ace-malarky

[ace-malarky]

the first draft is allowed to be bad. the second draft is also allowed to be bad. unfortunately, the third draft now owes me rent and a will to live

[ace-malarky]

you’re not “behind” on your story. you’re building something. and sometimes building requires standing in the ruins for a bit.

[ace-malarky]

[ace-malarky]

Not only is having worldbuilding threads that are mentioned once and never picked up again not a flaw in fantasy media, I'd go so far as to say that a lack of such threads is a flaw. If everything ties up in one neat little package, you're missing the point of fantasy worldbuilding. Like, don't do it on every page, or your setting is going to be an overstuffed mess, but every so often you are not only allowed but obligated to casually drop some utterly batshit worldbuilding detail and then just never follow up on it. Maybe some rocks are sentient. You don't owe your reader an explanation. Just fucking go for it.

[ace-malarky]

WHOA!!!!! i love my friends' ocs

[ace-malarky]

WHO WANTS SIXSMITH ON HIS BEST BEHAVIOR??

“What’s happening?” Emmett asked, eyes squeezed tightly shut. His whole body was itching horribly.  

“There are a few investors floating around this party,” Talas smoothed his waistcoat with one free finger and then tucked an errant curl behind his ear, “So Maia and I are going to go… court them. I have heard some are interested in the engine.”  

Emmett forced a smile. “Good. Go… do that.” 

Sixsmith’s smile was a little more innocent in that way only he could really manage. “Go brighten their lives like a little sunbeam as you brighten mine.”  

Talas glared. He lifted one hand from his crutches and jabbed Sixsmith in the chest. “You. Behave.”  

The salute was only ever so slightly mocking as Talas left.  

Sighing heavily, Emmett took Sixsmith by the elbow and turned him around. Pretending to study the hideous gold mess which apparently constituted art these days (Emmett suddenly felt not only overwhelmed, but old), he murmured, “Six. As much as I concur with you on the subject of the elites and their draconic hoarding of excess wealth – tonight is not the time or place to jump on a chair and start espousing them at large.” 

Sixsmith blinked at him. “You are sufferin’, aren’t you?” he said sympathetically.  

“And how did you come to that conclusion?” Emmett asked, wincing at the sudden burst of violin strings.  

“You’re talkin’ like a professor.” He must have seen the anguish in Emmett’s face because he quickly added, “Dun’t worry. ‘m on me best behaviour.” 

“Captain Askren, Mr Sixsmith –“ Esmeralda’s voice boomed cheerfully from behind them – “I’d love for you to meet someone very dear to me –“ 

Emmett turned around, trying to fix his face into amiability and saw a handsome man in his sixties or seventies, with a perfect snow-white moustache and beard, smiling beatifically in his direction. 

No, not his direction.  

Sixsmith was frozen in place, as white as the man’s suit.  

“Captain, this is Dr Thomas Maynard. Thomas, this is Captain Askren and Dr Sixsmith of the Iris –” 

Maynard nodded at Emmett, still smiling widely, then turned towards Sixsmith. “Hello, Gideon,” he said.  

He extended his hand.  

Then Sixsmith, without any nameable expression or sound, punched the man directly in the face.  

(Guesses for why he did this can be put below if desired)

[ace-malarky]

for kiss prompt, number 3!

Thank you! From these prompts.

~*~

3. A kiss on the forehead

~*~

Once they hit the border, the roads to Thedenfast became smoother. The aches and pains of the the journey through Vyskavia finally had a chance to settle, and the rhythm of the carriage as it trundled along became a lullaby to the exhausted group.

It was Ida's turn to sit up front with Aarna as he maintained the ticking mechanism that kept the carriage going on its way, nudging it this way and that at the corners and meanders of the path.

There had been a low thurm of conversation for a while, Renia and Nol had been talking animatedly about one thing or another, Bolek sat between them, interjecting at points. Til and Fannan were likewise talking amongst themselves while Neer and Luus had already formed a sort of pile in the corner where they were snoring softly.

