#fiolev

[karkkidoeswriting]

For the ask game! 🎃🍎

Thank you for the ask!!

🎃 pumpkin: do you have any favorite brainstorming techniques? how do you like to gather ideas for your wip?

The idea part is usually easy for me, so I don't exactly do brainstorming. I go to look for inspiration to Pinterest and by researching. Reading about history, geography, sociology, psychology and mythology often act as very strong inspiration fuels. When I have head full off ideas, I vomit them into a doc, and usually it prompts me to come up with more details to the ideas and expand the ideas. I usually let it marinate pretty passively for at least couple of months, just writing down more ideas as I come up with them. When I feel like I have some basis of a story and a direction for it I start doing more focused worldbuilding, character development and plotting.

🍎 apple: let’s talk about friendship in your wip. do you have any favorite friend/platonic dynamics? any friendships gone sour?

One of my favorite friendships in BCC, which I haven't talked about much before, is between Fiolev and Cateline. They befriended when they were homeless children both around 6 yos and fell under influence of Vauquelin, an older homeless kid, who was a leader of a child gang. For a while Cateline was like a sister to Fiolev and his older brother Valeri, but she was devoted to Vauquelin, who had saved her. So when Valeri got into a massive falling out with Vauquelin and his gang over their brutal punishment for Fiolev, Cateline sided with Vauquelin. Valeri and Fiolev became enemies of the gang, which ended Fiolev's friendship with Cateline. Soon after that Valeri was forced into the army, which meant that he along with Fiolev got to leave the city ghetto and got some actual housing away from the gang.

For some years Fiolev didn't have contact with the gang, since when they became proper adult criminal organization, they got in conflict with the city watch and had to leave. They come in contact again at the beginning of the story as Vauquelin's gang returns and Fiolev has become a scam artist on his own right. Fiolev falls quickly back under Vauquelin's influence, who is as manipulative and abusive as ever. Cateline has become very hardened and Vauquelin's trusted assassin, but she slowly warms back up to Fiolev, who actually cares about her, unlike Vauquelin whose affection is always conditional. Fiolev realises fairly quickly (in like one book) that Vauquelin is abusive, since he has experienced actual unconditional care and protection from Valeri, but Vauquelin has been Cateline's whole world for many years at that point. Fiolev desperately wants to save Cateline, but even as she's abused by Vauquelin, at least he never left her, like she feels Fiolev (and Valeri) did.

[karkkidoeswriting]

I don't play favourites (I kinda do actually) but at least currently I'm writing again Valeri's chapters so he is mostly on my mind. If he could only choose one person, he would decline, because he would rather die than loose any of his siblings again. But if he had to, the choice would come to his little brother Fiolev, who he would do literally anything for, or co-dependent love interest Agrippa. To be fair his relationship with Fiolev is also very co-dependent. Without either of them he would cancel his immortality very quickly. Also he does want children, but he would in no circumstances ever want to outlive them. In general I don't think he would be very suited for immortality.

Trick or treat!! >:)

If your favorite OC had a chance to be immortal, who do you think from the cast of your WIP would they want to spend their time with?

[karkkidoeswriting]

BEAR CASTLE CYCLE

Valeri Cor Mantgamia

Main Character | 24 | Ethnicity: Cerfi | Captain of Imperial Cavalry | he/him | #valeri

Eventually he spoke. "To be honest, I have hard time imagining you afraid." Valeri made a dry chuckle. When was he not afraid? When was he not frozen in fear by the everything and everyone around him? Always looking over his shoulder. Always dreading every word he spoke. There was an easy answer to his own rhetoric question. In the middle of a battle the terror melted. He was still afraid, but it was different. His mind went blank and his body just moved. There was no doubt. It didn't make much sense, to fear death the least, when it was the closest. There is no fear in present.

Valeri is the second youngest child of the Duke of Cabalusia. When the Bear Castle was conquered and the Mantgamias were defeated in the civil war, Valeri managed to escape with his youngest sibling, Fiolev. They ended up in Amari, the capital of the province of Víren, where they assumed new identities under last name Iolean. They were very poor as most orphans in Amari, where income gaps are massive. Valeri was eventually forced into the army, to serve the same empire, which crushed their clan. He despised it, but he was good at it and quickly rose in rank, securing safety for him and Fiolev. It has taken him to wage wars for the empire, left him with chronic pain and trauma and strained his relationship with Fiolev, who would rather go homeless again than get left behind if he would go to another war. But he would do anything to make sure Fiolev was safe, even if Fiolev would hate him for it, even when his idea of safety is flawed.

