#and my own thoughts on ethnicity and race in the fantasy genre | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragons-homebrew-hoard · 9 months

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One of my friends and players just brought something up to me that I think is a discussion that should be had and that is:

Should white people make ocs that are poc in ttrpgs

She sent me two ticktocks here and here where two poc talk about how it makes them uncomfortable when white people play as poc in ttrpgs and she was freaking out because her oc from the last 3-4 years in our campaign is mix raced. My friend is also mix raced but white passing and she was afraid she was offending people.

So, I just wanna give my perspective from observing this same discussion in other writing communities - because it is essentially the same discussion of whether or not white people can write poc in novels, video game, movies, etc because it all comes down to aesthetic appropriation.

Now, if any poc would like to add their own thoughts and experiences with this please do, your voices are much more important than mine - a white person - so I'm going to put my thoughts under a cut. I'm basically going to talk about my own observations within the fantasy genre as a whole when it comes to ethnicity and race and the patterns I've seen and how that translates into the ttrpg medium. Cheers :D

So, the main problem I've seen brought up when white people try to be inclusive by adding poc in their stories is that their inclusion stops at aesthetics. A poc is still written with the mindset of a white person. Changing the ethnicity of a character changes nothing about them and - many times - their ethnicity isn't even clear. They are south Asian but of which country? Which region? South Asians are an incredibly diverse ethnic group just like Afrians or Central/South Americans. If you can swap the ethnicity of a character without changing anything about them, then you aren't actually making good representation, you are doing the bare minimum of preventing an all white cast. It's 2023, we should hold ourselves and each other to higher standards.

Now, when it comes to fantasy stories, there is a bit of a problem. The worlds within fantasy settings become so much smaller because humans often share the setting with nonhumans such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc. This means humans are often turned into a european monolith - or something very close to it - while other real world ethnicities are shoved onto fantasy lineages (often times still flavors of european).

I dont think I need to point out why this is a problem. Humans continue using the aesthetics of nonwhite ethnicities but completely divorced of their culture and context. This is the definition of appropriation. I can think of dozens of fantasy stories from various mediums where there would be no change if a poc was white because their ethnicity has no impact on their characterization - as seen with various video game characters who's skin becomes lighter and lighter through every installment or has dark skinned concept art and a light skinned final product.

You want your fantasy setting to be a mixing pot of cultures and ethnicities? Ok, look at the US and how all of these different cultures remain intact even after generations. Yes, there is a level of assimilation but even fourth gen Mexican immigrants are still influenced their culture. Mix raced people have their own unique struggles and cultural experiences. Every country in the world has their own unique mixing pot of cultures and ethnicities. No country is a monolith as that would require committing cultural and/or ethnic genocide to everyone who does not fit the predestined mold.

A setting can have a mixing pot of cultures without racism or prejudice. You can have a human civilization that isn't a monolith. Don't be afraid to research different cultures to represent them with respect. Not only will it make your setting feel more immersive, it will give you a deeper understanding and respect for people irl.

It's always boggled my mind when people say irl race doesn't matter in fantasy then immediately turn around with fantasy racism like... seriously? The beauty of humanity is how diverse our cultures are and yet you'd rather dismiss this beauty over using the violence of prejudice and racism as cheap conflict in your story.

If you actually want to be inclusive in your fantasy stories, do research. Talk to poc of the ethnicity you are trying to represent.

If you are a player wanting to make an oc that is a different ethnicity than you - consider why? Does the character's physical appearance actually matter to their story? Are you willing to put in the work to represent this character's culture and respect the irl culture and people you are drawing from? Is this even your story to tell? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then maybe you should rethink some things.

I don't have the answer on whether or not white people should be allowed to make their oc a person of color but I think this question is indicative of a much larger problem within the fantasy genre of aesthetic appropriation and surface level representation of poc. I don't have any answers - other than put more effort into representing different ethnicities and cultures which its whole own can of worms- but its a conversation that should be had.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts and feel free to correct me or add your own experiences with this. I want to learn so I can write better representation in my stories and understand different perspectives better. Cheers :D

#dragon speaks #appropriation #dnd #pathfinder #ttrpg #we live in a society #i think about this often in my own writing #if a characters ethnicity doesn't impact their character at all then you are doing something wrong #either in the world building or characterization of your character #just like gender and disability/ability #you could be dismissive and think it doesnt affect your character #but it DOES #dismissing these elements as unimportant means you'll be using your own personal experience as the base line #which means your own experience biases will be all over your characters and world building #and the audience will be able to tell #long post #all of use have blind spots #being able to recognize this and work to over come these blind spots is important #and helps us grow as creatives and people #idk #when my friend asked me about this it just brought up a lot of what i was already struggling with in my own writing #and my own thoughts on ethnicity and race in the fantasy genre #and how ive been struggling with this idea in my own writing #making a setting feel immersive and alive means investing into the details #even if you are writing a story about a civilization of sentient bees #you need to keep in mind your own cultural biases #in everything #learning more about other peoples experiences and cultures and beliefes will make u a more rounded person in general #idk where im going im just rambling

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interact-if · 2 years

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And the next person for Religious Heritage Month,

Mako, author of The Shadowwalkers

The Shadowwalkers takes places in the Oath of the Landwalker universe, on the fringe of the action set in the main book series. Enschka is a large continent, surrounded on all sides by seas, oceans and mountain ranges that keep it away from the rest of the world. Home to six very distinct races, Enschka has been the theatre to a thousand-year war between the traditional and ritual-heavy Ahn’né people of the Dreaming Woods, and the Islander warrior culture of the J’kaï. Each of the remaining four races had to take sides in this sprawling conflict that affects the entire continent.

The people of Enschka wield a power that has many names, but is commonly referred to as The Particles. Each race is able to use and master it in their own ways, and they’ve built their strengths around the Particles. The Ahn’né call it irha, ‘the centre’, and those who become skilled in its use, irhamek, or masters of irha. Fighting in such a long-lasting war has made most of Enschka’s people into warriors and soldiers, and the Ahn’né youth is no exception.

You are an Ahn’né soldier, on your graduation day in the Military Academy of Ahn-Seriel, the capital city of the Dreaming Woods. Born in one of three ethnic groups, you belong to House Haravel, and during your time at the Academy, you showed such incredible skill that you gained the Queen’s Notice, a rare and incredibly high praise. That recognition won you something else, however: a space in the secret Ashto’ïreq Guild, the Guild of the Shadowwalkers.

Now a graduate of the Military Academy of Ahn-Seriel, and a secret member of the Ashto’ïreq, you are sent to the front on the Coast to fight against the J’kaï for the very first time in your life. You will survive, whatever the cost, and help your unit with the unique abilities of your Guild.

Meet your unit, build your squad, train and improve your skills, but remember to take some time to get to know the people you’re fighting alongside of. And if you happen to uncover a conspiracy that seems to span the entire continent of Enschka and run deeper than the secrets of your own Guild, well...

You’re the one in control here. Let’s see what choices you make.

• Read more about The Shadowwalkers here.

• Mako’s Ko-fi and Patreon.

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT]

Q1) Tell us about your project(s)!

My game is called The Shadowwalkers, it's a high-fantasy interactive fiction set in the world of The Oath of the Landwalker, which is a multimedia series I've been working on for over eight years. The main part of that project is a book series, which is nearly complete, and The Shadowwalkers happens in the same timeframe as the books. You play as an actual secondary character, though with a lot more options for customisation, as you're taken through a world where war and found families are core themes you'll have to deal with.

Q2) Why did you choose to write interactive fiction? What drew you to the format?

Like I mentioned, this is all part of a bigger project for me, one that means the world and that I've poured so much time and love into over the years. When I read my first interactive fiction a while back, I was completely taken aback by the format, having never encountered it before. I enjoyed it, but never thought about it twice. Then I read what is probably my favourite IF to date, a Tale of Crowns. I fell in love with the genre. I had been looking for a while now for a way to write more for my secondary characters, and instead of the novella I was planning, I went all in on this. The interactivity, the choices, the ability to build an experience rather than simply a narrative, was too good to pass up on. The Shadowwalkers was born.

Q3) How have your identity and beliefs influenced your work?

Oh Gods, heavily. The original book series in this universe is choke-full of references and hommages to my faith, from deity names to holidays and customs. So of course, since the IF happens in the same universe, those influences came with. In my religion, there is an enormous focus on nature and the trees in particular. The alphabet and language I invented for this series were inspired by the actual alphabet we use. I incorporated prayers and dedications, and many characters share beliefs and customs of my community. There is truly no way to experience The Oath of the Landwalker world and not have my religion mixed in.

Q4) What aspects would you like to be more explored or represented in media regarding your religion?

Well, I mean it's obvious that any representation would be nice, since we have close to none at present. What scares me, and honestly offends me a bit, is how often we're confused for Wicca, or even paganism in general. The first in particular is so offensive to me, because of how much the founders of Wicca actually stole from my people and my community. So I'd love if my religion and community could be represented with a bit more research, and not say we don't exist anymore and are a dead religion, or worse just paint us as backwards savages, or witches, or “trend-chasers” looking for the next cool thing when our families and communities have been in this religion and with these beliefs for thousands of years.

Q5) What are you most excited about sharing related to your project?

Honestly, all the worldbuilding work I've done over the years is paying off, the people who played the alpha of my demo all said the worldbuilding was their favourite part, so if I manage to release the demo this year, I'm so excited to share this with you. Hopefully I can also teach a little about this religion and this community that matters so much to me and share it with the incredible IF community.

Q6) A tiny bit unrelated, what's your favorite religious event?

Oh man, definitely Beltane. Though Candlelights is a close second. We actually celebrated Lugus' Feast a couple of days ago so I baked some bread and went out to harvest wheat and it was such a good time. But Beltane, oh my. It's probably our biggest celebration with the Three Nights of Samonios and the Summer Solstice. Before the pandemic, it was all ribbons and flowers and we celebrated the loving unions in our community, so handfastings and Bonding ceremonies and stuff. People going out into the night to make Beltane babies, dancing around the pole to wrap your ribbon around, cooking, so much cooking, singing, praying, it's so much fun.

Q7) Any thoughts or advice you'd like to give to fellow authors or readers?

You have so much to tell as an author that you never want to “kill your baby” as they say. I'd be a little less brutal. Learn how to trim. How to edit. Before leaving the house, always take one thing off. This is the best advice I could have received to mae these eight years into something shorter, with a finished story at the end.

Readers, diversify. You don't realise how deep you've gotten into your comfort zone before you learn that there's an IF author out there who's a Gaulish Polytheist. Who's Kurdish. Who writes about Polynesian gods, about polyamory, asexuality, myths and monsters you've never heard of, stories you've never been told. Look out for more, always. Learn to love what's different, it'll make you a better person, and you'll get so much more stuff to read.

#Religious Diversity Month #if: events #Religious Diversity #Religiously Diverse Authors #interactive fiction #interactive story #The Shadowwalkers

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buysomecheese · 1 year

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Having thoughts about the concepts of common sense, learned behaviors, and cultural norms; how different cultures, I’m sure, have varied definitions of each, and how even within any culture the definitions can be different based on generation, socio-economic status, and minority group (gender/sex, sexuality, race, ethnicity, neurotype, etc.)

A few articles (like the fun almost Buzzfeed type ones) gave examples of ‘common sense’ such as ‘‘don’t touch a hot stove’’ or “don’t walk in front of a car”- which are all technically learned behaviors. ‘Common sense’ feels like something that should be innate but a lot of the examples aren’t. Yes, keeping oneself out of danger is innate and a natural-instinct, but we’re not born knowing the specifics of that in this modern world. We don’t automatically know that getting hit by a car is fatal, or the way heat works and can be painful.

A lot of the other ‘common sense’ examples had to do with like “dressing formal at a job interview” and “knowing when to go to a doctor”, which are definitely very culturally-based. Even within different local communities, I’ve heard people in more rural places won’t go to the doctor until a limb is falling off or something, simply because it’s not convenient or worth it otherwise. Hell, it might be ‘common sense’ for someone who’s been verbally abused to understand love in contexts of insults, and that could be paralleled by so many other hyper-specific situations surrounding the way that a child grew up!

So if all ‘common sense’ is a learned behavior, and is so dependent on the backgrounds and experiences and teachers one has had in their life, why is it such a widely used concept? Clearly there’s no way to generalize it on a grand scale, not enough for it to be accurate or valid, just in a way that’s easy for people who would be inconvenienced by the questioning of their mindset.

And why would it be assumed that the only way to amass ‘common sense’ is through worldly experiences? Why would it be assumed that reading something from someone else’s perspective, even from a fictional standpoint, would not help broaden your own perspective? I was a constant reader in my childhood and that is where I learned/solidified a good portion of my empathy and morals. Honestly, I wish I would’ve read more varied books to expose myself to more perspectives, because I tend to stick with YA realistic fiction or fantasy, and there are a lot of overused tropes and plot lines in those genres.

But in comparing myself to someone who’s lived, say, 40 some years longer than I have but has read a fraction of the books, who surrounds herself with the same types of people over and over again when I actively seek out situations where I’ll be interacting with new demographics, who just accepts ‘social norms’ as the way they were when she was my age as opposed to trying to understand the way things are now, I would say I could be considered on the same level of ‘common sense’. I don’t care that your “IQ” is higher, in general that is a bullshit arbitrary system that just gives a sense of elitism to some, I know how to debate points and research as well as you. I know how to ask and talk to other people almost as well as you. I may not know as much about how the bank works but if I decided to, I could learn the whole history and create my own understanding that would make much more sense to anyone who asks me to explain instead of the “that’s just how it is” gospel you spew.

#you've cracked the code. all of this is a mommy issues rant disguised as philosophical wonderings #I was trying to discuss something related and she was refuting everything I said #turns out we were referencing different definitions. but she wouldn't listen to my definition (the one widely recognized by. everyone I know #)#but kept insisting that knowing how to make a bank statement for instance is 'common sense' best friend. no it is not.#that is not common sense. that *is* a life skill and something I need to learn but that's the thing. it is learned/#*.#I don't care HOW neurotypical you are. there's no way that comes 'naturally' to you. honestly if it came incredibly naturally like you-#-needed no teaching on the subject matter to write it yourself I'm willing to bet that YOU are Very neurodivergent because. c'mon now.#anyways #long post #vent #I would just love it if she'd actually #listen to what I say sometimes and give it some thought instead of automatically writing it off based on my age and autism.#and then insisting she doesn't think I'm dumb when she just said that in twice as many words.#whatever anyways she's narrow-minded #she's just a bit silly and old

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the-elemental-alchemist · 2 years

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💜Rules/Introduction🤍

“My foolish heart turns at the stars.”

⚠️WARNING⚠️: CONTENT AND OR RPs ON THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN DARK AND OR NSFW THEMES IN THE FUTURE. DONT INTERACT IF YOURE UNDER 18 OR UNCOMFORTABLE WITH STUFF LIKE THAT

Fullmetal Alchemist indie rp blog/side account for my oc/self insert, Julia and Envy(who i ship her with). This blog will consist of stuff from fmab and fma 2003. I’m pretty new to rping on tumblr/ rping in general so I would appreciate it if some people could show me the ropes. I would rather mainly rp with other Envy rpers, but other characters are welcome, just nothing sexual or suggestive with any fma characters who are under 18. I will be using both he/him and they/them pronouns when referring to or talking about envy.

(main account/admin: @strawberryraviegutz)

Basic rules apply to this blog such as;

🌸No bigoted or rude behavior in general is allowed here

🌸DO NOT or interact if you're under 18

🌸DO NOT interact if you support incest, pedophilia, minor x adult ships, ect.

