#so I just have that rule carry over to my actual art too

[corrodedparadox]

Teeth?

uhm wait-I think the way you draw teeth is really interesting is there any tips that you can give us?

I use a veterinary model for reference!! It really helps me with getting weird angles and better understanding how the teeth are laid out

[pomefioredove]

My brain is kinda sluggish plus I'm indecisive but also i did like several of these (also if i need to divide up this post let me know)

I have no clue which i like best so i simply made a list but let me know if i need to chunk it up

For Riddle Rosehearts

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." Or "I'm putting you on my to-do list."

For Vil Schoenheit

"Don't bite your lip, I want to do that."

For Ruggie

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel."

vil done here!

summary: "if you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." type of post: short fic characters: riddle additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, maybe ooc, post book 1

You think it's a pretty pathetic sight, but you make no mention of it. Their egos are bruised enough as it is.

"How long?" you ask, sitting across from the shackled duo.

Ace knocks against the solid collar around his neck. "Not long... But we can't present like this,"

You were hoping he wouldn't say that.

And just a day after you told them not to do anything stupid this week, too...

Deuce says nothing; he's been sulking at the end of the table like a puppy with its tail between its legs for the entire lunch period.

"Have you tried reasoning?" you ask. "Maybe he can take them off for the presentation, then put them back on?"

Ace scoffs. "Reason? With Riddle?"

"I thought he was trying to be more lenient?"

"He is," Deuce mutters, hanging his head. "But that just means he only dishes out punishments when someone really deserves it..."

"It was just a stupid painting!" Ace says.

"That we set on fire!"

You look between the two as they bicker over the accident, bewildered by their lack of concern about where this puts you.

Ace and Deuce were supposed to perform the magical component of your defense project, while you and Grim presented. Now...?

You stand. "I'll talk to Riddle,"

Your friends share a pitiful look, but do nothing to stop you as you hurry out of the room.

Surely, Riddle will understand. He wouldn't let you suffer from Ace and Deuce's mistake!

"No," he says.

"But-"

Riddle beheads the wilting flower of a rose with a sharp snap of his shears. It tumbles into the underbrush.

"They destroyed a priceless piece of art. It was hundreds of years old!" he snaps, leaving no room for disagreement. "They should be thankful it's only a week."

He moves on to the next browning rose, inspecting its petals before decapitating it, too.

"But I didn't do anything. I told them not to do anything dumb, I tried to reason with them,"

"Reason? With Ace and Deuce?" he scoffs.

"I would recommend asking for an extension on your assignment until they've carried out their sentence,"

It's too late to ask for another week; he must know that. And you're not giving up so easily.

There must be something you can say...

"But it was an accident,"

Riddle scoffs. "Of course it was. And the rules clearly state that accidental arson of a painting more than three hundred years old must be punished by losing their heads,"

Rules. Great. This is quickly becoming a lost cause.

"There has to be some other way they can be punished," you say. "You said you weren't going to lose your head about these things anymore."

He sighs, rolling his eyes as if frustrated with you. "The rules-"

"Come on, Riddle- If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun!"

Riddle stops. For a moment, it's almost like... he's actually considering your offer.

"...What exactly did you have in mind?"

-

"This is what you call a compromise?!"

Ace's head of fiery hair pops up, the color a striking contrast against the green of the hedge maze.

You shrug. Riddle, sitting across from you as you watch the two tend to the shrubbery, almost giggles.

"The Prefect has been more than fair. If anything, you should be thanking them for the opportunity to end your punishment early," he says, pouring you another cup of tea.

Ace grumbles, scratching his neck under his collar.

Deuce nudges him, and the two get back to work on trimming the hedges, a puny pair of shears in each hand.

Riddle smiles. "I must say, I'm rather impressed by your persuasion skills. It's not often that I change the terms of a punishment after it's dealt,"

"Well, I didn't want to fail on their account,"

"I heard that!" Ace yells. Riddle grins again.

"Perhaps your ingenuity will inspire them, then," he hums, cupping his tea in his palms.

"In the meantime, I believe another tea party is in order for tomorrow afternoon- they have a lot of ground to cover. Care to join?"

[machveil]

You should totally do like a how to draw Konig tutorial for one of ur daily sketches

Chibi or not

But u should totally do it

I neeeeeeeeed ur process

-🦥

notes below the cut - additional notes can be found in this post where I give art tips from my experience

daily König sketch with bonus content♥️‼️post is a little late but it’s due to the info dump below haha, anyways, he’s a little nervous

hi!! thanks for requesting a little “my process” thing - super happy to do one<3

I’ll be using these pieces of him that I’ve done to go over my notes - this is just how I go about drawing him. I’d definitely recommend also going through this post linked above too for additional info because a lot of it carries over!

I think the most important thing for me when drawing König is spacing out his hood ratios. I always start out by just drawing where his eyes and eyebrows are, then I draw the cut-outs around them. after that, I start the stitched neckline - that’s usually an eye hole’s width above his actual eyes, it gives a good allusion to where his forehead would be

they aren’t hard and fast rules I follow, more like a silent guideline that can be meddled with depending on the drawing. I usually follow them because, to me, it looks the best with how I draw him. it’s flexible - same with the sleeves, sometimes they end below his eye cut-outs, sometimes I cut them short and they’re higher

I thought I’d do a step-by-step for the hood folds because just info dumping all at once sounded confusing in my head

I start by just drawing lines down from the corners of his eye cut-outs, then I loosely draw a slanted line to show some bunching of the fabric. the slanted line is usually around where his collarbone would be

best way I can describe figure 2 is drawing folds in a ‘U’ shape. the fabric is falling from his head and ‘pooling’. the ‘U’ shape adds a little depth

miscellaneous little folds around the hem. they follow the way his hood rests, slanting downwards towards the center

if anything, just study how fabric falls and bunches up! a lot of drawing is looking at reference material to figure the ‘why’s and ‘what’s - “why do the folds bunch in certain areas?”, “why is fabric gathering in that area”, “what’s causing the fabric to move like that”, etc

lastly is his body, and as we know, I’m allergic to drawing clothing (read “lazy”). I actually really recommend looking at the post I linked above for this because, in the last figure, I show the Pinterest reference of the man who inspired my König’s body shape (and went into depth on using references)

for arms, in figure 1 and 2, you’ll see me draw an oval inside the bicep and forearm - those are just to add the allusion to muscle mass. if I don’t draw those ovals, to me, it looks a little flat. in figure 3 I go over his waistline because of course I do

I always account for a prominent rib cage line because I personally like drawing a more pronounced rib cage in general. after the ribcage, there’s a slight indent at the waist before it flares back out - that ‘flare out’ is the line for the Adonis belt. again, just personal preference, but I enjoy making the curves a little dramatic so they’re more pronounced and visually appealing to me

I don’t know how helpful that was but I hope I got some information across - uuh, even though I don’t draw his tactical gear and uniform that often the advice I can give is to just look at his model haha. the only gear that gives me a headache is his helmet, but even then I just bs my way through it

for chibi König I just shrink all his proportions and draw a stupid little t-shirt for his head<3 he doesn’t need to think, he’s just a cute little fella. I draw chibi König the way I would draw a puppy, make him look cute without a thought behind those eyes

for additional reference material here’s the link for my Pinterest - I have an absurd amount of reference material for you to browse through

hopefully this was slightly helpful?? I don’t know, as long as you get something out of this I’m happy

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Deuce Spade - Platinum Jacket Vignette

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Deuce: This museum really has a ton of paintings. Not that I really know how to act in quiet places like this…

Deuce: Oh, but I can't use that as an excuse. I'll have to be a good supporter for the museum, just like any honor student would!

???: Is this dome… a teapot cover? Why would the Card Soldiers be carrying tea?

Deuce: Huh, you don't know, Sebek? Cool, then I'll tell you about it.

Deuce: This painting shows a scene of a trial from one of the Queen of Hearts' legends…

Deuce: And those Card Soldiers aren't actually carrying tea, but a witness for the case: a tiny mouse!

Sebek: Hmph, what's with that smug look? Well, fine, never thought there'd be a day that you'd have something to teach me, I suppose.

Deuce: Heheh. I'm a supporter for the museum, so it makes sense that I can explain something like that.

Deuce: Since I'm a student of Heartslabyul, I made sure to study extra hard all the tales related to the Queen of Hearts or her Card Soldiers.

Sebek: Is that so? Still, did it require two of them to transport a single small mouse?

Deuce: According to the story, it was a crucial witness, so they wanted to make sure it got to the Queen safely.

Deuce: Ah, that reminds me… We had something similar to this painting go down at Heartslabyul just the other day.

Deuce: Though, it wasn't a witness that was getting brought in…

Sebek: What, was there some lout breaking the Queen of Hearts' laws?

Deuce: Yeah. There was this one student who'd been breaking the rules over and over again, and he was finally being brought before Rosehearts-ryōchō for a stern reprimand…

Deuce: When the two guys tasked with hauling him in came to bring him to the Housewarden, that rule-breaker ran.

Sebek: Why do you even have people tasked with hauling others in…? You folk in Heartslabyul have far too many strange duties and rules!

Sebek: But that transgressor is also a coward, fearing reprimand and fleeing without taking responsibility for their actions.

Deuce: Right? He made his bed, he's gotta lie in it.

Sebek: Judging by your manner of speech there, am I right to assume that you helped to secure that transgressor?

Deuce: Yeah. I ran after the guy and caught him in a flash.

Deuce: Not like I've been training my legs or working on quick, explosive power in my sprints while in the Track and Field Club for nothing!

