EbonyShadowCat

Which RPG groups have you been actively playing in 2025?

, and (though left RRH in june)

Which of your characters have you roleplayed with the most this year?

I roleplayed with everyone here pretty decently? but i have so many characters now i just don't have the spoons to grab exact numbers lol. Vanta and Aurabel definitely the MOST most.

Which of your characters have you roleplayed with the least this year?

The twins i haven't done much of, Koa's been kinda hard and then i literally only did retirement pieces for Aavet, Ragfuss and Toulouse maybe next time

Have you made any new characters this year?

i brought IN many new characters to dotw and tow this year, but since thats so many to list i'm doing the same as last year and counting 2025 (or late 2024 before i could bring in new wolves to domain) creations only

Mateusz, Anju, Aurabel, Anton, Hrafn, Sigrid and Elmwood are all brand new to my roster of characters! Technically Mateusz has existed since 2022 but privately until his debut. I also brought back some oldies to the domain such as Zosia, Hemlock and Marina, but they were created years ago (Marina in 2020, Zosia in 2021 and Hemlock in 2022)

Have you retired or killed off any characters this year? Was there a reason why you dropped these characters?

My first retirements in a while are all my characters from red river hill. I just wasn't interested in the group anymore and there was little group activity. Sometimes it happens though, and its always good to know when to put a character away for a while.

Which of your active characters are you most attached to?

I love all of these ones with my whole life.

Which of your characters has your favorite design?

Zosia's design has always been one of my favourites! It still holds up despite being 6 years old!

Also peeping Mateusz and Anton's designs because i am so proud of them

Also special shoutout to Hrafn and Elmwood for having very pretty designs that were not crafted by me! Hrafn's design i bought in october 2024 from Sensh-ii and then Elmwood was a premade tryout design by xenodochiel. They are both absolutely beautiful and i wanted to shout them out :>

Which of your characters is your favorite to write?

Still Vantablack! Can't get enough of their vibe and mindset.

Which of your active characters has the most favorites on DA?

Vantablack still holds the crown at 25 favourites! Though Mateusz and Sigrid are very close behind with 22 and 21 favourites respectively.

Which character has had the most development this year, and what have they gone through?

Aurabel! She went from a ball of pure rage and hatred to more content with her life and what has happened in it, finally finding peace to let go of the majority of her hatred towards her father, Isaiah. She hasn't forgiven him, but she's willing to rekindle with him in the future.

What's the most unexpected thing that's happened to your characters this year?

Siebold got done so dirty by the plague he caught. Since it was all dice rolls on if he would recover earlier than event's end, i was not expecting him to be sick throughout, so his design change to reflect his sickness was a welcome surprise. Though, he will be reverting back to his old design pretty soon, i just need to get to drawing new art for him first...

Anju attending an illegal wedding was also not on my list for Anju Events of 2025 so that was a welcome surprise! hehehe

What was your favorite artwork (of your own) from 2025 and why?

I was ecstatic when the blood moon event got announced and this has quickly become one of my favourite pieces of all time.

What's been your favorite storyline from the past year?

A tie between my domain loners! I've been super honored to build a compelling story with Aurabel... and Hemlock, although i didn't get the time to do as much as i wanted to do with him this year, is still nefarious... and he has so much more in store.

What was your favorite RP (of your own) from 2025 and why?

This phenomenal RP with Nik has got to be my favourite - Vantablack, still terrified of birds due to their Hintertomb origin, sets their difference aside when Birchwood needs it the most. Its just. SO GOOD. Then theres Cloak and Dagger and Lost and Found - I enjoyed writing these so much with Dragon and it has me giddy for the future following these roleplays.

What's been your favorite IC relationship you've developed this year? Doesn't have to just be romantic - can be platonic, enemies, anything!

Although i'm slow as molasses with getting stuff out with this friendship, i am very much liking what Rei and i have cooking for these two. I don't think theres anything like uploaded that hints at their friendship quite yet aside from my xassa event aurora piece implying it, so there are two for this entry...

Marina and Riptide! I love their friendship so so much.

Also can't forget Aurabel, Harv and Isaiah's relationships too! This has been my 2025 plotline i've lovingly crafted with Nik and i am so happy with how it went

What IC relationship(s) do you want to develop more next year?

MOAR Matt and Ori!!! I love them your honor!!! I need to finish my STUFF with them!!!!!!!!!

I want to do more stuff with Zosia and Arabella too!!

Which characters and storylines from other players in your community have you enjoyed following the most?

Isaiah and Birchwood in its entirety. They are too precious. Help.

Also Oberon and Yew's whole relationship.

Aja and Ophion too.

ALSO THE ENTIRE FRICKEN XASSA THING WHERE ARASH AND SOHEIL GET EXILED??????? THAT WAS SO GOOD???

Which players have you RP'ed or plotted with the most?

HMMM @Alpha-Pepper @SpacemanNik @BlackFurPictures definitely the most!!

Finish off with some teasers for your 2026 plans... 👀

A deadly wildflower.

If you wish, tag some RP friends to complete this meme!

You.

