Leona Jasmin, 22. Since I procrastinate by creating plotlines and characters, I've decided to be productive and convert them into novels. Expect writing memes, WIP snippets and interaction with this wholesome community. CURRENT PROJECT: Working on a rewrite of The Mastery Part 3 while also looking through my (very) rough draft of Green Bears. Have a wonderful day everyone! :)
Thank you for the tag @westywrites! I really enjoyed reading your snippets. The words I was given were worldbuilding related: world, land, ocean/sea, and city/town! I'll be using Part 1 of The Mastery:
WORLD:
“I managed to get out early, almost thirty years ago. Relatives have changed appearances and have had time to bring more lives into the world. I need to see if they have discernible features.”
“Why would I feel inclined to celebrate my life when I’m not happy with it? The woman who brought me into the world is nothing more than a rotting corpse and the man who put me in her doesn’t give a crap.”
Considering Arima had only been a thing for one-and-a-quarter centuries, the origins were still so vague to us modern folk. We presumed there was a world outside of the dome, but what was outside there was hiding itself from us.
“Don’t you dare talk about my arm in such a way. I lost my arm playing a game. A game that children should be able to play in peace without a fear in the world. I was ten, Luka. Ten!”
I was only five when I last saw Roman, but my memories of him were still so vivid. On the rare occasion I had a good regression, I went back to the times where we were together without a care in the world.
“If I could get a perfect solution together, I’d have enacted it long ago. But the world is screwed up and humanity is selfish, so I have to compromise."
“She holds out hope for good things, but acts like she’s given up on the world. I’ve known her long enough to know she’s not confident enough to show the real her. It’s sad that she doesn’t.”
Everyone in this family died or kept secrets. That was how the world worked, whether I liked it or not.
“Aid and No think the world of her to boot,” Uzo remarked, “So if that’s true and they become girl dads, their daughters will be fine.”
“You’re a Master. I know you have a good work ethic ingrained in you, but if you don’t get excellent grades, it’s not the end of the world. You don’t need a job. I know you have one, but it’s not necessary.”
“I guess I have to thank him for bringing you into the world.”
I was crying because my whole world had turned upside down.
I couldn’t hear their words, but Sebastian looked hurt and angry. Angry at the world rather than him being angry directly at Phineas. I’d ask what this was all about at another time.
My ability came late. There were a bunch of conspiracies why; some said it was because I took my sweet time coming into this world, others because Dimitri and Tolys were also late bloomers so it must’ve just been an Ivanov thing.
LAND:
"We know its natural value; Phinea’s economy remains weak so may not have done extractions to the same extent we would, thus not knowing its potential. Without that knowledge, Elena would be useless land apart from a natural border- it’s not arable and only has a small population.”
The people of Vanska had many opinions as to what happened the day the airship crashed. Some believe it was a mistake Romulus hadn’t fixed in time. Others believe that Grandfather commanded he crashed the ship. Others believed Romulus intended to murder Grandfather. Even more others thought Grandfather had suddenly died and Romulus was so panicked that he couldn’t land the ship safely.
The Free Transport Zone. Phinea and Willsborg had managed to shove Anthonian’s out of the land right up against the Central Empire's wall and had a train line running straight along the side of it. Since declaring it as either Empire would be a declaration of war with Anthonia, it was just deemed ‘free land’. AKA, it belonged to everyone bar Anthonia, despite being in Anthonia.
OCEAN/SEA:
I haven't used either word as there aren't any seas or oceans in my novel, only lakes, rivers, and canals :)
CITY/TOWN:
Even though Mindeya was in Eastern Phinea, there had been anti-Anthonian groups emerging throughout the city and Empire regarding the illegal immigrants foremost. Sure, there were a few bad apples, but I didn’t see the majority as thieving scammers like they were portrayed as. I’d met quite a few in my darker days- they too had resorted to bad things to forget their traumas for a few hours.
He twiddled his thumbs, “My name is Augustus, although I’ve always gone by August. You know that, Sebastian. You also know I live in a village which is a short train journey outside Mindeya; I visit the city to do my shopping."
Miriam asked if we had missed anything in the woods- we hadn’t- before asking about Mindeya. Nothing to do with its inhabitants, but about the city itself.
Uzo’s father was Head of the Willsborg Merchant Navy. Canals and rivers veined through their Empire, so trade and transport were largely done on barges and boats. When I was getting set up with Noah, I’d been taken on a tour from their usual townhouse in the city to their mansion in the nearby countryside.
