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corpsentry · 3 years

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january: an art retrospective

i did some stuff last month (but it’s a lot of stuff and there’s a photodump + some Serious Fucking Reflection, so it’s all below the cut)

so ok, let’s start with this. here are some heads. each head has a red arrow. that red arrow is what i call the red line of the devil. it’s the slope of the face from the side of the eye to the cheekbone and then down towards the chin. up until like 2 weeks ago, i couldn’t draw it. i couldn’t fucking draw it. i would edit over that part of the face over and over again until i was frustrated and tired and i had a raging homosexual headache and it still never looked right. notice that each head is different. notice that each head looks wrong.

at the start of 2021 i finally admitted to myself, as per the image above, that i was deeply, deeply unhappy with my art. what was the problem? i dunno. but i decided i was going to fix it and i was going to do so via another one scribble a day event wherein for every day of january i would find a photo of a human head, and i would draw it.

january 1st, 2021. i was embarrassed to tweet this even on my private account where like 5 friends and a rock would see it. in retrospect, you can also see all of my bad habits emerging like dicks from a hole in the ground. it’s disproportionate. the brows look flat. the eyes are slanting upwards. the entire drawing looks flat, like this isn’t a 3d person but a caricature of one.

january 2nd, 3rd, 4th:

on the 2nd i decided to start a separate thread for doodles and applied learning. here’s the first set of tests

the rest of the week is kind of uneventful so we’re going to skip those. fast forward to january 11th

this one is especially bad. i am acutely aware, suddenly, that i am not changing anything at all. i’m stressed and miserable about it because i’m still trying to see people as people and trying to draw people that look attractive and proportionate and hot. my friend, leny, reminds me that i need to think about faces in terms of planes. i have a moment. my other friend masha sends me some links to anatomy tutorials. i have another moment.

january 11th. applied sketch

january 13th is when i start the troubleshooting process. the link above drives me mad because i’m pretty happy with the face but then i realize that there’s something very fucking wrong with the shape of the head LOL and then i realize that i’ve never had any idea what the proportion of the face to the rest of the skull is so i grit my teeth and i open a new canvas and i

bald studies. it seemed like the right thing to do. can’t draw heads? ok draw some heads. look at some photographs. i traced each photo but tried to stick to straight lines so that i could replicate the shapes more easily. i broke each face down into shapes. i thought about airplanes

i got really excited. i started doing studies, then applied studies, then stylized studies.

sketches. i’m not sure what’s going on (as always) and it’s very rough, but they look different from the sketches i did on january 2nd. that’s a start

january 16th’s daily study. looks more like a person now. juuuuuust a bit

more applied studies

on the 18th i take a break and go stare at some lips because i don’t understand how the fuck they work. again, i focus on shapes, on volume, on the fact that these things exist in 3d. holy fuck lips exist in 3d. holy fuck we are real

january 19th. i’m working on it.

january 22nd. some sketches + a daily study. it has finally occurred to me that heads can tilt up and down and that things look different accordingly. yes i was not aware of this before. yes i have been drawing for over a decade.

january 23rd. by this point after doing my daily sketch i almost always go back and do an applied study which is basically to say i drew a lot of fucking links. this one looks kind of okay. i’m kind of proud

january 25th. links. trying to make sense of everything i’ve learned

26th, 27th, 28th. daily studies

january 1st. january 31st

The End Of The Photo Dump (dab)

ok NOW i get to talk about what i discovered while studying the shit out of human beings

FIRST OF ALL, there is something precious and magical about drawing shit without the explicit knowledge that you’re going to tweet that shit out to 45 people later. it takes the burden of perception off your shoulders and that does something to you, or at least that’s my theory. i told myself i wouldn’t post any of this stuff until the end of the month (if i wanted to post it at all) and kept everything off my public social media accounts and that meant i could draw ugly as hell without worrying about who would point and laugh, which i absolutely fucking did. a lot of these are fucking trainwrecks. most of these are fucking trainwrecks. why do they look like that?? why??? this doesn’t look like the work of someone who’s allegedly been drawing since they were in kindergarten, does it?????

here’s why: because that person took a huge motherfucking swing at everything they’d ever known about art and spent a month building something new in its place. the abstract explanation is that i grew up on shoujo and weird old anime and my understanding of anatomy was unironically kamichama karin and while i love kamichama karin, when kamichama karin is your rule even if you try to break it, you’re going to end up going nowhere. “you have to know the rules to break them”, yeah? well i didn’t know shit. the abstract explanation is i’ve been miserable about my art for a few years now because i saw other people doing things effortlessly which i couldn’t and instead of going back to the basics, i tried to do what they did (not plagiarism, mind you, i mean i literally tried to copy the red line of the devil i mentioned above because i couldn’t even make that happen) and then i fucking failed.

the simple explanation is this. i had to unlearn everything, and relearn it again (like some kind of new renaissance clown, what the fuck is this?)

take this for example. all my life i’ve drawn faces in the order: eyes, nose, mouth, face shape, head. this works for some people, im aware, but it was something central to how i had always drawn, so i decentralized it. i said fuck you to the old me and changed the order up. now i start with the nose, then the eyes, mouth, the chin line, and the sides of the face. now i force myself to think about the human head as a series of parts interacting with each other instead of a bunch of disparate features which i want to look pretty.

or let’s use this zelda from last year. something about this looked wrong last october, the way something about all of my drawings looked wrong, but i couldn’t pinpoint it for hell the way i couldn’t articulate Any of my feelings about the visual arts. now, looking back, here’s what i see. that nose is sticking out far too much given how she’s not really facing very far away from the camera. that ear at the back shouldn’t be there. her forehead is too big. she doesn’t have a forehead. what the fuck is up with the shape of her head?

so apparently reject modernity embrace tradition has its roots in alt-right terminology and i’m not very horny for the alt-right (you understand), but the spirit survives here. you know sometimes you have to admit that you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing and draw people for 31 days. i’ve spent my whole life drawing stylized people and while again there are artists who have no issue with this, i veered off the track of the Good and the Holy and couldn’t get back on. i had no point of reference because i’d never thought about what an actual human being looks like, so i had no way to fix what i knew in my gut looked wrong but wouldn’t come out better.

this was hard. this was like oikawa tooru swallowing his worthless pride and admitting that ushijima wakatoshi had gotten the best of him for the last time in his high school career, but in haikyuu!! by furudate haruichi oikawa tooru fucks off to argentina and then joins the argentinean national team, and you know what, i think i’ve made it to argentina (not the team just the country). as per the golden rule of dont fucking move until you’re at least two thirds of the way through the month, i only started trying to draw Shit shit on like the 22nd or something, but i was happy with that i created. i am happy with what i’ve done. i’ve posted like 2 things this month that involve people with what i now call ~applied Knowledge~~ and they’re, like, not perfect obviously (perfection is an unattainable ideal), but i’m fucking proud of them. i didn’t spend 5 hours hunched over my laptop adjusting the red line of the devil because it’s not a devil’s line anymore. because i finally sorta get how people work. because i sat down and i said ‘we are not going to fuck with this misery shit anymore’ and then i did that. it’s just a line now.

here are 2 collages tracking my painstakingly carved out progress from january 2nd to february 2nd because i’m a slut for collages

and here’s what i’ve done to my art! the same person drew these but also Not Really! you know! for the first time in a year i don’t immediately hate what i’ve drawn. you know what guys? art is fucking fun. zelda’s forehead doesn’t scare me anymore because i know how foreheads fucking work now, and i don’t know everything, and i’m going to keep troubleshooting stuff as i go (i want to draw a skeleton. like a. i want to draw a goddamn skeleton guys) but i’m honestly and genuinely proud of what i’ve done in the span of a month, and i’m also in disbelief. i started this month-long challenge out as a last ditch effort to make peace with my art because i’ve been tired for a long time and i was ready to kick the bucket on drawing people altogether. i didn’t think anything would happen. nothing’s happened for years. i’ve been miserable for years.

this was the caption for january 1st, 2021. i was super, super fucking embarrassed and it looks like super fucking shit, but you know what, i think i did in fact triumph over the bullshit. surprisingly enough, when you put in consistent effort into something, You Will See Results. didn’t see that coming, did you? i know i didn’t.

this isn’t a success story. it’s a happiness story. i never gave a shit damn about the institute of art or whatever, i was just mad at myself because what i saw in my head didn’t match up with what was on the canvas. and now it’s getting better. now i’m calibrating the compass. now drawing not just backgrounds but also people is exciting to me, and i can stick my links in your face and tell you ‘they hot’. i’m going to keep doing that. i’m going to keep going until i drop off the side of the earth and then spiral towards mars like some kind of fairy, and then i’m going to create something beautiful.

thanks for reading. here’s a pr department link for sticking around until the end

#my stuff

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hazyheel · 5 years

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WWE Super Showdown 2019 Review

Right as the show was starting, the announcer accidentally said Saudi Arabia, so now the mystery of where this was being held is solved. The stage looked super great, and opened with a huge pyro display. They definitely poured money into this show. Also, the crowd was actually allowed to sit ringside this time, so the crowd actually looked excited during the show.

First match of the night was Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship, definitely an odd choice to start the night. They felt each other out a bit, but it didn’t take long for Corbin to focus on the ribs. Rollins fought back into it, hitting two consecutive dives. When Rollins tried to go for it a third time, Corbin caught him with an uppercut. Corbin also yelled at the ref basically every time there was a near fall. Corbin went for his run around the ringpost into the clothesline, but Rollins countered with a huge back elbow. Corbin then grabbed a chair, but the ref convinced him to drop it. Corbin yelled at the ref again, but this time the ref shouted back, which startled Corbin enough for Rollins to get a rollup.

After the match, Corbin laid out Rollins with an end of days, and Brock Lesnar came out. He was armed with a chair. Lesnar was going to beat him with the chair, but Rollins nailed him with a low blow, and then beat him with the chair for a while. In the end, Rollins curb stomped him onto the briefcase, and walked away.

Grade: C+. The match sucked, because Rollins needed a ref’s help to beat Corbin of all people. But I enjoyed the brawl afterwards, but not quite enough for this to be on the positive side. Rollins didn’t have enough offense here to actually make this a good match. Corbin just controlled the match until Rollins lucked into a win. I liked this as a way to kinda pay off the odd story of Brock wanting the match at Super Showdown, and it got Brock on the card.

Then we had Andrade vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship. Zelina Vega was not there, and it really felt like his entrance was missing something without her. Balor did have the Demon makeup on, as well as some ghouls for this entrance. That entrance lasted like, 4 minutes too. The two started off the match with quick counters and strikes. Andrade actually was able to hit three amigos, which never happens. Everyone always slips out of the third. At one point, Andrade tried to put Balor down with several strikes, but it just fired the Demon up. He eventually went down with a handspring kick. At another point, Balor hit a scary looking double stomp to the back of Andrade’s head. Andrade hit the hammerlock DDT, but Balor kicked out, and no one cared. Balor fought back into it with a powerbomb, but Andrade climbed up to stop him. Balor then hit a leaping DDT off the top rope, taking Andrade down with him, and then hit the coup de gras for the win.

Grade: B-. There were some fun bits to this match, like that leaping DDT and the part where Balor was no selling strikes. But this never really got off the ground floor. The crowd wasn’t very into it, and it didn’t seem like they put the extra effort in. All of that along with the fact that the demon makeup doesn’t actually change anything about Balor. It was largely disappointing, but still a fine match. The sad part is that this was my match of the night.

Backstage, Miz talked about how he wanted to win the Battle Royal. Jinder also said that. Cool.

Then we had Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon. Shane even brought his old World Cup trophy from crown jewel, so that was fun. Drew Mcintyre had his own special entrance as well like he was a separate competitor. Roman got a shit ton of pyro for his entrance. McIntyre got involved early on, first distracting Reigns, and then attacking him on the outside. At one point, Roman went for a superman punch and Shane caught him with a chop block to the leg in midair. Roman was eventually able to fight back into the match after a triangle hold, drilling McIntyre with a superman punch on the outside. As Roman got back in, Shane kicked the second rope for a low blow, and then speared Reigns. Shane went up for a coast to coast, and Roman put a stop to that with a superman punch. Shane and Reigns traded some blows, and Shane fell back into the ref. McIntyre then ran in for a huge claymore, and Shane pinned Reigns.