🌸Must have age in bio

💜🌸🐇Oc Introduction🐇🌸🤍

Name: Julia Keirstien

Age: “24”

Height: 5’0

True age: Unknown(though much, MUCH older than 24)

Race/Ethnicity: Black

Species: Half human half homunculus hybrid

Powers/abilities: Elemental manipulation, telekinesis, healing/regeneration, immortality, performance of alchemy without a transmutation circle, increased strength and agility, can make her ouroboros tattoo disappear

Friends: Edward Elric, Alphonse(who are also like kid brothers/younger siblings to her. Same goes for Winry and Mei Chang), Riza, Sheska, Roy

(Main friend group: Sheska and Riza)

Alias:

The Elemental Alchemist

Occupation:

Freelance State Alchemist/Amestrian Citizen

Nicknames Envy gives her

Rabbit

The Rabbit

Cotton tail

Princess(Derogatory)

Bunny

Little Bunny

Little Rabbit

Brat

Bun-Bun

Bunny-Bitch

Dearest (sarcastically)

💗Likes💗

Sweets

Fantasy novels

Romance novels

Overall books in the fiction genre

The colors pink, purple, and white

Cute things

Helping others in need

Baking

Flowers

Art

Sleeping in

Tea

❌Dislikes❌

Injustice

Her past

Her biological parents

Accidentally upsetting/hurting people

Messing up

Awful/Mean people

Dead things

Being abandoned

Not being taken seriously

Being disregarded

Being harassed or chastised

Envy(at least she did at first)

Appearence

Julia is a short and petite woman. She has brown skin, icy blue eyes, and long wavy snow white white hair with two buns tied up on the sides of her head. She wears a long sleeved dress purple and black dress that goes down to just a liver keeps knees that is buttoned up by three gold buttons. She wears long white heeled boots with a yellow stripe going down the side, and wears two black fingerless gloves.

History(Backstory)

TW: CHILD ABUSE, DEATH, DOMESTIC ABUSE, BULLYING

Despite the fact that Julia is a homunculus, she was not actually created by Father(aka the dwarf in the flask). It was actually Julia’s own biological father that turned her into one. 154 years before the events of brotherhood, Julia was born into a royal family and the result of an arranged marriage between her mother and her father who was the ruler of the country they lived in.

Julia’s father was a very ruthless and strict man, doing everything he could to keep the amount of power/influence he had over his country and or other countries, even if it was through shady and corrupt means which was how their country was managed to be real advanced like Xerxes. While also being a king of some-sort, he was also what most would consider a mad scientist(or in this case alchemist). He dedicated his research of alchemy as a means to discover how to make his country’s and kingdom’s influence even more powerful.

He wanted to He wanted to obtain the power of the God him and his kingdom worshipped so he could gain more knowledge about the universe and to expand his empire and thought that he was worthy to be chosen by God to learn the secrets of the universe. Some of the corrupt priests were in on this plan as well because they wanted to do it “in the name of God/for God(aka truth but no one really knew what truth looks like.) Along with thinking that the colonization of other countries was good because it was “in the name of God”. And like most, alchemists wanted to know the key to the magnum opus and Rubedo to make the philosopher’s stone. A certain number of people every couple of years also started going missing. Julia’s father was of course behind it. He secretly would preform illegal an unethical experiments on the population of his country who were poor/lower class along with the lower clsss of the countries he’d colonized to further his research.

Julia unfortunately was not safe from her dad’s experiments. From a very young age, he basically treated her like property, forcing her to go through minor lab tests along with making her study A LOT to test her intelligence, and punished her with abuse if she did anything that he considered “out of line”. He basically forced her to learn how alchemy works, and while Julia was interested in learning alchemy, it felt like a chore learning due to the amount of pushing her father did.

He told her it was just to prepare her for greatness in his own twisted sense of love and that it was in the will of God. He also wanted to gain knowledge from God on how to make Julia was to make her a catalyst for the philosopher stone.To use her as a living weapon.

Whenever Julia would go out whether it be taking her to business meetings or parties/balls She stuck out like a sore thumb. She was mostly shy and quiet. Some of the higher class people and some of the priests thought that she wasn’t fit to rule the kingdom and their children thought the same as well. As a result Julia was not taken seriously by her peers. Despite being the daughter of the ruler of the country she lived in, no one ever stopped messing with her because of the fact that her father simply did not care.

This unfortunately however resulted in her being the target of ridicule. Despite being the daughter of the ruler of the country she lived in, no one ever stopped messing with her because of the fact that her father simply did not care.

He saw it as something to toughen her up and also only saw it as something to toughen her up when she would eventually meet God. It also didn’t help that some people hated Julia simply for the fact that her dad was an awful person and took it out on her. Julia’s mother was no better either. She was unfazed at the abuse her husband did to her daughter. She hated Julia’s father for the obvious reason that she was forced to marry him for political gain and the fact that she was being abused by him as well. She was kinder towards Julia back when she was an infant, but as the years went by, she began to grow a disdain towards her daughter.

Around the time when Julia was able to walk and talk better on her own, She started to act cold an uncaring towards her. Whenever Julia would try to get close to her mom or show her mom physical affection, she was either ignored or physically shoved away and or hit/slapped away. Julia never understood why her mother hated her so. That’s one of the main reasons why she hated her father. For making her own mother hate her. She also never really saw her mom all that much, though whenever she did, her mom would avoid her like the plague. She feared both of her parents due to all of this.

Julia often used fantasy and romance novels to escape her bleak reality. She often dreamed about the idea of falling in love with a prince of some sort that would treat her with care and rescue her from the hellish nightmare she called her life. And as if things couldn’t get any worse for Julia, at the mere age of eight, she was the victim of a lab accident that left her bed ridden for weeks. The accident caused her once black hair to turn a ghostly white and her brown eyes an icy blue.

When she was able to go out again, the ridicule much worse due to her newfound appearance. She was called names like “witch”, “white haired witch” and “ghost girl”. Julia’s new look also caused her mom to view her as some sort of evil deity/spirit that had come to kill her. A bad omen. All of this obviously broke Julia even more. When Julia was around nine, she found her mom trying to escape one night when everyone else in the mansion was asleep. Just before she could leave, Julia grabbed onto her.

She begged and pleaded with tears in her eyes for her mom to take her with her and away from that monster she called a father. Though of course like all the other times whenever she got physically close to her mom, she was denied. She was kicked off of her mom, and her mother told Julia straight to her face that she was the worst thing that had ever happened to her next to her father and how she wanted nothing to do with her father or her ever again and called her daughter an abomination. After that, she escaped into the night. A month after what happened that night, Julia’s mother was eventually found and taken back to her dad after a search all over the country was sent out for her.

She had been having an affair with another man and they had planned to flee the country and start a new life together. Her father was of course enraged when he found out about this. And as a result he killed her. Julia was in the room when it all happened meaning she’d witnessed her dad murder her mom right in front of her. The very last words Julia’s mom said to her and her dad was,

“You bastard…I hate you! Both of you! Especially you, you little shit! You unclean abomination! You ruined any chance I had at happiness, I curse the very day I forced you out of my womb! If only… if only you hadn’t been born I could’ve been happy… I hope you suffer a fate far worse than death.”

And then she was shot in the head and died instantly as a result. Her death was covered up as a suicide, and the man she had an affair with was publicly executed for committing “treason”. As the years went by, Julia’s view on humanity became a bit skewered. She viewed all people as selfish and cruel with no empathy left in them. Though despite having this mindset, the other half of her clung onto hope. Hope that there were good people out there. Hope that things would be better.

During Julia’s late teenage years, her father was starting to make what he considered a “breakthrough” in his research. That being he finally figured out how to make a philosopher stone and how to open the gate of God(or truth). He planned out how to do the transmutation throughly. On the day it would be enacted,it was going to be disguised as a ceremony to the kingdom. A country wide celebration with festivals and all sort of festivities. It was called The Day of Prosperity and it would take place a couple of weeks after Julia’s twenty first birthday. Though unknowingly, this would lead to his downfall of not just himself, but the entire kingdom and country as a whole.

In the months leading up to that day, the necessary amount of crests were made made from certain pinpoints using the countries he’d colonized in which some people in said countries were slaughtered for the plan organized by the corrupt priests for once again “in the name of God”. Julia’s father already viewed the countries he had colonized to be uncouth and thought it was necessary to convert them to his beliefs. It was no different from when he slaughtered the people in the countries he waged for war on that he was colonizing way before the plan.

Weeks after Julia’s twenty first birthday she was tested on her knowledge on alchemy, in which she passed of course. Julia herself had a bad feeling about what was happening. Something didn’t feel right to her. And for good reason.

On the day of prosperity, Julia woke up on the floor of the throne room of her home with her arms and legs cuffed together. She was in the center of a giant transmutation circle on the floor with her father standing in the center right next to her. Julia asked him what the hell was going on, and he responded by saying that this was the greatness he’s prepared her for her whole life along with him finally finding a way to gain the power of God.

Julia still not knowing what was going to happen to her tried to struggle and free herself but it was no use. She couldn’t transmute anything to free herself not only because she was bound, but the shackles she was bound in were special alchemy cuffs that prevented her from performing any sort of alchemy, so she was trapped. Julia’s dad used his own blood along with Julia’s and smeared it on the circle.

Long story short when the circle was activated, the process was basically kinda like how Hoenheihm became immortal(minus the dwarf in the flask). He had opened the gate. Billions of people died all over the country, and the entire country’s souls were transformed into the philosophers stone and the stone’s energy that was then fused inside of Julia’s heart.(though her father did not. Truth sent her dad into the gate for his crimes for not only trying to do human transmutation in reverse, but also for the horrible things he’d done to others in the name of Truth even though Truth never stood for any of Julia’s father’s corrupt beliefs at all). Everything for Julia went black. And then a moment later she woke up infront of the gate and saw Truth. Julia was basically on the verge of death, and because it clearly wasn’t Julia’s fault, Truth decided to give her a second chance at life, but she had to give up part of her humanity in return due to the law of equivalent exchange.

Julia was hesitant at first, but she didn’t want to die. Especially not like this, so she reluctantly agreed. When she woke up back in the living world she was back in the throne room next to the corpse of her father. Distraught, scared, and confused, she ran outside to discover that it was raining and saw the lifeless corpses of the country’s population that littered the ground.

Julia looked at her reflection in a nearby puddle and sow that she had strange red markings on her arms(though these red markings weren’t the red nodes that Lust, Envy, Greed, and the other Homunculi had). And to her horror she also saw that on her right shoulder where she was cut was completely healed and in its place was the mark of the ouroboros.

Julia knew what a homunculus was, and ike most alchemists or alchemists in training, she learned what a homunculus was back when she was learning and studying alchemy as a child. It was clear to her what the mark of the ouroboros that was now on her shoulder meant in that very moment.

She wasn’t human anymore.

She ran away and never looked back. She spent her now extended lifespan traveling to new places while also trying to find way to make herself human again. But after an entire decade of looking for answers, she was unsuccessful and had gave up. She also didn’t know how to control her newfound powers during that time, but luckily she eventually managed to do so and was even able to make her ouroboros tattoo disappear whenever she wanted to and the same went for those red markings. She decided to use her newfound powers to help people throughout her travels.

She kept her telekinesis on the down low, but she was able to disguise her elemental manipulation powers as alchemy since she was able to preform alchemy without a transmutation circle since she saw the gate.

After decades of traveling she decided to settle down in Amestris and live there. She applied to become a state alchemist(this was after the ishvalin war had ended btw) so that she could help others in that country as well. Julia easily got mistaken for an ishvalin due to her white hair and brown skin which she had to refute multiple times. It took a lot of hard work but she passed the entrance exam, though wasn’t assigned on military duty. She was basically assigned in a position in an agency to where her job was to take commissions from people who needed help with situations that only state alchemists could solve.

Her feelings towards the military were and are pretty mixed. On the other hand they were no different from the people from her homeland. Ruthless, cruel, and no empathy towards others. But on the other hand, she’s met some pretty decent people when working there. One of her very first friends she made while working there was Riza Hawkeye. And she eventually befriended Sheska as well.

She even had a bit of a crush on Roy Mustang at one point, but after she saw how close him and Riza were she decided to back off. But she eventually got over it(Roy sorta knew but didn’t bother to say anything). And she does eventually meet the other characters during the events of the anime like Ed, Alphonse, and yes, Envy.

In the fma 2003 universe everything is basically the same except the way she became a hybrid was due to her being half dead/on the verge of death(yes her dad basically nearly killed her for his own personal gain just and “in the name of God”like in the mangahood universe). Despite going through the gate, by some miracle she was still able to keep her soul(she was sorta able to do it through sheer willpower kinda like what Envy did when he went through the gate to get to our world so he could kill Hoenheihm.)Though in exchange the gate took part of her humanity away, which is how she was also able to become half

homunculus as well as the first homunculus to ever be able to perform alchemy before Wrath

And that concludes Julia’s introduction and backstory. I hope you guys enjoy rping or interacting with me in general.

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fishoutofcamelot · 4 years

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Zombie symbolism in media? Body snatchers? That sounds extremely interesting 👀👀👀

OOOOOOOOOOH ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO RANT? CUZ I’M GONNA RANT BABY. YALL WANNA SEE HOW HARD I CAN HYPERFIXATE???

I’ll leave my ramblings under the cut.

The Bodysnatchers thing is a bit quicker to explain so I’ll start with that. Basically, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released in 1956, about a small town where the people are slowly but surely replaced and replicated by emotionless hivemind pod aliens. It was a pretty obvious metaphor for the red scare and America’s fear of the ‘growing threat of communism’ invading their society. A communist could look like anyone and be anyone, after all.

Naturally, the bodysnatcher concept got rebooted a few times - Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1978), Body Snatchers (1993), and The Invasion (2007), just off the top of my head. You’re all probably very familiar with the core concept: people are slowly being replaced by foreign duplicates.

But while the monster has remained roughly the same, the theme has not. In earlier renditions, Bodysnatchers symbolized communism. But in later renditions, the narratives shifted to symbolize freedom of expression and individualism - that is, people’s ability to express and think for themselves being taken away. That’s because freedom of thought/individuality is a much more pressing threat on our minds in the current climate. Most people aren’t scared of communists anymore, but we are scared of having our free will taken away from us.

The best indicator of the era in which a story is created is its villain. Stories written circa 9/11 have villains that are foreign, because foreign terrorism was a big fear in the early 2000s. In the past, villains were black people, because white people were racist (and still are, but more blatantly so in the past).

Alright, now for the fun part.

ZOMBIES

Although the concept has existed in Haitian voodooism for ages, the first instance of zombies in western fiction was a book called The Magic Island written by William Seabrook in 1929. Basically ol Seabrook took a trip to Haiti and saw all the slaves acting tired and ‘brutish’ and, having learned about the voodoo ‘zombi’, believed the slaves were zombies, and thus put them in his book.

The first zombie story in film was actually an adaptation of Seabrook’s accounts, called White Zombie (1932). It was about a couple who takes a trip to Haiti, only for the woman to be turned into a zombie and enchanted into being a Haitian’s romantic slave. SUPER racist, if you couldn’t tell, but not only does it reflect the state of entertainment of the era - Dracula and Frankenstein had both been released around the same time - but it also reflects American cultural fears. That is, the fear of white people losing their authoritative control over the world. White fright.

Naturally, the box office success of White Zombie inspired a whole bunch of other remakes and spinoffs in the newly minted zombie genre, most of them taking a similar Haitian voodoo approach. Within a decade, zombies had grown from an obscure bit of Haitian lore to a fully integrated part of American pop culture. Movies, songs, books, cocktails, etc.

