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MONSTER WORKSHOP
MONSTER WORKSHOP
This post is designed to help players workshop ideas for characters' monster forms while writing their applications, based on a small Plurk survey that suggested it might be helpful. If you don't need it, there's no obligation to post here, but we wanted to give players a space to pick each other's brains.
This would be a great time to review our FAQ information on curses. Consider how different stages of transformation might look on your character, or whether you want a monster that's more horrifying or more horny (or both!). Remember: violent and sexual urges influence monster transformations (and detransformations!) — failure to vent both will cause a person to transform, but either committing an act of violence or engaging in some monsterfucking is enough to transform someone back to their human(oid) state.
Below, we've paraphrased some helpful advice that players were already prepared to provide via Plurk (thank you to Kait, Pink, and Seph!):
In case it helps facilitate your brainstorming, we've provided the form below!
This optional form is intended to help, not hinder, so feel free to toss the form out the window if it's not useful. It just gives some ideas of what types of information you might include in that section of the application.
Alternatively, modify at your leisure! If you're caught between two monster ideas, you can include two versions of the monster section, etc.
This would be a great time to review our FAQ information on curses. Consider how different stages of transformation might look on your character, or whether you want a monster that's more horrifying or more horny (or both!). Remember: violent and sexual urges influence monster transformations (and detransformations!) — failure to vent both will cause a person to transform, but either committing an act of violence or engaging in some monsterfucking is enough to transform someone back to their human(oid) state.
Below, we've paraphrased some helpful advice that players were already prepared to provide via Plurk (thank you to Kait, Pink, and Seph!):
- The 400-word limit on the application is a suggested upwards limit on length! However, for those struggling to write much, bear in mind we expect you to stick to what's on your app, so try to cover everything regarding physical attributes, natural weapons, powers, and behaviors.
- If you're writing a monster that feels common, consider variations between different lores, and specify the version that you feel might better fit your character. Try not to leave out what feels "obvious" or "standard."
- Your application might answer the questions: can it fuck, and if so, how?
- If you want to make a monster unique, aim for unusual morphology (this werewolf has SPINES!) or build off your character's specific interests/associations (this faerie collects musicians!) to flesh out a more generalized monster type.
- When in doubt, pinterest vibes. This TUMBLR might also help.
BRAINSTORMING
In case it helps facilitate your brainstorming, we've provided the form below!
This optional form is intended to help, not hinder, so feel free to toss the form out the window if it's not useful. It just gives some ideas of what types of information you might include in that section of the application.
Alternatively, modify at your leisure! If you're caught between two monster ideas, you can include two versions of the monster section, etc.
Player Name & Pronouns:
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
username or otherwise
Aversions:
Character Name:
Canon:
Curse Type:
appearance
POWERS
behavior
Contact:
Aversions:
Character Name:
Canon:
Curse Type:
MONSTER
appearance
POSSIBLE_PHYSICAL_DESCRIPTIONS
POWERS
POWER_1 | DESCRIPTION
POWER_2 | DESCRIPTION
POWER_3 | DESCRIPTION
behavior
BEHAVIOR_DESCRIPTION
no subject
Contact:
Aversions: pregnancy horror and harm and miscarriages/abortions; sometimes paralysis/end of IHNMAIMS-type horror
no subject
Canon: handead anthem
Curse Type: skala
Ideas:
that's what i got for this guy, hmu with input and ideas ???
no subject
no subject
i also am thinking about a cobra because his group (called deva) multitrack drifts on their religious imagery n shit so they have Hindu themes as well as Catholic. lots going on here haha
no subject
Canon: handead anthem
Curse Type: niez
Ideas:
open to input for him too. i have to decide between him or ko. please help me lol it's so difficult
Naya | Nacho Varga | Wilk
Contact:
Aversions: Trypophobia
Character Name: Nacho Varga
Canon: Better Call Saul
Curse Type: Wilk
appearance
POWER_LIST
behavior
no subject
bones on the outside would also look pretty cool tbh like in the pic there. y'know what else would be cool. Bioluminescence
nicky | the old guard
Contact:
Aversions: nothing relevant to this post unless someone's monster of choice is A Car Crash
Character Name: nicolo di genova
Canon: the old guard
Curse Type: wilk orrrr maybe niez
still heavily brainstorming, so these are just super vague thoughts:
for his monster, my first instinct was to go classic with a werewolf. it was the first thing that came to mind for nicky when i was browsing the game pages and i can't really think of anything i like more than that! in terms of visuals, i've always really loved the werewolf design from the prisoner of azkaban movie – there's something really creepy and unnatural and not?? wolf-like??? about it, with the skeletal long limbs and hunched back, so that's the vibe i'm going for. furless, but i actually think he's gonna have a sphynx cat texture, where he feels like velvet to the touch. he will have the same lovely green eyes as nicky though. in terms of abilities, the vibe is pure strength, raw hunger, increased sense of smell, and speed. in his monster form, he'll be driven by animal instincts, won't be able to understand when people speak to him, and won't be able to tell the difference between loved ones and enemies.
