#for the record they were worldbuilding and it turned into a discussion about what institutions owe their society

[mangostarjam]

my friends are so fucking smart and cool and kind

[abyssal-ali]

Project #68 [Operation Concupiscence] - 1

Pairing: Damian Wayne x Raven Roth

Rating: M (Chapters 1-3 are merely suggestive but overall this is a smutty story;) ) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 ao3 Masterlist | Day 1: Vampire

WC: 3.5k

TW: Demon AU

A/N: For the 2023 @damirae-sauce-week. This is a Demon AU x Hogwarts AU. Moone's Institute of Magic and Mythos has three Covens (aka Houses): Demon Coven, Mage Coven, & Witch Coven. There are several subspecies of demon; for example, Damian is half Samaeline (wrath/judgement demon aka Bruce) and half Azraeline (incubi/lust demon aka Talia). I mixed canon and my worldbuilding quite thoroughly, so please don't expect much canon adherence ;) In this AU, Damian was raised with the al Ghuls before he began attending MIMM; family dynamics are not a part of this AU.

Concupiscence: definition: noun. 1. sexual desire; lust 2. ardent, usually sensuous, longing

“Now, as you Year Eights hopefully already know, the basis of any type of magic is a give-and-take system, whether it’s demonic, arcane, or natural. Today, you will be choosing one specific subsection of magic to study with your partner and will record your findings on how the give-and-take affects your experiments. No, it does not matter which Coven you are from and which substudy you choose. Your partners and substudies will be chosen at random. Half of you will be called to pick a name from this cauldron; the other half of you will choose the substudy from that cauldron. Everyone understand the objective?” 

“Yes, Professor Zatara,” chorused the roomful of students.

The professor read off a list of names from a scroll, dividing the room into two. “Okay, students in line A, please select your partner. Line B, please choose your subject. I’ll call each pair up and we can discuss the specifics of your assignment once everything is settled.”

Raven shuffled along Line B, her gaze flicking over to Line A. More specifically, a classmate in Line A, with spiky black hair, deep green eyes, an insufferable smirk, and an unquenchable need to one-up others. 

“Raven!” the person behind her hissed, jolting her out of her thoughts. “It’s your turn.”

Ignoring the person stepping up to Cauldron A beside her, who was smirking at her being caught daydreaming, she stepped forward, reaching into the depths of Cauldron B.

She moved back to her seat, uncurling the strip of parchment. Lust magic .

Scoffing inwardly, she yanked the hood of her cape over her head, only her glowing purple eyes showing from its shrouded depths. Freaking lust magic. Of course it was the one subsection of magic she had completely ignored in her studies and knew the least about.

The heavy weight of a stare that could only belong to one person settled on the back of her cape. Whirling, she glared at the boy sitting at the table behind her. “What do you want?” she growled, letting a little of her demon rasp leak through her tone.

The annoyance smirked, green eyes piercing through the shadows she had wrapped around her. “Guess who was lucky enough to choose the school’s ice princess as their partner?”

~~~

The glowing violet slits that were Raven’s eyes blinked out as she closed her eyes in frustration, causing his smirk to widen.

The violet appeared again, along with the flash of a white fang or two. “I could only be so fortunate that it was the school’s ice prince?” Her tone was heavy with sarcasm.

“Got it in one! I do hope that brilliant mind of yours will survive throughout our partnership.” 

“Oh, shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, al Ghul,” she grumbled, turning away.

“So, your cape, then? Don’t mind if I do,” he returned snarkily, knowing he’d won that round.

She growled again.

“What are we studying, partner?” he leaned over her shoulder, attempting to peer at the parchment that she slapped her hand over.

He chuckled. “Oh ho, what a visceral reaction. How intriguing…why would you attempt to cover our assignment from your partner?” He tapped his chin, imitating thinking hard. “I’m sure you wouldn’t hide it to be petty, because your grades would go down and that would be unacceptable. Could it be…!” He gasped, eyes widened dramatically. “Is it perhaps love magic, and you don’t want to admit you’re in love with me?”

The violet of her eyes gained a distinctly red hue, signalling her irritation. 

Damian smirked and dropped the subject. 

“It’s lust magic, you dolt.”

“Ah, often closely used with love magic. I can see why you hid it now…it’s even more embarrassing to admit that you’re attracted to me.”

Raven raised her arm, a rolled-up scroll of parchment in hand, prepared to thwack him.

“Raven and Damian!” called Professor Zatara.

The classroom erupted into whispers as they walked up to Professor Zatara’s desk. The Head Boy and Head Girl, bitter rivals since they had joined Moone’s Institute of Magic and Mythos eight years ago, were partnered together for this project. 

“Your subject for this project?” Zachary Zatara raised his eyebrow at the two of them.

“Lust magic.”

“Good thing you two don’t get along, so I don’t have to worry about you testing this on yourselves, huh?” Professor Zatara leaned back in his chair, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Damian could sense Raven’s irritation through her stiffness. 

“You can choose how you’ll present your findings; the due date is in four weeks. Potions, charms, curses, anything is on board. You’ll be studying the levels of give-and-take, such as seeing if there’s an exponential increase of take from what’s given. Capisce?”

Damian and Raven nodded.

“Good luck with your studies. Garfield and Jaime!” Professor Zatara dismissed them, calling the next pair up.

“We can discuss the project while we do our rounds this evening?” suggested Raven as they walked back to their tables.

“Sounds fine, Roth.”

