#Seraphine didn't replace her

[worstcharacterpoll]

[Image description: A tournament bracket of 32 contenders, labeled "Tumblr's most hated." The matchups on the left are Vriska vs. Pearl from SU; Rex from Victorious vs. Rick Sanchez; Ansem the Wise vs. Gul Dukat; Kylo Ren vs. Kokichi Ouma; Scrappy Doo vs. Sheldon Cooper; Pierre from Stardew vs. Mort from Madagascar; Seraphine from League vs. Heimskr; and Jurgen Leitner vs. Andre Glacier. The matchups on the right are Walter White vs. Light Yagami; Buck Cluck vs. Ross Geller; Bramblestar vs. Starlight Glimmer; Goro Akechi vs. Pariston Hill; Katsuki Bakugo vs. Berdly; Angel Dust vs. the Impostor; Olaf from Frozen vs. Hooty; and Zenos viator Galvus vs. Tony Stark. The bracket is red on a black background. End ID]

Here is the official bracket for the most Hated Character on Tumblr! Each round will last 24 hours, with a 12 hour break in between. Round 1 should start Feb 9, 2023 at 9:00 AM CST.

As a reminder, this tournament is for the characters that you hate the most, so always vote for your least favorite of the two options. The winner will be publicly executed.

FAQ under cut:

Q: Why did you put in x character and not y character? Aren't there more hateable characters from that franchise?

A: I wanted to keep the competition light-hearted, funny, and interesting. I intentionally avoided most shitty parent characters, dictators, characters who were meant to be hated, etc., as well as characters heavily associated with bigotry and sexual assault, and gravitated towards characters that were more divisive in fandom. Exceptions were only made for characters I am familiar enough with and can use my own judgement for. Using Zenos as an example: He is a villain who is very evil and meant to be hated, which I mostly avoided when taking suggestions for things I wasn't familiar with myself. However, he's very divisive between people who think he's a good interesting villain, people who don't think he's a good villain and don't like him in the story at all, and people who want him carnally. Walter White is also meant to be hated, but he has a meme status, and as a villain protagonist I think he's more interesting than most "meant to be hated" characters. Also, there are certain franchises that I simply didn't want to include. If JK Rowling wasn't such a real and horrible political presence, owing all her influence to Harry Potter, I would've definitely put Snape on the poll. As it stands, I don't really want to give HP any attention. TL;DR answer: Because it's funnier that way

Q: But I LIKE that character :(

A: As mentioned before, I specifically gravitated more towards characters who are more divisive rather than universally hated. They are usually more interesting, and there is more variety with those types of characters - you don't have shitty dad character #1 vs. shitty dad character #2. I actually looked for "anti-(character)" tags and discourse about that character when making decisions about who to include. lol If you actually like some of these characters (uh, my condolences), vote against them in their respective matchups.

Q: Is it too late to suggest a replacement?

A: Yes.

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: I feed off of hatred and violence. I want to see who tumblr users REALLY hate.

Q: Why Pearl?

A: It was quite a while ago now so I get it if people don't remember, but Pearl discourse used to be a big thing and people argued that she was irredeemable for many of the things she did early on in the show. If you remember the "Pearl hates the Irish" meme, that was a parody of how much people hated her

Q: Why Hooty?

A: I haven't seen the Owl House but I'm told many people think he's annoying. Also he's voiced by Alex Hirsch and fuck that guy he did my boy Ford so dirty I'm still mad about this

Q: Why Starlight Glimmer?

A: MLP:FiM is another show I didn't really watch but she was a villain who got redeemed and became a main character and a lot of people think her redemption arc was rushed and botched and she actually made a lot of people quit watching the show. One of my close friends really really really hates her and I don't think that's an isolated incident

Q: Why Berdly?

A: Annoying. Personally I think his arc of becoming less annoying was pretty fun but a lot of people still hate him.

Q: Why Bakugo (instead of Mineta)?

A: I actually debated this a lot and held a preliminary poll which Mineta actually won. But then I decided democracy is dead because Mineta really wouldn't be as interesting as Bakugo in this tournament because he's basically universally hated. Bakugo is more interesting because people who hate him REALLY hate him, while people who love him REALLY love him. Kind of like Vriska. I think. I never read Homestuck and I don't plan on ever doing so.

Q: Why Tony Stark?

A: He's a heavily divisive character because he's a war profiteer billionaire with a superiority complex, but the narrative treats him as a morally pure hero. Also, he's MCU Spider-Man's mentor and most of MCU Spider-Man is basically defined by Tony Stark and he's not allowed to be his own character. There's a bunch of other stuff but I didn't watch and I don't care about most of the MCU. Personally I'm a really big Spider-Man fan and I despise him for what he did to Peter Parker but I shall refrain from making this a long rant.

Q: Why did you include characters that you're not familiar with?

