#crystal facet (oc)

[hyenacicadas]

Misc. OC art

[ladykailitha]

Oh For a Muse of Fire! Epilogue

I want to thank everyone for the lovely support. I saw a couple questions about the other characters in the comment section of the last one and wanted to clear up a couple of things. Crystal=Argyle (he picked the name because he thought it sounded cool), Onyx=Dimitri (like @n0-1-important guessed in part 11). Diamond and his family were all OCs more on them here. Michelle (the whiny chick in the art class) is the only other OC. I tried as much as possible to include characters from the show when I could.

And to answer @ goodolefashionedloverboi‘s question: Jonathan and Nancy are in couple’s therapy and are doing better.

And then one final thing to explain (the curses of doing a WIP and posting it one at a time not every thread I put down got picked up again, oops!) is the garnet rings. I love gem stones and geology. It fascinates me so much so that I took it as an elective in high school. When I was researching a fic (don’t remember which one now) I was looking at Eddie’s rings. And a lot of people were making replicas with hard stones like hematite, onyx, or something that didn’t have cuts or facets. But Eddie’s ring sparkles. It’s clearly a gemstone. So I went looking up grey or black gemstones. I found a couple it could be but they weren’t discovered until the 90s (and while the ACTUAL stone the prop maker used could be that, I COULDN’T call it that). And then I found a grey garnet. It was a perfect match. It sparkles the way his does, the different shades it gets from the show, spot on. Hence the garnet.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9 Part 10  Part 11 Part 12  Part 13 Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17

*

Two years later:

Variety Interview with Corroded Coffin

Max Mayfield: Hello, can you guys introduce yourselves for the people that have been hiding under a rock for the last two years?

They all laugh.

Jeff: I’m Jeff Lawrence, I’m rhythm guitar.

Gareth: I’m Gareth Hughes, I’m on drums.

Brian: I’m Brian Martin, I’m the bass guitarist.

Eddie: And I’m Eddie Munson, frontman, lead guitar, lead vocalist, and songwriter.

MM: That’s a lot of titles for one person.

JL: That’s because he’s the most dramatic out of all of us. He has to have allll the titles. Can’t share with the rest of us.

EM: Hey!

They all laugh again.

BM: Hey, you know it’s true.

EM: Yeah...but you’re giving away all my secrets right off the bat. Can’t you save some for later in the interview.

The other three look at each other.

JL, BM, GH: No.

Eddie throws his arms in the air.

EM: I’m telling Steve!

The other three look mock frightened for all of three seconds before they start laughing at him.

JL: You know Steve would agree with us.

Eddie pouts

MM: Can you tell us who Steve is?

Eddie fiddles with the singular ring on his right hand, looking down, bashfully. It one that I haven’t seen. Everyone is familiar with the the three chunky rings on his left hand. But this one is on his ring finger. The grey stone flashes as he plays with it.  

EM: He’s the love of my life and my muse.

JL: He’s an art teacher back home.

BM: He’s our Eddie wrangler.

GH: He’s our band mascot.

I laugh.

MM: He sounds pretty special. How did you guys meet?

JL: We all went to high school together, actually.

MM: Oh, so were you high school sweethearts, then?

Eddie laughs.

GH: Yeah, no. He laughs.

BM: Let’s just say they started off on the wrong foot.

JL: The wrong everything, let’s be honest.

EM: Not my proudest moment. I was doing a favor for a family friend being a live model for an art class about five years later and assumed the worst about him.

MM: You mean there are actual art of you naked out there?

Eddie blushes.

EM: Several pieces in fact. But my favorite is Stevie’s. It’s still hanging up in our house in my studio.

GH: I’ve seen it. It’s not gross or anything.

JL: It won best in show at the art gala it was featured in.

BM: I think he’s totally wasted as an art teacher. He could be making more than we do selling his art work. But he loves working with kids.

MM: Sounds like the perfect guy.

EM: scoffs I love Steve, but he can be the most basic bitch. And he tends to be overprotective too.

GH: But we are here to talk about the new album.

MM: Fair enough. So tell me about working on Silent Killer. This is your second album, is that correct?

JL: Yeah, our self titled debut album just went double platinum. We knew going in it was going to be a tough act to follow.

GH: When we went platinum the first time, our manager Murray Bauman sent black flowers to all the record labels that passed on us.

EM: It was very suitably bitchy. It’s why he’s our manager.

MM: Certainly sounds like it. Do you guys deviate from your first album’s style in this one?

They look at each other and Eddie shrugs

EM: I mean, not really. It’s a more somber album to be sure. There was a song that we wanted to include on Corroded Coffin but decided it didn’t fit with the overall theme of the album that made its way on this one.

MM: Which song is that?

BM: Thorns and Thistles. It’s the song that got us our agent in the first place.

JL: Yeah. Murray was mad when the record label didn’t want to use it this time round. He fought tooth and nail to get on the album.

EM: Have you heard it yet?

I nod.

MM: Yeah. It’s beautifully heartbreaking. You say your label didn’t want to use it?

BM: They thought it was too sad.

JL: So to prove them wrong we sent it out as our first single, before we even started really working on the album.

MM: It had already gone gold before you announced the new record. That must have really got stuck in their craw.

EM: We’ve been laughing all the way to the bank.

MM: You guys won a Grammy for Song of the Year for The Jester and the King and Best New Artist. How was that for you?

BM: God I don’t know which of us bawled more on that stage. But it was everything we hoped for.

JL: Winning Song of the Year was a life changer. But no one thought we were going to win Best New Artist.

MM: No?

Eddie shakes his head.

EM: It rarely goes to a rock artist, especially a metal one. Everyone thought it would go to the kid...what’s his name...? He snaps his fingers.

JL: JJ Jenner.

EM: That’s the one. Fifteen year old kid with the pipes of an angel. Everyone, including us thought it would be him.

MM: Oh, I remember now, they put the kid’s reaction to losing on the jumbotron or whatever they call their big screen.

GH: I almost felt sorry for him.

Eddie grins.

EM: Almost.

MM: When you do red carpet events, Eddie, you bring your two lesbian friends with you, while the rest of the band brings their partners. Is there a reason you don’t bring yours? Especially since I learned your partner’s name is Steve.

All the members of the band shift uncomfortably in their seats, stealing glances at each as they silently decide who is going to answer the question.

MM: Oh. I feel like I stepped on a sensitive topic. I didn’t mean to.

Gareth clears his throat.

GH: Steve’s privacy is very important to us. There are times he would like to go to these things with Eddie...

JL: But he still gets attacks and can’t. He looks down at his hands. So he goes with the girls dress shopping and helps pick out their outfits for the night.

Eddie looks like he’s going to tear up.

EM: We’re working on it. He knew going to our relationship that this might become an issue but I always do what I can to make it up to him the moment I get home.

They all look somber, so I decide to change the direction of the interview.

MM: What’s next for the Corroded Coffin boys?

They brighten up almost immediately.

BM: Touring. We’ve got an American tour this spring and then a European tour this summer.

MM: Is there a reason you decided to wait on the European tour until summer?

Eddie blushes and the rest of the band nudge him playfully.

EM: It’s so Steve can come with us. He can’t leave during the school year, but he likes touring with us when it’s out for summer break.

MM: Ah ha.

The conversation turns to non-band related things again and I watch how close they are. It’s great to see a band that are still friends after years of playing together. Even though they’ve only been big for two years, they have been playing for twelve.

Let’s hope that they stay that way for the next twenty.

-Max Mayfield

The Final Tag List: @artiststarme @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @itsall-taken @m-owo-n @zerokrox-blog @runyousillydetective @grimmfitzz @wonderland-girl143-blog @sapphirecobalt-1 @scheodingers-muppet @victor-thee-corvid @apricottree @bookbinderbitch @sleepyboosstuff @biatcgh @pixiefallingupthestairs @grtwdsmwhr @thepainisspicy @carlyv @eboyawstenn @bisexualdisastersworld @bidisastersworld @abstractnaturaldisaster @evix-syne666 @nerdsconquerall @lololol-1234 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @a-little-unsteddie @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @elluminis @tailsfromthecrypt @danili666 @plyerice27 @alittlegreyfish  @n0-1-important @no-upper-limit-to-stupidity @maya-custodios-dionach @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @heaven428 @thedragonsaunt @ceaselessly-watching @imfinereallyy @messrs-weasley @sharingisntkaren @nohomoyesbi

[starswornoaths]

A Fulcrum Dark and Radiant - Commission!

Commission for @sarenhale, who is a delight as always to work with and has been so patient and gracious with me! Featuring oc Arihel and Urianger!

Set during the events of 5.0, Urianger does everything he can to ease the suffering of Arihel as he absorbs more and more Light. When things finally boil over and the night sky is once again gone, it's all they can do to turn toward one another.

word count: 7,945

Commissions: Open!

To be an Astrologian was to study not only the stars, but also to find the gravid pull of one’s focus. The center of one’s universe was, as far as the greatest scholars of Sharlayan could deduce, the core of one’s power. 

The more clinically minded attributed the core of their power to the heaven’s gates and the unlocking thereof. Those with a more romantic flair would often profess that the object of their desires was the source of their strength. 

From what Urianger had been able to glean from his colleagues in school, teachers would insist that, from a purely academic perspective, only the former was absolutely required for the study of stars. The latter, if true at all, was a more volatile source of power and focus: namely, in that it can wither, change, or be lost.

Having the blessing and burden of both facets of study, Urianger understood that it was only a practice of both in equal harmony that would truly open one to the potential to tame the stars themselves. Would that he had understood such an important lesson sooner in life.

Alas, what study he had undergone was of a more practical sort, versus academic. By the time he was able to grasp starlight in the palm of his hand it had come from another sky entirely, on a world far from home.

For a blessing, Urianger had refused to let his focus be idle as they awaited their champion’s arrival to the First shard; a mastery of the stars meant that he could instead turn his focus to the study of aether itself, the properties by which it operated, and how those properties might be altered. That the man he had come to so dearly cherish was so far away from him had made of him another star to draw strength from when Urianger felt himself waning.

But the work was never finished. In its own way, that was a good thing: it helped keep his mind off the Crystal Exarch’s schemes—and his complicity to them. Working out charts of aetheric flow and how best to alter their currents felt at least like some sort of penance for a sin that he continued to choose to commit. It was the less amoral of the manipulations he was a part of now.

Nothing had brought that into focus more clearly than Arihel’s arrival in Norvrandt.

Pretending that they were overly familiar before that point would be insult to both of them; Urianger had always held a deep and abiding respect and admiration for Arihel. For how he continued to try, even in the face of almost certain failure. For who he was inherently as a person, enough that there was always a sort of warmth in his chest when they were near one another.

But that did not mean they were close. Their interactions had been naught but amiable, even friendly. To Urianger’s mind, Arihel had carried himself beyond reproach, but neither of them had approached one another for more than a few brief moments—and almost always for work related dealings.

So it was something of a surprise when Arihel approached him, of all the Scions, for help.

All the more that he came to Urianger’s room in the Crystarium, not long after night had returned to Il Mheg. Arihel came alone, and deep enough into night that Urianger had only barely settled in from their hasty retreat from the land of the fae. 

Conversation between them had not started smoothly even after Urianger had ushered him in for tea but eventually, Arihel had broached the true reason for his unexpected arrival.

“Not going to pretend you didn’t see how I brought night back to Il Mheg,” said the Warrior of Light and Darkness both. “Wasn’t the first time I did it—you probably know that, too.”

For several long moments, Urianger dared not breathe. “Wherefore wouldst thou make such a claim?” he had found himself asking.

“‘Cause I feel like you know everything.” Arihel had answered as though it was obvious.

