#oc. yulei

[muddshadow]

🍵create your oc a cup of tea🍵

rules; using this piccrew, make a cup of tea that your oc would drink! if you like, you can also switch it up and make a cup of tea that represents them aesthetically

KON // he would be served cold with a squeeze of lemon and a breath of fresh thyme. chamomile without milk or sweetener.

YULEI // she’s a deeply steeped blackberry or earl grey, thickened with sweet cream. she does not care what tea-nerds have to say about that.

NARA // aforementioned tea-nerd. he would be honey peach or lavender, piping hot, smooth and soft with a rose petal finish.

@baroquesse i love you for tagging me because i was MIDWAY through making this already after i saw @pinespittinink post hehe. tagging @dandelion-tea , @rodentwrites , @aninkwellofnectar , @cream-and-tea , @blue-kyber , @magefaery , @bloodlessheirbyjacques, and anyone else who likes tea :v

[karsisdoingart]

some head icons about my ocs  i did for just fun! ( and im going to make some more! >:) ) 

i might use this account to post some oc stuff + the fanart stuff for now on 

 lil context for the ocs in the main world building story im still working on : 

Bela (she/her) , Sahor ( he/him ) , Umi (he/him ), Pj (she/her)  Himari (she/her) and Irindo ( he/him, all of them have 28 y ) are sextuplets siblings. 

Corine (36 y, she/her ) and Torox (29 1/2 y , he/him )  are siblings

Krystofer ( 28 y, he/him ) and Mayra (19 y , she/her ) are siblings

Straws ( 13 1/2 y, she/her )  is the step-daughter of Azuhney (44 y ,she/her ) 

Ursula ( 30 y, she/her ) is the step cousin in the zegmer family ( originally was going to be step-sis since her mothers’ adopted them , but it was changed since i keep focusing on their bg story , the aunt of Torox and Corine, Leanix,  was the one who took care of these two drappy siblings ) 

Tomomi ( 27 y she/her ) and PJ are couple 

Matt ( 22 y , they/them ) and Mayra are dating 

Helena ( 27 y, She/her ) and Roxana ( 25 y , She/her ) are couple 

Daniel (21 y , He/him ) and Sasha ( 20 y, she/her ) are couple 

Adalisa ( 27 y , she/her ) meet Corine when she tried to find a phsycologist/therapist who can take her seriously ( and after the sessions and at times they have seen each other out of the sessions , they started to slowly begin close to each other )  

Phoebe (29 y, she/her ) and toroxel were besties since  highschool and along with Gea ( phoebe’s lil sister, 26 y, she/they ) faced on a bully these 3 had in common and give him a good lesson ( by explote a ballon in paint with glitter and stickers that covered his whole body ). But couple of years later after the bully left them alone permanently , Toroxel and Phoebe had a big argument ( due to a misunderstanding between them , no , the bully wasn’t involved ) then they stopped contacting since then. 

also SPOILERS IN THE MAIN STORY: 

years later. phoebe and torox apologized to each other after they realized it was a misundestand and both acted so dumb to each other. 

i think that’s all i can share for now! ^^

[ersatz-nonsense]

he’s an idiot

[finalsorrow]

The Muse Meme.

Post TEN characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back, then tag ten people to do the same. ( If you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can and tag the same amount of people. ) Aside from that, please repost instead of reblogging.

CURRENTLY PLAYING: Julius Belmont, Simon Belmont, Kid Dracula, John Morris // Alder + Benga (Pokemon)

HAVE PLAYED (some of these are just on hiatus): Wikstrom (Pokemon), Byron (Pokemon), Groudon (Pokemon), Maxie x2 (Pokemon), Palkia (Pokemon), Drampa (Pokemon), Leavanny (Pokemon), Charon (Pokemon), Cyrus (Pokemon), Wicke (Pokemon), Phyco (Pokemon), Ghetsis (Pokemon), Team Skull Grunt (Pokemon), Stantler (Pokemon) // Bill Williamson (RDR) // Prince Fluff (Kirby), King Dedede (Kirby) // Eli Arborwood (Starlink) // Magnus (Kid Icarus) // Piston Hondo (Punch-Out!!), Aran Ryan (Punch-Out!!), Mr. Sandman (Punch-Out!!) // Batzorig (Dragon Quest) // Savannah (Animal Crossing), Rodeo (Animal Crossing), Opal (Animal Crossing), Shinabiru (Animal Crossing) // Major Friedkin (Zootopia) // Asgore (Undertale) // Misango (ARMS), Kid Cobra (ARMS) // + some anime shit i Guess // A few various OCs. 

WOULD LIKE TO PLAY: Sonia Belmont, Maxim Kischine, Victor Belmont // Don Rodrigo (Dragon Quest), Sylvando (Dragon Quest) // Red Harlow (RDR), Dutch Van der Linde (RDR) // Kharl Zeon (Starlink), Grax (Starlink) // Ogami Itto (Lone Wolf and Cub) // Hugo Vega (DDADDS) // Grimmsnarl (Pokemon), Claire (Pokemon) // Father Nier (Nier) // Kazan Yamaoka (Dead by Daylight) // Yulei (LIttle Door Gods) // Cooking Mama // Dorian (Zelda), King Dorephan (Zelda) // Apollo (Animal Crossing), Kabuki (Animal Crossing) // Dr. Coyle (ARMS) // Various OCs.

