#gonna write this as the start of a portal fantasy

[f4nd0m-fun]

So in a lot of these monster hunting fantasy webcomics, you have these things called monster cores. Imagine, if you will, an AU where the Justice League has always been in a world like this. Maybe an alternate earth, maybe the aliens are from different planes instead of planets, maybe you've got magic as the primary force and yet there's some who still manage to stick almost entirely to tech/magitech (like Bruce). These cores are essentially batteries, and the more powerful the monster the more energy you can draw. Also, I love the idea that, if you put it together right, you can technically recharge it.

Enter, the Phamily. Either they are from this world and the Fentons are monster hunters trying to find the origin place of the monsters, or this isn't their original world and they're trying to open a portal home.

Danny, Ellie, Dan, and Vlad if he's there, have cores. These can be considered batteries just looking at the way ectoplasm is used (imagine how much more potent the cores would be than the globs). Jazz, the parents, and Danny's friends if they're there too are liminal. This could mean that magic considers them part monster despite no cores, or maybe they're considered akin to warlocks or sorcerers, looked down upon but not actively hunted or something. Although the presence of the half monster kids and what seems to be a half monster dad... (yes this is probably a family breakfast ship, sue me if you dare) well, Vlad is gonna be determined to fight off the rumors with whatever he's got, there's no need for his darling Maddie to get worked up about idiots, aside from him and Jack of course. (I also love Vlad x Connie so this could either be Vlad is just an uncle or we get Connie in and call it Family Party or something - Party cause alcohol?)

Also not entirely sure on how I'm writing Bruce and Dick here, I want them to be able to access magic in some way, but sensing magic might be more of an Oracle/Barbara thing, I'm not sure, but also they can't do anything big or flashy with it, it's more tiny stuff which is why they rely on magitech. Also the idea that even if people can sense magic, usually they ignore changes aside from moving away from it if necessary cause usually it means a bunch of monsters are coming through a breach. Honestly, not sure how to run this but, eh.

The below segment is written with Native!JL and Isekai!DP in mind.

=====||=====||=====||======||=====||=====||=====

Bruce had been tinkering with his latest animaga, a monster core whose energy had been threaded through one if his favorite inventions, intended to allow him and his ward flight with the use of monster wings.

"B!"

He tensed but refuses to startle as his ward all but jumped on top of him. "Yes Dick?"

"The magic feels weird!"

Bruce paused, setting his tools down. He knew as a half elf, Richard was sensitive to magic, but wasn't nearly as strong with it as most full elves.

Of course, Bruce had always been considered... disabled in that regard, a full elf who could only feel the energy close to him, though it wasn't public knowledge that he knew of. "That's good to know, Chum, why don't you meditate on it and I'll investigate tonight?"

His ward seemed to understand the intent to leave him behind and started to protest.

"Chum, I was going out alone before you showed up, if the magic really has changed, it'll be safer for me to go out and use the radar."

Dick whined but didn't protest again.

Bruce hoped he wouldn't sneak out this time.

As night began to fall, a family of 9 was gutting a strange metallic ship. Well, the three elder ones were, while the younger ones worked together to scout out the area.

Bruce had just arrived to the location, but chose not to interfere just yet. Batman was the embodiment of night to many, a fearsome predator to others, and some even thought he was a monster himself. Reconnaissance was his strength, as was stealth.

"I don't know, Jazz, the energy here is weird. Muggy almost." His form gave off a soft glow, not unlike that of the whisps, though much larger in body.

The girl with red hair, Jazz he presumed, did not appear impressed. "Like you're the expert on energy. Maybe you should ask Sam when we get back to Mom and dad."

"And Vlad."

"Don't remind me."

The glowing one shuddered. "I know him and our parents have been buddy buddy again but why did he take you find along?"

"Because you're still in training, Daniel."

Both children shrieked.

"I see your core has accepted me into your Fraid."

Bruce froze a bit. Core? Thier energy was certainly strange but not entirely monstrous, hence his inactivity, but the presence of a core presented issues.

"Whatever, Fruitloop. Go back to camp."

"I don't think I will, you're being watched and I can't have my son or daughter being in harm's way."

"Give it a rest, Frootloop, we're not your kids." Despite their attitude, something about their reaction and stance suggested they were worried about being watched as well.

Bruce wondered how they knew about him, perhaps he should have asked Lucius for help with a dampening field to hide the energy of the animaga?

"Don't bother flying away, you'll be surrounded before you can think." Vlad placed a hand on Danny's shoulder.

Before Bruce could react, there was a flash of light that all but burned onto his retinas, but the light was all wrong, a deep black instead of a glowing hue. By the time he was back to his senses, Vlad was gone, and in his place was another strange Whisp. Batman didn't have to turn around to find there were identical ones behind him. Clearly, this was an opponent not to be underestimated.

[simonnebethel]

Writeblr Introduction

Just learned what a writeblr intro is so I'm gonna make one before I go to bed lol

I've already done something like this a few days ago but that was when I had no clue what I was doing lmao, so might as well make a more in depth one

About me:

20, she/her, bi

American

I write mostly fantasy and urban fantasy, and honestly i dont think i've ever written a story that was non-fantasy lol

Started writing when I was 10, but it was mostly Warrior Cats fanfiction on Wattpad lol. I went through a writing slump for most of highschool but last year I decided to get back into it since I'm not doing anything else lol

I like to read fantasy and classic lit, also anything with vampires. I also have a soft spot for slowburn romances where the main characters dont kiss until, like, the 4th book heehee

In love with anything gothic, vampire, and wlw 👩‍❤‍💋‍👩

I think one of my more niche interests is any early 2000s fantasy/sci-fi movie with a nu-metal/rock/alternative soundtrack like Queen of the Damned and The Crow. They are just...*chefs kiss*

My current stories:

A Chant for Blood (Formerly known as Account of Calamity)

Account of Calamity is a gothic victorian fantasy about a Grand Marshal, Karliah Helisende, and a blood-drinking fiend, Yorick Gwynplaine, who work together to investigate the mysterious portals that spawn dangerous creatures into the city of Isarnan, all the while Karliah is being haunted by the mysterious ancient temple that watches over her every move.

I'm currently working on the second draft, and I may start looking for beta readers once I'm finished, although I know I'm not far from finished with this novel. I also plan to make it a 4 or 5 book series, and slowly add a slowburn romance.

12/30/24 - Second draft has been finished!!

Looking for beta readers! Look here!

Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Series #1

Our Demonic Hearts is a urban fantasy about a cambion woman, Ana Kravens, haunted by her past. Taking place in a small Mississippi town, a man she went through a traumatic incident with, Beau Motloe, shows up on her doorstep one day with a deal; help him find his missing mother, and he'll give back the memories she lost during the traumatic incident. Her father, a demonic creature of unknown origin, wants nothing more than the Motloes dead, claiming that they were the very reason his daughter was almost killed 6 years ago. Ana goes against her father's wishes and accepts Beau's deal, suspecting that her father isn't telling the whole truth about that fatal night.

It is completed and available on Wattpad and Royal Road!! It was just a small project I had done for Nanowrimo, and has been edited at least once before being published. However, I plan to make it a trilogy and maybe have some spin-offs. This story is fairly new, but most of the characters are at least 5 years old and I love them very much <3

What I plan for 2024:

Finish the second draft of A Chant for Blood and look for beta readers(In the beta reader phase!) ✅

Start the second novel of The Craven Pact Series(Outline complete)

Write a short story/novella or two taking place within the A Chant for Blood universe. My brain is currently exploding with ideas rn ✅

Write a short story about Ana Kraven's mom and how she met Marchosias, Ana's father.

Plan something for Nano?? Idk where I'll be in November lol (Finish a project I started in february, which is To Hear a Lovebird!)

I'm interested in following other writers and reading everybody's stories! I would also be interested in a beta read/beta swap ^^

Other sites I'm on:

Wattpad: LillithOfBees

Royal Road: SimonneBethel

18+ Writing discord!!!

[yuncheoligans]

Oh, Nurse!

Demon! Yoon Jeonghan x Reader

Summary: Your boyfriend's friends think you can't dress up for Halloween, maybe this year you shut them up and win the annual contest.

Genre: Demons, Halloween Costume Party, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendly Competition

Warnings: Suggestive Conversations, Reader has some insecurities that are touched on, Language

~~Collab Piece with @nebulousbrainsoup~~ Here (Go check out theirs!)

a/n: This is my very first Seventeen piece!!! I'm so excited! I've been wanting to write for them for a while now but I never had any good ideas....ironically S.Coups is my bias. Also, this turned into one of my first like solo collab pieces, and yeah. I have some really cool friends. also, @nebulousbrainsoup thanks for editing and overall listening to me ramble. <3 <3 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

~Masterlist~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hadn’t really planned on a couple’s costume with Jeonghan, nor had I planned on wearing something so…sexy, but when BooSeokSoon announced their annual Halloween party I had to go. And of course the boys had to bring up that I’d never wear something so scandalous..oh how wrong they were. When my demon boyfriend of two years had mentioned he wanted to dress up as a doctor he asked if I would join him. I wanted to surprise him though so I threw him off saying my best friend was gonna be a Tiger and saying I was Soonyoung. He laughed at the thought and nodded saying we’d for sure win the costume contest this year instead of Junhui.

