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#polls #2022! based on when this sideblog was made

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ghost with a dollar

#art #og art #ghosts

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#gif #animation #fanimation #lolly #lolly ac #animal crossing

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What's the difference between a witchlight, a Magelight, and a Magelamp?

Good question! I'm kind of surprised I haven't answered this before (I probably have but can't find it lol), but here's the breakdown:

A witchlight is a small, roughly candle-sized flame that a Mage conjures. It's almost always a ghostly blue flame and is always attached to a Mage's hand, palm, or thumb. It can sometimes be different colors, like green or purple. Every person has a slightly different way of conjuring their witchlight: some hold it cupped in their upturned hand, others hold it in a 👍 position or even a 🫰 position, whatever is most natural to them. I think of it as a magical Zippo lighter. Looks kind of like this:

It doesn't usually get as big as the last picture, but you get the idea. Notably, the "mnemonic" gesture to conjuring a witchlight is always snapping your fingers together a few times, as if they're made of tinder and flint.

A Magelight or magelight is less of a flame and is more of a golden orb of softer ambient light. The difference is that they are always gold, white, or pale yellow in color, illuminate a much wider area than witchlights, and notably are more "autonomous": they can float ahead of you or bob alongside you pretty much on their own, whereas a witchlight is attached to your hand and has to be held aloft like a torch. Magelights are more independent and don't require much active thought once summoned, serving more as levitating balls of illumination than little flames.

A Magelamp is a physical item that resembles a Victoria-era gas lamp. They're usually set into walls as sconces or overhead as ceiling fixtures and provide diffuse ambient light, pretty much how a gas or electric lamp would. They're constructed from anbar and zharril, Mage materials that can be charged with magical energy and spellwork, and are powered purely by magic. (Magelamps used to be just chunks of zharril crystal that would hold magical light really well before slowly fading... kind of like... glowsticks?... but they've been around for a really long time and have gotten much more advanced over time.) Because the magic lies within the lamp itself, Magelamps can be operated by both Mages and non-Mages. The Shepherds' compound is lit largely by these--so you can walk into a room and they'll automatically light up, or you can speak the command word and they'll light up according to your directions (like "light only the western sconce" or "turn down the intensity by 50%"), but this last part is finicky if you're a non-Mage and you'll usually have to get a spirit to help you if you want to do really fancy things--but they do have to be recharged by a Mage every five years or so. There are also oil and gas lamps and candles/braziers throughout the compound, too, though!

Hope that all makes sense! :)

#Shepherds of Haven #magic #lighting #witchlight #magelight #magelamp #worldbuilding

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How resilient are the ROs in a fight? Like who can take a beating and get up and keep fighting?

Pretty much all of the Shepherds who regularly face combat can take an ass-kicking and can get back up: that's pretty much a prerequisite of the job, if you're a Lunar Corps agent! If you're asking me to rate it on a scale, it'd probably be:

Blade - Briony (tied for most physically durable with most amount of stamina) - also tied with Halek (blood-rage mode: will literally keep fighting until something knocks him out or kills him, but that's not really in his control... also in his berserker state, he doesn't feel pain or tiredness, so... yeah. Some Hunters have had their hearts stop because the blood-rage removes their "limiters" and pushes their bodies too far)

Trouble - Ayla (spiritual resilience rivals that of Blade or Briony, even if physical endurance is slightly less: they'll DIE fighting on their feet or not at all)

Chase - maniac who doesn't really feel fear and exhibits extreme physical resilience and a surprising amount of stubbornness (but also often displays enough good sense to retreat if something looks hopeless). I guess if you're asking how long he can withstand torture or a beating, he's probably at the top of the list, but if you're asking how long will he keep picking himself up *to continue fighting*, he knows when to beat a tactical retreat when it's looking hopeless rather than sticking around to get whaled on. The first five don't have that trait

Lavinet - tough-ass lady who will keep going, bloodied and haggard, no matter what, but her overall "limit" is still beneath Chase's before her body quits on her

Tallys - high physical endurance and resistance to pain, but prefers a more cautious approach and would prefer to lay down arms and figure out a way to escape rather than continually just throwing everything she has into a fight if they're kicking the absolute shit out of her

Red - he can take an ass-kicking, but asking him to endlessly keep swinging through it is kind of tough lol

