#I know that particular type of magical being has an actual name

[unbidden-yidden]

Okay so today I woke up from a series of extremely elaborate story dreams about half-human half-snake people that I was 1000% convinced was from a real book that I could really read due to seeing part of it written out on pages that looked like they'd been photocopied and scanned for a class or something.

And then I realized I had just dreamed it, so I wasn't going to get to see the end of the quest and now I'm very miffed about this.

Why did G-d airdrop a DnD campaign into my sleeping mind as if this is something I'm even capable of finishing??

#oh well #it made for a lovely change from Trauma(tm) dreams #so honestly I'll take it 😎👍 #I'm just so confused lol #I know that particular type of magical being has an actual name #and I'm so far out of my genre that I don't even know what it is lmao

[blood-orange-juice]

ok so ive never properly played genshin and don’t plan to but i know a bit about it’s lore and characters and i think it’s really neat. however i have thousands of hours on ffxiv. on that note please explain why graha and childe are similar. i only have very basic knowledge on childe and i gotta know

Fellow ffxiv enjoyer. <3

(anyone asking me about G'raha has a 100% chance of getting a wall of text and I'm not apologising for that. enjoy your wall of text)

I'm not entirely sure I'm not a case of a person with a hammer to whom everything resembles a nail, but I do think they are the same archetype.

Sweet characters who could have been perfect sidekicks (who still are perfect sidekicks) but listened to too many epic tales as kids and found themselves in a wrong place at a wrong time and now have to play a key role in some universe-changing story.

Both are defined mostly by their stubborness, they are not very suitable for the roles they've chosen and fail over and over again until they do it somewhat right (barely).

No matter how badass they look, their power is not their own, G'raha is a glorified technician of someone else's miracle and little else than a living key, Childe wields an art of old Khaenri'ah without fully understanding it. It's all borrowed from someone else who needed them to achieve a goal.

They do look badass, but mostly because they larp. I'm honestly not sure which one enjoys theatrics more.

Civilisations that created the magic they use specialised in perversion of the natural order of things. They try to use it in relatively noble ways and mostly hurt themselves but the flavour is there.

Both are unbelievably tragic and both somehow make their stories seem almost lighthearted. Complete absense of self-pity. I think that's what makes them both so charming, it's a rare trait.

Both have an incredible capacity for loyalty and love and an incredibly twisted view of what relationships look like. "I'll cross time and space for you, I'll die for you, I'll build a city for you, I'll live for you but please don't ask me to share my plans." "I'll sacrfice my own health and respect of my subordinates to keep my brother's happyness, probably my humanity too, but don't expect me to actually interact with him."

Both have something that looks like self-sacrificial tendencies bordering on suicidality while being, if we are honest, a self-serving trait (partially born out of low self-esteem but still self-serving). They want to live in an old myth and sacrificing oneself is a perfectly reasonable price for that.

Huge egos. And I mean Huge Egos. It's a bit less obvious in Graha's case but I know the type, you see guys like that in PhD programs a lot.

Huge dorks. Both of them.

Both are stuck somewhere between human and non-human and, hmm... their ability to remain human is the most astonishing quality of both. By all accounts, neither should have. They somehow did.

Both are incapable of lying to the point where a third of each fandom headcanons them as autistic. Both are somewhat all right with tricking people without technically lying (although Childe had more practice).

Both are secretive because no one would understand anyway.

FF XIV is a kinder story, so it's easy to overlook, but technically G'raha is a case of body horror, accepts the role of a villain for a while and hides from the player way too much. Hmmm... Where else have I seen it. Hmm. Oh right. That ginger guy from Genshin.

Minor things:

Both are little shits and enjoy annoying the hell out of people they dislike.

Abysmally bad fashion sense. There should be a name for this particular type and level of bad. I don't think I've seen this anywhere else.

And then there's the colour scheme. Red+black+white+blue and red+black+light grey+blue (it's an "anime magician" color profile, I think. black-red-white as alchemy colours + blue as pure magic/something elemental). Childe doesn't quite fit but still the combination is rare.

They way they talk. Dear gods. Who the hell talks like that.

Here's where the similarities end.

One is morally grey but ultimately a good guy (technically. I think the point of ShB was that Emet and G'raha are almost the same), another is a morally grey but still (kind of) a bad buy.

At every step of his story Graha is surrounded by people who love or at least appreciate him, Childe is pretty much on his own and surrounded by people who are either shitty or clueless.

G'raha is kind. Truly and astonishingly kind, in a doomed world he chooses to love everything he touches. Silly little priest of hope. Of all the things he has done this is the most wondrous, I think. Not the time travel, not the city he founded, just being able to remain kind after everything that happened to him.

Childe is... well, Childe. I think he is a deeply decent person (to the point of having a visceral distaste for any kind of unfairness) and he's idealistic but he's indifferent more than he is kind. Empathy usually develops only when someone has shown the person empathy first and, as far as we know, he didn't have much of that in his life.

Also G'raha builds things. Childe breaks things. Childe breaks pretty much everything he touches.

One is an archeologist and a mage and another is a warrior.

I think these differences are caused mostly by the settings they were put into. Childe raised in Sharlayan would have been a very different person. G'raha trained by a voidsent and shipped off to Garlean military would look very much like Childe.

G'raha also has a beautiful character development arc. I love his ShB role. He has this huge ego in the raids and is insufferable and then we see an older and wiser him with a bunch of actual achievements and a bad case of impostor syndrome (trying to do anything real always humbles a person, we all know that real world is held together by sticks and scotch tape. honestly, this change alone is beautiful). And he gets to be an actual hero when he abandons all hope to be Important and resigns to die as a nameless villain if it saves everyone and spares his loved ones from heartbreak.

Childe's character development is yet to happen and I'm not hoping for much but we'll see.

The only difference that definitely isn't created by setting is that G'raha is naturally manipulative. In a kind-hearted way and mostly for the sake of better larp but he isn't that straightforward. Childe is spectacularly blunt for all his mysteriousness.

As a bonus, they both compare main characters to stars, but in completely different ways.

"No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course," says G'raha to the WoL.

Childe mentions the morning star, which is, of course, pretty and a good companion to a lonely traveler, but also it's not a celestial body you can chart your course by.

It's a guy whose signature weapon is called "Polar Star" and his first artifact set was full of nautical themes, so I think he fully understands what he's saying. "You are my friend but I won't change anything in my life for you."

So I don't think his story will be anything like G'raha's, his life took a different turn very long ago. I do think they used to be similar as kids, bookish boys who dreamed of adventure and being special. So it's fun to compare.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3

#honestly I think it's mostly involvement in deep lore and the lack of self-pity #everything else just snowballs from it #I refuse to be contained #the world must know everything about g'raha #he's the only character who has a personal tag in my old livejournal blog #even childe doesn't #even dragon age morrigan #g'raha tia #eternal wind #ff xiv #childe #tartaglia #rinn talks to people #one would think that the closest ffxiv parallel to childe would be zenos #another blood knight #and in a sense he is #but also not really #zenos raised in sharlayan would still be zenos #but also maybe I'm overthinking and reading into childe's character too much #I hope not #I want a good story for him

[tossawary]

I've been thinking a lot about DCU stuff and Ace Attorney thoughts got mixed in by accident, because it's got a lot of the same themed, colorful character designs and silly pun names. So, of course, I started immediately daydreaming about a DCU-style Superhero AU for Ace Attorney. (I often do not fully control what I think about.)

And then I was like, "I think I just finally have to play Ace Attorney at this point, before I get stuck in a weird daydream loop because I don't know enough about the plot to worldbuild properly. I will let this be the final push to just start these games."

Based on my extremely limited knowledge (I have only actually played 2 episodes of the first game), here are my Superhero AU thoughts so far. I don't like 1-1 character role match-ups in general when I fuse worlds, so none of these AA characters are fully aligned with any particular DCU character.

Phoenix Wright would make a good speedster, I think. This is partially because of the spiky hair, but also because there's a terrible irony to being the fastest man in the world who keeps being too late to stop certain tragedies. It also suits the way he's apparently never properly prepared for anything but also quickly manages to pull through. He's probably still a defense attorney in his civilian identity. (In accordance with later games, he has to stop being a superhero for several years when he's framed for a crime.)

