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dearestaeneas · 2 years

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Fraud [Arcana]

word count: 719

we’re back, baby!

reblogs>likes!!

You’ve been in Vesuvia for just under a week now, skirting from inn after inn, friend’s floor to friend’s floor. You don’t mind it as much as you let on, secretly enjoying the looks from passersby you get, hearing their whispers. There they are! I heard they’re a magician, too! The ‘too’ caught you off guard at first. As far as you knew, the magicians had moved to the outskirts of the city, left alone by civilians.

Truth be told, you were more impressed with the image you’d built for yourself: “Magician” is a far more impressive title to hold than “wannabe Magician.” Anywhere else you’d have been pegged immediately as barely a novice, this newfound respect being something you weren’t eager to relinquish.

“What’re ya here for?” A gruff but not unpleasant voice asks. As you’re coming back to your senses, you’re finally aware of the simple fact that you’ve been blocking an ever-growing line in front of a bread stall.

“Oh, uh…”

The man looks at you kindly, eyes brimming with sympathy for the pathetic little creature in front of him. He’s evidently used to tourists. Thrusting a warm loaf in your hands, he informs you his kindness has cost you 5 gold pieces. “That seems cheap,” you say, shocked to hear that you’ve found your voice just in time to lose money.

“That means there’s something wrong with it,” a voice says behind you and you can hear the smile in it.

The baker laughs. “It didn’t rise the way it was supposed to.”

Before you can react, you’re gently pulled out of line by your cloak to the delight of the dozens of people behind you. “It’ll still be good,” the voice says, its owner still just out of your eye-line. “I swear, even when he ruins a batch it’s still better than anyone else’s in the city.” The hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and you feel heat rising in your face.

A man, just taller than yourself, steps into your peripheral, finally free from the bustling crowd of the marketplace. “You must be the new magician. I’ve heard a lot.” You’re struck immediately by just how…pretty he is. Fluffy white hair falling into bright purple eyes, wide dimples punctuating a bright smile. “So they keep telling me,” you offer lamely.

He laughs and the heat returns to your face in full force. Around his neck is a thick blue scarf, the end of which lifts on its own to reveal a face. You jump back, causing him to laugh again. “My familiar, Faust.”

You feel acid rise in your throat as the snake playfully flits its tongue out toward you. There are still magicians in Vesuvia? You try to calm the panic in your chest. There’s still a way out of this without outing yourself as the fraud you are.A look of concern washes over his face. “Are you alright? She’s friendly, I swear.”

Perfect. “I. Oh, I, uh,” you force out a stammer. “I have a phobia.”

He nods quickly, ushering the snake out of sight. Is she…just gone? You stare at him in wonder, forgetting the fear you were trying so hard to convey. “Where is she?” Your voice is at its normal strength suddenly, your feet stepping forward without your brain’s consent. You have just barely enough time to stop your hands from reaching for him, searching for the reptile yourself.

Looking beyond amused, the man takes half a step back, an eyebrow raised to disappear into his hair. “You don’t know?” He’s teasing. He knows. He knows.

Fuck.

Glancing over both your shoulders, you pull him further into the alley beside the bread stall. “You won’t tell anyone,” you say. It isn’t a command, but it isn’t a question. The plainness of the statement hangs in the air.

“Of course not,” he shrugs. “But I’d be careful.”

“Why?”

“The rumors going around these streets? It’s only a matter of time before these good people start asking you to help them and I don’t think you want to be caught in a lie.”

“Teach me.” The words shock you, tumbling out of your mouth before you can even think them. He considers it for a moment, that same bright smile spreading across his face.

“Sure.”

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golden-morgue · 2 years

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Possibly unpopular Arcana HC: Valerius is a vegan. He’s a whole vegan even though he has no idea what “vegan” is. I mean, his diet is already 85% wine anyway.

