#the art references were for leopard seals specifically

[thecreaturecodex]

Ada Shorewalker

Image © @iguanodont

[Another OC, and one of the first ones I came up with before realizing that I could make an entire Monster Girl Summer out of it. Ada is definitely a version of myself, much like Jade Seven is. I tied her to Castle Xyntillian in this flavor text because it seemed like a good fit for for her, either as a powerful ally for lower level players, or as someone in need of rescue for higher level ones.]

Ada Shorewalker CR 8 N Monstrous Humanoid This anthropomorphic seal has long red hair and a gentle, curious expression. She wears a seal-skin cape and carries a spear.

Ada Shorewalker was always more interested in observation than in the actual hunt. While other selkies of her pack preferred to play malicious tricks on humanoids, Ada spent her time in tide pools and beach-combing, paying special attention to those land organisms that came to rest or forage on the seaside. As Ada grew up, she practiced her shapeshifting to emulate the other animals around her, and eventually grew in tune with nature to the point of learning druidic magic. She has now left her pack behind, exploring on land in order to learn more about the life that exists independently of the ocean.

Despite her gentle nature, Ada is especially interested in things like predator-prey relationships, decomposition and toxicology. Fungi are fairly rare in the ocean, and so she is fascinated by fungi and fungal creatures. When she is comfortable with someone, she often infodumps to them about all of the things she’s learned; her idea of “fun facts” is decidedly morbid and sometimes very gross. She views undeath as an aberration, but a particularly interesting one.

In combat, Ada switches from fun-loving to all business. She uses her animal focus to take on aspects like dolphin, orca or turtle, and then closes into melee with her spear or natural weapons. She prefers not to fight in wild shape mode, as Ada usually saves it to take a flying form if she needs to make a quick getaway. Ada is a little headstrong, and is not used to working alongside others, but given time and practice could become an excellent teammate.

Due to her attraction towards macabre topics, Ada Shorewalker has been considering an expedition to Castle Xyntillian. She has heard that Lake Xyntillian is home to an entire population of freshwater plesiosaurs, for example, and unusual plants and fungi grow throughout the grounds. She is confident that she can deal with any undead creatures that she encounters, because she has underestimated the sheer number of powerful undead that live on the grounds. She has no idea, for example, about powerful guests such as The Sickness or Debbie Twice-Born, or that Hubert Malevol the Huntsman has never stalked a selkie before and would be happy to add her head to his trophy collection.

Ada has red hair and a fat build in all of her humanoid forms. She gets along especially well with gnomes.

Ada Shorewalker          CR 8 XP 4,800 Female selkie druid 6 (variant feral shifter) N Medium monstrous humanoid (shapechanger) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +14, scent Defense AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +5 natural) hp 90 (12d8+36) Fort +11, Ref +12, Will +14; +4 vs. fey Resist cold 10 Defensive Abilities resist nature’s lure Offense Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft. Melee masterwork spear +15 (1d8+6/x3), bite +9 (1d8+4) or bite +14 (1d8+6), 2 claws +14 (1d6+4) Ranged masterwork spear +15 (1d8+4/x3) or sling +14 (1d4+4) Special Attacks animal focus (6 minutes/day), aquatic focus, powerful blows (bite), shake, wild shape (2/day, Tiny to Large animal, Small elemental) Spells CL 6th, concentration +10 (+14 casting defensively) 3rd—greater magic fang, neutralize poison (DC 16), speak with plants 2nd—barkskin, bear’s endurance, elemental speech, slipstream 1st—faerie fire, obscuring mist, produce flame, speak with animals 0th—detect magic, detect poison, purify food and drink, stabilize Statistics Str 18, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 16, Wis17, Cha 16 Base Atk +10; CMB +14; CMD 28 Feats Alertness, Combat Casting,Improved Critical (bite)B, Improved Initiative, Natural Spell, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge: nature) Skills Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +9, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +12, Knowledge (nature) +17, Heal +12, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +13, Survival +14, Swim +21 Languages Aquan, Common, Druidic, Gnome, Sylvan SQ change shape (any Small or Medium humanoid, alter self), echo of reason, hold breath, nature sense, trackless step, wild empathy +9, woodland step Gear seafoam shawl of resistance +1, pearl of power (1st level), wand of cure light wounds, scroll of lesser restoration, masterwork spear, sling with 10 bullets,coral and pearls worth 46 gp Special Abilities Animal Focus (Su): At 1st level, as a swift action, a feral shifter can take on the aspect of an animal, gaining a bonus or special ability based on the type of animal emulated. This functions as the hunter’s animal focus class feature. The feral shifter can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to her druid level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. She can emulate only one animal at a time. This ability replaces nature bond. Aquatic Focus (Su) Ada Shorewalker draws her animal focuses from the list for the aquatic beastmaster hunter archetype. Echo of Reason (Su) A selkie can instinctively alter the intonation of its voice to make anything it says sound more pleasing to those who understand it. When using the Bluff skill, a selkie treats its lies as one step more believable for the purposes of bonuses or penalties on the check. Shake (Ex) On a successful critical hit with its bite attack, a selkie automatically violently shakes a Large or smaller target. The target must succeed at a DC 16 Fortitude save or it is dazed for 1 round. Even on a successful save, the target still takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and skill checks for the next 2 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

