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soartfullydone · 7 months

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Jumbo OC Asks! Riven - 🍊⭐🍐💧; Celeste - 🍒🔥💙🌸

[touches your face] thank you

Riven

🍊 What is your OC’s favourite meal? Snack? Dessert? Drink? Any reasons behind this besides liking how it tastes?

I couldn't name her favorite meal to save my life, probably because Riven prefers variety. So she's become very enamored of the dinner-breakfast hodgepodge she and her da make for the pair of them and Krelyss. She's been trying many new dishes to accommodate Krelyss' tastes (who knew mushrooms could be used in so many ways?) and getting to know some of her lost culture in the process. Even when the cooking attempt doesn't pan out, she enjoys the company above everything. Her home life has never been better. For snacks, she prefers most fruits. Citrus and apples and drupes. Dessert is where she likes to get fancy. Tarts, eclairs, anything with a meringue or mousse. Right now, she's in love with a blackberry mousse, served with gold flakes and mint. As for drink, well, it matters more who she's drinking with than what she drinks. Ale, rum, water, doesn't really matter, but whenever she does order some type of ale, it's because of all the warm memories and conversations she's shared with Delethil—and now also with Eravin and the party during their drinking games. There's nostalgia and comfort in the drink rather than a deep love for the taste.

⭐ What is your OC afraid of? Any crippling phobias or some such? How do they act when scared and what helps them calm down? Does anyone ever find your OC scary? Why?

For a long time, Riven was deeply wary of all the things her da impressed upon her to be wary of: orcs, necromancers, duergar, the undead, and drow. But those fears were so distant and well outside the border. She was more afraid of Lunhaven becoming a cage for her, of being trapped into responsibilities she didn't want by people who neither liked nor respected her. She was afraid that her loneliness would kill her (thanks Britney). Ironically, the way she often dealt with this was to pick fights with her da before running off to be alone somewhere. As Del entered the picture, she gained someone to vent back and forth with and who made her feel valued, but she never left behind her tendencies to run and self-isolate. Now, she's afraid of new things. Of the wrong people discovering she's a glamoured half-drow. Of something terrible happening to Krelyss. Of ruining the relationships she's gained. Of the divide between Del and her friends growing so much that she can no longer bridge it, no longer allow the two halves of herself to intersect. Of one day becoming a mother and being, not only terrible at it, but also unable to protect and connect with her bairn when the glamour prevents her from looking like them. Would they think she was ashamed of them? Would glamouring them to protect them prove that thought right? She's getting better, though, about not running away and isolating herself. She's learning to trust the friends she has and that they won't eventually betray her or throw her away. She's not doing great at it. She's still taking on too much to prove her worth when she doesn't need to. But she's working through unlearning a lot of past behaviors and beliefs. There's still a long way to go, though. As much as people, in Aeranth especially, would find her drow form intimidating, Riven as she is isn't intimidating at all, even when she tries to be lol. But that's okay for a rogue. As frustrating as it is to be constantly underestimated, it's deeply satisfying when she sneaks someone to death with her 10,000 knives attack.

🍐 What is your OC’s mentality? Are they overall positive? Negative? A bit of both? Describe their thought patterns and reasoning behind their choice making!

Riven performs positivity a lot, both to make herself feel better but also because she's desperate for people to like her. But inwardly, she has a bit of a dark humor to her, a bit of a resigned mindset about the way things are—and also a renewed sense of idealism for the way things could be. Her thoughts have recently taken a turn toward being more genuinely positive, but her adolescence and early adulthood was, well. Let's just say she had dreams but she didn't have a lot of hope. There's a vein of sadness that runs deep within her. Because of that, Riven's never had much of a plan. She believed her life would be decided for her regardless of what she attempted. But never being anchored to any one goal made her quick and adaptable, which led to her picking up the rogue arts so easily. It was in her wheelhouse and it was a small way to rebel. Del shared many of these qualities with her, part of why they took to each other so quickly, but Riven is the more openly impulsive of the two. She doesn't think things through sometimes, saying the first thing that comes to mind, and she puts her foot in her mouth often. It's only recently that she's learned to act strategically, and only because she earnestly cares. Ricocheting constantly between doing the honorable thing and doing the cutthroat thing, this one. Whatever feels right.