Ignorant of how the air left Urianger’s lungs at the statement, ignorant of how close to right he was for all the wrong reasons, he sheepishly added, ““and you talked a lot about the different aspects of aether before. Back in Il Mheg.”

There was little and less sense in pretending that he did not immediately see and feel the changes that had taken place in the time since they had last seen one another on the Source. It was one of the few things left that he did not have to lie about. 

For he would know more than most what was happening—he was complicit in the scheme from the moment the Exarch had brought him into the fold. More than anyone, he understood the immense but exact cost of each patch of night sky…and who was meant to pay it.

“I do confess to no small amount of concern for thee—moreso than what hath become customary for thy heroic exploits, that is.” Urianger recalled measuring each word like a tentative step on ice. “Ere you had set foot on the First…much and more had already changed within thee, though I do not understand the depth of such changes. But the changes hath only become more striking since thy arrival here.”

“I…there’s so much goin’ on, so much at stake—Urianger, I can’t come to anyone else with this.” Arihel had said, words almost tripping on his Lominsan accent and mounting anxiety. 

Despite being nearly half a head taller he seemed determined to make himself small in that moment, and it was well that he was pointedly looking at the kettle on the stove lest he might see the way Urianger flinched. The Warrior of Light was now the second person to tell him that, and of direct consequence to his first confidant in this world.

“Thou hast no need to fear reproach from me, Arihel.” he said softly, hands occupied with cups and the filling thereof. “Aught I might do to lessen the burden on thy shoulders, thou needs but ask it of me, and I shall do all in my power to make it so.”

As if to seal the promise in the ways of the fae folk—a habit hard formed over the last three years—he pressed a steaming cup of tea into Arihel’s hands.

“...I believe you.” he whispered half into his tea. “I have to—wouldn’t be here in the first place if I didn’t, right?”

It was Urianger’s turn to lower his gaze. Given all that he withheld from all those he had held so very dear, he felt unworthy. In equal turns, he felt a churning sense of desperation to be worthy of it twist with the guilt, the uoroboros tangled itself around the corrupted fulcrum of his very being. His secrets had brought about this fear within his friend. His secrets would bear salvation to him. Both were sins born of virtue. He could not falter now when it would doom all he loved and cherished—Arihel included. 

Choosing damnation over oblivion, as he always would, Urianger opted for silence to coax Arihel to speak.

Words strung together, halting for the rattling breath and pulls of drink told a tale of corrupted closure. A battle unfolding on the Azim Steppe between a father figure and the man who saw the monster within him. 

Nergaal might have succumbed to his adopted son’s blows after a long and arduous battle, but Arihel was never the same again. 

Both combatants had been granted the Echo—but Nergaal had something more wicked still to darken his shadow: voidsent. Devoured for their essence and grafted onto his soul in grim patchwork, the creatures had both strengthened and consumed the man from the inside out, his body sustained only by his Blessing outrunning the rot. 

When Nergaal could no longer outpace Arihel, the voidsent he had devoured had congealed into a concentrated corruption. Fearful of what would happen should such malfeasance be left to do as it wanted, Arihel had taken it unto himself.

“In the middle of it all,” he whispered after the silence stretched at length. “I’ll never forget those eyes…looking at me. Always, always looking at me.”

Before that point, Urianger had known Arihel’s eyes to be a bright, almost luminescent colour. He had never managed to hold the man’s gaze long enough to tell whether the color of that radiance was a seafoam green or a cloudy sky blue, but only the faintest limbal ring of that hue remained in eyes that now glared a fierce garnet red color. Where Arihel’s eyes once resembled dappled sunlight streaming through the window, Urianger could only now equate their glow to smouldering coals in a dark furnace.

How much longer could Arihel continue to burn before he guttered out to the last embers, Urianger wondered grimly.

As if to shield his heart from the memory, Arihel gave a shudder so violent his torso folded in on itself. 

“Everything already felt off after I took the voidsent into me.” he said in a tone that made it clear admitting it hurt almost as much as the corruption itself. “I thought—I dunno, I thought if I absorbed the Light here, it would balance it out somehow? I thought it might after hearing you talk about aether, at least—”

“Were it a simple matter of pure aether absorption, there might be some merit to the theory,” Urianger said slowly, searching for words to soften the blow, “but as thou hast doubtless discovered, the imbalance of such confluence, and the darkness within thee a direct result of not mere aether but voidsent, only further complicates thy perilous predicament.” 

Even so much time later, after so many moments that reflected this first true meeting betwixt them, Urianger recalled the way Arihel had all but whispered, “Help me, Urianger. Is there anything that can help?”

Down to his marrow was Arihel a Warrior of Warriors, and rarely did he speak of his pain. He was not one to openly disclose his suffering, and tried to do aught in his power to hide what afflictions he was battling.

But Sharlayan Astrology had a peculiar way of drawing the focus to that which is in need of realignment. In finding the fulcrum of one’s desire to heal in the molten core of the patient’s agony, the weak points began to show like stars in the night sky.

“Aught in my power to try, I shall.” Urianger had promised him. “Thou needs but come to me, and I shall render mine all.”

Every time Arihel took back a part of the night sky, he and Urianger would secret themselves away in a private moment all their own, and the Warrior would give his battered aether over to the Wizard’s inspection. 

Grimly, the march toward the Exarch’s gambit proceeded apace: a fulcrum dark and radiant all at once, neither cancelling out one another but burning differently at the same flesh. The more of the night sky returned, the more those voidsent were but flecks on a pearlescent core like the shadow of vultures against a blazing sun. 

The first time Urianger had deeply examined Arihel’s aether, he had done so without touching him. It had been a request of Arihel’s—fear of what had happened with Nergaal had made him averse to physical contact even before they had been pulled to Norvrandt, and the absorption of Light during his time here had only rubbed that nerve raw.

Patience and pure necessity had won out in the end, and the night after freeing Amh Areng from perpetual day found Arihel in the worst pain he had ever been in.

“Harder to hold in now.” he had admitted, words forced through grit teeth stained iridescent from the aetherically charged bile he had begun to cough up. “Feels worse than before.”

That time, Urianger had all but begged to be permitted close enough to touch—out of a tangled growth of affection and fear that had rooted itself in his heart. With baited breath, he admitted that the need to try and protect him outweighed any concern there might have ever for his own safety.

“I could hurt you,” Arihel warned when a hand was held out in offering to him again.

At that, Urianger smiled and reminded him, “As thou ever could.”

For all the fear Arihel had over anyone touching him, Urianger’s first brush with skin and scale was alarming for how soft they were against his hand. At first contact with the apple of his cheek Arihel’s skin flared in heat, a deep flush creeping over warm skin. 

Both of them had held their breaths for long enough that the room had vaguely spun as their aether connected. In stark contrast to the almost tender caress of Arihel subtly leaning into Urianger’s palm, the first tendrils of Arihel’s aether tangling with Uriangers felt almost violent, as if to claw the relief out of him. 

Almost immediately the sensation softened, and Urianger did not miss the way Arihel had frowned deeply as if in concentration.

“Thy control is highly commendable,” Urianger praised softly, trying in vain to balance his friend’s aether. “But I assure thee, thou art safe with me. ‘Tis alright to let go of thy facade. ‘Tis alright to bear thy pain unto me. I shall take as much from thee as I can. Thou art safe in my care.”

Before their arrival on the First, Urianger had known Arihel’s aether to be more fire aspected than anything, warm as a hearth and radiant as the sun. Astral, which might well suit to point to a perfect counterbalance to the Light whorling within him. 

Thus was Urianger’s theory set in motion, attempting to channel enough water aether into Arihel that his aether could be tilted closer to its natural center. Waves woven with the care of a tailor crafting a gorgeous gown, Urianger wove a luminescent night sky of umbral water over Arihel’s heart in an effort to blanket him in calmer tides. 

With each attempt, it became easier. With every touch, every whispered secret between them, Uriagner attuned himself to the ever-shifting sands of Arihel’s aether. Almost without effort, Arihel had become the radiant sun of Urianger’s universe: the fulcrum of his focus and the gravitational pull of his heart. The shores upon which his waters would return in rhythmic ebb and flow of need and understanding, given and taken in kind.

Of course Urianger was going to give his all to try and bring Arihel back from the brink. What else could he do? Whose shores could he find safe haven within save for Arihel’s? Who else could he love but him? What else could he do but continue to try?

If he reminded Arihel, in word and in soul, of the man he had once been before he had shouldered the burden of monsters— first, that of another man and then of another world wholly, if he could ensure that there would be enough of his friend left to save, then it would all be worth it. Urianger could sit with the guilt of betraying his trust, of hiding the truth of the Exarch’s plan, if it meant that Arihel and the rest of his Scion compatriots would be alive. 

Such was the Exarch’s gamble. The die was cast. They had failed long before they had reached the heights of Mt. Gulg in an effort to chase away the last of the Light, but it wasn’t until they had reached its summit that they realized how far gone everything had been.

To the last, Urianger had hoped that G’raha Tia’s plan would come to fruition. To the last, selfishly, Urianger had hoped the Crystal Exarch would be the one to die. This process had been agony enough to Arihel but even if he never spoke to Urianger again, he would at least have lived.

Emet-Selch had done exactly as he had promised, and foiled their plans at the last. It was all that Ryne could do to keep Arihel from turning into the last of the Lightwardens that instant. The Oracle had given every onze of her aether just to stabilize him—and half of Urianger’s, when he offered more as they had ferried him back to the Crystarium. 

No one looked at the sky outside the airship. No one dared breathe a word of the returned poisoning of Light in the sky. No one needed to.

It was only after Ryne had done all she could that Urianger left Arihel’s side, aiding her in finding her own rest once the mendicants had taken over his care. Absence from him itched at some newly deepened protectiveness in Urianger’s heart, dark and radiant and undefinable. 

That yawning chasm that Arihel had occupied left room for Urianger to reflect, however, on how utterly out of balance his heart and mind were, where his dearest friend was concerned. Little wonder he had rarely known how to handle when they were together; he was in a constant state of dizziness, tumbling from the height of his love for Arihel and crashing into the lows of his knowledge of the man.

Urianger was the one Scion out of all of them that Arihel had chosen to go to when in need of succor. Even if other Scions might have known more of the man, they knew little and less of his aether and soul. 

Not he. Not Urianger, who could sculpt a topographical map of Arihel’s pain and how it had changed with their travels across Norvrandt. Urianger, who was so privileged to know what it looked like when the most immediate of the pain was soothed away, how the sharp ridges and grooves between his brows softened into a tentative smile. Urianger, who could track the worsening of the Light’s poison in how long it took for his hands to stop trembling after a dose of healing magic—

Urianger, who only knew his tragedies. Who only knew of the horrors visited to him at the Steppe. Who only knew Arihel loved vegetable soup because the Scions were beginning to sound like the healers working the Inn at Journey’s End.

Mere hours had passed until Arihel awoke but they passed like days. Urianger scarce kept himself sufficiently distracted with fretting over his compatriots. For a blessing, everyone else seemed otherwise no worse for wear, if keeping their head down in various aspects.

Bereft of purpose otherwise, Urianger returned to Arihel’s room, wherein he found the suites empty of occupants. Thus, he found his purpose, and began to search for where his guiding star had drifted off to. 

There was little and less surprise when he was found wandering with Feo Ul about the Crystarium—but that his stride became purposeful as he caught sight of Urianger most certainly was.

“I was looking for you.” Arihel admitted.

Urianger’s initial reaction was to panic—habit dictated that he was sought out for comfort when the pain became too much. 

“Hath thy pain begun to flare anew? Shall I send for young Ryne to attend you, or Y’Shtola—”

“No!” Arihel cut him off, voice just a touch rougher and louder than intended.

