Well, that guy is probably one of my least traumatized OCs and that's just because I prefer to keep most of his trauma as a 'what if' scenario that never actually happens in canon.

But I guess before I explain that, I shall explain how his world works.

Well, I like to think that the Earth as well know it (in this universe) has some sort of funnel shaped mist on top of it.

This is just a messy sketch, and probably even accurate too because the mist is so much that you probably won't see the complete shape of it, such everyone just thinks it's funnel shaped

So basically this... thing, generates souls. Nobody is too sure what exactly happens inside it that souls are created, because this mist can only be seen on certain days (If you're someone who doesn't have the gift too see it 24/7) when there's lots of traffic going on (Lots of souls being created or lots of soul 'returning to their origin')

When you die, your soul leaves your body and floats back up into the mist, most people have agreed that when that happens, your soul is broken to its most basic components and recycled, for a new soul to make use of. Sometimes this process isn't entirely clean, as some people have reported having memories of things they don't think they've done, which was something that fueled the idea of past lives.

Anyways, souls are usually given traits on what sort of body they are meant to inhabit (human, monster, animal) but sometimes mistakes happen and they enter the wrong body. When that happens, the current that they are in starts together traits of the sort of vessel that they were actually supposed to be inside (For Sooty's case, he was meant to be a wolf, but his soul entered a human vessel, so the body adapted to the soul and got wolfish traits)

Children who died as soon as they were born, is a result of no soul claiming the vessel during gestation period.

Some souls weren't created from the mist, sometimes two or more very powerful individuals can be able to create a unique soul as they produce offspring, but it's a risky practice, as th mist doesn't accept souls that didn't come from it and the souls would now just be referred to as 'lost souls' floating around until God knows what happens to them. They are other ways a soul can be created, but maybe that will be another topic ig.

Now, enough with that, time for Sooty's lore. Well, since he's technically a wolf, he obviously will have some animalistic behavior. His parents (he never knew them) dumped him in the woods when he was barely a year old, because they got scared by the fact that he was having wolf ears ( there was a time where people didn't accept these sort of things and saw them as failed humans) but luckily for him so ironically got adopted by a pack, because apparently him being in a human body wasn't near to enough to severe the connection between the species he was actually meant to be.

But he didn't really stay with them for long. He wasn't that old when he realized that this sort of thing wouldn't work out in the long run, so he left them, surviving by himself. A lone wolf, if you want to call it. This guy was just around 7 when he did that, btw. That also didn't last for long, because child protective services found him, and were trying to educate him and teach him more human ways. It surprisingly worked out, but Sooty didn't have a legal name so they were still fishing around for names that will good for him.

So after that, they didn't want him to be lonely, so they took him to an orphanage where he met Eli (that one is another story on its own lmao). Eli didn't really like him (or anyone really) but after a while these guys became inseparable. And it was Eli that suggested the name Sooty to him to use.

I needed to draw facial hair on Eli for a moment guys

I genuinely wanted answer this with a some pictures but then I realized how quickly I lose energy, so I'll just write it down.

Tw: Death mention

Well, to say what exactly those black stuff are is a complicated question. But it's linked to his soul which is shown in this post

Now, if you have gone to check that out, you'll see that the major color of her soul is black. Now, it's this color because it's incomplete so the soul tries to make a replacement for the missing part.

I like to think that souls have at least three parts: the core, inner layer and outer layer. The core is where the basic components of the soul are enclosed in, the inner layer acting as barrier to separate the core from external world and the outer layer completing the soul as a hole.

Now with Eli, he only has two layers: the core and inner layer. Her soul is not complete.

To add more light to this, I guess I should explain what Eli is to begin with. Eli's a parasite, an entity that has to depend on others to truly live. There are at least three main categories of parasites, namely: Physical, Emotional and Spiritual.

Physical parasites are your 'usual' shit, just attaching themselves to some poor being that will now be their host, slowly sucking out the life within the host, till they're nothing more than a empty huk devoid of any life and moving on to their next victim. They vary looks, some resembling mollusks (particularly snails and slugs) while some just look like a moving mass of goo.