MIGHT BRING BACK: Wikstrom, Palkia, Eli, Magnus

TAGGED BY: @embersrevived [thank you sm ;;] TAGGING: @ghostlyanon + whoever else is interested <3

[dededone-blog]

I totally forgot that I was planning to make two american god ocs like, last december. I’m still so on board with that. I have faceclaims for a little old nuwa and a distinguished old shangdi.

I dunno if I’d actually make them part of the american gods rpc, but I still think those characters would be SICK to play and I LOVE MYTHOLOGY...

Anyways, my current ‘want to play’ list of muses is: Bowser, King Koopa, Roy,  Mr. Sandman, Piston Hondo, Shae Ashton, Dr. Coyle, Ghetsis, Cooking Mama, Zant, Skull KId, Nuwa, Shangdi, Yulei, Sanjuro, Vendel, Bayson

[muddshadow]

🧁 oc dessert tag 🧁

KON // lemon, vanilla, rosemary YULEI // chocolate, espresso, blueberry NARA // raspberry, champagne, white chocolate ESYL // red velvet, orange, cinnamon

THANK YOU for the tags @tryingtimi @the-void-writes @bloodlessheirbyjacques @pinespittinink <3 i do love a tasty picrew. a no-pressure tag for @cream-and-tea @impaledlotus @rydykg @awritingcaitlin @magefaery @tc-doherty @mjjune !!!

— here is the picrew

[muddshadow]

✅🔒🌹for Yulei/Nara!

(-@tragicbackstoryenjoyer)

HUZZAH @tragicbackstoryenjoyer // character dynamic asks

— for Yulei and Nara, from my Godspawn trilogy

✅️ Who cares more about being right and winning the argument?

probably yulei. it's not that she MUST be right about something, she's perfectly capable of admitting to error (she is very prone to error), it's more like an obsessive tendency to explain her point of view. you don't have to agree, but you DO have to understand. also yulei typically has the stronger opinions and is much more vocal in general. nara in contrast is rather non-confrontational. he has an escort, espionage, and diplomatic history, so he's got QUITE the silver tongue, but overall he's very reserved and is first to say "whatever, fuck this" when things start getting turbulent. 

🔒 Who's more guarded with their secrets and who is better at sharing them?

both of them are very guarded about their secrets, but in different ways. like mentioned above, nara has a long history of manipulating people to steal their secrets. so that's given him some trust issues lol. someone could ask what his favorite color is and he'd think, 'hm how will they use this information against me....' As for yulei, she grew up without any stability; watched a lot of friends die, has been abandoned by plenty more, has been homeless and wandering and alone for a big chunk of her life, and she’ll always be afraid of hurting people with her volatile magic (she’s done it before). for her, sharing secrets isn't worth the time and effort of plucking out a piece of heart. It takes both of them a long while to open up to others, but once they do, they're LATCHED ON. however, i think yulei would be the first one to spill. she's the braver one between them.

🌹 Who's the flirty one and who gets shy and flustered?

HM i could see this going both ways. Nara is the Flirty One in THEORY. he's a smooth-talker, crushingly aware of his attractiveness, and it was his job for several years to make people flustered. but nara also resents that part of his life because it's paired with a lot of bad memories, and so he associates coldness with flirting/sexual attraction/romance. nara flirting with someone he genuinely cares for translates to unabashed honesty. on the other hand, it's very difficult to fluster yulei. she's bold, mischievous, and fiercely adaptable, and she doesn't really take anything seriously. she's a casual flirt and doesn't notice doing it. anything INTENTIONALLY flirtatious, however, collapses into awkwardness. which makes for many oblivious moments between them (and kon the detective in the background like (-_-) )

[muddshadow]

happy blorbo blursday! let’s say your oc is in our modern world (if they aren’t already). what would they order when they walk into a coffee shop for the first time?

@rydykg

hi @rydykg !! it's blorbo day in my heart :v and i've been invested in two wips lately so i'll do the main characters for each...

godspawn characters ;

YULEI. she's a 'four shots of espresso with a single pump of berry flavor' kind of gal.

NARA. he would order a tea drink of some sort - chai tea latte, london fog, something milky and smooth.

KON. black coffee.

ESYL. something a little extravagant, teeth-achingly-sweet and chocolate-y. would demand ask for extra whipped cream

the butcher's lament characters ;

ADELADE. something simple but mostly sweet. maybe a matcha latte or white chocolate mocha.

PEBBLE. a smoothie with whipped cream, probably something tart or vibrant like pineapple or raspberry.

BANSHEE. cold brew coffee. extra ice to chew on

JANIER. he'd probably get something different every time, but i think a pumpkin drink would be his first choice.

