Kick 2018's ass and make it yours, everyone. 💖

One of my resolutions for the new year is to a.) do a lot more writing and b.) to put a lot more of my characters on toyhou.se, since having them all nice and organized helps with planning. So, I've written up a nice list mostly for my own use of characters I'd like to start drawing references and making profiles for, but feel free to take a look and say if there's a particular character/setting you'd like to see me work on first! (The characters that are already up are getting finished first; this is mostly what I'm going to do after that.)

Gifts of the Magi - In a world that operates off of the phrase 'fake it till you make it', a subsection of the human population has the ability to wish so hard for things that they can make miracles happen. These 'magi' have their own complicated society, traditions, and rules, many of which descend from a halcyon time before a curse was cast on the entire wizard population that turns them into blood hungry beasts when they've undergone enough emotional stress. Also hearkening from this golden age of magic are stories of monsters, mythical beings that once lived in harmony with humans but were locked in a structure called the Tower after an ugly war whose roots are tied up in the origins of said curse. Some didn't even believe monsters existed until two years ago, when the Tower doors opened and monsters rejoined the human world.

Now, magi are trying to reconcile with their age-old foe, particularly in Regina, the city where the tower itself is located. Things seem... stable, until a magus named Two-bit stumbles upon the machinations of a woman that seeks to rip apart the seams of the fragile peace the two sides have brokered and plunge the world into war once more.

Rust, the Trashyard Princess - A roughly-spoken woman from Scotland who's taken up residance in the trashyard outside town. She's wretchedly cynical, a horrible bully, and her magic makes her well-suited to using anything that's 'junk' with shocking efficiency. Somehow, she's managed to subvert the technology ban enough that she can drive a car, which has earned her a position of some respect among magi. Of course, because Rust can only use junk, it's a dumpster fire of a vehicle, but it's about the spirit of the thing... y'know?

Inquisitor Legbiter - The head of the magi's police force, and the man that's called when a magus falls and turns into a demon. On the surface, he seems like an affable person who carries around candy and jokes freely with those under his watch. In reality, after a traumatic incident where he was murdered and brought back to life, he has difficulty feeling actual emotions, though continued contact with the love of his life - the Primus - has repaired some of the damage.

The Primus - The leader of the Regina magi. He's a stogy man, easy to anger, and swears freely when he's doing his endless amounts of paperwork. He's fantastically devoted to his domain, and cares deeply about every single magus living in it, but that's easy to forget when he's acting like a prickly cactus to everyone around him. The Inquisitor is basically his husband, not that he'd ever publicly admit it, given how deeply he's buried in the closet.

The Many-Named Magician - A widower with two young children and an alcohol problem. In their prime, they used to be the magical equivalent of Sherlock Holmes, but now they're just Very Sad, Very Gay, and trying to put themselves back together enough so their kids can actually live with them again. Actually a pretty nice person, despite their insistance otherwise and doesn't really deserve anything that's happened to them.

Rose Bride - Depending on who you ask, she's either an angel or the devil incarnate. She spends a large portion of her energy gathering up unwanted magi who are either too tempermental or too Untalented to be of much use, trains them, and gives them loving homes. On the other hand, she also is completely willing to use her position as head of the largest information network in town to cheat, steal, blackmail, and backstab anyone that gets in her way. Makes some killer tea.

Canterbury - Part of the Rose Bride's retinue. She's a fantastically Untalented girl who's basically just magical enough for it to ruin her entire life. The Rose Bride has her operating a polaroid camera and investigating rumors around town, but Canterbury often wishes she could do something... real for a change. Currently in a bizzare Gaymance with Rust, which must be a case of opposites attract because Canterbury is a sweetheart and Rust is terrible.

The Curator - A man who really likes cats and old shit, who's decided to combine his two interests by keeping all of his old shit in a museum overrun by cats. He's the guy you go to if you need someone to sniff out an artifact and tell you what the hell it is. Very bad with money.

Kit - One of the Curator's students. She's a young girl with abhorrently bad luck, and an appearence that gives her the look of being cursed. Very mature for her age, but sometimes she  just wants to goof off and be a kid. She Her full name is Cait Sith, but everyone just calls her Kit.