Wincing, he softened and tried again, the mumbled words smudged warmly in his accent. “No. Just—wanted to see you. Talk to you, but—”

Used to Arihel searching for words, Urianger fell into step beside him and waited.

“This is his garden. The Exarch’s.” Arihel finally said, and lowered his gaze to lock with Urianger’s as he said, “I want to walk in yours.”

And thus they found themselves in Il Mheg, approaching the Bookman’s Shelves. Their journey had been a quiet but companionable one, the silence not unlike that which encompassed the bulk of their encounters on the Source.

It wasn’t until they were making their way uphill from the Bookman’s Shelves that the silence was broken—and even then, in a voice interrupting the quiet as gently as a skipping stone on the surface of a lake.

“I wish we had talked more. Before, I mean.” Arihel spoke up suddenly. 

“Before—?” Urianger prompted.

“Before—before everyone started going to sleep.”

There was an almost boyish charm to describing the theft of their souls in such a way. Like a fairytale. Like Urianger was just waiting to wake up and discover this was all a horrible, wonderful dream.

That, not for the first time, he would wake before he gave in to folly and bore his heart to his Warrior.

Whilst in the grips of this dream-turned-nightmare, Urianger sought to soothe the wincing frown that marred Arihel’s face, countering, “amateur though I mayst be in casual conversation, I floundered all the more ere we began to dream on the Source. Doubt not that though the want was there, the courage had not found me. Blame thyself not, I prithee.”

“I could have tried talking to you.” argued Arihel. “Or at least…tried harder. But you’re so smart, and it’s hard to keep up with you sometimes. Figured you wouldn’t want much to do with me.”

“Thy humility prevents thee from admitting to thy own wit.” countered the Bookman as he ushered Arihel unto his Shelves and latched the door behind them. “That thy light shines differently than mine own dims not its brilliance.”

Words chosen poorly, he realized a second too late when Arihel flinched as he brushed past him. 

Another wound he had inflicted. Another sin to be forgiven lest it be devoured.

“Mine metaphor got away from me, I beg thy forgiveness—” he stammered, hands glittering with starlight reaching to soothe out of habit.

“S’alright. I get what you mean.” Arihel answered, waving a hand dismissively without looking back as he continued to move further into the room.

It was Urianger’s turn to flinch.

Such was the same reaction Arihel had given to the knowledge that not only did the Exarch—G’raha Tia—withold critical information about their mission, but had also brought in Urianger as his conspirator. This had always been Arihel’s way, though he now understood the differences—before, such had been in his carefree nature, always banking fires before they outgrew containment. Always letting everyone around him be warm without burning.

These days, he let them go for fear of becoming the fire. With how reserved he had become, the few waspish barks of frustration and anger had seemed as warning sparks in search of kindling.  He had never said as much in so many words, but all that Urianger had been privy to—in both memory and deed—spoke for the Warrior of Light in much the same way it always had.

A string of sneezes from Arihel snapped Urianger out of his thoughts, watching with mild amusement as the man sneezed with such intensity that the leg not supporting his weight lifted and bent at the knee, his tail flailing on its own from pure reflex and knocking over several precariously stacked tomes.

After saying a string of words in Limsan that Urianger presumed to be curses, Arihel knelt down in front of the books splayed out on the floor. 

“I’m so sorry! Wasn’t paying any bloody attention—” he said over his shoulder, scrabbling to try and gather them all in a hurry.

Crossing the room to where he knelt in a few long strides, Urianger knelt before Arihel to assist in the gathering of papers and books.

“Thou hast no need for apologies, my dear friend. ‘Twas the natural consequence of mine own indolence, leaving these tomes strewn about—”

As they both reached for the same book, their hands brushed. Arihel nearly reeled onto his backside for how he flinched and recoiled but Urianger caught his hand before thinking better of it. 

Accidental contact was one thing. It was an easy enough thing to dismiss and pretend at coincidence. Urianger would not have his intentions mistaken: he gave Arihel’s hand a squeeze.

“Just as thou hast naught to apologize for, so too, do you have naught to fear in this place. With me.”

Silence hung heavy in the space between them, even as Arihel had yet to take his hand back. Instead, he stared at Urianger at length, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise.

Time caught up with them when Arihel caught up with himself, realizing their hands were still entwined. Eyes widening even further—this time out of fear, Urianger realized—he snatched his hand back with such speed that his scales scraped Urianger’s palm.

Before he could hold it back Urianger yelped, more from surprise than any sense of pain. All the same, it was enough for Arihel to bodily flinch and attempt to tuck the offending hand into his own chest, as if to hide as much of himself away as he could.

“I’m sorry—fuck, I’m so sorry!” he wheezed, eyes wide as saucers. “Don’t know what I was thinking, I could have hurt you—”

“As thou hast always been capable of.” Urianger reminded him gently, and showed his unharmed palm for inspection. “And yet, thou has never. Not once.”

“But the Light could have—” Arihel tried to argue.

Urianger cut him off with a shake of his head. “Thou has never.” he repeated in a voice that was all at once quiet but firm. “Regrettably, I cannot claim a similar truth. To mine immense shame, I hath inflicted more pain unto thee than thou hast to me. By an immeasurable magnitude.”

“What?” Arihel balked, his brow furrowing deeply. “But you haven’t—”

Urianger shook his head again and argued, “‘Tis writ plain on thy features, Arihel: I see it in the streaks of starlight in thy hair, in the shift of thy aether. I see it in the way thou hast carried thyself through our most recent trials. Pain is all I have given thee—”

“Okay, that’s not true.” Arihel cut him off firmly, his frown deepening. “Wouldn’t have come to you so many times for help if it hurt.”

Looking down to the hand he had curled into his chest he seemed to wrestle with himself for a long moment. Squeezing his eyes shut, his hand shot out to grab Urianger’s again, as if to do it before he could talk himself out of it.

Urianger was startled less by the suddenness of the action and more that it had happened at all but he managed to repress a flinch of surprise, fearful that it would be misconstrued. All the same, he couldn’t help but gawk at their joined hands, suddenly timid with the shift in conversation and the warmth of the contact.

“I…I went to you first because you try to make things better.” Arihel said, words slow and deliberate. “And…and all of this—”

When Urianger looked up at the motion of Arihel’s hand waving at his own face, he was surprised to see how deeply flushed the man had become. 

“All of this,” he tried again, “isn’t your fault either. Not even all of this is the Light.”

“How canst thou be so certain—”

“Nergaal had white hair and red eyes.” Arihel cut him off sharply. “This was starting before I came here, and you know it.”

He seemed to realize that he was starting to get upset, and took a deep breath before speaking again, “Quit trying to find things to beat yourself up with, y’hear? I don’t blame you for it. So don’t blame yourself for me.”

Urianger hid his flinch by tipping his head to look again at their joined hands. Shame had flooded his veins long before Arihel had come to the First, and it now resisted being flushed from him at the reassurance. Unworthy was a chant in his head as steady as his heartbeat, and it would not be silenced by simple words.

“Oi!” Arihel huffed when he attempted to take his hand back in turn. 

Lunging forward to take Urianger’s hand back, Arihel insisted, “If I don’t get to pull away, then you don’t either!”

Which left them knelt among a splayed out pile of books, holding hands and gaping at one another’s flushed faces. For several long moments, neither of them moved for fear of breaking themselves out of this trance.

Belatedly, Urianger realized that this was the longest they had gone with physical contact that served no purpose: for the first time, their touch was intentional without any further goal than to be held by one another. 

Was this not a sort of healing in its own right?

Heart in his throat and blood roaring in his ears, Urianger swallowed and croaked, “Thou hast me at a disadvantage, as thou always has.”

With an intensity normally reserved for the battlefield, Arihel leveled a glare at Urianger as he insisted, “If you’re not running, I’m not running. If you’re running, I’m running with you.”

Meeting Arihel’s gaze as evenly as he could, he promised, “As thou sayest.”

Almost immediately, he had to lower his gaze from those piercing eyes, burning like coals in a fire. He felt the heat of that stare as it remained on him, even as Arihel let go of his hand and picked up the stack of books they had collected.

“We should actually put these on shelves, y’know.” he said.

When Urianger grabbed the other stack of tomes they had rearranged, Arihel stood and offered him an outstretched hand. In accepting the offer and letting himself be helped up, Urianger felt the deliberate nature of both the offer and the way their hands stayed linked for several seconds after he was upright.

“Verily, thou hast the right of it.” he said when their hands at last disentangled. “‘Tis only right to put away that which I stacked unto the floor in mine academic fervor.”

Arihel’s bark of laughter startled Urianger, who jumped just a little at the burst of noise before they both looked at one another for a moment and dissolved into fits of giggles. With the stuffy, warm stillness of this sanctuary, it felt like they were two young academics trying not to get caught by the Librarian being loud between bookshelves. 

Like they could have always been friends.

Like Urianger was always going to love Arihel.

It was less that the tension had left them entirely and more that it waited politely at the door while the two of them put away stacks and stacks of books. They could have stopped at just the two stacks that had been knocked over but time passed more pleasantly when they passed it together, and the decision to keep tidying up had been silently agreed upon between the two of them.

Everlasting Light burned outside but through the wide, dusty windows of the Bookman’s Shelves it almost passed for beams of afternoon sun, honeyed through the faint tint of the thick glass windows. Time mattered both less and more when the night was not coming. 

Long had it been that Urianger was helpless to the gravitational pull of Arihel. Voidsent and Light and a doomed future could not change the way he was drawn closer. 

Filing books on the shelves was just as good an excuse as any to be near—never mind that Urianger was putting them in the wrong places and that future Urianger will have to redo this entire section of the wall to his typical exacting standard, it was worth being able to be close enough that he felt Arihel’s warmth radiating against his side.

Arihel was not a star that he needed to wield nor master, to claim nor even to touch. That Urianger was warmed by him, in his orbit, was more than enough.

And as they worked, conversation inevitably began to bubble up. Slowly at first, with a few murmured questions about placement and equally soft replies. But with time, Arihel began to ask about some of the titles—what is this one about? Can you tell me about it? 

Ever weak to the opportunity to teach, Urianger gladly answered any questions until eventually it turned retelling Arihel stories he had collected over the years. Some of them weren’t even among the books that he had here but were on shelves a world away, doubtless collecting dust without his custodianship. Stories that had helped him learn how to socialize with others— “Always was I a timid and meek child, terrified of the prospect of conversation,” he explained with a chortle to himself. “I didst rely heavily upon fairytales and ancient myths to shape my words when I had none myself. Thus did I speak this way.”

“So it’s like a cover?” Arihel asked without judgement. “Like pretending you’re a character in a book makes it easier for you to talk?”

Urianger nodded. “Donning the mask of a character in a hero’s tale permitted I couldst speak at all. Were it not for Moenbryda’s outgoing radiance, I fear I may not have made a single friend during my younger years. My peers thought me ‘weird,’ though I suppose they were not incorrect in the assumption.”

“I would have been your friend.” Arihel replied with immediate surety. “We would’ve been weird together.”

A smile bloomed unbidden on Urianger’s face at that. “Of that, I do not doubt. Not for a singular beat of my heart.”

When the last books were shelved, their hands brushed. A glancing sunbeam of warmth in this stillness. The two of them froze again, hands hovering in the space between them and only just connecting.

Arihel’s expression suddenly crumpled. “We’ve wasted so much time.” he rasped. “Why did we wait so long to just sit and talk?”

Because I knew I wouldst love thee from the first moment we met, should I seek to befriend thee. Because I was right. Because I am a coward.

“For mine own part, ‘twas a fear that I wouldst have naught to say of interest to thee—nor aught of enough to interrupt thy work.”

