#and i never use lawful neutral; true neutral and neutral evil for anything

[kirain]

Sigh....Galemancers really love to move the goal post when it comes to the grooming accusations huh? You found out Gale was a fully grown MAN when Mystra slept with him so now you have to say, "Well then he was emotionally groomed and the power dynamic is too vast." Mystra is a neutral good goddess because she's Midnight, who was a neutral good human. She hates that her magic has to be used for good and evil. Ao makes her share it evenly but she'd rather not. She would never do anything to hurt Gale. The writers of the game even confirmed she's not a groomer. People like you also downplay the point of Gale's entire story arc, which is he should've listened to Mystra! The whole point of his personal quest is he needs to learn to humble himself and listen to his goddess! He has no one to blame for his downfall but himself.

There's no "post" to move, anon. The game and lore give us all the context we need. Grooming doesn't only apply to children, and people have proven right and left that Mystra is terrible at relationships. She's petty and abusive when she isn't obeyed by her partners, and that's been the case with all of her iterations. Even the narrator describes her as a "jealous goddess" when you visit her shrine. Plus, your information is wrong on many accounts; the most pertinent being that the Mystra of BG3/5E isn't technically Midnight. Cyric and Shar killed her, reducing her to her godly essence (lore-wise that means she died). The current Mystra is an amalgamation of the vestiges of Mystryl, Mystra, and Midnight, as told in the novel Elminster Enraged.

Now, this is about to get complicated, as it always does with Mystra, so from here on out I'll be referring to Mystra #1 as Mystryl, Mystra #2 as Mystra #2, Mystra #3 as Midnight, and Mystra #4 as 5E Mystra. Alright, let's get started.

Elminster had to reform the fallen goddess by giving her fragments of all three iterations of Mystra. Since all three iterations are combined, our current 5E Mystra embodies the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. There's even a conversation with The Simbul (one of the Seven Sisters and a Chosen of Mystra) where the newly reformed 5E Mystra speaks of Elminster as her "longest lover". This puzzles The Simbul because that was something of the old Mystra (Mystra #2), not Midnight. The new 5E Mystra replies that she has become a combination of the memories of Mystryl, Mystra #2, and Midnight. This is all in chapter 25-30 of Elminster Enraged. I know it's confusing, but in short: 5E Mystra is not Midnight anymore, and the leading mind is clearly that of Mystra #2, hence her extremely poor judgement—a recurring theme with her character.

Mystryl and Mystra #2 were originally lawful neutral. The alignment changed to neutral good when Midnight took up the mantle, because Midnight herself was a neutral good person. But now it seems 5E Mystra is true neutral, because you are right, anon; Ao won't allow her to do whatever she wants. Midnight tried and was forbidden. 5E Mystra absolutely does not have the same level of humanity or kindness as Midnight, and that may be because Mystryl had no human consciousness and Mystra #2 was a mess.

Regardless of her alignment, she must embody her domain by Ao's decree, which means she needs to spread magic across all Realmspace. Since she has to maintain the balance, she approaches good, neutral, and evil mages with potential opportunities. This isn't a criticism (that's just how godhood works), but rather proof that Mystra is absolutely capable of good and bad. I don't want to hear any more of this "she's a precious little bean and Gale's victim" nonsense. Even if she wants to be, she's not. As Kikitakite said in their post, she's done some fucked up things.

Whether or not the writers intended to make Mystra a groomer, that's exactly what they did. Sometimes writers don't realise they've written an abusive character until they're criticised. Take writer of The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks, for example. He didn't realise he'd written Noah to be an abusive piece of shit until Ryan Gosling pointed it out himself. Gosling has gone on record many times to say he hates Noah, and experts have labeled him an unrealistic and emotionally abusive/manipulative character. The same can be said for Stephenie Meyer, who wrote some of the most celebrated toxic relationships in recent media—with a dash of borderline pedophilia on the side. Therapists have weighed in extensively to tell people that Bella and Edward's relationship isn't healthy and shouldn't be emulated in real life. Indeed, perhaps the best thing to come out of the entire franchise is Robert Pattinson's hatred of Edward and the series as a whole. Jacob's actor, Taylor Lautner, even argued with Meyer's on set because of how weird the "imprinting" segment was and he didn't want to come off as predatory. Meyer argued it was "romantic". 😕

Even if you don't agree Gale was groomed, Mystra is flagrantly responsible for his insecurities and she never should've put her hands on him. The power dynamic is too vast, and even god Gale (conceited as he is) realises it by the end. He only stays in a relationship with Tav if they allow him to ascend them alongside him as his equal. He recognises that anything else would be unhealthy and unacceptable. Also, I researched high and low regarding your claim, but none of the devs have dispelled the idea that Mystra is a groomer. In fact, the most I could find was one dev simply saying, "To Gale it was love, but he didn't know any better." If anything, that only confirms he was confused and didn't know what to do. Their "relationship" was a stunningly horrible idea from the start and that's not on Gale, it's on the literal cosmic being who initiated it.

Moreover, Gale was very likely 17 when Mystra revealed herself to him. This perfectly fits into the 5E Forgotten Realms timeline. If so, no, he absolutely wasn't a grown man. He was a teenager. Mystra may not have slept with him until he was in his 20's, but that still makes it a disgusting teacher-turned-lover situation. Gale even tells us he was "young" when she took him into her fold, and he was only eight years old when Elminster started their lessons. Remember, Elminster is Mystra's biggest apologist. He would've taught Gale to revere her, which means there was almost never a point in his life when Mystra wasn't the main focus. You can tell by the way he speaks about her in Act 1. He's in awe, he's excited, he's proud she chose him. That does something to a child. Something irreversible. If anything, Elminster is complicit in what happened. I've said this before, but he couldn't even be bothered to visit Gale himself. He sent a simulacrum.

As for your accusation that I'm "downplaying" Gale's story arc—you're damn right I am, because the writers made me! Most D&D players I know aren't very happy with how Mystra is portrayed in the game, and that's probably because even they know she isn't presented in a very flattering light. If you really think about it, it's obvious what the writers were going for, but they failed. For example, you said Gale should've listened to Mystra, right? Well, in Act 1 he admits his ambition was his undoing, blames himself for his downfall, and by Act 2 he's literally ready to off himself for her. In fact, he's the only one who sees her ultimatum as justified. Every other companion says she's being cruel and unreasonable. If Gale actually blows himself up at the end of Act 2, the results are catastrophic. The brain is destroyed, yes, but the tadpoles, free of the Absolute's control, complete their transformation and infect/enslave the entire Sword Coast. Anon. She. Is. Stupid. Even the Narrator is like, "You wanna ... you wanna try that again?"

The entirety of Act 2 is Gale learning he shouldn't listen to Mystra. And then she has the audacity to lecture him in Act 3? If he'd listened, it would've been the end of everything. Maybe if Mystra was as infallible as she pretends to be, she would've put her three brains together and came up with a better, less vindictive plan. Because make no mistake, she wanted Gale to blow up in Act 2, which is ridiculous. I know this is an uncomfortable topic for some people, but gods aren't perfect, especially in fiction. They're flawed. They're selfish. Some of them are straight up assholes. The real irony of Gale's arc isn't that he has no one to blame but himself, it's that Mystra should blame herself. At no point does she even consider if she's being unreasonable or unfair. There's no self reflection whatsoever. And the writers expect me to think Gale's full of himself? I wonder where he got it.

Probably from his teacher. ✋🎤

[starcurtain]

hihi sorry to rant in your inbox but i hate when people use aven's line about jade that says her kindness comes with a price to make their relationship seem worse than it is. while the ipc is. well. the ipc i dont thinl it would benefit her to harm him like theyre both stonehearts AND hes her subordinate. personally i think the price he mentions is like, testing him like she did in her social media post with the ores. it certainly would be less incongruous with her want to guide those that come after her..

I think that people really struggle with Jade. They took one look at her dommy mommy appearance and her status as one of the top three in the Stonehearts and they just want her to be unrepentant evil soooo bad.

