#who dual wields so she still has KNIVES

[ow1et]

star wars things !

the court of owls still exists and retains the same structure. the primary differences being that individual courts are not based around a singular city. they are based on planets, typically having a main headquarters in the capital. the parliament of owls is the coalition of all the planetary courts into an intergalactic hierarchy. for example, there is a coruscanti court and a correllian court who individually govern themselves, but they would both answer to the leadership of the parliament.

athene is still born into the court ( which is essentially a bunch of rich asses trying to control the galaxy from the shadows ). her force sensitivity is obvious from a young age and valued within the court. her parents are proud to ship her off to the order, they're even the ones to contact them. the court intends ( even as early as this ) to make contact with her when she's older and use her as an inside source, a spy.

she does not do very well as a youngling. she's desperate for approval, but also for a parental figure to cling to . . . except they keep telling her that attachment is forbidden. absolutely the problem child.

ta.ri.a da.ms.in's last apprentice. poor gal got begged to take athene on because she is like the only one who could put up with her and stood a chance of tempering how completely unhinged she was as a kid. she gets better, until the point where her master is diagnosed with a fatal disease. due to the war + her master's deteriorating health, she's sort of catapulted into becoming a knight. she has mixed feelings on her training being expeditated not due to her own prowess, but because the order wanted her master to be present at athene's ceremony ( ta.ri.a passes a short time afterward ).

athene is trained as a sentinel and has the typical golden sabers to go with her role ( she dual wields ). in true sentinel form, she rarely ignites them. as she is typically undercover, she more often utilizes a dl-18 blaster, a cortosis blade, and throwing knives.

i take some of the legends roles of sentinels into account and so athene is specifically a shadow, essentially a spy. it works out in the court's favor as she is more easily able to feed them information on both sides of the war, criminal organizations, up and coming powers in the galaxy, potential allies and enemies alike, etc. her primary focus is on infiltrating planets or organizations believed to be sympathetic to the separatists. her role often keeps her away from the temple for weeks or months at a time and she's utilized many aliases.

[crystalelemental]

If the last post wasn't obvious, I'm playing Rune Factory 5 for reals now. I'm having fun.

I'm still in the early phases, I think like the second week. I did find Beatrice and Randolph, but haven't gotten Scarlet yet (my wife's way ahead of me).

My main focus right now is on the farming aspect. I've been running mostly on Turnips, but now that I have steady income, the plan is shifting to more valuable crops, I just have to do the math to decide what I'm actually after primarily and to keep a steady daily stream of income.

Beatrice is my favorite, to the shock of no one. Very my type of character. I brought her along on an adventure and she apparently wields a hammer. We were expecting magic, maybe a shortsword, but the hammer is a delightful surprise for the princess. Hina's also really good, apparently she has like dual swords but they're knives. I also brought Elsja, who can punch. I'll probably rotate adventuring parties a bit, but my intent is to have Beatrice be the marriage candidate. I can't lie to you, Elsja would be a strong contender as well, but she's not eligible for some reason. I dunno man, I know it's probably age range or something, but Murakumo feels older than you by a decent margin too, considering his sister is old enough to be a mom, so this feels kinda silly.

My main approach has been magic. It kinda sucks ass. The casting is a bit slow, it's all linear, it doesn't deal a ton of damage, etc etc. I did buy special spells like the Fireball but haven't had much opportunity to test them out. Much like Rune Factory Frontier, which I played ages ago, it feels like encounters are either slapped silly in second, or you're not dealing like any damage. Balance is a little wonky that way.

My equipment is still pretty bad, but I'm hoping to upgrade my weapon selections. The big one I want to get to is better farming equipment. I still only have the cheap stuff, and the Farming Bread won't teach me any new recipes. I know I can do it without a recipe, but looking up all the answers feels a bit...too flippant? I'd rather at least pretend like I'm experiencing the game directly.

Money is flowing steadily, but my big hiccup is having enough wood and stone to satisfy Palmo. I want to get all the various cooking tables, but I can't get enough material to stay on top of it. I know I want the pot first. My wife has informed me you can learn to make Strawberry Jam and that this is a Beatrice Favorite, so like. Done deal.

Anyway, going pretty well so far. Fish Variety Festival is upcoming soon, and I'll be diversifying my crops soon. More to come.

[talenlee]

CoX: Dusted

Time to time, I write up an explication of characters I’ve played in RPGs or made for my own purpose.  This is an exercise in character building and creative writing.

Who is she? Probably just some Monolith employee.

If you work for the Protectorate, you probably have dealt with Dusty, if indirectly. She’s part of the tech infrastructure, often operating on her own doing specific troubleshooting jobs at various remote sites for the Protectorate’s projects. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t show up to more conventional hero work, though. Her vibe, her aesthetic, though, isn’t so much a hero for the people as much as she is a technician here to do a job. Yes, she looks cool as hell in her different control suits, and she has a very fashionable look for when she needs to do stealth work as the heroine Dusted, but by default, she considers her work to be about making a big noise where nobody hears it.

She’d like to sneak into a facility full of death machines and break them, and then come home for a huge paycheque. That kind of thing. Not big on glory, not big on pride, Dusty is a worker.

When you’re in the job with her, though, you’d most likely know her as a figure surrounded by a cloud of seemingly sentient sand. The sand follows her movement, deflecting blows, creating tiny point shields to shatter and defray projectiles and energy waves at her, and even protect her from radiation and telepathic intrusion. This smart sand is actually a cloud of sophisticated bio-derived nanites: she’s a technopath who wears a lot of specialised devices she can reconfigure with her mind. She wields swords that look and act like shock tasers for most organic impact and monafilament knives when dealing with inorganics.

Mechanics

For reasons that make sense later, Dusty has a truly staggering build in terms of cost. It’s a build that costs a lot to do all of what it wants to do, because I wanted her to be able to main tank for most content. That means she needed to have access to her Taunt, she needed to be tough against common axes of damage, and she needed a lot of area coverage to maintain that area aggro.

She’s a Dual Blades/Dark Armour brute, with the boring Physical Perfection epic pool. I defaulted to that on weapon users, because it used to be that swapping from one type of weapon to another involved an animation that locks you in place. Homecoming has brought that down, but it still works here. Her build has:

45+% Smashing and lethal defense

53% Melee defense, which means a single -def hit doesn’t give her cascade failures

~86%resistance to smashing and lethal damage, and 63%+ to almost all other kinds of damage

200% Recovery

92% recharge, which with hasten means about 10 second downtime on hasten

It’s honestly not a perfect build. It needs some reconsideration for the past two pages of Homecoming. Particularly, the version I have of her hasn’t actually respecced since the change to the Infiltration travel power which is kind of perfect for someone who’s literally meant to be a highly skilled infiltrator.

But if you want to see the draft of her current build with all the expensive bits she already has in it, well, the current Mids build isn’t stable for this kinda thing yet.

History

Now you might notice that character bio is remarkably spartan and that’s true! It is! Dusty is a character who expected to never have anyone to interact with who wouldn’t know what the Monolith was, and never needed to be approachable to a general population. Anyone who assiduously investigated her would see that she was one of the oldest names in the character roster of the supergroup.

This is because Dusty is the oldest member of the group known as the Protectorate, which is still extremely important to my roleplay universe. Originally, she was a different character. She used to be Carcer. One of the things I love about City of Heroes is that when a character build works, but the flavour of the character attached to it doesn’t, I can just rename, re-customised and recreate the concept of the character, and very few things are locked in place. In this case, Carcer and Dusted only share that their powers flow from a mutation.

Carcer joined the Protectorate very early in its life. Carcer as a character though, was made as a first-ditch attempt to recreate something from live, and I was never that happy with how his mechanics and his powers lined up. When his character could be properly described as ‘punches things and does not die,’ and he could be rebuilt into a more proper Tanker build, I had suddenly, a level 50 mutant who was fun to play, but not Carcer… and they had a sign-in date for the Protectorate that predated almost everyone who didn’t found the place.

These ideas coalesced and formed Dusty: A woman who was not a founder of the Protectorate but a member of it since before its reformation. She was, back in the day, the plucky teen sidekick of the Protectorate before its first fall, and now she’s the mature cool aunt of the group, having been instrumental in destroying what almost led to the first Protectorate’s complete downfall. The specifics are vague – I literally don’t know – but the implication I’ve always had is that Dusty travelled the whole world and found every single copy of a piece of code on every computer in the world and manually deleted it, before returning to the Protectorate. Like, this is a woman who has spent a year doing something that, technologically speaking, sounds nearly impossible.

And now she’s back with the place that she gave her twenties to, from her teens, and dealing with the people who don’t, mostly, know what she did or who she is.

Dusty doesn’t get much play. The Protectorate, largely, are busy elsewhere these days. That’s okay! This was a season of game play, a story I got to be part of, and share with them. It’s okay that they weren’t permanently into something.

It was a joy, though and I really like what I got to be in that story space.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[villainanders]

i have a lot of trc dragon age au thoughts but i havent made my comprehensive post yet bc im still trying to figure out everyone’s classes bc im worried about PARTY BALANCE. in my au tumblr post

[mint-yooxgi]

ok now i'm super curious about miyeon. was that like an arrangement, or did she seek them out? like how did they get involved?

So the way I planned it out in my head was that San and Wooyoung were the first that took interest in her due to seeing her and talking with her all the time at council meetings, then Mingi and Hongjoong got involved, though Hongjoong was really only interested in the sex at the time, so he was more of a fwb situation. She loved the attention because it made her feel important, and having an in with them meant she had a direct line to who she really wanted out of all of them: Yeosang. 

A little bit of lore to the world, but essentially each of the eight of them are skilled at a particular thing, or weapon essentially. As it’s already been hinted at/mentioned, Yunho is the strongest mentally out of all of them, so he trains demons in a sort of assassination of the mind. (Hongjoong is skilled with daggers/throwing knives, and I'm still figuring out the rest, but so far I have Seonghwa with swords (like the broadsword, and stuff), Yeosang with bows, Jongho with axes, San with spears, Mingi has two curved blades he uses (so dual wielding), Wooyoung is fucking great with poisons and seduction techniques,, and so on and so forth). Depending on the faction where the demon is from and who rules over their clans, demons can receive training from one of the eight leaders which is how Miyeon got involved with Yunho. Though, it was a calculated move to learn the essence of the mind considering what she wanted and from whom.

In the end, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, all ended up in a poly relationship with her, while Hongjoong was mainly a side thing, but she wanted all of them to want her. Jongho wanted nothing to do with her cause he could see through her scheme, so he avoided her and warned them. Yunho, poor guy, actually ended up falling the hardest for her during their little one on one teaching bouts only for her to rip his heart out - there a storyarc in there that I'll probably touch upon in later chapters. Yeosang just did not care about her at all, and Seonghwa wasn’t interested. However, that being said, she has slept with six of them just to say she can. Only Yeosang and Jongho never bedded her.

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (July 8/2021) - Flying Pigs

Fundy and Foolish have a literal custody battle over Fundy’s son, Yogurt. 

Drista visits after her dog died and causes chaos with Tommy, forming a bomb squad of people riding flying pigs.

---

VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Foolish

Tommyinnit

Captain Puffy

---

- Ponk continues taking down the rest of his casino

- Ponk meets Foolish at the casino site and tells Foolish that he wants to commission a Lemon Tree opposite of where the original one stood. Foolish is reluctant, saying the Lemon Trees have never worked out

- Foolish asks about what “Little Red” was, but Ponk says it’s best not to talk about it

- Ponk notices the Bruno Mars beacon and mistakes Prince Philip for Emperor Palpatine

- Ponk pays Foolish for the tree

- Ponk is overjoyed when they get a pet Endermite, but unfortunately it despawns while Foolish is running to get a nametag

- Ponk wants a new Lemon Tree so that if anyone messes with it, he has an excuse to fight them

- Foolish discovers Karl’s secret Tommyinnit Hate Club

- Foolish and Ponk talk about exploding each other

- They mine up the floor and Ponk tells Foolish about Salamone, the pillager who killed a lot of people who used to live down underneath the casino after Ponk took his legs. Salamone was the enforcer for his essential oils shop

- Ponk shoos Foolish away. Foolish returns to the summer home and gets rid of the top hats on the statues

- Later, Foolish heads over to Las Nevadas where he finds Fundy calling from a distance. They compare outfits

- Foolish shows Fundy the outhouse that doubles as a helicopter

- Fundy is rusty at Minecraft and suggests a PvP battle, but Foolish tells him about how he’s never killed anyone. He checks his statistics and somehow, Foolish has gained three player kills but he’s not sure when 

- Fundy goes over to check on how Yogurt’s been doing. Foolish says he’s been taking care of him. Fundy tells Yogurt to look at him, but Yogurt turns to look at Foolish instead. Fundy is horrified, worried that Yogurt might not recognize him anymore

- Foolish says he is Yogurt’s father and that it is better this way

- Fundy desperately throws Yogurt some berries to try and get him to look, but again, Yogurt turns to Foolish instead

Fundy: “Do you not remember me?!”

