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riddledeep · 5 years

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Fomorians and Witches

Disclaimer: I have taken more creative liberties with the Fomorians than with any other Irish and/or Celtic folklore mentioned in my fanfics; I do not claim to represent the Fomorians perfectly as they are portrayed in Irish folklore. I have drawn inspiration and used the name, but in order to include them in backstory ‘fics, I shifted their stories back a few million years, and associated their supernatural powers with the elements of the Fae zodiac. Thus, the stories about Fomorians exist, but they happened long, long ago and happened to members of the seven elemental species under the Fomorian umbrella.

I’ve described the Fomorians as an ancient supernatural race divided into seven tribes, each one based off an element on the Fae zodiac. Those who hold Zodii beliefs believe each of the zodiac spirits handmade one of the Fomorian tribes, while other fae believe any parallels to be simple coincidence and wishful thinking. The Fomorians are neither Aliens nor Fae. They are simply another class of powerful beings altogether, categorized as Dawnfolk alongside other notable races such as the Tuatha Dé Danann and the nature spirits.

Most witches are born from Fomorian x Alien unions, or from Fomorian x Angel unions. The only witches we see in the Riddleverse have Fomorian heritage, so this post will focus on that. If you’re curious, the Creature Directory (AKA, the list of possible witch parentage combinations) can be found HERE.

I’ve recently been questioning whether it was appropriate of me to adopt the term Fomorian and use it to encompass so many magical beings that aren’t connected with Irish folklore. I humbly apologize for any offense regarding my use of the term. I am working to be more thoughtful about the connections to folklore I draw upon. The term Fomorians has appeared in my fanfics only a few times and I do not plan to use it going forward. In fact, at a later date I may go back and replace it in my ‘fics with a different term; I am still trying to decide how best to approach the situation. Thank you for your patience.

WHAT IS A WITCH?

Officially, a witch is a being with one magical parent and one non-magical one (This excludes nature spirit x mortal combinations since they are known as demigods). Witches themselves are magical beings, and thus can produce more witches. Magic abilities vary between witches according to the race of their magical parent. As stated above, we will only discuss witches with Fomorian heritage in this post, as we will only see witches with Fomorian heritage in the Riddleverse.

Fomorian magic is sentient. It thinks, sleeps, has desires, and tries to obtain those desires if given the opportunity. Some people make little distinction between a Fomorian or witch and their magic, believing both to have the same mind- For example, that the user is greedy and constantly takes what it wants, or that the user is essentially a husk, and the magic has taken full control of the former owner’s body.

Magic is most powerful in the Fomorians themselves and is watered down with each successive witch generation. Fomorians vary despite sharing the title Fomorians. For example, genies obviously wield magic, and always seem to have full control over their powers. However, merfolk don’t seem to have any control over their powers at all; they are simply magical beings who can’t utilize magic, only reap its silent benefits.

CHARACTERISTICS

A magical parent will pass a third sex chromosome onto children they have with a non-magical individual. In humans, this results in magical variations of syndromes very similar to Triple X syndrome for girls (resulting in XXZ sex chromosomes) and Klinefelter syndrome for boys (XYZ sex chromosomes).

Because of this, witch heritage can only be passed down by the mother, as male witches are always sterile.

While exceptions can occur, these traits tend to be associated with witches:

MALES

Taller than average for their age

Reduced testosterone production leading to less facial and body hair, and the development of more feminine physical traits (Breast enlargement, wider hips, etc.)

Highly youthful and energetic even as they age

Sterility

“Witch’s hips” (Pelvic bones similar to snake vertebrae)

Increased risk of health problems

Much more likely to have black or blond hair than female witches (Sex-linked coloration, like male orange cats)

Frequently stereotyped as being overactive, annoying, and not too smart

FEMALES

Shorter than average for their age

Hands may appear more crooked / gnarled (Think stereotypical witch)

More reserved and less energetic than male witches

Early signs of wrinkles and graying hair

“Witch’s hips” (Pelvic bones similar to snake vertebrae)

Reduced risk of health problems

Much more likely to have brown or red hair than male witches (Sex-linked coloration, like female calico cats)

Frequently stereotyped as being clever, creative, and not too social

Witchhood is a separate concept from the actual Triple X and Klinefelter syndromes; many of the characteristics overlap, but those syndromes are real and witchhood is entirely a fanmade concept.

THE COLOR ORANGE

Except where merfolk are concerned, orange coloration is rare in the magical world. Finding a naturally orange magic user is like finding a shiny Pokémon. They don’t have any extra special powers. They just look a bit different, and those who are in the know might stop and stare.