Don't get me wrong, she is definitely a master manipulator and she definitely has a specific personal goal she's working toward using the IPC as her vehicle to do so. Her overall idea of creating an endless vortex of desires that can't ever be sufficiently met is very Voracity-coded and not really the kind of idea a very well-adjusted person would be espousing. We have no idea how loyal she really is to the IPC's goal of aiding Preservation against Destruction in the War of the Aeons.

But she's also, over and over again, been painted as having "True Neutral" moral alignment in-game. She's literally xxxHolic's Ichihara Yuuko with a bad case of capitalism: She always demands a price, but never asks more than is fair.

It's literally Fullmetal Alchemist's first law of alchemy: Human kind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

All of Jade's exchanges are equivalent and none of her customers enter into a bargain without understanding the price they are paying. In fact, she won't even let Firefly try to make a deal at all without doing her research in advance to truly realize the extent of what she is asking for. Jade is inherently an honest businesswoman.

The issue is that greed is all-encompassing. The ability to have any wish granted is a temptation that virtually no one can escape in the end.

Therefore, I think the best way to understand Jade is as the Honkai Star Rail equivalent of Mephistopheles. In the legend of Faust, the eponymous Dr. Faust longs for more in his life--he is endlessly pursuing knowledge and power, but has hit the limits of his own ability. He meets the devil, Mephistopheles, who agrees to enter into a pact with him: Mephistopheles will fulfill all Faust's wishes while Faust is still alive, but then Faust's soul will belong to the devil when he dies. The deal is fairly presented. The terms are not unclear: If Faust agrees to the bargain, he knows what will happen to his soul in the end.

Mephistopheles doesn't trick him or force his hand when it comes to this bargain. Faust could say no. He could resist. But he doesn't. He agrees, because human greed and pride are simply that overpowering. He thinks he's smarter than the devil; unlike the thousands of others who have come before and suffered damnation for their deals with the devil, Faust thinks he is different, better than others, more deserving... The actual temptation doesn't come from the devil. It comes from human hubris.

Like Mephistopheles, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Jade merely presents the choice--it's humanity's endless desire that leads to the downfall.

It's a snake and an apple and a contract for a reasonnnnnn, Jade haters.

So, I don't think that Jade represents any danger to anyone who can resist temptation. Firefly walks away from Jade's exchange entirely unscathed. Trailblazer isn't pressed into surrender.

But Aventurine?

To be honest, I think his relationship with her is a bit more complicated.

Aventurine likes Jade. She did him a solid when he was at his lowest in life. His character stories make it clear that he views her as, essentially, someone "safe" in the IPC, unlike other Stonehearts.

But... I do agree that Aventurine approaches Jade more cautiously than he approaches others. And I think that probably stems from a couple of different factors:

Jade has positioned herself as Aventurine's "pseudo-mother," and Aventurine responds to her as if she, indeed, a mother figure he has to obey. He is more respectful of her than anyone else we see him interact with in the game--Diamond and Opal get called by name, but Jade is always "Ma'am." Which is very close to "Mama;" this is not an accidentttttt. When Jade disrupts his banter with Topaz, Aventurine immediately does as he is told, hands over his room card, and simmers down. Even in joking social media posts, when Jade asks Aventurine to do something (judge the uncut jade stones she sent him), he does it even when she rejects his high demand for profit sharing.

But:

2. Jade actually failed Aventurine's moral litmus test. From the beginning of his adulthood flashbacks, we see Aventurine explicitly troubled by the fact that his human dignity was denied and that a market value was assigned to his existence. And not even a high value. He was sold for pennies. It's the ultimate mortification, and we can tell it is still bothering him to this day because even "future" Aventurine brings up the sting of that bone-deep insult during Aventurine's long walk through Penacony. In response to the indignity, Kakavasha gave his original master a moral test: Kakavasha says that he'll go willingly into the hellscape of the death maze if his master will give him 30 copper Tanba, just half his market value. His master refuses, demonstrating that he does not view Kakavasha as a human being, worthy of any respect. By refusing this tiny, insignificant request, the master exhibits his utter moral depravity, from which there is no return. In response, Kakavasha ultimately kills him and takes the 30 copper coins he asked for (nothing more, nothing less) from his corpse.

When Kakavasha meets Jade, he then makes the exact same demand: He wants 30 copper coins and exactly 30 copper coins. At this point, it is very clear that--to Kakavasha--the coins are emblematic of his value as a human being. (I promise you, somewhere in his apartment right now are the 30 bloody coins he took from his master's cold corpse.) His freedom, his dignity, his worth... All of these things hinge on being able to acquire the original 60 Tanba coins. Thus, those who refuse his requests for the coins also symbolically refuse his request for basic respect, his request to be seen as an equal human being who deserves to not be reduced to mere pennies on a bill of sale.

And Jade refuses this request. She treats the demand for Tanbas like a paltry sum and instead ignores the specificity of the request to give a general "We'll give you riches beyond your imagine, more than you could have ever thought to want." But that isn't what he asked for. She stepped over the request he actually made in order to supplant her ideas, on her terms. Kakavasha made the tiniest, most easily completed request in the world, and in failing to actually just respect what he personally wished for, Jade demonstrated that she ultimately will not really respect him.

Just like his slave master, Aventurine represents a value on a page to Jade. For this reason, even if she extends pseudo-maternal behavior to Aventurine and he laps it up like a starved kitten drinks up milk, we see that he remains more cautious toward her than he does to any other female character in the game. Aventurine comes across as more comfortable talking to Acheron than he sounds when he talks to Jade... Because in failing the most basic and seemingly meaningless test, Jade revealed exactly to what extent Kakavasha can--and cannot--trust her.

Does Jade actually mean Aventurine any harm? No, I really don't think so, and you're right, those who claim that she does are really over-exaggerating Jade's negative traits, mostly because they've almost universally got a strong anti-IPC agenda and hate everything from the IPC except Aventurine on principle. Everything in Jade's character stories points to her honestly wanting to develop the hidden talents of others, to "polish" rough cut stones into true gems, and to see her fledglings thrive. Kakavasha is someone she picked up out of the dirt and dusted off. If he excels, that means her faith was well-placed, her judgment was correct, and her team as a whole excels.

It's exactly like a business owner who takes great pride in producing a fantastic product. Only when the product succeeds can the business itself succeed.

But business owners see their products as objects, not equals.

Jade is a fairly neutral figure and I think she wants to see Aventurine grow and achieve greatness. But at the end of the day, their relationship is very predicated on the notion of investment (Jade puts up the original capital to make Aventurine great, and he repays her faith in him by generating wealth for the IPC). It is clear she just can't be trusted to value Aventurine as a person above a means of profit--and Aventurine knows (and accepts) that too.

[monstersdownthepath]

Herald of Erastil: The Grim White Stag

CR 15

Lawful Good Colossal Outsider

Inner Sea Gods, pg. 286

The second largest of all the Heralds, the Grim White Stag lives up to its name in every respect it can. Despite serving the god of community and family, the Grim White Stag (which I will be referring to as the Stag from now on) is almost always alone, preferring the company of animals and non-sapient beasts to anything else. Despite the fact it can speak and understand multiple languages, even those of the Druids, the Stag has never said a single word to any being that could possibly understand it, leading many to believe it simply can't speak. It is said that the Stag is only ever seen by human life every 20 to 30 years, as it spends all other times withdrawn from civilization walking a relatively lonely path through the forests of Golarion, instinctively avoiding stomping over innocent creatures and valuable plants as wildlife follows in its wake.

Despite its isolationist behavior, the Stag will leap into the fray to defend whatever tiny settlement Erastil commands it to protect with a show of force that may simply scatter the invading force immediately. What fool would stand in the path of a stone and wood deer 60ft tall? Worse still, when the Stag arrives, it often does so with an army; its echoing Bugle can be heard for miles around, with all wildlife and followers of Erastil instinctively recognizing it and instantly knowing the distance and direction of its source. Like something out of a Disney movie (or perhaps a Lord of the Rings film), invading soldiers may hear a low, mournful noise that echoes throughout a nearby forest and hear the footsteps of a titan growing slowly, inexorably closer. Then a 60ft tall incarnate of the wilds breaks the treeline in plodding steps so calm it practically radiates the idea that you couldn't harm it with any weapon you own, glowing white eyes fixed on you and your wicked allies with what is unquestionably a look of judgment, and before your commander can even give the order to fire upon this creature, the forest is alive with the sounds of every beast, bug, and blade of grass turning to take up arms against you.

