#but gale has that way of they connect on a magical and academic way

[impossible-rat-babies]

sitting here poking at durge w a stick to make a choice on who they like

[asidian]

Ooh I love this game, and I love your ideas! AU where Wyll’s father died and he had to become Duke before he was exiled (maybe he still made the pact to help him be a strong Duke, maybe not) and meets companion members through different connections he has to make/society events?

FIVE FUN FACTS about this AU:

The pact still happened because he had to protect the city somehow. Now Baldurans just sort of accept that their Grand Duke has a false eye and a sketchy advisor lady. Everyone knows that the duke himself is a good man, but this advisor always gives him questionable advice, and he just can't seem to tell her no.

Gale shows up as an esteemed guest, to lecture at the university, as part of some sort of academic exchange program with Waterdeep. Wyll shows him around town and gets lectured within an inch of his life on the obscure magical potion-making properties of the common sweet potato.

Karlach accompanies Mizora from time to time, on loan from Zariel, in a sort of hired hand/bodyguard role. She plainly adores these assignments and spends the whole time enjoying as much of not-being-in-the-hells as she's able before getting sent back again. Wyll starts coming up with reasons to request her presence: oh, we could use an extra sword at such-and-such event, since you're so intent on it going x way, Mizora, maybe you could bring Karlach for the evening? Karlach catches on and absolutely adores him for it. At some point the pair of them have a couple of shitty ales together, hanging out in the kitchens after an event.

Shadowheart, freshly memory wiped, arrives with a contingent of Sharrans to discuss property rights and city planning considerations for the new temple plans. They want a sizeable swath of the upper city, the better to make their mark in high society and establish a foundation for Shar's spreading influence. Mizora, of course, agrees entirely.

Astarion shows up as Cazador's plus one at a high-class gala, posing as nobility from Athkatla. He's meant to be talking his way into the duke's good graces -- and his bed -- in order to gain favors for Cazador, but Wyll lets him down gently and tells him that, although he's quite lovely, Wyll has his heart set on finding true love. Astarion has a rough night after having to tell Cazador he wasn't able to do as he was told, and rough nights after each of the subsequent galas where Cazador wants him to try again. Cue a slowburn where Wyll is gradually falling for him and Astarion is genuinely charmed, but hells below, would this man just fuck him already, he'd like to keep his SKIN on after one of these godsforsaken parties.

[ode-of-odr]

Little things Ras does with the companions of BG3:

When Karlach gets her second upgrade he will always find little ways of touching her, since she's missed it so much. Pat on the shoulder, nudging so on. And he actively tries to be happy around her.

When people hit on Astarion he mad dogs them until they leave. Yes, Astarion can say no himself. Handle himself. But since no gods came to his aid, no soul. He will at least do this until Astarion finds it easier to say no.

Will just ask Gale some random academic question regarding magic and let him ramble off. He doesn't understand how Gale thinks he needs more; to be more. He knows so much as it is. Also asks him about his great cooking recipes! Ras loves cooking too.

Respects Shadowheart's secrecy, but also drops little crumbs of himself and always shows great appreciation when she does the same. Always reminds her it's okay to feel lost and start over.

Shares battle tactics with Lae'zel while finding ways to show her fun and other aspects of life on the Material can be fun, by linking it back to how it would make her a better fighter.

Goes to Minthara for wisdom, even if he doesn't actually need to. Drow women are as strong-willed as any. More so. He doesn't know what it's like to lose a connection to a powerful being, that is wanted. But she doesn't need it. Her convictions are strong enough. Maybe another god will see this and come to her. Maybe.

He rests with Halsin when he just wants to be soft. Talk about cute animals and how he loves boring things. He doesn't have to be angry, or scary and he feels like he can be depressed for his own issues and not seem like he's overshadowing someone.

Has Wyll tell him stories of his exploits to remind him, horns are just horns. And not every hero needs to be some human with a perfect record. Real heroes, as cheesy as it is are based on their actions and hearts.

[timecma]

Also, who’s each of your characters favourite TLOS character?

Hah—I love how most of my characters are just in the land of stories, so it’s more like “who is their favorite person?”

Cyrus’s is obviously Xanthous. There’s literally nothing to say there he’s absolutely enamored by him. His gay little heart beats for him.

Negative’s favorite character would definitely be Ezmia. The purple, the flair, the confidence—she’s got it all. He’d think she was magnificent and magnificently misunderstood. Also he’d be like “yikes, well mirror dust does that to you…” 😬

Aurelia’s favorite character would probably be Brystal. Strong, confident leader who isn’t without her flaws. There’s a level of respect the Fairy Godmother has and she got it by literally going from one of the most hated people in the world to one of the most respected. However, Brystal also suffers from depression and she can get overwhelmed sometimes and it makes her feel human and relatable.

Indicum’s favorite character would be Sir Lampton hands down. He’s been a knight for as long as he can remember, and Sir Lampton isn’t just stone-cold and responsible. He’s got a soft side and he also helps those he can. Indicum would view him as the ultimate role-model who does his best when times get tough.

Juniper’s favorite character would be Alex probably. And Gale’s would be Conner respectively. Those two are like a duo just like Alex and Conner are like a duo. Juniper tries to be level-headed and responsible but she’s not without her flaws. Gale is funny and sincere but he’s also not without his flaws. They’d relate too well because they’re also like a brother/sister duo without actually being brother and sister. They’re just really close.

Rapid fire for the Creators without much explanation.

Vinny would love Mother Goose. She’s a hoot and he loves a good laugh and is also kind of chaotic himself.

Death would like Mistress Mara. She’s his daughter—he can’t help it.

Grim likes Madame Weatherberry because of her guidance aspect and how she’s always willing to help others even in death. That’s some resilience.

