The Belltower

Talk To Glowfic Characters

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 15:39:15 GMT

Posted by: alicornucopia

So we've started answering comments in "How To Read Effulgence" in character, and that's not really the ideal platform for those conversations. This is! You may address characters here and we may opt to answer in character. You will get a kind of loosely "backstage" out-of-continuity version of the character (in continuity proper, you cannot talk to them, since you aren't there) and if you want them at a specific (past relative to where we're writing) point in time, feel free to specify (e.g. "Addy in 1932", "Shell in her box", "the Joker while committed", "Minus right after he woke up from turning", "the alethiometer on the subject of 1207").

Any glowfic author may use this thread to receive questions.

You may also be interested in Make My Characters Talk To Each Other.

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How To Read Effulgence

Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:16:36 GMT

Posted by: alicornucopia

Effulgence is an RP (role play) hosted on Dreamwidth between Alicorn (me) and Pyth (a.k.a. "kappa"). We each play many characters; all of my RP accounts belong to this community, the Belltower, and kappa's can all be found at binary_heat. The short version of what Effulgence is about is that we put alternate universe versions of Bella from my fanfiction Luminosity in a wide variety of settings, mostly fanfictional in nature, and see what happens, then cross everything over with everything else. (Luminosity is canon for Effulgence, but the reverse is optional.) Kappa also has several recurring character templates, most commonly AU versions of her oddball interpretation of the Nolanverse Joker. The start is slow - it's earthfic right up until it's not, but then it's really not. Here appears a list of the canon(s) for each world.

You may track new/resumed-after-dormancy Effulgence threads via the forum updates thread. Effulgence is similar to Incandescence, by me and a different coauthor Aestrix, and to other "glowfic", by a variety of authors. If you like any one of those things, you should probably try the others. Effulgence is by far the longest.

Content warnings: Effulgence contains rape, torture, and parental abuse; these are generally not described in gory or graphic detail (people have proven able to blink and miss two of the instances of rape; we're apparently too good at euphemisms) but definitely present. It's a pretty long work and was, at first, written without thought of public consumption, so chances are it contains some other things we're failing to think of. Proceed with caution. Basically, if you can think of a way to be mean to characters, we've done it or gleefully intend to.

The index that kappa maintains at this post will show what posts to read in what order if you intend to read the whole thing. (The early stuff is not the best part, but it is unskippably prerequisite if you plan to read it all.) Most posts have comment threads under them; kappa prefers to read them in threaded mode, where they keep drifting off to the right, and this is the only way to correctly read threads that are indexed with bullet points (read each bullet, in order, in thread mode) but many people otherwise prefer to read in "flat" (just click "flat", and the comments' left margins will all line up and they will be arranged in pages).

Most posts are marked with one or more "symbellas" - symbols that indicate which Bells appear in which threads. These are in many cases exotic characters that might not render correctly on your computer, but they shouldn't be strictly necessary to enjoy the story. A Roll Call chart of each Bell, symbella, nickname, and world is available.

Threads with a plus sign next to them are in progress, as are sections with plus signs in their subchapter listings. The "chronological order" of the last several sections relative to each other is up in the air until they interact with the core plot, and may rearrange when that occurs. Additionally, there are a few spots where reading the threads in order will involve temporal confusion because they were written concurrently without anticipating third-party readers (for instance, 14.2 and 18.1 happen together); just keep reading through these and you should be fine.

If you do not want to read all of Effulgence, or want to read it out of order, you can do this. The settings don't cross over immediately in most cases, and you can read up to the crossover point with no prerequisites (although having read the rest of Effulgence would provide enriching context, it is not plot-necessary). You are welcome to ask us how to find what sections to read, but as a general rule of thumb: if a section is the first instance of a symbella anywhere in the index, and there is only one symbella in the first of those threads, it is probably standalone. (This is not foolproof: 38.5 is the first appearance of Tab's symbella, but her introduction does rely on a crossover. A more central example would be something like section 22, which contains four threads, each of which has the same single symbella; or 28, which may be read without prerequisite until the last thread where another symbella appears.)

Due to limitations of Dreamwidth, we cannot edit any comment that has replies under it. Please don't submit notifications of typos in Effulgence unless they're on the top-level posts or the last comments in a thread. Or if you can't understand what was meant and you need clarification.

Both I and kappa are eager to hear comments on the RP. You may comment here, and ask characters questions here and receive answers in-character, and I have a forum for discussion of this work (among my others), but please don't make comments on the story threads.

