Character Guides and Chronodynamics
Posted 2 months agoSo people are actually reading those character guides, huh?
Some of them contain information that I may consider out of date now. As I learn more, the past gradually gets adjusted. Canonicity is not yet constrained by facts.
Once a certain new someone enters the picture, I have a feeling the past will change even more. But even before that, I need to figure out how "altering the past" actually works, in-universe. Because, you know, things that happened in the past... already happened. You can't have a narrative flow without a transferrable notion of "now", and time travel has a tendency to ruin that.
The cheapest and easiest solution is a multiverse, and the cheapest multiverse is the "every possible history is real" variety. Those setups are depressing, however, because they destroy the significance of the characters' actions. If the bad guy is fated to win in x% of the timelines, what's the point of defeating him? Why save the world when doing so is effectively the same as moving out of a bad neighborhood?
You could have the bad guy be a Kang the Conquerer type, acting laterally—trying to make all the neighborhoods bad neighborhoods—but that doesn't pass the sniff test. Why would a character do that? After gaining access to presumably an infinity of universes, anyone halfway relatable would be bound to find something more interesting to be and do than play God.
But even so, that doesn't change the fact that there is a type of multiverse, because Henry and Luke inhabit a different branch of it.
One thought I've been playing with: what if the multiverse didn't exist before Emmet & co. began mucking with time? What if our cast's actions have been bringing timelines into being somehow?
That still leaves the central question: "before" what? Things have either happened or they haven't, unless there's some sort of exterior perspective that's decoupled from time entirely.
It would appear we have a Box of Mysteries. What's in the box, I wonder?
Could it be that the box's entire purpose is to house a little chunk of that before? That if you happened to crack it open and peer inside, you'd catch a glimpse of what's pulling the strings?
One detail that I think won't change is that Emmet did get booted out of the picture eventually, and Sully in fact did carry on his research... in the process discovering that there's far more to time than simply past, present and future.
Some of them contain information that I may consider out of date now. As I learn more, the past gradually gets adjusted. Canonicity is not yet constrained by facts.
Once a certain new someone enters the picture, I have a feeling the past will change even more. But even before that, I need to figure out how "altering the past" actually works, in-universe. Because, you know, things that happened in the past... already happened. You can't have a narrative flow without a transferrable notion of "now", and time travel has a tendency to ruin that.
The cheapest and easiest solution is a multiverse, and the cheapest multiverse is the "every possible history is real" variety. Those setups are depressing, however, because they destroy the significance of the characters' actions. If the bad guy is fated to win in x% of the timelines, what's the point of defeating him? Why save the world when doing so is effectively the same as moving out of a bad neighborhood?
You could have the bad guy be a Kang the Conquerer type, acting laterally—trying to make all the neighborhoods bad neighborhoods—but that doesn't pass the sniff test. Why would a character do that? After gaining access to presumably an infinity of universes, anyone halfway relatable would be bound to find something more interesting to be and do than play God.
But even so, that doesn't change the fact that there is a type of multiverse, because Henry and Luke inhabit a different branch of it.
One thought I've been playing with: what if the multiverse didn't exist before Emmet & co. began mucking with time? What if our cast's actions have been bringing timelines into being somehow?
That still leaves the central question: "before" what? Things have either happened or they haven't, unless there's some sort of exterior perspective that's decoupled from time entirely.
It would appear we have a Box of Mysteries. What's in the box, I wonder?
Could it be that the box's entire purpose is to house a little chunk of that before? That if you happened to crack it open and peer inside, you'd catch a glimpse of what's pulling the strings?
One detail that I think won't change is that Emmet did get booted out of the picture eventually, and Sully in fact did carry on his research... in the process discovering that there's far more to time than simply past, present and future.
What PRECISELY is going on??
Posted 2 months agoWhy was Victor attacking Bryce? What was up with that weird doll?
And what does any of that have to do with the 1800s American frontier?
I swear I have more to tell about these and other matters. But it's gonna take a while.
For starters, we're going to need at least one new character. I want to start taking care of that this month sometime.