Besides Phoenix's mentor Mia, who is also both a superhero and a lawyer, ordinary civilian Larry Butz is the only person who initially knows that Phoenix has superpowers. He honestly hasn't told anyone Phoenix's secret identity! But Larry also somehow gets into more scrapes and "damsel in distress" situations than Lois Lane and he's not even an investigative reporter.

Mia Fey, Maya Fey, and Pearl Fey have a Shazam situation, I think, in which they transform into a "Mystic Champion" magically empowered by the ghosts of their ancestors. Like a Shazam & Danny Phantom fusion. Mia Fey was the first in her family to become a publicly known superhero. A lot of people don't know that it's not the original Mystic Champion (same face and same superpowered form as Mia, which breaks Phoenix's heart a little every time) until Maya or Pearl transforms back into a regular girl after the fight is over.

I think Miles Edgeworth is a Batman type hero, but one still partially ensnared by Manfred von Karma, who is his Ra's al Ghul. (This makes Franziska into Talia, but there is definitely nothing romantic there.) Maybe he does have superpowers of some kind, maybe not, and he could still potentially be a prosecutor. He doesn't have a Brucie persona, though. Phoenix is not impressed by Edgeworth's harsh and even cruel approach to vigilante work. (Steel Samurai was Miles' Gray Ghost or Zorro hero inspiration, I'm guessing.)

Gumshoe is Miles' Commissioner Gordon figure and doesn't know his secret identity yet. He's either going to learn in the middle of a really bad situation or he's just going to straight-up figure it out himself one day and scare the hell out of Miles.

I'm still thinking about characters like Kristoph and Klavier Gavin, Apollo Justice, and Trucy Wright, but I don't know enough about them to fully flesh these thoughts out yet. I think the Gavins would make good Kryptonian equivalents (a cold and calculating Superman and a rockstar Supergirl), Apollo might make a good Wonder Girl equivalent (his bracelet becomes a Lasso of Truth) as the lost son of an Amazon, and Trucy would obviously be fun as a Zatanna type of hero.

#tossawary ace attorney #aa superhero au #long post #spoilers #phoenix wright #mia fey #maya fey #pearl fey #miles edgeworth #manfred von karma #franziska von karma #dick gumshoe #larry butz #kristoph gavin #klavier gavin #apollo justice #trucy wright #tossawary dc

[hauntedestheart]

Security Measures - Bodyhoppers

Entry 2 in the Security Measures series- the stories of a boy named Trevor as he attempts to protect his possession-prone boyfriend Andy from snatchers.

I'm not entirely sure what bodyhoppers are and I've never met one that's keen to offer me specifics, but all the layman needs to know is that they're humans who have an innate ability to take over other people's bodies by slipping into them through their backs. Some that I've met have hinted that there is some sort of larger community of hoppers but I've never seen more than one in one place- they're often solitary and nomadic, spending their days completely unattached and living little snatches of other people's lives for fun.

It seems natural to compare a bodyhopper to a ghost since both will try to possess people but after spending a lot of time dealing with each type I've actually come to the conclusion that they have very little in common. The main difference is that bodyhoppers have something that ghosts completely lack: subtlety.

A visit from a ghost is pure chaos, from their bombastic entry to their explosive exit, they're out for trouble. In comparison to that, getting hopped by a hopper is almost peaceful. A good hopper will slide into their target like they're taking a dip into a pool and depart without making a ripple, leaving their targets only dimly aware that anything happened at all. You yourself might have been hopped at some point and not even realized it!

Luckily for us the first hopper we encountered was an inexperienced one so he was easy to spot- Andy took ten minutes to come back from the bathroom and then I found him dancing on a table without a shirt, so it was pretty obvious something was up. I thought he was a ghost until I confronted him and a very scared looking young guy slid out of his back, and a hopper is far less threatening when you can face them from the front so thanks to a bit of intimidation we were able to pump a lot of good information out of him that's served us well.

Unlike a lot of forms of body snatchers, hoppers actually prefer a challenge- I think they take some pride in being tricky. Usually they'll strike in a public place, singling out a target and waiting until they're alone to slip in and carry on as if nothing had changed. You can stop a hopper with physical force if you catch them in the act (Andy's fists can attest to this) so the best way to guard against a hopper is to be vigilant, because once they're in, they're in.

I'm still experimenting with different methods of forcing a hopper out but as far as I can tell conventional exorcisms and spells won't work- whatever it is that they're using to hop people, it isn't quite magic. The most reliable tool I've found is, strangely enough, just kind of talking to them! A lot of hoppers treat it like a game so they'll usually move on after being called out because it "spoils the fun," and they're also very concerned about their secrecy so if push comes to shove, threatening to expose a hopper can scare them off. They don't want trouble any more than you do.

But I must stress that you absolutely do not want a hopper to be angry with you... with their powers there's no telling what they'll do.

The oldest, most seasoned hoppers in particular scare me because with enough experience a hopper can learn to access their host's memories, which makes identifying them near impossible. One time Andy was hopped on his way back from class and I didn't notice it for a week– I shared a bed with this hopper and I didn't even realize it until he slipped up while picking his favorite ice cream, of all things. Remember, just because a hopper has access to someone's memories doesn't mean they know what's important, so little details matter!

But to close it out on a more positive note, at the end of the day, hoppers are still people, and people can be cool sometimes! Andy and I do keep in contact with one hopper that we met– we got to talking after he left Andy's body and it turned out we had a lot in common. He still plays Destiny with Andy, the two of them do raids together. They get lunch together every now and then... though it's a bit confusing because he's in a different body every time.

He said I can always call him if I need to force a hopper out, which I've fortunately never had to do. But it's a good option to have in our back pocket.

#male possession #Series: Security #should post the accompanying story soon I'm almost done with it

[forestlingincorporated]

Underrated TimKon Scenes #15

Robin #141

Not because it’s, like, super shippy, but because I think a lot of people probably haven’t seen it. Conner doesn’t appear much in Tim’s run, most of their interactions are in their teen hero crossover comics, but this is one of the rare times Tim specifically asks Conner to come to Gotham. 

And yes, I can actually see how they talk to each other in this particular comic can actually be kinda off putting, but there’s a couple little gems among the rocks in there. 

For context, Tim’s father and Stephanie have both recently died, and his stepmom is still in a mental health clinic. He’s staying with “Uncle Eddie” at the moment, and he’s been pretty distant from the other bats. This is noted as taking place before Conner’s Luthor mind control incident at Titans Tower. 

Tim is in an awkward situation where Darla, a girl he knew from school that died in the gang war Stephanie “died” in, has been resurected by Johnny Warlock, a villain with a grudge against Tim. Darla comes to Tim to ask for help with a problem, said problem being she has to kill Robin to repay her debt to Johnny. She doesn’t know Tim IS Robin. 

Tim’s big plan to fix everything is to convince her the Robin Johnny is after is already dead. He is going to fake internet sleuth his way into showing her a bunch of pictures of the various Robins over the years and claim that the one Johnny wants - himself - is definately already dead because look! He was followed by a girl Robin, and then some other dude with a much different body type... 

Yup, Tim’s plan is to put Conner in the Robin suit and hope she buys it. 

And Conner AGREES to it. 

They may be snarky bitches to each other this whole comic, but I gotta give my man props for hearing this stupid ass plan and going with it anyway to protect his bro. 

And SIDEBAR... the fact that they had to have had some sort of photoshoot of Conner in the Robin costume ahead of time for Tim to leak onto the internet and “discover”, I.... 

So...... Tim has this stupid idea (I’m sorry Tim, you’re very smart, but you’re very dumb when you’re stressed and alone) to convince Darla he can set up a meeting with Robin by posting to this forum “the super hero are totally known for reading” and the two wait for Conner on some roof top, where Conner shows up to look all Not Tim Like in the Robin suit. 

(Don’t mind Tim calling Darla “Laura,” she changed her name when she was resurected because “Darla Aquista” is dead.) 

Tim, it’s okay, I understand, Conner’s muscles are very distracting in that costume. 

Yeah, this prectictably goes wrong. 

I appreciate how fast Tim goes from “haha, oops, I’m sorry, lucky you’re invulnerable, huh?” to “omg, are you okay?” when Conner’s like “dude, I’m weak to magic.” He’s not even bothered by Conner’s empty threats, he’s just “okay, buddy, you can kill me at home.” 

Even threatening bodily harm, Kon’s like “watch your step, I puked here.” 

And I’m weak for any time Conner’s frustrated with Tim’s secret identity, even after he’s let in on it. “You were playing Tim Drake. You ARE Tim Drake!” “Yes, but no.” 

