#their traits their color associations their rooms how likely they are to kill etc etc

[emphasis-on-the-oopsie]

Someone ask me about my sides please

[cowardnthief]

Alright, I am curious. Why is Jonny Cade queercoded and what queer subtext was there in their relationship with Ponyboys? 👀

TW: mentions of abuse, violence, death, murder

also spoilers for the outsiders!! (i mean it is a 60 year old book, but still)

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OOH OKAY OKAY

(In all honesty, I could probably do a whole essay on this, but I'll keep it brief-ish.)

Bit of background on The Outsiders: It's a book written in the early 60s that focuses on the class divide between the rich Socs (Socials) and the working-class greasers (like, "hoods", criminals), or rather the people within each of those groups who don't feel like they fit into the binary.

Ponyboy is the protagonist of the novel. He and Johnny are both greasers and part of a gang with a few others, including Ponyboy's two older brothers and three other boys.

Let's start with Johnny. Johnny is extremely queer-coded in his own right. He's described early on as timid, shy, weak and maybe a little feminine. He's seen as the gang's "pet" and the youngest, despite being sixteen to Ponyboy's fourteen. His friends are very fond and protective of him. A lot of this behaviour comes from his trauma, being abused by his parents as well as beaten nearly to death by a Soc named Bob. However, it also falls into an archetype of stereotypical queer characters. Writing male characters in this way is a way of subtly telling an audience that they are queer. This probably wasn't done intentionally, but should be kept in mind.

Johnny's character development involves him becoming more masculine, almost. The final important act he does in the book is save children from a burning building. Ponyboy comments on the fact that he seemed braver, louder etc in that moment, all traits associated with masculinity, which is 1) a strange reaction to the situation, especially for Johnny, and 2) exactly the kind of narrative standpoint one would take to show that femininity (or queerness) is bad.

Now for Ponyboy - his queer-coding is more subtle at times, and a little different. He isn't timid or shy or scared or feminine like Johnny. (However, he does once say that he "didn't care too much for girls yet", but that his brother said he would grow out of it. This is particularly strange, considering he is fourteen already.) Early on, it's established that he feels like an outsider within his own group. He doesn't really feel like a greaser, or act like one. He likes things that greasers don't like. He watches movies, he reads, he likes to see the sunset. He considers himself different, or "other", and he feels as if he can't talk about it. His friends just wouldn't get it.

A large part of the book, in my opinion, is Ponyboy finding other "outsiders", like Cherry and Johnny. (Cherry being a Soc while Johnny is another greaser.) All three of them talked once, while at a drive-in, Ponyboy finding a particular connection with Cherry despite her not being the only girl there. They all have the same sense of feeling “other”, and not being able to talk about it for fear of being judged.

Now for Johnny and Ponyboy’s relationship, which...oh boy. Some of it is just scenes like this, which feel very queer, outright:

“‘Guess I look okay now, huh, Johnny?’

He was studying me. ‘You know, you look an awful lot like Sodapop, the way you’ve got your hair and everything. I mean, except your eyes are green.’

‘They ain’t green, they’re gray,’ I said, reddening. ‘And I look about as much like Soda as you do.’ I got to my feet. ‘He’s good-looking.’

‘Shoot,’ Johnny said with a grin, ‘you are, too.’”

Not to mention the whole chapter they spend literally just acting like a domestic gay couple while they’re on the run, just the two of them, from the police. There’s also this conversation they have while watching the sunrise in this chapter (which I’ll talk more about later once I get to the symbolism), in which they talk about being outsiders. Here are a few quotes from that:

“‘You know,’ Johnny said slowly, ‘I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before.’”

“‘Well, Soda kinda looks like your mother did, but he acts just exactly like your father. And Darry is the spittin' image of your father, but he ain't wild and laughing all the time like he was. He acts like your mother. And you [Ponyboy] don't act like either one.’”

“‘You [Johnny] ain't like any of the gang. I mean, I couldn't tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn't even remember that poem around them. I mean, they just don't dig. Just you and Sodapop. And maybe Cherry Valance.’

Johnny shrugged. ‘Yeah,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I guess we're different.’

‘Shoot,’ I said, blowing a perfect smoke ring, ‘maybe they are.’”

(Honestly, can my whole argument just be that one quote? “I guess we’re different.” // “Shoot. Maybe they are.” Queer stuff, huh?)

Later in the book, when Johnny is in the hospital, Ponyboy stresses again and again that he can’t think about him dying, that he can’t fathom a life without him. Everyone in the group is fond of Johnny, but Ponyboy acts like Johnny’s death would destroy him.

When Johnny is dying, he asks to see Ponyboy. His last words are to Ponyboy, despite Dally also being in the room. One of the other last things he does is write a letter to Ponyboy.

Johnny is also the first person Ponyboy runs to when his older brother hits him early in the book.

When Johnny dies, Ponyboy falls into denial, pretending and convincing himself that Johnny isn’t dead, because he couldn’t handle the grief. He says the reason that he doesn’t go insane with it, like Dally does, is because Johnny isn’t the only thing he loves.

This isn’t nearly all of it, but this post is already long as fuck, and I want to talk about some of the metaphors and symbols too.

Symbol #1: The hair

The is a more obvious one, as the author clearly intended it to be a metaphor, although probably not for something queer. When Johnny and Ponyboy go on the run after Johnny killed a Soc in self-defence, the two of them have to cut off their hair. This is obviously a big deal to them, especially Ponyboy, because they’re proud of their hair - it’s a symbol of the greasers, of rebellion, and it’s one of the last things they have that tie them with their gang back in the city. However, having Johnny and Ponyboy specifically cut off their hair feels like more of a symbol of them severing their ties to the greasers. They feel like outsiders within their own group already, and this is a way of showing that they’re leaving it behind, or starting to. (Shedding symbols of comphet, you know.)

Symbol #2: Sunrises and sunsets

Johnny, Cherry and Ponyboy, three characters who are outsiders within their own community, all spend time watching sunrises or sunsets. It’s one of the things that Ponyboy and Cherry bond over and talk about. Johnny and Ponyboy also watch a sunrise while they’re on the run. It’s a small thing that unites the three of them and becomes almost a symbol of their “otherness”, and thus, queercoding enters the chat. Also, the sunrise that Ponyboy and Johnny watch can symbolise the “beginning” of their relationship, as they start to see each other in a different light. 

Symbol #3: Gone with the Wind

When Johnny and Ponyboy are on the run, Ponyboy buys the book Gone with the Wind from a corner store. They read it together. The book is an idealised story of the southern, free, country life. Johnny makes comments about how the men in the book are charming and gallant and he admires them. The book symbolises both what Ponyboy and Johnny wish they could be, like happy and free and rich (and straight and masculine), and what they are, or what they’re starting to find with each other while in the countryside. When Johnny is in the hospital, he asks for a copy of the book to read. It’s one of his last requests. In my opinion, he asked for it both to remember Ponyboy and to escape to a reality where he wasn’t young and dying, to one where he was still with Ponyboy on the run, or one like in the book where none of this happened at all. The book is integral to their relationship.

Symbol #4: The poem

When Ponyboy and Johnny are watching the sunrise in the church, Ponyboy recites a poem by Robert Frost:

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf’s a flower,

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

And Eden sank to grief.

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

At the time, the two of them both say that they don’t understand the poem. When Johnny dies later in the book, his last words to Ponyboy are to “stay gold”. In the letter he wrote for Ponyboy, which Ponyboy reads later, he says that he now understands the poem.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid, everything’s new, dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything that it’s day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep that way, it’s a good way to be.”

Oh boy, there’s a lot to say about this poem.

First of all, the poem symbolises what Ponyboy gave Johnny - a new outlook on life. A lens with which to see more beautiful things. Johnny said that he hadn’t really appreciated sunsets or clouds before Ponyboy pointed them out to him.

Secondly, the meaning of the poem. When you consider Johnny’s interpretation, also taking into account what sunsets and sunrises etc. mean in this book, it’s possible that the “gold” phase is Ponyboy’s acceptance of himself. Ponyboy loves Johnny. He knows he’s different, and while he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, he’s happy with it in his own way. He finds other people like him, queer, like Cherry and Johnny.

However, the poem’s whole meaning is that nothing gold can stay. That’s the message we’re left with, even with Johnny’s insistence of “staying gold”. It could honestly be referring to an array of things - perhaps Johnny himself, or life in general (given the amount of death in this book), or youth. Obviously, this whole post is about the queer undertones in the outsiders, so one could argue that it’s about a queer youth experience, especially in the past - finding someone like you, someone you love, but it not lasting forever, and it being especially difficult to find again, given the circumstances.

In the end, Johnny dies, but he leaves Ponyboy with all the things that remind him of him - sunsets, sunrises, Gone with the Wind, stargazing. And ultimately, I think that’s the “gold” that the book is referring to.

[thebarkingraccoon]

Ask me about my V!

I’m working on some writing prompts... but while doing that, I figured I might see if people were interested in knowing things about my V! (got this list from a friend of mine, thank you Egg!) PERSONALITY PROFILE    1. People don't behave the same way all the time. In fact, they generally have a mask for every social group -- friends, family, business. Sometimes they have a different mask for different groups of friends. How does your character act around different people? How does their personality shift and change?    2. Your character has been brought to a party and promptly ditched. They don't have a ride back home. How does this work? How comfortable are they around all of these strangers? Do they interact?    3. It's kind of awkward - what subjects are likely to make your character hesitate, flush, stumble on their words, etc.?    4. Is your character more dominant or submissive to the people around them? Do they tend to follow others' orders and wait for people to give them instruction in life, or do they charge ahead and make decisions on their own?    5. What happens when your character doesn't get what they want?        6. What's the character's self-esteem like?        a. Does it change over the course of the story?    7. What's one flaw about themselves that they hate the most and wish they could change?    8. How does their personality shift when someone gets to know them well?    9. Do they prefer time alone, or with other people?    10. Is it easy for this character to tell someone "no" when they don't want to do something?    11. If this character were to describe their own personality, how would they do it?    12. Is this character aware of their flaws?    13. How has this character's personality changed from childhood to adulthood?    14. Who influenced this character's personality? Did they pick up any mannerisms or traits from someone?    15. Does this character express affection? Are they comfortable doing so?    16. When frightened, will the character "fight" or "flight"?    17. Does this character ever put someone else's needs in front of their own?        a. If there are only rare exceptions, why is that the case?    18. If this character suffered amnesia and lost all their memories, what would they be like?    19. How does the character's living space reflect their personality?    20. What's one thing that other characters wish they could change about this character's personality? EMOTIONAL PROFILE    1. How easy is it for your character to feel anger? What's usually a good tip off that they're experiencing it? (Physical reactions, movements of appendages, etc.)        a. Sadness?        b. Happiness?        c. Fear?    2. What state of mind is the character usually in?    3. Are there any emotions the character is particularly afraid of, or really resents having to feel?    4. How easily does this character trust their feelings with others?        a. Has anyone ever betrayed them?        b. How did it affect their ability to trust?    5. Can this character easily hide their emotions?        a. Do they find it difficult to express emotion, thus tend to look neutral?    6. How well can this character resist their emotions and impulses?    7. Does this character ever get violent (with others, objects, themselves) when feeling any certain emotions?    8. Has this character contemplated suicide?        a. Self-harm?        b. Physically injuring others?        c. Killing others?    9. Does the character have any triggers? Why do these things trigger them?    10. What would hurt this character so badly they couldn't even breathe?    11. What is guaranteed to make this character smile?    12. If the character could remove one emotion from their life, which would they choose?    13. If they're feeling upset, who are they likely to talk to for comfort? Or do they keep it inside?    14. How would this character cope with losing someone extremely close to them?    15. How does this character look and feel when crying?    16. If the character had to live out the rest of their life either perpetually angry, sad, or frightened, which would they choose?    17. Does this character tend to blame or punish others for their own emotions?    18. Is this character empathetic, and tends to be influenced by the emotions of others?    19. What is the strongest emotion they have felt?        a. What event caused that?        b. How would they react if that happened again?    20. If the character were to come face to face with their darkest fears in a nightmare, what would be the scene? PHYSICAL PROFILE    1. Based on the current diet and exercise your character has, where do you see them physically in five years?    2. How agile is this character? Can they dodge easily? Or are they clumsy?    3. Describe the muscle content of your character. Are they untrained and soft? Or lithe and powerful?    4. What kind of body fat percentage do you suppose they have?    5. Do they have any scars? Where did those scars come from, and how did they get them?    6. Describe some hairstyles your character has had in the past.        a. How about the present? What's their hair like now?    7. What are their teeth like? Any cavities? Root canals? Does their dentition ever hurt?    8. Do their arches ever fall? That's painful.    9. How much endurance do they have? Do they easily get tired during a workout?    10. How easily can they bear pain?    11. How long can this character sit still?        a. Do they shift a lot when sleeping?    12. What do their nails look like? Do they bite them?    13. How hairy is this character?        a. Arms?        b. Legs?        c. Underarms?        d. Eyebrows?        e. Everywhere else    14. What is the most imperfect part of this character's body?    15. Do they get cold easily?        a. How about overheated?        b. Seasick?        c. Do barometric changes in pressure affect them?    16. How do they react to getting an illness? Think about sore throats, achy bodies, headaches, stuffy noses, runny noses...    17. Is this character's body sensitive to touch?        a. Do they have any unusual erogenous zones?    18. How strong are this character's basic senses? Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.    19. If this character had to permanently lose one of their senses, which would they choose?        a. What if they could only have one sense, and had to lose the others?    20. Does this character have any unusual limbs or physical features? PREFERENCES AND PEEVES    1. What's the state of your character's kitchen? What kind of foods do you find in it? Is it... clean?    2. If they could only eat one type of food for the rest of their life, what would they choose?    3. What kind of clothing does this character like wearing and why?    4. How does this character feel about piercings?        a. Tattoos?        b. Dyed hair?        c. Revealing clothing?        5. What's something that turns this character on?        a. And what's a definite turn-off?        b. Do they have any kinks?    6. How does this character feel about animals?        a. Would they want any pets?        b. What animals are their favorite?    7. What type of movie is this character most interested in watching?    8. If this character could master a skill instantly, which would they choose?    9. Are there any behaviors that other characters do that irk this character?        a. Does the character ever voice their annoyance?    10. Would this character rather create something or destroy something?    11. What kind of comedy does this character prefer? Toilet humor, vulgar, slapstick, morbid, etc.    12. If they could stay at one age forever, which age would they choose and why?    13. If the character could only wear clothing of one color, which would they choose?    14. Describe the character's favorite possession. Where did they get it, and why are they so attached?    15. What is the character's favorite weather?    16. Do they prefer sweet, salty, sour, meaty, spicy, or neutral tastes?    17. Would they rather sleep in a cold room or a warm one?    18. Are there any hobbies this character absolutely hates and would never want to do?    19. What's the easiest way to annoy this character?    20. Are their interests and likes socially appropriate? ALL ABOUT HISTORY    1. Describe a scenario that has impacted your character and caused them extreme happiness.        a. Fear?        b. Disappointment?        c. Depression?    2. What is the character's first memory?    3. Has the character ever experienced deja vu? Do you happen to know why?    4. Sensations are powerful things, and often certain scents, sounds, touches, etc. can invoke memories strongly associated with them. Which have imprinted in your character's mind?    5. How'd they get along with their parents and/or other relatives?    6. If your character had to choose one friend they've valued over all others, who would it be?    7. What's the worst injury they've ever gotten?    8. How many places has this character lived in? What stands out most about those places to them?    9. If the character could erase one memory from their mind, what would it be?    10. What was the character's economic situation?    11. What are the character's three clearest memories?    12. If the character could go back and speak to a younger version of themself, what would they say?    13. If the character could go back and choose their sex at birth, what would they choose?    14. Describe the character's love life throughout the years.    15. How did the family that raised this character influence them?    16. If this character could "unmeet" someone in their life, who would they choose?    17. If the character could choose different parents for themselves, who would they choose and why?    18. Does this character feel guilty about anything in the past?    19. If the character were asked to associate an adjective with different stages of their life, what would they choose and why?    20. If the character could choose to have themselves born at a specific time period, which would they pick and why?

