#wip: the king of mycenae

[the-starlight-writer]

TKoM Character Intro: Dylann

Dylann McKenzie. 24. he/him or they/them (cisgender but expansive about it). major supporting character. queer platonic partner and best friend of Mikae.

physics and history major in university. raised by his older cousin, Sylvie. sleepy but somehow always alert. takes the role of Mikae's caretaker by watching over him and making sure he takes good care of himself. has known Mikae since they were around 11 years old.

gentle guy. has an odd way of speaking. has been in love with mikae forever and everyone in their friend group apart from mikae knows that. doesn't talk about himself very much.

[johaerys-writes]

WIP Whenever

It's been a while since I've shared a proper snippet, and since I've been working on the next chapter of As Fate Would Have It this week I thought I'd post a little excerpt from it:

“Calchas, a priest of Agamemnon, ordered a great sacrifice, a hecatomb. Apollo, the far-seeing god, sent him a vision that a great warrior would be needed within their ranks for the war to be won. My son is already famed for his speed and his skill with a spear. Agamemnon believes that it is my Achilles that shall win this war for him.”

Nereus listens to her attentively, stroking his long, mossy beard; he stays silent for a long moment after she finishes speaking, his features dark in thought. “And does he believe true, daughter?”

Thetis holds her tongue. Of all the gods, only Themis, who gave her the prophecy, and Ilithyia, who helped her during labour, know of Achilles' fate. Both goddesses are bound to her by oaths of trust and friendship. She has never spoken the truth of it to anyone else, for fear that they might use it against him.

“I do not know, my lord.”

A susurrus of whispers swells around her at once. Thetis ignores them, letting them wash over her like the tide. 

“There must be other warriors, much stronger and more experienced, that could fulfill that prophecy,” a voice comes, heavy with disdain and louder over the others. It is Amphitrite, one of the fifty nereids, who steps forward. Her long black hair is arranged in a myriad of thin yet intricate braids, sturdy like ship rope, and the fabric of her white dress is thick like a ship’s sails; no doubt a memento from one of the many shipwrecks she or her monstrous offspring have caused. Her face, though exquisitely beautiful once, is now marred by the deep grooves and scars left from her battle with a leviathan long ago. Of all her sisters, Amphitrite is the one Thetis has always liked the least. “Why did the King of Mycenae want your son, who has never fought in a war before, who has never bloodied his spear, to fight for him? That boy is little more than a baby in the cradle." 

Thetis meets her sister's challenge with a cool, detached look. “Perhaps you should ask Agamemnon's priest directly," she tells her flatly. "Or better yet, Apollo, god of mice and locusts, who gave the prophecy. I am not privy to his thoughts or reasons.”

She could argue with Amphitrite in front of the whole court; insist on the legendary quality of her son’s prowess in battle, but that would not serve her. It would not serve either of them. Better far to let them believe that this is nothing but a dream sent to a seer by a confusing and capricious god.  

Thetis POV scenes may just be my favourite to write ngl!!!

Tagging forth to (no pressure) @darlingpoppet @spineless-lobster @baejax-the-great @iktend @rowanisawriter @supernova3space @calciumyum and literally anyone else who would like to share some art or fic they're currently working on?? Idrk who else to tag haha sorry :')

[period-dramallama]

WIP Friday

tagged by @theladyelizabeth thank youuuuuuu

Is this a work in progress or a technically-finished story? Ehhhhhhh well I don't have any Elizabeth scenes that are ready yet, so back to this fic it is.

-

The king relaxed. “Of course. It is right and natural that you serve me. Tigranes wanted to be served only by defeated kings, but Tigranes was a muttonhead.”

More nodded in solemn agreement.

“I don’t want to be served by kings I’ve defeated, because I want to be served by wise men. And men I’ve defeated are not wiser than me, are they? Otherwise I wouldn’t have defeated them. We shall be like Augustus and Mycenae.”

“Maecenas?”

The king frowned. “No, there was a Mycenae somewhere in the mix.”

“If it is wise men you need, I can find them for you.”

The king dismissed it with a wave. “No, you needn’t bother. The cardinal can find them for me.” He looked up at the sky sadly. “The stars have disappointed me. We shall go inside.”