“He got a little overexcited on his very first encounter with Robin, the greatest, manliest, most magnificent super hero of them all” - self-aggrandizing teasing, flirting, or both? You decide. 

You think Conner likes it when Tim calls him “big guy”? I think he likes it. 

And again... there... HAS TO BE an off-screen scene of Tim patching up Conner in the Robin Nest, and they ROBBED me of it. 

#TimKon

[vixensdungeon]

Let's Make a Dragon!

Just for fun, I'm gonna make a dragon for Dungeons & Dragons, using the methods described in Monsters & Treasure, the second volume of the original game. This will include the dragon's hoard, of course. For the sake of simplicity, I'll pick the classic red, which was the default dragon presented in Chainmail's fantasy supplement.

First things first, I'll be rolling for the dragon's size! It might come as a surprise, but back in the days of yore this wasn't tied to the dragon's age category. I'm rolling a d20, as the original game did not use percentile dice as we would know them (or even the d10), and on a result of 13 the dragon falls into the middle 60% of its kind that are average size. So our dragon has 10 hit dice.

Next, we'll roll for its age category with a d6. A result of 5 indicates that this is an old red dragon (76-100 years old) which, and here's the really neat part, means that it also has 5 hit points per hit die, for a total of 50. I have to say I'm rather fond of the smaller numbies the older editions had. If my interpretation of the text is correct, this also means it deals 50 damage with it's fiery breath, youch!

Again rolling our trusty d20, a result of 16 indicates that this particular dragon is capable of speech, which wasn't a given back then! A further roll of 7 means it does not have the ability to cast spells, however.

But what is a dragon without its hoard? A mere lizard with extra bits. Being an old dragon, it has a full H type treasure hoard. So let's get rolling! The first three rolls actually indicate the hoard contains no coins, which is sad for the dragon because where's it gonna sleep without its bed? But it does have 69 gems (nice~) and 40 pieces of jewelry. No magical items, alas. The gems are all valued at 500 Gold Pieces, while the pieces of jewelry are worth 3,000 Gold Pieces each (as far as I can tell there's no separate rolls for every piece in the case of jewelry).

So there we have it, our very own dragon! I think I shall name him "Smeeg."

If you have the misfortune to encounter Smeeg in the wilderness, there's a 60% chance you'll find him in his mountain lair. In that case, there's a 20% chance you'll catch him sleeping. Should you manage to slay or subdue Smeeg, you will be awarded either 1,600 or 2,300 experience points (would you believe the rules are kinda vague?). And should you loot his hoard, a further 154,500 points shall be awarded, truly a king's ransom!

Huzzah, and happy hunting, dragonslayers!

#dungeons & dragons #dragons #ttrpg

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi WQA I hope everything’s been good!

I wanted to know- how do I depict a character arc of “reluctant hero/chosen one” without it being… how to explain it? Like the usual Disney type of stuff?

I want my MC to be given a power that they do not want to deal with and are now stuck with- plus leading a bunch of peeps to destroy the big bad guy- but I really have no idea (I mean I have a few story beats in mind but it’s still REALLY fuzzy yknow?) how to show them going from “ew I don’t want to deal with this” to becoming a leader and eventual ruler- how do I depict the arc?

Thank you very much friend!

Non-Cliché Reluctant Hero/Chosen One Arc

There are some specific things that make the Chosen One arc cliché, and honestly, not great a lot of the time. We'll go through some of those things and talk about what can be done instead.

1 - Fate vs Destiny - One of the biggest issues of the Chosen One trope is that all too often, the hero--whether reluctant or not--doesn't have a choice in their role as the Chosen One. They are fated to do the thing that only they can do, so every decision they make is preordained to lead to that outcome. If they're fated to save the world by sacrificing themselves, that's going to happen no matter what. This strips them of any agency they might have in the story. There is the illusion of choice, but all roads lead to their fate. And, honestly, it's not much fun to watch someone rise to greatness when it's the only possible outcome. Solution: Destiny can be changed... it can be shaped by choices. If a character is destined to save the world by sacrificing themselves, that outcome can be avoided. They can find a way to save the world without sacrificing themselves. They could even refuse the call if it somehow set off a chain of events that still led to the world being saved. A Chosen One with agency is much more satisfying to watch than one who is doomed to their fate.

2 - Give Them a Choice or Make Refusal an Option - Prophecies (which can be fate or destiny), bloodlines, or being the only one in possession of a unique gift leaves little to no room for choice. They didn't choose to get involved with a particular cause. And if they'd refused the call, they would have looked terrible. They may have agency later on in that their choices actually matter, but what difference does it make if they're making choices in service of a cause they had no choice but to accept? Solution Option #1: Put them on their path by choice. For example, in The Hunger Games, if Katniss's name had been pulled from the Reaping ball, she wouldn't have had any choice in being a tribute. But because it was her sister's name that was chosen, she made the choice to volunteer to take her place. Since she was the first person in District 12 ever to volunteer as tribute, no one would have expected her to make that sacrifice, and we as the reader wouldn't have even known it was possible. So, while from an emotional and moral perspective, there was really no other choice she could have made (she wasn't going to let that happen to her beloved sister), she still made the choice. She was still the master of her own destiny, and continued to be as the story went on. It can also be argued that volunteering as tribute wasn't even the thing that made Katniss the Chosen One, but rather her behavior and actions during the games that earned her a role as the icon of rebellion. So, "hero-by-deed" is another option to give your character some choice in their role. Solution Option #2: Give them a viable alternative, but one which has an undesirable drawback. For example, let's say your character has a unique magical gift and that's why they're chosen, but whoever delivers the call gives them the option to transfer that ability via magical spell to another person. The drawback is the gift won't be quite as potent in another person, and also they'll lose all their memories associated with ever having or using that gift. Now they have a viable choice. They might lose their unique ability and all associated memories, but they don't have to be in a situation they didn't choose.

3 - Prophecy for the Sake of Prophecy - Too often, prophecy is used as the basis of why the character is the Chosen One, however the prophecy is superficial and serves no other purpose. Solution: If you use a prophecy as the basis of why your character is the Chosen One, make sure the prophecy is fleshed out, relevant to the world and plot, and serves more purpose than being an explanation.

4 - Salvation in the Hands of a Child - Another Chosen One cliché is when the Chosen One--whether a child, young adult, or amateur--is surrounded by people who are better skilled, more knowledgeable, and better qualified to save the day, but still somehow the fate of the universe rests on the Chosen One's shoulders. Solution: Make sure there's a reason why the character, despite lacking in qualifications, is still the best option to save the day. Also, have them receiving lots of help and guidance from the more qualified people around them. Let them struggle as they acquire new skills, and have them really need that help from others. It should be a group effort to some degree. Let other characters be important.

5 - Proficiency at Lightning Speed - There are few things that make a reader's eyes roll faster in a Chosen One story than when the previously uninitiated Chosen One answers the call, then very quickly becomes proficient in whatever skills are needed in order for them to fulfill their destiny. Solution: Again, let them struggle as they acquire the necessary skills. It should take a believable amount of time for them to do the thing well, and there should bot lots of failures and setbacks. As much as I hated the Disney+ sequel to Willow, one thing they did right is have their Chosen One really struggle with learning to use and control the magic that was in them all along. It was pretty close to the end of the season before they became adept enough to really make a difference.

Bonus - Here's a lightning round of things to avoid: the over-the-top underdog Chosen One, the "All Powerful" Chosen One, the Chosen One who never has to make tough decisions, the Chosen One who is ordinary for no reason, the Chosen One who is defined by their destiny, the Chosen One who is special for the sake of being special, the Chosen One who has no autonomy and no agency, the Chosen One who only puts others first and never considers their own safety/wants/needs, the Chosen One who doesn't get to have a life beyond their Chosen One role.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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[bridgetotheskyyy]

I've seen you have written a Renji fic so i wanted to ask...any headcanon about him? Thanks!

Omg Renji ~

I've actually talked about Renji and have shared some of my thoughts for him here, but I can go in a bit deeper in a few hcs. Also sorry this took so long asdfghgfdsa -

Renji’s very traditionally romantic ― dinner dates with candles, flowers, come to their door to meet your dad type of man. Renji a man who throws 100% into whatever he does, so he somehow manages to make the cliche riveting effortlessly. I think anything having to do with romance he would take very seriously. Renji’s a romantic at heart and very earnest. Totally the type to confess his love all dramatically to them (even though you’re already in a relationship lol). He’s very meticulous, a mind like a steel trap, and remembers the tiniest things about his partner, so surprises are always very nuanced and especially sweet.

