/shoves mic in your face/ please talk about Lunarity or Sab. Or even better, both
Oh boy!
So Lunarity first, because shorter to answer. He is an elnin, which is a closed species! I very rarely do closed species but elnin are perfect and adorable and I want a few, so. :p I was really stuck because I got his design via someone handing a spare elnin to me because I'm very nice in the server to everyone, but I couldn't think of a character for him, and then I realized his design was very similar in vibe to Martinus Morgenstern, a Flight Rising dragon I had who I imported to Sagiverse as the head of the Lunarity cabal.
The cabal of Lunarity is based partially out of St Shion's and partially out of a university in Ilya Ustuxe, hooked up via the great labyrinthe that's been spreading just under the surface of the worlds ever since the Horseman War. Martinus spearheads it alongside his boyfriend Lilu. However, during a clash with the leader of Fairwilde - Lulach 'Fallen' Gayle - he fell through a portal she was able to create and ended up in the world of Eyre, where the elnin species live, as a kittom (child elnin) with zero memories to his name but the name 'Lunarity', which he took on as his own name, and a deep terror of water.
Now, Martinus is a sea dragon who primarily lives in the drowned sanctum of the Lunarity cabal. So as the elnin Lunarity, he doesn't actually remember any of this, and thinks being wet is the worst possible thing that could happen to him, and avoids water at all costs. His plot will for-real start when I secure a kittom for Lilu, who will be chasing him down and helping him remember who and what he is. I have this really epic mental image of Lunarity with full horn glamours and kittom fluff to the max, standing head-on, with a silhouette of his dragon form around him made of blue fire to show the powers he doesn't know he has.
It's gonna be cool, I'm just saying. Now, below the cut for Sabe!
---
World Guardian S. Larius the Grey... or, as he actually is, Saberon Larius Flaetor the Last Rider, Mad Son of Zamorak.
Sabe is my RuneScape player character! Which technically makes him one of my oldest OCs, given as I've been playing RuneScape since I was six, or before that, that's about as far as I remember. Now, originally he was white, and had green eyes, and was also the daughter of Guthix, and now he's none of those things.
Sabe has always been a self-insert. I considered making him a fully-fledged OC who wasn't me. Yeah, well, he laughed at me on that one several times. He became Zamorakian when I figured out that I was never, could never be, patient enough to be a proper Guthixian. And then Jagex redid all the gods' philosophies so that they were actually workable for players, and only one of those philosophies made sense.
Strength through chaos. And by chaos, we mean personal strife. Celebrate your scars for they are what got you here, and you are so much better for all your experiences, and you could never have known what you're capable of being if you never put yourself to the test. It's not a philosophy for everyone, and certainly not for the faint of heart or for those who want to live a peaceful, quiet life.
But I've always been stubborn, and contradictory, and I'm the one who tells the world what-for and when it says "Bet?" I go "Double or nothing, fucker." I've always believed in gods, because if someone out there controls how things work, then I can punch them until they make it go my way. My way or the highway, as the saying goes. I don't really take no for an answer, not when I'm determined and I know what I want and I'm willing to fight for it.
And that's so undeniably Zamorakian it's kind of impressive that I never realized that there was probably a reason my first soulbond was Iban, son of Zamorak, who played the part of my absent older brother who still isn't a very good brother but whatever. Iban was my backup and my focus and so much of the person I am today, I owe to him.
But regardless. I changed Sabe into a boy before I was willing to accept I was transgender, and I only ever let him wear plateskirts ingame even if they're more money off the grand exchange because that's the cheapest way in RS to say you're queer. The fact that he isn't white was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I want to say that it was to have more diverse OCs, but honestly, I think he's just darker-skinned to match the fur I'm supposed to have, and very few animals in nature have white fur. We could theorize, or we could keep talking about him.
Sabe is a self-insert who has this horrid knack of an ability to tell me what my mental problems are before I've really understood that. His issues are my issues, played out in a way I can solve them without destroying my entire worldview. I couldn't figure out his happy ending for so long, there was so much wrong.