Grade: D. So Shane kinda deserves a title shot soon, right? This is his third pay per few win in a row, so he will probably challenge Kofi for the WWE Championship soon. He should at least. Anyway, this was a stinker. I didn’t care the second the bell rang, and Roman didn’t really get enough offense. Shane definitely shouldn’t have won here, he needs to lose soon. Shane’s heel turn was really good during the feud with the Miz, but he is now insufferable. I just hated this match, and I have grown to really hate Shane.

Then we had Byron Saxton interviewing Kofi Kingston backstage about his concern over the Dolph Ziggler match, and Kingston said that this match was to prove that he is a great champion.

Out next was the Lucha House Party for the handicap match against Lars Sullivan. Lars was quickly bloodied in the mouth as he beat down all of his opponents. Gran Metalik was able to get in some offense, allowing his partners to get in a few hits as well, but Sullivan quickly shut it down. At one point, Sullivan went to the top rope, and the Lucha Hosue Party collectively pushed him off. All three guys beat him down, causing a DQ. They beat him into the ground as a unit, but he quickly got up as they ran away. He followed them, and ended up getting the last laugh by kicking their asses on the ramp.

Grade: F. This was lame and bad. I really didn’t care, and Sullivan didn’t look dominant in really any way. The DQ finish was unnecessary, Sullivan should’ve just won here. I really didn’t expect much from this match, but it didn’t even meet those low expectations.

Then we had Triple H vs. Randy Orton. The video package was awesome. Trips reused his motorcycle from last year’s wrestlemania for the entrance. I didn’t think it was particularly cool, and I thought it even less so when Michael Cole called it bad ass. They kinda felt each other out early on, just exchanging some submissions back and forth. Both went for their finishers, but were both able to struggle out of the set ups. Triple H worked over the arm quite a bit during the match, for no reason in particular. This match was pretty slow with very meticulous attacks on various body parts. At one point, Orton countered out of a pedigree and hit an RKO, but Triple H kicked out. Orton was so frustrated that he set up for the punt, only for Trips to block it and hit the pedigree, but Orton kicked out. At one point in the match, Trips body dropped Orton onto the announce table four times, but the table didn’t break. I don’t know if that was the intention, but it was a weird move to do four times. Trips then went for the punt himself, and Orton caught him in the RKO for the win.

Grade: C. I thought this match was really slow, and while they seemed very comfortable with each other, this match didn’t have much of a style. They beat each other up a bit, Trips attacked the arm, but it didn’t feel like a brawl. Outside of the finishers, I didn’t really care about this match, and that is never a feeling you want to come away with.

Then we had a quick recap of the 24/7 title stuff that happened during the airplane ride. It was pretty funny. They also referred to the plane as a 747, so I dunno if that was some sort of product placement by Boeing, but it was odd, because they have had a lot of bad press right now.

Then Byron Saxton was backstage, and Corbin came up and said that a ref cost him his title shot. And I kinda agreed with him when he went on his little rant, it really was the ref’s fault.

Into the battle of the beasts: Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman. They started off with a New Japan style test of strength, before rolling around and showing their agility. Lashley quickly nailed Strowman with a running powerslam for a near fall early on. After a pretty fast start, things slowed down quite a bit with emphasis on power moves. At one point, Lashley hit Strowman with a vertical suplex on the stage, rolling him back in the ring for a near fall. Strowman quickly fought back into things by throwing Lashley off the top rope and hitting two running powerslams for the win.

Grade: B-. This match started very promising with some very agile movement from both men, but it quickly slowed into the classic WWE big man match. It was slow and the power moves weren’t overly impressive. Strowman makes sense, but I have no idea what he is building towards. Both he and Lashley feel lost in the shuffle right now.

Ali talked about how he wanted to win the Battle Royal because he wants to inspire the people of the middle east, showing them that he could fight through adversity, and that they can do the same. It was genuinely a powerful promo for how short it was, and this actually made sense for him to say. Also, Samoa Joe said something about winning, and it wasn’t nearly as good.

Then we had Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship. It was nice to see the WWE Championship be defended in a top slot on a pay per view card. It wasn’t the main event, but It was the last championship that was defended, so that is good enough for me. Michael Cole even called in the most important championshiop in the world today, which is funny considering that the Universal championship was defended earlier on the same card. Ziggler was all over Kingston early on in this match, wearing him down with submissions, strikes and lots of pins. Ziggler didn’t seem to target any body part in particular, but he did rake the eyes a lot, so I guess he was working the eyes? Is that a thing? I dunno.The two had an exciting rollup sequence. At one point, Kofi went for the trust fall to the floor, but Ziggler didn’t catch him all that well, so Kofi’s lower back really nailed the floor. Ziggler then started to work the back a bit, and even superkicked Xavier Woods when he tried to check on Kingston. That fired up Kofi, who threw Ziggler back into the right. They brawled a bit, and Kingston pushed Ziggler into the ropes, allowing Woods to nail an ensiguri, behind the ref’s back, and Kingston hit the trouble in paradise for the win.

Grade: B-. Even this didn’t really do it for me, although it was a good match. Ziggler’s selling was on point during this match, as it always is, and the kids in the crowd were hot for Kingston. But the match never really kicked into second gear here, and it was shockingly short. Also, I didn’t think that the interference was really necessary. It was a very heel spot, which almost made me think there would be a double turn.

Backstage, Ziggler talked to Byron Saxton backstage, saying that he was a cheater and a coward. Saxton tried to say that he deserved it, but Ziggler said that he would’ve won without interference. Ziggler said that he wanted Kofi in a Steel Cage match. So this feud will go on, and I couldn’t say that I disagree with Ziggler here. Kingston did cheat, and I don’t think that he deserved it. Weird to see the heel ask for a cage match to keep people from interfering on the face’s behalf.

Then they had a cute segment of a bunch of fans who were excited to see the show. They said things like it isn’t hotter than the WWE, that this would be the best show in the world, and that nothing would stop them from watching. It was sweet, and as much as I oppose these shows going on in Saudi Arabia, I’m glad that the fans get to experience the show live. That is the one silver lining in all of this.

Then we had the 50 man battle royal. First a bunch of people came out in a pack, including Xavier Woods, who looked dead at the camera and said, “That’s right, I came right back out here!” A couple people had special entrances, like Miz, and Samoa Joe. Cesaro came out in shorts rather than the usual trunks. Titus O’Neil got a special entrance, and there was a pop when he didn’t trip. Elias took shots at everyone who was in the match, and right when he was done, Miz threw him into the ring and the match started. I’ll just hit the fun eliminations, like the Singh Brothers who were surfing on top of everyone and were just thrown out. Tony Nese was eliminated, and they just casually mentioned that he was the cruiserweight champion, which really sucks. The commentators didn’t really know what to talk about, so they just talked about the heat. There was a cool moment where the Viking Raiders, AOP and Heavy Machinery all squared off, nice to see Akam back from injury. Titus hid underneath the ring, and had a weird moment where he dominated for a while. What the hell was that about? is he like, super over in Saudi Arabia? No disrespect to Titus, but he isn’t that big of a star. He eliminated both of the Viking Raiders, so maybe he will get a push. He was eliminated by Shelton Benjamin with a high knee. Zach Ryder saved Curt Hawkins from elimination by Samoa Joe, only for him to eliminate both of the tag champs. They vaguely mentioned Monsoor being in the match, which was also weird because he was recruited before the Greatest Royal Rumble last year, and is from Saudi Arabia. Rowan ran wild a bit, but was eliminated by a shower of superkicks from the Usos. Matt Hardy gave both of the Revival a twist of fate and eliminated them. The best elimination was when Cesaro gave Cedric Alexander a big swing, and then monkey flipped him out of the ring. As Shinsuke hit Sin Cara with a Kinshasa, Corey Graves tried to shout it excitedly, only for his voice to shit out, and Renee and Michael made fun of him on commentary. Ricochet and Ali worked together to fight the heels a bit, and they would be a fun tag team if they need one. They even worked together to eliminate Samoa Joe. The final two were Elias and Monsoor, and just then the Saudi Arabia crowd realized that he was in the match, and they came alive. The was nearly eliminated but skinned the cat, and back body dropped Elias over the top rope to win it.

After the match, Byron Saxton interviewed Monsoor, who looked so happy to have this moment. He talked about the importance of the moment, and how just one year ago he was only a prospect, and now he represents his country in the WWE. The crowd showered him with a you deserve it chant, and he said that his dream came true. He spoke some Arabic, and the crowd popped huge, had they had some pyro for him. It was really nice, and some people in the crowd were even crying.

Grade: C+. This was about as good as a normal battle royal, it just took longer for exciting things to happen. Not too many spot that I loved, but it was still fun. I don’t know how the hell R-Truth wasn’t even in the match, like why wouldn’t they have some fun 24/7 shenanagins in this match. But I loved the ending stretch between Elias and Monsoor, and the crowd was so hot for him that it was tough to not feel anything for the moment. I’m glad they got to see their hometown boy Monsoor bring home the win in the biggest battle royal in history. Still, it was only a battle royal, so I don’t think it was that great of a match. I bumped it up 2 grades for the nice moment and hot crowd in the end.

And in the main event, we had Undertaker vs. Goldberg. Goldberg botched his entrance coming in, only doing the kick for the pyro rather than the whole punch and kick combination, which was also completely off beat. So there was four shots of pyro, but only one kick that happened like 5 seconds before the first pyro. Taker had druids out for his entrance, with flames spouting up during the entrance. The commentators made this a very WCW vs. WWF match, but it wasn’t dominating the entire story. They also just made sure that we knew it was a dream match. Goldberg and Taker started with a staredown, and Taker punched Goldberg right in the face, which prompted Goldberg to hit a pair of spears for a near fall. So after that hot opening, we then had Goldberg, the destroyer and king of 3 minute matches, lock in a kneebar. After they got out, Taker dodged a shoulder block, so Goldberg went through the ropes and into the post, and it smacked him right in the head, so he was bleeding a lot. Take hit a tombstone, and Goldberg definitely hit the mat with his head, still only a two count. Renee said that there was an eerie quiet in the arena, and all I could think was that there had been an eerie quiet the entire event. Goldberg hit yet another spear as Taker went for a big boot, and nailed a horribly botched jackhammer, where Taker landed right on his head. Taker still kicked out. Goldberg then tried to hit a tombstone, but they messed that up bad. Taker then hit a chokeslam for an abrupt win.

Grade: D+. I am not the kind of reviewer that times matches, but I looked this one up. 8:44. That is a long Goldberg match, and at this stage its a long Taker match too. But they wanted to get all their shit in, but it went down terribly. I don’t know what happened to Goldberg, but he was not the same after getting posted. I hope he doesn’t have a concussion, but the Tombstone certainly didn’t help. Taker could have died on that botched jackhammer too, but thankfully is okay and still walking. I guess I am giving this a relatively good grade, because it was still a cool sight to see them, and those first two spears were exciting.

Overall Grade: C

Grade Adjusted for Blood money: F

Predictions: 7/9.

Pros: before the show, the Saudi Arabian fans were super excited; the fans popped huge for Monsoor’s battle royal win

Cons: Shane vs. Reigns; handicap match; trips vs. orton; taker vs. goldberg; the fact that i actually had to watch this show over three days because of how bad it was.

Also, my apologies for not reviewing the Usos vs. Revival match. I didn’t know that there was a pre show match until after I started watching, so I figured that I would watch it at the end. But it is now Sunday, and after three days of this god awful show, I need to watch Dominion as quickly as possible.

#hazyheel #wwe #super showdown #wwe super showdown #wwe super showdown 2019 #super showdown 2019 #pro wrestling #wwe review #super showdown review #wwe super showdown review #wwe super showdown 2019 review #super showdown 2019 review #pro wrestling review #dolph ziggler #kofi kingston #goldberg #undertaker #monsoor

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madamslayyy · 6 years

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Imprint (Erik Killmonger x Reader NSFW)

Pairing: Erik Killmonger x Reader

Words: 3.5K

A/N: Sorry it took so long to put this out but just know i threw everything except the kitchen sink into this fic! This is an Erik Killmonger Imprint AU. If any of you have seen the Twilight Saga movies, there’s this ability that the wolfs have to know their soulmate just by making eye contact with them. I usually do not like Soulmate AUs (like I don’t like that whole name on the wrist or glowing heart shit) but I actually am a fan of this because I like the devotion and carnal aspect of it. Anyway I hope you like it, I worked super hard on it.

