#mspw: magical realism

[new-royston-cursebreakers]

Moon + Seraph Pitch Week:

Comp titles: Gulliver’s Travels and Hadestown

The Curse of New Royston

The small town of New Royston is cursed: wealth correlates with physical size. 20-foot-tall Gio Violett, a sophomore recovering from a near-death experience, encounters 1-foot-tall Cricket Collins, a freshman who’s been left to fend for himself as his parents try to save up enough money to bring him out of town. Fed up with the town’s unofficial segregation, the two of them agree to try to break the curse.

But the closer they get to their goal, the more they uncover the town’s gruesome history. Danger stems from the least likely places, from political conspiracies to supernatural forces, from the shady figure that seems to always be on Gio’s heels to the reason why Cricket’s parents left in the first place; soon, it becomes clear that their, and their friends’, lives and livelihoods depend on breaking the curse.

Themes

Trust

Family, both blood and found

Identity/self-perception

History, discovery, and retellings

Community

Current Stage in Writing Process

Currently on third draft, ironing out scenes and fixing grammar, spelling, and tone.

WIP-Relevant Links

Sideblog is @new-royston-cursebreakers

Content Warnings

Violence (asphyxiation, blood, gore, amputation, burn wounds, assault, child abuse, police violence)

Discrimination (classism, ableism, queerphobia, ageism)

Religion

Strong Language

Mentally-disturbing content (dissociation, unreality, paranoia, claustrophobia, anxiety, trauma, brain injury)

Bugs

[thecrookedwriterspath]

Moon + Seraph Pitch Week

Comp Titles

Arkham Horror (board game) x Betrayal at House on the Hill (board game) + 1 eldritch moose

Title

Songs of Decay

Tom moves to a small town with his daughter to reconnect with his dad, a retired bodyguard, and find a better life. Unfortunately, the eldritch abound in this town and he's soon helping rhe local Eldritch Anomalies Department (EAD) investigate a murder. Local widow Esther is determined to find the culprit as well, as the body was on her land. She does NOT get on with the EAD though, which leads to some of its own problems...

1910 or so, with a few automatons. Elritch inspired audio drama. Cowriting with 1 author.

Themes/Tropes

Paranoia

Curiosity

Mental health and illness

Dealing with and caring for those with illness

Content Warnings

Murder

Eldritch/paranormal creatures

Mild gore/body horror

Abuse (implied)

Mental illness

Societal misunderstandings and labeling of illness

Hunting

Messy legal dealings with family

Writing stage

Midst of 3rd draft.

Art

Public domain photos from the era (1910) for Tom and Esther found in library archives

Related Links

We have a whole wiki that needs some updates but the basics are all there:

[elizaellwrites]

Legacy of the Fallen

Moon + Seraph Pitch Week

Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus x Harry Potter

Low Fantasy x High Fantasy

Summary

The great civilization of Hecathians has fallen, leaving millions dead and thousands to flee. Thirteen years later, many have left their origins behind to blend into the human world; however, some retain their culture. Anna has always left the past alone, but now at fifteen, she is faced with the world they have been running from. Brought to a cultural sanctuary where their people have begun to rebuild, her reality begins to unravel, and the truth can no longer be hidden.

Themes

Rebuilding after disaster

Overcoming differences

Things aren't always as they appear

Morality

Courage isn't the absence of fear

Friendship

Finding oneself

Current Stage in Writing

In progress: 71k words (Prologue + 14 chapters)

Link to Read Work

Content Warnings

All chapters containing triggering content are marked

Common

Death

Violence

Mild Gore

Grief

Occurrences of

Emotional and Physical Abuse

Child Death

Murder

Anxiety

Depression

Mild Bullying

Mild Homophobia

[yors-truly]

Around the World in 80 Days x Amphibia x Life of Pi

Beyond Time and Space

IT'S A JOURNEY - A RACE - BEYOND TIME AND SPACE.

