I wanted to cover this one before we delved into everything else, that way you're coming along on the journey with me.
We know Basgiath was built 400ish years before the events of Fourth Wing, and we also know that by the time of Iron Flame, there were showers in the Samara outpost. Given Violet's lack of reaction to the shower, which wasn't invented in our world until the mid-late 1700s, we can assume showers are pretty common in Navarre, at least in military locations - and given the apparent commonality of it, we can arguably backdate to the kind of style that was used for building Basgiath War College.
For those Medieval fantasy lovers, sorry to break your hearts but the story itself probably isn't taking place in a Medieval-style period. They understand germ theory, they have showers, and based on the breakfast scenes we can assume they don't use a banquet-style meal setup (where all food is put in the middle of the table). Not to mention the ocean trade is reminiscent of Age of Exploration and we have reason to believe that the advancement of technology in the islands aligns closer to immediate pre-industrial eras, so the story itself likely takes place in a time period analogous to our 1700s. 1600s at the earliest. We'll let them have the showers for convenience - but the people definitely don't occupy a mediaeval time period.
Of course, Navarre/Amaralys/The World is not our world, so there is that caveat, but stay with me, because you will still get your medieval vibes - remember how I said Basgiath was built roughly 400 years pre-story? Yeah.
On our timeline that would put it in the 1200-1300s. Smack-bang in the middle of our medieval period. So while the story isn't from that era, the college could be.
In terms of Architecture, I envision Basgiath as looking very Gothic in design but the internal furnishings and fixtures lean more Classical, skipping the "flair for dramatic" Baroque and Rococo styles altogether (the country's at war, they can't afford the level of artisanal skill required for Rococo - but Tecarus might be able to afford it so we might still get to see that madness).
Before anybody starts questioning the Gothic styling for Basgiath, dispel the mental image of Victorian Gothic from your heads - Gothic as a style first arose in the 12th century CE in our world. So, 1100s. It was a lot more stone than metal, and was developed out of a need for better structural engineering that later revivals added purely for decoration. So, when I say "Basgiath is Gothic in style", I mean tall stained-glass windows, flying buttresses, narrow archways, all that fun stuff. Lots of light in the halls. Since the time period has accelerated past this specific era we can say they used clear glass in the dorms or whatever (maybe they only had slits for windows and the glass windows were a later addition), but I reckon the Academic wing, the Dragon Rotunda, and the courtyard (and other side of the college) probably retains a lot more of the original styling.
Here's some pictures to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
Here is a HowStuffWorks article going into more depth about the architectural hallmarks and styles. And here's some of the pics from that article...
This is just a sort of rough overview of the version of Basgiath I see in my head, it is by no means a comprehensive design analysis for the world - generally speaking, architecture and design and style is informed and influenced by culture, and we know that Tyrrish culture is different to Morrainian which is different to Calldyr which differs to Krovla which differs to Deverelli... yeah. I'm only covering Basgiath here because it's here and it's easy to cover.
Curious to hear how y'all see it though, feel free to reblog with your own aesthetics and remember - if you're using AI images for your own headcanons, please tag your post accordingly.
Talking to someone earlier today about Sawyer so here's a bunch of headcanons I have around the character, because to me he looks like a kid who grew up in a highly conservative family and has spent his entire college experience unlearning all the harmful beliefs that were put in his head.
He grew up in a remote area where homeschooling was necessary. Because of this, he didn't cover sign language in his primary education and that's why he doesn't know it.
Has a younger brother who is 12. The first letter he wrote when he was allowed to, was a letter for his baby bro.
He's discreet about his bedmates. He's had a handful of partners, both casual and serious, but rarely shares information about them and is good at "keeping it professional" outside of any flings.
His first time around, he was in a Fourth Wing squad and was the only one in his squad to survive to Threshing. He was a little annoyed about being reassigned to a Second Wing squad, and secretly relieved when Xaden switched the squads.
He almost managed to bond during Threshing the first time around, but another cadet wanted Sliseag and attacked Sawyer. He escaped with severe wounds, but the other cadet fell during the first flight. Sliseag went back to find Sawyer but was disappointed to see him so weakened. Sliseag waited for the following year - if Sawyer survived, Sliseag planned to bond with him.
Following Threshing, Sawyer had the option to change quadrants and he almost did switch to the Healers' Quadrant - but his gut instinct said to stay, especially after he found out the other cadet had failed to keep his seat. Sawyer tried to bond with any of the dragons whose bonded riders died early on, but none of them seemed interested in him.
He enjoyed sparring with Aurelie, and her death hit him harder than any other death of any other squad member. As a legacy and a repeat, he had assumed they'd get through without issue, but her death showed him that you could train all your life for something, all it takes is one freak coincidence to bring you undone.
He saw Liam as a threat when he joined the squad, since Liam had beaten him in their challenge, but Sawyer loosened up around him once he started channeling and Liam apparently hadn't. Right up to the final war games, Sawyer still sort of saw Liam as an opponent, though he made a conscious effort to be more friendly with the Tyrrish guy.
He's always preferred feisty girls and never imagined a scribe might appeal to him, but then he met Jesinia and saw her attitidue. Also being around Violet means he's learned fast that bookish girls can be way more dangerous than he thought.
For anybody that's been enjoying my Fourth Wing Signet Ideas, there's only so many abilities that you can do in a kinda unique way before you start tapping existing concepts. I'm kinda at the end of the short train with original ideas (I may come up with more but for now that's all I've got), so we have two options:
I dial it back and post only when I have an idea; or
Keep going with the daily posts, but we get into existing signets and ripping magical abilities from other fictional universes - more of an interpretation-focused setup, with the occasional original idea woven in.
Vote and feel free to reply/comment or dump me an ask or whatever. I know there's a handful who've enjoyed the signets series so... Yeah
The signet of Tangibility, sometimes known as "Phasing", is less to do with how others perceive you and more about how you interact with the world around you. At its core, Tangibility enables the wielder to alter the density of their form, increasing or decreasing their overall mass to make themselves more solid and thus heavy and invulnerable, or less tangible and thus more like a vapour.
While this ability takes significant time and training to master, it becomes an effective battle signet very quickly, with previous wielders known to use their increased density to leap into and drag opponents from the sky, or decreasing their density so that attacks from enemies pass through them with no effect. Further training can enable a tangibility wielder to extend their abilities beyond themselves, or direct their ability to a separated target entirely.
Tangibility is considered a wildcard signet, developing with any dragon-rider pairing without any real rhyme or reason, though it tends to be more common with a younger dragon's first bonded rider. Despite the potential it has for being incredibly useful, it is notoriously difficult to train and most wielders tend to lean towards one or the other ends of the spectrum rather than developing the skills for the full range.
