#and has most of her points in strength and persuasion

[serpentface]

Part of a painting depicting the historical Odonii priestess Odebinae Hibrides inciting aging men into battle during the siege of Odkoto (the city Godsmouth).

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The most famous account of this siege is the poem "One Hundred Nights Of Dogs", which was an accumulation and rewriting of the (predominantly oral) accounts of the survivors into the format of epic poetry, first put into writing over three decades after the fact. The exact events it depicts are tenuously accurate at best, but it captures the emotional dimensions of the siege and has profoundly shaped cultural memories in the many years since.

This particular episode of the poem takes place towards the end of the siege, when Finn forces breached the outer of two city walls and began a partial sacking. The survivors in the inner walls at this point were almost all starving, and in varying stages of despair after months of hardship and acute trauma. Most of the city's youths would have been engaged at this time, and the poem describes Odebinae approaching a pack of older men at the edge of noncombatant age and inciting them to the front lines.

This is depicted as such:

She threw her glittering, blood-hungry spear to the ground. With one hand, she scratched deep wounds into her breast, and with the other hand, she pounded hard at her bared chest, and with a terrible voice, she roared, “Look upon me now, you cowards, look upon me and be ashamed. You have given up, this much is clear. You hide here and wail for your misery like little girls. You sit and weep, waiting for your rape while your mother-land is defiled around you. You await your deaths on your backs, already wailing! Already mourning! Your character is that of the dogs that skulk among you, eating the corpses of your brothers and your sons and skittering back into shadow when chased, whimpering for their troubles. You are little better, you cravens, you dog-faced men. Enough of this! Look at me now! I am your mothers, your wives, your sisters, your daughters, and look how I bleed while you hide behind your walls!”

Her behavior will have obvious and profound significance for the poem's listeners. The act of a woman exposing breasts and beating at the chest is a specific form of supplication, a performance that is read as exposing weakness in a deeply earnest and persuasive capacity. This is unique as a gesture of supplication, it both places the performer beneath the observer while retaining some control of the dynamic; it is confrontational (unlike a bow or other related gestures) and intends to compel them into action. Breasts themselves are politicized body parts in this culture, having very strong associations with motherly nurturing and/or feminine vulnerability. This targeted form of exposure may at least subconsciously remind the man of his mother, or a wife or daughters who are meant to be under his protection. This is further emphasized with the act of wounding herself and making this association verbally explicit- she positions herself as the impending desecrated body of the women in their lives, a catastrophe they are spinelessly accepting rather than taking up the defense and at least dying honorably in the process.

Whether the historical Odebinae Hibrides actually Did This or Said Any Of That is anyone's guess. There's a fair chance Something along these lines happened, as this form of motivational breast exposure is common practice for Odonii on battlefields, though the story itself is obviously dramatized and HEAVILY moralized.

At least in the confines of the poem, this high-caliber shaming proved to be rousing, and dozens of former noncombatants joined into the defense along with Odebinae. They were blessed by the priestess and described as having been invigorated with a God-given strength, their bodies feeling decades younger as they entered the fray. Odebinae is cited as having put on a full battlefield performance, exposing herself to danger to pace the ramparts while shrieking war cries and biting her spear, acting as a spiritual protector for her men and casting the evil eye on her foes below (this is probably one of the most realistic aspects of this poem, some other accounts say she killed dozens of men and might have turned into an actual lion at some point). She was eventually cut down by arrows, and it's said that when her body fell from the wall, twenty men climbed down after to protect her from desecration.

The siege (both historically and in the poem) ended shortly after, with the Finns being repelled by the arrival of warriors from Ephennos and Wardin (who proceeded to Effectively capture the city themselves without additional bloodshed, as a matter of a negotiated 'alliance' that was functionally more of a land-grab. But that's neither here nor there). Odebinae was declared a saint in the aftermath, along with ten other priestesses and two warriors who died notably heroic deaths.

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Notes on the drawing:

-Aside from the expense of blue pigments, the use of all-white garb here rather than the standard Odonii blue is an acknowledgment of her sainthood and a suggestion of divinity, and the color is reminiscent of the garb worn by the Odomache in public appearances.

-When the shedding of blood is significant in Wardi art, it will be shown with great clarity and excess, often appearing to gush from even minor wounds. This is visual shorthand for the significance of blood as living spirit and an indicator for what is specifically being accomplished in the act. A depiction of the minimal bloodletting performed in everyday prayer may show the blood arcing directly into flame, the wounds of a sacrificed animal may spray onto earth or crops or into the sky. Here it sprays both towards the spear and the city's earth at her feet.

-The short hair on the men in this image communicates them being in states of grief (both figuratively and probably literally), as it's customary to cut the hair at the topknot (or halfway through the braids for women) to initiate the mourning period. Other depictions of short haired adult men are typically non-Wardi and/or foreigners with these customs (which will usually be made obvious by other elements of ethnic coding) or sex workers (also contextually obvious in most cases).

-Wardi art doesn't consistently depict signs of advanced age with great specificity, though colored images will usually at least show graying hair. The complete youthfulness of the men (probably around the age 55-60) here illustrates the story's claim that they experienced a sense of divinely imbued vigor, making it external for visual symbolic clarity.

-The man in front is performing a spiritually deferential gesture (the squat isn't part of it, that's just a common resting posture), and his positioning doubles as a suggestion that he is about to take up the spear. The hand contact between the men in back (perhaps unintentionally humorously) suggests that they were in the midst of heated conversation before being interrupted by a priestess aggressively bleeding at them.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage story where the crew winds up in the Star Wars universe and it behooves them to con everyone else into believing they're Jedi. Given their unique skill sets, it's remarkably simple:

Nate: As the mastermind, Nate is the big picture guy. He can immediately see the inner workings of any situation, and most of its potential outcomes, allowing him to manipulate people and events to influence their course. He could easily convince others this was some combination of force awareness and mind trickery—basically scoffing at, "You just can't make somebody do what you want them to do."

Sophie: Even in Leverage canon, Sophie is essentially capable of Jedi mind tricks. Whether via neurolinguistic programming, reverse psychology, or through pure sex appeal, Sophie has no trouble getting people (especially men) to do what she wants. Through her various aliases, you might even call her a shapeshifter of sorts.

Parker: On the other hand, Parker inhabits the more physical aspects of a Jedi knight. She's excessively limber and agile, with the ability to fit through tight spaces and withstand both ridiculously low and high temperatures. She also an intuitive connection/empathy with lock mechanisms and may or not be able to teleport? Not to mention she adhered pretty closely to the "no attachments" rule for the majority of her young life, even without a strict Jedi code in place.

Hardison: In addition to instinctive technical aptitude possibly being a Jedi trait (e.g. Anakin's skills building Threepio and his podracer), Hardison could pull of all kinds of mechanical shenanigans to convince people of his (and the team's) abilities. The others couldn't pull of feats of telekinesis without him and his magnets. He'd also thrive with a couple of droid buddies (Parker 3000 and Mr. Punchy) at his side.

Eliot: Eliot's "force powers" may be the most well-rounded of the bunch. Even in a strange environment, his vast encyclopedia of "very distinctive"s allows him to scope a place out and identity out-of-place details to a degree that feels supernatural. Further, he's a talented pathfinder ( for example, determining the direction and distance traveled in "The Gone Fishin' Job) and can also be highly charismatic and persuasive, when needed, and that's not to mention his physical strength. He identifies and targets physical weak points immediately, has incredible athleticism and an inhuman pain tolerance, and may even possess an enhanced healing factor.

And if another Jedi does somehow show up and go, "Hey, I don't sense anything from you all," they can pretend to have force concealment powers, too. (But the twist is that they're not faking it at all. Real Jedi, the lot of them).

[loudn-mcyt]

SBK Season 2 Superhero Builds (Pt. 1)

A new season of Skyblock Kingdoms with new members means only one thing: a new excuse for me to make ttrpg builds and turn them into superheroes :D

So the posts are easier to read (and builds are easier to track down), I have decided to split the builds into three separate posts. This first post will include our two new members of Bamboo Kingdom, Piepiesamurai and NatureofGaming; post 2 will include our Project Dominion escapees, Legundo and Nukeri; and post 3 will include our final 3 new members of Skyelre, DevonsDesk, and Quillbee. The masterpost, including all of these posts and the season 1 builds, can be found here.

Bamboo builds are below the cut; let's begin!

First up, we have the fox spirit herself, Piepie! For her, I've gone for a build focused on both her fox spirit nature and her incredible charm. The colors here are taken from her eyes.

Her powers are mainly focused around a combination of common traits of fox spirits around the world and the traits of foxes more generally. On the offensive side, this includes her Claws, which are extremely sharp and very dangerous, able to cut through armor (represented by the accurate and penetrating modifiers) and find weak spots in an opponent (as represented by the higher chance of crits). She is also able to hit insubstantial targets such as ghosts, though she is admittedly less effective at that. Additionally, she has Foxfire, based on a power held by some fox spirits in East Asia, for an effective ranged option when she can't get in close. Defensively, she is more resilient than one might expect, though she still relies more on avoidance and willpower than outright physical toughness.

For utility options, they have some good powers. Their Fox Form provides a good amount of scouting options by shapeshifting into a fox, while their Soft Step power makes sure they don't leave any traces behind or have any unfortunate mishaps along the way. Charming Trickster makes up the bulk of their advantages, focused on emphasizing the supernatural charm of a fox spirit, able to find the people they need, distract the ones they don't, and walk out with them wrapped around their finger.

Outside of that, she has a relatively limited number of advantages and skills, as most of the points here are tied up in the powers and abilities. Still, she has Move-by-Action and Hide in Plain Sight, two advantages that let her get out if she needs to, as well as a decent array of skills mostly focused around interaction and stealth, with her most notable being her two primary focuses, persuasion and deception, which have a bonus of +15 each (for context, the absolute maximum at this power level is +20), in addition to the Skill Mastery advantages, which guarantee a minimum roll of 25 for those skills.

However, Piepie isn't without her flaws (I know, I'm shocked too.) Her Spirit Stone complication is one such flaw, robbing her of her abilities if it is stolen and turning her state into that of an admittedly quite charming human, though not one without a surprising amount of strength hidden away.

Now, the other of our new Bamboo kingdom, Nature. The colors here are based on her eyes and the green capelet on her sbk skin (or what I assume is her sbk skin).

Nature's build is focused on something that is both deceptively simple and deceptively complex: the Variable power. Mechanically, this power allows for a pool of points that can be shifted using an action to create a set of powers within some confine: in this case, traits of various animals and plants (normally, you would probably limit this power to only one of animals OR plants, but these builds are for fun so I stretch the rules a bit sometimes).