Secondly, I've just been in the mood for general silliness. Wombats turning into kangaroos, big cats showing their keisters, that sort of thing. It amuses me, abundantly, and as long as I have other stressful things going on in my life, I prefer to continue to be amused.
Thirdly, do you know how hard it is to find furry artists who are willing to draw sci-fi machinery? I'm going to need some of that. And I don't want to wear out my welcome with any of my favorite artists.
Have faith. All will be revealed in the course of...
Time.
And what does any of that have to do with the 1800s American frontier?
I swear I have more to tell about these and other matters. But it's gonna take a while.
For starters, we're going to need at least one new character. I want to start taking care of that this month sometime.
Secondly, I've just been in the mood for general silliness. Wombats turning into kangaroos, big cats showing their keisters, that sort of thing. It amuses me, abundantly, and as long as I have other stressful things going on in my life, I prefer to continue to be amused.
Thirdly, do you know how hard it is to find furry artists who are willing to draw sci-fi machinery? I'm going to need some of that. And I don't want to wear out my welcome with any of my favorite artists.
Have faith. All will be revealed in the course of...
Time.
I think I've got it
Posted 4 months agoAll mapped out, that is. The "story" with my characters - where it's going, how it all ends and what happens after the end.
It's surprisingly... simple. As un-convoluted as a tale involving a nested time loop can be.
I like this a lot. For one thing, it lets me fool around as long as I want—there are relatively few "gears to turn" that really move things along. My "real" fiction project is long and linear but tortuous. Plus this furry thing one-ups it in at least one way: there's no real villain. No, even the guy who seems like he's the villain.
("No heroes or villains. At most the sympathetic and the unsympathetic." I drove this stake into the ground years ago. It's very hard to live up to.)
But if there's one idea I want to toy with, it's "what gives you the right to be the hero?" The answer doesn't have to be nothing, but in that case you should definitely make sure it's something. Because the answer too often in the real world seems to be: "I'm smart. I know my principles are sound. I've got things figured out."
Do you? Are you a good "scientist", like Emmet isn't? Are you willing to accept the conclusions of the evidence, when the evidence shows that your good intentions are leading to evil results? Are you able to step down and let someone else take the stage when the universe tells you, loud and clear, that you're simply not prepared to defend the empire of your principles?
Or have you driven the stakes so far into the ground that they're touching bedrock?
It's surprisingly... simple. As un-convoluted as a tale involving a nested time loop can be.
I like this a lot. For one thing, it lets me fool around as long as I want—there are relatively few "gears to turn" that really move things along. My "real" fiction project is long and linear but tortuous. Plus this furry thing one-ups it in at least one way: there's no real villain. No, even the guy who seems like he's the villain.
("No heroes or villains. At most the sympathetic and the unsympathetic." I drove this stake into the ground years ago. It's very hard to live up to.)
But if there's one idea I want to toy with, it's "what gives you the right to be the hero?" The answer doesn't have to be nothing, but in that case you should definitely make sure it's something. Because the answer too often in the real world seems to be: "I'm smart. I know my principles are sound. I've got things figured out."
Do you? Are you a good "scientist", like Emmet isn't? Are you willing to accept the conclusions of the evidence, when the evidence shows that your good intentions are leading to evil results? Are you able to step down and let someone else take the stage when the universe tells you, loud and clear, that you're simply not prepared to defend the empire of your principles?
Or have you driven the stakes so far into the ground that they're touching bedrock?
2024
Posted 4 months agoAt the very last moment of 2023, I learned a valuable lesson.
I try to be a decent person. I try to be generous and considerate. But I'm not "warm." I come from a long line of wombats, all of us solitary and circumspect. We enjoy our comfort and our privacy and we don't, by and large, appreciate being cuddled (unless we really trust you).
Emote too fervently, and we'll wonder why you can't pipe down. Offer us kindness, and we'll ponder what's in it for you. It's an inbuilt instinct.
But a consequence of having a tough exterior is that we assume you're operating inside one too. We are too thoughtless about where we butt our heads. When you assume that everyone is trying to crack you open, you will not treat them with much patience.
