#also got glyphs but i can only fit so much on this thing

[fern-sword]

flapjack pin for my hoodie yay

hopefully we can start selling this stuff on etsy soon

[cabi-leodrann]

hii again! im the anon from here and here!! and the lengthy answer requires an as lengthy follow up so here i am (also if such large asks are inconviniencing in any way pls let me know i dont want to make you uncomfortable)

first of all, it was very interesting to read about this language, im not that into fictional languages stuff but it looks very fun and original to me, thank you for sharing, it's very cool!

second of all, i took some time to translate the glyphs in the names that you've already given and that's what i've got. feel free to correct me!

most of them are pretty self-explanatory (some are a bit less obvious, like the "walk" in loki's name prob means that he's a missionary, and "death" in meralon's that he's an undertaker), but i have a couple of questions.

how would you translate qlaunek's glyphs? im coming up with only something like "the one who reads out the enligthment" which is clanky and awkward. is long+eye in litsy's name mean that he has very good eyesight or on the contrary, that he's farsighted (or something else entirely)? also why is the colour glyph in his name an inverted yellow? is it a mistake or another colour? do colours describe a general family of colour like hues and such (like i don't think that gerard is the same bright green as leshy but maybe im wrong)?

i see some personality glyphs in some names (fear in nimve f.e., which im guessing means that they're cowardly). does that mean that the names can change with time? like if nimve becomes less scared or gerard somehow becomes lucky? did salky's name change when he started wearing camelias?

and since you said it was an inside circle thing between lamb and deciples, doesn't pixie kinda get's pissed off that her name literally contains "angry cat" in it? :D

aaand as the very least some things i think are Neat in this language: i love how combined symbols look and function (like in claunek's name, or how "use" and "make" become "exchange"), the fact that verbs starve, attack, infect etc. are all named after the crowns is awesome and genuinely a nice smart touch, just the visuals of the language are pleasant and fun to look at

again thank you for sharing!! and i look forward to new words in future comics, now that im somewhat familiar with the language

=OOOO absolutely fabulous reveal! B) With another banger ask! (Long ask do not bother me at all! It's kind of very fucking cool to receive a lengthy response about something I thought would not get much reaction/attention- I was happy to receive this, and see I got you and a few people on board with the language!)

Lets now respond to all this in order: -For Claunek, I forgot to put into the lexicon the glyph I gave him- I also did a pretty shit job at drawing it, ngl- But you got a good guess from my shit job! This glyph is the one of "Fate", with a big F. Claunek is the one who can read Fate! I got the symbol from the motif at the back of his tarot cards, and thought it was a perfect fit =D (I just didn't had the patience to make it right on what is supposed to be a sketch-) (I also used this symbol in the comic, and it might come back to haunt the narrative >=D) -Litsy's weird glyphs are mistakes- I used the previous ask to put things down, and so, some rules have been revisited, some glyphs changed. The particle at Litsy's eyes is upside down, as this particle did not had it's mirror version originally. The correct version of his name would be "the yellow cat with big eyes" For the upside-down yellow, I just forgot in which way the triangle of Heket's crown pointed at, since I used the crowns again as inspirations X') (would also say that the placement of the number in Nari's name is wrong- The subject always come first, and since the number is attached to a glyph, the glyph comes first, the number after.) -Colors describe the overall hue yup! An orange that goes more into red hues will be designated as red, and it'll be designated as yellow if yellow is more predominant. Cyan will be blue, pink is red, brown is all over the place, ect. (and yeah, no, Gérard is not the same green as Leshy- I'll show it some day, but the bunny got more of a lighter sickly green) -I didn't really thought of that before, but the names being able to change overtime is a very logical concept for this language! So yeah, you now made name-changing a very normal and regular process in the cult's life! Congrats =D (And yeah, Pixie definitely got pissed at her Cartouche, and made it official in the eyes of everyone X') She fell into the self-fulfilling-prophecy trope and got mad about it X'D) Really quick round, for the few translation """mistakes""" (not really mistakes, since some info are missing or just impossible to know): -Purna is a cook, so the final glyph is more on the food side. -Meralon is a raccoon, wich is not easy to catch when you don't have the mask-looking motif on the face. -Nysus is a Wolpertinger, but good luck to guess that from a simple glyph X')

To conclude, I am glad you were able to read through the whole rant, and try the language out! Your translations are accurate, and it makes me so, so happy you took the time to write them down and ask questions about the language ='3 Overall, I'm very happy you, and other people, saw my stuff, and reacted to it. Seeing y'all enjoying everything gives me wings <3 Thank you very much, and I'll try to put this language everywhere I can from now on ;3 (it was already planned, but now, I'll put more >=3)

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello, I wanted to ask if you know any games where magic system isn't that diverse? I mean, I like magic but it seems in most of games everyone can have tons of different spells which is a bit overwhelming for me, so is there any game where magic user could use only one type of magic like fire, water, illusion etc?

Theme: Specific Magic

Hello friend, I've got a few games for you here. All of these games come from very different houses of design. I hope you find a fit that is right for you!

Weave, by UFO Press.

A game about fashion, travel and everyday magic. You are mages who draw power from fabric, threads and garments. Your search for mystical power will take you to new lands and new cultures.

Fall in love with a local. Drink too much at a festival. Get entangled in town politics. Summon a spirit of yarn and tradition. Bargain for power, and try not to cause irreversible harm to your host culture.

Learn responsibility.

You've lived your entire life in the enclaves of your cult - until now. As a coming-of-age rite, you're travelling the world. You'll visit new cultures, find out why they value the fashion they do, and summon the spirits of garments to learn magical secrets. You're only novices, and things won't always go well. You might fall in love, get involved in local politics, or overindulge at a festival. When you summon spirits, be careful. You might twist them into a rampaging monster, or destroy the culture's relationship with the garment. What right do you have to power?  

This is a diceless game focused on fabric-magic. The character sheet contains a series of threads dedicated to “protects”, “Conceals” “suffices” and “reveals,” as well as three abilities called Traditions. There’s also a number of areas drawn as blank graphs, for you to fill in glyphs.

I don’t own this game, so I can’t tell you how it works but the loops on the character sheet and the presence of the graphs tell me that you likely have limited resources, and you’ll also be expected to create your own magic. It looks like there’s plenty of possibilities within the magic system here, but limiting how you can use it in the form of glyphs tells me that this might be a game that is specific enough to provide limitations for creativity.

Sordid Truths of Fire, by Shouting Crow.

You are a pyromancer, an avatar of flame. Kleptothermic parasites have frozen your world.You must walk the line between fire and flame-- feeding off of and transforming into the things which feed off of your energy-- without losing your sense of self in the drifting snow.

Sordid Truths of Fire is a classless, rules-lite TTRPG. It uses a roll-under system and is basically the bastard child of games like Tunnel Goons and The Black Hack.

This game is for the OSR lovers out there. With three base stats and a roll-under mechanic, character creation is fairly simple. I especially like the events that happen when you roll a 1 or a 20. Rolling a 1 grants you burnout. A little bit of burnout isn’t too bad, but accrue too much, and cannot cast magic. You do, however, gain the features of a creature called a walking torch. Rolling a 20 grants you a point of frostbite - which also takes away your magic, and grants you the features of a monster called a Heat Vampire. You can sacrifice points in your stats to save yourself, and gain points when you roll just right. Will you burn too brightly or get snuffed out?

Nancy Druid, by 9th Level Games.

In Nancy Druid, you will play as a druid scout who solves mysteries along with a trusty animal companion! Your magic is drawn from the natural world, the day-night cycle, and the turning of the seasons.

Will you be a sun druid, who brings brightness and a warm glow to all, with the help of your scout troop's companion critter? Or will you be a moon druid, versed in all things celestial and able to transform into an animal yourself?

The Polymorph system assigns different kinds of dice to roles, based on the character you have. Your role determines what kinds of things you are more likely to succeed at, giving clear strengths and weaknesses among players. This system usually also eschews lists of abilities or catalogues of spells in favor of a special ability that expects you to fill in the blanks.

In Extremis, by Keganexe.

In Extremis is a tabletop roleplaying game designed for 2-6 players, about fighting back the man using necromancy, that uses the LUMEN system by Spencer Campbell. Inspired by The Locked Tomb trilogy, players take on the role of exceptionally powerful witches who use their mastery of life, death, and the human condition to keep them and their own safe from other planetary invaders who want to steal their land. As a Necromancer, you are one of a handful of hideously powerful death witches that protect the planet Hecate, the final holdout for The Coven, from the ever encroaching war of the Corvus Dominion. 

This is a game for feeling like a badass. Every character option uses a different kind of necromancy, but you only really need to worry about your character. You get 3 stats: Muscle, Bone and Nerve. You get a passive and active social spell, a list of combat spells, and a weapon. The setting takes place on a galaxy-wide scale, as the game is heavily inspired by Gideon the Ninth. Your source of your magic is a resource called Wells: necromancers only have so many, but the amount you have at any given time is dependant on the phase of the moon. If you want your magic to be gritty and used in high-stakes situations where death is everywhere, this is the game for you.

[walpywalpy]

//WEISS SCHNEE APPRECIATION POST//

I know. It’s not that obvious by my profile picture and my endless need to praise my queen to tell you that Weiss Schnee is my favorite RWBY character and my favorite character in general. But why? You may not have asked that but that’s not my problem because I’m gonna praise my queen to no end here. So kick back, grab your bowl of Pumpkin Petes, and listen to why Weiss Schnee is my favorite character of all time.

1. Growth

I’m going to be honest and say she wasn’t my favorite at first. She was a bratty, entitled bitch. At the time, Blake and Ruby were my favorite. And it would stay like that until halfway of Volume 3. Specifically, the scene of her and Winter. Winter was cold, direct, and militant. Meanwhile, Weiss was goofing around with Ruby by calling her a friend and rooting against her when her uncle Qrow fought Winter. I noticed that Weiss was someone who barely had a chance to grow up normally because she had high expectations thrusted upon her. Beacon was her first time breaking that. She got to get into food fights, go sight seeing with her friends, joke around with her team in battles, etc. She was no longer that entitled bitch we saw in the emerald forest. Instead, we see a girl having her chance to be free from expectations and trying to be the best teammate and friend she could possible be.

After Beacon fell, she was back to those expectations, and we saw a girl trying to survive a cruel man who didn’t care about anything but his own financial gain. However, that’s not all we got to see. We saw a girl who was formerly afraid of confronting her father and telling him what she has always held against him. After losing her title of heiress, she knew the only thing she had left to lose was her family at Beacon, so she left the home many would beg for because it wasn’t home for her. It was a prison, and she was done paying for the time that her corrupt father put on her.

That’s where she became my favorite. I personally have had problems with my parents and what they want from me. I won’t get into the details, but Weiss made me realize that I’m not alone. That I had people who would connect on that experience. She also made me realize that I did have power and control over my future. I didn’t have to follow what my parents want from me because this life is mine.

2. Music

When it comes to RWBY’s stellar soundtrack, there are very few tracks that hit me as hard as the songs written for Weiss. It’s also helped because it is likely that Weiss has sung them in canon. I won’t go into too much in detail because this post will already be as long as Yang’s hair. Just know that the opera style mixed with a somber piano that eventually turned into opera transitioning into hard rock fits Weiss so well, and I love it!

3. Relationships with Her Teammates

In Volume 1, Weiss was presented with a dilemma. She viewed herself as the perfect candidate for a leader, but Ozpin thought otherwise. She thought it was outrageous for Ozpin to think Ruby was a better choice, but Port knew her thinking was preposterous. Weiss wasn’t fit for a leader, and her teachers told her she isn’t. Instead of keeping up the fight to become a leader, she made a choice: be the absolute teammate she could be. Before I get to what that means off the battlefield, which is the kind of support many connect her being the best teammate she could be with, let me talk about her on the battlefield because I feel like that had to be brought up before I get to that. Weiss is the support of the group. Yes, she can fight amazingly on her own, but when the team is fighting as a unit, Weiss is the support. Her dust and semblance, which I believe to potentially be the best in the show, allow her teammates to bring their semblances to another level. Whether by creating space between them and opponents to catch a breath, allowing for diverse movement through her summons and glyphs, or making their position advantageous, Weiss as a support could change the tide of a fight drastically. Before she made the commitment to being the best teammate, her fighting style was very aggressive, which ended up giving her that defining scar. After said commitment, she focused on supporting her teammates on the battlefield.

