Fantasy Writing - Blog Posts
Chapter 1: Present time
This chapter contains themes that may be sensitive to some readers, including:
References to past violenceMentions of death, Light school stress and academic pressure, Brief mention of dangerous creatures and plants (idk how sensitive are yall but hell yeah), Mild language.
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Hagarin's POV After many years, we are finally old enough to leave the institution and live independently in the city. My sisters and I are still together and living under the same roof. I also saw several changes in ourselves as we grew up.
And today, both Hanari and I are 15 years old. We spent years studying within the facility and never had the opportunity to attend a regular school. Now that we are living alone, we can finally attend school. I considered staying at home and do houseworks while my two sisters continue with their studies, but Hanari insisted that I should as well.
We all know that education will always be important in many aspects in lives.
In the world we live in, survival demands sharp minds—not just sharpened by magic, but by the brutal chaos we humans created for ourselves.
We’re still human, I suppose. Just tainted—twisted by the very magic that makes me wonder: is this still humanity, or were we meant to become something else entirely?
The world has grown far more advanced ever since magic spread across it. Nothing feels impossible anymore. Some have forgotten where they came from. Others cling to old traditions and beliefs. And then there are those who simply don’t care.
Maybe that’s why the world feels so loud. Everyone’s different now, and no one seems willing to accept what we’ve become.
Look around, and you might see flying cars soaring through the skies of this city. In another, people ride enchanted brooms as their everyday transport. Everything and everyone is different—blended together in a strange mix of magic, machines, and habits.
But here…
I live in a city considered the richest in the world. The nation itself—Aloy—owes its wealth to vast oil reserves. Oil money built everything here. Because of that upper hand, nearly everything is accessible. Magic, technology, luxury—you name it. In Aloy, nothing feels out of reach.
What this city values most, though, isn’t oil—it’s metal. Preserved, traded, revered. I think it’s because the city was once ruled by a god whose very touch could turn anything into metal. Not figuratively—literally. Stone, wood, even flesh. Everything he touched became metal.
And that kind of power leaves a mark. On the land, on the people, on the way we see worth.
But that might not matter now. What matters is that every morning, we follow a certain timetable. I get up early to cook our breakfast, and Hanari and our younger sister will get up early to prepare for school. When they're finished, we'll all enjoy breakfast together. After that, Hanari will wash the dishes as I prepare for school, and our younger sister will assist in putting the plates back in the drawers.
That routine goes on and on everyday.
Sharing what has just happened at the school we attend is stressful, at least for me and Hanari. Our younger sister is stress-free since she is still young and a kindergarten student.
Lately, we have been learning many magic spells, doing scientific experiments, studying a bunch of literature and theses, and many more.
I can say that studying magic spells and doing scientific experiments will help us discover what elemental power we possess.
As I listen to my journalism teacher, I'm fighting the urge to fall asleep. She was now discussing the significance of magic, particularly how it began.
"Magic is important to everyone. No matter how unfair or how much chaos it brings to our lives." she went on to say. "And, in the beginning, the use of magic was legalized as a weapon to defend ourselves, but I have to warn everyone not to be such a prick when it comes to using magic." She giggled, went to the board, and began writing.
"To be exact, 8290 years ago, magic was discovered by a witch," she said, making my focus adjust to her as I listened. I was intrigued. "That witch was none other than Victoria Lemioska." It intrigued the whole class. "Also known as; Victo. Now that you all came to a realization, in all places in the world, her face, and statues are everywhere. As we are all deeply connected with her discovery of the magic," she said before turning to us once again.
"Since Victo is a witch, she first discovered a spell to make a withered plant come back to life." The teacher pulled out a withered rose and used magic to bring it back to a healthy life while it floated in the air. "Victo discovered that spell and named it Resuscitate."
"As time passes by, more spells are discovered by her."
"You can learn it in your spell class."
"But as a journalist, I have seen her notebook filled with magical spells; half of it is forbidden to be used as it casts irreversible damage to anything." She snapped her fingers, making an image of the notebook appear in the air.
We all gazed up, awestruck. It's quite a hefty notepad. Though the object is significantly tarnished due to its age, I can see that the writing on the notepad is still legible and readable to anybody. However, I was attracted by the prohibited magic. I feel that the banned spells are not included in the magic books that are handed to us.
when the image disappeared and the rose landed on her desk. "The notebook was located in our national museum, the Metallica Museum." Our teacher was about to speak again, but then a student raised their hand.
"Ma'am, what about the five major elements?" A student asked.
"The five major elements were discovered by Baili Hermin," our teacher stated. "He was also a journalist like me, and of course, being a journalist requires traveling around the world to explore many things."
"Fun fact, he also used to work under the branch of media analyst, wherein I also work." She proudly claimed. "Moving on, it may sound unrealistic, but Baili met Victoria in a desert. Baili was almost attacked by a lion, but Victo blinded the lion with a spell and took Baili to a cave."
"There's proof, no matter how unrealistic, that Baili's diary was found, and it was also in the museum. He documented his whole journey of travelling around the world, and the most highlighted part of his diary was the discovery of the five major elements."
"He discovered it because of Victo. Baili wrote everything about what Victo said about magic spells, making it more believable that magic spells exist."
"When the article reached many people, the majority of the people started to panic, and out of panic, everyone else planned to execute Victo. The reason is that Victo is nothing but an outcast in the world; possessing magic is absurd and unbelievable."
"And yet, we are here, prone to using magic," our teacher said.
"The elements were discovered when Victo was executed; a light escaped from her chest, making it explode through the sky. It landed on humans, animals, and most importantly, plants."
"Which resulted in why we have species in the forest that are completely dangerous and can harm your life, for example, the flower Rafflesia."
"Before the light landed on that flower, it's just the biggest flower in the world and has a foul odor to attract insects to kill."
"Now it still does its purpose, but it has the ability to stretch away from its position and follow you everywhere in the forest." Our teacher deadpanned making the whole class laughed.
"To make this quick, the five major elements landed on five humans, and those humans are now known to be the gods of those major elements." Our teacher sighed. "We are all aware that the most powerful and rare element to possess is time; in other words, you can control the time, predict what's going to happen, and there are many other signs to feel if you possess one."
"Second is nature."
"Remember, never mess with nature itself, as it was the one that gave us a reason to live in, to breathe in. The ability to possess nature grants you access to control plants and animals."
"But isn't changing the weather also a part of it?" A student asked. "Only the god of nature can do that." Our teacher chuckled. "Come to think of it, the God of Nature has a 15-year streak of absence. Many say that her aura is still around, but many also believe she has passed away, and it's just nature speaking," the teacher sighed.
"Moving on, fire is on the third."
"In my study, fire is always predicted to be possessed by someone who has such a boisterous personality, while the ice one is someone who is...restrained. However, this is just a myth. It is still mostly believed that no matter what personality you posses you'd still get whatever." our teacher summoned her book and it was probably her personalized book. It has a lot of pages and everything that was written in that book was her understanding on how to predict which element do a person possesses.
"ah, here it is." She placed her book on the desk and started reading.
"The element of fire is known to be the most fascinating, exquisite and ravishing elemental of all. It was asserted as one considering a klatsch of people are indulged to play with fire even if it only steers to harm."
"and by all means of harm, it can also be describe as destruction." she finished making the whole class whisper among themselves. "But that doesn't mean to treat someone with disrespect just because they hold that elemental power." She sighed.
THIRD PERSON'S POV
The teacher noticed the change of atmosphere in her class and sighed. "You all probably have forgotten my name but once again, my name is Renée and I hope you all learned something today." Renée glanced at her watch on her wrist.
many students started to protest on her from leaving. They still have a lot of questions with the history but that will all be answered at the next time they see each other again. Renée only stifled a chuckle at the frustrated expression of their students. Curiosity truly made their heads run wild.
