genre → adult dark fantasy thriller
pov → first person present tense
themes → vengeance as justice, the evolving definition of the self, becoming the monster, the relative viscosity of blood and water
extras → arospec and acespec protagonists, villain protagonists, soft... romance? infatuation?, morality is for losers, deadpan humor, revenge is hollow but so is everything else
warnings → death ; graphic depictions of violence ; graphic depictions of substance abuse ; some sexual content ; mentions of: csa, parental neglect, emotional abuse, abandonment ; to be updated
Renard de Constans wants many people dead.
There are guilds for everything in the city of Grisencourt. If one needs furniture, they go to the Carpenters – horseshoes, the Farriers – light, the Chandlers.
If one needs to fill a grave, they go to the Spicers.
Ophélie was born into the Spicers Guild. She sees the sideways looks she's given when she peddles her cheap cures, her potions, her sugar-water placebos for those discontent with their place in life. She hides her discomfort with a smile and cuts her sugar with sweet lead.
The Spicers' mysterious Company of Decadents has an ear pressed to every wall and a claw sunk deep into every jugular in the city. With entry into the Company restricted half by inheritance and half by recommendation, no one who wants to know about it will ever see past its darkened doors.
While some have made their fortunes from filthy work, many Spicers Decadent in the city walls lead ascetic or impoverished lives. Death is not a grand sport nor a thing of great beauty.
But – when a stranger shows up at Ophie's door asking after her long-dead father, on guild business – it can be.
Everett chokes back fury. “She refuses to name a successor,” he says instead, calmer. More level.
Sevestre laughs. “Which of us shall it be, Ève?”
“I wouldn’t duel you for the honor.”
In the midst of a royal succession crisis, a nameless patron funds deaths and disappearances in the court. Lords go missing only to show up weeks later as gold signet rings in the corner of a pigsty. Prevosts drown in the lakes in the black of night.
The Spicer Decadent is caught – only once, but it only takes once – by the man who should be crown prince.
He helps her wash the blood from her hands.
Ophie finds herself in an uncomfortable spot: Her innocence is irrevocably tangled up with Everett's goodwill. And so she draws him in, making him a willing accomplice to her work.
The two of them make a temptation of death while playing at innocence. And, between the useless deviant persona Everett plays to the court and the timidity Ophie wears even as she tips mild poison into a cup, they can be nothing but innocent. Suspicions for the deaths turn to the grandmotherly Princess of Clarin, to the queen's brother Duke Sevestre, to Prince Consort Andrie of Corant – they have always been poisoners, those Coranti –
“Who died and made you lord of anything?”
“I think one of the last few was a distant uncle.”
primordial goddess of the seas. A myth to most, seen as gentle by others, but Neptune’s Daughter knows better. They’ve seen her fury and survived, all thanks to the actions of one Fortune Ward.
reblogs would be greatly appreciated (╹ڡ╹ ) Commissions Page
❝ there were sinners, and then there were the de la Cruz. ❞
GENRES ; high fantasy, lgbtq+
DEMOGRAPHIC ; adult (na)
THEMES & TROPES ; familial curses, cities in the sky, vaguely steampunk, found family, magical realism, finding forgiveness, forgiving yourself, redemption, eldritch angels, gothic & catholic aesthetics
NARRATION/POV ; 3rd, multi pov
STATUS ; drafting
SYNOPSIS ;
Adelina Castillo de la Cruz is one of the infamous de la Cruz’s who live within the floating sky-city of Ascension. The family is cursed with mysterious afflictions the likes of which no doctor or priest can cure nor banish, and it’s said even one encounter with them can pass it to the unlucky bystander. To avoid trouble, Adelina hides behind her father’s surname and hides her affliction in layers of clothes.
But then her uncle goes missing the same night the Rot –– a mysterious entity that’s been slowly consuming other sky-cities –– first makes its presence known in Ascension. With her city and family in a panic, Adelina goes on a quest to discover the reason behind his disappearance and how it relates to the Rot. Joining her are her cousin, Emilio; Carlos, an orphan boy with mysterious ties to her family; and Salvador, an angel questioning his own faith. Plagued by their own curses and with time running out, what they will discover about themselves and their world may just be Ascension’s undoing.