💧 What is the earliest memory your OC can recall? Do they know what their first words were or remember where they took their first steps? Do they have any mementos of their childhood they’ve kept such as a stuffed toy or tiny baby clothes?

She has no recollection of her first year in the Underdark, of Avenzi, Krelyss, her da's mad flight to freedom, almost dying to fucking pollen, none of that. I think the earliest memories she can manage are cloudy ones a few years after. Erosen carrying her while she was small enough and he strong enough to do so. So many of the estate staff having accents like her and talking to her in their dialect. Playing with dirt in the courtyard because she was "gardening." Her da reading to her. Part of why her relationship with her da growing colder and more distant hurt so much was because she could remember when it wasn't like that between them. She likely has some of her childhood dresses shoved in the dark recesses of her closet, the tulle awfully stiff, the velvet faded. All that costume jewelry either got broken, lost, or tarnished. I know for a fact Erosen still has her favorite children's book he read to her in his personal study.

Celeste

🍒 What kind of things do they expect from their relationships? Does this differ between platonic relationships and romantic ones? Is your OC “demanding” or a door mat? What kinds of things do people expect from them in a relationship?

The primary word that comes to mind is meaning. If a relationship doesn't hold meaning for her, Celeste is quick to dismiss it. She also expects relationships to inevitably end one way or another. There's no great mourning for her about this. It's just a fact of life and doesn't prevent her from pursuing new relationships. You can get plenty of use out of people between now and whenever that end is. That being said, Celeste vastly, shall we say, trusts and prefers platonic relationships over romantic ones. A lover might die for you, but a true ally would defend and kill for you. She had her fun and frivolity when she was younger, but longevity isn't built on fun and frivolity. You have to be able to make hard choices and sacrifice to get what you want. Can you pick up that she is incredibly demanding? And why shouldn't she be? Much is demanded of her, after all. What people expect from her depends. Enemies would declare her a snake and expect her to act accordingly. Those under the protection of her House know that protection isn't offered freely, but nor is it offered duplicitously. Her family knows she is exacting and cold, but she acknowledges talent and rewards good work done in service of the family accordingly. (Oh, but, a certain member doesn't agree and believes she's the root of every unhappiness in his life.) It's not all backstabbing and assassinations in Twalan. Loyalty can and does exist. In fact, Celeste has been in a Very Dedicated Relationship since she was nineteen years old :3 Of course, now Celeste is not in Twalan. She's in limbo with a bunch of capable yet sentimental eccentrics she's not expecting much out of outside their shared desire for resolution. She does not expect them to take on her problems and currently believes whatever issues the rest of the party has is their private affair. She doesn't much care anymore what others expect of her here. If people want to see her as just a frail old woman, it's their funeral—or it would be, if death mattered here.

🔥 Give us a list of general likes and dislikes, such as colours, textures, music, weather and other stuff!

Celeste likes order and tidiness. Distractions and amusements. Power and safety. Loyalty and comfort. She dislikes ambiguity and not knowing where the threat lies. She hates anything that changes masters like one changes their small-clothes. She's also not loving the way magic seems to be shifting away from the arcane toward the technological. Makes her feel obsolete and other things we won't self-analyze right now <3 As for colors, well, black, wine red, gold, royal blue, plum purple. She'd look great in white, too, but those days are behind her, I fear. She enjoys velvets, suedes, silks, and leathers. Feathers, too, but practicality must come first for now. As for music, she has a classical ear and vastly prefers beautiful, sweeping, even tragic stringed compositions over whatever noise the kids are listening to these days. She misses operas in her reserved box. What she never thought she'd miss was the sea breeze misting the air and the salt in her nose. So easy to take for granted! She'd settle for freshwater rain at this point.

💙 What did your OC want to be when they grew up and why? Did they have any lifelong dreams or ambitions they never got to work on or are they currently working to achieve this dream? Has their life taken a very unexpected turn and put all these plans on hold for a while or have they given up on any dreams?

