#shadowstruck

[fictionadventurer]

The Fictionadventurer Guide to Building a Fictional World

Option 1: What if something glowed?

Option 2: What if a culture had elaborate traditions surrounding their names?

That's it. That's all you need.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

In the original concept for the Shadowstruck universe, the attitude toward heartlight was simple: It was believed to be an outward sign that something had a soul, and the story would involve scientists trying to show that heartlight has a physical cause unrelated to the soul. But this suggests that there is no religious truth in this world, as if all religion is wrong and science is the only source of truth. It certainly doesn't line up with how similar issues are approached in our world. It's much more realistic for science and faith to both be sources of truth, and for the errors to be caused by the misinterpretation or the twisting of science and religion.

But this requires a much more complicated history. How do we explain a world where shades weren't and aren't always seen as non-persons, but are in some places treated as slaves and non-persons by people who consider themselves enlightened intellectuals?

Since this story is focused on Western society, I'd say the best way is to roughly parallel Western European history.

In an ancient pagan era, shades were largely considered non-persons--usually killed at birth (sometimes sacrificed), sometimes enslaved, sometimes shunned like lepers. (It's possible some cultures attached some sort of mystic importance to them--thinking of them as oracles or somehow touched by the gods).

Christianity comes along (it won't be named as such, but it'll be pretty obvious what it's supposed to be) and says that of course shades are people, we're all made in God's likeness, salvation is for everyone. They could still be considered a burden or hold lesser status in practice, but over time, they became largely accepted as valuable members of the community.

Shades are relatively rare--similar rates of occurrence as certain birth defects. Notable when they show up, most people know at least a few, but they're not a huge population, so it isn't like they're a huge concern.

Then some kind of Black Plague occurs, and shades, for some reason, are much more resistant to it than the rest of the population. Suddenly, shades are a much larger percentage of the population than ever before, and as society rebuilds, this begins to frighten some people.

Some people begin to interpret religious scriptures in ways that conveniently suggest shades are a lesser class or not people at all. Verses talking about things like "God giving his light to mankind" are reinterpreted to be about heartlight--clearly those who don't have light aren't part of mankind.

There are lots of similar twistings. Heartlight is a sign of election. A shadow is a sign of inner darkness. Shades were put on earth to serve people. Their proliferation is God's punishment on mankind. The most extreme interpretations suggest that shades are fiends in human form, come to prey on souls.

You might think that the accompanying rise of skeptical rationalism would counteract these religious lies by holding to objective truth. Well, you'd be wrong!

Philosophy begins to question the notion of "all humans being equal" as absurd and not based on actual fact. Some suggest that society is a war, a survival of the fittest, and that shades, who require extra care and can so easily be dominated, have a naturally lower place in the social order.

When microscopes show obvious differences in the blood cells of shades, anti-shade groups feel vindicated--clearly shades aren't human at all, but something else.

The discovery of genetic inheritance add more layers of anti-shade rhetoric. Shades are naturally lower, a weakness in the gene pool, and they should be weeded out or eliminated.

Obsession with noble/royal bloodlines dovetails nicely with these new genetic considerations. Bloodlines without shades are clearly stronger and purer than those with shades. The birth of a shade can taint an entire family line, so such births are hidden as quickly as possible, whether by killing the child or sending it away.

Over the centuries, shades become second-class citizens, then non-citizens. Early on, they were the subject of witch-hunts, until some places subdued them into a labor force. Intermarriage with a shade is seen as basically bestiality.

Shades become a vital underlayer to this modern society. They're a convenient labor force. They're great subjects for medical testing. If you object to their treatment, you're clearly delusional--how could society go on any other way? Do you want us to go back to the Dark Ages?

Some cultures still hold onto the traditional ideals of shades as people, but these nations have their own problems, which their opponents use to paint them as backward and barbaric, clearly out of step with modern times.

I find it darkly amusing that the social upheaval that led to people with heartlight elevating themselves above shades could be called the Enlightenment.

[shadow-struck]

I feel like I captured this scene perfectly, so have some more tiny bnha babies

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Me: Wow, Shadowstruck development is really coming along. It's starting to feel like a real book. Maybe even a novel. A grown-up novel with important themes that feels like an original work rather than a half-baked YA-flavored derivative fanfic. Maybe I can be a Real Writer!

