#at that point i did consider just yoinking that story and making it about the actual alpha kids. maybe some day.

[4lph4kidz]

the problem with 'why don't you just make an oc' with homestuck specifically is that so much of what i like about homestuck's characters is reliant on the text to the point of being impossible to extricate or replicate. if i wanted i could absolutely take some of the elements i like to make ocs, and i probably will at some point, but it's not just the characters and their traits on their own, it's their place in and treatment by the text itself that is compelling to me

[kozykricket]

PL Z-A rough thoughts

okayokay ill write some of my thoughts on PLZA, though this is very unorganized. and not even touching on the title really... besides Z and A being like. end and beginning. future and past.

so at first i assumed it'd be in the FUTURE instead of past (as did everyone) cus yknow, the blueprint style being all neon glowy... and also scarlet n violet setting up the idea of past present and future (though honestly i think ih ave more to write on how terapagos was kinda shafted and i really wanted more on imagination-born-creatures or timelines tbh, or even just more on what terastalizing even is) anyways, i mean. they're both hexagon related... zygarde n terapagos right, uh. what point in time will it be? well, with the amount of evidence ive seen for it being in the past, id say it makes far more sense to take place in the past. HOWEVER heres my crazy game theory: it'll take place in both. theres no way this will come true, but imagine: you are in the future or present of kalos, and lumiose city has ended up devastating the ecosystem, causing zygarde to be pissed because yknow, its whole thing is protecting threats to the ecosystem. and . balance and such so then you travel back in time to FIX the urban planning. you get yoinked to when lumiose city was being built into what it is in the modern day, and ... heres where it gets to Unlikely territory. the gameplay loop would consist of you hopping back and forth, seeing how your time in the past changing peoples minds and suggesting different more eco friendly designs for the redevelopment of the city... effects the future of the city! realistically though itll just be "you go in the past to stop zygarde from getting pissed. but because this is a game and there needs to be a threat, zygarde gets pissed anyway" either way itll definitely be like. surely itll be about "welp, the people designing the city got a bit overambitious and too human-centric, rather than a nice balance of humans and pokemon in mind... but, im genuinely really glad we're gonna get a game where zygarde can shine (and where kalos can shine) because they both got HEAVILY shafted (x2 and y2 canceled, presumably to make way for sun and moon for the 25th anniversary. or to be less predictable) so yknow zygarde just got slapped into alola for no reason really

and i think... the balance of people and pokemon living together in the early days of pokemon society is. obviously something that will tie into the ecosystem ofc

its. all very interesting

im curious what role zygarde will ultimately play though, because like. i thought giratina or arceus would be the main big thing in PLA, and didnt expect arceus to just kinda be guiding you

so i suppose zygarde could end up just being a Guide and you're helping it regain its power or basically filling its role...

id much prefer if we got to see zygarde doing its job, though. in a scary way.

really also wondering how xerneas or yveltal may fit in, considering life and death

my biggest reasoning for thinking we'll visit different time periods of lumiose is ... well, that the game takes place "entirely in lumiose city"

so yeah uhhh anything else im forgetting

honestly i cant really word what im tryna say about how the XYZ legends will fit into the story and what roles they'll play, but i essentially kinda hope it isnt too much of a repeat of PLA. i think zygarde shouldnt be a postgame activity, but rather at the Main Climax of the story. kinda bummed that you just get to choose dialga or palkia mysteriously being angry as the big climax in PLA

[angeart]

... I would like to know about your OCs... pretty please?

-🎀

ribbon anon my dearest!! you wanna hear about them? 🥺🥰

the drawn characters are rei hayden and raven hayden, and they're meant to be twins. "meant to be" because... well, let's backtrack a little.

the story on raven's side starts on one fated new years eve. he's spending it alone, unhappy, contemplating his life. he makes an unwise and impulsive wish, yearning for something different.

this wish yoinks him and transports him to a very scary place <3 but dw! there's a guide person! and he recognises raven (which is odd :3c) and keeps saying this is a place for lost souls.

but he also says raven isn't lost.

the place kind of turns into a nightmare, the world shifting and reshaping around raven, and– there's a maze, and rising water, and lots of mirrors, except every single of his reflections looks different and acts on their own. (and not in a good way. they look kind of desperate.)

i'm trying to be concise here, so let me just say he gets out of this mid-world (by drowning while staring at one of his reflections that looks so so sad <3) and wakes up... in a bed. in an unfamiliar apartment. with a person with his face telling him to hurry up and get ready for school.

so! huh. that's weird.

raven's never had a brother, least of all a twin, but here rei is, flesh and blood, looking at raven in a way only an annoyed family member can.

here's some fun bits about the story:

raven is considered to have an irregular amnesia where he occasionally forgets everything about his life. this alludes to this not being the first time something odd has happened to some raven in this world. it's also not medically accurate, because, spoiler alert, it's not amnesia. and our raven remembers his life, and this wasn't it, thank you very much.

rei is the irresponsible brother. the troublemaker. the lone wolf. he also gets into fights and has enemies. he tries to reaaaally sell that he doesn't care.

raven kind of sees through that lie, gradually at first, then more steeply.

raven has a digital watch that stopped working the moment he was spirited away. which is 8 seconds before midnight on new years eve. it's his only possession that's carried over.

the new years eve hasn't happened here yet. it's before christmas.

you'd think this world is Nice and Safe and Normal, besides all that, but wrong! raven still sometimes catches his mirror reflection moving of its own accord, and he hears voices behind his back, and feels phantom touches that sometimes feel a bit too real. let's not forget about the nightmares.

he's exhausted and confused and scared and it's getting worse.

basically, he doesn't belong in this reality. these are the ways in which this reality is rejecting him, absolutely messing with his perception <3

there's a lot more going on here, about why he's here, and what happened before, and what the voices are actually telling him, etc.

there are other characters too! (but i tend to draw mostly just raven kjxbnk) the other characters include:

evia, a bullied girl with a horrible home life who just wants to escape it all, and gets tangled in with rei thinking he might be her ticket out (seeking out protection, even for the price of being used)

nick, a gang leader who doesn't shy away from violence, thinking rei needs to pay for some things he did in the past and learn his lesson (his methods are questionable; he's ready to hurt and destroy anything in rei's vicinity to prove his point and bring rei down to his knees)

and kye, nick's friend, who's genuinely only trying to do a good thing, but agrees with nick that rei needs to be stopped. he tries to take people away from rei safely, in order to protect them from the blast zone of this mess, convinced rei doesn't really care about them anyway.

here's a 2022 art of raven as a bonus <3

[yes-i-have-thoughts]

By Popular Demand: Jonah Edmund Marshall Thoughts

He was robbed. I’ll say it right now: Jonah was robbed. /ref

No but I am pissed that he was yoinked from canon. I can understand why, but I am not happy about it. That being said: let’s begin.

(TW FOR SOURCE EVENTS BEING REFERENCED, INCLUDING ADAM’S THOUGHTS ON HIM IN VOL. 4. JONAH AND ADAM FICTIVES/IRLS READ WITH CAUTION.)

Jonah’s direction in lore was honestly shaping up to be interesting. I’m wondering if they’re going to re-cast his VA or revert him to how Thatcher used to be-a silent character, someone who mostly exists in the background. Because while we hardly know anything about him, he was probably going to have some kind of tie to the police in some way-maybe even the MCPD directly? Maybe they’ll still explore it, even if he doesn’t have a voice anymore.

Fingers crossed Adam deleting him from his contacts didn’t signify the series dropping the character altogether. Alex please don’t do him so dirty like that

ANYWAY.

Since all we’ve got right now is speculation I’m going to go insane and speculate as much as I can, starting with him gearing up to go to law school

The guy evidently cared about school, at least at one point. I’m not saying he was a smartass grade-A student but he was clearly bright enough to get the affirmation of that. I can think of several reasons why he would turn it down, but why BPS? On the off chance it wasn’t just for the Hell of it, why get into a job and stay with it once you start getting into trouble? Wanted-by-the-FBI levels of trouble?

I’m going to ignore the assumption that Adam would manipulate him into staying. 1. I don’t want to throw more dirt on the guy’s name and 2. I just don’t like the thought

So why stay in BPS? Why pick BPS? Was it boredom? Was it a way to distance himself even further from the expectations? Was he gearing up for law school against his wishes? Was this the biggest “fuck you” towards those forcing him that he could do?

And another thing. Adam said that they weren’t friends, that he was Jonah’s best friend, not the other way around. And the implication now is that he (Adam) was never human to begin with. Yet one of the times he shows “human” emotion...Is when he’s calling for Jonah over the radio. This was after a pretty vicious fight, mind you; when he would have every right to agree and assume that he wouldn’t come-and yet he hoped that he would. Despite whatever reservations he held about the guy, he was still hoping he would come for him.

And Jonah likely would have if he were in range! He was clearly tearing himself apart for having the audacity to leave Adam behind. A teaser for Vol. 4 even implies that he did go back for him, if I remember correctly-and knowing what we know now, I can’t help but wonder how their interaction would have gone.

“You’re not really him, are you?”

He never really was.

Going back to the Jonah focus since I started shifting towards Adam, I have so many questions about him. And almost everything starts with why.

Why was he an orphan? Was this retconned, or is there a reason?

Why is he in BPS when he seemed to have what some would consider a bright future in the law?

Why did he even go into law, only to (apparently) back out of it?

What happened to cause that?

And most importantly, who’s idea was it to make his middle name Edmund?

So many questions. And now none may get answered.

I’m crossing my fingers even harder that we get more story for him in the future. He’s got so much-whatever this is. So many ideas on him.

If Alex reveals that the death and contact deletion was him effectively retconning him from canon I’m going to be livid.

[amyrafiercebladeartz]

3 5 7 and 8 for the httyd ask game 👀

>:}

3: Did you play School of Dragon? If so, what dragon(s) did you have?

Sadly, I did not get to play SoD. I wanted to but every time I tried making an account, I could never load the game. Probably a mixture of bad internet connection and a PoS mobile device, but still.

