#oc: alan le diac

[squarebracket-trickster]

Happy WBW!

If your world has a main culture or religion, tell me about the people who DON'T believe in the same gods or culture. What groups are the minorities?

Hey friend! Thanks for the ask!

Incoming infodump because I spent sooooo much time on this oh my god.

WIPVII is basically just England in the early 1300s but slightly to the left. I did not want my story to fall into the trap of treating a pseudo-medieval England like a cultural and religious monolith because, of course, it gives the impression that real medieval England was a monolith and feeds into all sorts of bigoted revisionist history so...

I based the main religion heavily off of Catholicism because so many plot points in the story (around modesty, fidelity, marriage, women's roles etc.) rely on a very Christian-like status quo. The main culture is based off of the dominant Anglo-Norman culture in 1300s England. Of course, this makes it only fair that some other religions and cultures that also existed in 1300s England also get a shout out.

Ieuan is Cilfac and Udan, fictional cultures with similarities to Welsh and Jewish culture and religion respectively.

Uthman is multi-generational Cithic (which is the main ethnic group) but his ancestry is Idaluan, a fictional culture inspired by Muslim Al-Andalus (Spain). He still practices the religion of his ancestors too.

Henry has a grandmother from Lyzviria, similar to the Byzantine Empire (mainly Greek at this time). From her he gets his complexion, still pale-skinned because she came from royalty but with golden undertones rather than pink, and hair with dark, loose curls.

Matilda's father is from Para, a fictional city resembling Jerusalem. I never decided which religious group he belongs to but never comes up. Matilda was raised by her Cithic-Andovin mother, aunt, and uncle and practices the dominant religion.

There is also a more minor character (though arguably the most important after the pro- and antagonists themselves as far as plot is concerned) named Tamas of Mairan. Tamas is a seafaring mercenary/pirate who commands a multi-ethnic crew. He himself is from Torsia, which is inspired by Persia during Mongol conquest.

There are also a few other ethnicities that aren't dominant but... our modern lens see them all as white people whereas the distinctions are important to the people in this world.

Some context:

The Andovins are inspired by the Normans. The Pylts are inspired by the Anglo-Saxons (who, in 1333, had mostly integrated with the conquering Norman culture to become the Anglo-Normans, but some remote vestiges likely remained). The Cithic people are like to the Anglo-Normans, mostly common people with Piltish ancestry. The Cithic-Andovins are the upper-class, the rulers of Cithidy who are technically Cithic because they are from Cithidy but have much more in common, including the Andovaic language, with the Andovins than with the Cithics they rule over. There is also an ethnic group called the Diacs who live in northeastern Dian (it is from them the kingdom gets its name); this group is representative of the Celtic Bretons who came with the Normans to England in 1066. And I mentioned the Cilfacs already too.

This makes the two dominants groups the Cithics and the Cithic-Andovins. The Cithics are the majority group and make up the urban class of merchants, craftsmen, and clergy in most regions of Cithidy and Dian. The Cithic-Andovins are the ruling class that conquered Cithidy and Dian. They share a religion with the Cithics but not a language, and there are cultural differences. They are minority but comprise most of the noble families.

The Cilfacs and the Diacs follow a religion based on Celtic Christianity. The Pylts technically share a religion with the Cithics and Andovins, but they have some unique saints and traditions carried over from pagan times (although that was 600 years ago.)

As mentioned Ieuan is both Cilfac and Udan. He had a Cilfac parent, and a parent who was also Cilfac-Udan. In terms of his religious practices, he tries to honour both traditions in his own way.

Alan is Diac.

Wulfrith identifies more as Piltish than he does Cithic. Where he is from they still speak a dialect of the old Piltish tongue rather than the new Cithic one. The difference is like the difference between Old and Middle English (aka. Anglo-Norman). In fact, I cheated and just used Old English words for anything named in the Piltic language. Pilitish itself comes from pyll + cythu, the Old English words for inlet and homeland. Cithic is also derrived from cythu.

Though to be fair, I did that with more than just Old English. Wulfrith is an Anglo-Saxon name. Alan is a Breton one. Tamas is a name contemporary to 1300s Persia, and Uthman an Islamic name used in 1300s Al-Andalus. Ieuan is a Welsh name. Dian and Diac derrive from the Breton word diazac which means land that drains into a river. Cilfac is the Welsh word for creek.

so uh yeah... I hope you enjoyed my info dump!

[squarebracket-trickster]

Hi, happy blorbo blursday to you!! (As usual I am @writeblr-of-my-own).

How do your blorboes react when they get sick? Who gets sick more often? Who takes care of them? Who pushes trough the pain, and who gets in bed when they have the slightest cold? Who is super mad when they get ill and who does not mind?

Go wild with this one!

Thanks for the ask<3

Isolde gets sick like all the time but she will deny it vehemently until she practically collapses. Once she is in bed though she does not want to leave. Henry normally takes care of her, which means bribing her to actually get some sleep.

Henry pretty much never gets sick, the asshole. It's just good genes. The one time he does get sick he gets really sick and he is pissed about it. It is Isolde's turn to bribe him to actually get some rest.

Uthman (formerly Ulvin) gets little colds every now and then and Alan babies him. Everyone else is pretty sure Uthman fakes the colds (or at least how severe they are) just so Alan will rub his shoulders.

