NO DONATION ASKS OR DMS - hello! sorry this blog has been inactive - I got overexcited then life happened. I'll try to think of something. live long and reblog!
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My stance is that if you're a young and/or beginner fantasy writer, you need to stay far away from online fantasy discourse because it will get you obsessing over shit that does not actually matter to anyone other than online nitpickers.
If someone can't read one of the foundational works of fantasy about the importance of seemingly insignificant persons because the map has unrealistic geography, that's actually a them problem. You don't need to research geography, agriculture, economics, or any other logistics so that everything is realistic, you need to tell a story.
It all started on the night of the winter solstice, many years ago. The King and Queen of the East were amidst the largest party the kingdom had seen in well over fifty years. For the King and Queen was celebrating their daughter's first year in life.
People had come from all over to join the celebrations, for all knew how long their king and queen had waited for the birth of their first and only child. And the people were celebrated with such enormous joy that now she was growing up to be a happy young princess.
Inside the castle everyone from dukes, to barons, to the royal dwarfs of the west and the small fairies of the south, drank, ate and celebrated the day; all while the princess herself played with her gifts next to her parents who watched joyfully over the merriments.
But amidst all this merriment, no one seemed to notice the new face walking amongst them. That was until this mysterious person stepped forwards to greet the king and queen themself.
“King Agnar and Queen Genevieve of the East, what a quaint little party you have thrown together here" The person spoke out to them without bowing, and several heads turned having finally noticed the newcomer.
There she stood a long gown of silver white and blue midnight, with hair of the purest white, holding a detailed crystal staff in her hands. Many who had not noticed her before, suddenly felt themself unable to look away from her glowing beauty as the whole party fell into a hushed whisper.
Seeing and recognizing the woman, King Agnar rose from his chair as he spoke “Princess Isolde, what are you doing here? And with your fathers staff no less.” As the whisper turned to a shocked murmur among the guests.
“Oh? Have you not heard the news? I thought the gossip would have reached your ears by now” Isolde answered only to further the King’s confusion. “Oh well… As much as I hate to be the bringer of such bad tithing to a festive day one can’t always help it, can we? You see, my father King Onyx of the north is dead.” Her last words rang around the room, through a deafening silence.
“Dead? When?” the King asked, distraught at the passing of his great ally and friend. “He who was so good of health?"
“Yes it was recent, and rather sudden. Seems he never quite recovered from my mother's death. Quite a pity.” She answered with neither joy, nor sorrow, before she looked up at the king. “So that is why I am standing here in front of you today, not as princess, but as Queen Isolde of the North” as she spoke her staff began to shine brightly, her voice amplified thru the room.
The guest drew away from her, even the King fell back into his throne, as she yelled “I have come here to demand that you, king Agnar, return what is rightfully mine, or trade it fairly, for half your kingdom.”
When the light faded the King looked at her, only his wife Genevieve could see the true fear in his eyes as he steadied himself again. Then as the people looked up at him with worry and fear, he laughed, and so did they.
“You really are something else, aren't you, Isolde?” he said with a forced grin. "Coming here with your ridiculous demands, on the day of my daughter’s birthday no less.” At that he rose back up, his grin turning to a sneer. “No, you know I owe you NOTHING. Now leave.”
Isolde remained still as she did not say anything back to the king. But her eyes slowly drift over to the small child that had been too busy playing with the new silver toy they had been gifted by the dwarfs to notice anything around them. Looking back at the king she smiled “Well, since it seems we won't get to an agreement, I’ll leave. Though before I do, it would be the highest dishonor to not bring a gift to the young princess”
As she again lifted her staff, King Agnar ordered his guards to seize her, but it was already too late. The light of the spell shattered around the small princess as fragments of magic fell down around her like snow.
The child clapped their hands in joy as the little light fluttered down around them, before she was suddenly grabbed by her mother. “You monster! What did you do to her?” The queen screamed, startling the young child.
“Realx” Isolde smirked “I merely gifted her a stronger tolerance against the cold. Because trust me, she’ll need it”
“What do you mean by that?” the King asked.