[karui-kyofu]

Mobile Friendly BNHA Verse Muse Info

Under read more because it’s long.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Full Name: Kurai Amayo

Hero Name: Underworld

Age: 15-16

Gender: Male

Orientation: Pansexual

Species: Human

Occupation: Student

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: Silvery almost white, worn kind of messy, and usually a bit unkept but somehow it still USUALLY looks good.

Eyes: Pure gold in color, sometimes seem to have catlike pupils but other times it seems to have been a trick of the light.

Complexion: Pale as hell. Constant dark circles under his eyes.

Height: 5’9

Weight: 130 lbs

Build: Slender, almost seeming overly skinny, but he’s healthy enough.

Scars: Several. Too many to really specify where. 

Piercings: Double ear piercings (the lobe) (I ignore the one for his faceclaim that has his neck pierced too. Kurai just has his ears pierced.)

Face claim(s): Kadoc Lemlupus

BACKGROUND

Ethnicity: Japanese

Parents: Currently Unnamed parents, both villains (Open to fleshing out some info about them though if needed)

Siblings: Unnamed, two, a brother and sister (also both villains, or eventually will become them).

Pets: Fish

Education: UA Academy

Languages: Japanese, English

Abilities: Nightfall (vampiric + light manipulation) One from each parent; It’s not exactly a void, but he can essentially make an entire area around him within a certain range so completely dark that no light can pierce through it. It also somewhat muffles sound, since it’s one of those tangible yet intangible sorts of blackness. It’s heavy, and thick, but can’t be touched or cut, or dissipated (though if he is killed or knocked unconscious it vanishes).

The second half of his ability (or more accurately his second quirk, from the other parent) is more straightforward, giving him vampiric like physical boosts (some increased strength, speed). Permanently boosted because of his quirk (even when speed and strength are not): Sight and hearing (to a small degree).

Summarized Personality Traits: Shy and awkward but friendly, somewhat low self esteem, difficulty trusting others but wants to, constantly afraid people will shun him for his parentage. Seems antisocial, but really is just not the greatest with people. Likely keeps to himself mostly, or hangs around near people but never WITH them unless invited.

Other Important details to note: Most people have probably never seen his face properly because of his light sensitivity issues, and the fact he wears hoodies and sweatshirts with a special sheer face covering to minimize light. He does take it off sometimes though, and will reveal his face if asked to.

Also it's not due to his quirk, more his personality (he is often almost deathly quiet) and just kind of a natural thing from a number of factors, but he has kind of a diminished presence and tends to not be noticed unless he speaks. Some more observant people though will likely be more aware he is there. But it's part of the reason why he sometimes seems to suddenly appear out of thin air. He was probably already there, people just didn't realize it.

More detailed background information (and in depth personality and quirk info):

Kurai was born as the child of two villains (not giving them names currently, and they’re not meant to be any currently known villains). Neither were very important, but despite his parents alignment, Kurai never really took to the whole villain sort of lifestyle (he’s far too big of a softie), and eventually he ran away, and ended up applying to U.A., and managed to get in.

He does have difficulties still in this verse with being in bright places due to his upbringing (he was raised in mostly dark places), and almost always hides himself in a dark coat or hoodie, his favorite and most common ones having a sort of sheer black mesh covering the face to help with his light sensitivity, so most people have never seen his face properly without it being hidden in shadows. He’s not the greatest with people, tending to shy away from them. He’s also very skittish about being touched, and tends to keep to himself. He’s pretty convinced that if people find out his parents are both villains, that he will be shunned, and so he keeps it to himself. The school is aware though of his parentage and he had to go through extra steps to prove he wasn’t a villain himself before he was allowed to properly apply. 

Appearance wise, he’s actually decently attractive, if a bit disheveled, apart from the constant dark circles under his eyes. Messy, rarely brushed silvery colored hair, and vividly golden eyes, his pupils sometimes seeming almost catlike, though it might be a trick of the light, or a manifestation of his quirk. He’s also got a little bit of an unusual slight point to his ears, and they sort of stick out weirdly, almost like a little elf.

His room is kept nice and dark, and all his lightbulbs have been replaced with blacklight bulbs, which are some of the only lights he can tolerate consistently, so his room has a rather eerie glow. Most of his belongings have some sort of glow factor to them (lighting under his bed, one of those blacklight glow fish tanks, lava lamps, etc), because he just really likes that sort of glowing, blacklit look. It’s also soft lighting so it’s something his eyes can tolerate.

Kurai has some unique quirks in the sense he got one quirk from one parent, but he also got a second one that sort of mutated from his other parent, so it’s not quite the same as theirs. Somewhat vampiric abilities associated with his tasting blood (rarely used because he hates it, but it boosts his strength and speed some), any kind of blood, and any amount, even a drop, for a short time. But more commonly, he has an ability having to do with light manipulation, causing the area around him to be engulfed in total darkness, as if his opponent has been transported into a void. Which is true in a sense, as some aspect of his ability seems to muffle sound as well, covering his movements when he’s in battle. If he uses both of his quirks, he can be a formidable opponent, but he’ll never be as powerful as some of the other heroes out there. His night vision is amazing, though his daytime vision a bit less so, unless he has one of his special hoodies on. His vision in general is a little sharper than most, and his hearing is also enhanced a little, courtesy of his quirk, but both are only slightly better than the average person, and not anything significant. 

As for downsides to his quirks, his vampiric abilities tend to torture him more emotionally rather than having a physical downfall, though he can sometimes get tired and lethargic after his ability fades. His light manipulation ability has a currently limited range, as he’s still learning fully how to control and expand it, but currently he can basically black out an area around him within about 40 feet if he pushes himself. His void type ability also can be bested by someone who is able to sense body heat or movement by means other than sight or hearing. 

As far as his actual personality, he’s actually really friendly if someone makes the effort to get past his fearful, antisocial seeming exterior. He actually really wants to be included in things, but he’s just really not sure how to go about it. He doesn’t see himself as someone that others would want to be friends with, because he grew up surrounded by villains who treated everyone like they were replaceable and everyone only cared about themselves. He’s almost far too nice for his own good, and he definitely has to work on his confidence in both himself and his abilities. He cares a great deal about those around him, but he won’t say anything most of the time unless presented with a situation he feels he has to. It most likely will take a little effort to get him to open up to others, and a little bit of persistence. If he does speak, he tends to speak softly, unless startled or frightened, and when afraid of something, his instinct is to hide in the closest dark little safe space he can find (such as under a table or beneath a bed). He absolutely hates bullying though, and when he feels confident enough, he will speak up, despite his fear of others, and stand up for people if he catches someone bullying another student.

He is slightly mentally unstable, hearing whispers sometimes in his ears, about how he isn’t good enough, how he should just give up, quit, how no one likes him, no one could ever like him, and other things like that. This is another side effect of his upbringing, his softhearted nature being a detriment to surviving such a childhood without some damage being left on him. He also rarely sleeps more than a few hours at a time, which is partly why he always looks so tired and why he’s always got those dark circles under his eyes.

He secretly would sneak out and do nice things for people when he was a child, even though he was punished and made fun of for it by those in his parents circle. The fact he couldn’t help himself from doing things like that, or from protecting animals or just doing little helpful things, was one of the signs he was not meant to be a villain. 

He has two siblings, both older than him. After he ran away, his parents basically pretended like he didn’t exist anymore, because he disappointed them by being too soft and kind, and because he refused to use his abilities for villainous acts.

(I have finally figured out what his hero costume looks like. Feel free to ask me, and I’ll send some pictures.)

(This verse is still new and tentative so more info will be added as I interact with him with people.)

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 207 - What is Ariko/Ipopte‘s place in the hunt for the gold?

The action in GK has finally returned to the Noboribetsu Hot springs area.  This first off adds to the tension between Sugimoto and Asirpa at the end of 206 where Sugimoto tells her that she shouldn’t fight for her people b/c she will get hurt in the process.

Ariko has presented the fake skin of Toni Anji to Tsurumi as he inspects it.  Ariko looks stiff, Nikaido watches the skin while Usami watches Tsurumi intensely. 

Usami as usual has quite the creepy look .  . . as he’ll own up to his creepiness by the end of the chapter.  I have to admit I’m concerned for his backstory and when we learn his first name - if it isn’t really bizarre I will be disappointed.

As they discuss the skin, Warrant Officer Kikuta seems to be watching Ariko while they speak with Tsurumi.  Ariko explains that the tattoo pattern is similar to the type that women used to tattoo on their arms and that they were seen to be beautiful and associated with their position in the kotan.  He mentions if “grandmother” may be a part of or key to the code b/c the last women to have this type of tattoo would have been someone old enough to be his grandmother.

The next page shows Ariko and Tsurumi looking at all of the skins.  Ariko asks Tsurumi if these are all of the skins that they have and he replies yes.  This is such an interesting situation - Ariko is trying to access the situation and Tsurumi is far to “honest” with him. 

From the start of their encounter, it is clear that Tsurumi will lie to Ariko - he’s not part of his inner circle and his face is shaded as they look at the skins.

Tsurumi tells Ariko that he did a good job but he tries to explain that he was just lucky that things worked out the way that they did.  Tsurumi continues to talk about how if they hadn’t gotten the body, then it would have been lost to the wild and the key to the gold would be lost. Ariko is already beginning to look nervous here and Tsurumi seems too calm and chipper, and we haven’t seen his eyes very much on this page, instead he’s smiling with his eyes closed.

Is Tsurumi trying to hide his true intention by not letting Ariko see his eyes?  This is very unusual body language from Tsurumi . . . . Tsurumi seems off and Ariko is starting to sweat and look nervous.

As Tsurumi continues to talk about how any lost skin would mean the gold was lost - he still avoids looking directly at Ariko.  Tsurumi’s body language is screaming “I’m lying to you, I don’t believe you and I don’t trust you.  Nor am I going to convert you to Tsurumisexuality.”

Ariko seems confused by Tsurumi’s statement about how scary the gold being lost would be as he has no response and looks super nervous.

Kikuta then gets the conversation moving again as Ariko explains that the tattoo pattern varies on location and he was wondering if it would help reveal the location but he apologizes that it isn’t like any of the ones he knows.  Tsurumi finally looks at him as he replies and notes that it is some interesting information.  Ariko you look so damn nervous!  You are a worse liar than Tanigaki.

The chapter changes to Kikuta on a smoke break (so many of us were wondering if he would be a smoker based on his character design!) as Ariko comes outside.  Kikuta mentions how the almost new moon looks the same as the moon that they both looked at during the Battle of Mukden - which based on his description of events, implies that both of them were injured during that battle and that they kept each other alive by checking in with the other throughout the night.

I’m reading this to explain that the wounds that both men suffered were during this battle and it was the two of them who were able to survive together, supporting each other.  Kikuta is Warrant Officer the highest rank of enlisted men that could command a platoon.  It is clear that Ariko was in his platoon.  Furthermore, they were not under Tsurumi’s command. 

We know this b/c Tsurumi and Tsukishima were wounded at the Battle of Mukden and these were the members of the 27th that were present here:

The bear death trio of Tamai, Noma and Okada; Tanigaki, Ogata, Maeyama, Mishima etc.

Later on the Nikaido twins are show in the group as well.

So this information shows that Tsurumi and Tsukishima were wounded during the day and the rest of the 27th under his command made sure that both of them were saved and Sugimoto gave up the sled for Toraiji to Tsukishima.

We also know this b/c Nikaido and Usami did not know Ariko nor that he was an Ainu member of the 27th.

Back to the chapter action -

Without looking at Ariko, Kikuta makes a rather odd comment looking up at the moon that it is the only thing that hasn’t changed from that time.  This is such a loaded and bittersweet statement, Kikuta is flat out saying that things between him and Ariko have therefore changed from the Battle of Mukden and that they do not have the camaraderie that they once had.

The next page reveals Tsurumi and Admiral Koito enjoying the onsen the following day, the night of the new moon.  And with this, the full nude Tsurumi is revealed and Koito has more of a “mature” Dad bod than he had before in the Koito flashback.  I want to know how Tsurumi has been able to maintain such a great figure all these years as an officer?  Remember this - Tsurumi and Kiro at the start of the story are the same age according to Noda which made them 40 or 41!  In the background a fully clothed Usami is peering into the bathing area with Tsurumi and Koito Sr.  Okaaaayyyyy.  Usami is offically a pervert.

As Koito Sr. leaves the bath to head back to his room, Tsurumi playfully whips him with his towel.  It seems even Tsurumi is capable of high school locker room antics.  He politely reminds him to be careful of things with it being dark and the new moon. 

This is the only comical moment in the entire chapter as things get action packed as Ariko crashes out of a window on likely the second floor of the onsen inn part! 

Ariko rolls in the snow in his socks, as he looks up at the window wide-eyed looking very emotional as two men fire at him.  One has a type 38 rifle - either Nikaido or Usami and the other based on the angle of the gunfire is Kikuta as the figure has a longer coat and has a handgun.

Keep in mind that this is the new moon so it is pitch black.  This is likely why they are unable to hit Ariko and he then asks if “someone” is there.

Not surprisingly, Toni is able to grab Ariko and start to lead him away in the darkness.  He asks him if he has stolen them, and Ariko confirms that he has the skins in one of the woven Ainu bags.

Ariko then gives very detailed directions to Toni as he leads them away from the 27th in the total darkness.  Toni makes it clear that he can smell the blood of Ariko and how injured he is, but he tells him that he will be able to make it with him.  Ariko is one tough guy.

There is then a slight flashback to a few hours before Ariko’s daring escape.  He’s walking around alone in the inn part of the onsen with a single candle.  He finds a trunk and opens it. He looks shocked as it reveals a damaged makkiri.  It is quite clear that this is one of the makkiris from the murder scene of the 7 men that were determining what to do with the gold.  Ariko is wondering what it is doing there in this trunk of Tsurumi’s

KIkuta than approaches from behind him and explains that Tsurumi was the one who investigated the murder scene and collected all of the evidence and that one of the men was Ariko’s father.   KIkuta then asks him a rhetorical question - that Ariko didn’t know that Tsurumi investigated the Ainu murder scene.  Based on the amount of sweat the is on Ariko’s face it could mean that he had some of an idea about this, but I’m going to say that Ariko does not know about Tsurumi’s role.  Of course Tsurumi already knew that Ariko’s father was one of the men who were killed. . ..

Kikuta has pulled out one of his Nagant revolvers and he looks so sad/disappointed/hurt/bitter as he tells Ariko that it is too bad that he’s forgotten their time together in the trenches at Mukden.

Ariko sweats profusely as Tsurumi approaches in the darkness in shadow. Tsurumi then flat out says that the tattoo he gave him was not Toni Anji’s - of course that would be the case - when Sugimoto was captured by Tsurumi, he got the copy that Sugimoto had.  All Tsurumi did was compare them and realize that Toni Anji was still alive and still working with Hijikata.

Tsurumi then goes on to explain that Hijikata was sloppy to not realize that the tattoo that Ariko gave to Tsurumi would be checked by Tsurumi.  He asks him if Hijikata convinced him to join him and to do it for his father.  As Tsurumi emerges from behind the sliding door he has COMPLETELY black eyes!  I have no idea what this exactly means - Sugimoto and Ogata have had completely white eyes but completely black eyes are a NEW eye trait/mood for the series.  I shall have to update my eye color analysis soon!

What I can say is it is creepy as all hell and this is clearly the eyes of a Tsurumi as he’s about to eliminate someone who is in his way.  White eyes have been associated with murderous intent for Sugimoto and extreme anger in Ogata.  But what do black eyes in Tsurumi mean?