Life would love Froggy because he’s an intelligent man who always has a hunger for more knowledge and to learn. He appreciates scholars and academics, especially ones who are walking, talking amphibians.

Time would like Alex. While she’s nothing like him, he would enjoy her realistic approach to most things. He would also appreciate that she gives up using magic and just uses her hands to fix things if she has to—like how she did in A Grimm Warning. He also would feel bad for her getting mirror dust blown in her face. All of this stuff he’d never say out loud tho. He admires her dedication to stuff too.

Space likes Elrik because he’s gay and he thinks Elrik is fun so it’s a good connection to him because he’s also gay and fun.

Nova would like Death. He’s biased to his son. (This is a joke). Nova would like Charlotte because of how great of a mother she is. He enjoys how she still tries to keep her kids feeling like they deserve normal things—like celebrating their birthday and whatnot. He’s also very parental when he gets over himself, so deep in his heart he would love Charlotte and her way of trying to keep her family happy and united. Also she puts up with a surprising amount of stuff—which he admires.

This is all I’m gonna to for now haaaaahhhhhh that was a lot of work.

[invinciblerodent]

for mr arvid trygg: 21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

for mr petyr wildbrook: 58. What decision would your party have to make in order for Tav to consider splitting off from the group? and for ms iona raedir: 67. How good is your Tav at giving advice? How good are they at following it themselves?

Oooh, I love these! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

I like to think it was fairly simultaneous, and Gale was just the first to actually acknowledge it out loud. Like, the connection between them formed very quickly and easily (which is to say, I decided who I'd romance the moment I pulled that man from that rock)- beyond them just both being hungry for a "human" connection, their sense of morality aligns very closely, and where Gale is an academic, Arvid is something of a philosopher, so they probably conversed the most with each other out of all the companions, and had some very enjoyable back-and-forths (that were basically incomprehensible to anyone else lol). It was only natural that experiencing that kind of fast friendship and the other's kindness quickly turned their affections from friendly to romantic, but with their insecurities (Arvid feeling mostly physically inadequate, and Gale... well, we know Gale's deal lol), it kind of got stuck there with the mutual pining for a long time.

It wasn't until Gale said "I'm in love with you" that Arvid kind of let it sink in for him that this, this is what it's like to be loved back, and saying it back was both spoken with utter wonderment, and as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say.

Tbh, it's probably a little hard to tell who fell harder. I mean, Never have two people been less normal about one another. Gale blurs the lines between love and worship pretty hard (understandable, he never knew much else, and with Mystra that line was nonexistent to begin with), and Arvid literally worships so hard that he got magic powers from it. This guy clearly just does not know how to like things (or people) a normal amount.

Anyway, they are very cute and I love them very much. ❤️

53. What decision would your party have to make in order for Tav to consider splitting off from the group?

Oh, that depends on where we are in the story lol. I think for most of act 1, he's always one foot out of the camp. Constantly. Like the wind blows in the wrong direction once, and he's out, tadpole be damned. I kind of doubt that he even believes that he's about to turn into an illithid until he meets the Dream Guardian.

He starts out very much a Just Some Guy type of character, and his moral compass is initially a bit like that of a roulette wheel, chiefly governed by heading towards the path of least resistance.

Act 2 is definitely his turning point, and by act 3, he's been successfully infected with morals. Like reaching Rivington, he's pretty much engaged the "ride or die" protocols, and there's no moving him from that point forward. (I blame Halsin for that one. And Wyll. I think he'll be an excellent foil to Petyr's bitch ways, and they'll end up being good friends by the end.)

67. How good is your Tav at giving advice? How good are they at following it themselves?

I like to think that she's pretty good at giving advice (she is a woman in her sixties after all, little as that means among elves- though she did live among humans most of her life), but she has this way of centering the conversation around the other party, and not really telling them anything about herself in return. Like she can sound very wise, and offer plenty of advice, but most of the time, she's just blowing hot air and not really telling them if she's going off lived experience, or pulling things straight from her ass.

I especially liked when, in Jaheira's home, Iona just categorically refused to engage with admonishing her because she just. She just knows that Jaheira can smell her bullshit from a mile away, lol.

Thank you for asking!! ❤️

[dragonagitator]

That is a whole mood for real.

Also, the most obvious entry point for a MCIF is the opening cinematic of the nautiloid jumping between realms (in Forgotten Realms lore, Earth is canonically just another Realm like Torril or Avernus), so unless we're able to a) steal another nautiloid, b) figure out which steering tentacles to connect to jump back to Earth, and c) land it safely before being shot out of the sky by the Air Force, our MCIFs are presumably stuck in Faerun.

But hey, if you wanna try to hijack a nautiloid during the final battle, be my guest. And if you bring your love interest and/or other NPCs back to Earth with you, you can write a hilarious "BG3 Characters on Earth" sequel to your "Modern Character in Faerun" fic.

Would be deliciously angsty if it turns out that removing Gale from Faerun cuts him off from the Weave so he not only has to deal with the culture shock of life on Earth but also has to adapt to not having ANY magic after being in tune with it for as long as he can remember. It would be even worse for him than when he lost power from the orb because at least then he could still cast cantrips and 1st-level spells and could continue to use scrolls and other magical items. Not something he'd chose voluntarily, but if traveling to a non-magical realm like Earth was the only way to escape a vengeful Mystra and protect his new spouse? Maybe then.

Gale could probably respec into being a software engineer relatively quickly. Although becoming a university professor of Folklore Studies or similar subject might be a better overall fit, humanities faculty positions are extremely competitive and he'd be starting from scratch at age ~40 with zero Earth-recognized academic credentials so that's a bit of a reach.

Or maybe he ends up making a living writing fantasy novels or even new D&D sourcebooks. DMs and players alike love running Harry Potteresque PCs-as-wizarding-students campaigns using the new Blackstaff Academy module because the level of detail provided makes it feel like the module author actually lived it, heh heh heh.

