OC Infodumping Ground

Joy --18+--Fantasy--Always down for asks, being tagged, and chatting!!

[italiangothicwriteblr]

WIP RE-INTRO: THE TRAITOR’S HEIR

GENRE: High Fantasy

AGE: New Adult

TROPES: Forbidden Magic, Betrayal, Curses, Love at First Sight, Disapproved-of Love

THEMES: Perception vs. Reality, family relationships, the passage of time, what we owe to our ancestors, the prince of power

STATUS: Drafting

PLOT: Circi has been split in two since the Bellum Civilae 25 years before, the South ruled by a tyrannical emperor, and the once-prosperous North split into warring factions. They share one thing in common, however: anyone caught using magic is sentenced to death.

A witch stuck at the Southern emperor’s court, Novellia gets a reprieve from this fate when she comes across a cunning, mysterious Northern noble in the heart of enemy territory. But this presents a new problem: how can she stop herself from falling in love with a woman who could kill her if she learned the truth? And what’s the explanation behind the reason Livia came South in the first place: a plague that’s overtaken the North, dead bodies rising from their graves, and those who recover from the disease coming back….strange.

CHARACTERS

novellia de rege: born with magic, and lived secluded in a forest villa for most of her life before her brother’s betrayal brought her to the emperor’s court. a girl who will fight the odds to the last second, and intends to enjoy as much of her life as she can even if it’s risky. some call it bravery, some call it reckless.

livia corvi: niece of the puppet-emperor of the North, and from a family of fervent magic-hunters. chosen by the senate for a suicide mission to the South to hunt down the cause of the recent plague. mercurial, ruthless, and would do anything to advance her standing—and to break the dark curse she’s under: turning to a dragon at every moonlight.

adrasteia falco: Ephian who fled her country after her father and siblings were murdered by Southern troops. Loyal and first to draw her sword, her desire to avenge them drives everything she does

enrico accursio: the Northern emperor: Livia’s uncle by marriage and a notorious villain even to the Northern people, who blame him for the war. nearly powerless at his own court, which is under the control of rival factions of old aristocratic families.

giacomo gallo: the Southern emperor’s second in command, and boots on the ground, emblematic far and wide of the evils of magic. one of the few sorcerers who can live openly in Circi, but only by working for the king. as the highest ranking figure of Southern tyranny most people come across, he’s even more feared than the emperor.

SETTINGS:

Circi: empire founded by a refugee from the Calixian War, 1000 years before. For the preceding centuries, they were the hegemon of the continent, until they were broken and weakened from the war. Both sides have the same monarchical system: rulers aren’t born, they’re selected by the current emperor or empress and trained to rule.

Ephiae: small kingdom to the North: known for training selfless warriors who are regarded as the terror of the continent if you meet them in battle. ruled by two kings, one of whom takes the mantle of Shadow King: secluded from public life, and accepting a host of magical powers in return, the most notable of which is mastery over shadows. Their culture reveres sorcery, and they’ve been at war with South Circi for years before the start of the story.

Vinoseta: island under imperial control, ruled by the Archoracle and a small college of priestesses. mostly notable for their exports of luxury goods and the hardship in getting there: there’s no path that doesn’t lead to a shipwreck. Nevertheless, rulers continue attempting it as a way of controlling the oracle’s prophecy, an important part of Circian religion

Volcia: large, unexplored area north of the continent. no one centralized government, but the area closest to and most familiar to the world of the novel is ruled by the Dreamwitches, known for their mastery over the sleeping world. unlike the other nations, it’s often cold and rainy, even earning the moniker “where the sun never rises”

Aurealix: a continent across the sea from the known world, known for being populated by species such as Cyclopes, Hecatoncheries, Titans, Ogres, Harpies, and Satyrs. Often doesn’t get involved in the wars happening on the other side of the sea.

City Of Marble Taglist (like/rb to be added): @faithfire-writes @rose-bookblood @jadefyre @asayyun14 @tc-doherty

Shameless stole intro template from @sleepyowlwrites!

(Discord server: https://discord.gg/CzYCTcZfd)

Check out the city of marble community on Discord - hang out with 3 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

[st-just]

A character trait/dynamic that I'm endlessly compelled by is someone dealing with (or, like, failing to) being the child of people who were too busy being good people to have the time and attention to be good parents. This can be anywhere from 'was a public defender who gave a shit working 60 hour weeks with basically no vacations' to 'left their family behind to join the revolution/war effort and is now a universally beloved martyr-hero who saved/remade the world with their final breath' on the groundedness spectrum. The important thing is a viscerally felt but confused and ugly mess of longing, resentment, and guilt about feeling the resentment.