A: I didn't want to exclusively have characters from my interests. I wanted a bit of variety. Before the poll started, I accepted submissions for candidates, and basically trusted submitters to send in decent characters. Some of the characters I ended up with may go against the vague guidelines I set for myself, which kind of sucks, but that's how it is now.

Q: This bracket sucks.

A: Make your own tournament then. I'm just some guy making a tournament on tumblr dot com for free. Don't take it too seriously.

#polls #worst character poll

[queen-bee-goes-human]

Surprise!

Noah felt amazing now that he was in his human realm body. As much as he loved his female form while in Faerie, he much preferred the lithe frame of his male form. Though he did keep the female anatomy inside and down below, that he was rather fond of. To those who didn't know who he was, he was Noah Park Adoptive brother of Danny, but to those who did he was the former Queen of the Fae. Ever since he stepped down and coronation Seraphine and her husband as his replacements, he only wanted to get his life started with his soulmates and children. He decided not to tell them when he was coming, wanting to surprise the two, and made his way to their home. Knocking on the door he waited for one of them to open it. "Surprise, my darling, I'm home." He beams.

#newlastarter

[m-r-nicely]

First Impressions

Bela Dimitrescu x OC

Word Count: 2155

Chapter Summary: Feeling guilty for her lover's current state, Bela thinks back to when her sisters first officially met Seraphine while trying to ease her discomfort.

_______________

The human pulled herself impossibly closer to her vampire. Bela adjusted herself to accommodate the movement. After being plucked from her thoughts yet again, the eldest found herself enjoying the warmth that she always associated with the woman sleeping soundly in her arms. A warmth she remembers feeling when waking up in the cabin, from the brief moments Seraphine's fingertips would graze her skin when replacing Bela's bandages, when she first helped Seraphine cook a meal, the night Bela took care of her human's wounds, every time she held the woman in her arms after a feeding.

Bela remembers how the warmth became more intense, more noticeable, after that night. The way she wanted nothing more than to be at Seraphine's side when the woman made trips into town. How Bela longed to look into the eyes consisting of her new favorite color. She would wait hours on end, humming the song she came to cherish, waiting to hear the melody that taught it to her.

Looking back upon it now, in this moment, the eldest daughter found it was her aunt that pointed out what that warmth means. What it represents. Why she feels it whenever her mind drifts to a certain woman.

Eight months passed with 'The Daughters Three' visiting this enigma in their lives, each visit more casual and comfortable than the last. If Bela was leaving to see Seraphine, one of her sisters would ask to come along, or rather Daniela would ask and Cassandra would simply invite herself. Sometimes they would have meals together, Seraphine actually taught the two younger sisters how to cook. Who would have guessed Cassandra Dimitrescu could flay a human with her eyes closed, though what fun would it be if she couldn't watch their agony, but could not skin a potato if her family's lives depended on it.

She sometimes sat with the sisters and retold the story of herself, Inigo, and Marissa. Just like her older sister, Cassandra offered to visit the man who was supposed to sell them the land. Other times the sisters would take turns teaching Seraphine how to use their favorite choice of weapons. Occasionally their new favorite human had to travel for work, her being a tailor, and their mother would often find them doing small and peculiar activities they discovered Seraphine liked until she returned.

That was how Daniela started listening to Bela read books Seraphine could not finish with the youngest herself. She was, by far, the most entranced by the woman's voice and wanted to hear it as often as she possibly could without annoying the human. It was Seraphine that proposed the idea of reading to Daniela twice a week if they both had time. Soon enough, the middle child caught word of these little rendezvous' and decided that Daniela getting one on one time with Seraphine was unfair. She didn't know how to approach asking for time with the human, so she just started sitting outside the windows while Seraphine read a book to Daniela.

On a few occasions Cassandra had fallen asleep. Once it started getting colder again, the woman would wake up with a blanket draped over her and a bowl of stew with a note inviting her inside. Still, it took another few visits after the first time for the middle sister to swarm under the crack at the bottom of the door. Quickly after that, as if sensing what Cassandra was wanting, Seraphine suggested having one day with Daniela, one day with Cassandra, and a third day where they both visited. This seemed to work for the two and a schedule was put into place.

Bela loved her sisters getting along so nicely with her hu-the human. She'd have been lying, however, if she denied being jealous of the time the other two got with Seraphine. That was when the nighttime visits began.

Daniela and Cassandra got their time with Seraphine during the daylight hours, but Bela would make her way out to the cabin once the sun began to set. She made sure to eat dinner with her family, lest they grew suspicious, but then she would leave the second she got the chance. Once a week turned into twice, which turned to four, and soon it became visits every other night. Most nights the pair would lay in the grass or upon the cabin roof and watch the stars. Bela listened as Seraphine listed and traced each asterism her mother had taught her. The vampire would lose herself in a daze while watching the human enthusiastically recall nights of herself and the siblings as children, either doing the same activity or catching lightning bugs to put into jars.