Anyone in the region it’s hosted in gets to put a bid in for a slot at a contest, and those who do have to bring their best fruit, veg, and flowers to their region’s city to get assessed. There’s usually a voting panel consisting of the Grand, Secondary, and Tertiary Masters, as well as the Mayor of the city and the Regional Leader. There’s a bunch of prizes on offer given by local companies in exchange for promotion, and they’ll win a set amount of those if they win.”
“Geeze,” He sighed, “Well, we’re on the outskirts of the city now. Best of luck in whatever you’ve been asked to do, kiddo.”
“Not much has happened in Ingla since the last meeting was only ten weeks ago,” Sardonicism dominated his tone, “But all my grandchildren are doing well. All bar my eldest are in school and have started the new academic year, and Anguo will be doing his first formal visit to another city on his own next month.”
I only have one instance of town, bar two locations called ___town. I won't include those as they'd make this post twice as long haha:
“It’s pretty dull,” Sebastian answered, “And small. Only the rich live there, and we don’t have many rich people in Phinea anymore; they’re all in the offshoot towns. And there’s only a few buildings that’re generally impressive.”
I’m going to keep the worldbuilding/geography theme and ask my tags to find the words tree, flower, river, and sky. Andddd my tags are going to be @rhiannon-writes, @el-norawrites, and tagging @westywrites back! Only if you want to of course, and I’m happy for anyone to partake/tag me in their tag games :)
hello writeblr and welcome to the WIP Nook, a cozy corner for writers to connect to each other through our WIPs
i’m @mr-writes and currently i am the only mod. if it gets overwhelming for me (a great problem to have!)) i may look for some people to help me out.
the purpose of this blog is to reblog everyone’s WIP posts (whatever you want others to see — intros, snippets, even writeblr intros) so we can all get to know each other and find writers we might not have otherwise
i will be tracking #wipnook you can also @ me in your post or message/submit/send an ask with the link. whatever you prefer
i am also working on a directory of WIPs so everything is in one centralized location. watch this space for information on that later.
In an unending, star-speckled sky, ravens keep watch. There is a tear in the barrier between realms. There is a prophecy about the children who might seal it.
When they turn sixteen, they’ll be adults. They’ll lose their jobs and the room they share at the factory in Herenzen - a city where dreams never reach higher than the looming smokestacks. Cambridge believes things will work out, but it doesn’t matter what she, Ivory or Avenir think, Lennox won’t wait that long.
He has an idea. A witch saved his life once, she could do it again. After all, she is Corvine. And Lennox believes magic like hers could change the world.
His plan to save his friends will lead them to a crossroads of destiny, with their freedom and the fate of two realms dangling at their fingertips.
Genre: YA fantasy // coming of age feat. magic // alternate history
Setting: an alternate history/version of Earth with an additional (mostly Dutch) colonial country in North America
POV: third-person limited, multiple povs
Status: draft 2 completed, (93k words/prologue + 50 chps)
Themes: the meaning of family // magic & power // hatred & anger vs love // destiny vs choice // the nature of humanity
photo transcripts, links, taglist, etc. below the cut. Thanks to @incandescent-creativity for reblogging all those cool wip presentations and giving me the idea to do this in presentation form
With the completion of draft 2, I figured it was time to remake the master post to be more up to date!
Fair warning, lots of these links lead to posts from during (or even pre) draft 1, so the information might not be entirely up to date. I will update this with new links as I make new posts!
Characters
Lennox - Introduction (old) / Character tag
Cambridge - Introduction (old) / Character tag
Avenir - Introduction (old) / Character tag
Ivory - Introduction (old) / Character tag
Helio - Introduction (old) / Character tag
A set of edits I made with a breakdown of the main five, their personalities, and their character journeys!
Places
The Shop (mood board and info, old)
The Safehouse (mood board and info, old)
The Archives (to be made)
The Factory (to be made)
The Astrifer a.k.a. the Starry Place or the Space Between Realms (to be made)
More about Magic (old)
All Worldbuilding
(that link leads to posts tagged #the realm of the raven)
Excerpts
(All excerpts are tagged #the word of the raven)
Read an early version of the prologue here
Link to some really cool icons and a header made for me by @ diabhals in August 2019
The meme I link to in the presentation: "Oh no, we're cosmically important"
All posts about The Corvine can be found at westywrites.tumblr.com/tagged/the-corvine :)
If you’d like to be tagged in (admittedly infrequent) updates about this WIP - including mood boards, excerpts, and worldbuilding - please let me know and I’ll add you to the list!