#The arcana #valerius the arcana #valerius the arcana hc #Hc #the arcana headcanons #this is funny and came from a really shitty dream that I had #He tried to convince Nadia to go vegan over a dinner once #she was really confused #Lucio cut in with something like “vegan? I love Asian food”#long story short his critique was not well taken

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jazztato · 2 years

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Hello! I believe it's time we do a little fun fact for my MC Jasmine x3

Well for starters she was born in the South like Lucio and she changed her name as well her name wasn't always Jasmine her original name was snow in most tribes they name their children off of the first thing they see or something like that her father decided to name her snow but when she was 18 she changed her name to Jasmine after the Jasmine flower the reason to why she changed her name is because her father died when she was 5 she had a brother but he was killed in a war that was between her tribe and lucios however she and lucio had never met durring that time till she came to Vesuvia at the age of 23 around the same time lucio became count (idk exactly how old he was when he became count 😭)

She soon met him when at the first party he threw which was a party to celebrate in him being count.

If your curious and want to know more then ask me a question in my ask box! And I'll awnser your questions!

Art by: my friend

The character belongs to me

Oh and if you ever want me to do a story of your MC interacting with mine I can do that! Just leave me a description of your OCS personality and an image of them so I can kind of a feel for em and what kind of story it should be ;3 just no NSFW I can do romantic stories between our Mcs if you like I won't mind lol but if you have any questions feel free to ask! You may also DM me if u like about this to x3

#the arcana #mc #fun facts #short story #story of her life

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lordedlady · 20 days

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how would my LI!lucio-apprentice react with muriel?

in my lore, my apprentice is.. lets just say he's a bit like lucio-

when he first meets muriel after i guess "rebirthing"?? uhm, muriel basically runs for his fking life lolz 🤍

the second time, vincent (my oc) is alone, and something about muriel seems vaguely familiar, so he comes up to him from behind. muriel is terrified of this man, and so he kinda freezes on the spot.

luckily, asra is with muriel atm and tells him that its okay, and that lucio isnt here right now. vincent is confused af, asks them whats wrong -- to his dismay, asra tells him that its not the best time to talk about it, but they'll tell him later.

over a semi-long period of time (6 months), vincent visits muriel when he is alone, before he adventures with lucio on their new job. it honestly feels as though everyone is getting further away from vincent, his love life and his friends coming apart... all to quickly for his liking.

muriel tells him, reluctantly at best, about his own past. and after this, vincent is well--- traumatised as hell. he feels absolutely sick, running home straight away. he finds lucio, and looks at him in horror and disgust, before locking himself in the bathroom...

and... thats the summary folks!

#muriel the arcana #muriel #the arcane game #the arcana #headcannons #short story #story #headcanon

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kithj · 7 months

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happy friday the 13th here are some spooky text-based games for halloween:

contrition - As a priest, it’s your job to listen to your parishioners’ darkest secrets and absolve their guilt. But when a sinister stranger comes to the confessional one Halloween night, you realize it’s your soul on the line.

familiar - You are a familiar. Your mistress has some requests for you. Help her complete her ritual, or pay the price of failure.

jagged bone - A branching choose-your-own-adventure horror game about transformation and perspective.

the forest of candles (and the man with a lighter) - follows Maggie, a young woman with a fear of forest fires sparked by an old town folk tale. She's spent years trying to escape her hometown and the fear it inspires in her, only to be called back for the funeral of an old friend.

mary's hare - Mary's Hare is short interactive horror story about a woman and a rabbit, based on the story of Mary Toft.

only this - "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming / And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor..."

what girls do in the dark - a slumber party text adventure.

god is in the radio - you are death, one of 22 members of the major arcana, a cult dedicated to some far-off god. the night is halloween, and you watch in scorn as the unknowing dance among devils and dress to indulge in sin. the high priestess receives a message from the all-mighty himself: the arcana must gather in an abandoned house and find his song on an old radio receiver.

anchorhead - Travel to the haunted coastal town of Anchorhead, Massachusetts and uncover the roots of a horrific conspiracy inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Search through musty archives and tomes of esoteric lore; dodge hostile townsfolk; combat a generation-spanning evil that threatens your family and the entire world. (illustrated version on itch.io)

my father's long, long legs - An interactive horror story about family, unease, and loss.

beneath floes - Qikiqtaaluk, 1962. The sun falls below the horizon and won't return for months. You wander the broken shoreline, wary of your mother's stories about the qalupalik. Fish woman, stealer of wayward children: she dwells beneath the ice.

the silence under your bed - An interactive horror collection about the strange, the spooky, and the macabre.

bogeyman - You can go home when you learn to be good.