Now, it should be noted that this is not shapeshifting. Nature's powers do not turn her into an animal or plant, but rather give her a trait - a cactus's spines, a leopard's stealth, an elephant's strength, etc. This gives her phenomenal versatility, as long as she has an action to take on some of those traits - before she does, she remains a roughly average person, which means that she can go down hard and fast if caught off guard.

She can also talk to animals. Because of course.

She is not without ability before using her powers, though. She is a team player who dabbles in a little bit of everything, though her main skills tie into her Animal Empathy advantage, representing the time she spends working with and alongside animals, reading their moods, and treating their injuries, all of which can be used on humans just as well.

Finally, she has her complication, Nature's Protector. Her role is to safeguard the natural world, and sometimes that brings her in line with the humans she seeks to protect as well. Whose side will she take? Is there a right answer at all? It's hard to say.

[tossawary]

Everything surrounding Orihime's kidnapping in the Hueco Mundo arc of "Bleach" feels... weird and underwhelming to me. Like, I'm not fully certain what happened there. Did Ulquiorra hold those two random soul reaper escorts hostage until Orihime returned from saying her invisible goodbye, or was he just threatening her friends generally...?

The invisible goodbye thing has some interesting elements, but... I don't want to call Orihime a pushover for being threatened by genuinely scary people when she's feeling especially isolated, but it does seem to immediately and directly prove Urahara and others right when they said that Orihime is probably unsuited for the battlefield. Even medical / support people have to triage and improvise under fire and work within a greater structure! She (fairly!) does not like weighing lives!

(Though I do think that Urahara and others were very wrong to just tell Orihime to go away. She has no family! All she has left are her friends! And she's too self-sacrificing to ever willingly leave for her own sake! It would have been far better to keep her close and let her train for a medical / support position, so that she wouldn't get kidnapped like this (and would have had the confidence to work out some way to get around Aizen's weird mind games), when Ichigo is fucking notorious now for going apeshit if anything happens to even distant friends.)

When Ulquiorra first appeared in that space between worlds for an ambush, I was like, "OH SHIT, THAT'S COOL." This place is famously dangerous and if she and her escort disappear without a trace here, no one will know what happened. Perhaps Ulquiorra can destabilize whatever safety technology exists here and make it look like some mechanical failure. It's clever! (It also made me imagine Ulquiorra as some kind of deep sea leviathan, cleverly feeding on the plus souls and hollows passing over this trench, where the soul reapers don't think to look. Ulquiorra potentially first meeting Aizen by attempting to ambush him and swallow him whole in this inbetween place would be a great first encounter.)

And then Ulquiorra lets Orihime go to say a weird invisible goodbye? As part of Aizen's mind games to make the Gotei 13 think she left on her own and her feel like this kidnapping was partially her own choice? Unless Ulquiorra was holding those soul reapers hostage at this point in time, I'm really not sure why Orihime went along with this instead of trying to get help (besides her obvious feelings of isolation / depression + plot requires she be the damsel in distress to kick-start the Hueco Mundo arc). (There's REASONING, I'm just not fully persuaded by it.) It feels a little overcomplicated for me on Aizen's end, especially when I haven't yet seen it be paired with any other charisma or compelling persuasion from Aizen, this supposed master manipulator, when Orihime has plenty of buttons to press besides fear.

"Soul Society is broken and doesn't care for the poor people on the outside." "The Gotei 13 are corrupt and will ungratefully turn on people like Ichigo and Rukia as soon as they're no longer useful." "Hollows are people too, aren't they? And the soul reapers don't bother trying to help the people who need them most." "The Soul King is a threat to us all and I'm the only one who can stop him." There are so many lies and half-truths that Aizen could tell! This could be a point in time to showcase how he got so many people to follow him besides spiritual strength, and him being apparently nice to a vulnerable Orihime would be genuinely eerie given what we saw / know happened to Momo.

And this "making the Gotei 13 think that Orihime left of her own choice" story decision could work if Aizen had done more to frame her! But the fact that the Captain Commander immediately makes this assumption with so little evidence makes him look incompetent, when there are so many people who could immediately vouch for her and for the fact that it's way more likely she's been forced into something bad. Of course, maybe the story's point is to make the Captain Commander look bad at reading situations! Rather than simply ruthless for dismissing Orihime as lost and irrelevant. That gets a slight pass, I guess, but it's really such a wild and insulting and unnecessary assumption.

I think what I would have preferred to happen is OPTION 1) Aizen or underling kidnaps Tatsuki first and uses Tatsuki to get to Orihime.

This would bring Tatsuki fully into this arc instead of sidelining her again. It would be a nice culmination to the secrecy straining her friendships with both Ichigo and Orihime, and a nice bop to Ichigo's nose for trying to protect everyone on his own and his utter failure communicating danger to his friends and family. We could have a lot of fun stuff with Orihime and Tatsuki trying to survive together in this place. It would give Orihime some fucking motivation that isn't just "trying to help Ichigo". It would allow Orihime to find her strength by protecting the friend she has always viewed as being tougher and more confident. I need more women in this show who aren't made of relentless boob jokes.

OPTION 2) I would have preferred it if Aizen had found some way to locate Orihime's brother, Sora, and kidnapped him from Soul Society to use against her.

Aizen is supposedly a genius. It would track with the rest of the story if he could invent this technology. It would make the Gotei 13 look really bad if they have a way of helping families reconnect in the afterlife and just don't bother; and it would look really bad for them if Soul Society had utterly failed to be a safe place for Orihime's loved one. If Aizen is interested in Orihime's powers, he would probably be interested in seeing if her brother has any similar potential.

Option 2a is that Sora could be a regular plus soul and remembers Orihime. Aizen could have been experimenting on him and could be threatening to continue experimenting on Sora. Maybe being a regular plus soul in Hueco Mundo without the protection of a soul reaper's cultivation energy is dangerous. The air is toxic to him. He'll undergo hollowficafion again without special medicine from Aizen / Aizen's experiments keeping him as a normal plus soul, and he's terrified of becoming that monster again. Aizen coaxes Orihime to help him by claiming he's trying to find a way to cure hollowfication forever, so that Sora will be safe.

Option 2b is that Sora has no memories of Orihime or they've been suppressed, and Aizen has turned Sora into an Arrancar. Aizen claims that Sora was left vulnerable and starving on the outskirts of the Soul Society, abandoned to become a hollow again, or attacked by a hollow and transformed. Aizen has now used the Hogyoku to take Sora back to a mostly human state and given him Arrancar powers to "protect himself". Sora is grateful to Aizen for having saved him and as loyal as Ulquiorra. Aizen asks Orihime if she's prepared to fight her own brother. Doesn't she want to help him help Sora?

Honestly, I dig Ulquiorra so far and I'd like to keep him (he and Sora could have a weird not-twins thing going on), but you could totally replace his role in the story with Arrancar Sora and then put Orihime through the ringer torn between Ichigo and Sora. It feels so, SO weird to me that Orihime's dead brother never comes up again in this show about dead people and the story barely treats it as relevant.

OPTION 3) is that you bring both Tatsuki and Sora into it! Why not? Have amnesiac Arrancar Sora kidnap Tatsuki while Ulquiorra ambushes Orihime! Have Aizen threatening to turn both Tatsuki and plus soul Sora into hollows if Orihime doesn't cooperate!

I am feeling desperate for Orihime to have anything in her life again that is not her love for Ichigo. They don't have chemistry! The story is not taking the time to develop chemistry and bonding and partnership between them! Ichigo barely seems to remember she exists half the time.

Side note: I can barely fucking believe that Ichigo went off to train with the Visored without telling his family that he was leaving or where he would be. That's not a great sign for good mental health or healthy relationships! Which is probably (hopefully) the point! He could be dead in any alleyway for all his baby sisters know. That's not good big brother behavior! Ichigo has a real problem with not trusting anyone else to protect everyone (not without reason!), including not trusting his loved ones to protect themselves, and I'm not certain yet whether or not the story actually thinks this is a real problem and intends to have Ichigo fix his communication bullshit.

There is so much good, bloody material here if the story was genuinely willing to dig into the mess and make it hurt good. Instead, I'm watching Nel and her little hollow buddies do their fairly repetitive hijinks and Ichigo fight random nobodies who will not be meaningful to the story later. When Rukia finally ran into Aaroneiro pretending to be Kaien, I was like, "Oh, thank fuck, something with SOME emotional weight and compelling psychological turmoil again."

[danwhobrowses]

CR's Godly Option C: Who will go for it?

Spoilers for Campaign 3 Episode 119 below

Okay so there was a development.

After a long and painstaking dance of circling around the Predathos and Gods situation, we have reached the pivotal point. Bells Hells are fighting the God Eater, Imogen is still tethered to it, and the Gods are sending reinforcements to try and seal it again.

Sealing Predathos again is unlikely, since it required the Primordials before, and it'd only be a temporary fix. Most of Bells Hells are advocating for change within the relationship between gods and mortals as the Matron of Ravens had hinted, with all of them (yes, ALL of them, including Ashton and Dorian) wanting to prevent the gods from dying, but they also believe Predathos will get out either way. I think it's implied that defeating Predathos will force it to be suppressed within Imogen, that or it'll just discorporate and another Ruidusborn will become the vessel once it recovers its strength, but since it's intent on consuming divinity and can threaten to overwhelm her again, the third option was presented: to become mortal.

While the Matron explains that if the process is possible they will still regain their memories similar to how the Luxon and the mortality route they took in Downfall work, the gods will also need to be convinced of this outcome between death, departure, or depower. In this post I will discuss the potential of each god's reaction and willingness to enact this option C. I'm also thinking this under the impression that the gods will reincarnate, it wasn't fully clear that's the case but since this is meant to shift the relationship between gods and mortals long term I'd suspect it'd be a cycle.

We'll go alphabetically, also because we all know who begins with A.

Asmodeus, The Az-hole Lord of the Nine Hells Given that the Lying Cheating Whore Bitch that is the Lord of Terror, Lies, and the Hells has a massive shtick up his butt about mortals being lower than him, becoming mortal permanently is like a worst case scenario for Azzy M. He will be the hardest to convince, especially since as Lord of Lies he will have obscenely high charisma to resist potential persuasion rolls. The only opening is to appeal to his insecurities about his family, the deep but warped longing to be with them again, but even that is a paper thin line not even Braius can easily stay on the right side without the risk of a ripped-off face and a shattered spine. If he is convinced, however, there has to be the expectation that a betrayal or loophole is inbound.

Avandra, The Changebringer The Goddess of Change is someone you'd expect to welcome the very nature of her domain. Had FCG survived perhaps she would've been more present or be in the position the Matron is in right now for the story, since in hindsight she is similarly suited to be the vehicle of this path. Also a Goddess of Adventure, she might even be enticed with the idea of getting to partake in her own journeys, so a low amount of convincing is likely to be needed for this one, the Hells may spend more time chatting to check in on FCG with her instead.