She wanted to not be murdered before she turned twenty. She wanted to matter. She wanted to be able to hurt others before they hurt her instead of the other way around. She wanted power, and security and safety in that power. She wanted to build something that would be sustainable without her. She did just that and was satisfied—until very recently. I think we can call the Worst Vacation Ever one hell of an unexpected turn, but it wasn't Celeste's first. There's a reason the party met her outside of Twalan, her birthplace and stomping ground, and there's a reason she hasn't flaunted her warlock status nor openly stated her family name. Leaving limbo completely out of it, Celeste feels more in the dark and unfulfilled than she's ever been. If it weren't for the sheer anger and indignity of it all, she would wonder why she should even care, about anything.

🌸 What does your OC’s voice sound like? Their laugh? Are they good at singing? Do they have an accent?

Celeste's voice has changed over the years. Now, it sounds lower, more throaty. She speaks with a bored drawl because she either IS bored or amused (it's also the upper-class snootiness coming out). Her laughter is restrained, haughty, condescending, pitying, or concealing. She might occasionally hum but doesn't sing. I don't think she experiences enough joy to either laugh genuinely or sing from the heart. Her accent is Twalanian nobility through and through, but there's something practiced about it, almost textbook.

#thank yoooouuuuu #god i wanna get back to playing celeste #we have so much to cover and so much friction to create #oc: riven arnor #oc: celeste [redacted]#campaign: last resort movers inc #campaign: the worst vacation ever #sycamorre

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zacksfairest · 7 months

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For the jumbo OC asks! Vaela - 💋📙🍇; Lehala - 🌹😊🌺; Ayala - 🍑🌀💗;

Ask me about my OCs

I LOVE YOU THANK YOU!!!

Vaela - 💋📙🍇

💋 How affectionate are they with their friends? Their family? Their romantic partner(s) (if they have any)? Are they more physical or emotional when it comes to displaying their affection? Why?

So prior to Zaresh, she was always super affectionate with her family and what few friends she had. She loved hugs and cuddling and the like. Zaresh kinda ruined that, and she came to be averse to physical contact for awhile.

HOWEVER! She does slowly get past that :) She doesn't tense when her family or friends hug her anymore, and she even eventually starts initiating hugs and such on her own!

She is definitely a bit of both—emotionally and physical in her affection, I mean. She feels a lot! She's just a bit stunted for a little while. But i just love that everyone brings her back, helps her realize it's safe to be both receive and give fictional affection again.

I'm not quite sure how she'd be with a romantic partner yet. Zaresh is her only experience, and I have yet to really explore how she might handle an actual romance.

📙 What kind of subjects (of conversation, of discussion, in school or whatever) does your OC find interesting or engaging or that they can talk for hours about? What kind of stuff do they just find fun?

Vaela loves PRETTY THINGS and GOWNS and JEWELRY and GEMS and LAVISH CLOTHING. I love to reiterate how much her and Zaresh have this very specific thing in common. She just loves fancy things and could spend hours shopping in a market or along storefronts pointing out all of the lovely things to you.

It's not very deep, but something shiny or fancy will always make her brighten up.

She also loves talking about hunting tactics. She spent quite a bit of time on her own on the run from Zaresh, and so picked up a lot of ways to survive on her own. She loves exchanging strategies on how best to take down a target, how to track them. And also different bows and arrows and arrowheads! She started off stealing secondhand bows and arrows and then fashioning her own, so learning about the different kinds of actual weaponry is fascinating.

🍇 Day or Night? Sun or Rain? Summer or Winter?

Daytime for sure. Vaela hates the nighttime, the darkness. It reminds her too much of her time in Zaresh's basement, and the Underdark.

She definitely prefers the sun. Once upon a time, she would have said the rain, the sound it makes hitting the roof and how it cools a hot city day—but she spent a lot of time squatting in the pouring rain, cold and alone and miserable, when on the run from Zaresh, that she's grown to hate so much as a light drizzle.

Oooohhhh. I'd have to say summer. She can wear such pretty dresses in the summer :)

Lehala - 🌹😊🌺

🌹 How easy is it for them to connect with others and make friends? On the flip side how easy is it for them to make an enemy of someone? Are they the kind of person who hangs around the food table at a party and never talks to anyone or are they the type who can talk to anyone?

