Our world is full of wonder. The world of Elsyanne is full of magic. And when Peach Bellona runs away from home, she falls into this magical world.
Read it here!~ https://corvidgae.neocities.org/OurFF
Chapter One || Wishes Well Meant || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Two || Out of the Cauldron || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Three || Witch Way to Choose || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Four || Spirits in the Woods || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Five || Carnival Hijinks || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Six || Magic Maketh the Makeover || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Seven || Mysteries Take Light || Tumblr ; Neocities
Chapter Eight || What A Mother Hides || Tumblr ; Neocities
Easily the most complimented feature of my writing has always been how strongly I convey emotion, so here's my unsolicited advice on making your readers feel what your characters are feeling:
Physicalize - I am personally a very emotional human being, and I feel things very physically. I think that helps me describe emotions on paper, because I tend to connect emotions with physical sensations. For example, instead of "he felt sad," I would say "sadness washed over him in a lukewarm tide." That physicalization of the abstract feeling can make it easier for people to replicate the feeling in their own minds. So basically, I'm taking the emotions I want to convey and thinking, "how does this emotion feel on a physical level?" and then describing that. "Anxiety tightened in her gut." "Anger bubbled under his skin." "Her body was light, drifting in euphoria." Metaphors are your friends.
~Body Language~ - Another physical indicator of emotion is how people's body language changes to reflect what they feel. This is huge when dealing with non-POV characters. Any time that you could say "she looked upset," you would do better to just describe how she looked. "She furrowed her brow, looking down." "His fist tightened on the door handle." "The silverware rattled in the drawer as she jerked it open." Emotions often come through in the way characters interact with objects around them. In that vein, you can usually express it more clearly if you focus around some action that the character is performing (even a tiny little one). Making note of details like avoiding eye contact, how/when people fidget, whether their movements are sharp or fluid, and stuff like that can go a long way in conveying emotions more naturally.
Wait How Do People Talk Again?? - Dialogue can be really tough if it doesn't come naturally to you. I voice-act quietly to myself pretty much all of the dialogue I write just to make sure it sounds natural. Again, pulling from real-life experience is usually best here; imagine how you've heard real people talk when they are feeling angry, depressed, panicked, etc. Think about phrasing and tone inflection - do their words sound short, sharp, and clipped? How do their phrasing choices show that? Do they ramble in a bright, bubbly tone? Are they monotone and flat? Do they use a lot of filler words because their brain is moving too fast (or too slow)? Are they so tired or hesitant that they trail off or pause frequently?
That's my main advice on conveying emotion through writing. Feel free to add on or ask questions!
So I've had some concept art for magic shown before, but I recently redid it since the image was pretty outdated compared to current lore & worldbuilding~
It's mooooostly the same, with small changes here & there, but I wanted to focus mostly on the soulmate color thing because I've mentioned it, but never expanded on it!
First things first, the chart is "bogus" in the sense that it sometimes is right, but overall isn't. Just like star/astrological charts in our world are.
Reds ; Red souls are presumed to be more daring or impulsive, but passionate, moral, and otherwise "good" people. They are said to pair well with blue souls~
Oranges ; Orange souls are presumed to be more calm, but decisive, and care deeply about honesty & keeping peace. They are said to pair well with yellow souls~
Yellows ; Yellow souls are presumed to be more joyful. Inviting anyone into their inner circle. They are incredibly helpful, but incredibly naive. They are said to pair well with orange souls~
Greens ; Green souls are presumed to be more judgmental, but keep detailed & organized - whether it be their personal items, or in day-to-day, etc. They are also very devoted to their friends & loved ones. They are said to pair well with purple souls~
Cyans ; Cyan souls are presumed to be more blunt, valuing honesty like orange souls. But they can also be relaxed or wistful yet still goal-oriented. Cyan souls are said to pair well with pink souls~
Blues ; Blue souls are presumed to be more imaginative, having creative minds that are still focused. Blue souls can also be strong-willed or even prideful. They are said to pair well with red souls~
Purples ; Purple souls are presumed to be more secretive than others, as well as mysterious or noble, and certainly strong-hearted. They are said to pair well with green souls~
Pinks ; Pink souls are presumed to be more loving than the other colors, they are also jokesters or pranksters w/ a penchant for a bit of chaos. They pair well with cyan souls~
So I've been playing with the "tech" in my modern fantasy -- and I drew the main cast's "phones" just as a test of being able to show their personalities in something as simple as phone differences :D
Just for a lil lore cus I wanna talk about the "phones" in Our Future Fantasy!