Definitely not the one to make the first move or anything; Renji’s shy with someone he’s interested in, so he tries to woo them in other, more discreet ways, like impressing them with his bankai or combat skills, or his proficiency as a lieutenant and leader. These are things he excels at, so he tries to be THIS Renji whenever they’re around. He’s also the one to run around and do lots of favors and tasks for them if they ask. If they need something for work, it won’t be a surprise when that thing magically appears. He’s the guy to listen in to what they need and then one day just say, “Oh, btw, got you this.” Like, try to be all unbothered, cool guy about it, when he knows damn well he’s been scouring the universe for the ONE thing they need.

Supremely jealous partner. Not even in the cute bf way. Renji doesn’t have the most self-esteem, having to compete with his rival/captain, Kuchiki. There’s also the issue of his upbringing on the streets of Rukongai, so doubts are sure to plague him of not being good enough for his crush, of not being able to offer much. Deep down he fears he’s not good enough for his partner, that he won’t be able to give them the world and this haunts his every action. So this is definitely something he and his partner are gonna have to address.

Prefers a partner that can rival him intellectually, and maybe in ways he wouldn’t expect, like introducing him to a new hobby or subject in life, like philosophy or literature. It’s part of the reason he admires the astute Byakuya Kuchiki so much. Renji really can’t stand dumb people lol. He’s made a name for himself being something of a bruiser but he’s really the whole package: brains and brawns.

He doesn’t really like his hair all that much, thats why he ties it up and keeps it out of the way. And the only reason he keeps it long is 1) because he’s used to it the way it is and 2) because he loves the feel of his partner’s hands through it. His partner is really the only one outside of himself who can touch his hair and if they play with it for too long he will playfully slap their hands away. Like, “ok, stop.” lol 

― NSFW

Definitely a virgin. There probably won’t be sex until the relationship is firmly established (or even marriage, I wouldn’t put it past him to be that conservative lol!) The first time with his partner is really just him feeling around, too proud to admit he doesn’t really know what he’s doing but eager to learn how to satisfy his partner. And, thankfully, Renji is a quick learner. He’s very attuned to what his partner likes and what they don’t. This appreciation for his partner’s body quickly evolves into body worship, which he’s fond of; he can take his time with one particular part of their body and appreciate that one part for what will feel like hours. 

Has a bit of a size kink, but a reverse size kink? He’s fascinated with having a smaller partner (if his partner is smaller). The difference in sizes of hands, the way they feel so fragile in his embrace. And then, he’s doubly fascinated with the way they can take him so easily, not nearly as fragile as they look. 

Speaking of which, there’s a bit of a praise kink in there as well. Nothing sends Renji over the edge like knowing he’s making his partner feel so good they can’t contain themselves. 

Has a weakness for legs and smiles. His favorite positions are the one where his partner can have their legs wrapped around him. A partner with a cute smile can get him to do pretty much anything. He’s also fond of neck kisses, giving and receiving, and sensual neck kisses and hickies is usually how he initiates sex. 

#abarai renji x reader #renji abarai headcanons #renji abarai x reader #bleach imagine #bleach x reader #I'm sorry if you wanted something more in depth feel free to send another #renji abarai #abarai renji #bleach imagines #bleach #renji x s/o

[luniidae]

~ The Encounter ~

Chapter I

Note: Hi everyone ! I'm trying something new here... I really don't know where I go with this, but I'll give it a try. I still need to find a name for this story. There's nothing spicy (yet) or anything as it is the very beginning and some background for my character, and I'm sorry for this short chapter but this is the first time I do that kind of thing, so..... 🫣 Anyway, hope you'll enjoy !

_________________________________________

You could say that Luvia didn't have a childhood like others, but actually, she didn't really have the time to have one. The little girl was only 6 years old when she crossed paths with a certain Korilla. And it was this meeting that would change the course of her life, perhaps one day for the better, but above all for the worse. And young Luvia had no idea...

While on a mission for Raphael, Korilla stopped at the Sunken Flagon of Neverwinter as night fell. But she didn't intend to stay, because the boss's business doesn't wait. She still took the time to relax with a good beer before hitting the road again. It had been a long day, and the night was going to be just as long. A few chats and a pint later, it was time for our golden dwarf to get back on track with her mission. As she left the inn, she suddenly felt like she was being watched. She scanned the surroundings and caught the eye of a little girl who was staring at her from the roof of a neighboring house. There she was, sitting near an open window that probably overlooked her bedroom. She didn't move an inch and silently observed the passers-by from the darkness. Her eyes, like two rubies, sparkled in the night.

Korilla wondered at first if she wasn't a vampire, but it was a completely different aura that she perceived. Something ancient with latent potential.

She observed her for a few moments, intrigued by this little being who seemed to hide her game well.

Could she be a...? No... This species has been extinct for ages. And Neverwinter wasn't really the kind of place you'd expect to find them. But the more she looked at her, the more she was sure she had made a most interesting discovery. She then hastened to leave the city in order to continue her mission and return as quickly as possible to inform Raphael.

A few nights later, at the House of Hope.... Korilla came to find him.

“Boss, I think I discovered something that you should really like…” the dwarf stepped forward confidently while the devil had his nose buried in his paperwork.

"Is that so ? Tell me everything. What did the cat bring us ?" he raised his head, resting his chin on his fist.

"I think I found a Dracanist*. And surprisingly, she's quite young."

Raphael raised an eyebrow, surprised and skeptical.

"Really ? Just like that, in the middle of Neverwinter ? It seems quite... Implausible to me. Are you sure you haven't drank too much ?", he sneered.

“It seems that there is no need to look very far after all.” Korilla replied without dismaying, “If I remember well, you were looking for particular elements to build your army. If this kid is what she seems to be, I think we can make something of her.”

Raphael thought for a few moments. The Dracanists were a once powerful people whose horns possessed extraordinary healing properties. They also mastered blood magic, a dark power capable of the worst madness but also of the greatest feats, and having this type of individual at his side could be very useful in his conquest of the Hells. Unfortunately, they had been extinct for centuries, but it would not be unlikely that the lasts of them had masqueraded as Tieflings over the years.

Regardless, Raphael trusted Korilla and her judgment. After all, she had very rarely disappointed him, unlike her sister, Hope. And even if she was wrong, he could still get rid of the girl.

“Bring her back here” he finally said, “We’ll see exactly what it’s all about.”

Korilla nodded, satisfied, and turned on her heel, heading back to Neverwinter. Tonight, the House of Hope would have a new resident..

Be continued....

_________________________________________

*Dracanist: it is a fictional species I've created.

Fun fact: The Sunken Flagon is a reference to the game Neverwinter Nights 2.

#art #artists on tumblr #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #fantasy #video games #digital art #fanfic

[box-architecture]

This was my birthday gift to me that I finally finished. An incredibly indulgent My Little Pony AU (Gen 4)

Fun lore if you'd like it:

Dream:

Earth pony. Considered the most common and sturdiest type of pony, often depicted as unremarkable.

pony name is Peace Parley (meaning "betting on peace.")

Cutie mark is an ouroboros, representing unity and his special talent, diplomacy.

Despite his talent, he's not actually good at politics. He's good at making people join together for a common cause, but there seems to be a distinct difference between mediating a fight between two quarreling farmers and rubbing elbows with the nobles of Equestria.

Elected of the mayor of an incredibly small village, the kind where everyone knows everyone. Was known for being fair and willing to listen to both sides. Twilight Sparkle's ascension caused a shift in where ponies and business lived, and in the process, major gentrification spread to Ponyville, hitting Dream's little village along the way. Initially, he tried his best to be kind and welcoming, but became furious as his hometown was overtaken and many ponies displaced or forced out, and resorted to hostility and destruction in a desperate attempt to ward the outside forces away.

As things become worse for him and rumors among the nobles start to spread, his cutie mark begins to be given more negative associations: rather than the harmony he strives for, others see it as a endless cycle of discord that he brings upon others. Ostracization is the best of what he receives.

Dream, back when they did manhunts, used to tie up his tail so as not to give the hunters the option to pull on it. Its habit now.

