OC Questions Tag

OC Questions Tag

Thank you for the Tag, @tabswrites! Her post can be found here

I'll be doing this for Xarian Argyris, a deceitful fairy outlaw from my new high fantasy WIP, Tales of Wilted Flowers!

5 words to physically describe your OC (do you have a drawing? even better!)

Lanky, tall. Dangerous beauty. Metallic hair

Who inspired your OC? (can be your mum to a very famous fungi)

Uh... I don't really know if this is a valid answer but maybe: Julian Devorak (from The Arcana game), Astarion (from Baldur's Gate 3) and general fairytale lore. My character Xarian starts out running away from someone trying to kill him and being framed for something he didn't exactly do, is slightly unstable but a very good person where it counts, while also being a socially awkward trickster/liar and having a very confusing moral compass - and an obsession with strange knowledge. Take that however you will lmao.

Give me a song to define your OC (I will listen to it to enter in your WIP mood!)

I'll do one better! Here are five songs that define Xarian!

Willow - Bardcore Cover by Hildegard Von Blingin

No Good - Unsecret ft Ruelle

S.O.S - Indila

Wild Uncharted Waters - Jonah Hauer-King

Natural - Imagine Dragons cover by Caleb Hyles

If I met your OC on the street how would they greet me?

Xarian - while very refined and sophisticated - is still a socially awkward young adult at heart. He would likely greet you with a formal fae salutation (a little bow) and wish you a good day from a distance while being internally like "Oh, gods, please tell me you won't go in for a hug." The greeting would be short, but pleasantly polite.

Can your OC be your best friend? Why?

I mean once we get past the stabby-stabby "Come any closer and you'll be speaking to the sharp end of my blade" beginning and he eventually opens up to my friendship - and shows his true, kinder side - then sure! We'd make a good team and would have lots to talk about, especially about books.

Though his Number 1 best friends are - and will forever be, in his own words - his girlfriend Lorelai Wildwood and their friend (and travel companion) Rylisan Fenrith.

1 adjective and 1 noun to describe your OC (blue soul)

True friend

Tagging (gently with no pressure): @your-absent-father, @cabbojage, @clairelsonao3, @exquisitecrow, @liv-is, and OPEN TAG (for anyone who wants to do this)!

Enchanted Illusions: (Victorian Gothic Fantasy) Valentine Concordium Journal Entries (part 2)

Valentine Concordium, Year 53 After the Great Dawn, December 3, dusk.

Ever discover a new place in the very house you grew up in, a place that you had no idea was even a part of your house until you found it? Well, I believe I just did. At least that's something new, even if it's strange. After nearly 200 years of living in this mansion, I guess it still has its secrets to unravel. Just the distraction I was in dire need of.

Puzzling, but not ... unwelcome, I think.

I found the crypt hidden in the manor's woods, yesterday night during one of my many midnight strolls. It's always more difficult at night when my mind is clear and my thoughts so loud. But regardless, I digress. I guess I must've gotten lost, or walked further than I intended to, because, before I knew it, I was in a part of the forest I had never been to - something I would never have thought possible fifteen minutes prior. And there it was, the crypt, or what I guess was a crypt.

Curiosity - and a desperate sense of loneliness - got the better of me, and I decided to explore this new discovery.

It was as one might expect. Covered in centuries of dust, cobwebs, and many kinds of debris, but there was more to it. The further I walked, the more that became clear to me. To begin with, this was a crypt with no coffins. Among the piles of dust on tilted tables were stacks of ancient literature, carefully placed as if by a scholar's hand. The handwriting was vampiric, though the symbols that littered the leftmost corner of the pages were illegible, or at least unknown.

Every room and chamber of the crypt was like this, and the walls were decorated with torn silk banners with the faded outline of my family crest. The strangest place I ever visited had been within my grasp all this time, and I didn't even know it.

I spent hours walking around there.

My wandering led me to the furthest chamber of this crypt. It was chiefly empty, but not quite. There was a trapdoor on the floor, front and center. And pulling it open - though it took, admittedly, a remarkable amount of effort, even for a vampire - revealed a journal.

A familiar journal. Dusty and covered in cobwebs, but I would recognize that journal anywhere. Under the cover, there was a Hunter's silver locket, stained with dried blood. It almost burned my hand, almost. I was quicker.

Sebastian's journal, locked away in a crypt I didn't even know about until a few meager hours prior, with a Hunter's locket hidden within its cover. My brother had been studying something about the Hunters, judging by the contents of the unfinished journal. Something he shouldn't have discovered. The Hunters killed him for it.