Warnings: NSFW (+18)

You were running late for work yet again. This was the third time this month and you doubted that your boss’s leniency would extend as far as a third infraction. You couldn’t help it however. You were still completely overwhelmed by your urgent move to a completely alien environment.

You had grown up in the city of Luxor your entire life and happily so. You were content until you lost your steady job at the Luxor City Museum. You spent the better part of three weeks filling out applications and submitting your resume to every industry you could think of that would value a degree in History and Architecture before getting a call from the Tanzania Humanitarian Museum saying they’d reviewed your credentials and were offering you a position as Director of Small Projects. Your position, however, was anything but small as you were charged with overseeing some of the most precious and rare pieces you could have ever imagined.

You arrived to work only to notice that the museum was quiet, unnaturally so. Of course at 6 a.m. it was usually quiet as the doors did not officially open to the public until 10 a.m. but there was at least a small hum of activity from the staff.

You hurried towards the direction of your office only to pause at the sight of broken glass on the floor. This immediately set off a red flag in your mind and just as you turned to make a quick exit, you noticed three figures rushing straight for you. They all wore Tanzanian military uniforms, with heavy firearms strapped across their torsos. You immediately throw your hands up in surrender.

“What business do you have here?!” One barks at you, his assault rifle pointed directly at you. You feel your heart plunge. You’re too frozen to speak. You had never had a weapon of any sort aimed at you before, let alone a gun.

“Answer him!” A different one yells, reaching for his weapon as well.

“I-I’M THE DIRECTOR!” You spurt quickly. The one in the middle, whom you assume is the one in charge, nods in your direction and the other two immediately seize both of your arms dragging you away.

“We’ll take her to M’Baku,” The middle one grinned as they dragged you into the main exhibit entrance. Your heart sank at the sight of how the pieces had been thrown about, broken from their glass cages and tossed without thought or care of their historic value.

“Chief, it looks like one managed to worm her way in, what should we do with her?” A rather large man turned around and trained his eyes on you. He was utterly huge, you could tell even from where you were standing, and you immediately cast your eyes down.

“Where is the Agnew Amulet?” He growled in a voice so deep is seemed to physically bounce of the walls.

“I-It’s s-still in s-storage,” You emitted softly. Another man entered the room, the crunch of glass under his boots announcing his entrance. He was even taller than the first man (M’Baku you assumed was his name) just not as bullish. The man also wore the mask of a ram, intricately carved of variant woods.

“Have any of you laid eyes on the Amulet?” M’Baku asked referring to the militants that brought you to him. They all silently shook their heads no.

“Erik?” He turned to the masked man. The man nodded once.

“Go with her then, to ensure what she presents to us is indeed the amulet. And if she tries anything, kill her.” The man in the mask (Erik?) did not appear to be listening to M’Baku in the slightest however he stalked towards you nonetheless. The men let go of your arms as he approached and you instantly recoiled at his presence. His stature alone was so intimidating.

Realizing he was waiting on you to lead the way, you sprang into action leading him to your office to retrieve your key to the storage room. One you obtained the key you went down two flights of stairs to the basement floor of the building used for storage. The further you two traveled from the others the more vulnerable you started to feel. Of course it was just as dangerous upstairs as it was here, however you were completely at this man’s mercy and here there were no other eyes to witness and judge.

Once finally inside the facility, an enormous ice cold room kept at a firm – 8 degrees to better preserve the artifacts, you led your captor to a small black box, opening it to reveal the amulet but never laying a single finger on it. Erik took off his mask for the first time to better inspect the authenticity of the amulet and what it revealed shook you to your core.

He was strikingly handsome with beautiful smooth skin, full lips, a keen nose and strong brow. You gasped at his appearance, taking his attention away from the amulet for only millisecond but that was all it took. The moment his eyes met yours, it was as if a light switch had been turned on. You felt as if you knew everything about him and you’d never even heard him speak. There wasn’t even a meter between the two of you, yet it felt like you were fields apart. You needed to be close to him, touch him, be as one in body as you felt in soul. The look in his eyes told you he felt the exact same way but was trying to fight it.

You took a step forward and he simultaneously took a step back. He was shocked at his own seemingly involuntary movement and stormed off with the amulet. You remained frozen where you stood.

“C’mon,” He barked over his shoulder once he had put some distance between the two of you. This was the first time you’d heard him speak and it instantly overwhelmed you. His voice was so deep and languid, it felt more like it was being poured into you. You rush to follow him out of the basement area.

Upon making it back to the rest of his party, you could see M’Baku was growing impatient. Erik nodded once to indicate he had the real amulet which unfortunately meant you had outgrown your usefulness.

“You’ve done well, and for that you deserve an honorable departure,” M’Baku said as he drew a machete from his waistband and started towards you. You closed your eyes in pure fear only to open them at the sound of a rushed “Stop!” You, M’Baku, and the three men dressed as army officials all paused to stare at the source of the command, that being Erik.

“We’ve made it through this operation without any casualties, we’re not about to change that.” Erik said as he approached M’Baku.

“She’s seen our faces,” M’Baku growled in his face. Erik stood his ground, looking down at M’Baku with a barely concealed emotion that you couldn’t make out.

“Fine! She’s your responsibility Killmonger. You deal with it,” And with that M’Baku made his exit, his band of faux militants behind him. Once he was sure they’d left the building he turned to you with a look of pure anguish. For some strange reason , you felt it too. Like he was within you, his emotions becoming your own.

“Let’s go, we have a plane to catch,” His deep voice rumbled. His accent was so bizarre. You couldn’t quite place it but you knew for sure it wasn’t Tanzanian or even coastal for that matter. You quietly followed him out of the building, to the back where a motorcycle lay waiting. He picked up his helmet, handing it to you before mounting the machine. You stared at it in amazement for a moment, before sliding it on. You plopped yourself down behind Erik before tentatively wrapping your arms around his waist. The second you made contact it was like a bolt of physical electricity shot throughout your body. You could tell he felt it too as his body tensed at your touch and he ceased to breathe for a moment.

The two of you sat in what felt like frozen time for all of maybe a minute before Erik roared the motorcycle to life, ending the incident. He drove much too fast for you, leaving your vision a dizzy blur. You elected to close your eyes the remainder of the drive which consequently led to you resting your cheek against his back as he steered.

While your eyes were closed, every other sensor in you was in high alert. You were aware of every breath he took, every muscle he flexed. You were subconsciously committing his strong body to memory; the hard, sculped back, steel torso, even the slightest brush against his powerful thighs were driving you nuts. Unbeknownst to you, you’d began nuzzling your face into his back, taking in his heavenly scent.

Suddenly the two of you came to a halt and you opened your eyes. Before you stood a small black jet, sleek and precise. He got off and you followed behind him through the entry way of the plane which was being guarded by two men wearing bulletproof vests with assault rifles in hand. Upon entering the jet, you realized by it’s small, beige interior that there was no way this plane was ever intended to transport M’Baku as well as his henchmen.

“Sit,” Erik said, and you did. He settled himself directly in front of you, eyes watching you with silent intensity. That feeling was beginning to stir inside you once more, that feeling of being drawn to him. It was stronger than ever now that you two were alone and you subconsciously felt your face heat up.

You crossed your legs and Erik instantaneously inhaled sharply. One look into his now predatory eyes let you know that this barely contained magnetism was mutual.

“Let me explain something to you,” Erik said, glancing out the window as the plane took off down the runway.

“I’m from one of the oldest lineages in Wakanda. Believed to be direct descendants from certain distinguish animal species. Some derive from Panthers, my family, however, derived from Jaguars. Being from this lineage has certain advantages, especially in terms of strength and stamina but it comes with certain disadvantages as well.” He watched you carefully to see if you understood where he was leading the conversation but he could see you did not.

“Have you ever heard of Imprinting Miss……?”

“(Y/N), my name’s (Y/N)”

“Miss (Y/N), tell me what you know of Imprinting,” His velvet voice making it hard for you to really recall anything in that moment.

“Isn’t it when newborn ducks become attached to the first maternal figure they perceive?” Erik chuckled and shook his head slightly. You could see the shine of gold in his mouth as his bottom fang grills caught the light.

“No, it’s a little more complicated than that and it has nothing to do with ducks.” He sat up straighter now and you knew whatever he was about to tell you was going to be serious.

“Imprinting for me as well as my people and the other noble families of Wakanda is a means of insured continuation of that lineage. When we imprint on a particular person, it is effectively the person we are deemed to be with for the rest of our lives.” Erik paused but upon seeing your further confusion, he went on “Some believe it is all based upon biology: health, durability, genetics, etc. However others believe it is an act of fate, destiny. That they have found their one true soulmate through the power invested in our old Wakandan Gods. Even though I’m more inclined to believe the latter, I always assumed I was too far removed from my people and our customs to be susceptible for such a phenomenon. I see I was wrong.”

You could do little more than murmur a small “oh,” as you tried taking it all in. Was he saying what you thought he was saying? Was he insinuating that you were supposed to be his mate? Well he really wasn’t describing it as a mate, it sounded more like a breeding machine to produce his babies. The very idea of it didn’t sit well with you.

“It seems I’ve imprinted on you. An act I can not say I regret it.” His intense eyes did not leave you for a moment as he slowly licked his lips, his bottom fangs more visible than ever. That seemed to be the final straw for you as you suddenly stood up, only to be pulled back down by his strong arms wrapping around your waist, guiding you to lap.

His lips crashed into yours, impossibly soft as the hair from his beard tickled your face. Your hands immediately found his shoulders to steady yourself as you felt the muscles tense beneath your fingertips. His lips made their way from your own to your neck as he began ravishing your pulse leaving dark purple bruises in his wake. You could feel him nipping at the tender flesh of your neck with his fangs, making you wet instantly.

You released a high pitch moan as he cupped your breasts through the fabric of your dress. His head shot up, looking at you with a wild expression in his eyes before he ripped the dress straight down the middle, exposing your black bra and panties. You slid the remaining fragments of the dress off your shoulders and quickly unhooked your bra before it suffered from the same fate. Your panties, however, weren’t as lucky. Erik tore the thin fabric clean off your body leaving you utterly exposed before him.

The look in his eyes alone was almost enough to end you right then and there. He looked at you like no man ever had, like you were perfection, something he couldn’t believe had quite literally fell into his lap. You cupped his face in your hands, bringing your foreheads together. You heard him whimper slightly beneath you, as overcome with emotion as you were.

“Take off your vest,” you whispered in his ear. His eyes suddenly shot open, as if your voice broke him from the trance that engulfed you both. He lifted you in his arms as he stood up, laying you down across the row of empty seats before breaking free of his bulletproof vest and shirt. What you saw before you rendered you speechless.

The entirety of his back, arms, and chest were covered in tiny intricate keloidal scars. His eyes narrowed slightly, gauging your reaction carefully.

“They’re beautiful,” you uttered. You could see Erik visibly exhale in relief at your approval. He climbed on top of you, nuzzling your neck once more before making his way to your chest. His tongue enveloped your nipple, bringing you to arch further into him. Your entire body was overly sensitive to Erik’s touch, undoubtedly a side effect of the imprint. However, Erik was relentless in his teasing of you and you decided it was time to play fair.

You brought one leg up between his own, brushing mercilessly against his member. He was impossibly hard and one stroke of your foot against the fabric of his groin sent him reeling. He accidently bit down on your shoulder in the moment, causing you to cry out. He pulled back and began undoing his belt, looking down at you with his eyes glazed over with lust.

He pulled down his pants to reveal his large, pulsating member. It was the most beautiful specimen you’d ever seen. All of a sudden, ensuring the continuation of his lineage didn’t sound like a bad idea after all.

“Ready?” He growled, jerking himself lightly above. He was such an exquisite sight before you that all you could manage was a meager nod of the head. He slowly entered you, with one hand gently rubbing the side of your thigh, encouraging you to take it all. He gave you a few moments to adjust to his size before you began to squirm under him. He took this as a sign to continue and slowly began to pump into you.

His stimulations were incredible however, you had to admit from all the passion displayed earlier, you were ready for him to pick up the pace. You could tell he was afraid that he would hurt you, if not for his strength then for his mere size alone.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and brought him closer, whispering as seductively as you could manage “Get on with it.” He paused momentarily before going full throttle into you. He tightened his grip on your waist, pulling you towards him to meet his strokes. You could feel his length stretching you out he as he slammed against your cervix in an almost animalistic way. You arched into him and began clawing at his back as you felt your orgasm quickly approaching.