ISHAAN. a warm drink. probably just honey and milk lol

[muddshadow]

find the word tag

*slams pans together* another volley of words!! this time from @spacetimewraithwrites and @sentfromwolves !! my counterstrike is aimed for @pinespittinink , @awritingcaitlin , @kashacreates , @lunarmoment , @akindofmagictoo​ , @yejiwritesthings​ !!! Defend with these words!! // burn , belong , brush , bright  , believe .

 / all excerpts from TO FORGET A PRINCE /

SIGH //

“I didn’t do anything,” Yulei said finally, but might have been lying.

“You jacked up the altar!” Haithe shouted. She tossed her arms when she spoke, disheveled uniform crumpled at her elbows, sleeves without rank or sigil and still glaring with the passion of a blood feud. “And then everything just rearranged into something else, even if it smells like the same piss—”

“We’re only deeper inside the canyon,” Diorre insisted.

“We’re far from the canyon.”

“No,” he told Monik, relentlessly calm, “this wall must hide the way back.” Diorre gave the cave a tentative push, then a few well-meaning shoves, and one hard press with the full strain of his shoulders. He scoffed at the audacity. “Then there must be another way to the temple.”

“Maybe this is the temple,” Kon said.

Ahead of them, the torch-guided passage sighed in anticipation. It sang like an invitation.

SHAKE //

For a slice of a moment, the stone chilled in her palm. Yulei dropped it as her breath caught, and the stone landed in the grass with a thud much heavier than it felt.

“What’s wrong?”

Yulei swallowed. “It just surprised me...”

But the sudden crisp CRACK surprised her more. The stone split down the middle, spewing flakes. Both Yulei and Kon scrambled to stand, momentarily breathless, but before either managed an inhale—a terrible whine drowned her.

Yulei doubled over, gasping, gagging, a shock splitting her thoughts like a shriek of lightning and convulsive thunder. She felt Kon grab her shoulder and shake—the hurricane worsened, nausea crawled up her throat—and with a starved breath, Yulei forced her eyes open.

And found it was utterly silent. And the grasslands were gone.

SHIVER //

A shiver seized him. The hallway was terribly cold. It showed along the walls in swirling patterns of frost and frosted the breath along his lips, although the Further left Nara so feverish he was slow to notice.

Still crouched beside him, the woman released a long exhale. “I don’t know where we are. Or where anyone else is.” She glimpsed at him, then turned again. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“If the Further didn’t kill them, the others won’t be far,” Nara said. “That emblem was mostly bluster.”

“Whatever you say.” She tapped her nose.

Lifting a hand to his, Nara pulled away with blood on his fingers.

STICK //

Twelve years ago, Nara visited the Graveyard for his very first meeting with an outlaw client, and his teacher gave him the lead. Nara was charmingly certain he had everything under control. That was the first time he was stabbed. “Wish it pierced your kidneys instead, boy. You deserve worse for not holding your tongue.” But the shiv hurt plenty sticking from the muscles in his back, and so Nara learned to keep his tongue silver and meticulous.

SMILE //

She crooked an elbow over her nose and ignored the mutterings behind her. She wove through the debris without touching any of the frayed support beams. Sand stung her eyes and dulled her progress, but the pulse in her heart sharpened as the distance closed. An old friend and an old wound, Yulei trusted the song of arcane even inside the Khyvenek.  

A flat, purposely carved wall waited at the dead end. And there was the anticipated door, grounded inside the stone on four golden beams. The final torch sizzled beside it.

Yulei allowed herself a broad, haughty smile. With minimal condescension, she eventually persuaded the Steelguard to look for themselves. They entered the shambled passage with ample complaint.

Kon arrived at her side first, brow rumpled at the sight. “I… missed this. Somehow.”

SINCE //

The furtherblood academy was constructed roughly eight centuries ago and most of the place looked a century worse. Lichen and purple-leafed vines shrouded every surface. The streets were built narrow and crooked, leading Yulei through bursts of garden and under root-twisted archways. Hulking gnarls of birch patched the most timeworn of the original white stonework, and ever since the inferno ninety-four years ago that claimed four class halls and most of the north stables, smoke lingered behind every scent. Plenty of the place was a safety hazard, but nobody argued much for rebuilding. Academy scholars insisted the buildings were historic, and the guilds with any heft in their pocket scoffed at funding such a project; they dreaded the annual donation quite enough.

MIND //

“It’s not a lie, the further calls to… wait.” Yulei halted, eye catching on one of the paintings. “This one isn’t a portrait.”

It was a landscape: brush strokes heavy and illustrating a cavern in vibrant oils, the cave walls serrated by belts of gleaming crystal. It had a simple frame and hung just above her shoulders. When Yulei moved to inspect the painting, her neck bristled. Her skin itched. Like something watching.

Breath leaping at the unfamiliar brush of further, she swiveled around – but nothing paid her mind.

Except for the hundreds of oil portraits, each with glowering eyes.

Except for Kon, now staring at her. “You think it means something?”

