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I think of the first draft as an armature.

If I was making a beautiful bronze statue, I would need to make a clay model first. And, depending on the shape, before I even got out my clay I would need to get some good thick wire and create a basic shape for the clay to adhere to, so it doesn't all fall down. Once I have this essential 3D wire frame, I can start building and subtracting and refining.

But if I try to refine on just clay, it won't have enough of a core to hold it up. I'll sculpt a beautiful hand only to have the whole arm fall off and go smush.

The armature isn't the sculpture. It is the frame you build the sculpture around.

The first draft isn't the novel, it's a sort-of-novel-shaped thing that will hold up everything you build and beautify later.

Second, see the other half of your powerset.

Lastly, see what character archetype you'll be.

The power to manipulate tuxedos. Variation of Cloth Manipulation.

The power to use the abilities of a giant slayer, a type of Mythic Hero. Variation of Monster Slayer.

I'm a Jack, who cleans up nice, with the power of gods and JSTOR on my side?

Incidentally....

Primary: Data Manipulation

The ability to manipulate data/digital information. Sub-power of Record Manipulation, Technology Manipulation and Knowledge Manipulation. Variation of Artificial Element Manipulation. Opposite to Physical Information Manipulation.

Secondary: Conceptual Magic Attacks

The ability to use conceptual magic for various attacks. Sub-power of Conceptual Magic. Variation of Magic Attacks.

Archetype: One Trick Wonder

The character is extremely powerful but with a very limited power set. Opposite to All-Rounder and Multipotent Power Wielder.

Primary: Akaname Physiology

The power to Use the abilities of an Akaname. Variation of Yokai Physiology and Toilet Demon Physiology.

User with this ability either is or can transform into an Akaname (or Filth Licker), a type of demonic spirit found in Japanese folklore and often appearing as an ugly, small humanoid with a horrendously enlongated tongue which it would use to feed on filth in neglected bathrooms. While relatively harmless to humans they were nevertheless frightening beings and harbingers of disease and misfortune, thus they were unwanted "visitors" to a household and a warning about keeping good hygiene. (<- added for additional context cause I've never heard of this one before)

Secondary: Fear Form

The ability to transform using the power of fear. Sub-power of Fear Manipulation. Variation of Emotional Form and Mode Switching.

Archetype: Cambion Mage

The character is a cambion and a magician. Variation of Cambion Physiology who is a Mage

your blorbo is still aromantic, so how would that color their relationships? how would that affect their daily life? do they struggle with feeling “greedy” because they can’t love their partner back the way their partner loves them? do they have a hard time with an allo partner because on a fundamental level they don’t quite understand what romance is like, even if they’re experiencing it? on the positive side; what societal boundaries of romance do they cast aside or embrace? how do they navigate a romantic relationship differently than their peers? if it’s an aro4aro partnership, how is it unique? how much does being aro define their relationship vs. just their own personal quirks? is that even a line that can be drawn?

Then I scrolled past a post on tumblr specifically about "can you have potatoes in a fantasy setting for no reason" that had pics of Peruvian potato farmers and asked "are you really too much of a coward to not write these people into your stories?" (the tone was probably not that accusative, I paraphrase from my own perspective of this), and something clicked in my head, and this epiphany manifested in my head as Gordon Ramsay yelling

sorry OP reblogging with my own tags because im a fucking weirdo i guess. is this anything?

(please dont roast me too hard. im an amateur linguist at best, mostly a conlang nerd)

accomplish's IPA = əˈkɑm.plɪʃ (general american). other word examples i'll use here: fish, furnish, extinguish, access, occur.

main points of tension: the /k/ (represented here by 'cc') and the /ʃ/ (represented here by 'sh'), plus the 'u' at the end, which given english's horrible spelling system could be anything but i'll go with a true /u/ (like in blue).

starting from the left. /k/ has to become /s/ (or possibly a long /s/, but, again, english spelling). now, it could be argued that this is really simple but i am terrible and evil. plus, all sound changes HAVE to be consistent...

all unvoiced stops (/p t k/) become /s/ between vowels. now we have assomplish, fish, furnish, extinguish, asess, osur.

all instances of /ʃ/ become a nice simple /s/. therefore: assomplis, fish, furnis, extinguis, asess, osur.

as for /u/... maybe it's a regional dialect. maybe it's added to every word that ends with /s/. i dunno. i lost my brain halfway through this post.

We, a friendly set of neighboring families, cannot afford to split the estates between all our children and have them survive: enforced polycule situation between 1 kid per neighboring family, effectively rotating estate control without breaking any up.

We, a single family, cannot afford to split the estate between all our children and have it survive: ONE kid gets to be reproductive, and everyone else's inheritances will be absorbed back into the main estate when they die because no legit heirs.

The monarch has decided you, their presumed heir, are no longer worthy to carry on the bloodline and you have been sentenced to Gay.

You, our heir, are trans and we need a next gen heir, so you have been sentenced to Gay.

For Reasons, we have decided it would be embarrassing for it to be known our non-heir child is barren, so, yep, sentenced to Gay.

Rich family wants connections, noble family wants money but doesn't want the bloodline being "contaminated" by offspring: Gay marriage alliance only.

Two kingdoms make a peace treaty but one really isn't feeling like keeping the peace long term: sketchy kingdom sends a groom instead of a bride or vice versa, and everyone in the receiving kingdom quietly shits themselves at the implication that peace shall not bear fruit.

(Two kingdoms make a peace treaty but both aren't really feeling like the peace will last: they both do a "swap" by sending a trans spouse of the specified gender and accidentally undermine themselves via reproductive couple. To save face, each claims to have been successfully spying on the other, thus forcing the war they wanted and creating a star-crossed trans couple)

Two kingdoms make an HONEST EFFORT at a marriage based peace treaty but there was some miscommunication about their enby representatives (one renamed themselves after a sibling who died when they were kids; one has cis siblings of all one gender and got lumped in), PLEASE don't declare war again

Some demographic weirdness happened: your options are gay or single.

It didn't start gay, but transitions happen.

Me: Stan Lee created Spider-Man at age 40. George R. R. Martin wrote A Game of Thrones at age 48.

bringing back this great example.