Isolde turns and walks away. It’s only when she is at the door before she looks back as she raises her staff in the air. The magic flowed through the room; the knights drew their swords to stop her only to be tossed down as Isolde's voice echoed through the castle.
“Until I receive what you have stolen from me, your land shall be cursed and your people suffer. May your winters be long and dark, and may your summer dry be never ending" At that she called upon her winged horse of frost and ice, as she disappeared into the night.
In the days that followed Islode’s threat many were afraid. Afraid of the curse, afraid of Islode’s wrath, and afraid of the many dangerous creatures that remain loyal to the north.
For the North was a land filled with never ending tundras, Ice sheaths stretching far into the sea beyond, and cold mountains that seem to reach the stars, making it near uninhabitable for any normal man. And yet creatures of the North had lived and thrived there for the many creatures, through their sheer strength and power. Even the few humans that did live up north, most of which were descendants from the west, having traveled north for trades long ago; seemed somehow both stranger and stronger than most. And all of them were fearsly loyal to their queen.
Few people wanted a further conflict with the north, as King Agnar stood his ground swearing that he would never bend to the North kingdom's wishes. Most simply hoped it would all smooth over soon.
Then as the days turned into months, and winter melted into an early spring, some began to let go of their fear. Many wondered if Islode’s curse had been a lie after all, as the first flowers bloomed and the icy rivers melted.
For how could anyone be powerful enough to curse a whole Kingdom?
So the farmers began to work prepping their field and the many lumbermen began their trail deep into the valleys. For the east was a land of rivers, woods and soft hills, and so was built on masterful woodwork and lumber. One would have to travel far in this land to find a place that did not have any masters in woodwork, from the smallest toy to the tales ships. Woods and trees were the pride of the east.
But as the summer began to show herself, what started as a feeling of a perfect warm summer slowly turned sinister as the days went by. Some people began to think that the curse was real, as more and more farms failed to produce, and the rivers began to sink so low that the lumbermen could no longer move their lumber on the water.
Then suddenly and silently came winter, and as the first snow gently drifted to the ground, the whole kingdom held their breath.
As the snow rose higher and the wind roared down from the north, the king and queen mourned the sorry state of their daughter's second birthday. But as the night grew, queen Isolde once again returned, but something was different about her. Her eyes seemed darker, her words more malicious, even the air around her felt colder. Once again she demanded that King Agnar give her what she owes, once more he refused.
And so the curse continued.
Year after year. His land died, his people suffered, but the King stood strong against the queen of the north and so the people stood with him. They adapted to the heat and the cold, built sturdier houses, and better fields. If their king would not give up, so will they.
But then during the eighth year, everything changed.
It was once again the winter solstice. The young princess Eleonora had managed to sneak away from her caretakers during the evening festivities, to go out and play in the snow.
“Eleonora, come back!” the knight yelled as he saw the princess disappear into the snow covered garden. He plowed forward through the heavy snow, wondering how the princess could ever find the cold fun or enjoyable.
Around him several more guards tried to chase after her, but the princess always seemed to so easily run through the snow and disappear behind a bush. Her laughter being the only thing they could trail her by. But today the guards would not let her slip by, as they surrounded the garden to pin her down.
Eleonora pushed herself through one of the bushes as the knight nearly caught her. She laughed as she fell into the snow on the other side, hearing him yell at her to come back. But as she got up her eyes faltered as they stared at the woman dressed in white, and her winged horse.
The knight, having no idea what was waiting on the other side, ran back the way he came to get around the bush, as the other guards closed in. But as he turned the corner about to scold the princess for her mischief he froze in fear as his eyes landed on the princess laying unconscious in the snow, and the Ice queen standing next to her.
Snapping back to it, the knight brandishes his sword as he calls for aid. But as he charged the queen she pushed him backwards into the snow with a simple sway of her staff. Quickly the knight gets back up, but by then, neither the queen nor princess was anywhere to be seen.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Yay! new story! hope I can finish this one! it's my first time writing fantasy in a long while so yeah was a bit odd...😅
Thank you so much to @piplupfluffwritingstuff2 for all the help with test reading and help with this story! 💜💜💜
Oooooohhhh, I want to know more about where this story is headed and how you came up with it! Seems a sleeping beauty + ice queen retelling? Or just inspired from them?
