#quetzalin

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: six sketched and colored portraits of a humanoid man with a beak tooth and colorful feathers on his head and body. His feathers are dark green on the head and back, light blue on the front, and there is a fan of soft gold feathers on his spine. He is wearing colorful jewelry and makeup, with a different look in each of the six portraits. There is a tattoo on his forehead with the design of two linked circles with a few decorative lines framing them, and there is a long scar across the middle of his face. end description.)

Just a little bonus post, this is my protagonist character Mori, short for Morianon. He's part of a humanoid avian species I've been calling the Quetzalin, pretty much the only people species in my worldbuilding that did not evolve naturally but were actually created by a Life entity that liked to experiment in some really weird ways. Most Life entities just poke and prod evolution in certain directions, but this particular entity wanted to do more. Maybe I'll go more into detail on that later, lol, but for now i just wanted to show of Mori's fun summer style.

Being a tropical avian species, Quetzalin males typically grow fancy courting feathers half the year and the hormonal shift also drives them to adorn themselves with as much glitter and color as they can manage. Mori does not live amongst his own people, but he still loves to decorate himself in the courting season, and his wife is happy to help with his makeup.

(I say males to keep it simple, but the quetzalin views of sex and gender don't really follow a simple binary like that, i could make a whole post on this topic)

#my designs #worldbuilding #quetzalin #image description #accessible images #accessible art

[memento-morianon]

random excerpt

this is from book 2's rough draft, (because i cannot write in a linear fashion) taking place when Morianon and Evarin are on their 5th wedding anniversary vacation to connect with his people and learn more about their culture. Their host is named Zarek, and his oldest son Tezo has voluntarily become their guide for a lot of things. He's very excited to be their friend and help them experience the quetzalin culture! He's also happy to have a reason to practice the "common" international language more, since he's trying to follow his father's footsteps and study linguistics, to become a translator or maybe just to travel outside the rainforest.

excerpt will be partly under a cut because it's long. there is casual nudity but it's not described in detail and the content remains PG aside from that.

Morianon stirred and squinted at the knocking sound that woke him up. Evarin snuggled deeper into his feathers, hiding her face from the early morning light. 

"Sorry to wake you!" Tezo chirped behind the door, "you said you'd like to join a traditional preening, and now is a perfect time." 

"We'll be out in a moment," Morianon called back to him, gently shaking Evarin awake. 

"Early birds," she grumbled, crinkling her snout and rubbing her eyes. Morianon was already on his feet, ruffling his feathers.

"If you're that sleepy, you can take a nap later," he said. Evarin waved a hand dismissively as she got up. 

Once clothed, they joined Tezo outside the guest house. He smiled at them, bouncing on his toes and lightly flicking his tail. 

"I am so happy to show you our traditions," he said, "my friends do not speak other languages, but they know International Sign, so you will not be left out." 

"Thank you," Morianon sighed in relief, "someday, I hope I can hold a full conversation in Quetzalin, but-" 

"We'll get there," Evarin assured him, taking his hand. Tezo nodded enthusiastically, gesturing for them to follow him. 

"You already pronounce our words very good," he said "you will come back again and get better." 

“Of course,” Evarin replied, “every year, at least once a year. If all goes well, we’ll have a hatchling next time we visit.” She squeezed Morianon’s hand and grinned. He wrapped his wing around her, holding her close.

“I am working on it,” Tezo laughed. He guided them over the bridges between trees, past quiet groups of other Quetzalin starting their own morning routines. Morianon looked up and watched a few people leap from their balconies, spreading their wings to fly across the enormous clearing below. A few small flocks of young dancers were already out, twirling in the air, heckling and encouraging each other at the same time. 

“Maybe we should invite some family down here too,” he mused, “just so they can see it.” While he watched the dancers, Tezo skipped ahead with his wings fluttering, calling out to several quetzalin entering a building. They all turned and grinned, calling back and waiting for him.

"Oh those must be his friends," Evarin said, pulling Morianon forward. Tezo waved his friends closer and spoke to them in Quetzalin while gesturing and signing at Morianon and Evarin. 

"These are my family's guests," he signed, "they are learning our language and customs. Be kind and patient." He pointed at both of them in turn; "Norianon and Etharin," he said. Then he pointed at each of his friends; "Lir, Tika, Rou, Otin, Ezi,"and each of them smiled and nodded. Morianon took note of their plumage, focusing on their main colors. Dark blue, red, pale gray, mottled brown, and yellow. 