OPEN //

The morning began pleasantly enough – Nara woke with the usual degree of aching bones and bedhead, and early enough to brew tea and savor the sunrise from the temple’s porch. But a messenger arrived around his sixth sip; throwing open the garden gate with an expression warped by bad news.

“Disaster, Nara, tragedy and disaster! You must come quick!”

Grudgingly, Nara lowered his mug.

CRUEL //

“Sounds like a wise man.”

“Sometimes.” Yulei scratched at her wrists again. “Arie was mostly arrogant. Called me his hopeless case. He was really hard to impress.”

In the wake of the words, Yulei’s expression shuttered. She teased her lips to a grin that didn’t carry substance, and the warm memory faded from her eyes when she looked at Nara again.

Deflective, she said, “Bet you had a wise teacher, too.”

“I did.”

Yulei waited.

Everything Nara could say about Kesiro boiled in his mouth. Nara managed only, “He preferred the further’s cruelty.”

SMIRK //

Hovering between skeptical and contemplative, Yulei studied Kon; his sides bare of weapons, the casual clothing and small fungi lantern, and her gaze settled on the steadfast shine in his eyes. “You’re really here for a friendly conversation?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you think I want to talk?”

“You’re always talking.”

“You’ve only got ten minutes, then the guard returns for a head count.”

When Kon glanced cautiously down the hall, Yulei laughed.

“Well, well, maybe you are here in secret.” A smirk tugged one corner of her mouth. “I wonder how Patri would feel if he found out.”

[muddshadow]

find the word tag

my reliable procrastination has earned me a fine collection of words!! This batch sponsored by @dgwriteblr and @splashinkling thank ye kindly <3 and i’ll send this next round down to @yejiwritesthings , @awritingcaitlin , @ryns-ramblings , @kashacreates​ , @theskeletonprior​ , and anyone who happens to glance this way!! i challenge you to find... YET , EVER , SMOOTH , KNOW , CALL .

all excerpts from to forget a prince

TEA //

The morning began pleasantly enough – he woke with the usual degree of aching bones and bedhead, and early enough to brew tea and savor the sunrise from the temple’s porch. But a messenger arrived around his sixth sip; throwing open the garden gate with an expression warped by bad news.

“Disaster, Nara, tragedy and disaster! You must come quick!”

Grudgingly, Nara lowered his mug.

AIR //

For this moment and hopefully the next, the onslaught seemed to have ended. The messenger scrambled to find the head of security. With growing discontent, Nara observed the aftermath.

Planks of wood lay scattered. Mulch spilled from fractured crates, the client’s meticulously packaged seeds now graveling the floor (eighty kru for each kernel, and Nara felt several crushed under his heel.) Hacked-apart pieces of hungered monsters strewed the warehouse in sagging piles, workers going between each with a torch. Every breath tasted venomous as smoke and decay curdled the air. It whispered in the pits of his thoughts.

LETTER //

Sora cut herself off. She kneaded her eyes. With an assertive hmph, she selected an envelope from the stack on her desk and cast it to Yulei.

Sealed with a sage green emblem, Yulei could guess what the letter contained. It felt like holding razor blades.

BACK //

After forty-five minutes of tracking prints through the leftover snow, Kon found the deer. On its side, frosted over, and utterly still. Breath a fog around his face, he approached the carcass with fingers hovering his quiver.

It wasn’t moving, for the moment; a gaping wound opened its stomach. Maggots knotted the flesh. Gangrene peeled back the skin. And inside the scrambled medley of intestines bloomed bright, golden dandelions.

Kon lowered his bow. “Shit.”

LIE //

“It’s exactly as I feared then. You and that journal have invented another problem—”

“Hardly an invention if the problem existed to begin with—”

“—and now you want to convince me of some misguided solution. A letter usually prefaces these things, but you seem to lack any knowledge on our postal system. Have you read any of my messages?”

A lie would have insulted her, so Yulei replied instead, “I’ve been doing some research.” She placed the dreaded journal upon the desk.

SURVIVE //

Deya crossed his arms. “Going after the Shade is a death sentence. That’s just history.”

“Aevana survived the last time.”

“And lost both her legs and an arm, and the Shade escaped to the moors anyway.” Deya scoffed. “Come on, Rosevyn. You’re not really entertaining this?”

Leaning back in her seat, ticking her nails over the armrest, Rosevyn considered the murals with thick contemplation. “I imagine that after all this time, Loteri is a weak vessel…” And Nara realized she was absolutely entertaining the idea.  

Joan noticed it too. “I’m not fucking doing it,” she said.

“Not my fucking job,” Deya agreed.

TIME //

“And are you trying to become a warlock?” he asked her.

“That would solve plenty of my problems,” Yulei said. “But no. The academy prefers many years of boring, organized study and usually frowns on blood sacrifice.”

Kon knew that, because he’d spent five weeks at the academy hoping to discover the voice that called to all things, instead discovering a hefty invoice and an inability to sit still for long periods. “Your project doesn’t seem boring and organized,” he said, surveying the dead hungered across the temple grounds.

“You’re right about that. In fact, some have called it an aimless, haphazard, wasted effort for a fool notion.” Yulei looked up at him, and a ferocious optimism kindled her expression. “But sometimes the fool is right.”