Valeri has no future. For the past 13 years he's only been surviving and making sure Fiolev survives. He has no aspirations beyond that. He has risen ranks in the army, but he doesn't care about that beyond the more security higher position affords, he just tries to survive and make sure people around him survive to the next day. He sure fantasizes of reuniting with Faerathos, of opposing the imperial family, of returning home to Cabalusia, but he has no illusions that these fantasies have any realism behind them. Sometimes he even fantasizes of having a life, getting married, having several children. But he has no future. Until, he meets his exiled uncle, Ignatus, on a campaign. Ignatus is working with the empire's enemy and promises to take Valeri and Fiolev into exile with him, so they can get out of the enemy territory and wage war on the empire. It finally gives him hope and a goal. But things get more complicated, when he is given another mission by an imperial general, that could give an opportunity to sabotage the Imperial agenda in a significant way, but would put him in even more dangerous position, not less.

His appearance is quite imposing. He is tall (though not compared to many others in his family), strong and a scar on his lip has given him a permanent scowl. There is also a feral rage just below the surface at all times, ready to burst. But beneath that there is constant anxious terror that drives him and abundance of barely repressed emotions. He operates best when he has a clear goal and clear commands to follow, so when he is thrown in a situation, where everyone has conflicting commands for him, where he's not sure what's right and wrong anymore, or who to trust and who to follow, his barely maintained surface won't be enough to hold him together.

The Oldest | The Second Oldest | The Second Youngest | The Youngest

Tag list under the cut! Let me know if you want to be added/removed!

I'm finally finishing this post for Meet the Character Monday held by @bardic-tales / @creators-club , thank you!

BCC tag list: @siarven @worldbuildng @emilyoracle @frvnwrites @kainablue

@writingrosesonneptune @contes-de-rheio @faelanvance @outpost51 @dotr-rose-love

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy Blorbo Blursday from the Creators Club.

Does your character still have any physical objects from their childhood? If so, describe the objects and the level of importance they hold. If not, would they want to?

Happy BB! Thank you for the question! :)

Valeri has very little objects from his childhood before age 10 or really after that since after that he was too poor to own much. Almost everything he had was left behind when he and Fiolev had to escape their home during the Massacre of Bear Castle. He only had the clothing on his back, which most of he had to abandon to not be recognized, his favourite toy horse he was holding, when the attack begun and just didn't let go off, and his mother's ring, which he took just before escaping after her dead.

He still has the toy horse, which was a delicately carved wooden horse with gilded armor with elk's antlers of Cerfi war horses of old. The gold leaf has largely chipped off and both antlers have been broken from different points as well as one leg. Valeri doesn't like seeing it, but also can't bear to let go of it, so he keeps it hidden under a floor board in his bed chamber. It reminds him too much of the long escape through war torn Cabalusia, when barely ever let the toy out of his hand, and it's a time he rather not think about too much. Which is at all. It's very much a toy of Cerfi nobility and he is supposed to be from a peasant family, which is another reason to keep it hidden.

The ring is a family heirloom of the Mantgamias. It's a simple unassuming ring of gold with a humble quartz stone on it. It is said to have been made, when the Mantgamia clan first became the rulers of Abhlean, the city where the Bear Castle stands, eight centuries ago. According to the legend the bear statue, the guardian of the castle, which stands on top of the ancestral barrows of the Mantgamias, has it's quartz eyes made from the same crystal as the ring, and the ring was originally made for the Mantgamian warrior queen, who conquered Abhlean, which is why it's been passed down to through queens and, later after conquest by the Angusians, duchesses. It is the most important possession Valeri has and he always wears it on a necklace hidden under his clothing. Only before he goes to battle he hides it inside the interlining of his trunk, so if he dies, no one will find it and Fiolev will get it after his remaining possessions are given to him. If he tries to leave it somewhere, he will always bee too anxious of something happening to it, no matter how well he secures it. He's had panic attacks before when he has thought he has lost it. He always makes sure no one sees it, but since it doesn't look like a family heirloom of a noble clan, rather on the surface it looks like any other old ring, most people wouldn't recognize it.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Off-brand NaNo Update #1

Obviously I'm not using the official nano org website or anything anymore after hearing about all the shitty things, but I've never really done it properly anyway so it doesn't really change the way I do it. I learned yesterday about TrackBear from my friend. It's very cool, you can similarly track your progress as in the nano org website, but it's even better (you can track for example time instead of words!). So I made my own extremely low stakes nano goal, writing every week 7 hours during November, so 30 hours in total. I'll be tracking my words too, but I'm not putting goals for that.