"We would turn it into a game," Seraphine explained while watching the glowing insects bob and flicker in the shrubbery, "The winner was whoever could catch the most before our parents called us for bed. They always got the first choice of game we played the following day."

Bela tried several times, she really did, but she always hesitated when trying to confront Seraphine about that night. Everything was going so well, and she didn't want to ruin that because of something that seemed so insignificant. Was it insignificant? Seraphine lied to her. She lied to Bela's face and didn't come clean after all the time she had to do so. Why couldn't Bela just ask her?

The eldest needed to hear an outside opinion, and it was quite clear her sisters were biased on the matter considering they were getting along so well after meeting her. Her mother would certainly find a reason to kill the human if Bela went to her. Uncle Sal wasn't the best at keeping secrets, especially with how excited he would get when someone included him in something. Uncle Heisenberg was reliable at keeping secrets, he certainly kept a lot from her mother, but he didn't seem like the best to go to with this query. Mother Miranda certainly was not an option, with her recently getting Eva back and helping the Winters with Rose, adoring having babies to handle again.

That left two people up for debate.

Duke could keep a secret if she paid him well enough. Even if he didn't stay quiet the chances of anyone understanding the way he practically spoke in riddles were little to none. He would listen to anyone speak for hours and give them invaluable advice for...well, life in general.

The other option, or rather options, was Aunt Donna. She, like Duke, would listen to her family talk and rant for ages. The difference was that Duke was a socialite and Donna was a recluse, only interacting with the world outside her estate through the Lords, her nieces, and Duke. It didn't help that Angie was a talker and could somehow let something slip out when droning on about s topic completely unrelated. Nobody ever knew what to expect to come out of the little doll's big mouth.

Still, with Duke holding conversations every day, he could accidentally give something away albeit he could play it off as if nothing was said to begin with. Bela finally came to a conclusion. Her only truly trusted option was her beloved Aunt Donna as long as Angie didn't hear.

The daughters knew they were always welcome at their aunt's estate, though she often received a call from their mother beforehand, and usually the entire trio visited. Donna was wearing her veil, therefore hiding any surprise she may have when her eldest niece appeared upon her doorstep looking distressed and worse for wear. Of course, Bela was invited inside and eagerly greeted by Angie while her aunt left to make tea. The daughters were vampires, yes, but they could become ravenous towards each other over who would get the first cup of Aunt Donna's tea.

Bela drank the warm liquid as Donna gradually groomed the disheveled vampire's appearance back to something presentable. Angie was speaking a million miles a minute until Donna waved her hand and sent the doll to go play with her friends. She sat across from her niece and waited for the woman to collect her thoughts.

"I have a problem, and I don't know what to do."

Donna nodded, "I gathered as much." Bela deflated a little and her aunt made a gesture with her hand indicating for Bela to continue.

"I made a friend recently," she began to explain, "and she lied to me. She is unaware I know she told the lie. I want to know why she lied to me...yet whenever I get the chance to question her, I cannot bring myself to ask."

Bela had not looked up from her cup since she began talking. Donna reached out to place her fingers lightly under her niece's chin to make her look at her aunt. Bela hadn't noticed Donna had taken off her veil until her aunt lifted her gaze. Her eye held a comfort the daughters had grown to associate with their aunt and Bela relaxed.

"Are you afraid of what her answer will be?"

"I could be. Perhaps she had regretted allowing me to stay with her and lied to cover it all up."

Donna's lips quirked into an amused grin, "So it involves that human..."

Bela was both confused and worried, "That human? You know about her? How do you know?"

A gentler expression took over her aunt's face. Donna tilted her head slightly to the right while she contemplated how to answer.

"Your mother called all of the Lords, years ago, when you went missing. She demanded to know if any of us had seen you in our territories. Upon receiving only negative answers," Donna continued to explain, "we all mourned, but your mother and sisters took your loss the hardest. Alcina sent out her samca, Karl sent out the lycan, Salvatore searched with his varcolac, I had a few dolls scuttling about the forest and even Mother Miranda ordered her crows to search for you, or what could be left of you."

Bela winced at the thought of her mother being brought back her crystallized corpse.

"The villagers theorized something was wrong when neither a flying samca nor a passing lycan or varcolac attacked anyone. It took an entire month for your sisters to convince your mother to stop sending the creatures out only to return with the same lack of results. Another month passed by and Alcina had not killed any maids within her castle walls. Your sisters had not gone on any hunts due to the cold. Suddenly, a human knocked on the doors asking for an audience with Alcina. Whatever the woman had said caused Alcina to lash out and chase the human into a storm. Liadis called us this time, requesting we look for an orange-blonde woman with curls in her hair, freckles, and gold-green eyes. If we spotted her, we were asked to either capture her and bring her to Alcina herself or kill her on sight. Alcina was told none of us saw the woman after she lost her that night."