"An advance reading on your textbooks won't hurt. Simply just turn your page to chapter 5 and all of your questions will be briefly answered as it provides descriptive explanation to everything." Renée finally exit the classroom.
Once she did, the students in her class opened their textbooks to discover a lot more information. As Renée exit the classroom, she went to the elevator to venture her way to her next class but she was greeted by another teacher; Kyla.
"I see you've gotten your students all pumped up. Quite a headache to deal with." Kyla scoffed as she pressed on the buttons. It only made Renée shrug. "Don't act like you aren't as curious as them when you're at that age." Renée retorted to only make Kyla chuckle and let Renée's tone slide for now. "I assumed you've found someone with a rare element in this class. Hmm?" Kyla's eyes watched Renée's expression from the reflections of the elevator.
"It was such a rare occurrence indeed." Renée remembered Hagarin. "Her eyes are different from the rest. The colors were a lot more dull than the others making it more accessible to assume that she was an extraordinary person." Renée thoughtfully answered. "And this by this she you are referring to, who is she?" Kyla averted her eyes from Renée and focused on the door as it opened. a small ding was heard as they reached the floor. Renée walked ahead of Kyla but spoke before leaving. "Hagarin."
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2,022 words.
Chapter 2
Writing Prompt #2
“I swear to whichever god is listening right now, if I have to bring you back from the brink of death ONE MORE TIME, I’m going to kill you myself.”
"You do now" yelled someone from what HAD to be an upstairs. "I, Bob, the builder demon, have renovated your house for the low low price of living in the attic!"
"I guess I was right then" said the first one to speak.
The second one to speak didn't reply. He had fainted.
No upstairs
"I keep hearing footsteps upstairs."
"That’s impossible. We don’t have an upstairs."
Ooh cool! Sounds like a great idea! Have fun ^_^
Elisis
Elisis is a fantasy worldbuilding project I have going on for many years. Since I was younger, I dreamt of creating a huge infinite fantasy universe full of unique planets to explore, each with its own civilizations, creatures, etc. I finally decided a name for this universe, and now its called Elisis.
Works/WIPs
In this universe, there are multiple works that i will be doing, think of MCU for example. I want to do movies, books, everything! Those are my biggest goals.
☆ The Mythology of Elisis
> Book explaining the mythologies from around the universe. Including the pantheon from each planet, their gods, goddesses, mythological creatures, and also superstitions.
☆ The Elisis Monstruary
> A book with all the creatures/monsters of Elisis. (Yes, all of them, from every planet)
☆ Tales of Elisis
> A book series showing you all the tales and short stories told by all the civilizations.
Biggest goals
☆ This project is massive and my biggest goal is to finish it (the worldbuilding)
☆ My other biggest goals are to create a movie script and multiple books.
☆ Fill an entire sketchbook with creatures/characters from Elisis.
In conclusion, I set a goal for myself to do as much worldbuilding as possible this month of November. Call this a challenge for me, haha.
*struggles while writing* i suck and writing is hard
*remembers some ppl use ai* i am a creative force. i am uncorrupted by theft and indolence. i am on a journey to excellence. it is my duty to keep taking joy in creating.
Mary Sue the most loved and admired girl at cherrific sunflower academy! Where did they go? Why did she disapeared? Is he still lost in the forest? Why would clown vampire girl do that? But Oh well lets all remember their most famous quote "Everything is more fun if you put a ribbon bow on top!!<3"
CHAPTER ONE OF MY STORY HERE!! :3c
RATPACK MY GUYY!!! NASTY MAN!!
Ratpack The Fool
A sketch of Ratpack The Fool.
A wry man sat before them, cross-legged, fingers intertwined beneath a lemony grin. Waxen skin held still between a mishap, of multi-coloured patchworks.
“O, Strangers~ O, what an interesting bunch, where dost thou venture to?” he smiled, a gleam in those coal eyes. Fingers stroking at his bald chin.
AAAAA THE BABIES. I absolutely adore the design and history of the Qulux. You always go above and beyond in your work.
Creatures of Catalaxia
Pt.1 - Qulux
Qulux are large, omnivorous creatures native to the Arath-dur mountains, formerly within the territories of The Farathir. Qulux are one of the more intelligent non-sapient species, beaten most notoriously by the long-extinct Drakken. Due to their level of intelligence as well as their amiability, they are a favoured mount and pet of the Ines'tur people of Arath-dur.
Notably, they are utilised as one-half of the Cloudherders, a job taken on by both Qulux and their Ines'tur rider. This culturally significant job entails; guiding and splitting clouds, general reconnaissance and maintaining clan borders. The Ines'tur supposedly believe that the minds of their ancestors dwell in the clouds; that to guide the clouds is to calm them. Though the mountains are a known epicentre of weather.
Evidence suggests that Qulux may have resided in much of the wider Farathir and Valamere territories, but may have been pushed back to Arath-dur by both overhunting and the increasing threat of the Basur'drakar.
I literally love her sm ehehe. I'm always so excited to learn more about your work and characters, which are always so carefully and thoughtfully crafted. I cannot express how happy I am to see you sharing it!
Beginning the Tales of Catalaxia
[Pictured: Enethir; a rough draft of my protagonist]
I slowly create my heartfelt project which is currently named: Tales of Catalaxia (not an official title). An exploration of the human condition, our reaction to what is different, and the devastation of war. My love for people and my confused bewilderment of our atrocities. It's a fantastically framed exploration of the soul.
Hopefully, I will continue to document the progress of my writing and the art I create for it. Though I may also share other unrelated art, possibly of; oc's, landscape studies, style studies, writing studies, etc. All support is welcomed as well as any branching/ communicating, I'm happy to make friends or acquaintances.
Originally a Twitter Thread, with the help of Thread Reader
Baldolino Calvino🏳️🌈🚩🇧🇷✨♻️🌱
Oct 1 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Fantasy is not science, nor philosophy, and not real (of course). This may seem obvious, but what I am trying to do is creating an exact, non-contradictory definition of fantasy, not as an art genre, but as an object of study. Not by science, but by fantastic natural history.
Fantasy - Wikipedia
"Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore."
Fantasy, Magic (not meaning prestidigitation), Mythology, and Folklore can be understood as equivalent, overlaping concepts. Wikipedia's entry is mostly tautological, circular, thus.
However, this is an article about the artistic genre, and one could say that it refers to art expression (written, musical, cinematic, other) that uses these references. This is enough for this use case, but we do not advance in an objective conceptualization of fantasy.
Fantasy (psychology) - Wikipedia
"(...) fantasy is a broad range of mental experiences, mediated by the faculty of imagination in the human brain, and marked by an expression of certain desires through vivid mental imagery."
This entry about the concept of fantasy in psychology gives a more elaborared view of it. However, what differentiates fantasy from other instances of human creativjty? The article continues: "Fantasies are associated with scenarios that are absolutely impossible."
Wikipedia's entry on Fantasy (psychology) does not give any reference to this concept, and proceeds listing the importance of Fantasy for various theoretical approaches (Freud, Klein, Lacan), or pathologies (narcissistic personality disorder, schizophrenia). It is not unified.
More revealing is Wikipedia's "History of Fantasy" (about the literary genre).
" (...) the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. The modern genre is distinguished from tales and folklore (...)"
It makes a clear distintion between ancient myths and folklore, and so-called "modern fantasy", whose first explicit representant was Scottish author George MacDonald in the late XIX century, with his novels "The Princess and the Goblin" and "Phantastes".
Important precursors were Dickens, Thackeray, Andersen, Ruskin, Morris. And MacDonald's work enormously influenced Tolkien and Lewis. One key word in this historic description of Fantasy is "speculative". And a defining characteristic of modern fantasy is the "fantasy world".