---
(image ID/presentation transcript:
Note: there are 10 slides with lots of information, so this transcript is pretty long.
Slide 1: an image of the silhouette of a raven perched on a branch, the background is pale orange. Large text says "The Corvine," smaller text in the corners says "By westywrites" and "draft 3 in progress!"
Slide 2: text on the same pale orange background. The title reads "history (tl;dr on next slide lol)". Beneath, in smaller font, is the following list of information
An alternate version of Earth where the Dutch (with the help of the other colonizing forces) tried to set up a neutral “borderless” business zone in the middle of North America. They called this land Zondereck and established a capital city called Herenzen.
This went terribly and a family declared themselves royalty, supposedly as appointed by the Almighty. The Queen is simultaneously loved and hated by most.
Long before Zondereck or petty human conflict, magic reigned. The Corvine, powerful witches who follow the Word of the Raven, claim that we once had access to another another realm. They say that the people from the other realm abused magic and so a barrier had to be built to protect this realm - the Realm of the Raven.
At the time of the story, magic is feared and hated. All Corvine are persecuted and killed under orders of the Queen (through the influence of the Queen’s Advisor)
Slide 3: The title in the centre of the pale orange background says, "To sum that up..." It is surrounded by small text blocks that read, "Alternate history of Earth!" "There’s a Queen. Her Advisor wants all magic users dead." "A fictional country in the middle of North America!" "There are witches called the Corvine - they like ravens :)" and "There are multiple realms! The people from the other one are supposedly evil, so there’s a magical barrier." There is also a small image on the slide of a map that shows a section of North America with many important rivers labelled. A dotted line surrounds parts of modern-day Canadian provinces Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, as well as American states Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. This drawn-in border extends from the real border of North and South Dakota up to Hudson Bay. This is the border of the fictional kingdom of Zondereck, and the map is also labelled with a star marking the fictional capital city Herenzen, and a fictional canal called the Zondereck Bypass that connects Lake Superior to the Missouri river.
Slide 4: The title on the same pale orange background says "The Characters", beneath is smaller text that says, "The story follows four kids who work in a factory in the city of Herenzen as they approach the age of adulthood in the eyes of the law (meaning they are 15, almost 16). And a friend they make along the way! They are desperate for change and a chance to be in control of their own futures, though that seems impossible." To the left of the title is an image of a digital line-art drawing that shows five teens posing happily together. To the right of the text are five images made using a picrew that show the same teens in a chibi/cartoony style. The first is of a black boy with very short hair, he is smiling with determination. The second image is of a blonde girl with flowers in her long, straight hair; she is smiling sweetly. The third image is of a dark-skinned girl with long, wavy black hair, she looks somewhat annoyed. The fourth image is of a Chinese boy with black bangs, he is smiling calmly. The final image on the slide is of a dark-skinned nonbinary teen with flowers in their messy, dark hair, they look kind of surprised or nervous.
Slide 5: The slide is divided into two sections. On the left, the text says "Lennox - the impulsive leader. stubborn / brave / loyal
how can he lead when his mistakes are ruining the lives of the friends he wanted to save?" Followed by a list that says,
The main-main protag, most chps in his POV
Grew up in the city, sold to the factory at age 8
Does not think things through (this boy’s got my ADHD…)
Obsessed with magic/the Corvine, the resident storyteller
Power to move long distances in short times!
The text is accompanied by a photograph of a black teenage boy with close-shaved hair, he is laughing. On the right side of the slide is a photograph of a pale white teenage girl with straight, long blonde hair, her eyes are closed as she peacefully looks towards the top right. The text to the right of her image says, "Cambridge - the loving support. optimistic / timid / kind how can she support her friends when she fears she’s losing her mind?" Followed by a list that says,
Second main protag
Found as an infant, raised in the factory by the Holy (religious caregivers) and has never left its grounds.