It’s not that I CAN’T dress up, it’s that I don’t want to if I��m just picking him up or hanging out at his place. I have before, he bought a few very nice lingerie sets and we’ve gone out to dinner before at some very nice places but I like cuddling on the couch in pajamas and being comfortable. 

“Do you want me to pick you up?” the text read on my phone.

“No I’ll meet you there Doctor.” I replied with a winky face. I ordered an Uber while pulling on the white lace thigh highs completing the look. 

If there was one thing about a party at BooSeokSoon’s there was going to be drinking, drinking games, karaoke, and real fun time, you know…for it being in hell. My Uber driver’s eyes practically bugged out of his head when I threw on my coat to combat the chilled air of the autumnal season. It was a sexy costume but nothing too revealing, a mini dress, thigh highs and the cheesy headwear, cleavage just tastefully poking out. I was nothing if not classy while proving my friends wrong. I check my heels and makeup one more time making sure I won’t break anything, including my ankle, on the walk up to the townhome, and of course no red lipstick on the teeth. You know how magic works, presentable on the outside portal to hell on the inside.

Seungkwan opens the door for me and he’s casual…until I take off the coat I’m wearing.

“Y/n?”

“Yeah Kwan?” I look at the man whose jaw is on the floor.

“JEONGHAN YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS HERE!!!!” Hoshi called out, coming around the corner and freezing. “Holy fuck.” he whispered.

“Hi boys.” I smiled and walked past them into the living room where the real party had started. “Paging Doctor Yoon.” I called out to the man who was still turned away from me, two drinks in his hand.

“I see my little tiger has made…it.” his eyes widened.

He dropped the drinks on the floor once turned fully. He’d promised to clean them up later but I think he forgot.

“Fuck y/n. That you darling?” he asked, biting his lip and spinning me lightly to get a good look at the outfit.

“The one and only.” I smiled and kissed his cheek leaving an imprint on his cheek.

“I’m never washing that off.” he smiled down at me, taking a peek at my cleavage. “And to what do I owe the pleasure nurse y/n?”

“Well since your friends think I’d never wear something like this, because your oversized shirts are comfortable…I thought I’d surprise you. And look! Couples costumes.”

“You are just full of surprises, and here I was telling everyone you and Soonyoung were gonna match.”

“It’s why I didn’t want you picking me up Hannie.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Get me a drink?”

“Anything you want beautiful.” he smiled.

To say I had stunned just about every one of the demons was an understatement. All of them had dropped jaw and dry mouth it seemed. I was a little self-conscious with all the eyes now on me but I knew if I was ever uncomfortable there was Dr. Yoon next to me.

“You know, even after 2 years when I think I have you figured out..you always manage to surprise me.” Jeonghan had chuckled into my ear.

“2 years isn’t that long Hannie.” I took his hand as he lead me to the dance floor.

“Then I can’t wait to see what 20 and beyond look like.” he smiled and cupped my face to kiss me, a few whoops and hollers coming from those around us. “Looks like you stole my breath might need CPR Nurse.” he smiled.

“Oh really, normally people who are choking don’t talk.” I looked at him.

“Oh? Choking? No not me, you later perhaps though.” he winked and kissed me again. 

“You know they say office romance doesn’t work out very well.”

“Good thing this is make believe darling. You’re stuck with me for a very long time…especially now that the guys have seen what should’ve been for my eyes only.”

“Blame them, they said I couldn’t do it.”

“I’m not blaming anyone if I get to see you like this.” he smiled.

Soonyoung had brought drinks around while people were dancing and that seemed to really get the party started, it was practically a frat party in hell at this point. Soonyoung always threw the most elaborate things for having a tiger on the brain. Then in walked Jeonghan’s biggest competition. His brother in arms. Jisoo, or Joshie.

“Hi Joshie!” I squealed and hugged him. “Is your partner around?”

“They’re putting up their coat.”

“I see, no costume again this year?” Jeonghan looked at his twin.

“Oh no we’re doing an angel devil look, they’re of course the angel. And what are you supposed to be?” Joshua’s eyes flashed red.

“A doctor.”

“What do you know about saving people, Jeonghan?”

“It’s called a costume for a reason, besides look at my lovely assistant aren’t they just…delicious.”

“I must say y/n, you know how to surprise us for sure. Never would’ve thought you were one to wear something like this.” he smiled and spun me around gently.

For demons they sure are sweet talkers hmm. Look it’s not my fault you have to give into temptation a little bit. 

“We gotta win this year honey.” Jeonghan pulled me into him slightly as I took another drink.

“Hmm? Don’t want to lose to Joshua again?” I chuckled looking up at him.

“Again? Oh no no I never lose to Joshua.”

“Not my fault you voted for Soonyoung’s tiger last year.”

“I didn’t actually think he would WIN.” he pouted.

“Come on the contest doesn’t start for another hour. Let’s have a little fun.” I pulled him along.

The party was in full swing by the time the costume parade was starting, of course the boys and their partners were participating if they could. Wonwoo and his partner were both black cats…not by his choice of course. Seokmin and Seungkwan were Superman and Lois Lane….Seokmin was Lois Lane. Jihoon was a DJ...so on and so forth. 

“Gyu what are you even talking about?” I laughed at hearing the man get lost in his train of thought again. 

“I don’t even think he knows at this point Jagiya.” Jeonghan snuck up behind me again, his hands finding purchase on my waist. “Mind if I whisk you away your cheeks are looking a little flushed, my nurse, need to make sure you don’t faint on me.” he smiles.

“Oh I’m fine Hannie.” I pout, my words a tiny bit stumbled from the alcohol coursing slowly through my system but he guides me outside calmly and quietly.

“Did you really do this because the guys teased you about not dressing up more?”

“What they said I wouldn’t wear anything revealing or sexy for halloween.” I pout more.

“I’m just saying is this to prove them wrong or give yourself a confidence boost, you always said you didn’t like being the center of attention.” he brushed my hair back. “I’m definitely fine with you showing off for Halloween and the like, I love it when you let yourself relax.” he smiled.

“Oh sure be sweet and kind now.” I held his hand. “I don’t know…I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it too. I’m not the most comfortable with myself sometimes but you tell me to try it out more…why not halloween.” I shrugged. “Maybe I wanted to look nice for you.”

“For me? Baby you always look absolutely delightful. Hard to keep my hands to myself.” he smiled.

“Jeonghan…you know what I mean.”

“And I’m telling the truth. I’ve never minded how you dress or anything, because you’re always you…my little bear.” he smiled and kissed me. “But I do like little surprises.”

“Keep sweet talking me and it’ll be a big surprise later Dr. Yoon.” I stuck my tongue out. “Come on I’m actually starving and there’s pizza….it’s also kinda cold out here.” I pulled him back inside.

“Oh Nurse, you’re going to get me in so much trouble one of these days.” he laughed.

“I thought trouble was your middle name.” I smiled.

“ALRIGHT! TIME FOR THE VOTING AND RANKINGS!” BooSeokSoon called out. “ONE VOTE PER PERSON AND IF YOU’RE A PAIR ONLY ONE OF YOU CAN VOTE FOR YOURSELVES!!!”

“Ready to lose again Jeonghan?” Joshua smiled.

“If I remember last year we had 6 votes and you had 5.” Jeonghan smiled.

“Doesn’t beat that Soonyoung got 12.” they both chuckled.

“I didn’t think that many people were gonna vote for sexy tiger man.” they laughed more at the thought.

“Don’t forget he has to present the winner this year, and you know how he gets about stage fright.”

“Hanniehae!” I called out finding them. “It’s our turn to vote!”

“Well I know who I’m voting for.” he smiled finding my hand as I reached out for him.

“I’m voting for Wonwoo and his partner, I like their cute cat ears.”

“He only has on cat ears, babe. He can literally turn into a cat.”

“Yeah but he has such a cute smile.” I smiled at my very own demon boyfriend.

“You’re just saying that because you’ve been bothering me for a cat for 6 months.”

“They’re cute and cuddly!!!”

“And you’re allergic.” he chuckled and wrote down our names and put it in the box.

“Fine maybe I’ll vote for Soonyoung again.”

“Do you want to lose? I need to keep my beat Joshua streak.”

“Oh you take it way too serious.” I chuckled and wrote down Wonwoo’s name and we left the “booth.” it was just the first floor bathroom with a curtain and a sign that said “private voting.”

Now I know what you’re thinking, who will count these fairly and not forge any for themselves. Our very own father figure, Seungcheol…well and Vernon and Junhui. And you’d think that demons could enchant the box right? Wrong…they take it WAY too serious…they got a special box from a witch that can’t be tampered with..unless you have the key. I mean not every plan is fool proof. 

“Well Doctor…better luck next year.” I smiled at him as Minghao raised the trophy in triumph and the crowd called out for a speech.

“Man I thought we really had it this year.” he smiled and shook his head.

“Well I think you look great.”

“I could say the same for you Nurse Y/n.”

“Did we at least beat Joshie again this year?”

“Of couse we did, and by always…one vote.” he sighed. “Maybe next year we can do Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.”

“Only is you find us an invisible boat-mobile.” I laughed at the thought.

“You’d look pretty hot in a body suit and pink fuzzy slippers.” he chuckled as we made our way outside.

“Oh are you saying I’m Mermaid Man?”