Later in the show, however, Weiss would become the empathetic one of the group. If you had a problem, Weiss will probably give you a therapy session. The best example is the conversation between her and Yang. Weiss walks into the room and sits on the bed opposite Yang, silent. She lets Yang talk herself out. Even when Yang said she wouldn’t understand, Weiss listened. It’s only when Yang asked Weiss to finally speak is where she says what she wanted to say. She told her the story of her tenth birthday and the rift that was created on her birthday. She expresses her version of loneliness and how Yang’s is different. She may not fully understand Yang’s version of loneliness, but she understands that it’s there and that Blake has her own. Yang snapped back and Weiss was silent again. She then poses a question to Yang and she answers it. She explains to Yang that Blake watched the one thing she expected to happen happen. Yang expresses that she never blamed Blake and that she wanted Blake here for her. Weiss understands and also wants Blake there. Yang doesn’t believe Blake would return, but Weiss reminds her that the team is a family. Blake feels the same. They’re gonna be there for each other when the occasion arises. Then the occasion arose, and Blake wanted to prove that she was there for Yang. Yang let Blake know that although she doesn’t depend entirely on her, they’re there for each other and happy to be back together.

There’s a reason why Weiss is called the beekeeper. That conversation in Volume 5 is what propelled Bumblebee forward. As a WhiteRose shipper, I hope the same eventually happens for Weiss and her partner. Even if it doesn’t, we know Weiss will be there for Ruby because she promised to be the best teammate.

4. Design

I’m not an artist or a character designer, so I can’t go into the intricacies of her design. But I am someone with a pair of eyes, and I can tell you Weiss is beautifully designed. Out of all the initial designs, Weiss was probably the riskiest to use. Each member of Team RWBY had a defining feature that stood out. Blake’s ribbon from her weapon, Yang’s golden hair, and Ruby’s red cape. Weiss, however, didn’t have much. If I remember correctly from Ein Lee’s notes in the Mirror Mirror anthology, this allowed him to add intricate designs to Weiss. Her sleeves, for example, have an intricate pattern. Her glyphs change depending on what she’s doing with them. Most importantly, however, she is asymmetrical. She ties her hair to the right instead of the dead center as an act of defiance from her father. Her scar, which is even asymmetrical in her eye, keeps her face symmetrical. You’d think that a character so prim and proper would emphasize being symmetrical, but she is proof that beauty isn’t reliant on symmetry. As the Yellow Trailer states, “Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided, and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark’s unseen beauty is greater than it would be judgement."

5. Me as a Person

I can praise a character until the end of time, but that won’t prove one thing: why is she my favorite? As stated before, I connect with her struggle, but that can’t be it. I mean, I connect with Mirabel’s struggle in Encanto, yet Rapunzel is my favorite Disney protagonist. Weiss’ struggle is only a fraction of why she is so near and dear to my heart. For that, I have to get into who I am. I am an aspiring writer and RWBY is the reason for that. It is the show that changed the directory of my life, and I don’t think that would be possible if the show didn’t have Weiss.

What Weiss means to me is a second chance. Her life is full of second chances. A second chance to be a better teammate. A second chance to be a better sister. A second chance to prove herself and uphold her family name. I mess up in life. A lot. I have been dealt some of the worst hands and I have to deal with it. My family isn’t kind to my aspirations, my sexuality, or my religious beliefs (or lack thereof). What can I say, some believe in fairy stories and the ghost that they can’t see. Weiss is in many ways who I want to be. She’s confident. She’s determined. She’s always in pursuit of improving herself. She isn’t perfect, but she doesn’t have to be. I’m not perfect, but I don’t have to be.

We’re not perfect, but we don’t have to be. Our lives aren’t over by one misstep. We can pick ourselves up and keep moving forward. We will fail over and over again, but it isn’t the end. We just have to get up and give it 110% the next time.

That’s what Weiss Schnee means to me: a second chance to prove myself and be the best version of myself.

Guys, thank you for reading. I hope you took something from this and that you have a wonderful day. Peace.

[wistsandmagic]

MORE QUESTIONS!!! pick any ocs of your choice :3

1) Does your OC have a voice claim, if so who?

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

20) If they fight, what's their weapon of choice?

25) Are they the kind of person who can't resist a good song? Can I catch your OC singing to themselves while they do the dishes?

26) What flower do you associate your OC with?

I think most of these are gonna be for Wonton, honestly. XD; 1. Yes, surprisingly! Ayaka Nishiwaki from the Japanese techno-pop band Perfume! She has the highest vocals and the 'cutest' voice, and that fits Wonton to a T. She isn't squeaky, she just has a higher-pitched voice than one would think, and when she speaks her words tend to flow more than you would expect from even a small truck.

2. .....a joke that Glyph made about how "One Ton" sounded like a TFA truck bot's name and my own opinion that the tiny kei trucks would make EXCELLENT little minicons. Add to that the fact that TFA is the continuity of Cartoon Logic and naming conventions are made up, Wonton was born. 20. The only thing Wonton's had to fight so far are the occasional tanuki and wild deer that try to get into Ojii-chan's garden. She doesn't know that Cybertron or the factions themselves even exist, she's never seen another Transformer. She was an Allspark fragment that was carried across the ocean and landed on the kei-truck that is now her altmode, and no one has been to Japan. As far as she knows she is the only one of her kind in existence. So...she's not exactly had to fight. That being said, her preferred weapon is dual-wielding a homemade broom and a garden rake. That usually scares anything that's in the garden off, and if it doesn't, she's really good at whacking things. (also you are getting a Tripwire for this one because. Reasons*

Tripwire is from Eterna AU, and he's one of the three Warborn bot kids (consisting of Bumblebee, Strongarm, and himself) that were on board the Ark when the Ark left Cybertron. He's the youngest of the three, but yes, he knows how to fight, and knows how to fight well. He had to learn, just like the others, in order to survive. His preferred weapon is actually a bow, and he's pretty bloody accurate with the thing, too. Like trick-shot levels of accurate. Really the only person who can still outshoot him is Hot Rod, and Hot Rod is the one who taught him how to shoot to begin with, starting when he was the equivalent of 5 years old, with a little baby bow he'd cobbled together with Wheeljack's help. Only reason Hot Rod ever got him to learn, though, is because he told Tripwire that Damus would be super proud of him when they got back to Cybertron for learning and not relying solely on his ability to short out electrical components with his scream. (Not that he was wrong, it was just also self-preservation since the kid did NOT have great control over the direction he shorted things out)

25. Wonton is, actually! She sings to herself quite often, and utilizes the radio in her cab to listen to music when she and Ojii-chan are working on the farm. They both enjoy it, though Ojii-chan has influenced her taste in music quite a bit. She likes traditional things and isn't really much for 'modern' Japanese music, though there are a few pop songs that she thinks are catchy. And yes, you can definitely catch her singing something to herself as she does dishes. Because she does actually help with the dishes, for one, and for two, singing makes things go by faster. (Dishes is a chore she doesn't enjoy.) 26. The Japanese lotus flower. Her original paint was designed to mimic the lotus, and she likes the colour scheme, so she's kept it. The lotus also symbolizes rebirth, which. Well. Can't really get more on the nose with that, now can you, considering her origins as an Allspark fragment bringing a truck to life. She very LITERALLY was 'reborn' as a Transformer.

[notmasonpines]

Building a Canon-Compliant, Consistent and Comprehensive Scheme for Constructing Glyph Combos

Tl;dr: Yes, I did cram as much alliteration into that title as possible. Anyway, I set out to create my own system for making glyphs from scratch, using the basic concepts we’re shown in the show, here is my thought process all laid down along with the results. Since this has expanded over time to become a monstrous dissertation, the layout for this will be Basic Concepts, where all the basic concepts from the show are listed as the foundation for this system, followed by Basic Vocabulary, where the words for the glyph ‘language’ are made up, proceeded by Grammar Rules, where I think up the rules of the system and use what I’ve got so far to analyse the simpler combo glyphs made by Luz and co. The penultimate section is Shortcuts and Misc. Stuff, where I take a look at Philip’s WIP glyphs (seen at the start of Them’s the Breaks, Kid), attempt to figure out what they could mean in this system to yield the canon effects, and work in the miscellaneous stuff that appears on them. And lastly Conclusion, where I use this system to build a glyph combo from scratch for a spell that appears in the show.

Also, here's an Imgur album for every illustration coming up in this post.

I’ve gone pretty deep into this, so if something that I think makes perfect sense makes absolutely no sense to you, please comment and ask for clarification or something. Also, if you know of another system someone made for this, I couldn't find it, so I'd love to see those as well.

Quick note before I begin: This literal essay is not me attempting to figure out how the actual system within the show works. To be honest, I don’t even think there is a fully worked-out system behind the scenes. Glyph combos were highly underutilised in the show, especially compared to single-glyph usage, so there wouldn’t be much point in building an entire system of rules for constructing them if you’d only need to use it in a few instances. Instead I think the crew simply put together some glyphs that intuitively felt like they’d work for the few glyph combos we do get, and then added some extra doodads for each to hint at the existence of a complex ruleset that would allow for four glyphs to reproduce every possible spell.

So yeah, I’m not setting out to make a system that perfectly explains every glyph combo we see, especially the advanced ones Philip uses (it feels weird to say Belos is using glyphs, dunno why). You certainly won’t see me crying in bed after this if what I come up with doesn’t fit perfectly with everything. Instead I’ll be taking the basic concepts the show has laid out for us, take some aspects/cues from the show’s glyph combos, and build a system with that for my own needs (I’m writing a crossover with Harry Potter and I want to have a consistent system for turning HP spells into glyph combos). Though I will at least attempt to budge things around to have the simpler glyph combos work out with whatever I come up with, and I’ll also see how closely I get the more complicated combos once that’s done. If things do happen to work out, then consider me a happy guy.

(Edit from me after having written everything out, about a day later: I did actually manage to read all the glyph combos from the show and get a meaning that corresponds to what happens in canon, so that was a very pleasant surprise. Except the teleportation glyph. I’m not even going to attempt reading it so I don’t actually know if that one would work with this system or not. But hey, here’s a nice prospect to look forward to if you attempt reading what has become a dissertation lol: some actual decent results).

Update: I removed the redundant secondary elements from the 2- and 3-mergers and added more useful ones.

Basic Concepts

Let’s list the basic concepts we can use from observing the show first.

a.1) There exist four basic glyphs, each with an elemental meaning: Light, Ice, Plant, and Fire. Though I’d like to say that Life is a more accurate descriptor for Plant, just that plants are the easiest living things to imagine and grow when using it (And growing sentient things might be a bit iffy).

a.2) There also is a fifth sorta glyph that I'll call a Null glyph, which has a glyph border but no symbol inside. Philip used it in his most complex glyphs and Luz used it in her mist generating glyph.

I think a glyph that has no meaning on its own can be quite useful as a building block, either when a glyph is needed somewhere but you don’t want to use any of the actual glyphs, as a way to indicate absence, or as a place to input external variables (Interesting fact, on the golden glyph bubble thing Luz conjured as a Titan-hybrid there are five connected glyphs evenly spread out over it. You can see Light, Plant, and Fire most of the time, with Ice visible below as one of the two obstructed glyphs later, leaving the final one as Null if the trend of no repeats continues).

b) Glyphs can have small variations to their symbols, changing their effects slightly. Glyphs can also have a single or double border.

c) While size determines the power behind a glyph’s effect, intent also plays a large role, primarily in how and when a glyph activates, where/on what it generates its effect, and what shape and direction its effect has.

d.1) Glyphs can also have secondary meanings, which are related to their element. The only examples we get are Power, Colour and Reflection for the Light glyph (from the notes near the start of Echoes of the Past), though judging by the question marks they weren’t sure if those were the right words either, and Reflection fits less with Light and more with Ice imo.

d.2) We also know which meaning a glyph has ‘diffs 4 placement’, whatever that means.

e.1) Glyphs can be chained together into closed circuits, which can technically be any shape (rectangular in Luz’s neon shop sign) but are preferably circular. This allows for glyphs to be activated simultaneously.

e.2) Chaining multiples of the same basic glyph together allows for multiple separate instances of the same element to be summoned simultaneously.

e.3) Putting two different glyphs in a circuit can yield a new, merged, secondary element (like Doodle God or Little Alchemy or whatever floated your boat back then), the only known example from the show being Mist from Fire and Ice.

e.4) The basic glyphs are always drawn in the same orientation within glyph combos, with one known exception that I’ll ignore because it occurs in the teleportation glyph.

f.1) Glyphs are like a language that describe what you want the ambient magic to do, with the basic glyphs being the words and circuits being the sentences, though this seems distinct from how circuits function from e.2. This also seems to be closer to a natural language than something like a coding language, as there’s an actual being that you talk to which casts the magic for you (I’m assuming that using glyphs communicates telepathically with a subconscious part of Papa Titan’s soul, since it stops working once his soul isn’t there anymore to respond and use his magic in the way the glyphs instruct him to. I’m also saying his subconscious because having him consciously hear and act on magic instructions would be hell).

f.2) Context clues, synonyms, metaphors and subtext thus play a role in reading glyphs, as they do with natural languages. Though with intent added to the mix to disambiguate, though you can't just press a single glyph and expect your intent to do everything (God, wouldn’t it be nice if sending intent along with what you say was a thing we could do. So many avoided miscommunications).

f.3) Glyphs overlapping will cause confusion and glitches in the language, like overlaying text or saying words at the same time.

g) With these 4(/5) basic glyphs, chaining glyphs in circuits, and whatever rules, secondary elements from merging, and secondary meanings of glyphs exist, you can reproduce any spell a Boiling Isles witch can cast.