Erik was biting his bottom lip, his eyes laser focused when he began rubbing quick rough circles into your clit. You couldn’t contain the loud, involuntary moan you uttered at his new administrations. You knew you were being loud and that the pilots, along with whomever the men were guarding the planes entrance, could probably hear you loud and clear but you couldn’t care less.

You were almost to your breaking point when Erik began pounding into you even faster and more sporadically, growling “Cum for me, gorgeous,” in that ever so deep baritone. This sent you over the edge, as you cried out, beating his chest lightly while your orgasm washed over you. He shot into, filling you completely until his seed began to spill out onto the seat beneath. You felt immobilized, every ounce of your energy gone. Naturally, you had had orgasms in the past but none could even hope to compare to what you had just experienced. It was absolutely earth shattering, you felt as if he was within you, coursing through your veins. You could physically feel him and with him inside of you, it was as if the two of you were one.

He stayed inside you, hovering above with his forehead pressed against your own. Finally the silence was broken by him uttering a raspy, “I’m sorry,”. Still too entranced to speak, you simply raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

“I should have pulled out,” He said stoically as he began removing himself from you, and standing up. You propped yourself up on your elbows, watching him as he zipped up his pants and slipped into his shirt. When he went to grab his bulletproof vest from the floor, he saw the remnants of your dress and the thought that you had nothing to wear now dawned on him.

“Wait here,” He exited down the aisle, only to come back a few minutes later holding a folded light blue uniform. Upon inspection once he handed it to you, you came to the conclusion it was a flight attendants uniform. You began to get dressed quickly, however was stopped by Erik wrapping his arms around you from behind, kissing your neck tenderly. You were dressed only in the skirt and your bra and wanted to finish dressing as soon as possible, the realization that someone else could walk in at any moment finally sinking in.

“Erik please,” You giggled as he continued his assault on your pulse.

“I can’t help it,” He mumbled into your throat as one hand slipped under your bra to massage your nipple. You could feel yourself getting worked up again so you turned to face him only for him to capture your lips in another searing kiss. You’d realized resistance was futile at this point and surrendered to his actions when a blue light pinged above you two.

“It looks like we’ve arrived,” Erik said, looking out the window.

“Arrived where?” You asked taking this opportunity to put on your shirt.

“Home,” Erik beamed, his smile so bright it made you week in the knees.

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fountainpenguin · 6 years

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Hey, now that we're touching on the subject in your writing, want to tell us more about Sunnie and the gang? You know, personalities and who is playing host to which spirit? That kind of thing?

Yeah, I touched on them in THIS post, but admittedly that was very superficial information, and some of the information is slightly outdated too.

To be fair, I thought I’d have more time to introduce you to each spirit and host one at a time, since they weren’t supposed to appear in my works yet. “This Is Halloween” was originally going to be about the mirror caves throughout Anti-Pixie Isle for ~foreshadowing~ reasons that you’ll see later, but then this happened instead. Sorry for the info-dump. But not very.

Okay, so let’s talk about the zodiac spirits again. Luckily for me, I can just steal some of this stuff out of the Anti-Fairy worldbuilding dump I’m posting on the 7th since there’s no fanfic update that day, and link back to this post.

Be aware that this post is massive. But when you’re ready to learn, here you go.

NATURE SPIRITS AND ZODIACS

What is the point of you creating nature spirits for your fanfics?

Giving Anti-Fairies culture that doesn’t totally revolve around evil. Don’t get me wrong- this is definitely a ‘fic about Anti-Cosmo’s rise to power. It’s an “innocence to corruption” type of story.

However, I see canon Anti-Cosmo as a guy striking out mostly because his people are majorly discriminated against by the Fairies. I needed reasons for him to believe his people deserved to not be discriminated against, and reasons for the Anti-Fairies not to think, “Well gee, maybe if we stopped attacking people, they would accept us!” So, the way Anti-Fairies appear in my works is, many of them are good, cultured people who just happen to feel the urge to make mischief and deal with bad luck.

They’re bearers of bad news, but you shouldn’t kill the messenger, so to speak. Many of them are offended at being called evil. We’ll watch Anti-Cosmo get past the point of caring and embrace the evil title. That was one of the harder things for me in writing Frayed Knots, but I think I did okay.

Anti-Fairies are creatures of bad luck, so I started by giving them a zodiac and major beliefs in astrology, fate, destiny, horoscopes, and I built out from there. This was also my way of explaining things that appear in canon, like the Darkness, or the temple to the chicken seen in “Chicken Poofs”. Additionally, many Fairies believe the stars are Fairy warriors. Anti-Fairies believe they’re stars. H.P. belongs to a religion that believes fairy dogs can die. In the show, Sparky stated that they can’t, so the Zodii believe they can’t. Different stuff like that so I can encompass as many bits of canon in the show as possible.

Finally, it was nice to create an entire culture so starkly different from H.P.’s, who grew up in Fairy World in my fanfic Origin of the Pixies. Considering the mixed feelings between Fairies and Anti-Fairies, it seemed appropriate to give them drastically different cultures and beliefs. Additionally, many fans love the Anti-Fairies and wanted to hear more about them in the show, so I wanted to have fun with this. I also wanted to keep my readers engaged since Frayed Knots is my second fanfic and has to cover some of the same worldbuilding stuff we already saw in Origin. I wanted to keep some unexplored territory.

AND, I wanted Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda to be kept busy a lot of the time, which is why we don’t see them with Foop in the later seasons. I didn’t want them to be purely working on evil plans, since it seems their son would have wanted to get in on that action. Instead, I gave them a culture that has super strong traditions and beliefs, and made Foop the oddball who still has loyalty to his culture and reacts badly when he sees Fairies mock it and the Anti-Fairies, but he still thinks most of it is dumb and doesn’t want to get in too deep, so therefore pulls away from his parents and does his own thing.

I knew I’d be writing an extensive ‘fic that would probably take me years to finish, so I needed to have fun.

Don’t worry- while Knots does include a lot of nature spirit stuff, the zodiac still just Anti-Fairy culture and isn’t what I would call “the main plot”. This is still an FOP fanfic that tries to stay close to canon without veering the story into tons of OCs. Anti-Cosmo will be doing a lot of things in this story that have nothing to do with the nature spirits. We don’t even meet Sunnie until the war over godchildren is over. Then we get a big burst of nature spirit stuff before it fades out and we pick up the other plotlines again.

What are the levels of nature spirits?

Wise Ancients - Major deities; for all intents and purposes, they’re gods. I prefer using the terms “nature spirits” and “Ancients”, but they’re basically gods.

Ex: Mother Nature (Space), Father Time (Time), Tarrow (Reality), The Hocus Poconos (Unreality), The Grim Reaper (Death), The Cycling Hen (Life), Prince Morn (Light), Princess Eve (Dark)…

Those are all the Wise Ancients I’ve thought up at this time. More might come later. They’re the overarching set, and the other spirits are their children.

The way I see it, space and time existed and mixed together. From this union, Reality was created. Reality gathered the sentience to take on solid, sentient form, and taught Space and Time how to take shape like him (Mother Nature and Father Time; Tarrow’s name obviously comes from tarot since he’s also viewed as the influencer of luck). Others followed suit.

Spirit Bears - Also considered Ancients, although they are always spirits of the land. They’re a subset of the Ancients who can only kiff-tie (I’m using that term to suggest reproduction in this sense) with other spirit bears. They’re basically personifications of different lands rather than aspects of nature. In Origin, we see H.P. doing paperwork and political things to get Pixie World recognized as an official World. In Knots, we see Anti-Cosmo dealing with the birth of the new spirit bear cub who represents Pixie World. Same timeline of events, but they play on different fields.

Ex: Fairy World (Tír Ildáthach), Anti-Fairy World (Hy-Brasil), Pixie World (Sprigganhame), Anti-Pixie World (Solis Infinitum), and what I suppose we would call Fairy Refract World (Avalon).

Things like Patio World and Mattress World are small towns that don’t have bears. I’m not sure about Hairy World and Scary World yet, but I’m leaning towards those just being nicknames for different planes of existence, so they don’t get bears either.

I drew a comic that I plan to color and upload about H.P.’s interpretation of the spirit bears vs. Anti-Cosmo’s. I also drew H.P. holding Sprigganhame in one of my Inktobers.

Demigods - The children of the Ancients. The term “demigod” is meant to be all-encompassing, so it always refers to the children of the Ancients, exception being people like Tarrow who are considered major deities and therefore Ancients. As far as you’re concerned, I have listed the Ancients above, and their children are the demigods.

Ex: Dayfry (Love; Friday), Saturn (Fire; Saturday), Sunnie (Water; Sunday), Munn (Sky; Monday), Twis (Soil; Tuesday), Winni (Breath; Wednesday), Thurmondo (Leaves; Thursday)

They’re major spirits. Imagine it like, Tarrow is Zeus, and the demigods seen here are the other major gods on Olympus.

There are other demigods (Ex: spirits that symbolize good harvests, good fortune, friendship, patience, travel, wood, stone, certain types of animals) who have similar powers to our gang, but while they might have small shrines, they don’t have official Temples. I mean, maybe some do, but that sounds complicated for my worldbuilding, so let’s not get into that.

Proper ways to address them would be as “the Seven” or “the zodiac spirits”. “Deity” is another acceptable term, as is “nature spirits”, though nature spirits refers to nature spirits as a whole, and zodiac spirits refers only to the Seven.

Minor Spirits - The children of the demigods. Some of them might have the same masteries as actual demigods, but if they aren’t born of the Ancients, they aren’t called demigods. Powers get watered down through the generations.

Ex: Multiple spirits of mist, clouds, lightning, mud, oxygen, etc.

Anything you get when two aspects of nature combine. Periodic table level and stuff. Also known as lesser spirits. There are hundreds if not thousands of them, but they’re not as important . Like I said, they tend to be combinations.

I feel like it’s also worth pointing out that Fergus Mór mac Eirc’s Wikipedia page lists his mother as “the mist”. Literally the mist. Thus, I decided that H.P.’s namesake here (H.P.’s name is Fergus in my headcanon) is the grandson of Sunnie. This gets increasingly interesting when you do further research and find out that Fergus the Great died in a “freak storm”. Apparently, Sunnie had a temper tantrum and he got caught in it. H.P. is terrified of Sunnie as a result. Considering that I dropped Anti-Cosmo in the Water Year at random when I originally decided he was born in the Year of the Black Lake, this is very interesting to me.

Additionally, when minor spirits have kids, you go even smaller. This is where you get guardians of individual rivers, mountains, or particular forest groves.

Nature spirits are “everywhere and everything”, but they all have a single manifested form that embodies their sentience, heart, and that they use to communicate. If they want to talk to you with words, they have to haul their manifested form all the way to where you are, which is often inconvenient if they’re light-years away. Even they can only travel so fast. Otherwise, the most they can do is mess around with their aspect of nature (their “mastery”). For example, by making streams bubble or leaves fall or wind blow.

So, all those signs you think you see in nature in answer to your pleas? Pure laziness. They usually only get up when they have really important messages to deliver, or they’re on the run. If you pray to them, they might be interested enough to respond, but they’re not going to get up to do it and tell you directly. They just shake branches and stuff to signal that they’re paying attention. Super simple stuff that is easily waved off as coincidence by those who don’t believe.

It’s a whole network of spirits, but don’t try to keep them all straight. Focus on the main seven.

Who are the zodiac spirits?

Seven nature spirits who are the grandsons of Mother Nature and Father Time. They each represent a different element on the Fairy zodiac, and are named after the days of the week, which was my way of excusing why the days of the week were called such in the cloudlands long ago. I cared.

Each of the zodiac spirits is a son of a deity called Tarrow the Luck-Twister (also called “the cosmic jellyfish”). He’s basically the deity of fate, and since Anti-Fairies are obsessed with luck, you can see why they like him.

However, each of the zodiac spirits has a different other parent (whom they tend to draw their element from), so they’re all technically half-brothers. Since nature spirits can produce children with either sex, some have a mother and some have two dads. Sunnie is an exception who was created asexually; he’s the water spirit and was formed from Tarrow’s tears after he got dumped by the Hocus Poconos.

I mean, the zodiac spirits are basically major region Legendary Pokémon, and then the minor spirits are each region’s lesser Legendaries. The Ancients would be Mew, Arceus, Rayquaza, etc. They’re above the main region Legendaries.