~~~

Damian turned the corner of the Witches’ Coven and stopped short, avoiding Raven with a move that had no right to be as graceful as it did.

Stupid Azraelines and their stupid sensual grace. 

“Ready to tackle the project?” He greeted her with a cordial nod.

She turned to walk with him, nodding in agreement. “How do you want to divide the work?”

“We can both do the research since that will likely require the most time and energy. It would be best to wait until we have a better idea of what this project will entail before we divide the work between ourselves. Does that work for you, Princess?”

“Sounds fine. I just turned in two reports, so I should be free to get a head start on the research while you practice your swordsmanship.” A brilliant solution, in her mind, to her little problem. She could gain at least a rudimentary understanding of the magic before they had to knowledgeably discuss it together. 

Damian nudged a stack of books in the Witches’ Common Room into order, rescuing them from falling at the slightest breeze. “You suggested it, so don’t say I didn’t do my share of the research if you have a problem with me later.” Speaking to the air, he activated his Coven magic. “Raven Roth is voluntarily beginning the research phase of Project #68, also titled Operation Concupiscence.”

She scoffed, brushing her shoulder-length hair behind her ear. “I’m not such a tyrant that I’d keep track of the seconds we each spend on this. Also, concupiscence? Really?”

Damian mumbled something likely uncomplimentary under his breath, holding open the door to the hallway leading to the Mages’ Coven.

Deciding to ignore the insult and take the olive branch (see, she could be gracious), she strode towards the doorway. At the last second, he let it slide shut in her face.

Nevermind. She was going to end him once this project was over.

~~~

Raven sat in the library’s restricted section, thankful for the perks afforded by the Head Girl and one of the students fluctuating between first and second-ranked academically throughout the whole school.

Only a handful of students were allowed in the restricted section, and her nemesis was currently occupied with the duelling club, which he headed.

Satisfied with her privacy, she began collecting the tomes she’d mentally taken note of during earlier strolls through the stacks and carried the armful to the table in the middle of the area.

Pulling out her scroll of notes for this project, she weighted the edges down with the covers of the open books, stopping the curl of the paper that made it difficult to completely fill the parchment with notes.

Dipping her quill in the ink, she began.

Project #68

Due Date: Imbolc Eve

Partner: Damian al Ghul (Demon)

Thesis: Interchange in Lust magic.

References:  

Raven flipped to the title page of the first book, making sure she didn’t accidentally knock over her ink bottle.

Drat, she’d grabbed For the Love of Lust I, not For the Love of Lust II.

She took the book back to its shelf and retrieved the sequel, checking its title page while she was there to ensure no mix-ups occurred a second time. She had a limited period of uninterrupted time here, after all.

Returning to her desk, she picked up her quill and began marking her reference books.

Her hand paused over the final title.

Project #68 (Operation Concupiscence)

Due Date: Imbolc Eve

Partner: Damian al Ghul (Demon)

Thesis: Interchange in Lust magic.

References: For the Love of Lust II, The History of Love Deals and How to Avoid Scams, Nymphomagick: A Volume, How to Fulfill Sexual Summonings, So You Think You’ve Been Put Under a Love Spell, Sensual Creatures and Their Abilities + Uses

“Al Ghul!” she growled, spotting the addition.

How he had found the time to tamper with her scroll, she wasn’t sure, but she was going to give him heaven when she found out. That blessed sneak!

~~~

Damian sneezed violently, his instinctual defensive parry blocking his opponent’s blade as his eyes automatically closed.

