Hey I LOVE Watching The Chain Of Acheron

pit bulls aren’t evil. they just want to be loved.

Me @ people trying to turn every aspect of my identities into a “discourse”:

a character design i came up with

tagged by: @mecasloth

nicknames: lou, lissy-lou, loucifer

zodiac sign: Aquarius-Pisces cusp (tbh I’m on the cusp of pretty much every single one of these type of pseudo personality tests, which I find funny)

height: 5’something shorty

hogwarts house: Strong Ravenclaw roots, but growing ever more Slytherin

last thing googled: shadow walk pathfinder

favorite musicians: Not sure I have a specific favorite, but some notable musicians who harken back to specific times in my past are probably folks like Evanescence, Fall Out Boy, etc. One of my current/newer favs may be Grandson. And I’m always down for Disney.

following: 17

followers: 15

do i get asks: nope

amount of sleep: 6-9 hrs, usually try to stay closer to 9 but some days it just doesn’t quite get there

lucky numbers: 9, 19

wearing: Empire Strikes Back t-shirt, just shear enough to barely show a cute bralette, tucked into a pair of ripped mom jeans

dream job: renaissance polymath - so I can do it all; in reality I’m trying to figure out how to find time for all the random hobbies I want to do while having a career in both science and writing

instruments: took piano lessons and did violin for a hot second when I was younger - but as a child I didn’t really like taking direction, so I never got very far

languages: English and random words I mispronounce from other languages

favorite songs: umm, well it really depends on the week I guess… I listen to everything from heavy metal, to rap, to show tunes, and all things in between. Right now I’m on a bit of a classic rock kick specifically Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody and AC/DC - Back in Black and the like

random fact: Damascus steel - an ancient and mythic metal, which to this day is still not able to be recreated only mimicked - has it’s incredible properties due to the presence of carbon nanotubes and cementite nanowires; tangentially ruby glass (aka glass that is the color red) has it’s color due to gold nanoparticles

aesthetic: pretty eclectic - clothing style changes day by day, everything else is an amalgamation of all sorts. I guess some current vibes are marble statues paired with neon lights; hands and eyes; and anything that’s a wink towards my nerdy interests.

Not gonna put anybody on the spot here; but if you’re inspired go for it!

little blue tiefling

This is actually a schoolism assignment i’ve been working on during my free time. I’ve been trying to getting better at drawing things like backgrounds and lighting.

EDIT: I saw someone tag this as Artajes; please don’t do that

Now that I’ve got a long-term video project off my plate, I can start another one!!  An animatic this time, since full-color finished animations take actual years. @v@ 

$1 patrons on Patreon will get(/have already gotten) WIPs and concept art for this project–I hope you’re excited for this tattooed nun and her huge demon boyfriend, because I sure am!

(1/3) In my fantasy world, I have humans, elves, and dwarves. I’m trying to give them all a wide variety of races and cultures, though we only meet a few of them. They all have pretty different approaches to gender. The humans in the area I’m focusing on have I guess pretty Western conceptions of gender, but I have multiple trans characters, including some nonbinary ones later one (one of the main characters is a human trans man).

(2/3) The dwarf cultures we encounter have pretty set gender roles but they don’t care who fulfills them/their ideas of gender aren’t tied to biology like humans’ often are, so there’s a really large percentage of trans dwarves. The elves don’t really have gender at all. They don’t have gendered pronouns. They can also change their appearance at will, and obviously sex and gender are different and also both socially constructed, but the elves as a whole don’t really think about either one.

A lot of elves do prefer a certain presentation, but the only ones who ever really gender themselves are the ones who live among humans or dwarves and have to choose pronouns in those languages. Some of them choose pronouns that “match” their presentation, some deliberately don’t, and some ask that people just change it up, the way that a lot of humans also do. Is there anything I should avoid or anything I need to think through better in all of this?

(I submitted that before saying so but the elf pronouns ask was 3/3)

-

Honestly, I have never come across an ask about fantasy gender stuff that was more evidently thought through or knowledgeable about gender and gender systems. You seem to have really gone through the work to make this a diverse and beautiful world. I think you’re doing great, but here’s some things I’m thinking.