5: What type of dragon do you think best matches your personality?

Terrible Terror or Night Terror, maybe a Smothering Smokebreath. I'm a goblin menace that will snatch food and trinkets but if you feed me and treat me nice I'll curl up beside you and purr. I've also a tendency to get a little more than confused and I will naturally find myself in trouble with the bigger ones around me.

I also work best with a pack of my own kind >:]

8: Who are your favourite characters? Why?

Viggo Grimborn is top httyd favorite. He's savvy, malicious, and charming to the point where I want to simultaneously give him all of my possessions and devotion and punch him repeatedly in the face.

Second favorite, Snotlout, actually. He's got self esteem issues and the man can sew. He's a dumbass but his heart's usually in the right place. He also wrote a book, sang songs to a baby Deathsong, and has a crack sense of humor, even if it's not fitting for the moment. He also has a very poor relationship with his father (myself to my mother) that, if taken in a serious direction instead of the lighthearted one in the shows, would've been a serious issue psa about mental issues and the problems of a bad parent.

Third, Tuffnut. He's just goober and I live for that.

7: Do you have any OCs? If so, talk about their appearance, backstories, and personalities.

You made a serious mistake. I have quite a few OCs for HTTYD alone.

First and Foremost, I'll introduce my namesake, Amyra Fierceblade.

Amyra Fierceblade has been my httyd sona for a long time, my second oldest httyd oc in fact. She and Shadowstrike (who I'll talk about in a minute) were my first two httyd ocs. She is 6'1" (myself standing at a lofty 5'3") and has dark raven hair with deep green eyes. She's snarky, quick witted and rather obsessive with anyone she considers her friend... in a not so good way. She has always had connections with Viggo Grimborn (ofc, my favorite character), and in fact was written as a (very poorly thought out) chief daughter who had a mutual crush on Viggo. Over time, I changed her and her story around so that she went from concerned housewife to rebellious heir and eventually I settled on making her an orphan rascal who stays in the woods, her relation with Viggo going from wife to close friend. They met as teens, Amyra a year older than Viggo, when she threw Ryker into a snowbank because she didn't like his attitude. There's a lot more to this that I'm writing out in my Fanfic Lifeline, but for now I'll just go into further detail lol. Over time Viggo and her grew close, close enough that Viggo ran away to try living in the woods with her, though that didn't last long as Amyra got yoinked by a Razorwhip. She survived, but lived for many years away from most other people, only interacting with them as a sort of "highway" bandit. She does have a dragon, a Deadly Nadder named Shadowstrike, who saved her life from the razorwhip and stayed with her since.

Amyra is ab 37 years old during the events of RttE.

Amyra started as a kind of self insert, though she's changed a lot and now she's just a fun character with a lot of bad traits. Such as possessiveness. In a bad way. That might get explained later though, far far far in LifeLine.

Shadowstrike is a Deadly Nadder and my first httyd OC. She is black and red, a few scars on her but not many. Originally, she could talk, but I've kinda devolved that to be more annoying parroting than conversationalist. She likes hair, dragon root arrows, and stealing various objects from anyone and anything. The softer or the shinier, the better.

Kindorobo is a Speed Stinger oc of mine, orange and green with black stripes. I don't have much about him but he likes to terrorize a local village for gold trinkets and stuff, adorning himself with them. He's a weird fella lol.

Arcane is a Titanwing Bewilderbeast oc, black with red and orange markings. He's chill for the most part, and really doesn't mind other Bewilderbeasts in his presence as long as they don't harass him or his group of dragons. However if he is harassed and there's no stopping this dragon, he will kick some ass. He's had no human encounters so far, since he lives further north than the archipelago, almost to the arctic circle.

Dead Chance is a Light Fury Deathsong hybrid that absolutely hates anything and will kill on sight. There's a lot more to it than just murder happy, she actually has a lot of anxiety and paranoia and found the best way of keeping herself "safe" (it's really not-) is by attacking first, asking questions never. I also wanna work on her a bit but I don't really get the time to.

Clairvoyance is another Bewilderbeast OC, she's much smaller though and has a human companion. She's actually been with several human ocs but I finally decided to add her with Lyra, who I'll talk ab in a minute. Clair doesn't quite have the alpha ability, though she is protective of her human and the night terrors (I'll explain in a minute) she lives with.

Lyra is a teen kid who got adopted by a flock of Night Terrors when she was about five. She also found and helped take care of Clairvoyance. I do not have much more information than that, sadly, but maybe I'll fix that.

Biter is a White Night Terror that's missing a hind leg and is also partially blind. He was mistreated by Dragon Hunters and so he a horrible attitude to anything around him. In a couple of my post-rtte Viggo AUs, he's a companion animal of sorts, sticking with Viggo after he saved him. Of course, that doesn't save Viggo from getting bit by him, hence the name.

Truth is a White (and I say white instead of albino because he's not albino but he is white colored) Night Fury with black markings that stays to himself for the most part. He's also anxious, and tends to flee rather than face conflict. I also need to work on him as well-

Marcus Seinneadair is a prince from a smaller kingdom, mostly agricultural in trade. He's the middle child of three, his father being a decent ruler in most aspects. He's got blue eyes, dark brown hair and he also wears a couple earrings in his left ear. He likes to help people, often going out of his way to help the villages after storms and such, finding survivors, repairing houses and ships and more. He isn't really interested in being an heir to a throne so much as he wants to bring a betterness to the world around him. He also has a severe crush on Viggo Grimborn, who is actually a close friend of his and ally to his father's kingdom. Marcus is also one of the few people that Viggo will let his guard down around. He's also the only Christian oc I have or ever will have and I can tell you that he's (THANKFULLY) not oppressive about it. He learned of the religion from a trader and decided that it wasn't actually that bad of an idea, promoting kindness and treating others with how he'd want to be treated. He isn't sure about the whole "do good and you'll go to heaven!" idea, but he doesn't mind doing good for others just because. There's SOOO much more to this guy but yeah, that's some of it.

Mikael is an OC who I don't like. He's a dragon hunter, but not affiliated with the Grimborns or the Northern Alliance. He has an unrequited crush on Marcus (turned bitter after he rejected him) and spends most his time pouting while hunting. I don't have much more for him.

Alsor, Whose Grim Wrath was Born by Flames is the very very very very distant ancestor of the Grimborns, and also the first human to start the Dragon Hunters. He was given the title by his fighting skills against the dragons (explained in a hot minute below).

And finally, a couple of ocs that I like throwing into the HTTYD world but are perfectly capable of being in their own story. These guys do have magic (lore related, would LOVE to explain) and there are mentions of injuries for Phantom's part.

Teeth Whom Gnash Sharply Upon Her Foes, or Gnash, is a Windripper oc of mine, and the first one. Windrippers are my fanspecies of dragon, which I'd GLADLY go into detail (I have a whole Google document including everything from society and religion[orginal!] to dragon growth and such on-). Gnash is a medium to dark grey dragon with a slightly off-white mane, golden horns and dark green eyes. She is stoic but kind, a warrior of honor. She prefers to be logical, though she is very capable of brute strength if she decides. She was Phantom's partner and her general against fighting humans, that is, until Gnash realised the reason for the fighting was wrong and unethical, and wanted to try to stop it (That is a whole ass explanation). She eventually helped the people fighting Phantom to entrap her, keeping her and the world safe from her actions. Gnash mourns her partner, but she does not want to free a conqueror.

And Finally.

Phantom of the Moonlit Mists, or Phantom, is another WindRipper, with dark, semi transparent scales, green horns and claws, and multicolored eyes (Pink and blue irises, black scleras and white pupils). She is cunning and quick witted, in tune with both her emotions and her logic. She hatched prematurely after her egg was damaged by a human trying to kill her and her siblings, born with a permanent jaw deformation/scarring. She was raised alone by her mother, before being sent with others in her Hive (a pack of WindRippers is called a Hive). She was small, and had a temper to rival a Changewing, which lead to her getting in a lot of fights with other members, except for one. A young Gnash, who was her first and only friend. After several years, Phantom was exiled from her Hive, and eventually she was chased down off a cliff, left to die from her injuries. She was saved by a deity the Windrippers have, the All-Mother respectively, and given the ability to create and weave threads (their form of magic). Phantom and Gnash met up again, and talked about the experience. Eventually, Phantom returned to her old Hive and defeated the previous Queen, taking her place. She still had a fierce grudge against humanity, enough to where she decided to wage an all out war on them for many years, until she was lured into a trap and imprisoned in a statue by Alsor(up above) and Gnash until she can either be redeemed for her actions, or until the blood of the last descendant of Alsor's line is spilled on the stone of her prison itself.

And yes, Phantom has a serious grudge on the Grimborns, to the point where, if she was freed, she would be sadistic towards Viggo in any and all ways possible.

Phantom also has a voice claim! That being GLaDOS, especially from Portal 2 lines (not PotatOS, but just the regular)

[zhongrin]

As promised, a follow-up ask (split into parts) because I have too many questions about the behind the scenes.

[Part 1/3]

- How did you come up with the idea for the October EBG? How far in advance do you start planning out the general plot?

- How closely did your vision for the October EBG line up with how things played out? I know you took some liberties regarding when you answered certain asks based on the plotline, so how did you make the determination about what hints to drop and when?

- Since EBG is an interaction heavy event, were there any particular asks/events/interactions that took you by surprise (either in a good way or bad way)?

- What was the most challenging part about this EBG?

- What was your favorite part about this EBG?

i just want to say ilysm (/p) for this, nonnie. sorry it took so long to answer - i couldn't help but ramble and did a lil thing for all the asks eheh

[ p1 ◆ p2 ◆ p3 ◆ p4 ]

✼ How did you come up with the idea for the October EBG? How far in advance do you start planning out the general plot?

i had a few one-liners ideas in my notes when i signed up for the ebg, so I when ying (@/i23kazu) assigned my bias as childe, i just yoinked one that seemed fitting.

honestly, i wasn’t even sure if i wanted to do another storyline for this ebg at first. i even had a poll and while most urged me to make a storyline and do whatever will make me happy, there was also a significant amount who said otherwise. but in the end, i thought about it again and i decided to fuck it and do what my heart wants.

i couldn’t plan that far in advance considering ying only announced the assigned bias the day before ebg, so quite literally these were the ideas i jotted down after i settled on the ‘plot’:

besides that, at this point i only knew i wanted to do something with polls and ciphers — that’s it. i had no concrete ideas or anything.

