Heyo! Magic is innate in the way it functions, similar to mutants and the way their powers work, it incites due to periods of high stress and from there, people just know what to do. Like after you see that you are able to snap your finger and create sparks, you just experiment and see what else you can do with that.
Witches are the only ones with an active process who sort of rely on their perception and associations of magic to create enchantments on objects for things. Covens can have traditions and methods of crafting items with varying spells that have been passed down through generations and another witch could do the same enchantment with an entirely different process, all that really matters is how said witch perceives the enchantment is to be created.
Telepathy isn't really a process per say, but it functions in the way of having to explore someone's mind like exploring somewhere you've never been, and since each mind is different, those environments can be pretty unique and challenging to explore dependent on the person's mental state.
Besides those, most of it is innate knowledge of your own body where you have to be good at listening to what your body knows.
Hey there! I'm gonna assume you are new to audio roleplay as a concept so excuse me as I tell you about it:
NeXus is a dramatic contemporary fantasy* audio roleplay series I created two years ago! It is a bit of a passion project for me that got my channel started and it is something I am proud to have made into what it is today!
*contemporary fantasy is a genre of work where magic is present within a setting similar to the one in which we as the audience exists. Examples of this are Percy Jackson franchise, 2010's The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie, and any magic-based comic in Marvel. It is also often used in paranormal romance books.
In this project you, the audience, inhabit the role of a "listener" who interacts with characters called "speakers". Each listener and speaker have their own storylines, and in NeXus, they are characterized around the world I have created where people with magical abilities blend in amongst other humans while navigating their personal lives, the politics of their world, and the supernatural forces that threaten it. NeXus weaves together character drama, mythology, mystery, tropes of the genre and paranormal romance as different characters romance, befriend, fight or die across the whole story.
NeXus is separated into different storylines that take place across the world with characters who are mainly voiced by me and guest VAs I have on the channel! It's also separated into different episodes that tackle those storylines one at a time through the characters established in them.
Across the board, NeXus is a piece of fiction that engages in themes of romance, race, identity, queerness, community, violence, politics and grief. It is mostly for my own indulgence and I created it to entertain myself and people like me who wanted representation and diversity in their stories!
NeXus includes stuff like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, assassins, magical schools, monsters you can befriend, superheroes, mafiosos, detectives and ancient creatures adjacent to gods.
That is NeXus, and I plan to expand it and make it into a big thing past the thresh hold of audio RP, but in the meantime, I am making it happen through audio.
If someone was to hypothetically enter one of your characters into the Tumblr Sexyenby competition, who would you prefer it to be?
Hypothetically I'd have to say, Uriah
Like they've never missed, never. She's always done it and that's just the truth. Would he win? Idk, but I feel like Uriah is just the strongest candidate I have in that category.
Time for Questions (have fun because I have three :3)
1. What is the process of picking out a character’s race that you use?
2. Do you have any suggestions for African or Creole characters? (Language, place they’re from, etc)
3. When you create lore or even a character’s personality do you use inspiration from other creators/is it okay if other people take tiny bits of lore inspo. from your characters?
(That was kinda 4, but I can’t wait to read your takes on these question :3)
EXTRA: ★YOU HAVE UPGRADED TO GOLD TIER I IN THE GOOBER KINGDOM★👏👏👏
pfft-thank you, as for you questions:
It's not really a process more so a series of conditional decisions based on factors such as story themes, topics I've researched or whether I just wanted to have that character be racialized in a specific way or have a specific ethnicity. Sometimes it's based on where the story takes place (so I'll assign them an ethnicity that makes sense for the location BUT immigration is a thing so you can go nuts in that light), which ethnic demographic can relate to this story the most based on the themes presented or if I just think it would be cool to make a character like that. It's less of a process and more of an implementation of empathy to take time to research and determine what I think would fit for a character's ethnic background.
For your second question, not really? Asking for suggestions is broad because I don't understand what you want me to suggest. Additionally, I'm not the most versed in creole ethnic backgrounds and that would require research on my end to give a more educated answer on that topic. Creole is also a category that encompasses a wide variety of experiences to my knowledge and I can't speak to that since I'm not creole.
As for speaking on African characters, my suggestion is to look into the variations in African culture because Africa is continent first and foremost and has regions with cultural splits, a north African and a South African do not carry the same experience as someone from the West, East or Central regions of the continent. Research is always my go to, watching videos, reading books and immersing yourself in knowledge about these different places helps so that you have a wider understanding of Africa's relationship with the rest of the planet. Being black also helps a bunch in my case too.
Really, my main advice is to properly learn the history of colonialism and chattel slavery as well as to conduct appropriate research on the topic of places and cultures around the world when you want to make characters who stem from those inspirations. You should also learn about the stereotypes and caricatures of those people to know their context and what to avoid to be respectful and empathetic of their experiences, especially if you are an outsider to the culture. Also having friends who have those experiences helps (harder to do but it helps).
Third question, yes and no? Yes as in I used to, and no as in, not from creators within the space anymore. I used to take general inspiration from other creators through spite by examining tropes I didn't quite agree with and putting my own twist on it for my own peace of mind. I don't anymore because spite only gets you as far as another person's shadow and I have my own ideas that I think are more interesting that "fixing" an idea someone had with my own amendments. My inspirations are pretty varied nowadays and I acquire them from random images, concepts, surrealist art pieces I saw, books I read or my different interests.
As for taking inspo from me, I can't stop you from doing that? That's something that happens in someone's mind and at most all I can do is inform you of the difference between taking inspiration from something versus copying it. I'm not the thought police so I can't tell you what to do. Humans are weird in how they take their inspiration from things but in short, as long as I don't have to meet you in court for a copyright infringement case, that's fine.
