a 16+ nichelink term for relationships/a relationship dynamic where one (or more) users take on the role of a "patron (deity, god, etc)", & the other/others take on the role of a "patronee".
“patron” can be replaced with “tutelary (deity, god, etc)” or any other fitting term. “patronee” can be replaced with any other fitting term.
this is a specific form of higher being+chosen mortal nichelink.
some reasons for being in/wanting to be in this relationship dynamic include, but aren't limited to:
the patron deity being a patron deity/deity/patron for alterhuman, nonhuman, &/or plural reasons.
the patronee being a patronee for alterhuman, nonhuman, &/or plural reasons.
the patron deity experiencing attraction types such as bonding/potential, deiatrone, divine, guardian, oklenic, reldevotion, tutelary, &/or wechselnd.
the patronee experiencing attraction types such as auxilior, bonding/potential, cedural, divine, oklenic, reldevotion, &/or wechselnd.
Decided to also show the drawing process since I had a blast figuring out all the brushes and textures and such in Procreate. You can also see I started out with a red color scheme (since Nefertari's armor claws are described as being blood red crystals in the books I wanted to go with a dark red armor, but when I did the wings and got started on the skin with the blue-ish and purple hues I realised purple would be a better match. I'm also aware she officially has feathered wings, not leathery, but I figured since she seemed to be suffering whilst inside the eye and not being allowed to do her thing kill kill kill kill by Iskandar, and the fact he mentioned seeing feathers fall from her due to her 'condition' I decided to rake that a step further and just make it look as though she's lost her feathers entirely, hence why there's the last couple tied to her spear, to serve as a reminder of what she used to be. You can also 200% see me struggling with the damn armour, and the 25 reference images I had to try and capture the vibe I envisioned for this piece
I hc that most ghosts have an ominous, deathly, oppressive aura to them that typically weirds animals out & scares them. The stronger the ghost, the more strongly it's felt.
Humans usually only feel it on a subconscious level until the higher levels &, to them, every ghost has a slightly different feel to it. For instance, Skulker feels like being in the presence of a predator. (The animal kingdom kind.) While monarchs generally bring to mind being in the presence of a king that could easily have you beheaded at any moment.
Animals just feel a general predatorness.
However, that's just with animals in-general. There are some animals that are almost unaffected by the auras of ghosts unless they specifically register as being a threat, like with Pariah Dark or Dan.
Such animals are generally associated with death or interacts with spirits in one way or another. Things like cats, bats, snakes, & quite a few birds such as cardinals, bluebirds, owls, & vultures, but specifically corvids including but not limited to crows, ravens, & magpies. Several bugs such as worms, spiders, dragonflies, as well as moths & butterflies alike. Not to mention, certain canines such as the xolo dogs of Mexico, the hyenas of Africa, & the jackals of Egypt.
However, tutelaries like Danny have an aura that's slightly different. While there's still the deathly feeling to it, it's more a formidable feeling, like being around someone powerful that you know won't attack you. They give off a sense of comfort & safety to those that ally with them or are being protected by them, but of judgment & coming justice to those that oppose them.
However, there's still a hint of danger surrounding tutelaries that tells people to be wary on instinct. It's almost a contradictory feeling in a way.
For Danny, specifically, it's the feeling of being around a strong & capable soldier that you know would do anything to protect you. Until he bested Pariah, then it slowly turned into that of a strong & courageous soldier crowned king for his good deeds, then after his coronation, that of a benevolent ruler.
As such, animals don't outright run from or attack him, but they are instinctively wary of him.
After the accident, but before the Lunch Lady's first attack, (which was went Danny's Obsession first began to form) animals avoided Danny as he still registered to them as being a predator, but after his Obsession fully formed, they started to register him as being more of a predator who's food source decidedly wasn't them.
However, animals that are around him frequently enough will begin to recognize that he's a protector & will treat him like an alpha & someone to be respected, but it takes a lot of time & association for them to eventually get there. A lot more so than usual & even pets that are generally very friendly by nature tend to be wary of him at first, but not in a "this person is bad" way. More so, a "this is a stranger that might be dangerous" way.
The specific animals associated with death & spirits mentioned above, on the other hand, are able to immediately recognize Danny's protective aura for what it is & instantly see him as being very much a non-threat unless attacked.
Of course, they don't really follow him or try to get his attention or anything unless they recognize him specifically. They initially just recognize him as being a non-threat until they get used to him specifically, then he slowly becomes more & more friend-shaped to them.
Like, butterflies, moths, & dragonflies will just land on him for rest even if he's moving. Corvids, cardinals, & owls will perch on his head or shoulders & just chill. Cats & bats love him though.
Khalophis’ Tutelary from A Thousand Sons and the source of much trouble in her namesake story, which you probably shouldn’t read unless you’re ready to follow the misadventures of pregnant cannibal wizards in space.
About halfway through Part 2 of Black Legion, so making good progress (lab maintenance is a good time to listen to audiobooks folks, you heard it here first). Many Thoughts™ were had, here are a few of the main takeaways:
(1)
Gotta love Warhammer's commitment to gross and disgusting creatures, the way Daravek is described with weeping larvae and decomp juice dribbling from his mouth scratches a particular itch when it comes to horror in writing.
(2)
Nefertari is back baby! Wohooo! Took a few chapters where I was left wondering what happened to her, but glad to see our gal is back and meaner than ever.
(3)
.... I *know* not-Gyre has a name (...Nagual?) but honestly even though the concept is really cool, I miss my wolf lady. So does Khayon. We all know it. So placeholder bichito/familiar will have to suffice. #sad
(4)
.....we're just gonna be super casual about the cannibalism huh? I mean, you do you buddy, but I honestly wasn't expecting it this out of the blue. Delighted, though!
