Latest Posts by d3m0n-c0nc3pt5 - Page 4
Tw/// gore / minor blood
.
.
Bear with me. Fo4 au in which synths are less like blade runner runaway cyborgs and more like fucked up flesh aliens from the thing.
Ass deep in the Dragon Age wiki again, and apparently there’s a mysterious chanter character who appears around the Hissing Wastes.
the part that gets me:
Visual analysis and critique of the aliens in Mass Effect: Andromeda
A comparison between the current in-game models and the originals from the trilogy.
Introduction
Just a warning, this will be an extended read. If you’re going to invest in reading this longwinded analysis, I suggest you go get a nice beverage and come back with a cozy chair. This will be relatively spoiler free (unless you aren’t aware of any of the new races I guess?) so if you’re still at the beginning of the game like I am, no worries there! This analysis will have some pictures for comparison, and some edits that I’ve made myself.
Link to the EA ask board version [x]
Keep reading
Something I love doing is building the natural lore of my universes too. I love the idea of magic influencing evolution in some way. In a universe with natural magic, it makes sense it would, because of the inherent sway it must have on the environment. Evolution can be roughly described as “environmental pressures driving natural change over millions of years.” The rat that accidentally runs through some magical energy spewing out a ley line, and thus accidentally turns invisible, is going to survive longer than its fellow rats that cant turn invisible. Millions of years later, you have what is essentially a rat that turns invisible briefly when startled lol.
A predator may evolve true sight to counter that. Eventually over millions of years, you could see how a dragon possibly evolved true sight. With speculative magical evolution, the options are kind of endless, but this is how I headcanon you get inherently magical beasts like griffins, dragons, or unicorns.
My personal favorite use of the standard fantasy tropes is that all the stock characteristics of fantasy races are the stereotypes/caricatures the other races use for them. For instance:
Goblins
Stereotyped as thieving little tricksters with big noses and ears, but in reality they are extremely diverse, often to the point of not being related at all. Hobgoblins, Bugbears, traditional Goblins, Gnomes, Halflings, etc have all been called ‘goblin’ at one point or another, despite having very little in common. The thieving hordes idea comes from the fact that Goblin society is super socialist and they really don’t have a concept of personal property. The idea of locking a door in goblin society is alien, as everyone shares what they have. A goblin walking away with a set of silverware is less to do with greed, and more to do with the fact that their neighbor was complaining the other day about losing all their forks, and the goblin in question saw how many forks this tavern had, and decided to equal the scales a bit.
Dwarves
Dwarves are stereotyped as hard-drinking, dirt eating, greedy, hotheads. When you live underground rickets, anemia, and scurvy are all common, and displays of physical robustness become a cultural sign of status. At the end of the day Dwarves work well together, and drink a fairly normal amount, generally only drinking heavily among company. Dwarves are hospitable to a fault, and the way they show that is by engaging in eating and drinking in excess, to encourage similar behavior of their guests. A successful Dwarven feast ends with empty flagons and plates, and still full serving bowls. Stereotypes regarding digging greedily only come about from the twin facts that space is limited underground, necessitating regular expansion into newly built caverns, and in a magical world there are monsters all through the ground. And honestly, while the most famous Dwarven cities are subterranean, most live in hills, on cliff-sides, or on the rocky shores.
Orcs
Orcs are often stereotyped as unintelligent ravaging hordes who roll up to towns and wreak havoc. They steal away with women and children, rob livestock, and burn homes. Orcs in reality are generally nomadic. In the wide open plains, where water and food are scarce, to stay in place would mean certain doom, as their herds overgraze and soil water sources. Traditional Orcish clans have ancestral grazing lands millions of acres across. Distant corners may be visited only every decade. To graze on another’s land is a high crime among the orcs, as ever bite of browse is one stolen from the lifeblood of another clan. To prevent accidental trespass, Orcs have markers, large stones carved with jagged Orcish script. When humans (etc) wander into Orcish Land, they build farms and towns, and the Orcs feel they are in their right to remove them. Humans who are ‘stolen’ by Orcs are often just guests. In the open desert, Orcs can find water easily, and have plentiful food. They are eager to trade their fine leather goods and horn bows for goods from afar. Orcs also maintain cities, far flung and small, based on elaborate commerce. Each clan maintains a Great House in the city, and any Orc unfit to ride a Warg will stay there taking care of the family finances, trading goods, and teaching the young. Orcs of any gender ride, hunt, and herd with equal success, as a result an Orcish patrol might look very much like an army of large men to a human settlement, especially when that same party demands they leave their home and offer some settlement for their robbery.