Faced with such intensity, Kon hesitated. “Wrong most of the time though,” he said.

SHOOT SHOT //

Squeals shrilled the cliffside. The hungered crumpled – but vines uncoiled from their chests and rearranged the bones, bark bolstered the limbs and moss congealed the gaps of sagging flesh – and the Shade-poisoned vegetation compelled its puppets onward.

In a barking, broken fury, the hungered fell upon them.

Kon sipped a breath. His first shot landed hard inside the lead hungered’s shoulder joint. It stumbled, head bowed. Diorre cleaved the back of its neck. Wooden armor too thick, the strike didn’t pierce deep enough. The hungered shambled free. Grass sprouted from the wound, weaving shut the gap, but the bark was slower to regrow.

UNTIL //

Nara flayed his thoughts until they resembled diplomatic. “Esyl doesn’t always want what the khy’sva wants. And the labyrinth doesn’t listen to him any more than it listens to anyone.”

“And yet he always has an opinion on these things and I’m curious to know it. Come now, he’s slippery, but I’m sure he’d spare one conversation.” Steel glinted in her eyes. Nara knew this wasn’t a request.

He shaped his lips in a smile, but it was a poor imitation. “I’ll see about finding him.”

[muddshadow]

find the word tag

two days in a row hoody-hoo !! these words have just arrived on horseback from @westywrites​ and @sleepyowlwrites​ <3 <3 <3 i am sending it to @tc-doherty​ , @rainstorminsilver​ , @jezifster​​ , and @calicojackofficial​ to find... still , sorry , stain , seem.

all from TO FORGET A PRINCE

WALK //

It was a forlorn walk. Heavy silence swallowed the air, denser with each minute they ventured down the passage, and it turned all voices to fog. The Steelguard still murmured to each other, apprehensive of their route and rigidly alert for any hungered, but the quiet persisted. Torchlight guided them onward. Even as the walls changed.

WINCE //

“I stayed long as I could, but the Khyvenek never revealed its entrance, and eventually the hungered found me. I couldn’t do anything except run.” Deya rolled his jaw, eye unmoved from the floor. “By then, the apkavna recognized me. And we aren’t exactly on the best terms.”

“Is that when you got these bites?” Rosevyn asked, dabbing at the edges of his wound. Nara couldn’t look at the stripped flesh and crusted blood for long, wrinkling his nose just at the stench Deya brought to the room, but Rosevyn didn’t wince. She’d been a field medic, before this.

“The apkavna sent them to cut me off. Almost grabbed me while I climbed the outer wall.”

WATCH //

“If you really think so, then prove it,” Kon said to Yulei. He inspected the tunnel’s haze with narrowed eyes. “It’s probably thirty-one yards before the cave collapses. And I wouldn’t trust the rot on those support beams.”

All the Steelguard watched her expectantly.

Even after an additional more meticulous look down the mine shaft, Yulei still couldn’t see beyond the dust and debris. But she knew the door was there. Under her eyes, across her nose, splitting the dark arch of her brow, her old scars itched.

“I really think so,” Yulei said, and she advanced into the mine shaft.

WASTE //

“And are you trying to become a warlock?” he asked her.

“That would solve plenty of my problems,” Yulei said. “But no. The academy prefers many years of boring, organized study and usually frowns on blood sacrifice.”

Kon knew that, because he’d spent five weeks at the academy hoping to discover the voice that called to all things, instead discovering a hefty invoice and an inability to sit still for long periods. “Your project doesn’t seem boring and organized,” he said, surveying the dead hungered and looming garden of the temple’s pillars.

“You’re right about that. In fact, some have called it an aimless, haphazard, wasted effort for a fool notion.” Yulei looked up at him, and a ferocious optimism kindled her expression. “But sometimes the fool is right.”

Faced with such intensity, Kon hesitated. “Wrong most of the time though,” he said.

WHISPER //

“Ah, but what are you looking for?”

Yulei thought very hard about that – the journal never quite settled on what an entrance to a mythical nightmare labyrinth might look like. Yulei always thought it should’ve been rather obvious. But the further was the oldest language of the world; the pulse beneath rippling water and the depth in every shadow; a subtle, eternal melody sung to all and heeded by few. Mortals learned to hear the song clumsily through time. But an ancient could bend the further like a hurricane. An avalanche. Poison and rot. Or like haunted, infinite tunnels.

An opening to the Khyvenek would be a whisper, Yulei decided. She said, “I’m looking for somewhere quiet.”

WORLD //

When the ancients abandoned the world to mortal care, they left behind a sloppy, tattered mess. Some of them departed in rage; flaying scars in the landscape and crumbling mountains to rubble. Some of them fled in a hurry, leaving their pantheons empty, their shrines silent. Some fought and cursed each other to oblivion and others simply slumped over and died, becoming colossal towers of bone, humming the further for centuries to come. But when the ancients abandoned the world, they also left behind secrets. Most notorious of these was the legend of the Khyvenek.

