#at least the main characters are all nonbinaries and or slightly magic and or a really big wolf who is a mother hen | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

klugpuuo · 3 years

Text

almost every puyo~tet single-character headcanon wie have

every character we've put more than three minutes of thought into are gonna be in this post. this *does* leave out a lot of characters, but still includes so many that hopefully that'll make up for it. ^also i forgot about this entirely while writing and tried to add a few characters i literally never think about everat all so you get extra funny commentary i guess

welp! enjoy the ride. and dont forget to like, comment, and subscribe (/lh)

warnings: mentions food, implied self-harm, delusions (not inherently triggering but still), general violence, some madou-era content, death. (more to be added + ask to tag) none of the things mentioned are in much detail.

Madou Monogatari / OG Puyo~Puyo characters:

Arle – 16 (chronologically 20 due to the Madou time stop but doesn’t realize it), has PTSD and ADHD + nonbinary transfem + sex-repulsed and questioning (she/he/they)

Assorted headcanons:

-Her armor was made into a sort of magical puberty blocker by her grandmother, who knew Arle was trans and wanted her to live her life to the fullest. -Although she has never been in an (official) romantic relationship, she’s usually the first person her friends go to for relationship advice. -She stims a lot, usually by twirling her hair around or jumping.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: She’s in a vaguely romantic relationship with Serilly. “Vaguely” as in they go on dates frequently, kiss a lot, and would live together if they could, but neither is sure if they are actually dating. Friends: She adores Ringo and Amitie and wants to protect both of them – not in the super creepy and sorta patronizing way, but in the “she really cares about them and their well-being” way. Despite thinking that Schezo is an absolute fool at times, she still cares about him quite a bit. She’s come to regret what she did all those years ago, and is determined to make sure that Schezo never remembers it.

Schezo – ~200, has ADHD and PTSD + transmasc + homosexual (he/it/gore)

Assorted headcanons:

-Although he can be away from his sword, it’s bonded to his body so strongly that if he is too far away from it for too long he becomes incredibly weak. -He borrowed a thesaurus from Aya and Klug and is not planning on ever giving it back. -He doesn’t remember a single thing that happened before Puyo~7, and can hardly remember anything from then until Puyo~Tetris 2. -After learning about tone indicators, he begins to put “/nx” at the end of *all* of his messages online. Although a few people make fun of him for it, many people find it either endearing or some form of cool, and he’s affectionately known as “the /nx anon” in a few social circles. -His main special interests are forging and dark magic (good for him <3)

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes: He has a slight crush on Lemres, and thinks that Incubus is.. interesting. He also thinks Witch is cute but can’t tell if that’s a crush or what. (Good) friends: He considers Arle to be his best friend, and she’s usually the first person he’d go to for anything. The two actually lived together for a while. Although he thinks Rulue is a fool at times, he still cares about her and thinks she’s pretty impressive. Enemies...?: He once was always looking to pick a fight with Satan, but after (rather awkwardly) remembering that he once saw the prince as a father, he mostly stopped doing that.

Rulue – ~40-ish?, experiences delusions + cis lass + questioning (she/her and a few neopronouns)

Assorted headcanons:

-She’s not sure why there are so many people who are like her and at this point she’s wondering if it really is just a coincidence. -She secretly wishes that she could join Arle, Schezo and Witch’s arm-wrestling sessions, but as they’ve been going on for so long without her she feels almost awkward asking. -Although she still experiences delusions sometimes, she’s gotten a lot better at telling what’s true and what’s false.

Relationship headcanons:

Partner… sorta?: She’s sort of in a QPR with Raffina, and they go on platonic dates a lot. (Good) friends: She’s quite good friends with Arle, especially since she’s no longer chasing after Satan. Speaking of Satan, as she’s no longer absolutely obsessed with him she’s actually beginning to get along well with him, and the two regularly have friendly battles.

Witch – >16, might be NT + cis lass + omni (she/it)

Assorted headcanons:

-The only thing she can transform people or things into without help of a potion is mushrooms. -She’s surprisingly strong and quite good at arm wrestling. -She’s not sure if she had any sort of neurodiversities, but she doesn’t really care either way.

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes…?: She might have feelings for Arle, but even she doesn’t have any clue. She’s also.. interested in Feli, as she sees Feli as quite the interesting person. Family: She’s an orphan, although she doesn’t mind it. (Good) friends: She’s okay-ish friends with Schezo, and the two usually do arm wrestling matches with Arle in their free time.

Satan – ~3000<, only god knows + cis trans man (somehow less than a joke) + pansexual (he/it)

Assorted headcanons:

-As he’s so old and has changed his physical appearance so many times, he’s completely forgotten his original sex, if he even had one. -After getting very literally schooled by Raffina, he realized that his plans to acquire Arle were just never going to work, and after a while of self-reflection he decided that he’d rather spend the rest of eternity doing other things he liked than chasing around an underage lass. -Due to having completely remade the world himself, he feels almost completely disconnected from it. All the people he used to know.. aren’t the same, and it’s destroying him.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: Misses his dead wife a lot, but is now happily dating (nd half-joke married to) Ex (Chosen) family: After Satan had a good long think about everything, he realized that he did actually care about Lidelle a lot, and now properly sees her as a little sister. Friends: He’s on good terms with Rulue and actually properly hangs out with her sometimes. -

Serilly – >16, has anxiety and experiences delusions + trans lass + questioning (she/her)

Assorted headcanons:

-hgnggng operea

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: She may or may not be dating Arle. (Chosen) family: Although she’s presumably an orphan, she has Suketoudara, who she sees as an older brother figure. Best friend: She platonically loves Harpy a lot, and the two of them spend a lot of time together. - Suketoudara – ~30, NT + about as cis guy as a fish can get + polysexual (he/him)

Assorted headcanons:

-I literally do not think about this guy

Relationship headcanons:

Sibling serilly

Puyo Fever (2) characters:

Amitie – 14 and a half, autistic + binary transfem + fem-leaning panromantic (she/fae/flare)

Assorted headcanons:

-She found out that she was trans when she was 7 years old, and managed to convince her parents to let her transition when she was 12. -She taught herself how to bake, and Arle taught her how to cook more salty things. She regularly makes lunches for her friends, even if they already have their own. -She cares a lot about Sig’s ladybug friend and usually “babysits” them when Sig has to leave to wherever. -Raffina and her are the only two with two parents who haven’t divorced and/or died, but as Amitie's parents are almost always at work she doesn't get to talk to them very much. -She stims by twirling her hair when it’s long, or squishing a puyo-shaped stress ball when it’s short.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: She’s in a QPR with Sig and Klug, and says she wouldn’t give it up for the world. Crushes: She has a huge crush on Ringo, and a squish on Ess, but she doesn’t think either of them feel the same way. (Chosen) family: She feels rather lucky having contact with both her mother and father, as most of her friends don’t have contact with their own parents. Also, she looks up to Arle a lot, and sees them as an older sibling. Friends(?): Nobody can tell what exactly her relationship with Raffina is, but the most common theory is that they’ve kissed at least twice. Even during Lidelle’s fight with Sig, Amitie supported her, knowing she truly did regret her actions and it was mostly just a big misunderstanding.

