#the master post of alternate history fiction

[the-sassy-composer]

Really tired of streaming services making absolute banger animated TV shows for adults, never advertising them, then canceling then because no one watches them, so I'm taking it upon myself to share some of the ones I've watched recently with the hope other people will hear about them for the first time and give them a shot.

---

Blue Eye Samurai

"A master of the sword lives life in disguise while seeking revenge in Edo-period Japan."

Probably one of my favorite animated shows of all time. Mizu, arguably one of the best sword masters in this time period, goes on a quest to eliminate four white men living in Japan, one of which is Mizu's father. The show focuses heavily on how factors outside of your control, such as race and gender, impact how others view you and how you view yourself.

Watch if you are a fan of: Complicated characters/relationships, revenge quests, gore, complicated relationships with gender and race, and absolute badass characters.

Where to Watch: Netflix

Undone

"After 28-year-old Alma nearly dies in a car accident, she finds that she has a new relationship with time; she develops this newfound relationship to find out the truth about her father's death."

Undone focuses on difficult relationships with family, including how your parents can have profound effects on you even after they're gone, and how to deal with grief. That, plus the added chaos of being able to travel through time.

Watch if you are a fan of: character studies, shows dealing with grief, time travel, trying to rewrite fate.

Where to watch: Prime

Scavengers Reign

"The crew of a damaged deep space freighter are stranded on a beautiful but dangerous planet."

A mix between sci-fi and horror, this show focuses on the crew of a crashed spaceship. Each (living) crew member of the ship escaped in pods, scattering them across the planet. They must fight to survive and make their way back to their ship on a planet featuring some of the most fucked up creatures I've ever seen.

Watch if you like: sci-fi, isolationist horror, body horror, creature features

Where to watch: At the moment, Max. As of May 31st, Netflix. Max canceled the show (even though it has a 100% rating 🙃). Netflix may make a season 2 depending on how many people watch it in the first few weeks after it comes to Netflix.

Harley Quinn

"The newly single Harley Quinn sets off to make it on her own as the criminal queenpin in Gotham City."

Honestly I was feeling a bit burnt out on super hero shows, but this one felt like a breath of fresh air. It follows Harley as steps out from the shadow of the Joker, no longer being one of his henchmen and struggling to find her identity as a single, independent villain.

Watch if you like: Superhero/villain shows, stories that focus on blurred lines instead of a clear distinction between good and evil.

Where to Watch: Max

Primal

"At the dawn of evolution, a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction bond over unfortunate tragedies and become each other's only hope of survival in a treacherous world."

This show is super unique in that there's basically no dialogue, but it still finds a way to display an absolutely gutwrenching relationship between two parents of different species going through shared grief.

Watch if you like: Brutality, heavily visual story telling, prehistoric stories, and tales of overcoming.

Where to Watch: Hulu

Love Death and Robots

"This collection of animated short stories spans several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror and comedy. World-class animation creators bring captivating stories to life in the form of a unique and visceral viewing experience. The animated anthology series includes tales that explore alternate histories, life for robots in a post-apocalyptic city and a plot for world domination by super-intelligent yogurt."

I love this show because you never have any clue what to expect. A siren living in a river falling for a deaf knight? An artist painting intergalactic art pieces? Three robots going on a field trip through the apocalypse to visit old human historical sites? You never know, but there's going to be love, death, and/or robots in it. Each episode varies wildly, so I'd recommend watching at least a few to get a taste for it, as some will resonate more strongly than others.

---

I'm sure there are lots more excellent animated shows, but these are all the ones I've watched in the past year or so. I'd love to see more recs in the tags, because I'm always down to watch more cool animations!

[writingquestionsanswered]

So I'm writing historical fiction, set in Medieval Eastern Rome. My problem is that most characters share the same few names. Even family names and titles lack diversity. I can't really change them, since they are historical, so it gets very confusing when you have 5 characters named Alexios, 2 of which share a family name and title. How do I deal with this?

Characters with Same Name in Historical Fiction

So, here's where a few things are going to come in handy...

1 - The "Fiction" part of "historical fiction." - Since you're not writing non-fiction, you have the abilities to take liberties for the sake of the story you're trying to tell, which includes the purpose of clarity.

2 - Understanding naming conventions - Every language and culture have their own conventions surrounding given names, nicknames, clan names, diminutives, and patronymics... so it's important to understand how these worked in the time and setting of your historical fiction. Because even if we know a historical person as Phineas Smythe, that doesn't mean he was known that way back in the day. He might instead have been known as Phineas Smythson.

3 - Understanding Anglicization - This is another one that can play a big role, because (for example) Phineas is the Anglicized version of Phinehas, so maybe back in the day, he was known not as Phineas Smythe as we know him, but as Phinehas Smythson.

All of this is important to know because it can help you come up with ways of differentiating same-named characters without completely renaming them. So, let's say for example your story spans a century, and you have two Phineas Smythes... a grandfather and his grandson. If you dig into the naming conventions and find that the older Phineas Smythe actually went by Phinehas Smythson, that immediately differentiates the two characters. Alternatively, you might learn that a common diminutive in the older Phineas's time and place was to add the affix "-ian" to a male name. So he could have gone by Phinian Smythe while his grandson just goes by Phineas Smythe.

Nicknames in general can be a handy way of differentiating two same-named historical characters, even if you have to take liberties to get there. Maybe the older Phineas Smythe went by Finny. Or maybe he was called "Bear" because of his bear-like size. Or, maybe he didn't but you say he was for the sake of clarity.

When you're not dealing with different generations, another option is to combine people. For example, maybe you have two Phineas Smythes who are minor courtiers of the king, but one Phineas has a bigger role in the story. Can you just combine them into one person instead of having two? Again, because this is historical fiction, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate... it's not non-fiction. You want to be as accurate as possible, and make sure your changes don't change things too much or completely garble someone's understanding of an historical event. But, ultimately, you're writing fiction based on history so you need to prioritize clarity over fact.

I hope something here will help you clarify between these same named characters. ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[clairelsonao3]

Blog and WIP Intro

Hi, I'm Claire. I'm an adult woman and professional writer of many things, but my first love (and my MFA degree) is fiction, which I've been writing for quite some time.

My writing

I discovered the whump community in early 2023, and although my work isn't strictly or exclusively whump, I'm happily discovering a lot of writers and readers who share my tastes here. That said, this is not a whump-exclusive blog.

I enjoy almost any genre if it's well-written, especially romance, historical fiction, and mysteries/thrillers. These days, you'll primarily find me writing contemporary romance (set either in our universe or an alternate version of it) with whump, humor, and probably some thrills mixed in.

I now have a detailed intro post about my writing and the elements, whumpy and otherwise, you're likely to find in it, as well as the kinds of things I like to read. It's a living document and subject to change!

WIPs

At the moment, I have two main WIPs I'll be discussing/referencing on this blog. Click on the title for the WIP intro pages!

Good Slaves Never Break the Rules

An adult, NSFW, whumpy, alternate-history slavery forbidden romance that I'm posting in installments on Ao3.

Short Summary: A naive girl from a rich but disintegrating family determined to finish university and make it on her own. A gifted and charming slave who will do anything and use anyone to find his missing sister.

In a modern world where slavery is institutionalized, they're forbidden from touching or even looking at each other. But when her father buys him and assigns him as her chemistry tutor, it's only a matter of time before they collide -- and maybe just light their entire world on fire.

Note:

No abuse or noncon takes place between the MCs in this story. In fact, I like to think of this as a slavefic that has much more in common with mainstream romance than it does with most slavefics you might have come across. (In other words, it's a slavefic for people who think they don't like slavefic.)

WIP Intro

Do stories about slavery make you uncomfortable?

Me, too -- they're supposed to. Here's a great explanation of why writers like me are drawn to the topic, exactly what slavefic is, and what it is not. If you're at all curious (or if you're thinking of sending me a nasty anon), I highly recommend giving it a read.

The Adored

A young adult, whumpy, romantic thriller, currently on hiatus from agent submissions as I revise.

Short Summary: When an up-and-coming teen rock star falls off a yacht and drowns right before his first album drops, his bandmate (still mourning her hopeless crush) suspects his spoiled girlfriend and/or his charismatic young manager of murder. And she's determined to prove it no matter the cost.

WIP Intro

Untitled Silly Prison Whump Non-Story

A sweet, clever, naive 18-year-old guy from a respectable background falls on hard times, gets roped into helping with what he thinks is a nonviolent art heist, fucked over by the rest of the gang, and gets sentenced to 10 years in a totally cartoonish, unrealistic, hard-labor-galore prison. He unsurprisingly has a very bad time of it until the warden asks him to be his assistant, at which point it gets better ... or does it? I wrote this purely to entertain myself (but then again that's how GSNBTR started, too). I'm posting it on another site where I don't know anyone because I'm too embarrassed to post it here, but parts of it have found their way over to Tumblr. Maybe more will, too, someday.