Bela continued to listen attentively, having finish her tea.

"To my knowledge, Mother Miranda managed to follow the smell of blood from above, yet she did not act upon finding the human when she saw the woman being cared for by you. She made repeated visits, but only found you and the human safe. Alcina was to never know about the woman's whereabouts, as Mother Miranda trusted you would make your return when you were ready."

As her aunt explained the events from her mother's end, she couldn't help but think about how frightened and worn Seraphine seemed when she returned that night. Originally Bela thought it was just the blizzard, and she never believed Seraphine when she told the vampire the wound was caused by a lycan, but as she learned more and began connecting the dots, Bela grew more irritated at the limited perspective.

If it was something as simple as going to the castle, for the love of Miranda, why did Seraphine lie?

Bela came out of her head when she felt her aunt using her thumb to smooth the crease between her eyebrows. "What are you thinking about libellula?"

"There was no reason to lie," she huffed, "I need to speak with her."

"You are always welcome to invite this friend of yours to have tea. Angie and I might even look forward to it." Bela's only response was bemusement.

"Why would you want to meet her?" The vampire asked as her cheeks warmed and she broke eye contact with her aunt.

Donna's smile was still gentle as she slightly shook her head.

"Are you quite certain the woman is just a friend?"

Bela opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Donna's comforting voice.

"It's okay if she means more to you, libellula."

#donna beneviento #re8 #bela dimitrescu x oc #re8 village #bela dimitrescu #angie beneviento #alcina dimitrescu #original characters #cassandra dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu

[luxmaeastra]

//yeee Feyre stole them for some reason??? Set after the other paint one hahah//

Rhysand pouted, tipping Seraphine's head up to look at him.

"You got ready for bed without me. Why?"

He liked taking her jewelry and dresses every night. Yes, she was beautiful and he'd take any opportunity to admire her - but he enjoyed the intimacy and groundingness of the act too.

She frowned up at him, turning to nip at his thumb.

"I'm mad at you."

He frowned, falling into the chair next to her vanity to look at her sideways.

"Why? Was it because I was late? Morrigan -"

"You took my night dresses away."

She shot him a look of confused annoyance.

"I thought you enjoyed taking those off me Rhysand or me wearing them in general. Why did you take them away? And if you planned to replace them with some surprise it didn't arrive in time."

She sighed and gestured to some of his sleep clothes folded on the floor. She wrinkled her nose at them and waved the shirt at him.

"I love you but I don't like wearing your clothes when mine are perfectly suitable for the night."

Her night dresses? A frown of confusion crossed his features as he looked upon her, the thought that he would take away something that she loved was baffling. Why would he take them?

Rhysand was many things, but to deprive her of something she liked. He reached his hand out and took a hold of her hand, his head tilted to the side.

“Why would I take them? I love you wearing your night dresses. I am not the reason they were taken…”

A shiver went down his spine, had someone entered their chamber? It set him on edge, the idea someone had invaded their space.

#Muse | Rhysand

[gccdstories]

//hehe Feyre stealing them for some pain thing to some?? After the other pain thing 👀//

Rhysand pouted, tipping Seraphine's head up to look at him.

"You got ready for bed without me. Why?"

He liked taking her jewelry and dresses every night. Yes, she was beautiful and he'd take any opportunity to admire her - but he enjoyed the intimacy and groundingness of the act too.

She frowned up at him, turning to nip at his thumb.

"I'm mad at you."

He frowned, falling into the chair next to her vanity to look at her sideways.

"Why? Was it because I was late? Morrigan -"

"You took my night dresses away."

She shot him a look of confused annoyance.

"I thought you enjoyed taking those off me Rhysand or me wearing them in general. Why did you take them away? And if you planned to replace them with some surprise it didn't arrive in time."

She sighed and gestured to some of his sleep clothes folded on the floor. She wrinkled her nose at them and waved the shirt at him.

"I love you but I don't like wearing your clothes when mine are perfectly suitable for the night."

Rhysand frowns, glancing at the clothes, then back at Seraphine, confusion coloring his expression. ❝ What do you mean? I didn't take anything-- ❞

Had one of the others done so? If that is the case, Rhys can't remember if they'd mentioned any of that to him. If they had, he definitely couldn't recall it.

❝ I can make it up to you, though... ❞

@siderealxmelody

#asks ;; leave a message for the muses #siderealxmelody #muse ;; rhysand

[tigerkirby215]

5e Sona, the Maven of the Strings build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Shilin Huang. Made for Riot Games.)

(Shit meme by yours truly.)

Revealing my Champion Mastery just to say that I play a lot of Sona. Don’t flame me for playing Seraphine and Yuumi I swear to god, and I have no idea why Teemo is in my top 10 highest mastery champs ngl.