Elves
Elves are stereotyped as haughty, distant, and immortal. While Elves are long lived, they are anything but immortal. The myth comes from Elvish naming conventions, and their religious connection to family history. Elves have given names, but rarely use them after the death of a parent, at which point the eldest same-gender child of a nuclear family will almost always adopt the ancient family name, and carry it, along with the history it is tied to. Elves think very generationally, always seeking answers in the future and past, digging through ancient tomes and burying themselves in study. Elvish librarians and scholars keep extremely detailed notes on present goings on, and as a result Elvish scholarship has a very black-and-white view of the past, informed by very deliberate attempts to remove bias. Elves generally don’t correct folks who think they are centuries or millennia older than they are, because the Elvish idea of the self is a very dispersed one, where every individual is, in a way, their ancestors. Perceived haughtiness of emotional distance arises from the fact that, to an elf, the past is settled, and the present is best lived through a mindset of calm, stoic inspection. To react with sudden, poorly thought-out, or overly emotional haste is to betray your ancestors, past and future.
Something I think about a lot in fantasy worlds with lots of different exotic races,(mostly DnD, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fantasy franchise any near as many races as DnD) is how their cultures would handle jewelry, make up, or just general self-decoration.
Like, we humans have come up with all kinds of ways to pretty ourselves up, tattoos, hair dyes, piercings, rings, etc. But all of that stuff is based on our anatomy, some of it isn’t going to work for some races. And besides, why would other races/cultures use beautification techniques solely pioneered by humans? Surely they have their own based on their own cultures and bodies! Think of the possibilities!
Like, maybe Tieflings put piercings in the fleshy bits of their tails, to glam them up with jewelry! Or maybe they drill little holes in their horns, and string ribbons or small chains through them!
Or what about the Kenku! They’ve got nice shiny beaks and talons, what if they painted little designs on them, kind of like henna? Plus, they’ve got lots of feathers, maybe they could dye them? Or if they were feeling particularly adventurous, they dye their feathers to resemble other birds, like Bluejays, or Peacocks!
Orcs are pretty humanish for the most part, but the big thing that sets them apart, (aside from, ya know, being green,) is their tusks. I feel like the Orcs would be really into decorating their tusks. Maybe they’d put little caps made of precious metal on them, or paint them in Clan colors. Heck, maybe they’d even carve little symbols or runes into them. It would probably hurt like the dickens, but somehow I can’t imagine that stopping them. Lol
Speaking of carving, Tortles! I bet they carve all kinds of stuff into their shells! Or at the very least paint them! They’ve got a big ol’ canvas right on their backs, why not use them?
Tabaxi are covered in fur, making things like tattoos pretty difficult. After all, the point of a tattoo is to pigment your skin, and unless you shave it off, fur kinda makes that tricky. So what if they tattooed their paw pads? It’s basically the only exposed skin they have, except maybe the inside of their ears, which might be a bit too sensitive to tattoo. Also, I like the idea of Tabaxi painting their claws. They’re retractable, so you can’t see them most of the time, but on the occasion that a Tabaxi does decide to relieve someone of their face, at least they’ll be doing it in style!
Ever since the Rabbitfolk/Harengon (their the same thing, don’t worry about it,) were announced I’ve been thinking about bunnies with earrings. I mean, they’ve got so much ear real estate! Why not use it? Also, I imagine that those big flippy flops get in the way when you’re moving a lot, so I bet Rabbitfolk/Harengon use something like a hair tie, or something to their ears from flying around all over the place.