BG3 fanfic idea:

Modern Character in Faerun fic in which the author self-insert suffers from whatever chronic illnesses and disabilities the author suffers from IRL and Shadowheart inadvertently cures them all the first time she casts Lesser Restoration for something.

It turns out that you weren't that far off all those times you'd joked back on Earth that "God nerfed me by giving me [condition] because he knew I'd be too OP without it."

And all that extra effort you used to have to expend every day just to minimally function? That was like a lifelong intensive weightlifting program for your willpower because you were constantly forcing yourself to do things despite all the pain, fatigue, brain fog, nausea, etc. Once you're freed of the shackles of your chronic illnesses and disabilities, you're able to utilize that power in ways chronically healthy and lifelong abled people could never dream of.

Title idea: "Traded My Spoons For Knives"

Lore caveats: Lesser Restoration canonically cures the conditions diseased, poisoned, paralysis, and blinded. If you're missing body parts and want them back then you'll need to wait for the 7th-level divine magic spell Regenerate, which can't be learned in game because character progression is capped at level 12 but should be achievable fairly quickly in a post-game story because clerics and druids get access to 7th-level spells as soon as they hit level 13. If that causes you to inadvertently regenerate body parts that you didn't want back, the 9th-level spell True Polymorph can permanently (with your consent) change your healthy/whole baseline to something else. You'll need a level 18+ wizard to cast it, which Gale was before the orb since he was an archmage, and it's certainly plausible that removing the orb would allow him to bounce back to his old character level without needing to grind XP to get there.

(Inspired by memories of taking Adderall for the first time. That was a REVELATION, y'all. You mean I wasn't just stupid and lazy this whole time? This is what I can do when my brain actually works right? If my physical disabilities and chronic illnesses could also be cured/treated as instantaneously, I'd be unstoppable.)

(Also, how is it that as soon as I start writing my first attempt at fanfic, I start generating ideas for new fanfics faster than I can even write the ideas down much less ever actually write any of the stories?)

[yamayuandadu]

Hecate: falsehoods and myths

While my blog generally focuses on China and Japan, occasionally other topics related to religion and mythology warrant a post too. Due to Halloween being right around the corner, I decided to finally cover something I've been meaning to for a long while – the large number of misinterpreted, misreported or outright made up information about my favorite minor figure from Greek mythology, Hecate. While only rarely present in myths, she's a mainstay of not only popculture, but also of what I think warrants being called “pop-spirituality”. Under the cut I will examine a number of claims commonly seen online, and provide both the necessary debunks as well as some interesting genuine information.

Falsehood #1: Hecate's three bodies represent the neopagan virgin, mother, crone trinity This claim, as  baffling as it is, made its way even to a number of academic publications – what prompted me to write this post was in fact stumbling upon it in a paper about a completely unrelated topic. In truth, there wasn't even such a thing as an universal “virgin-mother-crone” trinity in Greek mythology – the whole idea is a product of dubious 20th century scholarship, mostly that of Robert Graves, a man whose notable deeds include writing a number of seemingly entertaining historical novels, cheating on his wife with his “muses” (some of them teenaged), and introducing the world to a wide array of myths and interpretations he came up with himself, but presented as genuine (he want as far as lament that more credible authors refuse to spread his ideas further). The most prominent of them, outlined in his book White Goddess, was his belief in the existence of some form of universal goddess figure with three aspects, which he himself named rather inconsistently, and which he claimed corresponded to the phases on the moon. What is true is that Hecate was associated with the moon from the Hellenic period onward, with neoplatonic writers in particular highlighting this affinity. This appears to be derived from Hecate's role as a “light-bringing” deity, frequently depicted with torches in art. Her arguably most prominent appearance in a myth presents her as Persephone's guide on the way back to her mother, lighting the way through the underworld. A shift from a general light-bringing role to just an association with the moon likely occurred due to conflation occuring between Hecate and Artemis – however in earlier times she was also frequently associated with Apollo, who even held the title of “Hecaton” in some sanctuaries. It has also been suggested that originally the connection was based on Apollo being depicted as a “builder” deity, while Hecate's principal role was that of a guardian of homes, gates and roads, which made their purposes overlap. Due to the aforementioned moon connection, combined with the fact she was commonly depicted with three bodies in art, Hecate became a postergirl for Graves' theory. Of course, this association has no foundation in reality – Hecate is not described as triplicate in Hesiod's Theogony, the oldest source mentioning this goddess.

The oldest known depictions, both sculptures and pottery decorations, likewise depict her with only one body. Some later sources seemingly discussed the three bodied version as merely an art motif. Pausanias's travelogue presents the three bodied Hecate statues as an invention of the sculptor Alcamenes, and contrasts them with a single-bodied depiction: Within the enclosure [in Aegina] is a temple; its wooden image is the work of Myron, and it has one face and one body. It was Alkamenes, in my opinion, who first made three images of Hekate attached to one another, a figure called by the Athenians Epipurgidia [on the tower] It should be noted that yet other sources consider them to have religious importance as guardians of crossroads, though these claims are obviously not contradictory.  Additionally, a few pieces of art, such as the Pergamon altar, depict Hecate with three bodies despite presenting myths in which she only possessed one.