Emotional parasites are really just a different kind of physical parasites, but instead of them completely eating up the host from the inside, they merely latch unto the brain and soak up hormones released when the host are experiencing emotions. They're mostly harmless, reducing stress for the host and never even taking near enough that will negatively affect the host. Though, once one of these have latched unto a host's brain, they re together for life. If one dies the other follows in suite.

Spiritual parasites are probably the weirdest of them all. This guys are literally just souls, having no physical form of their own. Some of them come from different emotions accumulating to the point that they no longer become abstract concepts and have a near physical form, which is a soul. Eli is one of these, as the colors in her soul are really just emotions.

Now with these guys, they have the ability to forcefully push out a soul from its body and take its place. But the thing is, the majority of times these souls immediately take control of a body as soon as they are made, so the main victims here are really just unborn children. Spiritual parasites don't actually have any ill intention when they do this, as it's just an instinct they have as without a body they can't interact much with the world.

Though with what I explained in a previous ask (look up #otherspace lore to see it). Most of the times, the bodies they inhabit start to get traits from their soul, which is why Eli has black goo covering their body. Though, in some areas, there isn't anything under neath the black stuff.

Anyways, since these guys have naturally incomplete souls, they have to find some other method to trigger their souls to create the last layer. For Eli's case, he has to 'feel' to a certain extent. Depending on the major emotion in his soul that triggers the process, the black goo wouldn't be altered accordingly.

Also, these guys are technically immortal, since their souls are made from abstract concepts, so even if they die, they can still go forcefully inhabit another body. But if their soul completes, they would really be invulnerable and can't be killed.

Back again with this stuff

Lore ig?

Marvel at his suffering 😈

👁️👁️

Ah yes, world building. My favorite. Hehehe...

So basically in OtherSpace ( the book I'm writing). There are souls. Souls are created from the very essence of the universe, which has different rips around the galaxy.

Luckily for us, a rip appeared right above Earth, souls started venturing down below. It is unsure how the first people came to be, but it is suspected that they didn't really follow the rules of the world.

Anyways, different souls were created. Human souls, monsters of all kinds and animals. When a baby is born, there is most likely a soul destined to come in contact with the body and thereby make it theirs. Souls are meant to go into the bodies of their type.

But then, they are some minor errors. Sometimes animal soul would accidentally enter a human body. Usually, this shouldn't be noticeable, but if the soul is strong enough, it can make physical changes to the body, like having an extra ears or a tail that corresponds with the type of animal the soul was to belong to.

Then, there are defective souls. Souls that weren't destined to have a body. Most of the times, these souls glitch out completely and destroy themselves, but the ones that survive are what to be referred as spiritual parasites.

Somehow these guys gain the power forcefully kick a soul out of its destined body and take it for themselves. They're a subtype of the broader clas of Parasites.

Parasites are actually split into three main groups: Physical, Emotional and Spiritual.

Physical parasites are you usual parasites that we now about, jumping from one host to another after, eating away at the victim from the inside.

Emotional parasites are actually just physical parasites that desire something else from the host: Emotions. They need the certain hormones a sentient being produces to survive. They usually attach themselves to the brain of the host, rewiring the brain of the host to enable them to see(or rather, hallucinate) them. These are usually the least dangerous of parasites, as study has been shown that they can be beneficial both to the host and parasite. Trying to remove an emotional parasite from its host will result in death of both the host and parasite. They usually go for a workaholics/people with intense emotions.

Spiritual parasites are the most mysterious of them all. Some of are actually defective souls, some were created from raw human emotion, like Eli. Not much is known about them, except for the fact that they're impossible to be truly killed.

This is one of my OCs that I teased way back since last year

Srry to everyone who say the first drawing and got confused that you didn't see this guy again

It's actually meant to be with another person but I got lazy and only drew them

Here's the og drawing I'm referring to (damn the improvement)

(sorry if i wrote wrong, too lazy to see if im right)

You could say they have a history.....

Young Eli and Sooty GRRRR

(Srry for inconsistency I realized I was drawing on the wrong layer far too late TwT)