A note on "canon-puncturing". Characters, as people, sometimes consume and refer to fiction. The problem is we keep adding AUs of the fiction in question, and so sometimes these are universes that characters from other universe have mentioned in the past. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this is just a lack of foresight and it is retconned insofar as it can be when we can't edit things. Please assume, for example, that when you reach the Harry Potter AU, that all previous references to Harry Potter were instead describing some equivalent but not particularly reminiscent story. The exceptions are as follows (may contain spoilers, depending on how finicky you are about spoilers):

The Sherlock Holmes stories (and miscellaneous adaptations thereof) exist most Earth-typical places, except for Strat's universe of origin (and at least one forthcoming world).
In most Earth-typical universes that do not contain actual live Matildas, the Roald Dahl book "Matilda" (but not its movie adaptation) exists. This book never coexists with a Matilda, however. (The fact that it has taken some characters such a long time to notice this is mostly poor communication on our part, although there is an adequate thread of causality covering it.)
We are treating Pokémon about like we treat vampires: some universes have fiction of them. Other universes have real ones (too). The details like region names, organized crime team names, and city names that we use for the Pokémon AU and are taken from the games or anime may be assumed to be replaced with comparable but not particularly reminiscent versions in the fiction about Pokémon from other worlds.
In some worlds ("Sunshine family" worlds) various Marvel Cinematic Universe events began to unfold, but did not complete the process. In at least one, they were cut short very early (specifically, Captain America existed but the project did not work very well and there is fictionalized media about what might have been). There are some worlds where the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is approximately taken as canon, except our obvious changes as described.

INDEX POST: Click here to start reading.

A somewhat buggy HTML mirror of Effulgence is available. You can download an EPUB or a MOBI, more recent and suspected more complete.

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roll call

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 04:17:11 GMT

Posted by: mind_game

( Click for a list of all Bells with accounts, present and future. )

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Etty (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 23:56:33 GMT

Posted by: mute_pen

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: ISABEL SCHWAN, "Etty", "Lake"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human, but I can turn into a swan
Birthplace and other residences: Astgabels, Diotaland, Erde; Baron's castle, Diotaland, Erde
Birth date: September 13, 1861
Sexuality: Gay
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Renate and Carl Schwan, both dead, Renate when I was young and Carl more recently
Deviations from standard backstory: Similar to Rose except I was kidnapped, instead of wandering away, and Nona's father the Baron was also present in the castle I was trapped in and was the obstacle to us leaving it
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Nona, a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: None
Mental opacity?: I don't think so
Coin color: Dark blue with water-ripples
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Glass says Lake magic will work for anyone but only if they are in Lake at the time. It's also gross. We appear to be low-tech.
Aura: ~~Pending.~~ Cold and intention-alignment-checking.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "Low-key, reasonably exploitably mean, about halfway between Sunshine and someplace bog-standard like Origin. With that weird fetish for gross magic."
(Tentative) intended approach: I'm going to bring my parents back first. After that probably something Roselike.
Checklist items: Yes~~, except aura~~
Other: -

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Bell Checklist

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 18:47:03 GMT

Posted by: mind_game

- Become torchable.
- Go Downside, gain ability to render others torchable.
- Acquire starter coins, especially if your mint cannot make all denominations.
- Inspect state-of-the-art Bell standard powerset, make any necessary customizations, and wish them on; include minting, enchanting ability and skill, the Speech, brainphone, etc.
- Mint your convenient masochist, or hire one going spare.
- Go to Chronicle (or come up with a large enchanting project); acquire aura through your convenient masochist or a borrowed Joker.
- Conjure a Janegem to wear.
- Install a Janepoint in your world; if you do not have a Jarvis, plug a Kersible into it. If you do have a Jarvis, hook him up to the other Jarvises.
- Ask Glass to inspect your world.
- Perform a template sweep, or ask Jane to do so.
- Write a Bellbook entry.

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Aether (Version 2 Profile)

Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:01:27 GMT

Posted by: subtly_artistic

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Mariel Swan, "Aether", "Materia"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Forks, Blackwater, Magisteria, the Sphere; Magisterius University
Birth date: September 13, 220
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Ranae Higgenbotham Swan, Charles Swan, divorced, both alive and well
Deviations from standard backstory: Ranae never remarried and I made it all the way to college without doing anything interesting
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Celosia ("Celo"), a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Nobody in particular
Mental opacity?: Defensively-oriented subtle artist ("psion", colloquially)
Coin color: Glowy purplish-grey
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Subtle artistry, some minor arcana - more freeform with more consciously-handled detail work than the standards but not as much power (unless I can cheat, now, what with my AWESOME AURA?)
Aura: Regular causality (one mile or line of sight, whichever is farther), "epic-level-ness"
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): My world makes Glass puke because of the irregular causality problem. She says it's also, "Perverse - in the more literal sense - kind of sex-obsessed. Weird. It's not so much mean as it is casually destructive - the universe isn't out to get you but there are a hell of a lot of places you could stand where you'd get stepped on."
(Tentative) intended approach: I don't even know, I think I might actually finish college, a pentagon on subtle artistry helps but not by as much as actual practice does. But I'm going to stop being so damn timid.
Checklist items: Everything except the Materia Janepoint; I haven't been home yet and don't know where I can safely put one anyway.
Other: I'm technically in college to learn to be a therapist, so, I'm probably better than a randomly chosen person at that and I can steer away from anything you don't want me looking at (if I can get a read on you at all).