-

Also I have a soft spot for the phrase "Tigranes was a muttonhead". And Henry does have a point, it must be said.

[littlesparklight]

Poured of Gold? Ἑλένης Ἀπαίτησις? Part of me just wants to ask about all of them.

Hehe I can mention two others at least briefly in connection with the Apaitesis fic! ;)

Anyway, Poured of Gold is my Perseus fic (though it'd start with Danae finding out about the prophecy, so it's more of a leadup than just her meeting with Zeus as it currently stands). I haven't added anything to it in a bit, but every time I've gotten pissed off enough at some shitty Perseus take I've had to see, I've written a little more on it. Have a snippet from the end:

Hermes and Zeus stood shoulder to upper arm as they watched the the procession carry the old king of Mycenae and Tiryns into his tomb, and though they were surrounded by a crowd, they could just as well have been alone.

"If you had asked for it, I would have granted him immortality," Zeus said, voice so quiet it couldn't have been heard by a mortal even if they should've stood right next to the two gods. Not for himself, as much as he'd loved his son, shining and perfect among mortal men, but for Hermes and his love of the man, Zeus would have.

Hermes laughed, a short bark of a noise that cracked in the air. Zeus reached out and gripped his son by the back of his head, pulling him in a little closer to himself.

"I thought about asking. Many times. It never… I never got around to it," Hermes said, staring with hollow eyes at the fire, his lips still pulled in a smile that wasn't so much desperate as pained in the baring of his teeth.

Apollo might be unable to settle, but it wasn't for a lack or fear of commitment. Hermes, however, was unable to settle exactly for such a fear, flittering around his lovers, divine and mortal alike, as a bee does visit flowers, heavy with pollen and nectar but never returning to one it'd already visited.

"I'm going to ask my dear uncle for him to be sent back at some point, though. Not yet, he deserves a bit of rest, but at some point. What do you think?"

Ἑλένης Ἀπαίτησις is my current WIP! It won't be a longfic like my other ones, but it'll be... maybe somewhere between 20-30k I think. We'll see. It's the sequel to The Sea to Carry Us, touching specifically on the time around the Achaeans landing at Troy and the embassy to request Helen back.

The title is in Greek because I stumbled over this definition of "apaitesis" while reading an article: "If on the one hand you are willing, I request; while if you are not willing, I demand back." (Andokides, second oration.) Which would be hard to encompass easily in English, so I'm keeping the Greek. (The Long Years is the sequel to THAT, whenever I get to it. Basically it'd be "the rest of the Cypria" and the nine years up to the Iliad. The Journey There would be the part of Paris' journey to Sparta that I skipped in This Pleased the Heart of Aphrodite, featuring his visit to Salamis and his short stay with the Dioskouroi.)

Snippet!

Kassandra shook her head. No, he wouldn't abandon Troy. Glancing over her shoulder, out the window which didn't actually show the plain out across the Skamander and even less at the right angle to see south towards Tenedos, she stopped pacing. Worried her fingers, rubbing the rings and her nails.

Why stop and attack Tenedos, so close to Troy? The Achaeans attacking Teuthrania had been understandable - the gods had clearly been involved, turning heads and reason to make the Achaeans miss where Troy was, and then to continue so far past it until they thought they'd found the right city. But Tenedos? It might be under her father's authority, but it certainly wasn't Troy. That must be obvious.

So why? What would happen now? How quickly would Troy fall?

Shivering, Kassandra hugged herself. Why assume Troy would fall? There were walls, thicker than any man-made wall could ever dream to be, built more finely than any mortal hands could ever produce, around Troy. And if at least some of the gods had protected them four years ago, misleading the Achaeans once, why wouldn't they now still be?

She just hated not knowing.

(This is about Kassandra, you say? Indeed it does start with Kassandra. :) For Reasons.)

[andifthestarsweretodie]

I got tagged,,,, that makes me so happy. thanks @reunalordi

Star Sign: aquarius :)

Favourite Holiday: i do not have one. i don't like any of them.