Whumptober 2023

These stories are technically prequels to GSNBTR, but they both stand alone!

From the Moment I Could Talk, I Was Ordered to Listen (Whumptober Day 26)

A renowned professor of chemical physics visits a discount slave auction, looking for something very specific. But what he finds there is not quite what he had in mind.

With a Guarantee of Company (Whumptober Day 30)

A slave girl is caught in a compromising position with her master's daughter's crush and is forced to pay the price for it.

What you'll find on this blog

Posts about my writing and others' writing, both whumpy and otherwise. Tags and asks (I try to get to all of them eventually!) Posts and reblogs with prompts, memes, etc. about whumpy writing and general writing.

Other Writing

I have four complete novels, some of which have been published under pseudonyms (which, for various uninteresting reasons, I won't be discussing or linking to on this blog).

Audience

For now, my writing will be hosted (except for perhaps some very occasional bonus content) exclusively on Ao3 (hence the username) since I started over there, and prefer not to split my audience. This may change in the future, however.

Although my ongoing WIP on Ao3 is NSFW and intended only for ages 18 and over, this blog should be generally SFW. Anything that's not, I'll strive to tag and put under a cut. That said, just in case, I'm trying to avoid knowingly following or interacting with minors and I don't encourage them to follow me.

I'm trying very hard to stay away from posting anything real-world controversial or political, but sometimes I can't help myself, sorry!

My inbox is always open to comments and questions! I love tag games, though sometimes I develop quite a backlog. Basically, I welcome any kind of positive interaction. After all, that's what I'm here for!

Tags

GSNBTR | | wip: the adored | my writing | your writing | ask game | tag game | clairels teaches writing | asked and answered |

Sideblog(s):

tropium-addict: A repository for Tumblr fiction I either have read or want to read.

season-of-trope: Memes, quotes, mental health, opinions on things political and otherwise, personal development, pretty pictures ... everything else, really.

[likealittleheartbeat]

Welcome. Collected a lot of my original writing below for those interested. The longest is 12 pages on a word doc. The shortest is two sentences. Most are 3-5 paragraphs. Enjoy.

ATLA Meta

Zuko & Aang The Queer Platonic Love of Aang & Zuko (the longest meta I've written)

Aang's Traumatic Processing

What Do Aang and Zuko 'Understand' w/ the Firebending Masters?

The Theme of Emotional Isolation

On Fandom's Resistance to Zukaang

'A New Drive:' Desire vs. Connection and Zuko's Inner Fire

Touch: Zuko and Aang Don't Construct Intricate Rituals

Aang, Self-Hatred, & The Blue Light of Compassion

Jeong-Jeong's Wisdom: The Pain of Fire

The Negative Capability of the Blue Spirit

Contextualizing Ozai's 'Abuse'

Zuko's Interest in Spiritual Practices

The Avatar and the Firelord: Reincarnation for Zuko & Aang

Are the Firebending Masters Heart-Shaped and Why Does It Matter?

Aang Ran Away (A Response to NATLA)

Post-Colonial Feminisms The Impact of Yue's Sacrifice on Katara

The Girl in the Iceberg: Katara's Winning Move w/ Azula

Ophelia and Katara: Women of Waters

The Implications of an Unconsensual Kiss in Emerald Island Players

Katara as an Indigenous Female Storyteller

Kyoshi and Pacifism

Resisting Romanticism in ATLA

ATLA Resists the Pocahontas Complex, but You Don't Have To

Symbolizing Colonial Rape in ATLA

Context: History & Fiction Sokka & Wan Shi Tong: The Limits of 'The Archive'

Aang's Coming-of-Age: On Rites and Community

Atomic Bombs in ATLA: The Avatar State & Sozin's Comet

Aang's Not the Fictional Orphan We're Used To

Do These Characters Need Therapy?

ATLA's Trope Subversion

A Quick Note: On Bryke and Privileged Creators

Skin & Race in ATLA

An Indigenous Deus Ex Machina

Japan, Monarchies, and Resistance to Euro-American Imperialism

Zero Relationships Are Made Stronger Through Conflict in ATLA

A Follow-up to 'Zero Relationships': Reciprocal Relationships in Times of Oppression

ATLA's references to animated works on Imperialism

The Iceberg as a Novel Visual Icon of Survival

Visual vs. Oral Cultures in the Water Tribes

How Guru Pathik's Voice Actor, Brian George Embodies the Themes of ATLA

Aang as Hamlet

Buddhisms and Spiritualities in ATLA On Defending Aang's Character

Avatar Alone: On Solitude in ATLA

The Block of Ice and the Crystal Palace

Breath, Air, and Abrahamic Connections in ATLA

The Gaang, Not A Found Family, But a Sangha

Queer Readings The Masculine Shift in Gay Coding

Queer Rep vs. Queer Themes

Alternatives to Queer Metronormativity in ATLA Tags To Browse My Blog With:

#atla meta, #buddhism, #colonialism, #imperialism, #indigenous, #queer history, #the world is wide (cultural diversity), #history is long (historical connections), #platonic love #likealittleheartbeatrecommends (for works with similar themes to atla), #fanart, and of course #zukaang

Fanfics (of the zukaang variety): Warning Sign: (modern au, 2 chapters, completed); The Gleaners:  (modern high school au, one-shot) Water:  (post-series, 19 chapters, completed) Fluff Fanfics Can Get It: (modern college au, WIP) What Is It Like to Be Full of Lightning?: (missing scene oneshot) The Strength of My Self-Discipline:  (missing scene, rated M, one-shot) False Pretender: (post-series, rated M, one-shot)

Ficlets: “I will seek your light, Aang”

“It’s not that Aang wouldn’t confide his feelings.”

“Right, friend.”

“I know you know this isn’t working”

“The True Blue Spirit”

“In the velvety night, a spark burst”

“If you walk down the spiral staircase”

"I give my secrets to Appa"

“So this is what peace sounds like”

“We didn’t have this whole idea of love back then”

"Zuko finished reading Aang's manuscript"

[synthetic-ultramarine]

Ten Book Reviews

To celebrate the new year I thought I'd do some short book reviews! This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything I read in 2023; I decided to focus on fiction rather than non-fiction for this post, and I slowly trimmed down my list of books to focus on the ones that gave me the most to talk about.

Books I Liked:

Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer There's so much to be said about these books, they really deserve their own post. This series is so characterful, so atmospheric, and so masterful in its use of suspense, dread, and tragedy. Lives up to the hype 100%.

Devil House by John Darnielle John Darnielle reads his own audiobooks, and he's good at it. This book follows a true crime writer as he confronts the consequences of framing people's lives as narratives. It's about haunted places. It's about the often-forgotten potential for cruelty in the storytelling impulse. But most of all it's about the thesis that it's self-defense for a squatter to kill a landlord with a sword. If you like this, Universal Harvester is also good.

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton I think someone should do an adaptation of this that takes place on tumblr.

Til We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis In this book, C. S. Lewis writes about a woman's struggle against god- no, wait, where are you going, come back! It's a take on the Cupid and Psyche myth from the perspective of the jealous sister, here reimagined as a genuinely concerned sister. Vivid imagery, beautiful prose, and a meditation on the relationship between the human and the divine that I still found interesting as a homosexual apostate. There's some fascinating stuff about the androgyny of God in here. Yes, for real. From Clive Staples Lewis.

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente This book is overstuffed with concept. It's set in an alternate 20th century where the empires of earth have settled the nine planets, and it's about the film industry, which is based on the moon because the united states never colonized california. The story is a collection of ephemera - interviews, ship manifests, tabloid columns, clips of damaged film - relating to the disappearance of a renowned filmmaker who vanished while working on an infamous lost documentary. Also, space whaling. It's about that as well. Every time I try to describe how I feel about Valente's writing style it comes out sounding like one of those weird perfume reviews. I'll just say I found the prose overwrought at times, but ultimately I'm glad kept reading. The book is packed with mythological references, and while some are quite effective, there are also some that don't really do anything. There's a lot of genre-hopping; the noir sequences chafe against the style of the prose a bit, but the cosmic horror scenes are chilling. What is really good about this book is how thoroughly everything in the alternate-history setting is thought through. It talks about how the long day-night cycle of Venus affects the work of a film lighting technician. It talks about French colonies on Neptune losing radio contact with Paris as the earth passes behind the sun. It confronts the idea of Venus and Mars and Pluto as terra nullius, even though that's a concept some people seem to prefer not to critique. I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. If you like Nope, Dark City, or Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, you should read this.