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Tab (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 06 Jul 2013 16:28:42 GMT

Posted by: giftedandtalented

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Mehitabel Marika Coscoroba, "Tab", "Gift"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human (Gifted)
Birthplace and other residences: Standard birthplace; then grew up in the Gift orbital ring
Birth date: September 13, 2303
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Rinnah Higgenbotham Coscoroba and Searlas Coscoroba, alive, still married, think I'm dead as of this writing; no siblings
Deviations from standard backstory: When I was six Aelise found out about my Gift and I had to fake my death and go live with Kers
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): None
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Kers and Aelise (a Chris and a Libby)
Mental opacity?: Yes (Gift); it seems like I have more flexibility and scope with it than any of the others
Coin color: Glowy mirror
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Gifts; high-tech
Aura: Haven't found features yet
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): Not unusually mean, but "high-stakes"; related to Eos and Aurum
(Tentative) intended approach: Not really planning to interfere with Aelise. I think I'll resurrect Toronto on Venus or something and go from there.
Checklist items: Yes, except my Janegem isn't gonna work for who knows how long
Other: How about Bells who aren't me don't even try to interact with Aelise, I don't think that would go well.

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Aurora (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:20:37 GMT

Posted by: incanted

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan, "Aurora", "Rainbow"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Standard
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Typical parents, have fraternal twin sister Alexandra "Lexi" Swan
Deviations from standard backstory: Lexi; at divergence point found Brilliance and became his wielder
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Brilliance, a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Nobody in particular besides Lexi and Brilliance
Mental opacity?: Not that I know of or that my coins suggest
Coin color: Aurora pattern
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Standard tech. Sorcery, which I don't know how it's practiced in general but is pretty great except it costs finite mana supply.
Aura: Mana monitoring, threat gauge
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "There is some kind of extremely distinct flavor to this world that none of the others so far share; I'm not sure what else to say. Not unusually mean, but with strong affordances for particularly bad peaks of meanness."
(Tentative) intended approach: I think I'm doing the colony thing, but before I get too far ahead of myself I should find some other sorcerers and see what they do with themselves.
Checklist items: Yep
Other: -

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Sarion (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:08:21 GMT

Posted by: small_magics

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isibel, "Sarion", Thilanushinyel
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Elf, "Leafstar"
Birthplace and other residences: Silverbranch, Elven Lands
Birth date: 13 Mistrising, 1987
Sexuality: Straight (and soul-sympathied, so this should not be of general interest)
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Rania and Cariel are happily married and live in Silverbranch; no siblings
Deviations from standard backstory: No divorce, no move until I went on an expedition to my beloved's island; met them there, then learned I was meant to save the world with them
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Aianon-and-Ansharil (mostly, for practical reasons, the former), a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Liselen, a unicorn of no template; Magania, an elf of no template
Mental opacity?: None native; it is part of my aura now
Coin color: Parchment-color with inkspots
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Elven magery (which I practice) and the elven small magics (which I also practice); Wild Magic; High or War Magic; the native magical properties of dragons, unicorns, and other races. Low technology.
Aura: Mindscape protection, "elfiness"
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "I would describe this world as being helplessly addicted to being mean and trying repeatedly to stop. It's reasonably exploitable, so perhaps it can, this time. Flavored similarly to Chronicle and Rêverie."
(Tentative) intended approach: I have not decided yet, but I have a nice enchanted village on the island.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: While I do not mind, elves in general do not ask or like to be asked questions outside of dire emergencies. Thilanushinyel magic has a history of behaving unpredictably around peal magic; please consult Liselen before trying anything significant in my world or that interacts with magic from my world.

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Stella (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:47:21 GMT

Posted by: self_composed

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan, "Stella", "Eos"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Forks and Phoenix as typical; Olympus, Mars, and also Moonstone Palace, as atypical
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Standard, no siblings
Deviations from standard backstory: At divergence point, found coin stash and book on how to use them; proceeded cautiously until I properly got to know Libby and determined she wasn't my nemesis
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Alice, a Joker; also a little bit Lazarus, currently unduplicated
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Libby, a Libby; Lazarus; Kolya; Bridget
Mental opacity?: Yes, ingot power
Coin color: Glowy red
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Standard tech level; minting is native, so are ingots but it looks like they can be born other places with mint parents
Aura: Coin sorting, make-technology-behave thing
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "Pretty typical. Not too mean, perfectly exploitable. There's a layer on which Eos uniquely floats alone that no other world shares; it is in this way the opposite of Milliways."
(Tentative) intended approach: Mars colony. I'm fully public now.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: -

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Golden (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:25:40 GMT