And with that out of the way, let’s get started.

Basic Vocabulary

First things first, a vocabulary of only four words (a.1) is far too little to make a decent system out of, so it’s a good thing we have point d.1 to take from. Sadly we’re seriously lacking in any confirmed secondary meanings to have a decent vocabulary, so I’ll already have to resort to thinking up my own. See below what I've come up with.

For the four basic glyphs I added four sets of pairs of secondary meanings. To add my own twist and to make things feel more cohesive, each meaning is paired up with an opposite, colour-coded here with the glyph it’s paired up with. Three sets of pairs are paired up with meanings from one of the three other glyphs, and the fourth set is a pair of opposites from the same glyph.

And since this acts as a language (f.1) we should also add in the ability to use word types. In this case, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. From the word types, pronouns aren’t needed, and prepositions and conjunctions can be figured out through context or some indicator. So, for each meaning we can add the noun, verb, adjective and adverb variations where it’s possible in the above. And let’s also add the ability to use close synonyms when needed (f.2). Like Evolve being interchangeable with Change or Transform as a verb. Or the noun version of Obscure, Obscurity, being interchangeable with Secret. The intent of the user and context can be what decides which synonym is used (c).

Speaking of, we also need a way to indicate which form of word is being used for each glyph, so let’s bring in point b for this.

Let’s have the standard design of the glyph symbols indicate a noun, and the variant design of the symbols can indicate a verb (changing direction of diagonal stripes for Light, the kite to triangle for Ice, and the dot to small circle for Plant and Fire), and I’ll also add a use for the double border, which I’ll call the ad-der, since I’ll have it change the noun design into its adjective meaning and the verb design into the adverb version (it would’ve fit better if nouns were called jectives, or adjectives were called adnouns, but we can’t have everything). This probably won't perfectly match up, especially since some glyphs have more alternate designs, but that's a concession I'll make.

Also, just ignore how the secondary meanings in the first table aren’t all in noun form, I just put in what type of word fit best, but assume that the noun version applies to the standard design.

Now we have a small vocabulary built up, but from first glance it’s still missing a bunch of useful words that we’ll want this language to have to describe every spell (g), and only using words related to one of the elements will always keep this limited, even if you add more.

So let’s pull in point e.3 and see what words we can come up with when merging the four elements. Once again this will require coming up with things from scratch, since the only confirmed case is Fire and Ice into Mist. See my confusing attempt at a table below.

Since using multiples of the same glyph just allows for getting multiples of the same effect (e.2) I kept those combinations out. And since I want as extensive a vocabulary as possible, let’s allow for the order of combining elements to be important as well.

With the only instance of merging elements being with two, I’ll take the opportunity and make three-mergings possible as well, see my further confusing attempt below.

I once again added a restriction of not allowing multiples of the same element in a merging, to at least somewhat restrict the extent of this (since I don’t like leaving blanks).

As you can see, there aren’t as many traditional elements in these combinations, and a lot of abstract stuff, which does make things feel quite similar to the secondary meanings I already defined. But as I said before, you couldn’t get these abstract concepts just from associated meanings of one basic element, and there are a few new elemental things here too.

I also attempted going up one more time by using all four basic glyphs in mergings, trying to figure out combos between the 3-mergers and the final unused element, as well as pairing up 2-mergers with the ones coming from the two other unused elements, but those combinations had no decent solutions that I could come up with, so I’m keeping it to this.

Side-note, playing Doodle God when your base set has only one of the traditional elements (Fire) is actually pretty annoying and restrictive. Like, what useful, distinctive natural element can you come up with by combining Ice with Plant or Light, or Fire with Plant? Coal isn’t exactly a useful element to have in this vocabulary.

Either way, with that all done, we have built up a decent vocabulary. Now we can start setting up some basic ‘grammar’ rules and see how to put these words together.

Grammar Rules

Let’s start with figuring out how we can indicate which secondary meaning a glyph has. All we know is that secondary meaning ‘diffs 4 placement’ (d.2). As I see it, there are only two possible interpretations. Either it means the placement of one glyph relative to the others decides meaning, which would get far too complex as a basis to build rules on (And just imagine, in the case of a small combo of five glyphs you’d already have twenty total relative positions to take into account, i.e. twenty possible different meanings).

So with that option discarded, the one remaining is that the specific position of a glyph on one of those circles/circuits is what determines meaning, like the circuit being divided into equal sectors (eight in this case, since I have eight secondary meanings per glyph). This can explain why all glyphs are typically drawn in the same direction, so the general orientation of an entire construction is set and the location of a glyph is easy to determine from a glance. It also explains why circuits are preferably drawn as circles rather than something like rectangles, since on a circle divided into equal sectors it’s much easier to spot which sector/angle a glyph is in, compared to using a rectangle or some other weird shape.

And since we have very little examples of glyph combos in the show, let alone explicit confirmation of which placement would be which meaning, let’s once again assign the placements ourselves, though with some reference towards the simple glyph combos we see in the show. See my attempt at making a usable diagram below.

As another twist to add something more interesting, I have the pairs of opposite meanings sitting on opposite ends of the circle.

In this way, a glyph without a circuit is simply its elemental meaning, but when you want a secondary meaning, you can indicate which one you want by putting the associated basic glyph on the specific sector of the circle (f.2), more specifically centred exactly on one of the cardinals or the diagonals, meaning top, right, bottom-left etc. (a neat consequence from using eight secondary meanings, and another reason for me to not expand that specific vocabulary). See an example below.

So now let’s get to the meat and potatoes, how a basic glyph combo is set up.

The first observation is that glyph combos almost always have some glyph at the centre. This central focus or anchor seems to determine what element is used in the spell, or how the spell is expressed, similar to being the core word of a sentence. For example, the Light glyph in both the invisibility spell and safety hover bends light in the first case, and emits a soft glow when active in the second.

For Fire, Philip’s teleportation glyph emits a pillar of flame when activated.

As a side-note, we also see from Philip’s later glyphs that, in my interpretation, a secondary meaning can also be used as a focus/anchor (Fire on bottom-left for water fountain (Motion) and Plant on bottom-left for monster arm (Evolve/Change)). I’ll get to them later, but merged elements can also be used as the central point. A Null glyph can also be a central glyph, and doesn’t have to be drawn since context excludes any other option of being the centre instead (f.2).

I also think that, in general, Ice and Plant glyphs will enact a spell more gradually, while Light and Fire glyphs will do so quickly/almost instantaneously. Also, Plant and Fire glyphs make a spell grow over time, while Ice and Light glyphs don’t. But that’s just an idle thought.

To make actual sentences with other words, however, we also need to add further descriptors on what this central/anchored word should do. This is where the glyph circuits come in, forming concentric circles centred on the central glyph. All glyphs and their corresponding meanings on this circle are direct descriptors for the central glyph that apply at the same time (e.1). Let’s call these descriptor circuits.

One quick note, with this setup we can run into the problem of needing two different glyphs to be at the same location, causing an overlap (f.3). To avoid this, let’s add the ability to draw a circle tangent to this point, keep one of the two glyphs on the tangent point as a ‘tangent glyph’, and move the other to somewhere else on the circle. See illustration below. Let’s call it a spacer circle/circuit. In the case of three or even all four glyphs overlapping, all can go somewhere on the circle. The position of the glyphs on this circuit doesn’t matter, but at least one should be off-grid, i.e. not centred on cardinals or diagonals (to clear up distinction issues later).

We also see from the teleport glyph that you can have multiple descriptor circuits all concentrically surrounding the central glyph. In the case of a second circuit, I’ll take it as meaning that the glyph combination it encircles can already count as its own nested spell, and this second circuit applies to the entirety of the enclosed spell. The reading order for this would thus be from centre to edge. I also think each added layer of circuit to the central focus produces a spell that can technically function on its own, even if it might be too unwieldy or useless or have dangerous side-effects without further description.

But what if there’s a nested spell that’s separate from the one already built up from the central glyph, an entire spell that needs to be applied to the main spell along with other descriptors in the same circuit? In that case we could attach a different glyph combo, like a nested sub descriptor circuit (subcircuit for short), onto one or more of the main descriptor circuits (if more exist). This subcircuit has the same rules as the main circuit, except it may not have a central glyph if it matches that of the main one, and might only work on other spells. In short, it's like a subroutine (if we’re pulling in coding language).

To also distinguish it from the previous spacer circle, let’s specify that a subcircuit has a glyph on an intersection point with other circuits, an ‘intersecting glyph’, rather than on a tangent point as a ‘tangent glyph’. We can also use this by saying that the glyphs on a subcircuit that occupy an intersection with another circle indicate that the subcircuit applies to those other circles. In order to line things up, you’d have to play with the size and location of the circle in relation to the main circle. Though you’d also have to keep in mind that glyphs on an intersection could have multiple meanings with their different placements for each of the different circles, which may be unwanted. To combat that, let’s add a rule that a glyph on an intersection always applies its meaning only to the more nested or otherwise smallest circle of the intersection, unless specified otherwise (we’ll get back to that later), and if there’s no other way you could use a Null glyph to add a connection (a.2).

With the main descriptor circuits, subcircuits, and spacer circuits, there’s only one more that is needed to make sure every bit of the vocabulary can be applied.

To add the merged/secondary elements from before, let’s add a merger circuit, which has the two or three elements you want to merge to form the secondary element, and let’s have them all equally spaced, reading the order of elements from left-most and moving clockwise.

To make sure this can be distinct from the sub- and spacer circuits, let’s say that, unlike the prior two, it has both a glyph only on an intersection point (or multiple) and at least one of the glyphs on a merger circuit is off-grid. In the case of 2-mergers that’d have to be both, and for 3-mergers you’re guaranteed to have at least one off-grid anyway (The joys of matching up a circle divided into equal threes with a circle divided into equal eighths). So now a subcircuit only has an intersecting glyph (or more) and all glyphs on the grid, spacer circuits only have a tangent glyph (or more) and at least one glyph off-grid, and merger circuits only have an intersecting glyph (or more) and at least one glyph off-grid.

This actually leaves open another useful combination, a circuit with only a tangent glyph (or more) and all glyphs on-grid. Let’s call this last combination a specification circuit, which adds extra descriptors onto only the glyph at the tangent point. It’s not a spell on its own, but adds adjectives and adverbs to the noun or verb it’s tangent to the other circuit with.

As a quick overview for some visualisation, here’s a glyph spell I put together, containing each of the circuits I’ve mentioned above, and with glyphs randomly thrown in. Though this was just set up for explanation purposes, let’s also try an attempt at reading said glyph with the rules I’ve set up and see if anything reasonable pops up (and keep your look-up diagrams with you. Can’t believe I made actual look-up diagrams).

Surprisingly, though maybe it’s just me spotting patterns in nothing, this isn’t complete gibberish, and I’d interpret this spell as being something that connects memories that are in danger of being absorbed by someone else to light balls, but also using it to order them and move them around, as long as the subject is aware of it happening. Sounds a bit like a mindscape defence against mind-reading. So yeah, that’s the basics out of the way.

Let’s see how this works out with the basic glyph combos in the show.