Rosebud - A monster that's managed to erase herself from reality. Thistle's older sister, Merlot's younger sister, not that either of them remembers she exists due to how hard she deleted herself from existence. (well... or so she thinks.) Two-bit (formerly known as Aegis) kicks off the plot by saving her from her extra-dimensional prison. Believes wholeheartedly in the virtues of SCIENCE and LOGIC, and is very, very frustrated by all the weird human bullshit Two-bit spews.

Thistle - A monster who's decided to style himself as an Elegant and Intelligent author. Unfortunately, Thistle is neither of these things, and is also a terrible writer to boot. He's basically That One Guy from your creative writing class with more earnestness than good sense, but he's really a very sweet man. Just... misguided. Has decided to make Crane his muse.

Merlot - A sad alcoholic who guiltily occupies the position of Thistle's older brother. He used to be a Pretty Cool Scientist, but after he screwed up and allowed his little sister to be bleeped from reality, he's let himself fall into a pretty sad state. For some reason, he actually remembers she exists... and also seems immune to any of the weird, wacky time nonsense that plagues the setting. Weird, huh? Sometimes is a sad-sack with Many-Names.

Best Wishes - Best Wishes is a romance-adventure visual novel about a young, hot-blooded elf attempting to get her crush a present in the wake of his oncoming birthday. Unfortunately, Kree is an idiot, so this may (definitely) be far, far harder than she expected it to be.

Kree - MC of Best Wishes. An elf from the southern Sylphlands who has decided she wants to be a viking, despite being about five feet tall with arms about as muscular as wet noodles. However, she's also incredibly good at magic, and she uses said magic to buff up her physical attributes enough to punch wolves and wrestle bears. The Oathbound's opinions on this are ... mixed.

Floribunda - A closed species of bunny people who grow flowers from their wounds instead of scarring.

The Daffodil Knight (Cynbel N. Lynch)- As a brash young adult, Cynbel fell fantastically in love and went to the Divine Tree to seek its blessing on her marriage. It was not given, nor was it given the next year she made the pilgramage, so she took her lover far from the land of the Floribunda to elope. Things didn't... work out, and too embarrassed to return to her homeland, Cynbel began working as a travelling mercenary. Though she looks elegant, she's actually very tetchy and bad with clearly stating her feelings.

Mourning Glory (Luíseach C. Moore) - A young researcher who, after many years of brutal, untreated depression, decided to end her life by throwing herself into the sea. By chance, the Daffodil Knight was there that day, and convinced her to live on another day. Somehow, this has lead to Luíseach being Cynbel's most prominent employer in her work for the Academy of the Royal Sciences, where Cynbel tries to preserve both her physical and emotional well being.

Ghost Stories - A series of tales following paranormal investigators Molly Burke and William Hare as they navigate a life filled with ghosts, curses, demons, cults, and try to escape the harsh fate that the world has in store for them.

Lorelei Kapple - William's sister, a severe and serious woman who's spent her life training to hunt monsters after an encounter with a demon gave her superpowers. Unfortunately, said encounter also gave her some demonic rage problems, and she spends a lot of energy trying to keep herself from turning into a wolf-beast and ripping everyone around her to shreds. Because of this, she seems very unemotional, as it's of dire importance that she control every thought and action so she doesn't give into her beastly desires.

Is pretty pissed that William didn't come with her, though she won't admit that.

Caelan MacMathan - Molly Burke's alter ego who she assumes a few years down the line when she starts realizing that oh, he'd much rather be a he, actually. It's also a handy tool to keep himself from being found out by his weird cultist sister who really, really, REALLY has it out for him. More of a 'tab' than a 'whole new character', but it does cover more of the Ghost Stories plot.

Catalog of Eyes - A hodgepodge of characters who inhabit the Grand Medallion, a bizarre setting where the rules of reality fluctuate depending on where you are in the world. Most characters have at least some attachment to the Detective Nomi through the mysteries and situations they've embroiled themselves in.

Lyric - A shy creature who fell from the sky and is now desperately trying to get back home. They were kidnapped by poachers who wander around the Rim looking for magical creatures to steal and sell back to people near the center of the world, and now they're very lost, very scared, and honestly just want all of their problems to magically go away. Very timid, but has a very nice voice.

U5A-M1M1 - A bunny-bot who is the experimental daughter of a mad scientist with far, far more intelligence than good sense. Most of the Medallion operates on an Industrial Era technological level, but using the parts of magical creatures he bought from Rim Poachers, U5A-M1M1's creator managed to create a magical android that has achieved sentience. Very upbeat, happy-go-lucky, and likes Lyric Very, Very Much.