Has lost faith in destiny and harmony, but desperately wants to find a reason to believe again.

Punz:

Bat pony. A history of stigma has left them preferring their own communities. Considered nocturnal, but they can choose their sleep schedule just like any pony.

pony name is Whittlewhistle (a reference to his talent and to the sound he can make if he's flying fast enough)

Cutie mark a bejeweled knife. Special talent is whittling and/or woodworking.

learned to whittle with a stolen knife and a broken chair leg as a child, and would sell his creations for coin, which would then be used to feed his little brother. Is very proud of himself for how well he's provided for the both of him.

Has come to dislike abstract sculptures, but finds they sell well among the nobles of Canterlot and charges immense amounts for them.

Is still in contact with the batpony community of Luna Bay, but has left for the big city to take on more clients. They pay well, but he's increasingly bitter about how different species are treated among the supposedly accepting ponies of Equestria, and fights the urge to stab people every single day.

Is a slightly above average flier, with the potential to be better, if he cared enough to focus on it. Excellent at dive-bombs.

Doesn't have faith in destiny or harmony, and certainly not in other ponies, but he has faith in Dream.

Sam:

Sphinx, technically. He's a hybrid, but his mother is a Sphinx, so that's what he considers himself. His name is Sammy.

Sphinx and other felines hail from Abyssinia, a region far, far south of Equestria. Sphinx in particular are known to be rigid, fierce, and masters of word games.

Sam's mother fell in love with someone outside her station rather than with the match picked out for her. The love ended in heartbreak, and left her heavily pregnant. Not wanting to face her family after campaigning so hard to be allowed to choose her partner, she went north to Equestria.

Sam grew up without a lot of his culture, surrounded by ponies rather than cats. Their family and homeland are a difficult subject for his mother, so he finds himself lost, longing for purpose and connection. He has no cutie mark, and the concept of magical destiny is both bewildering and something coveted.

Grew up being stared at, told he looked strange and weird and exotic. He has gone the route of treating these comments as if they are normal and fine, but the stares make him uncomfortable.

He is an average flier, and often uses his wings to glide rather than take off. His tail rattles when he wiggles it.

Is easily led into believing the worst of Dream from the ponies around him, but Punz's brutal honesty and cutting takes have shaken a lot of Sam's initial ideas.

#awesamdrunz #artchitecture #I am really into lore and worldbuilding stuff #whether its for mc or for mlp

[freemindedspirit]

Hexing, evil eye and everything harms

So, I recently got hexed and talked about it, and I think this is a great time for me to talk about what hexes are and how to protect yourself from them, as a continuation of my two protection posts.

First, what is baneful magic ?

In the dictionary :

Baneful : Causing harm, ruin, or death; harmful. Portending harm; ominous. Having poisonous qualities; deadly; destructive; injurious; noxious; pernicious.

Usually, what people call baneful is actually super relative to culture, religions and individual practice. it can includes : hexes/curses/jinxes, love spells, domination spells, blood magic, binding, banishing etc. There is a lot of rhetoric from different people that try to keep people away from these spells. For example the rule of Three, which states that everything you put out comes back three times, is a Wiccan religious belief that is in no way applicable to all witches. Some people's views of "karma" or other "universal justice" ideas. I am personally of the opinion that, if your guide and your moral compass agree, there is nothing wrong with giving universal justice a little boost with a bit of a reasonably measured hex. But as a general thing, it should take place in an informed, cultivated practice and not just a "i'm mad at my ex so i'm gonna pick this random tiktok spell i saw and write his name on it". No. That is the best way to get yourself in trouble.

What is a hex ?

A hex is, at its core, someone sending negative or unwanted energy your way. We can commonly see a few types of hexes:

The Evil Eye, the most common, easiest one, that everyone probably got at one point in their life. At its core, the Evil Eye is about people wishing ill intent on you from seeing you succeed. As an example, I made eye contact with someone that was jealous of me while i was on stage and i almost tripped on a floor that had no reason to make me trip. It is usually considered to be easy solved by not showing your achievements you know are jealous, basic cleansing, throwing salt over your shoulder, using a talisman etc. I'm pretty sure most if every culture has a concept of evil eye so look into what you resonate with best (in the limits of what is open to you).

The Jinx: it's almost the cute version of an hex ? It's like causing a bit of a bad luck, like missing the bus, breaking your phone screen, missing an appointment etc. it tends to not last very long, a few hours or so.

The hex: it is both a general term and what people tend to do. It's the " can't keep one up with a new gf", "have constant bad breath", "flat tire", "might lose your job" one. it can wildly vary in intensity depending on your current protection, how close the target and practionner are and the nature of the spell. The Curse: This is when shit goes DOWN DOWN. Generational trauma typa shit, illnesses might pop up typa shit, divorce typa shit. To this day, I have never seen anyone being truly cursed. Usually the energy ends up being transformed into lessons for the descendants or the target after a while, and its goal it to point out specific toxic behaviors or issues rather than just cause chaos.

How to cast a hex ?

I am pretty sure i answered a ask about this once, my goal here is not exactly to give a recipe for all hexes but at least guidelines so you know how to start and where to look. Hexes, just like all spells, are about creating an energy and sending it. In this particular case, it is about creating "mud" and throwing it at someone. Here is the thing: you cannot throw mud without getting your hands dirty. How dirty your hands get depend on what you are throwing, if you are taking precautions and how much you are cleaning after. I know it gets told time and time again, but don't do a hex as your first spell if you dont have a good handle yet on protection and cleansing spells. The reason why they are recommended for beginners is because they are easy, don't typically explode in your face easily, and they are diverse, therefore allowing you to test out what you vibe with and don't. Also, they teach you necessary skills. Otherwise, it works as any other spell. If you do it with leeway for the universe (and you take precautions and cleanse) the cost for you will probably be energy, headache etc. If your goal is to specifically make a certain situation happen for someone, it will require a sacrifice on your part, that you may not have control over. I am currently being coached and taught about spellwork, so in a few months I might revisit this post and explain things differently and add more info.

How to know you have been hexed ?

If bad shit starts happening out of nowhere, it might be worth asking the question.

Here is a list of things I have experienced or have seen people experience from being hexed:

nightmares

sleep paralysis

bad luck

fire alarms going of at specific hours

people being unusually mean or intolerant to you

getting weird or scary visions (VISIONS, not hallucinations, if you are not intuitive this does not apply, if this is not already in your belief system this does not apply)

stuff falling, breaking, not working, getting lost etc

having difficulty reading, channeling

feeling blockages

getting sick, nauseous, getting a migraine, getting a crisis of an already existing illness

getting into arguments

protections and wards acting weird

pets acting weird

The thing is, any number of those things can happen for a hundred reasons that are not even remotely spiritual. If there is another possible explanation, check it first. I promise you it is a lot more likely than someone hexing you.

Okay, so now i know i got hexed what do i do ?

Congrats you got hexed.

Start by not panicking.

Even though it sounds scary, it is probably a lot easier to get rid of it than you think. You can start by checking my protection 101 and protection 102. Cleanse deeply yourself, your room and your spirit and add some protections. Once it is done, if you still feel negative energy around, you can try cleansing one more time, or it may mean your guides are inviting you to look into yourself and heal some parts of yourself that the hex brought out.

After you got hexed

This is the official point where you can start throwing hands with the person that sent you the spell. No, i'm kidding. Okay, maybe not. But yeah, it is a point where you restore your protections and can pat yourself on the back for succeeding at getting rid of an hex. Good job!

#hexing #curse #jinx #tips from a friendly witch #freemindedspirit

[woomycritiques543]

(Based on another post.)

Ok... I was looking at the designs and-

Has anyone realized how weird the racial implications of Hazbin Hotel (and Helluva Boss with the main characters) are?

I know someone else has already talked about this-

But Charlie Morningstar is clearly white coded. The “corrupt souls” she has to “save” are clearly poc coded or are directly poc. The “villains” of the show are MOSTLY poc with Velvet being confirmed as poc indirectly by Vivziepop not long ago and Valentino was confirmed to be hispanic too. It gets off “white savior” vibes along with the fact that 1. Theres a creole character who practices voodoo who’s stereotyped as a cann^bal 2. There being a hispanic poc (Valentino) who’s also shown to be highly aggressive, to a character thats Italian: a ethnicity thats considered as “white” in many places. Hell! Niffy is even Japanese, and she was drawn as yellow 100% of the time until just recently.

