#scholar. but i do like the idea of her having a Boss or like. a benefactor to deal with. and ive got this one character ive had cooking 4 a

[itsalwaysdark]

they r here

you get TWO ! scientist bc ok so the cadaver is an au cadaver jm not getting into it just yet its also to practice drawing him bald. a very scary fact is that he has to be bald for like at least a little while. soo yeah i am still working on avarice in that au it. um. yeha it isnt going well LOL so you get a normal avarice too. also rhese r very wuick and i think its been like A month since i actually drew. not just 4 my map

maybe ill draw them. ome time

[little-demy]

Triplets of Hallownest

An AU for my AE OCs Johanna (MQ; green one), Joanne (DF; blue one), ans Jeannette (AQW, purple one) as a character from Hollow Knight instead because I love mixing up my characters in different fandoms. Also a bonus of Arc as a vessel✨

I have a whole setting, lore, and in game gameplay stuff like quest below, please bear my crazy self indulging idea

Updated version of bugified michel trio + arc but with some rambles because I can't just stop at just one design somehow and I cannot not share the idea I have in my mind

**Johanna**

- was once one of the scholar from Fog Canyon, studied under Monomon alongside Quirrel. She's far more interested with the existence of void and received an approval to study it (in hope her research can help with the infection and the vessel project).

- bad news, since long exposure of void is bad for them. Soon enough Johanna started to be poisoned.

- As for in game timeline, she lives in a small hut in Greenpath area, known as "Swallowtail Laboratory". This place is Johanna's reclused home to continue studying the void so she won't expose anyone else and especially her sisters with void.

- Will have mini quest for Knight/Ghost to send letters to her sisters if the player have met her before she died (she will die after forgotten crossroad become infected crossroad).

**Joanne**

- travelling mercenary kind of character. A wanderer, so she can be found in several location. Her location is hinted by sound of a flute, the closer player to her place the louder the flute is.

- travel with her adopted son, a vessel known as Arc.

- first seen in Greenpath, after that player can meet her on other map (except ancient basin and abyss). She won't play her flute in deepnest or resting ground

- after receiving Johanna's letter, she disappeared from any other map and can only be found by Johanna's hut, sitting and playing solemn music by Johanna's grave with Arc asleep om her lap

**Arc**

- a living vessel. His pronouns are he/him

- older than he seems. He's growing in a slow pace.

- very protective of his mother. When seen from afar, he's asleep while leaning on his mother. Once approached he will woke up and stand with his nail ready. He won't fight you though

**Jeannette**

- Can be found in Kingdom's Edge. Attacked player once they arrived and start a boss fight immediately. After winning, player can finally talk to her. If you have met Joanne, she will talked about her and Arc.

- after receiving Johanna's letter, she will disappear from her area in the edge and appeared by Johanna's grave, taking care of her weapon silently.

**Additional Setting**

If player/Ghost didn't do the letter quest, Joanne and Jeannette will spawn by their own in Johanna's hut. Entering the hut will turn them hostile and start a boss battle with the two of them. Defeating them will turn them friendly again and they're both back vibing and minding their own business in the hut.

[thesweetnessofspring]

Why do you hate epic? I've recently heard it and I don't like it also, especially when I googled his story. But why do you hate it?

First, no hate to the creator. Like, I heard he's a college kid doing a creative project and a lot of people like it which is great. And concept albums get tweaked. Maybe it's something he can salvage or rework in the future, but as it is, I just don't like Epic at all.

I'd listened to what was out about....six months ago maybe? And I wasn't particularly taken with it, but then back in like July I relistened to it and I just got so tired listening to it. I think a spin on that line from The Incredibles sums up that part of it well:

If all of the music is epic, none of it will be.

Even in big megamusicals like Les Mis, there's a variety of songs. You have the love songs, the reflective songs, the "party" songs, the exposition songs, and just a variety of tone and pace. In listening to what is now the most recent release, I got weary of listening to the same old video game music set to bad lyrics (we'll get to that). There's no variety, which makes the whole album flat. Halfway through I wanted to scream GIVE ME SOMETHING ELSE FOR THE LOVE OF ZEUS!!! I don't think the idea of video game music works for musicals. They're completely different mediums and the narrative structure of video games (at least as he's presented them) also leads to a static story. If I sit down and play a video game with different bosses, then it makes sense. I complete a level and then take a break/live my life until I come back and work on the next level. There doesn't feel to be any forward momentum in the story because it's just "boss" after "boss" with a highly intense video game music soundtrack. It's static, it's flat, it's tiring. I cannot imagine sitting through a stage show of this. I'd be leaving early after intermission.

It is painfully obvious this is a TikTok musical, because the music can be good in short spurts but as a 2.5 hour stage musical? I wouldn't be able to do it. I barely did it when I broke it up over a few car rides.

Also the lyrics are mostly just bad, particularly in the rhymes. Like I said, I've listened to it I guess 1.5 times as the first time I listened they didn't have as many songs out as there are now. So I can't quote any, but it wasn't just a couple times. There were whole songs where I was internally (as I was driving) rolling my eyes at the awkward, hokey rhymes.

And look, I haven't read The Odyssey since high school, so I'm not going to pretend to be a scholar. I have read Odysseus as a character in other retellings of Greek myths, though, and he's a much more dynamic and interesting character than the boring, predictable hero of Epic. I remember when first being exposed to The Odyssey, it was my first foray into more complicated dynamics of Greek mythology instead of the more digestable/cleaned-up versions I'd heard as a younger kid, and part of that was Odysseus. He made decisions I just couldn't understand at the time. A big thing for me as a 15-year-old kid was I was so mad at all of Odysseus's affairs. Now I know that in Greece that wasn't so much a big deal for men to sleep around and was expected. Yet (at least with Circe) he's noble and fighting her off and it gives the impression that Odysseus hasn't had any sex in like 12 years. I'm sorry, but WHAT??? Odysseus loves his wife and he's a slut. C'mon. Epic Odysseus is so predictable and boring I'm not drawn into the story at all for him, either. When I finally got to the more recent releases, I was thinking, "Oh, wow what a surprise. Before he didn't want to kill people and now he's fed up and will kill people so he can get home. Ohhhh noooooo what will ever happen in the next part of the musical?? Is it possible he will learn that vengeance is bad???" To be fair this part hasn't come out yet so maybe I'll be wrong but ugh, it's not looking good.

To balance things out, I do think the opening number is good and I like the one with the winds "keep your friends close/and your enemies closer" is an earworm, and because it changed up the usual "video game epic music" thing. And like, as a student project it is impressive. But it's not a student project anymore, it's a concept album. Idk if he's planning on staging it at some point, but if he does, it has a lot of work still to do.

Anyway vote Hadestown. ✌️

[thetruescholar]

Hi admin!!

I want to write a fic based if the Sumeru blogs and includes the OC's

So as the owner of Natalia I wanted to get your permission before including her! It would mainly be your interactions with wanderer, Nilou and Étoiles

Hope you're having a good day/night! ❤️

Of course! Here let me get you her voice lines my rant about her, and let me know if you have any questions :3

Lore Rant:

She specializes in prosthetics and battlefield medicine. Her name is Natalia and her segment designation is Xi. 

Im still working out her goals. My current ideas are that she wants to study teyvat through the lense of the limits of humanity. I need to fully figure out what exactly Natalia is studying in teyvat that involves basically turning people into cyborgs. Sure, being influenced by dottore would have her want to make people as strong as gods, but does she want to twist people like balloon animals into all sorts of horrifying shapes using prosthetics and cybernetic technology to see what can be unlocked? Is that the limits of humanity she’s after? Would there be something in irminsul her prosthetics technology could affect? Are cyborgs unable to reenter the leylines if they’ve forsaken their humanity? What constitutes as humanity? Is she putting souls in prosthetics to enhance the abilities of Fatui soldiers? I have so many questions and ideas ha ha

She also wants to leave the laboratory to be able to do this but as she makes prosthetic organs for dottore, she has to be on standby. She also wants to be seen as a good scientist by dottore, she def has those gifted kid vibes, so that she’ll be granted more privileges like being able to leave the lab. But she gets the authority to conduct her experiments by being in dottore’s back pocket. She also worries about not making progress to her goals of studying teyvat fast enough, and worries that if she falls behind on scientific progress dottore will get rid of her for being useless. Anyway yeah she has a lot of internal conflict. Potential for a character arc of her regaining everything she needs for her experiments but without the help of the Fatui if she decides to run away, but who’d want to run away from the Fatui am I right?  

she thinks discussing emotions is showing weakness and thinks therapy is a scam. She prioritizes her work in gathering knowledge through science as more important than anything else in her life. She also tries to make logical decisions about 95% of the time but there are moments when she’ll act impulsively in terms of personality she is rather obsessed with her work, but she’s also quite petty and a little haughty about being a “true scholar”. She has reverence for science, and scoffs at others who don’t. She also has a mental hierarchy, and that determines if she’ll accept or reject criticism from someone. 

Her voice sounds like a mix between cold and calculating and a little, I don’t know how to describe this, sultry? Something like Kafka from HSR. She is a certified yapper, she may be quiet and focused on her work but get her talking about her studies and she will not shut up. She’s 37 years old and 6’ tall but wears 3” heels. I’m slowly filling out a large questionnaire of character creation questions for her.

If she was playable she’d be an aggressive claymore dendro healer that heals based on edmg. The amount of healing done would equal 110% of the edmg. I’m still figuring out what her skills would do, obviously she’d need an infusion thing to make the healing work. And she’d heal when dendro edmg is done even by other teammates who are infused by her dendro.