Distinctive differences of modern fantasy are the postulate of a secondary fantasy world apart from reality; fictitious by design; and narratives from a (group of) author(s) with an interpretative aim. Myths or folklore does not have any of these characteristics.
The entry goes on in a detailed description of the development of Fantasy as a literary genre, since writings about tales and legends from Middle Ages. However, one fun example of how medieval mind understood the fantastic can be seen in the novel "Baudolino" by Umberto Eco.
Most of this Wikipedia's entry is based upon https://twitter.com/john_clute and John Grant's https://sf-encyclopedia.com/fe/, published in 1997, and fully available on the internet.
More to come, be patient.
An amazing author that deserves your read!!
The General Prologue
Hello to any and all who find this post! I decided to take a chance here and post the general prologue for my fantasy novel. I've been (very slowly) chipping away at it for the last three years or so and I'm hoping hearing people's opinions on it might help to reinvigorate that spark to keep going. The chapter itself is below the cut and features elements of high fantasy, cosmic horror, animal death, and other unsettling imagery, so reader discretion is advised. Thank you for your time and attention, welcome to a small corner of my imagination :)
Prologue
“Be kind to the stranger. Give them food and drink, but never let them stay the night; the world turns real unfamiliar when the sun goes down.”
~Red Ridge Mountain Proverb~
Elisenda
Of all life’s simple pleasures, Elisenda’s favorite was sitting with her dog and watching the sunset. Every evening, once the day’s work was done, she would reward herself with a cup of tea and barley bread, soaking up the last rays of the dying sun and greeting the pale light of the newborn moon. She practiced this tradition for the better part of forty years with various companions at her side, though none could replace her sweet late husband Horatio.
It had been him who convinced her to slow down and enjoy what her late husband called “life’s little miracles.” If only he had known just how much of a miracle he was; friend, father, and husband. Elisenda saw her Horatio’s face every day in their son Alfi, another one of her former gazing companions, who had just recently taken up the habit of missing the sunset in favor of sneaking off to see the miller’s daughter after he finished his chores.
The amber of the horizon stepped back to allow the full beauty of the scarlet sun to flourish. As she sipped her tea, Elisenda broke off a small chunk of bread and tossed it down to Lady, the family dog, who enthusiastically wagged her tail for more. The drink’s warmth mixed with the cool breeze of the new night’s air, creating a sensation like no other. Elisenda closed her eyes, taking in the full majesty of nature’s splendor.
When the sun's light had finally died and the night’s bugs began to sing, Alfi had yet to return home. Usually he would be certain to get back to their farm before dark, as there were all sorts of dangerous creatures that could harm a fourteen-year-old boy. Few more minutes, then I’ll get to worrying, she thought to herself.
Elisenda gazed up at the night sky, seeing all of the stars looking down on her, wondering if they truly were angels, just as her mother had once told her. One thing that was certain, the veil that used to shine so brightly had dimmed over the course of her lifetime. No matter what religion people devoted themselves to across these lands, all acknowledged the great rip in the fabric of the sky only visible at night above the Red Ridge Mountains.
Though all beliefs had their disagreements about how to live and who to believe in, just about everyone agreed that the massive interconnected streams of light that hung high above Cairdeas were a gateway to something greater. As to what exactly that something was, once again, there were many schools of thought. In general, people called this divine phenomenon “The Veil,” and Elisenda’s farm offered a full view of its splendor.
While its beauty seemed like an eternal blessing, over the course of her lifetime, the Veil had changed. As a little girl, Elisenda could see the brilliant colors glowing and moving from her home at the southern tip of the mountain range. She remembered watching the way the green lights would shift their hue to shades of blue, then come back around to green again. The way they moved was like watching the very heavens dance, both awe inspiring and disconcerting in their sheer magnitude. Over the years, the colors seemed to burn more dimly, the streams seemed to shrink in their number, and the disappearance of this clear divine presence left Elisenda feeling even smaller than before.
She attempted to take another sip from her tea, only to realize there was none remaining. As for the bread, only the heel was left on the small linen she had wrapped it in. Lady, who had been patiently seated and ready to be fed another morsel, looked at it with longing in her aged eyes.
“Here you are, old girl.” Elisenda said as she tossed her the last of the food. “Meant to split it with you, guess I just got lost in thought. S’pose that means we’re both getting a little long in the tooth, huh?”
Lady seemed not at all bothered by the delay in delivery, instead, she was merely content to be eating. Elisenda pet her on the head, scratching between Lady’s ears with a smile. Her mind turned back to Alfi, who still had yet to return home. It’s not like him to just up and disappear like that. Her lips tightened and her heart began to race, but Elisenda kept an even tone as she spoke to her dog.
“Go find Alfi and get his ass back here, won’t you girl?” She asked.
Ever the loyal companion, Lady wagged her tail enthusiastically. She understood the command and darted off into the night without hesitation. Elisenda already felt better about the situation, having full confidence that her dog would bring her son back safely. She grabbed her chair and brought it back inside, along with her tea cup.
Elisenda grabbed a fresh candle from the cupboard and placed it in the lantern out front. She created a small flame with a strike of a knife against firesteel and a sliver of wood, careful not to let it go out as she carried it outside. When she lit the flame, she noticed just how loudly the candle crackled as it burned. Elisenda closed the latch of the lantern, muffling the noise, but it still remained the only clear sound she could hear. Only then did she realize that the candle itself was not loud, but the rest of the world around her had gone silent.
There was no familiar rustling of the corn stalks, no chirping of bugs, nor birds calling out to one another. A chill shot down Elisenda’s spine as she realized that something was deeply wrong. She wasted no time in grabbing Horatio’s old spear off the wall, quickly slipping her boots back on, and taking the lantern from beside the door. The candle within would only burn for a short while, but there was only a small yet dense stretch of forest between her and the next homestead. She hooked the light to her belt and dared to brave the darkness of the woods that divided her from her nearest neighbor, the miller. This is no time for fear. Alfi and Lady might be in trouble.
The pathways she walked day after day felt like a safe haven, leading right up alongside where the farm ended and the thicker brush began. Each step sounded as if she were throwing her foot down on the ground with all her might, but it was merely the silence of the world around her that emphasized her every movement so much. Elisenda steadied her breathing, then looked down to see the clear divide between the beaten path and the unfamiliar woods. She tightened her grip on her late husband’s spear, praying to Lugus’lumfáda for his holy protection.
Elisenda took her first step forward, then another, followed by another, with her eyes wildly darting from side to side as she continued. You’re doing this for Alfi and Lady. You’re the biggest and most dangerous thing out here. You’re going to get them back and get everyone home. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing just how far she had progressed from the safety of familiarity. The path was well behind her, yet the only sounds she heard were still the ones she was creating.
She used the tip of her spear to push aside a large tangle of downed branches and shrubbery, only to be met with two large glowing eyes staring at her. Without hesitation she thrust her weapon forward, piercing the chest of the creature before her, yet those eyes remained open. Elisenda paused, grabbing the lantern around to get a better view of the animal she had speared. A rush of emotions came over her as she looked into the lifeless face of Lady, whose canine body was inextricably conjoined to the mess of leaves and branches, contorted into an unnatural position.
Elisenda fell to her knees, covering her mouth to keep herself from loudly weeping. She examined the corpse of her beloved pet, finding far more questions than answers. Lady had scratches and rapidly drying blood over her eyes and snout, as if she had just been in a brutal fight. Across her back, thick vines rippled in and out of her skin, cutting through flesh with ease. The plants looked to be simultaneously impaled into Lady as well as bonded to her, with some small patches of fur sprouting along the twisted roots. Lady looked up at her owner, her jaw loosely dangling unnaturally wide, yet her gaze still held the same quality Elisenda had known since she was a pup. “What happened to you, sweet Lady?” She asked through tears.