✼ How closely did your vision for the October EBG line up with how things played out? I know you took some liberties regarding when you answered certain asks based on the plotline, so how did you make the determination about what hints to drop and when?

really close, i guess? i didn't really have a 'clear vision' or anything, just the general plot and wishing that people would send in asks haha

general rule of story telling is to start it slow and make it accelerate and peak near the end, so that’s what i did with the hints and story progression. and as for the hints, it would have to be vague at first (let people guess and theorize and go down the wrong path) and gradually i just started making it clearer/obvious as it goes.

✼ Since EBG is an interaction heavy event, were there any particular asks/events/interactions that took you by surprise (either in a good way or bad way)?

i didn’t expect people to like coviello hsdlkfjklsdf

but honestly, every asks i received in my inbox feels like a surprise gift for me. because even for my friends, i had no idea what they were going to make their characters do.

✼ What was the most challenging part about this EBG?

1 - writing coviello simping for childe 😭 i just cannot simp for this man.

2 - coviello’s snarky & blunt replies — i am a person who tries to be as civil and polite to people unless they pick a fight with me, so it takes me a while to come up with an answer.

3 - lastly, as usual, having to pump writings & drawings consistently for 7 days straight took its toll on me. i said it before on my first ebg and i’ll say it again. i have no idea how i managed to do that and i’m not sure if i can do it again hskdjskd

✼ What was your favorite part about this EBG?

everything, i think. the interactions, the anticipation of waking up and scrolling through the replies section, the excitement when replying to asks and getting bursts of ideas on what to write and draw.... gods. it's so much fun.

but i guess if i have to pick it would be seeing people reblog coviello's story quest. it was a whimsical project that came to me at.... day 3 or 4 night, as i laid in my bed before sleeping. i had the idea and jotted down the narratives and sketch directions while crying (oof). sketched & edited it for the next few days, and made it just in time for the last day.

[the-down-upside-finch]

@my-cursed-prince I'm making a separate post about this because I might explode if I don't start ferally rambling

First of all. If you're interested in religious stuff in fiction (trauma or otherwise) I am happy to tell you that I once did a workshop (I was the "presenter") on how to create and build fantasy/general fiction religions. I'm probably a bit rusty on that info now, but it's something I still consider myself well-versed with haha

Anyways, gonna ramble:

RELIGIOUS TRAUMA MY DEAR FRIEND... Most of my stories have a dose of this because they say write what you know, and my religious background consists of me being one religion, attending the church of a different religion, and living in a place where basically everyone is of ANOTHER different religion. (Fun fact, my roommate once ranted to me about how she wasn't part of a cult and proceeded to convince me that she actually is part of a cult.)

OKAY SO. While religion isn't necessarily part of the main plot in Pentad of Un, it does come up frequently! In chapter 22, I go a bit overboard on providing information about one of the religions in the world (Abvolism) because it was actually a meta joke at one point and I just never changed it aduhsfdshfdgsiu so yeah. I think it also comes up a bit towards the end of chapter 6, but it's mostly just an introduction to the different beliefs that Adif, Jelro, and Shayrow have.

The cult that's brought up in chapter 30 doesn't get covered very in-depth thus far in the story (and I'm not sure if it ever will be relevant enough for that), but I do have some notes on it in terms of what they believe in and whatnot. The short of it is that it's a cult of merfolk that follow the old practices of accepting "sacrifices" (ships and whatnot) to take to the ruler of the Depths, who is referred to as "Bythsos" in Merrow languages. Basically, Hell is at the bottom of the ocean and merfolk in this cult sacrifice souls to make sure they aren't getting yoinked out of existence.

Faith plays a HUGE role in Stained Integrity, but it's a little different here because having faith in The Astrals (Stell, Lune, and Sol) and The Wyrds (Spinner, Allotter, and Inevitable) is literally known as "the faith" because there isn't much else that anyone worships.

BUT THERE IS A VERY DANGEROUS CULT!

They are known as "Destringers" for the way that the claim that they can escape fate by "taking control of their thread." For context, "thread" and "life" are used interchangeably in this world, as Spinner creates each soul's life-thread, Allotter decides how long each thread will be, and Inevitable cuts the thread when it's time for a life to end.

Destringers preach the idea that your life can be separated from the thread, meaning that you choose when you die and are not bound by "fate." Yes, they claim that you can be immortal... for a small price.

The faith itself has two main categories, for lack of a better word. For general services and worship, the temple cousins and contemplatives give orisons (prayers) to both The Astrals and The Wyrds. Some temples are standalone, while others double as covensteads where practitioners of astral magic train and provide their skills to anyone in need of their services (such as healing magic).

There are also standalone covensteads, since practicing magic is not necessarily tied to being of the faith, although they are connected.

As it stands in this world, "practitioner" almost always denotes that the individual is female. A man practicing magic is so "abnormal" that it creates this vicious cycle where men don't want to practice magic, so practitioners remain mostly female, and so on. (Please bear with me, as this is an extremely complex circumstance of this world that gets fleshed out and addressed in the story.)

But there is a whole additional layer to the faith: the Diviner, and the Astral Weapons.

The Diviner is considered by some as the last/only descendant from The Astrals, and they alone have the power of prophetic sight. (I'm still working on some of the nitpicky lore.) They are the one that chooses the Astral Weapons: Stell's Spear, Sol's Bow, and Lune's Blade. (Basically, the Diviner chooses a successor each time one of these individuals nears the end of their thread.)

The Astral Weapons are each gifted with power from whichever of The Astrals that they wield the weapon of, and they're supposed to use their power to maintain balance across the lands. They aren't necessarily considered deities or anything, but because they directly represent The Astrals and Their will, they are usually regarded as a higher power of sorts.

...I kind of went off-topic but yeah. I'm super big on this kind of worldbuilding, and you'll definitely see the effects that religion has on the characters in my stories.

[druidx]

#showyourprocess

Yoinked from woodhousejay

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content! To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Tagging: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic

I know the rules say for me to choose, but I'd rather you answer for a work that you can recall your process for.

I thought I'd cover Before it Shatters with this, because I can remember very strongly what the process for this one was.

1) Inspiration

There was a prompt event on one of the discord servers I'm in. Part of the prompt was "A heart made of glass", which really resonated with me.

2) Preparation

I kept turning the idea of this fragile item over in my head, the picture of an actual anatomical heart made from glass... At some point, it gained an angry flame, and I considered what would happen if that got too hot...

Another part of the prompt was "Warm tones", and my daydream about the heart became set with red sandstone, and then a man in a white cloak passing over the stones... At which point it was time to write.

3) Art Process

I banged this 790 word story out in two days. Flush with the daydream, I managed the introductory paragraph in the late hours of a sunday; the notes I left myself before I went to bed on sunday read:

Princess with glass heart filled with fire that is cracked, she's clearly venerated, something about how it burned to hot and the glass cracked and it's slow to be mended, she is motionless a half alive and half not, like the god-emperor from 40K

The rest of the story was completed after work on the Monday. Looking back at the version changes (I write in gDocs these days), I edited as I went, so there were minimal changes to be made before posting.

4) Thoughts

This was one of those rare, special stories that was just waiting to be written. I had clear vision, the story didn't have to be forced. I'm especially proud of the veneration given by the preist:

[The Capelian] touched the tips of [his] fingers to his chest, lips, and forehead, ere raising his hand in supplication to the dais. "My breath, my words, my mind, for you, my Princess,"

This story was very popular, with a lot of people praising the worldbuilding (that I hadn't even realised was worldbuilding). However, people did seem to miss that the Princess was alive, mistaking her for some kind of statue. Maybe if I were ever to rewrite this, I would put more emphasis on that aspect.

I was surprised by its popularity, as to me it was a quick, almost throw-away story. There were requests for more, or assumptions that it was part of a larger whole. I can see where more story of this might lead, but I'm not inclined to follow its path at this time.

5) Tagging See above

[sage-nebula]

Thinking about all the clues in canon that Susie is an orphan who, before the game started, never had any friends or anyone who really cared about her (with their care for her being known to her), such as:

— At the beginning of Chapter 2, Ralsei reveals that he has set up rooms for Susie and Kris in his castle, so that the Dark World can be like “a second home” to them. When Susie sees her room, she spends a moment marveling about how she has her own room and awkwardly asks Ralsei how long he spent setting it up for her. After that, she’s overjoyed about how cool it is, bragging about it to both Kris and Lancer. While it could be that she just likes the room, the emphasis she puts on it being her own room makes it seem like this might be the first time she’s ever had a room to herself. Which, to be fair, Kris shared their room with Asriel as well, but the room Kris shared with Asriel was still their room, at least on one side of it. If Susie is from a group home, it could be that she never even had that much to herself.

— Susie seems to care greatly for Toriel, but in Chapter 1 also seems a bit jealous of Kris for being Toriel’s child. In Chapter 1, after Susie threatens Kris about biting their face off, she stops and says, “Nah. Kris, you have a good mother. It’d be a shame to make her bury her child.” If you try to skip school instead of going to the closet after that, Susie stops Kris by saying, “If you skip school, your mother will have a heart attack.” In both cases, Susie is expressing care for Toriel’s emotional well-being; however much Susie might not care for others, she does care about Toriel enough to not want to stress her out. Keeping in mind that all of this happens before the first Dark World trip, it can’t be explained away by Susie’s character development like Susie’s eagerness to bake a pie with Toriel (and otherwise adherence and respect that she shows for Toriel) in Chapter 2 can.