Klug – 14 and three quarts, autistic and has ADHD + transmasc nonbinary + ace/aroflux (he/they/wir)

Assorted headcanons:

-Although he had initially asked to be called by neopronouns just as a joke, he found he actually liked the wir/worm set a lot, and now tends to go by that exclusively on some days. -On one night he doesn’t remember, all of his cosmetic glasses were mysteriously destroyed, along with all his contact lenses. After that, he stuck to just one pair of functional glasses -He was gifted an “EiPod” by Ringo and Amitie, although only the latter took credit for it. -He stims by humming, writing, and aggressively cleaning his glasses.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: He’s in a QPR with Sig and Amitie, and secretly wants to leave Primp and travel the world with them both. Chosen family: He sees Feli as both a rival and a sister, and now has come to see Lemres as an older-sibling figure of sorts. Friend: He’s on good terms with Lidelle, and she’s one of the only people who’s younger than he is that he still treats with respect. Rivals(?): He thinks Raffina is pretty rude, and he never lets her go without remembering that he’s better friends with Amitie than she is for more than a month.

Sig – 15, autistic and has ADHD + transmasc demilad + biromantic (he/bug/they/it)

Assorted headcanons:

-Doesn’t consider any sort of bug to be his “favorite”, but has a soft spot for ladybeetles, stag beetles and fireflies. -After a failed attempt at acquiring Sig’s power, Aya accidentally gave Sig half of its own power, causing Sig to become slightly more than just a half-demon. -After he scratched himself one too many times, Amitie and Lidelle worked together to make a glove for Sig’s claw hand. -His main special interests are both bugs and history, and he usually stims by repeating words he likes.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: He’s mostly queerplatonic, partially romantic partners with both Amitie and Klug. During the first half week of their relationship, he was the only one the two felt comfortable cuddling with, which he was completely fine with. Family: Although initially Sig and Aya were almost enemies, they managed to reach an agreement after being left alone together and now see each other as both family and friends. Friends: He’s pretty good friends with Lidelle, and he helps her with bug-related problems whenever she has any. He’s also pretty good friends with Raffina even if they don’t hang out much and he still has trouble with her name. Enemies: Schezo.

Raffina – 16, has (canonical) imposter syndrome + transfem + pansexual demiromantic (she/her)

Assorted headcanons:

-As her family is very upper middle class, she was able to medically transition almost immediately after coming out. -She once tried to start a Primp Town Fight Club. It did not go well. -She’s the only person aside from Amitie that has two parents that did not abandon her and are not divorced. Unlike Amitie, however, only her mother works, so she gets to talk to her father frequently.

Relationship headcanons:

Crush: She secretly wants to kiss Lidelle really badly. (Good) friends: Although she was slightly distanced from them during the whole fight ordeal, she’s quite good friends with all the ASK trio. She’s pretty friendly with Ess.

Lidelle – 14, has social anxiety + cis lass + questioning (she/her)

Assorted headcanons:

-She feels genuinely sorry for what she did and said to Sig and those bugs, and she’s proud of herself for apologizing. -She likes playing with marbles and has made pretty big marble “race” courses in the past. -She doubts her self-worth a lot, and is worried that others don’t take her very seriously.

Relationship headcanons:

Chosen family: Despite not having any surviving biological family, she’s found a family in the form of Draco and Satan, who have been taking care of her for some time now. Best friend: Lidelle hangs out with Raffina almost constantly, and she considers Raf to be her very best friend. Good friends.. again: After a very large fight with Sig over the fact that her flesh-eating plants killed some of his bugs, she and Sig stopped being friends for a bit. After a lot of talking with Amitie and Raffina, she realized her mistake, and she apologized to Sig – and to her surprise, Sig apologized back. Even during the fight, she and Amitie stayed friends, and Ami gave her a lot of emotional support. She looks up to Klug, although Klug sees her as an equal and even spares a warm smile for her during some of his most jerk-y moments.

Lemres – 35, autistic, has SAD and PTSD + transmasc and nonbinary + aroflux/aceflux (they/them, he/him and any candy-related neopronouns)

Assorted headcanons:

-They are actually entirely blind due to personal reasons, and sewed their eyes shut as to not freak others out too much. They “see” by feeling the magic of their environment, and cannot “see” in low-magic areas (they also cannot read faces. At all.) -They have a sort of “vacation house” near Primp which they visit during the summer or any free time they have. The fact that it was built so close to Primp was a coincidence, but something they like very much. -Schezo occasionally “visits” the vacation house for a few months before running off on some random adventure for whatever reason. -Their broom was broken, presumably by Witch as they had fought with her not too long before that. -Su has a certain type of magic that allows sucre to read minds (or at least meaning). -His type of magic does not work on demons for a plethora of reasons. -They usually stim by twirling their staff around and messing with what remains of their broom.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: They’re in a weird sort-of relationship with Schezo. The relationship informally started after Schezo assisted Lemres during a restless period and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. (Chosen) family: Although they want to keep their distance from their biological family, they’ve found a new family in Primp in the form of the ASK trio (Good) friends: They’re very close to Accord, having know her since Highschool (and even before she made Poipoi).

Feli – 16 and a half, experiences delusions and has disorders + transfem + bisexual (she/her evi/evil go/goth)

Assorted headcanons:

-Rather compulsory heterosexuality with her. She doesn’t actually have that much love for Lemres, mainly just lust and a feeling that she has to date or marry him. -She personally believes sharing one’s birthday with someone else is a sign of extreme trust due to Zodiac reasons. -She feels like her gender is influenced by gothic aesthetics, but can’t really describe it further.

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes: She still very obviously has a crush on Lemres, although it’s starting to lessen now that Lemres is in a closed relationship. (Chosen) family: She sees Klug as an annoying little brother, although he’s marginally more mature than she is. (Good) friends: She’s pretty good friends with Lidelle and Raffina.

Accord/Poipoi – ???? + cis lass and agender respectively + god knows (she/her for accord, he/it for poipoi)

Assorted headcanons:

-Accord secretly really likes hitting things with her hammer to the point where she’d go quite far in order to get a chance to do so. However, she would never readily admit this as she finds it to be incredibly childish. -Only Accord knows what happened to Lemres’s eyes. -During Highschool, Accord enchanted a puppet and gave it its own thoughts, personality, dreams, etc. That puppet was quite obviously Poipoi.

Relationship headcanons:

(Good) friends: Accord is close friends with Lemres, having known him since Highschool (she was his upperclassman by a few years) and never passes up a chance to talk to him. Poipoi managed to make friends with Aya in a particularly independent moment where it ran away.

Ayashii – >800, has a lot of trauma + whats a gender + (it/any neos/they/he/she)

Assorted headcanons:

-It genuinely forgot what a gender was because gender is so unimportant to it. -It somehow found a way to continue being friends with the puppy it rescued, even going so far as to teaching them the difference between it and Klug. -As it has extreme claustrophobia, it tends to take very long walks whenever it’s using Klug’s body.

