So Anthea's horns are permanent and grow when they tap into the crowns power, right? Besides the gender thing that happened, did they have any other reaction?
Kind of in the same vein: Are Anthea's sharp teeth/fangs permanent or something that happens when they tap into the crowns power? If they are, again reaction, but also did their diet change at all?
Crimson Angel AU - Side Effects of the Crowns
When it comes to bearers of any of the crowns, there are always... physical side effects that permanently alter the body, even upon those of mere vessels. It's an inevitable part of mortals wielding divinity; the crowns were created to forge gods from mortal flesh, and in order for a mortal to actually bear a crown, their body must be altered to accommodate it.
Internally, it's an increase in strength. Physical resilience. An heightened affinity towards magic. Even when their tie to the crown has been severed these attributes remain, albeit weaken over time if they aren't in active use.
Externally, however, it varies. The most minor trait all bearers gain are markings around the eyes, with that area taking on the crown's color in various patterns that are unique from bearer to bearer. Their eyes may gain the color too, though it depends on the length of time the crown was worn. Initially it is only specks of the color or fully seen in times of heightened emotion, however it can eventually fully alter the color permanently. Forneus and Narinder, for example. originally had yellow and pale sage respectfully, yet those colors have since been lost. Ratau, in contrast, had his eyes return to fully green within a few years post-vesselhood. Anthea already has the beginnings of their brown turning fully red, and will lose that color within a few decades.
Beyond the eyes however things become a lot more complex...
The crown turns its bearer from prey into predator, and thus the fangs and claws develop if the bearer lacks any of those more offensive features. Anthea's horns were a tad drastic for a vessel to grow-as limbs/features on that scale are typically reserved for gods, however as they were a non-predator Beastfolk it could be argued that they were meant to aid in self-defense.
Meanwhile, diet-wise Anthea turned from herbivore to omnivore which wasn't uncommon among vessels either-they started craving meat a few months in, and while it initially terrified them to start salivating at the scent of cooking flesh, they've since gotten pretty comfortable with fish and certain types of critter meat, if only out of necessity since plants don't completely sate them anymore.
For those who reach the status of gods, the changes become even more drastic. Extra eyes, extra limbs, greater physical changes to the body, that sort of thing, usually meant to cover a weakness the Crown senses within them, or to reflect a personal desire. These changes are the only ones the bearer has some semblance of control over, as the traits will not occur if they would cause distress. They cannot, however, be reversed as all other physical changes are.
Narinder - His third eye, Red's attempt to help make Narinder feel more secure in giving him a better means of keeping watch of his surroundings, and Narinder's own internal desire to be seen-as its the one eye he can never truly mask. His true emotions are always seen from it, and they're what he wishes people would see as he was initially too uncertain to express them himself. So long as someone is actually looking at him, they can read him.
Leshy - His extra branches and long tail. Within Leshy's species of bagworm it is typically the biologically male worms whom have the branches, and thus it sought to help affirm his gender identity via encouraging their growth. The longer tail, meanwhile, was born out of his own desire to smack people with it.
Heket - Two extra eyes meant to assist her in watching out for enemies. Heket's the most distrusting of the Bishops, and the crown sought to aid her in keeping better watch. They also aid her greatly in battle, as she can track two directions at once.
Kallamar - Longer tentacles. Originally 'bald' in a sense, Kallamar's crown made him grow a extra series from his head, both as a means of dressing up his appearance to fulfill a desire for vanity, but also to give himself a semblance of a place to hide.
Shamura - Their height. Spiders are typically one of the shorter types of Beastfolk, however in wanting to be seen as more fitting for the role of lead deity, Shamura's crown made it so they grew to twice their intended height, so that they could visually command the authority they sought to portray.
The Lamb, Anthea - Their wings and horns. Whilst their horns were possibly the Crown trying to modify a prey-vessel to be better suited for combat, they were also likely a result of the Lamb already subconsciously not being content with their gender (and thus the crown's means of helping to affirm that fluidity they'd eventually realize) their wings are a different story...
Contrary to the others, Anthea's wings are not entirely physical, and were initially a phantasmal element temporarily gifted to them by the crown as a means to give them an edge against Narinder. Now, however, they can be summoned and de-summoned at will via further tapping into their connection with the crown, which also causes their horns to grow longer and their extremities to gain the color of blood alongside their eyes. When their connection is loosened back to 'normal', however, the wings vanish and their body reverts.
It is not entirely known why the Lamb can modify themself as such, however it appears to be somewhat akin to the Bishops shifting between Eldritch and Godly forms. Anthea's base mortal appearance is their 'Godly' form, whilst this would be their 'Eldritch' one. As they do not wish to frighten however and instead seek to be gentle, their appearance reflects that, and is more-so that of a bleeding angel.
They cannot maintain this appearance for more than a day or so outside combat or a few hours when within without causing strain, furthering the notion that it is simply a 'powered up' form. Outside of serious meetings or combat against intense foes, this form is rarely seen.
And finally Gender-wise that's actually not really the crown's fault as a note. Anthea always kinda had the feeling of 'hey being a girl doesn't always feel right', but due to a multitude of reasons they never sought to explore it. (Main reasons were: a lack of time/care for their own discomfort for the sake of focusing on their mother, brothers, and role as supply runner for their village, a rather conservative environment within their village that stressed conformity, then later them just repressing their own desires out of guilt over surviving their village's fall)
It was only because of their followers starting to use different pronouns from their own confusion of 'wait leader has horns but looks/sounds a bit feminine what are they none of us are used to sheep' was what finally made Anthea realize sometimes other things felt better depending on the day. It's pure coincidence that the crown altering their body helped them figure things out.
I'd like to think that, at the very least, their father kinda always knew they had some gender thing going on. He was an outsider to that isolated little village, and thus had a very open mind to things/general knowledge of them those people did not. When taking them on supply runs he didn't force them to be the 'respectful young ewe' they 'were', and instead let Anthea do as they pleased.
Had he'd been able to be there as they grew up, he likely would've one day taken them aside to properly explained things once they reached puberty, even if it might've only been able to be kept between the two of them.
dividers from @/olrinarts