Invisibility glyph:

Lightened (centre, adjective) coloured (top-left, adjective) transparency (bottom-right, noun) order (bottom-left, noun) → Subject becomes lightened by coloured transparency through order → Invisibility through camouflage. Side-note, the bottom-left glyph can be absent and the glyph still works, as seen in its first instance. But I think the ‘order’ allows for multiple to be camouflaged by the one glyph.

Safety hover glyph:

Light (centre, noun) stillness (top-right, noun) movement (bottom-left, noun) → Use light on movement to make stillness → Stop subject’s movement instantly.

Snow/Command glyph (copyright, Lilith):

Null (centre, not drawn, surrounding circle isn’t a merger circuit (repeats of Ice) so isn’t acting as central glyph, meaning the empty space is an implied Null glyph) power (top, adjective) weakness (bottom, noun) preserved (left, adjective) removed (right, adjective) → The external object touching the centre is removed, this process is powered through weakness, yet the object is preserved → Break down this object through sheer power but keep the debris (In the case of the ice blob, break it down and powder it into snow)

So that turned out pretty well (Though I did already say I ordered the diagram with secondary glyph meanings to at least make sense of the basic glyphs).

Let’s go one final step further and see what we can use from what Philip eventually used in his glyphs.

Shortcuts and Miscellaneous Stuff

Let’s add one more concept to this entire system before that though.

h) Condense and simplify glyphs as much as possible.

Obviously, for usability it’s always best to find a way to get the same spell/effect with a glyph that’s easier to draw. And since this system is like a language, it’s like saying there are multiple ways of saying the same thing, with some faster to say than others.

But more than that, it’s also like shortening actual sentences with contractions, abbreviations, and finding that one specific obscure word in the Thesaurus that you previously had to use several words for to describe. For example, if you have multiple non-concentric circuits you could attempt orientating them to have multiple instances of the same glyphs overlap and work from there.

Another thing that was mentioned a while back was how glyphs on intersections only apply to the smaller circuit, unless specified. Well, let’s say this can be specified by drawing a straight line from the intersection glyph to the central glyph of the bigger circle, indicating it contributes simultaneously to both circles with two separate meanings.

This way of using straight lines to show a glyph is pulling double- or triple-duty can also be applied to drawing a line between two glyphs on the same circuit. This would make use of the previously discarded concept for how glyph meanings are ‘diff 4 placement’, indicating that the connected glyphs also have additional meanings based on their relative placement to one another.

For example, let’s take Philip’s petrification glyph.

Petrification glyph:

Iced (centre, adjective) removed (right, adjective) [Change (relative bottom-left, noun)] preserved (left, adjective) organism (bottom, noun) [Stilled (relative top-right, adjective) inorganic (relative top, adjective)] → Organism is removed but preserved, by having changed the stilled organism into something inorganic.

That already works amazingly on its own, though there’s also this funky plant glyph that’s unconnected to a circle but still connected to other glyphs by straight lines.

Something that hasn’t been tackled yet is how to actually use the primary meaning of the basic glyphs outside of being the central focus, because there’s no other place in the current rules for the basic glyphs to apply their elemental meaning on anything. So let’s make it so that a basic glyph that’s disconnected from a circle still has primary meaning, and is applied to other glyphs with straight lines. In this case that would add that iced life is preserved.

…This obviously doesn’t work too well since in canon the petrification is permanent and kills the petrified person, but I’ll gladly hop onto the convenient lifeboat that is the context of this glyph being incomplete. I’d say Philip was originally experimenting with a way of turning someone into stone as a defensive spell, but a) didn’t know how to express stone yet, and b) didn’t want it to be permanent, since that would be pretty iffy unless he already has all the power over the Boiling Isles and nobody attempting to question him for killing people. So this original glyph just turned the subject ‘inorganic’, which is apparently just some weak dust, so the preserving of life to make it reversible is pretty useless here anyway. Clearly not complete yet. In the completed, proper petrification glyph, the small Plant glyph with the two connections would be gone to make it irreversible, and a merger circle of Fire and Plant (Earth) with the two glyphs intersecting with another, appropriately sized merger circle with Ice as the third glyph (Hard), bringing a total circuit for (Hard Earth = Stone).

Either way, let’s add elemental modification to the toolkit.

Let’s go to the other three of Philip’s WIP glyphs and try to make sense of them, plus whatever extra features were added. First up, water fountain.

Water fountain glyph:

Sever (centre (top-left), verb (there’s no real noun for ‘sever’, and no double border so all that’s left is verb)) tangible (top-left, adjective) still (top-right, adjective) transparent (bottom-right, adjective). We also have some funky spiral lines connecting the three to the central point. My current translation would be ‘sever something here that’s tangible, still, and transparent’. My guess is that my boi Phil was trying to make a glyph that could isolate groundwater and get it out of the ground, probably for survival purposes since groundwater would be drinkable compared to the Boiling Sea and Rain (Luz assumes the glyph is meant to make a water fountain, but that’s just what she sees the glyph doing, not what its intended use is). Obviously he didn’t know how to properly express ‘groundwater’ at this point, or thought it was too bulky to write down that way, and went with a vague description of ‘tangible but transparent and still (not moving in the ground)’ instead. I think the spiralling lines here are supposed to provide a direction for the motion (there’s no motion glyph in here, i.e. Fire bottom-left, but severing water from the ground would probably push it up and give it some motion regardless, so the lines help direct it). It would make sense, since just bringing water straight up would make it fall back down on the ground, so you need a little trajectory to have it land in a gathering bowl next to the glyph. That said, let’s add motion lines.

Next up, monster arm:

The new feature here is a partial circle segment capped off by two fire glyphs. The first thing that comes to mind for me is that this is supposed to be an abbreviation for when you have to draw the same glyph on neighbouring locations of the circuit. So instead you only draw the correct glyph at the ends of the sequence and let the line imply the rest of the meanings involved. In this case: Evolution/Change (centre (bottom-left), noun) Protect Decay Weak Motion Hurt Sever Deception (right-to-top (clockwise), nouns), and on a second circuit ring, Evolution (bottom-left, noun). My current thoughts are that the ground or whatever sits at the central circle undergoes a change into something that can protect, move, hurt, sever, and deceive. And whatever that thing becomes is then told to continue evolving/changing/adapting.

What I think makes this glyph a failed WIP is that, though the segment already excludes Chaos (top-right), which would be pretty detrimental for a construct you want to order around, it does still include Weak and Decay (bottom and bottom-right), which makes the monster arm physically weak, prone to damage and slowly breaking down over time, as demonstrated in the episode. But Philip didn’t want to let go of using the segment to draw only two Fire glyphs instead of five either, as further breaking up the segment would isolate the Fire glyph on the right, which would separate the glyph from the system and turn it into a separate one that happens to occupy the same space, and a full circuit would require drawing five glyphs too). I think a good solution that Philip probably used in the completed version would be to use the Null glyph to further exclude the meanings that aren’t desired while keeping the full line segment intact.

Definitely useful to simplify the drawing process, so let’s add sequence segments as well.

Last of the WIP glyphs: the tornado glyph, which is the only one that actually works decently, on a small scale anyway, and saved for last for good reason.

We now have some sort of combination of circle segments positioned in layers, and direct line connections with both disconnected and connected element glyphs, as well as straight radial lines coming from the central glyph.

Since these Fire glyphs are on actual circular segments, let’s begin simply with the normal secondary meanings.

Tornado glyph: Icy (centre, adjective) Emitted (bottom-left, adjective) Sever (top-left, verb) Protection (right, noun) Weakness (bottom, noun).

Alright, so it took a while, but if I really want to make sense of this I’ll have to budge some parts of the word type indicators in the right direction. In this case, the bottom glyph will be changed to the adjective version, and the right glyph turned into its verb version.

To start with, as a circle segment, the line trajectory is only associated with Fire, and with the radial line segments in the bottom-left and bottom-right we’ll add those meanings as well. And the connection to the bottom-left Light glyph means something as well. So we now have Emitted (Light, bottom-left) Movement (Fire, bottom-left) Weak (Fire, bottom) Decays (Fire, bottom-right), so ‘an emitted movement that’s weak and decays’. It’s also connected to the circle segment one layer deeper, which has Protect (Fire, right) Decay (Fire, bottom-right). So we have ‘an emitted movement that’s weak and decays, but is protected from decay’. Since the line segment connects the outer circuit line (with the Light glyph) to the central glyph, and the outer glyphs apply to the inner ones, we also add some directionality. So now it becomes ‘an emitted, weak movement that decays as it moves inwards, but is protected from slowing down in total’. That’s probably just me budging everything, but that sounds like how the movement within a vortex of air behaves.

Lastly, the top circle segment has Sever (Fire, top-left) and Chaos (Fire, top-right), and has no connection between the outside circuit and the central glyph. So I’d say ‘sever chaos’ i.e. counteract the chaotic movement of the already existing air, and thus making it organised when it begins moving. Altogether, this glyph describes an ‘emitted, uniform motion that decays as it goes inwards but remains stable overall’. It might’ve been a bit wonky to get here, but none of the rules I’ve made have been contradicted yet and it actually got a decently accurate reading out of it.

Conclusion (plus an attempt to make a glyph from scratch for an existing spell)

So yeah, that’s literally all there is, and I think I got a cohesive system together that fits all the concepts I listed at the start, even if it’s certainly got a lot of cogs, but that’s to be expected when your system is described as a language.

Technically I could also cover Philip’s Teleportation glyph or the unlocking glyph Belos used to enter the Grimwalker area in the Skull, but that’s a) too much effort and probably doesn’t match up with my meanings for the former, but it can be left up as an exercise to the reader. And b) the additional rules the latter glyph could imply would probably be far too complex and unnecessary for this post, or for making glyphs altogether. We gotta keep in mind that that glyph is from someone who’s been experimenting and drawing for 400 years, so the previous simplifications/tricks I covered in the last section would be far more amplified and complex.

Either way, with that all finished up, let’s use it to build a glyph from scratch that mimics a complex spell we see used in canon but doesn’t have a glyph counterpart.

For this, I’ll use the ‘quick-step’ spell we see Eda and Lilith use, where they turn into flame and quickly move elsewhere, reappearing at the end. Hunter does something similar with Flapjack, but there it’s done with light.

So, the central component of this entire spell will be moving. And the descriptor circuit for that movement will be something like ‘[move] a person quickly along a path’. ‘Quickly’ here can be made with a merger circuit. Then, if I want to recreate the spell accurately, the path needs to be specified to be somewhat short, so you can’t just use it to teleport somewhere far away. This can easily be done by specifying that it has to be visible for the caster before they cast it, using a specification circuit.

The next component will be the turning the person into fire. This sounds like a spell on its own, even if it’s pretty deadly, so it’ll be a nested spell that links to the main circuit through a subcircuit. The subcircuit will then be something like ‘change person into fire’. Since this spell is still very much deadly on its own, it’ll also need its own specifier saying that the person should be preserved during the change, for protection.

Lastly, it still needs a way to reverse this change from fire back to person once the spell has reached the end of the connection. In this case, ‘Reverse’ and ‘Ending’ can both be made from merger circuits.

Now we just need to add all those circuits together, making sure each type of circle has the right border glyphs and glyph positioning (tangent or intersecting, on-grid or off-grid), and lastly the condition of ‘reverse transformation spell at end of trajectory’ needs to be properly linked up.

And with that we get the final Quick-Step glyph below.

Some additional notes. The top circuit didn’t technically have to go at the top-right, but it did need to intersect with the main circuit through one of its glyphs. The only other place where it wouldn’t have overlapped with the main circuit’s glyphs would’ve been in the top-left, with the merger circuit for ‘Fast/Quick’ needing to rotate down on the main circuit a bit to accommodate. But in that case the series of connected circuits for the ‘reverse at end of trajectory’ would’ve been impossible to draw compactly. Either they’d go straight over the main circuit, or going around the circuit would require giant circles.

And then there’s also the inside line segments of the subcircuit. I haven’t established the rules for how those would work, and I’m playing it a bit loose there, but basically the places where the circles jump down in layer (shorter radius) is where the glyphs on the outside ring slot in. If the segment had jumped down a layer where a glyph from the outside hadn’t been connected into it, then it would’ve been the corresponding definition for the Fire glyph at the start of the circuit. The reading order here is also from the Fire glyph towards the centre. And lastly, the outside circuit of the spell ‘organism change inorganic’ does need disambiguation, since it could also be read as ‘inorganic change organism’. The direction of how the inside circuit approaches the middle helps disambiguate that, giving it a defined reading order, which is then read in reverse once the ‘Reverse’ circuit comes into play.

