#so i have to do some worldbuilding first before i settle on anything

[flareguncalamity]

Lt. Commander Killian: So what was your name again?

Nevularxi: I have not already told you. I’m afraid my name may not translate into your language.

Lt. Commander Killian: Oh yeah?

Nevularxi: I am named for a period of time on my home planet that surrounds the immediate aftermath of the second yearly equinox of our planet’s solar star. It’s the period following our fertile rainy season, and marked the beginning of the harvest in years of antiquity, as well as the coming of the colder, darker season which our species typically spends in isolation or hibernation. The period is considered to be a time of great liminality and spiritual importance in our ancient religions, although since the dawn of the modern technological age it has lost some of its transient meaning.

Lt. Commander Killian: …Okay, but i meant more like. how do I say your name.

Nevularxi: Oh, it’s nev-you-LARK-zee.

Lt. Commander Killian: Gotcha. by the way, your name in english is October.

[wylanzahn]

How do you keep from Copy/Pasting existing Cultures into your Worlds?

Basically just as the title says, and I'm sure there's been pleeeeenty of discussion on the topic, but I'm genuinely curious what makes your cultures unique and original (especially when the modern aura of writing is "everything's been done"). Furthermore, is having a copy/paste culture a bad thing? For context, I'm primarily a Game Master (GM) who also on occasion writes as well as works in the TTRPG actualplay space. When you have an audience (whether friends or fans) is it necessarily a bad thing to have familiar locations, themes, and even characters that mimic real life? Can it be easier for an audience to just assume we're in "Ancient Rome" or "Habsburg controlled Austria"?

For me I do like creating totally original locations with their own weird political systems influenced by magic, gods, monsters, and anything else fantastical--BUT sometimes I find a setting is more interesting of just "what if Romans could directly interact with their deities?". For me I just find the idea of almost "alternate history" but in my uniquely fantastical setting interesting. However, I also understand that some people like genuinely different worlds with no trace of the real world left behind.

When creating unique cultures I try to combine elements to create something more unique. For example I'm currently working on the ancient periods of my current homebrew world, and specifically in a portion I haven't particularly worked on before. In Evrosea, a sort of "ancients world" where Greco-Roman culture lives on well into the medieval 15th Century (of course technology has changed and evolved) I find myself studying more ancient histories. I knew from before I fully began working on worldbuilding Erosea that there was some sort of "Roman Empire" which spread its tongue as a sort of lingua franca across the continent of Dulgren (aka why Common exists in my D&D world). Also originating from the region of Evrosea was the sorta monolithic pantheon of "new gods" (aka Catholicism). So I have the ideas of imperialism and religious importance in this region. So the very clear start was Rome itself, but how could I make this Rome unique? Well here's what I found from my research on Ancient Rome:

Many pre-settlers, and even contemporaries of Ancient Rome, in Italy were nomadic grazers and herders.

The Aeneid, which tells one of the many origin stories of Ancient Rome, ties in the ancient Greek tale of the Trojan War, and makes Rome the successors of Troy.

That many of their religious practices were tied up with the Senate (especially after the abolishment of the crown).

Finally, while perhaps never directly ruled by the Etruscans, their neighbors were much more confederate like and were similar in culture rather than being a unified people or kingdom.

Taking the information I found I twisted and jumbled much of this random history and constructed a group of nomads who controlled the fertile valleys of Uvemos (home region of the ancient Carinaens, my replacement for the Romans).

Many of these nomads worshipped similar sounding gods (if not outright the same gods), and most of them lived off the lands of Uvemos. Only a select few of whom ever settled into cities. However, long after the first nomads of Uvemos walked the hilly countryside arrived a band of pirates and raiders, terrors of the ancient world, many knew not their names, but they quickly accrued a nickname, "The Sea People" (see Sea Peoples on Wikipedia for more, TL;DR a bunch of random marauders who attacked or even helped cause the collapse of some Bronze Age Civilizations). One such pirate was said to be the Prince Laogonus, an exile from Apeiros, who was said to be a direct descendant of the God King Ulios himself. Laogonus settled down on the banks of Janian Sea in a small dirt settlement near to the roaming tribes of Uvemos. Many years later the small city of Carina was established as a blossoming trade hub by the many different tribes of Uvemians. Of these tribes was born a Chieftain's daughter, Aurora. Aurora was said to be descended from the god blood of Ulios, and when she prayed to her great grandsire on the eve of battle she was enveloped in holy light-- thus becoming the world's first cleric. Of her legacy were many rituals formed and practices established, and the civitas mille clericorum* was born.

*(civitas mille clericorum) meaning "city of a thousand clerics," named after the heavy religious undertones established by the first cleric Aurora, at least according to legend.

Super cool right?? I combined some other ideas than the ones I established such as the Sea People from the Collapse of the Bronze Age, as well as these kind of Shinto-like-beliefs in the Carinaen religion, which, to me at least, seems the most like what Ancient Roman beliefs would look like to us today (though I didn't really get to talk about in my blurb). I like taking existing pillars of cultures and extending them, now rather than just being a complete Roman rip-off there's more of this nomadic or tribal culture, at least to early Carinaen history, there's more of a nautical legacy (unlike Rome, who didn't establish a truly working navy up until the Punic Wars), and finally the city of Carina is a beacon for holy warriors and classes like Paladins and Clerics (again this is D&D so that's oriented towards that).

But tell me what you think, and how best do you come up with your fictional cultures/countries? Do you merely copy off of pre-existing cultures or do you fully work from the ground up? I'm super curious to hear what you all have to say!

I'm also tagging a couple friends since I'm curious of your responses @hessdalen-globe, @northernthiefcranberry, @kerghoulen, and the ever wonderful @somethingclevermahogony.

Also guys I need you to pull me out, I'm this close to dropping out of the arts and trying to get into Harvard to do Ancient Studies. Send Help.

[kafus]

ok i've decided i want to infodump about vee and nova a little after all! because uhh not only am i impatient because autism but i also. want to dip my toes into talking about this. just days ago i was still terrified but now i am Tentatively Brave... if i can talk about it here casually like this then i should be able to write a more formal summary later some other time

i've tagged this post appropriately (at least i think i have, feel free to suggest if i should add more) but also a heads up here too before i keep talking that while i'm not going into graphic detail on anything there are STRONG themes of organized sexual abuse of a child, sexual abuse of animals, and grooming! (there are no disturbing visuals in this post, just text)

IF YOU CAN'T READ THIS POST THAT'S OKAY I STILL LOVE U

takes a deep breath alright so the deal with these two. back all the way in 2021, i decided i wanted to make "vent ocs" as in i just wanted some concrete/consistent designs i could use in vent art drawings that weren't a direct reflection of what i envision myself to look like or whatever. i was going through a lot in 2021, in december 2020 i had just gotten my first big repressed memory back and my life was in a whirlwind of change and heavily increased PTSD and DID symptoms, so i was using art a lot as an outlet. in the end i settled on this drawing, based on the design taste i would have had as a young person (god the quality is so old now LOL i've improved a lot but anyway)

i was intending for these two to be just visual designs and nothing more than that but i got attached and actually ended up giving them a whole storyline and everything, which is something i admittedly hadn't done in a long time up to that point so that's cool.

the reason i preface explaining the premise of the storyline with this is because i think it's important to acknowledge that these two are intrinsically tied with my real life and the feelings i experience as a CSA/OA survivor. not because i think someone has to go through awful things to write or draw about them necessarily, but because i am passionate about expressing myself. it's important for me to be seen in some way, to be heard after years of silence. it is not safe for me mentally to share the exact details of my abuse online rn (and please don't ask for them!) but i also don't want these two to be removed from the message that i survived something and this is me making art about that in an abstracted and magical way with a fictional universe that brings me a lot of comfort. i hope this makes sense lol

oh and also with that in mind if you think for even a second any of this is a weird sex thing for me or some shit please stop reading this post and go do something else with your time. this is my trauma expression and i don't need to be compared to the people i was abused by when i was a literal toddler thank you!

AANYWAY so! premise! gonna be point blank with it! vee (not her original name but shh) is born as a normal 100% human girl, aka without the eevee ears and tail. she is groomed from a very young age (like, toddler age) and eventually abducted by her groomers which happen to be members of... well right now it's team rocket because i haven't spent the time to worldbuild a new villainous pokemon organization yet. roll with me here. she is taken to a remote facility out in the middle of fucking nowhere and is never returned to her previous life or family.