Finna by Nino Cipri Weird, fun novella about two exes who still love each other, wandering through a maze of alternate universes for minimum wage. Portal-esque corporate satire, snappy pacing, and a compelling central relationship. So good.

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon A beautifully written story about body horror, giant robots, gay sex, religion, mortality, and tenderness. The worldbuilding is intricate, sprawling, and sometimes ambiguous. The relationship between the main character and the love interest is far from the Standard Romance Subplot Structure, it's fresh and very compelling. The in-universe sacred poetry that shows up throughout the book is also very good. I have it on hold at the library for a reread. This book is tragically underrated because they're marketing it to the wrong audience. It's more cronenberg than canva cover. Tor should be selling this to the Annihilation weirdos, not the Red White & Royal Blue crowd. People go into it with the wrong set of genre expectations and then don't know how to react. I'm here to set the record straight: The Archive Undying rules and you should read it. I especially recommend this book to Friends at the Table listeners, since the author is One Of Us and the show is a notable influence.

Books I Didn't Like:

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty The setup to this book is very compelling: 6 people lived a happy life together, isolated on a spacecraft for decades, until they were all violently killed. New copies of their younger selves wake up in the ship's cloning facility with no memory of last 60 years. One of their future-past selves was a murderer, and the killer's clone inherits their legal culpability. While the high-concept murder mystery is a great idea, the future politics are profoundly unimpressive, and sadly by the end of the book the latter has entirely subsumed the former. There keep being these flashback scenes about cloning politics back on earth - not only are these very politically shallow, they also kill the claustrophobic ship-in-a-bottle atmosphere of a good fucked up space scenario. As an example of the shallow politics: "all major religions" are stated to be intolerant towards clones. Apparently all the sects and denominations of All The Religions are just doing the same thing, as if they are interchangeable with each other. And then there are The Riots, which are portrayed as a political misstep, too disruptive, too loud. And then of course we have the NYC real estate billionaire villain. Florals? For spring? It's beyond me why a locked-room murder mystery would even need a villain who wasn't in the room. There's also a hacking scene I found so absurd that it nearly made me return the book unfinished. Disappointing.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman Yeah, that's right, I'm gonna talk shit about Neil Gaiman on tumblr. You think you can scare me. old man?! I can't be silenced! Anyway, remember the Sexy Lamp Test? This is the worst failure of the Sexy Lamp Test I've ever seen. The girlfriend that the guy in this book is fighting with his brother over could be replaced by a nice car the brother took for a joyride, and the plot wouldn't change. At least with a car there wouldn't be consent issues.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey In the real-life 20th century, there was a proposal by the U.S. government to introduce the hippopotamus to North America as a meat animal. Thankfully, it was scrapped. This alt-history western asks: what would the world look like if they went through with it? It's an intriguingly bizarre premise. Unfortunately, when I made that "your story should have scenes that aren't bioware cutscenes or tvtropes pages" post, this book was one of the reasons why. The dialogue and characters are nothing to write home about, and the plot is just rote. Here we are in a bar fight. Now we are planning the heist. Now we are remembering the tragic backstory. Now the antagonist has double crossed us. The hippos are involved in the plot, but they don't drive the plot in any way that depends on their being hippos. They only really differ from horses aesthetically. The thing that really bothers me about this book, though, is that this story clearly wants to be a modern, progressive take on the western genre, with a queer cast and all, but it doesn't give a single thought to the existence of native americans. There are no native main characters or side characters. Despite being a story about the radically destructive transformation of the north american ecosystem by the settler state, there is not even a single throwaway "the Choctaw are not pleased with the feral hippopotamus situation" line. Radiance gives more thought to the status of native american society in its alternate history than River of Teeth, and Radiance takes place entirely in outer space. Come on now.

[gealach-in-a-misty-world]

1888. Five years after they met in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama. Thaniel's brief is odd: the legation staff have been seeing ghosts, and Thaniel's first task is to find out what's really going on. But while staying with Mori, he starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons Mori won't--or can't--share, he is frightened. Then he vanishes. Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labor camp in Northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori's, must investigate. As the weather turns bizarrely electrical and ghosts haunt the country from Tokyo to Aokigahara forest, Thaniel grows convinced that it all has something to do with Mori's disappearance--and that Mori may be in serious danger.

"Grace is not a thing you performed, but a weight you carried".

Natasha Pulley's The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is the stunning conclusion to the duology that began with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. The journey of Thaniel and Mori, together with their adoptive daughter, reaches new highs and lows as we learn more about Mori, his morality and the lengths he's willing to go to to protect who he loves.

Mori is such an intriguing character because in another book, he could easily be a villain (in fact, some characters think he is). But we see him through Thaniel's loving eyes, we see his vulnerabilities and strengths, and we can't help but be completely enamored with him, with his quiet strength and his resolve. His are the lines that make us dissolve into a sobbing mess, his the trials and tribulations, in the pursuit of something he eventually can't even remember.

Thaniel gets a much needed depth too, and it's fascinating to see how he navigates his relationship with Mori, with the orphan Six, and with the new character Pepperharrow, a tragic and compelling figure. All the new characters felt alive and believable, with complex motivations of their own, and I was delighted to even find some old faces from the first book.

This sequel was so much better, both in composition and pacing. The prose was of course lovely already in the first book, but the author has such graceful writing, like a warm hug even in the direst circumstances. I loved that we got some more information about how Mori's clairvoyance works, and the ether, and glimpses of this alternate history. I especially loved the change in setting, with the author taking us to Japan and demonstrating a deft hand in painting the country through the eyes of a stranger. I enjoyed her choices in terms of dialogue and her note about it at the end.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is a masterful conclusion to a lovely duology.

✨ 5 stars

.

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* The Kingdoms, by Natasha Pulley

for: memory, time

[You can find more of my reviews about queer speculative fiction on my blog MISTY WORLD]

[goshdangronpa]

"Screw it, Danganronpa Vampire AU" pt. 1 (Trigger Happy Havoc)

So, Danganronpa is my favorite video game series. My favorite book series is Anno Dracula, an alternate timeline created by Kim Newman in which Bram Stoker's Count not only survives the events of the novel, but becomes king of England and reveals the existence of vampires to the world. Newman's books explore the ramifications across world history, with real figures (Queen Victoria, the Red Baron, Winston Churchill) and even characters crossing over from other fictions (Inspector Lestrade, James Bond) being vampires thenselves.

Rereading the terrific first book naturally got my mind mixing these two fixations. How might Danganronpa's characters be different in an AU where turning isn't unusual and many vampires live alongside, and sometimes in tension with, the "warm"? I'm gonna write a few posts, starting with the cast of Trigger Happy Havoc

Aoi Asahina: swimming is hardly a problem for vampires, who don't need to hold their breath. It's all the more impressive that a warm girl like Aoi can beat them in races, winning her an Ultimate slot. She'll never turn - she loves the flavor of high-calorie snacks too much to settle for an all-blood diet.

Byakuya Togami: warm for now - he believes vampirism is the natural choice for supreme human beings like himself, but he'd rather not be a teen for the rest of his life. Unfortunately for him, that means Genocide Jack can still drink his blood, and Toko can simultaneously live out a vampire master/human servant fantasy. Proof that the warm can be just as cold as the dead.

Celestia Ludenberg: claims to be a vampire of Countess Elizabeth Bathory's bloodline, but isn't even a vampire. She sure wants to be, though, and fantasizes just as much as her normal DR version about living in a castle with a harem of vampire boys.

Chihiro Fujisaki: warm, yet a firm believer in vampire supremacy. Even in regular DR, she believes there are two types of people in this dog-eat-dog world: the strong and the weak. She wants Mondo to turn her so she can be among the strong. Something odd happens in her murder, causing her spirit to wander the school before settling in a laptop. From inside the computer, she manually codes a presentation of herself - not AI, but the two Chihiro.

Hifumi Yamada: honestly, he probably wouldn't be that different. I do like the idea of him becoming Celestia's drudge, manipulated into believing he must serve her even though she doesn't have any vampire powers to actually enchant him like that.

Junko Enoshima: the rare vampire who shows up on film, but her true nature is a well-kept secret. In this version of THH, it really is Junko who gets impaled on the Spears of Gungnir (sorry, Mukuro fans). However, she designed them to miss her chest and heart. She spends the rest of the game recovering with supernatural healing, fueled by feeding off the blood of victims and executed blackeneds. More dangerous still, she's an energy vampire who feeds on other people's despair. If ever Dracula had an heir, it was her.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru: despite his father turning vampire as a means of advancing his political career, he remains warm. His friendship with Mondo challenges his negative bias against vampires. "Ishimondo" remains as bizarre and inexplicable as in the game - he's no longer fully warm, though a gross attempt at drinking blood suggests he didn't somehow become fully a vampire either.