Posted by: luminous_regnant

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan Cullen, "Golden", "Aurum"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Vampire (diamond)
Birthplace and other residences: Forks; Phoenix; various Golden Empire capital sites
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Straight, not that this is relevant to anyone except my husband
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Standard names. Renée followed the standard script but ultimately divorced Phil when a vampire mated to him and he liked her; she is presently single, as is Charlie. I consider several of my husband's adoptive family to be siblings to me (Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett) and Esme and Carlisle are also close, as are all these people's children.
Deviations from standard backstory: None until the divergence point in Forks.
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Edward, no duplicates so far.
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: Elspeth Annarose Cullen, currently thirty
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: The aforementioned family; there's also numerous staff. Jane can supply a full personnel list if desired; one highlight is Elspeth's wolf Jacob Black. Only Jasper has found an alt so far (mine is nicknamed Jazz, the other Whitlock).
Mental opacity?: Yes, witchcraft augmented by vampirism.
Coin color: Glowy gold
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: More advanced than standard tech, though nothing like Peace. Witchcraft, uncommon in humans and wolves, slightly more common in vampires and hybrids. Nothing natively amenable to scaling. The vampires, werewolves, and same's habits of mating/imprinting is unique and worth noting; if you visit, consult Alice first about whether this will happen to you.
Aura: "Vampireyness", fine shield control.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "This world has some special connection to the Bell template but I don't have any more detail on how. It's natively mean, but exploitable."
(Tentative) intended approach: Nothing tentative or intended about it; my empire has been going for decades now. My slow-reveal approach worked very nicely and projections suggest it will be time to officially drop the masquerade in some five to ten years, after which I'll implement a public dead-people-processing solution.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: Please do not give offworld magic to the Imperial Factotum, Addy, however she may wheedle.

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Cam (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:03:19 GMT

Posted by: lifes_sake

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Campbell Mark Swan, "Cam", "Syntropy"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Forks and Phoenix as standard, though I never moved back to Forks
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Bisexual, totally on board with propositions from random people
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: As standard except my Renée never met that Phil guy
Deviations from standard backstory: I'm a boy, and I became a wizard when I was 14 and went from there
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Jellybean, a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: Nope
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Tilly, a Matilda; Luke, my student (...we should check to see if he's an alt of Rose's guy, that looks suspicious to me)
Mental opacity?: Yes, as a native wizard-affinity
Coin color: Glowy silver
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Wizarding (let's call my kind Speech wizards); standard tech; assorted Powers with whom I am deeply unimpressed; some non-Downside afterlife I haven't felt confident about poking yet
Aura: Truthiness (it does work if I lie unlike Elspeth, I tested it, but I basically don't ever do that, which is probably why I got the aura; it does not make anyone inclined to take me literally if I'm sarcastic or tell a fictional story) and understanding-seeming-ness
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "This world thinks it's long-term-nice, but it's not really. I don't have a good feeling about the afterlife situation."
(Tentative) intended approach: Motivated capitalism was already underway; I'm juicing that up, layering a lot of defenses on everything I can think of, and basically waiting for Iggy to get annoyed and try something because I have no freaking clue how powerful it is
Checklist items: Yes
Other: Grace is my mindscape; don't handle her.

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Juliet (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:41:21 GMT

Posted by: cross_and_bow

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan, "Juliet", "Sunshine"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human, ex-Slayer
Birthplace and other residences: Sunnydale, CA, United States, Earth; Phoenix
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: As typical except Charlie lives in Sunnydale
Deviations from standard backstory: For "Forks" read "Sunnydale", and then when I moved there I got called as the Slayer, met Sherlock, shit happened, I met some alts, then I finally pealed after getting murdered
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): My Sherlock, "Minus"
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: James, a Libby; Giles, a Rupert; Virginia, a... Virginia; Minnie, a ghost of no known template; two Jarvises
Mental opacity?: Yeah, idiosyncratic magical trait
Coin color: Glowy indigo
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Unfriendly Sunnyworld magic I haven't dipped into, standard tech, various demon species
Aura: "Aura of menace", and fire special effects
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "This place is mean as anything, all the worlds in the family are. The Sunnyworlds are distantly related to Wellspring on one layer and to Yggdrasil on another, but Sunshine in particular is more weakly connected to Yggdrasil than the others."
(Tentative) intended approach: I'm sorting out the demons first, making it clear that they can't go on eating people and being nefarious, giving some of them their own semi-penal-colony planets. After that I'll probably go a colony-based route like Stella and Pattern for humans too."
Checklist items: Yep.
Other: Do not turn into a Sunshine vampire. Don't. If you are a Bell and you want to know exactly why you can ask me and I will tell you privately.

