𐚁 . }

∿ HISTORY.

      we set our scene in neo-gotham; the year is 2039 2072. the gothic metropolis has been transformed into a cyberpunk futuristic marvel. yet despite its history of caped heroes crime in the city has never been worse. it had been years since anyone has seen the famed batman and his legacy has been reduced to that of legend. that is until a teenaged terry mcginnis breaks into wayne manor to hide from being pursued by the jockerz gang. there he meets bruce wayne who defends him from harm but only barely. while he recovers from the strain of the attack that is when terry stumbles upon the batcave.

         in order to understand terry and why he decides to initially steal the newest version of the batman suit it is important to delve into the year leading up to him meeting bruce. terry is 15 years old when he starts his first stint in juvie. having a very strained relationship with his father, warren mcginnis, he begins getting involved in gang work as him home life complicates. catching a racketeering charged and serving 4 months in juvie before quickly returning for similar behavior. terry is 16 when he finally get out his detention center and released back into the custody of his parents. still, he has plenty of enemies both from juvie stints and former gang members who never got paid out for the jobs he got busted doing.

simultaneously terry's father uncovers a plot at warren-powers corp that directly ties ceo, derek powers, to allowing bio-chemical weapon sales to foreign nations while a weapons embargo was in place. derek orders warren to be killed before he can break the story to the press. that night he is murdered in his lab with no discernible evidence as to who was behind such a gruesome act. once terry learns the news he refuses to believe there was no foul play involved in his father's death. driven by a similar force bruce was all those years ago, terry takes to the night demanding answers.

this brings us back to terry and his thievery of bruce's suit as he pursues leads on his father's murder bruce sees an opportunity for the return of the batman. the two of them enter into a tenuous mentor and mentee relationship that is filled will hiccups, due to terry's rebellious nature and bruce's strict code of conduct when it comes to vigilantism. terry is prone towards violence and needs to be talked off the ledge more than most of the robins that used to fight alongside bruce did. the two eventually develop a stable partnership and are working fairly smooth together as terry nears 18-19. unfortunately this is when they hit a major roadblock in their relationship.

stupid dc wackdoodle biology ahead, you've been warned! while researching cadmus and it's connection to the villain phantasm terry uncovers the records for "project batman beyond" which was helmed by amanda waller herself. an experiment that would ensure that batman's legacy lives on. waller took bruce wayne's dna from blood samples left behind during his cases and created from it in a nanotech solution that was able to rewrite a male human's reproductive material into an exact copy of bruce wayne's. waller looked for a suitable couple in neo-gotham with a psychological profile that was nearly identical to bruce's parents, and found the mcginnises as the target subject. warren thought he was getting a flu shot at a hospital, when in reality he was secretly given the injection with the nanotech solution so that his offspring would actually be that of bruce's in the biological sense. a year later, mari mcginnis gave birth to terry, who possessed half his mother's genetic material and half of bruce's.

safe to say, this news shattered any semblance of trust between bruce and terry. terry fully believing that there was no possible way of bruce being unaware of waller's plans to give him a son in order to keep batman from fading into anonymity. terry essentially goes rogue for 2 years or so before returning to bruce with a clearer head. finally acknowledging bruce had no part in waller's schemes, regardless bruce has long since stepped into a paternal role for terry. regardless of genetic makeup bruce was his father by choice as he raised him from most of his young adulthood.

∿  ABILITIES. 

the neo-batsuit: i won't list everything the suit is capable of but it is essentially a very advanced version of bruce's original batsuit. a lot of the customary weaponry ( batarangs, tranq adarks, smoke pellets, flashbang grenades ) are built right into the suit and do not need to be carried. the suit has flight capabilities as well as claws and retractable forearm spikes that can be used for close-quarters combat. as mentioned above, the suit requires a lot of energy from the user and since my terry is from a time further in the future it potentially does adhere directly to his body through cybernetic implantation.

acrobatics: the suit helps refine this skill but at this stage in terry's life he has had extensive training in gymnastics, he is no professional but he is certainly lighter on his feet than most.

gadgetry: perhaps where terry's talent's sing the most is his usage of tech and general programming know-how. he has spent years helping repair and re-outfit the bat suit that he has learned plenty about the tech that helps it run. his work certainly isn't as refined as bruce's but it get the job done ( he favors scrappy solutions above perfection )

marital arts, getaway driving, basic firearm knowledge, and locking picking: just a laundry list of some the skills he developed while was still running around in gangs but developed much further under bruce's tutelage.

