Hey, its the previous anon who asked about LOTZ, and oh my god I’m so sorry for responding so late to your post! Thank you so much for answering my question and taking your time to give so much info, you’re such a sweetheart for doing all that!! I hope you have a wonderful day <3
Hey, I know you cringe at this story, but would you be willing to talk about some of the plot ideas or backgrounds/details of the characters of LOTZ that never got to be written in? Like you mentioned that Scorpio and Pisces were childhood friends, and in the 1st chapter hinted at Virgo being from a poor family by having to sell a car. I know that you kinda don’t like your old writings now, but I loved that series a lot when I was younger! I’m just really curious 👀
lol I do cringe when I re-read what I wrote for it, but lotz will forever have a special place in my heart <3 I had to dig deep in the archives to find all my old notes about the characters, since I started it in 2015 and none of those docs had been touched since like 2018. So little of what I planned actually got posted, so it's hard to believe there were genuine fans of the 'series'!
All my old notes for lotz and anything else I had relating to it are under the cut. I hope you enjoy all my teenage ideas lol, if you have any other questions feel free to send them in and I'll do my best to think back and answer them!
Pisces and Scorpio were indeed childhood friends! And as for Virgo, I have no idea what I was thinking with that comment about her having to sell her car to afford rent - I think I just needed a reason why the group didn't have a mode of transportation and she felt like the character most likely to be a minivan mom.
They were actually both placed in the foster system when they were younger and met after getting placed in the same group home. She got bullied/pushed around a fair bit by the other kids and they ended up friends after Scorp stood up for her.
Everything I had planned about everyone's backgrounds:
( warning that there's mentions of parental death/abuse, addiction )
Aries was the child of divorce. She lived with her dad and didn't have a great relationship with her mom. I found a note that she hadn't seen her mom since her high school graduation? Very close to her dad though, he did a great job of being a single parent.
Taurus grew up in a much healthier/stable household. She was raised by two fathers after her "mom" transitioned when she was still pretty young - calls one dad and the other papa/pop.
Gem and Nye had workaholic parents, so they were often left to their own devices. As long as they kept their grades up and didn't get into any legal/major school trouble, their parents couldn't really be bothered to concern themselves with that their kids did.
Cancer's dad was involved in a fatal car crash when she was a kid, afterwards her grandmother came to live with them. Grief took a heavy toll on her mom, so her grandma was primarily in charge of taking care of her (and I think I may have given her some younger sibling/s?). Cancer still deeply loves her mom though, will fight anyone who tries to accuse her of being an absent parent.
Leo came from a typical upper class family with rich parents. His dad ran a big company that I have no specific notes on and I think his mom was supposed to be some kind of socialite/model? He's very Rachel Green coded.
Virgo was actually adopted and raised in a solidly working class family. Her parents couldn't conceive a child themselves and tried hard to make sure she never felt like she was a backup plan or a second choice. Their family never fell into poverty, but still experienced enough economic lows that she learned to be very cautious/smart with her money.
Libra came from an upper class family like Leo, but other than that I literally have no notes on what they did for work or what they were like as parents.
Scorpio's parents both struggled with addiction. His dad was an alcoholic and an abuser who took out his frustrations (often about money problems) on his family. His mom was usually too high to be able to do anything about it. Scorp got placed in foster care after his dad was arrested and his mom got sent to rehab.
Sagittarius' parents traveled around the world a ton for work (what that 'work' was I have no clue). During the summers he'd get to go with them, but during the school year he often stayed with relatives. Fortunately his aunt and uncle were pretty cool, only child himself but he had a couple cousins he grew up around.
Capricorn came from a fairly poor family with parents who consistently struggled with their finances/paying bills. As he got older he learned everything he could related to money and started working as soon as he was old enough. Explains why he's such a scrooge/miser about the group's spending habits and saving his own money.
Aquarius had a great childhood! Raised by two moms, one was a doctor and the other was a scientist of some kind. They always encouraged his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. A little concerned that he never seemed to have many (or at times any) friends growing up, but as long as he was happy they didn't comment on it.
Pisces was my other foster kid. Her mom came from a pretty conservative family, so when she got pregnant at 17/18 she was too scared to tell them until it was too late to get an abortion. Rather than supporting her and the baby they kicked her out. She stayed with the baby daddy for a little while after Pisces was born, but when they broke things off he completely disappeared from their lives. Her mom wasn't a great caregiver and often made Pisces feel guilty for being the 'cause' of all their struggles. She was placed in foster care after her mom was diagnosed with some illness (can't seem to find any mention of a specific name) and medical bills started racking up. She died a year later.
Scorpio and Pisces met after getting placed in the same group home. She got bullied a fair bit by the other kids and they became friends when he stood up for her. I think I was planning that sometime in high school Pisces' uncle (her mom's little brother) finally located her and took her in? Financially supported her and Scorp so they could go to college.
One thing I absolutely cannot find any notes/plans about is the premise for how these 13 characters became close friends and why they're all suddenly moving into new apartments together. Granted, I was 15 when I first started the series and definitely didn't have a good idea of how the real world works beyond what I saw in shows like Friends and New Girl lol. Maybe they were all newly graduated and moving into their first adult apartments away from college?? Your guess is as good as mine!
