#the very skillful ones through practice; are the mages

[iamthedukeofurl]

So this is just my take, but the key to understanding Kabru Dungeon Meshi is understanding that the Touden's party was one of the top parties in the dungeon.

You eventually learn the mission they were on when they encountered the red dragon, and it involved going as far into the dungeon as anybody had gone before. Their party lineup was two top-level mages, Marcille and Falin (okay, Marcille's practical magic skills are kind of questionable, but we're told that Falin was extremely talented within her areas of specialty) Two excellent fighters: Shuro and Namari, and Chilchuck, who considering that he runs the guild, is likely one of the most experienced half-foot trapsmiths working on the island. Laios is party leader, and while he's not the greatest fighter, he's quite good, and his obsessive knowledge of monsters means that he can guide the others. You see how Laois's knowledge helps the party already, now imagine if they had a support caster, a dwarf whose almost certainly a much better fighter than Senshi, and another tallman who is almost certainly a much better fighter than Laois all working on that knowledge.

So with that in mind, lets revisit Kabru and his obsession. Kabru knows people, and can read them very well. He's also got a wider perspective on the nature and danger of dungeons due to his backstory. Kabru isn't here to get rich delving the dungeon, he's here to Solve A Problem. He's a relatively recent arrival to the island, that or his mismatched skillset means that he and his party are much slower to progress through it than the Touden's party. Either way, he spots the Touden party as The Party To Watch when it comes to conquering the dungeon. Laois, as party leader, is obviously of particular concern. So, Kabru turns all his insight onto Laois and he gets...nothing. Laois cares about money from a pragmatic standpoint, but isn't especially concerned with it. He's easily conned. He's not driven by hatred, greed, or ambition. There's some curiosity there, but it's not the driving curiosity of an obsessive academic, Laois is an enthusiastic hobbyist who has figured out how to make his particular interest into a valuable skillset. Kabru is looking for the protagonist of an epic fantasy tale, and he finds...just a guy. A guy who didn't feel at home anywhere, and found a place and a life where he was welcome and valued. A guy whose skillset and companions puts him first in a race he doesn't even know he's running. And if you're Kabru, that's infuriating and fascinating in equal measure.

[ryanguzmansource]

September 27, 2024

Ryan Guzman is currently filming his next thriller: Midnight and, in his talk with Xmag, he takes a tour of his professional career. Despite his current international projection as an actor, Ryan Guzman did not plan to dedicate himself to acting at first. The American actor and model began to get interested in mixed martial arts when he was only seven years old and, after winning his first black belt when he was ten, he was a mixed martial arts fighter in Sacramento until 2010. A shoulder injury prevented him from continuing with his dream and he redirected his career working as a model in various magazines and brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Affliction and Reebok. Everything completely changed when he got his first starring role in Step Up: Revolution. “It changed the direction of my life. It was as if I was launching myself into a world that I had only seen in the distance.” The dance franchise was an international success and Ryan tells us about the process he followed for the films, which, according to him, has always been the same over the years. “I try hard at something new without fear of failure. I do it this way because I know that I can fail at the beginning of anything I try. The goal is to learn from my failures and be open to new ideas when it comes to acquiring and perfecting a skill.”

His career as an actor continued in 2015 with the psychological thriller The Boy Next Door, which as Ryan explains, gave him "an invaluable perspective on the business side of the entertainment industry.” In the film, he shared the limelight with Jennifer Lopez and Ryan tells us about his experience working on the film and what it was like working with her. "Jennifer's life is something that most people won't be able to comprehend because it involves A LOT. She's a superstar. He has a million things going on at the same time. I had a great time collaborating with her and the director, Rob. They both made me feel very comfortable. It was so much fun playing the bad boy!” From a psychological drama about a woman who falls in love with her younger neighbor, Ryan jumped to play Eddie Diaz in the police drama series 9-1-1, which tells the story of a Los Angeles rescue group willing to attend to any emergency. The series underwent a big change after its transition from the FOX network to ABC and Ryan explains how that has affected his character. "Eddie's character has evolved a lot since his introduction into the 9-1-1 universe. As in any great evolution, destruction must occur in order to rebuild something new. The transition from FOX to ABC came at a perfect time for my character and I was able to represent that evolution through destruction just before another defining event in Eddie's life. Season eight is about Eddie making peace with his demons and finding self-love.” Being a series that deals with extreme and challenging situations, Ryan describes how he prepared physically and psychologically for those moments. "Empathy is the key. I draw from what I've experienced and my understanding of it; then I use the truth of those encounters to connect with the character. As for my physical fitness, I keep practicing martial arts." Recently, one of his latest projects has been the fictional comedy The Present, starring Isla Fisher and Greg Kinnear. Ryan explains that the possibility of working with these two actors was one of the reasons I chose this film. “The moment I saw that Isla Fisher and Greg Kinnear were involved in the film, I joined the project. These are two actors I've always wanted to collaborate with. Working with Isla was a dream, she gave me a lot of love and knowledge and Greg is someone who I have always enjoyed watching perform. Also, the theme resonated deeply with me, as I was going through a divorce at the time, which made the story especially relatable.”

Right now, the American actor is involved in the filming of the thriller Midnight. "I received the script from writer Lamont Magee and when he asked me if I would be interested in one of the roles opposite Rosario Dawson, he didn't have to say much more to capture my interest. 'Midnight' was an opportunity to show action in a way that I haven't been able to do as much as I would like as an actor.” According to Ryan, the thriller promises to be an intriguing story and one that will surprise the spectators. "I think seeing Rosario Dawson come face to face with Mila Jovovich is intriguing enough, but then you add the layers of her sister's character, played by Alexandra Shipp and the truth is that the audience is about to discover a lot of twists and surprises.” As immersed as he is in his work, Ryan ends the interview by expressing how grateful he feels to have a community of fans and followers who have always been supporting him. “I cannot fully express the depth of my gratitude to those who have found my work entertaining and have continued to support my career over the years. THANK YOU!”

[raven--bones]

lil incubus drabble! got inspired and couldn't help but write it out hehehe

gender neutral mage apprentice reader characters: killer, nightmare (/reader eventually hehe) word count: about 2120 summary: reader practices summoning demons, but things don't quite go to plan.

You have a knack for magic. Something about it just comes easy to you. But refining that talent is still an arduous undertaking. Years of study have gotten you this far, slowly rising through the rankings and you’re at the last and more important stage to become an official mage– summoning. 

Your world is intrinsically tied to the demon realm, a plane of magical beings that can be called upon to fulfill requests by those skilled enough to summon them. There are many kinds to summon and you’ve spent years perfecting the theory behind it all. It was finally time to put it into practice. 

The rules for summoning are simple; follow the instructions strictly, never make a deal with a demon, never break the salt circle, and never catch a demon’s attention.

You had everything you need. Candles, charcoal, herbs. You cleared a nice big space in your little apartment so you can make the summoning circle and protective salt barrier extra big, just in case. You wanted to make sure you get the runes perfect, and you didn’t want the minor imp you were going to summon to be cramped. 

The sun was setting through your window, casting everything in beautiful shades of pink and orange. The perfect time for a quick little summoning, when the veil was starting to thin. So you got to work. 

Your pronunciation was perfect. Your layout was exquisite. If you were being graded you know you’d have top marks for going by the book.

And yet you made a mistake. Somehow. 

The skeletal demon blinking at you from inside the salt circle is not an imp. Your best guess is he’s a minor incubus, both from the way he’s eyeing the salt at his feet and the scarcity of his robes. He’s decorated rather finely in gold which is unusual for someone of his status, but if he was any stronger than a minor demon he’d surely have gotten through the ridiculously trivial protections you put in place. 

“Um.” You double check your book just to be sure. You’re still on the page for minor imps, the circle is identical to the one you drew, and yet the proof of your mistake is before your eyes. 

The demon’s already lost the surprised look on his face and is grinning at you, boney tail whipping back and forth at his feet. He cocks his skull at you, black ichor dripping from his eyes. The gold chain attached to the cuffs on his horns clinks softly with the movement.

“whatcha got there?” 

You ignore him. You’re still flipping through your notes, desperate for an answer. How did you mess up this badly? 

“aw, summon me all the way here and don’t even wanna chat. i’m hurt.” 

You groan when you finally see it. You can’t believe you made such a simple mistake. You drop to the floor with a huff, sitting cross legged while you sort through the many papers and books strewn about. You somehow copied the wrong incantation. The circle and pronunciation were perfect, but your words were entirely wrong. You make sure to highlight a big red circle around the spell you read and note it as ‘chatty incubus’. 

But… that still shouldn’t have summoned him. If anything it should’ve failed– there should’ve been a little puff of smoke in the circle signaling your error, not an entire incubus standing there despite it. 

The summoning circles are combined with incantations to help focus your mana when summoning, the complex runes and shapes combining into an intricate language that filters your demand into very specific instructions for the realm’s magic to follow. Without the proper circle an incantation should be worthless, your mana too unfocused to express your intent clearly. 

And yet. 

The incubus drops into a crouch, studying you. “you messed up, huh?” 

You look up, finally taking him in. Short but sharp horns, black liquid dripping from empty, half-moon sockets. A red soul hovering in front of his ribs, sharp teeth drawn wide in an easy-going grin. His tail moves back and forth behind him like a mischievous cat’s, the sharp, gleaming gold tip just barely avoiding the salt circle. 

You don’t want to admit your mistake to a demon. You weren’t prepared for anything more impressive than the weakest of imps– even a minor incubus is out of your scope for another few years. They’re tricky and manipulative and fully capable of making deals that humans will regret. 

You shake your head and keep your gaze down. No distractions. You need to get rid of him before you make another mistake and things get really bad. “I’m going to send you back in a moment. I just need to find my notes.” 

The demon whines, “but i just got here. wouldn’t it be easier to just give me a task to fulfill the summons?”

You perse your lips. That is true. Your intent behind this summons was to tell the imp to do something simple so they’d be automatically sent back. Even just asking them to jump up and down three times would’ve worked. But now… you’d rather send him back the official way, with an incantation. You don’t want to misstep and–

“i can give you a better summoning circle. one you won’t find in any lame textbook.” He sounds coy. You shouldn’t trust him. But… you have to admit, your curiosity is piqued. It’s not like him just giving you the circle would be bad, anyway. You don’t have to use it if it seems dangerous.

