Heart Of The Hex

List of Essential Questions in Creating Original Characters. Writers save this!

Basic Information

•What is the character’s full name? Do they have any titles or nicknames?

•How old are they, and how does their age affect their perspective or abilities?

•What is their physical appearance? How do they dress, groom, and present themselves?

•What species or race are they? How does this influence their life and relationships?

•Where were they born, and where do they currently live? How has their environment shaped them?

Background & History

•What is their family background? Who are their parents, siblings, and other relatives?

•What was their childhood like? Were there any significant events that shaped them?

•What kind of education or training have they received? How competent are they in their skills?

•Have they faced any significant traumas or hardships? How have these experiences affected them?

•What are their most cherished memories? What about their most painful ones?

Personality & Traits

•What are their core personality traits? Are they introverted or extroverted? Optimistic or cynical?

•What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do these traits help or hinder them?

•What are their greatest fears? How do these fears influence their behavior?

•What are their dreams and aspirations? What do they ultimately want to achieve?

•How do they handle stress, conflict, or failure? Do they have any coping mechanisms?

Relationships

•Who are their closest friends or allies? How did they form these bonds?

•Do they have any romantic relationships or interests? How do they approach love and romance?

•Who are their enemies or rivals? What caused these conflicts?

•How do they interact with strangers or people from different cultures or races?

•How do they view and treat those who are weaker or more vulnerable than themselves?

Morality & Ethics

•What is their moral code or personal philosophy? How strictly do they adhere to it?

•How do they view concepts like honor, justice, and duty?

•Are they willing to compromise their morals or values? Under what circumstances?

•How do they react to ethical dilemmas or difficult choices?

•Do they have any secrets or lies that they’re hiding from others?

Abilities & Skills

•What are their primary skills or talents? How did they acquire them?

•Do they have any magical abilities or special powers? How do they use or control them?

•What weapons, tools, or artifacts do they carry? How proficient are they with them?

•What are their weaknesses or limitations in terms of abilities? How do they compensate for them?

•Are there any skills they wish they had or are trying to develop?

Motivation & Goals

•What is their primary motivation or driving force? What keeps them going?

•What are their short-term goals? What about long-term goals?

•What obstacles are preventing them from achieving their goals?

•How do their goals align or conflict with the goals of others around them?

•What would they be willing to sacrifice to achieve their ambitions?

Beliefs & Worldview

•What are their religious or spiritual beliefs? How do these beliefs guide their actions?

•How do they view the world around them, including its magic, politics, and history?

•Are they an idealist, realist, or somewhere in between? How does this shape their decisions?

•How do they view their own place in the world? Do they feel they have a destiny or purpose?

•What prejudices or biases do they hold? How do these influence their interactions?

Quirks & Habits

•Do they have any unique quirks or habits (e.g., fidgeting, humming, collecting odd items)?

•What are their hobbies or pastimes? How do they spend their free time?

•Do they have any addictions or vices (e.g., gambling, drinking, greed)?

•Are there any rituals or routines they follow daily? How do these impact their life?

•What small things bring them joy or comfort?

Social Status & Influence

•What is their social status or rank? How do they navigate the social hierarchy?

•Do they have any power or influence over others? How do they use it?

•Are they well-known or famous for anything? How do they handle fame or infamy?

•How do they view authority and those in power? Are they a follower, leader, or rebel?

•Do they have any responsibilities or duties to others (e.g., family, community, kingdom)?

Conflict & Challenges

•What are their biggest challenges or obstacles? How do they plan to overcome them?

•Have they experienced any major losses? How do they cope with grief or failure?

•Who or what is their greatest enemy? What is the source of this conflict?

•How do they react when they’re wrong or make mistakes?

•What would cause them to change their beliefs, goals, or worldview?

Legacy & Future

•What do they hope to leave behind or be remembered for?

•How do they think others perceive them? How accurate is this perception?

•What would they do if they achieved their goals? What’s next for them?

•Are they prepared to face the consequences of their actions or decisions?

•What kind of life do they ultimately want to live?

LIMITED OFFER 🔥

Create Characters with Depth Today! 🌟

Unlock the full potential of your characters with our Character Creation Worksheet Guide and bring them to life with incredible depth and detail. Whether you’re delving into science fiction or fantasy, our comprehensive template is your perfect companion.

Why this template?

• All-In-One Solution

Perfect for both science fiction and fantasy contexts.

• Organized & Accessible

Keep your notes in order and easily accessible on mobile, desktop, and more.

• Lifetime Updates

Get seamless updates and a beautiful interface with just a one-time payment!

• Guided & Complete

Includes free materials for inspiration and a compiled list of writing tools.

• Fantasy World Kickstart

Features outlines for creating your fantasy world and conducting research.

• Bonus Resources

Free fantasy images and an editable Canva poster template.

What’s Inside?

• 🌍 Fantasy Worldbuilding Worksheet Guide

• 📝 Writer Planner: From Idea Generation to Publishing

• 📈 Series Roadmap

• 🧑‍🎤 Character Creation Worksheet Guide

• 💡 Tips, Resources, Inspiration, and Guides

• 📊 Synced Database

• And so much more!

