You said there was no clan stigma about intermarrying, but is it a big deal if your hair lengths are vastly different?
In hyalin there tends to be a direct correlation between hair length and social class, which effects marriage more than hair length itself. It’s sort of equivalent to real life, where ppl in lower socioeconomic groups do marry into higher ones, its just more probable that you marry ppl in the same class.
So, hair lenght is the ultimate measurement of magic power (as far as we know), but does volume have any impact on it too? For example, Veda's hair is not that long compared to other witches, but dang, does it have a presence. Or what about an afro? :o
yeah, curly hair’s length is measured as if it were pulled taut (straight), which does add a bit of length. in the case of veda, she has fairly loose curls and i can’t imagine it would be more than a couple of inches longer. idra is a good example, because she has dreadlocks, so her hair would be a lot longer than it seems.
is hyalin the only kingdom in the world of witchy? also, how big is hyalin in comparison to some irl countries?
yes, hyalin refers to essentially the only landmass (i use that term loosely bc it’s more of an archipelago) in witchy. hyalin is probably about the size of all of asia + russia, so, really big. that’s partially why the guard recruits such a large percentage of people; to keep the whole kingdom governed.
ariel idk if youve answered this before but are the babies in witchy born with like long flowing locks
NO haha they look like normal babies… maybe a little bit more hair than usual. if u check out my witchy wb tag i’ve also answered a couple of asks about hair growth rate
Hey ariel, I dont know if youve answered this but I was wondering- once someone has charmed their hair do they have to be consciously aware of it at all times to keep it charmed? or do they have to actually "stop" the charm to remove the effect? Its obviously not permanent but I was wondering what the level of control was. PS I LOVE BATU XOXO
thank u 4 ur batu patronage jillian
a charm like nyneve’s is a VERY low level spell so it’s not particularly draining, but it’s kind of a practice/age thing? because nyneve has been hiding her hair for more than half her life it’s basically second nature at this point. when she was younger she had to be more careful not to accidentally undo her charm, but even then it would take something very distracting or shocking to undo such a spell.
if you ever see written language that’s important in witchy, it will be written in english for clarity, but it’s definitely not the actual written language. It wouldn’t resemble chinese either. I don’t actually have an idea of what it “officially” looks like, but I would definitely put the aesthetic of it closer to arabic, mongolian, hindi, or thai script. something elegant with a lot of curves. considering that I lean more towards islamic and south/south-east asian design in witchy, these would make more sense than chinese, too.
well… the witchy equivalent of bowuigi is batu’s favourite romance novel “Seduction of the Turtle God” which is actually the spin off of a popular epic poem about an unexpected plumber hero who rescues a princess…
nyneve doesn’t usually like romance novels but she loves it and is so ashamed that she just tells batu “it was cute but not really to my taste”
a few months later he catches her reading the sequel and she never recovers
4 more asks under the cut:
im trying to make both boobs windows and ass crack windows a big thing in hyalin so here’s hoping i have an opportunity
not necessarily. I also said this “basically everyone is born with a different rate of hair growth. some people’s hair will grow really quickly when they’re young and then taper off as they grow older.”
which basically means a fairly young person might have hair long enough to be considered “dangerous”. however these young people are usually put on watch rather than immediately killed. witches with long hair tend to not be burned until they’re at least 30-40
About Nyneve's shorten ending charm, does it actually charm the hair short or just give the illusion that it is, meaning you could feel but not see?
illusions and glamours in the witchy world generally deal with altering the perception of all senses, including touch. the reason the medimage can tell that nyneve was using a hair altering glamour is because medimages (especially those working during enlistment) are trained to see past these glamours. however, usually they’re looking for illusions that hide “defects”, rather than illusions that hide advantages.
hey! ok so, if hair length equals magic power, why wasn't nyneve's teacher suspicious when a short-haired witch had the power to create such a massive explosion - or is that not very impressive power-wise in their world? also, do they execute witches for having their hair too long outside of hyalin - or is magic just not a thing outside of the kingdom? and does using a wand or staff provide more control than just using your hands does magic-wise?
Hmm i think i answered something like this before but forgot to tag it. Control is a big part of what witches consider “magical power”. Anyone can make a big flashy explosion but true, good magic requires subtlety.
for all intents and purposes, the kingdom of Hyalin is the only known world in Witchy.
I will get into scopes (what witches call wands and junk) a lot more in the comic, but yes. basically they focus your magic into a more concentrated form, and are used especially for battle magic and enchantments.
Do keratin and other hair growth products count as preformance enhancing drugs in Witchy and are they illegal? c:
Basically any product promising hair growth in hyalin is snake oil, so it’s not illegal, just a commonly known scam. The only thing you can really do to make your hair appear longer is to cast a glamour that gives the illusion that your hair is longer.
baldness in the sense that we know it doesn’t exist! people in hyalin don’t have any form of congenital baldness. I have been playing around with the idea of hyalin-specific magic diseases that leave the sufferer bald, but i don’t yet know if it will appear in the comic.
you probably touched on this with textures but does hair care affect anything? would someone who let their hair turn into a rat's nest have their magic worsen as opposed to someone who maintained it?
hm i think it would! mostly because bad hair care means brittle hair that can break easily, and carelessness could also cause someone to suffer from hair loss.
There would also be societal repercussions to a lack of hair care, because disrespecting your hair is seen as a lack of respect for the spirits that empower witches to use magic.
nyneve and batu are both 18, prill is 17 (turning 18 in a month!)