According to my folder of asks, this is my 100th!! So happy STS! Tell me something that brings you joy about writing or being a writer!
What, whoa!! What an achievement! Happy STS!!! 💛
Today I was writing and had a moment where I had to pause because my guy Nikolaos said a few crazy things and it was such a fun and intense moment, because I thought to myself is he insane? am i being too much here? and the answer came to me after a few minutes away, of like, no, he's just like that and he's become that since he was a side character you weren't supposed to get so attached to, and the whole thing has sort of bubbled up into this immense feeling of grateful joy, like my brain has it's downfalls but that it can do this, forever, making up new things and people and stories is pretty great!!!
this might be partially influenced by the fact that i had an audition last night, and there sure is a post-audition euphoria because whew i hate those thangs ;)
Happy last STS of 2024! What has been your happiest or proudest writing moment of the last year? Or, if you need it, just feel free to share anything at all here. 🫶
Hi Tori!! Thanks for the ask!
Truth be told, I haven't done much writing this year. My music has been more of a focus, haha! But I assure y'all. One day my writing will be graced upon my writeblr again and all shall be right in the world.
But that might be awhile before that happens, idk. I'll play it by ear <3
Happy WBW! What are the sacred professions in your world? I don't necessarily mean religious-- but of course they can be. Just what are the high ranking, prestigious, and/or powerful jobs?
Oh this is the perfect opportunity to ramble about The Astrals' Weapons in Stained Integrity! >:} (I'll also talk about Master Alchemists because those are pretty important too.) Thank you for the ask!
So, in the world of Stained Integrity, there is what is literally known as "the faith" because it's so widespread. The Astrals are the main 3 that are prayed to (and The Wyrds are the ones you plead to).
There is one specific being that is known as the Diviner, who delivers The Astrals' Will to the three beings that are known as The Astrals' Weapons. A lot of people refer to the Diviner's power as "seeing into the future," although it's a bit more complicated than that.
(CW below cut: mention of death, mention of poison)
The Astrals (Méni Lune, Heló Sol, and Aura Stell) each have one Weapon that they are the benefactor of. There's Lune's Blade, Sol's Bow, and Stell's Spear (AKA the Moonblade, the Sunbow, and the Starspear). The purpose of the Weapons is to carry out The Astrals' Will, which is usually just a specific task told to them by the Diviner.
For context, these are the only beings that are bowed to by kings, queens, sovereigns, and other leaders of the skylands. That's how important they are. They each have very specific cloaks that they wear at all times, which makes them easily recognizable.
The exciting part about all this is how the successors are chosen. The Diviner will receive a vision about the successor, and the Weapon is then sent to find this particular individual to train them as a successor until they die. (Yes, they basically get their impending death foretold, although they aren't told how or exactly when they will die, just that it's going to happen.)
Once the Weapon's thread is cut, their literal weapon (the sword, bow, or spear) basically dematerializes and reappears in the Diviner's shrine, which is where the new Weapon will travel to retrieve the weapon and be given their first task from the Diviner.
Each Weapon is also given a specific power by their benefactor that is tailored to their own personal abilities. In the current timeline, Malina (Stell's Spear) has the ability to sense magic and trace magical residue back to its caster, which is in tangent to her ability as a practitioner to sense the presence of souls. She also has heightened healing powers, since stellar magic is based around healing.
At the start of the story, the current Moonblade (Jeyen) has the power to polymorph natural materials into different natural materials (so he could literally turn lead into gold) for various periods of time. The current Solbow (Tache) has the power to augment their own strength to a certain degree, which means pretty much what it sounds like it means.
And I'm going to shamelessly self-promote because I've drawn Malina and posted it here, and I've also drawn the new Moonblade that is Jeyen's successor.
Okay, now about the Master Alchemists!
Basically, the Master Alchemists are those that have learned every single recipe that there is to learn. The reason this is such a feat is that, by law, an alchemy apprentice must ingest anything that they learn to make, before they learn to make it. This includes poisons, potions, and more. The only exception to this is tickerbane, since the poison is so powerful that there is no lower dose that someone can take to make it nonfatal. All other poisons are either diluted or given in a small enough dose that it's just really really painful instead of deadly.