Sebek: Oho, so you captured them. And what were those two that were supposed to have brought him in doing?

Deuce: The guys on duty were apparently so shocked when the rule-breaker ran away that they couldn't move quick enough.

Deuce: But once I brought him back to them, they firmly took hold of him on both sides and brought him to the Housewarden, though.

Sebek: I see. So perhaps the reason why it isn't considered overkill to have two people on duty for such a thing is in case something unexpected occurs.

Deuce: Maybe…? I guess so.

Deuce: Ah, but listen to this. After he finished reprimanding the rule-breaker, Rosehearts-ryōchō praised me for a job well done.

Deuce: "Not only did you capture the transgressor without a moment's delay, but you showed good judgement in allowing the students on duty to do their job as assigned," he said!

Sebek: True, normally you'd do something brash like bringing that offending student directly to Riddle-senpai after capturing him.

Sebek: An unusually calm and mature judgement, coming from you.

Deuce: Hey, nothing "unusual" about it! It's not strange that I was able to think that through.

Deuce: Because, I'm on my way to becoming an honor student!

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Sebek: Oh, this painting… It looks as though it's based on the legend that speaking a wish into a well would make it come true.

Deuce: Yeah, so if you make a wish into a well, it sends your voice back out. I remember that well, 'cause I always thought that was odd.

Sebek: It's merely an echo. What is so odd about that?

Deuce: Huh, an echo?

Sebek: You didn't even know that? I'm speaking of the phenomenon in which sound bounces off of water or walls and is reflected back.

Deuce: Huh… Oh, so is that the same sort of thing as when sounds reverberate in a tunnel?

Sebek: That's right, as tunnels are also primed for echoes.

Deuce: Oh, okay… That actually brings back memories.

Deuce: Whenever I'd be riding through long tunnels, I'd put the pedal to the metal and rev it up so loud.

Sebek: You'd rev what? Are you talking about some kind of music?

Deuce: No, no. I'm talking about a blastcycle, not any instruments or whatever.

Deuce: The engine can make different sounds based on the body of the blastcycle, or even from the way it's ridden.

Deuce: It can make heavy thumping sounds, or low, rolling sounds…

Deuce: And it can be really fun to change up my driving style just to hear those different sounds.

Deuce: Whenever I ended up alongside another driver who knew how to make their own engine sing,

Deuce: It was easy to just end up competing to see who could make their engine rev louder.

Sebek: And what is so fun about that? It just seems to be a cacophony of noise, based on what you're saying.

Deuce: YOU DON'T GET IT AT ALL! It's great because I can feel it to my core.

Deuce: And, it feels sooooo amazing to feel the vibration of the engine echoing off the tunnel walls!

Deuce: AND PICKING UP SPEED IS THE BEST PART!

Deuce: The faster I go, the higher the pitch of the engine…the more that sound echoes in the tunnels…

Deuce: By the end of it all, the only sound I can hear is the blastcycle engine… I just can't get enough of that feeling!

Sebek: Shh, Deuce. You're being too loud, lower your voice. You're going to bother everyone else trying to enjoy the silence.

Deuce: Ah, sorry… Actually, kinda feels weird to get told by you of all people to lower my voice.

Sebek: Why is that? I don’t raise my voice like that unnecessarily.

Deuce: Eh… You seriously saying that right now?

Sebek: Obviously. At any rate, I don't really understand what you were saying about those blastcycles, but…

Sebek: You shouldn't cause a ruckus while riding, unlike what you did just now.

Deuce: Well, obviously I try to ride so I don't bother others on the road… At least, now I do…

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Deuce: Oh hey, it's the Lord of the Underworld. I like how brave he looks flying through the sky in this painting.

Deuce: And on top of it all… He's way too cool, rushing to the front lines like that to save his captured comrades!

Sebek: Right. The Lord of the Underworld must have been a truly capable fellow, able to take on even the most difficult missions by himself.

Sebek: One would require proper deliberation and competency to achieve positive results.

Deuce: Urgh… That hits a sore spot…

Sebek: A sore spot…? Ah, you are talking about what happened last week.

Sebek: I remember seeing you, Grim, [Yuu]… and Ace, if I recall. It was while I was heading back from flight class.

Sebek: All four of you were standing like idiots in the hallway, being scolded by Trein-sensei.

Deuce: URGH!!!! You saw that!?

Deuce: I-I didn't plan on it ending with us getting in trouble! It wasn't supposed to end like that…

Sebek: I'm sure it is a ridiculous story… But why not, I'll listen to whatever excuses you come up with.

Deuce: At the start of History of Magic class, Trein-sensei told [Yuu] to read out loud a passage from the textbook.

Deuce: But that page was completely ruined by drool, since Grim fell asleep on it the night before, so it was impossible to read.

Deuce: So, I raised my hand, offering to read it instead.

Sebek: So why did that end up with you all being sent out to the hallway?

Deuce: …I forg… …xtboo…

Sebek: I can't hear you, speak up.

Deuce: I… I'M SAYING I FORGOT THE NECESSARY TEXTBOOK!!!!

Sebek: So you tried to step up, even though you didn't have the textbook… You're a fool who has gone beyond help.

Deuce: Ace was saying something like that, too. Both him and Grim were laughing at me for that.

Deuce: Even though it was really Grim's fault in the first place!!

Deuce: [Yuu] even pointed that out to them, but they wouldn't stop, so…

Deuce: We ended up arguing… Which then got us sent out into the hallway before long to deal with the consequences of our actions.

Sebek: So that's why you were in the hallway. However, I don't understand. Why did you do such an unnecessary thing?

Sebek: Even if Grim or [Yuu] were to be reprimanded, that has nothing to do with you.

Deuce: Nothing to do with me? Come on, there's no way I can let my friends flounder like that.

Deuce: I mean, Grim aside… [Yuu]'s helped me out a ton before, so.

Sebek: Hmph. Then I guess at the very least, next time you should act after you've determined whether you have your textbook or not.

[Sebek walks off]

Deuce: YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!

Deuce: Geez, and he walks off after one last parting shot, huh… Ugh. Guess I'll try to shake off this funk by checking out some of the other exhibits.

Deuce: Oh, this is a painting of a girl singing with flowers. She looks like she's having fun, but according to the story…

Deuce: If I remember correctly, she was described as vulgar, rude, and weedy...

Deuce: Doesn't matter where you are, or who you are, everyone has to follow the rules. Not a shocker to me that those who can't follow 'em end up in sticky situations.

Requested by @farfalla049.

[hoodieschaoticreviews]

Ok I watched the leaked episodes

Let’s start with the positives! I love positives!

- Alex Brightman put his whole Alexussy into this shit oh my god, Pentious and Adam actually sound really good. Adam singing is also really really good. Alex can sing in character and carry things well and I’m glad now he’s part of the project. Because at least it’ll be bearable if I see the other episodes.

-Vox is actually weirdly really compelling? Like I actually ended up enjoying the vibe he’s got and his own voice grew on me, I know it’s not what people wanted but it works well.

-Nifty’s voice is pretty ok, so is Charlie’s. They’re some of the better voices of the cast, Alastor’s performance was uh. It wasn’t bad so there’s that!

-the opening exposition was needed but also a bit hamfisted- wait shit the positives- uh, I love the direction it went? Art wise?

-the songs are pretty good, they get you from point A to point B, and at least wasn’t Poison levels of cringe in writing.

-Charlie actually helping Pentious in episode 2 try to repent and be a better person actually feels nice, like a crumb of what the show should of be-

…

Ok let’s get to the point.

-the episodes clearly are trying to shove as much of the plot as humanly possible, to the point that you get whiplash.

-Angel Dust, Vaggie, Valentino, Husk all have voices that either do not fit, crack from the pressure to perform, or are trying so hard to mimic the previous voice that it’s actually worrying. The Angel dust one in particular I’ll get to when I get to the point.

-The plot starts with the main antagonist, literally telling Charlie that her plan is pointless and she should give up. There’s no actual “I want” song to counter this, unless you count the song where Adam mocks her for trying and tells her the exterminations will happen twice a year now.

-Pentious at least wasn’t a creep like i was fearing in the script, but he comes off too pathetic? Like I know he was pathetic and that’s the point but why the fuck does he want to be equal to the Vees now? Didn’t he want to rule over hell himself? I know the instagram had him crop himself into pictures with the Vees but remember those aren’t canon!

-I realized I was able to hop in because I had Wikipedia level knowledge of these characters to the point they click in my head (and enough to where Alastor, Charlie, Vaggie and Husk all felt a little off but that’s neither here nor there). But god I cannot imagine being a new person trying to jump into this show, this is bad. None of the characters get actually introduced outside of Charlie, the show references the pilot which isn’t part of the show so new audiences have no idea what they’re talking about, and the staff gets actually introduced in episode 2. EPISODE 2, TO PENTIOUS!? GIRLIE POP HAVE HIM COME EPISODE 1 THEN?

-Animation that’s either too floaty, too janky, too stiff or straight up traced. Which I don’t blame the animators for, Mammon was busy buying 10,000 dollars worth of peacocks to bother paying them more than a dollar per frame. There’s no charm here.

-Where did the fucking cat key come from? No I’m serious. Where did it come from? It just kinda exists now.

-Alastor’s commercial is just straight up MEAN and he’s often more mean than chaotic, which I know is ironic since he wasn’t a good person and I wasn’t expecting him to be but it’s to a point where it’s not even fun mean. He literally called Charlie’s endeavor “Daddy issues”. It felt like he was just there to slap Charlie in the face.

-Angel Dust rant is gonna be so long that I saved it for last.

I have to put it under the read more because of talk of SA! Fun!

