(Commission by @maysrinns-kpd-blog )

Happy Pride!

Nu Ji-Ahn/Dr. Carmilla Orozco-Lancaster is celebrating not just by wearing her rings or waving her flag, but by showing off her demonic heritage!

After an event in the early 70s, Ji-Ahn, then known as Carmilla, she made the choice to embrace more of her demonic heritage. From research Magye history and cultures to physically displaying her demonic features.

It started out small, her fangs, her ears, her claws, things she could easily explain away or people could easily forget was ever different. The hardest were her patterns. The truest symbol of her demon heritage, her connection to Magye, her connection to the past. To THEM. It wasn’t easy, the anxiety attacks whenever she saw the purple were painful. Even Nath begged her to stop. But she kept going. She HAD to. If for nothing more than to say she could. But she couldn’t look at the purple.

“Perhaps a different color?”

Carmilla turned to Nath. Exhausted and perplexed, but intrigued.

“You can change and alter your appearance right? Why not change the color of your patterns? Look. I’m not comfortable with you doing this. Especially with how much it hurts you. But if it’s what you want, make it palatable for yourself. You know?”

Carmilla had never been more “in love” with that man that she was right then.

She chose an off-white scar-esque color. In many ways, her patterns were a bit like scars; the emotional turmoil that she has lived with for the last 37 years. Since she left Korea.

It took time, but she grew to love her patterns again. She grew to love herself again. And she hasn’t looked back since…

Some fun facts!:

1. She didn’t learn about aro, or ace as terms until the 2010s. She just assumed she cared deeply for her husband and assumed that was romantic love.

2. Oriented Aroace - An individual who doesn’t experience romantic or sexual attraction, but does experience other types or attractions (tertiary attractions) that are equally important to their identity. Flag and term designed by @biaroace

3. Ace and Aro rings - Rings that indicate a persons ace or aro identity; white ring on left hand = Aro, black ring on right hand = Ace. Not many people know about them as much, sadly, but they are still cool!

4. She has only had two partners: Nathaniel “Nath” Lancaster (late husband) and Moonassi the Scientist ( @dukeswonderousmenagerie )

Fanart of a fanart for @virgo-arts

@dukeswonderousmenagerie

Ji-Ahn and Moonassi (@dukeswonderousmenagerie oc) having a causual conversation:

“So you say we demons are simply smaller parts of primordial constructs? We, reapers as you call us, are simply the avatars that Death uses to walk the mortal plane? I must say, if your theory is correct, we demons have more power than we can ever imagine…”

“Oh! Don’t call us demons, it’s simply too simple. Too Western. Too Bad faith Christendom!”

“Oh? Pray tell, what are we?”

“We are nature, in all its forms. You cannot look at existence through good and evil. It’s inaccurate! Think of existence as itself vs entropy. The Cycle vs Nothing. Positive vs Negative. Everything works to keep existence going. Otherwise we’d have fallen to Entropy Cycles ago! We reapers are the recycling system! To oversimplify, our job is to take the energy that is “souls” and return it to the worlds! Yes, some parts can “move on” and be reborn, but most of it goes to keeping are realms flourishing and rich! It’s why the cancerous-I mean Gwi Ma was so detrimental. He upended a part of the Cycle! Yes we are only a small part, but just because you only see a small patch of mold doesn’t mean it’s small. You miss the roots that have spread everywhere! It’s why the Union Bureaucratic Department of Reapers was established, a third party was determined to be the best way to manage and ensure that interruptions to the Cycle were minimal and non threatening!”

“We are but parts of nature… And you’ve met Death you say?”

“Oh xey are such a doll! Sweet thing really. You know, xey are the reason loving things even have memory and feelings to begin with! Xey wanted all things to experience what xey do. Don’t know if you would like xem though? You would get along well with Life! Not the emotional type, quite literally the embodiment of endless consumption. Makes sense since xey are a “child” of Entropy…”

Firstly, a small apology to those who may be waiting for an update to The Timekeeper’s Gambit, but life has gotten in the way recently with regards to that. On top of having a new, and very demanding, full-time job at an animal hospital, I recently had a tragedy in the family. And considering this upcoming chapter is darker than many of my other ones, it’s been difficult to be in a proper headspace to write the chapter out. I assure you, I am working on it, but it’s gonna be quite some time before I get around to finishing it. This is why I’ve been working on chapters for the companion piece Gambit Drabble Diaries so that I have something going out. I will hopefully be updating that one again soonish with an Ava centric chapter about how she came to Athenas and shook things up for Wyn and Troy.