I'm working on Bear Castle Cycle (I changed the working title again from Bear Castle Cronicles). I'm on my millionth rewrite of the first draft. I again made some major changes to the story (before starting this draft last year). The story has four distinct storylines that intersect very little, and I'm currently writing Valeri's storyline and I'll also start with Faerathos', since I recently re-outlined it. I still need to re-outline Fiolev's and Cassia's storylines. If I end up doing that in this month, I'll count the time spent on the outlining on my goal.

I already started after the midnight, by writing whooping 35 mins, during which I wrote 221 words for the prologue. I had mostly rewritten the prologue before, but I skipped the last scene since at the time there were still things I hadn't figured out about it. I'm now almost done with the prologue.

Words written: 221

Current word count: 14 399

Time written: 35 min

[karkkidoeswriting]

Oh I am tricked, bamboozled!! In the words of an early iconic Finnish internet meme (incorrect translation quotes of Silver Fang) translated back to English: "I was the one who died, this is sucks ass!" (I'm sorry if this makes literally no sense to anyone else.)

I will cave to your demands, here is what kind of pumpkins the main siblings of BCC would carve:

Faerathos - An intergral form of Maxwell's equations because there's nothing scarier to a physicist of electromagnetism than having to calculate a surface or volumetric integral.

Cassia - She is nothing if not a perfectionist, so she would make a highly detailed skull, maybe use a real human skull she keeps around for reasons as a model.

Valeri - A cute and not too scary pumpkin for the enjoyment of neighborhood kids.

Fiolev - Absolutely low effort product, just close enough to be recognizable.

Trick or treat? >:D

A treat beneath the cut!

It's really a trick!!!!!!!!

it's the uno reverse card!!!!!!

it's compelling you to show me what pumpkins your ocs would make!

[karkkidoeswriting]

Tender Tuesday - Valeri

Intro post

Here's my post for the Tender Tuesday prompt by @creators-club / @bardic-tales! The prompt was about the soft side of the relationships the character has. The two central relationships Valeri has in the first book are with his little sibling, Fiolev, and with Agrippa, his love interest. Here's some soft art I made of Agrippa and Valeri:

Fiolev

Valeri and Fiolev were orphaned 14 years earlier, when Valeri was 10 and Fiolev 4. Since that Valeri has basically raised Fiolev, and being a traumatized child himself, he obviously couldn't protect Fiolev from the realities of a poor unprotected orphan. Valeri would do literally anything for Fiolev. He would die in a heart beat and he has killed people to protect him. He feels immense guilt for everything Fiolev has gone through and it has pushed him to try to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. He does that by working harder to ensure their position, so Fiolev will never be homeless or hungry or desperate again, which means working on his military career. Fiolev on the other had is very afraid of losing Valeri, especially after Valeri did almost die in a war three years ago. He got lost in the battlefield, captured by the enemy, but no one knew weather he was alive or not, and then he returned after couple of months badly burned and bedridden. It took him a year to recover, and he never fully did. Fiolev doesn't resent Valeri for failing to raise him well or failing to protect him, but he's angry that Valeri would leave him behind, abandon him. And he's afraid that Valeri resents him for having to take care of him and look after him. That maybe Valeri wants to leave him behind to get rid of him. In reality Fiolev is always Valeri's first concern.

Valeri always tries to be strong for Fiolev, to a fault, but Fiolev is (at the start of the story) the only person who he is very soft and gentle with. He is always making sure that Fiolev is eating enough and dressing warm enough in the winter and generally acting very motherly, which is why Fiolev calls him mother, when he's annoyed with Valeri's coddling. He also plays music for Fiolev, even though he refuses to do in presence of anyone else, since he is quite self-conscious of not getting much practice since childhood. Fiolev loves to listen to him play. He always keeps a strand of Fiolev's hair with him whenever he leaves for a campaign to keep him close. He doesn't like to be touched or hugged by other people, except Fiolev, who he hugs frequently and always kisses his forehead whenever he says good buy (even if he's just going for a walk with his dogs).

Agrippa

Valeri and Agrippa have a sort of slightly-flirty-acquaintances-to-enemies-to-begrudging-allies-to-friends-to-lovers arc. At the beginning of the story, they know each other because Agrippa is the adopted daughter of a duke and a general, who Valeri was squire to. Alexis (Agrippa's dad) became Valeri's patron since he was a good squire and sent him to the Imperial Academy to become an officer. There was a bit of mutual attraction, but nothing really deeper than that. This changes when Valeri learns Agrippa is the heir to Dir'ahin's (enemy of the empire) throne, and he gets a mission to both help her conquer Dir'ahin for the empire and assassinate her, since she is too good of an asset to the empire.

