worst possible thing already happened to her, she was tricked into murdering her best friend and saw her whole civilization get destroyed. Under it all, she might be a little afraid that her wife, Maebe, hates her for running off on her murder quest, but she doesn't think about that too much.

Nona-Paloma: Despite being an adventurer, Nona's fears are mostly little mundane things, like spooky dolls and heights and getting brutally murdered. She sort of coasts through life and doesn't let much get to her.

[mareenavee]

Hi there! I was wondering if there's anything you're happy to share about your original writing? I'd also love to hear about your writing process in general, from first conception through to finished product, and how it varies for you for fic vs original writing. Thanks so much for your time! 🌻🌷

Oh hello new friend :D Thanks for asking!

So I can talk a bit about what's been happening with me lately lol I think it can be important for a lot of us, especially in kind of the climate we're in as creatives right now. And while the story might not seem very happy at first, I am still happy to share so others might not feel alone if they're wandering, too.

Something about my original writing:

So I went to college for Creative Writing. I had started in English Edu, and switched about halfway through for many reasons but suffice to say if I didn't do what I loved, that degree would still be unfinished. My goal was to get into editing, if I could, and eventually write a book. After college, my full time, in-office jobs at first had nothing to do with writing. I was doing things like tech support, sales and data entry until I got into advertising. And I was editing, using my degree, but I was also more using my skills from sales. And here we stumble into something of a burnout problem. I was working so many hours on unrelated nonsense that I simply did not have the energy to stay awake half the time, let alone write. And I was away from the desk for so long that when I returned, I felt couldn't manage a single good thing. I kept trying even during the dumpster fire the last few years has been collectively.

I'll time skip for the sake of the story. The cure for burnout is simply rest, regardless of it's professional/career burnout or creative burnout or a combination of the both of these things. One doesn't always realize this in the middle of the issues, though. So here I was barely writing anything that I'd be willing to share, frowning terribly at the blank page every opportunity and just being down on myself and my work. I wrote a couple flash fiction pieces, and plenty for dnd but I'd kind of lost track of my goal of writing THE BOOK, ya know? So I decided I was done with feeling so, I guess, unmoored about it all and I wanted to return to longform projects without second guessing myself at every turn. And I broke the spiral, because it was a spiral, by returning to fandom and starting my fic.

So my original writing, long story short, is short form for the most part! And I want very much to finish a novel. I'm giving myself the space to practice again with fic and prove to myself what I am capable of. It's a slow process, healing, but I am and it translates back at every step. I don't tie my original works to this screenname but a few of my fic writin' and Skywind writin' friens have read a bit here and there of both my dnd and my original short stories. It feels good to not feel bad about them as loudly anymore and to have people interact in a positive way with what I've done. I lost a bit of that after college, and writers really ought to stick together. It gets lonely and difficult without friends otherwise. (:

Something about my writing process:

I am a planner and a fragment writer! This is a result of my schooling. When I was younger and didn't hear a different way, I would pants the entire story. Now I suppose it's about 85% planning, and 15% finding ways to cause problems on purpose for my characters and running with a scene idea. (and cutting it if it doesn't work, saving it for later of course.) I outline plot points usually and if I have specific details I want to elaborate on, I have in-depth pages for that in the planning docs. I tend to treat my character sheets sorta like dnd without the build stats. Just break down into sections describing how they'll look, and their backstories. I also really enjoy the tumblr asks regarding OCs, too, because a lot of that ends up in my planning docs too, where it hadn't been thought of before. I like to really KNOW my characters and where I want the story to go as I proceed, but again -- sometimes I just cause problems on purpose for them and for myself (: But that's the fun of it. There's room for unmitigated creativity if you let go of all the headspace nonsense whenever possible.

As for fragments -- sometimes scenes come to me out of order or in ideas that don't have a place in my current project. I keep idea docs and an idea notebook on hand almost always and write down stray thoughts either as more of an outline, or just a jotted down piece of a thought -- OR something more. Like a whole in-prose scene. That's what I mean by fragments. I've found, especially lately, considering what I wrote above, that if inspiration strikes, let it distract you from everything whenever you can. Write that shit down and save it for later. (:

The last part of it, of course, is the editing process. I try to fire the editing brain for drafting purposes and then go back in to proofread and then do editing passes two or three times before I post / consider a piece to be finished enough to possibly share. I enjoy that part of the process so much. It's like finishing a good jigsaw puzzle lol. That said it's not always sunshine and rainbows, it can be a brutal difficult process. And I am not always right. It's different looking at editing your own work than others' just due to how close we can be to our own writing. Worth it, though, all the struggle (:

Is it different in my original work than fic?

Nope! I mean I suppose the glaring difference would be I need to spend more time in original with worldbuilding than I do in fic, as fic kind of has a bit of a safety net in that department. That said, there's still plenty of worldbuilding to do, lots of hcs to write about, and lots of planning how the pieces will interact. And asking -- why tell this specific story? (Always the fun part for me.) The process, regardless, still remains the same. Plan, write, cause problems on purpose, plan around those problems, write more and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. (:

Thank you so much for asking this!! I hope this was insightful!