Before Ariko can respond he winces in pain as the final page reveals that Usami has bit his right hand so hard it is bleeding and he then uses this distraction to punch Ariko with his right hand!  Damn, Usami keeps his creepy vibe and is far more feral than Ogata.

Usami looks beyond smug, he’s literally vibrating as he puffs his chest and makes the proud snort of breath.  Several veins in Usuami’s face are clearly visible as Ariko looks at him in shock as he tells him he’s made the worst possible course of actions.

Bam! with that the chapter ends!  208 will show us how Ariko is able to escape through the window. . . .

Crazy hypothesis time

1.) Kikuta and Ariko were very close and Kikuta had to chose Tsurumi over Ariko.

The smoke break conversation between Kikuta and Ariko is bittersweet.  He brings up a moment were they bonded as comrades and were able to survive together.  Ariko reminds me of Tanigaki, he’s skilled in the mountains but he misses subtle clues from others.  He sees nothing odd with Kikuta’s statement, instead he’s just a bit confused.  This is similar to when they were in the cave in pursuit of Toni Anji.  Kikuta was a few steps ahead of him but they trusted each other.  Ariko betrayed that trust.  Not only did Kikuta closely watch his interactions with Tsurumi but it is clear that he know the skin he handed over was fake.

His facial expression here is so complex.  You can even see the twinge in his lips as he bites it down on the left side to try to maintain a deadpan expression.  His eyes look so disappointed.  Kikuta is one smooth, sexy man but he has a sense of loneliness about him - not in the flashback in 197-200 but when he was first introduced and now.  I really think he wanted Ariko to be on his side as a trusted man working with him.  Tsurumi is a through and intelligent man, but at this point in the manga, he still does not have a trusted team member who is an Ainu.  Yes, Inkarmat worked for him, but Tsurumi needs a man like Kiro or Ariko on his side.  I’m waiting for him to reveal someone in his back pocket - but based on Kikuta’s disappointment, I’d say they were banking on adding Ariko to their team.  Or maybe Kikuta was hoping to add Ariko to team Tsurumi since he knew him so well and trusted him.

Convincing Ariko to join their cause b/c of his father’s death is classic activation of Tsurumisexuality 101. Tsurumi is collecting broken men with no fathers - Tsurumi is upset that Hijikata got to Ariko first before him.  Hell, I’d say Tsurumi is beyond upset that Ariko may have chosen Hijikata, but it explains why he didn’t attempt to use his charms on Ariko.  I think Kikuta is truly torn by his actions but chooses Tsurumi and is willing to kill his trusted comrade.

2.) Ariko just grabbed all of the fake skins that Edogai made.

Tsurumi has just lied to Ariko about the skins he had, with the fake that Ariko provided there were 5 more skins in the picture here:

When Edogai escaped from Ogata in Yubari, he only was able to grab 5 skins that went into the handbag that Tsukishima gave to Tsurumi.  Those 5 skins have been waiting to make a mess of the hunt for the skins.  The whole point of those skins were likely made for Hijikata and not for Sugimoto per se since Tsurumi knows Hijikata was the other major faction in the search for the gold.

Here are the skins that Edogai made:

Now the image in chapter 207 is hard to tell what the kanji are.  Maybe this is due the quality of the scans or the fact that Noda was rushed and didn’t have the time to go back and double check the kanji on the fakes.  What I did notice was this here:

The kanji in red and the lines pointed out the blue arrows match - not exactly but pretty damn close to the orignal ones made by Edogai.  Plus the “seam” of Edogai’s fake next to the kanji matches the cut line of the skin before Ariko.  Now I waffled a bit b/c all of Edogai’s were sewn, but if he wanted to put the fakes into circulation he’d have to remove that so that whoever got them wasn’t supicious about the skin.

These also look somewhat similar - not a perfect match but close too.

@goldenkamuyhunting has already done a post about the fake tattoo and Toni Anji’s and has gone back to compare the artwork.  The positions of the kanji are consistent but the lines vary between chapters.  Therefore, as long as the kanji are match and the lines are close-ish that is the best that we can work with.

If Toni is able to lead Ariko to safety (please get him shoes as well, I don’t want him losing his toes to hypothermia in those socks in the snow!  They will likely meet up with Hijikata or someone in his group.

I’m personally unsure if Ariko was convinced directly by Hijikata - I more wonder if he struck a deal up with Toni and decided he might as well work with Hijikata. Ariko really seems to be missing key information which is why he was caught so easily by Tsurumi.  I wonder if Hijikata wanted Ariko to steal what were the likely fake skins from Tsurumi  . . . .

Either way, it is time that Edogai’s fake skins actually get involved in the game! 

3.) Koito Sr. helps Ariko escape

And just to throw a crazy idea out there - maybe Koito Sr. helps in faciliating the escape of Ariko.  He needed some sort of break to be able to grab the skins and break through the window.  It is clear that he was cornered so he thought it was the best option and I do not think he was pushed out the window.  Tsurumi’s men tries to follow them into the mountains but, again, they are lacking the team members that would be helpful in this e.g. Tanigaki . . .

Well that is all for now!  Looking forward to 208!

[tabletopinfinities]

7th Sea

Swashbuckling and Sorcery Piracy and Exploration Espionage and Intrigue Welcome to the New World

What’s the premise?

7th Sea is a world of swashbuckling fantasy, in a setting that’s very much like our Earth circa the Age of Sail, but filled with sorcery, monsters, and the mysterious ruins of a pre-human civilization. The core book focuses on Théah, the 7th Sea world’s equivalent of Europe, which is currently recovering from a bloody war between the traditional Vaticine Church and the reformist Objectionists and emerging into a new age of nationalism and humanism. Monarchs play games of espionage while secret societies work behind the scenes. Traders sail to the New World in search of exotic treasures and pirates follow in their wake. Some nations are even beginning to experiment with a bold new idea - democracy.

The technology level of Théah is slightly higher than our world’s was at the time, thanks partly to a Vaticine Church that values knowledge and discovery and also partly to ancient Syrneth artifacts that are centuries beyond human science. Sorcery and magic are not uncommon - but are primarily the domain of the nobility. Spirits, monsters, and other beings haunt the wild places, and any given folktale has a chance to be true.

The characters you play are all very explicitly Heroes, doing noble deeds to fight tyrannical Villains. The world of 7th Sea has a lot of problems besieging it right now - the looming specter of the Castillian Inquisition, the depredations of the Atabean Trading Company, the tyranny of l’Empereur du Montaigne, just to name a few. It’s a world on the brink of becoming something wonderful - it just needs a few good heroes to show it the way.

You’d like it if you’re into: The Princess Bride, Pirates of the Carribean, Zorro, The Three Musketeers, Brotherhood of the Wolf, old Errol Flynn movies

Why do you recommend it?

If you’ve ever wanted to swing from chandeliers, plunder treasure, cut feathers off caps with a swish of your rapier, and woo the fair maiden / handsome prince / other attractive individual, 7th Sea is the game for you. Magic and strange technology add a great twist to an otherwise straightforward historical fantasy.

7th Sea, the new 2nd edition in particular, is one of the most inclusive and welcoming mainstream RPGs out there. Women and people of color can be characters of all kinds, and queer, trans, and nonbinary characters are littered throughout the books and accepted within the setting itself. That, plus the emphasis on your character being a capital-H Hero, make 7th Sea an unapologetically wholesome game. It’s lighthearted and silly, while still allowing for serious dramatic moments.

Plus your character practically cannot die, no matter how much you screw up.

What are the rules like?

The core idea of 7th Sea is that you will almost always succeed at what you’re trying to do. You’re a Hero, after all. If you don’t roll well enough, though, your success might not be total. The way they mechanically represent this is very narrative-driven and plays quite differently from the standard RPG.

There’s three kinds of rolls to make in 7th Sea. The most basic, the Risk, is when your character is trying to bypass a simple obstacle. For instance, they might be trying to escape from a burning room. You decide what your character’s Approach to that will be, and what combination of skills and traits to use. In this case, they might use Finesse + Athletics to dodge and and jump over falling beams, or perhaps Brawn + Weaponry to use their axe to hack a hole in the wall, or even Panache + Tempt to bat their eyes at the fleeing henchman and tell him that if he rescues you, you’ll surely owe him a favor. Then you roll a d10 for each point you have in the chosen trait and skill. If you’re using a skill you haven’t used yet this scene, roll another die, and if you take the time to describe your action a little, roll a further die. Each set of dice you can add up to 10 is one success - here called Raises.

All it takes to succeed in the Risk is a single Raise. The catch is: there will always be Consequences and Opportunities associated with the Risk. You’ll need to spend additional Raises to either avoid the Consequences or activate the Opportunities. In this scenario, the consequences might be something like “take 3 damage from fire” - and each Raises you spend towards that will remove 1 damage from that. Or perhaps you’ll need to keep your clothes free of ash so you can sneak into the ballroom after like nothing happened. For Opportunities, it might be something like “grab the important-looking letter on the table before it burns” or “lead the poor henchman along enough that he switches sides.” So success or failure is never just binary - unless you roll really well, you’ll have to make some choices about what the effects of your actions on the story will be.

The two other kinds of rolls work in a very similar way. Action Sequences represent fights, chases, and the like, and Dramatic Sequences are extended challenges like sneaking into the castle or snooping around town to find information on the wicked viscount’s plans. You make your Approach, and then each character gets to spend Raises from their pool to take actions. As before, all you need is a single Raise to do something, but if a Hero and a Villain are trying to contest, whoever spends more Raises on it wins. During Action Sequences, you can spend Raises to do damage - yes, this means anything can be used as an attack skill if you’re creative enough (“I use Wits + Scholarship to whip up a gas grenade and throw it at her!”). Action Sequences can have Consequences and Opportunities just like a Risk can, including Brute Squads, which are the nameless flunkies your hero mows through without a second thought. A single point of damage takes out a single brute, but any brutes left alive get to deal damage at the end of the round. There might also be events that happen at certain points in the Action Sequence once everyone’s down to a certain number of Raises - the storm hits the ship at 4 Raises, and it hits the rocks and starts to sink at 1.

Dramatic Sequences are the same but paced over a more extended period of time, and are more about seeing how far you can get in your task before you run out of Raises. As before, each Raise you spend lets you change the scene in some way - climb over the castle wall, for instance. Next, you might have to spend a Raise to sneak past the guards, then to steal the jailer’s key. If you run out, though, you’ll be unable to change the scene any further - so after you’ve rescued your ally from jail and you hear someone’s footsteps approaching, if you don’t have another Raise left to hide you may just have to fight your way out.

Every character is pretty tough and can take a fair amount of damage before going down. For every 5th point of damage you take (or any time you get hit with a firearm, because those things are nasty), you take a Dramatic Wound. Your first Dramatic Wound actually helps you - just like the hero in an adventure story, you become driven to succeed and get a bonus on all your rolls. For your second Dramatic Wound, the tables start to turn and now all the Villains get a bonus on their roles. For the third, you get an even bigger bonus as your heroic determination kicks in - and then at the fourth, you become helpless. Not dead, just unconscious or incapacitated - it takes an explicit act from the GM to actually kill you.

Finally, there’s Hero Points. These work a bit like an expanded version of Inspiration from D&D 5E, and other similar mechanics. Basically, you can spend them for bonuses to your roll, a bonus to someone else’s roll, to fight on for a round after you’re incapacitated, and a few other things. You can also spend them to activate your Knacks, which are big character abilities with effects like “knock out an entire Brute Squad in one go” or Come Hither, which lets you lure a character into another room and return without them… no rolling required. Everyone gets one Hero Point to start, and you can earn more by acting in accordance with your character. You can also get one at any time by choosing to fail a roll - so if you think the odds are overwhelming, or you just want to see what happens if your character gets captured or can’t stop the villain’s plan from succeeding, you can just say “I fail” and bank up another Hero Point for the challenge ahead.

What’s my character like?

Your character is a Hero. They come from a particular Nation that gives them some bonuses, and they have two Backgrounds that tell you what their professions are/were and give them some bonus skills and Advantages, as well as determining what in-character actions give them Hero Points. They have a Virtue and a Hubris, each based off the Major Arcana of the tarot (or Sorte deck, in this world). The Virtue is a powerful special ability they can activate, and the Hubris is a character flaw that you can get a Hero Point for roleplaying. Beyond that, there are no classes per se - the character is yours to define as you see fit. Advantages are the main way of customizing your character and giving them special abilities.

You can choose to take Advantages join a Swordsman School or take Sorcery from your nation of origin. Swordsman Schools give you the option to do some fancy Maneuvers in combat, which let you hit for lots of damage, parry opponents’ attacks, etc, as well as a unique Maneuver for each school based on its preferred weapons and fighting style. The difference in combat effectiveness between a swordsman and a non-swordsman is huge, so if you’re planning on making a character that excels at combat, swordsman is definitely the way to go. You also get to be a part of the Swordsman’s Guild, who are legally allowed to challenge people to duels.

The Core Rules present character creation options only for the primary Théan nations - if you want to play a character from another culture, you’ll need the appropriate book. (See What books should I get?, below.)

Avalon, seat of the Triple Crown, is a green and enchanted land touched by the Sidhe - elves, faeries, goblins, and other creatures. The Sidhe are sometimes beautiful, sometimes hideous, always inhuman, and frequently downright nasty. Queen Elaine recently ascended to the throne after recovering the Graal, throwing off the yoke of Montaignois conquest and bringing the Sidhe back to our world - but now the Sidhe are starting to encroach on human lands. This is a land of faerie tales, and those don’t always end happily.

The other two nations in the Triple Crown are the Highland Marches, a craggy land of proud clans and chieftains, and Inismore, a land with a fondness for stories, whiskey, and a good bar fight. Neither of these two is necessarily happy about being part of the Triple Crown, and there’s a growing separatist movement looking to break the alliance, no matter how much gunpowder and blood it takes.

Avalon’s Sorcery takes the form of becoming one of the Knights of Ellilodd, each one the embodiment of an ancient knight of legend. In exchange for taking a vow to the Graal to be a righteous protector of justice, you can tap into that knight’s legendary powers. Should you break your vow, you’ll need to atone before you can regain your powers, however.

Castille is a sun-dappled nation with a deeply passionate people. They recently held off a Montaignois invasion at dear cost, only to fall under the yoke of the Inquisition. Cardinal Verdugo controls their young king like a puppet while he conducts a reign of terror across Théah aimed at rooting out anything he deems heresy. Castille is the seat of the Vaticine Church, and its people are often devoutly religious and very highly educated thanks to the nation’s excellent universities.

While Castille has no Sorcery in the Core Rules, Nations of Théah, Volume 1 introduces Alquimia as an option, letting you invent various alchemical and technological marvels and advancing along a path of self-improvement towards a grand goal.

Eisen was the center of the fighting between Vaticine and Objectionist, and it left the land a blood-soaked mudhole full of traumatized survivors, divided between small princedoms, some of which seek to unite the nation under their banner. Worse, something about the concentrated misery has spawned literal Horrors, monsters of all shapes and sizes that roam the land and prey on innocent victims. But the people of Eisen are a grim, determined lot, and the nation’s not ready to give up without a fight.

Eisen’s Sorcery, Hexenwerk, is a particularly gruesome art dedicated to refining potions and unguents from dead bodies - and then consuming them to gain powers to fight undead horrors and other foes. Hexen are often hunted down as grave-robbers, but they do what they have to do to survive and stop the Horrors.

Montaigne is often considered the center of Théan culture, or at least the Montaignoise themselves certainly think so. Their courts set the standard for fashion across the continent, and their nobles throw the most lavish parties. Unfortunately, all of this has been built on the backs of the peasantry, who have been pushed to their limit by harsh taxes and conscription to serve in L’Empereur’s frivolous wars. L’Empereur sits on his grand throne, surrounded by an endless party of gilded nobility, oblivious to the whispers of revolution coming from below.