Centaurs! A cross between a horse and human! You know what that means? Caparisons baby! (For the record, Caparisons are those big fancy cloths knights used put on their horses. If you’ve seen a horse wearing something like a dress or a big skirt, that’s a Caparison. At least, according to my limited horse knowledge. Lol) It’s always struck me as a little strange then Centaurs were okay running around naked from the waste down, so this my answer to that. Fancy horse dresses! Also, I like to imagine that Centaur hair grows more like a horse’s mane than human hair, so really long, and tending to fall to one or the other side of their head. So maybe some Centaur cultures are really into braiding?
Minotaur time! Maybe it’s a bit stereotypical to imagine a Minotaur with a nose ring, but honestly it just fits in my brain. Maybe it has some kind of cultural significance, like maybe it acts the same way as a wedding ring, or maybe it denotes rank in their community. Another important bit are those big lovely horns! I can imagine all kinds of decorations on those bad boys! You could go simple, and just slap a few simple rings on there, or could a little more complex and do piercings,(Does it count as a piercing if it’s a horn?) and hang a bunch of dangly stuff on em! You could paint the horns, carve designs in them, heck, you could even drill holes in both horns, and run a chord or chain connecting them! All kinds of possibilities!
Finally, let’s talk lizards, specifically Dragonborn. Honestly, I can’t imagine Dragonborn painting their scales, or even wearing too much flashy jewelry. The impression I get from Dragonborn is that they are immensely proud of their Draconic heritage, and tampering too much with their scales would probably be seen as either disrespectful, or maybe even shameful.(Because why would you want to hide your scales, the single most visible sign of your glorious draconic lineage, unless you were disgusted by them, ashamed of them?) What I CAN see them doing is trying every possible way to show off and enhance their scales. Dragonborn would definitely take meticulous care of their scales, and that includes shining them up to make shine like a dang mirror. They might even use some kind of wax, or something to protect them from damage.
My point is, with all this rigamaroll I just spouted, is self expression should not be not limited to human sensibilities. No matter what they look like, these are people, and people aren’t manufactured on a conveyer belt. Get creative with your characters looks, take things like species, background, and culture into account, have fun with it!
old warg sketch
the two halves of my brain/the two wolves inside me when making up a fantasy/sci-fi creature:
Side A: okay but what niche is this species occupying? They’re eusocial and cave-dwelling, did they evolve in natural caves or do they dig warrens, or some combination of both? Are all castes blind, or only some of them? Do they have any kind of special thermoception or electroreception sense? Could they have evolved to be bipedal, or is that stupid and they need a different body plan more suited for tunneling/noodling around in cramped parts of cave systems? If they’re smaller than humans but still fairly large creatures, how do they get the energy they need in a resource-scarce subterranean environment? You have to read these three journal articles right now!! Read them right now!
Side B: aww and this character wears a little knitted hat with holes for her little ears
types of fantasy subgenres - writing help
high / epic fantasy - a genre of fantasy that holds its own world and creatures. examples of this could be J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR, or C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia
low fantasy - a genre where there are regular magical happenings in "our" world—such as a magical school, or people with magical abilities. this could be found in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, or Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away
urban fantasy - essentially low fantasy, only it takes place in an urban setting such as a big city. an example of this is Cassandra Clare's City of Bones
sword and sorcery - fantasy that is centred around swords, magic, and witchcraft. it is a subgenre of high fantasy. a book is Robert E. Howard's Conan series
dark fantasy - fantasy elements mixed with horror. The Atlas Six, by Olivia Blake
fable - a story with a moral lesson
arthurian fantasy - anything derived from the tales of King Arthur (the Sword in the Stone, etc.)
crosswords fantasy - essentially where the main character crosses between their world and a fantasy world. an example of this could be Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
dragon fantasy - what it sounds like.
historical fantasy - a cross between the historical fiction and low fantasy subgeneres. it could be set in a royal court filled with goblins, for example, in a time that was once present on earth.