[hopsake]

Artober the first post day 1-6

So I have been trying the whole october art challenge thing for 3 years now and I like to do outfit ones. Previously I was posting these on twitter but with everything going on over there, I'm done doing that. This year I'm doing #dressuptober by @skele_tea on twitter

These are at various stages of doneness and might receive more work at a later date. Enough delaying, here's days 1 through 6:

Day 1 - This was a fun outfit, mostly cause the bow is cute. I never got further than the sketch. I drew an OC who's a gothic lolita Shadar-Kai called Ciara Lark(she/her), as I thought she was the most fitting character for the outfit. The pose was referenced from a set of poses by pynkblud.

Day 2 - This was too punch-type to be any character of mine but it was fun playing with how to make the outfit fit. I drew my partner's first dnd character Skai'la(she/her), a water genasi/tiefling mix who both my partner and I thought of when seeing the outfit. Pose was from posemuse.

Day 3 - My favourite part of this was making the outfit work with the sitting pose. It feels like a mix of regal and temple defender. The character here was also one of my partner's - Quick Soup (he/they), thieving Tabaxi who featured in an experimental thing I ran one time. Never made it past sketch but I coloured in the face to make him recognisable. Pose here was referenced from Scarlett-Aimpyh on dA.

Day 4 - I was excited about this one, though actually doing it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Please ignore the unique polearm blade. This is a character I'm currently working on, whose working title is Scura(she/her). She's a Selûnite drow who thinks it's her mission to fix everyone around her. This definitely isn't quite her look, but the general idea for the colours is there. Pose was referenced from the pose archives. Day 5 - I was mostly working on stuff from previous days, and outfit 5 was a bit overwhelming and I didn't know what character to have wear it.

Day 6 - This was so fun, and was such a fun glam-up of the character. I got to play around with textures in procreate, which I might do more of going forward. I also had fun trying to shape some shading and highlights like fangs. The character here is Silvia Vinvri(she/her). She was a friendly town witch who fell for the local new-instated vampire countess. The pose here is referenced once again from the same set as day 1 by pynkblud.

[grimbiliah]

I think it’s interesting that culturally (mostly online) there’s sort of a division between “OCs” as in original characters that may or may not be connected to a story and what you would just call a character from a story.

Like, Walter White of Breaking Bad is the “OC” of Vince Gilligan, one of the main creators of Breaking Bad, but it would be weird to call him an OC because he’s just such a well established character from a piece of fiction. He’s also live action, which I feel like when most people have an “OC” on the internet, it’s a drawn character; it makes sense, logistically, drawing a character is easier (and cheaper) to depict and post about online than casting a live action actor for your own amusement.

I think the division started with fan fiction, “This is my original character for Star Trek” and then it’s branched out since then into referring to your own characters, nebulous of any story.

In modern media, this post fan fiction age where those that once partook in online fandom now write the shows that OCs are spawned from, it’s interesting to see characters that were once OC’s in the amateur/fandom culture sense become just characters that exist in people’s mind as a “character”.

In Steven Universe, Lars and Sadie were just characters that Rebeca Sugar, the show’s creator, had been doodling and thinking about for years. I don’t know if they were originally planned to be in the show as semi-important characters but from what I’ve gathered (as someone who was obsessed with the show in middle school and learned every piece of behinds the scenes info I could) it seems like they were just “OCs” of Rebecca’s that they put in when they got a chance to write their own show.

There’s a tweet from Ian JQ, partner to Sugar, that says their OCs got married before they did, referring to the wedding in the show between two of the characters. I’ve probably talked too much about SU so I’ll stop, but I just thought that was an interesting thing to add.

As a guy who draws and writes I don’t consciously think of my characters as OCs. Sometimes I’ll be talking to someone and they’ll ask me if I Have any OCs and I’ll first think that I don’t have any. Then I have to remind myself that all the characters I’ve made for dnd games and the stories in my head and on pages and pages of google docs count, and I can mention them; but internally I just don’t think of them that way.

I don’t know why I don’t think like that, I have theories. It might be the space and time I grew up in on the internet. Something about cringe culture, toxic masculinity, the popularity of Sonic OCs, Ponysonas, and the hatred thereof by a specific group on the internet. I never really took part in hatred but I wasn’t involved in fandoms like that either until much later when I learned to form my own opinions on things. But a small part of me who is a people pleaser, sticks-to-the-crowd type of person just internally wrote off OCs and fanfction as not something I do. Even though someday, I enjoy reading some microfics and create what one would call “original characters”.

This ended up being really long and I had a lot more thoughts on this specific topic than I thought I did, but I guess my point is that it’s a term that has grown it’s own life spawning from fandom and separated into its own thing and that’s why so many people call characters they wrote, specifically, OCs.

Every character is an OC.

OC is a relative term. It's like saying "my house" to differentiate it from other houses.

[mahalzevran]

Took this quiz for all of my OCs just because

Rhian Surana: Rogue Cultivator

Kaia Hawke: Yunmeng Jiang

Alden Hawke: Lanling Jin

Luwalhati Lavellan: Qishan Wen

Bolin Cadash:  Qinghe Nie

Neneng Shepard:  Rogue Cultivator

Hari Ryder:  Qishan Wen

[1ndieblue]

Experimenting with a different art style (and some flower gore!)