Montaignois Sorcery is passed down through noble bloodlines, but it’s quite ungenteel. The art of Porté lets you rip bleeding holes in reality and slip through the space between to walk to other places, or to pull objects out of thin air. Just never open your eyes while you’re in-between.

The Sarmatian Commonwealth is actually two lands under a single crown - the cosmopolitan Reczezpospolitans, and the more traditional Curonians, who still venerate the old spirits. Recently, the king, disgusted with gridlock in the houses of parliament, made a proclamation of Golden Liberty. This made everyone in Sarmatia was now a noble with voting power, marking the beginning of a chaotic experiment in democracy. Some Sarmatians seek to lead their country into a populist new era, some try to take advantage of the chaos to seize power, and others, resentful of the new order, plot to depose the aging king.

Sanderis, the Sarmatian Sorcery, is about making deals with devils. Dievai, to be more precise. They’ll do anything you wish, from snuffing a candle up to unleashing a firestorm that destroys an entire city - provided that you are willing to pay their price.

Ussura is a massive, wild country with long winters and sparse civilization. The Ussurans are pragmatic and hardy folk, and highly superstitious with good reason - spirits both good and evil thrive in these lands. The greatest among them, Matushka, watches over the Ussuran people like an overprotective mother, rewarding the just and punishing the wicked. The Czar recently died under suspicious circumstances, leaving the nation divided by two potential successors -  one dedicated to modernization, the other seeking to preserve the old ways.

Ussura’s form of Sorcery, Dar Matushki, are the gifts of Matushka herself - often given as the reward for overcoming painful lessons. Those who fall out of favor with her will earn her wrath, however.

Vestenmannavenjar, another cold northern country, is a land of fierce raiders and warriors who have completely reinvented themselves as a modern nation. In recent years they presented the world with a standard, unified currency - the Guilder - that has come to dominate world trade and finance, all to the benefit of the Vesten, of course. Rather than the High King of olden times, they are ruled by the Vendel League, made up of the heads of all the various trade guilds. Now, rather than conquest and pillage, they extract their plunder from fees and interest. Some Vesten mourn for what used to be, a nation of honor and blood replaced by silver and greed.

Vesten has no Sorcery in the core book, but Nations of Théah, Volume 1 introduces Galdr, a magic derived from runic words of power. Each rune grants strengths tempered with weaknesses, to maintain the balance.

Vodacce is a nation of intrigue, divided up between seven Merchant Princes who constantly scheme against each other. Like Castille, they are devoutly Vaticine, but they have a very unorthodox interpretation of sin, believing that it is better to indulge yourself than let desire fester in your heart.

Vodacce’s magic, Sorte, is the exclusive province of women. The Sorte Strega can manipulate the strands of Fate itself, and can be distinguished by their long black veils, to hide the glazed look they get when manipulating destiny. Too much tugging on the strands risks them lashing back out at you, however, giving you bad luck at the worst times. The men of Vodacce all fear the power of Sorte, and keep the women of Vodacce oppressed and illiterate.

In addition to being from a particular nation, your Hero can also join a secret society. In 1st edition, all of these societies had hidden secrets to them that were presented in their own books. Given that some of the 2nd edition versions differ radically from their older incarnations and the book devoted to secret societies hasn’t come out yet, it’s unknown if those secrets still hold true, or if they hold the keys to different world-shattering truths.

Die Kreuzritter are a former order of crusader knights, since gone underground. They hunt monsters and defend the innocent, using the legendary metal called Dracheneisen, which has great powers against monsters and the supernatural.

The Knights of the Rose and Cross, one of the few secret societies with a significant public face, publicly fight injustice and protect the society’s Patrons. There are rumors of hidden occult secrets only revealed to the initiated.

The Invisible College are a loosely-affiliated band of scholars, artists, scientists, and philosophers who seek to preserve knowledge from those who would destroy it - especially the forces of the Inquisition. They have access to devices on the cutting edge of Théan science.

The Brotherhood of the Coast are pirates who have banded together under a shared code of honor, providing protection to ships that pay them and plundering those that don’t.

Močiutės Skara, “Grandmother’s Shawl,” is in its public face an order of nice old ladies who tend to the victims of disasters and wars, and are welcomed across Théah. In private, however, they seek to prevent wars and achieve peace through any means necessary.

Los Vagobundos are dedicated to upholding the reigns of good monarchs and overthrowing unjust ones. Their leader, the masked man called “El Vagobundo,” can appear many places at once - but unbeknownst to outsiders, it’s always a different member under the mask, channeling the power of the legend.

The Rilasciare are anarchist free thinkers who oppose oppression and tyranny in all its forms, but especially seek to do away with the very concept of monarchy. Some accomplish their goals through pranks and subterfuge, others through bombs and daggers.

Sophia’s Daughters, a small branch of the Rilasciare, are more specifically dedicated to aiding the Fate Witches of Vodacce, spiriting them to safety in other nations, educating them in secret, and making strides towards liberation whenever possible.

What’s the campaign like?

In a game where the characters all play Heroes, there’s a strong focus on defeating Villains. Before you fight them directly, you have to defeat their Schemes, upon which they stake some of their influence. Stop the Scheme, and they lose what they wagered, otherwise, they gain back double their investment. Foil enough Schemes, and they’ll be dramatically weakened for the final confrontation. Thus, most campaigns are focused around a central Villain and their underlings that the Heroes can work their way through.

Each of your characters also has their own separate Stories to pursue, which is how the experience system works. You pick what story your Hero will follow, such as “avenge my father’s death,” figure out what benefit they get at the end of the Story, like “Weaponry 5,” and then figure out how many steps the story will have in the story based on what you want. Although you probably know the beginning step of the story (“find the name of the woman who killed my father”) and what the end will be (“I challenge her to a duel”), you and the GM can work together to figure out the most interesting twists along the way (“Step 3: I discover she was secretly my half-sister”). If you want, there’s nothing stopping you from making the ending a tragic one at the last minute, or even deciding that your Hero should fail so that they can be led into a future Story (“She defeated me into the duel and threw me into the sea - but not before she told me the real reason she killed my father!”) In between these main story points, the GM will also weave in their own side stories and recurring stories, which grant rewards in the same way as you complete them.

Odds are also good your party will get access to a ship at some point, this being a setting with an emphasis on seafaring. Ships have their own abilities based on where they were built and their history, and can gain new abilities as the party completes various types of adventures, like unlockable achievements. Players are encouraged to work with the GM and flesh out the ship’s NPC crew. Of course, the crew will also need to be paid regularly lest they turn mutinous.

What books should I get?

It should be noted that 1st edition and 2nd edition are radically different, both in rules and setting. While the 1st edition books are still useful as inspiration, most of the material in them isn’t canonical any more, and a good chunk of the setting is completely new to 2nd edition anyway. Frustratingly, there’s some characters in both editions that didn’t get described in the 2nd edition books on the grounds that they were already described in 1st edition. If you prefer rules that work like a more traditional RPG, 1st edition is probably more for you (and it also has cross-compatibility with the d20 system in its later supplements). Otherwise, stick to the 2nd edition books. You’ll need a copy of the Core Rulebook, and then the other books describe and provide character creation rules for the other nations and continents not described there.

Nations of Théah, Volumes 1 and 2 flesh out the western and eastern nations respectively, adding some more geographical and historical material as well as some new character rules suited for those nations.

Pirate Nations is very useful for a seafaring campaign, covering the various groups in the Atabean Sea, from pirate republics to native sea-monster hunting Rahuri, a slave colony that cast off its chains, and the villainous Atabean Trading Company. It also includes the Théan nation of Numa, once the cradle of Théan civilization.

The Crescent Empire introduces the Middle Eastern-inspired nations, flourishing under a new Caliph who banished her wicked brother from the throne. These five nations are united as one despite their differences, but loyalists to the old Caliph still plant seeds of dissent for his return.

The New World has the Central/South American continent of Aztlan, once ruled by Old Gods that caused a great cataclysm when they were overthrown that made the land itself shift and change. The Aztlani now venture into this uncharted territory to reclaim what they once had, balancing cultural independence against unifying the continent under one flag, whether by alliance or conquest, while wondering how long they can hold back the greedy Théans eyeing the continent’s treasures.

Lands of Gold and Fire presents the African continent, Ifri, home to several wealthy and highly advanced civilizations. They are under threat both from expansionist Théan powers and the Atabean Trading Company, whose campaign of slavery has empowered an ancient evil in the land.

Several other books are forthcoming for 2nd edition, including one with more information on the secret societies, and The Colonies, which will detail the North American continent. Khitai, the Asian continent, will have its own separate game system (called, appropriately, Khitai), with similar but slightly different rules.

What equipment do I need?

7th Sea uses d10s only, and you’ll want about 6-8 on hand per player, plus a decent stockpile for the GM. Sharing dice isn’t recommended here because it’s easier to keep the dice you rolled in front of you to count Raises during Action Sequences. You’ll also need some method of keeping track of Hero Points - poker chips work well, but you can get creative. Official 7th Sea versions of both are available.

There’s also the Sorte Deck, which makes a great in-universe prop (especially for Fate Witches), although you should note that it differs slightly from real-world tarot decks and has a few arcana cards that aren’t detailed even in the Core Rules. You could use it to guide your characters’ fates, or suggest the next step in their Stories.

Notecards are also helpful for tracking ongoing Stories.

[cloudybookash-blog]

25-50

Soooo… I take forever to do these things, sooooorrryyyy!

26. What would your character say their best trait would be?

Idk, probs that she’ s nice or something? I literally have never thought about how my characters feel about themselves??? 

Great start!

27. What is your character’s greatest fear? Deep, irrational?

That she ends up accidentally, or even intentionally, like her father in her attempt to over throw his rule. I’d say she’s terrified to become a hypocrite, all these years facing against her family and the way the rule/conduct themselves to end up doing or being exactly like them would be nightmare inducing for her.

28. What is currently motivating your character to stay with the party?

She killed the other party… In all fairness, it was an accident.

But for real, before meeting her current Crew™ her biggest fear was leading her Old Party and being shunned by the very peoples with who she was coming to aid/save. Of course, she stays with them because at the end of the day she loves them and enjoys their company but there are obviously a lot of other reasons to stay: she doesn’t know the land (her Old Party were going to teach her when they reached ‘safety’), she doesn’t have any ties on the new planet apart from a single group of rebels from her home world who aren’t the easiest on the eyes, she hardly speaks the language or understands the customs/culture of this new planet, and probably even more that I haven’t thought about. Bottom line is that she needs them.

On a happy note, they need her too.

29. What are your character’s hobbies and interests outside of their class?

I’m translating these q’s for a book and I don’t know enough about dnd (or my fucking characters for that matter) to answer.

30. What would most people think when they first see your character?

Tall. Like, freakishly tall.

31. What stereotypical group role does your character play in the party? (The Mom, the Mess, the Comic Relief, etc. Optionally: What role would your character play in the “Five Man Band” structure?)

Well, she’s technically the leader I guess. It’s kind of her quest they’re all on but at the same time the others tend to take her place leading the sub groups while she figures out a plan. I guess she might be The Man in The Chair or Behind the Curtain.

32. What is your character the most insecure about?

Maybe her intelligence, like not being the smartest person in the room. She’s known (even on the new planet) for being super strong and a great fighter, but she detests that viewpoint because it makes it difficult for people (and herself) to differentiate between the ‘bad guys’ in her family and the ones who’ve been fighting the Good Fight, like her.

33. What person does your character admire most?

I think I’ve answered this before and it had something to do with liking people who could be strong and caring at the same  time. Or something sappy like that.

34. What does your character admire and dislike the most about the player character sitting to your left?

Translating for a book her so I’ll answer about how my character feels about the other four members of the main cast:

J: PRO: very understanding, never have to explain or defend herself to him - he always gets it. CON: not who she thought he would be.ME: PRO: loyal, despite having their little spats, at the end of the day ME would die for her. CON: not very understanding.HH: PRO: funny, can relax the whole mood at a moments notice. CON: reckless, is usually the only reason they get into trouble.M: PRO: is the closest to her in age and as a result is like her best friend, there’s almost nothing she hates about M. CON: I literally can’t think of one Z could have against M.

35. Why is your character’s lowest stat their lowest (the in-character reason, not “because there’s no reason for a wizard to have 16 strength, duh”)?

Not applicable.

36. What would be your character’s theme song/favorite band/favorite genre of music?

Something folky? 

37.  What stereotypical role would your character play in a high school AU/if they attended a normal high school? (Nerd, jock, bully, goth, etc.)

A toss up between the Loner or the Class President.

38. What treasure/item/artifact that your character has collected during the adventure is the most important to them?

She doesn’t/can’t really collect stuff, survival mode, y’know.

39.  Is there any particular weapon, item, etc. that your character longs to find?

No? Her fight isn’t after something material.

40.  Where does your character feel the most at home?

I think I’ve tried answering this before and couldn’t answer, probably at her Uncle’s place though, because it has the best memories for her.

41. Does your character care about how they’re perceived by others? How do they change themselves to fit in with other people?

I think yes, as she’s keeping her identity a secret. As a result I’d say she tends to distance herself out of fear of slipping up that she’s related to the enemy. Her entire plan rest on being supported by a lot of people and the idea that where she comes from could hurt her chances of success would be stressful.

42. What does your character think is the true meaning of life?

Broooo, this too deep for 10:41am.

43. What is your character’s scent? (Bonus points for a description that sounds like it could be from a bad [or awesome] fanfic.)

lol, B.O. probably, she’s a preteen running around in the woods.

44. Does your character think more with their heart or their brain?

Heart.

45. What is your character’s most recent or frequent nightmare?

I don’t wanna be cliché and say the murder of her older brother and mother, or her fear of failing overall but… I’m gonna be cliche and say those are the two things she probably has nightmares over. 

46. What opinion does your character have on [CERTAIN ESTABLISHED GROUPS/AUTHORITIES IN THE GAME WORLD]? (Dragonmarked Houses, royal crown, etc.)

There are a lot of little, influential groups that she comes across and some of them live up to her expectations and others don’t. Overall, she has the opinion that any group in a position of power needs to do more harm than good, and act as both protector and provider to their people. That’s regardless of whether they’re just a random clan that walk around together, or the ‘police-type unit’ in this world, or the political rulers, she doesn’t care how small your reach is, if you rule - you better do it well.

47. How did your character spend their childhood? Where did they grow up/who were their childhood friends?

Pretty sure I’ve answered this before? Um, just recap I guess - she was born second heir to the throne on her world, spent her childhood hanging out with her Guard, learning and training under royal tutors and trainers. Fucked up along the way and got her ass banished, was sad, lived with her uncle who subsequently became her teacher for everything, and spent quality time with her brother as a result, she was then welcomed back out of banishment for a short period of time before she ‘defected’. And, technically, she’s still a child, so the contents of the book are her ‘growing up’ so to speak.

48. What aspect of your character’s future are they most curious about? (If they could know one thing about the future, what would it be?)

Whether they’ll die before they achieve their goals. Morbid I know, but this is war.

49. What colors are associated with your character?

Blue, Black, Purple and White.

50. Who in the party would your character prioritize rescuing, in dire circumstances?

Probably M or HH, both J and ME prove themselves to be able to get out of any situation on their own but sometimes HH can get overwhelmed or distracted and then can’t save himself and M has yet to prove herself as capable enough to handle anything that comes her way.

[yourladyocs]

it's long so u can omit some questions if u wants but - abc's for percy?

Oh boy-- I’ll omit the ones I don’t know the answers too yet! 

A: Aptitude1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young?

I would say Percy has natural abilities for cooking and keeping things organized from her past life. Everything she has know has been worked for so it isn’t really a ‘natural’ ability. 

2. what activities have they participated in?

I mean they practice their magic, help in the shop, hang out with her friends. 

3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for?

Anything involving experimenting on magical theory and magical practice. Percy didn’t have a lot of knowledge with magic, so this is something she worked heavily for and is proud of.

