The Oak and the Mistletoe

This is a sideblog (main account: boarchasers). I use it for collecting things. The things are mostly related to my D&D characters.

[mousegirlheart]

eat your fucking veggies

or else you may get a visit from

frank

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[infinitebrians]

scary pop up

[all-the-bones-ever-deactivated2]

this hit me like a truck

[thegenderal]

more rings anatomical edition

[ruggedrookie]

“fem-presenting” this, “masc-presenting” that. what if i wanna just be Presenting. i am showing you something and you have no idea what it is

[andmaybegayer]

#I’m presenting you with a dilemma

[valtsv]

medieval knight raising the visor on his helm just so you can see him rolling his eyes

[oakxmistletoe]

Other people talking about the inspiration for their OCs:

Interesting bits of lore, fun historical facts, compelling aesthetic, unexpected twists, either meaningful names or clever puns and references, a little trauma sprinkled here and there, a background built up through a combination of all the above.

Meanwhile, Toasty:

[junglejim4322]

Be so completely yourself that everyone wants to kill you

[danskjavlarna]

Source details and larger version.

My strange collection of vintage alcohol imagery will have you seeing things.

[godshideouscreation]

[cannibalchicken]

[butleroftoast]

Impressions

Clumsy fingers around a wooden soldier, a little splintered (just the right amount of resistance for tiny teeth), paint peeling, but cold against sticky hot skin.

'Where's the Kid?'

'On the stairs.'

Jerk to the stomach. Lifted in the air, held in place by firm arms against something warm and silky. Lace tickling the cheek.

'Hey, Kid. Want to see something?'

Familiar voice, beloved voice, brought a rush of happiness and a name: Ren. Ren meant good.

'Yeah! Wanna see!'

Big, shiny, and silver, just out of reach of grasping hands. A hitch at the side.

'Stop wriggling, you little beast.'

'Beez! Beez! Grrr.'

'Stop chewing my arm. Sib? Grab the helmet. Feeling strong, Kid?'

'Yeah.'

'Good. Put it on their head, flip it down.'

Weight, pushing down, pressing down. Uncomfortable. Made for a bigger head, a stronger skull. Soon distracted, though, by a strange tingle, like water running from head to toe.

Back to the mirror. Ren's face, Sib's face, loved faces, and between them: bones, a little skeleton cradled in their arms.

'Wave your hand. See?'

Wave a hand. The skeleton waved back in perfect time. Pat head. The skeleton patted its head. Burst into giggles, and the skeleton did the same, writhing with laughter.

'Skellyton! Like Ren!'

'Yeah! Now watch this.'

Ren's hand in front of their eyes, metal click, and in a wave of warmth the skeleton was gone. Another familiar face looked back, out of an oversized helmet, surprised and then giggling again, finding its own shock hilarious, full of unstoppable joy. A different name arose.

Me.

[butleroftoast]

Only death brings peace.

[Background vector source: x]

[butleroftoast]

(Skullduggan Twin stuff.)

-

After being moved into separate bedrooms for the first time as children, the twins showed an early talent for destruction when, with the help of a visiting artificer staying on the estate to discuss munitions with the Marquis, they managed to demolish a hole in the wall between their new adjoining rooms. They have moved into new rooms again since then, and value having their own, individual space much more, but the hole was never repaired. Sometimes they use it to terrorise guests staying in one of the bedrooms.

-

It became evident that Robin leaned more towards Barbarian characteristics than those of a Fighter during early military training. In a simulated training mission, they were tasked with "rescuing" their fellow soldiers from the "enemy" (other recruits). Cherry came up with a rough strategy for breaking their line and extricating the soldiers. Robin decided it would be much more efficient to charge straight in and attack anyone who got in her way.

It was set in stone on an early deployment. The first time Cherry was genuinely wounded, Robin flew into a rage, and to this day her rages are fuelled in part by the memory of that occasion.