"We are glad to meet you," Evarin signed, hoping her hand shape was not too foreign to them. But they returned her gesture in kind and she relaxed. 

"Come then, inside," Tezo herded the little flock into the preening spa, letting Morianon and Evarin follow behind him. "We preen nude," he explained while his friends passed through a heavy curtain, "there are shelves for your clothing." 

"Ah, but we only just got dressed," Morianon laughed, holding the curtain aside as he followed Tezo. Evarin hesitated. 

"Tezo?" she called softly. 

"Yes?" he paused with his waist sash half undone. Evarin glanced down at herself, tugging her shirt hem. 

"My body is… very different from yours. Do you think your friends would be uncomfortable seeing me nude?" Tezo tilted his head and pondered for a moment. Morianon squeezed his wife's hand. 

"Ev, they all seem quite nice. I'm sure it's no different from the mud spas back home." 

"Back home, people already knew me," Evarin murmured, pressing her knees together. 

"No one will be uncomfortable with you," Tezo replied, but he smiled apologetically. "They may stare a little; it is rare for outsiders to join the preening." 

"Do what feels comfortable, Ev," Morianon reassured her, "I want you to be here with me." He pulled her forward gently and she followed. 

"I think I'll leave my underwear on this time," she said. 

"That is alright." Tezo removed his clothing and jewelry, tucking it next to his friends' things. "Preening is about comfort. Oh!" He turned with a look of embarrassment. "I forgot to explain preening rules." 

"Rules like no flirting in the spa?" Morianon grinned and untied his waist cloth. "We have that rule at the mud spas too." Evarin smiled, keeping her back to Tezo as she removed her clothes. 

"Yes," Tezo replied, "no being sexy. It is impolite. But, we also have rules about where you can preen another person." He put his hands on his chest. "Shoulders and wings, anyone can preen. Chest and lower, tail, and back, only partners can preen." He moved a hand to his feathered cheek. "Family and friends can preen face and head," he continued, "we use hands for everyone. Preening with your mouth is for loved ones, family or partners, or good good friends." 

"Thank you," Morianon nodded, "we'll be careful." 

Beyond the small curtained room, the others were lounging on benches and the sandy floor. A fountain of water bubbled up from the corner of the spa room, filling a shallow pool. The gray-feathered friend was already in the water, flicking their wings to splash it over their body. Everyone else had spread their wings out, gently laying them over each other’s laps and combing their fingers through the feathers. It reminded Evarin of a braiding circle, laughing with her friends as they all did each other’s hair. 

“It’s cozy in here,” she said, holding Morianon’s hand and keeping close under his wing. He nodded in reply, eyes darting to examine every detail of the space. He admired the feathery carvings on the rounded corners of the walls, painted in every color to represent the whole flock. 

“Norianon, join us,” Tezo waved his hands at the preening circle, getting his friends to scoot over and make room. Morianon followed and sat beside him, letting go of Evarin. She stepped back and sat on another bench nearby, watching as Tezo demonstrated proper preening technique. “Look here,” he said, gently lifting Morianon’s wing feathers, “you have not preened well on your own. It is better with friends; we reach more places.” He picked a few flakes of keratin out of Morianon’s wing, leftovers from his last molt. 

“My friends and family try,” Morianon sighed, shoulders tense. He could feel the dull threat of anxiety in his heartbeat, lingering at the edges of his mind as he allowed Tezo to touch his wings. 

“Watch me,” Tezo said, “this is how we preen. You can try with the others.” His fingers combed over the fibers of Morianon’s feathers, starting from the base and moving toward the tips. His sharp nails pulled the fibers together while also snagging any loose keratin flakes or dead skin and pulling them out. “Hold your fingers at an angle, like this. It works better.” Tezo nodded towards the yellow-feathered quetzalin on Morianon’s other side. “Try with Ezi. And practice speaking too, it is good for you to speak our language.” 

“Yeah,” Morianon nodded and turned towards Ezi. They smiled at him and stretched their wing over his lap. Cautiously, he ran his fingers through their feathers, listening to the quiet conversation all around him. The quetzalin language was chirpy and light, full of trills and clicks. He knew some of the words. Please and thank you, welcome, dancer, watcher, friend. Ezi spoke slow so he could keep up, signing with a free hand occasionally to cover the words he didn’t catch. Little by little, the conversations started to make sense. Gossip, mostly. He smiled. Petty mundane conversation about who was flirting with who, which dancers were catching the most attention in the popular courting circles. His anxiety faded, and he allowed Ezi to preen his feathers in turn. 