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes???: Aya has some interest in Lemres and Schezo, but isn’t entirely sure what kind of interest. (Chosen) family: It’s beginning to see Klug as a son of sorts, and recognizes Sig as its descendent. huh what: It doesn’t trust Accord at all, especially knowing (and being friends with) Poipoi as an individual.

Yu and Rei - ??? + phasmaeic + (both use she/he/they gho/ghost spec/spectre and dar/dark)

- - -

Relationship headcanons:

Puyo~7 characters:

Ringo – 16, ??? + questioning (demigirl?) + bisexual (she/they)

Assorted headcanons:

-She’s questioning pretty much every single thing about her identity and beliefs to the point where she’s actually been having frequent migraines because of it. -She’s not at all proud to admit it, but she’s not-so-secretly envious of Maguro’s “beauty beam”. -She eats a LOT of things that you’re not meant to eat, to the point where everyone except for Sig (who does the same) is worried for her.

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes: She has small crushes on both Amitie and Tee, although she likes Amitie a *bit* more. Epic friends: She’s best friends with Maguro, and he’s one of the few people she properly trusts (not for edgy reasons, just because). A lot of people assume she’s dating him, which makes her feel pretty uncomfortable, but she doesn’t feel like she can really blame them.

Maguro – 16, has ADHD and PTSD (latter from AU) + questioning + bisexual (he/they)

Assorted headcanons:

-He’s questioning the same stuff as Ringo, although he’s a lot more chill about it. -He was pretty scarred, emotionally and physically, after an unfortunate incident concerning a badly thought-out prank, a fishing net, and a timer set to one month -He remembers all of his trauma in perfect clarity, and has good memory overall.

Relationship headcanons:

Partner:He’s been in a romantic relationship with Tee for a few months, and so far it’s been really nice. Best friend: He’s best friends with Ringo, and he feels really comfortable around her. They share almost everything, and are planning on moving in together once they get the chance to have a proper house. Good friends: Although Ris moved away to study abroad a while back, they still send a lot of gifts and letters to him on a regular basis. Also, they’ve been staying in contact with Ess ever since the whole beauty pageant thing and the two go shopping when they’re both free.

Risukuma – 19, NT + trans man + male-leaning pansexual (he/him)

Assorted headcanons:

-He’s incredibly interested in all types of love -After graduating school, he decided to study abroad to learn more about other cultures (and of course, love). -He really likes music, even having written some of his own songs in the past. One of his favorite bands is IDKHOW.

Relationship headcanons:

Partner: Despite only having interacted a few times, he’s quite good “friends” with Ai. Good friends: After moving away from Suzuran, he’s not been able to hang out with Ringo or Maguro as much, but he still sends them letters and gifts on a regular basis. What: He does not want to know about Ecolo. Do not tell him about Ecolo.

Ecolo – ageless and has so many disorders (affectionate??) + gender + probably so (it/they/he/she/other in that order)

Assorted headcanons:

-If asked, it would describe its gender as “Once In A Lifetime” by Talking Heads. -It’s trying really really hard to respect Ringo’s boundaries nowadays, and not just because she refused to acknowledge its existence for a whole week after it accidentally hurt her. -It can change into its human form at will; however, if it wants to stay in that form for more than a few hours at a time, it has to actually sleep for several days straight. -In its humanoid form, it sports several scars. -It genuinely loves fidget spinners and has this really creepy one it carries everywhere.

Relationship headcanons:

Crush: You know it wants to kiss Ringo so bad. Friends: Ex-friends with Satan because Ringo hates him. Pretty alright friends with Ex and Marle, not entirely sure what to think about Squares. Uh…: After.. an accident it caused, Maguro started to be able to remember it.

Puyo~Tetris characters:

Tee – 16, + trans man + questioning (he/him)

Assorted headcanons:

-He can’t pronounce any name longer than four letters long. Somehow, the worst case of this is with Ringo and Maguro’s names. -Having transitioned at a very young age and only interacting with one lass for most of his life, he has a lot of internalized sexism. After Ringo points this out, he starts trying to work on it, but he hasn’t been doing very well so far. -He’s also trying really hard to find a balance between being too basic and too over-the-top, but..

Relationship headcanons:

Partner: He’s been in a romantic relationship with Maguro for a few months. It’s been really nice, but as this is his first relationship he tends to go all-out with everything, causing Maguro to get rather flustered. Crush: Although he’s very hesitant to admit it, he has a pretty big crush on Ringo and wants to kiss her. Chosen family: O is his parent, Ess and Ai are his siblings, and the twins are his messed up if true gay cousins. Friend: He’s pretty good friends with Sig because of their shared inability to correctly pronounce Raffina’s name.

O – infinite, ??? + ???? + probably gay? ????? (any and all pronouns)

Assorted headcanons:

-I cannot reasonably take myself seriously trying to make headcanons for this godforsaken cloud cube -Squares themself made this thing (on accident?) -Anger management issues incarnate

Relationship headcanons:

Parnter: Kissed Carbuncle once eChidle: Tee is its son

Ex – ~40, has autism, minor intrusive thoughts and (canon) depression + some form of Guy + yes (he/they)

Assorted headcanons:

-He’s not sure how he identifies gender- and sexuality-wise and feels as if he’s too old to try to figure that out (which isn’t true, but still) -He genuinely misses Ess and Ai a lot and is unendingly grateful for the chance to see them both again. -His intrusive thoughts are usually fairly easy to deal with, but can sometimes get pretty bad if he’s left alone for too long.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners: I’m pretty sure he has an ex-wife somewhere and that scares me. Also he kisses Satan every day of his life (Chosen) family: He misses his children, Ess and Ai, so much. (Good) friends: He’s become reluctant friends with Ecolo, and very good friends with Marle and Squares.

Jay & Elle – 13, autistic and have separation anxiety + nonbinary + ??? (they/them)

Assorted headcanons:

-Individually they’re okay with all pronouns, but nobody can reasonably refer to them as separate entities. -After a few people asked them, they stopped bullying Ai as much, but they still “prank” him a lot. -They were separated exactly once. It was not a very good time for them.

Relationship headcanons:

Partners:They’re queerplatonic partners with Yu and Rei, since that’s just kind of what happens when you’re two sets of evil twins who like bothering others. Friends: They don’t really have many friends as their creepiness scares people off a lot, but they like hanging out with Ecolo (even if they forget about it a lot)

Ai – 20, has pretty severe anxiety + transmasc + bisexual (he/him)

Assorted headcanons:

-He found out that he was trans after he managed to get a sort of wi-fi thing going during a five-month-long stay in a densely-packed asteroid belt. He had actually medically transitioned before that, but nobody on the SS Tetra had the word for it. -He has exactly one large scar from a prank gone horribly wrong. Otherwise, he’s not been seriously injured by anything the twins have done. - Recently he’s started to become slightly braver in general thanks to a lot of therapy and emotional support from his boyfriend, this has allowed him to stand up to the twins a lot more. He is also more physically strong, and plans to drop kick them both someday.

