How many dragon OCs do you have, and would u plz talk about the lore you have for them?
Never apologize for asking!
(I, however, apologize for taking a while to respond ldkdl)
Hello! I think I don't have dragon OCs in the way you mean, but I do have dragons in my stories! :D They just tend to not be the POV characters and have evolved as part of the worldbuilding more than anything else.
In my current main WIP, Dream's Shadow, "dragon" is the word used for any animal with 4 limbs and 2 wings, and the main ones that show up in the story basically fill the same niche as birds (while birds also exist). They're sentient and smart and have a much bigger importance in the grand scheme of things, but my main characters don't know that yet. (There's a lot more foreshadowing of it in this current draft, but not more than that yet). To them, dragons are slightly smarter wild animals that also talk (to some limited degree); you can befriend them, but they aren't domesticated. Even so, they're seen as messengers of one of the major figures in the religion my main characters follow. In the grand scheme of things, it turns out that they're extremely powerful beings in their own right, who can tip the "cosmic" scales in your favour if you treat them well (or the other direction, if you treat them badly). They're originally from another world, and some of them are also reincarnations of once-human souls.
Ages ago I made a wip meme powerpoint, which is still mostly up to date, so I'll also put that here :D (it explains the more mundane things a bit more)
I also have dragons in all my older/other WIPs, and there are also some that are more 'typically dragon' (big reptiles :P), but I haven't worked on them in so long that my brain is too empty to conjure all of the information right now and/or it's just spoilers all of the way down, so I'll leave it at that xD In particular bc it's not quiiiite what you asked about.
Can we see Aelaris and basil’s parents please uwu?
I had the time to design their parents before I finish this illustration idea for the curious.
You can see Aelaris and Kaidra's parents here
And Basil's parents here
The colorwheel challenge is perfect for my universe where most of my characters are designed close to the monochrome area!
You can find in this drawing all the current Overlord along with the main character and one tertiary character since I didn't have an important yellow character at the creation of this drawing.
Red: Aroth, Wrath's Overlord
Orange: Solstar, Greed's Overlord
Yellow: Abigail, an acquaintance of Solstar
Greed: Loda, Gluttony's Overlord
Light Blue: Neru, Pride's Overlord
Blue: Basil, main character
Purple: Echo, Sloth's Overlord
Pink: Aelaris, Lust's Overlord
Grey: Jasper, Envy's Overlord. Fun fact, I almost forgot him, again
Hi! I have a question about Dream's Shadow, if that's cool. (Or multiple, I guess.) What's been your favorite part of writing it so far? What inspired you to create the story initially? Are there any (non-spoilery) things you're excited to get to? It's a very cool WIP!
lskdjfdls i am so sorry for the incredibly late response, i saw your ask, went !!!!!!! but it was late and then it was marked as read and i forgot about it again :c thank you so much for your interest and the ask!!! i really appreciate it, even if my brain is stupid sometimes
ANYWAYS
my fave part of writing it has been all the worldbuilding in later drafts, and also just ... having seen how it develops, really? how i refine the world and society and dig in a little deeper in some areas, or how characters have changed through the drafts, or who the characters have become :'3 i've been working on it (on and off) since nanowrimo 2014 and it's come so far and it's changed so much, kinda just like me ... and it's really cool to see that in the story and the worldbuilding and the characters too? :'3 i really don't like editing all that much, but rewriting is Fine Actually, and i love rewriting scenes in a way that makes them Sparkle afterwards, or giving them the certain Something that makes it hurt so much more hehehe (especially on rereads)
so basically, i guess what i love about it is how much it shows me how i have grown as a person <3 but strictly speaking, writing wise.. i don't know, i love every part of the actual writing, i love shaping the words and brainstorming and dialogue and description and creating the worlds and the characters :'3 just not editing. but we are working on that. XD
initial inspiration ... it's so basic, actually? but it's also sort of a spoiler, so i will leave out that part xD it was literally just this kinda very basic "image" of a parent sitting at the bed of their child, who's in a coma after a car accident, and the ghost of the child has their hand on the parent's shoulder, and it's mainly a story about grief, in a sort of bittersweet-sad-beautiful way. And at some point the ghost-child figures out that they can create dreams for their parents, and that they can fly bc they're a ghost, and there was a demon, and the family cat could see (and help) them.