They also have this thing where theres something i’d like to call “Greywashing”: Where Vivziepop deliberately avoids using the color brown, and instead makes all of her poc (No, “Coco” doesnt count shes from another artist. This is only about the main designer.) a lighter shade of grey, giving the illusion of brown skin without actually making them brown. While Vivziepop gave Charlie a peach-like skin tone. So its clearly not because they're demons but something else entirely.

(Light Grey.)

(Grey, with a brownish tint mixed in.)

(LIGHT grey.)

(Not counting Valentino since he seems to be more moth based than Vaggie and isnt intended to be as humanoid unlike those that are on this list.)

While Charlie, our “main heroine” is drawn as a blonde looking girl with snow-white skin. I know some people will make the “they're demons!” excuse, but these characters in particular are clearly meant to be the closest to human looking. Especially Charlie, who’s design is just a generic looking white girl with some Halloween makeup slapped on, an eye infection, and neko teeth.

So her being the main protagonist, half of the made to be “worst” characters such as Valentino and Alastor directly being poc. Plus the fact that the show is demonizing a closed religion that was created by African slaves as a way of coping with their situation while Hazbin is showing it as “evil” or “dark magic”. Plus in Helluva Boss, the “succubitches” are all shown to be sluts who are written in a negative light, who also happen to be poc in their human forms.

... who are also shamed by the police as “degenerates.”

They also have a poc background character named “Rat”, a animal that tends to be stereotyped in cartoons as “dirty” or “disease filled.” and yet they decided to name the second darkest character (who is also from a different artist) this.

This combined with the other implications can only make me say:

What is Vivziepop’s deal with us?! Why is she outright refusing to draw us without making our skin somewhat grey- a light grey for that matter! The people at the wiki call Alastor “beige.” But I remember there being a time where they called him khaki, and earlier “grey.” Even beige is described as a “greyish tan” and is considered “the most pale” type of brown. So even the “browns” are very pale and arent the shade most of us are- aka pure, dark, brown! Even most light skin people are not grey- but brown! 

This isnt about the morality of the characters and them being demons, this is about the stereotyping from the creator. I dont give a shit if the show is meant to be “edgy”- you either choose to be borderline racist, ableist, and narcissitic with how you write your characters, or actually “progressive.” Choosing both just makes you look like most of the hypocrites over at Twitter who think that representation is a “two way” street that can be morphed into whatever benefits someone’s bias of a specific discriminated group. But back to Hazbin-

The implications with the poc are off-putting, and it makes me all the more nervous for how theyre going to present poc in the next show. Yikes! 

#helluva critical #hazbin critical #hazbin hotel criticism #im poc and autistic myself so whats been shown so far is #really weird asf implications #what the hell is going on with the representation honestly wtf

[crystal-crusader]

Sooooooooooooo… the @kirbyoctournament yeah?

I gotta lot of characters. Like. A LOT a lot. So I really should have a character for this, but I’m actually Roleplaying with someone on Tumblr, that just recently submitted a character for it, and I can’t post about my best characters because the info segment will be spoilers. I have one particular character that I’m incredibly proud of and passionate about in particular, in my opinion he’s my bestseller, but I can’t talk about him yet. Hopefully he can participate in one in the future? I’m not putting my best foot forward with this one, but I’m still gonna throw her in.

This is Solostic, also known as Luz

Official Name: Project Solostic

Casual/Preferred Name: Luz

Full Ref:

Calculated Personality: A stoic and intelligent being, Luz speaks flatly, with odd verbal mannerisms, often throwing in more advanced words then normal, though not to the point of confusing common folk. (Examples: “Yes… I am still curious about the logistics of such an odd file.”/“It is feasible. But I’d need to run some studies, which requires a test subject besides myself, as I seem to be immune to the anomalous effects. May I have a volunteer?”/“These effects are quite unnerving… I will need to conduct further research before making a solid conclusion however.”)

Luz is very focused and determined, rarely ever distracted by anything but her goal. She has a job, and she will fulfill it, even when all odds say she can’t. Her robotic mind allows her to preform trillions of calculations in .001 seconds, giving her a perfect response to any situation she might encounter. She’s never lost a fight, and has expert level knowledge and skill with all weapon types. Her trusty blade, Sunburn, magically forms fire, and retracts and lengthens itself to create any weapon she needs. The only thing limiting her is time, but even that is more of a stepping stool then a roadblock.

Lore: Long ago lived the Ancients, a powerful race of magicians and technicians who created countless artifacts and amazing technologies. They concurred space, time, magic, and the very universe itself. They stood before all, a God above Gods. However, nothing they did could ever hope to save them from themselves. A great calamity of their own creation would come to destroy them all, and nothing they did was stopping it. Their one saving grace, a robot known as Project Solostic, forged with magic metals and an iron clad will, their perfect angel. Built to store billions of years worth of data, this being had but one purpose: save the Ancients. With the power to travel back in time by 1 week (requiring a seven day recharge), this robot could discover, learn, and return to them all the information they needed to prevent their ultimate demise. It was the perfect plan. The start up began.

And suddenly Solostic found themselves falling.

They landed on Popstar, having founded themselves not just miles away from the Ancients, but quadrillions of years away from them as well! The Ancients were long lost, their civilization totally collapsed. They didn’t know how, or why, or what destroyed the ancients to begin with. They hadn’t meet an ancient or heard an ancient or even SEEN an ancient. Trapped in a time where they had already failed their prime objective. They began to explore, to interact with others. They assumed the identity of a female puffian, as they found themselves more approachable that way. They meet new people, who called her Luz. She… kinda liked that name. But she was trapped, repeating the same loop of the same 7 days over and over and over again, trying to find a way back to the ancients. But no matter what, she always found herself falling once again, in the same place, at the same time. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. Again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again- for TEN YEARS she TRIED, and she FAILED, and she FELL.

No. She couldn’t give up. This was her one job, her sole purpose, the very reason she existed. She would save them, even if it took decades, centuries, millennia. Even if she had write a complete log on the life and personality of every person on the planet, just to have them forget it all when she jumped back again. Even if she had to sacrifice her friends THEM to the cause. She would do it. She would find a way. She had to. You are not in control. Her creators thought ahead, giving her everything she needed to succeed. Jet boots, glider wings, millions of Yottabytes (1 Yottabyte = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) of storage space, the personality chip override protocol, and the emergency jump-back response incase she ever finds herself in actual danger. She’ll repeat the same week over and over and over until she gets it right. Recruit an organization, form a base of operations, steal high grade military intelligence. Mistakes are just learning experiences. If something goes wrong, go back. Try again. Prevent them from dying this time. Until the week is perfected. Then move to the next. She’ll crack this case. She has all the time in the world.

“And if, in that time, it ever decides to turn on us?”

“Don’t worry. There’s a built in automatic override. We’ll just DELETE it.”

#kirby #kirby oc #kirby art #kirby oc art #art #digital art #kirby oc tournament #hope y’all like the lore dump #she’s very cool at least I think

[cavegirlpoems]

Another take on demihumans as social constructs

I had an idea knocking around inside my head, and then I saw that Dan had already done it over on Throne Of Salt, which rather undercut my brilliant originality. More time has passed, so I figured I'd have a crack at the idea myself.

So. Demihumans (elf, half-elf, hobbit, dwarf, orc, half-orc, goblin, hob-goblin, dragon). Rather than positing each as a seperate species - and then getting our skull-callipers out to compare them - we'll just look at the position each occupies in our setting socially, and extrapolite backwards from that. EG, let's suppose you're an elf because you do elf things and people treat you like an elf. But you're still recognisably an elf. What would that look like? How do you get that in society?

Suffice to say, this is all a thought experiment. I have no idea how this would play out in a proper setting or actual game.

Elves

"This person has autism, but their knowledge or power means we have to treat them respectfully."

An elf is quite possibly smarter than you, but (if you aren't also an elf) the ways they think don't make sense. They follow patterns and customs that most people don't, they prioritise things regular people don't, they just fucking know things sometimes. Sometimes unusually innocent, sometimes deeply worldly and old before their time.

Elves typically go into professions where knowledge is important, and people can't just reject you out of hand for being unearthly and weird. Mages, priests, artists, nuns, midwives. That air of oddness can be a perk; it lets people know they're dealing with an elf, and should be prepared to act accordingly.

You treat elves with respect. After all, they know things and they have sufficient power or clout that if you offend them, they can make you regret it. 