Hecate was consistently portrayed as a young woman (some pieces of art, like the one above, depicted her in an Artemis-like manner, in a knee length garment) and with some small exceptions, usually relying on conflation with various nymphs, ancient Greeks seemingly considered her a virgin goddess. There are no widely agreed upon ideas regarding any other figures being regarded as Hecate's children, and even after becoming only a distantly remembered boogeyman she was not depicted as an elderly woman. Falsehood #2:  a “pan-european” set of “witchcraft traditions” was derived from Hecate Most claims online related to witchcraft try to add a degree of complexity to what was senseless violence caused by moral panics, not dissimilar from the 1980s satanic panic. There was no “pan-european” component to them (beyond all instances of large scale witch hunts being motivated by religious fervor, of course), and in particular the worship of Hecate was neither extant at the time associated with witch hunts and the development of the modern western image of a witch, nor was it ever “pan-european”. If anything, an argument can be made that outside Greece and Anatolia, Hecate was more of a popular import in the east than in the west. Some Roman sources present the existence of Hecate household altars in Greece as a puzzling curiosity, which further strengthens this impression. The late version of her cult, presenting her as a witchcraft goddess spread to Egypt and Mesopotamia, while an older, more positive image of Hecate seemingly survived in far off Bactria. as evidenced for example by Agathocles’ coins with Zeus holding Hecate, seen below.

Neither version ever spread to western or northern Europe, though, and pretty clearly it did not survive in any form into the middle ages and beyond. Wikipedia mentions a truly outlandish modern association between Hecate and germanic wild hunt folklore, which strikes me as completely random. An actual well documented example of Hecate syncretism with a figure from outside Greek mythology involved the Mesopotamian underworld goddess Ereshkigal, however.

What's rather curious is that the very concept of Hecate as a witchcraft and underworld goddess might have been a relatively late development, and as such not an accurate representation her original character – and even in antiquity it wasn't an universally embraced association. Earliest Greek accounts of Hecate cast her in a positive, benevolent role. In the Theogony she's a titan siding with the Olympians and then aiding them during gigantomachia as well; in certain versions of the Persephone myth, for example in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she's an ally of Demeter offering her counsel and finally escorting Persephone back to her mother. Many of her epithets also point at a benign character.

The deity whose role was most likely the closest to Hecate's own before the negative associations made her little more than a boogeyman was Cybele. Iconography and surviving accounts of rituals to both of these figures bear many similarities, which is considered one of the strongest arguments in favor of Hecate being an Anatolian goddess adapted into the Greek pantheon due to contact between Greek colonist in Asia Minor with local inhabitants such as Carians. It's also worth noting that in Greece both Hecate and Cybele were generally worshiped at household shrines rather than official, large temples. Sometimes Hecate and Cybele were also depicted together, though it's generally agreed they were never conflated. It is still uncertain to what degree Hecate was associated with the underworld before becoming a goddess of witchcraft – some authors assume that she was already in part cthtonic as a Carian deity, while others assume she only started to fulfill this role due to the later witchcraft associations, or due to conflation with the goddess Enodia popular in Thessaly, who was depicted as a crossroad deity like Hecate and was associated with ghosts. Falsehood #3:Hecate was always depicted with animal heads While not entirely made up, this claim is rooted in the Argonautica Orphica, a text only written in the 5th or 6th century, and likely inspired by neoplatonic, gnostic and magical sources. A probable origin of animal-headed Hecate are Egyptian magical papyri, likely influenced by Greek perception of Egyptian religion, and to a large degree disconnected from worship of Hecate in, say, Caria or Phrygia. Earlier sources and art depict Hecate with a single, human, head on each body, as discussed above. The animal-headed image only developed when Hecate started to be perceived exclusively as a goddess of witchcraft and similar arts. However, even though that was always the perception of this deity in Roman sources and in most Greek ones from 5th century BC onward, a number of cult sites in Anatolia, for example the temple in Lagina, continued to venerate her under the regular guise, and one of the most prominent indications of a lasting devotion to her comes from Greco-Bactrian coinage depicting entirely human, single-headed and single-bodied Hecate with Zeus.

While Hecate was not depicted with animal heads before the dawn of Hellenic Egyptian magical papyri, from the very beginning she was associated with a number of animals, most importantly dogs, but also martens and polecats. Occasionally her animal companions were assumed to be humans cursed with such forms. While some versions of associated myths claimed Hecate cursed specific individuals (such as Gale or Hekuba) to live as animals, in others she instead took pity on victims of another deity's curse – for example, Antoninus Liberalis notes that it was believed that the polecat was a woman named Galinthias who was transformed into the animal by the Moirae and “Hekate felt sorry for this transformation of her appearance and appointed her a sacred servant of herself.” Occasionally Hecate was also depicted with lions, like Cybele and a variety of other Anatolian, Levantine and Mesopotamian goddesses. Falsehood #4: Statue of Liberty represents Hecate While the three falsehoods discussed earlier intersect and overlap, this one, as far as I can tell, developed separately, though it also was influenced by the idea of Hecate as a malevolent witchcraft goddess to a degree. Debunking it is much easier and doesn’t require any complex research – the Statue of Liberty was simply based on the personification of liberty depicted on the Great Seal of France:

While Statue of Liberty's crown does resemble that worn by one of the three bodies of a famous statue of Hecate, currently displayed in the Vatican Museum, this style of crown was associated more with solar deities, especially the late Roman god Sol Invictus, and I have been unable to find any other depictions of Hecate wearing it.

Bibliography:

Fragments from a Catabasis Ritual in a Greek Magical Papyrus by Hans D. Betz            

Hecate Cult ın Anatolia by Coşkun Daşbacak

Hecate: Her Role and Character  in Greek Literature From Before Fifth Century B.C. by Carol M. Mooney; some arguments on the contrary can be found in Hecate:  Greek or “Anatolian”? by William Berg

Theoi Hecate and Hecate cult pages - great source of quotations

COININDIA gallery of Agathocles’ coins

[ethilite]

[Masterpost]

Locations of Winderful

Below are some key locations, though they don’t encompass all that is Winderful. Besides a few towns and cities that will be central to the plot of The Tall Oak Tree, there are plenty of mountain ranges, beaches, forests, and pocket dimensions one could want to explore.

