Laevi-somnus - Somnus

Lady Amangeaux Epicée du Peche from the Ravening war, she’s really interesting and has a great design 🥺

Her story just has the right amount of tragedy and sweetness to it

Joining a DnD campaign to draw other player characters in memes like this, is the reason why I started DnD (the characters are related in this campaign)

So, I’m now seeing takes that the Princesses in Neverafter actually have a good point, and after we just went through this with Asmodeus in Calamity and Ludinus in Critical Role, I gotta say…

There’s a difference between being sympathetic and ethical.

There’s a difference between being sympathetic and ethical.

Asmodeus was sympathetic. He was also a murderous, manipulative, hate-filled liar who wanted to destroy every mortal in Exandria.

Ludinus is sympathetic. He brings up reasonable questions about the worthiness of the gods. But he has also been the benefactor of the suffering of others, of children under the protection of the Assembly under his protection, for years. He stole items of extreme cultural importance to the Kryn, propagated misinformation about them, and was the catalyst of war with them. He is the ultimate force behind almost every murder and act of violence in Campaign 3. He is not right.

The Princesses are sympathetic, but their goal is to destroy everyone and everything. The same as Null in The Unsleeping City, Volume 2, in fact, yet I didn’t see much sympathy for Null, or for Tony Simos for that matter.

And I wonder if people fall into siding with these villains because of the Marvel villain paradox.

Because Marvel saw people’s response to Killmonger in Black Panther and decided to make every villain sympathetic. But a key to Killmonger's appeal was that he was cleverly written, sympathetic while still being incredibly violent, carrying the violent teachings of the CIA and applying them to the entire world. And T’Challa’s response to Killmonger was not to reinforce the status quo at the movie’s end, but to tell those that came before that they were wrong and take steps to make real change.

This is contrasted by the Marvel villains who come after, who are sympathetic, care-giving to their communities, revolutionary, but whoopsy, they do some murders (often completely out of character) so the hero stops them and says something about change while restoring the status quo.

Which is frustrating and lazy writing and not what’s going on in these actual play shows.

Ludinus has been rotten from the start. We know the kind of person he is from his previous actions. And we know that, like most power-hungry people, he’s a huge hypocrite. Because the change he wants to see, where the gods can’t directly influence people at their whims? We’re already there. The gods are behind the Divine Gate. The Calamity is over. They cannot strike cities from the sky any longer. His brighter tomorrow is a lie, and his true goals are known only to him. (Also even if his goal was as he said, it’s a nuclear option, and things like that always affect the powerless and oppressed more than they ever affect the most powerful.)

The Princesses are also hypocrites. They lament their lack of agency, but they steal that agency from others. They always intended to kill the Snow Queen. They lied about their motives to the Baba Yaga, to their allies, until they had Rosamund alone. They stole the Book from Tim before the party did anything to disrupt or harm them. And if you don’t think that choosing non-existence for every being in the multiverse isn’t a breach of agency, I don’t know what to say to you.

And, unlike the Marvel heroes, Destiny’s Children specifically do not want to maintain the status quo. They’ve looked at the Fairies and the Princesses, and chosen not to side with either. It’s not as simple as one faction being right, though I know that would be comforting.

Anyway, I’m excited for what’s to come in both stories. I’m eager to see Ludinus’ real motives, and to see the third path that Destiny’s Children make for themselves.

This is my interpretation of ylfa‘s design from Neverafter.

I‘d like to imagine ylfa with a huge axe cuz girls who face death and befriend it deserve a huge axe.

Princess Rosamund Du Prix 🩷✨

Champion’s Tunic - Hylian Trousers (dyed white) + Opal Earrings

I’m trying to learn how to draw tuk since my friend forced me into liking avatar :D