-

Occasionally, a little later in life and possibly encouraged by Maggie, Robin experiments with growing her hair out, long enough to tie into a ponytail. It rarely lasts for long, as she cuts it off for practical reasons when on deployment, but she quite likes it.

Cherry does the same, not necessarily at the same time, tying the ponytail lower on the neck.

-

After a heavy night, the twins, if left unattended, will remain in bed until noon at the earliest. They are never left unattended. The Marquis -- who happens to be much better than they are at powering through a hangover -- sees to it that they find an excuse to drag both out of bed at the crack of dawn and get them attending to business. It's a rare opportunity for revenge.

-

Although partners in crime and extremely close, and more inclined to make infuriating people a joint venture, when they do fight, the Twins have the worst arguments of any two Skullduggans. This is probably because they know exactly how far they can push each other.

They have pretty good arguments with the Marquis too, though, having all grown up together, albeit with around seven~ years' difference between them. For example, following Sib's death, the Marquis's military career took more of a backseat so they could focus on their political duties; whether they or the younger but more dedicated twins are better soldiers is the source of much debate (or it would be, if it didn't quickly devolve into "I'll show YOU who's the better fighter"). For best results, the twins recommend referring to the Marquis as "basically a glorified guard". There is no insult more cutting to a Skullduggan.

(Robin will still take on the Marquis's role in court when they are busy, ill, temporarily dead, or otherwise indisposed.)

[butleroftoast]

Stream-of-consciousness notes on the wider Skullduggan family tree.

Contents: copious parentheses abuse.

House Skullduggan typically has a lot of children on different branches of the family tree at any one time, but as time goes on, a lot of them die young in wars, riots, or simply stupid accidents. The result is a lot of different branches and a lot of confusion, so inheritance (and child guardianship) works on a "whoever can be bothered at the time" basis.

The longest surviving members of the previous generation were Ren, Sib, and Lamb (short for Lambert). With the usual caveat that nobody is entirely sure, Ren is probably the Marquis [Gideon]'s parent, Sib is probably the Twins' parent, and Lambert is probably their younger sibling, or possibly cousin, or maybe one of the Ren/Sib combination married into the family and both were the Marquis's parents, making them and the Twins half-siblings? Nobody knows. There are also a bunch of cousins and second cousins, possibly one lucky grandparent (Sim, short for Simeon). Maybe one of the cousins had Gideon and couldn't be bothered to raise them, donating them to Ren instead.

(Gideon was nicknamed "The Kid" because they were the first born of their generation ["Has anybody seen the kid? I swear I left them here an hour ago..."]. It caught on because Ren liked saying "Gid the Kid", and eventually "Gid" got dropped. Most people who don't call them "Cuz" still call them "Kid")

Ren was the oldest, Sib a little younger, Lambert the youngest by a significant amount - there were almost definitely other children between Sib and Lambert.

Only Lambert is still alive. The Marquis sees them as a sort of older sibling, although Lambert thinks of them more as a niece/nephew, maybe a young cousin.

Combined with the headcanon that the Marquis had several younger siblings, all of whom died, their affection for the Twins and Lambert is creating a kind of sad situation where they instinctively try to rebuild the family they lost, without thinking about or realising what they're doing.

The role of representing the family in court as the Marquis Skullduggan has most frequently been filled by Sib and Gideon. Robin takes it reasonably often as well. She prefers doing it to Cherry, who considers it a hassle.

The Skullduggan line is less of a family tree, more of a garden gone wild and overgrown with weeds. Nevertheless they have a strong sense of loyalty to one another - they might scuffle and bicker, and they don't really understand being supportive in more emotional matters, but when push comes to shove one Skullduggan will defend another to the death (enthusiastically, even).

Very few have ever considered leaving the family, despite how unhealthy it is, and the only ones who do are the black sheep who never subscribed to its worldview in the first place. People like the Marquis and Twins would never leave, no matter how many good, kind, supportive people offering an escape they might meet in their travels - they definitely inherited the "likes to cause trouble and start fights" gene. Also the family is rich and powerful (compared to the proletariat, that is, not to other noble houses). That helps make up for any shortcomings.