Lantern City

Lantern City is the Capital of the Nox Kingdom. Though the kingdom itself has been renamed in recent years, not much else has changed. The city is named after the many lanterns that line the cobblestone streets, and are used as a main source of lighting in the evening. The Castle Nox sits upon a mountainside, overlooking the valley that Lantern City rests in. It is a landlocked area, though there is a large lake beside it, and a river running through part of the city. Trees and many other kinds of flora find their homes between the houses and streets, and vertical gardens are a norm on buildings with multiple storeys. At the centre of the city is a large park that the river runs through, where the citizens gather for festivals and other events.

(more below the cut~)

Blackwood

Blackwood, home to Blackwood Academy, one of the highest rated institutions in Winderful, is a small, close-knit community. Located on a coastal island to the West, about half of the local population is made up of students and employees of the academy. There is plenty of greenery, so much so that trees can cover entire pathways with their canopies three out of four seasons. The most prestigious families from Lantern City send their children to the Academy to gain a greater understanding of magical and other academic studies, though students who arrive through other means such as scholarships are also present. The local economy is flourishing, namely because all these rich kids enjoy the local cafes, bakeries, meat shops and other specialty stores.

Nighting Gale

Nighting Gale is home of the cyre, and encompasses the world tree. It is to the north east of Lantern City, hidden within a sprawling forest of giant trees. Most of their homes are built into the trees, and hanging bridges connect them. There are lifts in place for those who are unable to fly or otherwise climb up the trees. On the outskirts are small clearings for farmland, though cyre magic allows them to manipulate nature within reason to help with their harvests. “Living bridges” made from manipulated tree roots, equipt with glowing mushrooms for night travel, help travellers and pilgrims of the World Tree find their way to Nighting Gale.

The World Tree

The World Tree is what gives magic to the world. It was created by the Astrals and Daemons, and it’s roots dig deep into the world, and spread far and wide. The circumference of the tree takes at least a full twenty-four hour day to walk around, and as such it is the tallest tree in Ethilite, though there are whispers about past trees that used to rival it.

The Spiral City

The Spiral City belongs to the viduous, and is aptly named for the towering spiral castle home to the viduous royalty. Located relatively far east from the other settlements, the city is hidden behind waterfalls and rocky canyons, though if one were to climb the mountains surrounding it, they would find themselves privy to a breathtaking sight. Houses are made from stone, and the soil is rich. There are plenty of caves with gems to explore nearby, as well as hidden grottos.

Stratus Road

Stratus Road is a large area of grassland, inbetween Lantern City, Nighting Gale and The Spiral City. It is home to low clouds, sky whales, sky mantas, and the occasional dragon. The most important thing about Stratus Road, however, is the trail in the sky that leads up to the floating city of Celesti and it’s islands. It is the home of the morelli, who treat magic and science as one and the same. The architecture is grand and ancient, grown over by moss and ivy throughout the years. The magic surrounding Celesti allows other races to experience it as the morelli do - without having to worry about the high winds or lower oxygen levels. In the middle of the floating city is Nyx’s Palace, an open-air building where the Astral herself lives.

Satin Beach

Satin Beach is an ocean beachside community home to humans and swmona. Beach houses, cabins, and open-air buildings are the norm, with the odd treehouse located in the forests nearby. The community prospers off of hunting, fishing, and trade, as it is a customary stop for those who travel from Blackwood island to the mainland. Vacationing elite from Lantern City generally spend their time here, though secluded from the general public. One of the islands close to the shore is privately owned by the royal family of Lantern City, and if one were to get out far enough, they would be able to see the rarely used beach house that hides between a nest of rocks.

[hermanwatts]

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 15 August, 2020

Whether in a Celtic Otherworld or the ashes of a future Earth, magic worlds swarming with elementals or the cold vastness of space, this week’s new releases are filled with valiant deeds and desperate acts.

Duty, Honor, Planet – Rick Partlow

We thought we were alone…

We’re going to wish we were.

Jason McKay and Shannon Stark, two young Republic Space Fleet Intelligence officers, are given the leadership of a new special ops unit. The mission? Guard the spoiled daughter of an important senator on a tour of the colonies.

Neither of them thought the mission would be anything more than babysitting…until the aliens invaded the colony.

Implacable, relentless, merciless, the armored creatures slaughter everyone who gets in their way. The team is forced to go on the run with the people they’re supposed to protect.

But survival will be the least of their challenges. Because it’s not as simple as an alien invasion, and the truth may be even stranger than they can imagine.

Jason and Shannon are forced to weigh the lives of the people they lead–and the ones they love–against their duty, honor, and planet.

A Fire Reborn (The Elemental Warrior #3) – D. K. Holmberg

The threat Tolan has long feared has been defeated, but a new danger emerged, one that poses a threat to both shapers and the elementals.

For the first time since mastering his connection to the elements, Tolan fears an elemental. He’s long advocated the elementals were misunderstood, and tried convincing others within Terndahl to free them from the bond, but the appearance of Light has proven his mistake.

Chasing the threat leads Tolan to take a dangerous journey, one that challenges all that he’s learned of spirit and brings him back to the lands beyond the waste where he discovers a secret hidden from the rest of the world for centuries.

What he uncovers is more deadly than anything he’s ever known, and one his unique connection to the elements might not be enough to stop. It will take more than a master of spirit to survive; it will take a true element warrior.

Fulcrum of Light (Catalyst #2) – C. J. Aaron

Freedom has come at a price.

Stranded on the coast of an uncharted land, Ryl will be tested as the world outside the Palisades proves darker than within.

With little to no direction save the cryptic information from a mysterious stranger, Ryl must rely on his new-found skills and place his trust in his new companion. Together they forge onward into the barren wastes of the Outlands. As the sickness approaches, their time and hope fades.

Surrounded by uncertainty, will they discover there is more to fear than just the unknown?

