#manda scott

[vhen-harel]

Your OC's Literary Lineage

Creating my own tag game as I write my fanfic and revisit beloved novels.

So here's the game (I know there's been variations but I want to do it this way:)

The Game: Which fictional literary characters helped influence your favourite OC? Choose up to 3-4 books (or comics, but has to be from something you've read).

List the book and the character who inspire your OC

Give a description of that character and explain what they gave your OC

Share the covers and link to the books, share a picture of your OC if you wish

My OC - Saethre Lavellan - Dragon Age

The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio — Ygrane Once a bloodthirsty goddess who demanded sacrifice across countless lives, Ygrane is reborn as a Celtic queen who chooses love instead of conquest. She sends Merlinus - a demon bound in human form - on a metaphysical quest to unite her with her fated love, Uther Pendragon. Their story unfolds amid ancient elves, pagan rites, vanishing magic, and quantum forces, where the earth is a sleeping dragon and the unicorn the most sought-after creature of all.

Character Influence: Ygrane’s longing for love after lifetimes of violence immediately stuck with me. Her intelligence, political acuity, and power tempered by wisdom and empathy helped shape Saethre. Ygrane's strength comes from restraint, insight, foresight, intuition and choosing peace when she could choose fury but also is not afraid to face darkness. If there is any character I fashioned Saethre after the most, it is this version of Ygrane.

Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott — Boudica Before she becomes the legendary warrior queen, she is Breaca, daughter of a warrior, trained as a Dreamer but forced to walk the path of Warrior. She walks both the physical and the spiritual worlds. As Rome threatens to consume Britain, Boudica rises to lead her people through ritual, brutality, and heartbreak. Shaped by grief but never broken, she becomes a woman who won't let sorrow tame her or an empire define her.

Character Influence: Boudica showed me the cost of leadership - the way pain and unbearable loss can forge or destroy you. She’s flawed, blinded by righteous fury at times, but her humility and grief reshape her and she evolves over the years, taking her role as leader and safety of her people seriously. I gave Saethre that same resilience, that unyielding belief in the bonds she builds, and the refusal to surrender to despair, even if it kills you.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien — Lúthien Lúthien is an immortal elven woman who falls in love with a mortal man, Beren. When her father disapproves of their relationship, he demands Beren retrieve a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown as a bride-price, thinking it impossible. Beren tries to protect her by leaving her behind and going it alone but Lúthien refuses to be cast aside. She joins him on his quest, braving Morgoth and ultimately moving Mandos himself with her song. She chooses mortality for love - her choice, no one else's.

Character Influence: When it was revealed Solas was the Dread Wolf (after romancing him as Lavellan) I immediately thought of Lúthien. That same balance of grace and determination I found existed in Lavellan. For Saethre, I gave her Lúthien’s unshakable will: the courage to walk through darkness for love because she chooses it, and recognizes that love in itself is power. I fashioned that independence and agency after Lúthien - taking on the role of leadership and power when needed, but in the end, choosing love for her own heart.

Tagging a bunch here if you want to play: @miraabellee @elfyroot @crimsonphantasmagoria @topaz-carbuncle @sh00kspeared @cussundria-nerd-kneal @kcwriter-blog @supernova2395 @coromoor @virshiral @fadeboundheart @amoaliquis @nadas-dirthalen @lotsofthinkythoughts @tiri5459 @ephemeralinstance @elf-trash @mabelaart @lovestruckthedasbard

Or anyone play!

[diaryoftruequotes]

We all make mistakes in our youth of which we are ashamed. The difference is that the rest of us can forgive the child we were and believe in the honour of the adult we have become. 

Manda Scott, Dreaming the Bull

[vulpyx]

please read boudica by manda scott if u can i beg of u

[vulpyx]

bán of the eceni, julius valerius, no one

[vulpyx]

julius valerius and crow, the man killer

[remedialreviews]

The exposition is plodding, dry, and debatably unnecessary. Once the battle is joined, as it were, the novel picks up incredibly, and flows from scene to scene thrillingly. Scott fills the world of Roman Britain with awesome colour and power. After the time jump in Rome, the writing continues at pace, but is far less satisfying, if still as engaging, as the material set in Britannia.

[projetosnopapel]

Águia, o livro I da série Boudica da autora Manda Scott, conta em 653 páginas a história da famosa guerreira da Britânia, Boudicca que lutou contra Roma na revolta de 60 d.C. A autora em sua Nota no final do livro, conta que usou fontes da história real e misturou com ficção para criar sua história. É o famoso “baseado em fatos reais”, mesmo que ela diga nas notas que o único registro que se tem dessa guerreira durante a revolta, é contado pelo inimigo, no caso, Roma, portanto “com todas as distorções políticas, culturais e sociais que isso implica.”

O primeiro livro conta a história da menina Breaca (lê-se Brayahca) quando aos doze anos mata um guerreiro que entra em sua tenda e vê a morte de sua mãe, perde seu irmão menor levado como escravo, perde seu pai em uma batalha, ama a vidente Airmid, mas depois encontra amor nos braços do guerreiro de outro país Caradoc. Alguns capítulos retornam no tempo para mostrar Bán seu irmão vivendo como cativo do inimigo Amminios, irmão de seu amor. O livro finaliza com o início da batalha entre os romanos, onde seu irmão se tornou guerreiro e os da Britânia, onde Breaca é a lider de cabelos vermelhos.

Problemas: não dá pra entender uma tribo com videntes que lêem até pensamento, não descobrir que Bán não está morto e sim escravizado pelo inimigo. Não dá pra entender como as notícias correm entre as tribos, mas Bán entre os guerreiros de Roma, não desconfia que sua família está liderada pela sua irmã, até ver sua mãe morrer pela espada de um de seu grupo. Não há o encontro entre os dois, mas pra um personagem idealizado como futuro vidente, ele altera entre esperto e distraído todo o tempo. Nesse primeiro livro, os personagens centrais são meio imprecisos, não conseguindo determinar as características fortes de cada um. Por exemplo, Breaca é mostrada como uma guerreira forte e valente escolhida entre os melhores. Mas perde a primeira luta, perde o pai numa segunda luta e foge na terceira batalha. Os videntes: têm visões pela metade, não sabem o que significa, pessoas próximas duvidam de suas visões.

Vale a pena: as descrições das lutas e batalhas, os detalhes sobre os animais (talvez porque a autora é veterinária), a mistura histórica, o crescimento dos personagens.

Outros autores já escreveram histórias sobre Boudicca e a guerra entre Bretanha e Roma:

História e Imaginação Águia, o livro I da série Boudica da autora Manda Scott, conta em 653 páginas a história da famosa guerreira da Britânia, Boudicca que lutou contra Roma na revolta de 60 d.C.

[rey-east-blog]

Guest Lecturer: Manda Scott

Scott is a senior designer working in children’s publishing and NUA Illustration graduate. Her advice to those still studying is ‘focus harder on your work, experiment and push yourself’. 

She had great insight into the world of marketing and book publishing and has worked with notable authors and illustrators. 

“Illustrators have a style. Designers adapt to what is being asked of them.”

As we are currently working on a book design project, Scott states that when illustrating for publishing, it’s best to ‘not focus on the text too much, as you’ll forget what will make a good picture book’.