But here's what I know: he is the youngest of four sons of Zamorak, and his mother was Kasia Flaetor the Wildfire, a magical theoretician and impressively powerful sorceress. His mother died in a Kinshra raid that also orphaned Kara-Meir, and his brothers Iban and Clivet saved as many of the children as they could, being children themselves, but figuring out how to survive in the bleak of winter with what little help Zamorak could give and their own wits.
When he was fifteen, Iban died to Saradominists. He went to university for magical theory like his mother and did adventuring on the side for some cash. He wasn't sure how he felt about his father thanks to the deaths of his mother and brother, and he didn't really know what the Mahjarrat were until Lucien.
He became World Guardian, and everything fell apart. He became S. Larius to avoid dying to the several different gods, and he lied, and he lied, and he lied.
He struggled for so long with his own identity as a Mahjarrat, as a demigod, wholly believing his father's side of the family wouldn't want him and that even if he saved the world, most of them would still be dead and he'd never understand himself. (Can you tell I was having a crisis about my own heritage?)
It wasn't until I figured out that he would have to place his life in his father's hands and almost die in order to survive that things started to fall into place. It wasn't until he and Zamorak forgave each other that I realized what his issues were, and why I was struggling, and what had to happen if I wanted to stop suffering.
After that, I started paying attention to his mental state. There are things he can't say to his family, because they'll never sleep again if he does, and some burdens are his alone to carry. (I'll probably never be able to really come out of the closet with my family, and I should probably work on that.) His timeline is the best of all possible timelines, thanks to the Needle, and the only way his actions stick is if they're the best possible course of action. (I need to think consequences through a bit more carefully, and trust that I can bully the world into not blowing up in my face.) He works much better when he's got backup. (I also work much better with backup.) His friends are also falling apart, and sometimes pulling back the cruelty and speaking gently is all it takes to help. (I don't have to throw myself on the grenades to help. Sometimes, I just need to be kind.)
So I pay attention. I see the best in him and I look around and try to apply his lessons to my own life. I see the worst in him, and I fix it in me before everything goes up in flames.
I learn. He tests the waters, and I build myself up and out, and wait for the next crisis that will show me how good my preparation's been and what I'm made of.
And on the other side of those crises, when there's ashes on the ground and smoke in the air and I'm still standing with a smirk on my face because I told the world what-for and won?
I can almost, just out of the tips of my ears, hear Zamorak's laughter.
tagged by @wgblair! tagging @jahaanofmenaphos and @wglithuvia if they haven’t done it yet!
(art by @queersodasart, og post here! ty so much to blair for surprising me with this~)
1. WHAT DOES YOUR MUSE SMELL LIKE?
Sweat and pine and the vaguely plastic-that-got-set-on-fire acrid smell of the Wilderness. He smells more on the pine side if he’s showered lately, the acrid smell is also adjacent to his magic so if he’s been doing a lot of Zamorakian stuff or adventuring, he smells like more like. It isn’t a ‘body odour’ smell, it’s a ‘your magic is sharp and makes you wonder a little’ smell. So not like, bad, but definitely not something anyone’s expecting.
2. WHAT DO YOUR MUSE’S HANDS FEEL LIKE?
Rough and calloused. He’s used to working with his bare hands a lot.
3. WHAT DOES YOUR MUSE USUALLY EAT IN A DAY?
This man lives on summer’s pie and beer. Icthlarin usually gets him to eat food and honestly, most of the people he helps have learned the way to say ‘thank you’ is to feed him properly. He’s a rather well-known Zamorakian, so all the taverns know that Sabe better have a meal in front of him in less than ten minutes after he walks in, because it’ll keep him quiet AND will keep him alive for a few more days. He’ll eat damn well anything and he’s a strangely adaptive cook, and will make recipes he knows out of damn well anything he only vaguely recognizes. He’s made a ton of different kind of summer’s pie that all taste decently enough, and you can bet his cooking will stand up despite his access to materials.
