#Subodai

[mildlywarmafternoon]

Pose practice with some of the companions :)

[spotinthespiral]

Ryan-Posting again! ♡

Otherwise Titled: a stressed Orphan and her protective Guardians.

Ryan gets her Found Family .2 seconds after entering the Armada Ship. Subodai watches her back from the start, and his take is basically: That's a child. She's capable, yeah, and a great leader, but she's a child. I'm protecting her with my life. He effectively becomes her Dad. (As well as her First-Mate)

And then, of course, there's Dead Mike. He's like her uncle. He was the one person who didn't ever abandon her or her parents (willingly) and he swore his afterlife to avenge her family, and now to care for her. He's a big softy, and the moment he realized Ryan was still alive, he swore to be there for her till his second death.

And, as it goes, I also love the concept that Ryan is generally pretty harmless-looking when she first starts her adventures. No name for herself, she doesn't speak, and her actions are sneaky so people rarely know it was her who hit them. Until she becomes more infamous, Dead Mike and Subodai act as her big scary goons. They hit hard and w/o hesitation if Ryan orders it.

(Also picturing Ryan ready to tear someone to pieces, but she's already low on health, and Ratbeard or Steele holding Ryan back with Subodai and Mike roll up their sleeves and go demolish the enemy. And/or Armada coming by in a town, and Ryan ducking behind Subodai and clinging to his hand (hoof?) As she uses him as a wall between her fear and herself.)

[devilfish-landing]

one of the funniest thing in this game to me is how in shady hollow everyone’s talking about how weird it is for dead people to be alive and walking and if you have dead mike he’s just. there

[stormbreaker101]

[storms-are-coming]

[piecesofchess]

So while I'm talking about it, here's a screenshot I took of my Pirate back on my first day playing Pirate101 (October 15th, 2012)

All of the Subodai companions remind me how you saw EVERYONE with their starter companion and/or Bonnie Anne on the first day <3

Also, a little fun fact here, but there used to be a platform in front of Avery's Office before they replaced it with the staircase. KI probably noticed everyone taking the long way around. You can see it in this screenshot!

[destiny-moonforge]

happy pride to the only horse ever

[crazyfox-archives]

A pamphlet from the museum at Kōfukuji Temple (興福寺) in Nara, featuring the sculpted image of the Buddha’s disciple Subhūti (須菩提 “Subodai”), expert in the concept of Emptiness, dating to the 8th century from the museum’s collection

Acquired at the temple February 6, 1994

[save-the-spiral]

Wiztober 2022 Day Three: Exalted

Content warning for violence, piracy, torture, murder, eye trauma, child homelessness, child soldier (kinda?), implied (unhealthy) sex/using sex as self harm, implied slut shaming, swearing, and basically everything else for my boy alexander.

(Prompt List)

Darling Alexander Dove was a man who could easily be described as many things. ‘Easy’ would be one of those adjectives, actually. Other words described him better. 

Flamboyant, ruthless, cruel, unhinged, monstrous. Prideful.

Alexander took pride in his appearance, the finest silks dyed in eye-searing pinks and shadowy black, jewelry of pure gold and gemstones that sparkled. He took pride in his skills in battle, slicing through enemies from the darkness, vaulting and rolling through the battlefield as if it were his personal playground. He took pride in his ship, a relic his parents had used in their voyages, restored to its former glory and now flaunting his own flag, a dove with its deceitful olive branch plastered on a field of pink and black. 

He even took pride in his crew, the few loyal members he had. His steadfast sister-in-arms Bonnie Anne, the reliable Jack Russel, Subodai who never faltered, Ratbeard who was predictable and dedicated, and even a few more. Others had tried to join his crew and failed, too weak willed or weak stomached to withstand his rule. Others joined and got in the way, and became nothing more than corpses to toss overboard, falling into the void of the skyways.