Relationship headcanons:

Partner: He kisses Risukuma on the daily Chosen family: As he canonically sees Ex as a father, he headcanonically sees Ess as a sister. Pure hatred(/j): He’s no longer as afraid of the tetra twins, and sometimes even manages to prank them back on good days.

Ess – ~15, only ex knows. Has serious abandonment issues, apparently canon(?!?!) PTSD, and so many things + cis demilass + lesbiab (she/they/ze)

Assorted headcanons:

-She actually has a job, and on the last weekend of every month she goes shopping with Maguro (or Amitie if he’s busy) on Saturday and Raffina on Sunday with the money she gets. -She kinda wishes that she were more physically strong for a multitude of minor reasons. -Ess doesn’t actually know how to say Ringo’s name and tries really hard to hide that fact.

Relationship headcanons:

Crushes:She’s absolutely in love with Amitie, although she’s in very deep denial about it. Chosen family: She sees Ai as a brother, and the two bond over the fact that Ex totally ditched them to go patch up dimensions or whatever. Speaking of Ex, she’s very recently found it in her heart to maybe forgive him for leaving her when she was young, although she still is a long ways away from seeing him as a father again. Friends: She and Raffina hang out and talk about their insecurities a lot.

Zed – uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (he/him)

Assorted headcanons:

-uhhhhhhhhhh -I genuinely don’t think of this guy He reminds me too much of my ex-chosen-father -…to be added.

Relationship headcanons:

Ess is his belovt daughter that’s all you need to know.

Additional headcanons:

-Most of the Madou Monogatari gang feel entirely disconnected from what’s left of their humanity, so they identify with it/its along with whichever other pronouns they use. -Sig, Dark Sig, and the evil Sig from Sig’s Secret are all different entities. -Speaking of Dark Sig, they can actually purr, although Sig himself cannot. Klug thinks this is incredibly interesting and actually conducted several half-serious experiments to try to figure out why. -All of the SS Tetra crew see each other as family, although some have more clearly defined views of that. None of them have any romantic or sexual interest in any other member.

#ALSO IF ANyone has any questions please ask pleas #beeper canon #pinned post #puyo puyo #puyo puyo tetris #madou monogatari #<again #only mentioned #headcanon #headcanons #long post #im tempted to tag the characters but thatd be too long time for me to do so #enjiy

20 notes · View notes

merigreenleaf · 4 years

Photo

Unexpected Inspiration Series Masterpost: About the Secondary Dorks

The Unexpected Inspiration series is lighthearted, lgbt+ high fantasy set in a contemporary world. If you're into magic, found family, and characters who like to cause mischief, I got you covered! The short stories are all available to read and you can learn more about the series here and about the main characters here.

Under the read more is information about each of these secondary characters.

Name: Ametrine Travellarri Age: 12 Gender: nonbinary Birthplace: Galanvoth Occupation: kid Magic: none

Ametrine is a shy and quiet runaway from the neighboring country of Galanvoth. He rarely talks about his past, but from what the others have pieced together, his family replaced him. Galanvoth is a place where passing on a trade is more important than anything else, and it isn't uncommon for a firstborn to be demoted or kicked out of their family entirely if they're deemed not good enough. Ametrine was able to get away and made it to the safety of Concordia's capital city, where he was fostered with Sapphire and her carnival troupe. He meets Dray not long after this. Dray was also a runaway from Galanvoth and takes Ametrine under their wing, introducing him to their friends who immediately treat Ametrine as though he was part of their family. When he's asked if he wants to be adopted, he doesn't really understand why they would want him when his own parents didn't. He agrees without much hesitation, though, because the way he sees it, five people who love him unconditionally is a much better family than two traditional parents who didn't. For a while there's a fear in the back of his mind that he won't be good enough for them, but gradually this starts to fade. (Character tag- UI POV: Ametrine / moodboard / Pinterest board)

Name: Skia (he has no idea what his name is, so Ametrine helped him pick this one) Age: 14 (not that he remembers this) Gender: genderqueer Birthplace: ? (he has no clue) Occupation: haunting people Magic: he's a ghost, he does ghost things

Skia is a mystery, even to himself. He's dead, that much is obvious, but he no longer has any memory of who he was as a human or how he could have died. He's been drifting aimlessly around both the real world and what Etri calls "the place of shadow" for an unknown amount of time, up until Camille summons him mostly by accident. She was aiming for a helpful shadow elemental who could possibly tell her where Rosalie went. What she gets is the ghost of a mischievous, cheeky teenager who she can't seem to banish. Fortunately for her, Skia soon grows bored with her company and decides to haunt Ametrine instead. Ametrine is frightened at first-- it's not every day that you discover a ghost followed you home. But when the fridge magnets and sloppily handwritten notes start to spell out an equal mix of kind words and stupid jokes that make him laugh, he realizes the ghost must be another kid who's also lonely. The longer Skia hangs around Ametrine, the more he's able to retain a memory. He’s never able to remember much about his past, but because of Ametrine, he’s able to gain a present and a future. I'd say you’d never see Ametrine without Skia, but no one can see Skia. (Character Tag- UI POV: Skia / Pinterest board)

Name: Feren Cole Age: 19 Gender/sexuality: male (cis), bisexual Birthplace: Concordia Occupation: barista (when he can be bothered to show up) Magic: none

Feren is a layabout who loves styling himself into a tragic victim. As one of the few unmagical Artisans, he has always felt like he deserved more than life gave him, despite having everything handed to him and multiple opportunities available at every turn. He was once Adair and Nina’s sentinel-intended, but the second things got slightly dangerous, he decided it was too difficult and he wasn't good enough for the role. He’s currently taking graduate classes on the history of magic, with no real career goal in mind. This was simply the easiest choice at the time and he has never had work to be good at scholarly pursuits. It's unfortunate, but also entirely on point for him, that he puts as much real effort into this as he does working at his girlfriend’s restaurant as a barista and delivery boy. It's a one in three chance he'll be bothered to show up on time and he lives there. If an easy road to recognition and leisure presents itself, he’s going to jump on it with no questions asked. He’s always seeking to improve his lot in life with the minimum amount of effort on his part. (Character Tag- UI POV: Feren / Moodboard / Pinterest board)

Name: Sapphire Age: never ask a lady her age (she looks to be in her early-mid 30s) Gender/sexuality: female (cis), panromantic greysexual Birthplace: Concordia Occupation: leader of a carnival troupe Magic: none (technically. She can see/sense magic, though)

Sapphire is Etri's former mentor and thieving partner, as well as one of his closest friends. She’s currently the leader of the carnival troupe in Silveridge, the capital city of Concordia, and coordinates the city's performers. This is about as effective as herding cats. When Sapphire isn't sorting out who's performing at which venue and breaking up arguments about costumes, she can be found in her other organizational role with the troupe. Many of the performers are also thieves who return stolen art back to the artists who created it. It's up to Sapphire to keep track of what each reverse-thief is doing so that they don't cross paths or get caught. Sapphire excels at this administrative role, being calm, competent, and experienced, while at the same time her strong desire to take care of the people she considers family makes them intensely loyal. Keeping her carnies safe always comes before anything else and there's nothing her troupe wouldn't do for her in return. (Character tag- UI POV: Sapphire / moodboard / Pinterest board)