Realistic voice in my head: It hasn't been a week yet, don't get too excited. You always lose interest after a week.

Me, after one week passes: Well, would you look at that? All that inspiration just packed up and left town. It's a ghost town in here.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Advent Calendar: Day 12

Today's excerpt comes from the very, very first version of Shadowstruck. It's a completely different story from the one that currently bears that title. It's a different premise, the characters have different names, and heartlight isn't even called heartlight--it's just magic. The basic concept behind the world is still there, though--humans are surrounded by clouds of light, and those that don't have it are considered non-persons and kept as slaves.

This version of the story was going to be a sort of Cinderella/My Fair Lady set-up, where an enslaved girl with no magic was bought by a mysterious academic who needed her to pose as a highborn lady to help with a political plot. The vagueness of the political plot and the magic system is why this version of the story never went anywhere, but I still feel like sharing this one scene.

Del stood in the middle of the parlor in her ball gown. Tillins paced in front of her, examining every detail of her appearance.

“Stand straight!” He put magic behind the command, so that pink glimmers poked and burned at Del’s spine and limbs until she stood as straight as the hat stand.

Del scowled at him. “Must you magic me?” Her strange new master made scathing comments about people who controlled mundanes with magic, yet he had no compunction about magicking Del to follow his every order.

He narrowed his eyes and said in his most withering tone, “In four hours, I must convince a ballroom full of royals and magicians that a mundane slave is a high-born lady. I will use any advantage I can get. Now, hands at your sides!”

Magic pulled at Del’s fingers. She dropped two handfuls of skirt and held her palms flat against the fabric.

“Better. Walk to the window.”

Del, prompted by the magic, obeyed.

After five steps, Tillins ordered, “Smaller steps! You’re crossing a ballroom, not tromping through a stable yard.”

This routine continued for nearly three hours, with Del trying to follow each detail of Tillins’ lessons, Tillins using magic to smooth away every flaw, until finally, Del was able to stand and move to Tillins’ satisfaction without the use of magic.

When Del stood, turned, crossed the room, curtsied, and finished a few steps of a waltz without any magical interference, she faced Tillins with a triumphant expression worthy of any high-born human, silently daring him to find fault.

Tillins only sighed. “It’ll have to do. Now, stand by the lamp.”

Del pointed a finger sharply at him. “Don’t you dare!” Tillins drew back, startled, and did not put magic behind the command.

“You have the spirit of a lady, I’ll give you that. No slave would be so rude.”

“No slave has to put up with you,” Del shot back, as she took perfect steps toward the table with the lamp. Three hours of drilling had worn away her patience, and Tillins’ lack of appreciation of her hard work was the final straw.

A moment later, she realized that she’d scolded her master, and horror tightened her gut. He was a strange master, who spoke to her almost as if she were human, but he was still her master. She turned toward him timidly, expecting to see near-murderous rage on his face.

Instead, he looked as though he was trying to hide a smile. “I deserve that,” he said.

He snapped his fingers, and the lamp blazed to life, brightening the dim twilight of the room. Del’s shadow stretched before her, a grotesque, black symbol of her inhumanity. A lump rose in Del’s throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, but two tears escaped through her lashes.

She’d almost begun to feel like a lady. But the dress and the lessons couldn’t change the truth. She was no lady. She wasn’t even human. She was nothing but a soulless, shadow-casting thing.

“It’s hopeless,” she whispered. “They’ll never believe I’m human.”

“Fine time for doubts,” Tillins said. “After all the work I’ve done. That’s gratitude for you.”

Del was glad for his callous, mocking tone. It lit a fire of anger in her belly and dried up her tears. She glared at him and pointed at her shadow. “All the lessons in the world can’t hide this. If there’s a single candle in the ballroom, they’ll know me for a slave the moment I step in the room.”

He looked at her as if wondering if she were brainless as well as soulless. “Did you drink your elixir today?”

“Yes, three times! And every day for the past four days. But it’s done nothing! My shadow’s as dark as ever!”

He rolled his eyes. “Ridiculous girl. The elixir won’t destroy your shadow.” He approached her, stepping carefully around her shadow. “It merely cleanses your body so I can do this.”

He tapped her nose with his forefinger and breathed on her forehead. Then he stepped back, and Del watched as her shadow faded, shrank, and finally disappeared.