Shery - Riel (Shery: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I actually used to think Shery was cowardly, but I'm coming to find out that she's mentally and emotionally tougher than I gave her credit for, and I think she'd be able to withstand getting beat up without breaking or surrendering if it was really important! This could also come from being bullied as a child. But she certainly wouldn't be able to pick herself up and keep on fighting, she'd just 'endure' silently before passing out or fainting from the pain! Riel: he has a high enough pain tolerance and mental resilience to laugh in the face of people kicking the shit out of him or torturing him physically--his pride wouldn't allow him to react much--but physical frailty and inexperience to people putting hands on him would mean it wouldn't take very much to fuck him up lol, that guy's never been in a fight before, even the idea of him putting his fists up makes me laugh-cry-scream, it feels very wrong)

#Shepherds of Haven #deadliest warrior #all characters #pain tolerance #endurance #resilience #scale #rating

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ROs hair and eye color plz?

Oh, you can check out their physical descriptions in this post or in your character guide in the game! Just for fun though, I can list them just by hair color and eye color! 

The blondes:

Prihine: ash-blonde hair, light grey eyes

Shery: light pale blonde hair, pale blue eyes

Trouble: dark hay-colored blond hair, bright blue eyes (with a gold ring around the pupil)

Ayla: medium sandy hair, bright amber eyes

The brunettes:

Chase: light chestnut brown hair, bright green eyes

Tallys: dark oak-colored hair, dark green eyes

Caine: copper-colored brown hair, light brown eyes

Riel: black hair, ice-blue eyes

Mimir: black hair, silver eyes

Blade: black hair, black eyes

The redheads:

Red: fiery red hair, bright green eyes

Croelle: blood-red hair, ochre/yellow eyes

The inbetweeners:

Lavinet: lavender-colored hair (naturally auburn though), plum-brown/burgundy eyes

Briony: pale pink hair, violet eyes

Halek: snow-white hair, dark grey eyes

Thanks for your question!

#Shepherds of Haven #hair color #eye color #all characters #appearance #physical appearance #writing ref

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following from the letter writing ask, how do the ROs sign their letters normally vs in a relationship.

Blade: 

Normally: he doesn’t sign his letters normally (habit from going deep undercover, if you don’t know the letter’s from him then the letter isn’t intended for you). The letter just… ends haha

In a relationship: “Coming back to you, Blade” or “Yours, Blade” or “Stay safe, Blade” or when he’s feeling really, really sappy, “Love, Blade”–(which kind of stresses him out, because what if the letter gets intercepted and then the interceptors figure out that MC is his weakness and goes after her??) but he does it anyway because of love~

Trouble: 

Normally: signs his letters “Alder, Out” to people he doesn’t know well, “Trouble” to his friends. 

In a relationship: signs his letters BIG LOVE or MWAH MWAH MWAH or a big fat heart (the size of which grows bigger every time)!

Tallys: 

Normally: signs her letters “Tallys Ironwood” along with the usual stuff like “Sincerely” or “Warm Regards,” depending on the occasion and recipient.

In a relationship: “All my love, Tallys” or “Forever yours–Tallys” 

Shery: 

Normally: “Best wishes, Shery Acquell” regardless of occasion

In a relationship: “I love you and please come home safe! Shery” 

Riel: 

Normally: “From the Desk of Riel Syndran, Master of Merchants Guild, Haven–all the highest courtesies to you.”

In a relationship: “Thinking of you most fondly, R”

Chase: 

Normally: signs his letters with a doodle of a cat or a henohenomoheji or something

In a relationship: doodles a kissy face of himself and a heart (or Blest’s version of XOXOXO) along with some horribly cheesy pet name he came up with, which changes every time: “missing you, dearest darling love!” or “aching for you, softest souffle of my heart”

Red: 

Normally: either “Yours, Red” or “Your Friend, Red” or “Liefred Antiqua” if he’s writing in an Archmage capacity

In a relationship: “Missing you dearly, Red” or “Love (still can’t believe I get to write that!), Red” 

Ayla: 

Normally: “A” 

In a relationship: “You’re in my heart always, Ayla ❤” 

Lavinet: 

Normally: “Warmest regards, Lavinet Naveen” to acquaintances, “Cordially, Lady Naveen” to people she holds at arm’s length, and “Love, Lavi” to friends

In a relationship: She makes a game out of signing letters as cheesily as possible, but she also sort of means it–“Soaring on love’s wings,” “Utterly under your spell,” “Yours in perpetuity,” “Yoked and burdened by my heart”– and then “Your Lavi” 

#romance options #hcs #hhehehe #inner circle

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do you have a pronunciation guide for all of the ROs? c:

Sure! I’m not going to use official phonetic spellings because I hate them so bear me with me, this is not a "real" academic pronunciation guide so it uses a mix of real words as well as sounds...