How do you choose color palettes for your characters?
Do you ever make any of the characters palettes complement or contrast another characters color palette?
ooooh I love this question, let me take you on a journey as I answer this!
Short answer to your question; I choose them based on immediate associations and coherency of the colors of those palettes. A lot of experimentation goes into it as a process. I also do make these palettes compliment and contrast other characters as a way of helping viewers discern who is meant to be put together as a group, who may be opposed to another person and who secretly is connected someone else.
Long answer now!
In character design, there are many parts of the design that help to inform what we can gleam from a character; shape, symbolism, arrangement of elements, background information, and most importantly, color.
Let me give you an example with a familiar face, Silas!
When I was coming up with Silas' design, I had taken into account that his alias was already decided as "Shroud", and that already had a few connotations of something dark and ghostly, so I used darker purples, greys and blacks as colors associated with haze/smog/ghostly fog, which helps as those elements can represent obscurity (that works for a thief).
Shroud is also a villain who does not have powers but uses tech and materials to his advantage, so by adding silver and cyan colors into his palette (colors often used in tech to show a clean and high tech aesthetic), I can suggest that he is a bit of technical character. My minimal usage of it in the suit can suggest exactly how technical he is, too. HOWEVER, we also have to remember that Silas is more playful and light-hearted, and so I added in a pale pink and blue color for his hair that adds to the cyan and purple, creating interesting contrast which shows he is both a professional thief with some tech on his belt but has a playful and fun streak.
As such, color picking and placement can often do wonders when you are creating a design!
Now, when I want you to understand that a group is meant to be coherent with one another, I often pick color palettes with unifying and complementary colors, in such cases as the King siblings from Mecha-Mancer, whom I want you to recognize as a group with similar colors, and the lounge staff from the Naughty Bunny Lounge, who alll wear colors that tie them back to the lounge but are varied in different ways to express individuality!
In another example, I'll often put a group of characters together who have complementary palettes to show that they mesh well, such as the AMP bois and Valor's Crew! While they are different, they do have similar colors in their palettes as well as colors that mesh together nicely when they're together, letting you know that they are different but coherent.
When it comes to contrasting palettes between characters though, this often comes down to a case-by-case basis where you have to look at the design and see for yourself how far those contrasts are meant to signify if characters are opposed to each other. Here are some examples!
Case 1 - Jamir and Zion!
In this case, these two have very opposing palettes where Jamir's infers a sense of lightness and fun while Zion's suggests that he is more grounded with some edge to him, BUT they both share similar aesthetics! Jamir is a playful and artsy party/rave boy, while Zion is a sturdy looking punk/goth. Two complementary aesthetics mixed with contrasting colors tell us that they have very different personalities but have ties to subcultures that aren't too dissimilar from one another.
Case 2 - Arthur and Mordred
In this case, while you know that these two are related, their designs suggest a major difference not only in visual representation through shape language but also their colors! Arthur uses a lot of softer, vibrant blues in his design that suggest him to be someone of importance/nobility who is approachable. His yellow adds to that approachability but adds a layer of importance to him alongside the silver in his design. Mordred, however, uses a lot more fiery colors that signal him as a potentially aggressive threat.
Upon close examination though, you see that Arthur has a lot of darker blues which can signal to his military position (as darker blues are often used in uniforms to, like navy blue), and Mordred has a soft and almost vibrant green that indicates the presence of something cooler that's being kept locked away. This contrast shows them to likely butt heads with each other but also reveals aspects to their character that subverts the majority of their design elements
Case 3 - Jericho &Uriah
With Jericho and Uriah, although they are enemies, their palettes are actually very similar, but the hues are different. This makes your brain look for similarities between them since they share the same colors, BUT the placement of their colors and the change in hues between them also provides contrast to show you that they are both similar and different at the same time. The contrast is a lot more subtle, but it tells you a key element about these two just by the look of them alone.
Uriah's outfit has a sharper contrast that may suggest she is bolder and harsher in how she presents, intentionally demanding your attention with his outfit, while Jericho is muted in saturation and blocked out in sections in a way where you can see a sense of being coordinated and refined in a manner that makes him appear as someone who is supposed to placate your tastes. This is what defines them as predators but of very different natures.
Now before I make this a lecture, just know. Picking palettes can be a form of storytelling and so is placement. How you use colors will often tell a story about characters on its own but how you compare and contrast palettes between characters can reveal a bunch of information regarding whether they are in the same group, hold the same values or even appear to be on the same side, and that's just a smidge of how I pick my colors and use them!
Am I the only one who thought of the “You gone beat the kid up just because he gave me a compliment Jeff?” Meme when the guy selling Feng the trinket called Nahome ‘pretty’? Feng just sounded so annoyed and disgusted in his responses after the guy said that 😂😂😂
pfft-that's just the consequence of being unmasked, autistic and really not wanting to buy into the deal someone's handing you just to impress your queer platonic boyfriend. Never change, Feng.
Can we have some facts about Asteroth, Nikolas or Oscar???
Damn, can you not make it sound like I don't tell y'all shit? Excuse me for writing a series and not getting too distracted/j anyways:
Nik's favourite food is actually baked mac n cheese with jalapenos and bacon, his most frequently eaten food is pizza from off-campus.
Asteroth's and his brother are black on his dad's side, but his grandparents are british immigrants.
Oscar used to keep a fish but he low key sucked at it as a kid because he's a kid and did not understand that those things needed attention, so after the first one died, he was scared of trying to raise another again because he'd be sad if they died again.