“Of course, I’m just your humble sidekick.” he kissed me once for good luck and twice because he felt like it. “And in a few years when you’re old and gray we can be the couple from Up. We better win before that though.”

“You sure we’ll still be together by then Jeonghan?”

“Oh I know we will be. I’m not letting you go anytime soon darling.” he smiled and ran in front of me. “Oh Nurse! I believe I need…CPR…For real.” he said laying down on the sidewalk and reaching a hand up.

“Choking people don’t talk Hannie.” I laughed.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Past/Current/Next WIP Game

Thanks @thepeculiarbird for the tag!

Rules: past is a WIP you stopped working on/finished; current is a WIP you're currently working on; next is a WIP you want to write

Past: unpublished fanfiction. Oh God. I was in middle school or high school. I hate it. I cringe so hard. Warriors cats is the least painful. Hamilton middle school AU. MCU au. I started a supernatural fanfic. Like one scene. Thank God. I have nothing against fanfic writers - mass respect honestly. But mine hurts it's so cringe. Maybe cause it's mine. It's certainly not for me that's for sure.

Current: two YA series: sci-fi/fantasy series The Secret Portal and fantasy fairy tale retelling School of the Legends. in short, TSP follows these adolescents discovering an interdimensional portal something something powers something something war. SOTL is what it sounds like; there's an international school for people with gifts (born with), majicks (developed), and curses (given).

Next: I'd love to write what's currently being called The Emerald of Secrets but the title may change. I've written some parts of it in the past but none are gonna be used directly, so I'm not counting it as current or past. Have something to do with the ozone layer one I mentioned on this poll. [LAST DAY VOTE NOW]. Fairy world kinda helps human world is short version.

Alright softly tagging @gracehosborn @isabellebissonrouthier @buffythevampirelover @theelfauthor @little-mouse-gardens @little-peril-stories @finxi-writes @ohnomybreadsticks @emabatis @emberlyric @reneesbooks @annetilney @unrepentantcheeseaddict @fairy-tales-of-yesterday @blind-the-winds @jezifster @ceph-the-ghost-writer @hippiewrites @jessicagailwrites and anyone else if you want to play!

[donnerpartyofone]

4, 7, 15

Thanks pal!

4. I'm looking forward to a bunch of things I guess, although also everything makes me so nervous that anticipation is never untainted! I'm looking forward to my book coming out, even though it has all sorts of little flaws that I can barely prevent myself from spontaneously defending/confessing. I'm looking forward to a blu-ray commentary I'm gonna record soon (can't announce yet) plus a bunch of writing I got assigned, all really cool things but I know how much work they are and I wonder if I'm going to survive it every time! I'm looking forward to a horror event I have to host in a couple weeks; it's insanity, I'm paying $$$ for travel and lodging to be on a stage for probably ten minutes to just sort of be the face of the event and provide "support", but that's what it means to me apparently. I think that I should try to find some longer term things to look forward to, but that will be a whole project, I've always had a lot of trouble with goal formation. I'm always doing one short-term thing at a time and feeling like I barely got away with it.

7. 2023 was really insane. My mental health was crumbling really badly in tandem with our tiny, ridiculous apartment where we had lived for ten years. There were huge ups and downs with the big TBA project I basically gave my life to, that I may never be able to "A" but hopefully some day someone will tell me if it is officially cancelled so I can at least talk about it a little. I also wrote my book and I got a chance to go to London to record my first blu-ray commentary, which was a huge adventure and it happened amidst a bunch of really complicated dramatic events I don't have the space for; it was like, we moved out of our apartment, and somebody died, and I had to get on a plane to another country immediately, and I still have this feeling like I went through a portal to another dimension and when I landed at home again it was in another universe and that's where I've been ever since. I got to do some major writing projects that kind of felt like, well OK I did THIS, maybe it will be alright if I die now. I got to be on the jury of the local horror film festival and that was really awesome...and I'm starting to realize that this roundup makes it sound like I'm an incredibly ambitious and busy professional person who is fulfilling her dreams, but none of this stuff pays the bills and I am chronically unemployed, and I seem to have a lot of cognitive and intellectual problems, and I'm just terrified that I'm going to have to starve to death eventually. Toward the end of the year I tried to go back into therapy (round 3) and the search itself was really frightening, but when I finally picked someone I had made a really bad choice and the ~3 sessions I had with her fucked up my mind so badly, I wasn't OK for like two months. I still need to figure that out though, there's a lot of stuff wrong with me.

15. Personality description, wow. Maybe it would be fun to do one of those Marvel cards with all my "stats". How do I answer this? My instinct is to list all my pathologies, but then I think I should say what I'm like socially, but then I remember that I'm pretty different from one situation to another. I have incredible anxiety and I'm always tired from a lot of heavy duty masking, but the masking is 1 part survival instinct and 1 part compassion for others I would say. Almost all of my relationships are these intense one-on-one bonds, I don't do well in groups or with people who can't sustain a long conversation about one thing. But even with people I really know and love I have trouble being spontaneous, I have to script all my phone calls just in case I suddenly lose my mind. I think a lot of people perceive me as like really tough and self-possessed and even ambitious, which blows my mind; I've had a number of relationships that fell apart because the person came up with the fantasy that I was this bad bitch and then they were disappointed that I'm actually really vulnerable and nervous and incompetent. I'm not completely sure what that's about, but I think it could be partially a "social cues" problem; like sometimes I don't realize that I'm being inappropriately harsh until it's too late, and other times I'm like daring myself to be more honest and frank because I think that I'm too meek and it's not normal and people don't like that and I should practice having more self-confidence...and then I'm mortified when I find out the hard way that I was being inappropriate. But the one thing I can probably say without reservation is that I have a great sense of humor. It's like my prized possession, an incredible survival tool, and it keeps me entertained even when I have nothing else.

[kairamuwu]

Mm gonna post this before I overwork it but!!!! An oc!!!

,,,I don't think I've posted him since most of yall started following me so a quick intro for those who care!! His names aaron groves and he's the main character in a portal fantasy story I'm tryna write called shadowborn!! (Working title but hh names hard)

He's the mc for about 5 seconds before he gets his ass murdered,,, but he gets better! He gets to be a ghost for the rest of the story!!!

[leynaeithnea]

Introduction:

Hehylo, I'm Leyna or Ley

-> she/her, sometimes they

-> I can legally drink in the US (I won’t, I'm boring, I don't rly drink, smoke, i don't even drink coffee or energy drinks, I'm boring, I’m also not from that continent)

-> probably bi, idek not straight probably

-> trying to be a functional member of society but not doing great with that yet, keep questioning my life choices every few weeks

-> my blog is probably not family friendly

-> I'm mostly active on discord, you can add me under @ leynadeyemi ....but I tend to ignore unknown requests so maybe lmk on here first

Tags:

#LeyAnswers (ask replies)

#LeyWonders (asking questions to myself or others)

#LeysDoodles (stuff I draw or doodle)

#LeyRambles (ranting about stuff, probably trying to make a point)

#LeyWrites (anything related to my writing projects)

-> fandom tags

-> might add more tags i.e. for reblogs or stuff like that eventually

-> the writing projects get their own tags too

Content:

I'm a writer....well, I’m working on it, I'm neither good at writing nor storytelling, worldbuilding or character creation, but writing is the only thing that when I do it I don‘t feel like I’m secretly wasting my time, so imma keep doing it

Occasionally I draw and slowly getting a tiny bit better at that, mostly practicing digital, sometimes on paper, I also like playing around with all other stuff of digital arts: animation, trying to get into music again, editing,….long list, but mostly writing probably

Main writing projects:

Stolen Kingdom (working title) (#DayNightDusk): fantasy - trilology - no day-night cycle, political conflicts, no magic, mc wants to go home, enemies to lover's - worldbuilding, planning, plotting, character creation [-> still new and fully up to change]

Minto Wild (#MintoWild): epic/portal fantasy (probably?) - series - nine worlds, wild magic, the gods are gone, mc can manipulate and feel fear – worldbuilding, planning

Changeling King (#ChangelingKing): fantasy, folklore - novel (probably, duology maybe) - changelings, curses, withering world, otherworld, fairies – worldbuilding, planning

Starless - Starlit - Starborn (#Astaranay): gaslamp fantasy, galaxy core - series/triology - scholarship, constellations, stolen magic – worldbuilding

Rustle of Wings (#RustleOfWings): gaslamp fantasy, folklore - short story - moth, death omen, apothecary, fairies – editing

Shadows of Truth (#CakeMelonSword/ ShadowsOfTruth): lgbt fantasy romance - co-written novel (with two friends) - gods, fey, angels, truth and lies – plotting

(More that arent more than a single line or idea)

Hobbies/Interests, that I might mention or rant about:

Editing, history, mythology, folklore, fairies, writing, english, linguistics, culture, storytelling, witchy stuff, gardening/foraging, psychology, sociology, science like astronomoy (kinda, not the maths and physics behind it) probably more stuff

Fandoms I might reblog or mention/reference more frequently:

Epic the Musical

The Odyssey

Captive Prince Series

All for the Game series

The Silmarillion

Additionally:

-> reading mostly fantasy and lgbt, sometimes non fiction…mostly for research, sometimes for the brain

-> whatever I'm currently watching

-> i don't play a lot of games (mostly genshin and assassins creed syndicate) nor am I rly involved into any game fandoms, want to explore more games in the future though

Friend shenenigans with:

@underexasperation

@rudegizmo

@diovoppio

(Might start tagging interactions with #mydearestfriends)

#mutuals for interactions with other friends :>

Oh, i also tested out what these new communities were and made one for my stories, but considering I've only have two somewhat acceptable short-stories and an actually good co-written one, I don't think that's gonna be relevant anytime soon 😬 Unless you want me to ramble about my WIPs, in which case I wont refuse

[worldbuilding-tomfoolery]

This is ostensibly a worldbuilding resource aggregation blog. Maybe I should actually start organizing my collection of worlds and resources?