Valeri's moral compass tells him it might be bad actually to kill someone who hasn't yet done anything bad, even though they would be a threat in the future, so while during the mission to conquer Dir'ahin, Valeri's and Agrippa's relationship turn from cordial and a bit flirty to animosity, he still fails to actually go through with the assassination, when he gets the change. His decision is quickly vindicated though, when Agrippa, who believed she would be a peacemaker between her two peoples, being an Ahinian raised in the Angusian Empire, learns about her father's actual intent of subjugating Dir'ahin and decides to turn against the empire and jump the ship to Dir'ahin. All the allegiances being outed, they escape together out of necessity to Dir'ahin, which involves a dangerous hike across a mountain range. During a month alone in the wilderness they learn to rely on each other and become actual friends and allies seeing that their goals could align as they both share the enemy they once served. In Dir'ahin, which is a strange land to both of them, even for Agrippa, they rely only more on each other, emotionally too as they both reach an emotional low point. That reliance become codependent to an unhealthy decree and turns into mutual pining.

They become very protective of each other, while Valeri acts as her body guard as a sort of cover story. (The real story of how he was tasked to assassinate her might not go down well with Ahinians who hold her as religious and political heir.) It's really the first time in 14 years when someone is protective of Valeri, someone takes care of him. While Valeri can be soft with Fiolev, with Agrippa he can be fragile too. Agrippa takes care of him through his mental breakdown and holds him when he cries, which he also does for her. They both feel as though they are alone in the world so they find solace with each other. However, they also both have some serious self-image issues as they both believe they are alone because they are lacking as a person, so of course they both think they couldn't possibly deserve each other. Valeri realizes faster that he is in love with Agrippa, but believes he can never have her, so he's just happy to be her attack dog and serve her, while he can.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy Blorbo Blursday from the Creators Club! What is your character’s current conflict? What steps are they taking to address this conflict?

Happy Blorbo Blursday! Thank you for the ask!

Beside the overall conflict of imperialism, Faélci's personal conflict at the beginning of the story is he despises everything and everyone around him, while trying to keep up his cover story and gain useful intelligence. The situation is made worse though because he has to attend a campaign quite far away from Cabalusia, so there's not much useful things for him to gain there for Cabalusian separatists. So he really just has to endure the campaign, so he can then get to do something more useful.

His conflict there is mostly internal, a contest of endurance. It manifest though as conflict with Valeri, who he despises more than anyone else in his vicinity, so he unleashes some his frustration on Valeri and goats him into conflict. The both think of each other as the worst kind of traitor, though in reality they are roughly on the same side. Though Valeri's view of Faélci is due to his cover story persona, and much less based on reality. Faélci on the otherhand knows Valeri's cover story is false, and knows who he really is, and he hates Valeri partly for actual reasons, partly because he has made false assumptions of Valeri's motives. He hates Valeri, because Valeri's clan was at the center of the civil war, his clan fought for them, most of them were killed brutally, even the children, and still Valeri didn't even have the decency to not fight for the same empire, who did all that. He believes that Valeri does it only for selfish self-preservation and doesn't care of the consequences. And he's not entirely wrong about it, but there's some factors he doesn't know, which would make him more understanding. He doesn't know that Valeri as a 16 yo was given the option to be imprisoned, which would have left his 10 yo sibling Fiolev completely alone in poverty, or join the military, nor how bad their situation was back then.

So how does Faélci address the conflict? Well, he gets drunk, acts as annoying and malicious as possible to instigate a drunken brawl with Valeri and reveals he knows Valeri's true identity to fuck with him further, though his sober self would not be happy about it. So very constructive, smart, healthy and overall good way to approach the situation.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy STS! Bit of a basic question, but what is your OCs' favorite smell?

Happy STS!! Thank you for the question! These are fun to think :D

Faerathos - sweet flowers in midsummer and coffee

Cassia - fresh smells, like clean winter air or mint

Valery - earthy smells, like herbs such as rosemary and thyme and air after a summer rain

Fiolev - sour smells such as those of citrus fruits

[karkkidoeswriting]

Trick or Treat? 👻

(Event Post)

A treat for you!

Here's some picrews I made of the main siblings of the main siblings from BCC!

first one is Faerathos, the oldest sibling

second is Cassia, the second oldest, and only sister left after he twin sister died

third is Valeri, second youngest

last is Fiolev, youngest, who starts by presenting as a boy (man? feels weird calling 18 yo a man), but is non-binary and trans masc so kinda a boy but not really

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy STS! Inspired by my impromptu and much needed offline day, if your OCs had an unexpected day off, what would they spend it doing?

Happy STS! I hope you had a great day offline! :)

I will answer this for the BCC cast.

Faerathos would be probably drinking way too much and making some very bad decisions, probably gambling. If he wasn't allowed to dive into research (he is a scholar) or keep his hands full with the plot, he wouldn't know what to do with himself and then he might have to be alone with his thoughts and we can't have that.