Dreamy, naive, and a romantic at heart, she can be optimistic to a fault
Her power gives her strange visions and dreams, and turns her (seemingly permanently) invisible
Slide 6: The slide is set up similarly to the previous slide, divided in two. The text on the left says "Avenir - the determined cynic. bold / bitter / fierce how can she persevere when her worst nightmares are coming true?" Followed by a list that says
suffers from PTSD and anxiety from her mysterious past
came to the factory not long before Lennox
fire powers babeyyy
In the centre of the slide is a photograph of a Métis teenage girl with long, slightly wavy black hair and a determined look on her face. Immediately to the right of her image is a photograph of a Chinese teenage boy with black hair that goes across his forehead in straight bangs, he looks serious. The text on the right of the slide says "Ivory - the rational thinker. rational/ anxious/ religious how can he find logic when everything he thought he knew is built on lies?" Followed by a list that says
traded to the factory as a toddler with a basket full of Chinese ivory
not having a good time, thanks
his power forces people to do what he says
Slide 7: This slide is also divided into two. The text on the left says "Helio - the reluctant teacher. calm / guarded / wise how can they maintain their peaceful life when strangers show up in need of guidance only they can provide?" Followed by a list that says
the friend they meet in the woods :)
raised by Mevrou Geheim (actually moreso by the ravens and plants since she was never around…)
as such, not great with people
Corvine since infancy, can “talk” to plants
In the centre of the slide is a photograph of a nonbinary teenager with wavy dark hair, they are dressed in formal clothes and smiling while holding a plate of vegetables. This is the only image on this slide. Under the image is a small text box that says "no pov chps in book 1 :(" The text on the right says "Mevrou Geheim - the mysterious mentor." Followed by a list that says
saved Lennox’s life one time and he hasn’t left her alone since
can see the future, loves being cryptic
super dedicated to her duty as a Corvine to follow the Word of the Raven
often uses Afrikaans words or phrases (ex. calls Lennox “boytjie”)
also is Deaf and uses sign language sometimes
still no good face claim for her!
Slide 8: The title of the slide reads "Magic!" On either side of the title are circular images; the one on the left shows a fire, the one on the right shows the night sky with a wire fence in the foreground. The rest of the slide is text that says "All magic involves the starry place between realms - the Astrifer! The main 4 get their powers in the inciting incident - powers are gained by eating Stardust. Lennox can flicker his body in and out of our realm to shorten the physical distance traveled. Ivory’s voice reaches through the Astrifer to choose the future. Avenir draws energy from the Astrifer, which appears as flames. Helio can connect to the Astrifer on what’s essentially the same wavelength as plants . Cambridge straddles the realms, letting her see into both and making her invisible in this one. this should not be possible. no one has ever been like Cambridge." Part of the text is written in red, it says "Drawbacks", followed by black text that says "using magic means crossing the barrier between realms. This takes a lot of effort and inflicts physical damage that can become permanent in extreme cases - the more of you that crosses, the worse the effects are."
Slide 9: The title says "So What Happens?" It is followed by a list saying
Lennox wants to save his friends from the factory and their miserable futures, so he goes to Mevrou Geheim for help
she gives him Stardust and a lot of cryptic warnings
They burn down escape the factory and flee
Uh-oh. Mevrou Geheim has gone missing. There are soldiers after them. There’s a tear in the Astrifer. Cambridge is having freaky visions of evil things coming through from the Realm of the Fox. The world might just end. Prophecies about saving it are probably about them.
y’know the kind of thing all 15-year-olds have to deal with, right?
Another text box below the list says, "These poor kids just want to be happy and free and together, is that too much to ask?" Very small text is beside this says "yes, yes it is." Below the textbox is more text which adds "Oh and Lennox and Helio want to find Mevrou Geheim, if possible." On the top right of the slide is a meme that shows two cartoon cats holding a red thread, around them is text that says "oh no, we're cosmically important so now we have to suffer."
Slide 10: The final slide is titled "In Short," and the text is a list that says
Magic! Witches! Lore, stories, and legends! Talking ravens!
Alternate history! Different realms!
Complex, multi-faceted plot that all ties together! Lots of questions to be asked!
First of two books! (Hopefully!)
Fun banter! Importance of friendships + found family vibes! Diverse characters! (Many races! LGBT! Helio is nonbinary! And uses a cane! Mme Geheim is deaf! There’s more but none of this is the point of the story just something that is!)