Here are some tags I'm using for collections!

#4444 -- contributions by me

#worldhoard -- for posts and reblogs about fictional worlds by other people

#this too is a magic system -- delightful declarations of magic or nonsensical physical laws. Anything that informs my developing theory/definition of magic

#clown husbandry adjacent -- for any and all posts that talk about clowns, pirates, adventurers, etc. as if they're creatures and discuss their welfare & needs

#heaven is a place on earth and it's tumblr -- posts that make you ever surer you could never leave this place

#you are my heart -- for things that remind me of the most complicated person in my life

#coachronisms -- when things happen around the same time (or conspicuously don't). Think that heritage post about a cowboy, a pirate, and a samurai adventuring together

For things I'm gonna steal be inspired by in my own wb, I'll tag them with the applicable worlds

#commonplace or #the commonplace -- about a YouTube channel that documents my research & worldbuilding. Could also pertain to the titular Commonplace, a multidimensional library/bar that opens portals into various worlds so the owner can write expedition studies about them

#olua or #tortolua -- Olua, my turtle planet

#moonsville -- a love letter to everything

#willowings -- mantidoid canopy-dwelling murder introverts with a sign language so complicated I can only even approximate it via full music notation

#skitters -- evil imperialist archipelago squirrels

#loverofthelight -- the romantic and well-intentioned origin of skitters

#oopsalleevees -- Oops! All Eevees

#microlife -- yes-anding expanding on my favorite game of all time

#underwater -- a very uncreative tag for my aquatic merperson societybuilding

#ironfolk #people of iron #the people of iron -- clay people who eat metal for power (listen I came up with it before I'd ever heard of legendary author Benedict Cumberbatch's fantasy series) and for caste enforcement

#life goes on #lifegoeson -- Rain World epilogue in fic or forum form

[oversphere-originals]

original: animelia

alright, so this wouldn't be an actual writing blog if i didn't start off by talking about the literal oldest world i have ever created on my own.

this thing goes all the way back to when i was like.... eight years old, and playing pretend with my younger brother in our backyard using sticks as swords. we made up stories and went on adventures (i usually played myself and also all the npcs we encountered, though we didn't call them that then because we were eight) in worlds like Camp Half-Blood, Hogwarts, and any other interesting story we'd both read recently, which was a lot because we both read a lot back then. but because we were two homeschooled kids with undiagnosed but heavily suspected ADHD and parents who encouraged Being Outside instead of playing computer games all the time, that was never enough - so we made up our own worlds.

and by we, i mostly mean me.

animelia was one of the very first worlds i ever created. i distinctly remember being maybe, what, twelve? and sitting under the swingset in the backyard, feet in the dirty sandbox below it, with my brother, and drawing out the "map of the world" we were playing in. it got its start there, and then i forgot it for years during high school because i thought it was cringe, and now in recent years i've re-embraced the cringe and started updating this to become an actual story once again.

so here's the deal with my animelia story!

Animelia is essentially a world that runs in a separate but connected dimension to ours, which used to be connected closely to Earth by way of dimensional portals called goldstreaks; however, An Event happened several hundred-plus years ago and the goldstreaks that once were kept open for travel have now been shut down, and only the occasional natural goldstreak portal opens up due to the positioning of the stars and thinning of dimensional walls and such. This means that travel between the two worlds is now practically nonexistent.

(originally, when i was a kid with a pencil and notebook paper drawing this world, it was a galaxy with every fragmented planet its own biome - a jungle planet, a desert planet, and so on, with goldstreak portals between planets. that's long since changed for multiple reasons (including a lot of college courses on ecology haha) but it was a fun start, honestly. we always set the goldstreak transporters by the gate to our backyard when we were playing games, because where else are you going to put it?)

While Earth's sentient/sapient population is primarily made up of humans, Animelia's is made up of a race known as nyms, who are more or less anthropomorphic animals. The specific animal they're an anthro version of is known as a morph, so you can be a mockingbird morph, a deer morph, and so on. Nyms have an inborn amount of magic, and while not everyone is able to do a lot of magic, everyone at least has the ability to shift forms into a "full-animal" version of their morph, which is inevitably significantly larger (and sometimes more unusually colored) than the Earth equivalent. There are big cities, travel, commerce and trade, and all kinds of politics and magic and stuff that I'll elaborate on later (as I figure it out too, haha) but generally it's a pretty standard level of fantasy-world-technology and such. Just...more animals.

Oh, and humans are basically fairytales, that's an important note. It's been so long since the goldstreaks were regularly held open by mages that they're considered legends now, and nobody really thinks that "morphless" (humans) exist anymore in more than old stories.

And this is when we get to the plot of the book(s) here!

(damn, this is gonna be a long post. probably a good/bad sign for how the others are going to be, since this is the very first one, huh?)

The plot follows a trio of teenagers (this will probably be something around YA in age-level) who are in way over their heads, but they're still Doing Their Best. Their best involves running from the law, trying to blunt-force their way through language barriers with questionable success, a lot of hitchhiking, breaking so many laws I'm not even kidding, and a lot of found-family bonding through trying to basically smuggle a unicorn back to Fairyland in a world where unicorns are executed on sight for Not Supposed To Exist crimes.

Lussa is a spiny bush viper nym who's been more or less disowned from his (noble, military-focused, traditional) family for being so obsessed with tracking down "old stories and legends" of goldstreaks and morphless instead of "getting a real job"; he's currently working on trying to predict (and thus prove) the opening of natural goldstreak portals, using calculations based on notes he found in his late mother's journals. He's all intelligence and dexterity; he's very good at fighting because of his family but also hates fighting and avoids it when possible, and gets overly enthusiastic about anything relating to goldstreaks at any time.

Kyrren is his best friend, a snow leopard nym from a largely migratory tribe in the mountains, and while she's also very interested in the goldstreaks and morphless thanks to the oral stories that her tribe has passed down, she's currently more concerned with keeping her incredibly intelligent idiot of a best friend alive while he's slithering all over the continent chasing portals. She's more of a common-sense person, well used to traveling and dealing with bandits and weather and how they're going to get all this sensor equipment up the cliff when neither of them can fly, and she's a bit more deadpan but also does get excited about the goldstreak stuff.

Alina, on the other hand, is a human who trips and falls through a goldstreak in the forest behind her house, winds up at the peak of a snowy mountain, gets rescued by a snow leopard walking on two legs and a half-snake guy with glasses who's way too excited about everything, and then has to deal with the fact that she's now in a world where humans don't exist, she doesn't speak any of the local languages, and her only hope to get back home is to rely on these two fellow teenagers to get her all the way across the continent to a place where they think another portal might open up in a month's time.

It's basically a Road Trip From Hell sort of story, with extra language barriers, cultural shock, magical loopholes, found family, and figuring out that hey maybe those manufactured goldstreak portals hadn't actually been closed due to a completely natural disaster like everyone thought in the first place.

I have a ton of thoughts swirling on the matter of local cultural traditions, etiquette and honorifics, the magic system, and the geography, but this post is already long enough so we'll stop it here!

After a snippet of the pieces I do actually have, of course ;)

----------

Luckily, the morphless doesn’t get a chance to sneak away or attack them while they’re asleep.

Unluckily, it doesn’t get a chance because it wakes them up with a bloodcurling howl.

Kyrren leaps out of the makeshift nest with a yowl of her own half-caught in her throat, scrambling blindly for her collapsed spear with one hand and unsheathing claws with the other. Even before she’s fully awake she’s crouched in front of Lussa, who’s thrashing in a trap of his own making underneath all ten layers of blankets and hissing in a sleepy panic.

The morphless is moving—away from them?

Kyrren blinks sleep out of her eyes hard, even as she puffs herself up to make herself a bigger, more threatening opponent. But no, she hadn’t seen that wrong. It’s....moving away. Backing itself into a corner, actually, leaving all of the blankets behind and pressing its back into the cold stone wall. It stares at her with big, round eyes set high in its flat face, like an owl, but more focused on her and less through her.

Kyrren hesitates when it doesn’t attack. It also seems to stop once it’s there. Its chest heaves, moving rapidly for something that big, and its heartbeat seems to be even faster than her own.

Is it....scared? Surely not. It's not like it's the one being faced with a monster out of fireside stories and old dusty legends.

Lussa manages to slither his way out from the blanket pile and into a mostly upright position while they’re staring at each other. The morphless’s eyes flick down to him and it jerks back again, letting out another whimpering sound. It clutches at its belt as if looking for a weapon and finding none.

It does look scared. Of Lussa, of all nyms.

