#ahem :) i do not have too many da ocs

[jendoe]

tagged by @nightbloodraelle to make some ocs in this picrew! thank you MWAH...

🎀 elissavet cousland | 🎲 adelaide hawke 🏹 yawen liu | 🔍 harun liu 🥀 cressida trevelyan | ⚗ hildegard van markham 🐲 varian de rossi | 🗡 rosaline trevelyan

tagging @phillipsgraves, @risingsh0t, @indorilnerevarine, @chuckhansen, @queennymeria, @denerims, @girlbosselrond, @minaharkers, @gwynbleidd, @aelyosos, @calenhads, @telumendill, @shadowglens, @cptcassian, @corvosattano, @jackiesarch, @marivenah, @sstewyhosseini, @leviiackrman, @unholymilf, @florbelles, @shellibisshe, @loriane-elmuerto, and if you see this, YOU!!! no pressure ofc mwah mwah mwah

[lunarthing159]

Wynncraft Rambles:

Just Recently Explored A Ton Of New Areas Including A New Warp-able Town Called Almuj Which Is In Desert. All This Exploring And Doing Random Stuff Has Inspired Me To Actually Explain My Little Archer OC For This World! It's Fairly Vauge In Backstory Due To Me Still Being In Early-Game And Not Knowing Abt Possible Late-Game Lore Info.

It's Under The Read More For Length Purposes... And Slight Spoilers For Some Early Game Stuff, That Too ^v^"

Castor

Castor Is My Sharpshooter Archetype & Fire Mastery Archer OC I Created For Wynn! His Main Role In The Team Of Him, Aledar, & Tasim Is The Heart Of The Team. Basically Being The Lovable Goofball/Comic Relief Who's Never Held A Braincell In His Life.

My Little Idiot /aff

He Hoards All The Himbo Energy.

"Knowing What's Happening & Understanding What's Happening Are Very Different Things And Oh Boy Am I Doing Neither!"

Here's Castor's Refrence Sheet & A Random Doodle I Did Of Him Recently!

Yes, I Know, There's Probably A Couple Questions Y'all Have,,, So I'm Gonna Answer A Couple Simple Ones Here! If You Have Any More, Leave 'em In The Replies/Comments & I'll Add Them To The List ^v^

Questions!

What Are Those Lines On His Chest?

Castor Is Trans Female To Male! I Gave Him A Variety Of Surgery Scarring That Would Fade Back More To A Normal Skin State, But Knowing His Personality (He Uses The Power Of Being A Man To Not Wear Shirts), I Also Gave Him Tattoos In The Area To Make Sure It Draws The Eye. "HEY!! LOOK AT ME!! I A MAN!! LOOK!!"

Why Does He Have All These Eye Markings? Does He Have Extra Eyes?

To Put It Simply, He Likes It! It's A Play On Watchtowers And The Term 'Watchtower'. Watchtowers, Even Shown In Wynn, Are Very Associated With Archers And Archery Sodiers. That Combined With His Head-Empy Zero-Thoughts Stare & The Fact He Towers Over The Rest Of His Group In Height (Headcannon Aledar As 6', Tasim As 5'7, & Castor As 6'6), It Made The Parallels And Refrences An Obvious Choice. So, Ye! Eye Imagery For The Tall Archer Lad!

Why Is He Shirtless?

🌟Aesthetic🌟

No Really It's A Play On The Fact That Fire Needs Oxygen To Burn And, If You're Layered In Too Many Clothes, A Common Exclamation You Might Hear Is "I Can't Breathe In This!". He Also Just Prefers It That Way, It's Freeing To Him. Besides, It Allows The Bright Cloth He Carries To Pop In His Attire (It's Supposed To Be A Waist Sash, But He Doesn't Wear It That Way). Bonus, If It Gets Too Cold, He Can Wear It Lika Da Scarf!

Is His Hair On Fire!?

Yes! Yes It Is! ^v^

My Idea On How That Came To Happen Is (When He Got To Detlas) I'd Just Recently Unlocked The Fire Mastery Trait For Him. So My Idea Was That His Hair Would Spark On Occasion Ever Since That Got Unlocked, More Frequently In Times Of Adrenaline. So, After Helping Detlas From The Corruption Hoard And Taking Down The Commander, His Hair Would Be Sparking Like Crazy,,, Which Would Catch The Attention Of Ragon, Detlas's Official Elemental Expert.

My Headcannon Is That Various Degrees Of Elemental Mastery Appear Different On Those That Wield Them, Especially Innate Ones Would Become Apart Of A Person's Being. In Castor's Case, He Was So Practically Destined To Wield Fire That He Ended Up An Innate-Case. Ragon Would See The Embers And Realize The Knowledge Castor Needs To Be Given, About The Way His Fire Is Making Itself Physical On His Body,,, The External Force Just Happens To Be From His Head,,, Specifically His Hair.

So Ye, Funky Fire Hair! He Got TangoTek-ified- Ahem What Anyways-

What's His Current Level & Weapon?

LV 34 with 27/262 Quests Completed

And Saffron Arch (Neutral-Dmg 35-52, Fire-Dmg 14-30, Thunder-Dmg 10-34) Average-DPS 131

Plus Warp Scrolls To Ragni, Detlas, Nemract, & Almuj!

|

That's Info On My Fella So Far, But I Have No Doubt There'll Be More To Add As My Journey Progresses!

Thanks For Reading! ^v^

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2021 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest - Rules Thread *CLOSED*

Welcome to year #14 of my mostly-annual Megaman Valentine’s Day Fanart Contest!

Two categories, in which you are allowed to submit one entry for each category, if you would like. If you place in one category, you will be automatically disqualified from the other, for reasons of fairness, and to give other people a chance to win a prize.

CATEGORY 1:  Kiss From a Rosered (Talent)

Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a Rosered on Nebula Grey Ooh, the more I think of it, the stranger it feels, yeah And now here to give a rose to Split Mushroom A light hits the room on Jet Stingraaaaayyyyy~

Ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-da-da, ba-da-da

For this category, your goal is to create a scene between the Megaman characters of your choice involving roses being given to one's Valentine. Simple enough, right? But there is a little twist. For those who don't know, the color of the rose actually has some meaning behind it. We are all used to the standard red rose as a symbol of love more than anything. But just as there are different forms of love, there are different concepts these various colors can represent, when giving someone you love flowers.