Anyways you have no idea how happy I am as a Sona main that my girl is now top tier. I came to League of Legends from Overwatch (yes really) and I used to main Lucio in OW along with some of the more “techy” characters like Symmetra and Torbjorn. (Came to OW from TF2 where I mained Engineer and Medic.) Sona was a natural fit for me as a champion who was both easy to play and very similar to Lucio. It also helps that I joined the Rift during the single most engaging meta to ever grace this game. I was kinda too shit to play Janna but the Ardent Censer meta is also why I have such a high mastery on Lulu tbh.

But enough about my history with League: Sona! Honestly when I think of an archetypical support Sona pops into my head a lot sooner than Soraka: a champion based on empowering their teammates in as many ways as possible with heals, shields, movement speed, and CC to hold the enemy team down. I’ve always loved playing her because she feels like much more of a macro oriented character than other supports, with team-wide support as opposed to keeping one person alive like Soraka or Yuumi or focusing on CC like Morgana and Nami.

I’m going to build most if not all the champions eventually but man I am happy to tackle Sona now. She’s always been on my mind as my main but it was pretty difficult to think of how to make her. I think this build is good enough though!

Wow that was much longer of an intro than I’m used to. You can really tell which champions I’m excited for lol.

GOALS

Everything in harmony - Sona boosts everyone on her team with her songs as they fill the air.

Triple time! - Sona’s ability to boost her whole team into a good position is always beneficial.

Crescendo! - Fun fact: Sona’s ultimate is canonically extremely painful as she forces you to contort your limbs against your will. Why is Sona needlessly macabre? Well remember that Riot also wrote Volibear as an Eldritch old god.

RACE

Sona is Human but if you want to be cool you can make her a Kalashtar for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage on Wisdom saves. Regardless we’re going to be making what’s known as a dollar store Kalashtar with Variant Human. Increase your Charisma by 1 as well as your Constitution because we kinda don’t need much else. You also get proficiency in one skill of your choice which will of course be Performance, and a language which you can pick as you fancy: you won’t be speaking it anyways lmfao.

That’s because “Only you can hear me summoner; what masterpiece shall we play today?” Grab the Telepathic feat to complete this dollar store Kalashtar package. Increase your Charisma score by 1 and get a 60 foot telepathy to speak while being mute. You also learn the Detect Thoughts spell and can cast it once without using a spell slot. "Did he want... four autographs? I don't understand."

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied to performance and all the other stuff a Demacian noblewoman is expected to be good at.

14; DEXTERITY - Something something medium armor; even if you wear a dress there’s no reason you can’t have some padding beneath it!

13; STRENGTH - Hey this isn’t something something medium armor!

12; CONSTITUTION - Sona may be squishy in League but I value not dying more than good skill checks honestly.

10; WISDOM - Speaking of not dying: Wisdom saves are more common, and Insight is more useful than most Intelligence skills.

8; INTELLIGENCE - We had to dump something so unfortunately Intelligence gets the short end of the stick. You may have studied under the illustrious Buvelle family but most of those lessons were music classes.

If you want a better stat array going 13 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 10 / 14 with Point Buy is perfectly viable, and if your DM is cool enough to let you multiclass without Strength then you’re more than welcome to dump it.

BACKGROUND

There’s two obvious backgrounds that fit Sona: the first is Entertainer for proficiency with Acrobatics and a skill of your choice (since we already took Performance lol.) You also get proficiency with Disguise Kits and your Etwahl! (That’s what Sona’s instrument is called btw.) Your background feature By Popular Demand allows you to play any stage once. "Some, just the once.” You can perform in exchange for a place to stay, and when you do so the local people will remember your wonderful performance!

But making an Entertainer Bard is kinda cliché, no? If you want to lean into Sona’s Demacian heritage go for the Noble background. This gives you proficiency with Persuasion and History as well as a gaming set of your choice: unfortunately Tellstones isn’t an option (unless your DM decides otherwise!) so a Dragonchess Set will do well enough. Oh and you get another language that you won’t speak: fun! Your Position of Privilege makes it easy for you to arrange meetings with other important people, and the commonfolk will be kind and cordial with you.

(Screenshot from the Tellstones: King’s Gambit trailer by Riot Games.)

I personally opted to go for Noble when making this build, but if you want to choose Entertainer go right ahead! Backgrounds don’t affect too much overall and it’s up to you (and your DM) to make your own Sona!

(Artwork from League of Legends Wild Rift. Made for Riot Games. RIOT PLEASE UPDATE MUSE SONA ON PC I’M BEGGING YOU!)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - BARD 1

I mean what else did you expect? Bards get proficiency in three musical instruments of their choice: a Lyre is the closest you’ll get to Sona’s Etwahl, though a Dulcimer is also pretty close. I’d also recommend grabbing a Lute since most magical instruments come in Lute variety.