And you will drive people away keeping on like that. Friends and loved ones whose value you were too stubborn to appreciate.
My New Year's Resolution, as it were, is to hold my skullcrusher at bay. To maintain an open heart and never cause pain where none was before. To keep in mind that we're not all wombats.
I try to be a decent person. I try to be generous and considerate. But I'm not "warm." I come from a long line of wombats, all of us solitary and circumspect. We enjoy our comfort and our privacy and we don't, by and large, appreciate being cuddled (unless we really trust you).
Emote too fervently, and we'll wonder why you can't pipe down. Offer us kindness, and we'll ponder what's in it for you. It's an inbuilt instinct.
But a consequence of having a tough exterior is that we assume you're operating inside one too. We are too thoughtless about where we butt our heads. When you assume that everyone is trying to crack you open, you will not treat them with much patience.
And you will drive people away keeping on like that. Friends and loved ones whose value you were too stubborn to appreciate.
My New Year's Resolution, as it were, is to hold my skullcrusher at bay. To maintain an open heart and never cause pain where none was before. To keep in mind that we're not all wombats.
Solicitors Will Be Buttcrunched
Posted 5 months agoLet's get something straight.
I welcome any and all questions, criticisms, opinions, etc. The Wombat For Hire Suggestion Box (Sully's idea) is always open. Have an idea where our characters team up and use the power of Science and Friendship to save the universe? I'm all ears.
Where I draw the line is when you ask me for money.
I don't care what your sales pitch is. When I commission artists, it is purely because (1) I like their art, and (2) they seem to conduct their business in a professional and respectful manner. I furthermore highly favor patronizing artists I've commissioned before, because they've proven they can deliver.
Showing up in my DMs, notes, email, or whatever is neither professional nor respectful. You will not get my business that way. There is no way for you to get my business by asking me directly.
Furthermore, drive by commission pitches are missing what I believe to be a very broad point. Fursonas are highly personal. I know, both in my experience and the opinions of others, that they are conduits for self-expression. They are fragments of the soul. Involving them in door-to-door salesmanship degrades the value of the entire furry fandom.
Wombats have hard, tough, cartilaginous backsides. Do you know what we do with them to pesky interlopers?
Be forewarned.
I welcome any and all questions, criticisms, opinions, etc. The Wombat For Hire Suggestion Box (Sully's idea) is always open. Have an idea where our characters team up and use the power of Science and Friendship to save the universe? I'm all ears.
Where I draw the line is when you ask me for money.
I don't care what your sales pitch is. When I commission artists, it is purely because (1) I like their art, and (2) they seem to conduct their business in a professional and respectful manner. I furthermore highly favor patronizing artists I've commissioned before, because they've proven they can deliver.
Showing up in my DMs, notes, email, or whatever is neither professional nor respectful. You will not get my business that way. There is no way for you to get my business by asking me directly.
Furthermore, drive by commission pitches are missing what I believe to be a very broad point. Fursonas are highly personal. I know, both in my experience and the opinions of others, that they are conduits for self-expression. They are fragments of the soul. Involving them in door-to-door salesmanship degrades the value of the entire furry fandom.
Wombats have hard, tough, cartilaginous backsides. Do you know what we do with them to pesky interlopers?
Be forewarned.
I'm not here.
Posted 5 months agoYou haven't seen me.
Shh.
Shh.
Selfish Pleasures
Posted 5 months agoI just commissioned my first piece of gift art the other day.
Art for other people?? Why didn't I think of it before? No, honestly, why.
I've only been a member of the furry community for a year and a half at this point, and I charged right into getting sonas and OCs and commissioning tons of art for myself. I never felt any pangs of conscience about it, because the general consensus seems to be that supporting artists is a Good Thing and, really, I believe it.
My own sort of categorical imperative is that you should live in the world you want to exist, and not always in the one that does, because the intersection between the two is not empty. People who have a passion, and have the skills and drive to realize that passion, should be able to do so without having to please the boss or service some awful corporation.
"But you know," a little voice said, "your five guys aren't the be all end all."