Within Lehala's clan? Amongst her people? Incredibly easy. She feels a deep kinship and connection among the Namda, and even amongst the other clans she was easily able to find people with which she could be friendly. And maybe even become friends! She was in line to be the leader of her clan, she needed to be good with people, she needed to be able to chat them up and form connections with the people who might one day fight for her.

But among non-Namdans? She finds it significantly harder. It's why she's been pretty closed off until recently with the party. She does not know these people. They do not share the same customs. They do not understand the intricacies of each flick of her tail and every twitch of her finger. The Namdans are relatively insular and do not interact with others outside of possible mercenary work, and even then they usually work alone or with fellow Namdans. So making friends with others who aren't amongst her people? Incredibly difficult for her.

But you can wear her down, as has been shown with the party. And now that they've earned her trust and, dare I say, her friendship, she'd happily die (again) for them.

😊 What can make your OC smile even when they’re feeling down? What cheers them up and makes everything feel better for them? Is your OC genrally a happy person and do they enjoy making others smile? What about your OC makes others happy?

Oh, this is gonna be sooooo sappy, but talking and thinking about her people and her memories of them instantly fills her with immense happiness. She misses them so much, and feels like she's failed them, so thinking of the times before The Worst Vacation Ever makes her feel warm inside.

Also her past conquests—skirmishes fought, battles won, opponents defeated. She feels great pride in her skills as a fighter and a leader, so reminiscing on those memories also makes her happy.

I'd say Lehala is a relatively happy person, all things considered. Her clan would say as much. She can and will be very serious when matters call for it, but she's not incapable of happiness. She definitely enjoyed making her closest friends smile. They would laugh and joke and banter around the fire, when out on a mission or in the hours before a battle. She had a deep affection for her clan and every member of it.

Hm. I couldn't say what about her makes others happy. I mean, her friends among Clan Mavari certainly loved her spirit, her strength. She inspired such loyalty in them, and they had every faith in her abilities.

🌺 Does your OC have any tattoos or other body art? Does their body art have any specific meaning behind it? Do they have any scars? How did they get those scars? Any birthmarks?

No body art, I'm afraid. She has NUMEROUS scars, and I couldn't possibly go through the story of each and every one of them. But she got them in various sparring matches, battles, and fights that she's gotten in over the years, all varying in their valor and bravery and stupidity.

She is missing one horn though! She lost it in a (somewhat) recent battle.

Ayala - 🍑🌀💗;

🍑 Where is your OC’s favourite place to relax or calm down? Recount a story of their time spent in this place! What makes it so special to them?

Oh, this is a tough one. As a Mandalorian, she doesn't really have a...place. In the time period in which she lives, her people have scattered to the far corners of the galaxy as the Empire attempts to hunt them to extinction. Even with any somewhat permanent homesteads she's lived in, they never really stayed for long. Clan Ger'Mana was definitely mostly nomadic for the time she's been with them.

This is going to sound incredible stupid, but what calms her is the feel of her beskar'gam on her body, her buy'ce encasing her head. There is a comfort in the weight of it, the solidity of her steel. She finds solace in it, has entrusted her life to that armor—and it has saved her many, many times.

But when home isn't a place, it's usually a person. For Ayala, what would best help her relax was the company of her squad: Vys'kydir, Caedyc, and Saya (her sister). Nothing could help her decompress or bring her back to herself like them.

Even her parents! Her mom Eliava and her dad Aran. They would do the trick too.

There is a specific instance where Vys really helped her when she was brought to tears in the midst of the Imperial invasion that led to her capture. He sat with her and held her as she cried, the weight of every Mandalorian lost under her leadership just becoming too much, especially as artillery continues to fire overhead. Just being there, holding her hand as she cried, helped.

🌀 Where is your OC from? Where were they born? Do they still live there, if not why did they move? If they still live in the area how has it changed since their childhood? How many places has your OC lived in and where has been their favourite?

NOW THIS IS A FUN ONE TO ANSWER!!!!!!!!

Ayala does not know what planet she was born on. Her mom would not tell her. Ayala's mom, Eliava, was a slave. She worked in a nightclub/brothel on some planet far away. When she had Ayala, she decided that was the breaking point. She would not allow a child to be born into this life, especially her baby girl. She knew only too well what a Twi'lek girl would be forced to be.

She had to get out.