Oh and she obviously needs a boss fight because ofc so I’m not sure about the monologue or phase one but phase two would have her in a crow themed battle suit where her extra arms would be strapped into crow themed wings. And how she’d get into this mech suit would be that she would stumble backwards into it and have it activate on impact, or something else I haven’t decided. Her boss theme would have kind of a mechanical vibe like uh coordinate shift by ferry, but obviously would have the Latin chanting and fatui letimotif.

oki now time for fun trivia!

her favorite color is dark purple, but she can’t don herself in it like she should bc she’s a dottore segment and I doubt those are given much individuality so she steals the dark purple coats from Dottore’s funder Pantalone and tailors them to fit herself.

her favorite foods are warm soup and halva

she absolutely hates her fellow segment webttore. Hates his guts. It’s like she’s GLaDOS and he’s Wheatley. The reason why she hates him is that he’s very chaotic and she tries to understand why but he knows she’s trying to understand him so he does things that mess up her data points and she just gets so mad about it that she tries to maim him quite often.

Her birthday is January 5th

she’s a lesbian and her type she’s attracted to is robotic or cybernetic ladies who also do science. But she’s so bad at expressing her feelings.

she has no issue with gossiping

she likes shiny objects like any good crow does please put one of those shiny “you did good” stickers on her lab reports she needs it

Voicelines(still a wip):

Hello

I am Natalia, segment of Il Dottore, second of the Fatui Harbingers. A prostheticist, a battlefield medic, and a true scholar. It’s an honor to travel with you and study how you operate.

Chat: Hypothesis

 Forging bone into the metal of prosthetics could strengthen them

Chat: Medicine

 Come here, let me fix that sprained ankle of yours. I’ve treated many sprained ankles in my career. This should take a minute, tell me what you’ve done in battle?

Chat: Shiny Object

 Oh, the light glitters off of that, give it to me.

When Thunder Strikes

Lightning is an underutilized power source, if only I could get my many hands on someone with an electro vision willing to let me experiment on them.

When It Snows

Keep your boots and gloves on, lest your toes and fingers join my collection.

When the Sun Is Out

AH! I have to get inside, my skin is too pale!

When the Wind Is Blowing

I should find the time to sew weights into the bottom of my skirt.

Good Morning

I watched you sleep, I can recommend a segment to fix your snoring issue. What experiments are on the agenda for today?

Good Afternoon

The afternoon is the perfect time for study and research. The day has been set in motion, almost everyone is focused on their work, almost.

Good Evening

It is time to clean up the testing materials and write up the reports.

Good Night

Good rest is required for a functioning brain. You can’t sleep? My tranquilizers will help.

About Natalia: Education

The Akademiya is not the only way to gain medical expertise. They’re hardly worth the cost as well, their rules are oppressive to true research. There should be no boundaries to what can be studied, how else will scientific progress be made?

About Natalia: Extra Arms

 Friendship Lv. 4

 These arms were a gift from Il Dottore himself. I am surprised he has the heart for gifts, but I suppose I am just so good a scholar that I am worthy of his gifts. They are useful too, the titanium aluminum alloy they are made of makes them lightweight but durable. I can work twice as fast as the other segments with them.

About Us: 

(Unknown)

About Us: Test Subject

 Friendship Lv. 6

Your ability to wield the elements without a vision or delusion is fascinating. I implore you to volunteer for my research, I could make a praise-worthy breakthrough by studying you.

About Natlan:

War is a place where someone like me is very needed, so when I noticed the things happening in Natlan..I requested to go and was assigned to help Capitano in his fight. From what I've seen, it's quite lively and peaceful for the nation of war. I've been taught not to take things at face value, so there must be someone there good at masking things. While I have some free time, I will dethrone the puppetmaster behind this appearance.

About Sheznayah:

About the Vision

 Friendship Lv. 4

Visions are marks of those claimed by Celestia, and serve little use to me. Yet I still wonder what I could have done to receive one? Has the God of Wisdom herself looked upon my research with favor? How hypocritical of her, to allow Il Dottore to be cast out, but to grant me a Dendro vision. Well, I’ll take my praise when I can.

Something to Share

I keep the frostbitten extremities of careless soldiers preserved in jars. They serve no use other than decoration, but I enjoy teasing the younger segments by showing them the jars.

Interesting Things: Prosthetics

Divine knowledge is easy to integrate into prosthetic limbs. The benefits outweigh using delusions, if you wish to risk the chance of losing your mind. I consider that more safe than the guarantee of growing old and sick at an accelerated rate. 

Interesting Things: Irminsul

 Friendship Lv. 4

The roots of Irminsul run long and deep, and the branches shed leaves of knowledge unable to be comprehended rationally. To distill knowledge into an understandable form to implant in prosthetics is a tricky process. First it must be harvested from the trunk or a thick enough branch, and left to drip like maple syrup. Then it must be run through a machine to pick out the impurities of forbidden knowledge. This step must be repeated until a substance resembling primordial water remains. Finally, it is bottled into cartridges and put into prosthetics. (This is what I can imagine based off of theories but if anyone has any better ideas please share)

About Webttore

 Friendship Lv. 4

He is a disgrace. I don’t understand why he acts the way he does, no matter how much I and the other segments study and analyze his every movement. I’m convinced he is on to us, and outsmarting us. Coming from the mind of the same man as I am from, he has equal competition in intelligence. He thinks through his stupid decisions, as if he is choosing to be a moron. If I was allowed to kill him, I would take the opportunity and use his corpse for my research. He’s more useful to me as a corpse than an annoyance.

About Omega

 Friendship Lv. 4

He and I get along well, out of all the segments he is one of the few I can stand. He too wishes for his freedom, despite his mission privileges.

About Collei: 

Despite the various experiments that have been done on Collei, I promise you that they were all done with the intent to HELP her lead a life more comfortably and develop a cure for eleazar while studying its properties. However I leave the blame of her trauma on Webttore’s relaxed management style. Had I been conducting the experiment, everything would’ve been handled more efficiently and strategically than the haphazard mess Webttore ran.

About the Tsaritsa

 Friendship Lv. 4

Our Majesty The Tsaritsa is a noble woman. To go against the gods who have given her her power in exchange for her loyalty is admirable. She is an inspiration to all, I only wish I had the bravery to leave for my studies as she has had to disobey The Heavenly Principles.

About The Jester

 Friendship Lv. 4

He is a very solitary man, I hardly see him outside of official business. 

About The Captain

 Friendship Lv. 4

He is powerful already, I’ve seen him in action, but imagine how powerful he could be with augmentations I make for him. (Need help with figuring out what else to say about him)

About The Doctor

 Friendship Lv. 4

My creator, my father, I’m honored to share his title. His curiosity knows no bounds. I know he is hated, he hates himself too, but he is a perfect scientist. I can almost forgive his busyness. I will become as good of a scientist as him, as I am his best clone. I’m a true scholar thanks to him. (Need help with figuring out what else to say about him. Natalia would know a LOT about him.)

About Damselette

 Friendship Lv. 4

She will hold an important role in the completion of Her Majesty’s plan. Her heritage as a blessed race of the Pyro Archon gives her command over the dragons. Draconic power will need to be studied before being properly used, but lucky for me I am chosen to be her confidant. I can gain whatever information I need about dragons or anything I wish from her.

About Arlecchino

 Friendship Lv. 4

Ah, the Knave. She has never liked me, and I only seek her help when necessary. She is less grateful for research than the previous Knave. As far as I am concerned, the only thing worth studying about her is the properties and uses of her blood.

About The Rooster

 Friendship Lv. 4

The Rooster finds my position distasteful, and I find his persistence in meddling with my test subject supply annoying. He has no respect for the noble pursuit of scientific progress, so I have little desire to obey him. 

About The Balladeer

Friendship Lv. 4

He was a pleasure to study. Khanrian technology adapted with more modern methods is the basis of my prosthetics design. His temperament made him unstable but easy to manipulate into agreeing to experiments. He had a one track mind, focused only on claiming his place as an archon to make up for how disgusted he was at humanity. A shame he retired, I could’ve made more research out of him.

About Marionette

 Friendship Lv. 4

She is an exceptional test subject. Her robotic body is a wonderful basis to model prosthetics off of, and her science based mentality makes her a good lab partner. I find it fascinating how it holds the human soul of Alain Guillotine, I have based many of my soul powered prosthetics off of that. It brightens my day when I am sent to deliver research notes and materials to her lab.

About Regrator

 Friendship Lv. 4

Pantalone is an intelligent individual, yet he forgets he taught me all his tricks. How foolish of him. I don’t deny he is skilled at manipulating the flow of money like a puppeteer, a scholar of economics. I’ve learned much from him, enough to always secure funding for my experiments. As an added bonus, his purple coats are quite comfortable once I tailor them to fit myself.

About The Fair Lady

 Friendship Lv. 4

She visited often, and would observe me as I work. I thank her for imparting her knowledge to me, I trust her as she has graduated from the Akademiya. I consider her a true scholar. What I find fascinating is the fire she wields and the flames in The Knave’s blood are made of a similar chemical composition. It implies the mutation of the Crimson Moon is able to be artificially made in humans. May she and her lover be reunited in death, and be reborn in the new world together.

About Childe

 Friendship Lv. 4

He is as stupid as Webttore, unconsciously. I cannot blame him for being that impulsive with his body, many times I have had to patch him up after his battles. His politeness to me is appreciated, but I don’t patch him up out of the kindness of my heart.

About Aym: The God of War really was under our noses the entire time, I guess that praying in a time of need really does work in some cases. I'm not sure what will happen from here on out..but it seems like something has changed in the air up above... I'm going to head back to Snezhnaya soon to record my findings from this mission. I hope Il Dottore finds this useful.

More About Natalia: I

You thirst for knowledge as I do? Perhaps we will get along better than I thought. 

More About Natalia: II

 Friendship Lv. 3

My two responsibilities go hand in hand. My work as a prostheticist is what I research for The Doctor, and my job as a battlefield medic allows me to gather data on live subjects in the field. Efficient, isn’t it? But repetitive, I patch up the same ungrateful imbeciles each time with nothing new to study. 

More About Natalia: III

 Friendship Lv. 4

Segments have many choices for names. Some choose to keep their original designations, others such as I are given new names by many means. My designation and original name is Xi, as tattooed on the back of my neck. But you have only heard me named “Natalia”. I’ll impart this knowledge to quell your curiosity, The Regrator was the one to rename me. It’s predictable what The Doctor will let slide to get his funds. He only stood to gain from allowing Pantalone to call me “Natalia”.