- Foolish says that Yogurt must have started seeing him as a father figure instead. Fundy wants the PvP battle immediately. They prepare items

- They can discuss who gets Yogurt on weekdays and weekends after the battle. They decide to fight under the Eiffel Tower. Fundy declares that he will prove himself as a father today

- They negotiate the terms and Foolish counts down from ten to begin the duel. He charges at Fundy, and Fundy screams and runs away, logging out

- Fundy comes back and they start again. Fundy runs away again, but after getting a couple hits on Foolish he gains confidence and wins the first round

- They begin the second battle and Foolish charges forward while Fundy hides. But Foolish has an idea to up the stakes: climb the tower.

The two climb up opposite corners of the tower and run along the sides. Foolish gets some hits, but Fundy wins the second battle as well and the duel as a whole

- Fundy goes to feed his son some berries, and Yogurt looks at him again! Fundy is overjoyed, making happy noises

- He tells Foolish to go, so Foolish leaves Fundy with his son

- Foolish continues working on the hotel

- Drista found out about her dog, Bruno, dying, and is displeased. Tommy has the idea to go to Las Nevadas where he’s set up a new place with Wilbur, since Drista isn’t old enough to gamble

- Tommy runs over while doing his best Philza Minecraft impression with C418′s Sweden playing in the background

Tommy: “I will repent my sins through the coin of the game.”

- Tommy makes it to Fort Big, thinking he’s safe. He goes to chop some wood and that’s when Drista appears, immediately stabbing him to death

- Drista teleports him back. She is dual-wielding Netherite knives. Tommy starts up a conversation and tries to explain what happened. Drista gives him Regen so that she can stab him more

- Tommy walks over to Las Nevadas and claims that Drista isn’t allowed on this territory. He tells her she’s not the legal age to gamble. Drista points out he isn’t either

- Tommy shows her how to use the gambling machine. Drista still isn’t pleased over her dog dying

- Tommy tells Dream that his sister is mugging him for her dog dying

- Tommy starts sneaking away and Dream tells Drista, who chases him down

- He asks what he can do to make it up to her. Drista wants to vandalize  someone’s house and gives Tommy a Wither rose

- They start walking back, and Tommy tells Drista that he wants to grief Captain Puffy

- Drista spawns in a dog, gets Tommy to tame it and then promptly slaughters it

- They make it back to Tommy’s house and Tommy sees Puffy’s redecoration. Drista wants to vandalize Sapnap’s house

Drista: (looking at the picture of Prince Philip) “Oh my god it’s Philza.”

- Tommy takes down Puffy’s decorations while chatting to Drista

- They walk down the path and Drista spawns another dog. Tommy tames it and Drista kills it again

- Tommy takes her over to Kinoko Kingdom and teaches Drista how to speak imaginary French

- Sapnap comes over briefly in real life, then logs in in-game while Tommy gives Drista advice on how to say no to drugs

- Sapnap tells them to leave, threatening Tommy with what he said yesterday

- Drista takes Tommy into the sky on a flying pig and he and Sapnap have an echoing shouting match

- Drista flies Tommy over to a building and Tommy lights TNT on the roof

- Tommy sets the massive OwO sign on fire and the pig catches fire too

- At Drista’s request, Tommy DMs Techno asking what pigs eat. Techno says potatoes

- Drista tells Tommy to TNT Church Prime but Tommy refuses. They land in the Holy Land and Tommy tells Sapnap to come to Church Prime. Sapnap joins the flying pig team

- Drista asks where Technoblade’s house is. They call Dream and ask him

- Tommy realizes Techno is in prison and Sapnap suggests they bomb the prison. Drista flies them over there and Techno logs on and joins the call

- Drista teleports Techno out and he rides a pig, happy to be “canonically” out of prison. Techno joins the flying pig bomb team

- Drista flies the three of them around until she stops at the Big Innit Hotel. Tommy doesn’t want to TNT the hotel, but Drista gets him to anyway

- Tommy tells Drista he wants to destroy the YOU </3 LITTLE PENIS sign. Puffy starts shooting at them. They land on the sign and start destroying it

Only ENIS remains.

- Tommy and Puffy die and Techno takes their things. Tommy says they should imprison him again. Sapnap and Techno negotiate with Puffy while Drista and Tommy fool around in the graveyard

- Drista sends Tommy a picture of Georgina

- Tommy starts rebuilding his house out of oak wood. Puffy comes over and joins VC and they banter

- Drista bans Tommy from the server

- He comes back and does not like when they start adding a granite wall. He goes over to Karl’s studio thinking it’s Puffy’s house and bumps into a glass pane repeatedly trying to get to the water, not realizing there is glass

- Tommy plays sad Minecraft music because Drista is girlbossing him, then Mask

- He calls Dream again, then gets some sea pickles to give to Drista so that he can be forgiven. Drista forgives him. She plants the pickles in the Holy Land and says he could’ve just done that from the beginning

- Tommy speaks with Dream, who tells him that in the future Tommy will still have to make it up to Drista. Drista comes back to say that there is one thing that she asks of Tommy: that he builds a Drista Hotel with a brand new dog named Brunoto (Bruno 2)

- Tommy gets one of the Drista Daggers and logs out

- Later, Puffy builds a house out of granite and blackstone opposite of Tommy’s house and removes the section of Holy Land wall blocking her therapy office

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

[akampana]

Oh, oh, how about a Gil vampire lord and arty famous vampire hunter in a eternal rivalry for no.1, kinda Hellsing and dracula rivalry but with a twist

“I couldn’t live with myself, if I didn’t tell you.” Gilgamesh x Arturia Vampire x Hunter. Enjoy!

_______

Three bullets.

Two knives.

One vampire.

Arturia Pendragon clicked the cylinders back into place and brought her weapons up to her chin, the warmth of her breath misting the polished barrel. She was the only thing in this accursed mansion that had any sense of heat, as everything inside was either unlit, inanimate, or dead.

The small hunter cursed the winter. There wasn’t a poorer season for killing vampires than one that was as dark and cold as the night creatures’ hearts. However, she could wait no longer. For generations, her family had pursued the blood-sucking fiends, hoping to one day cease the plague that had haunted their lands. At last, it could come to an end. There would be no need for her little brother to learn to handle a gun as well.

All she had to do was put Gilgamesh to rest.

A sudden movement from the right had her fingers on the triggers, but it was an effort wasted. There was nothing but the creak of wood and a curtain dancing in the cold breeze. However, she was not too quick to drop her guard. The vampire she hunted tonight was older than time and just as wise. Tricks like this were not beyond him. It made his hunts more interesting, she bet.

"There you are, my love."

...

Too slow!

The Pendragon ducked to the floor just in time to hear his palm smash through the stone brick behind her. Aiming her revolvers, she sprang up like a gymnast, twisting midair to face the hellspawn.

Silver shot out of her gun, but she already knew it would miss. Vampires were quite the agile creatures, having shed their human limits in exchange for their souls. Even if Gilgamesh looked mortal like herself, the way he sidestepped fire at such a short distance clearly suggested otherwise.

The soles of her boots screeched against the floor as she secured her landing by chucking the revolver at her opponent. Empty guns were useless in fights that required all her attention, but thankfully, this one had extra utility against creatures of the night.

When a high pitched squeak more suited to a frightened pig passed her old rival's lips, she knew she'd made a successful play.

"A silver-barrelled gun? Ha! And here I believed you had exhausted all your options," the older one smirked, the skin of his hands hissing from the contact. "That must have cost your family the entire treasury, my dearest Arturia. Who did this once belong to, hm? Was it your father's? Grandfather's? Great-grandfather's?"

Arturia grimaced as she snatched one of her knives from her heel.

"Killing your kind brings quite the fortune,” she answered, as per their usual simultaneous verbal bouts. “I can buy a hundred more with the price on your head, Gilgamesh."

She spun the blade round her fingers to provoke him, stopping in a backhand grip.

"More of your distractions, girl?" he sneered, just a hint of irritation breaking through his haughty mask. "It will take more than parlor tricks to fell the likes of me!"

Arturia lunged like a fencer, weaving through his usual jabs till she nicked his skin, lamenting how terribly shallow the cut was. As her breaths began to labor, her eyes flickered to the hallway, debating whether or not she could make a break for it. There was no outmatching a vampire in a direct dance to death, but she’d already made that play. Gilgamesh was not going to let her go a second time-

A sharp hiss was the woman’s only warning before his hands seized her throat.

No!

Desperately, she fired the gun at his knee, but all it did was have him bruise her skull on the floor instead of the wall, flinging her around like she weighed nothing.

The woman kicked and thrashed, but for all her effort, all she managed was a slash to his face before he rid her of her knife. Black spots began to cloud her vision, but Arturia took aim even as her lungs began to burn.

She had one bullet. One final attempt to make sure no Pendragon would ever have to take up the craft again. She had to spare poor Arthur. Only six and already being taught how to wield a knife. Igraine was already planning to take him out to hunt foxes. Arthur loved foxes. God. She had to make this one shot. Just this last one. For his sake. Please.

It didn’t take Gilgamesh any effort to bat her gun away.

Arturia’s emerald eyes locked with those of her assailant’s. Her whole life, she’d trained for this day, only to still come up short. It didn’t matter, the thousands that had fallen to her technique. She was still no match for him, not even after all this time.

Her nails clawed into the skin of his knuckles as Gilgamesh dipped down toward her shoulder, no doubt preparing to sink his teeth into her jugular.

Was this how she was going to meet her end? So close to finally ridding the continent of every vampire there was? So close to liberating her brother, her entire clan, from cruel deaths at the hands of the immortals? Why, after all she’d sacrificed, after giving up her life to become a hunter, did she have to fail at her mission’s most crucial moment?

Tears fell from her eyes as she shut them tight, refusing her last glimpse of life to be the eerily perfect face of the undead.

His teeth scraped against her skin. A final torture before he drained the life out of her.

Arturia braced herself for the bite, her head screaming apologies to every person she was letting down. Igraine, her late father, her cousins, Arthur.

But it never came.

“You have done well, my queen,” whispered the old creature, his cold lips brushing against her neck. Arturia gasped for air, hacking and coughing beneath him, a million questions running through her mind. He quieted them all with his thumb on her bottom lip, freezing Arturia where she lay.

“I have endured several of your lifetimes. Each, more passionless than the last. I thought myself fortunate at first, able to experience every pleasure the world had to offer, but a thousand years can make even the sweetest fruit seem vile.”

A flicker of irritation crossed his sharp, eternal features, but it was quickly replaced by something Arturia had never seen before. The emotion swelled within his vibrant ruby irises, which glowed even through a night as dark as this one.

“Eventually, I saw this ‘gift’ for what it truly was: a curse, bestowed upon me by that loathsome snake an eternity ago,” he voiced cryptically, knowing this beautiful little girl would likely never grasp just how long he’d walked this earth.

The Pendragon stared up at him with those fiery irises he’d been fond of since the first time he beheld them.

It was exactly twenty years since the day she first came here. Fifteen years old, a mere child, yet one that possessed the gall to challenge him to a duel. He spared her that day, and she went on to challenge every single creature in the continent that had been turned, coming back every now and then for another shot at his head.

Arturia wasn’t anything like those that shared her last name. Her clan was stiff. Traditional. She took their knowledge, but did not stop there, taking various forms of study to hone her craft. She'd been to Ireland to study their methods. To France to understand alchemy. Three years ago, she nearly killed him with near-invisible wire she acquired from the east. Before that, it was a sword of fire. Today, apparently, she’d gotten dexterous enough dual wielding either guns or knives, when she hadn’t that skill prior.

Ever since they met, his days were full of excitement, anticipation for the day she’d return. Suddenly, he was always on his toes, rising at the first sign of night to prepare for her next arrival. His hunts were no longer mechanical, for he knew now that he and she were bound to cross paths. Where would she see him next? On a hike into the mountains? In summer, when the days were long? Maybe even at the local ball? There were so many possibilities!