Blade Bronwyn - “blayd BRAWNwin”

Trouble Alder - “TRUHble” (rhymes with “double”) “ALL-der”

Tallys Ironwood - “TAH-liss” “Iron + wood”

Shery Acquell - “sherry” (like "cherry" but with an "sh" sound) “ah-KWELL”

Riel Syndran - “ree-el SIN-dran” Chase Trinaeste - “chase TRIN-ay-est” or “chase TRIN-ai-est” or “chase TRIN-ee-est” (“trin” rhymes with “grin”)

(the first way is how he pronounces it, but he doesn't really care either way, people with different accents say it slightly differently depending on how it flows off the tongue for them and how fast they're talking) Liefred “Red” Antiqua - “lee-EH-fred” “an-TEE-kwah” Ayla Aescar - “AY-lah EH-scar” or “AY-lah AY-scar” (I don’t know how to write the “ae” sound I’m imagining in my head phonetically so I tried my best to get it close for both Aescar and Trinaeste lol it’s like a mix between an “AY” sound and an "AI" sound, but not quite either!) Briony Stormbreaker - “BRY-oh-nee” (BRY = the first part of “bribe”) “Storm + breaker”

Lavinet Naveen - “LAH-vih-net” “Nah-VEEN” (“LAH-vee-nay”--more French sounding--is also acceptable)

Prihine Naveen - “PREE-heen nah-VEEN” Mimir Esthin - “MIH-meer ES-thin” Croelle - “CROE-el” (Croe = crow)

Halek Prince - “HAH-lick Prince” (HAH = the first part of "happy")

Naolin Prince - “NOW-lin Prince” Caine Tavadon - “cane TAV-ah-dawn”

#pronunciation guide #names #companions #inner circle #wog #word of god

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Do students have to pay to join/stay in the circle? Is it entirely self-sufficient or does it rely on things from the surrounding city?

Yes, students generally have to pay tuition to attend the Circle, though there are lots of exceptions. The Circle's many reserves of gold and the personal investments of Archmage Tevanti's family (who owned a lot of real estate in Capra) ensured that it received steady revenue throughout the years and could offer "scholarships" to worthy students who couldn't afford to attend on their own. I think fifth years and up were also allowed to take on part-time jobs in Capra if they wanted to, though both they and their chosen places of employment had to be vetted and cleared by multiple teachers first. Capra is a predominantly Mage city, so there are plenty of businesses and vendors who have known (or at least heavily suspected) what's up with Solhadur for multiple generations and will give the students a safe place to work without fear of discovery (though plausible deniability still has to be maintained). Like, there are definitely the equivalent of college bars that the students knew it was safe to go to on the weekends versus places that weren't so trustworthy. The Circle is largely self-sufficient when it comes to things like growing food or running its own repairs (having a community of advanced Mages has its perks), but it will still discretely buy supplies and equipment from said trusted vendors and businesses in the city when it needs to; so long as no one is seen delivering large shipments up to "the old abandoned castle up on the hill" and the vendors didn't ask exactly where all these supplies were going (which merchants who do a lot of business rarely do), they got by without raising too many eyebrows!

#solhadur #capra #worldbuilding #lore

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Because you talked about how being good at both shifting and wild magic is kind of like a good painter also being good at biology (not that those would be the equivalent subjects), I was wondering if you had roughly equivalent subjects in the real world for the types of magic? Also what kinds of people tend to be good at what types of magic? Thank you!