There was a Mandalorian patron that frequented the establishment. Eliava knew their reputation as mercenaries and hired hands. So she approached him, begged him to get her out. Offered him money and whatever else he could want. The Mandalorian was resistant, cold. What could a slave woman possible give him? And there would certainly be trouble to follow as her master sought to hunt her down.

What finally broke him was when Ayala appeared behind her mother's legs, her bright blue eyes wide and afraid.

And if there's one thing that is a Mandalorian's weakness, it's a kid in need.

So he agrees to smuggle them out, payment to come at a later date.

Long story short, the Mandalorian—Aran Ger'Mana, leader of Clan Ger'Mana—and Eliava fell in love somewhere along the way on this prolonged trip. And he might have fallen a little bit in love with Ayala too, and by the time they decided to marry, Aran was already reciting the Mandalorian adoption rite.

Aran had a daughter from a previous marriage, Saya. She is human, like her father, and is of his blood—but that changed nothing, and Ayala was welcomed into the clan and family as if she had been born into it.

But all of that to say, Ayala does not know where she came from, and she has no specific attachment to anywhere she's lived since. Her attachments and memories lay with her family and clan.

💗 What would your OC say is their best feature? Why? What do their friends / family / lover(s) / people they know think is their best feature and why

Hmm. Ayala doesn't care much for her looks. Not that she's not an absolute knockout, but when you spend most of your time in full armor, your appearance isn't something you care much about.

If pressed, she'd likely say her eyes. They are a bright and light shade of blue, and absolutely stunning.

If we are talking non-physical feature, she would say her reliability. Her people can rely on her for anything. She will keep them safe and alive. She will ensure no one will hurt them. It is why she picked a dark shade of ocean blue for her armor color. Among Mandalorians, that color represents reliability.

(Which makes the tragedy of her defeat at Commodore Corran Raandall all the more tragic)

Man, each person in her life cherishes something different about her.

Her mom loves how vibrant she is. How alive. She would insist that the room brightens whenever Ayala walks in a room—even when she had her helmet on. She also loves how her daughter's very presence just commands respect. After the life her mother had lived—a slave, relegated to a mere object for other's service and pleasure—seeing her baby girl live the exact opposite of such a life just brings her so much pride.

Her father would likely say mostly the same, but would add in how much he loves her confidence. Despite the fact that she was not born into this life, she took on the mantle of Mandalorian warrior, of next in line to lead the clan, like she had been born for it. Mandalorians may think nothing of adopting anyone into their culture, but that doesn't mean Ayala had to take to the life

But take to it she did, and with the ease of a custom fitted glove. So much so that she is considered the obvious choice to lead them once Aran relinquishes his place as the head, even above his natural born daughter.

Saya, her sister, looks up to Ayala so much. Ayala is older, but only just barely, and yet it's enough that Saya immediately latched on to her. She admires her sister's courage and the strength and skills she exhibits. Whether it be training or sparring or in the midst of battle, Ayala is precise in everything she does. Saya aspires to be even a tenth of the warrior her sister is (she is more than that, and Ayala tells her this all the time.)

Vys'kydir would say that Ayala's best feature is her tactical mind. More than once she has gotten them out of a tight spot by out-thinking their enemy. He admires how she can keep a level head, even when blaster bolts are scorching the ground at her feet. More than once, frustration and anger have started to get the better of him, and she was there to talk him down (or beat it out of him, in some cases).

Caedyc would say much of the same as all of the above, with this one addition:

While this isn't necessarily her best feature, he does admire how stubborn she is. Half the reason why she has won so many sparring matches and skirmishes is because she just refuses to lose. Even when she does lose, it is kicking and spitting and clawing the entire way. And always while shouting for a rematch. Ayala does not like to lose. She is a fighter through and through, has been since she clawed her way into the world, and she will never go down without a fight.

And last but not least, because I cannot resist:

Thrawn thinks one of Ayala's best features is absolutely unshakable love and faith in her people. He can feel the love and adoration she has for the Mandalorian people in his very chest every time she speaks of them. It's something he's never heard from anyone in this galaxy, and she's the only one who has matched his love he has for the Chiss with her own love for her people. She would die for them, kill for them, lie and cheat and sell her very soul to preserve them. She would make a deal with the very Imperials who have nearly wiped out her clan if it meant those left could go free.