Grab Yours Now and start crafting your magical world today! ✨

Click the link for more info!

this post is dedicated forevermore to three people i just saw tonight outside the gay club in the most beautiful interaction of beautiful people i’ve ever seen in my life. it was so beautiful i had to come here to talk about it. like actually writing it out is fucking insane. let me set the scene: two of the hottest men i’ve ever seen in my life were making out with each other outside the gay club…and then picture the HOTTEST woman, i mean quite literally the fucking SEXIEST, jaw-dropping, smoothest skin, nicest-smelling woman running up to the both of them from out of nowhere, i don’t even know where she came from — literally she probably descended from heaven itself (or from the inside of the club and i didn’t see her come out lmao)…the two men see her out of the corner of their eyes, their eyes fucking LIGHT UP when they see her. and not in like a bestie way, like an “i’m in love” way. oh bitch they both had it BAD for her. and THEN!!!! they passionately kissed…ALL THREE OF THEM!!! THEY HAD HER PUSHED AGAINST THE WALL TAKING TURNS KISSING HER!!! and then like the ethereal creatures of the night they were, they locked hands with her, and walked away into the foggy night hand-in-hand together…one of the men gently tucked one of her locs behind her ear and called her princess as they walked away…i would like to personally say, i am a better person for having watched that interaction. thank you. your life is a movie and i was so glad i got to be an extra in that moment. this is the future liberals want and all that

I love the concept that Viktor ends up with Jayce’s last name through some originally non-romantic means so much that I have multiple versions.

Jayce accidentally gives Viktor his last name by being so insistent on putting Viktor’s name first in every circumstance. When he’s listing their names on anything he puts them down as “Viktor and Jayce Talis”. When he introduces them to people he says “Nice to meet you, this is Viktor and I’m Jayce Talis” with a pause before Talis because he always forgets that he should say his house name too. Viktor slowly starts to notice that they’re referred to in the tabloids as “the Talises” and that higher ups at the academy will introduce him to investors as “Viktor Talis” without Jayce even being there.

When they first start working together, they put their initials next to things in their shared notes to mark when they have questions or agree with something the other wrote, or to differentiate when someone is dictating while the other talks. In an effort to not have it confused with a variable, Viktor initials VT (VikTor) as a bit of a joke to look similar to Jayce’s JT. However, one day when Heimerdinger is looking over their notes, he marks out a question in the margin for Viktor with “Viktor Talis” written out next to it in full. Viktor and Jayce debate for a moment after he leaves if it was supposed to mean it was for both of them, but the contents of the question makes it entirely clear that Heimerdinger things VT stands for Viktor Talis and has accepted that Viktor has adopted Jayce’s last name with no questions.

At the beginning of Hextech, as they are trying to get investors, Viktor regularly gets identified as being from the undercity and harassed for it by wealthy Pilties when he tells them his name is “just Viktor” when asked what house he is from. So one day Jayce suggests just telling investors that his last name is also Talis, thinking that people will assume they are brothers. Viktor gets flustered and tries to politely decline, but Jayce seems to confident that he lets it happen. It takes him weeks to figure out that Jayce doesn’t realize that everyone thinks they’ve gotten married or plan to. Viktor doesn’t have the heart to tell him and won’t let Mel break the illusion.

Jayce takes Viktor on a tour of the forge and when he gets done takes a hammer to jokingly knight him and dub him “officially part of house Talis” Jayce thinks nothing of it until the next time they meet someone new together when he almost spits out his drink hearing Viktor introduce himself as “Viktor Talis”

Some investor that they fucking hate can’t keep their names straight for some reason but always sees Jayce wearing his house sigil so he says “ah, Viktor Talis” every time he sees Jayce. They find it so fucking funny that even just saying “Viktor Talis” sends them into uncontrollable laughter.

Ximena refers to them exclusively as “my boys” to the point that most people who met her after Hextech was founded assume that she has two sons, Jayce Talis and Viktor Talis. She doesn’t feel the need to correct them as she does truly love them both as her children and is also quietly hoping one day Jayce will get his head out of his ass and ask Viktor out on a date.

"Blisters and bedrock" and The Flashback

So I know the flashback scene with Felicia in s2e5 is controversial. So I wanted to take the time to understand it properly, and do a close rewatch.

And I realized that even though I watched the episode like four times before, I never properly evaluated what was going on with Vander, I wasn't thinking of him as a character in his own right, just as a symbol of Vi and Jinx's past, and hence I didn't understand the scene until now.

Of course, it's all about "blisters and bedrock". That phrase is the name of the episode, the line is repeated three times, obviously it's important. So what does it mean?

The first time we hear it, it's in Vander's garbled memories. The memory that's most impactful to him is the failed rebellion on the bridge and its aftermath.

There's fighting, there's Silco looking at him sadly, with almost child-like sadness, there's Felicia's dead body, then Vander trying to drown Silco.

Those memories are followed by his recent experience killing the enforcers at Stillwater, then by seeing Powder, and a still-blurry image of Vi, even though he hasn't actually seen her yet since he awoke as Warwick, almost as though Powder's presence implies Vi.