Also planned for Diaries soon:

A visit to Athenas from Rhys and Zane

A party for Wyn that is secretly set up by Ava and her partner in crime Vael

Troy finishing his training with his master and getting not one, but two new weapons!

And Maya starting a serious hunt for the rest of her family from Bl2

I tend to over think and over research I guess. Often times it leaves me frustrated and flustered trying to figure out how to make what makes sense in my head, to make sense "on paper" as it were.

I originally intended for Gambit to be at minimum 50 chapters, but have since rethought that. Mainly because the sequel is already about halfway written sitting somewhere around 70,000ish words. And there's a short that is a prequel, that leads into a parallel AU that has roughly 60,000ish words written for it too. So I've had to rethink how long I want Gambit to be, among other things. Still, I believe the changes I've decided on will be better for the story, and less stressful on me.

Sure! I have some pictures that are along the lines of what the Raiders base on Pandora was like, only cleaner and more updated. Basically, that first base that Wyn and Troy spent most of their time in was one of those military bases that's partially above ground, and partially below ground. And being it was located on the edges of the Dust, it was covered in sand dunes instead of grass and plants. But here's a few for ya that I use as reference:

For the compound on Athenas, I have one pic for reference that is basically exactly as I imagine it:

Heyo! So since Zane is becoming a main character in my fic The Timekeepers Gambit, I’ve decided to post backstory facts for him from my AU. It helps one understand where he’s coming from in regards to the way he acts at times, or how he thinks, or how his family functions. Of course if y’all have any questions or want clarification on something, please feel free to ask!

-Zane is the youngest of four children. His older siblings are Baron, Captain, and Treasure. His was an accidental pregnancy that his father didn’t want. He left before Zane was born after being given the choice to leave and never return, or shut up and accept his new child.

-Zane’s mother is the Head of the Flynt Clan. Captain was to be the next Head after his son Sparky was born, since having an heir is usually a requirement for ascending to lead the Clan. After Baron, Captain, and Sparky were killed, Treasure was to be the next Head of the family. She however has disowned the Flynt Clan after marriage and the birth of her son Myron. Treasure also took on her husband’s name, breaking one of the laws of the Clan. She is no longer eligible to lead the family.

-Zane is the only other member of the Main family left, but is ineligible to be handed over the leadership and let his mother retire due to having no children of his own. This was later rescinded upon adoption of Wyn.

-A bored day plus wanting to try and find her family led Wyn to do extensive DNA and family history research with the help of ATLAS resources. It was discovered that Wyn and Zane’s family share a common ancestor.

-The Flynt Clan are descended from Biddy Early, a White Witch from Old World Ireland born in the late 1790’s. The females of her bloodline were born with her gifts, but it has diluted over time. Females born into the family have become rarer and more scarce over the generations, leading to a female born into the family, especially one born with their ancestral gifts, to be seen as a blessing upon the Clan.

-Zane’s sister is the first female born to the Flynts in twelve generations. If she has inherited any of the gifts, she’s kept that information well hidden from everyone else.

-Wyn sharing a blood connection with the Flynts, distant as it may be, makes her adoption “legal” for Zane to claim the title of Head of the Clan. The fact she’s also a Siren, which the Flynt Clan believes means she’s a witch, and already having a child adds legitimacy to said claim.

-He will not take over as Head of the Flynt Clan until his mother retires, which won’t happen until a few years after the events of Borderlands 3

-The Flynt Clan was one of the first bandit clans established after the Corporate Wars ended and the leftover slaves had to fight to survive. The family had a different surname that has been lost to time. They took up the name “Flynt” from their use and love of pyrotechnics.

-They are the oldest Clan family left on Pandora, all the others either dying off, or their family names being forgotten due to their members going Psycho from the Song of the planet.

-Unlike other bandit clans, the Flynts prefer to remain neutral, only really becoming involved in fights or politics when an outsider makes it a personal fight for them.

-They are compassionate individuals who love deeply and see family as the most important thing. Any wrongdoing to a member of the family, whether it be a Main member or Branch member, is met with swift retribution. If a member of the family becomes aware of wrongdoing to one of its members, they are to swear a Blood Oath to seek vengeance, no matter how long it takes. If they are going to die before said vengeance can be fulfilled, they are to find a successor who can finish their work for them.