[quietwingsinthesky]

like the betrayal’s always going to be worse if they cared about you and it didn’t matter. someone discards you because they didn’t give a shit, then you can be angry about that, you can feel vindicated in that, you can get over it. but if they can look you in the eyes and say “I love you. I would make the same choice again.” You will never sleep peacefully again, is all.

[quietwingsinthesky]

“I thought they cared about me, but they were lying this whole time.” <- tired. boring. removes all the nuance of this relationship to make it easier to move on from.

“I thought they cared about me, and I was right, and every minute they were there for me, every time they said they were proud, every laugh we shared leaning against each other bruised and breathless, all of it was real. and they still left me behind. They could put their love aside. I couldn’t.” <- insane. will never leave you alone. reminds you that even the worst people are still people and can still care about even the ones they hurt the most and that undoes neither the harm nor the love.

[quietwingsinthesky]

okay. something about the way i worded this is making people think this is a vent thing about real relationships. and it’s fine if that’s where it took you. but i feel like i need to be transparent here: this be blorboposting. karlach cliffgate and her terrible awful no good very bad betrayal.

[darkastered-deactivated20160113]

Shut up, Loki.

[jessica-writes22]

For every 💬 I get in my inbox, I’ll post a quote from my own writing that I’m proud of!

or

For every 🖊 + Character name I get in my inbox, I'll tell you all about them!

[which-ocs]

Which OC?

[promptcalender]

Wedding Ring Alternatives

For characters who may not want to wear rings, or a fantasy culture with different customs!

ankle bracelets or cuffs

blood oaths

charm bracelets, which you add onto with each relationship milestone (10/20/… years, kids, grandparents, …)

combining their families’s crests into a new symbol, which is engraved on all important possessions

custom weapons

exchanging each other’s favored weapon

head bands

lighting an eternal fire which shall not die until their love does

magical bonds / oaths

matching tattoos, either somewhere visible to show off, or hidden because of the intimate nature

necklaces without a clasp, that would have to be cut off to be taken off

pieces of armor

planting a tree / flowers in the garden of their new home

sacrificial and ritualistic scarring / branding

temporary ink marks which will fade if the work to upkeep them is not consistently put in

[Prompt Calender: February 3rd, National Wedding Ring Day]

[memento-morri-writes]

sibling questionnaire tag

I was tagged by @oh-no-another-idea. Since 99% of my OCs don't have siblings (something that's pretty funny given I have a twin), I'm opting to do this for Rook and his shitty half-brothers: Silas, Byron, and Theo.

Who looks the most like Dad?

It's honestly nearly a tie between Silas and (unfortunately) Rook. They both look nearly like clones of their father. I guess Rook got a few more features from his mother, though. (Namely his hair texture and freckles.)

Who looks the most like Mom?

That would be Theo. He looks the most like Lady Evangeline (Silas, Byron, and Theo's mother) by far. (And he's also her favorite...)

Who eats the most?

I'm going to say Silas. But really, it's anyone but Rook. My boy constantly forgets to take care of himself, and the magic meds he uses to combat the exhaustion side-effects of his demon curse also take away his appetite.

Who has been in the weirdest situations?

Rook, hands down. I mean, how many people can say they accidentally befriended a genocidal cult leader, got kidnapped by a pirate, got cursed by a demon lord, or spent months in the Feywild?

Who sleeps the most?

Probably Theo. He's the one who has the most "free-time" of them all. Second guess would be Silas, probably mostly thanks to hangovers. (Byron, unfortunately for him, has a real job.) But again, anyone but Rook is a fair bet.

Most stable romantic life?

Byron wins this one on a technicality. He's engaged, but it's an arranged marriage. (Silas has never been involved with anyone for longer than like, a few days, and no one is interested in Theo, because he's an asshole.)

Worst habit of each one?

Oh, I could go on for year about this. Silas: Egotistical, prideful, drinks a lot, uses his "friends" for personal gain. Byron: Greedy, jealous, treats people (especially his employees) like tools. Theo: Lazy, enjoys taking credit for other people's work. Rook: Self-sacrificial and reckless, doesn't take care of himself, forgets to eat.

Who's the most dramatic?

I think this is a tie between Silas and Theo, depending on the situation. Silas is more into the flirtatious bravado and false charm, whereas Theo is more into the "I'm the smartest man in the room" and also getting people to do things for him that he can absolutely do himself. (He does this to his mother a lot, especially.)

