Ultimate "Know Your Character Inside Out" Template

What's your favorite part of the lore in your wip?

Oh, another tough one. Thanks for asking!

Not to give too much away since it's getting into a pretty important plot details. My favorite lore has to do with a chasm called the Gate of the Underworld or just the Underworld for short.

Legend says that the hand of an angry god opened the way to the underworld so as to punish humans for their hubris. Man decided to explore in their drive for advancement and, after traveling miles down, found large red crystals.

After experimenting with the strange and highly explosive substance, they found that it could be used to enhance people, and after several failed attempts, the first group of blood mages were formed.

At first, it was believed they could be controlled, but as the monsters began losing their minds, humanity began to question if the stories regarding the Underworld were really just stories after all.

(A very quick visual)

POACHING TALENT

@flashfictionfridayofficial fff262 Run Far and Fast prompt

CW: horror, violence, and death

(I'm bad at tagging, so if there is anything I missed, please let me know.)

Summary: 437 was sent to guard an expedition party harvesting frozen crystals for the Cove. Things go awry when a creature attacks and kills the expedition, dragging an unconscious 437 deep into the tunnels. Once he wakes, 437 attempts to escape the maze, and whatever beast is so keen on getting ahold of him.

Slamming into one of the icy tunnel walls, 437 began forcing air into his lungs. How long had he been running? How far was this thing willing to chase him? 

He tried to calm his beating heart as memories of the earlier massacre crowded into his mind, crushing any attempts of his flickering reason to rationalize that thing. The fear festering in his bones was unnatural and unacceptable for someone of his age, but that didn't lessen its power. 

Sucking in more stale air, 437 knew that thing wouldn't let him rest long. After the first twelve hours of blind flight through the tunnels looking for anything familiar in the maze, he realized it was just toying with him like a cat chasing a bug. 

{Silus?}

His breath stopped short as the grainy voice echoed from further back in the tunnels, sweetly crooning his birth name. Panic flared in his mind again as his instinct to flee overtook his exhaustion. 

Unfortunately, his body wasn't quite in agreement with the decision to start moving again so suddenly. 437's attempt to pull himself away from the wall proved more challenging than he had expected, but the real trouble came when he felt his balance give out. 

Crashing to the floor, he lay in a sweating mess, trying to muster the strength to move his shaking limbs. He needed to get out, to feel the mountain breeze on his face again, to thaw out his freezing limbs, and to enjoy the warmth of food in his stomach.

  Precious seconds dragged on as 437 struggled with his fluttering consciousness. The longer he lay there, the more he wondered if the effort to survive was even worth it anymore when an itch at his throat reminded him of why he was so desperate to make it out of these caves. 

{It can all stop if you just do as you're told Silus. You're good at that, right?}

Too close. 437 scrambled to his feet, cursing as the little lead he had managed to gain was so effortlessly lost in a moment of weakness. 

Dropping another item behind him, 437 continued his uncoordinated dash down the tunnels, hoping  he could avoid another dead end. He was running out of distractions, and in the darkness of the tunnels, he felt his mind slipping down roads he'd long since abandoned. 

The Cove had used him for decades, and now this thing wanted him under its thumb. 279 had been right about them being pawns, but even with how poorly he had been treated in the past, he had no desire to switch his forced allegiance to whatever was so transfixed on him. So he focused on the same goal he'd clung to since he woke in the depths of the temple. He focused on running.

Tunnel after tunnel 437 ran, avoiding bodies and rubble until his eyes caught a familiar expedition uniform. It was torn and barely recognizable, but the blood was much fresher than the other bodies, and he recognized the brat's expression of horror as he passed by. 437 was getting close to the doors. If he was right at his pace, it would be just a bit further. 

Ignoring the screaming pain in his muscles, 437 followed a trail of more familiar bodies until he reached the temple doors. Slamming into them, he stared up in dismay at the solid wall before him. They had already been sealed again. 

{I told you there was no escape. Accept your fate, and become my vessel}

Cold fingers wrapped around his shoulders, pressing him to his knees as 437 breathed heavily, trying to process his wasted effort. The faint hope of food and the Mountain breeze were instantly lost as the impossible pressure on his shoulders held him firmly in place.

He still had his hunting knife. He'd seen the girl use it to the creature's frustration before, when he'd had hope that at least some of them could make it out. Clutching it in his hand, he hesitated for a moment before ultimately releasing the handle. He wouldn't do that, not even now.

Cold breath cascaded over him from above as the creature's mouth slowly began to encompass his head, obscuring his view. He knew what came next. He'd seen it do the same to some of the others before they’d been separated. Knowing didn’t exactly prepare him for the pain, but once the teeth scraped past his chin, he only felt them tear onto his skin for a brief moment before everything cut abruptly to black. 