How does sex/gender work with the nature spirits?

Any nature spirit can deliver an “energy manifestation” (“child”) after they pair. The less dominant spirit will be the one to do so (*Dramatic music* The Fairy zodiac is organized according to age/dominance of the zodiac spirits). The “parent” who is “pregnant” with the spirit can decide the spirit’s sex, because some animals like insect queens can do that but I didn’t get to use that on the actual Fairies, so I gave it to the nature spirits instead because I don’t know.

My favorite dumb joke is that Tarrow is the ultimate dominant spirit against every spirit except for one, The Hocus Poconos, and this is actually the reason why he’s head over heels for her, because she’s the one that’s different. He only had one kid with her - Dayfry - who is his obvious favorite. The other kids were borne by their other parents. Nature spirit pregnancy only lasts for like thirty seconds after the spirits separate, I feel like I should point out.

Nature spirits have “true forms” and “projected forms”, as I will explain later in this post. While their true form would be their biological sex, the gender of their projected form may be different. Everyone interprets the spirits differently, remember? So if you interpret a biologically male water spirit as female, then the projected form you see would be a female water spirit. The nature spirit still interprets himself as male, and while he is aware of your interpretation, it doesn’t change the way he himself sees himself, which is his true form.

What are the Zodiac Temples?

Buildings in the cloudlands that are open places of worship for anyone who wishes to come, regardless of race. Anti-Fairies are by far the most frequent visitors. Aliens aren’t common since this is the Fairy zodiac here.

Each Temple has a public area that’s all decorated. That’s where most people visit. You can also visit one of a few more private side rooms so that you can meditate in peace and place your offerings in the provided dish.

The most important room in the Temple is the echo chamber, and only camarilla members and anyone of their zodiac who have been given explicit permission can visit there to meditate.

The Temples were created during the Sealing War, when the zodiac spirits were considered too powerful and imprisoned. Their manifested forms are inside the echo chambers of their Temples, bound with magical golden chains. As such, while they can still communicate by creating aspects of nature, they can’t go anywhere except inside their Temples.

Sometimes when you’re in their Temples, they’ll appear to speak with you, but only when they want to and their advice should always be taken with a grain of salt- they generally have their own agendas in mind, and even when trying to help, they struggle to comprehend mortal affairs.

As a general rule:

Dayfry (Love) - Knows his name carries a lot of weight and doesn’t like to throw that weight around. So, he rarely reveals himself. However, if you appear to be desperate and crying, you can probably bring him out; he hates seeing anyone miserable.

Saturn (Fire) - You can win him over with impressive offerings and displays. He’s a sucker for flattery, but probably won’t show up if there’s nothing in it for him.

Sunnie (Water) - Sometimes appears if you seek his advice and he finds you interesting, which usually means intellectual. If he doesn’t think you’re worth his time, then you aren’t and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Munn (Sky) - Will reveal himself to almost any Sky year who asks, as long as he’s impressed. He rarely gives out advice, good or otherwise. Mostly he just listens to people while he eats the offerings they brought, and cracks jokes.

Twis (Soil) - Reveals himself next to never, even to his own camarilla representatives. Mostly, he only approaches a Soil High Count or Countess. No one beneath them has enough power to interest him. He’s a stubborn butt.

Winni (Breath) - Doesn’t always appear, but when he does, he’s nosy and likes to tell you what to do. Likely to get offended when you reject his advice, even when it’s terrible.

Thurmondo (Leaves) - Might appear if you push him hard enough, though he’s pretty nervous and spacy and doesn’t like offering suggestions. Not too helpful.

A nature spirit who gets “killed” while out and about will wake up again in their echo chamber. Like the shaman’s reincarnation site in Populous: The Beginning, though I don’t think many of you know that computer game. I was raised on it. No Temple means no reincarnation, so any Temple lost will send the camarilla into an immediate frenzy to rebuild it.

On the subject of Populous, your mana charges faster when you have a higher population. I borrowed that idea for the zodiac spirits too. More people born in their year on the zodiac boosts their power. People of their zodiac actively practicing in their name (namely, visiting a Temple) boosts their power further- no matter what race those visitors are, or which Temple they’re in.

So yeah, if you’ve ever wondered why they refuse to strike their own people, it’s because it hurts them. They have more fun knocking each other’s forces down and cutting each other’s powers supply than they do actually paying attention to the political and moral skirmishes going on. You probably shouldn’t ask them to help you out in times of war. They’d just as easily wipe out your allies who were born under different zodiacs. They play for their own team.

What do the zodiac spirits do?

Act as impartial votes on matters that concern multiple races, mostly (like the Bake-Off and the Olympics). We saw Mother Nature in “Balance of Flour”, but her children and grandchildren sometimes take the role of judge instead. They’re all in agreement that Nana’s brownies are delicious, much to Anti-Fairy irritation.

Mostly they chill at their Temples, snack on their offerings, and badger people to make monuments of them. It’s more complicated than this, but this is all you need to know for now. Just realize that the nature spirits have their own agendas and don’t like sacrificing their wants for mortals, and you’re good.

Yes, they are very powerful and they could snap their fingers and grant you a miracle as long as it falls within their zodiac influence, but that would be bad storytelling. Their powers are what got them into their high positions. They’re considered deities for a reason. But nowadays, their powers are limited due to being bound to their Temples. Mostly they just talk to you and give advice instead of solving all your problems.

What do the zodiac spirits NOT do?

Don’t worry - No major quests in the name of the spirits, no cryptic prophecies, and no manipulating anybody’s life without their knowledge. No major cosmic games that we’ll see Anti-Cosmo get dragged into.

The spirits definitely have their own agendas and sometimes use mortals as means to achieve an end, but the “cosmic game” they’re playing right now is ~mostly~ a competition about who can get the most worshipers and monuments. Like I said, it’s more complicated than this and there are rules that I as the author need to know to keep them in check. We can go into that one day if you want, but let’s get deeper into Knots first. These are the basics. All you really need to know is that Sunnie is a sore loser and he rage-quit a long time ago, so he doesn’t join the current play until he gets his hands on Anti-Cosmo.

But the “cosmic game” isn’t some major world-shattering thing. It just gives the spirits something to do to play with each other. Everyone’s gotta have something to work towards, especially when imprisoned.

The spirits are minor gods who are easily bored and need the camarilla to play card games with them and read bedtime stories more than anything else. Anything that keeps them entertained. A bored or angry spirit is the kind of spirit who will mess around with nature to the point that it’s annoying (Ex: Sunnie might dry up a river, whereas Saturn may make a volcano erupt).

What are true forms, projected forms, and manifested forms?

Manifested form - The single being that basically holds the brain and heart of the element or aspect of nature in question. Ex: Death is a huge thing. The Grim Reaper is Death’s manifested form. This is his soul, his brain, his mouthpiece, etc.

True form - The form a nature spirit was born into. The spirit sees himself in this form. For example, Sunnie’s true form is as a creature made of black crystal, with lynx-like ears. He has turquoise eyes and wears a turquoise cloak. He has really long white hair. That’s how he sees himself. That’s the way Anti-Cosmo sees him when they kiff-tie. It’s taboo to discuss or make monuments in the shape of a nature spirit’s true form. Immortals, however, can’t see projected forms, and only see true forms.

Projected form - The way a mortal interprets a nature spirit. This would be Sunnie’s water genie form. The Darkness projects the black and red vortex we saw in “Wishology”. Tarrow projects his jellyfish. Their true forms show very obvious weak points on their bodies, typically their chests. I mean really, really obvious. Flashing and glowing kind of obvious. Projected forms don’t show those weak points. Anti-Cosmo interprets Sunnie as a water genie, but Sunnie can’t see what Anti-Cosmo interprets him as; that’s his projected form. Sunnie only sees himself in his true form.

What does it mean to host / take a nature spirit’s favor?

A favor (spelled “favour” in Knots) is a piece of jewelry in a zodiac color. It can be any small token or piece of clothing. The spirits generally have a form they prefer (listed by spirit below), though shapes and sizes may differ, especially based on the personal preference of the one carrying it. The spirits are not technically the favors, though sometimes it’s believed that they are.

It’s very important to note that the spirits ONLY take members of the Unseelie Court as their hosts. Namely Anti-Fairies. This is because Anti-Fairies turn to smoke if they’re “killed”, and automatically regenerate within a few seconds or minutes. This means that if another member of the Unseelie Court, like another Anti-Fairy, turns to smoke near them, their particles might get mixed together when they reform. The same is true for the nature spirits, who turn to steam. Their particles combine as they regenerate. That’s kiff-tying.

So this is all… sort of a cross between “Miraculous Ladybug” and “Steven Universe”, apparently. But also Populous: The Beginning. Listen, I already had to drop my original plan of Anti-Cosmo’s accidental influence over bad luck when I discovered “Milo Murphy’s Law”. I refuse to drop the nature spirit stuff too.

As of now, 4 of 7 favors are held by the camarilla. Twis is extremely picky about who he gives his to, and Dayfry’s favor was lost a long time ago and hasn’t yet been found. Which spirits have active hosts depends on the camarilla at the time. When a new High Count / High Countess takes power, their old camarilla shifts out and a new one is called.

If you’re carrying a zodiac spirit’s favor but you’re not on the camarilla, you have to return to the Temple and return the favor to the spirit. That spirit then chooses if he wants to take a new host or take a break for awhile instead. Sometimes the break-ups can be difficult and a spirit will refuse to accept the new camarilla member, and instead throw a fit until the High Count or Countess reluctantly reinstates the old. Sometimes the extinction burst can’t be endured /shot

If a spirit has a host, they can split their awareness between their manifested form, their Temple, and as many hosts as they have, viewing all locations simultaneously. A spirit with no host is limited to viewing only their immediate surroundings and their Temple.

Rogue spirits can take hosts too, but rogue spirits usually avoid the cloudlands because that’s the territory of the main spirits and they don’t want to infringe. They hang out on Earth or other planets in the universe where their parents or older cousins won’t boss them around. Rogue nature spirits can only manifest their favors as simple beads on a simple string. You may have noticed none of the zodiac spirits has a necklace design. Those are considered “simple” and are for rogues. The zodiac spirits are too haughty for that nonsense.

There could be a few Anti-Fairies who’ve met rogue spirits and have agreed to carry their favors, but that’s something they’d likely want to keep to themselves. I don’t imagine rogue spirits are looked on very favorably. But it probably depends. A small town might worship a particular rogue who sticks around their area and always selects hosts in that town. Who knows.

The seven zodiac spirits mutually agreed to only have one host at a time for quote-unquote “cosmic game” purposes to cut down on power-playing. Thus, as a rule, they default to one of the two camarilla members for their zodiac. Because it’s Anti-Fairy culture to hold the camarilla position and retire with dignity if replaced, that creates a regular turnover rate and prevents the spirits from being stuck with someone who refuses to give their favor back and dies alone with it somewhere.

I mean, there’s no rule saying they HAVE to pick from the camarilla. But that generally gives them the most influence over politics, and it would certainly cause a stir among the Anti-Fairies if a random commoner was running around representing them and attracting attention.

What does it mean to be bound to a Temple?

First, I want to point out that the chains binding the zodiac spirits are gold. On the mural in the Blue Castle, the chains are painted on with inrita, the chemical that drains Fairykind magic. Touching the chains in the mural makes an Anti-Fairy’s skin tingle, and their fingertips will go numb for about two minutes. Inrita has no effect on the nature spirits, but inrita is painted on the mural to remind the Anti-Fairies that gold has a similar, painful effect on the nature spirits that inrita has on them. That probably won’t ever come up in Knots. We’ll see.

Being bound to the Temple means the zodiac spirits have a manifestation of themselves chained within their Temple. However, this is a bit difficult to explain, so I’ll do my best. Technically, the zodiac spirits still exist on Plane 23. Plane 23 isn’t physically “higher up” than the other planes. It overlaps every plane. Passing into Plane 23 puts you on the spirit level, and the spirits can wander around and see people, even if they can’t directly interact by touching them or anything. They’re like ghosts.

The zodiac spirits are bound to the Plane 23 version of their Temple. Therefore, you won’t see them every time you visit the echo chamber, although they can see you. They can choose if they want to create a manifestation of themselves within their echo chamber, which is pretty draining, but they can do that and will if they want to talk to you. It’ll knock them out for a week afterwards, though, so they can’t do it with everyone.