Del gasped and stumbled against Tillins’ desk. She threw both hands over her mouth, then realized that her hands were glowing. She straightened her arms, then gazed in wonder at the faint pink glow of magic that surrounded her hands and every inch of her body. The magic shimmered and shifted as she moved her hands, almost like a living thing. It felt warm and cool all at once, like a breeze in the spring sunshine. She had never felt so comfortable, so composed, so alive. Was this what it felt like to be human?

As she turned to look at Tillins, her bones felt weak, and she could only speak wordless sounds of wonder. His mouth was quirked in a smile, and his eyes were soft and whimsical. For the first time, he seemed kind and caring, like the godfather he’d claimed to be on the day he’d bought her.

“You’re welcome,” he said softly.

Del stepped weakly toward him, and to her astonishment, the magic stayed with her. She’d half-feared that movement would break the spell. “How…” she finally squeaked. “How did you do it?”

His spine straightened, and his usual arrogance returned. “Brilliantly,” he said.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

A Guide to the Stories Posted On This Blog in 2024

Retellings

After Midnight

Retelling of: Cinderella (science fiction)

Word Count: 577 words (unfinished)

Premise: A young girl on another world struggles to provide for her stepsisters.

The Beggar's Door

Retelling of: King Thrushbeard

Word Count: 855 words

Premise: After a princess refuses all her suitors, her father vows to marry her to the man of his choice--but forgets to account for an old tradition.

A Daughter's Gift

Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast

Word Count: 660 words

Premise: A young woman learns the truth behind her father's disappearance and his last gift to her.

For Love of the Princess

Retelling of: Sleeping Beauty

Word Count: 2,689 words

Premise: When a curse dooms a princess and all in her palace to sleep for a hundred years, her ladies-in-waiting and a young guard stay and face the curse with her.

A Garden of Wishes

Retelling of: The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Word Count: 8,459 words

Premise: A garden boy falls in love with a princess and works to solve the magical mystery surrounding her and her sisters.

Good Rich Earth

Retelling of: The Secret Garden

Word Count: 894 words

Premise: After a childhood spent on a military space station, Mary is sent to live on a devastated Earth and becomes obsessed with finding the secret garden planted by her guardian's late wife.

Jack and His Wife

Retelling of: Jack and the Beanstalk

Word Count: 967 words

Premise: Jack's wife follows him up the beanstalk, and learns he might not be the hapless fool she'd believed him to be.

Marks of Loyalty

Retelling of: Maid Maleen

Word Count: 4,404 words

Premise: After seven years of imprisonment in a tower, a woman struggles to survive in a war-torn land, and tries to learn what has become of the prince she loved.

The Nightingale Returns

Retelling of: The Nightingale

Word Count: 743 words

Premise: A former opera singer is summoned to the deathbed of the man who once loved and abandoned her.

The Other Option

Retelling of: Rumpelstiltskin

Word Count: 214 words

Premise: When a magical creature demands a woman's firstborn as payment for help, the woman decides to save herself.

Reflection

Retelling of: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Word Count: 2,317 words

Premise: An aging, appearance-obsessed queen tries to destroy the beautiful, innocent princess she views as her rival, but may end up destroying herself.

The Unseen Soldier

Retelling of: The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Word Count: 544 words

Premise: A former soldier struggles to find a way to break his curse of invisibility.

A Wise Pair of Fools

Retelling of: The Farmer's Clever Daughter

Word Count: 4,337 words

Premise: A peasant girl outwits and captures the heart of an arrogant, overeducated king.

Original Fantasy

The Return of Queen Emma

Word Count: 933 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Portal fantasy/magical realism

Premise: After ruling as queen of a fantasy world, a girl rejoices to return to an ordinary childhood on Earth.

Daughter of the House of Dreams

Word Count: 755 words

Completion Status: Standalone fragment

Genre: Secondary world fantasy

Premise: Going to the dream shop on Faraway Lane, you'll encounter some fantastical wonders.

Honors from the King

Word Count: 2,172 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Portal fantasy

Premise: After slaying a giant, a young girl plans to ask the king of a fantastical realm to help her get home to Earth, but learns the story is not as simple as she thought.

Queen of the Fairies

Word Count: 1,769 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Historical fantasy

Premise: In Victorian England, a young girl captures a flower fairy and meets a scientist who studies them.