Ok.

I’m saying this as someone who loved him from the pilot and was willing to excuse his behavior as “flaws he can work on” since Addict and everything else proved that there was more under the surface and he was a character that could change and grow and-

…

…

Angel dust, the rape victim… the guy running away from his abuser…

The Angel dust who has traumatic episodes so fucking graphic that he flashes back to them when he’s performing.

Saying “yeah no, fucking sexually exploit me! It turns me on!”

Viv, I know you’re not reading this but I mean this genuinely.

Fuck you.

As someone who’s family has experienced sexual abuse, as someone who’s family still has CPTSD because men in power decide to exploit them… how fuckin dare you make a character enjoy their own exploitation.

This isn’t me kink shaming a sexual character! He can be sexual and like sex! It’s never been the problem and hell it could of been liberation to have sex he deserves.

But no.

Let’s make the SA victim into the sexual harassment character, let’s make the SA victim the Stolas of the show where he wears down his love interest so thin that they have to give up.

Let’s make the SA victim still work under his shitty abuser, and make that into a joke as the abuser mentions wanting to rape everyone in the hotel.

Don’t pay to watch this show, I mean it.

Pirate it.

Hell don’t even watch it, find something better to watch. I’ve been binging anime as of late and I still like captain lazerhawk.

[falling-star-cygnus]

Heard you’re suffering artblock and want requests so uhhhh—

Alastor helping Lucifer with molting season?

i love you for this, dewflake :0

uhhh, i wrote this and then reread your ask and only just now realized it says art block and not writers block... hope you don't mind?

your pfp tho oml <3

{Alastor sneezes.}

{The feather that had drifted past his nose, tauntingly red, marks for the third occasion he's had to bat one of those blasted things away. Once he could dismiss as an accident, two an unfortunate coincidence, but three?}

{Why, it was practically a challenge!}

{Though... admittedly a messy one. Not to mention sloppy. You didn't see Alastor leaving the velvet from his antlers everywhere, now did you?}

{...that wasn't a bad idea actually. Not everywhere, of course, the Radio Demon had class. But maybe a hearty covering over a certain king of hell's pillow would be enough of a deterrent.}

{Why was Lucifer leaving his feathers everywhere? It was hardly his usual go-to for irritating the deer demon. Before he could dwell too long, however, a familiar chipper voice breaks into his thought process.}

"Oh! Alastor!"

{Charlie, he notes. She's carrying a stack of boxes that's leaning just a little too far forward for comfort and Alastor can't help but use his microphone to tilt them back into her hands properly.}

{Purely so it wouldn't fall on him, of course. Not because he didn't want the princess to hurt herself. That would've made excellent entertainment if he was standing maybe a foot to the left. That's what he'll tell anyone that asks. Until it's true}

"Ack- thanks, Al!" "No problem at all, my dear Charlie. May I ask why you're carrying such a heavy load? With no help for that matter."

{Alastor would've thought her little girlfriend would've leapt at the chance to help. Especially considering he could tell she still carried the guilt of keeping what she truly was a secret.}

"It's no worries! Juuust busy somethings around in storage. Oh, oh! Actually- do you mind checking on my dad?"

{The Radio Demon tilts his head to the side, wondering why in high hell the darling princess thought that that was a good idea. He goes to say as much when-}

"Please, Al? For me?"

{He chokes on static. Somehow, Charlie had managed to peek over her stack of luggage and flash the most horrendous pair of puppy dog- ugh dogs- pair of doe eyes at him}

{It's shameful how fast it works.}

"...obey the five-foot rule." "Yay! Oh, I could hug you right now!" "Do not."

{Charlie giggles, hefting her haul back into the crook of her arm with a nod}

"I would go myself, but this could be a good bonding opportunity for you two! He always gets like this this time of year..." "Oh? And here I thought he was a hermit year round, hahah!"

{Alastor doesn't stick around to see her expression.}

{Unsurprisingly, the feathers become a more and more common occurrence the closer he gets to Lucifer's gaudy apple tower. He'll have to loose Niffty in here sometime soon...}

{The deer half-debates just leaving, the king of hell is more then old enough to take care of himself. But- no, he gave Charlie his word. Not directly, there was nothing making him do this actually. So why does he want to...?}

{Alastor knocks}

"Huh- Uh.. who is it?"

{The door is opening before he can answer.}

"Now, now, your highness, you didn't even let me introduce myself!" "Ughh, what do you want, Alastor?"

{There's something itching at the back of his brain at the sight of Lucifer's unkempt wings. The way the feathers puffed and clumped up in some places, the ceiling high piles of red and white... hm.}

{He invites himself in}

"Wh- hey!" "Our dear Charlie sent me over, of course! Something about your current issue being a yearly problem?"

{It's highly amusing to watch Lucifer waffle around for an answer, starting one sentence just to abandon it for an accusation. It almost makes him laugh as he watches over his shoulder. It's only after a minute of watching that he realizes the king is shirtless.}

{The final piece clicks into place.}

"Oh, I see. You're molting, aren't you?" "How did you-" "I suppose this goes to show even the most powerful of beings have their troubles, hm?" "So you admit I'm stronger then you!"

{Alastor's eye twitches}

"You mean you were doubting it?"

{Lucifer scowls}

{The micro king of hell manages to keep the staring contest going for about 10 seconds before throwing his hands up to viciously scratch at one of wings. The rough movement has the deer cringing and smoothing himself out before Lucifer rounds on him again.}

"Can I help you?" "On the contrary, maybe I can help you."

{His royal shortness barely has time to blink before Alastor is shadow slinking behind him.}

{The Radio Demon shoves at his shoulder until the little king is face down on his bed and ignores whatever noises of protest he manages to make at the sudden treatment.}

"What are you doing- oh. Oh, that feels nice."

{Alastor had sunk his nails into the clump of loose feathers closest to the middle of Lucifer's back and begun to gently scritch at the muscle underneath it; effectively, the feathers ready to fall were taken care of.}

{It feels like hours later of this rinse and dry process before the purring King speaks up}

"You're good at this... you done this for that bartender of yours or something?" "HAH- no."

{The deer contemplates leaving it at that, keeping whatever this calm air is between them going and stable and safe. He's not sure why he doesn't.}

"My ma- my mother used to look after the ducks that came by the pond."

{If Lucifer notices the correction, he doesn't say anything. No, he stays quiet as Alastor dusts his loose feathers into an idle pile.}

"She taught me how to do it." "...she sounds nice."

{The Radio Demon hums, a familiar song drifting through his microphone. He vaguely remembers it as something that would play in the kitchen all those years ago. Hm... didn't his maman say that molting fowl needed more protein? Perhaps then he'll make jambalaya for dinner tonight. Just in case.}

"...she was."

[narfin-frood]

how do you plan the panel layouts for your comics? i always get stuck and it feels cramped or unsatisfying

okay so i went to college for 2 whole semesters and one of the only art classes i took (and definitely the only one i retained much from) was my sequential art & comics class. so i'm gonna try to explain my process in so many words, but there's a LOT of stuff that goes into a successful comic and i'm by no means a professional. i can however throw some tips and tricks and some recommended reading your way (another longpost ahead!)

first, know what you want to do. know where your comic starts and ends. if you find any joy in writing scripts, you can also do that, but i'm not the best at writing with no visual aide so i usually script while i thumbnail, but always make sure you've got a concept and a goal.

next, start thumbnailing. my initial thumbnails usually look like this:

(incidentally, my storyboard thumbnails look a lot like this, too)

there's no real structure, and i'm just noodling my way from the top left of the page to the bottom right. if you've got what you want from your comic in mind, this part can sometimes just pour out of you. i feel a very strong attachment to these characters and the situations i put them in, so that definitely has to do with how smoothly this part goes. draw the panels as small and as detail-free as possible. i usually don't do speech bubbles, and instead treat it like a storyboard, writing my rough script under the panels as i go.

once you're satisfied with the way your story is coming together, THEN you start laying your panels out. this part looks like this when i do it:

(these are actually from a gfalls comic i never cared to finish from like. five months ago but who's counting?)

honestly, it's best to do this as small as you can possibly get it, to really get your head out of the "but i have to fit all the panels exactly as i drew them on the page" funk. remember that, at least if you're writing the comic in english or other languages read in the same direction, that you're trying to lead the reader's eye from top to bottom and left to right. this is really hard to keep track of, and i still make mistakes and flub up the readability all the time. like here:

the panel layout should be reversed here. the panels in the top left and bottom right should be smaller than the other two, so the gutters would actually guide you to read it left to right instead of top to bottom, but laziness and initial drawing blindness struck me and i never fixed it.

once you have a layout that makes sense to you, it's as simple as blowing your thumbnails up to comic-size and going over your very rough sketches with your final clean panels & inks, or, if you're doing it traditionally, re-sketching your page on your big bristol board after doing some measuring to see where your panels should actually be.

there are other rules to keep in mind when you're in the thumbnailing phase of your comic, like the 180-degree rule (something that carries from film to animation to comics to, really, any form of sequential art), which is easiest to explain with a little diagram:

keeping this in mind really helps with readability. you can do a bunch of things with your angles, you can even omit the other character, but keeping them on the side of the frame you establish them on is very helpful. this is mainly for dialogue, but it does also help if you want to display one character walking in one specific direction, or if you want a fight scene to read as well as possible, etc.

and, if you look at your comic sketch now and think, hey, this looks great, this is so clear and easy to read, i highly recommend stepping away for a few hours to look at it again, or, if you're impatient like me, sending it to a friend. you're also totally welcome to send it to me, if you just need someone to tell you whether your comic is easily readable.

to learn more about drawing comics, i recommend two things. one, read some comics. by professionals in the industry, ideally, though there are many many competent and incredibly detailed comics by independent creators out there. people in the industry will (MOST of the time) be held to slightly higher standards of readability than the average independent artist, and the workflow for professional comics involves several people at once reading and reviewing and revising what's made so that it'll be digestible to the average audience.

two, i recommend getting your hands on a copy of "understanding comics" by scott mccloud. love this book. lots of comic artists love this book. it's fun and informative and packed full of tips, while also being a comic, which makes it even more fun to read. mccloud goes into a lot of detail on stuff i didn't mention, from the gutters between panels to lettering to working with other artists and writers and finding an art style that fits the story you want to tell. great stuff. go to the library, check it out. you won't regret it.

