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hakhub · 3 years ago

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“I didn’t come here to fight for justice. I’m here to fuckin’ win. So you can either be helpin’ me out, or gettin’ outta my way.”

meet Hako, my FGO Mastersona.

AKA: Chaldea's Shortest Fuse Age: Late 20’s/Early 30’s Height/Weight: 152cm/50kg Region: Japan Alignment: Chaotic-Balanced Gender: ? (dfab non-binary) They/Them

sharp(-witted and -tongued), feisty, charismatic, independent, temperamental, resourceful, defensive, stubborn, passionate, confident, loyal, flippant, reckless, audacious, brave, empathetic, decisive

Motifs: rats, firecrackers, green candy, galvanized steel, thunder and lightning, switchblades

Songs: Hawk Eyes (The Kicks), The Grey (Thrice), Corrupted (McFly), Marco Polo (Uncharted 2), Rules of Nature (Metal Gear Rising Revengeance obligatory RULES OF NATURE meme), Audrey (Gundam Unicorn), Dear to the Heart (Final Fantasy VII), Damaged (Fiction Family)

Likes: music (collecting/listening/discussing/making), their guitars, Irish Coffee, punctuality, playing card games (eg: poker, bridge, go-fish), nurturing talent/mentoring/teaching, growth through confrontation/challenge, The Socratic Method, festivals, mixed-martial arts, lime candy

Dislikes: broken instruments/instruments treated poorly, self-doubt, tardiness, whinging, telepathy/heart-seer (do not look into their mind), physical touch they're not ready for, asking too many questions about their past, insincerity

Berserk Buttons: Talking about their mixed-race heritage, hurting kids (Jack), pity, making them wait for more than 20 minutes after the expected time

Even more profile nonsense in the read more :V

An individual that struggles with saying what they really mean, despite being blunt and confrontational to a fault. For any thing they might say that seems genuine, expect them to quickly cover any vulnerability with layered lies, insults, or deflection (or God forbid all three).

Has a hypersensitivity to sound and supernaturally good hearing. They're basically a living antenna that picks up everything around them at once. Hearing the entire world unfiltered is extremely distressing for them, so Hako uses music to create a "noise buffer" to function. Over time their tolerance for unfiltered noise improves, but in a combat situation it's actually better for them to have the noise buffer active.

They are intensely private. So they really, really hate telepathy and the link they involuntarily share with all of their Servants. Hako almost never uses their link in a non-combat situation. During combat since it’s more efficient to relay orders telepathically they reluctantly get shoehorned into using it and it’s pretty obvious they don’t enjoy doing so. They also will get really mad if someone tries to pry inside of their mind- in exchange for mental privacy however they never look at anyone else's thoughts, even an enemy.

Vicious and dirty in a fight- they had little formal training in their teens, but by the time they hit their twenties they’re more than capable of holding their own against attackers a foot taller than them and twice their weight. It took a lot of losses to get to where they are, and it shows in how well they can take a beating.

Despite all their combative aggression they are much smarter than they look; they did not receive a complete education (probably up to grade 9) but took matters into their own hands and read/research a lot to make up for their lack of book smarts. They’re pretty insecure about their lack of formal education though so it might seem a little off-putting that a normally loud/chatty person like Hako suddenly clams up when asked about schooling.

Isn't great at thinking ahead but amazing at thinking on their feet. In combat they can read up on opponents ahead of time but most of the time they pick up the patterns of an opponent strictly through observation.

They’re not tall nor do they have a lot of fat, but they can drink many cis men under the table. No one knows how or why their tolerance is so strong, but it’s likely due to their past.

Their clothing choices are pretty varied since they'll wear whatever they think is comfortable and somewhat practical, so they aren't afraid to show skin or dress conservatively, or present very femme (dresses, etc) or very masc (tuxedos, etc). The only thing they display some hesitance on is heeled shoes (men's or women's) and wearing makeup (the last point maybe having something to do with their upbringing).

They have a tendency to grind their teeth, so it's easy to spot them chewing on coffee stir sticks, lollipop sticks, or toothpicks.

They’re a surprisingly good cook. They’re weirdly defensive about the virtues of cheap ingredients, though…(“I’m telling you it doesn’t have to cost a fucking fortune to be organic! Get your bougie kombucha chugging ass outta here!”)

They don't bind.

Hako takes terrible care of their hair. They often don't remember to brush it out and just tie it up to get it out of the way and get on with it. Other characters usually have to sit their ass down to get it untangled :P

Closest/Fav Servants:

Jeanne D’Arc

Jeanne Alter

Achilles

Jack the Ripper

Nobunaga

Ishtar

Nero

Scathach

Secret Past below. This is stuff Hako doesn’t tell anyone and the only people that know the full story are Mash, Jeanne D’Arc, Chevalier D’Eon, and Ishtar by virtue of just meeting them early in their Master tenure, and before they came out. Jack is aware of some small snippets, namely Hako’s early adulthood.

This is written with she/her pronouns since Hako doesn’t actually come out as NB until Part 2.

There once was a young girl with powerful magical potential. She was born with very good hearing, so much so that she could detect energy signatures and fluctuations in sound waves from a miles-wide radius, which put her in terrible agony at an early age. She was raised in a very traditionalist shrine in a very close-knit community, relying on the surrounding small town bustle to manage her noise sensitivity (with limited success). Her mother was a middle-rank miko, and her father apparently had died in an accident just before she was born.

She fell in love with music not long after figuring out that instrument-based and localized sound waves were strong enough for her to use as a means of managing her condition. She saved up to buy a shamisen and taught herself to play. She gathered a collection of discarded CDs and cassettes to listen to in private, especially works that her superiors disapproved of. She was known to bother guests at the shrine with questions about what they would listen to and get recommendations.

Despite her love of music garnering mixed approval amongst her superiors, she took the strict duties of the shrine seriously. She proved to be quite the obedient miko-in-training and hoped that her gift- deemed holy and pure in the eyes of the shrine- would help her find a place as a positive influence in her rural community. She had aspirations to one day become a competent caretaker and aid the shrine in becoming more lax on certain traditions so it could better adapt in an ever-changing world.

Unfortunately on her fifteenth birthday, a terrible secret came to light: her mother had conceived her out of wedlock and her unidentified father was a Chinese criminal, thus marking her a konketsuji (mixed-blood). As punishment for her impurities and unwitting deception, her hair was forcibly cut and she was discarded, essentially left to fend for herself.

An uneducated girl in a small town had few opportunities to survive. She was forced to endure many hardships that would define her extreme philosophy about power, and an obsession with control and agency over her own life. She spent the next decade drifting along the Japanese countryside and urban landscapes, taking small jobs on the rare occasions she could get one, and stealing for the times she could not. She developed a real edge during this time, often refusing to trust anyone out of fear of being taken advantage of (or worse).

She settled in a major city by her twenties, operating as a courier for a local crime ring and living amongst several other families in a poor group home. She could not rise above her low class due to her mixed-race heritage, but managed to scrape an earnest living despite routinely delivering illegal parcels and avoiding capture/death from competition. Given her reliability and competence at delivering always on time, she was nicknamed “The Box Girl” as a joke. She ended up liking it so much (and wanted to distance herself from her old life) that she called herself Hako (box) as her new identity. Because she couldn’t pass as a pureblooded Japanese person, she forwent the use of a surname. It wasn’t like she had a family anyway.

She was apprehended by law enforcement after a difficult delivery to a very influential client, and would have been doomed to prison time were it not for Chaldea being made aware of her and scouting her out. In exchange for avoiding lifetime incarceration, she was brought to Chaldea’s Master program essentially as an indentured servant, to work for them in exchange for “freedom”. At first she resented her situation, feeling like she had traded actual prison for a fantastical prison (and being openly labeled as a disposable asset probably didn’t help), but the Fuyuki Singularity forcing Chaldea to rely on her without a choice changed her attitude. She came to accept her life is one gigantic cosmic joke and the only thing left to do is win with her own mettle. A rat will do whatever it takes to survive, after all.

#mastersona

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monstersdownthepath · 4 years ago

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Spiritual Spotlight: Hanspur, the Water Rat (and Ashkaelae)

Chaotic Neutral God of Rivers, River Travel, and Smugglers

Domains: Chaos, Death, Travel, Water Subdomains: Exploration, Murder, Rivers, Trade

Inner Sea Faiths, pg. 58~63

Obedience: With the assistance of another priest of Hanspur or by yourself, simulate the act of drowning. You can do this by fully submerging yourself in a body of water, exhaling all of your breath, and painfully inhaling water instead of air. Alternatively, you can lie on your back with your head at a lower elevation than your legs while water is slowly poured on your face and up your nose. If you choose the latter method, you must cover your face with a cloth while the water is poured. When you conclude this simulated drowning, contemplate your life and how your goals coincide with the teachings of Hanspur and the Six River Freedoms. Benefit: You gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on Survival checks attempted while on or near rivers.

Just reading this makes my sinuses burn and my lungs itch, and not just because it’s springtime and I have allergies! As anyone who’s ever been in a body of water large enough to slap their face with a wave can attest to, inhaling large amounts of water sucks. While this Obedience requires only one wet breath, some... well, some pretty severe complications can arise from it, if your DM ponders even slightly what doing this to yourself every day would do. Dry drowning and secondary drowning are both real dangers from brief immersion, let alone concentrated efforts at simulating one of the worst fates someone can experience (I say this a lot but basically anything that deprives you of air is pretty terrible). The ‘simulation’ will likely only last a few seconds while the rest of the hour is spent recovering from your experience and meditating, but even that may not be enough to offset the fluid likely building up in your lungs. Priests of Hanspur must sound atrocious, coughing themselves ragged every day! No wonder it’s recommended your ritual is overseen by another priest, either, because they’d likely be skilled in helping you manage your symptoms.

Dangers of daily drownings aside, keeping up with the demands of this ritual is pretty easy so long as you’re somewhere with easy access to water. In Hanspur’s homelands, the River Kingdoms, this is pathetically simple! Everywhere else? It’s a lot harder! While I do appreciate that there’s a secondary ritual you can do if total immersion is impossible, but what happens if you’re stuck somewhere with no easy water access? Your waterskins won’t carry you for very long, even if you pilfer them from your party as well. Better invest in a Decanter of Endless Water! Or do something ridiculous like fill the party’s Bag of Holding up so you can just hop in and out whenever you need to.

That benefit is also the weakest I’ve seen in a long time, granting a bonus to only a single skill type and only while near rivers. Survival checks aren’t even all that commonly made, unless your DM is kind enough to let you use Survival to navigate with river rafts rather than Profession or Ride checks. Hanspur really doesn’t want his faithful straying too far from the River Kingdoms, which is only further exacerbated by how his Boons work, so if you’re not the type to linger near rivers you may just want to skip him entirely.

Boons are gathered slowly, typically obtained when a given character has 12, 16, and 20 hit dice. Unlike fiend-worshipers, servants of the Eldest, and devoted of the Empyreal Lords, characters worshiping Neutral gods do not have catch-all classes… but Neutral-aligned characters can enter the Evangelist, Sentinel, and Exalted Prestige Classes earlier than Evil characters, classing in as early as level 6 (they need +5 BAB, 5 ranks in a single skill, or the ability to cast lvl 3 spells); entered ASAP, one can gain the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14.

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EVANGELIST

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Boon 1: River Sage. Gain Hydraulic Push 3/day, River Whip 2/day, or Hydraulic Torrent 1/day.

Hydraulic Push and Hydraulic Torrent live in the same niche of “giant water spouts what push stuff around,” with Torrent being obviously an order of magnitude more powerful than Push. While Push has a range of Close and can target only a single creature or square, Torrent is a 60ft line that Bull Rushes or attempts to destroy everything it encounters, so it really depends on if you’re thinking you’ll need three small streams or one really, really big one. Notably, Torrent can Bull Rush targets of any size, unrestricted by the limits of your pathetic frame, while Push contains no such limiter removal and thus likely means you can only blast creatures up to a size larger than you.

Also of note, Torrent attempts to shatter everything it comes into contact with until it runs into something or someone it cannot destroy or push past. The Strength score the Torrent uses is equal to your caster level plus your casting ability modifier, meaning it will start out barely stronger than you are but will eventually be able to punch holes in iron and shatter stone. Hell, with a lucky roll, it may be able to do that anyway. Your choice on which two to take wholly depends on if you want to push three Medium critters around or launch one Colossal one.

What? River Whip? I don’t see any spell like that here! Lets move on! (alright alright; i just don’t like it. it’s good as an emergency weapon but more or less anything else is better in any scenario)

Boon 2: River Scion. As a free action you can breathe underwater, as if affected by Water Breathing, for a number of hours per day equal to the number of Hit Dice you possess. These hours need not be used consecutively, but must be used in 1-hour increments.

A disappointingly weak Boon. Really, what else is there to see or say? If you need to go underwater, this ability is great and has zero downsides. If you don’t, this Boon doesn’t exist. It’s a very binary Boon that relies on your environment, which means that if you’re overjoyed if you’ve remained in the River Kingdoms, but in a desert or jungle or mountain peak, you’re going to be extremely disappointed upon hitting level 11.

Boon 3: River’s Embodiment. 1/day as a standard action, you can transform yourself into a Huge water elemental, as per Elemental Body IV. You can stay in this form for 1 minute per Hit Die you possess, and can dismiss this effect as a free action.