4. what things are they bad at?

Socializing. She may have a charisma of 19, but she will only use it when she needs to. 

B: Basics1. what is their hair color?

Dark brown, borderline black

2. what is their eye color?

Completely silver (even the whites of her eyes. She has no pupil; tieflings) 

3. how tall are they?

6′ 2″

4. how old are they?

38!

5. how much do they weigh?

Uhhhhhh Percy is made with light weight metal enough to appear human. So I would say roughly 150lbs,

C: Comfort1. how do they sit in a chair?

Like a proper lady. Legs really tightly crossed and sitting up straight. 

2. in what position do they sleep?

She sits in a chair and leans on her hand. Her legs are loosely crossed. She looks like she is pondering something. 

3. what is their ideal comfort day?

Sitting in her little nook at the shop, reading a book and drinking tea. 

4. what is their major comfort food? why?

Strawberry shortcakes with some sort of tea (pref pink). Percy associates tea with Midnight where she feels safe and the strawberry sweets with the happiness from the shop (since she always gets that treat on her way there). 

5. who is the best at comforting them when down?

Basically everyone. I would honestly say Val. 

D: Decoration1. how would they decorate a house if they had one under their name?

Lots of pastels and lots of pink. Dark wood would be the accenting furniture. 

2. how would they decorate their child’s room?

Her child is grown, they can decorate it how they want it. 

3. how do they decorate their own room?

Pink pastel walls with large bookcases. Honestly books stacked on the floor, with lots of comfy chairs. 

4. what type of clothes and accessories do they wear?

Percy wears vests and pants, sometimes she wears a bustle. She tries to keep her attire in trend with the latest fashion, but she doesn’t want to spend too much money on it. 

5. do they like makeup/nail/beauty trends?

She makes sure she looks presentable, but she won’t waste time on extra added details. 

E: External Personality1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality?

She restrains herself a bit, not to appear childish in her curiosity. But sometimes it slips out when she is talking to others she is interested in. 

2. do they do things that conform to the norm?

Her fashion and appearance does but her personality does not. Her whole existence is against the norm so like she embraces that. 

3. do they follow trends or do their own thing?

If the trends are interesting, she follows them. 

4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads?

I mean she reads them when she gets around to it. She might be a little behind on the times, because she has her old magic books to read! 

5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own?

I would say her personality is pretty much out there. Like she doesn’t have deep dark secrets. 

F: Fun1. what do they do for fun?

Read, experiment, or hang out with her friends! 

2. what is their ideal party?

Small, close, and not involving loud music. She just wants to keep it chill. 

3. who would they have the most fun with?

Wren! 

4. can they have fun while conforming to rules?

Yes! But sometimes they don’t really listen to the rules. 

5. do they go out a lot?

She tries too! She wants to hang out with her friends as much as she can. 

G: Gorgeous1. what is their most attractive external feature?

Percy is cute, but its down to her hair and to her little light up circuits. 

2. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

I don’t really know? I guess her loyalty and drive is pretty great.

3. what benefits come with being their friend?

Well, Percy is always talking excitedly about new things. She is also extremely loyal to the friends she made. She would probably drop everything to help a friend in need. 

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

Percy likes a lot about herself, however she always feels like there is another person inside of her. She is afraid of her dark self and her past self Faith and how those personalities influence her behavior in the present. 

5. what parts of others do they envy?

Their sociability and their true memories. 

H: Heat1. do they rather a hot or cold room?

Cold

2. do they prefer summer or winter?

Winter

3. do they like the snow?

I imagine she would! 

4. do they have a favorite summer activity?

Staying inside and reading a book away from the heat lol. That or getting ice cream with Wren or Frankly.

5. do they have a favorite winter activity?

Drinking hot chocolate, sitting by a fire, and hanging out with her family.

I: In-the-closet1. what is their sexuality?

I think demi romantic/pan. She is afraid of falling in love, but I don’t think she has a preference on what gender the other person is. As long as that person loves and respects her then she loves and respect them.  

2. have they ever questioned their sexuality?

She has thought about it, but she is pretty confident in her choice. 

3. have they ever questioned their gender?

No.

4. would/was their family be okay with them being LGBT?

Positively. 

J: Joy1. what makes them happy?

Reading, hanging out with friends and fam, magic, magic theory, experimentation, making elixirs, etc. 

2. who makes them happy?

Wren, Marcia, Val, Frankly, X17, Midnight, Ed, the local wizard students, basically everyone she has ever met. 

3. are there any songs that bring them joy?

Electro Swing if it has been invented. 

4. are they happy often?

Yes! 

5. what brings them the most joy in the world?

Being able to perform magic. 

K: Kill1. have they ever thought about suicide?

No

2. have they ever thought about homicide?

I would say not really. I joke that she is a mad scientist, but she never wants to harm another living being. 

3. if they could kill anyone without punishment, would they? who?

Um? She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to go to that dark place.

4. who would miss them if they died?

Wren, Marcia, Val, Frankly, X17, Midnight, and Ed

5. who would be happy they died, anyone?

I can’t think of any. 

L: Lemons1. what is their favorite fruit?

Melons (it would be strawberries because they technically count as a fruit, but I already made it clear it was her favorite). 

2. what is their least favorite fruit?

Pineapples. 

3. are there any foods they hate?

Carmel. 

4. do they have any food intolerances?

Nope! 

5. what is their favorite food?

Strawberry shortcake!

M: Maternal1. would they want a daughter or a son?

She has a kid; I believe they are male, but honestly it doesn’t matter what gender they are! Percy loves her child regardless of gender! 

2. how many children do they want?

None

3. would they be a good parent?

She was programmed to be.

4. what would they name a son? what would they name a daughter?

She didn’t really think of names. She would probably name them after her friends. Like something like Frankly or Wren and then allow them to pick their own name when they are older. 

5. would they adopt?

She would rather not. She doesn’t know if the love she has for the child is her own or just a series of programmed codes. She wants the love to be real and she needs to be extremely sure that it’s not her code. 

N: Never Have I Ever1. what would they never do?

Experiment on animals or people. 

2. what have they never done that they want to do?

She wants to explore the world! (She is doing it now tho!)

3. is there anything they absolutely can’t believe people do?

She can’t believe are cool with dissecting things. Like its written in a book, we don’t need to do it again!

4. what is the most embarrassing thing they’ve done?

Completely gave away her secret in front of a party. Whoops. 

5. have they done anything they thought they’d never do?

She never thought she would actually get to travel and she is doing it now. 

O: Optimism1. are they optimistic or pessimistic?

Optimistic. Mistakes are just a new way of learnings.

2. are they openly optimistic, throwing it on others?

I don’t think so. 

3. are they good at giving advice?

She has sound advice, but has terrible deliver. She just gives the logical answer without regarding sentimental responses. 

4. is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them?

Not really! I mean all her friends are happy and I think that has rubbed off on her. 

5. were they always optimistic?

Pretty much! 

P: Personality1. what is their best personality trait?

I love her curiosity the most

2. what is their worst personality trait?

She is a bit mean, but mostly because she hasn’t thought of adding sentimental personality traits in conversations with strangers. 

3. what of their personality do others love?

I hope people love her joy over the small things. Its like a child experiencing the world for the first time. 

4. what of their personality do others envy?

I don’t think she has a lot of envious personality traits. Maybe her determination?

5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

About others, she hates when people have a ‘give up’ attitude. 

Q: Questions1. do they ask for help?

Yes.

2. do they ask questions in class?

Heck yeah!

3. do they answer questions that make them a little uncomfortable?

yes. all knowledge is good knowledge.

4. do they ask weird questions?

all the time

5. are they curious?

It’s her defining trait!!! 

R: Rules1. do they follow rules?

Mostly

2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent?

Strict parent! 

3. have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule?

No? She hasn’t gotten into trouble before. She is chaotic good, so like she had just reasons and stuff.

4. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

I mean she doesn’t understand the rules about not modifying people. Like if  you need to modify yourself then go for it. As long as its harmless and people are in consent to getting it then its okay! 

S: Streets1. are they street-smart?

Nope

2. would they give money to someone on the streets?

Yes

3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets?

No

4. has anything happened to them on the streets?

Nope!

5. are they cautious when out?

Not really. She isn’t blind to everything, but she is not extremely paranoid about everyone. 

T: Truth1. are they honest?

Most of the time? 

2. can they tell if someone is lying?

She has a very high insight. 

3. is it obvious when they’re lying?

I mean she has a charisma of 19. She usually doesn’t tell lies, but when she does, she can. 

4. have they lied about anything they regret lying about?

Nope.

5. have they told truths that have been spread against their will?

Nope! 

U: Underdog1. have they ever been doubted?

People doubt she can read the entire library, but she knows she can now. But other than that people don’t really doubt her. 

V: Vomit (I skipped this one)

W: Water1. do they drink enough water?

She doesn’t need to! She is a robot! 

2. have they learned to swim?

No, its uncomfortable for her! Robots don’t really go well with water. 

X: Xylophone1. what is their favorite genre of music?

Electro Swing, if its invented. 

2. do they have a favorite song?

Midnight by Caravan Palace

3. do they have a favorite band/artist/singer?

Caravan Palace

4. can they sing well?

She hasn’t tried. I would say medium (not too bad, not too good).

Y: You1. how old were you when you created them?

Recently

2. what inspired you to create them?

Astro Boy

3. were they different when they were first created?

Yes! She was a lot nicer lol

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

I enjoy all my characters equally! 

5. what’s your favorite thing about them?

Her curiosity and the endless possibilities with her character. 

Z: Zebra1. what’s their favorite animal?

Small little white mice!

2. do they like animals?

Yes!!

3. cats or dogs?

Both??

4. what’s their dream pet?

A small little white mouse!!

5. do they have any pets at the moment?

Nope! 

[minteacutiewrites]

Ask Me About My Oc’s

Questions came from this LINK, I do not own the production of these questions.

LINK to my OC’s

1.How does your character act around different people? How does their personality shift and change?   2. Your character has been brought to a party and promptly ditched. They don't have a ride back home. How does this work? How comfortable are they around all of these strangers? Do they interact?   3. It's kind of awkward - what subjects are likely to make your character hesitate, flush, stumble on their words, etc.?   4. Is your character more dominant or submissive to the people around them? Do they tend to follow others' orders and wait for people to give them instruction in life, or do they charge ahead and make decisions on their own?   5. What happens when your character doesn't get what they want?

  6. What's the character's self-esteem like?       a. Does it change over the course of the story?   7. What's one flaw about themselves that they hate the most and wish they could change?   8. How does their personality shift when someone gets to know them well?   9. Do they prefer time alone, or with other people?   10. Is it easy for this character to tell someone "no" when they don't want to do something?   11. If this character were to describe their own personality, how would they do it?   12. Is this character aware of their flaws?   13. How has this character's personality changed from childhood to adulthood?   14. Who influenced this character's personality? Did they pick up any mannerisms or traits from someone?   15. Does this character express affection? Are they comfortable doing so?   16. When frightened, will the character "fight" or "flight"?   17. Does this character ever put someone else's needs in front of their own?       a. If there are only rare exceptions, why is that the case?   18. If this character suffered amnesia and lost all their memories, what would they be like?   19. How does the character's living space reflect their personality?   20. What's one thing that other characters wish they could change about this character's personality? EMOTIONAL PROFILE   1. How easy is it for your character to feel anger? What's usually a good tip off that they're experiencing it? (Physical reactions, movements of appendages, etc.)       a. Sadness?       b. Happiness?       c. Fear?   2. What state of mind is the character usually in?   3. Are there any emotions the character is particularly afraid of, or really resents having to feel?   4. How easily does this character trust their feelings with others?       a. Has anyone ever betrayed them?       b. How did it affect their ability to trust?   5. Can this character easily hide their emotions?       a. Do they find it difficult to express emotion, thus tend to look neutral?   6. How well can this character resist their emotions and impulses?   7. Does this character ever get violent (with others, objects, themselves) when feeling any certain emotions?   8. Has this character contemplated suicide?       a. Self-harm?       b. Physically injuring others?       c. Killing others?   9. Does the character have any triggers? Why do these things trigger them?   10. What would hurt this character so badly they couldn't even breathe?   11. What is guaranteed to make this character smile?   12. If the character could remove one emotion from their life, which would they choose?   13. If they're feeling upset, who are they likely to talk to for comfort? Or do they keep it inside?   14. How would this character cope with losing someone extremely close to them?   15. How does this character look and feel when crying?   16. If the character had to live out the rest of their life either perpetually angry, sad, or frightened, which would they choose?   17. Does this character tend to blame or punish others for their own emotions?   18. Is this character empathetic, and tends to be influenced by the emotions of others?   19. What is the strongest emotion they have felt?       a. What event caused that?       b. How would they react if that happened again?   20. If the character were to come face to face with their darkest fears in a nightmare, what would be the scene? PHYSICAL PROFILE   1. Based on the current diet and exercise your character has, where do you see them physically in five years?   2. How agile is this character? Can they dodge easily? Or are they clumsy?   3. Describe the muscle content of your character. Are they untrained and soft? Or lithe and powerful?   4. What kind of body fat percentage do you suppose they have?   5. Do they have any scars? Where did those scars come from, and how did they get them?   6. Describe some hairstyles your character has had in the past.       a. How about the present? What's their hair like now?   7. What are their teeth like? Any cavities? Root canals? Does their dentition ever hurt?   8. Do their arches ever fall? That's painful.   9. How much endurance do they have? Do they easily get tired during a workout?   10. How easily can they bear pain?   11. How long can this character sit still?       a. Do they shift a lot when sleeping?   12. What do their nails look like? Do they bite them?   13. How hairy is this character?       a. Arms?       b. Legs?       c. Underarms?       d. Eyebrows?       e. Everywhere else   14. What is the most imperfect part of this character's body?   15. Do they get cold easily?       a. How about overheated?       b. Seasick?       c. Do barometric changes in pressure affect them?   16. How do they react to getting an illness? Think about sore throats, achy bodies, headaches, stuffy noses, runny noses...   17. Is this character's body sensitive to touch?       a. Do they have any unusual erogenous zones?   18. How strong are this character's basic senses? Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.   19. If this character had to permanently lose one of their senses, which would they choose?       a. What if they could only have one sense, and had to lose the others?   20. Does this character have any unusual limbs or physical features? PREFERENCES AND PEEVES   1. What's the state of your character's kitchen? What kind of foods do you find in it? Is it... clean?   2. If they could only eat one type of food for the rest of their life, what would they choose?   3. What kind of clothing does this character like wearing and why?   4. How does this character feel about piercings?       a. Tattoos?       b. Dyed hair?       c. Revealing clothing?     5. What's something that turns this character on?       a. And what's a definite turn-off?       b. Do they have any kinks?   6. How does this character feel about animals?       a. Would they want any pets?       b. What animals are their favorite?   7. What type of movie is this character most interested in watching?   8. If this character could master a skill instantly, which would they choose?   9. Are there any behaviors that other characters do that irk this character?       a. Does the character ever voice their annoyance?   10. Would this character rather create something or destroy something?   11. What kind of comedy does this character prefer? Toilet humor, vulgar, slapstick, morbid, etc.   12. If they could stay at one age forever, which age would they choose and why?   13. If the character could only wear clothing of one color, which would they choose?   14. Describe the character's favorite possession. Where did they get it, and why are they so attached?   15. What is the character's favorite weather?   16. Do they prefer sweet, salty, sour, meaty, spicy, or neutral tastes?   17. Would they rather sleep in a cold room or a warm one?   18. Are there any hobbies this character absolutely hates and would never want to do?   19. What's the easiest way to annoy this character?   20. Are their interests and likes socially appropriate? ALL ABOUT HISTORY   1. Describe a scenario that has impacted your character and caused them extreme happiness.       a. Fear?       b. Disappointment?       c. Depression?   2. What is the character's first memory?   3. Has the character ever experienced deja vu? Do you happen to know why?   4. Sensations are powerful things, and often certain scents, sounds, touches, etc. can invoke memories strongly associated with them. Which have imprinted in your character's mind?   5. How'd they get along with their parents and/or other relatives?   6. If your character had to choose one friend they've valued over all others, who would it be?   7. What's the worst injury they've ever gotten?   8. How many places has this character lived in? What stands out most about those places to them?   9. If the character could erase one memory from their mind, what would it be?   10. What was the character's economic situation?   11. What are the character's three clearest memories?   12. If the character could go back and speak to a younger version of themself, what would they say?   13. If the character could go back and choose their sex at birth, what would they choose?   14. Describe the character's love life throughout the years.   15. How did the family that raised this character influence them?   16. If this character could "unmeet" someone in their life, who would they choose?   17. If the character could choose different parents for themselves, who would they choose and why?   18. Does this character feel guilty about anything in the past?   19. If the character were asked to associate an adjective with different stages of their life, what would they choose and why?   20. If the character could choose to have themselves born at a specific time period, which would they pick and why?