And Thrawn also so very adores her absolutely indomitable spirit. Even brought before him in shackles, stripped of her armor and forced to deal with Imperials once again, she was never once cowed. She held her head high, like a leader, like a commander, and even had the audacity to speak down to him.

But she had that right. She had resisted an Imperial invasion. If anyone in this galaxy had earned the right to look down upon Thrawn and the position he held, it was Ayala Ger'Mana.

He would never see that spirit broken, would never even attempt it, and he'd be damned if he allowed anyone to even so much as make her waiver in her strength and resolve.

#oc: Vaela Ceyoven #oc: Lehala of Clan Mavari #oc: Ayala Ger'Mana #sycamorre #answered #I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THIS I COULD KISS YOU #ESPECIALLY FOR AYALA I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT HER!!!!!

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zacksfairest · 1 year

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4, 13, 27, 30, 37, 44, and 45 for the OC questions~

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Hmm. That would probably have to be my three Mando squad members: Vys’kydir Civhuull, Caedyc Akid, and Suriya Ger'Mana. I love them all SO much and I need to introduce the world to them.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Eh. I feel like "troublemaker" is a bit too innocent of a term for the shit my OCs get up to. The closest I have to this would be the Storyteller (aka the DM), but his "troublemaking" is a lot more malevolent and sadistic.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

I mentioned this in the previous ask, but "Resist and Bite" by Sabaton was entirely the inspiration for Ayala. The song is about a 40 soldier company that held off a Nazi invasion force for 18 days before they were finally forced to surrender. When they finally did surrender, and the Nazis asked where the rest of the men were (because they couldn't believe that such a small force managed to hold them off), the defending force just laughed them off like "this is it buddy."

Ayala's story is pretty much exactly that. When the Empire, who were running an extermination mission against the Mandalorians, invaded the planet they were hiding out on, she was able to lead her clan/the other Mandalorians in a counter offensive that held off the empire for about two weeks. She had sent a select few Mandos off world to get reinforcements, but the reinforcements never showed.

In the end, she was forced to surrender to the Commodore leading the attack, because she couldn't stand to lose anyone else. Especially with her clan and family among those fighting. Ayala is so ashamed of this, as the Empire had not once managed to capture a live Mandalorian. They either escaped or fought to the death.

And so Commodore Raandall keeps Ayala as a trophy of his victory to show off to the other members of command, using her clan's imprisonment to keep her cooperative.

Man. I love them lmao.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Hm. I think possibly Vaela. She needs things to cuddle at night.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

Well, obviously Lehala, but that's cheating since you know her. I think next up would be the Storyteller/Dungeon Master. He's an all-powerful trickster god whose origins are nebulous at best.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I think that I like how human they are? I don't mean human in the literal human species sense, but I think they are all pretty well-rounded and real, y'know? I work hard to make them seem as believable as possible, and I like to think I accomplish that.

Also, I'm good at making hot and fucked up men. I love doing that specifically. Make the fiction you want to see in the world, yeah?

45. A character you no longer use?

I don't think I have this, actually? Because any OCs I have are not no longer being used, they're just on the back burner until I get some inspiration for them.

#sycamorre #answered

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zacksfairest · 5 months

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ocs as tragic love archetypes

I was tagged by @lucy-stillman to do this quiz, which wound up dragging my OCs for filth???

I was gonna attempt to make a fancy lil banner like caro made but then I remembered that I don't know graphic design lmfao

I am gonna tag @soartfullydone, @editoress, @sycamorre, and @grungevvitch~

ZARESH MALAEDAIR

CANíBALES; DEVOURER

Love's a knife to skin to you, a vein to woven muscle, blood puddle before you. You listened to all the promises of a stranger's relief and feel the drain of a shower head running it all down again. You committed another murder; kissed and bruised skin with a clench to a quivering wrist and went home in the defeaning quiet of a taxi. There's mold covered rage within you. If to take a heart home with you, you'd bite your way through muscle and ribcage first. Pleasure comes, but there will be no devouring past it. There is fear in settling down and being seen. There is a glass screen between these bodies and you. Relax your tight jaw and feel the real canine fear beneath that scabbed up cavity. The sacrifice of opening up is needed if to be loved as you deeply wish inside. Desire doesn't discriminate between hands or spoken word. Why should you?