Okay, so then we get this:

Sunnie’s manifestation there is what Sunnie can use to communicate with Anti-Cosmo directly, using his mouth and words. That’s the aspect of Sunnie that Anti-Cosmo kiff-ties with. What this means is, this Sunnie turns to steam and Anti-Cosmo turns to smoke through a special ceremony where Anti-Cosmo agrees to carry and care for Sunnie’s favor, and then, well… knives are involved.

You’ll just have to watch things unfold in Knots to see how that goes down: All you really need to know is, Anti-Cosmo is basically Sunnie’s yoo-doo doll when they’re kiff-tied. Sunnie can feel everything Anti-Cosmo feels, as well as see the world through his eyes and hear through his ears. Sunnie used to be able to see the universe without a host, but he can’t do that while he’s bound. When Sunnie broke his tie with Anti-Cosmo in “This Is Halloween”, we saw Sunnie’s manifestation again. That’s the little Sunnie. The Prince of Water is still at the Water Temple, and has the ability to vaporize his manifestation at any time. However, if he did that, he wouldn’t have any other manifestation, and would completely cut off his awareness of what was going on in the Castle.

The Prince of Water can continue creating manifestations to talk to other people in the echo chamber even while kiff-tied with a host. As I believe I mentioned, the zodiac spirits can create lots of manifestations of themselves. However, it’ll knock them out for a week, and the manifestation will disappear if it isn’t tied to a mortal host. And, for “cosmic game” reasons, the zodiac spirits all agreed that they’re each allowed only one host.

Technically, because Sunnie quit, he’s not bound to that rule. He can have as many hosts as he wants as long as he’s not playing, but he would have to rescind all but one to enter the current play. However, that would be out of character for him and then he wouldn’t be Sunnie. When Anti-Cosmo meets Sunnie, Sunnie explains that he hasn’t had a host for… I think it was nine hundred thousand years. He’s a sulker.

Okay, are you following? This is where it gets trickier. The Princely forms of the nature spirits can still interact with one another despite being bound. Imagine that Plane 23 is an empty white void, except the zodiac spirits can see all the Temples. If they weren’t bound, they could see everything. So, the Prince of Water can basically go as far away from his Temple as he wants, floating in an empty white void, until he meets another spirit. Probably the Prince of Soil.

They can hang out, talk, picnic on food from their offering dishes, kiff-tie, whatever they want. They’re just in a white void that occasionally has floating Temples. The golden chains stretch forever. Like I said, if they weren’t bound, they could see all of Plane 23. But while they’re chained, it’s a void for them.

That’s what it means to be bound. The kids are grounded from playing outside unless they’re supervised by a host, but they can still play with each other inside and hang out in their rooms. So obviously, Winni and Thurmondo are together like, all the time.

Don’t really know how much we’ll get into this in Knots. We’ll see hints of Anti-Cosmo floating in the white void when he kiff-ties with Sunnie the first time.

OKAY! That was the encompassing overview that I was going to share in the worldbuilding post next week, but it’s fine, you can have it now.

Now, let’s look at each zodiac spirit in more detail. Their powers were mentioned in a previous post. Now we’ll look at them more as people and demigods.

TARROW: The Cosmic Jellyfish

Deity of creation, fate, and destiny. Not technically represented on the camarilla. His color is red, and the First General wears a magical red cloak with a jellyfish clasp. The First General does not host Tarrow or carry his favor, but only strives to act impartially and make the final call if the camarilla get locked in a debate. He is meant to act impartially.

The cloak is mostly only worn when appearing before the public, especially during ceremonial events. Anti-Buster, the First General before Anti-Cosmo whom we see in Knots, adores it and wears it almost everywhere, except when he’s sleeping. He thinks it makes him look dramatic and you will see him constantly swishing and flicking it during this story.

DAYFRY: The Hummingbird, Leader, and Peacemaker

Love Years: 1989, 1996, 2003, 2010, 2017; Fairy New Year starts March 15th)

Mastery: Love, balance, loyalty, duty, politeness, gentleness, sacrifice, honor

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Unreality (The Hocus Poconos)

Preferred Favor: Amethyst ring, usually worn on left middle finger

Modern Medium: None (Would probably be Anti-Kanin (Caden))

Overview: Dayfry is the King Solomon archetype- the wise leader of the zodiac spirits… or at least that’s what he tries to be. In reality, he’s a social creature who loves getting his family together to play games and enjoy the holidays. He tries to balance them all out by rushing around and soothing everyone, and keeping them from strangling one another.

All the zodiac spirits gave their names to the day of the week they were imprisoned in their Temple. Coincidentally, they were all imprisoned on different days, in the order of their birth. Wow! Amazing mythology coincidence! Dayfry, of course, gave his name to Friday. Friday is the first day of the week in the Fairy calendar. The work day starts Friday afternoon, and it goes until Wednesday afternoon. People get Thursday off, since the Big Wand gets recharged on Friday morning as we learned in “The Big Fairy Share Scare”, so obviously it must be running at its dregs on Thursday, and people don’t want to use magic or go out and about too much. Friday is a late start day every week. Nice. Additionally, Friday the 13th obviously occurs on Friday. Thus, Dayfry is a very respected deity in Anti-Fairy culture.

Because of this, Dayfry doesn’t get out much. He may be social with his brothers, but he’s shy around mortals because he’s a huge celebrity. Also, he doesn’t like kiff-tying much. I’m sure he’s done it with a host before, but it’s just not interesting to him. We’ll only see him once in Knots, briefly, when he arrives to visit at the new Water Temple with all his brothers before it gets consecrated with Anti-Cosmo’s blood.

As previously mentioned, Dayfry is the only child Tarrow had with the Hocus Poconos, and is his dad’s obvious favorite. He’s present in spirit at a lot of ceremonial events, but he likes to stay out of the limelight. Like I said, shy celebrity archetype.

Note that Munn is the spirit of kindness and caring for others, whereas Dayfry is more the spirit of acting professional even when you have to work with someone you don’t like. Dayfry is the spirit of swallowing your pride “for the greater good”, of loving the people and prizing the community as a whole above yourself. Additionally, Dayfry is more the spirit of thoughtfulness and wisdom whereas Sunnie is education, logic, and hard facts.

Everyone is always shocked to hear that Dayfry is single and possibly aromantic asexual. But, well. Spirit of youth and virginity, I guess. I figured that a spirit of Love should either be completely asexual or completely pansexual, and since we’ve already got Tarrow running around… yeah, I went with asexual. Also, he’s purple. That’s obvious. He’s the spirit of balance, after all, so it just makes sense that if all his brothers are paired up, he just hangs out by himself as the odd one out. Not that he really minds. You could say that he gave his gift of love to mortals.

Temple: High South (Navy) Region - Plane 4 - Crowfeld, Anti-Fairy World

The Love Temple isn’t far inside the border of Anti-Fairy World, as it’s one of the places that non-Zodii Fairies frequently visit too. It’s actually the church-like building where Cosmo and Wanda were married as we saw in “School’s Out: The Musical”. I mean, come on, guys. It’s purple and people get married there. That was obvious.

Dayfry’s Temple is mostly your stereotypical place of worship. It’s a reverent, quiet area that allows peace and self-reflection and whatnot. It’s shaped like a circle and his echo chamber is in the very middle of it.

Bonds:

Dayfry is on decent terms with all his brothers. They mutually respect him. As the spirit of Balance, he has healthy purple bonds with all of them. However, he has no interest in kiff-tying. He just kind of does his own thing.

SATURN: The Lizard, Warrior, and Team Dad

Fire Years: 1990, 1997, 2004, 2011, 2018

Mastery: Fire, energy, comfort, emotional strength, passion, family, justice

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Light (Prince Morn)

Preferred Favor: Ruby bracelet

Modern Medium: Anti-Julian (Electro) (Note- I pronounce his name with the ‘H’ sound. I… I don’t know. He’s just always been that way for me.)

Overview: Saturn is the energetic, passionate warrior always willing to take up arms and fight to defend his loved ones. If you mess with his family, you mess with him. He’s even willing to deliver the first blow if he suspects you might mess with his family, though he’s not quite as paranoid about everything as Sunnie is.

Saturn is short-tempered, but as the embodiment of Energy, he’s also super productive. This guy gets things done, and fast. Quality may be questionable sometimes. You can perhaps see why he doesn’t get along well with Twis, who prefers to take things slow and do them right. In mythology, Saturn is the guy who cuts corners, and always has to be humbled by going back and doing them over again more carefully. Though when he doesn’t want to, sometimes he gets frustrated enough to set things on fire. Obviously, when volcanoes erupt, Anti-Fairies panic that someone has horribly offended Saturn.

Saturn is also said to have created the first genies, on level with the creation of Adam and Eve. These genies are called Asja and Galeras, and were mentioned in THIS post awhile back. As a genie breeder, Anti-Cosmo obviously has an interest in Saturn, and visits his Temple when facing major decisions regarding his genies.

So, Saturn is the warrior who cares deeply for his family. That’s probably his main personality trait: His passion. He stands up for what he loves and acts as a brave captain leading the armies of the nature spirits in battle in mythology. He’s easily irritated and revenge-seeking, definitely not someone you want to upset. He tends to devise sick and twisted tortures for those who offend him. He’s not exactly sly and subtle- he’s just the unstoppable, terrifying force, and if you engage him in battle, you will almost certainly lose.

However, he’s not so hot-headed that he’ll forgo logic to fight you. His military training always takes priority. Saturn isn’t the rash enemy who charges you when he’s taunted. He’s the brilliant battle captain who will organize his troops, calculate your weak points, and destroy you. He relies heavily on his faithful strategist, Sunnie, to help him organize his forces, although Sunnie usually tries to calculate plans that result in the least amount of people getting hurt, whereas Saturn is the guy who does care about casualties, but considers them a necessary evil to be sacrificed to win the war if need be.

Previously, I pointed out that the Fairykind don’t have important beliefs about solar or lunar eclipses, because they can’t see those events from the cloudlands. Though, they do have the Fairy-Clipse. Anyway, it seems appropriate to state this again seeing as Saturn is the child of the sun / light / day god and Munn the child of the moon / dark / night goddess. There aren’t any myths about Saturn, Munn, or their parents in regards to solar or lunar eclipses.

Temple: Far West (Maroon) Region - Plane 6 - Shadeblink, Anti-Fairy World

The Fire Temple is shaped like a chocolate chip. It’s all black, smooth, and shiny, with colorful windows where different flames burn behind the glass. There’s a transparent column in the center of the Temple where waves of fire flicker from the bottom and head up towards the top, and burst out occasionally like a colorful volcano. The echo chamber is at the base of this column (not transparent).

This Temple will most likely appear in Knots, probably more than once, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet.

Bonds: (Ordered from “best(?)” relationship to worst. Note that the Anti-Fairies took note of the bonds that the nature spirits share, and believe that similar relationships extend to those born in their year. For example, Saturn and Munn have a close bond, a “yellow” bond, so therefore they believe that Fire and Sky years are naturally compatible.)

Yellow - See Munn’s yellow section

Blue -See Sunnie’s blue section

Pink -See Winni’s pink section

Purple - See Thurmondo’s purple section

Green -See Twis’ yellow section

SUNNIE: The Turtle, Scholar, and Strategist

Water Years: 1991, 1998, 2005, 2012, 2019

Mastery: Water (+ ice), focus, tact, introspection, education, logic, tranquility

Parentage: Born of the tears of a god

Preferred Favor: Turquoise brooch, clasp, or badge

Modern Medium: Anti-Cosmo (Julius)

Overview: Sunnie is basically a self-serving conspiracy nut who takes advantage of Anti-Cosmo for his own gain, but only when he wants to. He doesn’t like going out of way for things like that. That’s wasted energy, and isn’t practical. It took he and Anti-Cosmo a while to warm up to each other, but they’re usually a good team who work well in sync, especially when studying and making plans. It’s just… they have opposite attitudes about a lot of things. Sunnie will always prioritize survival, especially of himself, whereas Anti-Cosmo prioritizes things like protecting or helping others, even if it puts him at risk.

Sunnie doesn’t really get the concept of honor, and will frequently take the coward’s way out by running off when things get tough. He doesn’t like to get involved, and when he does, it’s out of necessity. He can be very blunt and calculating, not afraid of stepping on people’s feelings in order to relay accurate information. However, he has low self-esteem and gets panicky and flustered in the face of criticism. He’s easily offended when holes in his plans are pointed out. He’s a scholar and a strategist. Book-smart, but not people-smart.