Most have at least a smattering of magic, some handy utility powers and maybe something like a magic missile to smack people who don't show respect. They take to it naturally, and often don't get that others can't just learn magic with the same fluency and focus that they do. Isn't it easy?

It doesn't have to be autism, but that's the most common one, and also the one the author has and is familiar with.

Different types of elves correspond to areas of focus. Wood elves like the natural earthy things like birds and trees, high elves like some 'respectable' topic like history or heraldry, dark elves know about something vaguelly taboo like poisons or spiders.

The term 'half-elf' is basically the same as 'high functioning'. Not really used by elves among themselves, but regular people use it to describe elves that seem more normal and approachable.

Generally, elf-ness is broadly hereditable, about as hereditable as autistic traits in the real world. A changeling is just somebody who turns out to be an elf despite nobody expecting it based on their family.

Elf communities exist. Cloisters and hideaways. They get weird fast.

Dwarves

"From a commoner family that knows marvelous trade secrets."

Being a dwarf means you've inherited the family name (or been adopted or married into it). You're one of a particular clan, and your clan knows how to do something that they guard jealously.

Metalworking is a common one. Mining and underground construction techniques are another. Warfare with specific secret techniques is another. Maybe a mix. Whatever it is, your clan has a secret way of doing things that gives you an advantage. Dwarf-made armour is just better than everybody else's. Dwarves who go to war fight in ways that seem impossible to replicate without their lengthy training, and are shockingly effective.

Dwarves often have magic of their own. More secrets handed down the clan. They have their own little sects of the mainstream religions, and their own priests.

The techniques of the dwarves give them an edge over other people. They're just commoners, but they can negotiate with nobles and even royalty, because if the dwarves aren't paid to their satisfaction nobody else can do it as well. And, really, a noble who's jewellery isn't made by dwarves is an embarassment. 

These secrets need to be kept, or the dwarves lose their wealth and power. Dwarves prefer to live away from outsiders, in innaccessable places like mountain villages or underground fortresses. They don't trust non-dwarves, who might try to steal their secrets. The exception is other dwarves, who have a vested interest in preserving dwarvish independence. 

They know how to hold a grudge. When you're jumped-up commoners bargaining with nobility, you have to.

Hobbits

"These people have fucked off to live independently, and its too much effort to get them to come back."

Hobbits have opted out of mainstream society to go and do something else. Maybe they dig holes in hillsides and make a commune that lives in a rural idyl. Maybe they have a caravan and travel the world with like-minded hobbits, trading goods and stories. Maybe they flee from persecution and live in floating villages hidden in the marshes.

Basically, they're hippies. They rejected the rat race and went to live some more authentic, satisfying or reasonable life off in the middle of nowhere. Their communities are tight-knit, idealistic and egaletarian, mostly. When a hobbit community goes wrong, it goes really wrong really quickly, and then falls apart entirely. 

Some people are first-generation hobbits, who - alongside a group of like-minded individuals - chose to live like this. Some were born into a hobbit community and decided to stay. Some found a hobbit community and got adopted into it.

They love their pipeweed, and they're good at hiding. Hobbits get on with dwarves a lot of the time, even if their relationships tend to be distant.

The author has dated a number of hobbits in her time.

When some horrible dark lord rises up, fueled by the fire and smoke of industry and averice, and starts building dreadful armies and dark satanic mills, hobbits tend to be among the first victims they go after. Them and other minorities. Hobbits don't tend to fight back in an organised way, they go to ground, move on, or form guerilla resistance movements.

They are probably living happier lives than you are. Why aren't you a hobbit, actually?

Orcs

"Soldiers without homes."

Being an orc means fighting as a way of living. No farms, towns, shrines, capitals. Just a military camp that moves as the campaign moves. War is all you know. Home isn't a real concept, or isn't anymore, you just live wherever the fighting is, or wherever you go the fighting follows.

Some orcs are mercenaries. Poverty or desperation or persecution pushes them to sign up with a mercenary band. A tent in a military camp is still a roof over your head, sort of. Sometimes the orc is fleeing something, or ambitious. 

Maybe they don't intend to be an orc for long. Really, though, cashing out isn't likely to happen. You die young, or if you don't your so scarred - emotionally and physically - that regular society doesn't want you back.

Other orcs didn't have a home to begin with. An invasion took it from you, and now your home is occupied by somebody else. Or your home has been on the front-lines of a trench war for decades and completely fucking uninhabitable, and the conflict is all you know.

Orcs stick together. Their real loyalty is to their comrades. An employer has their loyalty only as much as they pay them, unless that employer is also an orc. 

There's a code. They treat orcs on the other side of the conflict better than the rest of the enemy. If you capture an enemy orc, he's one of yours now. He switches sides. Maybe his whole band surrenders and joins you, and they're with you now. Their loyalty is to the orcs, not to whichever kings and emperors started this war to begin with.

Sometimes orcs end up in the armies of dark lords. This lasts as long as the dark lord keeps paying them and doesn't expect them to break the code. They don't care what fucked up stuff the dark lord is doing, spend long enough as a mercenary and you get numb to attrocities, so long as the money keeps coming.

Other orcs take a more direct approach, and support themselves through banditry and conquest. 

There's a lot of overlap between orcs and goblins. There's surprising overlap between orcs and dwarves.

Goblins

"Sentient vermin."

Even worse than being an orc. Somebody in power wants you gone, and now you don't have rights anymore. Basically outlaws. 

A goblin might be a heretic, a criminal, somebody whose land got stolen, a fugitive, or something like that. Or just born to goblin parents. You're not part of regular society, and regular society wants you fucking gone. There's overlap between goblins and orcs. People don't like to admit it, but there's overlap between goblins and hobbits.

There's absolutely no social safety net when you're a goblin. Individual people might be nice to you, but others won't be, and maybe there's a bounty on your head again. Best to hide from them, then.

Goblins get really, really good at hiding. They find places they can escape from the world, and they band together with other goblins. When society is your enemy, fuck 'em. Feed yourself through subtle theft, banditry, whatever it takes. Trust your fellow goblins to keep you safe. If regular folks look at you funny, kick their teeth in so they won't want to chase after you in a hurry, and go to ground. Fill your home with cunning traps. Fuck 'em, look out for your own.

The world wants you dead, but you're clawing and spitting and snarling and still alive.

Hobgoblins are when these outlawsarm themselves and actively fight back. Guerillas, terrorists, militias, what have you. They cobble together uniforms, and stick the heads of those who'd oppress or exterminate them on spikes before fading back into the shadows. They're probably also orcs. Kobolds are when these outlaws are also dwarves, and have secret knowledge that mean you have to take them seriously, even while trying hard to get rid of them. Kobolds tend to be very good at building impregnable fortresses full of traps.

Dragons

"Personally strong enough to do whatever the fuck they want with no consequences." 

The rule of thumb is this: if you can walk into an average town by yourself and demand they give you tribute, and get it without any noteworthy resistance, you're a dragon.

You probably weren't a building-sized fire-breathing carnivorous flying lizard to begin with. But once you hit a certain level of power, you realise nothing's stopping you from turning into one if you want to, and there never was. 

Dragons shapeshift. They look like people, until they don't. Every one is a legend. Every one is unique.

Kings aren't dragons. Their power comes from systems of laws and heirarchy and custom meaning people choose to follow them. Wizards might be, as might particularly mighty warriors. Subtlety and subterfuge aren't particularly inclined towards making you a dragon, normally, but often somebody who excels in those areas will - when their back is to the wall - reveal that they were a dragon all along.

If you can personally reduce anybody who speaks back to you to two whisps of smoke coming from a pair of shoes (or a red smear), you're a dragon.

Some dragons do their best not to act like dragons. They try to be benevolent, to blend in with society, to only flex their power in emergencies. The rest - the majority, even - are problems.

A typical dragon ensures those who follow them are loyal by making dramatic examples. They tend to enjoy skull fortresses, big piles of treasure, and appending titles like 'the terrible' onto their name. 

People who set out to slay dragons generally fail. Those who succeed normally become dragons themselves. 

Elves become dragons disproportionately often. It's the focus that does it. They're often the most reasonable dragons.

Orcs do too. We call them black dragons, and they burn bright and furious, leading a horde of orcs behind them until they inevitably perish doing something exciting.

