#characternotes

[prztails]

Dave notes

- lives in a cave deep within the phantom zone located in Mt. Shiver.

- Doesn't like bee wandering around alone in phantom zone due to dangers

- A secret sweetie pie to those he likes

- Big

- Hates being teased

- Likes to watch horror movies

- Secretly likes to pick up and hold Bee

- Hides bee in his shadow if other phantoms are around

- Will visit den sometimes at night to hang out

- Thinks the alphas are annoying

- Often Bails bee out of trouble

- Begrudgingly will accompany bee around phantom zone if asked enough

- Hates making bee upset

- Takes his sleep schedule seriously

- AJ economy expert💀

- Didn't like bee at first

- Used to be meaner in early days of meeting bee

- Tried to keep intimidating/frightening image but didn't last long

- Hermit

- Scary when mad

- Hates when he's wrong

- Turns into giant phantom monster when extremely angry

-doesn’t like sharing

-Can grow his size, but can't get any smaller than his normal size

- Electric powers (duh)

- Low-key evil when sleep deprived

- Loves to read he has a giant archive library deep within his cave

- Serves the phantomking

-a sleep deprived Dave is a very bad thing

Design fun facts

-Dave originally had 12 arms, but changed to usually having 8 arms like most other phantoms

- bee originally was going to be a rabbit/hare or alternatively be able to shapeshift into any animal like a player is able to in game.

- Bee was also almost going to be boy with the name Fish!

Bee notes

- sunshine extroverted personality

- Likes exploring haunted scary parts of Jamal

- Interest in the strange and unusual

- Likes to tease Dave

- Always on the go and wanting to explore

- Goes to Dave with worth questions frequently

- Originally was afraid of Dave and found him scary

- But kept coming back bc he seemed Lonely + Deal she made with him when they first met

- Doesn’t get enough sleep, has a hard time falling asleep

- Is Dave’s best friend

- Is a Cape Fox

- Sometimes spends night in Dave’s cave

- Loves to play hide and seek with Dave

- Gets tired easily

- Never packs enough paintseeds, hard to maintain a supply with how often she goes to the phantomzone

- Which usually ends up with her running into trouble

- Sensitive to Dave being snarky with her

- Will run away from Dave to make him mad for fun

- She’s friends with a python and cougar

- She loves being in the phantomzone

- Night owl

- Her den is canonically the haunted drive In den

- Her bed is an abandoned roadster car

- collects pet tarantulas

- hates scary movies but watches them with Dave to make him happy

- Gets lost easily, has a bad sense of direction

- Wants to know more about the phantomzone

- Secretly wishes she lived in the phantomzone

Dave/Bee dynamics

-Best friends/partners

- Protective of each other in their own ways

- Dave will deny knowing/being friends with bee for his reputation

- Bee used to be afraid of Dave

- Dave is subtly possessive over Bee when it comes to other phantoms (comes from a place of protectiveness)

- Bee is oblivious to it

- Partnership started incredibly rocky along with some blackmail💀

- Bee originally thought Dave was very serious and uptight. Who didn't like joking around

[sagewren]

Arcturus misses Cepheus.

[sagewren]

Atticus is death. To humans he’s a bad omen. Seeing him meant you were soon to die; catching even a glimpse of him as he goes to hunt souls down meant cold blood in your face. Nothing can stop the dullahan, and even if you were to exploit the weakness of gold all you succeed in is turning him away. When he speaks a name, that person will die. He doesn’t have to get introduced to that person to know. He knows.

On the other hand, to one certain Other he’s a surrogate father who feels he’ll never be able to bring the kid up to what he believes is proper father business.

Atticus doesn’t know why he saved Kes. He’d spent roughly most of his time alive killing, murdering, raping and being a generally nasty, selfish person all the time. In death he did his job alone, ignoring the pleading and sobbing of those whose loved ones passed on at his command. When he integrated into human society, he was still asocial, aloof, distant. His time as a dullahan made him realise how lacking he was in the humanity department, that he was more monster than human when alive and now he was just that - a monster. 

There wasn’t any real reason that he would ever be any different.

But when he saw the baby griffin in a cage, something made him think again. He’d come back later that night and break the griffin out because of it. He’s not quite sure what it is - all  he knew is that he felt he had to do something about seeing a small baby trapped in a cage.

Once the initial urge of doing something had passed, he realised he’d done it. And now there was a young griffin in the English countryside. Atticus didn’t think about it twice; he wasn’t going to leave a baby out there in the wild on its own. As much hassle as it was, especially since all the griffin could do was squawk and chirp at him, he fed the animal and talked to it as he would his horse.

He’d somehow teach Kes to speak and understand the common language. He’d also teach Kes to gain a human form, and spent a few months uncomfortable at a young boy who’d near copy his physical traits to the point people asked if Kes was related to him. He’d teach him as much as he could about living as safe as possible.

But Atticus won’t admit that he thinks of Kes as his little charge. He cares for the boy far more than he cared for anyone or anything else when alive. It doesn’t change the status quo for him. Bringing Kes up would not redeem him of his deeds, and he’s painfully aware of the near-eternity he’s stuck with heralding death. One day he would exist long enough to see Kes die, and he knew it would hurt when that would happen. 

He wonders if this is part of his punishment.

[sagewren]

A whispered phrase oft associated with Septimus Vardengard is ‘Steel for humans’. It comes with a tone that suggests something dark or dreaded, something that is treated seriously and with caution. It’s not common to hear it, but when it is mentioned, expect people to look around furtively to make sure he’s not in the immediate vicinity.