As previously mentioned, Sunnie is a strategist who puts his all into thinking, and so he’s also a very sore loser. While he doesn’t yell, he pouts and sulks a lot, and will often vent to Twis as Twis plows his fields. Captive audience, right? Sunnie is a complainer, but as a strategist, he does like to try and fix things. But only after complaining and sulking and having his feelings soothed. He likes having his back stroked and patted while he sprawls across your lap.

Sunnie is the scholar who loves to learn. He’s the guy you’d make offerings to when you have major exams coming up. He also has some stereotypical cat-like behaviors, such as sitting on your keyboard when he wants attention and knocking things off desks and cabinets just because he can. You can scold him, but he’ll give you that, “Try me” look and try to stare you down.

In addition to the liquid form of water, Sunnie is also the demigod of snow and ice. Technically he can also be the demigod of boiling water and steam, and he is, so long as we’re talking about steam from water. Fairies turn to dust and Anti-Fairies turn to smoke, but the nature spirits turn to steam. Sunnie has nothing to do with that.

Despite his sacred animal being the turtle, Sunnie is a very agile creature, and this gift extends to those who carry his favor. He’s quick on his toes and capable of rebounding off walls and ceilings with ease in a fight. One of the highlights of Anti-Wanda’s life is the time she convinced Anti-Cosmo to dress up as one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and take advantage of Sunnie’s agility field bonus. He denies this ever happened.

Temple: Central Star (Purple) Region - Plane 3 - Inkblot City, Pixie World

After H.P. knocked the old Water Temple down because of reasons, Sunnie’s bonds broke and he escaped. Anti-Cosmo chased him down and ordered H.P. to build Sunnie a new Temple. As such, the modern Water Temple was rebuilt in Pixie World, coincidentally also fulfilling the requirement of the law that in order to be legally called a city in the cloudlands, a place must have a Temple on the premises. Funny how things work out sometimes.

The modern Temple is square and very fancy. H.P. spared no expense, much to Anti-Cosmo’s horror at the over-the-top tackiness of the place. It makes its first (fully-built) appearance in “Sunnie Rise”.

The echo chamber is in the “undercloud” area, in the basement.

Bonds:

Yellow - See Twis’ yellow bond section

Blue - Saturn is Energy, Sunnie is Focus. Together, as Stone, they act as though hyped up on coffee and energy drinks.It’s worth pointing out that when I say, “as Stone”, we’re not talking about Gem-like fusion here. No. The Prince of Stone has two forms- either Saturn wearing Sunnie’s favor, or Sunnie wearing Saturn’s favor. It’s usually the first way around, Saturn being more dominant by nature. It’s the same title, even though the two are different.

The personality, mannerisms, agenda, and speech pattern of the more dominant spirit will remain intact, with just a bit of influence from the lesser spirit creeping in (for example, Sunnie’s agility bonus, or Saturn’s battle training); it’s not quite as harmonious a union as Gem fusion. It’s just one spirit borrowing the other one’s powers for a boost. The other spirit is essentially along for the ride, with no ability to control the body- they merely observe the outside world from a passive standpoint while the dominant spirit draws from their energy.

Basically, imagine Saturn wearing Sunnie’s brooch, his personality intact, but hyped up on energy drinks and with the grace of a dancer. The personality is the same, but the physical condition here (energy drink influence) and level of ability (agility) are different. The Prince of Stone will work ceaselessly on whatever task you set him too, usually without getting too distracted.

And of course, when they come apart (the more dominant spirit takes off the less dominant one’s favor), the less dominant spirit will be “pregnant” for about thirty seconds before giving birth to - you guessed it - a spirit of Stone with a personality and interests similar to whatever was just going on with its “parents”. The title of prince is reserved purely for when two demigods wear each other’s favors, though, and isn’t passed on to the energy manifestation. The “child” is simply called a minor spirit of Stone.

Pink - See Thurmondo’s pink section

Purple - See Munn’s purple section

Green - See Winni’s green section

MUNN: The Albatross, Prankster, and Traveler

Sky Years: 1992, 1999, 2006, 2013, 2020

Mastery: Sky, acceptance, compassion, hope, faith, cheer, speed, safe travel

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Dark (Princess Eve)

Preferred Favor: Sapphire piercings (usually earrings), but for those uncomfortable with piercings, his favor can even manifest as headphones

Modern Medium: Anti-Wanda (Venus)

Overview: Munn has a cheery disposition, quick to joke and look at the bright side, though he does have his nervous moments. However, he would rarely be described as “sad”. He gets disappointed at times, but he usually shakes those feelings off without dwelling on them much. He’s just a naturally happy guy, even in very stressful situations.

Munn plays the antagonistic role in much of Anti-Fairy mythology, as he’s viewed as a prankster who often taunts other spirits and creatures and gets into trouble. As the spirit of compassion, he’s a bit backwards in Anti-Fairy society. Anti-Fairies are often kind towards each other because they’re a social species who gather in colonies, but Munn takes things too far by suggesting they make friends even with people who have wronged them, like the Fairies. Gross.

As I mentioned, his prankster nature tends to get him into trouble. He’s a spirit of scouting, stealth, and the arts of escape, and loves to learn people’s secrets. He’s not the blabbermouth that Winni is, though they have been known to team up on occasion to gather information (and do things like set up the Wind Wand on the blue moon in the Vegon system while embodying the Prince of Wind).

Munn may play the antagonistic role in much of Anti-Fairy myth, but he’s still a very nice guy. He just gets excited and puts silly plans into action that usually result in stealing someone’s sacred item and realizing as he runs off with it that yeah, he probably shouldn’t have done that. His brothers generally catch and scold him, and he gets punished for his offenses, but no one’s ever upset enough with him that they would go as far as destroying his Temple and then hunting him down and killing him. They’re still family, after all.

Still, Munn’s adventures aren’t limited to the zodiac spirits, and he appears in mythology as the guy who pulls crazy stunts such as taunting Death and opening the gates of the spirit world into the living realm. Munn is the guy who would stumble across an ancient scroll about how to resurrect the dead and then follow it because, “That would be hilarious if this actually worked”. But, being Munn, he’ll probably mix at least one of the ingredients up, and end up with more than he bargained for.

Sometimes he tries to solve problems on his own, though most of the time when he knows he’s in trouble, he’ll flee to Saturn for protection, to which Saturn’s deadpan response when his half-brother comes skidding in is, “What stupid thing did you do this time?” But, those two are very close. Most people don’t like to mess with Saturn, and will let Munn off with a warning. Most of Munn’s punishments involve Munn helping to clean up the mess he made and return anything he may have stolen, and grovel his apologies. Saturn lets them do that. He just doesn’t like people hurting his family and will step in if they’re punishments entail lots of violence, is all.

Munn is also the demigod of fast, safe, and enjoyable travel, and the guy you would want to make an offering to, perhaps along with a copy of your planned route, if you’re seeking his blessing before a journey. His field bonus is Speed. Anti-Wanda, you see, was a brilliant choice for the Anti-Fairy to sprint during the Fairy World Games. Munn’s speed bonus extends much more to flying than it does to the ground, but Anti-Wanda is still a fast little gal.

Temple: Far East (Pink) Region - Plane 7 - Comet Falls, Fairy World

The Sky Temple is hardly the place you think of first when you think “temple”. Munn cares less about being worshiped directly than he does making people happy and enjoying himself. His place tends to be a wild party all the time, and a lot of sketchy things go on here. Comet Falls is a party town as it is- it’s the place where they had the clock tower that we saw in “School’s Out: The Musical”, when all the godparents were thrilled about the change of the season for their godkids. Anti-Wanda has been able to navigate it without getting into too much trouble, though.

The echo chamber is in the upper, dome-shaped part of the building. The Sky Temple is not scheduled to make any appearances at this time, though I have a loose Prompt about Anti-Wanda planned that will probably end up there.

Bonds:

Yellow - Saturn is Energy, Munn is Acceptance. Together, as Lightning, they are the embodiment of fun and new discovery in a relationship, and their bond is viewed as one of pleasure, exploration, playfulness, excitement, and perhaps a bit of lust. Together they’re seen as spirits who represent the honeymoon phase of a relationship.

Blue -See Winni’s blue section

Pink -See Twis’ pink section

Purple - Sunnie is Focus. As Cloud, they embody everything between playful teasing and deadpan sarcasm. You basically get Sunnie with speed powers and punk piercings, never missing a beat as he roasts you. It’s worth noting that Anti-Wanda carries Munn’s favor and Anti-Cosmo carries Sunnie’s, so these two could take on their Prince of Cloud state every time their hosts decide to be intimate.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, this is the joke from that one Inktober piece I drew about Foop saying he just got “the talk about where clouds come from” as he stares accusingly at his parents. It’s also a very funny joke about the giant cloud that accompanied Foop’s birth.

Green - See Thurmondo’s green section

TWIS: The Donkey, Farmer, and Merchant

Soil Years: 1993, 2000, 2007, 2014, 2021

Mastery: Soil, dedication, work, ambition, planning, harvest, physical strength

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Some random gravity spirit Tarrow took an interest in, but whom Twis never really knew seeing as he was abandoned after

Preferred Favor: Thick brown belt with a citrine buckle

Modern Medium: None

Overview: Twis is the “solid as a rock” archetype in Anti-Fairy myth, stubborn and proud. He’ll usually be polite, if a bit gruff, unless you offend him, in which case he’ll probably leave and not come back. He holds long grudges, even if he doesn’t act on them quite as much as Saturn. For the most part, Sunnie is the only one who can sway his mind when he’s being an especially irritable grump.

He’s a dedicated worker who doesn’t cut corners and will get the job done and get it done well, but at his own pace. Don’t rush him. He hates to be rushed. He doesn’t like criticism, or people in general, and is reluctant to reveal himself to anyone of less authority than a High Count or High Countess born in the Soil year. With exception of relying on the sunlight and water to grow crops, he prefers to work alone and will be extremely frustrated if you try to help but you don’t measure up to his standards. He doesn’t see working with young kids as a way of teaching or bonding with them, and instead will send them off anywhere to get them out of his way. He takes pride in his work and doesn’t like it when his stuff is messed with.

Twis is the spirit of harvest too. He works in tandem with Sunnie to grow crops. He’s also a spirit of bartering, as Anti-Fairies believe that all land has life which is represented by a spirit bear. Twis, then, is the helpful spirit who carries messages to the spirit bears if someone is too embarrassed to pray to them directly. He’s the spirit who gives you strength to stand in front of a crowd, even if Winni is the spirit of communication and memory who helps you find your words and speak clearly.

Twis recognizes what people want and is always willing to put forth the effort to ensure all parties are happy. He’s the merchant spirit who is there when you strike up deals in the marketplace. He’s the careful planner who is there when you are struggling with funds and trying to stick to your budget. He’s a spirit of making deals and keeping loyal to your promises above all else. If you remember, H.P. was born in a Soil year. I think that’s fitting for the Head Pixie.

However, while Twis may be a spirit of work, budgets, and planning, he’s not so much a spirit of charity. He’s very much the ant in “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, a believer that you reap what you sow. He doesn’t enjoy straying from his plans or making sacrifices for someone he can’t prove has put forth their best effort. Of course, he doesn’t like watching these people work either, because he has things to do, nor does he like them working with him. It’s a complicated feeling. The guy just doesn’t like social interaction much, and only Sunnie seems really able to get through to him. Even that’s because Sunnie is helpful and practical, and emotionally distant.

You would think he would be a brony or something, having an affiliation with equines and all, but ain’t nobody got time for that when they live in a paradise with temperate climates year-round. There’s so much to plant and harvest! Also did I mention that he will completely work himself to exhaustion, because he will.

Temple: Lower East (Teal) Region - Plane 5 - Mudhale

The Soil Temple is built straight into a mountain, and it’s the entrance to many cave systems throughout Anti-Fairy World. It collapsed during the early years of the War of the Sunset Divide. H.P. was actually born in the year it collapsed, which is appropriately named the Year of the Fallen Mountain.

After the war, the Temple was restored to its former state. It’s in the same location and is more stable and less likely to collapse now. The echo chamber is deep in the back, among caverns of glowing mushrooms and interesting fauna. Twis doesn’t like visitors and wanted his chamber out of the way.