Hi, thanks for your question! I don't have a 1:1 equivalency for subjects in the real world versus magic, as I think the inherent experience of using magic is so different from real-world pursuits that it's hard to compare them! But I have noticed that I definitely think of arcane magic as more mathematically-inclined or more scientific-minded, with Shifting requiring a knowledge of molecular science and biology, Binding definitely seeming more like engineering and programming (with more chemistry if you're an Alchemyst), and Conjuration somewhat involving more math and calculation aspects? Whereas I feel like psionic magic requires opening yourself to the outside world in a way that I've sometimes heard of the arts being talked about, sort of like how artists in the late 1800s/early 1900s thought themselves to be "channelers" who would open themselves up the spiritual or psychic world in order to paint, or how a writer makes themselves free and pliant for inspiration or "the muse" to take over, or how a pianist lets the music flow through them in order to play? So in that way I think Divination can sort of be akin to painting or the arts, where you let the vision come to you while still being focused and searching for it, if that makes any sense at all... And Enchanting and Wild Mage are sort of like that, too, opening yourself up to these outside forces and intelligences, but I'd say Enchanting is also along the lines of psychology and speech/debate with sprinklings of social sciences like anthropology, and Wild Magic is influenced by animal behavioralism and zoology as well! Astral magic seems very kinetic to me and doesn't have a straightforward equivalency other than being very in-tune with the external world, its forces, and its energies: obviously battle magic involves athleticism, combat, physics, and kinetics; healing involves anatomy and medicine and all its many branches; and and elementalism has always had a flavor of meditation and spirituality to it, at least to me, since it heavily involves being aware and making use of the interconnectedness of the world and its elements; though of course you could argue it also has flavors of more kinetic "sleeves in the mud" physical activities, maybe like gardening, hunting, fishing, swimming, metalsmithing, knitting, building, woodwork, or even to an extent cooking or baking, or where you have to become one with the thing you’re doing, in a certain sense; labor-intensive science like geology or botany; while mixed with more cerebral sciences like thermodynamics, meteorology, entropy, and physics!

...So to break it down, as I said, there's no simple 1:1 magic-to-real-life study, since I think the different types of magic involve so many different elements and aspects and are so foreign to our reality that it's hard to compare, especially in a straightforward, clean-cut way. 😅 But I'd maybe think people who tend to be more mathematic, logic-based, or scientifically or engineering-inclined tend to be drawn to the school of arcane magic; people who tend to be more creative or artistic might (?) be stronger or more at ease in psionic magic; and people who are more kinetic or physical could be more astral (?). But definitely take that with a huge grain of salt; I don't really think of them in this way when I'm writing, so this is not something that's set in stone! Like, I don't think of Idalia (who's talented in Battle Magic, Healing, and Elementalism) as a particularly "physical" person, and I don't think of Isodel (who's talented in Wild Magic and Shifting) to be both "artistic" and "science-y", so these distinctions probably don't mean anything at all--they're just different subjects you can be good in, I guess lol! Because the type of magic you specialize in doesn't often dictate what kind of hobbies you're into or your strength in other non-magic areas, so I don't think it really has a strong correlation. :) So maybe even discount everything I just said. XD Hope that all makes sense though!

#worldbuilding #magic #oh man no wonder i took 1 look at Red and went 'yeah that's a math nerd i just feel it in my bones'

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Sorry if this has already been asked, but what are Chase’s nicknames for all the Shepherds?

Blade: Spike

Trouble: Trubs

Tallys: Tally (pronounced Tali, rhymes with alley) or Tal if he's being really familiar, but this is rare

Shery: Sher (pronounced like Cher) or occasionally Cupcake

Riel: he doesn't have a true (affectionate) nickname for Riel gfldjgfdg he just calls him Riel or sometimes Rat Man if he's being obnoxious

Red: Liefred, sometimes just Leaf

Halek: sometimes just big guy, like "heyyy what's up, big guy?", sometimes Basil (Prince Basile was the name of a fictional prince who was constantly falling asleep, kind of a comical fairytale for kids, and also, Halek likes cooking so 🌿)

Ayla: Petra (this is kind of complicated; "Petra" is related to rocks or stone, and Ayla carries around this big jade stone to like pistol-whip people with when she ties it to the end of her hair, and also, her personality is kind of hard and unyielding like a rock)

Briony: Peaches (I have considered Bubblegum or Miss Bubblegum but don't know yet if that's too anachronistic for Blest; it probably is)

Lavinet: Queenie, sometimes Milady if he's being sarcastic; other times just Lavi or Lady Lavender/Miss Lavender

Prihine: Princess (sarcastic)

Caine: he just calls him "kid," rarely uses his first name

Thanks for your question!

#chase trinaeste #chase wog #wog #nicknames #hhehehe

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Mc runs past the Ros like ‘OMGYOUHAVETOCOMEQUICK HALEK IS OUT THERE SHIRTLESS AND HE. IS. S H R E D D E D’ and runs off. Reactions if there crushing on mc?