You also get proficiency in 3 skills of your choice like Perception to watch wards, Insight to watch people, and Athletics for a bit of Tenacity to break out of grapples. (As well as potentially grab some people yourself! Although Acrobatics is also perfectly fine for escaping grapples.)

As a Bard you can boost your ADC with Bardic Inspiration, letting them add a d6 to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. You have a number of these equal to your Charisma modifier and they come back after a Long Rest.

But of course the main reason to play a Bard is to do Demacian-banned Spellcasting! You learn two cantrips from the Bard list like Vicious Mockery for some diminuendo, making it harder for the enemy to hurt your allies while also cutting them down to size. (I don’t know if your DM will let you slap your Etwahl angrily and then point at them judgingly, but you may have to break your vow of silence every now and then.) You can also learn Prestidigitation for all sorts of general magic stuff that you really shouldn’t do in front of anyone important.

You of course also learn 4 Bard spells like Cure Wounds and Healing Word for the atypical healing spells, Dissonant Whispers for some Hymn of Valor damage, and Detect Magic which you’ll likely be expected to cast as the designated support. *Sigh* Always gotta buy wards.

LEVEL 2 - BARD 2

Second level Bards could be called a Jack of All Trades, as you get to add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t proficient in. This means even if your ability scores are bad the skills you don’t have proficiency in are still good enough! You also get Song of Rest, letting your allies recover an extra d6 of health during Short Rests. And if you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything  Magical Inspiration will let your allies add their Bardic Inspiration to the damage or healing of a spell they cast!

And finally you can learn another spell: against as the designated support you’re expected to take Identify.

LEVEL 3 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills: Performance is an obvious must and Persuasion would probably be good as well.

But more importantly you get to choose your Bardic College and if you want to both shield your allies and speed them up look no further than the College of Glamour! That’s because Mantle of Inspiration grants 5 temporary hitpoints to a number of creatures within 60 feet of you equal to your Charisma modifier (which can include yourself by the way!) Additionally those creatures can move up to their movement speed as a reaction without provoking opportunity attacks, making this a great tool to reposition an ally who’s caught in a dangerous position!

You’re also capable of creating an Enthralling Performance: if you perform for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to inspire wonder in your audience. At the end of the performance you can choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a maximum equal to your Charisma modifier. Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you.

While charmed in this way, the target idolizes you, and speaks glowingly of you to anyone who talks to them. They also hinder anyone who opposes you, although they avoid violence unless it was already inclined to fight for you. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour unless they take any damage, you attack it, or it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies. If a target succeeds on its saving throw the target has no hint that you tried to charm it, and you can use this ability once per Short or Long Rest.

Finally you can learn second level spells like Hold Person, for a one-man version of your ultimate.

LEVEL 4 - BARD 4

Ah the first of many Ability Score Improvements. You may have noticed our deliberately uneven Charisma modifier: that’s because I’m going to be taking the Fey Touched feat for +1 to your Charisma, the Misty Step spell (for Flash, of course), and the Gift of Alacrity spell from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount for a Song of Celerity! Accelerated movement? I concur.

You can also learn another spell as well as another cantrip! For your cantrip take Mage Hand for help warding those hard-to-reach areas, and for your spell take Lesser Restoration, because yeah it’s also your job to buy Mikael’s. *Sigh.*

LEVEL 5 - BARD 5

5th level Bards get a Font of Inspiration that lets their Bardic Inspiration come back after a Short Rest as well as a Long Rest. That’s good because your Bardic Inspiration increases to a d8, which also boosts your Mantle of Inspiration to grant 8 temporary hitpoints!

You can also learn another spell like Hypnotic Pattern: while it won’t do any damage and your allies can’t hit the dancing enemies it’ll still be the best recreation of your ultimate for now.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 1

I hope you weren’t expecting this to be a pure Bard build, because then I’d just be building Seraphine again! Grab your something something Medium Armor as well as a shield (well technically you need both hands free to play a musical instrument) it’s Paladin time, master of auras! 

Paladins get a Lay on Hands pool equal to 5 times their Paladin level for some more healing. You can touch a creature to give them any amount of health from your Lay on Hands, or use 5 hitpoints from your Lay on Hands pool to neutralize a poison or disease affecting them. You also get Divine Sense to locate any Celestial, Fiend, or Undead as long as they’re within 60 feet of you and not behind total cover. Don’t worry it gets a lot more exciting later.

LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins can choose their Fighting Style and you’re still more of a mage than a warrior, so Blessed Warrior will give you two cantrips from the Cleric list that use your Charisma! Guidance is an obvious must for a support and Toll the Dead is a great option if you want to go full AP.