Bahamut, The Platinum Dragon We don't get much info on the Platinum Dragon in the campaigns despite its looming presence and adjacency to the parties, its influence is central to Vassalheim, the religious capital of Tal'dorei, which has a big hand in a lot of Exandrian Politics. Given its strong sense of justice and protecting the weak, I think the Platinum Dragon would need some convincing that this is the right call - which can be difficult given the prospect of chaos that'd unfold from it - but would bend to its logic if the majority were in support, the Lawbearer and Knowing Mentor may be linchpins to encouraging them since they all have the air of sharing the same sense of pragmatism.

Bane, The Strife Emperor War and Conquest are Bane's bread and butter, and while peace can be established in the aftermath it is sadly in mortals' nature to fight and take from one another through violent means, bread and butter (metaphorically, but imagine if it were literally for a moment). For that reason I think Bane would be fine with mortality - war could perhaps be more fun if there's jeopardy involved and death this way is just a respawn. They may put on a front to be against it because it's for reasons of peace, but Bane would rather live to fight another day than never fight again.

Corellon, The Arch Heart The Arch Heart is a curious one. They wanted to leave, they told Bells Hells as much in the feywild, but the Matron is convinced that the Arch Heart simply wants change and would be open to mortality. Due to them having the chance to present their case for departure, I think the Arch Heart would take probably a medium level of convincing. As SILAHA they enjoyed the indulgences and hedonism of mortality and can do so again, but may feel a little slighted by Bells Hells not following through with their plan - they are a vain god after all. Overall I think they too would bow to the majority if it came to it, since their plan involved all of their siblings running with them.

Erathis, The Lawbearer There is a downside for the Lawbearer and Wildmother with mortality. As lovers, sacrificing their divinity will mean life apart from one another for long periods at a time, and by the time their memories are restored it can open up a massive can of worms if they found love with others as mortals. The Lawbearer would be one who'd acknowledge the logic, but resist the offer from an emotional standpoint - perhaps preferring to run or to die in each other's arms than to be apart. It'd take convincing the Wildmother to convince them, so it'd be a tall order for Bells Hells to achieve, but it can be done given how she bends more to logic - seeing as she's the one who proposed the idea of the Divine Gate.

Grummsh, The Ruiner Grummsh is a brute, a lover of blood and slaughter. As a result, the Ruiner will probably need as much convincing as Bane does; adverse to the logic of peace but secretly salivating the idea of future conflicts and being hands-on with it in a continual reincarnation cycle. Some convincing required to bypass the facade of hesitation, but not a lot.

Ioun, The Knowing Mentor Ioun has spent centuries collecting information and knowledge, in turn being a deity of prophecy and teaching, she may have already seen this coming. However, she hates secrets and reverse-engineering the forbidden knowledge that is the Ritual of Seeding may make her hesitant of the path. Some convincing is required, but The Knowing Mentor is a fair and logical god, and in logic she can be persuaded and understand that this is among the better solutions to the problem at hand. The Hells may also entice her with the hands-on approach of learning new things, possibly citing Dunamancy - through Ashton and their head maybe - since the gods treat it as foreign and alien.

Kord, The Stormlord The Stormlord is renowned for being badass and stoic, which unfortunately makes him hard to read in this situation. Unlike Bane and Grummsh, Kord doesn't lust after war and battle but prepares for it nonetheless. It may be hard to convince him though, because they could see the option as abandoning the fight - going against their tenets of strength and bravery in battle - but his awareness of Imogen can come into play in her influencing him, and if Bane and Grummsh's excitement can't be hidden it can be used as incentive to keep their warmongering at bay. He can be swayed, but not easily - it cannot be framed as giving up.

Lolth, The Spider Queen Lolth has a disdain for mortals on a similar maybe-slightly-lesser level to Asmodeus, she's possessive and proud of her power, and mortality would mean that she would have to confront the many enemies she has made - such as the Kryn - without the comfort of being out of their reach. She's also petty, and feuds with the Arch Heart and Stormlord can make it harder to convince her if they're already convinced - and vice versa. The Spider Queen strikes as someone who will agree to something so long as she benefits, curiosity can only go so far after all, she may even ask for some grovelling or a tribute/offering as a sweetener. It will be difficult, but the Opal incident is indicative that she fears Predathos, Bells Hells would need to infer that it's the most profitable option to her but also make sure it's not framed as her conceding to their request or being threatened.

Melora, The Wildmother As with the Lawbearer, the Wildmother will struggle to be convinced not because of the logic but because of the heart. Being separated from her lover is a big sacrifice she will very likely show her teeth to avoid, but in exchange she will get to return to her beloved domain properly once more. This may make the Wildmother easier to convince, or it could be harder given how she has trouble letting go of things - since she protested the idea of the Divine Gate in Downfall's epilogue, and the only thing stopping her from being a Betrayer was a reluctance to leave Exandria. It will probably fall to Orym, who has had experience being apart from people they love, to turn the scales and convince her, which will domino into convincing the Lawbearer too.

Moradin, The All-Hammer Not much is known about the All-Hammer, which is a shame since the past campaigns have had such inventive and artistic characters. That being said, I don't think the All-Hammer will need much convincing. Some convincing may be warranted since they are a God of Family and Legacy too, so they'd want to ensure that the rest of the gods are in agreement, but the All-Hammer admires creativity, ingenuity, and craft; and that is something Chetney has the edge to appeal them towards. A chance to see what more mortals can create, to unlearn and relearn various artforms for lifetimes, Chetney's own pursuit of legacy makes him the perfect one to relate to the All-Hammer, and thus there is limited convincing needed.

Pelor, The Dawnfather There have been two sides to the Dawnfather when in conflict in Campaign 3; on one side you have Ayden, the sunshine multiclassing do-gooder who clings to hope and humanity, on the other you have the Dawnfather that sent an angel to suppress Hearthdell and threatened to withhold power from Deanna for questioning him. Like the Stormlord, the Dawnfather could protest or take offence to the idea of becoming mortal permanently, as he could also see it as abandoning their sworn and solemn duties. Asmodeus and The Arch Heart paint him as chief among the 'but mah children' gods in their internal debate to stay or flee, which can be used in convincing him. But he is prideful, and stubborn, and wrathful, meaning it will require a lot of tact and careful wording to achieve, possibly moreso than it would the Stormlord.

The Raven Queen, Matron of Death As the one mulling over the method of enacting the plan, the Matron is a definitive yes who won't need convincing, she's already been convinced. Mortality is not new to her, and she has no disdain for it.

Sarenrae, The Everlight Aside from the All-Hammer and Changebringer, I think the Everlight is perhaps the one Bells Hells won't need to convince at all. The events of Downfall showed that she loves mortals, and loved mortality; the chance to live and love, to raise children, she loved it all and the moment she parted from it she missed it dearly. She might have a bit of guilt about leaving her followers like Pike, but she might also relish the idea of getting to know them on a more personal and mortal level too.

Sehanine, The Moonweaver The Moonweaver's tenets include to live untethered and free and to seize one's own destiny, which could act as a pro or con to encouraging the idea of becoming mortal. It leans more towards the pro side, since lifetimes of experiences can entice her against running away forever - and Fearne is the likely candidate to frame it that way if she is in need of convincing - but it falls to whether she has already made up her mind about which path she wants to take. If she's already chosen another option, it may be difficult to change her mind because it'll be something she doesn't want to do. If she's open to the idea there's little convincing, if not then it requires Bell's Hells to sell the idea.

Tharizdun, The Chained Oblivion Tharizdun is a strange case. The ancient primordial evil trapped in the Abyss - a visual representation of 'too much chaos' - that creates demons and aberrations with its mind to sic on Exandria isn't exactly one who was sent through the Divine Gate willingly. Mortality and reincarnation is likely something it'd leap at, freedom and the floor to corrupt and influence more directly, but also something the other gods would be greatly against them having given their efforts to seal it near the end of the Calamity. Because of this, the convincing would be for all the other gods - mainly the primes - rather than the entity itself, and thus it can be a deal breaker. As a non-Tengar god however it may be 'off the menu', and thus a compromise to keep it trapped may be achieved - it's actually a little unclear if Matt includes them and another non-Tengar god when discussing 'the gods' in this context, since they are included in the pantheon but not exactly a 'god'.

Tiamat, The Scaled Tyrant Another god eager to get out is Tiamat, Arkhan stole the Hand of Vecna for this sole purpose after all. 'Let no affront go unpunished' is a tenet that'd mean Tiamat would take little convincing to return to the Material Plane. In contrast to Lolth, paying back her grudges would be high on her agenda, as well as amassing wealth and her kin, it'd be more of a challenge to convince the Platinum Dragon of her release given how destructive chromatic dragons can be and have been in the past. So not much convincing on her side really, just opposition from opponents.

Torog, The Crawling King Torog's time as Zaharzht in Downfall was intriguing. Without it the jealous god of torture, jailers, and slavers would ironically be someone you'd expect to desire freedom from imprisonment, but Zaharzht hated being mortal and constantly harmed themselves throughout Downfall. Their monologue about peace implied that Torog may be the only god to welcome Predathos' consumption of them, which makes it difficult to say how much convincing they'd need and if they'd even acknowledge Bells Hells' offer in the first place. There's a chance they may bend to family majority, since Zaharzht had a soft - albeit warped and abusive - spot for Asha, but it's probably not something they'd like to agree to out of the three options.

Vecna, The Whispered One Centuries as a Lich leads to only 3ish decades of godhood, damn does it suck to be Vecna. The Whispered One is a god who would definitely reject the idea of returning to mortality, and someone who would probably rather take their chances and run. Much like the Chained Oblivion, being a mortal would probably be very bad for Exandria anyway, since he knows how to Lich himself and knows the Ritual of Seeding to undo the process anyway - Vassalheim has not quickly forgotten his attempt to raze them. He doesn't want mortality and the mortals won't want him, and without the sense of family that Asmodeus may have for the other gods he might be the joint-highest lost cause among the gods. However, the lack of familial ties and potentially also being off-menu might mean the gods are less enthusiastic about staying as a set with him in it, and would be willing to accept mortality without him. As a result, very difficult to convince, not a positive to do so, but there may be a willingness from other gods to just let him run.

Zehir, The Cloaked Serpent Our final god is a mystery, as obscurity is among his domain. We know more of Zehir's treacherous servant Uk'otoa (uk'otoaaaa) than we do of the god himself, but from what we do know is that they are unique in having the most enemies even among their fellow Betrayer Gods, Torog and Lolth. Their small amount of worshippers, mainly Yuan-ti and other snakefolk, are often described as ones looking to be equal to them, which may make it a tall order to convince Zehir to give their followers and enemies a better shot at killing them. There is perhaps the opening of playing to his pride, an assassin would be proud of their ability to kill, and fluffing his ego in order to 'prove' his skill among these bloodthirsty followers and enemies is a route that can be used with solid enough deception. Niche degree of convincing due to poor knowledge of him, but still possible.