Cassia would also not handle it super well. Getting her revenge is the only thing she thinks matters, so if she was suddenly denied working towards it, she would be very frustrated. She would lock herself in solitude, refuse to talk to anyone, read books and generally be depressed.

Valeri would do much better than the other two. He would go outside, either for a walk or horse ride, and take his dogs too. Maybe also polish his swords, shoes and riding gear, and also upkeep any of Fiolev's things. Generally just do as much errands as possible. His idea of day off is to keep doing useful stuff, though he might play some music, maybe even practice on violin, if there's no one listening. (He is very embarrassed of falling out of practice with violin even though he's still actually not bad at it.)

For Fiolev it depends if he would have just a day off from his apprenticeship in a bank, or if it would be also a day off from his "side hustle" (scamming and stealing). If both, he would either go chill with the local homeless cats (and other animals), give them food and take care of them, or if Valeri was present, pester him all day.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy STS! How are the chores divided among your cast? Is there a person who prefers to do the dishes or someone who will do anything to get out of doing dishes?

Happy very late STS! Thank you for the ask and sorry for the wait!

Many of my cast are upper class so they haven't done a single chore in their lives. Like Faerathos would abhor doing chores, but also he has never done them ever so he wouldn't also know how to do any of that. Same applies to Agrippa, though she would enjoy cooking, and Julie. Valeri and Fiolev had to actually do chores growing up, but they now have a housekeeper so they don't have to do most of the chores anymore. Before that Valeri would do most of the chores, but as Fiolev got older Valeri would work most of the day, and Fiolev would do more chores. Fiolev though never liked sewing so Valeri always did that and still usually does. Cassia has lived in communal type housing mostly, so she has done chores, but not that much of them. She's never had to cook much, which she appreciates, because she doesn't like cooking. She's had to mostly clean up her own apartment, which is perfectly fine for her, since she doesn't like other people in her space. Now she's a little wealthier and doesn't do much chores herself.

In the second book, when the main characters get together and live under the same roof, they live in a castle where none of them do any chores, so they don't really have to divide any of that.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Trick or Treat!

Have a little treat!

If the main siblings of BCC had to dress up for Halloween (at gun point since certain characters (looking at Valeri) would only do it at gun point) here's how they would dress up:

Faerathos - He would dress up as Marcus (his "Whelp I guess I'm a father now" adoptive father) and when people ask wtf he would say nothing is scarier than getting a stern talking to from Marcus. He would paint on Marcus' mustaches and goatee, put on a eye patch, dress up in flashy embroidery like Marcus often does, get a scimitar to wear since Marcus never goes anywhere without his and have an exaggerated furrow the whole night. Marcus would be extremely unhappy about it.

Cassia - She always goes 100 for everything she does, so she would have extremely over the top horrifying monster costume. Real bones and skulls attached to her costume (don't ask for their origins), fake (?) blood everywhere, intricate face painting, everything.

Valeri - He would dress up in an old armor and have the helmet and visor on the whole night so he could hide behind it. He would maybe through on some fake blood and bear a broken sword so he could say he is dressed as a ghost of a knight.

Fiolev - He would dress up as a sexy cat for the meme value.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Bear Castle Cycle - Reintroduction

BASIC INFO

STATUS | re-outlining | FORMAT | trilogy | POV | multiple 3rd person limited | TENSE | past | GENRE | gunpowder fantasy, dark fantasy, political fantasy, horror elements, mystery elements | AUDIENCE | adult | LANGUAGE WRITTEN IN | zero draft Finnish, 1st draft English

CONTENT WARNING | graphic violence | war | child abuse mentioned | torture | psychological horror | toxic relationships | drug and alcohol abuse | mental illness | sex | suicidal ideation | stillbirth mentioned | abortion | tba

INTRO

In the militaristic Angusian Empire only the clergy is allowed to use magic, which is seen as dangerous and terrifying by most. Magic has it's own will and while it can be helpful, other times it can be vindictive, malicious and unpredictable. There are also some terrifying great powers, like dragons, that most think are better left untouched and undisturbed. This is one of the things that has caused friction and an endless string of wars between the Empire and it's northern neighbor Dir'ahin, where magic is freely practiced. Dir'ahin has kept it's independence from the expansionist empire with it's advanced magic, but as Angusian Empire rapidly industrializes, a new decisive war of conquest looms ahead.

The Bear, the guardian of the Bear Castle, is ancient and forgotten magic. 14 years ago it watched as it's people were massacred by Imperial forces in a bloody civil war. It followed the four heirs of the castle as they grew up scattered in distant places. One of them in the imperial court, one of them in the northern occupied border, and two of them in a southern metropolis. Now the Bear watches as it's children struggle to find their way back to it.