Goblins also produce a lot of dragons, particularly kobolds. A goblin who becomes a dragon is really good news (for the goblins and hobgoblins and kobolds and orcs of the world) and really bad news (for the sort of people who decided you were a goblin in the first place). These get called red dragons, because of all the blood that they leave behind.

Red dragons tend not to be inclined to be merciful to their enemies. Their followers, on the other hand, often do pretty well for themselves. When you have a red dragon on your side, you might not have to be a goblin for long.

Very successful kingdoms have been founded by a red dragon with a big dream.

[shenzaibird-art]

Here's some general lore that applies to all of my settings because I was randomly inspired to actually write up lore for once haha I've been calling these collectively "the forces of magic ability". All of them are things that everybody has, but you need to learn to use them and practice to actually make any magic. It ended up being a lot of text so I guess I'll put it under a readmore thingy:

[Now, I kinda just came up with the new words yesterday so I might still decide I don't like them and change them (and/or those symbols) but so far I'm liking this so I decided to post. These concepts aren't new, I just had never talked about them because I didn't have names for them (other than magis, I think I've already talked about that a lot but I'll say it again anyway)]

MAGIS is the magical energy that powers every spell and any magic craft. It flows inside your body, swirling around tiny organs called "magis nodes," located in the head, heart, hands, feet, and tail. Magis is used up when casting spells or channeling it into workyns ("spell blueprints"), but it regenerates. However, if you use all of your magis more quickly than you can regenerate, you will pass out. You can't die from lack of magis, but it's not nice and your magis nodes might become a bit sore for a while as you recover.

VOLIS is the ability to control the magis. It comes from "volition", as it's the power of one's will, so to speak. It's similar to thoughts, you "think" of the spell you want to cast, and so you cast it. But it's a separate kind of thinking, more akin to moving your body. It's not a fully conscious thinking exactly, so you won't cast the wrong spell just because you thought of something else for a second. Volis not only controls the magis at the moment of casting a spell, but also any further actions that a spell can have, such as the movement of a conjured creature. How many spells a person can keep up at once will depend on how well trained they are at using and managing their volis.

PERCIS is the ability to perceive magis and magic crafts. Spells are crafted as small tokens, but they don't really need to be labeled because percis allows you to tell them apart by just having them nearby. A magician with several spells in their pockets knows exactly what each of them is without having to check on them. But of course, you can only identify a spell if you have knowledge of what it's like. Percis is a sense, much like seeing or hearing -- if you know what a dog is, you'll know it when you see one, and a similar principle applies to sensing a spell through your percis. Even if you never encountered a particular spell, you might know how to partially identify it if you know its type. For example, you will know a dog is a dog even if you can't tell what breed it is. But percis can be used for more than just telling spells apart. By having keen enough percis, one can learn to recognize someone by their unique magis and notice their presence before even seeing or hearing them (although this is a very rare skill because most people don't give too much importance to fine tuning their percis for anything beyond telling spells apart really). There's a limit of how many spells you can have on yourself without overloading your senses however, which is why most people carry only a few essential spells around. These explanations turned out far longer than I expected.

#I used to hate the word magis but #I guess now it doesn't sound so stupid if it's got two buddies also ending in “is” to go with lol #you know another word I hate? #Shenzaiverse #but I haven't got anything better than that for my all-oc-things tag #so I'll also use #Shenzaiverse-lore #and then one day I might go back through all my posts and re-tag #if I ever get blessed with finding a better name

[soul--scribbles]

Greetings bocaditos! Trying to sneak into the dorm? How bold! But don't worry, I won't let you get caught. You'll be safe if you come with me to my room..

Seriously don't go in his room

Coffin and Candy icons commissioned by @thoselethalarts !

🦎 Name: Sergio "Gio" Perentie the newest member of @juhnglfangdorm !

🦎 Twisted from Joanna the Goanna from The Rescuers: Down Under

🦎 Nicknames: Sanshōo-chan (Salamander); Monsieur Chaussettes

🦎 Species: Monitor Beastman

🦎 Age: 19

🦎 Birthday: October 10

🦎 Height: 175 cm (5'9")

🦎 Class: 2-B No. 20

🦎 Club: Track Club

🦎 Best Subject: Animal Languages

🦎 Hobby: Collecting mismatched socks

🦎 Homeland: Sunset Savannah

🦎 Pet Peeves: Air-conditioned buildings

🦎 Favorite Food: Raw Eggs

🦎 Least Favorite Food: Jawbreakers

🦎 Unique Magic: Scale the Summit - this allows the user to magically adapt and climb anything, regardless of surface type (cliffs, buildings, walls) for a short period of time. There is no actual time limit to use this spell, but the longer the caster uses it, the more blot that forms.

Bio: Sergio "Gio" Perentie is a Monitor Beastman, an extremely rare beast species that was nearly on the verge of extinction until his family stepped in. Monitor beastfolk were hunted and captured for forced breeding due to the many colorful combinations of their prized tails that were used for coveted meat and ingredients for potion making, in particular lethal poisons. Gio's ancestors created a partnership with the high-ranking hunter & trapper families to control the rate of hunting against their species, in exchange for their eggs.

Gio has two older sisters and lives with his parents. Female monitor beastfolk are considered highly valuable and are immediately married off to high ranking hunters and/or nobles who want to increase their statuses due to their breeding compatibility. Gio's father is a human from a prestigious family and his mother is a monitor beast woman. Because male monitor beastfolk cannot breed and make eggs, they normally stay with their families or are advised to be married into a high ranking family to be protected.

Gio was originally supposed to marry into one of the Sunset Savannah's top hunting family, only for the setup to end very badly. His ex boyfriend was incredibly abusive, and Gio had ended it to return to his family. Even though his family members aren't close (as are most reptile beast folk) they secured his protection from his ex boyfriend's family by sending him to Night Raven College.

Because of his reptile characteristics, Gio was unable to be sorted into the regular dorms by the Dark Mirror. He is physically unable to be in any air-conditioned buildings or anywhere the temperature gets cold. His family had given a substantial amount of money to the Headmage, and Crowley saw fit to place him in the Juhnglfang dorm.

Personality: Gio is a mischievous, flirtatious guy who loves being praised. He normally keeps to himself, but he has no issue interacting with and meeting new people. He is good friends with Jayesh due to his kind and fun demeanor and for throwing the best parties. Although he gets along fairly well with his dormmates, he enjoys teasing Vipin since they both share reptile characteristics and relate to each other in that way. Even though Vipin nags Gio all the time, he does look out for him when he can. Gio will not admit it, but he has great respect for Vipin; he just has an incredibly annoying way of showing it.

Gio also has a tendency to seduce others with his good looks and eventually gets into a relationship (even though he denies it) with Aarav (who belongs to @atwstedstory), a Scarabia student that Gio becomes infatuated with. He treats him with respect and doesn't cater to Gio's antics and knows how to put him in his place, a characteristic that Gio respects in other people.

Trivia

🦎 Gio's pronouns are he/him and he is gay!

🦎 Gio HATES being called by his first name and goes out of his way to make sure no one calls him that. The only person who calls him Sergio is Vipin, and that's because he does it to command respect so Gio doesn't get into trouble and make the dorm look bad.

🦎 His name is pronounced "hee-oh"

🦎 Gio is physically unable to be anywhere that's cold, so he is always seen wearing winter clothing when he's outside the dorm. His favorite things to wear are mismatched fuzzy socks because they're vibrant and keep him warm!

🦎 Gio will also wear a mask when in a crowded public area due to his incredible sense of smell, and the fact that the scents around him overwhelm him at times.

🦎 Under NO circumstance is anyone allowed to touch his tail unless you want your face slashed off.

🦎 Gio has lots of piercings and is always looking to get more!

🦎 Gio is not big on fighting and tries to avoid it when possible, but he enjoys stalking the Leech twins, in particular Floyd. Floyd knows how to have the most fun~ and Gio kinda wants to eat them

🦎 Monitor beastfolk are INCREDIBLY athletic, and Gio loves to run so he joined the track club!

🦎 Although he's not officially part of the Mountain Lovers Club, Jade allows Gio to help with some activities from time to time because he tricked Gio into thinking there would be active rock-climbing. Gio still hasn't figured it out and Jade keeps getting free labor.

🦎 Vipin had to include mandatory dorm room checks because Gio kept piles of rotting meat in his room to eat later. The more decayed the meat was, the better the smell is to him.

#soul scribbles #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #twst fandorm #gio perentie