Last Meal: Beef and broccoli noodles! I'm so happy that I can get myself to eat some kind of vegetables now. It's been a long road and we're not done yet lol

Current Favourite Musician: .....hiiragi kirai (vocaloid producer). do vFlower and Hatsune Miku count as musicians.

Last Music Listened To: Becane - Yame, listened to that a second ago. Before that I was listening to Afrobeats and before that I was listening to vocaloid.

Last Movie Watched: If documentaries count, I watched "Trust No One: Hunt for the Crypto King" on Netflix a couple days ago.

Last TV Show Watched: the K-drama "Queenmaker" on Netflix. I love when women are fucked up, smart and evil.

Last Book/Fic Finished: It's been so long I don't remember. I have brain fog and chronic fatigue syndrome so reading things is really difficult at the moment. Makes me so sad.

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: Abandoned? I don't really abandon much but that's because I don't pick up much in the first place.

Currently Reading: Nothing I'd own up to (I have left too many thing abandoned for too long to say I'm still "currently" reading them). I could say that I'm reading "Three Daughters of Eve" by Elif Shafak and "So Long A Letter" (again) by Mariama Ba.

Last Thing I Researched For Writing/Art/Hyperfixation: The last thing I made a whole document about was burn scars and treatments + healing thereof. My MC is a house fire survivor.

Favourite Online Fandom Memory: saving all the anime images and memes off Google Plus in like 2014.

Favourite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: Black Butler maybe? I'm not the kind to actively and actually participate in fandom spaces beyond reblogs.

Favourite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had An Active Or Big "Fandom" But You Wish It Did: I don't wish to be part of a big fandom for anything.

Tempting Project You're Trying To Rein In/Don't Have Time For: my secret project that i genuinely haven't told anyone about (that's a big thing for me because while i love being private, i have a proclivity to share things even when i don't want to), my main book wip at the moment The King of Mycenae and then my visual novel The Hyacinth Cafe. Yes that is a lot of things.

I'm tagging @monkbeauregard, @nonsensical-pendulum, @pie-bean and @voidthing <3 oh and @bluehourskyeli and @radioactive-tiefling

[streets-in-paradise]

may i ask, whats the final family? what would that oneshot, and the golden chains fic, be about?

Hi!!!

OMG thanks for asking :)

Well, to start Final Family is a concept - nickname luna ( @losersclubisms ) and i came up to name the group of Chucky survivors in an AU we are constantly working on. Is not a consistent fic with chapters (yet) but more of a concept we gravitate arround writing ideas in short oneshots or drabbles. To briefly summarize, is an AU where the adults from the movies take the young kids from the show under their wing. The nickname " Final Family" comes from the fact that they are all final people. Since Chucky dedicated decades to destroy countless families and they are all whats left, together they make one final family made of final people.

Most of the time we write comfort fics to give the characters a bit of the warm touch that the canon constantly deprives them of. In this one I was writing Lexy, Glen and Glenda playing with Caroline and accidentally giving Nica reminders of Alice that they later try to comfort her about.

Now about Golden Chains, that is the title of the wip for my 23 chapter (soon to be posted) in a precuel fic to the movie Troy (2004). This fic is x reader, but it also serves as my attempt to imagine many events from the epic cycle that were scrapped from the movie. I integrate characters that were deleted and things that were not presented, but making them fit into the tone of the film while also taking my own creative licenses.

Is, i believe, my most ambitious work so far. Is a reader insert fic, but also a space for experiment with all sorts of " what if this event/character would have been included? How can i imagine the film would have reimagined them? ". The title comes from a piece of dialogue that holds significance for the issue this chapter centers on.

In case you are curious, is this short line of dialogue:

----------------------------------------------

Hector had a more eloquent objection in mind. 

“ Golden chains are still chains, your highness. My people will not submit to Agamemnon, not by the blade but neither by the charm of a princess "

----------------------------------------------

Reproducing it out of context will not make much sense, so i will explain the metaphor.

The movie Troy makes a reinterpretation of the war that speaks less about mediterranean bronze age than of our modern world. The greeks are a metaphor for USA militar interventionism and my fic digs deep into that. In the film Odysseus is presented as a king from a satelite-like poor kingdom that follows the mycenaeans because they have no chance resisting their power.