[suzume-xiv]

In-depth Character Profile: Suzume Kurogane

IDENTIFICATION —

·         Full Name: Suzume Kurogane

·         Pronunciation: Sue-zoo-mee Cure-o-gain ( (How I pronounce it and I realize that’s probably not correct in terms of Japanese)

·         Pseudonym: Burning Rose (if anything)

·         Nicknames: Suzu, Su, Suzi

·         Age: 19 years old

·         Name Day: 18th Sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon

·         Birthplace: Unknown of exact location

·         Guardian (Eorzean): None 

·         Residence: Room within a mercenary company, Lavender Beds. REFERENCES —·       Motto:  “No matter what I do, it’s for the sake of those I love.” Theme Song: None Face Claim:  Barbara Palvin

STATS —

·         Gender: Female

·         Race: Au Ra (1/2 Raen/ 1/2 Xaela )

·         Height: 4 feet, 9 inches

·         Weight: 92 ponze.

·         Eyes: Dark red iris, bright orange outter ring.

·         Hair: White Blonde.

·         Skin: Pale, nearly completely white, blue undertones if looking close enough. 

·         Build: Lithe, slender. She’s built for speed and silence.

·         Scars: None that show due to the paleness of her skin. But she had a strange scar along the front of her tongue, though near impossible to see unless you’re inspecting it. Several litter her knuckles, 

·         Tattoos: None at the moment.

At First Glance (+5) Closed off, she doesn’t exactly ooze a “welcoming” air.

Angry, she’s always glaring at something or someone, for no real apparent reason.

Clean, Suzi makes sure her clothes, hair, face, weapons, everything is nice and tidy, well pressed and repaired and ready.

Her eyes are intense, no matter what, no matter the setting or the mood, that fiery gaze is ever relentless.

Always armed, Suzi always, without exception, has daggers on her hips, ready to be used, and who knows what other weapons she has!

FACTS —

·         Occupation: Assassin, blacksmith apprentice

·         Specialties: Killing. 

·         Skills: Playing a lute, singing, killing. PROFICIENCY —·         ·         Education: Basic education, military provided training in          ·        Favored Weapon(s):  Daggers, two of them that rest nearly constantly on her hips

·        Secondary Weapon(s): A revolver that she keeps tucked into her belt.

·        Magic Abilities: None at the moment, though she has began to study the stars, but she doesn’t let anyone know that!

RELATIONS —

·         Sexual Preference: Bi with male preference. ·         Romantic Identification: Monogamous

·         Relationship Status: Single

·         Sweet on:  No one for sure at the moment.

·         Alignment: Chaotic neutral

·         Allies: None she would count as allies.

·         Enemies:  Mostly any form of law enforcement. FAMILY — ·         Siblings:  Unknown as she doesn’t know her mother or father. ·         Parental: Unknown, she was given up at birth but she knows her mother was a Raen and her father was a Xaela and they were NOT a couple when Suzume was conceived. ·         Mentor: Many, none she would name. ·         Associates: None presently, soon to be the mercenary company she’s fallen in with.      MENTALITY — ·         Social Level: Aggressive, not friendly. ·         Optimistic View(s): She’s very optimistic someone is going to piss her off today. ·         Pessimistic View(s): She’s also sure she won’t be in a place where killing them would be simple.

·         One  Positive Personality Trait: She’s loyal. Believe it or not, once her trust has been earned, it would take a LOT to lose that, anything short of trying to kill her would make her still question if it’s worth breaking ties for.  ·         One Negative Personality Trait: Closed off and not very approachable. ·         ·One Personality Warning: Extremely hostile at the drop of a hat. ·         Random Quirk: Suzi carries a pebble in her pocket. It has no meaning, she just likes having it there. She can be seen sometimes picking one up randomly just to put in her pocket. ·         Hobbies: Sleeping, eating, training and reading.

·         Addictions: None really. ·         Habits: Organizing her living space, everything needs to be in an easily accessible location, and things she treasures most must be in a place she can easily grab and shove in a bag in case she has to leave in a hurry. ·         Pleasures: Long baths, starry nights, the warm crackle of a fire.

Appreciates (List 5+)

Honesty

Loyalty

Respect

Understanding

Straightforwardness

Dislikes (List 5+)

Small talk

Nosy questions

Rambling people

Feeling emotions

Weakness

Strengths (List 5+)

Professional

Calm under pressure

Combat proficient

Quick

Witty

Weaknesses (List 5+)

Distant

Doesn’t connect easily with other people

Succumbs to depression often (though hard to tell with her attitude)

Expressing emotion

Asking for help

Fears (List 5+)

Being/dying alone

Turning into the monster she’s been told her father is and feeling unable to stop it

Water (she can’t swim)

Losing what little she holds dear

Never meeting her mother and father

FAVORITES –– ·         Favorite Food(s): Grapes ·         Favorite Drink(s): Tea ·         Favorite Scent(s): Damp earth and the scent of a warm fire. ·         Favorite Colors: Black, red, orange and light blue TRIVIA - - Suzi really wants to meet her parents, to find out what really happened... and kill someone if needed. OOC - Server: Mateus Timezone: CST Experience: Roleplay experience of 9-10 years (Wow.. it’s been a while). Long, medium, short any length of post works for me, I’ll go with the flow, but prefer more than one liners and posts that move the scene along. Type of RP: Any/All - Prefer long term but I don’t mind casual stuff either :D Mature content is totally acceptable, I just don’t do perma-deaths without heavily considering the entire plot. Maiming, torture, etc etc if the rp leads there, then that’s where we go! (though talking about that kind of thing first is always polite). Looking for: Friends, foes--anything! All the kind of ships you can think of, I want ‘em! I also am interested in making OOC friends too with my IC partners so that’s a cool thing too. But I’m also looking for reliability. You don’t have to be on EVERYDAY, but communication is really important to me :( Just don’t leave me in the dark and I’m happy. Tagged by @lumina-star-okochi Tagging @duskhorned @drakeandstray @tegusken-do @kkmateus @kaiser-rhen @of-ice-and-swords @ritsuka-aoki (For Sari or whomever if you haven’t done it!) And whoever I didn’t tag but wants to do it!! :D Tag me so I can read too :D

[autumnleavescoffeedreams]

Things You’d Never Know Without Fanfics...

(WARNING: Strongly advise you not to read/comment/reply if you’re easily offended as this is full of heavy sarcasm. If you do not get sarcasm, DO NOT READ.)

(Updated: 7/27/17... starts at #36)

1. Eyes are not called eyes. They are orbs. And usually the color of chocolate.

2. A woman will begin experiencing pregnancy symptoms less than 24 hours after sex. In some cases, there will even be a small bump.

3. It doesn’t matter if you’re a minor, you can still miss 12 days of school without any repercussions.

4. All female protagonists must have ridiculously complicated names or names that generally are associated with boys because they’re “not like all the other girls”.

5. Love triangles are completely original ideas.

6. When a male love interest says, “I’ll never hurt you” the chapter after he’s caused injury to his significant other, it’s sweet and romantic.

7. “Age is just a number” is a valid excuse, even when one person is 13 while the other is 21.

8. Parents don’t exist... and if they do exist, they are either extreme abusers or extreme pushovers.

9. All female protagonists can do no wrong. In fact, the only flaws they may possess are being “too clumsy” or “too stubborn”.

10. “His tongue begged for entrance” is a totally original line that has never been used before.

11. Polyvore is crucial to every story as it shows what the female protagonist is wearing.

12. No one skips over song lyrics, especially when the entire song is written out.

13. Every story should start off with an alarm clock going off. Bonus points if the main character groans and says how much they don’t want to go to school.

14. Mysterious people do not need to have any other traits except being mysterious.

15. People with glasses become 110% sexier when they take them off. Apparently I’m the only exception to this rule.

16. Readers love reading about every single item that’s in a girl’s bedroom, even though none of it will be mentioned again the rest of the story.

17. If the male love interest is attractive, it’s important to mention this in every chapter so the readers don’t forget.

18. Female protagonists must either be extremely wimpy or extremely badass. Having characters in between those two traits is overly complicated.

19. After writing a very well-written chapter, the author must always apologize if the chapter “sucks”.

20. The story will not be the same if the author forgets to list every single step of makeup application done by the female protagonist.

21. It’s okay to rip-off other movie/books/etc. by taking direct quotes from them while pretending they’re your own... just don’t give credit to the sources and no one will know!

22. Canon characters will spontaneously conjure siblings out of nowhere.

23. It’s not childish to have your characters’ dialogues look like the following: “OOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMGGGGGGGG YOOOOOOOUUUUU GUUUUYYYYYS!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! UGHHHHH”

24. Even though the female protagonist is most likely a tomboy and therefore “not into girly things”, it’s perfectly normal for her to describe an entire shopping trip in great detail.

25. The protagonist is almost always an orphan whose parents died in some tragic way. This backstory has never been used and will gain instant sympathy from the readers.

26. All children have the wisdom of a 93-year-old world-weary man.

27. Amnesia can happen anytime, anywhere... usually right before the romantic interests get together.

28. Protagonists never die... but when they do, it’s always sacrificial (saving hundreds of lives in the process) which makes it okay and necessary.

29. Someone always ends up in a coma.

30. Modern day people getting sucked into anime shows is a common occurrence.

31. Also getting kidnapped by famous bands is quite common too.

32. Smoking instantly makes a person sexy as long as you can get past the yellow teeth, dry oddly-colored skin, brittle hair, horrible breath, coughing, gross nails, & the sexiest of all... lung cancer.

33. All females speak like valley girls when hanging out together.

34. Person 1: “I HATE YOU!” + Person 2: “I HATE YOU TOO!” = Romance

35. The main protagonist is basically Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way.

36. When two people kiss, tongues engage in vicious dueling to exert dominance over the other. They can also perform “dances” together like tango, the waltz, and the jive.

37. Additionally, kisses are always “hot” and “searing”... it’s a wonder the people don’t suffer from second-degree burns in their mouths. (credit to @primarilytom for this one!)

38. A man must carry a woman bridal style and bridal style only.

39. No one likes heroes with flaws. That might make some people dislike your character... and they should be loved by everyone!

40. Beautiful people = good. Ugly people = evil.

41. Waking up from a nightmare always makes a person bolt upright in their bed while panting heavily.

42. Male characters that are cool and tough are not allowed to give a real smile. They can only smirk.

43. Sex always ends with the people involved climaxing at the exact same time.

44. The main protagonists should have an extremely tragic backstory (abuse, depression, torture, family deaths) in order to gain more sympathy from the readers and for their romantic interest to save them from their inner demons.

45. Bullies have no other personality traits other than being assholes.

46. Villain must give a long-winded speech revealing their backstory, why they became evil, and what evil plot they’ll execute next... all right before they try to kill the protagonist. This either ends with A) the hero escaping, or B) someone else coming in to save the hero just in time.

47. “That’s not canon!” is a valid argument that should be taken seriously... despite the fact that the story is fanfiction for a reason.

48. When two characters of the opposite sex hate each other, don’t be surprised if they randomly swap bodies. It happens all the time.

49. Hotels/motels only ever have one room available. Inevitably, this room will only have one bed so the two characters who kind of hate each other will be forced to share it.

50. Additionally, when the same characters wake up the next morning, they will find that they are cuddling and suddenly they question if they really hate the other person or not.

(Should I add more? Yes? No?)

[wrath-and-regret-blog]

VERY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY.

RULES. repost; do not reblog! tag 10! good luck!

TAGGED BY: tagged by @luck-crowned who requested Velkyn and/or Kaladin, and my dumb ass went for both XD

TAGGING: I haven’t got anyone to tag yet RIP

(( 1. Velkyn ))

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Velkyn Kilana

NICKNAME/S: ‘Vel’ (previously only used by his foster father, but then the nickname was adopted and used by the leader of the Assassin’s Guild, causing the rest of the guild to quickly follow suit. Now it can be used by just about anyone who decides that those extra three letters are just too much.)

AGE: 45 (In human years, but looks closer to mid-20s physically. Pretty young, by elven standards.)

BIRTHDAY: Sometime in Winter (Earth month equivalent: Mid-January)

ETHNIC GROUP: Drow Elf

NATIONALITY: Underdark (in D&D verse), Rivaini (in Dragon Age verse)

LANGUAGE/S: Common, Undercommon, Thieves’ Cant, Elvish (In both D&D and DA verses)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual AF, buddy pal, and a total disaster.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Same as above, but with like twice as big of a disaster on the horizon. He doesn’t know how to express his emotions in any healthy fashion and would most likely struggle forever with just admitting he cared about someone.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Currently single in all verses

CLASS: Basically lower than dirt in most circles. Pretty high up in the assassin’s guild though, so there’s that.

HOMETOWN / AREA: The city inside Mount Wryoz in the Underdark.

CURRENT HOME: He no longer has anywhere that he thinks of as home, spending his current life wandering and taking contracts where he can find them. At the moment though, he is attempting to bring down a cult and rescue his foster father, despite the rift he’s wedged between them.

PROFESSION: He is a skilled assassin, in both ability and mindset, showing no mercy towards his targets or enemies and making sure that the killing strike does it’s job without any room for doubt. There are times when it actually gives him a sense of enjoyment to have such control over life and death, since he has such little control of his own.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: A bright halo of soft white curls, worn long and tied back into a tail with bangs that commonly fall into his face. Though often matted with blood and gore, it can be washed and brushed to near perfection with the right amount of care.

EYES: Pale pink in color with a blood red burst in the center. Giving off a bright glow in the dark, his eyes are sharp and focused and burn like fire when turned towards the source of his anger. His eyes are large and expressive, almond shaped and angled, bordered by long pale eyelashes.

NOSE: Slender, with a sharp, slightly upturned tip, A large scar stretches horizontally across the bridge, from one cheek to the other. He has a habit of scrunching it when he thinks.

FACE: An oval-shaped face with delicated elven features. Or, at least, they would be delicate, if he didn’t make such vicious expressions. 

LIPS: Full, slightly marked by splits and bite marks, as he tends to chew at his bottom lip when he’s stressed. Often curled in a snarl or twisted in a deep frown. Perhaps his smile might be beautiful, but he doesn’t give a damn.

COMPLEXION: A deep dark brown, nearly true black, creating a striking contrast between his skin and his icy locks of hair. 

BLEMISHES: Scarred from head to toe, thanks to his years or struggling and painful lessons. Most notably, the scar across his nose, a slice taken out of his right ear, near it’s pointed tip, and a scar on his left shoulder from where he was stabbed just below his collarbone. That particular wound was recieved on his first assassination contract, but his recklessness doesnt seem to have lessened.

TATTOOS: No tattoos, but there is the brand of his guild on the heel of his left foot.

HEIGHT: 5′1″. He is...so small.

WEIGHT: 105 lbs. Just about anyone could lift him, so long as he wasn’t resisting.

