#th: worldbuilding

[tyrannuspitch]

i need to start overthinking asgardian religion again. it's fun to think about the weird theocratic apocalyptic monarchy situation they may or may not have going on but like... if i AM alleging that religion is such a significant presence in thor's psyche, i should probably come up with some ways for it to actually manifest visibly in his life. little rituals of some kind.

it's especially interesting-but-complicated because, however old norse religion worked in real life, obviously a society that *posed as* norse gods isn't going to have the exact same religion as their own worshippers. common features, certainly... but removing the gods shifts the whole centre.

i think fate is an important feature and the norns are major figures, but... often the fanon shorthand is to essentially treat the norns as basically being the asgardians' gods, and i'm not sure that actually works? the whole thing about fate is that it's impassive and fixed. yes, you could pray to it, but what would be the point? and besides... if we're glorifying the last stand at ragnarok, are we not glorifying the futile defiance of fate?

ancestor worship would also make sense. it fits their highly patriarchal (not just sexist but father-focused) society. thor arguably seems to engage in ancestor worship in infinity war. but whether that can apply to all the ancestors, allfathers specifically, or some kind of sainthood system, and precisely what kind of power (if any*) said ancestors supposed to have in the afterlife, is unclear... it's definitely a long way from omnipotence, though.

but it's also notable that a lot of real-life ancestor worship (afaik), and what's kind of implied by continuing asgard's patriarchal system into the afterlife, is typically much more about what you do for *your ancestors* than what your ancestors do for *you*.

and then there's also that moment in ragnarok ("odin, i bid you take your place..."). some people call it a prayer, but i maintain that it's a blessing, because no higher power (or internal magical power, for that matter) is invoked. this is particularly interesting, because it's kind of... pure faith/hope. i have no reason to think that my saying this will influence anything, but i have to say it anyway. just in case.

hmm. so. norns: probably no prayers, but perhaps respectful acknowledgement. ancestors: possibly prayers, possibly duties of some kind. no-one/the listener/the universe: blessings and other ritual words. an interesting baseline. i wonder what we could build on this.

*iirc thor says something to the effect of "allfathers, lend me your strength" - which could be literal or figurative.

[zrllosyn-art]

Colored sketch based off of frozen lighting by @izfaish!!

ITS. ITS GOOD AND GOT FUN WORLDBUILDING AND CHARACTER EXPLORATION GIVE IT A READ (if youre caught up. you know who you are)

[rookpaw]

chipie from gnosia has to be up there as like, a favourite character ever for me. he rules. there's something so awesome and special to me about having a narrative of "guy who wants to become an animal" and, aside from the initial surprise, it be treated as a fine thing that he can do that ; and even if it's an alien concept that well, he still has the right to do so and will be at his happiest once achieving it. it initially worried me as like, a potential mockery of a trans narrative when i played it, but the intent being "fuck it,be who you are. live your truest self even if it's wildly unconventional." is so so clear as you go on! it's awesome!! i loved how gnosia handled setsu and raqio too and it really aids how nice and refreshing chipie is as a story and character. he's awesome! i love you chipie. guy of all time

[rakubalka]

The Clover Kingdom is actually a military dictatorship with some pieces of meritocracy .

I mean the king is essentially a puppet head with the wizard king as the actual leader of the kingdom .

Also did anyone ever thought as to what being a magic knight means there ? Because the only thing I myself can think of is the military . And it actually makes a lot of sense .

Different branches of the military sure but military nonetheless .

Idk what each squad specializes in canon but I can answer in this au at least .

It consists of the following :

Golden Dawn - Special Operations or Backup . Technically are considered "light" backup , at least in comparison to the Bulls .

Black Bulls - Same as the Golden Dawn the difference is that they are more destructive and unpredictable and the "heavy" backup . Their smaller numbers are actually an advantage in the instance as it allows for faster and easier maneuvers .

Silver Eagles - Mainly deals with the noble population . They also act as the capital city guard but that's comes second . Are "technically" the king's guards as well but no one gives a fuck about him .

Crimson Lions - Essentially the Clover Kingdoms police force . They mainly coordinate with city guards as to what happens where and keeping record for criminals .

Blue Roses - Technically one of two patrolling squads even if their captain Charlotte is also running the Green Mantis.