When Urianger made to take his hand back, Arihel caught it with his own and tangled their fingers together. 

“I wanted to talk, you know.” he huffed. “I even tried to, a few times! But it was like my tongue went stupid when I was around you and I couldn’t say much.”

Urianger squeezed to keep his grip as he lowered their twinned hands. He studied the tangle of their fingers in favor of yet more reflection on all they could have been before.

“Though the prospect of lamenting what we did not speak of in the past be a tempting chalice to drink from, we shall not find satisfaction in the act, I think.” he pondered aloud.

Daring to be bolder yet, knowing what they were about to face, he held Arihel’s gaze steady with his own, unguarded and afraid, as he murmured, “I would instead consider sharing what we wish to, in this moment, in this place. I would propose that we choose to make of the present what we will.”

Arihel nods slowly, eyes drifting away in thought. It was enchanting, watching the way he bit the inside of his cheek when mulling something over. 

When he looked back to Urianger, he seemed just a bit less guarded than before. “I don’t…think I’m ready to walk away from this yet.” he admitted quietly, lashes fluttering as he visibly fought with the urge to look away. “This feels nice, being here. With you.”

Heat bloomed on both of their faces, and though they trembled with the want to distance themselves, they both remained right where they were. Together—for no other reason than they wanted to be.

“Come, then. Let us wander our own path a while longer.” Urianger offered with a gentle voice and an extension of his hand. “Together this time, if thou wouldst have me.”

There was no hesitation in the way that Arihel took his offered hand. Even when Urianger led him out the door and into the everlasting glow of the Light, Arihel did not so much as flinch when emerging from their sanctuary. As if he trusted that Urianger would never lead him astray. Trusted even now, even after everything that had happened.

Unworthy and deeply aware of it, his heart fluttered all the same.

As they approached the nearby bank of Longmirror Lake, he could feel Arihel’s curiosity rolling off him in waves, steps beginning to turn syrupy and slow but never truly stopping. Ponderous, but not doubting. Never doubting.

“All will be well.” Urianger promised him. “Thou needs but have faith.”

“I have faith in you.” Arihel affirmed as their boots began to sink, gently, into to sodden earth of the lakeshore. 

Urianger did not break his stride, his grip on Arihel’s hand sure and firm as steel as he murmured an incantation and held his focus on the water that rose to meet their footfalls.

Not once did Arihel hesitate. Not once did he stop walking beside him, nor let go of his hand. At first, Urianger had put it down to blind faith, until Arihel looked down a few steps in and realized what was happening.

“Don’t look away.” Urianger rasped, still keeping his focus on the spell. 

Stunned by the lack of formality, Arihel remained transfixed on him as they continued to walk across the surface of the lake. It afforded Urianger the space to weave his spell protectively around them. The lake only just rippled with the brush of Urianger’s robes, the light splash of their feet tapping against it in the most shallow of invasions, steps wrapped in starlight, the surface of the lake stretching and warping to keep them aloft.

It is enough for them to make it to the roof of a submerged house that stood above the surface of the lake, the two of them sitting on it with all the fanfare of resting on a log at the side of the road.

“I like your light more.” Arihel said softly.

A canopy of deep, shifting umber whorled sluggishly over them, dense enough to devour the ever-burning Light, softening it into something like moonbeams and accented with the glittering of the stars themselves. It remained even after they had no need for the water walking spell, Urianger’s focus pulled to Arihel so naturally as to forget to release it.

A blessing, so it seemed. The effort made it harder for him to be anything but his truest, most honest self.

“My light?” he asked softly, almost fearing the answer.

Arihel nodded, reaching out after a moment of debate with himself to tuck a stray hair behind Urianger’s pointed ear. “This—it’s like starlight. Like you know just enough to show me who you are without blinding me.”

His hand lingered on the apple of Urianger’s cheek as he whispered, “So I can see you.”

“I will admit, I maintained it to keep thee shielded from the Light.” Urianger confessed, almost timid but grateful for his little piece of the night sky, grateful that he could stand in a softer light. “But the night sky has always held a greater comfort to me than that of the day. Little wonder that I took to Astrology so readily, when in need of healing magic.”

“I like seeing you like that, when you’re enjoying the stars.” Arihel said as though agreeing with him. “S’part of why I wanted to bring back the night sky so badly. Because you love it so much.”

It was a rare thing for Urianger to be well and truly stunned to silence. When fumbling for something to say, many a poetic turn of phrase from the books he so dearly cherished was enough to fill the silence until someone else deigned to fill the void. Moenbryda often made a game of trying to fluster him into being nonverbal. 

Little could have robbed him of words more thoroughly than the focus of his affection, the center of his gravity, telling him with all the weight of discussing a favorite book that Arihel brought the night sky back for no other reason than because Urianger loved it.

“I heard you describe it to Y’Shtola, and it felt. I dunno. I could tell how much you missed it. So I wanted you to have it back, even if it’s different from home.”

“Betimes, I would struggle to remember what the night sky looked like—or the day’s sky, for that matter. Everything was bathed in shimmering gold and opalescence from the moment of mine arrival.” Urianger admitted. “In a way, I believe I studied Astrology due in no small part to mine own homesickness. It all felt less out of my grasp, when I wrapped the stars ‘round my fingers.”

“I’d think about what you were doing here all the time, before I came.” Arihel nodded. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it until that first time I absorbed the Light—oh!” 

He startled at that, as though something had only just occurred to him. “You weren’t there for that yet—that was in Lakeland, before we went to Il Mheg.”

A peculiar but darling flush spread across Arihel’s face, a deep red that almost turned scarlet nearly matching the red on his scales and in his pupils. As if caught, he admitted, “I lose track of when you were here, I think about you often enough that I sometimes picture you in places I know you weren’t at. Like you were in the corner of my eye in all of them.”

For several long moments, Urianger did not move. Even his breathing was shallow in that moment, as if scared to disturb the steadily shrinking space between them.

“Thou thinkest of me that often?” he asked in a rasp, the air leaving his lungs on the question. “Truly?”

“I feel safer with you around. Even in my own head.” Arihel answered immediately. “‘Specially in my own head.”

And through it all, Arihel did not look away from Urianger once. Not even when his archaic speech patterns fell away from his focus, when he chose to choose to be just that little bit more vulnerable, just that little bit that was more than he had been with anyone since his days in Sharlayan. Like he didn’t have to draw on a hero he looked up to as a child just to have the bravery to speak. Like he was free.

He must have been quiet for just long enough to worry Arihel, who frowned up at the suspended cloud of illusory night sky.

“Is it hard to keep up, though? You shouldn’t tax yourself—”

“The concentration of this spell would be far more daunting, were it not for thee.” Urianger said before he could stop himself. “Astrology, and the practice thereof, requireth a foci—an anchor to which all the magic of its wielder centers its casting. It is the gravity of that magic user’s very star.”

Arihel gawked at him, lips parted as though to say something. A moment passed, and he closed his mouth with a heavy swallow. 

Despite this, his voice sounded dry when he asked, “Do you mean—?”

“Thou art the sun of mine own sky. The center of mine universe. The focus of my devotion, my study, and my cause.” Urianger confessed, words soft and touch softer, as he reached up to press Arihel’s hovering hand flush to his own face. “I wouldst wrap the stars around your center of gravity. Thou needs but ask it of me.”

“I…I want…” Arihel breathed. “...I want so many things, in this moment.”

“Tell me,” his astrologian begged.

“I want…I want to be better. I want it to be night, so you don’t have to do that. I want to be your focus.” Arihel began with tentative words, but the longer he looked at Urianger, silently urging him on, the more the words tumbled out of him with reckless abandon, “I want to know you better. I want you to know the happier parts of me—the better parts of me than what I ask to heal. I want—”

At that, his flush returned tenfold. Were it physiologically possible, Arihel might be glowing, Urianger thought. He might be glowing regardless—he was beginning to resemble an aetherically charged rolanberry.

“You want…?”

“I want to kiss you very badly.” Arihel admitted in the quietest voice Urianger had ever heard. “I have for a while now.”

If he did not fear Arihel taking it the wrong way, Urianger might have laughed at how utterly darling that he was being in that moment, how utterly dear he was to him always. He wanted to laugh in joy, to weep in sorrow at what had been done to his beloved. To howl in indignation at the situation that had put them here to begin with, that this was what it had taken for them to bear their hearts to one another.

In lieu of all that, Urianger prayed, “Please—”

Was there a pull from the hand on his face, or did he fall into Arihel with no prompting at all? Had they both come together in the middle, stars colliding in the scant space between them? The hum that reverberated from Arihel in to Urianger at the first tender caress of their lips certainly made that seem likely. 

“I want all of that and more with thee.” Urianger murmured as he rubbed their noses together. 

Foreheads pressed together to catch their breaths, Arihel’s eyes slipped shut as a pleased, rumbling click rose in his throat. The subtle tip of his head into Urianger’s palms when they cupped his face told him that he still had his Warrior’s attention. 

Knowing this, he persisted, “I want us to win the day in that way that those heroes in tales so oft do. I want to win back all our tomorrows. I want to know thee in the shade of the moon, in the light of the sun. In light and darkness, I wouldst know every piece of thee, and bear mine all to thee in turn.”

Clinging to boldness, he kissed Arihel again and whispered against his mouth, “I love thee. I want thee to live.” 

At that, Arihel opened his eyes and looked at Urianger—really looked. His hand had remained on his face, thumb softly stroking the apple of his cheek. He grew just still enough to worry Urianger but moved to kiss him more deeply before he could open his mouth to voice it. 

“Let’s be alive here for a little longer.” he all but begged when he took his lips back momentarily before diving back to plunger Urianger’s mouth for his every coherent thought. “Just a little longer. Let me love you here for a few seconds more. Then, I give you back the night sky wrapped up in a pretty sash, we save G’raha Tia, and get to the business of living. Sound good?”

They would make their way back to Lakeland in a few more minutes—by way of teleport, at the insistence of Urianger to conserve Arihel’s strength. They would return to their fellow Scions, solidify a plan to save the day, and then…and then…

And then…tomorrow would come. A tomorrow that would let them all live to see it, to know themselves and one another.

But that was tomorrow. In this moment, on this sunken in roof on a fully sunken house, peeking just over a lake on a star far away from home, Urianger held a piece of the night sky overhead just for them, just for Arihel to kiss him under.  A taste of the life they would fight for in the next few hours, sampled now, to remind them of just what they were fighting for.

[thefoodwiththedood]

Carnelian, Ruby, & Fire Agate

Carnelian Facet-9 Cut-5YB was just a Quartz solider, born on Earth and made to fight for it in Pink Diamond's army. Ruby-1G7 Cut-6QZ was just a lowly bodyguard, tasked with defending Homeworld's aristocrats. Both defected to Rose Quartz's Crystal Gems, knowing they could be free to do so much more—and there, they found each other and fell in love. Together, they fused to form Fire Agate: a powerful fusion warrior, bound together by Carn and Ru's love, and sworn to defend her newfound home from Homeworld's tyranny.

— — —

Steven Universe OCs! I used to make a ton of these back in the day, but recently I found myself feeling nostalgic, so I decided to update some concepts I made way back when! It was super fun to try and match the style of the show with these, and even more fun was seeing how much better I've gotten at designing and rendering characters than I was when I was sixteen. Hope y'all like them!

(Made in Adobe Illustrator)

[tailing-sun]

Touhou OC: Tenmei Byouken

Stage 3 boss for Faceted Imperial Treasures. A misaki who can increase/decrease someone’s physical and spiritual health (hence the crystal jewelry and the shawl). Still torn on whether this character design is too much of a departure from ZUN’s usual style though. Anyway

Profile

Freelance Divine Spirit: Tenmei Byouken 病健 天冥

Species: Misaki

Ability: sending good health or ill health

Theme: “Heavenly Mercenary ~ Deal With God”

“The real treasure is the enemies you’ll make along the way.”