Name: Talan Age: 3. It's complicated. Gender/sexuality: male (cis), demi/grey-romantic pan Birthplace: Montglace Occupation: errand boy Magic: none

Talan is equal parts cheerful and peculiar, with almost a lethal case of curiosity. He’s something of a magpie who collects various bits of everything in a personal quest to discover its purpose. He has a tenuous grasp on the concept of possessions and tends to think of anything that isn’t currently being worn or carried or nailed down as fair game. He’s Dray’s boyfriend, at least for a little while, and Dray’s malfunctioning moral compass hasn’t exactly been the best influence in Talan’s life. Relatively new to Concordia in particular and civilization in general, Talan struggles with things like laws, idioms, and telling people apart. He’s determined to learn these things, though, and wants more than anything to fit in and be helpful. (Moodboard / Pinterest board)

Name: Nina Pare Age: 20 Gender/sexuality: female (cis), bi? hetero? (she’s only dated guys and I don’t know her well enough yet to guess which it is) Birthplace: Concordia Occupation: chef, cafe owner Magic: Savorweaving (culinary)

Nina is a chef with culinary magic who owns her own cafe. As much of an honor as it was to have it passed to her when the previous owner retired, she'll be the first to admit that it probably wasn't the best time for it. This isn't to say that she's not a capable chef and businesswoman, more that Feren keeps messing things up for her and it would have been better if she'd had the chance to break up with him first. Every time she plans to do this, some disaster happens, and her personal life gets pushed to her back burner. She dreams of the day that she can take a break and travel, to gather new recipes and ideas, to visit the beaches she loves so much, to have five minutes to breathe. Someone give this poor, overworked woman a vacation. (Pinterest board)

Name: Wysta Larkspur Age: 39 Gender/sexuality: female (trans), bisexual Birthplace: Concordia Occupation: healer Magic: healing/telepathy

Wysta is the lead healer of Blythe, Etri, and Sol's carnival troupe. She was Blythe's first instructor in arcane healing and remained her mentor and friend after Blythe moved on to further study. Wysta is a former Protectorate and her shaved head is a sign of giving up the life of a guard. Specific braids designate status as a Protectorate and it’s a ritual to cut off the braid when you pick a different path in life. Usually a former Protectorate will let their hair grow back, but Wysta keeps her head shaved as a personal-- and practical, considering her profession-- style choice. While Wysta is efficient and sensible, contrasting with the flightier personalities of the carnies she calls family, she possesses both a great sense of humor and a friendly bedside manner. There are very few people Blythe admires and respects, so it says a lot that she holds Wysta in the highest regard and trusts her with information she doesn't give anyone else.

(Mobile-friendly) Unexpected Inspiration Series Tags & Links:

About the Series: Series & WIP Info / Short Stories / Moodboard Posts (Tag: unexpected inspiration aesthetic) / World Building Posts (Tag: about my world) / Series Tag: Unexpected Inspiration series

About the Characters: Main Character Info / Secondary Character Info (you’re here!)

Character Specific Tags: UI POV: Adair / UI POV: Blythe / UI POV: Dray / UI POV: Etri / UI POV: Sol / UI POV: Rosalie / UI POV: Camille / UI POV: Sapphire / UI POV: Ametrine / UI POV: Skia / UI POV: Feren / UI POV:All (Group/Multiple) / UI POV: Other (Non-Main Characters) / UI POV:Trio (Adair/Blythe/Etri OT3) / UI POV: Firelight (Dray/Sol)

#writing #writeblr #cast of characters #about my characters #unexpected inspiration series #masterpost #UI POV: All #UI POV: Sapphire #UI POV: Ametrine #UI POV: Feren #UI POV: Skia

2 notes · View notes

gloriousmonsters · 4 years

Text

so I read Viscera and I feel......... Some Kind Of A Way about it

(incidentally, i reached the end and noted the author had written Dead Boys, and was like OHHH THAT MAKES SENSE because it’s been a while since I read that but I also recall feeling Some Kind Of A Way about it, although less intensely, and I think that despite my conflicts Viscera is overall a better book than Dead Boys---not that Dead Boys didn’t have its many charms, but from what i can recall there were a lot of themes and little things addressed that are addressed more clearly and with more feeling of conclusion in Viscera.)

I feel like there’s a universe where this book is just a bit different in some ways, and in that universe it’s one of my favorite books ever. As it is, I’m sitting here like... ok. ok? ok... okay! sure. ok? I came by it because I saw it being described as different and fresh compared to usual narratives with trans characters, and it was ownvoices, and like... that shows! the way things are written about feels different and generally far better than a cis author could ever. And yet.

the trans boy is deadnamed Rafia and calls himself Rafe. He has a painfully long scene with his unaccepting family where he’s misgendered and deadnamed. he binds unsafely, with bandages, and injures himself. he had a nonbinary lover (who was super wise and perfect) and then they were brutally murdered. he has no new interests or real bonds, except for some hinted at at the very end of the book (and I do really like the conclusion to his storyline, I’ll say that---enough that I’ll say that if the book ended there, I’d be less conflicted in how i feel).

the single confirmed trans woman character is Crazy in a vague way (I... also didn’t love how mental illness was handled in this book, it wasn’t the worst but it left a slightly bad taste in my mouth) and first turns up attacking the main characters because she wants to steal a womb from the mc who has magic regenerating organs. (Yeah, it’s that kind of book. The one thing I wholeheartedly love is the wild-ass magic and worldbuilding.) because her life Won’t Be Complete until she has a child.

so like... with Rafe, my main issue is that I didn’t expect so much cliched ground to be touched on, even if it was in a not-as-bad-as-usual way (aside from seriously, the nb lover who seemed to just exist to be pretty much perfect and then die). My issue with Tanka, the trans woman, is mainly ‘i don’t know enough about how trans girls would feel about this to dispute this (and from poking around can’t tell if the author ids as nonbinary or a trans woman currently so obv ymmv and i’m not the most qualified person to be talking about it here) but it makes me severely uncomfortable so... yeah’.

and neither was what I really expected from a book that I’d picked up because it was described as so Fresh and Different, so. ehhh.