On the left of the slide is a large image of a digitally painted book cover. It shows a raven flying upwards near the top of the image, its tail widens out into darkness that takes up the bottom half of the image and is faintly speckled with stars. In the background, smoke obscures a factory with many smokestacks. Grey text on the black part of the image says "The Corvine. West Weston." Above the title of the slide is a row of five images. These small square images have colourful backgrounds and show the same five teenagers from earlier slides drawn in the style of a different picrew.
clothing is really symbolic in my story, but... how do i describe it without sounding like i'm secretly Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way™?
I actually let out a snort at this. That’s going to be difficult; describing clothing in too much depth will most definitely bore readers, even if it’s supposed to be symbolic.
My suggestion is that you first describe the clothing in what they are: jackets, torn jeans, boots, etc.
And then if you want to get into stuff like the fabric and the color, maybe you should have things happen too it/the characters interact with it.
For example:
“Shit!” A cried, looking down to find that they’d spilled sauce onto their white pants, staining them red.
“Are they gone yet?” B asked, their arms and face scratched up from the run through the woods. There was a tear in the cashmere sweater they’d been wearing from when it had snagged on some thorns.
I’ve been seeing a lot of these questions, so let’s take it a step further - we all know the ‘don’t have them stand in front of a mirror’ advice, but when do you describe clothing?
When it’s relevant to the plot. Characters getting ready for a ball - style and dress is important both in contextual clues (she’s wearing a dress from last season! Are there money problems?) and in society. Clothing is important here, and spending a paragraph or two on it is fine. Alternatively, if your MC’s best friend is a fashionista, comparing their clothes to the MC’s is also important. It tells us about character, and how the MC feels about societal norms.
When it’s relevant to giving us telling details. A character smooths her hand down her skirt nervously. Is it a blue skirt? Plaid? Old fashioned? The latest style? Is she being careful about the skirt, like it’s new and expensive? Does she not glance at it at all? Describing clothes in the process of telling the reader about the character wearing them is a good technique. The mid-action technique described in the post above is also a good one.
When it’s relevant to what the character does and doesn’t know. MC knows nothing about clothing? Keep it simple. Red blouse, blue jeans. But even just that information can be used for plot development. Are the jeans too tight? The blouse too big? Does the character wear them confidently, or look like they’re out of their comfort zone? Your character may not know anything about clothes, but they’re likely aware that someone wearing an oversized hoodie in the blaze of summer might have some issues going on.
I’m wearing an old zip-up fleece from Uniqlo, jeans, and restaurant non-slip shoes despite working in an office. What does that tell you about me? (Answer: I used to work in the food industry and like the shoes, I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes, and my office is cold.) What are you wearing now that would be telling about yourself? How do you apply that to your characters?
i don’t know who needs to read this but remember that fandom is a hobby. it’s supposed to be fun, not an obligation.
you don’t have to post on a schedule, or update wips that don’t inspire you.
you don’t have to fill all the prompts you get.
you don’t have to write long things because you feel like this fic is too short.
remember that we’re all here to have a good time. when you find yourself getting stressed by fandom stuff, just stop, breathe and think. what’s the rush? is the world gonna end if you don’t work on this fic / art / edit / blog today?
and if anyone tries to make you feel bad about taking it easy, they can kiss my appletaters. we are doing this for free, because we love it.
I have problems finding different "voices" for each of my characters. Could you help me by maybe explain the different aspect that can change one's voice? Thank you!
Hi, love! Thanks for your question and your patience :) I love writing unique character voices, both in dialogue and narration, just because it can make a story completely different just through the way it’s told. There are a lot of different aspects to a character voice, though, so I’ll just go through the basics I run in my mind when I develop voices.
Aspects of Character Voice
Education – To be as realistic for your character as possible, you need to consider the level of education they received growing up. There are too many characters in modern fiction who speak eloquently, confidently, and grammatically correct, yet don’t have the educational backstory to support this. This is especially important if the character has to speak publicly, which many overlook as a skill that must be developed.
Influences – People learn how to speak, how to joke, and how to appeal to others from their family, friends, and idols. For example: my aunt is much more reserved than my father and uncle. She’s a quiet, thoughtful psychologist – but every once in a while, she shows her roots over her education by engaging in some of the awful puns that run in my dad’s side of the family. Puns seem uncharacteristic of her at first glance, but it adds depth to who she is by reaching back into her childhood.