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Pattern (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:11:53 GMT

Posted by: bellfounding

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan, "Pattern", "Origin"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Forks; Phoenix; Tethys Palace on Titan
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: As typical
Deviations from standard backstory: No
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): None
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Well, there's the staff mints (Queenie officially, Ghosty unofficially, both Jokers) and Slipstick (she's a Libby).
Mental opacity?: No
Coin color: Notebook paper
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: No. Well, I have a Gotham.
Aura: Ninja mode and movie star mode.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "Slightly mean, but without much leverage behind it. I think the Gotham is related to that."
(Tentative) intended approach: Colonize Saturn. I have a population now, mostly from poor parts of Earth, I didn't start with English-speaking immigrants. Basically Stella style though.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: No

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Aegis (Version 2 Profile)

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:57:38 GMT

Posted by: autokinetic

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Marie Swan, "Aegis", "Peace"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human mutant
Birthplace and other residences: Forks, WA, United States, Hegemony; Battle School, I.F.; Tactical School, I.F.; Command School, I.F.; now itinerant
Birth date: September 13, 2155
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Renée Higgenbotham Swan Dwyer (remarried to Phil Dwyer) and Charles "Charlie" Swan (divorced)
Deviations from standard backstory: Higher tech; either worse clumsiness or worse luck, plus higher tech and my mutuation, led to me getting an assistive device (exoskeleton, "exo") that gave me superhuman grace and speed but left me almost paralyzed without it; at age six I enrolled in Battle School and progressed through the relevant educational system and I met Sue there; when I was 15 me and Sue won the war with the buggers and were promoted to admiral
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Sue, a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: You could sort of count Jane as being mine and Sue's. She's a something that lives in me and thinks with an ansible network. We're not sure how old she is really, at least six months (Peace time; it's kind of complicated with her).
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: There's Merryweather (a Rupert) and Whitlock (a Jasper).
Mental opacity?: That's my mutant power.
Coin color: Glowy copper.
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Peace is super high tech. Nothing technically magic, but Jane and some mutant powers are kind of close.
Aura: Gravity and dexterity. Dance with me, it shares!
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "Short-term mean, long-term nice. I'm not sure how it's judging time scales or what I even mean by that, but that's what I'm getting. There might be more aliens around."
(Tentative) intended approach: Figure out how to socialize with civilians nondisastrously, hire campaign manager, build Acheron Station, get elected Hegemon.
Checklist items: Yep! But I really shouldn't torch even though I can, it makes Jane have fainting spells. If you have any kind of protective magic, lay some on me.
Other: I was brought up in military school and am so not diplomatic. If you have super sensitive friends you probably want to be around to translate me if I'm talking to them.

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Rose (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:18:57 GMT

Posted by: beheld_beauty

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Belle Marie Cygne, "Rose", "Rêverie"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Les Fourches, Callia, Terre; Château des Landes (as cursed by another enchantress); le Palais de L'Enchanteresse
Birth date: September 13, 1722
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Renée Herriot Cygne (deceased in my childhood, since retrieved) and Charles "Charlie" Cygne (married, technically; they are encountering difficulties due to her prolonged absence but may work it out)
Deviations from standard backstory: Renée's death; did not move away from Les Fourches until I wandered into the Witchwood and was trapped in the castle with Beast; married him upon escape
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Beast (a Joker)
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: Two human daughters, Dominique (sixteen as of this writing) and Céleste (seven)
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Luc, my erstwhile student
Mental opacity?: The thorns of my mindscape's rosevines will injure and repel anyone attempting to affect my mind.
Coin color: Glowing sky blue (as Sky power called during daylight)
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Very low tech; magic is normally uncommon, almost unheard of until I began to be generally active, but with cooperative channels enchanting is competitive with minting as a way of accomplishing valuable ends.
Aura: Wind, plants.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "The flavor is actually more similar to Chronicle than anywhere else except Thilaunshinyel, but the tone is darker - I have the impression of a basically typical world quality on average, but with particularly deep pitfalls available."
(Tentative) intended approach: I am largely stable as the world's Mme. L'Enchanteresse; I do not typically interact with politics, only address the complaints of my people as they come up. Things may change somewhat as I investigate ways to use access to Downside now that we have it once more.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: --

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Shell Bell (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:05:20 GMT

Posted by: she_sells_seashells

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Bell Swan, "Shell Bell", "Atlantis"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Pearl Beach, District Four, Panem; Victor's Village, District Three, Panem; Coral Palace, Atlantis
Birth date: September 13, y53 (Panem years; Jane says that based on astronomy this was 2308 relative to the typical Earth calendar)
Sexuality: Straight, with a special-circumstances-based exception for my Sherlock
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Ranae Swan (née Haien) and Sharles "Shark" Swan (happily married)
Deviations from standard backstory: Parents still married; found Milliways once or twice a year from age six; worked at a young age on a clam boat; substandard formal education; called as Hunger Games tribute but didn't have to go; met my Sherlock in Milliways
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Sherlock (Pearl), and Tony (Screwdriver)
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None at this time
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: None from Atlantis, but I was the first Bell to meet Wellspring Matilda
Mental opacity?: None native
Coin color: Mother-of-pearl
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Nonmagical world. Advanced tech in some areas, especially biological stuff, but unevenly distributed.
Aura: Water and Milliways doors
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "Mean, but in a contingent way that should blow over soon"
(Tentative) intended approach: I'm stable at this point, I just need to get a good program for dead-person-reintegration up and running.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: Please take particular care to avoid putting me in contact with the "Voice" (Jokers' younger brothers) template in any instance.