But going along with that, when you follow Susie to the closet in Chapter 1, Susie mocks Kris by saying, “Not used to walking without someone holding your hand? Come on, freak.” Given the respect and care Susie has already shown for Toriel, it’s clear that her mocking of Kris here is not because Kris should be ashamed for holding Toriel’s hand; rather, it could be jealousy that Susie doesn’t have someone to do that for her, and perhaps never did. It’s easier to call Kris a freak for having a loving mother who holds their hand than it is to admit that she wishes she had the same.

As a final note on the Chapter 2 interactions, Susie is surprised that Toriel knows her name and remembers her. This, in addition to her eagerness to help out with the pie, her laughing at Toriel’s jokes, etc, shows that Susie has a fondness for Toriel, who is the most motherly character in the series. Considering that Toriel acts kind and motherly toward Susie, the idea that Susie might not have never had a mother (+ people to care about her) suggests that her fondness for Toriel (+ jealousy of Kris) contributes to how quickly she latches onto / how much she cares about Toriel.

— Susie eats chalk, and while this could be a “haha monster snack” joke, not only do we not see other monsters eating chalk (in fact, Noelle thinks Kris is lying to her if you choose to tell Noelle this about Susie at the end of Chapter 1), but eating chalk can be a sign of a nutrient deficiency. Specifically, craving chalk can be a result of an iron deficiency. If Susie is an orphan who hasn’t had parents to take care of her, then she could have an unbalanced / nutritionally deficient diet, and thus she does things like eat chalk in an effort to make up for it. (Her jeans are also ripped up, and while distressed jeans are cool, it’s also possible those are the only pants she has.)

— While the other kids in Alphys’ class openly detest Susie (e.g. laughing at Kris for being paired with her, warning Kris about possible death at Susie’s hands, refusing to hang out with Kris if Kris is hanging out with Susie, etc), Monster Kid tells a story to Kris in Chapter 1 that suggests that, at one time, Susie might have wanted to be friends with them. Specifically, if you talk to Monster Kid at the end of Chapter 1, Monster Kid tells Kris about a time when the kids from Alphys’ class (sans Kris) were playing kickball in the street. MK says that Susie was “standing in a corner” staring at them, but that when the ball did get kicked over to her, she froze before kicking it so hard that it hit Undyne’s car. Monster Kid doesn’t say what Susie did after that (only that Alphys came out and kicked all their asses at the game), but does go on to insult Susie some more, and notes that Kris looks increasingly annoyed at the insults. Regardless, the thing to take away from this story here is that Susie was watching all the other kids play, and froze when the ball came to her. She kicked it . . . and it hit Undyne’s car. Monster Kid’s retelling of the story suggests that they and the other kids thought that Susie did that on purpose, but my interpretation (knowing Susie as I do now, and also knowing what it’s like to watch other kids play while not feeling invited to play yourself) suggests that it was probably an accident. Susie wanted to play and be included, but accidentally kicked the ball into the car, and was thought of as a freak and bully after despite her actual intentions.

— To that end, at the start of Chapter 1 Susie is pretty blatantly of the opinion that everyone hates her and wants her to get kicked out of school. She flat out says as much to Kris in front of the lockers at the start of the chapter. (“Everyone wants it. Everyone’s waiting for it.”) It’s not only the other students, either; Alphys is afraid of Susie and uses any opportunity she can to get Susie out of class, which would explain why Susie doesn’t hold nearly the same care or respect for her that she does for Toriel, someone who actually did care about and treat Susie with kindness.

— Susie expresses shock when Lancer wants to be like her / wants to be her friend, and in turn, latches onto him with fierce loyalty that is only momentarily shaken when she thinks he’s betrayed her (and she even reasons that with, “why would anyone want to be my friend?”). That line, suggesting that she feels stupid for thinking Lancer would want to be her friend, points to a friendless background. But her fierce loyalty to anyone who shows her even a bit of kindness also shows just how incredibly lonely she is. In fact, if we think about it, the people who Susie latches onto are those who have shown her some big act of kindness before:

Noelle: Lent Susie the candy cane pencil and smiled at her. Considering how the other kids in Alphys’ class treat Susie, the simple act of lending a pencil with a smile probably seemed like a huge act of kindness to her.

Toriel: Acts motherly toward Susie, as she does with all her students. Might not be special treatment in the grand scheme, but it’s special to Susie who typically doesn’t get that treatment from others.

Lancer: Said that he wanted to be like Susie, that he found Susie cool, wanted monogrammed track jackets with her, etc. Actually wanted to be Susie’s friend and appreciated her.

Kris: Defended Susie from the King’s attack. Note that although Susie was working with Kris before this, she wasn’t to the level of calling Kris her friend before Kris defended Susie. Also note that this is not an action that we, the player, make Kris do; Kris does it on their own regardless of the choices the player makes.

Ralsei: Healed Susie’s injured leg after Susie fell from the trash heap in Chapter 2. Granted, Susie was being nice to Ralsei before that and seemed to consider him a friend (enough), but it was only after Ralsei went out of his way to heal Susie’s injury and offered to teach her healing magic that she yoinked him off to spend time alone with him in the city and wanted to bust out of prison to find him when she thought he was being tortured in Queen’s Castle. Ralsei showed Susie some dedicated kindness, Susie latched on for life.

The fact that it takes on gesture of care on someone else’s part for Susie to be willing to kill for a person suggests that not only has Susie not had friends before, but perhaps that her feelings of loneliness were mixed with rejection to the point where she latches on fiercely to these people who care for her and doesn’t let them go.

— In addition to all this, although Susie latches on strongly, she also seems to be worried about losing those connections, too. When Lancer seemingly betrayed her, she said “why would anyone want to be friends with me?” When they returned from the Dark World, Susie hesitantly asks Kris if they’ll still be friends even if it turns out the Dark World was just a dream (well, she doesn’t finish the thought, but it’s clear that’s what she was about to ask before she fled). In the Snowgrave Route, when Noelle flees Kris at the hospital, Susie assumes Noelle is fleeing because of her and expresses dismay that Noelle is “scared of [her] again.” Susie’s default is that people fear or hate her and will run at the first opportunity despite how she tries to keep them close, which again speaks to a history of loneliness and rejection.

— Susie got banned from Free Ham Sandwich Day. This is a throwaway joke line, but if you consider that Susie might be an orphan with food insecurity, it could be less that she was just stuffing her face to be a pig and more that she was eating as much as she could because she didn’t know when she’d be able to eat again. Considering that she also eats things like chalk, candy cane pencils, apple-scented shampoo, and moss . . . well, the idea that Susie is food insecure doesn’t seem too far-fetched. (Kris also eats moss if the player makes them, yes, but the player has to choose that. Susie just does it on her own.)

Anyway, none of this is Conclusive Evidence, of course, but I think there’s a lot to suggest that Susie could very well be an orphan possibly living in a group home, and that she’s never really had the love of family or friends before the game started. Her aggression is defensive aggression more than anything else and it’s pretty clear that she just wants to be loved and give love in return. Susie’s fantastic and I can’t wait to see what more we learn about her as the game goes on.

[valhallanrose]

The Red Plague

The art above was created by Nix Hydra, and can be found in the Minor Arcana Art Book (or where I got it - off the fandom wiki page, because who’s going to stop me)

Much of Zelda’s story in the non-apprentice timeline delves into the plague before, during, and in the aftermath of Vesuvia, and I wanted to compile my lore and headcanons for it in one place before I delve into her story fully. I will incorporate as much canon as possible, but given that that isn’t a large amount of info, a lot of this is based off research and personal worldbuilding. 

CWs for discussions of disease, death, body horror, I guess spoilers but I’m surprised if it is for anyone considering how the info is everywhere in game in all routes. This is also, again, personal headcanon and I don’t expect it to fall in line with everyone’s thoughts on the plague.

The Timeline

I’m going to go with a comprehensive timeline first, and this part is all based on canon information. I’ll try and provide as many sources as I can as well, but some of this is pulled from multiple books and I might forget exactly where something came from. 

As we learn in the Lucio tale, Dawn of the Grub, Lucio strikes up a deal with the wyrm of pestilence (Vlastomil) - his parents’ hearts in exchange for a disease that will allow Lucio to kill them both. The Lucio brought the disease back to the tribe, which weakened his father enough for Lucio to kill him. His mother Morga, however, fights off the disease, referring to it as a ‘summer cold’, and Lucio flees the tribe and joins a traveling mercenary band which allows the plague to spread. 

I don’t have a particular reason why Morga would have survived the plague. Her sprites in the game never show any sign of the plague that are generally acknowledged - no red sclera, no veins, no signs of weakness, so on and so forth. The best theory I can posit is that Morga either genuinely had a summer cold, or that the plague only took hold in Lutz rather than them both. Either way, unsatisfying, but we’re going to call Morga the exception and not the rule. 

Because Lucio did not fulfill his end of the bargain with Vlastomil, the plague continued to spread, following Lucio as he traveled the continent. This is also the point where the beetles appear - more on them later. 

The implication in the game is that the disease reached other countries and areas, but the next canon mention of the Red Plague’s spread occurs in Portia’s route, book X - Wheel of Fortune. A map is discussed where dates, places, and sightings of the plague are noted by Julian in his study of the plague - the Painted Fields, Blue Mountain Ridge, and Annyala Gate are all names that arise. 

Nasmira recognizes the name of Annyala Gate and points out that Nazali was at that battle, in which a band of mercenaries was sighted - and their leader needed an arm amputated, which is confirmed to be Lucio. Nadia states that Lucio came to Vesuvia not long after that battle, and the next time the Plague was seen was in Vesuvia. 

It is never seen again outside Vesuvia, and this brings us to the three years before the game, where Lucio’s ‘death’ heralds the end of the plague, and it is never seen actively again in the Arcana world. 

The headcanons I have are to help establish a solid timeline. Dawn of the Grub tells us the deal is made on Lucio’s 18th birthday, and I personally believe that Lucio’s death occurred on his 40th birthday, giving us about 22 years of time for us to work with for the spread of the plague. 