Why? well i'm glad you asked! the org is running a bunch of different experiments in this facility and one of them happens to be trying to enable humans reproducing with pokemon. this doubles as both a money thing and a power thing. they seek out a child as the victim of these horrible experiments because children are easily malleable. way easier to control a child than an adult who already has a firm identity/self.

vee is the child they chose. surgery is forcibly done on her to give her working eevee ears and tail, and also like, fuck with her body chemistry and stuff. she's biologically part eevee now. yes this is bullshit pokemon magic science LMAO but she is kept in this facility and chronically sexually abused for a few years by pairing her with various mons and trying to get eggs to happen.

the experiment isn't working though so they hypothesize that giving her a dedicated partner, especially of the same evolutionary line, would help, and they raise nova from birth as an eevee to take on that role. eventually the two of them are paired together. despite the acts they are forced to commit on each other and the abuse they endure, they actually become inseparable very quickly cause like. they don't have anyone else. and also they just genuinely care about each other. additionally at this point nova has evolved into an espeon and has telepathic powers, so him and vee can communicate linguistically with each other, so you know that helps

generally my current focus of this story is in the early years, when vee is 12 and younger, before they start realizing that shit is fucked up and they need to escape (up until that hypothetical point they have been successfully groomed into believing everything happening to them was not abuse/was normal). i have left out a metric fuckton of detail here just to get across the basic premise. i am constantly exploring vee's psyche, nova's psyche, it's like an in depth exploration of the mind of an abused child in horrific circumstances and god it's cathartic. i love these two so fucking much

btw i guess this art has more context now huh haha after i infodumped off the plot to my sister they looked at this art again and was like. OHHH THIS IS EVEN MORE OMINOUS AND HARD TO LOOK AT WITH CONTEXT. AND I WAS LIKE YEAH!!!! YOU SEE THE VISION!!! THE SYMBOLISM!! ETC!!!!

uh yeah if you read this far thank you and i just wanna say i've been building up the courage to talk about these two for GENUINELY two years, it has been over 2 full years since that initial drawing, and i am nervous and jittery posting this but i do not want to die without having shared my work with the world and i'm willing to take the risks to get my voice out there. so you reading it is very much appreciated ur like my first step into being more confident as a survivor lol

oh and fwiw despite these guys being so correlated with my trauma it's not offensive to make headcanons or ask me questions about them or compliment darker art of them however you want, in fact i love that shit!! please i've been holding these guys back for two years i have so much to say that hasn't been said. as much as i am nervous i am EXCITED

[ominous-feychild]

✦ Writerly Questionnaire ✦

Thank you so much for tagging me, @the-golden-comet!! This looks fun, and a lot of these are questions I love answering and wanted to share here eventually, anyway! 😊

About Me

When did you first start writing?

It depends on how you define that, and then what you consider "writing", haha. 😅😭 I started this one garbage self-insert fic when I was 8, but didn't get far into it, haha. Then I wrote at least 100 pages of a horrible novel in a notebook at age 11. I consider the time I "officially" started writing to be when I started consistently doing so in 2014... when I started roleplaying on Google+. Before long, I'd formed my own stories from ideas I'd come up with in those rps and eventually settled on working on writing with a single writing partner for 5 years. We have since parted ways as of almost 3 years now.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Yes and no? Here's the thing: I absolutely adore my niche genre of "high fantasy and Used To Magic So Barely Questions It, but placed in a world that resembles modern besides a variable lack of technology. Oh, and we focus more on the characters than anything else!" But, uh... at least as far as I've found, that really isn't common. Especially not stories that also play faeries for horror, which is one of my favorite things, haha. I'm very firm and comfy in my writing genre. I've dipped elsewhere, but they're a lot harder for me to write and nowhere near as fulfilling, haha. However! I do love reading other genres, too! I love superhero and superhero-esque stories, I like a good amount of those "video game stuff popped up in real life" things, and yeah! Lots more. So it's less of a thing of "not liking the genre I write" or even "not being able to find it" and more of a "I like writing something very specific, but still enjoy other stuff". 😊

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

Ohhh this is kinda a difficult question? Nobody's ever told me specifically whether or not I resemble any other writers, and I only want to "emulate" other writers very loosely? I compare my worldbuilding to Tolkein's because I've been working on it for almost 6 years, have steadily been building out individual cultures and half-creating languages, have literally done weeks' worth of research on Earth Sciences to be able to build out a planet that Works... and then half threw it all out when I came up with the Faewildes and realized I can bullshit it. 😂😅😭 (Note: I still do not fully bullshit it though. Just don't stress as much as I used to.)

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

Confession: I've moved around way too much and been way too poor to have any "solid" writing space that I'd like. I used to like going to cafes, getting some tea, and sitting by a window I could stare outside (and dissociate to) while hallucinating scenes before writing them. But for a long while, I've been too poor to be able to do that. It's actually probably one of the reasons I've struggled a lot to write recently now that I think about it... but oh, well. Since then, I tend to prop myself up in my bed with my stuffed animals and squishmallows forming a throne of sorts as I write. (Helps prevent back/neck pain, or at least push its onset back.)

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Editing my old writing and listening to The Story's Music! It helps me get back into the headspace of the relevant character(s) and it brings my mind back into the "prose writing" state. (Clarification: 99% of the music I listen to is associated with an entire story, one of my characters, a specific scene, or some combination of the above. It's both fun and one of my oldest ways of tricking my AuDHD brain into writing!)

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Ha... the trauma sure did!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Trauma, discrimination, and poverty. No, they do not surprise me, because they've all been a huge part of my life. SaS is a rare exception because (as I was initially creating it for a writing contest) I specifically created it to be very mainstream... but also mixed in a lot of my personal interests to get me through it. However, I think those themes (minus poverty in the MCs) still shine through, they're just a lot more subtle.

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Technically, dare I say, a LOT of my characters are "among my favorite characters". However, as I've gone on record saying, it's probably Gene, one of the MCs of the Arcane Rifts, haha. However! Since I already have an Ask in my inbox about him (I'll get to those eventually, I swear 🙏) I'll go elsewhere! I think among my top favorite characters would probably be Carmin, Basil, Caron, Xao (pronounced "How", and yes he never hears the end of it), Tobin, Sammy, and Quinn! Tbh I definitely could've listed more, as I said, I love most of them-- Quinn, though! Is the son of the Existence of Fate, one of the "oldest gods" of my stories. He's forced to see all of time, always. That mistake he made 300 years ago? Almost literally burned into his brain. That mistake you made five seconds ago? Also there. Something happening on the complete other side of the world? Yep. And actions people will commit 500 years from now? You betcha. Except, the "future" events can change, and more drastically so the further they are in the future. Butterfly effect and all. He and his mother, Fate, are constantly doing things in pursuit of... what? Well, they have a plan... but I obviously can't say, haha. Dude's horribly traumatized, though--he's constantly witnessing every single atrocity ever committed and has even watched others that would've been committed played on repeat in his mind until he found a Timeline that prevented it. He's long-since grown used to it, but also consider... his own life is in there. Nothing that happens to him will ever be a surprise. Not except for when he creates a new timeline by changing events that should've otherwise happened. That's why he's constantly telling jokes and being obnoxious to people he doesn't like--to humor himself for the small moments they're new to him. Kid's (he's frozen at a young age because powerful magic + ageless-immortality) depressed af... but it's okay. He's working towards something he believes in. So why are Quinn and Fate actively doing horrible things if they want to make things better? Guess you'll have to find out! In ten-thousand years when I finally write the reveal. (I love Quinn so much istg--)

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

Oh, that's hard. Probably Gene! Maybe Freya, but definitely Daleira and Faer! Here, let me just-- Probably: Gene, Mislav, Faer, Liesel, Maritza, Grimnir, Caron Definitely: Daleira, Damaris, Ludmila, Rada, Carmin, Cricket Possibly: Freya, Crow (but I'd possibly find them irritating / overwhelming), Adilzhan, Caspar, Soren, Zarina, Basil (Half of the "probably/possibly"s is because I'm not sure if they'd like me. Especially Zarina. Omfg I love her so much but idk if she'd like me at all.)

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Oh, dear. This is a difficult question. I'll start with characters you guys know--Tazin and Valyarus. Hands down. Tazin because he's way too loud/crude and he would both overstimulate me and piss me off to no end. Valyarus, well... because he's an egotistical, rich prick. Enough said? But actually? Half of the Existentials. Order especially, Fire, and Storm. Perhaps not so coincidentally, all of the "top gods" besides Fate herself...

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

So it depends on the character and why I'm creating them! There's a few different ways one of my characters can come to be, but uh... we'll start with explaining Oska's creation! So, from the beginning, Oska was created to just be the leader of the khonitva (a gang). Originally, he was going to have a rather small role in the story--the khonitva and the reason he was the leader were more important. His main role in the first draft was showing up at a REALLY bad time, capturing the relevant MC(s), and killing another character. So all I worked on was his personality (it related to how/why he was the leader) and his motives. He became an angy man out for vengeance and basically nothing else. Then I expanded on tAR, turning it from a duology to... well it'll be 5 or 6 books now. 😅 The first two books would spend more time in Kavo (the town Gene lives in), and so Oska's character expanded. A MASSIVE part of his character was tied to the death of his brother, so I did a little expanding on his brother, and he had a "sidekick" in Rieka, the khonitva's healer who (even from early drafts) had romantic feelings for him (but at the time they weren't mutual; Oska had too much anger for his brother's death). Oska's character has perpetually been focused on his brother's death and his role as the leader of the khonitva, so I simply expanded it so that--rather than just being the leader--he cared for the khonitva like a family because it was the only bit of "family" he had left. So uh... I guess I focus on the most important part(s) of the characters relative to the story, then expand on them? That's the "role in the story" method I flesh out a character, at least, haha. Otherwise, if I'm just trying to create something with a very VAGUE role/idea, I'll often look at writing prompts, artwork, the literal superpower wiki, and fandoms I'm not part of for something to make me start to think. Y'know, have ideas. I'd get into an example, but this section is already pretty long, haha!