Recovering, he disarmed his opponent with a flourish, a smirk taking over the usual no-nonsense set of his jaw. Roth must have found his addition. When he had declared the name of their project earlier, his Coven magic automatically completed it if some were left out. She’d never been able to harness the Coven magic and understand it like him, which was a shame, considering her heritage and raw potential. It made certain things so much easier to keep track of.

~~~

Raven angrily flipped through Sensual Creatures and Their Abilities + Uses, the final book in her pile and so far the least helpful. She could think of a handful of beings known for their sexual appeal and not one appeared between the pages of this out-of-date volume!

An illustration caught her eye and she turned back three pages to see a strange slew of lines, faded red colouring, and lots of sharp-looking marks that she guessed were fangs, or maybe stakes?

‘Vampyre, 1214, illustration by an eyewitness recollectione’, was its title.

The vampyre, or, as some call it, the vampire, is a creature of the night that subsists almost entirely on blood.  

Skipping the paragraphs about the beings, she scanned the page for anything that would further her digging.

Some suggest that there exists a select group of these creatures which have managed to survive by feeding on others’ sexual energies, instead of consuming their blood. This maye be a confusion between vampyres and liderc, or perhaps incubi, or perhaps vampyres have truely changed enough that blood no longer sustains them. Feeding off of sexual energies could stop the rashes of vampyres and their bloodbathes that have steadily grown more common this past sixteenth century.

Finally, something useful! Mentally giving a cheer, Raven pulled the book closer and began studying.

~~~

Damian paused at the sight of Raven, fast asleep in the restricted section. Her head was on her arms, the hood of her cloak pushed back, and she looked soft in the warm glow of the library light.

Raven always kept a neutral expression, but until he saw her relaxed like this, he had assumed it was her default face setting. Now he saw why; she was far too delicate when she relaxed, and to a rule-stickler, top student, and Head Girl like herself, she couldn’t afford to show any softness.

He didn’t know all the details about her backstory, but he knew enough that he understood why she pushed herself so hard and strove to be the best at everything. They were similar in that aspect–in fact, the more he pondered it, the more similarities he found between them.

Shivering at the uncomfortable realization, Damian turned to leave.

At the exit of the restricted section, he paused and turned again.

~~~

Licking her lips, Raven ran her fingers through her hair and sat up, momentarily confused at her surroundings until she remembered how tired she’d been after she finished the day’s research.

She hooked her hands over her shoulders, grabbing for her hood, but pulled something else up instead.

Raven stared at the dark green, almost black, cloak, one hand absently stroking the soft material. She immediately missed the warmth from her back.

~~~

“What’s Roth doing?” Dane, a Year Six student from the Demon Coven, leaned forward to see past Damian at the breakfast table.

Damian turned his head, watching as Raven stalked silently up and down the aisles of tables, something in her hand that she periodically shook her head at.

She turned and started down the next row of tables, and Damian saw his cloak in her hand.

Half-stifling a smirk, he turned back to his breakfast.

“Something funny, al Ghul?”

He glanced up at Raven’s raised brow.

“Nothing more than the usual; your face,” the taunt slipped out, a habit from years of bantering.

Her lips pursed, a minuscule amount that likely no one but he would notice, but she gave no other reaction. Usually, they didn’t attack each other’s features, but he was still a little unsettled that he’d willingly given her his cloak (and now she was making something out of it), so he didn’t apologize and instead squished the tiny shred of guilt.

“What’s the matter? You look a little peaked today…could it be? Has the stick up you-”

“Al Ghul,” her withering tone and pointed look at the younger students, who were all thoroughly invested in their drama, reminded him where he was. “I simply found this cloak and was attempting to return it to its owner.”

“Ms Moone has a lost and found box, you know,” he drawled, raising his eyebrow as he stood, collecting his dishes. 

A faint colour covered her chest, spreading around the edges of her leotard, and his thoughts immediately wandered to curiously wondering how far it spread, if it could get any darker and just how he’d accomplish tha-

