#ankou team

[squibhell]

Happy splatfest, Flynn is representing team fun! Feel free to say hi if you see him in your lobby

Plus Ankou hiding in a corner :3

[beesmygod]

today is webcomics day. i am bea and i make "A Ghost Story" - part 1: pre-gaming

webcomic day is a yearly celebration of the art form concocted by the screentones podcast team as a way for people to see how the sausage gets made. my webcomic "a ghost story" has been running for over 10 years, and yet i still don't think i can say i am good at making a webcomic. regardless, the comic is getting made because otherwise i become very, very sick in the head. today i would like to share with you the process of making a page of "A Ghost Story" from start to finish. either this demystifies the process or will make you think im so cool and strong for doing this 2x a week. instead of reblogging this one post until it gets very long, i will be posting individual updates that i will then compile and post on my personal website. block the tags now if you HATE comics and want them to EXPLODE.

if you have any questions, even things like "what the fuck are you even talking about" feel free to ask. i want to feel confident in what i make again and i think sometimes interrogation from an outside source is really

---

that said, let's get started. wait just kidding i want a cup of coffee first, hold on.

ok now im ready. i have a big glass of water. i have coffee. i have a headset for the parts of work that don't involve typing words. i can't type words and listen to some streamer babble in my ear at the same time, so it has to be instrumental music or nothing. i just took my meds so they should kick in after about 30 mins. i woke up late today, which is weird and annoying. but maybe i can work late instead.

first off, i need to know where i'm going beyond this one page. if i dont know where im going with something, then i usually create something that sucks that i have to deal with later. hold on my internet died, i have to reset the router. ok, anyway.

what's rattling around in my brain is that not only do i have to deal with maxine's current predicament, i am also dealing with multiple plot elements i need to wrap back around to from the previous chapter. luckily, im about to put maxine down for a nap, which means i can get back to those other elements:

i need to finish the exposition from the three ankou characters for this story arc establishing their motivations as the oppositional force in the story. the "villain" is not these three specifically, but their boss. they need to have a loose understanding of what's going on in order to communicate this to the audience. god this started turning into a huge ass paragraph so i'll just keep it short there.

we've jumped back to before jack's horrible day from the first chapter of this storyline so we have to make our way back toward that and then lapping it, which means wrapping up his various open threads like:

feeding victoria and learning something new about her

finding out alice is a very exceptional employee who is getting many awards

watching valdo call lily while interrupting her during something personal to ask her for help with maxine's situation.

jack meeting with valdo and lily the day after they first met so jack can just tell them straight up that lily has 4 sisters she doesnt know about.

help that girl with her poltergeist problem. remember that. i've had jokes for this rattling in my head for like 4 years. im going insane.

and also the fucking tilberi!!! that has a point its going somewhere!!! there's a larger menace here!!!

other things to set up the climax of this storyline. sexual tensions, hints at larger emotional problems not immediately evident to the reader

lots of moving parts. and i feel like im moving in slow motion to get to them. i can see them all weaving together in my head, its the process of putting that onto paper that's proving difficult.

ok that took an hour starting and stopping. -_- let me write the next part as i keep brainstorming on how to approach this page. taking a "rubber duck" approach to this might help. heres an image from the last page i worked on (i have a 5 page buffer rn so the site does not match the finished pages) to get us semi-situated.

also because images will help people understand what skill level we're working with here. i need to be able to communicate an idea to the audience; if the art also looks good on top of that, then that's just an added bonus. but the ability to communicate my ideas is sometimes hampered by my lack of artistic skill or comics language ineptitude. like those speech bubbles kind of fucking suck but at a certain point you have to just hit print on what you're working on in order to keep your already glacial pace.

webcomics is a tightrope act where you're also spinning 4 plates at once. the trick is to keep the audience from realizing how many actually fall or how wobbly they all are. the act sucks but technically its not a failure.

[weatherman667]

Girls und Panzer OAV's (main season)

Lazy.

The jokes are funny, but don't land. An entire episode is dedicated to justifying the school ships, which are the worst part of the series. But these are things they learn to do better in the OAV's with the following releases.

The first two episodes are beach episodes, except they manage to do less than typical generic beach episodes. The show also made the stylistic choice to draw high school girls as middle school girls. They are cute, if inaccurate. This works with the show itself, and in the show itself, you only ever seen them undressed in the bath.

In Japan, a sports team would often go to a public bath, and have a team meeting there.

So, what do you have when you have a beach episodes? Lolis in bikinis. They take the interesting idea of what the different Oarai teams would conceive of when camping, and what kind of swim suits they would wear, and then doesn't really do anything with them. The characters all lose a couple dozen points of IQ, and their personalities become even more one-sided. This is because in the anime the tanks are the main characters, with with the girls acting as aspects of the tank's personality. One of the things the OAV's are lacking is conflict, and so they have to pull conflict out of their asses.

To do the exact same thing, they could have had the girls do a practice match in their swimsuits, which is quickly resolved, and then they jump out to swim. Conflict: Tank on Tank action.

Have the girls break into a beach volleyball tournament. Conflict: Volley Ball.

Have the girls setup their tents. The History Club / Team Hippo don't want to share their fancy encampment. Conflict: Siege.

Would it be silly? Yes. Would it be fun, oh, hell yes.

Let's take the School Ship episode. Instead of having them justify the supremely stupid school ships, they could have had them get lost, and the conflict is man vs. nature. This is similar what they eventually do with the Shark team, which is why I say that they definitely learned how to do this well, they just learned after they did the initial OAV's as a quick and lazy cash grab.

Ankou Dance was... the full Ankou Dance, which I was honestly interested in watching.

The Snow War had Erwin and Yukari lecturing each other on history, causing them to lose their memories for half of the episode. It also undermined their reconnaissance abilities.

The final one is setup as a talent competition, but forbids them from using their actual talents, and gives them barely any time to prepare. Which could have easily been setup as a series of actually interesting sketches. It starts off with them reading letters from the other teams, which was interesting, but they wanted to spend more time setting up the not talent competition.

But, like I said, they learned to do this much better in following releases, with the OAV's being much better, and the Anzio Battle being genuinely hilarious.

[rwbyazre]

How about Team RWBY’s families?

We definitely have the families for Team RWBY, they’re the second important team in AZRE lmao

Both Ruby and Yang have the same family, since they’re, you know, sisters, so they’ll share this section together. 

Taiyang Xialong is the still the dad for both Ruby and Yang, and his design doesn’t actually change from canon. The only things I changed with him is colouring issues. 

