chocodile - Tumblr blog

[chocodile]

Old Faerie Kougra

[chocodile]

Are there ghosts in your amaranthine world..? Or ancient sailor’s curses?

I may be interested in inventing a character… is that allowed? I’m not much of an artist but I could write something for you!

"Ghosts? How absurd! An educated wizard like myself would never entertain such superstitious nonsense!"

(...Now, if you'll excuse him, he's gotta go research ancient eldritch powers hidden beneath the earth's surface and finish working on a potion made out of his unicorn buddy's magical blood. You know, reasonable, scientifically grounded stuff like that!)

So, to answer your question: Real ghosts = not canon, curses = yes canon, and could resemble a haunting. More explanation of how that would work under the cut:

You can attach enchantments to objects, so there would be nothing stopping you from attaching a baneful curse to something instead. A lasting enchantment generally requires a power source or some kind of upkeep to keep it "charged"... ones worn by a living creature can draw upon the body's own magical energy field... but can also be powered by the "background radiation" present in unusually magically charged environments. There are absolutely "cursed" forests where travelers suddenly find all the food in their rucksack spoiling overnight, areas of ocean where compasses stop working and the wind won't blow, that sort of thing.

So, you could also have a magically charged area that was "haunted" and caused visitors' minds to start playing tricks on them, perceiving illusions, hearing murmurs and clips of nonsense speech, experiencing objects falling over/moving on their own, etc. Any naturally generated "haunted" location would be pretty basic in its illusions, though. Something with more structure (recognizable figures, coherent speech) would have to be an enchantment engineered by a wizard on purpose, and would take quite a lot of skill.

Non-wizards often refer to locations with unsettling or dangerous enchantments as cursed or haunted, though wizards who understand the underlying magical mechanics behind those phenomenons might roll their eyes at that framing, insisting it's no different than when the town healer enchants a necklace to ward off sickness--just undirected and on a larger scale.

ALSO to answer your other question: You are absolutely welcome and encouraged to invent a character if you are so inclined! I would love to see what you come up with!

[chocodile]

How quickly does the shadow take it's victims? Would getting a drop of it on your arm result in it eating your flesh like acid and making more of itself grey goo style? Or is it slower, and it digests/absorbs it's victims alive The Blob style?

It seems there is still some debate among experts about the topic!

[chocodile]

Might be a weird compliment, but I love that Hyden is a masochist but also has chronic pain and complains about it!! It's so weird how often I see characters where it's like "they're a masochist so they love being in pain all the time" when that's not how it works, lol. Signed, a masochist with chronic pain.

Eyyy thanks Anon, I'm glad he comes off as realistic!

As much as I like to make really extreme, ridiculous, over the top characters, I do try to make them feel like real people at the same time. He may get a little too excited at the idea of a beautiful MILF posing threateningly next to the splice box of an ungrounded electrical system, but having your life constantly interrupted by back pain and migraines is annoying and inconvenient no matter what your bedroom habits are.

[chocodile]

Absolutely delightful drawing of my horrible old man by @lambstooth!

This time it's his human form from an AU where he's a fallen priest who got into dark magic. (I'm sure you can't tell. He's very subtle about it.)

[chocodile]

He's gotten into some trouble, it seems.

[chocodile]

✨SPACE TRAIN✨

She's either going to Seoul or Rainbow Road, getting slightly mixed signals here.

[chocodile]

It would be fascinating to see Hyden cosplay as a Disney character.

I asked Kwillow who he'd be and she said Ursula. I can see it. A melodramatic, white-haired old witch(/wizard) ready to scam a headstrong young royal(/noble) out of their abilities(/blood).

(To explain the joke with what Mer-Ambroys is saying: His original aasimar version was a Ken doll-like humanoid. Notice the lack of nipples... of course, his lack of mortal anatomy never stopped him from being an incorrigible philanderer, but it did make things slightly more challenging. ...His Amaranthine version does not have this problem.)

[chocodile]

Hello, I just wanted to say I am amazed by the depth of lore and character you've created surrounding the giant rabbit Hyden and the other characters in that universe. Are you posting these images as part of a larger comic? Are they illustrations based on excerpts from a novel you're working on? It's hard for me to piece everything together from the captions. Basically I'm saying I'm super invested in this story and I would love to see the entire book or graphic novel or whatever that puts all these pieces together. Does that exist/will it exist?

Thank you!

-Ondy

I'm totally answering this way to late, BUT! Since Kwillow and I have gotten a number of questions asking similar stuff so I'm gonna use your ask as an opportunity to answer...

There is no single big novel or comic (at least not at the moment, we're working on finishing other projects first!), it's more of a just for fun series of vignettes, mini-comics, and other stuff! There is an underlying story but it's more gestured at and told in snapshots rather than told linearly from start to end.