“Fine. Your task is to give me this ‘better’ circle.” It easy enough to find a spare sheet of paper and pen and pass it to him. “What is it?”

The demon mirrors you, sitting cross-legged and setting the paper down to draw. “it’s just a simpler basic summoning circle. more efficient. totally fool proof.” He says it easily but you don’t trust him. There’s no telling what his motivations are for giving this to you, and if his claims are true it’s not like you can cross-reference it in a textbook. “the protections you silly mortals want are included so you don’t even need to use the salt.”

“There’s no way I’m believing that.”

The incubus shrugs with a wink. “you don’t have to. keep using the salt if you want, it won’t help any.” 

When he passes the paper back to you the charcoal on the ground begins to smoke. 

“ah, looks like our time’s up. it was nice meeting you, mageling. if you ever wanna chat again, you know how to find me~” The deep black portal that opens up at his feet swallows him up before you can even speak, leaving no trace of him after it closes with a snap. 

You breathe a sigh of relief and take a look at his drawing. Sure enough, he drew a crude summoning circle. The runes are all placed correctly, but they aren’t any you recognize. It does look simple, though. You’re surprised to see he included an incantation. This one is written in script you do recognize, though it is decidedly ancient. The older incantations were never your forte. 

The incantation is short, barely longer than the imp incantation you failed to read, but you don’t understand it. You can parse a word here and there, but… surely you’re not actually considering it. But it seems simple.

You could be the first human to use this circle and incantation. The reports you could write on it could become award-winning. Maybe you’ll streamline a whole new method of basic summoning and have your name in the textbooks! It’s worth a shot. If you put the right protections in place, what could go wrong?

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Just to be safe you make an extra salt circle. You don’t see any breaks in the first one but you want to be safe. That incubus could’ve shifted it just enough when he was here and you might not have noticed. 

The new summoning circle really is simple. It has just over half of the runes of the basic imp circle, though the interlocking lines and circles are a bit more complicated. The demon’s drawing is crude so it’s difficult to get the angles right, but you’re pretty sure it’s correct. 

The incantation is another matter. The handwriting is terrible and you’re not as familiar with the old script so you do your best to copy it down clearly. If it doesn’t work you can always double-check it with an old dictionary from the library. 

By now you’ve been at this for hours. Your living room is thankfully bright from the ceiling light and all the candles, but you don’t want to keep at this for too long. Things get unpredictable the later you work. The veil thins at night, and especially on the full moon. 

You can see it peeking through your window, though the reflection from your ceiling light on the glass ruins the view. You can do a bit of stargazing after this last attempt for the night.

You double check everything one more time. Two perfect circles of salt, not a single grain out of place. The charcoal circle is pristine and accurate. Your incantation is… probably correct, give or take a letter. At worst it’ll fail and you’ll have to fan the smoke out of your apartment. 

You can do this. 

You haven’t yet taken the more advanced courses where the old incantations get worked into the curriculum–you were expecting to really study the ancient language and script in a year or two–but you’re passable. 

You speak slowly and as clearly as you can, but you still stumble over the words slightly. 

Things look promising as you work your way through the phrases. The candles flicker. You can feel the mana supercharged in the air, coalescing in the center of the circles. At the last word your lights go out, the candles extinguishing, and the charcoal runes on the floor glint with dull reflections of moonlight through the window. 

It’s so dark. You reach out for the switch but your hand brushes against something cold and unpleasant. It moves under your touch, pulling back towards the center of the room and away from you. You take a step back and stumble on a stack of books, tumbling to the floor ungracefully. 

It’s far, far too dark. The shadows around you stretch further than they should, made up of an inky darkness that looks like you could fall into it. You can’t see through the circles anymore. A column of shadow’s taken up occupation in them, filling them out to the thin line of salt separating you from whatever it is that you just summoned. 

The darkness blinks at you. A sharp cyan light, far above your head even if you were standing, pins you in place. The shadows move, deliberately, and suddenly you’re able to make out the shapes in the void. Large curving horns– one broken nearly at the base. That single bright eye in a socket like endless void. A relaxed grin of sharp teeth. Broad shoulders and a broad ribcage. Long arms of thick bone ending in large hands tipped in sharp claws. Fine silk robes, brilliant silver jewelry. Digitigrade legs ending in more sharp claws. Shadows curl around him and you realize you’re seeing the silhouette of four massive tentacles coming from his back. 

You watch as the demon takes a step forward, scuffing the salt circle like he didn’t even know it was there. The only thing that could’ve kept you safe is now strewn about at your feet. 

Not that something as simple as salt could save you from an archdemon. There is nothing you can do. You’re helpless.

That sharp cyan eye looks down at the charcoal summoning circle you so painstakingly replicated, then moves back up to the notecard clutched in your hands. He continues to examine your room; the furniture, the stacks of books, eventually stopping on the rough drawing the little incubus gave you on the floor beside you. 

A tentacle picks it up and deposits it in his claws. It looks so much smaller in his hands. He glances at it for only a moment before letting it flutter back to the ground. He puts a hand to his chin and rests the other against his hip, skull tilted ever so slightly as he stares you down.

The look on his face sends a chill down your spine, an icy pit of fear opening up in your stomach. It’s one of the most dangerous expressions to see on a demon. 

“Interesting.”

Curiosity. 

“Very interesting.”

[wisteriagoesvroom]

LOL I can imagine for vampire au Lando starting to third wheel Carcar and so even though turning Franco is a complete accident he can’t feel too guilty bc he uses it as an excuse to hang around someone else, and somehow he learns more about vampirism lore through a human grad student than he’s learned in his whole life (he’s lived a long time, lots of info to absorb). Then also, if you don’t mind my ask, what do they all do for jobs/how do they get money and would Franco keep studying ?

HELP this is so cute. ok. norpinto-frando vampire au for those who aren't up to speed...

Lando starting to third wheel Carcar and so even though turning Franco is a complete accident, [Lando] can’t feel too guilty bc he uses it as an excuse to hang around someone else -> screaming cus, absolutely. random associated headcanons for this... i'll rewind a bit:

carlos is the oldest vampire, like, moorish/medieval era. he met lando while they were both at a masquerade ball in the early 1600s and smelled each other right away (carlos like wood and ink, lando like gas lamps and wet stone).

lando is an tudor era vampire. like he actually knew shakespeare and said he was one of the best viral marketers of the era

oscar was turned in the early days of the australian penal colony, he's like first or second generation white australian but he refuses to be called british. he moved in to the house because the rent was cheap and he doesn't feel the need to live extravagantly -- even though he, too, is $$ loaded $$

oscar didn't move in until about two decades ago - very short by vampire standards, to them it feels like yesterday - but carlos and oscar are basically They Were Roommates atp even though they squabble con-stant-ly

their neighbours think they are a new age-y polyam group but because the people who live opposite them are students, nobody ever hangs around longer than a year to remember them or dig deeper

so franco definitely brings a fun funky fresh dynamic

he learns more about vampirism lore through a human grad student than he’s learned in his whole life (he’s lived a long time, lots of info to absorb) -> things that baby vamp!franco teaches lando include

tiktok trends, like how to make ur teeth comically large in photos. lando finds this hilarious

how to use venmo

creating a roster on google docs for who needs to do what house chores

jailbreaking an apple watch so it doesn't read their pulses (they don't have any), but it will remind them of the moon phases and when they might be extra hungry to feed

at one point franco actually puts his academic skills to use and helps lando hunt down some of his family tree, because since lando was turned and it's been so long, he doesn't remember much about them : ( so one of franco's little gifts to lando is helping him trace his heritage

what do they all do for jobs/how do they get money and would Franco keep studying ? -> i love how practical-minded you are. um well let's say this fictional supernatural creatures' market mostly runs on barter trades and goodwill agreements. the entire house sometimes just gets lazy tbh so lando or carlos will just dig into one of the old chests of random shit and pull out an antique and go: "do we think this is worth anything?" then they take it to an antiques dealer who is also a mage (alex albon) and there is a 1 in 25 chance that the antique is actually is worth something, so that bankrolls them for another half a year or whatever.

carlos makes a lot of noise about being "an art dealer" just because he sold a goya painting to a museum once.

oscar is a man of industry, of the "newer" world (australia) etc etc so he spent the 80s and 90s learning C++ and Java and Python so he legit just codes for a living. or when he feels like it. oscar has helped launch at least a dozen startups under various pseudonyms and one of them is even a blue chip company by now. he doesn't do it for money tho. he just does it cus he likes a challenge, and otherwise fights with carlos too much. when he isn't coding he likes to tinker and fix things just for fun. like, he legit knows how to fix a boiler and stuff. his familiar is definitely a grumpy orange neighbourhood cat.

franco keeps studying!! he is such a nerd that he's like "i can totally learn everything about anything now, and i could in theory do like 20 masters degrees, and nobody can stop me"!! then lando is like, "well you might get bored of it after a while or burn out". but franco insists he will not. in fact with his enhanced neurological abilities he goes on an academic bender trying to fast forward through an entire harvard's undergrad degree's worth of material in a week, and he ends up faceplanting on his desk. and then poor lando has to go and find a fresh chicken or something to kill and revive franco 'cus franco wore himself out too fast being a bb vampire with accelerated mind powers.

franco promises never to do that again (but of course he will continue to do it once in a while, and everyone still looks after him in his lil study hangovers because he is so very nice. also he taught them how to use venmo.)

and. one time. franco is like. "i can't find this rare sonnet do you know what library i could maybe locate it in" and lando is like "wait i know that one" and pulls out an honest to god original copy that he at some point got laminated in the early 80s. and franco is like. "um i think this should be in a museum??" and lando is like "yeah but i gave them a copy of this, cus i spilled ink on the corner of this in 1603 after a really good night out" and franco is like "???? ok ????"

then lando swans off to moodily stare at the moon or some shit.

[alpydk]

Writing Prompt - Gale entertains the camp with the tale of Ahghairon's lost nose.