If two orange Fairies or genies had a kid, and you would more likely than not get a baby who would be classified as either yellow or red. It’s not much more likely to breed an orange than it would be to breed two shiny Pokémon and expect another shiny.

As rare as natural orange coloration is in the Fairy and Fomorian populations, it’s even rarer among witches.

TRIBES

In the Riddleverse, there are seven snake-like magical races, each one tied to one of the seven elements. Because of this, the Fomorians are sometimes called “eelementals.”

A true Fomorian appears humanoid from the waist up and snake-like from the waist down in their natural state. Powerful magic allows them to alter their forms temporarily, so they can mimic the reproductive system of another creature (such as an alien or human), and successfully reproduce.

The seven tribes are as follows:

Succubi - The Love Tribe. Considered very beautiful, although their hands are birds’ claws and their lower halves flow as though made of silky cloth. Basically temptresses akin to sirens. Males are usually known as incubi, but are still considered part of the same race.

Witches of Succubus descent are highly empathetic and in tune with others, and can even read the thoughts of those they bond with, even from far away.

They have an affinity with snowy weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all flirty and highly promiscuous.

Genies - The Fire Tribe. The only wish-granters of the lot, and famous for being imprisoned in lamps that only non-magical creatures can release them from. Their lower halves are made of smoke.

Witches of Genie descent have the ability to rapidly create, alter, and destroy matter even on a large scale.

They have an affinity with clear, bright, sunny weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all cunning and claustrophobic.

Merfolk - The Water Tribe. This goes without saying. They dwell in oceans across many planets and their lower halves mimic those of fish. People in the magical world debate on whether Marrow are classified as Merfolk.

Witches of Merfolk descent have far-reaching senses that grant them extra awareness of their surroundings from a distance.

They have an affinity with rainy weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all narcissistic and grudge-holding.

Pressyne - The Sky Tribe. Technically, “Pressyne” is the name for the wife of King Elynas and the mother of Melusine, a woman of myth whose legs became a snake-like tail every Saturday. In my works, Pressyne are a whole species for worldbuilding purposes. Their tails resemble various types of clouds.

Witches of Pressyne descent have the ability to float.

They have an affinity with stormy weather, particularly when lightning is involved.

The stereotype is that they’re all flighty and ungrounded in reality.

Milesians - The Soil Tribe. Their lower halves are made of dirt, rock, sand, and/or clay. Material can vary depending on the planet they reside on.

Witches of Milesian descent have the ability to melt into the background, often becoming entirely invisible.

They have an affinity with hot, dry weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all stubborn and not very sociable.

Djanggawul - The Breath Tribe. Life-giving spirits of Australian myth. Their lower halves appear to be rainbow ribbons.

Witches of Djanggawul descent have powerful dreams, and can even tune into the dreams of others nearby.

They have an affinity with cool, cloudy, fresh weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all overly polite and charitable.

Cnemida - The Leaves Tribe. There isn’t an “actual” mythological creature known as a Cnemid. Cnemidophorus is the genus with several asexually-reproducing lizards in it. The Cnemida have lizard-like arms, though the scales can vary from being shoulder-down, elbow-down, or wrist-down depending on the individual. They tend to have grassy, flowery lower halves.

Witches of Cnemid descent tend to be highly spiritual, connecting strongly with nature and animals.

They have an affinity with warm, humid weather.

The stereotype is that they’re all judgmental and ultra-vegan.

CLASSIFICATIONS

Along with being descended from a certain Fomorian tribe, witches differ in the way they express their powers, bringing us to three classifications:

Commensalistic-Class (C-Class) - Witches with magic that can be actively manipulated by its host without much struggle. Most prominent in early-generation witches, since this is how raw Fomorian magic works. The host benefits in this relationship; the magic does not.

Mutualistic-Class (M-Class)- Witches with magic that activates of its own will to manipulate its surroundings, usually to benefit its host (Ex: Host is falling to their death, magic kicks in and helps them survive in one way or another). Most prominent after a few generations. Fomorian magic is so powerful that it seems to have a mind of its own. Both host and magic benefit in this relationship.

Parasitic-Class (P-Class)- Witches with magic that is parasitic and will eventually take control of the body of its host. Most prominent in witches far removed from the original Fomorian ancestor. If you can’t handle all that Fomorian magic, then all that Fomorian magic will handle you. The magic benefits in this relationship; the host does not.

These classifications are not described in my works in detail as they are not particularly relevant to what I write, but a few characters who are in the know occasionally toss around this vocabulary.