About a decade into their arrangement, Gilgamesh realized he was feeling something he hadn’t felt in eons.

He felt alive.

But like most living things, he knew Arturia had a limit. And before she reached it, before his fun could be taken away once more, he knew he had to do this. What better time than now, when he had the opportunity to caress her cheek for the first time?

“However, despite how I’ve loathed my own longevity, I never want our duels to end,” he admitted, memorizing her face, counting her freckles, brushing his thumb against lips he didn’t dare kiss for fear of imparting his curse.

“You, wicked woman, have made this soulless being crave a soul, if only to meet you once more beyond the grave.”

Minutes passed in silence as Arturia registered his confession. The night did not conceal her expressions from him. Not the fear, the anger, the confusion. He witnessed the exact moment of her realization, felt her heartbeat quicken, saw the heat rise to her cheeks. At last, she understood why she lay under him and had not yet fallen victim to his fangs.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked calmly, her voice strained, but clear. “Why now?”

“I have desired to do so for half a decade, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you...and I cannot die without you knowing that you are treasured beyond belief.”

Slowly, he reached for her ankle, where he knew she’d hidden her last knife. It burned his flesh as he grasped the hilt, rejecting the impurity of his being, but he persisted anyway, rejoicing in the sensation. This would be one of the final times he’d experience it.

“Wh...what are you doing?” she asked as he pulled her up to face him, placing the dagger in her grip and clasping his hands around hers. Even presented with the opportunity, it was no longer killing intent that resided within her eyes, only conflict.

“Without an end to one’s existence, love, the delights of what you call ‘life’ have no meaning,” he explained, moving her arms so that the blade’s tip rested just above his heart. “Therefore, Arturia Pendragon, I ask that your worthy hands grant me mine.”

He’d expected his death to be immediate, to happen as soon as he loosened his hold. Gilgamesh knew better than anybody what Arturia had at stake and who she was protecting. Hell, he was excited just contemplating what kind of life she’d lead, now that she’d been liberated of her family’s burden.

But now, when her goal was right in front of her, she hesitated.

For what seemed like a better eternity, Gilgamesh watched her stare into his exhausted red eyes, like she was engraving their intimidating splendor into her memory.

“Thank you.”

His death couldn’t have been sweeter.

[bitchesofostwick]

Inquisitor as a Companion: Ellinor Trevelyan

(template via dextronoms)

Inquisitor’s name: Ellinor Trevelyan

Alternate name: She offers only her surname Trevelyan upon meeting her. With the Inquisition perk Nobility Knowledge, the Inquisitor can unlock the dialogue, “Trevelyan...as in the noble house Trevelyan of Ostwick?” She will immediately dismiss this comment but neither confirm not deny it. Later, upon achieving “warm” approval level, she will acknowledge that she is the daughter of Bann Jaime Trevelyan but no longer associates with her family. Only if the Inquisitor achieves “friendly” approval will she reveal and allow them to call her by her first name, Ellinor.

Race, class, and specialization: human, dual-wield rogue, assassin

Varric’s nickname for them: swift (for how she’s quick with a knife)

Default tarot card: Knight of Wands, symbolizing energy, passion, inspired action, adventure, and impulsiveness

How they are recruited: Ellinor is found in the Storm Coast along the water. Upon approaching the area, the game enters a cutscene in which a woman dressed in an elegant but otherwise muddied and soaking wet traveling dress interrogates two rogue templars on the whereabouts of an unnamed apostate. She describes a young man with tan skin, dark straight hair, high cheekbones, and brown almond-shaped eyes all while the camera pans around her so the player can see the features she describes are also features she embodies. One of the templars makes a snide remark: “Can’t say I’ve seen ‘im, but I don’t mind what I’m looking at right now.” Ellinor promptly pulls two long daggers from behind her back, making quick work of ducking, dodging, and slashing at the two large, slow templars. As she wipes the blood from her face, she notices the Inquisitor and their party approach and sarcastically thanks them for their “timely assistance.” The Inquisitor can then ask her about the apostate she’s looking for, and she reveals that she’s been searching for her twin brother, Avery, a mage formerly of a Circle in the Free Marches. She explains that her travels have led her to Ferelden, and she has reason to believe he’s nearby. The Inquisitor can then select one of two dialogue options. Choosing The Inquisition may have the resources you need to find him, if you’re willing to help our cause in return. will recruit Ellinor. Choosing I see. Best of luck. will not recruit Ellinor.

Where they are in Skyhold: Ellinor can be found standing along the wall in the main hall of Skyhold. Before Skyhold has the necessary renovations, she will either sharpen her knives or read through a journal until spoken to by the Inquisitor. Upon renovating the main hall, she will lean against the wall, eavesdropping on the nobility that stand near the dais. If interacted with, she opens the discussion by saying, “Nobles leak a lot of secrets, if you can stand listening to them babble for long enough.”

Things they generally approve of: Generally any pro-mage actions. Ellinor is also in favor of swift and often knee-jerk acts of justice. A harsh critic herself, she will have respect for an Inquisitor who makes confident, borderline unforgiving choices. Of the main quest judgements, Ellinor will greatly approve of executing either Gereon Alexius or Knight-Captain Denam. Although of noble background herself, she will approve of most dialogue options that are humiliating or negative toward nobility; for example, she greatly approves of sentencing Florianne to farm work and even slightly approves of sentencing her to be the Inquisition’s court jester. She will also approve of a rogue inquisitor selecting the Assassin or Tempest specializations.

Things they generally disapprove of: Any pro-templar actions. As such, she also disapproves if a warrior Inquisitor chooses the Templar specialization. She will disapprove if Alexius is made to work with the mages or with the Inquisition (upon being spoken to after the judgement, she will frustratedly say that Fiona’s mages and/or the Inquisition’s mages deserve better than a Venatori magister), and she greatly disapproves if Knight-Captain Denam is conscripted to the Inquisition. Generally, she will have little respect for an Inquisitor she finds naive or too forgiving.

Mages, templars, other? Due to her personal experience with mages and templars--her twin brother being taken to the Circle by her elder sister, a templar, she is staunchly pro-mage. She has no patience for templars, and shortly after recruitment, the player will experience a cutscene in which she and Cullen are caught in a heated argument in Haven (this cutscene is skipped if she is recruited after reaching Skyhold). Her opinions on the Circles and Templars are less severe if the Inquisitor has a positive relation with Vivienne and Cullen, respectively. If her personal quest is completed with Avery safe, she will have a positive stance toward a reformed Circle governed by mages.

Friends in the Inquisition: She is good friends with Dorian, Sera, and Leliana. She is cordial with Josephine as well as Vivienne, although she is more warm toward Vivienne if the Inquisitor has a friendly relationship with Vivienne and if Ellinor’s personal quest is completed with Avery safe. She dislikes Cassandra. She despises Cullen upon her being recruited, although after the player completes Cullen’s Perseverance quest (choosing not to make him take lyrium), she will be softer toward him.

Romanceable?: Ellinor can be romanced by Inquisitors of any race and any gender. Flirt dialogue options are present in dialogue shortly after recruiting her, although she will be put off if these options are selected before the Inquisitor has gained enough approval with her. When a “warm” approval level is reached, she will be visibly flustered (but flattered) at any flirtatious dialogue, and although she will still dismiss or not reciprocate flirting, the player will get slight approval for the first successful flirt option. When a “friendly” approval level is reached, Ellinor will be openly receptive to flirtatious dialogue, but she will not strongly reciprocate before her personal quest is complete, saying, conflicted, “I came to Ferelden to look for my brother, and that’s still what I’m here to do. If things were different…” Upon speaking with her after completing her personal quest (with Avery safe), she will thank the Inquisitor for their help, saying she never would have dreamed of receiving such support in her journey to find him and will thank them tearfully. The Inquisitor can choose the relationship dialogue Of course. I love you. and although she freezes first, as though in shock, she will then kiss the Inquisitor softly. The kiss deepens, and the scene fades to black. The next time the Inquisitor speaks to her, she will reciprocate warmly if romantic dialogue is chosen.

If Ellinor is not romanced, she will not explicitly be paired with any other character; however, she will speak more softly of Cullen (post-Perseverance, if he is not made to take lyrium again). If the Inquisitor selects the dialogue I thought you hated Cullen. she will swiftly brush them off, clearly flustered and red-faced. No other romantic implications are made.

Small side mission: “Stealing Plans.” Ellinor learns that her elder sister, Knight-Captain Bryony Trevelyan of the Red Templars, is in the Western Approach. She believes Bryony’s personal journals and letters, kept in various Red Templar camps, will contain the information she needs to narrow down Avery’s possible location. The Inquisition engages in a fetch-style quest in which they must retrieve journals from three separate Red Templar camps. At the final camp, the Inquisitor will encounter minor boss enemy Knight-Captain Bryony and has no choice but to defeat her.

If Ellinor is in the party, when Bryony’s health is depleted, it will cut to a brief scene in which Ellinor deals the killing blow. Upon speaking to her, after, she will not wish to discuss her sister at all (or for that matter, ever again).

If Ellinor is not in the party, upon returning the journals to her, she thanks the Inquisitor and asks if they encountered her sister. The Inquisitor can lie (No, I didn’t see her.), to which Ellinor comments with determination that “she’s still out there, then.” The Inquisitor can consequently tell the truth (Yes. She’s no longer a problem.), but Ellinor will reply irritably that she wishes she’d been the one to do it.

Regardless, the Inquisitor will gain approval when the quest is complete.

Companion quest: “Quite a Pair.” Ellinor has determined that Avery has been on the run in Ferelden, as she suspected, but is now captive in a Red Templar stronghold in the Bannorn (at a unique standalone map location). The Inquisitor, Ellinor, and the rest of the chosen party travel to the stronghold and battle through groups of Red Templars until they reach an upper tower to find Avery Trevelyan battling a Knight-Captain. In a cutscene, the fighting pauses, as whoever the Inquisitor aligns themself with with have the undeniable advantage. The Knight-Captain offers the Inquisitor invaluable information, promising to betray their broken Order and reveal intelligence on the Red Templars’ movements, locations, and even Corypheus’s plans in exchange for letting him finish off Avery. Ellinor will passionately and emotionally advocate for Avery instead, telling the Inquisitor that the Knight-Captain lies, and that even if he were telling the truth, the Inquisitor cannot choose information over the life of her brother.

Option 1: The Inquisitor chooses to restrain Ellinor in exchange for the information (which unlocks a war table mission to gather more intelligence on Red Templars). She screams in agony as the Knight Captain kills Avery. Afterward, she breaks away and attacks the Inquisitor, who must kill her.

Option 2: The Inquisitor chooses to help Ellinor and Avery. They battle the Knight-Captain and are rewarded with a unique weapon that can be looted from his body. When the battle has ended, a cutscene ensues. Ellinor will run to Avery and meet him in a tearful embrace. He will ask how she found him, and she’ll explain that she’s been looking for years, and that it was the Inquisitor who helped her finally reach him. After the cutscene, Avery will heal the party and is recruited as an agent to the Inquisition. Upon speaking to Ellinor back at Skyhold, the player will see a cutscene in the tavern as Ellinor and Avery talk and laugh together along with other members of the inner circle. Seeing the Inquisitor, she will kindly excuse herself from the merriment to thank them properly for reuniting her with him.

Tarot change option 1: Three of Swords (representing heartbreak, emotional grief, sorrow, pain, and hurt)

Tarot change option 2: Nine of Cups (representing contentment, satisfaction, gratitude, and wishes come true)

[tigerkirby215]

5e Katarina, the Sinister Blade build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games. In b4 Tumblr gives me ToS for this picture.)

In my defense I had this build planned since pre-Tasha’s. With Katarina being absolutely nuts in preseason right now along with her just generally being one of League’s most popular champs I’d have to get around to making a build for her eventually.

Look it was either her or Zac. The only other build I really want to do right now is Miss Fortune and truthfully I’m kinda stumped on her. This build isn’t a build it’s a cry for help.

GOALS

Preparation - We’ll need to always be ready for a fight, with a weapon in hand and ways to rush in.

Shunpo - We’ll also need a way to jump on our foes, or jump away.

Death Lotus - When push comes to shove we’ll need to shred through everyone close by spinning and throwing daggers at a rapid pace!

RACE

Katarina is a human but with some special, magical talents. I’m sure by now people know my aversion to Variant Humans and my love of Eberron Dragonmarks so the Mark of Finding is perfect for finding marks and ending them.