#ada shorewalker #original art #oc #monster npc #monster girl summer #age of monsters #castle xyntillian #pathfinder 1e #selkie #my inspiration was if ariel from the disney little mermaid was a biologist instead of an archeologist #also if she could fucking tear your throat out #the art references were for leopard seals specifically

[pigspeetsandhooflikefeets]

Hey. I don’t like posting this because I like to be a positive person and this is a really cool and positive fandom, but I need to say please avoid melodicalmusic on DeviantArt/doggiebeats on Quotev. Initially I thought it was just someone who was missing the point, but they are far worse and actively harmful. (notes under cut)

melodicalmusic/doggiebeats is the author and illustrator of an au fic named “Velo Life”. At first glance it is harmless, the art is fine. The story revolves around a mask named Pap (a papillon dog) doing things, being an assistant to the monarchy, and dating Fox. Sometimes other masks get chapters, but the overall focus is on her oc, which is fine, as ocs can be good. The problem isn’t conception, it’s execution.

Transphobia: Melodic decided to cast Leopard as a non-binary intersex character. It was a fair design choice, other than the fact she referred to them as a “pseudo-h*rmaphodite”, which is medically outdated, as well as the inclusion of ‘pseudo’ is more offensive than the slur alone. Leopard has biological cubs, despite most intersex (obviously not all) being infertile or unable to carry children showing a lack of research on the topic, as well as it being a very dysphoric situation for many trans and intersex people.

Leopard was referred to as a “quing”, combination “queen” and “king”. Now. Mull over it. Okay stop mulling, because she had every inch to just use “Monarch”, such as “Monarch Leopard”, as well as titles like “Their/Your Majesty”, which works for both kings and queens, so it should have been suitable for Leopard.

Unprompted, she backpedaled saying “But I wanted Leopard in my AU to be a actual female. Cause I think it's for the best. Everyone kinda hated Leopard, but I love everything she does. No not Transgender, just really a female.”. Besides the fact she took it in her own hands to decide that a mask played by Seal was ‘now a cis woman’, she implies that trans women are not women, calling cis women ‘really a female’.

In her fic, the only other trans character is Egg, who is exceptionally ambiguous to being trans, not specifying if Egg is NB, FTM, or if he as well was going to be intersex. She dedicates a chapter to pride month, yet a lot of the focus is on the cishet masks (Pap (her oc), Frog, and Fox), as well as a concerning ship of T-Rex and Poodle, as everyone knows that T-Rex is somewhat coded to be a child, since Jojo was only 16 when she performed. Despite claiming to respect trans people, she only had two trans characters, and decided that one of them wouldn’t be trans anymore because “I admired the high-pitch voice that was fitted for the Leopard, it just suits SO well. Even if the show kept going, I always hear the digital high vocals.”. Call me crazy, but that’s not a reason to make a man a cis woman.