The poor dog’s head remained upright, her eyes wide open. Her expression looked as though her final moments were those of a fear greater than any she had ever known, a primal terror that had overcome the entirety of her being. Against her better judgment, Elisenda looked into the eyes of her beloved dog one last time. It was then that she noticed a peculiarity in the lantern’s light, one eye was its usual dark brown color, but the other had a new greenish hue to it. That’s not right. Looks more like Alfi’s than it does Lady’s.
The candle began to crack over and over, the sign of an untrimmed wick and the flame burning out too quickly. She pulled Horatio’s spear from Lady’s grotesque carcass, dropping it on the ground and bringing the lantern near the open wound. Elisenda touched the odd patch of bare skin she had managed to skewer, fighting with all her might to keep the unspeakable thought in the back of her mind at bay. To her horror, Elisenda watched as the flesh of the open wound began to knit itself back together with plant-like fibers pulling each of the separated areas of flesh closer.
She stepped back, reaching down for the spear only to be met with a thick overlapping network of roots and vines. Elisenda turned to run, but her boots refused to move, quickly swallowed by the entangled mess of vegetation. Panicked, she opened the lantern and grabbed the dying candle to try and start a forest fire, but it was too late. Vines constructed of mixed flesh and plant fiber took hold of her arms, knocking the light to the ground.
Slithering up from the darkness, an eldritch beast, defined not by a face but by its oppressive presence, emerged from the shadows, and snaked up Elisenda’s leg until it wrapped itself around her chest. Each time she exhaled, its construction grew tighter and tighter. The light of the candle finally gave out, leaving them both in total darkness. “Lugus’lumfáda, Danu, all ye gods above are cruel monsters!” Elisenda cried out.
The clouds that veiled the moon parted, and in the pale light she saw the twisted visage of her darling Alfi, the living memory of her dear Horatio. His slack-jawed mouth took in a pained breath. The voice that emerged carried the quality of a band of disharmonious flutes, each competing to play over the others, with every word taking great effort to pry itself from his throat. “We…are…not…gods…”
What followed was a small twinge of pain at the nape of her neck. Elisenda tried to prepare herself for the experience of death, for an intense agony or an indifferent numbness, but instead she felt warmth moving through every inch of her body. In her mouth, she tasted a meal with the texture of beef but the taste of pork; and though she never chewed or swallowed, she already felt herself nurtured by the tender meat upon her tongue.
Elisenda’s mind ceased to race as her rapidly clouding thoughts floated away down a river of consciousness. She had always feared dying, she had been afraid of slipping into the darkness alone, yet here she did not feel any loneliness. She felt as though all she knew was fading away, becoming a part of something more. She did not sense the cold grasp of death; in fact, she did not feel very dead at all.
The flames in her eyes
The most recent short story I wrote.
I wouldn't call it horror, but to some it might be seen as frightening or dark. Personally I find it to be closer to fantasy.
Word count: 2298
This place, if I can call it that, feels like the strangest place I’ve ever been.
It’s so very cold here, although that might also just be my own body temperature, coming from within me. Am I cooling down this place? Though there still remains the slight chance of me being wrong about everything.
It’s far too dark to see, pitch black, darker than any place I’ve ever been .
Darker than the most cloudy of nights.
Darker than my room with the curtains closed at night.
I quietly wonder if I’m still asleep after all and decide to take a step forward to test this theory.
Unexpectedly I drop onto an unfamiliar floor.
So… I was standing when I awoke?
Not lying down?
With my hands I blindly scan the texture of the floor.
It’s colder than the air, my fingers run over something that feels like old tiles.
Damnit, why does it have to be so dark in here? If I could just see, I could have avoided falling.
Then the real question hits me: How the hell did I get here?!
Abduction?
I don’t remember a thing.
A nightmare?
It’s too real for that.
Should I wait? Would that be better? Maybe someone will rescue me.
Or perhaps this is a dream in which I must first die to wake up again?
But then I would need to get up and walk around…
After a couple of minutes of contemplating my choices, I finally decide that it’s time to get up again.
Almost embarrassingly childlike I stumble around in the dark.
Tripping over my own feet and at times an alien object, I finally reach something that could possibly be a wall.
Gently running my hands around me, I find another wall that seems to be made of something like metal bars, like those inside a prison cell. Too tight too escape from.
Still following this one might bring me to the exit.
I use the cold, rusty bars in order to move around, they feel old.
Taking one after another I carefully make my way forward.
Had this been a prison at some time? I question myself in silence.
Right, the silence.
This place seems to almost be completely without sound.
No noise of the wind, not even a little bit. Though I guess if I really want to hear it, I can just wave my arms around really quickly and create something like it.
Furthermore, there are no voices, no breathing from any other possible creature within this place.
I wonder if this might be normal or abnormal here, though both fill me with a sense of fear.
I feel my way out of the room, it seems like I’ve not been imprisoned.
Still I don’t feel any relief, because it seems to be terribly dark everywhere around me.
I find myself in what I believe to be a hallway, the walls stretch out always further than I anticipate and are made of a different kind of stone from the walls inside the cell.
I’m starting to lose hope and am just able to stop myself from panicking.
I don’t think I will get out of here.
And perhaps that might be for the best.
My thoughts turn darker than wherever I am, like it’s trying to swallow me whole. Dragging me deeper down with each desperate escape I try to make.
Perhaps I’ve been eaten by some kind of giant creature…?
If it was a creature, it would probably still be warm.
Finally I decide it’s enough and sit down hopelessly on the floor.
Yet no tears leave my eyes, they’re useless anyway.
I sit.
I wait.
I pluck my clothes, until it tires me.
I wait.
My body has now almost completely turned as cold as the floor.
My thoughts, only turning darker and darker.
I close my eyes. Well I’m not sure, perhaps they’re still open. It’s too dark to see.
I wait.
Suddenly something wakes me up as it tumbles over me. Something moving.
“Ouch.” I say even though it doesn’t hurt.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so, so sorry!” The voice breaking the silence startles me.
Echoing, I can make out that the voice most likely belongs to a girl in her late teens.
“Wait, someone else is here?” She asks frightened: “I thought I was all alone.”
“I thought so too, but I guess that’s not the case.” I answer as calmly as possible.
I feel a warm hand helping me stand back on my own feet.
“You’re so cold.” The girl whispers: “How long have you been sitting here?”
I shrug: “No idea.”
I hear her hair moving, most likely she’s turning her head to face me.
And then, I finally see something.
In the eyes of the girl, I spot what seem to be two little flames.
Two blue dancing little flames.
Two little flames that seem to have not lost hope.
Two little flames that want to escape this darkness and return back to the world of light.
“What’s going on with your eyes?” I ask without thinking.
“What do you mean?” She asks surprised.
“It’s like there’s fire coming out of them.”
She giggles: “Yeah sure, the chances of you starting to see things thanks to lying on this cold floor for so long, is pretty damn high.”
Ignoring her I ask: “Do you happen to know a way out?”
“What do you think? I almost can’t see a thing.”
“Almost?”
“Yeah, sometimes only a wall when it’s near and of course my own hands.”
I move my hands, but don’t see them. I can’t see the walls either.
“Really?” I ask.
Could it be that she’s somehow able to see more in this darkness?
She giggles again: “You really can’t see anything? You should be able to see your own hands at least.”
“No…” I hesitatingly answer, shaking my head: “But I can see your eyes.”
“That’s weird, maybe you're imagining it?” It’s clear as day that she’s not taking me seriously.
Ignoring her tone I ask: “Should we try to get out together?”
“Yes please, I’m super glad I’m not alone anymore.” I can hear a sense of fear in her voice, she seems desperately trying to hide.