The first arrow that flies isn't from your side, it's from the men and women in camouflage and animal skins that you didn't even realize had surrounded you until you were already routed, and it's embedded itself in your commander. The battle breaks out, and the titan of nature lowers its head and charges into the fray.

Unlike many of the Heralds we've seen thus far, the Stag is almost entirely built for battle. It's got some minor curative magic, able to use Neutralize Poison and Cure Disease 3/day each, and it's able to use Lay on Hooves 10/day to restore 9d6 HP to any creature in its reach, or to itself as a swift action, but all of this is window dressing. Like the Grand Defender, the Stag exists hit things really hard a lot of times in a row, and in turn be really hard to harm.

To begin with its defenses: A lot of the time, I outright don't talk about any DR or Regeneration Heralds have, because it's often shut down by exposure to Evil weapons and spells, meaning the very creatures they're destined to fight have the easiest time harming them. The Stag, however, has a novel DR that makes it that much harder for most creatures to hurt it: Its DR 10 can only be bypassed by a weapon that's both Evil and silver. Silver weapons are anathema to many fiends and creatures that would otherwise hunt the Stag, so they aren't likely to be carrying them around, and any creature which relies on Evil-charged natural attacks simply can't pierce its DR unless their natural attack somehow counts as silver.

Like many angelic beings, the Stag sheds a 20ft Protective Aura around itself, but sadly it's much weaker than the auras of most true Angels, only granting +4 to AC and +4 to saving throws to every being inside it against the attacks and effects of Evil creatures, rather than just all the time. It also doesn't hedge out hostile spells like the usual Aura, but in all honesty I can see why: it's got a 30ft space. A 20 radius sphere surrounding a 30ft space is a ludicrous area of protection, and since it's Colossal, the Stag can share its space with any number of its smaller allies. Were it afforded the full Protective Aura of the angels, it'd cover a fourth or even half of a typical battlefield with it... but of course, a DM can always modify that if they really feel like giving the Stag some extra juice.

This isn't all the Stag has to offer its allies, though. Defense is well and good, but the Stag can also give some offense with its Cascade of Spears, an intimidating-sounding ability that's actually harmless for approximately 6 seconds. This cascade sees the Stag shaking its head, its antlers shedding massive fragments to the ground below--18 fragments, to be exact, each of which can take the shape of a +1 shortspear, spear, longspear, or bundle of five +1 arrows or +1 crossbow bolts, individually chosen by the Stag as they fall from its head. These weapons retain their magic for only 18 minutes before losing their charge, but that's often enough for them to make a difference in the fight the Stag has joined.

When the Stag itself finally starts swinging, it hurts. It has a pair of hooves which deal 2d8+7 damage each, but its primary attack is a gore, dealing 4d6+14 damage and throwing whoever is hit 10ft away from it... but because it's got a 30ft space and a 20ft reach, its target is likely not knocked out of its melee range, but their own melee range, forcing them to waste time walking back up to it to try again and essentially making it a pseudo-stagger. This also has the side effect of pushing a target out of melee with the Stag's squishier allies while allowing them to still attack with the superior range of their fancy new spears.

Against a whole army of foes, the Stag can simply rush in and Trample over the lot of them, dealing 2d8+21 damage to any creature that doesn't move or doesn't succeed a DC 33 Reflex save. With the majority of its foes likely unable to meaningfully harm it, the colossal cervid can elect to just Trample them over and over each round until the majority are dealt with and its allies move in to mop up. Simple, direct, and effective.

To close out, the Stag has one more unusual act it can perform in order to either bolster an army before a battle or restore them after a pitched fight: Heroes Feast. This isn't like a normal casting of the power, though; the Stag can only perform this act once a month, and it does so by laying down and dying, its wood and stone body splitting open to reveal a banquet for up to 18 creatures. Anyone who partakes gains the benefits of the spell, restoring their bodies and minds and bolstering them against foul elements, whether that be what has passed or what is to come. Thankfully this does not put a permanent end to the Stag, as it returns to full life and health the very next sunrise... so if it performs this feasting ritual at sunset, by the next morning it will be back at full power, just in time for whatever mission Old Deadeye has for it.

You can read more about it here.

[loumoonz]

how do you feel about steven's moral alignment if you had to pin it? (aka, do you think he's neutral evil, true neutral, etc etc, anything off the character moral alignment chart)

OOOOHH okay okay so, me personally, i think that he would be lawful neutral.

Actually, probably on the whole lawful spectrum at points.

Since he is quiitee the awful boss and person in general in the first game, doing things that i would evaluate as "evil" such as framing Jack for murder, all while still estimating murder itself as too evil. Although he didn't really bother whenever someone died in the springlock suit...

That's it, he never really bothered in general after he got springlocked. I would say he definitely is lawful, since he always sticked to his "cause" or, what was made to be his cause after being turned into a Phoney. Always doing what Fazbenders demands/expects from him, such as sending Peter to the factory. Which is quite the awful thing to do. But it is lawful in that sense as well as.. evil? Would be quite lawful if he did it for the companies sake and his loyalty to it, which he does seem quite attached to in general ooorr he might've done it for selfish reasons. Cause he's a coward. Which woouuld push him more to "evil"

All the while,, before he was a Phoney, i would clearly say lawful good as much as we can tell from how far the story goes. Cause he had the moral backbone to stick up to Henry after seeing him murder children and tried to stop him, even to his own demise.

After that ig he just kinda.. broke? I mean it is quite a thing to go through. He probably just got scared and even abandoned his morality to follow orders and just stopped caring for anything besides that. Using every opportunity to let out his frustration on his employees in being an angry ass. (Plus his loss of memory,, which doesn't scrap everything from how it seems, but it does change quite a bit of the Phoneys former personalities logically.)

Maybe he was just too scared from then on, too scared to face the consequences of his actions after that one action led to his own doom. Or just afraid that (since we don't know how much he had before being a phoney) that he loses the only thing that he still has and that might still be important to him (his job) if he disobeys. And fears getting fired. Or rather discontinued i suppose... i sure got a bone to pick with that damn boss of fazbenders

Apart from all that, can't forget that he did stick up to all he did in the end (even if just after lots of pursuing..,) apologised and wanted to make up for it. So he definitely can't be inherently evil. I think he's juuust a big ass coward.

Sooo yeah my conclusion would be lawful neutral all in all! Haha.. i totally did not enjoy this question.. thank you so much.

[obuoliukai]

Were your Durge/Tavs inspired by characters from other movies/shows/literature?

I got tagged by the wonderful @adorablebanite 🍎🖤 (I was so happy to learn more about Lilla and thank you so much for showing interest in mine character!!)

I never really posted much about my Durge Mercy because I really wanted to make some cool art (which would mean I need to get better at drawing haha) so I kept procrastinating.

To put it simply - my headcanon is that she's basically two different people. But not at the same time might I add.

Before the evens of the game while she still had her memory she was a Bhaalist and a snobbish sorceress. She was talented and smart but incredibly anti-social and spent most of her time alone reading or doing some research. She believed that other people are beneath her and are not worth her time. But at the same time she wasn't as evil as you might think. I always imaged her having True Neural alignment.

"True Neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction." (taken from here)

So I really like her ominous and cold demeanor, being apathetic about most things in life and having big "leave me alone" energy. And I especially like that "lack of conviction" fits her very well. Basically she has no strong faiths, beliefs or morals and although she was a Bhaalist she never really gave too many fucks about it (she did not join the cult willingly but at some point just stopped caring).

Rustin Cohle (True Detective) and Death (Supernatural)

Now when you start the game, she wakes up with no memories and additionally my headcanon is that she lost the ability to use magic as well. And I gave it a good think. If a person would wake up with no special abilities and no memory, what class would they be? Obviously, Sorcerer and Wizard are out; you don't immediately start worshiping a god so Clerics are out (and remember she's now much of a believer because of her lack of conviction); you don't immediately sell your soul to the devil so Warlock is out and so on. Until I was left with Barbarian.