Aside from that, my main cons were:

so much story and worldbuilding was crammed into a small space it sometimes felt like I’d missed a previous book somehow, and spent the whole thing just a bit wrongfooted because of that

the mc Ashlan’s storyline was mostly.... good, but I really disliked the ending. there’s really no way to explain it without spoilers slash extensive explanation, so just have my face after I read it: :/

and that was THE ending of the book, so: :/

so much anti-trans and anti-queer violence it made me feel somewhat ill

the writing’s good enough the book can kind of get away with it, but it asks you to stick around for about the entire first act at least before getting a reason to really... care about anyone? and not even in an ‘unlikeable characters’ way so much as ‘aside from this lil puppet guy who wants to kill his creator for some reason, nobody seems to really want anything concrete or be doing much that matters’

some things have a lot of time spent on them without much feeling of payoff, like pretty much everything to do with the Fortune goddess and Rafe’s potential relationship there---kind of contributing to the ‘this is missing a first and possibly second book’ feeling

however there were also pros!

aside from the hate-crime-related violence, this hit the exact sweet spot of grime and violence and guts that I recall Dead Boys doing for me. it’s goopy and bloody and if you like that kind of thing, delightful

despite Rafe going through like, ALL the greatest hits of Shitty Things To Happen To A Trans Man, I did appreciate that he’s introduced in his own viewpoint, as a man, for a couple chapters before it’s revealed that he’s trans. it’s something that I wish would be done with a lot more trans characters. (Tanka is also introduced just as ‘weird forest woman’ before being confirmed as trans).

the conclusion of Rafe’s storyline was really emotionally satisfying, loved that

*touches Hollis and tenderly whispers* love this horrible little puppet man

the worldbuilding, gah! aside from the gaps that I wish were filled in, it’s great and delivered in a pretty incredibly smooth manner, considering how damn much of it there is. even when it gets a little gross even for me, it feels natural and inventive at the same time.

past a slightly rocky beginning, it was a really quick read despite the dense amount of information and sometimes unclear motivations of the characters; it was just paced and written really well

so overall it was... pretty good, but I find myself almost reaching for that phrase from that one tumblr post. It’s beautiful but I don’t like it. It feels very strange to read something that, on paper, looks so much like something I’d love (the reason I picked it up in the first place) and that I genuinely loved parts of, and find my ultimate feelings being ‘mm, maybe I can donate this to the library or something.’ but there it is.

#it's a me post #rambly-ass reading update ahoy #this was.... a book! sure was!

1 note · View note

westywrites · 5 years

Text

Book Interview tag game

Thanks @ratracechronicler for tagging me, this is very interesting!

1. What prompted you to write your novel/story/script/podcast/poetry collection?

A dream I had and something I read somewhere that stuck in my head where someone said something like “this isn’t freedom this is a fate worse than death”. At least, I think I read it somewhere, but it may have just been something that popped into my head. Who knows. I just know that that line and the dream nagged at me until I was telling it to myself as a daydream story type thing/way to fall asleep and got too attached to the characters and world.

2. Who has been the biggest influence on this piece of work?

Inadvertently, one of my roommates in a lot of ways that she doesn’t even know. And my older brother, who helps me with history and geography stuff.

3. Was your main character inspired by anyone you know? Do you think they appreciate the likeness?

All five of the kids are roughly inspired by an amalgamation of kids I’ve interacted with through work and none of them will ever know.

4. Why do you think people need to read your book?

No one needs to read it, but they’ll have fun if they do. (and maybe be inspired or learn something or whatever)

5. Whom are you most excited to read your book?

Teens who could use a world like this to escape and remember the magic in the world and the importance of friendship and all that. The kind of people this story will have an impact on.

6. Which is your favourite scene that didn’t make it into the final draft?

Considering the first draft is not completed, nothing yet. But I have a feeling I may never find somewhere to put this cute scene I keep imagining between Cambridge and Helio.

7. Do you have any more stories planned that are set in the same universe?

There’s probably going to be a second book of this series, and the universe begs for more after or before this story, so probably eventually.

8. What would you say is the main theme of your book?

Taking control of your life.

9. Do you have any plans for a movie adaptation of your work? What would you have to change? What would absolutely have to stay the same?

Oh man, a movie adaptation would be incredibly cool (magic! dramatics!) A lot of things would have to be sorted out as to how to depict the magic and the physical sensations I describe along with it. Cambridge’s visions would be really cool to see in movie format.

The race of the characters is a must! Helio being nonbinary and using a cane is a must! Characters’ powers staying the same is a must! (Do not let Tim Burton direct it and ruin all these sorts of things like he did to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) Oh, and the talking ravens are a must.

10. What’s one quote that you wrote that just stuck with you?

When Lennox says, “Stop with the cryptic warnings. I know the world is shit, I’ve grown up in it.”

I don’t know who to tag, so if you see this, you are tagged. Yes, I mean you. If you are even slightly interested, go for it and tag me so I can see!

#West Answers #writeblr #tag game #book interview tag #the corvine

1 note · View note

brynwrites · 6 years

Text

Ask Compile!

Topics covered:

Tips for indexing notes.

Thoughts on second person pov.

Tips for writing smut.

Writing non-binary protagonists perceived as villains.

Knowing when to use or ignore feedback.

I also received two questions (writing elementals and character growth) which are already going to be covered by longer articles in my queue.

Indexing Notes

@kantuck: Good day: Do you have any advice on how to index previously taken notes? I have gigs of notes on paper, and electronic over the years and now I'd like to be able to index them someway so that I can write within this storyworld?

Set aside a huge chunk of time, plan to do it for 15 or 20 minutes every even, whatever works best for your schedule, just make it a plan and then follow through.

Use an organization tool with a folder system made for note taking (like scrivener or evernote), not a system like google docs where you have to load each document on it’s own.

Decide how you’re organizing them ahead of time. I usually have my outline itself split into the major points I already know I need to hit, along with individual character files and a few dozen worldbuilding related files.

Put things in every folder or file they relate to. If you have something important to a certain character and a certain setting and the character’s species, put that information in all the relevant files.

(I hope this was what you were looking for?)

Second Person

Okay, so I absolutely despise 2nd person point of view. But it seems like it's popular, especially with fanfics. I'm just wondering why? And do you like 2nd person point of view?

I’m not a fan of second person either, so I feel you. I think the general draw of it (especially in fanfiction, even more so in erotic fanfiction) is the fact that you’re supposed to be the person doing the things, existing in this world with the characters you love. It gives every reader their own self-insert.

In my opinion, it’s kind of ridiculous outside of choose your own adventure type stories, but some readers really enjoy it, so all the power to them, I guess?

Writing smut

Sorry if this is an odd question. But, how do you write smut? For a friends birthday I want to write a smut fic of her favorite pair, but I just cant write smut. You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. Thanks!

Fun fact: I wrote a lot of smut during my university years. (That was pretty much the only thing I wrote, actually.) It had a negative effect on my mental health though, so I’ve backed out of that whole scene pretty thoroughly.

Honestly, smut for the sake of smut is pretty much just imagining a steamy scene you get off on, and then writing it out. The most prominent things to watch for are what you’re calling everyone’s junk (there’s a nice line between too technical and too outrageous, and you can probably find long lists of people’s opinions if you search around enough), and whether you’re describing the positions the characters are in well enough for the reader to picture them. Throw in some simple and common metaphors for sensual sensations, and remember to focus on the emotional, romantic aspects too (especially during repetitive motions or anything that makes you slightly uncomfortable to write/read.)

If you’re writing a sex scene as a scene in a non-erotic novel, things get a lot more complicated really quickly, because you have to take into account things like prior emotion states, character growth, relationship development, and plot.

