birch-and-aspen

[birch-and-aspen]

Happy Pride Month!

Queer old man

[birch-and-aspen]

What an odd thing to say

It's been such a long time since I've done anything like this

Also sorry the quality is kinda bad-

Context if anyone is curious:

Thistle grew up with no one having faith in them since they were disabled, leading them to overwork themself out of spite. They're stuck with the mindset that they have to be the absolute best or else no one would like or respect them.

[birch-and-aspen]

@rosedragon28 @aieroartstudios @sillygoobr64 @cryptid-creepler @ghostofcurug @somedudewithantlers @dreamyhoomanbeing @platinumsoldierarts @ ALL MY OTHER MOOTS, FOLLOWERS, AND PEOPLE I FOLLOW

I did really want to say that appreciate you all so so so so much, you all are so extremely talented, creative, skilled, and cool. I’m impressed by all of your art and love hearing your stories.

I’m also extremely grateful for all the interaction with my story. It means so much to me :)

Y’all are the best, have a great day

Reblog to let your mutuals know. . .

that they are appreciated. that they are important. that they are amazing. that they are creative. that they are loved.

No matter how long you take to reply, what mood you are in, how insecure you are feeling about your writing, or how active you are — your presence is still very much enjoyed. You never have to apologize or feel bad for taking a while with a reply, or not answering an ask right away. Life can get busy, energy can fluctuate, interest can shift, and emotions can change. You are human and these things do not make you a bad person/partner.

We write together because it is fun and enjoyable, not because it is expected of you to answer every little thing at the snap of fingers.

[birch-and-aspen]

asdfghjkl this fits them so well-

[birch-and-aspen]

bitch & aspirin 🥰🥰

Bitch, Tickle, and Aspirin

[birch-and-aspen]

Old comic

I made this over a year ago, and the original writing it’s for is even older

I stopped working on it because I originally couldn’t find a good font for it lol but I still wanted to share it :)

[birch-and-aspen]

ART FIGHT!

It’s nearly that season ):)

I might not be super active but if u reach out to me at all I WILL ATTACK YOU. If you attack me I WILL ATTACK YOU. ngl even if I can’t get you during the time, I STILL PROBABLY WILL.

[birch-and-aspen]

The Gang

[birch-and-aspen]

@cryptid-creepler Thank you so much! :D

Breakdown

So you know how I said Birch’s emotions effect the plants?

This is what I mean :)

[birch-and-aspen]

Breakdown

So you know how I said Birch’s emotions effect the plants?

This is what I mean :)

[birch-and-aspen]

THANK YOU

It means so much to me to get positive feedback on this

Lore dump: Magic system

I’ve been possessed to write this so here it goes (very heavy text incoming)

So some of u might’ve picked up on this, but there’s a lil bit of magic in Birch & Aspen’s world. In this universe it’s not exactly seen a ‘magic’, since it’s not something supernatural to them.

Basically, people and plants are able to communicate with each other. All plants have a voice and elves are able to hear them through their roots.

Plant’s voices are VERY quiet. Not even a whisper. Each plant has a different type of voice and personality. Some are quieter while others are loud, some are more defensive while others are flashy, ect. Some are also more intelligent than others and better at communicating. However, all of it boils down to instincts. What plants talk about practically 90% of the time is growth, spreading, and staying alive, because those are the plants instincts and what their goals are.

Everyone is technically able to understand the plants, however with how quiet they are people have to train and learn to actually be able to hear them. For some people it comes naturally, while others can struggle with it no matter how much they practice. But for everyone it takes learning to be able to do it, especially to do it well.

Also, hearing plants is more like feeling their emotions, rather than listening to actual words. For example, you would hear a plant whispering and feel its hunger, rather than clearly hearing it say “I’m hungry”. This is in part due to plants intelligence and skill level. It’s less of sharing a language with the plants, but more sharing an understanding with the plants. The more skilled you are at communicating with them, the more you’re able to specify their whispers into sentences.

But there is another part of plant talk; energy transferring. When you are able to communicate with the plants, you can then give the plants energy to make them grow.

Since plants have different personalities, different plants respond differently to being given energy. Most plants are a fan of it since it helps their growth and spread, but some are more stubborn towards it. The energy transfer is an agreement, so some plants need more persuasion.

Giving your energy to a plant takes from your initial energy. A way to think about it is like going on a run. For example, if you were trying to make a bush produce fruit and quickly gave it some energy to speed up to process, afterwards it would feel as if you sprinted and leave you fatigued. This can sometimes be difficult though, since unlike running where it’s easy to know your limits, it’s much harder to tell if you’re giving the plants more energy than you can handle. If you give to much, it result in you feeling like you ran 50 mph (which people aren’t cable of doing). This can result in injuries if people aren’t carful. With practice it becomes easier to tell what your limits are and can become stronger.