Just outside the group, Evarin was also trying to keep up with the conversation. She caught bits and pieces, understanding the tone of humor and sarcasm, noting the central topic of courting dances. The gray friend, Rou, if she remembered right, left the fountain and joined the group, feathers still dripping. 

Evarin smiled as she watched Morianon relax and laugh, stumbling over his words as he tried to speak the language. No one mocked him for it, gently correcting his pronunciation and suggesting words when he faltered. He didn’t turn to look at her, completely engulfed by joy as he became part of the flock. But the others around him did glance towards her now and again. Their eyes lingered on her belly, appearing confused. 

Looking down at herself, trying to figure out what they found so odd, she realized it must have been her belly button. So exposed, the apparent hole in her gut must have caught them off guard. Morianon didn’t have one, she knew. Just a little nub of a scar under his feathers, where she assumed the egg yolk had been connected to him as a fetus. Had he been born in an egg? She wasn’t actually sure, since he claimed his birth mother had been an elf. 

The stares made her nervous. She folded her arms around herself and leaned forward. Morianon was opening up, laughing, making friends. Evarin was alone. She couldn’t keep up with the language, she had no feathers to preen. She longed to sit with her husband, to let someone braid her hair. But Tezo had mentioned that the head was only for close friends and family, and she was a stranger here.

The red-feathered one, she couldn’t remember their name, kept glancing at her more frequently than the others. She caught their eyes and for a moment they stared at each other. They said something quietly to their friend with the dark blue feathers, and then stood and walked away from the group to sit beside Evarin. She straightened up in surprise.

“E-tha-rin?” they asked, waving their hand towards her. She nodded. “Tika,”they said with a grin, tapping their chest. 

“Ket’uh, Tika,” Evarin replied, hoping she had pronounced their “hello” correctly. Tika nodded, eyes bright. They reached their hand out again, curling their fingers slightly. Evarin followed their gaze to her own hand and reached out in reply, letting them touch her. They sat closer, pulling her arm to their lap and looking over it. The hair over her skin was dark and thick, and Tika seemed intrigued by it. They glanced towards her again, tilting their head. She nodded. They hesitantly ran their sharp nails through her arm hairs, combing them as if they were tiny feathers. 

Evarin’s heart felt warm, watching Tika preen her arm hair. They were silent, communicating with her through their eyes and their smile. Hands occupied, they couldn’t sign to her, but it didn’t matter. The room felt so much smaller, suddenly. The distance between Evarin and the preening circle had shrunk, though she hadn’t moved from her spot. Their conversation was louder in her ears, their laughter touched her a little deeper. Tika’s fingernails didn’t leave any marks on her skin, but she felt marked all the same. Like the scars of the stroi, or the braids of the dwarves, proving their place in a family or clan. Evarin had been claimed and given a place; part of the flock.

#mm excerpts #mm 2 #quetzalin #quetzalin culture #mm world details

[rockyoushow]

Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

L-R – Julio Becerra (Guitar), Quetzalin Dominguez (Vocals), Harry Gonzalez (Bass), Fernando Bujanda (Guitar)Photo: Kinady Navarro Mexico’s proggy alt-rock outfit Lost Nebula is setting out on a Canadian tour this summer in support of their latest album “Created In The Image Of God”. This will be the fourth release from the band and it shows a distinct maturity without losing the desire to try new…

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#Lost Nebula #Mexico

[thisdayinmetal]

Mexico's LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

L-R – Julio Becerra (Guitar), Quetzalin Dominguez (Vocals), Harry Gonzalez (Bass), Fernando Bujanda (Guitar)Photo: Kinady Navarro Mexico’s proggy alt-rock outfit Lost Nebula is setting out on a Canadian tour this summer in support of their latest album “Created In The Image Of God”. This will be the fourth release from the band and it shows a distinct maturity without losing the desire to try…

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[infraredmag]

Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God”

NEWS RELEASE Montreal, QC – July 6, 2022   Mexico’s LOST NEBULA Announces Canadian Tour To Support New EP “Created In The Image Of God” New EP Out July 15th L-R – Julio Becerra (Guitar), Quetzalin Dominguez (Vocals), Harry Gonzalez (Bass), Fernando Bujanda (Guitar) Photo: Kinady Navarro Mexico’s proggy alt-rock outfit Lost Nebula is setting out on a Canadian tour this summer in support…

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#Asher Media Relations

[miss-m-winks]

(Image description)

a lot of characters from my justice league au with @askmissbernadette. From left to right:

Kouto Loryck (born Kouto Hayashi) as the Bat in black body armor with a pointy eared cape and hood. He’s wearing red goggles, and the inside of the cape as well as the bat logo on his chest are also red. He’s an elf with pale skin that shows a few lightning scars. He's also non-binary and bi.