Blade: (a bit jealous) ……………i’m shredded too……….. (thoughts only)

Trouble: (already taking his shirt off and running after MC) what about me though? ??

Tallys: … (starts walking in a leisurely way after MC to see)

Shery: (not interested in this at all but feigning interest for MC’s sake) ….have fun! (why did I say that?)

Riel: ugh…. why are they excited about something so crass? 

Chase: 👀 yo seriously?????? I want to see~

Red: (a little bit self-conscious: is he shredded enough for MC) oh, really haha? that’s okay… i’m, uh, good… (spends the rest day in a funk wondering if he should start working out more)

Ayla: fam I guarantee he’s not more shredded than me (it’s true, her abs are and back muscles are insane)

Lavinet: …why is MC so excited about that, lol? She’ll come just to see what the fuss is all about, but is largely unmoved by the shreddedness 

#BLADE LMAO #I'M SHREDDED TOO #ros #shepherds #Halek Prince

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#oouuhhhgh #pudge... #puppies #animals #dogs #puppy pics

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What would the ROs consider red flags when going on dates? Like if Blest had dating apps or something, what would be something that turn each RO off or give them the ick?

Hi there, I've talked what the ROs are looking for in relationships quite a bit, such as here in the #cheat codes tag or places like this post about what they need in a partner, and I think those posts also go into what would genuinely turn them off or how to fail at getting their attention in detail! So instead of reiterating those points, I'm just going to list really silly red flags, like small or irrational things that you would vent to a friend about after the first date rather than true big-deal incompatibilities! Like mostly superficial stuff that might allude to deeper issues, but it's mostly just stupid or irrational hangups that would still give them the ick

(But when I say it like that, they suddenly become too many to count for each character, so I'll just list a few 😂)

Blade:

someone who's clearly uncomfortable with silence. this does not equate people who are naturally talkative, but people who literally can't exist in quiet without becoming visibly antsy and awkward

similarly, someone who can't control their volume and is audibly grating in public (think drunk bachelorette parties at nyc brunches, but all the time)

someone who's prone to randomly bursting into song (not humming under their breath or singing quietly while doing a task, but just walking down the hall and suddenly throwing their arms open and belting out a random verse like they're an actor at dinner theater)

someone who is overly sexual or physically familiar when flirting, especially very early on in their acquaintance.

someone with very sickly and strong-smelling perfume

Trouble:

someone being rude to the waiter/staff

someone who kept checking their appearance with a compact mirror

someone who's obsessed with and comments on how much things cost

someone who won't let you touch their hair or face without fear of you ruining their makeup/hairstyle

similarly, someone who won't do something spontaneous or active for fear of ruining their appearance, like 'i can't go up onto the roof with you, i'll dirty my dress!!'

someone who came off as flippantly controlling right away ("i like to shoot guns" "oh no, well we'll train that out of you")

Tallys

someone whose shoelaces were untied, and if you pointed it out, they didn't move to correct it

making overt statements to emphasize how special or unique they are (to the tune of "see, I'm not like other guys/girls/people...")

someone who can't keep indications of their emotions to themselves in a public setting. like when you're standing in a big line with a bunch of people, say at the post office or DMV, and there's one person who keeps sighing impatiently, huffing, scoffing loudly, tapping their foot, so that everyone else has to know how they're feeling--like they make it other people's problems, if that makes any sense?

not putting things away when you're done using them. like if you were to make yourself a sandwich and then leave the open jar of peanut butter on the counter and just wandered away without closing it and putting it back in the cabinet

Shery:

someone who made hating animals or kids a big part of their personality

someone who starts to make your story all about themselves as a way of relating to you--idk I worded that exactly right, but it's not exactly talking over you, it's more like directing the conversation back to themselves without even realizing it? Like "so the other day, I was really frustrated at work..." "oh my gosh, I completely know what you mean, at my job as a mercenary, I've been in so many situations where..."

someone who uses a lot of crude humor, like dead baby jokes and etc.

someone who would step on a flower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk without even noticing 😭

Riel:

someone showing up to the date dressed sloppily

someone who picked their teeth at the table

someone who asked the waiter to "just bring them the most expensive thing on the menu"

someone who's late without a good explanation

someone who sings, hums, or whistles along while watching a performance at the opera

someone with dirty fingernails

someone who kept coughing wetly or hacking away after every few words

in a modern AU, posting a mirror selfie with a dirty mirror. the selfie is already thin ice, the dirty mirror is unforgivable because you have so many opportunities to correct it

chewing ice loudly

--he's probably the pickiest dater of them all that I'm actually having trouble just narrowing it down to a few... 😂