“It’s cold out,” Raven interrupted the salacious turn his mind had wandered to. “I didn’t want a student to freeze. I’ll unfortunately see you in Advanced Runes.” With a swish of her cloak, she stalked out of the room, the picture of regal grace.

~~~

As Year Eight students, Damian and Raven were among the oldest students attending Moone’s Institute of Magic and Mythos. Most students graduated once they completed Year Seven, but particularly studious or talented students sometimes stayed another year or two, taking the equivalent of university prep and university courses, appreciating the safety the school afforded them.

Moone’s Institute of Magic and Mythos was a neutral ground for any and all magical creatures and wielders and had a strict no-discrimination policy. Even the students’ parents, guardians, or mentors were not allowed to interfere in anything relating to the school or its students while they were on its grounds, no matter how powerful, influential, or connected they were.

For that reason, some of the students who didn’t have the most stable backgrounds were eager to jump at the chance to further their studies and linger in the relative safety of the Institute before they joined the harsher worlds out there. 

It was practically announcing that something was wrong if you took a Year Eight, but most students preferred to keep their cards close to their chest about the specifics of why they were staying since information was power, and once they graduated Year Eight, any information gained about them from their Institute years was fair game to everyone else.

Raven knew why she was taking a Year Eight, but she didn’t understand why Damian had. Even though his family was the most powerful Azraeline clan, they were what some, including her so-called family, might call decent.

She’d never interacted much with his family, though, as students did not typically receive visitors throughout the school year, and also, why would he want to introduce her to his family. Who knows, maybe the al Ghuls were just as bad as the Trigons. It wasn’t like she particularly cared about him, anyway. Shaking her head, Raven discarded her rambling thoughts about her partner and opened another volume that she hoped would provide her with more information on lust magic.

“Hard at work already, Roth?” the unpleasantly smooth voice of Damian al Ghul sounded behind her.

She glared at him as he slid into the seat perpendicular to her, setting out his books and note scrolls neatly. 

“I was trying to before you interrupted me.” The restrictions on the restricted section of the library needed to be tightened, she decided.

He ignored her pointed jab and unscrewed the lid of his ink jar.

“Sounds like you might need to try some of these potions I’ve come across in my research. Maybe if you got laid, you’d be more pleasant to be around…oh, I see, it’s a catch-22; your unpleasant demeanour drives off anyone who would help you with that problem you have. My apologies, Roth,” he muttered faux-sympathetically.

“I see my ‘unpleasant demeanour’ still hasn’t driven you off,” she retorted. “Seems like you’re my last resort.”

Shifting in her seat, she leaned closer, letting her cape drop as her hand rested on his knee.

Damian’s widened green eyes dropped to take in her long legs and his mouth parted slightly, tempting Raven, but she restrained herself just before her nose brushed his. “If you still stick around after I’ve been so unpleasant, either something is wrong with you, or you’re more attached to me than I thought,” she whispered, her breath skimming his cheek. 

This close, she could hear the rapid thump of Damian’s heartbeat and smell the saffron and rose water that she’d only ever gotten a hint of before. The delicate strength of the aroma was not one she’d have thought Damian would wear, but the strange pairing worked for him.

Sitting back abruptly, she returned to her studying, but she noticed with a pleased twist of her lips that Damian sat unmoving for several minutes before he recovered himself.

Maybe he had a point…

~~~

Year Five

Raven’s cape snagged, pulling her into a dark alcove in the Institute’s halls in the Demon Coven.

“Sh!” The whisper behind her and the hand covering her mouth could only belong to one person.

Damian wrenched his hand away from her with a silent yelp that she could feel him let out as she bit down hard on his flesh.

“What do you want, al Ghul?” Taking a step back, she let the cool stone of the wall she leaned against calm her sudden spike in heart rate.

“You know I’m not trying to insult you, right?” he muttered, shaking his hand in the air as if the breeze would heal his pain.

“It seems kind of hard to interpret the sneers and jibes as anything other than insults,” Raven answered dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Damian tutted, leaning back against the wall opposite her. “I mean, I don’t actually mean what I’m saying. I simply appreciate the mental stimulation of a good verbal spar. It’s come to my attention that I perhaps am making you feel bad, which is not my intention.”

Pursing her lips in slight surprise at Damian’s words, Raven let him stew for a few moments.

“No, I’ve never particularly felt personally insulted by your words. I prefer to pay as little attention as possible to things beneath me.”

Damian huffed and she smirked.

Taking pity on him, she straightened. “No, I don’t mind. I also enjoy our little altercations. I appreciate your attempt to clear this up. See you around, al Ghul.”

“Wait!” Damian’s fingers gently closed around her wrist. 

She looked down at their joined hands, then back to Damian. The moonlight sneaking through the slits in the walls revealed a slightly flustered look on his face, though his tone also gave his discomfort away.

“Sorry, it’s just- the other students have some bets on our…interactions. Neither of us particularly wants their attention, and if we were suddenly-”

“Relax, al Ghul.” She peeled his fingers away from her wrist with her free hand. “Just because we’ve now acknowledged that we don’t take each other’s words to heart doesn’t mean we need to act all friendly. Keep up what we’ve been doing and everything will be fine.”

With a swish of her cape, she resumed her stroll, a grin playing on her lips as she recalled Damian’s unusual flusteredness. It was kind of cute.

[thetruearchmagos]

Dignified Discussion

Bardish Undergound Parliamentary Boxing, In Brief.

Thank you @lividdreamz for giving me a reason to turn this little blurb into something more substantial! It's objectively one of my more... outlandish, Worldbuilding points, and always one I've been unsure about making canon, but if I were to, this would be what it looks like.