Really? You can just do that? Approach an artist and say "draw that guy's sona." It's that easy?
I sort of assumed it would be a... violation. Your sona is a part of you. Maybe you don't want people stepping on their toes. Maybe you want control. Maybe you wouldn't like the feeling of being pressured to reciprocate.
But when you get to know someone, and their sona is a part of them, it's sort of a package deal, isn't it? It's not that different from getting a friend any gift you know they'll like. I'm embarrassed it took so long to understand that.
Art for other people?? Why didn't I think of it before? No, honestly, why.
I've only been a member of the furry community for a year and a half at this point, and I charged right into getting sonas and OCs and commissioning tons of art for myself. I never felt any pangs of conscience about it, because the general consensus seems to be that supporting artists is a Good Thing and, really, I believe it.
My own sort of categorical imperative is that you should live in the world you want to exist, and not always in the one that does, because the intersection between the two is not empty. People who have a passion, and have the skills and drive to realize that passion, should be able to do so without having to please the boss or service some awful corporation.
"But you know," a little voice said, "your five guys aren't the be all end all."
Really? You can just do that? Approach an artist and say "draw that guy's sona." It's that easy?
I sort of assumed it would be a... violation. Your sona is a part of you. Maybe you don't want people stepping on their toes. Maybe you want control. Maybe you wouldn't like the feeling of being pressured to reciprocate.
But when you get to know someone, and their sona is a part of them, it's sort of a package deal, isn't it? It's not that different from getting a friend any gift you know they'll like. I'm embarrassed it took so long to understand that.
Temporal Control
Posted 6 months agoIt's November already? Time certainly has... not flown. It seems like 2023 is the year that never ends.
I don't mean that in a negative way. This year like every year has had its ups and down. So what's different this time around the sun?
I think it's down to the number of transitions I've experienced. I've started new hobbies, resumed old ones, planned a big vacation, had a few small adventures, done poorly at work, done well at work, ping-ponged between US coasts half a dozen times.
I don't multitask very well, so every time I start a new task I have to put down the previous one. There's the reason time has passed slowly, I think.
If you're always, always busy, never focusing, then time slips away from you. On the opposite end, if you do the same thing everyday, never varying your routine, you lose your sense of perspective.
Instead, live episodically. When you know where things begin and end, you never lose track of time and nothing bleeds together. Follow a course that can be discretely charted. The path doesn't have to make sense, but as long as it's a path you can see, you can measure yourself by its windings.
I don't mean that in a negative way. This year like every year has had its ups and down. So what's different this time around the sun?
I think it's down to the number of transitions I've experienced. I've started new hobbies, resumed old ones, planned a big vacation, had a few small adventures, done poorly at work, done well at work, ping-ponged between US coasts half a dozen times.
I don't multitask very well, so every time I start a new task I have to put down the previous one. There's the reason time has passed slowly, I think.
If you're always, always busy, never focusing, then time slips away from you. On the opposite end, if you do the same thing everyday, never varying your routine, you lose your sense of perspective.
Instead, live episodically. When you know where things begin and end, you never lose track of time and nothing bleeds together. Follow a course that can be discretely charted. The path doesn't have to make sense, but as long as it's a path you can see, you can measure yourself by its windings.
Happy Wombat Day!
Posted 7 months agoDid you know that October 22 is International Wombat Day?
It's true!
So plant your Festive Wombat Hedge, set your shoes outside your door (so the Were-Wombat can fill them with radioactive goop - but only if you've been good!), and celebrate Australia's biggest, brawniest brainy burrowers!
It's true!
So plant your Festive Wombat Hedge, set your shoes outside your door (so the Were-Wombat can fill them with radioactive goop - but only if you've been good!), and celebrate Australia's biggest, brawniest brainy burrowers!
What does Victor want?
Posted 7 months agoVictor was born in the Ice Age. Clearly, he's still alive, and is becoming quite powerful.
What does he want to do with all that power?