Alexander rarely took pride in the rank of Captain, especially granted the inevitable ‘pirate’ that preceded it to give context. He had not earned this role, not with bribery or hard work as one would in a military. He had taken it, snatched it from thin air and hid behind it as he once did with his mother’s skirts. 

He demanded the title be used out of respect more than anything, to remind his crew that no matter what he owned and ran this ship with a gilded fist. 

Even Bonnie Anne who knew him ever since he was just some street rat abandoned and alone in the Skull Island sewers would use his title. She would knock sense to him from time to time, as big sisters tend to do, and only then would she call him Alexander or Dove.

Every skyway in the Spiral knows his name. Captain Darling Alexander Dove, scourge of the skies, that marauding carrion bird of a man who will rip you to shreds while you scream your last breath. A reputation many would spend a lifetime to achieve, and he got it in just five or so years. Now when they dock in a new world the whispers are already there, his reputation precedes him, and merchant ships flee, militaries launch their fleets against his flag, and no one ever underestimates him again.

He is not just a vicious child or a pretty face or an easy fuck. 

Captain Darling Alexander Dove is all he wanted to be when he was that scared child. He never has to fear anyone ever again. He can never be forced into anything he does not wish to. Any blood he spills is on his hands alone, of his own volition. He is no one’s chained mutt, a feral guard dog let loose on an enemy. 

Even if others look at him as if he still is. Even if Bonnie Anne sometimes looks at him like that, and he has to pretend he doesn’t see it lest he snap and give her something to truly fear. Bonnie Anne is one of the few Alexander refuses to hurt. She would never be scared of him. All it would do is make her pity Alexander, and that would ruin him. 

Some of the others do fear him- Ratbeard and Sarah Steele and Jack Russel and Fan Flanders. They are simply in this far too deep, and could not leave the crew alive after years of being complicit in his crimes. 

Subodai, for some reason, does not fear him. Alexander cannot understand why he doesn’t, why even at his most deranged, Subodai will stand beside him as stalwart as always and unflinching of his cruelty. 

Alexander will use his reputation as another weapon in his arsenal, right next to seduction and daggers. 

He never makes empty threats, often following through despite it being disadvantageous merely because it would be funny or prove a point. The easiest way to make Alexander do something unexpected is to say he wouldn’t do it. He lives to defy expectation, refusing to conform to anything, let alone the image one has of him in their head. He is violent and cruel and teasing and gorgeous and monstrous, but if they dare him he will show a moment of mercy simply to see the hope in their eyes before he snuffs out that light. 

He toys with victims as a cat would a mouse, uncaring and unknowing of the true extent of their suffering, for he has never suffered such, not physically. No one has dared put him under his own knife, no one has bested him in such a way yet. 

One day his rank will mean nothing. His reputation will simply be the intel used against him. The fearful and loyal crewmates alike will stand aside and watch as he is torn down into who he truly is, all finery and facades skinned from his body. 

Kane will look down at him and there will be no emotion, no triumph or pity or anger. There is nothing there for the clockworks to feel, and so reputation is nothing to them.

Alexander will relearn old tricks and cower like a beaten dog, barking uselessly only to be struck again. He will quiet once he realizes the helplessness of the situation, how little hope he has of rescue, how hopeless it is to need a rescue in the first place. 

He will lose the last remnant of his parents.

He will lose an eye. 

And he will lose all respect any of the others had for him, replaced instead with intertwined pity and compassion, a sickening combination.

He will be curled up in agony and so very small for all his twenty-four years of age, blood gushing from his face as his partner picks him up and holds him as easily as one would a child. 

He will turn away from his crew, into the empty chest of his clockwork partner, and whine in pain and fear and humiliation. 

No one will expect any more of him and that alone ruins Darling Alexander Dove.