#god is in the radio and what girls do in the dark can be considered VNs i guess #i've played all of these except for anchorhead bc im bad at IF games like that lmfao #i played bogeyman a few days ago and im still thinking about it....#sorry i just love making lists. i tried to go for a strictly halloween vibe #and keep them completely text based this time #games #interactive fiction

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painlandpalace · 1 day

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dead boy detectives reading list

with the show finally out i figured it was a great time to share my reading list again! check it out below the cut 👻☠️🔎

⏳ the sandman #25 (1991)

this is their first appearance!

🐇 the children's crusade (1993)/free country: a tale of the children's crusade (2015)

1. the children's crusade #1

(2. black orchid annual #1

4. animal man annual #1

5. swamp thing annual #7

6. doom patrol annual #2

7. arcana annual #1)

8. the children's crusade #2

alternatively you can just read free country. whether or not you read the annuals i recommend reading free country's middle chapter

!!! in place of the annuals there is an additional middle chapter that was created for the book "free country: a tale of the children's crusade" where it is placed between the two children's crusade issues. the boys don't actually appear in most of the annuals (they are in two panels of swamp thing and appear in doom patrol) and reading them isn't necessary but i figured i would include them as they are part of the story.

❄️ winter's edge #3 (2000)

this is an anthology. their part is the 'books of magic: waiting for good dough' story starting on page 19

🐦‍⬛ the sandman presents: the dead boy detectives (2001, 4 issues)

i believe the tv show's esther finch was partially based on this run's villain.

(they do have a part in 'death: at death's door' from 2003. it's short and really just a retelling of events from sandman #25 with some minor changes. the entirety of their appearance in death: at death's door is included at the end of the next comic im listing so i am not really adding the death: at death's door book to the list)

☠️ the dead boy detectives (2005, one-shot)

this book was made by jill thompson in a very cute manga-esque style

👻 ghosts (2012), time warp (2013), the witching hour (2013)

these three are anthologies. the story 'the dead boy detectives in: run ragged' runs through all of them. 'run ragged' kicks off the next run.

🔮 from the pages of the sandman: dead boy detectives (2013, 12 issues)

this is the comic where crystal is introduced! a book collecting all 12 issues titled 'dead boy detectives by toby litt & mark buckingham' was released in 2023

🔎the sandman universe: dead boy detectives (2022, 6 issues)

the most recent run, centered around some really interesting thai mythology and featuring multiple edwin moments that i am sure you will love

and that's everything! i also recommend buying the omnibus if you can. it includes everything minus the 2022 run plus some additional bonus content!

i hope this is helpful! feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the comics. dead boy detectives is my number one interest so i should be able to answer

have fun reading! 👻

#dead boy detectives #the sandman #the sandman universe #comics #reading list #edwin paine #edwin payne #charles rowland #crystal palace #crystal palace surname von hoverkraft #painland #paynland #i really hope i didnt mess up while making this post fjdkfkjdkf

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nikolinekaiser · 1 year

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Underland Arcana. Read my story “The Dawn was Gray” for free by clicking the link or buy it here: https://www.underlandarcana.com/

#underland arcana #firebird #firebird creative #short story #short stories #fantasy #medievalism #medieval fantasy #queer lit #queer short story #queer authors #nikoline kaiser #the dawn was gray #winifred mary letts

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nearlyphirresaine · 2 years

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XV - THE DEVIL

"Even in death, may we never part.

May these chains forever bind us."

So I accidentally wrote a short story on the origin of the Arcana's Devil. Sort of xD. 669 words. No plausible magic system just vibes. CW: Death

“They’ve taken her. The priests. It’s too late.”

“She’ll be dead by now.”

The words echoed in Holland’s mind, like the incessant whisper of ghosts. Cold fear seized his heart as he spurred Czar on; his mottled grey steed had been running for three days with barely any rest. Still he galloped speedily through the countryside and into the city without so much as a whiny of complaint. As if he could sense his master’s fear. They burst through the city gates trailed by cries of outrage but Holland barely heard them.