Soon, one by one, the conversations petered out. Some quite delberately, as Til bid Fannan goodnight, joining the pile in the corner where her wife and brother-in-law were already asleep. Others simply faded, Renia's head resting on her husband's shoulder as she finally succumbed to sleep. Surprisingly, Bolek and Nol continued their own conversation, in hushed tones so as not to wake their sleeping companions, until Nol, too, began to drift off, curling up just slightly into Bolek's side.

Bolek watched Nol for a time, face creased with some confusing emotion. He looked from Nol to Renia, and back again, before sighing long and low. He turned to his wife, nose lost in her russet curls, and pressed a kiss there. Then he turned to Nol and ran a gentle thumb hesitantly, then reverently, along one of his long ears until it twitched and Nol let out a sleepy grumble. Ida was astonished to see a small smile tug at the corners of Bolek's face before he leant down and placed a small, soft kiss between Nol's tufted brows.

It was then that Bolek caught Ida's eye, and she felt suddenly as though she had witnessed something intensely private, but the look Bolek gave her in return was not admonishing, only helpless and a little lost.

[ace-malarky]

did you know you can do anythingh with your ocs and no one can stop you.. did you know you can make aus of your ocs. you should make aus of your ocs

[ace-malarky]

Happy WuBWub! Can you tell us a bit about the different islands in Leritheyar?

hallo hap wubwub I can certainly try but alas

I don't have access to notes so this is what I remember

(As if my notes are up to date/comprehensive)

anyway yes OK so we have our main Big Boy Island of the Z'kare/Anther/H'tera who are generally lightly engaged in border disputes

(Admittedly at the time of the first set of stories they're in peace mode but oh boy are they (Anther) gearing up to something)

We have monarchists/militaristic/theocracy in that order

Z'kare is a lot of farming, with their fishermen staying close to shore on grounds of one of the pirate bases is Pretty Close By. They have a decent naval base to deal with this! I might need to adjust which way round I put the ports but that doesn't change anything mapwise, just notewise (this is a reminder to myself for later). Has been clashes between families for power, one fun little split in the ruling line and at least one upstart. In the first set of stories, the family on the throne is Kenre and they're pretty decent and part of that is due to like. Fucking dumping their crown heir in an out of the way village so they learn what the common folk are like. Perspective.

H'tera gets more fishing along its coastline, has to be careful about hunting on grounds of there is a focus of shapeshifters here! You don't know who that animal might be. (The shapeshifters are under the thumb of the priests and have historical dislike of the Sayin mages). Technically one religion but you bet there are offshoots bc I mean. Three sibling gods are going to be given different priorities. God of shapeshifters themself is bottom of the rung for most of time vs life and death

Anther is entirely landlocked bc there are dragons in those mountains and you don't argue with them. Militaristic bc again. Dragons. Gotta stay defended against the magic threat. Also enough of its history has been "man magic has fucked us up" that they Do Not Welcome mages of any kind here. Everyone goes through basic training around 17/18, has the largest standing army.

Sayin is largely wilderness between its main port/capital, that one place all the theatre/dance guilds come from, and also the mage nest in the mountains at its centre. Def ruled by mages but they claim not to be. Their main export is mages and entertainment. Sometimes both at the same time! Only the fanciest of guilds have a resident mage of their own so mostly they hire them. Or sometimes they strike lucky and find mages amongst their dancers. It happens. Love to have mages in everyone's governments, which. Works to a degree? Have to be on the downlow in Anther, dicey with H'tera, and they're like super dismissive of the archipelago bc the pirates do so much infighting of their own.