∿ VERSES.

cyberpunk 2077:  follows terry's main canon pretty directly with some slight divergences to adhere to in-universe logistics. terry mcginnis relocates to night city from neo-gotham when derek powers moves the wayne-powers company headquarters to the west cost. as a means to keep him in check terry keeps in close proximity to the corporation's dealings in night city. shortly after he arrives bruce names terry the successor of the company overriding a stakeholder vote. the decisions makes an already tenuous relationship between him and current ceo, derek that much more hostile. desperate to cling onto his notoriety derek powers seeks to make himself cyborg to rival arasaka's attack dog, adam smasher as way to maintain his current position of power.

vampire: a purely self-indulgent verse that revolves around an episode in batman beyond where terry gets his genes spliced with vampire bat DNA. essentially this verse is a "what if" scenario in terms of terry never receiving a cure for this altered genes. he has to learn how to live with his newfound abilities while still judging his life as a vigilante. incredibly urban fantasy camp and i will pay you $5 for indulging me

bg3: eldritch knight terry who MAY or may not be a prince taken by the mind flayers from the kingdom of gotham. before being taken and infected with a tadpole he was often in baldur's gate as somewhat of a diplomat between the two cities. when he disappears from his post it becomes apparent and new begins to travel the heir apparent to the throne has been taken by those that wish ill for gotham.

✮ HISTORY.

      in order to understand ronan we have to begin the story with his father; niall lynch. a northern irish immigrant from belfast who emigrated to the united states after the murder of his own father. he was a dreamer and he made a business out of dreams. selling his creations on the black market for outrageous sums. sums that made a fortune for his family to come. he was a shadow casted over ronan's childhood. he taught them how to play the bagpipes, to sing irish ballads, and to box. his bothers and him idolized their father but none more than ronan himself. 

         as for ronan himself, his origins are that of the strange and fantastical sort. niall moved to virginia with fellow dreamer mór ó corra. both of which soon found out that they were able to communicate with a forest near their new home. they made a deal with that forest who longed to be human and agreed to give a body called the "greywaren" in exchange for more power for their dreaming. as a trio they began to piece together this form, which would eventually become their son ronan. mór gave ronan the appearance of a toddler closely resembling niall, niall gave him the gift of feelings, and the forest poured itself into him. once ronan was created, the forest’s vast knowledge faded from him and niall named him ronan to help him feel human.

         ronan was a healthy baby and a rambunctious child. he also, was a dreamer. at the age of 3 he dreamed up his younger brother, matthew. a marvel in the eyes of niall and he made the decision to raise the dream as one of his. two creatures beneath his roof and one son, the eldest,  of pure fresh and blood, declan. it became clear that day who the favorite son of niall lynch was. ronan who was made in his image,  ronan who had his powers and his eyes. 

        that's why niall's death changed everything. a once-happy child became a rebellious spirit and a torture to his eldest brother, declan. niall was murdered brutally in the driveway to their home, a death eerily similar to that of his father before him. the damage had been done and ronan was now a volatile young dreamer without any guidance. being at aglionby academy is a special kind of nightmare for ronan. even after befriending gansey, adam, and noah. his friends can only be so much of a buffer. he doesn't do well with authority and has a particular cocktail of neurosis that makes sitting in a classroom for long hours nearly impossible for him. as his grief persists, the severity of his dreaming is on a steady and destructive incline. 

        if he isn't seen street racing or drinking away all his senses he might be in church trying to find some form of absolution. he deals with major insomnia and can be seen out and about at all hours of night. he gets some closure when it comes to his father's death after he is able to re-enter his childhood home of the barnes after being barred entry due to a clause in niall's will. as the series progresses ronan's dreaming ability grows and he even creates his own dream forest, known as cabeswater that lives along the virginia mountainside.

        unfortunately, the forest was not long for this world. when gansey dies along the leylines it is a bargain with cabeswater that saves the boy. the forest's life in exchange for his resurrection. when the deal is complete cabeswater is no more but gansey lives on. that is the extent of ronan's dreaming ability and eventually he does dream a new forest, lindenmere to fill void cabeswater left. 

        current whereabouts: after high school when ronan's friends embark on their gap year and adam to college ronan is the only raven boy left in henrietta. he is now the sole proprietor of the barns and tends to the crops and cattle alike. he is directionless, full of doubt after believing he has been left behind by everyone he loves. this is when he embarks on the journey of learning his true identity as a dream creature. the catalyst being his dreams becoming hostile out of seemingly nowhere and him losing control over his own creations. he begins to be plagued by the effect of nightwash. essentially, it is a condition that overtakes a dreamer when they go too long without dreaming. it manifests in the form of black ooze that emits from the eyes, nose, and mouth and is deadly if the dreamer continues to refuse to dream. so yeah he is going through it and basically is living his best high school dropout life ( suffering and feeling forgotten )

✮  ABILITIES. 