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Amariah (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:48:05 GMT

Posted by: dark_light

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Amariah and Pathalan, "Amariah" / "Path", "Alethia"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Witch (cloudpine)
Birthplace and other residences: Forks; Rockland, Maine; house not technically within any city limits in South Dakota
Birth date: September 13, 1994
Sexuality: Straight (daemons don't count). More likely than most Bells to sleep with random people.
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Ranata Ekamma (witch), Charles "Charlie" Swan - unhappily married. No siblings.
Deviations from standard backstory: Parents are married, never moved away from Forks till I moved in with my teacher Metis Imestha after quitting high school.
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): Kas and his daemon Petaal, Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: None
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: None
Mental opacity?: Birth blessing warding off mind-affecting spells; mixed efficacy versus offworld magic.
Coin color: Glowy pine green
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Witchcraft (species-dependent; can't share). Alethiometer, an objective truth-telling device (only works within Alethia about things within Alethia, but if you visit then you're a thing within Alethia).
Aura: Witchiness, and a back-off warning for Path.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): Glass hasn't checked it; I think mine is probably about standard niceness overall, except with a very strong emphasis on daemons to the point where if you show up you will acquire one unless you wish against it regularly.
(Tentative) intended approach: Get witchqueen attention to have a good widespread news- and intervention-delivery mechanism; address afterlife; go from there
Checklist items: Yes
Other: Really, really don't touch Path, even if I have my aura withdrawn.

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Angela (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:33:45 GMT

Posted by: jovahs_heiress

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella, "Angela", "Samaria"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Angel (Samarian)
Birthplace and other residences: The Eyrie, Bethel, Samaria
Birth date: 13 Harvestmoon, y656
Sexuality: Straight
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Rinnah and Charles (married, happily); stillborn younger brother, no siblings living
Deviations from standard backstory: My parents never divorced, I never moved, there is no native magic in my world, and I was brought up sincerely believing in the divinity of Jovah
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): I am married to Micaiah, a Joker
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: Four angel daughters - Damaris is 10 as of this entry, Keziah 7, Ariel 5, and Peninnah 2.
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Alleluia and Caleb know everything and sometimes come to parties. Micaiah's brother Nathaniel knows some things but does not attend parties, out of courtesy to Shell Bell. Uninformed friends include Serah, Delilah, and Elisha.
Mental opacity?: None native.
Coin color: White with gray speckles, like my wings.
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: Samaria is nonmagical. The world is high-tech, but the society I live in is low-tech compared to standard and I haven't yet gone far afield.
Aura: "Benevolence" effect, and accompaniment when I sing.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): "On the nicer end of the spectrum, but mostly passively, and this may be restricted to the one planet".
(Tentative) intended approach: On taking office as Archangel, gradually open to the populace about magic and the nature of Jovah; gently reintroduce technology; make contact with other inhabitants of the world.
Checklist items: Yes
Other: Because of the current secrecy among the general population of Samaria, if you wish to visit, please appear on Jehovah rather than on the surface of the planet. It is generally inappropriate to touch an angel's wings but it is not necessary to make much of it if it happens accidentally.

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Glass (Version 2 Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:54:34 GMT