Nothing about any of this makes sense, but yet... it does. In a strange, twisted way. Remarkable.

I wished to keep investigating, but had to leave before the first rays of the sun began to rise, not wanting to spend the next day stuck in a crypt I did not know. Still, I need those answers - it's not like there's anything better to do with my time, and the questions will keep eating away at me until I know the truth.

Tonight, I am going to go back there, to the crypt. This time, more prepared - and well-armed, I suppose. And will, I hope, discover what my family has to do with it, and why did they keep this secret from me. We'll see.

Taglist (ask to be -/+): @cabbojage

happy worldbuilding wednesday! my question for you is: what level of education do your OCs have? & does this affect the story?

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! Thank you for the Ask, @cabbojage!

My question for you is: what level of education do your OCs have? & does this affect the story?

For the sake of doing something different for this one, I will do this for my cast of MC's from The Last Wrath (my dark fantasy WIP) and Tales of Wilted Flowers (my high fantasy adventure WIP).

THE LAST WRATH:

Raelen Ashiren - Well, most of what Raelen knows was either taught to her by her older brother, Julyan Ashiren, or she somehow managed to learn by herself (likely by stealing books from libraries and archives). She has known how to read and write since she was a young child (this she was taught by their parents when they were still alive), and knows a lot about the history of their world's magic. In the years they lived in Kestrall under the protection of General Teiva, Raelen used to go to the Dragon's Spires and its libraries where she would spend a lot of her time studying - since she wasn't an official dragon rider in training, she was at least allowed to read from their vast and ancient collection of scrolls, but she still stole a lot from the Royal Archives (because some classified arcane magical knowledge was kept there).

Zephyr Tellian - Largely self-taught, even before the Fall of Eldon, Zephyr always sought knowledge by himself - something that, as a street kid, was a very hard thing to do. He taught himself how to read, and write and learned how to do basic spells in the Order of Sorcerers from Eldon, before the war destroyed the kingdom and he had to flee. When he and Jamie managed to get accepted into the Liranthian Academies after succeeding on a tournament, that's when Zephyr was able to get most of his "formal education" as a scholar and sorcerer, though he remained extremely curious and taught himself more than anyone else ever did, until he was one of the Academies' top students ever.

Darian Caelestis - Son of a powerful - and very rich - couple of rebel warriors from Ergyre, Darian had access to the best tutors his parents could find (that would accept to teach a rebel without spying on them of course), and also was so naturally curious that he taught himself a lot of things too, especially about alchemy. He had a complete formal education, from astronomy, to arts, to history, to arcane knowledge, and to maths. In the past, after meeting Tanwin Lyrandeth, Darian learned many things about alchemical magic from his young elven friend too. Out of the main cast Darian perhaps had the best formal education.

Princess Ellinor Dallantes: Being royalty and raised by the leader of the continent's most dangerous and powerful Guild of Assassins, she was very influential. She received a professional education from only the most renowned tutors and rebel scholars in the world and was also largely taught by her adoptive father, Evren (the leader of the Guild), who was incredibly intelligent and knew almost anything about everything. Her education is so profound that it has made her one of the cleverest people on the continent, and she is proficient in almost any subject or matter, as a proper queen should be. On top of that, she received complete combat training during her years in the Guild, becoming one of the deadliest assassins around with almost any weapon one can think of.

Julyan Ashiren - Before their parents died, Julyan was a noble from the most ancient mageborn house alive. This means not only did he have full access to their mansion's library growing up, but also he had some of the best tutors (plus his parents were geniuses). But when their parents died and they were forced to flee from home with no money, protection, or anything, Julyan had to become a parent not only to his little sister, Raelen, but also to their adoptive brother, Azra, and so, despite being incredibly clever and capable, Julyan did not have the resources to seek a professional/formal education as a scholar when he actually became a teen/young adult (because it was a matter of having money to survive/buy food, so he had to work as a weapon's smith, which was one of the few jobs that hired mageborn teens like him)

TALES OF WILTED FLOWERS:

For now, it only has two "MCs" (like main POV characters), even though it has other protagonists

Lorelai Wildwood: Honestly Lorelai had a weird education. Since her father was considered "a traitor" by the kingdom, she got to learn the "other side of the story" that the history books failed to mention, plus, he taught many different things, from astronomy to archery, to alchemy and spell history. (Due to his "traitor" status, none of the city's academies or tutors would accept to train and teach her). Think the "Enola Holmes" kind of education, but factor in the fact that our Lorelai lives in a medieval world with magic. She was also fascinated by the historical tales of the bygone heroes of the past, which inspired her to dream of one day becoming one too, despite the world telling her that she could not because she was a commoner of "tainted blood."