In the current timeline of the story, there is only one Master Alchemist left, since no one has wanted to take on such a difficult apprenticeship.
That's all from me! Thank you again for the fun ask!
Happy STS! But oh no! One of your characters has been stabbed! What chaos does this bring about? Who's been stabbed, who did the stabbing, who yanks the sword out without thinking, etc.? ♥️
Just for the sake of chaos… I’m gonna say, Benjamin Fisher. Or, vampire and slow corruption arc Benjamin Tallmadge from TURN: Washington’s Spies. Not just stabbed, Ben’s favourite horse was shot from under him and he lays dying on the battlefield, in Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. The date is October 1st, 1781, the siege is halfway over and the Americans are winning. It is pure bad luck.
Audrey would simply say, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Audrey screams. Audrey tries real hard not to have a mental breakdown. Audrey swore she’d never turn him. But this isn’t fair to either of them, and the war is not over, Benjamin insisted on finishing what he started. Ethics and future consequences can go to hell. He may hate her for this, but this is bigger than either of them at this point…
Audrey stops hesitating. Like a French Valkyrie come to judge the worthy, she rides out to where Benjamin lays dying.
Audrey doesn’t need to drain him, the bullet and the redcoats blade did that just fine.
Moments before Ben is “lost”, just enough to briefly glimpse the other side, who knows what he sees, Audrey doesn’t believe in heaven or hell, she is an atheist, for now.
Benjamin is turned into a vampire in a last ditch attempt (though hypocritical) by Audrey to not lose him. The war doesn’t end until 1783, America wins. To the shock of the 18th century world stage, it only took 5 years of war and French support. (naval blockade in the West Indies and a sea battle in India, which America wins).
Benjamin asks himself: “what is the cost of my soul?”
Note: this is just basically Fisher’s origin story, or how he got vampirism. I have no intention of ending this fic, that way. I may be a morally complex bi, but, Benjamin Tallmadge would have a religious Protestant mental breakdown if that happened. Yay for original characters!
Happy last STS before Halloween! What scares your characters? Feel free to keep this goofy, silly, fun or go serious and/or dark with it! Whatever Reese's your pieces. (Okay, I was trying to be funny there, but it's just ridiculous. 🤦♀️)
Haha, thank you for the ask! i need to get caught up with these asks, so I'll start with the latest ones. thank you for all of them!
This one was surprisingly hard.
Lucian (SoD) gets scared by things like jumpscares/sudden appearances but isn't scared of gore or bugs.
Theodore (SoD) is afraid of fur jackets/scarves [idk what they're called lol] and animals like deer antelope and moose.
Rowan (NovaFut) is afraid of commitment, crosswalks on busy streets, and riding bicycles
Xavier (Matchbreakers) gets scared by horror and thriller movies easily but doesn't get scared by jumpscares. He also is afraid of bugs and insects
Happy WBW! For Spooky Season, what's something creepy about your world? (Creepy up for interpretation. 🙃)
everything has a soul. it all is living and breathing. but not all is good
the cacti will lure you into the red sand and watch you die of dehydration to feed off your nutrients. the bluebonnets want to multiply and cover the land so they lure you for a nap where they can slowly grow and take over you.
if you listen CLOSELY and QUIETLY enough and press your ear to their texas grounds, you'd hear a thumping sound. consistent and heavy. deep in the heart of texas.
Happy WBW! In honor of Idalia and her looming approach on the SouthEast US, what is the most dangerous natural threat to your world?
Happy WBW!
So I'll answer this for Pagos, since I have some fun ones for that.
Pagos is basically just a massive snow globe, so there's plenty of dangers like blizzards and various other snowy hazards.
The wildlife on Pagos is also insane. The two most dangerous predators on the planet are the rusolusk, which is basically a massive carnivorous moose, and a species I haven't named yet, which is basically an angry carnivorous beaver. They are not fun to deal with and often take multiple people to subdue.