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

COUGH the social Others or socially-othered COUGH impoverished and/or exploited COUGH abused by a parental figure COUGH abused in general COUGH neurodivergent and/or gay COUGH, WHEEZE, HACK-- Ugh, sorry, idk what just happened there. Probably the fact that a lot of them are socially awkward, have anxiety, have a "different" way of communicating, and/or are emotionally withdrawn? And I accidentally give my autism to a lot of them. 😎😭

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

Through Pinterest boards! I have aphantasia and can't really see things in my head very well (if at all), so I'll use Pinterest boards to collect images that have the Vibe™ or characteristics of my individual characters... which is incredibly difficult for my inhuman or even more ordinarily diverse characters. Like, I'd get into a tangent about "why is 90% of art on the internet of white and/or conventionally attractive people" but uh... I don't think I have to here. Anyway! Yeah, a lot of my characters, I'll have vague ideas/impressions of what they look like and seek things out along those lines. Freya, for example, I basically immediately knew to have poofy red hair like Brave's Merida. Some characters are a lot harder, because I think I know a certain thing is a fact... when apparently I saw them as a completely different race without realizing??? (RIP White Rada for example. I was actively TRYING to make a majority of tAR's characters white because they're so xenophobic but no. 😅)

My Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

I used to space out and "hallucinate" scenes of my writing while going about my day. It was my way of coping with the rest of my life, which really wasn't great. (I mean it still isn't now but, y'know. It's much better!) Since I started working on novels, my goal has shifted. I mean--I still write for myself and my own enjoyment first and foremost. But I don't just want to write for myself--I also want to write for others. Here, let me just share a majority of my bio from Tapas--

I'm an autistic woman who's lived through a variety of experiences and places, and like to include things reflecting that. Diverse characters, cultures, environments, and politics (different within each in-story location!) appear in my writing. I like weaving life lessons--through the experiences of relatable characters--into the stories I tell. Many people see themselves or the people around them reflected in the characters they see in books, so I think it's helpful for people to be able to see those same kinds of people within fiction so they can reflect on the relationships within their own lives.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

THEORIES!!!

I absolutely love it when people theorize because:

I put oh-so many mysteries and hints toward Truths

it shows they're paying attention

it shows they care enough to try to pick out the pieces and put them together!

I can see how well I'm doing with the seeding of hints if people are noticing them... even/especially if they realize they're important but don't know how/in what way!

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

Oh dear, you're trying to out me as an egotist now, aren't you?

WELL CONGRATS, I'M FALLING FOR IT--

I'd like to think of myself as a writer who does amazing worldbuilding and makes realistic characters, so... obviously it'd be awesome if others thought of me the same way, haha. I mean, otherwise, I'd really just prefer people enjoy my writing in general? Tbh I don't have any other goals besides enjoying it myself and making others happy with it.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I would say realistic and diverse characters. I'm a huge fan of psychology, love learning about other cultures, and listen to the stories of people from a lot of various backgrounds. I like to think those things allow me to write characters with a variety of backgrounds, worldviews, and personalities.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Nobody's necessarily said it's my "greatest" strength, but the most common compliment I receive about my writing is that it's very easy to read and picture what I'm describing!

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

Uhm... this is a difficult question to answer. I like my stories, but I struggle with prose. I overthink a lot and sometimes have a very hard time describing things in good part because of my aphantasia, but it can be very validating to hear when I do a good job with it.

I have a lot more fun creating the ideas and maybe even making outlines than I do actually writing them--but I'm pretty sure that's kinda normal, haha?

My writing today is very different from what it was 3 years ago, back when I was still writing with my old RP partner (we'd planned to publish together). It was a lot more grimdark before, and tbh I never liked that and only came to terms with that after we parted ways. Then, I put my time and effort into working on tAR (solely my own work even then), clearing out a lot of the grimdark-ness, and building it out to what it is today. I'd temporarily abandoned our old projects because I needed to cut her stuff out, but didn't know how to, and it was painful to try.

it was only a handful of months ago that I revisited my old works with her and found that it's no longer painful. So I've finally been bringing together my old worldbuilding with the kind of writing I want to make today--which still requires a lot of changes and updating.

In short: I love writing, though it can be very emotionally-loaded. I have a lot of insecurities relating to the quality thereof, but I'm pretty sure that's universal, haha.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Of course! Though it'd likely be more outlines than actual prose, haha. After all, I primarily write for myself first and foremost.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

Yes and no; so it's a mix of the two. The priority, of course, is what I enjoy writing. However, I do want to become a published author and (hopefully) live primarily off of it one day. That goal means I also have to cater somewhat to what I know other people will like/what makes sense to them.

However, I don't particularly think that's a problem in my case! In application to tAR, I refuse to change it in a lot of its core ways--aka the multiple plots going on at once, the MCs starting as children, the mixture of invented words from their native language, and the fact that it doesn't cleanly fit into any genre--so figuring out how to make it otherwise palatable for others to read is more of a fun challenge for me actually!

SaS is different, however. I purposely made it very mainstream due to initially starting it for a contest (which has since ended), and I think those clichés make it much less enjoyable for me than it otherwise would be. But that can still be changed! I'm working on building out SaS as you read this--that's part of why I focus on it with Asks--so hopefully I'll come to love it half as much as I do tAR!

(And, I mean, to be fair, SaS has been growing on me lately! So it seems to be working at least a little! I think SaS was also very unique for my stories in that I made it to be a story rather than picking out events that I already saw happening in the world I've made, so it's been harder to get into it in general.)

Looks like I've rambled more than I should again, haha. 😅😭 Hope it was still worth reading and/or that you guys enjoyed it anyway??

Tagging (with no pressure): @honeybewrites @yourpenpaldee @the-letterbox-archives @darkandstormydolls

Divider by @cafekitsune

[galacticgraffiti]

20 Questions!

thanks for the tag @corvod (i dont know why it won't let me tag you help) (I also have to put this under a readmore I am incapable of short answers)

How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 20 works right now... so many are unfinished I am hiding my face.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

331,532 (gahdamn)

What fandoms do you write for?

I used to write exclusively Star Wars, but I have somewhat lost motivation for that, at least for now. Currently, I write a lot for BG3 and I'm working on some TLT stuff!

What are your top five fics by kudos?

(1) Veman'alor (Boba Fett x reader) (2) October Thots (various SW characters x reader) (3) Ad'ika (Wrecker x reader - my very first fic!) (4) Big Love Ahead (Halsin x reader) (5) Daddy's Home (Boba Fett x reader)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do my best to respond to comments, especially on AO3 because that's all the interaction with the author that people get, so I try to make them feel appreciated for taking the time. I'm horrible at keeping up with comment-reblogs on tumblr, even if I try very hard. My brain gets overwhelmed sometimes.

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm I have a Boba Fett x reader somewhere that I remember being pretty angsty but I can not for the life of me remember where I shoved it. The most current one I have is I Am Nothing (Like You Thought I Was) in which I put all my feelings about Ascendant!Astarion and abusive relationships.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Nearly all of them - I can't make my characters suffer without making them happy in the end apparently. Also I never finish anything lol

Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten a couple of comments that were, if not hateful, still unkind towards me. I block very liberally these days :))) If people don't want to understand that you can simply Not Read what you don't like then they can fuck off.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Not exclusively (anymore), but a lot, yes. A lot of x reader, though I do enjoy writing about my OC(s) as well. Oddly enough, I really like writing about male characters even if I'm a lesbian.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't really. I admire people who have the braincells for it, but I settle in a universe and stay where I feel comfortable.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone once messaged me asking about it, but I never heard anything else so... no?

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have not! Collaboration is fun but so much work.

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't really have one. Wait no, that's a lie. It's Gideon Nav and Harrowhark (I would die for them)- and thanks to Leo, it's now also Bloodweave (Gale x Astarion from BG3). I am consumed by them.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

So many. Way too many. I really wish I could finish them all, so I'm willing it into existence instead of telling myself I won't lol

What are your writing strengths?

I love dialogue very much, I think I'm decently good at dirty talk specifically lol. But what I like the most is worldbuilding in the sense of making an existing world my own.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Typing things out that seem so clear in my head lmaooo

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I love it! I'm a huge language nerd, so I do it whenever possible, it feels more immersive to me that way. I appreciate translations being provided though.

First fandom you wrote for?

I think Star Wars may honestly have been it - I was never really active in a fandom before.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh damn a whammy at the end, huh? That's so hard. It's always the fic I'm currently working on the most, I think- so right now, it has to be Big Love Ahead. It feels so warm and comfortable to me.

This was so fun! I apologise to everyone who has tagged me in games and I haven't done them, I get real overwhelmed sometimes. No pressure tags for some mutuals @purgetrooperfox @certified-anakinfucker @baba-fett @ulchabhangorm @atriursa

[hatchetfield-omegaverse]

Hatchetfield Omegaverse: General Headcanons, Lore, & Worldbuilding!!

Characters I'll probably write for the most: Pete and Steph, Lex and Ethan, Paul and Emma, Ruth, Richie, and others if I get ideas.

Character headcanons will be done as necessary or by request, so please feel free to request a character even if they're not on the list.

Like all aus, the world is broken up into Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. The rules are generally the same: Omegas have heats and can get pregnant regardless of gender, Alphas have ruts and can get people pregnant, and betas are just like normal people. However there are some changes.

Both girl Alphas and guy Omegas have both sets of parts, one being just for show. Guy Omegas typically have smaller penises on average.

Betas, guy Alphas, and girl Alphas only have one set of genitalia. Their secondary gender is typically made known when they present.

Presentation typically happens during puberty. However late bloomers can always occur.

Omegas usually present between the ages of 12-15. First heats will occur anywhere from 3 months to a year afterwards.

Alphas will present between the ages of 14-16. First ruts happen shortly thereafter.

Betas don't present in the typical sense but they do settle into being a beta around 16 or so.