He can cook damn well, he just doesn’t remember to eat. :(
4. DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE A GOOD SINGING VOICE?
Nope! He can sing elven crystal but only after he invokes Zamorak for aid in ‘being a sneaky asshole’ as he so puts it, but he’s godawful. He cannot carry a tune to save his life, and if everyone’s gonna go all dwarven-style ‘Misty Mountains’ from the Hobbit, he’ll just hum along. This man can only sing when he’s got divine help for disguises and tomfoolery, and that’s it.
5. DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE ANY BAD HABITS OR NERVOUS TICKS?
Sabe panics and turns to violence. Sabe gets pissed off and turns to violence. Sabe has ruined most of his back teeth clenching his jaw too hard from trying not to turn to violence. He also has scars on his palms from driving his nails into them trying to not start a fight.
He’ll pace when he’s irritated and tends to get a rise in his energy the angrier or more nervous he is.
6. WHAT DOES YOUR MUSE USUALLY LOOK LIKE, WEAR?
See above, and add his frontal pigtails when he’s in ‘World Guardian S. Larius the Grey’ mode. In his ‘Saberon Flaetor the Last Rider’ mode, he pulls it all back into a ponytail, braids it low and back for formal events, and calls it a day. He tends to just wear his gambeson if he’s not in armour. He can be talked into ritual robes, but prefers not to. He’ll wear what he needs to for disguises, but as a WG generally just goes for his armour and doesn’t let you forget what he is.
7. IS YOUR MUSE AFFECTIONATE? HOW MUCH? HOW SO?
No, unless he’s with Icthlarin and trying to get him out of his comfort zone, in which case will bend him over the fucking bar counter and full on make out with him in full view of a tavern full of Zamorakians. His actual affection is very quiet, bumping shoulders, ‘good luck’s before battle, lets his SO sleep on his lap, etc. His actual affection is just displays of trust, like letting his SO see where he’s injured and not hiding it, telling them what’s on his mind, letting them know secrets he wouldn’t otherwise say.
Except he has a bad habit of just embarrassing the hell out of Icthlarin, because he finds ‘8000yo guy who’s never had a date in his life is suddenly dating Zamorak’s asshole human son’ to be way too funny to pass up. So he goes overkill by everyone’s standards just to give him a little bit of pressure.
8. WHAT POSITION DOES YOUR MUSE SLEEP IN?
Realistically? Standing up, shoulder blades leaned to the wall, arms folded, one leg holding all his weight and the other bent so his heel is against the wall, dozing. If he’s actually in a fucking bed? On his back, arms over his chest but loosely folded like he’s grumpy, knees kind of bent upwards.
He’s not a real big cuddler with a partner, he prefers to be back to back but touching. With Zanik he tended to curl up around her, mostly because she was about the size of a large bag of potatoes. If he’s asleep in the same spot as one of his brothers (Iban or Clivet, you are never getting poor Sabe in the same bed as Khazard; and he’ll only do it if like, they’re curled up around a campfire), he’ll curl up on his side with his head on their stomach. Classic baby brother if they don’t have many beds available.
9. COULD YOU HEAR YOUR MUSE IN THE HALLWAY FROM ANOTHER ROOM?
Only if he wanted you to hear him coming, which he only does if he’s very, very pissed off. If you hear him, it’s because he’s about to go in there yelling. If he’s going in there swinging, he wants the element of surprise. Notable times he’s done this has been: literally every time he has to put up with some god’s shit as Sabe and not S. Larius, and when he finally snaps as S. Larius at Sliske, Saradomin, and Zamorak.