More About Natalia: IV

 Friendship Lv. 5

I will be honest with you. I am conflicted inside. I yearn for the affection and praise from The Doctor, as any child would from their father, but I know I cannot receive that without gathering knowledge for him. It is my purpose in life, and I am failing. The answer is so simple, but he won’t allow me to reach it. With the freedom to explore Teyvat, I can gather more knowledge in my field and be useful enough for his praise once again. But of course, I am too useful to his life, I have to be his right hand to keep replacing his organs. It’s pathetic to be forced into repetitive work but punished for being unable to gather more knowledge. An example of an Oroboros. An Ouroboros that ends with an outside hand strangling the snake, what use does a snake encircling itself have to anyone?

More About Natalia: V

 Friendship Lv. 6

You ask why I don’t quit the Fatui and leave the lab on my own accord? Well, I’m better off in the lab with the Fatui than outside it. Not by much, there are many downsides and I am stagnating in progress. But to be unable to gain funding and continue my research is what I risk if I leave. If I would be allowed to leave at all, in the attempt I could be discontinued for knowing too much. I hope that one day a miracle will happen, I will make a breakthrough, I won’t be failing in my duty anymore, and I’ll earn my right to leave.

Natalia’s Hobbies

(Fighting webby or medical malpractice or something idk)

Natalia’s Troubles

The persistent pestering of the other segments is impeding my work.

Favorite Food

A simple meal of warm soup and halva is all I need to get through the day. Soup is easy to prepare and functions as both a food and a drink. Halva's sturdy, geometric nature makes it portable and efficient to eat while working.

Least Favorite Food

Dishes with too many steps are scientific procedures, not food. My specialty is prosthetics, I don’t have the time to conduct a biological experiment outside of my field. 

Receiving a Gift: I

I am impressed, you disproved my hypothesis on your cooking skills. 

Receiving a Gift: II

Tastewise expected results, no breakthroughs.

Receiving a Gift: III

This is bad, I wouldn’t even give it to Webttore.

Birthday

I have been informed that it’s your birthday. Happy Birthday, come visit the laboratory. I’ve kept Webttore from eating your cake, mind your step so you don’t slip over his body. I’ve prepared a gift for you as well, these wrist braces should strengthen your grip on your sword and on the scruff of the neck of that floating creature.

Feelings About Ascension: Intro

 Ascension Phase 1

 I can now aid in healing you at a faster rate.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up

 Ascension Phase 2

 (Unknown)

Feelings About Ascension: Climax

 (Unknown)

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion

 Ascension Phase 6

Thanks to you, I’ve been able to upgrade myself. Perhaps Il Dottore will smile upon me once more. 

——————

hope that helps! My main is @reiayanamiisbestgirl if you want to direct any questions there

[none-house-left-grief]

no please share your Bloodbourne AU with us….im glad im not the only one thinking about this

Hey sorry I'm only getting to this now! I never get asks for this blog so I don't bother checking often.

I don't have any particularly detailed thoughts, and a lot of things just don't fully add up unless you ignore some lore on both ends but here's re a few ideas I've had (they're all just very very obvious connections tbh they're not super interesting I think):

Obviously the religion of the Ninth is the Healing Church

The Cathedral Ward, specifically Oedon Chapel, would be the Ninth/Drearburh equivalent

It gets a bit complicated when we get to talking about the Lyctors, Resurrection Beasts, and BoS, however

I think the best option for BoS to be would be the hunters (Wake being the much sexier and much much less creepy version of Gherman (would that make Pyrrha Lady Maria?) as the leader/founder)

The Byrgenwerth Scholars could be the Lyctors (or necromancers more broadly)

The Lyctors would be the known bosses and scholars we know of (Maria, Micolash, Rom, etc.) although they could also include hunters like Gascoigne

The RBs would be the bosses that are not human (Amygdala, Blood Starved Beast, (potentially Vicar Amelia idk how I feel about including her tbh)

Here's the tricky part:

John and Alecto could be Willem and Laurence, but I see Jod as Laurence in this (because he would use the blood (which in this case it would be the necromantic equivalent ig??) to "help" people but Alecto would not vibe with it)

However Willem was essentially the founding figure of Byrgenwerth, which, if we didn't do a 1:1 comparison could also work

Laurence could also be Anastasia the First, being the respective founders of their churches

Another issue is that I don't know what to make of the necro/cav duos. Admittedly, this is what makes the AU fall apart for me a little, although I'm sure there's a way to make it work

The easiest thing to do would be to make them Hunters, but then the BoS thing would have to be different

We could pull a Soul Eater and have the cavs be the Hunter weapons because the healing church also has hunters, but that doesn't quite fit for me

Unless

The Cainhurst Vilebloods could be the BoS equivallent, going against the church founded under Laurence/John

This lets the hunters be necromancers and their cavaliers, provided they hunt in pairs

This also lets Pyrrha be Maria and have some ties to BoE through Wake

Some characters might not have direct connections tho

Nona is hard to account for on account of the whole Nona thing

Characters like Patches don't seem to fit with tlt either

The House system would have to be potentially scrapped, although they could be allied/paired off based off of branches from the Scholars

Magic is also a challenge, as the closest thing are the Arcane Hunter Tools and Blood which isn't the same as necromancy (especially not TLT necromancy with the intricacies of the River, thanergy and thallergy, etc.)

Lyctorhood would also be a challenge, although it could be as simple as "the soul/body/blood is absorbed when 'ascended'" or something

The whole "Bloodborne is full of references to the horrors of womanhood and pregnancy and femininity and blood" thing also doesn't fit quite as neatly with tlt because it has a more anti-imperialist bend to it and gender-fuckery happens, but it's not quite like in Bloodborne

For this reason, the whole Pthumerian part of the lore doesn't fit in any way that's easily apparent to me, although I'm open to ideas on all of this, particularly I would love to find a way to fit Queen Yharnam into all this without just making her Wake because they're both the only ones who are prego.

Anyway yeah that's about it lmao hope it's as interesting as you thought it would be

[silly-gh0st3]

She specializes in prosthetics and battlefield medicine. Her name is Natalia and her segment designation is Xi. 

Im still working out her goals. My current ideas are that she wants to study teyvat through the lense of the limits of humanity. I need to fully figure out what exactly Natalia is studying in teyvat that involves basically turning people into cyborgs. Sure, being influenced by dottore would have her want to make people as strong as gods, but does she want to twist people like balloon animals into all sorts of horrifying shapes using prosthetics and cybernetic technology to see what can be unlocked? Is that the limits of humanity she’s after? Would there be something in irminsul her prosthetics technology could affect? Are cyborgs unable to reenter the leylines if they’ve forsaken their humanity? What constitutes as humanity? Is she shoving souls into prosthetics to use to improve Fatui soldiers? I have so many questions and ideas ha ha h e l p  

She also wants to leave the laboratory to be able to do this but as she makes prosthetic organs for dottore, she has to be on standby. She also wants to be seen as a good scientist by dottore, she def has those gifted kid vibes, so that she’ll be granted more privileges like being able to leave the lab. But she gets the authority to conduct her experiments by being in dottore’s back pocket. She also worries about not making progress to her goals of studying teyvat fast enough, and worries that if she falls behind on scientific progress dottore will get rid of her for being useless. Anyway yeah she has a lot of internal conflict. Potential for a character arc of her regaining everything she needs for her experiments but without the help of the Fatui if she decides to run away, bur who’d want to run away from the Fatui am I right?  

She’s 30 years old and 6’ tall but wears 3” heels. I post a lot of pics of her lmao. I’m slowly filling out a large questionnaire of character creation questions haha help me. 

she thinks discussing emotions is showing weakness and thinks therapy is a scam. She prioritizes her work in gathering knowledge through science as more important than anything else in her life. She also tries to make logical decisions about 95% of the time but there are moments when she’ll act impulsively in terms of personality she is rather obsessed with her work, but she’s also quite petty and a little haughty about being a “true scholar”. She has reverence for science, and scoffs at others who don’t. She also has a mental hierarchy, and that determines if she’ll accept or reject criticism from someone. 

Her voice sounds like a mix between cold and calculating and a little, I don’t know how to describe this, sultry? Something like Kafka from HSR. She is a certified yapper, she may be quiet and focused on her work but get her talking about her studies and she will not shut up. 

If she was playable she’d be an aggressive claymore dendro healer that heals based on edmg. The amount of healing done would equal 110% of the edmg. I’m still figuring out what her skills would do, obviously she’d need an infusion thing to make the healing work. And she’d heal when dendro edmg is done even by other teammates who are infused by her dendro.

Oh and she obviously needs a boss fight because ofc so I’m not sure about the monologue or phase one but phase two would have her in a crow themed battle suit where her extra arms would be strapped into crow themed wings. And how she’d get into this mech suit would be that she would stumble backwards into it and have it activate on impact, or something else I haven’t decided. Her boss theme would have kind of a mechanical vibe like uh coordinate shift by ferry, but obviously would have the Latin chanting and fatui letimotif.

I Lowkey forget I have this app 💀💀💀💀

But!! She sounds really cool !

I think Theta and Natalia wouldn’t get along, it’s sort of the thing where siblings compete for their parents attention. Theta is the age range of a sometime when Dottore was in the Akademyia, so they’re kinda desperate to be seen lol. Although Theta does well in hiding that desperation for approval and appears arrogant to others.

Since Theta is more biological than the other segments they are also an “experiment” as well. I would like to think that the segments all have their own type of jobs, and Theta is based in spying/information collecting. Theta mainly does exploring around Teyvat to find some sort of anything that interests them.

If Theta was playable they would be a very selfish DPS, most likely a cryo claymore. Their signature weapon would look like a giant pair of scissor s !

I plan to draw them out some more!!! AUUUSGHSHSHSH I LOVE THETA SM :33

[nerevarswritingstuff]

Line (Albedo/Reader) Pt. 2

“An assistant??” You turn from your easel to Sucrose, tilting your head. “For who, again?”