Omegas have heats every 8-12 weeks or so that typically last 5-10 days. During this time, they are given mandatory leave from work/school.

Heat suppressants exist but they're only meant to be used for every other heat. Overuse can render the user completely immune to its effects.

Most Omegas stay at home during this time but, for those who might not get privacy, Omegas hotels exist. They allow for both solo omegas and couples who don't.

Alphas are divided into 3 categories known as types 1, 2, and 3 (or more colloquially high tier, mid tier, and low tier).

Some of the differences include strength, scent, and dick size. However the main difference is the number of ruts a year.

Type 3 or low tier Alphas experience 1 rut year.

Type 2 or mid tier Alphas experience 2-3 ruts a year.

Type 1 or high tier Alphas experience 3-5 ruts a year.

Special forms of HRT exist to help people transition to different secondary genders.

This is just a bit of world building that I wanted out there before I wrote anything more specific. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

[majormiles]

for the fanfic asks, 🚀🥳📗? i love your fics btw, thank you for sharing them with the universe!

Thank you!! Even after all these years, it still blows me away that ppl like my stuff lmao. From Fanfic Writer Asks

Do you outline your fic first or create as you go?

Do I outline? LOL no. It is my second biggest flaw as a writer, after being a shit worldbulider. Hotspur was actually my practice at longer fic/planning and even then my outline was a list of bullet points of things I’ve set up (themes, motifs, plot points etc.) which at some point I needed to pay off. They were roughly organised into chapters and then every chapter I just crossed off anything I’d paid off. And if I didn’t pay it off, the list just moved into the next chapter.

Horrifying, I know. You are allowed to be horrified lmaoo. This is why I’m not very good at judging how long fics will be because they’re simply either as long as it takes to pay off everything, or I get bored. One of the two.

Why did you start writing fanfic?

Why? Wow, that’s a question. I don’t know! I started writing fic waaay back when I was a kid, maybe 8ish. Younger? I honestly don’t remember a time when I didn’t write. How cliche is that? It was a hobby I could do on my own which was cheap and didn’t require any special materials lol. This was back before I even knew what fic was. I just had a TV show or something I liked and I wanted to write more in that ‘verse. Kid me started with self-inserts (naturally) but once I discovered that fanfiction was a “thing” I switched to writing canon characters only, and then basically never stopped! That was going on 20 years ago, wow.

Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

DO I. Honey, that’s the dream. I keep trying but I’m just not comfortable worldbuilding. I’m very good at starting ideas as my friends and old classmates will know, but I have never written an “original” story to completion. I’ve spent the last couple of years attempting to write sci-fi pieces but after 10k, 15k (50k, once) or a couple of chapters, I hate everything about it and I scrap it. I’m really my biggest critic.

I don’t know how worldbuilders settle on “an” idea. I just. Have so many ideas! I do, at least, tend to re-use concepts from my scrapped works and try to re-work them into something else. I’m currently attempting to write a story about a father who is unable to move on from the death of his daughter (looking at you, Hotspur) and feels stuck between the past and future. I mean, it’s a sci-fi and there’s, you know, spaceships and aliens and love and stuff, but at its heart, it’s a story about a man who’s afraid to be happy. I was literally writing some of it today. It’s a hot mess. I kind of hate it! But I need to persevere lol.

Another idea I had was something I wrote 50k for last year and then threw out. I know, my friends hate me. Um, it was also sci-fi. It about a man who is unwillingly immortal (grief and resurrection comes up a lot in my ideas) and spends a couple hundred years adrift alone. He’s picked up by another spaceship and I had absolutely no plot. It was all concept. There was a whole religion that I fleshed out and like this big secret on the ship and it was all spooky and apocalyptic. He was just a grump for 50k basically just dad-ing everyone. Ah William, I miss you. Thanks for asking!

[moononmyfloor]

New Life Begins ep 1-14 Review!

Before even a minute could pass I immediately loved the intro, and worldbuilding of nine regions. I straightaway made a list so I can keep track of the backdrop.

On to the actual episode, I did like some parts about it but mostly I thought this is too much character introduction for a drama opening. Too many things to keep track of. But it was funny and cute so I kept watching.

By ep 4 I started feeling like...

This drama felt like something written by me (I have ocd and am extremely detail-oriented)

Except that's not a praise. It felt like written by a delulu me out of control 😂

▪︎There are 9 provinces in this universe. You need to remember facts and points about all of them whenever the drama name drops them.

▪︎ There are girls from these different provinces and about 5 princes. You need to remember all their characteristics.

▪︎One Prince has 24 consorts, I kid you not, that he named based on 24 solar terms

A me 10 yrs ago would write something like this, I thought. (Now I have better control 🤭) It was highly amusing to watch in the sense you are reading your childhood diary rambles lol.

I have no idea how the drama makers kept track of who is who. Viewers can watch it with no problem if they don't think too hard, but for someone like me who had to hog on every detail, this was simply overload. It looks like a detail oriented person's catnip on surface, but is actually nightmare.

And once I stopped being pulled in all 8 directions by the various character flocks in this drama, I started noticing tiny loose-plot things about it. Once again, it felt like the scriptwriter/author was too focused on the number-game-nerding with as much as characters possible and making them interact in this wild network, so they didn't have time to work on finer details that would make a story sensible.

I thought I was gonna drop and was like "maybe let's watch today's eps too".

And boy, am I glad that I did.

Like a switch turned on, I suddenly started liking it from ep 6. And I only became more enamoured onwards! I have no idea what caused this, maybe I got used to the numerous background details of the story. Maybe the story *itself* chilled down a bit with its worldbuilding and started on with what it came to accomplish.

It is incredibly feminist! 😍 I realised this by ep 7, which delivered ABOVE and BEYOND and woah, I was suddenly in love.

I was supremely impressed with the portrayal of feminism in Danchuan. When I first saw the summary of the 9 regions, I liked Jichuan the best (obviously) and was hesitant about Danchuan because it sounded like just another stereotypical attempt at toxic feminism where it is not at all different from patriarchy except with genders reversed. Aka what a lot of people imagine feminism to be as shown in Romance of Tiger and Rose.

But Danchuan.... their logic, their values..all so sensible, considerate and extremely progressive. They do not seem like a group of women who terrorised a province and took men for slaves, rather they are a bunch of chill ladies minding their own business and if the men are humbled and mature enough to not be offended by that, they get to stay! There was no unnecessary belittlement to men. Rather they just cared very much (as they should) about equality, consent and self respect and would not settle for anything less.

(The following two lines by Madam Danchuan stuck with me. It really spoke for their core belief: that they would never force a woman to do anything against her will and choice.)

And from that moment it became THE feminist Chinese costume drama of the year! What is it about November? Last year it was Marvelous Women 💕.

*eyeing 2023's November. You better plan on your game starting now on, if you already haven't.

.

And it did not stop at the Danchuan arc!

I already was liking how New Life Begins touches on various ideologies (patriarchy, polygamy, monogamy, matriarchy) all at once. But I didn't expect a 100% satisfying outcome as that is simply too much deep topics for a single simple Web drama.

A complaint I always had about historical dramas' typical portrayal of women is that they always make it look like the ladies had no other use of their time than scheming how to bring the other ladies down so they can have the man's affection to themselves.

And I was like... surely in a society where polygamy was the norm there was at least one or two examples of functional and peaceful families where the ladies were smart, knew their worth and didn't care for a man who didn't care for them in return?

.

Last year's Marvelous Women was a gem that set the bar high on this front, where the women joined forces instead of torturing each other pointlessly. When such nuanced portrayals are a rarity even in the "serious historical" genre, I did not expect any at all in a simple fluffy costume drama like New Life Begins.

But it has already blown my mind with how nicely the ladies are written! How they value themselves first and foremost, how mature and intelligent they are with independent personalities that do not revolve around a man. They are capable of thinking for themselves and change the world and its expectations of them by their own will. Even if there were one or two characters that started too narrow-mindedly, they also eventually flipped a new page by working their own brains!

It is not even halfway aired, but New Life Begins has already set a new high bar, because it is showing how to write cool women in all family dynamic genres, all at once!

Be it an ideal monogamy, or a fantastical matriachy, or even a traditional polygamous society, smart and sensible women can exist in all these genres! If they don't then it is laziness of noone's but the writer.

Good job, New Life Begins writer!

.

What is feminism? For me, it means treating women as the intelligent creatures they are. Accepting that even in the most patriarchal and oppressive societies, women did have their own agency and are not unnecessarily victimised. Letting them own up their decisions and choices. That they did not fall over each other at men's feet all the time and were in need to be rescued and "educated" by a "modern-thinker". This is the narrative a lot of "feminist" dramas/movies push, which is actually disguised savior complex that feeds male supremacy more than they'd like to think.

It is sad just how much viewers are used to crappy female charcter designs in period dramas to the point if we see a woman behaving progressively we start thinking it's unrealistic.

I always wanted a period drama where marriages of convenience happen, but instead of raising a mess of unnecessary misunderstanding and drama galore about it, the characters are level headed and respectful to each other while they use the situation to their benefit. I am not at all mad about the addition of Yuanying's role, because honestly in the overall picture of C costume drama land we have too little of sensible non-toxic AND powerful main wife characters.

This has so far been a VERY satisfying experience because this is everything I dreamed of, and you know how exhilarating it is when you get this very specific headcanon for a fanfiction and then you actually DO manage to find a one that is already written? Yeah, exactly like that.

