#bloodfinch worldbuilding

[birlwrites]

scrapbook snippet: the origin of the bloodfinch

this is a piece of bloodfinch worldbuilding that was more fun to write up as a story than as notes - here you go! it's about 700 words, and it's set long before the time of the story. this is how the story would be told in finch's time

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In the time before the king was King, and was but a man, he had a brother.

The two were inseparable in the way of the sides of a coin: opposites, but bound together until they seemed to be one creature. The elder was Cynefrith, and he was humble, a hand-worker, a healer and harpist, steady as a sun-warmed stone. The younger was Wilnoth, and he was bold, a story-teller, weaving between tales of the saints and tales of his own battlefield exploits with ease, for theirs was a time of battle and unrest. Warlords fought and scrabbled for territory, clinging to the edges of their lands with blood-soiled fingertips, and it was Cynefrith who believed most strongly that this could not go on. Upon their father’s death, Cynefrith intended to approach other warlords with open hands, speaking words of peace, forging alliances and treaties so that all could flourish. He spoke often of this to Wilnoth.

But it was not to be.

As their father lay on his deathbed, Cynefrith left his bedside and walked a secret path into the forest. He was a healer, but he knew the limits of his power. It was his habit to seclude himself when a hard battle had been lost, and though his father still clung to life, Cynefrith, his heir, would have no time to grieve alone after his death.

So Cynefrith walked, alone, singing to himself as he went, the better to calm the ache in his heart.

Wilnoth eventually took his place at their father’s bedside, to keep him company, but he expected Cynefrith to return soon.

And Cynefrith did not.

And Wilnoth said, “He will return before our father passes,” and all believed him.

But their father’s breathing weakened, his pulse faltered, and still Cynefrith did not return.

Wilnoth could not leave their father’s bedside, but it was a time of unrest, and he was shrewd in the ways of war, and he ordered warriors out to search for Cynefrith, and they went. The night stretched out, dark and cold, a chill in the air that settled into the bones of all who saw the emptiness at Wilnoth’s side.

When their father died, near dawn, Wilnoth did not weep, but he rose and said, “All must join the search, but do not tell Cynefrith of what has happened in his absence; bring him to me, that I may tell him, in the way of family.”

And all scattered into the forest, bearing lanterns, and Wilnoth was among them. In the early light of daybreak, he searched, ceaseless, calling out the name of his brother, until finally he remembered Cynefrith’s secret path. And he followed it, loud and clarion in the new sunlight, and he came to a clearing nestled between groves of graceful trees, and he saw his brother resting in a bed of flowers.

Wilnoth called to him, and thought him asleep, and touched his arm to wake him, and Cynefrith did not stir, his body cold and pale with dew, for Cynefrith was dead.

For a day and a night, Wilnoth wept, sick with grief for his father and his brother, and his men took Cynefrith’s body back to their village and found that Cynefrith had been stabbed, dried blood crusting over his back, and they spoke of rival warlords, of revenge. But Wilnoth, who had not left the clearing with his brother, returned on the next bright morning, and he spoke to them as a king.

Wilnoth spoke of a vision, of a bloodred bird, impaled through the heart but singing merrily, and wherever its blood touched the ground, there grew flowers. And a heavenly voice sounded, and it told Wilnoth this: that the bloodfinch could sing for twenty years so injured before dying, and that the flowers of its death-blood would give him strength. And in exchange for this strength, he must be the one to unite the land, not through the treaties Cynefrith spoke of, but through power. And when there was one kingdom, healed and whole under one banner, then Cynefrith’s death would not be in vain.

Having spoken thus, Wilnoth, for he loved his brother, left his people to seek out the bloodfinch.

[birlwrites]

i'm writing a ballad for bloodfinch (just the lyrics) - i have no plan to compose a melody for it, partly because that's just not super relevant to what i'm doing here, and partly because ballads are traditionally in common verse which means. the lyrics can be sung. to the tune of the pokemon theme song

[birlwrites]

fleshing out the bloodfinch pantheon armed with information about semi-obscure catholic saints. i've created a saint called the cephalophore who is the patron of those who are wrongfully accused or punished and he's depicted with a disembodied head or an axe (because i'm obsessed with the implications behind martyrs being associated with what killed them) OR a set of scales tipped to the left

the latter is because then i also decided to create a counterpart, the rule-saint, who's associated with fairness and justice and cold hard truth (which are sometimes contradictory). she's depicted with a quill and a set of scales tipped to the right and she's the only saint who's always depicted looking straight ahead instead of off to the side and she's said to have been a midwife in her mortal life. supposedly, she also had a gift for knowing when people were lying to her

the rule-saint and the cephalophore are counterparts, not rivals - they can both be invoked for the same purpose, and they're often depicted together, each of them with one hand helping to hold up the scales, which are shown as balanced. the cephalophore is stubborn, righteous, and idealistic. the rule-saint is realistic, incisive, and pragmatic. both of them are necessary to achieve justice. neither of them has any time for nonsense. i'm obsessed with them