Finally, a transformation ability that doesn’t suck! What does suck is that this is a level 7 spell being granted to you 1/day, when other Boons are equivalent to level 9 spells in power. Hanspur could have at least given you a little bonus on top of it, or made it 2/day, but it’s hard to complain about the force you become under Elemental Body IV. You become immune to bleed, critical hits, Sneak Attacks, and on top of it all get insurmountable DR 5, and the stack of stats you get? Mmmm-mm! Chef’s kiss!

+6 AC, +8 Con, +4 Str, all for the price of -2 Dex (more than made up for with the +AC). And, of course, a swim speed and the power to collapse yourself into a destructive Vortex, but those are only useful if you’re in water, while the rest of the stat buffs are far more universally useful. You’re not exactly the destructive and terrifying Fire Elemental or the deceptively sneaky Earth Elemental, but a wall of surging water can still wreak all manner of havoc on your enemies, your new dual slams able to smash ships (and bones) to pieces, and since Water Elementals are capable of speech and gesture, you can merely bask in your new tank stats while still casting spells.

There’s also the much more amusing but niche use of transforming while already polymorphed by a hostile effect, as having a new polymorph effect used on you while you’re already changed can end the first automatically.

While I wish the effect was usable more often, or at least broken into 1-minute increments, I can’t call it a bad Boon by any means.

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EXALTED

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Boon 1: River Guide. Gain Obscuring Mist 3/day, Haunting Mists2/day, or Aqueous Orb 1/day.

I love the name of this ability because two of the three spells do the opposite of guiding people. Now I’m a big fan of Obscuring Mist; it’s a simple staple in my list for almost every caster I make just because of how versatile it is! But now that I know there’s an alternative, it may have competition. Both Obscuring Mist and Haunting Mists do roughly the same thing, but one could argue that Haunting Mists does it better; in addition to granting concealment and shutting off an enemy’s eyes, it deals 1d2 Wisdom damage and shakes up anyone starting their turn inside the mist... But as a Figment spell with the Fear descriptor, there are a great many creatures immune to its unique power, and True Seeing allows one to see through it perfectly, whereas Obscuring Mist remains impenetrable to the apex predator of the Illusion school.

While it cannot be dispelled by wind or motion like a tangible fog, it’s important to note that there’s no way to protect specific creatures from the sanity-damaging effects of Haunting Mists, and its casting distance of 20ft and 20ft spread means that you will likely always be caught in its radius. The range means using it offensively is painfully limited, unless you want to cast it from invisibility after sneaking into the middle of an enemy formation, which... you probably, definitely don’t want to make a habit of.

It’s great for covering your retreat, but not your advance or setup like the normal Mist is.

Aqueous Orb is a good choice if your party is getting screwed over by the mist more than the enemy, creating a big ol’ 10ft ball of water that intercepts and engulfs anything that moves into it, or which it moves into. It deals 2d6 nonlethal damage whenever it rams into a creature and a further 2d6 to everything it has engulfed each round, but the damage isn’t so much the main draw as the fact it’s a massive, roving Sphere of Grappling, snaring and drowning any creature it manages to get ahold of if they fail the Reflex save. It’s a fun little spell that’s great for mopping up and controlling minions, especially ones you don’t actually want to kill, and even at its worst it can become a makeshift barrier in a narrow hallway since there’s no written way to actually move through it beyond wasting 2, 3, or more rounds by slamming into it and swimming through to the other side while your party books it in the other direction.

Boon 2: River Traveler. As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies within 30 feet of you a swim speed of 60 feet. This effect lasts for 1 round per Hit Die you possess or until you dismiss it as a free action, whichever comes first. Your allies must remain within 30 feet of you or lose this benefit. In addition, you gain a +2 profane or sacred bonus on saves against spells with the Water descriptor.

See, this should have been added to River Scion as a bonus. River Scion and River Traveler feel like they could have combined into a single Boon to make something decent, but as it is they both fall into the same niche: Solves the encounter they’re meant to solve, useless otherwise. This ability is noteworthy for having no restrictions about how many times it can be used, essentially letting you switch swimming off and on at will. The fact it doesn’t take an action is incredibly important, because using the massive 60ft swim speed the ability grants actually removes the bonus, as getting further than 30ft from you makes it fizzle.

I don’t really understand why it would grant 60ft of movespeed if they’re restricted to a 30ft bubble, nor do I understand the purpose of the bubble in the first place. It makes exploration a slog, and escape scenarios more finicky than they should be. Since it can be activated whenever you need to as a free action, the duration feels unneeded. There’s so much about this ability that conflicts with itself that it bugs me too much to say much in the way of positives. The +2 to saves vs Water spells is a fun little ribbon, though most Water spells tend to be harmless utility spells rather than ones you’d need to make a save against.

Boon 3: River’s Depths. 1/day as a standard action, you can cause one creature within 30 feet to begin drowning, filling its lungs with water. The target of this ability can attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis mod) to negate the effect. If the target succeeds, it is staggered for 1 round. If it fails, the target immediately begins to suffocate. On the target’s next turn, it falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 hit points. One round later, the target drops to –1 hit points and is dying. One round after that, the target dies. Each round, the target can attempt a Fortitude save to end the effect. This ability affects only living creatures that must breathe and cannot breathe underwater. This is a curse effect.

Now this one’s just insulting, being a technically weaker version of a level 5 spell, Suffocation. It’s weaker in four ways: 1) It fails against creatures which are amphibious which, if you’re in the River Kingdoms, is many. 2) It’s curse effect, which can mean some creatures are resistant or immune to it. 3) It has a 30ft range, unlike Suffocation’s range of Close (25ft + 5ft/level). And, finally, 4) Just ONE successful save ends the effect entirely, while Suffocation continues to torment and stagger the victim for 3 rounds until its effects finally expire.

It’s hard to ignore fact that it’s a basically a Save-Or-Die with excellent DC scaling, but I can’t get over it being weaker than an existing level 5 spell! ... Granted, Suffocation could probably get away with being bumped an extra level or two higher given how frighteningly effective it is at shutting down any creature who needs to breathe even if they succeed their save. I’m probably slamming down too hard on an ability that, again, is a Save-Or-Die at best and an unavoidable stagger at worst (good for making some emergency repairs against a powerful full-attacker), and for extra fun can be used without any components involved, so you can just drop it on someone out of the blue and they’ll have no idea who just tried to kill them. While I am disappointed it doesn’t meet the power of other Boons, it’s undeniably effective against a large portion of the creatures you’ll be fighting, even at 1/day.

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SENTINEL

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Boon 1: River Warden. Gain Wave Shield 3/day, Masterwork Transformation 2/day, or Quench 1/day.

Wave Shield is one of those rare spells that are amazing to have, but not especially good to prepare or to waste a precious Spells Known slot on. It’s an immediate action spell that grants insurmountable DR and Fire Resistance equal to half your caster level in response to a single incoming attack, which isn’t stupendous at low levels but is a generous equivalent to immediate, on-demand temporary HP as you get higher and higher level. If a creature relies on a lot of little hits rather than a few big ones, blocking even one of them can save you in the long run, and if your DR cancels out the damage from a poisoned or diseased attack, all the better!

It’s not an especially strong spell given how it only works once before fading away, but it’s better than the other two options by a country mile. Masterwork Transformation is something you’ll rarely need more than a few times in a campaign before masterwork items fall into your laps (or you can simply buy them), and by the time you gain this ability it will likely no longer matter. That being said, if you’re in a low-wealth campaign or have been forced to scavenge for your gear, Masterwork Transformation will save you THOUSANDS of gp over the course of your life, because as a spell-like, the material components are ignored and thus you can slowly upgrade your entire party’s armaments for free. Given its ability to affect a generous 50 pieces of ammunition per casting as well means the Ranger and Gunslinger will adore you, and you can work in tandem with a mystic craftsman (PC or otherwise) to get all of your favorite gear enchanted without discarding your precious family heirloom sword for that masterwork one you looted.

Not to mention the simple joy in taking all the gear off a bandit clan, Masterworking all of it, and selling it for a tidy profit.

Compared to the combat utility of Wave Shield and noncombat utility of Masterwork Transformation, it’s hard to make a case for Quench, which falls into the category of ‘niche spell’ like Water Breathing and Water Walking in that it will instantly solve a handful of scenarios and be utterly useless in the rest. Yes, you may need to put out a forest fire or stop a building you’re in from burning to a crisp, but you’ll have to decide if it’s worth giving up three emergency DR 4/-- and Fire Resistance 4 bandages... as the martial-focused Sentinel. If you plan on fighting a fire that day or encountering a magic item that can generate fires (which Quench shuts off for 1d4 hours) and no one else in your party bothered learning Quench, by all means, but as the Sentinel having the DR is probably better in most cases.

Boon 2: River Champion. 3/day as a standard action, you can sculpt water into the form of a melee weapon that you are proficient with. You must have enough water to form the weapon, an amount equal to the weapon’s normal weight. Once formed, the weapon behaves as a weapon of its type with an enhancement bonus of +1, which increases by 1 for every 5 additional HD you have beyond 5 (max +4). This weapon deals double damage to creatures with the Fire subtype. The weapon dissolves into ordinary water after a number of rounds equal to your HD or as soon as it leaves your hand, whichever happens first.

Boons which call weapons to your hand are alright in cases where your signature weapon has been taken from you, and by the time you receive this ability you will have a signature weapon, but such times tend to come few and far between. This one also has the additional caveat that you don’t actually create the weapon from nowhere, there must already be water around to make it, at least enough water to match the weapon’s typical weight. The good news is that a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, and a trident--Hanspur’s holy weapon--weighs only 4, with most other weapons barely ever approaching 10, so you can reasonably carry around an emergency weapon in a waterskin or in your backpack... And you know, now that I think about it, it’s kind of cool to be able to turn a glass of water into a dagger.

But when will you need to? How often do you find yourself bereft of a usable weapon often enough to need an emergency armament like this? I can see the niche in front of me, making a new weapon as-needed against creatures whose DR makes them difficult to damage with your normal gear or taking advantage of that delicious little tidbit about doing double-damage to fire-based creatures, but they take your whole standard action to make and last for only a single combat (if that), and you can’t even shuffle around the +1 bonuses for additional effects!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s by no means bad (unless you’re both in a waterless area and haven’t filled your waterskin), especially at 3/day, but I can’t help but wonder when you’d actually need it at level 11+ when you likely already have a primary weapon and several backups.

Boon 3: River’s Renewal. When completely submerged in water, you gain Fast Healing 2. You can recover a total number of hit points equal to twice your HD in this manner each day. At 20 HD, if you fall below 0 hit points and your body is fully submerged in a river, you automatically stabilize.

As a final Boon, I wish the Fast Healing had a higher threshold than just 28 points a day (+2 per level). In combat it likely won’t matter, and while out of combat it’s a decent amount of healing, usually enough to spare a couple spell slots from your healers or some potions, it’s just not all that impressive for a third and final Boon. Sentinels are the only followers of Hanspur who don’t get some method to easily navigate the seas, so taking advantage of this Boon to its fullest extent relies on an outside method of gaining water breathing or a swim speed.

Funnily enough, you can carry around a Bag of Holding filled with water and use it as a recuperative pod in case you don’t have access to a deep puddle, which is dubiously useful but not entirely terrible. HOWEVER, the little addition at the end is also a kick in the teeth; why does that only happen at level 20? Why can’t that be a base part of the Boon? It’s just insul--Wait, it only works if you’re submerged in a river, too? You can’t stabilize with some good old pond water? The mighty ocean? Can’t take a dip in a bathtub to stop bleeding out? Come on, Hanspur!!! Be a little more generous to your worshipers!

I dunno, maybe I’m underselling the out-of-combat healing this Boon offers, but it just doesn’t feel worth it to put up with the Water Rat for your entire adventuring career just for an extra 1/8th of an HP bar.

You can read more about him here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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hasmashdoneanythingwrong · 5 years ago

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Fan servant: Foreigner Arachne

Based upon and inspired by a comment from @sugarzillakingofcanes, Foreigner Arachne is the Greek Woman Arachne summoned with aspects of the Jorōgumo youkai and empowered by the Great Old One Atlach-Nacha. Arachne is a foreigner who focuses on paralyzing and weakening foes with stun, poison, and Quick Crits, especially the Divine.

Class: Foreigner

Rarity: Gold (SR or SSR)

Attack: High for Rarity.

HP: About Average for Rarity.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (As a full human Arachne was a decent person, if boastful and full of hubris. However, the influences of Atlach-Nacha and the Jorōgumo have loosened her morals enough to be disqualified from a “good” alignment, however as she is not actively malevolent she isn’t counted as “evil”. Thus, Neutral.)

Attribute: Earth (Arachne originates from a Greek myth, the Jorōgumo is a youkai, and Atlach-Nacha is a Great Old One. All of these alone would be Earth, so together it’s definitely Earth.)