His skin is obviously darker than what it looks in canon, even with the varying skin tones he has. Really, the cloest would be how he is in RWBY Chibi, since he’s considerably darker than his daughters and his RWBY counterpart. Plus, his hair is less desaturated and just lighter than Yang’s bright golden yellow, since it got lighter as he got older. 

His eyes are also a more purplish indigo than the actual blue he has in the show. 

The last thing is his pauldron on his shoulder. I changed it from silver to gold, since the silver metal clashed really badly with his overall warm pallete. Nothing too crazy for Tai’s redesign in AZRE, just a few bits and pieces so he’d look better in my vision. 

I also gave him a little design for Beacon, just so he had a keychain with Summer for my sister and her fiance.

He still has the overall colour scheme as his older self, and uses reddish browns and oranges compared to Yang’s more stark black and reds. It makes him seem more warm and mellow to contrast the dangerous fire that Yang embodies. He also had an undercut.

I actually answered a whole ask for Summer’s design alone, you can find it here!

What I will say is that I primarily redesigned her so that she could both be Ruby’s mother and her own character, so her design has her with features that Ruby took (such as the hair and eye colour) while being different in other ways (she’s pale skinned, has wavy hair texture, and even her clothing style is, while gothic like Ruby’s, far more sexy.

Which is where Yang actually gets her fashion style from. Plus, the yin necklace is directly connected to Yang’s necklace, so Summer has something for both of her daughters regardless of her blood relation to Yang. 

Raven was redesigned to move away from the Japanese style clothing, and play more into her Norse/Celtic allusion and naming. The in-universe reason I gave for them being in Anima is simple migration; the Branwen Tribe was originally from Northern Vale, like other Celtic inspired tribes such as the Ankou, before they migrated over the frozen seas to Solitas and Anima collectively. 

So the Branwen tribe has their own fashion and culture to the majority in Northern Anima, especially since they actually travel across the entire continent rather than seemingly remaining up north.

But back to Raven specifically, I kept the mostly black and red colour scheme to contrast with Qrow’s lighter pallete, since it sells a more dangerous and deadly look for Raven in fitting to her character. She now also has a cape as a subtle connection to Summer, who she had a conflicting relationship with, and to add some more of a leader vibe to her now. 

She still has the rainbow sheath, but her katana was swapped for a more European Carolingian sword, which were only used by those of higher status since they were more expensive to make; hinting to Raven’s higher status in her tribe. 

Her sash over her stomach was also reminsicent of an obi, which does at least connect Raven to her home in Anima, but I added feathers and her emblem on it to connect her to her namesake. I think I’d redesign her bottom half honestly, it’s a bit plain and I’m not a fan of the shoes. 

She obviously still has most of her characteristics; her pale skin, feather textured black hair, her red eyes, and her bandana. I also gave her face scars to add to the dangerous look and because I wanted to. 

Qrow’s outfit is very much the same. I only added some details to give him a more dishevelled look, like his body hair/eyebags, and made his eyes the same red colour as Raven’s than the pinkish red he has in canon. 

You can’t see it in the full body, but he wears a ring on his right hand that Winter gave to him.

It’s silver but with a green gem, to match her green eyes.

I actually haven’t designed him an Atlas outfit. I already talked about how I felt about his canon Atlas outfit, since I like how it looks but feel that the colouring brings it down, so I’m unsure on whether I’d take more inspiration from that and just make it more suitable for Atlas along with fixing the colouring. 

Qinri Xiaolong is the only original character I made for the Xiaolong family, the one that appears anyway, who lives with Taiyang and his daughters. She thre great grandmother, but raised Taiyang as a child and so is seen more as his mother and grandmother of Ruby and Yang instead.

She lived before the Great War, and actually fought in it as a teenager, so her style of fashion is more of the traditional Tang Dynasty hanfu compared to her more western grandson and great granddaughters. Her blue and more water themed design is a contrast too, since she embodies the traditional chinese dragon with rivers and water compared to yang embodying the more western fire dragon. 

Very much the grandparents who grew up in their native home compared to diaspora grandchildren. 

The crests on her shoulders as well are the Taoist symbols, since she very much is a firm believers in the ancient ways rather than more modern beliefs that others might have. 

Now that Ruby and Yang’s are done, we can move on to Weiss.

Weiss’ grandparents aren’t shown, and Nicolas himself is important, but I haven’t settled on a design for him yet. I like the idea of his red scarf, but his canon design with the armour looks a bit too out of place, especially for the more Victorian style I’ve put in Atlas. He might get a design, he might not, his appearance isn’t really that important since he’s already dead. 

Biggest change for Jacques in AZRE is that his defining colour was changed from white to blue, so his design was changed to really bring this colour forward with the darker blues and greys to offset him from Weiss’ lighter blues and whites. 

His all white business suit was changed for a more defined over coat and crevat, similar to what Willow wears, since Atlas as a city takes more after rich Victorian fashion. His sleeves also have his style of the Schnee emblem, while the belt buckle and shoulder pads have the traditional emblem. He’s very proud and adament to keep the Schnee family in power and continuing strong, so he slaps the emblem everywhere to show it. 

The bottom of his coat tails also have white crystals on them, just like Willow and Weiss, to connect to his family business in Dust.

With his physical features, his blue eyes are still the same, which Weiss inherited, but his natural black hair is still shown, just greying with most already turning white to show his age. 

Willow’s design is very similar with the purple vest, skirt and crevat, but I did change some things around so that Whitely and Weiss have aspects of her design in their own. 

She has the shoe gems, crystal decals on her vest, and painted nails that Weiss obviously has in her Beacon outfit, while having the frilled sleeves and crevat that Whitley wears. I also have her eyes be indigo, which Whitley inherited rather than Jacques’ blue eyes. Willow’s hair is still naturally white, explaining Winter/Weiss/half of Whitley’s.

Not much to say since I kept it so similar, just adding bits to connect her to her children. 

Winter’s AZRE outfit had changed from her canon ones, mostly so that her uniform is closer in style to the uniforms worn by other upper ranks in the army. 

Now her story is different in AZRE than in RWBY, since I combined my Winter Watts! AU with AZRE to have this Winter who stays in Atlas rather than being taken by Watts in her backstory. This is why she has tanned skin and green eyes rather than her canon pale skin and greyish blue eyes. It also makes her only Weiss and Whitley’s half sister. 

Now her outfit still has the white coming through with the large overjacket and fur trimmed boots, but she also uses more darker blues than Weiss, with the royal blue and periwinkle, very similar to Jacques’ blues than Weiss’ ice blue. She can try to cover up his effect on her but it’s still just under the surface. 

Similar to Jacques, I gave Whitley a bit of a redesign to move away from the boring vest and tie, so now he’s obviously taken heavily from Jacques’ own design, since Whitely really doesn’t have a say in what he wears.