His road to world domination is complex (we see one branch of it unfolding in the "throne" room with Sully), but in the end, he wants to do two things:
1. Offer the world an actual technological utopia.
2. Offer the world the vision of a cultural utopia.
In other words: now that war, famine, disease, etc. have been solved, there should be nothing stopping everyone from rising to the utmost heights. Everyone can be a Socrates, a Picasso, an Einstein.
And then he will watch, paws folded, as the vast majority of the anthro race descends into degenerate indolence. There may even be mass suicides, so many people will fail to rediscover a purpose in life, now that the need for work and wage-slavery is gone.
He will indulge the ones who remain. The people will be kept sated, amused, and distracted. A few will rebel against it all. He'll round them up and keep them somewhere safe. He has plans for them.
Victor's thesis, you see, is that civilization (which he has been forced to watch unfold since its inception) is based on one big unresolvable contradiction.
Victor believes that coming together to solve our problems is pointless, because if we actually did so, we would become pointless. Everything that makes life worthwhile: all our commitments and beliefs, our myths and spirituality, are based on intractable hardship. Take away the hardship and they die on the vine.
He wants to show this to the world. And then, once the "pointless" 99% are addicted to his life-sustaining, life-quashing technology, he will shut the machines off.
Some will flee the collapse into the already-expanding wilderness. A few might even survive. He wants them to try.
He'll open the cages on the rebels' pens, then. He wants them to try to survive too.
If the world is repopulated, it will be so by the "worthy"—those who overcame hardships that are now permanent.
Permanent because the fossil fuels are gone now. There will be no second tries at industrial revolution. There will be no agricultural revolutions either. The withering crops were genetic monocultures; all other cultivatable seed stocks were destroyed. It will be hunting and gathering from now until the spheres turn and sentience goes extinct.
That's the way it was once: a world of meaning. That's the world Victor knew, the world that disappeared. That's the only world he'll accept returning.
Because any other world... just feels pointless to him.
What does he want to do with all that power?
His road to world domination is complex (we see one branch of it unfolding in the "throne" room with Sully), but in the end, he wants to do two things:
1. Offer the world an actual technological utopia.
2. Offer the world the vision of a cultural utopia.
In other words: now that war, famine, disease, etc. have been solved, there should be nothing stopping everyone from rising to the utmost heights. Everyone can be a Socrates, a Picasso, an Einstein.
And then he will watch, paws folded, as the vast majority of the anthro race descends into degenerate indolence. There may even be mass suicides, so many people will fail to rediscover a purpose in life, now that the need for work and wage-slavery is gone.
He will indulge the ones who remain. The people will be kept sated, amused, and distracted. A few will rebel against it all. He'll round them up and keep them somewhere safe. He has plans for them.
Victor's thesis, you see, is that civilization (which he has been forced to watch unfold since its inception) is based on one big unresolvable contradiction.
Victor believes that coming together to solve our problems is pointless, because if we actually did so, we would become pointless. Everything that makes life worthwhile: all our commitments and beliefs, our myths and spirituality, are based on intractable hardship. Take away the hardship and they die on the vine.
He wants to show this to the world. And then, once the "pointless" 99% are addicted to his life-sustaining, life-quashing technology, he will shut the machines off.
Some will flee the collapse into the already-expanding wilderness. A few might even survive. He wants them to try.
He'll open the cages on the rebels' pens, then. He wants them to try to survive too.
If the world is repopulated, it will be so by the "worthy"—those who overcame hardships that are now permanent.
Permanent because the fossil fuels are gone now. There will be no second tries at industrial revolution. There will be no agricultural revolutions either. The withering crops were genetic monocultures; all other cultivatable seed stocks were destroyed. It will be hunting and gathering from now until the spheres turn and sentience goes extinct.
That's the way it was once: a world of meaning. That's the world Victor knew, the world that disappeared. That's the only world he'll accept returning.
Because any other world... just feels pointless to him.
Too Many Men
Posted 7 months agoIt honestly bothers me that all of my anthro characters are cis men. If you've been tuning in for a while you may have noticed this.
I'm proud that this isn't the case in my non-furry projects, where there's generally a pretty balanced proportion of genders, and the Bechdel test is passed pretty easily (though partly because there's a minimal amount of sex or romance overall). I don't feel like I have any particular problem with conceptualizing or writing non-male human characters.