The girl takes my hand, probably that there’s no way I would be able to find her once lost.
I mumble a thanks and we start walking.
“Are we inside some kind of labyrinth?” The girl complains as we find another wall.
“That might just be the case.” I answer now slightly annoyed by the girl.
“You know, it would help if you weren’t so cold all the time.”
“Sorry.” I apologize. I’ve been told this many times before. That I should act warmer if I want to have a good life. Yet, I’ve found it to be rather difficult. I’ve known what it’s like to be too warm and kind. You often get used by others.
I’ve learned my lesson and cut people off, blocked them away from me. It’s safer that way.
Feeling around with my free hand I suddenly notice a crack inside a wall.
“Hey, could you check this out?” I ask the girl.
“Sure.” In my mind she shrugs as she answers, perhaps she really did it, perhaps she didn’t.
“I think… we can break this down.” She whispers as she lets go of my hand.
I can hear her rummaging around, most likely taking out loose bricks.
“Do be careful that it won’t fall on us.” I warn her.
“Leave it to me, I can see it… though slightly. I believe this should be able to be opened up.”
I take a step back and let her handle it.
She takes out brick after brick.
“I think it’s big enough for both of us to fit through now.” She finally whispers.
She takes my hand again and leads me through the narrow hole in the wall and we enter a new place.
Probably the same as the one before.
“Is this just like the rest?” I ask.
She takes me further away from the hole and touches another wall: “Yeah, we’re still stuck in this labyrinth.”
Suddenly I spot something out of the corner of my eye and quickly take the girl further back, to the other side, away from whatever that is.
“What’s wrong?” She asks slightly frightened.
“I think… someone is there.” I whisper to her.
I see two large flames welling up in the distance.
“Are you sure?” The girl asks.
I nod, but of course she won’t be able to see that.
Carefully I try to lead the girl further back, but am only greeted by a cold wall against my back.
Too late.
The flames look our way.
At first I believe to hear something crackle, only to realise that it’s laughing. Laughing of an old woman.
“You don’t have to hide for me, dear girls.” She laughs in a sweet voice: “I may be old, but my eyes can still see very well.”
I can feel the girl trembling: “How… how is it possible for you to see us?”
“What do you mean, dear child? There is enough light to see everything.”
“No, that’s not true… it’s pitch black, I can barely spot my arms before me.”
Still holding onto each other we slowly walk towards the older woman with her flaming eyes.
Her voice turns to me and so do her flames.
“Can you two really not see anything?”
The girl answers for me: “She can’t, I can just see a little.”
“Do you know a way out?” I ask the older woman.
I see her flames moving, almost as if shaking her head: “No, unfortunately not. Though I believe that now that we’re not alone anymore, we will find a way out much easier.”
I guess she isn’t the one who has brought us here, if it even was someone.
“Let me come with you, we might find our way out quicker.”
I look at her flames and nod.
“My child, how were you able to see me, if you can’t see anything else?” The old woman asks questioningly.
Before I can answer, the girl does it for me: “She keeps saying that she sees the flames in other’s eyes. Still it’s probably just-“
“So you can see the flames of other people’s souls?” The older woman doesn’t allow the girl to continue.
I shrug: “I don’t know… it’s probably just all in my head. I’ve never seen anything like that in my ordinary life outside of this place.”
“Here’s a mirror. Can you hold it by yourself?” The old woman shoves a cold and heavy object in my hands, almost having me slip it out of my hands. Hurting my fingers to keep it steady.
I try to look at it, but there is no reflection of my own flames, if I even have them.
“Well, do you see them?” the lady asks, way too enthusiastic.
I shake my head and answer with a plain: “No.”
Both of them take a stand next to me, probably looking in the mirror.
Then I see something inside of it.
The flames.
Their flames.
So… I don’t have them?
Could it be that… I’m soulless?
“So? What do you see?”
“I see nothing, but the reflection of yours.” I answer honestly.
“That’s unfortunate.” The woman says, sounding deep in thought: “Could it be… that you had a not so fortunate life?”
As I remain quiet, she apologises: “I’m sorry, it’s not my place to ask such questions. But if you need someone to listen to you, I’m more than willing to help you lighten that burden of yours.”
“Thanks.” I say, though slightly annoyed. I don’t like people poking into my problems.
The old woman leads us through the hallways, making sure, neither I nor the girl end up falling over something.
“You two should be thankful that you can’t truly see this place. Something horrible has taken place here.”
“I see.” I answer coolly.
“Don’t be like that!” The girl starts panicking.
The woman laughs joylessly: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“Why did you have to say that? Now I can only imagine all the shapes as dead bodies.”
The woman remains quiet.
So that must be the case.
Still, there don’t seem to be enough to cover the entire floor. Since the older lady is able to guide us through them so well.
“Gosh, this seems to be a dead end.” The woman sighs.
“Really?! I don’t want to go back there!” The girl cries out.
Carefully I let go of the girl’s hand, something has taken my attention.
There is something shining dimly straight ahead of me, it’s unlike the flames of my two companions.
Somehow friendly and familiar.
“What’s over there?” I ask while straying away from the others.
“You shouldn’t go there!” The girl calls out, but even though her voice sounds terrified, I don’t listen.
I feel like the light is calling me.
“My child! You shouldn’t venture there!” The old woman calls out to me, her ancient voice trembling in anguish: “Terrible things have happened there!”.
But I ignore her as well.
I feel myself walking into something like a puddle, too thick to be water, but I decide not to think about it.
The light is getting closer and closer, brighter and brighter.
“Ma’am, please get back here!”
“You’ll hurt yourself if you continue!”
I feel something sharp digging itself into my right leg.
Quickly I kneel down to push whatever it is away, but it starts digging deeper into it.
It hurts.
It hurts so fucking much!
Every time I try to reach it, my hands seem to slip away, whatever I’m standing in is way too thick to be just water.
Don’t think about it.
Don’t think about it!!!
As I’m finally able to take out whatever it is, I notice that little lights are dropping down.
I try to look at what I believe to be up, only to find out that the small lights are coming from me.
I smirk, I guess I’m not soulless after all.
I hear both women behind me yell at me to return, screaming for the fear I might get hurt or lose my life.
I don’t pay it any attention and continue.
The light I see behind that door.
My own tears seem to be leading me there as well, dropping quietly without sound, slowly they turn dark like everything around me, just showing small pieces of my path.
I reach out my arm for the light.
But instead of holding something warm, it’s something cold.
It’s an old door handle.
Very, very old. Something I would expect to find inside an ancient castle.
As I hold it, all the light fades once more and I open the door.
Ya'll i need help with somthing
So I have this habbit of adding info onto FAKE hybrid species. Like, think Enderian, Elytran, Demons, Angels. That stuff, yk? Like i add a mating seasson, their diets, their courting methods, all that stuff. And i need help with somthing. How tf should mermaids have sex? Cause, like, most people say "The female lays eggs, the male fertalizes them." Like, yeah but thats not hot and sexy. I want hot and sexy mermaid sex 🤠. But like, they dont have penis's, AND I HAVE YET TO SEE AN ASSHOLE ON ANY OF THEM. So can you guys, like, just make up of how mermaids have hot and sexy mermaid sex? please and thank you <3 Love yall, i'll post more fanfics soon.
Warning- Angst ahead
when the villian and hero couple are in front of the bigger villian that villian worked under and in deep danger and have to pretend to fight to avoid said danger, clumsily throwing punches at each other with with stiff hands, holding a dagger to the throat but it's trembling badly, subconsciously getting close to each and trying to touch in any way for some sort of comfort, fervently glancing at the bigger villian to see how they're reacting, the villians crippling guilt in feeling responsible, trying to communicate with eyes and form a plan but their mind can't work over how scared they are, more for the other person than them
Yeah I want that
Help grow my blog by following and rebloging
" I suppose I did love you once, too far back in time in to even matter now, if not for some deflected queens." She allowed at last, letting her shoulders drop in a shrugging motion as if was no more than mere weather talk.