CHARACTERS ;
☞ Adelina Castillo de la Cruz ; 25, with no life plan or goal. likes learning for the sake of learning and hates being asked what she’s doing with her life. hides from her responsibilities by going on adventures around the city. her curse makes her appearance difficult to remember and fuzzy, like looking at something from the corner of your eye.
☞ Emilio de la Cruz Sanchez ; 18, Adelina’s cousin and an avid scholar. avoids all forms of confrontation and decision-making. suffers from a curse which causes him to have a limited amount of words he can speak per day.
☞ Carlos Aguilar ; 18, orphaned at a young age with no clue who his parents are except for his name. currently lives at one of the smaller parishes in Ascension as ward and trainee to Padre. suffers from a curse which causes him to get lost often or to lose things. do not trust with a map.
☞ Salvador ; 1000s, one of the angels designated as a watcher to oversee the humans in Ascension. has a fondness for books, coffeeshops, and is allergic to sleep. if given the choice, he’d rather stay home. suffers from an unknown affliction.
welcome to the kingdom of elysia , the larger kingdom on the planet of kielya.
The Kingdom of Elysia was formed as a result of many towns and farms uniting under a single banner — the Orleauxes’ — and was named after the root word “elysian”, which means “relating to or characteristic of heaven or paradise”. The Kingdom aimed to provide a safe haven for all who were loyal, and has held to this promise — or, well, and idea of it, at least — for the past few centuries. Along with the technological advances of the Kingdom as well as that of other dimensions, it has evolved into a place of worship and science, old and new, all melded together into one piece of intricate clockwork.
elysia, as described by the current princess and crown prince.
Interviewer: So, Your Highnesses, what is your opinion on this Kingdom?
Andre: Well, I definitely love the Delphinus Range. Beautiful mountains, excellent for skiing. I don’t suppose you’ve tried it? One must go during the Salidon Moon, the snow is perfect. Oh, and Mirsage Harbour is absolutely breathtaking, the sea view is just nice, and the ships! So many of them, I must say—
Verena: —yes, Andre, lovely ships. Now, for me, I just enjoy the thought of the Forests. They’re just so calming in a way? Not to mention the draw I have towards forests in general, all those trees... Oh, and the Talin Islands. Beautiful and untouched, literal paradise! We’re going to see if we can open one up to the public.
— retrieved from recording of an interview with the Orleauxes.
elysia, as described in the official texts
The Kingdom of Elysia ( also referred to as Elysia ) is the oldest in the dimension. It is split across two landmasses, Solias and Helisan. The Delphinus Range in Helisan is a popular tourist destination for those seeking colder weather, and the three of the four Forests of the Fae can be found in Elysia. Helisan is mostly unpopulated, save for Mirsage Harbour and the tip of the continent where a bridge connects it to the rest of Elysia. Average travel time by car in the capital is relatively quick, with smooth traffic operations.
&. behold elysia, kingdom of paradise, where anything and everything is possible.
Dusk was the best time to hunt. As the night opened its gaping maw and began to devour the sun, Irina helped her village prepare for winter.
ʜᴜɴᴛ
Liev drew a boiled leather flask from inside his jacket. He took a deep draught before leveling a serious gaze at his son. “Your sister is going to teach you how to hunt.”
Irina jolted back towards the edge of the platform. “I am not—I can’t!”
ᴏʙᴇʏ
“Obey your sister,” Liev ordered Fedya, “as you would obey me.”
“Yes, Father.” Fedya sighed, but said nothing more.
ᴡɪʟᴅ
Her brother stared out at the forest below. His jaw was starting to harden where he ground his teeth in his stubbornness. He looked more like Liev every year as he grew broad and thick as the rest of the village boys. At only sixteen, he was nearly as tall as the door to their family’s little home. There was something different between them, though. Something to his face that was so southern, so wild and green like his mother with her tinctures and her plant-spells, her stained black lips and her one far-seeing crystal eye.