dreaming: it is implied that ronan being a dream creature himself sets him apart from human dreamers because he is quite literally made of dreams. the capability to dream accurately with swiftness is a quality of note. dreaming does require quite a bit of practice and often dreamers will spend weeks dreaming the same object over and over again to make sure every detail of it is perfect. ronan himself is partial to the more grungy dreams than the fantastical. he likes fast cars that are a little too sleek to be real, creature companions with bad attitudes, and a boys with sunshine for hair that he calls brother ( missed the edgy memo here ) he is unique in the sense that he doesn't have a through line in terms of his dream creations. while they certainly all have a bit of his personality he can dream objects and people alike as well as fantastical creatures far from anything seen in reality.

sundogs: technically classified as a dream but one of his more destructive creations by far. they are a pack of wild dogs that take on the form of billowy smoke. they spit sunbeams from their mouths and can travel as fast the speed of light. they are vicious animals and even ronan himself has trouble controlling them at times. they are noticeably weak towards water and when ronan doesn't have the summoned they are kept in bottle to keep their destructive power contained.

zoolinguism: really only pertains to the animals he dreams up but it is implied that he can converse with his pet raven, chainsaw. this extends towards the dogs as well but even if he can speak to them it doesn't mean they are willing to listen.

✮ VERSES.

 pjo: son of hypnos to the majority of camp half blood. only his cabin mates know that he is actually a dream made flesh from the god's mind himself. he is a bit of black sheep because of this and his "siblings" don't exactly know how to interact with him. because of this he doesn't typically spend a lot of time at camp. usually he is on quests pursuing rogue dreams and finding way to contain them safely without killing the dream itself and sparring mortal lives. he is generally much more laid back in this verse, being that he isn't grieving niall and he is also is fully aware of his status as a dream creature from the jump.

cyberpunk 2077:  i won't lie to you this is still very much in development as i play through the game. essentially ronan is the myth of the "blue eyed people" come to life. once a rogue ai he now inhabits a human body and believes himself to be just that. he is big in the underground street racing scene ( potentially also the underground fighting scene lol ), having a multitude of titles under his belt. his world shattered when he learns what he actually is and the fact that he is a weapon that was set loose on the old net to track down other rogue ais and terminate them… all of this is subject to change but for now this is what we're going with. 

werewolf: this is for funsies. based on the medieval irish ossory werewolves. faoladh meaning an irish werewolf. in conriocht meaning one who ‘changes form into a hound’ at the new moon. ronan is a descendant of wolf-skinned warriors and he turns into a wolf when the moon is at its fullest. this verse can either be more of an urban fantasy one or more of a historical fantasy setting depending on the thread. honestly i will make ronan a werewolf in whatever verse i can fit it into. i just think it's neat! 

➥ HISTORY.

  ♡ historical context, the meiji restoration period; the meiji era or sometimes referred to as the meiji revolution was founded in the wake of the edo period. it marked the end of feudal rule in japan and re-established the government under the  imperial rule of the emperor. some key markers of the meiji era were the rapid industrialization of the country as well as the beginnings of westernization starting to bleed into japanese culture. this draw towards modernization was founded on the principle of replacing the traditional confucian hierarchical order that had persisted previously with that of rapid progress. this time period also marks a critical time for immigration into and out of japan that before was not possible due to closed borders.

         housed in the former capital, kyoto. miyagawa kaede was born in secret to the current fox-god avatar noriko, and kang ga-eul a korean immigrant who attempted to keep his gumiho identity secret when he relocated to japan. both noriko and ga-eul were unable to raise their daughter themselves for fear of exposing their relationship to the public. noriko being from a wealthy family held in high esteem due to their bloodline being tied to the kami and ga-eul who was seen as ill-fit match for the miyagawas eldest daughter. 

         kaede is thus left in the care of a phoenix spirit, lady akari . like most yōkai and nature spirits she has taken on a more human form to further blend in with mortals. this is an attempt to avoid prejudice under the rise of anti-spirit sentiment which has become prevalent within kyoto. the embracing of modernization has directly impacted the livelihood of the yōkai and they begin to live in enclaves within the less savory parts of the city. 

lady akari raises kaede as her own and is tasked with keeping the kitsune child's ancestry a secret. under her care kaede is taught the craft of swordsmithing. an art which is regarded now as an endangered practice as firearms begin to become the dominant form of weaponry in the nation's military. while kaede shows a great talent with her forging not many are willing to buy blades from yōkai despite the superior artisanship. 

         the yokai enclaves are home to the city's red light district and there are certain pleasure houses that offer the company of yōkai lovers to humans both foreign and local alike. it is within one of these establishments that kaede finds employment as an entertainer. she herself does not tend to the customer's carnal delights but rather gives them a show for the imagination. her performance is a traditional geommu dance which is carried out with a twin set of swords. many are enchanted by what they deem a foreign display of a kisaeng, which is further heightened by the allure of her demonic heritage. 