Deck Composition: QQQAB

Hit Counts: 5(Q)/3(A)/1(B)/6(E)

Star Absorption: 155 (Arachne is definitely a Crit Servant, with 3 Quick Cards and a Quick NP in Arachne’s Tapestry)

Star Generation: 26%

ATK NP Gen: 0.6%

DEF NP Gen: 3%

Instant Death Chance: 15% (Arachne’s myth and the very thing that grants her an affinity for spiders ends in her suicide and cursing. To wield the power of Atlach-Nacha doesn’t change this, hence the high for a Foreigner 15%)

Gender: Female

Traits: Servant, Humanoid, Threat to Humanity, Sky or Earth, Weak to Enuma Elish

Stats:

Strength: B

Endurance: B

Agility: A

Mana: E

Luck: D

NP: B+

Active Skills:

Phantasmal Silk A: The silk of the Jorōgumo and the silk of Atlach-Nacha both have fantastical properties. Arachne can pick and choose which to include or discard, creating all manner of silks that can benefit allies or hinder enemies. [Upon activating this skill, you are given the choice to apply this skill either to allies or to the selected enemy. Has a recharge of 5 turns at level 10]

If applied to allies: Apply a one turn invincibility, a three turn HP Regen (3000 HP at Level 10), and a three turn Def Up (30% at Level 10). However, applies a special 1 turn Stun (considered a buff for Debuff Resistance purposed.) Further reduces damage dealt by [Divine] trait enemies by another 20% (Number based on Level 10). [Arachne uses her nigh-indestructible silk to cocoon everyone (herself included) for protection. The silk is charged with the energies of the world of dreams from Atlach-Nacha’s silk, which Arachne uses to heal and soothe those in the cocoon. That said, even once the cocoon has loosened, the silk remains a little longer and helps strengthen armors. Arachne’s sheer hate of the gods that cursed her for daring to be talented gives the silk surprisingly potent anti-Divine properties.]

If applied to an enemy, applies a 2 turn stun that has a 50% chance of wearing off at the end of turn 1. As well, applies Poison (500 Damage per Turn at Level 10) for 3 turns. If the target has the [Divine] Trait, the stun is guaranteed to last two turns and has a 50% chance to wear off before turn 3, and will end after turn 3. Also, apply a Toxic/Poison Damage Up debuff for 3 turns to Divine targets that doubles the damage dealt by Poison. [The Jorōgumo can cast a net of its silk, and many spiders can launch envenomed silk at prey. Arachne combines both of these into a hyperlethal trap. Like her silk, her venom is also tainted with Arachne’s rage against the Gods.]

Irritant B: Apply a 3 turn Quick Resistance Down debuff (15% at Level 10) to a single enemy and grants the whole allied party Critical Damage Up (15% up at Level 10) and Star Generation Up (20% at Level 10) buffs against that enemy only for 3 turns. Against [Divine] trait enemies, also applies a 3 turn 10% Defense Down Debuff. 5 Turn Cooldown at Level 10. [As arguably one of the most famous Western myths involving the creation of the spider, Arachne has aspects of all variety of spiders and tarantulas at her disposal. Of note is that, like some tarantulas, Arachne has access to urticating hairs. These small hairs can be launched from the abdomen of Arachne’s spider half, though these urticating hairs grow back like human hair rather than with molting like a tarantula, and are relatively massive and can cause lacerations. Usually though, the victim will just feel immensely itchy and physically irritated, making it hard to keep their guard up and leaving their weak spots open to fast strikes and surprise attacks. As with everything Arachne has, this effect is worse for the Divine, actively weakening their defenses.]

Envenom B+: Gives Arachne’s regular attacks a chance to apply a three turn Poison debuff to the targeted enemy (65% base chance at Level 10, flat 100 Damage regardless of skill level) on each hit for 3 turns. Against enemies with the [Divine] trait, attacks will also apply another Poison debuff (this one doing 150 Damage per turn) but only if the first Poison debuff applied, as well as have a chance (45% chance) to apply a Stun on the first hit of a command card. 5 Turn Cooldown at Level 10. [Arachne’s spider half does have fangs, as does Arachne herself in her Outer Form. If an opening presents itself, Arachne can inject venom into a living thing with these fangs. Due to her spider half having access to traits from all species of spider and tarantula, Arachne’s venom is a potent cocktail of the most potent traits of different spiders, made even more potent by Atlach-Nacha’s power adding the venom of The Spiders of Leng. Arachne insists she has no control over the venom’s composition, and thus the inclusion of one of the more infamous effects of the Brazillian Wandering Spider’s venom was not her choice. She does, however, admit it will add a nice layer of irony to killing Zeus herself. He can be amorous in death too, she says.]

Passive Skills

Entity of the Outer Realm EX: Gain 2 Critical Stars every turn, Increase Debuff Resistance by 12%. [Arachne maintains a connection to Atlach-Nacha, who even influences her form come Outer Form (set of four small spider eyes under her now slitted human eyes, fangs, her spider half taking on the colors of a Spider of Leng, etc.)]

Presence Concealment (Hunter) EX: Increases own Quick Card Star Generation by 12%. [Arachne’s usage of Presence Concealment is strange to put it bluntly. She can only conceal herself when actively stalking prey or lying in wait for an enemy. However, if she’s doing these she is completely impossible to perceive by mundane means, and even magical means require extra effort.]

Independent Action B: Increases own Critical Damage by 8% [While she needs mana like any servant, she can sustain herself on her connection to Atlach-Nacha for a time.]

Noble Phantasm

Tapestry of Arachne

Behold, A Blasphemous Truth Of The Gods.

Rank: B+

Class: Anti-Divine

Type: Quick

Hit Count: 7

(All Numbers based on Level 5)

Deal massive damage to a single enemy. Apply a 1 Turn Stun debuff and a 3 turn Poison debuff (1000 Damage per turn). If used on a [Divine] Servant, however, the Poison debuff is instead a 5 Turn 5000 Damage per turn debuff that cannot be removed by any means before Turn 3, and seals NP and Skills for 2 turns as well. [Arachne calls upon the full power of her connection to Atlach-Nacha and ascends to her Outer Form if not already there. Using this power, she injects a special venom into her chosen target that forces them into a dream state, where they experience a horrid nightmare. In this nightmare, Arachne weaves a continuation of the Original Tapestry she wove in her contest with Athena around the target. Once the threads are in place, she pulls them all tight, imbedding the target’s dream self in the tapestry and revealing all the crimes of the Gods against mortals, from Zeus’s infidelity and forcing himself upon women, to even the crimes of foreign gods like Ishtar and her destruction against the people of Ur. Backed by the power of Atlach-Nacha, this information gains the same gravitas as info from the Book of Eibon or the Necronomicon, and especially devastates Divine Servants, who are forced to confront their crimes.]

Appearance

First Ascension: Fully human, brown hair and brown eyes. Clothing is a Greek peplos, though with a subtle (though not impossible to notice) spider web pattern over it and and Greek style sandals.

Second Ascension: Below Arachne’s stomach, about where the pelvic area would be, she now has a spiders body, with Arachne’s body coming off where the spider’s eyes would be on the cephalothorax. Though the body is reminiscent more of a tarantula’s (rounded back abdomen with hair), the colors and legs are directly that of the Jorō spider, the spider generally though of as that of the Jorōgumo. Arachne’s clothing now consists of a kimono, though with definite Ancient Greek designs on it (example: sleeves have the meander pattern going around them at the ends, colors reminiscent of ancient Greek pottery, etc ) Arachne’s hair is now a deep deep black, while her arms, hands, shoulders, and parts of her neck are now covered in a strange, black chitin like substance that leaves the ends of the fingers pointed. Her eyes are more akin to an Oni’s like Ibaraki’s or Archer of Inferno’s, but still brown.

3rd Ascension: Drinking deep from the well of Atlach-Nacha’s power, Arachne’s spider half now more closely resembles a Spider of Leng, being a deep purple color. Her kimono, a part of the Jorōgumo’s influence, remains, although it is partially torn and shredded to reveal the chitin from Arachne’s arms fully covers her torso in a manner reminiscent of Greek Hoplite armor, the “chitin” now a more metallic bronze color. Her hair is now stark white and reminiscent of spiders silk, while her eyes are now a reddish brown. Below her human eyes are now two sets of beady spider eyes. In her mouth, notable fangs.

My Room Lines

Zeus (probably coming LB5, he counts) (Second and Third Ascension): Zeus?! ZEUS?! You summoned the one god who represents the worst of their flaws?! ...Master, you’re lucky I trust you after you’ve shown me kindness even with this form, but let him know even you won’t be able to save him if he acts up.

Heracles (All Ascensions): Oh my goodness is that Heracles? The hero of such strength we use his name as an adjective? You have to let me speak with him, I’ve always loved his tales! ...Oh, he’s a Berserker? Then, this is likely him after... (Sigh) Yet more proof the gods are worse that they’d want us to believe.

Gilgamesh (Archer) (First and Second Ascensions): Hey, I don’t know who that blonde jerk is but he has some nerve! He dares to claim he is on humanity’s side while indulging in some of his worst, most base fantasies and treating his very much non-divine subjects like his property?! I call bull, he’s just as bad as the very gods he claims to be against! (Added after Third Ascension) Even if this form were to disqualify me as human, I’d still say I’ve never met a more hypocritical king.

#fate #fate grand order #fgo #Arachne #fanservant

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veeranger · 5 years ago

Text

Berserker Noël (Vanishing Starlight)

Servant: Noël

Class: Berserker

Attribute: Human

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Parameters: Strength: A, Endurance: A, Agility: B, Mana: C Luck: D, Noble Phantasm: B++

“Servant, Berserker. I heard the frustration in your voice and came to answer your call. Let’s destroy..er..save this world with rock, Master.”

A young man hell bent on destroying the world with his music, Noël is not exactly a historically important person nor someone who would normally be recorded in the Throne of Heroes, but [Special Circumstances] regarding his life have lead to The World recording his life’s [Story] and allowing him to manifest as a servant. Of course, this version of Noël hasn’t done any of those important things yet. A fluke perhaps, or something else entirely, but the angry young man summoned into the Berserker class is not yet the man who denied a [Certain Choice], but he is a man who stands on the [Horizon] of his [Destiny]. As he is, this Noël is an angry dejected youth, who met a [Certain Man] who changed his life. This version of Noël is not a typical summoning in that he knows nothing of his future, nor how his story ends. It is unknown why he doesn’t have this knowledge, but one assumes it has something to do with the [Other Him] that also resides in the Throne of Heroes. This Noël’s personality is exacerbated by his Berserker class, but he’s honestly not that far off from how he was in life, just a little more extreme than before. As for his wish on the grail? Well, you can probably guess. Certainly a wish fitting the Berserker class.

“Eh? My weapon? All I have is my guitar, Master. What was that about “Nobu”, what the hell is a Nobu?”

Noble Phantasm: Irritation Too Great To Be Denied

Noël’s ultimate technique, [Irritation Too Great To Be Denied] acts as a pseudo anti-world noble phantasm, in such a manner that it creates a reality marble representative of both what one could call Noël’s world as well as the world that despised and rejected him as he despised and rejected it in turn. The reality marble forms a stage and audience, and has a number of effects on those trapped within. Enemies will be subjected to the pain and anger Noël suffered, from his perspective. Even those who suffered more than Noël can be affected by this if they are not properly prepared, or lack resistance. Typically this takes effect by lowering the skills and resistances of the enemy, though effects may vary, making this a somewhat tricky and unreliable noble phantasm. Additionally, Noël himself is affected, which may cause him to enter a state fitting the class of berserker. All of his skills and parameters are considerably buffed, but he may become so enraged he becomes uncontrollable by his master, and there is a danger of him consuming too much mana and killing his master, or simply failing to recognize his master in his attacks. Command seals are best utilized to keep him under control or force him to stop, or even to seal this noble phantasm entirely. This noble phantasm can affect both master and servant alike, including Noël’s own master should they be caught inside the reality marble.

Passive Skills:

Madness Enhancement D-

Noël is surprisingly sane for a Berserker class servant. While he can be obstinate and stubborn, he has not lost his sanity by any means. This skill manifests in a strong force of will and what can turn into a single minded obsession to reach his goals, whatever they may be. It can be difficult to talk him down from a course of action once he sets his mind on it.

Linked Horizons B

It seems that during this point in his life, Noël was, in some manner, being manipulated by a mysterious man in sunglasses calling himself Revo. [This Man’s] manipulations have manifested as a passive skill, but even Noël isn’t sure what exactly it does, nor is he happy to have it as a skill in the first place. One might be able to assume it can manipulate luck in Noël’s favor, at least one would hope it would be in his favor.

Active Skills:

Destroy the World with Rock A++

Noël is nearly constantly filled with fury at the world, whether it be simmering under the surface or boiling over, this anger is always with him. However he considers his fury against those that deserve it. Should Noël decide that his enemy is deserving of this fury, he will gain a massive surge of power to rise against them. This is essentially a weaker, but more reliable version of his Noble Phantasm, he is mostly able to direct this skill at will, but his own noble soul can prevent the skill from taking effect unless he truly believes the enemy is deserving of his fury.

Soul of Musician EX

Noël had no shortage of pain in his life, certainly. He turned that pain into music during his lifetime, and this skill is the manifestation of that. With this skill he can turn any story into a song, be it his own or those of his fellow servants. All he needs is the story, and he can activate this skill to cast a buff specific to the target of the skill. This skill is extremely powerful and versatile, and can even impact the spirit origin of a servant in especially powerful cases, though this would take mana beyond the scope of himself and his master. Considering that this skill essentially adds a new telling of a hero’s legend to the world, it is a very powerful skill, and can even register new changes to a servant’s spirit origin, with an extremely large amount of mana. Unfortunately the amount of mana this would require goes far beyond the scope of what any single human master could ever hope to accomplish, so this ability is not likely to be utilized to its absolute fullest.