It is so funny that at the beginning I thought "this feels like something I have written, except 10 years ago and more delulu" because my now revised opinion means I can praise myself! 😂 Now I really want to meet and chat with this writer over tea about our shared delulu and also quite good tastes! 🤭😌

Oh and I forgot to add, I really like that Li Wei hesitates a lot about whether to stay or leave, despite her loving Yin Zheng.

This indecisiveness of her wasn't frustrating to me. I completely get it. She respects other people's lifestyles, but she also has boundaries about what works for her. Also she's homesick, she loves her parents and brother and wants to be with them too!

On the other hand I find it unrealistic when a character falls in love they are suddenly willing to leave everything behind just so they can be with this new person. I never understand this (except in cases where that character's past life sucked and family members were toxic so they wanted to leave).

I'm someone who'd be like: If you want me, you'll have to come live at my place🤣

.

Last but not least, New Life Begins did wobble on its feet a lot as there are too many eggs in the bucket from the get go, but no matter how not 100% strong the writing may be, the drama's heart is in the right place and it will not dissapoint you. At first it might feel like it is quite touch-and-go on various worldviews and ideologies, but it is actually very thorough and raises a number of "Why not?" questions. Quite unexpectedly so for a fluffy costume rom-com. I have literally zero complaints about any character. Do give it a chance!

.

More posts by me

[bewitched-forest]

Formula for a Crime Scene - Ch 3

Circumstances leave Artemis Fowl and Danny Fenton living in Gotham to attend Gotham Academy with Damian Wayne. More circumstances lead to the three boys becoming unlikely friends, and eventually something more. Now the three must navigate a world of superheroes, fairies, and ghosts together.

The worldbuilding of this fic was co-written by my friend, @half-dead-ham, and myself! They will be posting their own Crime Scene (The name of the ship as dubbed by another friend, @thetoyboxs) fic that will have similar plotlines, as we made them together! So behave!

[Ao3 Link Here]

} ~ – ~ {

Artemis crossed his arms, settling into the chair. Usually, he would enjoy the luxuries of somewhere on the Fowl private jet. But this would not be one of those times.

Butler sits down across from him, setting his elbows on his knees. “Artemis.”

Artemis scowls at his bodyguard and friend. “I don’t appreciate this.”

Butler sighs. “You need to get your degree Artemis.”

“As I informed my mother, I could just as easily get my ELC early in Ireland. They don’t need to send me to school, much less some academy in America.”

“You died Artemis. For six months, you were dead. You can’t blame them for wanting you to be somewhere you can be kept an eye on.”

“Yes because Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy of Gotham, inspires that much confidence,” Artemis says with a sneer, suppressing the flinch at hearing Butler talk about his death.

Butler sighs, pinching his nose. “I don’t know about Bruce, but Alfred Pennyworth is a good friend of mine. Surely, you could find something good to do with your time in Gotham. The… others are in a good place now. There’s no need for you. Perhaps, you could let yourself have time to relax. Have fun. Be a regular 16 year old.”

Artemis groans. “I haven’t been ‘regular’ anything since I was 12 years old Butler. Which was 7 years ago, if you’ll recall. I have no desire to associate myself with the imbecilic masses without any real idea of responsibility.”

“Well I’m afraid you’re just going to have to deal with it, Artemis. I am on specific orders from your parents to ensure you get to and stay in Gotham.”

Artemis scowls. “And I thought you were my bodyguard, Butler.”

“I am. But I’m also your friend, Artemis. You can’t keep doing this. Throwing yourself into trouble. One of these days you’re going to buckle from the pressure and none of us may be there to help you. And you won’t be able to get out of it yourself.”

Artemis huffs, crossing his arms and looking out the window. He was more than capable of handling a little pressure. He was one of the only humans entrusted with the knowledge that the People existed. He had died, and had a plan that led to him being revived.

He was ill fitted for normality, that much he knew. High school at some fancy prep academy full of idiotic school children who knew nothing but a life of pampering was even more ill-suited for him. He had saved the world, for gods’ sake. What was he doing being squashed in among the rabble.

“We will be touching down in Gotham in another hour. You’ve missed the first day of the year already, and will have to miss the second as well to acclimate to Gotham. But you will be attending on the third day,” says Butler as he stands. Artemis simply keeps looking out the window, causing Butler to sigh and walk to the other areas of the plane.

Artemis looks behind him to glance at Butler, before shifting and pulling out his laptop. He opens it, pulling up his research of Gotham. Since simply not going has failed him, he will have to go with some of his more proactive plans. Currently, plan B was to sabotage the Wayne family as much as possible. If that failed, he had other plans. One was particularly nuclear as while it would most certainly get him returned home, it would most likely result in him being quite actively watched by his family. As such, it was currently the last resort.

But enough about that for now. Right now, Artemis needs to study. From what he could find, the only current residents of Wayne Manor were Bruce Wayne himself, his sons Damian Wayne and Tim Drake, and the butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Upon being informed that he would be staying with the Waynes, Butler had informed him that Pennyworth was a former colleague of his, both having served in the army.

That unfortunately meant Pennyworth would have to remain unbothered. Butler would only allow him to do so much, and it would be best to avoid alerting him.

This of course, left the other members of the household. The easiest choice would be Damian Wayne. There were multiple accounts of how Damian was prone to anger, and the two would be attending school together, though in different grades. The most effective, however, would most likely be Tim Drake. Despite only being 20, he was already a CEO for Wayne Enterprises. Sabotaging him would mean sabotaging the company.

Artemis would have to adjust his plans once he arrived, of course. It's said that the other Waynes rotated out of the manor quite often, and of course the media could get things wrong. Not to mention, methods of sabotage would have to be conjured after study. It would be ill advised to make a plan now, before he had all the information.

Artemis hummed, perking up at the thud of Butler’s boots making their way towards him. Artemis scowled, closing the laptop and returning it to his case.

If he shifted, lacing his fingers and setting his chin against them. He would have to find a way home, one that evaded Butler’s attention long enough for him to pull it off. Being this far away from home wasn’t the issue for Artemis. He’d been through Limbo. But being this far proposed another problem than just Artemis’s discomfort. Gotham was notoriously corrupt and dangerous. So much so though even the People had heard of it, designating the place as a no fly zone for officers. While Holly was never going to follow rules, Artemis knew Gotham was no joke. If he was needed while he was staying in Gotham, Holly would be flying into a trap not even set to capture her.

Batman had banned metas from Gotham, as well as those who weren’t human, in an effort to mitigate the issues that may happen if they were captured and used by Gotham’s rogues. Artemis has no doubts that a faerie would be considered a prize among them, due to the unique properties of fae magic. Not to mention, Holly didn’t have permission in Gotham. While back at the manor she had permission to enter the dwelling, as well as the privacy, she would have neither in Gotham. While Artemis could plausibly grant Holly the permission she needed to enter Wayne Manor, the nature of Gotham would make her slipping in unnoticed extremely difficult.

It was long decided. Artemis would be ensuring his stay in Gotham was as short as possible.

[appsartstash]

OC-tober Day 16: Food

I couldn't for the life of me settle on something to draw for this (and I wasn't really happy with anything I tried), so instead you're getting some written stuff. Specifically, the prompt reminded me of two different story scenarios, so while I'm not going to be overly formal about it, I'm gonna talk about them under the cut.

-----

Out of HayWire's main four, Sage is the team cook (and who I had initially wanted to draw for this prompt). It's something they picked up while traveling, and it just ended up getting more usage after moving in with the rest of the team. Considering none of the others are nearly as competent in the kitchen, everyone appreciates having someone willing to deal with food.

(As for the others: Envy can follow a recipe and knows a few simple ones but can't improvise to save her life, Volt was definitely surviving on microwave meals and the occasional restaurant visit when he lived alone, and Vesper is just used to others doing the cooking.)

Their first morning after moving in with the team (which had been just Envy and Volt up to that point), Sage decides to make breakfast but soon realizes that Volt doesn't have much more than cereal and some granola bars, so Sage picks up some extra stuff (and then more stuff as he gets ideas) and returns to start cooking.

This all happens before the others wake up. Due to worldbuilding-related reasons, Sage just generally doesn't need as much sleep as most others do, so when Envy wakes up and finds out just how long they've been up and around, she's reasonably concerned.

(Envy, however, is also the team glutton, so a well-made breakfast is more than enough to distract her, and Sage not being completely exhausted later in the day helps confirm that it's not a problem.)

-----

The other notable story that has a definite team cook is Neon Lights. Bo acts as the cook aboard the ship the main cast travels on, the Scabbard (despite also being the quartermaster). It's a far more reasonable job when it's just the crew onboard, but a good portion of the story involves others traveling with them, so making sure there's enough for everyone gets a bit difficult.

Everyone tends to eat together on the main deck, so Bo can at least make adjustments to how much he makes based on who always has leftovers and who's never full.

One thing along those lines he notices is that Dezzy (the youngest of the main group, who the Scabbard's crew has essentially adopted) always ends up asking for more, and Apollo (one of the non-crew members traveling with them) always offers her his food. Bo's pretty perceptive, though, and he notices pretty quickly Apollo's doing this mostly to be nice and isn't actually getting a full meal.

Bo doesn't want to bring too much attention to it, since he doesn't want Dezzy to feel guilty about it and doesn't really know if Apollo's aware he's even doing it, so instead he just... makes sure he and Apollo are chatting while he makes meals and gets Apollo to taste test things.