So after she woke up on the Nautiloid she picked up a sword and just started swinging it chaotically hoping she would hit someone (a Fighter doesn't fit because she had no training and Paladin doesn't work because she certainly not gonna swear an oath). And Barbarian class also works with her repressed anger issues after so many years of living in apathy.

She then met some people that completely changed her life. She became willing to help someone because it's the right thing to do. Once she began caring about others, it became clear that she would do anything to protect them. I would say her alignment changed to Neutral Good because she had that "I'm not a hero I'm just a person trying to do good" mentality. Which means she didn't think she was a good person but she just chose to do good things. While she cannot control her urges, she tries her best to control her actions. Her way of achieving things is usually morally good but not necessarily lawful.

"Neutral Good characters value life and freedom above all else, and despise those who would deprive others of them. They sometimes find themselves forced to work beyond the law, yet for the law, and the greater good of the people." (once again, taken from here)

She's ready to take down gods because they abused their power and played with mortals. She's intelligent and bold enough to pull out some crazy stunts in order to protect loved ones. And she's not afraid to sacrifice herself while doing so.

Ahsoka Tano (Clone Wars) and Sirius Black (Harry Potter)

Thank you so much for reading! 🍎🍎🍎

One small note: I couldn't figure out a second character for my Redemption Ark Durge so I asked my boyfriend what character he would recommend. And he said Shrek as a joke but it kind of fits. And now I can't stop thinking about it. Like how at the start all he wanted was to be left alone but then he made a few friends, found love and became a better person. How he's not a typical hero you would imagine same as Mercy and oh my god-

My Durge is basically Shrek

[kiiromaru]

THH's Moral Alignement and Reasoning

[spoiler for danganronpa 1]

disclaimer: I haven't read the novels, also these aren't character analysis, just my reasoning for why i put them in this category, also please add onto it if you disagree or have anything to say ^^

Lawful Good

Sakura Ogami: She always takes decisions that she considers to be the best for the people around her : trying to proctect her dojo by accepting to work with Monokuma or committing suicide and making sure to write a letter explaining to everyone why she did it as to resolve the situation and create a more peaceful atmosphere among them.

Kyoko Kirigiri: She has good intentions and i feel like what pushes her to act is kind of a "i can do it therefore i should do it" mindset.

Chihiro Fujisaki: Cute baby sunshine, never did anything wrong in their life.

Ishimaru Kiyotaka: He's the Ultimate Moral Compass, pretty self-explanatory.

Naegi Makoto: A genuinely good person who tries his best to be kind.

Neutral Good

Aoi: We can see during chapter 4 that she put her personal beliefs above all else but even if she tried to kill everyone i still think that she is a good person.

Toko (Ultra Despair Girl): If we were talking solely about THH i would've put her in Neutral Evil since she doesn't care about anyone but herself and is pretty mean (also something that i find very interesting during the 4th trial is that even if throughout the game she seems totally devoted and in love with Byakuya + her obvious lack of self esteem she still chose to defend herself when she thought Genocide Jack had killed Sakura which could've led to his death), but the character development she gets in that game is golden so yeah.

Chaotic Good

Mondo: Feel free to disagree with me on that because of the fact that he killed Chihiro who very much did not deserve it but contrary to what Naegi says in the game it absolutely wasn't a cold blooded murder, himself stating that he blacked-out while killing them. I still chose to put him in good because otherwise he really tried to do the right thing (protecting Chihiro's secret by moving their body or even when in the anime he covered Mukuro's bldy with his coat it showed that he was a kind person) + we also know that he uses his influence to minimize tensions between gangs.

True Neutral

Byakuya: I feel like his god complex makes him kind of uncapable to relate to other people and consider their struggles on the same level as him so he doesn't care about anyone + we saw during the 2nd trial that he definitely can't be described as a good person. I truly feel like he couldn't care less about rules or moral implications as he considers himself above it.

Leon: His actions only seem to be motivated by what he wants in that moment without a lot of reasoning behind it, like changing from baseball to music or killing Sayaka when he could've totally ran away after she tried to kill him.

Chaotic Neutral��

Sayaka : I feel like she's morally neutral in the way where she's so goal-oriented that she doesn't care too much about the means to get to an end (which is also implicate in her backstory) but she's aware that what she does might bad : she was willing to let everyone die and pin the crime on Naegi but once her plan failed she still made sure to save everyone instead by writing Leon's name.

Yasuhiro : I hesitated to put him in chaotic evil because of the fact that he quite literally could have/tried to kill Sakura + he never was particularly kind to no one in the game and tried to steal money from us during his free time (tbh im still kinda mad at the wasted potential of making him a nice chill guy but well). In the end i went for neutral because i feel like its more a case of picking the worst possible choice than being a bad person, even if he is quite selfish.

Lawful Evil 

Hifumi: The reason i put him in "lawful" is because what convinced him to kill Ishimaru was Celestia accusing him of SA, which is an understandable reason especially paired with the chance to get out happy and with Celestia but he was still willing to sacrifice everyone to get out so lawful evil it is.

Neutral Evil

Celestia Lundenberg: It was pretty complicated but i settled on this alignement if we take the things she tells us at face value (since i've seen a few people saying that she wasn't actually trying to win the game and that's why her plan was so sloppy). I don't feel like she's a bad person but she doesn't care about doing bad things to get what she wants.

Mukuro Ikusaba: That's where me not reading the novels probably makes a difference because i know that she gets more development there but based on the game and the anime i have to put her here, even if she was obviously manipulated by Junko she still seemed to agree with her.

Chaotic Evil

Junko Enoshima: Do i really need to explain ?

Genocide Jack: I mean, she enjoys killing people and has no other reason for what she does.

Thank you if you read all of that, sorry for any typos/grammar mistakes, english isn't my first language and i wrote it all in one go. Please tell me what you think :)

[heromaker-if]

Since you said that heromaker used to take inspiration on dnd, what the ROs (+hero) races, classes, subclasses and alignments be? :o)

HI! SO GLAD THIS QUESTION WAS FINALLY ASKED!

The story was so different when it first started, so these answers have changed throughout its development. But thank you so much for asking 💞 (Keep in mind that I don't know that much about D&D, especially subclasses lol)

I know Frey is technically not a RO but Frey has actually had the most development in this department. They were going to be a WARLOCK! Which is crazy to think about now. I'm not going to tell you what race they were since that might delve into spoilers. And alignment is just chaotic good - truly I cannot see them being anything else.

Pachypoda is the one that has probably stayed the most true to the original. They're a druid, but like "dark" druid. I'm really terrible at explaining. They were also a Drow, which was my inspiration for the Nights race. Regarding alignment they're neutral good.

Astro/a is still this, but I was indecisive about them. Which is why in the story they are a ex-bard and ex-monk. Because that's the two classes I was indecisive about for them. Although I believe there is a bard monk class somewhere. Regarding race, they were going to be human. And as always alignment is chaotic neutral.

I can't go into much details for the Secret LIs cause I think that would mostly reveal who they are. So all I'll say is that Secret LI1 was going to be a really antagonist character in the original story, with lawful evil alignment (which I don't think suits them anymore). And Secret LI2 was never in the original plans, but I'd say they are true neutral.

Finally, Hero was originally a paladin of sorts, but considering there is so much that you can change for them now, any class would suit them. Race is also mildly spoilers, so I won't go into it, and alignment was originally chaotic neutral, which goes to show how much of a blank slate Hero was at the beginning of my planning.

Thanks again for the ask! I wish I knew more about D&D but I never actually played it, I've just watched a lot of tabletop RPG shows on youtube LOL 😣

[jeptwin]

It’s been so long since I had an actual reason to post, but here we go!

I want to talk about Dead End Paranormal Park.

And no, contrary to what my previous posts may suggest, I’m actually not going to be focusing on the-frankly awesome-rep of all kinds. Still, it’s worth a mention! I mean, come on! Our main characters are a trans gay jew and an autistic bi pakistani girl!!

But that’s not what I’m going to focus on here. Instead, I want to take the chance to focus on how well Hamish Steele uses highly underutilized tropes in an absolutely brilliant manner.

Spoilers ahead! Be warned, if you see anything you regret, just keep it to yourself darling!

Now for the big stuff: The usage of a Lawful Good antagonist and the morality shift of a protagonist whose ideals have been so challenged and so hurt by those they thought they could trust, that they instead turn on the so-called ‘good’ to fight with ‘evil’.