In this metaphor the film already has where Agamemnon = USA, i'm imagining Ithaca in the position of a third world country and Odysseus as a smart leader that pretends to follow the colonialist commands, but actually serves his best interests. For so, since my fic is a precuel, Odysseus is trying to be a political bridge between the both big powers of the time ( mycenae and troy) and take his good advantage on both.

" Golden Chains " is a metaphor for this apparently convenient sounding colonialism, but also for latent fears for the possibilities of a future arranged marriage that are being awakened in the heirs of the trojan and mycenaean crowns.

Sorry it took me this long to reply, i'm gonna try to cut the ramble here lol

[mycelium-bats]

introduction post <3

hello !! I am Ado or AJ. he/him - white

• I am an 18 yr old studying conservation and ecosystem restoration. I do art and writing on the side

• I am a physically disabled ambulatory wheelchair user

• I am autistic, as well as have multiple learning disorders. I am mid-support level and ask for patience when interacting with me

• I am a trans gay man :3

My special interest is mycology PLEASE ask me about it. I promise I’ll be normal about it. My favorite mushroom species is Mycena Lucentipes. My favorite movie is LOTR: The Return of the King. I have a huge love for solarpunk/aetherpunk/sci fi fantasy settings and am always looking for recommendations.

Current Story WIP: Championing the Aether (working title)

Current Commissions Status: Upcoming

[katherinehillierillustration]

Some illustrations I made for my WIP book about ancient greek mythology, but now I’m not gonna use em, so I thought I’d post them now.

These are drawings of actual IRL ancient greek artefacts. INC:

A golden death-mask from ancient city of Mycenae, made around 1525 BC, said to be mask of legendary King Agamemnon (by which I mean there is no solid fact to support this, somebody just named it so to make it seem more cool)

Bust of Hippocrates the physician. This bust was in fact a Roman copy of an older Greek original. From around 400 BC

A painted lekythos vessel from around 530 BC

A silver Athenian tetradrachm coin. Because Athena was the patron goddess of Athens, Athenian coins often bore her symbol; the little owl. Made around 450 BC

my Instagram www.instagram.com/katherinehillierart

my Etsy store www.etsy.com/uk/shop/katherinelhx

my Redbubble store www.redbubble.com/people/sadnettles

my webcomic www.tapas.io/series/Olena

+*+ support living artists! +*+

[ersatzlace]

MMmmmm boi I am in LOVE with my new child. *o*

Top three are © Mycena Cave and by the artist King, @vitamango on Tumblr and god I am still not over how well this child turned out. QuQ

I’m still playing around with their design and character, tentatively named Ink, they’re probs gonna go through many iterations before I get something I’m truly 100% satisfied with but ey, it’s a WIP. As it is, they’re still a blank slate character-wise.

[the-starlight-writer]

Snippet Sunday

my first snippet sunday in years! saw some come across my dash and i actually wrote today so here, please enjoy this:

True to his word, Dylann scheduled him an appointment and so quickly he was in front of his doctor. He managed to say some words about things he’s started to hear and see. He watched his doctor take notes and suggest new doses of his medication. He stared unblinking into the light shone into his eyes, looking up and down and sideways as prompted. Ear checks and bloods being drawn. His doctor gave him a clear bill of health, told him to call if anything worsened. Hallucinations could be attributed to issues with his thyroid, malnutrition, the dreaded ‘p’ word psychosis… a lot of things. But he wasn’t to worry, that everything would be fine because he had no personal or family history of autoimmune disease or schizophrenia. Told him to sleep well and take care of himself. So all of those things he did, eating more fruit and vegetables, more protein, taking his vitamins more proactively, drinking more water, trying to sleep more hours. He did all of it.  But the lily didn’t dissipate the way he’d hoped it would.