A Feast in the Lanternwood

Word Count: 2,031 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Secondary world non-magical fantasy

Premise: An enemy soldier begs for food at a festival held by a peaceful forest community.

Heartsong

Word Count: 558 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Magical realism

Premise: A woman struggles to find her soulmate in a world where soulmates are identified through song.

Shadowstruck

Word Count: 871 words

Completion status: Incomplete, plans to continue

Genre: Secondary world fantasy

Premise: The death of a girl's mother reveals secrets about her life.

Shadowstruck, Part Two

Word Count: 783 words

Completion Status: Incomplete, plans to continue

Genre: Secondary world fantasy

Premise: While trying to escape the country, a girl receives unexpected help from a mysterious stranger.

Sylvia

Word Count: 398 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Space fantasy

Premise: A woman must decide whether to board a ship and sail to the moon to find the brother who left the family years ago.

The Waters of Time

Word Count: 1,164 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Secondary world fantasy

Premise: A mermaid librarian travels to the past to retrieve a stolen book and finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue.

The Memory Garden

Word Count: 1,091 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Original fairy tale

Premise: The gardens of a castle have a strange relationship with time after dark.

From the Other Side of the End of the World

Word Count: 4,196 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Secondary world fantasy/time travel

Premise: A young woman writes letters to her time-traveling sister who works as a nurse in a historical war zone, and starts a correspondence with one of her patients.

Stolen Moments

Word Count: 745 words

Completion Status: Complete

Genre: Original fairy tale

Premise: At a masquerade ball, a princess encounters the husband who betrayed her.

Instructions

Word Count: 196 words

Completion Status: Complete flash fiction

Genre: Secondary world non-magical fantasy

Premise: In a fantasy kingdom, a rider is sent out with an important message.

Original Science Fiction

Warning Signs

Word Count: 189 words

Completion Status: Complete

Premise: A man having lunch at a seaside cafe receives a strange warning from a time traveler.

Beyond the Legend

Word Count: 1,097 words

Completion Status: Complete, part of Arateph series

Premise: The long-lost prince of an alien world encounters an alternate-history film about his life.

Jules and Vern

Word Count: 456 words

Completion Status: Complete, part of Jules and Vern series

Premise: On a time-travel cruise, a poor academic encounters a world-weary heiress.

A Jules and Vern Christmas

Word Count: 1,543 words

Completion Status: Complete

Premise: A poor academic offers a gift that helps a jaded heiress to appreciate the Christmas season.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Henry Brightley is so obviously a man who should be a confirmed bachelor that I'm thinking he has to be married. And there has to be a story there.

Her name's Giovanna. She's from Ivaria, where shades are treated as people, so shades' rights are just common sense to her. She's got olive skin, lots of dark hair, and has a striking beauty of the type that gets better with age. She's a doctor. From a well-to-do family that's big into charitable works. She's probably helped to smuggle shade babies to Ivaria.

She met her husband when he came to Ivaria to study (they're much more normal about heartlight there, which makes it a much better place to study it.) He was in his thirties by this time, total confirmed bachelor. She was only a few years younger, was totally fulfilled in her single life working with her large family in their charitable endeavors. She met him at some social event he was dragged to, where she took one look at this desiccated husk of an academic and went, "That one." She spent time with him, turned out to have experience that was useful in his studies, and as they worked together, he came to genuinely respect her intelligence and compassion. It took him a long time to have even an inkling of her very obvious romantic interest in him, and even longer to realize that he returned it. There wasn't so much a marriage proposal as a mutual recognition of their desire to get married, especially since he was returning to his home country soon. Moving to his barbaric homeland (which needs a name, I should get on that) was a huge struggle for her, but she recognized that she could do a lot of good at his side, and that's proven true, though people in upper-class society tend to side-eye her as a foreign barbarian.

He's an atheist, she's deeply religious. She prays for him, but doesn't push him. Her perspective forces him to admit that religion and intelligence aren't mutually exclusive, and to treat religion with a modicum of respect. She softens some of his rough edges, reminds him to treat people as people, though she is a bit blind to some of his personality flaws. They've been married for like twenty years and people are still astonished when they learn that Henry Brightley is married. I don't know how or why this marriage works, but I somehow know it does.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

👒

Maybe you would, Clara thought bitterly. Mother seemed determined to keep Clara as ill as she herself was.