With the Mark of Finding you get some Ability Score Improvements but thanks to Tasha’s we can get a +2 to our Intelligence and a +1 to our Dexterity. You also have Darkvision up to 60 feet, and Hunter’s Intuition, letting you add a d4 to Perception and Survival checks. Finally Finder’s Magic giving you some innate spells.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an assassin who hops, skips, and jumps around the battlefield.

14; INTELLIGENCE - For whatever reason Katerina does AP damage? I mean she did. Now she builds Kraken Slayer because lol Rito balance.

13; CHARISMA - People don’t only main you because you’re strong.

12; WISDOM - Kata in lore is a bit of a hot-head but Wisdom is attached to many skills that an assassin needs.

10; CONSTITUTION - You’re a squishy midlaner.

8; STRENGTH - We simply don’t need Strength and with your build I doubt you have much. Even if jumping around like that requires a lot of muscles in the legs and chest.

BACKGROUND

So apparently Katerina is part of a Noxian Noble family? Regardless as a Noble you gain proficiency in History but I’d suggest swapping your Persuasion proficiency with Intimidation instead. You also get proficiency with a gaming set and a language of your choice.

Thanks to your noble birth you have a Position of Privilege, meaning that other nobles will welcome you within their circles and common folk will do their best to please you in order to avoid getting a dagger in their throat. You can even secure an audience with a noble if you need to! Perhaps you need to put a knife in their throat? An assassin doesn’t ask questions.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for skill proficiencies also because yeah duh. As a Rogue you get proficiency in four skills from the Rogue list: Acrobatics is an obvious choice, Athletics will help your poor Strength score, Perception will help you spot incoming hooded assassins, and Stealth will let you do Rogue things. Rogue things like Sneak Attack if an ally is near an enemy or you have advantage, granting you an extra d6 on the attack roll.

You also get Expertise in two of your skills: both Stealth and Acrobatics make sense for an assassin. Speaking of assassin Thieves’ Cant will let you communicate with them in a way that your enemies can’t understand. And to top it off Finder’s Magic you can cast Hunter’s Mark once per Long Rest. Smite and Ignite to get First Blood.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. "Never play fair."

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype and there’s two important things about your knives:

They do magic damage (for some reason.)

You throw them a lot.

With that in mind we shall be going for the Soulknife from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. As a Soulknife you get Psionic Power for a pool of d6 Psionic Energy die that can be used for a variety of features. Psi-Bolstered Knack will let you boost your ability checks as long as you’re proficient, and Psychic Whispers will let you keep assassination plans to team chat.

Of course what we’re really here for is Psychic Blades, a magic d6 psychic damage knife that you can make when you attack which can be dual-wielded and thrown up to 60 feet. You can also attack again with your Bonus Action if you already stabbed with your main action, but the extra attack will only do a d4 instead of a d6.

Speaking of magic: you also get Locate Object from Finder’s Magic. Perhaps not as useful as Find Person, but thievery isn’t beneath you. Your Sneak Attack also increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement: turns out Dexterity is pretty important for a Rogue so increase that by 2.

(Artwork by Jennifer Wuestling. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

Time for an AP boost. First level Wizards get Spellcasting because what else did you think they got? You learn three cantrips and six leveled spells when starting out as a Wizard, even if you can only prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier:

CANTRIPS

Instead of making a dinky d4 knife empower it with Booming Blade for some Thunder damage, and even more damage if the enemy moves.

To twirl around with Voracity Sword Burst will strike everyone near one of your daggers with your knives.

For a long ranged damage tool that inflicts Grievous Wounds Chill Touch will let you make sure your lane opponent doesn’t run away and heal up.

SPELLS

Mage Armor will help you avoid a few more hits.

For a Bouncing Blade (sorta) take Ice Knife to hit your target and anyone close to them.

For a shield thanks to Gunblade (like it’s TFT) take False Life to bolster yourself somewhat.

Disguise Self will be helpful for any infiltration missions.

Detect Magic likewise is useful to locate any magical traps.

Every good Rogue has a backup plan: Feather Fall is always useful in a pinch.

You also get Arcane Recovery, allowing you to recover spell slots with a combined total level of half your Wizard level.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition. There is actually a school for magic knives and that school is the art of Bladesinging! As a Bladesinger you get Training in War and Song for proficiency in Performance along with a one-handed melee weapon of your choice: for whatever reason Rogues don’t get proficiency in Scimitars so grab that I guess?

But much more importantly you can invoke a Bladesong as a Bonus Action, which lasts for 1 minute but ends early if you are incapacitated. (Or if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. I guess.) You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time with no action required.

While your Bladesong is active you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, you have advantage on Acrobatics checks, and you gain a bonus to Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can activate Bladesong a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

You can also learn more spells like Color Spray for a getaway option, or Cause Fear of incoming ganks.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Mirror Image to be everywhere at once, and Misty Step for legally not Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement: more Dexterity means more AC and deadlier stabs with your knife.

You can also learn more spells like Invisibility for some Duskblade resets, and Enhance Ability (ty Tasha’s) to make sure you’re the best around. And you can learn another cantrip like Prestidigitation for some generic utility sorcery.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can learn third level spells like Haste to up your APM, and Spirit Shroud to make all your stabs all the deadlier.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

At 6th level you get an Extra Attack as a Bladesinger, but unlike most Extra Attacks you can also cast a cantrip along with attacking! The interesting thing about this is that (rules as written) you can attack twice after casting Booming Blade with this! And depending on your DM you might even still have your Cunning Action!

And on the subject of spells you can learn two more such as Clairvoyance for some Farsight Alterations, and Nondetection to... not be detected...

(Artwork by Atey Ghailan. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge. When you’re hit with an attack you can use your reaction to halve the damage. Additionally your Psionic Energy die increases to a d8, and your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you avoid ganks and Intimidation will help you extract information.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion. If you’re forced to make a Dexterity save you can make some pro plays to dodge, taking no damage on a successful save and half damage on a failed save.

Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6, so you can jump onto them after dodging their skill shot.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement: since your Dexterity is maxed let’s invest in that Intelligence... sorta. The Observant feat will let you increase your Intelligence by 1 along with granting a +5 bonus to passive Perception and Investigation so you can watch those wards, and the ability to read lips! Definitely helpful for an assassin.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

Hey how about we get your actual abilities at total level 15? Finally with level 9 in Soul KInife you get Soul Blades for two new abilities that use your Psionic Energy die. Homing Strikes will let you add your Psionic Energy die to an attack roll if you miss, and Psychic Teleportation will let you throw out a knife and teleport to it!

Something something read how the ability works yourself because these are guides on how to make a character and I won’t tell you what every class in Tasha’s does. Oh your Sneak Attack also increases to 5d6 now.

LEVEL 16 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get 4th level spells like Phantasmal Killer to make your own jungler (one who’ll actually gank!), and Dimension Door to Teleport into lane. Or out!

LEVEL 17 - WIZARD 8

Level 8? How about an ASI? You may notice that we have two uneven ability scores: increase both your Intelligence and Charisma by 1.

You can also learn more spells but there honestly isn’t much I want from fourth level so hop back to level 3 for Sending. But you can also take Greater Invisibility for some Duskblade resets. Look I just really need a 5th level spell but it’s hard to justify magic on a champion who throws knives and nothing else.

LEVEL 18 - WIZARD 9

Time to finally get the last ability we’re missing: Death Lotus. Or more precisely Steel Wind Strike to hit everyone with your daggers and then maybe Shunpo to them after the fact. Speaking of Shunpo for seemingly unlimited jumps take Far Step, allowing you to be everywhere at once. Just know that you’ll only have one 5th level slot.

(Artwork by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 10

Picking up our last two levels in Rogue: level 10 means another ASI. Capped off Intelligence woo!

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent, meaning that you can’t roll below a 10 on any skill you’re proficient in. As a capstone skill let’s check what the minimum roll you can get on your skills is:

27 on Acrobatics and Stealth

24 on Intimidation

23 on Perception

21 on History

18 on Performance (Bladesinger lul)

15 on Athletics

And to top it off your Psionic Energy die increases to a d10, along with your Sneak Attack capping off at 6d6!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

They fear my weapons? I am the weapon - Regardless of your choice of tools you are extremely deadly. On one hand 6d6 sneak attack daggers you can apply 3d8 Booming Blade damage to, and on the other hand plenty of potent spells like Haste and Spirit Shroud.

If you run, you won't see me stab you! - You are also incredibly mobile with Misty Step, Far Step, Psychic Teleportation, Bladesong, and just general Cunning Actions. Not to mention that Bladesong gives a big boost to AC which combines well with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion.

A victory is sweetest when it leads to another - Rogues are meant to be skilled professionals and you are certainly that. The skills you are proficient in can be boosted by psionics. Oh and 28 Passive Perception thanks to Observant is just a little bit nutty.

CONS

Ready for trouble? - While you have many a skill you have many more that are lacking. You can put on a mean face sure, but for an important check like Arcana your psionic potential won’t save you.

Better dead than dull - Your spell slots are limited, and quite notably you only have one 5th level slot for Death Lotus IE Steel Wind Strike. While magic can supplement you nicely remember to ration yourself appropriately.

Come on, live a little... while you can! - You know what class doesn’t have a lot of health? Wizards, and half your levels are in Wizard. With a 10 in CON and most of your hit die being d6s your enemies won’t even need to hit you to Power Word Kill you.

But as an assassin you prove why your house is the best in the business. Talk is cheap and you’re always prepared: go in with knives at the ready, take out your target and anyone in their way before slipping out unscathed. You can always reset after a rest; just be sure to remember your cooldowns.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

[surveillance-0011]

Misc horseman centric headcanons

Death is the “unofficial leader” of the bunch. He’s the only one who is competent in his current state and he has the most experience and status.

Death was the first to have his role bestowed upon him. Then War, then Conquest and Famine (though idk which of these two joined before the other). Pestilence was recruited after Conquest left.

The ritual of becoming a Harbinger (at least like officially) involves being marked with a distinct symbol relating to whatever their respective concept is. More specifically, it involves branding with a painful fire-based spell. The mark is permanent and will come back with every revival, even if the body part branded is destroyed or otherwise damaged in a way where it wouldn’t logically ever show up again.

It’s slightly different in Pestilence’s case- he has three different symbols, one on the back of his neck and one on each wrist. They were there way before he became a horseman, oddly enough. Only the ones on his wrist were “activated” though.

Conquest actually quit due to a falling out of sorts with the other three, then subsequently became imprisoned due to crimes that he committed.

Death was hoping Pest would just be an honorary member, but he ended up becoming part of the group for good. Nether of the two were pleased.

War’s marking is the symbol of Mars and it’s on his left thigh. Famine’s is balance scale on her right shoulder and Death’s is an hourglass on his left shoulder.

If Death were ever unable to lead the Horsemen when needed, it’s decided they’ll just work together but most of the authority will be shared between Conquest and Famine. Conquest would handle anything related to combat and defense while Famine would handle any social events or whatever

The Horsemen don’t consider themselves to be aligned with demons, but they work with them and are technically on the side of the Beast and Satan, save for Conquest, who hates most demons.

Famine actually “works” as a “merchant” - she barely does any work and when she does try to sell shit she fails miserably. The scar on the back of her head is from an angry customer splitting her head open with a wine bottle she was selling.

War enjoys spicy food. He can handle a good amount of spice and he rarely ever passes up the chance to eat something spicy. He also eats a lot of meat.

Famine on the other hand cannot stomach anything with above mild spice. It’s like the one type of food she won’t eat. She does like cinnamon.

Famine lives for autumn. Death likes winter. War and Conquest prefer warmer weather and their favorite seasons are summer and spring respectively. Pestilence doesn’t care all that much because he will never be comfortable.

Conquest tends to the “Home” area and is one of the few Basement Dwellers to not only be aware of Dogma’s existence, but to meet it face to face. The others know about Dogma but haven’t met it. Conquest assures them all its better that away.

Conquest hates Azazel and Judas. The only reasons he doesn’t hate the other demon children is 1) they aren’t as infuriating to deal with 2) He’s a little scared of Apollyon and 3) he’s technically related to Lilith and would rather not put up with her father’s wrath.