“Mr. Albedo—he’s an alchemist. He has a few official titles… Kreideprinz, Captain of the Investigation Team, Chief Alchemist…” Sucrose plays with her hair, twirling and twirling and twirling it around her finger.

You hum, turning back to your easel to continue painting. The name was familiar, you’ve heard it before while traveling around the streets of Monsdstadt and overhearing conversations during your sketching breaks. Actually meeting the guy was a different story. You’ve heard plenty about his accomplishments in alchemy and apparent charming personality.

Already your mind is painting a picture of what he could possibly look like, but you quickly bring a white brush to that canvas to keep it blank. For now you’ll just imagine him as a stick of chalk for now—considering one of his titles. No face, no personality. Just a blank canvas with a simple line that can be added to however you wish.

“I remember you were leaving soon for Sumeru for your project with the Amurta scholars—is this why you're offering me the position?” You ask, eyes glancing at her before going back to your piece.

No one really asked you to paint it, you just felt like doing something after so long of unpacking all your things. With your artist supplies finally out of the endless pile of boxes, your painter’s hand was itching for something. You decided to settle on painting the statue of Barbatos from memory first before actually trekking outside to do a more proper one.

“Essentially speaking, yes.” She takes a seat beside you, keeping arm’s length to stay out of your way. “At least—it could be a—uh—a trial run for you both.” She plays with her hair again, looking to the floor. “That way, if it doesn’t work out, there'll be no hard feelings… I hope that’s okay?”

“I don’t see an issue with it so far. What’s he like—if you don’t mind my asking?” Best to go in with a base idea of what his personality is before you go jumping in. You’ve gotten screwed over too many times by going in completely blind and would prefer to have at least one eye able to see.

She plays with her gloves, then her collar, her hands never able to sit still for long. “Well—his accomplishments in alchemy are nothing to laugh at, it’s because of him that Mondstadt was able to thrive in so many new discoveries—and also why so many people from around the world come to meet him.”

“Mhmm…” You hum to indicate you were still listening to her, leaning back in your stool to look at the whole canvas, eyes flickering over the piece before catching a small mistake and going to fix it. While it didn’t fully answer your question, it certainly gave you an idea to what level his intelligence was at with alchemy.

“He’s a very kind and intelligent man—oh, and he also is an artist as well!” She perks up at remembering the little detail and offers you a smile. “He’s… well, more into sketching, but has painted a few pieces before.”

Ah, a fellow artist. You can’t help but wonder what his style would be like—is he the type to stay realistic or go abstract, or just go with whatever weird mixture he thinks looks nice to him?

“So he’ll be a mixture between my boss and an art buddy?” You chuckle, catching the blush on her face at your teasing. “He’s not the type to talk down on you… is he?”

Sucrose quickly waves her hands and shakes her head. “Oh no, no, no! Never! He actually is very patient and understanding, even if talking to people isn’t his strongest suit, he still is extremely polite.”

Alright, that’s good to hear. At least he wasn’t a stuck up know-it-all. You nod, keeping your smile gentle. “I was just checking. Maybe teasing a little. Just a bit.” You laugh at the look on her face. “Hmm, I suppose we can work out a meeting. Is he available to discuss it right now?”

“Ah—I believe so. But—aren’t you busy? I can go let him know—he asked me to anyway—”

“Not busy enough to keep me from setting up a meeting at least. I’d hate to use you as a messenger back and forth because a) it’d make you tired and b) it’d be inconsiderate of both of us to assume you’d be okay to do this when you still need to pack your things for a long trip to Sumeru soon.” You do one final stroke of the brush on the statue’s wing and go to stand up.

“Well… I might have… just told him about this before coming to you to tell you…” She pokes her fingers together, unable to meet your gaze. “It was—a bit of a—uh—last minute decision, since the plan kind of got a rock thrown in the way, and—and I was trying to find a way to make it work out, and—”

“It’s okay, Sucrose. I understand, and I’m sure the Chief Alchemist wouldn’t mind either.” You give her shoulder a pat and a reassuring smile. “It’s not in your control when things get changed around, so the most you can do is try to work with it, yeah?”

“Ah... yes… thank you for understanding. Then, I suppose I can show you where his lab is in the Favonius Headquarters…” She stands as well, fiddling with her hair all over again. “Are you sure it’s no trouble? I can take you there later, if you’d like. I’d hate to inconvenience you.”

“It’s not an inconvenience, it’s best both of us know what time and place we’ll be meeting at in the next day or so—that way we can prepare our own questions and whatnot.” You smile, then frown and ask, “He won’t care if I’m covered in paint, will we?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. Besides, you’re not that covered in paint, at least.” Even as she says that, she’s already grabbing a wet cloth to give you and pointing to her cheek. You take it with a chuckle and wipe your face.

You take a moment to stretch, hearing your back pop in several different places, before heaving a sigh. Grabbing your hat with your Dendro Vision, you secure it to your head and smile. “Alright, lead the way.”

“Of course.” Sucrose takes you outside, making sure to lock the apartment before hurrying down the streets towards the Knights of Favonius Headquarters. Already several people were giving you a look of curiosity—mainly because of your clothes being covered in paint. Your pants were the worst of it, absolutely coated in a mixture of colors from you brushing your paint covered hands or your brushes onto them.

Not like you minded anyway, it was no different from all the other places you’ve been to and needed to go out in the middle of painting to get errands done. You just walk with Sucrose, ignoring the looks, but unable to ignore the feeling of someone staring at and through you. Yet when you look there is no one to be found.

Weird, if not slightly unsettling.

Entering the Knight’s Headquarters is when you start to feel very underdressed. The knight’s armor looks pristine, secretaries and messengers alike dressed to the nines. But you quickly push the feeling away, no need to fret over something so trivial. Not like this was a fancy gathering or anything.

You glance at your painting of Jueyun Karst hanging in the main hall and smile. Ah, what wonderful memories of several days camping out in the wild, keeping your painting safe from the wind and rain alike, and dealing with hilichurls trying to eat your paints, thinking it was some kind of food paste. Sure won’t be the last time that happens.

You follow Sucrose down a hallway towards a door that has a sign on it, reading No Experiments in Progress. You raise a brow, looking at your friend but she says nothing as she knocks twice on the door, stepping inside after a gentle, masculine voice says, “You may enter.”

You step inside, eyes roaming about the area. Yup, it’s your typical alchemy lab. Plenty of beakers, tables, notes, and a lot of things you know absolutely nothing about. You keep your hands to yourself, despite the desire to poke and prod at a few funnily shaped beakers and look forward to the source of the voice—whom you safely assume is the Chief Alchemist.

The first thing you’re met with is a pair of eyes that remind you of two chips of glass with the sea behind them. His blonde hair held such a stark brightness to it, it could be mistaken for white if the light hit it just right. It was askew in several different places, haphazardly tied back but several strands still lay in his face. You tilt your head, eyes taking in each detail as the blank canvas in your mind of his appearance continues to paint it and put it to memory. 

He’s only a couple inches taller than you, from what you can garner.  He somehow manages to look young, yet mature. Perhaps your age, give or take a year? A soft curve of his cheekbone, but a strong chin, a short nose that seemed to detail his face well, his eye shape round and giving it a gentle appearance. His outfit was as you expected any alchemist to be—white lab coat and all. A bit more detailed than you expected, but you suppose that’s because of his standing as Chief Alchemist. Your eyes linger on the Geo vision nestled on his collared shirt, then the star shaped birthmark on his neck. A curious sight indeed.

Your eyes flicker back to his, noticing he was taking in each detail of your appearance as much as you were with his. He takes in your face, your paint-stained clothes, your own messily brushed hair, to your Dendro Vision clipped to your hat. His expression didn’t change by an inch as he committed your appearance to memory, yet when he noticed your Vision, there was a shine in his eyes that hinted at curiosity.

You can hear the wheels turning in his head, but can’t think of the thoughts that could be going through that mind of his. Perhaps he was curious on how Visions work for every wielder and wanted to find out what yours could do. Maybe it was something else.

During his examination of you, somehow he manages to keep his expression blank yet serene. Then his eyes meet yours and you offer a smile, asking with a light lilt in your tone, “Chief Alchemist Albedo, I presume?” You step forward, offering a hand to shake and telling him your name.

He nods, a smile easily falling into place on his features that somehow makes him look more tranquil. You can’t help but wonder just how many people crush on him just for his looks alone. He takes your hand and gives it a single shake. “Yes, though you may simply call me Albedo. I’ve no need for such official titles,” he says, making your brows shoot up. 

Admittedly, you weren’t expecting such a voice to come from him. At least not one that mature, given he looked so youthful. Yet it seemed to add the finishing touches to his entire person. Gentle like the padisarah’s from your homeland, yet also firm and sturdy like the mountains of Liyue. It fits him well, you feel.

Shaking off your initial shock, you mentally pen down his request. “Alright then, Albedo. Well, I won’t beat around the bush—Sucrose said you needed a new assistant since she’s leaving for Sumeru soon. I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, but obviously we’ll need to arrange a meeting so we can get down and dirty with the details.”

A pause, your eyes roaming his face. There was a slight twitch in his shoulders, relaxing some. Hmm, curious, but you make no comment. He says, “I believe it would be best suited for us both to go over the details of the arrangement, yes. I’m assuming you being here is to arrange the time and place of the meeting?”

“Mhm,” you pocket your hands and shrug, “I’d hate to use Sucrose as the messenger between us since she has her own schedule, so I figured she could show me to your lab and we can discuss from there.” You turn to Sucrose with a soft smile. “You don’t have to stay, I know the way back home. You should get your stuff packed up.”

“Ah—are you sure?” Sucrose looked between you and Albedo.

“When is your caravan leaving, Sucrose?” Albedo asks, putting his thumb and index finger to his chin.

She doesn’t answer immediately, eyes darting around as she recalls the details, then says, “It’ll arrive in… three days, and will be leaving at noon.”

