#shoh posting

[bigmeandragonlady]

someone: i can't believe that rake Chase seduced the hero of haven!

Aelyn, who was trying to get in his pants pretty much from the get-go:

[bigmeandragonlady]

idk if you're looking for thoughts or w/e, so feel free to ignore, but my 2 cents is that Shepherds of Haven falls pretty squarely in an M/MA. it might be b/c i think of it more on a visual scale and written word is... different?

There's both full frontal nudity (see: printhe) and swearing, the swearing alone qualifies it for a mature rating

Gore is hard to rate, particularly in written work (i'm looking at you animorphs) and ive also seen heads get slapped off in teen rated shows so idk

anyway, despite my personal thoughts, i think you can get away with a T rating of shoh as a written work. but if you think about it if it was ever a visual adaptation (which i find really helpful in figuring out ratings) it would be rated Mature. i definitely would not put it in PG-13 either way.

Related to this post!

[oderu]

shoh dump part 1

[aylaaescar]

thinking about her today (Shery Acquell)

[kris-mage-fics]

Wintersun

A short Shepherds of Haven fic that takes place on Wintersun. Some vague spoilers for Chapter 4 and Blade's 5th day off in the Alpha build. Also there's a reference to this bit of a fic I haven't finished, but it's not necessary to understand what's going on.

| Ao3 | rated G | 628 words | Blade/Kyrahlise | under the cut for very light spoilers mentioned above |

"Happy Wintersun," Kyrahlise said as she handed Blade a slim package not much larger than her hand. Neither of them acknowledged the momentary brush of their fingertips.

The gift was neatly wrapped in paper she'd painted with winter berries and small swirls of gold. All tied off with a thin green ribbon salvaged from one of her old dresses. The design was overly flashy for his taste, but she had been too focused on making it pretty and was short on time to repaint something more austere.

Blade raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. "You didn't need to," he said, yet she could've sworn his face softened as his eyes traced the designs on the paper.

Kyrah smiled having anticipated he'd say something along those lines. "I'm aware. But I wanted to and thought you might enjoy it."

He looked up from the gift to meet her eyes. "Did you paint this?" Of course he remembered she painted. While in The Reach he'd fussed at her plenty to not paint outside. He trusted her judgment enough to promote her to Captain after a month, yet the cold was somehow too much. He made absolutely no sense.

"Yes," she said in a light tone.

"It's nice." Did Blade's compliment make her feel happy in a way it probably shouldn't? Yes. But she'd take that to her grave before admitting it to anyone.

"Thank you, though I hope you like what's inside more."

Blade's eyes went back to the present he held delicately. She ignored the strange little feeling in her chest when he untied the ribbon and slipped it into a pocket before carefully unfolding the paper. Underneath was a small book of poetry. "You remembered, thank you."

An unusual wave of nerves washed over Kyrahlise. What if he'd read this collection before and hated it? Well, there was no use worrying about it now that the book was in his hands. "Yes, by one of my favorite contemporary poets. Are you familiar with her work?"

"I'm not."

Her smile was tinted with relief. "I hope you find her poetry to your taste."

There was a upward tilt to his lips as he nodded. Kyrah gathered he was thanking her again, but reading his subtle expressions was like cracking a code.

Not that she needed to decipher anything to understand Blade's kindness. He'd always been considerate and respectful towards her. A sharp contrast to how many Norms treated her after she left the Circle. Like when he'd been livid because of what happened in that damned cave, it had filled her with so much warmth. She'd almost forgotten what it was like to have anyone care about her well-being. It was the catalyst for certain feelings towards him being stirred up. Feelings she accepted existed then politely ignored.

Though a recent incident in his room made her question if Blade was really as indifferent to her as he so often appeared.

When Kyrahlise glanced back up at Blade, his eyes were so gentle as they met hers it brought an instinctive smile to her lips. The first time he looked at her like that was when she learned black was the warmest color of all. The way his gaze slowly traced over her face almost felt like a sweet caress that seemed to stop briefly at her lips. But she was likely imagining things again.