To explain that: Most posthumous bosses are the equivalent to “tainted” versions of the original. They all came through gradually around where isaac’s home is, even before a house was even there. Conquest is War’s variant. Adversary is the Dark One’s counterpart obviously. War is distantly related to Dark One, though he’s more of an in-law ig (War is Samyaza’s son and raised by Samael, DO is one of the og Lilith’s children.) Lilith is Dark One’s bastard daughter that he ignores.

Adversary takes care of her instead, kinda sorta.

But yeah Conquest knows he couldn’t do anything to Lilith without Adversary tearing him a new one so he just. Doesn’t. Also he pities Eve and her too much with how sucky their lives have been so he’s just like “no thanks I’d rather keep what little serotonin I have than throw it away by tormenting you”

They all have a sort of love hate relationship with the Headless Horseman. He’s not awful but he mooches off a lot their fame and power for his own gain. He’s also very unpredictable so they’re put off by him.

They know about the Neo Horsemen! Aaand they fucking hate them so far. Pollution accidentally made an enemy of all of them on day one by thinking they were all friends already and “playfully teasing” them (read: insulting them nonstop) right in front of everybody. Meltdown thinks this hatred is mutual but Pollution still thinks they’re buddies.

War owns and knows how to use a sword. Conquest is an archer. Famine has some sort of mace/flail and/or some sort of dual wielded weapon and Death uses his scythe and dark magic. Pestilence owns a gun or maybe some sort of blunt weapon. Nah the gun is funnier I’m most likely gonna go with that.

The Neo Horsemen also all own weapons but more modern or just varied equivalents. Pollution has one of those fancy knives, maybe some sorta switchblade and uhh idk abt MD or even the others I’ll wait until they’re all released to decide lol

[lavalampelfchild]

Quick face study of several of my DA elf OCs!  The top picture features the makeup I’ve given them, while the bottom picture shows them all without their makeup.  From top left to bottom right: 

Ira’Melanon (Mila) Mahariel Ruenna - Dalish mage born to the Mahariel family in the Sabrae clan, Mila was skilled with magic from a young age and was set to be the First or Second of the clan’s Keeper.  However, due to a lack of mages born in the Ruenna clan of the Frostback Mountains, Mila was sent to become First to their Keeper after deliberation at one of the Arlathvhen gatherings.  Years later, the Ruenna clan pushed to have Mila replace their previous Keeper, as it was believed that this Keeper didn’t truly have the clan’s best interests at heart.  Mila took her new duties seriously, despite being born to a different clan, and as a result, the clan developed a fierce protectiveness of and respect for her.  She is skilled in the Keeper magic the player can unlock as a specialization in DAA.  Her makeup doesn’t really have any story significance, I just think she looks gorgeous in that shade of lipstick.

Ilhenan (Ila) Tabris - My canon Tabris who becomes a Warden after Duncan visits her alienage in Denerim, Ila has learned the skills of a dual-wielding rogue from a young age, thanks to her adopted mother, Adaia.  Ila’s primary concern is the safety of her community and family, and her usual calm and patient demeanor tend to go out the window very quickly if either of those groups are threatened.  Ila was named for her birth mother, but knows virtually nothing about her, as it always visibly upset Cyrion whenever she asked.  Ila tends to keep her personal interests - dancing, listening to stories, her sweet tooth - to herself, and affects very stringent control when around those outside of her alienage.  The makeup she’s shown to be wearing was given to her by her father on her would-be wedding day, and was the exact same type of makeup worn by Adaia on her and Cyrion’s wedding day.  In the picture below, I added some darker colors to Ila’s eyes because that’s how I envision her after becoming a Warden; she’s exhausted and stressed, and it weathers her face.

Tylana Aravasan Sabrae - Dalish hunter born in the Sabrae clan, Tylana is extremely skilled in the use of her bow, and aggressively protects her clan from any dangers she comes across, human or otherwise.  She is very competitive and can be quite smug at times, which has led to a childhood rivalry between her and my Warden Mahariel, Velyn, who is equally as hot-headed.  Tylana’s ultimate goal is to become Master/Mistress of the Hunt, and to that end, she has trained relentlessly ever since receiving her vallaslin.  When Duncan arrives at the Brecilian Forest, the ruins with the eluvian are revealed, and Velyn is recruited into the Wardens, Tylana finds herself conflicted, untrusting toward Duncan, but wanting to place her trust in her Keeper’s decision, and torn between wanting to help Velyn and find Tamlen.  She doesn’t wear much makeup, but I loved the contrast of the pale teal/blue color for eye shadow with the subtle orange of her vallaslin.

Adaia Tabris - A skilled dual-wielding rogue, and fierce advocate for better treatment of city elves, Adaia came to the Denerim alienage when she was just about at marriage age, and her parents were hopeful that they’d have better luck finding her a match than they’d had in their previous home.  At this point, Adaia met a recently widowed Cyrion, still grieving the death of his wife, and the two became friends.  Adaia helped Cyrion through his grief, also helping him take care of his infant daughter, Ila.  In time, Cyrion eventually proposed to Adaia, and she happily accepted, already feeling like they were a family.  From then on, Adaia raised Ila as her own daughter, and Ila grew up to idolize her, eagerly learning how to wield knives and daggers so that she could be more like her mother.  Adaia was killed in the streets of Denerim while trying to defend some of the working elves from drunk city guards, leaving Cyrion emotionally broken and Ila much less outspoken than she used to be.  

And there they all are!  My hope with this was to take what the DAO CC gave me and differentiate each of the OCs so that they have their own unique set of features that makes them look like an actual person.  I’m personally very happy with how it turned out, and I’m thinking I might do more of these kinds of studies in the future!

[ldpwriter]

~*~Pirate Roleplay Character~*~

Name: Katarina “Kat” (She really only responds to Kat) Bloodrose

Nickname: Katy, Katia, Rina (which she hates), Fire-Kat or Wild-Kat, or Red (which she also hates)

Age: If you wanna live don't ask. But she's really about 25, but appears younger.

Gender: The fairer sex; female

Race: Caucasian - British decent

Rank: Pirate also known as an assassin

Family: Father - Jonathon Bloodrose (Pirate Captain)

Mother - Rosemary Bloodrose/Darling (High Class Lady)

Has other family members still alive on her mother's side but doesn't know who they are just that they're family name is, Darling.

Appearance: Lean, curvaceous figure. Appears fragile, but is stronger than most think. Deep green eyes that often show her emotions, with deep red fiery hair, down to the small of her back. Her skin is always tanned because she's on the open ocean and in the sun so much. Both Kat's ears are pierced with small silver hoops. And her right ear has several other piercings which also have either small hoops or jeweled studs. Several scars litter her body, mostly her back and arms. She has a lovely scar from naval to collar bone that almost took her life when she was 21.  Her usual dress is anything black. Normally, however, she wears skin tight pants, a low cut shirt that comes to just above her naval, a black waistcoat, and boots that rise to mid calf. Occasionally though, she'll be found wearing a loose tunic with a corset around her waist. However, when she's hiding her femininity, Kat wears slightly baggier black pants, a loose V cut shirt, with her breasts securely tied, and her black waistcoat and boots. Also, to hide her long fire-red hair, she ties her hair up and wraps it in a bandanna and tops it off with a tri tip black hat. A black belt is almost always secured around her waist to hold her "effects".

The waistcoat, Kat wears mostly.

Face Claim: Katherine McNamara.

Weapons: Her father's cutlass, a pistol, and several knives in her belt, boots, and several other hidden places on her body. She can dual wield swords, or have a cutlass in one hand and a knife in the other.

Captain Bloodrose's cutlass, that Kat now owns and holds dear as one of the last things she has from her father.

Skills: Kat learned how to wield a sword when she was but a child barely learning to walk. She is adept with a cutlass in one hand or both hands. When she has a weapon in both hands she can be a whirlwind, able to defend herself against even the most skillful foe.  She can throw knives with deadly accuracy and can shoot a gun, but prefers it as a last resort. It's too loud in her opinion. Adept at subterfuge, Kat can sneak into many a locked room. Her lockpicking skills are masterful. She is also a skilled assassin, killing foes before anyone knows she's even there.

Talents/Hobbies: Kat can actually sing quite well, but never will do so in public. The attention embarrasses her. She enjoys dancing as well having learned a bit from the old couple, but never has a reason to dance. Kat can read and write to most people's surprise, but her father had made sure she had the knowledge. Kat also collects knives. It was started with her father buying (or stealing) some of the prettiest knives she's ever seen and ever since, she's had a fascination with the quaint bladed weapons.

Weakness: Her temper and sharp tongue often get her into more trouble than what is good. She also has a well placed fear of enclosed spaces. She hates them with a passion and always tries to get out of being sent into small tunnels or entries because she often freezes while in them. Cages, wether behind bars in a prison or in the brig make her panicky. Oddly enough, wearing a dress terrifies her as well. It's like its own bondage and she hates being bound in any form. She fears love as well as dying alone. She is a wild card and hard to handle.

Likes: Pretty things, even though she doesn't really wear much jewelry. Even prettier knives. Children, dogs, singing, dancing, searching for treasure, killing evil people or those she feels deserves it, sailing on the ocean, sweets.

Dislikes: Men, women... okay most men and women. She doesn't get along with people well. Black Jack, the mutinous crew that killed her father, enclosed spaces, dresses, fancy things like balls and people.

Personality: Kat has a fiery temper, a sarcastic tongue, and a suspicious nature, which many would say matches her hair. The woman does not trust people easily. She has a particular hatred for the men who killed her father. She toys with men's hearts every now and then if it helps her get what she wants, but she never lets it go 'too' far. In truth, she really doesn't trust men, since most she had ever run into were liars, deceivers, and backstabbers. She is a loyal friend, however, and a good confidant. Kat also is not one to lay out her problems and when she is hurt or wounded she will not ask for help. She does not want people to find her weak. Which normally means she'll be dying before anyone finds out she's injured, which attests to her very stubborn attitude.

History: The only parent Kat ever knew was her father, who was a pirate. Her mother died giving birth to her in London. Kat's father raised her, on his ship the 'Grim Reaper'. As Kat grew older, her father taught her how to fight in hand to hand combat, sword play, and also fight with daggers/knives. She lived on her fathers ship becoming a pirate herself and grew to know the crew, although she didn't like most of them. The few she did befriend were like family to her and they treated her like a pirate unlike the others who belittled, teased, or flirted with her for being a woman.

One day when Kat was in her mid teens her father docked his ship in a seedy town. Her father figured that his crew as well as himself could use a rest after the pillaging they had just done. Kat and her father frequented the tavern to enjoy some ale and rum, while the crew came up with an evil plan. The evening after they docked, there was a mutiny. The crew killed her father, as well as any loyal to the former captain and took over the ship. The next thing she knew the crew tried to grab her, but fortunately she managed to escape with the help of her father's first mate, the only one left alive from the slaughter. Managing to sneak on land, though the mutinous crew was looking for her, she hid until there was a ship leaving port. Once she managed to stow passage on the ship, dressed like a man, Kat swore revenge on the mutinous crew.

Marcus, her father's former first mate and oldest friend took her away from the crazed, mutinous pirate crew. However, he was gravely wounded. The man took her to a pair of old friends and left her with them. The brother and sister duo were an odd pair. The woman considered herself a witch and knew many odd concoctions. The brother was a former assassin for the French empire. Both taught her how to fight in all new ways, to poison a blade, to blend into the shadows, and murder without being caught. Kat stayed with them for years until the nearby townsfolk got word of the witch in their midst and set forth to burn her. Francois, the brother took her to the nearby port afraid they would think she too was a witch. They disguised her by cutting her hair short and getting her baggy clothes. The Frenchman talked an old pirate captain friend of his to take her under his wing and that she would serve him well as an assassin. With that, the man left and Kat never saw him or his sister again. She never did learn if the two had made it.

For years, Kat kept her identity concealed until the old pirate captain grew sick and died. It was then time for the young woman to find her own way in the world. She let her hair start to grow once more and came across another brother and sister duo. They invited her to be a part of their crew, wishing to utilize Kat's skills for their gain. It wasn't until the brother, in a drunk stupor, tried to take advantage of her. Kat killed him in defense. The sister became enraged and attacked Kat. To the fiery haired woman's surprise, the ebony haired sister was far deadlier. The other woman managed to cut Kat from naval to collar bone. With such a dire wound, Kat threw herself off the ship grateful they had been near a French owned island. Somehow she managed to make it to shore, but passed out after. A kind elderly couple and their children found her washed up on shore and took her in. They nurtured her back to health.