my second idea which i ONLY JUST NOW came up with is to lean Very Hard into the christian/catholic angle with something in the vein of a nephilim, which is why i suggested niez as an alternative because i think the aesthetic fits better with this. the traits listed for wilk are definitely more nicky, BUT i could comfortably make an argument for him being niez. anyway the more i type about this one the more i like it, but the aesthetic would be: white marble all over and generally resembling nicky in an ancient greek statue sort of way (especially the eyes with no details and the completely expressionless face), VERY BIG (like i think verging on maybe 10 feet tall or more), big ol wings, possibly an extra set of eyes for that biblically-accurate angel energy, and also glowing faintly white. also what if he had eyes on his palms too like that dude from pan's labyrinth. also i think that leaning into the Marbleness would be fun, so if he was injured he would just crack and pieces of him would break off like actual stone. in terms of behaviour, i like the idea of him being compelled by a fanatic, destructive kind of righteousness, casting judgements on people and having an unstoppable need to follow through on those judgements which he would consider to be divine. it'd be a fun way of playing with his faith, which is very important to him. i'm kind of leaning more towards this one now BUT i don't know!!!
no subject
genya safin | shadow & bone | niez
Contact:
Aversions: parental death kinda? and trypophobia for sure
Character Name: Genya Safin
Canon: Shadow & Bone
Curse Type: niez
appearance
POWER_LIST
behavior
no subject
no subject
Thanks it's terrible I love it!
no subject
Contact:
Aversions: Suffocation/choking, graphic depictions of suicide.
Character Name: House
Canon: House, M.D.
Curse Type: Skala oooorrr Niez
Ideas:
I'm honestly torn between these two ideas! They both offer some fun potential for nasty transformation body horror. The vulture is more of a physical monster but the plague doctor might be more fun from a creepy point of view, plus House will be really annoyed at how obvious it is. Gimme your thoughts!
no subject
no subject
no subject
Contact:
Aversions: n/a
Character Name: makima
Canon: chainsaw man
Curse Type: skala
appearance
i do not have concrete ideas re: powers or behavior but i may bring a twist to her canon abilities (spoilers) and mem loss into a clean slate (redacted) the more she goes on without The Stuff— basically i will be taking most inspiration from her corruption symptoms at
terry silver / cobra kai / diabel
Contact:
Aversions: Just pregnancy.
Character Name: Terry Silver
Canon: Cobra Kai/Karate Kid
Curse Type: Diabel
Ideas:
open to input, I am always indecisive as fuck and there are so many good options.
no subject
Leah Shaw | The Walking Dead
Contact:
Aversions: n/a
Character Name: Leah Shaw
Canon: The Walking Dead
Curse Type: Either Wilk or Niez
Still in the brainstorming phrase but here's what I've got.
Idea 1: Undead slasher villain-esque hunter. Canonically she's a mercenary and a hunter from the zombie apocalypse (and fresh out of a death cult) so the vibes fit. From a distance she'd look more or less human, but up close it would become clear that something is very wrong. Glowing eyes, under her clothes it'd become evident that her rib cage and spine are visible. While she'd still be conscious (and maybe breathing?) I'd want to lean into the ghoul aspects. Parts of her are rotting. Bones are exposed. There'd be something on her face that resembles her Reaper mask, or maybe just straight up a mask that she can take on and off. However, I'm struggling a bit for powers beyond just...giving her a spectral shotgun, or something? Maybe special tracking abilities? Inspiration taken from the Deathslinger and these vibes.
Idea 2: This one's a bit vaguer, but leaning into the dog/pack hunter aspect. I tossed her up on the tdm under Wilk but I'm struggling to come up with something beyond just werewolf - or maybe leaning into the Black Dog monster imagery as an omen of death and misfortune. Maybe she's a werewolf with red eyes that lurks in the shadows and has shadow powers - illusion creation, tracking, quick movement through shadow?
no subject
Contact:
Character Name: Ivar "The Boneless" Ragnarsson
Canon: Vikings
Curse Type: Wilk
Sooooo I know a number of people are doing werewolves but wolves are a BIG theme in Norse mythology and at the canonpoint I'm taking him from he's more of a savage wolf in personality rather than a greedy dragon, which was my other idea. The thing about Norse werewolves is that it usually involves wearing a wolf skin to turn into one, so I'm thinking part of his monster transformation looks something like this (cw: gif has body horror of the "ripping the skin off the body" kind), where he physically has to rip his skin off when it becomes too painful so he can reveal the wolf within. I have always thought the werewolf designs from the Van Helsing movie were badass and are my favorite style of werewolf, so I'm thinking something like the grey one will be what Ivar's form looks like, just with his ice blue eyes. I was also toying with the idea of him growing larger the longer he stays in wolf form and angrier he gets, so he starts off at about six feet tall and growing all the way up to the size of about a van, so he ends at about this size in the end.
no subject
Contact:
Aversions: pregnancy, bathroom things, inflation, vore
Character Name: Link
Canon: Breath of the Wild
Curse Type: wilk
appearance
POWERS
behavior