[birlwrites]

Have you decided what the most common pet is in Bloodfinich’s kingdom? Are pets a thing they have much of a culture for? Have you created new creatures or used familiar/existing ones (fantasy or real animals)?

most common would probably be cats and dogs - i am using real animals, the exception being the bloodfinch and possibly some other legendary animals that don't exist atm but may be created in the future

so that's largely going to mirror medieval europe - most domestic animals will have a purpose other than simply being a pet, like catching mice, herding sheep, etc, and then as you go higher in the socioeconomic hierarchy, you're more likely to find pets without jobs - but also a lot more horses and hunting animals

i'm also now thinking about gisanna having a pet bird, like a canary or nightingale - the palace also probably has loads of cats, like in the kitchens and cellars!

[birlwrites]

How goes Bloodfinch! Are you at the stage of writing parts yet? Is there a particular area of writing (dialogue, point of view etc) that's particularly fun with it?

And another hopefully answerable but somewhat generic question (to give you the power of surprise yet if you want it!): what person and tense have you gone for? or have you varied it according to a pattern of your own design?

If there's stuff to say about the process of writing concerning what brings you joy (and not further worldbuilding/plot details necessarily that I'm sure time will reveal) it'd be interesting to hear it!

Also, as a side note, you said you very much identified with the sliding meme of your opinion on your skills varying. Hence, I desire to communicate that I think you're consistently brilliant! I am curious why you feel that way though, as I was shocked it was somewhat widespread (I have days where things don't go so well writing, naturally as consistency isn't quite how it works as an area, but find my faith in my skills is rather solid and veers only between "I'm fine at it I suppose?" to "oh yes, it's an area of skills I've worked on that I'm good at" with more sporadic bursts of "I'm a genius! I'm so great at this!" never reaching more despairing "I'm hopeless, utterly hopeless").

it goes well!!! i'm having fun!!! i'm nearing 2.5k now - i had a longer draft, but had to frog that since i decided to start the story in a different place. i'll probably grab and reuse snippets of it later on though. and the outline is complete!! i'm hoping that it'll be similar to lachrimae in terms of time it'll take me to write, although unlike lachrimae i'll then do at least one round of editing once i have a full draft, plus then i'll need to do like. layouts and get cover art and stuff

finch, the pov character, is a singer, and i'm having a WILD time being able to write a very highly trained singer - her tutor (dulceis) definitely has. some traits in common with. certain singing teachers i've had. just wrote a line about dulceis standing on the opposite side of the room from finch yelling 'WHERE ARE YOUR CONSONANTS I CAN'T FIND THEM' and. yes

it's first person present tense and it'll stick to that - normally i'm a third person present tense writer by default, but i'm going for first person here because a) we are VERY deep inside finch's head and b) that was the best way for me to make clear that despite her calling herself finch, that's not what other people call her

i also just created yet another saint today, the sea-saint, who's associated with the sea (duh) and those who make their living from the ocean (sailors, fishers, etc), AND ALSO rhetoric, poetry, and all of the word-arts. the sea-saint is associated with fluidity (duh), impermanence, but also a certain type of control - navigating uncertainty. there is a story about the sea-saint calming choppy waters just by speaking to them and persuading them to settle. they're represented with a wave, a seashell, or a siren (this tends to be the less positive side of the saint, representing fickleness, hunger, and misleading appearances)

oh and i also just wrote up a little story about the origins of bloodfinches, because i was going to type up my handwritten notes but writing up notes was boring and writing up a story that conveyed the same information was far more interesting - so perhaps i'll post that! in a different post though, so it can just be its own thing instead of being buried in this response

naturally from finch's pov i also get to go wild with the auditory imagery which is fantastic, and i'm also having a great time with introducing original characters - even though i work with very, very, very, very, VERY minor characters in hp fanfiction, so minor that in many cases i am inventing characterization out of wholecloth, people still already have certain impressions about characters' appearances, personalities, and general vibes. that is not at all the case with completely original characters and figuring out how to introduce them and convey impressions of them is SO MUCH FUN i forgot how fun it was

i think that the reason my perception of my own writing tends to swing back and forth wildly is because i associate it with ease. words are flowing? plot details are blooming? everything feels great! but if i am not living up to my own expectations, if trying to write feels like banging my head against a wall, or if a scene isn't coming out the way i imagined it and i don't know what the problem is, or i DO know what the problem is and it's going to be a shitload of work to fix, or if it's not connecting with readers the way i thought it would, then i do have a tendency to spiral

logically, i am a fairly confident writer, but emotionally, i'm of course more inconsistent, and emotions tend to rule the day when it comes to how i'm feeling about my skills at any given moment. fortunately, i'm at least aware of that, and i know that feeling like it's hopeless means a) it's not actually hopeless, my brain just likes to latch onto worst-case scenarios, and b) it is well past time for a break

a central issue here is that i often expect very high levels of productivity from myself, and so then even if i know it's time for a break, i then am fighting a separate battle in which i have to convince my brain not to beat me up over needing Break Time, and it all leads to me staring at the wall wishing i could put my brain in a washing machine