When she was better, in the dead of the night, Kat snuck out. Leaving only a note and a few gold coins for their kindness, the fiery haired woman disappeared into the night. After that, Kat kept to the shadows mostly. Joining few crews and disappearing after a heist. Many referred to her as the Ghost of Shadows. Occasionally she would seek out higher paid quarries, using her assassin's skills to kill. It paid remarkably better than plundering as a pirate. As time slid by, Kat wandered from town to town, port to port listening for word of Black Jack and the Grim Reaper. But the ship had all but vanished, few going as far to say the vessel had sunk beneath the ocean's waves. It was disappointing and damn near heartbreaking for her.

One evening, Kat sat in a tavern in Tortuga. Alone in the back when someone approached her. The man said he would pay her in gold and information on the Grim Reaper's whereabouts if she did a job for him. It was the first news of her father's ship she had heard about in quite some time. Katarina readily agreed, not even caring who she was to assassinate. With that, Kat gathered her things and found the first passage she could and headed straight for her prey.

Her father's ship, the Grim Reaper

[rachetmath]

What would it be like if rwbyjnor met the dutch, revy and rock

I don't understand the specifics of this request so I'll do this in the best way I can. This going to be long so be ready.

Rwby x Black lagoon

Black Lagoon crosses to Remnant:

Revy and Dutch along with team RWBY, Ren and Nora are fight a bunch of Beowolves while Jaune and Rock are fighting side by side with mostly Jaune doing most of the work while Rock provides a view tips and assisting mostly with what he can find.

Revy: So, let me get this straight you fight shit heads freaks of nature like these like every single day?

Ruby: Yep.

Dutch: And all of you have a very specific weapon that you customize yourselves to be it a blade and firearm?

Ren: Precisely.

Benny: And you have unnatural and natural resources like dust and with highly advanced technology?

Weiss: Yes.

Dutch: And you can use all that as well as this thing called aura along with a semblance?

Nora: Yeah, semblances are like a superpower.

Revy: How super?

Yang: Universal.

Revy: Well-

Revy looks to see Ruby turn her weapon from a sniper rifle to a scythe.

Revy: Dutch, can we stay here?

Dutch: HELL NO!!! Look, I hate to say this, but I much prefer seeing crazy psychos, and bullets fly than this horror fest. Plus, I may not be father but ya'll parents let you do this every day, they are very stupid and irresponsible.

Yang: Hey we're trained for this. Well except one.

Revy: Yeah that guy with Rock over there. He is doing fine but I can tell he's not all your levels. How did even survive let only get into your school?

Ruby: That we don't know or bother asking as long he works.

Revy: Well I can say that it's stupid but I still I wonder how he got in.

*Jaune and Rock side*

Rock: So, let’s get this straight. Your father never bothered to train you and no combat school was willing to accept you, so your best method was to cheat?

Jaune: Yeah, I know, I'm a complete fool.

Rock: I mean if you were willing to work hard to get there despite the risk, I say, you sir have my respect.

Jaune: But I am an idiot, I mean, I lost the only girl you who believed in me.

Rock: Jaune, let me give you a piece of advice. Get over yourself! If you still have even just one friend in this crazy messed up world then you're okay. Trust me, I know a little on how you feel. I mean look me compared to the others, do I look like I'm a mercenary?

Jaune: Why do hang out with them anyways?

Rock: Like you with your friends, mines, I guess appreciate my abilities. Look let's talk about this another time and try to survive this freak show.

Jaune: Deal.

RWBY and JNRO crosses to Black Lagoons:

Team RWBY and JNPR are fighting a mafia group along with Revy and Dutch. Ruby armed with a handgun, an old scythe and sniper with a bayonet, Weiss with a rapier and little knifes, Blake with a handgun and a katana, Yang with a shotgun and iron brazed knuckles, Jaune with an military armed shield, sword and rifle(Dutch taught him how to use it. Surprised it took him a week.) Nora with a grenade launcher, Ren dual wielding pistols and knives and Oscar with a pipe.

Revy: Holy crap, you brats are good even without your powers or usual weapons.

Ruby: We adapt.

Nora: Seriously, you guys do stuff like this every day?

Dutch: For the right price, yes. But yeah, you kids on a natural.

Yang: By the way, thanks for teaching Jaune how to use a gun.

Dutch: Thank Rock for making him listen, he said he wouldn't last long if he didn't. But in all seriously the guy learns quick, I mean, it took him a week to learn how you use that rifle.

Ren: A week! We need to start teaching him and make sure he brings one more often.

Nora: Might makes things easier from here on.

Jaune: Can all of stop talking and focus! We'll talk when we're done. Oscar, hurry up.

Oscar: Oh, I'm sorry but fighting with a pipe is hard!

Jaune: Why didn't you bring a sword!

Oscar: I will not kill!

After a crazy battle, the group along with Rock and Benny celebrated their victory at the bar. While the girls, as well as Ren and Oscar was living it up with Revy, Benny and Dutch, at the front bar Jaune and Rock were talking after Rock told him a stories about how his employers sold him out, the hell he endured in his stay Roanaper, Yukio, and his old client Garcia.

{Rock's side}

Jaune: Damn.

Rock: Yeah.

Jaune: Well, you did what you had to.

Rock: But I didn't have to. I should've walk away and not attached. I'm supposed to be the good guy, Jaune. But this city, I feel like it's eating me alive. All these mafia bosses, war criminals and shit... it's all just getting to me. You know.

Jaune: Yeah, I understand, but what are going to do about it? you made the choice to stay and you got live with it. I mean, hearing all the crap you've done, I somewhat envy you.

Rock: What do you mean?

Jaune: When Chang said pull out, you went in. Every time something bad happens you try to be the good guy and make things better. True it fails at times and from the look of this city, you'll have no choice but to throw righteousness away to survive.  But in my opinion, you still at least stand as the hero of the story.

Rock: *laugh* How so!? Come on tell me, how can I, a piece of under burying shit can possible still be a hero to you. The worthless knight, who can barely fight and couldn't save his partner!?

Jaune: Exactly. Most people survive based on luck.  You on the other hand survived not just on what you know but what learn in return. The world's a crazy place, and most of time you don't know where you'll end up. However, you still have control of what you do next. Your still able to keep people alive. You still do your job. You still try to be nice and maintain some level of morality even if it may never be enough or get you killed. So, trust me when I say this, you have done all what you could. Hell, I barely can do anything.

Rock: Shut up. When it comes down to it your friends are as crazy and trigger happy as Revy. They need somebody like you who can keep them alive. Just keep trying to do right by them and for yourself. Trust me, you can talk down to yourself all you want. But it doesn't change the fact that your alive, you made mistakes and you change. Promise you won't go down how I did, because believe me once you go too far in the darkness you may never come back from it. Or at least not be the same person you were before.  

Jaune: Yeah. Plus, that Revy woman, I think you can trust her to help you back up or shoot you down when you have gone too far.

Rock: Really? How come?

Jaune: She talks about you all the time when she's drunk. She saves you even when you deserve to die for being stupid. And finally, she hasn't killed you yet despite the many times you've pissed her off.

Rock: Speaking of women, which one of those lovely ladies is your girlfriend?

Jaune: Funny I was about ask you the same between Revy and the blonde, named, Eda.

Rock: *laughing* To the C.M.F.?

Jaune:  To the C.M.F *Shared a toast with Rock and started drinking*

{Revy Side}

Ruby: So, Revy?

Revy: What is it little red?

Ruby: Are you and Rock dating?

Revy: *cracks glass cup while blushing* W-w-WHAT!? NO!! Of course not. Why the hell would you ask that?

Nora: You look at him a lot.

Blake: You talk to him the most.

Yang: An unlike most, you call him your partner.

Revy: Well yeah cause he's useful. That’s all. Nothing special.

Weiss: Really, cause when you got drunk last time, we asked you about him, you got an attitude and started talking crazy.

Revy: Oh.

Yang: So how-

Revy: We started off at the wrong foot and we're just making up as we go.

Yang: Well that's great and-

Revy: Can't say the same thing for you guys and your friend Jaune, though.

Nora: Pardon?

Revy: I'm just saying, don't think you know everything about your friend, hell I don't think he cares about any of you.

Blake: *angry glare* What makes you say that?

Revy: Well let’s be clear here. Jaune was loser with dreams, he was willing to make those dreams a reality, no matter the price he didn't know he'll have to pay. And guess what, the debt was do and it caused Pyrrha her life.

Yang: Maybe so but-

Revy: And before you all start giving him praise for what he accomplished, let me ask you something. How did he feel afterwards? I mean, losing the only person to ever provide with some sort of love and respect, a family that never believed in once in his life, I say the kid must been a loser for a long time. And if him and his Sapphron were the only two to ever bother to leave the nest, then that proves that the rest of his siblings are just good for nothing nobodies who scared of the world, or just found more meaning in their lives without having to leave the comfort of their home. Face it, like Rock, your friend got something to prove and he's willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself to everyone. Even if it causes him his life and his humanity.

Ruby: No. No, we won't-

Revy: And what are you people going to do? Hold his hand? Give him those morally great speeches of yours? Pathetic. Just like your friend Pyrrha who died a meaningless death for worthless, foolish old man, who could barely do the job he's was given by god himself.

RWBYN: *angry at Revy comment but grows to accept it*

Ren was about to start threatening however Dutch stops him by reestablishing that one shot can turn the bar into a war zone and showing Ren that Revy always has her trigger finger ready. So, Ren does nothing.

Revy: Face it, you guys aren't capable of saving him. But what do I know, I'm no hero nor do I want to be? The only guy I seem to care about is changing and I don't know how he's going to turn out. To think that I might have to shoot him down someday. But fuck it, that’s just of missed up every world is.

Dutch: Wow Revy you changed.

Revy: What?

Benny: You act less bitchy than you were before and now you’re a little more open with others. Rock must have touched your heart.

Revy: Shut up, Benny. *looking red all over her face*

Everyone laughs at her embarrassment.

Revy: Oh, shut the fuck up you cunts! Hm. Anyways which one you are dating that knight in shining armor anyways since you're all worried about him?

Nora: I already got a boyfriend.

Revy: You mean twinkle toes right there. Mr. Emmo.

Nora: You must want to fight.

Revy: Anyone?

RWBY: Nope.

Revy: *makes a call*

Eda: Hey bitch, what do want?

Revy: Hey Eda do you like blondes? Because I got an average looking-

Eda barges in with her short green skirt and pink top shirt on. She looks at Revy, knowing what she wants, Revy points to Jaune with Rock and Eda makes her. She walks with hips swaying from side to side and sit between Rock and Jaune.

Rock: *surprised* Eda, what are doing here? When you did you get here?

Eda: Oh, Rock honey, I’m just taking advantage of my opportunities. *Sees Jaune staring in amazement. She smiles* Say, I heard rumors about you and your blonde friend right here and was wondering if you two would have some-

Revy and Weiss both break their glasses and make their way over.

Revy and Weiss: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU CUNT!!!

Revy surprised how Weiss and she were in complete sink and while she smug, Weiss was embarrassed.

Revy: Oh, so you like him like that.

Weiss: *grabs Jaune by the arm and pulls him away* EVERYONE! WE ARE LEAVING!

Jaune: But Weiss I finally found someone I can talk!

Weiss: YOU’LL PLENTY OF PEOPLE TO TALK TO ONCE WE GET HOME!!

Jaune: But Weiss- damn it, later Rock. See you someday.

Rock: God speed brother and remember everything I told you.

Jaune: You as well and good luck.

A bright light was opened and just like that the kids disappeared. Back to their universe. Revy and Rock were smiling but Rock, remembering what Jaune said about trust, ask Revy

Rock: Revy?

Revy: What up, partner?

Rock: Let’s say, I things took too far and made an enemy of someone who would want me killed. Will you be there to kill me instead? Even if you were paid to do so, will be there to stop me?

Revy: *smiles but then covers Rocks eyes so he never sees it* Of course. I got you into this, so you’re my responsibility. Partner.

Rock: *smiles* Thanks.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Do you play dnd? How did you get into it? I want to but I don't know how

[Follow-on, I assume, from this post.]

Yes, I do play Dungeons & Dragons!  I currently have two characters going:

Lin is a Level 6 lawful half-orc bard with a folk hero backstory.