If I ever made a list of what their jobs were, it's lost to the void. All I have is a list of ideas for their majors from when I was thinking of reworking lotz into a college-au.
Aries - kinesiology
Taurus - culinary arts or finance
Gem - marketing or journalism
Nye - computer science
Cancer - nursing or education
Leo - performing arts/theatre
Virgo - something in nursing or medicine
Libra - undecided, would end up in public relations
Scorpio - criminology or psychology
Sagittarius - anthropology
Capricorn - business/economics
Aquarius - (astro)physics
Pisces - art
And here are some fun little aesthetic boards I made for all of them when I was 16! I hate how some of them look now but I was very proud with how they turned out at the time lol. I had a lotz Pinterest board as well, but it got completely revamped years later when I thought about taking the concept and making it into an urban fantasy(?) story, so it's not really relevant to the original anymore.
Aries and Taurus' boards must have gotten deleted bc I can't find them in my drafts :(
[Sagittarius on the phone with Gemini]
Gemini: Turn around.
Gemini: No, the other way.
Gemini: Again, the other way.
Gemini: No, not there, one more time!
Sagittarius: OH MY GOD WHERE ARE YOU???
Gemini: I'm not there yet, but the thought of you aimlessly turning around in circles amuses me.
these are great and definitely getting added to my list!!! i feel like i haven't heard of/seen a lot of them in media, like propulsive rebounding and reflection manipulation, so that's v cool
All I ask for Virgo is to not give some angelic / purity / “virgin” / “uwu” based powers. Nothing personally against you. You do a good job at characterizing Virgo. Just I see others give that power by default to Virgo and it feels so bland and uninspired.
that's very true and something i hadn't considered much before tonight! i think i'm going to lean more towards the aspect of virgo being ruled by mercury than the idea of virgo being represented by the 'virgin' for their powers. maybe telekinesis like the other ask suggested and something like quick thought (where they can briefly stop time to think)?
my zodiac sign characters all have neckbands with their planetary sign! their eye color matches their element and they have natural born tattoos of their sign on their represented body part! :]
just little ideas for character designs!
okay so i've been trying to decide how heavily i want to lean into astrology with the worldbuilding - like whether your zodiac sign is an Important part of society (like in zodiac by romina russell) or if i want to go in a different direction.
i think i'm leaning more towards a fantasy setting rather than sci-fi (but like, winx club type fantasy where they have more modern tech/amenities), with each sign being a deity that allegedly founded 12 different countries. and those who are gifted with magic have some kind of mark on them.
are you planning on making a zodiac webcomic/comic/whatever? i’m interested because i have zodiac sign characters lol /gen
i wish!!! unfortunately i have zero artistic ability in that regard 🥲
i don't want to go too into it bc 90% of my story ideas never make it past their pinterest boards early development, and i'm just working on worldbuilding/characters rn. but i've been watching how the self publishing industry has totally blown up over the past few years in large part bc of booktok and i've always wanted to try my hand at writing an indie series! must strike while the iron is hot and whatnot
currently reworking/revamping my old life of the zodiacs series that i wrote a few very bad chapters of in the early days of my blog. we'll see if it actually turns into anything. i was also motivated bc i had someone recommend the zodiac academy series to me after i mentioned my astrology obsession and was SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED that it hardly as anything to do with actual astrology (at least the first book). so this may or may not be a spite thing lol
Pisces or Cancer would totally have the ability to change the weather with their moods like Pepa Madrigal from Encanto cause they’re easily emotional meanwhile Taurus has super strength like Luisa Madrigal so they can be strong like their symbol of the bull and then Gemini has shape shifting like Camilo cause those Geminis have two personalities so you’re never know which side you’re gonna get nor will you know who they’ll shapeshift into next, I also feel like Cancer would also have the ability to heal people with food cause they’re very nurturing and care for their loved ones
That’s all I could come up with but hope you like it ♓️💜
i really appreciate it, thank you!!! love how they're all connected to encanto as well lol
ooo okay i love weather manipulation/storm conjuring for cancer, definitely works as a water-affiliated ability and suits their moody vibe. as for super strength i wasn't sure if it would work better for taurus or aries -- but i think i may go with taurus like you suggested. for gemini i was thinking illusions, and i feel like shapeshifting could 100% be part of that (not physically changing, but looks like it) or just an additional ability itself.
that's a 2nd vote for healing for cancer, i may need to switch up my ideas for virgo !
virgo: telepathy, because they’re control freaks/im a virgo and i want telepathy
cancer: healer, because girl needs a break
lmao i will definitely keep that in mind for virgo
i was actually torn between whether healing would better suit cancer, pisces, or virgo! from an emotional standpoint i feel like healing would definitely fit cancer/pisces, but i could also see it working for virgo bc it's 'fixing' someone/thing ? i was also looking at this page and they've listed virgo's powers as things like purification and healing (tho that may be based on purity culture and virgo being the 'virgin' so maybe that's not the route to go lol)
good evening my little starlings, hope you have all been well ♥
i need some help with a little project i've started: pls reblog this or hit up my inbox with with which superpower/magical ability you think would best fit the zodiac signs!!! as few or as many as you want
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