But then I look at my critters and all five of them are male. Soon to be a sixth. And I wonder how that happened.
Some of it can be explained pretty easily: three of them (Emmet, Sully, and Bryce) are "proper" fursonas, in the sense that I imbued each of them with some of myself (though each gets a different share). Since I'm male, it's no wonder that they are. 0 divided by 3 is still 0.
But Victor's a buff dude, and Henry's an old cowpoke. What do they represent?
Well, Victor may be the looming embodiment of Emmet's sins, but I didn't come up with the character originally—he was an adopt I had redesigned and then recast as a villain. Same process as Henry. The 6th character is sort of along those lines in that he came into being unintentionally.
So there's something else: OCs I create myself are "good guys" while the bad guys are all "outside context" problems. Adopts and accidents.
I do have a female character in the works, but it's proving remarkably difficult for me to wrap my head around her. I'm hoping that the reason for this is she's a tough nut to crack by her own nature: that there's substance there that's just reluctant to surface, rather than her being an empty shell to begin with. I have faith that there's more to her than I've realized.
I'm proud that this isn't the case in my non-furry projects, where there's generally a pretty balanced proportion of genders, and the Bechdel test is passed pretty easily (though partly because there's a minimal amount of sex or romance overall). I don't feel like I have any particular problem with conceptualizing or writing non-male human characters.
But then I look at my critters and all five of them are male. Soon to be a sixth. And I wonder how that happened.
Some of it can be explained pretty easily: three of them (Emmet, Sully, and Bryce) are "proper" fursonas, in the sense that I imbued each of them with some of myself (though each gets a different share). Since I'm male, it's no wonder that they are. 0 divided by 3 is still 0.
But Victor's a buff dude, and Henry's an old cowpoke. What do they represent?
Well, Victor may be the looming embodiment of Emmet's sins, but I didn't come up with the character originally—he was an adopt I had redesigned and then recast as a villain. Same process as Henry. The 6th character is sort of along those lines in that he came into being unintentionally.
So there's something else: OCs I create myself are "good guys" while the bad guys are all "outside context" problems. Adopts and accidents.
I do have a female character in the works, but it's proving remarkably difficult for me to wrap my head around her. I'm hoping that the reason for this is she's a tough nut to crack by her own nature: that there's substance there that's just reluctant to surface, rather than her being an empty shell to begin with. I have faith that there's more to her than I've realized.
Not The End
Posted 8 months agoIt's quiet here. The backlog's all been uploaded, but there are still a handful of pieces out there being worked on. The Inventive Adventures of Emmet & Sully will return. Eventually.
The End
Posted 8 months agoThat's it. Every piece of art I have. You're all caught up with the "story," and I don't know any better than you where it goes.
Equilibrium reached.
Equilibrium reached.
Lessons
Posted 8 months agoSome fortune cookie stuff. Basic ideas for the morals I see these people as needing drilled into their heads.
Everything ends, and everything valuable is impermanent. If you are arrogant enough to try to hold back the clock, you will ruin the thing you mean to appreciate.
Master Gandalf might also have some words for him: "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
The fact that you have been hurt is not what makes you weak. Your ability to keep going in the face of it is what makes you strong. The branch that does not bend is the branch that breaks.
It's important to have people in your life that you can trust who will be there to catch you when you fall. Otherwise, it will be someone you can't trust.
It is possible for some people to be hurt beyond the capacity for us to heal them. The fact that we can pity them does not mean we let them off the hook.
Lol, I don't know. He's a mook. Let me think...
You don't have to be somebody. "Put up or shut up" is not a rule of life, if all you have to show for it is bits and baubles. Many people would kill for obscurity.
Emmet
Everything ends, and everything valuable is impermanent. If you are arrogant enough to try to hold back the clock, you will ruin the thing you mean to appreciate.
Master Gandalf might also have some words for him: "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
Sully
The fact that you have been hurt is not what makes you weak. Your ability to keep going in the face of it is what makes you strong. The branch that does not bend is the branch that breaks.