And…wow, I think that’s all. I’ve spent an entire day typing this out (plus way too many days of experimenting with things and coming up with some rules), and few people will probably see this, but damn that was satisfying to write out.

For those of you who read all the way to the end, or God forbid actually took the time to take it all in, thank you very much!

…I’m going to bed.

[bonefall]

I wanted to submit a few of the clanmew names that I enjoy and thought were really fun!! I took some liberties considering come translations either don't exist or aren't applicable to my ocs.

(Context: My Clans are stationed in Utah, and the specific clan featured in these names is in a desert/cliff esque landscape. Their Clan, JuniperClan, is named after the Utah Juniper, which looks significantly different from a normal juniper.)

Starting with one of my favorite ocs first; Skipperleap - Skepbyiao! I was super happy his prefix had a translation, especially since it's for the "Large Skipper" variety, as it's a little funny, considering Skipperleap is a larger than average cat. I decided on -yiao as the suffix (-spring, straight upward leap) because it sorta fits his personality as well? He is a good natured cat, with a positive attitude, and brings a "spring" to someones step.

Coottail - Ubobufr - A bit harder, but settled with Ubo because of his dark brown-black fur color. I also just really liked the sound of it. Originally I was going to go with -swash, as his name is pretty simple in general, but -bufr seemed more fun considering its a tail feather from a bird, which would connect to the fact his name is Coot-. Again, it just sounds neat :]!

Beechfang - Chokki - Since Beech- isn't in the lexicon, I decided upon "Chok-", or Trunk. It symbolizes Beechfang in the sense that he is solid and strong, a good cat to rely on in stressful situations. He doesn't faulter from conflict, and is reliable. -ki, meaning canine fangs, was another easy choice, since Beechfang is known for his prowess in hunting (and ocassionally fighting). Plus. Chokki just sounds EXTREMELY cute. One of my favorite names by far.

Another Favorite oc of mine, Orchidthroat - Palifuhpi. Since Orchid isn't really used, I settled on Palifuh (Purple) since Orchidthroat has a blue-gray coat, and in lighting it comes across as purple. Orchidthroat is a magnificent speaker, usually bringing conflict to an end and being direct with what he means. -pi was chosen because "Used to indicate someone saw or heard and reported directly" sounds pretty accurate to how Orchidthroat does things.

Finally, Thymeclaw - Hhasskachkubo. Thymeclaw is an elder, and a very respected one at that, as she used to be one of the Clan's most skilled fighters. Hhass was chosen primarily because it means sneaky, and I was trying to reference "creeping thyme", as it's the only thyme I can see native to the UK? There is a varient of Red creeping thyme that can be found in North America, but I'm not too sure on if it'd be present in the region I'm basing this in. -kachkubo specifically being used was to reference Thymeclaw's fierce power, in how she'd strike her enemies physically and emotionally during combat.

It's funny, you're on a totally different continent but all of these names could be 100% region-compliant, from Coots to Orchids! You just happened to perfectly hit a bunch of things I haven't yet translated LMAO how did you do that

BUT ANYWAY! Feel free to make your own translations for Utah species, or modify the words I'm about to give you! Great job btw!

Coot (Fulica atra) = Nio Black, red-eyed waterbirds similar to moorhens which look like ducks when swimming. Known for being devoted parents.

Beech (Fagus sylvatica) = Choo Trunk + Smooth. Known for its very smooth bark, absolutely perfect for carving glyphs on. Not so much a "satisfying" tree to get a scratch on, though! They also produce nuts that squirrels like to eat. These are actually planted purposefully in this area. At the Lake, only ThunderClan has access to them. RiverClan used to have a small orchard of them near the twolegplace, which was where Beechfur got his name from.

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) = Fefsue There's actually a ton of orchids in this part of England, but I picked my favorite. It's the self-pollinating bee orchid, which mimics a species of solitary bee that may have gone extinct. You probably know of it from the famous xkcd comic about it, but I WILL give you a little bit of hope! The bee orchid has a ton of morphs and in the warmer parts of its range, DOES actually have bees that still pollinate it. What's weirder is that this far north, they don't seem to have one? So... Bee Orchid, how did you Get here? Is YOUR bee gone? What happened to YOUR bee...

I am ALSO taken aback by the fact that thyme apparently doesn't grow here. Weird. But anyway I got your back; here's two roundabout translations for OTHER, non-Thyme plants that are common in the modeled region, but reference thyme.

Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) = Kukon A delicate little flower beloved by pollinators, and can grow in thick mats across the land. Deceptively quick and hardy, it can become a weed if unmanaged, and hides seeds in the pelt of any cat that comes by it so it can spread further. Very fitting for your girl, I think!

Dotted Thyme-Moss (Rhizomnium punctatum) = Mwarfum Blooming + Moss. Has distinct little egg-shaped leaves and rising tendrils. Considered pretty, but not a particularly useful type of moss. For anyone seeking a more "herbal" vibe for thyme.

[bridgyrose]

Alright, time for another RWBY AU drabble:

Ruby discovers that she can perform mitosis via her Semblance.

(Why not mitosis with disadvantages?)

“Ruby?” Yang called out as she slammed a fist into a beowolf, watching as more started to swarm around her and her team. “What’s the plan?” 

Ruby watched the grimm run through the streets endlessly as her team tried to defend the village they were staying at. She still wasnt even sure where all the grimm were coming from, and while she knew her team could handle most of the grimm that were coming, she was also aware that supplies and energy were bound to run out. And after hours of fighting, she was sure that would be coming sooner than later. 

She lowered her scythe as she watched Weiss fend off a few grimm with her rapier, glyphs flickering along with her aura. She could see Yang’s semblance burning bright, but her own movements growling more sluggish, and Blake was starting to run into trouble keeping herself standing upright as she used her semblance to move around the grimm. Everything was starting to fall apart. 

Weiss put up a glyph and watched as a beowolf smashed through it, her aura flickering as she grew tired. “We… we have to pull back.” 

“I… I have a plan.” Ruby took a breath and gripped her scythe as she rushed forward, slicing through grimm with ease. She took off with her semblance, nearly bouncing around each grimm as large portions of petals started to break off from her. Soon, there were two more Rubys rushing around and fighting grimm as the real Ruby froze and watched the new ones go to her teammates to defend them from the grimm. She watched as the two new Rubys had started to slice through grimm the same way she did, one of them even using the sniper attachment to take care of the grimm that were starting to make their way to the village. 

“Dont just stand there and watch!” the second Ruby yelled as she sliced through grimm, spinning her scythe around to allow Weiss to rest. “Yang needs help!” 

“I’ve got Blake covered!” the third said as she took shots at the grimm that raced towards Blake, giving her some time to catch her breath. 

Ruby nodded and started rushing to Yang, slicing through grimm with ease as she continued forward. Though, as she started to slice through grimm after grimm, she didnt quite notice how much heavier her scythe felt, how much harder it was to swing around something that seemed a bit bigger than what it had before. Instead, she continued fighting through grimm, finally pushing back the waves of grimm as the sun started to set. 

As the grimm started to pull away from the village, Weiss, Yang, and Blake dropped to finally catch their breaths, looking out towards the village to see the destruction that came from what almost seemed like endless waves of grimm. Yang sighed and got up, looking over everything further. “Looks like we have a lot of work to do.” 

“Good thing we have plenty of hands,” the second Ruby said as she helped Weiss up. “We can help rebuild and get everything up and running.” 

The third Ruby put her sniper scythe away and smiled as she looked at the damaged walls. “And maybe we can help get the defenses set up a bit more too.” 

Weiss paused when she saw the three Rubys, pinching her arm with a sharp yelp as her nails dug into her. “I’m not the only one seeing this, right?” 

“No, you’re not,” Blake said as she pulled away from the Ruby that had helped her, trying to figure out which Ruby was the real one. “Though, its not a bad thing that they’re here. We might not have survived without them.” 

“Not that I dont mind having so many sisters around, where’s the real Ruby?” Yang asked. 

Ruby folded up her scythe, struggling for a moment to put it back on her back as everything seemed to not quite fit right anymore. The sleeves of her top seemed a bit longer, her skirt almost seemed to catch at her hips instead of holding snug on her waist, and her boots felt looser as she smiled at Yang. “I’m right here.” 

Yang paused for a moment. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ruby said as she nodded and looked at the other two Rubys that had started to make their way around to help the villagers caught in a few of the destroyed buildings. “I… I think my semblance evolved. I wanted help and now there’s three of me to help fight the grimm.” 

“Yeah but you seem a bit-” 

“Shorter,” Weiss finished as she walked over to Ruby, now a solid couple inches taller than her partner even without heels. “Maybe we should find a way to fix you.” 

“After our mission is over.” Ruby sighed and looked out towards the walls of the village, her eyes catching the trees that stood over it. “We still dont know why grimm are being drawn here like they are. Everyone here seems happy enough, but none of the reports ever mentioned that many grimm attacking at once. Maybe there’s something pushing them here.” 

“Then can you at least make sure you have clothes that fit?” Blake asked as she pulled a bit at Ruby’s top. “If we’re going to venture out into the forest, then you dont want to get caught on any branches or bushes.” 

Ruby looked at her clothes, finally realizing how baggy everything looked on her. “I’ll get that taken care of tonight. And then tomorrow, we finish our mission.”

[thousandyearphantombunker]

the show should have never had belos be some puritan white dude, the boiling isles should have stayed this hostile whacky dimension instead of just bland and good except for that one evil dude, there's so much the show could have done tibbles lording his power over Eda and not letting her get the medicine she needed because of his own greed, boiling rain, the amity who would kill to be successful and if she saw a disabled witch like Willow achieving her level of success with an accommodation of some kind she'd be furious and call it cheating, Willow and Luz struggling because they have a disability in an environment that is super sink or swim and success is viewed in a very narrow lens, like what if bump didn't accept Luz into hexside because she uses glyphs? or maybe lean into the idea that people will do anything to get the money or success or power they want or need- steal cheat extort- having the isles a hostile dystopian land of intrigue, but then the story would lose the wish fulfillment element and we wouldn't get 'BAd EvIL PuRiTAn' and 'progressive' commentary- you already have bi, gay, disabled etc protagonists maybe focus on that, also fuck the worldbuilding. it felt like rejecting the coven system was like going into a trade school or straight into the workforce not like a rebellion or avoiding a cult, it felt more like being pushed to go to college and being told dropping out of school was bad- by making into a cult the show shot itself in the foot, it could have leaned into the idea not everybody wants to be an archmage or ceo or doctor or go to magic harvard that there's different types of success or that we should stop fucking over people who dont want to do something academic or something about greed and capitalism or the school system and how the isles values money and power over everything else there's a video by bad writing advice on how not to write cults and yeah toh is rough and again the show didn't need to do this, they didn't need to write a story about a cult, or they could have tied it in better with themes or greed and corruption but they already had an interesting world that they could have explored, how the owl beast curse worked exactly, also why has no one but Luz learned glyphs? We know witches did magic differently back then what if instead of Luz learning magic so easily she had to go some quest to find an ancient teacher or learn an ancient language and study super hard and learn how her magic was mechanically different from the rest of the isles, I reiterate the cult thing and wish fulfillment elements are not only unneeded but they are so contradictory! Belos whole plan hinged on the coven system and bump just gets away with letting Luz and the detention kids take every track- what if bump got arrested? And then another principal who was god awful took over- that would have been something! What if bump started to open secret underground classes for kids who wanted to take more than one course? Like there's potential there for a story but then it wouldn't fit the wish fulfillment element of the show, and it would make Luz look selfish it's just so fucking annoying pick one or the other! I love me a soft magic system and I think TOH was okay enough but I feel like the owl house could've been more creative, your magic comes from a dead titan which your land is built upon, imagine if there really where people who could speak with the titan? Could they control the city or landscape in some way, some crazy body horror shit where they can fuse with titan or control different bodily functions of the titan like it's nervous system moving the continent or it's legs etc, what makes that spell circle from amity controlling and abomination different from the one Willow uses to control plants- they are drawing the same thing- why must a witch master the basics of magic to get a palisman? Palismans are also used as disability aides why not show more of that? They could have developed so much more, the weather could have made for some great gags, just make the world building interesting

[leam1983]

First Steps

Here's something one of the juniors asked me:

"I really like computers, but I suck at them! How can I get better? I'd also like to make a job out of it, like you!"