Have noticed that differences between humans and fantasy races or beings tend to fall neatly into either “physiology” or “culture,” so here, some ideas for how fantasy beings can differ from humans in their thinking and perception:
They all have synesthesia. All of them. There are lots of forms of synesthesia, so, plenty of angles to explore. Imagine a species for whom numbers, calendar days, and other abstract concepts just...have colors and smells, and it’s hard for them to understand how people...think about things otherwise. Or maybe they can’t understand the distinctions others make between, for instance, sound and visual stimuli. The linguistic rules that say an image can be “blurry” but a smell can’t are incomprehensible to them. It gets even more interesting if the associations are in some ways consistent between members of the species.
More ideas for sense perception, possibly applicable to the synesthetic species: What if, just like we have a large number of senses but sort them into five (pain, touch, and proprioception are not the same senses, but we categorize them all as ‘touch!’) they don’t have categories for ‘types’ of sense perception, at all. In their own language(s), they can describe their experiences to others this way, but they have to learn to be able to clarify for non-members of their species whether they saw something or heard it.
Superhuman time sense, or no time sense. The fascinating thing about humans is that we can percieve time based purely on internal cues, but we’re kind of bad at it—we often have to count to give exact measurements of seconds, and we’re prone to not realizing how long or how late we’ve been doing something. Perhaps a fantasy being can percieve time in a more exact fashion—which could lead to amusement about how humans’ time sense tends to warp relative to how much fun they’ve been having. Or, perhaps a fantasy being can’t perceive time at all without external cues (for example, sunrise and sunset). This would make being isolated from those cues, like if they were trapped in a dungeon, incredibly scary and disorienting. They would also have a difficult time if they were asked, “How many days were you trapped down there in the dungeon?” They would probably respond, “There weren’t any! It was dark!”
A telepathic species, but they don’t have a “hive mind” or no sense of individuality. It makes sense that it would take an active effort to “read” someone’s thoughts, past just noticing how they’re feeling or the general “trend” of their thoughts. So it would be cool to have a telepathic species with, y’know, a sense of boundaries regarding thoughts. It’s probably a lot like touch in humans—certain levels of closeness or intimacy are permissible in certain levels of relationship, and a lot would be inappropriate with a stranger. Yes, they technically can sift through your memories, but why would you do that, what the fuck is wrong with you. For humans, rape is practically the worst thing you can do to a person. Among this species, entering someone else’s mind and viewing or actually tampering with someone’s thoughts is just as absolutely abhorrent, except that they probably have many different levels of unacceptable and unthinkable acts of violation that we can’t meaningfully distinguish in our languages. Among these beings, friends might share pleasant thoughts and experiences, relationships are a subtle interplay of feelings and thoughts and images. Being allowed to go deeper into someone’s mind is always a huge deal. Yes, members of this species might occasionally be recruited to pry information out of people, but doing that is just so vile to the vast majority that it’s not at all a common thing, even if only because the punishments are so severe.
A species whose memory just doesn’t degrade. Everything that goes into their memory remains perfectly preserved for...well, ever. They’re fascinated by, and a little suspicious of, the way human memories seem to change over time, how anecdotes humans tell have little inconsistencies in them, and how humans can straight up forget things. It seems like a terrifyingly chaotic way to live.
Alternatively, a species whose way of encoding and storing memories is just...different. It’s pretty weird, when you think about it, that mnemonic devices...work. Like, singing a song or saying a nonsense rhyme to remember information? “Thirty days hath September” is easier to remember than just...remembering which months have which number of days? Imagine being a member of a fantasy race that just...can’t?? remember things?? That way? Then they catch a human trying to alphabetize something and singing the ABC’s under their breath and they’re like “what the FUCK are you DOING”
A species that doesn’t really have “stages” of emotional or cognitive development. Like maybe their brains develop before they hatch or emerge or whatever, but once they’re conscious, they pretty much have an adult brain. The fact that humans spend part of their lives cognitively limited and unable to regulate their emotions because they’re underdeveloped, and not because of a lack of experience, is very bizarre, and the fact that being out in the world, making bad decisions with that half-developed brain, is in fact necessary for humans to develop properly is even weirder and honestly a little freaky.
some normal unicorns (and one bicorn)
edit: these are also on redbubble now
spent some time autisming the concept of man-eating horses 🐎