Kyoko Kirigiri: tell me this girl wouldn't be a vampire. She refuses to share her turning experience, which may have something to do with her perpetually gloved hands. Her nature enhances her perception of small details, an asset to her detective work. However, the transactional nature of vampirism strongly influences her worldview, making her sensitive when she feels like others aren't giving her as much as she's giving them.

Leon Kuwata: another character who likely wouldn't be too different. In besting and slaying Sayaka, he'd mainly serve in the narrative to prove that the warm can be just as physically powerful and lethally dangerous as vampires.

Makoto Naegi: warm and perfectly ordinary as ever. He's a little nervous around vampires, having not met many before. He warms up to them as he gets to know them, especially Kyoko, who gives much of her blood to him after he nearly dies in his botched execution. His first time in a bloodgiving interaction gives him the power and vitality to defeat the mastermind, and his spreading of hope to his peers deprives Junko of the despair that gives her such great power. If Junko is Dracula, Makoto is the sun.

Mondo Owada: turned vampire so he could be even gnarlier and stronger, though his brother Daiya chose to remain warm. He became reckless like so many young vampires and would've been killed once had Daiya not sacrificed himself for him. He tries to give Chihiro what she wants, but her twisted views of vampiric masculinity unintentionally hit him where it hurts. The resulting mental break makes him lose control of his feeding, draining her to death.

Sakura Ogami: fully warm. Even with their enhanced strength, all but the fiercest elders would fall in battle with her, more than earning her the title of Ultimate Martial Artist. Jealous rivals speculate that she allows vampires to feed on her so some of their power can transfer to her in the process.

Sayaka Maizono: turning vampire was one of the many choices she felt compelled to make for the sake of her music career. If she can't age, she can be a teen idol forever. This version really is an esper. A silver knife to the chest kills her just as good as in the game.

Toko Fukawa: her split identity was always too cartoony to really fit any real condition or disorder. Here, she's a halfa, Blade-style, compartmentalizing her human and vampire sides into Toko and Genocide Jack. Of course it's not healthy, as Jack tends to kill those she feeds on (cute boys are her preference). Even that changes when she meets a certain girl in Towa City ...

Yasuhiro Hagakure: warm, but a Hope's Peak research team infused him as a child with the blood of multiple psychic vampires until he became a greater psychic than all of them. Otherwise as chipper and unserious as ever.

And Monokuma can be a little bat. Monokomori.

[serpercival]

Serpercival Writes Fic Masterlist

Find my AO3 here! The Fox!Trap AU Kiss meme ficlets

Doctor Who

Third Doctor

The Conspicuous Lack of a Retirement Party - Genfic The Silurians episode tag

Fourth Doctor

While There's Life - Implied Four/Delgado Master Jo Grant, Delgado!Master

Pandering to Curiosity - Four/Harry Harry grapples with what exactly his feelings for the Doctor are

Sixth Doctor

A Science-Fictionalized History of the War in Korea - Multiple ships Sixth Doctor, Harry Sullivan, Sarah Jane Smith A S1-3 (plus special guests) MASH crossover ONGOING Episode Two - Silver Heart

Tenth Doctor

In the Latter Half of the 20th Century - Genfic Blink alternate take where Martha and the Doctor visit Ian and Barbara

Twelfth Doctor

Whatever Happened in Aberdeen? - Genfic Twelve picks up Sarah after Four drops her off

Former and Future Housemates - Genfic Harry (Knock Knock) as Harry Sullivan's grandson

Fourteenth Doctor (Tennant)

A Purely Hypothetical Goodbye - Genfic Fourteenth Doctor, Donna Noble Prediction for the regeneration scene from 7/26/2023

Multi-Doctor/Anthology

Cricket Through the Ages - Genfic Snapshots of different Doctors

On the Biology of Time Lords - Genfic, arguably The Doctor hides a lot from their companions. An anthology series on some of the more disturbing pieces of Time Lord physiology.

M*A*S*H

S1-3

The Famous 4077th Dog Tag Party (Chapter Two) - Random ship generator, Frank/Sidney

Billigen Boys - Klinger/Mulcahy AU of the episode Bulletin Board

A Science-Fictionalized History of the War in Korea - Multiple ships Full S1-3 crew A Doctor Who crossover featuring the Sixth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan ONGOING Episode Two - Silver Heart

Same Stars, Same Shapes - Trapper/Hawkeye Picnic :)

S6-11

Fourth Walls are for Climbing - BJ/Hawkeye Hawkeye/Alan Alda body swap

Post-Canon

Groundhog Day, 1954 (In a Context Completely Divorced from Time Loops) - Trapper/Hawkeye Charles runs into Trapper just before a medical conference. Things spiral from there.

Poker Night, 1979 - BJ/Trapper/Hawkeye, featuring some Trapper/Gonzo(Trapper John M.D.) Trapper John M.D. era, Gonzo gets invited to "poker night"

Bonanza

Equal Opportunity - Genfic The Cartwright Curse as real and in-universe

Explicit fics under the break ->

Doctor Who

Sixth Doctor

Here I Am, Drowning - Six/Jack Insert for On the Biology of Time Lords Erotic poetry? Experimental literature? who knows.

Temporal Wingmanning - Six/Clara

M*A*S*H

S1-3

Like a Bad Romance Novel - Trapper/Hawkeye

Gallantry in Action - Trapper/Hawkeye Alternate Ending to The Army-Navy Game, featuring sex pollen shenanigans

Just This Side of Never - Trapper/Hawkeye Insert for Silver Heart

[ask-de-writer]

SUBMARINE! 1812 an Alternate History

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to Science Fiction

Chapter 6 : KRAKEN

(Part 5 of 5)

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

5462 words

© 2023 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved.

This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

TUMBLR EXEMPTION

Blog holding members of Tumblr.com may freely reblog this story provided that the title, author and copyright information remain intact, unaltered, and are displayed at the head of the story.

Fan art, stories, music, cosplay and other fan activity is actively encouraged.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“That is a compliment that I will treasure,” I said quietly. “I often wondered if our efforts had actually deceived you, as we crossed swords at a distance. I always wished that our games were unnecessary.”

“You may find it hard to credit,” he replied, “but I too, wished the very same thing, even as I tried to learn your secrets. Now, I fear for my King and country. I am afraid that the game must go on.”

“I know exactly what you mean. We have been fortunate, so far, but I wonder what Britain has in store for us. We both know that this war is necessary. The Continental Congress must be recognized as a nation, and not a mere appendage of King George. We must affirm our right to be free and trade without interference, as any other nation.”

“I must report what I have seen. I will recommend peace in that report. You have both the population and the striking range on us. We have only naval superiority, and this summer, you stripped us of a fourth of that.” He was plainly worried. This was a side of Sir Lional that I had never seen before.

“I know that Uncle Benny would rather have peace. If you could offer a cessation of hostility, combined with our freedom to trade, and the return of all Continental seamen impressed into your navy or in your prisons, I believe that he would accept.”

Sir Lional frowned deeply. “I am sure that you are right. Unfortunately, I cannot do that without approval from the Royal Palace. That will take at least month, and probably more. The mere request could cost me my post. If I do not, it could be the end of England. I will request the terms that you offer.”

A Green Jacket Lt. came up and tugged at my sleeve. “Lt. Tecumsah, you are urgently wanted by the President. Please follow me.” I bowed to Sir Lional and made my way through the crowd, back to the Presidential Mansion.

The throng was now much reduced. As I looked about me, I realized that only the officers of the Maryland, her submariners and a few others were present. Mr. Smollett and some of his most trusted workers, President Arnold and a few important Senators of the War Committee made up the whole balance of the folk in the room. Marines had closed the doors and were keeping out everyone else.

“Gentlemen,” said Mr. Arnold, every inch the President, “We know that England will not stand for what has happened. King George will strike back, hard and soon. I expect that the blow will fall in two places. The islands of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are both vulnerable and would serve as an invasion base for an attack down the St. Laurence to Lake Champlain or Lake Erie, cutting the nation into unequal halves. The other likely place would be Chesapeake Bay, with the invading army pressing Northwest to link up with the army at the Great Lakes. Such an attack, if successful, would destroy the Nation.” As he gestured over the map, we could see that he was still the general who had out-maneuvered and out-fought the British in the War of Independence.

“I expect the blow to fall just as I have described it, sometime in the early spring, as soon as the weather will allow a determined foe to risk the crossing. They will probably be willing to accept some losses to strike sooner. Our hope lies in the fact that the submarine thrives on rough surface weather. Four and six man picket submarines with new periscopes that can be turned through a wide angle have been made and are yet being made. These are heavily armed boats that can attack swiftly, near to four knots I am told. Mr. Smollet has the details of these craft and those who need the particulars will be informed by him in detail.”

“Do ye want the model now, Sir?” Smollet inquired.