Names usually used by other Skullduggans for their family:

Sim, Grander

Ren

Sib

Lamb

The Kid, Cuz, Gid (rare)

Rob

Cher (pronounced Chair)

"Here is a name for you, Young Skullduggan." "Thank you I will never use it"

[butleroftoast]

A collection of reasons the Skullduggans are the worst adventuring companions probably drawn up by Morris.

-

House Skullduggan's attitude to less wealthy classes and families is conflicting. Skullduggans claim to represent the common person more than any other noble house, and certainly spend more time with them, even adopting their causes and plights as their own if it gives them something to fight about. On a personal level, however, an amount of unconscious condescension is baked into them by the nature of their upbringing. For example, they enjoy flaunting their wealth and dislike it when they're caught short financially. "Peasant" is a go-to descriptor for anything they consider cheap. They cannot get their head around facts of life for the downtrodden ("have they tried not being poor").

No matter how much a Skullduggan might want to empathise with the common man, they are brought up in such a privileged environment that they have no point of reference upon which to build.

-

Despite coming from a (usually) wealthy family and carrying enough gold with them, they will spend the group's collectively amassed funds first, without fail. They're buying this for the good of the group, right? Why should they be personally inconvenienced?

What's that? They're buying something for their exclusive use? Well, they're buying it during the adventure, so logically they should be allowed to use the money earned during said adventure. Anyway, it's still for the good of the group, because the alternative is a grumpy Skullduggan and nobody wants that. QED. If you don't like it, feel free to fight them over it.

-

-

"If you don't like it fight me" is how they end every argument, assuming their ludicrous rhetoric doesn't exhaust the other person into agreement first.

They're not completely stubborn. It is possible to change their mind in an argument. They will then argue just as vehemently for the opposing view, as if they had never altered their opinion. This is even more infuriating.

In their defence, the Marquis respects the privacy of their travelling companions -- not because they have morals, but because most of the time, they couldn't care less about other people's personal problems. Why bother pestering them with questions about themselves (boring) or rifling through their belongings (gross)?

Don't mistake this for privacy being sacrosanct, however. If they have a reason to pry, nothing will stop them. They're rich. That means they can do what they want.

Later, when the Marquis starts to consider their travelling companions as friends, they turn out to be surprisingly good at, if not listening or offering helpful advice, at least providing a welcome distraction. The catch: as they befriend people, it becomes obvious to even the most emotionally-obtuse that they have a myriad of issues themselves which they totally repress, only bringing them up as casual, flippant asides in conversation. They won't show any distress about their personal trauma, not even around the Twins, and always have on the cheerfully arrogant front, because otherwise they'd have to address their problems (gross and boring).

-

In a friendly, supportive camp setting, cooking duties are often shared around. Don't try to share them with a Skullduggan. Although they aren't totally useless around a campfire, since most of the family have had to survive in challenging military situations, they are more used to having servants or quartermasters prepare their meals. The Marquis also tends to be far too generous with supplies, wasting precious resources.

They like their food spicy, too. As a warm, sunny county, Scrantz produces a large number of hot vegetables and spices, which in turn are incorporated into common local dishes. Not only do Skullduggans have the tolerance this builds up among natives of Scrantz, but -- being who they are -- they can never turn down a challenge to eat spicy food. Your average, common adventurer may not be prepared for the level of heat they have grown accustomed to in their cooking.

-

No matter how long they've known their travelling companions, be it five months or five minutes, they will always pitch their tent in the very centre of the camp, probably in the hope that someone will challenge them on the decision and give them an excuse for a scuffle.

-

Even when the Marquis starts to become a better(ish) person, their base personality doesn't change that much. They still enjoy being loud and rowdy. They still get their kicks from winding people up. They still refuse to abandon the toxic challenging invigorating demands of their family. They just learn to appreciate the people who stick around in spite of this a little more.