Should you have options for attacks to target enemies who have high Wisdom? Yeah probably: Sacred Flame might be a good choice.

Of course cantrips also imply more Spellcasting! You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down) which is currently a freaking lot of spells. Let’s just go down the list, shall we?

Bless is great to buff your team and make them harder, better, faster, and stronger.

Command is a mostly harmless Enchantment spell that will force your foes to do as you, well, command. I’d argue “dance” is a reasonable Command.

Protection from Evil and Good is never bad to have in your back pocket in case you’re fighting either Kayle or Fiddlesticks.

And Shield of Faith will let you boost your ADC’s survivability with Ardent Censer!

I know you can prepare more spells but there isn’t much I want from first level of Paladin. I am contractually obligated to mention that you can also turn your spell slots into a Divine Smite if you hit an enemy with a melee weapon, but you aren’t really going to be using weapons in this build. That’s right boys hop aboard the caster Paladin train!

LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get to choose their Sacred Oath and Oath of the Watchers may seem weird but it’s really good at defending your allies. That’s because you get two different Channel Divinity options: Abjure the Extraplanar works similarly to the Cleric’s Turn Undead feature except it affects Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, and Fiends.

Watcher’s Will meanwhile lets you choose a number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you, up to your Charisma modifier. For 1 minute, you and the chosen creatures have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. This means that in a party of 6 this ability can give your whole party advantage on all mental saves, which is huge for keeping everyone alive against nasty casters! See? Demacia can use your magic!

Speaking of magic you get Alarm and Detect Magic as Oath spells. (Might want to swap Detect Magic from your Bard list with Mass Healing Word ty Tasha’s.) You can also use Harness Divine Power to regain a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus a number of times per Long Rest. And you get Divine Health, because you don’t take a sick day to stop complaining about Seraphine.

LEVEL 9 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement: cap off that Charisma for maximum AP scaling!

(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins can finally prepare second level spells! As a Watchers Paladin you get access to Moonbeam as well as See Invisibility, both of which are very good for dealing with incoming gankers.

You can also prepare spells like Aid to boost your allies’ HP, Prayer of Healing (ty Tasha’s) for some out-of-combat healing, and Warding Bond for a Knight’s Vow.

Oh and you get an Extra Attack, which sure would matter if you were actually using weapons.

LEVEL 11 - PALADIN 6

6th level reasons get the main reason Sona’s a Paladin: Aura of Protection! All your saving throws are increased by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier, which is a full +5 currently! But what’s special about this ability is that it also applies to your allies within 10 feet of you, letting you give out auras a plenty to keep your allies safe!

You can also prepare another spell but again: not much I really want. So we’re going to be waiting a little while longer once again.

LEVEL 12 - PALADIN 7

7th level Watchers Paladins get Aura of the Sentinel, or as I like to call it: Song of Celerity. When you or any creature of your choice within 10 feet of you roll for initiative, they gain a bonus to initiative equal to your proficiency bonus. While this may make positioning a little difficult (everyone’s going to have to huddle around you) this ability guarantees that you can speed up all your important allies to make sure they get their powerful abilities off!

LEVEL 13 - PALADIN 8

8th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. You may have noticed your uneven Constitution score: grab good ol’ Resilient Constitution for a boost to your health and even more insurance on your Concentration checks. With your Paladin aura and proficiency you’d have a +12 total to your Constitution checks currently, meaning that if you take 24 damage or less you won’t even have to roll for Concentration!

LEVEL 14 - PALADIN 9

You are probably the only Paladin who cares about spells, so it’s nice that you get 3rd level spells now! Watchers Paladins get two very strong third level spells: Nondetection will help you deward and keep your allies safe from enemies that may try to sneak a peak at you, but Counterspell is the true best choice to stop danger from befalling your allies. What’s very good about Counterspell is that as a Bard you get to add Jack of All Trades to the skill check, meaning it’s far easier for you to deny an incomming spell than any other spellcaster! “Mages have enough problems without you.”

Of course you can prepare some more spells like Aura of Vitality for Aria of Perseverance, and Revivify for an ADC’s Guardian Angel. But having access to spells like Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Crusader’s Mantle, and even Daylight on the Paladin spell list are all extremely useful to be able to prepare. Remember that you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking time to think about what the best spells to prepare would be for your current quest. "Every note is important."

(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - BARD 6

Now that we’ve got all our auras it’s time to go back to Bard for Mantle of Majesty! As a bonus action, you cast Command without expending a spell slot as you take on an appearance of unearthly beauty for 1 minute. During that minute you can cast Command as a bonus action on each of your turns without expending a spell slot. Additionally any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the command you cast with this feature. You do have to concentrate on this feature (like a spell), and once you use it you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

You can also learn another spell but there isn’t much I want from the third level of Bard, really. Oh and you get Countercharm which is awful and I hate it, but since you didn’t take a 10th level in Paladin I suppose you have to use it. Spend an action to give allies advantage on their saving throws against charms and fears, I guess.

