A Guide, A Champion, A Protector, A Friend

Welcome to Ailurocide: a slow-to-update story initially inspired by the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, lending themes from other fantastical animal works such as Watership Down by Richard Adams, Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams, the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland, and the Guardians of Ga’hoole by Kathryn Lasky, alongside the Fallout games. 

[aiilurociide]

a Guide, a Champion, a Protector, a Friend

Wrongfully accused of a haunting crime and forced to flee the only home he had ever known, Lyre finds himself at the very heart of the “monsters” who haunted his cubhood horror stories… just for the occupants of the Vibrant Vale to prove themselves far kinder than anyone he had encountered before – and far more desperate as well, with their world revealing itself to be equipped with far more danger, intrigue, magic, and death than Lyre had ever known… All of which then entrusted to him to mend in the wake of great turmoil, based on words of the deified dead long past. Begged to leave once more, this time to chase more nursery tales while equipped with new goals, knowledge, and companions, Lyre steels himself with a promise to both himself and those now depending on him to find a way to fix what he had never broken… But such promises weigh heavy on young shoulders, especially as secrets unveiled grow increasingly grander, until a betrayal-torn and duty-battered Lyre finally must ask himself: Save his friends, or save the world?

Welcome to Ailurocide: a slow-to-update story initially inspired by the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, lending themes from other fantastical animal works such as Watership Down by Richard Adams, Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams, the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland, and the Guardians of Ga’hoole by Kathryn Lasky, alongside the Fallout games. 

•• ––––––––––––––– ••●•• ––––––––––––––– •• 

First Things First… [to be later added upon or edited]

     - ⦿ –   Basic World Introduction  –  An introduction to the world of Ailurocide via various world-building questions. [MASTERLIST]

#ailurocide: world building, #world building 

     - ⦿ –   Map & Territory Descriptions  –  A map that covers the world up to where the story explores! Specific places and written territory descriptions will be highlighted as they are visited. [MAP]

#maps 

     - ⦿ –   Lore  –  Expansion on the lore of how the current intricacies in this world of our tale came to be, how it was shaped and the consequences of this (magic), and how the world stands in the present of our story. [MASTERLIST]

#ailurocide: lore, #ailurocide: magic, #ailurocide: history lessons 

     - ⦿ –   Creature Cheat Sheets  –  “Cheat sheets” on the various, hybridized creatures to be found within this world, stylized like an ever-growing beastiary. [MASTERLIST]

#ailurocide: creature sheet, #xenobiology, #creature design 

     - ⦿ –   Featured Communities  –  The various communities found and featured within our story! Explored and expanded upon in order of their predicted appearance. [MASTERLIST]

#ailurocide: the housekepts, #ailurocide: the fealty of the vibrant vale, #ailurocide: the many and various cloterns, #ailurocide: the wayfarers, #ailurocide: the fealty of the crown and coast, #ailurocide: the nameless, #culture building 

     - ⦿ –   Character Catalog  –  An inventory of the characters found (or to be found) within the story, organized into “cards” that offer a further look into who they are. We’ll be seeing the more “important” characters first, moving on into the supporting cast in the aftermath of our stars getting to shine. [MASTERLIST]

#ailurocide: character card 

Extras… [to be later added upon or edited]

   - ⦿ –   Trigger Warning List  –  An extensive list of trigger warnings for the story. To be updated and edited as more come out.     - ⦿ –   Commonly Asked Questions

[dduane]

Timeline cleanser: Jadeitite axe head, mined, shaped and polished in the Italian Alps. Found in County Donegal.

The National Museum in Kildare Street has four of them.

[expressions-of-nature]

by Nadezhda Moryak

[horrorcitos]

Al Brydon

[aiilurociide]

… How mad would y’all be if I restructured more stuff-

[ad-wills]

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[rs-hawk]

Working on my novel and couldn’t figure out why it felt so empty. I didn’t have any filler. It was all 100% plot. The characters only interacted when necessary. I didn’t prattle on about the scenery or how the birds sounded. I had all my fuller stuff that I loved saved in another file because I “didn’t need it”.

Y’all, I knew this existed in TV shows but it didn’t hit me until this that everything is being whittled down. We are so starving for filler that we snap up anything. I unload all mine on Tumblr or keep it in a massive Google Docs. It SUCKS.

Honestly? Death to plot necessity. Revive filler. Revive unnecessary interactions. Revive just vibing with characters sometimes. I don’t want to just consume the plot and I don’t want to just create the plot either.

[brawltogethernow]

Whenever there's some extra flourish in a piece of writing that I'm debating over whether to cut until the very moment of publishing because it's unnecessary or seems like it could detract through its presence, that is ALWAYS the detail that gets more positive mentions in comments than anything else, by a MILE.

When editing, the instinctive urge is to sand down whatever sticks up, and if you follow this to its conclusion what you end up with is a perfectly flat, featureless plane! This is also true for drawing, and is why so many artists end up seeing their quick sketches go viral while their exhaustively refined pieces they spend 180 hours on get 20 notes.

...I feel bad going "Don't do that!" and leaving, so noting that this is aimed broadly and NOT directly at op, some stuff you can try instead:

• Don't cut something unless it doesn't work. Before you cut it see if you can make it work. If you can't, see if it can be broken down for parts. Your file of deleted scenes is your drawer of loose screws that may be useful later.

• When editing, instead of primarily removing flawed parts of your piece, focus on emphasizing what you do like. Foreshadow a good line so it becomes a theme, turn a cool visual into a recurring motif, write a fun bit character a bigger role, etc.

• Save your first concept notes/draft/sketch to look at as you go and refresh yourself on what the original draw of what you're working on was in the first place. If you realize you cut the good part as you went, you can put it back in.

• And the most difficult but most potentially rewarding one: Reverse where in your process you expend your refining effort. Instead of starting with a very rough draft and then cleaning it up until it's mathematically perfect and completely dead, make a thorough plan of action as an early step, then execute it in one or two passes. If the bones of your concept are very solid, you can stack whatever the hell on top of them and it will seem coherent to your audience. (If this weren't true it would be almost impossible for plotty television shows to exist.)

If you watch good films/read beautifully paced books etc. with this in mind, you will notice that a lot of Great Media is a simple, well-formed structure supporting mostly a whole lot of nonsense you can barely justify being there if you look at it one piece at a time. And we like it like that!

[char-writes]

Daydreaming about my book:

Writing my book:

[dct239394cvvd098dffgggp]

tundras are soooo pretty aand beautiful to look at smears of best ever colors on flat and muted greens and yellows.... hard agree with los campesinos like yes take a body to tundra for real......

[dct239394cvvd098dffgggp]

nature but it looks like a sad hug its so real

[ad-wills]

[ad-wills]

[thecollectibles]

Art by jianjian jian

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Updated with more resources, specifically for characters who are blind in one eye.

[nightbreezech]

Might be useful

[spotty-is-sleepy]

It’s my birthday!

I’m old (20)

+ Non-gif / no confetti version, to truly show off just how much green was used in this thing

[cats-of-eden-valley]

i just found this fantastic guide made by a fantasy author for creating a realistic planet, but which doesn't go into the math or the teeny tiny details while still being like. exactly all the information that im looking for

check them out you won't be disappointed!!

[aiilurociide]

Yessss please I need something good today please!!!!!

Not today, but soon!