LAND //

Nara said carefully, “I think you know my opinion.”

“You think the Khyvenek is allowing the hungered inside for some inexplicable reason.”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” Rosevyn inhaled on her pipe. “I want you to speak with Esyl.”

Nara leaned forward on his knees. He pressed his fingers together and intently studied the hardwood. “I’m not sure that’s…”

“I know. Enlisting the help of the local ghost isn’t a good sign for our unique complications, but I’m truly at a loss. Short of traveling to the moorlands and killing off the Shade’s newest host. But I think that’s a guild problem.”

OCEAN //

While she may have approved outright, a reluctance to abandon the tunnels clipped the intention to say. Yulei hesitated, mouth dry.

“So make a gateway, Yulei.”

“Right.” A warble weakened her agreement. “A gateway.” Her hands quaked as she brushed aside gravel. A chill bristled her neck. 

“That’s something you can do?”

Of course - wasn’t that the supposed answer? But strangely, deeply, Yulei doubted. A mood shrouded the tunnel like fog crawling the ocean; a sort of rib-crushing misery that reminded her your back is exposed, a spying pair of eyes hidden behind an unfamiliar canopy.

TOWN //

Despite the gloomy mood Nara insisted upon, the little town glimmered bright like spring.

Very near Cielsu’nosa, the blinding city visible on the horizon, the settlement adopted a similar architecture. Most windows were stained glass; blues and greens and fearsome oranges, splintering floral light over dark wooded floors. With mirrors lining the ceiling rafters, the inn’s dining hall was a twirling kaleidoscope of color.

[muddshadow]

Happy Storyteller Saturday! What is something that has changed from the beginning of your WIP to now?

hello @ryns-ramblings!! *showers you with glitter* I have morphed this ask into world-building Wednesday! and for the subject of change, i’ve gotta talk about my oldest, dearest, most maddening project...

TO FORGET A PRINCE // High fantasy, mystery. A world built on bones, volatile magic and sentient nature, and the escalating riddle of a godling’s revenge. First in a trilogy, To Forget a Prince brings together the three strangers Yulei, Nara, and Kon, each struggling to prove themselves in all the wrong ways as a cold-hearted monster wakes from its long sleep. About failure, perseverance, and creating your own salvation.

oh boy this story... it's been with me since i was about twelve years old. It's undergone so many overhauls, i could write an entirely separate novel about what's changed since the first few ideas. It’s original version was more a convoluted chain of wild events and spectacular battle scenes and extra-dramatic character drama than it was an actual story with plot. Giving it structure took a lot of time and effort, though the biggest challenge was designing character arcs. The three main characters sort of grew up with me, their traits and personalities went through several transitions, and so writing them a beginning and end was tough. I'm sure they'll endure more tweaks and adjustments as the last of my plot comes together, but I've settled on their personal journeys - how they begin the story and the difficult truths they face along the way. Besides a name change for each, a couple makeovers, and some major background revisions, here’s some of the biggest changes for the three main characters...

Yulei began as many twelve-year-old OC's do: an over-powered, over-dramatic, tragic chosen one. Also everyone was in love with her (naturally). Yulei was really good at being captured by enemies (everyone wanted her ultra special powers), accidentally destroying buildings in fits of magical hysteria (she was always forgiven for this), and staring pensively into the night sky. Yulei didn’t actually have that much personality. Her righteous goodness and popularity were boring. Over time, she’s become significantly less ‘good’ and entirely less ‘popular’. After scrapping the chosen-one gig and rearranging her background, Yulei is defined by her razor-sharp resourcefulness, eager impulsiveness, and lonesome wanderlust. She grew up in a big city with very little support, she knew a hundred flavors of neglect before an affectionate touch, and is infatuated by the whisper of magic (and now also branded by it). Despite being (mostly) good-natured and friendly, Yulei struggles with attachment. Meeting her mentor changed the trajectory of her entire life. When he disappears, Yulei becomes obsessed with finding him. Her character arc centers around this obsession - fearing the rot of loneliness, killing the self to please someone else, digging up truths better left hidden. But in the effort of searching for her mentor, Yulei forges new bonds she never thought she could, and learns a lot about how to love.

Nara (Nathera) is utterly unrecognizable from his original design. He began as the story's villain: also over-powered, smirks eight times a paragraph, and whose blinding handsomeness and (predatory) charm cancelled out all those murders he committed. But Nara was also indentured to the bigger, badder bad guy, and so this made him sympathetic enough to team up with sometimes. Nara’s personality has changed A LOT, and transitioning him from problematic villain meant giving him a weakness - so now, Nara is a coward. He runs from blatant danger, possible danger, confrontation of an emotional nature, and most things that blink at him funny. Not for lack of magical talent - Nara is still an exceedingly talented sorcerer - but his work often flirts with death and running away has always meant survival. Nara looks after himself first and foremost, and he prefers to hide behind a hundred-layer mask. His character arc is about courage - courage to face his fears, but also the courage to know oneself. Nara can’t flee the plot of the story because it grows from the problem he never quite foresaw (he’ll curse himself for never anticipating that danger), and he can’t flee himself as the past comes calling. Surrounded by people who are ferociously authentic, Nara is forced to decide who he wants to be.   