The other part of the challenge for this talent category will be your use of color in your pic. Just as you choose a color to convey meaning with this rose, and theme your scene in a similar manner, I'd also like to see you utilize this color as the strongest within your piece. 

So, while I don't expect all of these submissions to be purely monochromatic, or a single hue when coloring, your goal will be to try to make your art have your rose color as the dominant color in your piece. Whether that means the characters you choose are predominantly that color too, or, they have a pallette change with their outfit/armor/etc. to echo or help contrast the color theme. 

Content Requirements: 

* Megaman characters of your choice giving roses to their special someone on Valentine's Day

* Utilizing the symbolism of specific rose colors within your artwork (see a list with examples here: https://www.proflowers.com/blog/rose-color-meanings) to help set the scene. 

       For example, if you are using purple roses, it often represents love at first sight. Your artwork should convey characters involved in a love at first sight scene.  

* When coloring your art, keeping the color of the rose you chose to also be the predominant color of the piece. (This does not mean you have to stick to a single hue when coloring. You are free to be as creative as you can with this in mind!)

* Judging will take all of these content requirements into consideration, and how well you are able to mesh all of them together in your piece. 

CATEGORY 2: Kawaai-rimi (Humor)

From lining store shelves this time of year, to carnival prizes, or even life-size 30th Anniversary editions, there's nothing that says love like a soft, cuddly plush character to snuggle. 

One of the more memorable Mega Man plushes comes from the Battle Network series, specifically the kawarimi/anti-damage doll of Megaman.EXE. So, using that as the basis for this category, your job will be to create a Valentine's Day-themed plush of a Megaman character. But again, with a little twist.

The Megaman character of your choice is in a scenario where they need to give a gift to their sweetheart, and they need one very quick. Who pops up to help? Why, it's Shadow Man (or any ninja character from any Megaman series of your choice)! To help this character in a bind, your ninja character instantaneously produces a specially-made Valentine's kawarimi plush. Your character can then give this plush doll to his or her Valentine. 

For example, a cute little Sir Crescent Grizzly bear, who just wants to hug-a-lot with his sharp claws, or a charming Toad prince, who wants to give kisses with a little tongue. Have fun thinking of funny, but cute plush concepts!

Content Requirements:

* A Megaman-related character created in Valentine's Day plush form. Draw the most clever, unique and hilarious design for this plush

* A ninja character in the scene, who can instantly produce this plush for your character who is in a bind to give a gift to his crush

* As this is the humor category, judging will be based primarily on how funny your piece is. Creativity, concept and execution may get you some points, but the focus of this category is how you make us laugh! 

PRIZES:

Due to Covid still causing havoc around the world, physical prizes are going to be a little tougher, with some regions still seeing postal restrictions. So the main prizes for winners will still likely be cash, sent via Paypal.

The winners for both the Talent and Humor categories will receive the following:

1st Place: $100 USD  2nd Place: $75 USD  3rd Place: $50 USD 

(...as long as I don't bankrupt myself helping with a certain auction before this...*ahem*)

PARTICIPATION PRIZE RAFFLE:

However, I am still going to try to give away 2 cels in another participation prize raffle this year. I don't want to limit this to US entrants only, although given the circumstances, it might be hard to send to certain countries. I will certainly try to send either of these worldwide. But just know it may depend on postal regulations, as the ripple effects of this awful virus continue into the following months.

In any case, when you submit, please mention which cel you would like to be entered into the raffle for.

If you draw a pic for both the Humor and the Talent Categories, you can double your chances to win! (Odds of course, depending on how many others enter and also draw two pics.) You will be able to add your name into the drawing a second time for the prize you are most interested in, or have a chance at both!

Raffle Prize #1 – Captain N Mega Man with genie lamp

Raffle Prize #2 – Captain N 'Cuts Man'

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: 

When you submit, I would prefer you to include the following information in this format, along with your entry:

• (Your name/preferred alias) – As much as I usually know who you are, there’s always someone new or somebody who has a different preference from what their email name says. 

• (Category this entry is for) – You can either say 1 or 2, or Talent/Humor

• (Participation Prize Eligibility) – Again, you can say either 1 or 2, or Mega Man/Cut Man

In the event you are submitting your second entry, please specify which cel you would like your bonus chance in the raffle to be put towards. 

Only submit your own work, as usual. Any character, major or minor, from any series is allowed. Pairing characters from different series is totally allowed. Same-gender pairings are completely fine. OCs are allowed, as long as your art contains at least one canon Megaman character.

As always, participants are allowed to submit from all over the world. 

Paypal is still the preferred method for cash prize payouts. Please have a valid account to receive your winnings. 

Youngin's, get your parents permission before entering.

Entries do not need to be fully colored, but it is preferred. The more effort put into things, as always, the better chance you have!

Entries can either be e-mailed to me at rock2125[at]hotmail[dot]com, or you can just PM/note me a link to your pic. 

DO NOT post your pics in this journal, your dA galleries, Twitter, tumblr blogs, other sites, etc. until the contest is over. This is the fairest way for competitive reasons. I prefer to keep them all secret until the deadline has passed. 

I'll edit a confirmed entry list in this thread when I receive them. So you won't be in the dark about whether or not I've received your entry. 

DEADLINE: 

The deadline for this contest will be Saturday, February 13th, 2021 by 11:59PM (global end of the day). This gives you a little more than 5 weeks to finish your entry! 

MISCELLANEOUS INFO: 

- As usual, If you don't plan to enter, but would like to help me judge, please let me know through DM or mention so here. Never hurts to have extra opinions on all the entries.

Bug me with questions if you have any. Please join in, and good luck to everyone who enters! 

Confirmed Entries:  

Cat. 1 - Forceway, @dragonmarquise, @digitallyfanged, donnie, abilityfield, @aw-colorcat, Mattasaurs, Dark-Dullahan, Sapphire Cat. 2 - Mattasaurs, ColeManX, @destinywillowleaf​

[ohmygodtheywereparabatai]

hey?

hey!! sorry for the delay mg been cramming

1. First impression: The trifecta is complete! I met Crooked, then Moonsugar, and knew by the pinned art on both their blogs that you were the glue that held the holy trinity together! I so so respect and treasure each and every one of you. I could only hope to form a friendship like the one I get to bask in everyday... 😋 OC trio shenanigans bless my dash, and your art in general!