Bo could definitely do it himself, but he plays it off as wanting a second opinion, and after a while it's just understood that Apollo's the kitchen assistant now.

(Bo confronts Apollo about it eventually, it's just tangled up in the other things he's dealing with, so Bo's willing leave it be while Apollo sorts some of the more obvious stuff out.)

[chiropteracupola]

Leviathan groom, please?

this (this being the tattoos-and-superstition story I've spoken about a few times before) is probably one of my favorite Hornblower fics, to the point where I've been working backward and forward on it for over a year as I try and fail to get it to be Just Perfect. trying to find the balance of exposition to explain the fantasy worldbuilding and actual plot has been very tricky with this one, especially as I haven't quite figured out just how either of those things works yet.

so right now, even though I like a lot of the current stuff I've written, I'm probably going to start over from the bones up, patching in the bits I liked from the first version as I go.

[SCRAPING SOUND AS A BIG CURTAIN IS DRAWN BACK]

basically, the structure that I have so far is 'too much exposition' -> [BIG HOLE] -> 'Bush wandering around in the snow' -> [SPOOKY DESCRIPTION I'VE NOT COME UP WITH YET] -> 'Bush having a long talk with a creepy thing' -> 'slapdash ending that's a little too goofy'

so the main points that need to get worked on are going to be streamlining the magic system and integrating the function behind it into the actual story (probably through some kind of opening Sailing Scenes), redesigning the creepy thing to fit better with the tone of the story overall, and of course, ironing the plot until it's nice and smooth.

I've had some difficulty managing stories with a larger cast in the past, and I think I'd like to push myself with this one and try harder to make the settings feel populated and living, which I think will be more compatible with the eventual redesign of the antagonist. I do think a face-stealing shapeshifter still meshes very nicely with Hornblower's Issues™️, but doesn't really work with the rest of the setting that I'm devising here. so it's back to the drawing board on the creepy thing, and I'm going to do a little research for inspiration before I settle on anything this time. rather than the face-stealer, I think a more standard Endless Barrow Party to get lost in/feel deeply uncomfortable at/charge boldly into on an ill-advised rescue mission will suit the two of them better.

and I'll probably have to pick a new title, as changing up the fairy-folk rules will mean that I lose the double meaning that made this particular one work so well. (it was always meant to be ambiguous whether it referred to Hornblower himself or to the face-stealer, since they're both hanging out somewhere in the middle of the sliding scale between husband and sea monster.) while it'll be a little said to break up my Boreas-lyrics tradition for Hornblower writing, I've been trying to switch to a snappier and more memorable titling system for some time anyway.

and if you're still here after reading all that, how about a scrap of the Exposition Brick that probably won't be coming back in the rewrite:

Entering the navy young had many its disadvantages, but one solid point in its favor was getting the ink-workings on you. They worked the best when they were drawn in as early as possible, it was said, and Bush had had his since he was barely eleven.

With so many ways a boy could die aboard ship, there was at least one surely preventable, if the right precautions were taken. The right knot in the right place, and they’d be tied down tight to the mortal world as well as human art could make them. There were other charms of much the same theory, hold-fast and love-stay-true and safe-at-sea, all with their own mark and their own meaning, but the faith men put in those, though strong, wasn’t nearly so hardy. Bush had seen nearly every other form of ink-workings fail at one time or another, but never these two, the sort given to the youngest and most likely to be stolen away.

He’d even heard the discussions among the hands, the boastful tales of a man claiming he’d nearly been spirited off as a lad, and would have been, too, if not for the marks on the backs of his hands. Sadder stories as well, for as he passed by on his rounds, he’d noted whispers of someone’s sister’s son stolen away, nephews and cousins and brothers gone under the hills never to be seen again. Why don’t they just put the protections on them proper-like, one man would say, and the other would shake his head, and mutter that such people couldn’t be reasoned with.

Whether it was that the ink-workings simply didn’t work on shore, or that the minds of those dwelling on land couldn’t wrap around a too-permanent way to keep their children safe, it still was that those on land went without the marks. Bush wasn’t sure quite why, nor did he himself understand exactly how the tattoos on the backs of his hands kept him safe. He was a plain sailor, not an artist or a witch, and he was content to trust rather than to make an attempt at unpicking the workings of the art.

[hirokiyuu]

actually i changed my mind i'm doing liner notes while fic is stlil fresh in my brain

i wanted so so badly to title this "how could i ever be so dumb to believe i'd be the one you would adore" but it was too long. heartbreaking. this would still have been such a baller title. i did consider "the one you would adore" but i think the title i settled on was better lol

i also wanted to use smth from no love in february which is also pretty dyssol for this exact scenario u kno. wnating sol to have reached out to him and hten not getting it <3 "where were you when i needed to hear you say / turn around i'm right behind you!" all that shit its soooo good for htem tbh

originally sym emerged "from the shadows of the forest" and my beta was like "there's no forest this is the ridges, the whole point is there's no forest" and i had to pull up the literal in-game text that has him emerging, quote, "from the shadows of the forest." they were so angry it was immesnely funny. i did cut it tho bc it's technically inconsistent w/worldbuilding LMFAO

i kind of wish it'd come up more but part of this sol is characterized by being unaugmented. real fucked up that people just give u extra kudos for not being augmented lmfao i do think abt that as the perk a lot

this sol's also super poly. i wanna go into this in another ficlet maybe but she was genuinely really vibing with dys's crush on sym from the start (which is part of the reason he was confused abt whether or not she liked him, lol)

originally this run was gonna be ot3 but i fucked up the timing of sym's last event but honestly? ive mentioned this before but hinge poly sol/dys/sym? does vibe. tfw ur boyfriend is clearly in love w/ur girlfriend who shes not dating also and u jsut ahve to deal w/that

a lot of the convo ended up rearranged from canon to better flow, and some stuff got cut. im still SO sad i couldnt work in dys droppign his entire dinner in the fire thats like one of my favorite parts. dyssol is best when they are both STupid <3

also sad in retrospect i had to cut the whole "where were you" but again it did not fit. i just wanted them yelling stupidly at each other tbh LAKHSGLKAHSLDKG

so i wrote this entire fic out of order starting with "you absolute spacehead, i am in love with you" which means when i wrote the part where sym cuts in my beta, who never got this scene, went SYM WAS JUST THERE? and i was like. yeah. thats canon btw thats part of the canon scene. and they lost it

"i am so stupid into you, i love you more than anything or anyone in this whole dumb universe" as a dramatic love confession is fun i think. simultaneously very like...... desperate and aching and also kind of stupid u kno. very nineteen of her. one of my fave lines from this in general tbh

the funniest possible note from my beta on the middle of the kiss

"i want all those kids tammy and i picked out dumb names for when we were nine" is another personal fave lmfao. again. dumb teens trying to talk abt the future and what they want

it was really important to me that sol didn't look pretty while she was crying. snotty + wet-faced and kind of ugly about it u kno. dyssol are a little gross and they love each other about it! it's aprt of the love

ive always thought abt dys not having anyone to find him on the spaceship (if hes not sols childhood friend) and connecting that to him disappearing on the ridges. the vibes. impeccable. of course he goes home with sol then if they ask, it's the first time anyones come looking. god. (thinking abt dyssol) GOD

dys: hey does anyone think its weird youer both just dating me now. no? just me? okay

i mean obviously the polyam negotiations DO come but again. this sol+sym in general are both just like. sweet more people to love dys

i didnt tag this as marz+dys or utopia+dys but it is immensely importnat to me that he has multiple people who love and worry and care for him. marz fucks up a lot as kids but i like how if u try to bully dys in her 10 shes like :/ no you moron im trying to KEEP him from dying :////

"clinging like he's five years old" This One Was On Purpose

originally at the end there was a joke sol made abt jumping him but it didn't fit tonally. i do think its immensely funny conceptually still tho

WOW THESE GOT LONG LMFAO anyways i lvoe ridgefic the whole ridge confession really did smth to my brain. enjoy the fruits of my disease

[caught-a-ghost]

~time for a reread~

it's been well over a year since i read down to agincourt the first time. the deancas slowburn, the worldbuilding, and the brilliant cast of oc's you come to adore. i completely fell in love with it.

spn a la tolkien baby~

since i have a terrible memory i kinda wanna document some of my reread. feel free to filter #dragonfly rereads dta. this is for my own personal enjoyment more than anything else and it's not going to be that deep. i'm just using this to remember shit.

since i know people want to read it for that bookclub thing soon (awesome!) i'm putting the first one of these under a cut since i'm not going to be spoiler free. please block my tag if you want to avoid those!

chapter 1 here we go

"I promised Sam they'd be together in the end," Lucifer tells him, shrugging to rearrange his still immaculate coat. "Don't worry, Cas, he'll be fine. From what I understand, he had a pretty good time the first time. He'll adapt." "No," Castiel answers. "He won't." Lucifer looks up from his sleeve, a pitying smile freezing on his lips, eyebrows knitting together in dawning confusion. "What--where is he?" "How would I know?" he answers curiously. "Slaughtering the reapers was possibly a miscalculation on your part. Without their guidance, it's very easy to get lost."

god i think we're seeing a remnant of the cas who made Thee Deal here. and i think he used it to secure the safety of endverse dean's soul. im gonna cryy 😭