Xarian Argyris: Xarian was highly intellectual and read almost every book the town's library and archives had to offer, as well as being taught alchemy, magic, and healing by his mother figure/aunt. Being a fairy, he learned things quickly and had a strong imagination, as well as being naturally talented when it comes to spellcasting. Xarian was mostly self-taught, even when it comes to complex subjects and difficult magic. When he was 17 he left home to attend a prestigious alchemy academy/medieval university, where he strived to become a magical physician, but there he trusted the wrong person, who majorly derailed his "up-til-then-normal" life.

My ask box is open!

You know, an interesting tumblr transformation that's happened gradually, and which I've seen no one talk about: ask-culture has essentially dropped off to nothing.

By which I mean, asks used to be WAY more of the tumblr economy. They used to be more common to send, and receive, and see. They were integral to the collaborative, forum-like behavior of old tumblr communities, not even to speak on the HUGE number of ask-blogs that used to exist to only be interacted with in ask-form.

I'm not saying this in a vying-for-attention way but instead in an observational way: I used to get way way more asks in like 2015, even with a fraction of my follower count. I wonder if it's due to the homogenization of social media sites? There's a lot more of this divide between "content creator" and "consumer" instead of just a bunch of peer blogs who would talk to each other. "Asks" aren't really a thing on twitter, are they? And as I understand it, the closest thing to an "ask" on instagram or tiktok would be a creator screenshotting some comment and responding to it in a new reel or video or whatever those content mediums are. Are asks just too tumblr-specific? Is that aspect of the site culture dying out as more and more people converge to using all their social media sites in the same way?

Finally! Someone gets it! And yes, if you're looking for "Just Warm Fuzzy Fluff" my writing isn't really for you, dear potential reader, either! While I do try my utmost best to always be sensitive about anything I write or approach in writing <3

"you have a responsibility to consider how your writing would affect other people" literally 50% of writing is manipulating the audience by setting tone and mood and drawing them in to fuck with their emotions. writers do NOTHING but consider how our writing is affecting other people and this is implying that our moral imperative is to make them feel warm and fuzzy which it is not

OC Picrew Tag

I saw @cabbojage's Open Tag and wanted to give it a try!

Her post can be found here

So here it goes: The main cast of my WIP Tales of Wilted Flowers!

DISCLAIMER: The clothes aren't quite right when compared to their real attires in the books, since there weren't many medieval fantasy options in the Picrew. So, I tried to showcase the character's overall vibes instead.

XARIAN ARGYRIS: (Protagonist - A runaway fairy outlaw - with an incredibly confusing moral compass and who lies way more than someone ever should - looking for a way to truly free himself from the sorcerer chasing him down)

LORELAI WILDWOOD: (Protagonist - The daughter of a so-called "traitor", Lorelai grew up inspired by the tales of the heroes of old, and who ventures into a quest to defeat an ancient evil the kingdoms turned a blind eye to)

RYLISAN FENRITH: (An elven warrior living in exile after being betrayed by his closest friend, who joins the main characters' quest as a way to recover his honor and complete his sworn duty before it is too late)

ARISTA BRYAR: (A dhampir looking for revenge after losing everyone she loved, while also seeking the truth about a mystery that has haunted her for years)

NEOMA'KA ORNASI: (A half-goblin warrior looking for a challenge to prove her strength and valor in the eyes of both her traveling tribe but also to impress her iron-hearted aunt)

KALADIN MORGROVE: (A human sorcerer who spent way too much time trying to drown out his woes in shady taverns, and who finally decides to face the past - and bloodline - he spent his life running from)

EIRALYS CORBINN: (A naive girl who believes in the goodness of the world and always sees "the glass half-full", who joins the protagonists at the chance to explore the unknown and help the lands by defeating that ancient evil)

MICAH ROOK: (A thief who works for whoever is the highest bidder, and who never truly cared for anyone but himself in years, but who slowly grew tired of working for the bad guys, and wants to finally do something more meaningful. Or at least try.)

Tagging (gently, with no pressure): @rickie-the-storyteller, @writernopal, @exquisitecrow, @your-absent-father, and OPEN TAG (for anyone who wants to do this)