Communication Style – I touched on this in my post on character traits, and it probably applies even more here. Your characters aren’t all going to speak up at the same times, about the same things, in the same ways. Some people avoid confrontation; some people can’t ignore irritants. Some people are open about their personal affairs; some don’t feel comfortable sharing their middle name with friends. Some people think out loud, and occupy the room subconsciously. Some people use humor to mask their feelings, and rarely speak without a hint of irony in their voice. Some people are horribly self-aware, and some people talk without really hearing or filtering themselves. It’s all important.
Demeanor – Mood, countenance, disposition – basically, what is the character’s general attitude? If someone were to describe them in a couple of words, what would they be? Some people are generally positive, and some are generally negative, or irritable, or uncomfortable, or emotional, or just really strong in whatever direction. I had a friend in theatre describe me as “anxious at rest”, and I think that pretty much covers my demeanor. Now, no one behaves one way all the time – this is just more of a “default emotion” that colors how they approach certain situations.
Example: Because I’m “anxious at rest”, I feel happiness like butterflies in my limbs, and sadness like it’s raining bullets in my stomach. Because my brother is naturally chill as hell (my words), he feels happiness like a warm, gooey piece of pie, and sadness like a thin, wet sheet clinging to his skin.
Social Skills – This can tie into education and influences, but also has a lot to do with personality. A character can be raised to know and value social convention, or they can pick it up themselves; or they can disregard social “rules” despite any kind of education. How does your character handle awkward situations? Are they blunt with strangers? Are they respectful to authority? Do they keep their opinions to themselves, or speak up no matter what? Do they at all change themselves or their behavior to adapt to new situations? There’s a spectrum there, between 100%-Integrity and Chameleon status, and your character’s somewhere on it.
Sense of Humor – I’ve talked about this before, too, but for posterity, I’ll add it here. When writing a character’s voice, you have to think about what amuses them – and it’s not necessarily what amuses you. I think of the show The Office, which is basically a playground of different senses of humor. There’s Michael Scott, who works with things like “that’s what she said” and celebrity impressions; there’s Jim Halpert, who’s both sarcastic and a diehard prankster; there’s Pam Beesly, who can only offer puns along the line of, “I’ll put out an A.P.B. – an Ask Pam Beesly.” These small details make characters sound distinct from each other.
Introversion/Extroversion – Lastly, a lot of how a character communicates depends on how they experience social interactions. Are they energized by conversations and social events, or do these things drain them? Do they seek out others, or do they wait to be addressed? Are their thoughts focused outwardly – on what’s going on around them, what others are saying or thinking, on how they appear to others – or inwardly – on their internal thoughts and interests, on what they’re thinking and feeling? This will affect how they speak and how they narrate the story, even if you’re not writing in first-person.
Anyway, that’s basically what came to mind when I saw your question. If this doesn’t help you, be sure to send us another ask with more information :) Good luck!
– Mod Joanna ♥️
If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!
Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!
Heads up that this is a very extensive questionnaire and might be daunting to a lot of writers (myself included). That being said, it is also an amazing questionnaire and I will definitely be using it (or at the very least, some of it).
PSA: Just a friendly reminder that whenever you start a creative project, you will invariably hit a phase where the Thing™️ appears horrendous and you start asking existential questions. But if you keep working, it invariably passes and starts to resemble something less like the devil’s vomit. Doesn’t matter if it’s art, writing, or what–this happens repeatedly. Carry on.
You know what else is a shame? This nowadays tendency of putting on the author the responsibility of teaching their readers morality.
Authors are allowed to write morally ambiguous characters.
Authors are allowed to write downright despicable characters - and guess what they are even allowed to make despicable characters charismatic and likeble and the protagonists of their stories if they wish - because absolute monsters exist only under the bed.
It is not up to the author to spoonfeed the readers about morality and Yes I know this character did a bad thing and I am going going to show it in the story and make other characters call them out of it and– Bullshit.
The authors should be able to write what they want without having thousands of people jumping and their throats claiming to know them, their ideas and their morality based on what they write.
It’s not up to the author to teach you about what is right and what is wrong.
You know how fantasy worlds are almost always based on (mostly Central and Northern) European Medieval aesthetic and folklore?
For a while I’ve been thinking that if we had a fantasy world made here, it would be interesting to have it be inspired by Modernisme (the Catalan artistic movement from the late 19th century - early 20th century). I mean, look at this and tell me it doesn’t have potential:
Interior of the Sagrada Família basilica, Barcelona. The stained glass in different sides of the temple are different colours, so the light changes colour depending on the hour of the day. (Photo sources x x)
Illa de la Discòrdia, Barcelona. x
Benches in Parc Güell (Barcelona), made with the “trencadís”, the typical mosaic used in many of Antoni Gaudí’s works (he’s one of the most famous Modernist architects, and one of the most famous Catalan architects of all times too). x
A hall in Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona. x
Ceiling of Palau de la Música Catalana, a concert hall in Barcelona.