[moltensmusings]

Alright so I need aang stans who have never watched legend of korra/don't actually remember the plot to stop trying to power scale between aang and korra because you just show how little you know about both shows.

The minute you try and go "Aang is a better fighter" you lose. The whole point of Aangs character is that he wasn't a fighter. Fighting was a weak point for him, and that's completely fine. He gets better at it but he's never going to be a fighter the way korra was. Just like Korra struggled with the things Aang easily latched onto.

In episode 1 of legend of korra it's outright stated that Korra is a very strong fighter by Katara and that her biggest flaw is her inability to restrain herself in battle. It's why fire bending to me is often her go to element in season 1, because she has a lot of anger and aggression. It's also why she's struggles so hard to airbend, because Airbender are not aggressive.

Want another example? Aang in his prime is blood bent by Yakone, it's only when he taps into the avatar state that he stands a chance against him. You know who gets blood bent and breaks out of it through sheer willpower? Korra at 17. Repeatedly korra shows off fantastic feats of strength and power. She's a very impressive bender and fighter.

Aang not having that quality doesn't make him a worse character. You should not base how valid your fave is off whether they can take out the most people. Especially not someone like aang who didn't even want to fight people. You're fully ignoring who the character is and what makes them great. Aang was incredibly persuasive and charming. He had an aura to him that helped people lighten up and enjoy themselves. Look at the kiyoshi episode where he's thrown in prison and befriends all the prisoners there. He was a great Airbender and incredibly spiritual child who at 12 was already interacting with the spirit world.

His spiritual abilities alone should be enough for you guys. He was a very impressive kid who as an adult founded a city built on the idea of coexistence between the various elements and nonbenders alike. He's complex and flawed in so many ways and that makes him a great character. You have so many reasons to enjoy him. So stop trying to make him this hyper masculine strong man and just enjoy what you get in canon. He's a sweet heart who loves to call Katara sweetie and always goes for the peaceful option first.

[roocomehome]

Fanged Temptress

Special

" The last adventurer who laid their hands on this card was very unfortunate and unskilled... Losing most of their health and eventually losing the card itself... She was displeased with their novice-ness... But something about you... Yes... You possess an aura... I think the Temptress will like you. "

Simblr Trading Cards by @buttertrait and @squea !! I love looking at others' cards... Thank you both for making this template!!

⬇ An in-depth look into Nirvana's card stats below the cut ⬇

On picking up :

" Your spine aches, your face becomes flush and your fingers tingle. You're on edge, but gain a new sensation... A new lust for others and their blood. " Passive - Temporary HP loss + RAGE!! Buff : Upon picking up the Fanged Temptress, you lose -15 HP temporarily, and gain RAGE* for 30 minutes. *RAGE!! : You're perturbed by something... you don't know what- but it makes you angry!! It's time to kill. +25%-45% Damage Buff for 30 minutes

In bag/inventory :

" Unbeknownst to you, this card has been draining you of your health points with every hour that you've traveled together [with the card]. On the bright side, it seems willing to help you persuade the being that you converse with. " Passive - HP loss : The Fanged Temptress will occasionally drain anywhere from 0.1% to 1% of your health - This can occur up to 5 times on occasion, and will not happen again for a long while. -0.1%-1% HP Loss up to 5 times at a time Outside-of-Battle usage - Persuasion buff : Using the Fanged Temptress in conversation will sway the other party into agreeing with you, whether it be an argument or a flirt. (Not guaranteed to work for bigger/smarter enemies/NPCs) +100% success rate in decisions ( +60-90% for larger/smarter enemies/NPCs )

In battle :

" The Fanged Temptress is a well-known legend, She's dangerous and alluring, it's time to put this card to the test and see if it holds up to the legend herself. " Passive - Attack buff : Nirvana Lucia herself grants you a spiteful kiss and a slap on your cheek for every turn. +5% Damage done to enemies ( Plus an extra 5% if the enemy is a hunter of any kind [Monster, Animal, etc] ) In-Battle use - Defensive move : The Fanged Temptress is infamously known for her alluring words and enchanting eyes, perhaps seduc- *ahem* perhaps persuading the enemies will get them to deal a little less damage to your fragile body. -15% Damage dealt to the opposing party ( Plus an extra 10% if the enemy is a hunter of any kind ) In-Battle use - Attack move : The Will of Nirvana Lucia courses through your veins, a little nip on the arm could be enough to send an enemy to the nearest Hospital- or better yet, their grave. +25% Damage done to enemies ( Plus an extra 10% if the enemy is a hunter of any kind )

On death :

" You collapse to your knees, your life flashes before your eyes, with the earliest memories first to newest memories last... but wait! You're pulled away from the light and back to reality. You scrounge for your Special Limited Edition "The Fanged Temptress" card but... it's nowhere to be found... " Special - Resurrect 1 : Upon taking Grim's hand, you realize this is a gamble- Let go and face life once more- Or continue on and meet the sweet embrace of death's bed. You'll be prompted to choose Life or Death when you die... Special - Resurrect 2 - Temporary total HP loss : When you chose Life, the Fanged Temptress was displeased that you couldn't hold your own in a fight, crawling to her for life. She deems a worthy punishment for your mockable strength. You lose 25% of your Total HP for 30 minutes [ Cannot Heal above 75% total HP for that 30 minute time period - Stackable debuff ] Special - Resurrect 3 - Card loss : When you chose Death, the Fanged Temptress couldn't help but scowl at your weakness, She'd had sucked enough life out of you for you to finally become feeble enough for death, pathetic. 50/50 Chance to lose " Fanged Temptress " card on Resurrection

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I really liked your most recent Persuasion post re: ye olde "was Anne right to be persuaded" question! I agree that Austen leaves the answer more ambiguous than one would expect, perhaps even saying that the very premise itself of the question is flawed because there's no point wondering about "what-ifs" in the past anyway when there's a present to enjoy and a future to build...? What do you imagine this might look like post-novel? E.g. I think it's likely that Anne will accompany Captain Wentworth to sea for as long as is feasible which would demonstrate both characters' growth. But despite their being "more tender, more tried, more fixed in a knowledge of each other’s character, truth, and attachment; more equal to act, more justified in acting," now, I think the novel also makes it clear that they didn't have any significant character flaws even 8 years prior and were rather more idealized figures than, say, pre-character growth! Elizabeth + Darcy, Emma + Knightley, even Catherine + Tilney (maybe especially Anne - though for both, "it would be difficult to say which had seen highest perfection in the other"). So what do you think were the evidences of their growth, as applicable, that Austen envisioned in the Wentworths' marriage after 8 (and a half) years of separation + Frederick "learning to brook being happier than he deserves?" (I hope my phrasing of this question makes sense.)

And obligatory JA reader question - out of the 6 completed works, do you have a favorite novel, character, relationship whether romantic or platonic, etc? Just curious :D Thanks + have a good day!

Aw, thanks! I agree that Anne would probably go with Wentworth on his voyages – what we hear from Sophie Croft about that, and the focus on marriage as a partnership, suggests it. And perhap that at least is a reason why it’s better that they married when they were “more tried…more equal to act” – it is much less likely that Wentworth at the start of his career would have been either willing or able to being along a (previously very sheltered and upper-class) young wife with him!

I’m not sure about them not having any significant character flaws when they were younger. Anne even in her younger years was possibly more thoughtful than Elizabeth or Emma or Catherine, but there’s evidently a flaw in her judgement somewhere, however you take it – either in accpting Wentworth too hastily at first, or in later backing out, or both. And Wentworth for his part is possibly over-hasty in asking her to marry him when he has nothing to live on yet and could possibly due on his next voyage out; and he’s also not financially responsible, having spent all the money he previously earned and counting on good luck to earn more.

In terms of how they’ve grown in the past eight years, here’s my first thoughts off the top of my head. Anne’s more confident in her own opinions: she’s (internally) critical of her father’s and sister’s respect for rank over merit, and she will go against them for things she feels are important (such as visiting Mrs. Smith). If being too easily persuaded was a flaw in her youth, she has moved beyond it: not into obstinance (the issue with Wentworth’s “hazelnut” speech), but into settled confidence in her own judgement. Wentworth is learning over the course of the book to value Anne’s quiet strength and confidence. And both of them are more sure of what they mean to each other, after waiting eight years and neither seeing anyone who could replace the other in their affections.

Out of the books – I like them all and wouldn’t call any my favourire, but Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park are the ones that I tend to reread the most and probably the ones I have the most opinions on. Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship is, I think, the one with the most complexity and development over the course of the novel, and the greatest variety of interactions between the two characters, which helps make it particularly engaging. Of the male characters, I like Edmund Bertram more than most readers do, and Mr. Knightley a great deal, as well as Darcy. For the female characters, I particularly like both some of the lively ones (Elizabeth and Marcy Crawford) and some of the quiet ones (Elinor Dashwood and Fanny Price).

[thepringlesofblood]

Ayda Aguefort character sheet!

I went through FHSY transcripts and wrote down every spell she used and figured out what level she was and made a full character sheet for my beautiful wife, Ayda Aguefort.

Actual character sheet and plaintext description below the cut: here's how I figured it out.

Ayda has one (1) 7th level spell slot, and presumably no 8th level spell slots, since she can only cast Teleport once per day. This puts her at either 13th or 14th level, the only difference being that at 14th level, Divination wizards get "Greater Portent", aka an extra Portent roll per long rest. Looking through the transcripts, she never uses more than 2 portent rolls per long rest, so we will assume she is 13th level.

In terms of background, "Sage" makes the most sense. Like, you roll to determine your “specialty” and one of the options is librarian. She’s gotta be a sage. This gives her proficiencies in arcana and history, two languages of choice, and the "Researcher" feat - “When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it." Extremely in character

Wizards pick 2 proficiencies from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion. I picked Investigation & Medicine, since she already gets Arcana and History from "Sage".

Spells are tricky - I included every spell she uses in the series, but wizard spellbooks are weird in that there's kind of no limit to the amount of spells you can know, the limit is just on how many you can prepare. You automatically learn two new spells per level, so I went through and added other spells (in italics) up to the minimum amount of spells she would know, and then made a list of other spells that seem likely for her to know, or that you could switch in if you like. she does fully live in a library so like. who knows what she could know?

Also, there's a spell she uses during the fight aboard the Goldenrod that sounds a lot like Steel Wind Strike, though it isn't 100% confirmed, so I put a question mark next to it. We also don't know what exact spell she was going to use to "flood hell" - I chose Tidal Wave because it seemed most likely, but it could also be a spell of her own invention.