Yeah... I thought over this after riding the waves of shameless flirting from the last few days. Oops. - I'm now going to go and collapse into bed, but hope people enjoy this. Thank you for another great prompt. I do love writing these, so very much.

Find the Nose

Word Count - 1757 - CW - Fluff, flirting, some hands on.

“What do you mean, find the nose?” Tav said with a curious look in her cool green eyes, her blonde hair being mindlessly braided over her shoulder, a surprising comfort found on the log she sat upon.

Gale had, for some time, been sharing in wine and frivolities with the ranger. The blush of her cheeks gave away the amount that had been indulged in and he stood before her, the fire burning brightly not far from them both, their companions long since departed for their tents with the rise of the moon in the sky. They’d shared in the histories of their upbringings, gone through many a dirty limerick, and now the party games had begun. Grease the pig had been a favourite of Tav’s, but no pig and a wizard with weak knees meant for a lousy opponent. Instead, they’d talked of other games and he’d begun to waffle on about a Waterdhavian pastime called find the nose.

 “Well, the grand mage, Ahghairon, is renowned in Waterdeep for his magic and political skills. A statue was built in the centre of the city as a tribute to his dedication to the people. After all, it was thanks to him that we have the system we do…”

He trailed on for some time, explaining the political landscape of the city and the history that had led to the City of Splendour’s reputation. Tav didn’t hear much of the subject, but she enjoyed how each word seemed to drip as poetry from his lips, the way his soft hands wove through the air and his slightly drunken eyes settled on her.

“And so, over the years, people would climb upon the statue and rub at his nose, the belief being that if one did, one would gain the fortune of the mage: wisdom and knowledge to guide in life’s hardships.” He rubbed mindlessly at his own nose, as if mentioning it had triggered something within in. “With that, the nose has simply eroded, lost to time, some might say. Gods forbid, it was another extremity.”

Her gaze was met with a playful smirk, too suggestive to ignore, but very much welcome after so many similar nights. “I still fail to see how this is a game, though, Gale. We have no statue, and sorry to say, no grand mage.”

He rose his hand to his chest in mockery. “My dear, you wound me.”

Tav shook her head and chuckled. “You know exactly what I mean before you get all dramatic and go planning to blow yourself up.”

“Me? Dramatic? I think you are confusing me with our vampiric friend.” He approached her and sat at her side, his hand resting on her knee.

She tried to ignore the sensation of warmth that ran through her, obviously caused by a little too much wine. “And so, how would this game be played, then?”

He ran his gaze over her figure, seeing the way her white cotton shirt hugged her body. He gave a nervous cough and looked away, distracting himself from the effects the alcohol had clearly had on him. “First, we must find an insignificant item. Why, the conch shell you found in the Underdark would do perfectly.”

“Conch shell?”

“It’s practically nose shaped, if one were a hag.”

Tav dug through her pack, another bottle of wine removed and placed to the side for further imbibing. The shell lay at the bottom under the various notes and trinkets she’d picked up.

Gale eyed her pack curiously, seeing the amount of tat that seemed to be stored in there. “You do know that traders will give you gold in return for goods?”

“Shut up,” she scoffed in response. “If it were all books, I’m sure you’d spout a very different set of remarks.” She brought out the shell and curled it between her fingers, thankful for the momentary distraction. “Now, what am I meant to do with it?”

He gave a devious smile, intoxication driving his intentions forward. The orb quelled had left him with little doubt in his mind of his body’s physical desires, combat with Githyanki at the creche setting his nerves on fire for his bow wielding companion. “Now you simply turn away and hide the item on your person.”

A look of realisation spread across Tav’s face as to how this game would pan out. “Ah, and then you are to find it, I suppose? And how do we determine a winner?”

“It is not the winning, but the enjoyment of the game that matters, my dear Tav.” He gave a knowing smile of what was to come. “But if you insist on a victory being the goal, one must simply hide the object well enough. Gone from view, just as Ahghairon’s nose is.”

“Hm, very well then.” She licked her lips, the taste of the red wine still present, the shell clutched delicately in her hand, and she turned from Gale’s view.

He could see the way her hands moved over her body, the slight lift of her shirt from her chest giving him some idea of her tactics. He would not start there, though; this game was not meant to be played to win but to exhaust all options and then potentially lose, and he would be as thorough as possible in his exploration.

“Ok, it’s hidden.” She turned back to him, ready for whatever it was he had planned. Her eyes gave a mischievous gleam, her competitive nature not letting her lose under any conditions.

Gale scanned her figure, first looking for any odd lumps where the shell might lie. He lifted his hand. “May I?”

She nodded. “Wouldn’t be much of a fun game if you were to only stop and stare?”

He smiled, his hand coming to pat down a crease of her shirt that lay just under her breast. His fingers continued to trace around her side, going around her back as he saw the way her cheeks flushed a deepened red, almost that of the wine shared between them. Her eyes shone in the moonlight, the flickering of the campfire burning, reflecting at him. He pulled himself closer, his palm resting on her rib cage. “Tell me if I commit anything untoward.”

“Untoward and Gale Dekarios; I don’t believe those words have ever fallen together, have they?” She felt one of his hands slip under the hem of her shirt, the other continuing around her back above the cotton.

“In my youth, I was quite the charmer. Many a game like this was played. Wine, poetry, the exploration of bodies quite the regular pastime.” He felt around her abdomen, his mind losing focus on the aim of the game, his finger tracing under her breast lightly.

She gave a soft hum with the sensation of his finger stroking her. “I get the impression it’s been some time, though.”

A light scoff was released from his parted lips, ones that breathed so gently against the warmth of her neck. “Since I had the opportunity to play such a game?”

“Since you explored a body that was not was formed by starlight.”

He took a moment to pull back and look at her, regaining his senses, his palm removed from under her shirt, a brief sobering of his mind. “Hm, you’d be correct.”

She looked at him apologetically, a slight dip in the mood not her intention. She thought over her words, trying to regain the playfulness, trying to fan the flames of desire that burnt as brightly as their own campfire. “That would explain why you’re so cold in your search.”

The glow of his dark eyes brightened with yearning, his goddess forgotten once again, for the one sat in front of him. He took his hand from the behind her and lowered it to the base of her back, his finger dipping under the leather that lay beneath. His other hand was placed firmly on her thigh, a slow clenching motion as it travelled upwards in search of its target. “Inform me if I am getting any warmer.”

“I thought the aim to win would involve not assisting you.”

“Hm, you’d be correct. I guess I’ll just have to work off how you react to my touch, then.” One palm lowered itself further down in between her thighs, the other sinking deeper into her trousers and cupping the soft flesh that lay there.

Tav’s involuntary gasp was enough for him to lean into her, his lips so close to her neck that he could almost taste her.

“You need to look so closely?” She whispered at his behaviour.

“Not look, my dear. Smell.” He wasn’t sure if he was in search of the scent of the salt water, or if it was the subtle aroma of rosewater that he was more interested in. An unintended kiss was placed upon her neck, her sigh permission enough for his hands to continue their travels. The warmth of her legs clouded his mind, mixing with the wine, and a hunger drove him forward, both of them forgetting the game and the search for the shell.

Neither heard the footsteps that approached them, as their hands explored one another, as their lips joined in a mesh of a wine touched kisses. The intentional kick of a pebble across the grass towards them went unnoticed under breathy gasps of wanting.

Astarion’s voice purred out, a jeering at the behaviour he was witnessing. “It’s about time you two finally stopped dancing around each other.”

Gale quickly pulled himself from Tav’s body, his ability to act casual in the situation failing him miserably. “It’s not how it appears. We were merely indulging in a spot of…” His words abandoned him, the sight of Tav patting down her shirt and stroking her legs distracting him.

Tav blushed, her eyes wide at the appearance of the vampire who’d crept up on them. “I think there’s been a little too much wine for tonight. Thank you for the evening, Gale.” She grabbed her pack and before Gale could stop her, made a dash for her tent, the embarrassment at having been caught in such a compromising position too much to endure.

Astarion approached the wizard, a crunch released as he stepped on an unfamiliar object. The fragments of a conch shell lay under his boot, some distance from the log both Gale and Tav had shared. “Darling,” he let out with a sigh. “Is it all wizards, or just you that cannot woo a woman normally?”

[raviollies]

Theta is an incredibly old Hag having been able to survive for a millennium, her true age unknown as she herself stopped counting. Thus amongst Hags, not only does she rank as a Grandmother but a very powerful one at that, her only misfortune having been the last of her coven, the group having cannibalized itself in a struggle for power.

Such old Hags exist but are a rarity, and in some isolated pockets of rural areas they are worshipped as deities of the natural cycle of decomposition and as the group for life. Though this practice is few and far between and generally discouraged in favour of the standard pantheon and generally labeled as a false or old god. Their domains consist of ancient forests older than civilizations, not unlike Silvanus, though where they differ is that the Fae have a propensity to grant wishes and desires, for a price of course, rather than keeping a distance for the sake of balance (Often times this involves body parts [ a la what Auntie Ethel does in BG3, where they would be granted sight or hearing through your body] or living beings).

Theta's reasoning for pursuing Blythe is nothing special - she was simply seeking out Elven women with a potential, ones that have not awakened or honed their magical skills as to be molded and influenced (She sees it as teaching a chick to fly).

Like other Hags, Theta believes in the obscenity of love; patron of obsession and possession. She encourages Elven mages to cannibalize their lovers - and is staunch in the belief that consuming another grants their power. Whether or not that belief is fact or fiction is dubious.

[christian-oc-tournament]

Please vote based on the picture AND the description!

Cusick Weisflog [Magic and Cannons @thedailyvio]

Cusick is a disease mage, and the first of his kind in his world. Through sheer determination and years of work, he developed a staff capable of creating diseases from nothing. Rather than patent and sell the technology for a profit, he decided to sell his services to his country and employ it for the purposes of war. Despite his desire to be the envy of the world, he tends towards isolation. He lives in a hut in a swamp to ensure nobody can contact him or disturb his work. Despite his staff being his most impressive piece of work, his real pride lies in the rats he’s been breeding and modifying since he was in his early teens. He has a horde of them, each the size of cat, carefully training them and seeing to their health. Cusick is easily described as narcissistic, motivated mostly by the hope of recognition and enduring spite. He believes people mostly ignore him out of jealousy or stubborn refusal to admit they were wrong. He considers humanity to be of little value, but he is clearly the best of them, so it would only be right for him to be acknowledged! He doggedly spends years of his life in the pursuit of this alone. He is well into adulthood by the time he makes his first real friend who challenges much of his worldview by being the exception to every rule he’s constructed in his own mind.