Now, before I get into details on that last one, let’s start strong with the Lawful Good Antagonist! Like I said, very underutilized, and very hard to do well. The problem with the concept of a ‘lawful good’ antagonist is that they genuinely have to have no ulterior motives to their good; their only goal is to achieve a ‘good’ thing, at any cost. In this case, that’s eradicating the Demons, even at the cost of Humanity, whom they have sworn to protect—after all, what cost is the Neutral Plane if it means the threat of Demons is eliminated? Absolute order must be maintained, and the demons’ very existence threatens to break that order with their Chaos and Evil.

We have seen, too, that it’s not so simple, hence why Hamish Steele does such a good job with this concept. After all, Fingers has selfish motivation, doesn’t he? He’s not Lawful Good. But he is a servant of it, which ultimately means that his actions are meant not to show that the Angels aren’t as good as they seem, but instead to show the lengths they will go to in a character who isn’t as pure as the rest. He, like the Watcher, serves as a foil to the Angels as a whole, showing their sinister side—whereas the Watcher shows their absolute devotion to their cause, and the lengths they will go to to achieve it.

Seeing how well it was done inspires me, because it shows that it can be done, and it can be great. I mean, Angels?? As the villains?? Let’s face it, we can all probably count on one hand how frequently that works out.

And now, for the second trope done well. Or, rather, possibly done well. We haven’t seen it play out yet! But I will say, this is not only a new trope, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen it executed before: A protagonist on the side of good turning to ‘evil’ in order to get justice. And I’m not taking Red Hood style evil, or justice. Norma turning to the Demonic Royal Family is a smart move, and totally in character for her. More than that, it makes sense. While it’s true that it could be viewed as her becoming evil, that’s not actually the case. She’s become an anti-hero by siding with dark forces with potentially terrible goals, because she knows that the Angels need to be stopped. And more than that, she wants to hurt them like they hurt her. So, a little Red Hood I guess! But still, if we do get season 3-and I’m really hoping we do-we have a chance to see a massive reversal in a manner I can genuinely say that, in all my years as a film and tv studies major, I have never seen executed well.

If done right, Hamish Steele could create an entirely new genre of storytelling, and I for one truly hope that we can see it in all its glory.

[prestonmonterey]

oh i do actually have a decent question: where would you place all of the tech theater branches in an alignment chart?

hmmmm

ive never gone to audio or business and marketing

and im not technically part of sets or props (havent really done anything other than talk to you and maddy) (ive never been to props but ive seen them while in costuming a few times)

ok so like the designers/programers and master electrician in lighting are like lawful good

but the rest of us are more chaotic i think so like neutral good leaning chaotic

costuming is true neutral i think

sets is chaotic neutral

props is like lawful good i think idk theyre v quiet (honestly im just realizing that most departments are v quiet without us and like a few people in the play--)

audio is true neutral cuz i think theyre like practically nonexistent

business and marketing is lawful evil i will not elaborate /silly

uhh am i missing any

oh makeup

i forget abt them cuz theyre like so separate from everything else

uhh lawful good i think bc also v quiet (ive only been there once for like five minutes other than boot camp so--)

i think thats all of them :3

[originalgenshinscenarios]

Like I said I wanted to write some monsters so I'm writing monsters ^^

Zhongli, Kokomi, Hu Tao and Baizhu monster scenarios with human reader

Reader here is gender neutral

Cw: manipulation, mentions of violence (Zhongli), mentions of death (Hu Tao), mentions of blood (Baizhu)

Zhongli- Demon

There is a lot of regrets he has yet to get over. Although as a very high rank demon such feelings aren't expected of him.

It's impossible to tell him from human, he used to use it to his advantage but now he's done with causing all of the chaos.

But some of the old habits die hard so he's still obsessed with contracts... Only now he doesn't harvest souls from them.

He just likes having everything on paper since his old mindset often plays pranks on him whenever interacting with humans. He can't seem to trust them is all.

He always knew that law would back him up if he had everything written down. So should any human mess with him he'd use their own system... Should the system fail he'd handle it on his own. Because his violent tendencies haven't exactly died down. As long as he has a good reason he had no problem settling things with violence.

Despite all that he was good at fooling people about being human, but he never felt like one. You helped him change that.

Number one thing that confused him was unconditional kindness. And that's exactly what you displayed.

He never understood how you were always so nice without ever expecting anything of him in return.

It took him a while but he suddenly found himself wanting to do the same for you.

He already was going against his nature for some time by now... Maybe it was three thousand years by now? But he never felt that way about anyone.

You were of course not aware of his true identity, which caused him to worry a lot.

In Liyue he met a lot of exorcists (who to him were laughable) so he knew that humans don't like demons and other evil spirits much.

It was safe to say that he had no idea how he should go about it. He could lie and he wouldn't exactly feel bad about it... What he does care about is losing you should his cover be blown.

To put it simply: He's greedy, and you're what he desires. So losing you will greatly inconvenience him.

Especially since if his identity goes public he'd have to leave the nation and go into hiding for around a hundred years so it all dies down. He'd also have to shift his appearance too... That'd be a hassle.

Wait why is he thinking about losing on the spot? There's no way he'd fail.

He spent most of his life fooling and toying with humans so this should be business as always.

But it wasn't. Due to his feelings he started slipping some information here and there. His save was calling it his attempts at jokes.

One time he almost shifted out of his disguise when you were with him. He actually forgot at the time why he was hiding when he was at home. But he remembered it quickly the moment he heard your voice as he was drifting away with his imagination.

But in the end he managed to pull himself together. He settled all those human emotions and accepted them. Thanks to that he stopped making all of those stupid mistakes. So he came back to deceiving you without a problem.

Kokomi- Siren

She had her territory, where she lived with plenty fish and other sirens. She was their leader in a way but she never ruled them- rather she took care of them.

Boats often caused anxiety to many. No matter if those were actual fishing boats or not they still associated them with losing someone.

She only ever spooked all sailors away from her territory. She never really drowns them.

She'd attack the boats when they got close but was careful to never truly damage them. With her tactics it always worked.

She didn't have to do it often, since most sailors learned to stay away. Not many cared about that "dead" part of the sea anyways.

Even though she should move from that waters, not a lot of things grew there and it was hard to live there- it had sentimental value to her and the others.

Her determination lead her to a point where she found a way to turn herself into a human temporarily.

She'd often visit human lands and read books that could help her make a change. But there wasn't many books on marine biology she could find.

During such trips she met you. It was unexpected but she ended up really liking your company.

She didn't hide the fact that she was a siren. Since relationships are built on trust, so if you won't trust her due to her not being human- then any further form of engagement with you would be meaningless.

Not only that it'd save you some shock. Perhaps if she didn't tell you right away you'd get mad at her for hiding something this important for long.

Fortunately for her you didn't think of it as bad, actually you were fascinated by her.

She found it flattering and eventually the two of you became close. It was also a great opportunity for both of you to learn about your respective worlds.

She didn't ask for your help with her problem, and she didn't expect it of you either. Your relationship was completely outside of it.

Although she was usually the one who visits you, she wasn't against you getting into the boat and swimming over to her, she'd warn her friends and everything would be alright. Or you could meet on the Watatsumi island which she now considered her second home.

She's far more comfortable in her siren self though, so whenever possible she'd just stay in the water.

She didn't sing often, but it wasn't that she wasn't willing to do it for you. She just knew that no matter what her singing voice would hypnotize you and she doesn't want that.

I mean you were already captivated by her so I don't think she needs to sing in order to make you blindly follow her.

Jokes aside she's really happy that she had met you. You help her worry less about all those hardships she has to constantly prepare for. I mean she got so far already, so surely she can power through just about anything.

Hu Tao- Grim Reaper

You could say that she was sort of a sheppard, helping and guiding souls who've passed on.

She helps them feel less afraid as they move on. Usually her words aren't too comforting but they are a good slap from reality many needed more than they thought.

But sometimes she let's them wander around if they have some unfinished business or want to just see someone or even do a little prank.

Everything has it's limits though and when one ghost decided to haunt you for no reason and for too long she had to step in.