"Adwin. Adwin. Adwin.” Her name rang through his head like a sacred mantra. The ring that hung on a chain around his neck suddenly felt like a leaden weight. When he made it to the executioner’s yard at the edge of the city, there was no one left. His hands and legs trembled as he tried to dismount, nearly falling off his steed in the process. The air hung heavy with the whispers of the unquiet dead, “Turn back. Turn back. Turn back,” they seemed to say. “Nothing of yours remains here.” Their whispers sounded in sync with the sound of the waves crashing towards the cliff face.

He pushed through the wrought iron gates, it opened with a loud creak that seemed to echo in the desolate landscape. On a raised dais was a pile of black ash, left there to scatter over the cliff and into the sea, so that the soul may be fragmented and never take form. He scrambled to the top of the dais, his knees giving out as he beheld blackened remains of his beloved. They’d used black fire to burn her, the bastards. All she ever wanted was to help, and they burned her for it. Desperate, he dug through the ashes, all the while the ghosts kept whispering for him to turn back.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew. He knew that he would be too late but some part of him desperately wanted to believe that he would make it. An anguished cry escaped his lips as he dug, desperate for any remaining sign of her. But all that remained was ash and-

His hands hooked on something solid and cold. Trembling he scooped up a ring, a twin to the one that hung on his neck. Inexplicably, it had remained intact, where the fire had consumed all trace of his beloved, the ring remained. A cruel reminder.

He began to laugh hysterically, still clutching the ring between his hands, he cursed the gods. He cursed death. But most of all, he cursed humans. Selfish, foolish humans who feared what they couldn’t understand. The ghosts have become more restless, their whispers have turned into screams, “Turn back! Nothing of yours remains here!”

Not heeding their cries, he pulled out his dagger and plunged deep into his chest. He would find his Adwin. With his dying breath he made a promise, and that promise became chains scattering in every direction. He would find every fragment of her soul even if he had to go to the plains of hell for it, even if he had to wrench it out from the hands of Death and all the other Arcana himself. He let out a guttural scream as his nails extended into claws; a pair of horns grew out of his head, ripping through skin. He collapsed on the ground writhing in pain, he tasted blood on his mouth. He felt changed, defiled, but also powerful.

The air turned cold and the ghosts seized their screaming. He looked up to see twin orbs of silver staring down at him. “What are you?” Death asked impassively. She towered over him, resplendent in black, the blade of her scythe gleaming. He heard her inhale deeply. “You stink of mortality,” she said, “but also…something else.”

Baring his teeth, he stood up, black chains clinking as he said, “I am. The Devil. And I have come to take what is mine.”

#the arcana fanfic #the arcana #the devil arcana #mentally i am ill #no plot just vibes #short story #fanfic

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cyclesprefectpress · 6 months

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[image description: photos of The Disco Elysium Tarot, printed letterpress in an edition of one from handset lead type and linoleum blocks. It is a complete 78-card tarot deck printed primarily with white text and illustrations on medium grey cardstock, in a custom dark grey hardcase box with a hand-marbled orange and yellow endsheet. The backs of the deck are decorated with an illustration of a sprig of may bells, and a quote from Smallest Church in Saint-Saëns: "None of this matters at all." The interpretive meaning of each card is expressed on its face with a small excerpt of the game's text. The Minor Arcana are divided into four suits of Harry's Attributes—Motorics, Psyche, Physique, Intellect—and each card in that suit is a quote from a skill under that Attribute. The Major Arcana are assigned quotes from other sources like NPC dialogue or Thought Cabinet problems & solutions. Pips for the Minors are counted with diamonds like the game's skill points; each actor or title is printed with their in-game color, but made shiny & metallic with bronzing powder.

each piece of text was set in handset lead type, assembled from individual pieces for each letter and space, and printed relief on a chandler & price clamshell press. end description.]