He’s also the Mirror to Weiss’ Snow White in AZRE, so he has the mirror in his crevat, along with the gem having the colours seen in the mirror in the Snow White Disney movie. The inside of his coat is also the same shade of purple that Willow wore, so while Jacques dresses Whitley up to be a mini him, Whitley does keep some bits of Willow. 

Especially since Whitley is the only one to inherit Willow’s indigo eyes, and has split black/white hair. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t a copy of Weiss like the Schnee siblings are in RWBY. 

Klein is considered part of Weiss’ family, but his design is still the same in AZRE since I liked it enough and couldn’t be bothered redesigning him. 

The one original character for Weiss’ family is actually Winter’s daughter; Winijay, or Jay for short. I don’t have a design for her as a child, but here’s her design as an adult. 

I had actually drawn her before starting AZRE, so her design hadn’t changed from it all that much. She very much has Winter’s features, skin tone, and eyes, but Qrow’s black hair and fashion sense, since she’s closer to Qrow than she is to Winter and idealises her father. 

Still, the sleeves are similar to the sleeves of Winter’s first canon outfit, and her boot was changed from the all blue thigh high to a fur trimmed black one instead, since it contrasts with the mostly blue prosthetic. Her colour scheme is meant to mimic the blue jay, another corvid like Qrow.

She’s actually one of my favourite designs, I’ve always loved Jay’s look. 

Finally, there’s Blake’s family. Hers is actually the smallest, since most of her family members actually died before she was born, and her mother was an orphan who joined the White Fang just as it started. 

Both Ghira and Hajimu were done here for Adam’s section, since they’re his adoptive parents.

But there is one more person who wasn’t included for Adam, since she died just before he was adopted and never got to meet him. 

Chandra Devi is Blake’s paternal grandmother and where both she and Ghira get their Indian heritage from, since Aurelé is French. She came from Eastern Anima originally, similar to Kaanchana and Sienna, where she and Kaanchana take inspiration from Haryana clothing specifically. 

Since she’s connected to the moon, her colour scheme reflects that with the pale whites/blues and blacks, plus her moon patterns on her headdress. She also has the bindi as a married woman, similar to Sienna having the same bindi.

Really, I designed her to take heavily from Ghira and Blake, she’s the one with the black hair and panther traits, as she has the ears, slit pupils, and claws that her son and granddaughter have as well. Though, the gold eyes came from Aurelé rather than her, since Chandra has purple eyes instead, and she’s noticebly more darker skinned than Ghira and Blake. 

And that’s it for Team RWBY’s families!

[anime-of-the-day]

Anime of the day: Girls & Panzer

Released: 2012

I don’t know how this fell into my lap, but it became a guilty pleasure fast. This anime is about high school girls who drive tanks. The nice thing about this anime is that I was able to watch this at lunch at work. I have no problem watching anime at work unless it’s something that would require me to explain too much. This anime was clear and would be easy to explain if someone came in while I was at lunch. It’s moe at it’s finest and I wish there was more.

Let’s talk music. This anime has an opening, "DreamRiser" by Choucho, and an ending, ``Enter Enter MISSION!" by  the Ankou Team AKA the cast, but it has more. In fact there is a whole playlist made by spotify for this anime. I enjoy the “into battle” songs the most. They are just so serious and then a girl sings and it’s suddenly adorably serious.

[myanimegirllist]

Mako Reizei

[twiliastral-squids]

Team Chaos gets the win!! 

 I had a great time playing with friends so I wanted to draw something about it. Thank you for the games 💛 @woomyhitsu  @jello-slosher @squeeds

[plushyteeths]

gender envy but it gets randomly concerning gonna be updated occasionally !!

   + ravens    + it’s the end of the world as we know it by r.e.m.    + the snail bomb from half dead 3    + the creatures from gtfo    + black cats with solid white eyes    + mothman    + forget-me-nots    + facial scars & piercings    + stick n poke tattoos    + early 2000s band rubber bracelets    + gloomy bear    + the russian sleep experiment     + the vibes of a city after dark    + pitbulls    + anthrax [the disease , not the band]    + pink & green plushys    + bags covered in pins & keychains & patches    + weird really specific vintage pins/graphic tees/etc    + dermestid beetles     + turkey vultures     + banshees    + teeth    + wet specimen hearts    + bible accurate angels    + kandi accessories    + “i am made of memories” from the song of achilles    + like , the entirety of cemetery boys    + crona from soul eater    + get cool by stray kids    + also god’s menu by stray kids    + also also back door by stray kids     + guts    + hanahaki disease     + the bandsintown logo    + samsara room    + endermen     + cherries    + lord death from soul eater    + dr stein from soul eater    + grell from black butler    + undertaker from black butler    + the word boom    + infections    + ankou    + the like ,,, apple spice candle scent    + the word swarm    + “history , huh ?” from red , white , & royal blue    + baz grimm-pitch    + full body stims    + magpies    + the black dahlia [esp the mouth cuts]    + semi-sweet chocolate chips    + scott pilgrim vs the world ruined a whole generation of women by negative xp    + rosaries & straight razors     + existential crises     + the word queue     + frog skeletons     + dandelions    + crocuses     + the moon from soul eater    + the word hollyhock    + scourge from warrior cats    + the horseman of pestilence     + bloody noses    + oogie boogie & boogie’s boys from the nightmare before christmas    + the scary teddy from the nightmare before christmas    + spraypaint    + steel-toe docs    + sour candies    + scars on your knees from skinning them alot    + buttercups    + smoking     + the word heretic    + shane madej’s vibes    + there is no game : wrong dimension    + my oversize walking dead tshirt    + izze blackberry soda    + plushtrap from fnaf4    + this one bunny plushy i have with really long limbs    + toothfaeries    + swamp creatures    + birds that look like they know everything and then some    + red lights by stray kids     + the pretender by foo fighters    + beat up old notebooks crammed with sketches    + collarbone piercings    + the blood eagle [i suggest not googling this]    + ballora’s voice    + the bonnie song    + the word skitter    + coils of wire    + wooden boxes filled with little random trinkets n things    + necrosis of the flesh [another thing i suggest not googling]    + basement gerard    + picking up nightcrawlers and having a religious moment    + lilypads     + alternates from the mandela catalogue     + the heaven’s gate away team patches    + polaris & yildun from star crossed lovers    + aaron from dear , door    + my kitten’s 3am zoomies    + venus flytrap genderbend art    + corpse flowers    + tons of rings    + hands covered in plasters    + creepy plushys    + button eyes    + the other wybie from coraline & regular wybie too    + beetles ,,, just as a concept ,,, beetles    + femboys ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,    + hipbone piercings    + beppi the clown from cuphead     + many many many eyes    + balljoint dolls    + haunted toys