[andtheyweresquirrels]

Merlin, season 1

Mind that I remember almost nothing from the other seasons, I used to watch it on cable when I was in elementary/middle school. But here are some highlights because I rewatched it too quickly to have separate thoughts for every episode:

Merlin is in love with Arthur.

That's it, thank you for reading.

I'm joking, but have you seen how he looks at him? He's like Aziraphale looking at Crowley! Maybe worse!

I love everyone's dynamic with each other:

Arthur and Merlin: I think it's pretty obvious I like how they interact with each other, and all I like is there in the narrative. Merlin keeps Arthur's pride in check, he changes him, he protects him in the shadows, and he knows the importance of Arthur's role in the future of the kingdom. Arthur is challenged by how Merlin feels free to speak his mind, the only other person that has probably ever spoken so directly with him is Morgana, and even she has to keep herself in check because she's a woman. It's pretty evident from how they act and from their roles in the story that they complement each other, none of the two can bring Camelot to greatness without the other. Also, I think Arthur is attracted to the (partly just perceived) freedom from responsibility that Merlin has, while Merlin, in some ways, wants the power that royalty has, so their friendship satisfies their impossible desires.

Gaius and Merlin: father and son, great support, perfect balance between letting an almost-grown child do their thing, scolding, worrying and giving advice. I love that the last episode ended (not counting for the hook for season 2) with those two. If I can't have uncle Iroh, I want Gaius to be my cool old uncle. Better yet, I want them both and I want them to go play cards together.

Merlin and Gwen: poor unfortunate Gwen, can't you see he's already in love? But also, they stand for one another and have a great friendship; they understand each other because they're in a similar condition.

Gwen and Morgana: great friendship. It doesn't feel unbalanced like Arthur and Merlin, maybe because the show is not as focused on them, but I often forget that Gwen is Morgana's servant. The only time I felt a difference in power in the episode where Gwen's dad dies, because we see the different approaches between Morgana and Merlin, both hating Uther for condemning Gwen's father, but in the end Merlin treats Gwen as a peer and asks her if Uther should die, while Morgana plots against Uther without consulting Gwen (also tries to break her father free without consulting, which, I gotta say, I understand more, but it's still another instance of going over Gwen's head) but maybe that says more about the future developments of Morgana's character than anything else.

Uther and Arthur: Edipus complex. But for real, their complicated relationship is a big classic for a traumatized father who doesn't share the burden of ruling and wants his son to never make his same mistakes and a son that has to please his father because he is the king. (Ovb, I'm not really taking this seriusly. They're characters, and I'm not a psych-person. Though I am a fan of Psych, the TV show about a guy that fakes being a psychic to solve crimes.) Anyway, the DRAMA they have, I love it. Also, there's a scene in the last episode when Uther takes dying Arthur to his chamber, and while he carries him he falls to his knees, and it looks like La Pietà (Michelangelo's in particular, but also the various representations in art in general), which is, in essence, a mother (a father in this case) crying for the death of her child. Dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Uther and Morgana: father and daughter in a patriarchal society, what else do I need to say? A lot, actually. It's incredibly interesting how their relationship slowly deteriorates, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But also you can see that they care for each other, that Uther's not merely keeping her safe for the promise he made to her father, and though she often goes against his will, he's family. But there's the elephant in the room, she has premonitions and he fears everything related to magic, their bond is probably doomed. Again, I love the promise of drama.

Gaius and Uther: old friends with power imbalance, they clearly represent what Merlin and Arthur should not become. To the viewers, Gaius is the only one that can show us what happened in the past, specifically what Uther did and what happened to make his the way he is. Only when Gaius pushes, the two together help us understand (through the past) the present and the future of Merlin (and Arthur, and Camelot, and magic, if you want to expand).

Arthur and Morgana: I guess the narrative wants me to see them as possible romantic partners, but I can't shake the idea that they work better as siblings. They find common ground by being constricted by Uther's will, they grew up together (at least since Morgana was 10, maybe they knew each other before) and at the start of the season they bicker a lot. I imagine this bickering is to show the audience they actually like each other but they're too proud/afraid to do the first move, but I fear this will turn Morgana's character into a tragic romantic interest. I feel that the "I know you as well as I know myself because we grew up together and sometimes you are infuriating" works better as siblings, but that's just a preference. I have other things to say about them, but I guess it's more about Morgana than their dynamic, so I'll keep it for later.

Other thoughts:

Neither Merlin nor Arthur have an actual canonical hetero-attraction moment* (for now) and I find this both perfect for my plan to prove that Merthur is canon (let me dream for as long as I can) and kinda interesting from a cultural-analysis perspective. We (the general audience) just assume they are straight because that's the norm. Of course there are nuances, because the ship is very popular, but the narrative doesn't want us to perceive them as possibly romantically involved (because as much as I want it, they'll not end up together T.T), yet it doesn't try to distract us from that possibility. Because it doesn't have to, it shouldn't be a possibility, it's actually not one, and it's assumed to be this way. Anywayyyy, my love for Pierre Bourdieu's works is showing, so I better stop talk sociology and go back to the normal kind of sorcery.

The character of Morgana. Wow, it's just wow. Imma make a separate post about her because this is getting too long.

*I don't consider incantations for Arthur, and Merlin reads to me as possibly arospec and/or ace because he so doesn't see Gwen's tentative flirting. (Also, as I so thoroughly established before by just saying that he is, he's in love with Arthur.)

[casualsavant]

20 Questions More

This is a deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks to @TetsujinOtaku88 for the tag. I'm doing this #Supercorp style.

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship / fandom?

I think the Supercorp Fandom is pretty self-perpetuating because the canon needs to be fixed and there's lots of AUs to put them in. Plus there are so many talented people whose art, video edits, and fanfic fuel each other.

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

Following the answer above I think the beauty of Supercorp is that it attracts really talented creators. I love reading @searidings, @jazzfordshire's fix-its and canon-adjacent stuff, @lgbtimelords, @coffeeshib, @mycatismyeditor, and @snowydragonscave just to name a few. They have such a deftness of language and an understanding of the characters that it's hard to stop reading!

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

I really love Sam Arias, Jess, and Alex. I wish I could get a better handle on Kelly because DANSEN forever. I also have a soft spot for Eliza and a deliciously evil liking for Lillian.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

Karamel, Lames, Top Lena, Bottom Kara. To each their own. It's just not my thing.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

Carry around a little notebook to scribble ideas, lines, sometimes whole scenes. Figure out a rough outline / structure / plot. Do unnecessary amounts of research. Open doc file. Plunge into dismay and self-doubt. Watch the show. Get frustrated. Open the doc file. Be filled with despair and self-loathing. Get a blast of inspiration and productivity. Cycle through mental instability, writer's block, and actual writing. Get dragged by Kara and Lena to unanticipated places that derails what I intended to do. Sighing and doing what the muses want. The elation of completion. Struggling with summaries and tags. Posting. Crippling anxiety and running away from AO3. Lather, rinse, repeat.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

The elation of completion. The unnecessary research is fun too.

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

Cherry tree mutations and the structure of yakuza organizations in modern Japan.

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

Different tenses in the same document. Also it's and its.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

Describing Kara's post-PZ night terrors and Lena’s fever dreams in Deliverance. Also the action sequence at the end of that story was so difficult.

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

ALL THE TIME.

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Both of them. After I come to my senses and out of a dead faint because I was meeting them at all. And then I would die of sapphication.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

Oh my usual tags are: light angst, tooth-rotting fluff, friends-to-lovers, Lena needs a hug, Kara gets a hug.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

Talking with other writers!

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

I usually give it some time before I edit so I can have relatively fresh eyes. Spell checking, punctuation, and grammar suggestions help you catch things but NOTHING beats reading it over yourself.

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

Definitely the anxiety!!!

16) How do you define sucess for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

I think it's good to track kudos and I love getting comments. But ultimately I wrote for my enjoyment or for my peace of mind because the idea would not let me go.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character / ship?

Nope but that's not a bad idea. 🤔

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

Wow I'd be thrilled if any of them got art. I am partial to the way @rustingcat draws Sakura blossoms though so maybe Cat for No Wrong Seasons.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

8 total. Finishing "the Arcana", "The Sound of Veracity" (Part 2), Prequel and Smutilogue of "Always With Me, Always With You", Supercorptober 2023 "Art" prompt, SG Mayhem fic, the Telepathy/Empathy fic, the Body Swap fic.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

I posted my first Supercorp story in March 2023 feeling it would be completely lost in this large fandom and having no hope for it. I felt that I was too late. That everything had been done (and done better). I did find readers who liked and some who really loved my work. But mostly I learned to write for myself, which has truly been a gift. Write for yourself. Write what you'd want to see. You'll get better at it over time.