Connell [Strahliana @egglygreg]

Conell is twenty three and has trained in combat since he was very young. From 15 he was a member of the city guard. His father Casimir had great hopes for him being appointed to the official position of Hero of Strahna, and put enormous pressure on him to achieve that goal. Unfortunately for Conell, Ahleri finds the legendary Hero's Bracers that were lost for 150 years and she is automatically appointed to the position instead. His father is absolutely furious about it, and sets Conell up as Ahleri's rival, convincing his son to pretend to be nice to her but undercut her at every turn. Poor Conell tries to be competitive and adversarial towards her to please his dad, but his nature is too friendly and he ends up one of Ahleri's closest friends. Conell is pretty dorky and goofy, and he gets along well with basically every person he meets, and is deeply empathetic and compassionate. Despite his easygoing nature he's a formidable fighter and tends to be good at anything he tries. In contrast to his fighting prowess, Conell is terrible at dealing with conflict and cannot cope with people being mad at him, and has a lot of trouble maintaining boundaries. He is intelligent and has strong innate morals but is easily manipulated and a bit gullable. His actual passion is music and he loves his guitar, but since his father wanted him to be a fighter, that's what he spends most of his time on. When he becomes Ahleri's guard and gets to leave town he fully embraces his new freedom, and loves learning new practical skills from Ahleri. He kinda becomes a bit of a gremlin with his new freedom for a while, which annoys Zhahara and greatly amuses Ahleri. Zhahara is his cousin and the two get along well (although Zhahara does often find him exasperating, and feels she is the more mature one of the two). Zhahara desperately wants to chop off his mullet, but he loves it, and loves how much his cousin hates it. She's the only person he doesn't worry about pleasing, because he feels secure with her and knows she'll love and forgive him no matter what he does. If someone manages to make him genuinely angry, he is downright terrifying.

[paeliae-occasionally]

more rambles pls

After some deliberation I have decided that I will give you the full Laith’Zairel breakdown. It is a very interesting city and also the home of our boy Xaeren.

Ok then, let’s see…

This post has 3 parts.

Maps

Houses

History

Maps

These are a few sketches of Laith’Zairel in around 60 - 0 BD under the rule of the Edrelian empire. As you can see they liked their circles.

In Edrelian culture circles were seen as the ‘perfect shape’ so it symbolised beauty and status to have a city made of intersecting circles and towers.

Houses

Since Tollenic rule Zairel has been run by the houses.

They have served as merchants, feudal lords, advisors to the king of the day, multiple different councils, and in and out of a monarchy.

They gained and maintain power by controlling the routes of trade in and out of the city.

The major houses have risen and fallen through time but in the modern day the three main houses are Tai’Fell, Lysandri, and Hiresias.

House Tai’fell - The house of the king and the advisory council. They are in charge of lawmaking and enforcement. Tai’fell also controls large amounts of land around Zairel and the trade of most higher value goods. You can only become a member of house Tai’Fell by birth into a noble family of the house, by marriage, or by request of the king.

House Lysandri - Also known as the tliet magesterium or tliet mysteries. This house consists of mages and druids who are trained in magic undergo trials and education to become members of the house and gain it’s secrets. They gained their power through controlling the creation and trade of magic items in Zairel. Lysandri is one of the only mage groups that does not outlaw somni (non-arcane) magic but embraces it as just another source of power. They are run by the small council (group of 5 people who are all incredibly magically capable, voiced by Febras Ollati) The house honours lineage and magic bloodlines but also welcomes talented younger students from outside of the house

House Hiresias - The oldest of the major houses and the most underestimated. Xaeren is part of this house. Hiresias claims to earn their wealth through trade of many common goods and control of a great number of dockyards, and while this is true, they also control a much more valuable resource. It is also referred to as the Court of Whispers in reference to its control over city secrets and alleged association with the criminal underworld. They have also been known to act as a check and balance for the other major houses. It is run hypothetically by the proxy king Tirr hasken but he is actually commanded by ‘the hidden king’. The existence of the hidden king is a closely kept secret within the house and very few know of their existence. This makes the house incredibly hard to depose as they can quickly and effectively switch figureheads with little impact on organisation. Hiresias is not selective by birth but by skill and loyalty. New hidden kings are selected by the current hidden king and are trained by them. They also are taught by a variety of other people around the globe on a mandatory pilgrimage where they visit leaders and politicians to learn about the world in practice rather than just theoretical understanding.

History

Zairel was named after the Zairi people who lived there in ~2500 BD

These people were conquered by the Arinites in ~2150 BD then this culture evolved through multiple faction changes (Arin-Tollenics and Tollenics) Through these periods it is a popular trade city and a military center, the city was called Zahre while under Tollenic rule. Zahre controlled a city state and was a cultural centre in Tollens. (1400s - 1000s BD)

The Tollenics were breifly conquered by the Kore who later inhabit Korlan. (870 BD) They partially sacked Zahre and while most of the culture was preserved, it was in incredibly weak city struggling to rebuild itself.

In 815 BD Zahre is conquered by the Edrels who were beginning to control the southern coast. The city is renamed Zahrelat under Edrelian rule (lat meaning city) to show Edrelian control over the people. While a part of this empire the Edrelians respect Zahre culture and Zahrelat is a major trade post as the Edrels use a lot of sea travel for transport and war. It becomes the western capital of the expanding republic of Edrel and is once again flooded with multicultural travellers and treasure as it begins to regain some of its lost status.

In 500 BD mortal arcane magic begins to permeate the world and a faction within ‘Emerilai’, as it was known at the time, rebels and takes control of the republic beginning the Edrelian Empire. This faction was originally northern so common Emresian changes to add the city ‘lat’ as a prefix not a suffix. Emerilai become Laith’Emeris and Zahrelat become Laith’Zairel.

Under the new mage rule Zaireli culture truly evolves with the houses taking on more distinct roles and House Lysandri adopting magic as a way to move up the ranks into being a major house. Because of Lysandri’s early monopolisation of powerful magic, Laith’Zairel becomes less dependent on magic than other Laith’Edrels.

Over the years under Edrelian rule, Laith’Zairel reaches its first peak of power. They are the centre of trade for the most powerful Empires on the planet and essentially manage the resources for the entire western half of the empire.

While Emeris’s focus shifts to magical research, Zairel remains intensely practical with houses competing for trade routes and contracts. This means when the other mage cities start whispering about immortality magic, Laith’Zairel is largely unfazed and does not get involved.

In around 60BD Laith’Zairel starts to think of itself as a seperate people to the Edrelians having become such a world city. Their culture is such a mixing pot of prior Kaitere refugees or people from Illeran or of Tollenic or Kairel descent, that they don’t feel attached to the empire’s ideals anymore.

By 0 BD Laith’Zairel is already on the edge of declaring itself independent so when the Dissolution begins they just step back.

There is so much more about history, house wars, magestones in Zairel, The vying for power over magic post dissolution etc. but I can’t fit it in this post. The rest will be added as soon as I have time to type it up.

Tagging the tag list~

@thelovelymachinery, @an-indecisive-nerd, @the-letterbox-archives, @oliolioxenfreewrites, @winvyre

@happypup-kitcat24, @wyked-ao3, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @alnaperera, @dearunreliablenarrator

@rumeysawrites, @urnumber1star, @seastarblue, @thecomfywriter

[moltensmusings]

Team Shadowgear headcanons/rewrites for fun. Note, it'll be a bit lengthy:

Levy, Jet, and Droy all get orphaned by the same monster attack on their village. Some older fairy tail mages save them from the destruction and one of them keeps the group housed even until modern day.

The trio have a sibling bond and are intensely supportive of each other, capable of knowing which areas they aren't great at and who excells.

The placement of Jet, Droy, and Levy's guildmark was chosen by levy, but the name rather than just being decided by Levy, was heavily debated among them for about a year before they settled on it.

In celebration of them going on their first mission unattended they get ear piercings. Almost like a rite of passage/adulthood. This was a Jet request as he always wanted some. (Note this is why I always draw them with the same piercings.)

They specialize in curse breaking, historical notations, and general collection of knowledge. Very much not a combat based group, often they go with other mages/groups for support and recon.

Levy has a habit of hoarding books. Droy and later on freed are the 2 who help her go through and remake books/rewrite them to help avoid rot that comes with older transcripts she finds.

Levy knows how to cast magic through sign language which is an incredibly complicated skill and can make script magic unstable of the mage isn't practiced enough. It's quicker to cast but trickier to get right.

Jet has to get specific magical shoes that are reinforced and sturdy due to his magic constantly wearing them out. He got so bummed about this that it leads to a decent portion of the guild spending a week helping him figure out how to preserve what he has.

Droy is the only one in shadowgear who can handle spice. He makes his food far too spicy and has learned to make separate portions for Levy and Jet.

Droy is the most friendly and easy to get along with in the group. It's not that they others are unfriendly, more that they get lost in their own worlds at times and aren't as focused on proper human connection. Though there aren't many close friends of Droy in the guild.

Jet has a more questionable sense of humor, he tends to find comedy in really tense and dangerous situations.

Juvia joins them a few months after getting into fairy tail due to a growing friendship with Droy as she takes up gardening as a hobby to try and figure herself out.

Gajeel joins a few weeks later, he actually would've become a bit more friendly with Jet since Makarov would've had both of them working on information gathering. Also Juvia wanting to work as a team with gajeel again.

Juvia bought Gajeel his guitar he always uses and considers herself his number one fan since she supported him even before joining fairy tail. She will fight people on it.

There is a lot of bad blood and tension between Gajeel and Levy at the start. She outright hates the man and doesn't take it easy on him causing him to have to work overtime to prove his intentions to improve and change.