Alan (formerly Mace) does not get sick often, and when he does he complains bitterly about it because it is getting in the way of stuff he needs to do. Uthman tries to take care of him but Alan keeps getting up and making is own breakfast etc. before Uthman can get there.

Wulfrith (formerly Knuckles) gets the absolute worst man colds. No one wants to be around him so the whole group takes care of him by leaving his porridge at the door for him to come get. between boughts of eardrum rupturing sneezes Wulfrith will call them all wimps.

Ieuan (formerly Sniff) gets extra miserable when he is sick. He wants complete silence and complete darkness and for everyone to just leave him alone to die. The others still make him porridge and slip it through the door but according to Ieuan, "I am FINE. Just let me starve. I HATE this [being sick]."

Matilde (formerly Phraelys) gets sick twice a years like clockwork. Everyone dotes on her, brings her her favourite foods, and tells her stories. She gets everyone else sick because she likes to cuddle.

[squarebracket-trickster]

Hello! It's still Blorbo Blursday in my time zone, so have an ask.

Your blorbos are organising prom at high school. Who is doing what job (selling tickets, looking after the money, decorations, DJing, etc.)?

It's still Blursday in my time zone for like another 7 hours don't worry.

oh gosh, okay. So my blorbos for my current project are very different ages and I don't want to age them down/up for this because it would change their dynamic. So I am just going to assume Ieuan and Wulfrith are adults helping out their young relatives and Matilde is the clingy little sibling the other characters have to supervise until her parents pick her up.

Isolde, Henry, Uthman, and Alan are close enough in age I can just say they're all on the prom-committee.

Okay...

Isolde is micromanaging. everything. Like, planning parties is her thing. She knows exactly what needs to be done to make it go smoothly and she does not trust these layabouts to understand her vision. (worst part is, she's right and the prom would have been a disaster had she not planned for every possible lull in the entertainment and unforeseen circumstance under the sun).

Matilde is her little assistant who Isolde uses to convey messages to the others, and also as a consultant on what colour the décor should be. Matilde takes her job as messenger very seriously (she bosses everyone around and Isolde lets her.)

Alan sells the tickets and looks after the money. His main responsibility is keeping his boyfriend's pesky little hands out of the cash box. He was chosen for the job because he is the only one who knows Uthman well enough to know his tricks.

Uthman got stuck hanging decorations. Isolde trusts him with nothing else. She barely trusts him with that. But he's good at climbing so that's a plus. Isolde sends Matilde to give him a new instruction about every two minutes to keep him busy. Uthman is ready to punch both of them. He doesn't care the Matilde is a child.

Ieuan is the only one with a licence so Isolde sent him to pick up the supplies. He is happy to do this because it means he is alone and unbothered. Isolde can't yell at him for not getting back on time if his phone is off.

Wulfrith is the DJ. He has such DJ/sound guy energy. Isolde, Uthman, and Matilde also call him over about every ten minutes when they need help lifting something heavy.

Henry is helping Alan with the tickets and money (i.e. showing him memes). Every time Isolde catches them snickering at something she marches over with another task for Henry to do. Every time she turns around he is back with Alan. When she asks if he did what she asked, annoyingly, he has. Isolde is stunned because there is no way someone would do that so fast. She thinks Henry's being an ass but, in truth, he just finds it cute when she's irritated.

[squarebracket-trickster]

Hi there! Happy STS!If your story took place in a different decade, what stereotype would your characters be? (For example, would they be a 1990s high powered exec with little time for his kids? A 70s swinger couple hosting key parties? An 80s valley girl?) And/or how would any other elements of your story setting or world-building be affected?

thanks as always for the ask<3

For WIPVII...

Isolde would definitely be the popular (but surprisingly kind-hearted) rich girl from a 90s high school movie. Think Cher from Clueless.

Henry would be sempai in a 2000s high school anime.

Matilde would be the girl protagonist of literally any 1910-50s children's adventure story.

Alan would be a 20s gangster in a pinstripe suit.

Uthman would be the university campus communist investigated by the US government during the McCarthy era.

Ieuan would be that crusty old man in 50s movies that lives in the scary house at the end of the street and occasionally fires a rifle to lower the property taxes.

Wulfrith would be an ex-marine in an 80s G.I. movie on the run from the CIA.

[squarebracket-trickster]

hi, happy blorbo blursday!! imagine your blorbos are going to a party. how do they act? are they enjoying themselves? who's the life and soul of the party and who's more of a wallflower? who's the one who drags the others onto the dance floor?

Thanks for the ask, my moot!

I know I know I know I forbade myself from touching WIPVII for six more days... but I really wanna answer for the bandit squad. Answering this won't rely too much on remembering details from my manuscript so I'm gonna do it anyways!

Isolde and Henry and enjoying themselves immensely. They both have throngs of people queueing up to dance with them, and they are revelling in playing hard to get. They are both living for the food, the costumes, and the gossip. (They may or may not also be deliberately making eye contact while dancing with other people, trying to make the other jealous...)

Ieuan is sitting in the corner with a bottle of something strong. Everyone thinks he has checked out and just wants to go to bed but really he is eavesdropping on the conversation nearest him.

Wulfrith is the awkward one. He's not used to parties and doesn't know what to do with himself. He just kinda stands there ignored until Isolde notices and pulls him to the dance floor.

Alan and Uthman are making out in the corner. No eyes for anyone else.

Matilde is supposed to be in bed but she snuck in anyways. Henry and Isolde spend like half an hour chasing her down before they give up.