2. Truth is: I want to know if Kinumi’s single I think about Archer!Ozai all the time..... just ingenious, and incredibly thorough. When a Hou Yi!Zhao ties in, my Zhaozai heart runs w i l d

3. How old do you look: I’m going to say in the twenties. Seems to be the golden area for guessing ages, not too assumptive, not too offensive 👀

4. Have you ever made me laugh: The name Silk Disaster 😂 Prepare for trouble, and make it double (omg Ozai as Jessie and Kinumi as James... they’ve screwed with gender norms before! Is Lu Da Meowth?)

5. Have you ever made me mad: Nein!

6. Best Feature: Your ideas are. The. TEA. Jasmine, ginseng, oolong, green, your art and writing speak in ALL the tongues. 🍵 Just when you think you’ve uncovered every hidden meaning, there’s another twenty layers you forgot to peel back. Your art is ample dissertation material, and ofc your GIANT brain will be the most studied by aliens when they inevitably raze our civilization to the ground 🥰

7. Have I ever had a crush on you: Honestly I’ve answered in so many iterations of “No, and I’m not sharing Zhao” that I’m just going to write him a parody poem *ahem*

Moon slayer, never seen you smile

I’m getting you to smile some day

Oh, Moon slayer... you heart breaker...

Wherever you’re goin’, I’m hoping it rains.

(Audrey Hepburn’s “Moon River” cannot be pried from my mind 🥺)

8. You’re my: Muse! In all things and at all times.

9. An image in my camera roll I associate with you:

A really pretty sky we had once.....

Say Hey!

[seraphanangelica]

Pairing My Friends With BNHA Characters P1:

Zoie, I have just the person for you!

I also do pairings for everyone, not just my friends. Requests are open.

(Credit to Wonderful GIF maker)

Now before you go WHAT?! Lemme explain. (No, it’s not becuase you’re a Hufflepuff either).

⚡️Upon meeting Kaminari, your first impression was one of humor and glee as you watched him casually walk up to your desk and ask, “Hey, you uh... come around here often?”

⚡️To say you were surprised (and you shouldn’t be surprised, you’re cute as hell, own it!) was an understatement. You’ve never had someone come up to you just to flirt like that. It always started with a half-assed conversation.

⚡️You blinked once, and looked up to his never-faltering smile. “I do, five days a week.”

⚡️This went on for a while. Kaminari would come to your desk every day before school started and state the cheesiest pick up line he could come up with, you returning it with a technical comeback, sometimes a flirt or two back.

⚡️Whenever you did flirt back, his confidence shakes a bit, and you never miss the red the tints of his cheeks.

⚡️Eventually, you went from exchanging a few flirts to having full conversations. At first it was things like your mutual agreements. That’s it. Really.

⚡️”Bakugo’s a big softie. I mean, come on, look at the way he looks at Kirishima. It proves my point further.”

⚡️”Get you a significant other that looks at you the way Bakugo looks at Kirishima.” Of course then, you didn’t see the light in his honey eyes every time he looked at you.

⚡️From small agreements to full blown conversations.

⚡️From conversations to you going over to his dorm after school to train and study. That’s what you tell your friends at least.

⚡️When you first stepped into his room, your attention went straight to the video game console that you all too familiar with. You also noticed there were two remotes.

⚡️Yeah, so you guys studied all day. You ditched the books and went straight into the digital world. He challenged you to countless competitions. Who could get the most kills in Fortnite, or who could build the best house in Minecraft. (Being the artist, you definitely won that one)

⚡️You didn’t start dating much longer after that. No one in 1A was surprised.

⚡️As flirtatious as he is, I don’t belive Denki would do much PDA. Maybe some hand holding, an arm around your shoulders.... Hugs are a definite. If you’re lucky you’ll get a small kiss on your cheek.

⚡️You’re his top priority. You need something? You got it. You want something? It’s yours. You’re sick? He’ll take care of you. You’re sad? Cuddles and positive affirmations for HOURS if not the whole day. And you’d do just the same.

⚡️He doesn’t care about what you want to look like or want you want to do with your life. As long as it benefits your happiness, he’s all for it and supports you every step of the way.

⚡️Nicknames! He calls you his Buzzy Beautiful Shunshine Nugget (*ahem*) because you’re energetic around him, you’re beautiful, happy and radiant like the sun, and you like chicken nuggets. You call him Zappy Boi, especially after that one time he was getting out of a balloon pit and went to hug you. All the static made him shock you, producing a low zap noise. It shocked you more than it hurt you, and even though he apologized profusely, you laughed it off and proceeded to call him Zappy Boi.

⚡️When his birthday rolls around, you make him beautiful art piece of the things that remind you most of him and your time together. He LOVES it. The smile never left his face that day, and the painting never left the wall in his room. He calls you the Da Vinci of your time. You disagree (Boi, AGREE), but the compliment stuck with you.

⚡️For your birthday, he takes you to a Con. You guys get your cosplays that took months to make by hand and ROCKED IT. Instagram was filled with your photos with celebrity voice actors and professional cosplayers, but mainly just you two having the time of your lives.

⚡️On normal days Denki would find you in your dorm room watching YouTube and drawing something on your tablet or coming up with a new concept for an OC or cosplay. It’s these days where he’d sit next to you on the bed, head resting on your shoulder as he gives you ideas and many scenarios for you to think out to build a more complex and complete project.

⚡️When it’s days you seek Denki out, you’ll similarly find him in his dorm. It’s the likeness in these days you both cherish. Nothing is too awkward or out of your comfort zone. If it is, you’ll both find some way to make it better. He would be focused on the TV, his hands moving fast against his remote (hush, children), completely dominating the game. Some other days you might catch him recording trends on TikTok. Those days you just sit back and watch the show.

⚡️All in all, the love you hold for each other is unconditional. So much so, that you remained together after graduation and became partners in a joint Hero agency. Of course a couple years later, you made the front page of almost every magazine in Japan, showcasing your wedding.

⚡️Now, hand in hand with your husband, saving the world together, you know, it can’t get any better than this.