The Color of Your Loneliness A

Just as Revo once connected to Noël, he can connect to others similar to himself. Whether through circumstances, disposition, or comradery, Noël can buff allies he finds who’s frutstations match his own. When Noël activates this skill, he and those he deems allies become linked, in a manner of speaking. His allies gain certain traits from the berserker class, mainly increased attack power and the high defense of the container, while Noël himself will altogether lose his madness enhancement, completely clearing his mind. Noël gains enhanced resistance to all forms of attack, almost reaching the inherent levels of a ruler class, though not quite. However, in exchange for the temporary loss of madness enhancement, Noël does lose the high attack power he normally has as a berserker. He also loses the ability to use his noble phantasm while this skill is active, as well as the ability to trigger his skill Destroy the World with Rock A++. In short, this skill sacrifices Noël’s offensive capabilities in order to buff his comrades, and this comradery grants him almost ruler-like protections.

#Apple Post #Noël Sound Horizon #Sound Horizon #Fate #i started this like last year just for fun and i finally got it done and i know this appeals to all of 5 people but like whatever i really l #liked doing it #i tried to write this as annoyingly [Revo] as i could but i kind of gave up at the skills

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squirenonny · 5 years ago

Note

How do you feel about Entrapta in She-Ra being canonically autistic?

I haven’t heard about it being canon, but I’m all for the headcanon! Entrapta and Scorpia are probably my two favorite characters from She-Ra, and two of my strongest autistic headcanons. (Though… honestly I can make an argument for almost every character being autistic, and at the very least hc Entrapta, Scorpia, Bow, Adora, Frosta, and Seahawk as autistic. Fight me.)

I’ve recently become aware that some people are NOT fans of how Entrapta is handled in the show. And, look, I’m not really all that involved in the fandom, so I can’t counter point by point, but the main argument I’ve seen is that Entrapta is evil/a villain without a complex and sympathetic reason for being so? So, I guess have some thoughts on why that argument doesn’t fly with me under the cut. (Spoilers for season 4.)

Okay, to start off with… I don’t know. I guess the fact that I see half the cast as autistic means that it doesn’t bother me to have some of the antagonists also be autistic, especially when, I mean, lets be real. Who in this show is actually unsympathetic? Shadow Weaver, maybe, and…. Horde Prime? I guess?? I have actually, literally said, “Poor Hordak,” unironically, at several points over the course of the show, so not even the primary antagonist for the first 4 seasons is totally unsympathetic. The people under his command certainly aren’t. Hell, Light Hope was literally actively trying to do something that would utterly destroy the planet, and even she isn’t portrayed as actually evil.

My point is, She-Ra is great about shades of gray. Good guys do bad things, bad guys can be great friends. It’s clear which side is in the right–I’m not going to say that the Horde is in any way righteous and noble–but that doesn’t mean that the characters themselves are pure good and pure evil. It’s not that simple. So I reject the first part of the argument, that Entrapta is evil/a villain. She joined the Horde. She helped Hordak’s conquest and may have gotten people killed–was at least willing to do so. The same can be said of Catra, Scorpia, Adora, Double Trouble, and every other named character from the Horde. Several of them have actually gloated about their victories in battle–about, we can assume, the people they’ve killed–where Entrapta is, at worst, indifferent to the potential victims of her work. The fact that these characters do, or have done, bad things doesn’t make them irredeemable.

As to her motivations? I’m honestly disappointed in how many times I’ve seen Entrapta’s motivations reduced to “she’s naive”/”she got tricked”/”she just likes science and doesn’t care about people.” Um??? Okay, I get that her motivations aren’t spelled out as clearly as Catra and Scorpia’s have been. She doesn’t show her hurt plainly. That’s… that’s kinda part of why I identify with her, folks. She has a flat affect. She doesn’t communicate well, verbally or nonverbally. She doesn’t get people, and she doesn’t always want to try. And she’s been abandoned. It might seem like it was way too easy for Catra to trick her into believing she’d been abandoned, but– people. Entrapta lived alone in a huge castle/city/fortress with a bunch of robots and THREE servants. That’s… That doesn’t just happen. How many times has Entrapta been abandoned before? How many people have turned their backs on her? How many people did she consider friends who betrayed her, walked out on her, or just turned out not to care as much as she did? Either her entire kingdom abandoned her or she left and only THREE people followed. It’s easy for her to believe the other princesses abandoned her, because to her, that is what social interaction is. It’s her thinking she belongs somewhere only to find out the other people were laughing at her behind her back.

Maybe she’s buried her head in the sand about the war. Maybe she should be more aware of what the Horde is and why it’s bad. But people have hurt her before, so she’s chosen to care about robots, about science, and about her projects rather than about people. So, yes, she joins the Horde. Unlike the princesses, they seem like they might actually value her–for her scientific prowess, if nothing else. Yes, she builds them weapons. Some part of her still wants to belong, and this is how she does that. (She’s certainly not going to belong, here or anywhere, by just being a fun and kind human being. She’s useful, and so she’s valued. As soon as she stops being useful, she’s going to be discarded. And she just so happens to enjoy figuring out First Ones tech, so it’s win-win, really.) And, no, she doesn’t particularly care about the people she’s going to hurt. Why should she? They never cared about her.

(I’m not saying that any of this was right, that Entrapta wasn’t a bad guy while she was with the Horde. But I am saying it’s reductivist to say her only motive was, ‘ooh, shiny,’ and that she’s just plain evil.)

Think about how many times Entrapta has gone quiet, pulled her mask down over her face, turned back to her work and ignored people talking to her, pleading with her, trying to be her friend. Think about Entrapta on Beast Island, giving into the apathy because if she’s here, she can’t be abandoned. She’s hurting, and she’s afraid to trust, and yes, that makes her moral compass skew more toward “I’m going to have fun and make myself valuable to these few people who kind of like me right now” than, like, valuing human life and other markers on the “good” scale. She’s squarely chaotic neutral on the alignment chart. But she cares about her friends, and she doesn’t want to cause senseless violence–she wants to warn Hordak about the portal thing, because if it’s not working properly it’s not going to help him.

Entrapta is an incredibly complex character–and an incredibly sympathetic one. You need to pay more attention to her than to people like Scorpia who monologue about their feelings, or like Catra and the Best Friend Squad who get so much screen time. But that doesn’t mean she’s a shallow character, or a harmful stereotype. There is so much about Entrapta that I identify with. Her loneliness, her pain, her enthusiasm for her special interests, her uncertainty, her longing to fit in, her self-imposed isolation, even her self-centeredness. She is flawed and sometimes misguided, but she is so real. If I’m willing to forgive Catra and Scorpia for leading the Horde’s armies and carrying out terrorist attacks, Double Trouble for spying and sabotage, Glimmer for activating the Heart of Etheria–and I am willing to forgive all of those things, because when it comes down to it, I just don’t believe any of them are fundamentally bad people–then I’m certainly not going to damn Entrapta for building weapons for the Horde. This show is about friendship, family, and forgiveness, and Entrapta is sorely in need of all three, and damn do I want to see her get that!

In the end, you can decide that Entrapta’s reasons for aligning herself with Hordak aren’t enough to outweigh the things she did to help him. That’s fair. You don’t need to love her, or even like her. But I take issue with the argument that she doesn’t have reasons for doing what she did. She is a great, well-written character, and as an autistic person, I love her so much.

#ask #anonymous #ramblings #/#//#she ra #entrapta #actually autistic

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human-enthusiast · 5 years ago

Text

One Piece “isms” - #1

--Episode 2/ Chapters 3 + 4

Theme: Abusive Authority

Details: When Luffy and Coby dock in a town named Shells Town, they quickly learn about their troubles with authority. The mention of Roronoa Zoro and Marine Captain Morgan’s name expels fear in the citizens for some similar reasons. Later, after meeting the Pirate Hunter tied to a post, they learn about Morgan’s tyrant ruling over people. Specifically, those that openly defy his rules and authority, treating them like inhumane scum.

Characteristics:

1. Authoritarian Leadership - (Dictatorship quality)

2. Inferiority (Superiority) Complex

3. Obsession with “treacheries”, insubordination, or lack of power over even small matters.

4. Alignment: Lawful Evil

5. Unfair imprisonment - Zoro and the existence of a Crucifixion Yard.

Very early on in the series, we have, what I would describe as a mild introduction to certain conflicts the protagonists face. Now whether or not you ever watch movies or read books centered around pirates, it’s common sense to know they are enemies to the world’s government(s).

It’s not to say pirates don’t have their own form of government or authority -- any society or civilization has one that was structured around those who first joined-- but they separated themselves from the one governed by kings/queens/emperors/ or anyone who governs with written or traditional laws.

So, if being introduced to a character, who begins his journey as a pirate, we would expect his enemy to be the Marines right off the bat.

Not so unusual. Luffy has shown to have a gray morality or chaotic neutral personality, but this isn’t well defined until way later on. He does what he wants, with a mindset that says ‘consequences be damned’. That is pretty much his motto at this point. That being said, the opposite to what Luffy’s side of the story represents would be lawful and justice.

Captain Morgan is actually the first official Marine we see in the series. By that, I mean he’s the first one actually named and given a personality to judge on. Though technically, Helmeppo would be the first to be seen, but it’s his father whose been alluded to since they arrived. Right off the bat, they both show case the worst possible outcome of authorities: power trips, abusing the system, respect is demanded, and rules are absolute.

Both the anime and manga illustrate Morgan’s delusions of control and megalomaniac personality quite well, and how Helmeppo thrives in it by hand-me-down powers.

Something to note, I just started reading the manga, but I have watched the anime for a few years now (English dub), and I’m now just starting the Dressrosa arc. While the anime is good (not perfect) at adapting from the manga, there are more intriguing details to me that do better in narrating the story (at least with the first few chapters).

Here the manga shows tax exploitations:

Some are fairly easy to miss, but the walls and metal gate show signs of poor treatment, or degradation. The anime does something similar with the gate, having more advantage with coloring:

The door used to have what I believe was a darker green color. But now it’s rusted fairly much, even a little on the hinges, and the paint for the symbols looks a little faded. Now, this may just be a way to give texture to surfaces, which is initially true and what I thought when I first watched/read the series. However, the kicker we learn is a little ways after.

It’s explained that the people are under heavy taxation to the point that it depletes a living wage for everyone. Morgan refers to the people as peasants, so he’s clearly aware of their indigent state. It would explain a little about the state of everything and how he could’ve paid for the erected statue of himself.

The red-circled speech bubbles are especially important, and I think highlight Morgan’s character. It’s my favorite detail with him. I’m not saying I like the character all around; if I ever meet someone like this, I’d probably pull a Luffy and straight take a swing at their throat/junk (although I tend to think of the consequences, so I’d more likely take a legal/other direct action if need be).

No, it’s just...characters with this kind of mindset are fun to observe and explain.

There’s another character that is like a mirror image from this Marine: Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Both are high ranking members of their society, wealthy, completely power hungry, apathetic, and fear inducing to their subjects. There are plenty of complications with Azula, but it definitely shows in her first introduction and later on in Season 3 when she has a psychological break down.

Direct conversation from Season 2 Episode 1:

[Ship Captain]: “Princess, I’m afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship into port before nightfall.”

[Azula]: “I’m sorry, captain, but I do not know much about the tides. Can you explain something to me?”

[Captain]: “Of course, your highness.”

[Azula]: “Do the tides command this ship?”

[Captain]: “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

[Azula]: “You said the tides would not allow us to bring the ship in. Do the tides command this ship?”

[Captain]: “No, princess.”

[Azula]: “And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?”

[Captain]: “No, princess.”

[Azula]: “Well, then maybe you should worry less about the tides, who have already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who’s still mulling it over.”

I included the exchange between her, the bat-shit crazy royal, and the captain, who has better acknowledgement of the forces of nature, because it’s fairly similar to the exchange between Morgan and the marine he’s talking to about the people’s wealth. The marine and captain regard their authority’s title, and probably have similar worries over their inability to reason maturely.

Any good villain can be vindictive, selfish, and have no regard for others (a lack of empathy), but the one underlining similarity is their negligence with reality. And in order to get like that, there is a deep obsession with control.

Azula wants to disregard nature, specifically ocean tides, rather than change her course and plan. This is a frightening aspect because of her complete ignorance on the mod of reality. She wants to maintain control of her ship, and she is very much willing to sacrifice the safety of others just to feel superior.

While Morgan also wants to keep an iron fist over the citizens. He has this more monetary greed, spending it more in lavish purposes for him and his son. He’s a little more aware of the fact that the people don’t have much money, but to him, it’s no excuse to pay the taxes in full. There’s absolutely no regard for other matters in reality, that including personal finance.

The obstacles or personal matters of those “below” him fly over his head. Because what he believes to be a level of respect is absolute obedience. I almost have no doubt that if Luffy and Coby never made it to Shells Town, it may undergone an actual dictatorship like life. When the people have seemingly ran out of money, an alternative subjection-- or showcase of loyalty--probably would have been enslavement and unpaid labor. Assuming that the money Morgan and Helmeppo spend remains on the island at a high fixation.

