orcaab

[orcaab]

cat face wehe - recent DnD character I got to work on, his (not at all fake name) is Mr Smitten, aka Smitty and he is a Bard because of course he is.

[orcaab]

Wings anyone?

[orcaab]

tarik's death is even more devastating when you consider how much he would never know.

tarik died thinking abeke and meilin were dead and he had failed them.

tarik would never know shane was the devourer all along, he never knew abeke got her heart broken, he never knew her relationship with meilin changed for the better, that meilin and jhi were freed from the bile, that they mended their bond, that the war was ended. he never knew rollan and meilin got together.

he never knew conor got infected, that his own nephew summoned cabaro and rollan and abeke took him under their wing, that abeke reconciled with shane in the end. he never knew that abeke lost uraza, but that she got her back.

tarik never knew that rollan would eventually create a bond token, his own talisman, from tarik's old cloak. he never even knew rollan took his greencloak vows -- he could only hope. oh god. i am in so much pain.

he never got to see the four grow up. change. mature. become stronger. love each other deeper.

i'm choosing to believe erdas has an afterlife of some kind and tarik has been watching over his kids the whole time bc it's too painful to imagine otherwise.

#This is so sad to think about #spirit animals #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #text #reblog #mutuals

[orcaab]

site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

[orcaab]

Wanted to try and make something new in a new way! Decided to attempt a raven on my laptop. I actually love the result, it is so much better than I could have predicted. Definitely going to try something like this again.

#gonna use this boi as my wallpaper now :D #digital art #lineless art #lineless illustration #raven #raven art #crow art

[orcaab]

stayed up late last night developing personalities and appearances for shane and abeke's future daughters... ohh i hope you guys love them as much as i do

#Very exiting stuff #text #spirit animals #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #path of the heroes #reblog #mutuals

[orcaab]

Bone spaghetti.

ah yes, the wisdom

#asks

[orcaab]

thinking about a harry potter au for the spirit animals gang... what if they were wizards and got into shenanigans

the sorting hat declares conor a hufflepuff with no delay. conor is more than happy to be in the house of the just and loyal, though befuddled as to how a lowly muggle-born like him ended up at such a school at all. he misses his family's sheep, his dogs, the rolling hills of scotland, normal things, normal life.

abeke's house is a little less clear. the hat figures she would make a good hufflepuff, but ultimately decides she's bound for ravenclaw with a mind and soul like hers. she still writes unanswered letters to her wizard father and non-magical sister, unaware or perhaps unwilling to accept that they were glad to be rid of her.

meilin gets sent to slytherin, which she is quite pleased at. it's the superior house, really. her pureblood status and wealthy upbringing gives her a judgemental outlook on the rest of her peers until she befriends conor, rollan and eventually abeke. disturbingly, as the school years drag on, she begins to feel less and less in control of her own body. she is susceptible to long blackouts, and awakes in unknown locations doing unexplainable things. she fears she may be losing her mind.

rollan is a gryffindor through and through. he was held back a year at one point (becoming so preoccupied with a friend's deteriorating health that he couldn't properly attend to his studies), so he ends up in the same year as conor, abeke and meilin. he still doesn't do so well at school because he's spending most of his time flying on his broom. he is the first one to catch on to the trouble brewing in their midst, though, intuitive as he is.

shane is a textbook slytherin (clever, resourceful, ambitious, good leader) so he's with meilin, albeit two years above her. he... seems okay. he's decent, knowledgeable and kind. there's just something unidentifiable beneath the surface. something dark.

devin/worthy is a gryffindor, something that only makes sense after his journey of self-improvement. as devin, he is simply insufferable. rollan and conor's worst nightmare.

shane and abeke, despite their different houses, become the best of friends. in fact, they are each other's only friends for quite some time. shane teaches her how to fly, and abeke teaches him how to handle certain magical creatures. shane also spends a lot of time teaching abeke various spells, some more questionable than others. abeke tampers down her doubts about these. she trusts he is good at heart.

lenori, the divination professor, takes an interest in conor for reasons she won't say. conor has cryptic visions from time to time, about a serpent in the dungeons and a boy in a mask, but he tries to keep those to himself.

the plot twist is that shane was delving into the dark arts all along and is growing to be a powerful dark wizard. he's working for someone who needs his skills...

his followers (the conquerors, in canon) are the death eaters and they all bear the mark. despite this, they are all under a foul imperius curse -- and no matter how total shane's authority seems to be, they whisper he is under the very same enchantment.

meilin's increasingly odd behaviour reveals that she is a victim of this curse as well. the worst part is, no one knows who casts it...

all of this is happening when the gang are like. 13-15. the four really only became friends in their third year, and that was when things started to pick up speed.

the great beasts keep their canon forms in this au. they're like their own class of magical, god-like beings. some have closer relations to wizarding society than others. gerathon has lived underneath hogwarts for decades (taking the place of the basilisk).