A slight frown passed over his face as his free hand twitched, then clenched against his side. He looked at her another moment, gave a hint of a nod and another quick 'thank you' before turning and walking away. When he was out of earshot she sighed. Maybe one day she'd figure out what was really going on inside that inscrutable head of his.

[jae-draws]

can i say something—

[mandoart]

its her! my mc again lol

[hawtastic]

Some outfits I designed for Altair

How much questionable attire can a woman wear before getting fired from her job?

(Was originally going to put this in her character lore post but didn't know where to put it, so separate post it is). I enjoyed drawing her "fancy" outfits the most— who doesn't love a lady in a suit or pretty dress?

[ollietime]

Hilde Erkan, one of my OCs (from @shepherds-of-haven’s game) fresh off a battle! Can you guess what her heritage is?

About the drawing:

In my head, Ket features are a broad, flat nose, a strong jawline, deepset eyes, and a square face. So I tried to give her all of those features! Hilde means battle-ready or battle-woman and can be lengthened to Hildegarde, but I liked the more blunt feeling of Hilde. Erkan is from the Turkish Er (brave man) and Kan (blood) and I feel is a fitting Ket last name! Hilde is looking very intense here: maybe you’re the last demon she has to kill or something, but it’s clear you’ve pissed her off. Tried my best to get that spooky raccoon glow I’m sure the iialdrin (is that how you spell it?) gives off in the dark! This is a quick drawing but I’m very happy with how I captured her!

About Hilde:

Hilde is a Ket-raised self-taught Shifter (Historically I’ve gone for Enchanter or Wild Mage, but I’m having fun playing her! I’m really falling in love with the Arcane branch :D) who’s romancing Ayla! Her closest friends among the Shepherds are Blade (Ket solidarity), Chase (he makes her laugh), Halek (she just likes the guy), and Lavinet (Hilde thinks she’s cool, and really appreciates the different perspective on missions). She’s close with everyone, but that’s who she would say she’s closest with if asked! Her highest skills are silver tongue and bright mind. Hilde’s personality is a little weird: she’s got a bit of that classic Ket stoniness about her, but only if she’s comfortable enough around you (or cares little enough) to drop her upbeat and friendly facade, if that makes sense? Like…. a customer service persona? But that’s just for like acquaintances and missions. If she knows you she drops that and lets her unexpressive side shine through! Otherwise she’s down to earth and practical, but not overly so. She’s chill, even if she looks intimidating (which she does despite being short). She’s got a good heart and a strong sense of justice. Her biggest character flaw is her tendency to take the easy way out or the path of least resistance: even though she’s got a strong sense of morality, her practicality and survival instincts win. Whenever she gives up like that she’s sick with herself for months or years afterward, not only because she’s crossed her moral lines, but because she feels she’s betrayed her “mythas” or her culture, like she’s abandoning it by not being strong enough to fight for her beliefs. Hilde gets very passionate about nerd stuff things she’s interested in, so she has a great time talking to Red and Riel! I think she’d definitely be into DnD, but alas, she lives in the SHoH universe. Her hobby is painting and she loves cartography (whether for real places or for books she’s read) which is why she interested in Ayla initially! Another anecdote is she has some complex feelings about her name. One part of her loves the simplicity and the connection to her culture, but the other part gets a bit insecure when she’s introduced next to Lavinet or someone, like she’s worried she sounds like she’s some farmer or something. And then she gets mad at herself because she is some farmer or something. Fun stuff!

[pirunika]

its so funny how Trouble offers to carry the mc across river platonically if your stat is high enough I just imagine him running FAST and pushing past Blade like MOVE BITCH n he gets -10 romance flags svxfdcxvfghgc its YOUR FAULT 😭

[lavampira]

still taking and working on these botanical-themed asks if anyone wants to send some more 🫶

[bigmeandragonlady]

an MC who's been without their hometown longer then they've been with it realizing they can't remember their parent's faces or anyone else from their village. it's all just impressions and general ideas. the layout has gotten fuzzy in their head

distressed b/c who else will remember them? don't they owe it to them b/c they're responsible for the village being gone in the first place?

