Manifestations Primer
Aug. 29th, 2012 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rustydragonflyI finished it! This is for storyfriends for MFS. I suggested a primer challenge because I was afraid of people being intimidated by some of the larger canons in RaTs and was worried mine might be one of them. It's been around a bit and amassed over 200 pieces. Considering I wanted MFS to be an easily accessible story, that's going to need some work.
So, primers.
So what is it?
Manifestations (or MFS because the author believes having an acronym makes you cool) is a fantasy series written for the LJ community runaway_tales. It is told in serial format over a series of arcs, but also contains multiple standalone and backstory related pieces as well, and some extensive AU stuff.
The story is that of Jen and Dhaymin Dhalsiv, two brothers whose lives are changed by a monster hunt gone very wrong, their search for a cure for Jen's blood-curse, and the people they meet along the way.
-
The world:
Manifestations is set on Sena, a world distinct from our own. More specifically it takes place across two neighbouring nations, Rhusav (where the protagonists originated from), and Toxilivital (where they hope to find Jen's cure). In theory there's supposed to be a lot of worldbuilding background, but it mainly consists of the author obsessively making maps.
Sena is low tech at the time of Manifestations and can be said to fit the "medieval fantasy" mold, though it's the handwavy, general low tech, not any specific culture sort. You will also not find any dragons, elves, dwarves, trolls, orcs, wizards, or any of that hanging around.
So what will you find? Wild taiga forests, cities shaped like pyramids, monster beasts that bond to people with blood, mind-shattering frozen voids, and snow. An awful lot of snow. A key concept is the idea of "tarnishing" - that monsters, when bonded to people, can slowly take over their mind. And then there's the "beast hunters" - people who for whatever reason (fame, glory, to avenge a loved one's plot convenient death) make it their living to seek out and kill such creatures and those bonded to them.
This is the life that Jen and Dhaymin were born into, and the plot kicks off when Jen finds himself tarnished. Now they're on a quest to find a cure... or a good library. Whatever works.
There's also the fact that said blood-tarnishing monsters weren't always around...
-
Who's Who:
For full bios/images, see the cast list. (There are no PBs. I'm too picky.)
The brothers:
The stars of the show, and the reason this whole mess got off the ground in the first place.
Jen Dhalsiv:
Lead #1, the younger of the Dhalsiv brothers, who found himself tarnished after a hunt gone wrong. He's the family nerd, quiet and bookish, and also a bit of a pushover, obsessed with following orders. Much of his character is about breaking free from his family's conditioning as a result. So far he's still human. So far...
Dhaymin Dhalsiv:
Lead #2 and the elder of the Dhalsiv brothers. He was left blinded after the same hunt that tarnished Jen. The "doing things guy" of the two, he's the one who decided to leave home in the first place, and takes responsibility for his little brother whenever he can.
The other leads, or, fans want awesome ladies, fans get awesome ladies:
Rosa:
"Love Interest."
Wait, that's not it...
The closest this story has to a rebellious princess, Rosa left her influential family to become a beast-hunter and follow a childhood dream. She is given to fancy and rather inexperienced, but never gives up on her goals. Also one of the few characters in the series to use a gun, alongside her hunting dog Cinn.
Bala Nevivin:
An old beast-hunter in her sixties, in other words a very good one. Bala is a former friend of the Dhalsiv family and acted as an honorary aunt to the brothers when they were growing up. She is one of only two people known to have walked out of the otherworldly void known as "the cold" with her mind intact, and is trying to solve its mysteries.
Numbers:
Not a lot is known about this beast-hunter, who won't give you her full name. Maybe because she's had so many she's lost count, or maybe it's more fun this way. While not outright malicious, she prefers situations she deems to be "fun", which may not be the case for everyone...
The Dhalsiv family, extended:
Sarn Dhalsiv:
Jen and Dhaymin's father, whose death kickstarts the main series. An obsessive, paranoid beast-hunter, focused on rebuilding his family after a backstory massacre left him the only one. Rhusav is a touch short on therapists, so he handled it by raising his sons to follow his life, and killing a whole lot of people while he was at it.
Majiv Dhalsiv:
Sarn's wife, Jen and Dhaymin's mother. Majiv was originally Bala's student and is the other known person to have walked out of the cold with her mind intact. She is stubborn and strong willed, but more honourable than Sarn. Lately she's been on a trip south to find her missing sons...
Notable secondary characters:
Vesin:
A schoolteacher Dhaymin had a brief fling with, that may have been a lot more had he been able to stay. She has a confident, take-charge personality, likes making things and plants/flowers, and is also trans.
Kejik:
The Dhalsiv's resident healer when the plot kicks off. She is incredibly quiet and shy, but there's a forceful personality buried in there somewhere.