I've mentioned before that most Arcanist tech is made with Fey Quartz as it conducts magic. It's a semi-rare mineral found near Fey Gates that exist on Elsyanne due to the Fey building them to traverse between the Magical & Mundane realms. They are inert now, but the energy they still exude changes the minerals in the area, imbuing them with the ability to hold Arcanum~
So phones ALSO run on Fey Quartz -- in a "phone's" case, there's a sort of magical crystalline memory going on with the Fey Quartz used in "phones" [I still don't have a better name, feel free to suggest] The phones have 8 main buttons that can be "mapped" to anything - generally the square buttons are mapped to ; up, down, right, & left ; with the circle buttons mapped to ; save, open, delete, & load ; there's also a power button on the center of the device.
The pens are used on the "touchpad" next to the buttons to write, transcribing the writing into text on the screen~
Not pictured is the fact an analog-style clock is built into the front of the device for timekeeping as well, because OBVIOUSLY that would be something a designer thinks about lol~
These "phones" are semi-cheap for citizens in Arcane-centric societies on Elsyanne. For 150-ish Crowns depending on any accessories or "upgrades" you buy [Like a fancier pen, more memory storage, etc] They're more common for Hollow & Arcane Hunters though, many Hunters having "group chats" between their hunting parties -- which is the same for the main cast!
These "group chats" are just locally hosted files though, there is no internet [technically] on Elsyanne, there's a proto-internet thing I have going on, but again. It's mostly local, but local areas can still spread information quickly with devices like these assuming they're in the right "group chats"~
Updated Mother Morgana's home. It is no longer a singular building because FYUCK that (couldn't get the layout feeling right) so instead, it looks like this now.
And fun fact; The building that Imani & Mother Morgana's current rooms are in is the most recent building (built within the last 18ish years after Morgana adopted Imani & needed more room for her as she grew up) Peach's room used to be Mother Morgana's room when she lived alone~
if you want to see a "clean" vers [no numbers] you can go to my Ko-Fi~
Uuuuugh I'm so upset: I've been hit with the worst case of depressive-based writers block and I hate every word I've been putting to the page for Our Future Fantasy (not even just Our FF either, I can't write my fic without feeling the same either) so I think after chapter 8 does come out I'm gonna have a little hiatus. Maybe work on chapter art & make everything look pretty as I try to build back up the buffer
So I have indeed been on hiatus, but I am also feeling a lot better. I have a new job so the source of my depression is lessening, I've just been in a more drawing headspace so I'm still on hiatus... technically?
Basically; I may update with new art, more concepting things, maybe an update to the first few chapters so they have art too [as was the og intention when swapping to a book from the comic]
Uhhh... I totally didn't just now finish any kind of important concepting for currency in my book. No, no. Totally was already finished LMAO
Also their naming is a bit "ironic" -- Elsyanne used to be ruled by a power-hungry & corrupt kingdom, & while they aren't anymore they've kept some of the names for things. Like the currency.
I already have the Black Queen up on Artfight so I already know the minute that her 'bitch ass' (said with love) shows up in the book, that anyone reading's gonna get obsessed.
Like look at her attack ratio compared to Peach LMAO
but she should be showing up soon-ish... at least her cult will be. I'm in the middle of rewriting the arc I had planned (sorry o7, I wrote the synopsis a couple years ago and now the first arc's events are a lil wonky compared to how I'd write a synopsis for it now)
Peach needs to see more, more of this new world outside of her so-called benevolent host. Imani herself offers that chance, a Hollow Hunter protege. She's kind of afraid of fighting, she'd never been really 'sporty' during her life on Earth, but Peach trusts her new friend, so what would she have to lose? She supposes she'll find out if she has to spar with Imani's friends...
Sorry I've been working for my landlord recently and HOUGH I've been in a lotta pain I wasn't paying attention to the days! (my alarm for posting also didn't go off... weirdly)
Uuuuugh I'm so upset: I've been hit with the worst case of depressive-based writers block and I hate every word I've been putting to the page for Our Future Fantasy (not even just Our FF either, I can't write my fic without feeling the same either) so I think after chapter 8 does come out I'm gonna have a little hiatus. Maybe work on chapter art & make everything look pretty as I try to build back up the buffer
The finished piece of Oleandra & the Black Queen for a Youtube video (still pissed I can't use basic creator functions on the damn site without uploading my GOVERNMENT FUCKING ID to it. Can't pin comments. Can't add links to video descriptions. Fucking bullshit)
No I didn't work too hard on the bg, it was for Youtube and I just wanted to finish it LMAO
The finished piece of Oleandra & the Black Queen for a Youtube video (still pissed I can't use basic creator functions on the damn site without uploading my GOVERNMENT FUCKING ID to it. Can't pin comments. Can't add links to video descriptions. Fucking bullshit)
No I didn't work too hard on the bg, it was for Youtube and I just wanted to finish it LMAO
realized I never added any content warnings to Our Future Fantasy, so that's been added to the site lol. Most of the horror elements don't start showing up in any actual detail until much later (for ya'll, I'm writing those chapters rn which is what made me realize it) but I still feel it's important to have them since I don't want anyone to get caught off guard while reading.