Talib Ubora, by all appearances a black elf, as Superman. He’s wearing a light blue shirt with an S shaped logo in red and yellow, as well as blue shorts with a darker section in the center, athletic red shoes and gloves, and a sleeveless red leather trench coat. He’s missing his left ear and eye with scars all over his body. He’s ace.

My very very old first oc ever Mirelle as Wonder Woman. She’s like a satyr but alicorn instead of goat. The Wonder Woman armor is a halter top to accommodate large white and blue wings which are brown on the back. Pretty much the same sort of outfit Wonder Woman is usually depicted in.

A very unused side oc, Wepesi Amara, as the Flash. Black elf woman with vitiligo, wearing a body suit and mask in two shades of red with dark blue boots and gloves. She’s a butch lesbian.

Morianten Loryck, a young quetzalin man with blue and green feathered wings and tail, dressed in armor of bone and gold with a bird skull helmet that has a red feather fringe. He used to dress a bit less macabre, going by the hero name Kingfisher as the Bat's sidekick, but now he’s Death's chosen so he goes by Ghostwing and he’s a bit more independent.

Raixa Loryck, elf woman with dark tan skin and a long black braid, dressed in a Green Lantern bodysuit. She’s bi.

Michael William DeWitte, a young human man with brown skin and short black hair, wearing a blue and dark brown sleeveless hoodie with dark red pants, black boots, blue gloves. He has a bow and arrows because he is Arrow.

Aquaman is here played as a half-mer person named Ojir, who has grey skin, pale blue fins, and purple hair. They’re wearing a cropped blue halter top with a black border creating a water drop loop at the neck, and matching pants. The crop top allows their abdominal fins to be free-moving.

Instead of Black Canary, this sonic-voice hero is Black Cockatoo, aka Thomas Marion Douglas, the human Australian Rock Star with a tall red and yellow mohawk. He’s wearing a full black leather outfit with red panels and silver spikes, as well as red gloves. His eyes are hidden by a lot of black makeup. He is gay.

And last but not least, Kimberly Johnson the stage magician who knows actual magic. Her stage and hero name is Wanda Wonderful, she has pink hair and is wearing a tuxedo top with a short pink skirt and fishnet tights. White gloves, black shoes, pink bow tie, pink mask, and a small matching top hat. She’s dating the Flash.

(End description)

#winks art #justice leage au #winks ocs #image descriptions #accessible images #accessible art

[poetrythatilike]

THE FLOWER TREE

Begin the song in pleasure, singer, enjoy, give pleasure to all, even to Life Giver. Yyeo ayahui ohuaya.

Delight, for Life Giver adorns us. All the flower bracelets, your flowers, are dancing. Our songs are strewn in this jewel house, this golden house. The flower tree grows and shakes, already it scatters. The quetzal breathes honey, the golden flamingo breathes honey. Ohuaya, ohuaya.

You have transformed into a flower tree, you have emerged, you bend and scatter. You have appeared before God's face as multicolored flowers. Ohuaya, ohuaya.

Live here on Earth, blossom! As you move and shake, flowers fall. My flowers are eternal, my songs are forever: I raise them: I, a singer. I scatter them, I spill them, the flowers become gold: they are carried inside the golden place. Ohuaya, ohuyaya.

Flowers of raven, flowers you scatter, you let them fall in the house of flowers. Ohuaya, ohuyaya.

Ah, yes: I am happy, I, prince Nezahualcoyotl, gathering jewels, wide plumes of quetzal, I contemplate the faces of jades: they are the princes! I gaze into the faces of eagles and jaguars, and behold the faces of jades and jewels! Ohuaya ohuyaya.

We will pass away. I, Nezahualcoyotl, say, enjoy! Do we really live on earth? Ohuaya, ohuaya.

Not forever on earth, only a brief time here! Even jades fracture; even gold ruptures, even quetzal plumes tear: Not forever on earth: only a brief time here! Ohuaya, ohuaya.

IN XOCHINQUAHUITL

Xiahuilompehua xiahuiloncuican ticuicanitl huiya ma xonahuiacany, onelelquixtilon ypalnemohuani. Yyeo ayahui ohuaya.