“Indeed I do. Show the gentlemen what you have wrought.”

Smollet gestured and two of his most trusted helpers carried in a half model of the hull of a craft like none that had been seen before. I counted the station lines, as Smollet had taught me so many years ago, in the Academy. This monster was just over 100 feet long! The ragged intakes of breath from around the room told me that others had realized the same thing.

With all of the pride of a new father, Smollet began to point out the features of the new ship. “This is a wholly new idea in warfare. We have christened her the Kraken. As many of you noticed, she is 110 feet long. Her draft, on the surface is 21 feet, 6 inches, when fully laden. As you can see from the model, she is very narrow, with a beam of just 20 feet. The odd looking things on her sides near the bottom are a new design water jet that pushes near half again as hard for the same effort on the walking beam.

“As an aside, all of your old boats are being fitted with the new water jets and the new periscopes, too.

The Kraken can cruise at three and one quarter knots, under water. On the surface, she cruises at just under four knots. She carries three retractable masts, and under sail, with a favorable breeze can do six knots. She can tack only 40 degrees off the wind, with good speed.

She crews eighty men. It is possible to draw air down the center mast while submerged to 30 feet and using the mast as a periscope. Range finding is now done using the fore and aft mast periscopes, giving a triangulation base of 60 feet. A sextant attachment can be fitted to either of the periscopes, allowing navigation while submerged. She carries two attack boats that can launch or dock while the Kraken is fully submerged.

“Newly designed flood-valves can take her from full sail down to periscope depth in under four minutes. Her sails can be managed from inside the hull and can be stowed while under water, if necessary.

“At this time I will not speak of her arms stores, which are considerable. The Kraken’s performance is not speculation. She has just completed her sea trials and is now awaiting the choice of her new captain.” He grinned at the stunned silence that had greeted his laconic announcement. “Are there any questions?”

“I have one,” I stated. “Can the Kraken carry enough stores to reach England while submerged?”

“Yes,” was the terse reply. “With enough left over to return after three weeks in English waters.”

President Arnold said, “The Kraken is even now laying at a secret dock, taking on stores. As soon as her Captain is chosen, she will stand out to sea under secret orders.”

Commodore Marks said with envy, “The command of the Kraken will go to one of you submariners. The choice is being made by representatives of the Senate War Committee. They have all of our logs and records to study. We are awaiting their decision which we will have soon.”

We all looked at each other, dumbfounded.

END OF CHAPTER 6

<==PREVIOUS

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[the-knights-who-say-book]

what are your favourite lesbian books?

These are all favorites with a lesbian main character:

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (mystery/alternate history)

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir (fantasy/scifi)

Silk & Steel edited by Janine A. Southard (fantasy anthology)

Sugar Summer by Hannah Moskowitz (contemporary YA romance)

The Scapegracers by H.A. Clarke (YA urban fantasy)

A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian (historical romance novella)

Isle of Broken Years by Jane Fletcher (starts as historical fiction, actually mostly scifi)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (YA realistic fiction)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (fantasy)

[etirabys]

Fiction writing retro for 2022! Highlights below. Note that this year is very noncon/dubcon heavy.

prince yu succeeds is a half-finished Nirvana in Fire fanfiction that I forced myself to post on AO3 despite half-finished status. It has the peculiar distinction of being a noncon fic where I started writing it and discovered the noncon was the least interesting part of it for me and I couldn’t summon up the enthusiasm. One particular chapter in it (Lin Shu teen flashback), however, became my favorite fanfic short I’ve written.

Darrow has the tape is a noncon fic where I am enthusiastic about the noncon: teenager in a fantasy world with a very complicated immigration history has a beloved uncle go to jail for many crimes. The teen (Dara/Darrow) finds some of the uncle’s stash of unethically produced porn, and destroys it, but not before it warps his sexuality. Many years later, he meets the primary victim of the porn tapes. While he’s excruciatingly aware that keeping his distance is a good idea, she’s struggling to establish a magical career and doesn’t have many people in her corner. It’s hard not to get involved.

love potion is a Harry/Snape dubcon fic whose premise I describe here.

Inarzeh is my failed foray into glowfic, about a slave who escapes into Earth from an alternate universe after her magician master tries and dies while calling up the demon that runs their universe’s magic. In the process she inadvertently destroys her world’s magic. She teams up with an EMT who’s a benevolent sociopath à la Amos Burton from The Expanse, the married couple the EMT is in love with, and eventually, the demon itself.

siriphon is about a college student who, as part of a college club activist project, adopts two dogboys with different types of damage (there’s the needy anxiously attached one, and the aloof intellectual avoidant attachment one).

the fat girl is about a pair of lesbians. One of them has a classic case of “turned on by X but also repulsed/scared by it” with both lesbianism and fatness, and severely bullies and eventually rapes the other in high school. They grow into their own personhood and queerness in college and beyond, and then start orbiting each other unhealthily once they come into contact again.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Buffy : Riley! What are you doing here? Riley : Well, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you after the party. You left so fast. You know, with your friend... Who's a boy. Buffy : Uh, xander? He's not anyone that I... Want to talk about, right now. Um... You know, I don't want you taking this the wrong way... It's just, um... I need a little alone time now... Alone. Riley : Why? Buffy : I need space. Riley : We're outdoors. Buffy : Emotionally. (She pauses looking for something better to say and gives up.)I mean, emotionally... Riley : You know, there's plenty of space back in your room why don't I take you? You wouldn't believe the weirdos out at this hour. Buffy : Whoa! Ok... It's a free campus. Who died and made you John Wayne? Riley : I'm just trying to help. Buffy : You think I need help? Believe me, I don't. You know, if you were a real gentleman, then you would just leave. You would go far, far away, now! Shoo!

~~Buffy Episode #63: "The Initiative"~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor! Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here. If you saw the phrase "HTML template" in our previous calls for editors and that was what made you decide that Herald duties aren't for you, you may be glad to hear that we've set up an alternative posting process! [Drabbles & Short Fiction]

I'm Okay? (Buffy/Angel, G) by captainamergirl

It's Just a Little Crush (Angel/Cordelia, G) by captainamergirl

Au bout de la confiance (Buffy/Spike, T) by Doxalys

I Can Fly So High Above With You (Buffy/Spike, T) by My_Barbaric_Yawp

This Year's for Me and You (Buffy/Spike, M) by My_Barbaric_Yawp

An Introspective on Love (Willow/Tara, G) by puppyduckster

House Call (Xander, unrated, Hannibal Lecter xover) by SarielLunar

Faith's Christmas Wish (Buffy/Faith, T) by apachefirecat

H is for Hero (Buffy/Spike, T) by Willow-98

Nail Polish (Buffy/Spike, T) by ZombieRed

[Chaptered Fiction]

All That Is And All That Seems Ch. 45 (Faith, Ensemble, M) by Malk McJorma

Shadow Over Hellmouth Ch. 35 (Ensemble, M) by Tuxedo Mark

Learning To Be Love's Bitch, Chapter 19 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Desicat

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Spikespreading by isevery0nehereverystoned

[Fandom Discussions]

angel’s punishment really was to perpetually look IN on the people he loved the most by badrecognition

a long sad/angry rant about Wesley by gothamstreetcat

Spike and Dru by somekindofadeviant

A Personal History of Anya Jenkins by faerywhimsy

just thinking about how the fang gang told angel to go ahead into the portal by badrecognition

It’s so interesting that you prefer Cordelia to Buffy but prefer Bangel to Cangel. by sulietsexual

there are no fix-its for season seven by badrecognition

miss girl you are an ORB by badrecognition

the fact that faith DID love buffy and couldn’t have her by badrecognition

Connor by Octavia

Good Buffy books that don't contradict anything in the show? by LawgSkrak

Willow's Manipulation in Wild At Heart by Priceless

Who is actually Physically Superior between The Master and The First Turok-Han? by Brief-Cryptographer2

Let's argue - Season 7 by Moofthebot

Riley is narrated as a nice guy and healthy partner, when in reality he is emotionally abusive by NihilisticCucumber

Who is your favorite character and why? by Far_Needleworker_636

Everyone ganging up on Buffy by tubiecubie

What’s your favorite crack ship(s)? by full_onrainstorm

Discussion: Wesley's decision in S3 (spoilers beyond season 3 are hidden, so it's safe to read) by Squizzardo

Imagine if the Ubervamp can become a Van-Tal when in pylea by ComplexAcademic1231

Wesley and Gunn S3 by Squizzardo

by

People were meant to hate Riley. by Hobbitdildobaggins

it could have been cool if they brought Faith's first watcher back as The First by LightBlueSky55

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Closes Its Oldest Plot Hole in the Perfect Way by Screen Rant

PUBLICATION: David Boreanaz Is Right To Avoid An Angel Revival by Screen Rant

PUBLICATION: Buffy's Version of Kryptonite Unveils the Ultimate Anti-Slayer Weapon by Screen Rant

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[writingquestionsanswered]

Any tips on how to write a historical fiction? Like working out the historical placement, economy and the political state of the country, the situation of royalty etc. Love your blog!