Then there's the image of Felicia at the jukebox, and then a disfigured Silco, toasting "blisters and bedrock". It's ghostly, almost accusatory, said as Vander's being faced with the gory injury he inflicted. But what it means is a mystery.

The next instance of the phrase is in Vander's apology letter. He gives his little explanation for his actions, and signs off, "blisters and bedrock." Still not super clear. The letter itself is kind of weak, as far as apologies go. And then there's this cryptic phrase at the end.

Finally, Warwick/Vander is drawn to the girls by the scent of Isha's blood. When he first sees Vi, she almost looks like a two-headed creature from his POV shot, with her massive gauntlets looking sort of like heads, with the glowing hextech gems as their eyes (And I think I need to make a separate post about Vi in this episode, because it's so good). They fight. But then she lowers her guard and he sees her, and that's when we get the full flashback.

Right off the bat, it's established that Vander and Felicia are close. He knows that the song she picked has some special significance. The way they look at each other is kind of flirty too.

They're celebrating the opening of The Last Drop, which they intend to be a pillar for the community of the Lanes (which is a very shop-local approach to politics, but whatever). We knew this was Vander and Silco's endeavor, and Felicia is the only other one there, which means she has a special place in their lives.

Silco is largely passive in the scene. We get a cute little bait-and-switch where it seems like he's going to be a super-serious revolutionary, but then he says something playful instead ("I'm bozo one"), so we get a glimpse of what he used to be like, and what the dynamic of his relationship with Vander was.

And then we get to the reveal that Felicia is pregnant. Now, I think what happens next has been twisted through discourse, so I want to quote it directly:

Felicia: The second I told you I put you on the hook. You two are going to figure this Zaun thing out. I don't care if you have to carve it out of the bedrock covered in blisters. You're not allowed to fail anymore. For her. For me. Vander: What’s the point if we can't raise an ankle-biter or two? Silco: To Zaun, then. Blisters and bedrock.

I've seen people characterize this as Vander and Silco promising to look after Felicia's child. It's not that at all. She's not telling them to look after her kid. She's telling them to succeed at winning independence for Zaun for the sake of her child.

"I don't care if you have to carve it out of the bedrock covered in blisters. You're not allowed to fail." That is: Do whatever it takes. Even if it's hard, and ugly, and painful. That's how you'll help my child.

Vander agrees - what they're fighting for is future generations of Zaunites.

And Silco turns it into a toast. Blisters and bedrock - whatever it takes.

So now we know that in the first ghostly flashback, "blisters and bedrock" was an accusation, it was a manifestation of Vander's guilt. "We said, 'whatever it takes'. And look at Felicia. Look at me."

"Blisters and bedrock" gives Vander's apology letter new meaning too. It turns a kind of weak explanation into something much more meaningful. He's saying he'll do what it takes to patch things up.

In an episode all about regrets and missed chances and forgiveness, it really resonates.

And there's one more instance of "blisters and bedrock" being used - in the song "The Beast" off the season 2 soundtrack.

Vander isn't really able to express himself as Warwick. So the songs providing a very literal window into what he's going through is useful. The lyrics of "What have they done to us", used towards the end of the episode, are just straight-up what Vander's thinking in that scene. I don't think the lyrics to "The Beast" are used in the show, but they're very straightforward too.

Here are the lyrics to the bridge of that song:

What happened to the place where we left off Any progress erased, I was dead wrong Couldn't carve out a place, every dream that we chased Through the blisters and bedrock

Vander is recognizing his failure.

When Vander put down his gauntlets to look after Vi and Powder, he wasn't keeping a promise to Felicia. He was *breaking* his promise to her.

The flashback frames the conflict between Vander and Silco in more personal terms too. In terms of what united them, they both promised to fight for Zaun for the sake of Felicia's child. But when those two things are posed against each other, Silco is willing to kill kids in order to fight for Zaun, while Vander gives up the fight for Zaun to protect the kids.

I think it's significant that the flashback doesn't end on "blisters and bedrock". It ends on Vander suggesting a baby name, showing where his priorities are going to be

And when he sees Vi, as Warwick, he sees the girl who he gave up the fight for. He's remembering his failures, he's tormented by his failures. But Vi, and Powder, are worth it for him.

HAPPY JON SIMS AND CATS DAY

@jonsimsandcats

where you go, i go. that's the deal.

lyrics from "work song" by hozier

click for higher resolution. close ups and progress shots under the cut!

My piece for the Edizzy Zine, which also got to be cover (<3 thank you guys)

Still like this a lot, so enjoy.

I also have a second piece in the NSFW section, but this is tumblr so I can't upload it. Please have this link to twitter isntead lol

My piece for the Edizzy Zine, which also got to be cover (<3 thank you guys)

Still like this a lot, so enjoy.

I also have a second piece in the NSFW section, but this is tumblr so I can't upload it. Please have this link to twitter isntead lol

forgive me lord for I have imagined a life far more soft and tender than the one you created for me

Dumb thing that would not leave my brain