Green Mantis - Same as the Blue Roses . The two squads qualifications for captain are normally and historically the hardest for there to find even 1 proper captain for the squads , this generation specifically is actually is one of the very rare instances of having two captains who pass with no problems , as this type of squads have to interact with the common people the most and with classism not being exactly unrare in the Clover Kingdom it unfortunately means a very small percentages of nobles can actually pass .

Coral Peacock - Jailers and working with the justice system in the Kingdom . But mainly cooperate with the Crimson Lions .

Purple Orcas - Economics and information gathering . The only reason the previous captain got the position was because of clever use of information and the fact that his squad is not combat focused .

Azure Deer - Mainly acts as archives keepers . Until Rill got the qualifications of captain both Julius and Mark had to act in the place of a proper captain as they were previously captains so they have the training .

If anyone is curious as to why I haven't put any of the other older squads that is because of the way the military of the Clover Kingdom works or more specifically has worked for roughly the past 500 years .

Before the solidification of the title of the wizard king the military was something we are more familiar with , consisting of multiple branches dealing with similar issues as the ones today . However around the time of the first few wizard kings the military structure of the military changed drastically . Partially to help in the creation of more candidates for wizard king and as a way to alleviate older nobles who need to take over their families as heads or to focus on their marriage . It also acted as a good way to get people who are too old to continue to be of actual use when their magic can barely keep them alive because of how old they are to stop hoarding positions of power .

As a result it allowed the current way of the Clover Kingdom to form .

The way being that of :

Getting young people with potential into the magic knight allowing for them to be nurtured and molded into either future house heads , captains or even a few lucky ones as wizard kings .

Allowing for there to almost always be at least one possible candidate for wizard king as their rein lasts between 10 to 30 years .

Allows for young talents to take the position of captain and establish their own squad and even power base . Squad can also be passed down if the captain either feels they have found a suitable replacement or successor or if the captain has committed a crime and the squad needs a new captain .

Also when a new wizard king is appointed new squads get formed or the squad gets reformed as in the case of the Deer .

Also being a squad captain does come with a lot of benefits one of them being a very strong political power base something that Charlotte is after . The fact that no one of the house of Kira has served in the magic knight for multiple generations is actually one of the reasons as to why despite being the royal family currently ruling they are considered nowhere as important as the other 3 royal families .

Also if someone thinks this is unrealistic as there are more people capable of running squad need I remind you that the VAST percentage of magic knight even today is nobles as Zara roughly 20 years ago became the FIRST magic knight of peasant origin , before him literally everyone was noble .

[fate-defiant]

'kay so I doodled another thing before bed, just to test the tool further. I wanted to see what I could do if I went beyond just a sketch with a bit of color slapped onto it. Not gonna lie after fiddling witth the brushes further I was a bit dissapointed - they're not unworkable, but the limitations are frustrating nonetheless. I ended up doing the lineart as though I was working with a mechanical pencil - set the brush size to being as thin as possible(i worked on a 800x600 pixel canvas here, for the record) and then just sorta went over the parts I wanted to be bolder several times. It didn't turn out great but that's more of a skill issue on my part.

All this isn't to say that's it's bad, for the record, the main goal of the people making this was clearly to make something for people to have fun together with and not a perfect clone of [insert your preffered drawing program here]. If I experimented further I could definitely figure out plenty of interesting things that can be done with just the free features, I just don't have the time or the patience tonight.

[sleidog]

Learn about my OCs! post #2 Teo

Meet Teo! he's half of a pair of podtwins that me and Stu write together :> [ Name ]  Teodor/Teo [prefers his short name!]

[ Species ] Sylvari

[ Height ] 6'0"

[ Age ] 12-22 [30-40 by more normal age conventions]

[ Class ] Herald Revenant

[ Cycle ] Noon

[ Gender ] Male, He/Him

[ Status ] Single

[ Orientation ] Pansexual

[PERSONALITY]

Teo is a brash, bold sylvari who's quite loud and rowdy to be around. This wasnt always the case, in his younger years he was quiet and reclusive, only really interacting with his twin.