When an often-flighty young girl is conflicted by her desire to express her capabilities and her fear of doing more than what she can handle, the moment arises when a team of brave individuals are needed to carry out a quest to explore and gather information on alternate universes. However, the drive of another blocks their path in reigning successful; so much so, the team is left to go on a journey that’s much longer than they wished. 

Themes

courage and bravery (as a catch-all term for several possible themes, as well as being the main theme)

coming of age

hope

friends and family

love (and letting it go)

power (and the lack thereof)

loyalty and commitment

Current Stage in Writing Process: LOTS of world-building, episodes 1 and 2 outlined (and still drafting ep.2), first season plotted

Art related to wip

^ A relevant poster for Beyond Time and Space season 1, created March 16, 2023

^ An outdated but still relevant poster for Beyond Time and Space season 1A, created October 10th, 2022.

Wip-relevant links

A PDF preview script of the first episode of BTaS; the first draft of a complete rewrite

A wikidot blog I (ideally) update every two-to-three weeks covering my progress on BTaS; currently considering on moving it either to tumblr or dreamwidth for the sake of faster and easier access, so it hasn't been touched in a while

A toyhou.se profile for all BTaS-related art, simply for the purpose of (1) storing it somewhere without having to worry about storage and (2) having shareable links

The Beyond Time and Space side blog, where you can learn more about the series and join the taglist

Content warnings

fantasy violence

metaphorical and literal displays of mental health topics (ex: depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.)

mentions of war

character death/harm

discrimination

fictitious religions/practices that highly resemble real life religions

[moon-and-seraph]

M+S Pitch Week: List of Hashtags

This is the official list of tags that participants of the Moon+Seraph Pitch Week will add to their pitch posts. The purpose of these tags is to allow people to sort through pitches based on their interests and tastes, so they're super important!

We'll have explanations of each category of hashtags, so read on to see which tags you'll want to add to your pitch! We recommend copy and pasting for ease.

General

This is a tag everyone will want to use, as it'll allow people to view all pitches collectively.

MSPW: pitch

Representation Tags

Use these tags to indicate the kinds of representation your pitch features. You may use as many of these tags as fit your story.

Please note, the tags with "ownvoices" in them are set aside for people of that identity. For example, a disabled person whose story features disability representation would use "MSPW: ownvoices disability rep" AND "MSPW: disability rep". However, a nondisabled person whose story features disability would only use "MSPW: disability rep".

MSPW: disability rep MSPW: ownvoices disability rep

MSPW: mental health rep MSPW: ownvoices mental health rep

MSPW: neurodivergent rep MSPW: ownvoices neurodivergent rep

MSPW: queer rep MSPW: ownvoices queer rep

MSPW: trans rep MSPW: ownvoices trans rep

MSPW: PoC rep MSPW: ownvoices PoC rep

MSPW: plus size rep MSPW: ownvoices plus size rep

Age-Specific Tags

Use these tags so people can browse pitches by age group. You may only choose one of these tags.

MSPW: YA MSPW: NA MSPW: MG MSPW: Adult

SFF Genre Tags

Use these tags so people can browse pitches by main genre. You may use both tags if your story is sci-fi and fantasy.

MSPW: sci fi wip MSPW: fantasy wip

SFF Sub-Genre Tags

Use these tags so people can browse pitches by sub-genre. You may use as many as fit your story.

MSPW: cyberpunk MSPW: dying earth MSPW: space opera MSPW: steampunk MSPW: solarpunk MSPW: military sci fi MSPW: dystopian MSPW: alternate history MSPW: science fantasy MSPW: portal fantasy MSPW: high fantasy MSPW: low fantasy MSPW: dark fantasy MSPW: gothic fantasy MSPW: magical realism MSPW: urban fantasy MSPW: mythic fantasy MSPW: grimdark MSPW: historical fantasy MSPW: paranormal romance MSPW: horror MSPW: arcanepunk MSPW: romance MSPW: political fantasy MSPW: epic fantasy MSPW: fairytale retelling MSPW: adventure MSPW: time travel

Critique Tags

Use this tag if you're open to receiving feedback on your pitch.

MSPW: crit welcome