[lisa-lostinlit]

✨ g i v e a w a y ✨ 💬 When do you do the majority of your reading? By night, the Ankou is a legendary, permanently young mercenary. By day, a witch's curse leaves him no more than bones. Caught in an unending cycle of death and resurrection, the Ankou wants only to find the death that has been prophesied for him, especially once he begins to rot while he's still alive.... After the kingdom of Kaer-Ise is sacked, Flora, loyal handmaiden to the princess, is assaulted and left for dead. As the sole survivor of the massacre, Flora wants desperately to find the princess she served. When the Ankou agrees to help her find the princess, and to train her in exchange for her help in breaking his curse, she accepts. But how can she kill an immortal? Especially one whom she is slowly growing to understand—and maybe even to love? Together, they will solve mysteries, battle monsters, break curses, and race not only against time, but against fate itself. Thank you to @thenovl for sending me a copy of the book and teaming up with me for a great giveaway! ✨ G I V E A W A Y ✨ Enter to win a copy of That Dark Infinity TO ENTER: » FOLLOW me, @thenovl, @katepentecost and @storygramtours » TAG a friend you think will be interested EXTRA ENTRY: » VISIT @everlasting.charm tomorrow and repeat these steps RULES: » Giveaway will end Oct 24th at midnight EST » US ONLY » not affiliated with Instagram » must be 18 or have parents permission » must be a public account so I can verify entries . . . h a s h t a g s : #ThatDarkInifintytour #ThatDarkInfinity #katepentecost #thenovl #storygramtours #bookstagram #bookphotography #bookphoto #bookworm #readersofinstagram #readersofig #booksofig #booksofinstagram #readerslife #bookish #lightacademia #cozyaesthetic #aesthetic #bookaesthetic #mybeigelife #cozymood #cozyliving #everysquareastory (at Bookstagram) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOIijOvEsx/?utm_medium=tumblr

[goodsmilecompanyunofficial]

Nendoroid Petite: GIRLS und PANZER - Ankou Team Version, by the Good Smile Company. 

[carrotpiss]

hnnkmmhrrr i like playing the cool ppl in dnd or something Ankou a half orc druid who died like 3 sessions in bc me and my friends suck at dnd and Matunos is his dragonborn paladin replacement bc we needed beef and healing on the team. these were drawn a few weeks backk

[doctormono]

00:00:00:00:14:59

It was easier when I was a kid. Maybe because I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Everybody had numbers over their head, counting down to zero. It wasn’t until I was around nine years old that I understood it was counting down to each person’s time of death, or Life Counter as my video game addled internal monologue got used to calling them. Most people had years, decades even on their life counter. When I was twelve, I realized my mother’s life counter only had a couple years left, so I spent every day I could with her and visibly watched my efforts add a few more years to her life before cancer finally took her. But our relationship had delighted her enough to make those last few years fill her with pride and ease. I could not have asked for more. When I was young, I wondered if there was a religious connection. My Presbyterian upbringing had no words for what I saw, so I began to discard that idea out of hand. I understood the Life Counter’s connection to decisions and well-being by the time I was eighteen. We were having a graduation party and Tommy Sanders was drinking way too much. As I watched, his counter dropped from four decades, to twenty minutes in less than an hour. I tried to keep him at the party and sometimes, my arguments would cause his Life Counter to pause while he considered my words. But his drunkenness won the battle and he tried to drive home. He wrapped his car around a telephone pole less than a mile away from the party. When I got there, I held his hand as he died. I watched his Life Counter drop to its final few digits and spoke soothing words to ease him along. In the reflection of the passenger side window, I saw a year add to my own Life Counter. Then I understood. It was game balancing. This wasn’t an ability given from a divine presence, this was a dev team working the kinks out of their game. From that point on, I took Life Counters more seriously. I went to school for nursing and dedicated my life to helping others deal with their counters running out. I even specialized in oncology nursing and found a position at a local hospital ward that specialized in palliative care. Sometimes, I was able to help my patients to make good decisions and add months or even years to their counters. But more often than not, I was simply an ear or shoulder to help them in the hardest of times. People talk about the clinical side of our vocation- that we can separate ourselves from our patients and stay professional. That’s bullshit. I fell in love with each and every one of my patients, especially near the end when all pretense was gone and many just wanted someone to know who they really were. I had my favorites- a little boy named Juan that I was able to help gain years on his prognosis by delighting him with my boyfriend’s Star Wars costume group appearances, or Andrea who reminded me so much of my mother and hearing her stories added a week and a half to her Life Counter. But most importantly, was Sister Margaret. Margaret, or Maggie to her friends, was in her nineties. She’d come under doctor’s instruction with expectation of end of life care, but here was a 93-year-old nun with 34 years left on her Life Counter. I wanted to ask how that was even possible, but I knew the moment I first brought a meal to her room, that she could see Life Counters too. I didn’t speak of it at all. I avoided being alone with her as long as possible until I had to help her with adjusting her IV tube. “You’re not immortal, you know,” she said as if we were in the middle of a conversation. I’d thought she had been sleeping. “I’m sorry?” “You’re not immortal. Sure, you have a heads up onto how long you have left, but that number goes both ways, Child.” I sat on the edge of her bed and looked deep into her eyes. “Nancy,” I said with a tap on my nametag. “But I’ve been sick before, and it never seemed to affect my Life Counter.” “Is that what you call it?” She laughed a bit and placed one of her hands on mine. It felt cold, and I cupped it in both of mine to keep it warm. “I always called it the Clock.” Without realizing it, both of our Life Counters rose. We went on to discuss how it worked, and what it implied. She had found a place for her in the Church as she studied what the Clock meant. She’d been convinced that we were something akin to Grim Reapers, Ankou, or even something like Mot or Charon. I understood about half of it. In turn, I explained my video game theory and she agreed that giving us a benefit could just be “Game Balancing” but she emphasized that we could make the same bad decisions as the departing and lose years on our counters in the blink of an eye. She was right, of course. Later that week, after a twenty-hour shift, I’d just put on my coat and pulled out my keys for the thirty-minute drive home when I passed by Maggie’s door and heard her shriek from within. “NANCY!” I stopped and ran into her room. She was staring above my head. “Twenty-five minutes.” I looked in a mirror, the bags under my eyes had bags. But over my head, my Life Counter read “00:00:00:00:24:48” I stepped back and almost fell onto her bed. “You won’t be driving home tonight,” she said gesturing at the couch in her room. “You won’t make it.” I agreed. But when I woke, I found that Maggie had left in the night. It was a long time later that I truly understood. She’d only agreed to accept her doctor’s request because she would be needed. For me. Balancing. The Dev Team was on their game. With all that had come in recent months, I couldn’t stay at the oncology ward upstate much longer. I took a leave of absence long before Covid-19 hit our shores to help out at NYU Medical Center in the heart of the city. Somehow, I knew it was coming. It wasn’t a side quest; this was the main storyline mission. But a month into the outbreak in NYC, and I didn’t feel like I was helping enough. My counter hadn’t risen in weeks, and worse of all the bodies were beginning to pile up. We’d needed to order a refrigerated trailer just to house what we couldn’t fit in our overflowing morgue. It was Friday. I left the room we kept a seven-year-old boy named Tyler in. He was positive for corona virus and not responding well to treatment. His counter said he had just over two days. He was still coherent but in isolation, and could barely breathe with the ventilator. But worst of all, his parents were not allowed in the hospital. We skyped them daily, but ultimately this child was dying alone, surrounded by anonymous doctors and nurses with masks and gloves, without understanding why. Nothing I’d tried had helped in the least. It was all I could do to keep the tears at bay. I still had more patients to visit on my rounds, including a new tenant two rooms down. I changed my gloves and mask before checking on them. It was Maggie. But My elation was short lived as I realized her counter had only four days left. “Maggie?” Her eyes eased open and took a while to focus on me before she feebly said “Nancy?” “Maggie,” I began exasperated. “You should still have another twenty-five years or so. What happened?” Maggie huffed as she struggled to find words without her ventilator. “It’s worse, Nancy… Worse than polio. I had to open our doors. Help who I could. The Clock be damned.” I explained what had happened here at NYU. I talked about my patients, how I didn’t seem to be helping. I cried about Tyler. I could feel how cold Maggie’s hand was through my glove. “It’s not about their Clocks anymore, Nancy. It’s…not even about.. yours. The Final Boss. It takes a risk to beat. And some risks, we don’t beat.” I understood. When I left her room that night, I took off my gloves and mask. I sat by Tyler’s bed and I held his small hand against my cheek until he woke. “Hi there,” I began. “I’m your nurse, Nancy. And I’m going to stay here with you.” Tears followed well-worn tracks on his cheeks as he smiled weakly. “But you’ll run out of time.” “I don’t care,” I admitted through the well of tears. And I didn’t. My Life Counter would reach zero sooner than I’d expected, but in the end, it gave him more time on his.