[shadowfae]

1- Not much tbh, just what you've posted, and 2- To be honest I quite like your long answers. It can definitely wait though, you should get some sleep.

Is your warpriest link a constant thing? Does it ever fade into the background? I'm contemplating forming a second link, something happier than my copinglink, and I'm not sure how to tell when to tell when the line of a link vs a persona is crossed when not worn out of necessity.

And the original ask so I have it on hand. I did take a look at your original context, and if you're cool with it, I'll edit this post with a link for those who may find this is a useful answer and need that on hand. Otherwise, it'll stay a mystery.

But yes, it seems like my Sabe experiences would be a useful thing to talk about here. And in order to do that, I need to go over four things: who and what Sabe is, why he exists the way that he does, what that does for me, and lastly what I think he is in terms of terminology and why.

To start, here is his toyhou.se profile, if you want to read more about his actual story and thoughts and whatnot. But I doubt you'll have the necessary context for that, so let me go into it. RuneScape (RS) is one of the oldest MMORPGs in existence. WoW might be older but I doubt it. Basically it's a medieval magic fantasy that's very long running and you the player end up the World Guardian, aka the guy that stops the gods (who are very powerful folks who just don't die of natural causes and typically stand for some philosophy) from blowing the world up because Guthix, the dead god of balance, asked you to. Well, he voluntold you. And that makes you a major chess piece, Elder Gods get involved, it's a big mess.

But before all that happened, back in 2006 when I was introduced to the game and very shitty at it, well. I liked the lore insofar that I've always liked the lore, it was interesting and I liked thinking about it. I didn't have membership and I sucked at playing so I just read the wiki and the God Letters over and over and sometimes the Postbag from the Hedge. Alongside my two friends, we played at being children of the then-triad of main gods: Saradomin, Guthix, and Zamorak.

I liked Zamorak best, but I didn't think his ideas would be the best for society as a whole, so I ended up playing child of Guthix. Eventually we grew up and grew apart but every couple of years I'd go back to RuneScape, read the lore, settle on what choices I'd make if I could play, and think about being the player character. In 2010 I discovered a fic - dawn by khayr, it's on Ao3 and dA - about Iban, son of Zamorak, right around when I was reading Percy Jackson. Cue him showing up as a soulbond and an older brother figure and guiding me right up until the end of sixth grade. Iban got me through the ruthless bullying that would later set the stage for all my major suicidal-ideation and self-hatred for the entirety of high school: even then, I was more stable than I might've been otherwise, because he interfered.

Saradomin stands for strength through order. Procedures and law and diplomacy and war strategy. He was originally kind of a ripoff of the Christian god, but he's grown to be more of an order-over-peace character and is quite well-written. Guthix stands for strength through balance, and has been all over the board in terms of what he's done and will do. He's kind of a dick, actually, but his heart's in the right place.

Zamorak, as you've heard, is strength through chaos and personal strife. It's no "the strong over the weak" or "the strong take care of the weak", it's flat-out "everyone is strong, and just need the right circumstances to tap into it to be the best they can possibly be". Now, his philosophy is kind of more for warriors and scholars, but if you tilt your head, it applies to everyone. Chronically ill folks will find their chaos in fighting to get up every day and maintain a life. Folks in traumatizing, abusive situations find that chaos in their very survival. Scholars challenge themselves and their fellows and their predecessors trying to find the answers they so need. Nobody in lockstep, no such thing as "we've always done it this way."

A lot of human Zamorakians and Saradominist propaganda says that Zamorak is simply absolute evil: and to be fair, when most of that was written, he kinda was because he was based loosely on the Christian devil. Later writing says that they're typically mistaken on that. Zamorak isn't evil. The very first thing he did upon becoming a god was fulfill a promise and lead a slave rebeliion. (The Avernic uprising, if anyone's curious.) He stands for the downtrodden and says "You are never going to get your dignity by going through the motions and trying to peacefully show you're worth respect. Burn some shit down and prove that you won't stand for this bullshit."

Zamorak in a Saradominist's eyes is someone whose banner you wear when you want to be a crazy murderer. Zamorak in a Zamorakian's eyes is the singing voice who murmurs "Get up, this isn't enough to kill you, you can still do this," when transphobic laws get passed or you hear a slur thrown your way on the street.

And as someone who grew up queer and nonhuman, yeah, that resonates, and the older I get the more I think "Guthixian philosophy is best for a society at large, but Zamorakianism for individuals is good." Because Zamorakianism can't really apply on a theocratic level. It really doesn't. It turns into American bootstrap culture and no social services and all that shitty stuff.

The funny thing is that Zamorak himself has no issues helping out if he thinks you need it. (If he didn't, he wouldn't be cool with asking for help, or giving it when he's asked. Which he does do repeatedly so. The man has more kindness in him than people want to admit.) What I do find fascinating is what he thinks of the actions of some of his longtime subordinates, who clearly support him, but I don't think support his actual philosophy. Because if you ask me, he'd side with the downtrodden humans of Meiyerditch, not the vampire lords that treat them like cattle. He's proven that he likes humans, and doesn't see them as unworthy. I do wonder if Jagex will show us what he might do about that.

Either way. Ahem. Over the course of a decade and a half, I keep going back to RuneScape, refining my philosophy and side, thinking again what I would do playing the game proper. About... I want to say five years ago, Jagex opened up the Sixth Age and I finally noticed, and they rewrote every god's philosophy because they wanted every single one to be actually playable. Not just "hurr durr evil" but actually have a logical line of thought. They probably didn't have pop culture paganism in mind, but the gods of RS are incredibly well-suited to it.

Well, I found that out, and immediately went through every god's philosophy, and reasoned my way through it. What does a worshipper of this god look like? What sort of life would they lead? If i apply this to me, what does that look like from that perspective? Do I understand this? Is it comfortable to exist in?

And as it turns out, I understand Zamorak the most, followed a close second by Armadyl, which was quite surprising. Zaros remains incomprehensible and I don't trust like that. (That's another story.) So I thought about it more, and it stuck even when I wandered off to different fandoms and interests. But what happened was that I ended up internalizing it, unknowingly and without meaning to.