I did put together a website to serve as an FAQ of sorts! Finished it just now. That should hopefully answer some of the common questions about what's going on, what terms mean, and how things connect together.

We next plan to organize things into a clearer "timeline", with the story's different "arcs" tagged accordingly and an organizational page listing important moments and linking important comics/vignettes. So, that's coming up... hopefully in the next month. (But who knows with how busy I am lately, ack...)

Thank you for the kind words though! We honestly never planned for this to turn into such a big project or get such wide recognition, so it's super flattering that people are interested enough to know more about our silly villainous furry nonsense.

[chocodile]

Has Hyden ever traveled aboard a ship? What are his thoughts on the sea?

The Western Kingdom, where Hyden lived, was mostly landlocked (it was functionally completely landlocked prior to conquering the Southern Kingdom, the region where Ambroys is from). The country's lakes and rivers are traversed by fishing boats, but the geography of the country meant no seafaring culture.

This was of the major reasons for constant conflict with the Eastern Kingdom, which was very much NOT landlocked. Even after conquering the Southern Kingdom and gaining sea access, the Western Kingdom continued to fight for a contested patch of land on the Eastern border that would have given them a port far closer to the capitol and major cities.

So Hyden has probably never been out on the ocean before. He did visit the Eastern Kingdom many times during his youth, seeking access to their vast libraries and trying to learn about Second Branch magic (something I ought to make a writeup about later). During his wanderings, he would have visited port cities and seen ships from a distance, but never had reason to board them. He was there for libraries, institutes of learning, and magical curio shops, not boring boats.

One thing that the northern portion of the Western Kingdom did have was bath houses. It was far too cold in that region for above-ground lakes and rivers to be useful for recreation, but public bath houses were incredibly popular. They were built over top of geothermal hot springs and were typically built partially underground, using magic to sculpt massive, ornate buildings and pools out of the stone. …Or at least the fancy ones in big cities looked like that. Not all of them were quite so lux. But having one in a city was a point of pride and was a favorite way to relax after a hard day of laboring in the cold.

As a noble, Hyden, of course, doesn't exactly do a lot of laboring, but he does enjoy a good hot bath. It helps with the aches and pains. And as a noble, he gets access to private rooms where he doesn't have to mingle with commoners, thereby defeating the social point of the thing. Yay!

[chocodile]

Initially came because I saw the hot shark man ridge. Stayed for the masterful story you’re making. I love

Thank you! Here's a bonus doodle of Ridge, as a treat.

[chocodile]

(1/3) I adore the new comic with Alex, Ridge and Theo! The insight into how Theo's "healing magic" can be used is fantastic and the art is beautiful (as usual) to boot. A question, also: In the background of the last panel, there's several paintings in the background--what looks like three of Jocosa, but also a regular ermine. I recall that beasts (aka animals as we know them) are present in Amaranthine and associations/taboos with them vary by region. In Northcrest, are ermines seen as

Funny that you say there's three portraits of Jocosa in this comic - she is there, but her painting rests alongside these other members of her storied family. Most people who noticed the paintings thought they were all Jocosa, though! I don't blame anyone for being confused. The Norths are infamous for all looking the same.

(Also, they are probably slightly easier to tell apart here, when their portraits aren't covered by 5 years of dust - Theo really needs to clean that place up.)

Anyway, thank you so so much for your compliments on the comic! I will put the rest of your message and answer your questions under the cut.

Ermine Motifs

The ermine isn't a pet, but simply an ermine. The Norths are unusually obsessed with their "source" animal, and use the image of ermines as representations of their power and prestige. Like you predicted, ermines feature prominently in their decor and fashion. Ermine-shaped badges, ermines on rugs, ermine newel posts (that's a fun word!), and ermine paintings. It's a little obnoxious. They hold a peculiar reverence for the creatures while also being extremely willing to wear their skinned pelts as cloaks. They do not think there is anything weird or grim about that.

Part of their fixation comes from the fact that unlike some noble families, ermines feature in their heraldry, so the presence of ermine artwork alludes to their noble status, much like how the royal family of England might display lions. Heraldic ermine spots appear on their coat of arms, and ermines are the shield's supporters. But they are also just self-obsessed and have a fondness for that which reminds them of themselves. Even Theo, despite being of a ratlike persuasion, plays into the North fixation on ermines by occasionally wearing ermine fur and jewelry shaped like heraldic ermine spots.

Closely associating yourself with the animal you resemble was more common in historical times, but the degree to which the Norths do it would still be odd. People with more modern mindsets, more removed from ancient mythical symbolism and more concerned with modern problems of technological advancement and not dying in a frozen wasteland, would consider the Norths to be embarrassing themselves with their ermine obsession. Why are they so heavily identifying with a simple beast? Who cares what kind of animal you look like? Shouldn’t you be more proud of being, you know, a person?