VAELA CEYOVEN

FATHER'S SON

Breathe down your own neck, it's the sound of smashing fist against furniture in another room again. The wringing hem of cloth and pattern of an escalating heart. Love is tumultous to you. There is grief and disguised forgiveness to damp down the yearning. A permanent fear of tender flesh spilling out, still- you must refrain of growing attached to the fear you had installed into you. Let go of the notion that love is still to be cherished with a hole in the head. Scrub crimson ancestry off wooden floors and try again tomorrow when your hands don't shake cold from the blood loss. Love isn't a fist to escape. Fill the hole in your head with cotton and know you are to be adored. You are deserving of an embrace without flinching.

AYALA GER'MANA

SUB ROSA

Love is a game of here and there to you. Whether catching glimpse of another's neckline or grazing a knuckle between knocking shoulders of passing by. You have learned to adore in secrecy, the rawness of an outright confession to be spoken a foreign terror. There is ease in pursuing the unavailable, to remain within the space of possibility and nestle the fuzzy words another could say to make or break your day. Instability spun itself into mysterium and while the certainty of love in aging isn't to be forced upon anyone, there is a miniscule part of you testing the limits of ambiguity. Hold down the feeling and settle in the leather seat of a car, kiss the corner of a mouth and say how you feel. Your affection in its vulnerability is to be seen, lift the veil and do not fret when an honest word turns into all you have secretly yearned for. You are meant to be noticed and openly loved.

KRELYSS

MOTHER'S DAUGHTER

Being her child was akin to a whispered apology, another wailing hug, another day you repent for complaining about the fact that she hasn't said anything nice to you. You bring her flowers and are met with the inconvenience of a vase that has to be found instead. You bake for her and feel the warmth of fresh cut bread fill the kitchen; but the dirty dishes remain. Even if you were to bring in the mail and lay down the knife next to your plate, she'll cradle another. Love is an endless apology to you. Averting eyes to desperate tears and sunken teeth in lower lip at the dinner table. Do not repent for who you are, as it is enough. Gather your courage to love again and reveal the honeydewed structure of a swelling heart once you feel safe to do so instead. Love isn't a confession booth of all you are not, settle down and unclasp your hands. You're all anyone could want already.

#oc: Zaresh Malaedair #oc: Vaela Ceyoven #oc: Ayala Ger'Mana #oc: Krelyss #these results actually made me dizzy

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zacksfairest · 5 months

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Zaresh Malaedair (both glamoured and unglamoured~), his father Krelyss, and my darling tiefling barbarian Lehala of Clan Mavari

@lucy-stillman tagged me to do this picrew and you don't gotta twist my arm to play dress up with my OCs. I wanted to do Vaela but they didn't have the right hair color ;_;

I tag @sycamorre, @soartfullydone, @editoress, and all others who would like to also play dress up!

#oc: Zaresh Malaedair #oc: Krelyss #oc: Lehala of Clan Mavari #i am addicted to dollmakers #i need more with more options to be made ;-;

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soartfullydone · 3 years

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Riven, Damak, and Oliver—the original disaster trio and founders of Last Resort Movers, Inc., a totally legit moving company—as drawn by @sycamorre

#i am still so in love with this madison you have no idea #oc: riven arnor #campaign: last resort movers inc #dnd #how do you art #sycamorre

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editoress · 3 years

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15. FEED A COLD, STARVE A FEVER delirium | fever dreams | bees Ranna + Oriana

@sycamorre didn’t request this, nor did she ask me to play fast and loose with D&D healing magic rules, but regardless, I have done both. I love them.

Ranna considered herself the most practical option to keep watch. As an elf, she required no true sleep; she had healing magic, some of which had been put to use already; and an impressive margin separated her from the title of best fighter in the group. Reason assigned her this place: in a chair beside the bed, standing guard until the trial was over.