Bryce
It's important to have people in your life that you can trust who will be there to catch you when you fall. Otherwise, it will be someone you can't trust.
Victor
It is possible for some people to be hurt beyond the capacity for us to heal them. The fact that we can pity them does not mean we let them off the hook.
Henry
Lol, I don't know. He's a mook. Let me think...
You don't have to be somebody. "Put up or shut up" is not a rule of life, if all you have to show for it is bits and baubles. Many people would kill for obscurity.
Progression
Posted 8 months agoThe gallery is slowly turning into something I've had in the back of my mind for a while: a "reverse-written story." Start by assuming that the artwork illustrates something, then figure out how it all connects.
Very gradually a world and a plot are precipitating out of the mix. It's all very small islands joined by very thin channels now, but I can tell that something's there, waiting to surface. The "no-plan plan" may not be viable for much longer.
Very gradually a world and a plot are precipitating out of the mix. It's all very small islands joined by very thin channels now, but I can tell that something's there, waiting to surface. The "no-plan plan" may not be viable for much longer.
Running Out
Posted 8 months agoI've exhausted my store of character pieces that don't pertain to a shadow of an unfolding story that exists in scraps scattered here and there, and which I've never consolidated in any form.
And which I could start to consolidate. That is, I could at this point stop winging it and get down to it, since I'm finally shoving these characters onto a place you can shove writing onto as well. And it's all characters here so far at that. Don't you also need history, places, details, to tell a story?
But I have lots of work commitments coming up, and a "real" fiction project I've neglected, and the cast of characters is still short by two...
And which I could start to consolidate. That is, I could at this point stop winging it and get down to it, since I'm finally shoving these characters onto a place you can shove writing onto as well. And it's all characters here so far at that. Don't you also need history, places, details, to tell a story?
But I have lots of work commitments coming up, and a "real" fiction project I've neglected, and the cast of characters is still short by two...
Character name origins
Posted 9 months agoEmmet (wombat)
Ref sheet
Full name: Emmet Underwood
No relation to any otters or their jug bands, or Lego Movie protagonists.
I wanted a two-syllable name, and just cycled through a few choices until I got one that sounded nice. It helps that Emmet is an Old English word for ant: a diligent worker who often goes unnoticed. It suits his personality fine.
"Underwood" struck me as a common wombat surname (like Smith). He doesn't literally live under a wood, but there is one nearby.
Sully (ferret)
Ref sheet
His legal name is Marcus Bradley O'Sullivan, but no one ever calls him anything but Sully. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even answer to his full name.
Originally he was going to be Luke, short for Lucas. Then I changed that to Marcus (as the perspective character, he is the "gospel writer").
Then I wondered whether he goes by a nickname that isn't derived from his first name. I tacked on "O'Sullivan" which became Sully.
Neither Emmet nor Sully ever talk about their pasts, albeit for different reasons. Sully gives off the impression of being a "grown up feral child" (he gets down on all fours and dooks when he's excited). His accent suggests he's not local. I feel like either his parents are dead, or if they're alive, he doesn't wish to get in contact with them.
Bryce (caribou)
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Full name: Bryce Sorensen
"Bryce" came from the name of an old friend whom I've sadly lost touch with. I felt like if he were a furry (he's not), he'd definitely be a reindeer.
"Sorensen" because I see him as having Scandinavian ancestry, or whatever the equivalent is in his world. Soren is also the name of a character in a book I'm writing.
Victor (smilodon)
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Hint: "Victor" is not a name that existed in the Paleolithic. It wasn't anyone from around then who gave him that name or his epithet.
I originally gave him a "Proto-Indo-European" name of Weyktoros Dagskwerhe—or "he who vanquishes with two proud spears." PIE was probably many millennia away from existing as a language when he was born, but Hollywood tends to treat PIE as some sort of ancient "master tongue" (I'm looking at you, Prometheus), so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me!
This was shortened to Dagskwerhe for his "birth name."
As a proud, cunning sociopath, "Victor" seemed like an appropriate name in English, and "Proudspears" obviously refers to his teeth.