“There’s another predator,” he said softly.
→ surreal adult fantasy
→ second person present tense
→ read it on Wattpad
—you wake up in a muddy riverbank.
Jackdaw has fallen from grace. That is the first thing they discover when they open borrowed eyes in the discarded land of Lorne. They cannot call on the infinite power that once rested at their fingertips. They cannot shape the world around them to their will.
But everyone else can. The townsfolk of Lorne are magic made flesh, with the power to rot and heal, to cure and kill. Jackdaw should be hailed as a god among them. Instead they're an outsider, learning the rules of a new world like a child first learning to walk.
They have to find a way back home—into their own skin—before they die in this strange place.
her smile is calm, the beat of a heart in an open chest. “i’m beth.”
Everyone dies. That is the first and only truth of the world, as far as Beth Hedley is concerned. She walks through the forest and leaves a trail of rot behind. The basket she carries is full of the crows and ravens that watch from the treetops.
She is the only one in Lorne who walks through the forest. The hounds come from the trees on the full moon to hunt; Beth visits the deepest parts of the wood then, when they are empty, and feeds the many mouths within. She comes back in an echo of violence—but she always comes back.
Until she doesn't, any more. Until the only remnant of her is a hood red with blood.
Beth Hedley is not the wolf in the forest, but she might be its victim if Jackdaw can't save her.
a crow hops to her shoulder, and she need only turn her face for it to whisper in that soft croaking voice, “they’re home.”
There were not always blackbirds in Lorne. But when Unkindness came crashing to the earth in a starfall three centuries ago, she brought with her the ravens that act as her eyes, and she sent them out into the world to search for the other two.
A century ago, she found the Crow Man, lingering in the darkness under a bridge and whispering riddles to himself. He brought with him the beady-eyed crows that perch in the tens and hundreds and sing taunts as townsfolk pass.
New birds are flying forth from the steeple of a church—so long abandoned that no one knows its god. Unkindness, in her tower of mirrors, turns blind eyes to the heavens and dares to smile at the sun that cast her down so long ago.
it's been a while since I posted anything of substance, so I thought I'd give y'all this! a quick look at the opening paragraphs of Bearskin, and how they've changed between draft 1 and draft 2:
→ draft 1
Dusk was the best time to hunt. As the night opened its gaping maw and began to devour the sun, Irina prepared for winter.
She learned survival from the animals. That was her father’s first lesson, raising her in the village on the edge of the snow. Squirrels buried their food in soil warm enough to turn over. Birds found hot, dry lands to the north where they could rest their heads. Sharp-toothed cats padded along on silent feet, stalking unwary prey over open snow. And bears—the great brown and black bears with claws longer than her hands, shuffling broad-shouldered through the shadows between ancient evergreens, pine sap sticky on their fur—hunted heavy through the moons leading up to the cold and ate themselves into a deep slumber.
→ draft 2
Dusk was the best time to hunt. As the night opened its gaping maw and began to devour the sun, Irina helped her village prepare for winter. She crouched in an old hunting platform, high up in the trees of the deep wood, and etched another tally-mark into the grain with her knife.
Far below her, animals followed suit. Squirrels buried their food in soil that was still warm enough to turn over. Birds took flight from the boughs of the deep wood and flew north in pursuit of hot, dry lands where they could rest for the long winter. Sharp-toothed cats padded along on silent feet, stalking unwary prey through the twisted, knotted roots of the forest.
Somewhere in the wood, bears—the great brown and black bears with claws longer than her hands, shuffling broad-shouldered through the shadows between ancient evergreens, pine sap sticky on their fur—hunted heavy. There was a moon left still until the sun sank below the horizon for the last time. They would eat themselves into a deep slumber.
ask to be added or removed // or remind me if I missed you or if you've changed your url!! sometimes I don't update my taglists for months and then I forget who wants to be added. oops.