Tagging but no pressure: @fyonahmacnally @nottawriter @chaotic-super @luthordamnvers @fazedlight

[ink-flavored]

Introducing the Antagonists

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents - Reworking the Plot ➡ Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

With the leads out of the way, it’s high time we talk about the shiny new antagonists for Pride & Justice. And yes, that’s antagonists with an “s” because there are two of them! Since the fanfiction version of the story only had the two main characters in it, both of these antagonists are completely created by me. I also don’t have design references for them yet, so feel free to imagine them in your head.

The reason I have two antagonists when I could very easily just have one is based on a few things. For one, I thought it would be fun to have representatives from both Heaven and Hell, like Pride and Justice themselves, and create a neat mirror effect in the narrative. For another, there are multiple conflicts in the story—the conflict of Pride and Justice getting back to Heaven to complete the contract Pride made with that soul in Purgatory, and the conflict between Pride and Justice as they try to navigate their new lives and eventual romance. The dual-antagonists serve both conflicts, one for the over-arching plot that runs through the story, and another for the personal dynamic of their relationship, creating another wedge that they have to climb over to be together. I also wanted to take the opportunity to say that, while Heaven and Christianity deserve critiquing, just because Heaven is bad doesn’t mean that Hell is good. They’re both fundamentally flawed, for different reasons.

With all that said, let’s introduce the new players!

Honesty

I’ve always been really fascinated with the idea of a villain who believes what they’re doing is righteous and good. The kind of antagonist that is doing objectively horrible things from every perspective but their own, who can’t or won’t understand that the things they’re doing “for the greater good” aren’t doing any good at all. That’s the kind of person that Honesty is.

Honesty is, like Justice, an angel that embodies the virtue of her namesake. She is physically incapable of telling a lie, and follows the word of God to a tee. After all, God’s word is the truth of the world. She knows her place—it is to serve Heaven and fight against Hell at any cost. Every angel in Heaven knows their place too, and deviating from it is a non-issue. If you aren’t serving God, specifically if you aren’t carrying out His word to the letter, you aren’t doing your duty as an angel. You deserve retribution and punishment for it. You deserve to be sent to Hell for it. After all, that is God’s word. You can’t refute that because she can never lie.

In her own mind, all she’s doing is keeping things the way they should be. Angels are taught, created for, and trusted to serve God’s will for the good of His children and the world at large. Pride is a speck to her, a lost cause she won’t even bother sympathizing with. He’s already lost. What really makes her mad, what sends her on the crusade that leads to the entire story, is Justice defending him. He’s breaking the laws he promised to serve, defying God for a demon, of all things. She places herself at the head of the mission to bring Justice back under the banner of Heaven, send Pride to his death like he deserves, or bring them both down.

From our perspective, she clearly sucks. Pride dying would have other far-reaching consequences beyond killing a single demon. Killing the innocent person he just happens to be carrying along with him is bad, actually, and Justice pointing that out shouldn’t immediately send him to the same fate. That doesn’t matter to her. They’ve both made themselves enemies of God by defying His word, and now they are her enemies too. And she’s right. They aren’t following the rules. Pride for obvious reasons—he doesn’t care about God’s rules—but Justice really has no excuse here. He’s an angel advocating for keeping a demon alive. No matter the reason, the ends should justify the means for him. But they don’t. He is wrong, and Honesty is going to show him what happens to angels who are wrong.

The point of Honesty being legitimate in her grievance is not to make a point about how being anti-authority and breaking the rules is always awesome (although it is), it’s to show that those rules she’s enforcing—even if she is telling the truth—are flawed. The law is unjust, and following an unjust law makes you unjust, and Justice won’t sit idly by and accept it like he’s supposed to. The problem with that is that he’s lower on the hierarchy than God. Literally everyone is. To Honesty, the law being unjust doesn’t matter. Things in life being unfair doesn’t matter. Innocent people dying—like killing a soul along with the demon ferrying it—happens sometimes in the name of the greater good. Tough shit. God said so, and it’s not your place to have an opinion about the word of God. Do as you’re told.

If you haven’t picked up on it already, Honesty is going to be the main vehicle for which I drive my criticism of American Evangelical Christianity. Evangelicalism, if you’re unfamiliar, (and I’ll be paraphrasing) is the sect of Christianity that reads the Bible literally, as if it is without fault, and is the perfect way to practice your faith—it’s called “biblical literalism.” One of their core tenants is to proselytize everywhere, to everyone, to save their souls for the second-coming, which they also fervently believe will happen. They genuinely, honestly believe they are spreading the good word—the word “evangelical” comes from the Greek word for "good news"—and saving lives. Which is also why, if you’ve noticed, that they preach to anyone regardless of interest or religion, treat any rejection of Christianity as a personal attack, and why they have worked to criminalize abortion, deny the theory of evolution, lambast same-sex marriage, and in general push traditional (read: conservative) thinking when it comes to authority and social practices. Obviously, this is a generalization of a very large sect of a very large religion, but if you’ve been paying even a little bit of attention to American politics over the years, this specific type of Evangelical Christian is going to sound familiar. It’s what I aim to critique in Pride & Justice, and I have no problems stating that Honesty will embody this way of thinking.

Now, I bet some of you are wondering why I made Honesty a woman (specifically a white woman, but I don’t have a design to show you). Surely if my goal is to critique the traditionalist views of the Evangelical Christians, surely a man in a position of authority would be more accurate? While I can see that perspective, I’d argue that God is that man in a position of authority here. Honesty is—like a lot of Evangelicals in real life—simply the “innocent” white woman who uses her relative position of power to crack down on anyone she sees as deviant. People often ignore the ways women perpetuate systems of oppression like patriarchy, because women are oppressed within that system. But a lot of the reason that patriarchy persists is by women passing down patriarchal standards in their homes to their families, in classrooms, and in public places. If you want to go deeper, it’s well documented that white women will use their relative status to perpetuate racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Historically, white women have perpetuated anti-Black racism by falsely accusing Black men and boys of rape to get them arrested, beaten, or killed. For a modern example, look no further than the rise of TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists), a group that is overwhelmingly made up of white Christian women with traditionalist values fighting against their own self-interests, all in the name of perpetuating transphobia. Honesty represents a real demographic that often gets ignored in the fight against inequality.

I’m not sure I’ll portray Honesty as openly bigoted in the story (she’s not a human, angels don’t really have concepts like gender or race), but she is definitely not a fan of Pride or Justice, and finds the idea that they would ever be in a relationship as at best laughable, and at worst a manipulation. It’s against God, after all, for an angel and a demon to collaborate, much less be in love, so therefore if it’s real it must be destroyed, and if it’s false it must be revealed that it was always a fiction—and therefore destroyed. She is going to try a lot of things to try and get Justice to “see the light" once again, turn him against Pride, and follow-through with her promise to smite him like she intended to before they escaped. All of them will fail, though it will not be without a fight.

Beyond the political stuff, I’m excited to weaponize her inability to tell a lie. It’s really going to add a new flavor to the kind of story I’m able to tell with her, and I think it adds a very cool depth. How do you argue against someone who can never tell a lie? How do you show them they’re wrong, even when they’re technically right, and retroactively make their previous statements untrue? What is the truth, how do you measure it? Is the truth an innate state present in the universe because it’s always been there, or is it a matter of personal perspective?

So, that’s Honesty. Get excited to love to hate her!

Lust

[content warning for emotional abuse, mentioned sexual assault]

Our representative of Hell was genuinely a hard one for me. When I had the idea to create a second antagonist, I knew I wanted whoever it was to be a personal antagonist for Pride. He’s the one with the most emotional baggage that he needs to overcome to let himself be in a relationship with Justice, and the demon crawling out of Hell would obviously only be familiar with him, and couldn’t really have a vendetta against both of them (at least, not at first). Making it Lucifer would be a little much—why would the ruler of Hell care about one demon? I puzzled over the remaining six of the seven sins, debating which one Pride was most likely to have a personal history with, good or bad. Ultimately, I landed on Lust as the one that made the most sense, which made things harder if I’m being honest.

Personally, I despise that lust is even a part of the deadly sins at all. I think that the idea of lust—a real and valid human emotion—being something that eternally damns you is ridiculous and complete bullshit. It necessarily demonizes sex and sexuality as sinful, which has paved the way for a lot more dangerous bullshit, and shunts an entire category of human expression and connection into the Bad Person Slot. Further, I absolutely despise how lust is often portrayed in media—the one, single sexy woman in a conga line of generic looking men in business suits, and of course the one fatphobic caricature for gluttony. I knew if I was going to make Lust-the-character a significant part of my story, I was going to need to do some serious work in portraying it to make it palatable to even myself.

The first thing I did was completely erase the concept of chastity as a virtue. I’ve replaced it with the virtue of passion, something I think better reflects lust on the whole, and I didn’t have any plans to include a chastity angel in the story anyway. Next, I am going to include a plain-text, inescapable, definitive defense of sex and sexuality using the existence of an angel of passion in the story. I already planned to do a subtle exposition dump of Heaven and Hell when Justice is feeling homesick, and that would be the perfect time to bring up something like him being friends with Passion. Probably because Pride was implying that Heaven is all stuffy and no fun. Either way, full and rigorous defense of sex is going to happen, just so everyone is clear about what kind of story this is. And finally, redefining what Lust-the-character actually represents.

Lust is sex doll. The form it chose, and how it presents itself in the story, is as a life-size sex doll, with the addition of smoking horns and a tail like Pride. It does not move its mouth to talk, speaking through telepathy. It can barely move on its own, sitting limp or lying flat, moving in only the barest twitches. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Lust uses it/its pronouns. It is quite literally a sex object, something that is purpose built for a single-minded, selfish pleasure. It doesn’t matter if Lust enjoys it or not. That’s not the point. The point is that there is this thing that is here for you, and you can do whatever you want.