Maybe that’s too extreme and would also have economic downfall on the Marines as well, but I wouldn’t put it pass Morgan to come up with anymore extreme ideas.

One other similarity with Azula and Morgan is the insane notion of loyalty. This mental state is compromised more with Azula during the final episodes. At that point, she is given the responsibility of being Fire Lord, and with it, comes absolute hysterics and paranoia about maintaining control over everyone. The slightest missteps from her servants enacts a banishment for them, leaving less people to remain under her control. This may have also been a product of Mei and Ty Lee’s betrayal in the Boiling Rock Part 2 episode, completely warping her sense of trust.

There isn’t much known about Morgan before he was head of the Marine Base that is explanatory of his own behavior, but he has the same obsession over the concept of loyalty and traitors. Whether the actions are from citizens or his own subordinates, there is no excuse for anyone to disobey him. Hell, he found it perfectly acceptable to kill a marine who accidently bumped a part of his statue, that probably didn’t do anything minor to it.

That being said, he has no room to let anyone ignore his orders. When the Lieutenant was ordered to kill Rika because she helped Zoro while tied up, he refused. In response, Morgan went for the kill (he’s very much alive in the anime).

He and Helmeppo also show case this behavior in ways that are actually more foreshadowing for later arcs.

In the manga:

The citizens are bowing as the brat saunters by all high and mighty. This is the earliest render of how Celestial Dragons are introduced. While maybe this isn’t necessarily required for the Marine official, it’s more of a by-product on fear-induced situations. A psychological reaction if anything.

The other foreshadowing is the distinction of what the Marines and the World Government consider justice. What is right to them means following the laws-- obedience and purity are absolute. That’s a whole other topic in of itself. But it sets up the fight that Luffy finds himself in with the Marine. Morgan thinks he’s wrong and worthless, fighting on the grounds while yelling “I am Marine Captain “Ax-Hand” Morgan!”

Names carry power. Titles govern rank and superiority. Morgan believes this should be enough to make Luffy crumble over. It’s not. This is a revelation that goes beyond what someone holds in status. And thus, making Morgan a rather incompetent leader.

It’s also rather ironic how, with their battle, it’s very black and white in terms of morality, and the side that views what’s right is on the ‘wrong’ side (pirates). Pirates aren’t lawfully good, or very empathetic. That’s usually not their objective during the Pirate Era. However, if a group of pirates fight against a base leader, and as a result, creates a more balanced, sustainable life for the citizens in the end, there is something drastically wrong with the authority system.

Morgan really sets up as one of the first Marine antagonists, and it’s done using underlining characteristics of higher powers in more tame situations. What one fight could fix within an hour or two, would take more or less years to handle further along in the Grand Line. What One Piece offers is a focus with a type of matter that resurfaces again with different opponents.

~*~*~*~*~*

#one piece #analysis #themes #manga #anime #world issues reflection

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fallen029 · 4 years ago

Text

Within: Part I

Part I of a request from hey-youu-pssss for some werewolf Laxus action. I split this because I got a bit carried away with it, haha, but more soon, promise.

Things had been in a stead standstill for the Strauss family for the better part of a decade. The untimely deaths of both the patriarch and matriarch would come to pale to the near total inhalation of the clan faced during the great plague. It had irradiated much of the country, changing both the physical and ownership landscape involved. While the other great families dealt in their own ways, the eldest child of Elvin and Miren Strauss eventually found herself next in line of ascension all at the tender age of ten.

It was rather unorthodox and would have been vetoed during normal means. Not only due to the age, but most importantly due to her gender. Women were very rarely considered the head of families in those times, were not thought to own land or command houses. And yet, as the plague ravished the land and the end-times felt rather imminent, it was hardly of consequence and no claim was fully realized in place of her own.

Mirajane Strauss, with very little guidance or help, found the weight of the world placed upon her shoulders at an unimaginable time in an unfathomable way. There was hardly any time to mourn her parents, her family, her friends, as she was tasked with keeping the family affairs in order.

A distant dream, it felt like now, and when she thought of those early days, she had to smile a bit wryly. Swallow a bit of air, clear her throat, blink back any wetness that might have found its way into her eyes, and continue on.

She couldn’t quite claim that she’d been all alone, during the thick of it. She had a both a younger brother and sister who, honestly, she imagined she was lucky just didn’t possess any desire for power themselves. It would have been rather easy, in those tumultuous periods, for either to have killed her off or, in her brother’s case, honestly just stake a claim. As the male heir, he probably had more of it and if he’d been interested in pursuing that, could have found himself the head rather easily.

But neither were quite interested in all of that. Elfman Strauss, while a rather broad shouldered and striking young man, was also a bit of a, well, a mama’s boy. But when she was taken from him at such a young age, he clung instead to his older sister who he’d never think of undermining. In fact, he’d get quite agitated at any sort of suggestion, even to that day.

He saw his older sister as the only reason the Strauss name held any value currently and credited her with saving not only his namesake, but even his own life.

Elfman would never allow anything to befall his beloved older sister. Not without putting up a fight.

Lisanna Strauss, however, would never have had a claim to the estate and lands, were either sibling alive, and perhaps that was why she was so insistent that they take care, in the later stages of the plague, when socializing was becoming commonplace once more. There was nothing more frighting to the youngest Strauss as the idea of ever holding power.

The small amount she had now, only in riches and the prospect of marriage, frightened her greatly.

Being from a noble family was the pits and she spent every day from childhood to the tentative adulthood she was now reaching rejecting what it meant. She hoped to never find herself in control of anything, really, and balked even at the idea of marrying into it. As the youngest sibling, a daughter of one of the head families, she was meant to be married off young and into more nobility. Perhaps even far from home.

Were her parents still alive, some of her older relatives, this probably would have happened around her sixteenth birthday. Which in itself was devastating to think about for the young woman, only just now surpassing her eighteenth. Instead, it was still her older sister that most men were interested in courting and she watched those many awkward dances from the distance, instead spending her days balancing between doing the bare minimum Mirajane required of her and goofing off out in the surrounding woods with her best friend Natsu, the orphaned servant employed at the manner.

It was a rather precarious situation that Mirajane found herself in, those days. While surely leading the family out of the plague would go down as her crowing achievement, her putting off marriage and the inevitable power transfer that would involve, was surely a feat in itself.

She was meant to marry someone of equal or lesser power than her. Or at least both she and her small group of close associates thought so. It would help her to consolidate power. When she married, she could either assist the family in absorbing more land or join them to one of the neighboring families. Either wasn’t exactly favorable for her siblings, who didn’t rightly wish to see her leave their estate and, at least in name, leave Elfman as the head of the household and Lisanna, unfortunately back in the spotlight once more for suitors.

But it didn’t seem as if their older sister seemed to keen on any of the interested men anyhow. Not truly. She spent balls and social occasions fielding interests and gaining the reputation of a bit of a prude. Not that it mattered. Many attributes had been shackled to the woman in the past and she wore them all far better than most. Mirajane knew what she wanted and, though she didn’t share it with many people, she was confident that, eventually, she would get it.

Laxus Dreyar was from the Dreyar clan, a revered and respected family who’d managed to survive the plague with very little harm. Their position in the country, surrounded by jagged cliffs and backed into the rougher side of the sea, had allowed them to quarantine far better and shield themselves from much of the damage. Makarov Dreyar, their aging (and to some decrepit, even) patriarch still resided over the family. The next in line was his cantankerous son and, finally, his brash and bold grandson Laxus. The three made up the main family and were well regarded in the land as being a bit...eccentric and surely not the best family to align yourself with.

They would be of no use to the Strauss family. Too distant and too chaotic. Mirajane was meant to marry into true stability to the house once more. It was hardly meant to be between she and Makarov’s grandson and ye, following a chance encounter, the woman found herself rather smitten with him.

It was strange, clandestine almost, or so she told herself, the way that the pair of them happened upon one another. He’d been once more, as frequently was the occurrence, had a falling out with both his grandfather and father and had been banished from both the Dreyar estate and the home his father kept on the opposite end of their hold.

Not that this was a much of a problem. From the time he was a teen, he frequently was sent away to different dignitaries and even, once, the Kingdom’s capital. Now a man in his twenties and with enough inheritance and gold to his name to inspire much work ethic, he found himself a bit of a nomad, staying around with friends of the family when they would have him and sleeping around with women when they wouldn’t.

The Justine’s were a lesser family that was a ward of his own, but Laxus had always been friends with the heir apparent. Freed was a quiet man, reserved, and functioned well as a cohort for Laxus in that he balanced the other man out. Dreyars were naturally ferocious and it had been many a fight that Freed had to lead the other man away from- And some that he wasn’t so capable.

Freed, who was sent by his father on business to meet with the Strauss family in regards to a few trade agreements, invited Laxus when to accompany him with little care. He didn’t know the Strausses, neither of the men did, and it would be nice to have company on the rather lengthy journey.

They weren’t even meant to meet with her. Mistress Mirajane. It was one of the lesser lords in her hold that Freed was to trade a few person documents with. But this sounded dreadfully boring to Laxus and, though he’d accompanied the man most of the way, he begged out of going to the stuffy environment that would be a lesser lord’s house. No. Sounded like a shitty time, honestly.

It was midday when Laxus found himself roaming around an unfamiliar city, more or less scoping out what possible night life it might offer. Not much, honestly. But it was as he was roaming about, hands shoved down in his pockets and his standard fluffy coat floating from his shoulders that he saw her.

She was seated at a patio cafe, looking over a small book of some sort as a much older man sat before her, speaking rather animatedly though the woman didn’t seem quite as interested.

He knew who she was immediately. Or at least had a good idea. It was the true Strausses, of the old blood, that possessed the snow white hair and bright blue eyes. He’d seen old photos and such of the family, anyways, growing up in the privilege of tutors and thorough education. His grandfather used to sit in on his lessons sometimes, giving him a cookie when he was able to name all of the major houses and holds; maybe something better if he could name all of their lesser houses and the neighboring.

The Strausses were remarkable, when he was growing up, for their resilence and young leader. He used to dream of one day being able to do the same as her. Once the old geezer and his father were out of the way. He imagined, when he was a boy, that he’d be awfully good at leading his hold. But now, distanced and miserable in most aspects, he looked on disdain at most everything.

But not that woman that day, as his chest ached a bit, when she lifted her eyes at just the right moment to meet his and he was hardly ever so smitten with someone. A woman. He got them quite easily with his status and money. They usually threw themselves at him and were hardly a concern. Something other than gold to burn through.

Something harsh raged through him then though and he didn’t think he could ever break her gaze, that he would ever break that gaze, even if it were only a few seconds, perhaps less, as it felt eternal. Honestly, the only thing that caused him to finally look away from the woman and she him was the loud sound of a carriage horse in distress and some yelling from the street.

It had reared up on its back legs, the creature had, fighting against two men who were trying to calm it and most everyone walking about stopped to stare in surprise.

“Oh, Uncle, go help them,” Mirajane said quickly to the man sitting beside her as both she and him stared with concern at the scene that was quickly arising. “You’re so good with them. Horses and things. I… Please, Uncle, go help.”

“O-Of course!” The stout man rose to his feet quickly and rushed right from the table he was sharing with his liege, rushing across the street to where, honestly, the horse was being subdued and comforted.

As he left though, Mirajane found herself standing as well while Laxus, after a weary glance over at the horse, found his feet bringing him over, instead, to the patio cafe. At his approach, he noted two heavy set men seated nearby tense and advert their gaze from the horse scene and instead on the new, strange man.

“Lady Strauss,” Laxus spoke loudly as he approached, keeping gaze with her while the woman, in turn, only shut her little book and looked the man over.

“I prefer Mistress,” she remarked simply and he almost bit his tongue as yes, Freed had mentioned that to him, on the off chance they happen upon her. But perhaps it would have been for the better, should he have bitten the appendage, as at least drawing a bit of blood from it would distract it from the growing ache in his chest when she smiled at him all the same. “But I am sorry, I do not believe we’ve been acquainted before. Are you a member of my uncle’s house?”

She knew this couldn’t be, how could it? The way he carried himself and his clothing gave off significant standing and birthright, but still, she knew most everyone that would qualify those standard in the immediate area.

“No.” As he came to a stop in front of the table, he said quite loudly, “I am Laxus Dreyar. Grandson of Makarov Dreyar.” And his words alone were enough to put the two burly men at ease. To her only now, he said much softer, “Here on business.”

“Business?” She scrunched her nose in such a precious way as her blue eyes seemed clouded momentarily. “Were we meant to meet, Lord Dreyar?”

“Laxus.” He took a hand from his pocket, but rather than reach out to take hers, he instead bent low, at the waist, in a way he wasn’t fully accustomed any longer. As he rose, he assured her, “I prefer Laxus.”

Rising herself, Mirajane took his hand however, once he’d righted himself, and she shook it with a heaviness no woman he knew possessed, but made the pang in his chest only grow.

“Mirajane,” she told him as a soft grin fell over her face, when she released his hand. “I want you to call me Mira.”

“Who is this then?”

And her uncle was back then, stuffy and put out as he eyed the strange man with clear disdain, but it didn’t matter. It was too late. Everything was too late, fates already sealed.