(5)
I have *so* many questions about the damn process of Legiones Astartes enhancements. As a biologist, this is calling to me on so many different levels. Definitely a few things there which... biologically kinda iffy, but I'll take it 'cause it's cool worldbuilding. Will have to see if a) it gets explained in more detail elsewhere in another Wh40k book, or b) I have some time at some stage to actually read up on it.
Another idea I have is that I've always seen Danny as a Tutelary. Specifically a Lar, even more specifically a Lar Praestite, which is a Greco-Roman ghost. There are several ways to define it, but universally, it's a protector or guardian. Some are the ghosts of dead heroes that wish to continue protecting people, while others are straight up Hero Ghosts.
Some are referred to as Household Gods, which are minor gods under the Goddess of the Home & Hearth, Vesta/Hestia. They are meant to protect places & people, sometimes within a house or family, a.k.a. Lares Familiares, others a section of a road or crossroads called Lares Viales (I HC that crossroads within the territory of a powerful enough tutelary can’t be visited by Crossroad Demons; instead the local tutelary senses the attempted breach & is urged to deal with whatever idiot thought it was a smart idea to bring such a dangerous being to a protected area in whatever way the guardian deems pertinent), or communities/neighborhoods, Lares Compitalicii. There were those who protected the military, Lares Militaris, those that protected seafarers, Lares Permarini, & those that protect the fields, Lares Rurales.
As a Lar grows stronger, their area of influence does too, sometimes expanding to cover the range of an entire city-state, which are Lares Praestites.
I imagine that those allied with a Lar have ever so slightly better luck than otherwise, that Lares have a protective aura that only affects those who call the Lar their patron & are in distress. It wraps them in this blanket of "I'm here," "I'll be right there," "I'll fix it," or "Just keep calm, stay safe, & help wherever you can." Neutrals simply don't feel the aura, while enemies of a lower power or will than the Lar feel like they're being watched & it makes them antsier than usual.
Like, I imagine Tutelaries as being one of the few types of ghosts that don't go vengeful &, for the life of them, hunters can't figure out why the heck that is. Granted, Lares & other tutelaries typically keep their territory safe in more subtle ways, but normally Lares & other tutelaries also don't have physical bodies to interact with the physical plane with because they're usually just Earthbound Spirits.
Most ghosts have to feed on human energy when outside of the Zone, Spectra doing so by feeding directly on a person's misery causing them to sink even deeper into despair, thus making her a Wraith.
I see Danny, after coming into his own, being something like her antithesis in that he feeds indirectly off of the ambient positive energy in an area. He then replaces that energy with passive positive energy which humans feel & causes their moods to elevate slightly.
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In a way, the more people who believe in Danny or have faith in him as a hero, the more they trust him & feel grateful for him & his services to the community, then the stronger his desire to protect &, retroactively, he himself will become. By ‘believe in,’ I don’t mean how one would believe in a god. More so how you trust doctors to heal you, firefighters to save you from fires, & policemen to save you from criminals. This also affects his area of influence, causing his aura & protection to stretch farther along with the boundaries of his territory.
Good things (as in luck-based) will be more likely to happen within these boundaries, but it won't stop bad things from happening. It's just part of life that you have to take the good with the bad & this is no different.
Lares also have a tendency to instill and/or amplify a sense of community, synergetic cooperation, & civil duty within an area & the people living there. Of course, even though these things are more likely to happen, it means nothing if people don't choose to act on them.
Tutelaries are just... Basically all-around, good things for a town or city. What's sad is a Lar whose been utterly rejected by the people their trying to protect. Those are the weakest sorts & generally don't have long to remain on Earth before fading.
Worse is a Lar that has lost their Pillars of Inner Strength in a tragic manner. The individuals that the Lar wished to protect above all others. Without these pillars, a Lar can become a regular ghost.
However, the worst of all is when a Lar not only loses it's Pillars, but is also rejected. It's at this point that they are susceptible to corruption. Turning them into the opposite of what they were meant to be. A horrible specter, like a hybrid between a poltergeist & a wraith, hellbent on chaos & destruction. Like a rabid animal that needs to be put down. It's no less sad than ever.
Basically, how Dan came into existence. Of course, there's more to it than just that, but this is the basics. Plus, the fact that Danny is not only half-ghost, but (at least in my HC) also completely alive rather than dead, half-dead, or a member of the Undead Legion(tm) also helps keep these bad things from happening.
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Another thing that helps with my theory is the fact that Lares are typically depicted as sitting upon a throne with a dog resting at their feet (dogs being associated with watchfulness), wearing a chlamys or military cloak & crown, & wielding a Greek dory (spear), a Roman pilum (javelin), or a lance.
I tend to go with King!Danny, which would give him both a throne & a crown, as well as give him his own military. Not to mention that Danny has Cujo, which could end up bonding them & giving Cujo new powers of his own.
Cujo possibly being a Cú-síth (Pronounced: coo-she). Which are part of Irish & Scottish folklore. They are described as large dog-like creatures that have shaggy, green fur & are known to be as large as a small cow. They are also known for taking dying souls to the afterlife. So, they are a type of Psychopomp themselves.
However, he does not wear a chlamys or use a lance of any kind.
dag snang - pure vision which comes through dreams and visions, symbol awareness, visionary, instructions passed on by manifestations of gurus and tutelaries in visions, sacred outlook, pure vision, pure vision, SA snang gsum, pure perception, sacred outlook [JV]