[spotlightstudios]

Wizard 101: Hey kid, you just got pulled into Wizard School, and it looks like you're ready to start. Go down that path and someone will teach you to fight. Oh shit, that's Malistare, uhhhh, *one minor battle later* Good job kid. Go and do some little quests and beat up some fairies, you're doing great! :)

Pirate 101: You're in jail. Pirates are breaking you out of jail! They're... asking about your trauma. You're a pirate, an orphan, the son of a whore and a scotsman, you were raised by another group of people, now you're pulling a jail break and helping other prisoners escape! A uhhh, a guy threatens to murder you. He's the one who locked you up. The pirate guy almost dies and you have to drive his ship??? *one stressful sail later* Hey kid, go beat up this guy who stole from me. I'm gonna cheat and scam you, btw, just so you know. :)

[theswashbucklingspy]

More Pirate101 thoughts because I’m tired and have been thinking.

I find it interesting that the most popular The Pirate/Companion ship as a whole from the early days was with Subodai and I really wanna try and see why (I am 100% in on it being a fun ship). In my case…I shipped it initially purely because Subodai has a personality I myself was attracted to. However, as I developed my current Swashbuckler into her own character, it’s been fun working with their dynamics.

Charming Rowan Alcott, despite her name, is brash, rude, and a little bit full of herself at first glance. She would stuff your socks full of cream cheese out of pure spite and dislikes not having attention placed on her. However, she’s also a DAMN good liar…which is when she turns on the charm. She does have a nice side…but people have to EARN that by proving they won’t abandon her when things get rough.

Her dynamic with Subodai is them teaching each other how to have an actually healthy relationship with a person. Both of them end having had their own unique troubles with figures they USED to respect around the end of Mooshu, and they both help the other unpack those issues.

In doing so…they both get what they want. Rowan has someone who won’t leave her when things get tough (see Subodai talking about helping The Pirate achieve their destiny in his final promotion quest). Subodai has a leader who actually cares for his well-being, and would NOT stab him in the back again for her own advantage. Rowan’s the social one who can do diplomacy, while Subodai has the intimidation when trying to charm doesn’t work.

And TBH, I think the main draw of people shopping Subodai/The Pirate IS that you can make it so the two are just…so fucking supportive of each other. They may bicker…but the love and care is still there.

[apple-talk]

Day Twenty-Two, Stallion

Pittyober Day 22- Mooshu/Stallion

When the clockworks had brought in another prisoner, this one unconscious and slung carelessly over one of the marine's shoulders, Subodai hadn’t thought much of it. He had simply gone back to wordlessly staring at the wall of his cell aboard the Erebus. But after the first day or so, the new prisoner had gained consciousness. It was a young woman, coming from the cell across from him, although he couldn't see her due to the angle of his own conflicting with that of hers. She spoke for hours on end, poking fun and mocking the guards assigned to her cell. Mocking Deacon whenever he came to question her. He found her resolve shocking at first, but it soon fell to annoyance, he only wished to sit in silence for however long he was doomed to stay here, but this new prisoner was insistent on disregarding his silent wish. But after the first few weeks or so of her isolation, she began to speak when the guards weren’t there. She would speak of many things, her life, who she was; Erin Devereaux was her name. He would ignore her for the most part, only vaguely registering her words. That was until one day, one day that he realized his portion of rations had increased that day, and that Erin had never been given one.

To her chagrin, she didn’t complain, merely bringing herself to mock her guards one more time. This time, however, the clockworks didn’t remain as stationary as they had for the past few months. Subodai heard a sickening sound as metal collided with the flesh of the young woman's jaw, along with her pained yelp. And that was when things became worse for Erin Devereaux. Her rations were smaller from what he was able to observe, and they didnt come every day now, nor at every meal time, rather they came two times a week. Just enough so she didn’t starve. Deacon and some other marines would visit her more often, but rather than asking simple questions, the clockwork elite resorted to less diplomatic measures. He heard the blows as they landed, as well as Erin’s defiant cries and denial of knowing any information about other pirates. Every time when they left, he found it within himself to talk to her, asking her questions about her life, and often times she would answer. She would sound tired, weak like she would pass out at any moment, and sometimes she did. She was strong, Subodai could say that at the very least, he had known warriors who had caved from even less torture than she had endured. It was evident that this young woman believed in the phrase “Honor Among Thieves.”