Non-binary protagonists perceived as villains

Hi, I read a post of yours regarding binary people writing non-binary characters and I figured asking a non-binary person was the best way to go about this. The protagonist in one of my wip's is non-binary, however, this character is generally seen as a 'villain' by others despite not necessarily being one due to context and lore implications. Can I ask for advice on how to write such a character without enforcing any negative stereotypes surrounding non-binary people? Thanks for your time.

The nonbinary collab team has finally started work on a post which will cover these kinds of topics in more detail, so keep a look out for that, but I’ll mention a few things here anyways:

1. One of the most prominent negative stereotypes surrounding non-binary people being villains involves using the non-binary identity to show how “corrupt” or “insane” or “inhuman” the villain is. (This happens both in fiction and through specifically pointing out the non-gender-conformity of historical immoral people while denying that the heroes of those cultures held the same level of non-gender-conformity.) There’s nothing inherently wrong with writing a villain who just happens to be nonbinary, but a villain should never be a villain because they’re nonbinary.

2. In any situation where you have an oppressed people group represented as a villain, it’s always a good rule of thumb to also have at least one character of that group represented in the heroes “team” (or, in cases where there’s no heroes, by a team with differing beliefs or goals, preferably by decently moral characters.)

That being said, it seems like your protagonist isn’t actually evil themselves, so unless the reason other people in the world see them as a villain is because they see nonbinary people as villainous, I can’t imagine you’ll have any major issues :)

Bending the Elements

Hey! Do you have tips on how to write bending of the elements? I got an idea for a book, but I can't seem to describe what people do when bending without making it sound like an Avatar The Last Airbender fanfiction. The only thing I have similar to the show is the bending of elements, the story in itself is hopefully original enough to hold its own, but still I make the bending sound like fanfiction... my story has nothing to do with Avatar. Any tips?

Hey there nonny! I’m planning to write a full post on describing the use of magic, so I can add in a section on elemental magic when I start that :)

When feedback doesn’t fit the picture.

@aerodragneel: In my current WIP, the MC has to find the powerful superhero Vulcan from 15 years ago, who quit after losing to the main antagonist who’s resurfaced. I was told not to make him a vital part of the story, but Vulcan’s entire character arc is vital to his and the MC’s story. When I envision Vulcan, I see someone who wants to help, but after all he’s gone through, he just can’t anymore and when he meet’s the MC, that spark of being a hero is reignited. Thanks for the help and get better soon! 😉

No one knows your story and characters better than you. Write the story however it makes the most sense and feels strongest! If you think Vulcan needs to be present throughout the story to influence the MC’s arc, then by all means, include him. There will always be an opportunity to take him out later, and you’ll get much more accurate feedback from people once they’ve read the entire story, edited until you approve of it.

(And remember that not everyone will give you advice that’s beneficial to the story you want to write. Here’s some other good reasons not to change your story in order to accommodate a piece of feedback.)

Character growth

How do I go about writing about somebody who over time has a change of heart? My story is going to be about a woman who was originally set out to kill a man but ends up falling in love with him.

I have plans to write a post on redemption arcs, and a more thorough post on character development, so stay tuned for both of those!

#writeblr #ask compilation

38 notes · View notes

sultaiascendancy-blog · 7 years

Note

Since magic origins we gotten roughly half human/ non-human planeswalkers in cards. Counting Angrath getting a card, we got 17 human walker cards and 16 non-humans planeswalker cards. Also except for magic origins, conspiracy 2 (which was tied) and Amonkhet each block since magic origins has had more non-human planeswalkers then human planeswalkers.

Yeah, it’s true that the total number of post-Origins planeswalkers have been pretty much 50/50 when it comes to human versus non-human. BFZ was 60/40 in favor of non-humans. SOI and Kaladesh were 50/50. Amonkhet was 60/40 in favor of humans. If you want to count planeswalker decks, Kaladesh’s and Amonkhet’s were 50/50 as well. Ixalan block is shaping up to be either 60/40 or 40/60, with the planeswalker decks being either 50/50 or 75/25 in favor of humans. It depends on who the non-Angrath planeswalker in the main set and non-Vraska planeswalker in the planeswalker decks end up being in Rivals.

But none of that was what I was addressing. I’m primarily concerned with new planeswalkers. And with new planeswalkers, it’s not close to 50/50 at all. Our eight most recent new planeswalkers have been Narset, Kaya, Dovin, Saheeli, Arlinn, Samut, Huatli, and Angrath. Notice any trends? 6 out of 8 are human. Those same 6 are all female. 5 of those 6 are women of color, with the remaining one (Arlinn) being white but older than most planeswalkers, thus still functioning as representation. It’s also worth noting that since Tarkir, there’s been one such planeswalker (representative human female) in every block save BFZ, as well as in Conspiracy. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that every one of these planeswalkers comes at the expense of another potential planeswalker.

The remaining two planeswalkers, Dovin and Angrath, are male and non-human. That means that only 25% of new planeswalkers recently have been non-human (or male, but I’m more concerned with human versus non-human than male versus female). In a game with dozens of interesting fantasy races, most of which don’t yet already have planeswalkers, making three-fourths of your new planeswalkers human despite already having twenty human planeswalkers is absurd. I think that the number of non-human planeswalkers should increase for the following reasons:

1. People request non-human planeswalkers all the time. People often have said “please make a minotaur planeswalker”, but I’ve never seen anyone say “please make another human planeswalker, we don’t have enough”. People do ask for planeswalkers with certain attributes, which often implies that they should be human, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. I’ll explain this further in number 3.

2. The current method is only giving us male non-human planeswalkers. It won’t be long before people start complaining about how there are too many non-human male planeswalkers and not enough female planeswalkers - even though people, maybe even the same people, asked for more representation. Personally, I don’t think this is a huge issue as long as the genders end up somewhat balanced in the long run, but I do think it’s important that we get at least a few non-human females and human males for planeswalkers.

3. With a little creativity, representation can be accomplished with non-human planeswalkers. Human planeswalkers are created by default whenever WotC is trying to check a box. But there are times when other fantasy races, especially those that are more similar to humans, could be used instead. WotC definitely needed to make an Indian planeswalker with Kaladesh, especially after making the mistake of giving a very white planeswalker a very Indian name. But Kaladesh’s dwarves and elves are just as Indian as the humans, aren’t they? They technically aren’t humans, which might diminish their representatives effect slightly (although I would argue being an elf is an improvement on being a human), but it still works pretty well and it’s a nice compromise between those who want representation and those who want non-human planeswalkers. I think that the vast majority of us would have been happier with Rashmi as a planeswalker and Saheeli as a UR artifact legend.

An actual example of WotC using a non-human as representation is Ashiok as a nonbinary planeswalker. Aetherborn serve a similar role but without being a planeswalker. Ashiok is one example where not only can a group of humans be represented by a non-human planeswalker, but in this case it even seems to work better that way (people living in chaotic, war-torn fantasy worlds based on history or mythology seldom have time to contemplate gender identity, so a character who was born without gender accomplishes a similar effect without unnaturally forcing something from the real world into a fantasy world).