         dancing and singing alike are only a front for what her actual responsibility in the pleasure house is; which is to protect the yōkai from more violent customers. one night she walks in on a man holding a yuki-onna's hand to an open flame and he loses his own hand to the swift cut of kaede's blade in the process. the woman she saved, wakana, soon becomes a close confidant of kaede's and with time the two enter into a romantic entanglement. 

         as their bond deepens, kaede's sealed power begins to awaken in small ways. her facial features, which were always in a state of flux, begin to induce vertigo in those that look too closely at her. she begins to don a kitsune mask to hide her shifting face from view. it is one night when the two women are laying together that wakana makes an attempt on kaede's life. in doing so, she reveals that she is a servant of one her long lost brothers, hideki. this is how the mystery of her lineage unravels entirely while hideki's faction of spirits begin to invade the pleasure house kaede's is forced to leave kyoto and live a life akin to a fugitive. 

         taking refuge in the rural mountain regions, kaede starts a pilgrimage to shrines across the land under the guise of a miko. she seeks wisdom as well as her missing tails which have been spread across, not only japan,  but the world in the form of nine sacred blades. eventually she starts to venture overseas peddling wares and rare artifacts of her own. this draws her further into the black market trade in which her store, aki no mori, becomes a front for seeking out what has been taken from the goddess. 

➥ ABILTIES.

embodiment of autumn: inari is an interesting deity as she has taken on many forms and aspects since her conception. it is said each kitsune who houses her highlights a different shade of her godly sovereignty. for kaede inari is a renewal goddess, a harvest goddess, a lady of abundance. for her mother, noriko, she was a god of commerce and ruled by precious metals.

ecological empathy: kaede is directly tied to the land. depending on how long she inhabits a wood her connection only gets stronger with that particular forest/environment. this means she can sense all the wild life and coax the natural environment how she sees fit.

zoolinguism: this goes hand in hand with her eco-empathy. she can communicate directly with animals considering many spirits take on the appearance of beasts and mythic creatures alike.

aki no mori ( the forest of ever-autumn): this is like… a stage 5 skill and is not a feat possible for her right after awakening her godly aspect BUT aki no mori is the inari's domain. it is a liminal space, a pocket dimension if you will that is a way station for spirits and yōkai under the inari's domain. this is where the fox goes to heal and recharge after battle. it is space between life and death and the border is not breached unless the kami allows it. also not so coincidentally the name of her shop as well as the two are deeply entwined and conencted.

famine: what the goddess gives the goddess can also take away. this ability is typically classified as a curse but she can make a land barren. this is not an ability she takes lightly and is usually only employed to punish spirits that have wronged her. many spirits are directly tied to a physical coil, be it a lake, or a mountain. kaede can poison the very essence of these places and in many ways this is more excruciating death than a mortal wound.

swordmandship: in her lifetime kaede will wield nine different blades which are representative of her nine-tails. she will endure a trial for each and some will even be forged by her own hand. the inari is the guardian of swordsmiths and that is why they are her weapon of choice. not every sword will be a katana some may even be tantou or daggers and she takes a fondness to a korean jikado sword at some point.

shapeshifting: becoming a full fox is a rarity. both gumiho and kitsune are very protective of their true forms. seeing their actual face is associated with stealing their power. they also will wear thousands of different human faces throughout their lifetime and seldom are seen in the same form twice by mortals. in kaede's case she is more grounded in humanity and does have a human face she is partial to… but it is unsure if it is her "true" face.

obfuscation: related to this lack of a "true" face it is difficult to look directly in the face of the goddess. kaede's features are constantly shifting and are always changing to the slightest degree that can cause a sense of vertigo if one stares for too long. she will wear a kitsune mask at times for ease when she doesn't want to focus her energy on keeping her face from shifting.

yeowoo guseul (the fox marble/bead): the fox marble… is a kiss of death in a way. the fox marble is said to house a gumiho's divine knowledge. they can gift this knowledge to mortals through a kiss, they exchange the marble back and forth and if it human swallows it they absorb some of the gumiho's essence. legends have said if a fox bead is housed in a mortal long enough the gumiho will become human. since kaede is no regular gumiho and comes from a kitsune lineage she will not become human even if she gives her marble away. instead her wellbeing will be directly tied to the marble's new host… and that host does not necessarily have to be human.

divine allure: the fox is a charmer. a seducer, and an excellent manipulator of emotion. extremely convincing liars it is almost impossible to know when the truth is being told or not when in her presence. kaede herself does not employ tactics of seduction often but whether or not flirting is her intention, foxes have a supernatural allure to them. they draw you in, they are captivating creatures because it is impossible to ignore their vulpine features even when they are playing at human. there is something off about them and this entices rather than repels.