Months upon months had passed when Subodai heard it, the sickening sound he didn’t think he could ever forget, just like the sound of his clanmates falling around him in their final moments. Deacon had entered Erin’s cell, he asked her his questions as per usual. She was punished for every defiant word, every single taunt that left her lips. He remembered it vividly, she had taunted him after a few punches, “Is that all you got? Is this really all the might of the great Armada can do?” Subodai wished she never said that, she was asking for trouble with those words. And trouble she got. He couldn't make out Deacon’s exact words, but he heard the tone of his voice and stiffened, he knew that tone all too well. He heard a brutal blow as metal met bone and a sickening crack of the woman's ribs. She let out an ear-piercing screech before she fell deathly quiet. That time when they left, she didn’t speak, she didn’t respond to his questions. It was silent. He had known warriors of the highest honor that had succumbed to similar injuries, and for some unknown reason, he found himself worried for the health of this strange woman.

The only reason Subodai knew that Erin was alive, was the food that was delivered to her cell twice a week. What worried him, was that it hardly seemed to have been eaten. Whenever the guard would take the rations away, it seemed that she ate less and less of it with each passing day. Then the Erebus was attacked, and the two of them were saved. Erin had come stumbling out of the back half of her cell after a hole was blown into the side of it. She had leaned onto the walls as she made her way down the mechanical corridor when finally they laid eyes on each other for the first time. She looked exhausted, bruises and open possibly infected cuts littered what visible skin there was on her, including tears in the sleeves and the back of her blouse. What stood out the most was the obvious lack of a magic inhibitor that the Armada gave all of its prisoners, himself included. He didn’t mention it. Upon seeing him, and upon hearing his voice, some form of recognition flashed across her face as she quickly released him from his cage, and swiftly freed him of his inhibitor. As they made it to the deck of the Erebus, she leaned on him for support, and he found that he didn’t mind the added weight.

When the pair finally made it to safety, Erin’s legs buckled under her as her adrenaline faded. Subodai caught her before she collided with the wooden flooring of Boochbeard and Gandry’s ship. Helena Templeton, who he learned was Erin’s first mate, ushered the both of them to the infirmary and guided them both to two cots. He rested Erin on hers before promptly passing out on his own. He woke to Helena tending to her Captain’s wounds and injuries with a particular medicine, one that worked for non-magical beings she explained. His suspicions were correct, Erin had no magical energy. But rather than the feeling he had been taught about creatures such as her, he felt…respect. Respect that she had survived the harshest of conditions without any aid, or without being deprived of the aid of magical energy.

He helped Helena tend to Erin’s injuries, he helped re-feed her, he helped change her bandages, and one day, Erin was finally able to speak.

“You know, I didn’t think you were real at first,” she admitted, looking away sheepishly, “I thought I was making up a voice in my head for my own comfort.”

He had simply hummed and aided her in the consumption of her simple stew.

“Thank you…thank you for sticking around.” Subodai looked at Erin, his Captain, “Do not mention it.”

[spotinthespiral]

I meant to post this like 6 hours ago but the file goofed 👀

Anyways, here's roughs of Captain Ironside and Young Jack! (As always, ramble below the cut!)

Like I said, these are rough designs for them! Ryan's only on lvl like, 36, and Young Jack is literally an npc I hyperfixated on because his plot is ridiculous. Ryan (Silent Ryan Ironside) is on the right, Young Jack on the left 👍

Refs and wip sketch:

So, lore ramble as I warned about:

Ryan has the Grizzleheim origin, and her parents were killed in a Mutiny. She's a Swashbuckler, and her First mate is consistently Subodai (horse Warrior). Ryan became a Mute after her parents were killed, and communicates with her crew solely through a complex system of tapping patterns, or simple hand signals. She's slow to trust, and is very loose with dropping people at the first sign of disloyalty, but she picks up her crew like they're each a stray sopping wet kitten. She's still a teen, so when they all joined her, they basically pulled "It takes a village to raise a kid" and the entire Crew works to boost her up as well as keep her safe.