That’s the kind of lust considered abhorrent and sinful in this story. The kind where you don’t care about, nor even stop to consider, what your partner(s) think. If your sex is not negotiated between all parties, if it isn’t enthusiastically consensual, if you can’t be bothered to take your partner(s) feelings, wants, desires, and pleasure into account, you’re sinning. At best, this makes you a bad sexual partner, using people as sex toys for the sole purpose of getting you off. At worst, you are a rapist.

There are other things people lust for—lust for power is an obvious one. You want to lord over others, to wield your selfishness maliciously, disregarding if and how you hurt others. Generally, though, my version of lust is not about wanting to have sex and then going directly to Hell. In fact, the idea of thoughts = sin is something I’m also getting rid of in this story, but I’ll get into it another time. My version of lust is about being consumed by single-minded desires, including sex, that push you to treat others as disposable. Lust is an object because that’s how people committing this sin view others—tools to be used, abused, and thrown away when they have what they want.

Speaking of “wanting,” what does Lust want with Pride? What is that personal history I hinted at so many paragraphs ago? Well, you may be shocked to find that it isn’t a very nice one.

Like I mentioned in his post, Pride uses his arrogance as a shield to hide the fact that he desperately needs and wants people to like him. As a byproduct of his turbulent past (being rejected by Heaven, burning alive in a river of fire, etc.), he craves the validation of others to tell him that he’s very good and special and the bestest demon guy ever. He’s insecure, put shortly, and will take anything he can get when it comes to attention and/or affection. Enter Lust, who happened upon Pride at the right time, and basically thought, “Oh boy! A body I can exploit!”

There were no real feelings on either side, so what they had wasn’t necessarily a “relationship,” but they were involved, and it was abusive. Lust picked up on the fact that Pride needed validation and decided to make sure he wouldn’t ever be able to get it from anyone else. It berated him for being clingy, insisted no one else would bother putting up with him, and generally fed into the insecurity he tries to hide by confirming it as true. Agreeing that he’s unworthy of the affection he craves so much of, and actually he’s pathetic for wanting so much of it. Ego damaged, Pride would lash out and disappear for a while, but the creeping sense of loneliness from his insecurity would always return. Convinced that Lust was the only way he would ever get attention, he returned to it again and again.

Breaking him down made Lust feel powerful—it had complete control over Pride. No matter how many times he said this was the last time, it knew he would eventually come crawling back. Whereas Pride needs affection to function, Lust needs a power trip.

Eventually, though, Pride stops showing up. This is upsetting for a while, but then rumors start flying around Hell that Pride busted out of Heaven with an angel. And now they’re… living on Earth together? Lust is outraged by this news, in no small part because if Pride never comes back to Hell, it loses a source of its own security. It might lose its hold over him altogether, and that absolutely will not stand. Throughout the story, Lust shows up to try and convince Pride to give up. That whatever he has with Justice won’t last, that Justice will eventually get bored and/or sick of him, that an angel of all things could never possibly tolerate him, much less love him. Some of the other deadly sins show up too, though less persistently, and with a lot less to lose.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m toying with the idea of Lust enlisting other demons to find Pride for it, and harass him into coming back to Hell. I didn’t have a reason for any of the other deadly sins show up, but this would give them a purpose: annoying Pride—on Lust’s behalf, probably for some sort of bribe—to make sure he doesn’t think he’s all that just because he shacked up with an angel.

Lust’s role in the story is to serve as a representation of Pride’s insecurity, and the abusive relationship he has with himself sometimes. Pride routinely denies himself the ability to be vulnerable based on his ego and believes he won’t be worthy of love if he is vulnerable. Defeating Lust is a metaphor for him overcoming not just his past abuse, but his feelings of insecurity.

In a weird way, I am excited to write Lust. It’s going to be a creepy-horror-movie-haunted-doll type of character, which is a way I don’t think people expect a “lust” character to act, so I’m interested in seeing everyone’s reactions.

Also, an important note! Lust is not going to be the only it/its pronoun user in the story, I am not unaware of how that looks. I’m still creating all the side characters, but since Justice makes a lot of friends on Earth, I am fully planning on populating the most-seen characters with at least one other it/its user.

Anyway! Those are the antagonists of the story! What do you think? I’d love any and all thoughts!

Thanks as always for your support!

— Annika

[obsoleteozymandias]

hi! i saw that your twisted wonderland matchups were open so i would like to request!

basic information:

i am an estp, and my zodiac sign (sun) is libra. i would like to matched up with a male (even though twst only has males what am i talking abt)

personality:

(positive traits) : i am a hard worker and when i set my mind to something i can work insanely hard for it. (but i won’t work to the point that my mental health declines) im a very committed person! i am also very friendly and easy to talk to! i like rules and i will follow them to the best of my ability because i think rules keep people organised so i don’t see much of an issue with them. (and i swear leaving the table 15 minutes after finishing your lunch is what i grew up learning so honestly i think half the heartslabyul rules are just common sense) i am very anti-violence and i strongly believe that violence is not the way to solve issues. i would say i’m quite responsible, i never miss any homework deadlines, and my grades are always “a”. im very cheerful as well and according to my friends and family, my happy energy is contagious!

(negative traits) : i tend to sleep quite a bit, not sure if this counts as a negative trait! i sleep around 9-10 hours because if i don’t i feel so groggy 😭😭 i tend to have insanely high expectations of myself so when i get anything lower than what i expect i will be disappointed and upset with myself. (i would be disappointed if, for example, i got a 89 on the subject im best at) i think i do get carried away easily as well, for example when my skin has a few bumps on them i’ll get really insecure and sad.

physical appearance:

i’m 158cm and i have pretty slim fingers and i’m really thin too. my bmi is underweight but i just can’t gain weight :c (but i still look and appear healthy! so i’m 158cm and 43kg)

likes and dislikes:

(likes) : EGGS!! dogs, pandas, alpacas, and hedgehogs! i enjoy written subjects instead of subjects like art, music, and physical education (all subjects i get lower than an “a” in fr 🫠😔) i LOVE reading books too, its my hobby! (+chocolate)

(dislikes) : FOOD WITH OLIVE OIL (disgusting i hate it) i hate olive oil too!! anything olive oil stay away from me 😭 and mushrooms i HATE HATE HATE mushrooms.

that’s all, thank you!!

Anon I hope you know how much you set yourself up for this one, otherwise I don’t know what to tell you

== Twisted Wonderland ==>

I match you up with…

Riddle Rosehearts

Pre-relationship:

You’re quick to become Riddle’s favorite dorm member, and not just because you respect the rules of the dorm, but also because of your ability to challenge his expectations all while upholding them. 

He is, of course, taken by your diligence and adherence to the rules of the dorm. When you memorize all of them, he’ll admit, he’s quite a bit flustered. Admiring and respceting the rules of the dorm almost feels like you’re showing him the same respect - something his height and attitude rarely affords him outside of school. 

And, of course, you show the utmost respect for Riddle himself, which gives him a confidence boost like nothing else. 

That, and, you actually seem to like him? Few can claim to do both of those, ergo, you two are fast friends. 

He’s also thrilled when he finds out how much you like hedgehogs, and shows the ones around the dorm to you eagerly. He looks so happy and full of enthusiasm that it makes you blush, just a bit. 

Being aware of your own mental health is something he admires. Riddle tends to work himself to the bone, but you’re quick to step in and let him know, sternly, that he needs a break, and that you’ll happily join him for tea or a walk through the garden. 

And somewhere in between those walks and chats over tea, he falls deep and hard for you. 

Confession: 

Riddle meticulously plans out his confession to you, down to the very second he’ll say each and every syllable. It would be cute if he confessed to you using his original plan, but perhaps more so if you caught him sleeping after a long night of working on his plans - which you could clearly see. 

That forces an improtu confession that has him flustered and frazzled and in rare form, but he’s just that much cuter when he stammers out his feelings for you. 

Relationship:

Your relationship is one built on mutual respect and trust. You two both see the other as too good for you at the start, but with a lot of communication and the determination you both possess, negative thoughts are quickly swept aside and replaced with soft kisses. 

You two spend a lot of dates cuddled up next to eacother in the library, reading your own books but slipping into an intellectual conversation every now and then. 

Your high energy and happiness rubs off on him too. When he’s around you, dorm members will attest to him being kinder and more passionate. 

That, and, his face is often red from kisses planted on his cheeks.

You two are a power couple whose relationship is something to aspire to.

[toubledrouble]

Alr there is not nearly enough Camp Jupiter appreciation (seriously, I feel like the only one who would choose it over CHB xd) (I love CHB but yea)

So here I am with Camp Jupiter/Roman demigods headcanons!

For starters I want you all to think about the fact that despite the traditions, those are still chaotic adhd kids/teens raised by literal wolves, thank you very much

While they might not have campfire songs, they do have more choir-ish, organised version. The Romans still liked art and also, there is no proper victory feast without singing, change my mind

Despite the rules and traditions, they still have fun. Think boarding school or even the military, they have fun sometimes too

Punishments for disobeying those rules and traditions are just stuff like extra training, cleaning, etc. because I just want them to have a happy childhood ok?