[birlwrites]

#giving this a next day reblog!#oooo maybe i'll write more tales like this for worldbuilding#like about the saints#bloodfinch

have you read Watership Down? I believe it works by interweaving fictional rabbit folklore through the story in a similar way that you indicate you may choose to? Could be worth a look, anyway

oooo i have not! my to-read-next pile is getting a little ridiculous (almost tall enough to obscure my reading lamp) but when i'm done with this batch of library books i'll see if i can nab a copy of watership down. i think i saw it on the shelves at my library so i might not even need to place a hold

[birlwrites]

projects

the general tag for all of my writing is #birl writes - whenever i post a piece of writing on tumblr or post a link to my writing on ao3, i’ll use that tag. i also have a much more detailed page with the tags for all of my stories/ideas/aus and short descriptions of what they’re for!

WIPs

i have a lot of wips at any given time, so this is just what i’m most likely to be working on:

drafting bloodfinch (original story): secondary world fantasy with a side of horror. ever since finch can remember, she’s been raised in the palace for a single purpose: to be ritually sacrificed after 20 years of preparation so that her death can strengthen the royal family. it’s a great honor and a duty that only finch can fulfill. but she’s entering her last year of preparation, and she’s horrified to realize that actually, she doesn’t want to die.

sporadic posting to the dark lord (HP fic): canon-divergent and regulus black-centric. aren’t you tired of regulus becoming a death eater and sacrificing himself to get one (1) horcrux? don’t you want him to build a third side in the war between voldemort and dumbledore and go after both of them with the power of love dark arts? wouldn’t it be fun if he did this while also juggling quidditch, high society, and preparing for OWL exams? read the series here!

(the full series is titled a taste for hard victories. if you’re interested in spoilers, or want to avoid them, you can check out or filter the #atfhv spoilers tag, and there are also tags for #atfhv worldbuilding and #atfhv art!)

sporadic posting you know it’s your blood that i bleed (HP fic): also canon-divergent and regulus black-centric. regulus survives the cave and desperately needs a healer, so he goes to the only one he knows: sirius. but regulus’s dark mark was damaged in his escape from the cave. voldemort knows what that means, and he’s not inclined to indulge betrayal. read it here! (very slow updates)

Completed

if wips aren’t your thing, i have a completed works tag! i’m not going to list every completed fic here because i have a lot of ficlets out and about, but here are the big ones.

fanfiction set those ghosts alight (HP, 129k): canon divergence where regulus black (who by all measures probably should have gone into slytherin) argues the sorting hat into putting him in gryffindor. chaos ensues. nonlinear narrative with a focus on regulus hunting horcruxes as a member of the order post-graduation from hogwarts. lots of marauders, aroace reg, and a shitload of arson! read it here.

original rainfall (ya/na fantasy, 69k): humorous ya/na fantasy about a blacksmith’s apprentice whose twin brother is the chosen one. he runs away, and she decides, fuck it, i’ll lead the revolution. features found family, wlw, a bladesexual with horrible gremlin energy, and fun magic! you can get a copy here. (i don’t think that page shows it on overdrive but you should be able to get it on overdrive as well) additionally, check the rainfall extras tag for short stories i’ve posted on tumblr. official author blog is @miriambrookler!

fanfiction evocatio (HP, 20k): regulus-centric, no voldemort AU - as payback for james dumping him, regulus decides to fake date evan, his #1 quidditch enemy. obviously there’s no way this will go in any sort of unexpected direction for regulus!!!!! purely platonic fake dating!!!!!!!!! definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read it here!

fanfiction lachrimae (HP, 116k): a seer!regulus au in which regulus is forced into the death eaters right after finishing his fifth year at hogwarts. he doesn’t want to be there, but voldemort is very, very invested in keeping his new seer around. making matters worse, while regulus has been seeing visions of his own death for his whole life, his sight is starting to act strangely... read it here!

Writing Advice

i reblog a lot of writing advice but i also post my own! look at the #birl original tag for my posts.

check out the hyperlinks for my tags, and if my askbox is open, feel free to ask me about whatever! i’ll edit this post as necessary to keep it up-to-date. and if you’d like to leave a tip or buy me a coffee, here is my ko-fi page!