🎊🎊 Desert Bus for Hope starts for 2023 on nov. 11th and i have made an item this year for the craftalong that will be up for giveaway between 6am-12pm on Monday the 13th! 🎊🎊 It is a full tarot deck based on Disco Elysium and it has several pieces of my heart & soul in it but NOT my blood because i put a bandaid right on that :) donations for this and any other auctions & giveaways for Desert Bus go to Child's Play Charity.

notes: i did not make a whole new interpretive model for this deck, apologies, that was outside of my scope. it's generally compatible with a Rider-Waite model, with Motorics for Wands, Psyche for Cups, Physique for Swords, and Intellect for Disks. (full distribution of text listed by card, linked below. any spelling or transcription errors you find there, i promise i fixed them in print—that's copied from my digital mockup which was copied hastily from screenshots.)

i also do not track hours on these kinds of projects because that way lies madness, but i will say: i knew how much time it would take to print it. it was a lot but i was not worried about it, i know how to print. i was very worried about how much time it would take to absorb the sheer amount of text, and distribute it across the cards, and really get an array i believe in. i was right to worry, and i have absolutely had a few anxious nightmares about discovering the Perfect excerpt that should've gone in and i missed it, and the suit of Intellect made me want to lay on the floor a few times, but still! i believe there's many versions of a deck you could make from this game and this one is a good one.

i think the Minors fit really well with the double-edged sword of Harry's skills, their advice, their priorities. the circular way the Fool-World assignment works out makes me smile every time. The colors on The Star came out so nice. i think Justice fulfills some of my favorite things about Kim's character & purpose in the story. i worried sometimes that editing to such short clips would lose too much of the politics of the game, but of course you can't really take them out and they're especially present in the Majors—the Devil and the Hierophant, The Star and The Sun. i've wanted to design a tarot deck for years and i love this game deeply and i let this idea percolate for a few months and it never stopped making me laugh so here it is, & given a beautiful purpose :)

i also literally could not have done this without xyrilin's Disco Reader and the FAYDE On-Air Playback Experiment to navigate the dialogue and skill checks. Really couldn’t have tied the whole concept & colophon in its final bow without the Disco Reader :)) thank thank thank, they're so fun to investigate that it was honestly very difficult to focus on my task instead of veering off and exploring every branch in an extremely disorganized way.

actual printing went well honestly, very few problems! i think that means i'm getting pretty good at planning one of these monstrosities, although perhaps it also means i'm not challenging myself enough. hmm. no that's silly there's 78 ding dang cards in this thing. anyway the drop & replace formes worked well, no registration issues. mum convinced me to overprint another half a deck's worth of cards when I was printing backs & borders and of course she was right :/ there were a handful of cards that actually had better line breaks and fewer lines total in true type than in the digital mockup, so i needed all the spares I had to put those new short quotes into the appropriate border breakage. next time i will not question her.

handset in Garamond, Eden Bold, and secret Neuland.

WIP : full text card assignments

bonus photo of the kind of trash notes i always take to plan things like how many borders were printed with space for short excerpts vs long excerpts, and how many of those are majors vs. minors, because they have a slightly different frame at the bottom edge, etc.

[image description: they are truly garbage notes, i tell you. half of it is written at angles to the other half, many numbers in the math problems are not labeled, mistakes are scribbled over. it gets me there but it doesn't look pretty. end description.]

#desert bus 2023 #desert bus for hope #disco elysium #book arts #letterpress #letterpress printing #handset type #printmaking #db2023 #finished works #long post

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writingwithcolor · 6 months

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Conlanging Issues: A Compendium

NOTE: This question was submitted before the Nov 1, 2023 reopening and may not adhere to all rules and guidelines. The ask has been abridged for clarity.