-A misaki (type of divine spirit) who contracts for various gods. Currently employed by the Three Imperial Gods (Misumaru Tamatsukuri, Hōzuki Yamata, and Eiteru Ishikori).

-Can bestow either good health or ill health on any given target(s), including humans, youkai, spirits, and even gods.

-Has a lazy, sarcastic personality.

-She works for gods by increasing their overall “health”, i.e. faith and amount of prayers that come their way in exchange for syncretic worship. She essentially latches onto the existence of gods in an ontological sense, thus a portion of the offerings, faith, etc. accumulated by these gods goes to her.

-As mercenary as she is, she has some level of concern for the imperial gods, hence why she asks the protagonists to save them from the phantom thief leading up to the Extra stage.

-Her true form is a genderless divine spirit, but she enjoys presenting as feminine and using a traditionally masculine manner of speech.

-Also the Stage 6 midboss.

Spell Cards

Stage 3

Contract “Ascended Scholar” (Easy)

Contract “Great Persuader” (Normal)

Contract “God of Inari” (Hard)

Contract “Eight Million Contracts” (Lunatic)

Stage 3 - Boss Fight

Health Boost “Invisible Blessing” (Easy/Normal)

Immunity “Noutate” (Hard/Lunatic)

Health Drain “Invisible Curse” (Easy/Normal)

Chronic Illness “Hakaze” (Hard/Lunatic)

Wind Sign “Misaki-Wind” (Easy/Normal)

Wind Sign “Wind on the Solitary Path” (Hard/Lunatic)

Stage 6

Syncretism “Imperial Treasure Idol” (Easy/Normal/Hard)

Syncretism “Imperial Treasure God” (Lunatic)

“Ethereal Misaki” (E/N/H/L)

[novantinuum]

Gem OC Asks- Tourmaline

Answered my own Gem OC asks for my Tourmaline OC.

[See post with original OC ask prompts here]

Era 1

⚜️Which court does your Gem belong to, if any? Blue Diamond’s court.

🎆What is your Gem’s planet of origin and given designation? (Ex: Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG… Facet-5, Cut 8XM… Facet-413, Cabochon-12…) Homeworld, Facet-3L4Y, Cut 2LT. Tourmaline is a decently younger Gem than Morganite, one who only emerged a thousand or so years before Pink Diamond was given the Earth.

💎Describe your Gem’s gemstone. What color, shape, facet pattern, and placement does it have? Her gem fades from a mint to dark green, and is a triangular rod in shape. It is positioned on the right side of her face, where a human ear would be.

🛠️What is your Gem’s given role under the Diamond Authority? Tourmaline is a records keeper. Her duty is to package up and analyze information from all the outlying colonies to report back as news. The knowledge and data she officially has access to is of course strictly monitored by the Diamonds themselves, however. A tourmaline may get around this restriction to gain forbidden information or an early scoop on stuff via savvy social engineering with other Gems. Overall, the Gems of this type who succeed in their role tend to be very socially adept. While this particular Tourmaline has her own special brand of social idiosyncrasies, she thrives at the art of convincing people to give her the info she wants.

📌Where does your Gem perform their duties? Do they travel a lot for their role, or mostly stay in one place? Tourmaline works exclusively on Homeworld- as a high society Gem, she rarely leaves the palace city. All the information from other parts of the empire she needs to perform her duties is ported directly to her.

🧦Does your Gem get along with others of the same cut? Yes, she gets along with the other tourmalines well enough. Each diamond has a few dozen of them. They all have varying opinions on the legality of sourcing information outside of their Diamond Authority sanctioned data packs, however. This Tourmaline is more willing to dig and investigate to get to the root of a story than others, which is in fact what led her to meet Pink’s lone Morganite.

🖇️Has your Gem ever partaken in fusion with someone of the same cut? No, not with another tourmaline.

💼Does your Gem report to anyone below the Diamonds? What do they think about this authority figure? Tourmaline reports to a Blue Lace Agate who works directly under Blue Diamond.

While not “friends” by any means, she finds this agate to be a fair enough figure of authority— in fact, Blue Lace even quietly supported her off-records information scouring, even though it was technically against official protocol and thus a reportable offense.

💥Has your Gem ever been rejuvenated? If so, how many times? No— though she’s long feared the possibility.

🪦Does your Gem harbor any hidden desires they think might get them shattered? Tourmaline definitely knows that half of the information they’ve dug up on the underlying workings of Homeworld and the Diamond Authority is forbidden knowledge— she’s very lucky that none of her peers or the Gems she’s sourced information from have narced on her.

Additionally, the moment she learns about the Crystal Gem rebellion on Earth (knowledge of this event is suppressed on Homeworld and kept as need-to-know info, because the Diamonds fear a larger uprising) she wants to defect and forge a better life as a free Gem- and is well aware that pursuing this goal may very well be what finally gets her caught in her illicit activities and shattered.

Era 2

🌸Was your Gem incubated before Pink Diamond’s shattering, or after? If after, does your Gem differ from others of their cut due to Homeworld’s Diamond essence shortage? Tourmaline was incubated long before Pink’s shattering. In any case, her incubation didn’t require any of Pink’s essence so she wouldn’t have been impacted anyways.

🔎Does your Gem like the role they were given, or is there another role in society they would rather have? Tourmaline likes her role well enough, and finds her work intellectually stimulating. However, she doesn’t feel completely fulfilled in this role, and believes there is a happier life waiting out there for her, if she can only amass the bravery to reach for it…

🪢Does your Gem have any friends outside their cut? Yes! In Era 1 she had plenty of non-tourmaline contacts, including her former partner Morganite. While somewhat awkward in her demeanor, she still seemed to be able to strike up a casual conversation with almost any Gem she passed on Homeworld’s streets or halls. In a bit of a diversion from standard protocol, she was especially connected with many of the higher ups’ pearls (given they often silently stood by their owners’ sides during meetings, they acted as very good informants)— and while not a perfect ally to them, treated them with far more dignity and respect than most other Gems of her status at the time.

After she defected, she befriended many a fellow Crystal Gem rebel.

In Era 3, she has numerous friends amidst the residents of Little Homeworld.

🪄Can your Gem summon any weapon or special item? Tourmaline has no special items she can summon in early Era 1 beyond a view screen to perform her work.

After she defects and becomes a war strategist for the Crystal Gems, she learns to summon a visor (modified from the view screens she used to use) directly from her gem that covers one eye. She uses this much like a human might use a VR headset, and can overlay pertinent data over her view of a battlefield.

She also eventually obtains an elemental sword from the legendary Crystal Gem blacksmith Bismuth that arcs with an electric charge when she swings it. While— as a strategist— she isn’t often AT the front lines, she picks up sword fighting during her rebellion days for self defense, and becomes rather adept at it.

🌍Has your Gem ever heard of the rebellion on Earth? If so, do they have any opinions on it? The moment Tourmaline learns of the Crystal Gem rebellion through her off-records information snooping, she defects. She always felt her existence was missing something important, and came to the conclusion that living a free life apart from the whims of the Diamonds was the very thing she was always striving towards. She wholeheartedly believes in the Crystal Gems’ cause, and felt quite betrayed that her former lover Morganite knew about this rebellion years before she did and never told her about it. She wishes they could’ve defected together— and even begged her to run away with her— but alas this is a path that is closed to them now.

🪩Has your Gem ever partaken in fusion with someone of a different cut? If so, do they defy Homeworld’s fusion rules openly or keep it secret? Tourmaline doesn’t fuse too often, but yes— she has very visibly fused with other types of Gems during her time in the rebellion.

🏝️Your Gem has been reassigned to perform their duty on a planet or settlement of their choice. Where do they go? Earth has become a very special place to Tourmaline for the obvious rebellion reasons, but before she defected she always loved the idea of performing her work on one of the Stellaris Prime colonies, which were set into a very careful manufactured orbit around a black hole… a black hole which provided rather striking views if you were in a spot on the planet where it was visible in the sky.

🫧Has your Gem ever been poofed? How? A good handful of times during the rebellion. She’s even gotten cracked once, and had to be healed up by Rose Quartz herself.

🙈Your Gem discovers that someone they work alongside is off-color in some fashion. Do they narc to a superior, or keep this secret? Tourmaline would keep this knowledge secret as best as she’s able. Even in her pre-rebellion days, she knows she doesn’t have much room to talk anyways… she flagrantly ignores proper protocol in her work already.

🪓Does your Gem know anyone who’s been shattered? Plenty— dear friends included.

Era 3

👑In the wake of this brand new era, where does your Gem’s loyalty lie? (The Diamonds? Themself? Someone else?) Tourmaline’s loyalty lies with both herself and her close friends. She wants to live each day pursuing happiness and fulfillment for herself AND for them.

🎓Would your Gem ever consider attending Little Homeschool, why or why not? Not only does Tourmaline attend Little Homeschool, but she eventually becomes an instructor there as well— teaching various Gem history courses.

⭐️What is your Gem’s honest opinion of Steven, if they are aware of his role in Gem history? Tourmaline’s first exposure to Steven comes during the late days of the war, when she starts snooping into the private business of these two “new Crystal Gem recruits” she finds somewhat suspicious. Well… as it turns out, these two individuals were actually half-Gems Steven Universe and Jean Maverick from thousands of years in the future, who ended up trapped in the past due to a conflict with the exact same Morganite she knows. And it ends up being very good fortune that she snoops into their business so thoroughly, because it gains her a safe passage to their future instead of ending up corrupted for eons, or worse.

Since Tourmaline was introduced to Steven in a far different manner than most Gems, he is way less of a mythical, “revered” figure to her and more of a casual friend who she made on the battlefield. She highly respects the legacy he’s forged in kickstarting this new Era 3, and is very supportive of his desire to step aside from most Gem matters now and live as peaceful a life he can muster. Once she’s introduced to phone technology, she probably ends up in at least one group text feed with him.

🪁Name three hobbies your Gem partakes in. Sword dueling, pleasure reading (she’s quite amused by humanity’s “sci-fi” plot-lines, they get SO MUCH wrong), and just socialization in general. She’s the Gem to seek if you want the scoop on what everyone’s up to… she’s got a memory like a steel trap and so many connections that she could probably tell you what a Gem’s roommate’s former commanding officer is up to this past week.

🌄Describe your Gem’s idea of a perfect day. Tourmaline’s perfect day would include a quick morning spar with one of her friends in the gym, a fulfilling few hours of instruction at Little Homeworld, a lazy afternoon to herself spent reading or tending to one of her plants in her private quarters, and then maybe an evening gathering with some of her ol’ fellow Crystal Gems in the firelight to catch up and reminisce about old times.

⚧️Imagine your Gem is presented with the concept of human gender. Do they have any preference in how they are perceived or addressed? Tourmaline would be down to be perceived as more “masculine” sometimes (in that butch sort of way), and might even experiment a bit with those human he/him pronouns— before ultimately realizing that they genuinely don’t care how people refer to her. Any pronouns work fine. She/her is kinda an easy default, though… and what most humans assume.

🐌Does your Gem have any non-Gem friends? Yes! While Gem hybrids Steven and Jean may not completely count, she is close with them— and is thus also acquainted with their close family members.

Additionally, while she is attending Little Homeschool, Tourmaline ends up matched up with Beach City’s mailwoman Barb Miller for the Gem-Human Excellence Mentorship program— so they’re on friendly terms. Later on, she serves as Little Homeworld’s Gem liaison to Mayor Nanefua for a good few years, and becomes close with her as well.