But this was also a time for WWII to roll around and, much like the Bodysnatchers, zombie symbolism evolved to fit the times. Now zombies experienced a shift from white fright and ethnic spirituality to something a bit more secular. Now they were a product of foreign science created to perpetuate warmongering schemes. In King of Zombies (1941), a spy uses zombies to try and force a US Admiral to share his secrets. And Steve Sekely’s Revenge of the Zombies (1943) became the first instance of Nazi zombies.

Then came the atom bomb, and once more zombie symbolism shifted to fears of radiation and communism. The most on-the-nose example of this is Creature With the Atom Brain (1955).

Then came the Vietnam War, and people started fearing an uncontrollable, unconscionable military. In Night of the Living Dead (1968), zombies were caused by radiation from a space probe, combining both nuclear and space-race motifs, as well as a harsh government that would cause you just as much problems as the zombies. One could argue that the zombies in the Living Dead series represent military soldiers, or more likely the military-industrial complex as a whole, which is presented as mindless in its pursuit of violence.

The Living Dead series also introduced a new mainstay to the genre: guns. Military stuff. Fighting. Battle. And that became a major milestone in the evolution of zombie representation in media. This was only exacerbated by the political climate of the time. In the latter half of the 20th century, there were a lot of wars. Vietnam, Korea, Arab Spring, Bay of Pigs, America’s various invasions and attacks on Middle Eastern nations, etc. Naturally the public were concerned by all this fighting, and the nature of zombie fiction very much evolved to match this.

But the late 1900s weren’t just a place of war. They were also a place of increasing economic disparity and inequal wealth distribution. In the 70s and 80s, the wage gap widened astronomically, while consumerism remained steadily on the rise. And so, zombies symbolized something else: late-stage capitalism. Specifically, capitalist consumption - mindless consumption. For example, in Dawn of the Dead (1978), zombies attack a mall, and with it the hedonistic lifestyles of the people taking refuge there. This iteration props up zombies as the consumers, and it is their mindless consumption that causes the fall of the very system they were overindulging in.

Then there was the AIDS scare, and the zombie threat evolved to match something that we can all vibe with here in the time of COVID: contagion. Now the zombie condition was something you could get infected with and turn into. In a video game called Resident Evil (1996), the main antagonist was a pharmaceutical company called the Umbrella Corporation that’s been experimenting with viruses and bio-warfare. In 28 Days Later (2002), viral apes escape a research lab and infect an unsuspecting public.

Nowadays, zombies are a means of expressing our contemporary fears of apocalypse. It’s no secret that the world has been on the brink for a while now, and everyone is waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop. Post-apocalypse zombie movies act as simultaneous male power fantasy, expression of contemporary cynicism, an expression of war sentiments, and a product of the zombie’s storied symbolic history. People are no longer able to trust the government, and in many ways people have a hard time trusting each other, and this manifests as an every-man-for-himself survivalist narrative.

So why have zombies endured for so long, despite changing so much? Why are we so fascinated by them? Well, many say that it’s because zombies are a way for us to express our fears of apocalypse. Communism, radiation, contagion - these are all threats to the country’s wellbeing. Some might even say that zombies represent a threat to conversative America/white nationalism, what with the inclusion of voodooism, foreign entities, and late-stage capitalism being viewed as enemies.

Personally, I might partly agree with the conservative America thing, but I don’t think zombies exist to project our fears onto. That’s just how villains and monsters work in general. In fiction, the conflict’s stakes don’t hit home unless the villain is intimidating. The hero has to fight something scary for us to be invested in their struggles. But the definition of what makes something scary is different for every different generation and social group. Maybe that scary thing is foreign invaders, or illness, or losing a loved one, or a government takeover. As such, the stories of that era mold to fit the fears of that era. It’s why we see so many government conspiracy thrillers right now; it’s because we’re all afraid of the government and what it can do to us.

So if projecting societal fears onto the story’s villain is a commonplace practice, then what makes zombies so special? Why have they lasted so long and so prevalently? I would argue it’s because the concept of a zombie, at its core, plays at a long-standing American ideal: freedom.

Why did people migrate to the New World? Religious freedom. Why did we start the Revolutionary War and become our own country? Freedom from England’s authority. Why was the Civil War a thing? The south wanted freedom from the north - and in a remarkable display of irony, they wanted to use that freedom to oppress black people. Why are we so obsessed with capitalism? Economic freedom.

Look back at each symbolic iteration of the zombie. What’s the common thread? In the 20s/30s, it was about white fright. The fear that black people could rise up against them and take away their perceived ‘freedom’ (which was really just tyrannical authority, but whatever). During WWII, it was about foreign threats coming in and taking over our country. During Vietnam, it became about our military spinning out of control and hecking things up for the rest of us. In the 80s/90s, it was about capitalism turning us into mindless consumers. Then it was about plagues and hiveminds and the collapse of society as a whole, destroying everything we thought we knew and throwing our whole lives into disarray. In just about every symbolic iteration, freedom and power have been major elements under threat.

And even deeper than that, what is a zombie? It’s someone who, for whatever reason, is a mindlessly violent creature that cannot think beyond base animal impulses and a desire to consume flesh. You can no longer think for yourself. Everything that made you who you are is gone.

Becoming a zombie is the ultimate violation of someone’s personal freedom. And that terrifies Americans.

Although an interesting - and concerning - phenomenon is this new wave of wish fulfillment zombie-ism. You know, the gun-toting action movie hero who has the personality of soggy toast and a jaw so chiseled it could decapitate the undead. That violent survivalist notion of living off the grid and being a total badass all the while. It speaks to men who, for whatever reason, feel their masculinity and dominance is under threat. So they project their desires to compensate for their lack of masculine control onto zombie fiction, granting them personal freedom from obligations and expectations (and feminism) to live out their solo macho fantasies by engaging in low- to no-consequence combat. And in doing so, completely disregarding the fact that those same zombies were once people who cruelly had their freedom of self ripped away from them. Gaining their own freedom through the persecution of others (zombies). And if that doesn’t sum up the white conservative experience, I don’t know what does.

So yeah. That’s zombies, y’all.

Thanks for the ask!

#dude #film stuff is one of my main hyperfixations #but to be fair i have a lot of hyperfixations #why do you think this blog exists #ask #fish post

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purrincess-chat · 4 years

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4 and 15 please! 😊

4. What are some of your favorite tropes?

I'm a sucker for friends to lovers, slow burn, rivals/enemies to lovers. Hit me with that good shit. I've recently started reading a lot of my old books by Ally Carter (Heist Soceity, Gallagher Girls) and lemme tell you this woman is the master of slow burn. She builds intimacy and chemistry so well that 90% of the time when the love interests interact I'm like KISS DAMMIT but she makes you work for it and it's so worth it. She really represents what love is in a way that kind of negates the need for I love you. Characters take care of and protect each other. They worry for each other. They sacrifice for each other. The I love you is understood in every action. She is really good at show don't tell.

15. How do you name settings/characters?

Seeing as I was just doing this yesterday while repurposing some wips/ideas, I first come up with a basic image of what the character looks like. What color are their hair and eyes? What race or ethnicity are they? Are they short or tall? Then I think about their personality. Are they outgoing and cheerful? Sad and brooding? Snarky? Introverted? Geeky? Athletic? You get the idea.

Once I have a good handle on who they are and what they look like then I just search up names on google. If they're generic white bread I just google boy names or girl names. If they're from a different culture I'll shop around some more for a more fitting name. Just depends. But usually I just scroll around through names until I find one that feels like that character. I imagine the character being called by that name in different contexts (in an argument, in a soft tender moment, casually by friends, modified to a nickname, etc) and decide whether or not it fits the image in my head and the story being written.

A couple of my stories I was outlining yesterday were difficult and I haven't finished renaming characters yet because it requires a little more research into time periods or lore before I can appropriately name them.

Some characters I know right away what I want to name them, others take a while. Particularly if they're a different race or culture from my own because I want to ensure that the name is actually a legit name and not just a random ass word that no one from that culture would ever really use but a basic ass white person thought it sounded cool and liked that it meant sunflower or some shit.

So, examples from yesterday I'm repurposing my fantasy AU that is a series of short stories (some I've already started or written) and I was specifically redesigning Marinette and mer!chat yesterday. So the characters I came up with to replace them are similar in that I left them physically kind of the same. The girl is still Asian (although I changed from half Chinese to Japanese because I'm more comfortable there) so she now has black hair and brown eyes as opposed to Marinette's blue and renamed her Yuna Sato. Then the merman I left with blond hair and sea green eyes but renamed him Finn because the merman is named by the girl in the story and she's fucking original.

Settings also just depend, but my method is far less involved lol. It depends on the setting, but I have years of naming animal crossing towns under my belt so I'm pretty good at just coming up with fictional towns. Just depends. I may also google around depending on the genre, time period, and setting. Genre plays a big part in naming as well. If it's fantasy, you want fantasy sounding names. If it's sci-fi or period or romance. I just think or look around until I find something that vibes.

#cat speaks #asks #writers asks

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salavante · 5 years

Note

For the character ask thingy, Ganzrig!

Someone’s popular!

Full Name: Ganzrig Khalgar

Gender and Sexuality: Female and to be honest, haven’t decided if she’s bi or a lesbian, she seems to heavily lean to women in any case.

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: Steppe Orc or “Red Orc” as they call her in Godslaughter. They’re orcs based loosely on red river hogs, and can have more or thicker body hair, different colors of skin ranging from gold to dark reddish orange, depending on where they are from and how much human has been mixed in with them. Humans mix pretty freely with all the other races on Ismes, and most people probably have a human or two back in their family tree somewhere. I always thought it was really weird that most fantasy worlds are divided racially rather than nationally, so, all of the nations on Ismes (Ors, Umbra and Aurelia) are multiethnic, with Ors being the most varied, then Umbra, then Aurelia. Ors is a placeholder name and if I figure out something better, I’ll probably rename it.

Birthplace and Birthdate: I generally don’t keep track of birthdates for settings that would have different calendar systems, honestly. But Ganzrig was born on the world of Ismes in the northeastern part of the map, in the steppes of the nation of Ors, which is a collection of nomadic societies with a pretty wide roaming area. On the day she was born, her family hit an opal mine on their otherwise fallow property, making them wildly rich practically overnight. On Ismes, opal is a multicolored, iridescent ore that can be made malleable with heat and is very good at absorbing magic, making it ideal enchanting material. It is probably the rarest and most valuable material in the world. The Khalgars are set for several generations down, or when the ore is all mined out.

Guilty Pleasures: Ganzrig is a big old hedonist and has the usual set of wine, women and song type preferences, and when she dresses up does so very gaudily with lots of bright colors and opulent jewelry. Drinks and eats like an absolute monster. Unlike August, she fucks with technology even if she didn’t understand it (she went through a lot of cellphones because she’d get mad at it and throw it out a window or something). Likes makeup a lot! The red/white/grey markings on her face are all facepaint, and in the offseason, would probably have done some crazy stuff with eyeliner/eyeshadow/etc.

Phobias: This is kind of sad, but Ganzrig was genuinely afraid to die. She kind of lived through her life planning to be immortal until otherwise notified. At her death, she was shocked and terrified. While she wasn’t afraid of him, August also made Ganzrig very uncomfortable, because while they are in close proximity to one another, their passive abilities kind of cancel out and she didn’t like feeling like a normal, vulnerable person.

What They Would Be Famous For: On Ismes, Ganzrig is famous for being a sort of folk hero, as she just kind of roamed the countryside getting into fights (that she always won) and being an all-purpose adventurer. On the Hunt, her charisma, brutality and showmanship won her a lot of points, and she quickly became a fan favorite. Generally speaking, the public at large and the other more rough and tumble members of The Hunt preferred Ganzrig to August.

What They Would Get Arrested For: Everything tends to go well for Ganzrig, so she kind of ignores most laws and rules in general. So, pretty much anything. Starting fights, taking things that don’t belong to her, etc. It all works out in the end, as far as she’s concerned.

OC You Ship Them With: No one to be honest, haven’t really found a character she clicks with, and I’m content to leave it at that. Not all my characters need a romantic partner.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: In-game, Ganzrig was ultimately killed by a very potent soothsayer named Hawkmoth, who’s predictions allowed him to cancel out her divinely good luck. He stabbed her in the chest in the hometeam’s war balloon when Ganzrig and Iona infiltrated it to take back August (who had defected) by force.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Ganzrig probably has a perfectly adequate level of literacy (once the Khalgars were on the trade map and had money, they made sure all the kids learned how to read and write and speak at least one other language) but not one that makes her enjoy reading. In movies, Ganzrig probably likes anything particularly irreverent, humorous or trashy. She’ll laugh at very crass humor but would probably enjoy most comedies as long as they don’t get too high brow. One of my few characters that’d I’d say probably enjoys Romcoms just for the schadenfreude.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Definitely does not enjoy anything too serious or somber in tone. She likes to be entertained by her media.

Talents and/or Powers: Ganzrig carries a one-handed axe and an ornate miquelet lock rifle with an ivory handle. She can, however, improvise with pretty much anything, whether it’s a weapon, object or throwable person. However her most meaningful trait is Fortune’s Favor, the compliment to August’s passive ability Miasma of Misfortune, which gives her preternaturally good luck. Everything sorts itself out in her favor. If she’s hungry, she’ll find food. If she needs somewhere to stay or a way to travel, that will come to her in its own way too. Naturally, most of her hits land, and most things do not hit her. She abuses this power for spectacle quite often, in and out of combat.

Why Someone Might Love Them: She’s charismatic! Ganzrig absolutely oozes confidence, charm and attitude, and like-minded people find themselves very enthralled by her. Always an extrovert, Ganzrig is the life of any party, and is more than willing to entertain everyone around her with her antics. She has a few party tricks that she pulls thanks to her powers, like asking people to throw hatchets or other dangerous objects at her while she drinks a stein of beer, and then dodging all of them while not spilling a drop. There is a glamorous, larger than life quality to her that is intoxicating.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: People who aren’t as extroverted or are physically weaker than Ganzrig will easily find that she is kind of a bully, and will push people around to get what she wants. She is prone to mocking others and punching down when harassing people for sport, and does not tolerate people talking shit or otherwise lurking around plotting to try to take her down a peg. She’s quick to anger and violence, and will knock someone’s lights out for relatively small trespasses. Ganzrig has a lot of privilege that she doesn’t fully comprehend, which blinds her to the plight of others who have not had the same opportunities as her. She’s kind of a shallow person.

How They Change: In Kismet Ganzrig will have to deal with who she is without her luck on all the time, how much it defines her, and how it has shaped how she interacts with the people around her. In the tabletop game, Ganzrig herself didn’t change, but the guy who killed her kind of slowly realized that perhaps he didn’t have to, and that while she was not good, she was perhaps not as bad as he had been led to believe. At the end of the game, Hawkmoth will be accompanying August back to Ismes to bring Ganzrig’s ashes back to her family, where I’ll get to introduce Ganzrig’s two sisters, Kuirik and Dodi.

Why You Love Them: Sometimes, it’s fun to have a character who’s just kind of mean. Ganzrig is a very pure spirit who I can with confidence say is one of my few truly neutral characters. She has undeniable charm, which made her one of my favorite background characters in our game, even if she died like halfway through it. I liked her enough to decide to make her and August’s frenemy-ship one of the core relationships in Kismet. I think she makes a really awesome foil to him, I think they could learn a lot from each other.