"You-"
" Deflected?" Iris squinted her eyes behind the glasses.
"Queen! One Queen! The other is a queen consort! " the 'king' took no time to point out. "And how does this matter in searching for them anyway. He turned to the tracker observing them with her lips pursed.
"Seriously?! You? the ice queen? You loved me?!! Like Love love" The other girl got in before she was interrupted by,
"Are we quite sure deflected is the right word right now?"
"And why the fuck does their sappy saphic ballad matter here?"
The tracker, who had asked the question, was still watching with serious looking eyes, " Perhaps, it doesn't. But," Her face broke into a huge grin then, eyes bright now and put up her finger. "These two would be soo cute together, even their names go together, Elli and Aine, Elliaine. Ah, You can name your child that!" She was almost squealing in delight at the prospect when she finished.
"They can't have a child, they are both girls." The king—oh, my mistake forgive me, the 'king' being his usual infuriating self did not disappoint.
"oh, sod off. " This was the tracker, Lelia.
"Elliaine, is my name."
" Well, you should shouldn't be using Elli then, it literally means Old, I didn't say anything cause I thought it'd be rude. And work on your grammar, deflected does not fit—."
"Shut up, Iris, no one cares." The 'King', whose name I forgot because my constant need to mock his title, snapped, " And You!" He turned to Leila, " Do your fucking job and find the goddamn Queens, Queen! One Queen!."
" Oh, no no." She replied, making sure to dramatize her every movement, "I can't do that, because you see, I'm just here to stall you till they got far enough away."
A tence silence hung unbroken in the air. Well, unbroken until someone proclaimed, "Defected! The word is defected!" And the 'king' shouted for the guards.
"Throw her in the dungeons!" He roared to the bowing guards.
They stood there for a moment, unable to decide if he had the authority to imprison the queen's dear friend.
He fumed even redder {Purple more like if we being honest} a feat previously thought impossible, "By king Ophion's orders!" Ah, Ophion, that was his name.
He was far too busy angrily whispering with Elli, his least detested member of his and the queen's council, to see Leila smile as she was led down.
Two freed, one to go.
And she was already on the way to her.
----------------------
Should I write more of this? Pls follow to support.
We all love our cocky suave flirty villians and our goofy rambly crack energy hero who basically runs on caffeine and sass, hasn't slept in 72hours because 'the latex clad chipmunk can't take a fucking break from trying to fucking take over the world'
But also consider— the opposite.
The hero who keeps flirting with the villian and teasing them and pushing their buttons and only realising after they go too far and the villians face darkens and they go oh shit
The villian tries to blow up a restaurant cause they said you too when the waitress there said enjoy your meal once and now it's the only way to escape the embarassment
— "How the fuck did you survive that!"
" Can't a guy destroy the city in peace around here!"
okay, Greek mytho or mytho/fairy tale retellings but with versions other than than the most popular one,
like hades and presophone but with the older version, where shes called kore meaning little girl because she's someone so sinister people are afraid to say her name, posiedon is the god of the underworld and hades some random guy who may and maynot be her love intrest in her quest to overthrowing posidon
aphrodite where shes a war goddess as she was in sparta
older versions of Cinderella and co. than grimms
You know the gruff cold grey character vigorously denying their feelings (for their nemesis) is funny but also consider them immediately accepting them a la " guess this is my life now" and doing a complete 180 followed by the immediate surprise of anyone who ever knew them
"Hey, you look lovely today, here I got you your favourite drink." *Wierd smile* *suspicious* "is there poison in it?"
*simping in the meeting* "That's a really good plan, you're so smart haha" everyone :0 " Do you have a fever?"
"why do you care so much anyway!" *nursing their wound* *intense* " love/petname, of course I care, I love you. Now tell me who did this to you. *shocked in 12 languages and 3 dimensioms*
Theres potential there. Follow and reblog to support
I hate archetypes but I simp so hard for characters who absolutely are archetypes but like multiple opposite ones stuffed together like my characters include-
A hopeless romantic princess with a minor addiction to pink that you would literally never see without multiple swords at her waist and no one bats an eye at it.
A gruff mean political/ war tactician princess who can absolutely sucks at swordplay (she says it's cause of her power, only partially true) literally feel everyone pain/sadness and a little obsessed with saving everyone (and totally oblivious that literally bring kind to them would do that)
An exiled princess who loves reading and traveling is literally one of the best people who also does dark magic and and casually tries to wake a literal wmd beast
Feel free to use. Please follow/reblog
I was simply enjoying a drink on the beach, admiring the sunset and waving my hands back and forth to make the waves dance to the song I had playing everywhere in my dreamscape all at once when a woman with branches growing everywhere on her body and overflowing with lush green leaves stepped in front of me out of thin air. I frowned at her.
"Will you do something? Anything? For the love of Mother Gaia, I'm so booooored!" she said indignantly with that petulant stomp and balled fists you'd only see better performed on a toddler.
I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture and her leaves quickly faded through the shades of Autumn before they shriveled up and fell in a ring around her feet. She huffed and crossed her arms, her face giving them a run for their money as she glared at me.
I took a sip of my drink and stared back impassively.
Finally relenting, I raised my eyebrow and said, "You're the one that put me here. I'm perfectly content. Bargain well struck in my book."
I materialized a book in my hand which flipped itself open to a page with the words "Bargain with the Fae: Well Struck." I grinned at her indignant "Urrrrgh..." and gnashing teeth. They made a sweetly satisfying sound of wood grinding and creaking like I was back in the forest where this all started.
"You know how to end this, love. Now if you'll excuse me, I was playing with the ocean." I said as I waved my hand and she disappeared in a flurry of dead leaves.
I awoke with a start. Killed in my sleep again, I assumed. Sure enough, there was the wood fae at the foot of my bed. Her back was to me, which wasn't unusual but she was slumped forward instead of leaning back on her hands, which was very unusual. I yawned, preparing to go back to sleep, figuring it was another game that I didn't care to play.
"Cassia." she said, sullenly. I paused.
"Excuse me?" I asked in a deadpan. My expression went flat, not that she could see. That was until she spun around angrily, her hands propping her up as she was nearly sideways on the end of the bed.
"Cassia! That's my name! You're so infuriating!" she said, spinning back around with that last statement and throwing her hands in the air.
"Cassia..." I said, rolling the name over in my mouth. There was a faint shudder to the space around me as I felt something form between us. I smiled gently as she stiffened then looked over her shoulder at me hesitantly.
"It's a lovely name." I said to her before I began rummaging in my bag by the side of the bed. I pulled out a book and flipped to the newest unused page, finally able to write something in it again knowing it would stick.
Bargain with Cassia: Well Struck.
"I'm glad to have met you, Cassia. I always wondered why this inn smelled of cinnamon every morning. You have a mighty gift with time magic. We are going to do great things together!" I said, the excitement growing in my voice.
Cassia looked relieved and even had a shy smile on her face. She quickly tried to school it, however, before saying, "Maybe now you won't be so boring, I hope!" and crossing her arms, her face anything but cross in accompaniment for once.
The Fae that trapped you in a Groundhog Day-style time loop is extremely frustrated that you’re taking advantage of the situation to just sleep all day, every day.