He wouldn’t be going back with Freed, no matter how much Justine insisted that he not do as he was thinking, to rethink all of his thoughts, least he wind up in a far worse situation with his grandfather than he already was, but nothing could dissuade a man in love.

“You’ve met many Ladies before,” Freed argued with a heavy frown that final time he tried to get through to his longest friend. “Your feelings always pass.”

But his words meant nothing and when Freed returned to his father, it was with a sigh and lie over the Dreyar grandson finding other business in the hold to attend to.

Given his rather high status, it was easy enough for Mirajane to write off giving him a room on the estate property, a guest cottage not far from the main house, and things moved so fast from there.

It was a cool autumn night, the first one that Laxus spent on the property. He’d spent the past few at an inn near her uncle’s house, where she was staying for a few herself, and they’d had dinner a few times. Spoken. A lot, honestly, for the short amount of time they’d been allotted. Neither was too sure who’d suggested him following her all the way back home, but when he boarded her carriage with her, it was to the disdain of her uncle and maybe some whispers of others, but Mirajane assured everyone who questioned her that it was purely business.

And yet, it was anything but.

She’d had many men in her life attempt to get fresh with her before and even reciprocated at times, but things felt much different with Dreyar. He sat beside her, in the carriage, wrapping his coat tightly around her shoulders as he spoke, at her request, of his home. Back on the cliff. Of their customs she’d forgotten or perhaps not even been taught, given how ravished their lands were during the time period this was mostly be passed on to her. She asked, also, what he knew of the Strauss hold, of their lands, and Laxus more honest than he’d ever been in his life, whenever he spoke to the woman.

“This feels,” she whispered softly in his ear after their first true embrace, when she welcomed him to the guest cottage his first evening on the estate, “so improper.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied as he ran a knuckle over the soft, pale flesh of her cheek. “We can move slower.”

But they couldn’t.

They never would have been able to.

Elfman and Lisanna were, quite quickly, suspicious of her sister and, more over, distrustful of the new man she’d brought back to their property.

“We don’t know what you’re doing here,” Elfman grumbled softly to him that first night, over dinner, when Mirajane was distracted and he was able to lean over towards the other man, “but watch yourself.”

And he, quite clearly, would be a problem.

The other one, the younger one...not so much.

“I,” she complained to him with a frown that evening as he was headed down the path back towards his temporary resting place, “use that guest house during the winter time for very important activities. So you better not plan on staying around for long, Mr. Dreyar.”

“Lord,” he corrected her simply, “Dreyar. And it’s not proper, you following me around you know. People we get the wrong idea.”

“You got the wrong idea,” was all Lisanna insisted to him as, at the tree line, where he’d have to follow the path further, to arrive at her apparently prized location, she stopped to glare at his back, “if you think you’re sticking around.”

But oh, he was.

And Lisanna wouldn’t be the Strauss most making that short trek to the guest house that autumn.

It wasn’t hard to spot the Mistress in those days, previously very tied up in her travel and work, now taking long strolls along the property with Lord Dreyar. All over the property. Even down to the cottage, citing a desire to glance over the changing of leaves and the season.

“I’m meant to marry soon,” she told Laxus, one day, when upon their walks they both nosed instead through the cracked door of the cottage and lost themselves in his disheveled sheets for what was, honestly, not nearly long enough.

It was against her neck as she clawed at his back and the man squeezed his eyes shut that he assured her soft, flushed flesh, “You will. You will, I promise you will.”

The fall gave way to winter and, though his placement on the estate was rather obvious to most, it was around that time that the news had made it back around to the Dreyar’s hold.

And there was a lot of discontentment over Laxus’ recent behavior.

He received a letter from his grandfather, urging him back home at once while the Strauss estate, instead, were not long after bombarded with letterhead from the residence of Ivan Dreyar, requesting the hand of the Mistress immediately.

“He’s doing it to fuck with me,” Laxus remarked dryly to Freed who, at Laxus’ urging over letter, arrived at the Strauss estate soon enough to discuss his next movements. “My father.”

“Forget your father, Laxus,” his friend retorted. “Your grandfather-”

“Gramps, that old geezer, he’s been trying to get me marry into another kingdom’s family. Out of Fiore.” He spit, Laxus did, on the ground, at the thought. “Fuck that. I’m not leaving Fiore. And I’m not leaving Mirajane.”

So it was decided, against the counsel of his friend and the chagrin of his family that the young Dreyar found himself officially beginning an engagement to the eldest Strauss.

“I’ll never take your land from you,” he promised her softly as they lay together one night in his cottage, which he’d stocked with champagne, roses, and the most important thing the woman was looking for; himself. “Your people. I don’t want any of that. I’ll even put it in writing. I...gave up on ruling people a long time ago. I just want you. In a way I’ve never wanted anyone in my entire life. If you will be my wife, I’ll take on whatever title you wish. But you will always be Mistress Strauss and I would never wish to remove that from you. I just want to be included in your life, not change it.”

And she smiled at him, sweetly, as she shifted to rest her forehead against his, gazing longingly into the man’s eyes as she assured him, “I just want to be in your life too, Laxus.”

There would be fallout for this, of course. A lot of scorned suitors now felt bamboozled as the woman didn’t even pick for the intended pool, but rather bypassed it entirely. The Dreyars, in particular Makarov, wrote that he would be arriving soon to meet his prospected new granddaughter-in-law, and the letter detailing this felt rather cross.

Ivan, for his part, merely sent once last request for his son’s betrothed’s hand.

Still, an engagement party date was put in place and Mirajane found that, eventually, a certain stillness began to fall over her regarding the entire thing. Being with Laxus had felt exhilarating for many reasons, but also the potential pain in him eventually being taken from her, choosing to leave her, hung over her head frequently and made him cling all the tighter to him. The resolution to this being found, the woman couldn’t help the obvious contentment that washed over her, even in the hectic days of wedding planning and house joining that would follow.

“Now that the chase is done,” Freed questioned his dear friend quite bluntly when he arrived for the engagement party, “you have not lost interest, Laxus, have you?”

“Of course not,” he replied as if this were a ridiculous question, but that was hardly the case. While it might seem as if the man was getting everything he wanted, Freed knew him well enough to know that this was hardly what the man wanted.

Not at all.

Laxus liked for things to be hard. For them to be difficult. To anger his family and draw the ire of those around him. But as people only naturally warmed to this venture, it made sense that he’d fall out of interest with it, to fall into another ill conceived ploy for attention.

But when he looked his best friend in the eyes that evening, Laxus merely vowed to him, “I’m not a boy anymore. I’m a man. And I’m ready to move into that phase of my life. This is where I want to be.”

Forever.

The night of the engagement party was wild. It was a massive function with many neighboring Lords and Ladies. Even those from the further reaches of the Kingdom. The King himself sent word of his approval only days before and while Mirajane had smiled down at the letter, it was that night, when all her friends, family, and even those distanced to her gathered, just that once, before the eventual wedding, that her grin was at its widest.

He met so many people that day, Laxus did. Had to introduce Mirajane to so many people. Dodge a lot more people. Makarov had arrived earlier in the day, to much fanfare from the Strauss estate and though his grandfather originally wore his sternest of gazes, it only took one look into the bright eyes of his grandson (and perhaps the bosom of his bride-to-be) to understand the union.

“Will you get that short, Laxus?” Lisanna questioned him with wicked laughter that night when she passed him. “Like your grandfather.”

“Lord,” he retorted to her, “Dreyar. And Master Dreyar. Respectfully.”

But the little shit was anything but respectful.

For all the tough talk that Elfman had long given Laxus, he was a bucket of tears that night, falling all over his sister whenever he saw her and even into the arms of her affianced.

“I always wanted,” he sobbed into the shoulder of the ill-at-ease Laxus, “a brother.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t got one now,” the man grumbled, but Mirajane only giggled at the sight from where she stood nearby, with all her female friends, and for as suffocating as he always imagined be betrothed was, Laxus honestly was finally at peace as well.

He had much to drink that night, as did most people, but as the party raged on, he thought to head back to his cottage when the evening air grew colder, for his coat. It was as he stumbled down the path that he thought he knew so well, however, that it happened.

When he heard the rustling in the bushes, he thought that it might be some other guests, having snuck away with a beloved of their own, and Laxus imagined when he wouldn’t have to do such things with the Mistress. Finding a place, a proper place, in her estate. And while he’d like to give them their space, he had, unfortunately, found out what Lisanna (and her servant boy that she kept around, Natsu) had secretly been using his cottage for previously. What with how close to the cottage it was, Laxus imagined it was them, as he’d found them not long ago, together on the back property, hidden and yet now known to him, and he thought to break them up. Once more. If someone else stumbled upon them, it would be pure pandemonium and he hardly wished to deal with that.

But as he approached the bushed area in question, he sensed something else. A strong foreboding. The man hardly had time, however, to back away before it happened. A deep growl and then a vicious attack, his yells of pain being drowned out by the party not too far away, back on the estate and he was left eventually, mauled and beaten, forced to hobble and crawl the rest of his way to the cottage.

It had been a...wolf of some sort, he thought, hiding in the bushes and had sprang out at him. Powerful, sharp jaws had wrapped around his arm and ripped into the flesh, perhaps to the bone, and he thought he’d die, when he fell into his bed alone. Imagined he had that night, maybe, as he had the most vibrant and terrifying dreams.

Yet, he couldn't recall a single one, that next morning when Mirajane found him there.

Her shrill call of his name had sent most everyone running and, given all the blood in the cottage and the pathway leading up to it, the prognosis didn’t seem to bright. But most everyone was thankful (if not a bit confused) to find him blearily arise and brandish on the strangest of fang markings on his forearm and a deep scratch along his right eye.

“That wasn’t from the beast,” he muttered as he sat in one of the palours of the estate, his fiance and grandfather flanking him while the local proctor looked him over. “The arm...that was. But the eye was from some rock or something. It scrapped me on the way down.”

“Lucky you still have your eye,” the man told him bluntly. “Or your arm for that matter.”

“All that blood from those little puncture wounds?” Mirajane questioned as she rested a hand on Laxus’ shoulder. “That can’t be right.”

“Maybe the blood of that damn beast,” Makarov muttered gravely as he shook his head. “Hell hound, it sounds like. You get it good, boy?”

“I...I don’t remember,” Laxus whispered and he felt nothing like himself, nothing at all. “I don’t remember anything.”

“We’ll hunt it down,” Elfman vowed as he wiped at his eyes. “Hunt the whole damn property. Some of the men already are. If you didn’t kill it, big brother, we will!”

“Don’t call me-”

“Yes, big brother,” Lisanna agreed, noting with glee that Elfman, unknowingly, had stumbled upon something new to get under the man’s skin. “We’ll hunt it down!”

But they wouldn’t.

Not for lack of trying though.

For all the men that searched the forest and neighboring areas, no such animal could be found. Some wolves were slaughter, but none with the same, dark, piercing eyes that Laxus recalled.

“I thought,” Mirajane would remark a lot, when he’d mention the red lit, haunting eyes that he could still see, if he just closed his eyes, “that you couldn’t remember anything?”

“I can’t,” he assured her. “W-Well, I mean, I thought I couldn’t….but...”

Though the next few days were difficult, if not downright unpleasant, Laxus did eventually leave the room in the estate he was given to stay in. It wasn’t proper, after all, Mirajane had sadly remarked as she and her brother, as well as a bodyguard, walked with him that first time, back to the cottage, Dreyar trying very hard not to flinch when they passed the exact spot he’d been attacked.

But soon enough, Mirajane was able to add then and it helped anyways, when she smiled at him so sweetly.

Eventually, things fell back into their uneasy peace and Makarov returned home, with a promise to visit before the wedding, signifying his blessing was more than bestowed. Freed too returned home unfortunately, but Laxus found that he was becoming rather accustomed to his regular day-to-day life in on the Strauss estate.

His woman seemed keen to continue on alone in most work and, considering he had little else to do, Laxus did as he’d done all fall, hanging around her siblings or other friendly workers he stumbled across. Winter now, there was snow for Lisanna to frolic through and toss at him though, oddly enough, the man specified that under no circumstance were she ever to build a snowman around him.

“I,” he told her plainly, “hate them.”

Which meant that Lisanna, who rightly didn’t care for them either way, was now determined to build as many as possible.

Still, life on the estate was nice..until about a month or so later.

Laxus grew tired early the night, retiring not soon after dinner and whispering in his beloved’s ear before he departed that no, he doubted he’d be up for a midnight stroll that night. She was disappointed, as the moon was meant to be gorgeous that evening, but relented with a nod.

When he fell into bed, it seemed almost instantaneous that Laxus found himself asleep. But, unfortunately, it was a rather fitful one. Filled with glowing red eyes and sharp pains as well as, in certain portions, an intense pleasure.

He didn’t know what to think, when he awoke the next morning to labored breathing and a few rather strange bruises along his arms.

“Even scratched myself, somehow, in my sleep,” he was grumbling to Mirajane over breakfast in the main dining hall when Elfman, who usually didn’t join them, came rushing in with one of the men from village.

“Elf,” Mira remarked as she rose to her feet immediately. “What-”

“One of the women was attacked last night,” he remarked gravely as the man beside him, the father of a young woman, looked equally distraught as he did murderous. But Elfman only looked to Laxus as he insisted, “By the same beast you were!”