#flowerwench

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embersofstardust · 5 years

Note

For the OC ask, if you don't mind, all of them? I like all the names and am curious about snake boi! 😊

:D absolutely!!!! But it’s gonna get long, so i’m throwing it under the “read more” (also sorry it took so long! I tried to do it before work, but didn’t have enough time so i had to wait until i got home)

ok, so i’ll do snake boi first then!

Full Name: he doesn’t have one yet lolGender and Sexuality: Male (currently debating nonbinary), and asexualPronouns: He/HimEthnicity/Species: He is a snake hybrid sort of deal. Not a naga, but has reptilian eyes/toungue and is coldblooded and prefers his food extremely rare even though it might stain his nice dress clothesBirthplace and Birthdate: No birthplace, but birthday is April 19thGuilty Pleasures: His favourite band is ABBA but he thinks it’s embarrassingPhobias: Crickets. they terrify himWhat They Would Be Famous For: writing the book he’s been working on for the past 10 yearsWhat They Would Get Arrested For: god um, maaayyyybe being involved in a fight? but only like, if one of his friends was getting the shit kicked out of them. he hates confrontationOC You Ship Them With: none atm!OC Most Likely To Murder Them: i honestly don’t knowFavorite Movie/Book Genre: movie is suspenseful thrillers, but book is romcom novels! another guilty pleasure tbh. even tho he’s asexual he likes the romance side of it and the cheesy lines always make him laughLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: the fact that EVERYONE has to end up with somebody, and it’s usually a straight coupleTalents and/or Powers: no powers, but he can touch the bridge of his nose with his tongue! also he loves gardening and has a green thumbWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s really just a mellow sweetheart with questionable fashion sense. he has green hair/stubble but likes to wear warm coloured dress clothesWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he really is almost unbearable mellow. he doesn’t get riled up very often and can talk for HOURS on book analysisHow They Change: he really hasn’t too much besides going from a more closed off type of character to just laid-back and sweet!Why You Love Them: he is literally the ONLY one of my characters with a decent amount of chill and i love his design so much

up next: Callalily! (also i’m just realising i forgot two whole ocs, but i’m not gonna throw them in bc i don’t have anything other than their design and that they’re dating)

Full Name: Callalily MortrinskaGender and Sexuality: Female, lesbian (she dated a few guys, but eventually decided not for her)Pronouns: she/herEthnicity/Species: black and cyborg! and not shy about it either, she makes sure her cyborg parts are made of shiny gold. it was the only thing they could do for her after a nasty accidentBirthplace and Birthdate: i don’t think i have a birthplace for any of them tbh but her birthday is November 3rdGuilty Pleasures: nothing is really a “guilty” pleasure for her? She is pretty open about everythingPhobias: one of her parts malfunctioning, someone she cares about getting hurt, miceWhat They Would Be Famous For: shooting someone who deserved it (she’s a sniper)What They Would Get Arrested For: shooting someone who only SHE thought deserved itOC You Ship Them With: none atm!OC Most Likely To Murder Them: none atm!Favorite Movie/Book Genre: probably the political fiction stuff!Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: how pink = girly girl and that they’re always airbrainedTalents and/or Powers: an incredible sniper! Also a really smooth flirt when she wants to beWhy Someone Might Love Them: she has a huge heart for people she cares about and is willing to go to the ends of the earth for themWhy Someone Might Hate Them: if you’ve pissed her off there is no mercy or second chances unless your apology is REALLY goodHow They Change: hasn’t really! i like it too much :)Why You Love Them: i love the thought of a badass, sniper cyborg woman who loves pink, skirts, and girls and has both aesthetics at the same time

Xinae!

Full Name: XinaeGender and Sexuality: agender/omnisexualPronouns: they/them she/her he/him (technically her race doesn’t deal with gender/pronouns/sexuality? they’re heavenly bodies soooo)Ethnicity/Species: a living starBirthplace and Birthdate: noneGuilty Pleasures: her moonPhobias: being locked away and forced to forget her moon (which has since happened)What They Would Be Famous For: defying a sunWhat They Would Get Arrested For: defying a sunOC You Ship Them With: her moon, who doesn’t have much of a design yetOC Most Likely To Murder Them: the jealous sunFavorite Movie/Book Genre: soft romance and fantasy fictionLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: forced romances that don’t develop/make senseTalents and/or Powers: she has intense light and heat, and can maneuver her way across the night sky to light the way for lost wanderersWhy Someone Might Love Them: she is gentle and kind, motherly almostWhy Someone Might Hate Them: she can sometimes not keep her mouth shut and if the reward outweighs the risk she’s not afraid of consequencesHow They Change: no changes, shes new!!Why You Love Them: i love her story and design

Alrighty! Onto the twins Aven and Neva!

Full Name: Neva CarmondyGender and Sexuality: female, bisexualPronouns: she/herEthnicity/Species: human, idk ethnicity just yet but she’s pretty tan naturallyBirthplace and Birthdate: birthday is March 7Guilty Pleasures: Cheap beerPhobias: she’s actually really afraid of needles and blood in general for some reason?What They Would Be Famous For: whatever she got arrested for tbhWhat They Would Get Arrested For: public disturbance or climbing something she shouldn’t. maybe getting in a fightOC You Ship Them With: none atm!OC Most Likely To Murder Them: her brother tbh lolFavorite Movie/Book Genre: she doesn’t really read books, but she likes audio ones! and actually really loves historical fictionLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: I hate you! oh i love you now!Talents and/or Powers: well i actually have them in BNHA, so they do have powers! She can alter/add something to people’s memories! she also took gymnastics for 8 years as a kid so shes pretty flexibleWhy Someone Might Love Them: shes fun! and totally willing to throw down for someoneWhy Someone Might Hate Them: a bit airheaded and doesn’t like to focus on serious things, she’d rather focus on having funHow They Change: honestly not too much? maybe a little less thot and a little more party but nothing major lolWhy You Love Them: it’s just a fun character!! and her dynamic with her brother is great

Full Name: Aven Carmondy (their 1st names are just reversed of each other lol)Gender and Sexuality: male, questioningPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: again, idk ethnicity yetBirthplace and Birthdate: March 7Guilty Pleasures: dumb looking t-shirtsPhobias: worms (his sister thinks its hilarious)What They Would Be Famous For: being a philanthropist idk he hates being the center of attentionWhat They Would Get Arrested For: beating somebody for hurting his sisterOC You Ship Them With: none!OC Most Likely To Murder Them: none atm!Favorite Movie/Book Genre: sci-fiLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: inaccurate fake science lolTalents and/or Powers: again, has powers so! He can erase parts/whole memories!Why Someone Might Love Them: is the Mom Friend and very caring and protectiveWhy Someone Might Hate Them: painfully shy at first and a buzzkill at times worrying too muchHow They Change: he’s actually gotten a little more reserved! sorry buddy lolWhy You Love Them: i just do! also looking back at it we are pretty similar

And now onto the big two!!!! :D

Full Name: Kronixus (Krow) Lioneheart (lion-heart)Gender and Sexuality: male, GAAAAYYYY AFFFFFFPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: changes depending on my mood bc i use him in a bunch of stuff? but always a mixBirthplace and Birthdate: October 31stGuilty Pleasures: pop musicPhobias: snakes, has a legit phobia of a certain shade of pink its weird as hellWhat They Would Be Famous For: being a mad scientist/famous inventorWhat They Would Get Arrested For: beating somebody for hurting his sister/just getting in a fight in general OC You Ship Them With: none atm! (it’s usually with canon characters lol)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: ravenna tbhFavorite Movie/Book Genre: sci-fi and gritty romanceLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: ALSO inaccurate fake science. if its not plausible he throws a fitTalents and/or Powers: very smart!!!! has a great knack with machines, but shit at math it’s weird. also pretty musically giftedWhy Someone Might Love Them: he looks like a hard ass but is pretty sweet when you get to know him and v sensitive but still ready to fight someone for you w/ no questions askedWhy Someone Might Hate Them: ready to fight someone w/ no questions asked. also everyone thinks he’s straight so a lot of people get mad that their girlfriend thinks he’s hotHow They Change: was actually originally just a genderbend version of my main oc, but now is his own character completely with a different (more chaotic) personality! also was pan, but slowly evolved into just gay lolWhy You Love Them: he’s great! he’s such a chaotic gay energy but hides it under a hard-ass facade and i love him. i’ve also had him a while so yeah lol i put him in a lot of different aus/fandoms

The main one!!! My babey!!!!!

Full Name: Ravenna (Raven) Lioneheart (lol get it, raven and crow?)Gender and Sexuality: female, pansexual!!!!Pronouns: she/herEthnicity/Species: again, idk ethnicityBirthplace and Birthdate: October 31stGuilty Pleasures: ummm? partying i guess? sometimes she loves it alittle TOO much lolPhobias: snakes, the dark, swimming (shes says drowning buttttt)What They Would Be Famous For: her music getting bigWhat They Would Get Arrested For: getting in a fight, public disturbancesOC You Ship Them With: none! just canon characters ^^’OC Most Likely To Murder Them: none?Favorite Movie/Book Genre: high fantasy and sci-fi!Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: dumb romance/heavy political stuffTalents and/or Powers: she has powers depending on the universe, and they change on my mood so not listing that. But she’s pretty good with machines (Krow is better) and really good at the arts! Much better than Kronixus! also very smartWhy Someone Might Love Them: will go to the ends of the earth for the ones she cares about, and it takes a lot to break her trust once she has it. can be very lovingWhy Someone Might Hate Them: is loud and not afraid to voice her opinions. thinks she’s bigger than she is and sometimes gets her ass kicked for itHow They Change: she was actually originally a self-insert a LONG time ago, but has grown with me and developed into her own person! obviously we still share similarities, mostly in what we like, but i’ve had her for so long it’s really hard to remember what it was like without herWhy You Love Them: again, i’ve had her FOREVER! and i just love tweaking her to fit whatever au i’m doing atm!

#ahhhh this was so much fun!!!!#guilty pleasures was the hardest one to answer tbh #but yeah!#my main ocs!#sand-rose

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agentaw · 6 years

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Detroit: Become Human - Funny story...

Okay... so Story Time because my friends pointed this out and it’s been fucking with me ever since.

This is the story of how I kinda...sorta wrote/ predicted parts of DBH about...2 years ago. Just hear me out...okay?

So this all started similarly to how DBH started, with that dope-ass demo back in 2012. My 15 year old self became enthralled in it, much like I am now enthralled in the full game. I’ve always loved story telling and had a sort of soft spot for digital modelling. So that demo was a masterpiece to me, it had a great concept and beautiful design. It was a short obsession but it had an impact.

And that was the last piece of news I’d ever hear about it until a month after they released the full game. I remember hearing some rumour that they weren’t gonna make it a full game or something and left it at that. I didn’t hear anything about it’s coverage at E3 because while I like video games, I become absorbed in different obsessions from time to time.

And two years ago I was obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, the thought of creating a whole world and having others enter it was fascinating. And while I tried to create worlds from scratch, I had a problem.

I had never been too interested in Fantasy things, I liked fantasy characters but tended to focus on too much of the political aspect of fantasy worlds and not the fun stuff like slaying dragons and stuff.

The return of an old obsession began to try and take my focus off of DnD but I wasn’t ready to let it go yet.

So I merged them, DnD didn’t have to be fantasy, I didn’t have to invent a world from scratch and luckily my old obsession had a world pre-designed. Marvel, specifically MCU had a treasure trove of lore and I could take a number of rules from DnD 5e and tweak them to suit the change in genre.

So I started off with a one shot campaign, set in a HYDRA base. My three player characters would be playing themselves and making decision based on how they’d react. They ‘woke up’ in a white plastic robot body. Singular, all three were in the same body, looking through the same eyes and rolling for control over said robot body. It was entertaining to watch them figure out what they hell was going on organically. They quickly met the first NPC an old doctor/sciencist who was a very nervous person. He explained that they’d all been loaded into the same body by accident and that he was just testing out that his creation (the body itself) was working correctly. So my players decided to answer the jumpy doctors questions and let one of them take control as the doctor got them to walk around while still connected to the computer around them by a bunch of wires connected to the back of their neck. The doctor left the room briefly (to report to his superiors) before returning and calmly explaining that he’d need to shut them down before making the rest of the bodies. Yes, this was heavily inspired by the demo but the players didn’t notice or didn’t comment on it at the time. And they genuinely really like the one-shot. So, I started writing more, growing the campaign and expanding my list of NPCs.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “wow...you ripped off the demo and think that counts as writing a whole game” but I never said I wrote the whole story, that would be mental. But as both me and my players have pointed out, there is a large number of similarities which is spooky because as i already stated I didn’t know anything about DBH until almost a month after it’s full release.

The first and most profound is Amanda. Or my Amanda, who’s called Ruth LaRue. Dr. Ruth LaRue, the trio’s psychologist/co-creator who acts pleasant (too pleasant) towards them...unless they disobey or resist their training to become Hydra Assets. One of my players is rebellious and LaRue has tried to manipulate and coldly threatened him as a result. While another obeys and gets praise and rewards as a result. Also she looks like Amanda (a character i didn’t even know existed), I originally described her as the same race, hairstyle, though slightly younger. And then I drew her (poorly) for my players to get a better idea of how she looked and Jesus Christ they look the same.

Another is the fact that I have three player characters. There was a possible fourth player but work and life made it difficult for her to be a part of the game. Also my players are two boys and one girl. And while that’s all freaky, their characters appearances/designs are extra weird. Originally, after all getting their own bodies, they all had white plastic robot bodies, all male design (which female player wasn’t happy about because she missed her boobs). The only way to tell them apart was voice and the nervous doctor had given them different coloured eyes. Creating robots came with the challenge of figuring out how their bodies worked (one player was particularly interested in this). Once again inspiration partly came from the Kara demo, the robots are a water (blue liquid) based system, a pump (heart) transports water, which is collect in bags (lungs) through the robots absorbing moisture in the air (through breathing), around the machine frame (body). The water has two purposes, to thinly coat the white plastic casing (skin), which allowed the robot to feel pressure but not texture and also to keep the pump valves going, which creates the energy the machines (players) are run on. After learning that the white plastic version could be easily broken during training, the nervous doctor created a second batch of models, this time made out of metal (female asked for a female body and therefore the doctor gave her a large dent in her chest plate, she was pleased). They then get a new model, ones that are designed to blend in with humans. And this is where this section gets super freaky. The player got no say in how they looked because in game they wouldn’t.

The female is the shortest model as well as they palest model with loads of freckles, the similarities with Kara stop there but the female player has been gifted a female kitten (thankfully named Cookie, not Alice) as the reward and is quite paranoid about it being taken off her or harmed (calm down, I haven’t hurt the cat...yet).

One of the males is only slightly more tanned than the female with considerably less freckles and markings. He’s the tallest and the player has been surprisingly obedient, only "failing” when he doesn’t understand what’s happen or doesn’t think something will benefit HYDRA. Because of this he’s been promoted to team leader by the powers that be. He’s logical and is usually thinking about training and what’s going on in the NPCs’ heads.

Lastly we have the second male who looks southern European (Spain, Italy, Greece and could probably pass as Mexican but the story is set in central Europe) so a different ethnicity/race to the other two. This is the rebellious player who generally plays pranks, cracks jokes and says “fuck you” to authority. Like I said before as a result, he tends to be the one looked down on and oppressed by the powers that be. He generally has a very clear line which he won’t cross no matter what and is willing to stand up if he views something as drastically wrong (refused to hurt his friends or pick up a gun).

Also when asked what they wanted to be called (I.e What’s your name?) The players decided to to sick to what the nice nervous doctor had designated them, i.e the colours of their eyes. Rebellious is Red. Logical is Blue and Female is Purple (name later changed to Violet).