Most of my questions are about linguistics. […] One of the major locations in my story is a massive empire with cultural inspirations ranging from North Africa in the far south to Mongolia/Russia in the far north […] The middle region is where the capital is and is the main root of culture, from which Ive been taking inspiration from Southwest Asia […], but most notably southern regions of India. I've tried to stick to the way cities are named in Sanskrit-based languages but added the names of stars to the front (because the prevalent religion of this region worships the stars [...]). So Ive ended up with names like Pavoprayag, Alyanaga, Alkaiduru, Alcorpura, Cygnapete, etc. Is this a consistent naming system or should I alter it in some way? The empire itself is named the Arcana Empire since [...] each act of my story is named after a tarot card [...]. Another region in my story is based more on parts of South China and North Vietnam, so I've tried to stick to names with a Chinese origin for that. I understand the significance of family names in southwest [sic] Asia, so I wanted to double check [...]. They have only two short given names. Based on the birth order of the child, the first half of the name comes from the fathers family and the second half from the mothers family. It is seen as disrespectful not to use both names because using only one is seen as denouncing that side of your family. Thus I have names like Su Yin, Dai Jun, and Yi Wen for some of the characters from this region, and the city itself that they are from is named Bei Fen. On the other hand, Im having further trouble naming characters. […] Ive been trying to give my human characters names from real human cultures to distinguish them from the website-generated names of say, orcs, elves, dwarves, etc, but I think I should change many of the names Ive used to be more original and avoid fracturing real world cultures for the sake of my worldbuilding. […] Im still very weak in the linguistics area (even after four years of French, sigh) and am having trouble finding where to read about naming patterns so I can make new ones up. I read your naming guides but am still having trouble on where to start for specific languages. […] Im trying to look into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian specifically.

You're Going Too Broad

In my opinion, you’re casting too wide a net. You mentioned looking into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian to develop fantasy names. These languages are very different from one another, so unless you’re using them separately for very different parts of your world, it will be hard to draw inspiration from them in a way that makes sense. You’re taking on a huge amount of research in order to worldbuild cultures that span a massive geographical area (basically all of North Africa and Asia?) and have very little in common. Are you sure you want to take on that task?

I could see it being more manageable if most of your story is set in a small region of this world, which you will then research in depth to make sure you’re being as specific as possible.

Taking Persian as an example, you’ll have to decide whether you want to use Old Persian, Middle Persian, or Modern Persian. Each of these comes with a different alphabet and historical influences. They’re also associated with different periods of time and corresponding cultural and social markers. Once you’ve decided exactly when and where you want to start from, you can then expand the borders of your area of focus. For example, if you’ve decided to draw inspiration from Achaemenid Persia, you can then look at the languages that were spoken in the Achaemenid Empire. A quick Google search tells me that while Old Persian was the empire’s official language, they also used Aramaic, Akkadian, Median, Greek, and Elamite (among, I’m sure, many many others and many more regional variations). Further research into each of these will give you ethnic groups and bordering nations that you can draw more inspiration from to expand out your worldbuilding.

Don’t forget to make sure you’re staying within the same time period in order to keep things consistent. It’s a lot of work, and this is only for a small portion of the continent-spanning worldbuilding you’re trying to do.

You can get away with painting the rest of the continent in broad strokes without too much depth if the story doesn’t go there and you don’t have any main characters from those parts of the world. Otherwise, you’ll need to put this same level of detail into your worldbuilding for the area with Turkish-inspired names, and again for the area with Sanskrit-inspired names, and so on.

I know this isn’t what you were asking, but I honestly have a hard time helping you figure out where to start because your ask is so broad I don’t quite know where I would start myself. So, this is my advice: focus down on one region and time period and go from there. Feel free to write back once you’ve picked a narrower focus that we could help you with.

- Niki

So there’s logistical issues in regards to your naming system for southern China-coded regions. One issue is history: mainly on how there is not simply one language in China but multiple due to having a lot of ethnic groups and the size of China. South China in particular has different dialects and languages than the North as seen in this map of Chinese languages and dialects. There’s also how historically Mandarin was not the official language until 1913 in China and historical China saw vast changes in territory dependent on the dynasty. Before then, Mandarin was primarily a northern Chinese language based in Beijing while southern China had its own languages, dialects, and dynamics. Not to mention, historical China saw an evolution of language just like English has Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. For instance, Vietnam was once part of China during the Tang Dynasty and at another point, it was not part of China.

-Mod Sci

If You’re Borrowing Whole Words or Elements, Research More

The other issue is inconsistency with the cultures you’re deriving this conlang from. In regards to “two given names,” the Chinese name I was given was one syllable and then I would have a last name that was also one syllable. There’s also how not every family is perfect. Not every marriage is sanctioned and some children may come from single parents. Some families may not cooperate with marriage and sometimes children may be abandoned with unknown parents. There does not seem to be contingencies for these names under this conlang system.

