#changing waters

[sarnai4]

That feeling when you FINALLY have the name for part 3 of your trilogy:

That feeling when you immediately have to get into another trilogy, where you haven't even named ONE book yet:

AKA me with Changing Waters vs me with War Siblings. (Cheers, then instantly sobs uncontrollably)

[harker-asides]

I'm pretty sure this wasn't what Danae had in mind when she asked Kostas to "bring back karnivali"

it's a quick sketch forgive me 😂 I have no idea what is going on with the shading. But I was in overtime and wanted to finish the drawing, so huzzah! Here it is!

prompt was "80s disco" & "main character" as an art challenge over at OTB.

Character is Kostas, the main lead from @sarnai4 's novel "Changing Waters: Jiol"

kostas is 100% regretting letting adara poof up his hair for this

[steph-manser]

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A one-stop shop for links to organize this blog as it grows.

About Me:

I'm a self-published writer, avid reader, hobby gardener, and live in Canada. This becomes relevant as I will use both imperial and metric in casual conversation, though I strive to be consistent within a story. I will sometimes share snippets of my writing and will talk about it to anyone who will listen.

Links:

My book

Residual Hate: Manser, Steph: 9798338455593: Books - Amazon.ca

Residual Hate eBook by Steph Manser - EPUB | Rakuten Kobo Canada

Character References:

Character Reference: Adeliva – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Character references: Faylin – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Character Reference: Hitori – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Character Reference: Kamatari – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Character references: Kalen – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Character art: Click on the RH tags below by character.

Random original fiction:

The Watermelon Incident – @steph-manser on Tumblr

Random fanfiction:

Changing Dragons – @steph-manser on Tumblr

AO3 account

Babbles_of_a_dawn | Archive of Our Own

[seaglasswrites]

Guess what I got for my birthday! @sarnai4

[forever-toujourspur]

changing waters / narcissa and sirius / summer 1973

Location: Black Family Cottage Date: Summer, 1973

“Is she really wearing that?”  Narcissa commented as she shielded her eyes from the sun, squinting on the shores of the lake.  Vivienne Parkinson was sitting peacefully in a paddle boat, drifting along where the current would take her as she sketched away, ignoring everything else - and everyone - around her.  Narcissa scowled as she cast her gaze over to Sirius.  He’d never been her favorite but with Regulus still in swimming lessons, she supposed he would have to do.

“Sirius, ugh Si-ri-us,” she whined, dragging out each syllable of his name as she tried to get the twelve year old's attention. “You’re supposed to be paying attention!”  If it were Andromeda, she would have been laughing along with her, poking fun at the 1950′s esque coverall bathing suit the older girl was wearing.  Instead, Narcissa found herself with the only relative available.  Somehow, she began to come to the conclusion that afternoon tea with her mother would have been more enjoyable than this.

Instead, dealing with Sirius’ constant shifts in attention, constant juvenile comments was proving increasingly difficult and she was beginning to feel more like a babysitter than a cousin.  The five years that fell between them had never felt bigger, even as she wished to show Sirius what a proper Pureblood would do.  She knew already that a part of her wished that she could be wild like Sirius and Bellatrix, but that was not the role she was supposed to play.  She knew that all too well now.

“Ugh, fine.” She exclaimed finally, “choose not to pay attention.”  Narcissa stamped on the dock in consternation before an idea struck her.  Smiling wickedly, she knew just the way to make Sirius pay attention to her.  Making like she was walking away in defeat, she managed to walk just past him before she turned and gripped his shoulders.  From there, it was easy.  Still light and skinny, Sirius was easy to knock off balance - right into the lake.  The splash he made as he fell in was satisfying.  Maybe now he might learn to pay more attention to his surroundings.

“That’s what you get!”  She stuck her tongue out from above him, laughing quietly.  Doing it to someone so young - at her age - shouldn’t have felt that good but it did.  Making someone else hurt, humiliating them as everyone wished to humiliate her.  She thought little more of it beyond the wrongness of it, telling herself that it was his fault - he neither listened nor did he pay attention.  He did it to himself.

[sarnai4]

Mystery questions!

💕: How protective of their loved ones is your OC?

🏴‍☠️: What does "freedom" mean to your OC?

⚡️: What's one religious story/legend in your world?

🪦: How do people honor the deceased in your world?

Thanks for the questions! I'll be using a mixture of my books and wips for these.

First, I'll bring in Ares from War Siblings 2027. He is EXTREMELY protective of his loved ones. Out of everyone in the cast, he's inarguably the most protective. It's to the point where he actually wants a position in Olympus where he can guard the others and keep his family safe. Unfortunately, that isn't an option😅. For as long as Ares can remember, he's been a big brother. It's a major part of his identity, so even after he realizes that he has a big sister too, it doesn't quite click in. Athena is still a sibling he wants to look out for. This has definitely caused him problems. Even as he takes the role as the "villain" to Athena's "respectable warrior," he can't help wanting to make sure his family is okay. When it puts his own safety at risk, he feels no regrets for protecting those he loves.

Now for Lesia from Mind of a Pirate! Freedom to her means a few things. It's sailing around the world on her ship, keeping her friends safe and happy, and most importantly, it's being free to be yourself without the fear of being hated for it. She comes from a past of zero freedom, whether she was being locked in her room or trapped in an asylum. So, it's vital for Lesia that she and her friends get to live freely now and she'll do whatever she has to in order to make that happen.