Ryl survived The Stocks. Will he survive the Outlands? His search for the secrets of the power that flows through his veins continues.

Will he find the answers before his time runs out?

Gale Force (Four Horsemen: The Guild Wars #7) – Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey

In the aftermath of Peepo’s war against humanity, the Mercenary Guild is still in chaos. On Earth, the moratorium on mercenary contracts is disrupting Jim Cartwright’s efforts to stand up the new Terran Federation. Making matters worse, Jim has received intelligence that someone is squatting on asteroids in our Solar System…and Sansar Enkh is pretty sure they don’t have Earth’s best interests in mind. Fearing the aliens have plans for another invasion—or worse—Jim takes his ship, Bucephalus, and sets off to investigate.

While the mercenary guild is in recess, Nigel Shirazi has an opportunity to make some credits, and when he leaves to pursue an illicit contract, Alexis Cromwell decides to follow up on some information she’s received on the mysterious Weapons Conglomerate. Nigel wouldn’t approve of her running off, especially eight months pregnant, but Alexis has never been one to listen to instructions—or orders for that matter. She gathers a squadron of Hussars and heads off on her quest.

Events in the galaxy are happening at a frantic pace as the guilds battle each other in the shadows…and sometimes in the open. The Four Horsemen are once again at the center of it all, and as the guilds squabble, the Dusman aren’t sitting on the sidelines. They have their own plans, and humanity is only part of them.

The Guild Wars aren’t over; they’ve only just begun.

The Great Die Slow – Harry Piper

A lost knight stumbles upon an ancient horror… A desperate lord makes a deal with an unholy, hungry power… A young girl driven half-mad by grief pursues an impossible quarry…

Set in a Dark Age Celtic landscape shrouded in myth and legend, these dark, often tragic, tales tell stories of ordinary men and women confronted by evil both human and inhuman.

Whether priest, knight, farmgirl or sellsword, they will all be forced to take up arms and fight against forces that will test their strength and their sanity to the limit, in stories that will chill you, excite you and perhaps even break your heart…

Stories included: The Man In Chains Manawyddan the Heartless and the Unquiet Mere The Penitent Cadell’s Fate The Burden Sir Gareth and the Thing That Hid The Great Die Slow

Into the Stars (Rise of the Republic #1) – James Rosone

The stars are within mankind’s reach…

…But what awaits in the void may end humanity…

Mars and the Moon have been colonized, piracy runs rampant in the asteroid belts, and a thriving society grows in the depths of space. Humanity prepares to embark upon its greatest journey—the colonization of Alpha Centauri.

Then everything changes…

A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet twelve light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something…unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unraveling the greatest mystery of all—the origins of life itself.

Can the factions of Earth remain united, or will old rivalries and animosities destroy the fragile peace in the face of this terrifying existential threat?

Will exploration prove to be a fatal mistake?

Legacy of Vale (The Circuit Saga #2) – Rhett C. Bruno

War threatens to destroy the Circuit once more…

After arriving on Ceres Prime, ADIM, is hesitant to help the Ceresians. Their hatred for his creator will never wane, and he starts to understand the danger all of Cassius’ many rivals pose. How can he keep him safe?

When Sage Volus finds herself a captive of Cassius Vale, she begins to struggle with her role in the coming war, and what exactly it means to be an executor. The removal of her cybernetic implant reveals emotions she thought she’d buried too deep to be found. She must make a decision on who she truly wants to serve.

After breaking free of the solar-ark Amerigo and certain death, Talon Rayne finds himself in unusual company. His quests to hold his daughter again will bring him to places he never thought he’d go―into the very arms of his people’s most hated foe.

As the battle grows ever closer, threatening the all-out war that could annihilate millions, these four must determine what part they intend to play, who they will align themselves with, and what it means to be human in a solar system where that means less and less.

Shadows of Ivory (The Godforged Chronicles #1) – Bryce O’Connor and T. L. Greylock

I burned cities and drowned mountains. I pulled stars from the night sky and scorched the world with their flames. I am the Fisher King, and the grave does not bind me.

An academic with a taste for adventure, Eska de Caraval has means and influence, wit and charm… and a knack for acquiring artifacts that may not be hers to claim.

But when Eska comes into possession of a strange disc of rune-carved bronze, she finds herself abruptly hunted by all manner of adversaries: an assassin in the shadows, a monster in the deep, a bitter rival burning with vengeance.

From sword and fang and flame Eska must defend herself, struggling all the while to unravel the mysteries of a dangerous artifact. An artifact so powerful, a dead tyrant will rise again to wield it.

We Are Earthlings (Soldiers of Earthrise #6) – Daniel Arenson

The final battle is here.

The fate of humanity will be sealed.

We’ve been fighting this war for so long. On one side—an empire spanning the stars. On the other side—a single rogue planet.

We’ve shed so much blood. We’ve buried so many sons.

Yet we are all Earthlings. We hate with the same fire. We love with the same flame. We die in the same darkness. We sing the same great song of humanity.

For years, Jon and Maria fought on opposite sides. For years, the war has kept them apart. Now Jon and Maria must meet again. Now they can bring peace . . .

Or everything we’ve fought for will burn.

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 15 August, 2020 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[voulezvous-rpg]

Congratulations, Rach! You've been accepted as The Stylist — Vera Estelle, with a face claim of Kelly Gale! You have no idea how much I love that the most pain Vera felt throughout the fire was the loss of her work. That in itself says so much about her ambition and resolve, which is truly what makes her special. You said it so well in that, yes, she's a perfectionist, but in a way that transcends whatever cage that may impose. Her search for greatness knows no bounds, and I'm so excited to watch what kind of heights she'll reach. Thank you so much for bringing her to us, and I can't wait to write with you!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name/Alias: Rach

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 18

Timezone & Activity: PDT; My activity is about a solid 8, I try to do replies at least once a day, if not more often.