BUILD: Slender, acrobatic, with wiry whipchord muscle throughout his body. His arms and shoulders are especially strong, despite his small frame. Though he is athletic, he isn’t especially bulky. He could even be seen as graceful at times, though it is a brutal, powerful grace. 

ALLERGIES: None

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Long and usually tied back in a tail with a blue chord. it is only down while he sleeps or occassionally weaved into a braid if he has the time.

USUAL EXPRESSION: More often than not, Vel’s expression is grim, only shifting when he’s feeling particularly sarcastic or when he’s hit by some intensely strong emotion. Lips set in a firm line, eyes narrowed and focused, brows furrowed, staring down a brick wall would be easier.

USUAL CLOTHING: Dark colors, loose fits, things that are easy to move in, easy to fight in and don’t draw too much attention. He wears a few pieces of leather armor alongside his clothing and his gauntlets are a constant piece of equipment. Wickedly spiked at the knuckles and often bloodstained, his gauntlets are his weapons of choice, lending his punches a deadly touch.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Helplessness, weakness, the trust of others (and failing them), having his heart broken, getting close to people, heights

ASPIRATION/S: For the most part, Velkyn has always aspired to be strong. Unbreakable, even. He wants to carve a place for himself in the world than no one and nothing can touch. A place that no one can take from him. Though he’d never admit, he just wants somewhere or something to call home.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Dedicated, determined, strong-willed, protective (though he won’t admit it.), clever, justice-oriented.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: A liar, especially to himself and especially about feelings. Violent, quick-tempered, hostile, extreme aversion to unwarrented touching, sarcastic, cynical, emotionally unstable, merciless

MBTI: ISTP

ENNEAGRAM: Type 5 - The Investigator (With some tones of Type 8 in there but mostly Type 5)

ZODIAC: Capricorn

TAROT: 10 of Swords, The Tower (some pretty negative cards tbh)

TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic

SOUL TYPE/S: Hunter and Leader are nearly tied.

ANIMAL: Tested as a Badger, which was pretty accurate by the description, but I’ve always assosciated him with a wolf or an especially cranky house cat.

VICE/S: Wrath, above all else, he is wrath. He’s brimming with rage and pain and vengeance. His temper could burn a hole through any adversary. As for physical vices, he’s a bit of a gambler, but not really to excess.

FAITH: Atheistic. He never really developed an interest in any form of faith or religion. I anything matters the least to him, it’s that.

GHOSTS?: Yes. Very much so.

AFTERLIFE?: Not particularly. He finds the idea that people expect there to be a place for them to live after they’re done living a bit...entitled?

REINCARNATION?: He’s considered it, but it’s not really a strong belief of his.

ALIENS?: None of that concerns him much. He’s not in the habit of believing in anything intangible. It just doesn’t matter to him, since it doesn’t effect him.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: complete lawlessness and disregard for authority. Anarchy is best, as far he’s concerned. The only reason he’d pay attention to politics is if he was hired to kill a political figure.

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: He has been dirt poor for the majority of his life until he started taking on contracts. Money is nice to have, but he knows how to survive without it. Budgeting is something his foster father taught him to do well, but, if left without money, he has other ways to get what he needs.

SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION: Despite his cutthroat ruthlessness, he despises descrimination and opression, fully believing that no person should own another. Chains are meant to be broken, as are those who would use them. In his lower class position, he has faced things like abuse, distrust and the threat of slavery all his life. He isn’t able to just stand by and watch those things happen to others.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Very low in terms of academics. Has only a basic understanding of math and cannot read very well at all. His foster father only taught him as much as he could. His practical education has been quite extensive, however, as has his criminal education.

FAMILY.

FATHER: (Biological) Evard’rian, a Drow blacksmith, cruel, domineering, controlling. (Adoptive) Kilan, a Drow assassin, intelligent, witty, a master of stern-but-affectionate parenting. Never thought he would have children, but couldn’t bring himself to leave Vel to die as a child.

MOTHER: Maevaria, a Drow midwife, killed in a murder-suicide by Velkyn’s biological father. volitile emotions, but extremely loyal and protective of her son. To the extent where she steps in between Velkyn and the killing blow delivered by his father.

EXTENDED FAMILY: To his knowledge, no blood relations that he’s ever met, though I suppose the whole of the Assassin’s Guild qualifies.

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): Currently none.

NAME MEANING/S: Unknown. ‘Vel’ is apparently a Hindu name, meaning the divine javelin spear associated with War God Karthikeya. “Kyn’ is a Vietnamese name, meaning ‘the golden one’.

HISTORICAL CONNECTION: There really isn’t much. His gauntlets have a short but bloody history and he himself has quite the reputation in...certain circles.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: He doesn’t really have any. He’s never read a full book on his own and no one has ever read him one.

MOVIE: He’s the sort to like horror movies and psychological thrillers, though, outside those genre confines, his favorites would be things like V for Vendetta, Sin City, Seven, Blade Runner, etc.

DEITY: He got Hades on the test. Accurate

MONTH: No specific preference, just not anywhere from June through August, the weather is way too hot for him.

SEASON: Winter, as his body retains heat too easily. Summer heat is too much for him and he’s miserable all throughout it.

PLACE: He hasn’t really got one.

WEATHER: Storms. Rain, wind, thunder, lightning, all of it is thrilling for him and the feeling of rain on his skin is one of his favorites.

SOUND: His favorite sound is likely the wind throught the trees or the crackling of fire or the distant roll of thunder. Natural sounds that aren’t grating or too distracting.

SCENT/S: Even though he can’t read, he’s always liked the smell of ink on parchment. Also the smell of the ocean.

TASTE/S: He enjoys strong spices and salty foods. He likes some alcohols, particularly ale and rum. Tastes that hit hard and have a bit of kick to them are his preference. He doesn’t like most sweets but he does enjoy chocolate at times. He also enjoys the taste of rare meat.

FEEL/S: coarse fabrics as well as soft fabrics. cold glass or smooth-cut gems. The edge of a blade, good quality leather, gthe feeling of fingers or a brush through his hair. The feeling of raindrops on his skin.

ANIMAL/S: He likes most animals, particularly felines. He’s most definitely a cat-person, but horses are also some of his favorite creatures. Both animals are very intelligent and good company for him.

NUMBER: He doesn’t like numbers. Math is his least favorite thing.

COLOR: Dark colors, such as wine reds, black, deep blues, etc. as well as earthy colors like reddish-browns and greens and burnt oranges. He also likes seafoam green, though he is unsure why it appeals to him.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: He’s excellent at hand-to-hand combat, and ‘interrogation’. He’s delightfully efficient at killing people, if that counts? And making poisons. And singing, strangely enough. He has a very good voice.

BAD AT: Reading, math, keeping in control of his emotions, using ranged weapons of any kind (very nearsighted and doesn’t have/know he needs glasses), FEELING THINGS????? ADMITING FEELING????, Expressing any tenderness at all.

TURN-ONS: Trust, competence, a certain degree of cynicism, understanding, the willingness to see him as a person and not a weapon, honesty, experience, a healthy disregard for the law.

TURN-OFFS: Being looked down upon, being treated like he’s less than someone else, blind idealism, ‘white-knight syndrome’, disrespect of his abilities/being percieved as weak, sugar coating things.

HOBBIES: Taking walks, exploring, occassional gambling, BEING COMPLETELY RECKLESS, DESTROYING THE ESTABLISHMENT, getting into street/bar fights, stargazing

TROPES: Professional Killer, Combat Parkour, Close-Range Combatant, Hair-Trigger Temper, Insult of Endearment, Anti-hero, Hitman With A Heart, Street Smart, Rebellious Spirit

AESTHETIC TAGS: ;Aesthetic ( VELKYN ) Real simple tbh 

I will be making a seperate post for Kaladin’s since this is hella long!

[jatamansi-arc]

LITTLE CHARACTER THINGS.

just a fun little character game. fill in the below categories with 3-5 things that your character can be identified by. repost & tag away !

EMOTIONS / FEELINGS:

001. Melancholy/Depression 002. Righteous Indignation 003. Courage/Humility/Admiration 004. Curiosity/Euphoria 005. Restlessness/Anxiety/Dread

GREETINGS:

001. “Shalom,” which would be her standard issue casual greeting when outside of work. 002. “Mazel tov!” Another Jewish greeting/exclamation that should be/likely is explanatory.  003. AWKWARD SILENCE. Because my muse sucks at communication and will totally stand there like an idiot and be like “uhhhhhhhhhh” like Tina Belcher and I have no idea how to fix this clearly lacking character trait for her. 004. “Guay cuando el amares favla leshon hakodesh!” Ladino: “Be wary of idiots who quote scripture.” SALOME TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL GIRL. 005. this, if we’re entirely honest here:

COLORS:

001. I associate Salome strongly to the monochromatic shades; we’re talking about all the way from the deepest blacks to the starkest whites. One of the mythologies I honestly love to play on is that of the La Llorona -- the Weeping Woman -- who is a White Lady archetype (hilariously, Sarah Shahi played a La Llorona in the Supernatural pilot!) These are seen the world over and are common in North American folklore in particular (New York has several.) The murky waters of the Upstate’s Finger Lakes staining crisp white linens is my aesthetic for Salome and you can PRY IT FROM MY COLD, WATERY AND DEAD HANDS. 002. That said, very dark earth and jewel tones. Murky blues and greens in particular. 003. Plums. Not violet, that’s too blue. Not magenta, too red. It’s that weird shade as a between. It has to be plum. 004. Carmine red. A lot of her house is painted carmine red and it’s the art on the walls that makes everything pop with color. It’s also called Crimson Lake technically but w/e that’s a fancy artist term and I’m not a fancy artist (wtf me yes i am?)  005. Paris Green. You know, that shade of green that killed people because it was made with arsenic and they used to put it in food and wallpaper and in clothes and that went well for everyone involved (I sincerely hope you realize this is hyperbole.) This gets listed on here not because I am a morbid tart, nor because my muse is a mortician, but because Salome’s profound interest in morbid anatomy and antique medical equipment/oddities. She has a book that has arsenic wallpaper in it, which I think gives a hint of her totally cavalier attitude towards her own health.

SCENTS:

001. Oud. 002. Neroli. 003. Sandalwood. 004. Coffee or mint tea, depending on the day and what’s going on in the house. 005. Death/embalming fluid (ahaha well, can’t escape some things, can we?)

CLOTHING:

001. Like I said before, I imagine Salome wearing mostly monochromatics. When she’s minding her own business, she tends to wear a lot of black or white dresses. That wasn’t how it was when I first wrote her five fucking years ago but here we are now.  002. At work -- when she’s not working the crematory or morgue -- she wears a dress suit that’s black white a white button up. Exclusively. We have not deviated from this pattern in five years, so I suspect we won’t be any time in the future, either. 003. When working the crematory, she’s supposed to wear a bunch of hazmat equipment. She is my naughty daughter and only does this when she’s doing morgue work. If she’s simply embalming, she dresses to protect against splashes. Cremation usually has her wearing some shite outfit she doesn’t care about like a band tshirt w/ another shirt under it and jeans. IT’S ONE OF THE FEW TIMES YOU CAN SEE HER SCARS AND MUSCLES AT THE SAME TIME. 004. Salome always wears an obscene amount of jewelry. Bangles, necklaces, earrings, etc. Always. You can always hear her coming, because all of this tends to clatter around and cause a ruckus to some degree.  005. Formal occasions usually lead to her wearing a takchita. You can find examples of them and other shit in this lovely tag here.

OBJECTS:

001. Books. No, really. It’s a problem. I worry about if she has to move. 002. Her collections of things: like wall art, medical/anatomical imagery, terrariums, other interesting things, y’know. Stuff.  003. It’s not an object so much as a pet, but Luisa. Friendly giant lizard buddy that wanders the house causing problems. 004. Henna. Salome has a penchant for henna. She usually has some on or does henna treatments on her hair pretty regularly.   005. when ur muse collects everything but struggle to put five things in an object list, fuck

VICES / BAD HABITS:

001. Comes off as rude as fuck because she either fails to respond to people right or is your typical New Yorker and responds to people too much and there is no in between.  002. Prone to depersonalization that is incredibly problematic. 003. Has a lowkey eating disorder because she never eats. Also can’t cook worth shit, speaking of, but then complains about everyone’s food because she is around a bunch of whiteys with knowledge of cabbage soup and little else. This is what I mean look at this rude little brat. 004. Is generally the smartest person in the room in a lot of instances and will know it, and it will make you want to run her over with a car. She is pretty good about deferring to people way more powerful than her, though (to a point; once she’s friendly with you it’s fair game that she picks on your muse again.) 005. Was the Hamilton listener that Spotify campaign was calling out:

BODY LANGUAGE:

001. Fidgety as fuck. She tends to play with her hands during conversations. Including stuffing them in and out of her pockets. 002. If she’s sitting, she’ll also kick her legs. 003. Very, very animated speaker when she gets passionate about this. Grand gestures that match her speech patterns and vivid metaphors, etc. 004. Has a tendency to slip from one language to another to another without even thinking and then five minutes later it suddenly dawns on her that she’s lost whoever she was talking to because they don’t understand Yiddish or French or Ladino or Polish or any of the other numerous languages she speaks to various levels of fluency. 005. If she’s upset, she is pretty much either mute or hysterical. There is no between there. It’s not uncommon for her to become angry when upset and break things accidentally, but she won’t take it out on people ever. She’ll just bang shit on a counter until it slowly breaks down into nothing. Because we are totally a grown up who handles our emotions correctly.

AESTHETICS:

001. DEATH 002. DEATH IN FORESTS 003. WOMEN IN WHITE 004. WATERRRRRR N BONES 005. seriously she has a pinterest it’s probably easier 

SONGS:

001. Not a Pretty Girl, Ani Difranco 002. Our Lady of the Underground, Anais Mitchell 003. Help I’m Alive by Metric 004. Marry the Night by Lady Gaga 005. I’m Afraid of Americans by David Bowie

tagged by: @illusivexemissary tagging: @fire-in-stars, @recruitedbyhydra, @metallsinne, @groovyxgenes, @dragonbitvh, @demonbitch

[asfeedin]

5 easy and actionable ways to find new photography ideas

This post is written by Dina Belenko, a 500px Ambassador who specializes in still life photography.

People always ask me where I find ideas for my work, and I usually respond by recommending that they read a wonderful essay by Neil Gaiman titled Where do you get your ideas from?, because each and every word is on point.

But there are also a few methods designed specifically for photographers, which I naturally use myself, that I also like to share. These methods are best suited for food shots, applied photography, and still life, but in reality, anyone who prefers to take shots in a controlled environment and plan the shot beforehand can find them useful.

Here are five simple methods for coming up with new photography ideas.

1. The solo object

Your task is to take any object—an apple, a pencil, a cup, salt shaker, some scissors, etc.—and come up with 15 different ways to shoot it.

You can reshape the object, change the angle and light, or add one or two other objects if you need to create some contrast (but not more than two).

For example, let’s take an apple. Try to create at least 15 sketches with it as a main focus. This could be: -A green apple on a Pantone palette card -A red apple with a shadow of a witch, like the one in Snow White -A pattern made from a cut apple -An apple covered in gold (hey, Midas touch) -An apple core in a globe frame

Don’t stop until you have 15 ideas that you can implement. Then choose one, finish your sketch and take a shot.

This is the simplest, and yet the hardest, method of them all.

2. My dog ate the palette

In this method, the main limitation is color.

Pick one color and think about its significance for you personally. Does red represent love or violence? Does green represent sickness or growth? Is yellow associated with lies and scandals or with the sun? How can you express these ideas in the form of a still life? Which objects are known for being that color? Which items are associated with it?

Let’s take pink, for example. For me, pink signifies love and tenderness. That is why I use pink peonies and central elements in my shots portraying sentimental stories and love letters.