I have to say hate the king and his stupid stubbornness and the stupid peasants' stubbornness
Isolde is the best here because at least she gave the baby an actual good gift
Though... why...
Now I don't think it's a retelling of Sleeping Beauty because now it's the opposite of what Maleficent did!
Wish you best of luck with your new snowy endeavour! I'll try to read and reblog when I can :)))
Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe the reason the wizard keeps to himself in an lone isolated tower, might actually because someone or something is keeping his there against his will?
I reblogged this last month, tagged it, and said “might as well see if it works.” I used this video as a reference to find all the forms that i needed (which is A LOT, especially if you’re a dependent) and sent them through the mail, not really allowing myself to hope.
dude.
$2,714 of medical debt from my top surgery - gone. im shaking this was such a weight on me for 2 years and it fucking worked. what the fuck.
New rules will radically change the way we use the internet in Australia, and not just social media
The way we use the internet in Australia is changing. Soon, it won’t just be social media platforms asking to verify your age. Come December, age verification requirements will also extend to search engines – with significant ramifications.
That means you may need to scan your face or do an identity check to use a search engine as a logged-in user. And it’s unlikely to stop there: the eSafety commissioner is considering rules for mandatory age checks across the entire internet landscape.
Whether or not you support the idea of age-gating the internet, this is a huge, unprecedented change. These are not small decisions; they will impact everyone who uses the internet in Australia – not just people under 16. There are implications for privacy, digital inclusion, access to information and online participation that go beyond the controversial teen social media ban. All of this warrants meaningful public debate.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about it, you’re not alone...
The relevant laws say the course of action is
1) contact youtube directly from your account under "send feedback" and formally state that
AI cannot be used to determine your age this is just a massive data breach with no connection to age verification as AI does not think or understand it is just collecting
This information will include (say nothing identifying here but use a legitimate example) medical information, private emails, purchases that might get you fired or hit with a hate crime etc. no details but point out the seriousness it would be taken with if it were doxxed by a human trying to target you
Point out that it will include name, address and identity details that could result in stalking, swatting or another attack
2) When they dismiss you send the response to The Privacy Commissioner directly to complain that they dismissed your concerns (This is the ILLEGAL PART HERE)
3) Now you can join a class action lawsuit if you provide the proof you just collected
Every single one of you with an account can add one more piece of evidence to the case against them
Signaling to the US folks - This is something you can do right now!
you know it really isnt immoral, if you do it right, to raise cows and sheep for meat. so. well. i think there should be a story about, vampires who have a town of humans that they keep well-maintained, so long as the humans donate their blood once a month, like vampire blood farm stuff
but instead of antagonistic everyone's like. no he's a nice man you leave the count alone. he keeps us safe and cared for and he just needs a lil snack now and then, it dont hurt anyone. like a cow that loves the farmer and the farmer that loves the cow, even with both knowing one will end up on the other's table. because its like. its like. cows just have such pretty eyes, you know? they love you so much. i think it should be like that
It's only safe for humans to donate a full unit of blood every eight weeks (and even if they only manage to get a partial out of you, they still recommend you wait 2 months), so our hypothetical count would need to have 56 healthy, non-anemic humans in his pool, presuming he needs a full 500 mL of blood each feeding, and he needs to feed once per day.
Obviously, a vampire family will need a larger community to care for, scaling linearly with the number of adult members of the family, assuming the above blood intake.
This still lets a vampire build a healthy relationship with his herd, presuming that he has Traditional Human Dinner with his donor before feeding, or some other social bonding ritual, on a rotating basis.
What if they came back loving? What if they came back in love. What if the necromancy worked and you cheated death and it's everything you've ever wanted, but now they love you in a way they never did before and you cannot know if that is because they finally know the lengths you are willing to go for them, or because something in this deathless magic bound their soul to yours to guide them home and it left them no. choice.
But we look back everyday- rechecking emails, making sure a friend is still behind you, checking to see if you remebered to pick up your keys. It's second nature, a habit of care.
It was second nature for him too. He looked back, not out of weakness, but love. For what is love, if not to look back?