He absolutely doesn't have a filter and will say and do exactly what's on his mind, regardless of the consequences. Originally thought to have multiple personality disorder as a sprout, this matured into him becoming a revenant, the shift in personality he was dealing with being related to the whispers from the mists crowding his head. [LIKES & DISLIKES] ✔ Garlic bread ✔ Intimacy ✔ Mental stimulation ✔ Adventure ✔ Vanity ✖ Being left alone to his thoughts ✖ When the voices are too loud ✖ When his vines are pulled [TRIVIA]

• In comparison to his twin, Teo is the darker red. • Teo's vines are somewhat prehensile and can be shown curling/responsive to emotions. • All thorns on his head are pink, all thorns on his body are dark red. • The scar on Teo's cheek was inflicted by Slei during one of the only fits of rage he's ever experienced. • He has a strange almost telekinetic connection to his twin that's far more powerful than the regular connection most sylvari have. • Teo's armour and weapons are almost always procured through less than legal means or otherwise repurposed. • He's usually seen wearing a full set of pitfighter armour and wields whatever he can find as a weapon. Mainly, he is a hammer user, but he can also use an axe and sword. • The thorns on his head are a new development, thinking it makes him look 'bad ass'. The pinkish thorns on his head are that colour because he constantly scratches them off, the pink is new growth vs a darker red, which is old growth. • Teo absolutely loves garlic bread, it was the first thing he ate out of the pod and he hasn't had anything else to rival it yet.

https://twitter.com/marrowedbones did the artwork of teo in his casual clothes!

[sylwanin-was-right]

I wanna know how "demons" fit in Na'vi theology since they have a word for it (vrrtep) and use it quite often in the movies.

We dont have much info on what the Omatikaya or Metkayina spitirual beliefs other than very vague philosophies about "balance", but it seems they may believe in an afterlife (as they can literally talk to the spirits of their anscestors and desceased clan members), certain levels of spiritual ascension (like taking the bite of a venomous insect to have visions), and spiritual purity (when they cleanse themselves before and after using metal in THG). So I wonder how the concept of ayvrrtep fits into Na'vi sprirituality and if that word was influenced at all by the prescence of sawtute to Eywa'eveng.

[tegarrianlore]

i have this entry that's been a WIP for around a year that covers and ties together most of the ancient past of the TGL, called DCA-7667 - The Sanguine Throne of the Blood King; and it's in a perpetual state of "close to completion" and also "so incomplete i feel shameful talking about it in public" so here's some excerpts of some things abt it. for your perusal.

[trapdoornumberthree]

Epifanios! One standard and a handful of little doodles of a younger Epi [w bonus aid shift]

And some thoughts on what youth formal attire looks like in the Church. Dress code in public or professional areas of the Church is always formal, though Apostles are granted some lenience in adulthood. Before that, it's lots of light-colored frocks until they begin schooling, and longer underskirts or pants are added after that until ~13.

Tucking your shirt into your pants like that is considered kind of childish and unprofessional, but very useful in sneaking around past curfew.

[praisetheaxolotl]

Because this is my blog and you're all my prisoners and I'm bored, this is a fun time to tell you the main character of my podcast is directly based off Bill. He's has his license revoked, been in jail multiple times, tried to commit arson at age 5, and generally disregards the concept of mortality or consequences as it relates to himself. He cares about the people around him but not enough to actually consider their feelings on whatever he's doing. He's also in severe credit card debt and his bestie is an organ trafficker.

[tyrannuspitch]

the "artificial planetoid" line is fairly throwaway but i do like to ponder on it btw. asgard is artificial. asgard was made. asgard was built. asgard is a house, most likely the house of the allfather's bloodline. asgard was made, and they must have got the raw material from somewhere. where did you think all this gold came from? perhaps the whole thing is stolen, to its core. perhaps asgard cannibalised other cities or settlements or even whole worlds; like the myth of ymir, a world built out of bones. (the bones of "monsters", of course.) asgard is artificial. there was a time when the people of asgard did not have a home. perhaps asgard was built out of their ships, at first; perhaps it WAS a ship. perhaps it still is.

[zrllosyn-art]

Loosely following bweird's oc-tober prompt, which has "new oc" as day 2.

These three were made together as a team so! I drew all 3 of them. A group of weirdos (affectionate). Technically a research team.

[nebulaleaf]

three people have rb'd that indulgent au post with various of prev?? curiosity . and . a) thank you! b) aaauuuug i dont even know where to begin man

[wheucto]

i wonder how object shows in languages with grammatical gender systems deal with grammatical gender?

[nomaishuttle]

bedtime i surpose.. i loves you all mwhamwhamaha. ok bye

[iibelin]

Alright, I've totally revamped the tags and we are going forward with the new and improved attempt at writeblr. Not sure what this is going to look like, but Firebolt Verse is CONSUMING me right now so it'll be nice to have someplace to scream about it. Have I mentioned that I hate worldbuilding?