Henry (ankylosaur)
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No special story here. He looked like a Henry. I'm not sure what his last name is, or if people in his reality even have them.
"World-Building" Study
Posted 9 months agoAn Explanation Of Wombat Religion
Herein are expounded the salient details of traditional vombatid religious beliefs.
No to minimal afterlife
As a race of subterranean herbivores, wombats are intimately connected with the cycles of decay and regrowth. Everything, from their homes to their food, depends on the soil, from which all necessary things emerge, and to which all things return.
The traditional belief is that the spirit or soul also returns to the same soil, and this return ushers in the vital essence for new life.
De-emphasized cosmology
Wombats make their homes in one world (their burrows in the underground), but must forage in another (the surface) where they feel decidedly less at ease. Wombats are exposed to predators on the surface, as well as the harsh glare of the sun.
It would stand to reason there are other worlds, both above and below these two realms, that have even less to do with wombats, and whose origins and fates are of little concern to them.
"Mechano-animism"
Wombat "gods" are less divine rulers than spirits whose primary purpose is to keep the world's natural cycles running in good order. Some play tutelary roles and guide or guard specific places or things, while others are more abstract and represent general natural principles.
There are said to be "as many [gods] as there are blades of grass." Much like wombats themselves, these spirits abhor hierarchy, and prefer to operate on systems of mutual agreement or convention.
Asocialness
Wombats are solitary creatures, so their spirit-gods are less interested in enforcing good behavior than maintaining order and balance in the universe.
It is, however, possible to get on their "good" or "bad sides," and respectively bring good or bad fortune down upon oneself. Both votive and mantic rituals are available to ensure that good luck is maintained: a practice commonly known as "taming the roots."
Ghosts
Some wombat lineages practice specific rites to honor the spirits of their ancestors. These practices cannot rightly be considered "worship," as unlike god-spirits, ancestral ghosts are transient, and remain behind only for a short time before returning to soil.
Wombat ancestral ghosts are notoriously difficult to propitiate through ritual. If a ghost is benevolent, it is wise to heed and thank it. If it is not, the best option is to figure out what it wants and appease it as best as one can.
Joeys
A wombat mother may only raise one joey in its pouch at a time. Therefore, the loss of a joey is always traumatic.
A "Great Mother Wombat" is believed to carry deceased joeys in her pouch to a happy forest, where grass and roots are plentiful and the sun does not shine too bright. These joeys dwell there in bliss for a time before passing into soil as all spirits eventually must.
Perspective Priorities
Posted 9 months agoI seem to have more artwork of Sully than any other character, including ones I haven't posted here yet, and my ostensibly main 'sona.
Assuming there is a story the art is teaching me about, I'm taking this as a sign that Sully is a perspective protagonist, as opposed to Emmet who feels more like a hub character. Sully has an inner voice; the world is largely viewed through his eyes. Emmet simply has too many secrets and hidden motives for us to get too close to his thoughts.
As more of Emmet's history and doings are revealed (and more of his chickens come home to roost), that would probably change. And something tells me that Sully won't always be at his side as a bright-eyed, innocent ferret with a debt of gratitude.
Assuming there is a story the art is teaching me about, I'm taking this as a sign that Sully is a perspective protagonist, as opposed to Emmet who feels more like a hub character. Sully has an inner voice; the world is largely viewed through his eyes. Emmet simply has too many secrets and hidden motives for us to get too close to his thoughts.
As more of Emmet's history and doings are revealed (and more of his chickens come home to roost), that would probably change. And something tells me that Sully won't always be at his side as a bright-eyed, innocent ferret with a debt of gratitude.
Note from the "author"
Posted 9 months agoI felt it necessary to find a place to compile the various character artwork I've accumulated from artists. I'm reaching the end of the "feeling them out" process—or at least one phase of it—so please pardon the "generic" nature of much of what you see.
Think of it as a stream-of-consciousness tale in very slow motion. There's a backlog of silliness to get through.
Think of it as a stream-of-consciousness tale in very slow motion. There's a backlog of silliness to get through.