Ma xonahuiacani ye techonquimiloa ypalnemohua ye xochimaquiztica netotilo ye nehuihuio-Aya!-moxochiuh-A ohuaya-yao yao ho ama y yehuaya ahuayyao aye ohuaya ohuaya. Ye momamana, ye momana ya in tocuic. Maquizcalitec zan teocuitlacalico moyahuan Xochincuahuitl oo. Ye mohui xohua in zan ye motzetzeloa. Ma in tlachichina quetzaltototl ma in tlachichina in zaquan quecholan. Ohuaya.

Xochincuahuitl timochiuh, timaxelihui, tihuitolihui: o ya timoquetzaco in yehuan. Ixpan timomati tehuan nipapan xochitl. A Ohuaya ohuaya.

Ma oc xon ya tica oc xon cuepontica yn tlalticpac in. Timolinia tepehui xochitl, timotzetzeloa-Yohuaya ohuaya! Ah tlamiz noxochiuh ah tlamiz nocuic yn noconyayehua-Aaya!-zan nicuicanitl. Huia. Xexelihuiya moyahua yaho cozahua ya xochitl za ye on calaquilo zaquan calitic. A ohuaya ohuaya.

Yn cacaloxochitl in mayexochitl-Aya ohuaye!-tic ya moyahua, tic ya tzetzeloa xochincalaytec. A ohuaya ohuaya.

Yyoyahue ye nonocuiltonohua on nitepiltzin niNezahualcoyotl huia nic nechico cozcatl in quetzalin patlahuac ye no nic iximati chalchihuitl. Yaho in tepilhuan. Ohuaya ohuaya. Yxco nontlatlachia nepapan cuauhtli ocelotl, ye no nic yximati chalchiuhtliya in maquiztliya. Ohuaye.

Tiazque yehua xon ahuiacan. Niquittoa o ni Nezahualcoyotl. Huia! Cuix oc nelli nemohua oa in tlalticpac? Yhui. Ohuaye.

Annochipa tlalticpac. Zan achica ye nican. Ohuaye ohuaye. Tel ca chalchihuitl no xamani, no teocuitlatl in tlapani, no quetzalli poztequi. Yahui ohuaye. Anochipa tlalticpac zan achica ye nican. Ohuaya ohuaya.

- Nezahualcoyotl (”Hungry Coyote”)

#nezahualcóyotl #aztec #poetry #translation

[alroar]

La danza de los quetzalines #atlixcayotontli2019 #atlixco #puebla #pueblosmagicos #atlixcodelasflores #belloatlixco #atlixcopueblosmagico #atlixcayotontli #atlixquense (en Cerro de San Miguel Arcangel, Atlixco puebla.) https://www.instagram.com/p/B14HVeFHLLz/?igshid=bqe9k8dsteca

#atlixcayotontli2019 #atlixco #puebla #pueblosmagicos #atlixcodelasflores #belloatlixco #atlixcopueblosmagico #atlixcayotontli #atlixquense

[xxgagamonster]

una pregunta por que eres tan genial?

asdfghjklfpdmnjgktnjbnr claro que no x3 tu eres genial

#ask #quetzalin

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

omgomg another question! (sorry!) how do you handle half-races? like, half-orcs?

seeing as your races are definitely more like species, distinct from each other and evolving from different ancestors, do you even handle them? -or do they simply not exist in your world?

seeing as they're all sentient species with communication abilities, is it taboo for them to couple up?

is there magic that would allow them to procreate? would that be taboo?

haha I think I may be bothering you with many more questions to come, I just want to slow down right now lol. maybe this'll be the last one tonight

-Bat(ty) gob Anon again :)

Hi! I'm gonna get to your other questions when I have a bit more time, I'm wrapping up a paid project and its almost new years so I'm a little backed up on questions at the moment lol.

But I love talking about my personal project! So I'll answer this one while I have some time.

The main half races I do are between orcs and their tiny cousins (gnomes and haufin aka "halflings", because I thought it would be fun for the smallest people to be related to the big beefy ones lol)

They're all still closely related enough that they can mix and match. I did make a doodle page for them, I'll link it later maybe. This leads to fun combos like gnorcs, gnaufin, hauforcs, and the triple combo "urukin" because they end up looking more like the common ancestor which I named after Tolkein's uruk-hai.