You've got two avenues. One is standard and bland and safe, and the other involves you discovering the sweet, sweet scent of burnt-out power supply units or the joys of stripping motherboard stand-offs. Among other things.

But first - Long Post is Long. Clicky the thingy below to get A FUCKTON OF FUNBUCKS FOR PHREE!

So. You can either:

wait for the next Community College enrollment window for an institution that's within travel distance of your residence or job, and check to see if they've got either Computer Science 101 or Technical Support. Pay the expected fees, wait for your start date, and realize you're probably months ahead of the curve even if all you know is how to open or close your PC. It's all peaks and valleys from here, from Assembling everything from scratch (Scary but fun!) to Realizing that you can acheive near-godlike power over your rig or nearly anyone else's using batch files saved on a pendrive (quick and easy - a snoozefest). You'll realize that two-thirds of your average Helpdesk stuff amounts to what I nominally go through, which involves reminding Walt that he shouldn't plug his mouse's receiver dongle in one of the rear ports... The one remaining third comes waaaay late in your career track, and involves turning Eldritch glyphs into room-spanning lengths of Cat5 Ethernet spaghetti. You'll realize you need a stepladder and ibuprofen more than you need to worry about crosstalk or potentially accidentally engineering a line patch on the same rack.

look on eBay for used 1U enclosures (as in One Unit of server-grade computing) and a workable side rack, mount it somewhere where you won't mind the thing screaming at you for all eternity, and then start working with a system you've intentionally built to destroy and rebuild as you see fit. That's what's colloquially known as a Home lab, and it's the best starting base you could ever want. In a pinch, you can also sub that 1U for an old and dinky laptop you're not attached to anymore. Do everything to it. Upgrade its memory, learn how to replace old mechanical drives with SSD or NVME drives, get used to stripping screws, destroy it, drop it off at a recycling centre and then BUY ANOTHER ONE ON EBAY, AGAIN FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF DESTROYING IT.

Option 2 is long, kludgey and much, much more fun. You'll run into every bottleneck a Helpdesk worker will encounter, and you'll be both your own worst client and your own trustworthy boss who gradually adds to your responsibilities. It also involves watching vids from creators like NetworkChuck or Lexikitty on your off-time and introduces you to everything you could ever want or need in order to sandbox a new operating system with the prospect of - you guessed it - ripping it to shreds.

The one catch is that Option 2 can be dangerous if you're too enthusiastic. So, considering this, some formal basics are needed:

always wear an ESD strap or keep one nearby

wear Nitrile gloves if you can't keep your fingernails or fingers consistently dust or oil-free. Your skin's PH balance will eventually thank you

steal guitar picks from music stores, most of 'em give them out like Spicy Tortilla Chips you Aren't Supposed to Eat. As to why, it's because picks are cheap and somewhat reliable plastic spudgers and pry-tools. Wiped-out credit or rewards cards can also work in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend making a habit out of it.

If you're working on a system, keep it plugged in even if you've flicked the PSU's rear switch off. The ground pin will save your hardware.

The only liquid a computer can tolerate is isopropyl alcohol. It is non-conductive and will be perfect at lifting fingerprints or smears off of metallic elements. Do not use anything stronger, acetone turns evil when paired with PBT plastics such as those you find in keycaps or even Chicklet keyboards like a MacBook's.

If you own a laptop and the palmrests start to lightly bulge - turn off your lappy, unplug it, carefully leave it in an open and well-ventilated area for several minutes so the power supply's capacitors discharge safely over time, and then take it out to a recycling centre. Your onboard battery has turned into what is informally known as a Spicy Pillow of Death, and it should be treated with the utmost care. Most laptops can operate while tethered to their external power source and while having no battery of their own, so use this time to recover your files. If you're lucky, you can contact your manufacturer's Support service and ask for a replacement cell.

Why do batteries do this? I don't know, Jim, I'm a systems engineer and a weekend programmer, not a chemist! What I do understand is that the two opposing components of a typical cell (the alkaline and the base) are typically kept well separated by walls in-built into the cell, but that this membrane can sometimes degrade. A reaction then follows, which eventually turns to a very real fire courtesy of the charge being passed on inside it.

Complement all of this ad-hoc nonsense with a few serious CompTIA certifications - Microsoft and Google both offer online classes - and you'll be swinging for the fences in, oh, two to three years. You'll have a sucky starting salary but your skills will forever be in demand.

Also remember that the best Home Lab imaginable is life itself. A relative bricks their machine? Try and flex your muscles by attempting to repair it from scratch, or by reformatting the hard drive! Did someone give you a long-term loan for a machine that needs fixing but that won't be needed for several months? Keep their hard drive aside and toss Linux or Proxmox onto a new one, so you can either pick up server-side console commands or Hypervisor tools!

Mostly - have fun. Just don't visit r/hardwaregore too often, you'll eventually start having nightmares.

[speaking-at-the-theater]

TOH REACTION

so first thing first: i misspell a lot. i also swear a lot, if that bothers you, sorry

i havent watched the last two eps of toh so heres me doing it. i’ll compile it all in one post so i wont have to tag 300+ posts, i also use caps a lot.

anyway, let’s go! QUICK DETAIL I ACCIDENTALLY REFER TO COLLECTOR AS HIM HERE I DIDNT NOTICE HE WAS THEY THEM I'LL CORRECT IT AS SOON AS POSIBLE

FOR THE FUTURE! here we go

collector’s happiness overlaid with everyone else’s suffering is so…funny??? idk also ‘it’s like the whole world is singing’ is a cool phrase if it weren’t for the context XD

–

aunt lily to the rescue!!

–

LILY NO

–

‘now, what part do i get to play’ horrific scene i want more

also: this is why you don’t give children godly powers. it ends badly!

–

oddly beautiful if not for the corpses

-

i want that as my wallpaper

—

EDA’S REQUIEM!!!!!!

–

you know things are bad when the logo/intro changes

—

‘it’s not like he’ll inexplicably appear if you say his name!!’ hunter have you ever read a fairytale? a myth? the bible??? names have power.

—

oh yeah never mess with a latina mama.

–

it’s cute seeing the kids miss their home

–

through the face??? count me in!!

–

luz is smitten

–

noooooo luz :((((( you’re happier sharing both realms everyone can see it

—

—

anyone know what these are??

–

ah. the bastard is here.

–

CALEB???

–

nooo gus youre making me cryy

–

‘i’m fine, really’ said every character who is not fine in the story of ever

–

the soundtrack in eda’s room scene!!!! i need it!!!!

–

amity’s palisman being a cat fits so well bc cats choose where they go. you cant control them the way you might a dog or a bird, which fits well with the idea of choosing your own path.

—

camila is taking everything so well!! my mom wouldnt last two seconds in the boiling isles. neither would i ofc.

–

is this an animation error or….??

–

some graffiti messages i managed to read:

-(do not) celebrate the day of unity! :( 

- boo belos

-hide ur kids

-run

-they’ll find you!!

-hide

-nope, no, go away

-closed forever

-help

-run

and general sun and moon symbols

-beware the collector

-amelia, cat! (general stuff i cant make out) (infinity train???)

-where is the titan now?

-belos lied

-

these are cute

–

wow that’s creepy

-

i know it’s supposed to be creepy about the collector playing pretend while everyone suffers but- i can’t. the secondhand embarrassment is too much for me.

-

light glyph go??????

-

collectors ‘cool aunt vibe who pretends to be coldhearted but actually cares a lot’ vs luz’s ‘bad but sad boy’

parallels? ey?

-

hmmm yeah that was creepy

-

‘little space cherub’ XDD

-

love how we go from funny new hexside to (ughhhh) belos. 

—

hmm  i would love to analyze the composition of this glyph

–

all the bastard adults trying to take advantage of the collector ughhhhhh

also love the space palace

plus: ‘what do mortals eat again? rocks? fire? gravity?’, unfortunately, collector, we are not stars

–

of course the book is made of rocks. of course.

also king seems…practiced, on reading the book. you gotta wonder how much he knows now about collectors

-

cool how collector is both evil and, yk, a child. bc children are not always innocent. they can be some of the cruelest creatures on the universe (i would know)

–

one has got to wonder about the history told in those walls, meaning i will wonder and theorize. bc that’s what i do.

ok it seems like collector was…surrounded by titans. baby titans, and then a group of older collectors took him in, seeing as theyre smiling and reaching out a hand, instead of banishing him away. they dont look friendly, but it might just be the portrait.

although those first two portraits reveal themselves, at the very end there’s something else

 unfortunately i have no idea what it is. i dont think the repetition is an animation error or shortcut. if it were, why only repeat two times and change at the very end, where it is unlikely to be noticed??

 again, portraits repeat, except for a star in the middle.

......i wanna theorize on this. maybe on another post.

collectors doing something to a planet and our collector watching, wanting to join in, but probably rejected (the whole portrait section had a lot of images but it surpassed tumblrs limit so i deleted them, more on another post, maybe

–

—

—-

—

–

poor raine tho. what’s up with them and people trying to mindcontrol them????

—

poor hooty

–

what’s this, rapunzel?? a tear saves the guy???

–

poor willow tho

–

‘’im gonna assume those are clean’ ma’am cleanness is the last thing you need to worry about now

–

that’s two simultaneous mindcontrollings! raine is on a roll!!

—

“trouble with your team, captain half-a-witch? leading isnt easy is it? all your time is spent helping the team, keeping people from fighting, planning your next move, and titan forbid you show any weakness! everyone else falls apart.

-

fucking kikimora

-

cuando no tienes la chancla, un bate sirve

-

boscha is….ugh. i’m conflicted. i get it but also.she annoys me.

–

everything is under control when everything is not undercontrol my favorite trope

–

poor (????) collector. i know he’s not good but….idk, i feel for him

–

ITSHATCHINGITSHATCHINGHATCHIHATCHINGAAAAAAAAA

—

poor willowwwwww poor kids everyone needs therapy here

—

“luz has a staff, why does that make me nervous?” considering the first impression you got of it……

–

SNAKESHIFTER YESSSSSS ALSO SNAKE PALISMAN FOR LUZ WE WINNIN

i could write poems about how it fits her but just- look. it fits.

-

END CREDITS WHERE AWESOME!!!! Love the snapshots of the things that werent fully explained!! kikimora manipulating boscha during the attack, king being sad at losing eda and lilith and the collector…..emphathizing?? of a sort??? anyway yeah

[autumnalwalker]

Does doing magic in a(n urban) fantasy setting count as "superpowers"? If so, then the Empty Names main cast already has them.

Lacuna:

So, in-universe, the particular approach that Lacuna takes to magic could technically be done by anyone with the proper knowledge and resources, but we'll go ahead and count it as a "superpower" anyway. In Empty Names doing magic can be broadly split into "spells" and "rituals," with the primary difference being how long they take to cast and who can do them. In this case, spells only take a few quick words and/or hand gestures, rarely take more than a second or two to produce an effect, and can only be cast by mages (e.g. witches, wizards, and other "real" magic users). Rituals involve some combination of drawing out a bunch of glyphs/speaking an incantation/making use of some manner of material component, can take anywhere from several minutes to several days to cast depending on complexity, and can be done by basically anyone that knows magic exists. Lacuna's whole thing is doing rituals through computers and phones with AI assistance to speed them up and re-combine them in novel ways.

Part of the idea behind all this for Lacuna was to sort of use her as a way to explore the idea of treating learning magic like a programming language. In this case, a bit literally with her writing and adjusting the algorithms and such for her assistive AI as she goes and less literally as she tries to grasp and different pieces of how things work and combine them. And, much like programming, she's often doing the magic ritual equivalent of grabbing a bunch of code snippets off Stack Exchange that sound sort of similar to what she wants, running them, getting a bunch of compile errors (or even worse, runtime errors), and then trying to go back and reverse engineer them to fit her existing project without exploding.

Also, the idea of having a bunch of spells/rituals saved on your phone that you can just pull out like an app or pre-recorded video just seems cool to me.

On top of all that, this all works well with her long term goal/arc of trying to figure out a way to do something that is both difficult in the setting's magic system and personally meaningful to her (making herself a new body for trans reasons) and doing it in a way that she has to try and fail and iterate in stages as time goes on. And then also doing it all in the messiest, most mangled, roundabout way possible that causes any properly trained magic user to look at her self-taught and semi-AI-generated rituals and enchantments to go "How does that even function without collapsing on itself or exploding and how are you not dead already?"