But though Ranna could appreciate reason, she was a creature of heart, and the barest fact was that she was worried. Oriana’s fever was such that she was rarely fully present, instead either sleeping or lingering in the twilight of half-consciousness. That something so simple could incapacitate the fierce young woman, after all their worries about greater destiny, had blindsided Ranna. Here was a mundane danger she had never considered, and it was not one she could flourish her sword against. Healing magic was not wholly useless against illness, but it felt thus, when the body’s natural defenses were forced to shoulder so much of the work.

And so they waited, and Ranna stayed near to fuss. It was not lonely work. The others came and went through the night, asking all the same questions: was there any change, was she well, could they help. And it could have been her imagination, but Ranna never sensed that Damak was very far.

Oriana lay there, pale beneath her Tyadosian complexion. Her breaths rasped, as if she were having to work for every one. There were shadows under her eyes. She looked so haggard and young that it was easy to get lost in the misery of it. Ranna kept busy with damp cloths, cool water, and at times, her lute. She was ill suited to remaining quiet, least of all when she was afraid, and so she would say, “There now. Is that more comfortable?” or, “You may know this one. The Waves’ Waltz; it was very popular for a time.” And Oriana would not answer.

An hour or so before dawn, Oriana stirred at last. Ranna’s fingers stilled on the lute; she set her feet on the floor properly and leaned forward when Oriana mumbled something. Oriana’s eyes opened, pale and unfocused. Ranna set the lute aside with a smile stretched wider than it wanted to be. “Good morning,” she said. “Or, at any rate, a morning—but that seems to be the most we can ask for at the moment.”

Oriana’s gaze shifted without marking her. “Mom?” she muttered.

Ranna discarded the reassuring smile. “Oriana?” she called, touching her friend’s shoulder.

Her breath hitched. “I didn’t mean to,” she croaked. She tried to raise an arm, but between her weakness and confusion, the blankets were too much of a hindrance. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry—”

Ranna put her hand to Oriana’s forehead and found it unbearably hot. She smoothed back her frazzled hair. “Enough; don’t excite yourself. It’s alright.”

Oriana quieted for a moment. Her face twisted, and she slurred, quieter, “I didn’t mean to hurt them. I didn’t.”

It was a tragedy of this life, that power should only be a burden on those who best deserved it. “No one is hurt. My friend,” Ranna said, throat tight, “the only one unwell is you.”

Oriana’s eyes fluttered half closed. “No one?”

“No one. Rest easy. Please, you need as much rest as you can manage.”

“‘S so hot,” Oriana murmured. “‘M gonna burn someone.”

Ranna felt miserable. “That’s my doing. You were shivering as if we were in Szez already.” She threw back two layers from the bed and dipped a rag in clean water. When she leaned over, Oriana shied from her touch with a wordless whine of protest. Ranna sighed. “It’s alright,” she said softly. “You’re in far, far more danger than I am. But this should help.” She draped the rag over Oriana’s forehead.

Oriana did not respond, except to cease fussing quite so much. Ranna’s hands itched for the lute, but even her grandest healing magic couldn’t force a fever to break. Oriana’s eyes closed and her breathing slowed. Even so, she fell to mumbling. Ranna could catch very little of it, only “frost prince” and obvious protests. “Don’t think on that,” Ranna insisted, gently enough not to startle her. “That is another challenge for another day, my friend. And you won’t be alone.”

Oriana seemed to hear her that time. But instead of being reassured, she asked in a small, thin voice, “Do I have to die?”

Ranna’s heart stopped for an instant. But hadn’t she, better than most, known how heroes’ ballads ended? “No,” she said, seizing Oriana’s hand in both of hers. “No, no. That would be too great an injustice. I have fought men for less, and I will stand against much greater than them before our adventure is done.” She squeezed Oriana’s hand and tried a weak smile. “If you think I would hesitate to fight a god, fate itself—then Oriana, you have not known me long enough.”

Oriana’s face was going slack. She had exhausted herself at last. She murmured something that ended with please.

There were no certain assurances to offer. Victory was never promised, no matter how valiantly one took up a challenge. “I will be there,” Ranna promised.

Oriana’s fever broke with the dawn, as befit her. But that, too, worried Ranna: a sign that Oriana’s life was wholly tangled in the forces that had seen this threat before, in a story Ranna knew all too well.

#small craftings #whumptober2021 #dnd adventures

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