Rumpel story time! For this, I didn't want a full-on religion, but there is a legend and a hierarchy for the world. There are Immortals that rule over everything, all who work under the king of the nature spirits. There's a legend of some of the strongest nature spirits freeing these magical beings called Dwellers and releasing them into the world. Now, humans are pretty low on the "food chain" with Dwellers being above them and the Immortals being way above that group. It's as close to a made-up religion as I'll probably get in a series.

And finally, my debut trilogy, Changing Waters. Death actually isn't honored too much, but that's part of the problem. Bodies are buried in sand, but if there isn't a layer of sand that's been hardened through sorcery, certain creatures (woulfers) can dig through and eat the corpses. That's really it. There aren't fancy funerals or even proper mourning most of the time. Death is just so common that if you manage to not get eaten, you're lucky, but otherwise, in the village, you're expected to die. This is especially true for anybody who's a mutated Jiolan.

[sarnai4]

Pre- proofreading the sad scene in your trilogy for the final time:

I'm good. I've already read this about 3x now. Just gotta check it for a nice flow.

Post- proofreading the sad scene in your trilogy for the final time:

(For those who have already read some of Changing Waters...yeah...book 3 does not stop the trend of sadness. Sorry. At least it got me too, so shared tears 😀👍)

In case you also want to cry, here's the first book! Blurb under the cut too!

Amazon.com: Changing Waters: Jiol: 9798303676169: Briar, Sarnai: Books

What rests deep in the ocean? Mermaids? Monsters? Magic? All that and more.

Far below where any human can survive, there is a kingdom called Jiol. Kostas is a 14-year-old sorcerer who resides there with his mother and friends, but it is not their home. A home is filled with love, not fear and death. It is merely where they try to survive while the royal guards, the Patrollers, constantly raid the village. They kill anyone with tails, webbing, or fins—anyone who mutated for this underwater existence.

To protect innocent lives from the unending attacks, Kostas must get stronger even if this involves going behind his mother’s back. Training, sorcery, and seers are the villagers’ only hope against the Patrollers and a royal vizier who is as cruel as he is powerful. If Kostas cannot succeed as a protector of the village, Jiolans like him will be massacred to the point of extinction.

[sarnai4]

High School Cliques

Kostas: Hey, I found out that the above world has something called ‘high schools.’

Adara: What are those? 

Kostas: People our age go there to learn different subjects, maybe make friends, and start figuring out who they’re going to become. (Pulls out a book) There are even high school groups! Want to take a test to see who we’d be?

Everybody: Sure!

(One personality test later…)

Jael (proudly): I’d be the popular girl! Knew it! ‘Your fun-loving attitude and magnetic personality draws everybody to you.’ Could’ve told you that. We need a high school in the village.

Hannele: Mine says I’d be the fashionable, quiet girl…I thought that fashion would make me popular.

Jael: Sorry, Sis. You’re just not as magnetic, I guess.

Hannele (lightly shoves her): BUT it says everyone would go to me for fashion advice. 

Jael: What about you, Adara?

Adara (unsurely): It said I’d be a floater.

Kostas: What does that mean?

Adara: I’d go from group to group. Sticking with one group sounds boring anyway. I’d want to see all of them. What are you?

Kostas: It said one of the cool guys.

Cyan (mumbling): As if we didn’t know.

Adara (teasingly): When did you get cool?

Kostas (with faux haughtiness): I’ll have you know I've been cool ever since taking this test.

Jael: What about you, Cyan?

Cyan (nervously): Huh?

Jael: What did you get?

Cyan:...

Kostas: Cyan?

Cyan: Uh, nothing.

Adara (peeks over his shoulder): It says you’d be the loner who suffers from unrequited love.

Cyan (crumples up scores): It’s just a silly test.

Jael: Mine seemed pretty spot-on. There was even a small part about me having a lot of secret admirers. (Laughs) Weird right?

Cyan (stammering): I-I have to get back. (Swims away)

Jael (shrugging): Okay, see you later! (To the others) Wonder what that was about.

(They look at each other, deciding to not say anything.)

[Still having so much fun with these! They're characters from my novel, Changing Waters: Jiol. I plan to keep coming up with random prompts/situations to toss them in, so if you've got any you'd like to see, let me know! Also, if you'd like to check out the novel, the link is here!]

Description below!

What rests deep in the ocean? Mermaids? Monsters? Magic? All that and more.

Far below where any human can survive, there is a kingdom called Jiol. Kostas is a 14-year-old sorcerer who resides there with his mother and friends, but it is not their home. A home is filled with love, not fear and death. It is merely where they try to survive while the royal guards, the Patrollers, constantly raid the village. They kill anyone with tails, webbing, or fins—anyone who mutated for this underwater existence.

To protect innocent lives from the unending attacks, Kostas must get stronger even if this involves going behind his mother’s back. Training, sorcery, and seers are the villagers’ only hope against the Patrollers and a royal vizier who is as cruel as he is powerful. If Kostas cannot succeed as a protector of the village, Jiolans like him will be massacred to the point of extinction.