KNOWN WITCHES

Alden Bitterroot and the Crocker Family - The Crockers are Pressyne-descended and belong to the Sky tribe. Denzel is an M-Class witch whose powers result in his spazzing, floating tics; he can’t control himself there. Kevin is a C-Class witch; his powers are polite and don’t like to bother him... but they don’t really help him, either.

These powers, being sentient, have their own sleeping schedule. When both Kevin and his powers are awake, he can see “living memories” of people, objects, and animals in places where stinky magic has built up. If his powers are awake while he’s asleep, he might dream about past events he’s never witnessed.

Denzel doesn’t have this ability, as he got the floating. Kevin can jump, but not float; he gets the memory-viewing power instead. Mrs. Crocker can sense the emotions of her loved ones even from afar. Kevin’s mom can move at incredible speeds.

Happy Peppy Gary - Gary is Genie-descended and belongs to the Fire Tribe. He is an M-Class witch; he has moderate control over his powers. His powers can get restless at times, but normally he’s able to keep them in line. However, they become very excited around music and tend to cause trouble while in that state- during the song “Get Flappy” from the Musical, he created multiple clones of himself. That’s one of his witch powers.

Gary is the only orange witch documented in fae history, which makes him a (small) celebrity in the cloudlands. He is six generations removed from his Fomorian ancestor, which means his magic is more powerful than Elmer’s and most of the Crockers’. More difficult to control, too. Because of his Genie heritage, Gary also has the ability to temporarily transfer his powers to someone he exchanges body fluids with. In Pink and Gray, H.P. and Sanderson are constantly pushing him to kiss Betty for this reason.

Elmer - Elmer is Genie-descended and belongs to the Fire Tribe too. He is a P-Class witch; his magic is parasitic and has taken the form of Bob the boil. The older he gets, the more Elmer wrestles for control of his body with the sentient magic he’s suppressing. All the magic in Elmer’s family is rather primal by nature with little on their minds except overtaking their hosts and living however they please.

(Side note - the boils appear due to magical build-up and stress. Elmer’s mom is the witch and she spread magic - i.e. the boil - to her husband by being regularly intimate with him. If she stopped for a long time, his boil would fade because he’s not a magical being and can’t sustain it.)

Elmer’s boil appeared at a young age due to stress as he tried and failed to catch Timmy’s attention. That’s my explanation for why he didn’t have it in “It’s a Wishful Life” when Timmy wished he’d never been born (even though I don’t consider that episode canon anyway).

Elmer’s powers are fairly dangerous since Bob actively plots world domination. Elmer has a plot arc in the ‘fic Along the Cherry Lane that focuses on his struggle with Bob as the years go by.

Some relatives of the above characters are also witches, but these are our only notable witch characters.

#RD worldbuilding #RD Denzel #RD Kevin #RD Gary #RD Elmer

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alteredphoenix · 3 years

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A collage of some of the leading ladies in a few of my stories I’ve drawn throughout the years. From left to right, earliest to newest:

- Ladio, a husky/shepherd mix, who is apprenticing under her adopted mother to be a field medic and eventually accrues an internship at a neighboring country’s military base. She is friends with Shadow Fox. She is one of the few husky anthros that lives in her community, and a rarity as one who is also of mixed heritage. Although she is still a teenager and she is still figuring out what she wants out of life, she enjoys her studies and hopes that one day it will lead her to finding out who her birth parents were and if the fabled Deep Six City, a community comprised solely of huskies, actually exists.

(Notes: Notably the first anthro I’ve made. She’s kind of flip-flopped between being influenced from Star Fox Adventures, Sonic, and - even I’m shocked when I look back on it - Dragon Ball Z (to be fair, it was one of my first anime, back in the day. But since Ladio’s universe is a hot pot of anthros, reptilians, humans, robots and cyborgs, fairies, and aliens and all manner of creatures, I shouldn’t be so surprised.)

- Jinkei Haotome, a high school student who can wield phoenix fire in an urban fantasy world that leans hard into the concept of Guardians of the Four Directions from Asian mythology. Her favorite subject is mathematical topology. Is not Japanese; it’s just a cool name I came up with in middle school, so it’s stuck with her ever since.

(Notes: She’s pretty much a more hot-blooded, foul-mouthed Kusanagi Kyo from King of Fighters but she takes her academic studies more seriously...somewhat. AFAIK I never made a K’ or Iori expy to compliment her; a shame, really. She did start out as a KoF/SNK OC mentoring under the Sakazaki Team, though.)