When Lily does join he initially feels intensely awkward due to this hatred and an understanding that he should not involve himself and try to quell things. He tends to just pretend he can't hear or see anything since he knows how best to mind his business after years of politics and service to nobles.

Levy agrees to let Gajeel help her during Tenrou mainly because he's the only teammate who won't take it easy/will push her and it's the first time there's a clear amount of trust between the two of them enough for it to almost be said they're friends.

Juvia gets approached by Makarov before tenrou Island to see if she'd actually be willing to test for S-class, and ultimately, she refuses. Makarov wants his kids to improve but is also supportive of them figuring things out on their own and taking their time.

Droy grows various foods for the guild and guides plants into reinforcing damages the guild sustains. Him and Laki work overtime during the timeskip to keep the guildhall standing and develop a friendship.

Juvia starts a clothing line during the timeskip. Mainly, it's for children, though she also has a fair bit of exceed customers. She also makes custom dolls when requested to match her patrons.

Jet works mainly on infiltration and information gathering over the timeskip. Becoming closer with Warren, Vijeeter, lamia scale and the trimen as they all search out the missing members of the guild. He avidly refuses to accept anyone has died. Chico also assists in the efforts by conversing with spirits and making entirely sure none of the members appear after death.

Droy is naturally fat but was dieting and unhealthy with trying to stay slim, his focus shirting to caring for the guild means he goes back to his natural weight and is the most content he's been in years in spite of his grief.

Juvia post time skip is one of the main mages that keep the guild standing due to just how terrifying her abilities are. While the guild does have squabbles with rivals who want to take over the territory, no one is keen to cross her and she often calls some rain to make a point if people get to bold in their threats to the guild.

Jet started learning languages over the time skip. He and droy had a rough understanding of some prior to tenrou Island due to Levy's insistence, but as he runs more missions he does begin taking it more seriously. He's nowhere near Levy's level or knowledge, but he has a few learned by the time the tenrou crew returns.

Juvia knows how to speak 3 languages. What would be the equivalent of French, Russian, and English.

Droy is able to clock almost any plant and explain it's good and bad effects. He gets very excited about it and often rambles.

Droy, Jet, and Juvia typically try meeting for meals at least once a week just to catch up and keep the bond tight. They meet more often then that when Jet isn't on missions.

There's a noticeable shift in Gajeel and Levy's dynamic post Tenrou. Nothing explicitly romantic at first but Jet, Droy, and Levy see the beginnings of something and start a betting pool on what they think will happen. Most of the guild gets involved.

Pantherlily is fantastic with kids and considered the guild babysitter by most. He's the most easily able to handle being rough and grabbed.

I know I have more but that's my list for now. Featuring a height chart:

[popatochisssp]

I don't think this has been asked before: what if the boy's very close human friend/partner wanted to learn magic from them? And showed at least a BIT of potential in being physically capable of doing so?

Oh that’s interesting!

I think some would definitely be more helpful with something like that than others…

Sans (Undertale): If you decide you want to be a mage, that’s great and he can’t deny he’s at least a little curious to see how it pans out for you, but as for teaching you himself… Well. He can probably help you out with some of the super-ultra-basics, but beyond that he doesn’t have much to offer. He��s got a lot of magic and knows how to use it, sure, but he’s something of a prodigy there, so he never really did a whole lot of actual learning or practice, he just…figured it out. Probably not the best for imparting that to somebody who’s starting at zero so you might want to learn from a better teacher. And one who's less lazy, because of course, he is also very lazy. But hey, he’s rooting for you!

Papyrus (Undertale): Oh fantastic, that’s amazing that you want to learn magic! Of course he’s happy to help, your training begins now! He’s super excited by the chance to help and teach you everything he knows—which is quite a bit, he’s very talented and the strength and sophistication of his magic has only grown over the years!—but it’s possible he might be a little too eager about it. It’s almost the only thing he’s interested in from the moment you bring it up, so you’ll probably have to be firm with him when you want or need time to do something else. He means well, he just wants to see you succeed, and it’s so much fun to show you how things work!

Sky (Underswap Sans): He’s totally flattered if you want him to help you learn, and determined not to let you down by being anything less than the best tutor! He’ll be very mindful of your time and energy and skill level, and be sure to check in with you a lot with how you think things are going. If there’s any downside at all, it’s that he doesn’t always know how to explain the things about magic that feel obvious and natural to him, but are confusing or alien to a human. He’ll do everything he can to get past those blocks, but there’s definitely going to be times where he’s stumped for how to convey it to you and has to fumble through a few tries to get it to make sense—or take a break and come back later, when he’s thought about it some more!

Paps (Underswap Papyrus): A little nervous and not entirely sure he’s the best person for the job, but heck, if you insist, he’ll do his best… He should be more confident in himself, though, he’s a pretty great teacher! He’s patient and thoughtful about how to approach different topics, and he’s definitely got a knack for making it make sense and relating his experience with magic to your perspective—you’ll probably be hearing a lot of unusual similes and analogies out of him, but they’re almost always coherent. And…he actually really likes being able to show you how it all works, it makes him feel a lot closer to you to be able to find a common understanding to bridge the species gap.

Jasper (Underfell Sans): Well… Honestly, he’s not a bad teacher, when he actually bothers to do it, but that’s the thing. You can say you want to learn from him and he won’t say no, but he’s not gonna take any initiative. He’s not giving lectures or sending you study materials or putting practice time on your calendar, you’ll be the one to have to come to him, with specific things you want his help with. Admittedly, he doesn’t think you learning magic is the best idea, but he won’t stand in your way if you want to take a crack at it, and if you want a little help from him here and there, sure, for you, as long as it’s nothing that’ll get you in too much trouble. (He’s not gonna teach you any red magic, don’t even ask.)

Pyre (Underfell Papyrus): You may live to regret this. He’s definitely on board with helping you learn and train your skill in magic—in fact, he’s a bit miffed you didn’t ask him sooner—but as far as teachers go, he’s…intense. He absolutely wants you to know how to use your magic, to the full extent of your capabilities, so you can be prepared to face any threat at your strongest! And in trying to facilitate this, he is very strict and insistent about regular practice and study to get you to your maximum potential, which is…not always a whole lot of fun. As far as he’s concerned, it’s not supposed to be, it’s meant to sharpen your skills and make you stronger, and if you’ve asked him to do that for you, that’s a responsibility he takes too seriously to let you slack off!

Mal (Swapfell Sans): Probably not a route you want to go down, in all honesty. He’s encouraging enough about the idea of you learning magic, be safe and take your time with it and all, but as far as learning specifically from him… Well, he’s not the best teacher, and he knows it. He’s a little too insistent and has a hard time being patient if something’s not clicking for you right away, and he’d rather you not have to deal with that from him. He can help you out with some basic concepts, and direct you to better resources—and once you’ve already got the gist of something, he’s available if you want someone to practice it with, but as far learning from him, it may be best to keep that to a minimum…

Rus (Swapfell Papyrus): Oh yeah, definitely, he can help! Maybe a little surprised you want to learn from him, but y’know, magic’s one of the few areas he’s both competent and confident in, so…sure. He’s a pretty good teacher, as far as that goes, very patient and willing to demonstrate and answer whatever questions you might come up with. Probably his biggest failing is not anticipating a need for context or…warnings, for unfamiliar things. He’s a ‘learn by doing’ kind of guy, so he tends toward practical lessons, just do it and then we’ll go from there. You’re almost guaranteed to be pulled into an Encounter before he explains what one is, or surprised with a blaster skull without being assured they’re just a construct first. Sorry for the heart attacks, he’s trying!

Slate (Horrortale Sans): Ah, he may not the best person for the job. He’s happy that you trust him and think he’s reliable enough to even ask, but he’s… His memory’s a little bit shot, and his thoughts tend to run on the slow side, which isn’t to say that he can’t help you at all, but he definitely shouldn’t be the one running this show. He’s just not gonna be able to keep on top on everything he’s told you and everything he hasn’t, making sure to follow up with you on things you asked about, remembering where you’re struggling and where you’re excelling, all that. If you want him to supplement your education by asking him some questions or with specific help here and there, that’s more than doable, he just doesn’t want to be in charge of it. As long as you or some other teacher is mostly doing the work and keeping pace, he won’t have to worry so much that he’s slowing you down or standing in your way!

Papy (Horrortale Papyrus): He won’t be prepared for you to ask, but he’ll be pleasantly surprised nonetheless! He’s eager to dive right into it with you whenever you’re ready, and he’s ready to put in as much effort as you want from him—he’ll definitely be expecting you to guide your own lessons and tell him what you want to learn, but he’s happy to take it from there and provide you with everything you need to succeed. He has nursing school in pretty recent memory, so he’s sympathetic to your situation as someone learning about something from another species that’s totally alien to you. He's always prepared to explain the little details that other monsters might gloss over since they’re just so second-nature. One thing about him is that every new thing you learn, no matter how small, comes with a reminder that you need to be responsible with this power, probably to the point that you’ll get sick of hearing it, but… he has to keep saying it, for his own peace of mind.

Ash (Undergloom Sans): It’s a little more than he’s probably up for…at least if you’re looking for a lot of demonstrations or someone to practice with. He’s got more magic than he has anything else, but that’s a low bar to clear with how little of the other stuff he tends to have—low energy, low strength, and low assistance for you… Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t take an interest, and there’s other ways he can help. He’s not half bad at talking you through how things are supposed to feel and how they’re definitely not supposed to feel, which is good for keeping you from overextending yourself before you’re ready, and if you show him something you’re having trouble with he’s good at feeling out the problem and giving you some pointers. At this, he’s a better a coach than a teacher, and coaches don’t play but they make pretty good cheerleaders on your journey to get stronger.

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): He’s all-in from day one, both honored and thrilled that you want him involved in your magical education. It’s probably verging on comical how totally invested he is, to the point of actually treating it like school—lesson plans, assigned readings, even quizzes and homework—but he really loves this stuff and he’s excited, it’s hard for him not to get carried away… As a teacher of magic, his strong point is more on the academic end of things, the theory stuff and what’s well-researched and understood. He’s a little weaker when it comes to the more finicky sides of magic based on emotion and more nebulous, less researched factors, but some of that is just the nature of the beast. Magic in and of itself is a tad nebulous and some amount of ‘We don’t know why’ just…has to be worked around. But he’ll make every effort with you!

