Sex scene as character study is so good. What is your relationship to your body? What is your relationship to your partner? What lessons have you absorbed from the culture about yourself as a sexual being? How much do you have to trust someone before being comfortable with intimacy? What fears and insecurities come to the fore for you when you take your clothes off? It's so good.
How do they communicate? How do they expect others to communicate? How well do they understand their body and their own capacity for pleasure? What do they tend to do to make their partner feel comfortable? How comfortable are they showing emotion in front of others? How much insight do they have into what their own emotions mean and are connected to? What are they focused on during the encounter? How conscious are they of exchanges of power and vulnerability? very very very good
People sneer at sex scenes in fiction as pointless prurient fluff but this is a really intimate view of characters at the extremes of their interactions, their desires, their fears, their revelations and concealments, and the meat of their interactions and relationships. You can do so much with it!
Sex scenes done well are like action scenes. There should be pauses in action, negotiation, turnabouts, revelation. Backstory is included, how does past trauma affect how a character wishes their body to be celebrated? How does their experiences together affect how they want to treat their lover's body?
an aasimar's celestial guide normally appears to them in visions, cryptic feelings, premonitions: theirs is a guiding hand, after all; of non - interference and subtle suggestion. but as a solar celestial of both great power and independence alike, tadriel once the heavy, now the sundered has redefined what it means to guide an aasimar. once upon a time, they would have called this redefinition 'the gravest mistake of [ their ] long existence.'
burdened with a sensation of otherness and an overwhelming desire to understand the emptiness within them, tadriel spent most of their unfathomably long lifespan in a journey of self - discovery. through allegiance and stewardship to gods traditionally considered lawful good, tadriel found fulfillment and purpose in delivering justice, having lent their strength to clerics and paladins of tyr, helm and ilmater on numerous occasions. devils, fiends and aberrations alike fear tadriel and those marked by their protection, for the celestial's radiance burns as bright and agonizing as the fires of the deepest hell. they are an unbreakable creature, steered through existence by an unbending sense of right and wrong, and many of their wards have found comfort in such rigidity. a young aasimar by the name of vann, however, would challenge such inflexibility time and time again.
vann and tadriel had always had a significant similarity: their anger, which the celestial found both curious and disconcerting. the boy's ire stemmed from the loss of his mother and separation from his father, early years marked by the upheaval of a peaceful life; tadriel's, on the other hand, had much more to do with the state of the world, the prevalence of evil and injustice, and tyr's separation from the mortal plane. for years they were each other's feedback loop, and the reason why vann would describe his anger as 'not being entirely [ mine ]' on more than one occasion.
their bond transcends the ethereal, extending into the physical. following vann's first death, tadriel became 'the sundered', having left part of themselves within the cleric. though they remain their own separate entities, vann and tadriel's souls have partially merged now, making vann a true vessel for his guide's presence and power.
but therein lies their greatest strength and weakness, for the clash of divine and mortal perspectives is a battle without end. black and white against shades of grey. tadriel has always wanted to temper vann's kindness and push him towards decisiveness, while vann has shut away tadriel's guidance many a time to instead act on his own feelings and instincts. needless to say, a celestial's understanding of right, wrong, good and evil is far removed from a mortal's, and far more so from vann's.
even aasimar wholly dedicated to good sometimes feel torn between two worlds. the angels that guide them see the world from a distant perch. an aasimar who wishes to stop and help a town recover from a drought might be told by an angelic guide to push forward on a greater quest. to a distant angel, saving a few commoners might pale in comparison to defeating a cult of orcus. an aasimar's guide is wise but not infallible. (excerpt from volo's guide to monsters).
following their ordeal in barovia, which tested their bond and nearly pushed it to its breaking point, their relationship has improved significantly: vann is far more accepting and open towards the spirit - tempering pieces of advice, while tadriel now stops to give further consideration to the mortal perspective. but while they are both far likelier to stop and consider the bigger picture, celestial and aasimar have come to understand that imbalance will always plague them. reconciliation is truly impossible for them, as it would require one soul to subsume the other, and it's undeniable that they work best as they are, however complicated it might be.
n7. vanguard. spacer. sole survivor. | " however insignificant we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. because that's what humans do. "
on malocator j. harrow, during the defense of atoma prime against admonition and the moebian 6th regiment, seen with the branx mk vi shock maul and suppression shield.