Theo's Catalyst Stone

Yes, the North's catalyst stone is passed down through the generations upon the death of its previous owner. (The teardrop-shaped stone the ancestress is wearing in her portrait is the very same one Theo has stuck in his hand.) Given that Theo slammed the stone into his flesh, he will be the last of his line to use this catalyst stone - and given that he hasn't exactly been a hit on the dating circuit, he will likely also be the last North as well.

Ancient Hyden Encounters

While there were more mages back in Hyden's prime days, it was still a small enough population that it wouldn't be unheard of for Hyden and some early Norths to have crossed paths in their day to day.

Chocodile and I agree that Hyden probably knew some of Theo's ancestors, but we haven't worked out the details of those encounters quite yet. Given the North's seemingly inherent predilection for bitterness and snobbery, they probably didn't get on all that well.

[chocodile]

Nu Mou nuggets. Don't forget the ranch for dipping!

[chocodile]

How would Hyden feel/react to being ignored, intentional or otherwise?

Unlike Ambroys, who needs attention like everyone else needs oxygen (and begins to suffocate without it), Hyden doesn't particularly care what other people think about him.

He is confident that he can command attention when he wants it and is used to being treated with respect. In fact, he's so used to being fawned over by sycophants that encountering someone who was openly rude to him would immediately pique his interest. It breaks the pattern he's used to and is a new type of social interaction, and novelty is the one thing Hyden craves more than anything.

What does rudeness imply about the person he's speaking to? Do they hate him for one of his past (mis)deeds? Oooh, which one, which one? He's dying to know! Are they so fed up with court politics that they're looking to self-immolate and torch their reputation? Oh my, imagine how delightfully unhinged someone like that must be! He'd love to probe around in their brain a bit before they burn enough bridges to disappear from court socials entirely. Or do they simply not know who he is? In this case, he can delight in watching their growing horror as he reveals his status to them and they realize who they've slighted.

It's win/win/win for Hyden. He delights in finding someone who violates social norms like a bored zoo animal enjoys a puzzle treat dispenser. He'll shred them with his claws and teeth until the treats fall out, at which point he'll become bored and drop whatever broken pieces remain. Their insults and social snubs can't hurt him any more than a jack-o-lantern full of raw meat can hurt a tiger.

This is the reason he found Alex so fascinating at first and couldn't resist needling and baiting her. She hated him enough to treat him differently than the rest of the Rising Dawn did (I can't imagine why), and he could tell she was obviously cut from a different cloth than the rest of them. But without the leverage of his wealth, social status, and magic power, he found himself on equal footing with his prey for the first time. His antagonism earned him a bloody nose and a black eye. Ever since, he's been more sullen around her and less willing to pick fights. Maybe he's finally learned a lesson? For once?

[chocodile]

Tiny 🐌 with big 🍅

[chocodile]

Would it be safe to assume hyden doesn't enjoy being called a "bunny" then?

He might not mind it as much as one might assume. Like, he knows he's a Rabbit, he just figures he's a different kind of Rabbit. You know, the kind that, in a just world, would possess razor sharp teeth and claws. A superior kind of Rabbit.

So "Rabbit" is fine… "Bunny", on the other hand, reads as sort of twee and infantalizing, culturally. It would be a bit like being called a "boy" or "girl" as an adult… situationally okay from family/close friends or in playful contexts, but something that would usually imply condescension coming from a stranger.

Of course, he's far too much of a sigma male to be fazed by mere mouth sounds made by lesser minds. No, the worst thing about it is that "Bunny" was Milana's pet name for him. Hearing it brings up some bad memories about their break up.

[chocodile]

What kind of sound are Theo's... noises... intended to be? Snorts? Mouth sounds? Choking sounds? Stuffy nose sounds? I feel like I imagine them as a different thing every time I read them lol

Almost all of the above, really! Nasally grunts, snorts, whines, growls, guttural noises that sound like he's clearing his throat or choking on his own air... Theo makes all manner of noises. Not on purpose.

His "noises" are unconscious vocalizations most of the time. They're akin to vocal tics.The utterances are louder, more pronounced and more frequent the more stressed he is. It takes quite a bit of effort and discomfort to suppress his noises once he feels the urge brewing (if he even catches it in time, because most of the time he isn't even fully aware that he's doing it). He does his utmost to keep them choked down, but to his embarrassment, some grunts and gags always slip through.

Also, often his laugh can sound like "a noise" since it can be more of a gargling wheeze than a proper expression of mirth. His smoking habit hasn't helped the, er, phlegminess of its sound.

A counterpoint to his common stress-sounds is his habit of making quiet humming noises when he's feeling contented and relaxed. He only does it when in exceedingly good spirits - so as you might imagine, he hasn't had much cause to hum in many years.