Final product below the cut!

the reason these don't have image IDs is bc I'm putting the IDs after the images bc there's so much text. also sorry the resolution's shit i don't know why that happened it looks fine on my computer. also i don't know how passive wisdom works im sorry its probably just her normal wisdom (11)??

image/page 1:

Character Name: Ayda Aguefort

Class & level: Wizard (Divination) 13

Background: Sage

Player name: bleem

Race: half-phoenix

Alignment: Lawful neutral

Experience points: [blank]

Ability scores Str 18 (+4) Dex 15 (+2) Char 16 (+3) Int 20 (+5) Wis 11 (+0) Con 14 (+2)

AC 14

Proficiency bonus: +5

Inspiration: [blank]

Initiative: +2

Hit point total: 72

Hit dice: 13 d6 Speed 80

Saving throws:

Strength: +4

Dex: +2

Con: +2

Int: +10 (proficient)

Wis: +5 (proficient)

Cha: +3

Skills

Acrobatics: +2

Animal Handling: +0

Arcana: +10 (proficient)

Athletics: +4

Deception: +3

History: +10 (proficient)

Insight: +0

Intimidation: +3

Investigation: +10 (proficient)

Medicine: +5 (proficient)

Nature: +5

Perception: +0

Performance: +3

Persuasion: +3

Religion: +5

Sleight of Hand: +2

Stealth: +2

Survival: +0

Passive Wisdom: [blank]

Languages: Common, Phoenix, + two others of your choice from Sage background (I chose Infernal & Elvish)

Personality Traits: amazing

Ideals: [blank]

Bonds: Fig (paramour), Adaine (best friend), Kristen, Fabian, Riz, Gorgug (transitive best friends), Garthy (parental figure/guardian/adopted child of a previous incarnation of herself), Arthur Aguefort ("father")

Flaws: [blank]

Features & Traits:

Flight (see: Half-Phoenix)

Fly speed = 80

Fire Immunity (see: Half-Phoenix)

Ayda is immune to all fire damage

Portent (Div. lvl 2) - roll 2 d20 at the end of each long rest. You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with one of these rolls (once per turn)

Expert Divination (Div. lvl 6) - When you cast a divination spell of 2nd level or higher using a spell slot, you regain one expended spell slot. The slot you regain must be of a level lower than the spell you cast and can't be higher than 5th level

Third Eye (Div. lvl 10) - choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

- Darkvision: You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet

- Ethereal Sight: You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you.

- Greater Comprehension: You can read any language

See Invisibility: You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight.

Attacks & Spellcasting

[formatted like] Name, ATK Bonus, Damage/Type

Fireball, +10, 8d6 fire (+1d6 per lvl)

Steel Wind Strike, +10, 6d10 force

Tidal Wave, dex save DC 18, 4d8 bludgeoning & prone if fail

Equipment: so many books

image/page 2:

Spellcasting Class: Wizard (Div.) 13

Spellcasting Ability: INT

Spell Save DC: 18

Spell Attack Bonus: +10

Prepared Spells Limit: 18

(spells in italics are speculative, based on the min # of wizard spells she would have at this level. the rest are canon. feel free to add or subtract as desired!)

Cantrips (lvl 0)

Prestidigitation

Message

Mage Hand

Mending

Control Flames

other potential cantrips: Lightning Lure, Dancing lights, Minor Illusion

Spell Level 1

slots total: 4

Find Familiar

Synod

Protection from Evil and Good

Detect Magic

Shield

Ayda's Comprehend Subtext

Comprehend languages

Identify

Illusory script

Snare

Spell Level 2

slots total: 3

Invisibility

Enlarge/Reduce

Misty Step

Hold Person

Spell Level 3

slots total: 3

Sending (pirate)

Counterspell

Dispel Magic

Clairvoyance

Remove Curse

Fireball

Tongues

Tidal Wave

Spell Level 4

slots total: 3

Greater Invisibility

Banishment

Scry

Arcane Eye

Spell Level 5

slots total: 2

Steel Wind Strike (?)

Legend Lore

Spell Level 6

slots total: 1

True Seeing

Spell Level 7

slots total: 1

Plane Shift

Teleport

Spell Level 8 [blank]

other good potential spells: Unseen servant, Thunder wave, Tasha's hideous laughter, Knock, Locate object, Scorching ray, Shatter, Web, Animate objects, Symbol, Bigby's hand, Storm sphere, Control Wind, Mordekainen's Private Sanctum, Conjure Elemental, Dimension Door

Spell Level 9 [blank]

Flood Hell [level & specifics unknown]

image/page 3:

Character name: Ayda Aguefort

Age: 17 (present), over 300 (total)

Height: 6-7 ft

Weight: [blank]

Eyes: fire

Skin: dark brown

Hair: fire

Character Appearance

“A Resplendent, Beautiful Woman”

Digitigrade ankles

bird feet

golden talons

orange runic tattoos

books in bandoliers like guns

undercut: fire

wings: fire

ear cuff (from Fig)

resembles Arthur Aguefort, her father

Character Backstory

perfect :)

Allies & Organizations

Compass Points Library

The Bad Kids

The Gold Gardens (Garthy)

Fig & The Sig Figs

[a screenshot of Ayda's official junior year character art (standing), taken from her wiki page]

Additional features & traits

“a resplendent beautiful woman who from the knees down has large talons, she also has digitigrade ankles, she has those ankles that kind of kick back like a lot of animal feet do. So from the knees on down become these almost like metallic golden talons. She bears a striking resemblance to Arthur Aguefort the moment you look at her”

“She looks kind of harpy-esque until you realize that she does have arms in addition to wings. So she has these incredibly, and as they spread, deep red wings that as they approach the tips of the feathers sort of change into orange, and by the time they get to yellow, flicker in a little edge of flame on the outside of the wings. She's dressed in sort of like white linen pants with a pirate's sash on them. No guns or anything you can see. Sort of vest, a lot of sort of orange runes tattooed on her arms, you see that she has a short shock of red hair, it seems to be not on the sides or back as much, almost like a plume of red fiery hair that comes off the top of her head. And her eyes have pupils in them but are otherwise clearly roiling balls of flame.”

“You see that she does have two scrolls at the side on her bandolier, and similarly to the guy downstairs, but sort of like she has it on those leather harnesses you would have for guns, but it's two small books strapped under each arm.”

Treasure: [blank]

[celeluwhenfics]

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you @sotwk for the tag! I'm somewhat of a beginning author, so let's see if I have anything to say...

How many works do you have on AO3? 6

What's your total AO3 word count? 17,293

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

pHORSEuasion (Éomer / OC)

Perfect (Théodred / Boromir)

The Creek Game (gen)

Spoons (Éomer & Théoden)

Morwen Steelsheen and her daughters (gen)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes!!! There might be a delay if I'm busy, but I make a point of responding to every single comment, even if it's just to say thank you! I love comments!!!

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? That would be Caeeli aux mains bleues, an Arthurian fic I wrote at 16. It's kind of cringe... and yes very angsty. I keep it around because there's no use being ashamed of where you started (although.....) and anyway most of my followers don't read French so they can't witness that weird teenage trainwreck for themselves 🙃 I also have plans (and lots of drafts) to re-write it entirely into something much, much more interesting, but it will have to wait after pHORSE is done.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? Perfect! Although it's merely a double drabble. But pHORSEuasion will have a sweet, happy ending and will sicken everyone around with sugary fluff!

Do you write crossovers? Does pHORSEuasion count as a crossover? I know that technically it's an AU (Jane Austen's Persuasion set in LotR universe), but it kind of has the spirit of crossover? Unless I misunderstand the concept.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Never.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? No... But never say never! 👀

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I could translate them into French myself. Or turn the Arthurian fic into English. We'll see.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No! Alone in my head, so far.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Hmmm I really like Borodred, but at the moment I'm entirely taken by my Éomer/Rowena(OC) ship!

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I WILL FINISH pHORSE I WILL FINISH pHORSE I WILL FINISH pHORSE I WILL FINISH pHORSE even if it takes me a decade.

What are your writing strengths? Erm, I think that one of my strengths is that I can draw from a wide variety of real-life experiences to make different settings and topics feel real and describe them with realism and depth?

What are your writing weaknesses? I'm sloooooooow. Wow I'm slow. Perfectionism, busy life, second language, complex plots, put all that together, and you get the pace of an arthritic snail on sleeping pills.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Old English is just too pretty! But I try to stay readable. (As if I had to restrain myself from fluently writing in Old English hahaha)

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? I'm happy with LotR, Austen and Arthurian legend! Maybe one day I will extend to Silmarillion!

What's your favorite fic you've written? Finished: Spoons. Quite proud of how I treated a difficult, rarely addressed subject there! But overall: pHORSE is my baby!

Tagging @konartiste @dreambigdreamz @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras @emmanuellececchi @torchwood-99 and who else wants to play?

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #345: Kriemhild

today on grailfinders, we’re getting close to the end of our traum(a), but before that, we need to get revenge! on what, you ask? doesn’t matter, I’m sure we’ll think of something in the planning phase. to help out, we’re gonna be making a build of Kriemhild, Siegfried’s wife and avenger. (a “kriembuild”, if you will)

Kriemhild is a Mastermind (mistressmind?) Rogue to be a cunning little cutthroat, as well as a Hexblade Warlock to steal her husband’s gold and sword and start lopping heads. whether the gold or sword is the hexblade in this situation doesn’t matter that much, either way it’s a magical lump of metal giving you power.

...are nuclear power plants hexblades? I’m getting off topic.

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet here!

next up: waka waka waka waka

Ancestry and Background

once again, Kriemhild is Human, and with the variant rules that gives you +1 Intelligence & Charisma, as well as proficiency in Arcana (or maybe Nature? idk what skill would help you figure out your husband’s weak points), and the Lucky feat to forcibly re-roll a d20 that directly involves you up to three times a day. Kriemhild’s a schemer, and just like I said in the wodime build, sometimes you get to actually plan, some times you just have to pretend you meant for stuff to happen after the fact.

you’re a Noble of course, but we’re mixing it up and giving you proficiency in History and Intimidation. I hope I don’t need to explain that Kriemhild is scary. don’t cut her in line, trust me

Ability Scores

on that note, it’s no surprise Kriemhild’s Charisma is as high as it is- she’s scary, sure, but she’s also plenty devious and tricksy too. after that is her Dexterity. she wears like, zero armor for most of her ascensions, so good luck not getting hit. third is Intelligence for better scheming, and we’ll at least keep your Constitution positive so you can survive the occasional hit. just don’t go pissing off any gentleman inspectors. this does mean your Strength is a bit low, but it turns out that’s optional for wielding a greatsword, who knew? just drag it around til you need to murder people. of course, this all means we’re dumping your Wisdom score. berserkers, am I right?