#Miraxus #AU #Mirajane Strauss #Laxus Dreyar #Lisanna Strauss #Natsu Dragneel #Elfman Strauss #Freed Justine #Fairy Tail #Fanfiction

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coe-lilium · 5 years ago

Photo

Fate’s Avenger Amakusa Masuda Shirou Tokisada from FGO EoR III.

Shimosa just passed its 2nd Jp birthday, has finally debuted in NA and my pipe dream of getting him as playable Servant is still a pipe dream, so to hell with it, I made him sprite and profile myself.

Hopefully I’ve managed to get the tone of official FGO profiles right.

Warning: there are some brief spoilers for Arc 2

PROFILE

A nearly 40 years old Amakusa who survived the siege of Hara and lost himself to grief and hate to the point of resembling a vengeful ghost long before his death.

Discrete as a swordsman, but experienced and lethal as a mage; a jaded person who looks younger than his age but behaves like he’s older.

The years of his life between Hara and the events occurred in the Shimosa pseudo parallel world are shrouded in mystery.

Height/Weight: 180cm - 66kg Source: Historical Fact / Alternative history Region of Origin: Japan Alignment: Chaotic Evil Gender: Male

A very different person to the Heroic Spirit previously summoned by Chaldea.

Bond 1

Up until he was 17 years old, his life went down exactly as his PanHuman history self.

However, as he was bleeding and about to die a man dressed in ridiculous clothing sprung from thin air, got rid of the shogunate soldiers and quietly offered him a clawed hand.

After some time of feverish nightmares, Amakusa recovered enough from his injuries to witness Hara castle being razed from distance, too weak to stop it as he’d be to stop the mass executions that followed. His despair began turning into hate when heads were lined up by the thousands.

Edo and the shogun’s family burned to ashes few years after 1639 thanks to his and Douman’s sorceries, dooming Amakusa original timeline to erasure and setting him on the travels that ended in Shimosa.

Upon his arrival in Chaldea and made to confront Ruler’s presence he renounced the Amakusa title and retook his family name of Masuda.

Bond 2

«Amakusa Shirou» always possessed a decent number of magic circuits and the ability to wield any form of magecraft as long as he connected his circuits to a foundation, but usually his short life and the lack of magical education prevented him to become fully aware of his powers and reaching his potential as mage.

As Masuda is an “Amakusa who got to live”, he also got the chance to hone that ability and learn to use many types of curses and offensive magics, in which he now specialise. Thanks to time, studies and the occasional guidance of Douman he became a cruel and skilled mage.

Similar to his Ruler self, his arms have become a Noble Phantasm.

Bond 3

The attempt at looking like Chaldea’s Amakusa employed in Shimosa discarded, Avenger now appears in his late twenties even if he was 37 years old at the time of his death.

He learnt a technique or two for slowing the ageing process but as he refuse to look as if he didn’t survive 1638 or be confused with Ruler, he settled for a decade of difference from both. Outside the off-putting red sclera, his hair and skin color are those he was born with.

His clothes are identical to Ruler’s but in colors and details, the main difference in their attire being Avenger’s armor. The one he wears was gifted to Yamada Emonsaku by the government in one of the first worlds Masuda and Douman visited. Avenger, who by then had mostly recovered and was furious, hunted down Emonsaku, killed him and took the traitor’s armor for himself.

He could’ve washed the blood or scrubbed the crest away anytime but chose not to, for reasons he probably won’t be albe to fully explain.

Bond 4

The events of the pseudo parallel world of Shimosa were the culmination of twenty years of travels, machinations and despair that once again ended in failure thanks to Musashi, Senji Muramasa and the Master with which he has now begrudgingly formed a pact… let’s just say he’s far from having the warmest attitude or personality in Chaldea.

Upon his death he was registered into the Throne as a distinct soul for obscure motives, perhaps even thanks to the machinations of a certain AlterEgo.

Summoning this individual instead of the PanHuman history younger self when trying to call forth «Amakusa Shirou» would be near impossibile without Chaldea’s FATE system.

Bond 5

What all my nightmares are made of Rank: A Type: Anti-Army Range: 1~200 Maximum number of targets: 500 people Hell of Shimabara

A Reality Marble exclusive to this “Amakusa Shirou” alone. For a given time, reality is overwritten by the mental world of the caster. In Avenger’s case, the targets will find themselves in a hellish landscape were the terrain is made of ashes and dead bodies, the air a deadly poison filled with pained screams, fires rages and the burning, half-collapsed castle of Hara towers over its old and new victims.

Difficult to escape from, other than the obvious purpose of killing its targets it can serve as a momentary cage and torture device to those its owner knows able to survive it but wants delayed or trapped for any reason.

Tends to be more effective when employed against Heroes with Good alignment or receptive to the suffering of people.

Right Arm, Path to Wickedness Left Arm, Foundation of Hell’s Curses Rank: C Type: Anti-Unit Range: 1 Maximum Targets: 1

His hands that have become Noble Phantasms. With them, he had caused ‘miracles’ to occur before the rebellion and with them he learned many ways to destroy his enemies after the siege. Able to connect to any magecraft foundation, they form a ‘key’ that allows him to wield any form of magecraft to various degrees, even those he has no understanding of.

A rank higher than Ruler’s thanks to Avenger’s additional decades of magical education and training.

Miike Tenta Mitsuyo Rank: C+ Type: Anti-Unit Range: 1 Maximum Targets: 1

the sword Avenger carries, formerly of a "certain one-eyed master swordsman”. While a simple armament in the hands of PanHuman Amakusa, Masuda has spent years strengthening his own and embedding it with curses, which results in it current state of being surrounded by fire (that and the amusing reactions a blazing sword tends to have on a common soldier).

Even if the powerful being who aided him in his revenge was never a devil, the blade gained some traits of genuine demonic swords thanks to its owner different conviction, a process not unlike the one that gave the Assyrian empress the Gardens even when she had no true connection with them.

Not impressive as far as demonic swords go, but its wounds are poisoned and can pose a serious danger to saints or otherwise religious figures.

CHARACTER

Personality

A calculating man who is no stranger to sudden fits of rage or detached silences and keeps to himself. Abrasive with allies as with enemies, he tries his best to actively push people away, not last because of familiarity with solitude and for finding crowds of people to be distressing.

The smug but not malicious attitude of Chaldea’s Amakusa was probably part of Avenger’s personality too in the past, before it turned into the current viciousness and gratuitous cruelty in actions and remarks.

Glimpses of a empathic and thoughtful person buried under the rage can still be seen, albeit rarely, with young heroic spirits or those who have suffered a great deal unprepared. Like a Master freshly out their first destroyed, innocent alternative history.

Not impossible to mellow out, but the process to gain anything more than detached tolerance would be a long one.

Motives and attitude

Aware of having being used as test for the Lostbelts plot by someone he thought an ally, he summoned himself to Chaldea out of spite and to return the betrayal with interests. He still resent the Master for what happened in Shimosa, but he posses intel Chaldea could use and he’ll provide it with glee. Somehow similar to the Count’s reasoning for appearing in the Time Temple, just less benign.

Focused and effective in battle, it’s best not pair him with Servants who use firearms and cannons. The sound could bring his memories back to Hara and leave him in a state that could jeopardise the fight.

The relationship with the Master is particularly sour and he’d rather spend his time holed up with Holmes and Sokaris sharing informations and discussing strategies and chances against the remaining Crypters than giving Guda some time or finding selected fellow Servants to relax with.

Nonetheless, Guda persists.

RELATIONS

Amakusa Shirou Tokisada (Ruler)

A nightmare for both.

Avenger is torn between resentment and envy for the boy with whom he shares family, people and the pain of seeing them slaughtered… and yet choose to protect humanity and -he believes- had it easier by not having to live with the guilt of being the sole survivor of the massacre. If one were to discuss Ruler’s plan for the Grail and how it’s hardly the wish a «not troubled» individual would make, Avenger would dismiss the attempt to have him see how alike they are saying «but he did not kill thousands, did he?». After some time, however, his resentment will mostly die down and he’ll be relieved to see how happier the kid seems to be in this strange new life.

Ruler is horrified to face what could’ve become of him and tries not to see nor interact with Avenger in any way, up to avoid pointing out that by being incarnated for decades after a certain summon he knows all too well how it feels to live with survivor’s guilt. Nonetheless, after the initial shock has passed, he’ll sneak behind his older self back and asks for other Servants’ cooperation in not letting this mirror of his be alone.

Ashiya Douman

The one who saved him from the siege and helped him bury his mother and sisters after the shogunate had them executed. An accomplice and manipulator at the same time, who nonetheless was the only familiar face and constant help he had in twenty years and his main teacher in magic. He doesn’t know if he wants to toss Douman into the sea for leaving him to die in Onriedo, leave him to other Servants tender mercies or… Either way, he won’t push the AlterEgo away unless he’s in a terrible mood.

After Douman joins Chaldea, half of Avenger’s time is spent keeping him from stirring trouble or from being murdered by the likes of Fuuma Kotaro or Asklepios and their roles of guardian-charge get inverted. A single action is completely forbidden to his old ally: going anywhere near Amakusa.

Edmond Dantes

A strange man. What business could someone like him have with his Ruler self? And why would he pester him instead of leaving him alone or in Limbo’s company? Still, he doesn’t completely resent the attempts. They joined forces in physically throwing Douman away that time the AlterEgo had the disgraced idea to approach Ruler.

Jeanne Alter Santa Lily

Much to Amakusa and the Jeanne sisters initial horror, Avenger has taken a liking to Lily, who reminds him of his younger sister Man. He tends to keep his distance but won’t send the young Lancer away if she were to approach first.

Saint Martha

No matter how disillusioned with God Avenger has become, he has nothing but respect for the saint his mother was named after, especially after seeing that her moral fortitude and fighting prowess are paired with the personality of a punk brawler instead of the distant and composed lady he expected. When addressing her, he’ll use the most formal and respectful register.

Japanese Heroic Spirits connected to the Tokugawa clan or government

For the well being of everyone in Chaldea, keep them separated. The same advise would apply to any eventual Dutch Heroic Spirit.

Senji Muramasa and Shinmen Musashi

«Keep them the fuck away from me if you don’t want Chaldea to be covered in dead people’s ashes».

Other Avengers

Initially fascinated by Angra Mainyu, he began keeping him at arms length once he learnt of Angra’s circumstances of innocent scapegoat on the grounds of «a victim shouldn’t be compared with a real mass murderer» and the frankly bizarre tendency of the boy to flirt with his younger self. Displaying a detached tolerance for Jeanne Alter’s noisy personality, they once drew their weapons against each other the time Jeanne was worried for Lily but the matter was quickly settled and they were back to barely interacting. He finds himself at ease in Gorgon and Hessian Lobo’s company and can be found napping in Lobo’s fur from time to time.

Chaldea’s versions of Shimosa’s Swordmasters

No reaction except a smirk or a sad smile depending on the mood. Disappointed Chaldea’s Kojiro is a completely different person from the one he knew. Douman is fine, but sometimes more than one familiar face to hang out with wouldn’t hurt.

#fate grand order #fate series #fate og servant #kinda?#fan servant #for sure #avenger amakusa #coe does art #and writing

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tricksheart · 4 years ago

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FATE / STAY or ( insert tittle here ) Verse. ( WIP )

Summoner or Servant?: Servant. Class: Avenger / Assassin / Lancer. Heroic spirit: Arsene Lupin ( distant French relative of the Count of Monte Cristo / Edmond Dantes ). Weapons of choice: Dagger / Poleaxe. How difficult is to summon him: Very. Picky about who can summon him and only probably appear for those believing in justice.

Boons: Speed, Magic. Disadvantages: Defense.

Backstory ( Like super work in progress. Will change when I figure things out. Please don’t hurt me ):

Obtained the poleaxe weapon from his dead fiancé before she died. Girlfriend was a servant that held the heroic spirit of Milady De Winter, distant relative to Lucy Hay. Akira was a normal human at that time, not knowing about the Holy Grail Wars and was pulled into it not shortly afterwards.

When he eventually died while be unwittingly being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Akira was almost put in the Avenger class because his attached spirit was a distance relative of the Count of Monte Cristo also known as Edmund Dantes. However, he didn’t want to be an evil spirit because of his will and strong sense of justice, striking a deal with the world not willing to become one because of the rumors that Avengers are evil spirits by nature. Refused to become chaotic evil since his true alignment was true neutral.

Akira wanted to be in the Assassin class but got kicked out and forced to become a Lancer due to not being a certain type of heroic spirit necessary to fit into the category even if he was good at assassinating things. Legends say it was because he was dabbing when doing lethality strikes.

He was always so fast, so going into the new class wasn’t that much of a problem. Although, he was also blessed with high magic despite all of things that wouldn’t make him be this way. And Akira’s defense even as a human was very weak, so the natural weakness of the class suited him a little too well.