[kittymaverick]

MCF Moths to a Flame commentary part 2...

I really heavily underestimated how much jumping I was gonna do watching the gameplay alone... So, Eipex, good job on making me scared for the MD’s life... MD: LEMME OUT. If this weren’t so entertaining, I would honestly be screaming the same still...

1. Pazu: I remember these people Who doesn’t? MD: I wish I don’t! 2. Oh, THEY MOVED THE ENTIRE DOOR HERE??? MD: ...Okay, next time, I’m not just bringing a lighter. I’m bringing lighter, and gasoline, and kerosene, and napalm, AND A TONNE OF TNT JUST TO BE SURE NOTHING OF THAT MANOR EVER SURVIVES AGAIN. 3. MD: this room, it’s like all the Ravenhearst cases in one-- I’m gonna go pass out in the corner. Eipex, when I asked for Ravenhearst, I don’t think I meant like... give the MD a full room of it... Or maybe I did... MD: I knew this case was bad before we started whyyyyyyyyy did I come whyyyyyyyyyyy *sobbing* 4. There’s even a shrine-- wait, why does Gwen’s nest have... eggs... MD, which one of the twins was it that survived? MD: Um, let me check your posts... Okay, apparently, it was Charlotte. ...Are we absolutely, 100%ly, without any doubt whatsoever, certainty beyond all reasonable speculations that Gwen LEGIT DIED WHEN ALISTAIR STABBED HER? MD: ...Look, I checked her body, OKAY? RANSACKED IT EVEN. THE DALIMARS DON’T EXACTLY STAY DEAD THOUGH IF YOU HAVEN’T EXACTLY NOTICED. (Meanwhile, probably elsewhere in this museum, maybe... Dalimars: The Master Detective sure likes arguing with themselves nowadays... they’re never going to get to the end of this game at this rate...) 5. MD: I probably shouldn’t go into a fireplace that just showed up, but... I’m too curious-- Oh, good to know you’re just like a cat like me! Which life are you on now? MD: ...Considering Ankou gave me the feather, negative 2? 6. Complex puzzles actually seem doable and logical this time! Though it is hella creepy. 7. “All the cases are too easy! I’m gonna look into some of the Master Detective cases next. Maybe there’ll be a challenge in there.“ MD: I’m second hand embarrassed about this man’s ego. And other than the security breach your agency has, can I say... Your cases don’t so much have challenges in them as so much as loose ends that never tie up... MD: Look, I REALLY try with the fire, okay??? 8. Shoot all the evil ducks. If you shoot a wrong one, you’ll have to start again! MD: THIS IS THE NEW WHACK-A-TROLL I SWEAR. Pazu: I got this. *100% it* MD: See, in the hands of a good player, I still got it. ...First, how dare you diss me. Second, You do realize your adversary now know your shooting skills, right? MD: Shut up and let me have my small victories will you? 9. Hm, Raven badge, crystal badge... wonder if the last one is going to be death badge.... MD: If the Dalimars and that Scottish guy teamed up, I’m as good as dead... 10. ...is that... is that? MD: ...ISIS??? PLEASE LET US KEEP HER AS A PET. MD: Wait, HOW DID YOU GET CAUGHT? YOU’RE BASICALLY A GHOST CAT. Isis: *innocent kitty eyes* 11. Gargoyle chest with... Madame Fate’s Crystal Ball. MD: Please tell me that’s not the real thing because if it is, I’m breaking it right here and now. I think the pieces are under lock and key because they have Charles’ soul fragments in them right now, right? MD: EXACTLY MY POINT. 12. Video guy assumes you’re a guy. MD: I’m glad as least one part of my identity has been kept secret more than anything else... (Note: MD’s voice acting in this game suggests they are feminine) 13. And the final badge is revealed to be... the cog badge? Wha? (Even Pazu is confused lol.) ((I also just realized, we’re still in the Beta segment of the videos...I’m gonna cry in act 2 and 3, aren’t I?)) 14. MD: Should I be scared or honored that someone made rooms out of my old cases? Do you really want me to answer the obvious? MD: ...Okay, VERY SCARED. FREAKED OUT SCARED. ...BUT THEN YOU KEEP ON DOING THOSE PUZZLES. MD: I CAN’T HELP IT OKAY IT’S MY OCCUPATIONAL HABIT AT THIS POINT. 15. Cheating with weights on the hammer, MD? MD: Look, I walk around a lot solving cases, but that doesn’t exactly leave me time to work out, okay? 16. Oh, so MAC... was constructed by this guy-- MD: ARE YOU SAYING MY BADGE LITERALLY BETRAYED ME??? Well... MD: I CAN’T BELIEVE IT I CAN’T EVEN TRUST MY BADGE IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE. WHERE IS THE NEAREST CLIFF I’M GONNA YEET MYSELF OFF OF IT. (...I did say they were gonna give us a companion cube just to take it away, didn’t I?...) 17. MD, considering how well you know the queen... um, why didn’t you check before coming here whether it was fake or not? MD: ... Well? MD: Look, UK’s going through Brexit right now okay, I don’t think she wants to be disturbed when her country is in a crisis. 18. Okay, past the spire staircases! And behind door number three is-- OH NO. MD: OH THANK GOD THEY ARE ALIVE. NO THAT’S NOT GOOD WE HAVE HOSTAGES. REPEAT WE HAVE HOSTAGES! 19. Chloe: Thanks for freeing me-- MD: Okay, can I first say, how could you fall for this? Um, pot calling the kettle black here? MD: ...OKAY OKAY I’LL RESCUE YOU THREE THEN WE’LL REEVALUATE OUR METHODS, TOGETHER. Aiden: Make that Archivist pay for what he did to us! Blake: ...No pressure? MD: *sobbing* 20. MD: OKAY I GOT EVERYTHING, AND THIS IS... an apprentice badge? Archivist: Yo. Wassup? *Springs trap* MD: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT WE KNEW IT WE KNEW IT WE KNEW IT Other detectives: Um, oops, sorry? Archivist: Really, though, how could you fall for that? And you call yourself a Master-- MD: I AM GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE AND HURT YOU SO BAD YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE DUMBER. Archivist: Um... that wasn’t... on the script-- Me and MD: SHUT UP WE HAVE A LOT OF FRUSTRATIONS AND PARANOIA BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS TO VENT OKAY. MD: And YOU just happen to be on the receiving end of it. Archivist: *drops trap several stories down* MD: DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-- [Here endith the Beta section!] 21. Hey, we awake? MD: Yeah... awake, ish. OW. Need, to, break, out, somehow. How convenient this guy left sharp objects in the cabinet here for us to use... MD: ...How did the glass not break from the fall? ...Hey, I’m supposed to be playing captain obvious here, not you! MD: Oh right, sorry. Anyway, to vandalism! 22. Archivist: You’re sloppy, aren’t you? MD: Says the guy who left sharp objects for me to break out of here with. Probably because he WANTS you to break out. Archivist: Remember Broken Hours, detective? Tick tock-- MD: I can’t believe I preferred the Dalimars as the villains. Me neither. At least they had some competence in their madness, minus Victor. 