Ardea:
The benevolent ruler of the Toxiliviti city of Kastek, he is Jen and Dhaymin's host over the winter as they travel south, and takes an interest in his unusual guests. He has something of a bond with Dhaymin, as he is also blind.
-
Recommended Reading, or your guide to the index:
The index of stories is a bit of a mess, I grant you. And as much as I'd like to say "I'll organise it better one day," I probably won't, because I'm lazy. It goes as follows:
Butterscotch:
Anything before Jen and Dhaymin are born, so basically backstory for the older characters.
Whipped Cream/misc backstory (Jen and Dhaymin):
Stuff from Jen and Dhaymin's childhoods and teen years (though some focus more on Sarn and Majiv), and up until the start of the story.
Whipped Cream/misc backstory (other characters):
What it says, backstory for other characters not featured above.
Jen's choice/the lodge:
START HERE if you're new! These two arcs are the prologue, if you like, and contain the hunt that sets the story off and its aftermath. Basically this is where the main story begins.
Main arcs (numbered and titled):
These are the actual story, and are written in (mostly) chronological order. Along with the "Jen's choice" arcs, they're the core of the whole thing. Everything else is just extras to varying degrees and not as vital to understanding what's going on.
Multiple timeframes:
Things that don't fit in the above because they span longer timeframes, such as pieces about the characters growing up over several years.
Artwork:
Things that are not writing (apart from the odd bit of experimental poetry stuff), split into sections - sketches, full pieces, vids, maps, etc.
And that leads us onto...
-
The AUs:
Like any good RaTs canon, MFS has spawned several alternate universes. Most of these are one shots, ranging from "what if" scenarios to putting the boys in totally new settings.
The biggest of these, which is practically a canon in itself, is the Real World AU. Spawned from a dare to put Jen and Dhaymin in a modern school setting, it turned into an ongoing story whereupon Dhaymin steals the young Jen away from his undercover monster hunting parents to give him a chance at a normal life and the university place he always wanted. Throughout it all they roam modern day Britain in a beat up old car, battle monsters that the average person never notices for some reason, avert the end of the world, and attempt to convince themselves they don't bear resemblance to any other monster hunting brothers out there. Especially not ones on the telly.
Despite the name, it's far less realistic than canon. It has its dark moments, but I like to use it as a light alternative when canon gets too dark. It's also an excuse for jokes that don't make sense in a fantasy setting, and contains an awful lot of implied Dhaymin/car shipping.
storyfriends for MFS. I suggested a primer challenge because I was afraid of people being intimidated by some of the larger canons in RaTs and was worried mine might be one of them. It's been around a bit and amassed over 200 pieces. Considering I wanted MFS to be an easily accessible story, that's going to need some work.So, primers.
So what is it?
Manifestations (or MFS because the author believes having an acronym makes you cool) is a fantasy series written for the LJ community runaway_tales. It is told in serial format over a series of arcs, but also contains multiple standalone and backstory related pieces as well, and some extensive AU stuff.
The story is that of Jen and Dhaymin Dhalsiv, two brothers whose lives are changed by a monster hunt gone very wrong, their search for a cure for Jen's blood-curse, and the people they meet along the way.
-
The world:
Manifestations is set on Sena, a world distinct from our own. More specifically it takes place across two neighbouring nations, Rhusav (where the protagonists originated from), and Toxilivital (where they hope to find Jen's cure). In theory there's supposed to be a lot of worldbuilding background, but it mainly consists of the author obsessively making maps.
Sena is low tech at the time of Manifestations and can be said to fit the "medieval fantasy" mold, though it's the handwavy, general low tech, not any specific culture sort. You will also not find any dragons, elves, dwarves, trolls, orcs, wizards, or any of that hanging around.
So what will you find? Wild taiga forests, cities shaped like pyramids, monster beasts that bond to people with blood, mind-shattering frozen voids, and snow. An awful lot of snow. A key concept is the idea of "tarnishing" - that monsters, when bonded to people, can slowly take over their mind. And then there's the "beast hunters" - people who for whatever reason (fame, glory, to avenge a loved one's plot convenient death) make it their living to seek out and kill such creatures and those bonded to them.
This is the life that Jen and Dhaymin were born into, and the plot kicks off when Jen finds himself tarnished. Now they're on a quest to find a cure... or a good library. Whatever works.
There's also the fact that said blood-tarnishing monsters weren't always around...
-
Who's Who:
For full bios/images, see the cast list. (There are no PBs. I'm too picky.)
The brothers:
The stars of the show, and the reason this whole mess got off the ground in the first place.
Jen Dhalsiv:
Lead #1, the younger of the Dhalsiv brothers, who found himself tarnished after a hunt gone wrong. He's the family nerd, quiet and bookish, and also a bit of a pushover, obsessed with following orders. Much of his character is about breaking free from his family's conditioning as a result. So far he's still human. So far...