Historical Fiction vs Other Historical Subgenres

I wonder if you're meaning to ask about writing "historical fantasy" or "alternate history" rather than historical fiction. Here's why...

Historical fiction is set in a real place, in a real, recognizable time in our history. For example, Melissa de la Cruz's Alex & Eliza follows the lives and marriage of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, real U.S. historical figures who were featured in the recently popular musical, Hamilton. If you want to write historical fiction, fleshing out your setting's economy, political state, situation of royalty, etc. is a matter of researching your setting in that particular time. My post Researching an Historical Topic has some pointers that should help with that kind of research.

Historical fantasy can be one of two things: typically, historical fantasy refers to stories set in a real place and time in our history, but with the incorporation of fantastical elements, such as in Marie Lu's The Kingdom of Back which is set in 18th-century Europe and follows Mozart's older sister, who gets involved with a stranger from a magical realm who promises to make her musical dreams come true. Historical fantasy can also be set in a fictional place that heavily resembles a real historical time and place and incorporates magic, but since the emphasis is as much on the historical feel of the story as on the fantastical elements, it's historical fantasy rather than just fantasy. Here, too, fleshing out your setting will come down to doing research, then making your own decisions about how to plausibly differentiate your imaginary setting. You may find it easier to do this after you've fleshed out your plot and understand the needs of your story.

Alternate history imagines a historical place and time in our world but with a major difference, like what if the Titanic sailed through a time portal into 1970s New York. Or, what life in 1920s Los Angeles would have been like if the U.S. had lost the Revolutionary War and the king and queen had come to visit some of their American Dukes and Duchesses. Fleshing out an alternate history setting will require research of the real time and location as well as some educated brainstorming about how things would be different.

Fantasy stories are sometimes set in settings or worlds loosely or somewhat heavily based on our own. In Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, Ravka is loosely based on early 1800s Russia, and in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Westeros is loosely based on early-medieval Britain. However, because the emphasis is more on the fantastical elements than the historical similarities, these stories are straight up fantasy rather than historical fantasy. Much as with the other examples, here fleshing out your setting requires research of your inspiration setting as well as brainstorming to determine what you want to change.

Let me know if you have questions about whichever specific one you want to write!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[zephyrionschattenflug]

About me

name: Zephyrion Schattenflug (they/them)

After my last post Zephyrion and I have been talking and they've agreed to introduce themself. Us both, as it were. Here's what they had to say:

"I am Zephyrion Schattenflug, shapeshifting night elf and master of shadows, crow-faced collector of dreams, archivist of stories and traveler of magical realms. You may also know me as Z.S. Soulwing or simply as Zeph. Here on earth, however, I am confined to possess a feeble human form. As my true form is everchanging, I loathe to be reduced to outward appearance. In public my host will be sporting a corvid mask, to inform others of my presence.

On this earthly realm I inhabit the body of a human writer and aspiring author. My 30+ year old host hails from a small European country but is enamored with the English language, foreign languages and cultures in general. They are genderfluid, preferring they/them pronouns, and homoromantic. Considering themself straight edge (no drugs, no smoking, no alcohol) and alternative/goth due to their tastes in music and fashion. My host lives a rather reclusive life, content with their small but close-knit circle of family and friends. A natural-born dreamer with vivid imagination, their goal in life is to be able to make a living as a novel author."

About the stories we write

genres: fantasy, magical realism, LGBTQ+, coming of age, speculative fiction (AU fiction), dystopia, contemporary fiction

audience: YA, adult

"Most of the events I document and archive take place in other realms, thus to you they will seem fantastical or at the very least like stories about made-up alternate worlds. We write our novels for any audience who might be interested, however, as we often deal with darker themes you would likely categorize our works as adult or perhaps as YA novels.

We concern ourselves with the present and possible futures of this world as well as alternate worlds, less with the past or history of your planet. Our stories are tales about individuals' experiences and fates, about how they grow and learn, succeed or fail, thus you'd consider them character-centric. However, certain individuals' decisions can have quite an impact on the fate of a world, depending on that realm's inner workings and the character's powers.

We like to play with and subvert tropes and dive deep into the psychology of our characters. Difficult topics such as death, mental illness, trauma, human morals, philosophy and criticism of the socio-political status quo and more are interwoven with our stories. However, we don't dwell in dark of night the grimdark genre revels in. Like the twilight, our stories are shades of gray, human flaws and personal growth, emotional damage and hopeful messages, dark and light hues intertwined. We aim to provoke thought and further empathy, prompt critical thinking, awareness and acceptance. We don't strive to preach or dictate a certain point of view, nor do we condemn those with opinions different to ours. Humans by nature are morally gray and so are the characters in our stories.

Our writing style teeters on the brink of genre fiction and literary fiction - we don't like to be put in boxes. My host considers themself a discovery writer, dreaming up stories as they go, whereas I see myself as a collector and cultivator of stories, transcribing and transforming what is already there. Occasionally we pen short stories and dabble in poetry. However, these aren't usually a joint endeavor, more of a way for my host to deal with difficult emotions and states of mind and reoccurring nightmares."

I'd like to remark that we'll introduce our WIP novel "Taking Flight" to you in our next post. Please look forward to it!

About the stories we consume

genre preferences: fantasy (esp. fantasy adventure, magical worlds, portal fantasy, urban fantasy, vampires, elves, elemental magic), magical realism & speculative fiction, gothic fiction, legends, myths & fairy tales, certain horror/dystopian stories (cyberpunk, death games, suspense, psychological horror), certain detective/crime stories

formative literary works: The Neverending Story, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland, E.A. Poe's The Pit And The Pendulum (among other short stories)

"My host has always been inspired by myths, legends and fairy tales. As for me, any tales about alien cultures, convictions, beliefs and superstitions are simply fascinating. My host studied languages and literature at university, thus they're well-read in English and German classics, be it Shakespeare, Poe, Orwell or the likes or Goethe, Schiller, Kafka et al. Naturally we both greatly appreciate diversity regarding culture and race, gender and sexuality, being queer ourselves, but only if done right. And to our dismay many storytellers get it wrong.

Both of us immensely enjoy fantastical stories and are magnetically drawn to magical worlds and fantastical creatures, especially to immortal beings like angels, ghosts, elves and vampires. Early influences in my host's life were Ende's The Neverending Story, Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, Grimm's fairy tales, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Studio Ghibli movies, Roald Dahl's books, Allende's Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar trilogy, Recheis' The White Wolf, the Odyssey and other Greek myths, the Harry Potter series, the TV series Charmed, The Hobbit, the LOTR movies and books, the Teen Titans animated series, Avatar The Last Airbender and many late 90s and early 2000s anime series like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Naruto, Inuyasha, Detective Conan, to name a few.

After delving into detective stories and crime novels in their teens, like Agatha Christie's stories and Thomas Brezina novels, my host developed a particular fascination with the death game genre via the manga/anime series Death Note, Danganronpa, Doubt and Judge. They don't read crime novels at present but still appreciate a good mystery or tricky puzzle. Moreover, dystopian and cyberpunk stories like Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and the Hunger Games trilogy left quite the impression as well.

As you might have concluded from our preferences, we treat all stories as equal, whether they take the form of novels, short stories or novellas, manga, comics or graphic novels, movies, animations or games. However, we are very critical and demand a high standard in writing, both of our own work as well as of the stories we consume. My host's time on earth is limited, as is my time in this realm, so we cherry-pick only the cream of the crop for consumption."

About our other interests

hobbies: games & RPGs, Japanese culture & language, learning languages, singing & (alt) music, reading, jigsaw puzzles

"Growing up playing many different board and card games my host thought about becoming a game designer in the past, even DIYed a board game around one of their stories. In their early twenties they discovered Pen&Paper RPGs and fell into that rabbit hole - they'be been playing any DMing The Dark Eye for 10+ years.

They aren't much of a gamer themself but regularly watch gaming content on YouTube and Twitch. They adore RPG horror games (Ib being their favorite), are a fan of RPG-style games (f.e. Elder Scrolls series, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Pokémon), detective-style games (f.e. Ace Attorney, Danganronpa) and get a kick out of story-heavy survival horror games (think Amnesia The Dark Descent and the Beneviento House in RE8). Unfortunately most modern horror relies too much on jumpscares and shock value.