His reaction to it is probably fairly understated; he just treats it like it’s ordinary. It’s others that have the reaction of fear to it. Specifically, ‘others’ being Rune-Midgardeans/Runeans - Septimus’ ancestors are not from the Kingdom, and where he’s from ‘steel for humans’ is in fact part of his culture. To him, it’s part of his cultural identity and noble lineage. To others, it’s the dissonance between knowing that ‘steel for humans’ is merciless and without remorse, and that it is part of his life.

‘Steel for Humans’ is in fact the name of a dance in Septimus’ culture. Hundreds of years ago the bride and bridegroom, guided by their bridesmen and groomswomen, would proceed to an area (usually in the middle of a forest) to perform the marriage ceremony. They usually travelled separately, in opposite directions converging to one point, a symbolism where two souls would come to meet together. When both parties reach the outer area, just out of sight of the place, the couple must proceed on their own.

The story goes that a couple were so joyful to be wedded that instead of walking, they danced by themselves to the place. The guests, who were already waiting there, witnessed the two merge into one dance before settling to carry out the ceremony. The man of the couple was no other than the heir to the throne of that dynasty, who ended up ruling for a long, peaceful and prosperous time. The dance soon became a standard in their honour for the happily married couple, and eventually became more than just a dance - it became a symbol of unity between two different parties, often political relations. All of the royalty and nobility had to learn the dance.

The story continues that years after that king’s reign, this dance was also the de facto dance at a celebration commemorating an alliance between Septimus’ homeland and another nation, both equal in power and resources. For many years that alliance held, but alas that did not last - the other nation eventually betrayed Septimus’ homeland and not only resulted in a bloody war but also a civil war afterwards that tore many of the more reasonable political parties and families apart. His country has said to have never fully recovered from it.

In its aftermath the good memories of the dance were tainted, and many cursed it. The party responsible for the war in the other nation was assassinated by assassins from Septimus’ homeland for vengeance; the assassins were claimed to have fought with that specific dance for that sweet revenge it would bring. The nation’s culture, steeped in pragmatism in combat, embraced this idea. In time all nobility and royalty would be trained with that dance, a swordfighting technique that dedicates itself to fluid motions, based on complex preplanning and reacting to their opponents. In learning, students must train their steel on swift strikes that bite with full power, the ‘dance of the marriage between steel and flesh that ends in the betrayal of one’.

It is said that on engaging with a swordsman who is versed in the steel for humans, there is no end to the dance until only one is alive.

Inspired by Steel for Humans from the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt OST.

[sagewren]

November can’t help but sometimes feel a little wary of his mentor Septimus Vardengard. He’s not ungrateful towards the rune knight, but there’s always something...off about him.

Septimus comes off as the nicest person you could possibly meet. He’s polite, well-mannered, courteous, respectful of other people’s needs. He’s soft-spoken, listens to people despite being in a position of authority, and makes time to hear out his beloved protegés in private. He discusses personal matters with little bias and baggage (seemingly), dispenses advice but doesn’t force people to abide by them, and doesn’t guilt trip or victim blame people over mistakes. He is like a near-perfect diplomat and mentor.

And yet there’s always that sense that Septimus is that way because he’s hiding something because of the way he uses his words. Whenever he talks, he occasionally implies or alludes to past experiences that seem more than dark, which brings up the question as to why he was in those circumstances in the first place. He is capable of keeping detail light and sparse in those situations, but it leaves you wondering what more was to that story...

He seems careful, almost cautious with speaking, as if he’s watching what he says. Given the nature of his job of course this would be a valuable skill, but he does this all the time. Even with his protegés he seems guarded, never revealing his own personal life in full.

There are rumous about the Runebird HQ that Septimus is far more deadly and ruthless than that. Whispers of previous events where his passiveness has come off as terrifying more than comforting are passed around on quiet evenings and nights. To November, however, Septimus extended a hand to him and understood his predicament on being unable to understand social body language as well his anxieties while trying to be less of a burden on others, and that’s something he can’t forget. He looks up to Septimus for this.

But there’s just something not quite right about the man.

[sagewren]

Despite Varsa‘s constant smiling and optimism about everything he does, he is insecure over his capabilities and whether he can achieve what he really planned for Folkhaven. In the prologue of Folkhaven he makes a terrible mistake - having campaigned for human rights in the past, he believed he could sort out the affairs of a group of fellow Others. Unfortunately for him, those Others turned out to be the Irish Fair Folk, which despite having their own alignments and moralities are still very far from sharing anything with a pleasure demon.

Because of this mistake, he feels that he should right that wrong and make up for it somehow. He still stands by his original mission to extend a hand to Others who feel misguided and lost in the new age, but his footing is shaky - he secretly questions his actual knowledge and understanding of humans and Others, and the connection between the two. 

The truth is, he’s not as confident as he looks. He’s not in denial per se, but he worries that whatever he does is insufficient in the capacity of being a founder of a task he very well knows will become quite a burden in some ways and a delight in others. Is he ready for that? He’s not sure. He’s never been a leader. He’s spent ~600 years doing whatever he likes, and only when he settled into human society did he become aware of others’ feelings and state of existence. Though he sympathised with humans early on and stopped killing them while getting his sustenance from them, it was more out of self-interest - people were less likely to, cough, demonise him and more likely to seek him out again til he could probably make a calling card - than empathy.

He’s pretty much a Stepford Smiler, or at least on his way there. No one is aware of this because he feels that he has to live up to the expectation as the leading founder, he needs to look the part and come off as if he knows what he’s doing. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

[sukiandscott]

I'll probably end up adding more.

[sukiandscott]

first batch of things.

"loves hot sauce. used to believe the more it she had the more red her hair would become."