23. Blake: Take this Detective! Quick, I’m almost out of time-- OKAY WE ACTUALLY HAVE A HOSTAGE SITUATION HURRY UP! MD: If we take back the incompetence comment, will you give us more time? Archivist: No, of course not. MD: I thought so, you incompetent bastard. Archivist: You little...! Um, PUZZLES AND LIVES TO SAVE PLEASE??? 24. MD: Solving books puzzles gives me more books? Really now, that’s real creative-- Um... is that what I think it is? MD: It’s... It’s nitroglycerin. I’m... I’m so moved. Finally someone understands me. *sobs* Might I remind you this guy has your colleagues HOSTAGE??? 25. There are literally so many references to past games that I’m like overwhelmed with joy. MD: And I’m overwhelmed with HORROR. 26. Pazu: He’s going to get squashed. THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING. MD: Nah, he’s gonna be fine. I hope. I wish. I mean, I usually turn out fine, right? Right??? ...I’m starting to think your agency is so broke because of all the health bills you guys need to get reimbursed afterwards. 27. Archivist: You fall into my traps again and again-- Let’s be honest, that’s just an MD thing, okay? The rest of the MCF crew-- well, actually... Okay, you know what MD, the Archivist is kind of right here. It’s like you guys are literally DRAWN to traps. MD: I’m sorry for being a bad role model and starting the trend? 28. Huh, this room, looks REALLY familiar. MD: I GET IT. THIS GUY, HE’S A COPYCAT. LITERALLY NONE OF HIS THINGS ORIGINATE FROM HIM. HE’S BEEN STEALING THEM FROM EVERYWHERE AND FRANKENSTEINING THEM TOGETHER. It’s almost kind of impressive in a very disturbing way... 29. MD: Oh hey, Parker, coming with? ...I think the reason why you didn’t get a partner for this mission now is because... they all got kidnapped. MD: Yeah, I’m starting to see that now. We REALLY need better security... 30. MD: Found the center of the mechanism! Now to stop it-- WAIT, THINK, THIS IS A TRAP? MD: Gosh I hate that I have to do that for everything now... 31. Pazu: what is this obsession with badges? Someone clearly didn’t get one and is salty. MD: Gods, all four of us agents are going to need new badges after this, aren’t we. Oh gods that’s gonna come out of our pay too, I’m sure... Speaking of badges, look! You get an agent badge! MD: Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really, really, really, much prefer solving the case involving STAIN as well as about the Hope Diamond to get my qualifications than this... massive puzzle tower... Wasn’t Huntsville how you got start on the whole MD path to begin with? And solving the Hope Diamond got the queen asking you to go to Ravenhearst? MD: ...*sighs* yes, this is a trip down memory lane in the worst way possible, I swear... 32. Um, someone’s calling. You gonna pick up? MD: You know, the least you could do is fix broken things after bringing them over, Archivist? Archivist: But if I did that, where’s the SURPRISE? MD: The last group of people that tried to surprise me got their asses kicked, you know. 33. MD: Draining people of their mind force, huh? I believe the Dalimars have officially been outranked on delusions of grandeur. If this note doesn’t scream trap, I don’t know WHAT does. MD: Honestly, considering how dumbly I fall into traps... I’ll like to see the guy try to drain my brain and see what he gets out of it. 34. Is that... THE PATH TO RAVENHEARST MANOR REPLICATED INDOORS? MD: I’m both impressed, and also feeling Charles’ jealousy emitting from whereever he is sealed. Let’s just hope this guy doesn’t propose at the end too. You have all of our blessings to defenestrate him if he does. 35. Awwww he didn’t have time to finish the rest of the manor. Only got up to the gate. MD: It’s like watching someone give up half way on their ambitious project. HEY GUY, AT LEAST ALISTER AND CHARLES FINISHED THEIR PROJECTS. DID YOU? Archivist: Did they build traps like these? *Trap Chloe* MD: ....You are rising up my shit list with record speed and that doesn’t happen often. ALSO CHLOE SERIOUSLY! 36. Archivist: Too bad for your companion, she paid the price. MD: ...I KNEW I should have kept some of that nitroglycerin! Oh hey look he even has a cable car ride for you! Don’t think we’ve seen that since Return or Escape from Ravenhearst? Archivist: If you want to get to the end of the ride, take a seat, NOW. MD: Oh I’ll seat, but only because I WANT TO. Also, your chair aren’t even replicas. 37. MD: Okay the box now... let’s open it-- Oh come ON! IT’S WHACK-A-TROLL!!!!!!! 8D MD: *Smash emergency exit button* Now ladies and gentlemen, please exit the ride into the next insane area. We hope you’ve enjoy the trip BECAUSE I SURE HAVE NOT-- Really? AN AMUSEMENT PARK NEXT? You did say you weren’t having fun... 38. Aiden: HEEEEEELP! MD: ...as much as I feel sorry for the old guy, I’m also glad I’m not the one stuck in that rocket ride... 40. Oh hey, it’s whack-a... detective. AND IT’S MORE FRUSTRATING THAN WHACK-A-TROLL. REALLY EIPEX? REALLY??? MD: ...Can’t believe this, but now, I miss Whack-a-troll. 41. Archivist: Can’t believe you made it this far without realizing I was one of the missing people? MD: ... Actually... Me: That makes sense, like, I was expecting it, honestly. There WERE four missing posters and we only found three. I was wondering WHEN that was going to come up. MD: See, some of the players don’t go through 19 cases and NOT develop SOME sense of paranoia that you’re going to be betrayed. 42. Archivist: Why don’t you step through the door to claim your prize? Me: How about, no? MD: No here as well. Aiden: Also no here. LET ME GO THROUGH INSTEAD! Archivist: WAIT NO THAT’S NOT HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO-- Me: ...Aaaand we’re out of the illusion. I KNEW IT! WHEN EVERYTHING WENT MISTY I KNEW SOMETHING WENT WRONG! MD: Okay, instead of celebrating you seeing this coming HOW ABOUT YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS CONTRAPTION THANK YOU. 43. Hey, you got your badge back. MD: I know. And it’s stabby. MD: I KNOW. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? MD: IT’S VANDALISM TIME! 44. Chloe: Hello? Anyone there? Blake: Um, same here? Aiden: AHA! Knew there was something fishy. MD: Okay, since we’re all awake, let’s do what we Master Detectives are great at doing. MDs: solving freakishly complicated puzzle panels. *sighs collectively* 45. Archivist: TOO MUCH BRAIN POWER! NOOOOO *Poofs* MD: THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR PLAYING GAMES WITH US-- Um, who, is, that? Basically everyone who remembers the sole survivor of the Dalimars: CHARLOTTE! [To be continue!]