Some more headcanons mixed with canon:

Lucio is newly titled Count in the tale Travel at Night. Based on personal age headcanons, this tale probably occurs at minimum 17 to 18 years pre-canon, putting Asra at (at most) 10/11, Muriel at 14/15, and Lucio at a startling 22/23. It could occur later, as art style can influence perspective on age, but Muriel and Asra really don’t feel like they could be much older than that. 

During his mercenary days (sometime between the ages of 18 and 22/23) Lucio was contracted by the former Count of Vesuvia, Count Spada. This battle occurs at Annyala, mentioned above, and is the battle where Lucio 

At a certain point, Lucio was contracted by the Count of Vesuvia at the time, Count Spada, for a battle where he "made a name for himself." Story implications indicate that this was the battle during which he lost his left arm. It was amputated by Julian to prevent his death from blood loss. After he won the battle for Count Spada, he became friends with the Count and privy to secrets about Vesuvia and the Palace. Spada would eventually name Lucio his heir, and upon his death, Lucio earned rulership of Vesuvia. 

The plague eventually appears and ravages Vesuvia’s population

Plague patients are sent to the Lazaret away from the city and cremated, then scattered on the beach. 

Lucio contracts the plague and defies the average lifespan of those who contracted it by lasting a few months rather than 3-10 days.

Lucio dies on his birthday, not of the plague but as a result of the ritual he was attempting to gain a new body.

I tried to map most of that out here, and wow, what a sad little diagram. Nix Hydra, y’all are cowards for not going hard on this. I, however, am not, and I am about to go more apeshit than I already have. 

The Spread

Cracking my knuckles on the history degree, baby, I’m borrowing some real life inspiration from across multiple time periods to tie all this together. 

I personally think the whole “Oh, the plague arrives wherever Lucio goes and disappears when he leaves” thing is a copout, and we’re drop kicking that out a window. 

I do believe, as canon states, that the plague follows Lucio. It spreads obviously to regions he visits, but I don’t think it just disappears when he leaves. I really, really want to believe someone would have been smart enough to see the connection if the plague suddenly appeared and was later yoinked out of existence as soon as Lucio left town every single time it cropped up somewhere way sooner than it was noticed in canon. 

I don’t think the plague was as isolated as the game implies, and when it was in Vesuvia, it was probably also elsewhere. The epicenter was Lucio, of course, so Vesuvia faced the worst of it, but I think there would have been pockets with much smaller numbers in other parts of the world. 

Earlier I mentioned a few locations cited in Portia’s route as to where the plague had been before Vesuvia - the Painted Fields, Blue Mountain Ridge, and Annyala Gate. I think once these areas were hit with the plague, it would have continued to spread even after Lucio left. Across multiple routes, it’s made clear that the only ‘cure’ to the plague is Lucio’s death, which is why Julian had intended to kill Lucio after making his deal with the Hanged Man. The lack of Lucio’s presence would have kept the plague from continuing to escalate, but in these regions, it probably would have spread when the region’s people attempted to relocate, or ceased when the population died out. 

Annyala Gate, or the Great Gate, is a location I can dive a little deeper into. It’s the last location the plague was sighted before Vesuvia, and because it ties into my OC Zelda’s storyline, I have many a thought. 

Lucio is in Annyala sometime between year 1 and year 4/5, though I believe it’s on the later end of that spectrum, so let’s say year 4 to clearly predate his title as heir to Vesuvia. For reference, here is a map of the Great Gate as provided by the art book: 

Jeebus. Terrible photo quality. Ah, well, on we go. 

The Great Gate is situated between the Sea of Persephia (left) and the Salty Sea (right), and as the map currently stands, is the only point on land that gives access to the southern part of the world map. In this area in particular, I feel like a number of factors would have kept the plague alive long after Lucio left. 

Narrowest point on the world map for transport of goods between ports and seas, which would be a more efficient route than traveling around the continent to reach the same point

As previously stated, this is the only known access point to the south, and travelers heading through this area could possibly be carriers of the plague or catch the plague from the area 

The only way for the plague to stop would be with the death of Lucio, so once it was inflicted upon this area, it continued to spread and infect the population in adjoining areas 

The game repeatedly has emphasized the proximity of the Red Beetles (known harbingers of the plague) to water, such as the Nopali village in Asra’s route and the red stains attributed to them in Julian’s route, and we receive further confirmation in Portia’s route that the water supplies are contaminated during the period of the disease

Fun bit of trivia from Nadia’s route - in the Strength book, Nadia mentions that she remembers the beetles, and that once they had been used as part of a pigment used to dye fabric crimson, which was all the rage in Vesuvia. Should this trend have continued, people wearing fabrics dyed with this beetle pigment most likely would become infected, and thus, the cycle continued. 

I will also point out here that pigments have been used in makeup across history, and I’m sure applying some beetle-laden makeup would have really fucked some people up. Eyeshadows, blushes, lipsticks...contact with any of these areas, particularly the eyes and mouth, indicate a possibility of infection. 

This does, however, leave a fifteen year (ish) period where the plague would have been active in this region until Lucio’s death. Historically, diseases can last such broad swathes of time. For the sake of displaying precedent, I will point out some examples here:

The Black Death, lasting 1346-1353

The third cholera pandemic, lasting 1846-1860

The third plague pandemic, a major bubonic plague like the Black Death, lasting 1855-1960

The HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has been ongoing since 1981 in the US

However, some of the most devastating plagues have lasted only a few years, which I will touch on later when I discuss Vesuvia’s case of the plague. All of the diseases listed above are additionally categorized with death tolls over a million people.

(On a side note, if you would like to contribute to programs searching for a cure for HIV/AIDS, I will suggest donating to organizations like amfAR, the Black AIDS Institute, or the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, all of which are linked accordingly and deserve your support if you are capable of making a  contribution)

Remaining question: if the last place the plague was seen was in Annyala, more than fifteen years before it was seen in Vesuvia, what the fuck happened during that time beforehand?

Vesuvia - Before the Plague

Here’s the thing. The timeline given by the devs is a fucking mess. So, what I’m going to propose here is almost entirely theory, and I ask that you keep that in mind. 

Lucio ascends to the title of Count by the time he’s about 22 or 23. Spada dies, presumably, and there’s no noticeable mention of his death via plague or the establishment of the court. 

For some fascinating lore on how the government in Vesuvia works, I’m going to point you to this post by @sunrisenfool​, who has one of the biggest brains and is gracious enough to allow me to reference their work a little for this one. 

I don’t think the court as we know it existed when Lucio became Count. I agree with sunrisenfool here that Valdemar has been the Palace’s cockroach for a while - which was actually also confirmed in the Star book of Portia’s route, in which we see Count Prospero (founder of Vesuvia) summon Valdemar and ask for their aid in creating a city that will never die. The remaining courtiers would be gradually established as time continued on, all demons who struck bargains with the Devil in one form or another placed into positions of power alongside Lucio. We also cannot forget Valerius, who made his own deal with the Devil, and played his own role in this scenario.

We know that Lucio was also a pawn, later on, in the Devil’s agenda to bridge the gap between the main world and the Arcane realms. The ritual discussed in Portia’s Star book is described as a vessel to do just that - 

“...every 777 years, the physical and magical world will collide...the laws of magic will no longer be immutable, and the world will bend to our will...So long as the Countship and canals remain whole, so shall the power to reshape the world. You need only await the conjunction. Perform the ritual and lead the city to glory heretofore unknown. I, Count Prospero, first of my line, declare the founding of Vesuvia. The city eternal. My legacy.” - Count Prospero

It’s confirmed after this scene that the ritual, using the canals as a conduit, opened a ‘door’ so to speak to the Arcane realms. It’s also said there is a three year window to perform this ritual, and that at the time of game canon, we are at the end of that three year window. 

So. Borderline conspiracy time. 

Circling back to the lovely sunrisenfool’s work, I’m going to pull a particular excerpt here:

...the Consul of Vesuvia is the second most important/powerful political figure in Vesuvia, directly after the Count/ess. Aside of the political and civic duties I have already explained, the Consul acts as a “protector” of Vesuvia, albeit not in a paternalistic politically-conservative way (which is how paternalistic policies would be understood in our world). Instead, the Consul is meant to rule the City if the Count is absent or incapacitated, therefore being the subsidiary depositary of the secret of the foundation of Vesuvia, and the importance of it’s Canals.

Lucio makes it pretty clear he doesn’t know much of anything about the ritual during Portia’s Star book, but he was told about it by Spada before his death as it was a secret kept close to the court. That gave him something of leverage, even if he wasn’t aware of it, 

My thought as to why the plague did not spread in Vesuvia sooner is that Lucio had knowledge of this ritual, however minimal, and the Devil needed him alive to eventually use the ritual for himself. So, as Vlastomil (the wyrm of pestilence who granted this curse) was established in Vesuvia as Praetor, the plague was kept at bay for the time being while the city came under the full control of the Devil’s demons. 

I cannot imagine the only person who knows about the ritual is the Count, because that feels like a woefully flawed plan, so I do believe the Consul would have also been privy to such a secret in case the Count was in a position they could not share it due to absence or incapacitation. Basically, a rehash of sunrisenfool’s point, but I digress. 

As the window drew nearer for the completion of the ritual and it became clearer that Lucio knew next to nothing about the ritual and how it worked, the Devil decided to take a different approach. The plague was unleashed once again by Vlastomil, with the goal that Lucio become infected and eventually die, and that Valerius take over the Countship. Lucio no longer was useful to the Devil, and should he be removed from power, someone like Valerius - who knew the purpose of the ritual, who was under the Devil’s bargain by this point - would be an ideal candidate to finish the task at hand. Leverage, it works wonders. 

I don’t think the ritual performed to gain a new body could have been mere chance. I think Lucio knew more than he let on about the canals and the magic in Vesuvia from Spada. Yes, I know the first three were written before Portia, but come on, the timing is insane. He’s no magician, and performing something that complex and magically charged right at the beginning of the three year window when the ritual is supposed to be performed feels far from coincidental. Fight me. 