The most important things here are making sure that your palette is based on a certain color, and you have a story to explain the presence of that particular color in your shot.

3. Seasonal still life with a twist

This is a great way to take a traditional seasonal shot for Instagram and be original at the same time.

Let’s start with the basics—make a list of things that are associated with the season you are shooting. What can we find in a typical winter shot? Hot chocolate, fir trees, and gingerbread. What is typical for autumn shots? Mulled wine, autumn leaves, and pumpkins. The list you create will be the basis for choosing your necessary props.

Your next step is to find the defining trait of the season and visualize it. For example, winter is cold. Great, but how do we show this coldness? We can put items in a freezer, then bring them to a warm room and wait for the frost to form on the surface. We can also freeze a cup with marshmallows in a block of ice. Or, we can spruce the set up with fake snow.

Now, let’s take autumn as an example. It often rains in autumn, so how do we visualize it? We take a still life shot under the rain! How do we show summer heat? We shoot melting ice cream. And how can we show the first sprouts of spring? It’s all up to you.

4. Changing the scenery

Every item has its usual context—cups belong in the kitchen, submarines are found in the ocean, and a sledgehammer is usually kept in the forge. We do not really pay attention to these items, because they are a part of their context. Our task, for this method, is to take them out of it, place them against an unusual background and justify this change.

We can, of course, simply bring a chair to a forest. Yes, we have changed the scenery. Yes, it looks unusual. But it’s just a chair in a forest. However, if you bring a chair, hang some banners around it, make a scepter out of a random branch, and a crown of pinecones, now you have the throne of the forest king. You could even take it a step further, and make it a king from a children’s game. For that, you may have some of them drop their toys around.

If you take a toy chair and put it under a mushroom, you create a cozy reading corner for a fairy. A chair shot in a water tank with seaweed and bubbles now belongs to a sunken civilization.

Take the item you personally prefer. Create a broader context for it, a scenery or background, like a kitchen, a forest, a theater, a sea, maybe a desert, ancient Greece, or a library. Come up with at least 10 different developments for your story. Pick one and shoot it.

5. Pay tribute

This method always comes in handy. Think about the works of your favorite painter or movie director. Pay attention to their pictures, and think about what makes them unique and recognizable. Is it color? Is it light? Composition, maybe? Create an imitation shot.

It is important to pick a painter or a movie director (or animator, sculptor, illustrator, etc.), but not a photographer for this method.

For example, I personally admire Russian followers of Suprematism, and I have many pictures with simple and bright forms, like orange slices, paper circles, intense backgrounds, and objects with simple shapes.

You can try to shoot a sandwich in a style of Kill Bill, or take a shot of spaghetti inspired by Wes Anderson. After all, it’s always nice to have a chance to talk about your favorite artist!

Try each of these methods and pick the one you like the most. Have fun with your experiments!

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Tags: 5, actionable, Easy, Find, Ideas, photography, Ways

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[queenharumiura]

Tagged Meme

RULES: answer the questions you’re given, write 11 of your own and tag 11 people.

Geebs, i’m super late to this because I was just... mia for a while because of reasons. Ahahahah

What is a small moment you’ve always kept with you?

To be honest, any time that I’m told someone enjoys threading with me, or my portrayal, it makes me happy and it stays with me. Literally. I screenshot things like that onto my phone so when I’m sad, I’ll go through my photo gallery to remember that there is at least one person out there that appreciates what I do.

Your favorite quote and what it means to you?

“Everyone is special in their own special way, even the unspecial ones.” I mean, I don’t know if it counts, since this was something that I came up on my own in middle school. I believe that everyone is special. Even if you’re someone who is ‘basic,’ you’re still special. It just takes a patient and understanding eye to look past the ‘basic’ stuff and see a person for who they are. If that doesn’t count… "History is written by the victors," is another quote that I tend to like. It really makes you think about the world. What you think is the truth may not necessarily be true to another person? There are always misunderstandings, or cover up stories, biases, etc. You could always try to look at as many references as you can when you try to form an opinion on something. That's how I feel personally so that quote is something I can relate to in some way.

Who is a fictional character that is most relatable to you and why?

Ah… I never really thought about characters being very relatable to me, but the only character that comes to mind at the moment is Haru. We have a few similarities, which can be found in our odd spoken quirks. She speaks in third person a lot, as do I. She also says things like ‘Hahi!’ a lot and I just make… odd sounds in general, ahaha. We’re both just very protective of people, especially of children. It doesn’t matter if we’re blood related or not, we just adore children and will look after them. I’m the eldest in my family and I’ve been around a lot of children, so I’m very protective of kids. We both have a bit of a temper. We both daydream a lot, it seems. I guess some of the other stuff goes into HC territory.

Who is someone you’d brag about to others?

I’m not really sure what constitutes as ‘bragging’ about someone, but if you’ve talked to me at length ooc, or if we’ve threaded before, there is a good chance I’ve talked about you. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 people I've talked about fondly to people. I talk about my thread partners a lot. Wanna know if I’ve talked about you? It’s a SE-C-RET~~~~ jk, you are free to ask, I’m open book about it.

Where is your happy place? 

In any room with my laptop or my dog. 

What is your favorite thing about yourself? 

Um...I love the fact that I’m just a bitter person in general? So years of seeing my QUEEN getting bashed, has made me reach the point that Haru hate makes me love her even MORE. I FEED off the hate. So the more hate she gets, the more dedicated to her I get. I guess you could actually chalk that up to loyalty, maybe?

( khr ) Why do you associate yourself to a certain flame? 

I think when I’ve taken various quizzes I’d get Rain or Mist. I do like to stay out of arguments of any kind, and I just like to talk to people to help them calm down if they’re upset. I guess I just like the calm? I’m very easily swayed by people’s emotions, so if people are upset around me, I’ll also feel upset. If someone is sad around me, I’ll feel sad in relation. I kinda just like to wash away things, I guess. When in an argument, I kinda just want to lead things to neutral ground again. I don’t like fights. It’s emotionally exhausting to me. As for the mist, I feel like I get the mist at times because I hide a lot? Emotionally, I can get pretty erratic, but I struggle to really express it. I like to hide behind a general emotion of happiness or just neutrality. I hardly will talk to someone about my feelings because I don’t like to do so. It stems from the fact that I was never allowed to have an opinion or emotions, so it became me struggling to express my feelings. So there are a lot of times that I get hurt by things done or said to me, but I won’t say anything. Sometimes I’ll just hide behind indifference or something. One reason I daydream a lot is to just escape from things. I dunno, that’s the best explanation I could come up with.

What’s a trait you’d like to pick up if you could? 

Self-confidence, probably?

What is something from childhood that helped shape the person you are?

Ehh… I mean I guess if I don’t go into specifics it should be okay? Maybe? Something that helped shaped me into the person I am today is just being bullied in school in general and having a friend try to kill me in middle school? Funnily enough she was who I thought of as a best friend. Ahaha. Welp.  

If you could glimpse years into the future, would you? 

No, I wouldn’t. It’s certainly stressful to not know where you may end up in the future, and it’s scary to know that one action could change the course of your life, but it is because of that fact that I have to take my actions more seriously. Nothing is guaranteed, and so I have to try to reach my goals. The mystery is what helps you feel anticipation about what is to come. Mainly, I don’t want to risk looking into the future to see that I’m unhappy. I’d rather live out my life unaware than to possibly live dreading an unhappy future.  

How would you describe your fashion style?   

I’m not sure if I have one. Is Lazy/comfortable a style? I kinda just wear whatever is comfortable. Though, I can say that I do tend to stick to cool colors. I love wearing gray, silver, greens and blues. I’ll rarely be seen wearing pink/reds/yellows. If you show me clothes that have studs or zippers, I’m there. I also tend to like off-shoulder clothing but I don’t really wear em myself very often.

tagged by: @amaterasuko​ tagging: I don’t know who to tag who hasn’t already been tagged and I know some people don’t like being tagged but I can’t remember who so i’m just gonna do the ‘tag  yo’self’ kinda thing. 

NEO’S QUESTIONS: (i)If you had the chance to choose one thing, what would you change about your muse(s) canon-wise if there is anything? (ii)On a scale to 1 being ‘I hate them’ to 10 being ‘I love them,’ how do you think your muse(s) would rate you? (iii)My ever classic question: if you had to live in a fruit, what would you choose? (iv)When you come across a writer’s block/lose motivation to write, how do you resolve this? (v)Altogether, how many pets have you had? Feel free to include names/descriptions if you wanna! (vi)Is there a message that you wish for all your followers to hear from you? (vii)Why did you pick up your muse(s)? (viii)What part of your portrayal do you think is unique to the way you write them? (ix)Is there something you’ve been dying to try out plot-wise with your muse(s) recently? (x)What is something that most people don’t know about you?

[soullesscoyote]

All the asks

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?My process for naming fics is eitherA) a joke name because i can't help myselfB) or a name that just sounds like "yeah that's a fitting title name"B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?Plenty! I try to follow the rule "write what you know" in a way to convey maybe something I've experienced, but also use it to write what I don't know about.For example I have a lower middle class family, but to write a more well off family i base it on things I've seen and experienced when younger like those times we got home from the grocery store and that first day with a ton of food and i felt like i wouldnt have to worry about eating a ton of it, or even back when i was younger (7) with a loft bed and having all my stuff organized with a spot in my room had me feel really content with my life where i felt like i had everything i wanted and couldn't ask for more. I had a 3d puzzle of the inside of a frog, an ant farm, a hamster, a framed picture of a praying mantis, a very small binder of pokémon cards, a room painted green and at that age and time felt like my life was really together despite not knowing how to articulate it. It felt like my own personal space that i had control of so to write a well of family i try to write in things that give off a similar feeling of a well put together room except a entire house that way where everything feels like it has its place. If that makes sense.C: What character do you identify with most?In Marble Hornets, Jay Merrick who just wanted to help everyone despite how many time those people tried to kill or hurt him.In Voltron, Keith in terms of not always feeling like I belong in groups and sometimes struggling to understand myself. Also Hunk whos a very caring person with a big heart.In Be More Chill i relate to Jake where in freshman year of high school i worked really hard to be the best in my classes to a point that id cry from stress every night.Jeremy feeling unimportant and more like a background character with nothing really notable about him compared to everyone else.Brooke feeling constantly like she's second best to Chloe and people using her.Christine being unsure of what she wants in life as she nears the last year of high school where she feels like she needs to decide.Rich while unsquipped seeming like he hardly knows how to handle himself in social situations and seeming incredibly anxious without a squip also being a big nerd D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?Typically if its a musical depending on viewpoint i listen to songs with those characters in it.In other things its songs that give me a similar feeling to the thing i'm writing (for example i imagine things as color pallets so i try to match them with the colors another thing gives me. Or the corresponding emotion i feel/need to feel as I write a scene.E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?Starting From Square One? The sequel would be more of Rich adjusting to life without a squip and living a pretty happy life with Michael and them going about their lives be it them going to college and struggling or as adults with jobs and trying to figure themselves out during that since i kinda feel like life is constantly a thing of trying to figure yourself out.Out of the tons of Voltron Fics probably more on Keith being glara and the lives/background behind the galra species with how it affects keithIn hu it's hard to say. A lot of them would be hard to find a way to make sequels of but considering Starting From Square one is the only fic i managed make myself work on currently i wouldnt say its impossible to find/make sequels for any of those ficsF: Care to share a favorite hurt/comfort fic?For Be More Chill http://archiveofourown.org/works/11671890/chapters/26267448 Both because its from Michaels viewpoint and it definitely doesn't seem to go out of its way to make Jeremy a monster and make Michaels personality center around hsi panic attack like plenty fics do.G: Care to share a favorite crack fic?I'm not too big on crack fics because i personally love really long fics with character development. (crack fics are good, for me it's just my preference where most of the time i'm not in a huge mood for them) but i know this one has been p funny https://my.w.tt/UiNb/v4KNrRgajJ H: How would you describe your style?Id say i write in whatever sounds right in my mind while i'm reading to fit the mood of what i intend to portray. Its really hard to sayI: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?Already answeredJ: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].Starting from Square Ones Alternate ending would be it ending where Rich snaps at everyone and it would have a sequel of everyone in the squip squad meeting Rich in college after not seeing him for an entire year. They'd find who took online classes because he didn't want to see anyone and was still pissed and during that time he had gotten several jobs and was barely even supporting himself with how his dad doesnt care for him. (potentially where he may take up selling drugs) and everyone does try to apologize but it takes awhile for anyone to convince Rich they actually mean it.K: What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?In Starting From Square One there was a scrapped idea of everyone actually hating rich and him trying desperately to convince them it wasn't his fault he started the fire only when everyone finally does get proof from Jeremy who actually understands Rich's struggle because he had a squip longer Rich hasn't gone to school in well over a week and has goes missing because he's hiding from his dad. L: What's the weirdest AU you've ever come up with?I based one on a dream i had which was like a Xiaolin Showdown, meets high school au, meets almost one pieceLike if you touched these specific items they latched onto you and gave you abilities that typically corresponded to an animal or gave a animals trait to you like enhanced sense of smell, stronger legs for jumping, wings etc. It wasn't fully thought out or planned so it's a very vague idea.M: Got any premises on the back burner that you'd care to share?Im writing bits and pieces of terraverse, its hard but i'm getting somewhere with it! There's others but they're like aus based off dreams that i'm yet to figure out how to explain or develop in a way they make sense.N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?All of them tbhO: How do you begin a story--with the plot, or the characters?Typically plot first and then i'll add characters to match the plotP: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an "architect" or a "gardener"? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)It's a little bit of bothI try to plan in advance but as i write Point A going to Pont B i do find things in the story that unfold as I go and then proceed to go to my planning to find a spot to mention it again later.For example i mainly planned on in Starting From Square One that Rich would have known Michaels older brother from when he was a kid but didnt know his last name therefore didn't know he and Michael were related and as I wrote more in my planning it sort of unfolded as I wrote and became me writing in that Michaels older brother dropped out of college because of how stressful it was and Rich gos to stay with him and that's when he finds out michael and him are brothers.Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?While writing if i decide suddenly I want to change something I take what i've already written of that version and paste it into a Google doc of scrapped ideas. That way if i can find a chance to implement them in another fic or other point in a chapter even if written differently i can have the general idea for what i may have intended to go off of.R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?None in particular but I feel like a little bit of everything I've read and written influences my writing since i always find something somebody may have written i want to implement in a fic.Not like their idea. But small things like reading people write about Michael's parents did influence me to include Michaels parents in my fic. Not the same way they did but it was something i read that had made me stop and realize.I never considered what some of these character's families and cousins and such are thinking as they may hear about this from another viewpoint like Michael’s, Jeremy’s, Rich's, Brooke’s, Chloe's, Jenna’s, or Christine's.S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?In voltron (before it became canon) i liked a trope that Keith isn't as angry as everyone makes him and actually is just really defensive and afraid of being seen as weak to everyone else because lance seems to constantly go to pick on him for things.In Be More Chill i stand by the Trope Jake is really smart just perhaps Ditzy and gets really excited over something and struggles to pay attention to the other details because of a long theory and research i did with all the extra curriculars jake did paired with his need to be the best. T: Any fandom tropes you can't stand?G o dIn Hollywood Undead stuff I always hated Aron being an unreasonable asshole by default.In Be More ChillJeremy's character being reduced to having been an asshole to Michael because it erases how they were friends for TWELVE YEARS and Jeremy in the bathroom did say "I missed you" TO MICHAEL. Or how Jeremy did have a lot of stressful shit happen to him minutes prior which made him get really defensive over the squip.Everytime people center Michaels personality around his panic attack i love 7 years to my life because they only go as far as Michael hates himself but never even delve into things like how Michael said to Jeremy how he wouldn't be glad to see him after he heard about his research on the squip Kinda like he anticipated Jeremy wouldn't be happy and Michael had a feeling Jeremy wouldn't outright be happy about it.(asks cut me off hold up)