Kyrren had thought it was a predator, but maybe it’s more prey-oriented instead—Lussa is the exact opposite of intimidating. As evidenced by his sleepy squint at the morphless. “Whasssssit?”

“It’s awake,” Kyrren mutters.

“It’ssss... Oh. Oh!” Lussa jolts, then dives back into the blanket nest—making the morphless jump—before scrambling back upright with his glasses. “Oh!” he repeats, enthusiasm spiking. “You’re awake! Hello!”

He goes to move past Kyrren and she grabs his arm, stopping him. “We don’t know if it’s dangerous-”

“It’s not going to attack me!” Lussa protests, waving one hand at it. “Look at it, it’s terrified!”

It—does still look scared, frankly. Pressed as far back into the corner as it can get, its skin gone an even grayer shade of brown, and eyes wide behind its unruly long hair.

Kyrren pins her ears back, uneasy. She doesn’t really... like scaring people. Not people smaller and not threatening to her, at least. But. They don’t know how dangerous this thing is. “Cornered animals are the most dangerous,” she reminds him.

“But not cold ones,” Lussa argues. “Look, it’s shivering. Are you cold? You look cold,” he adds to it directly.

The morphless stares mutely at him.

Lussa deflates a bit. “Fine, you don’t have to...oh, let me just...” He pulls away, and this time Kyrren reluctantly lets him go.

She stands up straighter, then when the morphless only shrinks back, she sinks back down onto her haunches. It doesn’t look any less terrified, but it seems to relax again when she’s not towering over it. Really, it’s not any taller than Lussa when he’s pulling himself upright, and that’s barely the height of Kyrren’s chest. No wonder it’s scared, if it’s that small.

She flicks her tail out, balancing her weight, and wonders at the way the morphless’s eyes catch on it and widen before snapping back to Lussa.

[anyablackwood]

WIP Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll use Traveling Bards for this, as is the current trend for me.

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

The outline? That's usually how I start. If you mean of the actual story, then chapter 1. If you mean the concept itself, the characters.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Best I can find is Passerine by The Oh Hellos (the artists who made Solider, Poet, King). I'd love to find a more comedic/energetic song, though.

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

Within this story? The MCs, lol. Especially Felix, my beloved son! I'm not gonna lie, the sisters are inspired by some IRL people that I love very much. But even without that, they're just so fun! This is my first "simple"/comedy story, so there's less of a focus on prose or "depth" and more on me just dicking around with these guys, so I'm really having a blast with them. Their characters are the most unhinged I've written so far, though I hope to change that soon.

Felix isn't inspired by an IRL person, but he's kind of shameless wish-fulfillment. Traveling Bards initially began as a parody of a very specific genre of anime, so he's essentially what I wish would happen/what I love to see for characters with his archetype.

For the favorites of all time? Can't choose, honestly. Love all of them!

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

Memes. Or, I'd hope so. If it ever got adapted, I'd love a compilation video or funny edits. Regardless? Endless shitposts, sprinkled with random and unwarranted brainrot thesis-long thinkpieces on elements of my characters and world-building that I never even considered when writing it that ultimately change the way even I view my characters. I'd love a good Tumblr essay from someone being Totally Normal about one of my funky little guys.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Actually writing it! Lmao. For the 3 people that have seen my writing logs, you'd know I had to recently overhaul the entire initial arc as well as the 3 chapters I already wrote! Though I guess plot points would also be part of that struggle.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

All kinds! Anything from normal animals to classic fantasy ones to ones I personally made up! My favorite out of all of them are the dragons. Because dragons are fucking awesome. My second favorite are the ones I made myself.

One of the first ones I introduce is the "crystal frog" which is this really cute frog that's quite literally translucent- kind of like the glass frog, but even more translucent! And light refracts off of it like a crystal!

7. How do your characters travel/get around?

Carriage/horse most often at first, then eventually via ship, then flying (with magic or on a magic creature). So. Basically anything but a plane or car.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

Actually writing it! I'm currently only a few chapters in on my first rough draft. My goal is to create the entire rough draft with as few edits as possible and then to go back and revise the whole thing, since that'll be easier for me than trying to make each chapter "perfect" before I move on.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) You think will draw your audience in?

I guess for those that are more familiar with this genre, it'll be that. Isekais/reincarnation/transmigration/portal fantasy/whatever you want to call it. It's also got found family and friendship (kinda spoiler-y, but there's a sibling adoption involved!). Lots of "be gay, do crime" instances too.

It's also primarily an adventure-comedy, with a kinda parody-angle to it. They're intentionally gunning for these classic Hero Adventure experiences, in a bucket-list kind of way. Also, they're bards (for lack of a more accurate and snappy term) in a fantasy setting. So if you like a heavy emphasis on a sibling bond and ridiculous people getting into ridiculous situations of their own making, I'm hoping this will be appealing!

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

That it gets finished, LMAO. My goal is to complete the rough draft by the end of summer, so that I can spend fall and winter revising, rewriting, editing, etc. I eventually hope (like most writers) to one day publish it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! I can't get there if I don't even finish it.

Not sure who to tag, so I'll come back to it later.

[jayarts01]

I don’t know if I’m doing any of this right, but oh well lol. Instagram stinks so I gotta find another way to share my art/story. So, I’m gonna start sharing some of my recent works. 🧐 Anyways, here’s a drawing I did of the protagonist from my story (this was drawn about a year ago).

Reprisal and Kingdom is a fantasy themed comic on Webtoons. I began writing it four years ago but only started turning it into a webcomic about two years ago as my writing skills are pretty, meh.

The protagonist’s name is Phoenix and I love him so much cause he’s just a stupid sweetheart. Anyhoo, the story begins in the heart of the enemy as Phoenix’s mother remarries to a Venatore (the Northern Venatores are a made up tribe located in Northern Europe and they take inspiration from the Vikings).

Phoenix has strong reason to believe that his father was murdered by his now stepfather who rules their household with an iron fist. After essentially being kidnapped by Noah (his stepfather) from a young age, he was forced into training to fight for an unknown cause. While in the hands of the enemy, he tries to protect his younger brother and wonders if he can truly become who he is, a Figura, or a shapeshifter. Many years before, his kind were flushed out from their country by the Venatores after its portal was accidentally discovered.

That’s pretty much the sum of it? I honestly kinda think it’s a mediocre story as it’s my very first, but I’m so passionate about it and I have been for years. So, I still very much love to share it and who knows, there might be some others out there who are interested in it! ALSO, I’m currently updating the art for some of the early episodes cause I didn’t know what the heck I was doing and they’re kinda jank. But some have already been fixed so if you notice it’s not entirely consistent, that’s why. If anyone read this, thanks for taking the time to do so. ✌🏻😉

[nerdythebard]

#54: Harry Dresden [The Dresden Files]

(Art Credit: Mika-Blackfield on deviantArt) ---

Yer a wizard, Harry!

This one is a two-parter, coming from an anonymous requestor. This time, we tackle Chicago's only practicing wizard, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (the more names the more secure the wizard). I remember reading the books in high school and beyond, since I'm a big nerd of everything that includes magic and urban fantasy, and I have to admit, it was one of the books that inspired me to start writing. Let's jump into this case then!

Next Time: Part Two: Now you're playing with portals... Lizzie

So, what does the White Council says about becoming a wizard?

Non-Squishy Wizard: While Harry uses magic (in accordance with the Laws... mostly) as his primary tool, he's not lacking when it comes to physical abilities. Perks of being a Winter Knight, I guess.

Master Blaster Caster: Harry's speciality seems to be magic related to combat magic: blasts of force, fire, wind, as well as occasional necromancy and thaumaturgy.

Temptation of the Dark Side: Let's be honest, every wizard will occasionally give in. So does Harry, who's broken some of the Laws of Magic when the situation needed him to.

---

Harry is a human in a world where the supernatural and the mundane mixes and blends together. We're going to make him a Variant Human. We get a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Intelligence and Constitution), ability to speak, read, and write Common and one more language of our choice, proficiency in one skill (Perception), and one feat of our choice; War Caster gives us advantage on Constitution saving throws when concentrating on a spell, ability to perform somatic components even when holding something in both hands, and whenever a creature provokes an attack of opportunity from us, we can cast a spell (casting time 1 action and targetting one creature) instead of making a weapon attack.

Honouring Harry's profession, we'll going to give him the Investigator background. We grab proficiencies in Insight and Investigation, proficiencies with a disguise kit and thieves' tools, and the Official Inquiry feat; thanks to it, we can use a combination of improv and deflecting questions to gain access to places and people connected to our investigations.

ABILITY SCORES

Intelligence will obviously be our first pick, followed by Dexterity and Constitution. Harry often finds himself in sticky situations where he is either forced to run and evade, or straight-up tank the damage.

Wisdom will be next, to keep some positive modifiers for saving throws. Charisma will be on the lower end, Harry is a known blunt and brusque asshole throughout most of the series. Finally, we're dropping Strength.

CLASS

There is also no surprise here; Harry is a Wizard start-to-finish. Wizards get a d6 as their Hit Dice, [6 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, no armour or tool proficiencies (we'll get that soon), proficiencies with daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, and light crossbows. We're obviously gonna pick a staff and perhaps keep a few darts and daggers around. Our saving throws are Intelligence and Wisdom, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Arcana and History).