Kept it short today, trying to be mysterious and all lol. Have a good Sunday and I hope your week to come turns out splendid :)

[the-starlight-writer]

TKoM Character Intro: Aurae

Aurae d'Inciense. 21. One half of the main antagonist pair. she/her but apathetic about it. princess of the current royal family.

faerie with massive deer ears. competitive. combative. poorly socialised acolyte of her mother. would like to describe herself as cunning but is naive and straightforward in a simple minded sort of fashion. curious. repressed. lonely. violent, injury ridden, devoted.

youngest of three siblings, only daughter of the current crown. was chosen as successor despite the existence of her older brothers. close with her handmaiden, Orchid. afraid of the world because she's been told the world hates her. would like to learn what this love that people speak of is.

[the-starlight-writer]

Magic in TKoM's Faerie I: Relationships to Magic

Hello again! Join me in this post in my worldbuilding series as I talk about my magic system! This is another Q&A format style post with questions by @wondrousworldbuilding and members of my discord. The questions can be found here.

What is the relationship between magic/non-magic people? Why?

In Faerie, those who don't have a relationship to magic are considered disabled. This is because most fae are born with a connection to magic whether strong or weak, meaning if you have none at all, it would be considered a disability. There are definitely some discrimination in existence but people without magic can still be functioning, exceptional members of Fae society. They usually do civil service in the form of clerical work, archiving and craft arts.

If a child is born without a strong magic affinity to parents that do have a strong affinity for it, they are more likely to be nurtured and given accommodations than be cast out, especially among lower and middle class families. They're likely to be sent to vocational schools and given disability aids in the occasion that they require such aids on a daily basis. In noble families however, it is very much not uncommon for disabled children to be cast out and replaced via scouting for children at magic academies. This is because magic blood is very important to noble fae as it keeps them in line for the throne and stops people from underestimating them. Having a disabled child in a noble bloodline would be considered an embarrassment.

What causes some fae not to have an affinity with magic?

Sometimes it's genetics. Sometimes it's a curse or an illness that prevents the core from forming properly prior to birth. Sometimes it's because the two magic types of your parents don't mesh well. Sometimes it's just bad luck.

How does their fertility work? Are they able to have a lot of children or is that a rare occurrence?

Considering the fact that a faerie's magic core needs to be knitted prior to birth, complications with that can lead to fertility issues. Fae with low magic levels are more likely to have multiple children. Nobility/ fae with strong magic have longer gestation periods and tend to have fewer children. This is one of the reasons why it's so common for members of the court to have multiple spouses beyond the simple desire for companionship. Having a child can deplete your own magic levels and it takes a while for them to recover. If your magic capacity is small, the recovery period takes less time.

If a faerie has a lot of magic, they'll need more recovery time but some skirt around this by having children with different partners so that their required magic levels can be "replenished" by the other partner. Take the following example: a faerie has a magic level of 1500 arbitrary units. A child coming from this faerie would require 850 units per pregnancy. This faerie just had a child recently so they have a magic level of 1000 units, not enough to use to create a child without putting themself in danger so they have a child with someone has a high magic level so they make up the unit difference at conception. All three children of the current royal family were sired by different men.

What is the source of the magic? How is it accessed?

The gods are the ultimate source but magic exists in the land they created. It is everywhere, in everything. Some things have higher concentrations than others, the same can be said for some places, and some people have more than others. It's accessed through training and excesses are accessed through devotion and study.

How are magic spells performed? Does one have to do something specific to access it? Why?

Spells are performed through ritual but more commonly through incantation or a combination of the two. These spells are learned in school but depending on what you want to be able to do, apprenticeship or further study is required. That's why archivists are so important, they keep each region's spell records. Each region hides their spells from each other. Projectile magic used as weapons also needs to be studied extensively but it's usually only the nobles who has access to these records.

From where is power drawn?

Magic is drawn from the environment and the core that (almost) all fae are born with. Magic cannot be produced in a vacuum and one must be taught how to properly channel it. You can channel it from birth technically but not constructively e.g. you can manipulate water from birth as a water fae but you can't make it do anything per se.

To avoid this post from becoming too long, I'm going to end it here! Feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments or on WBW or STS, whenever really. See you next time!

[the-starlight-writer]

Religion in TKoM's Faerie I: Intro to the Gods

Hello! In my previous worldbuilding blog post, I made reference to religious figures and gods of Faerie! Who are they? How many of them are there? What are they in charge of? What do their ceremonies entail? All excellent questions! I aim to answer them (at least briefly) in this post series!