➥ VERSES.

urban fantasy: original flavor kaede for those that have been here from the start! to the uninitiated this verse is essentially the same canon i have established above but in a more contemporary setting. kaede is somewhat of a big wig in the international art world as she makes moves to seek out her tails. very much a jet-setter in this verse and never in the same place for very long. her shop has a very howl's moving castle vibe of moving to whatever city she finds herself in.

cyberpunk / dystopian: not tied to any pre-established cyberpunk canon strictly but i'm borrowing a lot from the genre staples like blade runner, ghost in the shell, and altered carbon. kaede runs a cybernetics mechanic shop and is heavily involved in researching... a "new humanity". this study is born out of the mystery surrounding her own nuclear core heart which was her mother's final project before her untimely death. supposedly this heart is the key to restoring the earth back to its more hospitable climate but kaede is unsure how to harness it's power without essentially self-destructing herself and everyone around her.

shadowhunters: this verse is for havi no lie i will iron out the details soon for broader interactions but it is set in the infernal devices timeline. kaede's shop is run out of london's shadowmarket and she is seen as a demon at this point despite her divine lineage. she has lost her fox marble to her brother kirito who had a vendetta against the nephilim after losing his wife, a vampire, who was unjustly accused of killing a shadowhunter and executed for her crimes.

castlevania: TBA

➥ HISTORY.

     i am assuming most people know the basics about buffy's character but for the uninitiated ! buffy is the "chosen-one" of prophecy;

♡   ❛  into every generation, there is a chosen one. one girl in all the world. she alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. ❜

she was called to be the slayer in 1996 at fifteen years old. originally living in east los angeles, her family had to move due to an incident involving a gang of vampires at her high school at the time she relocated to sunnydale with her mother, upon moving they find out that the town itself is a hellmouth. essentially a nexus for supernatural activity. thus buffy's guardianship over sunnydale begins until it's eventually destruction in 2003.

     before coming to sunnydale buffy operated independently and alone. initially upon her arrival she wants nothing more than to hang up her mantle as the slayer and return to her normal life. she eventually does embrace her place in the prophecy but this time with the assistance of her mentor/watcher, giles and her friends xander and willow who are referred to unofficially as, "the scooby gang."

➥ DIVERGENCES. ( angelic lineage of the slayers )

first death & slayer lineage: over the course of the series buffy perishes twice in battle. the first time is in season one finale while facing the master. falling in battle while preventing him from bringing about what is essentially vampire armageddon. as according to my blog canon buffy's first death does not quite stick. she never makes it to heaven but rather dithers in limbo. still it is enough to begin to enliven the celestial blood within her as slayers are descendants of a fallen archangel turned demon. it makes her connection to the line of slayers before her stronger and she does begin hear them in a faint chorus within her mind.

second death & ascension: buffy effectively martyrs herself when she makes the ultimate sacrifice of giving her life in exchange for her sister dawn's. not all slayers necessary become angels upon their death but given the nature of buffy's death and her already awakened bloodline she is granted wings for all that she has endured.

falling & subsequent resurrection: she doesn't fall out of her own fault but it doesn't matter. being called back to life is a sin in itself and willow forcibly taking buffy from heaven is as good as damning her forever. she digs herself out of her grave with her wings in a state of ruin. she sheds feathers for weeks following her revival and even months after the fact they still grow out of her skin bent and ravaged. the pain is immense but she plucks them immediately each time they emerge.

duality explored: while i think buffy post-season 5 is handed absolutely abysmally in the show i do think her draw to act rashly in an effort to "feel something" is actually fairly accurate to how she conducts herself following her stint in heaven. the mortal world does feel every bit like hell when compared to the bliss and relief she felt after finally dying, she has to constantly remind herself that this is now her reality again and the contentment she had for that fleeting time is over. she will never return to any state of salvation ever again no matter how good or justly she conducts herself.

➥ ABILITIES.

enhanced physical capabilities: like all slayers buffy has heightened physical strength and agility. she can perform feats that someone of her size probably shouldn't be able to but she is a very unconventional fighter because of that. in her training she has used various weapons and has a degree of mastery in them all but largely she favors axes, scythes, and the occasional crossbow... she also likes the romantic nature of swordplay but often it doesn't serve the kind of combat she is getting into. she is an incredibly acrobatic fighter and nimble making her defense just as impressive as her offensive maneuvers.

heightened senses: slayers possessed a heightened awareness of their surroundings, allowing them, with experience, to know the position of an attacker and fight them even without sight. however, buffy is slow to develop the slayer power to sense supernatural activity. as the chosen one should be able to sense a vampire or demon even when disguised. later in life, it is a skill she hones in on but she still typically relies on gut feeling over her slayer perception to suss out potential enemies. she also is able to see in the dark as it aids her in the hunt of nocturnal creatures although her sight is obviously nowhere near as good as a vampires.

prophecy or death-sense: prophecy is something slayers are plagued with in the form of dreams that give glimpses into potential futures. these visions tend to surround death and are used as forewarning before tragedy unfolds. the function of this precognition is to better ensure the slayer's survival and warn against certain doom. still, there are times that these bursts of prophecy have nothing to do with death. they are vastly driven by emotion and buffy has seen her loved ones deceive her before the events itself occur, as well as her lover losing his soul. soooo i think it's safe to say that there is a through line between love and death when it comes to this ability.