As a ace/aro baby writer, I need this. Thank you 💜💚
For aro/ace writers:
- you don't have to write sex scenes. Tolkien didn't
- you don't have to write romance. Lewis didn't
- you can write very close friendships that have nothing romantic nor sexual in them. Scott Lynch did
- you can write sexual relationships that don't involve romance. Sapkowski did
- you can write romantic relationships that don't involve sex. Pratchett and Gaiman did
Don't let anyone tell you that some kinds of relationships are impossible or that a story must contain some themes. It's your story, write it the way you want
chat i need your help/opinion
sooooo basically im thinking of writing a book... i have somewhat of a plot planned out but the only thing im worried about is my writing skill *gulp*😨 and my ability to stay motivated lol
i have a little snippet already written and i need advice or just your opinion
keep reading if you want the little snippet along with some of the lore :)
ok so real quick lore
the town/country (i havent decided) of Grellon HATES dragons and kills them and has like an annual hunt and stuff i haven't figured out the details but they hate dragons. 100 years before my book takes place, this girl named Vanya Balwraek (thank you fantasy name generator) befriended a Night Wielder named Eondod (once again thank you fantasy name generator) the most dangerous kind of dragon, and tried to convince her people that dragons were kind beings and deserved to live. Obviously everyone was like wtf get a load of this guy and decided to EXECUTE HER. crazy right. But after they executed her, her dragon started tweaking out. it attacked people and burned villages and stuff. everyone started attacking it yada yada yada, it survived, but lost an eye and a leg. Some rumors say that Vanya actually escaped, but haven't been proven to be true. most everyone thinks that she died.
Now we're in present time. This OTHER girl (idk her name yet) wants to be the best dragon figher/hunter/killer in her town. so she studies and watches dragons. our girl is obsessed. One day for a punishment (idk for what lol) she has to go out and hunt a dragon by herself. basically a suicide mission, but she's determined to do it to prove herself. In the forest she finds a one eyed, three legged dragon. WOAH. ikr. she's really scared but then the dragon shows that that he is friendly and doesn't want to kill her. she befriends the dragon and blah blah blah... thats all i have so far. That wasn't as quick as i wanted it to be but now here's the actual snippet that i've written lmaoooo.
We land in a tumble, rolling down the hill until the momentum stops. A groan pushes past my lips as Eondod pushes his snout into my back to lift me. “Yeah, we really have to work on that spin landi-” The bushes rustle with movement. Eondod is at my back in a second, a low growl rumbling in his chest. My hand twitches for the dagger at my side. “Who’s there?” I yell, keeping my voice steady. The rustling gets closer until a figure shrouded in darkness and gripping a longsword that more than triples the size of my small dagger emerges. “Who are you?” I try again, my voice firmer. Eondod suddenly stills, but… Not in fear. The figure drops their sword and takes a step closer. In a voice that sounds like it hasn’t been heard in decades, the figure whispers, “Eondod?” What the fuck?
“Stay away from…” I trail off as Eondod approaches the figure, his pupils wide. “What are you doing?” I ask, but the words fall on deaf ears. My eyes widen in shock as they suddenly embrace, the figure’s arms wrapping around Eondod’s neck and holding tight. After a few moments, the figure steps away from the dragon and towards me. When they step into the light and the moon shines on their face, a gasp tears from my throat. “You’re…”
“Yes.” The figure says, “I am Vanya Balwraek. Traitor of Grellon.”
pls give me CONSTRUCTIVE critisism i will cry if its actually mean
Saw this photo on Twitter yesterday and an idea for a story came to mind
Everyone in the tavern was silent. Otis looked up from his hand, the cards carefully and neatly formed into a fan row. He stared at Katharnie who was still moving her cards about, Otis took that as a sign she was nervous. The dealer asked them to present their hands for the final time to reveal who was the winner of a fine Appaloosa mare and 300k Feathers. The people out of the running were angry their money was still in the game to be won, but Feathers didn’t mean much in currency out of town. The punters held their breath as Otis showed his hand, spreading it out on the bar top. “Three Dark Cicadas and a Violet Rooter Fungus,” The dealer announced, some of the punters cheered, it was a good hand, worth seven in total. Otis continued to look at Katharnie who checked her hand once more, observing quietly her points against her opponents. With a flick of her wrist she snapped the cards down onto the wooden top and the dealer moved them into a row so he could see them better, on seeing the cards she had he gave her a small look. “Two Horn Trumpets and two Forest Barberries,” the dealer said, raising his voice so everyone in the tavern could hear. Otis stood up and slammed his hand down, making a few Feather chips jump off the top. His top lip curled up “She cheated, she cheated. I fucking won, do you understand me. How could someone like her get Barberry cards, she slipped them in. No one beats me, you should know that.” Katharnie ignored his anger and bent to pick the coins up, she smiled, and her ears twitched. In her mind she saw Otis as being jealous, she’s a younger generation so she has the new luck. Now she has to take on the task of pursuing The Succubi of The Beast, and its something her father trained her to do. She knew she was up for the job.
Sharing the beginnings of my fantasy novel here, hoping someone might feel drawn by the synopsis and take a peek inside.
As with any piece of writing, there’s still a lot of editing to do, but seeing it evolve and become something greater than you thought it could be at the beginning, is the lovely thing about the journey.
Copypasted synopsis from the wattpad version
In a war-torn world, the ancestral peoples of the Old Country are decreasing in number at an alarming rate, after two decades of war with the humans and elves. The Eagle-People have been pushed back so far from their lands they're going extinct, however there is the growing thunder of a rebellion in the West beyond the Athar Keep, where dragons lie in wait.
A lost eaglet torn cruelly from her family must now travel beyond the Keep, the only shelter left for those like her. However, what she'll find over the Wall will change the tide of the war.
All rights reserved.
I’ve been wanting to be a writer since I was nine, when I sat down and wrote my first story (I made drawings for it and was very excited haha).
Since then, I’ve evolved a lot, having up to 24+ novel ideas in my mind and written down that I want to write.
And now I’m taking the decision of writing one of them for real, starting with the 3rd story idea I ever had, the first idea I ever had with real potential to become a great thing.
I’ve decided to take it seriously now, because I realize I’m not getting younger. If I don’t do it now, when the hell am I going to? Just fantasizing about getting published or noticed by an editor but not doing anything to make that come true, WON’T make your dreams come true magically, with 0 effort from you.
So, I’m currently writing the first version of my first fantasy novel Initiation, in wattpad, with some illustrations! After I’ve finished it on there, I’ll self-publish it on kindle and ibooks with extra parts and the real illustrations with color and extra deets and quality!
A Warrior’s Burden
The boy yearns for freedom
Foolish dreams that never come
Once tender hands wield a spear
Bodies at his feet, a monster inciting fear
Centuries of bloodshed stain his hands
Ghosts haunting his waking dreams
Eternally bound to the weight of his sins
His one wish is peace
To forget the eternity of his burdening existence
Lay his weary body to rest in the plains
Hear the heart of the world, a steady drum
The lyre lulls him, so soft and sweet
Skies full of gleaming lanterns, a path to hope
Yet his destiny is to fight alone
For he knows all too well that some wars never end.
And not all sins can be forgiven, alas
In the endless history of his shadowed past
A weapon is all he can be.
a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town
academy
adventurer's guild
alchemist
apiary
apothecary
aquarium
armory
art gallery
bakery
bank
barber
barracks
bathhouse
blacksmith
boathouse
book store
bookbinder
botanical garden
brothel
butcher
carpenter
cartographer
casino
castle
cobbler
coffee shop
council chamber
court house
crypt for the noble family
dentist
distillery
docks
dovecot
dyer
embassy
farmer's market
fighting pit
fishmonger
fortune teller
gallows
gatehouse
general store
graveyard
greenhouses
guard post
guildhall
gymnasium
haberdashery
haunted house
hedge maze
herbalist
hospice
hospital
house for sale
inn
jail
jeweller
kindergarten
leatherworker
library
locksmith
mail courier
manor house
market
mayor's house
monastery
morgue
museum
music shop
observatory
orchard
orphanage
outhouse
paper maker
pawnshop
pet shop
potion shop
potter
printmaker
quest board
residence
restricted zone
sawmill
school
scribe
sewer entrance
sheriff's office
shrine
silversmith
spa
speakeasy
spice merchant
sports stadium
stables
street market
tailor
tannery
tavern
tax collector
tea house
temple
textile shop
theatre
thieves guild
thrift store
tinker's workshop
town crier post
town square
townhall
toy store
trinket shop
warehouse
watchtower
water mill
weaver
well
windmill
wishing well
wizard tower
happy WBW! i am so intrigued by prisma and wonder if you could go into a little more detail abt the colour coding? :)
Thank you for the ask! Conveniently, this is actually the subject of my brainrot and thus you are a very kind mutual. Sorry if this is a bit incoherent btw. I'll deep-dive the specific components at a later date.