…

The creature smiled, shimmering with hints of red as the pitiable vessel was processed. Null purred in satisfaction, it hadn't been sure using a corrupted vessel would work given its current alignment, but it seemed that its hypothesis had indeed been correct. Now, it at least stood a chance in the upcoming battle. 

Thanks for the tag, @seastarblue

Three facts about me

1. I have broken my wrist before

2. I love fantasy stories (but I'm good with most genres if the story interests me)

3. My favorite color is blue

Tagging in (no pressure)

@renasdoodles

@kuebiko-writing

@davycoquette

+open tag

Ah shit, I was gone for another ten days or so... Woops...

I finished editing during that time and am now currently taking a vacation from writing.

I should be doing some tag games now... Hehe...

God, why am I so bad at being active???

It’s all in the eyes 

Thank you for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

No warnings

Word Count: 608

It was the final day of the grand celebration and Rue was late. Tapping his finger against the table, Kaliyah scanned the crowd again. It wasn’t like her to be this late. Normally it wouldn’t have been of much concern to him, but he had been itching to discuss the latest reports with her since they had come in with the afternoon meal. He’d managed to intercept most of the interesting tidbits today, but the information would only be good for so long. Once the council got wind of it, their advantage would be wasted, and he could already tell that one report would be of particular interest to many at the event. Rue’s keen sense of their cohabitants was vital to finding the best buyer, and they were running out of time.  

A crack of thunder suddenly split the sky, startling the attendants and drawing their attention. Vibrant blues and greens filled the night air overhead, as a flurry of water droplets began to cascade towards them, suspending just above the heads of the guests. Kaliyah’s hand relaxed on the hilt of his blade as recognition dawned on him. Of course it would be him. Scowling Kaliyah continued to silently scan the crowd for any devilry as the other attendants watched small constructs form from the water droplets with complete devotion. Kaliyah even found himself glancing at the intricate constructs dancing across the sky in an elaborate dance despite his irritation. 

As the performance was reaching its height of action, a great serpent of water rose up consuming the constructs, rolling itself into a sphere that quickly shrunk into a solid form and landed at the feet of the council, refined into a shining pearl of the sea. The crowd erupted into applause as one of the council servants rushed forward to present the stone to the council head, who inspected it with greedy eyes.

The disrespectful undertone of the performance and its conclusion seemed to have been ignored by the participants,  who seemed content with the grandeur of the performance, but Kaliyah shuddered to think what such a statement could mean. That man didn’t make such boisterous plays mindlessly. Looking towards the door, Kaliyah watched Lan silently step into the courtyard, towering over everyone as usual, in a very unusually flashy dress. The crooked smile plastered on his face painted him as the picture of geniality, but Kaliyah didn’t miss the flash of darkness that passed through his eyes as he bowed to the council. When the noise from the crowd finally died down as they returned to their revelry, an air of excitement still lingered from the performance. Lan never disappointed. 

Growing uneasy at his unexpected appearance, Kaliyah made ready to sneak away from the party, but as he was approaching the exit he caught sight of Rue. She looked beautiful, adorned in a simple dress and practically glowing as she quietly offered Lan a beverage. Kaliyah almost reached out to her, but having no desire to intrude, he swallowed his pride, turning to leave. If she had chosen Lan then he would respect her decision. 

‘Come now Capitan, don’t keep Mrs. Rue waiting.’

Turning suddenly Kaliyah caught sight of a small water construct in the shape of a snake that seemed to smile at him mischievously before dissipating.Turning towards Lan, half fuming, he caught Rue’s gaze and stood in shock as a light blush spread over her cheeks. Had they not come together? Catching Lan’s expression, Kaliyah felt his ears burn slightly at the hint of mirth filling his cold eyes. The old snake had definitely planned this.

Happy Halloween, What would your OC's do if they saw an army of ghost approaching them on Halloween?

Thank you so much for the ask!

When faced with an army of ghosts, most of the main bloodmage squad would realize that there isn't much to be done against such creatures and retreat until Hati or Ma could come up with a counter measure.

The sole acception to this would be Ember. In a ghost army scenario, she would definitely have to get dragged away with the others while trying to see what it took to burn a ghost.

Halloween ask! Have you ever made a major change to a character's personality while editing?

Thank you so much for the ask!

Unfortunately, I tend to get very attached to my villain characters. That translates into me making major changes in their personalities, goals, and actions while editing. I make them better people and have to introduce worse people to fill the plot.