“Then it’d be best to ensure your equipment and supplies are packed post haste then,” he tilts his head to her, saying in a soft tone, “There’s no need to fret over either of us, Sucrose. This project is important to you, therefore it should be number one on your list of things to prepare for.”

“It’s exactly as he says,” you pat her shoulder, “you’d say the same to me or him. So go on, I’ll meet you back at home.”

She looks like she wanted to argue a bit more, but after a moment of giving it some thought, she  relents, “Alright. Thank you so much, both of you.” She gives you both a smile, adjusting her glasses, before hurrying out the door.

You face Albedo again. “So—about our meeting, I’d like to make sure we at least have a time and place set up before anything else.” You hum, tapping your chin, then ask, “Would you prefer it to be private, or somewhere in an open space?”

“I was actually going to ask you the very same question,” he chuckles, “I have no preference for either, truly. Though, giving it more thought, perhaps a private setting would be best for this situation—it would be less likely for us to be interrupted, as… admittedly, many people try to converse with me on the streets about new alchemy findings.”

You can tell just from the way his voice dipped and shoulders drooped that he’s not the biggest fan of interruptions. It’s possible he’s too polite to say much about it, but that remains to be seen. You smile, saying, “Alright, so a private setting then. Perhaps here in the lab, or my apartment, or is there a specific place you’d prefer?”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t wish to impose on you or Sucrose and the lab has too many volatile things sitting about right now… Ah, there’s plenty of meeting rooms within the Headquarters we could use to discuss the terms of this contract, if that sounds reasonable to you?” He gestures to you, brows raised in question.

“That sounds fair to me. How does… two days from now sound, around noon? I can bring us coffee—or do you prefer tea?”

“Coffee, please. Just a simple two cream and two sugar.” He takes a pen, writing something down on a piece of paper, then faces you again. “I’ll meet you within the main hall of the Headquarters—there’s many meeting rooms here so it would be beneficial to ensure you didn’t get lost within.”

“My thanks for that, I’d like to not get lost in such a big building,” you laugh and he shares a small chuckle with you. “Alright, then two days from now, noon, coffee—two cream, two sugars. Sounds like an appointment.” You hold your hand out to him again. “We’ll obviously discuss everything else in further detail during the meeting, but I’ll get out of your hair now since you’re most likely busy.”

“Ah—yes—that is much appreciated.” He takes your hand, gives it one shake, and then pulls away. “Until then, I look forward to our meeting.”

“The feeling is mutual. Until then.” With that, you step out of the lab. Remembering the path Sucrose took with you in tow, you follow it towards the main hall and exit, beginning your trek back to your apartment.

Alright, so first impressions of Albedo were a mixed bag. Nothing negative so far, but it certainly looked like he wasn’t expecting you to just show up and arrange a meeting. Nor did it seem like he was the type to enjoy long-winded conversations just from his mention of people stopping him in the streets.

A bit introverted, isn’t he?

Even so, just from the way he spoke to Sucrose, you could tell there’s a kind soul in him. Much like she said, Albedo has this air about him that radiates patience and understanding for unexpected situations—such as Sucrose’s impromptu offering of you being his assistant. Even if talking to people didn’t seem to be his strong suit, it looks like he still does what he can to accommodate others.

Such an interesting guy. You find yourself growing more and more curious about him.

Well, you have two days to wait—might as well utilize that time to help Sucrose pack and get some sketching done.

[fareehaandspaniards]

hmmm. favourite character for an ask game...gonna have to go on a whim here and say mensis scholar damian, just have a feeling you like him yknow (being silly)

How did you even get the idea??? ahsdnmwdwqm

The Ask meme

Favourite thing about them:

Every thing. Damian as a human being. Places to summon him, the idea of revealing the Mensis Ritual, his equipment, his shield and cane, his look, his age, his cage, his Micolash, his School of Mensis, him being a tomb prospector in the past, him being him.

Least favorite thing about them:

I can't summon him on every boss or talk to him. I can't even learn properly who the fuck he is.

Favorite line:

I'll just use one from my fic because of reasons:

Micolash blushed, looking shamefully at his unexpected savior.

"Why did you help, sir?"

"I know that your family isn't wealthy. And still, you are diligent and much toil. The teachers praise you, Micolash, and I believe that despite your attempt to break into other people's property, you are a good young man… And if you are thrown out of here just because you want to know more, it will be very sad. I hope to see you successfully graduate from Byrgenwerth and build a good future for yourself. And one more thing. Don't do that again."

"Thank you"

Micolash was a little taken aback by such selflessness, even hesitating for a second - what if he had been sent by Willem? But the man was open. Micolash realized with embarrassment that he had never even asked his name.

---

brOTP

Damian x Rom x Caryll!

I like to imagine their college years, when the three of them would get together and Rom and Caryll would pour out their souls to Damian, because he was so much older and wiser. And Damian felt like a young student in their company (even though he was only in his early thirties). Their friendship had endured a lot, and even at the end of their ways, when they had stopped talking so much, there was still an unbreakable trust between them, and if one asked for help, the other would provide it immediately.

OTP

Gremia x Damian

You've probably guessed it by now. Just the union of a very tired, very loyal and responsible old man with a maybe a little silly, but very honest and loving man.

Gremia needs Damian, with his omnipresent care and affection, all the wrinkles on his pale body and counsel, and Damian needs someone who is not tainted by madness and filth, who is willing to do anything for him and who will take the weight off his tortured heart.

(All other pairings with him are also nice, especially damicolash)

nOTP

Doesn't exist :P

Random headcanon

Among the Tomb Prospectors, Damian was the only fully educated and, at first, physically weak man. However, his leadership and concern for his comrades grew stronger as time went on. Ludwig had even planned to appoint him the next captain of the Tomb Prospectors, for he himself was to take command of the wider ranks of Church Hunters and Executioners after Logarius.

But there was Isz Chalice and Ebraitas, and things did not go according to plan. Also, when Ebraitas was found, Tomb Prospectors reacted in different ways. Some fell to their knees, some vomited, and some, frightened and maddened, attacked. Ebrietas was scared and felt sympathy for Damian because of his warm aura, not threatenin and tender, and secret dreams of children and family. The great ones feel and see people through. She tried to show it, but her inhuman voice, even more like a howl, and her frightened need to defend herself, caused by the attacks of the other Tomb Prospectors, caused not only the deaths of almost everyone in the squad, but also Damian's disgust for her. This became his personal trauma that he hided inside.

Unpopular opinion

He isn't dumb or late to heal you with choir bell, he just wants you to die! (maybe you were disrespectful to Rom? better say sorry)

Song I associate with them:

A lots of songs actually. Sorry for not giving a link to spotify, it just doesn't work in my country

Weird Science by Oingo Boingo

Соседи by Oxxxymiron

Колесо by Oxxxymiron

Does your mother know by Abba

Livin' in a world without you by The Rasmus

Lord of the Dance by Blackmore's Night

Favorite picture:

Any picture of him.

I'll put here his usual screenshot because it is called "oh damian you are so big" on my puter and it is just usual Damian in a high resolution

[thefirstknife]

Before I dive deeper into the new season (I've been having some errors), I checked out the latest Veil Log and the final one for the next three months. I'm insane. Not on DLV yet so my video and transcript:

Osiris: I found no more logs from Dr. Esi, but I have used her algorithm to crack the data core of the Vex Conceptual Mind. Nimbus: That's the doodad we got from the Black Garden, right? Osiris: Indeed. The data within contained the Vex's blueprints for their artificial Veil: the Black Heart. It all but proved Dr. Esi's theory. Dr. Esi theorised that the paracausal energy of the Traveler operated on a quantum wavelength parallel to electrons. Nimbus: Um... magnets? Osiris: In simpler terms: the Traveler's power runs parallel to the forces of nature. Gravity, magnetism, sound, light. The Veil does this too. It is synchronised with the Traveler. Wherever the Traveler came from, the Veil may have as well. But what the Vex made, while connected to the Traveler, was inherently flawed. It did not create the link the Witness desired. Instead, it weakened the Traveler, created... "static" in the flow of their cosmic forces. But it did reveal one intriguing possibility... That at one time, they may have been... united. Part of a whole. Nimbus: Whoa! So, wait... does this mean the Light and Darkness... were the same once? One force? Osiris: Dr. Esi believed so. I am... not as convinced. But it is a theory. One many scholars will explore once this data is shared. But this data allowed me to calculate the telemetry of the beam the Veil fired at the Traveler. When the Witness linked to the Veil through a Ghost, it created a faster-than-light connection of Darkness to the Traveler's Light... A bridge to the Traveler's consciousness. If it has one. But the beam did not stop at the Traveler... rather, a point inside of it. Nimbus: Inside? Wait, what's inside the Traveler? Osiris: No one knows. But if the data I have been able to extrapolate here is correct, that is where the Witness is now: inside the Traveler. It may be the reason why the Traveler has gone dormant - its attention directed inward, where the true threat is. But I am speculating. There is more I need to study, but I fear it will take a substantially longer amount of time. Nimbus: How long do you need? Osiris: Months. If we have that long left, that is. Until then, I suppose.

THIS WAS SO JUICY. I love when Osiris shows that he's a scientist first and foremost.

This is a lot of stuff, some partially also related to what we just learned in the showcase. I'll write down my initial thoughts and stuff that got me thinking.

First, such a good idea to bring back the Conceptual Mind; the final boss of the Black Garden mission in Lightfall. I just replayed it a week ago for no reason other than to snoop around and remembered that they talk about the core of the Vex we kill at the end (Conceptual Mind, the architect of the Black Heart) and that Osiris said he would study it, but we haven't had an update since. Until now!

The stuff about the Traveler (and the Veil) running "parallel to the forces of nature" that include "gravity, magnetism, sound and light" reminded me of when I talked about the OXA In this post, specifically about the term "odyle" from the full name of the OXA. The OXA's full name is Odyle Xenotaph Anarchive; I explained each word in my post, and here the most relevant is the first one; odyle. This force, the odyle, was thought to be responsible for natural phenomena such as magnetism, electricity, light and others. I don't know if this is deliberate, as something like this can easily just be a coincidence when we're talking about space magic and paracausality, but it definitely reminded me of that, especially since I talked about it in the same context of the Veil's power. Remains to be seen, but when I heard that sentence, my first thought was "odyle." This old-timey term might be used here for the purpose of explaining a time of the universe where everything began and when the Traveler and the Veil were connected.