with the exception of his immediate superiors and relevant personnel, very few people can claim to know anything personal about the malocator. his only link to his past life is his last name, denoting him as a highborn of necromunda's house harrow, but even still that means nothing to him or anyone. in addition to a sharp and curt personality, jerican is as cold and dour as the precinct of hive tertium he was assigned to that of the torrent but is utterly relentless in his pursuit of criminals and lexbreakers. his application of the lex, however, is hardly as rigid as that of his peers: he knows it's not perfect, even highly inefficient at times, but it's the best they've all got.
he's rarely ever seen without his malocator visor, and it's for good reason. a closer inspection (that he'll never allow) will reveal his visor is a life - supporting augmetic, having replaced his actual face after being shot in the face, and connected to an artificial respiratory system. jerican knows he's an expensive asset and thinks of himself as such, seeing himself as a tool of the imperium and nothing else.
it's a tough way to live, being robbed of most senses and the conventional way of experiencing them, but at the very least there's one thing he doesn't have to worry about: pretending. the augmetic visor is his one and only face, and one he can't and won't hide behind pretense and emotion.
send the corresponding symbol(s) for headcanons surrounding the given topic(s)!
🍍 : how comfortable is my muse in their body? how do they feel about their height, weight, strength, and body type? how important is being attractive to them?
🍅 : how does my muse feel about plastic / cosmetic surgeries & procedures? is it something they have done or would do? do they mind if others do it?
🍏 : how stable is my muse’s physical health? do they go for regular or semi-regular checkups by a physician? do they have any diagnosed illnesses and / or take any medication? how often do they get sick?
🍎 : how stable is my muse’s mental health? have they been diagnosed with any mental illnesses and / or conditions? do they have any undiagnosed mental illnesses and / or conditions? do they or should they attend therapy?
🍑 : how meticulously does my muse look after their physical appearance? do they spend a lot of time on their hair, makeup, grooming, and clothing? is there a particular reason why they do or don’t?
🍒 : how much does my muse value companionship? do they constantly keep people around them, or do they prefer to be alone often? do they have or desire to have many friends? do they see every meeting as an opportunity to make a new friend?
🍇 : how would my muse describe their childhood? how much has it impacted the person they are now, or will become as an adult? around what age did they or will they start to mature, and why? do they wish to go back to their days as a child, or have they embraced adulthood?
🍐 : how intelligent is my muse overall? are they smarter than the average person, or less than? are they primarily self-taught, or did they acquire most of their knowledge in school? are they more street smart or book smart?
🍉 : which of the four seasons suits my muse best, and why?
🍌 : is my muse inclined to help others, or will they only do it when it benefits them, if at all? what makes them this way? has it ever gotten them into trouble, or inconvenienced them?
🍊 : does my muse desire romance? is it something they would actively seek out, or prefer to happen more ‘ naturally? ’ what is their love life like? do they have any exes or past flings, or crushes?
🍓 : how is my muse typically seen by others? does it ring true to who they really are? does their reputation matter to them?
🥝 : does my muse have any ‘ unusual ’ habits, interests, and / or talents? do they hide it, or are they proud of it?
🍋 : what kind of diet does my muse have? do they eat regularly, or the standard 2-3 meals a day? do they have to be reminded to eat, or are they likely to remind others? do they cook, or have others cook for them? do they eat healthily, or not so much?
🥭 : how important to my muse is their hometown, or where they’re from? are they proud of it, or considered a hometown hero? did they move away, or do they wish to?
❛❛ Your heritage is your crucible. Emerge from it stronger. ❜❜
the unsavory reputation of a hedge knight is already a tough one to fight; that of a Skagossi, even more so. Son of a YiTish trader and a wildling spearwoman a story all too steeped in blood, grief and separation Vann would first be seen at Driftwood Hall as the ten year old squire to Ser Gael of White Harbor, herself a knight sworn to the late Magnar Ormrr Stane. Knighthood is rare in the north, and in Skagos it is near unheard of, but Ser Gael has proven herself a stalwart ally of unimpeachable dedication to House Stane and so she's allowed to train Vann in the ways of southern chivalry. Lad might 's well belong somewhere, says the lord.