IN CHARACTER

Desired Skeleton: The Stylist

Name: Vera Estelle

FC: Kelly Gale

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 26

Occupation: Stylist & Costume Designer

How long has your character been around the Moulin Rouge? Five Years

How did the fire impact your character? 

She remembers the flames with an earth-shattering clarity, the kind of which would keep her up late at night, a reminder of the kind of pain she had experienced so many times before—the pain of loss. She supposes she should have been more upset about the loss of the patrons and the dancers, or be more thankful that she escaped entirely unharmed, but to Vera, the true loss was her work. Nearly five years of her best designs were turned to ash in the fire, her art disappearing before her eyes with Vera helpless to stop it. The fire had stolen her livelihood from her and thus, her desperation for the Moulin Rouge to reopen quickly became personal. The next six months, Vera dedicated every spare minute she had to sewing, designing, and recreating the magic that had been destroyed, after all, there was no one she could trust to reconstruct other than herself. She has her own suspicions about the nature of the fire, but she’s pushed them aside in favor of focusing on the most important thing: rebuilding.

Biography: 

Fashion was always destined for Vera Estelle, for even when she had no more than rags, she knew how to make herself shine. It began when she was twelve—sick and tired of the hand-me-downs that had already gone through her three older sisters, she began working with her mother’s entirely untouched stitch kit to cobble together dresses far beyond the glamor of their original designs. She’d beg her wealthier friends for some of their spare brass buttons or a few scraps of lace from the gloves they hated wearing anyways, and it wasn’t long before the tables turned and they were begging Vera to create designs for them.

Her parents, however, were entirely unimpressed with their daughter’s taste for lavish dresses and social climbing. The academics they were, were more than content with their patched-up prim, grey dresses and meager lifestyle, blissfully unconcerned with anything beyond the likes of numbers and literature. While Vera wanted nothing to do with her family’s strict adherence to studying, their strive for ultimate perfection was not lost on her.

At the age of 18, Vera parted ways from the family which would never understand the creative spirit that burgeoned within her, securing herself a promising position under an up-and-coming Parisian designer. Late nights and grueling work quickly became a hallmark of Vera’s life, securing clients and sewing dresses all within the same breath. That is until she came to realize the designer she was working under had been stealing her sketches and presenting them as her own. Upon confronting the woman, Vera was instantly barred from her position, leaving her frustrated and humiliated with nowhere to go.

With no other choice, Vera began taking on smaller jobs—custom church dresses for middle class housewives, the occasional formal dress for the girls with new secretarial jobs—the kind of dresses with little room for the creativity that made her designs sparkle. The work was stable and paid decently, but it was dull and utterly uninspiring—nowhere near the glorious ball gowns and luxurious party dresses she ought to have been making, but alas, bills had to be paid.

It was then an old friend had pulled her in to the Moulin Rouge one night, thinking that a laugh at the god-awful costumes would brighten Vera’s spirits, unaware that one simple gesture would change the entire course of Vera’s life. What Vera had first billed as merely a joke, quickly transformed into a visage of opportunity. Donning one of her own dresses, Vera marched her way to the club the very next morning, a portfolio of superior design ideas teeming out of her arms as she laid them down for all to see. Needless to say, she was hired on the spot.

At the age of 21, the Moulin Rouge became Vera’s second home, her crammed, single-bedroom apartment becoming practically obsolete, the designer opting to spend many a night at the club itself. The Moulin Rouge provided anything but the stability and perfection Vera had been raised to value, but rather made for an undeniable creative outlet—something that would soon become irreplaceable to Vera. The club quickly came to be Vera’s ideal workplace—a place to mingle with Paris’s most elite—enticing her with just a taste of the life she craved so dearly. She had no doubt she would one day be a part the greatness and grandeur…it was just a matter of time. For no, she was never a dancer, but that was no matter, after all, didn’t every star find its way to shine?

Potential Plot Points: 

Who is Vera Estelle, if not a social climber? I’d love to explore how in the wake of reopening, Vera could take advantage of her position at Moulin Rouge to rise even further beyond her humble beginnings. I’d like to think she’s been slowly making acquaintances and cementing herself as the designer to go to for many of the patrons, but in the wake of the fire, I think she definitely wants to accelerate those connections turning those business relationships into personal relationships. The fire only augmented her appetite for success—she wants those invites to balls, those calls for dinner, but most importantly– to be seen as an equal by the social elite.

Furthermore, I think over the past six months, Vera’s nearly worked herself to death, so with the club reopening, I think she’ll finally be allowed a moment to breath. In the days following the fire, Vera never really allowed herself an opportunity to grieve, focusing on rebuilding as her form of coping, so in many ways, I think she still has a lot of unresolved feelings about what happened. With that said, as I mentioned earlier, I’d like to think that Vera has her suspicions that the fire wasn’t a mistake—she’s a smart girl and there’s too many pieces that just don’t line up in her eyes. Vera is a girl who craves answers and she’s bound to come across them one way or another.

Finally, I think in regards to her connection with the Handyman, I think that relationship would make for a fascinating exploration into Vera’s looser side. Vera, without a doubt is a perfectionist to her very core, intolerant of anything less than flawlessness, but I believe beyond that, there’s a side of Vera that’s simply transcends the bounds of this self-imposed cage of “perfection”—the side of her that left her family and everything she ever knew to achieve her ambitions, the side of her which choose creativity over stability. I would love to explore what happens when a girl as uptight as Vera lets loose—is it something that could translate into her work positively? Or is it just a chaotic disaster waiting to happen?

FREESTYLE

Mock Blog

Graphics

[laura-j-c]

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Power Source (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 2 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Tapped (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 13 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Connected (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 17 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome (2017) consists of three, minute long animations. Featuring what I describe as fantastical succulent interruptions my drawings interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project is an expansion of my previous project from last semester. By inventing Succulent Morphology these works playfully explore Gen Y’s apparent need to escape everyday reality through an obsession of preternatural worlds.