(One day i want to go back to that original concept, it feels like something that might work as a graphic novel?)
At that point i wasn't a very good writer yet though, so I could never have pulled it off in a way where it wasn't boring. So the second draft shifted it into its own fantasy universe, the characters changed a bit, it escalated somewhat.... and now it's still a story about grief and ben is still a ghost and the parents are still grieving and the cat can still see him... so the heart is still there, but it's also sort of shifted, because now it's ava's story too, and it's grown a lot around this initial seed :D
that's another thing i really love about writing. because you take a seed and then the story grows out of it, and who knows if it's a flower or a tree by the end?
Things i am excited to get to ...
So, i am in the 6th draft now. a friend finished her beta read in ... july? i think? and i haven't gone back to it since then due to various reasons (but mainly uni and No Time To Write). previously i'd hoped that i could finally leave it be structurally, and just do line edits and stuff (my beloathed kjdjfd). turns out the first act is still too slow and needs some reworking. and all reworking i'd done previously hadn't done the trick, so i guess shifting things a bit isn't enough!
but thankfully my wonderful friends @ettawritesnstudies (and @thehollowbetween and @lady-redshield-writeswith research) helped me figure out some stuff with how i can solve the issues, maybe. and what i'm most excited about is that this will include the addition of early days sound recording technology now, and possibly also early stages photography (like daguerreotypes maybe?), because it fits into the world and story and plot so seamlessly as though i'd planned it from the start (particularly with the mcs' mother being an engineer/inventor)!
so basically there are some scenes now that offer a view into the past of my characters through really old recordings that degrade as you listen to them, because i have gotten very :hypereyes: at that kind of tech and the wonderful(ly evil) things i can do with it. :3
I am VERY excited about diving deeper into the research and then figuring out how to rework the story, and then actually writing the sixth draft for nanowrimo this year :D
So... sorry for the ramble, thank you so much for the ask and your interest, and i hope you have a wonderful day :D
Basil’s being anxious again.
It’s healthier to play in his hair than letting him smoke... It’s fun to not be alone
-Aelaris
Drawing collaboration with Melichat: https://www.instagram.com/melichatmanga.art/?hl=fr
Calendar, measuring time and celebrations for the tag game? I'd love to know more about those
Thank you!! :D
So I guess this is a worldbuilding, celebrations, and “yes I made a whole new calendar” post for Dream’s Shadow now...
The Calendar, How Time Is Measured in the Empire of the New Dawn, and Official Celebrations
So... this is the calendar! (still ... mainly ... accurate)
CALENDAR AND MEASURING TIME:
Aelaris (the planet) is a bit bigger than Earth. There are sixteen hours in every day (32 per daily cycle), and an hour is fifty minutes long.
So we bascially have 1-16 AM and 1-16PM.
The calendar system was created by the Merreki, and while the Sindish invaded them and subsequently created the Empire of the New Dawn, the Merreki kind of invaded them back from the inside, and their calendar became the new norm.
It’s a bit dumb and confusing on purpose because the Merreki hate the Sindish and found it spitefully hilarious that this results in different days having the exact same date (during Paras and Telrin). And bureaucracy sucks so nobody has bothered fixing it so far.
The Merreki isles are situated far to the North, which means that there are ~4 weeks in winter when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon. The blue part marks the times of the year when the sun is there for less than an hour, and it’s counted in negative days. This also means that the rest of the Empire, where people have sun all year long, still has to count this way (which is hilarious to me).