My host always enjoyed studied languages and continued studying them at university, acquiring native-like proficiency of English and learning the basics of French, Spanish, Latin and Japanese. They've always regretted not being able to travel much due to monetary constraints. As a teen, anime and manga, sushi and karaoke got them interested in the Japanese language and culture. They've dabbled in cosplay and fanfiction and greatly admire the work of illustrators, animators and voice actors. To this day they prefer Japanese food over their homeland's cuisine and drink green tea (matcha) instead of coffee. We both agree that languages are a gateway to other cultures and environments, not simply a means of communication. Understanding the inner workings of a language allows for a better understanding of others, of how their minds work and the ways their thoughts translate into language.

My host's alternative lifestyle outwardly manifests in their fashion choices, their choice of music and a disregard of many social norms of your world. Yet, according to my host, being goth is about more than similar tastes in music and clothes. To them it means sharing a common aesthetic of loving all things dark and spooky (f.e. skulls and bones, crows and ravens, the color black, cats and wolves, the night and the moon) and, most importantly, a philosophy of embracing the darkness in yourself and viewing death as a part of life."

About our social media

socials: Tumblr, Instagram, website (in progress)

"Tumblr is our first foray into the world of social media. Our host always avoided it, being a nihilistic and jaded millenial with a troubled past. But they've come to realize that to share their dreamt-up stories they need to find their audience, their birds of a feather, those who share their love of stories and will fall in love with their characters. In their words, "I understand now, that, to find the people who I write my books for, I gotta put myself out here. So here I am, despite all my bad experiences, all my worries and self-doubts, reaching out to the world - and to you."

We're also in the process of setting up an Instagram account. On Instagram we plan to share our writer and creator journey with you as well as news about and snippets of WIPs. Further, we'll offer our opinions and advice about writing -be it genre conventions, tropes, plotting, editing or characterization-, queerness and mental health among other things and pick your brains with community polls and questions. Come visit us over @zeph.writes!

Of course that doesn't mean our tumblr account will end up abandoned. We'll keep posting writer memes, raise awareness for LGBTQ+ and mental health related things and just share our thoughts and feelings on anything related to writing and our interests. Feel free to ask us a question, repost our stuff or invite us to ask games.

We're also working on our own website, for which we're still in dire need of pictures. We'll post about it, once it's ready to launch. Currently we're looking for an illustrator for our headshot and character art, so if you're a freelance artist please DM us!"

If you've read this far, thank you so much for listening to what Zephyrion had to say, what we had to say. Why not let us know you've made it to the end of our post with a comment? If you can't think of anything, simply comment "shade of rainbow" if you're part of the LGBTQ+ community or "bird of a feather" to let us know you consider yourself part of our little community. I hope you're looking forward to our WIP intro and, again, thanks for reading!

[englishbookscomtr]

THE FOURTH INSTALMENT IN THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING DARK ICELAND SERIES

OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD

When the body of a young woman is found dead beneath the cliffs of the deserted Icelandic village of Kálfshamarvík, police officer Ari Thór Arason uncovers a startling and terrifying connection to an earlier series of deaths, as the killer remains on the loose…

'Jónasson's books have breathed new life into Nordic noir' Sunday Express

'Jónasson skilfully alternates points of view and shifts of time … The action builds to a shattering climax' Publishers Weekly

________________

Two days before Christmas, a young woman is found dead beneath the cliffs of the deserted village of Kálfshamarvík.

Did she jump, or did something more sinister take place beneath the lighthouse and the abandoned old house on the remote rocky outcrop? With winter closing in and the snow falling relentlessly, Ari Thór Arason discovers that the victim's mother and young sister also lost their lives in this same spot, twenty-five years earlier.

As the dark history and its secrets of the village are unveiled, and the death toll begins to rise, the Siglufjordur detectives must race against the clock to find the killer, before another tragedy takes place.

Dark, chilling and complex, Whiteout is a haunting, atmospheric and stunningly plotted thriller from one of Iceland's bestselling crime writers.

________________

'Traditional and beautifully finessed …morally more equivocal than most traditional whodunnits, and it offers alluring glimpses of darker, and infinitely more threatening horizons' Andrew Taylor, Independent

'Jónasson has come up with a bleak plot and characters, but his evocation of Iceland's chilly landscape is hard to put down' Sunday Times

'A distinctive blend of Nordic Noir and Golden Age detective fiction … masterful' Laura Wilson, Guardian

'Required reading' New York Post

'Puts a lively, sophisticated spin on the Agatha Christie model, taking it down intriguing dark alleys' Kirkus Reviews

'The best sort of gloomy storytelling' Chicago Tribune

'The prose is stark and minimal, the mood dank and frost-tipped. It's also bleakly brilliant, although perhaps best read with a warming shot of whisky by your side' Metro

'A classic crime story seen through a uniquely Icelandic lens … first rate and highly recommended' Lee Child

'Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty - a must-read' Peter James

'A modern take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom' Ian Rankin

'Seductive … Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully' Ann Cleeves

[ultramagicalternate]

ULTRAMagic Alternate Lore 13 - Witch’s Covens

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Master Post

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on Witchcraft or Wicca, for I am an Occultist and an Alchemist. This is also primarily a work of fiction. Regardless, I will do my best to represent the subjects discussed as accurately as possible with obvious and expected creative liberties. If you are an expert on these subjects and wish to provide critique, you are more than welcome to do so.

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INTRODUCTION

Alchemy and Necromancy have always been persecuted throughout history… people fear what they do not understand. Alchemy has been labeled as heresy and necromancy has been deemed as blasphemy of the highest degree. And at its worst, some have labeled them as mental illness in the modern era. This has led to many mages and scholars of the arts keeping to themselves or going underground. The most noteworthy types of underground organizations for magic are brotherhoods, orders, and covens.

Covens are an interesting anomaly amongst magic circles. They are predominantly female, but have allowed men for a variety of reasons (family, lovers, outcasts, etc.). For a long time, these fellowships were ignored by the rest of the world. They were able to keep a low profile on account of no one taking them seriously. If everyone believes you are nonsense, then why worry about what you study and practice? Several covens have even gotten to the point of rivaling some of the most noteworthy brotherhoods and orders of magic.

THE HISTORY

The 900s AD were when the term “witch” started being used to describe female practitioners of magic, to our current knowledge. The word could refer to a “wise woman,” while the old English roots of the could mean “separate” or “choose.” Typically it was reserved for practitioners of magic and sorcery. Despite the negative connotations assigned to them and occasional conflicts, things stayed calm. Fellowships of female mages (witches in particular) studied in relative peace and kept their eyes open for potential neophytes. Jumping ahead to the 1500s, the term “Coven” would pop up in reference to these fellowships of witches. Many witches took a liking to this concept and adopted the term as their own. 

In 1556, a new coven called “The Devil’s Brew Coven” was formed by a woman named Aelia Albus. She was an alchemist from ancient Rome who had the privilege of studying under Hermes Trismegistus. Aelia had long since created a Philosopher’s Stone and had a desire to spread her knowledge. As for the name, Aelia was still brooding over the fall of Rome and felt edgy that day. Plus she wanted to spite the churches as she felt they were bastardizing Rome’s legacy. In regards to the founding of the coven, Aelia had stumbled on a group of witches one day and decided to whip them into shape. She would teach them alchemy and the ways of Hermes Trismegistus, allowing the coven to grow and flourish.

THE 1600s - EARLY 1900s

The 1600s were turbulent for two reasons: Witch hunts and The Death Knell Coven. The churches of Europe had decided that they had finally had enough of the covens and went after them. Many were wiped out or forced into hiding. Aelia had grown fed up with this nonsense to the point of wanting to leave Europe. Her goal was North America as it was mostly untamed. She doubted the colonists would give them too much trouble and was legitimately interested in learning from the indigenous people.

Fortunately Aelia had come to know a shaman whose name is lost, but translated to “Great-mind.” Great-mind was more than happy to help her get settled in. The only issue was getting to America. Not many would be willing to transport a coven of witches across the Atlantic. This is where the wanderer, Ellen the Wayward, came in. She knew a privateer, Captain Rowena Murphy, who would be more than happy to transport them across the pond. 

Of note is that the Devil’s Brew Coven merged with an obscure guild of alchemists right before the journey. Funnily enough they had been accused of witchcraft. Aelia was more than happy to welcome them into the coven.

The journey to America would be undertaken in 1636. Ellen led the coven to Ireland where they would board Rowena’s ship, The Grim Rover. Aelia asked Ellen if she wanted to come with them, but she had many things to tend to in Europe. The trip was not an easy one. There were several storms and many run-ins with the English and Spanish navies. Rowena even stumbled across her former pirate captain. He was in a jolly mood and helped escort The Grim Rover as they were going in the same direction.