Usually when death comes knocking at your door it's easy to lose your cool... But as she explained what she's here for, you were glad that ghost would leave you alone.

You knew she was just doing her job, but you still wanted to show your appreciation.

And that's how it started. You honestly couldn't believe you were flirting with death of all things. But hey, someone would do it sooner or later when death is such a cutie.

Her visiting you so often made things a little exciting. I mean who knows if she won't go to harvest your soul next?

Not that you were looking forward to dying... You just wondered if she'd be blunt about it.

Now that you think about it she definitely would. She'd probably greet you as always and say that it's your time now.

She didn't mind you asking questions about her job. For one she wasn't the only grim reaper. She doesn't have to wear her cloak all the time and she doesn't use or need the scythe. It's just for the effect.

But any questions about dying itself is off limits for her. You can't ask when you die or what exactly happens next. Since who knows if being a ghost isn't just a first phase of a long process?

Although she visited you plenty she also was very busy with working. So to her you were sort of a break from it all.

It's a bit tiring but also satisfying. Like when she calms down a mortal who is cussing her out and helps them understand the purpose of it all. At first it's annoying but in the end things get better.

Still hanging around someone alive was a nice change. Definitely one she welcomed even if she knew it was temporary.

That's why she cherished her moments with you even more. Once you die... I can't tell what happens! Like Hu Tao I won't tell you the end, you'll have to think about it yourself. Will this be THE end or just the beginning?

Baizhu- Gorgon

He was not by any means strong. And I mean both his physical strength and his magic.

At first he had a tough time adjusting to living with humans, but he had his reasons to stay.

Even though not many trusted him he was working at a pharmacy. He was still good at his job and at least plenty of his frequent patients appreciated him. Somehow usually the elderly were the quickest to warm up to him.

Having venomous snakes around was actually very helpful. It usually served purpose for making medicine/antidotes.

Not to mention his blood, for the blood from gorgon's right side can cure anything. Luckily for his profession this part of his gorgon powers weren't much weakened. But he only ever used it when someone had a life threatening disease.

Still only desperate people were willing to take his medicine especially his blood because that's just plain gross by default- no matter what kind. It's not only because not many trust him... Even the ones who do just can't stand the taste of his medicine. He still has a long way to do something fitting for humans not only on strictly health beneficial ways.

As to his problem with his gaze... It's not really a problem. I'll remind you that most of his powers are extremely weak and mere glasses are ale to block his magic. Even if he wasn't wearing them you'd really have to get lost in his beautiful eyes for long in order to be in actual danger.

You were actually caught stating at him once. The only snake that wasn't connected to him- who you later found out was named Changsheng- noticed you and called you out without hesitation.

To your defense at that moment he looked like some form of god. His skin looked like it was glowing but as you got closer it turns out that the effect was caused by his scales.

You went there to pick up medicine for one of your sick friends but when you saw that beautiful man it was easy to forget what you were supposed to say. Not like you could even read the prescription so there wasn't a lot that could save you.

Other than the fact that Baizhu was able to read it so he assisted you without a problem. In the meantime you engaged in smalltalk and he definitely could tell that you were interested in him, fortunately the feeling was mutual.

Even with his friend snake snapping at you every once in a while you still had a pleasant time. So afterwards you talked to each other more frequently.

You usually spent time on a small walks that ended with you just sitting somewhere and talking for hours. That is until he had to go back to work.

The snakes on his head were weirdly calm. I say weirdly because you've noticed that he has plenty of bite marks which means that he might not always exactly get along with them all the time.

But with you things just were different... Besides Changsheng who was a bit sassy with you two. Still she didn't accompany you to most of your dates. It's just that when she did see you with Baizhu she'd not go easy on you.

It was odd but you could feel both sense of routine and chaos when spending time with him. Due to his weakness you had some limitations as to what you could do together... Kinda funny to think that the immortal being is holding the mortal down and not the other way around.

Regardless, my point was that there is always something for one date to stick out more than another even if you were doing almost always the same thing.

One day for example he forgot his glasses and he had to be blindfolded for the entire date. He just insisted on waiting for you at the spot only to realize a bit too late about his lack of glasses.

Even though it didn't pose that much of a threat neither you or him can promise each other not to risk it and stare into each other's eyes for too long.

But I suppose that no matter what would happen to you, he'd do anything possible in order to help you. Especially if it would be his fault.

~Mod Lisa

[destisea-a]

OKAY!!! i am caught up! and let me just throw the contents of my entire brain down here real quick. because man belda/ruit is honestly one of the best written characters i've seen in a while. i mean, tbf all the character in wha are incredibly nuanced and beautiful and loveable. but there is a REASON i am losing my entire mind over him. and it's because he barely skirts the line of being grey aligned, without once stepping into anything considered wrong or evil. like just when you think he might refuse to listen to coco, when he might overstep-- he doesn't. he always always is willing to hear out her side of things!!!!!!!

i think belda/ruit falls so wonderfully into lawful neutral. like he has a certain chaos to him, but it's a lot more tamed than it appears. he's whimsical, charming, creative. he knows he's powerful, but he never once flaunts it or uses it without genuine need or reason. he stands true to his morals, and his beliefs- but he isn't so blinded by law and order that he can't see reason. like how can one man fit so many tropes and traits that i love!?!?!? he is so so so kind hearted, so understanding, so appreciative of coco and her brilliant mind and creativity.

my favorite thing about him is his willingness to turn to others when even he is at a loss. he stands as the wise of teachings- but shows joy and eagerness when learning from younger minds. like there is no one who could ever fit into his role better than he can. belda/ruit embodies curiosity, creativity, and wisdom so well. like this man makes me so sick he's so well written- i could talk about him for hours.

[ravnloft]

hellooooooooooooo i realized i have never done like a full list of my ocs. so here it is

amma theylin: dark elf rogue, chaotic neutral (leans evil), dual-wielding swords and ranged bow, proficient in being sneaky and being hot. tragic backstory is she became infatuated with a guy who was trying really hard to be lawful good and when he dropped the ball on their coup d'état plot she killed him and ran. will do literally anything if it pays well enough. played her in dnd, bg3 and elder scrolls.

lady gwendolyn viridience morrigan, druidess, esq.: half-elf druid, usually chaotic good, majored in botany, minored in ethically questionable usage of charm spells. tends a greenhouse that holds a portal to the feywild, the stewardship of which she was bequeathed by a very powerful archwizard and mentor and good friend, on his deathbed. she never wanted it but the choice was between her and her evil sister/s so the archwizard gave it gwen. now she uses it to (1) be the best damn florist in neverwinter (2) howl's moving castle her way away from bad fantasy tinder dates because she's a hopeless romantic and terrified of commitment. played her in dnd and bg3.

samson o'dare: human/aasimar paladin, true good, big sword and bigger shield, great with animals, has wings like a mourning dove. he worshiped chauntea as a child and then one day lathander appeared to him in the middle of a field and told him it was his holy holy duty to be a paladin of light. samson was like hell yeah i want a sword. and began adventuring. adventuring quickly proved to be far more unpleasant than he had expected and he prays to chauntea every day like "mom i'm scared come pick me up". played him in dnd and bg3.

nol barrow-bound: undead death cleric, ??? (she is extremely impressionable), sickle and staff/half-caster, uses a human skull as an arcane focus and has 1 million holy symbols on her person. used to be a hag's apprentice and then she woke up on the side of the road one day and was just like, "guess i'm an entrepreneur now". gifted alchemist, even more gifted necromancer, makes her living as an herbalist and medium, lowkey cheats on the medium part because she just tells people what they want to hear (or at least what she thinks they want to hear) but she doesn't see it as cheating because she IS contacting the dead she just isn't letting them be RUDE. collects roadkill. also kind of looks like roadkill. one time i thought "haha what if nol and samson were in an adventuring party together" and now they're tragedy-to-romance endgame lovers. played her in dnd and skyrim. she's usually my go-to for dnd oneshots :')

sigg solveig/sigourney gevaudan: human (? she's huge, there's no way she's fully human)/werewolf barbarian, will change her entire ethos if a hot girl says so, sword/axe/hammer so big it is physically impossible for people other than her to wield. tragic backstory is she contracted lycanthropy at a young age and wound up killing her familar. she went into hiding and became a fighter, a laborer, a soldier, whatever put food on her table, but eventually her lycanthropic bloodlust got hard to control and she became a hermit rather than risk killing her loved ones again. she is not smart or wise or especially clever but why would she need to be when she can crush someone's head with one hand. womanizer but her deepest wish is to get married and be a stay-at-home mom baking for her wife every day. played her in pathfinder and skyrim.

princess daisychain frances van pancypants iii: goblin, class variable but generally support/healing, true good. looks like an albino bat. raised by halflings. the sweetest, nicest, tiniest magical girl you will ever meet. completely filled with love. knows one (1) swear word. played her in dnd.

arkhemites "miette" du bäl: tiefling warlock, something evil but might go on a hero's journey idk, worships whatever tentacled space monster is native to the setting. wants to plunge the world into entropy so it can be born anew. she's noble or royal but has like 16 sisters and most of them are older. played her in starfinder.