Tagging @athenswrites @theprissythumbelina @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations @thatndginger @avrablake @username-cause-i-need-one @nerdexer

The Practice

Bardish Underground Parliamentary Boxing is a political phenomenon historically practiced by elected members of the Parliament of the Republic of Bardin. Tracing its roots to the very dawn of Bardish democracy and nationhood, its modern form bears little resemblance to how it began.

The practice manifests primarily in single combat between Members of similar stature and standing in the House. The combatants wear their usual Parliamentary attire, and fight bare knuckle without any form of weaponry. Such engagements traditionally take place within any of the myriad spare rooms and empty spaces of Parliaments chambers, and are solely witnessed by other elected members of the House as witnesses and supporters of either side.

The History

The motivations behind the duels themselves has evolved remarkably over the Republic's history, as has their intensity.

The lands now united and named 'Bardin' are no stranger to political violence, and much blood was shed by even its most democratic minded actors in their attempt to bring it all together. Sharp political divisions marked every facet of government in the nation's earliest years, despite the best efforts of its democratic framework to keep it civil. Outbursts of violence between elected representatives of historically aggrieved regions were not uncommon, and in such an inflamed public environment could spill outwards into the streets and country.

The institution of formalised, highly confidential 'duelling', was thus created in an attempt to ensure that whatever hostilities existed between representatives were settled between closed doors. This decision was made in the aftermath of the most publicly dramatic incident of elected violence yet seen, when a large brawl broke out in the aisles and seats of Parliament's own chambers. Discretion, it was decided, would spare everyone a great deal of embarassment.

The general trend in Parliamentary Boxing from then to the present day has reflected the increasing 'normalisation' of the Republic's internal politics and society. Disputes over appointments within the Government of the day and over specific legislation were and remain major 'motivators' for hostile parties to request a few minutes in a windowless room, but it is now generally accepted that the outcome of their 'spirited debate' should have no impact on the actual business of government. Thus, they are usually scheduled to occur after the decision in question has already been resolved.

The Films

As the underlying aggression behind Bardish politics has waned, Boxing has increasingly taken on the role of political spectacle. Bouts taking place in accordance with the above traditions but for no further reason than the entertainment or exercise of the sparring parties would grow to outnumber those fueled by genuine grievances, and have become an unofficial spectator sport amongst the Republic's elected members, complete with judges and commentators narrating the duels.

Of course, the existence of the practice would not remain secret for too long, but by the time the rumours had been elevated from 'conspirational slander' to 'commonly accepted truth', Bardish society at large would quietly accept its occurrence. This subtle, mutually unspoken existence would be blown out of the water, with the invention of the motion film.

Soon after that innovation was brought to light, Bardish Members would for reasons lost to history request for their exploits to be recorded for posterity. At some point not long after, one Member, having witnessed a rival's defeat in a bout, would leak a copy of the film to a famously sensationalist agency of the Press, who duly publicised the affair in hopes of raising a scandal which would discredit the losing boxer.

That, would not be the case.

With how widespread the myth of 'Undergound Boxing' within Parliament had become, few were particularly shocked by the revelation, though much humour was found in the manner of its release. Both parties involved in tape, having moved on from their grievances, would step forwards to issue a joint statement which reflected their amity and mutual respect. While the identity of the 'Leak' would never be discovered, the press agency in question would be publicly ridiculed for its continued attempts to take advantage of the tape, and eventual close down for good.

With this sudden and entirely unexpected reveal of boxers in the halls of Parliament, the practice would evolve once again. The majority of bouts, wisely, still take place behind closed doors, and their results remain private. Public bouts for all to see, however, have been invented as a form of informal ceremony between Members, often used to commemorate the retirement of close colleagues from public service. Across the rest of the United Commonwealth, the practice has yet to catch on, except for where Bardish representatives to the Parliament of the UC choose to engage in it. It is seen as a strange, novel oddity of the Bardish people, and one many Bardish take great pride in.

[headspace-hotel]

I've been struggling...so...hard...to maintain motivation with the biopunk WIP, which is approaching its 6th anniversary of Being In My Brain. I'm forever cycling back to "okay but what if your worldbuilding is boring and no one cares about the story you have to tell in this world and it sucks"

but right now i'm just...rereading it. and I wanted to share some of the worldbuilding concepts okay

tl;dr: the setting is The Future, post-apocalyptic, but the previous ("our") civilization and the immediate aftermath is an almost mythological past, an age of heroes and prophets, but people KNOW there was Real History, but everything that far back is kinda fuzzy and debatable.

this book is supposed to seriously fuck with your head in terms of the divide between sci-fi and fantasy and the divide between "science/knowledge" and "religion/myth."

The worldbuilding is DEEPLY steeped in spirituality, folklore, and religion, sacredness and the afterlife and other spiritual concepts like that are very REAL to the characters, and i'm trying to deal with it Very Respectfully and make it clear that these people are not superstitious or stupid.