Pausing at the door of the jeep, Castiel hesitates briefly, and a surge of adrenaline hits him hard enough to make his hands shake, don't stop as clear as if the words were spoken in his ear, don't look back. Only Orpheus was stupid enough not to listen to warnings delivered without ambiguity; it's too rare to get one of those to discard with impunity. I don't want to hurt you. Castiel stiffens, turning to search the empty parking lot. "What?" There's nothing but the lack of breeze to answer him.

i completely did not remember this bit and it's driving me insane. who are youuuuuu (one of the goddesses we've already met or someone new 👀)

and i forgot how much i love this cas! cas: ~only orpheus was stupid enough to turn around~ also cas: *turns around a second after having that thought*

"Why'd you do that to your hand?" Dean asks, settling beside him again; a hunter even now, eliciting information from the most useless of witnesses at the most pointless of all times. "Cas?" "I don't remember."

that cut was totally made for Thee Deal 👀

While he guessed the reason Dean was going into the city, it didn't occurred to him that Dean might not even know where it was he had appeared.

they're both missing time scully, they're both missing time

"Eventually I have to sleep, and I would prefer to do so with some assurance I'll wake up." "You think…" Dean stares at him. "I'm not gonna kill you, Cas, Jesus!" "Do you give your word?" Castiel asks, smiling slowly at Dean's horror. "Unless I take your soul as collateral, why on earth should you keep it?"

they're so messy <3 they have no fucking idea <3

It's been a week since he got here, suddenly scrambling for footing behind broken dumpster and staring at eight demons surrounding an armed man that even after three years Dean would recognize anywhere. The skinny, slumping mortal body in a too-big jacket with an indifferent hold on a rifle stared at him with the infinite blue eyes of an angel who might have traded his sword for a gun and immortality for the dirt of humanity, but had never stopped being a soldier. And very abruptly, to the surprise of those demons, he seemed to remember just that.

aaack i need to knoooow. were these demons a part of it??? is this where it happened??? (wasn't there some kind of reality damage that started in the city? was it here?) were the demons taken off-guard bc they had just worked together with cas and suddenly cas didn't remember??

what is the timeline here? dean seems to have been brought in before endverse dean's death. why??

seperis does this thing in particular that drives me completely bananas (in a good, but feral way). they'll drop little nuggets of information that feel off in the moment, ignore it until later, and then hit you with the realisation that the nugget hinted at a massive reveal or character moment (the fucking spanish thing!)

i'm not likely to do these for every chapter. just those damn nuggets

i also skipped most of the ancient rome stuff the first time around and im wondering if i should stick those out this time 🤔

excited though 👀

[atlasifyllm]

who's your newest oc?

Tarum (they/he)! Here's a pic of them in a genshin impact pose lol

There's a trio in SUL characters that are infamous for being purple and having bad development issues lmao

- Violae, who I've never been happy with her design (I'd love to give her more Venti Genshin Impact vibes without outright stealing the design yknow? Honestly the best outfit she's ever had Was in fact a Venti costume I drew her in 😭😭)

- Amethyst, who I've never been happy with her personality (She's difficult to pinpoint because purple is very good for SYMBOLISM but very tough for me to pinpoint as an explicit character without making her prideful or too mysterious)

- Aaand Lavender, who I've never been happy with her backstory

Lavender was so interchangable in terms of her role but NOT interchangable in the way I developed her.

In a world that can be separated between huemans and Paladins, it was even difficult to pinpoint WHAT she actually was.

Leading up to her eventual scrapping, I was stuck in my own head trying to find ANY Greek mythology figure that was

1.) Attached to any gods I've deemed a "light god"

2.) Attached to a specific /color/ because Lavender's role needed to be hueman-passing

3.) Would make sense for her being 2000 years old, aka taking place in SUL's... inciting event?

However I couldn't find ANYTHING that would have made sense to help revamp Lavender. The main idea of Lavender would've been that she'd be the Medea to Violetta's Circe, and that she'd have a special connection to Amethyst

So Lavender herself as a character was very :/ because of how uncompelling I found her but her role is pretty ESSENTIAL to SUL anyway; there NEEDS to be a "Guardian of the Paladins", especially with that role being able to connect with how special Amethyst is

At one point I heavily considered making any of the fake Paladins canon, but I didn't use the specific Magenta/Mint/Lime Paladins that they were because

1.) Magenta's a pretty modern color and the Guardian of the Paladins would need to be someone old

2.) ...I don’t like the color green and didn't think it'd fit for the role wifhwkjv

However there was one last ace-card of wiggle room I could do before... idk, begging my beta readers for help with what to do 😭😭

In SUL lore, the line between... well, "Sonic Colors meets End of Evangelion" and "The first era of the modern Paladins, the Era of Conquest" were pretty blurred due to Lavender's existence; she would have been made during the former, but had some lore in the latter

BUT, my ass worldbuilded too much... to my own benefit

Ysee, the Violet Paladin of the Conquest era was originally JUST meant to be a reference to another OC of mine from a different universe, Lux Rainbowflare from ETSS

In SUL, the first modern Violet Paladin is called "Prima" in legends

But what I HADNT considered... Lux has a twin brother. Nox.

See the resemblance to Tarum?

What I realized in terms of ETSS is that... Nox really doesn't have a lot of substance despite being the TWIN BROTHER of the PROTAGONIST, so I decided to use him as a basis for the Guardian of the Paladins because he's simply never been developed before in his own universe, so why not make his SUL counterpart a fix-it fic for him?

So at some point I settled on making the new Guardian of the Paladins a NEW Paladin, like the fake Paladins I linked above; however, they'd be INDIGO colored, so they'd be a quarternary color, which was different and possible enough in the worldbuilding to do because the MAIN Paladins have a strict Primary -> Secondary -> Tertiary color system, so they'd immediately been an outcast but still make sense because Indigo huemans do exist and have a different hue identity from typical Blues and Violets (Nila and Peri J. both consider themselves Indigo souls)

So, using the lore of Prima + the lore of the general Violet Paladin, placing the Guardian of the Paladins in the Era of Conquest rather than strictly Origins era would've fixed one of Lavender’s vices by making them old enough to mentor future Paladins, but young enough to not know anything about the ORIGINAL Paladins

Being a twin to Prima, the first Modern Violet Paladin, would also give the Guardian that connection to the Violet Paladin that is REALLY needed to help benefit Amethyst's character and her arc

So, here's what I came up with:

In the Era of Conquest, the area of future Neocity is torn between Solarians and Lunarans, with huemanity still having a vague memory of ancient humans' war between the Sun and Moon, though not having all the details of this war aside from keeping the prejudice surrounding it

In the Violis Village, the figure later known as Prima in hueman history is the heir to rule. Her family consists of Solarians, but Prima herself resembles a Lunaran due to her albinism, already creating tension in the village.

However, she finds a mysterious energy that turns her into a Paladin. With huemanity having no memory of the humans' mass destruction OR about the heroes who avenged it, Prima realizes through this energy that she must reunite the new simulacra of these "Paladins" into a full rainbow and find out the truth behind their mysterious origins.

However, in accepting her newfound duty as a Paladin, she leaves behind her twin brother... who I'll refer to as Taro. "Baby Tarum", if you will :]

If Prima is a princess to the village, Taro is her knight.

But what's a knight without a purpose?

Prima begins interacting more and more with who she considers fellow Paladins, which Taro accepts at first, but begins to falter as Prima becomes more distant and starts being sympathetic to Lunarans like the Azure Paladin, "Azure Sky".

But this doubt is PERFECT to utilize, according to the three Titans behind the Paladins' constant suffering: Aster, Arke, and [SPOILER]

The details here get fuzzy, but the principle is the same; Taro gets manipulated by either Aster or Arke into turning on his twin sister by defeating the Paladins.

Of course, the Paladins stop him, but Prima doesn't want him dead also maybe he's pretty banged up after trying to fight uhhh 6-7 PALADINS so he might have actually been on the verge of... yknow

So, Prima makes a wish towards Iris, whom she figures out is the creator of the Paladins; make her brother a Paladin too

All of Taro's suffering was due to him being outcasted by the Paladins, but losing his sister to being a Paladin.

Iris learns an important lesson; Paladins shouldn't have hueman siblings. Not only does Paladin-bullshit hurt the Paladins' mental psyche, but also puts innocent huemans in danger, which isn't what Iris wants.

And so, Iris grants that wish; she gathers the power to make ONE more Paladin-creature, an "Indigo Paladin", shifting Taro's purple hue into indigo.

In living life as a Paladin, Taro (Now "Tarum" and going by they/he) is grateful for Prima's wish... and after the first century is over, Iris and Prima entrust them with the Violet Paladins' soul; the mysterious energy Prima absorbed so long ago

Grateful for the opportunity they've been given, Tarum decides to honor their twin sister in every way they can, especially by mentoring the future Paladins he comes across.

Tarum also:

1.) Learns witchcraft and herbal medicine, which were things Prima learned from being a Violet Paladin

2.) Archives as much information about the Paladins and the former guardian (Violetta) as he can, honoring Prima's quest for knowledge and truth during her reign as Violet Paladin

3.) Using their newfound Indigo-Intuition (no, literally. The Indigo Paladin virtue is Intuition) to gain insight into the Paladins; how they work, who they are, what they generally look like, in hopes to help reunite future Paladins together by recognizing which huemans ARE Paladins and how to handle each Paladins' specific personality

4.) Spoiler territory but Tarum also has something to do with Amethyst's lore and arc because of the ways they honor Prima

And so, that brings Tarum to modern era, with the Violis Village developing into Neocity, a bustling urban environment centered around tournament fighting as the SUL universe's equivalent to California's Hollywood/Los Angeles (i,,, did Not know Hollywood is just a neighborhood in LA but uh yeah you get the Vibe)

And for 1900 years of his existence, Tarum has always mentored the Paladins and strove for their safety :] <3 Now, he's entrusted with the 20th generation of Paladins; Ruby's generation!

