Author: pepperthephoenix

On Writing 80 Characters Bios for the Demon WIPs

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For those of you who don’t know, when I’m not writing about crocodile people, I write about Demons. I just finished writing 80+ bios for the Demon wip which was…a lot, haha.

The bios were grouped two different ways: time period and allegiances. Technically, the Demon WIP covers six time periods either through a direct narrative, letters/journals/newspapers, flashbacks, dialogue and quotes at the beginning of the chapters:

  1. When gods walked the planet
  2. History of the Crossnic Church 500-1600,
  3. Shadow Occupation and First Shadow War 1640-1808
  4. Gargainian Civil War 1809-1824
  5. Rezan’s Reign 1824-1860
  6. The “Future” 1867 and Beyond

But then I also broke the bios up into the follow rough groups or organizations:

  1. Characters from the Fuuuuuuture
  2. Gargainian Monarchy
  3. Sundaran Royal Family
  4. Demons
  5. Staff of the Brost Times and the Blasphemer
  6. Ecaterina’s Mad Scientists
  7. Crossnic Priests
  8. Crossnic Assassins
  9. Characters from the past
  10. Characters from the distance past
  11. Characters from the diiiiiiiiiistant past

Writing these bios helped me figure out who knows who and when and whether they’ve tried to kill each other or not. It also helped me flesh out the history and sociological/religious/ethnic make up of this region of the world, making it feel stronger and more solid. I was also able to create a complicated timeline mapping, not just the history of this region, but the history of neighboring regions as well which will hopefully pay off in the other books. Unfortunately, it didn’t really help with the plot with this book, but I got a lot of plot ideas for the fourth book, haha.

This exercise helped me confirm the scope of this book, solidified relationships between characters, confirm some unexpected relations, and helped me understand a few characters that were still a little fuzzy. I’ve always loved writing characters and exploring their deeper, darker natures and it was fun to take a step back from the plot and just figure out who these people were before I put them through further hell.

Now, I just have to write the book. Considering this is the seventh draft and all over drafts were incomplete, the odds are not in my favor, but maybe the seventh time is the charm?

5 Facts about Queer Anthro Crocodile People

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  1. Queer Friendly: Anthro Crocodile, also known as Ilkhatal, reject the very concept of the gender binary. They support all genders and love experimenting with different form of gender expression. They also reject heteronormativity on principle, knowing very well the damage it causes those who embrace it full-heartedly
  2. Fashion Can Be Challenging: Anthro Crocodiles live in a human-centric nation, which can make getting their needs met quite challenging. Fashion is just one place where this is keenly felt. The humans wear Ilkhatal skin and horns as a fashion statement and even though harvesting crocodile skins is illegal, there is a black market for crocodile body parts. The Ilkhatal themselves prefer wearing dresses, skirts, and wide legged trousers. They also prefer wearing clothes that display the ridges and colorful scales on their back.
  3. Sexual Dimorphicism: The Anthro Crocodiles who are born with a uterus and more estrogen than testosterone have more pronounced ridges along their eyeridges and are taller and bulkier than those with penises and more testosterone than estrogen.
  4. Crocodile People Live For a Long Time: A wealthy, healthy, Anthro Crocodile person can live up to 120-150 years old. However, because of the human-centricness of their state, an average anthro crocodile usually only lives to 60-80 years old. Because of their long life span, they divide childhood and adulthood differently than humans. An Ilkhatal’s childhood lasts from birth to their 20s, then their “teenage years” are up to their 30s, then young adulthood until their 40th birthday when they finally reach true adulthood. Children and twenties are expected to depend on their elders for financial and emotional support, Ilkhatal in thier 30s are expected to be independent, but can rely on a safety net built by the elders, and those who make it to 40 are expected to be fully independent, although older Ilkhatal (60-100) will quietly extend help if needed, so as not to embarrass the now adult Ilkhatal.
  5. No, Anthro Crocodiles Don’t Eat Human Flesh. Don’t be a Racist: Anthro crocodiles find human flesh to be bitter and chewy and thus haven’t eaten a human in centuries. Still, they need to eat 5-7% of their body weight to be healthy and so they prefer big game such as elk, deer, boars, and other types of large animals.
  6. Bonus fact: Crocodile people’s health is tied to their access to water. They need to spend no less than 30% of their average day in water to be considered healthy. If they don’t, they will develop severe skin conditions, heart and lung disease, and stunted physical and mental development.

Beautiful Commission

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I commissioned the amazing @SethPuertoLuna on Twitter to draw Rashid, my anxious, depressed, suicidal, bi disaster prince from the Demon WIP and look how gorgeous he is!!! Seriously, go commission @SethPuertoLuna this instant because he’s amazing and his artwork is amazing and oh my god I can’t stop staring at this picture!!!

Rashid drawn by @SethPuertoLuna

Rashid is also known as the Chrysanthemum Prince and is third in line for the Sundaran throne even though it’s prophesied that he’ll destroy his family’s empire. His mother, convinced he would be the ruin of them all, took his eye when he was thirteen (who knows why) and hired numerous assassins to kill him. Rashid ended up marrying one of these assassins and is also dating a Demon and has a druglord for a fuckbuddy. Yes, he’s a complete disaster but I love him so much, haha.