Speaking of, Osiris talks about how the conclusion is that the Traveler and the Veil may have been united before, that they are parts of a whole. This is absolutely not new for him and I've mentioned it before pretty much the moment Ahsa said the same. Osiris has mentioned this in one of his prophecies:

Two siblings cleaved by time and space, reflections never found alone, The ending of the eldritch race—a path long seen but never known.

And from Ahsa:

Shrouded in… Darkness. A promise of something more… Two halves of a whole… long divided. A… schism between them. Reunited. [exhales in joy] A glimpse beyond… to the beginning…

The rest is heavily contingent on our glimpse into what's beyond the portal. Osiris talks about how the Veil connected to something inside the Traveler; he is correct. We know from the showcase that it is connected to the Pale Heart.

Destination The Pale Heart There is a place where we will find eternity being torn asunder. An unraveling landscape that echoes with the deeds of our past. Persevere in this impossible place and uncover what lies at the heart of this war.

It's a place where the Traveler is rebuilding stuff from what it remembers of us. It's a place that can reconstruct places that existed, places it touched or affected. We still don't know a lot, but this little bit of information and scenes we've seen are a decent start. Osiris also mentions that the beam connected to the Traveler's consciousness, which is something that makes sense for the Veil, given that it is the power of consciousness made manifest. Perhaps together, the Traveler and the Veil can reconstruct things and places that were, as well as construct things and places that will be. Traveler to give them physicality, the Veil to seed consciousness. If they were truly as one before, perhaps this is how the universe started in the first place. But... as Osiris said... I am speculating.

And now the long wait. Three months for the final log. I'll definitely be revisiting this analysis from Osiris multiple times over the next months.

[corvuscorona]

ATTENTION ALL ASTOS SCHOLARS:

do u think the black knight phase 2 boss theme being called "puppet of darkness" implies astos was directly Puppeting It. sitting up there on his needlessly huge throne like "fuck you I spawn a phantom. I spawn a phantom. I spawn a phantom. tornado"

edit: (idea @2000sanimeop came up with while driving a car I was in the passenger seat of, and would Never have posted) (so I posted it) (but it was her idea)

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

What is Paimon? | Continuation

A continuation of my Paimon post which I turned into a Paimon video that was a bit more fleshed out.

Post:

[HERE]

Video:

So, as a continuation of this entire idea, I wanted to address Paimon's design.

New lore bits have made this theory all the more possible, as well as added details that could make her character make more sense.

After some digging, I managed to finally find where the Traveler fished Paimon out of the sea. It's Guyun Stone Forest, amidst that quadruple Ruin Guard death trap. Anyway, the only difference is the stone the Traveler was sitting on is gone if you go there now.

I had a feeling this was around the location because if it indeed was, that would make the surrounding landscape an interesting choice. And there is no way for me to believe MHY wouldn't do things deliberately considering all the sprinkles of lore they put in from the game's release(Thunderbird lore being in 1.0, anyone?).

This happens to be amidst some interesting ruins...

Allow me to remind everyone of the Ancient Ruins that seem to exist in every nation so far. The same found in Dragonspine, which means they're older than Khaenri'ah, but younger than the Ancient One-World Civilization Enkanomiya was a part of. We can find these ruins everywhere and I even went to the trouble of locating each individual example I could find personally, in a playlist on YouTube.

These locations include the Golden Apple Archepelago(the Harr Islands - that used to be part of Mondstadt before Venti chopped the mountain up and sent the remains flying into the ocean), beneath Tsurumi Island in Inazuma which was hit with a Divine Nail and has an Irminsul Branch growing nearby, Dragonspine(Sal Vindagnyr prior to Durin's 'death'), which was hit with a Divine Nail and has an Irminsul Branch growing nearby, all over Liyue, and even Sumeru where only one location with these ruins are considered Khaenri'ahn by Sumeru scholars, but none of the others are...

Now, being in Guyun Stone Forest, right beside the remains of this ancient civilization's remains, is a fascinating place for Paimon to be discovered. If the shade of the stone wasn't obvious enough, nor the shape of the pillars, I went to great lengths to prove that each video in that playlist contained parts of the same ruins in different nations, by having their one defining design there.

A triquetra.

On each archway is a triquetra. A 'triangular figure composed of three interlaced arcs, or (equivalently) three overlapping vesicae piscis lens shapes.'

A triquetra is often considered to represent Life, Death, and Rebirth in various cultures. OR the Mind, Body, and Spirit OR Earth, Sea, and Sky OR Past, Present, and Future etc... A lot of these beliefs overlap in many religions all around the world. But it's just so interesting that the mark on Paimon's stomach is the same kind of mark on all these ruins around the world.

However, an upside triquetra is supposed to be taken in the exact opposite of the original order. It can mean Rebellion against Traditional Beliefs to Christians. Transformation & Change to certain 'Pagan' beliefs. In Alchemy is represents the Union of Opposites. It could also be a Balance between the Physical and Spiritual.

The triquetra is found on things like: Mora, Domain Entrances, Welkin Moon, Genesis Crystals, Shop Bundles, the Locked Spiral Abyss Entrance, and the World Quest symbol.

This special triquetra on the remains of these ruins, is upside down like Paimon's. However, other places that contain this same architecture of the ancient civilization, are boss arenas. Many Hypostases and other World Bosses share the same surrounding pillars and artwork. Except they seem to have a Solomon's Knot at the center of each trial ground. And that shape is not only present at the top of domain entrances but is also found on some of those ancient civilization's archways. Specially, those found on Tsurumi Island and Dragonspine, which are places we know had people who lived there before the Divine Nails fell and destroyed the Ley Lines and the environment.

MHY loves their 3s, huh? And their 4s.

As of 4.2's lore, we have learned that the Narzissenkreuz Ordo hypothesized that the world lives through samsara cycles. This mirrors something Nahida said back in 3.0's Archon Quest Act 2. She suggested that the whole world could be a lie and that everything is just one massive Sabzeruz Festival we're all repeating without knowing(this happened when asking if the Traveler is sure Tomorrow will come, or if Today will be followed by Yesterday).

It has been suggested that there have been 3 samsaras. Hyperborea, Natlantean, and Rumeria. And that the player is experiencing the 4th Samsara of the World, Khraun-Arya. The player, the Traveler, is the 4th Descender, and it has been confirmed that the 3rd Descender is dead, and their remains have been separated into the Gnoses.

Hyperborea is described in the Weapon: Ballad of the Fjords

Natlantean might be described in the Weapon: Talking Stick

Reading these notes didn't feel like mere assumptions to me, because I remember a certain artifact set that's been in the game forever. One that only has Circlets and can never go above 4*.

Yes! The Prayers Set!

Prayers to Springtime: Tiara of Frost

They say that, The line of chief priests have always seen this same sight as their days draw to an end: A mountain of crowns in a secret place, beneath a withered tree— —each one hiding a lifetime of secrets kept. Each retiring chief priest offers up their crown of flawless white branches to this world. Every mighty and ancient city, and every austere place of sacrifice must one day return to profundity in the earth. All prosperity must someday end. But this does not mean that nothing is eternal. At the end of a cycle, the earth shall be renewed. Thus eternity is cyclical. The search for truth is a product of prosperity, and not the seed that plants it. They say that, Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations from Celestia directly. The envoys of the gods walked among benighted humanity then. In those days, life was weak, and the earth was blanketed in unending ice.

Prayers for Illumination: Tiara of Flame

They say that, Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations from the heavens directly. The envoys of the gods walked among benighted humanity then. The eternal ice had just begun to thaw, and the first fires were still new. It was a time of great prosperity, when all was left in the hands of such heavenly revelations. The envoys of heaven said that the world would soon enter a new and brighter age. This was predestined, that future immutable. But would a day come when such wonderful times might come to an end? To this question the envoys gave no answer. so, the people chose from among them a chief priest, And adorning his head with a crown of white branches, they sent him out into the deep places of the world, To antediluvian ruins and long-buried altars of sacrifice, to seek answers and enlightenment…

Prayers for Destiny: Tiara of Torrents

They say that, Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations from the heavens directly. Then, the envoys of the gods would walk among benighted humanity, and the ancient flames were extinguished amidst the first falling rains. It was a prosperous time, a period of bountiful harvest. Then the earth was blessed and ruled by heaven, and the elemental flows were smooth and well-ordered. A hundred years of bounty were written in the stars, and none could change this divine law. But what of the time after, a hundred, a thousand years from now? Would they have famine where they had plenty, poverty where once were riches? Would their altars and palaces become one with the soil, with only that silver-white tree for company? The heavenly envoys, who ever spoke what they knew, were silent. So to understand this doom, The chief priest, head crowned with white branches, would delve into the deep places of the world…

Prayers for Wisdom: Tiara of Thunder

They say that, Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations from the heavens directly. Then, the envoys of the gods would walk among benighted humanity, and the waters ran dry as thunder first pierced the skies. People enjoyed untold wisdom, and that wisdom was their boon. Their prosperity brought pride and ambition, and the mind to question. So they questioned the heavens' authority, and schemed to enter the garden of gods. And though they had promised to the people divine love, prosperity and wisdom, the envoys of heaven were angry. For to question eternity was forbidden, For earth to challenge sky, inexpiable. So the chief priest who wore the white-branched crown went forth to appease the divine envoys, And into the deep places he went, seeking the hidden wisdom of the silver tree in the ancient capitol…

It should be noted that these Circlets are only dropped by their respective elemental Hypostases and Regisvines, Abyss Bosses, Khaenri'ahn-made Bosses, Elemental Manifestations, and Vishap Bosses.

The Circlets are also made from the branches of Irminsul.