(Everyone is also kind of a "mutt" spiritually/religiously which is super funny. The vibe is like, there are a lot of people who aren't super serious about religion but they are super serious about ghosts being real and if a priest is no help they'll go find a shaman.)

One of the main characters is non-binary. The philosophy and spirituality of gender in this world is discussed and it's neat. This character is also an archetypal Trickster in every sense and I won't say much more yet but they're probably my favorite character I've ever written AAAAAAAAA

i'm working so, so hard to express characters' understanding of "sci-fi stuff" like technology and scientific concepts in language that culturally makes sense to them, and it is SO fun. especially when I get to express science fiction stuff in "mythological" terminology

e.g. genetic engineering: "They unwound and read the scrolls within living cells. Mortals learned the forbidden language of Life." Like DNA is described as an arcane/magical "language" (The Inmost Language or the language of Life) but nothing said about it is exactly wrong. at one point the main character meets a character with unnaturally golden hair created by genetic engineering and MC is thinking "the institute scribes did that. wrote gold gold shiny gold shiny bright gold in her cells to tell her hair to do that." this book is FULL of stuff like this

There's a major religion centered around a prophet that heard the voices of the dead and wrote down their teachings.

If you're not paying attention, you will get bitchslapped by the reveal that this is literally what happened: there was a vault, think "nuclear waste warning messages," where recordings containing important information for future humans were stored, and someone found it and shared the information with others. stuff like "wash your hands to stop disease from spreading" and "don't be racist" kinda got turned into religious teachings that occasionally seem weird, even backward.

There is another big one where it's like "there was a prophecy that civilization would perish in rising water..." and it's like okay, this myth is Noah's flood. NO BITCH IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE. But also yes.

Wolves have kinda migrated into being a mythological animal that symbolizes death. One character knows they really existed and can't stop themselves from correcting other people about it but everyone else just thinks it's funny that they think wolves are real

there's a people group in this story that is...I guess "indigenous-coded" is the right word? and a lot of the worldbuilding surrounding their culture will fuck with your head so good because you, as the reader, are a cultural outsider and your understanding of their culture changes but is never 100% accurate

e.g. this culture has a taboo surrounding personal names where in all but the most intimate relationships and interactions you call others by descriptive 'nicknames' based on what you observe about the person, what you want them to know that you notice, etc. There is a TON of cultural meaning in WHAT you decide to call someone and it can be a power play or something that gives the other person a lot of information about your intentions. But basically the full "meaning" of the taboo and when it's appropriate/normal to use a personal name is never exactly clarified. But for a while as a reader you're just taking the piss because there's a scene where a character dramatically "reveals" his "real" name and it's very serious and emotional at the time but as the story goes on and you know more, it becomes clear that he was just fucking lying

i'm putting so much effort into streamlining how characters word things, making slang roll off the tongue and SOUND and feel natural and intuitive, making the technologies feel as normal as any technology we have around us.

like. most lighting is bioluminescent. But I'm not gonna point out bioluminescent lighting because who walks into a room and notices that the lights are electric. what you would notice is old electric bulbs with spiderwebs on them vs. new LED lights, and that's richer and more detail-laden stuff.

and after SO much hard work the descriptions feel so lush and rich and crunchy. I'm making it sound all Complex. It's fun. It's REALLY fun. there are zombies.

I've worldbuilt the most random things. I've invented a bunch of bioengineered cat breeds for this book. I made up a sport where goats race up a wooden pyramid and try to stay on top for the longest period and wrote a kentucky derby style narration for it. I designed a bobbit worm themed dress. not to mention. all the elaborate names for female criminals such as Gory Gertrude.

[shuttershocky]

The Tsukihime Worldbuilding Primer : Part 1 - The Factions

Hey Type-Moon fans! Have you not read Tsukihime but wondered how much of the Nasuverse lore you’ve missed out on? Then this is for you! This will be an easy to read Nasuverse worldbuilding guide meant for those who are unwilling or otherwise unable to read Tsukihime, from a very big Tsukihime fan that understands that we’ll all be dead before the remake comes out. It will discuss everything from the factions, magic, connections to Fate and Kara No Kyoukai, and anything else people might find interesting. I will also avoid any major plot spoilers in case this convinces you to read Tsukihime in the future!

(Of course you could just read all this on the Type-Moon wiki yourself, but good luck in those murky waters)

For this post, we’ll talk about the three main factions introduced in the Tsukihime franchise.