Who had a weird phase?

I honestly don't know. Silas, Byron, and Theo are all decades older than Rook (full elves), so their true childhoods were a LONG time ago. I guess we could consider Theo getting like 18 different degrees (which he basically plagiarized all of his work for) as a weird phase. Or also Rook running away to become a pirate. But, personally, I think the latter was justified.

Best cook in the family?

NONE OF THEM. ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THESE MEN CAN COOK. DO NOT TRUST ANY OF THEM IN THE KITCHEN. (All of them but Rook would refuse to help, anyways. Rook would help but would only make things worse.)

Best memory together?

For the older trio, it almost certainly involves either being spoiled by their parents or tormenting Rook. Probably one time their father took them along on some kind of trip and let them do all kinds of spoiled rich kid things.

Worst memory together?

For Rook, any of the times his brothers teamed up to make his life hell. (There were many such cases.)

Dream trip together?

None. None of them really like each other all that much.

Would they rather not being able to shower for a month or have the same clothes for a month?

Silas: Same clothes. Byron: No shower. Theo: No shower. Rook: Same clothes.

Who's the oldest?

Silas is the oldest, followed by Byron, then Theo. Rook is decades younger than all of them, being only a half-elf. (He's 26, I have no fucking clue how old the other three are.)

How would they describe each other in three words?

I'll do how Rook would describe his whole family, hahaha. "Greedy, prideful, cruel."

How do they feel about their parents?

Silas is closest with his father. He is the heir to the noble title, after all. Byron isn't particularly close with either of them. He somewhat resents his father for not seeing how stupid it would be to make Silas a Lord, and is jealous of his mother's favoritism for Theo. Theo adores his mother and is adored by her in turn. Rook hates his father, and is under the (incorrect) impression that his mother wanted nothing to do with him, so he wants nothing to do with her either. (He doesn't even know who she is.) (As for Rook's feelings towards Lady Evangeline, he knows she resents his very existence, and he doesn't like her much either. Though, in a way, pretending he didn't exist was kinder than a fair bit of his father and half-brothers' treatment towards him.)

Who usually has the worst ideas?

Worst for their own safety: Rook. Worst ideas in general: Silas.

A GIANT insect is on the wall. Who's taking care of it?

Well, the older three would probably run away screaming, and Rook would probably just be amused by their misery. Although if it came down to it, Silas might very dramatically stab it with a sword. (And then tell very exaggerated stories about it being massive and highly venomous later.)

Tagging people who I know have OCs with siblings @dragon-swords-prophecies @akindofmagictoo @savvyminnow and OPEN TAG!

[novella-november]

If you are writing a story, where you want to have your protagonist confront the final Big Bad Antagonist, and give them the option of killing the big bad, only for them to decide to leave them alive, with the moral of the story being that "Killing is Wrong"...

....then you need to make it a point that you're protagonists don't kill *anyone* up to this point.

And that includes all of the grunts, and low level Canon Fodder that the Big Bad Antagonist sends their way throughout the story.

Because if you write a story where your characters happily and without thought go around killing all of their enemies without the slightest hesitation, but when it comes time to take out the final boss, suddenly their moral scruples say that they cannot kill this person?

All you're going to end up writing is a moral about how people in the lower ranks, (especially if the lower ranked people in question are *literal slaves*) are completely disposable, and can be murdered without thought, while those who have a higher station in life must be preserved at all cost, no matter how much harm they have brought to the world and the minorities they violently oppress and kill.

If you want it to be a point that your character has no intention of killing the final boss, because they think killing is wrong on moral grounds, then you have to make it a point that they do not kill *anyone!*

If you establish your characters as killing as casually as they breathe, you *cannot* then have them do an aboutface *only* when it comes time to taking down actual authority figures, unless you're going to have a ton of time spent in your novel to justify this sudden change of heart--

and if you have your character, after sparing this dictator, casually go back to killing "low level grunts" without a thought, and this is not something you're writing deliberately as commentary.... That's a moment where you should take a step back and critically examine what you are writing and *why you are writing it that way* and ponder about who, exactly, benefits from ingraining this concept into you and the minds of the masses, and who does it harm, when you say, that, for example, workers are disposable but corrupt billionaire CEO who make billions off the suffering of others s must be protected at the cost of even your own life?