This skill can be used for many things:

-Helping plants grow in environments they normally wouldn’t be able to thrive in

-Speeding up growth for immediate production

-Moving plants easily, without having to take them out of the ground

-Helping plants fight off infection & illness

-Combat if you’re cool >:)

However, in modern times this skill is not taught in as many towns as it used to be. For some places, it’s a tradition or necessity so it’s commonly taught and passed down and most people have the skill. But in other places, common teachings of it have been either lost or banned. Some places stop teaching it simply because it isn’t needed anymore, where the plants thrive perfectly fine by themselves. Teaching about it seemed like a hassle, so common learning of it is lost. In other places though, it was banned for how dangerous it can be. Some even try to erase it from history so no one would try to do it and get harmed.

NOW SOME CHARACTER LORE

Aspen’s town was one that did teach this skill. His town is very traditional and communication with the forest was very important to them. Aspen was naturally skilled at it and it became a passion of his

When the sickness started in the forest, Aspen’s town was one of the first to hear about it. They were fairly close to the center of the forest where it started. By that time, no one dared to try to do anything about it and got ready to leave. However, Aspen wasn’t willing to just leave. Instead he decided to go to the center of the forest and give it as much energy as it required from him to heal itself.

If the sickness had spread any more before Aspen had gotten there, Aspen most likely would have died trying to save it. And there were no promises it would have worked.

However, Aspen got lucky. Using his energy he was able to help the forest heal itself. However, to achieve this he gave away some of his life force. He got put into a deep coma for a long time after this.

He lost some years off his life after this, but also gained the strongest connection with the forest ever seen. A piece of him was practically in the forest and he could understand it better than anyone ever could. The forest was also extremely grateful and gave him the title as Guardian as the Forest, in case anything like it would ever happen again. The forest overall favored him so they kept him safe and follow his command. (That’s majority of the forest though. There are still other plants that don’t like him, some that even hate him.)

When Aspen adopted Birch, Birch also got forest favoritism. Birch was born naturally skilled at it, but in his home town it wasn’t taught or even talked about so Aspen taught him. The forest is also generally found of Birch because he has a lot of excess energy. Since Birch’s bond with the forest is strong, sometimes his energy can bounce off of him and to the plants without him even thinking about it. This especially happens when Birch is emotional (and Birch is REALLY emotional). The plants love this about him, but it can sometimes be dangerous for Birch.

Thistle didn’t get as lucky as Birch though. Similar to Birch, Thistle’s town didn’t teach it at all and they learned from Aspen. However they aren’t that skilled at it (and they didn’t get favoritism).

Hopefully that makes sense and is interesting. Sorry it’s a lot of words. Have a good day :)

[birch-and-aspen]

Lore dump: Magic system

I’ve been possessed to write this so here it goes (very heavy text incoming)

So some of u might’ve picked up on this, but there’s a lil bit of magic in Birch & Aspen’s world. In this universe it’s not exactly seen a ‘magic’, since it’s not something supernatural to them.

Basically, people and plants are able to communicate with each other. All plants have a voice and elves are able to hear them through their roots.

Plant’s voices are VERY quiet. Not even a whisper. Each plant has a different type of voice and personality. Some are quieter while others are loud, some are more defensive while others are flashy, ect. Some are also more intelligent than others and better at communicating. However, all of it boils down to instincts. What plants talk about practically 90% of the time is growth, spreading, and staying alive, because those are the plants instincts and what their goals are.

Everyone is technically able to understand the plants, however with how quiet they are people have to train and learn to actually be able to hear them. For some people it comes naturally, while others can struggle with it no matter how much they practice. But for everyone it takes learning to be able to do it, especially to do it well.

Also, hearing plants is more like feeling their emotions, rather than listening to actual words. For example, you would hear a plant whispering and feel its hunger, rather than clearly hearing it say “I’m hungry”. This is in part due to plants intelligence and skill level. It’s less of sharing a language with the plants, but more sharing an understanding with the plants. The more skilled you are at communicating with them, the more you’re able to specify their whispers into sentences.

But there is another part of plant talk; energy transferring. When you are able to communicate with the plants, you can then give the plants energy to make them grow.

Since plants have different personalities, different plants respond differently to being given energy. Most plants are a fan of it since it helps their growth and spread, but some are more stubborn towards it. The energy transfer is an agreement, so some plants need more persuasion.

Giving your energy to a plant takes from your initial energy. A way to think about it is like going on a run. For example, if you were trying to make a bush produce fruit and quickly gave it some energy to speed up to process, afterwards it would feel as if you sprinted and leave you fatigued. This can sometimes be difficult though, since unlike running where it’s easy to know your limits, it’s much harder to tell if you’re giving the plants more energy than you can handle. If you give to much, it result in you feeling like you ran 50 mph (which people aren’t cable of doing). This can result in injuries if people aren’t carful. With practice it becomes easier to tell what your limits are and can become stronger.