FAERATHOS, THE OLDEST | While Faerathos has been hostage at the court, he has not been idle. He's physicist, researching electromagnetism, and he is still trying to understand why did the Cabalusian civil war happen and unearth the mysteries of the court.

CASSIA, THE SECOND OLDEST | Cassia has committed on getting vengeance on the Imperial family and the Angusian Empire as a whole by any means necessary. To work towards her goal, she is aiding Dir'ahin by spying for them on an occupied area.

VALERI, THE SECOND YOUNGEST | Valeri joined the ranks of the Imperial army with a false identity against his will, to protect Fiolew and provide for him. He becomes quite successful as a cavalry officer, but when he is reunited with his uncle, who is allied with another enemy, Manoa, he becomes an uneasy spy for them.

FIOLEV, THE YOUNGEST | Fiolev is not the innocent younger sibling Valeri thinks he is, but rather a quite successful and infamous con artist and thief. He steals magical amulet, accidentally releases a demon upon himself and gets entangled with a dangerous gang of criminals, who are involved with the Cabalusian separatists.

LINKS

CAST | Quick intro to the main cast | Faerathos | Valeri | Faélci

WORLDBUILDING | Maps

SCENE EXCERPTS | Julius x Marcus kiss scene - Prequel | Prologue - Julius scene | Faerathos has a (son-father) moment with Marcus

TAGS | #bear castle cycle | #bcc | #bcc art | #bcc aesthetics | #bcc excerpt | #bcc worldbuilding | #faerathos | #cassia | #valeri | #fiolew

Brief intro to the main cast and the tag list under the cut! I'll keep the tag list here updated.

CHARACTERS

Faerathos cor Mantgamia | 27 | he/him | intelligent but lacks practical skills | depressed | a little pretentious | dry humor | empathetic

Cassia cor Mantgamia | 26 | she/her | cold rage | detached | calculative | cares deeply but would not admit it | amoral

Valeri cor Mantgamia | 24 | he/him | very competent soldier | practical | stoic exterior but highly emotional interior | lacks emotional regulation | anxious

Fiolev cor Mantgamia | 18 | he/they | smart and quick thinker | compulsive liar | easy going | opportunist | attachment issues

Agrippa noé Moireau / Gal'eivil Daughter of Moon | 21 | she/her | Ahinian princess | political tool | possesses destructive magic | painter | naive

Marcus K'irhinzaham | 49 | he/him | Faerathos' bodyguard | greatest swordsman of their time | prickly | one-eyed | emotionally distant

Julie noé Mapin | 31 | she/her | Cassia's target | celebrity opera singer | lesbian casanova | hedonist | unmatched duelist

Cúén "Fechín" cor Faélci | 22 | he/him | Valeri's rival in the army | Cabalusian nobility | spy for the Cabalusian separatists | brooding | great with words and insults

Gid'alon Child of Stars | 45 | they/she/any | Agrippa's tutor | the one who Fiolew steals the amulet from | scholar of spirit realm | reserved | endless thirst for knowledge

Fianne | ??? | they/it | Cassia's talking crow | really a malicious forest demon bound to a crow | ate Cassia's twin sister | snarky | inhuman

Cateline | 19 | she/her | Fiolew's childhood friend | assassin for a criminal organization | mute | lacks empathy | protective

Vauquelin | 27 | he/him | leader of the gang Cateline's in and Fiolew get's involved with | opportunist | power hungry | controlling | soft-spoken

Verginia Emerentius | 59 | she/her | empress mother | probably behind the Cabalusian civil war | cult-like following | controlling | savior

Lucretius Emerentius | 37 | he/him | brother of late emperor | current duke of Cabalusia and the lord of Bear Castle | ruthless | ambitious | manipulative

Augustus III Emerentius | 29 | he/him | emperor | puppet ruler | Farathos' friend | not interested in being the emperor | a bit of playboy

Eirdene “Erene” Sarantachaizak | 26 | she/her | empress | unhappy marriage | toxic affair with Faerathos | manipulative | perfectionist

Alexis noé Moireau | 53 | he/him | duke and general of Virén | Agrippa's adoptive and doting father | master strategist | gambler | easy to like

Ignatus cor Mantgamia | 50 | he/him | uncle of the siblings | wife and kids died in Cabalusian civil war | severe | ambitious | vengeful

Mánoheahpi Son of Moon | 28 | he/him | Agrippa's brother | powerful priest | plots to take power | reserved | visionary

TAG LIST

@siarven @worldbuildng @emilyoracle @frvnwrites @kainablue @writingrosesonneptune @contes-de-rheio @faelanvance @outpost51 @dotr-rose-love

[karkkidoeswriting]

Bear Castle Cycle 2.0

(actually there has been at least 4 different versions but let's not go there...)