He’s a cheerful, outgoing lad who likes befriending new people and also killing them.  He grew up in a family of traveling half-orc butchers who moved from town to town, killing animals that the residents of those towns wanted to eat but were too squeamish to kill themselves.  The youngest of eight brothers, Lin exceeded everyone’s expectations the day he stood up in front of a corrupt mayor and demanded fair payment for his entire band regardless of the craven humans’ fondness for tofurky.  Convinced that this was the spark of a great warrior, Lin’s parents scraped together all their money and sent him off to the big city to go be a fighter... but it didn’t exactly work out that way.  Lin spent the next several months working in a bar and hoping to be discovered, until court troubadour Aelowylan discovered that Lin might not have the spark of a great warrior, but he can sing pretty well.  Now equipped with trusty drumsticks that can turn pretty much any surface into an improvised percussion instrument, a variety of throwing knives that range from tiny darts to hefty daggers, a magical opal in place of the left eye he lost in a pig-slaughtering accident, and a fondness for unfortunate heavy-metal covers of pop songs, Lin is off for a life of adventure.  He’s hoping to chronicle and assist the grand journeys of his companions in the tradition of his personal hero Ethyl the Erudite.

Lin is loosely inspired by my fascination with Ed Brubaker’s modernist recasting of Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes (a somewhat different character from the MCU interpretation).  Brubaker writes a Bucky who is boyish and optimistic but who has also been thoroughly indoctrinated by imperialist propaganda — first American, later Soviet — and exposed to military violence almost since infancy.  Bucky’s bright naïveté, casual bloodthirstiness, and low threshold for absolute loyalty intersect in ways that are sometimes hilarious and sometimes horrifying.  I stole that weird combination to interpret the ways that a bard’s tendency toward optimistic trust in others would combine with a half-orc’s brutality.

Lady Iris is a Level 4 chaotic human rogue with a performer backstory.

She’s a theater-nerd-cum-assassin in the tradition of the kuroko stagehands who inspired modern ninja tropes.  She wields dual swords and dresses in black or navy blue except for the iris-patterned kabuki mask she wears during political protests.  The daughter of wealthy merchants, Iris grew up as a privileged theater kid until the youngest son of a feudal lord saw one of her plays and fell in love.  They dated, married, had two children, and lived happily for about ten years.  Over that time, Iris became ever more uncomfortable with her father-in-law’s treatment of his serfs, until she eventually confronted him over his barbaric taxation policies.  When he persisted, Iris killed him and fled to go rob the rich and feed the poor.  Her romantic ideals have run into the unpleasant realities of bad food and hard beds, but she persists in her mission and remains hopeful that she will be reunited with her husband (now the feudal lord hunting her down, which makes it awkward that they’re still very much in love) and the children she left behind.

Lady Iris is the product of my frustration with the treatment of Lady Ursa (the original Blue Spirit, hence the name) in the Avatar: The Last Airbender tie-in comics.  I have written overlong academic essays on the ways that gender roles intersect with imperialism in Avatar, including the ways that the Fire Nation embraces the privilege of radical gender equality...  And then The Search and Smoke and Shadow transform the morally-ambiguous self-reliant Ursa into a helpless maiden who suffers through an arranged marriage for love of her children, kills her father-in-law for love of her children, self-exiles for love of her children, and abandons a perfectly lucrative life as a theater manager for love of her children.  Ursa gets held up as a pure, selfless paragon of womanhood with very little agency and no sexuality.  It strips the uncomfortable implication of her love for the morally-bankrupt Ozai from the equation, fails to question the idea that she “should” drop everything to move halfway across the world in order to mother her highly-independent adult son, and quite simply violates the continuity of Avatar itself.  I opted to talk back to the comics with an alternate read of the same character.

Also there’s a whole thing where we played Avengers (2012) as an RPG in the style of Film Reroll, but that’s GURPS not D&D.

Anyway, I was lucky in that my siblings decided to start a game and then invited me.  It’s the three of us plus our respective SOs in a group of six, so we’re all connected in RL.  In terms of finding one’s own group...  I’ve seen invites before on Tumblr and FanFictionNet forums, and I know that Discord is always full of people looking for RPGers.  If you don’t mind GURPS instead of D&D, the Film Reroll Subreddit is always full of people looking for players to fill out parties based on movies.  Most parties meet on Skype or Discord instead of in person these days, so adventure is definitely out there.

[jace-the-writer-guy]

Talisa Eriluin

Appearance

(This is her portrait from the app I use to make them)

- Light Elven female with medium-length ears

- Jet black hair that reaches down the the middle of her back with one ponytail in the back, leaving the rest free to hang down over her chest and back

- Bright yellow eyes that glow lightly

- Five feet and two inches tall with a small, athletic build

- D cup breasts on the smaller side

- Lightly tanned skin

- She has black tribal tattoos around her upper arms and calves

Talisa's Voice

Outfits

Adventure/Combat: She wears tight black leather pants and knee-high black boots that lace up in the backs of them, with softened soles for silent steps. Around both boots in the middle areas are four straps and buckles, two to each boot, holding one sheath each for a throwing knife. Over her torso is black sleeveless leather armor over dark grey tunic with rolled up sleeves. The vest has six sheaths for multiple throwing knives, three on each side. On her hands and forearms is a pair of black leather, elbow length, half-finger gloves and on the index, middle, and ring fingers of her left hand are a set of black leather and fur covers to prevent her bow's string from biting into her fingers. Over her shoulders she wears a long, simple black cloak that goes down to her knees with some of it kept behind her left shoulder behind the black metal armor covering it, leaving that side of her body exposed while the right side is covered by the rest of the cloak. Attached to the cloak is a black hood that shrouds her face in almost complete shadow, and she wears a half mask around her neck to pull up to help keep her face hidden as well. At her left hip is the sheath for her shortsword, and on her right hip is the sheath for her dagger which has a small pouch on it. At her waist in the back is a quiver for her arrows, the feathered ends pointing out to the left.

Casual: Talisa wears her normal boots and tunic but with the laces halfway tied up on the tunic, along with a pair of baggy cloth pants colored black that lead into her boots, and she keeps the sheaths for her dagger and shortsword at her sides.

Bio

- She is seventy years old, but still fairly young by elven standards. By human years, she would be around twenty years old

- She is a Rogue/Shadowdancer who is proficient in using a shortbow, shortsword, and daggers, as well as a bastard sword if someone really pisses her off

- One of the three founding members of Dawnfire along with Aurora and Cronus

- Due to her breast size and how she keeps them bound tightly by bandages under her outfit while adventuring or on a quest, people tend to mistake her for a small man when her hood is fully pulled over her head and when she wears her half mask over her mouth and nose, because they can't see her face, only her eyes.

- Soft spoken most of the time with a light voice

- A bit of an introvert except for when she's with Aurora and Cronus

- Usually is quite reserved and quiet around strangers due to her being introverted

- Craves love and affection after her past, but is slow to admit it

- Prefers to keep to the shadows and stay invisible unless needed

- She left her village at an even younger age due to their abusive and neglectful treatment due to her being born with jet black hair rather than blonde like the other elves in the village. She was considered an outsider, and a bad omen

- After leaving her home, she decided to change her name into what it is now

- Unlike the other children of her former village, who were trained with magic, Talisa frequently snuck off on her own to train with archery, and later lockpicking and pickpocketing

- Met and joined Aurora and Cronus on their adventures after humorous events that were also very stressful for Talisa

- After their meeting, Aurora took Talisa in like a daughter and trained her in basic magics to aid her in combat

- Sometimes can't help but try to pickpocket people just to see what they have. She doesn't take anything… sometimes

- She acts annoyed every time Aurora dotes on her, but in reality she doesn't mind it, and loves it

- Likes to climb things to get a better view of her surroundings, or just to watch the day go by

- Hates to see anyone being bullied just for being different, and will more than likely get into fights because of it

- Lives for the thrill of the fight

- When she's frustrated and in the heat of something like a fight that keeps dragging on, she might get a bit vulgar.

Weapons

Weapon One: Ironwood Shortbow: A simple and almost primitive looking bow, but Talisa crafted it herself after joining Aurora and Cronus on their adventures. The shaft itself is around four feet long with a strong bowstring, all of it magically reinforced to be even more durable than the wood's name suggests. The grip is wrapped in black dyed cloth and hide with dark gray bands wrapped around for added grip. The shaft itself is a dark brown color and the front face of the shaft is decorated in the designs of her elven ancestors, which are a lighter brown color.

Weapon Two: Eagle's Splendor: A beautiful elven mithril shortsword crafted masterfully by Talisa's ancestors, found by Talisa on one of her adventures with Aurora and Cronus. It has silver elven engravings along the blade and the edge is silver as well, and the enchantment on it let's the blade keep its edge through even the harshest abuse. The grip is made out of dark ebony wood with the head of an eagle as the pommel made of pure silver, and has a simple silver crossguard.

Weapon Three: Adamantine Throwing Daggers: All of Talisa's eight throwing daggers are made out of black adamantium, a very rare mineral. Each one is nearly fifteen inches long overall with an eight and a half inch blade. These are Talisa's preferred melee weapons to dual wield, and she can throw them easily and with deadly efficiency if needed, which is why she keeps eight on her person. Six in the sheaths attached to her vest, and two in the ones on her boots. Each danger's grips are wrapped in leather bindings. The blades are half an inch wide just past the hilt but then widens by an inch before narrowing to form the tips.

Weapon Four: Mithril dagger: Talisa's ultimate last resort weapon. This mithril dagger is the same length of her throwing daggers, but the blade is only half an inch wide overall with a simple brass crossguard and pommel, and with an ironwood grip.

Weapon Five: Fatigue: Talisa's bastard sword. This is the weapon Talisa brings out of her own bag of holding when she is extremely angry or annoyed with any given enemy. It's blade was forged from black mithril, one of the rarest minerals, and is around three feet and four inches long while the hilt is ten inches long, and the blade is three and a half inches long from the base nearly to the tip, which is more of a spade tip. The crossguard is made of brass, the hilt made of darkened ironwood with a brass band around the middle, and the pommel is a simple one made of brass. She can hold it in either both hands or just one hand, but prefers to use both hands for easier use.

Talents and Abilities

Lockpicking: Talisa is a master at picking any and all locks, and has done so many times in the past to let her gain quiet access to certain areas, or easily open chests.

Pickpocketing: Talisa is also very adept at picking the pockets of unsuspecting people whether it be an unknowing bandit, or a towns person. She tries to only pick bandit pockets when she's able.

Spotting and Disarming: Talisa's eyes are extremely keen and they allow her to pick up on any subtleties in an area to determine whether an enemy is hidden by medic or other means, or if a trap is set. Along with that, she can quickly disarm any trap she comes across.

Stealth: Talisa is a master at stealth and moving silently and unseen, especially in shadows thanks to her training as a shadowdancer. She can move fast and quiet, letting her sneak up on any unsuspecting enemy to either subdue, or eliminate.

Shadowdancing: Talisa can meld into the shadows themselves when she wills herself to, completely immersing herself in them to hide from sight

Basic Magics: Thanks to training from Aurora,  Talisa can use basic magic to use to enchant any arrow she is ready to let fly, making it deal either fire, lightning, or ice damage, or she can enchant them with nature magic

Climbing: Talisa is very well adept at climbing even the most seemingly smooth surface. She is very good at finding the best ways to climb up something.

[thirteenthspirit]

Not a Very ‘Organized’ Organization (XIII)

I thought hard about this week’s topic of choice. Brexit was on my mind - I pondered about doing a comparison between parliament’s never-ending struggle with delays and failed agreements, vs Harvest Moon’s unending gameplay, farming and shipping and eventually marrying and digging in the mines and COLLECTING ALL THE DAMN SPRITES in that DS one. But that’s as far as it goes… I didn’t think I’d be able to milk it like those cows (hey!).

Speaking of Hey, I still want to get Space Channel 5 in there somewhere, those Chu’s and Hey’s have been on my mind like crazy…

So I settled on writing about one of my favorite topics – Organization XIII!

Organization XIII was always one of my favorite parts of the Kingdom Hearts series. They are cool and mysterious and (debatably) heartless, ranging everywhere from the mute heavyweight champions (*cough* Lexaeus *cough*) to the twink rockstar wannabes.

So, Organization XII is, like the name implies, a group of 13 nobodies – wait, scratch that – a group of 14 nobodies (eyeroll) who have banded together to… um… depends on who you ask. And in which game. Their primary goal was to be whole, to be granted a heart/soul, even if practically EVERY ONE OF THEM had a different agenda and there was a whole underlying separate reason for the creation of the Organization. NO WORRIES, let’s stick with that, because it’s more fun.