[asimplemercenary]

Meeting Them.

Nova meets her favorite ranked team.

"Shyness" was a word that described what Nova felt. She wasn't immune to it, not immune to the embarrassment of approaching the signing table where all 5 of them sat. The chitter chatter and laughter spouting from the group mortified her in secrecy.

Were they laughing at her? What jokes were they telling to one another? Shyness. It sank to the bottom of her stomach like a rock in the sea as she swallowed thick.

"It's just a turfing team, Nova." She reasoned in her head. "You have killed countless others, seen horrors no one can imagine. Chewed up and spat out by the machine of war. Why are you being like this"

She stood out like a sore thumb among the group of 15 or so people in line, her immense height wasn't doing her any favors. But as she boiled in her brain, the line began moving, signatures and pictures taken like no man's business. Her turn was coming up quick, and she didn't even realize.

Not until a sharp lisp cut through the air "hey! You! Itsch your turn!"

Nova's heart almost jumped out of her chest. Oh no, were they speaking to her? She looked around, and realized that everyone in front of her was gone.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." Her face flared a cyan tinge, she could feel her ears burning up as she stared almost shell-shocked at the voice enticing her.

To say that her obsession wasn't bordering on a fanatic crush is a disservice to her passion for the group. "Uh." Spoke the tallest of the 5, their black tendrils so effortlessly resting over the side of their face, red eyes looking down at the leader of the group. "I feel they might be scared."

"What, seriously?? She looks so tough" responded the second tallest, affixing the front of their black beanie. "She looks like she's seen wars."

"Uhm...maybe one of us should...uhm, approach her...?" Spoke the shortest if the 5, her voice soft, heart shaped pupils staring pitifully at Nova.

"Hey you like scared or somethin'?? We're not gonna bite!" The bowl cut seemed to almost shimmer in perfectly cut excellence as he spoke. "C'mon my mom is gonna be wonderin' why I'm late!"

"Stop, everyone. Juscht---SHUT UP OKAY JESCHUS." spoke the leader of the pack. "You're embarrasching her in front of everyone scho juscht....stop. okay? You."

Nova was in shock the entire time, her eye peeked over her branded notebook that contained a bunch of pictures she'd taken herself of the few ranked battles she'd been able to witness.

Now she had HER calling her? Her heart was doing a hundred in a 60 mph zone. "...yes?" She responded sheepishly, her face dense with blush.

"We won't bite! C'mon! Whatsch your name?" The leader asked.

"N....Nova."

"Nova, huh?" The leader gave a big, crooked smile, the jagged beak reminded Nova of her own, and she would be lying if it didn't make her heart melt ever so slightly.

"You probably know who we are though! Leascht you look like you do....I'm Woomy. Well, my name isch really--"

"Ankou. A-Ankou Pikua. Y-you’re ranked 6th on the top leaderboards for this year's ranked competitions. Your team i-is well known for your unmatched speed and aggressive playstyle." Nova stuttered out.

"...yeah!" Ankou have another grin to Nova, but Nova was too busy fantasizing about being swallowed whole by the earth. How embarrassing it was to just drop everything you knew, and in such unprofessional manner.

Nova prided herself in being cold, collected, calculating. But here, three feet from the table hosting Ink'N'Dip, she couldn't contain her excitement. She felt like a young greenhorn all over again.

"Hmph. Looks like you've got quite the fan here, Woomy." The tallest, Zach, spoke. "Are you bitter I got fans and you don't, zachie boiiii?" Woomy replied.

Both the second tallest, Amiga, and the shortest, Eno, rolled their eyes as Zach and woomy began going at it with each other.

Nova stepped closer to the table amidst all the jokeful in fighting and slowly, nervously placed her notebook on the table. "I-id be deeply honored if you all would sign this for me, please!" The deepest bow one could give was given by her, bordering on almost disrespectfully brutish.