[novella-november]

peer reveiwed tags :D

#Well concluded

#While it is certainly possible to do this intentionally such that this is a character's unexamined belief

#It's the sort of writing device you want to use intentionally and with care

#If you write something like this unintentionally you definitely want to think a bit on how wealth impacts your view of worthiness to live

#And if you read something like this there's a good chance the author has some ugly or unexamined views on class and value of life

[italiangothicwriteblr]

Happy Blorbo Blursday!

What is your favorite romantic relationship that exists within your cast (main characters or otherwise). What is it like and why do you love it so much?

Bonus: will it work long term, or is it destined to end in tragedy?

hey!! Thanks for the ask!!

i’m determined the clean out my inbox this spring so here we go!!

I’ve talked a lot about most of my main cast relationships so I think I’m gonna talk about one that doesn’t get a ton of attention because it starts a lot later in the series.

Adrasteia x Orianna is the one I’ve been rotating the most recently because it’s a chance to play with some tropes I really like! The romantic relationships among my cast are most often some variety of forbidden/discouraged, so these two are the only one where the marriage of convenience could really apply.

Basically what happens is Orianna escapes her first marriage and goes to Nova for help. And because she technically worked for the other side no one trusts her and Adra ends up offering to marry her to give her an in.

So it really is a “friends to lovers” situation, but they’re married the whole time. And they’re such a fun parallel to Nova and Livia—“I want to be with you even if it means you could find out my secret and kill me” vs “everything bad I’ve ever done is public knowledge and you’re still willing to be with me to save me”

And also! The fact that they’re in such close proximity to the poster child couple for “risk everything for love” is such a fun well for angst. Especially when Adrasteia starts realizing she’s fallen in love—part of her is thinking “the only reason we’re together is for her safety” and deep down she wants someone to love her like Nova loves Livia—to the point of destruction. (Which is a fun thing about her because she also has the deep seated fear of losing anyone else she loves like she lost her family)

And then on the other side—Orianna who’s defined by being willing to bend her morals falling for the most staunchly principled person in the cast. Thinking of herself as something that Adrasteia only took on because she’s got a big heart and wanted to do a good thing. It’s pining while married and I love it

As for the ending—I do think they work long-term because of how they balance each other out, but they’re definitely susceptible to ending in tragedy just because they’re both not great at communication.

[italiangothicwriteblr]

if I get famous my way of expanding the universe is gonna be the game of thrones model. just keep making prequels. bc if I go forward in time the characters I love have to die and that’s not happening

[italiangothicwriteblr]

OC Pairings Tag

Came across this and it sounded so fun!!

Premise: List the names of any pairings (romantic, platonic and/or otherwise) you'd like to talk about. Let people send you an ask with any of the listed pairings and share whatever you'd like about them! This could be a fun fact, a ramble, an introduction, a snippet, etc anything you want!

Romantic

Novellia x Livia

Enrico x Niccolo

Martino x Giacomo

Basilio x Damocles

Novellia x Klytie

Orianna x Adrasteia

Leonora x Attilio

Giuseppe x Arnoldo

Ottavio x Saturnino

Platonic/Familial

Novellia & Attilio

Novellia & Leonora

Novellia & Orianna

Novellia & Cloelia

Ottavio & Sebastiano

Livia & Calpurnia

Livia & Enrico

Livia & Niccolo

Giacomo & Fiamma

Martino & Damocles

Giacomo & Basilio

Enrico & Arnoldo

Niccolo & Leonidas

Or whoever else you want!

[ladyignatius4]

The unique pain of being an indie writer when you're constantly trying to make generic "relatable" posts just to get engagement, because promoting your actual writing is like shouting into the void.

If you're a writer fighting for your life in the tags trying to get people to care about your OCs, I see you.

Comment or reblog, and I'll check out your writing!

[did-i-do-this-write]

Want an ask about your writing and characters? No problem! Reblog this post with an emoji for a corresponding mystery question in your inbox! 

🐦‍🔥Pheonix 

🐉Dragon 

🦄Unicorn 

(accepting requests until March 31st, 2026) 

[italiangothicwriteblr]

the key difference between them is that Enrico is Hamlet (makes bad choice after bad choice that spirals into tragedy) and Giacomo’s Macbeth (makes one bad choice at the beginning that dooms him from the start)

[astoldbybillie]

it's that time again, dash is dead so i'm looking for new writeblrs to follow! if you're an active writeblr account (although I don't mind if you don't post any writing) who's 18+, please interact with this post in some way (feel free to introduce your wips as well) and I'll check out your blog!

[kathrynhoward]

Ruairi O'Connor as Henry VIII THE SPANISH PRINCESS (2019 - 2020)