🌙Would your Gem ever consider living as a permafusion? No, she quite likes being her own individual. She’s open to fusing for recreation every once in a while, but wouldn’t want to sustain a fusion for longer than a few hours.

She might have a different opinion if she had an intense enough relationship with someone, but as of now she’s fine doing her own thing.

🍕Has your Gem ever tried ingesting food or liquid? If so, what is their opinion on this activity? Tourmaline never tried food or liquids before being pulled into Era 3 and involving herself in Little Homeschool. She’s not a huge fan of food, but she likes carbonated drinks. It’s far easier to shapeshift the kit necessary to enjoy liquids than it is to enjoy food, and she finds more complex shapeshifting pretty exhausting to sustain.

🎻Assign your Gem an instrument. What type of sound do you feel best captures their vibe? Soft rock electric guitar.

[athenagc94]

Muses and Melancholy

Here is the first chapter of my Jel x OC fanfic which I've been posting on AO3 which can be found here.

I might continue to post on here in addition to AO3 depending on the kind of traction this gets. I hope you all enjoy!

Jel needs all the love, and I am starved for content.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jel was a little...  

Oh, what was that charming turn-a-phrase that Amara liked to use?  

Pedantic and ornery .  

He liked things to be just so, but could anyone blame him for striving for nothing short of perfection? When it came time to choose his path, Jel knew he wanted to be a tailor. To follow his mother and the long line of Omiata women before him was an honor. Majiri nobles held his family in high esteem, traveling far and wide to commission clothing from his family, though that task had grown significantly easier now that his sisters had opened branches of their own.  

Every piece needed to serve as a perfect reflection of the person wearing it. That’s what his mother had always told him, and he took that advice to heart. Honing that facet of design turned out to be harder than he realized, so yes, he could be a tad pedantic at times, but ornery—never.  

Jel clenched several pins between his teeth as he assessed the strips of shimmering purple silk hung from Tish’s waist. Displeasure pinched his brow as he peered between his concept and the reality in front of him. He motioned for her to twirl, the strips rippling like water as she did, which only succeeded in troubling him further.  

While no one could argue that he could throw Tish in a moldy burlap sack and still call it vogue, the garment should never overpower its model like it was now.  

Inspiration struck during one of his moonlit strolls when he happened upon a crystal lotus bobbing on the swirling green waters of the lagoon. He stared at the vaguely luminescent petals as he considered the darkness in his soul until they were all he could think about. Unfortunately, the inspiration stopped there, forcing him to consider whether this concept should have remained just that.  

“That bad, huh?”  

He blinked to refocus on Tish who gazed at his reflection in the full-length mirror, sympathetic if not vaguely amused by his turmoil. “Out with it. You look unhappy,” she continued, “Well, unhappier than usual.”  

“I’m perfectly content. Just... pondering,” he insisted, his words muffled by the pins.  

The longer he stared, the more he disliked it, though he couldn’t decide what it was that he disliked. The silhouette, the length, the color? Ugh . He scratched irritably at the back of his head. This seemed to be the trend as of late. Nothing felt right. He had so many ideas swirling around in his mind after years of traveling the continent, but nothing tangible.  

Months had passed, leaving him trapped on the cusp of something , but he had no idea what that something was.  

Tish fidgeted under his discerning gaze. She always offered to model, but she struggled to sit still for long, though she was leaps and bounds better than her excitable brother whom he had to chase around the studio with pins.  

“What was your inspiration again?”  

“A crystal lotus,” he sighed, “Bobbing on the waters of the lagoon.”  

She considered her reflection, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. “Given the Majiri’s cooler complexion, wouldn’t it have been better to enhance it by making the dress resemble water, and the wearer signify the lotus? You should have made the dress—”  

“Green!”  

He plucked the pins from his mouth and stuck them in the cushion strapped to his wrist. He could see it now, a vivid blue-green fabric with a hand-beaded design to resemble twisting algae. It would have complemented her skin beautifully to achieve the shimmering glow of the lotus flower.  

He collapsed on the stool at his drafting table. “You’re absolutely right. I went about this backward. I should have realized it before I went through the effort of dying the fabric.”  

Purple—what had he been thinking? Such a waste of good silk.  

“I think it’s still salvageable,” Tish insisted, “It just might work better on a Human.”  

Jel paused. Human skin tones varied, allowing the use of a broader color palette he never got to explore working with Majiri. From rosy peach to deepest umber, this shade of purple was bound to look good on one of them. With more and more Humans milling about the village each day, he would soon have to expand his collection to consider them as well.  

“Maybe you’re right.”  

“I usually am.”  

Before he could find a clever response, the shop door jingled downstairs. Jel massaged his temples. This creative nightmare would have to wait until later.  

“Wait here,” he said as he replaced his tinted glasses and made for the door, “We’ll get you out of that monstrosity once I return.”  

Magistrate Eshe, an aging woman with gray lacing her dark hair, stood near the counter. She gripped the head of her lacquered cane tightly with her fist. Her distaste showed plainly on her face, a sneer deepening the creases on her jowls.  

Sensing his presence, she pointed her smoldering cigarette at him. He froze at the top of the stairs as if she’d burned him with it. “It’s bad for business to leave your clients waiting.”  

“Magistrate Eshe.” He removed his glasses and bowed. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. You usually call ahead when you—”  

“Enough jabbering. Come here, there’s a matter I wish to discuss with you, and I don’t have time to waste on pleasantries. Quickly, now.” She snapped her fingers as if she were summoning her riffroc. Jel scampered to join her on the first floor.  

Eshe held herself with a regal air, her chin lifted as if to say that she existed above everyone and everything. And perhaps, she did. The magistrate held a lot of sway in Kilima Village and Bahari proper. She had connections to the duchess. If she disliked you, she could make life difficult. Her mannerisms reminded him of his mother, though neither would be pleased by the comparison. They were what others called friendly enemies . His mother had a lot of those. Eshe probably did too.  

Jel could never imagine surrounding himself with people who loathed him, but their lives were vastly different from his.  

Her frown deepened as she scanned the mannequins near the door. He resisted the urge to fluff the nearest garment, knowing she’d take it as weakness. “What can I help you with?”  

“I have a commission for you.”  

He fumbled his glasses, nearly dropping them. “Really?”  

She hummed though she had yet to look at him directly. Eye contact was beneath her. He was beneath her. “Two, actually. As I’m sure you’re already aware, the Bahari Ball is right around the corner.”  

53 days to be exact, but who was counting?  

“Kenyatta needs a new dress. Usually, a momentous occasion like this would require a more polished hand, but Kenyatta insisted you be the one to make her dress this year.”  

Jel sensed her displeasure despite her attempts to feign indifference. Arguments between Eshe and Kenyatta were common, but he rarely found himself in the crossfire. Rarer still did he find himself coming out ahead.  

He tempered his excitement. “And the second commission?”  

“A Human will be attending this year as well to represent our community. I’ll need a dress for her as well.”  

Eshe had never made jokes, but there was a first time for everything.   

Majiri prided themselves on their hospitality, but the magistrate found the sudden surge of Humans within the village cumbersome. She valued tradition and order. Most Majiri failed to meet her high expectations. Humans still had a lot to learn in her eyes, and she had no qualms about saying it to their face.  

Inviting a Human to the biggest event of the year felt uncharacteristic, especially when so many Majiri sought invitations for themselves and rarely received one.  

“A Human, ma’am?”  

She finally turned her sharp gaze on him. He jolted as if she had struck him instead. “Yes. A Human. Is that a problem?”  

“No, of course not, I only meant—”  

He stopped himself before he said something damning. While a Human had received an invitation, he had yet to hear back from his mother regarding his attendance at the ball. She would be going, along with his sisters, but Jel feared another year would pass without him. Technically, he was not an official artisan, nor did he represent the Omiata family until then, so appearing in noble society with them was vastly inappropriate, but he had hoped his mother might make an exception.  

The Bahari Ball was the event of the year. Nobles flaunted the latest fashion made by the finest designers—his mother and sisters among them. He couldn’t stand to be left out again when it was all anyone would talk about for months to come.  

“I’ll be informing our representative today, so expect her and Kenyatta sometime this week for an initial consultation and measurements,” Eshe continued when he failed to finish his thought, “I expect the best, so try not to fall short of expectation, I would hate for your mother to learn you folded under the pressure.”  

Jel understood a threat when he heard one. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you down.”  

A bit of ash fell from the end of her cigarette as she adjusted it in her hand. “See that you don’t. I won’t be a made a fool in front of every Majiri noble on this side of the bay, is that understood?”  

“Understood.”  

Without another word, Eshe spun on her heel, the cape of her fur-lined coat swishing as she sauntered from his shop. Jel stared after her, his mind a mess of questions with very few answers to satiate them.  

Did that just happen? Was it all a dream? It had to be a dream.  

He slapped his cheeks, only succeeding in making them sting. Okay, not a dream.  

Tish whistled. Jel looked up to see her narrow face pressed between the bars. “How much of that did you hear?”   

“All of it. Duh. Who do you take me for?” She stood and brushed off the front of his dress. It looked even worse under the harsh shop light. Shame curled his shoulders. “Honestly, I didn’t even know Kenyatta knew your name.”  

“She knows my name.”  

“If I recall correctly, she calls you Jelly .”  

“Close enough. Either way, she wants me to design her dress. This is...”  

Good? Good didn’t seem to cover the swirl of complicated emotions welling in his chest. Elated, perhaps? No, this was more than elation. This was arguably the most important commission he received to date. Designing a dress for the ball came with the crushing weight of expectation, and the overwhelming urge to shove his head in the lagoon and scream.  

He had to ensure everything went off without a hitch. The alternative was social and professional ruin.  

Tish inclined her head. “I think the word you’re looking for is good .”  

His shoulders pinched as he turned to join her. Each step felt like wading through the heavy muck at the bottom of the lagoon. “Yes, good. Splendid, serendipitous even. I could finally garner my mother’s attention if Kenyatta’s dress is a hit.”  

“Or the Human’s dress.”  

He hesitated. It was embarrassing to admit he was deeply envious of a person he had not yet had the pleasure of knowing. “Right.”  

“Who do you think she’s inviting?” Tish asked once they stepped back into his workshop. “A few people come to mind, but I’m not sure if anyone has impressed Eshe enough to earn a spot at the ball. Her choice can’t be random.”  

Jel averted his gaze to hide his frown. To think Eshe might be handing out an invitation to someone who wouldn’t appreciate the ball and its tradition made him irrationally upset—more than he cared to admit.  

“I have my guesses as well,” he mumbled, “but I trust Eshe will pick someone worthy of the honor, and I will take it upon myself to ensure they are dressed for success.”  

[mistfallengw2]

2, 8 and 17 for Aurelia combat asks? (or anyone more appropriate)

@violentnornography

GW2 OC Questions: Combat Edition ⚔️✨

2 got answered here

-

8. Do they have any visible scarring or lasting injuries from previous combat experiences? How did they get them? How do they feel about them?

Her pre-Mists scars were few and barely evident, as her late mate always took great care of her wounds since they were cubs, to the point she kept treating any visible scar until fur could grow back on it. She wouldn't have minded sporting cool scars like most of the warband did, but Ardea considered any of those as her own failure to keep her bandmates safe, so Aurelia allowed her to do her thing at least on her.

Her revenant powers came with particularly strong self-healing abilities, to the point what was barely visible beforehand was completely cured and gone in a matter of minutes after receiving Glint's facet. With everything Aurelia went through in the Mists, that power lessened a bunch, but it still kept her free of scars (even bad wounds would scar within hours/days, and the subsequent scar would be gone within a week/month).