Following on from my previous project, I continue to explore succulent imagery on photographs of my domestic environment that examines my active obsession for escaping into fantastical literature.

These works are designed using Photoshop to digitally manipulate multiple hand-drawn images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers are animated using Adobe Premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation then loops back to the start and repeats. An important point from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments when dark places can consume one’s life. The animated drawings achieve this by having the succulents’ bright colours on a dull black and white background but then erode to rotten colours and vanish completely.

Why succulents. They are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. As a subject, I use them as a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundanity of suburbia world. They are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors. In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016). This relates to my animations because plants from these mythologies don’t look unnatural, they are familiar and ordinary but have magic rooted in them. This is also achieved through the animation. Watching the succulents grow and decay has a mesmerising and almost magical feel about them that makes them have an otherworldly atmosphere.

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation. I respond to this through art. I have always wanted to escape back into my childhood, back into the fantasy and as far away from reality as possible.

My work, Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome, is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. Because I am exploring morphology, the study of the plant’s exterior – the appearance, I am doing what Gessert is doing which is focusing on how the plant looks. We are both also exploring an invented morphology, he created his own by cross breeding his plants and I’ve created my own through my succulents.

The idea for this project was inspired by Tomm Moore, a filmmaker and animator, after watching many his films, particularly Song of the Sea (2014). The beautiful artistic style and animation form encouraged me to pursue the idea of animating the succulents from my previous work. Initially I had planned to have a very flush, digital finish to my animation style, like some of the styles Moore uses. However, after my previous critic it was suggested that this approach wasn’t appropriate for my subject. The time it would have taken to animate in that style would’ve taken far too long and wouldn’t be done in time. Since I had decided to use hand drawn images I had to look at artists who utilised a similar method such as William Kentridge.

My initial plan for presenting was just to project the animations using projectors onto a wall. After looking Diana Thater practice I realised this approach was as dull and boring as my domestic environment. I was intrigued how she used screens and projections in ways I hadn’t even considered, angling them and projecting them onto the wall and ceiling, clustering screens together in an arrangement. After looking at her work I had wanted to wall mount a series of monitors in a cluster formation, like the growth and clustering of succulents, and have the animations play on loop. But after being introduce to these black plinths which were so good I decided to arrange them on the plinths instead, still following the clustered idea.

This project is a continuation of my exploration into escaping reality through fantasy. I have achieved this in my work by creating three, minute animations featuring fantastical interrupting succulents in my domestic suburbia interior. I have aimed to fix the issues identified in my previous project and expand it.

REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

[laura-j-c]

PROJECT PROPOSAL

This project is a continuation of my previous project that investigated my obsession for fantastical literature through escapism and the suburban landscape. The suburban landscape is still a foundational feature in this project because it is my environment, my dull, boring, mundane environment from which I try to escape. Mythology is also prominent content in my work, to me myths and legends are origins of the fantastical. My work is also metaphorical because I’m using fantasy as a metaphor to escape and the botanical objects I plan to use are physical metaphors for fantasy in my project.

I am developing three 30 second animations featuring fantastical succulent interruptions that interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project will be an expansion of my previous project from last semester. For that project, I printed a series of black and white photos and then painted succulents interrupting the normal interior with gauche.

To continue my exploration concepts related to escapism via and the notion of escaping one’s reality and through an obsessive need for fantastical literature. I will concoct an experimental work featuring many elements of my previous works, these are black and white photos of my interior and the interrupting succulents which are fleshy, waxy, hardy, alien but still familiar. This is different from my previous work because instead of showing small snapshots of what I see I’m going to show how fantasy has filled my mind and heart and it’s still growing and overtaking everything. An important from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments in my life where I have been in dark places and didn’t think I’d ever claw out of there.

I will hand draw the growth stages of the succulents, then use photoshop to digitally draw multiple layers of images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers will then be animated using adobe premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation will then loop back to the start and repeat. I have also considered printing off the photos of my interior or stages of the animation as photographs with a white border and painting over them, as I did with my previous project, but I have not decided yet.

The reason I chose succulents is because they are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. To me, they are a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundane world. I’m also fond of them because they are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors.

In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016).

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature, film and pop culture such as Death Note, City of Bones, The Hunt, Dinotopia, Nora and so on. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

For example, I feel the disregard that is described by Bibbs, towards those in greater authority, it is seen and I know of many individuals in my generation that do lack in that respect. Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation.

My work is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. However, our practices fall into distinctly different categories, he is bio artist specialising in plant hybridization and my practice falls into the interdisciplinary drawing. Vidya Gastaldon’s artwork Mini Christ in God Mother (2007) also has some similarities with my work. She has created her own fantasy world of abstract hippie and psychedelic aesthetics. Another artist who identifies with my work is Jake Fried, Night Vision (2015). He makes animations by continuously drawing over his drawings, scanning in-between each one, and turning them into minute long animations. Although his work is not explicitly fantasy, there are strong images that suggest fantasy and sci-fi. An artist I share many similarities with is Chris Ware. A common thread between his work and mine is the suburban landscape. In some of his comics’ conversations his characters really suffer from the dullness and repetitive routines of everyday life and longing for something new and exciting.

Until last week, I hadn’t given much consideration as to how I wanted to install my animations. I had planned to just project them onto the wall. But being introduced to Diana Thater’s practice has caused me to scrap that plan and consider different ways of installing my work.

  REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

Gastaldon, Vidya. Mini Christ in God Mother. (2007). Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, coloured pencil and graphite on paper. 31 × 36 cm.

Fried, Jake. Night Vision. (2015). Ink and white-out. Duration: 1 minute.