Next is three more NPCs, who have enough in common with the DBH characters to mess with me.

The nervous doctor, Dr. Thomas Thornley, while having a completely different personality, has formed relationships like Hank. A number of the players refer to him as “Daddy Thornley”, not to his face but when talking to each other in game. And most disturbingly the rebellious player has implied on several occasions that he “ships” the logical male player with father-figure Thornley, jokingly of course. And while in the beginning Thornley may have viewed the robots as a project or experiment, he now appears quite protective and fond of them. Even displaying discomfort when one is broken or completely destroyed.

Their combat and gun trainer, Agent Woodrow who is ex-military and treats the robots exactly like you’d expect he would, like machines. He could either be Gavin or Captain Allen but either way he’s a genuine aggressor and dislikes/hates the robots.

The Head of Hydra, Director Malachi Storm who has an air of mystery around him and commands any room he enters. He’s considerable less creepy than Kamski but is an “all-knowing, all-powerful” character. Also I guess I’m technically also Elijah Kamski (a.k.a GOD) and my players pointed out that i have his sadistic, power hungry play style (thanks, guys).

Lastly is a few game mechanics and events i put in the game. The players have always been able to telepathically talk to one another, they can also transfer images to each other. If broken beyond repair (i.e Killed) they now get automatically rebuilt, similar to Connor. I made LaRue give them a morality test which was mostly the “Track dilemma” which is similar to both the driver-less car AIs and the Kamski test. I actually did the motherfucking Kamski test with one or two of my players (but with humans instead of androids lol). Also the players believe they’re alive (which technically they are). They’ve literally been give zero context as to how they are in robot bodies in the MCU, specifically they’re last memories before the start of the game are of going to sleep in their beds in the real world. They are literally three robots walking around stating that they’re alive.

And yes, I realise that Cage took shit from other movies but it have seen any of those movies so...:P

If I looked hard I could probably find more scary comparisons but a) I don’t particularly want to show all my cards, in case my players read this post, and b) I appear to have written a fucking TED talk out of what was supposed to be a short funny story.

#dbh #dbh connor #dbh kara #dbh markus #dbh hank #dbh amanda #dbh kamski #dbh everyone #custom dnd #dnd shenanigans #story time #freaky #what is life #thanks for coming to my ted talk

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theelvenreader-blog · 6 years

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Character Profiles

Today, and for the past few weeks, I have been working on my character profiles, world-building, and thought dumping my fantasy novel. Since I could write books about all three topics, I’ve decided to talk about them in different posts as a series. Today will be character profiles, Wednesday will be thought dumping, and Friday will be world-building. As you’ve noticed, Monday’s post is late (that would be today’s). I was busy yesterday and didn’t get around to finishing the post so it’ll just be today.

When I first started writing I thought you had to know everything about your world and characters right off the bat. I thought you were somehow a “bad writer” if you had to sit and think at all about your character’s personalities or your world’s government. Over time, however, I’ve realized it’s totally normal to have to sit and think about characters or worlds.

Now, one of my favorite parts of writing are world building and outlining. I love researching themes and the insertion of “easter eggs” for readers to find. In order to do this, I have to do tons of research and thinking. They don’t just come to me as I’m character or world building.

More of my favorite parts of the outlining phase are building complex characters (mainly going through my character profile template) and building rich cultures and parts of it like religions, politics, and since my college degree is in history, histories.

Today’s post is in character profiles. I’ve built myself a pretty good process for myself (it’s nothing special but it get’s the job done):

First thing I do is make a list of all my characters in my cast so far. If as I’m outlining or brain dumping I realize another character that is necessary for the plot I add them in immediately and do a character profile of them. Since I write fantasy I tend to sort this list into races of beings such as elves, dwarves, merpeople, humans, etc. I have a template on my computer that I can just open a copy of any time I need. This makes the process a lot easier for me.

The goal is to get to know your characters like they’re people you know in real life, so you want to ask yourself a variety of questions to help you in that process. Try to think of as many questions as you can that you might ask someone you were trying to get to know. You can also look at other blogs or just online and get some ideas from other writers’ character profiles. Keep in mind many can get pretty detailed and pretty long. Some questions I ask myself are:

o “What was their childhood like?”

o “What is their romantic history?”

o “What is their sexual history?”

o “What Is their sexual orientation?”

o “What is their sex?” Meaning their biology, not their gender.

o “What is their gender?” This means what do they identify as. For instance, one of my character’s biology is male, but they identify as female or feminine.

o “What are their hobbies. This involves something they enjoy doing outside the main plot of the story. For instance, they could be a warrior, but really like to knit in their free time.

o If the story involves magical or supernatural elements, I ask myself what these powers entail and what their limits are (power’s limits are very important, but we’ll talk about this in another post)

o I also ask myself what they look like, and either try to draw them myself or find an image on google for reference. I also do a drawing of a few pieces of clothing they would wear and some of their favorite objects

It’s also important that you aren’t afraid to make your characters quirky or enjoy strange activities. You want your characters memorable and original to themselves so if a quirky or different hobby is what makes sense for the character, go for it. Brown eyes and hair are common, so you might want to include a bit in your story. Especially amongst fantasy writers, it’s really popular for many characters to have lavender eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, ANYTHING but brown eyes. Be realistic here.

As an example, here is an example of one of my own character profiles. This is for my protagonist in my current WIP, which used to be called Freedom Bringer but is now unnamed because I didn’t think the name suit the fantasy genre or story the way I wanted it to. I’ve omitted/deleted some parts that are spoilers for the book.

You’ll notice that I based this character profile closely on Jenna Moreci’s on her blog. You should check both her and her blog and youtube channel out and definitely her character profile. Her writing is great and a great deal of what I know I learned from her.

Character Profile: Fäel (pronounced like fay-EL)

Based on the example given by Jenna Moreci on her blog: count blogula

CATEGORY #1: BASIC STATISTICS

Sex: Male

Gender: He identifies as masculine, but he’s not an alpha male. He’s actually quite small. If he was in public school in our world, he would probably be teased for being “puny”.

Age: 250 years old, but if I had to compare this to a human age it would be somewhere between 19 and 21 years old.

Race, Ethnicity, Culture: Feräan (a race of elves that usually has brown hair and the ability to control fire. The most common race of elves)

Height: 5’ 7”

Body Type: Thin build. Think adolescent boy. You would never guess that he is fully grown if you took a good look at him. Though this is probably mostly due to malnutrition.

Appearance: Short, Straight as a board Almond colored hair

He is fairly short for an elf. Around 5’7” in American human measurements. Slightly darker tan complexion. Elves do not normally get acne, so his skin is very clear. Narrow face with defined rounded jawline, cheekbones not high but not super low eitherSmall hands with narrow, feminine fingers, which have been hardened and callused from heavy slave labor. Though he is normally given very demanding labor, he still isn’t muscular. He can definitely lift a bit more than before, but elves don’t grow muscle or muscle mass very easily, so he stays relatively small in stature.Thin build, not much muscle mass but fairly strong as well.Lips a light coral color, nothing special. Shape of lips resemble a heart at the cupid’s bow.Fairly large round forehead.Full eyebrows with a few strands in the middle where a unibrow would be (not a full unibrow, just a couple of hairs)

Where are they from? Fael was born in the elven realm but since he was 50 years old (a toddler) he has been in the Kingdom of Türmé because of the elven slavery. Because of this, he doesn’t remember the elven realm at all.

Describe their Childhood: His parents, the king and queen of the elven people (and therefore all magical creatures) died in battle during the first Elven-Mankind war 235 years ago. Since then, his people have been enslaved by the humans. The human king has a way of making sure he is completely miserable. For example, he gives him the hardest labor and insists he stands in the front of every whipping and execution.

CATEGORY #2: RELATIONSHIPS

Family: Fäel’s biological family is dead. However, he has many elves he considers family, and therefore so do I. Baelym, for instance, is his caretaker. Fäel sees him as an older brother. Not quite a father, even though Baelym does tend to act like his father at times.

Friends: Mäikash is Fael’s best friend. You could say these two are so close they are like brothers, but the extent of their relationship is that of a friendship, not family. Fäel doesn’t have any other friends at the beginning of the book but gains more as he grows as an individual and gains knowledge of the outside world.

CATEGORY #3: THE SEXY STUFF

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

What are they Attracted to? Fäel is attracted to both men and women who have their own sense of responsibility. They know what they must do and do it. Even if this means they give up what they want. Normally the physical aspects he is attracted to is strength. He also tends to be attracted to lighter colored hair and chiseled facial features. He likes the look of facial hair, but doesn’t like the feeling when he kisses someone with it. In terms of women, he’s attracted to women with medium sized breasts and strong shoulders.

Sexual Experience: Fael is a complete virgin. He hadn’t even thought of the idea of sex until he and Mäikash had their conversation about sexuality.

Romantic Experience: Like his sexual experience, Fael hadn’t thought much about romance until later in the book. He had thought about having a wife and he in the beginning of the book has a dream about his future with a wife and son. He never really becomes completely in tune with the sexual side of him like Mäikash, but becomes much more comfortable. CATEGORY #4: SKILLS

Skills: Fäel is really good at working with his Magic. He can handle it with more stress than others can and it is more powerful than usual. He’s also not bad at all in sword fighting (though not as good as his Magic). He takes this from his grandfather, Sälavel. Who died in battle thousands of years ago.

Occupation/Schooling: Elven Prince, Slave to the Royal Kingdom of the Türmé. Later King of Ferä. Elves are forbidden from learning the elven language, though they learn to speak it anyway, very few know how to write or read. Fael can write a little, but he definitely couldn’t write an academic paper or even full sentences.

Hobbies: Practicing sword fighting and magic is one of his favorite things to do. He hides himself in the forest from anyone else and will practice setting things on fire and hitting trees with a sword. Türmé will go out to the forest and wonder why everything looks burnt and slashed, but they have never been able to find out who it was. Even after many searches of elves and tents. If he had access to books or even literature he would be a very avid reader.

Magical/Supernatural Abilities: Like any other Ferä, he has the ability to manifest fire. This means he can do anything from lighting a fireplace to making fire appear in thin air (if it’s directly above his hand or protruding from it like a flamethrower). He cannot, however, do this if he feels pressured or over stressed, or if his magic is taken away from him

CATEGORY #5: PERSONALITY & CHARACTER

Introvert or Extrovert? Though he is an introvert, he’s very good at hiding this when he is around other elves that don’t know him as anything other than a prince. He doesn’t have anxiety toward crowds or company, he just prefers to be alone or with a very small amount of people at once.

Right-Brained or Left-Brained? Fael is very, very left brained. He thinks about everything very logically and doesn’t cling to his emotions. He has been trained by his caretaker to follow his duties as a prince and he refuses to rebel from this, rather following his path and accepting anything that is given to him. He thinks through every problem as if it is a puzzle with one correct, logical solution he needs to follow.

Strengths: Fael can easily separate emotions from duties or actions. Even if he feels emotional or vulnerable he can completely hide that until it is completely safe to show it. He can hide his weaknesses very well to the point that everyone thinks he has no weaknesses. Because of this, he comes across as very charismatic, which isn’t completely wrong. He just prefers not to be around large groups. Weaknesses:Fael can, however, have problems finding when he needs help and asking when he needs it. He is in the mindset at first that he needs to do everything on his own, which he later learns isn’t necessarily the case. He also has quite a bit of physical weaknesses but these are more obvious because of his small stature. He’s still stronger than a human adult. But compared to an elven adult of his age he is fairly weak.

Goals/Dreams/Aspirations: As a child he would dream of becoming a king and freeing the elves. As he became older these dreams would fade and he would seek to accept the hard lifestyle he leads as an elven slave. By the inciting incident he starts to grow a new goal.

Beliefs/Affiliations: Most elven races follow a polytheistic religious belief that believes that there are 8 gods that control each element of the universe that establishes balance. These elements are Light, Fire, Earth (for instance dirt, trees, rocks), Water, Darkness, Beauty, Power, and Knowledge.

Fears: He has an extreme fear of death. He does learn to deal with this fear over time, but he initially does have panic attacks over the idea of dying and this drives his motivation to make the decision to run away with Mäikash and convince Baelym to come with. Fael also has some other fears, such as his obscure fear of chickens.

Insecurities: He knows he is very small for his age and race, but this doesn’t bother him until someone says that they would be worried if he were the Ferä king because he wouldn’t be very powerful. After this he starts to pay attention to how small he is and this continues to be an insecurity of his throughout his adventure. What would he Die for? His best friend and caretaker. Eventually his wife and child.

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dillydedalus · 3 years

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november reading

so with lockdown #2, my master’s thesis done & handed in etc, i just had absolutely nothing going on so this month so... lots of books. featuring Houses full of statues and birds, an AU of weimar berlin, and... the plague?

someone who will love you in all your damaged glory, raphael bob-waksberg (audio) actually listened to this last month! anyway even tho i forgot about it, i actually really liked it! it’s a collection of short stories, all about love in some way, most with a strange twist - a couple wants a small wedding but the MIL insists they have to at least sacrifice 5 goats to the stone god and have a shrieking chorus, or it’s hardly a real wedding, right? that kind of thing. i really liked these stories; they were fun, hopeful without being cheesy (mostly), and the audio production, with lots of actors reading the different stories was fun. 4/5

the driver’s seat, muriel spark man this novella is nasty, but in a good way - sharp, vicious, mean but so well executed. it’s also pretty hard to discuss without spoiling it & i do think one should go into this unspoiled. but it’s certainly a classic of the unhinged women genre, showing lise seemingly making herself as noticeable, irritating and off-putting as she can on a trip to an unnamed (probably italian) city. 3.5/5

the empress of salt and fortune, nghi vo (singing hills cycle #1) a lovely novella set in an asian-inspired fantasy empire, which shows young cleric chih and their speaking hoopoe almost brilliant learn the story of a previous empress, a northerner who rose from exile as an cast-aside wife to power and of her servant, a peasant girl called rabbit. enjoyed the setting and the way this story unfolded through objects and rabbit’s retelling, and will definitely read the sequel novella which comes out in december. 3.5/5

pine, francine toon (audio) this is a crime/thriller type book with some horror elements about a young girl whose mother has disappeared mysteriously when she was very small. she lives with her dad in the scottish highlands close to a giant forest. the beginning is pretty cool & creepy, but then like 80% of it is just the girl being sad & wanting to know what happened to her mother & the dad being an alcoholic mess. and then most of the plot happens in the last 10% & isn’t great. disappointing. 2/5

where the wild ladies are, aoko matsuda (tr. from japanese by polly barton) a collection of short stories retelling japanese folklore stories about female ghosts/monsters with a feminist twist. on the whole, i liked these stories, but also found them a lot more light in tone than i expected; i guess i thought this would be more on the wild & raw side, so i ended up finding them a bit underwhelming. might also be a problem with lacking cultural context. will say tho that tilted axis press is great & i will seek out more of their books. 2.5/5

piranesi, susanna clarke (audio) god this was so good! so delightful! the House with its many rooms full of tides and clouds and birds and statues is a wonderful, magical yet melancholy setting, the narrator is kind & gentle & earnest, full of wonder and curiosity at the House and its mysteries (the contrast between the narrator’s and the Other’s attitude to the House... yes), the slow building up to the numerous reveals are just. very well done. the writing is lovely (did i almost cry about the albatross? yes) and chiwetel ejiofor is a great audio narrator. just all around lovely & the ending hits just right. 4.5/5