Cohorts actually create lifelong friendships, these people are each other's family

They (secretly) make fun of the rules and traditions, let's say, like the beginning of DPS

Siblings often just relax and chat in their parent's temple/shrine togheder, it's like when you and your sibling live away from each other but reunite at your mom's house xd

They have dyscalculia because their brains are hardwired for the roman numerals

Lupa's pack is like a family. Strict but loving (please just let the kids be happy)

Most of them still have some wolf-ish traits and behaviours

They have a fun Ides of March celebration where everyone carries their pugio (roman dagger) around the whole day and then they get together in the senate meeting and collectively stab a cake. Caesar's ghost is not very happy about this but he's dead so he can't really do much

They keep the tradition of having nicknames based on the person's character (which the Romans actually did)

They have history, culture, mythology, and latin classes/training/however you wish to refer to it

One of their horses is named Incitatus (you guessed it, after Caligula's favourite horse, which he planned to make a consul but sadly he was assassinated before he got to do it)

I'm not saying they have ea xylospongium, but I am saying it would be hilarious

Apollo kids often learn to play the lyre, lute, etc.

Idk if this is canon but New Rome should be mostly fireproof xdd

[littleracha]

SKZ as CG

This is for the anonymous ask on my other blog! Hope you found this little duckie. Please enjoy!

Also, this is not a guideline for asks! If you want to request any member differently than how I wrote them go ahead! These are just my personal head cannons.

Bang Chan

Main CG name: Daddy

OT8 CG name: Daddy

Nicknames for his little: Little one, Baby, Baby girl/boy, Little Wolf

He is good with all ages of regression

Chan tries to be the responsible caregiver with rules and schedules

but falls for your little puppy eyes every time he sees them

Bedtime? Okay fine 30 more minutes

One piece of candy before dinner okay?

I guess one more round of Mario Kart won't hurt

However, out of all the boys, I feel like he is the most likely to be an actual caregiver

His phone is filled with little videos and pictures of you

When he is on tour he buys you something from each city

Naps on his lap while he works are very common

He has gotten good at producing with one hand because he can't keep the other one off your back. Soothing you also comforts him

Best daddy vibes

Lee Know

Main CG name: Mommy

OT8 CG name: Noona

Nicknames for his little: Kitten/Kitty, Bunny, Tiny, Baby, Little Star

I feel like Minho is better with slightly younger little ones

His CG headspace makes him want to carry you and holds you as much as possible

In his mind, nothing can hurt you if you are in his arms

Loves to tease you to see your little pouty face

Squishes your cheeks and calls you the cutest little baby

Coos and gushes over you constantly

Is the strictest out of the CG but that doesn't make him mean

He just wants what's best for his little one

Has a rewards chart set up on the kitchen fridge

Every time you do something you were told you get to pick out a sticker and put it on

Collect enough Stickers and you get a reward!

But he will never take a sticker off the board for bad behavior.

He may get frustrated at times but is the most understanding that sometimes littles act out.

Calmly tells you what was wrong and walks you through the steps on how you two can correct it next time.

Is a gentle but stern cg.

Changbin

Main CG name: Daddy

OT8 CG name: Dada

Nicknames for his little: Little Rockstar, Kiddo, Little Maniac, Tiny Dwaekki, little dude

I feel like CG Binnie is good with slightly older toddlers and middles

He loves to play games like mario kart, little big planet, animal crossing, and Pokemon with his little ones

He makes everything a competition but always lets you win

Snacks, treats, and sweets are a must with Binnie

But with that comes veggies and proteins too

He loves to treat his little one but he also knows the importance of health

Takes you to the park a lot so you can run around and get exercise

Explains to you that being healthy means you can grow up to be big and strong like he is

Is the champion of getting you to giggle

Makes you have laughing fits so hard the others begin to worry if you are breathing

Cant follow bedtime to save his life

He is the fun and playful caregiver

Hyunjin

Main CG Name: Mommy

OT8 CG name: Mama

Nicknames for his Little: Little Artist, Little Muse, Little Dancer, Sweetie, Darling

Is good with any type of little

He is the creative caregiver.

You two are always covered in paint

Doesn't get mad when you draw on the walls but helps you move the creativity onto canvas.

Coloring books and crayons are EVERYWHERE.

Slightly unorganized and messy CG but when inspiration strikes an artist must act!

Keeps a little sketchbook in your little bag at all times

The Fridge is covered in your artwork as if it was an art gallery.

His favorite pieces are framed and hung up in his Big Kid art studio.

Never throws away a drawing, if he runs out of room he makes more. room

I think he probably follows the other boy's suggestions the most.

Changbin mentioned you should go out and play or naptime won't go so well.

Minho reminded Hyunjin for the thousandth time that you need a schedule.

It's not that Hyunjin is a bad CG at all!

He just never wants the fun to end

Han

Main CG Name: Daddy (however I can also see Mommy)

OT8 CG Name: Oppa

Nicknames for his Little: Little Quokka, Cub, (Your favorite cartoon character), little baby, dumpling, little squish

Han is good with all littles but does best with shy or anxious little ones

Though he is loud around the boys I feel like he is very quiet and nurturing toward a little one

Is great with nonverbal littles and will wait patiently until he can figure out what you need

Has little cards with different snacks and activities on them so you can point at what you want

Lets you cling to him and hide your face when you are feeling extra shy or nervous

Has sensory toys on him at all times

Movie time is his favorite with you

He turns on your favorite movie and settles you down in his lap

Just holds you and feels you relax, making his heart melt

When you do feel more energetic and playful he goes from 0 to 100 really quick

Bouncing you in the air, playing over dramatic peak a boo, so many imagination games

Keeps a list of games they play on cartoons like Bluey

He is the understanding CG

Felix

Main CG name: Mommy

OT8 CG name: Mommy

Nicknames for his little one: Sugar, Spice, Cupcake, Cookie, Sweetie Heart, Little Chef, Brownie Baby, sunshine

Is best with toddlers and babies

Is the most prepared and organized CG

Multiple stuffies, sippies, bottles, and pacis are kept on hand

He keeps some in the studio at work too just in case you slip during a visit

Loves dressing you two up in matching outfits

You have pigtails? Looks like Mommy is going to have pigtails too

Loves dress up and makeover play dates

Sends photos to the group for 'comeback inspiration'

He loves baking with you too.

He picks easy things like brownies and cookies.

You are not allowed near the stove or oven, however, the thought of you getting hurt crushes him

Instead, you get to help measure everything out and mix!

Of course, Mommy lets you lick the spoon after

He may 'accidentally' forget to tell you that the brownie you just ate got all over your face

Always looks at you with his sunshine smile and heart eyes

Felix is the sugary-sweet CG

Seungmin

Main CG name: Daddy

OT8 CG name: Minnie

Nicknames for his little one: Puppy/Pup, Champ, Kiddo, Bug, Little one, Small one, Tiny one, (something related to your special interests)

Seungmin does best with older kiddos

His favorite activity with his little one is pulling pranks on the other members

He finds your laugh and mischievous smile to be infectious

In an OT8 setting Seungmin gives me older brother vibes

He is always sneaking you treats after Minho said no

Waking you up from naptime to play, even though Chan just put you down

Calls you his little pup or puppy but also dies every time you look at him with those big doe eyes and call him doggy

Will play around and bark at you

Is willing to listen to you babble on and on about your special interests.

If that means taking a tour of your collections then he is ready for the VIP museum experience!

But Minnie can also be serious if he is in CG's headspace

Isn't afraid to raise his voice a little or give you a look if you are being naughty

Sits nearby when he puts you in timeout so you know he is there

After you are done he rather forgive and forget instead of dwelling on it

He never stays stern for too long, he always comes back to his playful mood

Seungmin is a dog energy CG

I.N.

Main CG name: Mommy (I could see Daddy used too)

OT8 CG name: Innie

Nicknames for his little: Little Fox, Kit, Baby Bread, Princess, Prince, Knight, Hun, Button

Jeongin does well with little toddlers

He gives me preschool teacher vibes as a CG

Loves to teach you new things

If you point out a pretty flower, he looks it up and reads all about it to you

Has story time with a whole setup

Cozy blankets, beanbag chairs, little lights, and a small bookshelf library

Along with your coloring books, you have activity books too

Simple math, spelling, pattern matching, etc

In an OT8 setting, I also see I.N. being a big brother of sorts

But more of the gentle sweet caring brother

Very protective of you

The others leave him in charge

Always down to play little board and card games

Is a master at memory matching and go fish

Is another CG who falls victim to your puppy dog eyes when its time for something you don't want to do

He tries really hard to stay strong but the second he sees that little lip pout he is done for

Innie is a very educational CG

[artificial-ascension]

I like to imagine Beyond's hypothetical shinigami dad (mom? I just find it more likely he was human born since he's... clearly a human with at least one shinigami power and if he was birthed by a shinigami he'd probably be more like a nerfed shinigami just by like... Pokemon breeding logic I guess) is a shinigami we haven't seen rather than a pre existing character simply because 1. That's another character oh boy how fun and 2. I feel like there'd have to be some ramifications of making such a beast. Like if extending human life is a crime punishable by instant death how is making another human also not a punishable offense? Like at the very least put them in time put for that. Don't just let them hang about with everyone else.

Anyway my personal take is that B's shinigami dad was summoned (I imagine there has to be some way to summon a shinigami, or at least ask for one to come down or something) by some shinigami worship cult or whatever and for whatever reason, decided to bone some human women and create Beyond Birthday. The shinigami king was like hey, what the fuck dude, penis privilege revoked for all of you and Beyond's father was permanently shunned by the rest of the shinigami because jacking off was the only other thing to do besides gambling.

The shinigami king had to make a whole bunch of rules about how Beyond should even function and assigned his father to look over him to make sure he wasn't being too much of an issue. Beyond's dad was already a very finicky and active shinigami so following some guy around earth wasn't ideal but he got to spend time with his kid I guess.