[thelionheartedo3]

Rinn, drop the volleyball yaoi fic links! I want to read them (please and thank you! 😊)

anon. nonnie. I'm kissing you tenderly on the forehead as I say this.

no you do not.

[snowthornes]

"Are you alright?" the golden-haired Norm asked, a note of concern entering his voice. "You look like you just swallowed something awful." Thorne felt his smile freeze on his face. Slowly, under the gazes of the three Shepherds — Hael, of course they'd be Shepherds — he nodded, still smiling. "Yes, I'm doing wonderfully. My apologies — I think I had something in my throat." Thorne had never planned on joining the Shepherds.

(UNDER HEAVY REWRITES)

1 ✦ Demons. Awful for Business.

“Do you believe in free will?”

The question echoed in Thorne’s ears long after the red-haired man with the wide-brimmed hat had left, flicking a coin into his empty cup before he made his exit with a dramatic finality. He stared idly at the solitary cup, sitting only a table away — turning the previous conversation over and over in his head.

It was an intriguing question, he thought, settling back into his seat. His hand absently came up to finger the gleaming silver necklaces looped around his neck. Free will. Did he believe in free will? He had played along with Croelle, (Omens, his mind whispered, warnings and legends and gods), curious to see where the other man was going with his random approach of a stranger, but — he wasn’t sure. 

All he knew was this: as a Diminished stray who had had to survive by himself since his Wreath Day, free will had never been his to contemplate. He had laughed, and charmed, and manipulated, and slaughtered — all under the looming banner of survival. 

Could the sort of life he had led be the kind that had anything to do with “free will”?

He didn’t know. 

Still, the thought that everything in his life was predetermined… to put it nicely, it set him ill at ease. To put it bluntly, it pissed him off.

Faith was a shadow that he had turned his back on long ago. Whatever ‘path’ this so-called One-God had allegedly set out for him, Thorne had no interest in walking it. Just the thought left an acrid taste in his mouth. If not believing in free will meant believing in the One-God’s will, then, fine — he believed in free will.

And with his free will, Thorne had come to Haven with one mission: to find employment.

Not very glorious, but one does what one must. And what Thorne must do was find some sort of employment that involved more than wandering around the continent and picking up whatever jobs the day saw fit to throw his way — jobs of which were always a toss-up between the mundane and bizarre.

(He couldn’t count the amount of lost pets he’d had to find over the years. Once, he’d had to track down a family’s beloved pet pig after it fled deep into a forest. Needless to say, while he'd managed to rescue it, the massive wild cat that had also been tracking said pig hadn’t been very happy.)

READ MORE ON AO3 HERE

Note: If you can't open the link and you get the 'typo in href.li.' error, just delete https://href.li/? from the link in your browser and press enter :D

Hello! Thank you very much for opening my fic :D This won't be a chapter by chapter retelling of SHOH, but more of a fic about Thorne's own experiences in Blest as himself , not as an OC limited by the (very understandable!!) narrative constraints of the game. There will be scenes that weren't directly addressed in the game like Thorne's initiation to the Shepherds, so there will be quite a lot of headcanon-ing going on! This is very much a passion project and something I'm writing for fun — Thorne Briers and the world of SHOH are both very dear to me, and I couldn't resist the urge any longer. I hope you have as much fun following the story as I do writing it!

This is an unpolished work; I'm still very new to writing. Hopefully I'll be able to improve my craft while writing this fic, and have fun doing it!

DISCLAIMER: The world and characters of "Shepherds of Haven" do not belong to me, but to Lena Nguyen. You can find her on Tumblr under the @ shepherds-of-haven. Thorne Briers is a character of my own creation, and the MC of this fic. Due to narrative reasons, there will be several lines lifted directly from the game (ex. when a canon character speaks). Please let me know if this is a concern!

[aylaaescar]

Ayla 😍💖💗❤🖤😍❤💚💜💙💓💕💖💞💗

[the-teru-archive]

June 4, 2024

兄やんおめでと。