But, on to what happens in Vesuvia once the plague is free to spread again.

Vesuvia - During the Plague

The first sighting of the plague is in year 20, and I personally believe the plague lasted about two years or 24 months. The period is divided into three ‘waves’ - the first six months, the year leading up to Lucio’s death, and the six months following Lucio’s death. 

The First Wave

The first wave begins when the first known case of the Red Plague is confirmed, and in this period, the spread is rather slow.  

Here is the introduction of the Lazaret, which I do believe is a building that existed before the plague - this is personal thoughts, but the odds of this being the first major disease Vesuvia experienced feel pretty slim, and I do think this was a previously established quarantine that was renovated/expanded for the Red Plague outbreak. In an effort to get ahead of the disease, the space was designated a quarantine, largely staffed by volunteers when the palace seemed to not acknowledge the growing situation. It would slowly begin to increase until the plague boomed at the six month mark, heralding the beginning of the second wave. 

The Second Wave

This is the ‘bad period’ of the plague. I say that loosely, because it’s all bad, but I digress. 

I headcanon that the apprentice dies in the beginning of the second wave, when spread of the red plague rapidly begins to increase and the call goes out for researchers to search for a cure. We know how that story goes, so moving on to the details of this wave. 

There were two groups at this point in the plague - those assigned to research, working out of Valdemar’s dungeon/lab/carnival of horrors studying the plague, and those assigned to the Lazaret, caring for the sick and dying and maintaining the facility. 

I’m going to focus more on the Lazaret for this, as the research aspect is pretty well covered throughout Julian’s route and conversations with him in other routes, and this post is already getting long. 

The Lazaret was home to the dying, where they would be cared for in their final days and eventually cremated. My thought is that the remains of the patients were carefully catalogued in the beginning, returned to families willing to claim them, and those left unclaimed were scattered on the beach at the Lazaret. Later on, as more and more people died, less remains were claimed, leading to the black beaches that still mark the shores of the Lazaret in canon. Often the staff here were a mix of healers, doctors, apothecaries, anyone willing to try anything to ease the pain of such a disease. 

The staff at the Lazaret began wearing layered masks - the plague mask with its herb-stuffed beak, another facial covering beneath for an added layer of protection, and a head covering that sealed the gaps between the mask and the face. They were also required to wear gloves, tight-fitted sleeves tucked inside, and their pants tucked into their boots to reduce the risk of infection through contact. Their days would start in locker rooms on one end of the facility, removed from the patients, and suit up for the day while leaving belongings in the lockers. The end of the shift consisted of showers and disposal of garments to be sterilized, they’d return home in the clothes they came in, and by the time they returned a new uniform would be waiting for them. 

Lucio caught the plague during this period, most likely halfway through. He lasted several months, but the exact length is unknown, aside from he ‘lasted longer than most victims of the plague’ who died between 3-10 days.

I don’t think the averages are entirely accurate. There were most likely some who were asymptomatic until the plague was in very late stages, or those who presented symptoms very early on and survived for long stretches of time. All would die bearing the red sclera, veins, and other symptoms depicted above. Basically, this disease is claimed to be unpredictable, and I think that would also stretch to the duration at which each patient had it. Those who were physically frail likely would have died sooner than those who had been in oprtimal health before the plague, making the times vary rather drastically. I’d suggest perhaps a month at the longest, a few days at the shortest. 

Policy wise - during this period, the ports would have closed, and Vesuvia would have shut down. Nobody in, nobody out, not without rigorous inspection and quarantine before exiting to the city to avoid further spread. Often the only people allowed into the city were doctors from other regions affected by the plague called to help research, but during this year, I would estimate Vesuvia lost easily 30% of its population to the Red Plague. 

The Third Wave

This wave is the period that occurs after Lucio’s death at the Masquerade, three years pregame. I’ll touch a tiny bit more more on this in the next section, but this is where we see the gradual end of the spread of the plague, and the last cases shown in Vesuvia. It’s the end of the plague period, and I give this about six months for the official ‘all clear’ to have been given by those tracking case counts. 

The Lazaret is eventually decommissioned and now sits abandoned, a shadow on the horizon to remind those who survived what had been lost. The city mourned, the gates slowly opened, and gradually, we reach the point of comparative normalcy we see in the game set three years later. 

Vesuvia - The Aftermath

Lucio’s death would, ultimately, mean the end of the plague. Rather than immediately disappearing and all those suffering from it be cured, however, I would be inclined to say that the spread came to a halt. 

The last wave of the plague, in the six months after Lucio’s death, would have been a decrease in new cases until there were no new ones being reported, and the last of the patients who had been infected finally passed. 

The final duties of the doctors at the Lazaret, after all remains are cremated, would have been the incineration of all materials that could not be sterilized. Linens, spare uniforms, unclaimed personal affects, so on and so forth until the time came to return home. I do not remember the exact location, but I am fairly confident of a mention of the MC remembering barrels burning doctor’s uniforms and masks in the days after the end of the plague. It was, for a lack of better words, a purge - an attempt to erase the last physical memories of what the city had endured. 

Events like this are traumatic for all involved. They are painful wounds, and for the rate of death I imagine occurred in Vesuvia, the odds that someone lost no one are slim. There was likely a long period of mourning, and as noted in the present of the game, rarely is the plague spoken of outside of the context of the investigation in the primary routes. 

Many of those medical staff members who survived were those assigned to research at the Palace. The proximity of the staff to the ill at the Lazaret quarantine likely would have made the rate of infection far higher for the caretakers, meaning that often the staff would end up caring for colleagues in their final days. 

Even three years removed, the time of the plague is a raw wound for those in Vesuvia - but I do think the period is fascinating and I love exploring the different facets of it in my own world building. And, well, shameless self promo, but I am eager to write it myself when I get into Zelda’s backstory.

If you made it this far, thank you. Go drink some water or something, idk, wellbeing checkpoint bc what a long ass post

[ilikekidsshows]

The whole “weird power is highly useful in certain circumstances” plot works a lot better when the “weird power” in question isn’t basically super stretching because, as a longtime consumer of superhero stories, I happen to know that super stretching is, in fact, a really useful and versatile power when used for strategy and not brute strength. The whole “overlooked team member proves they’re useful” also works better when the nonsense villain doesn’t wear plot armor that makes him unreasonably untouchable until the hero of the day just yoinks the super artifact out of his hand.

Even in hindsight, all of our complaints about Marzo’s stint as the main baddie of the episode hold true. He has no plan, other than using his Amulet of Cheesing Everything But Getting It Bitten Out of Your Hand to wreak destruction until the amulet faces its one weakness, getting bitten out of his hand. Was he planning to rule a kingdom of sleeping bodies while constantly gassing them? He had no means of forcing compliance in the people, neither did he seem to have any way to imprison his foes. The only reason his invasion seemed to work out was because Man at Arms forgot to pack his gas mask, gear I doubt he doesn’t have considering he has a full Aqua Action Man at Arms diving suit.

Anyway, I’ll definitely be happy once we’re back to our regular Skeletor-Scheduled Shenanigans. Adam was on point once again, and it was really nice to see Orko in his role of Adam’s friend in the know. He really came out in clutch even in his over eagerness.

[angels-heap]

Is it bad that i find Freemance (Gordon and Alyx) kind of squicky? I don't know, I really used to like it and the possible romantic relationship between them is super cute! But the fact that Alyx was a child when she knew him, and that Eli makes the weird comments about them when he has known Gordon for so long and that his DAUGHTER. It just really doesn't sit right with me anymore. I wouldn't want any of my friends to date my daughter if i had one! But i don't know anymore :-(

I’ve answered this question a few times before (sometimes more politely than others), but I’ll bite one more time, since your message sounds genuine and I hate to see people stressing out over this. 

In short, no, it’s not “bad” to find something squicky. That’s the beauty of the term; sometimes you just don’t vibe with something and “squick” is a great way to express that without needing to justify why you don’t like the thing. There are HL pairings I find squicky that aren’t necessarily objectively bad. Nobody’s saying you have to love freemance to be a HL fan.

That said, though, I can tell you’re feeling conflicted about this and I’m hoping I can help by clearing up some common misconceptions about the ship:

1. There’s nothing in canon that says Gordon knew Alyx when she was a child. What little information we do have actually suggests he didn’t. We know he worked with her father in some capacity, but given how dangerous and secure Black Mesa was, I highly doubt Eli was bringing his 4 year old to work regularly. Also, Alyx canonically doesn’t know much about Gordon in either HL2 or HLA, which strongly implies that if they ever did meet pre-canon, it was brief and not at all memorable. Anyone who claims that Gordon and Alyx were close pre-canon or had some sort of uncle/niece relationship is either confused or lying because nothing in the games supports that conclusion. 

2. Yeah, Eli’s jokes are a little cringey at times (and it appears Alyx would agree with that assessment, which is clearly intended to be humorous on Valve’s part), but I don’t think that’s an argument to sink the ship. Eli was probably at least a decade older than Gordon when they worked together at Black Mesa. Presumably, they didn’t work together for terribly long, considering how young Gordon is; HL1 was originally meant to take place on Gordon’s first day of work, but that was retconned to an unspecified earlier date to explain why he knows these people in HL2. Regardless, now Eli’s 20 years older than that with a daughter who’s around Gordon’s age. It’s not like Eli’s trying to set Alyx up with a same-age colleague; actually, Gordon arguably has more in common with Alyx than he does with Eli at this point. Also, it’s not unheard of in the real world for parents to try to set their kids up with respectable acquaintances and yes, even co-workers. Valve wouldn’t have written that in if it was socially unacceptable. 

3. We know Eli knows about the G-man and his relationship to Gordon and he also comments on the fact that Gordon doesn’t seem to have aged. He definitely knows (or at least strongly suspects) that Gordon’s still 27, which makes him a perfectly acceptable potential partner for his 24 year old daughter. Regardless of when Gordon was technically born, he’s still physically and developmentally in his 20s. He and Alyx have a similar amount of lived experience and complementary skillsets.