➥ VERSES.

the vampire diaries: essentially this verse follows canon pretty closely since the lore between the two shows fit fairly neatly together... which is probably because tvd borrows heavily from buffy and is somewhat of its spiritual successor. the key difference is instead of moving to sunnydale after getting kicked out of her last school buffy and her mother move from los angeles to mystic falls, virginia. i don't think it's a stretch to say that mystic falls essentially functions as an east coast hellmouth. between the long history of witch lineages originating there as well as the salvatore legacy it makes sense that a slayer would be drawn to such a supernatural hub. besides that she attends school around the same time the main cast does and eventually goes off to whitmore college too.

pjo / roman mythology: a roman daughter of victoria, buffy was once her mother's greatest champion and then eventually became her greatest shame. prophesied to the save the world and the gods from certain ruin this destiny is quickly cut short when buffy dies at sixteen. when she fights her way out of the underworld back to her mother's side she is spurned and her wings are ripped from her back. it is eros who takes pity on the loveless child, becoming her patron but it comes at the cost of heart ( doomed to only love the dead and never the living ) to this day she is treated as a fugitive of the underworld. she is constantly pursued by lemures attempting to drag her back beneath the earth for judgement.

shadowhunters: a ward of the los angeles institute in the late 90s to early 2000s. often referred to as the most promising shadowhunter of her age. i don't have all the details for this verse nailed down. honestly i did give up on reading the dark artifices after the first book because it was all over the place so my knowledge on the LA shadowhunter scene will be largely vibes and headcanons based. i do think buffy is in higher possession of angel's blood than the average shadowhunter but i'm not trying to have her eclipse clary's storyline in any way. the abilities this heightened concentration of blood has on her gives her the gift of prophecy though. also faith is her parabatai because i say so <3

castlevania: primarily netflix castlevania nocturne-based. in the late 1700s buffy's family is living in what was then known as new spain (mexico). this verse is pretty trigger-heavy given the nature of colonization but that is central to noctune's storyline and i won't be shying away from the violence the spaniards wrought on the indigenous populations. never to glorify but it is a reality that cannot be swept under the rug when talking about this time period. buffy herself is mixed indigenous (aztec) and spanish. during this time period this status, as well as her fairer complexion, would allow her some social mobility. it is something she uses to get in the room with members of high society and track down spanish vampires who are targeting mexican woman as a food source. these crimes go largely unnoticed because these women aren't white and it is solely buffy that seeks justice for them. her hunts have earned her somewhat of a folkhero status but also has put a very large target on her back.

apoc/tlou: TBA

dark academia: TBA

» HISTORY.

     it has been ten years since the hollow sister first went missing.     ten years since they disappeared off a street in edinburgh on new years eve,    in plain sight.     it has been nine years and eleven months since the three girls were found.    nine years since gabe hollow committed suicide after having his daughters returned to him.    no one knows where the girls went.    no one knows why their hair turned white.    no one knows why their eyes turned black.    everyone wants answers but there are none to be found... 

     grey hollow wears her secrets like silk.     diaphanous and enticing all while revealing nothing.    a puzzle box of a woman,    intent on feeding her own myth for personal and monetary gain.    grey was sixteen when she left home and she hasn't looked back since.    in the years leading up to her modeling career,    grey took on crafting of all sorts to make ends meet.    her most successful hustle by far being taxidermy.    her interest persists to this day but the hobby fell to the wayside once she was discovered and boosted into fame and fortune.     

     no one remembers the forgotten month,    no one but grey...      the burden of being the eldest,    of being charged with being her sisters' keeper.    the sisters hollow live at a distance because peculiarities begin to unfold in the event of their close proximity.    grey being the strangest of all three still exudes it even in the absence of her sisters.    she channels weirdness into weaving.    this penchant for peculiarities into thread and lace and pearls.    her designs evoke a realm of the fantastical and grotesque.    art that reflects her reality rather than what a regular person would see.   