So they're a lot of fun. Gnaufin are the most common mix because they're both small, and any cross with orcs is like 98% a result of gnome and haufin males looking at a tall beefcake of an orc lady and saying "challenge accepted" which results in some hilarious mixed families. In fact, in the story I'm writing, the protagonist's gnomish wife is 1/8th orc because her maternal great-grandpa was *adventurous*

The other related people species are the sylvanids, being elves, drow, and "vampires" (until I think of a better word)

They don't mix as well as the orcs and their kin, because they've diverged a lot more. Orcs, gnomes, and haufin are practically all the same, they just come in different sizes and have different teeth arrangement and a few distinct adaptations for different lifestyles. But the sylvanids have wildly different adaptations for much more niche reasons.

Orcs are built for pack hunting, gnomes are built for climbing, haufin are built for burrowing. They're all omnivores because they came from ancient wild boars.

Elves are built for semi-arboreal bipedal life with ambush hunting, vampires are built for sprint hunting while running on all fours and walking bipedal otherwise and also they mainly consume blood and guts and nothing else, and drow are built for eusocial live in deep caverns with an extremely unique endocrine system and semi-prehensile tails. They just diverged way more than the orciformes did.

Vampires are capable of having children with either of the other groups, but their genetics usually win out and just produce more vampires, with some visual similarity to the other parent.

Elf/vampire is more common than drow/vampire. Drow/elf is technically possible but they will almost always be infertile because most drow are infertile. The only real chance of drow mixing with anyone is from the handful of wandering fertile male drow who ditch their social systems to go be loners (actually a necessity, because they help keep the gene pool diverse) drow matriarchs are pretty picky about who they have babies with, so the chance of a matriarch having a mixed baby are next to none. It's possible that a non-matriarch female drow might undergo the hormonal transformation without telling anyone, if she triggered it the natural way instead of with medication (referencing the way naked mole rats do things) so a "rogue matriarch" might have mixed babies.

As for other combos, they're entirely impossible and no one has found a normal magical and medical way to change that.

Except the one time a Life Entity (basically a deity) was upset to see humans going extinct, so she used a large portion of her limited power to mess with genetics (she was a geneticist in her mortal life) and found a few ways to get human genetics to continue for a while.

The easiest one was altering dward DNA ever so slightly so they could have kids with humans, being the only other remaining hominid species. A harder option that she did anyway was altering some elf DNA (with the help of other Life Entities) so they could also have kids with humans. This was as far as she could stretch the genetics of a non-hominid species, as elves are simian rather than ape and just happened to evolve a similar niche to the earliest hominids.

As a result, it's uncommon but not unheard of for these mixed half-elves and half-dwarves to also reproduce together, but the genetics break down more and those kids are all infertile.

The final thing this Life Entity did was to sneak around behind Death's back to do some illicit soul recycling and craft a new people species from scratch while bypassing evolution, creating my bird folk, the quetzalin. They are basically just bird bits and human bits shoved together and micro managed until evolution kicked in well enough for them to be a properly functional species. They can also have infertile children with the dwarves and elve that still carry human remnant dna. This is how my protagonist was born!

And that is all I have on mixed people species in my world building. Yes, I did make up a whole deus ex machina explanation for the quetzalin when I realized I had a cool idea but had gone too far into the science side of world building to make it make sense XD even I have to use "rule of cool" sometimes.

#fantasy anatomy #my designs #worldbuilding #orciformes #sylvanids #quetzalin #reproduction #mixed species

[memento-morianon]

Fantasy pronouns

this took a while lol

pronunciation basics: anything ending with "os" rhymes with "cross" x in the quetzalin language sounds like "ch" as in "chop/cheap/chick"

for the most part, e and i at the start/end of a word will sound like ay and ee respectively (such as flambe, fiance / bring, sing) while e and i stuck between consonants will sound like eh and ih respectively (such as lend, wreck / fix, tick)

#mm world details #conlang #writeblr

[memento-morianon]

Welcome to my side blog, I intend to post details about my ocs and the story I'm writing here. This includes sketchbook art! I'm going to use a custom tag system to keep things organized, which I will explain under the cut.

Summary of the project: Memento Mori is a fantasy trilogy about Morianon and his wife Evarin. He is a Quetzalin, a humanoid people species with many bird like features including large wings and a tail. Evarin is a gnome, a very small mountain dwelling cousin of orcs. She is also trans.

Morianon enjoys dancing, loves his adoptive family, and he has made a career in archaeology. Though he was born in a tropical rainforest, childhood tragedies lead to his adoption by a mostly-elf family far north of his birth country. The childhood tragedies also gave him DID. By the start of the story, he is 30 years old and five years married, planning for parenthood. But his life is not so simple as that, because there are lingering questions and concerns he needs to find answers for. Things he would rather not think about, and which he keeps secret even from his wife. He knows Death very personally, and it just can't seem to leave him alone.