doomsday book, connie willis reading this book during lockdown #2.... a galaxy brain move i wouldn’t necessarily recommend. anyway this is set in a near future where time travel is used for historical research; oxford university is sending the young historian kivrin on the first mission to the middle ages (1320, which is perfectly safe, as far as medieval years go), but things go wrong and soon modern day oxford is under quarantine (ha. how wild. can you imagine.) and kivrin notices that some things are a bit off about where she is (spoiler it’s actually 1348 and y’all know what that means right... PLAGUE TIME). lots of people on goodreads found this slow and boring and while it is pretty damn slow (and for a world with time travel way too many plot points hinge on being unable to contact people by telephone), i found it riveting and uh dread-inducing throughout, but also really warm and immersive. adored this, was devastated at the end. even almost a month later i’m still in my feelings about it. 4.5/5

too loud a solitude, bohumil hrabal (tr. from czech by michael henry heim) a novella i intellectually appreciated but didn’t really love - the narrator works as a paper compactor in a nightmarish basement full of mice (that also get crushed by the hundreds) from where he imagines rat wars in the sewers but from where he also saves hundreds of books. it’s fascinating & well-written but as soon as it gets away from the nightmare paper-crushing basement, it just loses its appeal, especially when the narrator reminisces about his relationships to women (how to simultaneously put women on a pedestal and smear shit on them!!!). 3/5

i’m thinking of ending things, iain reid literary horror/thriller type book with a really intriguing first half, as a young woman is visiting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time while thinking of ending the relationship and things increasingly feel off (the parents are weird, there’s a picture on the wall that the boyfriend claims is him as a child, but is actually her, she gets weird voicemails from her own number). great sense of vague unease, very scary. then the second half kind of blows up the whole story in a way that i should theoretically find interesting but just found kind of underwhelming and not scary, especially since the ending then feels the need to spell it all out for you. 2/5

passing, nella larsen (reread) ugh this is brilliant and i almost don’t have anything to say about it so i’ll just summarise it i guess. it’s a novella about two black women in 1920s america, who knew each other as teenagers and who run into each other in a rooftop bar, where both of them are passing as white. irene finds out that clare is passing full-time, married to a white man who does not know that she is black, and although she strongly disapproves, she can’t help but be seduced (the queer subtext is strong here) into renewing their friendship, which begins to threaten her sense of stability and control. this book is pretty much pitch-perfect, has a lot of things to say about race, loyalty, what happens when categories we live by are threatened or destabilised, and is also just tight and elegantly written and. ugh. brilliant. 5/5

ring shout, p. djèlí clark an alternative history/fantasy book where the ku klux klan gets possessed by demons from another dimension and a group of black (and other marginalised) women (some men too) who are able to see these demons have to fight them from gaining more power through a showing of birth of a nation. note: the klan is still already evil without the demons, but their evil makes it easier for the demons to possess them. very cool concept, very cool setting, but i found the main character and some of the plot progression a little boring. 3/5

amberlough, lara elena donnelly (amberlough dossier #1) this is really just the nazi takeover of weimar berlin in an alternate world (literally... the denizens of the city of amberlough are amberlinians... the two epigraphs are from le carre and cabaret...), told thru an amberlinian spy (cyril) forced to work for the nazi-equivalent (the ospies), his secret cabaret mc/smuggling kingpin boyfriend (aristide), and rough-and-tumble sally bowles (cordelia). as such, it’s extremely my shit, although i will say that donnelly makes it a bit easy on herself by making the nazi parallel so very overt; the ospies’ ideology is not particularly detailed beyond ‘real fashy’ and wanting to unite four loosely federated states. it’s just.... a bit weaksauce, and while she does include an ethnic minority for the ospies to hate, this also doesn’t feel as fundamental to their ideology as it should. also cyril sucks. but these issues may be solved in the sequels & it was a lot of fun. also.... amazing cover. 3/5

the vanishing half, brit bennett very much in conversation with larsen’s passing, this is a 2020 historical novel about passing, colorism, and identity, in which desiree and stella, very light-skinned african american twins who grow up in a black town that values lightness very much, become separated when stella chooses to pass for white and marry a white man. the book is very immersive and engaging, and stella and desiree are interesting characters, but (i felt unfortunately) much of the book is focused on their daughters, whose chance meeting might expose stella/reunite the sisters/etc etc, but who weren’t as interesting. the plot also relies on coincidences a lot which is a bit annoying. still an interesting and entertaining read. 3/5

die stadt der anderen, anthology printed version of an art project where three pairs of authors were sent on trips through berlin, which each person writing about what the other person showed them and how they experienced the city through the other. there was nothing earth-shaking in this, but reading it during lockdown was lovely. in conclusion i love berlin... would love to experience it again some time. 3/5

the fire this time, edited by jesmyn ward collection of essays on anti-black racism in america, many in response to the beginning of the black lives matter movement. i don’t have much to say about it, but it is very good and i would recommend. as is often the case with essay anthologies about serious topics i don’t really think i can rate it.

intimations, zadie smith a very short collection of essays written during early lockdown. smith is always smart and fun but i wish these had been a little more focused on politics and less on personal experience, but like, you can’t really criticise a book for not being what you wanted it to be. ‘contempt as a virus’ was very good.

superior: the return of race science, angela saini really solid, engaging and accessible discussion of race science and why... it’s bad & dangerous, both looking at race science in the past and the invention of race, and how it is returning and regaining influence (not to say that race science ever completely disappeared, but as saini explains, it moved into a more marginal space in the sciences after ww2). 3.5/5

the hive, camilo josé cela (tr. from spanish by j.m. cohen & arturo barea) spanish modern classic set in madrid during the last few years of ww2. told thru short fragmentary snippets with a huge rotating cast of characters, mostly lower and middle class, going about their days, with the theme tying them together being “the city, that tomb, that greased pole, that hive”, which is a very sexy line, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. the tone is v dispassionate and in combination with the huge cast it just made me profoundly unengaged. it also has the weird habit of changing scene in the middle of a paragraph, which i found rather confusing. 2.5/5 slave old man, patrick chamoiseau (tr. from french by linda coverdale) absolutely amazing short novel from the creolité movement aabout an old slave, seemingly resigned to his position, suddenly escaping and being pursued by the slavemaster’s terrifying monstrous mastiff through the forests of martinique, but really also about selfhood, relearning humanity, trauma and nature. the language is at turns sparse and lush and always gorgeous and the translation from french/creole uses endnotes (we love an endnote) and a strategy of doubling to retain some of the original language, which was really cool to read. so yeah this is brilliant. 4/5

mexican gothic, silvia moreno-garcia gothic horror novel about young mexican socialite noemí visiting her recently-married cousin in her new (english) family’s isolated, creepy and dilapidated mansion after said cousin sent a disturbing and strange letter calling for help. gothic horror shenanigans involving vivid dreams, family secrets and eugenics ensue. after a slow start, i absolutely devoured the second half in one afternoon bc once it gets going it REALLY gets going. not super-scary, but a nice creepy atmosphere & reveal. also loved how it combines the clear yellow wallpaper inspo (the cousin’s letter involves people in the wallpaper) and the focus on the english family’s eugenic ideology (not a fun fact but charlotte perkins gilman was a eugenicist), and the vain & flighty but also smart & stubborn protagonist. had a lot of fun with this. 3.5/5

i’m also still reading a tale of love and darkness by amos oz which is really good but which is taking me forfuckingever.

#the books i read #long post #capital-H House is way nicer than blue text house

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hekate-chthonia · 4 years

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MINORITIES IN FANTASY FICTION

(This is an article written for Shrewsbury High School’s literary magazine- Scribble.)

BY: LILY HARDING, 2019, DO NOT COPY TO ANOTHER SITE

The fantasy genre is one that has been present since before written fiction was even conceived. It is one grown out of our individual folklore and myth, rooted in oral tradition, and cultivated by some of the most well-renowned authors in literature. It is also home to some of my favourite books that have left a massive impression on me and influence my writing and worldview to this day.

Despite this rich history and acclaim, much criticism has been levelled at the genre in recent years about ignorance towards marginalised groups, even in the genre’s most recent iteration of urban fantasy. These claims are not unfounded, the history of the treatment of people of colour, women, and the LGBTQIA+ community is well chronicled.

For example, in the works of JRR Tolkien, possibly the most seminal figure influencing modern fantasy. It is in his work that we find the first widely discussed examples of racializing a foreign species in fiction, a common phenomenon when considering identities of colour within the category of fantasy. Tolkien’s Orcs and Uruk-Hai are described as “black” and “black-skinned”, all orcs are often described as "slant-eyed", and in one of his letters Tolkien described Orcs as "...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."

Many will argue that these descriptions are, in effect, harmless because, as Tolkiengateway.net describes; “Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.” Tolkien himself even spoke about his views on allegory, saying “But I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.” Which would remove any suspected intent from Tolkien to have the Orcs serve as a negative representation of a particular real-life ethnic group.

However, whether this is intended as harmless or not it does exist within the text, it serves both as a representation of the poor treatment of minority groups present in the genre as it began to gain popularity during the mid-20th century and creates a trend of attributing racial characteristics to fictional species that has a legacy throughout fantasy post-Tolkien. This is a problem, as it not only otherizes people with those racial characteristics but then also becomes the only form of representation those races get within fantasy.

The urban fantasy subgenre is one that immediately concerns itself with the issue of race; “urban” being a term with immediate connotations of black culture. This is generally thought to be due to the phenomenon of “white flight” from cities to the suburbs in the 1950’s, resulting in urban areas containing a much higher level of diverse ethnic culture. And here we find the definition of urban fantasy: fantasy which operates within an urban setting.

This as a concept represents a shift in the potential of fantasy fiction; no longer are the stories relegated to worlds and allegories that must be mapped onto our own, now they have the chance to make direct and effective social commentary, and with the added connotations of “urban” culture, there is real possibility for potent meditations on all aspects of life from race to class to sexuality.

However, in practise urban fantasy does not so much concern itself with it’s urban-ness, instead being used to describe any story that contains magical worlds within our own. Here we have what journalist Daniel José Older calls “literary gentrification” where “the American city becomes either a goofy whitewashed playground, girls with werewolves and vampires, or an abysmal urban nightmare. And like most dystopias, neither fictionalized versions of this city have much to say about the real-world conflicts threatening urban communities of colour like police violence and gentrification.”

And thus, we come to Harry Potter, perhaps the prime example of what Older is describing. Harry Potter is possibly the most successful fantasy series of all time, specifically urban fantasy, taking its place in our cultural zeitgeist as the culmination of modern fantasy. The series famously takes place at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, a boarding school in the far rural reaches of Scotland, immediately distancing itself from the urban environment and making it harder for the series to have any relevance to our world.

It is also what has been referred to as “bourgeois fantasy” for its perceived voice of privilege, clumsy handling of minority characters, and ignorance of real-world struggle. An example of this ignorance is the character of Albus Dumbledore. In 2007 author JK Rowling revealed that the beloved Hogwarts headmaster was gay via a speech at Carnegie Hall, despite no evidence of that being present throughout the series. Many voices from within the LGBTQIA+ community have since decried this as lazy representation, that scores Rowling points with liberal fans of the series but allows more conservative ones to simply ignore the statement and go on reading the books and watching the films freely. It is clear here that Rowling was either not willing or ignorant of the work required to include a minority character within your work.

This is again seen in the series’ problems with the few characters of colour it has; primarily Cho Chang, Dean Thomas, Blaise Zabini and Padma and Parvati Patil. All of these characters are routinely side-lined in favour of their white colleagues, not receiving nearly as much development. A particularly egregious instance of this is the plot line of Cho Chang, where her admirable qualities are chipped away in order to make Harry’s love story with Ginny more believable. Cho is essentially put down for the sake of a white woman’s development before all but vanishing from the series completely.

Through these examples it is easy to see how the fantasy genre has been dominated by voices of privilege throughout time and in the modern day. Marginalised groups are either harmfully or lazily represented, or just wholesale ignored. My point, however, is not to dismiss the value of works like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, both of which deserve their places in genre history for setting a precedent and being a milestone in children’s fantasy fiction respectively. Instead I want to stress that this is a learning opportunity, to look at the history of popular works within this genre and make a conscious effort to add to the discourse and change what fantasy is capable of. Fantasy is something so rife with opportunities for interesting voices and stories to come forward and offer growth and change, it is something hewn out of every culture’s myths and legends, and so it belongs to everybody. It’s a genre that I love, including the works I have criticized here, and above all else I want to see it become something diverse, and something that I can be proud of.

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theenduringsun · 7 years

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okay well @melodymeddler has asked me to do All of my ocs so here we go! (it’s under a readmore so you dont have my children clogging your dash)

galatea

Full Name: galatea lol Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, polysexual & polyamorous Pronouns: she/her or they/them Ethnicity/Species: gerudo Birthplace and Birthdate: uhhhh Desert and november 4th Guilty Pleasures: she’s a good person usually but sometimes ya just gotta be Morally Ambiguous, ya feel? Phobias: losing her control of herself, death What They Would Be Famous For: saving the world!! What They Would Get Arrested For: stealing shit like cmon honey OC You Ship Them With: narei! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: probably dhulsaei but it’d be like a huge misunderstanding lol Favorite Movie/Book Genre: action/adventure. like tomb raider because That Her Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when there are love triangles! she’s like “date both of them asshole!” Talents and/or Powers: very stealthy, agile, and acrobatic. can also talk her way out of anything Why Someone Might Love Them: the snark is real, has the wittiest retorts Why Someone Might Hate Them: bc she started as part of an oc/canon character ship lol How They Change: she learns not to rush headlong into things and learns that she’s not infallible. she also learns not to judge things by appearances like she hates when people do to her Why You Love Them: she was one of my first ocs that i started developing independently! i’ve really got a soft spot for her

narei:

Full Name: prince narei (i’m not sure that gerudo have last names? so he doesnt have one lol) Gender and Sexuality: cis male, pansexual Pronouns: he/him Ethnicity/Species: gerudo Birthplace and Birthdate: Nonspecific Gerudo Village (not gerudo valley tho), july 13th Guilty Pleasures: romance novels Phobias: he’s really scared of cold. he doesn’t have much experience with it and fears that his limbs will fall off. What They Would Be Famous For: being a somewhat okay leader (with help) What They Would Get Arrested For: dark magic (he did apologize though) OC You Ship Them With: galatea (it’s mostly one-sided though) OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei, but only if he’s actively endangering someone Favorite Movie/Book Genre: he says it’s action/adventure but, like i said before, the boy loves a good romance novel Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: miscommunication (you can catch him in his quarters screaming “JUST TELL HER” into his pillow. he should take his own advice) Talents and/or Powers: dark magic, swordfighting, handsomeness Why Someone Might Love Them: he honestly tries his best? most of the things that happen to him are not his fault (key word there: most) Why Someone Might Hate Them: he does a lot of things without thinking through them first, including spouting some pretty sexist ideology. however, he does grow past this, and it’s an important part of his character arc to me How They Change: he learns to look at all perspectives of an issue before taking it on, and he does a lot of introspection over his arc that helps him move more towards where he really wants to be Why You Love Them: he and galatea are my two favorite ocs because of how different they are tbh. i love putting them in situations where their differences complement each other and honestly i love how galatea helps him to be a better person. i just. yes

hokulani:

Full Name: hokulani iona Gender and Sexuality: cis female, bisexual Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: native alolan/hawaiian Birthplace and Birthdate: hau’oli city, march 16th Guilty Pleasures: fatty starchy foods. they’re not good for her but they’re good for her soul Phobias: being forgotten, not being able to speak up for herself What They Would Be Famous For: winning All the Medals in the paralympics! What They Would Get Arrested For: being young and reckless and accidentally doing something illegal OC You Ship Them With: a little bit with noelani but not really OC Most Likely To Murder Them: i don’t honestly think any of my ocs would? Favorite Movie/Book Genre: generic sports movies. she adores space jam with her whole soul Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: she hates rivalries, actually. she wants them to be friends Talents and/or Powers: she has incredible stamina, even though she’s in a wheelchair. she’s also very strong and will beat you in arm wrestling always Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s cute and determined lol Why Someone Might Hate Them: because she rushes in and does dumb things, and then is stubborn about how the thing she did was the right thing How They Change: i think she learns to accept her disability over the course of the island challenge, and she begins to see that she can do amazing things while being in a wheelchair (because she can!!) Why You Love Them: because i love paired ocs and she and noelani are my faves

noelani:

Full Name: noelani kalani Gender and Sexuality: cis female, bi Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: native alolan/hawaiian Birthplace and Birthdate: iki town, march 16th Guilty Pleasures: she likes to have coffee and chocolate past 9pm despite her insomnia Phobias: bugs. anything that is creepy crawly is a no from her. What They Would Be Famous For: her dance skills! she’s primarily a ballet dancer but she does other styles as well, and she’s very skilled as a ballerina :D What They Would Get Arrested For: being accomplice to something hokulani did OC You Ship Them With: a lil with hokulani OC Most Likely To Murder Them: mihlanna probably Favorite Movie/Book Genre: you know those horse movies everyone makes fun of? those are noelani’s favorite. Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: not sure this is a particular cliche, but she gets very bad secondhand embarrassment, so much that she’ll have to turn off the tv/stop reading and just walk around for a while to shake it off Talents and/or Powers: very skilled dancer, abnormally good balance even for a dancer Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s not the type of person who you’d expect to take the island challenge. she seemed to be content where she was, but she journeyed with hokulani anyway. Why Someone Might Hate Them: honestly? bc i have like no experience writing hawaiian/hawaiian-coded characters and i’m probably going to fuck it up at least six times (side note pleeeease tell me if anything i ever say is offensive because that is not my intent and i want to be the best person i possibly can <3) How They Change: noelani learns not to judge things by her first impression of them. for example she thought hokulani wouldn’t be able to do anything except sit at home after her accident, and yet they traveled across all of alola together! she also learns that when hokulani is set on something it will be done no matter the collateral damage lol Why You Love Them: she was the oc i made when primarina was first announced <3 i love dance, even though i’m not too good at it myself, so i love having an oc who’s good at dancing too.

camille belrose:

Full Name: camille adelaide belrose Gender and Sexuality: cis female, straight Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: kalosian/french Birthplace and Birthdate: coumarine city, june 16th Guilty Pleasures: chocolates and sugary things which are bad for her figure but FUCK when you’re crying about augustine sycamore at 3 am you need a box of russell stovers Phobias: bugs, if it crawls she hates it (except araquanid) What They Would Be Famous For: covering a huge story What They Would Get Arrested For: going the extra mile for a scoop (i shit you not she’s climbed fences before) OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: hokulani if only because they’d disagree on everything Favorite Movie/Book Genre: rom-coms Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when an “ugly” girl is just a pretty brunette with a curvy figure? like what the fuck? Talents and/or Powers: would do anything to get paid. anything. Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s arguably the most fashion-forward of my ocs and you wouldn’t catch her dead in something un-coordinated Why Someone Might Hate Them: she’s stuck up as fuuuuuuuck. also started as a canon character/oc like galatea lol How They Change: she becomes less snobby and more appreciative of the things around her Why You Love Them: because i love making her swear in french it’s my favorite thing

aria:

Full Name: ariadne jane raptis Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, straight Pronouns: she/her or xe/xir Ethnicity/Species: whatever the pokemon equivalent of greek is/sinnoh! Birthplace and Birthdate: twinleaf town, march 21st (i have a lot of pisces ocs holy shit) Guilty Pleasures: making people angry. it’s the one thing that keeps her sane Phobias: death, deep water What They Would Be Famous For: winning the most fucking super contests ever holy shit What They Would Get Arrested For: honestly? public intoxication, but not until she’s way older OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: mihlanna or cerys Favorite Movie/Book Genre: high fantasy this girl has a billion d&d characters Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when humans are always portrayed as the default race. like no tell her about gnomes please Talents and/or Powers: empath, very good at sewing, has a nice team of pokemon Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s adorable and also only five feet tall Why Someone Might Hate Them: she gets angry extremely easily and takes it out on everything around her How They Change: she learns how to work with other people without destroying entire towns in the process! Why You Love Them: sinnoh is the best region fight me.

cheyenne solberg:

Full Name: cheyenne rose solberg Gender and Sexuality: agender, pan Pronouns: they/them Ethnicity/Species: mixed native/white Birthplace and Birthdate: goldenrod city, august 13th Guilty Pleasures: pop music (it’s the same four chords but it’s so catchy) Phobias: losing their friends, dying alone What They Would Be Famous For: writing the best jazz cello repertoire known to man What They Would Get Arrested For: not caring enough and accidentally walking out of the house without a shirt on OC You Ship Them With: estelle!!!!!!! estelle!!!!!!! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: sylharice, she doesn’t see how they can just not care Favorite Movie/Book Genre: horror Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when the girl in the horror movie is a dumbass. like please Talents and/or Powers: mad cello skills, unyielding love for their gf Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re incredibly critical but also extremely appreciative of music Why Someone Might Hate Them: they don’t care enough. at all How They Change: i like to think that they learn to care a little lol Why You Love Them: i just made them yesterday and i love them!!!!!!!

estelle beaumont:

Full Name: estelle louise beaumont Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, lesbian Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: kalosian Birthplace and Birthdate: lumiose city, july 18th Guilty Pleasures: cute violin/cello duets with her enbyfriend!! Phobias: cheyenne losing interest in her (which will never happen) What They Would Be Famous For: being the best violinist! What They Would Get Arrested For: doing something illegal to stop cheyenne from doing something illegal OC You Ship Them With: cheyenne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: galatea Favorite Movie/Book Genre: horror Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: jumpscares! she’ll be clinging to cheyenne nonstop Talents and/or Powers: very good violin girl, looks at things big-picture Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s a sweetheart holy shit???? Why Someone Might Hate Them: because she’s one of those “all sides” people who insists everyone gets a voice How They Change: she learns that some people just need to shut up. Why You Love Them: listen i made her and cheyenne yesterday they’re the greatest

sylharice amastacia:

Full Name: sylharice amastacia Gender and Sexuality: trans woman, gay as fuck Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: high elf Birthplace and Birthdate: somewhere in the wild, march 4th Guilty Pleasures: her flaw is “i can’t resist a pretty face”. she is quite literally too gay to function Phobias: losing her agency What They Would Be Famous For: creating the hit single “call me maybe but with all the pronouns changed to make it super gay” What They Would Get Arrested For: adultery....oops OC You Ship Them With: there’s a character in her backstory named diantha who she’s very much in love with but also diantha’s married so that’s a Bad OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei Favorite Movie/Book Genre: smut novels Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: badly written foreplay Talents and/or Powers: she’s a very talented bard! she likes her rapier. Why Someone Might Love Them: such a beautiful gay bard Why Someone Might Hate Them: because i suck at using my offensive spells i’m sorry d&d group How They Change: i’m anticipating some coming-to-terms with the whole adultery thing in the future Why You Love Them: fuck dude i love playing gay bards

dhulsaei:

Full Name: dhulsaei aurelia doesn’t have a last name because her father was a rando Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, bisexual Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: sylph Birthplace and Birthdate: rugged reef, she can’t remember Guilty Pleasures: her vice is alcohol. she’s like always drunk Phobias: being controlled What They Would Be Famous For: saving the world with her posse What They Would Get Arrested For: public intoxication without a doubt OC You Ship Them With: i highkey ship her with @melodymeddler‘s oc leo lol OC Most Likely To Murder Them: sylharice probably Favorite Movie/Book Genre: epic plays Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when there’s an improperly translated bit of language/bilingual characters written terribly Talents and/or Powers: sylphy shit, very good at stealthing, way smarter than she looks Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s cute, she has a british accent, and she’s almost never sober. what’s not to love Why Someone Might Hate Them: she says she’s neutral good but she’s more on the chaotic side of that alignment How They Change: she’s learning that snooping on her party’s things can sometimes lead to bad things. also that if you challenge a boat to a drinking contest, you will lose and get turned into a dog. multiple times. Why You Love Them: i love playing dhulsaei holy shit. it’s all the me i’ll never be

kit willoughby:

Full Name: katrina carlotta willoughby (call them anything but kit and they’ll murder you) Gender and Sexuality: agender, bi Pronouns: they/them Ethnicity/Species: half-elf Birthplace and Birthdate: a port town, august 1st Guilty Pleasures: self insert fics Phobias: crashing and dying horrifically What They Would Be Famous For: a cool and daring expedition! What They Would Get Arrested For: flying in a no-fly zone OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei, they’d get into a stubborn-off Favorite Movie/Book Genre: action/adventure Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when flying is written poorly, and they know Talents and/or Powers: they’re only a recruit right now but they know their shit (spoilers: they don’t but they defo act like they do) Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re spunky and resilient! Why Someone Might Hate Them: they do things without thinking them through fully. a lot. How They Change: they learn that they’re not always gonna be right, and that dying isn’t really that bad. Why You Love Them: full disclosure: they’re 100% a self-insert oc. i don’t give a fuck tho

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fransartcrap · 7 years

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Sil, Ven, Gillian, Gorou, Richard, Keiler, Augie because I don't see them in your tags ;0

Oh my god– okalso, Sil is in my tags! But there’s not a whole lot of posts with him.O H K A Y . . . putting these under a readmore because L O RD

Full Name: Sil PoisontongueGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Arabic & gold ancestry DragonbornBirthplace and Birthdate: someplace-his-clan-lived & August 21stGuilty Pleasures: b o o b i e sPhobias: being used, being abandoned, failure, large rats and similar thingsWhat They Would Be Famous For: being rude to their friends, alternatively, blowing their friends up, along with themselves, with a Rod of Wonder on accidentWhat They Would Get Arrested For: family related drama :^)OC You Ship Them With: Aermire, Augustine, and Gillian outside of the campaign he’s in. Temp ship with Limerick (a treasure hunter antag shithead) since he needed character development trauma yaaaayOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Limerick, because he’d definitely do it if it meant he got Sil’s moneyFavorite Movie/Book Genre: romantic comedies or mysteriesLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: he’ll tolerate most anything, except extremely long things with a slow plot… or giant magic ratsTalents and/or Powers: poison breath, turning into a dragon, sorceryWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s fashionable and pretty good looking, he’s fairly entertaining, he has/had a lot of wealth, he’s good at magic stuff, literally a dragonWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he doesn’t know shit about living on his own, he’s vain and gets angry and upset about his clothes being ruined or getting dirty, he’s snobby and judgmentalHow They Change: they lose everything they have and (currently) don’t know where any family they may have left are, they learn how to Get Shit Done, they get actual friends and learn from them, as a whole they become more thoughtful and open mindedWhy You Love Them: Sil is a fun and stubborn character, and I love thinking of scenarios with him. He reacts very dramatically and is very over the top about everything. Also, noodle.

Full Name: Ven PoisontongueGender and Sexuality: male & homosexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Arabic & gold ancestry DragonbornBirthplace and Birthdate: someplace-his-clan-lived & November 9thGuilty Pleasures: splurging on sweets, particularly fruit ice creamsPhobias: being used, being robbed, drowning+deep waterWhat They Would Be Famous For: their delivery services probably (Ven is a traveling merchant)What They Would Get Arrested For: hiding wanted fugitivesOC You Ship Them With: none in particular atm, but he also had a temp ship with LimerickOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Sil or Triv (grandfather on mother’s side) but Triv is dead and can’t try to kill him anymoreFavorite Movie/Book Genre: romance or sci-fiLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: most horror stuff, he’s a big chickenTalents and/or Powers: poison breath, turning into a dragon, a bit of sorcery, marketing skillsWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s really friendly, big strong softie, he’s also very wealthy, travels a lot and has lots of street smarts, he knows what’s legit and what’s not on the marketWhy Someone Might Hate Them:“boyfriend stealing ho”, he’s kind of super imposing, he’s good at playing the market, he’s the bastard child of his clanHow They Change: they eventually make an effort to cut off the toxic relationships they have, and then work on mending their relationship with their half-brother, Sil, since he’s the only family he ever really cared about since he was disowned by his mother’s side of the familyWhy You Love Them: they’re a real sweetheart, and only really ever mean to do good, but they have rotten luck

Full Name: Gillian CallawayGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Greek & Half- ElfBirthplace and Birthdate: somewhere out at sea & April 26thGuilty Pleasures: buying foods or drinks for random strangersPhobias: being tied down, various bad luck superstitions, falling to their deathWhat They Would Be Famous For: not taking up their mother’s position as a merchant ship fleet captainWhat They Would Get Arrested For: stealing things, most likely books, small musical instruments, and foodOC You Ship Them With: SilOC Most Likely To Murder Them: Limerick, he was kicked out of Gill’s mother’s fleet because of Gill ratting him out on questionable motives and actionsFavorite Movie/Book Genre: fantasy or romanceLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: marriage and not travelingTalents and/or Powers: sailing and managing ships, playing instruments and singing, some illusionary and enchantment magicWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s very down-to-earth and has a serene air about him, he’s friendly and open minded, he has that Dashing Pirate look, loves travelingWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he’s flighty and doesn’t like the idea of commitment, he’s not very good at focusing on certain things for a long time, he has a habit of stealing things he really really really wants but doesn’t have the money forHow They Change: they have a lot of self confidence and self worth problems, which starts to change after meeting Sil, and later Ven, who each encourage him and help him work past a lot of obstacles he encountersWhy You Love Them: Gil is very relaxed and overall he’s quite content. He feels like a wholesome character, and just enjoys taking care of his plants and traveling at sea

Full Name: Gorou “War Bat” OshiroGender and Sexuality: male & pansexualPronouns: he/him or they/themEthnicity/Species: Asian & Tiefling (DnD) Oni (Gaia)Birthplace and Birthdate: A medium sized town (DnD) Aekea (Gaia) & November 14thGuilty Pleasures: making (annoying) rhythmic tapping noises, and smashing stuff with his macePhobias: being ostracized, failureWhat They Would Be Famous For: SMASHWhat They Would Get Arrested For: WRONG SMASHOC You Ship Them With: Richard (Gaia)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: his friend Alice, but it’d actually probably not be intentional so..Favorite Movie/Book Genre: comedy or supernaturalLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: evil antagonist monsters are evil because they’re monstersTalents and/or Powers: he’s pretty skilled in carpentry, pretty skilled in cooking, great at using a mace and at fist fighting, he has dark visionWhy Someone Might Love Them: he’s optimistic and easy-going, he loves cooking so he takes picking and making the best foods seriously, he’s pretty cute, he loves chatting with people and is very friendly and polite, he’s 6ft tallWhy Someone Might Hate Them: his race isn’t the most well liked by others, he’s sometimes very very slow making decisions to the point of frustration or negative consequences, he’s 6ft tallHow They Change: They used to be very quiet and asocial, shying away from company and interacting with others and preferring to observe from afar or work by themselves. They took up learning life skills, and started to open up little by little from lots of events with them being set aside for discussions with their mentors. Presently, they’re very level-headed and a sort of peace-keeper, and much more talkative and friendly.Why You Love Them: Gorou is one of my few foodie loving characters, and reminds me of how great it is to just relax and have a good bit of food. He’s a chill character too, and is open minded and thoughtful. He also likes bright teal/cyans, which is a color I like a lot.