Dhaymin Dhalsiv:
Lead #2 and the elder of the Dhalsiv brothers. He was left blinded after the same hunt that tarnished Jen. The "doing things guy" of the two, he's the one who decided to leave home in the first place, and takes responsibility for his little brother whenever he can.
The other leads, or, fans want awesome ladies, fans get awesome ladies:
Rosa:
"Love Interest."
Wait, that's not it...
The closest this story has to a rebellious princess, Rosa left her influential family to become a beast-hunter and follow a childhood dream. She is given to fancy and rather inexperienced, but never gives up on her goals. Also one of the few characters in the series to use a gun, alongside her hunting dog Cinn.
Bala Nevivin:
An old beast-hunter in her sixties, in other words a very good one. Bala is a former friend of the Dhalsiv family and acted as an honorary aunt to the brothers when they were growing up. She is one of only two people known to have walked out of the otherworldly void known as "the cold" with her mind intact, and is trying to solve its mysteries.
Numbers:
Not a lot is known about this beast-hunter, who won't give you her full name. Maybe because she's had so many she's lost count, or maybe it's more fun this way. While not outright malicious, she prefers situations she deems to be "fun", which may not be the case for everyone...
The Dhalsiv family, extended:
Sarn Dhalsiv:
Jen and Dhaymin's father, whose death kickstarts the main series. An obsessive, paranoid beast-hunter, focused on rebuilding his family after a backstory massacre left him the only one. Rhusav is a touch short on therapists, so he handled it by raising his sons to follow his life, and killing a whole lot of people while he was at it.
Majiv Dhalsiv:
Sarn's wife, Jen and Dhaymin's mother. Majiv was originally Bala's student and is the other known person to have walked out of the cold with her mind intact. She is stubborn and strong willed, but more honourable than Sarn. Lately she's been on a trip south to find her missing sons...
Notable secondary characters:
Vesin:
A schoolteacher Dhaymin had a brief fling with, that may have been a lot more had he been able to stay. She has a confident, take-charge personality, likes making things and plants/flowers, and is also trans.
Kejik:
The Dhalsiv's resident healer when the plot kicks off. She is incredibly quiet and shy, but there's a forceful personality buried in there somewhere.
Ardea:
The benevolent ruler of the Toxiliviti city of Kastek, he is Jen and Dhaymin's host over the winter as they travel south, and takes an interest in his unusual guests. He has something of a bond with Dhaymin, as he is also blind.
-
Recommended Reading, or your guide to the index:
The index of stories is a bit of a mess, I grant you. And as much as I'd like to say "I'll organise it better one day," I probably won't, because I'm lazy. It goes as follows:
Butterscotch:
Anything before Jen and Dhaymin are born, so basically backstory for the older characters.
Whipped Cream/misc backstory (Jen and Dhaymin):
Stuff from Jen and Dhaymin's childhoods and teen years (though some focus more on Sarn and Majiv), and up until the start of the story.
Whipped Cream/misc backstory (other characters):
What it says, backstory for other characters not featured above.
Jen's choice/the lodge:
START HERE if you're new! These two arcs are the prologue, if you like, and contain the hunt that sets the story off and its aftermath. Basically this is where the main story begins.
Main arcs (numbered and titled):
These are the actual story, and are written in (mostly) chronological order. Along with the "Jen's choice" arcs, they're the core of the whole thing. Everything else is just extras to varying degrees and not as vital to understanding what's going on.
Multiple timeframes:
Things that don't fit in the above because they span longer timeframes, such as pieces about the characters growing up over several years.
Artwork:
Things that are not writing (apart from the odd bit of experimental poetry stuff), split into sections - sketches, full pieces, vids, maps, etc.
And that leads us onto...
-
The AUs:
Like any good RaTs canon, MFS has spawned several alternate universes. Most of these are one shots, ranging from "what if" scenarios to putting the boys in totally new settings.
The biggest of these, which is practically a canon in itself, is the Real World AU. Spawned from a dare to put Jen and Dhaymin in a modern school setting, it turned into an ongoing story whereupon Dhaymin steals the young Jen away from his undercover monster hunting parents to give him a chance at a normal life and the university place he always wanted. Throughout it all they roam modern day Britain in a beat up old car, battle monsters that the average person never notices for some reason, avert the end of the world, and attempt to convince themselves they don't bear resemblance to any other monster hunting brothers out there. Especially not ones on the telly.
Despite the name, it's far less realistic than canon. It has its dark moments, but I like to use it as a light alternative when canon gets too dark. It's also an excuse for jokes that don't make sense in a fantasy setting, and contains an awful lot of implied Dhaymin/car shipping.