Level 1: Wizards learn how to manage their resources with Arcane Recovery. Once per day, after a short rest, we can recover expended spell slots: a total level of spell slots must be equal to or less than half of our Wizard level, and we cannot recover spells slots of 6th-level and above (for example, if we're 4th-level Wizard, we can recover two 2nd-level slots or two 1st-level slots and one 2nd-level, etc.)

As the paragons of the arcane, Wizards starts with Spellcasting. Intelligence is our casting ability, and we know cantrips and rituals. Wizards start with a set number of spells and gain two new spells during every level-up (in addition to any spell they collect during their travels). We start with three cantrips (Fire Bolt, Minor Illusion, and Gust) and six 1st-level spells (Absorb Elements, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Healing Elixir, Protection from Evil and Good, and Shield).

Level 2: At this level, we pick our subclass, our Arcane Tradition. I was considering making Harry an evoker, since elemental magic seems to be his weapon of choice, or perhaps a necromancer since it's been stated to be his unusual talent... but ultimately, Harry is a Wizard who also packs a punch without the use of magic, so we need to be able to fight. Bladesinger Wizards learn enchanted swordsmanship from the elves, so it fits for our Winter Knight. Since we're Trained in War and Song, we gain proficiency with light armour (for that, let's grab a standard studded leather - if you can, ask your DM for a glamoured one, to mimic Harry's coat), one-handed melee weapon (let's grab a rapier for the Finesse property), and in Performance skill.

We also learn how to chant a Bladesong. Think of it as the Barbarian's Rage, only applied to a weapon. While the Bladesong is active (1 minute or until we're incapacitated, cancel it willingly, don medium or heavy armour, or use a two-handed weapon attack), we gain the following benefits:

Bonus to our AC equal to our Intelligence modifier

Walking speed increased by 10 feet

An advantage on Acrobatics checks

Bonus to Constitution saving throws made for maintaining concentration on spells (equal to our Intelligence modifier)

For this level's spells, we can grab Thunderwave and Unseen Servant to give us a facisimile of Bob.

Level 3: We do not get any new class features, but we do unlock 2nd-level spells. Darkvision for eliminating the weakness of our human eyes, and Misty Step for taking a shortcut through the Nevernever seem like a good choice here.

Level 4: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. Let's raise our Intelligence by two points, and I'll surprise you by saying that this is our final Intelligence score. I know, Wizards should strive to max it out (or even go beyond), but Harry's not one of those super smart Wizards. We need to make him a magic combatant.

For this level's spells, we're gonna grab Magic Aura and Scorching Ray. We also get another cantrip (Blade Ward).

Level 5: No new class features, but we unlock 3rd-level spells. By picking Galder's Tower you can essentially create a copy of Harry's island, Demonreach. To gain an upper hand against other Wizards, let's grab Dispel Magic (or, if you're playing in a modern day setting and really want that 'magic destroys technology' vibe, pick up Haywire from the Modern Magic Unearthed Arcana).

Level 6: We get another subclass feature: stolen from the Fighter we get Extra Attack. We can now make two strikes instead of one during a single Attack action. For this level's spells, we're gonna make ourselves even more resistant to attacks with Protection from Energy, and we'll reach into more shady territory with Summon Lesser Demons.

Level 7: We unlock 4th-level spells. For some offense we can grab Ice Storm, and to get everybody's favourite lazy dog, Mouse, we're gonna pick Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound.

Level 8: Another ASI! We'll increase of Dexterity by two points to get some better swings for our sword. For this level's spells, we will travel the border of breaking the Third Law of Magic and pick up Phantasmal Killer, and then make sure we divide and conquer our fights with Wall of Fire.

Level 9: At this level, we unlock 5th-level spells. Time for some bigger artillery to join our repertoire. Let's start by finally causing trouble for the Council and break the Fifth Law. Danse Macabre shall help us with that (it's the next best thing after an undead T. rex). Next, we can elevate our detective business by employing Scrying.

Level 10: Halfway through the build, and we finally get a subclass update! With Song of Defense, we can now spend a spell slot (while our Bladesong is active) and absorb the damage dealt to us. The maximum amount of damage we can absorb is [Spell slot's level x5]. This means that by sacrificing a 5th-level spell slot or above, we can now tank a full-power Fireball.

We also get our final cantrips here: let's pick Toll the Dead now that we have some proper damage dealing options. For this level's spells, let's consult Bob with Legend Lore, and use Dawn in case any vampires decide to be too cocky.

Level 11: We unlock 6th-level spells, and it's time to break the First Law and cast Disintegrate on our uncle. We will also mimic the Death Curse and pick Contingency. By setting up the 'my death shall release [X]' as a trigger condition, we can be sure to get the last laugh.

Level 12: Finally another ASI. Let's bump up our Constitution to get some better Hit Points in the mid- to late-game. For this level's spells, we're gonna make some more deals by casting Summon Fiend and then finally gain the proper Soulgaze via True Seeing.

Level 13: We unlock 7th-level spells here. Let's cause even more damage with Delayed Blast Fireball and Reverse Gravity.

Level 14: We unlock our final subclass feature. With Song of Victory, we can add our Intelligence modifier to our melee attacks while our Bladesong is active.

For this level's spell we will pick Sequester and Whirlwind.

Level 15: We unlock 8th-level spells. We can utilise the energy of the storm with Control Weather and then shield our own mind from Lawbreakers with Mind Blank.

Level 16: If you manage to get this far and get this ASI, it is finally time to grab the Tough feat. Out Hit Points maximum is increased by [our level x2] and every level-up henceforth we can add +2 Hit Points. For this level's spell, we'll grab Demiplane and Maddening Darkness.

Level 17: We unlock the apex of the arcane; the 9th-level spells. Let's use Gate and Invulnerability.

Level 18: We gain a feature called Spell Mastery. We choose one 1st-level and one 2nd-level spell from our spellbook and can now cast them without spending spell slots, effectively transforming them into cantrips. Let's do that to Shield and Scorching Ray.

For this level's spells, let's grab Meteor Swarm and Prismatic Wall.

Level 19: With the final ASI of the build we will actually add to our Strength to remove the negative modifiers. For this level's spells we'll use Gate and Imprisonment.

Level 20: Our capstone is Wizard 20, which gives us the Signature Spells feature. This works in a similar manner to the previous Spell Mastery, however we get to choose two 3rd-level spells that we can cast once per a short or long rest without expending spell slots. Let's select Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy.

For our final spells, let's finally choose Wish and Weird.

---

So that's Harry-but-not-the-one-you-think. Let's see what came out of this:

First of all, we're a full Wizard which in late game provides plenty of utility options for both ourselves and our allies. Additionally, with the Bladesinging subclass, we can hold our own in combat. We also have a nice bag of skills to use in our detective work. Overall, I'm actually satisfied from the resources we've created.

Our AC (when utilised absolutely everything at our disposal at once) is 24, we have a +3 to our Initiative, and the average of 178 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, we suffer a little bit in terms of abilities. We have no ability score of 20 and a relatively low Strength and more importantly Wisdom, which leaves us vulnerable.

---

Happy 2023, my dears. Now that my life is relatively back together (also, guess what, I've become a sworn translator of English! :D), I can return to you with some goodies. There is still a few requests and I know some of you are waiting to return to more God Builds. Let's kick off the new year with a blast!

-Nerdy out!

[becauseplot]

alright, finished osnf ep 9 here we go.

i am taking this so so seriously. (RIP the Helper and RIP Felps. he came he welcomed-to-santo-berco'd he ate buttery butter and he died. thank you for your service to the plot o7)

in any case, that sure was. that sure was something huh. first of all yippee the horrors are back!! kind of? there are horrific monsters and people lost sanity points and someone got knocked out so!! it counts.

there is definitely Something Up with this village though because well. OBVIOUSLY. the people here aren't completely human anymore and everyone is too nice and the food is too good and there's a weird-ass endless maze in the center that spits you out when you get bored. oh yeah and the village is actually alive(????) and has a very strict no smoking policy.

i guess where im being thrown is the double-whammy of the sudden genre/setting change and the way that this feels like it comes completely out of left field? i was actually so excited to see if Liz's time-wormhole-portal-whatever theory was correct because there was a SHITLOAD of evidence pointing towards time shenanigans, and i had actually been hoping it was correct because i love those kinds of time travel stories, where everything is actually part of one big loop. (though i suppose that would be pretty hard to nail in ttrpg since those kinds of stories require very delicate planning, and the whole point of ttrpg is the freedom it allows the players/characters. doomed-from-the-start stories wouldn't operate well in ttrpg huh. idk im not a GM nor have i played/watched much ttrpg but i imagine it can't be easy. ANYWAY.) instead we get to the cave and suddenly we're in a magical medieval village with overly friendly grey elves and massive cows with tiny heads and crystals that can heal grievous injuries in seconds?? it's kinda throwing me because i hop into an ordem paranormal VOD expecting urban horror-fantasy and now im just getting what feels like fantasy with the horror thrown on top of it.

of course, i dont wanna get that neg with this. i trust cellbit and his writing, and like i said, there's DEFINITELY more going on here. im not about to stop watching this series because im thrown off, but im kinda :T atm ykno. but again, trust!! i'll hopefully watch more tomorrow. im just not a big fan of massive setting/genre switches like these ones. i probably just need more time to get settled in.

there were still good moments in this episode!!! i like all of the townspeople (though if i am highly suspicious of them; even if they're not being intentionally malicious they might be complicit in something / causing harm and not realize it), and cellbit getting SOOOO excited when Thiago flicked his lighter and the mist descended and the horrors returned (him and me both). plus him grabbing every die he owns to roll for the Blacksmith (who is a fucking TANK holy shit he's so fucking strong what the hell) and to fuck with i think Rakin at some point? might've been Guaxi. oh and also

POV: your dumbass mentee keeps eating the probably-cursed food in the probably-cursed village and is probably about to get his ass persephone'd

anyway that is all for now. tl;dr - i am still enjoying most of this and ofc im gonna keep watching im just very ?????? rn, but i trust the process. gn <3

edit: FUCK I FORGOT TO MENTION---current theory is that the blond woman who was last seen with Team Kelvin was the pilgrim who brought them to Santo Berco. and they had gone with her bc they figured out that she could lead them exactly where they needed to go. yeah ok gn fr.