The colour coding is a huge part of Prisma both in it's conception and worldbuilding. Each story revolving around their respective protagonist is coded a colour (I.E, Jack's story and red); themes, ideas, and symbolism regarding this occur both in a meta way and in an in-universe way.
Neat fact: Prisma is a play on the word "Prismatic", nodding to the fact that white can be split into the spectrum of colours by a prism.
Quick Breakdown of Prisma:
Prisma is the setting of these stories, and colours - hues are the primary power/magic system. A surreal other-land where figurative can become literal and vice versa. Hues are it's fundamental building block, existing both as an abstract but also a resource. Here is where our three protagonists come in: at some point in their stories they become 'Key Figures', a facet of that colour embodied in a person. I'll elaborate on that particular concept in another post.
I'll give you the rundown on each protagonist and their relation to the colour coding. These aren't the only aspects of the hues, but the main ones.
Jack, Red -
“It doesn’t matter what powers you hold, or the trials you’ve faced; as long as I reach into the four corners, my Judgement is tangible irregardless.”
Red watches over rules and conventions. It's a hue of hierarchy, of domination and submission, of judgement. It works with the pre-existing fabric of things, tending towards tangling things in it's rules rather than violating it's own tenets.
There's also another aspect integral to red: Mediums. In Prisma, a Medium is not someone who merely gazes ghosts, but possess sight that stretches past horizons; the domain of a medium is to wrench meaning from things. Mediumship as a quality is inherently linked to the hue of red.
What this means for Jack, my favourite red-eyed little bastard, is that his power is in pulling at exposed threads. People constantly transgress all sorts of rules - personal, natural, even physical rules; it just isn't noticed. Jack as a key figure is an Arbiter. By acknowledging a transgression the appropriate punishment is applied automatically as a principle of Prisma itself.
He can gaze at the True Names of things, unravel their nature and bring forth what lays dormant.
As a whole it also ties in with Jack's character and background. There's more to it but I'll elaborate on a dedicated post.
Hel, Blue -
Blue is to expand and grow endlessly. It's boon and plight is that everything that that it is will behold genesis, but all that they are is the horizon's boundary
The sky, the ocean; a roiling pit of genesis from which life sprung. Blue is desire and manifestation - the self crystalised into something tangible. In it's purest form as a hue it is creation unbridled. However, blue - deep, roiling blue, horizon spanning azure - is crystallisation of self. It's dominion ends past the boundary of self, past the ownership of such a minor existence.
Blue can create vast shapes and forms, even spring life to being with it's lustre, yet it has no control over that which it did not create.
Hel first wields this hue in the form of the Principle class artefact 'The Flask', a portion of the sky stolen and inverted long ago, bound by it's own genesis. Hel's character arc is about identity and assumptions, of presumed boundaries and humanity. And how enough imagination can transcend flesh.
Absorbing The Flask at the precipice of death something much vaster, and above all free. The key limitations of this hue remain true, but post-rebirth Hel's entire body is comprised of blue, they let it seep into the ground and spread themselves vast and wide. Something brilliantly inhuman.
Dorothea, Purple -
Pocket watches running in parallel and paradox to the march of moons
Such an awfully royal colour, and so fitting is it for sovereignty to be it's domain. Many things hold power over others: the moon over night and the passage of time, the land from which things sprout, and of course what every person owns: themself.
Dorothea's sovereignty is to fragment - split things into parts, isolate them and take ownership. If she wins ownership over something she can even fragment it's time; send things backwards, freeze things into a single state, steal something's time spent.
Red, Blue, and Purple form a colour triad, and one of purple's specialities is 'borrowing' from these. Out of all the hues Purple is the only one able to use aspects of another by collecting fragments belonging to them.
To the Lilac Sovereign what may be someone's present is merely a puzzle to rearrange to their whims.
Without subjects sovereignty means nothing. Thus, in pursuit of her own royalty Dorothea fragmented herself to become her very own pawn.
Extra Tidbits :
The powers a hue possesses has a lot to do with the associations and symbols connected with them, and while each hue has a scope of it's own they can present in several ways. A key figure is a pure manifestation and expression of the hue, often taking a specific thematic direction. Hues are used by others in the form of materials imbued with it naturally, artefacts, or by acquiring it as a part of oneself.
Red as a hue is violent and bloody and passionate, essential yet bitter like blood. That's kind of why I went with hierarchy/rules. Also got some prey/predator stuff going on.
Blue, to me, is a colour of imagination, creation, and things so vast it's terrifying. Think like life arising from the sea.
Royalty for purple, obviously, but I think it's a very moon-ish, celestial and mystical colour. Time, both as an invention to understand the passing of events better, and as a natural mechanism are very big here.
There are other hues and such and they do stuff but I'm focusing on blue, red, and purple as they're the colours of the respective protagonists.
The colour triad dynamic is kind of:
Red is concerned with rules and convention, judging and causing conclusion in the present.
Blue is creating things anew in the present that persist.
Purple isn't tethered to present: rearranging and altering the state of things.
ALSO: I really didn't want to do like "Red=Fire" or something and I wanted something symbolic to fit my surreal little world so the hues do not function in such a straightforward way.
WtW Character Event | Day 3, Representation
Redwood Witch, Branwen [She/They]
Once a child overflowing with volatile magic, now a witchling no longer, scars run through her soul; even the unbreakable constitution of a Redwood proved not enough to withstand the power that swelled inside her.
Black | Disabled | Chronic Pain | Amputee | Aroace | ADHD
The one and only MC of my (yet to be named) WIP! Disability is one of the main themes tackled in this one and how it intersects with other things.
A little backstory :
Branwen belongs to the Redwood Witch family, a crest renowned for their resilience and vigour - born with magic unbelievably potent and overflowing. The problem: it was far too great for her body to withstand.
The cost of liberating the swelling power: most of Branwen's left arm, and a not so small portion of her soul left scarred.
The lurid golden light cracked from her skin, pressure pooled into one area to spare the rest of her. A magic so bright and hot it approached divinity - the parts it touched incinerated to their barest components. Few things can leave scars on souls, and this was among them.
What was burnt away by the deluge of magic couldn't merely be healed with magic: the associated soul and essence was gone for the injuries, rendering such spells inept. Like her crest's namesake, however, Branwen persevered.
Something lingered, though, growing as years went by: a self-wrought curse. Souls are constructed from an essence; under normal circumstances it stays confined to that structure. The parts of Branwen's soul that broke down to their building blocks latched onto the expelled energy. It was barely a concept, at first. Yet the more it tangled over time the knot grew, until a curse was born.
"Cursed by the very power that constitutes you? You witches really are a ruckus"
Branwen's disability is comprised of a lot of different factors, augmented and added to by her curse, and also the cultural implications for both in setting. It's really interesting to explore disability in a fantasy setting for me and how it's navigated.
One of my fav OCs and you'll be seeing a lot more about them down the line !!!