1.) The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors

Also seen in Fate/Zero, Fate/Apocrypha, and Fate/Strange Fake, the Dead Apostles are the Nasuverse’s term for vampires, powerful monsters that feed on the living. They roam Earth in secret, disguising themselves as humans, while secretly feeding on them at night and turning their corpses into mindless slaves. They are aggressive and territorial, and thus normally stay away from each other, thankfully reducing their ability to form solid alliances and become a massive threat to humanity. 

Just like Servants, the abilities of a Dead Apostle vary per individual. Some, like Odd Borzak in Fate/Zero, are not very powerful, and are only capable of creating ghouls and controlling bees. Others like Zepia Eltnam (otherwise known as TATARI), can manifest powerful reality marbles the size of a whole city and maintain it for several days. Within Tsukihime (and apparently even in Fate considering one of them appeared in Strange Fake) 27 of these Dead Apostles form the leadership of these monsters. They are known as the Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors.

These individuals are extremely dangerous, and together they form an organization that rivals the Church and the Magus Association in power. Originally humans imprisoned to be food for the True Ancestors (a lesson for another time!), The DAA is composed of some of the most powerful Dead Apostles on Earth, each one capable of taking on servants and entirely wiping out human settlements.

A good example for what a Dead Apostle Ancestor looks like is Nrvnsqr (pronounced “Nero”) Chaos. 

This vampire keeps 666 beasts in his body, capable of using them for attack, defense, and scouting the area for enemies. The beasts themselves range from mere animals such as crows and lions to powerful magical beasts such as unicorns and dragons, making him absurdly powerful even among Dead Apostles. Though he was defeated by Shiki Tohno in Tsukihime, he was also hinted at as the reason for Richard the Lionheart and Saladin’s truce during the First Crusades in Fate/Strange Fake[1], his arrival on the battlefield forcing both sides to band together for survival.

The primary goal of this organization is the revival of The Dark Six, the very first Dead Apostle and the only one capable of uniting all of the world’s vampires under one banner. This requires an ancient ritual called the Aylesbury Valesti that would take decades to prepare for, but completion of the ritual would spell the doom of humanity (as shown by the state of the world in Fate/Extra, where said ritual is hinted as the reason behind the total collapse of magic on Earth).

In the main timeline however, The DAA suffered several defeats during their centuries-long war with the Holy Church, during which several of their members were killed or imprisoned and thus delaying the Aylesbury Valesti. Within Tsukihime and Melty Blood, several more of their members fell during their repeated attacks on Misaki town, defeated by its inhabitants.

2.) The Holy Church

REJOICE

Known to Fate fans for being the neutral judge of the grail wars and a farmhouse for psychopath villains, The Holy Church’s true purpose in the Nasuverse is to act as humanity’s shield from the supernatural, hunting anything with even a whiff of magic and keeping the general populace in the dark. While this has famously put them at odds with the Magus Association, their true enemies are the Dead Apostle Ancestors, with whom they’ve waged war with for centuries. Their agents/inquisitors, known as Executors, are all experts at fighting inhumanly powerful enemies, with the likes of Kotomine Kirei and Hansa Cervantes able to operate alone vs such creatures.

To that end, The Church has divided itself into several subfactions such as Kotomine Kirei’s Eight Sacrament Assembly or Riesbyfe’s Chivalric Order (Aka the Knights of the Church) in order to better organize their efforts to stamp out or at least control magic, with their most powerful firebrand executors becoming members of the Burial Agency, the faction of inquisitors tasked with the extermination of the Dead Apostle Ancestors and all other demonic organizations.

Burial Agents mostly operate alone, and are known to amass great power and influence while also having the freedom to ignore any direct orders from the church itself if it will interfere in their hunt. The Agency is also not above recruiting members of the DAA themselves (through force or other means), attempting to turn them on one another in order to even the odds. A good example of a Burial Agent is Ciel.

An immortal woman who has slain countless Dead Apostles, her magical ability exceeds that of magi and even her fellow executors, turning her into a one-woman army hellbent on the extermination of the undead. She is capable of wielding any weapon, including the Church’s rarest and deadliest sacred devices, and can turn even mere Black Keys into horrifying devices capable of incinerating or exploding targets. She is also a master of reinforcement magic (the same one Emiya Shirou uses), reinforcing her body in order to grant her superhuman strength and senses, allowing her to keep up with enemies as powerful as Arcueid Brunestud. She is also popularly thought of to have given Shirou his iconic red coat that he wears as Archer.[2]

By the events of Tsukihime, the Church had successfully gained the upper hand in its secret war. The Dead Apostles of the world spend most of their time in hiding, fearing the wrath of the Church and the freelancing magi like Natalia Kaminsky and Emiya Kiritsugu who would hunt them down. Despite this, the DAA themselves are unafraid of the Church, with most of them being far too powerful to be killed by conventional means. Nevertheless, with the (rather testy) alliance that the Church has established with the Magus Association and with the True Ancestor Arcueid Brunestud (whom the Church still attacks relentlessly), humanity wields enough power to keep the DAA working from the shadows.