In order, these describe the 4 Samsara Cycles of the world. Khaenri'ah being the present one, full of humans who rose up against the gods and dared to think of themselves as better for managing just fine without the help of any gods.

3s and 4s play a big role in Genshin.

Domains bearing both triquetras as well as Solomon's Knots is insane to think about. Solomon's Knot can mean Immortality, Lovers, Faith, Beauty, and Eternity depending on the culture you choose to draw inspiration from.

Emphasis on the No. 4 is made in other places too.

On Tsurumi Island, the Traveler meets a ghost NPC named Ruu, who was a sacrifice in a ritual to try and appease what his village believed to be a bird god. In truth, the Thunderbird in question didn't care about the humans or their feelings, and only acted out when Ruu, the little boy she befriended, was sacrificed in her name because the chief and elders assumed her speaking to him meant she wanted him as an offering. The Thunderbird destroys the island and curses them to relive their day of destruction for all time until Ruu is able to fulfil a promise to sing to her.

Ruu enlists the Traveler's help, unaware of the truth behind why everything keeps going wrong no matter how many times he's sacrificed.

It takes the Traveler 4 tries to get it right. 3 attempts fail to help Ruu with his quest, and the 4th was finally the success. Ruu even said he believes in The Rule of Four. "...you need to do things thrice in order to get a result. For example, they say that 'good omens must occur three times for good fortune to truly descend'… Same for bad omens. They also say that 'you must forge past obstacles three times to succeed on the fourth'."

So, if this is the 4th Samsara, and the Traveler is the 4th Descender who supposedly has a Will to Change the World, then is it possible that Paimon could be a Tulpa fashioned from the knowledge left behind by the former Samsara?

That perhaps, Paimon is a remnant of a failed attempt at breaking the Samsara and was sent to the Traveler when they got desperate for help, to start them on the path to uncovering the 'truth of this world' and help them find the right answers and make the right decisions. That could be why she appeared out of nowhere in Guyun Ston Forest, right beside the remains of a civilization she shares symbolism with.

Anyway, this is still just a theory. I could be blowing smoke out of my ass, but it was fun to make this.

[rhmis-user-2020]

My changes for Vat7k

I got a new idea for the fanfiction which develops Hugo to be imperfect but at the same time grew to have a complex and developed relationship with Varian, as well as giving Nuru and Yong more time to develop and show up in more chapters and such. I do stand by and accept your points and they can be valid and it makes me wanna change up the concept of Vat7k as a whole. Maybe include Varian's attributes of season 3's character and make him the former criminal of the town before he was a citizen of Corona and the rest of the seven kingdoms as well as me giving Nuru, Yong and Hugo to have different types of scientists to not copy Varian's:

Hugo: He would be an engineer, physistic and mineralogist but bear in mind that he can't be perfect so I put more emphasis on his criminal background.

And be like the engineer version of Eugene Fitzherbert. He would be a contrast to him because of their career differences and how they’d affect personality. Eugene is a lone thief in the past and therefore Hugo would be like the 2.0 of him, he steals for himself and for profit. He’s basically self-employed!

Yong: He’s mainly got experience with pyrotechnics, he’d be good for defence.

Yong's got a unique background in that he’s very into a specific type of chemistry which is probably different from Varian's. And Yong does have a background in mechanics and is useful in equations and he's a firecracker. He probably knows a bit about temperature science, which might be helpful for a specific task.

Nuru: Nuru's science is astrology, an old kind of astronomy and meteorology, that also includes airflow on the planet. She could probably fill in the team's role as navigator of the group.

Nuru has been studying princess things a lot of her life a lot of that stemming from the fact that she does know other kingdoms and placements, so I can add in geography as a form of her interests and if I create her some kind of background and story a little less sheltered she’d be a good cultural consultant which in turn she’d need to know about neighbouring kingdoms to do politics well and she’d also probably be a good communicator, she’d be good at convincing people to do things for the group.

And we just leave Quirin behind like that in most fanworks.

Donella is totally down for overthrowing the rich and if she was a mob boss alongside being the royal engineer then she could make a lot of connections and identify different targets, just sayin’… I have this idea of her being raised by a librarian/scholar/academic type person so she’s raised with a strong appreciation for knowledge. Ulla’s main goal in getting to the Eternal Library was to find out more about magic so Donella’s goal could have something to do with the economic divide in Iingvar, trying to decrease the poverty rates or Maybe that’s why she takes in Hugo, perhaps there are other kids who work for her in exchange for a safe shelter.

Cus of this, Hugo is a double agent.

Everyone just forgets Cyrus once in a while, I personally think that he and Donella met when she did the iron trial and did something that he feels indebted to her, not sure exactly what but you don’t gain loyal followers for doing nothing. He was definitely a young Hugo’s training dummy/babysitter/jungle gym and as Hugo got older it was more trying to get a reaction out of him.

I mean, Cyrus is stoic and doesn’t talk much and stays completely silent.

As he’ll often lend an ear but whether he’s actually paying attention is up for debate. When he does talk! I reckon he gives great advice and he is probably a good and supportive person to vent to.

And why do Varian's relatives have to have the same features as him?

Buck teeth

Big eyes

Freckles

Literally, these are meant to make Varian unique.

[yzeltia]

Closer to You

Chapter: Prologue Characters: Y'zel Tia, @driftward 's Zoisstte Vauban, @healerstail's Meya Ganajai, @erickgage 's Erick Gage, Thancred Waters, ???, ??? Rating: T for Tia Notes: N/A

            “Warriors of Light… thank you for showing me the way…Zel, I’m sorry…”

            Y’zel whimpered a bit as Ysayle’s final words danced about the empty of his waking dreams. Startled awake, he looked up, pawing out from his place at the end of the sick bed until he found Zoissette’s ankle. As relief settled in, he rose, finding himself to be stiff from how he’d been curled up.

            He’d nary left the medical wing for days, save to freshen up and being forced to eat, refusing to leave the room longer than a bell. He couldn’t bare it, afraid she might simply slip back into the ether if left unwatched. Not that she didn’t have a revolving audience of Gage Acquisitions and allies there to in peek on her and offer aether. And of course, his cousin Shtola.

            His ears perked for a moment, then lowered slowly. With a nervous flit of his tail, he stood then spun about to see who was with them, finding the Boss leaned back in the side chair reading, sparing a glance over his sunglasses before returning his attention to the book. Meya slumped over the side of the bed, holding Zoissette’s hand, praying…or perhaps singing. He squirmed a bit and decided not to worry about it, feeling his stomach turn with hunger.

            Quietly, he made his leave from the infirmary, shutting the door behind him slowly. Free in the hall, he sighed then wandered toward his apartment in silence. A low hum graced his ears, then another. They’d been so frequent lately since the aftermath of the incident he’d almost grown accustomed to them. If only he could get used to the silence in between them.

            As he reached for his doorknob, his tail was pulled, forcing him to turn back to find a particularly cross looking Thancred staring at him, book under his arm. His lips moved, yet the words didn’t quite reach his ears, everything running together, though the glare was enough to tell he was being scolded. Concentrating on his mouth, his ears gave a little perk, focusing until his voice came through.

            “Well!?” the man asked indignantly.

            “I’m sorry…I didn’t catch what were you saying before,” Y’zel said softly, trying to think if he’d done anything to have had the other upset with him…or if they’d even ever had a single conversation together before.

            “Seven hells.  I was shouting for you all down the hall. I asked what possessed you to publish this tripe,” he asked, shoving the book into Y’zel’s arms.

            The Miqo’te looked down, finding a Sharlayan journal leafed with his recent entry: The Source, Its Reflections, and Soulmates.

            “My paper? What about it?”

            “It walks dangerously close to that of the Ascians’s ideas about Rejoining.”

            “That was not my intention. I only briefly mentioned the Rejoining in the context of everything else. The paper was more observations and positing questions about the implications of Rejoining or just how reliable those connections already are…”

            “If the wrong people read this Y’zel…”

            “They’d have to have the power to cross realms and orchestrate cataclysmic events the likes of a calamity. I do not think-“

            “It is only a matter of time with your coin researching the matter. No doubt when the knight is well enough to have her brain picked on more solutions. Scholar knows that her little incident will dissuade either of them from pressing forward.”

            “Still. I do not think-“

            “You didn’t think. Retract the paper. Have the Forum lock it away wherever they throw away their other dangerous texts.”

            Y’zel puffed up his cheeks then straightened up, “I’ve done nothing wrong except write about what I’ve observed to be true and made it clear that further information will have to be gathered over time with the help of Scions and the Warriors of Light. It is, at worst, a romantic lens on the situation. I do not advocate for an apocalypse anywhere!”    

            “There is a danger in how it is phrased. Someone is going to find this and use it as an excuse to make bad decisions. Did you not have anyone else take a look at this?

            Y’zel shook his head, “Then that is those are their bad decisions. It was seen fit to publish. If you wish to start a crusade on banning books, go join the Forum cronies!”

            With that, the Miqo’te turned heal, unable to parse what the other was saying in response as he slammed the door behind him. Tossing the book into his study, he moved on to find something to eat and wash up before his return to Zoissette’s side.

Meanwhile, In Sharlayan

A few days later...

[pikespendragon67]

Eh, I feel bored so I wanted to share some of my current creative ideas that I’m currently too burnt out to really work on:

First is for an original series that might be called Isolationists Club or maybe a more poetic name if I really wanna put in the effort. (Probably something with wildflowers? idk) It’s about people that usually isolate themselves for various reasons finally deciding to healthily communicate with one another. So far I have the sort of club advisor as a marriage counselor that wants to delve more into individual therapy (and is notorious for actually causing more divorces since he sees how terrifying his clients’ relationships can be) and a woman that isolates herself from bullying trauma that still lingers well into her adult years. (I wanna say she’s in her mid to late 30s or maybe 40s?) I’m gonna lean into more of the emotional trauma side for why people isolate themselves rather than general fear of being outside & such.