And anyway, lastly, here's some general info about Tarum to round things off lmao bc all their cool shit will be in SUL's main storyline which I don't talk too much about due to spoilers

- Tarum I swear should be about 1900 years old in terms of his immortality, but biologically he's about 24-25. So, mentally older than Jay and Amethyst lmao

- Yes becoming an Indigo Paladin made him realize they're nonbinary (I definitely wanted to make the Guardian of the Paladins nonbinary so this helps in differentiating him from Nox Rainbowflare, who'll remain a boy) ((emphasis on "boy" bc Nox is 17 at /max/ lol))

- He's aroace! Prima was pan/pan and it took until later for Tarum to find a word for it

- Obviously no voice actors are solid OR involved with SUL right now, but my friend @/ravenwolfie97 suggested Cyno from Genshin Impact as his voice claim. I'd say it fits! :D

- Both Taro and Prima had fire elements, but as a Paladin, Tarum has "Witchfire" as his Paladin-power! The real life equivalent would be St Elmo's Fire or corona discharge

- He also gains a weapon made of light he can summon from their soul! It's specifically a "spetum" :] (you can see it on the character art from above lol)

- As a Paladin, they still need to eat and consider themselves vegan, since Paladins need to absorb light energy from plant material. Their favorite foods are blueberries and taro boba tea... though Paladins can also eat flowers too so their favorite would be baptisias (wild indigo). Funnily enough, they can't eat any green plants, because lime green is their complementary color and complementary colors hurt Paladins lmao

- Their general vibe is "slightly older but head of the pack; he guards and protects the team" and "soft strong protector" (thanks to my buddy 💜 for pinpointing their vibes immediately lmao). Since he was a soldier in the Era of Conquest he does still carry a warrior's drive, this time to protect the Paladins.

- They’re very stoic/resting bitch faced but very softhearted, especially during SUL's modern era where they've had 1900 years to develop healthy coping mechanisms lol

- Tigerlily the 16th is still canon. This means Tarum has had an emotional support orange cat for 16 centuries. He names them all Tigerlily. He's literally an Ancient Roman soldier but he's still enamored with pets.

- He feels incredibly bad about being a dick to Azure 1900 years ago though BQIFHJWJF he tries to be nice to all future blue spectrum Paladins,

- They’re technically the youngest Paladin and the oldest Paladin; biologically older than the rest but chronologically younger than even the Pink Paladin

- When they're not being Guardian, they're Mayor of Neocity! I'm wondering if I should change that title to "Princeps" or "Consul" considering his Ancient Roman origins lol

So yeah, Tarum is my newest OC! They're a revamped version of Lavender’s role but because of how much less restricting his character feels, I'm having a blast imagining their dynamic with the Paladins :]

[astrobei]

what are your favorite tv shows?

ANON OMFG u do not even know the floodgates u just unleashed w this ask (im assuming st is a given) so settle back grab some popcorn and get Ready for some Rambling 💃 in no particular order (bc they’re all so good and i can’t choose):

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE!! omfg i could talk for hours and hours and hours abt this show (and i have) but EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS SO !! the storyline is so well thought out, like from the very first episode everything is set up Perfectly. and i looove a good character-driven show, and the way this show is split up w episodes for each character and how everything comes together in the end,, oh my god. like EVERYTHING ABT IT and iconic episodes 6 and 7 right after one another BROKE ME i swear i would give anything to go back and watch it for the first time again. i love how it’s a subversion on a typical haunted house story and the reveal at the end literally rewired my brain in a way that NOTHING ELSE EVER HAS !! in my top 3 shows of all time probably bc the perfect mixture of horror and drama and mystery and emotional catharsis is unmatched, the storytelling and cinematography and that One Rly Good Jumpscare (iykyk) anyways . before i give any spoilers for ppl who haven’t watched it please do urself the biggest favor of ur life and GO WATCH IT RN

new girl is and always will be my #1 comfort show. like there’s nothing even more i have to say, but i can’t recall a single bad episode in this entire show. i have it on in the background for EVERYTHING like doing dishes, cleaning my room, cooking, getting ready. it’s so fucking funny and honestly so so so iconic, zooey deschanel was BORN to play this role. like it’s cast so perfectly, the humor is spot on and has the best timing, the characters r so chefs kiss and AHHH idk idk what else to say it’s just so unmatched in this category for me i just (YELLS)

ATTACK ON TITAN !! OMG this is definitely also in my top 3 shows! i remember watching the first season back in 2015 when it came out and i think it got continued (the show not the manga) a couple years ago so i got back into it, but i didn’t finish the whole thing until last winter and WOW. let me just tell u i think this is one of the most incredible shows of all time, EVER. the way that the entire entire entire story was planned out from the very first episode (also i haven’t read the manga so just know i’m talking abt things in terms of the show!) is so astounding bc it took so many years and has like 4 seasons so just knowing the creator was that thorough from the beginning is SOOOO !!! like i rewatched it over the summer and there’s stuff in the FIRST EPISODE that correlates to stuff in the last season, which was made like a full 7 years later?? and it’s just so cool watching the storyline of the show come together, different characters and their roles changing (jean solos everyone fr), some of the best redemption arcs/if not The best vs. the best villain arc i’ve Ever seen, how there’s so many plot twists but none are tacky! and the worldbuilding is INSANE!! like ik this is probably the most basic of animes to be into bc i haven’t rly gotten into many others but it’s popular for good reason and deserves every bit of its hype fr . like there’s this 2/3 episode arc in season 3 that is just . like actually unparalleled by any other show for me (except for maybe ep6/7 of hill house hehe) ANYWAYS if u haven’t watched it . do it now NOWWWWWWWWWW NOW!!

those r all the shows that immediately came to mind and i already blabbed abt them Way Too Much so i will stop there! but if anyone does have more anime recs i’ve been meaning to watch some more so pls drop them!

[maybeamiles]

Okay so you know how I said I was gonna do some worldbuilding? Well HERE IT IS. A very rough version of the founding myth of Illios (aka the nation where my story takes place). If you want some author's notes they're below the cut.

The archipelago of Illios is an unusual formation. Shaped like a crescent moon and surrounded on all sides by much larger powers, two of its three largest cities lie at the ends of each point of the crescent. It is said that long ago, before the mythical flooding of the (name) sea, the region was the tallest of a set of impassable mountains. Then a seafaring people driven from their homeland settled there, and became the people of Illios we know today. 

Of the many myths that tell of the nation’s history, perhaps none is more important than the tale of its founder, King (whathisname). It is said that when he was a child, he slew a great mountain lion that had wandered into his home village. He grew to become the leader of his home village, and half the children born in the village had to seek spouses outside their hometowns because of the risk of inbreeding caused by his promiscuity. 

His village grew to great renown and prosperity under his rule. It is said that he was the first to encourage Illios’ seafaring trades, and when his youngest daughter was set to be married, he called all the neighboring kings to his city. The young girl was an unparalleled beauty, with eyes and hair that matched the gold her father had amassed. She was believed to be the most beautiful girl in the world.

As the neighboring kings began to argue and bicker, saying that their sons deserved to marry the princess, offering gold and jewels as bribes and promising their undying loyalty should they be the object of her father’s favor. But when one young man was found murdered, things took a turn for the worse. 

To keep the peace, the king made every man swear a blood oath. His daughter would choose her husband from among the men, and if anyone ever took her from her chosen beau, the others would come to her father’s aid to retrieve the girl. And of course, a king from another island kidnapped her. 

The war raged for years, until the king had conquered every last piece of the islands that now make up the nation of Illios. He instated himself as its high king, and his rule brought about a new age of prosperity for the people of the land. Many tales are told of his conquest, and it is said that, at the end of his life, he ascended to godhood. 

Of course, historians believe that the man was far more complicated than the myths suggest, but you will find in Illios that the royal family tends to have children with golden hair or golden eyes, and throughout the country, children born with those features will often be said to be descendants of the old king, and blessed with carrying the nation’s future. As for what the king himself would think of his country? Who’s to say?

More wip-notes below the cut.

Okay so I'm tempted to name this guy Priam, cause he's inspired by both Priam (with his MANY kids) and agamemnon (with the whole conquering thing). But also ehhh I've got too many troy references already and at this point it's starting to feel a bit disrespectful. Like I am a thief and I like stealing names from pre-existing things for my own worldbuilding but everything I engage with that does steal is a bit more tasteful about it than I am. So I want to work on that.

The concept of ascension is something I just dreamed up recently, and I wanted to come up with a myth that might be told about the founding of the nation most of the story takes place in. I might have some time to explore what this King was actually like, what his motives might've been, and what he thinks of his country now. Playing into a rough concept of gods walking invisibly among their people. I'm also NOT a mythology person or a historian, or a religious studies scholar, or anything else like that, so a lot of this is like, my personal philosophy + what tickles my brain + what I get from reading things in my spare time.

Lots of stuff might change so I don't mind posting this before the story actually releases cause it's not really spoilers at all.

Also gold and divinity are gonna be HEAVILY associated in this story cause I think it's really fucking pretty, so yeah. That's a thing. Enjoy.