In an example, my original draft for a main bbeg was just, he's crazy flat out, zero redeeming qualities, punches babies and kicks kittens type of person, but then while going back over things I was like, but why is he crazy? Which spiraled into a whole situation, and now he's just doing what he has to so that people he cares about stay alive, and I really just want him to get help and make it through the horrors thay I have placed on his shoulders.

Bonus, I do end up with more interesting side characters for my brain to make separate stories for. (Not that I have the energy to write any of them down properly...)

Unwanted Summons

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiissssssssss***

Margaret struggled to open her eyes, let alone lift her head from the countertop. She'd somehow managed to make it out of the shower and to the kitchen without killing herself, a miracle in and of itself.

Still, deep down, she had hoped to at least be semi-finctional before interacting with anyone from work today, but with the coffee machine still sputtering away, it seemed that she had used all of her luck safely reaching her current resting place.

They could just hang up? Sometimes, they did when trying to call her before she came in.

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiissssssssss***

...

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiisssssssssss****

*Tsk*

Looking towards her clock, Margeret frowned. It was only ten forty-eight. Why was he calling her so early?

"Hello."

Without the jumpstart from her usual dose of caffeine, her tolerance was about as presant as her father, but John knew the risk of calling her when she wasn't on the clock.

"Is this Mrs. Margret Moore?"

Straitening into an upright position in an instant, her mind began to run wild after registering that she didn't recognize the monitone voice.

"What do you want?"

Pacing over to the dripping machine, Margaret poured as much as was ready into her mug and shoved the pot vaguely back in place to fill more.

While the voice may have been enough to temporarily scare her awake, that rush would only take her so far. She'd learned her lesson the last time she had fallen asleep on the phone, and it was still too fresh in her mind for her to repeat.

"You are to report to Station Seventeen within the next hour to identify one John Moore. If you do not comply, an officer will be deployed to escort you to the station in accordance with the compliance act."

Margaret opened her mouth to respond when the call was unceremoniously cut off.

"Blast it."

Station Seventeen was fifty minutes away from her apartment, but with traffic picking up soon, it was a toss-up if she could make it before they sent someone to get her.

Pocketing her phone, Margaret made a dash for her car, still holding the mug firmly in her other hand.

Bad Deal

Fairies causing trouble doesn't always go in their favor.

Word count: 307

Warning: some violence, implied/ referenced child death

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

“I’ll count your late husband's debt fulfilled with this. Be grateful I don’t come for the next one.”

Leona stared down at the doll in her hand, remembering the bloated swamp fly’s words more clearly than the night they’d been spoken. In her travels, she had often wondered what possible reason that foul being could have had to rip her child away before she even had the chance to hold him. A part of her had hoped that the fay just craved connection to the world like she had. That might at least have made the loss more bearable. 

“DON’T KILL ME! IT WAS MY RIGHT TO TAKE HIM, THAT WAS THE DEAL.”

A gently thump emanated from the burlap bunny, and Leona knew that connection had been the furthest thing from this insect’s mind when robbing her of the last thing she could care for. It had been foolish to suspect anything else from them, but it wasn’t too late to learn from her mistakes. 

“No, you never had any claim to my son… Theo couldn’t have children.”

The insect’s face bunched up in rage, and it shook it small fist’s in the air while screeching. 

“I WAS TRICKED? MY PRIZE WAS JUST A FAKE!?! I DEMAND…”

Frowning in disgust, Leona pierced her bident through the frustrated fay. The heartbeat in her hand fluttered as the creature’s light faded, making her chest tighten. No magic in the world could bring back a body ten years gone.

She’d been too diplomatic, listening to the advice of those who feared the old magic. Gripping her weapon tightly, Leona swore to the boiling rage in her heart that she would not make the same mistake again. Valleys would be turned to rivers, filled with their putrid blood before they came to know the despair she would bring to them. 

Callisto- a current representative of one of the United cryptids self-government.

Your writeblr coffee shop order is ready!

Tea: What does your character find comfort in?

Thank you so much for the tea. It's perfect!

I picked one the squad members from my main WIP right now, Bloodmage (working title). His name is Hati, and he finds comfort in his foil lined hat.

For a bit more context...

Hati is a warlock who possesses the inherent talent of belief. If he believes in something, it comes into existence. At the age of 8, his collective was hunted down and massacred by the tech witches who wanted to harvest their power after learning that a Believer had awakened. In the chaos, his mother hid Hati and put a tin foil lined hat on his head, telling him that it protects him from the vision of tech witches, a statement he believes wholeheartedly to this day. Since he was so young when everything happened, Hati doesn't know about his ability, making him much stronger and unpredictable as a result.

Ever since escaping, he has always worn the hat and fiddles with the brim when he is nervous. He has only shared the full significance with Billy, but the rest of the squad knows the gist of what happened.