Zamorak gets way more cheek from him as S. Larius, because he lost a lot of respect for him after watching him pitch himself over for Khazard in Children of Mah, knowing Zamorak let Iban die twice without doing fuckall about it. He never forgave him and Zamorak hasn’t made the connection yet between Sabe’s two personas, and genuinely thinks Sabe’s a very tired Saradominist who thinks his god should live up to his reputation. Zamorak has tried to ‘corrupt’ him. Sabe did a lot of stomping around and then giving him carefully calm and curated, choice insults. Sabe’s good at being rude without sounding like he is.
Zaros, Azzy, Sliske for the discomfort/comfort and also fkm as well since you got me with it(this is wgblair)
(I see you in my notifs, I Know You. :p )
Discomfort all the way, Zaros is immediate backstab, Azzy’s just punchable, and Sliske is also punchable. For Sabe’s fmk, well, it’d go like this:
“Uhh- uhh.... Kill Assha- Azzanadra, get that out of the way. Fuck Sliske, prob’ly not the worst thing or person I’ve ever done, and marry Zaros specifically so he trusts me enough that he doesn’t notice me finding his weaknesses and assassinating him. He’d never see it coming. Also, that’d upset Char and anything that upsets Char makes me happy.”
Poor Sabe’s the biggest fuckin’ Zamorakian around and one of three on tumblr. :p
1. What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?
A few hours, Sabe’s decent at waiting and mostly just loses himself in his thoughts.
2. How easy is it for your character to laugh?
Depends entirely on his mood. If he’s in a good mood, fairly easily. However, it’s difficult to catch him in a good mood. He’s very good at fake-laughing as the World Guardian, though.
6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?
His existence in Falador is illegal, so he doesn’t care. The laws of Zamorakianism are a bit less breakable, but if it can be justified, it’s not that bad.
7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?
Pretty much any Zamorakian human settlements that are older than him - the Pass, the Kinshra, etc. He hates it, because he wishes he could go back and do everything differently.
13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?
Red, and he actually looks best in blue. He doesn’t often wear blue, though.
15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?
As Sabe Flaetor, pretty much on the spot. As S. Larius, he thinks very carefully and comes off as hesitant and unsure - exactly the impression he wants to give off.
18. What embarrasses them?
Not much - he’s been pranked enough times, and Zamorakians are pretty good at rolling with questionable situations. He doesn’t like being the centre of attention too much, though, and dislikes having a crowd watching his actions unless he’s up on the bar counter again screaming at everyone as a pep talk.
21. Why do they get up in the morning?
He has to. He literally never wants to any more, but someone’s got to fix the damn world and Guthix told him to do it. (Not that he actually cares about what Guthix thinks, but he’s very aware of the expectations of everyone around him.)
2. Their neighbors (in an apartment) are out in the hallway having a loud, obnoxious argument. What does your WG do?
Sabe’s not against opening his door and telling them to shut the hell up so he can sleep. He gets away with it by always being the designated driver and incredibly reliable for any situation in an emergency.
3. Describe your WG’s aesthetic for home and person.
His place is kind of messy since he only really goes home to sleep and sometimes make food. Most of his tables are covered with IT hardware and tools he needs for his job as an IT specialist, and when not that, it’s usually crystals.
As for how he dresses, decently enough at home - semi-formal buttonup and black jeans, but is very good at looking the part when he has to be formal. It’s a mystery of how considering he’s a mess, but he can hide it well enough.
6. What’s your WG’s stance on cereal and milk (any kind), in terms of which they pour into the bowl first?
Cereal first, then milk, because if he did the other way the cereal would float and go everywhere but into the bowl.
7. Has your WG done anything illegal?
Many things, the tamest of which is never caring about the nonsense that is a “speed limit”. His big issue is less his own crimes but more that he’ll help others with theirs and turn a blind eye to what they’re doing so long as it doesn’t negatively affect him.
9. Does your WG have any new interests/hobbies in the modern setting they didn’t have in the Runescape one?
His IT stuff, since that doesn’t exist in Gielinor. But he’s still kind of a warpriest and enjoys debating philosophy. He’s also probably more into the arts? Most of his Zamorakian rebellion is focused in keeping the other Zamorakian adventurers alive and with safe places to go in the largely Saradominist human settlements, as actual Zamorakian spots are few and far between due to being super illegal.