I have officially un-shelved BCC after almost 2 years of hiatus. At the time I was very frustrated with it and felt like I didn't know anymore what I wanted and what was it's point. Now I have rediscovered a passion for it. With more distance to the story, I can more easily see the darlings that need to be killed and where I want to take this story. I will be rewriting some of the worldbuilding and restructuring the plot. Hopefully I get back to drafting it soon.

I drew some of the most central characters as I was thinking about the fashion. There's no big departures from my previous ideas, but I have much clearer image about the fashion in my mind now, so mission succeeded. I will use this as an opportunity to do a little re-intro to the characters. There is some changes to them, some older (which I never publicly introduced) some I have done since I un-shelved this WIP.

Valeri cor Mantgamia (left)

he/him

Second youngest main sibling (25)

Accidentally becomes a spy but oops is the worst liar on the planet

Biromantic demisexual

Is in cavalry and there has all the homoromantic tension a man could ask for but is unfortunately the most repressed man

Is in for an existential crisis and unreasonable amounts of maiming (because he's my poor little meow meow)

Fiolev cor Mantgamia (right)

he/they

Youngest main sibling (19)

So in a much earlier iteration of the story he was a girl, but the character wasn't working out and I kinda made a whole different character, a boy, but I've still struggled figuring him out. You could say I transed his gender, so now he is transmasc

Valeri made him dress as a boy when they were kids and homeless, and while he doesn't see himself as a boy, he definitely doesn't see himself as a girl either and rather presents as a boy

Uses his ability to turn into a girl to con people though

Accidentally cons his way to being possessed by a demon and being part of a plot to start a civil war

Aroace

Faerathos cor Mantgamia (bottom)

he/him

Oldest main sibling (28)

He was supposed to be the one tragically cishet sibling... They were all cishet at first....

He is bi of course he is bi I'm incapable of not making my characters bi

Accidentally commits high treason by (accidentally of course) having an affair with the empress

Also commits high bi disaster by accidentally having a thing with the emperor too, his long time homoerotic friend

Agrippa noé Moireau (top left)

she/her

Tragically straight

Groomed to be The Long Lost Rightful Heir and The Chosen One

Is actually a tool of imperial control

Valeri's love interest

Cassia cor Mantgamia (top right)

she/her

Second oldest main sibling (27)

Plotting murder literally every waking moment

Spying for the enemy with the goal of overthrowing the government and murdering the imperial family

Targets Julie, who is partroned by an imperial prince, but accidentally catches feelings but oops she is bad at feelings (the whole family is very accident-prone)

Collected on the outside, disaster bi on the inside

Julie noé Maupin (bottom left)

she/her

Opera singer master duelist lesbian casanova occasional novelist

Has a dark secret

Does NOT want to get involved with any political shenanigas (gets involved with political shenanigans)

Cateline (bottom right)

she/her

Assassin to a criminal organization Fiolew gets entangled with

One-sidedly in love with their leader who has ambitions of power

Mute and communicates with writing

Bi

Marcus K'irhinzaham (left)

he/him

The commander of Mantgamia house guard, which now only consists of him, and (according to popular (and his) knowledge) Faerathos is the only one left to guard anyway

Widely recognized as the greatest swordsman of his time

Short king (169 cm)

Bi

Cúén "Fechín" cor Faélci (right)

he/him

Previously named Conan cor Faélin, the last name changed a bit because I did some changes to his language and his first name didn't really fit the language either

Known in the army as Fechín, because he is imposing as his dead cousin to spy for the Cabalusian independence army

Gay trans man (which makes his cover solid, people think there's only daughter his age in his aristocratic family)

An asshole especially to Valeri but oops they have to secretly work together now

Gid'alon Child of Stars (bottom)

they/any

Vašáin, Ahinian third gender, in their case it means they are intersex and non-binary

In exile after doing a little bit of heresy

Just wants to do their research on the spiritrealm but oops one of the demons they studied possessed Fiolew

It's been such a long time since I used the tag list, so if you were tagged, let me know if you want to be continued to be tagged and I'll add you to the new tag list! If you weren't tagged, but would liked to be in future, also let me know! Tag list under the cut.

bcc tag list: @lady-redshield-writes @worldbuildng @siarven @hell-yeah-fantasy @heniareth @wilde-writing @contes-de-rheio @kainablue @lillayalightfoot @teacupwriter @sancta-seraphina @writingnosefreak @dotr-rose-love @writingwithhotchocolate @dove-actually @kathritana @ettawritesnstudies @the-ichor-of-ruination

(I forgot to add the taglist at first, I hope it still works even if I edited it in)

[karkkidoeswriting]

Writeblr Re-Introduction

I have been here for a long time now, but I've been very inconsistent through the panini, but especially this year. My studies have been very demanding and my mental health has been not great, which is why I've been writing barely at all during this year. But the uni semester is basically over and I finally got ADHD medication (yey!!!), so I feel like I can handle more things at a time now!