LEVEL 16 - BARD 7

7th level Bard; 4th level spells. Freedom of Movement will let you help either yourself or an ally with Mikael’s Crucible, and Dimension Door is great to get into lane fast, or back to base fast!

LEVEL 17 - BARD 8

8th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement, and if you don’t like the look of something something Medium Armor then the Eldritch Adept feat might be able to help. Take the Mask of Many Faces invocation to be able to cast Disguise Self at will to change your skins as you please.

Could you have taken this earlier? Absolutely. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably, but by level 17 you can make some of your own choices. Build your own Sona: this is merely a guide and you can make your own choices.

Speaking of own choices: take whichever spell you want at this level. There’s plenty of great ones for a 4th level Bard and I can’t recommend anything in particular to you. Every musician has their own style, and it’s up to you to find your own!

(Artwork by Yan Li. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - BARD 9

9th level Bards get to pretend that increasing Song of Rest from a d6 to a d8 by total level 18 is helpful.

You do get access to 5th level spells like Mass Cure Wounds, which is like Mass Healing Word but better! "Harmoniously."

LEVEL 19 - BARD 10

10th level Bards get Expertise in two more skills: Perception is an obvious must to watch over your wards but beyond that? Honestly pick your poison with whatever skill you want since by level 19 you can make your own choices. (Though my personal choice would be Athletics to hopefully give some more safety against grapples.)

But of course the main boon of reaching level 10 in Bard is the Magical Secrets! ...I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you again: there honestly aren’t any spells in particular I want as Magical Secrets. Sure I could recommend spells like Haste or whatever but are they really going to be that great by total level 20? To be honest even the spells on the Bard list like Animate Objects, Greater Restoration, Hold Monster, Rary's Telepathic Bond, Scrying, and Synaptic Static are very good (although I’d sooner replace some of your old spells with them.)

Again I know this is supposed to be a “guide” but most people won’t hit level 19 anyways, so I don’t think it’s that bad for me to recommend you take your own steps to make your own Sona. Hell, build some AP if you want! I know I would!

LEVEL 20 - BARD 11

Our final level is the 11th level of Bard and I’ll be honest: it’s just to add Otto's Irresistible Dance to your spell list. It can only affect one person but it’s still your ultimate by total level 20.

Oh and you were supposed to get a cantrip last level. Uhhhhh I dunno take Mending lol.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

The rhythm connects us all - You have dozens of spells to keep your team alive and active during a fight, not to mention that all your Paladin auras and abilities really help them give 110%. It’s worth mentioning that Gift of Alacrity combined with Aura of the Sentinel is a d8 + 6 to an Initiative roll, which will almost always guarantee that whoever you want to go first will be going first!

A true masterpiece should celebrate living - Despite your somewhat weird level split you maxed out the only stat which matters for you: Charisma. And woah holy shit turns out Paladins are really good with maxed out Charisma! +5 to all saves means even your lowest save is a +4, and the saves your proficient in vary between +13 for Dexterity and Constitution (both very common!) and a whopping +16 save on Charisma!

Curtains up; I'm ready - Jack of All Trades also does quite nicely to help your middling skills. Even though I dumped most of your mental skills you’re still proficient enough that you won’t be completely helpless when caught off guard. And when you’re in the zone with Persuasion or Performance you are easily the best girl around!

CONS

Don't make me get off stage - It was my intention to recreate Sona’s positional gameplay with this build but it does present some gameplay issues when trying to maximize your effectiveness. Where do you position yourself as a character who’s still primarily a squishy caster despite your good saving throws and AC? Can you give everyone in your party support, or are they too spread out to get value out of your 10 foot range auras?

Quiet, please! - You have a damn good concentration check, but what do you concentrate on? Not only do you have a ton of spells but they all scale very good with levels and you have spell slots that go far higher than your maximum level spell. It can be hard to choose what to do with those 7th and 8th level slots.

The world is cruel... Until that changes, I'll never stop playing - One of many “meta” problems with this build was my choice to focus almost entirely on support. Sure Toll the Dead is a great damaging cantrip but your only two damaging spells are Moonbeam and Dissonant Whispers. Again: you don’t have to follow my build point-for-point and while you’ll be flamed in League for building Sona full AP I don’t think your friends will mind if you take some damaging spells.

But if you can’t tell it was really hard for me to come up with those downsides. With the exception of the positional requirements a Bardadin is a very strong build and Sona is a very strong support. Boost your teammates with your own amazing power and make sure everyone’s alive and jamming! Your power may have been forgotten over the years but no one’s ever upset to have a great support at their side. And remember: Seraphine may be in K/DA but you’re in Pentakill, and you have your own label! No one can replace DJ Sona!

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