The only thing that can scar her permanently is strong magic that does enough damage to overcome her self-healing powers, like Balthazar's or the one Eir's longbow was enchanted with. The first left visible scarring on her chest after she was impaled by his sword (she survived due to the facet getting shattered and flooding her with magic, which kept her alive while the self-healing went into overdrive to attempt fixing that disaster, but his fire killed her first) and even being revived couldn't fully undo the damage, while Bangar's arrow kept burning from within (it was powerful enough to hurt the ice dragon, so her enchanted armor was no match, let alone her flesh) and it quickly depleted her magic as it tried to continuously undo and contain the damage, making the Scrying Pool necessary to save her. Aurelia doesn't particularly like to show those scars, but at least she's gotten less self-conscious about them over the years.

Though not a scar, she only has one of her horns left intact. One of the lower ones broke off when she was flung away by the explosion caused by Kralkatorrik's attack that killed Aurene, and she later had both filed down for comfort (later wears some accessories made by Adamas with Aurene's crystals), while the left upper one snapped in half during the airship crash in Cantha (missing half later replaced with Aurene's magic). While she's not happy about them being broken, she likes having something of Aurene with her at all times.

-

18. Can they handle themselves in a fight without using weapons? And without using magic? What would they do if they were in a fight and disarmed/unable to use magic?

Back before her Mists misadventures, when she didn't have any magic, Aurelia was not someone who'd ever back away from a fight. Being as strong and big (if not bigger) than most male charr is an advantage she never avoided using, often charging into enemies using just her armor's spikes as "weapons" and even occasionally picking up smaller foes to throw or hit others with, regardless of whether she was actually disarmed or not. Back then, drunken brawls were one of her favorite off-duty activities, and a norn friend of Daunte once claimed she was a bar brawler worthy of legends and that he was lucky to have always had her on his side.

That said, while those skills came in handy when her magic was unreliable for the first few years of having it, now she doesn't look for occasions to fight like that anymore. If she was in a real fight with no access to magic or weapons, she'd fight only if she had a reason to, otherwise she'd try to escape or deescalate.

[corvid-case]

hello everyone :) I'm Corvid/Icarus/Shark, pronouns they/them!! Tone tags appreciated!!! Artist and writer, working on fics :D I don't have one main fandom I have FOUR do you like plastic ninja and turtle ninja and Minecraft block men because boy I do (Ninjago, ROTTMNT (I don't really know any other version I'm sorry guys), Life Series, Hermitcraft) I also really like Dreamzzz but I've just started that series so I have less feelings about it /lh Do YOU like silly little aus about Ninjago and Rise because I have many if you're interested I have a list I'll put them under the read more with their name, tags, and a short description :) ITS LONG IM SORRY LMAO Also yes there is shipping in some of these, not really in any of the Rise aus but in the Ninjago aus there's some, most of the time it doesn't really affect most of the story but I'll mention if it does

RISE OF THE TMNT

Initium Novum (#inau) Told from the perspective of an OC (lost turtle sibling called Masaccio (Acie)), takes place during the show and has a lot of other OCs in it if that's not your jam

What Do You Do When You Fall Into Heaven? (#fihau) Told from multiple perspectives, takes place during/after the movie and is a hurt/comfort. The same cast as Initium Novum, with some additions :) I really wanted to write the future guys man they all show up at some point

Who's That Hamato? (#wthau) Kind of an au of Initium Novum, it's what if Acie was also taken in by Splinter. Explores a different facet of them, explores how their relationships would be different in a different situation.

We Have Got To Stop Meeting New People Like This (#snpau) Another Initium Novum/WDYDWYFIH au but this one's Ninjago :) Similar to House of the Rising Sun (Shells) in that the Merge caused their world to join the Merged Realms, they all explore this new world and Acie gets to go nuts.

Boys of Summer (#bosau) Non-OC au, it's another separated au throw the confetti throw the sparkles- Leo focused, he's still with Splinter but Draxum is there as well and has been redeemed, the others found their own ways out of the lab and ended up in different places.

Rise from the Dead (#rftdau) Non-OC au, puts a ghostly spin on the story. The turtles are all ghosts that only April can see. There's no yokai and no mystics, but multiple yokai characters are still in the story, just as humans.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Critters (#tmncau) Sort of Minecraft au but not really, I just really really love the fanon Minecraft hybrids so I made the turtles into them :). They're mutants still but they've got distinctly Minecraft hybrid traits I've put sooo much thought into the traits for all the different hybrids it's so fun

Shell From Another Realm (#sfarau) A Rise/Ninjago crossover au, takes place post-Rise movie and post-Crystalized pre-Dragon's Rising. The turtles, April, and Casey end up in the world of Ninjago and try to find their way home while also trying to figure out this new world.

House of the Rising Sun (Shells) (#hotrsau) Another Rise/Ninjago crossover au, completely separate from the previous one in that this takes place during Dragon's Rising instead. When the Merge caused all the Realms to collide, Earth was one of them, and everyone ended up scattered across the Merged Realms. The Hamatos decide to settle in the Crossroads and meet some young faces.

NINJAGO

Some Assembly Required (#sarau) Completely rewrites the entire thing, based on the question "what if the bite from the Devourer didn't turn Garmadon evil and instead made him sick?" Garmadon is good and raising his children, the kids aren't really as in tune with their elemental powers, and I made a bunch of lore for it around the dragons and the other elemental masters please ask me about it please please /lh (has a couple ocs but not very many) (pretty shippy, a lot of poly relationships)

Web of Destiny (#wodau) Spiderman au, all six main ninja are a group of heroes, with Pixal as a vigilante. Other characters from the series feature as villains. The Dragons Rising cast also features.

The Dragon's Samurai (#tdsau) Crystalized ending rewrite, Pixal focused. Asking "what if their golden powers went haywire after they sent them to Lloyd, causing them to lose themselves? Also what if Nya got a golden form I'm so sad she didn't get one" Basically they get taken over by their powers and Pixal has to go talk some sense into them I lOVE PIXAL SO MUCH DO YOU UNDERST

Abnormal Reaction (#arau) DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE BIZARROS BECAUSE I DO this is entirely me wanting to have a Bizarro au they don't die after getting dusted they just regroup somewhere else and decide to go do their own thing after Garmadon gets defeated

A Different Vision of the Future (#advotfau) I'm lowkey embarrassed about this one lmAO it's a Genshin au,,,,, I probably won't write a fic for it like I will with the others but I wanted to draw it and explore the concept I don't even play Genshin anymore I'm crying

Ready Your Triforce, It's About To Have More Sides (#rytau) Do you guys like Breath of the Wild :) I like Breath of the Wild :) BotW/Ninjago crossover au besties they all end up in different points in time and get to interact with different pEOPLE lots of me messing around with dynamics

staring up at the sky (and hoping to see your face) (#suatsau) Veeeeery self indulgent self discovery au. Everyone but Lloyd is this almost godlike ruler of different concepts and they give him the chance to leave everything to come join them, and he has to make that decision.

Ninjas & Normies (#nanau) They're all just normal college students who like to play D&D, they each get a chance to run a campaign once they're taught how to play. Each campaign is based off a plot point or season from the show.

Departed and Service (#dasau) BASED ON Five Nights at Freddys NOT ACTUALLY A FNAF AU I don't know NEARLY enough about the fnaf lore to make an actual au with it but they're all animatronic characters from a very popular kid's TV show and Morro and Pixal are employees at their party place :) A bunch of side characters show up in this (Dragon's Rising cast also appears)

SPINJITZOON! (#spinau) It's a Splatoon au they're all having fun Ronin is basically Grizz he messes with their weapons and makes them more powerful (Dragon's Rising cast appears)

Pokemon Spin and Pokemon Whip (#pspwau) Pokemon au!!! There's two different parts to this, the first one starring Kai Nya and Lloyd, and the second starring Arin Sora Wyldfyre and Euphrasia! They all go on their adventures and in the second part Kai Nya and Lloyd see themselves in these kids and want to help them go farther

Adventures of the Dragon (#aotdau) Another D&D au but this one is them just living in a D&D fantasy style world :) silly things ensue this one's more just art than fully written story

Shapes and Colors (#sacau) Minecraft au! They're a group of friends who play on a server together and some of them are streamers and youtubers who record these sessions and put it out there for their fans, some of them do lore while some of them have no idea what's going on any of the time. Other elemental masters and Dragons Rising characters appear. (shippy, but mostly with their little characters that they made for the lore)

Lights, Camera, Action! (#lcaau) Silly actor au! Not much else to it

Song of the Sirens (#sotsau) Mermaid au, some of them are pirates and others are mermaids. Just some fun dynamics with some human/nonhuman shipping :)

Mobs of a Feather Flock Together (#moafftau) Another,, another Minecraft au this one is like Adventures of the Dragon in that they live in this world and also they're all different Minecraft hybrids I got really really into Minecraft hybrids man I just really like to draw them,,,, Dragons Rising cast is included

Ninjagoing Going Gone (#gggau) Sort of Scooby Doo-esque mystery au, kind of a blend between movieverse and showverse. Starring Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and Euphrasia, they're looking for the old heroes they used to hear about as kids who completely disappeared years ago. They find Lloyd and force him convince him to help them, even though he's not so sure he can.

These Problems Are Multi-Faceted (#tpamfau) Gem au! Like from Steven Universe! Except it's not a Steven Universe au, it doesn't follow the plot of the show at all. Super quick synopsis is Pink Diamond grew tired of the way things were on Homeworld and so rebelled, escaping with his fellow rebels to a planet already under his control. After lots of fighting and the establishment of a shaky truce, an Emerald and his crew are sent to the planet to try and bring Pink back.

[cursedbataurus]

Decided to draw something else, so here’s my SU oc which name I didn’t make out but certainly will

They worked along pink diamond (rose quartz) to the very end until the diamonds such as yellow/blue and white corrupted the earth thousand of years ago. Until she was set free from the bubble and got saved by Steven and the diamonds.

(It didn’t go as planned)

She eventually met peridot (Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG)

They became instant besties even tho pink’s old peridot were a thousand year older than her.

She held on to so much anger and anxiety bc of what the diamonds did to earth and pink.

She was hesitant of Steven at first but was happy for the first time to be freed and saved even tho she was corrupted by the diamonds.

(I’ll draw her crystal gem outfit later)

Her personality:

Sarcastic jokes is a number one thing. She made pink laugh a few times tho. She is quickly to forgive people even what they did to her in the past. She is actually very nice to everyone except for yellow and her pearl. She likes blue diamond. White diamond wasn’t even to talk about. Absolute fear of her.

Tho she did have a crush on pink pearl until she was taken away and such. Both of them not remembering each other. But they are building up their friendship one by one. She has a crush on a lot of gems (typical hopeless romantic)

That’s for all

[manasurge]

My Characters

Thought I might as well do this since I like how a few of my in-game characters turned out, so here's my roster so far (subtracting a few that are in limbo). Tried to put it in order to most to least used. I'm not one to make my in-game characters as OCs, but I still like to give them a name/aesthetic/theme that matches together (and colour-coordinated) so it sort of seems like they could (also for fashion wars reasons. Name above their respective images below). Also I like giving them singular names. (oh gosh I really hope this automatically shrinks the length of the post bc it's not giving me the "Read More" option >_>') My Main: Vespaura (Mesmer/Mirage). Crystal Bloom/Branded themed. Still waiting for proper crystal aesthetic looks lol (none available in game atm are what I'm looking for). I'm pretty much on her almost all of the time since I'm a ho for Open world and I love GS lasers, clones, portals, and evasion hax (I'm squishy so I need the survivability and sustain, and I tag almost everything, so it works well when doing metas and stuff).