Lots of these things. This one is in Argentona (Catalonia, too). x
And fashion would be like this:
Stained glass in Cerdanyola, Catalonia. x
Illustrations by Gaspar Camps.
More stained glass, now in Museu del Modernisme, Barcelona. x
Modernist jewels by Lluís Masriera (I’ve talked about Modernist jewels in this previous post). x
Even the furniture:
x
Interior of Casa Amatller in Barcelona. x.
Even in wood looked pretty.
x
And lots of cool windows inspired by nature!
And from outside
Olot, Catalonia. x.
And of course all kinds of windows. Light is important!
Torre Bellesguard. x.
Barcelona. x.
This ceiling in Palau Güell with holes to let light in. x.
And this lamp?? Also in Palau Güell. x.
Everything would have to be very curvy.
Casa Milà, Barcelona. x.
And shops
This bakery in Palma, Mallorca. x.
And I won’t begin with the tiles to not make the post longer…
What do you think?
And for people from other countries, what element in your culture do you think a fantasy world could be based on, aesthetically?
Does anybody else get legitimately worried when a fanfic author who was updating regularly just suddenly disappears with no warning? Like, is it a serious case of writers block or are they in a coma? Did they just up and quit? Was it me? Were my reviews not good enough?! Did they die 😳?! Were they kidnapped? Do I need to file a missing persons report? Excuse me officer, there’s been 13 weekly updates and now nothing for months! Find them! What’s their name?! Name!? I don’t know their name but they write 3k+ chapters and I need them safe and back in my life!
So, painful story, but I’ve really needed to tell it for a while.
My best friend, the woman I loved for 13 years, was a fic writer in the middle of an especially long piece. She updated on a schedule and had for years. She had a small, but loyal following.
And then she died out of nowhere. One day we were laughing, the next she was in a coma, 3 days later she was dead. She hadn’t been ill and to this day we don’t know what took her. She was just gone.
I knew she had friends all over the world so I went into her email to see if I could find addresses and notify people after a week of blind grief. In her inbox were about a dozen concerned messages from her readers. I cried. I cried and cried and I responded to all of them, telling people she had passed.
And the messages kept coming. Those people spread the word and message after message came in, most of them addressed to me now, as I had given those original readers my contact info. There were words of comfort and grief and just every emotion imaginable in that scenario. I wrote back to them all, thanking them and comforting them.
For months after she died, during the worst of my grief, I had those messages. I had those people. And they had me. I really think I might not have made it to the other side without them.
So, the fact that you care? That you think of them? That these authors who became a presence in your world are missed when they aren’t there? It means something very real. On the off chance that the author did die? Anyone who has seen this post will find comfort during the loss of their friend or family member, knowing that you all exist. That they aren’t alone. That you CARE that the world now lacks their loved one.
So, yeah. I’ve seen this post and ones like it for years and wanted to share this story. I finally could today.
Thank you, every person who reblogged this post. People like you are the biggest reason I’m alive today.
Thank you for the ask! This is a reference to this post.
6. What character do you have the most fun writing?
Oooh, this is a good one! I'd say it's a tossup between Jonathon and Rylan. Both are quite similar- both are quite optimistic childish spirits at heart but have hardened up and don't come across like that at first. Neither of them are main characters (they're major, though) but they're some of the most complex and interesting to write in my series.
When it comes to my current NaNo project, Green Bears, my favourite character to write is V. He's simultaneously the most and least sane character in the book and he's actually just made his cameo in the draft I'm doing for NaNo (I had a very messy and non-novel form version of this story which I'm editing) so I'm looking forward to writing more about him.
If anyone else wants to send me questions about my WIPs, be they related to the post or just whatever you fancy, I'm more than happy to answer them :)
im bored so writers rb this to get a question about ur wip/wips in ur ask box bc we all know writers thrive on being Asked Stuff and at the same time i know a lot of us have trouble just rambling about the stuff we like without prompting. so. yeah
if u want u can specify in the tags. like a sorta "hey hint hint i'd love to talk about this"