Who are the Faerie Gods? There are two gods involved in the creation and passive maintenance of Faerie as we know it. Previously just spirits, the story goes as follows: two spirits decided to pool their mana and create a people to dote on and become parent to since spirits cannot procreate. The Goddess most revered out of the pair is known by many names including "Lady Rowan" and "Green Mother". Her actual, holy name is Miele-Ara (me-el-ay ⋅ ah-rah).

[Alt text: A portrait picrew of a brown-skinned woman with a pair of goat horns twisting upwards. Her hair is long, wavy and a honey brown colour. She is wearing a holey white halter top and an off-shoulder dress. The background of the image is white. The woman is haloed by a green circle.]

Miele-Ara is designated ruler over the living, the ground and the things that grow from it. She is worshipped generally and most religious customs that are part of the Faerie Calendar and general life are related to her.

Her religious counterpart and fellow god is named Malaran (mah-la-ran). Similar to Miele-Ara, they are addressed by a variety of names including "the Night Watchman".

[Alt text: A portrait made in the Djarn picrew depicting a humanoid figure with a large number of eyes, black horns and ears reminiscent of a dragon or reptile's. The sclera of all their eyes are black while the irises are purple. All of the eyes are looking in different directions. The figure is wearing an ornate necklace and grey/black clothing.]

In a way complementary to Miele-Ara, Malaran's domain is in the abstract and yet concrete things like knowledge, astronomy, research of a esoteric nature; the night and the unknown and the things that live in it.

As their sacred texts are more difficult to understand and have generally never been part of the wider religious culture of Faerie with the exception of those who live in the lands most closely linked to his kind of magic, worship and reverence of Malaran is often seen as occult and dangerous. But Malaran is gentle, sweet and kind. Malaran is patient and loving, anxious and tender. Miele-Ara on the other hand? Not so motherly as people like to romanticise her to be.

In additional posts in this worldbuilding series, I'll go into more detail about their specialities and the methods of worshipping both of them + some folktales! See you next time.

[the-starlight-writer]

Royalty in TKOM's Faerie

Doing STS again makes me realise how little information there is about the worldbuilding of my fantasy book is available to those of you who haven't been in my discord server for the past four years (wow, it's been. a long time since I started that discord - I think I might need a lie-down just thinking about it). Hopefully this will be the first in a few worldbuilding posts!

How Royal Families and Royalty Traditionally Work in Mycenae The lands of Faerie are roughly separated into magic regions. These borders weren't decided by city planners but rather by terrain, ecology and concentration of different forms of magic. Each of these regions are home to indigenous types of fae (water fae, fire fae, earth fae etc) but many of these regions are diversely populated. These regions are equivalent to constituencies or counties in the human world.

Each of these regions is governed by a court made up of powerful fae indigenous to that region. These powerful fae make up the nobility of that region and the strongest bloodline that produces the most powerful faerie is considered equivalent to that region's royal family. They are referred to as the head family. For example, the Water Faerie Court is headed by M. Langlist, a wheelchair-using water faerie akin to a mermaid. One could call her the queen of water faeries and she is the leader of the water region's head family.

Each region's head family is a member of the Hyler Court, the overall nobility/governing body of Faerie. According to tradition, the royal family of all lands is selected from this group of royals by the Goddess of Blood, Clay and Earth, Miele-Ara (me-el-ay ⋅ ah-rah). The detailed criteria that She makes use of is unknown to most. The selected royal family rules over Faerie for three generations of monarchs before a ceremony is held to determine the next royal family.

How Royalty Currently Works In Mycenae

Following the coup that overthrew and slaughtered the previous heads of state, the Minde family of void allegiance, beloved by both Goddess of Goods and Physicality and the God of the Metaphysical, Knowledge and Mysticism, the d'Inciense family became the reigning royal line.

Members of the current royal family are deeply disliked by many of the general populace for their acts of heresy in overturning the will of the Goddess and their general lack of religious subservience. They are also deeply disliked by the types of faerie favoured by Malaran, the God of Darkness and Thought, for their deeply bigoted and targeted hate campaigns against void fae. These campaigns include the wholesale encouragement of void fae elimination from mainstream faerie society and support of actions of heinous violence against them.