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: starting as a rogue gives you a lot of proficiencies, like Insight, Deception, Persuasion, and Sleight of Hand. you plan around people, and I don’t even know what proof “that Siegfried, and not Gunther, has taken Brunhild's virginity” (to quote wikipedia) would even look like, but you probably forged that. also, Dexterity and Intelligence saves, which is nice. you like fire, it would never hurt you.

if that’s not enough proficiency, you also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your bonus for Deception and Intimidation! you can also add a Sneak Attack to your damage while wielding a finesse or ranged weapon, though you also need either an ally standing next to your target or advantage to hit. it’s a bit situational, but an extra d6 is an extra d6.

also, you know Thieves’ Cant! it’s a language!

2. Rogue 2: second level rogues can make Cunning Actions- or, cunning bonus actions, anyway. you can dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action, leaving your usual action open for anything you want, like murder! or planning murder!

3. Rogue 3: third level Mastermind rogues get a lot of stuff, including the full-class feature Steady Aim. if you don’t move before or after attacking on your turn, you can spend your bonus action for free advantage! just drag that big ol’ sword around and everything will work out eventually

but all that’s for later. for now, you’re a mastermind, which means you’re a Master of Intrigue- you’re proficient with even more stuff- the disguise kit, the forgery kit, one gaming set, and an extra two languages! you can also copy accents you’ve heard before.

also your sneak attack grows to 2d6. I’m probably going to forget to mention this every time, so just know you add another die every odd level.

if you’re eager to get to fightin’ you’re also a Master of Tactics, letting you use the Help action as a bonus action and at range! so I guess you’re not fighting with this, but every bit helps.

4. Rogue 4: use your first ASI to bump up your Dexterity. this’ll help you not get hit, and also use something small like a dagger. don’t worry, the sword is coming I promise. presumably your husband’s still alive at level 4.

5. Rogue 5: fifth level rogues get an Uncanny Dodge- if you get hit by an attack, you can react to turn a direct hit into a graze, only taking half the damage in the process. don’t die, basically.

6. Rogue 6: at sixth level you get a second round of Expertise, doubling down on Sleight of Hand and Arcana. forge gooder and remember how your husband can be killed. I’m sure that will never bite you in the ass.

7. Rogue 7: seventh level rogues get Evasion, so now your failed dexterity saves protect you as if they were successes, and your successes negate all damage!

8. Rogue 8: use your next ASI to bump up your Dexterity once again. not dying is a great strategy, keep it up.

9. Rogue 9: ninth level masterminds are Insightful Manipulators- if you spend a minute with someone out of combat, you can learn how their soft stats (intelligence, wisdom, charisma) or levels compare to yours, or you can even learn bits of their backstory or personality!

10. Rogue 10: tenth level rogues get another ASI, so start working on your Charisma. scheme better, and uhhh, this’ll help later too. that’s for later though.

11. Rogue 11: eleventh level rogues are a Reliable Talent, so now every time you roll a skill check you’re proficient in your roll will always be count as at least a 10. that means every deception check you have to make will always count as at least a 22 in total.

12. Rogue 12: did I say 22? let’s make it 23 by bumping your Charisma up to maximum with this ASI.

13. Rogue 13: thirteenth level masterminds can put a taunt on another party member with Misdirection- if you would take an attack while another creature is standing next to you, you can react to force said creature to take the hit instead. every good plan needs a scapegoat.

14. Rogue 14: at level 14 your Blindsense lets you detect invisible creatures within 10’ of you. I guess you could consider this the dragon sword helping out? it’s a little early, but at least it’s harder to get the drop on you now.

15. Rogue 15: with our last level of rogue, your Slippery Mind gives you proficiency with Wisdom saves. I wish it wasn’t so, but we don’t need any more warlock spells, and your levels have to go somewhere. what a shame.

on the plus side, your husband’s dead now.

16. Warlock 1: so, sorry about your husband, but on the plus side you inherited his Hexblade, so you get some Pact Magic out the gate! you only get a handful of spell slots, but whenever you cast something using your Charisma you can recharge the slot on a short rest!

speaking of spells, Eldritch Blast is a generic ranged option, Sword Burst lets you spin around and hit everyone, Wrathful Smite lets you add a little damage to your attack and frighten creatures who get hit by it (surprisingly effective against dragons btw), and Distort Value will make people care a lot more about some worthless rocks than they really should. yeah I’m giving you the rheingold too, it’s in your bond CE so it counts.

you’re also a Hex Warrior, so you can use your charisma instead of strength or dexterity to attack with a weapon chosen after each long rest. this doesn’t work with Siegfried’s sword yet, but we’ll get there.

for the time being, at least you can use Hexblade’s Curse on your next target, giving you bonus damage, an improved critical hit rate, and you regain health upon your target’s death, all for up to a minute, once per short rest.

17. Warlock 2: second level warlocks get two Eldritch Invocations, though we’re really only using one this level- the other is getting swapped out in a level anyway. Armor of Shadows gives you free mage armor on yourself for what is basically a permanent +3 bonus to AC while unarmored. ironically, your third ascension actually has armor, so this spell’s a bit late.

you also learn the spell Illusory Script, letting you write one thing but have it look like something else. I don’t think should really be part of Kriemhild’s kit, but it certainly fits the theme, doesn’t it?

18. Warlock 3: now that you’ve entered into the Pact of the Blade with an Improved Pact Weapon, you can summon just about any weapon you wish as an action and use charisma to wield it expertly. that being said, you can also turn a magical weapon like Balmung into your pact weapon.

of course, no matter what ability you use to swing it, a great sword will never be able to use your sneak attack, which is why you can also summon a Shadow Blade now. it’s a light weapon that deals psychic damage when it connects, but more importantly it has the finesse property. you can also summon it to your hand as a bonus action, and it lasts for up to 1 minute.

19. Warlock 4: now that your AC is decent enough and your Charisma is maxed out, use your last ASI to improve your Constitution for more health. you can also cast True Strike now, which is steady aim but worse, or use Crown of Madness to sow the seeds of war. if your target fails their wisdom save, you can force it to attack a creature of your choice, causing chaos and wasting its action. you also have to waste your action to keep the spell going, but rogues have tons of stuff they can do as a bonus action, so it kind of evens out.

20. Warlock 5: for our last spell, you can invoke the rheingold to Incite Greed, charming nearby creatures into congregating around you for up to a minute. they also have to repeatedly fail wisdom saves, but I’m sure it’s fine.

if that doesn’t work, you can always take the direct approach and use Eldritch Smite, burning a spell slot to add 4d8 force damage to your hit and forcing a save or knocking the target prone. this is actually a really nice way to knock a dragon out of the sky if you’re okay bending the rules to grab a bow, so I think our anti-dragon damage condition has been met by this point.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

with easy access to advantage and improved critical chances from your hexblade’s curse, Kriemhild is really good at dishing out critical hits, and thanks to sneak attack and smites, you can really capitalize on those to deal a ton of damage quickly.

you’re also great at sowing discontent in enemy forces, falsifying written orders and forcing them to attack each other with spells and misdirection.

on top of that, you make for a great party face thanks to your maxed out charisma, complete lack of critical failure on charisma checks, and expertise. you’re great at weaseling your way into a situation, then hacking your way back out.

Cons:

balmung is a greatsword, or at the very least a longsword. regardless, that fact seriously neuters the cohesion of this build. smites are nice, but you were already dealing way more damage with a regular dagger by this point. plus, being a sword prevents you from using ranged attacks, which are way more helpful when taking down dragons. basically if you play this build too close to character, it messes with the build mechanics and its flavor.

like mentioned above, your warlock stuff is cool, but it’s already outclassed by your rogue features by the time you get it at the end of the build. it’s a shame siegfried dies near the end of the nibelungenlied, because his sword would be way more useful early on.

every feature you have outside of your sneak attack is pretty situational, since a ton of it relies on fighting things that actually think. in fate and in history, this isn’t too much of an issue, but dnd has armies of undead, constructs, and wild animals that’ll shut down your provocations before they ever get started.

...ignore the fact that we've been infinitely more productive the two days ff14's been offline, that's a coincidence, I swear.

[power-rangers-faves]

Power Rangers Crystal Cryptids

Red Ranger part 7

Surprising no one, our Red Ranger is a Leader! (For those who own the RPG, that's what I've called the Red Ranger Role)

At level 1, this Role gives her:

2 Personal Power

Training in Light, Medium, and Hearvy Armor

2 points in Strength and 1 in Social scores, as well as 2 points in Might and 1 in Persuasion skills

The "It's Morphin Time!" perk (standard for Ranger Roles) which allows morphing

The "Power Strike" perk which - at the cost of a Personal Power - adds +1 damage to a melee attack while Morphed, with the amount of damage increasing as she levels up

As well as her starting equipment:

Wrist Communicator

Power Morpher

Blade Blaster (or equivalent)

Power Weapon (to be voted later)

Our next category is Influences! These are most equivalent to Backgrounds in 5e, except you can have up to 3. Each one gives a Perk, but past the first one they also give a Hang-Up.

In terms of voting, the most voted option will be the first Influence, and any option that gets 30% or higher will be an additional one, thus giving Hang-Ups.

Below the cut will be explanations for the 10 I've chosen as the most likely, as well as the next 10 that would be on the table if "Other" is chosen

Descriptors

Ambitious, Asexual, Hotheaded, Idiot, Kind, Large (physically or metaphorically), Lovable, Nervous, Passionate (2 entries), Protective, Queer, Rich, Silly, Strategic

Artisan: Makes art of some description

Beloved: Has an NPC love interest

Better Together: Has a PC she works particularly well with (not necessarily romantic, but shippers gonna ship)

Caretaker: Helps people as a hobby or for a living

Community Helper: First responder of some sort

Crowdpleaser: Performer, especially for large crowds

Cryptozoologist: Technically in the book it's Archaeologist, but the benefits are generic enough that I felt it could be swapped out.

Handler: Good with animals

Royalty: She's already noble, why not go all in?

Student: Has a particular area of study

And under "Other"...