Tagged by @MlSTY !

rules:

1. Post the rules.
2. Post 8 facts about your character.
3. Tag 8 other characters.
4. Post their names along with their creators.

1. Anju was originally going to be named Inoue before I settled on Anju. The reason why I settled on Anju was, despite being traditionally a girl's name, I thought it fit him perfectly because at the time of his birth, Wick had gone missing and I felt the meaning of the name fit.

2. I was going to make him a Marduk before I decided on Nabu instead. I figured Nabu would fit Anju's adventurous nature more.

3. Anju attending the illegal wedding between Arash and Pallas was not in my plans for Anju initially, but i figured it would make for an interesting situation and boy it did... I cant wait to do more on that part of his plot.

4. I designed Anju to look a lot like Wick since I wanted him to always wonder who his father was. I did have something vaguely planned for if it took longer for Wick to come back, but Wick came back relatively soon into his life so he was happy to finally know.

5. Anju looks up to Wick a lot but through and through he is a mama's boy.

6. I havent depicted it yet, but Anju has taken after Yasu and started collecting rocks. I like to think he has a bunch of cool rocks in his den, from beach rocks to river rocks and anything he finds cool. I like to think he took a rock from Fellfang when he went with Paloma and Wick as well as one from the medicinal outpost when he went there too.

7. Anju wants to explore the domain one day, to see what other packs are out there and what beliefs they may subscribe to.

8. Im running out of facts so random fact: Anju was one of the quickest tryouts ive ever made - I think i finished and posted his tryout the day they dropped lol.

I tag...

You. Pick whoever u want. Rng if you have to

tagged by @4everhound YEET

rules:

1. Post the rules.
2. Post 8 facts about your character.
3. Tag 8 other characters.
4. Post their names along with their creators.

1. Vantablack was crafted for Hintertomb for the 2023 domain opening which like everyone knows but what nobody knows yet was Vantablack was going to go to Chandor instead of Grayard initially (because when i started concepting their away from Hintertomb iteration Grayard wasn't a pack yet). The reason i ended up going for Grayard was because i thought i'd have a better chance of getting into the group going for a pack that had more slots and i ended up really clicking with Grayard's culture.

2. This void right here? I had a dream about them in september 2024 where i had applied to the group with them in Hintertomb and got in. That dream is what got me to try one more time, just Grayard instead of the tomb of course. The rest is history...

3. I designed them as a dark void of one colour because i saw that that type of design actually wasn't common in the group at the time, and thought a solid black wolf would be cool. Is it the most creative of designs? Definitely not! But I thought the design would stand out in some way. The obvious caveat to a 1 colour design is they are hard to work with in terms of hypo pups and stuff... but i wouldn't trade it for anything else.

4. Their relationship with their old beliefs in Hintertomb is by far my favourite thing about them. Vantablack is unexpectedly fun to play and i also think they integrated into Grayard pretty well.

5. Vantablack is like the only character of mine along with Zosia to have a voice claim. I just don't set voice claims for my characters because i often can't find a character in media with a matching voice. They are also my only character who has a theme song set, another rarity.

6. While Vanta's design hasn't changed much except for scarring, their silhouette changed significantly. The style of their ear tufts changed and i generally just changed their vibe for the opening.

7. I have considered, several times, surprising the group and revealing that one of Vantablack's parents are still alive. I still even consider it, but for now it will remain assumed that all of Vanta's immediate family are dead, as i think it builds their character. Shale is without a doubt completely dead though, so while Ebony or Smoke may pop up at some point (since its not known for sure if they are dead or not, only assumed), Shale will not as it was very clear he didn't outrun the landslide. I do like having a character with no connections with anyone in the domain bloodwise as its refreshing especially since i like to interconnect characters.

8. Vantablack was initially going to be a watcher in Grayard, but then i figured Rake would suit them better. Their history reflects this initial decision where i described them as in training to become a watcher, but i changed my mind after they got in. Rake really fits them though.

I tag...

you. rng ur character and g O

Tagged by both @k-eilonwy and @HeyRei for Matt so here we gooOOO

rules:

1. Post the rules.
2. Post 8 facts about your character.
3. Tag 8 other characters.
4. Post their names along with their creators.

1. Mateusz's history was meant to play out in wolves of lunar forest - including Hemlock killing Melchoir, though i never got to play it out. Instead i decided to have that still happen in Matt's canon but just age him up. His father in that instance was likely going to be Iolite, one of my other characters in WoLF. He had a completely different design and everything and i think he and Melchoir were concepted in late 2022 not long after Hemlock was born.

2. His design has gotta be one of my favourites. I wanted to design him mostly after Zosia, but give him some vague traits of his currently unknown father. His colours are based on Zosia's and his grandmother's, while his eyes are different to reflect his father a bit. Currently his father has no design (since he is available for domain players to play)

3. Mateusz was originally going to go to Xassa, but then i decided to put him in Riverfell, mainly due to Xassa being closed at the time i wanted to bring him in.