It meant that when, two years later, I ended up in a horrific and traumatizing situation, the anchor I hit that held me together was a mixture of being a Devil - I am a fucking God you will obey me and recognize my power - and Zamorak's core philosophy: this cannot kill me, this cannot stop me, this is pure fucking hell and I am going to laugh in the face of death because people are forged in hellfire and I will walk away knowing what I'm made of.

And I was right. Honestly, out of everyone who was there with me, I think I'm the only one that was that deeply entrenched and walked out without trauma. I do not believe I could have done that had I not internalized Zamorak's philosophy. (That isn't to say if the others had that philosophy they wouldn't be traumatized, because there were absolutely other factors I wouldn't know about and some that I do and didn't do them any favours; but I am saying that it saved my ass and without it, I might not have been okay.)

I walked out of that with zero regrets. Zero. Even now, I don't regret a thing. Because it doesn't matter what happened or how much I was lied to or if he deserved my kindness. I know what I perceived to be happening, and I know how I reacted, and when the pieces were down I was stronger than steel, gave kindness without considering the cost, and I walked away unscathed.

How many people can say they've looked death in the eye and laughed? More than there should be, not too many that knowing what I'm capable of when put into pure chaos isn't somehow impressive. Because it is. And Zamorak's words proved themselves, or rather, I proved him entirely correct.

And when I last went back to RuneScape, and thought about it with enough time to put it all into hindsight, well. Aw, shit, he was right. Then vaguely around that time I went back and read Dawn, which was unfinished, tracked down the author and demanded to know how it fucking ended. (She told me and we're still friends like three years later. xD) Then I went back and found my old OCs, and decided fuck it, I'm making my own World Guardian.

So first thing I did was log in and jump over to the Makeover Mage and make myself into a boy. Kept the plateskirt though, I wanted to have the RS equivalent of a limp wrist to prove I'm Very Queer. Then I went about remaking my character. I wanted to make a self-insert, I was old enough to know it wasn't cringey, it was just fun, but I didn't want to use my default avatar with the black hair over one eye and the Chaorruption. I wanted to make a new self-insert based in nothing I was already using.

So I made the most beautiful man I could! Long, dark brown hair, pretty semi-dark skin, looked Kharidian, and then I said fuck it and made him Zamorak's youngest son. Originally, he was adopted when he was young by Iban and Clivet, and suffered serious imposter syndrome when being WG meant he'd never get demigod powers. But as I grew more confident in myself, he ended up getting powers? And then eventually I rewrote his backstory, and then wrote about his mother, and her relationship with Zamorak, and then he had friends like Blaire and Icthlarin (who was also my furry awakening, rip me).

Then with the most recently questline I've been getting a bit more into RS magical theory, and I've been mulling it over lots, and Seanan McGuire's Middlegame definitely helped; and I figured out how I wanted him to handle being World Guardian: it didn't make sense for him to be openly Zamorak's son, the other gods would just target his family to manipulate him. So I had him play neutral openly and Zamorakian to his friends, effectively living a double life.

Then he just looked up one day and said "Oh, by the way, my father won't acknowledge me to keep me safe but I don't know that so we have a very unsteady relationship because I don't know if he loves me", and then Children of Mah came out, and he was all "Oh and I think I just got disowned (I didn't, Zamorak was protecting me, but I don't know that) so my relationship with Zamorak is Fucking Shitty" and he was stuck that way until I figured out how to save their relationship.

It culminated in Sabe not knowing how his Mahjarrat powers worked and guessing, and hating himself for being half-and-half, and missing everything about being a Mahjarrat, and literally you couldn't have gotten more obvious in order to tell me I was having Fucking Issues coming to terms with the fact I didn't have any understanding or knowledge of my own heritage, but whatever, eventually I noticed that.

And as I've been working to understand myself and my heritage, so too has Sabe been doing that with his Mahjarrat heritage. But for the longest time, no matter how I put him and Zamorak in the same room in a scene to try and get them to talk it out, it wasn't working. Something wasn't right. Sabe resented being World Guardian, hated having to betray his family, didn't know if he was wanted, and hated himself for having to kill Mah, the mother of his species.

Not that long ago, a few months actually, he informed me (which is my shorthand for 'I suddenly figured out this happened, and it genuinely feels like remembering that one fucking word you have on the tip of your tongue, I always knew and just forgot for a while') that no, he'd been ripped in two by a hope devourer, brought to his father's stronghold, and Zamorak split his magic between mortal and divine in order to get around his godproofing and heal him. Zamorak's intense worry for his youngest son was what caused Sabe to break down and tell him honestly what was going on and how he was feeling, which caused Zamorak to do the same, and they finally, finally made up.

A week later, I noticed the connection between Sabe's Mahjarrat issues and my Irish issues, and started to wonder if he was a linktype.

I mean... he's a self-insert. He makes the choices I would, the me in the here and now, that I think are best. He's not a person I was and still know myself to be, he's not someone I grow into, he's not living his life beside me like a shadow. He's me, choosing the things I do, because I say so. But he's also me in the things he reflects, the things he struggles with, and things I had zero fucking conscious input on.

Sabe is the person I am when a crisis hits and I have to deal with the chaos. Sabe is the person I am when I need to lead. Sabe is the person I am when I am desperate to be known and loved by those I consider family. Sabe is the person I am when I want to be sure in where I came from, where I will return to, and the things that I will always be. Sabe is a man of darkness who knows the light as an acquaintance and nothing more, who is cruel and careless and kind.

Sabe is a warpriest of Zamorakian philosophy, because it took me twenty fucking years to put into words how I see the world, and now that I know, I will argue them to death and use them to help others. Drakath may have wanted a messiah to share the hivemind with others. Sabe is a warpriest, spreading the word and calling home the broken and the damned. He is the Last Rider, not the last of the Ilujanka but the one who keeps riding towards the chaos and never falls, no matter what.

Some of who Sabe is I have conscious input on. A whole lot of him was unintentional and perfectly reflects me.

So when it comes to terminology... I don't know what he is. A self-insert, yes. A linktype, maybe. A kintype, also maybe. Sabe doesn't feel like my past linktypes, because Sabe isn't always catharsis and comfort. Until he made up with his dad, Sabe was brutal and hurt a lot and constantly yearning for his foundation and slowly going mad. It wasn't fun. I just refused to do anything but see the story through. I was going to get it right. I wanted to see it to the end. I wanted to be the Last Rider, even though I didn't phrase it that way.