Chase:

an overly superstitious person, or someone who ascribes a lot of things to "signs" or "fate." like "what day were you born? the 9th? oh wow, my mom's cousins are coming to visit and there are nine of them... i'm getting the chills!!"

someone who clearly says a lot of unoriginal cliches and adages. like the dad jokes where they say "clearly I hated it!" when the waiter comes to take away their empty plate... there's nothing wrong with saying this in and of itself, but if he senses you clearly say these types of things a lot and therefore have a default, rehearsed, repetitive mode of talking where you're probably automatically going to say that every time you have a clear plate, that would start to drive him crazy. especially if you acted like it was original 😂

also, someone who baited for compliments expectantly and overtly, especially quite a lot, and not in a teasing/flirtatious way

Red:

someone who doesn't really have any passions or hobbies, like if he were to say, "so what are your interests?" they wouldn't really know what to say... or basically someone dull who couldn't hold a conversation, though that seems fairly obvious!

in a modern AU, texting him "i'm bored" with no followup (aka with the silent expectation that he's supposed to fix that or entertain them) would be a big turn-off

also, someone proud of how much they don't read, or thinks being ignorant is funny

someone who spilled the tea/gossip on their close friends/family really easily, like telling him really crazy stuff that they swore not to tell anyone. would make him wonder if they could be trusted with his secrets!

Ayla:

someone who seems like a snob, like criticizing something niche like how the napkins are folded shows that this a low-class establishment, or making a big deal about how they wanted a red-wine sauce and this is a port reduction.

similarly, someone really overwrought or high-strung

someone very physically lazy while in perfect health, like they would complain about having to walk a few blocks to a restaurant or would whine about walking up a small hill to see a sunrise

someone who took food off of her plate without asking 😂

in a modern AU, a backseat driver

a "stiff," someone with a dead sense of humor or couldn't laugh at themselves

love-bombing or being too romantic too soon, like wanting to lock down the relationship and make it official after 2-3 dates, or making statements like "I can already tell you're my soulmate"

mincing words or beating around the bush as a way to stall so you'll say the thing for them

Briony:

someone who doesn't come off as authentic, especially if their words and actions don't match (like stating "I'm really passionate about helping the poor" but then they coldly shake off a beggar or act disgusted by them)

someone who spends a large part of the date ripping on other people or oversharing (such as passionately going on an angry tirade about an ex and how crazy they are, a parent and how much they're annoyed by them, etc.).

someone who's condescending or a mansplainer, explaining really obvious things with the assumption that she doesn't know about them (without checking first)

someone who gave her callous/indifferent responses ("i'm really worried about my friend, she's been having a hard time..." "oh. well good luck with that")

someone who kept checking the time even if they don't have anywhere to be, making her feel insecure that they were impatient for the date to be over

in a modern AU, putting "just ask" as their bio on their dating profile

Lavinet:

someone repeating a joke that didn't land the first time, just louder

someone who seems thoughtless or inconsiderate (by her standards), like not holding the door for her or not holding the umbrella over her head if they're sharing. basically not a gentleman!

someone who was a sloppy drunk/couldn't hold their liquor

someone who spat or hocked a loogie in the street

someone who admitted to cheating in a past relationship (doesn't matter the circumstances)

seeming flirtatious with other women or visibly checking others out while in her presence

someone who ran at a bird to scare it and it didn't fly away 🙂

Halek:

someone who was a very picky eater

someone who liked to play coy or play mind games (deliberately not calling on him the next day to see if he would do it first, etc.)

someone who talked in a baby voice a lot and used nicknames like "babykins" or "smoochums."

deliberately acting helpless, especially as a way of being cute or eliciting caretaking behavior, like "omg i can't figure out how to boil water, can you do it for me?" 🥺

in a modern AU, telling him you think silver foxes are hot 😭

#red flags #all characters #everyone #everyone wog #wog #word of god

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Hi! Big fan of the game and your worldbuilding. I just wanted to pop-in and ask a question:

I've noticed in your worldbuilding posts and in the game you make mention of of Elven Knights. I was wondering if you could tell us more about them and anything else about pre-castigation Elven martial culture.