There are 36 weeks in the year, and the Weeks during which the Winter and Summer Solstice happen are special, celebrated with a festival that lasts the whole week. During this time, the common folk don’t have to work (the necessary work is taken over by the Asim/Empire-enslaved magic users). Middle of Spring and Autumn are also important, celebrated for three days. → the time when Day and Night have the same length
Celebrations below the cut bc it got a bit long...! Also the Dream’s Shadow taglist crew <3
CELEBRATIONS:
First Sun (at the end of Telrin)
Merreadon is so far north that the sun doesn’t cross the horizon for 4 weeks in winter, so the first day the sun peeks over the horizon again is the celebration of Rebirth. This is mainly a Merreki celebration, as the Sindish won’t celebrate the proper Re-Awakening of Viridaeya for more than another month.
On this day, all Merreki (and everyone else who decides to join them) will wait for the first sunrise of the year on the roof of Merreadon/the highest Layer of the City to greet the sun with the traditional Merreki hymns (sung in its major version).
There are smaller celebrations held privately during the rest of the day and through the next night, and the Sindish generally pretend not to see those.
New Year – Most liked official Festival! :D
The Sindish celebrate the proper Re-Awakening of Viridaeya, Goddess of Creation.
Everyone has a day off and there are big celebrations all over the city.
Spring/Revival Celebration
Roughly 1.5 months later is the time of the spring celebration, when day and night have roughly the same length again.
This day celebrates Viridaeya’s power finally outbalancing Ruyen’s again, and also that the next half-year will be the one where she’s stronger than him (=the power of growth being stronger than decay, represented by longer days)
It’s celebrated through 3 days of festivals, a lot of dancing, and generally leaving the city again for the time (most of the festivities are held outside the city in the forest near the city walls)
Midsummer / Summer Solstice
The summer solstice celebrates the mid-point of the counted year, along the lines of “tthings are going to get dark again but at least we still a quarter of a year of sunlight”. Once again, it’s a celebration of Viridaeya at the height of her strength, but it’s also a festival in recognition of Ruyen, who will soon re-awaken and regain his strength.
Since the summer (and winter) solstice is the most important in Merreki tradition, it’s the day that the Empire decided to wreak havoc on by declaring it one of the two days of the Testing, when every child who turned 4 since the winter solstice is tested for magical power (and taken away to become Asim if they’re strong enough)
It’s also one of the two days a year that the Asim children are allowed to see their families again, so while this should be the most triumphant day of the year, it’s not tied to city-wide festivals, just to small family ones. Or days of sorrow, in other cases. Everyone gets this day off, too, though.
Autumn Celebration/Giving Thanks
This is the mirror celebration of the Spring one, it’s basically a celebration looking back on the accomplishments of the last year. It marks the time when day and night are again of the same length and is the last true celebration before winter.
“Things are going to get dark but at least we had a nice time before that.”
The Sindish (and therefore everyone else) celebrate the times of plenty and joy that Viridaeya gave them, and also give their thanks and joy to Ruyen for sparing them this year, and that he will be re-making the world for the next one so that Viridaeya has a blank canvas when she is reborn.
First Night
This is a special day in school, but there are no actual celebrations. It marks the last sunset, Viridaeya’s death.
It’s the mirror of First Light, except everyone’s kinda somber about it, and while the Merreki meet again on the roofs of the city in time for the last sunset, this time they sing the Merreki Hymns in its minor version: a sort of “laying the sun to rest”. (A celebration left over from when Virism was a thriving religion.)
Midwinter / Winter Solstice
Midwinter celebrates the turning point in Winter!
“We need hope, and here we have it. It’s still dark outside but from now on things are going to get better” is the general official sentiment of this day. True Dark.
The Winter Solstice is of similar importance as the Summer Solstice to the Merreki, though, so this is the other time of the year when the Empire does the Testing, and the other day during which Asim children are reunited with their families.
This got long! If you read through all of this, thank you, I hope you liked it <333
A lot of this is deeply tied to Creationism (the Sindish/enforced Empire religion) and Virism (the old religion of the Merreki, now seen more in a similar vein as we see the ancient norse mythology) but I hope it still makes sense <3
Tagging the Dream’s Shadow crew bc heyyy I made a post again,,,