- Rita Lusaloff, a girl trained in the swordsmanship and born with a left-handed astrolabe, a rare birthright that is only found in left-handed people that are able to use all magical elements. When she was nine her parents gave her up to be fostered by an elf to be cared for and trained in astral arts due to prejudice to those that bear the mark of the astrolabe.

(Notes: She has some heavy Tales of series influence, mainly Abyss...but between her and Luke, she’s much more grounded and is her age (19). There is also some Code Geass inspiration, but I don’t see Rita as someone who would ever be as morally grey as Lelouch is. If I had to describe what Rita’s personality is most like among the Tales of protagonists, I would say Lloyd - but with more education, but both share the same level of idealism.)

- Maaya Lawson (biologically born Maaya Endomere), the leading military commander, or Lord-General, in the country she trained and served - but not of her own will; prior to this, she was a law enforcement officer. She is the youngest person to hold the title, with the misfortune - or, as some would say, good fortune - of being the first human lycan to sit in office; because of ongoing hostilities between humans and non-humans, she is regarded with hostility by most of the public and as a result has only very few friends. She loves wolfdogs and has a pack that is bred for psychic attunement, all of whom serve as emotional support and jogging partners. The white-blue portion of her hair and sharp blue eyes indicates her lycanthropic nature.

(Notes: She surprisingly has origins rooted in Shakespearean tragedy, of all things, but I wanted to try my own take on the tried-and-true anime harems but with an absolutely gay as fuck, romantic as fuck, and eventually down to fuck protagonist who’s buff as fuck and surrounded by hot as fuck women, so I ditched the Shakespeare concept because yuri is better.)

- Airi Lacard (transliterated surname), a young woman who lives alongside wind elementals in her region who take on the form of bald eagles. She has an interest in demonology, cultural history, and theatrical arts. Her destiny is somehow tied to that of the Demon King, Lord Tel Ossei Al-Sharaad, even though he is regarded as a being that is not real and only exists in fiction. As a member born into the animistic culture of the Houses of the Wylde, everyone is given both a true name and a use-name. However, ‘Airi’ is usually reserved as a true-name, and only for those women in positions of power. Airi was born with this name and she would later accept it as her use-name, so technically it is both her true-name and use-name; however, it is said she has a true-name she gave herself, but no one knows what it is, much to the chagrin of her elders, clanmates, and even siblings. For all her love and fondness of birds, she has a wary distrust of great horned owls, the bald eagle’s greatest rival.

(Notes: Airi’s origins have an interesting development. She started out as an Eleanor Hume expy for a Tales of Berseria/Zestiria fanfic that never took off, described as someone who was a ‘hero who would eventually be forgotten by history and known only in folklore’. Then she became her own person but her story was going to be my attempt at a children’s tale...until I made the stunning realization that I needed Airi to suffer immensely, preferably with existential angst, in order to grow, so that idea got quickly nixed. Then the previous iteration ended up making her either die and have paradise eternal throughout all realities, become forgotten by time again or a much happier Highlander expy who would evoke the Ascended To A Higher Plane of Existence, and I hated all of those for depressing me even if the four of the six endings I wrote for her were mostly bittersweet. Thus began my journey to give Airi a much better, fulfilling outcome, which began with watching bald eagle cams back in 2019, which is where I got the idea of attributing them to her. At the same time, I was obsessively putting the entirety of Kikuchi Momoko’s discography on repeat as I dabbled with the worldbuilding in notebooks, so Airi has quite a distinct mid-1980′s to early 1990′s feel that emulates the women of that time period: elegant and mature and kind with a hint of mischievous mirth lurking underneath. Magic Knight Rayearth should also be thanked for inspiration regarding the development of Airi’s family, which is where the idea of her having three older brothers comes from. Hikaru herself also helped flesh Airi out, but whereas Hikaru is very energetic Airi is ten years older and is more composed - at least until there are bald eagles in the picture. Sadly the mecha portions of MKR didn’t carry over to Airi’s story, although I do wish to find a way to include them in some capacity even if the story itself is not mecha. Although the angst stays; you must understand that I can’t just make things a cakewalk for my girls. That’s too easy!)

#armi's ocs #traditional art #traditional sketch #holy shit did this get long #maybe i should make a separate post for a AMA OC edition or summat #if you got all the way to the end - congrats!#if you didn't - well - i hope you liked the art at least!#i wouldn't blame you: this post wasn't meant to be that BIG #i want to draw the other female MCs in my repertoire #as well as do a version for the male MCs too #tfw i realized most of my ladies had the same hairstyle down to a T and panicked #if it's one thing i want to improve on other than sameface it's hairstyles #but i love my long hair - i can't deny it #armi's art #original characters

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