As a trans man, Leopard was disgustingly handled in the show with the panel first week, accusing Seal of ‘tricking’ them for wearing drag and acting feminine (not acting like a woman, acting feminine), and I hoped it wouldn’t leech into the fandom. Clearly I was wrong.

Homophobia: Where to start with this. As stated, she changed Leopard from a NB intersex character (in her original canon) to a cis woman. In the fic, Leopard is married to Nick. I don’t need to tell you that she made Nick x Leopard into a straight ship. She made the only gay ship tease in the show into a straight ship. I wish it ended here.

Somali, an oc, has potential. Not here, but he has it. Somali is gay. If you think I’m undermining his character, that is his character. Somali likes magic and theater, and is very flamboyant. He is a gay walking stereotype. In his description, it is stated, “The story is that he turnout Gay, Of course Pappy was Supportive, but she knew it wasn't fair, especially through everything she's involved.” If you need me to translate: Somali broke up with Pap after realizing he was gay. Pap saw that as unfair, and that she was a victim of being lead on because he found out he was gay. Yes, Pap is making Somali being gay and dealing with his internalized homophobia… about herself. She goes to the point of calling him her nemesis. Which is a... toxic way to refer to someone who broke up with you on clean terms.

Somali eventually teams up with Rottweiler, Pap’s brother (who abuses her, despite it being out of character in every means) and is. Evil, and he hates Pap now apparently. We can’t go a minute without the gay oc being evil huh. Somali being gay doesn’t add to the story, it just suggests the only reason he stopped dating her was that he was gay (which is bad and offensive in Pap’s eyes) because he is not shown to fall for Rottweiler, or have any crushes on other male masks. His homosexuality is an accessory tag, and it’s really not a good one when he is the only gay character with a lot of lines.

Every. Character. That. Is. LGBT. Is. A. Token. Ice Cream and T-Rex are the closest ones to not be tokens, as Ice Cream has a job at a diner and T-Rex gets lines, but T-Rex is only used for exposition, and again, a child shipped with an adult mask. Peacock’s and Rabbit’s role outside of the first chapter is to have a rocky relationship, being forced to rekindle their relationship after Pap tells them to do so for a love festival. Several of the female masks are bisexual or lesbians, but they add so little to the plot, that I don’t even remember which ships are which. Every [since Leopard used to not be but is now] main character is heterosexual and cis (Pap, Fox, Leopard, Kitty, Frog, Turtle, Rottweiler) which doesn’t imply that she actually is that pro LGBT. Drawings of hers for Ice Cream and Egg are captioned “Just something Gay for you guys to see~” (fetishizing much?).

Ableism: One of the ocs in the fic is a Red Panda, who is related to Panda (don’t be confused, animal wise they are not closely related at all). In the fic, Red Panda suffers from PTSD due to an accident which caused her to be disabled in the leg, who uses a single-leg-crutch to walk. The physical disability is handled well enough, not being a hindrance or made fun of, but her personality is the worst. Red Panda is a cowardly and sniveling child, scared of her own shadow and completely incompetent. Her PTSD is very thinly written, not giving her any specific triggers or reasons for anxiety. If her PTSD was presented with her being afraid of entering a vehicle or certain smells that would relate to the accident (rubber, smoke, leather), it would make sense, but Red Panda is scared of everything. On a dare, Frog tells Kitty to impersonate a mask. Kitty impersonates Red Panda, making fun of her cowardice, which can be an actual attack on people who have PTSD (like myself), Kitty justifies herself, saying she couldn’t think of anyone else, Red Panda immediately accepting it. Being a minor character, there is no time for her to develop, and the Red Panda we were presented with is already a mess.

In the same chapter that Red Panda is introduced, Axolotl (mentioned a lot later) dares Fox to remove his prosthetic arm. I don’t need to need prosthesis to know that asking someone to take their ARM OFF is unfunny and uncalled for. Pap, Fox’s girlfriend, decided to take the time and kissed the welt, commenting that it “looked interesting”. Don’t- don’t do that. Don’t kiss people’s scars or cuts or welts or anything related to their disability, especially without permission. Axolotl was being ablest to Fox and somehow Fox didn’t know better and forgot to tell her she was acting uncivilized, despite being one of the smartest masks in the canon.

Condoning Incest: One of the ocs in the fic is an Axolotl. The axolotl is Frog’s biological sister, Frog having Turtle as his adopted brother, which in fic Turtle is stated to have been adopted in Frog’s family for over 15 years. In the axolotl’s description, it is stated “Though Axolotl is a relative of him, She deeply has a crush on him. Which maybe weird but hey, Turtle's Adopted. So not a big deal”. No, it’s not ‘ok’ because Turtle is adopted, especially since they’ve been related 15 years. It’s not like Frog and Turtle are ‘close enough to be brothers’, they are related by law. Axolotl is presented to quirkily force a kiss on Turtle in one chapter, which she is not punished or condoned for 1. Sexually harassing him 2. Committing incest and putting it on his conscience, OTHER than her getting salmonella, which all characters who kiss Turtle are prone to getting (Ice Cream in chapter was stated to have fallen sick after kissing him). Axolotl is treated completely fine and Turtle has her in his band, regardless of the fact she is predatory towards him. Additionally, Axolotl is treated as a babysitter towards all of the children on the island, despite, again, sexually harassing someone she is related to, which people saw happen.

Incest is a harmful thing that can cause people to self-deprecate themselves or worse. It’s not a quirky “ha ha, they kissed, so funny!” because Axolotl DOES want to prey on Turtle. She DOES want to be with him. She didn’t CARE about his feelings, in the moment or after. It wasn’t a cute kiss on the cheek, and it wasn’t funny.

Fetishization of Japan: Pap is a weeeeeb. Pap is stated to be Japanese (her last name being Akita) which is confusing on account of the fact Rottweiler and her family are not shown to be Japanese? Anyways, Pap uses broken Japanese, completely unsparingly, and just says it in a way she expects everyone to understand her. It’s not Engrish, she speaks English well enough, she just adds it in sentences, and Melodic doesn’t even offer translations at the end of chapters. Phrases used are arbitrary, one some reason ending with “translator”. Entire sentences can be in Japanese, making the story hard to follow. If this fetishization of the language was limited to Pap, it’d be more tolerable, but other masks, ones who have no reason to know Japanese, use it as well, equally poorly.

Xenophobia: Some reason the USA and UK masks are all good guys (other than Rottweiler) but the German masks live in a ‘badlands’. German Monster teams up with Rottweiler and is his girlfriend, while German Dragon sexually assaults Kitty when they go through the badlands. There is no rhyme or reason why they are the scapegoated ‘evil’ series, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Inability to handle criticism: I tried. I tried my absolute best to tell her that what she was writing was harmful and past borderline offensive. I told her that Somali was a gay stereotype and very poorly presented, not getting a personality out of ‘likes singing’ (which all masks do…) and ‘is evil gay’. She didn’t care. We told her she was using slurs and that turning a mask played by Seal into a cis woman was offensive and transphobic (as well as Leopard already poorly being handled). She didn’t care.

In fact she more than didn’t care. She called us insensitive and whiny. Quote from her, "Now, I been feeling upset about some Haters/Karens harassing me on my AU ideas. And yes that's dumb.” Karens. You know, the stereotypical older women who hate the gays and trans people and bully people doing their jobs? Karens? Yeah, no. A Karen would be against any characters being trans or gay, insisting the show is for families, not telling them to stop using literal slurs (which have been outdated over 20 years) and to actually write gay characters. She genuinely acts like she can do no wrong and that everyone that doesn’t fawn over her is bad. This has nothing to do with the quality of the writing and the lack of grammar, this is about how she is unapologetically offensive and writing triggering content for the sake of being ‘quirky’.

I’m not saying “go rally against her” or “dox her” or “flame her story”, I’m suggesting please don’t give her attention. She’s clearly a child, and she’s not willing to change. All we can do is limit how much attention she gets until she grows up.

#masked singer #the masked singer #talking about this with my group really hurt like this is a bad headspace to be in #I don't want her to quit I want her to grow as a person