Upon reaching the new world, Great-mind was able to secure land for the coven, which benefited her tribe greatly. This area would be in New Hampshire, close to the Appalachian mountains. Things would settle down once everyone was all moved in… up until the Salem Witch Trials. The Devil’s Brew Coven had been scouting in the area until they found a coven practicing black magic… so they blew the whistle on them. This somewhat backfired, as this led to the formation of their eternal enemies, The Death Knell Coven.

Dealing with the more chaotic indigenous tribes, The Death Knell Coven, and The 13 Colonies made Aelia realize she had opened a massive can of worms… The Revolutionary War was not fun given that the coven had previously fled Europe, especially the English. Typically Aelia stayed out of the war, but would assist General George Washington whenever she could. She even became friends with him as he was more enlightened then he initially seemed. Sadly he died before she could teach him how to create a Philosopher’s Stone.

Oddly the Civil War was fairly uneventful. Aelia knew the country would reunite under the Union eventually and bided her time. Thankfully the influx of Africans did allow for shamans and tribesmen to introduce new insight and knowledge into the coven. Aelia also happily recruited any foreigners who were willing to learn and study with the coven. Mind you she was selective given the discipline needed for her teachings, but that did not stop people from joining.

THE 1900s AND THE WORLD WARS

Arriving in the 1900s, The Devil’s Brew Coven finally returned to Europe by way of the European branch. This was led by Ragna Eklund, a descendant of the Aesir and the Tuatha De Danann. She claims that Cú Chulainn was her grandfather and there is a lot of evidence supporting that. Getting back on track; Ragna would discover the Wicca, descendants of Anglo-Saxon sorcerers. They had gone down a similar path to the witches, causing her to recruit them to rebuild The Devil’s Brew Coven in Europe. Aelia was pleasantly surprised by this, having had no idea what Ragna was doing.

It should be noted that Witches and Wicca, while sharing common goals and philosophies, are distinct from each other. Witches typically study the occult and hermeticism while Wicca study subjects such as paganism. Many true witches and Wicca do not consider most modern witches and Wicca to be legitimate mages, citing that many claim to be these for the clout and self-gratification. While their hearts are usually in the right place, they typically lack the discipline to study magic. That has not stopped true witches and Wicca from tutoring some of them into proper mages, however.

Returning to Ragna, she would keep Aelia updated on The Great War and the eventual World War II. Aelia would promptly blow a gasket when she learned that the Germans were bastardizing the occult. Her Roman blood was pumping like a roaring rapid, causing her to directly seek out the German Anomaly Investigation Group (or G.A.I.G., pronounced “Gauge”). She was on the warpath and headed over to Europe with utmost haste with G.A.I.G. in tow.

Aelia and Ragna were ruthless and responsible for wiping out many Axis covens all across Europe. Strangely a lot of them were in the Balkans, but that did not make a difference. During this campaign, Aelia had called upon the demon Amon for help. He was privy to certain knowledge, alerting her and G.A.I.G. to an Axis coven in Serbia that had been trying to harness the power of a celestial dragon that had been expelled from Heaven. They promptly double timed it over there and found utter chaos.

A girl named Morana (surname unknown) had been successfully bonded with the dragon, but was in rebellion towards her captors. She escaped on account of the G.A.I.G. operatives refusing to shoot an innocent girl. While the ritual had gone through, the Germans did not get their hands on the dragon in the end. 

Aelia and Ragna were able to draft some innocent witches from the destroyed Serbian Axis coven. Chief among them was Galina Zharov, a recently resurrected lich. She was beyond confused to be alive again, but graciously accepted Aelia’s help in getting back on her feet. Galina had knowledge of the other Axis covens, allowing Ragna to have a field day. This also greatly expanded the roster of the Devil’s Brew Coven.

POST WORLD WAR II

Aelia’s concern was that the Death Knell Coven was active in Europe and this suspicion was confirmed. There was evidence all over the place to suggest that they were responsible for convincing so many covens to ally themselves with the Axis powers. The Death Knell Coven had naturally allied themselves with the Germans, but were smart enough to cover their tracks. Despite Ragna’s efforts, she was only able to wipe out about 75% to 85% of the European sect of the Death Knells.

Aelia and Ragna would frequently cross paths with Ellen the Wayward during the war. The three would do a great deal of things behind the scenes, the most notable event being helping Vlad III Dracula rescue Spiritus Lapsus Fausta from the Germans. The resurrected and now nigh immortal voivode had turned over a new leaf of sorts and was in love with Fausta. He also sympathized with the fallen Spiritus Magni, refusing to let her fade away into obscurity. His past brutality could not be forgotten, but Aelia could not ignore such a noble cause.

Before leaving Europe, Aelia would ask Ellen once more if she wanted to join The Devil’s Brew Coven, but she turned her down again. Despite Ellen growing tired of Europe, she still had things to do… again. She was also being stubborn as a result of nervousness. Aelia would promptly go over her head and make her an honorary member of the coven.

Jumping ahead to the 1970s, Zoltan Dracul (son of Vlad III Dracula and Fausta), would become friends with Ragna. This led to him becoming an honorary member of the coven. Zoltan would ask the coven to let his newly wed wife, Morana, join them in the 1980s. Aelia and Ragna were apprehensive as Morana was a bit of a rogue. Galina, Morana’s former mentor, would advocate for her. This did not stop Aelia from having a gut feeling that things were going to get hectic, however. 

THE MODERN ERA

Morana naturally had to push the coven’s patience by starting her ultimate weapon project. Compelled by the dragon sealed inside of her, Morana would bear a child who would be a human in body, but dragon in soul. This boy would be named Vlastimir Bartholomew Dracul. Aelia nearly blew a gasket over this, but Zoltan promised to keep the two on the straight and narrow. Plus a good chunk of the coven thought Vlastimir was an utter cinnamon roll (despite his madness).

Aside from skirmishes with The Death Knell Coven and assisting M.A.I.G. with their missions (pronounced “Mage,” and the successor to G.A.I.G.), not much has happened for the Devil’s Brew Coven. Things were calm… up until Bethony Briggs resurfaced in New Hampshire during the early 2020s. She had been a witch that had died during the Salem Witch Trials and was blasphemously resurrected by the Death Knell Coven. Ragna was busy dealing with Vlad IV Dracul (the illegitimate child of Vlad III Dracula) during this period, so she was of no help. Aelia would deploy Morana and Galina to help out against Bethony from the shadows. Zoltan would also be there, so she figured it would go fine.

With the chaos surrounding the Briggs family in full swing, the Devil’s Brew Coven has been thrown back into the heat of things. This has led to some interesting opportunities for them. Because of ULTRAMagic Shadow’s involvement in the Bethony incident, Aelia now has the chance to work with the ULTRAMagic Guild. She’s also very interested in the Unlight. While she is tight lipped about it, it is suspected that Aelia wants to move all of her coven there. They would be safe, protected by the guild, The Iron City, Shadowland, and The Metal Empire. Plus Aelia and Ragna are growing tired of Earth’s petty conflicts.

TRIVIA AND FACTS OF INTEREST

Ragna is an odd individual. She’s 234 years old and has a strange aberrant ability. Her aptitude is Alchemy, but she has the ability to make anything work. What does this mean? It means she can take any amalgamation of parts and make them do something. Guns that are impossible to use fire perfectly and vehicles with broken parts go as fast as they can. All she has to do is turn them red with her Alchemy and they work. They cease functionality when she stops using them, however.

Aelia has reached a point where the only thing that can stop here is a doomsday weapon… of which she has her own, or at least she claims to. She realized a while back that the world is always gunning for her and she refuses to take that sitting down. Whether or not she would actually activate this supposed doomsday weapon is up for debate.

Galina was very close to Morana before the dragon ritual. Morana was a slave, but Galina felt bad for her and made her life bearable. What ended Galina was her own hand after she found out her coven had joined the Axis powers. This is also what pushed Morana over the edge. Fortunately the two can now pursue magic in relative peace. Galina has also found another lich who she has taken on as an apprentice.

Ellen had crossed paths with Aelia long before the Devil’s Brew Coven, given her constant wanderings. While Ellen was never one to settle down (until the modern era), she always wanted to join the coven deep down. Aelia would rectify this once Ellen settled down in America and established her company, Arcane-Life. As a result of this, Arcane-Life helps fund The Devil’s Brew Coven.

Vlastimir is considered an honorary member of The Devil’s Brew Coven. When he was young, Galina promised to look after him if something ever happened to his parents. As a result of this, Vlastimir views Galina as his aunt. Galina has also promised to do her best to keep his uncle, Vlad IV, away from him for obvious reasons.

Great-mind is immortal in a sense. She cannot die… if she does, she will resurrect somewhere else in due time. This led to her tribe being shunned by the majority of other tribes, viewing Great-mind as a being of ill-omen. How she attained this weird immortality is unclear and even she’s not sure herself.

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)