the people who eventually form the redcloaks (shane included) are animagi gone wrong, i.e., they did the process incorrectly and ended up as wonky half-human, half-animals with no ability to transform into either form. the whole lot of them were secretly death eaters who sought to master the skill to disguise themselves, but they failed. miserably. tragically.

and naturally, the characters' patronuses appear as their spirit animals! except they have more agency and sentience as patronuses. the four are the only wizards whose patronuses have taken the form of the great beasts who died in the first wizarding war. it fulfills a prophecy. briggan, uraza, jhi and essix are gone from the world, but their spirits live on in the four heroes' patronuses.

if a character is not marked in spirit animals canon, then either the spell is too advanced for them to perform or their patronus is incorporeal... with a few exceptions.

for years, shane can only produce a silver wisp of a patronus. it is only after his betrayal of abeke, during the war of his own making against the rest of the wizarding world, that his patronus takes shape -- and he is humbled before the familiar figure of a leopard.

#Oml I love this #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #spirit animals au #harry potter #spirit animals #conor #abeke #meilin #rollan #shane #worthy #reblog #mutuals

[orcaab]

abeke was going through hell out there oh my goodness

#She deserved better #she really did #reblog #mutuals #abeke #spirit animal series #spirit animals books

[orcaab]

struggling with how to address the nature of conor and abeke's relationship in path of the heroes. it deeply saddens me that coneke will not be happening, even though shaneke has always been my endgame. even so, conor and abeke have a really special relationship that i don't feel can be brushed off as simply platonic. i'm keeping the forehead kiss and all the other tender moments they shared before that. in fact, shane is supposed to notice how close they are, which causes doubts to form in his head.

i was thinking of having a scene where conor and shane just talk about this, but this is where the struggle begins. i'm not sure if i want there to be explicitly romantic feelings between conor and abeke. i fear it could needlessly complicate things, especially with the fact that i plan for conor to end up with someone who is very close to abeke in particular! plus, the love triangle is a tired concept -- a perceived love triangle that ends up all being in one guy's head is much more fun. like, shane spending literal years (since seeing them together in the second devourer war) stewing in repressed jealousy and doubt all for conor to cheerfully break the news that he and abeke never felt that way about each other and shane never had any competition? that's great. it's just great.

i feel like this path would be a lot more satisfying and less awkward than if conor were to say he did have feelings for abeke but he won't pursue them for shane's sake, or he knew abeke would choose shane over him, or some "maybe in another life" type shit. that, or they just start fighting over her for real. this would make the reveal of conor's endgame partner feel very odd, which i really do not want because i love the dynamic and potential these two have. it's become one of my favourite rarepairs and i cannot wait to explore it. but if conor did have feelings for abeke prior to this, their relationship would be... questionable, i'll put it. (and no the mystery person is not soama! don't worry! i could not care less about her)

so yeah, obviously i'm leaning towards the first option, but like i said above -- i can't say with certainty that conor and abeke can be called platonic. since taking up this project, my view of their relationship has slid very far into platonic territory (compared to how i used to ship them romantically), but it's clearly still something a lil bit more! i just can't label it for the life of me.

besties who cuddle and forehead kiss to help with the Trauma? besties who have deep talks for hours into the night when everyone else is asleep? besties who are intrinsically connected in a way that makes most people think romance but they know for a fact it isn't? platonic soulmates??! platonic soulmates. i found it. i found the term. conor and abeke are Platonic Soulmates.

this is what i love about making a long tumblr post as i think. i figure things out along the way

** i also feel the need to note that the shane-conor feud will not take up much of the plot at all. no matter how you execute it, jealousy subplots are too overdone. shane's real rivalry is with rollan.

#I love this #this is such a good essay #reblog #mutuals #spirit animal series #spirit animals books #shane #abeke #conor

[orcaab]

I’m finally posting this finished pencil art of Worthy’s design. It took quite some time lol, but I’m also doing King’s lineart with a pen right now.

#I didn’t forget to post this #Maybe I did #he’s the gayest boi the redcloaks have #Love worthy #He is amazing #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #redcloaks #worthy #art wip

[orcaab]

i've decided on an endgame pairing in path of the heroes involving a member of the main cast (conor, abeke, meilin, rollan, shane and worthy) that i cannot wait to share with all of you. the other person is outside of that little group, but it's someone we have met before in a minor role! that's all i'll say 😁 this wasn't my original plan, and it breaks up a ship that was very loved in the old days of the fandom, but i believe it is the right choice. some of you may be surprised or even disappointed with this direction, but you need to trust that i am cooking.

honestly props to you if you're able to guess the pairing bc even tho these characters have met, i guarantee no one's thought of this before 😭 i do wanna see ppl try tho

#Ooooh I am very excited #reblog #mutuals #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #path of the heroes #spirit animals

[orcaab]

And another theme song but this one gives me Zerif and Shane during the devourer war vibes- You’re gonna go far, kid by The Offspring

I've been thinking about theme songs for some of the characters.