The main problem with conlangs is that one needs to truly understand the languages one is drawing from. Tolkein managed to create conlangs due to training in linguistics. Mandarin is already a difficult language with multiple tones, and trying to use it for conlangs without knowledge of how Mandarin works or a good foundation in linguistics is just a Sisyphean endeavor.

-Mod Sci

Four years of French wouldn’t have taught you about linguistics as a science or anything about the language families you’ve listed - Indo-Iranian, Sino-Tibetan, and Turkic, nor any Asian naming conventions. I agree with Niki that you need to narrow down your research.

Pur/pura means city in Sanskrit (ex: Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur). Prayag is a place where pilgrimages are done. Naga isn’t a place name in Sanskrit (google says it means snake), nagar is and it means town. X Nagar is a very common name for places (Ex: Rajinder Nagar). Many cities in Karnataka have names ending in uru (Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Tumakuru, etc) but the language of Karnataka is Kannada - a Dravidian language and completely different family from Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan). I’m not sure where “pete” came from. “Bad” and “vaal” are common suffixes for places too (Ex: Faisalabad, Allahabad). A disclaimer that I do not speak Sanskrit, I speak Punjabi, which is a descendant of Sanskrit and in the same linguistic family (Indo-Aryan languages).

- SK

Also, This Is Not…Really Conlanging.

Hi OP. Linguistics refers to the science of studying how languages work, not the discipline of learning languages. And nothing shows that gap more than how you have thus far approached constructing fictional languages and toponyms.

The reason why Sci and SK have a lot to say about your place names is because they don't resonate—you have borrowed whole words into your toponyms (place names) from a variety of languages—without an accurate understanding of what these words mean, how they’re pronounced, where they’re derived from—and expected them to work together. I suggest you read the links below on why conlanging is not as simple as choosing some languages and mashing their IRL words together:

Why Using Random Languages Wholesale in your Fantasy is a Bad Idea

Pitfalls of Mashing Countries and Languages in Coding

In your city names, for example, you’re using star names from multiple languages that use different sets of sounds represented by different sets of historical spelling rules. “Cygn-” and “Arcana” stick out like a sore thumb—the fact that one “c” is /s/ and one is /k/ is an obvious flag that they are Latin-derived English borrowings. This is because spelling rules were created in Middle English to make sense of the mix of “c” pronunciations across words of Indo-European origin due to a historical split called the Centum-Satem division. This is a phenomenon that is very specific to our world history, and to the history of English at that. Ironically, in your attempt to avoid stock fantasy names (which also often fall into the Latin-derived English pit), you are taking the exact same approach to naming.

Like Niki said, your selections are far too broad to code under a single umbrella. Do you expect that whatever language that city name came from runs the full gamut of sound inventory & spelling variety that spans multiple continents and hundreds of languages? Because that’s not how languages work. (And yes, I mean hundreds. Indigenous languages and linguistic diversity are a thing. See Niki’s note about just the languages in Persia. And nation-states bulldozing over those languages and pretending it’s just one language is a thing. See Sci’s note about China.) I haven't even talked about the variation in morphology (how words are formed) or syntax (sentence structure).

Please just read or re-read my guide on “naming conlangs” in this post and start from there.

~ Rina

PSA ON CONLANGING AND FANTASY NAMES:

For fantasy language asks submitted after Nov 1, 2023, the asker must indicate that they have read Mod Rina’s conlanging posts linked in FAQ 2 (Guides and Posts by Topic) of the Masterpost under the question “How do I make a fictional language for my story?” While this is an older ask, we are posting it as an example to our followers.

Per our new rules, any questions that can be directly answered in or extrapolated from the FAQs, or questions that indicate that the relevant resources haven’t been read, will be deleted with a note in the Deletion Log explaining why.

As always, if this post was helpful or educational to you, please consider tipping the relevant mods: SK, Niki, Sci, and Rina.