This skill can be used for many things:

-Helping plants grow in environments they normally wouldn’t be able to thrive in

-Speeding up growth for immediate production

-Moving plants easily, without having to take them out of the ground

-Helping plants fight off infection & illness

-Combat if you’re cool >:)

However, in modern times this skill is not taught in as many towns as it used to be. For some places, it’s a tradition or necessity so it’s commonly taught and passed down and most people have the skill. But in other places, common teachings of it have been either lost or banned. Some places stop teaching it simply because it isn’t needed anymore, where the plants thrive perfectly fine by themselves. Teaching about it seemed like a hassle, so common learning of it is lost. In other places though, it was banned for how dangerous it can be. Some even try to erase it from history so no one would try to do it and get harmed.

NOW SOME CHARACTER LORE

Aspen’s town was one that did teach this skill. His town is very traditional and communication with the forest was very important to them. Aspen was naturally skilled at it and it became a passion of his

When the sickness started in the forest, Aspen’s town was one of the first to hear about it. They were fairly close to the center of the forest where it started. By that time, no one dared to try to do anything about it and got ready to leave. However, Aspen wasn’t willing to just leave. Instead he decided to go to the center of the forest and give it as much energy as it required from him to heal itself.

If the sickness had spread any more before Aspen had gotten there, Aspen most likely would have died trying to save it. And there were no promises it would have worked.

However, Aspen got lucky. Using his energy he was able to help the forest heal itself. However, to achieve this he gave away some of his life force. He got put into a deep coma for a long time after this.

He lost some years off his life after this, but also gained the strongest connection with the forest ever seen. A piece of him was practically in the forest and he could understand it better than anyone ever could. The forest was also extremely grateful and gave him the title as Guardian as the Forest, in case anything like it would ever happen again. The forest overall favored him so they kept him safe and follow his command. (That’s majority of the forest though. There are still other plants that don’t like him, some that even hate him.)

When Aspen adopted Birch, Birch also got forest favoritism. Birch was born naturally skilled at it, but in his home town it wasn’t taught or even talked about so Aspen taught him. The forest is also generally found of Birch because he has a lot of excess energy. Since Birch’s bond with the forest is strong, sometimes his energy can bounce off of him and to the plants without him even thinking about it. This especially happens when Birch is emotional (and Birch is REALLY emotional). The plants love this about him, but it can sometimes be dangerous for Birch.

Thistle didn’t get as lucky as Birch though. Similar to Birch, Thistle’s town didn’t teach it at all and they learned from Aspen. However they aren’t that skilled at it (and they didn’t get favoritism).

Hopefully that makes sense and is interesting. Sorry it’s a lot of words. Have a good day :)

[birch-and-aspen]

Thank you sm :D

IT’S TIME

Here’s a lore drop for the main characters of my story!

This is just their general backstories

Aspen

He/Him, 63

As a young adult, Aspen nearly sacrificed his life to save the forest from a deadly sickness. He luckily survived and was granted the title of the forest guardian by the forest. He lived by himself and worked as a traveling healer until he found Birch, who he took in. He taught Birch and made him his apprentice.

Birch

He/Him, 17

When Birch was a kid, he accidentally lead a monster to his home town. After the attack he had to leave his town. While stranded in the forest he met Aspen, who offered him a home. Birch later became Aspen’s apprentice and next in line as the forest guardian.

Thistle

Any pronouns, 18

Thistle was bullied as a kid for missing an arm, so they were homeschooled by their dad. They grew up working in their dad’s shop until they met Birch. They became Birch’s friend and also began Aspen’s student.

[birch-and-aspen]

Smug

[birch-and-aspen]

Drawing test

Ngl trying to fight twink allegations from my friend. It’s hard balancing out Birch’s strength and the fact he’s a kid. Or I’m just bad with proportions and body types T . T

[birch-and-aspen]

IT’S TIME

Here’s a lore drop for the main characters of my story!

This is just their general backstories

Aspen

He/Him, 63

As a young adult, Aspen nearly sacrificed his life to save the forest from a deadly sickness. He luckily survived and was granted the title of the forest guardian by the forest. He lived by himself and worked as a traveling healer until he found Birch, who he took in. He taught Birch and made him his apprentice.

Birch

He/Him, 17

When Birch was a kid, he accidentally lead a monster to his home town. After the attack he had to leave his town. While stranded in the forest he met Aspen, who offered him a home. Birch later became Aspen’s apprentice and next in line as the forest guardian.

Thistle

Any pronouns, 18

Thistle was bullied as a kid for missing an arm, so they were homeschooled by their dad. They grew up working in their dad’s shop until they met Birch. They became Birch’s friend and also began Aspen’s student.

[birch-and-aspen]

Final Product

Birch’s pauldron is now REAL!!

This was so much fun to do :)