Kon (Konvhana) has always been the voice of reason. Except when I was a kid, I had little to no interest in silly things like reason, and so Kon was condemned to be the bland and boring one. He led a prestigious team of warriors; always making the right battle decisions, connected the others to the story’s political higher-ups, and rarely felt complicated emotions. The best thing I did for Kon’s character arc was take away all that certainty in his leadership - Kon stills leads a (much smaller) team, but his storyline is defined by trust. Kon has good instincts, a sharp nose for lies, and a strong sense for justice, but he doubts himself. It’s difficult for him to trust others and terrifying to lead them. He wants to make a difference but doesn’t know how. Throughout the first book, Kon hesitates and stumbles, blindly follows others despite disagreement, suffers and learns from his failures. Meeting Yulei and Nara forces Kon into the position where he can make a difference - where his decisions have consequences and his actions affect lives, and where he must trust himself or lose everything he cares about. Kon has always been stern, grumpy, and a slight buzzkill, but nowadays he’s also intelligent, extremely caring, and someone who’s had to work very, very hard to act on what he believes is right.

thanks for the excuse to ramble about my oldest characters <3 here's some lineart of them i haven't colored yet!! Kon - Yulei - Nara. (yulei is usually 5'3" hehe) i love them very much <3

[muddshadow]

OC Couple Picrews

PEONY and SASHKA // from the hunger rot. Given that Peony has the disposition of a wolverine and Sashka can’t restrain herself from the last word, it takes a few hundred years for these two to learn each other’s boundaries. But both are ageless and both achingly familiar with loss and regret and the journey beyond it, and a sturdy mutual respect eventually gives them the patience they need to connect. Together they like to explore dangerous regions, cook disastrous meals, and read mystery novels on their porch swing. Peony listens to all of Sashka’s gossip and always carries her bags, and Sashka loves to braid Peony’s hair and mend her constantly-battered clothes with heart-shaped patches.

YULEI and NARA // from to forget a prince. Both Yulei and Nara are quick-witted and canny, resourceful and resilient, and utterly oblivious to each other’s feelings. When they meet at the beginning of the story, Nara is running from his past and Yulei is desperately chasing it, and neither of them are prepared to confront the harsh truths they’ve been avoiding - but their paths continue crossing, and in their contrasting personalities they find a rare and comfortable balance. Yulei inspires Nara to trust and be brave, and she never fails to make him laugh. Nara is a calm, introspective presence that helps Yulei think, and he’s the only one who can stump her with a riddle. They fight back-to-back by day and talk long hours into the night, and it only takes three novels for them to notice they’re in love!

more information in my pinned post if you’re curious :) and thanks for the tag @bloodlessheirbyjacques teehee <3 if anyone else feels like making some ... Picrew 1 // Picrew 2

[muddshadow]

🏵🌸🌿!

🏵 which OC have you had the longest, what inspired them?

that would be my to forget a prince squad <3 all the mains are fourteen years old!!! Yulei and Kon started them off, Nara came shortly after, and then Esyl. Embarrassing - but they originally started as fan characters for a video game I was obsessed with at the time - i loved the idea that a cool mage from one side would become best buddies with an enemy warrior. It dramatically spiraled from there of course, and it's become its own and changed SO MUCH since the first few ideas. And because it's sorta grown up with me, it's also changing frequently. It's a bit of a forever project. But these past few years especially it's been growing stronger, it's got good roots, i love the characters dearly, and one day I hope to hold it in hardcover.

🌺 rate your OCs by how attractive you personally find them and why or if you're not attracted to any, just rank them by how cool they look

lmao i think all of them are attractive in unique ways... Focusing on to forget a prince, the two people who are regarded as blatantly attractive are Nara and Monikyzah. Both of them have plenty of confidence in their appearance, and both of them are talented at using it to their advantage. Nara used to be a very expensive escort and information merchant. He's soft-spoken, fiercely intelligent and graceful, with fluffy rose hair and striking green eyes, speckled by moles, and is thin-framed and pale-skinned. Monikyzah comes from a powerful family and has a relaxed certainty in everything he does. He's laid-back and thoroughly mischievous, and gives excellent advice during tense moments. Monik has fog brown eyes, long ivory hair, and soft charcoal skin, and he's also the tallest character i have!

In that same story, Yulei is also pretty cool-lookin. When she first started learning to use the further, she reached for the magic a little too impulsively and branded herself with an arcane rune. It’s a convoluted scar most of the time, but when she uses the arcane to open gateways, runes glow across her face and shoulders. 