SPOILERS AHEAD [ ! ] grey has known that her and her siblings were changelings since they came back from beyond the veil.    she has studied multiple texts and spellbooks,    in her research and she has found a way back to limbo multiple times.    over the years she has passed back through the veil and back into the mortal realm beyond the notice of her sisters or other folk.    being the eldest,    grey had been the one to stitch her sisters into the skin of the once-mortal hollow girls.    together they are three dead souls living in the flesh of three other dead girls.    souls that escaped the in-between by stealing the appearance of lost children.    

     grey has no moral quandary over what she had done to grant her and her sisters another life.    she doesn't remember who she was before,    her only drive was survival,    to carve out a place for herself into the life of another girl...    and what a woman she has become.    enigmatic and at times cruel,    she is someone you want to get to know but seems too far to touch.    her fame allows a strange anonymity;    as she can easily control the narrative surrounding her,    considering her specific skill set,    while still operating in the public eye.    people only know what she wants them to know about her;    nothing more,    nothing less.    

» ABILITIES.

pheromones: everything about her entices you,    draws you in.    like a poisonous flower she seems to be all beauty at first but there is a special kind of venom in her touch.    simply brushing skin against skin with grey makes you susceptible to compulsion.    she can persuade people to do whatever she wants with nothing more than a kiss.    although all she really needs to do is brush a thumb across a wrist,    or a palm at your cheek.    it is not only touch,    her whole presence makes people want to please her and get her attention.    it is a hunger and this power when unchecked actually can result in aggression rather than placidity.    in the case of her younger sister,    iris who doesn't quite have a handle on her abilities.    whoever comes into contact with a sister may try to attack them,    to consume them,    to kiss them,    to have them intimately and violently.    grey has managed to channel all of these feelings outward.    she is the thing that hungers,    she is thing with teeth in the dark.     there is a catch!  those who have been in close contact with death or have had a near-death experience of their own are immune to the sway of the hollow sisters.    since their magic is rooted in their own deaths it cannot touch those who have crossed the veil as well.    

heightened agility & strength: pretty self-explanatory.    grey is more durable than a regular mortal and her strength is fairly immense.    her power is heightened with every trip across the veil she makes she grows more strange and more powerful.    she returns a little less human after each crossing.     

chlorokinesis: the sister with a green thumb.    iris notes that wiseria in particular has a fondness for grey and has at times crawled into her mouth during sleep.    this is a less an active skill and more a passive ability.    from an outsider's perspective there seems to just be a mess of flowers about grey hollow.    specifically carrion flowers,    better known as corpse flowers, often crop up in her wake.    very on the nose but since she is a rotting thing herself it is no surprise that her presence actively fertilizes the ground around her.    

potions / runic magic: grey is not a practiced witch or really an official witch in any regard.    her studies really only surround ways to cross the veil but she has delved into runic magic and potions specifically as they help assist in her crossings.    she also frequently weaves spells into her designs and creations.    it has been rumored that her perfume lovingly dubbed: hollow is a potion as well given it's rather…    unique scent.   

conditional immortality: it is implied that grey can repeat her initial act of stealing a body. considering she still has access to the world beyond the veil it is possible for her to stitch herself into a new body once her current one has run its course. she can jump from host to host although it is not as easy as slimply slipping a coat on and off. a potential host has to be of similar build and make, and it requires an immense amount of power to eat away at the life, the guts, the baggage that comes with a new set of skin.

» VERSES.

ninth house / dark academia: a fashion design student attending yale university in order to gain access to the houses of veil. grey is a member of manuscript and is a skilled mimic and illusionist in her own right. her main goal for joining the ranks of the ancient eight is to seek a way to be rid of the minotaur that has been hunting her down for most of her adolescence. circumstances reach a fever pitch when the bull arrives on campus along with her youngest sister, iris hollow.

        » affiliated with @daylighter

high-fantasy: no one knows the origins of lady hollow... only that she is the most sought after seamstress across the realm. grey has built her reputation on the magic she weaves into the garments she constructs. a witch for a talent with needle and thread it is said her creations can make even the most lowly alluring to all. her true motivations are not know but it is wonder how she ends up in such high places when she is a woman of little means and station. she is often seen by the side of monarchs both large and small whispering in their ear gossip, imbuing them with doubts and reassurances alike.

» HISTORY.

       yūko is the owner of a mysterious shop in tokyo. she is a dealer in wishes as she will grant the sincere wish of anyone who is willing to make an appropriate sacrifice in return; the price is always equivalent to the weight of the wish, no more, no less. a sorceress of immense power thus she is one of the few people with the ability to send people to multiple worlds, such that she has been aptly named the dimension witch. yūko herself possesses knowledge across multiple timelines and can traverse through time and worlds though she tends to keep to her own corner of the universe.

       despite her immense power the witch is an eccentric wine aunt to her core. yūko is often seen as a cryptic, deeply puzzling figure within the confines of her canon. she speaks in a manner akin to riddle and also comes off as a person with little care other than indulging in her own vices. underneath her enigmatic persona is a deeply sorrowful woman with a loneliness with no cure. many years ago she was cursed with immortality by her former lover. in her last moments he wished for her life to continue on and since then she has been frozen in time.

       currently her role is that of maintaining the cosmic balance of the universe. all the while she trains... and tortures her apprentice watanuki and sends him on mystical errands to help test the limits of his skills. she is a guardian to cursed objects, a collector of memories, a keeper of worlds, and a relentless and unforgiving teacher. her work is that of tending to a multiversal garden; to guide fate but not directly oppose it or chart its course.