Edited for terminology errors

#asks #naming #languages #linguistics #Persian #Chinese #South Asian #worldbuilding #coding

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sofonn · 10 months

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hellooooo I remembered I have this nice account to share some nice arcana muriel sketches (actually there're lot of 'em..) + bonus nadia, portia and julian below!

some lore-ish thing from his first chapter cause i really liked the heart of forest's story (yeah it was short and sad)

more asra+muriel (i DO like them alot)

and little bonuses! ^3^

#the arcana #the arcana fanart #the arcana game #the arcana asra #asra x muriel #asra #the arcana muriel #arcana muriel #muriel #arcana nadia #arcana portia #arcana julian #muriel x julian #my art #sketches

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iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia · 11 months

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The Arcana HCs: Brainrot's Masterlist

The first 100 full headcanons! Mostly in order from oldest to most recent ^.^

How the M6 cry and how MC comforts them

M6 when you fart while sharing a bed

M6 when they fart while sharing a bed with MC

M6 when the child they have with you is an exact carbon copy of them

How MC likes to fluster the M6

How the M6 like to fluster you

M6 when someone hands them a baby

MC makes M6 breakfast in bed

M6 making the MC breakfast in bed

M6 with an MC who has periods

M6 eating spicy food

M6 on social media

M6 with an introverted MC

M6 with an extroverted MC

M6 when MC calls them their husband/wife/spouse

How the M6 get sick

How the M6 respond to MC getting sick

M6 when they've gone too long without your affection

M6 with a merfolk MC

M6 with a touch/affection-starved MC

M6 with an MC who walks with a cane

M6 when MC gets kidnapped and tortured by Valdemar

M6 with a half-dragon MC

M6 and the lies MC tries to tell them

Julian's birthday

M6 when MC gets panic attacks/flashbacks

How the M6 get panic attacks and how MC comforts them

M6 with a tailor MC

The best part of the day with M6

How the M6 lose their temper

M6 when MC loses their temper

M6 with an insecure MC

M6 when a spell goes wrong and MC is stuck as a toddler for the day

M6 when a spell goes wrong and they're stuck as a small child for the day

M6 and cuddles

M6 administering first aid when it's their fault MC is slightly hurt

Giving first aid to the M6 when it's MC's fault that they're slightly hurt

M6 reacting to a drunk MC

M6 when MC disappears and comes back different

M6 when MC comes out as bi

Gift giving

M6 with a doodling MC

Surprise dates/getaways with the M6

M6 with an MC who has an ED

M6 reading MC's journal

M6 with an MC with gender dysphoria

M6 being petty

M6 with an MC struggling with depression

M6 and their shopping weaknesses

M6 with a starving vampire MC

M6 meeting the parent(s)

M6 with an MC who's been bottling up their affectionate tendencies

M6 swap bodies with their familiars

M6 planning their wedding with MC

M6 as unhinged childhood stories

M6 with an insomniac MC

Voiceclaims for the M6

M6 with a procrastinator MC

M6 when MC comes out as bi

MC and M6 proposing at the same time

M6 with a thief-for-hire MC

M6 with a foodie MC

M6 with an aggressively affectionate MC

When MC falls asleep waiting for the M6

When MC shows up with a familiar

When MC plays a musical instrument

M6 when MC comes out as trans

M6 helping MC with disassociation

M6 when MC is stronger than they look

When MC is a little too strong

When MC sleeps with plushies

M6 with a flirtatious and blunt MC

M6 playing Stardew Valley

M6 reacting to MC singing

M6 when MC gets a nosebleed

M6 when MC has poor eyesight

M6 and MC in animal onesies

M6 when MC is hard of hearing

MC with M6's familiars

M6 with an oblivious MC

How the M6 hurt you

How you hurt the M6

Asra and Faust's birthday

When MC accidentally steps on M6's familiar

When MC accidentally visits M6's dreams

M6 when MC has intrusive thoughts

When MC's natural patron is the Devil

When MC is a terrible chef

M6 with an MC that doesn't drink

MC with M6's family

M6 with a short MC

M6 during thunderstorms

Piggyback rides

M6 when MC goes on a trip

When MC remembers having bad parents

Nadia's birthday

M6 when MC cries over a sad story

When MC comes across colder than they are

How you mess with the M6

How M6 help you after a rough day

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