Agency: Belongs to an organization

Chronicler: Journalist or other scoop gatherer

Destiny: Like, literal destiny here

Life Interrupted: A personal tragedy put her life goals on hold

Local Legend: Known for that one awesome thing she did that one time

Martial Artist: Self-explanatory

Nomad: Constantly moving to new places

Oathbound: Follows a particular code

Small Town Roots: Originally from a small town

Survivor: A personal tragedy didn't put her life goals on hold

[hahanabi]

deep dive character sheet

stolen from: ree my friend ree :D tagging: anyone who wants to do it ^^

NAME: Sparkle, Hanabi

BODY

height: 144cm / around 4'7 (based on qingque's height, who sparkle shares a model with)

strength ★★★☆☆ — her showiness makes her seem stronger than she actually is

dexterity ★★★★★ — she can do backflips!

health ★★★☆☆ — well she's alive, isn't she?

energy ★★★★★ — it feels almost endless

beauty ★★☆☆☆ — i can imagine some people find her pleasing to look at. but more people likely don't.

style  ★★★★★ — has a distinct style that she has carefully curated. of course, the mask of Sparkle must be a pretty one.

hygiene ★★★☆☆ — she'll be a slob to unnerve people. she'll litter next to a trashcan.

SKILLS

perception ★★★★★ — has the horrifying ability to know how to make someone tick

communication ★☆☆☆☆ — can say what she needs to but it's nestled between layers of deceit and bullshit

persuasion ★★★☆☆ — through threats and lies

mediation ★☆☆☆☆— believes it's more worthwhile to let people fight, most of the time

literacy ★★☆☆☆ — knows a great deal about theater and classical dramas but that's really it

creativity ★★★★★ — could a simpleton come up with half the shit she comes up with?

cooking ★★☆☆☆ — decent at it but no one ever seems to want to eat what she makes… i wonder why?

tech savvy ★★★★☆

combat ★★★★☆ — knows how to scrap

survival ★★★☆☆ — not to say that she has much self-preservation but we can give her credit for pissing off as many people as she has and somehow not getting killed

stealth ★★☆☆☆ — she can do it but prefers a less subtle approach most times

street smarts ★★★★☆ 

seduction ★★★☆☆ — maybe in disguise, certainly not as herself (god help whoever's getting seduced by sparkle)

luck ★★★★★ — she's lucky to not have been killed by her own bullshit

handling animals ★☆☆☆☆ — don't bring her near animals

pacifying children ☆☆☆☆☆ — DEFINITELY don't bring her near kids

MIND

intelligence ★★★★☆ — sharp, cunning, witty.

happiness ★★★★★ — what kind of Fool isn't?

spirituality ★★★★★ — sticks to her Path and her Aeon very closely, though spirituality for Elation Pathstriders doesn't look particularly devout

confidence ★★★★★ 

humor ★★★★★  — no one else is laughing, though

anxiety ★☆☆☆☆ — …nah. not really.

patience ★★☆☆☆ — enough to see her plans through but not enough to stop getting pissed off at some people

passion ★★★★★ — oh she LOVES what she's doing. even though she really shouldn't.

nice        ☆☆☆★☆ mean — her moments of kindness feel very mean

brave       ★☆☆☆☆ cowardly — Foolishly brave

pacifist     ☆☆☆★☆ violent — good ol' rubberhose violence

thoughtful ☆☆☆★☆ impulsive — meticulously plans out certain things but even those come from her impulse to feel amused

agreeable ☆☆☆★☆ contrary — being contrary makes for more fun, most of the time

idealistic   ★☆☆☆☆ pragmatic — nothing realistic about how she sees the world

frugal ☆☆☆☆★ big spender — what, you think those props come cheap?

extrovert   ★☆☆☆☆ introvert 

collected   ☆☆☆☆★ wild — feral like a hog

ambitious / possessive / stubborn / jealous / decisive / perfectionist

SOCIAL

charisma ★★★☆☆ — perhaps at first, you find yourself drawn in, before quickly realizing that it's not good to mess with her.

empathy ★☆☆☆☆ — 

generosity ★★★★☆ — she thinks she's generous

wealth ★★★★☆ — who even knows at this point. i assume she must have some pool of wealth to draw from.

honest  ☆☆☆☆★ deceptive  — even when telling the truth it can't be direct

leader   ☆☆☆☆★ follower — always playing the ensemble role

polite   ☆☆☆★☆  rude

political ☆☆☆☆★ indifferent — doesn't care about the universe at large

BELIEFS

higher power ★★★★★ — Aha is her buddy!

fate/destiny ★★★☆☆ — there's a script for the universe but she can adlib some of her scenes

magic ★★★★★

soulmates ☆☆☆☆☆ — she laughs at the thought

good and evil ☆☆☆☆☆ — they're both cut from the same cloth, two sides of the same coin; it's hilarious to think they're both so different

luck ★★★★☆ — she loves rng!

PRIORITIES

family ☆☆☆☆☆ — what's that?

friends ☆☆☆☆☆ — maybe sometimes…? eh… probably not.

love ☆☆☆☆☆ — nope

home ☆☆☆☆☆ — is the Tavern a home?

health ★★★☆☆ — well she needs to live, right?

praise ★☆☆☆☆ — 

justice ☆☆☆☆☆ — for who? for what?

truth ☆☆☆☆☆ — it's useless to think there is one truth we can pursue

power ★★★☆☆ — could be fun

fame ★★★☆☆

wealth ★★★☆☆ — she'll take on gigs if she thinks there's a good price attached; it doesn't necessarily have to be money

others' opinions ☆☆☆☆☆ — LMFAOOOOO

[bloodbxrn]

DEEP DIVE

NAME: Kalpas

BODY

height: 190cm / just shy of 6'3

strength ★★★★★ [ how funny would it be if I docked him a star because he can't beat Kevin hahaha no jkjk sorry buddy of course he gets five stars could you imagine ]

dexterity ★★☆☆☆ [ his fighting style is described as splattering chunks on those nearby ]

health ★★★★★ [ see Kevin re: genetically modified supersoldier ]

energy ★★★★☆ [ has wild swings, he is only ever hyper-manic or super sedate. there are a lot of implications for both that I could pick at, but I think that's a meta for another time ]

beauty ★★★☆☆ [ well I think he's handsome ]

style ★★★☆☆

hygiene ★★☆☆☆ [ likely not a slob, but I don't think it's a priority ]

SKILLS

perception ★★★★☆ [ a huge part of chapter 30 is how much sharper he is than everyone gave him credit for  ]

communication ★★☆☆☆ [ most of his flavor text opines how he can't communicate properly, and during Elysium Everlasting his whole deal is basically laid out for us ]

persuasion ★★☆☆☆  [ less persuasion and more intimidation, although there are moments when he does try (and fails) to use his words ]

mediation ☆☆☆☆☆ [ cussed out su once. su. ]

literacy ★★☆☆☆ [ no evidence suggests that he can't read ]

creativity ★★★★☆ [ dawg he outwitted su and fu hua. ]

cooking ★★★★★ [ Golden Courtyard indicates that he's the best cook of the Flamechasers. I know that Golden Courtyard is kind of its own can of beans wrt bias and self-perception and wish-fulfillmet, but I'm willing to take it at face value bc I think this one's cute ]  

tech savvy ★★☆☆☆

combat ★★★★★ [ yes the ripping yes the tearing. his signet is Decimation and a literal computer virus learned to feel fear at coming face to face with him so like. ]

survival ★★★★☆ [ docking a point for being dead ]

stealth ☆☆☆☆☆ [ Kalpas is not who you call for a stealth mission. on top of being Like That, I think similar to Kevin his presence is just absolutely suffocating. ]

street smarts ★★★☆☆

seduction ☆☆☆☆☆ [ I think we should put Kalpas on a dating show I think it would be enriching. for me, not for him ]

luck ☆☆☆☆☆ [ listen if I'm so fr I think all of the flamechasers deserve this obviously I can't speak for the others but like just look at their lives oh my god ]

handling animals ★★☆☆☆

pacifying children ★★☆☆☆

MIND

intelligence ★★★☆☆ [ see perception above ]

happiness ★★★☆☆ [ all things considered, and if the scene where his sim is deleted is any indication, i think the direction his life took after being taken in by MOTH and the way that he went out was what would have made him the most happy ]

spirituality ☆☆☆☆☆

confidence ★★★★★ [ bro thinks he can beat kevin idk what to tell you ]

humor ★★☆☆☆ [ "nothing flies over my head, my reflexes are too good, I would simply catch it" type mf. Elysia does mention that he tells jokes, however ]

anxiety ★★★☆☆ [ interestingly, we see Kalpas be the most actively skittish in the Elysian Realm of all the sims. although this is also due to a number of factors going on in the plot, it's still an interesting trait he doesn't display when he is chained, but rather when he's allowed to roam and interact freely. ]

patience ★☆☆☆☆

passion ★★★★☆

nice         ☆☆★☆☆     mean [ he is rude and brusque and aggressive. the most polarizing of his teammates, outside of Mobius, but whereas hers is deliberate maliciousness, his is due to his inability to communicate his wants and needs and intentions properly ]

brave       ★☆☆☆☆     cowardly [ thinking about the Herrscher of Corruption situation makes me fucking ill ]

pacifist     ☆☆☆☆★     violent

thoughtful ☆☆☆☆★    impulsive

agreeable ☆☆☆★☆     contrary [ he isn't entirely intransigent just mostly ]

idealistic   ★☆☆☆☆     pragmatic

frugal        ★☆☆☆☆     big spender

extrovert   ☆☆☆☆★     introvert [ shockingly shy ]

collected   ☆☆☆☆★     wild [ glances at his Trial Transcript recollection. shrekmmh ]

ambitious / possessive / stubborn / jealous / decisive / perfectionist

SOCIAL

charisma ★★☆☆☆

empathy ★★★☆☆

generosity ★★★★★ [ spoilers for his backstory but he let himself be tied to a pillar by strangers and have his blood ritualistically siphoned to attempt to cure honkai sickness for an indeterminate amount of time. he just let them do it ]

wealth ★★☆☆☆

honest   ★☆☆☆☆ deceptive

leader   ☆☆☆★☆   follower

polite     ☆☆☆★☆  rude [ aggressive and to the point, but can be smacked with a newspaper to say yes maam sorry maam ]

political ☆☆☆☆★  indifferent

BELIEFS

higher power ★★★☆☆ [ seems the type to be superstitious. was worshiped as a god for a period but it's implied he has more complicated feelings on it which is a meta for another time ]

fate/destiny ★★☆☆☆

magic ★★★☆☆

soulmates ★★☆☆☆ [ complicated. not in a romantic sense, but I do think he thinks that his rivalry with kevin is preordained in some manner of fashion, and the situation with emile  ]

good and evil ★☆☆☆☆ [ I think he acknowledges them as concepts but insofar as believing that they have a tangible effect on the way people behave? he's willing to compare himself to aponia in saying that he thinks they both belong in hell, but that it would disgust him to go there at her side ] 

luck ★★★☆☆

PRIORITIES

family ★☆☆☆☆ [ don't ask him if he considers the flamechasers family. he does, but I don't think he's willing to come to terms with what that means just yet ]

friends ★★★★★ [ he will turn up for his friends ]

love ★★☆☆☆ [ complicated. for the purposes of this I will refer to only romantic love here, otherwise this would get long. we get implications that Kalpas would like to see what a future with a romantic partner is like, but acknowledges that it isn't an option ]

home ☆☆☆☆☆ [ he. well. he isn't from here. I think the concept of home is complicated for Kalpas, outside of him literally being an alien - between sunrise alley and fire moth and the flamechasers, I think he's searching for home and coming up short, which leads to a bit of a cyclical devaluing of it ]

health ★★★☆☆

praise ★★★★★ [ one thing that I've noticed in a not-insignificant amount of his interactions is that the people that Kalpas is kindest towards, or those in whom he holds the highest esteem (see: Kevin, Elysia) talk to him like he's a dog. please tell him he's a good boy he needs to hear it so bad ]

justice ★☆☆☆☆  [ not in an unbiased sense, mind you ]

truth ★☆☆☆☆ [ the truth is what you make of it, and if it isn't true yet, then you haven't made it yet ]

power ★★★★★

fame ★★★★★

wealth ☆☆☆☆☆

others' opinions ★★★☆☆ [ one might think that this is in a similar vein as praise, and while that's not entirely inaccurate, I think he's accepted that he'll never fully have another's good opinion. is often made a joke of, and knows about it. at the point, unfortunately, where I think he thinks fear is just as good as respect ]

[chainoftalent]

Hi! Can we get something with korekiyo and a reader (gn or fem is fine) who's the ultimate debater who doesn't care what people think about them and always stands their ground.