3.) The Atlas Academy

First introduced in Kara No Kyoukai: Oblivion Recorder, the Atlas Academy is one of the three great branches of the magus association that has since shut itself off from the rest of the world. They are mostly known to Fate fans for being Chaldea’s scientists, who assisted in the construction of Chaldea’s advanced technology.

Hidden in the Atlas Mountains (according to Kara No Kyoukai), or somewhere in Egypt (according to Melty Blood), the Atlas Alchemists are the descendants of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and are concerned with only one thing: the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. No code of ethics or law binds them, allowing for any researcher to conduct any kind of experiment, no matter how strange, cruel, or horrifying, as long as the end result is never meant to leave Atlas. Due to how shut off they are from the rest of the world (and thus show up very little in the Nasuverse), little is actually known about this organization and just how powerful they really are. It is known however, that they have their own relationship with the Church and occasionally lend them the aid of their great alchemists. There are also 7 contracts in existence that bind Atlas to lend their aid to any who own them. Four of these contracts have been recovered, three more are yet to be used.

Because there is so little known about Atlas, most of what we know of them come from the only three individual alchemists to leave the institute: Satsuki Kurogiri, Zepia Eltnam Atlasia, and Sion Eltnam Atlasia. As the backstories of all three are rife with spoilers, I’ll do my best to stay away from the plot as much as possible, as well as skip talking about Zepia entirely. He’s ALL spoilers.

Satsuki Kurogiri was the first member of Atlas to ever be shown in the Nasuverse (and also the first time the institute was ever mentioned, though the Ufotable movie cut that part out). Like the other Atlas Alchemists, his brand of magic was strange and ancient, considered to be almost completely alien to the members of the Magus Association. He had the ability to speak to the souls of all things, bending them to his will. If he tells you to sleep, you’ll fall right over. if he tells you that you can’t see, then you’ve got to learn to be Daredevil before he gets away.

Though he had this ability as a child, according to the Light Novel version of Oblivion Recorder the ability disappeared as he reached puberty and resurfaced later on in adulthood, which he then honed in the Atlas mountains.

Though Kurogiri was a minor member of the Atlas Academy, Melty Blood would introduce one of its most important people as its main protagonist: Sion Eltnam Atlasia.

The Vice Director of the Atlas Academy and the next head of the whole institute (those chosen to succeed the previous director are given the name ‘Atlasia’), Sion’s personal vendetta with one of the DAA led to her expeditions outside the Institute, and also gave us a look at what kind of technologies the Atlas Alchemists have created.

Sion’s first and most noticeable asset is her superpowered mind (but unfortunately without a mechanical canine). She’s able to perform complex mathematical calculations and analysis with incredible speed and accuracy, and is able to partition her thoughts into 7 different parts that allows her to run 7 independent thought processes at the same time. This allows her to gather and process data like a computer during combat, eventually becoming able to predict movements and decisions through statistical analysis. Whether this is simply a supernatural gift or the results of experiments she ran in Atlas, it’s never made clear, although the two weapons she brings with her certainly are.

Her gun, the Black Barrel Replica, is a replica of the ancient god-killing firearm, the, er, Black Barrel. By almost all appearances it’s just an ordinary gun, but the bullets it holds in special; they have the ability to introduce the concept of death to a being that lives without it, making immortals such as Tiamat or Arcueid capable of death. Think of it like having King Hassan’s power contained in a bullet. Terrifying.

Her second weapon is a nearly invisible string called Etherlite. The Etherlite allows her to connect the mind of any individual it is attached to to her own, superior one, allowing her to read thoughts, sift through memories, and even hack the body to augment or disable its abilities. This horrifying breach of privacy and the abuse such power was capable of was too shocking for even Atlas, and coupled with their sordid ancestry, the Eltnam’s names were disgraced in the institute.

And that’s all for this post! These posts are meant to be read by fans with very little knowledge of Tsukihime, so if there’s anything confusing or unclear (or wrong, although I’m pretty confident in the accuracy of 95% of this post), please don’t hesitate to tell me and I’ll attempt to improve the content. Thank you for reading!

Notes

1 - I have not yet reached this part in Fate/Strange Fake, although I have heard from its fans that the Dead Apostle that battles Richard is in fact, supposed to be Nrvnsqr. If this is wrong, please do tell me!

2 - Try as I might, I can’t find the interview anymore where Nasu said the red coat was a gift from the Church and most likely from Ciel. If anyone could point me to it I’ll be so grateful!