In a modern setting, that rebellion and insistence to protect those who definitely got the short hand (I’m not gonna say ‘marginalized’ because I’m not sure if Zamorakianism would fit that in RS, but you get the point) in life probably does get translated to helping others with activism, mostly through art. He doesn’t go out loud and proud to fix things, but he makes sure there’s a place to go when you need one and the cops are on your tail.
3. What real world junk food would they love if they could try it?
I said fish and chips to the last ask, but deep fried anything would make him happy, honestly.
7. They have to fake date a signature hero convincingly for a quest, who would they convince to help them?
“Hey Icthlarin, can you pretend to be Ozan for a few days? Gielinor needs our help again.”
13. What’s their real biggest fear?
I said losing the two demigods he still has last time; but otherwise he is still pretty terrified of fucking up the whole Jas quest thing. He is fully aware he’s World Guardian only because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and is a little too good at lying through his teeth. So you know. He’s a little scared of messing it all up.
Number 7 for the prompts, with any character you want? :0
7. “Why do you think they call me that name?”
Saberon Flaetor had absolutely terrible luck, by his own standards. Everyone at every tavern always told him he must be an incredible adventurer with a whole lot of luck to survive all the things he did. After all, they’d hung off of his every word for several weeks after the beginning of Sliske’s start of the Sixth Age God Wars, even though he’d been trying to see who he could organize into a proper fighting force.
But of course, becoming Sliske’s favourite toy was exactly what he got for helping a Saradominist.
Despite everything, he was pretty well aware of what the title of World Guardian meant to everyone. He’d fooled them all, and accidentally so, and he didn’t even know why he’d done it in the first place. He’d been the one there, vaguely interested in Guthixian ruins if only to tell Juna about them later, and he’d been the one in everyone’s way. He was the only suitable candidate there to become World Guardian, so when Guthix had asked him all those questions, he had never answered truthfully.
Lying came easily to him. Everything from how many cookies he’d stolen as a child when the chefs of the Kinshra weren’t looking to why he was interesting in helping out the Temple Knights. Yes, Guthix had asked his opinion and he’d wanted to make Guthix proud, but he was not a person Guthix would naturally be proud of, so he’d made it all up on the spot. S. Larius the World Guardian came after.
The gods themselves looked upon him, and he made a persona up on the spot to explain why he was there, what he was up to. Stories and history were one thing, but it had been millennia since any god had come to Gielinor, and any one of them could have been an ally or a target. He was reserved, a little shy, more than awestruck at their presence.
Saradomin probably took it as deference to his authority. Zamorak recognized the anxiety of a mortal way in over his head, and likely noticed the almost-stereotypical growth and confidence from it. Zaros still had no idea how badly he’d been sabotaged, and still thought that he’d had to grow into the role Guthix had bestowed upon him. Armadyl had swallowed the lies but seemed to know he was doing his best either way. Seren only saw him as a saviour, and the only possession Guthix had given the world upon his death. Icthlarin had probably been the only one to know that he was being lied to, though he hadn’t known exactly what the truth was.
He could hear Sliske’s thoughts as well as his own, now, though he had never had any difficulty in knowing which thoughts belonged to whom. He’d forced himself to stay standing after Sliske’s death and his subsequent possession. Sliske had forced him to lie more, and he still didn’t know if he was grateful for the lie or not.
He’d never expected anyone to really figure out what the truth was. Sliske knew, it was hard to keep his thoughts to himself these days. The last person he ever expected to figure out how much he’d lied was Amascut.
Mah was dead, and with her death, Amascut’s insanity had eased. Saberon had stolen the Kharid-ib from her again and stuffed it somewhere reasonably safe, and the disappearance of it had helped a little. He wasn’t exactly helping her because he enjoyed her company - it was difficult to do so in her condition - but he had wanted to make Icthlarin happy, especially now that he’d realized that if anyone would know something about the Elder Gods, it would be her.