4. Judging from his first app art i made for him, he was initially meant to appear more jaded and serious, having serious Farkas vibes. Though when i wrote him he ended up just becoming a huge sweetie instead. That doesn't mean he WON'T become a bit more jaded/serious in the future, but i think a sweetheart personality despite the hell he went through made sense for a wolf who wasn't even a year old yet when he came in lol. His medallion actually still reflects his old personality concept but ngl the art was pretty good (though its a year old now) so i decided to keep it as his medallion.

5. I was going to give Mateusz a familiar back in the spring time, and had a whole method of meeting the familiar planned out and everything. I have shelved that idea for the time being due to plot reasons, though, but maybe some day it will see the light of day!

6. Mateusz is surprisingly good at hiding his worries despite being an intensely paranoid wolf. He rarely shares his struggles even to closest friends and often buries himself in his work. This has become especially true as of very recently now that he knows Hemlock is hunting him down. He waits with bated breath to hear from Swanhild again...

7. Mateusz's name was specifically picked to match Zosia's name, with both being polish names! I definitely am going to continue the tradition if he ever has kids.

8. The reason i don't draw Melchoir's eyes in regards to Mateusz's POV of him is because Mateusz doesn't remember his eye colour. Or a lot of things for that matter. I wish to explore this aspect a bit more in the future.

I tag...

you. Yes you reading this. Drop ur characters in a hat and pull a name do it now

got tagged for this one by @xenodochiel ! 2 more inbound...

rules:

1. Post the rules.
2. Post 8 facts about your character.
3. Tag 8 other characters.
4. Post their names along with their creators.

1. Marina is currently my longest in-play group born pup i have! But she was not born in domain of the wolf, rather she dates back to Wolves of Lunar Forest! She was born on July 3rd 2020 to Ukon and Claudia. Her domain iteration though has a different story than she did in wolves of lunar forest, where instead of being found by a well meaning wolf after a fire, she instead traveled with her uncle and remaining siblings to a violent pack (known in the domain as Blackrock). This gives her a more gruff outtake than her original iteration which has revitalized her for me!

2. Marina's design is probably one of my favourites - its not a design i made on my own but it is modified by me to be legal in domain of the wolf. Her original design was made by Alpha-Pepper for the Ukon x Claudia tryout. Marina's original design reminded me a lot of Jenna from Balto tbh lol. She was going to come in with her original design, but it wasn't working with the domain's design rules so i made some changes with Alpha's permission, which worked out into a design i like for Marina a lot better now! I'm especially proud of Marina's face scar though.

3. Marina was named after the character with the same name from Splatoon. Don't ask, i was really into splatoon when i made her (it was my covid game lol). I used her sea/water themed name to match with her mate's name later on though (Selkie).

4. I was initially going to make Marina a warrior in virtus, but as i concepted her more, the more it occured to me that she would probably revile violence and think of becoming a warrior as her reverting back to her old self (after all, she was nasty to her siblings in the past and literally ripped someone's tail off when they tried to defend one of her siblings when she lashed out at them). Marina will kick ass if she has to, though, and has even after swearing off violence to protect her mate. As you can imagine, the recent transgressions in Virtus with violence happening in some way shape or form has really hurt her relationship to the pack and has her feeling uncertain, which is a welcome hurdle i want to see if Marina will overcome.

5. I like to imagine Marina as somewhat the same/similar as her WoLF iteration personality wise - just with another flavour of trauma wrapped around her. Now she is outwardly gruff and intimidating, but deep inside she is just a wolf who was raised in a bad environment after a traumatic event and is trying to better herself after realizing the error of her ways and how bad of a person she had been in the past. She wants nothing more than to reconcile with the wolves she has wronged - and if forgiveness is out of the question for some of them, she has accepted that. She's still the same otherwise coolheaded wolf who's a bit odd. I actually did take her traits from her previous iteration to make her newer personality.

6. Marina was not intended to be butch in design initially: i even designed her as more feminine when she was a yearling. Then i ended up giving her a chin scruff and a whole lot more fluff when i pulled her from retirement in her old group and then i ramped it up when bringing her in to dotw. I like to refer to her as "Red Ukon" because she looks so much like her dad this way.

7. Marina was going to be connected to the Farkas/Kodiak family (Zosia, Anton, Hemlock, Mateusz, etc) again in the domain iteration but i eventually scrapped that idea. I believe the original idea was that she would escape from Blackrock and meet up with Rawson (uncle to Zosia, Anton and Hemlock) and befriend him but i needed to lessen the amount of characters i would crave to bring in eventually so i canned the idea and made Selkie instead. It also means that i don't have everyone interconnected in some kind of way.

8. I considered putting Marina in Chandor instead of Virtus, but I decided to have a build up to her eventual and hopeful reunion with Alana (which i cannot wait to see how that plays out considering, so long as Marina stays in Virtus, it might happen at one point due to the alliance).

I tag...

@Alpha-Pepper 's Arabella

@SpacemanNik 's Harv

@skyztheIimit 's Io

@Bethiaa 's Misericordia

@sunkissin 's Rook

@BlackFurPictures 's Herod

@RIPGHXST 's Syouma

@DragonriderSC 's Swanhild