[perexcri]

As a fic writer, how do you stay positive and not stress yourself out with constantly comparing?

I've been really struggling with that. I start spiraling when a certain chapter doesn't get as many comments as usual, comparing my hit counts and kudo counts to other fics, and it's really not healthy but I'm struggling with knowing how to stop, how to just be happy and proud of the response I've gotten. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

ahhh hello anon!! apologies as this will probably be long alsjdlkasj, so i'm gonna put my answer under the cut~ 💜💜💜

first of all, i'm sorry that's something you're struggling with right now, and i'm here to tell you that i struggle with it all the time too, as i'm sure almost all fic writers do. which isn't to say your pain isn't any less - just know that you're not alone :]

it's something i struggle with, but tbh, i think it's just gotten less painful because of lots (and i mean LOTS) of exposure to it lol. half of the time i'm posting on ao3, it's me stumbling up to the posting portal's doorstep with a bloody nose and two black eyes, barely able to stand on my own, waving my fists around going "yEAH i can go another round!!"

here, let me tell you a story:

ok, so i started writing this fic called to hell and back again in like August of last year, right? and it was a silly little byler fic for me - just picture me typing away at my keyboard and going "hahahah but what if they got trapped in the UD but it was like a ROMCOM??" anyway, flashforward three weeks later, and suddenly it starts getting a lot of attention, and i start seeing it shared around. and then, for the rest of my time posting that fic, it had a lot of attention. i got very used to each of my updates getting like 20 comments, bare minimum. it was exciting, but also scary, because i was starting to go through a Not Great time in my own mental health, and i could see the cliff coming the closer that fic drew to a close.

so that fic ended with a bang, it had a lot of attention, etc. but before i'd finished writing it, i had come up with another fic idea and started working on it. i thought the concept was super interesting, and i was really excited about the emotional themes i was gonna get to explore in it, which, coming off of to hell and back again, where i had been so scared for it to end, i was excited about because i had something to look forward to again! plus, a bunch of people had commented on to hell and back again and said they'd gladly read anything else byler-related i would write. so, i was excited, wrote 70k of a fantasy au, and when i posted the first few chapters, i didn't hear a whole lot back. some, but definitely not as much as i had been used to (even though that other fic was more an anomaly than the norm tbh). every update just made me feel awful because i felt like people were looking at this thing that i'd put a lot of my heart and soul into and going "eh i think i'll pass." which is fine, of course, because i shouldn't expect people to automatically read something i write simply because i wrote it, right? it didn't change the amount of pain and embarrassment i felt posting it and maybe getting one or two comments, though

but i kept posting!! at that point, i'd worked too hard on it to give up on posting it just yet, so i kept it up, and i was grateful for the people who did leave kind words, even if i truly did feel embarrassed crawling onto ao3 once a week and posting chapters in a fantasy au it felt like very few people actually cared about. eventually, i hit a point where i was stuck on the writing, and i figured that a lot of people weren't reading it anyway, so what if i just let it fade out, yeah?

well, then my own mental health woes kinda leveled out (medication is a beautiful thing✨), and even though that fic still wasn't getting a whole lot of engagement, i kept working on it, and a few people did eventually find it that became super invested in it. this fic is a flower that resembles you, btw, and there's a reason why it's been gifted to 4 people: i legitimately wouldn't have finished it without just having those few regularly there to encourage me and offer their predictions for what they thought the next chapter would hold. they're the only reason i was able to get myself to finish it. even better, i've made a lovely friend because of this fic that i now talk with every day, and i wouldn't have had them come into my life without that fic. and now that it's been finished for about a couple of months, i've received several lovely and thoughtful comments from other readers about how it's made them feel. people have made art for it - hell, somebody just wrote a song for it!

this is still one of my least kudosed fics btw. it's not my most popular, but for the people who have read it, it's really resonated with them.

idk if this anecdote is helpful at all, so i'll just condense it to this: as long as it's not completely destroying any joy you receive from creating, don't stop posting. that's honestly my best advice, to just keep posting and writing, and know that your story will find the right people that it's meant to find. if it hits a point where it's seriously affecting you, then take a step back from it so you're not causing yourself pain, but if you can go on posting, i think, in the end, you come out the winner, no matter how many people interact (and at least that pesky little voice in your head telling you you're not good enough doesn't get to win, right?)

and i know that's really contrite and the thing everybody says: just keep at it! even if it's hard! unfortunately, the lesson i've learned the past year is that that thing everybody says is, for better or worse, pretty truthful. if you stop, it won't get any better; if you keep going, though, you never know what will come from it

and that's just it: ultimately, you never know how a story will hit with people or what will come from posting! i know it helps me to remember that i can't predict the future, nor can i in any way make people react to what i write in a certain way. once it's out there, it's out there, and it's up to The People to decide how they feel about it

and i've found that there's a certain flavor of joy i have with my least-kudosed/commented/bookmarked/what-have-you fics that i don't necessarily have with my others. i appreciate and love when people interact with any of my works, but i've found that the responses on my least popular fics tend to be a lot stronger or lead to interesting conversations with others. so i guess that's another thing that's helped me, too: realizing that it's not necessarily about how many people find your work so much as who, because when somebody finds your work who really needs it, or, conversely, somebody finds your fic that you really need to meet (as was the case with my aforementioned fantasy au), i think that's more fulfilling than worrying about how many people are seeing my fics

...which isn't to say that i don't worry about those things. believe me, i very much do, because when you create something and share it somewhere, obviously you want people to interact with it, right? and it's been especially difficult since i had a fic get kinda big so early on in my posting, but i'd like to think i'm getting better. hell, if you like at my ao3 profile, all the fics listed on my page right now don't even break 100 kudos 😆 it's almost kinda freeing at this point, and even though these worries still trouble me, i'm trying to slowly beat them out of me through lots of practice (i.e., posting) and patience (reminding myself that the right people will find my work when they need it!)

i hope this was helpful!! and sorry for rambling about myself - when i'm upset, one of the most comforting things i can be told is that somebody understands what i'm going through, so that's what i tried to do for you!! you're not alone, and i hope things can get better for you.

i know you're on anon, so no pressure, but if you'd like, i'd love it if you sent me your work so i can read it 🥺 you could send me another ask or a just dm me, if you're comfortable!! i'd just love to give your work some love since i know what you're going through right now, and i know it can suck a lot~

anyway, i am sending you much love anon!! i look forward to reading your work, if you're so inclined to share :] 💜💜💜

[spacedykez]

i wanna hear about ur ocs

AWESOME yayayay ok so in no particular order my ocs!! (some have an exclamation point b4 their name bcz they started as sonas/rp characters and i have since made them their own ocs. also im not gonna talk abt cr!moth & c!paci & the otterverse u can ask abt them seperately if you wanna hear abt them)

anemone (ze/they/she) & felicity (she/xe) are minecraft roleplay characters played by me & @felicityphoenix5. u can see the skins 4 them Here and we haven't done a ton of their lore yet but im soooo crazyinsane abt them. ice & fire phoenixes... they give in to their natures so easily... they become villains in their own style: anemone becomes a cold-hearted ice queen & felicity becomes a vengeful, angry creature of rage.

these songs are from my Them playlist and if u know these songs u may begin 2 guess a few things abt them :)

o!moth (she/he/they/it) was originally a rp character for a friend's au but i loved its design too much and made it an oc. it is a giant moth from an alternate dimension thats full of supersized life (plants & animals). its a moth that lives in a giant jungle. one day they accidentally fell in a portal and found an artifact 2 turn her human. hes really attracted 2 shiny things and is very flamboyant

f!inky (pronouns Undecided) is a rp character from my meowdy fantasy au. he's a bard with a mysterious backstory- what is that backstory? nobody knows !! but the thing about f!inky is that f!inky is Also a friend of the Dragons. you see, in this world, there are two dragons who have taken over and basically destroyed the world. those would be Felix the Sun/Light dragon (she/xe), played by @felicityphoenix5 and Knives the Night/Shadow dragon (pronouns unsure), played by @urlocalqueer0846. These two are competing constantly, only held back from destroying the world by f!inky, who flirts with both of them and tricks them into Not destroying each other. there are several catches 2 this that would spoil certain plot points, including who/what f!inky actually is, but here are some songs from its playlist for you :] (oh gods sorry i had a hard time choosing my favorites i LOVE my f!inky playlist haha)

and finally, King Thorn (they/ze/xe/any) who i've not talked much about publically 2 anyone. i think a few friends might know of zyr existence? but basically, King Thorn is a genderqueer-as-FUCK elvenking living in the middle of a woods. near this woods is a town, Fallhallow, which of course has a corrupt mayor because why not. king thorn is sort of like a dark vigilante, almost? here's a bit of writing i did abt xem :] this is almost like backstory/a prequel to the main story, which is about the not mentioned protagonist of this universe, Ari (she/her), a young teenager who wanders into the woods despite the village's warnings Not To and discovers the world of the Elvenking, which kicks off the actual plot :]