This is not old i promise i swearsies

Korekiyo with an Ultimate Debater

First of all, he's definitely very enthused by that, all of humanity is already so beautiful and to have someone with so much passion! Such strength! Truly humanity is beautiful!!!

He is absolutely getting her opinion on things all the time, learning what topics get them the most fired up to argue and debate about. He's just popping up behind her and being like "i was just reading about -insert fucked up thing here- and i thought it was fascinating" so he can watch her go off about how fucked up it was and he can chime in as a devil's advocate trying to give alternate view points so he can see how she deals with them and admires how she holds her ground.

She's amazing, but also, perhaps something's not quite right for Sister, perhaps she's a bit too argumentative, a bit too hard headed, perhaps she disagrees on a key subject and he knows she won't let it go. So close but just...slightly a bit much, you two wouldn't get along at all, and he needs to make sure Sister likes her friends. So with that out of the way, perhaps he could be his friend instead?

Should he be associating with someone like this? It's not like they aren't sister friend material in every other way though, it's just one disagreement, so it's probably fine. He'll just avoid that topic and defend what his Sister would thing about it if it comes up, there's no reason to disregard such an intriguing specimen for just one flaw after all.

With that fully decided, he begins to open up more, revealing bits of more information about himself and what he actually believes in. As time passes, he fixates more and more on this amazing beautiful girl that's HIS friend this time, that HE gets to have. He gets a bit isolating with her, he gets jealous a bit easily after he settles into the idea that he has some power over her, like his Sister has with him HER friends. He tries to be subtle about it, but he has many stories about the dangers of strangers and serial killers and the like. Do be safe dear.

He tells her about how in Egypt a few pharaohs were buried with their still alive favored servants, and how he'd pick her for it. It gets waved off as a Korekiyo moment, one of the kinda bonkers things he says that gets waved off as him failing to know how to actually socialize like a person.

He starts pressuring her into things, into doing activities Korekiyo likes. It's not always easy with how hard headed she can be, but Korekiyo is patient and persuasive, he doesn't mind waiting for it, your resistance to his rope and rituals and needs is beautiful as well.

[generalsangonomiya]

Deep Dive Character Sheet

Stolen From: several other people in GH at this point Tagging: anyone else who wants to make one!

NAME: Sangonomiya Kokomi

BODY

Height: Roughly 165cm

strength ★☆☆☆☆ — she’s really not the best at physical tasks

dexterity ★★★☆☆ — she’s a trained healer, so she’s probably decent at delicate tasks

health ★★☆☆☆ — that chronic fatigue and those old war wounds aren’t fun

energy ☆☆☆☆☆ — it’s an entire plot point in her story quest that she never has enough energy

beauty ★★★★☆ — she’s able to look pretty without trying, dark circles under her eyes and all

style  ★★★☆☆ — her formal outfits are dramatic and impressive; her personal style is much more understated

hygiene ★★★★☆ — she does her best, and generally takes good care of herself

SKILLS

perception ★★★★★ — “know your enemy” is something she lives by

communication ★★★☆☆ — dealing with people is hard for her, but she makes the effort

persuasion ★★★★☆ — if you know someone well, you’ve got a lot more ways to persuade them

mediation ★★★★☆ — similar to persuasion, it often comes down to using her knowledge of the situation and the people involved

literacy ★★★★★ — she studies military texts for fun

creativity ★★★★★ — as a general, predictability is death, and she excels at coming up with unconventional strategies

cooking ★★☆☆☆ — she knows how to make her signature dish and a couple other easy things

tech savvy ★★☆☆☆ — Inazuma’s not the most technologically advanced place, but she’s good enough at improvising and using whatever she can get that she could probably figure out how something works if the need arises

combat ★★★☆☆ — she’s more of a strategist than a warrior, but can definitely hold her own in a fight

survival ★★★☆☆ — living on an island with so few natural resources means she probably knows at least enough to make use of anything she can get her hands on. And with a hydro vision, fresh water is never a problem

stealth ★★★★☆ — she can probably be pretty quiet when she needs to be, especially with all the ambushes and surprise attacks and other asymmetrical warfare she was involved in

street smarts ★★★☆☆ — on the one hand, she’s excellent at reading people. On the other hand, she was raised as a noble, and spends most of her time around her retainers and soldiers

seduction ☆☆☆☆☆ — she’s got no time for that (and, with how I write her, she’s just too ace for that)

luck ★★☆☆☆ — some would call her lucky, to be born into a high-ranking family. She’d say the opposite; to say nothing of the dark times she’s faced

handling animals ★★☆☆☆ — little to no experience here

pacifying children ★☆☆☆☆ — she has no idea how to interact with them

MIND

intelligence ★★★★★ — military prodigy over here

happiness ★☆☆☆☆ — oh the weight of a duty you never wanted

spirituality ★★★★☆ — very dedicated to Orobashi

confidence ★★★☆☆ — it probably comes and goes; sometimes, she believes in herself with great certainty; and then on her bad days, nothing she does feels like it’s enough

humor ★★★☆☆ — I like to think her sense of humor can get pretty dark; she probably picked up a lot of that from both her soldiers and the Crux Fleet during the war

anxiety ★★☆☆☆ — she probably does get bad anxiety from time to time, but she knows how to deal with it and function despite it

patience ★★★★★ — can and will wait for an enemy to inevitably make a mistake

passion ★★★☆☆ — there are things she cares about and will literally go to war for. But also. She is just. So very tired

nice ☆☆★☆☆ mean — she can be kind. She’s also a wartime leader accustomed to making hard choices

brave ★☆☆☆☆ cowardly — it takes a lot of courage to declare war on an Archon

pacifist ☆☆☆★☆ violent — she won’t seek out war or battle for its own sake, but she’s always ready for it

thoughtful ★☆☆☆☆ impulsive — she plans everything, sometimes to a concerning degree

agreeable ☆☆★☆☆ contrary — with diplomacy and leadership, you often need both at different times

idealistic   ☆☆☆★☆ pragmatic — there’s a lot she’d like to do, but she typically chooses the brutally pragmatic option

frugal ★☆☆☆☆ big spender — she has to manage an island suffering a major resource crisis, there’s no room for big spending

extrovert   ☆☆☆☆★ introvert — such an introvert that she has a secret hideout

collected   ★☆☆☆☆ wild — very calm. Very serious. Very analytical about everything

ambitious / possessive / stubborn / jealous / decisive / perfectionist

SOCIAL

charisma ★★★★☆ — despite being an introvert who doesn’t like dealing with people, she has been very successful at swaying people to her cause

empathy ★★★★★ — I think that although she’s gotten good at shutting it off when she needs to, she truly, deeply cares about those around her. Sometimes to an unhealthy extent - she’ll burn herself out trying to provide for others

generosity ★★★★☆ — see above

wealth ★★☆☆☆ — she’s the ruler of an island, sure. But said island is far from wealthy, and she’s not one to hoard resources that could be used to improve her people’s lives

honest  ☆☆☆★☆ deceptive  — she tells the truth when she can, but often ends up using deception and misdirection against her enemies

leader   ★☆☆☆☆ follower — an unwilling one, but a brilliant leader nonetheless

polite   ★☆☆☆☆  rude — polite to a fault, even to her enemies

political ★☆☆☆☆ indifferent — she’s the ruler of a vassal state with many grievances both old and recent

BELIEFS

higher power ★★★★★ — devout follower of Orobashi

fate/destiny ★☆☆☆☆ — Watatsumi’s ordained fate was to die alone, in the depths. She will fight fate with all she has

magic ★★★★☆ — there are many unexplained things in the world

soulmates ★☆☆☆☆ — she doesn’t believe in fate, in love or in other things

good and evil ★☆☆☆☆ — she’s seen enough grey areas to not believe in moral absolutes

luck ★☆☆☆☆ — believes in making her own luck

PRIORITIES

family ★☆☆☆☆ — not much is said in canon about her family; however, she ascended to a presumably-hereditary position at a surprisingly young age. So…that very likely makes her the last living member of the Sangonomiya Clan

friends ★★★★★ — she values true friends who care about her and understand her, more than any physical wealth or glory

love ★☆☆☆☆ — she’s generally too tired, busy, stressed, and arospec for that

home ★★★★★ — she often tends to worry about protecting her home more than herself

health ★★☆☆☆ — as a healer, she’s not blind to the consequences of neglecting one’s own health. However, when things get busy, she often ends up pushing herself far too hard

praise ★★☆☆☆ — it’s not something she’s really in a position to seek out, but on her bad days, hearing a genuine compliment would definitely cheer her up

justice ★★★★★ — justice, to her, lies in protecting the safety and happiness of her people. There are few things more important

truth ★★★☆☆ — truth is important; secrets and misdirection are useful. She tends to be rather brutally pragmatic about the truth at times 

power ★★☆☆☆ — power is a means to an end, not an end in itself

fame ☆☆☆☆☆ — she’d rather be an anonymous advisor in the background. Unfortunately, she’s stuck being a head of state

wealth ★★★☆☆ — she doesn’t particularly care for riches for their own sake. Resources to support Watatsumi, on the other hand, she can and will fight for

others' opinions ★☆☆☆☆ — a good chunk of Inazuma probably has a somewhat negative opinion of her, and that’s just a byproduct of what she’s had to do to survive