H.P. and Anti-Cosmo visit the Soil Temple in “Dust to Dirt”.

Bonds:

Yellow - Sunnie is Focus and Twis is Devotion. Together, as Mud, they are the embodiment of loyalty in a relationship, and their bond is viewed as one of tenderness, sweetness, warmth, and pure affection. Together they’re seen as spirits who represent companionate love (the post-honeymoon phase of a long-term relationship).

Blue - See Thurmondo’s blue section

Pink - Munn is Acceptance. As Sand, they embody peace and friendship.

Purple - See Winni’s purple section

Green - Saturn is Energy. As Ash, they embody instability and resistance. Saturn is a creature of passion, and Twis isn’t much for emotions. Saturn likes to rush, Twis likes to take things slow. Twis sees Saturn as sloppy, and Saturn sees Twis as slow. They wouldn’t kiff-tie willingly unless there was a huge emergency. They just don’t get along.

WINNI: The Leopard, Teacher, and Healer

Breath Years: 1994, 2001, 2008, 2015, 2022

Mastery: Breath, communication, health, teaching, sewing, rest, self-care

(Note: Anti-Fairies don’t believe in medicine, because it doesn’t work on them like it works on Fairies. They believe in either praying for miracles or in herbal remedies to soothe pain even if they don’t cure sickness. So instead of being the “spirit of medicine”, they consider Winni the spirit of “remedies”.)

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Life (The Cycling Hen)

Preferred Favor: Beryl button or pin (Anti-Bryndin wears the button on his scarf, Foop / Hiccup would wear it on a vest or coat were they to take Winni’s favor)

Modern Medium: None (Anti-Bryndin hosts him in Knots)

Overview: Winni is the neat-freak homemaker of the family, who cleans his echo chamber obsessively. Between his nosiness, big mouth, his obsession with cleanliness, and living in a very frequented Temple, he’s the most likely to manifest himself, but you’ll probably get a tongue bath or preening in the process. For someone who so despises dirt, it’s a little surprising that he gets along much better with Twis than he does with Sunnie. Then again, it’s mostly Sunnie that finds Winni annoying rather than the other way around. Winni is still somewhat young for a spirit, and looks up to his elder half-brothers greatly.

Even so, Winni embodies the bossy mentor archetype. What he wants done, he wants done his way, and soon. He’s a bit of a jack-of-all trades, which means that many things come easily to him, which means he struggles to understand why other people can’t seem to measure up to his standards. Though he easily gets frustrated, he tries his best to shrug things off, put on a happy smile, and once again go over his instructions in careful detail. He doesn’t mind repeating himself, but he does get upset if you don’t want to listen to him.

As the spirit of medicine and herbal remedies, Winni obviously knows what he’s doing there. However, he has his set mindset about what helps what, and isn’t good at keeping up with the allergies of individuals, or even noticing if he’s just given them a deadly poison that wouldn’t kill a nature spirit. He means well.

Winni is basically the demigod of teamwork. Sunnie much prefers to work alone. Thus, the two of them are opposites, and because Anti-Cosmo plays on Sunnie’s team, Winni is a bit of an antagonist in Knots. Doesn’t help that he’s the spirit of Communication, and he’s a people-reader and a bit of a manipulator. He’s also horribly impatient, nosy as I mentioned, and a massive blabbermouth. In his free time, he enjoys all types of knitting, weaving, sewing, and embroidery. Most of the zodiac spirits prefer offerings of food, but Winni enjoys offerings of newspapers that keep him updated on the goings-on of the outside world, and he becomes super flattered if you make cross-stitches or sew plushies for him.

His inability to keep his mouth shut most of the time may have something to do with the fact that he screams every morning like a rooster, despite the fact that the rooster is Thurmondo’s sacred animal and Winni’s is the leopard. Maybe his mom and the little Leaves spirit rubbed off on him. The way I see it, Winni’s true form is actually heavily based off a rooster because of his mom, but because he spends so much time with Thurmondo, the rooster became associated with Thurmondo instead of him.

Temple: Lower West (Green) Region - Plane 3 - Godscress, Fairy World

The Breath Temple is also known by the name Temple of Healing. It’s a place of rest and strengthening, and rapidly speeds up the healing rate of all inside it- especially for magical creatures like the Fairykind. It contains a magical fountain, because in addition to being Populous trash, I am also confirmed Age of Mythology trash and I had to reference the Healing Spring.

Winni’s echo chamber is in the middle of the giant fountain. It’s like a volcano, but with healing water.

Bonds:

Yellow - See Thurmondo’s yellow section

Blue - Munn is Acceptance. As Wind, they embody politeness and structure.

Pink - Saturn is Energy. As Lava, they embody laughter and joy.

Purple - Twis is Devotion. As Roots, they embody oaths and fierce loyalty.

Green - Sunnie is Focus. As Blood, they embody sorrow and anxiety.

THURMONDO: The Rooster, Inventor, and Caretaker

Leaves Years: 1995, 2002, 2009, 2016, 2023

Parentage: Reality (Tarrow) x Death (The Grim Reaper)

Mastery: Leaves, curiosity, courage, initiative, understanding, mercy, humility

Preferred Favor: Jade circlet or tiara, usually of overlapping metal leaves

Modern Medium: Anti-Kyler (Rufus)

Overview: Thurmondo is absentminded, tending to get lost in his own thoughts as he thinks up new inventions, or wanders off after an interesting falling leaf. He’s the type who doesn’t mind being alone to work, though he does love people, and talking to them, as he finds them fascinating and loves to hear stories. He’s generally low-maintenance, though he’s nitpicky about special ceremonies and insulted when they aren’t done to his specifications.

Namely, Thurmondo knows his place as the youngest and submissive. He and those born in his zodiac are often followers rather than leaders. A stickler for tradition, Thurmondo becomes upset when, for example, someone born in his year attempts to lead someone of another zodiac through a ceremonial dance. Traditions like that. He’s paranoid about getting in the way and a bit superstitious that if doesn’t play his part, order and structure will collapse.

He has a shy nature, though if pushed far enough, he will make an effort to stand up for himself. Of course, the results of that effort depend on the reaction of whomever he’s standing up to. Thurmondo has a brave heart, but also a humble one, which can lead him to second-guess himself. This prevents him from rushing into battle like hot-headed Saturn, but the more Thurmondo starts to second-guess himself, the more nervous he becomes.

He used to be bolder in his younger years, but Winni’s really done a number on him; now, Thurmondo is viewed as more of an awkward and cowardly spirit than the clever inventor he once was. He still picks at his projects, but he doesn’t spend as much time on his research as he’d like to. His 24/7 relationship with Winni keeps his mind pretty busy. He’s easily distracted and can’t split his attention between separate tasks like Sunnie can.

Thurmondo may not be the one you would seek out for advice most of the time, but he would be the one you pray to when you don’t think you can go on any longer, especially when in unpleasant circumstances like abusive relationships (not even romantic ones necessarily). Thurmondo is the spirit of pulling through, the one who wants you to succeed and escape even if he can’t.

I wrote a potential Prompt about him and Winni, but because of the nature of abuse and coercion, I’m still deciding if I ever want to share it. If I do, it will be towards the end of the project, where only those with the determination to make it through the rest are likely to find it.

He’s basically given birth zillions of time and has oodles of children. The little guys never seem to last long, though. They often get… eaten.

Temple: High North (Blue) Region - Plane 4 - Near the FGP, Fairy World

The Leaves Temple is a quiet museum at its back, and the area at the front is full of puzzles, games, toys, and stuff to experiment and play with. Lots of fun for kids. the echo chamber is on the top floor.

Thurmondo’s Temple first appears in the distance during “Cotton Candy Oatmeal”, and is later visited in “Letters and Numbers”.

Bonds:

Yellow - Winni is Communication and Thurmondo is Curiosity. Thurmondo is also the spirit of change, especially the seasons. His spring form is one of innocence and discovery, of tentativeness and losing virginity. His summer form is one full of passion and delight. His autumn form is one of uncertainty, shame, passive-aggression, and reluctance. Finally, his winter form is one of fear and struggle, the relationship between him and Winni a drastic power imbalance of lust and abuse. Every winter, Thurmondo swears he’ll keep his memories and remember what Winni is like in winter and avoid falling back into his trap, but he loses his memories on March 14th every year, and with the new year, Winni patiently teaches him that he’s a nature spirit all over again.

Together, as Oxygen, they are the embodiment of uncertainty and hope in a relationship, and their bond is viewed as one of development, learning, realization, adaptation, and teamwork. It’s worth pointing out that from Winni’s perspective, the pair are literally creating oxygen when they’re together, so when Thurmondo resists him, Thurmondo is literally strangling people who need oxygen to breathe. Additionally, as a spirit with the ability to heal at an extremely rapid rate himself, Winni has some difficulty comprehending physical pain in others. Due to the oxygen thing, he’ll freak out when Thurmondo isn’t around, and is willing to use his powers of Communication for dirty manipulative tricks to make Thurmondo feel selfish and worthless when he wants to take a break.

Winni’s winter form has a better understanding that what he’s doing is wrong and might even feel guilty for it if you press him, though he’ll still shrug it off because he thinks he’s just doing his duty. In his autumn form, he is completely 100% convinced that he’s doing the right thing and that the people need them. In his spring form, like Thurmondo, he can also be viewed as a spirit of losing virginity, though he’s the “rite of passage” and “coming into adulthood” type of losing virginity as opposed to Thurmondo’s “wanting to give it to someone you love” or “the time just feels right”, because of course he is.

Together they’re seen as spirits who represent staying together out of necessity for the benefit of their children. Abusive relationships aren’t good from a human point of view, but for Anti-Fairies, who end up in relationships with those their counterparts do, it’s comforting to know that Thurmondo is sticking it out. When they remember the abuse Thurmondo takes from Winni every winter, suddenly the faults in their own partner don’t seem so bad.

Blue - Twis is Devotion. The weirdest thing is, Thurmondo’s field bonus is Copycat. Despite being the automatically submissive spirit, he actually can influence the mindset of those he kiff-ties with. As the Prince of Mulch, Twis’ Devotion combined with Thurmondo’s Curiosity would give you Twis’ body and personality, but instead of being devoted to farming, Twis would suddenly find himself super interested in Thurmondo’s inventions and research projects. Good luck dragging him away from those.

Pink - Sunnie is Focus. Again, Thurmondo has the power to influence the spirit in control, though whether he knows he’s doing it or not is up to debate. The Prince of Dew will lose Thurmondo’s spaciness, and is instead a brilliant mastermind who will rapidly learn anything and everything about whatever you give him to study.

Purple - Saturn is Energy. The Prince of Nitrogen is fast and furious, easily distracted, and prone to running off after anything that catches his attention and tackling it into submission. He’s super touchy-feely and will poke your face.

Green - Munn is Acceptance, but he’s also the spirit of compassion. Munn is a spirit of consent and joy, and when he and Thurmondo aren’t kiff-tied, he views his youngest half-brother in his hormonal summer form. However, when they are together, the Prince of Fungus gets slammed with all of Thurmondo’s burdens and self-doubts, and becomes overwhelmed with grief and shame. Munn doesn’t know how to deal with Thurmondo’s emotions, so the Prince of Fungus shuts down, withdrawing into himself and being mostly unresponsive, apart from the occasional snarky comment. He’s not too helpful and has a scathing outlook on the world at all times.

It’s super rare for Thurmondo to kiff-tie with other nature spirits, though, considering the hold Winni has on him. I can’t imagine any situation in my works when it would come up. Thurmondo’s fate is pretty set, and this post is simply here for you to think about the different possibilities that could result. But you shouldn’t really expect to see them in practice.

Here’s an overview zodiac kiff-tie chart. The background color of each box shows the color of the bond. The color of the text is the default dominant spirit.

There you go! That basically covers everything you could possibly need to know about the zodiac spirits! Whom you won’t be seeing until like Act 3, but okay, you do your thing and I’ll do mine.

#asks #Anon #ridwriting #FAIRIES!#Tiny Love prince #Fire lizard prince #Water genie prince #Sky monkey prince #Soil centaur prince #Breath moose prince #Chained Leaves prince #Frayed Knots #Bat cube and associates #The bat with the hat #The best bat queen #Nerdy blue bat son #Origin of the Pixies #Nature spirit ref #Long post

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