Ashan:

Providing contrast to Lacuna, Ashan Glassheart is a "properly trained" wizard who's been honing his craft for most of his life under mentorship and with full knowledge of theory and tradition to the point where his spellcasting blurs the line between art and science.

When coming up with what Ashan's style of magic actually was though, I had a few parameters in mind:

Specialized so that he mostly does variations on a single theme.

Capable of nonlethal subdual in a fight.

Physical and flashy in its casting.

And then a random name generator spat out the name Glassheart and it clicked for me that his primary thing would be conjuring up force fields that look like glass and he would "paint" them into existence with a combination of bodily gestures and brushstroke-like movements with his wand for more precise or intricate work.

Also the real reason Empty Names exists is because of the online discourse about Bridgette from Guilty Gear being confirmed as canonically trans and some fans feeling like they had lost out on the positive representation of "male character that presents feminine but is still confident/secure in his masculinity" (or so I interpreted). This got me on the thought experiment of "What if a story had both, and they were cool with each other? And then what if we also genderbent it so that there was also a transmasc guy and a masculine-presenting woman? And the five-man-band trope is cool, so let's make the leader genderfluid, allowing things to still be symmetrical while also an odd number and increasing the gender fuckery even further?" Then I decided to make it an urban fantasy monster-of-the-week thing as a means of having situations to put these people in. This then led to the concept association pipeline of femme-presenting cis guy -> often gets mistaken for a woman -> wears a dress -> wizard robes and dresses can look real similar if you make them animé enough -> Ashan's a wizard now.

Eris:

Eris is the one with the closes thing to a traditional superpower with superhuman strength, durability, and healing. This mostly owes itself to how heavily I was leaning on the "five-man band" trope in my initial character brainstorming and Eris getting assigned the role there of "The Big Guy/Powerhouse". It's also an excuse to have a character who can get thrashed around a lot and not die.

It also makes a nice character trait parallel of her on the surface having the most simple and straightforward powerset in the same way that everyone around her tends to view her as the simple and straightforward big dumb meatshield, but then underneath the metaphorical hood, that strength/durability/regeneration is the result of several different aspects of the setting's magic system interacting in a very particular way in the same way that she's got her own internal complexities and is low-key the smartest person in the room most of the time.

Additionally, I've always liked the trope of "character who's usually pretty chill but gets way too into it whenever a fight breaks out, and the way the setting's magic system works lends itself well to simultaneously making having her be like that be partially responsible for the powerset she has and adds in the narrative drama of "if she ever lets herself go too much with that she runs the risk of turning into some kind of monster."

Also, I had just finished watching Dorohedoro around the time I was doing my initial planning, and Noi was my favorite character in that.

Sullivan:

If Eris is "The Big Guy/Powerhouse" and Road is "The Hero/Leader", then Sullivan Bridgewood is "The Lancer" (meanwhile Lacuna and Ashan are off blurring the line about which one qualifies as "The Heart" and "The Smart Guy"), and giving him an archetypical rogue skillset with all the knives and sneaking around seemed to fit the narrative role of "guy who is technically on the team but is always going off on his own while acting as a foil to the Leader."

But sneaking around and loving knives isn't a superpower, and the idea of Sullivan having any kind of powers actually came late in his conceptual development.

I knew early on that I wanted him to be rich enough to be the one bankrolling the whole operation (and by extension, let me handwave the question of how the party is paying for all their fun toys), but I wasn't sure where that money would come from. Early ideas included being good at gambling and/or owning casinos with questionable legal connections. There was a little bit of Jack Noir/Spades Slick of Homestuck in his narrative DNA.

And then similar to how random name generation gave me Glassheart, which then influenced Ashan's magic, that random generation gave me the name Bridgewood, and things started falling into place. The first idea here was him being some manner of off-world nobility whose family name came from the forest they watched over that was capable of connecting to other worlds.

But somewhere in the process a certain line from Team Four Star's Hellsing Ultimate Abridged got stuck in my head:

"My boss is a woman, I was a chick in the forties, I hate everyone equally, and there's no one alive who could comprehend my sexual preference."

This line had a truly inordinate amount of influence on the direction Sullivan's character ultimately took, and from it the sorceress Carnette Bridgewood came to be. Now Sullivan had money because he married into it (and took on his wife's last name in the process). And with Sullivan being... well, Sullivan, that marriage started out as a business exchange, in which Sullivan would get the money and prestige that came with the Brigewood family name and Carnette would get a conversation partner who wasn't terrified of her and a willing subject for her mad science/magic experiments. And Sullivan now being a sorcerous test subject gave me free reign to indulge my love of Lovecraftian body horror powers.

And thus Sullivan went from being "trained assassin who like knives and is good at sneaking" to "trained assassin who likes knives and is good at sneaking and also has a bunch of writhing black tentacles under his skin that let him warp space and stitch his body back together from the inside whenever he's injured." (He's actually even less physically human than that, but that gets into spoiler territory.)

Road:

I've always had a fascination with the idea of a person not fully existing.

Blorbo Blursday #7

If you character had superpowers, what would they be and why? If your character ALREADY has powers, why did you choose those powers?

TAGLIST (DM to be +/-) @interroblog @muumysworld @afusiek @the-ravens-requiem @sender-paulson @everthewip @bluberimufim @amaiguri @akiwitch @thetruearchmagos @autumnalwalker @gracehosborn @cljordan-imperium @aether-wasteland-s @saintedseraph @deanwax @berristrawberri @owlbearwrites @the-down-upside-finch @stridingwriter @dandelion-jester @johnmurphysgirl @ghostsofchernobyl @alexsidereus @innocenthedgehog @unmellowyellowfellow @oh-no-another-idea @druidx @ibuprofen-exe @shay-creates @aquadestinyswriting

@loopyhoopywrites @n1ghtcrwler @writingonmymind @wardenred @void-botanist @dyrewrites @sm-writes-chaos @iishmael @romances-not-tragedies @inscrutable-shadow @athenswrites @uraniumwriting @pigeonwhumps @stesierra @bittersqxtch @imslowlydisintegrating @harleyacoincidence @keysandopenmind @pga-books @halleyuhm @wordswrittenbynight @worldsfromhoney @imaslothandsowhat @i-am-the-doctor @callahanscorner

@iamwritehere @hannahholowach46 @frenchbullpigs @informedimagining @anyablackwood @lili-loves-whump @laffy-taffy-creations @downtoithaca @rayesworld @susurrus-mxfluffy @kyuponstories @themswritinwords @valentinerose529 @365runesoftheamalgamations @guessillcallitart

[spinaroos-47]

Them’s the breaks, kid was great!

My prediction was way off, i basically put the ASIAS lumity stuff here dfsjsfdnjdfs. I’m glad I was wrong because this was amazing

First of all, I’m always happy for more glyphs and I got a lot this episode dgjdnfn

They’re really interesting! The little hurricane one (besides looking a lot like King’s like sigil thing on his collar) makes a lot of sense! Cold + Warm is what makes hurricanes! (though i’m still figuring out what the light glyph is for. Air maybe?)

Water one, pretty simple. The petrification spell is very interesting, since it ties Philip to Belos even more, and also that it uses plant and ice glyphs. Which kinda makes sense, since ice is pretty rigid, the plants could give it a more sturdy aspect

And the hand...again, ties with Belos but also looks pretty similar to my guess at an abomination spell (well, i used all four glyphs on it but thats not the similarity), I did bet that the plant glyph would be a base for it, and since plant coven magic also involves elements like water and earth, it fits that the fire glyphs could kinda melt the plants to give it the gooey aspect to it

Okay, glyph nerding aside, let’s go to the rest of the episode

I’m really glad this also was a more chill episode, it was nice and Luz needed a break (,kid). Their history together was so cute! (and Raine was super cute as well)

LOOK AT THESE TWO

(I also appreciate the big voice difference, pretty likely caused by T)

It was pretty bittersweet to see Eda and Lilith before Eda got cursed. They were really close but all that happened. Them doing those checks to see if they know the stuff felt very familiar to me

And the parents of a lot of the characters!

Gus’ dad, Boscha’s parents, Odalia and Alador, Willow’s dads (that i forgot to take a print of), and DARIUS! Not a parent but still really glad to see him there. He and Alador were friends, so then what happened? Was it because of Darius being mentored by the previous Golden Guard? 

Anyways, Raine is so smart, just as smart as Eda, this really shows how they aren’t someone to be underestimated (which is what the EC and Terra are doing), they are really observative and creative! Like, the change of the chemistry of a drink? That’s amazing! And making that detail of Raine blowing the steam off the tea that way in FATCP actually mean something? I love this show (And bard magic being underestimated just like illusion magic does make a lot of sense, since even some fans didn’t think much of it before Raine appeared. Bard magic is great)

It feels pretty great to be right on Raine knowing something was up, and that they actually know way more than I thought. As I said, they’re very smart, they wouldn’t let themselves be brainwashed like that (kinda ruins a oneshot I’m writing but I think I can work with the new information). And they don’t want to hurt Eda again with this, which is sweet and also a painful paralel to what Eda did with them, hiding the truth to not hurt her and still hurting her in the process

(And they did the spell to destroy stuff Eda did in Eda’s requiem!) 

The Isles back then were different, less strict, I love seeing that. I say this quite frequently, but this makes me notice even more the similarities between Belos’ regime and the dictatorship that happened here in Brazil from 64 to 85. Probably also mirrors other dictatorships but I can only talk about this one since it’s the one I actually know about. Though on this case, here it got less restricted as the regime ended, There isn’t going to be that on toh, definetly. Terra always being like that, and one of Belos’ first supporters I’m pretty sure, is really creepy. She always had an eye out for Raine (TAKE YOU GRASS HANDS FAR FROM THEM)

ALSO, Darius being on the rebellion!!!!! Vindication! I can’t wait for next week to see what he, Raine and Eber do. (also his little abomination. adorable <3)

@bernardo-reblogs-shit​ was so right about the similarities between fmab, this feels very similar to it, but also it’s showing the weird thing on top of the castle, so it’s going to be on both places? And what about the skull? This answers a lot but also creates so many questions

AND BONESBOROUGH BEING A BIG COVEN SIGIL!!!!! HOLY FUCK! Which gives a lot of weight to what wrath says about it not being welcoming to magickind, ITS GOING TO TAKE AWAY ALL MAGIC 

The coven heads will be what powers the spell, which then makes me wonder about Hunter’s role in all this. He’s going to get all the magic drained (it has to go somewhere, if not to him, then it’s for the titan, which i think will happen) or he’s what will activate it? For sure he’ll be a sacrifice, but how exactly we don’t know yet.

And the portal is being moved! probably to the spell center, which also makes me wonder what exactly the door is for. Excited and scared

This makes me even more excited for Hollow mind, like, Hunter WILL get some truths dropped on him, the question is which? And the two coven heads that have been nice to him are two of the ones rebelling, which will be interesting no matter what direction HM will go (astrolavas pointed this out on twitter, and I am so down with the idea)

Other small things i noticed while watching the episode

- The doodles on Philip’s diary being incomplete glyphs was great 9and again, you can see early Belos ideas on two of them)

- “things abominations probably shouldn’t do”

- I actually thought the hands were Darius’ skdskfkds Eda has such a paper white skin i thought it was him 

- Eda is peak adhd 

- I liked seeing other uniforms besides hexside, glandus and st. epiderm!

- apparently there were scrolls on eda’s hexside times, which is interesting

- HECK

- THERE WAS THE MELODY OF RAINE’S RAPHSODY/EDA’S REQUIEM WHEN RAINE APPEARED

- st epiderm being expensive checks out. I’ve studied in a catholic school for 12 years and while it was one of the cheaper ones, it was still pretty pricy 

- the paralel of one of them being a wild witch and the other a coven one

- their handshake <3

- st epiderm is on the knee! which makes sense for a religious school to be there since its where the magic is strongest

- SHE STARTED DRINKING APPLE BLOOD BECAUSE THEY OFFERED IT TO HER

- changing the chemistry of liquids is such a coold idea

- “we’ll figure something else out” mmmmmmmm like ENTERING BELOS’ MIND?