4. Eli, Barney, and other random NPCs don’t start teasing Alyx and Gordon about possibly being interested in each other until they’ve been working together for a while. Regardless of whether or not Gordon/you (as the player) reciprocates, it’s quite clear in the games that Alyx is developing a thing for Gordon as the story progresses, so it’s not like this is a case of creepy meddling friends/relatives (or game developers) trying to force a weird relationship on unwilling participants. 

5. This is a dynamic that could never happen in real life that neither party had control over, which means there’s nothing predatory going on here. Time travel/stasis is also a very common trope in sci-fi media. Everyone in HL2 has been through a lot and seen some shit. Alyx getting together with a 20-something year old dude who got yoinked out of time for two decades probably doesn’t even crack the top 10 for “unexpected shit that’s happened since Black Mesa” at this point. The characters clearly love and respect each other and we have every reason to believe everyone’s intentions in encouraging this relationship are pure. 

If freemance still doesn’t appeal to you, that’s totally fine! I’m not expecting to convince you to love it and that’s not a prerequisite to participate in the fandom, but I hope this helped counter some of the misinformation you may have heard elsewhere. As always, I’m happy to discuss this further in other asks or DMs if you still have questions! 

[the-big-nope]

Seeing a whole lotta posts about how someone needs to talk to Caduceus, how he’s going to crack at some point if it continues, and just wanted to throw my two cents out into the world about how while I agree that I’d love some more Caduceus focus and him opening up to the group, I really don’t think the urgency of a talk is as severe as some people make it out to be? Or at least I don’t think it’s going to happen, nor will it be imperative for Cad’s well-being that it happen, before a certain point. (I cannot speak to the coherency of this post, I just wanted to spit some musings out given all the Caduceus talk bouncing around the fandom).

For one, I’m highly skeptical that he’s ever going to crack in the way some people are imagining. This isn’t to say that Caduceus is as infallibly wise and unshakeable as he likes to appear. But a lot of people seem to be implying that that solidity of character is all an act or a coping mechanism, but that’s not entirely true. In a general sense, he is a steady person; no matter if some portion of that was a role he got slotted into, he is a calm individual, and even if there’s a part of him that tends to put aside his own needs in favor of being an anchor for other people, he’s not insecure enough in himself to ever end up in the kind of place that Scanlan did. If Caduceus ever did reach a bad place born of just this current trajectory, I think it would only ever manifest as these incorrect truths taking root in his worldview that wouldn’t be healthy, but something he would just lump along and not really pay attention to. So in the immediate sense, I highly doubt we’re ever going to see Caduceus ‘break’ or flounce away from the group for the reasons a lot of people are bringing up now. If, say, something terrible happened to his family or his home, or he had some major crisis with his faith, that’s the kind of thing I could see really getting to him and causing a visible crash; stuff from within seems to be something he can sit with much easier, even if he really shouldn’t.

As for the events on Rumblecusp and his recent bad luck, I just feel like that’s been a bit blown out of proportion. He fell into an ouch-bog a few times, which sucked but he was fine. Got a few of his personal items yoinked by Vokodo, but they were all gotten back in this episode. Got charmed toward Vokodo’s lair, but Beau and Caleb got him back almost immediately and no lasting harm was done. Strings of bummer luck like that sometimes just happen to these characters. Caleb was struggling in the Happy Fun Ball. Yasha got charmed multiple times on this island. Fjord was having a shitty string of combat luck between Rexxentrum and the Menagerie. You feel bad for the characters, and I would honestly love if they made a habit of patting each other on the back now and again during these strings, but I don’t think these kinds of things are enough to go shattering any of these guys. Adventuring can just be hard sometimes (Also, the meta of the cast experiencing these bouts of bad luck as just some bad dice rolls that are part of the game probably makes it much less of a deal for them than the fandom considers it). Plus, for Cad, whatever bad time he was having, you know he got a major pickup from his successful Divine Intervention. He puts so much stock in the Wildmother’s word and her assurances that he’s walking the right path, so whatever down feelings he was having beforehand have probably gotten majorly soothed with that vision and how much it contributed to their successful strategies in the Vokodo battle. I really don’t think he’s as distressed by this island as people make out.

Now, do I think he should receive a bit more attention than he does? Yeah, I actually do. I’d love a Cad check-in because he does do a lot for them, so an occasional tap on the shoulder and a conversation in thanks would be great. I totally get Caduceus fans who just want some more screen time for their fave. But when it comes to more serious talks, as most people seem to want...

The thing is, and some people have mentioned this before, Caduceus has yet to face much in the way of personal contention where it really matters to him: his family, his home, and his worldview. He’s only really had two sticking points when it comes to that, and the Nein actually have met him there and tried to help. The one time he was really feeling visibly down at the start of the pirate arc, he made it quite clear, and Jester and Nott did their best to talk with him and reassure him that he was on the right path and it was okay to feel a little overwhelmed. The second, where his fear about contacting his family who may or may not be okay came to light, the Nein did press him on that and immediately volunteered to follow him where he needed to go so he could find his family. In both cases, things turned out okay. Cad has yet to experience something that would really shake his steady foundations. Tal’s said it himself, Caduceus is a static person; his story isn’t centered on how he changes, but rather how Cad’s personal philosophies interact with the world around him. Whatever internal conflicts he has going on about his family, his long time separated from them, and his place in the Nein, those seem to be on a plateau without anything forcing his hand, and Caduceus himself probably isn’t going to see the need to address them until something major comes to a head and leaves him no choice. Once that time comes, I’m sure the Nein will be there to bat for him; they’re much better at checking in with each other in the middle of a crisis. Until that point, though, I don’t think even Cad is going to think to address anything else he’s got going on; the Nein because they’re better at damage control than early intervention, and Cad because he just won’t feel the need to. His inner conflicts will simmer, but they won’t disappear, and nor will they boil over, until he’s truly challenged where it counts. He’s gotten this far by believing in destiny and the Wildmother’s providence and it’s all seemed to work out, so why shake things up?

[mittensmorgul]

i’m dying i just watched 8.17 and it’s just so much

it’s so much

not just making it clear that cas loves dean, but also that dean loves cas

cas had been under naomi’s control-- down to literally puppeting words into his mouth and not even aware of it until he picked up the tablet and broke free of her control. (yes, he dropped the blade and had already chosen Dean over heaven, even through the programming, but picking up the tablet and effectively becoming its keeper is what yoinked him out of naomi’s office, but then drove him off on a mission to protect the tablet from everyone, including dean, at all costs... almost exactly what happened to him with Jack in 12.19... so it’s ENTIRELY UNDERSTANDABLE when Dean is afraid for Cas, afraid that he’s being controlled again after that, because in his experience, that was the most logical explanation, and also the one that doesn’t make it about Cas choosing to leave him again, even if he’s doing it for the right reasons... Dean gets it, but he hates it, and I don’t think Cas truly realized just how badly this all has piled on Dean “Abandonment Issues Wrapped In Flannel” Winchester.)

this is a cycle we’ve been around and around between these two, because what has kept Cas from ever staying has always been cosmic forces manipulation, or his sense of duty that it falls only on him to fix these problems, despite always choosing to do these things in the name of Dean-- “I will find some way to make this up to you,” “I am doing this for you, because of you,” “you taught me about freedom and free will,” etc. etc. from every go-around of this recurring dynamic.

Up to and including Cas choosing to trade himself to the empty for Jack. Because he made a promise to Kelly, but... but also because Sam and Dean love Jack too, and Cas still failed to understand that they love CAS just as much, and losing him would hurt Dean far worse. So...

Sure, great, Cas has now fully embraced his love for Dean, and has allowed himself to be truly happy in the choice of that, not understanding that Dean would literally have made the same exact bargain for HIM, for the exact same reasons... and then literally DID in the next episode. So like... this cycle must end. One way or another.

I have a preferred headcanon for how I would LIKE it to end, but I also accept that Andrew Dabb is still... wiggling his fingers in the story now that Chuck’s been fully and permanently fired from the job. People are still “writing the story we’re watching,” and making Sam and Dean and Cas’s choices for them. So if everything doesn’t happen the way I would like this week... well... I think we’ll at least be given the opening to continue our own interpretations. If Dabb can, then so can everyone else.

(I’m... conflicted about how he felt he needed to give the story a “concrete ending,” because there’s a lot of wiggle room for what that looks like to him, and I have a sinking feeling he went with the worst option, for the wrong reasons, but we only have three more days to wait and see. But considering the in-universe storyteller has been de-fanged, and yet SOMEONE has to continue relating this final landing point in order for us to watch it unfold, I’m personally taking the meta stance that what we’re actually seeing is Dabb’s fanfic thoughts on the matter, because someone had to decide for these characters what they would actually choose to do with a life free of cosmic crises...)

[katrinahood]

KatrinaHood Watches The Mummy (1999)

So the movie I’m going to blog about for today is The Mummy (1999) for reasons that are 100% unrelated to Ardeth Bay. Let’s dive in, shall we?

· Opening shot of ancient Egypt! …Make your own Prince of Egypt jokes.

· “…No other man was allowed to touch her.” Now, women on the other hand…

· “Uh…should we do something? Sounds like a whole lot of stabbing going on here.” “Nah, the bodyguards, they got this.”

· I’d describe this love story in the prologue as a fucked-up version of Romeo and Juliet, but I never read or saw any versions of the Romeo and Juliet plays.

· “…Condemned to be mummified alive.” Considering that part of the mummification process involves the removal of the brain through sticking a hook up the nose, that ain’t a pleasant way to die. Thanks, Criminal Case: Save the World case “I Spy a Mummy” for that little bit of trivia!

· “You just got promoted.” First joke that make me laugh out loud!

· Oh, creepy sand face.

· Hellllooooo, Rachel Weisz!!

· Disaster bookshelf dominoes! Oof!

· Hey, it’s that guy whose face I recognize, but I forgot the actor’s name!