#long post: tw #[ the avenging disgraced assassin lancer. FATE verse ]#fate's: tw #fate's for ts;;

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crvelsovls · 4 years ago

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delphine laurent has been seen walking around town. hazelgrove is familiar of the twenty-nine year old demon as she is against restoring the town’s glamour spell. the people of hazelgrove can agree that the dancer can be poised yet still be destructive. let’s just hope something can be settled before the town is turned upside town. + rose gold highlighter shimmering along the height of prominent cheekbones, black satin dresses draped over a svelte frame and blood-red roses in a vase on the window sill.

why, hellooo there !! i’m chrissie and i’m super duper excited to be here !! this here is the first of my gals ; delphine aka my sassy lil demon child fkhfjh she’s kinda a newish muse so pls bear with me while i navigate this chaotic hellcat lmao anywaysss i’m utter plot trash so feel free to slap a lil heart on this and i’ll come pester you for plots n all that good stuff !! : )

FUNDAMENTALS.

full name. delphine athena laurent.

nicknames. del, & della.

physical age. twenty-nine.

actual age. three hundred and fifty seven.

birthday. unknown.

gender. cisgender female.

pronouns. she / her.

species. demon.

nationality. unknown.

religion. agnostic.

birthplace. unknown.

current residence. hazelgrove, me.

sexual orientation. pansexual.

romantic orientation. aromantic.

education. psychology degree.

occupation. dancer at purgatory.

CONNECTIONS.

birth mother. unknown.

birth father. abraxas.

full blood siblings. unknown.

significant other. n/a.

children. n/a.

pets. n/a.

PROFICIENCIES.

spoken languages. english, spanish, french, italian, german, & russian.

negative traits. brusque, obstinate, destructive, deceptive, & promiscuous.

positive traits. elegant, headstrong, observant, independent, & confident.

strengths. etiquette, resourcefulness, knowledgeable, quick-thinker, original, brainstorming, charismatic, & energetic.

weaknesses. argumentative, insensitive, intolerant, finds it difficult to focus, & dislikes practical matters.

skills. skilled with blades and various knives, skilled with firearms, hand-to-hand combat, memory recall, physical stamina, able to use initiative, & excellent problem-solving abilities.

talents. violin, dancing, & photographic memory.

APPEARANCE.

eye colour. green.

hair colour. dark brown.

height. five feet, five inches.

weight. 61 kg.

build. she is considered average height for a female and is both slender and toned.

scars. a rather noticeable one across her clavicle and a few others in less visible places.

tattoos. n/a.

piercings. earlobes.

glasses. n/a.

MISCELLANEOUS.

zodiac. unknown.

element. fire.

house. slytherin.

myers briggs type. entp-a.

alignment. chaotic neutral.

enneagram. type eight.

temperament. choleric

intelligence type. intra-personal.

character label. the vixen.

diseases. n/a.

past mental disorders. post-traumatic stress disorder, & acute stress disorder.

current mental disorders. undiagnosed.

addictions. tobacco, cocaine, & alcohol.

vices. lust, greed, & wrath.

virtues. temperance, diligence, & humility.

allergies. n/a.

diet. carnivore.

dominant hand. ambidextrous.

accent. american.

blood type. o negative.

felonies. petty theft charge when she was fifteen. she also has a history of both kleptomania, & pyromania when she was a teenager.

vehicle. red 1966 shelby 427 cobra.

BACKGROUND.

trigger warning(s). mention of death, mention of imprisonment, & mention of murder.

although the region of her birth remains a mystery to delphine, she knows for certain that her parentage is a complex story. the by-product of a human mother and a demonic father, delphine entered this world destined for a life of chaos and disarray. though she never knew her mother, her father had been thrilled by the sheer idea of having a child he could mould and shape into the pitch-black soul he desired her to be, minus the influence of a mortal. indeed, the demon abraxas had big plans for his little girl, plans she grew to work against despite her father’s best efforts to rein her in.

the instant little delphine began to display her powers, make use of her abilities and disobey daddy dearest, the girl was locked in her room. a room that contained every possible thing that a child could want. for the first few years of her life, delphine was homeschooled by a demon under her father's command. while her father made sure she had wanted for nothing, the older she grew the deeper she desired to explore the world and her capabilities. one fateful night, the girl managed to escape her father's abode; used her enhanced speed and endurance to run far into the dark night. of course, it wasn't long until her father's demonic henchmen were on her tail, dragging her back to her prison. delphine knew her father gave her the best life possible but she also knew that there were ulterior motives behind his kindness.

eventually, delphine proved to defy her father to breaking point resulting in him having her shipped off to an all-girls boarding school. during her schooling years there, her father sparsely visited or, instead, often sent one of his subservient demons to check in with his daughter in his place. then, after a long period of time, the visitations ceased; the last thing delphine heard was that her father had wound up entangled with a couple of hunters.

delphine deemed this both a blessing and a curse. a curse as all she'd known was her father's rule. a blessing as she was finally free to lead her own life; make her own choices and follow her own path. she wasted no time in graduating from the academy before deciding to move to new york city where she found herself enrolled in new york university, undertaking a psychology degree.

still, with no word from her father or his servants, a small element of delphine continued to look over her shoulder in fear that they would creep back into her life. perhaps her father’s involvement with the hunters had ended in disaster. or perhaps he’d simply given up on his daughter fulfilling the prophecy he placed upon her. though the latter seemed unlikely to her, delphine wasn’t entirely sure if she truly cared enough to give any of it a second thought.

after her graduation, she was cornered by a demon who claimed to work for her father. it soon became apparent that her father had vanished, seemingly having fell off the face of the earth altogether, and that this demon had stepped in to fill his shoes. naturally, the demon was trying to recruit delphine into the fold once more but refusing to take no for an answer had deadly consequences for this other demon.

having killed the new ruler of her father’s faction, delphine made her way across various states until she would up in hazelgrove where she laid low for the first year. after a while, she began working in purgatory as a bartender until she decided she wanted to be front and centre stage, ending up becoming a dancer.

while delphine isn’t fond of the idea of serving demons, she isn’t utterly opposed to working alongside them nor using her demonic powers. delphine can be a ruthless, callous creature who most definitely doesn’t exist to serve anybody or bend to the will of anyone.

PERSONALITY.

the semblance of delphine can only be accurately encapsulated by ribbed turtlenecks and skin-tight jeans with red-bottomed heels. the air of her seemingly callous persona epitomised by the ease of narcissism and offhand sardonic quips accompanied by a playful grin. delphine is the perfect balance of an elegant, self-assured woman and an intelligent, artful creature; effortlessly displaying only a rare sum of her persona, the elements of her she wishes others to see while concealing all the other elements of herself she deems less than favourable. one’s initial opinion of delphine might be that she appears cold, the kind of person who wouldn’t blink while grasping any opportunity to cut you down only to build herself up. delphine couldn’t be farther removed from her childhood self. every inch, every last detail of the once bright-eyed young girl has been broken down and reshaped into the icy-glared creature who lives today. life strengthened her, shaped her into a careless adaption of who she once was; a woman who stands her ground and speaks up for herself and what she believes in, never fearing the consequences of her actions.

QUICK FACTS.

owns waaay too many pairs of heels.

her signature look is her blood-red lips.

often wears suits and totally rocks them.

extremely skilled with knives and blades. always carries one on her person at all times.

has never been in love or had her heart broken.

although she wears a lot of red, black is actually her favourite colour. she feels her most powerful in an all-black outfit.

her most prized possession is her brushed chrome zippo. it has her initials engraved on it and where she got it or from who is something she’ll never tell.

always seen with a cigarette in hand. she seriously chain smokes. always says she needs to quit but never does and probably never will either.

is very soft underneath and a lot more sensitive than she lets on but she’d rather die than expose this about herself.

has a history of both kleptomania and pyromania when she was a teenager.

has a felony of petty theft when she was fifteen.

has a psychology degree from nyu but never tells people about this.

drives way too fast but loves the thrill of it.

is aromantic. believes she doesn’t have the capacity to love.

can speak quite a few different languages though she never usually makes use of this.

she can be pretty deadly if you piss her off enough.

thrives on chaos.

a tad theatrical.

is truly an independent woman who don’t need no man.

her drink of choice is vodka tonic.

WANTED PLOTS.

for wanted connections and potential plots, i’m open to anything and everything. seriously, throw any idea at me and if it has angst, i’m a million per cent there !! however, some connections i’d love to see delphine have are :

a confidant / friendship.

a best pal.

an unlikely supernatural creature who turns out to be her friend.

of course, fellow demons.

a potential love interest.

past or present flings / hookups / fwb / one night stands.

frenemies or plain ole enemies.

clashing personalities.

somebody she often spends time with, most likely drinking with.

#mystichq:intro #death /#imprisonment /#murder /#hi hey hello.#this is my first child.#pls come plot w me jfksfh.

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transjinako · 5 years ago

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Mansa Musa as a servant

(Now with fantastic fanart from @angelicvangaart Please support them!)

kinda took me a while but anyway heres ms money bags

Rider: Mansa Musa

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Alt Names: Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, Lion of Mali

Parameters:

Strength: B+

Agility: B

Endurance: A+

Luck: A+

Mana: C

NP: B

Traits: Riding A Magic Resistance C Territory Creation A

Skills:

Imperial Privilege B: Being the Emperor of the Mali Empire, Musa obtains this skill, using it for Riding, Spear play, and Economics

Golden Rule EX: Mansa Musa is the richest human alive, her wealth still completely innumerable to this day. While the wealth itself doesn’t play a role in battle, the achievement itself does. Although she does in fact have her wealth still.

Charity A: Mansa Musa was also known for being exceedingly charitable to the less fortunate. This skill translates to Mansa Musa having not only the ability to heal others, but also provide them with weaponry and a boost in power present power, though, sometimes it may end up being too much to handle.

Protection of Faith B: Mansa Musa’s famous trek of 60 thousand men, all carrying riches to give to whoever they came across, was all done during his Pilgrimage to Mecca.

Charisma B+: Mansa Musa is already a good talker, able to get many on her side through her words alone, although, she is known to sweeten the deal with her vast amount of wealth.

Military Tactics C

Noble Phantasm(s)

A Mosque Every Friday

Type: Anti Conflict

Rank: C

Description: While the Every Friday part is misleading, every day once a day Mansa Musa can create a mosque that gives everyone within it a passive Protection of Faith, and also dampens the fighting abilities of everyone within. This also works as Territory for Mansa Musa to claim for herself.

Gold Laden Pilgrimage:

Type: Anti Army Anti Conflict

Rank: B+

Description: A number of Mansa Musa’s original Entourage is summoned into reality, carrying with them many valuable items and trinkets all for the sake of being given away. This includes foodstuffs, silks, clothing, armors and weapons. In Particular, the armor and weapons are as powerful as noble phantasms and have the ability to give that user a degree of magical strength and protection, though, the normal human should be careful, as that can easily become to much for their body to handle. This noble phantasm is not for direct combat, but in reality to used let those who cannot fight for themselves be given the power to do so.

Symbol Of Wealth:

Type: Anti Economy

Rank: A+

Description: What gives Mansa Musa her right to be of the rider class. She rides very literally on her gold, formed as a golden, amorphous blob not unlike Volumen Hydragyrum. It moves fast and with precision, as well as in general having a large destructive capability. Its also able to absorb objects into itself and become empowered based on those object’s worth.

Also, while having little relevance in a fight, it is able to convert any amount of money into another.

Inflated Value

Type: Anti Noble Phantasm

Rank: ~

Description: All items that Mansa Musa touches become her own noble phantasm, relating to her Golden Rule, their power increases exponentially to match the intrinsic value of her original wealth. However, at some point, the item will implode on itself, as matching that value would lead that item to be infinitely approaching infinity. Mansa Musa is able to control this level of power, although even bringing it’s power up too high many times will result in the destruction of that item. It is possible to do this to living beings as well, like her Charity skill, however this is much more dangerous for living beings.

Usually Mansa Musa applies this to Golden Staves to use as her usual weaponry.

Description of Servant: Musa is the image of a Sultan. She is strong and resolute in all her deeds and actions and never shows much pain at all toward anyone, including herself. You could probably guess that her most defining point is her charitable nature, but it is quite something. Musa belives that if someone has the ability to help or change something for the better, that they should intervene at once in order to make things right. She is very much a ‘for the people’ type of ruler and is more than happy to give to allow others prosperity. Make no mistake, she is not naive in the slightest, she merely believes in helping people to her greatest extent.

Relationship toward master: Musa, while keeping her pride as Sultan, will gladly help her master so long as their goals are toward the benefit of others. She doesn’t care much for selfishness, and would rather assist in her master’s destruction at that point than help. With a more compatible master, Musa will likely show herself as a father figure. Strong and resolute while always warm and ready to steady you when things seem bleak. Though, be prepared to be given a large allowance every now and often times her wanting to deal with your hardships for you. A compatible master though should be able to show her that you are able to stand on your own two feet while beside her and not let her overcome you with kindness.

Relations with other servants

Gilgamesh: “The king of kings is small, in many ways that do not concern his wealth. I feel like I won’t like him, that being said, it would be interesting to go shopping with him sometime.”

Ozymandias: “That pharaoh, his attitude is something to behold, to say the least. I truly hope no one ever shows him an ounce of humility.”

Nero: “Uh, oh. I could, definitely make time to spend with you, little emperor, I can pay, no I assure you, I can pay…..Well, fine we’ll split it, ok? U-umu? OK, perfect. She is always so energetic, isn’t she.”

Scheherazade: “That story teller over there always looks so scared….*sighs* I wonder if I could ease her troubles, somehow…”

Limited Servants: “Those servants of yours….they give off a certain feeling...as though an extremely high price was put onto them…..m-master, maybe I should up your daily allowance by a few grand?”

#Servant oc's

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