I would keep in mind that the term ‘trans’ doesn’t necessarily translate across cultures. Using a different word or label doesn’t make it any less representation. It’s more in the portrayal and the way of getting across how different people relate to their own gender identity. Dwarves might be free to ID as trans in a translation, or maybe they have a similar or identical term but it just means something different. If there aren’t gender assignments the same way as in the cultures our contemporary definition of trans* had in mind, it might feel like a compromise for a dwarf who has grown up their entire life free of the same constraints to feel like trans (in our definition) is an accurate label. Or maybe not, or maybe it depends on the individual or the place they grew up or who they grew up around or their own specific culture.

In cases where terms/labels change, the key to making it actual representation is to focus on concepts of relatability. There’s no one way to be trans of course, but there are some things that I see in other cultures that I relate to because of my relationship with my gender. 

Another idea on something you could use to add more depth - gender is seldom just gender. For some people, their gender identity is tied in with their sense of kinship. Like, someone might really love being a mother, and that’s a large part of how that particular person relates to their gender identity. There are also a lot of cultures (including most of western-colonial gender systems as perceived through most of written history) (subcultures can have this too) where things like orientation might be a big part of how someone relates to their gender identity. For example, I know a lot of people who identify their gender as lesbian. These kinds of things exist in pretty much every culture (that I know of). I think more people feel this way too than most of us really think about - we have our gender identity label in its simplified form and then we have other terms and ideas associated that we relate to; ways of interpreting our relationship with other ideas and feelings and social and societal ties. Or whatever else.

I would also think a bit about the third culture folks and how nomadic people may develop identities. (Nomadic cultures exist on nearly every continent in our world. Some of these cultures did the whole ethnogenesis thing within the past 300 years, though most of the nomadic peoples I am familiar with go back at least a thousand. Some nomadic people aren’t part of nomadic ethnic groups but may have a subculture, like military families and carnies. I’m mainly thinking about how the subculture folks would develop identities and what that would be influenced by because otherwise folks just have their own regular cultures.)

I’d also think about maybe making up pronouns that are meant to refer to someone with a dwarf or elf etc gender identity. I know some folks who want the pronouns they use in their ancestral or native languages to be the ones used in English as well. Maybe instead of choosing an English (or Common, idk your world) pronoun, some folks opt to just keep using the same pronouns as always, regardless of the language they are using.

All in all, most of my advice and tips are just, “here’s how you can get even more creative with it if you want to, and add more depth.” There’s a lot to read on these topics but it can be hard to research because people don’t typically get to this level of depth. (I definitely don’t mean to knock at anybody - there is not a soul out there who is not learning and growing in some way.)- mod nat* The definition of trans I’m referencing here is identifying differently (either wholly or in part) with a gender (or lack thereof) than what was assigned to you at birth. That kind of hinges on the idea of birth assignments being a thing. I do have a feeling this definition will change a bit once people stop gendering infants based on genitalia shape. But y’know, that’s something to think about. Maybe have a lore-based definition. Maybe it varies in different cultures. I dunno - go with the flow! Get creative with it.

oh to be an 1800’s gentleman practicing questionably unethical science whose experiments drive you to madness as your lover grows more concerned each passing day

Chain of Acheron, Helltrooper Match.

“You see the docks on fire??”

> “I mean, technically yeah, but I also found the kid’s dog :D”

Okay so I spent more time on this than I had intended, but everyone meet Match!

half-elf sorcerer, rank-and-file soldier

5′8″, they/them

chaotic good

has a tendency to accidentally set things on fire hence the nickname ‘Match’

always has good intentions though!

is not allowed to light candles using the firebolt anymore

joined the Chain because they needed to quickly disappear after accidentally setting a noble’s house alight, stayed because they like the people

thinks they are smooth but is actually just a huge dork

always holds a match between their teeth because they think it looks Cool and Edgy™ 

Yesterday’s Eyeliner™ 

calls everyone darling

tries to play it smooth and aloof but will immediately melt at the slightest bit of affection

11/10 would squeeze Bigcat on sight because  b i g  c a t

(close-ups on my instagram: paper.shield.illustrations)

What people think writing is like: careful planning and thought out plotlines

What writing is actually like: being possessed by an idea that you are constantly arguing with