But to answer your actual question, of what he feels like when I'm not actively being him out of necessity, desire, and active thought. If it fades into the background.

And like... it can? Sabe as he is, recognized for what and who he is, is kind of a new thing. Sabe as a concept is very old, but Sabe as what he is right now is new, and confusing, and honestly I'm still trying to figure out what to make of it.

Like, seriously. Sabe is Zamorak's son. Am I Zamorak's son? Is he keeping an eye on me as I am? Would he be proud of me? Would he offer his approval of my progress? Does that make me, in some way, the World Guardian?

I have not a clue, buddy. Not a goddamn clue.

So what it means is that I've been paying attention, really. I don't just become strong in times of crisis. I've been trying to do better. Be better. Learn, and listen, and rethink myself. Break out of lockstep, of doing things the way I've always done them. Try to always do better than I did, build habits I like, stop waiting for things to change and just do it. Become the chaos, instead of waiting for it to hit me.

It means I need to live up to what Guthix told Sabe to do. It means being gentler, being kinder, not burning bridges when I'm not sure. It means keeping an eye out for any sign Zamorak's listening, in case I am his son, in case I really have to decide what I'm gonna do about being the son of chaos incarnate.

But other than the questioning, what it feels like is just... what I was already dealing with, just a little more at arm's length and easier to deal with. Once I recognize that his issues are reflective of mine, if I solve his, I have a pretty good idea of how to solve mine. Some of it won't work exactly right - Zamorak will always forgive him for not being the son he expected he might have had, my own parents may not, yay I'm queer and pagan - but it's a good rule of thumb.

It's also just comforting to know that when in doubt, nothing can kill me, because I simply refuse to die. I am World Guardian, I am a demigod of chaos incarnate, all the hellfire in the world can do nothing but strengthen me. And if I present those to myself as unshakeable beliefs, because for Sabe they are, then I'll be okay. It probably couldn't stop most disasters or tragedies, but I got hit by a car, broke five bones, and walked away with a record recovery time, so I mean... I can't prove that I can't die by some accident or tragedy, but you also can't prove that I can. (Trying to do so usually falls under what we call 'murder', and I personally believe I can't be murdered. Only assassinated.)

But really, I think the worst that could possibly happen with a new linktype is that you learn what not to do. It's new, it's scary, it's chaotic, and from where I'm standing, that's the best way to learn.

[lavalampelfchild]

30 Things Meme

Thanks to @sarcasmfish, who tagged me for this!

Nickname: lavalampelfchild (I honestly have no clue because I have never seen that name shortened to anything)

Name: lavalampelfchild

Gender: Female

Star Sign: Liiibra?  Is that what “star sign” refers to?  I have no idea what the kids are calling it these days.

Height: I haven't checked in so long!  5-foot-something?  I'm relatively average, but maybe on the slightly taller side?

Time: 12:08

Birthday: October 2nd

Favorite Band: Unfair question, I have seriously too many, I love music, don’t make me choose.  Volbeat, Hedley, Panic! at the Disco, The Script, Faun, Clamavi de Profundis, Gregorian, Empty Hats, and can I count musical productions as bands because there are a lot of people performing certain songs along with instrumentalists?  That counts, right?

Favorite Solo Artist: Unfair question, I seriously have too many, I love music, don’t make me choose.  Bette Midler, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Beyoncé, Pink, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Phil Collins, Indila, Shakira, Erutan, there are too many, I can't pick favorites!

Song Stuck in My Head: “On a Slow Boat to China” by Bette Midler

Last Movie I Watched: Silence of the Lambs

Last Show I Watched: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

When Did I Create My Blog: Ummmm…. I think a little over a year ago?  I started this particular one in college because I wanted to impress a fellow DA aficionado, but then it just evolved beyond my control, like Timmy Turner’s hair in that episode where his hair became a living sentient thing that carried him around.  I think the episode was called "Hairicane."  Ahem.  So, yeah, I think during early 2015?  

What Do I Post: whatever Dragon Age stuff appeals to me, plus a lot of writing and art to do with my OCs and several favorite DA characters of mine.  Also some meta and discussions of lore/plot elements of the series.  Maybe a silly post or ten...

Last Thing I Googled: Malcolm Hawke’s face.

Do You Have Other Blogs: Yep! I have a main, @terrencetheycallme, a fashion blog, @snootiepants, and an Elder Scrolls blog, @bigburlybeardednords.

Do You Get Asks: Not a lot.

Why Did You Choose This Blog Name: Story Time!  When I first saw the name “Lavellan” (but before I’d heard it pronounced) my instinct was to put the stress on the first syllable: i.e. LAH-vel-lan, which was what I did until I heard the name pronounced, but that particular pronunciation sounded a little too close to “lava lamp,” which made me giggle, so I decided that I would incorporate that into my new blog name, as something of an inside joke between me and that aforementioned college buddy.  And it stuck.

Blogs You are Following: 1,073… I think a lot of those have been deactivated though.  I really have to clean that up.

Followers: 86

Favorite Colors: I'm more into color combos than any individual colors (especially for costume design), but I really do like green.

Average Hours of Sleep: Between 6-8 on weekdays, and anywhere from 8-10 over the weekend.

Lucky Number: 5

Instruments: Membranophone and auxiliary percussion (I’m terrible with mallet instruments unless I spend a good amount of time practicing; that being said, I just prefer the membranophones to begin with), especially snare drum, bass drum, timpani (I love timpani so much), all sorts of knick-knacks that are especially popular in pit orchestras at musicals and plays (think “Make ‘Em Laugh” from Singin’ in the Rain), and a lot of really fun ethnic drums like bodhran, timbales, bongos, doumbek, timbrel/tambourine, riq, and frame drum.  All those drums I’m still trying to learn, so I’m fairly terrible at them, but they are still so much fun to play!  Also the spoons, I love playing the spoons.  I also sing a little bit. (my mother, sister, and aunt are all singers and though I’ve never taken lessons, I’ve always enjoyed singing along with things, or singing along with them in random situations.)

What Am I Wearing: Dress casual for work.

How Many Blankets I Sleep With: Anywhere from one to four; I am bony as heck and get very cold very easily.

Dream Job: Writing my own stuff and illustrating everything that goes with it.