- these shots

- and him

[moccimu]

The Owl House: Blood Moon Rising Finale

"Set between the first two seasons, Luz is excited at the prospect of having a special girl’s night sleep over to enjoy the powerful presence of The Blood Moon! Little does she know, Amity Blight and King have ulterior motives of their own."

And that is a wrap! The Owl House: Blood Moon Rising has meant so much to me and it has been a wild ride writing, drawing and sharing this short story. Can you believe I initially wrote this tale after the finale of the first season? Maybe next time, I’ll try and get my comic’s out sooner! 

Working hard to fit this into the canon of the series was also a fun deal. I often feel my tardiness in finishing this and it bleeding into season 2 actually helped a lot as I was able to last-minute adjust things and details on the fly as new episodes were coming out to establish the comic as canon even more. The only little detail that stands out is the Levitation glyph but hey...let’s just keep that between us ;-)

This was more of an Amity story than anything.  One of the life-lessons that has most stuck with me is the importance of recognizing that your feelings are valid and that whatever strange new feelings you may be having are what makes you you and you should never be scared of who you are. I went through this exact thing as a tween and I hope adapting Amity’s recognition of her own feelings helps others see themselves. Mental health is important and acceptance is key!

I genuinely appreciate and love the support I’ve received and as my final Owl House fan art project, I am happy I got to finish this. It was also my first webcomic and that is something to be proud of! 

I snuck in tons of details, easter eggs and references in these 35 pages. Ranging from Amphibia to even Harry Potter. Perhaps the most obvious was the title itself being a straight reference to one of my favorite songs haha. Maybe I’ll post eventually some of my favorites if there is interest! 

Thank you for reading. 

May the Blood Moon rise again!

< PART I > 

< PART II >

< PART II CONTINUED >

< PART III >

[nerves-nebula]

hi your "hunter escapes and has a fun little camping moment" au is living rent free in my brain rn, please Please share some more thoughts and rambles about it!

ANON PLEASE- (affectionate)

you gotta understand I was not lying when I said I have 5 pages of a google doc worth of comic ideas. Unfortunately it's still kind of a mess and I'm still sorting out some of the basic dynamics of this AU. I also like the idea of keeping most of my notes and making them into their own comics/posts so idk how I feel about just saying stuff in a list AND YET.

So here's some stuff I think I can say outside of a comic?? I’ll still probably make some of these into comics/doodles, but anyway I hope this is what you were looking for.

Hunter:

Hunter gets very into studying wild magic up close, something he wasn't allowed to do much before. But now he lives in the forest surrounded by wild magic. Because of this I plan for him to discover a few glyphs on his own, like Luz does, mainly the plant one. But you’ll see how that goes later ;)

He's also still trying to cure his uncles curse. He insists he's not going to go back to Belos, but if pressed on why he's searching for a cure for a man he plans to never see again, he'll get very defensive and angry. Sometimes it's not as easy as "I'm leaving and never coming back." sometimes you still wanna help the people who hurt you :P and THAT one is from personal experience

Hunter takes a while to really get into the whole “I’m on my own and can do whatever I want” thing, but I plan for him to mess around with his presentation once he gets more comfortable.

Rascal helps him change his eye bandages! I haven’t decided if his eye is damaged yet or just the area around it tho so stay tuned.

Hunter will often assign himself “missions” to go on because he doesn’t know what else to do with his free time. He knows he doesn’t technically have any deadlines or stuff like that anymore but he gets stressed not having a goal to strive towards so to cope he just.. gives himself arbitrary goals !

Funfact! This is not the first time Hunters pissed Belos off so bad that he’s fled the castle for a moment. But it IS the first time he stays away for this long. 

Home Hunter AU subscribes to the “Hunter is the grimwalker/a clone of Belos’ brother” theory just for extra angst. I kind of like the idea that he wasn’t even a big part of Belos’ plans though, just that Belos saw a chance to “Bring back” his brother and went for it fsdfsfsdf.

Hunter is terrified of relying on someone too much because no matter how much he trusts them, they could always kick him out. And he’d rather kick himself out before they get the chance. Boys still got issues, is what I’m saying. 

Because Hunter lives in the woods he starts to get a bit... Feral. People will not see him for a week only to realize he’s been not showering or changing his clothes. He was never the most normally-socialized kid but now he’s in the habit of hissing at people the way he does at wild animals that encroach on his tent.

Hunter is very possessive of his belongings (he has so few) and will tackle you if you try to take something from him without asking. He also hoards food and has trouble sharing it, but he feels a bit more embarrassed about this habit than others so he tries to hide it.

Luz:

Luz is basically the first person Hunter reaches out to after living in the woods for a few weeks, and she’s the only one he trusts, at first. 

She offers to let Hunter stay at the owl house a LOT, and sometimes he does :D ! But usually only if it’s raining or he has an injury he can’t heal himself, or if they’re just hanging out. 

Luz’s Super Secret Sad Boy plan is to try to trick Hunter into staying at the owl house for extended periods of time, so that he eventually doesn’t want to go back to the forest. She brings it up A LOT. This has yet to work though, because Hunter feels very uncomfortable about not understanding their family dynamic. That and it makes him feel a bit worse about his own. (kind of like when you go to your friends house and their parents are nice, so you cry afterwards. But to the extreme that he has trouble relaxing cause he’s viscerally aware of how much he doesn’t feel like he fits in.)

Luz tried to teach Hunter glyphs but he brushed it off. 1. because he’s still nervous about wild magic lmao but 2. because he didn’t think he needed to learn them since he has Rascal. He only starts looking into them when he personally finds them in nature on his own. After that point he starts eavesdropping on Lillith and Eda’s glyph lessons and hijinks ensue.

Lillith:

I’m actually super down for the idea that Lillith would bond with goldie in some way. They both know what Belos is like so they can bitch about him together!

I’m also a fan of the “Lillith regrets calling Hunter a brat” idea. Idk if she’s canonically seen his face or anything but I like to think that, at least NOW, she sees him for what he really is. A poor little meow meow. 

That being said don’t think that Mom!Eda is out for the count. They’re  ✨ co-parents  ✨ and I like to think they bring different things to the table when it comes to caring about Hunter. Raine might show up eventaully too :D. They still can’t get him to move out of the woods tho.

Belos:

Not much to say about him and his plans yet, but what usually happens when Hunter runs off after upsetting Belos is that he comes back a few hour/days later with something to win back Belos’ favor. So the emperor isn’t concerned at first, but then a week passes, and then another. 

In this AU Belos is very protective of Hunter but in a weird, possessive, fucked up way. Basically, he’s convinced himself that nothing is really a threat to him or Hunter (since he trained Hunter personally and believes in his nephews abilities). He was never afraid of Hunter being killed or leaving him cause he never considered those things as possibilities. So when Hunter doesn’t come back and is seen actively avoiding him, he goes a little apeshit? But like in a subtle way? Like, he’s losing it but quietly lmao. BASICALLY I do have plan for Belos to attempt to do a lot of stuff to catch/coerce Hunter, and maybe he succeeds! We’ll see.

That should be enough for now!

important to note that a lot of this could change on a whim since I’m still thinking about all of it but y e ah these are some things I’ve mused about.

also I hope this makes sense, I’m not really a writer so I just kinda type it how I talk it I guess.

[thechekhov]

Alright, alright, I caved.

After a slot opened up in me to be able to take on another show emotionally, I decided to invest in OwlHouse. I thought I would probably like it, but it won me over faster than I thought it would.

I’ve already watched a few episodes, but I realized that it might be more fun to do liveblogs, so here I am - with a liveblog...

I will be doing this episode by episode, and probably releasing them every once in a while. Everything will be under a cut, however, to save you all dash space.

If you’d like to follow, please track the #chekhov watches owlhouse tag!

(I’d also like to dedicate this post to the Tumblr Staff Rob, who did his best to restore this post for me when tumblr queue ate it.)

Without further ado...

Episode 1!!

Fair warning - this is technically not a ‘live’ blog, because I have already watched some of the show before deciding to do this, but I’ll still react to them to round things out.

Immediately, this reminds me of Little Witch Academia... Anyone? No? Only me? I feel like maybe I’m getting my wires crossed, but there HAD to have been some inspiration taken from there?

“No-- my only weakness! Dying!!“

Same, big snake monster. Same.

Oh, backup snakes? This girl is READY.

Please don’t mistreat the snakes.

Spider breath... This kid is on my wavelength. That griffin seems to be waiting to be put out of its misery though, and I don’t blame it.

My child... where did you get that pigeon head though.....

Nurse mother, do you REALLY think signing up your spider-summoning daughter for summer camp will actively make her antics slow down instead of ramp up to 60?

Awww, baby makes AMVs... But also, NO ONE TOLD YOU TO THROW AWAY THE BOOK??? I know it’s symbolic, but goodness, isn’t that a bit much???

wait a sec, is that Eda????

Love the realistic bilingual kid experience of replying in English when your mom talks to you in your native language. Universal.

Love this introduction of Eda’s character. She’s got that little green scarf on and everything. Like a tiny trash grandma.

Oooh, okay, let’s extrapolate...

Lots of bones everywhere. I kinda love the aesthetic here - it’s gross and visceral, kind of like what Luz was making with her school projects. Yet in the middle of it all we have a rather clear gothic looking structure. Is this a power imbalance in the supposed kingdom?

The five circles of stained glass seem to perhaps indicate something like Hogwarts houses? Several different types of magic?

But Luz has no reason to freak out as much as she is - she LOVES weird stuff! Haha... No, I kid, I kid. I get it.

“Am I in the bad place?“

Eyyyyy, gotta love shows referencing other shows. :)

“Oh dear child... I’m not like you.”

Wow, what a DRAMATIC reveal for some pointy ears. :) I love her.

We should all aspire to have such cool and stylistically well put together wanted posters. You can tell the commissioned artist really respects her craft.

Steven Universe fans watching this:

I’m looking too.

Okay, okay, enough shenanigans, let’s have some LORE.

I love this landscape. Teeth or bones, or whatever they are, this is one of the more unique settings we’ve gotten, though maybe I’m prejudiced because I love body horror and bones. The darker orange and red themes fit really well here.

Things I’m desperate for: Giraffe Lore 

Things I’m more desperate for: Eda lore. Why do her limbs fall off? Is she a zombie?

Things I’m not quite as desperate for: Hooty lore. He can keep that to himself.

well hello there mysterious chekhov’s glyph which will DEFINITELY not be relevant in the second chapter (or end of season? Maybe? Idk it just seems important).

Ah, yes. That would have been my reaction as well, to be fair. Somehow I didn’t expect to see this guy so early on. I figured he would be a low stress early villain that got assimilated into the Found Family. Kinda psyched that he’s just there from the start.

....I’m just gonna presume this is all true and accept it at face value.

Old Escape The Cops Lady and Tiny Little Demon King, I need your backstory. How did you meet.

I love looking at background details, because like... you can tell the BG artists had fun. I particularly love how the 3 eyed toad doesn’t actually have any reward attached to her. Though the Knife Baby does intrigue me!

“I write fanfics of food falling in love.”

Why am I being called out...

“Noo! My weak nerd arms!”

Finally, a realistic portrayal of a protagonist thrust into a fantasy setting!

.....................

Okay but. If only humans could pass through the barrier... wouldn’t that mean a human had to have deposited those things in there? Do they have a human on staff in this weird pseudo-prison??? Suspicious....

Confession - when I initially saw ads for this show, I expected Eda to be a villain, not a loveable middle aged witch aunt figure. I am shockingly even MORE drawn to her this way. I expected betrayal. I expected her to be a lowkey threat?? But no. She’s just wholesome in the way a solid raccoon is.

“Eda, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, this just happens when you get older...”

“........does it..?”

If I had to pinpoint the exact moment this show won me over...... it would probably be this one.

I know it’s probably the wrong thing to focus on, but what is that insignia? Wings??? Like.... the kind OWLS HAVE?????

COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT!!!

I’m really loving the landscape here. And those fireworks are... hmm... intricate?

Gotta love the old tried and true Witch Apprentice Actually A Live In Intern trope. :)

Hold up...

Is that

Is that Hooty? I thought he was just a door....

Eda: This is my room for human stuff. I will also put my human in there.

. . .

Overall rating: I think this is a cute overall beginning. The prison break went hard! I enjoyed the characters and it kind of surprised me in a lot of ways. It definitely does a great job setting up a world with a lot more to explore while giving us a small taste of cool magic stuff and witchy battles. :)

Now on to Episode 2!!

Read the liveblogs in order by clicking here!