He’d taken her out with him on slayer missions, challenged her not to use her destructive magic. She wasn’t the first mage he’d helped rehabilitate after they’d fallen wayward, and she seemed to enjoy the challenge of doing things a different way.
They’d gotten drinks together after a particularly difficult mission, a few bruises still on her face but healing well. He’d not dared bring her to anything really horrific, lest she panic and fall back into her old ways. They sat outside, watching the setting sun of Ardougne fall over the far horizon. She’d started talking, and he hadn’t known what she meant to talk about at first, but he quickly figured it out.
When she and Icthlarin had gone to Freneskae, they found out quickly why mortals wore masks in the desert. When she had been afraid, as death gods could be in a place without an afterlife, he had been there. But when he had been offering the Mahjarrat a place in Gielinor, she’d found Mah.
She stopped short, then, incapable of forming the words to describe the warped and screaming excuse of an Elder God.
“It… she… she was…”
“Horrific,” he answered, after a few seconds. He had faced Mah twice. Once, while realizing he could use it to his advantage to sabotage Zaros, and twice, when he had proved in front of all of the Mahjarrat that he was better than them all, and deserved to be there as much as they did. It had felt so real, to sit there before the setting sun on a clear day, and still lied through his teeth facing an elder goddess herself. It was the closest he had ever been to his blood, and he still screamed his lies like they were true. “Screaming that made you want to put it out of its misery just to make it stop, but there would be no way, because you are still an ant looking at the front claws of a dragon.”
She nodded silently, mouth still open a little. “A face you never stopped seeing, screams you never stopped hearing. The senseless desires and destruction of a delirious child with more power than even Guthix could have dreamed of. Until there was nothing left but the screams.”
“I became like her,” Amascut whispered. “I couldn’t get the screams out of my head. If I made her happy, would she go back to sleep? Would she go to sleep? I knew it was all a lie. I knew I could never please her.”
“They made me the World Guardian, and never considered what it meant.” Guthix, ancient and wise Guthix, who had either put his faith in the wrong person or admired his commitment to living a lie. “So I would never be anything but a lie again.”
“I don’t know who I am, anymore, and I don’t remember enough of who I was to try and rebuild it.”
“I know who I am, and who they need me to be, but I never wanted to pay the price.”
“You’re the World Guardian, though,” Amascut said, almost as if she’d realized what his lies were all over again.
“Why do you think they call me that? I will never be anything else to them,” he replied, his voice more bitter than he’d wanted. “All I ever wanted to be was my father’s son. He will never see me as anything but Guthix’s last toy.”
“I wish I could be free of her, as you could be of his ghost,” she whispered.
“She’s dead,” he said, short and blunt, as if he had said ‘good day’ or ‘that would be a floor, yes’. “Seren put her out of her misery, and her ghost doesn’t scream. The silence before us made us realize just how vast the universe is, and how little we know. If you stand up there now, where she used to be, it’s still silent.”
“Take me there,” she said, and he held out his hand, fingering the Sixth-Age circuit with his other hand. She took it.
Tonight's late night unhinged Saberon fact is that I think his sixth age theme song is Farewell Wanderlust by The Amazing Devil.
"I promise you, I'm not broken! I promise you, there's more! More to come, more to reach for, more to howl at the door!
"Goodbye to all my darkness, there's nothing here but light! Adieu to all the faceless things that sleep with me at night! This here is not makeup, it's a porcelain tomb - and this here is not singing, I'm just screaming in tune!"
It's his rage and his grief and his madness I think, done in a fun little duet between S. Larius and Sabe Flaetor. Weirdly, he is the ONE OC whose dual sides aren't plurality? S. Larius is a true mask and not a real person: he's Sabe doing a bad impression and mockery, he isn't at all his own person.