Luna -As a tea house owner, Luna acts very proper and elegant, but once she's off the clock she turns surly and snarky. She hears a lot of gossip and rumors in her little establishment, which she files away with interest. She has a habit of taking care of people, even though she doesn't really think of herself as particularly maternal.

Shirah - A girl who, despite living in the nonmagical area of the Medallion known as the Axle, was born with psychic powers that allow her to see the feelings of affection between other people. As a child, this scared her, as she had no idea what was going on, but now that she's grown she believes that her abilities are given to her by the gods to make her the ♥♥Ultimate Matchmaker!♥♥. She works in Luna's tea house, and basically acts as a walking coffee-shop AU.

Lesekai - Help!! I'm a Socially Awkward Lesbian Trapped in a Fantasy World!! - An isekai story (a genre of stories about normal people from Earth falling into fantastical parallel universes) featuring Gloria Abott, a woman from the deep south who slips into a fantasy world while in the bathroom of her local church. Gloria is a.) possessed with deep Catholic guilt and b.) now surrounded by an improbable number of extremely attractive gay women, the combination of which is making it very, very hard for her to function in her new reality.

The world Gloria has fallen into is a bit less idyllic than most, given that its inhabitants are putting it together following an apocalypse. This is accomplished through the raising of 'Protocols', facets of the Great Machine God that used to keep the world orderly. Protocols fed through, to put in video game terms, "monster loot", and adventurers go into dungeons to fetch whatever wacky ingredients their guild's Protocol needs to grow up big and strong.

Gloria Abott - A shy, awkward, reclusive woman who has no idea how to approach pretty girls. She's so ignorable that it's become a super power, and she's been picked up by a group of adventurers as their new Rogue. She can disappear basically on command, which is great for fleeing from emotionally devastating situations, but it does also allow her to get in quite a bit of trouble.

Aislynn - A member of the Church of the Machine God who leads the guild that picks up Gloria. Though seeming incredibly serious and put together, she's actually very nice and has a pretty good sense of humor. She's aware that she's scary though, and uses that to put other people in uneasy positions (which amuses her.) Has quite a lot of power, but doesn't act like it. Uses finesse weapons like rapiers and daggers.

Maria Dracul - A woman from the Floating Citadel of Dragons, which is about all you need to say to convey the general character of the place, really. After the Apocalypse, a couple of dragons decided "y'know, we don't want all humans to die" and so they took a town's worth of people and protected them in the sky. In return, they sort of... drink their subject's blood? All the people from Dracul are extremely strange and out of touch with reality, and Maria is no exception. Uses two-handed weapons like battle-axes.

Straco - The party's healer, a catgirl from outer space who was born in a meteorite. Yes, she's aware her ears are soft and fluffy. No, she's not going to let you touch them. If you grab her tail ONE MORE TIME, she is going to beat you the FUCK up, and SHE SWEARS TO EVERY GOD BOTH LIVING AND DEAD IF YOU MAKE ONE MORE CAT PUN...!!!

Ioann - An angelic being who accidentally became a cultist when she was kidnapped from her family and brought back to a compound who worshipped some slimy thing in a lake. She's very embarrassed about her history, and would very much like to keep it secret from everyone. Unfortunately, she's bad at keeping secrets, but most people pretend like they don't notice that she's from a community of devil-worshippers... particularly Aislynn, who likes her too much to report her.

Finally!! I have the illusive thing known as free time in my schedule! I've battled (and won) against the finals and post-finals holiday demons, and now I'm actually interested in... doing stuff?? Lmao. 

There've been a couple of people who've expressed interest in RPing with me, so this is an open bulletin saying I'm cool with doing that now. Even if we haven't already talked about it, I'm trying to dip my feet back into the RP waters and accept new partners. Don't worry if it seems like all my characters have really elaborate stories and universes attached to them; I am an old hat at the time-honored concept of the AU.

I'm also open plotting/headcannoning rather than strict RP, and I'm probably going to be nosing around for art trades!

If anyone is interested, there's a pretty big design giveaway + sale going on over here! I'm definitely poking around for my own purposes, ehe.

So I was going to work on fleshing out character biographies during down-time at work today, but I don't know who to develop more! Anyone is fair game, since everyone has more stuff I'd like to write about - does anyone have anyone in particular they'd like to know more about? :o