Young Jack recap (w/o bias I hope) I'd that he's the nephew of a guy on the docks of Flotsam who went missing. You find him near the broken lighthouse, he's cursed, you hunt down the dude who made the curse and kill him. Give the head to Young Jack to keep him from getting zombified. Young Jack swears off pirating, and that's the last time he's seen.

Personal Explanation for the art above:

Ryan took the quest would really planning to follow through. She stumbled across Young Jack's trail by chance and found him injured and surrounded by undead. His old crew. She sympathized, and helped him back to his uncle, but Old Scratch and everyone else of Flotsam agreed that the boy was doomed to die of his curse by sundown. Only way was to kill this old immortal famous pirate, so Ryan did just that. She felt like she couldn't just stand down, and she killed the guy and presented it to Young Jack just before sundown.

Jack swore off pirating and retreated with his uncle back home, but I like to think Ryan kept in contact. Jack started work in the tavern, and Ryan made Flotsam her crew's go-to stop just to check in on Jack. They were friends, Ryan's first real friend, and got along swimmingly. Ryan taught him the codes and translations for her taps, and they bonded. (Currently they're still courting. Jack thinks she's just the coolest girl he's ever met, and she thinks Jack is reckless, but sweet.)

One time, I like to think just after Monquista, Ryan went to the tavern, only to get news that Jack had been kidnapped, by pirates, then the Armada. Ryan has a paralyzing fear of the Armada, but snuck away from her crew. She was trading her surrender for Jack's safe return. Ryan managed to send Jack back safe, giving herself up to Deacon in the process.

Jack, in my headcanon, has a giant slash scar across his face because of this incident. When he got back and tried to tell Ryan's crew what had happened, Subodai was furious. Subodai is basically Ryan's mentor and adoptive father, so when he heard what had happened his was in such great distress he didn't even think. He drew his sword and slashed Jack across the face without a second thought, before the crew could stop him.

Everyone ended up bannmding together to vet Ryan back in one piece, but that incident is what I think drove Jack to join Ryan's crew. If he remained away from her, he'd only be a dangerous outlier for enemies to use against her. Staying close let both of them be safer, and happier, despite how he swore off pirating not long ago.

Obviously Jack doesn't fight, he's not an npc I can pick up and take with me, so I like to think he's just kinda the housewife here. He keeps the ship and crew in order when Ryan's going onto land for extended periods of time. He also probably keeps track of Ryan's debts, favors owed, and things of that nature. Besides that though, they're just really close, and it's good that Ryan bonded with someone outside her crew for once, even if he ended up in the Crew in the end.

[devilfish-landing]

sum sketches (mostly to figure out how to draw these three losers in particular)

[stormbreaker101]

Subodai as a falconer. Send tweet.

[bloodyfoxcrew]

Do y'all think-Crew Found Family

Do y'all think our crews become a family not only to our pirates but to each other too?

(Note this one will include only all class companions, swashbuckler-only companions and Armada Presidio companion (Gaspard))

Do you think Ratbeard knows everyone's favorite meals and he makes them when they are having a rough day?

Do you think Bonnie, Catbeard, and Gaspard make a book club to make sure Subodai always knows his love of reading and writing is accepted and loved?

Do you think everyone is eager to listen to Gaspard's stories about our pirates' parents because they know it helps him heal?

Do you think Carolina and Rodrigo become the adopted parental figures for the younger members of the crew?

Do you think everyone takes care of their crewmate's wounds before their own? Do you think no one fights it because it's easier to worry about each other than themselves? Have our pirates walked into the communal living area in the morning to find half their crew strewn about, still asleep, because one of them had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone?

Do you think our crew becomes a found family for each other?