Aurae d'Inciense, one of the 4 main characters, is the Crown Princess of the current royal family. She is seldom seen save for in the shadow of her mother Liliane, better known as the Armored Lady. She was named to be the next monarch despite her two older brothers due to her affinity for the magic carried within her bloodline compared to her siblings. Not much is known about their magic specialty as the d'Inciense clan was considered a fringe branch of the Earth Fae Court that was seldom seen or heard from prior to the decade leading up to the coup.

Many wonder if they intend to hand over the monarchy after Aurae's descendant ascends to the throne but their attitude toward tradition thus far do not suggest any plans of the sort.

[the-starlight-writer]

Culture in TKoM's Faerie I: General Foundations of the Land

Hello! Welcome again! Today, we're going to be talking culture. "Culture" is a very broad topic so for this post, we're mainly going to be talking about the world itself and how it's set up. These are questions I got asked a long time ago in my discord server so this post is mostly going to be in the form of a Q&A. Most of these questions came from a list collated by @wondrousworldbuilding. The list can be found here.

How content is the average person?

6, 7/10. Life is okay, people are content. Things could definitely be a lot better especially considering the fact that void fae are being actively targeted and persecuted and that there's an unrest among the people since the last royal family was deposed.

How do people make their living and how big a part of their life is their career?

Some fae have arbitrary but fundamental jobs in roles and sectors like agriculture, food production, pharmacy and teaching. Careers on a whole are not required. A large percentage of the population do have jobs as healers, as bakers, artisans etc, but those who don't get by just fine either because they're being supported by relatives or because they're "civil servants", meaning they work for and are subsidised by the government. Civil servitude doesn't necessarily mean that they do clerical work but it does include that. Civil servants can also be commissioned artists, archivists, artisans, tapestry artists, collectors, weavers, elders, skilled magic practitioners, winery owners, authors etc. These positions are considered government jobs because Faerie highly values luxury and a high standard of living.

How do they treat their close friends?

That's more dependent on the fae themselves but earth fae and void fae tend to be very close knit and treat friends like family.

What virtues do they value in individuals? What virtues do they say they value? If those are different, why?

Generally the virtues most valued in individuals are secrecy and loyalty. The traits stated as most highly valued are trust and empathy but really, everyone wants to keep their best interests in mind and secrets protected from prying eyes.

How do they dress? Does it vary greatly by gender, or not? Is their focus on clothing very practical, religious, sentimental, or simply driven by the latest arbitrary fashion? How do the above answers reflect on the culture on a deeper level?

Styles of dress are cultural and are adapted to fae types and their magic. For example, fire fae don't wear lots of excess layers and tend to wear heat-resistant fabrics. Air fae wear a lot light clothes that flutter in the wind. They also wear aerodynamic clothes as well in case they need to fly. The concepts of masculinity and femininity do exist in Faerie but people are liberty to play around with expression as they see fit. The definitions of gendered fashion have changed slightly over time and more traditional fae whose clothing is deeply cultural do prefer to keep the gender divide somewhat prominent. Undoubtedly religious attire exists but seeing regular fae in that kind of garb is highly unlikely on a day-to-day basis.

At what age does a baby become a child, a child a young adult, a young adult an adult, an adult an elder?

Faerie ages are a little odd. Babies become children when they first start demonstrating outward magical proficiency and a way of deft communication. Children become young adults when their markings fully emerge, their magic proficiency (or lack thereof) is evident and they experience biological development. Adulthood is the completion of biological development and magic proficiency is well demonstrated. Being an elder is once you've existed as long as one complete generation, usually around 100, 150 years.

What is Faerie's understanding of and relationship with art?

Faerie started considering art important after a faerie's human companion pointed it out to them. visual art didn't mean much but that didn't mean they didn't have it. Some of the most famous pieces are landscape works because the world was so intricately designed that there's imagery in the hills and in the waters, especially from above. Each fae type has a kind of art that comes naturally to them e.g earth fae tend to lean toward pottery and ceramics while fire fae do a lot of metalwork.