Next is some refinement for Octopath 3 OCs! This time with pictures from this Picrew. All of them will have musical names and music will play a big factor into the main motif of the story/final boss hopefully

Octavio the Dancer is a young lad (in his early to mis 20s) that wants to learn as many dance moves as he can, potentially finding a partner or instructor to help him do so. His ability to try to recruit others is him offering a dance, BUT! It comes at the cost of potentially fighting an NPC for that person’s hand. If Octavio loses, reputation goes down. If he wins, he can potentially summon both the original & provoked NPC into battle

Cress the Thief comes from a long line of gentleman/lady thieves, and she basically keeps the Robin Hood principle while still being able to do dirty work. Her uncle is trying to get her cousin to do more nefarious assassinations, so she’s trying to keep the family’s reputation safe. I’d say she’s 19? Also! She can sell the stuff she steals to the black market that the Merchant I’ll introduce later helps run.

Tacet’s a Hunter whose village is trying to find its new Chief. Anyone from the village that’s eligible has to go through 3 trials to prove themselves. His childhood friend’s way more competitive & hot headed about this. I’d say he’s 17.

Don’t have an O or secondary T yet, but I’ll have a placeholder for the time being

If I were to keep his original name, this would be Oliver, but I wanna keep the musical terms alive. He’s like my old OC from an original series I had, which was people with powers just living their daily lives. He’ll be the Apothecary for this, where he can actually control plants. He can concoct using ingredients he creates, but it takes a lot of energy from him. He’s 35

Picardy’s the Warrior of the group, but she’s definitely more of a mercenary than anything. Her former sworn oath partner has passed away, so she wants to fulfill his final wishes for him. I’d say she’s 37-46, depending on how I feel.

Alto’s the Scholar of the group. She may or may not be involved in starting the events for the final boss (still working on that). Like how Cyrus discovered a Philosophers Stone and Osvald had that whole thing™️ in chapter 3, Alto’s also going to have her own Fullmetal Alchemist moment! This time, I think she’s a mix of Van Hohenheim & Dr. Markel. YIPPEE!!! (Also this Picrew didn’t really let me do anything but she has streaks of white in her hair). Potentially immortal or thousands of years old, but physically is 29.

I sadly don’t have an idea for the Cleric yet, so I would like some assistance here, please. Only thing I can think of is something like. Nacho Libre? Eh.

And finally, we have Harmony the Merchant! She’s a clock engineer that’s trying to inspire her family to inherit the clock shop she works at so that she can retire easily. She’s the oldest at like 60-70. And yeah! She helps in a black market of sorts since she knows how hard it can be for people to get needed resources like medicine/engineering parts

[subzeroparade]

Hey hey I just read through Litanies, which was bloody phenomenal by the by, and had a lore ask I was wondering about. Since in your headcanon the Healing Church begins to introduce blood healing after the events of the fishing hamlet, thus inducing all the fun blood shenaniganery in Yharnam such would entail, would you then theorise that Cainhurst would only have gotten their 'cursed' blood after the fact? Or would it be a case of a rogue prospector making off with forbidden blood in the early days of Byrgenwerth? I'm only speculating, largely due to the description of the Rakuyo implying that the use of blood weapons within Cainhurst predates Maria, alongside the fact that if we take her boss fight to be Maria "in her prime," inferring that she was also trained in utilising her blood. I'm genuinely curious as to your thoughts on the matter, as I'm currently rethinking my own interpretations and thoughts on the lore of Bloodborne due to both your fic and posts here!

Thank you, glad you enjoyed Litanies! I had a great time writing it. 

Tbh this is something I’m thinking about now because I’m writing a Healing Church-era work that touches on the Executioner’s attack on Cainhurst, so in all likelihood this will eventually make its way into a fic. The thing with my writing - which affects my interpretation of lore - is this: I don’t get stuck on particular footnotes or sometimes contradictory points if I want to tell a story. I don’t actively try to break canon, but I always prioritise storytelling over lore. I do my homework, but the last thing I want is for my storytelling to unravel into some kind of gratuitous lore dump without any kind of compelling interpretation, or risk letting the minutiae of lore dictate how well I can weave a narrative (I am also a trained historian, so I can say that some of the hyperspecific lore interpretations I’ve heard make me both laugh and cringe, so I’d rather let actual human history guide some of my lore interpretations, rather than the description of one item. But that’s just me).  

For Cainhurst specifically, I am sticking with the idea that the so-called massacre ordered by the Healing Church and carried out by the Executioners happens early in Church history, as a result of the blood ~somehow~ making its way there (via a Byrgenwerth scholar if you are so inclined to take the game at face value, but unreliable sources are one of the fun parts of historical analysis). But that animosity towards Cainhurst is longstanding - as in, 1000-year++ English/French style skirmishing (my interpretation of Cainhurst is heavily inspired by the Norman Conquest). 

So for my own narrative purposes, Cainhurst acquires the blood early in the Church timeline (post Fishing Hamlet). But the hatred of Cainhurst folk, the vileness of their blood, so to speak, is a longstanding sentiment of Yharnamites - for outsiders, and especially for a once-powerful nation like Cainhurst who may claim Pthumerian ancestry (and thus potent blood in the eyes of the Great Ones) and have always been a threat to Yharnam’s independence. Vileblood here is just another way for Yharnamites to be aggressively xenophobic to outsiders (in the same way that Central/Northern Europeans, for example, have longstanding hatred of Southern Europeans trying to establish themselves in their countries, and see them as lesser or a threat). The thing that sets off the actual massacre is Cainhurst’s acquisition of the Healing Blood, thus justifying the Church’s holy war/crusade (led by Logarius and the Executioners, who we know are religious fanatics). 

Don’t know if that answered your question, but again, I’m pretty liberal with my interpretations and I’m more interested in the Healing Church’s hold on Yharnamite society, their religious propaganda, and how their political need for a scapegoat (some kind of Other) to blame is what eventually tipped the scales into modern open conflict with Cainhurst. Because this is literally out of a history textbook.  TLDR thanks for your patronage, here is an old Maria sketch -

[hiscleric]

Blythe I have many questions istg because I love this fic, it’s one of my favourites and we’re only two chapters in 😭

1. Is El a Mage?

2. Do the rest of the party members (I mean Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Max) have the attributes of their DnD positions; for example, Lucas is a ranger which I believe has a skill for archery, and the house Sinclair are full of great archers!

3. Now this is one I don’t see often, but is there gonna be Will and Holly meetings because whenever I read a fic where Will looks after Holly with Mike or something, it’s always so funny and sweet!

4. What are the actual ages of the characters? I might have missed it but I don’t remember Mike having an age before he said “ten years later” when he went back within his memories

5. How do you PLAN your stories? Because they are all so good and I just wonder how it works behind the screens!

6. Will we see Max in the next few chapters?

7. Is being a scholar something Mike still wants to accomplish? Will that be apart of his internal conflict?

8. THIS IS THE LAST ONE (I think, I’m sorry I’m just so invested 😭) with the visions you describe in the story, how are they, like, done? Is it like, glazed eyes or is it a little seizure (hope that isn’t an offensive term to call it 😅) and do they only come across certain people such as Clerics, kings, heirs etc?

i had to pull out my laptop to answer this one, and believe me, i am SO excited to do so.

1.el is a mage!! getting a bit deep into lore bits here, el wound up on hopper's doorstep when she was around five, and was already showing signs of magic posession (in this world, magic is an inherited trait; some are born with it, some aren't, some families have higher potential of magic passing on while others almost never see it). hopper, interestingly enough, comes from a noble family sworn to house henderson. his family has a strong history of becoming learned healers and dabbling in that sort of magic, and growing up in this environment allowed him to pass on his knowledge to el, and, as we will see in will chapters to come, will as well. so yeah, the wonder twins have cool powers!!

2. yeah, they do! while lucas is a knight and can swing a sword pretty well, he always carries around a bow with him, too. the sinclairs are a house known for their wisdom in battle strategy and they often end up training the best soldiers in the kingdom, so lucas is a great example of these house sinclair traits. he can handle pretty much anything that comes his way with a clear head, unlike dustin, as we will see in chapter two when they encounter the cursecaster. dustin definitely has bard like traits; he would be the one to tell stories and sing songs on a long expedition like the one they are on now. max, on the other hand, may have some traits of her dnd character (i don't even know if zoomer is a real class but whatever). max is the commander of the king's guard, basically the big boss of all of the knights of hawks nest, and she is known as 'the sun's knight.' i guess she is pretty fast on horseback, so... i suppose she can be considered similar to her dnd counterpart!

3. will and holly will certainly have a meeting when he is still disguised. mike eventually grows smitten with the cleric, and introduces him formally to his family, so there will be a will and holly meeting at one point!

4. in the current timeline, the characters are all 20. when mike was in his flashback sequence, they were was 10; will has been missing for 10 years. nancy is 13 in the flashbacks, and 23 now, same with jonathan. mike became a knight when he was 15, and has been a knight for 5 years when the story picks up!

5. when it comes to planning, i'm not the best actually?? i kind of just think up the ideas in my head and ... remember them. like, this is my first time truly writing any of this down, because honestly it mostly just exists in my brain lol. that's all there is to it.

6. yes!! max makes an appearance at the very end of the upcoming chapter 2 when our cast finally returns to king's crest. she has a very important and vital role in the story.

7. YES!!! mike's dream since he was little was to be a scholar, and we saw that get tragically ripped away from him in chapter one, and in chapter two, we see an event happen that truly seals the deal. he had no desire to be a lord, and he certainly had no desire to be a knight; however, being from house wheeler, when he has become loyal to someone, it is difficult for him to turn away from those oaths/vows, a main issue for his character coming up in the future chapters.

8. visions are a tricky thing to describe when you are outside of the pov of the character experiencing them. in the prologue, with wilmot the wise, we see him get visited by ienta herself to provide him with the prophecy we see later on. i'd imagine that to the outside viewer, wilmot would simply be staring off into space with glazed eyes, and any sort of interruption or shaking would not be enough to wake him. will experiences visions the same way.

this was SOOOOO much fun. as you know, i love answering questions, so this really made my day. sorry if i wrote to much lol. thank you for taking the time to do this. :3