I’ve been seeing some people call Avid Scott’s Louis and I propose something different:
Avid was Shelby’s Owen.
By which I mean Shelby and Avid are an inverted mirror of Louis and Owen. Louis and Shelby both love(d) the people of Oakhurst, and only turned someone important to them once they had permission (to our knowledge, at least). Plus, turning their fledgling was an act of mercy against some sort of sickness.
Owen and Avid have been foils since the beginning. There’s their turning to cure their ailments, sure, but both were also relatively disliked by the townsfolk. Both are defined in part by their grief over a loved one. Both lost themselves to bloodlust, though their circumstances differed greatly in that regard.
Shelby asked Owen if Louis would be proud of the monster he’s become. From anyone else, it would be accusatory, and maybe it still is a bit. But when she asks, she’s tired. Her fledgling is dead and her friends betrayed him. She’s too busy processing that and too kind to start a fight. And Owen apologizes for taking someone she cared about from her (something he can relate to) (he notably does not apologize for the action, just its effects). On another note: privately, Owen admits that Louis would be horrified at Owen. Shelby was deeply worried about Avid once his bloodlust came to the surface.
Thinking about fire being a common motif in vsmp: Owen’s backstory, the lantern thrash ability, Shelby’s and Pyro’s (and Apo’s) houses, the woods, the walls…
Thinking about Pyro having a water motif: Czeslaw’s death, Pyro’s turning, Pyro turning Shelby…
Dunno what to do with these thoughts, but I’m Having Them
Mainly along Pyrrhia’s eastern coastline and the Bay of a Thousand Scales
There are some beach villages/towns, especially near the Mudwing kingdom
Before the war, owning land above-water was actually a sign of status. These settlements were typically pretty wealthy. However…
The War of Sandwing Succession made most settlements above-water vulnerable to attack, so there are significantly fewer than there used to be
As a result, the majority of the seawing population lives underwater
It should be noted that some island villages do still exist, and they tend to do most of the tribe’s metalworking (more on that later)
Language
Aquatic is a mix of gesture (think sign language but more full-body) and lighting specific scales along the seawing’s body
Bioluminescent seawing scale patterns are uniform, otherwise they wouldn’t be very useful for language.
The exception to this is the royal wing swirl. When a royal seawing lights those patterns up, it essentially translates to “I decree.” Its a show of authority
While technically any royal seawing can say that, it’s only really effective when said to those actually under their chain of command. So a prince could use it on a servant (if he wanted to be rude), but it would be useless against his siblings or parents.
For most Seawings, their native language is actually aquatic. Land is required to learn dragon (or whatever the common language is called)
This means Seawings are most prone to grammatical errors while speaking on land. Aquatic is structured differently.
This is why land-access is a sign of high status. Access to land means easier access to learning the lingua Franca (common language). The better you speak the other tribes’ language, the more they respect you.
Performing Arts
Underwater poetry is an art unique to seawing culture. The gesture part of the language gives these performances an aspect of interpretive dance that other tribes physically cannot exhibit. The poems are meant to be visually performed, not just read, so their syntax tends to read strangely on paper
Sometimes underwater poems are modified to suit a more land-oriented audience. When this happens, they are advertised more as dances than poems
Athletics
Keeping with the water theme, underwater racing is very popular
Surfing is as well
Dragonets/young adults enjoy porpoising, or jumping out of the water like dolphins. It’s more difficult to do as they age though
Jewelry
Seawings, being one of the few Pyrrhian tribes without fire breath and mostly living underwater, do not have much of a metalworking industry. The stuff that is done by the tribe is often lower-quality than imported stuff
As such, most jewelry is made with twine and other organic materials. Wealthier Seawings (especially royalty) tend to have silver or gold chains instead
It is not uncommon for this imported jewelry to be commissioned to have more seawing-oriented gems
Pearls and polished abalone shells are the most common “gemstones” (pearls technically count even though they’re not minerals) used in jewelry. They are some of the most valuable exports of the sea kingdom
The most common style of jewelry is referred to as “netting,” named for its similarity to fishnets. It can either be twine or metal, with gemstones at the intersections
Common forms of jewelry are necklaces (netting style), bracelets/anklets (also netting), horn-wraps (one or two coils of twine/metal with inlaid gems), and wing-nets
Queen Coral’s kid leash harness made fishnet harnesses relatively popular as well
🎶 ✨ when you get this, list 5 songs you like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool) 🎶 ✨
I fear i don’t break the life series fan stereotype and I’m a huge cranewives enjoyer, which you already know lol! I’ll refrain from mentioning their songs in the interest of variety!
Timberman by We Are the Guests. Couldn’t tell ya why, it just scratches my brain in a fun way. I enjoy singing along to the chorus too
Family Name by Haunted Like Human. It’s all about the little things that get passed down from generation to generation, but in a way thats comforting
The Hand by Annabelle Dinda. I first heard it in a tf!Legs animation and it rewired my brain a lil bit. When I listened to the full song I was like “oh this is about misogyny” in a way I liked. Plus, it really fits an old oc of mine I’ve been feeling nostalgic about lol.
River From the Sky by The Weepies. Very fitting for an oc i came up with recently, so I’ve been listening to it a bunch while fleshing her out
Cast the Bronze by Raynes. I’ve loved the song for years! It’s gotten me through many a project lol.
Sorry it took me forever to answer this! I super overthought which songs to pick lol. Also I don’t think I even have 10 followers, so anybody can take this opportunity to list five songs if they want :D
A warning, I have a long queue and don’t know if there’s any Avid stuff in it. If u see any reblogs with Avid in them, odds are it was from the queue. I don’t think he’s in there, but I could have forgotten. I’ve never been super invested in his stuff (personal preference reasons, not really an “I knew it” situation), but I was/am invested in characters his character was important to, notably v!Shubble, so there’s a chance he’s in there by proxy.
Much love and sympathy to the CCs involved with this, it’s hard enough learning this kind of thing without the added publicity. Hoping everyone’s ok <3