Ok so, breaking down the members, should we go by number? Order of appearance? Relevance? Element of choice? Maybe click (you know, high school clichés)?

Well – first you have the Mains. Roxas (no. XIII), is the counterpart of Sora, the main character in the whole series. So you know he’s gotta be pretty high on the list. The most interesting thing about Roxas is surprisingly NOT that he’s voice by Jesse McCartney, but the duality of elements he controls. Light and Darkness are everywhere with this guy – his outfit has chess squares on it and he wields both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, not to mention having an incredibly sad and traumatic origin story! He’s like, a slightly smarter and moodier Sora. I like Roxas, I’m sad they didn’t give him anything to do in KH3. Dual-wielding keyblades is pretty awesome and his light attacks can hit pretty hard. One of my favorite moments of the series will always be his fight with Riku in the secret ending of KH1, over 10 years ago! Seeing Roxas clash with Riku in mid-air in front of that clock tower (not to be confused with the one from Neverland – I mean England) really made my heart race as a kid. He can also boast to having shared quite a couple of awesome struggles (go Vivi), with Sora in that “Station of Awakening” place where Destati usually plays, and then with both his best friends - while trying not to be kidnapped by his “Flurry of Dancing Flames”, best friend Axel, and when dispatching Xion.

Xion (no. XIV) is a “puppet”, made to take over Roxas’s place and role in the Organization, should anything happen. She is an interesting character, tragedy befalls her and her journey with coming to the realization that she must sacrifice herself for Sora’s behalf (in order for him to become whole again) is a beautiful one to see. Vector to the Heavens plays when you’re fighting Xion for the last time, ending with Roxas effectively killing her and is a beautifully crafted piece. Xion suffers a bit from that ‘unintentional retcon’ where she didn’t really have a place, story-wise, and was created solely for 358/2 Days. So she was effectively written-out of the main storyline until the later games, with every character practically forgetting about her (literally losing their memories of her).

Rounding out the trio is one of everyone’s favorites – bad-guy good-guy Axel (no. VIII). Axel’s portrayal changed throughout the series. In CoM, he is responsible for unmasking a conspiracy and dispatching rogue members of the organization. He is the de-facto assassin. With not a hint of remorse. As his friendship with Xion and Roxas builds, he regains access to some degree of emotion – perhaps it’s caused by the (stick with me on this one) Lea-Ventus-Sora-Roxas-Axel connection, or perhaps he grows a heart, sitting on that clock tower overlooking the (ALWAYS SETTING) sun of Twilight Town and eating sea-salt ice cream. Eventually he turns on the organization, proving his loyalty is to his friends and even joins the main cast as a Keyblade wielder, turning the tides on some occasions (he really makes the end of DDD worth it). It helps that he has a wicked-cool design. His element is Fire and he wields twin Chakrams, boasting two tear tattoos and incredibly spiky hair. His relationship with Kairi is a cute element to the story, I wish (aside from some more combat or like ANY AT ALL) they had more scenes together and overall relevance to the main storyline. My favorite moment, aside from him rescuing Sora from his peers in DDD, has to be when he executes Vexen in Castle Oblivion.

From Axel, the most closely linked member, aside from Roxas and Xion, is SaÏx (no. VII). SaÏx is a warewolf. The moon sends him into a trance and he is often plagued with anger management issues. Berserk is his Nirvana. Him and Axel go way back and there is still a storyline to be uncovered there, judging from the secret reports found in KH3. In the end, his motivations aren’t really clear and fully explored, so his presence is not much more than Axel’s right arm, who happens to have a big “X” scar on his face. Sorry SaÏx – maybe see a therapist. At least you got a happy ending! SaÏx was one of the last Organization members to fall, in KH2. One of the last defenders of the Castle in (one my my all-time favorite KH worlds), The World That Never Was.

Another of the final defenders and members of the Organization to be vanquished at Sora’s had is – *drumroll* arguably MY FAVORITE OF THEM ALL, the incredibly hot and suave Luxord (no. X). Now – this guy is blonde. Has facial hair. Earrings. A British accent (maybe that’s just in my mind) and makes me look up his voice actor just to drool over that sweet sweet voice. He is the “Gambler of Fate” and shows up in the POTC world to basically taunt you and play a few games. Everything’s a game to this guy, even fighting. Which I can’t say he is great at… For someone able to control the element of Time, he’s kind of a pushover. But he’s still got a place in my heart – and maybe we’ll get to see him again, since he was the one who gave Sora that “wild card”… “Parlay!” more like “Let’s play strip poker pls”.

Who next… well let’s round out the oddballs with this guy. Ladies and gents, fans of the underground metal, garage bands and mohawks – I give you… Demyx (no. IX)! The Melodious Nocturne! …although there is nothing ‘nocturnal’ about him. This guy irradiates happiness and excitement and joy. I suppose he is just pretending, since Nobodies can’t really feel, rather they remember what it was like. Dem-dem too is a fan favorite. He is very young and has a different disposition than the rest of the members, he’s just your lazy, average Joe that just wants to spend his days jamming out on his Sitar. He is the first Organization member to fall in KH2, and is considered “not much of a fighter”. I would obviously disagree with this BECAUSE DANCE WATER DANCE MOTHERF***** is hell. Hell! Still, Dem-dem brings some lightheartedness to the game and the entire group, so he is a welcome addition. He is shunned even in KH3 but that’s just a side note of his… personality traits, I suppose. Never forget when he ‘drops the act’ just before turning on Sora, before what would be his final battle. Demyx controls the element of Water.

And since when it rains, it pours; and when it pours, usually it thunders (at least here in Portugal), that seems like a decently-crafted segway to the next member – Larxene (no. XII). Larxene is… a bitch. I don’t say that lightheartedly, I consider myself a feminist and I never forget that quote “when a man is assertive, he’s called a Boss. When a woman is assertive, she’s called a bitch.” But Larxene is just MEAN. She’s the mean girl of the bunch – together with her GBF Marluxia. Larxene poses some of the hardest fights in CoM but sadly, and like most female characters in this series, she’s shunned in favor of other members. This is a critic I have with the entire KH series – Aqua is virtually my favorite character but she’s really the only female character that is given storyline, relevance and overall strength. And like most fans I was DYING to see Kairi kick ass in KH3, but… we all know how that went. Not much to say about Larxene, her lightning-fast attacks and knives give her a pretty sharp demeanor and she’s not afraid to play every trick to her advantage. Standout moment is, unfortunately, her demise in CoM, fading into darkness. Oh and that laugh.

Larxene’s ‘somebody’ appears in KH: Unchained, together with Marluxia’s somebody. Marluxia (no. XI) controls the attribute of Flowers.

Yes.

Flowers.

He also boasts pink hair and – the best part – a huge pink scythe. His nickname is “The Graceful Assassin” but aside from plotting to overthrow the Organization and posing as the main antagonist in CoM, he doesn’t really do a lot of killing. The fights against him in KH2: Final Mix are among my favorites, especially with that countdown as he swings about the field. It seems he has quite a role in the Mobile game, so maybe we’ll get to see more of his backstory in the future. His final parting words were somewhat mysterious. Together with Larxene and a sneaky Axel, Marluxia betrays the Organization and his fellow members in Castle Oblivion, for his own agenda.

The assignment to Castle Oblivion introduces us to 3 other members of the organization – Vexen (no. IV), Lexaeus (no. V) and Zexion (no. VI). And 3 character tropes. The mad scientist, the jock, and the emo kid.

Vexen, aka “The Chilly Academic”, controls my favorite element, Ice. He is, ironically, killed by Axel in a flurry of flames, in a very dramatic moment in CoM. Vexen merely wants to conduct his experiments in peace – he doesn’t care who rules, what happens to the worlds, even who might or not be possessing him. He only cares about his “Replica” program. The Replica program consists on the creation of “puppets”, bodies able to function who are only missing a heart. He plays quite the role in KH3, effectively redeeming himself. Vexen is one of the creepiest characters around – he has long blond hair and green eyes, but really that ‘mad scientist’ vibe is all that transpires. Shout-out to his English voice actor, Derek Stephen Prince, for giving him a creepy vibe. He’s not much of a fighter, with his weapon of choice being an icy shield called “Frozen Pride”.

Zexion is one of the younger members of the Organization – perhaps even younger than Demyx. He is also arguably one of the smartest. Like Vexen, he cares mostly about his research and specific topics of interest *cough* Riku *cough*. However, his young demeanor reflects some innocence – he is the only member you don’t fight against in CoM, ending up murdered at the hands of Axel (with a little help from a Replica…). I really like Zexion, to battle he wields a book (the Lexicon) and would rather dazzle the opponents with some crafted illusions than hit them hard. He is one of the most prominent figures in KH3 and his reunion with his Master, Ansem the Wise, is very touching and reveals once again his innocence. He is often accompanied by Lexaeus, who is essentially a shadow of Zexion, a silent guardian to the smaller member. It is suggested he has been protecting Zexion since the latter was a small child.

Lexaeus fights Riku at one point, effectively forcing Riku to unleash the darkness in his heart just to defeat him. The Organization member is a towering figure and barely ever talks – he is just muscle, but emanates a safe and caring feel outwards, especially in his interactions with Zexion. To battle he wields a huge hammer-like weapon (which totally reminds me of Rikku’s weapons from FFX) called the Skysplitter and commands the element of Earth.

These 3 members are one half of the initial 6 apprentices, who formed the Organization. These founding members all worked together under the tutelage of Ansem the Wise and range from the scientists like Vexen and Zexion to the guardians like Lexaeus and Xaldin.

Xaldin (no. III) is very much… wasted. His virtually only appearance is in KH2, in his vain attempts to turn The Beast into a heartless. His most evident feature is his sideburns. Xaldin’s sideburns are thick, dark and intimidating. He also wields a lot of lances – like, more than 3, which he uses his wind powers to attack you with. He has a really cool attack where he forms a dragon out of wind and blows you to pieces with. Other than another “werewolf” look, that’s pretty much it. Mickey to the rescue!

Then we get to Xigbar (no. II). Xigbar, or Braig, or Luxu, OR ONE-EYED PIRATE, I’m not sure there is much of a difference, became a usual presence throughout the series. Apparently he’s been around for a loooooong time, ever since the forgotten time of the mobile game. He is a cool dude. His “As If” will go down as a pretty cool quote. Xigbar’s nickname is The Sharpshooter and he immediately stands out from the bunch. We are still unaware of his agenda and interests, not knowing to what extent he is controlled or, rather, he is controlling the narrative. He is overall an awesome character, essentially sniping you from afar with his stylish gun-like weapons. He even fakes his own death in KH3! In what is one of the best moments from the final act. His interactions with the rest of the Organization are always funny to watch, especially with his on-and-off younger lover, Demyx. The standout moment against him is undoubtedly that moment during his fight where he corners you and forces you to run around trying to avoid the millions of blue bullets being aimed at you. One of the best members overall.

And then there was I. Mr. Xemnas (no. I) aka “The Superior of the In-Between” (seriously bro, that’s the nickname you’re gonna pick?) aka “MANSEX” among the fans, aka “Xehanort’s nobody”. He is the man behind the Organization, the one really pulling all the strings. I’m gonna skip the part behind his motivations, they’re murky and the writers decide to change them between games, and I’ll get right down to the cool bits – THE SWORDS. Yes, Xemnas wields two red lightsabers. No, he is not Darth Maul, just a fan. He is calm and has a raspy voice, never really getting too flattered (that one’s yours, Axel). The coolest interaction with Xemnas is the final battle against him. Besides his black and white coat, he eventually summons a plethora of red projectiles which surround Sora and Riku, as they (in a very realistic, grounded and believable moment), deflectem with their respective keyblades. Xemnas ends up falling a bit short when compared with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness… He was just never that menacing of a villain, especially with his always calm behavior.

And that’s it. That’s the full list of the organization members. This turned out to be more of an exposé on each of the members, than anything else. I thought about trying to find real-life personalities to match each of the members, but eventually came up short on that. Organization XIII’s struggle to “be whole” and regain the part of their humanity they had lost – their soul, the ability to feel, always struck me as a really interesting motivation. For quite some time, the idea that you could shed the part of you that is able to “feel” struck me as something good, something to be envious of. I was, of course, wrong – even the dark feelings within us are what gives us the ability to connect and empathize with others.

So be sure to deflect those projectiles, and someone PLEASE give my number to Luxord,

                                                                                               -João A. (Pachiren)