Evarin is also 30 years old. She loves her husband very much. He's trying to act normal, but she knows there is something he won't tell her. Something that seems to be eating him alive, even as he puts on a brave face about it. Outside of that, Evarin is still dealing with so many other things. Smaller things, sure, but they do weigh on her. She assists her mother, a local doctor. She is relearning her father's art of weaving, which she loved as a child but left by the wayside as a teenager struggling with her gender identity. A struggle she finds herself coming back to now and again, much to her frustration. Between her ongoing gender questions, her responsibilities within her family and community, and her concerns for her husband, Evarin is struggling more than she lets on.

#mm world details - worldbuilding information

#mm characters - posts about the characters

#mm plot stuff - more details about the main story

#mm excerpts - for my draft writing

#mm1 #mm2 #mm3 - indicates which part of my planned trilogy I'm talking about

#outside mm - for any of my side story posts

#outside excerpts - specifically for side story draft writing

#artbook things - art tag

#sketchbook - for sketches

#nudity - for nude art

#courting season - for any art or writing that gets sexy (will be under a cut)

I will also have tips turned on! Hopefully someday I will be able to publish my work, so any money I get will help me towards that goal because publishing costs money no matter what route I take with it.

#memento morianon #writeblr

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

hello. do u have any tips on designing a humanoid bird? specifically the beak situation?

It depends a lot on the style of beak you want to use, and how humanoid you want them to be. Here is a look at a more avian style, copying traits from real bird skulls.

(image description: image 1 shows simplified sketches of bird skulls. A parrot, which has a flexible upper beak, an owl with large front-facing eyes, and an eagle with a strong beak. below this, a humanoid bird skull which utilizes traits of all three, specifically noting the use of a flexible upper beak. Image 2 is a close up faded view of the bird person skull with a bright blue outline over it to show what the face would look like with flesh and feathers. It kind of resembles a cross between a pigeon and a parakeet. end description)

so this option is way more bird-like, essentially just an anthropomorphic bird. the beak being segmented and flexible allows for a lot more expressive movement, and I retained the orbital ring pretty much all birds have. this makes it impossible for them to move their eyes without moving their whole head.

But assuming perhaps you want a more humanoid look, I also offer this example of my own weird human-bird hybrid folks, the Quetzalin.

(image description: two simplified drawings of a skull, one with the face outlined over top. The skull resembles an elongated human skull in the cranium, with a thick lower jaw. In the front half, it bears more resemblance to a simplified dinosaur skull. The nasal cavity uses smaller holes rather than a large opening, there are some teeth along the jaw, and a beak-like tooth protruding from the front of the upper jaw. The outline of a face on the second image shows angular humanoid features with a flat nose and feathers covering the cheeks and head. The beak tooth is visible, poking out of the upper lip. end description)

the beak tooth could be much bigger or smaller, or even flattened down to be more like the triangle teeth on the splatoon characters, so it goes under the lips. I like to do just an upper beak tooth, but you could add a lower one too. And the nose shape could be made more bird-like, just open holes like a vulture maybe.

Basically it ranges from "that's just a whole beak" to "those are some weirdly triangular teeth" and you can experiment with it to decide where on the scale you want your design to land.

#avian humanoids #beak #beak tooth #fantasy anatomy #skulls #birds #my designs

[memento-morianon]

little note on pronouns

I've been using typical human gender pronouns to refer to all my characters thus far, but once i have done enough work on conlangs I actually plan to write the story with all the characters using pronouns from their own native languages.

Evarin, for example, is a trans woman. I usually go with "she/her/hers" when I talk about Evarin. but I am currently building the ancestral language shared by orcs and gnomes, which means Evarin's pronouns actually should be ri/ral/ros, actually.

and then Morianon is a special case, because during book 1 and part of book 2 I'll use elf pronouns for him, lining up with a masculine gender, but then once he connects with his quetzalin culture during book 2, he will change his pronouns to match with their genders instead. so instead of he/him/his, Morianon will go by a-xel/a-xos (standard pronoun and possessive pronoun only)

but only during the courting season (summer) because the quetzalin "genders" are actually just a courting label to tell which role each person takes during the courting season. a-xel means Morianon is a Dancer. outside of courting season, it's just xel/xos (standard adult quetzalin pronoun)

and Morianon is still cis gender the entire time! just in a different way.