Dream Trip: I’d love to go visit England, Ireland, and also Scotland, and learn everything I can about their respective cultures and histories and maybe a little something about the languages used in Ireland and Scotland.

Favorite Food: Pasta.  No question, no competition, it’s what I eat pretty much every day (I can’t really stand to eat much else because of weird taste buds and a super diligent gag reflex) and I am still not tired of it.

Nationality: American.

Favorite Song Now: Hmm… Good question.  I would have to say “One Last Drink” by Empty Hats; it’s a Renaissance Fair song, and I love it!  It’s absolutely WONDERFUL for percussion!  But again, I must protest this vile demand for favoritism.  I am terrible at picking favs.

For the tagging, I'm going to what I always do, since I'm fairly sure everyone I know has already done this, so... if you haven't done this and want to, go forth and complete the meme; I tag you!

[gauntletsbrambled]

ღ :What sorts of plots/characters/scenes do you have the most difficulty writing, and why?

{{Send a symbol for a question! - Still Accepting}}

#nsfw-ish text #sex mention

I quite honestly haven’t had a lot of roleplaying experience so I guess I kind of have difficulty most things. There was some very informal RPing I did when I was like 13-15 years old on DeviantArt and then I dropped it for many years until maybe six months ago. 

But on DA, I got exposed to a lot of things as a minor that I shouldn’t have been exposed to at such an age, namely NSFW stuff. For this reason, I would rather not RP smut. It just makes me really uncomfortable. Also, I haven’t had any personal experiences so I basically know nothing substantial about sex besides the safety stuff they teach you in those awkward health education classes you had to take in high school. Well, and then there’s… fanfiction… and that’s how I have been able to make sex life headcanons for my OCs and some Dark Souls charas… (Knight Artorias has a huge praise kink by the way, everyone.)

Everything else can also be chalked up to lack of experience. Writing experience, more specifically. Both Antares and Gwynfor have yet to get into big fight scenes so I haven’t had a chance to practice faster paced writing. Like… I don’t watch a lot of action movies either so I just have no idea how to not slow down and think about things visually and philosophically like I usually do when I write. But I do loved well choreographed fight scenes so I suppose some practice would be good. So… Ahem… Get your glorified Pizza Cutter out, Jackie​, Auntie Antares is coming for your moldy ass for hurting their sons!!

As for characters I have trouble writing… I just can’t write assholes. I can’t do it. Friends know I may be a little foul mouthed and snarky from time to time, but I am ultimately very affectionate towards them. So like… this is partly why Gwynfor became such a big softie of a big brother. Honestly, writing villains makes me just feel really bad too. I have lots of difficulties sympathizing with someone’s actions if they’re ostensibly evil so I can’t easily write someone like that. So I will just stick with my Big Guardian Softie trope yeehaw.

[forevertrickstering]

Six years.

SIX YEARS.

It... Stopped my time to think because I had personal life and hobbies to deal with, but when I was on Twitter (and on Candy Lapin's (from Show by Rock!!) birthday), and several of my Japanese YouTubers I follow (Joey of TheAn1meMan, SharlaInJapan, AkiDearest, etc.) tweeted a link about Yahoo Japan raising funds to the Tohoku reconstruction. I did with like zero Japanese knowledge and I think its a cute idea that Yahoo is bringing back to their country. I was out on that day, but when I got home... I watched Joey's video of his personal experience in the 2011 incident... And oh man I cried.

But while watching his video, this made me remember that I somehow contributed a bit of my *ahem* money in my checking account back in the years when the internet hit storm and many talented folks on DA are doing charity drives to help various fundraisers to help rescue the victims and restore Tokoku.

One of the many local/in-country artists, "NekoShiei" on DeviantART (manga-ka known for Aoi House and Amazing Agent Luna) is open special commissions to anyone that directly donate to the American Red Cross (whom she will be helping her local ARC back then) and show a receipt. I don't usually commission, but since this is a donation that ENCOURAGES people to donate a-plenty, I want to feel rewarded since its hard to feel rewarded besides good spirit. Plus I LOVE Shiei's solid anime style work so I pitched in.

I had nothing other to request, except fo rmy beloved Trickster, LadyGaap. She has more than enough references (than my OCs, which is sad ahaha...), so Shiei did her own take on LadyGaap, and its ADORABLE AS FAB! My sis was not impressed that I fell for this sort of "campaign", saying that at the end its just a mere commission worth $10.

But at least to me it had a cause. And I am usually am not the person to donate this much since I am stingy on money too. But I care for everyone and the offer is just too good to pass, so I did it.

Daily life after 3.11, I can not stop thinking about the tragedy. Heck many otaku news outlet, specifically at Shaft studios (that did Madoka Magica, right?) were spooked about it, but did their darnest to keep it positive by saying some Madoka Magica jokes... Which to me IF this Earthquake + Tsunami domino effect were done by a Witch, its Walpurgis Night. So in my grim fantasy, I see this event as Walpurgis Night, and I imagine just how much magical girls in the shadows try to stop it, but they ended up becoming the victims of the tsunami/quake. But... These magical girls, and the people who work so hard to restore Tohoku now, are working very hard to bring back Japan to the way it was.

And I think that's admirable. They are beautiful, wonderful, and strong. Living at a Earthquake state and any day now I can have a Earthquake... Things and such can happen anytime, and I continue on to mentally pray for Goddess Madoka for the safety of our mental and physical health, and prevent any natural or unnatural disasters.

I believe I still kept some 3.11 memorial art in my folders, to remind myself of the event, and that how Japan will not back down. Keep those hopes up!

If I do had some money and if there are benefits for donating, I hope I can pitch in on the future, or maybe do a charity drive on my (screen)prints that I produced so far. What do you think? Thank you everyone. I love you all! Happy Trickstering!

[thewisemankey]

The Wise Mankey Commission: Part The Sixty First by AlanES

In the next installment of “Alan finally works on his best friend’s commissions,” here’s a little something that is the start of a series of pics I’m doing.

It’s part of an unofficial collection of playlists I got going on of songs that relate to the cast of the timeless webcomic The Rogue’s Gallery, soon to be Rogue Neo in the hopefully not TOO distant future. A small cadre of 8 songs for each one that were either used by Alan before in the past or hand-picked by me that I feel closely relates to each individual character. Why 8? Because it’s my favorite number. And the pics that will accompany each playlist features the character will illustrate how they listen to music. As if they were listening to the playlists themselves, so to speak.