All that said, hello, hi, I'm Karkki (she/her)!

I write queer fantasy in different forms for adult audiences. I like to write dark, a little twisted and bittersweet stories with historical and mythological inspirations. I love doing meticulous worldbuilding and genre combinations. Outside of writing I do art (more on my art side blog), sew, obsess over dress history (more on my other side blog) and study architecture and architectural history. I miss doing tag games, it was so much fun, and I'm very happy to be tagged to them (do people still do them?) though as a warning I've always been bad at answering them in timely manner (I blame ADHD). My blog (and art blog too) is in dire need of some updating. Only WIP page I have up is for BCC and it's very out of date.

I know a lot of other writeblrs became inactive or less active during the panini, so I would love to hear who of my mutuals are still here or here again posting about writing, and find other active writeblrs too! So please let me know if you post about your writing, even if not very actively, and show me your WIPs! I want to check them out!

I've acquired some new WIPs even if I haven't been writing really so here's a quick little intro to my ongoing WIPs some of which I have talked about here before, some of which I haven't. I also have WIPs that are currently shelved but I might get to back to at some point.

In The Name Of Violence

status: outlining, on hiatus

Living in the poor side of the great port city Mearemin isn't ever easy, but more so, if you are an ex-assassin hunted by your former comrades of the crime organization you once called family, hiding in a forgotten and very sentient library, which doesn't want to let you go, working as a private detective to survive and watching by as the dead body of your father figure turns into something very monstrous while terrorizing the city. So Ainur isn't doing great. Things change though, and not necessary for the better, as a noble knight comes for their help to figure out who murdered her husband, son of the most notorious crime leaders of Maeremin, their former boss.

Dark gaslamp fantasy | Gothic fantasy world | Crime | Murder mystery | Cosmic horror | Body horror | Illusion magic

Bear Castle Cycle

status: drafting, re-outlining

Thirteen years after a civil war the four surviving children of the disposed duke are living in hiding. Valeri and Fiolev, the two youngest, live have finally gotten out of poverty to a middle class life under a pseudonym, thanks to Valeri's military career. But that same military career separates them as the empire is heading into a continental war. Cassia, the second oldest, acts as an opera singer and courtesan to spy for the enemy of the empire. Faerathos, the oldest, is hostage in the imperial court trying to uncover the secrets behind the civil war while dipping into politics as much has he is allowed under the empress' watchful eye. Industrialization and war on horizon means big changes and maybe a possibility for revenge or justice.

Dark gunpowder fantasy | Industrial fantasy world | Political intrigue | Mystery | Horror elements | Dragons | Sentient magic | Vengeful spirits

WIP page | Masterpost | Maps

Cast: Faerathos | Valeri | Faélci

Songs of Veerelings - The Song Of A Golden Ghost

status: development

A mechanical maiden forged from silver and gold, Miävi, travels the foreign northern lands with her human protector, Tiera. She is on the run from a veere (demigod race) ruled empire, after her creator tried to dispose of her, when she didn't live up to his vision of a perfect bride. A curse that will slowly crumble Tiera's body starts spreading and the only thing that can stop it is releasing a god imprisoned in the imperial palace. To save Tiera in return, Miävi will have to face her creator again.

Dark fantasy | Loose retelling of The Forging of the Golden Maiden myth | Pre-medieval Finnish fantasy world | Music based magic | Finnish mythology elves | Apocalyptic | Body horror | Environmentalist horror

Be All My Sins

status: research and development

Mary falls into depression following her friend's untimely death. She's institutionalized for a short while after she thinks she sees her friend alive and has a mental breakdown. Her friend's family then invites her to their country manor in Scotland's cost to recover and share their grief. There she's drawn to a mysterious group of Spiritists, who believe her friend was a victim of vampires.

Aune is a young peasant living in late 16th century Swedish Finland, where military dictatorship is rousing a spirit of rebellion among the desperate peasantry. She meets a fascinating foreigner, who teaches her how to read and write and many other things in exchange for her blood. Knowledge is power, but as the tensions explode, it's still not enough to prevent the bloodbath.

Gothic horror | Gothic romance | Psychological horror | Mystery | Historical fantasy | Victorian Britain as main setting | Vampires

#bams