(the x in this case is pronounced like a ch, as in check or chess. chel/choss(like cross) is how you pronounce the xel/xos pronoun)

eventually I will have all of the fantasy pronouns worked out lol, even if the rest of the language for each species goes unfinished. who knows, maybe some readers will really like the different pronoun styles! works out for people who also feel aligned with a binary gender but still want a pronoun shift, because Evarin is still using femme-presenting pronouns up there, just in a non-human language lol.

#mm characters #mm world details #fantasy pronouns

[memento-morianon]

Masterpost for people species information.

Quetzalin: the weird chimeric humanoid bird folk who live almost exclusively in one tropical rainforest.

Orcs: large bipedal people evolved from wild boars, comvergently evolving a similar social structure to wolf packs.

Gnomes: remove the tusks and make orcs very very short with more hoof-like hands and feet. That's a gnome. Primarily mountain dwelling folk with a similar pack-like social structure.

Hauthi: another very small orc cousin, they live underground and they are primarily quadrupedal with tusks that resemble the teeth of a rodent. My version of hobbits/halflings.

Elves: arboreal primates, but where hominids are a type of great ape, elves are a type of monkey. Aside from that they're pretty similar to other depictions of elves.

Drow: the unusually purple cave dwelling cousins of elves. I was going to change their name but it turns out that the word drow did in fact exist before DnD so I'm keeping it and WotC can't take it from me. My drow are basically eusocial cave baboons with some extremely weird adaptations.

Stroi: I couldn't keep calling them vampires so I just altered "Strigoi". Another cousin of elves, but closer related to drow. Partly quadrupedal obligatory carnivores, relying mainly on armored mammals as prey, such as porcupines, pangolins, and armadillos.

Dwarves: the last living hominid species, closely related to Neanderthals and humans. Mainly cave dwelling folk, very stout and bearded as all dwarves should be. Gender neutral beards!

Goblins: another cave dwelling group, my goblins are amphibious. Gender means nothing to them, but revolution sure does. The goblin revolution is a major historical event that changed the way people species interact with each other.

Centaurs: evolved from chalicotheres with an unusual and unique adaptation. They're all born as chimeric twins, with one fetal twin being absorbed on purpose to create the double torso. Because sometimes I just want to ignore science a little bit in my fantasy biology. Centaurs were also the primary prey animal of early orcs. There is still some contention between these two species.

Pixies: giant telepathic bees. They like gossip. They have made a lot of innovations for international communication. They have highly advanced technology but it's all bee related and mostly useless to anyone else.

Merfolk: they come in two species groups. Coastal mammalian merfolk, and open ocean fish like merfolk. They have a long and messy history with each other. But working together they do a lot of work dor international trade and communication. Merfolk helped spread the use of a standardized international sign language.

Ogres: mountain dwelling giant sloth people. They have the longest lifespans of any people species. They speak slowly and usually remain distant from other people, but occasionally they trade yarn made of their own shed fur to travelers that pass through their migration routes.

Kobolds: lizard folk. Primarily found in a specific arid region, but some of them travel much further. They can regrow whole limbs.

I have many other concepts for people species but these are the ones that actually might be relevant to the story. Even if the kobolds only get one character representative at the moment.

#mm world details #masterpost #people species

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Okok I'm back to ask another question just because. (Hi I'm the anon asking about bat goblins! Though, unrelated to this ask, kind of)

Are your amphibious goblins, perhaps, related to grung in some capacity? Do you even have grung in your world?

Sorry, it just popped in my mind! Hope it's not too much of a bother to answer my asks, but since I asked for help, I might as well ask for you to talk about your world for fun! :)

i hadn't actually known about the grung before i read through this lol. they look adorable. poison dart frogs have such fun colors and make an interesting base for a people species.

My world building is already full of like. uhhhh 3 sylvanids, 3 orciformes.... goblins, dwarves, pixies, centaurs, ogres, kobolds (2 varieties) merfolk (various?) quetzalin, and i had a concept for marsupial satyrs (2 varieties) i think.. i think that's all of them. as u can see, it is. A Lot. and there are so many more that I could add! gnolls! bat people! minotaurs! but for the sake of keeping my world building from getting too messy, i kinda. have to delegate which species are actually relevant to the plot. where they all originate from, how many of them have actually spread around the world and which ones are more localized, etc.

a lot of my worldbuilding is just going to end up in a supplementary book where i can be like "look at all these cool details in my world that were totally irrelevant to the actual book i wanted to write!" and give people a fun sandbox to play in.