» ABILITIES.

wish-granting: all of yūko's customers must pay a price in order to grant their wishes, which can be no more or no less than the one demanded, or else harm will come one's way. she is not one to tell her customers the most direct way to solve their problems because in the end, it can only be solved with that person's own realization and resolution to change themselves. often if the person lacks the sincere determination to change themselves, a karmic disaster that cannot be stopped will inevitably befall them.

dimensional travel: most relevant to canon, is how she can send other people through time at her own behest. yūko herself can traverse through other dimensions, parallel or otherwise, and often does so in order to obtain materials related to her shop or fulfill the wishes of others across the multiverse

time travel: similar to her ability to transport herself to other dimensions yūko is also able to travel through time although on a daily basis she uses this ability to help channel her precognitive abilities. it should also be noted that she does not perceive all the timelines, all the time, all at once. rather she can channel specific moments when needed. though it is possible for her to perceive multiple universes at the same time it is an ability that requires more focus than she can afford daily.

divination: for yūko this is more of a tool to help her hone in on her space-time skillset. it aides her focus and narrows her view point across the multiverse to access very specific information about very specific people. scrying is her preferred method of divining but she is capable of accessing information through other channels as well.

emotional perception: required for wish-granting, yūko knows the desires of anyone she comes across inherently. desires function as unfulfilled wishes or wishes that have not yet been realized therefore yūko is able parse out what lies in the depths others peoples hearts without having to be explicitly told.

telepathy: a conditional skill that has only been shown to work on those who have made deals with yūko. this isn't an ability she employs often and to be honest it is usually used to get a quick laugh out of her by scaring whoever's mind she manages to worm her way into.

» VERSES.

» HISTORY.

     beth harmon is orphaned at age eight when her mother dies in a car crash.   growing up in an orphanage in kentucky,   she is taught chess by the custodian mr.   shaibel,   and soon becomes a chess prodigy.   while at the orphanage,   she struggles with an addiction to tranquilizers.   in her teens she is adopted by the wheatley family and begins her rapid rise in the chess world,   eventually challenging the top soviet players.   as her skill and profile grows,   so does her dependency on tranquilizers and eventually alcohol

     in her adulthood,   beth is portrayed as an obsessive,   unable to keep any other element in her life in order outside of her own success within the chess competitive landscape.   she is a young woman with undiagnosed autism and a good portion of her hyperfixation on the game of chess can be attributed to her particular neurosis.   she is also someone who is fairly socially awkward and prefers her own company over the company of others.   part of the reason why she enjoys chess is the fact that it doesn't require a conversation or an interaction between players besides what is occurring on the board itself.

     outside of her career she has trouble maintaining personal relationships.   between her addictions and the amount of focus she puts into improving her strategies,   she is an unreliable friend,   often disappearing for months at a time without a single phone call or word.   overall she is a difficult person to get close to,   especially to those who exist outside of the competitive world of chess.   the game will always be the center of her life no matter who chooses to stay by her side.  

» VERSES.

bridgerton /  regency: both a prodigy and an oddity alike.   in the wake of the death of beth's adoptive mother she is sent to live with extended family in england,   as she was without any support at all in virginia.   as an orphan she was hidden away from society and kept in the upper levels of her aunt's home.   soon enough,   her penchant for chess is made known to the estate's maids and word eventually travels to her aunt who seeks to exploit her niece as a public spectacle.   beth is often dragged along to balls and set up in the parlor to play chess against party-goers for entertainment.   while she is admired for her skills she is still persona non grata,  given her lack of social standing and her status as a woman without a dowry to be given.   she exists on the fringes of high society,   just within reach but never a part of it.   

ninth house / dark academia: what would you do to never lose again?    after a crushing defeat on the competitive chess circuit beth looks to unsavory means to ensure all her future victories.   making a faustian bargain with a chaos demon she sells a fraction of her soul for boundless luck.   enrolling into yale as a mathematics and russian language double major she seeks out the school's magical underbelly once her demon begins to slip its leash.    

grishaverse: hailing from the wandering isle beth is currently a student enrolled in the university of ketterdam.   when she's not in classes she can be seen making bets over chess with her wealthy classmates.   her wins help fund her tuition and also are a way for her to practice her heartrending abilities by checking the pulse points of her opponents.   knowing their heart rates helps her guess their next move… and she may toy with the nervous system of her more vindictive adversaries.   her grisha status is a secret to the broader public and only her friend jolene is aware of beth's affinity.   

⇲ ABILITIES