He never actually showed himself to B, kinda just doing paranormal shit like dropping things or moving things in his room when he wasn't in there. The reason why was that he didn't need B going full crazy and trying to convince everyone he was haunted by some freaky monster because B was already something of an outcast and didn't need another reason for people to hate him.

One interesting little idea I had was the concept of shinigami eye inheritance. My idea going that the eyes are a recessive trait and can only be introduced into the gene pool by someone having a child while they had the eyes. If both parents have them when the kid in conceived a child with be born with the eyes. B's mom made the deal and his dad was obviously a shinigami so he has the eyes. Now an interesting side effect of carrying the gene means there is a chance to recognize the vague visage of shinigami without touching a notebook. Not being fully capable, but still understanding that something was there. Basically, A happened to carry the gene because someone in his family had they eyes in the past meaning he could see B's dad following him. Now obviously B's father didn't account for this because honestly the chance of a human carrying that gene is so extremely slim and he only made an effort to hide himself from B so A got to see the distorted face of death and maybe that may have acounted in his unfortunate demise but hey he was gonna die young anyway and at least the visage of a death god haunting your friend helps inspire you to make cool horror art.

Oh also the reason B wasn't killed instantly is because the shinigami king was curious as to how his life would go. It went bad but he was amused by the LABB murder cases (obviously shinigami kid would not be in trouble for murder, it's literally in his blood.)

[faithinlouisfuture]

Louies' 2023 Wrapped Tag Game

(Rules: Answer the questions below and tag at least 3 people!)

Thank you bestie @berlinini for tagging me 🤍 sorry i’m so late on this, work’s been kicking my ass, here we go though!

favorite walls song: this year; don’t let it break your heart

favorite fitf song: impossible to pick just one but right now; holding on to heartache (which is funny considering my fav off of Walls this year)

most played song on Spotify by Louis: Written All Over Your Face (ok whore)

favorite louis lyrics: that’s actually an impossible task because there’s WAY too many! but “there’s endless versions of the thing that keeps me drifting back to darkness” hits home in a way that i can’t explain in words

louis life lesson: it always remains the same; picking yourself back up after facing hardships, seeing the possibilities and positives in a difficult situation; basically strength & resilience

favorite louis outfit: oh that’s unfair, my little fashionista kills it 99% of the time so i have a list of favorite 50 outfits from 2023 but for the purpose of this game we’ll narrow it down to three (and it’s not even top three just three that i loved)

favorite tour show: there were so many good ones this year (Phoenix, Austin, Houston, LA, Philly, New York, Bologna, Paris, Antwerp, Vienna, Łódź, Sheffield, Cardiff, London) but the way that I felt physically ill after fitfwt: Columbus might need to be studied for science; the whiplash from the stark difference of him during the show and him post show was entirely TOO MUCH

favorite public appearance: has to be the RS Awards; the slutty custom-made fit, the main character energy throughout, the confidence, the glow, the ever present eloquence with which he spoke about his work and his successful af year, just him him him <3

favorite AOTV scene: once again there’s so many; that scene where louis’ recording Saturdays and we get some insight into his thinking and his process, the montage of louis with band and crew having an absolute blast while All This Time plays in the background, that one scene where JD is helping him put his hoodie on after he broke his elbow 👀 the last few minutes of the movie where we hear him say the words “i do feel like i deserve this” 🫶🏽🥹 and so so many more actually

favorite band or crew member: favorite three :p are Krystle, Steve & Joshua! special shout out to Joshua for going above and beyond this year honestly! that man carried lthq on his back!

favorite picture: another unfair question but i won’t cheat and post one of my absolute most favorites from this year because it’s like the energy of his shows captured in one moment (i found out on twitter that the hand in his hair belongs to a desi louie which was like the cherry on top)

something that you are looking forward to in 2024: the fitfwt latam shows!!! there is nothing else like the energy the latam crowds bring, which in turn brings out the absolute best (and most unhinged) in louis and his band too, so definitely looking forward to that! and the festivals!!! can’t wait to see him shine in front of the world <3 hope against hope to be a part of it if things work out 🤞🏽🕯️

one wish for Louis (or Louies) for 2024: 🍑🐧🎧 sighting! kidding (not really)! honestly though, growth

growth in this fandom’s level of maturity (with the addition of lots more people who are here for louis’ art and not his personal life), growth in the markets he’s able to capture, growth in the places he’s able and willing to tour *cough*ASIA*cough*, growth in the ability of his teams especially his social media and PR teams, growth from Louis himself in regards to him being open to trying new things

i don’t know who all has done this! but i’ll tag some people just in case (no pressure) @noraincsl @timidlouie @poekitty2020 @stormyhale @louveyous

[shadowron]

Troll Bodyguard: A Better Troll Archetype for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

Art by @skullchicken

In my experience, Trolls are like Deckers: everybody basically makes the same one.

Trolls are the only metatype that get modifiers to all of their attributes, and the only one to get a -2 penalty (to both Charisma and Intelligence). This naturally cuts out several runner roles: 

deckers and riggers (quickness/intelligence/reaction based), 

magicians (willpower/charisma based), and 

rockers (charisma).

Rockers! They make the most useless archetype suck even more

Sorry Bambi

Which isn’t fair! 

For 1st edition, they are the only metatype worth playing!

Trolls get +5 Body and one level of natural dermal armor, so really +6 Body: the most fragile troll is more rugged than the buffest human. Between that, the +4 Strength and +1 Reach - trolls are made for melee combat. 

So what kind of troll character builds do we see in 1st edition?

Core rulebook: None. No dwarf either.

Street Samurai Catalog: Troll Street Samurai

Who, famously carrying an Ares MP Light Machine Gun and Panther Assault Cannon, is ranged combat primarily, with only an Armed Combat of 3. Want to make a real samurai?

Give them one of these:

For those who didn’t bother to click through and read my razor sharp take on the Troll Sam - give them a pole arm (like the actual historical samurai weapon shown above), (Strength)S3 damage with +2 Reach, so against non-trolls with non-reach weapons they’re at Target Number 2. With Armed Combat 6 they’re getting 5 successes on average, staging up the damage to Deadly.

For an unarmored target, this will mostly likely remain fatal. An “average” troll will have a Strength of 7; rolling a Body 6 will only get 1 success on average. Sorry! Need 3 to stage it down to Serious.

But hey - this is why you wear armor! Need at least an Armor Jacket (Impact 3) to survive a troll pole stabbing, and Full Heavy Armor (Impact 6) to have a chance to stab it back.

Pictured: Troll Pole

Sprawl Sites: Former Troll Bounty Hunter

Not sure if this is an improvement over the Troll Street Samurai -- too much reliance on ranged combat.

Also from Sprawl Sites is the Troll Bouncer contact:

While this would actually be a great background for a character -- after all, how many adventures include a club or bar? But I think we can do better. We will do better. 

Let’s make a better troll shadowrunner.

Troll Bodyguard

Following in the tradition of the Decker & Elven Decker, Merc & Ork Mercenary & Dwarf Mercenary, we’re going to make this the metatype counterpoint to the Bodyguard:

Gotta have the Tres Chic clothing...

The human Bodyguard archetype has Attributes at Priority 4 (30 points), Tech at Priority 3 (400,000 ¥), Skills at Priority 2 (24 points), with Race (human) and Magic (none) taking up the rear. Looking at the table:

Always look at the table.

The Troll Bodyguard will have Race at Priority 4, and can still have the same Tech Priority as the human Bodyguard; we can just take the exam same set of equipment and cyber. Take Attributes at Priority 2 (20 points, a ten point drop) and Skills as Priority 1 (20 points, a four point drop). 

Here’s were we blatantly abuse the rules.

Trolls get -2 to both Charisma and Intelligence, but ability modifiers are assigned after attribute points are assigned, with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 6. Other than Essence, which can take on real number values, all other attributes must be positive integers. So if you assign 3 points to Charisma, it drops to 1. If you assign 2 points to Charisma, it still drops to 1, since that’s the lowest it can go. So unless you’re going to assign 4 points (to get a 2), you may as well only assign 1. 

Yes, this erases the attribute penalty, but you are ending up with a 1 for an attribute, so it’s not so bad.

Attributes

Body: 9 (12) Quickness: 3 Strengh: 8 Charisma: 1 Intelligence: 1 Willpower: 5 Essence: 0.2 Reaction: 2 (6)

Since we’re just porting over the Bodyguard’s stuff, we have factored in Wired Reflexes 2 (compensating for the low Reaction) and Dermal Plating 3 to factor in, on top of the natural troll dermal armor of 1, giving us a body of 12. 

Plus Partial Heavy Armor. 

And Skillsofts! 9 of them, to be precise, which will compensate for the loss of skill points. 

Skills

Armed Combat: 6 Firearms: 4 Negotiation: 4 Unarmed Combat: 6

Cyberware

Air Filtration: 5 Dermal Plating: 3 Skillwires: 3 Smartgun Link Wired Reflexes: 2

Gear

Skillsofts:

Bike: 3

Car: 3

Computer: 3

Electronics: 3

Etiquette (Corporate): 3

Etiquette (Street): 3

Etiquette (Tribal): 3

Etiquette (Military): 3

Projectile Weapons: 3

Colt Manhunter (Smartgun Link, Firepower Ammo, Reactive Trigger, Extended Clip) Ammunition (Heavy Pistol, 50 rounds, Explosive) Armor Clothing Tres Chic Clothing Partial Heavy Armor High Lifestyle (2 months prepaid)

Contacts: Choose 2 from

Bodyguard Gang Boss Ork Mercenary Mr. Johnson