Posted by: thaumobabble

FULL NAME and UNIQUE NICKNAME and WORLD: Isabella Mariel Swan, "Glass", "Chronicle"
Species (name your variant, if your species name translates readily to an English word): Human
Birthplace and other residences: Tines, Linderwall; Phoenix, Linderwall; a house, the Enchanted Forest; the castle, the Enchanted Forest
Birth date: 13 Yellow, 103 years after the coronation of King Kazul of the Dragons
Sexuality: Gay; offworld girls may attempt to hit on me if they so desire but should not expect success
Names and statuses of parents, siblings if applicable: Ranata Higgenbotham Swan (alive, lives in Phoenix, divorced); Charles "Charlie" Swan (alive, lives in Tines, divorced); no siblings
Deviations from standard backstory: Attended magnet school for magic ages 12-15, then moved on my own to the Enchanted Forest; met my wives when I was 19 and they wandered up to my house
Significant other(s) - (nick)name(s), template(s): I am married to both a Sherlock ("Steel") and a Tony ("Iron"), who are princesses of the Enchanted Forest.
Child(ren) - names, ages, species: Carinna (6 at time of pealing); Tanalin and Kiawen (5 at time of pealing), all human with a little fire-witch
Friends of note - names, templates if applicable, characteristics: Cricket, my cat; Kanim (not yet duplicated, may be later), a fellow magician; Sanda, a witch; Kexan, a dragon; Marianne, my mother-in-law
Mental opacity?: No; that kind of thing doesn't really pop up in Chronicle magic
Coin color: Multicolored glass chips
Local magic, tech, or other unique features?: High-magic, low-tech. Much magic here is ambient; harnessed forms include witchcraft, wizardry, sorcery, fire-witchery, and magic in the elven, dwarven, dragon, and unicorn styles, most of which I can use and all of which I know something about. Ambient magic is strong but undirected; harnessed magic is flexible but doesn't scale well.
Aura: I can see magic (but I don't automatically interpret it like Lazarus; I'm familiar with what Chronicle types look like but have not yet learned about others), and I have a sense for features of templates and worlds.
World character (ask Glass, if your world is safe to visit; else guess based on examples): Chronicle is uncommonly nice; bad things happen and people weren't generally immortal but incidents tend to be isolated, dealt with, and moved on from without much extraneous misery.
(Tentative) intended approach: Roselike - orthogonal to politics (except in my preexisting capacity as Princess of the Enchanted Forest) and largely support-style.
Checklist items: Done
Other: The Enchanted Forest is available as a receptacle for undifferentiated enchanting power if you want an aura quickly. Please attempt to be tactful with my family. I will be happy to read template features from you or your world (if it's safe) on request but cannot be very precise or confident yet. I am interested in collecting even obscure and impractical forms of magic if you have any shareable.

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Glass (Original Profile)

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:12:34 GMT

Posted by: thaumobabble

FULL NAME: Isabella Mariel Swan
Unique nickname: Glass
Species (if something other than garden-variety human, include a name for your variant, in case there are multiple kinds): Human
Birthplace, including a unique name for your world that you make up: Tines, Linderwall, "Chronicle"
Birth date: 13 Yellow, 103 years after the coronation of King Kazul of the Dragons
Parents' names: Ranata Higgenbotham Swan and Charles "Charlie" Swan
Siblings?: None
The story of your life: Born in Tines, parents divorced when I was four, moved with Ranata to Phoenix, Linderwall, went to a magnet school for magic at age 12 and couldn't settle on a focus, was eventually pressured into a double focus in witchcraft and sorcery with five peripherals (combinatorial magic, theoretical wizardry, elven magic, dragon magic, and artificing) and graduated at 15, moved to the Enchanted Forest and got a cat "Cricket" and proceeded with self-study, met my wives at age 19, married them (Sherlock first) and moved into the castle, had three children
Notable friends, allies, non-uses with keys to here: Sherlock and Tony, Kanim, Marianne
Significant other info: Sherlock and Tony
Enemies we should watch out for?: Orthodox wizards
Interesting resources, and, do you have a "mental opacity" power?: Most kinds of Chronicle magic; I don't think I have mental opacity (and my coins don't glow). If you want an aura fast, you can dump enchanting power into the Forest at a high rate without much risk of concentration loss.
Current project: Why is this still a category at this point? What does anybell do when pealed? (I'm thinking a Rose-style approach, if that's what this is asking. NO, I AM NOT GOING TO USURP MY MOTHER-IN-LAW.)
Needs/wants?: I think I'm more of a magic geek than the rest of us, I will want to collect even relatively obscure and impractical forms that are available.
What else should your alts know about you?: I have a useful aura party trick. (Why isn't 'aura features' an entry here? I declare it an entry.)
Aura: I can see magic (without automatic interpretation like Lazarus has, but I have a lot of preexisting practice with Chronicle forms and will learn the others as fast as I can); and I can discern indistinct things about templates, attractors, what I'm loosely calling "metacausality".

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Sarion (Original Profile)

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:13:59 GMT

Posted by: small_magics

FULL NAME: Isibel
Unique nickname: Sarion
Species (if something other than garden-variety human, include a name for your variant, in case there are multiple kinds): Elf (Leafstar)
Birthplace, including a unique name for your world that you make up: Silverbranch, Elven Lands, Thilanushinyel
Birth date: 13 Mistrising, 1987
Parents' names: Rania and Cariel
Siblings?: None
The story of your life: Born in Silverbranch, grew up there unremarkably, invited along to a potential colony island as a practitioner of the small magics, encountered my beloved there. Sensed possible Bond with dragon, left due to mindreading side effects. Was notified on return from expedition that I had to bond with a dragon to save the world. Studied hyperfocus so as to be able to accomplish anything while crumbling, then did so. Dissipated over the next year and a half and then encountered Brilliance, later Kas and Petaal, in Milliways and was pealed and patched.
Notable friends, allies, non-uses with keys to here: My beloveds
Significant other info: Currently none; I cannot determine whether I have a soul-sympathy with my beloved until my thoughts are more sorted out
Enemies we should watch out for?: Not presently
Interesting resources, and, do you have a "mental opacity" power?: I am an Elfmage, which is apparently not trivial to duplicate by wishing. I have no mental opacity natively.
Current project: Putting myself back together.
Needs/wants?: The routine check-ins are much appreciated.
What else should your alts know about you?: I in particular do not object to being asked questions, but do not ask them myself; you may choose to treat it as a question if I announce my ignorance on a topic. Other elves will consider it rude if you ask them questions.