WotC has also made a bisexual planeswalker in the form of Chandra, and it’s natural to expect that other planeswalkers representing the LGBT community are on the way. I’d expect a gay planeswalker, a lesbian planeswalker, and a transgender planeswalker within the next few years. I hope that when doing so, WotC remembers two things: first, that these planeswalkers don’t need to be new. For the gay and lesbian planeswalkers, at least, they could simply reveal that preexisting planeswalker has been gay or lesbian the whole time, similar to what they did with Chandra. This would eliminate a few options like Gideon, Jace, and Liliana, but most other planeswalkers are still on the table. We only get a couple of new planeswalker spots a year so there’s no need to make a new one for something an old one could easily do. And if anything, having an existing planeswalker come out or be revealed to be gay is more impactful than making a new one from scratch. A transgender planeswalker would probably be better if they started from scratch, but gay and lesbian could easily be done with preexisting characters.

Second, I hope they remember that these planeswalkers don’t need to be human. Characters of any race in Magic can be gay, lesbian, or transgender. Granted, a gay or lesbian planeswalker needs to, you know, actually do gay or lesbian things in the story, so it would be best if they’re either of a race that appears on many planes, or of a race that can interbreed with humans, like an elf. Obviously there won’t actually be any sex scenes, but a human-minotaur relationship would still make a lot of people uncomfortable whereas a human-elf relationship wouldn’t. In general, I’d say to avoid anything based on an animal, but things like elves, dwarves, and kor are all on the table.

Representation can also take the form of things like age and body type, which once again can be conveyed through non-humans. Granted, these things lose some of their intended effect when they get too far away from being human, but anything close to a human can work almost as well as a human can.

Now, there are certainly times when a human planeswalker is needed. Kaya was long overdue as the first black female planeswalker, and trying to convey that through anything other than a human would have been a complete failure. The same thing applies to Huatli, who obviously needed to be human.

Also, if any of this sounds like I’m saying that each of these groups only should get one planeswalker and then the box is checked so to speak, that’s not what I’m saying. Multiple planeswalkers for the same demographic can and should exist, and I wish as much as anyone that a lot of the white male planeswalkers made in the earlier years of planeswalker cards had been something else. But when making a planeswalker for representation, it’s worth considering making them non-human if the representation can be conveyed through a non-human, especially if a planeswalker representing the same group already exists.

4. Non-human planeswalkers are often more interesting than human ones. Humans are the most generic race in Magic. We all can agree on that. Other races have interesting physical traits as well as personality traits that go along with being that race. When you make an elf or vedalken or minotaur planeswalker, you already know something about that character. Half the work is already done for you.

Humans, on the other hand, don’t have any particular direction for personalities, and often end up feeling generic. Also, the high number of human planeswalkers makes it much more likely that a human planeswalker ends up feeling very similar to another human planeswalker. And when human planeswalkers are used as representation, which they almost always are nowadays, they often end up being underdeveloped, and I think that’s because WotC is afraid of offending or stereotyping the represented demographic. Granted, they should try to avoid doing so, but not at the expense of interesting characters.

All of the human planeswalkers we’ve gotten recently have been used as representation, which is fine, but all those planeswalkers have also been clear protagonists. They haven’t been morally grey characters at all. Additionally, they don’t really have flaws, even the things that could be flaws end up being helpful. Narset has autism, but it only ends up helping her advance in the Ojutai. Samut is a social outcast and later a criminal, but only because she knows the truth that no one else knows. These characters don’t have flaws, or negative qualities, or setbacks. Their character traits are minimal and their story roles are small. In my opinion, Dovin and what little we’ve seen of Angrath so far look much more interesting, but they’re clearly not afraid of making morally grey or antagonistic characters with actual flaws.

I’m not saying this because I’m against female characters or representative characters in general. I want to have those characters. But I want them to be interesting. They deserve the same treatment that other characters get - real story roles, along with the flaws and character development that goes with it. Of our recent human planeswalkers, only Samut really got a major story role, and even she was a typical flawless “chosen one” who was the only person who actually knew what was good and evil. That’s not an interesting character. I’ll try to keep an open mind with Huatli, but already they seem to have made her and her faction into clear protagonists, even going so far to as to make dinosaur-riding Aztec warriors use non-lethal battle tactics, as if that makes any sense.

5. The “short list” of non-human planeswalkers is much longer than the short list of human planeswalkers. Non-humans have more design space than humans, so to speak. Let’s list the non-human planeswalkers that people might want to see that don’t exist already:

Aetherborn

Ainok

Angel (would require special circumstances, but we have a demon PW)

Aven

Djinn

Dryad

Dwarf

Faerie

Giant

Flamekin

Khenra

Loxodon

Naga

Orc

Orochi

Siren

Sphinx

Treefolk

Viashino

Here’s a list of representational planeswalkers that don’t yet exist that people might want to see:

Gay

Hispanic

Large Body Type

Lesbian

Middle Eastern

Native American (North American rather than South/Central American)

Pacific Islander

Transgender

There are a lot that we already have - black (male and female), East Asian (male and female), South Asian, Eastern European, Greek, Native American (South/Central America), older, bisexual, nonbinary, amputee… granted, the above list might not be complete, and I’m sure that there are others people could think of. There are also probably others that people could think of for the list of planeswalker species. This is just off the top of my head, and not exactly scientific by any means, but the point is that there are a lot more fantasy races to still represent than there are things that need to be human. And even some of the ones on that list could be non-human… like I said, what’s stopping a non-human (but not too non-human) planeswalker from being gay, lesbian, or fat?

Now granted, real-world representation is a higher priority than fantasy representation, because one represents real people and the other doesn’t. They also work better in multiples - having multiple planeswalkers of a certain race or sexual orientation is better than having multiple elves or dwarves. But still, both are things that people request. If you see this as a checklist, we’re checking boxes on the second list way more quickly than the first (three times more quickly, to be precise), even though the first list is much longer. If you want something on the second list, you’re guaranteed to get it soon, but if you want something on the first list, it could be years or decades before they make a planewalker of your favorite fantasy race, if they get around to it at all.

I think it would be good to make non-human planeswalkers more often and human planeswalkers less often. Instead of doing a human in every block, how about a new non-human in every block? Instead of non-humans only when there’s an opening, how about humans only when there’s opening (or a necessity)? Still make human planeswalkers if for no other reason that representation at regular intervals, especially when there’s a good opporunity, but it doesn’t need to be constant. There’s a lot more design space for non-humans than humans, so I think they should start exploring that design space and stop putting if off.

Maro even said that Angrath was made only because fans requested more non-humans, which means that if not for public outcry he likely wouldn’t exist. That’s pretty disturbing because making non-human planeswalkers seems like only an afterthought to them, something that they only do on the rare occasoin that they remember or when fans beg them for it. We get new human planeswalkers every block and non-humans only once a year, if even that. In my opinion, they should slow down on the humans and start making more non-humans.

1 note · View note