· Abdul, Mohammad, Bob. One of these things is not like the others!

· I see Brendan Fraser’s rocking the George of the Jungle look.

· Smooth talking, O’Connell. That was sarcastic, since sarcasm is difficult to convey in text form.

· O’Connell just yeeted him into the ocean!

· Watery footprints, ominous.

· And O’Connell yeeted her into the ocean.

· “Americans and their obsession with guns.”

· And cue the crossing the desert montage!

· Race to the city!

· Uh-oh, this character is only referred to as “Warden” in the subtitles, and he’s gone off on his own. This doesn’t bode well for him.

· Told ya so!

· “He that shall not be named.” Make that joke yourself, I ain’t making it.

· Jonathan’s drinking booze while shooting people. That’s the life right here.

· Also, little tangent here, but why are the Ten Plagues of Egypt referred to as such when, technically speaking, only two of them were actual plagues (three if you count the death of the firstborn one even though it isn't said what they died of), as opposed to calamities?

· This book mine! Yoink!

· Oh shit, here come the locusts!

· Oh shit, here come the man-eating scarabs!

· Well, hello there, Ardeth Bay!

· Kitty cat!

· Oh shit, here comes the water turning into blood!

· Oh shit, here comes the—never mind. If I point out every single calamity, we’re gonna be here a while.

· The kitty cat saved the day!

· Yeouch, that chair to the buttocks has got to hurt.

· Kitty cat saved the day, again!

· Now all they need to do is strap kitty cats all over themselves!

· Ah shit, now the “strap kitty cats all over themselves” plan ain’t gonna work no more.

· Shooting at a sandstorm. Yeah, that’ll work.

· Best way to deal with undead priests? Shoot them with guns! Tons of times!

· And now the Mummy can’t fuck shit up anymore! Right? …Right…?

· Ayy, Ardeth Bay’s alive!!

· And our two main leads kiss!

· Hey, at least they got some treasure!

And that was The Mummy (1999)! And boy howdy, am I glad I did watch it! Why? Search for treasure that turns into a race against time to stop an ancient evil from taking over the world, plenty of action sequences, good comedic timing, what’s not to love? Also, even though he didn’t play that big of a role in this movie, Ardeth Bay’s plenty easy on the eyes, and ears. Will I watch the sequel? Oh, definitely some time in the future, yes! Again, for reasons 100% completely unrelated to Ardeth Bay.

[rawrroarart]

Diakko!Odyssey AU

Most recent update: 8/28/2020 I added the comic of them meeting and also wrote a little snippet under the Diakko section

Welcome all. This post will officially be my master post of the Odyssey AU which will be updated as time moves forward so that I can link all of my related art to it. Yes I will not be posting multiple separate Updates in text posts how it’s traditionally done, but instead there will be information with each art and then a link back to this post. This is to avoid clutter since I hardly post on this blog anyway so it wouldn’t be fun having to scroll through all of my “OH ALSO THIS HAPPENS!” to get to art. Also I keep changing my mind on a lot of things in the AU so disregard information under the arts anyway as I will be posting here what is actually relevant.

Another key thing: I will be avoiding spoilers as much as possible until they are either shown in art or stated explicitly like I do in posts because I am the absolute worst at surprises. But anyway fear not for spoilers. Things said here are things that should be hinted at/known already. (and also I hardly know anything but maybe I will in due time)

Without further ado..

Introduction

What is the Odyssey AU?

The odyssey au is an alternative universe combining both Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Little Witch Academia into this (very random) adventuring story that takes place in ancient Greece. I guess I can’t say that it’s random since one of my favorite things about both ACO and LWA is the ties/references to mythology with the former obviously more rooted in the mythology and the latter just fun easter egg references. 

The general premise is that Diana is a misthios(mercenary) who travels with Akko, a shapeshifter, across Greece to find the answers pertaining to her origin.

The first art post: Diana and Akkoros

While living her life as a misthios, Diana searches for the answers pertaining to her origin and superhuman (described as “magical”) abilities along with Shapeshifter Atsuko, who commonly uses her powers for flight, but is not shy to switch to animals more suited for combat.

But I don’t know what Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is?

That’s fair and understandable. Honestly my AU diverges a lot from the game so I don’t think knowledge of ACO is exactly necessary it’s just fun to understand the connections if you know them. Basically the key things you need to know from ACO as of now is: 

Kassandra (the protag) is known as the Eagle Bearer because she has an eagle that is known as the “eagle of Zeus” throughout the game. And they adventure together and Ikaros (the eagle) can hunt n kill things and See things and tbh he’s rly just a cool eagle but not a shapeshifter or anything lol

Kassandra is a Mercenary (misthios) which is basically a for Hire fighter/person who will p much do anything for money (if they want to do it) 

Kassandra is usually referred to a demi-god because of her powerful fighting abilities in which I mean yea she literally has powers and can blast people like a billion miles away (im jk but-)

Kassandra can tame animals (which ones depending on your skill level). You can tame uhh wolves, lynx, leopards, lions, bears. This is where my ‘shapeshifter’ idea began and it pretty much fit perfectly since Akko’s favorite spell is the shapeshifting one. 

Other than this, the most important things to know for this AU is just,, general mythology,, I guess? Or history? General history of mythology and how people worshipped/acted in accordance to the gods. And I’m not saying im going to be historically accurate obviously, nor even mythologically accurate (if that’s even a thing lol), I’m just here to have a good time and enjoy my gay mercenaries while talking about gods/goddesses as if I even know (thankfully I have my gf who is way more interested in mythology than me to help me)

I’ve only played like half of the Atlantis DLC after beating the game so whoopsie. I honestly really wanna replay everything now that I have this AU just so I can focus more on details and what I can yoink.

Characters

Diana

Art: 

Diana’s sketch-dump though she really needs a new one.

Diana in wheat field

Diana is the main protagonist of the story, but they pretty much both share the spotlight anyway. Her goal is to find out why she has certain powers (which I have officially decided, finally...) that aren’t exactly human. Since being a misthios was an easy way for her to travel and make drachmae, she chooses to do it while on their journey. Dammit I came up with her lore but as per the rules of this masterpost I can’t write about it until it’s out smh.. Ah I forgot that I already spilled that she is a goddess/demi-goddess (haven’t decided which yet) so yea that’s the Tea.

Described as very beautiful, there are rumors of her that state she is a pathway to Elysium (despite many people not deserving to go to Elysium). She is also known for her stoic face and a red bird that follows her around.

Diana is only found smiling with Akko and keeps buying Akko clothes despite her outer grievances each time Akko destroys something.

Diana was there with her mother at Chariot’s speech/performance.

Diana is skilled with any weapon.

Akko

Art:

Akko sketch-dump

Akko is a shapeshifter who travels with Diana across Greece in search for her idolized Chariot. Trusting both Diana’s skills and powers, Akko decides that Diana is the best choice to help achieve her goal as they adventure together.

Orphaned at a young age, Akko is, at first, very unfamiliar with how exactly to use her powers because there was no one around to teach her. She uses a bird most often because it is her first and most skilled transformation, but eventually learns to use stronger animals over time. Also eagle-vision is much more useful to Diana when they’re scoping the grounds anyway.

Like all shapeshifters, Akko has a symbol on her neck that signifies what she is. Due to the high prejudice against shapeshifters, Akko stays an animal to avoid being known, and also does not transform in front of others unless to kill them. If she has to be a human, Akko commonly wears a hood to hide her neck. 

Akko is one of the last shapeshifters to exist, and, despite Chariot being rumored to have finally been murdered, she still believes Chariot is alive. 

Akko was with her parents when they all attended Chariot’s final speech/show and here began her dream.

Akko can use a dagger if she needs to.

Side-characters

Akko’s Parents: Shapeshifters who were murdered when Akko was a young age.

Chariot: A shapeshifter who somehow had a voice and power that even normal people listened to. Akko idolizes Chariot because, despite the hate against shapeshifters, Chariot was well known and was an activist for shapeshifters despite the danger upon her head. Chariot mysteriously disappears one day for reasons unknown, and everyone but Akko assumes she was finally murdered.

Shapeshifters

Shapeshifters are defined as humans who possess the ability to transform to any animal at will. Unfortunately, because animals were seen as less than human, shapeshifters were defined as “punished by the gods” and so many decided shapeshifters needed to be removed from the world for sin. This causes a massacre of shapeshifters to the point that they are instead a rarity.

Shapeshifters do not transform with their clothes, and so either destroy them or lose them depending on their transformation.

All shapeshifters have a symbol on their neck which is what is used to find them. They can also be found by their human personalities/characteristics when they are an animal. 

If weakened, shapeshifters return to their human form and cannot transform until they are stronger.

Diakko

Art:

Meeting (Comes with a 500 word story!)

Misthios!Diana and Shapeshifter!Akko Sketch-dump

Diana and Bear!Akko

Fancy Diakko (the first continuity error lol)

Diana and Akko adventure together and do all of their quests together as a rag-tag chaotic duo. God I’m so excited for this section I wish I could make art FASTER but anyway:

They meet at about 17 years old but the main story takes place when they are 18+

The two get off to a wrong start when Diana saves Akko’s life. Because Akko is a shapeshifter, she’s high in value to kill probably by some cult idk but there is always a bounty on her head. When Diana saves her, Akko assumes Diana only did so to steal the drachmae from the original perpetrators, but Diana really just leaves her alone afterwards. Confused, Akko legit just starts tagging along LMAO she finds Diana interesting and so follows her and Diana’s just like what the fuck but eventually she gets over it. They become powerful assets to each other as Diana can now scope the skies with Akko and Akko is pretty much protected under Diana. Then when Akko gets much stronger Diana gets extra manpower and protection too. 

Akko enjoys staying in her human form to spend time with Diana.

Diana keeps buying Akko clothes just because it makes Akko happy (and also, despite Akko uncaring because her transformations are so frequent anyway, Diana doesn’t want her to be naked??)

Diana is easily persuaded by Akko and puts Akko’s interests first (feeds her first, considers what Akko would want, etc.)