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Aurora (Original Profile)

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:06:34 GMT

Posted by: incanted

FULL NAME: Isabella Marie Swan
Unique nickname: Aurora
Species (if something other than garden-variety human, include a name for your variant, in case there are multiple kinds): Human (sorceress)
Birthplace, including a unique name for your world that you make up: Forks, WA, United States, Earth, "Rainbow"
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Parents' names: Renée Higgenbotham Swan Dwyer and Charles "Charlie" Swan
Siblings?: Fraternal twin sister, Alexandra "Lexi" Swan
The story of your life: Standard Earth backstory, looks like, till I found Brilliance and Lexi found the rest of him and we found out we had sorceress-potential and had to stop Brilliance's control program from destroying the world and then I was his wielder and he was my device and then we started meeting Milliways people
Notable friends, allies, non-uses with keys to here: Lexi, Brilliance
Significant other info: Brilliance, my Joker
Enemies we should watch out for?: Nope
Interesting resources, and, do you have a "mental opacity" power?: Sorcery, I don't know if that's transmissible, and if I do I haven't discovered it yet
Current project: Standard stuff
Needs/wants?: -
What else should your alts know about you?: I am on the lookout for the psychological ramifications of sisterhood, if you spot me acting nonstandard let me know

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Cam (Original Profile)

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:41:29 GMT

Posted by: lifes_sake

FULL NAME: Campbell Mark Swan
Unique nickname: Cam
Species (if something other than garden-variety human, include a name for your variant, in case there are multiple kinds): Human
Birthplace, including a unique name for your world that you make up: Forks, WA, United States, Earth, "Syntropy"
Birth date: September 13, 1987
Parents' names: Renée Higgenbotham Swan (who is this Dwyer character yours keep marrying?) and Charles "Charlie" Swan
Siblings?: None
The story of your life: Standard except for being a boy till I was 14 and got hit on the head with a wizard's manual. Started learning the Speech, survived murder attempt by some local bad news with Jellybean and Matilda's help, started a company to sell augmented seeds and improve food security.
Notable friends, allies, non-uses with keys to here: Jellybean, Matilda, maybe Luke later, maybe Jenny, I'll have to think about it
Significant other info: Jellybean, he's a Joker apparently
Enemies we should watch out for?: Iggy, the aforementioned local bad news, AKA "the lone power"
Interesting resources, and, do you have a "mental opacity" power?: There's the Speech, I'm a wizard, I don't know if you can wish up wizarding but you can learn the Speech fine I assume, and I have a native affinity for mental shielding but I don't know how heavy-duty it is
Current project: Well, I was trying to pull a Norman Borlaug, but pulling a Bell sounds like a much better idea now I can get at all the cool swag
Needs/wants?: Don't know yet
What else should your alts know about you?: Apparently it's unusual that I'm bisexual? Also, my notebook is a person, be nice to her.

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Rose (Original Profile)

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:45:48 GMT

Posted by: beheld_beauty

FULL NAME: Belle Marie Cygne
Unique nickname: Rose
Species (if something other than garden-variety human, include a name for your variant, in case there are multiple kinds): Human
Birthplace, including a unique name for your world that you make up: Les Fourches, Callia, Terre, "Rêverie"
Birth date: September 13, 1722
Parents' names: Renée Herriot Cygne (deceased) and Charles "Charlie" Cygne
Siblings?: None
The story of your life: Born in Les Fourches, Renée died when I was six, when I was 17 Charlie went missing in the neighboring forest and I went looking for him and was trapped in an enchanted castle until I could fall in love with the occupant, Beast, and break the curse; we married and created a castle of our own and I studied enchanting
Notable friends, allies, non-uses with keys to here: Beast; my student Luc
Significant other info: Beast is my husband
Enemies we should watch out for?: Not living ones
Interesting resources, and, do you have a "mental opacity" power?: I am an accomplished enchantress, which confers upon me aura; I can invent spells approximately at whim, but casting and maintaining control of large spells requires a channel
Current project: I have taken on a student and may acquire more, and now that I have finished learning the magic in the books I have I will be interested to broaden my focus
Needs/wants?: After Aegis helped heal the damage to Beast's mind I am quite content
What else should your alts know about you?: I can suppress the aura, if it discomfits anyone.

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