[theoriginalcrossjumper]

original: animelia

alright, so this wouldn't be an actual writing blog if i didn't start off by talking about the literal oldest world i have ever created on my own.

this thing goes all the way back to when i was like.... eight years old, and playing pretend with my younger brother in our backyard using sticks as swords. we made up stories and went on adventures (i usually played myself and also all the npcs we encountered, though we didn't call them that then because we were eight) in worlds like Camp Half-Blood, Hogwarts, and any other interesting story we'd both read recently, which was a lot because we both read a lot back then. but because we were two homeschooled kids with undiagnosed but heavily suspected ADHD and parents who encouraged Being Outside instead of playing computer games all the time, that was never enough - so we made up our own worlds.

and by we, i mostly mean me.

animelia was one of the very first worlds i ever created. i distinctly remember being maybe, what, twelve? and sitting under the swingset in the backyard, feet in the dirty sandbox below it, with my brother, and drawing out the "map of the world" we were playing in. it got its start there, and then i forgot it for years during high school because i thought it was cringe, and now in recent years i've re-embraced the cringe and started updating this to become an actual story once again.

so here's the deal with my animelia story!

Animelia is essentially a world that runs in a separate but connected dimension to ours, which used to be connected closely to Earth by way of dimensional portals called goldstreaks; however, An Event happened several hundred-plus years ago and the goldstreaks that once were kept open for travel have now been shut down, and only the occasional natural goldstreak portal opens up due to the positioning of the stars and thinning of dimensional walls and such. This means that travel between the two worlds is now practically nonexistent.

(originally, when i was a kid with a pencil and notebook paper drawing this world, it was a galaxy with every fragmented planet its own biome - a jungle planet, a desert planet, and so on, with goldstreak portals between planets. that's long since changed for multiple reasons (including a lot of college courses on ecology haha) but it was a fun start, honestly. we always set the goldstreak transporters by the gate to our backyard when we were playing games, because where else are you going to put it?)

While Earth's sentient/sapient population is primarily made up of humans, Animelia's is made up of a race known as nyms, who are more or less anthropomorphic animals. The specific animal they're an anthro version of is known as a morph, so you can be a mockingbird morph, a deer morph, and so on. Nyms have an inborn amount of magic, and while not everyone is able to do a lot of magic, everyone at least has the ability to shift forms into a "full-animal" version of their morph, which is inevitably significantly larger (and sometimes more unusually colored) than the Earth equivalent. There are big cities, travel, commerce and trade, and all kinds of politics and magic and stuff that I'll elaborate on later (as I figure it out too, haha) but generally it's a pretty standard level of fantasy-world-technology and such. Just...more animals.

Oh, and humans are basically fairytales, that's an important note. It's been so long since the goldstreaks were regularly held open by mages that they're considered legends now, and nobody really thinks that "morphless" (humans) exist anymore in more than old stories.

And this is when we get to the plot of the book(s) here!

(damn, this is gonna be a long post. probably a good/bad sign for how the others are going to be, since this is the very first one, huh?)

The plot follows a trio of teenagers (this will probably be something around YA in age-level) who are in way over their heads, but they're still Doing Their Best. Their best involves running from the law, trying to blunt-force their way through language barriers with questionable success, a lot of hitchhiking, breaking so many laws I'm not even kidding, and a lot of found-family bonding through trying to basically smuggle a unicorn back to Fairyland in a world where unicorns are executed on sight for Not Supposed To Exist crimes.

Lussa is a spiny bush viper nym who's been more or less disowned from his (noble, military-focused, traditional) family for being so obsessed with tracking down "old stories and legends" of goldstreaks and morphless instead of "getting a real job"; he's currently working on trying to predict (and thus prove) the opening of natural goldstreak portals, using calculations based on notes he found in his late mother's journals. He's all intelligence and dexterity; he's very good at fighting because of his family but also hates fighting and avoids it when possible, and gets overly enthusiastic about anything relating to goldstreaks at any time.

Kyrren is his best friend, a snow leopard nym from a largely migratory tribe in the mountains, and while she's also very interested in the goldstreaks and morphless thanks to the oral stories that her tribe has passed down, she's currently more concerned with keeping her incredibly intelligent idiot of a best friend alive while he's slithering all over the continent chasing portals. She's more of a common-sense person, well used to traveling and dealing with bandits and weather and how they're going to get all this sensor equipment up the cliff when neither of them can fly, and she's a bit more deadpan but also does get excited about the goldstreak stuff.

Alina, on the other hand, is a human who trips and falls through a goldstreak in the forest behind her house, winds up at the peak of a snowy mountain, gets rescued by a snow leopard walking on two legs and a half-snake guy with glasses who's way too excited about everything, and then has to deal with the fact that she's now in a world where humans don't exist, she doesn't speak any of the local languages, and her only hope to get back home is to rely on these two fellow teenagers to get her all the way across the continent to a place where they think another portal might open up in a month's time.

It's basically a Road Trip From Hell sort of story, with extra language barriers, cultural shock, magical loopholes, found family, and figuring out that hey maybe those manufactured goldstreak portals hadn't actually been closed due to a completely natural disaster like everyone thought in the first place.

I have a ton of thoughts swirling on the matter of local cultural traditions, etiquette and honorifics, the magic system, and the geography, but this post is already long enough so we'll stop it here!

After a snippet of the pieces I do actually have, of course ;)

----------

Luckily, the morphless doesn’t get a chance to sneak away or attack them while they’re asleep.

Unluckily, it doesn’t get a chance because it wakes them up with a bloodcurling howl.

Kyrren leaps out of the makeshift nest with a yowl of her own half-caught in her throat, scrambling blindly for her collapsed spear with one hand and unsheathing claws with the other. Even before she’s fully awake she’s crouched in front of Lussa, who’s thrashing in a trap of his own making underneath all ten layers of blankets and hissing in a sleepy panic.

The morphless is moving—away from them?

Kyrren blinks sleep out of her eyes hard, even as she puffs herself up to make herself a bigger, more threatening opponent. But no, she hadn’t seen that wrong. It’s....moving away. Backing itself into a corner, actually, leaving all of the blankets behind and pressing its back into the cold stone wall. It stares at her with big, round eyes set high in its flat face, like an owl, but more focused on her and less through her.

Kyrren hesitates when it doesn’t attack. It also seems to stop once it’s there. Its chest heaves, moving rapidly for something that big, and its heartbeat seems to be even faster than her own.

Is it....scared? Surely not. It's not like it's the one being faced with a monster out of fireside stories and old dusty legends.

Lussa manages to slither his way out from the blanket pile and into a mostly upright position while they’re staring at each other. The morphless’s eyes flick down to him and it jerks back again, letting out another whimpering sound. It clutches at its belt as if looking for a weapon and finding none.

It does look scared. Of Lussa, of all nyms.

Kyrren had thought it was a predator, but maybe it’s more prey-oriented instead—Lussa is the exact opposite of intimidating. As evidenced by his sleepy squint at the morphless. “Whasssssit?”

“It’s awake,” Kyrren mutters.

“It’ssss... Oh. Oh!” Lussa jolts, then dives back into the blanket nest—making the morphless jump—before scrambling back upright with his glasses. “Oh!” he repeats, enthusiasm spiking. “You’re awake! Hello!”

He goes to move past Kyrren and she grabs his arm, stopping him. “We don’t know if it’s dangerous-”

“It’s not going to attack me!” Lussa protests, waving one hand at it. “Look at it, it’s terrified!”

It—does still look scared, frankly. Pressed as far back into the corner as it can get, its skin gone an even grayer shade of brown, and eyes wide behind its unruly long hair.

Kyrren pins her ears back, uneasy. She doesn’t really... like scaring people. Not people smaller and not threatening to her, at least. But. They don’t know how dangerous this thing is. “Cornered animals are the most dangerous,” she reminds him.

“But not cold ones,” Lussa argues. “Look, it’s shivering. Are you cold? You look cold,” he adds to it directly.

The morphless stares mutely at him.

Lussa deflates a bit. “Fine, you don’t have to...oh, let me just...” He pulls away, and this time Kyrren reluctantly lets him go.

She stands up straighter, then when the morphless only shrinks back, she sinks back down onto her haunches. It doesn’t look any less terrified, but it seems to relax again when she’s not towering over it. Really, it’s not any taller than Lussa when he’s pulling himself upright, and that’s barely the height of Kyrren’s chest. No wonder it’s scared, if it’s that small.

She flicks her tail out, balancing her weight, and wonders at the way the morphless’s eyes catch on it and widen before snapping back to Lussa.