[thedarknesssings]

Character Summary: Edarien

Alias/nicknames: The most common to hear is Dare, the preferred shortening of his name. Use Ed at your own risk, he hates it.  Others heard on occasion: Secariot, The Sleeper, My Lord, Boss, Sir.

Gender: Male. He/Him.

Age: 67 years; 32nd Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon (Dec 31st)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Althyk)

Abilities  + talents: Skilled Practitioner of Thaumaturgy and Black Magic.  He has extensively studied the thaumaturgic and void arts, in particular mhachi practice and history, especially interested in their use of voidsent, binding, summoning and banishing them.  

More recently, he’s gone through combat training to acquire the strength and skill to use a scythe in the style of a reaper.  His voidsquirrel, Squee, received a promotion in power to assist him better in battle.  He also has studied the runic ways of the arcanist, although he rarely practices this other than to include some of the knowledge for summoning in with his abyssal and voidal practices.  He never quite got the hang of healing magic.  

The nature of the beast lying slumbering in his soul is an eldritch being of the Abyss and lends Edarien peculiar talents.  Most of his darker magic is laced with the cold damp of the Abyss and feels disconcerting to others when he casts.  

Edarien is an exceptional knitter and has a plethora of knowledge on wine making, spelunking, footwear (read boot fetish), fashion, and moonlights as the main vocalist for a little known rock band.  He’s a good businessman and adept with numbers, having more than tripled the profit and reach of his family’s trade company since his parent’s passing.

Alignment:  lawful / neutral / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true

Religion: On the surface, the Secariots speak of Nymeia as their patron deity.  However, this is a front to cover the fact they are part of a cult that has roots deep in duskwight history.  Part might be an understatement as Edarien is very much at the forefront of this old religion, his mother having been the former High Priestess.  Old…Eldritch, one might say.  “There are portents in the darkness, their voices sing should you only but listen.”  He’s smart enough to attempt to keep this cult affiliation to himself.  

Sins: envy / greed / gluttony / lust / pride / sloth / wrath

Virtues: charity / chastity / diligence / humility / justice / kindness / patience

Languages:  Fluent in common, the old Gelmorran dialect, current Gridanian dialect, mhachi, an eldritch tongue, traders’ cant, and thieves’ cant.  He can read and interpret an array of runic languages, especially those related to magic. He can passably speak the current Ishgardian dialect, the dialect used in the Ul’dah area, the I tribe dialect (he employs most of them), and old Sharlayan.  There are bits and pieces he knows from other languages usually related to trade and bargaining in them, such as Thavnairian, sailors’ cant, doman, hingan, and garlean.

Family:  Spider (né Araignee) Secariot (brother) and Xavipere Secariot (brother). Rainimont Griseaux (husband).  He is not aware of any other living family members.

Friends: Edarien’s aloofness makes it hard for him to connect on deeper levels with people.  Quite frankly, he’s bad at peopling.  He considers the people of Priarch as his extended family and would do just about anything needed for any of them.  Some that have become closer to him are Silvain, Inwa, Talia, Rain, Idristan, and Rinalys.  Strangely he clicks pretty well with Urien when -things- don’t get in the way.  He has a bit of a crush on Lyrin’a. 

Sexuality: heterosexual / bisexual / pansexual / homosexual / demisexual / asexual / unsure / other (The Fae are confusing, okay!)

Relationship: single / partnered / engaged / married / widowed / open relationship / divorced / not ready for dating yet / it’s complicated

Libido: sex god / very high / high / average / low / very low / non-existent

Build: slender / average / athletic / muscular / curvy / other

Hair: white / blonde / brunette / red / black (blue-black)

Eyes: brown / blue / gray / green / black / other 

Skin: pale / fair / olive / light brown / brown / dark / other: Ash grey

Height: 6’8”

Scars:  He has a few from fights and near death experiences littering his body.  The most prominent one is the one that slashes across his face, damaging one of his eyes and making it look paler than the other.  

dogs or cats || birds or bugs || snakes or spiders || coffee or tea || ice cream or cake || fruits or vegetables || sandwich or soup || magic or melee || sword shield scythe dagger or bow || summer or winter || spring or autumn || past or future

A few songs that remind you of them:

Glitter and Gold - Barns Courtney

You Should See me in a Crown - Billie Eilish

Devil - Two Feet

My Blood - Twenty One Pilots

Tagged by:  @houserosaire​

Not going to tag directly but if you see this and wanna, Tag you’re it!

[writteninthesewalls28]

The moon loves us

A/n: This work is part of the "be my valentine challenge" by @bemyvalentinechallenge

Summary: They are in a long distance relationship and talk every single night over the phone.

Warnings: not proof read

He was counting down the few last minutes till it would finally be midnight.

3…

2…

1!

And his phone, lying in his hands immediately started ringing.

His favorite contact ID "Livie <3" came on the screen and he took the face time call, having the biggest smile in his face, as always.

He wouldn´t lie, a long-distance relationship because his girlfriend decided to fulfill her dream and go to Harvard wasn´t easy.

But he would´ve been the last person to tell her, she shouldn´t do it. Becoming a lawyer had been her childhood dream for forever. As long as he knew her, all she ever talked about, was studying at Harvard and having an own law firm.

He felt happy for her, that she got the chance to live her life the way she wants and not the way, someone tells her to live it.

He just doesn´t have a goal he wanted to archive.

So… he´d just continue the family tradition and have an own farm, well it will be his someday. For now, it still belongs to his dad. It at least made him happy.

But, his girlfriend Livie, she was the true light in his life, she kept him from being a lonely spirit.

"Jack! I´ve missed you so much today!" Livie started talking. She loved telling him about her amazing days: with whom she talked, which projects she worked on, who she met, who she hated. He knew everything about her campus life, without actually being there, which made him feel a lot more closer to her.

Jack never had many friends. He was the definition of the ´loner´ every school had in some ways. Nobody ever drew attention to him, which he liked. He loved being under the radar, no attention on him.

But Livie, she was the complete opposite. For her, the best part of a day, was talking to others, meeting new people and discussing different opinions.

The lively college life was perfect for her.

And the silent farm life the best for him.

Maybe that´s what made them so perfect for each other, they balance one another out.

"Missed you too Livie! How was your day?" Jack asked, exactly knowing how excited she would be to tell him all about it.

"AMAZING, exhausting, but amazing. We talked about lots of different laws and discussed the american law system. Did you know that Germany has the best law system? At least that´s what our german professor told us… so maybe he´s not exactly the most neutral person to ask…" He just loved listening to Livie talking with him.

He tends to think that she´s only this excited and chaotic around him. In some way, she only was herself around him, the only time of the day where she could really talk about her unfiltered thoughts with someone who cares for her and would never even have the idea to judge her for her opinion.

"And… how was your day?" she asked after telling him about the new evil girl who showed up in class today and wanted to sit on Livies seat, but she stayed persistent and didn´t give in.

"I rode Benny a little bit today. The vet said, I´m slowly allowed to train him again. Nice feeling to sit on him again, after such a long time…" He always didn´t talk that much about his day. He prefered staring at the moon and hearing her voice.

This was his safe place.

Because of this moment, looking at the moon and having a conversation with his favorite person on this planet, Jack stayed alive. He was looking forward to this every single day.