Hi! Thank you so much for your very kind words! And good question! Elven knights were actually an early predecessor of the Shepherds as well as modern Elven clans today!

In times of relative peace and prosperity, Elven monarchs of yore would allow their knights to travel the land (primarily the Eastern Continent) in large companies and units, serving as peacekeepers and defenders for people in need. They were among the first "international" peacekeeping organizations, in that their services were rendered to whoever required their aid and whoever they happened to come across--not just Elves of their own city-state or country. They were kind of like knights of Arthurian legend, duty-bound to protect innocents and intervene in matters that caught their attention as they roamed the land. As time went on, more and more followers would join under their banners (lieutenants, other knights, companions, horsemasters, etc.), and these companies (or their branches) eventually became the ancestors of many of the Elven houses that continue to roam the Continent to this day. House Ironwood, for example, can trace its lineage all the way back to an Elven knight with that name in ancient times, and the myriad followers they gained (and who fought under their banner) is why multiple different "bloodlines" can exist under the same house name.

While these knights operated largely independently, they were still bound by oath to ultimately serve their homeland--they just spent much of their lives wandering on missions of peace and goodwill, kind of like volunteer militia. Their ability to help and protect others, regardless of race, allegiance, or political affiliation, ultimately set a precedent for the Shepherds doing the same thing, at least in concept! But eventually, during a drawn-out war between the Elves and Mages, many knights were recalled to their city-state and--if they survived--were later elevated to the rank of what amounted to nobility or aristocracy, forming many of the great Elven Houses you'd find in cities like Tira or Sylfaen today. However, others returned to roaming, which is why many Elves jumped to this nomadic lifestyle to escape the Castigation: it was already a part of their culture in this way!

#worldbuilding #elves #elf #knights

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I saw the interactive map of Blest that you created (or had commissioned?) and it is very beautiful. At first I assumed that the technology in your story was similar to that which existed in real life (late 18th, early 19th centuries), baring things such as air-ships/glyphs and other magical devices. Yet viewing the pictures presented showed me a world that rivals or eclipses some of the existing tech in modern society. What era(s) would you place the technological advancements of Blest in?

Hi there, thanks for your question (and I'm so glad you made use of and enjoyed the map, it's my favorite resource for Blest)!

I've discussed the technology of Blest quite a lot, most recently here, here, and here, as well as on the Choice of Games forum thread for the game! The long and short of it, I'm extremely resistant to placing Blest's technological progression in any one era of Earth's, mainly because I believe that the existence of magic, supernatural powers, and past off-world imports and contamination vastly skews things, to the point where there is no true equivalent. The general "aesthetic" of the world is intended to be (as mentioned in the first link) sort of early fantasy steampunk mixed with the Stuart/Georgian era, with the tiniest smidge of Victorian stuff occasionally thrown in. You're correct that there are flashes of more advanced technology, especially what was developed by Mages before the Castigation, which was then destroyed, having Blest regress back to a kind of "dark age" before suddenly accelerating towards a new age of Norm innovation and enlightenment featuring steam and gas technology. So the answer is that it's really a mixed bag and can't solidly be placed in any of "our" centuries, if that makes any sense! Hope that helps!

#technology #worldbuilding

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When the Captains go on missions together how do they decide who takes the lead? Like who would be in charge? Do they play rock paper scissors?

Most of the time, mission assignments are handed down with a team leader already designated or specified, either by a higher-up (Blade, Trouble, Tallys, Riel) or by a specific staff member whose job is to coordinate and assign missions! In the rare cases that there isn't a team leader officially specified (sometimes Blade or Riel may just informally hand something off to like Chase and Trouble because they're headed in that direction, or something) and everyone on the team is technically of the same rank, then yeah, it basically gets sorted out between themselves! A lot of the time it either goes by seniority (Lavinet would typically defer to Ayla because she's been with the Shepherds for longer), preference/common sense/discussion (Ayla may let Lavinet take the helm if the mission is dealing with nobles and she doesn't want to deal with that), or it might go to something like rock-paper-scissors, but that's only if no one wants to be team leader for that particular mission, which generally means it's going to be unpleasant or tedious! If a team really has trouble deciding, they can just ask whoever assigned the mission to also assign a leader, but I don't think that's ever happened because it'd be vaguely embarrassing if they couldn't figure it out for themselves, lol.

#wog #worldbuilding #Shepherds