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): He’s not really interested in the idea… If you want to learn magic, fine, more power to you, but he personally doesn’t want to be involved in it. Any way he looks at it, it feels like setting you both up for some frustration, trying to convey concepts largely unfamiliar to you through means only barely familiar to him, and there’s probably ways to get around it if you both work really hard at it, but… Yeah, he doesn’t really wanna. Feel free to show him whatever you’re learning if you’re excited about it, or if you wanna bitch about your teacher or something, but he’s gonna opt out of being that teacher. You’ll do fine without him, he’d probably only slow you down anyway if he’s being realistic.

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): You may not live to regret this (a joke [barely]). Though he’ll neither insist nor offer to teach you, he will if you ask, but not without warning you that you may not enjoy it. He’s not one to half-ass things, so if you want to learn from him, he’s going to make sure you do it properly, no cut corners, no skipped practice, and no missed study opportunities, there will be a schedule and he will hold you to it. Frankly, he teaches the same way that he puts patients through physical therapy—assertively and unbendingly, holding you to the high and exacting standard he’s set for you. Much like those patients of his, you’re likely to make a lot of very impressive progress very quickly, but you may not like him too much by the time he's done putting you through the ringer. Consider it carefully before deciding you want to do this.

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): Pleased to be asked, and certainly willing to do his best to help you, he’ll be a pretty good teacher, if a little overcautious. He wants you to be careful and safe above all, so there may be some times when you just want to try something to see how it goes, but he won’t want to let you, or you think you’ve got something down and want to move onwards and upwards to more advanced techniques but he thinks you need to practice the basics a little bit more first. His intentions are good, but he might stymie you a little and hold you back from progressing because of those good intentions, so be prepared to argue and reason with him if you have a different time-table. Aside from that, he’s patient and calm and very thorough with everything he does, so at least the quality of your education won’t be lacking!

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): Are you sure? Well, alright. He definitely doesn’t get why you want him to teach you when there’s gotta be a ton of better options, but he won’t argue about it much…and ultimately, he’s not bad at teaching. You may have to bug him a bit to get him to do it—he gets wrapped up in things he’s doing, liable to forget even if you had a standing appointment for it, so some amount of nudging and nagging and “You said we were going to X, Y, Z…” may be required to keep him a man of his word. That aside, he’s a little lecture-heavy maybe, has a tendency to run his mouth and take longer than is strictly necessary to explain a concept when he goes on little tangents in the middle before getting back to the point, but y’know… He gets there eventually, and he’s got enough magic and stamina to do demos and practice with you as much as you want.

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): You might not get exactly what you’re hoping for from him. He’s not unwilling to try to teach you, certainly a lot more patient and easygoing than he used to be, but…that does come with its own drawbacks. He’s not the most disciplined these days, as a person or a tutor, and that means any training he can give you will probably be sporadic and not the most focused. There’ll be lots of veering off topic, getting distracted, taking breaks and not getting back to it for awhile, and broadly the sense that this isn’t a very high priority for him; that he's not taking it all that seriously. If you aren’t either, or if you are but don’t mind the cavalier attitude to his part in your studies, then no problem, but if you’re looking for a more stringent lesson plan…look elsewhere than him.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): Yes, of course he’ll teach you, that sounds like a good idea, you should know these things, if you’ve got the capacity for it. He moves a little slow, taking all the time you both need to feel comfortable and safe with every new hurdle, but he’s thorough and has a knack for being prepared for every question, worry, and mishap you can imagine. You’re in good hands with him for the most part, just…don’t expect him to teach you how to fight with it, because he won’t. He’ll do the basics, little tricks, even how to defend yourself, really everything but how to attack. He just takes FIGHTs too seriously for it to feel safe, for either of you, so if that’s something you really want, you’ll have to find someone else. He’ll cover the rest, just…not that.

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): Sounds fun, sure, he’ll do what he can! Admittedly, he’s not much for the purely academic approach, finding it to be a little dry and missing large swathes of important stuff that you can really only get by feeling and doing. He likes the socratic method, so you can expect him to be asking you a lot of questions while you learn, and gently nudging you towards making your own conclusions, feeling out how magic works for you and where you want to go with it next. He’s also pretty good at working practice and learning new techniques into casual games or fun, spontaneous challenges—can you do this? wanna bet i’m better at that than you? hey, check this out, you try—to the point you might not even realize how good you’ve gotten until much later. It’s not madness, but there’s a method to it if you let him see it through with you!

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): Oh yes, please let him help you learn magic! This is a thrilling opportunity for both of you! …Which is to say, he’s maybe a tad too interested in this, getting to watch (and participate in!) a human learning magic, up close and personal. He’s going to want to know absolutely everything from your perspective as you start to pick things up—what it feels like to you, how you’re conceptualizing this, that, or the other, what’s easy and what’s difficult and why, and so on and so forth. If you don’t mind the probing questions, or are at least prepared to shut them down if they get to be too much for you, he’s a great help to you with tons of answers and reading material, and a nigh-unstoppable drive to problem-solve if you hit a wall at any point in the process. Just be prepared to rein him in as needed, if he happens to get too excited and forget you’re not a science project.

Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): He’s going to resist at first, having some mixed feelings about humans with magical affinities and abilities and debating with himself how much of a role he should be playing in this. Still…it is you, and that makes a big difference, so as long as you keep asking, you’ll wear him down in no time at all. Ultimately, it’s a good thing for both of you, for him because he’s actually pleased to have something meaningful he can pass along to you, and for you because he’s not a bad teacher at all. He is lacking a soul, which isn’t an insignificant part of magic, so there’s some things you’ll have to fumble with while he talks you through it as best he can by memory alone, but most everything else is easy for him to help you tackle, what with the combined magical power of nearly all monsterkind. You may not have had a lot of options for magic teachers, but of them, he’s a pretty good pick.

PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): Of course he’ll help you, you couldn’t have picked a better (or less humble) teacher! He’s extremely convenient for whatever your schedule is, since he doesn’t really sleep and is pretty much available 24/7 if you have a thought or a question or want to work something out. He also has a literally encyclopedic knowledge of pretty much any literature that’s ever been published about magic, from personal accounts and anecdotes to peer-reviewed studies, and if you don’t have the time or attention-span to do the reading yourself, he can pretty quickly condense it down to the key points in it. Still, as far as actually putting any of it into practice, you’re…kind of on your own. He doesn’t actually have magic of his own now that he’s digital, and though his memories are all technically intact, some of his sensory ones—especially ones for senses he doesn’t have anymore—haven’t transferred too well. He tends to falter and blank if you ask him to describe what certain magical things are meant to feel like, so…you’ll just have to muddle through that bit together as best as you can!

Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): Very willing and pleased as punch to help you learn magic, he can feel the potential in you and he’d love to be part of helping you realize it! Due to his nature and the way his mind works, he’s more inclined to focus on the soul and the ways in which it and your body and your thoughts act as a conduit for magical energy, working in tandem to direct that energy to do what you want it to do. His explanations of this abstract and ever-changing process, influenced by so many unknowable factors, tend to be hit or miss. Sometimes, the way he describes something to you lands perfectly and you know exactly what he’s talking about and how to make it happen for you with beautiful, precise clarity…and other times, you won’t get it at all and it’ll be complete gibberish to you until you go do some reading or get a second, less psychedelic opinion from someone else. Either way, he won’t take it personally, he’s only one guide along your path and just getting to walk it with you is a joy!

Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): You want him to teach you magic? Well, that could be interesting, he’s not opposed… Before anything, he’ll ask you to swear that you’ll never use anything he teaches you against a monster, not unless your life is at stake—but as long you promise, and as long as he believes you, he’ll teach you everything he knows. He’s a fantastic help and consistently makes time to help you study and practice, with a good amount of breaks and downtime in between to keep from getting burnt out or frustrated. He’ll even take into account that you may get sick of him being your tutor all the time and loop in some friends to help out every now and again, getting you some other perspectives and maybe helping you network a little. It’s only a matter of time before you’re a magic-expert—he believes in you, and he’ll get you where you need to be.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): You might not guess it to look at him, but he’s actually a decently helpful sort of guy when he wants to put the work in—and for you, of course he will! This is a great excuse to burn off some of his excess magic, doing any and every demonstration you could possibly ask for and more. He’s probably not going to be much help with any book-learning you might want to do, very hands-on and ‘just do it’ in terms of his teaching style, but he can talk through things pretty well on the fly if you’re having trouble, and that helps plenty. He will, however, have a tendency to consistently and wildly overestimate your capacity of magic, due to how high his is. It’s just hard for him to wrap his head around how little you have, and actually retain that for next time… Just be prepared to remind him of your limits when you’re tired…or if he trusts you enough, maybe he’ll let you borrow his.

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): Ah. Well. He’s…not very good, with magic. And he doesn’t have all that much of it to work with either. His build favors physical power and durability over anything else, and so did his training, so he doesn’t really have much experience to share with you that isn’t related to brute-force attack capabilities. …But maybe that’s a good thing? Maybe that puts you both at a more similar level than if he was significantly more advanced than you, and maybe you can learn more together? He certainly wouldn’t mind showing you the things he does know, and you could be his permission reason to start studying the other less-military applications of magic, so that he can help you if you’re struggling. And of course, the reverse would be true, if he struggles. Yes, this could be very good!

Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): You want him to teach you magic? Fine, but he has a laundry list of stipulations you’ll have to agree to before he starts. He practically wants a nondisclosure agreement out of you, for you to not tell anyone that he’s training you or that you have magic capabilities at all. The latter is mostly because he thinks it’s more strategically sound on all levels for you to keep what you can do a secret so it remains a hidden advantage for you if needed, and the fewer who know you can do things not every human can do, the safer you probably are—typical black-ops mindset. The former…well, more of the same mindset, just the ‘cover your ass’ part of it so that he can claim no knowledge or involvement in you learning what you’ll know when he’s through. Aside from the probably-not-entirely-necessary secrecy he insists on, he’s a very straightforward and no-nonsense tutor, fully capable of meeting you wherever you’re at and guiding you to higher proficiency with everything you need to know and nothing you don’t. If nothing else, learning from him will be efficient.

Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): He’ll give it a shot, but you might not get all of what you’re looking for. You’ve got the best chance of learning from him either while the novelty of teaching you magic is fresh, or if you find a way to incentivize him and make it worth his while to show you. He doesn’t have much of an attention span if he’s not interested in something for his own sake, and if he’s not interested, he’s liable to quit putting in extra effort as soon as it gets difficult. If you happen to not get something on the first try, he’s down to explain things once, maybe again if you press, but he doesn’t have a knack for re-framing so if what he said the first time didn’t make sense, eh… he doesn’t know what to tell you, just…try again, you’ll figure it out or you won’t, right? Bets, dares, and bribes all work pretty well at keeping him motivated, though—he can rarely resist a dangled carrot, and some kind of reward on the line makes him a lot more amenable to take on a challenge—so keep those tricks in your back-pocket if you’re really set on him being the one to teach you.

Kohl (Descendtale Sans): He’ll probably explicitly say no. He’s got some hangups about humans, especially the kind who dabble in magic, and even if it’s you—which he’s loath to admit makes a difference at all, but it does—even then, it still doesn’t make him comfortable with the idea of you having and using magic. Helping you develop it further and get even stronger with it, thinking about that makes him edgy and brings up some bad thoughts and memories. Still… if he can’t dissuade you and you start making a study of it anyway, he’ll probably end up getting involved and helping you a bit despite himself. He still doesn’t want to and doesn’t like it, but if you’re just gonna do it regardless, he’d at least feel better being in the loop and keeping an eye-socket on what you’re learning and what you might be inclined to do with it. A begrudging tutor to be sure, but he’ll keep you from blowing your own head off with supercharged magic at least. (Is that a thing that can happen? Oh no… well, maybe…sure, could be. Guess you shouldn’t play with it unsupervised, if you don’t know…)

Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): He’s more than thrilled that you asked, he’s delighted! This will be wonderful and he’ll be the best teacher ever, you won’t regret this! …Actual results may vary, but at least he’s enthusiastic. He’s very attentive to all the details of everything you want to learn and will discuss your goals with you at length before planning out how best to teach you all you could want or need to know. Which is a good thing, of course, but he can go in a little hard on it from time to time. He’s inclined to hand-hold you perhaps a little more than you actually need and may insist on continuing to explain something step-by-step even when you’re pretty sure you’ve got the gist already, or drag out a lesson or practice session longer than necessary even if you’re starting to get tired or frustrated. He just really enjoys being helpful, and having your attention, so he’s never eager to stop and lose it, and he may not realize without being explicitly told that you need a break to go eat or sleep or just do something else. Insist on the you-time that you need, though, and you’ll be fine!

[bunnyathy]

my people, my bkdk lovers i have such a huge hyperfixation on dungeon meshi rn what if… bkdk x dunmeshi ARGHHHi already made a whole au of bkdk in dungeon meshi’s world but its a yuri bkdk AHAHAha

so here’s a small premise of the au i made

YURI!BKDK X DUNGEON MESHI !!

its katsuki as an elf and she practices ancient magic secretly and is also one of the most skilled mage and fighter. she explores the dungeon with the bakusquad (+ ochaco lol) which consists of dwarf kiri, half-foot ochaco, ogre mina, tall men sero and denki.

katsuki is in the dungeon to be able to be king. she dislikes her upbringing and the culture she had with other elves so she ventures out to prove them wrong abt needing them and set to claim the dungeon when she heard rumours abt it.

at one point of katsuki’s many adventures through the dungeon, she meets a beastman named izuku who seems to be a hybrid of a bunny-like monster. although she was skeptical of this weird and very new beastman katsuki falls in love with her cute round eyes, freckles, small nose and her floppy green bunny ears. although despite the cheery and friendly front that izuku seems to always have, katsuki discovers her hidden dark past and her connection to the dungeon. the missing half of her bunny ear, and the scar on her forehead was evidence enough to see izuku has been through a lot.

they both didn’t get along at first. with katsuki’s brash and bold attitude with a high ego and confidence with her ability, and being a slight bully. and with izuku’s soft and kind personality but fierce and strong responses, with a hint of sarcasm. they clashed and fought with jealousy of each other’s lives; katsuki’s inferiority complex over such a peculiar and powerful species as izuku and with izuku’s mix of envy and admiration over katsuki who seemed to have it all when it comes to family and friends…

and oh yeah the meshi part,

mina, sero, and denki were the ones who insisted to eat the monsters and katsuki at first was extremely disgusted but after thinking of the reasoning and the convenience… she hesitantly agrees to eat and cook them.

she’s the chef of the group but ochaco and kiri are the most knowledgeable people about how to eat the monsters and cook them.

when izuku first found out they ate monsters she was excited because she never really thought eating her fellow monsters can be an option, but she slightly has a sinking feeling that she’s doing cannibalism…

to be continued!!

i already made a whole art abt this actually AHAHAH but i’m not done with it. its not colored yet… i just drew designs for bkdk,,, ill have to make some designs for the bakusquad

[ollietime]

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

About the drawing:

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

About Hilde:

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

[throughtrialbyfire]

𝐖𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 ♥

i'm on time again!!!! >:3 hoping to make this a habit.

tagged by the lovely @your-talos-is-problematic !!!!

tagging the amazing @thequeenofthewinter @orfeoarte @dirty-bosmer @viss-and-pinegar and @oblivions-dawn !!!!

this is a long snippet of the first draft for chapter 33 of Cycle of the Serpent! sleeping in dorms is proving more difficult than expected for the trio. <3

The only thing the College of Whispers had over the dorms in the Bard's College was that at least in the College of Whispers, it was quiet. Aptly living up to its name, the cynosures shrouded in mystery held silence as priority at certain times of day, unless one was practicing the skills learnt during the day. Wyndrelis could say he missed it. One could not expect everyone to be totally and completely quiet, but at the very least, the dorms were often granted silence. The Bard's College, on the other hand, could never hope to say the same. It did not help that the kitchens were so close to the dorms, where a large hearth crackled and spat. It did not help that the year-round students practiced their instruments long into the night. And it certainly did not help that he couldn't hear the breathing of another two elves beside him. The noises of sleeping in an inn had never bothered him. It was something he'd gotten used to over the years. Spending so many of them on the road meant that the conversations, the laughter, and the playing of a traveling group of bards had become a normal sound to him. But the discordant sounds of several different songs played in several different locations cracked against his skull and thundered through his temples. He would adjust, hopefully. But for now, he bent his pillow over his ears, and stared to the wall. He made vein attempts to push away the thought of how cold the bed was, how small, how empty.

Wyndrelis did not like to be touched. He despised any attempts to hug him, and worse, if someone did and would not let go, he would not hesitate to give them a hard shove to get them off of him. But the minor distance between himself and his two companions in the beds they had shared, while at first deeply uncomfortable, settled into normalcy to the point that not being able to reach behind himself and place a hand on one of them left the room colder than if every hearth in Solitude were smothered. He would adjust. Still, he turned on his side, wide awake against his will and stared to the wall that met him all too closely. How many weeks had the trio been on the road? How many combined days? How much time had he spent drifting off to the dying sounds of an inn at night, to two other's breathings, to two other's whispers for Athenath to give back some of the blankets, for Athenath to grumble a response about how cold their back was, for Emeros to scoff and tug in a way that pulled them from Wyndrelis and left the mage sitting up in dazed, groggy confusion. Apologies and laughter and Wyndrelis grinning, before he gave the blankets a hard tug until they barely covered the other two, the rush of cold air raising bumps on their skin as the other elves scrambled for more warmth. Then they were up, and talking, and then back to sleep as soon as they could with a candle blown out and the sounds of movement below. His chest sunk. He pulled the blankets over himself and up to his nose. He would never have to worry about blanket thieving and being kept awake. That didn't mean he couldn't miss it. The Dunmer closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, the noise of instruments set aside in slow succession through the dorms sealing the silence around him, and while he did not dream - as he often did not - the flicker of the light under his door carried itself far into his sleep.

Morning roused him from bed with deep apprehension. Did he want to get up? There was nothing the trio had to do, and nowhere they had to go, so did it matter when he woke or what he did with the time he had? But the thrum of life throughout the dorms caught him on its hook, the sounds of people milling about in the nearby kitchens, and even if he wanted to, it would be impossible for him to fall back into unconsciousness now. He greeted the cold that swept over him as he tugged his blankets off with about as much joy as he could muster, which was none at all, currently. He pulled his clothes on in a hurry and combed through his hair with his fingers, his reflection in an inkpot barely doing any good to guide him. But he saw that he was at least half-presentable, and pushed open the door to his dorm. There stood Emeros and Athenath, the Bosmer's hand raised to knock on the door, the Altmer's reaching for the handle, as if they had been disagreeing over which way to wake him. He blinked, brows raised as he observed them both. Neither looked as though they had slept too well, but were still alert, dressed, and ready for the day. He shifted his gaze from one to the other, and entertained the notion that maybe all three of them had been plagued by the absence of the others. Not likely, he scolded himself, and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"What do we do first?" He asked. Athenath grinned. "Let's grab breakfast, then maybe walk around the town?" The Altmer suggested. "We haven't exactly had a chance to enjoy being in Solitude, so…" "That sounds alright," Wyndrelis shrugged, pushing his door closed behind himself. "I should like to peruse the local apothecary. I've got a few things I would like to pick up, if that's alright." Wyndrelis looked to Emeros as he spoke, the Bosmer's words as clipped and calm as ever, but an undercurrent of sleeplessness ran through them like a dark river. He turned to Athenath, whose usual restlessness had been replaced in the night with a mild shuffling of feet, or fidgeting of hands, running a thumb nail under the other nails on his opposite hand. "I'm sure we can do that," Wyndrelis managed a chuckle, Emeros' features lightening as he moved towards the kitchens, ready to begin the day properly.