Full Name: Richard “Rooster” BelleroseGender and Sexuality: male & pansexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: French and English & VampireBirthplace and Birthdate: Barton & July 19thGuilty Pleasures: scaring the shit out of people as a batPhobias: bright sunlight, vampire hunters, has mild OCD, being aloneWhat They Would Be Famous For: being a vampire, alternatively, being an assholeWhat They Would Get Arrested For: murder probablyOC You Ship Them With: Gorou (Gaia)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Alice or Kir (both friends of his who also fight with him a lot)Favorite Movie/Book Genre: sci-fi or mysteryLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when the female character turns into a damsel because they meet a male love interest who takes overTalents and/or Powers: Vampire stuff mostly, he can turn into a bat and a crowWhy Someone Might Love Them: they’re pretty sharp, always well dressed, has an eye for clean-cut aesthetics, has a pretty big store of money, literally a vampireWhy Someone Might Hate Them: really picky and snobby, has a terrible sense of humor, he likes to spook people, literally a vampireHow They Change: Richard used to be power hungry and an epitome of snobbery, but decades of being alone and having old friends cut you off because of how you act makes you think about things a lot. He tried a lot over a long stretch of time to educate himself on being more open minded and polite to others instead of taking them granted and belittling them. He’s secretly very sensitive about his friends, despite seeming upset with them and arguing with them. He always goes back and talks things over and admits to when he messes up now instead of blaming it on the other person.Why You Love Them: They’re a dumb vampire man and I originally made him as a horrible filler character but now he’s just fun to poke fun at with my other characters. In the set of OCs he’s in, he’s also the oldest and knows the most history and science wise, so he’s just a big angsty nerd. He’s just also a posh vampire.

Full Name: Keiler BlancheGender and Sexuality: male & asexual and biromanticPronouns: he/him or they/themEthnicity/Species: French and Irish & humanBirthplace and Birthdate: ??? & April 18thGuilty Pleasures: getting high only to eat food he cooksPhobias: has social anxiety, being attacked for his hobbies, worries he might accidentally kill someone with his potionsWhat They Would Be Famous For: all the weed he growsWhat They Would Get Arrested For: all… the weed……. he grows……OC You Ship Them With: Augie (??????even I don’t know)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nobody. Yet.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: fantasyLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: redemption arcs for characters that were constantly toxic and ended up being instantly forgivenTalents and/or Powers: basic spells and enchantments, potion brewing, herbologyWhy Someone Might Love Them: they’re very polite, very calm and kind, he’ll hook you up with some dank weed my dudeWhy Someone Might Hate Them: he’s the weirdo on the block, questionable activities, he sets a “less desirable” example for is peers, his familiar was actually another witch guyHow They Change: Keiler was very unmotivated in most everything he did until he got a cat. The cat made him a better person. But then the cat also turned out to be an animagus, which was really awkward. He made him live in his backyard for a week.Why You Love Them: They’re a very whimsical and soft, sleepy sort of character. They remind me of sitting in a small cabin kitchen in the morning with the sunrise peeking through an ivy-bordered window looking out over plant filled garden and porch. He’s got a nice serene feeling.

Full Name: Augie Maes/BlancheGender and Sexuality: male & bisexualPronouns: he/himEthnicity/Species: Belgian and English & humanBirthplace and Birthdate: ??? & June 5thGuilty Pleasures: crumpling paper and plastic, and being a catPhobias: snakes, most large animals, knives and sharp cutting objectsWhat They Would Be Famous For: being a cat for 8 years What They Would Get Arrested For: being a cat for 8 years instead of paying for their classes and rentOC You Ship Them With: Keiler (???????still don’t know)OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nobody. Yet.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: comedyLeast Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: sidekicks dieing for main character developmentTalents and/or Powers: basic spells and enchantments, transfiguration, can turn into a cat (specifically cornish rex)Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re very friendly and have a great sense of humor, they’re bright and cheerful, great listener, supportive and affectionate, usually smells like plantsWhy Someone Might Hate Them: they like pranks, knocking things down for no particular reason is a habit now, tracks dirt into everywhere, usually smells like plantsHow They Change: Augie uses his transfiguration skills to hide from his class debt and leech off his classmate Keiler for a long while, pretending to be a stray cat that showed up on the doorstep. After spending a few years with Keiler, Augie started feel guilty, and eventually revealed to Keiler that he in fact not a cat and had been using him for free food, housing, and classes. Keiler of course kicked him out (temporarily), and later Augie and Keiler worked together to figure out how the two of them can get Augie out of debt. Currently Augie lives with Keiler as his roomate and best friend, and helps him with house work and chores more often. Why You Love Them: Stupid fucking cat guy.

#ask #this took me 3 hours to answer lmfao #lord #OC Sil #OC Sil Poisontongue #OC Ven #OC Ven Poisontongue #OC Gillian Callaway #OC Gorou #OC Gorou Oshiro #OC War Bat #OC Richard Bellerose #OC Keiler Blanche #OC Augie Maes #OC Augie Blanche

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salavante · 5 years

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Odwain! The goodest.

Wow, featuring one of the more flattering drawings I’ve done of Odwain. Like last time, I’ll post all these guys separately and then do all the headshots in a masterpost. In the meantime buckle up for...a lot. (Thank you for giving me my favorite character.)

Full Name: Odwain Novak. In Ben Yit’gab, the Bennai language, his first name would be Oediwen, and it’s what his dad called him. His mother calls him Oddy and he does not like it.

Gender and Sexuality: Male and Bisexual

Pronouns: He/him

Ethnicity/Species: Odwain is a Ben-Aleth, a Human-Bennai hybrid, also called a mosshead if you’re in coarse company. His human mother Blanche Novak is mixed race. Odwain’s maternal grandfather came directly from Earth, Poland specifically, during one of the several accidental migrations of humans coming from Earth to The Road. His maternal grandmother is from a previous wave who were already settled on The Road by that time, but the family can trace her ancestry back to West Africa. Odwain’s father, Ashatov Novak, was a full-blooded Bennai, a plant-based halfling race. Ashatov took his wife’s last name.

Birthplace and Birthdate: Thinking about this trips me out man. Odwain was born in 1946, sometime in the summer, probably July or August, in Septor Secundis, a coastal, metropolitan city and the seat of The Road’s government. He’s 27 during his first adventure and right now, in Godslaughter, he is 69 (what the FUCK). He will live maybe 20 or 30 years longer than your average human, and is in better physical shape than a human would be at 69. He’s more like late 40’s or early 50’s.

Guilty Pleasures: A lot, probably - Odwain has just a bit of hedonistic streak just because he feels miserable so much of the time that he needs to feel good somehow. He smokes cigarettes for much of his life (but eventually quits), is a casual cannabis smoker and binge eats really truly terrible junk food (and has a bit of a gut because of it, but because he’s kind of lanky otherwise, he’s just kind of gourd-shaped). He likes beer, but doesn’t drink hard liqour all that often because he gets astronomically bad hangovers. Despite having a generally weak stomach, Odwain really likes frightfully spicy food, and his kids’ obligatory dad-gifts for him are probably hot sauces. When he’s not pounding down garbage, his favorite kind of cuisine is Thai. Not a guilty pleasure per say, but he also loves all things that have to do with insects, and when he and Rusty have a house together, Odwain takes up gardening as a hobby and plants an expansive garden of flora that are attractive to bees. (A Nice Thing: Odwain plants this garden when Rusty is pregnant because he found his love of insects through his father’s garden as a child, and wanted to give his kids the same opportunity) Odwain also maintains an apiary from the time that he’s living in a warehouse in the desert, to when he’s living with a partner and beyond. When he learns how to make Hot Honey it’s over for all of us. He has a modest collection of novelty bee-themed things that he’s amassed over the years, but he is not guilty about asserting his love of bees/wasps, like, at all. He’s also a little kinky but I’m not going into that.

Phobias: All of Odwain’s fears are existential - what if I push everyone away, existing in society is anxiety inducing, what if I’m just a bad person and my existence is making everything more difficult for functional people, etc. Though he’s kind of a sad fellow and has ideated suicide, and came very, VERY close to trying to kill himself after he dropped out of college, he also fears growing old and dying. I think death is more digestible to him if it’s on his own terms, but even then, I think what coaxed him off the edge was fear. If anything ever happened to his chosen romantic partner or any of his kids, he’d be besides himself, and is kind of one severe trauma and emotional breakdown away from becoming a bee-themed supervillian.

What They Would Be Famous For: Odwain is notable at a certain point in his career for being a pioneer in AI programming, and also for designing, building and patenting an invention called the Hercules Rig, which is basically a beetle-wing inspired jetpack. You can see it here. He holds the patent very closely and only allows it to be reproduced for recreation, construction, emergency rescue operations, etc. Odwain has taken a very firm stance on not allowing the military or any paramilitary organization to get their hands on it, though it has not stopped them from making shitty knock-offs that he is constantly suing people about.

What They Would Get Arrested For: Breaking and entering. Exploding something he shouldn’t. Buying illegal hazardous materials. Doing something petty that bites him in the ass.

OC You Ship Them With: To be honest there are not a lot of other characters besides Rusty that I ship him with. Bitter college rivals, thrown back together as late twenty-somethings, becoming better people together and learning to express empathy and vulnerability…it’s good. The only other character that I really go yeah, that’s the good stuff, is Jake’s character Finnick, who is kind of Odwain’s weird BFF and fellow mad scientist type. I don’t think they’d have a super stable relationship, and I think it would most likely be a “we yelled at each other and had weird sex enough that we like each other now” kind of scenario. But I do think they would come to love each other and have each other’s back to the death. Him and Hemlock, my dirty swamp witch who’s only picture was devoured during the great tumblr purge, also make a pretty fun couple for similar reasons. Iona too, but I think they are too explosive of personalities to ever find a stable middle ground. I also think he would find certain people attractive (August, Hare, Ganzrig, Ifechi the man I have spoken of but once, Jonquil in certain scenarios) but may not put himself out there to pursue them.

Neither of us have ever posted any art of her but here’s a few headshots of Finnick I did awhile ago, because she really is my favorite romantic partner for Odwain aside from Rusty, and is the only other one that’s really relevant in our games.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Odwain is fairly physically fragile and to be honest I think that most people could kill him as long as they could get their hands on him - he’s very dexterous and has a lot of gadgets that let him get the upper hand, keep enemies at a distance or escape. He has a ranged fighting/add-spawn build so he is mostly out of direct harm unless he’s reeled in somehow. But uh, Odwain IS dead right now in Godslaughter, he died fighting an eldritch deity named Dreamer who sucked him into a nightmare dimension and flayed his soul out of his body. It’s ok though, as long as the party beats Dio, he’ll be fine. I didn’t cry you’re the one who’s crying.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Ok, so, first off HAHA Odwain canonically likes Transformers and collects them, which are a thing in circulation after the last human migration from earth in the 90’s. Imagine. Imagine your grown ass father with a genius level IQ and multiple patents collecting plastic robots. Him and Finnick have transformers sonas - ANYWAY, that aside, he doesn’t really read for pleasure, just information, and generally just puts on cable while he works for white noise (and in later years, whatever The Road’s TV streaming service is). Most of the media he consumes is incidental to him, but will get interested in strange things that pique his interest. He probably thinks true crime docs are neat and enjoys pulpy sci-fi stuff that he can complain about. Any documentary about bugs. He’d like Mystery Science Theatre if they had it around. He enjoys things that are the fun, good kind of “bad” and has a fairly high threshold for disturbing imagery.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Odwain is that guy who makes 20 minute long youtube videos lampooning movies for “not making sense”. If there’s anything that breaks his suspension of disbelief, his attention and tolerance disintegrates, even if it’s just one of those things that needs to happen to move the plot along. It doesn’t really matter what genre it is, though he is most hard on sci-fi and fantasy. There is a tipping point for him, however, where he starts enjoying the thrill of blasting something and circles back around to enjoying it.

Talents and/or Powers: Odwain is only a little bitty bit magical, and only because Bennai are the most magical race on The Road. He has latent magical ability that allows him to sense magical signatures and incorporate magic into technology, and maybe cast a low level spell if he tries really hard. If he was in a high fantasy setting, he’d be an enchanter. His staff (the big lightbulb thing I draw him with sometimes), the Hercules Rig, his Wasp Suite (robotic wasps with an AI and different spells loaded into them) and any other devilish, bug-based weapons and utility objects do his work for him.

Why Someone Might Love Them: Odwain’s a bit of a tough walnut to crack because I think that he shines in moments of sincerity and vulnerability, but he has to, well, get there. He’s capable of very great, thoughtful acts of selflessness and compassion, and deeply desires meaningful relationships with other people, but he gets insecure about how he expresses himself and can clam up. He’s passionate, emotional and expressive, but has been put down for being so, and was probably a very brilliant, curious child who was beaten down into a somber adult. I actually think that, at some point in his childhood, he was not entirely unlike Whitty in the way that he was eager to share things with people and explore the world around him, which is why Odwain feels very protective of his grandson. I think the most lovable thing about him is that when he’s at his best, nothing can stop him - he’s extremely intelligent, diligent, creative and innovative. He truly, deeply loves making things, and making them better, and when he’s not in a crash, creates prolifically. What he loves, he loves deeply and without compromise, which makes Rusty, a person that could also be said of, a good match for him. I also think his cattiness makes him very witty, he’s a genuinely funny guy who can engage in some really goofy shenanigans when he’s feeling up for it.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: Oh, lots of reasons. Odwain is an acquired taste to many, or just not to many’s taste at all. He is very petty, blunt and catty, and as a young man is extremely bitter and negative. You’d be very hard pressed to get a positive statement about anything out of him between the ages of 16-25. He’s very confrontational, can become very loud and intense if it’s something that he feels is important, and is not afraid to cut people out of his life if he feels that they aren’t good for him. Sometimes, he will end relationships/friendships prematurely because of this. Being such, he is heavily prone to self-inflicted isolation. He has no childhood friends, and only kept in touch with one person from college. He just cuts and runs. Odwain’s self-loathing runs very deep, which makes it hard for him to accept, or ask for, emotional support or affection. And that can be hard on the people around him who care about him. His executive dysfunction can also be abysmal, making it seem like perhaps he is messy or lazy, but he’s just kind of a mess himself, hah.

A weird non-psychological one but I think is enough to get someone’s hackles up is that Odwain doesn’t like animals very much unless they are insects, invertebrates, etc. He finds mammals loud, messy and needy, and that “I’m the only one in my house that is allowed to be all of those things”.

How They Change: As Odwain ages and gains a stable support network of friends, his edges soften and he learns how to ask for help more effectively. He also learns how to better choose his battles, and how to exercise the compassion that he knows he has, but has been too insecure to utilize. He manages his mental health better, but is never entirely free of it, because you never really are. Most importantly, I think, he learns how to forgive the people who deserve forgiveness, and give people second chances, accepting that people can change. Which means the same can be said for him, too.

Why You Love Them: I’ve talked about this before, somewhere, I’m sure. Odwain is one of those characters that has a very big slice of my personality, and has a lot of my more negative traits, though they are ones we’re both working on. My first session with Odwain was a scene where Odwain’s dad died after being ill for a very long time, and as it happens, it was on father’s day, on the first or second father’s day after MY dad died, after several brutal months fighting with the cancer that eventually killed him. I had to put down the dice, so to speak, and for a short time, thought that Odwain might actually be a character that I scrapped completely. He came too close to something very painful and personal. I don’t remember how, exactly, but the solution to this problem of mine was that if he’s getting close to me on his own, then I might as well just let him in on everything. I can genuinely say that doing that has changed the way that I empathize with my characters and how I make them, and that there is something I share with Odwain that I don’t have with many of my other characters. Also, I like bees.

#odwain #tyromedico

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