#supernatural ecosystem

[deadtwinksdetectiveagency]

Oh ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY to all of this!!! And have I already made a mockup of a book published by NAAM (North American Association for Magic)?

... of course I have, what kind of monster do you think I am

In the dead boy detectives universe, do we think there are people who do scientific type research on magic? Like is there a journal of pyromancy in the way we have a journal of ecology?

Because I think that would be very fun for many reasons, the primary (see what I did there) of which is Edwin slamming a pile of primary literature about psychic powers in front of Crystal and forcing the poor girl to study them with him. Also Edwin having a secondary job as an editor of some well respected magic journal is very fun to me

[raw-detergent]

[yellydany]

LIONROSE 🌹💐 (Leophantasma Floralis) or Xóchimiztli

"An unusual parasitism between a flower and a lion that evolved into an undead-like species. The Lionrose displays a beautiful mane akin to dahlia petals varying in color but in usual red whereas the rest of the body has a more ghostly appearance and properties. The cubs resemble rose buds and once they ‘bloom’ the skull becomes visible. Unlike their lion counterparts they don't show any sexual dimorphism and if anything have a more hermaphroditic approach like flowers. They are known to be able to phase through objects and some rumors even suggest other realms, adding to their mythicism.

They are astute hunters and usually live in small groups. Instead of relying on photosynthesis this parasitic species steals nutrients from other plants and living beings employing their root-like tendrils. Their beauty and ferocity has made them known and valuable across the land, for many folk wish to acquire their petals even if it is a deadly task."

One of my favourite personal designs so far!

[angel-fruitcake]

ah. it's good to see you again, my old friend

[nobodymitskigabriel]

His shoulders are taking me the fuck out

[moongirl0305]

Anyone care to explain why we are trending now?

[serpentface]

What exactly are living gods in the blightseed universe?

Ok here's the (DANGEROUSLY vestigial at this point) Meta Deeplore:

There is a material form of energy that is utilized by biological bodies essentially as an animating force. This IS the vaguely defined, extremely ambiguous magic in the setting. It is what produces the actual experience of Consciousness and can be basically considered 1:1 with conscious experience. All life utilizes this energy (whether actually conscious life in the traditional sense or not).

It cannot be created or destroyed, and rather follows pathways of dispersal between one material plane and a parallel plane. This parallel plane is 'the ether' 'the dreamlands' etc, and has its own matter. Discrete entities from the dreamlands are essentially formed as a byproduct of consciousness and, when interacted with, are deeply susceptible to the influence of conscious Thought (they are essentially matter organized By consciousness and can be reorganized by consciousness)

These are the entities that can become living gods. Dreamlands fauna occasionally slips into prime material reality, at which point they are directly under the influence of consciousness and can be transformed. Dreamlands fauna in of itself is not directly perceivable but produces a sense of Presence, like the feeling of being watched when alone in the wilderness, a 'third man effect', a sense of inexplicable awe or fear, seeing shadows from the corner of your eye, etc. The combination of their tangible effects and their susceptibility to consciousness creates a self-reinforcing cycle that produces living gods.

IE: if one is on a forest and people experience the sensation of its presence, belief that there is some entity there may develop. This will follow the lines of the cultural worldview- say there are already beliefs in spectral hounds that encounter travelers at night, it might be interpreted as a location-specific hound, given a name and identity through stories. This in turn causes the dreamlands fauna to physically embody that form and the assumed qualities, and people will start having absolute materially real encounters with it, thus reinforcing the initial beliefs that created it and generating new elements of the mythology. This is what a living god is.

They need persistent, localized, and coherent beliefs to hold their forms. If a village creates a living god and is then wiped out in a disaster, the god will gradually lose its form and return to its initial state of a sense of Presence. This is also a limiting factor on the 'size' and power of a living god, if an entire religion formed around it and became a widespread phenomena, the living god itself cannot 'keep up'. It is sustained on direct and localized interactions, so belief becoming widely dispersed (especially if the localized belief is lost) will cause it to gradually become less discrete. The effect of this property is that living gods are almost always minor deities or spirits tied to a specific location by a specific nearby culture. A lot of deities in larger religions may have once had a living god component that is now indiscrete.

The living god of the Ur-tree is an unusual exception in that it was created over millennia, basically by the survival instincts of the Plants it interacts with, and has held its form over hundreds of millions of years due to this being ubiquitous and un-susceptible to cultural change. The only thing that could 'kill it' is if its forest was entirely destroyed.

So 99% of living gods can be described as thoughtforms created by the process of folkloric/religious development. They are created BY people and not the other way around, and nothing about their nature confirms or denies the existence of other deities or etc.

And yeah I'm going to be 100% real I am REALLY tempted to dump even this extremely ambiguous magical element like it is soooooooooooooooo fucking NOT important to the setting at this point. I've kind of allowed 'literal god entities created by mortal belief' to be just a tiny part of the world's fabric by their nature, like it works within the worldbuilding for such a hugely significant concept to ultimately be insignificant in the overall framework, so I COULD just Leave It but idk. If it were not for me wanting to still have my big fucking god tree and a talking dog as an actual character it would be out of here soooo fast..........

[abyssalzones]

saw your gravity falls post a while ago and thought of this.

tldr, fiddleford got ford a pet axolotl because its frills reminded him of his sideburns (and named it frilliam), but since bill detested it so much he set it free. probably fucked up an ecosystem but that’s not important

anyway.

posted about this here already. one of the biggest highlights of the website's extra pages for sure

I hate that triangle.

[superneightural]

this next chapter of superNAYtural is eating my ass ggggrrrrrahhgrhhgrgggrowlgrr barkb bark

here have a silly guy wearing a badass jacket and a anthro guide on some pony visuals for the fic. Also I have decided they all wear clothes now unless I want to draw all their patterns and markings bc fashion makes no sense in this world but I need to put them in OUTFITS in a way that is concerning for my friends and family

very based on the cartoon logic of magic pastel ponies and also my desire for the characters to have large ranged weapons

Obvi there is more nuance to how human-ponies and monster-ponies get around, like flying or different ways of transport! Ignore how the legs look in the sitting position I did not try at all

[wizardnaturalist]

while ghost hunting would be fun, it is a twelve year old's imagining of a job, and I think dipper would be disappointed by how many ghost reports amount to nothing. but personally, I feel like he would kill it as a wildlife biologist

[garbagesitelurking]

relationships, romantic or otherwise, are a wonderful facet of storytelling

but if that's your only lens through which you can enjoy a story that has SO MANY OTHER THINGS GOING ON

my god please go watch an old cw show it's more your speed

[marypsue]

“Don’t mind me,” Pacifica calls after them, as they clomp their way up the steps with a series of old-building creaks and groans. “I just love hanging out alone, with nothing to do, in dingy basements that smell of old beer and rotten potatoes. I’ll just be down here. With the..." Dipper can hear her lip curl in disgust. "Bugs.”

nobody asked for more of this but too bad, also 'Pacifica Northwest as an SPN demon' was something I knew I needed but I had no idea how much

[heliotrope155]

hey you guys it's US AGAIN!

Gets better and better.

[i-have-the-juice]

unlike boring people i’m always gonna prefer my favorite characters when they’re in their villain arc. i want them to be problematic and angry and unhinged fuck that stable bs

[3cosmicfrogs]

[touches the trending supernatural tag] The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air.

[ducktalk]

my source?

these guys

love these guys