Vann's years of service as a squire were tempered by Gael's harshness, and yet they also proved the gateway to a serviceable education, not only in combat but also in disciplines such as history and rhetoric. He excelled in all of these, proving not only his extraordinary physical prowess owing to his height and size, but also a gift with words and a sensitive heart. None were too pleased with the latter, a flaw that Gael would weaponize against him in an attempt to temper Vann's hopeful, and in her eyes, naive disposition.
to those that knew Gael's squire, and in a sense her ward, it would be no surprise to see Vann doubling down and yet at no point did she ever think of turning him away. [ Though harsh in the moment, Vann would later reminisce on her treatment of him: an attempt at hardening his resolve, for fear the wider world would eat him alive. ] Through Gael, Vann would be "initiated" into the Faith of the Seven; and through his few friends among the Skagossi of Driftwood Hall, he would reconnect with his mother's faith in the old gods.
at age sixteen, Vann and Gael would cross the Bay of Seals and venture inland, following an errant lifestyle for the next two years; at the age of eighteen, he participates in his first melee at Hornwood, with his ultimate reward being the promise of knighthood. Vann's victory is hard - earned, but he is later knighted by Gael with the hosting lord as witness.
❛❛ You're a knight now. You'll find my trials to be child's play compared to what the world has in store for you ... but you'll survive. It's in your blood. ❜❜
he travels alone now, a hedge knight through and through on a solitary mission throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Ser Gael died unexpectedly a harsh winter day on a journey to White Harbor, leaving behind a half - giant of a knight as kind as he is tall. That loss is nearly twelve years gone, and in that time he has striven to live as he once swore he would: in service of those in need, whatever their walk in life, if their cause be just.
the moment that would define the life of Ser Vann of Skagos presented itself five years ago, during a tourney at White Knife Keep near White Harbor. Though he emerged as its champion, therefore earning his second tourney victory, he was grievously injured both in his face and neck, wounds from which he miraculously recovered even after threatening his life. However, it's during his convalescence that treachery strikes for in the lists, Vann had defeated and accidentally maimed his opponent, a recently knighted aspirant by the name of Callisto. His younger brother Castor, in a fit of anger and grief, snuck into Vann's pavilion in the night and stabbed him in the throat. It was murder, bloody and fiery and violent.
Except Castor regretted his actions nigh immediately, for what fifteen year old boy kills a man without impunity? Swift action saw the boy apprehended and Vann tended to further by the lord's maesters. Fever and infection threatened to take him. When all was thought lost, Vann's fever broke. [ For his crime, Castor was forced to take the black. He's never been seen since. Vann hopes they never meet properly. ]
Such a display of incredible physical resilience gifted Vann with a fitting epithet: The Petrous, which those left behind in Skagos that know him take some pride in whenever they hear it. The Magnar certainly has a chuckle about it on occasion. Fucking knights, he says.
though he carries Ser Gael's shield with him still, as a memento rather than the shield Vann himself carries into combat, he is nevertheless most recognizable by the maroon scarf he wears over his armor, a stark reminder of the attempt on his life during the White Knife tourney. It happens to be a grim detail that stands in great contrast to his affable and noble personality as, when he allows the scarf to stream behind him, it is reminiscent of an outpouring of blood from his neck.
A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS (~209 - 239 AC, Ashford - Lyonel's rebellion): present at the tourney at Ashford, though as a spectator rather than with any intention of entering the lists; acquainted with and in service to Lyonel as a knight of house Baratheon.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (~105 - 130 AC): general story beats remain the same; by the time the Dance of Dragons kicks off, and with the Stanes as a vassal house to the Starks, Vann is brought into the fold of the Blacks. Is initially part of Daemon's host assembled at Harrenhal, but then is rerouted to serve with Roderick Dustin's forces at the Fishfeed. In the wake of such a bloody battle, Vann deserts the allied forces and retakes his life as a hedge knight, knowing full well he'll be put to death if caught. In late 130 AC, he voluntarily takes the black and, ironically, reunites with Castor at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Dies in 147 AC beyond the Wall.
A GAME OF THRONES (298 AC - onward): general story beats remain the same; more details TBA when I read the books maybe.