[cyanide-latte]

The Anatole Siblings (a semi-brief overview)

Making their home in Fleur City, these three young aristocrats are the great-grandchildren of the elderly Mme. Anatole. Their mother came to live with her grandmother prior to the children being born, and so the three have only ever lived with their great-grandmother, mother, and eventually their stepfather when their mother remarried. Mme. Anatole was the last mage of her line for many years and became overjoyed when her great-grandchildren developed magic. She spares no expense to ensure the three of them will grow up to become capable mages, gentlemen and lady.

Marianne Daphnée Anatole

Nickname: Mari

Oldest (by 16 months) but won't correct the misconception that she and her brothers are triplets (because that can come in handy)

Constantly chastising her brothers

Very spoiled (but not spoiled rotten, there's a difference, thank you very much)

Somewhat haughty demeanor but she's quite sweet underneath

Attends a private all-girls' academy that focuses on raising its students both as elegant ladies and capable young mages (I've decided it's called Dame Rose's University For Young Ladies, loosely inspired by the Enchantress who cursed the Beast, but idk about finer details beyond that)

Much as she does prioritize becoming a proper lady, she also can be quite rough-and-tumble, a fact her stepfather is proud of and encourages

Loves horseback riding and can do riding for shows, she'll sit sidesaddle and everything, but she's also training in stunt riding and practicing utilizing her magic while riding

Undecided on what she wants to do with her life

Polyamorous and determined to grow up and have many great loves whom she can lavish with all the affection she has to offer

Toussaint Éloi Anatole

Nickname: Tea

Second-oldest, and twin to Bertrand

Attends Royal Sword Academy

He and his brother convinced their great-grandmother to let them enroll at RSA rather than Noble Bell College

Boisterous, slightly arrogant but very straightforward, generous, good-natured and extroverted

Paints in his free time. He's not exactly skilled as an artist but he knows this and still chooses to express himself through it

Has a deep regard and respect for any artist of any kind, no matter what their art or craft or trade is. The sort of noble who would be a great patron or benefactor, and he does hope to one day be an official patron to many great artists, so that he can lift up and support the people who can do amazing things he can only dream of.

He boxes, and a lot of his stocky build is indicative of his muscle.

Slightly naive but honest view that everyone around deserves kindness, support and more than just the basic necessities, they deserve to live comfortably. The most likely to debate with his peers about this.

Deeply concerned with fairness and sportsmanship

Asexual but is open to the idea of a romance

If he were attending Night Raven College, he would be sorted into Heartslabyul

Bertrand Ernest Anatole

Nickname: Rand

Youngest but somehow has Oldest Sibling vibes AND Middle Child Syndrome, twin to Toussaint

Attends Royal Sword Academy

Acts like he can't stand his brother and sister but will absolutely make anyone who hurts them regret doing so

Introverted and is not quick to offer his thoughts, and he can be quite snappy when he does.

Unlike his brother, he's a skilled musician on the piano and while he appreciates natural talent in others, he holds a much deeper regard for anyone who hones their skills through hard work and constant, patient effort.

He values cleverness, wisdom, and keeping a realistic view of the world.

While he shares his brother's thoughts of everyone deserving kindness, support and the chance to live comfortably, he's focused less on espousing the ideal in discussion and trying to actually put change into action, and he's not keen to be in the spotlight while doing so (though he does light up when others express appreciation for what he does.)

Skilled fencer

Semi-closeted bisexual with a heavy preference towards guys (he's known this about himself since he was young)

If he were attending Night Raven College, he would be sorted into Scarabia

A special thanks to @tixdixl , @simons-twsted-children , @inmateofthemind and @ramshacklerumble for helping me figure out what their names were going to be!

Taglist: @elenauaurs @blithesharem @rainesol

@thehollowwriter @theleechyskrunkly @distant-velleity

(let me know if you want to be added to the taglist for my TWST OCs!)

[the-golden-comet]

✨OC Interaction Tag🪽✨

Thank you for tagging me here, @illarian-rambling ! ✨

Your OC: Astra

Astra DuClaire is a 25 year old human witch with vitiligo and a trademark ribbon coat she wears everywhere. She grew up on a debtor's farm and has worked her ass off to learn magic to support her family, even if she wasn't allowed to get a true university education on account of her low birth. This has given her a bit of a chip on her shoulder. From the outside, Astra is supremely confident, bordering on arrogant. She sings the praises of her infallible magic at any opportunity. This is a cover for a deep well of insecurity. Astra loves magic, but she's been told so many times that a debtor's daughter like her will never be a true mage that she's internalized that attitude, believing at her core that all her prized skills are flawed. Other than that, she's mouthy, with a crude sense of humor, and a deep desire to help people even if they're total strangers. Like all mages, her curiosity brings her to places most would never go. She also tends to act before thinking things through, probably on account of the adhd. This can result in her saying things she doesn't mean or even causing violence she didn't intend. Her hobbies include magic (duh), mechanics, and embroidery. Astra loves to sew and often incorporates runes into her designs. She is demisexual, but who needs a relationship when there's adventure to be had and massive amounts of emotional obliviousness to cloud your perception!

My OC: Tenshi

Tenshi is a 431 year old celestial archangel (still a youngster. Translates to 20 in Earth Realm), son of the sun goddess Amaterasu. One of the powers bestowed upon him during the immaculate conception was the Gift of Raiden—so, he is attuned to lightning. His brothers, the Archangels, were tasked with training Tenshi and honing his righteous power in order to protect the Earth Realm….but the methods of the Seven Archangels were a bit….harsh.

Tenshi, finally growing impatient with his lack of progress, escapes the Heavenly Realms to hide on Earth from his brothers. Donning a mortal disguise, he lands in a futile forest in Japan, hitting just about every branch on the way down (he’s fine). Now, finally a “human,” he is free to explore the Earth Realm, practice his powers in secret, all while trying to maintain a low profile so his brothers don’t find, catch, and drag him back to the Heavenly Realms.

How they’d interact

I feel like Tenshi and Astra would have a lot in common with their channeling of magic and the cosmos. Tenshi is very soft spoken and likes to follow leader and confident personality types, so he would be more than happy to listen to whatever Astra says and has planned. Their deep desires to help others, even total strangers, means they would be the perfect justice team.

He may not always understand Astra’s crude sense of humor, but he’s used to it with his housemate Itazura. Astra may grow annoyed at his naïveté, but their good hearts will outshine any irritabilities they may have with each other.

Thank you as always for tagging me! Going to leave this one +open for anyone wishing to hop aboard the Tenshi train! 🪽✨

[whitegoldtower]

Making a sick new Skyrim OC.

Alak’niss Rilynoth, the Arachnomancer and Champion of Mephala.

A loose relation to the once noble House of Dagoth, House Rilynoth’s sons were commonly raised to become either acolytes of Mephala or trained to become Morag Tong, whilst the daughters were carefully poised to become formidable house matrons.

Alak’niss was born female, his wild sorcery incredibly potent from birth. He was head of House Rilynoth, being the first born of his siblings, and was very carefully taught the arts of subterfuge, manipulation and seduction. As such, he thrives wherever there is court intrigue.

His transition to becoming male was not, however, seen as disgraceful by the rest of House Rilynoth: instead, with Mephala as their main deity, his transition was seen as divinely artful ‘espionage’ weaved by the Prince, herself (divine intervention, so that he would not have been wasted on being sent to the Morag Tong or a mere temple like the other males in the family), and he was thusly considered ‘spider-kissed’.

Alak’niss’ sorcery was nurtured, and his proficiencies in Illusion, Alteration and Conjuration earnt him a place at the College of Winterhold, where he subsequently began experimenting with crafting his own spells.

(Some of the ideas I have for his spellcasting include: plunging rooms into darkness, casting psychologically damaging illusion spells (such as a variant of ‘frenzy’, wherein the target hallucinates the sensation of being covered in spiders (target will attack itself and anything near in a frenzied panic), and another that can be stacked on top of ‘darkness’ wherein he uses more illusion to disorient the target though duplicating any sound he makes in multiple directions (a variant of ‘fear’, similar to DnD ‘dissonant whispers’)), binding targets with magical conjured webs, using conjuration/destruction to fire urticating poisoned hairs at targets causing them to itch uncontrollably, shifting his shape (using alteration and illusion) to become a monstrously large frostbite spider, using alteration to gain a ‘sticky fingers’ effect which involves him being able to climb walls, and potentially even shift the gravity of a room through illusion and alteration.)

But this was not the main reason he was sent to Skyrim by his House; the main reason was to seek out Mephala’s artefact, using any and all means at his disposal to obtain it.

But his quest for power for House Rilynoth does not stop there; he seeks to overthrow Clan Volkihar and obtain immortality via using subterfuge, seduction and manipulation to destroy Lord Harkon from the inside, whilst gaining the trust of the other dunmer in the castle (Garan Marethi, Feran Sadri, etc.).

And he’s got his eye on Garan Marethi.

He spent a lot of time underground with the Falmer in the quest for Auriel’s Bow, and as such, I believe he learnt how to navigate the darkness as well as they do. When in Blackreach, do as the Falmer do. Despite having night vision as a vampire, he challenges himself to navigate Blackreach with his eyes closed, relying on his other senses. So not only is he a skilled mage, he doesn’t even need to rely on his sight to engage in combat.

The Dark Brotherhood want him so bad. Practically drooling over this guy.

He militantly aids other Dunmer in Skyrim, rallying the Grey Quarter, liberating Solstheim, getting on good terms with Neloth...

I would describe him as a rather small yet athletic dark elf, with a knee-length black braid, poison-green eyes with blood-red sclerae, dusky purple-grey skin, web-like tattoos and a masculine siren-like face. He’s almost always draped in black and plum silks, dripping with gold jewellery, and he smells like a cavern, incense and gleamblossom flowers (I imagine them smelling kind of like lillies?).

Anyhow, his highest stats would be in: Illusion, Alteration, Conjuration, Speech, Alchemy and Sneak, followed by one hand weapons (though he only really uses a dagger as a last resort, i.e when his magicka runs out).

Necromancers and vampires really thought they were the most sinister things to walk Tamriel.

(And now here’s a fucking GRIM and impossibly dark beat to go with the story)