"You know, I think the moon loves us." he suddenly said, immediately wanting to take is words back.

He heard Livie laughing. "Yeah, probably. We keep him entertained, don´t we? Thanks for listening to us every night, lovely, bright moon."

That´s her, she doesn´t find anything weird or confusing. She understood him like she understood her confusing little law texts everybody else hates.

She loves the unwanted.

And he desperately hoped, it would never ever change.

He didn´t want to end as a lonely spirit, he wanted to stay alive, alive with Livie and the moon by his side

[wc-adventure-game-35e]

Warrior Cats Cosmology

So I began looking into 3.5e mechanics and rules, had a headache, so I'm deciding to focus some time on worldbuilding. And starting off by creating a system of afterlives, planes of existence, and laying the foundation for the workings of things like spirits and deities, which will be written and posted next.

I have decided on using the basis of the Forgotten Realms Cosmology system. There will be 12 different planes of existence and 3 different afterlives.

Planes of Existence:

Living World - This is the plane that all living creatures inhabit. Spirits may not actually visit this plane of existence.

Dawn Dreams - This is a realm between the Living World and StarClan. It looks the same as the Living World, but in a constant state of newleaf dawn. Living cats with a strong spiritual connection, like leaders and oracles, can visit this plane in their dreams. StarClan cats may visit this plane at any time. Since this plane is so close to the Living World, StarClan cats in this plane can speak to living cats not in the Dawn Dreams. This would be how some cats that may receive visions or prophecies from StarClan.

Dusk Dreams - Functionally very similar to the Dawn Dreams, but this plane exists between the living and the Dark Forest. Dusk Dreams exist in a permanent chilly leaf-fall dusk.

The Veil - This plane is similar to Dawn Dreams and Dusk Dreams, but is not in between anything. The Veil is the end place for any cats that are True Neutral and do not believe in an afterlife or have a patron deity. They wander endlessly among a world almost exactly like the Living World.

The Green Hills - A plane of existence for Chaotic Good StarClan cats. This plane exists as a eternal greenleaf with rolling green hills, just warm enough to bask in, but not too hot. As such, this plane is also in eternal daytime.

The High Sky - A plane of existence for Neutral Good StarClan cats, a world of endless clouds and peaks of mountain tops poking through. Cats here are free to "fly" around and enjoy the eternal leaf-fall breeze. This plane is in an eternal day as well.

The Flowering Forest - A plane of existence for Lawful Good StarClan cats. This is an eternally newleaf forest, full of beautiful flowers and occasional light rain. The sun never sets here.

The Soft River - A plane of existence for Lawful Neutral StarClan cats, a world of green grass cut with many rivers of chilled water. While it does often snow in this plane of eternal leaf-bare, the rivers never freeze or get too cold. The rivers are gentle streams as well. This plane is eternally daytime.

The Deep Swamp - A plane of existence for Lawful Evil Dark Forest cats. They live in a swamp filled with dark sticky mud and stuffy air from the eternal greenleaf. It is always night here.

The Endless Cave - A place of existence for Chaotic Evil Dark Forest cats. They wander in a cave with no way out, occasionally drowning in the new-leaf rain. While no one can see the sky here, it's always nighttime.

The Raging Storm - A place of existence for Neutral Evil Dark Forest cats. With no trees or brush, cats are forced to be exposed to constant storms that rage on all throughout the eternal night.

The White Woods - A place of existence for Chaotic Neutral Dark Forest Cats. This plane is nothing but an eternally leaf-bare forest, constantly deep in snow.

Afterlives:

StarClan - While StarClan is an afterlife, the actual StarClan territory is an alliance between the Green Hills, High Sky, Flowering Forest, and Soft River. In those 4 planes, prey is abundant and cats are at peace. Upon coming here, cats take the form they were most happy with in life, meaning cats that were disabled may choose to keep their disability or not. StarClan cats of the 4 planes may meet at Dawn Dreams to hold gatherings and share tongues with cats of any other StarClan planes.

Dark Forest - Similar to StarClan, the Dark Forest consists of the Deep Swamp, Endless Cave, Raging Storm, and White Woods. However, these planes of existence contain no prey and instead house horrid monsters. These monsters are incredibly hostile and will fight with spirits sent here.

The Unknown - This afterlife only hold the Veil. Prey is not abundant, but does exist. Monsters may lurk in the shadows here as well, but are very much uncommon.

Clanmew Names:

Clanmew is a language from @bonefall, I used the Clanmew Lexicon for these translations.

The Living World: Huffwapappa "Life Walk"

Dawn Dreams: Awhafaen, coming from Awhaffaeln "Dawn Dream"

StarClan: Shaiafehao "Star Peace"

The Green Hills: Lokroob, coming from Lololkroob "Green Hill"

The High Sky: Wamoyaawrl, coming from Waymoryaawrl "Tall Sky"

The Flowering Forest: Ponayaog, coming from Ponmayaog "Flower Forest"

The Soft River: Afsbass, coming from Afissbass "Soft River"

Dark Forest: Loerrborrl "Dark Forest" (Clanmew Official)

Dusk Dreams: Awmuen, coming from Awmunfaeln "Dusk Dream"

The Deep Swamp: Byokolf, coming from Byyokolpf "Blood Swamp"

The Endless Cave: Yoshoken, coming from Yoshomken "Midnight Cave"

The Raging Storm: Hissanbaho, comin from Hissabahahao "Angry Haster" (Haster is a violent storm)

The White Woods: Oskakossa, coming from Oskarrkossa "White Woods"

The Unknown: Ostapap, coming from Ootss'hapappa "Unknown Walk"

The Veil: Nefkohuffwa "Different Life"

[mountainashfae]

I’m in a DnD brainworms mood (misdirected as I try to prep a session) and honestly I’m kinda mad that some really fun character concepts I’ve had were squandered on a group where one game just halted itself into hiatus and the other game is the one where I got unceremoniously blocked for reasons that I still don’t entirely know.

They were both so COOL to play around with even with the characters not having a ton of motives on their own. Sometimes it’s fine to have a character go with the flow of the party until they have a big moment and know what they want for themselves. Putting this under a cut because it got a lil long and ranty

Victor was a really fun concept for me of a dullahan with amnesia, dropped into an unfamiliar landscape and time and having to slowly relearn things about himself. He was a Neutral Evil Oath of Treachery Paladin. His top priority at all times was his own self-preservation at the expense of others if need be, but not actively malevolent. He technically had broken the paladin oath from his life that he doesn’t remember, by betraying his comrades with the intent of saving himself. He was in the middle of Barovia tossed in with the party and nobody trusted him because he was SO accidentally shady. There was another dullahan who was missing his head and CONVINCED that Victor’s was his own. Victor didn’t even know if his head belonged to him or not. We never got past the village of Barovia because the progress was at a crawl for some reason despite playing for months and by the time we got to Ireena and Ismark we learned that nobody trusted the non-human and magic using PCs so it was like the narrative was punishing us. Victor could’ve been so cool to explore. He could’ve had a cool arc about realizing the things he did in the past and seeing if the interactions he had with the party up to that point would make him regret the past or not.

Lucio was a backstory NPC turned into a PC just for fun. The entire idea was that the True Neutral Draconic Heritage Sorcerer (who tHAT DM messed up the original concept of by making him half-dragon and then teased me for not making him a dragonborn. Like come on. You did this. I’m keeping him an elf) was only in the city because of a bet he made with his brother. He didn’t CARE about everything else going on. He just wanted to keep his young son safe and make progress on that bet and the party was a means to an end. They knew from the beginning that he was not interested in anything else, that he was not good at socializing, that his father murdered a large group of paladins that one of the other party members belonged to. And yet? It was my fault for seeming disinterested in the group antics in a campaign that I was told was supposed to be more dungeon delving? For involving my son in a lot of interactions because otherwise Lucio would not participate? For showing interest in fighting the antagonist group (even if we knew they would kick our ass) because they badly injured my brother? He was true neutral raised by lawful evil, I’m always fascinated by how a character of that alignment could have their actions influenced by those around them.

well that turned into a rant and I’m so glad I’m not in that group anymore because I really did stop having fun. I want so badly to find a way to repurpose Victor and Lucio without being reminded of that group.