🌿 describe your narrative style, multiple POVs? Present or past tense? 1st person or 3rd? Why did you choose that for your WIP?

i lean predominantly toward third-person, past tense, and most of my projects have two or three POV characters. I like both omniscient and limited, it really just depends on the story tone. Trystan is one where I gave first-person, present tense a try! I like reading both, but I find first-person a little more difficult to write. I very much like details and often get wrapped up in flowery language, and it feels more artificial in first-person when i know the character wouldn't be noticing half of it. I also tend to have large casts (in most of my stories anyway), so first-person feels more limiting when i want to tell the stories from multiple perspectives. But i think experimenting with all of it improves my writing !

character and story questions // and thank ye kindly @aninkwellofnectar <3

[muddshadow]

~ find the word tag ~

DREAM

The river swallowed me. Despite thrashing, despite screaming, its water cradled and tamed; a whispered ‘close your eyes’ behind the howl in my head. Like falling asleep, the water exhausted my every thought, and like falling asleep, I sank, sank, sank inside a dream.

But then I could breathe again.

I couldn’t think with the fire in my lungs. But I could breathe. I was breathing, gasping, bursting out laughing, and I was alive. Alive enough to crawl to shore, alive enough to thaw under the rhythmic lap of water, and then alive enough to remember. With staggered breaths, I remembered everything.

SPIRIT

The second trek yielded similar results. The two of them quilted across what seemed like the entire grassland and consulted the journal frequently to no improvement. The rain arrived around mid-morning and lasted wretchedly well through, and it plunged their spirits until past noon. It was miserable going, even if the fields were fondly familiar. The land surrounding Arachille’s cottage looked and felt about the same after winter; angry, starving, nostalgic. 

STORM

The foundations might have trembled as Deya stormed across the floorboards. He smelled sulfuric, but Nara abstained from mentioning. “Don’t know why you bothered bringing your sword,” Deya said with salt, “since you missed the whole attack. Too busy combing your hair on the way out the door? Couldn’t decide which shoes to wear—?”

“Good morning, Deya.”

“No, it isn’t. You see this place?” Deya scowled at the contents of the warehouse.

CRUEL

Yulei startled herself by sharing the memory. Her expression shuttered. She teased her lips to a grin that didn’t carry substance, the warmth faded from her eyes when she looked at Nara again.

Deflective, she said, “I’m sure you had a wise teacher too.”

“I did.”

Yulei waited.

Everything Nara could say about Kesiro boiled in his mouth. He managed only, “My teacher preferred the further’s cruelty.”

DANGEROUS

Behind the shambled walls, outside on the frozen landscape, something wailed.

All of them stood, erupting in a frenzy of questions, when did they find us, choked replies and unabashed shouts, where are we supposed to go, and then the crushing, heavy realization, we won’t escape them.

Kon shouted over the hysteria. “Is there a back exit?”

Not one they could find. The creatures began to shriek outside.

“The entryway—maybe we can—”

But too late, the hungered clawed along the walls, and their growls echoed through the brittle hall.

And Kon, nearly empty of ideas, dangerously calm and cold-blooded, said, “Everyone ready a weapon.”

FUTURE PAST

In an enormous effort of composure, Yulei avoided looking at the journal. The urge to argue strangled her. “Okay,” she said instead. “You’re right.”

Maeve must have found the statement pitiful. She softened, just at the edges. “Look… I promise to hear you out. A different time. You know what the Shade’s done in the past, we can’t do nothing while we have a chance to do something, and you can’t keep searching for a man who is never coming back—”

An alarm bell chimed. Maeve rummaged through her junkyard of a desk, and Yulei chewed on everything she still wanted to say. But there was no time, no point, and Maeve was right.

HURT

“Her visit is a little unexpected,” Nara said diplomatically, in the sort of way that suggested unexpected meant immensely aggravating. “But it isn’t out of the ordinary. Rosevyn used to live here. Many in town know her by name.”

Kon wondered if he could turn that information to advantage, but it didn’t improve his immediate situation and it sort of hurt to think, so he didn’t pursue the subject. He kneaded between his eyes. “You could have woken me earlier.”

“Could have.”

all excerpts featuring my beloved wip To Forget a Prince. a thousand <3 ′s for the tag @emelkae ... and tagging in return... @nrivanwrites , @the-finch-address , @wizardfromthesea , @vivji , and anyone who would like to share some writing !! Words are ; time , breath , before , fade , gaze .

[muddshadow]

what’s your favorite line that you’ve written so far

that question will have a permanently fluctuating answer forever and always, BUT i've been adjusting some of the early chapters in my To Forget a Prince wip, so here's a flowery description i liked :)

After a tight-lipped reassessment, Yulei decided coming back to the academy wasn’t very wise after all. She’d been far too righteous that morning and it stained all her decisions. Perhaps it was the long, sleepless night sloughing through musty research journals, excessively potent espresso spurring her thoughts to foolish places. Yulei now had the benefit of cold air and a granola bar to smarten her up. It was too late to do her any good.

Tall iron gates loomed the dirt road ahead, strangled by vines and rusted by time, a crumbled courtyard beyond the fencing. Morning mist glimmered the old stone and surrounding prairie. It smelled like damp earth and grass, and the sullen weather held the valley in a whisper. For a futile moment, Yulei considered abandoning the whole visit - until distant crow calls sounded from within the courtyard. It was much, much too late to flee now.