The archipelago has simultaneously the most history thought out and also the vaguest notes because we're rehauling this a little. Anyway. This is where the pirates are! Also the gateways to the rest of the Mist but ooh those are protected by mm oh the Eldrii and also. Previously. Lot's descendants (first king of the archipelago. Not a pirate. Survived by his great-somethingth grandson who is kicking about on Ferteri when we meet him)

Each pirate clan has a variable number of ships and a home island, with Magicen/Ferteri/Wing being separate - Wing is the island of the pirate King, so whomstever holds the crown moves their base here

Magicen is a law unto itself what with the barriers allowing only magic users into its waters. Occasionally magic creatures. The Nightgales can get through here, it's part of what rockets them into notoriety.

Ferteri doesn't have a pirate clan but is populated, and they... largely try to keep out of the way! Battles between the clans get vicious and sometimes it's better if you don't get noticed

Shipping lanes are Dicey af. Some merchants have agreements with certain clans for safe passage etc which can v much make them targets at other points lmao

Oh, and then there's the northern continent! Riyan! Poetic that I forget it, bc the dragon that lives here is Keeper of memories and tends to make everyone forget where they are/how to get back once they leave. Works to a degree, up until she adopts Jay. P much just populated by magical creatures and Jay (and then Kaithr, but tbf Kaithr is mostly a creature of magic by the time they get here)

[ace-malarky]

Lesser-known steps of the writing process:

Finding all the paragraphs where you used some hyper-specific word more than once

Rearranging paragraphs that you swear you wrote in the right order but turned out to be totally backwards

Going for a walk, coming up with the perfect line, and forgetting it as soon as you get home and open your laptop

Creating a separate document where you can dump all of those nice sentences that no longer fit in anywhere

Waking up in a cold sweat because so-and-so was supposed to be barefoot but never actually took his shoes off

[ace-malarky]

[ace-malarky]

not a snippet sunday just a. snippet sharing day because i just wrote this and i. ough

Behind the haze of clouds, the briefest hint of the north star glinted down. He frowned as the view became obscured. Basil stood over him, hands on his hips. “Do you take delight in being an absolute idiot?” Nate took a breath, enjoying the earthy scent and pressure on his back. He let out a laugh, still reeling from the thrill of the fall. “Yeah, it was pretty fun, can’t lie.” “Are you going to lay there in the dirt all night?” He rolled his head around in a poor attempt at a shake. Basil stared down at him, eyebrows creased. “You’re fun to annoy, did you know that?”

[ace-malarky]

"Explain your thought process," Halliel said. "I didn't want anyone else to be in danger," Syn replied, gesturing Halliel towards the break room. "But you in danger is fine." Syn paused just inside the door. "There's no way I answer that truthfully and don't get sighed at." "Syn." Halliel pinched at the bridge of her nose and sighed.

At least they're self aware?

[ace-malarky]

controversial writing tip

open a document and start writing

[ace-malarky]

you don’t have to write something good. you just have to write something unhinged enough to edit later

[ace-malarky]

man I swear I let good things happen to characters sometimes

(Maverick is at the start of their downward spiral)

(Syn is making The Decision and Halliel is mad at them)

Jas, sitting beside me; "you know you can change that, right. You're doing this to yourself. You can fix things"

(... actually everyone is fine the secret fic thing just now technically)

Anyway Jasper-the-character is on his way to good things we just uhhhhh need to get through the "someone tries to kidnap his mother" bit first

Don't worry she's fine, like of all the characters I have, she's definitely not one you want to make an enemy of

(Llinos is having a great time it's just unfortunately embarrassing for her)

[ace-malarky]

Tag: 9 Lines 9 People XI

I was tagged by @ace-malarky! Thank you!

Have a bit from Open Seas:

“That looked cozy,” [Swales] teased, handing her a mug of ale. “And you’ve got his hat again! No more dancing for you this evening, eh?” [Tess] shot him an irritated look.  He laughed. “Not open to having that conversation?” “There’s no conversation to be had.” “It looked to me like there is.” He wasn’t teasing anymore.

I shall tag @megarywrites, @space-writes, @squarebracket-trickster, and anyone else who wants to play! As always, no pressure!