How do the fae think of pronouns and gender?

Most people are willing to go by they/them pronouns because gender doesn't mean a lot to them but there are some people who are close to their AGAB. It's very up in the air how people identify. Some people never attach to their AGAB at all and go exclusively by they/them. Some people feel a connection to their AGAB but are okay with they/them because of the cultural backing. Other people feel very close to their AGAB and reject the idea of being nonbinary entirely but that doesn't change how it works in Faerie. This has no real effect on presentation though

Once again we have come to the end of a worldbuilding post. See you again soon for the next entry in the series!

[the-starlight-writer]

Religion in TKoM's Faerie II: Folk History and Pop Culture

Welcome back to my worldbuilding post series! Today, we're going to talk some more about the gods in Faerie and the way they interact with their followers. Click here for to find the previous entry in this series if you missed it!

Folk History As we know, Miele-Ara is what could be described as a creator goddess. She moulded the land to her liking, creating the spirits and magic deposits in the regions. She is the one who blessed the waters and the skies, who moulded the different forms of fae into existence. She is the one who created Faerie on a whim. She wanted children and more than that she wanted love in the form of worship. She was never all that concerned about the nuances of how that worship would come about.

Malaran, on the other hand, is like the loving step-parent of Faerie, there from the start but not the one who moulded all of them by hand. There are some regions that he spent more time moulding than Miele-Ara did, these regions that later became described as "void-touched" or, more negatively, "void-stained". Malaran is the god of the intangible, bigger things. He is the one who helped them develop knowledge and language, the one who held steadfast in his love of record-keeping and archival practices. Malaran is known as the Void God. He is the keeper of the darkness and one might even say they are the darkness. But they'd be wrong.

Perceptions in Faerie Pop Culture The perceptions of the gods in Faerie culture is very divided in that Miele-Ara's worship is ubiquitous but generally misunderstood by the masses and worship of Malaran is often treated as the act of those who cling to an occult sect or those who don't understand much about Malaran's character.

Their perceptions are partially based on the contrast between their appearances and their internal characters.

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Based solely on the colour palettes of their images and the way they are depicited, it is easy to imagine that the soft, feminine woman is representative of maternal love and peaceful growth while the dark horned figure with many eyes is ghoulish and macabre but you'd have it backwards.

Miele-Ara has been known to be quick to anger, with there being records of her razing heretical villages to the ground. She is not known for mercy but for burning rage, what her most devout followers would call righteous justice. Whose definition of justice she subscribes to is yet to be seen. Her rituals advocate for the use of blood, bones, herbs, flowers and crops she has bestowed upon the people. She is the guide of the economically inclined, the ones who create the home and the ones who feed it. She is known as the Goddess of Blood, Clay and Earth. Her most devout followers make up the people in a secluded sect known only as the Garden. In modern times, Miele-Ara is seen and heard from less and less as people make her festivals and worship practices into general aspects of daily life and culture instead of explicit reverence. She spends time with her most devout, followers she calls children, and only shows up to genuine displays of worship led by the people and her appointed priests. She is neither very present in malice or protection as she used to be.

Contrary to Miele-Ara, Malaran is well-known for mercy and patience, a practitioner of gentle parenting with the fae. One folk story tells a tale of how Malaran, whose hair makes up the night sky, learnt to pull back their long billowing locks to allow the sun to shine through. He adorned himself with shining jewels, stars, so that when the night fell, the fae would not be alone in the dark. Malaran is slow to anger and tender to a fault. In pop culture, not much is known of Malaran or talked of him. This is due to misguided notions about his personality and his practices, fueled by the likes of the d'Inciense family especially. As his domain is solidly found in the metaphysical and some faeries who have a strong magical bond with him develop powers related to things like necromancy and mind alteration, there is a general fear and hesitation associated with them. Malaran is only generally in frequent commune with his high-ranking nuns, priestesses that double as religious figureheads and archivists. However, he does speak to his children, the void fae, in dreams quite frequently as he is very fond of and concerned for them in general.

That's all for this installment! Thank you for making all the way to the end. See you next time!