She wanted, deep in her heart, to run, run away, maybe change her name again, remove her kneecaps, change her hairstyle, or maybe even bury himself in the dirt. But above all this, she was a soldier, and this was her very own mission, and no good soldier ever went home empty handed. A good soldier finished the mission, no matter the cost.

Woomy and Zach cut their fighting short, looked at Nova, and went quiet. The leader grabbed her notebook, and began flipping through it, in an attempt to find a page she could sign. The clippings and photos she had taken left woomy impressed. Every little detail that was known publicly was gathered here, neatly. Plays and scores, famous moments and infamous mistakes all kept here.

"Wow...." Woomy whispered in amazement "This is impressive...you did thisch all yourschelf?" She raised her gaze from the notebook towards Nova, who didn't respond, and didn't move from her bow.

"Wow, you even got the time Eno got her hair caught in that custom splosher..."

"D-dont remind me of that!" Responded Eno as she grabbed for her ponytail. "That was that one time!!!"

Zach scoffed, woomy continued to page through. Encouraging words were written in the frames, "they'll do better next time, you'll see!", "Ink'N'Dip #1!", "Sloppy but awesome!". Every page was laden with love and respect for the team. Then, she came across a specific page, a page reserved for their signatures. All 5 had their own respective place marked with their names, each area styled to match their aesthetics.

Woomy couldn't help but smile. "Hey, this isch...really really good." She grabbed a pen off the table, clicked it open, and gave her sloppy, rough signature, making sure every letter was bathed in her personality.

She passes it to Zach, who, after paging through the notebook himself and quietly being impressed, also signed. Then Amiga, then Oliver, and finally Eno, who giggled as she paged through all the nice moments and pictures. Woomy finally took it back, and, grabbed the pen again, writing something indistinguishable at the bottom of the page.

She placed the notebook in front of Nova, and have a laugh.

Nova was sweating, her neck was growing stiff from the anxiety. She slightly tilted her head upwards, a bewildered look in her eye.

"Do you want a pic too or?"

Nova recoiled. She was sure her chest just burst open and her entire entrails dropped on the floor. Her face flushed, pupil shrunk, she responded "s-sure."

After that, everything went by, quick as a blur. She was sure she took several pictures, at least one with each of them, much to the irritation of the 20 something other people waiting in line. She was also sure on the metro bus on the way home, and somehow managed to get off at her stop.

Nova had never experienced being a mess before, at least not in a reasonable manner. She stood at the entrance to the scrapyard for what seemed like an eternity. She scrolled over and over, every single photo making her eye swell with tears.

It was strange to her, being so excited for something as mundane as meeting someone she thought were cool. She had escorted her fair share of famous octorian figures, political embassadors and military colonels, but none of that had ever really struck her as special.

She went home and sat at her work desk, paging through her notebook until she got to the dedicated signature section. She admired every single one, she sure could tell that everyone had put care in her signature.

But there was something else at the bottom of the page, something that caught her attention. Her eye shot wide, she scrambled for her transceiver and rammed it in her ear upon the sight. The device crackled to life, and she was welcomed by a long, tired yawn.

"Talk to me babe." Extra responded. "What's up? I don't remember giving you contracts this--"

"She gave me her phone number."

"Uh....oh."Extra chuckled. "You went after all, huh?"

"Yeah." Her finger crossed over the digits Woomy had written at the footnote of the autograph page. "I...should I text her?"

Extra took a second, letting out a sigh. "Y'know, I'm nothing but like....your contractor. I don't think I got any say in this."

"You're my only real friend, Extra." Nova responded "and your opinion matters to me....now, should I call her, or not?"

"Well I'd text her first." A bag of chips could be heard being ruffled around before Extra began crunching away. "But that's just me."

"Yeah."

There was a pause between them for a second.

"Hey kid."

"Yeah, Extra?"

"I got you some tickets for the ranked battle next week."

[rwbyazre]

Do you have designs of Team SPRN’s families as well?

Team SPRN is a bit of a funky one simply because I actually haven’t changed many of the designs, so I haven’t done any full body models of most of them. 

Pyrrha and Ren are simply because their canonical designs in RWBY is how they look in AZRE. I like the designs of all three of them, and I didn’t add any additional family members. The only difference is Pyrrha’s mother has brown eyes rather than green, so that she doesn’t follow the RWBY issue of the mothers literally being clones of their daughters.

Obligatory edit to show her with brown eyes. She really popped off with them. 

Now Sun’s family is different because his entire backstory is different to his canonical one. His family is Eliana and the Marrón siblings, and they have their designs already posted to this blog, so I don’t wanna bog this post down by reuploading them. 

That really does just leave Nora, and I actually changed her mother in canon to a grandmother who Nora travelled around with. 

Her name is Fjorgyn, and she is the badass viking grandma that taught Nora everything when she was a kid. 

Obviously, Nora wears more modern clothing, but older people in AZRE tend to prefer to wear clothing that’s more connected to their ancestry, and that goes especially for the Ankou; an ethnic group that come from Western Solitas. Both Nora and her grandma come from this group, so both have more Norse style clothing and naming to fit the Scanadanvian coding of the Ankou. 

Since her allusion is Jörð, the personification of Earth, and her name specifically comes from earth, I made her colour pallete a very earthy one with browns, oranges and greens. The white adds another colour that helps break up a lot of the very dark and muddy colours.

The marking on her face is actually face paint. In the lore, the Ankou used face paint to denominate one’s place in their society, and Fjorgyn originally had the markings of a seamstress, but the exile of her and her house ended up forcing her to wear the marking of an outcast.

I like the grandma and her design. It’s nothing crazy like some of my favourite designs, but she is ultimately a backstory character to connect one of the more prominent characters in Nora.

[tokai-teio]

Fluffy tankster

favorite thing about them: Yukari is a very fun character, brings a lot of life to the show and is a cute spin on the military otaku character trope

least favorite thing about them: I wish she had more confidence in herself, she gets shut down a lot and i feel like that’s unavoidable since she had a friendless childhood

favorite line: “I would like to object. I don’t think Miho-san’s decision in that battle was wrong at all, actually.”

brOTP: Erwin

OTP: Miho

nOTP: anyone not Erwin/Miho/from Ankou Team/Hippo Team

random headcanon: she probably wanted to be the gunner for the Panzer IV but she decided to be the loader instead since Hana requested to be the gunner

unpopular opinion: it was a bit morally grey of her to spy on the enemy schools before the match since they kind of made a stink about Arisa wire-tapping them during the match itself

song i associate with them: “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers

favorite picture of them: