#ft. lore

Nithki (she/they)

My first ever DnD chracter

a Drow, i just haven't gotten the chance or urge to draw/paint her purple

In regular ol’ DnD lore she was actually a bard, but if I were to remake her now I’d probably do some rogue something or.. deep dive into college of swords stuff

Imma be real she has been severely neglected, her campaign was from when I was still in elementary school and even then we only lasted a couple of sessions, she's due for a revamp lmao. what's sticking for sure though is:

She's Amity's girlfriend, also works at the same cafe as her

Music enjoyer,,, piano prolly

Amity (she/her)

My second ever DnD character

Her Spotify Playlist, Pinterest Board

Darling amazing wonderful sunshine child

She's like if my optimism and faith that Everything Will Be Okay was cranked up to 100.

In DnD lore she's a cleric of Liira, The Joybringer, and enjoys organizing festivals and events and such. She focuses on planning activities and networking with vendors and special guests.

As a hobby/side-hustle, she offers divination services and advice (she likes using tarot cards, pendulums, and probably recently picked up a fascination with palm-reading).

She's got a good setup atm working at a small cafe. She helps out doing regular cafe stuff but has her own little room/curtained off area for divination stuff :) appointments and walk-ins :D

The campaign I played her in was home-brewed so she basically stayed the same, just minus the religious element

Plagued by visions sometimes. She tries to do good as much as she can and gets a little frantic sometimes avoiding misfortune she believes the universe is giving her signs abt

Ramsey 'Rawdog' Godwar (he/him)

My third (and current campaign) DnD character. The campaign is in the same home-brewed setting as Amity's campaign, but abt 1000 years in the past (iirc,,,,,,)

His Spotify Playlist, Pinterest Board

He started as a "fantasy flavoured Big Boss who eats potion ingredients raw" and he still does that but is also such a dog of a man now. and also doesn't restrict himself to eating potion ingredients (the suspicious glowing moss growing inside of the magical grotto we're chilling in right now doesn't taste great btw, if anyone was curious)

Autism

"Rawdog" because he WILL eat things raw. Not that he prefers eating stuff like that, dude just couldn't be bothered most of the time to prep stuff and/or light a fire.

The puncherrrrrr (usually steers clear of magic and enjoys melee combat)

Best Buddies with Swallow, the stars aligned when the military higher ups decided to try pairing them together and they've been inseparable ever since

Happy and loyal test subject to Swallow for all things alchemical (... happy and loyal for all other things too tbh)

Claustrophobic, prefers spending his time outside.

Not a huge talker

Substances™️ user (Ty Swallow for having weed and all drugs on hand 24/7) and you bet you're ass he's not being healthy abt it

"Swallow" (he/him)

NPC for Rawdog's sitch

His Spotify Playlist, Pinterest Board

I'm not gonna pretend to fight any otacon allegations because my ass is not subtle at all and you're all correct. Nerdy yapper x jock, but this time he’s more insane and i hope they make each other worse

The code name's definitely from the bird. I totally didn’t have Rawdog say in character “yeah one of my buddies is named Swallow, don’t know why he’s got that name” as a joke and refused to imagine a reality where I DIDN'T follow through and commit to the bit

An alchemist, a bit unhinged at times but hush it's fine whateverrrrrrr he's just a silyyy guyyyyy who's never done anything nefarious or dubious in his life evverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Provider of potion ingredients to Rawdog

Questionable morals at times. (Ex. Before getting paired up with Rawdog, dude would sneak ingredients into his past buddy's food anyways to see what would happen if they didn’t agree to test stuff out for him)

Struggling Bullied Nerd to Top In His Field pipeline, ego included, and now he's got a cool lap guard dog??? Living the dream.

He too also enjoys using substances™️

Gemma (she/her)

Backstory NPC for Rawdog as well!

Her Pinterest Board, there isn't much there but it exists

I'm still uh... in the process of fleshing things out with her but: she's a childhood friend to Rawdog, family friends yknow

The two haven’t been keeping in contact much since Rawdog deep-dived into military stuff, and Gemma got dragged away with school/magic stuff

The two of them briefly dated, ended on ok terms

She was supposed to be like EVA from mgs a bit, vibes are very different now but at the very least she is still the ethereal baddie that Rawdog severely fumbled

Mica (she/he) (God's Custodian)

My lil Custodian character, she's the protagonist for this worldbuilding/story/game concept thing I have on the back burner very much trying to embody the vibes from Hello Charlotte, a smidge of OFF, LotL/HnK, and some other things I can't remember off the top of my head rn. I hope one day it gets added to the list of rpg maker games made by lesbians that inflict psychic damage

Custodian in a research facility stationed in the dead body of a giant god, a la whale falls

Her Spotify Playlist

Doesn't have a soul probably. or maybe missing his heart, literally

Loves the monotony of work and wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else

Has a bucket with just a pile of tentacles and an eyeball in there, it's friendly and talks with him while he works

Mica, Viv, and a handful of the other human employees look suspiciously similar (there's some clone shit going on here)

"Viv", Vivianite (she/her) (God's Custodian)

Also works at the same research facility as Mica. I haven't fully settled on what job she has yet but, something custodial related as well maybe

Her Spotify Playlist

Has one-sided beef with Mica

Idk what organ she’s missing yet

attention-seeker, has a bit of an ego, and views herself as the queen bee of the staff

Either through intentional or accidental means, she has a bit of insight on the true goals/purpose of the research facility (which further inflates her ego lmao)

She kinda just does whatever she wants, wherever, whenever

Kevin (he/they) (Prev Hero AU)

You know him

my Sheikah OC for my Prev Hero Zelda AU (#prev hero au on my main blog if you wanna see stuff abt it)

A vampire, as all Sheikah are in my AU (lore and ‘mechanics’ wise it might be more fitting to call them dhampirs)

Comes from a long line of Sheikah who has worked as personal guards/security for the royal family

He's the son of that era's incarnation of Impa. He's taken over his mom’s role as Zelda’s bodyguard, and carries the title of “Impa” during the events of the AU since his mom just up and went MIA one day.

Something’s… going on between him and that era’s Link 🤨

Enjoys print-making and bookbinding in their free-time

Questions from here

What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

I wanted to give Rawdog an Otacon/Gray Fox sort of character, or at least 1 significant backstory NPC. and then like in character I had Rawdog mention off hand one of his 'buddies' was named "Swallow" and I couldn't not commit to the bit.

How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

I wanna say it took me about a year or so??? (That sounds like a lot, but we were all busy with school so our sessions were pretty spread out) for Swallow's main motivation/goal to come to fruition and there were little breakthroughs since then and up to the present. Late last year and early this year I wanna say is when the bulk of those happened.

Visually he came to me very quickly, again, since I was piggy backing off of MGS, specifically mgs1 otacon with his silver hair. Again I don't think it was until early this year when I started drawing him how he is now, my beautiful morally dubious wasian.

What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

LMAO. Same as Rawdog I guess, his name being Swallow was probably the first thing that was set in stone. Visuals again came quick since I was pulling from MGS. And his role, as Rawdog's military best buddy also was decided very early on.

And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

hm. Personality took a while in the sense that I just went a long time not really super concerned about how he acted but once of those couple of breakthroughs happened, and HONESTLY some irl stuff that's when his behaviour sorta cemented itself in my brain.

How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

Swallow because haha also a valid diamond dogs code name probably. and then like,,, yknow,,, how else are you gonna drink potions.

What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

piggy backing off of Otacon mgs1, but idk he's more fem and gay lookin and I wanna steal his wardrobe.

What is an aspect of their appearance that you like the most?

I like his silver hair a lot actually, idk it was something I liked seeing a lot on otacon in mgs1 fanart! I also enjoy drawing his eyes a lot, smug sinister fox-lookin expressions 8)

What is the origin of their personality? And let's be honest - how much of it is projecting?

ok so there are these two mgs fics by bosstoaster where 1) Otacon's like evil or smthn who like,,,.,,,,, through dubious nano-machine powered means gets Snake onto his side. I enjoyed his possessive nature here and then 2) the other fic where snake and otacon sneak into an underground fighting ring and Otacon's a little too into watching Snake duke it out.

So I threw those together and then made him a bit of a cunt

How big is their role in the story? Do they make a frequent appearance or are they a character with little "screentime" but big influence? Or are they just a favourite background guy?

similar-ish answer to how I answered for Rawdog, except he's an NPC in my DMs hands. Role wise though I kind of see Swallow and Rawdog operating on a similar level in that they are both the main characters of their own arcs but also very vital characters to each other's stories.

What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop? Do they get a happy ending or is their story a tragic one?

Not,,, so sure. campaign is still ongoing ofc, but I imagine Swallow has the capacity, depending on how shit goes, to either go wayy fucking in the deep end with his pursuit for power and control or like. idk man become normal and learn what proper consent and communication is 💀

Is there any existing character from other media that your character resembles? Was the resemblance intentional or was it a coincidence?

Otacon. This was intentional

Facial proportions/structure wise too he actually resembled Caitlyn Arcane a lot. This was unintentional, but after deciding to lean into giving Swallow more east-asian leaning eyes I'm not really surprised.

Do you have a playlist for the character? What songs do you associate with them and why?

I do, multiple actually it's. my bias is showing. His main one, part 2 for a slightly different vibe, his whoring out playlist, and another playlist for a separate campaign where I'm using him as my PC

Songs in particular that I like are uhhh: Weird Science, No One Lives Forever, Lay All Your Love On Me is a lot of fun too, and then IDK Animal Attraction is a favourite as well.

Do you have a voice claim for the character? What do you imagine the character sounds like?

Like Viktor Arcane but not as deep. one day I'll fuck around with a voice clip in audacity till it gets to around where I'm picturing it

Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fit them?

Have you ever made a moodboard for them?

Yes.

Is there any memes or running jokes associated with the character, both in- and out of universe?

uhhhhhhhhhh idk i mean, a lot of things also get said about your character when he's named Swallow.

Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?

Swallows (the bird),,, uhhhh I've also come around to associating him with foxes. Cause of that,,, whatever sinister conniving nature yknow. his freaky ass smile.

Does the character have other characters connected to them? Do you have a family tree and "offscreen" connections made up for them or do they exist in a vacuum purely for the purpose of the story?

yeah. Rawdog is like his #1 guy. He's got some family and a mentor but I haven't deep dived into all of their situations like I have with Rawdog's fam.

What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?

He's like a cunt idk. Morally dubious, does whatever the fuck he wants, but is also such a teenage girl at times. as one of my friends have put it he's like "my hysterical wife that I need lobotomized". He's a lot of fun to write.

I don't think I really have a least favourite thing abt him,,

Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

modern au iteration of him with an office job

cutie patootie who i think looks really cute with his bunny mask. i cannot conceive of any other scenario where that info would come to the light of day so here he is

this expression I doodled is also a favourite of mine

his kin list which i constructed for my other campaign

(Questions from here)

What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

New dnd campaign rolls around, also around the height of my metal gear brain rot, with a general setting of medieval fantasy military conflict stuff so. I wrote it initially as a joke but playing a “fantasy flavoured Big Boss that eats potion ingredients raw and claims they brew in the stomach” would not leave my mind. The name Rawdog, also initially a joke, came around cause dude eats shit raw and also I’d like to think is a valid diamond dogs codename.

How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

WOOF idk, I still feel like I’m working on him, but in terms of visuals I think stuff started to really get locked in after I also started a bg3 run as him and started drawing the guy more often so. Probably a couple of months?

What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

UHHHHHHH,,,, Name and vibe technically,,, again, “guy with codename ‘Rawdog’ and is just a fantasy flavoured Big Boss who eats potion ingredients raw” were the initial shitposts that started it all. Appearance also came to me very quickly, again obv cause I was pulling so much from metal gear. Role also got established fairly early on too, I knew I wanted him to be more of a tanky melee combat guy.

And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

Everything’s been tweaked little by little as I’ve played him AND just as I’ve had more time to chew on his backstory and everything in my own time, but I think…ok I wouldn’t say I “struggled” with his personality, but it has definitely shifted around in a different direction than what I originally envisioned for the guy.

How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

SSSIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHHHH. Ok. “Rawdog” cause he eats shit raw and [insert military dog joke here].

His first name “Ramsey” comes from Gordon Ramsey (ty Dad for the suggestion) Because he’s like, idk man the antithesis of that guy. Or any chef really but whatever. It’s not that Rawdog doesn’t know how to cook, its just that if he was truly left to his own devices dude would not cook (he’ll still cook stuff for safety reason ofc) or assemble/prepare his food at all because why. Ok yes, things taste better when they’re prepared properly but also he’s lazy he’s tired he’s probably on the go too to some degree so! He will just eat every sandwich ingredient separately one by one because WHY TF NOT.

The last name “Godwar” is just Rawdog but backwards.

What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

Big Boss

What is an aspect of their appearance that you like the most?

His sad ouppy dog eyes and his stupid lil hair doohickey up front

What is the origin of their personality? And let's be honest - how much of it is projecting?

Uhhhhhhhhhhh hm. I think i was really just aiming for a grumpy jaded quiet no-nonsense military kind of guy. Like depression alaska era solid snake if he talked way less.

I’m p sure I’ve blasted rawdog with my flavour of autism

How big is their role in the story? Do they make a frequent appearance or are they a character with little "screentime" but big influence? Or are they just a favourite background guy?

Uhh. Like he’s the main guy in the sense that he’s my player character, but also there’s a ton of other shit happening in his backstory specifically and also I guess the expanded Godwars + Swallow lore so, don’t know if I’d necessarily call him the “main character” of all of my Godwars/Swallow brainstorming but, he’s the starting point, the first character to ever exist in that hell, and everything else radiated around him yknow.

What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop? Do they get a happy ending or is their story a tragic one?

Uhhhh, campaign is still ongoing so! We’ll see LMAO. I sense,,, some reclaiming of autonomy and figuring out whatever the fuck he’s got going on with Swallow

Is there any existing character from other media that your character resembles? Was the resemblance intentional or was it a coincidence?

Jschlatt

Do you have a playlist for the character? What songs do you associate with them and why?

I do ☺️ uhh uhhhhh prolly the ones that make me go insane the most atm are: Rule#8 Otherside and The Deal.

Special shoutout too to La Partida, it doesn’t have any lyrics but it’s like,, a smaller (kinda feels like a demo version) of another song with the that’s on Rawdog’s Dad’s playlist and I like that connection between their playlists :))

Do you have a voice claim for the character? What do you imagine the character sounds like?

Not really…. Like naked snake/big boss/mgs1 snake prolly is close, but something’s different abt what Rawdog’s voice is like in my head (lower pitch? Less gravely? Idk I’d have to really scout around for voice claims and it isn’t really all that important to me.)

Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fit them?

This has like, 0 impact with no context given but please trust me when I say he’s being such a big fucking asshole right here. Asshole doesn’t even feel harsh enough. Like I actually wanted to strangle him writing this rp out but at the same time i had the most fucking devious teehee kicking my feet kind of smile on my face hitting enter.

Have you ever made a moodboard for them?

Yeah

Is there any memes or running jokes associated with the character, both in- and out of universe?

Dude a lot of things get said about your guy when he’s named “Raw Dog”

Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?

I enjoy dog, wolf, and ram motifs with my guy. Personality wise i see all three of those animals somewhere in him, maybe certain one coming more to the forefront at certain times or with certain character arcs/endings in mind.

Dog cause,, dude’s a lil too loyal probably. Wolf for the canine-like uhhhhHH?? Savage-ness? Depravity? The “wild-side” ?? Idk i think he’d really flourish just getting set loose in the woods with his buds. Ram is in there cause he’s stubborn and I enjoy the prey-animal relationship things you could talk about in terms of him in relation to the other characters around him and their associated animals.

Does the character have other characters connected to them? Do you have a family tree and "offscreen" connections made up for them or do they exist in a vacuum purely for the purpose of the story?

A lot. I have about 8 google docs of brain storming and a google spreadsheet for figuring out the timeline of events.

What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?

I enjoy his design and personality, his general 🧍‍♂️ness. Ik design wise i literally just leeched off of big boss but I DONT CARE He’s developing his own distinct visual identity and personality away from metal gear so. That’s my guy and i love drawing him

Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

- I think this blog has seen just about every single piece of rawdog art I’ve done.

- Idk man he’s an asshole and I like seeing that side of him come out. Idk i feel like on the surface its so easy to just look at him like he’s some dumb guy who licks rocks but he’s a dumb guy who licks rocks who also isn’t afraid of trying to formulate a sentence to destabilize someone for the rest of the conversation/argument just for the sake of getting them off his ass.

- I like drawing him as a woman sometimes. Swadog Yuri.