Abeke- Confident by Demi Lovato

Conor- Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons

Rolan- Everything Moves by Bronze Radio Return

Meilin- Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Shane- Poor George by James Supercave

Worthy- Ocean Breathes Salty by Modest Mouse

Zerif- Devil's Whisper by Raury (like the first half)

Tarik- Ship in a Bottle by fin

#self reblog #reblog #shane #zerif #theme song #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #headcanon

[orcaab]

redcloak body horror time

the earliest symptom of the change is the itching.

a nagging, ever-present itch, beginning at the site of the defunct tattoo. this itch signals the growth of new fur, feathers, scales or skin. at the onset of the transformation, it can take up to a month of constant itching for the first new tissue to appear. as the transformation progresses, however, the process picks up speed.

in the beginning, the itch is bearable. it can be ignored. it worsens as the animal's hide spreads down the afflicted's body, though. once it reaches the hands, it becomes maddening.

as new skin prepares to burst from beneath the surface, the afflicted is overcome with the uncontrollable urge to scratch. irritability, insomnia and lack of concentration is common during this stage. oftentimes, the afflicted will scratch in their sleep. even without claws, they will rub their hands raw, sometimes even breaking the skin and drawing blood before they can stop themselves. when the transformation spread to shane's hands, he had to keep them bandaged because he scratched until it bled.

the itch can be soothed by certain herbal remedies, but only temporarily. the only way to get rid of the awful sensation for good is to let it resolve on its own.

as the new covering is forming, the shape of the hands is also morphing. for bird redcloaks, the hands grow brittle and thin before disappearing as the arms become wings. for redcloaks bonded to clawed animals, the change from human nails to claws causes extreme pain. worthy, whose hands were replaced entirely by wildcat paws by heart of the land, can barely remember the weeks he spent in the darkness of his room as he lost his nimble human hands to ungainly, but deadly, feline paws. the pain was so intense that he spent the entire period in a feverish stupor.

pain is a daily reality for the redcloaks as their whole bodies rearrange themselves, down to the internal organs. dull aches akin to growing pains, splitting pains attacking any part of them at any given time, fatigue and illness as their internal systems buckle under the stress of the transformation -- they've experienced it all. it's a wonder they are as resilient as they are.

(thankfully, the frequent pain is just a part of the early stages, and eventually fades as the erratic progress of the condition stabilizes. however, the worst is yet to come.)

#That’s so cool #Hope your arms get better #spirit animals #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #redcloaks #reblog #mutuals

[orcaab]

I've been thinking about theme songs for some of the characters.

Abeke- Confident by Demi Lovato

Conor- Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons

Rolan- Everything Moves by Bronze Radio Return

Meilin- Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Shane- Poor George by James Supercave

Worthy- Ocean Breathes Salty by Modest Mouse

Zerif- Devil's Whisper by Raury (like the first half)

Tarik- Ship in a Bottle by fin

#it was very difficult to find one for tarik #but overall it was alright #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #abeke #conor #rolan #meilin #shane #worthy #zerif #tarik #headcanon #theme song

[orcaab]

MAJOR plot hole that keeps me up at night is what in the hell was up with shane and grahv in the evertree. first, tellun frees shane from the bile. he shouldn't have any control over grahv then, right? WRONG. grahv takes one for the team and fights alongside shane at the (actual) evertree, still clearly under shane's control. FURTHERMORE, gerathon had already died by this point. which creates so many problems. one, how does he have any control over his spirit animal with gerathon dead and the bile effectively useless? perhaps it wasn't immediate, but we have to consider that tellun had already freed him from it a few chapters prior. and two, how could he even become a redcloak later on when the entire reason you turn is because your spirit animal was trapped and unable to exit your body if they were passive at the moment when gerathon was killed?

this is gonna bug me if i don't tie up the loose ends in path of the heroes so i need to figure out a way to make this make sense!

since i'm removing tellun's status as leader/most powerful of the great beasts anyway, i think i'll get rid of his ability to free people from the bile. meilin, shane and everyone else are only truly free when gerathon is killed.

i'm thinking shane summons grahv and attacks earlier, not wasting any time because most of his gripe is with gerathon anyway. gerathon manages to mortally wound grahv during her last moments and shane, not knowing what else to do, desperately puts him in the passive state. he never gets the chance to summon him back.

#The effects probably went away over time for #most Redcloaks #but if Tellun freed Shane first #it just doesn’t make sense #Maybe Tellun took away the control but left the bond? #idk I need more time to think abt this #spirit animals books #spirit animals series #shane #gravh #reblog #mutuals

[orcaab]

i may have to make a website for path of the heroes instead of using a spare toyhouse account as a "wiki" with detailed character pages bc of the site's rules on canon characters (you can't even have kinsonas on there!)... which sucks bc i had found a cool wiki-themed code that i'm not sure i'll be able to use elsewhere. plus i know nothing ab making websites LOL

i'll probably ask my girlfriend for help bc she's knowledgeable ab so many different things, she probably knows a thing or two ab website creation

#omg this is so good #i love it #spirit animal series #spirit animals books #path of the heroes #abeke #reblog #mutuals