Mourynn (Necromancer/Scourge) - This is the one I took my OC's name from lol, so it's funny seeing her in game bc I forget sometimes lsjflksf. I Tried to make her look like an infected/toxic/poisonous Awakened Nightmare Courtier Duchess, and the squiggly tentacles are meant to portray turning into the necrotic glider below. I really wanna get her a bunch of Mordy and Zhaitan leggies (one day~)

Ferahla (Revenant/Renegade) - I actually updated her back piece and colours a bit since this new back piece was released bc it fit her look much more. I tried to make her look gnarly (also this outfit makes her look a bit nakey, but I'm kind of okay with that tbh alsjflskdjf), and I'm trying to match her to the Chuka leggy for whenever I get around to finishing it. Renegade is also one of my favourite specs cuz I like being at ranged and having the support of Kalla and her Lesbian Warband.

Faihan (Ranger/Soulbeast) - I still adore her look and her name is one of my favourites too. I was sort of going for a pheonix/firebird Hunter (bloodborne) kinda vibe. I couldn't decide between capes so she has one for Power and one for Condi. Also it's tricky to dress for leather armour, so I like how this turned out.

Vaipaura (Mesmer/Virtuoso) - All my mesmers have similar names bc I think it's funny to headcanon they're just different AUs of each other (not gonna show Chrono here bc she's in Limbo. Her name is Vastaura). I wanted to give Vaipaura a Regal Canthan Noble Madam kinda vibe (also I just love the combo of this outfit and backpiece). She also has Exordium cuz it also matches this look too. However I still heavily prefer playing Mirage bc despite this one being great for DPS and very neat. It's just super squishy with not a lot of survivability/sustain and no clones to distract, and it feels so slow, but regardless it is still fun to play as well (I just miss spamming dodge all the time :( I also miss my clones)

Mortesque (Necromancer/Reaper) - I'm not 100% sure if this will be the final look for her or not, but I was mostly just trying to match her to Zhaitan's Bite when I finally unlocked it a little while back. As you can tell I really like greatswords (the only 3 leggies I have are GS lol)

Shroudryss (Thief/Specter) - My newest sapling. I'm stll not 100% sure about the outfit, but it'll do for now. Specter is really fun!! I really like fancy magical mobile classes. I need to play thief way more tbh since it's more of less up my alley (this one will be my first to go to)

Jadesta (Engineer/Mechanist) - Her name and look are very on the nose. HOWEVER I am proud of the name I gave to her mech: Caladborg (also I really like the Aetherblade look here and at least it's easy/fun to give her stuff for fashion wars)

Prismysta (Revenant/Herald) - I wanted to make her fit the pretty pearlescent look of Glint's facets, and I did want one light-themed cute character. Also there was just so many pretty pieces that wouldn't work with Vespaura that I thought it'd work well for her!

Hexirax (Thief/Daredevil) - I still super need to change her name bc it for sure as hell does not suit her at all lmao!! But since I still needed a pink Sylvari, I thought it would be funny to make it my Daredevil (also the weapon worked well for this so I made her Sakura themed. Her outfit is still subject to change if I find something better)

Vallotash (Guardian/Dragonhunter) - Still not sure what to do with her yet (might switch her elite spec, idk yet), but I'm still super proud of her name and I forgot I made this look on her. I like the colour combo, and I still might keep it (subject for change tho, but I don't hate it)

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

Happy Storyteller Saturday! If a museum was to be made about your OCs, what would it be like? What artifacts would be on display?

Fascinating ask! Thank you for sending it in.

Over on Earth, it would really depend on who was running/funding the museum or exhibit. Characters like Isaac Soto would either be hailed as a hero or a violent radical (neither of which are accurate), with documents, pictures, and items from historical events that were blamed on him/he was credited with on display.

There'd probably be parts or even whole boats/small ships that were attacked during first contact with the merfolk. Some of their coral, obsidian, and bone jewelry and weapons. (No remains of merfolk themselves, of course, since they turn into seafoam when they die.) Definitely a lot of scaremongering about bloodborn--displays of fangs and accounts of how numbers of unregistered are at an all time high. Same with witchcraft and necromancy. Someone would probably even find a way to hold Isaac responsible for the mind worms showing up on Earth eventually, and put some of their masks on display.

Dorian's exhibit would be told through their extensive collection of coats, jackets, and hoodies.

Elfy's (and by extension, Ceph's) collection of haunted/cursed objects would make a good display.

If you left it up to Renato, he'd just have an art gallery full of his pictures of Tes and his other fish friends.

Kinslayer would burn any attempt at an exhibit to the ground. They'd get even worse treatment than Isaac. (Though, you might get away with displaying their collection of books if you could figure out why each one is significant.)

Elsewhere, the mind worms are pretty great at making museums in their own realm, though you might not recognize them as such at first. There would be bones (along with disturbingly life-like taxidermy specimens), historical items, and documents, but set up throughout something like a fun-house maze. Only instead of mirrors or glass, the walls would be made of faceted sheets of strange, translucent mineral or crystal. As you entered a "room", you'd start to hear disembodied sounds and voices that would escalate into a full-blown immersive vision, complete with ghostly sensations of temperature, smell, the whole experience just short of living it. These can range from examples of culture and memories of historic events to studies of bloody battles and scenes of personal terror.

These exhibits aren't wildly popular with human visitors.

[auxiliarydetective]

OC Masterlist - Animation & Others!

Fandoms featured:

Asterix (animated films)

Encancto (Disney)

Markiplier Egos / Who Killed Markiplier

Sanders Sides

Vocalization (my own fanfic)

ASTERIX (animated films) (1967 - 2018)

-> Noura

"Everybody needs a change, a chance to check out the new, but you're the only one to see the changes you take yourself through." - Tori Kelly (Stevie Wonder), in: Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing

Full name: Noura

Birthday: August 15th, 1st century BC (in her 20s/30s)

Identity: probably pansexual, cis female

Tag: x | Fic: -

Noura is hired by Queen Cleopatra to paint the building process at Numerobis’s construction site and decorate the soon-to-be palace of Caesar with frescos, as well as take care of color-coordination. However, this turns out to be an even more exciting job than Noura first thought, largely because of three strangers from all the way across the Mediterranean and the various sabotage attempts from the Romans.

Encanto (Disney movie) (2021)

-> Soles

"But she says: 'You're beautiful, so please don't go. You're loved more than you know. That's why you're beautiful.' And who'd known that's all I needed?" - Illymation, in: Beautiful?

Full name: Soledad Madrigal

Birthday: November 4th (16 years old)

Identity: questioning

Tag: x | Fic: -

Soledad is the daughter of Bruno, the "cursed" Madrigal, and her father's reputation burdens her even when he's gone. Maybe because he's gone. After he left, Soledad was raised by her aunts and given the nickname "Soles", because a name meaning loneliness now seemed far too cruel. Her powers are water manipulation, but she keeps the fact that they also come with scrying a safely guarded secret out of fear of inheriting her father's reputation. However, when the Encanto is in danger, can she keep it up?

MARKIPLIER EGOS / WHO KILLED MARKIPLIER (web series; 2017)

-> Celine

Full name: Celine / The Seer / The Anomaly

Birthday: December 5th (died 28 years old)

Identity: ???

Faceclaim: Pamela Horton

Tag: x | Fic: -

After escaping the manor and being ejected from the new, dark creation she and Damian have become, both Celine and her brother are displaced throughout space, time, and universes alike. That is until Celine finds a young man all too familiar and a force, dark and weak. So, she stays, able to communicate only in a digital state. Because she has to protect him, right?

SANDERS SIDES (YouTube web series) (2016-?)

-> Eve

"Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination." - Gene Wilder, in: Pure Imagination

Full name: Eve “Imagination” Sanders

Birthday: November 22nd (she's younger than the Sides)

Identity: ??? (probably genderfae)

Faceclaim: would love to say “Thomas Sanders in drag”, but it’s a young Keira Knightley

Tag: x | Fic: -

Eve is not a Side, but rather the embodiment of Thomas’s Imagination and the reason why everything around the Mind Palace keeps running. But with her childish nature, she’s also very easy to distract and influence.

STEVEN UNIVERSE (animated tv show) (2013-2020)

-> Indigo

"Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting right there where you left it, lying upside down." - Rebecca Sugar, in: Everything Stays

Full name: “Indigo" Pearl Facet-3 Cut-7HL

Birthday: unknown

Identity: sapphic, agender, presenting as female

Tag: x | Fic: -

"Indigo" used to be a member of Pink Diamond's Court until her shattering, an event that left her saddened, draining most of the pink hue from her spectrum. Because of her extensive memory of Pink, her habits and schedules, she was taken in by Blue Diamond herself, who kept her from being shattered as an off-color. When the opportunity arises, Indigo is sent to Earth to survey the place and find out how much has changed, putting her into contact with the so-called Crystal Gems.

VOCALIZATION (fanfic, written by me) (2020-?)

-> Evelynn

"You’re a shop full of wonders, you're my blanket when it thunders." - Reinaeiry, in: Shop of Wonders

Full name: Evelynn Carter

Birthday: October 13th, 1994

Identity: bisexual, cis-female

Faceclaim: Lucy Hale | Voiceclaim: Reinaeiry

Tag: x | Fic: x

Evelynn is shy and an outcast, but she has a beautiful voice. One fateful evening, she meets a group of men on an empty road, and the six of them get themselves into mortal peril together, in an event that glues them together for the rest of their lives. As it turns out, these five men are singers, and so starts the birth of Voiceplay.

Quick info: Vocalization is a fic about the vocal group VoicePlay, set in their "Kidnapped" video series and is making no claims about the guys themselves :)

[ebnaril]

#𝐄𝐁𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐋. a crystal dragon oath of the watchers paladin. looking for little more than adventure & friendship. d&d/bg3 oc. mutuals 18+ only. as written by annie. rules & about under cut.

don't do those things that i know y'all know better than. i.e. racism, homophobia, transphobia, assholery, etc. i don't tolerate drama or bigotry or anything like that. if you see i'm interacting with someone who perpetuates those things, please tell me.

i don't write smut. i'm asexual, & nari is quite literally a dragon. they're not interested & neither am i. that being said i am 23, so other nsfw topics (violence, blood, etc.) may occur.

nari is probably what some people would consider overpowered. after all, they're an adult crystal dragon shapeshifted into a human. they are not, however, super keen on applying their smarts. so that's the balance, but i am aware of the nature of this oc.

i am likely not going to be here a lot, with the adhd & my job & other activities & etc. so feel free to dm me for my discord if we're mutuals.

ebnaril is not their real name. it is, however, the name i will be using when writing them, because that name was what they chose for when they are in a human form. (nari for short, because they think nicknames are fun.) they are, technically, a real paladin, but the true nature of their identity & abilities has little to do with the oath & much more to do with their draconic form. first & foremost, nari wants adventure & to find more things for their hoard.

said hoard is consisted of shiny things of varying qualities & divination relics, which is a school of magic in which they are especially gifted. were it possible, they would simply adventure as a dragon -- but that doesn't typically go over well with others. so they take the form of a 5'10 albino human, hair braided in a whimsical style & teeth crooked. (the only non-albino trait is their diamondlike eyes, kaleidoscopic & seemingly faceted.) they wield a greatsword, which they take very good care of. so it's shiny. while they are formidable in battle, they'd also go nuts over a pack of tarokka cards, a good conversation, or a jingle bell.

[amethyst-halo]

a thingy where i was trying to make a poster of my protags 

[hammer-draws]

Updated Kammererite finally

Added more fire to his aesthetic.

And honestly, 2 mouths fits them more than 4 arms