So of course I start off strong with my #1 in all of Alan’s creations, Destiny Rule. What can I say, I’ve been fond of her for ages and that feeling ain’t gonna die. She kinda set a standard for me in what I look for in women, if I’m totally honest. Not that I’m looking for anyone who’s EXACTLY like her, but I’d like to think I’ll find one close enough. ANYWAY, enough fawning. Under the cut I’ll go into detail about why each individual song is included for Des’ playlist...and hopefully other people will give the songs a listen and even recreate them on their own!

1. “Gemini Salsa” by McVaffe

-Hopefully longtime TRG fans like me remember where THIS one came from. But here’s the refresher, a while back in TRG’s prime, (and there was MOST DEFINITELY a prime even if Alan would never admit it. XP) there was an semi-animated flash bio that told more about the cast in-depth. Before it was made, the comic was in the middle of the mini-arc where Helldandy (Belldandy’s evil form) cut off Destiny’s former long hair in an act of revenge. (Wonder how many people remember THAT?) Before Des’ new do was officially done in the comic, the bio flash came out and basically showed it ahead of time.

I never forgot how I felt when I first saw her new look up close and this song hit. If I was carrying a glass, I woulda dropped it. If I had a monocle, it woulda flown off my eye. If I was working at a Nuclear Power Plant and glanced at her, I’d have imagined her recreating the Venus De Milo with my coworkers taking the form of cherubs asking if I’ve never seen a naked chick riding a clam before. (Hey, maybe THAT will be my next commission idea! XD) But you get the point. It symbolized the first time I legit fell for her. And that’s the origins of my Madness for Des. So yeah, that’s what makes the song the tops here.

2. “La Femme d’Argent” by Air

-For those not familiar with the band Air, they’re a French electronica duo who are NOT Daft Punk. (I think they were both under the same record label at one time, tho. If they still aren’t.) My brother introduced me to them when he’d play the album “Moon Safari” in the car and I was basically hooked on how relaxing the songs were. Especially THIS one in particular which I honestly felt was VERY fitting for her. It’s relaxed, but upbeat. It definitely paired together well with that donation desktop image of Destiny lying across the ground with one of her legs upwards. WHEN THE SONG HITS THAT IMAGE JUST RIGHT...

*ahem* So yes, even if you’re not as hardcore a TRG fan as I am, I definitely recommend this particular song at least. It���s good for a nap on a rainy day.

3. “Magnetman Goes West (OC Remix)” by Disco Dan

-Here’s one that predates “Gemini Salsa,” this here’s the song that was played during Destiny’s scene in the TRG Episode 100 flash special. Amazing what Megaman songs do for the TRG cast, eh? But yeah, this song just carries that magical essence for a magical woman. I know it sounds slightly country, (hence the name “Goes West”) but I don’t think that matters, it just adds more to the relaxed/upbeat contrast this playlist is centered around with this gong in particular leaning more towards the upbeat portion of it. Of course if you NEED justification of this being a little country, you can always turn to my pic of Des dressed like Nico Robin. :B

4. “9 P.M. (’Til I Come)” by ATB

-Over a decade ago while I was living in West Palm Beach with my dad, I very often listened to a local techno radio station called “Party 93.1″ which sadly doesn’t exist anymore. But during its’ time I recall hearing this song and it made me think of the previous one “Magnetman Goes West,” It had that familiarity to it, maybe with the essence of slightly being the opposite of said song. Try listening to one and then the other and you’ll probably get what I mean. Either way, it made me think of Des and THAT’S why it’s here.

5. “Electra” by Airstream

-NOT to be confused by Air, this is a different artist altogether. This one goes WAY deep into the relaxation factor. I actually discovered this song a while back when an artist I follow on DA recommended this as a song to be paired up with a VERY NSFW pic they did of Luffy and Nami from One Piece getting it on. Despite the purpose, I easily heard this as a song that Destiny would listen to during her downtime. Maybe trying to take a nap or do some yoga. Definitely helps when I’M napping and/or thinking of Des, that’s for sure.

6. “Ordinary World” by Aurora

-Here’s another song I overheard of Party 93.1 ages ago, a cover of the hit song by the band Duran Duran except more stylish and spiritual, JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT. Hearing this song makes me think of an image of Des standing atop a building on a cloudy day every time. (An image I think Alan SOMEWHAT produced during the chase for Helldandy arc if I recall correctly.)

I er, also might have picked this song because it made me imagine an alternate reality where Jorge Amingo died and Des turned to me for comfort.

GIVE A GUY A BREAK IN REACHING FOR THE LOW HANGING FRUIT. XP

7. “Underneath It All” by No Doubt

Something about the singing styles of Gwen Stefani always put me at ease, especially in THIS song. It was chosen in particular because in my heydays of The Fallout Shelter, I did a bunch of custom wallpapers for both the people of the forums and whatever characters they had. When i did Destiny’s wallpaper, I used this song. Because loathe as I am to admit it, it fit into her unrequited love for Jorge. Seriously, most of the lyrics relate to her. I believe Alan also had some reservations about this song for various reasons once upon a time (assuming he still does) so that’s also why it’s there. =P

8. “Somnias Memorias (Platinum Edition)” by Keiichi Takahashi and Shani Rigsbee

Finally to the meat of the matter, the CURRENT theme song for Des that Alan has assigned her and GOD ALMIGHTY IS IT PURE SEX OR WHAT.

Of course that’s natural, it was used for the game Parasite Eve and Alan has VERY often compares Des to the game’s leading lady Aya Brea. He’s even done a Halloween pic of her dressed like Aya. (I dunno if that’s still visible in his DA gallery these days but IT’S REAL, IT’S DAMN REAL.) It definitely fits her to a T. Or a D for the sake of Yanging it up. HURHUR.

It’s magical, enchanting, smooth, and sultry. I don’t even need to describe it or justify why it’s in the playlist any more than I have to at this point JUST LISTEN TO IT.

So that’s only the first step in this series. THERE WILL BE OTHERS. And anyone who knows me will probably have an idea of who’s next up to bat after this one...